The lobby of the Hiruma corporation's ground floor was bustling with activity as per normal. The corporation was one of the leading pharmaceutical corporations in Japan and it, like many other companies across Tokyo, were having their fare shake at financial shakeups. The prime-minister himself admitting to countless breaking of voter laws, a mass public outcry for him and his party to be outed from office. These were turbulent times for Japan and the business side of things were just doing all that they could to keep up with the market shares.

The receptionist at the lobby gingerly typed at the computer screen. Doing her best to arrange the schedules of the various investor meetings that would be taking place over the next couple weeks. Silently the woman almost wished Shido HADN'T resigned from his position, least then her workload wouldn't be so hectic... silently she shoved the selfish thought from her head as she heard the lobby's front door open. Her head looked up to see a man walk in through the revolving door. To describe him simply he was... normal. He seemed not old enough to be past his prime, but not young enough to be new at whatever his chosen profession was. His hair was neatly cut and stark black in coloration and his face was a symmetrical non-expression of complete passiveness. His suit from the neck down was a basic black and neatly cut business suit, and his posture was straight and narrow. He walked forward with a basic and even step and he approached the receptionist's desk with his continued expression of unenthusiastic.

"Hello," the receptionist said with as much forced enthusiasm as she could muster, "your name and business?"

"I'm Tetsuta Morobaki," the man responded evenly, "I'm here to see Tsuma-san."

"Ah... uhm... the elevator is just down there-" the receptionist pointed and the man simply nodded and walked past her. The woman observed the man, Tetsuta she recalled, walking down the isle toward the elevator and without skipping a beat, press the button, wait for the elevator to open by standing completely still and once the door opened, proceeded to move inside without missing a beat in his step.

The woman gulped as she looked away once the elevators closed. She didn't know why but she couldn't help but shake the feeling she had just dealt with a very suspicious person.

"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" a voice sounded as Tetsuta walked through the doorway, looked over and saw one man in a business suit grabbing another man by the scruff of his own neck. Around the two were a group of about 4 other gentlemen, each of them sitting at a group of small couched gathered around a metal coffee table, recently shattered glass and spilled coffee covered the otherwise pristine white floor.

"Mister Chairman," one of the men said as the grabbing man turned his head toward Tetsuta. The man relinquished his grip and as he stood up it was clear to see just how nonthreatening he really was. Short and stalky, barely standing over 4 feet tall and with a head so bald you could catch the glare of the florescent lights off it. About the only thing that was giving this man any sort of dignity was his title.

"It's about time you got here!" the man shouted indignantly as he pulled a white cloth from his coat and began to wipe the sweat down from his brow, "what the HELL happened!? I WANT ANSWERS DAMMNIT!"

Tetsuta looked down at the man, his eyes examining him for a brief second. Then his eyes slowly began to look up, the other men at the table were scrambling to clean up the destroyed mugs and spilled coffee. Rubbing the floor and the table down with paper towels and picking up the broken shards gingerly to place them in a plastic waste bin. The speed and clear panic the two men showed was enough to indicate their deference to the man in front of them.

"... it is hard to give anything simple," Tetsuta said.

"THEN GIVE ME THE COMPLICATED VERSION!" the short man shouted as he continued to rub down his head, "I DON'T CARE!"

"... very well," Tetsuta said as he blinked and looked up at the two of them, "to begin: Masayoshi Shido failed. That much is clear. But you are no doubt curious as to the whys and hows?"

"We already know the whys and hows," another man said, standing up from his position near the end of the back couch. He was a sharply dressed man. His eyes obscured by his glasses and his equally well kept hair.

"Seong Kim, I presume?" Tetsuta asked as the man simply nodded.

"Yes. And you are Shido's little... experiment? I take it?" the man responded.

Tetsuta stared at Seong for a second before moving over to the couch and taking a seat himself. The short man following him closely and keeping his rage filled eyes on the man.

"Masayoshi Shido... as you are all aware. He delved into the study of cognitive psience. Officially little more than the crackpot theories of some crazy woman who died when she got herself pregnant and couldn't bare the stress of being a single parent. But in reality, the foundation of a new and brighter Japan," Tetsuta explained.

"We're quite aware of this yes," Seong responded, "now what do you have to say about these 'Phantom Thieves'?"

"... for right now, very little," Tetsuta stated.

"What!?" the chairman shouted, "they're the reason we're in this fucking mess!"

"On the contrary," Tetsuta responded, "we actually owe them quite a bit. True... they tore down the careful structures Shido had built up. But they also managed to clean up the mess Shido had made."

"M-mess?" the chairman asked.

"Shido had lost control of his plan, long before these 'Phantom Thieves' intervened," Tetstuta explained, "altering the cognition of millions. Creating a society where people blindly and willfully follow whoever is in power, by virtue of faith alone... he inadvertently wound up creating a Class 5 Psycho-Cognitive entity. In other words. A God."

"Uhm-" one of the men sitting at the table said, "isn't that... a bit ridiculous?"

"Yes it is," Seong nodded, "it's also completely factual."

The group looked to the foreigner for a second before he picked up a mug of coffee and took a hardy sip.

"Oh I'm sorry. Please go on, I'm merely musing to myself," Seong said as Tetsuta nodded.

"Shido believed this 'God' to be a mere object that he could use. Little did he realize that it had a will of its own and it inadvertently began to manipulate events to bring about Shido's downfall," Tetsuta explained.

"Hold on- are you saying that something of Shido's own creation made those Phantom Thieves!?" the chairman demanded.

"That is my assessment yes," Tetsuta said, "I cannot confirm exactly why and how. My assumption? It desired to remove Shido as an element to drive the public to desperation. Thus they would cling to it more."

"Cling to it?" the Chairman repeated incredulously.

"It is important to think of Gods as less, divine entities worth worshiping, and more as... a parasite that infects millions with its thoughts," Tetsuta stated with no emotion, but a sense of grave finality in his words, "this God in particular, only desired to control and subjugate humanity. In a sense, it was merely performing its initial purpose, but far outside the intention of Shido's goals."

"So... okay... you're saying that Shido made a god... and this god turned against him and made the Phantom Thieves... and then the Phantom Thieves destroyed this God?" one of the men at the table asked incredulously.

"That is my assessment yes," Tetsuta nodded.

"Man creates God," Seong began, "God creates the Devil. The Devil kills God. And man kind is once more free to inherit the earth."

"So as you see, Shido failed in a very particular manner," Tetsuta said as he looked around the group of ever increasingly anxious individuals, "and wound up sewing the seeds of his own failure. He has nobody to blame for his fall from grace but himself."

"That SON OF A BITCH!" the chairman shouted as he slammed his hands on the table, causing several of the men to recoil in fear, "promised us a seat next to him. Promised us wealth and fame and recognition. And then the fucker goes down and is gonna be bringing us with him!"

"… yes. On face-value it would seem as though Shido's pride and arrogance has been all of our downfalls," Tetsuta nodded, "although that is a rather rash thought."

The group paused and observed the plain looking man. Seong leaned forward and stared at him.

"Oh?" was all Seong said as Tetsuta looked around the group.

"Shido's fault was not in his methodology or means but rather his scale. His hope was to bring millions under his control through the manipulation of cognition. This was his inevitable undoing," Tetsuta said as he leaned back and folded his arms over his chest, "now imagine if we implemented his powers over cognition. But instead of applying it to millions, we apply it to only a very small and select few."

"I see," Seong said with a smile, "so instead of creating a cognitive power strong enough to control millions, one which we'd have no means of controlling ourselves, we create multiple smaller means of manipulating cognition. Controlling specific individuals that in turn will help us control a majority."

"Kim-san is mostly correct," Tetsuta nodded, "my proposition is, instead of metaphorically slamming the world into our control with a hammer. We perform… 'cognitive surgery' as it were."

The chairman huffed as he shook his head.

"You can do whatever you want. I want no part of this," he said, "as long as those 'Phantom Thieves' are out there, there's no telling what messing with Cognition will mean for us."

"Ah yes," Seong sighed, "the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. Sadly the one X-factor in all of this even to this day. Unpredictable and dangerous."

"D-didn't their leader come forward? We know who he is, right?" one of the men at the table asked meekly.

"Sadly, we don't know to what extent he was working with others. And we have good reason to believe he was implementing a pseudonym in his file for us anyway. The government has attempted to track him and his friends but as you can imagine they are… wily. Additionally, the boy in question was freed due to overwhelming public support for his discharge. If he were to mysteriously die well… we may as well paint a giant target on all of our backs once people want to know answers," Seong explained.

"Then our hands are tied," the chairman grumbled, "we can't hurt them and if we so much as make a move into Shido's plans again they'll stop us assuredly."

"What is your plan, Seong?" Tetsuta asked as the group looked to him.

"Plan? That's mighty presumptuous of you. What makes you think I have a plan?" Seong asked with a shrug.

"You were one of the supporters of this meeting," Tetsuta answered, "you explicitly asked for me to arrive and assist with my collective knowledge on the Metaverse. You wouldn't assist in staging this entire thing only to shrug and waste our time and money."

Seong paused and stared at the plain man for a second… and then he smiled.

"Right you are. Alright then. Let me show you all footage I recovered from a security institute for the criminally charged, just a few weeks ago-" Seong pulled a small remote from his pocket and the group watched as an LED screen slowly lowered from the ceiling and began to play camera footage in front of them.

What they saw confused them. It was a man with black hair dressed in an orange jumpsuit. He had a bored, annoyed looking on his face as he sat with a slouched posture.

"Isn't that-" one of the men started before Tetsuta interrupted him.

"Toru Adachi. The power-line murderer of Inaba," he confirmed.

"Alright," a voice on the screen began, "we heard an interesting conversation between you and an inmate. Would you mind repeating that for us?"

"Really?" Adachi asked with a shake of his head, "you're seriously gonna believe a stupid fucking story like that?"

"Please. Humor us," the voice continued.

"… alright fine… I killed Mayumi Yamano and the high school bitch by throwing them into the TV," Adachi said.

"When you say… throw them in-" the voice interrupted.

"I mean. My hand can go into a TV. Don't bother testing that here by the way, it only works in that bumfuck town. Believe me, I tried," Adachi stated.

"Hrm. Interesting. Now… why would this kill Mayumi Yamano and Saki Konishi? And then put their bodies on the telephone wires?" the voice asked.

"Cause there's another world in there," Adachi said with an exasperated sigh, "some… yellow foggy place. People go in there, and they meet some evil version of themselves. And then they die."

"Hrm… our intel tells us that the 'Detective Prince' Naoto Shirogane was the one who fingered you as the culprit. Do you deny this?" the voice asked.

"Pffft… I mean she was there I guess," Adachi rolled his eyes, "but nah it was somebody else who found out I killed them."

"Can you give us names?" the voice continued.

"Pfft… the hell would I do that for?" Adachi asked.

"We can lighten your sentence extensively for this information," the voice continued, "if you agree to tell us what we want to know… and promise to do us a favor."

Adachi blinked as he stared forward with a bored expression.

"Ya know I'll admit… if there's one place more boring than that bumfuck town it's here… fine fine. I'll tell you whatever you want," Adachi said.

The screen turned off and Seong looked to the group.

"What Adachi-san revealed to us that day was QUITE insightful… apparently: a few high school students stopped him. They entered into that 'other world' and attained the power to control their 'evil half'. Transforming it into a source of power known as… a 'Persona'," Seong explained.

"Interesting," Tetsuta responded, "my own analysis indicated that the Phantom Thieves possessed a similar power."

"Indeed? Well then this makes my plan all the better," Seong said with a smile, "before I elaborate further. I think I should share a story. One that my father told me long ago."

The group watched as Seong walked about to a nearby water cooler and began to pour himself out a cool drink into a paper cup.

"There was once a lion. Powerful, majestic, the most feared and respected creature in ALL the land. No other predator dared stand against it for no other was as fierce or as strong as he… and yet one day. The lion awoke in the middle of the night. His cave was infested with an army of red ants you see. And while the mighty lions paw struck the earth with a mighty blow, the ants were small and could crawl through the cracks in the floor and between his fingers and onto his belly. And they bit the lion. Again and again and again in places he could not reach with his maw or his paw and soon the beast was forced to flee his very home!"

Seong took a gulp of water before continuing.

"Distraught, the lion wandered. And as he did he happened upon an army of black ants! The lion, remembering his past encounter, was at first fearful of them. But then a thought struck the lion… he knelt down and spoke to the ants: saying 'I know of a place you may call home! A place RICH in food and space, where you may live and feed your young and serve your queen in warmth and safety'. The black ants were quite eager for such a place. And so followed the lion back to his home… where the black ants saw the red ants had taken hold."

Seong turned to the group and slowly walked back to them.

"It was a great battle between these two armies. The black ants desperate for a new place to live, while the red ants were still weary from their battle with the lion. Their forces clashed and soon both armies began to dwindle. Until eventually, only a few courageous soldiers remained… and were easily squished by the lion's aggressive paw."

"Your story is a bit on the nose," Tetsuta said, "but it is worth consideration."

"So wait-" the Chairman began, "you're saying… that those kids who stopped the Inaba serial killer-"

"Are detectives," Seong said, "or at the very least. Throw their hats in with a very noteworthy one. If spurned to follow their sense of righteousness, then it would be easy to see how they could come into conflict with our own little… problem."

"Heh," the chairman finally smiled, "I see… yeah I like it. Get two of those groups to kill each other then come in and finish the job. I like it a lot..."

"Then we are in agreement then? Tetsuta?" Seong asked as he looked to the completely plain looking man.

"I have no objections. The means to instigate hostilities can already be derived from our combined knowledge," Tetsuta responded.

"Oh? What do you know?" Seong asked inquisitively.

"The Metaverse has not completely disappeared," Tetsuta responded, "after some digging. I've found an… aberrant version of it. Using Shido's notes, I believe I've derived the source of it as well. A target you may be familiar with?"

The plain looking man proceeded to produce a file from within his coat and hand it over to Seong, who put down the cup of water onto the table and plucked the file from Tetsuta's hands gingerly. He opened it up and slowly his eyes scanned the papers in front of him, a smile began to cross Seong's face as he kept reading.

"Oh yes… yes this will do quite nicely," Seong nodded.

"Uhm-" one of the people at the coffee table raised his hand, "I-If it's alright can I ask? This plan seems pretty… foolproof. But uhm… what if… these two groups were to see through our plan and proceed to team up in order to stop us?"

The thought resonated with the group for a split second before Seong shook his head.

"Undoubtedly will not happen," Seong said, "I have done my research and I have concluded that these two groups are diametrically opposed in just such a way that spurning them into action against one another can be easily done. We even have the perfect… subject, for us to spark this conflict."

Seong closed the file and nodded assuredly.

"Besides… it's not like these groups or their members have any connection to one another," he said with a grin.

This is the story… of a Lady and a Trickster.

The story goes that one time, there was a woman whose beauty was unparalleled. So radiant was her form, so flawless was her face, so delicate and smooth was her hair and her fingers, that her beauty was envied by all women and desired by all men. She lived a simple and sedentary life, kept away from the world by those who's be driven mad by her beauty. But as chance would have it, the Emperor himself happened upon the woman one day while out hunting. Driven by her beauty and grace, he immediately pleaded to live with him at his palace in Kyoto. However, the Emperor had a wife, and her husbands clear unfaithfulness drove the woman into a mad jealousy herself. So much so: she challenged the moon.

"Moon!" she said, "do you not oversee marriage? Am I not destined to be with my husband, the emperor? Is heaven so incompetent as to deny me my simple fate!?"

The Moon recognized the emperor's wife's claim. But the woman's beauty was simply too great. So great in fact that the Emperor would not take his eyes off her.

And so, The Moon entrusted a Trickster to intervene.

"You shall lead this woman into the forest to collect fish from a local stream. I shall send a beast to take her and restore balance to the heavens," the Moon said to the Trickster.

The trickster came down from the moon and began to lead the woman out from the Emperor's palace. Before she left however, the Emperor's most trusted priest gave her an arrow of exorcism, to assist in her warding off evil spirits. The woman accepted the arrow and head off to collect fish, the trickster following closely behind to lead the beast to her.

Once the woman was alone, a horrible demon with the head of a bo ar and the body of an ogre came out of the woods. She attempted to grab the arrow so that she could defend herself from the evil creature, but the trickster took the form of a fish and grabbed the arrow, diving back into the river before she could use it. She was taken by the Boar Demon then, to be ravaged and devoured like many a maiden across the land. Yet something unexpected occurred.

The trickster, while in the form of the fish, had the arrow's head pierce his lip when he grabbed it. While the arrow harmed him it dispelled heavens eyes from him and for a second he saw the earthly realm as was, and he glimpsed the woman's beauty and became immediately infatuated by her.

The trickster, now driven by the woman's beauty, went to the demons horrid castle and demanded the demon release he, for he was a god and threatened the boar demon with innumerable punishments if he harmed her. The boar demon was not so easily dissuaded however, he likewise saw the woman as a beautiful trophy that he coveted and so he challenged the Trickster's threat.

For one, he knew that if word reached heaven that a god such as himself fell for a mortal woman, he would be punished. So he told the trickster that if she looked upon hi s true form and saw that a God had fallen for her, the next time she prayed Heaven would know of his treachery and he would be forbade from returning to the mortal realms forever . The trickster understood this but told the Boar if he did not give her the chance to free herself, he would kill him.

The boar demon told the woman then that if she performed three tasks she would be set free. The first of these tasks was to comb through the demon's stores of rice and pluck every stone or pebble that was mixed in with the rice by sunrise. The woman despaired at the task, but was assisted when the trickster took the form of an army of ants and began to separate the stones from the rice for her. The task was complete and the Boar Demon, unaware of the trickster's involvement, begrudgingly gave the woman her next task.

This next task was even more complicated however. For she had to pluck the feathers off a vermilion bird, enough to make a fan of them. Such a task she knew was impossible and the woman weighed her options, return to the boar demon or end her tortured life. She chose to cast herself from the nearest cliff-face and accept death with open arms. However the trickster was not one to let this happen and took the form of a great wind that carried the woman to the safety of a nearby beach. While she was unconscious from her attempted suicide, the trickster hatched a plan to get her the bird's feathers.

The trickster gathered a plethora of burdock seeds, wrapped them in a loose bundle of leaves and threads and then waited for the fabled bird to fly overhead. Once the trickster saw the mythic bird, he launched the bundle into the sky where the spiky seeds flung out and covered the vermilion bird's wings. The bird swiftly perched and began to pluck the seeds from his wings with its elegant beak, as it did so, various feathers fell from its wings and landed among the roots below. The trickster gathered the feathers and quickly ran back to the woman, placing them into her still resting hand.

When the woman awoke to find she was not only alive but had seemingly accomplished her task, she returned to the boar demon to confront his growing rage once more. A rage that he channeled into his final challenge.

She was to go into the underworld, where she would have to bring the Boar Demon some of the food of the underworld. A perilous journey which she undertakes, knowing full well that either way death awaited her arrival. Upon entering Yomi, the woman's lantern fell from her hand and its light was snuffed out. Yet in the darkness she heard a voice, and felt her hand grasped gently by someone who told her to not be afraid.

The voice further warned her that whatever she should do, she should not bring light. She accepted this warning and proceeded to be lead deep into Yomi, where she eventually happened upon the food of the underworld and the hearth of Izanami. The voice told her to keep moving and once more to not bring light to bear. However the woman was too driven by her curiosity, too fascinated by the stranger. As she was guided out of Yomi she light her lantern once more and saw the face of a young man who was a god. In their moment of seeing each other, she knew that he was the one helping her through all of her trials. But no sooner did she see him then the Trickster was whisked away from the mortal realm, to never be seen by her again.

The woman escaped Yomi with the food of the dead. And when she gave it to the Boar Demon, he was forced to uphold his bargain and allow her freedom from his arrangement.

Later that night, the moon came to the woman and told her that since she had broken the arrangement placed upon her, she was now free to choose her husband. The woman told the moon she desired no husband, simply to know the name of the trickster who had saved her so often. The moon told her if she wished to know the name, she would have to sit under a sakura tree and pray every night uninterrupted for 30 years.

And she did so. Becoming a match-maker , she became famous across the lands for her ability. Many strong and long-lasting marriages were sanctioned under her blessings and many couples and nobles sought her out for her blessings. Perhaps the moon had looked down on her that night and gave her a blessing itself. But despite this, she remained steadfast in her prayer. Calm and observant even in the coldest and deadest of winters she knelt and prayed.

Until finally… thirty years after her encounter with the moon. One night she heard the name of a trickster on the wind. Her eyes opened and she vanished. Disappearing into the night as quickly as the moon did behind a veil of clouds. To this day, nobody is certain where the woman went or what the trickster's name was… but I liked to believe, at least in some small corner of my memories, that the two were reunited in heaven. And they lived happily ever after.

"Happy Birthday to you…."

"… Happy Biiirthday tooo yoooouuu-"

"HAPPY BIIIRTHDAAAAY MIIIITSUHAAAA~" their collective voices chimed in. She sat opposite to them, a small cake laid out in front of her with a couple of candles lit atop it. Mitsuha smiled as she listened to her friends sing to her. Their warm wishes touched the girl's heart as she closed her eyes and let out a soft laugh.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOOO YOOOOU!" they finished as Mitsuha inhaled and proceeded to blow out the candles in one strong breath.

The group clapped. There was Yosuke and Teddie, both of whom were showing their age in different ways. Yosuke's hair was a bit shorter, a bit more well trimmed and a bit more combed back. He almost looked somewhat respectable, despite everything. Teddie meanwhile had actually grown his hair out a bit longer, but other than that his wide blue eyes and innocent expression communicated all that Mitsuha needed to know: Teddie hadn't changed a bit. Chie was in her casual attire and Yukiko was now wearing a more fashionable bob cut. Rise had let her hair grown out into a wavy pattern and was dressed as ostentatiously pastel as you could guess. Perhaps the most notably changed one was Kanji, who had dyed his hair back to black and now wore a pair of fresh spectacles. The man looked practically distinguished compared to his old punk-ghetto look. And of course there was Naoto, who was comfortably adjusting their shirt a bit as Mitsuha looked to a pair of familiar faces who were now quite unfamiliar.

Yotsuha had combed her hair down into a wavy shoulder-length style, while Nanako was now sporting a ponytail to compliment her longer hair. The two were now entering into their last years of primary school and would soon be going to middle school.

"Happy birthday sis, I guess," Yotsuha muttered.

"Yotsuha!" Nanako scolded her friend, "come on! Be nice!"

"It's okay Nanako-chan," Mitsuha said with a wave of her hand, "like I told you two, I have trouble supporting myself alone here. I can't just invite Yotsuha to live with me."

"Well can you at least come back home sometime then!?" Yotsuha shouted, "it's getting hard taking care of grandma you know."

"Sorry Yotsuha," Mitsuha nodded, she sometimes forgot that in her quest to find out who killed their dad, she had really left family behind, "things have just… been going outta control for me for a bit."

"Well you can plan visiting back home later! For now, let's celebrate!" Kanji said energetically.

"This is incredible guys!" Mitsuha laughed, "you ALL came here for my birthday?"

"Well," Yosuke began, "we figured not all of us had the pleasure of seeing Tokyo. And this was as good an excuse as any to come by! We asked Naoto-kun to help arrange a visit and they set us up at a good hotel and everything!"

"Remember that you DO still need to pay on the deposit, yes?" Naoto said in a disgruntled voice.

"I know- I know-" Yosuke began but was interrupted by Teddie.

"Mitsu-chan! How could you come to such a giant place!? I've never seen so many people in my life! All these people… all these towers… it's overwhelming!" Teddie said.

"It's not that bad!" Yosuke scolded, "you just gotta pay attention!"

"Right, says the guy who got us LOST 10 minutes after arriving here!" Chie retorted.

"That's- not- urggh-" Yosuke bean as Rise took control of the conversation.

"Thankfully I was able to come by with Naoto-kun and show them all where the Hotel we're staying at is! You should come by Mitsuha! It's actually right close to Destiny Land!" Rise said.

"Uhhh… I don't really wanna think about that place right now," Mitsuha sighed.

"OH YEA!" Nanako shouted "you're a Destiny Princess aren't you? Does that mean you can get us in for free!?"

"Nanako-chan! She'd get fired if she tried that!" Yosuke said. Mitsuha laughed and shook her head.

"It's okay. I doubt I could get ALL of you in for free but- if I spin it right I could get Nanako and Yotsuha in for a day," Mitsuha said.

"REALLY?" Nanako asked.

"Nanako do you really-" Yotsuha began but stopped once Nanako turned to her.

"Come on Yotsuha! Let's visit Destiny World while we're here! We could even see Destiny World Sea!" Nanako said happily. Yotsuha paused and blushed a bit as she lowered her head.

"O-okay fine," she sighed, unable to counter her friends simple joy.

"ME TOO!" Teddie shouted, "I wanna see Mitsu-chan as a beautiful princess!"

Mitsuha sighed and shook her head. Oh well, she supposed, if it was for Nanako-chan she might as well…

"Oh yea. Nanako-chan? Is Dojima-san okay with you being here?" she asked.

"Dad said it was okay," Nanako said, "as long as I stayed close to the others he said."

"He wasn't too pleased with the idea of letting Nanako go out to Tokyo by herself. But when we explained we'd look after her, it was fine," Yosuke explained.

"Hrm," Mitsuha nodded as she looked down for a second, then back up at the others.

"I don't suppose any of you have heard from Narukami-san?" she asked as the group collectively sighed.

"We all texted him," Rise said, "but didn't get any response."

"He's been pretty quiet all things considered," Kanji nodded.

"I wish we knew what he was doing… but… guy likes to keep to himself," Yosuke sighed.

"I thought Sensei would be here honestly… after sensing Mitsu-chan was in danger anyway I almost ran here myself!" Teddie said.

"Hrm? Danger?" Mitsuha asked.

"Remember the uh… incident?" Naoto asked, "when that happened. Everyone texted me to see if you were okay."

"I just got a weird feeling all of a sudden, that something terrible had happened," Yukiko said as she touched the black braided chord wrapped around her neck.

"Yea," Chie nodded as she shuffled her feet awkwardly, "for some reason I even looked down at the chord you made for me."

"You still have all of those?" Mitsuha blinked.

"What do you MEAN 'you still have all those?' OF COURSE WE DO!" Yosuke retorted as he pulled out his wallet, a yellow braided chord hung off a small chain wrapped around it, "I think of it as a good luck charm, ya know?"

"It's really cute, Mitsuha," Rise said as she showed her own pink chord, wrapped around a keychain she had.

"I KEEP MINE ALWAYS ON ME!" Teddie said as he pointed up, "errr… well I tied it around my furry ear anyway."

"That chord reminds us of you," Kanji explained as he showed off the wavy blue tinted chord he had wrapped around his belt, "and with it… we're always connected to you."

"You guys," Mitsuha sighed at her friends cheesy sentimentality. As they sat however, a knock came from the door.

"Huh?" Chie said, "you expecting someone?"

"Hrm… maybe," Mitsuha nodded as she stood up and walked toward the door, "Sayaka? Is that you?"

As she opened the door however- it was clear that it was not somebody named Sayaka. Rather it was a man. A man dressed in a dark gray suit, neatly tied up and wearing a fashionable hat over his head.

Mitsuha backed away as the group collectively stood up and watched as the new figure slowly reached up, took off his hat and revealed a familiar face with gray hair.

"Sorry I'm late," Yu said with a nervous smile.

"BIG BRO!" Nanako shouted with absolute glee as she rushed over to the man and gave him pause.

"Whoa? Who's this girl?" Yu asked with a chuckle as he bent down.

"Come on! You remember me right?" Nanako shouted.

"Of course I do Nanako," Yu smiled as the gang were quick to approach him.

"YU!? WHAT THE- WHY-" Yosuke began.

"Why the sudden entrance?" Naoto asked.

"Well I got all your messages," Yu said, "and I figured I could tell you all I'd be there… but then I realized that I knew where you all would be and- it'd be more entertaining this way."

"SENPAI!" Rise shouted "YOU JERK! YOU ACTUALLY HAD US UPSET!"

"Rise we're not in high school anymore," Yu said to her, "you can just call me Yu."

"I KNOW THAT! YOU DUMMY!" Rise retorted.

"THAT AIN'T THE POINT YU!" Kanji shouted as he paused, took off his glasses and put his forearm over his eyes, "that's just… a low blow man!"

"Awww Yu. You made Kanji cry!" Chie teased.

"SHUT UP!" Kanji retorted.

"Yu… this is incredible!" Mitsuha laughed as Yu looked to her, proceeding to pull a small box out from his coat and handing it over to her.

"Happy Birthday, Mitsuha," Yu said as she opened up the box to find… a black and yellow chord. Like the ones she had made only… different.

"Yu did you… make this?" she asked.

"I wish," he laughed, "there was a place in New York that made them on commission. I figured it'd be something you'd like."

"Hey," Yotsuha started, "this is cool and all. But isn't it also a bit cramped in here with all of us?"

"Yotsuha kinda has a point," Mitsuha nodded, "maybe we should move the celebration somewhere else?"

"OH! How about that cafe down the street!?" Chie offered, "it's past lunchtime too so it shouldn't be too busy!"

"Sounds like a plan!" Yosuke nodded as the group turned and began to move out of the house. Once all but Yu and Mitsuha were gone… the two looked to each other.

"Mitsuha… there's some things I wanna ask you," Yu began.

"… yeah, okay Yu," Mitsuha nodded as she moved the black and yellow chord into her pocket and looked to him. She could already guess what they were going to discuss.

"So how much do you know about what happened?" Mitsuha asked as both her and Yu sat at the table of the cafe gingerly. Yu had already went and talked to Nanako, telling her all about what he'd been up to and how he contacted uncle Dojima before coming here. The others were clearly hoping to talk to him, but right now they were just happy to talk and be among each other in Tokyo. Now Nanako and Yotsuha were together with Kanji and Teddie, while the others were at a larger table. Now Mitsuha and Yu could speak privately to each other.

"Only what Naoto told me," Yu explained, "she's meticulous in her details if nothing else. I'm… sorry about your father."

"It's okay Yu. I wouldn't have asked you to come all the way to Inaba just for me," Mitsuha sighed.

"Still though… you put yourself in a lot of risk," Yu said.

"… It wasn't unnecessary," Mitsuha said, "Shido… Shido had to be stopped. And I thought… I thought if nobody had the courage to stand to him. Then at least I-"

"I'm not saying what you did was bad or wasn't understandable," Yu corrected himself, "I'm saying you made a lot of us worry… even me."

"Even… you?" Mitsuha blinked as the gray haired boy nodded at her. There was a pause as the two looked down.

"So… about those Phantom Thieves-" Yu began.

"I don't know," was all Mitsuha said as she shook her head, "I know everyone says that I talked about a group like them back in Inaba all those years ago. I know people tell me I went up on stage in a costume. That I was obsessed with them back then and that I was some kind of Phantom Thief fiend but… but I swear Yu. I don't remember any of that."

"Hrm," Yu rubbed his chin, "and when they fought Shido and made him confess to his crimes?"

"… I guess that was just serendipity?" Mitsuha shrugged.

"It all seems very convenient is the only thing," Yu admitted.

"Yeah… I wish I had answers but I don't," Mitsuha nodded, "heck I don't even know if that group was really real ya know? Even now all of their actions seem like… hearsay almost. Like some rumor taken too far."

As the two continued to sit in silence, listening to the ramblings of their friends as talking went on, Yu slowly leaned in and put his hands onto the table.

"So… subject change then. What's been new for you recently?" Yu asked.

"Not much," Mitsuha said with a smile, "I've been working at Destiny Land. Honing my skills as a detective. Not… too many clients unfortunately. But Naoto-kun has been supportive if nothing else."

The woman picked up a cup of coffee from the table, took a delicate sip and then proceeded to sigh.

"Outside of that just life… Tokyo's an amazing place but… living here? It's weird… I kinda get homesick sometimes. Never thought I'd say that about Inaba," she laughed.

"Why don't you come back?" Yu asked honestly as Mitsuha looked up at him, "I mean… you came here to avenge your father, right? What more can you do here?"

Mitsuha stared at Yu for a solid second… and then blinked… and then sighed.

"You're right? I probably should move back someday. Grandma's only getting older. And Yotsuha's starting to have to take care of her. That can't be easy… but..." Mitsuha paused and shook her head, "but… I can't shake this feeling. Like there's still something here for me."

"What's here for you?" Yu asked.

"… I'll tell you something Narukami-san. Something I haven't told anyone else… some days… I wake up crying. My eyes watering, my mouth open and gaping… my thoughts reaching out and grasping at something… ephemeral. Something not real but feels like it should be," Mitsuha explained.

"You're dreaming?" Yu asked.

"… dreaming of someone. Someone I don't know," Mitsuha said, "someone I haven't met. Someone… someone I think I SHOULD know… I… I dream of them. Holding me in their arms. Telling me they won't let go. I ask what their name is and then…"

Mitsuha threw her head back and sighed.

"I wake up," she said simply.

"… hrm…" Yu nodded, "you think there's some boy in this city for you?"

"Crazy right?" Mitsuha responded, "I sound like some love-struck fool huh?"

"Hrm," Yu smirked as he closed his eyes, "Mitsuha you-"

As Yu was about to continue- the girl's phone suddenly beeped. Mitsuha pulled out her phone, looked down at it and proceeded to press a few buttons.

"What's that?" Yu asked.

"Hrm? Oh it's Sayaka. She's telling me about tomorrow's ceremony," Mitsuha said as she paused for a second, "oh yea you wouldn't know, would you? Sayaka's a girl I met soon after coming to Tokyo."

"She… lived here?" Yu asked as Mitsuha shook her head.

"Nope! She actually lived out in the country for most of her life. Then her town got destroyed by a flood," Mitsuha explained.

"That's horrible," Yu responded.

"Yea. But she was new to the big city like me! And we were both formerly country girls so… we kinda hit it off? I never told her about the whole 'Detective Princess' thing obviously," Mitsuha explained as she took a cup of coffee and sipped again, "anyway. Tomorrow she's getting married."

"What?" Yu said with wide eyes, "well tell her congratulations!"

"I will, I will," Mitsuha nodded at Yu, "I won't be here much tomorrow cause of it but-"

"Oh so THAT'S why you said we couldn't hang out tomorrow?" Yosuke said as he approached the two.

"Yosuke?" Mitsuha blinked.

"Come on! We may not know this girl but we don't mind attending a nice little marriage ceremony!" Yosuke said with a smirk.

"What!? Marriage!?" Teddie shouted as he ran over, "SENSEI!? YOU DIDN'T… POP THE QUESTION TO MITSU-CHAN DID YOU!?"

"What!? N-no! No! GOD NO!" Mitsuha shouted as Yu simply smiled and shook his head.

"Calm down Teddie. Learn to read the situation a little," Yu said in response to the shadow turned man.

"So wait, what's going on?" Chie asked as she walked up to the two, quickly followed by Yukiko, Kanji and Rise.

"Mitsuha's friend is getting married tomorrow," Yosuke said, "and I think we should sit in on the ceremony!"

"Oooh! That sounds lovely!" Chie said happily.

"I haven't been to a wedding since… since well, EVER!" Yukiko smiled down.

"I'll probably have to cover up a bit," Rise said, "if a fan were to see me within 50 feet of a wedding chapel the tabloids would be all 'IS RISETTE PLANNING TO TAKE THE DIVE AND RETIRE?' which my managers would have to approve."

"A wedding? Like… with real dresses and stuff? Woa," Kanji said.

"You guys!" Mitsuha scolded, "Sayaka doesn't even know any of you! She asked ME to come!"

"And you will come! Along with some friends! Come oooon Mitsuhaaa!" Yosuke said with a smile, "what's the worst that could happen!?"

"Okay… okay alright. But- I'm going to meet with her before the ceremony. I'm lending her my kumihimo," Mitsuha explained as she gestured to the red chord still tied to her head.

"Lending it? Why?" Kanji asked, "so she can tie the knot?"

"What're you an old man?" Yosuke asked as he recognized the horrible pun.

"Actually Kanji," Yukiko began, "I believe it's tradition for a Bride to bring something new, something old, something borrowed, and something blue to a western wedding ceremony."

"Oohhh! I've heard about that!" Chie responded.

"Yep! And my kumihimo is going to be the 'something borrowed' basically!" Mitsuha said happily.

"Well more the merrier they say!" Kanji smiled, "let's do it!"

By the time the next day had rolled around, Mitsuha had already taken her friends to the western style chapel where the wedding between Sayaka and Tesshi was being held. Her friends had taken precautions to dress less casually, with each of them in suits and conservative clothing. Her friends however were still outside the church at the moment, as Mitsuha herself was busily helping Sayaka into her wedding attire, while Mitsuha herself was happily in her brides maid dress.

"Hey, Mitsuha?" the short girl, Sayaka, said as she looked over her shoulder, flipping up her veil at Mitsuha.

"Yes Sayaka?" Mitsuha asked as she proceeded to zip up the right of the dress.

"This dress doesn't make me look puffy does it?" Sayaka asked. Mitsuha laughed.

"I honestly don't even know what that means," she said earnestly.

"You know! I just… wanted to lose some weight before the big day was all," Sayaka admitted with a small blush as Mitsuha finished up on her friend.

"You look beautiful, Sayaka," Mitsuha assured the girl as she reached up, pulled the kumihimo off her head and gently handed it over to the girl, who tied it into a bow on her light pink wedding dress. Sayaka nodded and smiled at Mitsuha.

"Oh yea. HOW many friends did you say were inviting themselves?" she asked angrily.

"… like… seven?" Mitsuha shrugged apologetically.

"Mitsuhaaaaa," Sayaka sighed.

"I'm sorry! I didn't even know they'd ALL be visiting here for my birthday!" Mitsuha said.

"Well I hope they don't pig out at the reception or anything… are they a bunch of weirdos?" Sayaka asked.

Mitsuha blinked and looked away. Well… not ALL of them were…

"Uh… a few are pretty normal," Mitsuha responded.

"Mitsuhaaa," Sayaka responded, "if they get Tesshi on one of his rants about the cosmic multiverse again-"

Mitsuha laughed. For several reasons. She knew Tesshi was the kind of guy to totally buy into conspiracies. Heck the two of them bonding over the Phantom Thieves was one of the reasons she got acquainted with the two of them. The other was of course, being perhaps a bit more in the know about the supernatural than he was and having fun with not saying anything.

"They're not like that," Mitsuha laughed.

"Hrm," Sayaka huffed before pausing, "oh! The rings!"

She looked over to the table and Mitsuha paused as she saw the pair of old silver rings on the table to the left of them.

"Wow," Mitsuha said, "they're beautiful."

"They're pretty old," Sayaka nodded, "Tesshi says they're from an old sunken wreck said to be 'cursed' or something. That man..."

"Pffft you two," Mitsuha laughed, "you're not even married yet and you're already talking about him like an old couple."

"Mrmmm," Sayaka shook her head as she picked up the rings and proceeded to walk off, "you better go get your friends! The ceremonies starting right away!"

"Alright!" Mitsuha nodded as she turned and began to head out.

Once she was outside, she saw the group hanging out next to the church.

"Yo!" Yosuke greeted as Mitsuha approached the group. Yu ending a small chit-chat with Rise as the two were finished catching up on their travels.

"Alright guys. Sayaka's inside now… where's Yotsuha and Nanako-chan?" Mitsuha asked as she looked around.

"They're inside already," Yukiko said, "they went in first cause Nanako wanted to sit near the front."

"Hah," Mitsuha laughed as the group looked to each other, nodded and proceeded to walk inside. As they made their way into the church foyer there was a small hallway the group would have to cross in order to get into the greater church proper. To the right of this hallway was a small room where a modern TV hung on the wall. As the team casually crossed this room, they might have noticed the tv sputtering and changing images a few times… but they were simply too focused on the grand ceremony ahead to really care.

As the group entered into the central chapel, they slowly huddled off to the right side of the church, where 'friends of the bride' sat. The team decided to hang near the back, since officially they were more like 'friends of a friend'. Mitsuha had already moved to the back, where she was standing behind the approaching bride. Yu had already taken a moment to confirm that Nanako and Yotsuha were where they said they'd be, and now all the group had to do was sit back and watch the joyous occasion unfold.

They saw Mitsuha walk behind Sayaka, up to the groom, the nervous looking boy named Tesshi. They saw the bride, Sayaka, walk up in front of him and pause. They saw Mitsuha stand beside her. And then they saw the pastor raise his hands and begin to speak…

"Love… love is a magical thing," the pastor began, "it brings us together… binds us… unites us in holy matrimony. It can move mountains and gods-"

The pastor continued his speech. Cheesy sentiments about love and affection that, in the context of a western style wedding were more than welcome. Yu blinked for a second as he saw the bride and groom both standing unusually still as the pastor continued his speech. An absent thought wandered into his head as he looked around but decided to ignore it.

"And in so doing-" the pastor finished, "do we come together… formerly strangers. Now these two clans are a family. Together stronger than when they were apart… the rings?"

Sayaka paused for a second as she moved her bouquet from one hand to another, and held aloft the pair of rings Mitsuha had seen her pick up just moments before.

"Good," the pastor nodded, "should anyone here, for any reason, believe these two should not be wed-"

"Dude," Yosuke whispered to Yu as he heard the line coming along, "imagine if someone actually stood up and shouted 'I OBJECT' or some cheesy nonsense like that."

"You watch too many movies," Yu shook his head at his old friend.

"LET THEM SPEAK NOW… or forever… hold their pea-" the pastor was about to finish before the sound of shattering glass filled the church.

The group paused as the stained glass window at the front of the church SHATTERED. Its pieces flying out and causing an audible gasp from the crowd as a figure jumped out from the light outside. Its black long-coat fluttering in the wind as its arms and legs spread out, the figure did a flip forward as it suddenly landed with a hard thud, right between the now terrified and confused bride and groom.

Glass continued to fall as the figure stood up. His hair was stark black which matched his equally dark long coat and dark gray inner jacket. The only colors that shot out to those observing were his deep red gloves and his stark white mask. His expression was plain and neutral as he began to rise, bits of glass continuing to hit the floor as Mitsuha, Sayaka, Tesshi and the Pastor continued to reel back. It all seemed to happen so slowly but it was little less than a few seconds.

In one, single, simplistic motion, the figure stood up and allowed his face to contort into a cocky grin.

"Kept you waiting, huh?" the masked man said to nobody in particular as he suddenly whipped a handgun out of his long coat, turned around suddenly, aimed it directly at the Pastor's head and fired.

A scream was let out in the church as people began to panic.