Akihiko: Due to Katekyo reeling from a recent headache, I would be saying this. Persona 3 and 4 do not belong to Katekyo, but to Atlus. This is just a fanfiction.

Chapter 3: Relieved

Akihiko reeled back. "I-Inaba?! But…"

Chie frowned. "Are you hallucinating? This is Inaba. I-na-ba. Not Iwatodai."

Akihiko gritted his teeth. Did he travel all the way to Inaba from Iwatodai from the glowing screen? Not possible, but if the TVs were like teleports, it would be possible. But, wouldn't he have to walk all the way to Inaba in order to do that. Akihiko's brow furrowed. This was just so confusing.

Yosuke yawned. "Anyway, we should be leaving you to rest now. We need to catch up on sleep ourselves. Besides, you need to recuperate. Don't think you are out of the woods yet; you still need plenty of rest."

Akihiko smirked. "Really. Well then, why don't I feel tired then?"

Yosuke blinked. "Eh…well, perhaps you have some energy now, and you feel energized because of the food?"

Akihiko waved his hand. "I had some special training. I heal up really fast, and besides, I'm used to being tired, so I tend to recuperate at a faster rate." It was true, after all the hunting and grinding in Tartarus. It was already strenuous during the Dark Hour, not to mention the Persona summoning, as well as damage from the Shadows. The past year had trained him up good, and he was more than ready to hunt down Shadows, or perhaps a boxing match.

Narukami's face had remained emotionless. Akihiko had not taken notice of him until he spoke. "It would be wise if you stayed in bed. We would talk about it tomorrow." With that, he got up, beckoned the rest of the people and they all left the room.

Akihiko shivered. A wave of nostalgia came over him, reminding him of Minato. Narukami…he's just like Minato, ever silent, always cutting in with remarks that seemed to end a conversation or alter a decision. Was he…someone who could use multiple Personas as well? Akihiko pressed his lips to form a thin line. For now, not SEES. He would join their team. Clues had to be found, before coming to a conclusion. If Narukami was like Minato…does that mean if he was in the same situation as Minato, he could replace him? Akihiko shook his head. How selfish was he? To sacrifice someone he didn't know to rescue a dear friend, now that was what Shinji would punch him for. Akihiko smiled sadly. Minato, the Great Seal, Miki and Shinji, both in Heaven. Many of his closest companions had moved on. Does that mean he was weak?

Akihiko got up and stretched. Changing into his own clothes, he went out. Glancing at the hotel sign, he read: Amagi Inn. Alright, so for now he was staying at Amagi Inn?

Akihiko turned around and sighed. Walking down the streets, he noted the different areas. This was not Iwatodai, that was for sure. Walking past a shrine, he briefly remembered Koromaru. Ah, might as well. Akihiko walked over and dug into his pockets for some yen. 25 yen. Okay, that was more than enough. He threw it in and rang the bell. He wondered what he should wish for. Well, there were two things that he wished for the most, so he wished once, threw in another 25 yen and made the next wish. Turning around, he saw a fox. Akihiko sighed. Another shrine guardian like Koromaru. This place may not be Iwatodai, but it sure was reminding of it.

Moving on, he passed by the shopping district, only stopping to look around. By then, he heard a school bell. Well, it should be obvious that there is a school here, since there were students here. As he walked on, female students in uniforms were pointing at him and whispering. Well, he did stand out here, wearing a different uniform altogether. Since Inaba was a rural area, he figured that he wasn't well known here, which would be a relief for him, since he never enjoyed the fan girls he had accumulated over the years, since junior high. That relief was shot down the moment a girl rushed up, asking for his signature. Inwardly groaning, he signed it and moved on, before breaking out into a run to escape the girls chasing him, screaming his name. Damn, even in rural areas? Will the hoard of girls never end?!

Akihiko kept running, not caring which way he ran. He blinked at the last moment, running straight into… Narukami.

"S-Sorry!" Akihiko made an apologetic gesture, before resuming his mad run for escape. Girls can be fast if they want to, and he doubt that he was going to outrun them. As he ran on, he felt a hand on his shoulder and pulled him away. The girls rushed past him, not knowing that he was pulled into a corner. Akihiko turned around, facing Narukami. "Thanks for the save."

Narukami nodded. "It's fine. We are used to it, with Naoto and Rise on the team. At times, we have to somehow get them away from the media. After all, being famous has its ups and downs."

Akihiko nodded. He had a point then. Even back in junior high, his boxing teammates had to prevent fans from streaming into the boxing training area to watch him train. Only Mitsuru had talked to him after a match, and that was the first time they had met.

Lost in thought, he did not realize that he had followed Narukami to a shopping area. Junes…much like the Kirijo Group, but Junes was a name for shopping malls. Narukami motioned him to sit down at an empty seat, where the rest of his friends were there. Akihiko sat down.

"Wanna order something? Yosuke's treating!" Chie looked so excited, while Yosuke looked a little resigned. Ah, the Hanamura family was the head of Junes after all. No wonder Yosuke's last name was familiar. Akihiko leaned back. "Recommendation?"

"Steak Bowl! Steak Bowl! Yosuke, 2 Steak Bowls!" Chie looked really happy; she must be a meat lover as well, much like Akihiko. Oh yeah, more protein to keep his energy up!

"By the way, Sanada, what are you doing out of bed?" Naoto had fixed his eyes on Akihiko. Oops, he forgot he had to stay in bed, but had gone out anyway.

Sheepishly, he replied, "Well, I was already well enough, so I thought I'll take a look around Inaba."

Naoto simply nodded.

The food arrived soon enough and after saying their prayers, they dug in. The food was finished in a jiffy and Akihiko was stuffed. The steak bowl wasn't that bad, but the Beef Bowl back in Iwatodai still beat this one.

The atmosphere turned serious. Narukami turned to look at Akihiko. "Sanada. We would like to ask you some questions. "

Akihiko shook his head. "If you are talking about the murders, I didn't do them. Why? 'Cuz I was in Iwatodai the entire time until a few weeks back. But really," he sat up, "Investigating a serial murder? You got guts."

Yosuke frowned. "Then if you are not the murderer, and you are a Persona user…"

Rise hopped up. "You can join us to help stop them! If you want…" she quickly added at the back.

Akihiko raised an eyebrow. Investigate a serial murder? It had been a few months since he had fought Shadows, and he had been intrigued by the seemingly perfect murders in Inaba before, but was dismissed by Mitsuru as an 'intricate plan and not the work of Shadows, because Shadows do not exist anymore' situation. Ha, how shocked she would be to hear of this situation!

"Might as well. I know my way around Shadows, so are we going today? I'm getting pumped up," Akihiko place aside the thought of them joining SEES. It was impossible. It was obvious that they thought that the murders were done by Shadows, and that they were determined to find the killer.

Narukami nodded. "Let's go then. We are all ready."

Akihiko stared at the black screen of the TV. "We…we are supposed to jump in?" He was doubtful; he could crash the TV.

Narukami's expression had not changed at all as he pushed Akihiko in. He fell into the TV, as if it was water, and went through the same TV tunnel he had gone through the first time. He really did step into a TV back in Inaba. But how in the world did he walk all the way to Inaba in just mere minutes? Akihiko had yet to figure that out.

As they landed, (Or more like the Investigation Team landed and Akihiko fell out,) Akihiko looked around. He still could not see a thing, and it was really foggy. He had forgotten to bring his goggles the last time since he was in a rush.

"Ta-da," Teddie handed him a pair of glasses. Akihiko took them. They were…the joke specs? Staring at Teddie in horror, he handed them back. "I'm not wearing these."

Teddie pouted. "But these are the only pair I have right now, and you have to wear them, or you would be beary blind in this area, and that would be beary bad! No no no, you have to wear them. Teddie is a beary busy bear, so he had no time to make you your own."

Akihiko sighed. Placing them on, he knew at once he looked like an idiot, from the giggles from the girls and the chuckling from the guys. One good thing, though, he could see through the fog.

"Time to go. We need to advance to the next area already." Narukami motioned to the others. He was clearly the leader. A leader, equally stoic, no expression, too many similarities to Minato. Akihiko would have suspected that Narukami was Minato if Narukami was a little shorter and Minato was not the Great Seal.

As they moved on, Akihiko still found him unable to summon Polydeuces, or even Caesar. Well, he was only given back Polydeuces, so it was no wonder why Caesar could not be summoned. However, the way that the team summoned their Personas were much different. They seemed to make the cards appear before they crushed or smashed them, with the exception of Rise, whose card smashed on its own.

Akihiko frowned. Squeezing his eyes shut, he attempted once again. He failed.

The team moved on, constantly slashing Shadows. Akihiko relied on his brute strength and took down many Shadows, but not as many as the rest. Still, he felt refreshed. It had been so long since he last fought Shadows, and they gave him a challenge, one he could not back down from. It was really awesome that he could spent all his energy, unlike during boxing matches, where upon being serious, the opponent would go down quickly.

As they moved on, Akihiko noticed that the Investigation Team was slowing down a lot, with exception of Narukami. They were losing their energy, and tired people had higher chances of missing. Akihiko wasn't feeling tired, but knew he was losing energy as well. He wasn't using much of SP, since he was using his fists, but the others were running low.

All of a sudden, Rise let out a cry. "Look out! There are 3 strong enemies in front! Please be careful, Senpai!"

Akihiko glanced towards the direction Rise was facing, finding 3 Shadows. Narukami dashed forward, calling up his Persona, Jack Frost. Yosuke called up his Persona, Jiraiya while Chie called up Tomoe, her own Persona. Akihiko picked up the names of the Personas each time they were summoned. Naoto's was Sukuna-Hikona, Kanji's was Take-Mikazuchi, Yukiko's Konohana Sakuya, Teddie's was Kintoki-Douji and Rise's was Himiko.

As they engaged the enemies, Rise scanned the Shadows. "They are Lost Okinas! They are block physical, light and dark attacks! Don't use Bufu spells, they absorb those attacks!"

Akihiko gritted his teeth. He was useless, since he was only using physical attacks. He would have to back out. As he watched, Narukami changed his Persona. He changed it to Pyro Jack, a Persona that Minato used many times. Akihiko was shocked. He had not expected someone else to have that same power as Minato. They began to attack, with Akihiko helplessly watching. The Lost Okinas were constantly using Seal Bomb, sealing away their Persona abilities. They were useless since Lost Okinas blocked Physical attacks. The team was slowly weakening. Akihiko could not stand to just stand there and watch. If he could just summon his Persona…

He had to try it. Once more, he squeezed his eyes shut. What…what if he tried their method? Imagining the card appearing, he placed the gun on his head. His fingers twitched. He pressed his finger to the trigger, shooting himself.

"Polydeuces! Maziondyne!"

Opening his eyes, he saw Polydeuces had appeared and lightning struck the Lost Okinas, depleting their health by quite a bit. The whole Investigation Team looked towards him in surprise. He was back in the fight.

"Polydeuces, Diaharan!" Akihiko healed up Yukiko, who in turn healed up the rest of the team. They started launching repeated attacks on the Lost Okinas, using All-Out Attacks and finally, defeating them.

"Way to go, Sanada! You weren't lying when you said you were a Persona-user!" Yosuke patted Akihiko on the back. Akihiko grinned.

"Well, he's here now." Akihiko was finally able to summon Polydeuces. Chie looked a little confused though.

"But..he didn't face his Shadow. How is it possible?" Yosuke let out a laugh.

Yousuke let out a laugh. "Yuu didn't face his Shadow, and he got Izanagi! It's possible!"

Chie frowned. "So…he can use multiple Personas like Narukami?"

Akihiko shook his head. "Nope. I can't do that." He closed his eyes. Minato was summoning several Personas before as well. Why did Narukami have the same power?