Akira woke up with a start in his new room. 

I knew that it was really Igor, but I felt like expressing my anger towards fate verbally.

"SCREW YOU! SCREW YOU IGOR! SCREW THE VELVET ROOM, SCREW FATE, SCREW SOCIET-"

Yu opened the door with a concerned look on his face. His hair was shorter than it was yesterday's and yet he was taller. My hair was slightly curlier, and my muscles ached. That was when I realized that I'd shrunk and that Yu had stayed about the same. He told me worriedly,

"Akira, our apartment grew, and now we own the whole complex due to a mysterious benefactor, and also we have like, 40 teens looking confused in our kitchen." 

I walked out of my room and out to the kitchen. It appeared that Igor had taken me out of the Metaverse, for I could feel a difference in the air. What I saw in the kitchen is an image I can never forget. Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke, Futaba, Haru, and Morgana(who was in his human form) were all in my kitchen, looking like they did when they were in High school with me. They were chatting with many other people, all of them with confusion clearly expressed on their faces. I walked into the crowd, towards the kitchen table. I climbed it and held up with hands.

"People! Please, be silent." I yelled at the crowd. Everyone quieted. "Okay, I'm Akira Kurusu, roomate of Minato Arisato and Yu Narukami, and friend of Maya Amano, Tatsuya Suou, and Naoya Toudou. If you are familiar with any of these people, raise your hand." All hands went up. "Okay. That's helpful. Next, if you are familiar with the term 'persona', raise your hand." Again, all hands went up. "Igor, the man who gave us personas, has sent us all here to fight against the evil of society. He made us teens to have us at our prime, and he has bought this apartment complex for us so we can have close contact with each other."

Chaos broke out until Minato came up, holding the girl from last night's meeting hand. I assumed her name was Minako. Some gasps were heard as their friends saw them. 

"Friends, and friends of friends, I am Minato Arisato, and this is my sister Minako Arisato. Thanks to a close friend of ours, we are able to breathe again. I would like for you all to stand in groups based off of the number I give your friend." he pointed at Naoya, then Tatsuya, then Maya, then himself, Minako, Yu, and finally myself. "1...2...3...4...5...6...7...If you are a 1, then stand by the hall. 2's, go toward the balcony. 3's, go near the window. 4's and 5's by the couch. 6's by the T.V., and 7's by the fridge. We'll take turns introducing ourselves based off of number."

We got through all the stories and introductions. It seemed that Igor even revived the dead for this mission. I was about to step down after telling my story when a figure in the corner caught my attention. The red eyes and brown hair was unmistakable. It was none other than my old pal, Goro Akechi. He seemed to be one of the few who stayed quiet the whole time. I decided to talk to him later, in private. 

Names from Top to bottom, Left to right:

Naoya Toudou, Maki Sonomura, Masao Inaba, Kei Nanjo, Yukino Mayuzumi, Yuka Ayase, Hidehiko Uesugi, Eriko Kirishima, Reiji Kido

Tatsuya Suou, Maya Amano, Lisa Silverman, Eikichi Mishina, Yukino Mayuzumi, Jun Kurosu

Maya Amano, Ulala Serizawa, Katsuya Suou, Kei Nanjo, Eriko Kirishima

Minato Arisato, Junpei Iori, Yukari Takeba, Mitsuru Kirijro, Akihiko Sanada, Shinjiro Aragaki, Fuuka Yamagishi, Aigis, Ken Amada, Minako Arisato

Yu Narukami, Chie Satonaka, Yosuke Hanamura, Yukiko Amagi, Kanji Tatsumi, Rise Kujikawa, Naoto Shirogane, Teddie

Akira Kurusu, Ryuji Sakamato, Ann Takamaki, Yusuke Kitagawa, Makoto Nijima, Haru Okumura, Futaba Sakura, Goro Akechi, Morgana

 We all introduced ourselves before getting down to business.People recognized each other from their old lives or by blood relation. Morgana was the last to introduce himself. Afterwards, Junpei suggested that we go out to eat lunch and discuss our situation. Mitsuru, Haru, and Kei were generous to volunteer to pay, so we went out to a place called そらのビーフボウル (Sora's Beef Bowls) for dinner. It was known for good food, customer service, and lots of space, which was good, because we had 43 people. Food was ordered and as we waited, we discussed the problems. Our main problems were:

1. We were all younger than we were yesterday(Except for Ken and Shinjiro, Ken was actually already this age and Shinjiro had died at this age apparently)

2. We had to deal with personas again, as well as new foes

3. Ryuji was becoming close friends with Junpei, Masao, and Yosuke, which meant danger would soon insue

4. We can't continue on with our lives until this is over

5. Some of the dead have been revived

6. Apparently some of us gathered haven't heard of each other

I decided that our world was too dangerous to speak in, so I had Futaba disable all recording devices in the room. Then, I whipped out my phone and opened the MetaNav. I clicked on an icon that looked like a globe. There was some red haze as we were brought into the Metaverse. Since Minato, Yu, Ann, Ryuji, Haru, Yusuke, Goro, Makoto, Morgana, Futaba, and I had all been to the Metaverse at least once, we didn't feel any of the side effects. But, everyone else looked like they were struggling.

I smiled as I ate my bowl. People were chatting, laughing, crying, etc.

It was such a happy picture.

Until Minato ruined it.

"Guys, we need to address the current problem. As of now, we still retain all of our old persona and materials. But, we need to figure out what Igor meant..."

Naoto raised her hand. 

"There's a note here. It has Igor's name on it."

She read it out loud.

Dearest Passengers,

15 demons have escaped from the dream world and have plagued your world's people. They have all spread depravity amongst your society, and therefore, you must cleanse the infected of them. The names of the demons are as follows:

Fakhar, Pride

Ghayz, Wrath

Shahwa, Lust

Kasal, Sloth

Hasad, Envy

Altame, Avarice

Nahum, Gluttony

Hunz, Sorrow

La Mubala, Apathy

Eabaa Almjd, Vanity 

Anania, Glory 

Qaswa, Selfishness

Aistia, Callousness

Taesib, Resentment 

Aemaa, Bigotry  

They have inflicted their diseases upon your people. If the victims are not cleansed in 2 years after they have been infected, the victim will become what you call a "boss shadow". The demons can also infect 2 people at a time, but if both victims are cleansed, then the demon will be destroyed. 2 or more different demons can also infect the same human as well. Some demons, though, were humans before they were infected by the demon before them. If you properly face the demon, you may be able to reverse the effects. The destruction of your world is all going to be started by these 15 demons. I will provide all necessary equipment in due time.

Igor

Protests broke out all around. People were only silenced when Akihiko shouted,

"Calm down! We've fought worse, haven't we? I mean, we actually have a clear objective from Igor!"

I felt like saying something that had been bugging me for a while.

"Guys, there's no way we can all fight together. We need to split into groups, each trying to take out an assigned foe. If things get rocky, you can call on another group for back up. That sound good?" 

People seemed to agree. I was relieved.

"Akira," Yu started, "Since there are 43 of us, I suggest we get into around 6 to 8 groups, so we can have people relax between battles and enough to back up all 3 teams. Also, we should try getting into pretty even groups with new people in it so we can strengthen our bonds with each other." 

I liked that idea. I turned to Yusuke and asked him for some paper and a pencil. He handed some to me, and I started writing down everyone's names. I then borrowed Junpei's hat and threw all the papers inside. I picked names and eventually we had 6 groups.

Group 1

Yu, Ken, Yusuke, Yukiko, Eriko, Kanji, Naoto

Group 2

Tatsuya, Ann, Katsuya, Chie, Ulala, Rise, Haru,

Group 3

Naoya, Hidehiko, Yukari, Jun, Goro, Masao, Yuka, Akihiko

Group 4

Minako, Junpei, Lisa, Ryuji, Eikichi, Teddie, Mitsuru

Group 5

Maya, Kei, Yosuke, Haru, Morgana, Maki, Makoto

Group 6

Akira, Futaba, Minato, Aigis, Fuuka, Reiji, Yukino

"Ok," I said, "Now that we have our groups and we know what to do, we'll find our targets then assign a group after them. We need to go to different places in the city to investigate and cover more territory. I know that there are 4 different high schools relatively close to our apartments. We'll enroll there. People from the same group will be in the same schools, for the most part, but we also need to act like that we're new to the area. Also, avoid anyone who may know you from when you were this age. Does that sound logical?"

Goro answered.

"Kurusu-kun, I was a world famous detective. How do I not attract suspicion? Also, some of the others need to let their parents know whats going on. Yu was just telling me earlier that his uncle is a detective in the town of Inaba and that his cousin Nanako is in junior high in Tokyo now."

I thought about this. What if...

"I'll ask Igor about it...I have an idea...Don't worry about it..."

Ryuji, who was drunk on melon-flavored ramune, was hanging with some of the others. 

"Everything...Is great...We should sta-*barf*-y all night!"

The "drunk"people all cheered. I shared a concerned look with Makoto and Mitsuru. We got everyone who wasn't "drunk" together and carried the soon-unconscious people to the apartments. 

"We should just put the guys together in some rooms and the girls in the others." Morgana said, panting, as he held up a half-conscious Ryuji. 

We finished within a hour. I looked at the clock. It was 11:37... I looked at the people still awake. Mitsuru, Makoto, Goro, Haru, Kei, Tatsuya, Katsuya, Minato, Yukari, Akihiko, Fuuka, Ken, Aigis, Minako, Naoto, Kanji, and Morgana. 

"We should get everyone enrolled. I have 2 adults who'll help me with enrollment, so thats covered. But, who should go to which school?" I asked.

Katsuya pulled out a map of Tokyo and circled the 4 schools. He listed them on a sheet of paper.

Hope's Peak Academy-Extremely Prestigious, Private

Shujin Academy-Pretty common, Public

Yumahari High- Prep school, Private

Kosei High- Arts School, Private

    "We should send people with different personalities and talents to these different schools. But, not send people who have already been there as a student. Ryuji, for example, should go to Kosei. His ability for long-distance running is a perfect fit for their sports teams. Ann, on the other hand, can go to Hope's peak, because they will allow anyone who is the best at what they do in. As the world's most requested model, she'll be declared as the "Ultimate Model". They won't even question her appearance because she's a model." Makoto deduced.

Minako took up a pen and started writing on a pad of paper. 

Hope's Peak: Ann, Futaba, Akihiko, Goro, Akira, Yusuke, Minako, Rise, Mitsuru, Naoto, Aigis

Shujin: Masao, Yuka, Reiji, Ulala, Junpei, Fuuka, Teddie, Lisa, Eikichi, Hidehiko 

Yumahari: Yu, Yosuke, Haru, Minato, Yukino, Kei, Maki, Naoya, Maya, Yukari, Makoto 

Kosei: Tatsuya, Eriko, Jun, Katsuya, Shinjiro, Ken, Chie, Yukiko, Kanji, Haru, Morgana, Ryuji

I looked at the list. It looked great. I showed it to the others, and they all agreed. Good. Then, I went to my contacts and scrolled down to a number I hadn't called in a year. I clicked on it, and put the phone up to my ear.

"Hello. Welcome to LeBlanc. What would you like to pre-order?"

"Sojiro, is Sae there? I need to ask the both of you a favor."