Genie (P4D Version)

Bridging The Gap

Opening Author's Notes
This was originally written for Halloween 2016 (which meant I had just marked Brioso as complete – i.e. finishing the main plotline). I hadn't yet published it here yet, though, but want to do it now mainly for one person...Mikki (Her_Tulip), a fellow K-Pop fan and author who is doing her best in the middle or some challenges. I'm hoping it cheers her up. I'll have a lot of notes later, but I'll save them for then because I don't want to take away from things.

Idol Ages
17 – Rise
20 – Seohyun
22 – Yoona, Yuri, Tiffany, Sooyoung, Hyoyeon
23 – Taeyeon, Jessica, Sunny

Disclaimer – I own no trademarks related to Persona, Girls' Generation, Atlus or SM Entertainment.

--------------

It was a week after her seventeenth birthday when Rise Kujikawa, the idol affectionately called Risette and in the midst of a wildly popular comeback, fought a battle against Shadows that she would never forget, even compared against all of the other fights she had been involved in.

She and her secret boyfriend Yu Narukami were at a Tokyo TV studio, where she was doing a nighttime rehearsal in costume for a broadcast performance the next day that had a lot of hype around it. Much of that was due to the announcement that not only would she be there, but that a major Korean group popular in Japan would be performing on the same show. Soon after she'd finished rehearsing, she had detected Shadows on the rooftop. This was one eventuality they'd prepared for together, having discussed some rumors they had heard.

"There's another reason I'd like you to be there, Yu-senpai." Rise had said beforehand. "They say that some energy from the TV world has been leaking somewhere around here. Normally, it's not dangerous by itself, but apparently, it's been reacting with some very negative energy and creating Shadows. Word is it's energy that I know you want to get rid of."

"I've actually been hearing about that a bit." Yu said. "Some Koreans who were working and around here were harassed and bullied over the years...Once, a few of the younger ones even formed gangs to protect themselves and retaliated against Japanese people in the area. So yes...I do want to get rid of it...especially if it's been spawning Shadows. Thanks for bringing it up, Rise."

He smiled gratefully at her as he finished, and Rise returned it warmly. Soon after they had met, Yu had shared another side to him: he was half-Korean through his mother and even had a Korean name as well – Na Yoonsoo. While he loved living in Japan, he was also proud of his Korean heritage and wanted to help promote Korean-Japanese relations, which, while they had improved in recent years, weren't always the best.

--------------

What they hadn't been prepared for was getting separated for an instant and Rise arriving to the rooftop a few seconds later to find Yu flat on his back.

"Senpai!" Rise cried, running over to him. "Oh, no!" His breathing was shallow and he looked as if he were about to pass out.

"Don't mind me for a moment." He managed to say. "Look."

Rise followed his eyes and hand and saw a slew of Shadows in front of them.

All of them were glowing an angry red, had steel gray masks and also bore either a white-outlined red Circle of the Sun or a white-outlined red and blue Taeguk – the symbols that were the centerpieces of the Japanese and Korean flags respectively – on the chest like a tattoo. Incredibly, those who bore different markings were more interested in fighting each other than they were in going after Rise and Yu, and their traded blows were already creating a clamor.