Merry Christmas, everyone. In a somewhat fortuitous twist, I decided to take advantage of the opportunity to release this installment on Christmas Eve.
December 23
You will be asked who you want to invite over for Christmas. Again, you won't have this option if you wait until today to finish Magatsu Inaba. Since Yukiko was the only girl I romanced, I chose her.
December 24
I had Yukiko over for Christmas. She complains about being "booted" out of the house for the evening, obviously a ploy by her parents to get her to spend time with her boyfriend. I got a Leather Keychain as a present, which gives me Fire resistance.
Yukikko then ponders why she likes you, and notes that she's liked you as long as she can remember. She says that she knows that you're leaving but feels this way in spite of that.
Incidentally, you can get Debilitate for Yoshitsune if you fuse him today (which would require waiting until the last minute to do Magatsu Inaba), but I chose not to do so. For one, I wasn't Level 75 by this point, and for another, I prefer to have other party members handle buffs and debuffs while Yoshitsune alternates between Power Charge and Hassou Tobi.
December 25
The group meets at Junes, and is glad that since Adachi has confessed, the case has finally been closed. The rest of the group makes it clear that they won't stand for Teddie leaving again, and he insists that he won't.
Dojima calls, and lets you know that the hospital is letting Nanako come home for a while, since she's awake and on the mend. Meanwhile, Dojima's also recovering well, and just needs to check in with a doctor. He apologizes for making you do all the housework and offers to make it up to you later.
The rest of the group is overwhelmed with emotion that Nanako's recovering, especially Teddie and Rise, who tearfully embrace... until Rise notices that Teddie's hands are wandering somewhere they don't belong and punches him. Chie decides to throw a party for Nanako, and much to the distress of the guys, Chie offers to make a cake, and Yukiko doesn't see the fact that none of them has made one before as a problem (Curiously enough, the guys don't volunteer).
Nanako tries out the kotatsu, which she'd talked about all the time at the hospital, and is amazed at how warm it is. Dojima says that Nanako will need a checkup, but will be able to go home if it goes well. Nanako apologizes for not being well for it, but you take it in stride.
The girls bring out the cake, which the guys dread eating. Nanako takes a bite, prompting a Big "NO!" from Kanji... but it's actually quite good, something Yosuke finds hard to believe until he tastes it. Granted, the girls took three attempts to make it, but this proves that they aren't always terrible cooks.
Teddie gives Nanako a doll made from his fur, proudly stating his support for "all-natural" materials. Dojima finds it a nice gesture, even if he's confused as to where the fur came from. Speaking of things Dojima can't explain, he says Adachi confessed, and is glad for that, but he still can't get his head around the TV world or Nanako's recovery.
Dojima offers to do what he can to help you out until you go back in spring, and everyone is reminded of that. You can convince Teddie that you have a promise, as well, or choose one of two other options. In any case, the group offers to have fun until spring, but Dojima warns you not to go overboard, lest you get held back and make him answer to your mom. Rise jokes that in that case, you'll be in her class (given the power imbalance in a Senpai/Kōhai relationship, I imagine she might be happy to have that no longer apply), and you can insist that she call you "senpai" anyway, say you don't want to be held back or that you want to go home now, three comical answers that don't really do anything.
December 26
You go to school again. It's a bit odd that this is the final day of school, because 1)If they'd set it two days earlier, the students could have Christmas off, and 2)Very rarely does it make sense to have school on a Monday only, rather than end the semester the previous week.
On the way to school, Yosuke asks you to check out the Midnight Channel, since it's raining again. Not much happens except for the end-of-term lecture, and you go straight home.
Once you're home, you check the TV, and see nothing, not even the glow. Yosuke calls you, and you briefly celebrate the end of the case.
In the original game, the game would skip ahead to the day of your departure, but here, you have almost two months until the final Time Skip.
December 31
You get a text from Yosuke about attending the New Year's Eve celebration together. Like with other night events (e.g. the summer festival, fireworks festival and Christmas Eve), you can't do anything during the day.
At the evening, Kanji rushes over, having nodded off while watching TV at his home (which is practically next to the shrine), and is surprised that you're the only one there. Teddie and Yosuke arrive, with the former blaming the latter for something he himself did, and Yosuke saying that because Teddie put a lot of merchandise into the grab bags without checking the prices, they had to stay late to sort things out.
You then notice that the four of you are the only ones there. Dojima and Nanako aren't well enough to come, and as for the girls, the guys suspect that they're putting on kimonos(as beautiful as they are, they're not just highly uncomfortable, but difficult to put on). After a few minutes of speculation, the girls arrive in their midwinter outfits, saying that they went to buy heating packs. Rise says that they're not out long enough to wear kimonos, since girls save their best outfits for the moments that matter (i.e. their boyfriends, as you find out if you romanced them). Yosuke notes that Rise's implying that they're out of the guys' league, but Yukiko bluntly says that Rise "wasn't implying," prompting Rise to nod in agreement, much to the boys' dismay. Noticing the time, the group rushes to get into the shrine.
A cinematic plays, as everyone wishes each other a happy new year, and snow begins to fall, prompting Kanji to call it a "White New Year's", prompting everyone else to make fun of him.
January 1
You see a scene with the Dojimas, who are watching a relay race on TV, and give your New Year's greetings to them. Dojima says that you've grown up a lot, and blames himself for thrusting so much responsibility on you, presumably referring to his hospitalization. He then serves up some New Year's food for Nanako.
I then accepted Yukiko's invitation to go to the shrine, and went to the shrine with her. She shows up in a beautiful red kimono that I wish was a costume for her, and which is apparently more fancy than the ones she usually wears.
You and Yukiko pray at the shrine, and draw a fortune. If you think impure thoughts, against all odds, you and Yukiko get great blessings.
You can offer to take her to her house or yours. The former has her afraid that you'd be asked to help out, while the latter has her make Innocent Innuendo about how her kimono would get messed up... from playing with Nanako. Whatever choice you make, you spend the rest of New Year's Day with her off-screen
January 2
You have the chance to do New Year's greetings with everyone. There's not much worth noting, although Hisano, Naoki and Yumi (at least if you got past Rank 8 with her, which you should have done so by now) can't take part in New Year's greetings due to being in mourning for their husband, sister and father, respectively. Additionally, Sayoko isn't at the hospital if you finished her Social Link, and she's the only one you have to take the bus to reach (Eri's on Samegawa Flood Plain).
When you go into the Velvet Room, you find Margaret, who didn't realize that the New Year had come. She has important news for you- Marie left the room. Margaret offers to find her, but warns you that it will be dangerous. While the wording vaguely implies you'll have to go now, do not, under any circumstances, say no, or you will lose access to the extended epilogue.
Of course, if you say yes, you won't have to do anything now, so Margaret promises to keep in touch with you as she searches for Marie.
Evening
In the evening, there's not much to do other than go to bed, but you start feeling under the weather.
January 3
Teddie and Yosuke come over, and discuss their plans for a ski outing. Apparently, Teddie also hopes to try again with his "sneak attack," evidently having gotten over how the last one ended.
Dojima and Nanako come in. Dojina says they're heading back to the hospital, since Nanako's temporary release is over (in spite of Nanako protesting that she's better) and Dojima needs physical therapy, so Dojima asks you to look after the house while they're gone. Yosuke convinces you to let Teddie stay over for a day, and says he'll let you know when he has the details of the ski trip finalized.
As you get ready to go to bed, you collapse as your illness gets the better of you. You then see a vision of Marie saying goodbye to you- there's dialogue options, but you can't even say anything.
The next few days go by happen fairly quickly.
January 4
Yukiko and Chie come over. Chie asks if putting a sick person under a kotatsu is bad for them, but Teddie says he heard that it's good against cold, prompting Yukiko to point out the difference between THE cold and A cold (capitalization hers).
January 6
The first-years come over. Rise and Kanji are worried, but Naoto's confident that the medicine she picked up is working, and you'll recover in a few days.
January 9
You finally recover from your illness, at which point Teddie's passed out from exhaustion. You then get a call from Margaret, who tells you that the place you're going will be "a true test of your Persona powers," which is why you should work to solidify your bonds. She promises to update you as the search for Marie progresses, then hangs up.
The next month is yours to use to advance social links, which I suspect is half due to the additional events and Social Links takng up much of your time, and half to give players more of a chance to max out their Social Links. In either case, it's a nice opportunity, one that I make the most of.
