Chapter Text
Coming from the only window in the room, the morning light filled the place, shining on items of an honest student and phantom thief. Infiltration tools glinted against the sunlight while books he studied last night were still open on the desk. Former empty shelves housed a few souvenirs in an attempt to give color to his surroundings. The once dying plant now bloomed with life. With those items, the dusty attic slowly became something he could as his own.
Yet… despite the nice morning, Ren sat on his bed, motionless.
He knew he should be up by now if he wanted to be in class on time but… a heavy feeling manifested inside his chest. He let out a deep breath but it was like a large rock crushing his ribs.
'Why?’
That was his first thought. That, he did not know. An after-effect of a dream? No... because Ren could not remember anything last night, normal dreams nor Velvet ones. Sickness? Physically, he felt just fine. Besides, he couldn't afford to be sick. So... what was causing this?
It wasn't until he caught a droplet falling on his blanket, before being followed by another when he realized it. Was he...?
Crying. He was crying. As the realization sunk in, so did the feeling in his chest. More tears threatened to fall from his eyes. Panicking, Ren rubbed his eyes in an attempt to stop it but he still kept crying. The tears held uncontrollable as questions flooded in his mind...
'Why?’
'Why am I crying?'
‘Why is there a heavy feeling in my chest?’
'Why?’
'Why?’
'Why?’
So many questions he wanted some answers. But the problem was... he didn’t have time.
“Ren! C’mon!"
Upon hearing his voice, Ren quickly regained his composure. He wiped his tears away before he could see it and sat up properly. He hid them all as if nothing happened at all.
"Joker! Wake up!” Morgana shouted as he entered the room, “We’re going to be late for school- oh, good. You're up already.”
Because Morgana was right. The sun was already up. Time was ticking. Coffee and curry were awaiting. Another ordinary day was starting… Well, as ordinary as it gets for Joker, the Leader of The Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
“You say that as if you’re a student yourself.”
“Hey! You should be thankful that I still remind you of these things.”
Yes, an ordinary day indeed.
And with an ordinary day meant an ordinary class.
By ordinary, he meant boring.
Spinning his pen in between his fingers, Ren started at the window. Whatever out there was more exciting than listening to the monotone voice of his teacher. The world outside was so full of life. Tokyo was just a speck of what the outside could show him, could let him experience. And it was such a nice day. But it was only wasted by staying in such a constricting space of a classroom. He watched the clouds slowly floated away on the endless blue sky. His childish self, probably provoked by a Persona, thought what it would feel like if he could touch it.
He sighed. It was no lie that it was his wish. To travel. To fly away. To be free. A common wish but it was his wish nonetheless, even before his probation happened. He couldn’t help it. He came from a small town where he saw the same sights every day, met the same faces every day, spending his days unchanging every day like a never-ending pattern… and he hated it. A small part of himself, among the pain and sadness carried by a false crime, rejoiced when he rode the train, a ticket away from Inaba to a place he never went before named Tokyo.
A small ping, barely heard, broke Ren his gaze by the window. Checking first that the teacher was distracted with his sermons lessons, he took his phone out to see a notification in the messaging app.
A: Penny for your thoughts?
He looked to find Ann looking back at him, giving him a sneaking smile. With a mischievous smirk, he sneakingly typed out a reply.
R: Shouldn’t it be Yen for your thoughts?
A: It’s an English expression, you dork.
A: I do have a penny in my wallet if you actually want one though.
A: Do you want one?
R: You do? Isn't that pretty much useless here?
A: It's only for sentimental value.
A: Wait, no!
A: Don't distract me from my question. That's not what I want to talk about.
She followed a cute grumpy cat sticker after that, much to his amusement.
R: Is it? I thought that was your question.
A: Nooooooooooooooooo.
A: Penny for your thoughts means, “Tell me what’s on your mind.”
A: Sooooooo what’s on your mind?
R: Things.
R: And stuff.
A: Come on. I noticed you staring at the window more deeply than normal.
R: But…
R: I always do that.
Another sticker. This time, it was a sighing panda.
A: Hey.
A: I'm your friend, right?
A: Also your classmate.
A: And fellow thief.
A: You can tell me everything.
A: I promise not to tell.
R: Really?
A sticker of a cute dog crossing his heart was her response.
A: I promise.
R: No matter how crazy it is?
A: We’re phantom thieves that steal hearts and you still ask that question?
R: Ok, fair enough.
A: Yay!
A dancing cat nearly made Ren chuckle. Three dots appeared in the chatbox as he took his time to reply. Should he…?
R: (. . .)
R: Alright.
R: Let's see...
R: Um…
R: School.
A: Rumors again?
R: Not really. I’m used to that.
R: Anyways…
R: I also have a part-time job to think about.
A: Which one?
R: (. . .)
R: Moving on…
A: Rennnnnnnnn
R: PT business. Something about a place Morgana wants to show us after classes.
R: Oh, speaking of Mona. He’s another pain in the neck. He’s shedding fur all over my room and clothes.
"Hey! I do not shed!"
Ignoring Morgana, he continued to type.
R: Arsène taking care of a frog.
A: Wait, what?
R: I know right.
R: And he’s very serious about it.
R: He won’t let me help him take care of this frog too. At least right now.
A: Ok, now you lost me there.
R: Join the club. He’s being annoyingly obtuse, you know.
"You do realize that I can see everything you see, don't you?"
Ren froze in the middle of typing. He held back a sigh as he could feel someone staring at him. Not from behind, not from the front, but rather from his side. From the window to be exact. He didn’t have to look away from his phone to see the glass beside him where his reflection glaring directly at him.
‘Good. You're supposed to,’ he mentally answered back.
His reflection huffed in annoyance and folded his arms on its own. “Well, excuse me for taking into account the consequences of my actions.”
Right from the window, Arsène glared. Instead of the gentleman demon form he was more familiar with, he had his very own appearance, school uniform, glasses, and all. It was a complete reflection of him, detail by detail, except for his eyes. It was a shade of golden, the same kind that he saw from Ryuji and Ann when they first summoned their Persona. Although Ryuji did mention that he also had those same sharp eyes when he awakened, gold glinting with hot anger and mad glee.
Ren ignored him as he received another chat from Ann.
A: Arsene’s glaring at you right now, isn’t he?
R: No.
A: Liar.
R: You said to me that the day we first met, and look where we are now.
He could hear Ann mentally groan, making him smirk.
A: Alright, alright. I give up! Enough with the snark!
A: I’m just worried about you.
A: You look sad this morning.
A: Like you just cried your eyes out.
‘She noticed?’ he thought. Of course, she would. This was Ann, the most emotionally intelligent friend he had. If someone were going to notice, it would be her for certain. Yet his reply was different.
R: Um…
R: I’m not?
A: Really?
R: Yeah?
A: (. . .)
A: Oh.
A: My mistake.
A: Sorry.
A: Nevermind me then.
She sent a sticker of a smiling duckling giving him a peace sign but Ren grimaced as he watched Ann wilting in front of him. He could see his Persona glaring at him from the window glass, giving him a small ‘tsk’ of disappointment. Ren rushed typing back a response.
R: Wait!
R: Ann!
R: Hey…
R: (...)
R: Don’t apologize.
R: I appreciate it.
R: … being concerned about me and all.
R: (. . .)
R: Thanks…
A: (. . .)
A: Anytime ^_^
Sighing, Ren relaxed when Ann sent a happy cat giving him a thumbs-up.
“I may or may not have an idea.”
‘Hm?’ Ren returned his gaze on the window, on his Persona. ‘ You know the reason why? Why I cried this morning?’
“Yes. I apologize then,” he told him as he checked his unusually short nails. “Emotional fallout. Since you are me it affected you as well.”
Well, that was direct. Now curious, Ren asked him, ‘So you were sad last night. Care to elaborate?’
"No.” And with that, Arsène became silent as the grave.
Ren glared at his reflection. He sighed and decided to leave him be. But it wasn’t long before his curiosity won over his focus over his classes. Pretending he’s listening to the front, he asked again, ‘Is it related to this frog you told me before?’
“Yes.”
‘So why the secrecy?’
The Persona began listing off, putting up a finger as he did, “Because one, where’s the fun of that? Two, she is still unprepared to meet you yet. And three, I certainly know you, Amamiya Ren, for even I, your other self, say that don’t poke a sleeping shadow with your knife, you’ll still do it because you are a very curious fellow.”
‘Hey! That was one time! One time!’ Ren defended himself. If he was a bird, he would have ruffled his feathers. But Arsène just snickered at him, much to his irritation.
Little did they know, Ann was watching them. At first, she thought that Ren was simply joking, as he usually would, but this mental yet animated conversation proved otherwise. Shaking her head fondly, the female thief went back to focusing on the lesson… only to notice that the teacher was now glaring at the infamous transfer student. Witnessing it first hand, Ann knew what’s going to happen next.
"Re-!"
She tried warning a still distracted Ren but it was too late. The teacher threw the chalk with such speed, aiming straight to his head. Everyone, even her, expected that he would have hit his target…
If Ren did not move his head slightly to the right.
The chalk simply passed by him, flying by his head. Fortunately, the student behind him ducked right on time or he would have been a casualty of the makeshift bullet.
“Woah.”
“Did you see that?”
“He got lucky.”
“What a ninja move.”
Whispers of awe and amusement filled the room but as always, Ren ignored it all. Ann sighed in relief. After that little show, Ren continued staring at the window as the class resumed. She continued writing notes as well but from her left, by the window, something caught her eyes. She glanced at the glass to find her reflection glancing back at her, not with her blue eyes, but with sharp golden ones. Ann smiled at her reflection...
And Carmen smiled back.
Mementos… was weird and that would be still an understatement to say at least. Every step they took, the floor would ripple like a trail of puddles. The walls were covered with blood-red web-like cravings. They watched the subway train pass by them despite the place being empty beside them and the Shadows lingering in the area.
So yes, weird wasn’t enough to cover it.
After that one fight with Shadow Nakahora, it was only wise to explore more of the place. He’d seen a lot of weird things since his awakening but the self-proclaimed human-cat changing into a car of all things took a top spot on his list. Maybe just below Mementos.
They had mixed feelings about Mementos. For Panther, she found it creepy. For Skull, he found it awesome. For Joker, he found it interesting. But when they reached a dead-end, all of them agreed that it was time to return back to the real world.
“See ya, Renren!”
“Bye, Ren! Bye, Mona!”
Ryuji and Ann waved bye at Ren and Morgana as they went off first. “Bye, Lady Ann! Safe travels!” Morgana shouted right beside his ear, making him flinch.
Ren rubbed his ear. He asked, “You’re not gonna say goodbye to Ryuji too?”
“What? No! Why would I say goodbye to that dumb monk- ah!” Morgana squawked when Ren flicked right on his nose. “Hey! What was that for?!”
“Now, now Morgana,” he said in an even voice. “That’s not nice to say to Ryuji, considering he’s our friend.”
“Ryuji?! My friend?! Ha! No way! He’s just a pawn; he is definitely not my…” the cat ranted until he saw Ren’s gray eyes glaring at him. And it wasn’t a nice sight. He raised one eyebrow, waiting for his response.
Shivering internally, his ears went flat as Morgana shrank down in his bag. “Um… Duly noted, Joker.”
Ren scratched the cat's head that he may or may not like. Smiling, he told him, “See. That wasn’t hard.”
Pi… Pi… Pi….
His phone vibrated in his pocket. ‘Now who would be calling me at this time…?’ He thought. However, Ren answered it the moment he saw the name. “Yes, Boss?”
“Hey, kid. You’re still out?”
“Um… yes?”
"Good. Um… Can you do me a favor and buy me something? And it’s already kinda late so..."
"Sure thing, Dad. What is it?”
Just some things that I forgot to buy.’ Ren heard a sigh from him. “ Must be getting forgetful.”
“Um… Alright. I’ll buy it on my way home.”
Thanks, kid.” And with that, he dropped the call.
“Um… Ren,” Morgana spoke up, “you do realize you just called Sojiro ‘Dad’ right?”
“Huh?” Ren froze as the realization hit him. “I did?”
“Yeah.”
.
.
.
"Please tell me he didn’t hear that. Please tell me he didn’t hear that. Please tell me - Arsène, stop laughing! "
And that’s the reason why he ended up in front of the Sakura residence.
Yawning, Ren knocked on the door again and waited. Most of the stuff he bought were snacks, the kind of food one might eat in an all-night movie marathon. ‘Maybe we could do that soon,’ Ren thought as he imagined being his friends, laughing at a corny movie on television. ‘That would be fun.’
Ren knocked again, calling out, “Boss!” but still no response.
Morgana popped out from his. He shook like a cat would and groaned in impatience, “Ugh, this is taking too long! I’m hungry.” He looked at the bag where he carried the food. “Hey, Ren. Did you buy any sushi there?”
“No. But we have food back in the cafe.”
The not-cat whined in his ear, “I want some dinner now. Can we just leave it outside?”
“We can’t do that. That would be rude.”
“Ok, ok. Point taken,” Morgana agreed. “Then just lockpick the door and leave it inside.”
Ren gave him a flat look. “That’s even worse and you know that,” he said.
“Hurry up then! I’m hungry!”
Ren sighed. If Morgana was indeed a human, he would be a little spoiled brat whining every other minute. But he did raise a good point. He was also hungry, especially after that exhausting exploration in the depths of Mementos. Out of curiosity, he tried turning the doorknob. Sojiro always reminded Ren to lock up the cafe so he wouldn’t leave his own house unlocked, right?
But to his surprise, the door slowly opened, letting out a loud creak as it did. The two thieves gaped at the entrance before looking at each other.
Morgana gave him a smirk. “Let’s go!”
Cautiously, Ren stepped in, leaving his shoes by the door-side. They were only a few lights on but he could see how neat the house was. He called out again, “Boss! Sakura-san!” But once again, there was no response.
“Hmm… Looks like no one’s here,” observed Morgana.
He agreed, "Yeah. Maybe you’re right. We should just leave this outside and leave a message. Boss might think we broke into his own house and kick us out.”
“Us? You mean just you.”
“Hey, you live with me. We’re practically roommates. So if I go, you’re coming with-”
Ren heard a creak on the floor. With all of the phantom thievery he had been doing, he developed an instinct. His senses would always be high on alert, ready to take action the moment there was danger. Be it a shadow or a trap, it would blare out like large bells and right now, it was ringing loudly in his head. But as he turned around, he certainly didn’t expect to be face to face with another being.
“AHHH!”
“NYAAAAAAA!”
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
Two screeches and a loud yowl shook the house. Ren wasn’t able to defend himself because out of shock, he took a step back and accidentally slipped on a mat and landed unceremoniously on his butt with a loud thud.
So much for being a graceful leader of thieves.
Ren grimaced in pain as Morgana shook himself from falling from his school bag. The items he bought scattered on the floor but he could care less. Because in front of them was the one that shocked them, a girl, screamed in fear as she took off running.
“Wait! Hold on!”
But the girl did not listen. She scampered up to the stairs as fast as she could and for some dumb reason, Ren's first thought was to get up to his feet and follow her up to her room. With all of the running he did in the metaverse, he nearly caught her if she didn't close the door right to his face.
'Wow, what did I do to be this unlucky today?' He thought as he rubbed his nose that the door had hit. Composing himself, Ren took a moment to breathe before he decided to knock on, what he assumed was the door of her room. "Um… Hello?"
“...”
“Are you okay?”
“...”
“Umm... I’m sorry for scaring you.”
“...”
Damn, he really scared her shitless. He placed his ear on the wooden door but he heard nothing. This only made him worry more. Having no choice, his eyes turned into dark red as he activated his Third Eye. He saw the words written on the banners on her door. "Caution? Private? Do not enter?"
Well, that's concerning.
And while he saw nothing more particular, the silhouette of the girl brightly shining like a flame was enough of him. Darkness of the hall returned as his sight became normal again. He cleared his throat and tried talking to her again, this time with a softer voice. He introduced himself, "Um… Hello, my name's Ren. Amamiya Ren. I work in Sojiro's cafe in case you don't know. I'm the guy you heard on the phone before… I think. I'm just here to bring some food and…"
“What in the metaverse are you doing?!”
Ren found a grumpy Morgana trailing behind him. Anyone would certainly be angry if you fell on the floor and nearly got squashed but then again, this was Morgana he's talking about. "Talking to the door obviously," he answered dryly.
Morgana glared at him. "Ren! We have no time for your sass! We need to go! If Sojiro sees us here, we're doomed! He might not feed us again!"
"Has no one ever told you that your priorities can be screwed up sometimes?"
"Are we seriously talking about that?!"
“Cat?”
Both of their ears perked up at the sound. It was a small voice of a girl and it was coming from the door. Morgana watched Ren immediately respond to her, "Yeah… His name is Morgana." And before Morgana could react, he grabbed him up, much to his annoyance. "Noisy cat, especially if he's hungry."
Morgana bristled at his words. “First of all, I am not noisy. Second, I am not a cat!”
Ren smirked. “See.”
His smirk softened into a small smile when he heard a giggle. Again, he tried talking to her once more, "Um… You're Sakura-san's daughter, right? Futaba? I didn't see you back there so I'm… No, Morgana and I are sorry."
"Hey! Why am I included in this?"
“Well, you’re the one who suggested entering here.”
But again, he only got silence…
"Joker."
"Yes?"
"Put me down right now," Morgana ordered. "Before I use my claws on your face."
Putting the cat down to the floor, Ren said, "Geez, you're really grumpy when you're hungry."
"Who wouldn't?!" he snarked back. "Besides, you're about the same when you're sleep-deprived."
"I am not." Ren yawned again. Too tired to argue more, he said, “You know what? Let's go home."
Morgana rolled his eyes. "That's what I'm trying to say earlier! If you just listened to me then..."
As the reached down the stairs, his voice faded as he continued to scold him. Ren was about to follow him but hesitated, still not wanting to leave her alone like this. One last time, he spoke to her, “Yeah. So… Um… see you around then. Sorry again.”
“Joker!”
“Coming!”
Little did he know, just as they left, the door opened for a little, small enough for the girl to peek out. Mauve eyes full of anxiety and curiosity watched him walk away. She wondered…
“Amamiya Ren, huh?”
5/9
It seemed that other than being a phantom thief, there were more ways to make his Tokyo days more interesting.
Ren had honestly forgotten that he managed to meet Sojiro’s daughter face to face… or as close as they could get. With exams being nearby, his schedule was, undeniably, full. It didn’t help that they were all excited to continue what they have started as the Phantom Thieves of Hearts. And right now, they were just all waiting for school to end so they could just explore Mementos once more to change hearts of targets provided by the Phantom Aficionado Website.
Once again, he wasn’t paying attention to the class, just like most of the students in the room. With Kawakami facing on the board, she didn’t notice that quite a number of his classmates were using their phones to pass time, hidden in different ways. Ren, on this rare occasion, was absentmindedly doodled in his notebook instead. And no one, not even him, expected that the boring silence of the class would be broken in the most chaotic way possible.
Ring!
Ring!
Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
One by one, ringtones of all sorts filled the classroom, shocking everyone. Ren broke off from his daze and confusingly watched the chaos unravel in front of him. Students frantically tried to cover the noise up but it was so loud that Morgana had to cover his ears.
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
As the noise continued to become louder, Kawakami had enough, her patience disappearing completely. “Hey, turn off your phones in class-!” But even she couldn’t comprehend what was happening around while her students panicked. “What is this?! Are you bullying me?!”
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
Ring! Ring! Ring!
“Ugh, what the hell?” Morgana groaned as he sank deeper into his desk. Ann looked at Ren worryingly, her phone also blasting off in its highest volume. But he looked at his phone, a still silent phone… Until one message suddenly popped out.
Unknown: And that’s for scaring me!
What?
And that’s all he got before he nearly dropped his phone when it joined the rest of the ringing chaos.