Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Looking at the email on her screen, equal parts curiosity and respect tore at Sumire, as she checked the name of the sender one more time to make sure that it wasn’t a trick. The address of the sender was listed as unknown, but ‘Alibaba’s gift to you,’ in the subject line made it clear who had sent it to her.

The email was made of several text files, flooded with hearts at the beginning and end, with corny romantic lines put between the files ending with a winky face emoji, along with a few others that made Sumire blush as red as her hair at the innuendoes they sent.

She had gotten this email after she got a rare solo text from Futaba, rare in that it wasn’t all about teasing her, but instead bragging about something, which prompted the redhead to respond back and ask what the little hacker was so satisfied with:

Fufufu

Sojiro thinks he’s sooooo smart

Futaba?

As much as he wants to claim it’s his house, I know way more about it than he thinks he does

Didn’t you stay in your room until you got saved?

That doesn’t matter

What really matters is that I found a special someone’s diary

Did Sakura-san keep a diary?

Oh, it’s not Sojiro’s

It belonged to a certain someone who stayed in the attic two years ago

Ren-senpai’s?!

You know it

I’ve read it three times since I digitized it

How could you do such a thing?

It’s more like a log than a diary if that’s what you’re worried about

You’re taking a while to respond, but I guess you want to say that’s not the point

What about his privacy?

It has some insight about his thoughts on you

That was the last text she got before the email came, and ever since she just stared at the email, thinking about deleting it, but the temptation of learning how her boyfriend saw her kept clawing away at her, pooling some self-doubt and loathing back into her relatively clear mindset.

So, the email remained, and it sat in her inbox without the files being opened, with the dark thoughts slowly seeping their way back into her.

Chapter Text

She thought she was stronger than that.

But maybe she wasn't.

She thought she had moved on from it.

But maybe she hadn’t.

The email from Futaba had been eating away at the back of her mind for a few days now, and it was killing Sumire, not knowing what was written in the dairy.

It didn’t help that last time that Ren had visited was a few days before Futaba had sent her the email, so memories of the precious little time they spent together were also running around in her head. She eventually caved, taking her chance when she got a call from her coach that they would have to reschedule.

She didn’t know why her usually strict coach would suddenly make a call like that, but Sumire jumped at the chance and decided to go home.

The apartment was quiet when she got home, her parents still out at work and would be for a few more hours.

She didn’t want to say that she had gotten used to a quiet apartment, but it had become reality when she would come home and find no one waiting for her. When she was a Phantom Thief, she could at least hope that Ren would come and see her or even thinking about coming home together with Kasumi when she was still alive.

 Shaking her head at such thoughts, Sumire entered her room and sat at her desk, looking at the laptop, hands hesitant to flip the screen open as she thought about the action she was about to take.

Three minutes passed before she finally flipped it open, her cheeks red from smacking herself in the face to steel her resolve.

Opening the email, she selected all the files and clicked download, waiting for the bars at the bottom of her screen to fill.

As she waited, all sorts of thought started to enter her mind, thinking about what kind of deep thought Ren would put into his entries; maybe she could learn something from them and fix her outlook.

With a small beep, her laptop notified her that the files had been downloaded. Turning back to face the computer, Sumire took another brief pause and reached for her glasses. They were different from her original pair, as the rims were now a bit rounder like her boyfriend’s, something he went and got with her when her original pair broke on a date.

She paused again before putting them on her face, thinking about what Ren had said on his first visit back from the countryside.

It’s alright if you want to keep your hair up, it’s an easy way to help remember your sister. But you can’t remember her if you completely let go of yourself. So even if it’s only around me, at least show me that you are still living as my precious Sumi.

She smiled at the memory, even blushing a bit at how smooth (she thought) he was, and even though Ren wasn’t there, Sumire felt that it would be best for her to put them on and go forward reading his thoughts as herself, slid the glasses on her face.

She clicked on the first file.

• April 10^th, 20XX

This will be my first entry into this diary.

Since I will be expected to do this regularly, I am going to make it a habit of writing down whatever it is that may cross my mind when filling this in and record what has happened during the past few days.

Today started with my caregiver, Sojiro Sakura, taking me to the school that has taken me in, Shujin Academy. I keep getting told that I should consider myself lucky that there’s a school willing to take in someone like me, but I wonder if this is little more than a play by the school to make a model out of me and boost their own image.

I should just lay low and wait for the year to just come to an end.

• April 11^th, 20XX

I didn’t intend to write again so soon, but I might think myself crazy if I don’t write down what happened as proof that something really did happen.

Coming out of the train station and making my way towards school, it started raining, and I didn’t have an umbrella. So I took a brief stop near the entrance of a building, and a girl was there who had the same idea as me.

It wasn’t long after that a car drove past, and Kamoshida’s face peered through the window. From what I gather, he’s the volleyball coach at Shujin, and is the apparent star faculty member. But what happens next changes everything.

After he drives away with the girl in his car, someone else runs up behind me and passes me, yelling profanities at the leaving car.

His name is Sakamoto, and he showed me a path towards the school that made its way through back alleys.

Or it was supposed to be until a European style castle was standing there in front of us.

Before we enter, I check the front gate to make sure that we are indeed supposed to be at school and the plaque that says Shujin Academy is most certainly there.

Trying to figure out what’s going on, Sakamoto and I went inside the castle and were immediately attacked by armored guards, knocking us out. When I come to, I’m in a cell with Sakamoto, and we nervously sit there and wait, wondering what’s going to happen.

When guards finally showed up, both of us are surprised to see Kamoshida is there as well, but he looked completely different from when he was in the car.

This Kamoshida only had four articles of clothing on him; a heavy cape patterned with hearts, some loafers, a crown, and beneath the cape, nothing but a pink speedo.

His guards said that we were sentenced to death for trespassing in his castle, and Sakamoto was the first to go, since Kamoshida seemed to have an issue with him.

I did attempt to stop it, when the other part that I can’t believe started to happen.

My attempts to save Sakamoto changed it so that I was the new target, having two guards pin me against the wall, with the third guard preparing its sword. Before the sword came down, there was a voice in my head, saying that I really was going to die if I didn’t act, with Sakamoto coming next. With the simple question of if my choice to help the woman was wrong, all I could say was no. The voice seemed satisfied and said that it would lend me its power.

And before me, the guards were suddenly knocked off their feet, slamming into the cell walls, and a mask was on my face.

I don’t exactly know what overcame me to do so, but I tried to take the mask off, and it hurt. It was as if the mask had been welded to my face, and it took all my strength to pull it off.

But when it came off, I felt this surge of power, a rush of energy as if I could do anything that I wanted, and this form made Kamoshida panic.

The guards, who had been slammed against the wall, suddenly stood up and changed their form, becoming something completely new.

That’s the best that I can remember before it gets blurry, but I remember running out of the cell with Kamoshida locked inside, yelling and screaming for murder.

Sakamoto and I continued to move through what was clearly the dungeon of the castle, when our next big surprise showed up.

Blocking our escape was a raised draw bridge, and there didn’t seem to be any obvious way to lower it. A voice called out to us, and when I looked around, there was a cat-like creature locked in one of the cells. Or it insisted that it wasn’t a cat, but it seemed rather like a cat to me.

It said that it could help guide us out of the castle if we let it out of the cell, and since there wasn’t a better option, we let it out.

We had to fight a few more battles, but we eventually managed to make our way out of the castle, as Sakamoto and I ended up on the street where you get off from the station.

Taking a different path, we did eventually make our way towards school, and the building from Sunday was there.

If this turns out to be nothing more than a lucid dream, and I really don’t know how I skipped the first 4 periods of class, I hope that this isn’t a sign of something wrong with me.

Stopping at that line, Sumire sat there, a little stunned, re-reading the last sentence over and over again in her head.

Ren, her beloved Ren-senpai, thinking that something was wrong with him?

She knew there were times when he had doubts about what he was doing, but to read him outright say that something could be wrong with him shook her to her core.

After a few moments and another set of smacked cheeks, Sumire cleared her mind and tried to think about from her boyfriend’s perspective.

‘I suppose if I didn’t have any guidance on what was going on, I would think I would be crazy too,’ she thought to herself, thinking about how panicked she was when she entered Maruki’s palace for the first time.

The memory quickly turned sour though, as she thought about how if she had been herself when it happened the first time, how bad things could’ve gotten. If she didn’t think she was Kasumi and followed along with Ren and his guidance to get out. How indecisive she would’ve been, slowing Ren down, putting him at risk.

He wouldn’t have saved her.

She had to move away from these thoughts.

Scrolling further down, Sumire finishing the rest of the entry.

I’m writing this a few hours after my initial entry today.

I think I’ve calmed down a bit from the strange castle, and now that I’m reading it myself, I wonder if I actually am crazy.

But that’s not what I’m worried about.

It seems like my criminal record got out somehow.

I don’t know how it did, but only someone in a place of power would be capable of doing something like that.

I have to be extra careful now, as there’s a huge target on my back.

Chapter Text

On the train to school, Sumire kept thinking about how Ren thought that something was wrong with him for not knowing what a Palace was, or that he was unaware that he had awakened his Persona.

The more she thought about it, the more worried she got. Sumire’s confidence was practically built on the fact that she believed Ren to be an unshakable object, unphased by negative things and an ability to push forward regardless, and he would always be there to catch her if something happened.

But the thought only led to when he did try to catch her and instead of thanking him, she pushed him off, insisting that anything he could do wasn’t good enough and it would never be good enough.

How would she ever fulfill her promise of being strong enough to stand on her own and catch him if she wasn’t even sure that she could properly fall in his arms?

“Aoyama-Itchome, Aoyama-Itchome. The exit will be on the right-hand side of the car,” the announcement came over the intercom, bringing Sumire back into the moment, making her way towards the door.

Her walk towards school was as quiet as ever, no one walking with her from the station was something that she admittedly missed from the last part of her year as a freshman. When she was Kasumi, it didn’t bother her at all, her mind focused solely on gymnastics and overcoming her ‘slump.’ When she had returned to herself, there was nothing more than a want to be alone, wanting to keep people away from a failure like herself. Towards the end of Maruki’s Palace to the rest of the year, she could always count on Ren walking with her from the station.

But once the year ended, Ren left, and all her friends left with him.

Ryuji left for his track dream, Makoto and Haru had left for college, Ann had left for America, and Futaba left to a different school. Yusuke was doing a rather un-Yusuke-like thing, working with Kawanabe and Sae to find ways to compensate Madarame’s former pupils, seemingly making it his mission during college to reach out to as many as he could find and using Sae’s legal backing to claim as much as he could from Madarame’s estate to sell and give.

All of them were truly going forward, and Sumire felt that she was the only one who was still stuck, the only one at Shujin.

As she got closer to the front gate, it looked like someone was waiting there, looking down at his feet, leaning against the wall as the teacher there seemed rather annoyed that he would do such an act in front of everyone coming to school.

She averted her eyes when she got closer, not wanting to get pulled in by the teacher as an example of an ideal student, when a rather familiar voice caught her ear.

“Like hell I have to respect your guy’s name. After all the shit you put the team through with Kamoshida and Yamaguchi, it’s more a wonder that I didn’t leave this place sooner.”

“Ryuji-senpai?” Sumire swung her head around, looking at the man who turned to face her upon hearing his name being called.

“Oh, Sumire!” the former Phantom Thief responded, stretching his arm out for a hi-five, one which was eagerly returned as Sumire made her way over. His bleached blond hair had was missing, as a fresh crop of dark black hair stood atop his head, with a stud piercing in his left ear.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her negative thoughts blocked by the surprise of a friend.

“Rehab’s been going fine, so the center wanted some of my track footage from freshman year,” he started, as the teacher watched dumbfounded, unable to believe that Shujin’s pride and joy was talking to someone like Ryuji.

“That’s good to hear, it was disappointing that you couldn’t come to the last get-together,” Sumire smiled, joining Ryuji in leaning against the wall as students made their way past them, whispers floating around them.

Is that her boyfriend?

I thought he wore glasses?

Coming to greet her at school, how much attention does she think she needs?

The last line made Sumire drop her smile, making Ryuji pause.

“Hey, you okay?” he asked, standing straight as he turned to look at her.

“It’s nothing, you don’t have to worry about it,” she answered, averting her eyes.

There was another pause, before Ryuji shook his head, hand reaching for his phone.

“It doesn’t look like nothin’, something happen?” he continued, going through his contacts and looking for Ren.

Sumire was quiet again, before she got up from the wall and quietly said, “I’ll text you later today,” and walked away.

“Ah, o-okay,” Ryuji mumbled his response, watching her walk away, before texting Ren, as whispers continued to make their way around the two of them.

Crashing into her bed when she got home, Sumire stared at the headboard, as whispers from school weaved in and out of her mind.

It wasn’t so bad her freshman year, as she was never the center of attention for too long, but now that she was alone at school, she heard more things that she would’ve liked to hear.

As she lay there, trying to ignore the thoughts, a special ringtone went off from her phone, making Sumire whip her head to the side and look at it.

Was it really?

“Senpai?”

“Hey Sumi, your parents listening?” came her beloved Ren’s voice, coming off soft and smooth even through the phone.

“No, I just came back from school, sorry, …”

“Don’t be, it’s rough being in third year with exams to worry about. It must be extra hard with you and gymnastics,” he said, as Sumire moved towards a corner in her bed, resting her chin on her knees and her back against the wall.

“But still, this is a nice surprise Ren, what made you call,” she asked, a grin on her face upon hearing his voice.

It was suddenly quiet on the other end, and a deep sigh came through.

“Ryuji texted me saying that you seemed a bit off. Are you okay?” Ren asked, as the smile slowly left her face.

“Is, is Ryuji really the best person to listen to for this?”

“Normally no, but if even he could see it, then something is wrong.”

Sumire got quiet, unsure if she could counter her boyfriend, putting her phone down. She let it sit there for a few moments, before picking it back up, her eyes starting to water.

“I, I had a series of thoughts that lead back to me f-f-fig-,” she started, unable to say the word. “A, and I thought about how I said that I would be strong enough that I could take care of you when you would need it.

I, I’m not sure that I’m strong enough to even accept your help,” Sumire said, as the first tear started to make its way down her cheek.

“And it just makes me wonder if you should even s-s-stay with…”

“Don’t finish that sentence.”

“Bu-but,”

“You still have my glasses there, don’t you?” Ren asked, as Sumire nodded even though he wouldn’t be able to see.

“You can put them on, become Joker for a moment.”

Sumire got up from her bed and opened a drawer from her desk and pulled out a glasses case.

When it opened, Ren’s glasses were looking back at her, her tears reflected in the lenses.

This was not the first time Ren had listened or been with Sumire when she had a breakdown. It was probably the second one this year. But after a particularly bad breakdown where she didn’t respond to anything, he just put his glasses on her as a spur of the moment and told her to think like Joker.

It had come as a surprise to both of them, as Sumire just looked through her teary eyes and Ren screamed internally, trying to keep a blush down from doing something so embarrassing.

But it seemed to work, and she started to calm down.

Putting the glasses on her face, Sumire sat back down, taking deep breaths and working to calm herself down.

“Was Joker strong enough to rescue everyone?”

“No, Haru’s father died, and Joker couldn’t stop it.”

“Did Joker quit being a Phantom Thief because of one failure?”

A sniffle.

“Did he quit?”

“No, it just hardened his resolve to make sure such things didn’t happen again.”

“So, a question for Violet, who could proudly stand next to Joker. Did she quit?”

“No,”

“Did she quit?”

“No.”

“Did she quit?”

“No!”

“There’s the answer I was waiting for! Violet, who stood proudly next to Joker didn’t quit, and the Sumi I know doesn’t quit!”

The phone fell as Sumire let out a cry, as Joker’s glasses slid up her face as she put her head further down her knees, letting all her feelings out.

She cried like that for a few minutes, as Ren stayed quiet and listened, waiting for her to let it out of her system.

When she finally stopped and picked up her phone, she was the first to talk.

“Sorry about that,” she said softly, her voice somewhat gone from crying.

“Don’t be, that’s what I’m here for,” he answered, being rewarded with an invisible smile. “But if there’s someone you do need to apologize to, it’s Ryuji. He’s been wa~iting for you to text him,” Ren teased, making Sumire laugh.

“Right, I did say that I was going to text him. Thanks for the call, Ren.”

“No problem. Love you.”

“Love you too.”

Putting the glasses back in their case and into the drawer, she texted Ryuji.

I’m sorry that I worried you today

Don’t be. The fact your texting means he got to you. Good on him for always knowing what to do

She giggled at that, thinking how she thought the same thing, even if she was starting to see the human in him a bit more.

Still, I made you worry for me on a chance encounter we had

Don’t worry about it

Ah, got to go, coach is calling me

After reading the line, Sumire put her phone down, and looked at her laptop, wondering if she could read a bit more.

Chapter Text

Flipping the laptop open, Sumire went back to the first file and looked for where she left off when she noticed a red line running where she stopped.

She paused at the line, wondering what it could’ve been when she caught the trademark fanged grin of Alibaba at the end with a speech bubble coming out of it.

‘Hey! Thanks for giving me access to your computer! As thanks, I’ll mark where you left off. I’ll also be sure to send an image to Ren whenever you buy underwear!’ popped up when Sumire moved her cursor over the bubble, prompting a blush and a quick text to the group chat, to which her only response was: ‘you get used to it.’

She fumbled around, wondering if Futaba would actually send Ren images of anything she bought online, when she got a solo text from Futaba: ‘Don’t worry too much about me showing it, he’s going to see you in it eventually,’ which only made her blush even harder, burying her face in her hands.

When the blush eventually died down, she lifted her face from her hands, and reached for her glasses, putting them on as she continued to the next entry.

• April 12, 20XX

I don’t know if I should say I feel relieved or worried.

First and foremost, it seems that I’m not crazy, and if I am, I’ve convinced myself to a point that I’m probably beyond saving.

How do I start.

The castle.

The castle is real.

Ryuji came up to me after school today and tried to figure out if there was a way to get back there.

I was somewhat annoyed at first since I need to stay away from trouble and I was told that he was trouble, but seeing someone else say that it was there and that we somehow got there sent a feeling of relief through me.

We came to a brief standstill until maps came up when Ryuji mentioned something about my phone. He asked if I was using a navigation app or something on my phone, and I said I wasn’t aware of such a thing. Unconvinced, he asked for my phone, so I gave it to him.

He said that there was a weird eye-looking logo of an app on my phone, and he tapped it and found that there was a location listed as Kamoshida’s castle. Looking back, my phone had a weird app on it that wouldn’t disappear when I deleted it. I had thought it was malware, and that I would need to get my phone fixed, but if this is true, then the app is what let us enter the castle in the first place.

So we entered an alley near the entrance of school and tapped navigate.

And the castle was there. It was there.

Making our way towards the entrance, screams were heard as we got closer. They turned out to be, if I’m getting this right, human-like puppets that are Kamoshida’s versions of people in his mind, or cognitive versions of real people.

Thinking back, we had seen quite a few of those beings when we tried to escape. And the sight we saw when we got to where those cognitive students were was awful.

They were kept even deeper in the dungeon from where we were, and they were all located in pits, putting them even lower. Some had armored guards beating them with spears, some were running on a treadmill that had spikes on one end and a kettle on the other, and some were just lined up before cannons, getting shot repeatedly in the face with volleyballs, all examples of abuse that volleyball team members were supposedly facing.

And I was running around in this, dark, flowing outfit that seemed like it would be too hard to navigate in, but it just seemed to flow with me, moving with me and never getting caught on anything as I ran through the castle. It supposedly resembles how I think a rebel looks like, which influences my powers.

And my powers, I forgot about my powers.

Apparently, my powers come from my rebel spirit materializing, and the materialization of that power is a Persona, a representation of how I rebel. It looks like a person with wings coming from his hips and is named Arsene. That doesn’t cover all of it, but I’m still taking this all in.

The cat creature from yesterday is the one who said all of this, and he may have said it before, but I’m just now able to take all of this in. He says his name is Morgana, and he lost his form as a human and is trying to find a way to reclaim his human form.

And toy guns, toy guns work like the real deal. Toys!

Ryuji brought it in and gave it to me, and as we were making our way down where the cognitive students were being held, I tried to shoot, and it actually took down an enemy. And it reloads between fights too.

And our enemies, now that I’m thinking about them, are apparently called Shadows. And the Kamoshida we saw yesterday was a Shadow of himself.

I think the cat said that it was the side of him that he doesn’t want to show, a repressed and negative aspect of himself that he doesn’t face, and it’s turned him into what he is now.

That was just making our way down, what happened as we tried to get out though was surprising.

When we tried to leave, Kamoshida was waiting for us by the entrance and ambushed us. He had way more guards this time, and despite the best efforts of me and Morgana, it wasn’t enough.

That was when it happened.

Then Kamoshida started talking about Ryuji’s past, and it pissed him off.

Ryuji awoke his Persona and managed to clear away a lot of Shadows.

It was a pirate on a ship.

Like a pirate standing on a small pirate ship. What are the rules with Personas?

Regardless, after clearing away some of the Shadows, something rather despicable came in.

A cognitive student walked in with cat ears and dressed in a bikini. I recognized her from class and as the one who got in Kamoshida’s car yesterday.

Now that I think about it more, she didn’t look happy getting in the car either.

Whatever it was, it seemed kind of unnatural to me, but the cat seemed a bit too into her.

Maybe the cat ears did it.

She had to stop, the laugh that she got out of that line made her look away from the screen as Ren so blatantly insulted Morgana’s desire for Ann.

Where was she?

After getting out of the castle, Morgana mentioned something about wanting me for a part of his grand plan, but I never heard him mention anything about such a plan. So we left.

Ryuji said he memorized the faces of the volleyball players, so he’s going to take the chance to go around and ask volleyball members anything about the abuse. I don’t think it’s likely that he’ll find anything, but I should keep an eye on him. The whole reason he wanted to come back to the castle was to see if he could help those people out, even though they’re not real.

He’s not too bad I suppose.

Then the next entry started.

Wait.

Where was she?

Sumire went through the entry again, and no matter what she looked for, anything that vaguely mentioned her didn’t show up; no mention of red hair, lowerclassmen, nothing.

She sat on the fact that she didn’t show at all, before shaking her head and smacking her cheeks.

‘He didn’t know who I was, he could’ve had any number of interactions like this and never written them down,

It’s okay, he cares about you, he just didn’t know you yet.’

She moved onto the next entry.

• April 14^th, 20XX

I forgot to enter yesterday, so I’ll enter what I learned then now.

Members of the volleyball team are afraid.

They think they can’t do anything because the school is more willing to cover for Kamoshida than take care of them. One of their members said it straight up when we confronted him about it.

After the failure of getting something out of volleyball members, Morgana showed up in the school courtyard. He apparently can move between the castle and our world without too much trouble, but he totally looked like a cat.

I think he’s as delusional as I thought I was when I first saw the castle.

Morgana said that there was a way for us to make Kamoshida say everything himself.

The castle that we had entered is supposedly called a Palace, and it exists because someone has an extremely distorted desire in something. That something is then materialized in an object called a Treasure, and if the Treasure is taken out of the Palace, the desire would go away, forcing the person to confront what they had done and tell the world.

The only apparent downside is, if we mess up somewhere in the process, there’s a high likelihood that the person becomes brain dead.

Fighting for justice is one thing, but I don’t need murder on my list of reasons why I’m being watched.

As for today, I met someone who reinforces the idea that Kamoshida is a slimy bastard.

I saw the girl in the car and my classmate, Ann Takamaki, crying outside the transition between rail lines at Shibuya, and she was clearly distressed about something.

She initially ran away, but she eventually caved and agreed to talk to me about what she was crying about.

Ann spoke about her only friend, and how she feels that if she doesn’t placate Kamoshida, he’s going to remove her friend from the starting roster.

She eventually left, saying that she was glad that she could speak about it, and asked me if I was just someone people opened up to.

My situation doesn’t have people coming to me.

Chapter Text

Looking down at her lap, Sumire continued to wonder if this was really okay.

It was becoming more and more apparent as she was reading that the Ren she knew wasn’t around yet, and she wondered if she was okay with that.

Her Ren was confident, would reach out to help people, and would advance regardless of the risk.

What she was reading now?

It was a Ren who was careful, didn’t do anything to actively put himself in danger, even if he wanted to.

How long was she going to have to wait until she saw the Ren she knew and loved.

• April 15^th, 20XX

I’ve had time to calm down but thinking about it is making me angry. I’m taking the risk.

I don’t care if he ends up braindead, someone just tried to kill herself because of what he did.

It happened during morning class when one of the students closest to the doors spotted her.

Ann’s best friend, Shiho. She was standing on the edge of the rooftop. And dropped.

And the worst part about it.

None of the teachers tried to take responsibility.

Ann ended up escorting her to the hospital.

The guy who said that nothing would change, he ran away from the scene.

Ryuji looked like he was about to hit him, and I wanted to know as well, so we trapped him against a corner.

He denied it for a while, but he caved when Ryuji slammed his fist against a locker. He said that Kamoshida had called her for what he called ‘extra coaching.’

Looking back at yesterday, Ann was crying with her phone in her hands. He tried to get her to come.

She told me her worries. He took it out on her best friend. I may have caused this as well.

Ryuji snapped and ran towards the PE office. I followed, so did the guy.

When I got there, Kamoshida was denying anything he did wrong.

Ryuji almost decked him, but I caught his hand before he hit. We couldn’t let it end before we even started.

Kamoshida laughed at my attempt and promptly said he was going to get everyone in the office expelled for threatening him.

Even the guy following us. He was the one who leaked my info under threat from Kamoshida.

If I’m going to stay in school, I have to take his Treasure.

The first part of today was written in the Palace. There are places where that bastard’s influence is supposedly weaker in areas called Safe Rooms, so we can take breaks if we find them.

A lot more has happened, and something towards the end just made me confused.

When we reached the Safe Room, we heard a struggle closer to the entrance, and Morgana went to investigate. I wrote the last entry in the time between him going and his return.

When he came back, he was all in a panic saying the Ann was being taken away by guards.

She had been watching us enter the first time, and followed us in.

Ryuji and I forced her out, but she got back in.

Looking back, Ryuji only managed to enter the Palace with me because of his proximity when the app activated, and he got it on his phone then. It wouldn’t be strange if Ann had gotten the app and came back in.

When we got to where Ann was being held, it only made us angrier.

She was tied to a cross, surrounded by topless girls, all of whom had nothing but lust in their eyes looking at one bastard.

He just stood there, mocking her, and when he realized that we had entered, did nothing but have a guard point a sword at her throat.

Then he said the fact that Shiho jumped was probably the best decision she ever made.

And like Ryuji and me before her, Ann awakened her Persona.

I wonder if pissing off people in a life-or-death situation helps.

Her Persona was a woman with a cigar in her mouth, cleavage on full display as it stood over a man who had a leash on him, with another casually being hung over her shoulder.

As with the other awakenings, the guards were blown away with the awakening, and grabbing the sword that was put to her neck, Ann cut down the cognitive version of herself.

The bastard panicked and had another of his guards deal with us, running away and grabbing a random girl.

The guard transformed into a demon sitting on a toilet and seemed like it would take a while to deal with.

Then Ann attacked with a move that floored it, making it easier for us to beat down on it.

I forgot to mention this, but it seems that Shadows and Personas alike have elemental strengths and weaknesses like P0kémon.

Morgana has wind-based attacks, Ryuji electric, Ann fire, and I, apparently can take any Shadow and make them my own.

In other words, I have to use this ability to use anything to cover the weakness of my teammates and ensure that we can get out of every situation alive.

I had taken in two such Shadows before we entered the Safe Room, and then the next surprise came.

As we made our way out and towards the entrance of the Palace, an entrance to the Velvet Room opened.

One of the twins was there, waiting for me.

And then I realized that my dreams have entered my physical life.

I’m stopping now, writing that sentence made my head hurt. I’ll follow up tomorrow morning.

A small sigh of relief came, as Sumire leaned further back into her chair.

He wasn’t quite there yet, but the Ren she knew was starting to take shape.

That was good.

Though she didn’t know what ‘twins’ he was talking about, wasn’t the attendant she saw when peaking into the nurse’s office the only one?

• April 16^th 20XX

Being lost in thought about the Velvet Room, I forgot to mention that Morgana followed me back to Leblanc.

Sojiro tried to say something, but gave up on it, saying that a pet would force me to be more responsible.

Not quite sure what we’re doing is the most responsible thing to do.

The Velvet Room, now that I’m writing this down, is a world between reality and consciousness or something that I normally can only enter from my dreams. It supposedly looks like a reflection of my heart, which is just a blue prison block with all the cells placed in a circular manner.

I’m not that depressed.

It has master, who’s a long-nosed, spindly old man named Igor, and twin wardens, Caroline and Justine, and they are supposedly supervising my ‘rehabilitation.’

Justine has a list of Personas and records any that I bring to her, as well as updating any changes that the Personas I use go through.

They also offer a ‘ritual,’ if I say, of fusing two Personas together into one.

I had three Personas on me, and for some reason, the suggested that I used Arsene in the fusion, along with a different Persona that I was using.

Not knowing much, I went along with the twins’ suggestion and fused Arsene.

But the real surprise came after that.

When I received the Persona, Justine thought something was wrong, and checked my roster of Personas.

To her surprise, Arsene was back within me, seemingly more powerful than when I sent him to be fused.

The twins sat there for a few moments, before shaking their heads as Igor said he was done teaching me for now, and that there would be more rituals for later, before phasing away. He was still there, but he wasn’t present.

Caroline and Justine seemed to be a bit confused when it was just me talking to them without Igor listening, as they said that they had gifts for me.

They said that there would be a box of weapons and items waiting for me when I got back to Leblanc, and there were some Personas that were waiting to be used as well.

But once they finished saying the words, they seemed unsure of what they had said, as if someone had told them something and they couldn’t remember who did.

Regardless, they sent me away, along with my powered up Arsene.

I’ll check the box later; I’m going to a clinic in the neighborhood for supplies after school before we go back to the Palace.

I just checked the box of supplies, which was just my storage box that contained all my stuff that I brought from home, and there was a dorapoké* in there.

I’m not sure why, but when I put my hand through, it just ate it up, and when I looked in, my hand looked like it did when I was in the Palace.

Morgana didn’t seem to notice, he just asked me what I was doing with the box when I got close, but when I opened the pocket, he seemed to not know what I was doing.

When I got called to the Velvet Room leaving the castle, the others seemed to have not noticed as well and asked me what I was spacing out for.

Could it be that access to the Velvet Room and this pocket make it look like I’m not paying attention?

Depending on what’s going on, that could be terrible.

Regardless, I decided to experiment with the pocket and took some of the items we got from the clinic and put them in. They just sank right in, and when I thought about them and tried to pull them out, they were in my hand.

Seeing I could just pull them right out, I tried to put all the items in and then tried to pull them out.

They fell to the floor once my hand left, but I can seemingly still pull them out.

This was going to be more useful than I thought.

Justine said that there were weapons and gear waiting inside for me, so I’ll mess with it before I go with Ryuji tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Sumire was going through her practice routine with much more energy than usual.

There were still two weeks left till summer break started and she would naturally be going on a training camp, but after much pleading and begging, she had gotten approval from coach Hiraguchi to allow Ren to come and join her during that time. There were conditions of course, but it made her extremely happy.

She was unable to meet with him during summer break last year, so the chance of seeing him at the start and end of every day for a long period like that had made her more excited than anything else before.

It was perhaps the first time since Kasumi died and not believing in herself that Sumire had actively watched the clock, wanting practice to be over and tell her boyfriend.

“Eyes off the clock Yoshizawa! The more you look, the more I’m adding!” Hiraguchi’s voice rang, bring Sumire back into the moment. She went over the next part of her routine in her head and took off onto the mat with perhaps a bit too much speed.

I did it!

You can come with me this summer!

Sumire smiled as she looked at the text, ignoring the rug burn she got on her leg after she tripped on her ribbon and skid on the mat, too excited to feel the pain.

It had been a few weeks since she read the last entry because she had been working on trying to get Ren on board, talking between him and coach to see what he could do for the time that they would be practicing. It was eventually agreed that he would be spending most of his time either cooking or cleaning up after the gymnasts, and he would be sleeping in an area separate from them and the coaches.

It wasn’t exactly what she wanted, but she wasn’t going to let this chance get away; her first summer together with Ren.

When she reached the floor that their apartment was on, Sumire spotted her father, closing the door behind him.

“Father!” she called out, rushing forward to catch the door, making him pause, turning around to greet her.

“Ah, Sumire! You seem full of energy? Something good happen?” he asked, opening the door for her.

“Mhm, Ren can join me during summer training,” she answered, stepping in and taking her shoes off, making her way towards the kitchen.

“Ah, you said that you’ve been trying to make it happen for a while,” her father responded, following behind her as Sumire pulled out some barley tea from the fridge.

“I cannot tell him ‘thank you’ enough for everything that he’s done for you,” he continued, getting some glasses out for them.

Sumire nodded, and poured the tea into both, putting the pitcher back into the fridge.

She was going to say something when her phone went off, and she looked at her screen.

“Ah, go ahead,” her father said, seeing how her eyes lit up after reading the screen, letting Sumire make her way into her room.

He sat there, watching her go and be happy, the thought kept crossing his mind that he really, really needed to thank her boyfriend.

Perhaps he should get him a drink on his next visit.

Plopping herself onto her bed, Sumire read the text that she got.

Great!

You worked hard for this

She smiled.

It only worked because you’re working to be my personal trainer

If that was it, I wouldn’t have to worry about pleasing your coach

I couldn’t walk properly for weeks after that

She really cares about you to put me through that kind of hell

Sumire giggled, remembering the first time that Ren had spoken with Hiraguchi about wanting to be her personal trainer. She wasn’t sure what it was that ran through her coach’s eyes, but whatever it was, it meant that Ren was going to struggle.

Also, are you planning on something?

What?

Futaba sent me some images of you in lingerie that I know you’re not bold enough to wear, did you buy something?

Red.

Embarrassment.

Panic.

Try as hard as she could, her cheeks started to flush, as Sumire could only imagine the things that Futaba would send to Ren.

I take that as no

She needs to stop browsing those sites, she sent some to Makoto as a prank last year

I’ll see you there

Still red from thinking about what scanty image Futaba would’ve sent to Ren, Sumire spent the next ten minutes trying to calm down, her face buried in her pillow.

When she did, she reached for her phone, seeing that Futaba had texted her.

It was a beautiful set, you could totally rock it

She would get red for the rest of the week if she thought about it again.

With a week left till the camp, Sumire was sitting down at her desk, having been afraid of what she would see if she opened her laptop after the text from Futaba, but she wanted to know more.

She put her glasses on. Taking a deep breath, she opened the screen and clicked on the file.

• April 17^th 20XX

I went shopping with Ryuji today.

We went into a back-alley store in Shibuya to see what sort of model guns we could get, but there was something else I was more interested in.

I spent the morning pulling out weapons from the pocket. When they were in the pocket, they felt like they were real, with all sorts of different materials being felt against my hand. But when I pulled them out, they were nothing but plastic and rubber models. Highly detailed models, but still models.

Seeing that these weapons were well above anything that we had when we first entered the Palace, I wanted to see what a person who specialized in this sort of stuff would think.

Ryuji gave me some money to buy at the shop and left, saying that he trusted my judgment.

He only counts money in terms of ramen and beef bowls, so I either owe nine bowls of ramen or five beef bowls to Ryuji later.

When he left, I asked the clerk if he could look at some of the stuff I had.

He seemed confused and asked what I would want in this situation when I pulled out a knife that I thought of when I thought of weapons for myself.

He just looked at the knife and back at me, before asking where I got such a detailed thing.

I told him it was in a storage unit of a family member who just died, and I was given all the replica weapons he had in there since I was supposed to be in that age group.

The clerk just looked at me, then laughed, saying that he had no interest in buying weapons from some punk kid like me, and that if there were any guns, that maybe we could talk.

I showed him one of the pistols that came to my hand when I thought of myself.

He paused, before asking me to hand him the pistol.

Not seeing anything wrong with that, I handed it to him.

The clerk looked at the pistol long and hard, before giving back to me, asking me where I had gotten it.

I gave him the same response.

He just stared at me, before shaking his head, seemingly wanting to say something but didn’t.

He said that if I ever wanted to come by again with some other weapons that I was free to enter.

I’ll see if I can get any information from the twins.

Seeing that it was the end, Sumire started to scroll down but was greeted by a large Alibaba grin, with a speech bubble over it again.

Not wanting to click on it with the recent thoughts of what Futaba did, she scrolled further down, where the next entry was the day that Kamoshida confessed everything at the school assembly and the file ended.

Where was the rest of it?

Sumire looked at the speech bubble for maybe three minutes before slowly moving her cursor over it.

When I got this, there were several pages missing, looking like they were torn out.

Everything in those pages were related to Kamoshida’s Palace from what I can guess, but it made me wonder what made Ren do this.

As I kept reading, I eventually found it in a later entry:

• January 10^th, 20XX+1

 I tore out some pages of my diary.

Just seeing it made me mad, and the only outlet I had at the moment were those pages.

They were all related to the bastard Kamoshida, and what he said about Sumire in one of the worst rooms in his Palace.

Where the queen book went into the wall, there was something to the effect of, ‘her sister is dead, it should be easy to make her want me’ with Sumire’s name at the end. It happened to be the page that opened when I planned on writing what happened today, and after seeing what happened in Maruki’s Palace, I lost it.

Morgana had to scratch at my ankles for a few seconds before I felt him, stopping what I was doing to look at him.

He lectured me about losing my cool with an extremely worried face.

That wasn’t good.

I can’t let this affect how we go into the Palace tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Her room was briefly quiet, as Sumire just stared at the screen, some sort of feeling crawling up her throat.

She remembered when she had asked Ann about Kamoshida’s Palace, how there was a room where pictures of Shiho were hung up all around the room, with a similar cross that Ann had been tied to when her Persona awoke, how his voice echoed around saying that she loved him.

How she came out dressed as a bunny girl when they fought his Shadow before Ann eventually shot her whip out at the cognitive version of her, tears and rage in her eyes. How it hurt her to hit a version of her best friend, even if it wasn’t the real her.

How much her tongue hurt from biting it so she wouldn’t kill Kamoshida’s Shadow.

And the fact she was a target and just didn’t think about it, it made her stomach churn.

How lucky she had gotten to avoid him and have him not do anything.

She scrolled further down.

• May 2^nd, 20XX

It happened.

It worked.

He confessed.

Honestly, I’m still taking in the fact that it worked. He confessed everything.

It took me three hours thinking about what happened before I started this.

There was a school assembly today where the principal had tried to set it up as a warning about not committing suicide.

Seeing how he let it slide, I think he just tried to cover his tracks.

Many of the students were already annoyed, when Kamoshida walked in.

He made his way to the stage, where the principal just stared at him, wondering what he was doing.

Then he said it.

He had done actions unbecoming of a teacher and a coach, that he was physically and sexually abusive, that she had driven Shiho to suicide, forced Ann to date him for Shiho’s starting position, everything.

Then he said he was going to kill himself.

Everyone gasped at that, wondering what they should do.

Then Ann spoke up.

She said live.

Shiho’s alive, and he shouldn’t get to run away from what he’s done.

And he agreed.

He requested that someone call the police so he could turn himself in.

The principle panicked and said the assembly was over, and that everyone should go back to class.

Ann, Ryuji and I were the only ones left in the gym when everyone had left, where Ann asked if this was okay.

She seemed fine, but I think she’s still unsure more than anything.

Then some students came and apologized to Ann about the rumors.

She just said yeah, and we went to class, as a teacher saw us and said go to class.

When school ended, we went up to the roof and thought of what to do from there.

The idea of a celebration came up, and Ann said she had an idea. Instead of holding onto the Treasure, we decided to sell it to pay for our celebration.

• May 4^th, 20XX

Sojiro kept me busy yesterday, so I couldn’t go and sell the medal.

And the moment I walk into the gun shop, the clerk turned his head and looked at me. He was on a phone call and looked me straight in the eyes. He tells the person on the other end that the police were outside and hung up.

He then asked me about my inheritance.

I look back and tell him that I didn’t bring any with me, and I have something I want to sell.

He continues to stare me down, but eventually backs off, asking me what I have.

I showed him Kamoshida’s medal, and he asks me where I got it.

I said that I found it in the PE office, where his throne room was in the Palace.

He looks at me again, and shrugs his shoulders, saying he’ll buy it for 30000.

I nod in confirmation, and he hands me something else.

It was a paper bag with a realistic replica pistol inside. He got me to smuggle it out of his store, as police did come in the shop.

I’ll bring the gun back, and I’ll show you some of the other weapons, you crafty bastard.

I hope the place Ann recommended is worth the smuggling.

• May 5^th, 20XX

What was supposed to be a celebration had turned sour by the atmosphere.

The food was indeed good, but we just stood out from the crowd, whispers about how we were trying to enjoy something that wasn’t meant for us.

It didn’t help that when Ryuji and I were coming back from the bathroom, someone had shoved us away from the elevator, though I have the faintest feeling that I remember a voice in the group of people, but I don’t know where.

So when we reunited with Ann, she looked just as down trotted as we felt.

She asked if we belonged in such an atmosphere and I said that we didn’t belong anywhere.

They looked at me for a second when I said that, but they nodded, thinking about how school life had been for the three of us.

Ryuji asked if there was nothing more we could do.

He asked Morgana about Palaces, and that anyone could have one, and when the cat said yes, he just looked at us like we could be doing more.

We were quiet for a few seconds before we nodded, and the Phantom Thieves of Hearts were born anew.

Get ready world; the Phantom Thieves have come to town.

Let’s go and fix the world.

Best of luck to future us.

Sumire was all smiles on the train ride as she looked out the window, lenses reflected in the window.

The file had ended with Ren’s cheer for the Phantom Thieves, and she felt confident that the Ren she knew was born at that moment. She didn’t open the next file, spending the rest of the week preparing for camp.

She was sitting with a group of other gymnasts, as their coaches sat further ahead in the car, all of them talking about the upcoming camp.

Sumire herself wasn’t listening, more absorbed in daydreaming about the little time she would have with Ren during her breaks and seeing him for every meal.

“-zawa, Yoshizawa.”

“Hm?” Sumire looked away from the window, hearing her name being called.

“Were you even listening to our conversation?” one of the other girls asked, as some of them looked at her.

“Um, no, what conversation,” she asked, unsure of what she should’ve been listening to.

“Someone’s boyfriend is supposedly working at our camp, and you’re the only one who hasn’t said anything about it,” the same girl said, as a feeling of imminent embarrassment grew in Sumire’s stomach.

“Everyone’s said if they have a boyfriend or not, you’re the only one who hasn’t said anything,” a different girl said, drawing all eyes on Sumire. She blushed and diverted her eyes.

“Ah! She looked away!”

“She does!”

“How long have you been together?”

An avalanche of questions hit her, as Sumire started to shrink in her seat, afraid of what embarrassing things she would say under pressure.

Walking through the station, Sumire was red in the face as she stuck close to Hiraguchi, afraid of talking anymore with the other girls.

She sat for what felt like an eternity, unable to answer any of the questions that went her way as she stuttered every other word.

Hiraguchi only laughed when Sumire approached her about it in the station as they got off the train, saying that it’s what she got for not paying attention to what was going on around her.

As the group stepped out of the station, they gathered by an information board, getting a text that their drivers were going to be a bit late, an issue with one of the cars as they were leaving.

Still unable to shake off the embarrassment of talking with the other girls, Sumire stayed near the coaches. As they started talking amongst themselves, Sumire checked her phone, feeling her phone vibrate while she was on the train.

So, read the first file, did you?

Since you didn’t open the rest, I took the liberty to download the next two files on your phone

No need to thank me

Uh oh.

If Ren tries to take a peek, it’ll appear as glamor shots that I edited his face on, and he’ll never be the wiser

She was so absorbed in reading the text, Sumire didn’t feel someone’s presence sneaking up on her.

“Konichi-…. wa!”

Chapter Text

As he sat in the driver’s seat of the gymnast car, Ren kept glancing over to his left, as Sumire was pouting out the window.

When the ‘wa’ came, Sumire yelped and turned around, tripping on her own feet at the surprise.

When the coaches heard the yelp, they naturally turned to face her. They were greeted with Sumire in Ren’s arms, a classic Joker grin looking down at Sumire’s blushing face.

“I missed you,” was all Ren could say before the other girls saw them.

Checking over again, Sumire was still looking out the window, her pout only making Ren want to tease her more.

“Glad to see you still wearing glasses,” he started, whispers coming from the back.

“I didn’t bring enough contacts,” Sumire responded, keeping her eyes on the window.

“You know I like you with glasses on,” Ren countered, with the whispers getting a bit louder.

Sumire paused for a bit, her blush visible in the reflection of the window, turning further back to see the girls looking at her, almost expectantly.

She turned back around, fidgeted a bit, her blush a bit redder.

She tugged on Ren’s sleeve.

“Can we talk more in private later,” she whispered, leaning into him.

More whispers from the back, as Ren paused for a bit, before pushing her back into position.

“Sit straight when you’re in the car,” he said, rustling her hair a bit and patting her on the head.

When they reached their camp, Ren parked the car next to the other one, opening the doors as the girls were chatting up a storm, with Sumire noticeably behind them.

Their camp was a good distance away from the town they arrived in, made up of the gym that would be their primary practice area and small cabins around them, with a dining hall and bathhouse on opposite ends of the camp.

It was normally used by basketball and volleyball teams, but they had managed to get in, with the facility owner wanting to experiment with gymnastics.

Getting the bags out of the back and handing them out, Ren felt his hands getting touched, more that he anticipated, with some winks coming his way as Sumire stayed back, leaning against the side of the car.

Once the other girls got their bags, Ren turned to Sumire, holding her bag in his hands.

“I’m sorry,” he apologized, passing her bag as she took it, face down.

“I wanted to surprise you,” he continued, closing the distance.

Sumire stayed quiet, still not looking him in the eyes.

She stayed like that for a few seconds, before leaning into him.

“That was unfair,” she whispered, her cheek pressed against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her, a smile on his face.

“I just returned the favor from Hawaii,” he muttered, kissing the top of her head.

Sumire smiled at the kiss, giving Ren a quick hug before stepping back, looking at him.

“You have to make up for embarrassing me in front of everyone,” she said, putting her bag over her shoulder.

“Tonight’s diner is curry, so I think I’m covered,” Ren answered, locking the car and making his way to the dining hall.

“I decide,” she said with an easy grin and made her way towards the rest of the group, where Ren’s supervisor was talking with all the coaches.

Day one of camp was rough.

It didn’t matter that they had spent most of the day traveling, the girls were only given ten minutes to unpack a bit and get dressed for some basic training to warm up for the rest of the three weeks.

So when diner time came, Sumire’s stomach rumbled in anticipation, the taste of Ren’s curry running through her memory.

Everyone walked into the dining hall dressed in their training clothes, as the smell of spices wafted out of the kitchen.

The sound of rumbling stomachs was heard throughout, but none was more pronounced than Sumire’s, blushing at the attention she got.

“It’s really good,” was she could say for herself as they lined up.

The kitchen was only separated from the rest of the dining hall by a wall and a door, with a part of the wall missing to serve as a serving counter. Plates of curry were already lined up, seemingly fresh out of the pot.

Many mouths watered upon finally seeing the curry, but they all had to restrain themselves, waiting for everyone to get their portion and for Ren to formally introduce himself.

With everyone seated, Ren walked out of the kitchen, wearing a spotless apron, and stopped in front of the counter.

“Hello, everyone,” he started, all eyes on him.

“I’m Amamiya Ren, and I will be your cook for this camp. I’m currently working to be a physical trainer, but with the way things are going, I may just turn into a chef,” he joked, though few laughs came with everyone focused on the food.

“Well, I can see that you’re all eager to dig in, so I won’t make you wait any longer. I’ll be in your care.”

And the spell was lifted.

After itadakimasu, it didn’t take long for many plates to be clean, with many of the girls wondering if seconds were an option.

“Please wait for everyone to be finished. And I will say, tomorrow will have no seconds, so if you want some, today is one of the only days with seconds,” Ren said, speeding up some of the others who were yet to clear their plates.

Walking out of the dining hall, Sumire could hear how Ren was the talk of the town, all the girls much more interested in him.

She tried to ignore most of it, and made her way to her cabin, getting her things to be ready for the bathhouse.

Walking back out, she saw that the lights in the dining hall were still on. She wondered if Ren saved a portion for himself and hoped that he enjoyed it as much as everyone else did.

Sumire was in and out of the bathhouse, only taking a shower, and rushed back to her cabin. She looked for her phone.

Did you have any curry for yourself?

Of course

How did you know we were coming?

I have a little helper keeping an eye out for me

Is Morgana here?

Yep

He tried to help and complained as usual

He’s only a cat when he doesn’t want to do something

Sumire giggled at that, remembering the screams of animal abuse that she heard when Ren had come to visit for New Years, keeping some fish out of his paws.

I have to start prepping for breakfast tomorrow

Good night Sumi

She smiled at her nickname, thinking about calling it a night, when she remembered Futaba’s text.

She searched through her phone, but she couldn’t find it.

You said you put the next two on my phone?

Ah, give me a sec

On your phone, they may be, but I didn’t leave an access point

Here

When you open it, hold it for ten seconds or it gets hot

Hot?

I spent a lot of time making them, so appreciate them

That was the last text that she got from Futaba and two ‘folders’ showed up, labeled as ‘two’ and ‘three.’

She tapped on the first one.

An image of Ren’s back popped up, defined with muscles from his Phantom Thieving days.

Sumire blushed, immediately backing out.

That was what Futaba meant when she said that it would get hot.

She tapped the icon and held it like Futaba said, and the next entry opened.

• May 7^th, 20XX

It seems like Mishima may not be just all talk about supporting the Phantom Thieves.

Morgana said that there was something that he wanted to try today, so we meet up at Shibuya, near the Hachiko statue exit.

Ryuji asked what we were doing there, when Morgana told us that there were small things that we could do to sway the thoughts of the public.

Morgana asked me about Mishima’s web forum that requested help from the Phantom Thieves, and I did mention that there was a request where someone was being stalked.

It was an ex-boyfriend, so a name was easy to get, and then the surprise came.

When we entered the name and a place called Mementos, Shibuya station square was completely different.

No one was there, as if we had entered a Palace, and we looked around wondering where everyone went.

Then Morgana told us to go down into the station.

The station itself got really weird, as it got all dark with a red glow coming from somewhere.

Then a sound came from deeper down, and I shivered a bit at hearing it.

We all looked at Morgana for an explanation, and he said that his place was the public Palace, that desires not yet strong enough manifest here and can be nipped in the bud if we act fast enough.

Then the cat turned into a car.

Maybe I am crazy.

Regardless, we made our way down, with me on driving duty.

Ann asked me if I got it.

M@rio K@rt says yes.

We went down and started looking for the target from the forum. Shadows that were in Kamoshida’s Palace started to show up, and some Shadows that weren’t there also showed.

They weren’t too much of a problem, as we only spent time going through one floor before we found our target.

He wasn’t too much of a challenge, having Arsene weaken him for Ann and Ryuji to finish him off.

After that, we made our way deeper into Mementos, only to find that there was a door that was blocking our way down.

We went up and tapped, and the door opened to a cheering Morgana. He said that this what he wanted to confirm, so he said not to worry and that we could call it a day.

When we returned to the entrance, there was a little kid there.

Like, Morgana’s Palace form small. His name was Jose, and he said there were flowers in Mementos that he used to study humans. He said that if we looked and gave them to him, he would trade us items that he would find.

Morgana was already tense around him, but he was clearly jealous because Ann called Jose cute.

To rub it in a bit more, I said we would gladly help him out, and that Morgana was a bit upset because he was hungry.

Jose only nodded and handed Morgana a pack of cookies.

It was hard not to laugh.

Chapter Text

Sumire didn’t get to read more after that, as she heard the other girls who would be staying in the cabin with her coming her way.

As such, she brushed her teeth and went to sleep, or at last tried to pass off as going to sleep, as chatter about Ren kept coming until the others went to sleep.

Breakfast the next day only made the talk even worse.

“Since dinner yesterday was a heavy curry, breakfast today is going to be a light meal of rice, grilled salmon and miso soup. I hope you enjoy, and please work hard today.”

She wanted to punch something.

Ren was just being himself, but he was charming everyone by just presenting breakfast.

It was unfair.

And the charm was kept up for diner as well.

It was mapo tofu with eggplant substituting for the beef, served with potato salad and salted cucumber in vinegar dressing.

Why did it have to be so good?!

Like the day before, she flew in and out of the bathhouse and brushed her teeth before-hand, not wanting to scramble and make it look like she was doing something else when her cabin mates arrived.

She opened the file.

• May 13^th, 20XX

The more time I spend at school, the more I wonder how they’ve managed to get by without anyone coming down on their asses.

Even today, there was an announcement that pulled everyone out of class during exam week.

I get what they were trying for, many of the girls seemed to let it slide, but surely introducing a counselor after exams would’ve been the better decision.

Not like it matters.

He approached us when the announcement was done, and it seems that we’re under mandatory counseling because of our connections with Kamoshida.

Can’t blame him for doing his job, though the snacks he says he’s going to bring better not be all dagashi.

• May 14^th, 20XX

It may be just me, but we might have accidentally run into our latest target.

On our way to school, Ann felt someone eyeing her from the train, so Ryuji and I intercepted the person when we left the station.

It was a student from a different school, fine arts apparently, as his teacher came to pick him up.

I think the teacher’s the target. His name is Madarame, and I vaguely remember that name from when we did our first request in Mementos.

However, the pupil seemed very invested in getting Ann to be his model, so he gave us tickets to his teacher’s gallery to convince Ann to come.

I’ll be keeping an eye on both.

• May 16^th, 20XX

We got a hit.

Madarame indeed has a Palace.

When we were at the gallery yesterday, Ryuji and I were forced out of the crowd by some diehard fans, so he took the time to see if there was anything about Madarame he could find.

And on the forum, there was indeed an anonymous request to take Madarame down.

The request had claims of abuse, plagiarism, and even suicide listed as things that had happened under Madarame.

Since his pupil, Kitagawa, wants Ann to model for him, he gave Ann the address of his residence.

And then we checked for a Palace.

As it was our first dive, we didn’t go too deep in, but what we saw was certainly indicative of a good target.

Unlike the castle before, Madarame’s Palace was a museum. What we saw inside was disturbing in a different sense from before.

All the paintings on display were portraits of people, and we even saw the guy we took down in Mementos.

And then there was one of Kitagawa.

All of that was relatively close to the entrance. Just behind that, there was a statue that proclaimed the greatness of Madarame stealing ideas: that those who do not give him ideas are not meant to be kept or would be trained to provide.

That was confirmation we needed to go for Madarame, and we will be checking with Kitagawa tomorrow.

Breakfast was an omelet where carrot greens and spinach were mixed with the eggs, as tomatoes and ham made up the filling, served with two slices of strawberry jam toast.

Dinner was oyakodon, eggs mixed with chicken served atop a bowl of rice, along with a carrot and daikon radish salad.

Even more swoons coming from the girls didn’t help, especially since some of them wanted to know a bit more about how Ren treated her in private. Asking in the bathhouse also probably wasn’t the best time to do so.

• May 17^th, 20XX

To see if we could get more information, when we went to check on him, he was less than pleased when he saw that Ryuji and I were there as well.

We told him our worries about having Ann there with these kinds of rumors, and he almost lost it.

Madarame had to come out and tell him to relax, and that it was an action done out of concern for their friend and that he didn’t have to worry about it.

Kitagawa got a bit quiet after that and let us in.

Ann sat down to model, but after several minutes, Kitagawa claimed that he wasn’t going making progress and that he wanted a nude.

Ann naturally freaked out, and we had to leave when Ryuji confronted Kitagawa about the claims. Kitagawa responded in saying that he was going to contact the police over it, so we left in a hurry.

We’re going to have to dig in a bit if we’re going to see why Kitagawa defends Madarame.

• May 18^th, 20XX

I may have pushed everyone a bit too much today.

While we have all certainly grown since our fight against Kamoshida, Arsene as a Persona is way more powerful than what Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana have.

That may not have been as much of a problem as it was with Kamoshida, but I won’t be able to carry them forever. At best, Arsene still only hits one target, which requires that everyone else follows up on what I do.

Since clearing Kamoshida’s Palace, Igor increased the number of Personas I can wield. Going forward, I’ll have to avoid using Arsene as much as possible and putting the emphasis on having everyone else initiate and I follow up. There may be times where I may not be able to reach them or they reach me, so I have to be able to make it so that they can take initiative without needing my approval.

Regardless, we got a bit more confirmation about Kitagawa’s situation from our previous target in Mementos.

Mishima set him up to meet us, but we spoke through a pillar, not showing our faces being a requirement for the conversation.

The target spoke about how passionate he had been about art, and how being suddenly thrown out of Madarame’s care and being shunned by the art community under Madarame’s influence turned his passion into stalking. How one of Madarame’s former pupils couldn’t take the plagiarism anymore and killed himself.

I had to cover Ann’s mouth at that.

Then Kitagawa came up.

Madarame took him in when he was very young after his mother had died and was practically raised by him. Even so, even if he wants to leave, he doesn’t have anywhere to go. As such, our target was afraid that he might end up killing himself.

Kitagawa did mention that if he didn’t get a new painting out by the end of Madarame’s exhibit, he would be in trouble, so we have to get the treasure before it ends.

Otherwise, Ann’s going to be blackmailed into modeling nude, and I don’t want to hear Morgana whine about preserving Ann’s chastity daily, so we started.

The deeper we got into Madarame’s Palace, the more portraits of former pupils we found. It’s an absurd number, no way he had this many students under him.

It makes me wonder if he thinks so little of them that their faces are now all distorted and just strewn about his Palace, or he really did destroy this many peoples’ hopes and dreams.

We also learned the existence of an important new enemy type.

Dumb cat got too excited next to a valuable and triggered a trap. I had to get everyone else out and questioned him about it.

Morgana looked a bit sheepish, but he said there was something off about it, so I looked at it.

A new Shadow popped out, and Morgana mewed, saying that we needed to catch it.

It was rather slow and didn’t attack, so that wasn’t an issue, but it took way too many hits.

We were just lucky that it went down to an item that we had picked up earlier, but if they can tank hits from Arsene as well, we’ll have to luck our way through taking them down.

After it went down, the amount of money it dropped was insanely high, and it looked like everyone else grew a bit more from it.

We’ll gladly take advantage of these Treasure demons, as Morgana calls them.

After we beat the Treasure demon, we made our way to a large courtyard, whose entrance was lined by sliding doors, which opened themselves to us when we approached. Behind them was an even larger set of sliding doors blocked by a set of lasers.

To see what would happen, I picked a leaf from a bush in the courtyard and had Morgana use his Persona to guide it into the laser.

It fried on contact.

We thought that we had reached a dead-end when Morgana said he might have seen the door from somewhere.

When we were all in Madarame’s house for modeling, Morgana left a bit to scout around and said that there was a door with a hefty lock on it that had the same pattern as the one before us. As such, he said that we would end our dive for the day and that we had to do something in the real world.

We just need Madarame to see someone other than himself enter the room that he locked.

And the only to get that to happen is by having Ann model.

She looked like she was going to skin the cat alive for the suggestion.

But we don’t have any other choice. I hope I can find something to make up for this.

Chapter Text

Sumire paused after finishing the entry. The entrance of the cabin was rather quiet: at this point, she had come to expect that the other girls would be coming in by now.

But it was quiet, perhaps quieter than she had expected when something started scratching at the door.

Unsure if she should check on the sound or not, a familiar voice calling out “Let me in,” mewed, prompting her to get up.

“Morgana?” she asked, opening the door to check as a black blur flew past, turning around and stopping at her legs.

“Sumire~~~,” the cat complained, rubbing himself against her legs. “I had a small bite of fish that Ren was using for broth and he threw me out,” he moaned.

Looking at Morgana, Sumire made her way back towards her futon, sitting down and patted her lap, inviting the cat to come.

“I haven’t seen you in four months, and this is what you come to me for?” she asked, as Morgana scampered over.

“But I’ve had to keep eyes on the entrance of the dining hall, I couldn’t leave,” he whined, rubbing his head against Sumire’s stomach.

Sumire only laughed as she pet his head, scratching under his chin and watched him melt under her touch.

“Meow~~~~,” he moaned, leaning into the touch. Sumire smiled as she watched the cat relax, enjoying the happy look on Morgana’s face.

“How’s Ren been?” she asked, taking the chance to pull some information out of the cat. As much as she trusted Ren, she knew there were things that he didn’t tell her.

She didn’t blame him for keeping secrets; she knew that he was forced into living a life where he had to hide everything to survive. It was just that in the few intimate moments that they had together, she felt that it was the only time she got to see the cracks in his mask, see the tears that carved their path down.

“Hm~~~, he’s been fine. He was super excited about coming here,” Morgana mewed, pushing his chin on Sumire’s fingers as if requesting more scratches.

She answered in kind, giving the cat the scratches he wanted as an excited mew leaving his mouth.

“That’s all you have to say?”

“Nya~~, that’s all,” Morgana answered, pushing harder into Sumire’s hand.

Sumire smiled, giving him more vigorous scritches, letting her worries fade with her petting the cat.

As her mind stilled, her recent readings came in, so she took her chance.

“Hey Morgana,” Sumire started, stopping the scratches and looking down at the cat.

“Hm?” he responded, looking at the stop from his scritches.

“This came across my mind recently, but do you remember the events of Madarame’s Palace?”

“Why do you ask?” Morgana wondered, tilting his head. If he remembered correctly, the only interaction they would’ve had with her was the cleaning event in the park, so there shouldn’t have been much for him to say.

“Nothing, I just remembered that Yusuke requested Ann to be a nude model, and I wondered how you dealt with it.”

Morgana froze at the question, very keenly remembering that he never heard anyone from that time telling her about the nude part.

“Wh-where did you hear about that?” he asked, suddenly terrified that Ann may have brought it up by accident during a call with her.

“Hm, Ren told me about it.”

“Di-did he now?” Morgana asked, looking away with a look of betrayal on his face.

Even if she didn’t think about it, Sumire actually never had such a conversation with Ren about the previous targets the Phantom Thieves had done. Everyone involved with Madarame’s Palace agreed that it was probably best not to bring it up again, and Futaba needed a few figures to be kept quiet about the whole ordeal.

“Well, I did get the cold shoulder from Lady Ann for a while, but we moved on by Kaneshiro. I think seeing how much Madarame had hurt Yusuke turned her ire away from me,” he said, his mind wondering what other things Ren may have said to her.

“That was it?” Sumire asked.

“That was it.”

She looked at the cat, seemingly unable to believe that he didn’t get any other form of retribution.

“Yusuke didn’t get anything either?” Sumire continued, wondering how much had passed under the bridge with them.

“No, I think she felt sorry for him after Madarame’s Shadow appeared before him for the first time. Yusuke was really broken after that first encounter.”

 “She’s too forgiving,” she muttered, thinking about how kind Ann had been.

“Still, that’s what makes Lady Ann so great. I just still need to find a way to make it so she acknowledges me as a man,” Morgana said, proudly looking forward.

“She acknowledges you as a cat.”

“No! Stop it! You act more like Ren every time you say something about me being a cat!”

Sumire laughed at that, something stirring in her heart when Morgana said she was acting like Ren when the sounds of the other girls started to make their way to the cabin.

“You should go. I’ll open a window for you.”

Wiping off the water that had landed on her glasses, Sumire sat quietly in the dining hall, listening to the activity going on around her and the kitchen.

The rain was an unexpected surprise for everyone, as gymnasts and coaches alike had gotten rained on during their morning jog, their final exercise before they officially started their break day.

She had been looking forward to this day, as she had gotten a text from Ren two days prior, which made her so excited about this day.

Hey

I have shopping to do on break day

Want to join me?

Yes!

Great!

Meet me after breakfast on break day

The dining hall had been the closest location when it started to come down, and everyone rushed in while Ren was still making breakfast, surprising him at the sound of the door suddenly opening and the squeaking of wet running shoes on the floor. When he looked out from the counter, he was surprised to see everyone come in soaking wet and quickly averted his eyes, putting his attention back to breakfast for the day.

Morgana was also spotted in the dining hall, unable to escape to the kitchen fast enough due to being unable to hear them come from the rain, and hissed at girls that tried to get closer to him, hoping that Sumire would notice and rescue him.

Once she had finished wiping them off, she did hear his cries of help and made her way towards the window Morgana was cornered on.

Trying to get closer, Sumire was about 50 cm away when Morgana took the chance to jump, landing on Sumire’s head.

“Oh! It seems that I still got it!” he mewed in satisfaction, feeling Sumire’s arms come under his forelimbs to pick him of her head, a small scratch on her head as one of his claws nicked her from her his landing.

Making her way towards the kitchen door, Sumire opened it to let Morgana go, facing Ren as he turned to see who had opened the door.

“Morning!” Sumire answered cheerily, the smile on her face slowly fading when Ren turned away from her, eyes focusing on the bowls and food he was serving.

“Ren?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.

“Your clothes,” was all he said, keeping his eyes away before shaking his hand, getting it a bit too close to a hot pot.

Sumire looked down and flushed, covering her chest when she realized what he had meant.

Even if it was only her sports bra, seeing it through her wet shirt somehow made it more exciting for Ren as he kept his eyes away.

She was blushing as she made her way out of the kitchen, drawing the eyes of everyone as they watched her covering her chest.

Breakfast was tough to get through with everyone looking at her, having figured out what the boundaries between the two of them were.

With umbrella open, Sumire made her way towards the dining hall, a plastic bag in hand. She was dressed in her workout clothes, with the clothes that she was planning to change to in said bag.

Her cabinmates didn’t say anything as she left, with knowing grins on their faces as she went out the door, many of them sending texts to the rest of their friends.

When she could see through the rain, she saw the car near the back of the dining hall, as the lights in the dining hall were still on.

When she entered the dining hall, she saw Ren waiting for her in the dining area, a smile on his face when he saw her enter.

“Hey Sumi,” he said gently, getting up and made her way towards her.

“Hi,” Sumire smiled back, picking her pace up as she made her way towards him, a light kiss on her lips as they met in the middle.

“Can I get dressed?” she asked, backing up as she left his lips and raising her bag, as Ren nodding in approval.

When she came out, she was dressed in a light blue short-sleeved blouse with a matching skirt that had a small red belt running across it. She was missing her normal leggings, as no-show socks with leather loafers were on her feet, as she carried a small red handbag.

“How pretty,” Ren said softly as Sumire smiled, readjusting her glasses to hide her nervousness.

“Ready to go?”

“Yes.”

“Through the back way, my fair darling. While the guards are looking away.”

Chapter Text

As they sat in the car, Sumire was enjoying the sound of rain hitting the window and the roof of the car. The car was rather quiet, as Ren was keeping his eyes on the road, telling her before they got in that he wasn’t going to talk the drive down the hill.

As such, she just kept watching his face, smiling at memories of him driving everyone around in Mementos.

They stayed in that quiet state for about ten minutes, when the road flattened out and Ren took the initiative.

“Is there something you want to see when we get to town?” he started, briefly glancing at the side.

“No, not really,” she answered, looking back at Ren as a predatory grin flashed across his face.

Before she could comprehend the grin, Ren moved one hand off the wheel to rustle Sumire’s hair, a small smile on his face as he put his eyes back on the road.

“Stop it,” she complained half-heartedly, a small smile on her lips as his hand moved back to the wheel. It had become a little ritual between the two of them, where he would rustle her hair a bit before they would go out somewhere. Whether it was at the door of her apartment, the entrance of Leblanc when he stayed there (work included), or at their greeting spot, he was going to mess her hair up a bit.

A chuckle left Ren’s mouth as Sumire brushed her hair with her fingers to fix some of the wilder spots that were left in the wake of the rustling. He had been careful not to overdo it as he keenly remembered a time where he was a bit too rough and made Sumire cry when she saw her reflection. He spent the entire time trying to fix it, but it only made it worse, forcing them to cancel their plans for the day.

At least he got her to laugh a bit at the end with how pathetic he looked when he had given up, the look of desperation on his face for trying to and failing to fix her hair was a rare look that Sumire never saw.

He burned quite a hole in his pocket with figures to get Futaba to let him practice with her hair.

“Nothing you really want to do?” he asked again, as Sumire nodded, looking back at after she was satisfied with her hair.

“Then there’s a place we can go to get an early lunch: I’m worried that what’s on the menu back at camp may not be enough for you,” he said jokingly, prompting a pout from Sumire and a laugh from Ren.

After a few more minutes of driving, Ren pulled into a lot next to the local shopping district where shops that the camp company had recommended for ingredients.

It was a relatively small shopping district, stretching for about 320 meters with three offshoots from the main street, so the shopping that Ren wanted to do would be done quickly.

Even though no one was shopping during the rain, all the people who were running the stores were rather talkative, something that Sumire thought was rather nice.

One of the first shops that they went to was a vegetable stop that was on the list of stores that had a deal with the camping company.

As Ren started to browse some of the vegetables, Sumire hung out in the back; watching him shop for something that wasn’t a date for them was a rare chance for her. She was so absorbed in watching him shop that she was surprised when a voice came her way.

“Why hello there,” an old voice came, as Sumire tuned to the source of the voice.

“Oh, hello,” she responded in kind, pausing for a bit after being taken by surprise of the old woman, nodding her head.

The woman was dressed in baggy clothing, along with an apron that was dirtied with many years of use, as her wrinkled face looked at Sumire.

“Your rather dressed up for coming to a place like this,” the woman said, looking at Sumire’s dress. “Haven’t gone out in a while?” the woman asked, as a man approached Ren, looking to see if he was ready to buy.

Sumire flushed, nodding in embarrassment as the woman laughed, while Ren went further back into the store to talk with the man.

“That so, that so,” the woman said, watching the man that was with Ren as he seemed to be going over his list of groceries, reaching for his glasses.

Sumire looked at Ren, seemingly wanting to stand by him, a look which was not missed by the woman.

“He’s a charmer, isn’t he?” the woman asked, as Sumire only nodded weakly, as the man in back laughed, seemingly amused about something Ren had said.

“You better get married quick, he’s probably wanted wherever he goes,” the woman said, as Sumire paused, seemingly unable to believe that the old woman would just openly say something like that.

“Two years after she graduates, I do plan on making it happen by then,” Ren said, making Sumire freeze at what he had said and surprising the old woman.

“R-really?” Sumire asked, trying to see if Ren was messing with her, to which Ren had only given her a Joker grin, and a quick peck on the cheek.

The woman could only laugh and complement Ren for being such a charmer, as he smiled back, looking over his list for everything else that he would need until the next break day.

As they sat in a small store, Ren smiled as he watched Sumire destroy a bowl of udon.

After he had finished buying everything that he needed till the next break day, they had dropped everything off in the car and had come back to give Sumire an extra meal that would cover for her appetite that wouldn't be satisfied with the lunch that would be served today.

“Enjoying it?” he asked, watching her happily slurp the noodles down as she nodded in conformation, taking a sip of water to save the broth.

“Hey, can I ask you something?” Ren asked, a neutral look overtaking his smile.

“Yeah?” Sumire asked, her glasses fogged by the hot broth she had just drunk, a look of satisfaction on her face.

“Morgana said you asked him about Madarame’s Palace the other night,” he started, to which she nodded. “Did I ever tell you about Ann modeling for Yusuke?”

“Yeah, you did,” she answered carefully, wondering where Ren was coming from.

“Did I ever say anything about nudity?” he asked, as a feeling of uncertainty started to enter Sumire.

She bit her lip.

“Did I?” Ren asked again, his face neutral.

“No, I don’t think you did,” she answered softly, looking away from him as she realized what he was asking her.

“Really? Cause Morgana said that I had told you, and I never remember telling you,” Ren continued, making Sumire squirm under his gaze.

As she had averted her eyes, she missed how Ren looked at her, debating internally if he should say anything, before he gave a soft sigh.

“Where did you learn it from?”

“-iry.”

Ren paused.

“What?” he asked softly, a hint of curiosity present in his voice.

“- diary,” Sumire said again, this time a bit more audible to Ren.

There was a pause in the conversation when Ren leaned in. “What about a diary?” he asked, an idea running in his head as he thought about the only way Sumire would’ve gotten that kind of information.

“Your diary.”

Ren sat there for a moment, leaning back, seemingly thinking about what the information he had gotten.

“Did Futaba do anything?” he finally asked softly, a gentler look on his face.

“Yes,” Sumire answered quietly, as a fear of anger and disappointment welled in her, the udon suddenly tasting not as good.

Chapter Text

The ride back to camp was quiet, as Ren wondered if he had made a mistake.

Sumire didn’t say anything, afraid of upsetting Ren with anything that she could say, while Ren was unsure of what he was supposed to do in this situation. While he could tell that Sumire had felt bad about reading his diary from his time as a Phantom Thief and not telling him, he thought that he was in no position to judge her for hiding such things when he had hid the fact that he was in an environment that he was actively risking his life.

When they pulled up next to the dining hall, Ren barely opened his door and poked an umbrella out and opened it. He slid out of the door when the umbrella opened and made his way to the other side of the car, where Sumire was getting out, eyes averting him as the look of guilt was accented by tears, no umbrella in hand.

“Sumi,” Ren said softly, moving his umbrella over her as she kept her eyes away.

“Sumi,” he said with more force, prompting her to face him.

“I’m not angry at you, I just want to know what Futaba gave you and how I mad I should be at her,” he said, as Sumire looked up, as if unsure of what she should say.

“I have a basic idea of what Futaba may have done, and I will let Sojiro punish her as necessary, but I have no right to be mad at you for hiding a secret like this. I’ve done something similar to so many other people,” he said firmly, putting a hand on her cheeks.

Sumire only looked on in surprise, not expecting to hear the resolve in his voice. She looked like she didn’t know what she should do, before pulling in closer, seeing wet spots on Ren from him holding the umbrella over her.

“I should still apologize,” she answered weakly, adjusting the angle of the umbrella and averting her eyes again as she felt the tears come, leaning back out of the coverage of the umbrella as if she couldn’t accept the kindness Ren was showing her.

Ren paused as rain fell on her face, before shaking his head, looking down at her and moved the umbrella over her, letting the rain fall on him.

“If you want to apologize, don’t let the rain hide your tears and let me see them,” he said, as Sumire kept her eyes away, before he closed the distance, and came face to face with her.

“And if I can’t see your tears, I can’t wipe them away and to accept your apologies,” he said softly, wiping the area where her tears should’ve been if it hadn’t been for the rain.

Sumire looked at Ren, as if still unable to accept his kindness before she moved to cover Ren with the umbrella again.

She embraced him, an action which he eagerly returned, as the tears slowly started to stop.

“What should I do to apologize,” came weakly, to which Sumire felt several kisses to her forehead, making her look up.

Ren just smiled, kissing her on the cheek this time, and embraced her.

“Instead of apologizing to me, read my entries back at me, starting from wherever you left off, and let me listen to you.”

He was just too nice.

Looking up to see his face, Sumire glanced from side to side, as if wondering what she should do, when something pulled her out of it.

“Hey! Did you get my fish?” came from a barely open door, as Morgana’s small head poked out, looking at the scene before him.

His head was poking out from the back door of the dining hall, panting evidence of his attempt to open the door that was heavier than most doors that he was capable of opening, his desire of fish leading his presence.

Ren and Sumire turned to look at the cat, separating as Ren made his way as Morgana panicked, rushing back into the dining hall.

When they had come out, Morgana was in Ren’s arms, ignoring the cries of mercy from Morgana as he walked into the rain, standing there for a few moments, before dropping him to the ground. As soon as he was released, Morgana scrambled back to the dining hall, glaring at Ren as his fur was soaked.

“I think you love fish more than Ann,” Ren said softly, making his way back to Sumire, who had taken the umbrella from him when he approached Morgana.

“What! How dare you question my love!” Morgana shouted, back arched as Ren started to move some groceries, from the car, accepting the umbrella that Sumire was holding for him.

Ren ignored him as he made his way into the dining hall, as Morgana took the chance to enter as well, stopping next to the air vent to take advantage of the hot air that was starting to flow out of it.

Sumire giggled at the look of Morgana huddling next to the vent, as she watched Ren get a bucket and mop out after he dropped off the first bag of groceries, making his way back to the door where she stood, extending a hand to her.

Sitting down on a chair that Ren had brought in from the dining hall, Sumire watched him as he started to prep for diner, his back facing her as he was chopping vegetables.

After Ren dropped off the groceries and got changed, he invited her to help him make lunch, and it was perhaps the most fun she had at camp until this point.

She was all smiles, happily assisting Ren with making the sandwiches that would be making up lunch, and after seeing what was being served, she had to agree with Ren’s decision to treat her to udon earlier that morning that it was correct.

But once lunch had finished, he was quiet, cleaning up and preparing for dinner, seemingly ignoring her presence after she had snuck into the kitchen.

“Sumi?”

Snapping to attention upon hearing her name, she saw Ren wiping his hands as he put the vegetables to the side, looking at her as if he were waiting for a response.

“Yes,” she answered, hoping that he was going to do something about the tense atmosphere.

“I would like to hear your voice a bit. If you don’t mind, would you start reading my diary,” he said, a gentle smile on his face.

Sumire paused, checking his face to see if he was serious, before reaching for her phone, the smile on his face unwavering as he waited for her.

She opened the folder, looking again to see if she had permission.

He nodded at her.

She took a deep breath:

• May 21^st, 20XX

We’re going in tomorrow.

Ann’s said that she’s built the courage she needs to buy time for Morgana to pick the lock, so I hope that she doesn’t lose it when the time comes.

• May 22^nd, 20XX

There are many things that I need to think about.

First, Yusuke is now a Phantom Thief. I think.

He has a Persona as well, because of course he does.

Ann seemed to be able to stall long enough to let Morgana pick the lock and pull Yusuke in while Madarame was watching. What Yusuke saw in there and their purpose was confirmed by Madarame’s Shadow when he met us on our way out.

He had entered into the courtyard of the Palace with the assistance of Morgana, and he was seemingly confused when he saw Ann’s outfit, and I think he had a small panic attack when he saw Morgana’s Palace form.

I only heard afterward, but from what I understood, the room that was locked was full of copies ‘Sayuri.’ It was the painting that made Ann want to come and see the exhibit that Madarame was hosting, and the scheme Madarame had with it was quite despicable.

His Shadow laid it out to us as we tried to escape, the basic idea being that the painting had been stolen, he managed to find it and would sell it to collectors for a high price in exchange for keeping it a secret.

And upon hearing that, Yusuke asked Madarame about the pursuit of beauty, to which his only response was that beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and that anything that doesn’t make him money was worthless to Madarame.

I think that was the part that broke Yusuke because that was the point where he summoned his Persona for the first time.

It was a man with ridiculously high-heeled geta shoes and an equally ridiculous pipe in its hands, as its face had the same pattern on it as what you would think of when the word ‘kabuki’ was said.

It also looked like if I insulted the hair, I would get a punch to the face, though I don’t think I’ll end up like Angelo.

Yusuke fought well, but it’s clear that he’s going to need some work before he can fight with us as equals, so we’ll hit Mementos before we go back to the Palace.

After leaving the Palace, Yusuke thought about what he wanted to do and decided that he was going to assist us in changing Madareme’s heart. He also didn’t say anything about modeling, but I think Ann is in the clear.

I’ll ask once everything’s done to make sure.

Chapter Text

When Sumire looked up at Ren, she saw that his back was shaking, seemingly laughing about something.

“Ren?” she asked, looking at him with concern.

“I-I don’t remember writing down a bit with Angelo,” he chuckled, as a look of confusion came over Sumire, wondering what he was talking about.

“Didn’t write it?” she asked, as Ren waved her off, some small chuckles escaping his mouth.

“I, that’s probably something Futaba wrote in,” he continued laughing, placing the knife down and putting his hand on his chest in an attempt to steady his breathing.

“I only learned about it after she became a member,” he said after he calmed down a bit, picking up the board of cut vegetables, moving his way towards a large pan.

“She taught you?” Sumire asked, to which Ren shook his head.

“She showed me would be more accurate,” Ren said as he started to work on the next group of vegetables, rinsing them off under the sink.

“Should I be worried?” she asked, suddenly very nervous what Futaba may have shown him.

“It’s tamer than most of the things that she’s made me watch with her, so it’s fine,” he said, a distant chuckle coming from his voice as he gave a carrot a thousand-mile stare.

“Sh-should I continue reading?” Sumire asked, suddenly worried for Ren.

“Go ahead.”

• May 24^th, 20XX

We resumed our dive into Madarame’s Palace today, and we’re almost there.

We’ve made it to the Treasure, but or method of procuring it is not yet clear. Yusuke took a hit when he got too aggressive, so we stopped our dive to care for him.

He apologized, but it seems that we still need to work on our teamwork.

The Palace, got weird again after we passed through the courtyard. In a large display area, there were landscape paintings that were hanging on the wall, but something was strange about them. Yusuke tried to put a hand on it, and he phased through it. He recoiled quickly, but nothing had happened.

We thought about the strange behavior of the paintings, but when we saw that the path to continue was above us and that another painting led to the path, I took a chance.

Grabbing one of our items, I put it in my hand and put my hand through the painting.

The item fell to the painted ground, so I tried to reach in further to grab it. That’s when it pulled me in and I panicked.

At first, I thought I was going to suffocate since there was no way that I was going to be able to breathe in a painting and tried to rush back towards everyone else.

I came out bursting at full speed, tripping on the frame of the painting and nearly trampling Morgana who was my path.

I sat on the floor, looking at the painting with disbelief, then glancing at the air vent that we would need to crawl through to continue.

I looked at Morgana, wondering if we could throw him to be a grapple point instead.

“I’m not just some tool be thrown around!”

Sumire was surprised by the sudden outburst Morgana made, as he glared at Ren from the air vent, refusing to leave the source of heat in a rare case of cat-like behavior.

Ren just looked at Morgana for a few seconds before he flicked the end of a carrot towards him.

“Maintain a balanced diet,” was all he said before he turned to face Sumire, indicating that he wanted her to continue reading.

She looked Morgana to see how he would respond, but he was begrudgingly eating the carrot, glaring at Ren as he nibbled on it.

She searched for where she left off.

After trying again after a few seconds, I managed to keep just my head in and found out that I could breathe. What’s more, the painting was of a bamboo grove, and it smelled kind of nice.

Committing to step in completely, I walked around a bit, Yusuke watching from a distance as I walked towards the edge of the painting when something pulled me towards it. It was like the pull of me entering from before, and when I looked around, I was closer to the vent that we needed to enter to move on.

After guiding everyone through the paintings, we found another set of paintings, this time with many different environments. Once more, I took the lead in entering first, tracing a path, and guiding everyone else, when a strange environment showed itself.

Gold was the only color you could see through the entire area, as stairs and walkways made up the only places you could walk on. I think I also saw a sphere somewhere that had easels on them.

But the gold was making some of the stairs in the area difficult to walk because the matching color made it impossible to judge depth.

That same-y-ness kind of helped though when Ryuji tripped on a step and fell through a wall. Well, less wall and more paper, as it was hiding a passage that we made our way through.

Then came a strange system of hidden keys based on finding the real version of ‘Sayuri’ among a group of counterfeits.

We tested what we were supposed to do by going up to an obvious fake when a group of Shadows appeared and started to attack us.

Sumire paused at that, looking at Ren to see if he had any response to that. He had finished cutting the vegetables and moved them over to a second pan without a single glance back, as if to say that he was that confident that they could get away with that.

She continued;

They were easy to deal with after we worked on raising Yusuke to our level, but there was no guarantee that it would stay that way the further we went in.

We left spotting the counterfeits to Yusuke, an easy and trivial task for him, and we safely made our way into the final exhibit where the Treasure was on display.

Madarame’s Shadow was standing there with several guards, as the Treasure was surrounded by infrared lasers, so there was no way we were going to be able to walk in and call it a day.

We started to look around the area, where a gated door blocked our path, so we turned back to find a control room.

It was easy enough to find, but the options we could use in the control room were somewhat limited.

We could open the gated door and temporarily turn off the lights, but we couldn’t do anything about the lasers.

However, there’s a gap in the top of the lasers, so if we could find a way down and back up, it should be easy enough to get the Treasure.

So, we made our way up when we found the third Will Seed.

Like in Kamoshida’s Palace, there was a guard there protecting it, so we took the chance to fight it.

That’s when Yusuke got careless and took a hard hit.

Thankfully, the Shadow was weak to Morgana’s wind skills, so we managed to take it down without him, but it's a reminder that we still had ways to go before everyone is ready to work as a unit.

After we grabbed the Will Seed, we found a Safe Room nearby and used the pocket to warp back to the entrance.

“Hey, Ren?” Sumire paused, realizing that she had forgotten about something.

“Yeah?”

“What was the pocket method to move between Safe Rooms?”

Ren paused, seemingly trying to remember.

“Didn’t I go over that in Kamoshida’s Palace?” he asked, making her pause at his nonchalant mention of the section.

She looked at Morgana to see if he had a different reaction, but he looked at her like he thought she was asking him.

Sumire paused.

Did she want to say why she didn’t know?

Why he was mad enough to destroy something that he probably couldn’t get away with damaging.

“F-Futaba said that you tore those pages out after I became me again,” she started, flinching as Ren paused mid-movement, turning to face her as the oven was left open, the hot air rolling across his head.

“Ah, the oven,” Sumire said, bringing Ren back to the moment and closing the door, leaning back and looking at her.

He looked back at the door, unsure of how he should respond.

“I tore some pages out?” he asked, turning to face her again.

Sumire nodded.

“Did I now?” he asked softly, as if the revelation that he did something so rash was a surprise to him.

“S-she put in a later entry saying that you tore it apart by chance because you happened upon a book in his Palace that made you mad after seeing what happened to me,” she said as Ren stood there, trying to figure out something in his mind.

Many emotions ran across his face as he kept thinking, anger and disappointment running across his eyes, his mouth opening and closing many times.

Morgana separated himself from the vent, walking up to Ren and rubbing his body against his ankles as if to comfort him.

Sumire followed Morgana, getting up from her seat and reaching for one of his hands, giving it a gentle squeeze as he looked at them, a mask of neutrality returning to his face.

“Sorry.”

Chapter Text

As he stood there, Ren was unsure of what to do as Sumire held onto his hand, and Morgana rubbed against his ankles. He hadn’t expected to be comforted like this, and he was starting to panic on the inside.

On paper, Ren knew what he was supposed to do as he was the person who was frequently on the receiving end of similar situations when he was a Phantom Thief, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it.

He knew that his memories from the days of the false reality were hazy based on how the world had to both correct itself and keep certain things in place, but the fact that he had no memory of such an event scared him.

Staying still for a few seconds longer, Ren eventually squeezed Sumire’s hand back, moving his eyes to look at her as she smiled at him. Happiness gleamed in her eyes as she saw him return her gaze, letting go of her hand as he bent over to pick up Morgana, giving him a few scratches between his ears.

“I guess the world returned before I remembered,” he said softly, getting worried responses from Morgana and Sumire alike, though Morgana couldn’t keep up his look while he was getting scratched, looking away as Ren’s finger asserted its dominance over him.

Ren eventually stopped giving Morgana attention, putting him down on the floor as he turned to look at Sumire, an easy smile on his face. He pressed his forehead against hers, putting a hand behind her head to keep it there.

His nerves were starting to show as his forehead got a bit wet with sweat, but he hoped that he could pass it off as a sheen caused by the oven.

“But I have you now, don’t I? I’ll have to work to make sure that I start to remember everything again,” Ren whispered, looking at Sumire to see if she was responding, having an idea with how she was dealing with the sudden contact. She was blushing as he expected, with no mention of his wet forehead.

Seeing that this was the position that they were going to be stuck in for a few more seconds, Sumire gently pressed back, trying to rub her nose against his.

“Now you’re being unfair,” she whispered back, as Morgana looked up with mixed emotions, unsure of what he was supposed to do. It seemed like Ren would stop coming to him for this kind of support when Sumire was around. He knew that it was coming, he had seen it happen already, but he just wasn’t sure that he was ready to accept that. Looking down and wondering what his new position would be when the two inevitably got even closer, he heard a muffled moan, widening his eyes as he dared to peek up.

What he saw made him immediately run into the dining room, hoping that the timer on the oven rang sooner rather than later.

As dinner was being served that night, Sumire was trying her best to hide some of the marks on her neck as Ren freely exposed his unblemished one.

The days that lead up to their next break day were difficult for Sumire, as she felt the jealousy of the other girls as practice carried on, rubbing her neck in nervousness as she thought about the number of hickeys that the other girls had seen on the back of her neck and her collar bone at the bathhouse.

So when break day came, Sumire was equal parts excited and worried.

Excited that she would be having another date with Ren again, but worried about what sort of things the girls might say to her upon their return.

Like last time, Sumire entered the building with a bag of clothes with her, a light kiss on her lips as she made her way to get changed.

She wore the same light blue blouse from the last break day, but a pair of shorts that hugged her curves were around her waist, something much bolder than she usually wore. Ren thought it was so as he looked at her, her hair swinging in a ponytail as she looked side to side before looking back through her glasses, a look of embarrassment in her eyes as she tried to read his expression.

Seeing that she was looking at him, Ren just smiled at her, a ‘cute’ leaving his lips as he reached for the hair tie keeping her hair up.

Sumire wondered what he was doing, her hair falling back down as one of Ren’s hands had the tie around its wrist when said hand started to rustle her hair.

Pouting at the action, Sumire only accepted it as Ren eventually stopped, adjusting her hair before tying it back up with a grin.

“Let’s go.”

As they sat in the car, Sumire kept a hand near Ren’s seat, letting his hand slide into hers when he felt that he could take his hand off the wheel.

“So, what do you remember about moving between Safe Rooms?” he asked about two minutes out from leaving camp.

“I just remember holding onto everyone’s hands and you running into a wall.”

There was a pause after Sumire had answered, making her wonder if she said something wrong when Ren let out a laugh.

“I guess that’s how it would look to everyone else,” he chuckled, as a look of curiosity overcame Sumire.

“Do you remember the times where I would space out in front of a Palace of the entrance of Mementos near Lavenza?” Ren asked.

“Um, yes,” she answered, trying to see where this was going.

“When that happened, I was going to the area where Lavenza existed, in her world between the Metaverse and ours,” Ren started to explain.

“One such thing from their world that I used was a pocket that could story anything, and like I may have said in my entries, it really is like Dor@emon’s pocket,” he continued, as Sumire tried to think, seeing what she remembered about the robot cat.

“I could pull out copies of said pockets and past them against a wall near the entrance and would paste another pocket in a wall in a Safe Room. Then, since those areas are now connected, instead of putting items in, I would just put myself in and come out of the pocket that would lead to the Safe Room that we needed.”

Sumire paused, wondering if Ren was being serious with how he was talking about pulling himself into a pocket and coming out the other end with the Safe Room they needed. She looked at him as he had a straight face on, thinking what he said was as obvious as the sky being blue.

“Are you being serious?”

“Do I love you?”

A pause.

“That’s unfair,” Sumire murmured.

“Love is unfair. It’s as unfair as the rules of the Metaverse are bizarre,” Ren laughed as he slid his hand into hers, as the town started to come into view once more.

There was a brief silence as Sumire looked out towards the town when she heard her phone vibrate.

She looked at it, then at Ren, her look asking for permission.

Ren nodded.

I’m disappointed in you Sumi

You sell me out?

What?

Sojiro asked me if I had done anything and took my allowance away

I have no idea what you’re talking about

Ren told Sojiro that I had accessed his diary

Did you tell him?

Oh.

That’s what it was about.

I said something to Morgana by accident

That cat!

He’s not getting any treats from me on New Years

Sumire laughed at the punishment that Futaba was proposing, shaking her head when Ren turned to look at her, putting her attention back to the text.

You’re lucky that Ren’s your boyfriend, he said that he was only mad at me and not at you

You better pleasure him properly

Pleasure?

I’ve sent enough images to him in the time that I sent the first text and this one to take up all the memory on his phone

Have fun on your break day

There was a brief silence before Sumire dropped her phone in horror. It landed on her lap as the blush on her face slowly grew deeper and deeper shades of red as she realized what Futaba had meant by pleasure.

No way.

No way they were doing that yet.

Disregarding the few dates that they could have due to circumstance, making out like they had done last break day was a recent development from her birthday.

Going that far was…

“Sumi?”

Chapter Text

They were quiet as they got out of the car, as Sumire was unable to face Ren.

After he had asked what was wrong in the car, Ren had gotten worried when Sumire was unable to answer, her mouth opening and closing like a fish as her face seemed to grow redder when she looked at him.

But since he couldn’t keep his eyes off the road for very long and Sumire saying that they didn’t need to pull over when he asked her about it, he let it go as they made their way towards the shopping district.

Once they pulled into the lot next to the shopping district, Ren asked if there was anything that Sumire wanted to tell him.

“Um, the text was from Futaba,” she started, watching Ren as he kept his eyes on her.

“And, uh, she said … something in the texts, that, that…”

“Can I see it?” Ren asked, hoping that Sumire was only overreacting, when her face grew an even harsher red, fumbling even harder with her words.

Thinking it was just Futaba’s usual teasing, Ren reached a hand out, hoping that it would calm her down. Sumire flinched, making Ren’s hand pause.

In all the time that they had spent together, the only time that Sumire ever flinched when he put his hand out was when she had an attack, fearing that he was upset at her and was going to physically ‘correct’ something she did wrong.

He didn’t know where that fear had come from; perhaps a story of abuse had been on the news or she heard someone gossiping about it, but he had to slowly move his hand to hers, and give it a gentle squeeze. She eventually calmed down from the contact and cried into his shoulder, apologizing for saying that he would hit her.

Seeing that he had paused when she flinched, Sumire was quick to grasp his hand, looking at him with eyes as if to say that it wasn’t something that he needed to worry about, pulling his hand towards her chest.

While he knew that something that Futaba could send to Sumire would never be done with malicious intent, seeing her flinch like that was something that made Ren rather upset.

Perhaps a talk with Futaba was due.

As they drove back to camp, Ren kept glancing to his side as Sumire seemed to get red when she looked at him, seemingly lost in the fantasies of her mind.

Once they had started shopping, she seemed to have gotten over whatever had made her upset, smiling and holding his hand as they went from store to store. But Ren was still careful, making sure that Sumire was the one who initiated the handholding, keeping her in the corner of his eye as he entered shops.

But when they got back into the car, she suddenly seemed to get nervous again, as if being in an enclosed space with him was something she wasn’t ready for.

He put a hand out to see how she would respond. Sumire took a brief glance, looking at his hand before gently grabbing it, as if it would break with too much force.

When they pulled up to the dining hall, Sumire kept her distance as Ren started to unload the car and move all the groceries in, glancing over at her every now and then to make sure that she was fine.

She was, taking the time to play with Morgana, who was enjoying the scratches, rubbing against her hand every time she paused to adjust her glasses from looking down, and he couldn’t help but smile.

Maybe it was nothing.

After lunch was done and the others had left the dining hall, Sumire made her way back towards the kitchen as Ren was working on prepping for dinner.

His steady back faced her, turning his head to look at her and gave her a smile as he turned his attention back to cutting board, the rhythmic sound of him chopping away gave Sumire a feeling of tranquility.

As she watched his body sway with the movement of his chopping, the thoughts of Futaba’s text seemed like they were nothing.

Ren only checked his phone twice since they had gotten into the car, and he didn’t seem to react to anything that was on it. She hoped that it was bluff, as she quickly learned in the time she had spent going out with Ren: if Futaba wanted something to happen, it happens.

So she relaxed a bit, taking a seat as Morgana jumped up to sit in her lap, reaching for her phone looking through the folder for Ren’s last entry.

“Can I read more of your entries?”

A gentle smile and a nodding head responded.

She took a breath.

• May 28^th, 20XX

We’ve secured a path to the Treasure.

After the incident with the third Will Seed, we spent the time in between in Mementos to help Yusuke integrate into the team better.

We’re going in tomorrow and taking the Treasure.

I just hope whatever Ryuji and Morgana have in mind actually works.

• May 29^th, 20XX

There are many things for me to think about right now.

Am I glad that we defeated Madarame’s Shadow? Yes. Yes I am.

But there was one thing that we learned from him as his Shadow started to disappear.

He asked us in a panic where the black-masked figure was.

Ryuji thought he was just spouting bullshit, but the fear in his voice seemed very genuine.

It makes me wonder if there’s anyone else that we need to worry about.

Only time will tell if what Madarame’s Shadow said is true or not.

• May 30^th, 20XX

This feeling in my gut.

I think I’m in love.

As if.

A pause.

A glance that went both ways.

She looked back down at the phone.

I had somewhat forgotten about it, but a memo on top of my gym clothes greeted me today when I woke up, reminding me about a park clean up we’re doing.

What a waste of our time.

The school is trying to make up for the damage done by having Kamoshida exposed, but just some cleanup even isn’t enough.

As I was making my way to the park, Yoshizawa Kasumi, as I now know, was trying to move away from someone who was getting too comfortable with her.

She was struggling, but no one in the crowd tried to move in to save her.

It triggered some memories for me as I pushed my way through, grabbing the perp’s hand as Yoshizawa slid behind me. After trying to see if he could get me to move, he gave up and walked away, seemingly insulting Yoshizawa as he mumbled away.

After she thanked me for protecting her, she scurried off, saying she would get her gym clothes from school.

I didn’t see her again till after the cleanup was over, and she asked me to eat a liquid with her.

As she asked me where my group went, and a sad smile crossed her face as she heard my answer.

It seems that when you’re untouchable, you are unable to touch.

Afterwards, we had a small discussion, and it seems like Yoshizawa is sincere to a fault.

She apologized over something that I had honestly forgotten about and said some more things about rumors surrounding me.

If I had done any of the things she listed as rumors, forget Tokyo, I couldn’t live anywhere. I threw in driving without a license as a bonus.

She seemed to laugh about it and started her introduction. Or would’ve if a balloon didn’t slip out of a kid’s hand.

As she jumped and landed with the balloon in hand, something had fallen out of her pocket on the jump, and that was where I learned her name.

It was her student ID.

After she returned the balloon, she happily nodded and smiled, saying that gymnastics was the reason behind her being an honor student.

That when the idea came to ask her for tips.

Morgana could’ve been a bit quieter though.

A hiss came from her lap, as Morgana glared at Ren, who held the tip of a cucumber menacingly.

“Do we need to maintain your diet?”

Morgana shrunk down.

She continued.

She agreed surprisingly, saying that she wanted an ear to listen to her from time to time.

A low price for skills in the Metaverse.

Afterwards, we exchanged info and started some basic training.

Or Yoshizawa said it was.

My stomach still doesn’t feel so good.

As she happily showed that she was free of marks at dinner and in the bathhouse, Sumire was all smiles when she sat down on her futon. She got a text and hoped that it was Ren, as today had been the last break day and last ‘date’ of sorts.

She hoped that maybe it was a discussion of some plans later.

Oops

When I said that I put the photos on his phone, I didn’t have them displayed

Small things you miss when you do homework and hack a phone

What.

He should be viewing them now

As he made his way towards his cabin, Ren paused as he checked his phone.

It had vibrated, indicating that a text had come in. There were only two people who would text him something at this hour, Sumire or Futaba. Since he had given up on the idea of saying anything to Futaba about teasing Sumire since it was a fight that he was going to lose, he happily turned his phone on.

Morgana wondered what had happened when Ren had stopped walking, so he turned around to face him.

He could see something reflected back through the lens of his glasses, but he really couldn’t tell what it was.

Then the light disappeared.

And reappeared.

Then disappeared.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Morgana asked, sitting in front of Ren as he looked up, the process of the light turning on and off repeating itself in the glasses.

It eventually stopped, as Ren slowly unlocked the phone, before pausing again.

Then he turned the phone off.

And turned it on.

A brief pause, the sound of the phone unlocking and another pause.

And he turned it off.

This process repeated itself a few more times, as Morgana wondered what could make him pause like that when a streak of red started to run from Ren’s nose, making its way down his lips and chin, dripping onto the ground.

Chapter Text

When she walked into the dining hall for breakfast, Sumire noticed how antsy Ren seemed to be whenever he saw her.

If she didn’t know what probably caused it, she would’ve been overjoyed at seeing him break his composure like this in front of her, averting eye contact, face flushed at the smallest of touches, as if he was struggling to control himself.

It sent shivers down her spine seeing him so unnerved, wondering just how much damage he had taken from seeing the images that Futaba had sent him and wondered how long it would take for him to recover.

It didn’t affect his cooking, which she was certainly grateful for, though there was a noticeable drop in the usage of certain ingredients. What they were, Sumire didn’t notice, but listening to some of the other girl’s talk made it evident that they were paying attention to what he was making.

Ren eventually regained his composure around her, and by the time that the camp was going to finish, he had returned to his usual self, teasing her at the counter with hand touches when she got her meals when other girls were behind her. It didn’t help that they also noticed his bashful behavior around her, so they naturally wondered if something had happened.

As much as she tried to deny that anything had happened, a part of her wondered if she could really do so.

Futaba’s nightly texts keenly reminded her of that, even sending her a teaser of what she had done.

As the cars pulled into the parking lot of the station, Hiraguchi watched with a knowing smile on her face at Sumire, who was looking at Ren as he unloaded everyone’s bags from the back of the car, waiting for him as she stood next to her.

She watched as Sumire went up to Ren after the last girl got her bag, leaning into him as he reciprocated, hugging Sumire and whispering something into her ear. Hiraguchi couldn’t hear it, but the fact that Sumire seemingly scurried away after getting a kiss and being released from his grasp, a smirk to cross the coach’s face.

“Not going to return the kiss?” Hiraguchi asked when Sumire came to her side, watching as the cars drive away, a blush still on Sumire’s face when she came to her side.

“No, nothing like that,” Sumire responded quietly, aware that the rest of the girls were now looking at her, hoping for an answer.

“Is that so.”

It came off as disappointed, but the look in Hiraguchi’s eyes was anything but, as if she seemed to know what caused Sumire’s blushed response from when Ren leaned in.

When she was asked about it, she denied her coach’s suggestion the entire train ride back to Tokyo.

With a sigh of relief as she walked back towards her apartment, Sumire entered the room quietly, a gentle ‘I’m back’ announcing her return.

Her voice seemed to echo around the apartment, something she should’ve expected with the timing of her return but was still somewhat strange to her to not hear anything back.

Still, she brushed away the feeling of loneliness, making her way towards her room. Dropping her bag once she entered, she fell face-first onto her bed, the exhaustion from the three-week camp catching up to her.

While the physical part of her wasn’t that tired, her mind was completely drained. Being pestered by the other girls about her relation early on, getting pestered again when she had marks all over her during dinner the first break night. The images that Futaba had planted on her phone, and then the knowledge that Futaba had sent him something that made him break his composure just started to get to her.

Rolling over to her side, she got nervous when she saw her phone light up. Pausing at the glow, Sumire waited for it to stop glowing before she picked it up. When she turned it back over, it lit up with a text from her father, asking that she called him when she had the chance.

She called.

“Hello? This is Yoshizawa speaking,” her father answered.

“Dad, it’s Sumire.”

“Ah, Sumire. How was your camp?” he asked, hearing his smile through the phone.

“It was fine. It was nice being to see Ren every day,” she responded, a smile starting to form.

“Haha. Surely you have something to say other than that. Or do you want to praise him some more?”

“D-dad!!”

“Hahaha. Still, seeing that he’s the first thing you mentioned, I take it that camp was fine?” her father chuckled, making her pout.

“Yeah, it was fine…”

“Good. Ah, yes, I’ll be coming home late tonight, so I at least wanted to call and hear you.”

“Is that so…” The disappointment was clear in her voice.

“Sorry. Well, if you have nothing else to say, I…”

“Ah! Dad, can I ask you something?”

“Oh? You rarely interject like that. Is it about Amamiya-kun?” Her father had said it as a joke, but…

“U-um,” she paused, her face red from thinking about what she wanted to ask.

“C-c-can Ren, can he, …” She paused again, building her courage. “Can he spend the rest of summer break with us at home?” she finally asked, her voice cracking a bit as she finished.

There was a pause on the other end, as if her father was thinking, before he just chuckled a bit.

“If mom says it’s okay, I have no objections. Though I want him to go join me for a drink.”

“Thank you!” Sumire didn’t realize it, but she had shouted, surprising even herself.

“Ah, I’m sorry for shouting,” she answered softly, but her father just laughed.

“Well, how soon is he going to come? I’m sure he has to talk with his parents about it.”

Sumire had a bitter smile, shaking her head at the thought of what Ren had said about his family life.

“I’ll ask him about it, but it should be soon.”

“I see, I see. Well, I’ll look forward to hearing when he should arrive. Don’t forget to ask mom first.”

Sitting in her bed, Sumire smiled bitterly as she remembered what Ren had said about his home life once he got back.

As much as she wanted to tell her father that Ren hadn’t spoken to his parents since he graduated from high school, she didn’t out of her respect for him.

The lack of communication was not out of animosity between them, Sumire could tell how much he had wanted to talk with them when he talked about it with her. It was the fact that they were ostracized from the community in the year that he spent with them, and keeping his distance seemed to ease things up for them.

Shaking her head at such thoughts, Sumire sent a text to her mother, hoping for the same positive response she got from her father.

Standing near the Hachiko statue, Sumire looked antsy as she waited. It had only been two days since she had come back from camp, but the fact that he was coming this soon had made her equal parts excited and nervous.

Excited that she would be able to spend more time with him, but nervous as she thought about the sleeping arrangement. Even if they had spent a few nights together, those were all one-night affairs, nothing more. Having him sleep with her in the same room for two weeks was a bit, …

“Sumi~~,” pulled to her senses by the familiar voice that entered her ears, shivers ran down her spine as felt how close the person had gotten to her.

Leaning back, Sumire smiled as she felt his firm chest, his black hair and grey eyes looking down at her.

“Ready to go?” she asked, moving away and turning to face him.

“Can we go by one detour first?”

As she played a game on her computer, the sound of a notification, one set for when her friends had entered Yongenjaya, pulled Futaba away, the C@lorie Mate between her lips twitching before being pulled into her mouth by her tongue.

The notification said that Ren and Sumire had entered her range, and it seemed like they were headed for Leblanc.

Even if she knew that Ren was coming to Tokyo, Futaba wondered what prompted the two of them to come by.

Disconnecting from the game, the ban would be easy enough to bypass, Futaba switched to her bugged line that was in Leblanc.

It was quiet, no sounds of customers with the sound of Sojiro seemingly pacing between the curry and the coffee shelf, when the sound of a bell rang, announcing that someone had entered the store, as a ‘Hello’ and ‘Pardon me’ followed.

Even though she couldn’t see, she could imagine the grin that was on Sojiro’s face when he would recognize the voices, as ‘Hey kid, little miss,’ came through her headset.

The sound of a bag being lowered and its zipper opening, followed with a familiar ‘Hah,’ gave her a basic idea of what they had come to do.

Having lost interest, Futaba turned off the bugged line and started to undo her banning, logging right back in, thinking nothing important would come of the conversation.

She would later, in hindsight, wish to have heard the full conversation, as it led to her room losing power for the rest of the summer.

Chapter Text

As the two sat in Leblanc, Sojiro watched in earnest as Ren and Sumire sat by the counter. It had been a while since he had seen Ren in person, New Years was it, and he was happy with the sight in front of him.

Watching the two of them drink coffee, Sojiro let a smirk cross his face as he saw Ren enjoy the cup before him, leaning over the counter.

“Still a tea man after that?” he asked, watching as Ren gave the dark liquid a small swirl, as if to contemplate a response.

“Oh, it doesn’t change anything. Just because one store does sweet mochi better doesn’t mean you stop liking daifuku,” Ren countered after a brief pause, making a laugh escape from the barista’s lips, shaking his head as he turned his attention to Ren’s side, where Sumire was slowly drinking her coffee.

He smiled when she noticed him looking at her, waving his hand to say that it was nothing, turning his attention back to Ren.

“Still, from the luggage you got there, it looks like you’re going to spend some time with the miss. Sleeping on the couch?” Sojiro asked, knowing the two different responses that he would get.

“Nope, just a long two weeks of sleeping side by side,” Ren responded with confidence, leaning into Sumire and put an arm around her waist, to which Sumire’s face blew up to a fierce shade of red, as Sojiro laughed.

“Well, you two lovebirds be sure not to wake her parents; don’t want to have to leave too early.”

Sumire stayed red as expected, but Sojiro wondered for a brief moment if he saw a flash of red run across Ren’s face.

But seeing how he didn’t respond, Sojiro just shook his head, looking at the cat who was sitting there, watching him as if he were expecting something of him.

“That cat’s looking at me like he wants something,” Sojiro said, as Morgana stayed quiet, choosing to keep staring at the man.

Turning to look at the feline, Ren stared at Morgana till he looked back, his blue eyes hardening.

“Make sure he knows that if he gets sushi, that I want actual tuna, not tuna tartar with green onion in it.”

Laughing at the request, Sojiro just looked, waiting for an answer as Ren chuckled.

“He wants proper tuna sushi instead of negitoro.”

Sojiro laughed at that.

“He can have the fish he wants if he can work like you did.”

Ignoring the cries of protest that Morgana started to give, saying that it was unfair to give him human standards, Sumire smiled as she watched the men interact. Perhaps it was something about a return to when Ren still lived in the attic, but it made her smile. It made her think about father in son joking with the youngest.

As she thought about the dynamic, something came to her mind.

She poked Ren’s shoulder.

“Didn’t you have a thing you wanted to ask Sakura-san about?” she asked, as they turned to look at her.

“Hm? You need more dating tips, kid? Sorry, but you’ll have to work to get some more,” Sojiro said, standing up straight as he looked at Ren.

“No, nothing like that. Sumire’s father wants to have a drink with me, so I wondered if you were interested in joining us. I’d have to ask him first but,” Ren asked, as a confused look ran on Sojiro’s face.

There was a pause as Sojiro looked at Ren, before shaking his head.

“Right, you’re twenty now. I still think of you like some kid just looking for trouble sometimes,” he chuckled, looking up as if to see if he had an open day.

As they stood in front of the door of her apartment, Sumire held Ren’s hand. She had already put her key in the lock and was looking at her boyfriend, who appeared to be preparing himself.

Giving his hand a gentle squeeze, Sumire saw him smile when he turned to look at her, pressing foreheads and rubbing noses.

“Ready?” she asked, grinning as they backed up.

A Joker grin met her.

“Ready.”

Twisting the key to open the lock, Sumire and Ren entered the apartment, a simple ‘I’m home’ and ‘Pardon me’ being the only voices that rang out.

Looking around, Sumire gave Ren a weak smile, expecting that the apartment would be quiet.

“Well, let’s go to my room.”

Walking down the hallway between the entrance and the rest of the rooms, Sumire made sure that Ren remembered where everything was and guided him towards her room.

Setting his bag down, Ren took the chance to look around Sumire’s room. Everything was as he remembered, his eyes making their way towards her bed, where his first thought was about the first make-out session they had on it.

Smiling at the memory, he gave Sumire’s hand a gentle tug, a playful smirk on his face when she turned to face him.

“Want to pick up where we left off from camp?” he asked, pointing at her bed. When she saw what he was pointing at, Sumire blushed, glancing from side to side with a frantic look. Ren smiled as he saw her frantic behavior.

However, Sumire’s eyes moved to her desk, where her laptop sat.

“Uh, we can continue.”

Ren’s eyes widened at that, wondering where she was coming from with that.

Taking her laptop and opening it, Sumire turned away, fearing that something would happen to her screen, but after a few seconds of nothing, she opened them and saw that nothing had changed.

“D-do you want me to continue reading?”

With a look of surprise on his face, Ren stared at Sumire for a brief moment, before an approving smile crossed his face.

“Why not?” he said, taking a seat on Sumire’s bed. “Go ahead.”

Getting the go-ahead, Sumire opened the file, looking for the place she left off from, when the red line from last time showed up.

Seeing if there was anything at the end of the lines, she sighed in relief when there was nothing, shaking her head when Ren turned to look at her, eyes asking what it was.

She looked for the next entry.

• June 3^rd, 20XX

Something amazing happened today.

In the time between working through Palaces and doing requests from the website, I’ve naturally spent time hanging out with everyone, including people who aren’t Phantom Thieves. Like the doctor, the guy from the gun shop. Along with the councilor.

I met him a few times; the snacks were okay. Definitely better than cheap wagashi.

I didn’t think that I needed to record it all, but I’ll start recording key moments from now on.

Why?

Because Ryuji’s Persona evolved. Like I maxed out friendship on a P@kémon and it leveled up.

When Kamoshida’s palace was collapsing and we had to run for it, tripped and fell. As he’s here with us, I didn’t worry too much about it.

He started to practice on his own. Well, with me, but some of the other track kids saw him and moved him out of the practice area he chose in school. That wasn’t too much of an issue; he took me to a gym to practice when one of his seniors came by and said something about one of Kamoshida’s lackeys was planning on picking up the track team.

Ryuji was unable to accept that, so he tried to figure out the guy’s drink schedule, and he did. He can really do these things if he wants to.

After figuring out the guy’s plans and telling the track team, he got the shit beaten out of him for ruining track.

He asked for it. I just watched.

Anyway, after that, we had some ramen together like our first hangout, and that’s when I saw the change. Ryuji’s Persona changed from a pirate riding a boat, to a monkey on a cloud.

I get what it’s supposed to be, but there were way too many piercings on that monkey.

After seeing what I saw, I managed to convince him to enter Mementos and test out the new Persona.

And it really did change.

It wasn’t some sort of different Persona like I wield; his Persona had changed and it had gotten stronger.

I’ll be spending a bit more time with Ann from now on.

We’re gonna want this power.

Turning to face Ren, Sumire had a near look of disappointment on her face.

Seemingly unfazed by it, Ren just shrugged, laying down across her bed.

With a pout, Sumire turned back to her laptop, seemingly disappointed that her attempt to make Ren fret had failed, when someone’s voice called out.

“Sumire! Amamiya-kun! I’m home!”

Chapter Text

Walking out of Sumire’s room, the two of them made their way towards the entrance of the apartment, where they were met by Sumire’s father, Shinichi.

He had finished taking off his shoes, with them neatly placed towards the center, a hearty smile on his face when he saw the two of them come out to greet him.

“Welcome back, dad,” Sumire said softly, as Ren stood behind her, nodding before he said, “Pardon me for staying.”

Shinichi smiled, reaching a hand out and gesturing to Ren to come closer.

“Now, now. Don’t say something like that. You’re welcome here at any time. Not to mention you’ll be staying with us for quite a while,” he said, giving a quick glance to Sumire, which made her blush and look away.

Not missing the small smirk on Ren’s face upon seeing her response, Shinchi quickly changed the subject.

“Ah, yes, Amamiya-kun,” he started, drawing attention away from his daughter.

“I know it’s rather soon, but my schedule will be open for us to go drinking in two days. Is there a particular place that you’d want to go to?”

Pausing at the invitation, Ren looked down, then side to side, as if he were trying to figure out what store they could go to.

“Can I look into it first?” he asked, hesitating a bit towards the end of the sentence, to which Shinichi laughed.

“Well, I suppose you thought it would happen later into you stay,” he chuckled, adjusting the red glasses he wore.

“I’ll let you know by dinner,” Ren said with confidence, to which Shinichi laughed.

“Well, so long as it’s not too expensive, the night’s going to be on me, so find a good place for us.”

With that, he walked past them, a smile on his face as he went to the kitchen, looking to see if there was a pitcher of barley tea in the fridge.

Sitting in a chair in the dining room, Ren smiled as he looked at Sumire, watching her tied up hair swing from side to side as she moved, pulling different things out, be ingredients or utensils, for making dinner.

Shinichi had already left, saying that he was going to rest a bit in his room so that the two of them didn’t need to worry about their behavior towards each other, something that Sumire was more grateful for, as she didn't want to show her father how easily she got embarrassed and folded under Ren’s influence.

Still, it was a welcome chance to be a bit more intimate, and his need to find a place to drink was keeping him from acting on it.

Ren pulled his phone out and sent a quick text.

Hey

I got the date

Two days from now

Is that so

Did you ask about me?

Not yet

Wanted to make sure you could come first

Sounds like you can

Yeah

So what are you texting me for

Is there a place you recommend?

Well

Since it’s for a lightweight like you

There’s an izakaya that should be fine

I’ll send you the details

After a few seconds, a store popped up, whose address pulled Ren’s attention.

This should be fine

It is

I’ll ask during dinner tonight

Putting his phone down, he got up and put on the apron that Sumire had set aside for him.

The apron itself was simple, with no pockets or anything on it, but it had a small red heart on the top left corner where the fabric stopped, where Sumire had embordered his name in purple on it.

She was worried when she had presented it to him on Christmas, saying that she wanted to keep it so that he something for when he visited, and apologized that she didn’t have anything to give that he could take with him.

The feelings of worry, however, were quickly swept away by the kiss she got on the forehead, with embarrassment and panic becoming the primary emotions she felt at that moment, turning to see how her parents would respond.

They had never gotten intimate like that in front of her parents, and Sumire was worried about what they were thinking.

Her father only had a gentle smile, seemingly nodding in approval at the act while her mother had covered her mouth with her hand, but Sumire could still see the smile in her swollen eyes, slightly irritated because of cat fur.

Feeling him slide in next to her, she smiled and handed him some eggs.

Knowing what she was making, Ren nodded as he took them, breaking them open and started to whisk them together.

Ren didn’t exactly remember what had started it, perhaps it was a picture Futaba had sent him when he was on a date with Sumire and she had seen it, or she was the one who got the text and showed it to him in a panic, saying that she’d never done such a thing, but all that he remembered was a picture of her dressed as a maid, winking as she held a plate of omurice that had ‘I love Ren-sama,’ written on it in ketchup.

The omurice itself looked like it was sloppily made, with the ketchup writing messy as well, but that was far from the point.

Knowing Futaba, the ketchup that ended up on Sumire’s glasses and cheek seemed like it was the point of the picture, as it looked a bit paler than regular ketchup.

Ren smacked himself internally, perhaps not wholly recovered from the images that Futaba had sent him from camp, as he put the bowl he was mixing eggs in to the side.

“Anything else you need me to do?” he asked, as he watched Sumire start to mix some tomato paste into rice, as some chicken sizzled in a pan.

“Ah! Could you watch the chicken and add the vegetables in?” she asked, moving to the side to give him more room in front of the stovetop.

Nodding in confirmation, he stepped to the side, watching as Sumire started to add some pepper to the rice, before realizing that she didn’t give him enough eggs to whip up, adding the rest her self as she started to beat them together.

Smiling at the rare air-head moment that Sumire had, he kept his eyes on the chicken, adding some onion, green and red peppers to the pan, smiling at the sound of them hissing as they released their moisture and were slowly absorbing the flavor of the chicken.

As he watched and occasionally stirred, he felt something pressing against his back, feeling a slight jerking motion as the sound of eggs getting beaten in a bowl also rang from behind.

“What are you doing?” he asked, straightening up a bid as he kept his eyes on the pan.

“Leaning for support,” came Sumire’s answer, the eggs getting mixed together.

“Is that so?” Ren asked, quietly adjusting his posture so that he could spring around at any moment.

Then he felt Sumire change her posture as well.

So she fell for it.

It was not the first time that the two of them had been like this in the kitchen.

Sumire would usually try to find an excuse to get physically close to Ren, but since she was limited in the ways that she could do so out of a mutual respect for safety, her options were limited.

As such, things like pressing her back against his when he was doing something simple like watching a pan was one of the few chances she had to get close.

But because of that, the things that she, in turn, could do were limited as well.

Ren had taken full advantage of that many times, with things like scooping a bowl out of her hands and kissing her, spinning her around gently and pressing his forehead against hers, being two of his favorite examples.

This time though, he chose not to act on them, keeping his posture ridged as he started to feel Sumire shake, unsure of what was going on.

When he felt that he had it going for long enough, Ren eased up, simply saying that it was ready for the rice and walked away from the stove.

Turning to face her, Sumire had a light blush when she realized what he had done, and quickly set the bowl down, shifting her attention to the pan as she started to add the rice.

As they sat down for dinner, Ren started to fidget a bit as he realized what he was doing.

Shinichi, his girlfriend’s father, had invited him out for a drink, and he was wondering if he could request that an additional person join them.

It wasn’t that he had intended for it to be rude, but it was perhaps on the rudest things he could’ve said.

Shaking a bit as he tried to figure out what he was going to do, he felt something reach for his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze, with a look asking, ‘What’s wrong?’

As he looked across the table, where her parents were sitting, Ren couldn’t help but look back, silently reaching for his phone as he sent her a text.

Explaining what he had realized, Sumire just looked at him, before giving his hand a gentle squeeze.

I’ll catch you.

Chapter Text

As they sat there in silence, Ren started to feel the stares of Sumire’s parents, as he paused.

He had asked for Shinichi’s attention, but now that their eyes were on him, he was unsure if he was able to carry on.

“Um,” he started, looking to his side when he felt Sumire give his hand a gentle squeeze, with an even softer smile on her face.

“Before mentioning the store, I have one thing I want to say,” Ren continued, returning the squeeze as he looked at Shinichi.

“I know that this is rude of me to say this, but there’s a person that I want to invite as well.”

Lowering his head as he said that, Ren kept his head down for a few seconds, before looking back up, Shinichi’s face seemingly unmoving.

Slightly panicking, he calmed down a bit when he felt Sumire place a second hand atop of his, calming him down.

“If you don’t mind, I want to invite the person who looked after me during my year in Tokyo to come as well.”

“Why would that be?”

Ren tightened up again.

Sumire pressed down on one hand and squeezed with the other.

Looking at Shinichi in the eye, Ren continued.

“I’ve never been out for a drink before, and as much I should trust you, I still don’t.”

Lowering his head again, Ren, and Sumire, who had her attention on Ren, missed how nervous Shinichi was getting, with Ren suddenly lowering his head and saying that he was being rude. He didn’t know what he was to say.

Looking over to his wife, who just had a small smile on her face, didn’t give him any answers, so she decided that she would take control of the conversation.

“Who is the person that looked after you,” she started, drawing the two kids’ attention to her, a look of surprise on Sumire’s face.

“Ah, Sakura Sojiro. He owns a small café in Yongenjaya, where I stayed in the attic above,” Ren answered after a slight pause, realizing that the person he had to please had shifted.

“Oh, now why would he do that?” she asked, as a look of pleading came from Sumire, suddenly unsure if this was the direction that she wanted the conversation to go in.

Ren, however, answered without missing a beat.

“His daughter was depressed, and he didn’t know how she would react to an outsider. She had been locking herself away for two years at that point, and he didn’t want to upset her.”

The silence seemed to linger over the table, as Sumire and Shinichi were seemingly unsure of what they were supposed to do.

“Ayako,” Shinichi eventually said, drawing her attention, her small smile suddenly widening.

“Well, I don’t see why it’s an issue,” drawing looks of surprise from her family.

“He’s Futaba-chan’s father, right?” she asked, as Ren slowly nodded, unsure of where she got that information.

“You know Futaba?” Sumire asked, suddenly afraid of what sort connection the two would have.

“Why, yes I do. I met her when she had dropped by one day with a gift for you,” she said while looking at Sumire, with a feeling of dread building in her and Ren. “And since you weren’t home, she gave it to me,” Ayako said, as both Ren’s and Sumire’s faces started to pale.

“I gave it to you, but you never said anything about it. And since I never found anything in the trash, I searched through your clothes. And I will say, she had some nice tastes.”

The color returned to Sumire’s face with a vengeance, a bright crimson red taking over as Ren’s only slightly grew red, as Shinichi’s face panicked.

“Ayako!”

“What? He’s going to marry our girl eventually, he should get to know his mother-in-law a bit,” she said, which added some red to Ren’s face.

Seemingly struggling to find a proper answer, Shinichi just sighed.

“It’ll be fine, then. You can let him know.”

With a sigh of relief from Ren and Sumire, they quickly got up, taking their plates to the kitchen, with an ‘I’ll do it,’ from Ayako making them scatter, hurrying to Sumire’s room.

Closing the door behind them, the just looked at each other for a few moments, before Sumire collapsed to the ground, her face taking up a less vibrant shade of red as she had at the table, but it was still pretty fierce.

Leaning over to pick her up, Ren dragged Sumire, there wasn’t enough room to pick her up properly, and put her on her bed, as she tried to compute exactly what had happened.

As he sat there, giving her the time needed to figure things out, he started to open his bag, getting his pajamas and toiletries out, along with a small cup to put his toothbrush and paste in and stood by the door.

He stood there for what was maybe five minutes before Sumire started to move, getting up and hugging Ren, as if she were trying to calm herself in his presence.

She held on for a minute before looking up, her glasses and eyes the only things visible to Ren as he looked back down.

“Want to talk after brushing our teeth?”

With his back against the door, Ren leaned against it as he had his toothbrush in one hand and his mouth, while his cup and toothpaste was held in the other, as Sumire stood in front of the sink, always pausing and taking quick peaks at him to make sure that he was still pressing against the door.

He always grinned at her when she looked at him, setting her at ease as she turned back around.

Leaning away from the door, he turned to face it, walking backwards slowly until he felt Sumire press a hand to his back, making him turn around pause, watching as she walked towards the door.

Unable to exert as much force as Ren could, she chose to sit on the floor against the door, increasing the ‘density’ at the bottom and hindering it from opening.

Smiling once she had settled in, Ren ran some water over his brush and let it flow into his cup, rinsing it out once before he filled partially. Stopping the water, he lifted his cup, letting the water slosh around in his mouth before leaning over to spit it out.

Getting up and giving her a thumbs up, Ren placed his toothbrush and paste into the cup and put it next to Sumire’s.

Smiling as she saw the proximity between them, even if it was only cups, Sumire waited for Ren to get close before they opened the door, sighing once they realized that the coast was clear.

As the two of them sat on her bed, Sumire looked at Ren with tired eyes, taking her glasses off as she indicated that she wanted to sleep, moving some of her covers so that she could slide underneath.

Smiling, Ren slid took her glasses and placed them on her desk, taking his off as well before turning to look at Sumire, who lifted part of the covers to make room for him to get in.

With his smile growing wider, Ren went and turned off the lights before he took the invitation, letting the covers come down as he pressed his forehead against hers, eyes adjusting to the dark.

“Is she always like that?” he asked softly, rubbing his nose against hers.

“No, I think that’s her ‘there’s romance in front of me’ personality. She ends up like that if she watches some of the TV dramas that are romance oriented.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm.”

They let the silence linger over them for a few minutes, before Ren moved, wrapping his arms around Sumire to pull her in closer, a move which she quickly reciprocated.

Being pulled in made her head below Ren’s, but that was quickly changed with her sliding herself up, loosening her grip on Ren as he did the same, before she could press her forehead against his again.

They sat there in silence for a few moments, letting their lips get closer when the door opened.

“Hey, hey. Amamiya-kun! You left something near the sink!"

Chapter Text

The following breakfast was a quiet in the Yoshizawa household, as Ren and Sumire, both habitual early risers, got dressed and headed out for the town.

They left a memo for Shinichi to find, who let out a sigh, wondering how his wife would take the news about why they left.

As they made their way towards the station, Sumire fumbled a bit in her step, sleep still somewhat present in her body after leaving the house this early without eating. Even if it was just a rice cracker, she would’ve been up and about, her body aware that there was food to be had. Ren just smiled, reaching a hand out for her to hold, which she happily took.

Slowing down so he could keep pace with her, the made their way into the station, lining up to scan their passes through the gate and walked to the platform, letting her lean onto him as she closed her eyes, sleep threatening to take her.

At the moment, her eyes stayed closed for longer than ten seconds that the train arrived, making him gently nudge her, making her move as he pulled her along, feet on autopilot as she trusted Ren to guide her safely.

Pressed against the divider that separated seats from the door, Ren let Sumire fall asleep against him once more, her head resting against his chest as he stood between her and the rest of the car, watching as the gentle rocking motions coaxing her back to sleep.

This was perhaps the one thing about morning Sumire that Ren loved the most. The ‘I’m hungry and it’s early’ Sumi that he rarely got to see, as slow mornings were not common for them.

He stood like that for about ten minutes, one hand holding onto the metal bar that was close to the door while his other hand was on Sumire’s head, keeping it steady so that it wouldn’t smack into the wall or the metal pole he was holding on if there was a sudden bump.

As they neared their destination, Ren gave Sumire a gentle nudge, trying to wake her up, only to be met with a soft, ‘five more minutes.’ Unimpressed, he leaned over and gave her ear a small nibble, taking advantage of the fact that his back was facing most of the train and that people would think he was leaning over to whisper something in her ear.

After a few seconds, she started to react, moving her head away from his when she felt the resistance of his hand. Opening her eyes to see what was keeping her from moving, Sumire saw that Ren was standing straight, looking out the doors as their stop came into view.

Their pace was slow as they walked down the street, as Sumire was trying her best to keep her eyes open with the large crowd of people moving in the morning rush, not wanting to run into anyone even if Ren was guiding her.

“Almost there, just think about your favorite American bacon,” was all Ren needed to say, prompting a growl from her stomach.

 Chuckling at the sound, he eventually stopped, waiting for Sumire to stand next to him before walking in, making her eyes open with the smell of breakfast.

“Welcome!” a waitress called to them, seeing them enter the store. “How many will it be this morning?” she asked, giving the two of them a quick glance before she seemingly froze, as Ren gave a gentle ‘two’ for an answer.

“Table for two?” she asked, as Ren nodded, looking to his side to make sure that Sumire was still awake.

“Right this way.”

Keeping her pace slow, the waitress looked behind her, making sure that they were following as she guided them towards a small table, placing the menus down as the pair got closer, pulling their chairs out and sitting down.

“I’ll be with you shortly for your drink order and some water,” the waitress said, before walking away at a brisk pace, her nerves finally showing as a light layer of sweat shined on the back of her neck.

The pair thought nothing of it, as Sumire’s eyes lazily glanced at the menu before looking at Ren.

“You know what I want,” she said sleepily, trying her best to keep her eyes open as Ren chuckled, looking down at the menu to see if anything new had been added since they had last come.

With nothing popping out for him, he just shrugged, Ren set his menu down, looking at Sumire as she was trying her best to keep her eyes open.

“Knowing Futaba, she probably left some entries on your phone,” he started, making her look at him questioningly.

“Do you want me to read some of them?”

There was a slight pause, before Sumire eventually nodded, looking for her phone and unlocking it.

Scrolling to where the files were, she handed Ren the phone, which he took, tapping on the first file, thinking that it was where they would’ve left off.

Only the sound of the restaurant could be heard as Sumire waited, wondering what was taking her boyfriend so long to start.

“I can see the hair of the original model. She was either slacking or rushing, probably both,” Ren said after a few seconds, jolting Sumire’s brain into overdrive when she realized what Ren meant when he had said that.

“Ah, give it,” she whined desperately, reaching across the table as Ren swiped to another picture, seemingly more amused than disappointed as he looked, trying to find the minute details that his girlfriend might have missed.

He gave it back to her when he saw the waitress come back, tray in hand as she placed the water on the table, a nervous look on her face as she took their drink order.

Ren had requested hot tea while Sumire asked for orange juice, the order quickly put in the electric pad before she asked if they had chosen their meals.

Walking away with a somewhat surprised look on her face, the waitress tried her best to calm herself as Sumire looked away from Ren, as he just gave her a smile.

“Do you still want me to read some?” he eventually asked when he saw her peeking at him.

She stayed quiet for a moment, before eventually nodding, handing him her phone with the file opened.

• June 5^th, 20XX

We’re in the clear.

Madarame confessed.

It was broadcast on television during a news report, and the Phantom Thieves were briefly mentioned, creating quite a bit of a hubbub online.

Anything beyond that though seems out of our reach for the moment, but it’s still a step in the right direction.

As we gathered in the walkway, we wondered what we should do from that point on, as if there was nothing more to do, when Yusuke brought up the mention of the black mask.

Truth be told, most of the group thinks that it was something he said to move attention away from him, a last resort for some mercy, but Yusuke and I seem to be of a differing opinion from the group.

Yusuke, for his part, knows Madarame well enough that he would’ve been able to tell if he was lying. As for me, something Igor had said in the Velvet Room after we beat Madarame’s Shadow also makes me think that he wasn’t lying either.

Regardless, now that Madarame had been arrested, Yusuke said that he was going to go and prepare to move into the dorm at his school, using his scholarship to cover the cost of moving in.

Seeing that the meeting was over, we split up, though I felt like someone was watching us.

Ryuji and I went to Kinchoji afterwards to go play some darts, using a voucher he got in the mail advertising the opening of the shop. I feel like the eyes that watched us at the end of the meeting followed us to the store.

Maybe I’m being paranoid.

Regardless, after messing around with a few games of darts, Morgana had the idea that this could be a team activity, and that we could all get together and improve our Baton Passes.

I have no idea how he came up with the idea, but if he says so, it probably works. He knows the Metaverse better than I do.

Chapter Text

Looking up from the phone, Ren saw someone come their way, as the waitress came by, Ren’s tea and Sumire’s orange juice set on the table, with a, ‘please wait a moment for your meals’ leaving her mouth, making her way out.

Looking at Sumire slowly start to sip at her juice, Ren took a quick drink from his tea as well.

“I’ll continue reading,” Ren said once Sumire put her drink down.

• June 6^th, 20XX

Nothing really happened today. Just felt like writing.

I will say though, I had a date.

It was raining after school, so I walked Kasumi to the station. Good kitty for giving me an umbrella.

She talked about how there was a qualifier coming up for her club, and how she wanted to take gymnastics to the world stage.

I know nothing, so if she says so, I believe her.

She also needs to stop apologizing for things she doesn’t do. Some first years were saying that she got her boyfriend to walk her to the station, how special she was.

If anything, I was more surprised that they didn’t say anything about my record. Still, she apologized about being dragged into it and walked away after her dad called.

Sumire looked down, a soft ‘dad’ leaving her lips as Ren reached a hand out, giving hers a gentle squeeze.

“Do you want to keep going?”

She nodded.

Ren continued, keeping her hand in his.

• June 8^th, 20XX

My body hurts.

For two reasons.

First was that I had a ‘date’ with Kasumi.

She needs to lower her standards for me; I still remember the pain I felt after the park.

Barely keeping myself from throwing up, we sat on a bench, and she started to collect on her end of the deal.

She talked about how something had changed, and her coach was now calling her out on it.

Something about, ‘I need to find out who I really am,’ or something.

Ren felt his hand get squeezed, as Sumire kept her eyes down.

“It’ll probably be like this for a while.” Ren put the phone down and put his hand on top of hers.

“Would you rather read this at home?”

With a shake of her head, Sumire looked up, a small pool of tears in her eyes, but the resolve they showed could break rock.

“Keep going.”

I don’t remember what I said in response, but she asked that we continue these get-togethers and that she was looking forward to our next date.

I tried my luck and asked if she meant romantically, especially since she said date.

She just laughed, saying that maybe I could start with treating her to an extra-large beef bowl with a raw egg on top with pork soup and a salad on the side. I looked at her as if to say if that was all it took, but then she laughed it off, saying that she would never with her current diet.

“You could totally eat that now.”

A light kick under the table.

"Moving on."

The second reason my body hurts is that the twins decided to come out into the real world.

Aside from hurting my head about how they can do that, they said that they wanted to go to a burger shop.

They claimed that it was so that they could see the outside world and think about ways to improve my ‘rehabilitation.’

It’s not like they’ve really done much. But now that I’m writing it down, I have some more questions. I'll ponder on it later.

Regardless, they seemed to want to go to Big Bang Burger because of the name.

When they saw the first burger, they were unimpressed, so I told them that it was the one meant for normal people.

I may have made a mistake in saying that, because they made such a racket looking like children that they gave me the largest burger in their challenge to calm them down.

 After I ate it with some support, they asked me why I would do something like that.

I wanted to say because they made a scene, but Caroline was patting her shoulder with her baton, so I said something else.

I don’t remember how they took the answer, but they tried to take on the challenge on their own.

They didn’t get it, but Caroline seemed pretty happy with the toy that came with the kid’s meal they got.

And they thought pickles were eggs from outer space.

I wonder if I can survive more of these excursions.

I might go throw up now.

“Were you okay?”

Sumire had a look of worry, as Ren just gave her a small smile, a solid “No” being the only answer she got.

He looked back down and Sumire let it go, figuring that his answer said everything he wanted to.

• June 9^th, 20XX

Something strange happened.

I don’t think anyone else really caught it, but we may have encountered someone else who’s accessed the metaverse.

After Ryuji and I fought our way through cables and Ann avoided getting scouted by someone during our social studies trip to the tv studio, we met up in a hallway at the end of the day’s activities. After complaining about a few things, Morgana said something about pancakes, and Suidobashi Dome Town came up.

We had moved on by that point to the rides there when someone came by and asked what we were talking about.

After asking what he was talking about, he said that he thought someone had mentioned ‘delicious pancakes.’

Ann said his name like she knew it, but until we can get more information, I’ll sleep on this.

Sumire looked at Ren, knowing how he felt about Akechi.

“So that was the moment?” she asked, looking at him.

“Yeah,” Ren said, a mixture of hatred and pity in his voice.

He looked back down.

• June 10^th, 20XX

For the final day of our trip, we …

“Oh, I wondered why the staff was nervous,” a voice called, making Ren stop and look up, which Sumire followed as well.

“Hello you two,” a cheerful ‘manager’ said, a face with fluffy brown hair that curled at the end greeted them.

“It’s been a while.”

“Ah, Haru-san!” Sumire said, making said girl laugh, her hair swinging at shoulder length.

“Now now, how many times will I have to tell you to stop adding honorifics,” she giggled, leaning over for a hug that was returned, smiling at the sudden appearance of a friend.

“Sorry, it’s just …”

“No, I won’t take an apology. I want you to call me Haru.”

Letting go of the hug, Haru focused her gaze on Sumire, slowly making her uncomfortable as she started to feel what the rest of the Thieves had called ‘Void of Noir.’

It carried on for a few seconds, before she eventually stuttered out, “H-Haru.”

“See, that wasn’t so hard,” she giggled, turning her attention to Ren, hugging him as she made her way towards his seat.

“It’s been a while,” Ren said as he broke the hug, with Haru making way for the first of Sumire’s entrees to be set on the table.

“Mind if we chat?” Haru asked, sliding closer to Sumire as she looked down hungrily at the skillet before her, with others being placed with Haru giving the server a warm smile and thanks.

“Can you chat?” Ren asked, looking at his plate of an egg sandwich and bacon that was set before him, sliding the bacon onto Sumire’s skillet as she looked at Haru.

“Oh, it should be fine,” she giggled, sliding next to Sumire and gave her the go ahead, bacon immediately disappearing from the plate.

“Not like they can tell me to not talk with a friend in my store,” a certain sparkle in her eye that told Ren that she wasn’t negotiating on this.

Shaking his head, he started to eat his sandwich, careful as to not let some of the yolk spill onto his lap.

“Where’s Mona-chan?” Haru asked after Ren had finished half of his sandwich while Sumire had started her second skillet, looking for a bag that she assumed that the cat would be in.

“He’s with Futaba right now,” Ren said, a look of disappointment on Haru’s face upon hearing that.

“Is that so,” she asked, wondering what prompted such a scenario.

“We found out recently that my mom is allergic to cats, so he’s not with us right now,” Sumire said, as a look of understanding came across the heiress’s face, nodding as Sumire went back to her meal, now making her way into her third skillet.

“We should probably stop by and get some of his fur though, see if we can use it to keep your mom out,” Ren said, as Sumire stopped mid-bite, wondering what Ren had said.

“Oh, did she …”

Haru was about to ask, but Sumire finally realized what Ren had implied, blushing fiercely and crossing her arms, as if to say nothing happened.

“It was just a kiss in her room,” Ren chuckled, which made Haru give Sumire a nudge, a knowing smile on her face.

Sumire quickly at the third and final skillet, as Ren slowly drank his tea while Haru got Sumire a second cup of orange juice to wash down her meal, hoping to be done with the conversation and move on.

Making their way to the register, Ren reached for his wallet, but Haru just smiled, one that Ren knew better than to challenge, and walked out, with Sumire still muttering how they still haven’t gone that far yet.

Chapter Text

The apartment was quiet when they walked in, her parents gone for work as they slid their way in, still careful not to make any noise.

As the pair made their way towards Sumire’s room, there was a small creek on the floor, making them pause and look at each other.

After a few seconds of waiting, the two of them carried on, their steps taken much more carefully as they eventually made it to the door.

Making his way to the front, Ren slowly started to open it, letting Sumire slide in between him as he kept his eyes back, making sure that nothing had spotted them.

Once he felt a squeeze on his arm, he slid into the room, carefully closing the door behind him with a soft click.

Relaxing once the door was closed, Ren turned to see Sumire face down, her glasses in hand, as she sighed, turning to face him when he got close to the bed.

“Did we have to practice that?” she asked quietly, sliding her glasses back on as she sat up, making room for Ren to sit down.

“Would you rather not?” he answered, leaning into her and putting a hand on her head.

With a ‘hmph,’ Sumire leaned back and looked away, a chuckle leaving Ren’s lips as he lowered his hand, pulling her in from her shoulder.

They sat there for a few minutes, briefly glancing at each other for a few seconds, before Sumire got up, looking at the clock on the wall.

“I need to leave for practice,” she said, going into a corner and pulling her bag up, checking to make sure that she had everything that she needed.

“Am I invited?” Ren asked, getting up standing next to his bag, waiting for a response.

“I haven’t spoken to coach about it yet, so I don’t know. I’ll ask and we’ll see about tomorrow.”

“I see,” Ren said, moving away from his bag and leaning over Sumire.

“I’ll be waiting with lunch then,” he whispered in her ear, making her shiver as she turned around and tried to pinch his nose only to grab air.

Smirking as he made his way to the door, Sumire tried her best to ignore it, but she followed behind, bag over her shoulder as she made her way to the entrance.

“Anything in the fridge off limits?” Ren asked from the kitchen, making Sumire pause.

She thought about it for a while, wondering what she should say.

Surely, she could do something about his continued efforts to tease her.

“You and dad are going to drink, so don’t touch anything. I’ll make something for myself and mom.”

There, that should keep him busy.

As he watched his girlfriend walk out of the door, Ren thought about what he could do for lunch.

Given how he knew her appetite and if he had to make everything from scratch with no access to what was available, he started to think about what he could make.

At best, he had two hours to go out, buy ingredients, do prep work, make something, clean up and head out with however many boxes it would take to fit, and make his way to the gym that she would be walking out of to surprise her.

Leaving about five minutes after Sumire, Ren made his way towards the station, looking to see which building was the grocery store.

If he was honest, Ren was wondering if grocery shopping was always going to end up like this.

Back at camp, he could use the excuse that he was cooking for more than one person and he had a car to carry everything. But now that he was walking back, he could feel the slight pain in his wrists.

He was somewhat lucky on that trip, as he heard a ‘scuffle’ that happened when there was a timed sale on one of the floors he passed to get ingredients, and he wondered if he would ever have to go into one of those.

The likely answer was yes. If he was going to focus on supporting Sumire and her career as a gymnast, he would have to take the blows that would come his way from housewives jostling for whatever item would be on sale.

Not that she couldn’t take it, but housewives were a different type of monster compared to Shadows when there was a time sale. He couldn’t have her injuring herself trying to buy something before an important event.

Looking down at the bags in hand, Ren tightened his grip and kept walking, his mind already thinking about how to start prepping lunch.

About an hour had passed since he had come back shopping, and he had spent that time prepping, getting containers ready, spreading everything out for easy access and going over the recipes in his head over and over.

Once he had finished that, some water was starting to boil while he was busy cutting onion and bell pepper, some cherry tomatoes and sausage already cut and put to the side.

Checking to see how hot it was, Ren put in some Chinese noodles as he finished cutting the rest of the vegetables, pulling out some flour and put it in a small bowl, adding water and mixing it.

He hadn’t bought the flour, even making sure that there was some there before he left. But it technically wasn’t something in the fridge, so if Sumire said something about it, he could tell her that it wasn’t in the fridge.

A small smile on his face as he thought about the technicalities of the statement, he checked how firm the noodles were, before moving the pot over to the sink, draining the noodles and gave them a quick rinse. Running some water over them in a strainer as he prepped the pan for the next step.

Covering the bottom of the pan in a light layer of oil, Ren moved the now cooled noodles in, mixing it so that the oil was spread evenly before pouring the wheat water in. Shaping the noodles into a circle, he turned the heat on and covered it up, letting it sit and cook for a few minutes as he opened the bag of cheese and some ketchup packs.

Once he gave the noodles a quick stir and saw that it had browned a bit, he put it ketchup on top, followed by the pepper, sausage, onion and corn, then sprinkled the cheese on top, covering the pan a second time.

Starting a mental timer, a separate pot of water had been boiling for long enough, making him take it off the stovetop and put it in the sink. Before he could take it’s lid off, the microwave beeped, indicating that the frozen edamame he put in there was done. Taking note of it, he turned it off, turning his attention back to the pot in the sink, lifting its lid off as he revealed the steamer beneath it, grinning at how the broccoli looked, and filled half of one container with it.

Seeing how everything was ready, he waited for the timer in his head to go off before removing the pan from the heat, opening and smiling at the result he got.

Satisfied with what he saw, he put half of the pan into one container, closing it up before he plated the rest for himself. Now that he was done with that, the last item was waiting for him.

Some rice had been left in the rice cooker from the omurice last night and now that it was slightly stale, he took the edamame out of the microwave and put them in triangular rice balls with some of the leftover corn. Checking how much oil was in the pan, Ren determined that it was enough, and put the rice balls in, laying them on their sides. They stayed like that for about five minutes before he flipped them over, a satisfactory brown skin on as he repeated the process for all sides, taking only a minute on the thin parts.

Putting the rice balls into the other half of the first container, Ren stacked them up, wrapping them up with a red cloth as he slid some snacks in that he knew Sumire liked.

Satisfied that her lunch was complete, Ren took a seat and started to eat, head nodding in satisfaction as he relaxed.

Chapter Text

Walking out of the elevator, Sumire stretched her shoulders, reaching her arms up as she left.

Practice was brutal, given that she had asked Hiraguichi for a favor again and was tested on how badly she wanted it.

However, Sumire figured that she had pushed her luck a bit too far and conceded on the fact in the locker room.

Adjusting her glasses for when she bumped them with a hand on the way down, she walked into the lobby to see Ren waiting for her, flipping through some pamphlets as he carried something under his arm.

“Ren?” she asked, picking her pace up when she spotted him, making him turn around and face her with a smile.

Putting the pamphlet away, Ren made his way forward, the item under his arm now obviously a bento box that was wrapped in cloth, making his way over.

“Surprise,” he said softly, passing the box over to Sumire as she took it, somewhat confused about what he was doing.

“I can’t eat this here,” she said, the small smile on Ren’s face disappearing.

“You can’t?”

“Nope. They have a cafeteria here, but you have to buy.”

Ren stayed quiet for a moment before chuckling, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked off to the distance, ‘oops’ quietly leaving his lips.

“Still, thank you for this,” Sumire said, giving him a hug which he happily returned.

“Should we go home?” Ren asked after he backed out, a giggle and a nod from Sumire as she walked with the box in hand.

“So, my plan to watch my beautiful girlfriend is a no go,” Ren said, making Sumire pause as she lowered her bowl of miso. A smug grin on his face as she slowly lifted her bowl back up, lowering her head a bit to hide her blush while she drank.

Ren had made the miso after they got back, a request Sumire made as she slowed her pace so she could have it when she was done with her lunch.

He smirked behind his bowl, lowering it once he had drunk everything.

“Well, guess I’ll have to find something do,” Ren started, scraping some of the seaweed that stuck to the side of his bowl as Sumire lowered hers, a questioning look in her eyes.

“I thought about it for a while, but I’m going to have to find a way to stay in shape myself,” he continued, sliding the pamphlet he was holding in the gym onto the table.

It was a pamphlet with information about the pool that was in the same building that Sumire would practice her routine now that Olympic qualification was being taken more seriously.

“I was thinking about maybe I should start doing something on my own, take the time when your practicing to learn how to swim for exercise.”

Glancing between the pamphlet and Ren, Sumire was rather hesitant, looking at Ren’s eyes to see what she could glean from it.

“I started to think a bit when practice came up in the journal, but I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up with your practice. You said practice was rough today, didn’t you.”

A hesitant nod.

“Every time I come, I have to do something as well and with your practices getting harsher, I don’t think I’ll be able to keep up.”

A pause.

“Yeah, I don’t think you could keep pace,” Sumire eventually said, scraping the seaweed out of her bowl.

Nodding, Ren grabbed her bowl, making his way to the kitchen as he started to rinse them out.

A small smile was on his face as he washed, as if he acknowledged that he had reached a point where he couldn’t keep up.

“Since gymnastics and swimming are both full-body sports, I figured that I could do that and keep up my physical form. I can still keep up in one way.”

Feeling Sumire press against him, a grin crossed Ren’s face, as he thrust his hips back.

“Plus, you get to see me in my speedo glory.”

Scampering back, Sumire flailed her arms about as Ren shook his hips, as if teasing her with the prospect.

Ren stopped when his laughter made him bend over, unable to keep his posture as he put the bowls on the drying rack and turned to face Sumire.

“What do you think?”

She seemed to need a bit longer to calm down, eventually pouting and pounded lightly on his chest.

After a few seconds of pounding, Sumire eventually stopped and stepped back, looking at Ren as he waited for an answer.

“Do what you want,” she said, puffing her cheeks and looking the other way, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of saying yes.

With a simple thanks, Ren scurried off, ‘bathroom’ quietly leaving his lips as Sumire continued to look the other way.

Checking his phone, Ren glanced around as he stood in front of the station, information board behind him as he waited to see two people come out.

Sumire kicked him out after he came out of the bathroom, seemingly still flustered over the comments he made over him in a speedo, so he spent the time waiting by wandering about to his old hangouts.

Everyone he got to meet seemed to be in high spirits, talking with them gave him a boost of confidence as he waited for the agreed time.

Putting it away, he glanced around again when he spotted something approaching through the crowd, a white brim he hadn’t seen in a while.

“Heh, I haven’t dressed like this in a while,” Sojiro laughed as Ren waved him down, making his way towards the board.

“I think Futaba’s entrance ceremony was the last time,” Ren replied, making the café owner shake his head.

“You and your memory,” he chuckled, as he caught a glance of someone else moving in, turning to see who it was.

“Did I make you wait?” the man asked.

Shinichi walked up to the pair, first looking at Ren, who shook his head, before turning to face Sojiro.

“Yoshizawa Shinchi, a pleasure meeting you,” he said bowing.

“Sakura Sojiro, likewise,” Sojiro responded, bowing and reaching a hand out, shaking with a firm grip.

“Ah, that was rather firm,” Shinichi said, prompting a smirk from Sojiro.

“Oh, pardon me. Guess I’m somewhat hesitant to see him with someone else,” he chuckled, pulling his hand back as Shinichi laughed.

“Well, I suppose I would be the same with Sumire.”

Watching the two of them laugh, Ren just shook his head, standing there as he let the two of them talk a bit more.

“Should we go?” he asked after a few minutes, prompting the two fathers to turn their attention.

“Right sorry about that,” Sojiro chuckled, prompting the trio to move to their destination.

As they walked down the street, Ren noticed the number of people who seemed to be his age, chuckling as he thought of the neighborhood they were in. If he remembered correctly, Makoto’s school was nearby, but he didn’t think that she would have much of a nightlife. He tried to imagine it, her walking down the street with a group of girls, a short skirt with a frilly blouse.

Laughing at the image, he said it was nothing when he was asked about it, saying that he thought of something.

Walking in, the trio waited as someone came up to greet them.

“Welcome!”

Seeing that guests had entered the store, a waitress came up to greet them.

“How many will …”

She paused when she saw who was at the door.

“Ren?”

“Makoto?”

Chapter Text

As they looked at each other, Makoto was the first to snap out of it, turning back and shouting ‘Table for three!’ into the store.

She was dressed in a jinbei kimono top, with an apron that went around her waist, covering what looked to be a hakama that one might wear in the fields as a white handkerchief covered her head.

A firm ‘Welcome!’ came back as she guided them into the store; shoes put into a locker as they walked on an elevated floor, sliding doors separating tables from the hall.

“I’d love to chat, but I have other tables to attend to,” she bowed, etiquette of the service industry visible in her movement as she kneeled on the floor.

“I will be back with some water and hot towels shortly. All of your orders can be done with the electronic pad, but if you need something like a new set of chopsticks, please call someone over.”

With another bow, Makoto got up and closed the doors, letting conversation start between the three of them.

“Well,” Shinichi started, looking at Ren with questioning eyes.

“She seems nice. Does Sumire know her?”

“Yeah, she does. Though from what I hear, she consults with her a bit too much when Futaba says something stupid and Sumire doesn’t know about it,” Ren chuckled, remembering many frantic texts he had gotten where Makoto asked him if she should be the one explaining some of the things the youngest said in group chats.

“Does she still say that kind of stuff?” Sojiro asked, suddenly very interested in the topic.

“One second,” Ren said, pulling his phone out.

Going into the group chat, he scrolled a bit before finding an image Futaba posted, a photoshopped image of him flushed red, a mug of beer in hand with a meat bun in the other with another bun in his mouth, with the caption ‘When I get home tonight’ below it.

Turning his phone to show Sojiro, the man just sighed, shaking his head as he thought about what he should do.

“She never stops, does she,” he mumbled as Shinichi looked at it, a questioning look on his face as he tried to figure out what was so bad about it.

“It didn’t seem too bad to me,” he said, picking up a tablet and scrolling through the menu.

Ren paused partway through putting his phone away, glancing at Sojiro, eyes panicking as if to say, ‘I don’t want to tell him.’

“Well, let’s just put it that kids these days have many codes for certain things,” Sojiro said, making Ren sigh as he dodged a bullet, a quick smile conveying thanks that disappeared when ‘Pardon me’ came from the sliding door.

Door sliding open, Makoto placed a small basket of steaming towels and glasses of water onto the table, looking at Ren for a few seconds before looking at Sojiro. “Make sure he’s safe,” she said before sliding back, closing the door behind her.

Looking at Shinichi, Sojiro chuckled as he was passed the tablet, looking through the drink selection.

“Guess you still need a pass from her friends,” he said, passing the tablet to Ren, who took a brief look through it as he tried to figure out what he should start with.

“I suppose I do,” Shinichi said, nodding his head as Ren asked if he should get the same beer as them.

Laying down on her bed, Sumire looked at her phone as she wondered about how Ren was doing.

Her father would be fine; he knew when he hit a limit and could stop. Sojiro, she didn’t know, but given how he seemed more concerned about Futaba than himself, he probably knew when to stop as well. That meant that Ren was the only one she had to be worried about since he was the only one who didn’t know his limits.

Putting her phone to the side, she took her glasses off as she thought about going to sleep early, the darkened room being the only thing that greeted her as she looked around.

She closed her eyes and hoped that everything would be alright, and maybe that her mother would leave her alone.

Staring at his fourth bowl of wasabi octopus, Ren was trying his best skewer the food with a fork.

Perhaps he was weaker than expected, but he quickly lost the ability to use chopsticks after finishing his first mug.

His beer had been watered down at around the halfway point as well, Sojiro requesting a pitcher to help dilute his drink.

But it seemed to be not enough.

With a small mental note to be thankful that Ren wore glasses, the two men watched as he almost missed his mouth a second time in a row.

“Maybe we should call it a night,” Sojiro said as the octopus fell and the fork went up Ren’s nose.

“We should,” Shinichi agreed as Ren started to cry from the wasabi in his nose, rubbing it fiercely with his hand as he couldn’t figure out why the feeling still lingered.

Pushing on the tablet for the check, Sojiro passed Shinichi some bills to cover for his tab, as Makoto came over.

With the bill in hand, she was about to say something when Ren cried again.

“Makoto~~! My nose hurts!”

Looking for an explanation, Sojiro sighed and pointed at the bowl, saying that the fork had gone up his nose.

Putting a hand to her face, Makoto thought about what she should do while Ren kept crying, asking if she could cast Energy Shower.

Passing off questioning looks from the two men over what Ren said as a spell from a game, Makoto helped pull Ren out of the booth, Sojiro and Shinichi guiding him towards the entrance as Makoto said that she would meet them there after taking Shinichi's card.

Wobbling as he walked, Ren kept trying to reach for his nose, only to have his hands get caught on the heads of the two people carrying them.

“Hey, stop that,” Sojiro said, thinking nothing of it as he continued to drag Ren along, while Shinichi had a more somewhat worried look.

“But my nose~~.”

“Tell you what. How about you have your lady friend rub your nose for you when you get back,” Sojiro suggested, hoping that the hand moving towards his face would stop trying to go through him.

“Have Sumi?”

“Yeah, she’ll rub your nose.”

Immediately relaxing his body, Ren stopped walking, making the other two stop in their tracks as he wondered where his rubs were.

“What’s wrong?”

“Where Sumi?”

“She’s home, you have to get her,” Shinichi said, hoping that it would get them moving again.

It didn’t.

Ren planted his feet on the ground, locking his core in a stubborn attempt to keep himself from moving.

“Sumi rub.”

“She’s not here,” Shinichi said patiently, suddenly regretting the idea of going out to drink with Ren as he continued to refuse to move.

“Wait a moment,” Makoto said as she came up from behind, kicking Ren in the knee and making him lose his balance.

Turning around with a look of betrayal, Ren looked up from the floor as Shinichi and Sojiro looked at Makoto, a brief sigh leaving her lips.

“You’re leg hurts, right? Walking will make it hurt more and Sumire will spend more time comforting you.”

"Really?"

"Yes, really," Makoto said, passing Shinichi the receipt and his card as Ren wobbily tried to get up, a look of determination on his face.

"Let's go!"

Chapter Text

Flowers were blooming.

Birds were singing.

And there was a knocking sound coming from somewhere.

As she started to roll around a bit, Sumire opened her eyes to an opening door.

“Sumire?”

“Oh, is it time for lunch?” she asked groggily, squinting as she tried to see who it was.

“No, it not,” a voice said, making its way towards her as Sumire could start to make out the outline of the body.

“Amamiya-kun’s back.”

“Then it’s time for lunch,” Sumire said, laying back down as her eyes started to drift close.

With a sigh, the figure started to shake her, jolting Sumire awake.

Slightly coming to, she looked to see her mother looking at her, a small smile on her face as Sumire wondered why she was waken up.

“Mom?”

“Dad needs help getting Ren to cooperate,” Ayako said, giving Sumire a hand.

Taking it and stumbling a bit, Sumire watched as her father try to move her boyfriend from the entrance, refusing to lift his feet to let his shoes come off.

“Come on, you need to take them off,” Shinichi said, as Ren continued to look away, his leg locked in position as he refused to cooperate.

“Ren?” Sumire asked, making him turn around.

“Sumi!” he shouted, a look of absolute joy on his face as he walked forward.

Surprised at the movement, Sumire froze as Ren went up and hugged her, the smell of wasabi more prominent in his breath than alcohol.

“Ah, hey Ren,” she said, gently hugging back as her parents watched, suddenly unsure of what she should do.

“Can you take your shoes off for me?” she asked, realizing that he still had them on when he rose up.

Nearly taking her down with him, Ren bent over and attempted to untie his shoes, only to find that his finger coordination was as bad at untying shoes as it was at holding chopsticks.

Growling at his inability to take his shoes off, Ren tried to forcefully remove his foot from his shoe and pulled on it.

His knee promptly flew into his chin and he fell over, seemingly stunned at the fact that he hit himself.

Not missing the chance, Sumire bent over and started to undo his shoes, wondering how they managed to get him to cooperate in putting them on if he was in this state as she took them off, passing them to her mother who gave them to her father.

Satisfied that his shoes had come off, Sumire picked Ren up as he continued to cry, seemingly unaware that he was being carried around as she turned and faced her father.

“Sorry for making you do this,” she said, as Shinichi simply shook his head.

“You have nothing to apologize for. If anything, it’s my fault for going out when we didn’t know his limits,” Shinichi chuckled, as Ayako put a hand up to her face, Sumire not needed to look back to figure out what she was hiding under her hand.

Watching as their daughter dragged her boyfriend to her room, Ayako turned to face her husband, who let out a sizeable sigh once he heard the door close.

“Want to join me for a few beers?” he asked, making his way to the kitchen and opening the fridge, checking the lowermost cabinet.

“That bad?” Ayako asked, checking a different drawer as she pulled out some ingredients for snacks.

As he continued to cry, Ren looked around as Sumire put her glasses on, looking down at the complete mess that her boyfriend had become.

She knew that he wasn’t the kind of person to fake being drunk, but she had questions as to why his breath smelled more like wasabi than it did with alcohol.

“Can you get up?” Sumire asked after Ren stopped crying, making her way towards his bag as she started to look for clothes he could change into.

Hearing no response, Sumire wondered if he was just being slow, so she asked again.

When he didn’t answer this time, she turned around to face him and noticed that he had fallen asleep.

A small smile formed on her lips, she leaned over and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead as she chuckled, going back to his bag and pulling something out.

Suddenly feeling how small it was, Sumire turned to face the boxers she held in her grasp. Staring at it for a few seconds, she eventually reacted by putting it back into the bag, a sudden blush on her face as she realized what she had held.

Shoving it back into the bag, Sumire looked back at Ren as he slept, when she thought of the whole reason she was at his bag.

How was he going to change?

She thought about waking him up, but this was a rare chance for her to watch his sleeping face, and she was unsure if she wanted to wake him up or not.

Watching his rising chest and head slowly rolling to the side, Sumire smiled, reaching for his glasses and took them off, put them down with hers on her desk. Pulling the sheets and some pillows off of her bed, Sumire lifted his head and put a pillow under him.

Putting herself next to him, she put the sheets on top, letting herself drift to sleep.

When she woke up, Sumire found that Ren wasn’t by her side and that the ground felt softer than when she went to sleep.

Looking around, she saw that she was on her bed and that it was made.

Getting up, she put her glasses on and walked out to see Ren sitting at the table.

Well, it was less sitting and more leaning over the table, as he seemed to have his hands over his head, faint sounds leaving his mouth.

“Ren?”

A grunt.

“Are you okay?”

Ren turned to look at her, his eyes seemingly asking if she was serious.

“Do you want me to get you something?”

“Sure,” he moaned, looking back down as Sumire went back to her room.

Walking out with phone in hand, she was looking up recipes as she grumbled a bit.

“We don’t have udon right now, what else is there,” she said, poking around the cabinets, where Ren just growled.

“Ren?”

“Sorry,” he mumbled, turning his head to face her.

“Maybe grumpy that I’m waiting.”

With a shrug, Sumire pulled out some instant dashi and started to pull out other ingredients.

After a few minutes, she walked out of the kitchen with bowls in hand, putting one in front of Ren.

“Do you want some help?” she asked, watching as he raised his head and looked down at the soup before him.

“I’ll try first,” he said, moving his hands and grabbing the bowl. Slowly lifting it, Ren lowered his and put his lips to the rim and sipped some of the liquid.

There was a brief pause as Sumire looked, waiting for a response from Ren.

“It’s good,” he said eventually, making Sumire smile as she took a sip of her own.

Sitting there with the only sound of Ren drinking followed by Sumire waiting in turn, they sat there for a few minutes before Ren lifted the bowl up, finger sliding all the solids that he missed into his mouth.

Lowering his bowl, Ren looked at Sumire as he gave her a nod.

“Thanks,” he smiled, lowering his head back onto the table.

“Anything you want?” Sumire asked, taking the bowl and moving back into the kitchen.

Seemingly pausing at the thought, Ren looked around, glancing between her bedroom and the table.

“Maybe listening to you read a bit more.”

Chapter Text

Placing her laptop on the table, Sumire scrolled through, looking for the last place they had left off.

Ren’s head hadn’t left the table, the occasional sound of discomfort leaving his lips as he glanced up every now and then, making sure that Sumire was still there.

She looked down and smiled at him every time.

“I’ll start now.”

• June 10^th, 20XX

For the final day of our trip, we sat in on a recording session of a show.

And the guy from yesterday came onto the stage.

Akechi Goro.

Something about him rubs me the wrong way.

There were many things that he said, things like that the Phantom Thieves should be in a court of law, that a forced confession is no better than the result of a confession brought by torture.

Knowing how TV works, public opinion will probably follow his thoughts.

Then I was selected to voice my thoughts on the matter from a host on the show.

I said that if he thought it was wrong, where are the counterpoints to his argument. As if taken aback, I was inquired further. I said that if Akechi doesn’t know how they're doing it, an assumption of guilt is no better than an assumption of innocence. Or maybe that he was jealous of talk not about him, a rising star in the public space, but something more mysterious than a person who shows up on TV and talks.

After the recording session, I was standing around on my own when Akechi approached me.

He said things like how he was surprised with how he had been challenged, and that he found me interesting.

Carrying on with his talk about the Phantom Thieves, he said that if they came against an unwinnable opponent, that they would run. As if he heard, Arsène seemed to laugh in the back of my mind.

Trying my best to hide my panic at hearing him, I asked if he was said opponent.

He just laughed and asked me if we would be willing to talk some more later.

It piqued my suspicion that he didn’t deny it, so I agreed to it.

Looking away from the screen, Sumire didn’t help but notice the seemingly satisfied smirk on Ren’s face as he seemed to be thinking of something.

“What?” Sumire asked when he made a sound.

“He kept gettin on his high horse bout his power." He was seemingly laughing, but the chuckles turned into moans of pain. "But when the time came, he never stood a chance gainst me.”

Seemingly unperturbed by the sinister tone of his voice, Ren looked back up with a look in his eye, asking for her to continue.

She did after a few moments

• June 11^th, 20XX

Miss prez is up to something.

Even though it should’ve been just the three of us hanging out near the vending machines, she thought it probable enough to follow us. She even took a picture.

Ann called her out on it, saying things like how she wanted the letter of recommendation so badly that she turned a blind eye to the situation with Kamoshida, even some things that I was sure she wouldn’t usually say.

As if taken aback, prez backed off and said that we should at least behave ourselves.

With annoyance in their eyes, Ryuji and Ann looked at me, as if they wondered if they were forgetting something.

I made a pulling motion with one hand, pulling away from my fist, and Ryuji said that’s not how to pull a sword out.

Looking up from the computer, Sumire looked down at Ren, asking with her eyes if that was for real.

He nodded.

It’s weird right now.

I wrote the first part of the entry while everyone was out shopping, but now I feel like Yusuke is going to watch me as I sleep.

What was supposed to be his welcome party turned into a chance for everyone to tell their sob story.

The nabe was good and all, but then hearing what happened to everyone made it weird, then thoughts about what Akechi said and how the internet acted on it also brought the mood down even further.

I think Ann said that this would only discourage people from speaking out, not motivate them. We thought about what we could do from this point on, but I just said sleep on it.

I think Ryuji is starting to get me.

With the sound of a click, Ren looked up to look at Sumire.

“The file ended, so I’m going to the next one,” she said, scrolling through her files.

“Isn time for ya to go?” Ren asked, making Sumire pause at the statement.

“What.”

Looking at the corner of her screen, Sumire yelped as she stood up, scrambling to her room as she slipped on the floor.

Without a moment of hesitation, she rolled expertly, stopping at her door before getting up and opening it.

As she flew past Ren, he gave her a weak thumbs-up as she went out the door, though she didn’t see it as she closed the door behind her.

He stayed like that for about half an hour before he closed Sumire’s laptop closed, pushing at the top of the screen and listened to it close with a ‘clack.’

Thinking about anything else he could do now, maybe try to make something simple for Sumire that she could have when she got back.

Scooting his chair back, Ren tried to get up.

Was his head always this heavy?

Taking a peek at the clock, it said that it was around 10:50. Groaning as he tried to stand again, Ren pressed his hands against his face to keep it up and lumbered over towards the couch.

Falling face first, he moved his head to the side as he tried to think about how he managed to do anything that morning.

Did he do anything that morning?

Trying to think hurt, so he ignored it as he felt his eyes get heavy.

‘This is terrible sleeping posture’ was the last thought he had as he closed his eyes.

Feeling a slow shift in his body, Ren opened his eyes to see Sumire trying to roll him onto his side, a smile on her face.

“Ah, did I wake you?” she asked, backing up to give him space.

Turning to face her, Ren got up and gave a weak smile.

“Maybe.”

Trying to adjust himself, Ren pushed against the couch, leaning against the backrest as he looked up.

“How’s your head?” Sumire asked, sitting next to him as he leaned into her.

“Doesn’t hurt as much,” he said, head resting on her shoulder.

“Did sleeping help?”

“I don’t know.”

A small smile.

“Well, your talk is clear. I think you’re just fine.”

His hand fell to her lap.

“Thanks for this morning.”

Chapter Text

The apartment was quiet when Ayako came back home.

It wasn’t that she had left work early, oh certainly not.

With Ren visibly hungover and asking for someone to move Sumire to her bed as he came stumbling out of her room and sitting at the table so that he had some resemblance of joining them for breakfast even if his head was down and occasionally letting sounds of pain leave his mouth. It just made her wonder how her dear daughter was dealing with it, and how maybe she should be ready in advance for the two to move out.

Oh, it had nothing to do with that.

Nope.

Not at all.

Looking around, she saw the two of them had fallen asleep on the couch, bodies seemingly unaware of their position as Ren’s head was in Sumire’s lap while hers rested on his hip.

Unable to contain her smile, she raised one hand to her mouth as the other took out her phone, fingers trembling with the mirth she felt in watching the pair.

It seemed her grip wasn’t enough though, cause her phone fell through her fingers, her mirth making them shake as it clattered to the floor, making Ren stir.

“Ah, don’t move,” Ayako said, making Ren freeze on the spot when he started to feel something against him.

“Her head’s on your hip, so if you try to get up, you’ll pull her along.”

Trying to think about what he could do, Ren seemed lost in thought, before reaching a hand towards Sumire’s face. With one finger, he felt around before he felt the rim of her glasses.

Keeping a finger there, he extended a second one and felt the bridge of her nose.  With a general idea of how her face was positioned, he moved his hand down towards her cheek and gently started to lift her up.

Stirring from the motion, Sumire eventually woke up with her body straightened out. Looking around, she felt something was on her lap, and when she looked down, Ren was there to greet her.

“Your mom is watching us.”

Puffing her cheeks out as she opened her computer, Sumire scrolled through as she looked for the next file, wanting to take her mind off of her smiling mother, her phone having recorded the whole process of Ren lifting her up so that he could move without having her head fall.

“Honestly, to think she would leave work early just for a chance to record something like that,” she huffed, clicking on a file as Ren just chuckled, sitting on her bed as he waited.

“Is it such a bad thing? I’m sure the charm of it will wear off eventually.”

“You don’t understand. If there’s a rerun of a drama on TV, she’ll watch the whole show again,” Sumire huffed again, a last click as she turned to face Ren, indicating that she was ready to read.

“Go ahead.”

• June 13^th, 20XX

Well.

We’re in trouble.

“That’s it?” Sumire asked, looking at Ren, who gave a small shrug.

“Let’s say panic was my dominant emotion.”

Looking to see if there was any change in Ren’s face, Sumire sighed when there was none, and turned back to her screen.

• June 14^th, 20XX

What is the prez thinking?

Well, given her position, she probably is, but it sure isn’t showing.

After threatening us with exposing our identities, she told us to go after some mafia boss.

Oh sure, like we know what to do from there.

However, aside from having no choice in the matter, it seemed that everyone else seemed not to mind too much.

If it proves that dirty mop to be wrong, what can I say?

“Dirty mop?”

“You know, a mop that hasn’t been cleaned properly in a while, so it starts to take on some color,” Ren said, seemingly thinking nothing wrong with his statement.

“Isn’t that a bit…”

“If he came back now and still wanted to kill me, would you stop him?” Ren asked, his eyes hardening in a way that Sumire hadn’t seen in a long time.

“Yes, no questions asked.”

“Well, there you go,” he said, scooting back on her bed and leaning against the wall.

“My memory is somewhat hazy over the event, but Haru said she didn’t have a problem beheading him if he betrayed us a second time.”

Shivering at what she remembered from the short time she spent with the Thieves, Sumire accepted the fact that no one really minded that Akechi was gone now that Maruki was far behind them.

“I’ll continue.”

• June 16^th, 20XX

Well.

We have one final chance.

I didn’t write it down since I didn’t think it was important, but back when we first started investigating Madarame, a journalist came poking around and gave me her card.

Since she was looking into Madarame, I think it’s possible that she knows about our potential target.

I just hope it’s enough to get prez off our back; she’s been rather persistent about learning of our progress.

• June 17^th, 20XX

May there be mercy on Ryuji and Mishima’s souls. I’ll eat a beef bowl and harass girls in their memory.

Regardless, the journalist came through, and I have a name.

Junya Kaneshiro.

We’ll look into him as a group tomorrow.

If Ryuji comes out alive, that is.

Looking back at Ren, Sumire had a look on her face that said that she wanted to know but at the same time, she didn’t.

“You don’t.”

• June 18^th, 20XX

We’re screwed.

There is no hope.

We can’t fly.

Kaneshiro’s Palace is a flying saucer with a bank on top.

We asked if Mona could turn into a helicopter or something, but he got mad and said that he’s not a robot cat.

If only he was.

We’ll think about what to do from tomorrow.

Sumire smirked.

“So, was he hiding his true potential?”

“Who?”

“The helicopter,” Sumire said, twirling her finger around in the air.

“In a way, I guess,” Ren said, adjusting his head a bit after resting it against the wall.

“But was a onetime thing thanks to the star, I don’t know if he could do it again if we had the chance.”

Leaving it to his judgment, Sumire nodded along and looked at the next entry.

• June 20^th, 20XX

Well, we got into the Palace, but we’re going to have to wait a bit before we go deeper.

Niijima rashly got us face-to-face with our target, but now we have to deal with a massive debt over our heads.

Since we need her to gain access to the Palace and that she has a Persona, we’re going to calm her down a bit in Mementos and have her catch up to everyone else in power.

I hope that beating on Shadows below her power level and getting used to working as a unit helps her steady her mind.

We're going to need it.

Chapter Text

“You know, I wonder about it sometimes,” Sumire said, turning around to face Ren as he adjusted himself against the wall, stretching his back a bit as he looked at her.

“Was Makoto really that bad at the start?”

“What do you mean?” Ren asked, brows raised as he thought of how to respond.

“It’s just, what I’m reading feels so different from how she is now. Like she really changed from being with you.”

Looking up towards the ceiling, Ren seemed to be lost in thought, stretching his arms as his gaze never faltered.

“Well, I think she just found a healthier way to deal with her frustrations. By having a reasonable excuse to punch things.”

“Was that the nice version of the answer?”

“Yeah.”

Figuring that it was probably best to stop there, Sumire shuffled in her seat a bit before continuing.

• June 24^th, 20XX

Well, today started off strange.

I had somewhat forgotten about it, but when we first meet Jose, he gave us a star-shaped charm.

I thought nothing of it, and the charm stayed in my pocket. But what really surprised me is that we may have figured out a way to use it.

Being the incarnation of lust that he is, Morgana tried to find a way to do something with Ann, and it worked.

And it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen.

I still can’t get the shojo manga version of their faces out of my mind.

I can only pray that everyone else who comes up with something is a bit more reasonable.

“Was it that surprising?”

“Hm?”

“The showtimes, I think that’s what you called them.”

Looking at her, Ren just gazed at her before shrugging.

“Well, I never thought a man made of darkness would fight for me, but I got used to it,” he responded.

“I was pretty used to it by the time I swung you around and you fell in my arms,” Ren smirked at the last part, reaching his arms out as if to invite her.

Rolling her eyes at that, Sumire turned back to her laptop.

Now that I’m home and thinking about things, I have questions.

From what I observed while we had Makoto catch up to us in terms of power, is that she seems to have some form of impeccable memory. Not even just that, she seemed to be aware of Shadows that she had never seen before but could tell what they were weak to.

Now, most of them were weak ones and one that we had beaten before. If it was because of that, I would’ve accepted it as the power of the Metaverse.

But something strange happened today.

Working through the Palace, Makoto seemed to know the weaknesses of Shadows that we had never seen before.

Not only that, but after combat, no one seemed to question the fact that she knew.

Hell, I didn’t either until I went into the Velvet Room because I wanted to change my roster of Personas.

Since Arsène is not almighty, I swapped some Personas around, when I noticed something with the compendium. It happened with Madarame’s Palace as well, but the compendium seemed to expand once we entered Kaneshiro’s Palace.

When I checked in Mementos, nothing had really changed, the list of Personas was the same as it was when we dealt with Madarame.

But now that we’ve entered Kaneshiro’s Palace, there are a bunch of new Personas, ones that I haven’t seen in the Palace.

I tried asking Justine about it, but all she said was that they were gifts and that if I didn’t like it, she could always clear the compendium for me.

I held my tongue at that; they’re serious about those kinds of threats, before asking about my pocket space, and why I already had some weapons ready for Makoto even though she was a new member. I had similar thoughts when Yusuke joined, but Caroline seemed unimpressed, saying that they were always mine.

When I raised my brow at that, it seemed that the twins started to realize that maybe something was off.

I stayed quiet there; nothing good ever happens when I ask them things when they seem frustrated.

I’ll ask once they’re not in a bad mood.

“I never did get to ask them about it again,” Ren said, startling Sumire.

Turning around to face him, Ren pat the bed beside him.

“Come ‘re, you won’t have to constantly turn around.”

Thinking about it for a bit, Sumire eventually unplugged her laptop and picked it up. Sitting next to him, Sumire got comfortable as she placed the computer on her lap.

“Did you ever ask, Le, Le, La,” Sumire started, to which Ren shook his head.

“Lavenza, and I don’t remember if I did.”

Nodding along with the response, Sumire turned back to her screen.

• June 25^th, 20XX

We were making good progress, when a strange debacle was presented to us.

We had stopped yesterday after we unlocked a massive lock that separated the bank from the vault, and we were cruising through said vault today.

However, once we got even deeper, we were faced with our current conundrum.

Being the money-grubbing bastard that he is, Kaneshiro has doors in his palace that you have to pay to enter.

After encountering such a door, we tried to see if we could open some smaller, individual vaults and pay with the money we found in them, but the Palace reacted by sending Shadows are way.

We managed to beat them back, but it’s clear that we’re going to have to use our own money or try to find a different way around it.

Makoto is going to try and figure out a separate path from the map, while the rest of us are going into Mementos and try to earn as much money as we can if she can’t figure out a separate path.

I just hope she finds one; I don’t want to spend too much time running around and shaking down Shadows.

“Did he really have you pay?” Sumire asked, seemingly more curious about the situation than surprised that he would have people pay to move around.

“Well, we didn’t, thankfully. Makoto managed to find a separate route and we took it. But it meant that he was running a pyramid scheme of sorts, that even his lackeys had to pay him some money if they wanted his protection or his ‘business.’”

With a soft hm, Sumire leaned into Ren and looked down to a rather short entry.

• June 28^th, 20XX

We’ve secured a route to the Treasure.

Makoto found a path, and we acted on it.

Tomorrow, we send the calling card.

Chapter Text

Before Sumire could continue with the next entry, there was a knocking on the door that pulled them away.

“Sumire, Amamiya-kun, can I come in?”

With a sigh of relief, Sumire responded with a 'yeah,' through the door.

Shinichi opened the door, a tray of rice crackers and tea in his hands.

“For the two of you,” he said, placing the tray on Sumire’s desk as he turned to face them, an apologetic look on his face.

“Mom is working on making dinner right now. Some of your favorites,” he said, a weak smile on his face.

“I don’t mean to be rude, but how long will she be like this?” Ren asked, to which Shinichi just laughed.

“If I’m to be honest, it’ll be on and off again. She’ll probably calm down by the time the two weeks are over, but if you come back again…”

“I get it,” Ren said, nodding his head as he waved his hand, showing that he understood.

“Well, I’ll leave you two to it. Dinner should be ready in about two hours.”

“Ah, so the crackers are for her then.”

Ren was promptly flicked on his forehead for that as Shinichi laughed, making his way out of the room.

“You don’t have to say that.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Ren chuckled, leaning into Sumire to look at her screen.

“Shall we?”

With a sigh, Sumire continued to read.

• June 30^th, 20XX

There are many thoughts running through my head right now.

Kaneshiro went down and all, but he said something about the Black Mask.

This is the second time, so it seems that it wasn't all bullshit.

Unlike Madarame, who only seemed to have a passing familiarity about whoever they are, Kaneshiro seemed like he was very aware of their existence.

He said that they were responsible for all the psychotic break downs and mental shutdowns, as if he might have paid for something to happen.

We’re going to have to look into this more thoroughly.

“You know, you never go into all the details about your fights,” Sumire said, making Ren’s brows rise.

“Oh, wanting to hear my gallant war stories?” he asked, flexing an arm in a mock show of strength.

“Well, maybe a little.” 

“I would give up if I were you. I only remembered bits and pieces of them, and something would always happen that would make me forget about it afterward,” Ren started, as Sumire looked to see if he was serious.

“If you want information after Futaba joined though,” trailing off at the mention of the navigator.

“It was a passing fancy and nothing more.”

“Yeah, I figured.”

“Let’s continue.”

• July 4^th, 20XX

Man, making friends is great.

Like Ryuji before her, Ann has figured out what she wants to do in life, and in response, her Persona has evolved.

I won’t put all the details down because I shouldn’t be the one recording it, but she got to tell Shiho that she’s strong, and that they’ll be friends regardless of distance and will support each other.

I guess that means I’ll have to see where everyone goes from here.

• July 7^th, 20XX

Even though nothing really happened today, the urge to write hit me.

I went on a ‘date’ with Kasumi to Inoshira park again.

Instead of killing me, we went on a little boat ride in the middle of the lake.

It was cute how she tried to paddle us back to shore, though it became less cute when she nearly ran into four different boats.

I paddled the rest of the way back, where she joined me in some fake flirting.

Hopefully, I can make it real by years end and ...

Seeing that she had gotten all quiet, Ren checked on her to see what was wrong.

“Tell me you didn’t write that down,” she said quietly when Ren took the laptop, checking to see if there was anything hidden there.

“Yeah, no way I would’ve written this.”

Seeing all the changes that were made, Ren wondered if he should just ask Sojiro if he could borrow the physical copy for a bit and have Futaba send him the digital files she set up so he could edit out all of the ridiculous additions that she would’ve made.

Looking further down into the long page of explicit content that was added, Ren paused for a moment, as he looked at something.

“I think I recognize that…”

With a flustered look on her face, Sumire snatched the laptop from Ren’s hands and closed it, putting it on her desk.

“We’re done for today,” she said, her face red as she rushed to the door, grabbing her school tracksuit.

Even though this was something that Ren usually would feel relaxed doing, the fact that he couldn’t tell if it was tears from the onion or a nervous sweat running down his face was scaring him.

Since Sumire had gotten all flustered and ran off, Ren hadn’t seen her, so he assumed that she was still out for a jog.

That by itself wouldn’t be an issue, Makoto and Haru put in meticulous care so that the girls would be fine on their own.

No, the issue was that he was alone with Ayako, and the smile that she had been trying to hide ever since he entered the kitchen was slowly starting to reveal itself.

“So~~, any reason that she would’ve run off like that?” Ayako started, her grin now showing itself in full force.

Averting his gaze at the question, Ren’s mind was starting to overheat as he started to cut at nothing, his knife slowly moving towards the edge of the cutting board and towards the counter.

“There’s nothing there, dear.”

Snapping to attention at that, Ren adjusted the onion as he started to cut again, trying to see if he could pass off not answering the question.

“Well, if you’re not ready to tell me, maybe she would be…”

“It was a text from Futaba.”

“Oh?”

Looking at Ren, Ayako was much more interested in what he had to say.

“It, it was…” Ren wanted to say something, but he really couldn’t think of what to say. While it was true that Futaba loved to target them with lewd texts and unwanted advice on how to carry out their relationship, Ren had no idea how to turn the page of delusional fantasy into a teasing text. It didn’t come off as such thoughts to Ayako though, who thought that Ren was embarrassed over not wanting to tell her anything.

“Now, we’re both adults here. You can tell me,” Ayako said, her grin growing even wider as Ren seemed to panic, unsure of what he was supposed to do.

“What were the details? If you’re lying about anything, I can always ask Futaba-chan later,” she continued, cornering Ren with the fact that she was in contact with Futaba.

Perhaps it wouldn’t be so easy to get out of this one as he thought.

Chapter Text

Dinner was quiet that night as Sumire watched the awkward atmosphere between Ren and her mother. He kept avoiding eye contact while Ayako kept trying to look at him, her grin openly exposed as no hands were available to cover it up.

When she came back from her jog, Ren was sitting on the couch, a look of total defeat on his eyes as he was slumped over, while Ayako was serving dinner, the look of joy on her face making Sumire’s stomach drop.

While she thought that it was his fault for saying that he recognized what Futaba had added, getting the kind of interrogation that her mother would give over something like that was too harsh.

If anything, it made her even more nervous since she had no idea what sort of information Ayako pulled out of him.

Once they were done with dinner, Sumire watched as he excused himself to her room, passing his plates to Shinichi to avoid looking at Ayako, who was cleaning dishes in the kitchen.

“What did you do to him?” Shinichi asked, passing the plates to her while Sumire looked somewhat concerned, like she was unsure if she could leave or not as she wiped them off.

“Oh, it wasn’t too much,” Ayako grinned, making Sumire leave as soon as she saw how wide the smile was, putting plates down and rushing off to her room.

“Do we need to talk about this?” Shinichi asked when he heard the door close, turning to look at his wife.

“It’s perfectly fine,” she said, smile shrinking a bit as it turned into a laugh.

“If anything, it should help them move along a bit more.”

Oh, how ‘love’ makes one blind.

Closing the door behind her, Sumire looked at her boyfriend huddled in the corner, back against the wall as he looked at her come in.

“Are you okay?” she asked, staying an arm’s length away as she sat against the wall.

Silence.

“Should I read some more?”

No response.

“We can keep it short if you're worried about staying up late.”

A slight stir.

Getting her laptop, Sumire flipped it open and looked for where they had left off.

As she scrolled through, there was a slight blush as she passed the now seemingly longer section of explicit content, before finding the start of a new day.

• July 9^th, 20XX

We’re in the clear. No longer do we have Kaneshiro looming over us for a ‘debt,’ but we also now have Makoto off the case at school.

Even if he tries to dig around on his own, I doubt he will be able to make any real progress. Makoto said that he was rather dependent on her to do all the legwork for him.

And as expected of the student council president, reminded us that studying came first.

I’m pretty sure Ryuji and Ann died on the inside when they realized that they couldn’t get away with not studying.

I look forward to having them come cry to me that they failed and don’t know what to do with Makoto on their case.

They were good comrades.

“Did you really think they were going to die?” Sumire asked, surprised that Ren entertained the thought.

A shake of his head.

“D-did they think they were going to?”

A nod.

“Did you help them?”

A shake.

“Did you laugh?”

A small grin.

“You can be so cruel.”

Ren gave a look as if to say she didn’t have her moments.

“My mother is not something I can control.”

She carried on.

• July 10^th, 20XX

 I don’t know why, but Ryuji and Ann are treating me like a shield to protect themselves from Makoto.

Sojiro was out today, so I was alone in Leblanc for quite a while, but everyone showed up for a study session in the evening.

Not like I need the help.

In good fashion for a Leblanc meet up, everyone told their own stories again, and after Makoto threatened to walk out if Ryuji didn’t want help, we started to study.

I’m seriously starting to think that I am a shield to protect them from Makoto’s wrath if they don’t study.

“Is she that scary?” Sumire asked, pulling Ren’s line of sight to her.

A vacant stare met her, asking what she meant.

“I never remember Makoto being something worth hiding from,” Sumire continued, getting a small grin from Ren.

“Were you scared of her?”

A shake.

“It was Ryuji, right?”

A grin.

“He never learned, did he.”

While we took a brief break, Akechi came up on the news.

Honestly, I’m surprised that he managed to get back on tv.

He was giving his opinion on what we did, and as usual, it wasn’t a glowing review.

Saying that if our methods could make someone confess to crimes that didn’t exist, that we were no better than the criminals we arrested.

He also said things about circumventing the law, but it seems pretty obvious to me that he doesn’t like someone circumventing his authority.

What a satisfying feeling of victory now that I’m thinking about it.

And also, we’re going to a fireworks festival for Makoto’s welcome party.

Perhaps hoping for some comment, even if it was a snide one against Akechi, Sumire paused to see if Ren would say something.

He didn’t, but she could see the grin on his face. She would leave it at that.

• July 11^th, 20XX

I had a run-in with Kasumi today.

She got the position of club representative that she wanted and wanted to let me know.

How sweet.

Akechi came by as well, and it seemed that they were acquainted.

He took us to a café that he goes to as a celebration, and I’ll keep it in mind for future reference.

I did notice pancakes on the menu though.

Your lie about sweets won’t trick me.

We talked a bit more before the topic of the Phantom Thieves came up, and Akechi asked Kasumi what she thought about them.

While she thinks that we’re doing good, she thinks that there’s going to be an overdependence on us.

She thinks that if things are going down their current path, that people are going to count on us as a safety net to deal with their own problems and not try to deal with it on their own.

And as much as I hate to admit it, she’s somewhat right.

I’ve been thinking about it for a while now, but all of our requests in Mementos dealt with people who are in Tokyo. What would happen if we started to get requests to deal with people in other places, like Osaka or Hokkaido. As far as I’m aware, we can’t influence people who live there.

Will it really become a situation where we can’t deal with everything, but people will still expect results out of us.

The thought somewhat scares me.

Hearing a slight movement from Ren, Sumire turned to look at him, when she realized that something had changed.

“Ren?”

It was a quiet shift, but he was noticeably closer to her than when they had started, and she was somewhat worried that he was upset.

“Are you okay?”

Putting the laptop to the side, Sumire reached a hand out.

It was grabbed and she was pulled in, surprising her as a gleam she had never seen in his eyes started to glow.

“Sorry,” was all he said, before pulling her in, locking his lips with hers.

Chapter Text

Breakfast was a lovely quiet that morning, as Ren and Sumire slept in.

Ayako was gone and had left for work, meaning that they could enjoy each other’s company and not have to worry about being asked about how their night had gone.

Relaxing as they ate some rice and miso soup, Sumire let out a satisfied sigh as she finished the fish that she made, Ren saying that he didn’t need any.

“It’s nice when it’s like this,” Sumire said softly, leaning back into her chair as Ren gave her a smile.

“It is, especially since your shirt is somewhat loose,” he grinned, making Sumire look up at him, wondering what he was talking about.

“I can see my marks from this morning.”

Ren let the statement hang in the air for a moment before Sumire blushed, looking down to see all the marks that were indeed present around her collarbone.

“Ah, ah,” Sumire stuttered, mind seemingly stuck on something.

“Oh, going to practice sleeveless today? Shame, it draws attention away from your neck,” Ren said with a grin, bracing his legs for a kick that never came.

“What do I do?” Sumire was in a slight panic, trying to figure out how she was supposed to cover up the results of their morning.

“Well, you can always ask Ann for help when she’s in town. I’m sure she’d love to do makeup on someone who wants it,” Ren shrugged, getting the kick he expected earlier.

“Not like it’s a secret either; the girls at camp saw you with marks.”

Pausing at the thought, Sumire only flushed a new shade of red, for which Ren just chuckled a bit.

“What, did the excitement of something new last night make you forget?”

Pausing as she thought about it, Sumire blushed even further, covering her chest as Ren laughed a bit more.

“I’m sorry, but you’re just so easy to tease,” he said, a Joker grin breaking up from him chuckling.

Pouting in response, Sumire looked away from him, taking her plates and leaving them in the sink.

“IF you would please,” she huffed, making her way to her room.

Ren just chuckled, taking his plates up, letting the water run as he took Sumire’s plates.

As he felt the water run over his hands, a brief thought ran across his is mind. There was something about water that he seemed to have forgotten about.

What was it again?

Letting the thought go, he finished doing the dishes, though it seemed to linger longer than he expected.

As she sat on her bed, Sumire checked her neck in a small mirror that she kept in one of her drawers, a gift from Ann from when she had come back from America.

How was her fellow Lady Thief doing?

The last time that she got in contact with her was a happy birthday message, but that was nearly six months ago.

For a few moments, Sumire wanted to know, but she didn’t know if Ann would take to kindly to a call at the moment.

Plus, she had to leave for practice soon, and she would hate having to cut her off to leave.

Let me know when you can call, I want to talk about something

Making sure she didn’t say too much, Sumire sent the message and started to get changed.

Hearing her come out of her room, Ren looked up from where he was sitting.

He had moved to the couch after he finished the dishes, sitting there as his thoughts kept digging at him.

“Going to practice?”

“Yeah,” Sumire nodded, making her way to the door.

“I’ll be heading out today and probably won’t be back for lunch. If you want something, Leblanc should be open,” Ren said, a thumbs up from Sumire as started to put her shoes on.

“Send me there when you get mad about something. It’ll pay for your bill,” he finished, making Sumire laugh as the door closed behind her.

Smiling at his own joke, Ren waited for a few minutes, before pulling his phone out.

It had been buzzing for a while, and now that his train of thought had been broken, it was a perfect chance to see who it was.

Looking down at his clothes and making sure that it was alright, Ren checked his phone to make sure that he was in the right area.

Harajuku was not a place he frequently visited, the last time being two years ago while he was still in Leblanc, and even then, he didn’t go there very often. Making his way through the crowd was not very easy, especially since some girls were calling out to him. He hoped that it was because of his face and not his fashion choice. He wasn’t going to change out of the few sensible clothes that Sumire said suited him.

Coming to the area that he thought was right, Ren paused as he looked back down at his phone, scratching his head when a voice came up from behind him.

“Man, still getting lost if it doesn’t relate to work?” it asked.

Turning around to see who, Ren already had a smile on his face as long blond hair met him, with a familiar smile greeting him as well.

“Hey,” he said, reaching for a hug that was quickly reciprocated, feeling many of the eyes that were on him look away.

“Really? Nearly eight months and all I get is a ‘Hey?’” the voice laughed back.

“That part of you hasn’t changed at all Ren.”

Sitting down in a café where Ren felt that nearly all eyes were on him, he tried to make his way through the tea that Ann had recommended to him. But he honestly felt that it wasn’t because of him that he was being watched.

“Man, it’s been a while since I’ve been back here,” she said, stretching out in a manner that reminded Ren of the long hours that they used to spend in Mementos.

“Can you get away acting like that? A bunch of eyes are on you,” Ren asked as he took a sip of his drink, grimacing internally at a flavor that he could only call fruity if he was being nice.

“What? I get to meet a friend, and they expect me to act like I do on set?” Ann huffed; her long hair tied up into a single ponytail swinging with her shaking her head.

“If that was the cost, who would get into modeling?” she snorted, making her way into a parfait that was perhaps larger than one would expect a single person to eat.

Shrugging his shoulders, Ren just sat as Ann ate her parfait, taking sips of his tea, as he tried to ignore the eyes watching them.

When she reached the halfway point in her parfait, Ann paused to look at Ren, looking out the window as he continued to sip on his tea.

“So, as for why I called you here, …”

Chapter Text

“How are you two doing?” Ann asked, a light sparkle in her eyes as she looked at him.

“That covers a lot of things,” Ren said, looking back at his tea, pondering if he should finish it or not.

“Have you done it yet?”

Ren paused as he tried to figure out what he was supposed to say.

“Is that the reason you called me out here?” he asked after contemplating for a few seconds.

“Yeah.”

He wasn’t going to finish his tea.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I was joking when I said that. It’s been eight months since we’ve talked, don’t leave yet!” Ann said, clinging to Ren as he made his way towards the door of the café.

“Good to see this part of you hasn’t changed as well,” Ren said, sighing as he made his way back to their table as he looked back at his tea.

“Ah, you can be so mean sometimes,” Ann huffed, sliding back into her chair as she took a bite of her parfait, looking to see how Ren reacted.

“I think it’s less being mean and you stepping over boundaries,” Ren said, wincing internally as he drank some more tea.

“C’mon, you’re the only one among us that’s in a relationship, of course I’d want to know,” Ann said, taking another bite.

“Wouldn’t bringing this up with Sumire be a better idea?”

“I would, but she’s so busy, and talking to someone in LA or New York isn’t easy from Japan, especially since my schedule just doesn’t match.”

Sighing as he looked at her, Ren just wondered if there was something he could do to get out of this.

“Well, I know where she goes for practice,” Ren said, thinking how he could turn the conversation away from intimate moments. “And since I assume you called for me and not her, you don’t know her schedule enough but assumed that I was free.”

“Well, you wouldn’t know I was in Tokyo unless someone told you, did Futaba tip you off?”

Ann laughed, her speed eating her parfait noticeably increasing.

“You make it sound like you’re a wanted man,” she said, going at a speed that gave Ren hints of Sumire in what he saw.

“Well, take me to your lady, my good sir,” Ann said, getting up as she made her way towards the entrance.

Even though he said he knew her schedule, Ren took Ann to the building about half an hour early, figuring that she probably wanted to check the place out on her own.

“Keeping good on your promise of exercise?” Ren asked as they stepped in, getting a look of contempt from Ann.

“I’ll have you know that I am in the definition of being in shape, and today’s splurge was a treat for being with a friend.”

“It would’ve been fine if I ordered something on par with what you did then?” Ren asked, a light gleam in his eye.

“I got excited talking to a friend and said more than I should’ve, I don’t have enough cash for two,” Ann said as she looked away, making Ren laugh as he sat down, a pamphlet catching his eye.

He looked at it for a few minutes, before his mind started to turn, trying to think what it was about that made him think.

“What are you – Ah!”

Ren jumped a bit as he turned around, Ann looking over his shoulder as she looked at the pamphlet Ren was looking at.

“Swimsuit season is nearly over, but I still need to look at what was popular,” she said, pulling her phone out as she took a memo of it.

Thinking little of the swimsuit part, Ren’s mind started to turn as he realized what it was from that morning that he was thinking about.

“Oh, Ren!”

Turning at the voice he loved so, Ren looked to see Sumire walk over from the elevator, a look of surprise on her face as she got closer.

“What are you doing here? I thought you would be out?” she asked, before looking to see who was sitting behind him.

“Ann-senpai?”

“Hey,” said girl grinned, getting up for a hug that came a bit faster than she expected.

“When did you come back?” Sumire asked as Ren turned his attention back to the pamphlet he was looking at.

“Oh, no real reason. Is it so wrong to come by every once in a while?” Ann asked as they broke the hug.

“Was she the reason…” Sumire started to ask before Ren cut her off.

“Nope, had something else, but she contacted me first,” he said as he got up from his seat.

“You two have fun, I’ll head back and prepare for dinner.”

Sitting down in a park, Sumire fidgeted a bit as she looked between Ann and herself.

“Something wrong?” Ann asked, making Sumire flinch.

“Ah, what, no, nothing,” she said, avoiding eye contact as she looked back at herself.

“Don’t worry if it’s because of what you’re wearing. My timing was somewhat bad, wasn’t it?”

Looking up at Ann, Sumire could only blush as she had been figured out so easily, a form of respect in her eyes.

“Don’t look at me like that, you’re the one with a boyfriend,” Ann said, a smile on her face as she looked at Sumire, a light blush on her face.

“So, what was the message you sent to me about?”

As he walked up the stairs towards the apartment, Ren thought about what would be a good option for dinner.

He hadn’t forgotten his thought on the pamphlet, and Ann mentioning swimsuits made him remember what it was about.

But that wasn’t his priority now, no.

Who knew how long Ann and Sumire would talk, so he was going to take the chance and try something that he hadn’t done before, and hoped that he could pull it off.

Opening the door and reaching for the nob, a sudden and impending sense of dread filled him as something seemed to come from behind him.

“Oh, did you have a nice day?” Ayako asked, grinning as she placed a hand on Ren’s shoulder.

Maybe it was time to have Morgana come join them.

Chapter Text

As she walked towards home, Sumire was surprised to see Ren come from the opposite direction, a tired look in his eyes as he glanced around.

“Ren!” she called out, grabbing his attention as she picked up her pace.

“Hey,” he responded, picking up his pace as well.

“I thought you came back before me,” Sumire said, looking up towards her apartment as she wondered why he was out.

“I did, but I went to go get someone,” Ren said, grinning as a small bag swung on his shoulder.

Noticing the bag, Sumire looked to see what it was, when a familiar black head poked out, looking at her.

“To think that he only lasted four days, he’s so pathetic,” the black face said, getting a flick on the nose for that comment.

“If you had to deal with being asked how you would make love to Ann by her mother, how long do you think you would last?” Ren asked, making the ‘cat’ look the other way.

“I’d be a gentleman, of course,” he huffed, looking towards Sumire as if to get confirmation.

“Describe it graphically.”

A pause as the black cat turned to look at Ren, his eyes showing a form of distress and horror as the thought ran through his head.

“See, and you can’t use the excuse you’re a cat because that would be much worse.”

“Um, can we move onto a different topic,” Sumire asked, a light blush on her face as she thought about what Ren said.

“Sure,” Ren said, making his way up the stairs as he ignored the blank look on Morgana’s face as he thought a bit more about what his friend said and its implications.

Upon reaching her apartment, Sumire noticed that Ren had decided to keep some distance from the door, a fact that Morgana noticed as well.

“Ren?” he asked, looking as his friend seemed to wait it out.

“If the coast is clear, it gives me a head start to put some of your fur on my clothes.”

“It’s not that bad, is it?” the cat asked, looking to Sumire, who gave a weak laugh in response.

“So is that all I am to you? A meat shield?”

“A fur shield, to be precise.”

 Ignoring the squabbling between the two of them, Sumire opened the door, announcing her return.

Unable to ignore the massive sigh she heard, Sumire turned to look as Ren sat on the floor, giving Morgana a few gentle pats on the head as he looked up, a soft smile on his face.

When Ren walked in, he made sure that Morgana was watching over his shoulder, and the look of satisfaction on his face when Ayako started to walk toward him and stopped was something that Sumire never thought she would see.

In fact, her mother was rather quiet for the rest of dinner and seemed to have a look of disappointment in her eyes as she watched Morgana lay on the couch.

“Was it worth it to you?” she asked, watching as the two seemed to go back into a well-practiced pattern, the gentle sound of the cat’s purrs filling the room.

“It was,” Ren said without hesitation, a look of relief as he said so.

“To not have to worry about what sort of things she would ask was a big plus.”

“Surely, needing to use allergies…”

“She asked me how your hand felt once.”

With the purr being the only sound in the room, Sumire looked the other way as she tried to hide her blush.

“Are, are you sure that she meant…”

“Her grin said otherwise.”

Keeping her gaze away, Sumire plopped down in her chair and opened her laptop.

“Let’s take our mind off that,” she said, a nod of approval coming from Ren.

• July 17^th, 20XX

Well, today was a mixed bag.

First, Ryuji acted like he was some sort of extra asked to get on set to fill in for the star. That went up on TV.

“Ah, that was hard to watch,” Morgana huffed, leaning back into scritches.

“Don’t interrupt,” Ren said curtly, moving away from scritches to pets, a noticeable downgrade in lovings.

After that, the whole reason that we had gone out was for a meat festival, and all I got was a dropped snow cone.

Though if anything fails, Ryuji can be a fantastic photographer, what timing it took to catch me dropping the snow cone. And at least Yusuke managed to get some form of meat.

After that disappointing ‘meal,’ Ryuji said something about a stadium being under construction, and since there was nothing else to, we decided to check it out.

However, it was only at the very beginning of construction, and it looks like they’re still digging for a foundation.

After that realization, Ryuji said he was gonna go get some food, and Yusuke said he was going to get art supplies.

I think ‘creativity’ is what keeps him alive. Either that or he eats paper.

A light snort from Sumire as she giggled, looking at Ren, who just gave her a shrug.

Morgana gave him a glare, but said nothing out of fear of losing pats.

Regardless, instead of heading my own way, I spotted Kasumi a few steps away. She seemed to be looking at the stadium as well, and I wondered what it was about.

Walking up to her, she seemed surprised that I was there, and asked me what I was doing.

I don’t remember much from that point, but what I do remember was that it seemed like she had been crying.

After that though, we went to a family restaurant, and I was in for a show.

Forget her beef bowl order, Kasumi ate what was probably four times the size of that.

I think her stomach has its own pocket for food.

She seemed a bit cheerier after that, but the mood quickly dampened again as the reason for her tears was brought up.

Even though she got a podium finish, it wasn’t first, and she felt like she was failing. Not just herself, but one other person.

Her younger sister who died earlier this year.

There was a slight pause again as Sumire looked at the screen, her breathing somewhat shallow as her hands rested on the arrow keys.

“Do you want me to read?” Ren asked, placing his arm under the cat just in case.

“No. No, I can do this,” Sumire said, turning to Ren with a look of determination.

“I need to do this.”

With a short nod, a satisfied look crossed Ren’s face, a smile crossing his face.

“Carry on.”

It seemed like she cared for her a lot, and they had a promise that they would reach the world stage together. It seems like the shock of losing her sister is still affecting her.

I’m not the best person for saying things like this, but I tried my best to give her advice, and I’m surprised that any of it worked.

I hope that she can move forward with this. I look forward to her good results and for her to smile.

Chapter Text

Taking a moment of silence, Sumire steadied her breath as she looked to Ren, a somewhat nervous look on her face.

“You okay?” he asked, his hand still on Morgana’s head as he continued the pats.

“I, I’m fine.” Her response was quiet, but it seemed that she kept her resolve.

“Still hard to think about it?” Ren asked, picking the cat up as he rose, making his way over to Sumire.

“Yeah.”

“Want to hold a distraction?”

“Hey!”

A light giggle.

“I would like to hold a light distraction, yes.”

Grumbling under his breath, Morgana accepted that he was being passed as a distraction.

“At least it’ll stay as scritches,” he muttered under his breath, glaring at Ren as he settled down in Sumire’s lap.

“I’ll continue.”

• July 18^th, 20XX

I feel for anyone who may end up as Yusuke’s girlfriend. And I might be identified by Ryuji as moss.

Jokes aside, the fireworks festival that we were supposed to have as our celebration for Makoto’s welcome party was canceled by rain.

And some group seemed to want attention by bringing us up.

We shouldn’t have to worry too much about it, but it would be best to look into it a bit.

“That’s all you thought about them?” Sumire asked, turning to Ren, who was now sitting on her bed.

“What do you want me to say?” he shrugged, a look of disdain on his face as he lowered his shoulders. “With what I know in hindsight, it’s scary what sort of threat they could’ve been.”

“Economic downfall of Japan wasn’t the worst thing that could happen?”

“Oh, it’ll say when we get there. You congratulated me for it.”

Thinking about what Ren said, Sumire looked down at Morgana, who seemed utterly absorbed in the scritches.

She carried on.

• July 20^th, 20XX

I have many thoughts running through my head right now.

Someone who seems way too knowledgeable on our methods contacted me.

It was from school first, someone named Alibaba came in contact.

There was a pause after that, making Ren turn his head, wondering what the issue was.

“There, seem to be some more edits,” Sumire said, making Ren get up.

“I’ll take over reading, we don’t want a repeat of what happened yesterday.”

Sliding out of her chair, Sumire moved as she carried Morgana, an unhappy mew as his lovings had stopped, but he quickly fell back in order after she sat down.

He She seemed to know that we actually stole hearts and that we were in trouble with finding information on Medjed.

I tried to respond but got no answer.

We all gathered together and tried to think about it, but the information is too specific for it to be a prank. Makoto believes that whoever did this (ME! And all too easy) managed to get into our chat logs and saw everything we did.

Thinking that there wasn’t much more we could do, we went to Leblanc to think some more in private, when the next surprise happened.

Alibaba sent us a calling card.

Not only do they know who we are, but where I live (cause I live there too!).

It’s going to be a long road ahead of us.

Looking behind him, Ren saw how engrossed Sumire was in the story, hand having stopped scritching Morgana, how made sure to let her know of his displeasure once Ren had stopped.

“That exciting?” he asked, a light smile as he looked at her.

“Huh? No, it’s just so strange to hear how this one played out,” she responded, making Ren chuckle.

“I guess that’s true. Compared to everything else, this one seems the strangest, right?” he laughed, turning back to the screen.

“Final thoughts?”

“No.”

“Alright.”

• July 21^st, 20XX

I have questions.

First and foremost, it seems like Alibaba did send us the calling card yesterday.

I got contacted during school again, and this time, I got a response.

He She seemed rather frustrated that whoever their target (Me) hadn’t had their heart stolen yet. After being asked why it happened yet, I requested a name. It’s Sakura Futaba.

I had a moment of pause at that and we held another meeting. The named somewhat familiar (it should’ve), and I wanted to talk about it.

It was a rather upsetting meeting, especially when Alibaba contacted us again. After trying to communicate some things, Alibaba cut us off, saying that if we didn’t do what he she asked for, he’d she’d turn our information into the police.

So I went with my gut, and it seems like a hit. I can’t poke around anymore though, cause Sojiro got extremely mad. I can’t risk anything right now.

Before he said anything, Ren lifted a finger, turning around to face Sumire as he looked at her.

“Before you ask, some of the questions you may have will be answered in following entries.”

Taking a nod as confirmation, Ren turned back to the computer and continued to read.

• July 22^nd, 20XX

Well, things just keep getting stranger.

First, when I came back to Leblanc today, there was a woman there, and she seemed to be grilling Sojiro pretty hard.

Something about a woman named Wakaba, and he seemed to get really mad at her for ‘tipping me off’ about Futaba.

The good customer really seemed to be forcing his hand with information about Wakaba and was bringing up charges of REDACTED and REDACTED, even going as far as that Sojiro’s guardianship could be in question.

That seemed to be the limit, as Sojiro said he would talk, but he didn’t sound happy about it either.

When I asked him about guardianship, he just yelled at me, telling me to close up shop, and if I dug around anymore, he would kick me out.

Turning around to face Sumire, Ren raised a finger, grinning as if to say that it gets better.

• July 23^rd, 20XX

Well, a few things that we put together from yesterday’s information, along with something new.

We can assume that Alibaba is our requested target, Sakura Futaba.

First thing was that REDACTED, and that REDACTED

Pausing for a moment, Ren just shook his head.

“Give me a moment to laugh.”

“What?” Sumire asked, curious as to what made him pause.

“She’s taken out how we managed to figure out that she was Alibaba,” Ren said, raising his hand as he tried to hide his laugh.

“In hindsight, it’s easy to figure out, but I think she didn’t like the idea that we figured it out so quickly in the moment.”

Continuing to laugh, Ren eventually stopped, turning back to the screen.

“Where were we?”

Since Alibaba thinks we need to be physically present to steal someone’s heart, the deal was called off.

He She said that we were in the clear and REDACTED.

To match our celebratory mood, we declared that we’ll have sushi with the money we got from selling Kaneshiro’s briefcase.

Chapter Text

Leaning back for a moment, Ren stretched his arms, raising them above his head as he turned to look at Sumire.

“Still have questions?” he asked, leaning back to look over his shoulder.

“Yeah,” she responded, her hand still on Morgana’s chin as the lovings continued.

“Good, cause a lot of them are about to be answered.”

• July 24^th, 20XX

A lot of things happened today.

Medjed has officially forced our hand with a threat of attack.

We found out after we had our sushi party when mop head told us about it.

We need Alibaba if we’re going to stop this.

Since Morgana couldn’t openly eat in the restaurant, we took his portion with us, and we used it as a sacrifice to gain access to Futaba.

A light hiss came, but no other form of protest left the cat as Ren carried on.

 When we went to drop off the sushi to Sojiro, the door was open and the lights were on, so we pushed forward.

It seemed like no one was home, so it was somewhat strange. And as it does in classic horror, the power went out. As we tried to make our way out of the house, someone was watching us over the shoulder.

Makoto screamed, along with Futaba a small girl. It seemed that Sojiro was just outside.

Upon seeing that it was us and hearing that we may have seen Futaba, he realized that there was nothing more he could do to hide it.

He told us the story of how he came to take care of Futaba, and it’s rather upsetting.

There was a pause as Ren seemed to scroll around a bit, seemingly looking for something.

“Ah, she deleted it,” he huffed, leaning back in his chair.

“Ren?” Sumire asked, watching as his brows furrowed.

“Give me a moment, I’m trying to remember,” he responded, looking back at the screen.

And he sat there for a few moments, trying to remember.

“Why did she delete it?” he muttered under his breath, his gears visibly turning as he continued to think.

“Ah, you’re taking too long,” Morgana huffed, “I’ll tell it.”

Ren gave him a look but didn’t say anything as Morgana repositioned himself to look at Sumire.

“Futaba’s mom was a friend of Sojiro’s when used to work for the state,” the cat started, drawing Sumire’s attention to him.

“She was a good mother, working by herself to support Futaba. Until her alleged suicide.”

Sumire gasped, looking at Ren to see if it was true.

He nodded.

“What’s even worse is how it happened,” Morgana continued, as Ren's mind started piecing everything together.

“Wait,” he said, as a look of realization dawned on his face.

“She jumped in front of a car before Futaba’s eyes,” the cat finished, making Ren freeze as looked up, mind racing as he thought of how Sumire would respond.

She had frozen up, making Ren get up and reach a hand out to her, placing it on her shoulder. Morgana, on the other hand, didn’t realize why she had tensed up, eyes going between looking up at Sumire and up at Ren before he realized as well.

“Sumi,” Ren said softly, placing another hand on her shoulder as he looked at her still face.

It took a few seconds, but she eventually responded, leaning into his touch, her breathing somewhat shallow.

“I, I’m okay.”

“Need a second?”

She didn’t respond, but she kept her eyes on Ren, breathing slowly returning to normal as Morgana looked up, worry in his eyes as he watched the two of them.

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes.”

Looking at each other, Ren backed off, relief on his face as he saw the determination burn in Sumire’s eyes.

“I, I’m sorry about that,” Morgana said, turning away from Sumire, looking down at the floor as he positioned himself to jump off.

Before he jumped, a hand rested on his head, making him pause as an arm cam from below, pulling him back.

“Make up for it, don’t run.”

Looking up, Morgana saw Sumire look down at him, somewhat teary-eyed, but she seemed set with this path of action.

Looking at Ren, who was now sitting on the bed next to Sumire, Morgana eventually gave up, sitting up as he started to feel the hand on his head start with pats.

“I’ll continue,” Ren said, adjusted himself before turning to Sumire.

“People claimed that it was maternity neurosis that killed Wakaba, but Sojiro thought differently. Even worse, if it shows up, is how Futaba came to blame herself for it.”

The room was quiet, the light ‘pat-pat’ on Morgana’s head being the only sound as Sumire started to lean against Ren, the pats somewhat slowing down.

“Want to call it a night after we finish the entry?”

A slow nod.

Gently pushing back against Sumire, Ren got up and sat in front of the laptop, looking for where he had stopped.

After Sojiro left, telling me to lock up, we tried to see if Futaba has a Palace. It was a hit.

This is going to be hard.

Futaba is different from our normal targets; she’s just a small girl who wants her heart to be fixed, but who knows what can happen if things go wrong.

But we have no other choice. We don’t have easy access to anyone who can so easily deal with something like Medjed near us.

We’re missing some of the key phrases needed to enter her Palace, so we’re going to do that tomorrow.

I can only hope that this works.

As he curled up towards the foot of the bed, Morgana watched as Sumire faced Ren in her sleep, her arms wrapped tightly around him as she slept. Ren didn’t seem bothered by it, having an arm gently wrapped around Sumire as well.

“Still some ways to go, huh?” Morgana asked quietly to himself before closing his eyes and letting himself join them in sleep.

Chapter Text

As his ears twitched, Morgana started to stir.

It was a quiet sound, but it was enough to wake him up as he was coming out of sleep.

Giving himself a good stretch, the cat yawned as he started to tune his hearing, turning towards the head of the bed.

Walking up, he half expected their faces to be glued to each other, something he tried to avoid seeing, but the sound he heard was different from that.

Unsure of what it could be and if he would have to avoid it in the future, Morgana made his way up.

A small sigh of relief left him when he saw it was different, as Sumire’s face was nuzzled into Ren’s chest, seemingly still asleep.

Ren seemed awake though, his hand stroking Sumire’s hair and turning his face to look at what had moved up towards him.

“Morning,” Morgana said softly, shifting paths and climbing up Ren.

“Morning,” Ren responded, turning back to Sumire as he put his attention back to her.

Feeling somewhat left out, Morgana climbed further up Ren’s shoulder, balancing himself before lying down.

“I’m going back to sleep,” Morgana mewed, curling up.

Ren tried to move a hand under him, but he was too late, as Morgana was already asleep.

“What am I supposed to do when she wakes up,” he murmured quietly, but he let it go, his hand stroking the soft hair on his girlfriend’s head as she slept.

‘I could do this for a while,’ Ren thought, a small smile on his face as he looked down.

And he did, running his hand through her hair for nearly an hour before Sumire started to stir, making him stop as she slowly looked up.

“Morning,” Ren said softly, moving his hand out of Sumire’s hair.

“Morning,” she answered back, snuggling in a bit closer.

“Be careful of the wet spot on my shirt,” Ren said, making Sumire pause.

“I don’t want you to make it bigger.”

With a visible red mark on his face, Ren was quiet as he ate breakfast, Morgana snickering at him as he sat in Sumire’s lap, having eaten his canned sardines while the two of them made breakfast on opposite sides of the kitchen.

“What are you laughing about,” Ren said, looking at the cat as he continued to eat his cold breakfast.

“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering how much better I could do if it was me and Lady Ann in that situation,” Morgana grinned, looking up at Sumire, ignoring him as she continued with her warm meal.

“One who is as gentlemanly as me would never dare say such a thing to a lady,” the cat continued, nose up as he looked for confirmation.

“Yeah, because you would be the one drooling on her.”

Turning to look at Ren, Morgana gave him a glare, ignoring the faint tremor he felt as Sumire tried to suppress a giggle.

“At least I wouldn’t bring attention to it,” he huffed, adjusting himself in Sumire’s lap as she put her bowl down, moving on to the food on her plate.

Once breakfast was done and Sumire prepared to leave for practice, she watched as Ren and Morgana practiced moving the bag from Ren’s pits to his shoulder.

“Do you have to practice it that much?” she asked, fascinated at the rhythm the two of them had started to develop.

“Well, it’s been a while since we’ve done this,” Ren said, looking at Morgana, who gave him a nod, sliding into the bag one last time before poking his head out.

“It was kind of rough having to carry him around when we started,” he continued, “Needing to get him to put his head back into the bag when teachers were around, it took us a while before we figured everything out.”

“Is that so,” Sumire answered, making her way to the door with Ren right behind her.

“Yep,” Ren said, following her out the door.

“See you at dinner,” he said, before leaning in for a kiss, running as soon as his lips touched her cheek.

With some bags in hand, Ren walked out of a pet store as Morgana grumbled in his ear.

“Why do I have to deal with this,” he said, looking at the bag of cat food with disgust in his eyes, Ren shrugging his shoulders.

“It could be cheaper to just give you scraps and not have her parents question why you get cat-sized meals,” Ren said, looking back at the cat.

‘Proper meals afterwards would be fine,’ Morgana mumbled under his breath, but he didn’t say any more, knowing that it was a losing argument if he took it to Sumire, who was still hiding her Thief past from her parents.

As they continued to walk, Ren walked right past the ticket gate, making Morgana look back.

“Are we not going back yet?” he asked, looking in surprise as Ren entered the mall beside the station, looking at the signs as he went up a flight of stairs.

“There’s a certain book I want to find,” Ren responded, watching the signs as he turned, looking up to see if it was the right store.

“Couldn’t you get it online?” Morgana asked, ducking down a bit as some eyes turned to Ren, making his way down the aisles.

“Even if I did, I don’t have their address for delivery,” Ren said, turning down an aisle and slowing down.

Glancing around, Morgana pushed up as he looked over Ren’s shoulders, glancing between his phone and the shelves.

“And I want to start reading as soon as possible, make up for the time I forgot about it,” he finished as he pulled the book off the shelf, looking to see if it was the right one.

“Is it that important for you?” Morgana asked, unable to look at the title as Ren put it back on the shelf, ‘wrong one,’ leaving his lips.

“It would be nice to do so. I need to find a way to keep up with her physically since I’ll need way more training with gymnastics than what’s reasonable.”

“So you’re solution is?” Morgana asked as Ren seemed to have found his book.

“I’m gonna learn how to swim for sport.”

Chapter Text

When she walked in the apartment, it was somewhat surprising to Sumire to see how Ren was sprawled across the couch, book over his head as he read.

What seemed even stranger was the fact that Morgana was comfortably curled up on his chest, who twitched his ears upon noticing that Sumire had come back.

“I’m back,” she said, making Morgana leave Ren and make his way towards Sumire, giving her legs a brief rub.

“Welcome back,” he mewed, letting himself be picked up as Sumire turned to look at Ren.

“Surprising, isn’t?” Morgana said, looking up at Sumire, who gave Ren a poke, to which he didn’t react at all.

“When it was just the two of us and he needed to do some reading at night, it wasn’t strange for him to be sprawled out like that on his bed,” he continued, jumping onto Ren’s stomach.

He didn’t flinch.

“The only way to get him to respond at this point was…”

“You’re in the way,” Ren interrupted, looking at Morgana as his head came between him and the book.

“Sumire’s back,” Morgana responded, slide out from under the book as Ren lowered it and looked to the side.

“Oh, welcome back.”

“How was today?” he asked, sitting upright as he moved to one side of the couch, leaving room if Sumire wanted to take a seat.

“Same as usual,” she answered, sliding next to Ren as he put the book to the side, turning his attention to her.

“Which means?” he asked, leaning in on her.

“Nothing went wrong,” she answered, pushing back a bit.

“That’s always good to hear,” Ren answered, pulling back all of his strength so that Sumire kept going.

Surprised with the lack of resistance, Sumire let out an ‘eep,’ continuing to move and finding her head resting on Ren’s lap.

With a satisfied grin on his face, Ren put a hand down and started to pet her, running his hand through her hair as he did in the morning.

“The trap has been sprung.”

With a pout, Sumire looked up at Ren, but did nothing, letting the soft feeling of his petting lull her into a relaxed state.

“Why do you have to be so good at this,” she mumbled, turning away as she felt Morgana jump up onto her, before jumping off to the back of the couch.

“Three years of owning a cat does that to a man,” Ren said, turning to face Morgana who glared at him.

“Don’t say that while looking at me,” Morgana growled, to which Ren only laughed, reaching a hand out to give him chin scritches.

“Wha, no fair!” Morgana mewed, but it was too late; he had succumbed to the scritches, leaning into the touch.

Ren smiled as leaned back himself, looking up at the ceiling as Morgana purred, filling the room with his enjoyment.

The moment was quickly shattered when the door opened, making Ren turn his head and freeze at what he saw.

As he sat in the corner of Sumire’s room, Ren made sure that Morgana was sitting out of the way of the door in case it opened as he rubbed small clumps of the cat’s fur into balls.

“Does this seem to be a bit of overkill?” Morgana asked, turning to look at Sumire.

“Well, it’s my mom, and well,” she trailed off, trying to hide her thoughts as she looked back at Ren.

When Ayako had walked in, she was wearing a mask and some goggles, a hand rising towards where her lips would be when she noticed that Ren was looking at her.

It didn’t take more than a second for him to immediately slide out from the couch, picking up Morgana and carrying him like a cross to a vampire as he moved away from her.

“And after the last time she managed to get solo time with him, I think I’m more on Ren’s side this time.”

Disappointment crossed Morgana’s face, as if he couldn’t believe that this was what the mighty leader of the Phantom Thieves had been reduced to.

He looked like he was about to say something, but the glow in Ren’s eyes made him stop, though the looks of tension between theme were starting to push against Sumire.

“How about you read some more of your entries,” she said, trying to take the tension out of the room.

Quick to his feet, Ren got up and made his way to the bed, waiting for Sumire to pass him the laptop.

• July 25^th, 20XX

Well, we managed to get into Futaba’s Palace.

And it’s rather sad, now that I’ve had time to think about it and take in what I saw.

Her Palace is a massive pyramid in the desert and the fact that distortions reflect how she sees the world is telling enough.

She wants to die in there.

What’s weird is that she also didn’t see us as a threat when we got in. We were still dressed as we were when we entered the Palace. Seeing that she had left us alone, we were able to enter the Palace and got in far as we could tell, but then we encountered her Shadow.

 She didn’t seem happy that we were there, and tried to kick us out of the tomb, dropping a rock on us and forcing us out of her Palace.

Since we’re still not sure what will happen if we press on, we called it a day.

“Was it that hard to get inside?” Sumire asked, leaning on Ren’s shoulder a bit, hoping that it would keep him from thinking about her mother.

“Oh, it gets harder.”

• July 26^th, 20XX

I can still feel the sand in my pants.

We tried to enter the Palace again today, and it went as well as yesterday.

The path to the Treasure was completely blocked off, and there didn’t seem to be a separate way to enter.

But when we tried to leave, Futaba’s Shadow called out to us.

She said that if we managed to find and return something that was stolen from the Palace, that she would give us a new way in.

Since we didn’t have much more than that to go from, we tried to find what else we could find. It was only a Shadow who stole a map, so we beat it and brought it back to the Palace.

Upon showing that we retrieved the map, she dropped us into a trap that was a river of quicksand towards the bottom of a pit.

Once we got out of the sand, we had to climb our way out towards the surface, and we spotted a way in deeper as we left.

But everyone’s movement is off with all the sand in our clothes, so we’re calling it a day.

Chapter Text

Taking his eyes off of the screen, Ren looked and saw that Morgana had left his position near the door and was sitting in Sumire’s lap, getting gentle pats.

“What?” Morgana asked once he felt’s Ren’s gaze, looking back at him.

There was a sudden look of discomfort on Ren’s face once he realized that his first line of defense against Ayako was away from the door and that there was little he could do to put him back there now that he was sitting in Sumire’s lap.

“You want to say something?”

“Nothing,” Ren responded quickly, looking back at the screen.

I’ll continue.”

• July 28^th, 20XX

To be honest, I’m somewhat worried about tomorrow.

We managed to get as far as we could in the Palace, taking only two days with some new items that popped up in my pocket.

They’re quite useful, letting us fight on without needing to use as many items to recover our mental strength. Though I do wonder if something else is really at play here.

Items like these would’ve been helpful to everyone else when basic spells were more tiring, yet they only now showed up.

I hope I reach a point where I can ask the twins and they won’t yell at me and threaten to remove everything I have.

I don’t want to know if they have that power or not, so I’ll just bury those thoughts for now.

More importantly, Futaba’s Palace shows how much damage she has taken for being blamed for her mother’s death.

To advance, we had to rearrange some murals that we found showing certain scenes, and it was certainly upsetting if you think about it for a kid.

It started with REDACTED,

There was a pause as Ren scrolled through the rest of the entry, looking to see what was cut out.

“More edits, huh?” Morgana asked after Ren didn’t respond, looking back and giving a nod.

“I’ll read what I can, then we can go over the parts that she cut out,” Ren said, looking at Sumire to see if she was good with that.

She nodded.

“Let’s see… That’s edited, that’s edited,” Ren murmured under his breath, looking at the file.

“Here we go.”

After we had rearranged the final mural, the last path leading to the Treasure was all that was left.

And it was blocked.

We can’t advance any further for now.

Morgana says he has an idea of what in the real world may be blocking us from going forward, so we’ll have to count on him to be right.

I just hope he is, because at this rate, she sounds suicidal.

Putting the computer down and looking at Sumire, Ren looked down at Morgana again as he reached out to pick him up.

“Use that mind of yours and help me tell the story,” Ren said, as Morgana let out a cry of protest, but stopped once he was in Ren’s lap, knowing that he wasn’t getting out of this.

“There were three murals, I guess as I put them,” Ren said, with Morgana nodding in confirmation.

“The first one was the most upsetting one to me, where a group of birdmen in suits presented Futaba with her mother’s suicide note.”

Feeling the pause, Ren looked down at Morgana, giving him a look as if he was already going down the wrong path.

“Right, you still don’t know much about ancient Egypt, do you,” Ren smirked, making Morgana look away.

“I-I do,” Morgana said, embarrassment evident in his voice. “I-it’s just taking me a moment to remember.”

“Regardless, that was the first one. It didn’t seem like much at first, but I got the impression that it was much worse later,” Ren said.

“Though I can’t say I remember why I started to think that, that was the trigger for all of Futaba’s upsetting memories.”

Sumire took it all in silence, mind trying to process what sort of upsetting thoughts being blamed for her mother’s death would come to her.

She reached a hand out, to which Ren took and gave a gentle squeeze.

“The second one was of her mother leaping in front of the car, with accompanying voices saying that she killed her,” Morgana continued, looking at Sumire who turned to look at him.

“Voices?”

“Right, there were voices,” Ren said, pulling Sumire in a bit closer.

“After every mural, there were a ton of voices screaming from a distance that Futaba had done it, and the closer we got to the end, the louder those voices became.”

There was a silence in the room, while Sumire tried to take everything in, looking at Ren and Morgana.

“Do, do you think I would’ve ended up like Futaba?” she eventually asked, making the two of them pause.

“You mean having a Palace?” Morgana asked.

She nodded.

“It could’ve happened, but unlike her, you still had family,” Morgana said, looking up at Ren as he waited for him to look down.

When he did glance down, Ren saw the look in the cat’s eyes and took the hint, moving Morgana from his lap and pulled Sumire into his place, giving her a hug as she looked back at him.

“Wakaba was all she had, and being listed as the cause of death on a suicide note? Her extended family heard about it and wouldn’t take her in.”

Tensing up, Sumire flinched when Morgana leapt into her lap, looking down at him as he adjusted himself to look up.

“And the last one showed how much damage it did to be blamed for her death; by having a scene of Futaba being a child and wanting attention, only to be yelled at, with her mother’s back facing her,” the cat finished, watching as Sumire looked down, her eyes hazed over as she thought.

“I, I’m going to talk with mom real quick,” she eventually said, getting out of Ren’s lap and heading out the door.

As the hidden night lights glowed behind the curtain, Ren and Morgana were still awake as Sumire was firmly nestled into Ren’s side, the slow and gentle strokes to her hair, being the guide to her sleep.

“Maybe we should’ve spaced out Futaba’s Palace,” Morgana said as he sat on Ren’s shoulder, watching as Ren stopped, turning to look at him.

“Maybe, but she wants to know more about us,” he said, eying the foot of the bed.

“Stories as such can only convey so much, but to read something when it happened the same day or a bit later.”

“I get it,” Morgana said, making his way down.

“Goodnight.”

“Night.”

Chapter Text

Eyes slowly opening, Sumire awoke to Ren looking down at her, a gentle smile on his face as her eyes started to focus.

“Morning,” he said, leaning in to press their heads together.

“Morning,” Sumire responded, wondering where this affection came from but didn’t question it as their noses rubbed against each other.

They stayed like that for a few moments, Sumire letting Ren press in and give her a few kisses, but they just kept their distance as their foreheads and noses made most of the contact.

“Where’s Morgana?” Sumire eventually asked, backing up a bit as she rose, Ren following a few seconds later.

“By the door,” said ‘cat’ answered, pulling Sumire’s attention to him. “Your mother came in.”

Thinking about what Morgana said, Sumire panicked and looked down at her body before turning to Ren, who seemed rather calm about the whole thing, not freaking out over the fact that Ayako had come in again.

“Did we do something?” Sumire asked as she blushed, suddenly worried that something happened and she didn’t remember it.

“She thinks we did,” Ren said, reaching a hand out and gently stroking her hair in an attempt to keep her calm. “Your little ‘thank you Mom’ speech made her think that you were going to climb the staircase to adulthood, and just to make sure it happened…”

Practically glowing, Sumire turned around to bury her face into a pillow, not wanting to think of the things that her mother would say later.

“Has she left yet?” Sumire asked, looking up at Ren while Morgana made his way over to the bed.

“Nope,” Morgana said, dashing any hope for a calm morning. “Today is Sunday, so she’s taking a day off.”

As he checked the morning paper, Shinichi looked over at his wife as she sat a good 2 meters away from the cat, sitting to cut her off from the table as Ren and Sumire quietly ate their breakfast.

“What did you do this time?” Shinichi asked, a light sigh leaving his lips as he glanced at his watch, wondering if he wanted to listen to the whole story.

“Well, you know how Sumire is when talking with us,” Ayako said, her mischievous grin turning to face her husband. “She rarely talks to us about these things anymore now that she has friends, but she came and talked to me last night.”

“So?” Shinichi asked, confusion in his voice as he looked at her. “She talked to me as well.”

“Well, there are certain things that a girl can only ask their mother about,” Ayako grinned, with Shinichi hearing the very audible sound of a chair sliding against the floor.

“Didn’t you miss an episode of your drama?” Shinichi asked, trying to move the subject away from what he knew he shouldn’t be talking about with the pair in earshot, the sounds of them rushing to the kitchen and out the door giving them a chance to get out.

“Oh, I can always record it to watch it later,” she grinned, as worry filled Shinichi’s gut for his daughter. “Why watch that when I have something so much better at home?”

As they walked towards the station, Ren and Sumire walked side by side as Morgana kept his head poking out towards the front, looking up as the pair’s hands kept reaching for each other, but they couldn’t commit to it.

“I’m starting to understand why she’s able to draw such a reaction out of the two of you,” he said, drawing their attention as they turned, taking a short cut away from the main road. “I just haven’t seen her go far enough to use me as a weapon.”

“You’ve been keeping her at bay,” Ren said, looking down as he gave him a quick scratch. “I’m sure that if she finds a better solution than mask and goggles, we’ll start seeing her in force again.”

“Don’t say that,” Sumire said, looking at him as she grabbed his hand, making him look at her.

“We’ll be fine,” Ren said, a gentle smile as he stopped walking, giving her a quick kiss. “I’m sure we’ll figure something out.”

Letting them enjoy their moment, Morgana briefly ducked his head into the bag when he heard that someone was walking by them.

“Oh, how adorable,” a quiet voice said, walking away from them after a few seconds of observing.

“Thing they’re scouting the path back?” a second voice said, perking Morgana’s interest as he slightly poked his head out to hear better.

“That’s really cute,” the first voice said, fading away as they walked off.

Putting his head even further out, Morgana glanced around and let out a small snicker, pulling Ren and Sumire’s attention.

“Look at where you guys stopped.”

Hiding their faces behind cups of coffee, Ren and Sumire were trying to ignore the laughter coming from the other side of the counter, as the barista was leaning on her knees for support.

“Oh, that’s perfect,” she laughed, her long black hair speckled with orange from a sloppy dye job swinging with her body as she took her glasses off to wipe her eyes.

“Did I make a mistake somewhere?” Sojiro grumbled in the kitchen, wishing that he didn’t have to hear what he just heard as he pulled a cigarette out.

“You did as well as you could,” Morgana said, though it went largely ignored due to the laughter and Sojiro unable to understand him.

“So, you love birds planning on visiting?” the barista asked, grinning as she put her glasses back on.

“Maybe if you pay for it,” Ren said, hoping that it would end the conversation then and there, ignoring the look of betrayal on Sumire’s face.

“Done,” the barista said, turning to look at Sojiro as Sumire’s face turned to horror while Ren looked on in shock.

“How much work is 20 thousand yen?” she asked, a wry grin on her face as Sojiro looked down at the floor, palm resting against his forehead.

“Futaba, I’m not giving you that much so that you can send your friends to a love hotel,” he sighed as he looked at Ren, disappointment in his eyes.

“I thought you knew better.”

“I thought she wouldn’t pay,” Ren said, finishing his cup and looking at Futaba, who took it, waiting for Sumire to finish so that she could wash them.

“Still, I’m surprised that you’re working.”

“And whose fault would that be?” Futaba answered, taking Sumire’s cup as she made her way to the sink.

“I can’t afford to go to a computer café every day, so I needed something to do.”

“Ah, so you’re still trying to spy on us?” Ren asked, a small smile fighting to form on his lips.

“Oh, shove it,” Futaba said, her tongue reflecting in the mirror as she stuck it out, the dishes clinking a bit as looked down at them.

Chapter Text

Watching the pair leave the café, Morgana walked behind the counter, rubbing Futaba’s legs a bit as she looked down.

“You have something to say?” she asked, looking at the cat.

“Nothing really,” Morgana answered, stopping as he looked for a place to jump. “Something about being here makes me calm.”

“Well, my leg is not a scratching post, especially since I’m wearing shorts,” Futaba said, giving Sojiro a quick glance. “Though he’s wearing long pants, so I’m sure he can take it.”

“These pants were around 3 thousand yen.”

“But, compared to band-aids, I guess my leg is fine,” Futaba said, looking down at Morgana as he gave her a concerned look.

“Are you okay?” he asked, moving out of the back and towards the front, jumping up to a seat.

“You’ve been going on about money,” Morgana finished, propping his forelimbs onto the counter to be a bit higher.

“I wouldn’t be, but computer cafes cost money,” Futaba responded, making Morgana shake his head.

“Wow, you really are addicted,” he sighed before feeling his cheeks being pinched.

‘Wha, what are you?’ Morgana tried to ask, but Futaba heard more of a ‘Fa, Fah re ya?’

“I don’t want to hear that from someone who’s mind runs on fatty tuna and Ann,” she responded, letting go of his cheeks after a few seconds.

“It does not,” Morgana whined, rubbing his cheeks, looking at Futaba for a few seconds before the two of them started to laugh, as a chuckle left Sojiro’s lips.

“Some things never change, huh?” he asked, though he was thoroughly ignored as the two of them continued to talk.

“So, how has life been on the other side, Mona?” Futaba asked, leaning on the counter to reach eye level with Morgana.

“Not what I expected,” Morgana said, lowering his face as he adjusted his footing as Futaba raised an eyebrow. “Especially after the things that Ren has said about Sumire’s mom.”

“Oh?” Futaba asked, a predatory grin flashing on her face, disappearing by the time Morgana looked up, but Sojiro caught it, sighing as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“I don’t want to hear any of this stuff,” he said, throwing the cigarette he was smoking out, reaching for a second one as he walked out the door. “I’ll be back in ten minutes, and if you’re not done by then, that's tough.”

“That’s more than enough,” Futaba grinned, as Morgana paused, realizing what he had done.

A sudden shiver ran down Ren’s spine, startling Sumire as she turned to look at him, wondering what would’ve made him flinch.

“Ren?” she asked, making him quickly turn to face her.

“It’s nothing,” he said, a steady grin on his face.

“You sure?”

“Positive.”

Sumire wasn’t sold on it, but she let it go, as she didn’t want anything else to make this day any more awkward before the speakers started to call that they were about to reach their stop.

Getting up, they waited by the doors, getting out of the car and onto the platform, going up the escalators as they thought a bit of what they wanted to do.

“So, anywhere you want to go first?” Ren asked once they got to the top, standing against a wall to get out of the way of foot traffic.

“Ah, I haven’t really thought about it,” Sumire said as she joined him against the wall, looking towards her feet as she blushed. “All sorts of things happened this morning, and I’m not sure of what to do.”

Nodding along, Ren looked into the crowd, a small smile on his face as a certain painter came to mind.

“Ren?” Sumire asked, making him realize where he was.

“Sorry,” he chuckled, a smile growing a bit as he turned to Sumire. “Just remembering how Yusuke was when we met down here,”

“If you’re unsure of where to go, how about Inokashira park? It’s been a while since we’ve gone.”

“Sure,” Sumire said, leaving the wall as they made their way to the ticket gate, passes at the ready as they walked out.

Stretching her arms as she sat down, Sumire took the bottle of water from Ren and took a sip, giving it back to Ren who had a small smile on his face, looking back at her as he put the water in his bag.

“What?” she asked, adjusting her glasses as she leveled them out, having them slide a bit as she stretched.

“Nothing,” Ren responded, though his grin said otherwise.

“You don’t smile this much when it’s nothing,” Sumire said, leaning in to get closer to his face. “I haven’t been going out with you for this long and not learn by now.”

With a look on his face that screamed how proud he was, Ren just chuckled and leaned in, glasses frames meeting in the middle.

“Maybe thinking about how you can drink from the same bottle and not get flustered anymore,” he said, to which Sumire giggled.

“Oh,” she responded, leaning back with a smile of her own. “Maybe you’re the one who’s embarrassed more if you’re the one bringing it up.”

With a laugh, Ren just gave her a quick peck on the cheek and leaned back, a grin on his face as he reached an arm around her.

“Maybe I just remembered how cute you were the last time we were here and how flustered you got,” Ren said, leaning in as they let the sound of others pass by.

Chapter Text

As they sat there in silence leaning against each other as they sat on the bench, enjoying each other’s company, Ren was suddenly feeling glad that they were in a somewhat secluded part of the park.

While it was true that he was the one who loved to tease Sumire about all the small things that would make her blush, it was a weekend, and weekends meant that a certain someone would be prowling Tokyo, and seeing the two of them like this it was practically begging for him to show up. While he didn’t have anything against him, he was someone who managed to confuse Ren, no matter how much time they spent together. And that was one thing he didn’t like; being unable to follow along with what others were doing or saying and the risk of making a fool of himself as a result. And the time apart certainly didn’t help with it since he had changed.

At least if he did show up, other people wouldn’t notice too much, and his energetic shouts might keep them away anyway.

Chuckling as he thought about it, Ren noticed that Sumire was looking at him and that she had the same worried look on her face.

“Sorry,” he answered, shaking his head leaned into Sumire a bit more. “Yusuke keeps coming to mind for some reason, and I’m somewhat uneasy about the chaos he can sow.”

“Ah,” Sumire nodded, pushing back against Ren as she thought a bit of where they were.

They sat there for a few minutes more before she turned to look at him.

“Want to go somewhere else?”

Ren watched as Sumire stood by his side with a gentle grin, the blue light reflecting off her glasses as she looked, a smile visible on her face when she looked at him.

“Still love watching this?” he asked, knowing the answer that was going to follow.

“Mhm,” she nodded, looking back at him as she started to walk away, making her way over to the larger tank behind them.

“But it’s nothing compared to the memories we have from down there,” she grinned, as Ren chuckled, lining up with her as they looked down at the 500-ton tank, trying to see if they could spot the people below through all the fish.

Smiling as he looked down with her, Ren suddenly felt something going between him and Sumire.

“Caroline,” Ren started, an automatic response before even looking down, pausing at the thought why the name came to him so naturally, when there was a girl with brown hair wedged between him and Sumire, looking at the fishes inside.

 “What?” Sumire asked, looking at Ren with a questioning look, as the girl seemed to realize where she was.

“Tora,” a different voice called out, making Ren slightly freeze while Sumire turned to look at the voice, the girl between them noticing that she was caught.

“Ah, Ren. Sumire. Hello,” the voice said, making Ren chuckle as he turned around, the one person he wanted to avoid that day making his presence known.

“Hello, Yusuke-senpai.”

As they sat, waiting for the dolphin show to start, Ren watched as the girl sitting next to Yusuke watched the goings-on on the stage, seeing hoops and balls coming into her line of sight and excitedly thinking about what could happen with them, while he got his sketchbook out and ready.

“So, what brings you here?” Ren asked once it seemed that Yusuke was all set, looking at his watch to see how much time was left.

“Well, Kawanabe asked me to look after his granddaughter today and said go to Maxwell Aqua Park,” he started, looking to see if said girl was still by in her seat, which she was. “And unfortunately, someone has rented out the entire thing for a wedding.”

“Whew,” Ren whistled as the lights started to dim, with Tora letting her excitement be known.

“So we came here instead. Though it’s a shame; I would’ve loved to sketch something in the jellyfish section, especially if you two were there as models for me.”

“Is that so,” Sumire answered as the show started, staying quiet as Tora’s screams were joined by other kids, with a shared look of ‘lets talk later’ crossing everyone’s eyes, with Yusuke taking the chance to take his sketchbook out and started to draw.

About five minutes into the show, Ren looked around and noticed that no one was really paying attention to them, as all eyes were focused on the dolphin show, making him prompt a mischievous grin.

Leaning into her, Ren got close to Sumire’s ear and gently whispered, ‘Sumi,’ startling her as she looked at him.

“Ren?”

“No one’s watching,” he started, getting closer to her face. “Want a kiss?”

It took a moment, but Sumire started to blush, burying her face in her hands.

“Wh-why now?” she asked, looking around to see if anyone was actually watching, hoping that it could get her out of it.

“Practice run,” Ren said, grinning as he got a bit closer still. “The future may only give us chances to do it in scenarios like this, may as well get used to it.”

“Wha-what sort of scenario would that be?” Sumire asked, trying to get him to stop.

“The stands, the locker room before you go out,” Ren said, his grin still there. “You’re the one who’s dictating where we go.”

Trying to think of a retort, Sumire looked around again, trying to find anyone who would look like they were watching them, but when she couldn’t.

“M-maybe later,” she answered, looking away as she held her blush.

“I’ll hold you to that,” Ren grinned, taking a hand and grabbing one of Sumire’s.

Half an hour had passed once the show was over, and Yusuke was walking out with a rather satisfied look.

“Ah, the beauty of creatures designed to live in the water,” he started, thinking off the things that he wanted to say.

“Stop,” Tora interrupted him, making Ren and Sumire look at her.

“You talk too long after things like that. It’s annoying,” she said, as Ren snorted, trying to stop himself from laughing.

“I want to go to the tunnel,” Tora continued, dragging Yusuke away as he looked back, smiling somewhat reluctantly as his goodbye, before turning back to Tora and following her to the stairs that lead to the tunnel.

“Wow,” Ren said, a small smile on his face as he looked at Yusuke disappear into the crowd.

“That really reminds me of my outings with the twins,” he said, as Sumire looked at him, as if she wanted to hear a bit more.

Chapter Text

“Which story do you want me to start with?” Ren asked as they made their way down the stairs, the tunnel coming into sight.

“How would I know to answer that,” Sumire chuckled, walking into the tunnel with Ren shortly behind her.

“True,” he said, reaching a hand out. “It’s getting a bit more crowded.”

Taking the hand, Sumire smiled as a ray swam overhead, both of them pausing to glance up at the sudden shadow passing.

“They might come up again in the entries, but I’ll list off all the things that they made me do,” Ren said once they started to walk again.

“We did the burgers, but there was also a confessional, here at the aquarium, a gym, maid café…”

“Maid café?” Sumire asked, pulling her attention.

“Yep,” Ren nodded, looking ahead as more fish swam over. “I don’t know where they heard it from, but they seemed like they wanted to go, so I had to find one first where they could go.”

“Did you really have to find one?” Sumire asked, making Ren laugh as he gave her a peck on the cheek.

“Do you think I would go to a maid café on my own back then?” Ren asked, giving a quick bow to the people who turned to face him from his laugh. “It was perhaps one of the strangest experiences I had, trying to think if the place I went to at that hour would be fine for them.”

“Not to mention how awkward I felt in there,” Ren said as they turned the corner, noticing that there was a familiar head ahead of them.

“Isn’t that Yusuke?” he asked, making Sumire follow his line of sight.

“It is,” Sumire said, noticing the somewhat troubled look on his face when he heard his name being called.

“Oh, hello again,” Yusuke said, as Tora came into view as they got closer, her eyes suddenly sparkling.

“What’s got you stuck here?” Ren asked, to which Yusuke just shook his head.

“About that,” he said, looking down at Tora, her excitement even more visible. “After we entered the tunnel, she asked me who you guys were, and when I said that you were my friends and on a date.”

With an apologetic look on his face, Yusuke looked at them before falling to the floor in a dogeza.

“Let us follow you through the aquarium so that she can observe a ‘grown-up' date!”

“Ah, get up,” Ren said, pulling Yusuke up from the floor as people looked to see what the commotion was.

“Did you have to do that?” Sumire asked as people eventually looked away; the embarrassed looks on her face letting the crowd know that they were just as unaware that Yusuke was going to do that.

“Yes,” Yusuke said as he looked at Tora, her grin saying everything that it needed to. “She refused to let me say no for an answer, and I can’t say much to Kawanabe being the kind of grandfather that he is.”

“I get it,” Ren said, taking Sumire’s hand again while she blushed, the thought of being observed making her a bit nervous.

“Why does she want to see it though?”

Before Yusuke could even answer, Tora walked forward and, with all the confidence that she could, said, “Mama says that she’s never seen a couple like she does in her dramas, so I’m gonna find one.”

Letting the declaration sit for a while, Ren and Sumire looked at each other, messing with the tips of their hair.

“Should we?” Ren asked, letting the question sit even longer while Tora’s gaze focused hard on Sumire, knowing who she had to appease.

“Can you stay three meters back?” Sumire asked, to which Tora smiled, falling in line with Yusuke.

“You owe us,” Ren said, to which Yusuke nodded as Tora’s grinned widened. “I’ll let Kawanabe know.”

“Stories will have to come later,” Ren said as he looked at Sumire, pressing their foreheads together as Tora giggled.

As they walked out of the tunnel and towards the jellyfish exhibit, Ren and Sumire kept one eye out behind them as Yusuke did his best and tried to keep Tora from getting to close and interrupt them, for which they were certainly grateful.

“Think there’s anything we could do to satisfy her faster?” Ren asked as they turned a corner, looking back again as Sumire thought about what they could do.

“Is there?” she asked back, tilting her head as it touched his shoulders.

As they pondered for a moment, Sumire felt Ren grip her hand. Wondering what it could be, she turned to look at him.

But he wasn’t facing her.

“Ren?” Sumire asked when he wasn’t looking at her,  

“Hm?”

“You just squeezed my hand. Did something happen?”

“Oh,” he said, looking back for a second.

“Sorry,” he said, looking back at Sumire. “I guess I’m a bit more nervous than I expected.”

Looking at him, Sumire just stood there for a moment before she just giggled, making Ren blush as he looked down.

“You can ask if we want to make out when no one’s watching, but this is too much?”

Looking away from where Yusuke and Tora were watching, Ren tried to hide his blush again, to which Sumire got on her toes and gave him a quick peck.

“Let’s wrap this date up and go home.”

As they walked out of the exit, Ren put his phone back into his pocket as he sent Yusuke an apology, figuring that he was going to have a busy rest of the day dealing with Tora.

“Hey, Sumi,” Ren asked, leaning in as they got away from the rest of the crowd.

“Hm?”

“Want to hear the rest of the story regarding my outings with the twins?”

“First thing out, and that’s what you have to say?” Sumire asked, smiling as she reached for his hand.

“Anything to get my mind off of being watch by someone who isn’t Futaba,” Ren answered, taking her hand as he left her to wonder exactly how much Futaba knew.

Chapter Text

As they sat on a bench in the park that was next to the aquarium, Ren pulled out a bottle of water and gave it to Sumire, who eagerly took a drink after how much she was laughing.

“So after I asked the hostess to back off, they asked me what was in the pancakes, and I told them that there was poison.”

“Poison?”

“Yep. I think it was Caroline who said that it was the slave’s way of showing their rebel spirit.”

As she continued to laugh, Ren took the bottle and took a sip, smiling as he waited for Sumire to calm down.

“There’s more to that story, but talking about this made me remember my favorite outing I had with them,” Ren said once he finished his sip, looking at Sumire as she finally stopped laughing.

“You have a favorite one?” she asked, looking like she didn’t believe it.

“Of course,” Ren smiled. "Enough time let me stop thinking about how badly things could go for me and how funny they were in hindsight," he continued, leaning as if he was going to tell her his life story.

“Do you ever hear me ask Sojiro for ‘pickled gods’ whenever he forgets ‘fukujinzuke’ for my curry?”

“What?” Sumire asked, looking at Ren like he was crazy.

“You haven’t?” Ren asked, grinning as he reveled in the chance to tell such a story.

“So, how do I want to describe this…

It happened when I went into hiding.

But being who they are, they didn’t give me a chance to take it easy, and they requested that I take them to Leblanc to meet Sojiro.

I was somewhat hesitant at first, I’d been with them enough times to know that this was just trouble, but there wasn’t much more I could do about it now that I had gone out to meet them.

When they walked in, they started to talk about their gratitude to him for helping out with my rehabilitation. The confused look on his face when he asked me why they were with me was priceless.

Being the kind of guy he is, Sojiro offered them some curry, and the first thing out of their mouths was comparing the visual look to sludge.

At least Justine said the smell was good.

“Did they really compare it sludge?” Sumire asked, the shock rather evident as she looked at him.

“Mhm,” Ren nodded, his smile still present.

He asked them if they had never had curry to make sure, and when they asked what fukujinzuke was, that was where it started to get really good.

Instead of saying that it’s just pickled vegetables, he went into the origin of the name.

Of course, they looked at him in disbelief.

Ren paused as he put a hand up to his lips, unable to hide his mirth at recalling the story as he bent over, laughing at the image he had inside of his own head.

“Wait, give me a second,” Ren said as the laugh escaped his lips, making Sumire somewhat concerned.

They thought that Sojiro killed gods and used them as an ‘optional’ flavoring for the curry, and that was how he was able to keep me in check.

Now that he had gotten his punchline out, Ren freely laughed, bending over as tears streamed down his cheeks, leaving Sumire to look at him in wonder as she started to put together the image he had on his own.

I was trying my best not to laugh in front of them because I didn't want things to go sideways in the Velvet Room, but man, the confused look on Sojiro's face.

Never mind the fact that he was keeping me in check, not because he had the power to kill me in the Metaverse, but if he talked to the police about me being a Phantom Thief, I would most certainly be dead for real.

“Don’t,” Sumire said, grabbing his hand and making Ren laugh slow as he looked at her.

“What?” he asked, wiping a few tears away.

“Don’t talk about dying so casually.”

Pausing at the plea, Ren did his best to stop the remaining chuckles he had inside him, looking at Sumire.

“I, I may not have been myself when it happened,” she started after hesitating a bit, collecting herself as she looked down, tears starting to form under the cover of her glasses’ rims.

“Nor was I aware that you had a plan and that it was your only real option to escape, but the feelings I had suppressed and the real me were really, really terrified that you, you…” Unable to finish her thought, Sumire sat there in silence as the tears started to roll, while Ren reached out to hug her, pulling her in as she tried to finish her sentence.

“I was really terrified that you were gone,” she finished into his shoulder, her glasses pushed up on her nose as she got even closer.

“Sumi,” Ren said after a few seconds, gently rubbing the back of her head as he glared at some passersby before making them really run when he took his glasses off.

“I’m sorry. I won’t bring it up again.”

“Promise me?”

“Yeah, promise.”

As Ren stood on the train, keeping his back to the rest of the car while Sumire leaned against him, her eyes closed as she listened to his heartbeat, he thought about how he never really talked about his 'death' with Sumire. He hadn’t really thought about it too much, especially since it had never come up in conversation, but he realized that he never really heard how Sumire dealt with his supposed death.

It was an easy thing for the rest of the Thieves to bring up in conversation; a ‘hey, remember that one time we tried something stupid, and it worked’ type story more than anything, but for Sumire. Even if she found him still alive later, the fear that she had and the relief that would’ve followed it, she really was hurt by the idea that he had died.

‘Is that, why…’ Ren started to think, though it was quickly interrupted with a bump, making him adjust his footing as to not slam into Sumire.

‘Sorry that I didn’t think about that,’ Ren whispered to himself, leaning his head against hers as the speakers announced that they were about to stop at their station.

Chapter Text

As they walked out of Leblanc with Morgana back in tow, it wasn’t hard for the cat to know that something was wrong.

But after the four-hour grilling session that he got from Futaba, he really didn’t want to risk anything that would further upset Sumire, so he let it slide, staying silent the entire ride back to the apartment.

“Oh, sweet freedom,” Morgana declared after getting out of the bag, getting a good stretch and a quick run around the room before hopping onto the couch, curling up as he prepared for a nap.

“Was it that bad?” Ren asked in a condescending tone, looking down at the cat.

“Yeah,” Morgana answered, looking at Ren. “I understand why you want me here to deal with her mom. Just remember that Futaba is another entity you have to be careful of.”

“Eh, I’ve been with Futaba long enough to know how to deal with her antics,” Ren shrugged as he straightened out. “Future mother-in-law is something completely different.”

Blushing as she heard how matter of fact he said it, Sumire hurried over to her room first.

It was a declaration that she was not ready to hear from him. Her mother may have said it a few times but from him?

Sitting on her bed and trying to calm her blush and think about what they were going to do, Ren walked in, the door closing being her que that he walked in.

Sitting down next to her, Sumire felt Ren lean in, resting his head against hers.

“Did you not want to hear that?” he asked after a minute of silence, backing up so that he could look at her.

“No, no, that wasn’t it,” Sumire said, avoiding eye contact while Ren got in closer.

“What? What could it possibly be?” he asked, getting a bit closer.

Ren just laughed, backing up again while he looked at her as she kept avoiding eye contact.

“I know, I know, I’ll stop.”

Pouting as she looked at him, Sumire looked away and turned her back to him.

“Want me to finish the story?’

“No.”

“A new one?”

“Sure.”

Getting up to pick up her laptop, Sumire walked over to her desk and put it on his lap.

“Alright,” Ren said, opening it up  

• July 29^th, 20XX

Today was an absolute mess.

I don’t remember too much what happened, but I almost died.

Taking a quick glance up, Ren apologized to Sumire with his eyes and looked back down.

That and Futaba has a Persona and is currently knocked out.

When I went to go check on her, she was just lying there in front of the house. She was knocked out, and I didn’t know what to do.

I brought her in and got my supplier for healing items to take a look at her, and she said that Futaba probably needed a break.

I don’t know how often Sojiro checks on her, so I told him, and he just said not to worry about it.

I hope that she wakes up soon, I really want to see the mop get wiped against the floor online.

“You really didn’t like him back then, did you,” Sumire said as Ren paused, giving her a shrug.

“What do you want me to say?” he answered, looking at her. “Even after the fact that I spent some time with him, he was still trying to end us. Didn’t help that he tried to kill me and planned to kill everyone else as well,” Ren continued as he turned back to the screen, looking to see where he was.

A flashed a grin once he found it, unable to contain his teasing tone.

• July 31^st, 20XX

There’s something about Kasumi that draws me to her. I’m not sure what it is, exactly, but it’s there.

But I might need to be a bit more careful.

Despite it being summer break, she managed to get permission to use the gym for practice and wanted me to come by.

Seeing nothing wrong with that, I did come, especially since the offer of free food was nice and that a girl was making something specifically for me.

But man, was it rough.

“Do you remember what that was?” Ren asked as he turned to face her, giving Sumire a smile that only meant trouble.

“No,” Sumire whined, covering her face with her hands as she blushed. “Don’t remind me.”

She said that because she didn’t know what sort of flavor I liked, she just seasoned everything one way, and since it was a flavor everyone likes, that there shouldn’t be a problem.

And it was curry.

It’s not bad enough that it’s all I have for breakfast every day and that a cute girl made a lunch for me for the first time.

That wasn’t it, why I was disappointed, no, not at all.

Taking a peek once he read that, Ren smiled as he saw Sumire curled into a ball, back facing him, her rocking back and forth as she mumbled things like, ‘it was a mistake’ and ‘I would never do that now.’

I was getting flashbacks from the park clean up, and if my stomach struggled with one bowl of soup, how was I going to fair with something that made my stomach feel uneasy.

At least she got to enjoy everything she made, though it seemed like she regretted how she handled my meal, saying that she was going to go buy something for me.

I told her to not worry about it and that there was always a next time.

At least that part got her to smile.

Looking back one last time, Ren saw that Sumire had stopped rocking, but her back was still facing him, not letting him see her blushing face.

Getting up and moving to the other side, Ren looked down at her as she rolled away.

“Sumire,” he said softly, reaching an arm out and rolling her back, though she still wasn’t looking at him.

“Your glasses are going to hurt if you keep doing that,” he said, reaching for her face and pulling her hands back, leaning in as he kept his hand near and put on her cheek.

Looking at him, Sumire couldn’t hide the blush anymore, but she started to calm down a bit as he looked at her.

They maybe stayed that way for about five minutes before the kissing started.

Chapter Text

As the two of them broke the kiss, the last thing that they expected to hear was Morgana suddenly screaming.

Pausing at the sound, the two looked at each other when it came again.

Looking at the door, Ren got up as he reached for his shirt, passing Sumire hers as she slowly rose from the bed, as the sound of Morgana running around sounding rather distant, with the sound of someone giggling making Ren’s heart drop.

It didn’t take long before the sound of Morgana pawing at the door was heard.

“Please! Let me in!” he screamed, making Ren open the door a bit.

The door barely had to be opened for Morgana to come shooting in, flying under Sumire’s bed as she stepped off it, looking down as Ren quickly shut the door behind him, leaning against it to further reinforce it against a fear that was rapidly rising in his heart.

“Morgana?” Sumire asked, her glasses sliding down her nose as her head looked under her bed.

“Of all things,” Morgana said, shivering as his eyes focused on the wall, not even turning around to look at them.

“Morgana?” Sumire asked again, laying on her stomach as to not have to bend over.

“There was no mask,” the cat mewed, terrified more than anything as a knock came from the door.

“Sumire, Ren-kun,” a voice called, making Ren’s heart drop and Sumire pause, while Morgana seemed even more terrified than before. “Where could that cute little kitty have gone?”

Silence reigned over the room, with Ren’s breathing even coming to a stop.

“Well, if he isn’t there,” the voice said, seemingly snickering as it slowly walked away. “He’ll have to come out from somewhere eventually.”

As the footsteps faded away, Ren started to breathe again while Morgana turned his head to look at Sumire, asking with his eyes if it was clear.

She answered by sticking a hand out and reaching for him, to which Morgana scurried out and leaped into Ren’s duffel bag in the corner, his ears the only thing poking out as he settled in.

“What happened?” Ren asked as he got up from the floor, walking over to his bag.

There was no reply as Morgana buried himself deeper into the bag, with only the very tips of his ears poking out.

Silence reigned for a few moments before the life drained from Ren’s eyes, as he suddenly realizing what ‘no mask’ meant.

Unsure of what made the two of them freeze, Sumire decided to open the door and look.

Looking down the hall, Ayako was sitting on the couch in the living room, looking down at her phone. When she heard the door opening, she looked up, her usual grin on her face.

“Oya,” she said, putting her phone down and looking at Sumire. “Nice collection of markings you got there.”

Standing there in silence, Sumire started to blush fiercely as she looked down. The shirt did nothing to hide all the hickeys on her collarbone, turning to her mother, whose grin grew even wider.

“Also, Mona is the cat’s name, right?” Ayako continued, giving Sumire the same feeling of dread Ren had a moment ago. “Futaba-chan said that there’s a certain spot to scratch if I want to keep him still, but he didn’t stay.”

“Perhaps it needs a certain kind of touch,” she said with a leering grin.

It didn’t take long for Sumire to go right back into her room as Ayako continued to giggle, looking back at her phone as she sent a quick text.

Dinner was even quieter than before, as Ayako kept looking at Sumire, hiding her marks while Ren kept avoiding eye contact with both her and Shinichi, making the man sigh as he looked at his wife.

“What did you do this time?” he asked once Ren and Sumire had left and put their dishes away, giving them the courtesy of being out of the conversation.

“Oh, nothing really,” Ayako said, smiling as she got out of her seat.

“Just took some medication.”

As he closed the door behind him, Ren looked at his bag as Morgana poked his head out, looking to see if the coast was clear. Getting an old hand signal from their thieving days, the cat slowly got out and looked around before making his way to Sumire’s lap as she sat on her bed.

“You’re sitting with her?” Ren asked, betrayal in his voice as he sat down next to her, laying on his back after he got his piece at Morgana.

“You’re the more likely target," he said, yawning while he got in a short stretch. "I’m going stay where it’s safe,” Morgana answered, curling up as Sumire looked down at the cat.

There was a brief silence in the room as Ren thought about what Morgana said, while Sumire just looked between the two of them.

“What are we going to do,” he eventually said, taking the conversation elsewhere. “She clearly no longer fears your ability to trigger her allergies.”

“Does that mean you’ll send me back to Futaba?” Morgana asked, giving a brief yawn afterward.

“No, I spent money on you already. I’ll make it worth it.”

“Cat food is not spending money on me,” Morgana said firmly, poking between Sumire’s arm as she giggled, glaring at Ren. “That spending money to convince her parents that I’m a normal cat.”

Barely raising his head, Ren looked at Morgana, and the two of them stared each other down, neither one wanting to give ground.

“We think about this later,” Morgana finally said, breaking the deadlock.

“We think about this later,” Ren agreed, getting up and leaning against Sumire.

Chapter Text

Breakfast was a different kind of quiet than what Sumire normally experienced as she watched Ren and Morgana sit across from each other as they sat deep in thought, no words being exchanged as they glanced at each other now and again.

It was a bit unnerving as she watched Ren eat with a serious face, something she hadn’t seen in quite a while.

Maybe the last time was when they talked about if they wanted to tell her parents that he was a Phantom Thief and that she had been involved with them in some capacity. That was about a year ago, when the two of them were given Leblanc to themselves for the night, and the topic came up during dinner.

As she got up to put her dishes away, Ren put his face in his hands as he groaned while Morgana sighed, seemingly having an epiphany between the two of them.

“Are you okay?” Sumire asked, sitting back down as she put her plates on the table.

“Yeah,” Ren said, looking at Morgana as the two of them shared a glance. “It’s just that I can only think of one solution for us to get out of this.”

“Which is?” Sumire asked, rather intrigued with what they came up with.

“Run away to Leblanc.”

There was a brief silence as Sumire looked at the two of them, first to Morgana, who gave her the response, then at Ren, who put his head back in his hands.

“What?”

“Run to Leblanc,” Morgana repeated, as Ren muttered, “I can kill a god of control and take down its usurper, but to be forced to this…”

“Boss will likely accept us,” Morgana continued as he walked towards Sumire on the table. “It’ll be a second eye on Futaba and all, but I don’t know about an extra person.”

“Can you really think of nothing?” Sumire asked, a sudden sadness in her voice as she thought of Ren moving out, unable to deal with her mother and giving her all the extra ammunition to tease and harass them.

“No,” Ren said, head still facing down. “And it’s not like it’ll be that much better if I go to Leblanc; Futaba is there, and she’s in cahoots with your mother, so there’s no guarantee that you’ll be free of it.”

As the silence carried on, Sumire briefly looked up, about to say something before looking back down, debating if she was going to finish the thought.

“I, I,” she started, pulling Ren and Morgana’s attention to her. “I’ll run with you.”

Looking at her with the sudden declaration, Sumire blushed before looking back down, fidgeting with her hands as carried on.

“I, um, if you remember,” she said, blushing as she looked from side to side. “You told me before we went to Maruki’s Palace that I have to be the one to choose my own path. And well,” Sumire held onto the final part of her thought, while Ren gave her a Joker smile.

“Wow, color me impressed,” Futaba said as the pair sat at the counter, their bags still over their shoulder as Morgana sat on the counter, stretching out while Sojiro chuckled in the corner, shaking his head while saying ‘young love,’ under his breath.

“So you’re really doing this,” Futaba said as she looked at Sumire, who slowly nodded as she took a cup of coffee, taking a sip while Ren was seemingly going over some thoughts in his head, his phone out as he jotted down a few things.

“I never thought I would do this, but I feel so excited,” Sumire said once she put her cup down, trying to hide her blush by clearing her glasses of steam from the coffee.

“You at least told her dad, right?” Futaba said, a grin on her face as she turned to look at Ren, though he was still busy thinking to look at her.

“I did,” Sumire said, rather cautiously finishing as she looked at Futaba, who pulled her phone out, sending Ren a quick text.

 Sumire looked between them as Ren suddenly paused, looking at Futaba with an irritated look on his face.

“Really?” he asked, irritation in his voice while Futaba showed Ren something on her screen.

"Really," Futaba said, grinning as she started to move her finger towards a spot on her screen.

With a quick grumble, Ren pulled for his wallet, making Futaba put her phone away, and he passed her a few notes.

“Alright,” Futaba said, pumping her fists as Sojiro put a hand to his head, looking disappointed as Futaba took her apron off and passed it to Ren.

“I’m going to a computer café!”

“What was that about?” Morgana asked when the door shut as Ren sighed, putting his hands on his heads.

“She said she was going to text Ayako that we were here,” Ren said, glancing at Sojiro, who seemed rather confused as to who she was. “Her mother,” Ren clarified as he looked at Sumire, “who made us run in the first place. Who knows what would happen if she showed up here.”

“I’d get one more customer,” Sojiro said, making Morgana laugh, though it was quickly shut off by Ren and Sumire glaring at him.

“Come on,” Morgana said, hopping off the counter and onto the floor, making his way to the stairs. “Boss really looks like he needs the money with Futaba. And hey, maybe if you’re lucky, she and Futaba will keep each other busy with frequent visits.”

Sitting on his bed as he went through his bag, Ren paused as he looked at Sumire’s, resting on the couch as she had already left for practice.

“How long do you think this will last?” Morgana asked, hopping onto the bed.

“For the rest of our stay, I hope,” Ren answered as he looked back to his bag. “We only have five more nights before we go back, and I really don’t want any disruptions.”

“I know, I know,” Morgana grinned, rubbing against Ren with a teasing grin on his face.

“I’ll be downstairs, so just be dressed first if you do come down.”

Ren shook his head with a smirk and put his bag on the floor, reaching and pulling Morgana up.

“Hey, what are you?”

“You can come down once you help me look for all the bugs up there.”

As he lowered his hands and stepped off the bed, Ren smirked as Morgana gave him a hiss while looking down at him, but did his part and walked along the rafters looking to see if he could find anything while Ren got on all fours and crawled along the ground, looking under the furniture.

"Why does Futaba have to be the fire that heated the pan we jumped from?"

Chapter Text

Ren sighed and looked up at the rafters while he lay on his bed, while Morgana was curled up next to him, fast asleep.

They spent maybe four hours going through the entire attic, with Sojiro even coming up to check on them to see what in the world they were doing from all the noise they were making.

But it did turn something up.

Morgana managed to find a single mic in the rafters over the stairs.

That happened about five minutes after he was put up there, making his way around and finding it. Aside from wondering how Futaba managed to get it up there, it made Ren redouble his efforts in searching for anything that Futaba may have left now that they had actually found something.

And it was the only one that they found.

That led to where he was now, laying on the bed for two hours and thinking about how if there was even a point in trying to find everything that Futaba could’ve placed.

He stayed that way until the sound of the door opening could be heard downstairs, followed by a familiar ‘Pardon me,’ making him tiredly smile and get up, halfway to the stairs before a familiar crop of red hair poked out from the handrail.

“Welcome,” Ren said, reaching for a hug, which Sumire reciprocated.

“It feels strange to hear you say that when you don’t live here,” she admitted, chuckling a bit as they pulled out of the hug, making their way to the couch.

“Is it now?” Ren asked, a grin on his face as he pulled Sumire into his lap. “I feel like it’s just going to happen more down the road.”

“Such as,” Sumire asked, settling in. “Oh, I don’t know,” Ren continued, giving her a small kiss. “We’re on the road, and I get sent back to the hotel first.”

“After you come back, you just fall asleep in my arms before I can close the door behind you,” he finished, getting a laugh out of her as she leaned in, relaxing now that she was in a comfortable position. “Oh, is that so?”

“Yep,” Ren said. “Have to be ready to welcome you back whenever.”

Sumire smiled and laughed, nuzzling his cheek and rubbed his nose.

“But still, you normally don’t ask for a hug. What happened?”

“I found a mic and spent four hours searching afterward only to find nothing,” he said, sighing as he wrapped his arms around her.

“A mic?”

“Yep.” Ren sighed, shaking his head. “I think Futaba did it just to mess with me.”

“Would she really?” Sumire asked as Morgana started to stir, stretching as he gave a yawn.

“I took her internet and computer access away for the summer; anything is fair game.”

With a nod of understanding, Sumire faced forward again while Morgana walked up to them.

“Well, good to see you two in fine spirits,” the cat said, stretching again as he sat at their feet.

“I’ll leave you two be, give you two the chance to be alone that you wanted.”

And Morgana went down the stairs, sitting at the bottom and out of their sight as they heard a customer notice him.

“We should get ready for the night first,” Ren said, letting Sumire off his lap as she made her way to her bag. “We can pick it up from there.”

Pouting as she turned to face him, Sumire grabbed her bag and put it next to the bed, opening it as she started to unpack.

“Let me help,” Ren said, joining her on the floor. Sumire nodded after a few seconds and scooted over to make room for him.

Smiling, Ren took what Sumire passed to him, placing them onto the bed as he sorted them out.

They went on like that for a few minutes before Ren felt something small and soft put into his hand. Taking a look, Ren felt a brief flush before fighting it down with a grin. Tapping Sumire on her shoulder, he asked, “Did you mean to pass this to me?” before showing it to her.

Looking at what Ren held in his hands, Sumire froze for a moment before snatching it away, blushing fiercely as she averted her eyes.

“Strawberries, huh?”

“Stop…” she whined, shoving it back into her bag and turning her back to Ren. “I’ll do this on my own.”

“Fine, fine,” Ren laughed as Sumire continued to pout, looking over her shoulder at him. “Anything you want me to do?”

Looking back into her bag, Sumire rummaged around a bit before pulling her laptop out.

“That should keep you busy,” she huffed, opening it and passing it to Ren.

“Fine by me,” he said, taking it as he looked for where they had stopped.

• August 5^th, 20XX

I’m getting somewhat worried now.

Futaba has been out for nearly 8 days now, and nothing has happened. I asked Sojiro about it, but he doesn’t seem worried at all. I guess that’s my only real comfort at the moment.

Looking to see if Sumire would respond, Ren looked back down once he saw her continue to unpack, thinking that his pause was signifying the end of the entry.

• August 7^th, 20XX

After all the stress I’ve been feeling with Futaba, today was a nice change of pace.

Kasumi and I went shopping together, and we bought a new pair of frames for her father. I was a model model, trying on all sorts of frames as Kasumi thought about how they looked on me.

At the mention of Kasumi, Ren paused to look at Sumire again when he noticed that she had stopped unpacking.

“Sumire?” he asked, making her jump.

“Huh. Oh, what?” she asked, looking back at him.

“You stopped unpacking, so I wondered if you were fine.”

“Oh. No, no, I’m fine,” she said, turning back to her bag. “I just finished unpacking, that’s all.”

“Okay,” Ren said, looking back down.

“I’m going to continue then.”

Seeing someone who’s uninvolved with my current situation and can happily ask me to assist her is somewhat relieving.

Though today came with her usual talk about her struggle with gymnastics, I think that she’s doing fine. After telling me her story about her sister, she’s seemingly more determined than before, but she sounds like she’s still struggling to direct that determination.

After we picked a pair and walked out of the store, Kasumi told me about something her coach told her.

She said that she was told to find out who she really was and that she needed to find a new depth of herself.

But on the bright side, she seemed rather relaxed after some encouragement.

What sounds even better is that she seems extra motivated, not just for her own standards, but to meet my expectations as well.

Let’s see you reach them.

Chapter Text

Looking up from the screen, Ren noticed that Sumire was still sitting on the floor, sitting next to her bag as her back continued to face him.

“Sumire?”

“Ah, yes, what?” she asked, looking at him as she realized where she was.

“Are you okay?” Ren asked, getting up and walking up to her. “You’ve been awfully quiet since Kasumi came up.”

Averting her eyes, she looked down at her hands as she fiddled around with the zipper on the bag. “I, ah, I’m fine,” she started, turning around to look at Ren as he sat down next to her. “Just not used to thinking about her outside of a negative light.”

“Do you want to talk about her?” Ren asked as he leaned over her, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“No, I’m fine,” Sumire said, shaking her head as some of her hair swooshed against Ren’s face, pulling his glasses off as they got a bit tangled up.

“You sure?” he asked, leaning back as running a finger through Sumire’s hair, seeing where the knot was that caught his frames.

“Yeah,” Sumire said with a small nod, staying still afterward as she felt Ren run his hands through her hair.

“If you say so,” Ren sighed, pulling his glasses out of her hair and putting them back on before resting on her again.

“Want to join me on the couch?” he asked after a few minutes of quiet.

Sumire gave a weak nod, slowly getting up when she felt a hand reach for her hip.

“Since you feel down,” Ren whispered into her ear before Sumire let out a yelp as she felt her feet come off the ground.

Looking down, Sumire saw that Ren was carrying her bridal style, doing a quick spin as he held her, making Sumire hold on a bit tighter and get closer to his body.

Ren laughed, stopping after two spins and sitting back down on the couch.

“So, shall I continue?” he asked, letting Sumire collect herself after a sudden an unexpected ride.

“S-sure,” she nodded, her breath slowly calming down as she lay on his lap.

“Alright.”

• August 17^th, 20XX

I’m starting to get really worried now.

Futaba’s been knocked out for nearly 20 days now, and it doesn’t look like she’s going to be getting up any time soon.

Sojiro still doesn’t seem worried, but I’m wondering how much longer I have to put up with this kind of anxiousness.

I am worried that she’ll still be out by the time the deadline arrives and that there really will be nothing that we can do.

Please wake up soon.

“Listening to this, it’s kind of hard for me to imagine Futaba being so inactive and quiet,” Sumire said, making Ren look down at her.

“Tell me about it,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “There are times where I wish that she would just shut down, every now and again. Make sure that I have at least one day without getting an erotic image of you from her.”

Pausing at the statement, Sumire looked at Ren with horror, fumbling to get words out while Ren just gave her a shrug.

“Just you wait,” Ren said rather matter of fact, scrolling on down. “Once she gets bored of sending them to me, get ready for all sorts of doctored images of me heading your way.”

Before she could even say anything, Ren looked back at the screen.

• August 19^th, 20XX

I think Kasumi just has some form of cosmic power on her side because she asked if I wanted to hang out with her at a time that I really needed to take my mind off of Medjed and Futaba.

We went to a batting center and we took a few swings. It was one place I didn’t think I would end up going with a girl, much less Kasumi.

She went in, saying that she wanted to show me a home run with confidence and that she used to do this all the time with her father.

It went nowhere, as she proceeded to miss every swing that she took. Though the small sounds she made were rather cute.

She took missing the balls rather hard though, like she couldn’t believe that her gymnastic slump was that bad.

Feeling a tug on his shirt, Ren looked down at Sumire.

“Was, was it that bad?” she asked rather softly, making Ren reach a hand down and rub her hair again.

“Looking back, yes,” he answered, closing his eyes as he leaned back. “You really seemed to be only held together by the thought you were Kasumi.”

Not hearing a response, Ren looked down as Sumire moved her head closer, her face looking at the screen as she tried to hide her tears from him.

“We probably need to set some time aside and talk about this some more,” Ren said, continuing to rub Sumire’s hair as he looked back at the screen.

“I’ll just read some more, okay?”

A nod.

She seemed to perk up a bit more once I said that she could do it. And a few swings later, she managed to hit a ball.

It wasn’t the home run that she said she was going to get, but the excitement she felt was visible.

She even thanked me for being there, that having someone who was watching and wanted to show that she could do it energizing her.

And she hopes that our relationship keeps going.

All right.

I’ll go with you.

Show me what you got.

Feeling her shift in his lap, Ren looked down and smiled as Sumire had her face down, glasses in hand as to not press against them, the reason more than obvious. Or he thought it was, until his leg started to feel a bit wet.

“Sumire?”

No response.

“Are you okay?”

Still not getting anything, Ren tried to flip her over, but she stayed firm in her resistance. Trying to flip her over again, Ren raised the leg her face was resting on, startling her as she felt him reach an arm under her, taking his chance to roll her over.

When he saw her face, it was hard not to notice the tears running down her cheeks as she froze, looking back at him with wide eyes that had panic in them.

“Do you still not want to talk about it?” Ren asked, reaching a hand down as he brushed the tears away.

Sumire didn’t say anything and just rolled back face down.

“It’s alright,” Ren said softly, rubbing the back of her head as he felt his pants grow damper.

“It’s alright.”

Chapter Text

It was a quiet night after Ren had finished reading more entries, leaving to go do some quick shopping at the grocery store that was down the street from Leblanc to get some things for dinner. Said dinner was a vegetable stir-fry and the two of them ate on the bed, leaning against the wall as the crunch of bok choy and cabbage was the only sound, though the occasional sniff accented it now and again.

“Hey,” Ren said as he looked at Sumire, checking to see if she had eaten everything. “Do you want to get dressed while I go do the dishes real quick?”

“Sure,” she answered softly, passing her plate as Ren got up, waiting for him to leave her line of sight before she got up herself.

Walking over to her bag, Sumire looked over the two sets of pajamas she brought over. There was nothing too remarkable to say about them, just what one would expect for a girl her age; but hearing stories of Kasumi started to remind Sumire of how much her life was still being dictated by her.

What more evidence did she need than the same pajamas she had been wearing since middle school that Kasumi picked out, with pairs that she had yet to change out even though they were getting a bit tighter with the passage of time.

As she held onto the cloth, Sumire shuffled some things around before a small case came into view. Looking down at it, Sumire glanced between it and the pajamas, mind wandering as she kept a hand over the case.

She didn’t want to grab the case, thinking that she had moved on from it, that she didn’t need it as much.

Yet she still brought it, and now that Kasumi was still in her mind, she put the pajamas down and grabbed the case.

Opening it and taking her own glasses off, Sumire put on a familiar, rounded pair of glasses as she tried to calm herself down and think, just think about something other than Kasumi.

“Sumire?”

Startling her, Sumire tossed her glasses into the air as she turned to see Ren standing at the top of the stairs, hands still a little wet from doing dishes. Sumire stared at him for a few seconds before the clink of her glasses landing on the floor brought her back into the moment.

“I, um,” she fretted, looking side to side as she tried to figure out what she wanted to say.

Ren didn’t say anything, just walking up to her and getting on the floor with her.

There was some tension in the air as Sumire wait for whatever Ren was going to say, looking down.

But the words never came, as a gentle hand came to rest on her lap. Looking up, Sumire noticed that a second hand was coming to her face. Ren paused when he realized that she was looking at him, so he slowed down a bit and gently caressed her cheek.

“Let’s talk.”

Laying down on the bed, Ren waited for Sumire as she gathered her breath and steeled her nerves before getting into bed with his old glasses still on.

“Are you ready to talk?” Ren asked as he put his arms around her waist, pulling her in as his back faced the wall.

“Give me a bit,” she responded, leaning into his touch as she put her hands over his.

Giving a hum in recognition, Ren waited for a few minutes as he felt Sumire slowly start to relax in his grasp, taking the time to let her collect whatever thought she would need to work through.

“Ready?” he asked again after a few minutes, pulling Sumire in again.

“No,” Sumire said while squeezing Ren’s hands. “But I know it can’t stay like this.”

Ren gave her a light squeeze. “Then where do you want to start?”

Sumire was quiet for a few moments, squeezing Ren’s hands again as she thought about what she wanted to say.

She took a deep breath.

“It’s not your fault since it’s just how it happened,” she started, pushing in closer. “But hearing about Kasumi again and how she helped you is still something I can’t accept.”

“How so?”

Fidgeting a bit, Sumire let go of Ren’s hands as she turned around to face him.

“I know it's just a thought of mine, but I still feel that my life is still being dictated by her.”

“It’s not,” Ren said, pulling her in closer as he pressed his forehead against her.

“You say that, but I feel it sometimes,” she said softly. “The pajamas I’m wearing were the ones that she bought for me, most of my clothes are still what she bought for me, and…”

“And?” Ren asked, raising a hand up to her head as he stroked the long crimson waves flowing from it.

Sumire stayed quiet as she buried her face into Ren’s shoulder, the glasses giving a slight creak in protest.

Letting go of her hair, Ren pushed her head back a bit as he pulled his old glasses off her, smiling as she looked up at him.

“You want to keep these for a long time, right?” he said, grinning as he took his current pair off and slid his old ones back on. “You need to be gentle with them.”

Burrowing her face back into his shoulder, Sumire tried to hide the blush she felt after Ren suddenly put his old glasses back on.

Getting a small laugh out of it, Ren started to stroke her hair again, letting her calm down as she collected started to think again.

“So, what was the last thing you wanted to tell me about?”

Sumire didn’t say anything, but her grip on Ren started to tighten.

“You don’t have to say anything, but…”

“cause of her.”

“What?” Ren asked, feeling his shirt get damp as she held on tighter.

“You’re only with me because you met her.”

Chapter Text

With the tears flowing freely following the confession, Ren stayed quiet as Sumire started to cry into his chest, gently stroking her hair as she got in a bit closer, her grip on him tighter than normal as he felt her nails dig into him through his shirt.

But he didn’t say anything, keeping the light pain to himself as he continued to stroke her hair, waiting for her to finish crying to say his piece.

He carried on for a few minutes, unflinching in his effort to calm her before feeling the pain start to lighten and Sumire’s breathing starting to get lighter.

Thinking that she was ready to talk, Ren looked down, but instead of her looking up at him like he expected, Sumire was fast asleep.

Seeing why her grip had softened and her breathing had steadied, Ren gave a sad smile as he reached for his glasses and put them on the window sill, trying his best not to disturb Sumire as he moved.

“You must be emotionally exhausted,” Ren whispered to no one, trying to move again without disturbing his lover as he moved her pillow closer to her head.

Thinking about everything that happened that day, Ren could only shake his head as he thought about it.

From running away from home, even if it was only going to last a few days, hearing more about Kasumi again, and even opening up to him about her time as Kasumi, it made sense to him that she had used up all of her mental energy to keep up with everything that she was going through.

“You've come so far,” he said softly, leaning in for a final kiss before going to sleep himself.

Feeling something against her forehead, Sumire moved a bit as the air around her paused.

Slowly getting up, the first thing she saw was Ren’s face looking at her, a gentle smile on his face as he realized that she was up.

“Hey,” he said, leaning in for a quick kiss on her forehead. “Did I wake you?”

“No,” she said softly, trying to reciprocate the kiss with one of her own.

“Good,” Ren said, taking the kiss and getting up. “How was your first night in Leblanc?”

Pausing at the question, Sumire looked around her and realized that she wasn’t in her room. And the mattress felt rather different now that she was thinking about it.

“Oh yeah,” she said softly, looking up at Ren with a light grin. “We did that.”

“We sure did,” he answered, making his way to the stairs. “Do you want some coffee?”

“Sure,” she said, getting up.

“Great,” Ren said, heading going below the floor. “Sojiro and Futaba are here, so get changed before you come down.”

 Nodding despite Ren being out of sight, Sumire walked up to her bag and looked for what she would wear for the day.

Her thoughts about Kasumi from the night started to trickle their way back into her mind, making her stop looking as she held a red skirt in her hands. Everything was still what Kasumi had bought, and while there were outfits in there that she knew Ren loved, she wanted to move away from them.

All of them.

Shaking her head at the thought, perhaps more extreme than she could actually carry out, Sumire chose a navy-blue skirt with some white flowers on the side and a white blouse. With a nervous smile on her face as she looked while giving her skirt a swirl as it swooshed around a bit.

Ren didn’t have a mirror in the attic like she did in her room, and she was somewhat nervous about going down like this.

But she wouldn’t be able to linger forever; Ren said he would make coffee for her, which meant he would come up if she took too long.

Taking a breath and gathering her thoughts, she made her way down.

“And the lady has arrived,” Futaba said with a sly grin once she saw Sumire, making her blush while Ren gave a sigh.

“How did this fair man perform last night?” Futaba followed up, making the blush even harsher as Ren giving Futaba a light smack on the back of her head.

“Ow~~” Futaba whined, glaring at Ren while he turned his attention to the coffee, getting a cup out and pouring it.

“You look great,” Ren said with a smile as he put the cup and saucer on the counter as Sumire took a seat, a soft ‘thank you’ leaving her lips as she hid her face in the cup.

“Be careful, lover boy,” Futaba glared at Ren, pulling her phone out. “Wouldn’t want to let someone know where you are.”

“You should too,” Sojiro said as he poked his head out from the kitchen. “I don’t have to pay you for any of this.”

“I’ll be more careful,” Futaba said as she hastily put her phone away, walking into the kitchen and taking a plate of curry.

“For you,” she said as she put in front of Sumire and quickly backing up, making Ren smile as he took the top of a coffee siphon off and started to boil some water in it.

“You making tea again?” Sojiro asked as he heard the glassware come off as Ren chuckled, shaking his head.

“Nothing escapes you,” Ren said, taking a packet of instant tea from his pocket and putting it in a cup, pouring the water on top.

“So I assume you’re fine without food?” Sojiro asked, to which Ren laughed.

“I can still taste curry and coffee without needing to think about it,” he said, taking a seat next to Sumire as she started to eat her curry, cup of coffee empty. “A solid year of that can do that to you.”

With a hearty laugh of his own, Sojiro chuckled as he plated up another set of curry, taking it to the counter and putting it in front of Ren. “So I lost a good customer too soon.”

There was a comfortable silence as Ren ate his plate while Sumire asked for a second one, while Futaba worked on making coffee and Sojiro stood by the stairs, watching all of it happen.

“Oh, where did the cat go?” he asked after realizing that Morgana wasn’t there.

“He’s sleeping,” Futaba said, a smirk on her face.

“I got plenty of information to work with from him last night.”

Chapter Text

“What?” Ren asked, putting his tea down as he looked at Futaba, a smirk on her face.

“Oh, you know,” she said, leaning against the counter. “Plenty of information that I could only get from him, things I wouldn’t be able to get through your phone or computer.”

Ren locked with Futaba with icy eyes while she kept her smirk, her lips opening to show a hint of teeth as Sumire looked back and forth, trying to figure out if she should say something.

“I would give up if I were you,” Sojiro said, pulling Sumire’s attention to him as he reached into his apron pocket for his pack of cigarettes. “I know that face, he does too. It means she’s faking it.”

Letting out a laugh, Futaba got off the counter, looking at Sumire as she held a hand up to her mouth, mirroring a smile that made Ren freeze in place.

“Ah boo, Sojiro,” Futaba said, taking Sumire’s plate as she loaded it with a third portion. “Let me have some fun messing with her. She might be joining us more frequently in the near future, right, Mr. boyfriend?”

Despite wanting to see his face, Ren wasn’t looking at Futaba, muttering words about how he was going to have to be more careful about what he said around ‘that damned cat.’

“Well, I’ve had my fun for the day with these two,” Futaba said, getting a cup of coffee brewing for herself. “Enjoy whatever plans you two have.”

But she paused as she lit the flames, snickering as she looked through the glass. “Oh, wait.”

As he curled up on the couch, Morgana watched as Sumire went through some of her things, preparing herself to go to practice as the sounds of the regulars recognizing Ren came up the stairs, a few short ‘hello’s and ‘I’ve been good’s joining in.

It was rough coming into Leblanc, feeling the glaring eyes of Ren and the mirthful ones of Futaba as he entered the doors in Sojiro’s arms. It certainly didn’t help that he was feeling bad about the information that he let go.

While some of it something that she would’ve figured out on her own if she continued to monitor Ren a bit longer, some of it was stuff he should’ve kept to himself.

Not like it was his fault that those images were done a bit too well. Or the small amount of catnip she fed him while his mouth was open. Not like that had any impact on the flow of the conversation.

Shaking his head, Morgana watched as Sumire looked like she was ready to go, patting her bag down and making her way towards the stairs.

“Hey, Sumire,” he said, grabbing her attention.

“Yes?” she asked, turning around to look at him.

“Sorry in advance if something happens with Futaba.”

With a soft smile, Sumire walked over and gave him a quick chin scritch.

“I know you didn’t mean to. Ren knows that too,” she said, taking her hand away. “I just need to get used to the idea that she has the ability to learn whatever she wants from whoever she wants.”

“I guess,” Morgana said, watching as Sumire walked back to the stairs.

“I’ll take my leave now,” he heard he say a few seconds later, with a few murmurs from the customers as Morgana heard the door open, and questions about who she was being directed at Sojiro, then to Ren.

Sighing, Morgana stretched and let out a small yawn, thinking about how the next few days would play out. Maybe he should just curl up and take a nap and hope that it would make him feel better when he woke up.

“Mona.” A voice was calling him.

“Hm~,” he responded, stirring a bit.

“Morgana.” The voice called him again, making him stir a bit more.

“Mona.” Jolting awake, Morgana looked around, an expectant look in his eyes. That was a different voice.

“Lady Ann?”

“Wow, it really did work.”

Hearing the first voice, Mona focused to see Ren standing over him, putting his phone away.

Giving him a look, Morgana stretched to wake himself up, licking his paws and rubbing his ears.

“What is it?” he asked, figuring that it wasn’t going to be good.

“I’m going shopping for dinner and you’re going with me,” Ren said, presenting Morgana with a bag.

“Is it going to be about Futaba?” Morgana asked, jumping into the bag without complaint.

“What do you think?” Ren asked as he raised the bag to his shoulder, as the cat poked his head out of the back.

“I know. Just let me think about how to explain what happened.”

As she stood on the train back from practice, Sumire tried her best to calm her pounding heart. It was something she only heard in passing, but as she walked towards the ticket gate, a girl was talking with some of her friends about wanting to run away with her boyfriend, before one of them joked about how she was probably pregnant and didn’t want to tell her parents.

Sumire hurried past them when she heard the last part, blushing when she thought about what they were saying. But if she were to be honest, she still couldn’t believe that she was doing this, that she had actually run away from home with her boyfriend.

Well, she told her father where she was going, and her mother wasn’t stupid; she probably knew where they were, but the fact that she hadn’t come after them is what really surprised Sumire.

While Sumire was glad that she didn’t come after them, a part of her wondered if her mother got the message to leave them be and that it wouldn’t be an interrogation session when she got back home about what they did.

Stopping at the thought, Sumire tried to think about what had happened the night prior. She knew that she talked about her past with Kasumi, but beyond that, she didn’t remember much.

Feeling a bit down as she thought about it, she wondered if Ren remembered, and if they were going to talk again.

Chapter Text

As she left the station, Sumire looked over her shoulder one last time, sighing as she stepped out into the street.

It was nothing really; just a woman who happened to look like her mother was in the next car over, but Sumire couldn’t deny the fear that she felt, worried that her mother wasn’t as restrained as she thought she was. When she realized that it wasn’t her mother, Sumire sighed in relief internally, but the sudden shock still made her a bit paranoid. She relaxed a bit once she saw the woman get off two stations before her, but she kept looking over her shoulder to make sure.

Now that she was out of the station, she relaxed a bit more, but the tension didn’t leave Sumire’s body until Leblanc came into sight, making her smile and pick her pace up a bit.

“Pardon me,” she said, the bells on the door ringing as Sumire closed it.

“Come now,” Futaba smirked, leaning over the counter as she looked at Sumire. “At least say that you’re home. I’m sure someone would love to hear it.”

“As nice as it would be,” Ren called out from the stairs, Morgana already down and making his way up to the counter by the time Ren had finished the sentence. “It would be all the better if it were our home.”

Lowering her face to hide her blush, Sumire didn’t hear the offended sound Futaba made, to which Sojiro chuckled.

“What do you mean it’s not your home?” Futaba asked, pointing a finger at Ren as he ignored her, walking up to Sumire. “It was your home for a while,” Morgana said, ignoring the approving look from Futaba as Ren shrugged, looking back at her.

“It was home, but I don’t plan on staying up there forever with two people,” he said, reaching for Sumire’s hand while he rested his forehead against hers.

With her thoughts from the station rushing back to her, Sumire’s blush intensified, making Futaba grin, raising a hand to her lips in a faux attempt to hide her grin, while Morgana shook his head.

“Don’t do that on the floor, what if a customer comes?” Sojiro asked, making Ren turn around.

“Maybe people will think that this is a café of love, you might get more customers.”

That made Sojiro laugh. “Sure, sure, but I don’t know if the miss can take that right now,” he chuckled as he shook his head. “Maybe you can fly it by her in a few years.”

Smiling a bit himself, Ren turned to Sumire, her face now red enough to make it difficult to tell where her face ended, and her hair started.

“Want to go up?” he asked, reaching a hand out which Sumire eagerly grabbed, speeding past everyone as she dragged Ren up the stairs.

“Try not to be too loud!” Futaba called out after them, for which Morgana leapt at her face, making her scream as she fell on her back.

“Is she going to be okay?” Sumire asked as Sojiro’s laugh finally faded, along with Morgana screaming ‘For Lady Ann!!’ as the sound of the door opening was heard, along with heavy footsteps coming after that shouted, ‘YOU STUPID CAT!!’

“She’s fine,” Ren said, shrugging his shoulders as he sat on the couch, patting to his side to invite her over. “If she could scream and run after him like that, she’s fine.”

Taking his offer, Sumire sat down, leaning against him.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before Ren reached an arm around her, pulling her in as he looked down at her.

“Hey Sumi.”

“Hm?”

“Do you want to continue from last night or ….”

 There it was.

Tightening up, Sumire kept her gaze down as Ren leaned into her, his cheek resting on top of her head.

“If you don’t want to talk now, I’ll wait. But I’d rather do it while I can still be with you in person rather than on the phone.”

That’s right.

Ren was eventually going to go back home, and who knew when they could meet face to face again.

Reaching over to grab the hand resting on her shoulder, Sumire leaned in a bit closer, before slowly raising her face to look at him.

“I-I guess I said that Kasumi still controls my life,” she started, averting her eyes as Ren looked at her.

“You did,” Ren confirmed, nodding despite Sumire not looking at him. "Is there anything else you remember from last night?"

Thinking about it, Sumire looked toward her lap, her hand tightening into a fist as her grip on Ren's hand tightened. 

"I-I think there was one more thing, but I don't really remember what it was about..."

"You did say something," Ren nodded again, looking back at Sumire who kept averting her eyes. “And it is the one thing from last night that I have to correct.”

Taking his arm off her shoulder, Sumire looked somewhat worried, afraid of what Ren would say, before said arm scooped under her knees, making her yelp as Ren picked her up.

“You said that I’m only with you because I met Kasumi,” he started, adjusting his grip as he stood up, a hand getting a bit too close, but neither of them noticed in the moment.

“It’s true that we met because of her, but we’re not together because of that,” Ren continued, sitting back down with Sumire in his lap, turning her around so that they were face-to-face.

“We’re together because I love you, and I would do anything to make sure that the fighter I saw that day make it out and love herself for who she is.”

There was a pause as they both started to breathe heavily before they quickly looked away from each other to hide their blushes. The blush on Sumire’s face because of Ren’s confession, while Ren’s was from trying not to think too much about where his hand had landed when he picked Sumire up or how he placed her so firmly on his lap.

After maybe a minute or so, Ren was the first one to break the silence, turning to look back at Sumire. She was still flustered, her cheeks still a shade of red, but when she realized he was looking at her, she gave him a quick glance, before averting her eyes by burrowing her face into his chest.

Chapter Text

As Sumire's face was buried in his chest, Ren tried to think of what to do from here.

While his confession was unplanned, he wanted to say something like it when Sumire cried herself to sleep. Hearing what Morgana had ‘leaked’ to Futaba also made him somewhat worried, as if he was now on a timer to get something done before she decided to talk. He didn’t know if he would have the self-restraint needed to not have an ‘accident’ near her figures if she spoke to anyone, especially not Ayako.

But worrying about that wouldn’t do anything at the moment; comforting and helping Sumire talk through Kasumi was more important once she could focus and talk about it again.

Rubbing her back, Ren waited for Sumire to show her face again. He waited for about five minutes before he looked down. He briefly wondered if she fell asleep, but her breathing didn’t indicate as such.

“Sumi?”

“Hm?”

“Are you going to look at me?”

She didn’t respond for a few seconds, before leaning her head back, looking up at him.

Ren didn’t say anything, waiting for her to say something, when she reached for her glasses. Waiting to see what she would do, Ren waited as Sumire’s hand stopped on her frames, looking back at him as she thought about if she wanted to do this.

After briefly hesitating, she took them off, noticing the sad look on Ren’s face as she did so. But she kept them in her hands, putting them to the side as she leaded back into his chest, wrapping her arms around him.

With a sad smile, Ren kept his mouth shut, and gently ran his hand through her hair, waiting for something to happen.

“I,” Sumire started, making Ren pause his hands as he looked down, seeing her still nuzzled up against his chest.

“Ren?” she asked, looking up with worry in her eyes.

“Sorry,” he said, giving her a peck on the forehead. “I didn’t mean to stop you. Go on.”

There was a moment of silence, but Sumire eventually burrowed back down, with Ren running his hands back through her hair.

“I said things about how Kasumi still controls my life,” she continued after a few minutes, her voice more muted from talking into his chest.

“And I know it wasn’t your intent, that you wanted me to feel happy as myself,” she said, making Ren pause, thinking about what she could be talking about. “But there are some moments where I curse my glasses.”

Ren froze, seemingly unable to think about why that it would be the case. The thought quickly left as he felt Sumire’s grip tighten, pulling him back in as he continued to stroke her hair.

“Can you tell me why?”

Her grip tightened even more, and Ren could feel her nails start to dig into the fabric, but said nothing, waiting for her to be ready.

“You looked sad when I took them off,” Sumire started, her grip relaxing a bit as she spoke. “You acted like I was reverting just because I took them off.”

Sumire’s grip tightened again, keeping Ren from stopping as he continued to stroke her hair.

“If our visual differences were more than just the color of our hair or a beauty mark under her eye, something like wearing glasses wouldn’t mean a thing. But because I wore glasses before everything happened, you think that they’re a symbol of me of before everything,” she continued, as Ren started to feel her nails dig into his skin.

“You think that if I’m not wearing my glasses, that I’m not me. And you seem to only show your love when I’m wearing glasses.”

Ren said nothing, though he had the strongest urge to protest what she was saying.

“It’s like you love the idea of me in glasses more than you love me,” Sumire continued, as a damp spot started to form on Ren’s shirt.

“It’s like the glasses make me Sumire in your eyes, and if I take them off, I’m no longer the girl you say you love.”

Ren bit his tongue, wanting to say that it was not true, but he wasn’t sure how he would follow that up. He would have some time to think, as Sumire took a shallow breath.

“You said you loved me, but the gymnast me doesn’t wear glasses when practicing or performing.”

There was a pause as Sumire kept breathing quickly, sounds leaving her mouth as she tried to figure out what to say next.

“Is that still me? Didn’t you say that you loved me for fighting as hard as I do?”

There was a pause as Sumire’s breath started to settle, giving Ren time to think about what to say, when Sumire said something that made him break.

“Can I not take my glasses off to nuzzle into your chest without making you worry why?”

Chapter Text

Ren sat there in silence as Sumire continued crying into his chest, trying his damnedest not to let any tears of his own spill.

It stung when she said that he only loved the idea of her in glasses more than her as a person. While he was absolutely sure that he loved her, the fact that he couldn’t deny the feeling of disappointment he felt when he saw her take her glasses off hurt.

Even with Sumire admitting that it was irrational, and that it wasn’t his intent to hurt her, the fact that he might have hurt her when he was trying to help hurt him more than he could describe. Especially when she said that she couldn’t take them off without worrying him, to do something as basic as getting closer for physical comfort, hurt the most.

She just wanted something that he was supposed to give her and felt disappointed because she didn’t appear a certain way for it. That was one thing that Ren couldn’t forgive himself for letting happen.

Wiping his eyes so that she couldn’t see his tears, Ren leaned in and whispered, ‘I’m sorry,’ into Sumire’s ears, stroking her head and back.

As he waited for Sumire to calm down, he looked up as he heard the door open downstairs, with Futaba sighing and the scurrying sound of Morgana running against the floor.

“Hey,” the cat said, his paws clicking against the stairs. “You guys okay?” he asked, popping his head out from the top.

A sad smile greeted him as Ren looked at him, while Sumire shuffled a bit as she turned her head to look at Morgana.

“A rough start, huh?” he asked, walking over to them as he hopped onto the empty spot on the couch, looking at Ren and Sumire as they turned to face him.

“Did you cry?” Morgana asked as he focused his attention on Ren, making Sumire turn to look at him.

He hesitated to answer, but when Sumire reached a hand out and touched the corner of his eyes, he gave a weak smile.

“I suppose I did,” he said, taking the hand reaching for his face into his own. Seeing her worried look, Ren smiled and guided her hand down while he reached for his own glasses.

Taking them off, he put them next to Sumire’s glasses and he leaned into her, their faces close enough to touch.

“Let’s stay like this for a few seconds,” Ren said, putting a hand behind Sumire’s head, closing the distance between them as he closed his eyes, missing her blush as a result. Unsure of what she was supposed to do, Sumire tried to look to her side, but Ren’s nose kept her from turning to face Morgana, who grinned once she turned her gaze to look at him.

Seeing the grin, Sumire wasn’t sure of what to do, but once Morgana made it clear that he wasn’t offering help, even starting to curl up, he gave her a final look before closing his own eyes. Pausing to think, Sumire eventually accepted the contact and closed her eyes, leaning into Ren’s touch.

After a few minutes of quiet, the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs made Ren break away, releasing his grip on Sumire as they both turned to look to see who it was.

“Sorry,” Sojiro said at the top of the stairs, a soft grin as the pair looked at him. “We could hear the crying from the kitchen, so I sent the cat up to see.”

As the two turned to look at Morgana’s sleeping form, Sojiro gave a small smile, turning back down towards the stairs.

“Guess that was the right choice. Had to send him up to keep Futaba from peeping on ya.”

Turning back to the stairs, Ren and Sumire missed asking any questions as Sojiro’s head had already disappeared behind the guardrails, with a ‘get back to work,’ telling them who was waiting for his return.

Taking a moment to silently thank Morgana for everything today, Ren turned to look at Sumire, giving her a quick peck.

“Do you want to stay here or go lay down on the mattress?” he asked as he pulled away.

Sumire contemplated it for a while, looking between the mattress and her glasses, before looking at Ren, who was giving a gentle smile, waiting for her to be ready with her answer.

“Can, can we stay here?” she asked, looking down as she adjusted the position of her legs.

“Sure,” Ren said, stroking Sumire’s head once she settled down, leaning against his chest as she nestled in.

There was a nice period of time where neither of them said anything, as Ren stroked Sumire’s head while she listened to his breathing, a self-sufficient system of calming flowing between the two.

“Sumi,” Ren started, pulling her gaze up to him as he spoke. “I’m sorry that I made it difficult for physical comfort, and that you felt those feelings.”

Releasing his grip on her head, Ren looked down to meet Sumire’s upward gaze, a sad smile on his face.

“And I’m sorry for being a hypocrite.”

Blinking for a few seconds, Sumire looked at him in confusion, wondering what he was talking about.

“Did you know that I didn’t wear glasses before I came to Tokyo.”

Widening her eyes, Sumire looked at Ren as he gave a sheepish smile, looking to his side as they rested right next to Sumire's.

“After I was sentenced and got sent off, I thought that wearing glasses wouldn’t make me appear as threatening to people,” he admitted, shaking his head as he thought about his first few months. “It failed before I even had a chance to try,” he chuckled, pressing his forehead against hers.

“Even after everything was cleared up, I still wear these even though my supposed reason to is gone.” A sad smile as he continued, “Maybe it’s because I feel that there are still people who still fear me.”

“Or maybe it’s that this is the me that you know and fell in love with.”

Chapter Text

Turning her gaze to look at the pair of glasses that lay next to each other, Sumire looked as Ren gave a weak smile, reaching a hand out to cover them.

“You’ve gotten stronger,” he said, turning her attention toward him.

“We used to only talk about things like this when you would have panic attacks about your identity,” Ren continued, lifting both of their glasses up. “But circumstance is making it so that you’re choosing to talk to me about this stuff.”

As he moved his hand back towards them, Sumire heard a slight ‘tink’ and looked down to Ren’s hand. What greeted her was both of their glasses rested in his hand, each pair facing their respective wearers. “And now that you’ve told me that, I’ll give you a choice.”

Turning her attention back to him, she saw him smile as he looked down to his hand.

“I’m not going to ask you to make this decision permanent, or that you have to choose now,” he said, pressing his forehead against hers. “But I think you should choose if you want to wear these or not.”

As Sumire looked at her glasses, her face reflected in the lenses, waiting for their fate to be determined, she looked back up at Ren, his smile still present as he looked at her, waiting for her to decide.

“What about your pair?” Sumire eventually asked, looking across Ren’s hand as they rested further away from her.

“If you want to decide on it, go ahead,” he answered, raising his opposite hand to rest on her cheek, his thumb lightly stoking her. “You felt pressured because I preferred you with your glasses, right?” Raising her eyes to look at him, Sumire saw a weak smile, with Ren’s eyes still focused on his hand. “I can change my image if you’re the one who wants it.”

Looking back down to the glasses, Sumire thought about what Ren was offering to her. Was this really the level of devotion that he was willing to go to, to show how much he felt that he wronged her in her own thoughts.

Reaching a hand out, Sumire paused as her fingertips touched Ren’s, glancing up to see what his reaction would be.

There was no emotion, just him focusing his gaze on her fingers as they rested on his hand, waiting to see if they would advance or retreat.

Looking back down, Sumire lifted her fingers, hovering over the edge of his hand as she kept thinking.

“I can change my mind later, right?” she asked, lowering her fingers to touch his again.

“Yep,” Ren said, pushing a bit more lightly against Sumire’s forehead.

Raising her hand again, Sumire moved her hand over her pair, reaching for Ren’s.

Taking a peek again, Sumire looked to see how Ren was responding. His eyes didn’t move away from his hand, watching as he waited for her hand to move.

Seeing that he was not going to stop her, Sumire closed her hand around his pair and lifted them up.

“Close your eyes,” she said, picking up Ren’s glasses as he did as he was told.

Wanting to make sure that his eyes were closed, Sumire picked up her pair and put both on her thighs. Feeling that there was nothing in his hand, Ren started to lower it, thinking that he wouldn’t have to hold it out, when Sumire put her hand in his. “Hold it up,” she said, making Ren raise his hand back to where it was. Once it was about where it was before, she moved her hand from his to in front of his eyes.

“Whose pair is this?” she asked, putting Ren’s pair back into his hand.

“Mine, the frame’s a bit rounder than yours.”

Blinking for a few moments, Sumire pulled her hand back to see if his eyes were really closed while Ren chuckled a bit, trying his best not to shake his head. “You’re asking a thief to see if he knows the difference of two items in his hands, of course I know how our glasses feel in my hand.”

Snatching the pair away, Sumire pouted and put her hand back over Ren’s eyes as he smirked, leaning into where he thought her hand would be. “Is this better?”

Pausing at the sudden touch of Ren’s face, Sumire looked at the hand covering his eyes, wondering what she was supposed to do.

“I’m really free to choose?”

“Yes.”

Letting his answer bounce around for a few seconds, Sumire looked down at both her pair on her thigh and his pair in her hand, their lenses reflecting back as she kept thinking about what she should do.

Putting her glasses back onto the table, Sumire put Ren’s pair on her face and took her hand off his face.

There was a moment of silence as Sumire waited for Ren to open his eyes, her small amount of confidence in her choice quickly fading as she was worried that he already knew her choice when he asked, “Can I look now?”

Blinking at the question, Sumire wondered if Ren was teasing her, as he followed up with, “You told me to close my eyes, but I haven’t heard you tell me to open my eyes yet.”

“You can look,” she sighed, lowering her head a bit as Ren opened his eyes.

As he looked, he gave Sumire a smile.

“Is this your choice for now?” Ren asked, reaching his arms out for a hug.

“Yes,” she answered, leaning as she rested her head against his shoulder.

“This is me going forward.”

Chapter Text

After she had made her choice, the two of them sat in a comfortable silence before her stomach rumbled. Pouting at the laugh Ren made when he heard the sound, the two of them took it as an excuse to head out and get dinner ready.

Futaba immediately commented about how Ren wasn’t wearing glasses and Sumire was wearing his, wiggling her brows at them as they came down the stairs. But with Sojiro pulling on her ear and Morgana snickering at her, the pair walked out of Leblanc without further hassle, talking about what they should get at the store.

Dinner was a simple affair, some chicken pilaf using the leftover rice from the unserved portions of curry and some sweet bread for dessert, though they took most of it upstairs when Futaba nabbed more than her share of the sweets.

Ignoring the offender’s complaints that it was ‘to secure provisions’ that made their way up the stairs, the two sat on the couch as Ren watched Sumire work her way through the rest of the bread, a smile on his face as he watched her indulge in a rather rare treat.

“Hey,” he asked once Sumire finished her bread. “Do you want to go to the bathhouse?”

“Hm?” she asked, turning to look at Ren, licking her fingers to get the sugar off them.

“I saw a sign on our way back in, and the bathhouse is holding a discount for women today,” he said, taking the bread wrappers and curling them up into a ball. “I don’t know how often you take baths at home, but you haven’t since I’ve come over, have you?”

“Oh,” Sumire said, looking away with a blush, thinking about what she was told. “I thought that was going a different direction.”

“Hm?” Ren asked, tossing the wrappers and turning with a smirk on his face as he looked to her. “Did you have something in mind?”

Sumire said nothing, turning a bit further away as the wrappers hit the floor, missing the trash can.

“Well, you don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to,” he said, getting up to pick up the wrappers which missed the bin, spotting a crease that he was telling himself made him miss his shot. “But I thought I’d let you know.”

Nodding in response, Sumire looked around as she thought about if she should go or not.

After a few seconds, she eventually got up, going into her back as she looked for some things.

“I’ll go,” she said, getting up from her bag and moving over to her gym bag. “Are you going?”

“I’ll go later,” he said, getting up and leaning over her. “Or did you want something else when you said that?”

“Oh! Oh!” Futaba’s voice came from below, making the pair freeze. “You can always use ours!”

The attic got quiet as the two looked at each other, pausing at the actual prospect of them bathing together.

“It’ll happen eventually! Just make it sooner rather than …”

Something cut her off, but it clearly wasn’t forceful, which made Ren and Sumire wonder what it was.

“Mona,” Futaba’s voice said in a solid tone, making Ren smile as he thought about what the cat could be doing. “Mona, no.”

Hearing the cat laugh, Ren and Sumire heard someone run downstairs, followed by the sound of someone sliding along the floor and something smacking the floor, which was followed up by something hitting said someone.

“I’ll head out then,” Sumire said, getting up as she grabbed her gym bag.

With a shallow sigh, Sumire walked out of the bathhouse, smiling as she saw Ren waiting for her as he sat at the counter in Leblanc.

She had managed to catch the last hour of the women’s shift before it would the men’s turn, and while it was probably not as long as she would normally soak if she hadn’t taken a bath for a while, she couldn’t deny that it was a relaxing hour.

Feeling her wet hair press against the back of her shirt, Sumire made her way over to Leblanc. She normally would’ve dried it out before she would’ve left, but Ren said that he wanted to brush her hair as she was walking out of the door.

Sumire didn’t know why he wanted to brush her hair, but she may as well let it happen. It had been a while since someone else brushed her hair, and it might turn into a little routine that they could look forward to.

As she opened the door, Ren turned to look at her, an easy smile on his face as he got up, with Morgana poking his head out behind him, his forelimbs propped up on the counter.

“Ready to go up?” he asked, reaching a hand out as he stood up.

“Yes,” she answered, taking his hand as Morgana scampered past them, already up the stairs by the time they reached them.

Once they got up, Sumire reached into her bag and got out her brush. Looking to see where Ren was sitting, she saw him sitting on the bed, patting between his legs as he invited her to come.

Joining him on the bed, Sumire passed him the brush as she nestled in, feeling Morgana jump into her lap and Ren run his hand through her hair as he prepared to start.

Once he started, the room was comfortably quiet, with the sound of the brush making its way through Sumire’s hair and Morgana’s soft breathing being the only real sounds.

Chapter Text

After enjoying the silence for a moment, Ren put the brush down.

“Mmh” Sumire moaned in protest, turning her head back to look at her boyfriend. She didn’t get to turn all the way as Ren’s hands started to run through her hair, rubbing the top of her head.

“Ahn.”

The moan hung in the air for a moment as Ren’s hands stopped, Morgana raising his head to look at Sumire.

Unable to hide that she was the one who made the sound, Sumire just sat in silence as her face slowly grew red.

“Pfft.”

A bit redder.

“Oh Sumi,” Ren said, pulling her in closer as he hugged her from behind. “Thank you for thinking so highly of my skills.”

Unable to hide her embarrassment from that, Sumire took the chance and burrowed her face in Ren’s neck, the small noises as she made trying to say something making him smile.

Reaching a hand over, Ren gave her a gentle rub, making her mutter some more into his neck as he looked at the displaced Morgana, shaking his head as he watched the two of them.

“I can go downstairs if you want to continue,” the cat said, making his way over to the edge of the mattress.

Ren laughed at the offer, shaking his head as he looked back. “I’m fine with you staying, but…” he said, leaning back as he tried to look at Sumire. “Do you want to continue?”

Not giving him an answer, Sumire leaned back with him, trying to keep her face hidden.

“Alright,” Morgana said, hopping off and making his way to the stairs. “I’ll come up in a few hours.”

“Thanks,” Ren said as the ‘cat’ disappeared down the stairs, the sound of his paws against the wooden stairs and the ‘clink’ of the buckle on the collar echoing in the empty store.

Once the sound of Morgana walking around downstairs disappeared, Ren turned his attention to his girlfriend, her face still nestled against his neck as she hid her blush.

“So Sumi,” he whispered in her ear, rubbing her shoulder and turning her hips around. “Do you want to continue,” he asked, trying to push her back a bit to look at her face. “Or maybe you want something else?”

Sumire didn’t resist as Ren pushed her away, but she averted her gaze, looking towards the window as she thought of a reply.

Ren followed her gaze, looking at their reflection in the window with a soft smile.

The lightbulbs had gotten a bit dimmer since he had been up here, a sign that they needed to be replaced, but it gave them a perfect glow in the window; where it was bright enough that you could see their outlines, but not who it was clearly.

“Can you read till I go to sleep?”

“Sure,” Ren said, backing up as he got off the mattress, walking to the desk where Sumire’s laptop sat. Picking it up, he got back onto the mattress and got on his stomach.

Patting the spot next to him, Ren waited for Sumire to join him. She did, her chin resting on her hands and pillow as she closed her eyes, not thinking how Ren seemed to have unlocked her computer.

“Here we go.”

• August 21^st, 20XX

I want to say, cleaning rooms did not come with the job description of being a phantom thief.

But Futaba is awake and came through with her promise, and that’s what matters.

Well, was awake, she passed out once she finished her work. I guess that’s what happens when you work all day without taking a break and only drink a cup of coffee in the morning.

• August 22^nd, 20XX

Eat shit, mophead.

The public really is a fickle thing, calling for our heads on one moment, and asking for Akechi to retract his statement and apologize next.

But it’s fine, there’s nothing to be worried about.

Futaba spent some time with us as a group, and we tried to talk with her. Maybe get her used to everyone so that she would be willing to stay with us and support us.

We tried to talk to her about Medjed and her current alias Alibaba, but she wasn’t really receptive to talk about much. Though we got a surprise with the fact that Futaba was the founder of Medjed. So it was somewhat of a cathartic act for her to take someone using the name down.

There was a pause as Ren looked at the following lines. Sumire felt the hesitation and opened her eyes.

“Sorry,” Ren said, putting a hand on her head. “Just some edits that Futaba made.”

“Don’t worry,” he continued, rustling her hair as he felt Sumire’s gaze on him stiffen. “There’s nothing wrong with what she said, probably just reflecting her thought process at the time.”

Aside from that, we’re going to drag her to the outside world because we lack a moral compass and want to make her dependent on us. And we’re going to do so in the most extreme public setting that exposes the most skin possible.

With a chuckle, Ren looked up and sighed, smiling as he thought about the time Futaba started to interact with everyone.

“Back to it then,” he said, hand still on Sumire’s head as he looked back to the screen, his smile softening a bit.

• August 23^rd, 20XX

So prez seems intent on guilting me into talking, saying how hot things are trying to come in. And Inari needs a lot of work if he’s going to understand the great beauty of my stuff, it’s not just something he can just touch on his own.

Ren’s smile grew as he looked further down.

• August 24^th, 20XX

Ann seems like the one I can get along with the most. We find common joy in dunking Ryuji. But she needs to watch herself, recommending that I do something as crazy as work in the café.

• August 25^th, 20XX

I think I did perfectly fine serving the coffee today. Was it not enough to just give it to the guy?

Shaking his head, Ren gave another chuckle, looking down to a sleeping Sumire.

“Where did the Futaba in these entries go?”

Chapter Text

Looking back down at the monitor, Ren made a note of where he was and put the laptop on the floor, rolling Sumire onto her back. Getting up, he went to the edge of the bed and picked up the chair against the wall, lifting it up as he moved back to the bed and sat down. Lifting the laptop up and putting it on his knees, Ren picked up from where he stopped.

He may as well read ahead, make sure that nothing too incriminating had been written in.

• August 26^th, 20XX

How the hell do normal girls do this? How were they fine with doing stuff like that? This is what’s waiting on being normal?

I applaud them for carrying through life doing so. Also, when I have the confidence to do so, I’ll play the audio of the boys to Prez, she seems to be the one everyone is afraid of.

Pausing at the mention of audio, Ren thought about what Futaba could be talking about. Surely there was nothing from back then she was still holding onto that could still be used.

• August 27^th, 20XX

Comparing the boys with the girls, I think it’s going to easier to hang with the boys. Putting aside the fact that Inari and Ryuji need to be watched, I think it should be fine. At least I know I can out-eat them if I can find a way for them to treat me.

• August 28^th, 20XX

The mop showed up today.

Pausing, Ren looked at the previous entries and back to the one he was reading. There was a small smirk on his face, realizing that he had gotten used to Futaba’s writing and kept reading.

The mop showed up today.

Futaba hid behind me as he walked in, obviously wary of him.

He said he was surprised to see me, and that the café’s atmosphere was better than he expected. He said that Sae had some good taste for a place to get coffee.

Sojiro didn’t sound too happy at the mention of the name, and Futaba seemed to get a bit smaller. She probably was the one who was threatening Sojiro with civil suits.

After getting the cold shoulder from him, Akechi sighed, giving me his life story and saying that he wasn’t wanted anywhere he goes. I asked him as a joke that he was being treated like us, but he snapped back, saying that he didn’t want to be compared to the likes of them. I figured that he would respond like that, but it was harsher than I expected.

Well, he seemed satisfied with the coffee, so it seems like he’ll show up more often.

Guess we’ll have to be more careful going forward.

Seeing the break in the text, Ren looked to see if there was more.

Now it's my turn, your telling of this sucks.

I’m not sure if it’s good to say so, but I think I’ve gotten pretty good. I managed to get fireworks on my own, it doesn’t matter that Morgana came along from a distance. I did everything just fine.

And maybe I got a bit too close to Morgana’s face with the sparklers, but he’s been in worse situations than that. My Palace was probably dusty in some places, right?

“Hey.”

Turning his face, Ren looked to see Morgana sitting on the bed, looking at him as his tail flicked around.

“You doing something there?” the cat asked as Ren closed the laptop.

“I was reading,” he said, getting up as he picked up both the computer and the chair.

“Trying to refresh your memory?” the cat asked, following him as he moved.

“Something like that,” Ren answered, setting the chair down and plugging the laptop into the power cord. “As checking if I needed to be aware of anything beforehand.”

 Looking at him as he walked to the head of the bed, Morgana scooted over as Ren climbed up, raising the sheet as he curled up next to Sumire.

“Are you worried about the upcoming Palace?” Morgana asked, moving further up so he could see Ren’s face.

“Why would I be,” Ren answered, scooting in just a bit closer. “What would make me worried?”

“Me running off,” the cat said, lying down to get closer to Ren’s face, to which he shifted his head closer to Sumire's. “The fact Akechi caught us entering the Metaverse, framed for the principle’s death.”

There was no response as Ren’s eyes were closed, acting like he was asleep to try and end the conversation.

“We’ll talk about this tomorrow,” Morgana eventually sighed, curling up as he drifted into sleep.

Feeling something move through the mattress, Morgana woke up to see Sumire shifting in her sleep, slowly waking up.

“Mmm…” she moaned, moving her head as started to rise.

“Morning,” Morgana said, giving Sumire’s face a rub.

“Maa…, morning,” she responded, opening her eyes as she felt the whiskers tickle her skin. “Do you need something?” she asked, looking at the cat’s face.

“Mhm,” Morgana nodded, getting closer to Sumire as she sat up, eyes adjusting as she took in the light and stretched her arms. “I want to talk to you about Ren’s entries.”

With a slight hesitation, Sumire slowly lowered her arms and looked at Morgana. “I know that the two of you are using the chance to read it to bond and learn more about his past, but you’re approaching something that he still hasn’t internalized.”

Looking down, Morgana thought about how he was going to say the next part on his mind glancing from side to side as he looked between Sumire and Ren.

“He hasn’t told me much about your talk with him over support, but you want a chance to support him, right?”

She nodded, looking at Morgana as she thought about where the conversation was going.

“The coming months in the entries are going to be the chance you want,” he said, initially giving Sumire a small smile that faded as she felt the pause in Morgana’s voice.

“And, I’m not saying that I doubt you, but what’s coming up is something that we as Phantom Thieves, me and Haru especially, have failed to convince him that it wasn’t his fault.”

Chapter Text

As she made her way down the stairs, Sumire’s thoughts circled around that she would have to be the one supporting side of the relationship soon. And as the fact sank in, it was slowly starting to scare her.

Now that she was thinking about what supporting the other really meant, she was afraid at the thought of messing up what was going to be a very sensitive topic. And aside from the subject, how was she going to do for him what he had always done for her? Ren had managed to do it so effortlessly, seemingly always knowing what he needed to say to soothe her, guide her back into a state of calm to ease her anxieties. And the more she thought about it, the less confident she felt in being able to return the favor. She was going from not needing to console him on anything, to now being faced with trying to convince him of something that the rest of their friends had failed to do.

And she was absolutely terrified.

As she walked out of the stairs, a ‘Morning’ was yawned from behind the counter, Futaba’s glasses resting on her forehead as she rubbed her eyes and leaned against the counter, looking at Sumire come into the shop proper.

“Morning,” she answered, looking around and noticing that someone was missing. “Where’s Sakura-san?” she asked, taking a seat at the counter as Futaba’s glasses slid down her face once her hand pulled back, resting a bit further down her nose than she would’ve liked.

“He’s sleeping,” Futaba answered, sliding her glasses back up with a small smirk. “This is the first time he’s slept in this late, and I intend to make the most of it.”

“Well, he’s getting older,” Sumire answered, shifting around in her seat. “So, are you running the shop today?”

“I guess,” Futaba shrugged. “That or I could just take the day off,” she said somewhat nonchalantly, pushing off against the counter before her eyes made their way to the stairs and the strangely silent attic. With a small smirk, she leaned back against the counter, a sly grin on her face.

“Speaking of sleeping in, Ren hasn’t come down yet,” Futaba said, leaning in closer to Sumire. “I wonder if you kept him up?” she asked, blowing a kiss as she backed away at the end.

Despite not being able to completely suppress the flush, Sumire looked at Futaba head on, an act of defiance that lasted only a few seconds as Futaba blew a second kiss that was aimed below her head.

“I kid,” Futaba laughed as Sumire lowered her face, standing straight as she filled a siphon with water. “It’s just too easy with you,” Futaba chuckled, looking over her shoulder as she thought about what beans to use as she put the siphon down.

Not saying anything in response, Sumire kept her gaze averted as she raised her face, looking at the siphon as Futaba lit the flames beneath it. Pulling a few cases of beans out, Futaba made her own little blend as the sound of footsteps came from the attic.

“Oh, and look who’s up,” Futaba said, done with her blend as she put on top of the siphon as the stairs creaked with weight being put on them. “Morning,” she smirked as Ren came into sight, glancing around the room before locking eyes with Sumire.

With a soft ‘morning,’ Ren walked past them and gave Sumire a peck on the cheek and rustled her hair a bit before walking out of the store, a bag over his shoulder with Morgana poking his head out, giving the two a look in apology before nestling himself in, disappearing by the time Ren was out the door.

The two looked at the door in silence, surprised at the rather hasty exit he made from the store before turning to look at each other.

“Did something happen?” Futaba asked, turning the heat off the siphon.

“No,” Sumire said, turning her head to the stairs.

Looking at the gears shift in Sumire’s mind, Futaba joined her in looking up.

After pouring the coffee out and filling a cup, Futaba clapped her hands with an ‘Alright,’ making Sumire snap her head to her.

“The store will be closed until Sojiro shows up,” she said, downing her cup of coffee in one go. “And we’re going to have a little talk together,” she finished, going around the corner and pulling Sumire with her up the stairs.

“Wha-, but practice,” she protested, nearly missing a few steps as she got dragged up.

“Just call sick,” Futaba said, turning around and winking at her as they reached the top of the stairs. “But, I’m not…” Sumire said, cut off by Futaba’s smirk. “If you don’t, I’ll just do it anyway,” she grinned as they reached the top of the stairs, letting Sumire know there was no way out.

With a sigh, Sumire sat down on the couch as Futaba sat down next to her, giving her phone.

Silently whispering ‘sorry,’ Sumire sent a text that she wasn’t feeling well to Hiraguchi and turned to Futaba as she looked at her rather eagerly.

“So, first,” Futaba said, raising a finger to Sumire’s glasses. “You’re going to talk about these.”

Chapter Text

With Futaba’s finger lingering on Ren’s glasses, Sumire leaned back a bit to create some distance between them. “I’m just wearing them because I want to,” she answered, leaning into the couch.

“But you wear prescription glasses like me,” Futaba retorted, leaning in. “Those are just to look pretty.”

Unable to deny that it was true, Sumire averted her gaze, a grin spread on Futaba’s face, putting her finger to the glasses and pushing them down Sumire’s nose a bit. “Am I wrong?” she asked, looking her in the eye.

Pushing Futaba’s hand away, Sumire slid Ren’s glasses back up her nose and turned her head away. “Why does the fact that Ren wore them matter?” she asked, her eyes focusing on the plant against the wall in front of her. “There’s no real reason for me to wear his for a while.”

“Maybe,” Futaba agreed, pushing a finger into Sumire’s cheek. “But I know you have his old pair, the pair you two call ‘Joker’s glasses,’” she smirked, looking around the room to see where the pair in question could be located. “I would think that if you so dearly hold onto that, there’s a reason why you would wear his right now.”

Turning to look at the stairs, Sumire could feel the smirk on Futaba’s face as she caught her, knowing that anything she said couldn’t deny the fact that she was holding onto his old pair for personal, not just sentimental reasons.

“Can,” Sumire whispered, putting a hand to her glasses while looking to her bag. “Can we not talk about this?”

Despite the quiet response, it rang quite loudly in Futaba’s ears; actual protest coming from Sumire’s mouth, and against her?

“Fine,” Futaba answered, a smile on her face as she reached a hand for Sumire’s. “We won’t talk about these,” she said, poking at the bridge of Ren’s glasses. “But in exchange, we’ll talk about what I want.”

“And first,” Futaba smirked. “We’re going to talk about why you looked so worried this morning.”

Looking up at the ceiling, Futaba was much quieter than Sumire thought she would be. “How to support each other,” Futaba mumbled, taking it much more seriously than Sumire had anticipated. “Since I prefer not to make edits on my phone, you two have finished my Palace, right?”

“Yeah,” Sumire nodded, before the first part of Futaba’s statement registered. “Wait, you can make edits?” she asked, turning to face her.

“Easy,” Futaba said. “Unless you’re one of the absolute best, something like making a few changes to a document that I sent is something I can do in my sleep.” Letting her declaration hang it in the air for a moment, Futaba seemed to be waiting for something, leading to an awkward silence as no one said anything.

“Am I supposed to be surprised?” Sumire asked, making Futaba’s face drop at the question. “Ren says you have access to all of our stuff, so I shouldn’t be too surprised to hear it. I just never thought you would admit to it.”

“Ah, he’s no fun,” Futaba huffed, leaning into Sumire. “I wanted you to have a face similar to Haru’s when her company freaked out because they found me on her system.”

“Wha?”

Before Sumire could even finish asking her question, Futaba let out a grin. Laughing at the now confused look on the other girl’s face, Futaba put a finger to her chin. “See, that was the kind of reaction that I wanted to see.”

Shaking her head as she settled back into place, Futaba chuckled as her gaze locked onto the laptop on the desk. “And no way the company would ever find me; I constantly check the system for them, and I get all the perks that come with that.”

Shaking her head, Sumire made a note to be careful with what she recorded digitally as a reminder of who could see her thoughts sat in front of her.

“You said something about being done with your Palace?” Sumire asked, trying to steer the conversation back on track.

“Right, my Palace,” Futaba said, turning to face Sumire.

“I wasn’t there enough to know, but we were really riding high after I got out of my room,” she said, pulling her legs up as she turned her body to match her head. “And I’m sure he’ll talk about it if you ask him about it, but the Phansite really wasn’t something that we needed.”

Trying to remember what it was about, Sumire looked at her knees as she tried to think what led them to target Okumura.

“Not saying that it’s all his fault, but Mishima also got caught up on our hype and created a poll for who we should target,” Futaba continued, ignoring the confused look on Sumire’s face at the name. “Then when I was finally done with all the data we got from Sae’s computer, the person who was getting the most from all the mental shutdowns.”

“Haru’s father,” Sumire said, making Futaba nod.

“And I’m sure he mentions it, but you’ll learn how he thinks everything went so badly, and why he still finds it so difficult to forgive himself for it.”

Letting Sumire think and ponder, Futaba put a hand on her shoulder, giving it a pat and a rub.

“I don’t have any advice to give you, nor do I know how receptive Ren will be to anything you have to say to him, but I can say this,” Futaba said, locking eyes with Sumire. “Even if you don’t change his thoughts on how things happened and his feeling about them, you are the one who can make him more comfortable talking about what he believes his mistakes to be, and that he doesn’t have to be perfect for us anymore.”

Chapter Text

He doesn’t have to be perfect for us anymore.

Sumire opened her mouth to protest, but the words died on her tongue as Futaba’s gaze stared her down.

“Remember back when we were going to take down Shido and you offered to join us?” Futaba asked, turning to face Sumire with her toes poking the gymnast’s thighs. “While it’s true that he didn’t want you to get involved with our problem, there were more factors than just wanting to keep you from getting in trouble.”

“One of those factors was something very much like him to worry about it,” Futaba grinned, raising her foot to poke Sumire in the side in lieu of her fingers. “But more than that,” Futaba continued, smile fading as Sumire grabbed her foot, “I think he wasn’t capable of taking the pressure on for needing to lead another person in a situation where he was afraid that things would go to shit with one mistake.”

Sumire listened as she let go of Futaba’s foot, pushing it back, only for Futaba to move it around the moment it was released and poke Sumire in her thigh. “He was completely shaken after Okumura’s death, even if he didn't show it. And since we had to stick together to survive when the whole country was against us, he had to think about how he was going to make sure that we would all be safe and could keep our heads down long enough till we had dealt with everything.”

Shifting her weight a bit, Futaba leaned back, leaning against the armrest of the couch. “With all the pressure that was on us, and still taking the time to lead some of us through our own problems that were unresolved by the time we were ready to face Shido,” Futaba said, averting her gaze at the mention of unsolved problems. “Looking, back, I’m surprised that he didn’t break down at some point.”

“Was it that bad?” Sumire asked, trying to remember how Ren was like.

“I couldn’t tell,” Futaba huffed, resting her chin on her knees. “I thought he was just that tough. I only found out after I read his thoughts from that time, did I see how much it actually weighed on him.”

There were was a pause as Futaba looked to her knees, her thoughts flashing across her face as Sumire watched her debate if she should continue talking.

“And then when Mom...” Feeling the pause in the air, Sumire looked at Futaba as she hesitated. There was more that she wanted to say, but Futaba resisted the feeling and the tears that were starting to form in the corner of her eyes. “That’s all for now,” she said, shaking her head and ignoring the wet streak that was going down her face.  

The silence was uncomfortable as the two of them looked at each other for a few minutes, Sumire opening and closing her mouth as thoughts died on her tongue while Futaba just watched, letting her cycle through whatever thoughts were running through her friend’s mind as she finally wiped her tears away.

“I…” Sumire hesitated, glancing between her lap and Futaba’s face, unsure of what she wanted to say. Parts of what Futaba had said about the time spent as Phantom Thieves was something that Sumire had, to some degree thought about, especially since her experience was rather light in comparison to the rest of the group. But if she were to be honest, everything before her joining was more things she fantasized about. After all, everything Sumire understood about that time was all word of mouth from everyone else.

“I don’t know what to say.”

“I don’t either,” Futaba agreed, looking at the ceiling. “And I was there with him the whole time.” Her answer was laced with regret, tapping her foot for a few seconds, before looking at Sumire.

“Can I say one thing?”  she asked, lowering her face a bit.

“Sure,” Sumire said, a bit hesitant as she looked at Futaba’s lowered face.

“It sounds rude considering what you went through, but I’m honestly glad that you were something he felt that he could somewhat control the outcome.”

Blinking at the answer, Sumire tried to look into Futaba’s eyes, but she lowered her face even further, glasses rising on her head.

“With our own desires manifested, there was nothing he could do if we continued to accept them,” Futaba mumbled, forehead pressed firmly against her knees. “He could at least fight something that was in front of him and try to take you back, to let you be as yourself.”

Scrunching the fabric of her pants, Futaba kept her face down as her frames rested nearly at the top of her forehead.

“I think that the prospect of us staying in our fantasies hurt him more than he’s willing to admit. And the timing of when we came probably didn’t help either.”

“The timing?” Sumire asked, wondering what that had to do with everything.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a buzz, making Sumire pause while Futaba pulled her phone out.

“Shit,” she said, getting up and stretching her arms.

“One thing before I get an earful,” she said, turning to face Sumire as ‘Hey, Futaba!’ called from downstairs.

“This is something that Morgana and I think, but never got the chance or the courage to ask directly,” Futaba said, walking to the stairs, head poking over the railing before she went down.

“We think that Joker became a separate personality after Okumura’s death, and he thinks Joker is the reason we came back.”

Chapter Text

Laying on the mattress, Sumire looked up to the rafters of the attic, the sound of the regulars filtering in from the floor, chuckles and laughs going in one ear and out the other as she slowly kicked her feet in the air as if she were pedaling her mind to get it to think.

Futaba had gone down the stairs rather quickly without giving Sumire a chance to ask what she meant by Joker being separate from Ren.

It felt wrong to her to think that Ren had somehow split into two separate people, two separate sides and that everyone came back to him because of just one side. Wasn’t it that most of his help and kindness to them was done in the real world, where it was Ren that they had talked to, who she talked to, not Joker?

But thinking like that wasn’t going to get her anywhere; she didn’t know what made Futaba and Morgana think the way they do or why they thought that way, so what was she to do?

She couldn’t pull Futaba away from working; she had avoided it by taking advantage of the fact that Sojiro had slept in, and Morgana was out with Ren at who knows where and what they could be talking about. And since she had already called in sick, she couldn’t go to practice to take her mind off it and wait for Ren to come back.

So, she kept laying there, looking up as her feet fluttered about, mind thinking up questions for Futaba and wandering off down paths that could explain exactly what Futaba had meant.

The first thing that came to her mind was taking it as a literal split, that Ren thought that he and Joker were actually two separate personalities. Then was Joker trapped in the now deleted Metaverse, where there was no way for him to actually come out anymore and serve as a way for Ren to let go?

It quickly faded from her mind the more she thought about it; no way did she believe that Ren was so weak that he couldn’t have made it all those times if he and Joker were actually two separate people. But if it wasn’t a complete split in personality and more of how Ren believed that the Thieves came to him for support, or, if what ‘timing’ thought she meant, when they came to support him.

Sumire still had questions regarding that, but since she couldn’t ask anyone at the moment, her mind wandered off, trying to think of if she might have seen anything that indicated he thought if there was something Ren had done to show that he had, to some degree, separated Joker and himself in front of her.

Rolling over to change how she was laying down, Sumire briefly paused as she felt a bit of pressure as Ren’s glasses pressed against her face. Finishing her roll, Sumire looked up to the rafters as she pulled the pair off, looking at them as a brief thought ran through her mind.

It was the pair that he called his own, and as she looked at them, she turned her head to look at her bag as she thought about the pair that was in there. Putting the pair back on, Sumire got up and walked over to her bag. Shuffling through it a bit, she got the case that held Ren’s old pair out. Sitting on the floor, Sumire took the glasses out and looked at them. Fiddling with it in her hand, they just looked like a pair of glasses. They were just the pair that he wore during that year, and for the time after until he gave them to her. They were just Ren’s old glasses.

Well, that’s how she saw them, she thought, taking Ren’s current pair off and putting the old pair back on. But now that she was wearing them and thinking about the times he put them on her, he had always said that it was Joker’s glasses.

Sitting on the thought, Sumire’s eyes slowly widened as she took the glasses off as she looked at them, small lines forming in her mind as she pieced things together as parts of what Futaba said.

It left parts about ‘timing’ that she still had questions about, but even if that was somewhat blank, Sumire had some idea about how Futaba and Morgana thought that Ren and Joker were somewhat separate people, at least in his mind.

As the thought of Joker being separate from Ren solidified in her mind, the sound of the stairs creaking went in one ear and out the other.

“Hello there.”

Startled at the voice, Sumire looked up at Ren looking down at her, a curious look in their eyes as they noticed his glasses in her hands.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” Morgana said, poking his head out the bag and climbing onto Ren’s shoulders.

“Having some memories?” Ren asked, getting down on Sumire’s level, with Morgana hopping onto the floor and sitting next to her.

“No,” Sumire said, shaking her head. “I’m fine, just thinking a bit about the past.”

Chapter Text

As Sumire scooted over to make room for him, Ren sat down next to her. “Is it something you want to talk about?” he asked, leaning in and resting against her shoulder.

“No,” she said, shaking her head and adjusting her position so that their cheeks touched, taking Ren’s old pair off. “Just wondering about things that I didn’t get to see.”

“Is that so?” Ren asked, a small smile on his face as Sumire adjusted a bit to put the pair away. “Trying to image through the lens?”

“I guess,” Sumire answered, nestling back in place next to Ren as Morgana did the same next to her. “I didn’t get very far without much insight.”

Ren didn’t immediately respond to the answer, letting it hang in the air with a comfortable silence as the two of them enjoyed each other’s presence.

It was eventually broken with a yawn from Morgana, who felt the other’s gaze land on him after the rather long silence. “Did you finish practice early?” Morgana asked, taking the chance to get a conversation going now that the silence had been broken.

“No,” Sumire said, leaning into Ren with a sigh, making him raise his brow. “Futaba wanted to know why a certain someone left so quickly this morning,” she said, looking at the offender. “She said she was going to text coach that I was sick if I didn’t do it myself.”

“Is that so,” both Ren and Morgana said, blinking before they looked at each other. The staredown continued for a few seconds before Morgana got up, stretching a bit as he walked towards the stairs.

“I’ll ask Futaba what she wanted to know,” he said, tail flicking as he went down. “You help her imagine a few more things clearly.” Morgana’s tail gave a final little flick before it got out of sight, leaving the two alone.

Sumire held her breath a bit, thinking that Morgana was going to talk to Futaba about the split personality, when Ren just gave a blank stare, before turning his attention to his girlfriend.

“So,” he said, getting up and reaching a hand down, “Want a clearer picture?”

Shuffling a bit as she sat in Ren’s lap, Sumire looked down at the screen resting in her’s, adjusting it from how it moved. She had quickly gone over the parts that Ren had read earlier by himself, and she didn’t have too many questions about Akechi showing up in Leblanc for the first time, which surprised him a bit.

“Don’t you have any questions regarding Akechi?” he asked, leaning his head over to get a better look at her face.

“No,” Sumire answered, keeping her head straight as she looked at the screen. “Even if I don’t know much, this seems like something that he would be doing and saying.”

More surprised than anything, Ren said nothing and leaned back into position, letting Sumire continue her reading.

• August 29^th, 20XX

As fun as the beach was today, I know what I’m doing going forward.

I’m officially a member of the Phantom Thieves, and I’ll make sure that I’ll find out who killed Mom.

Watch out world, Oracle will find who’s responsible.

I will find you, and the Thieves will get you.

With a small smile on his face, Ren let out a chuckle, getting Sumire to look at him.

“She left out all the best parts about that day,” he laughed, leaning over to get a better look at Sumire.

“Since it was a lot of firsts for her, there are many things that she probably doesn’t other’s who weren’t there to know about,” Ren started, a slight evil showing in his eyes.

“Like how since they were worried for her, Makoto and Ann had her sit between them on a banana boat, and that is how she…” There was a sudden vibration in Ren’s pants that made Sumire yelp, while Ren’s smirk only widened.

Adjusting his position a bit, Ren got his phone out and quickly typed something down.

Putting his phone down, he waited a bit before the sound of feet dashing up the stairs came, followed with Futaba’s head poking out from behind the railings, glaring at him as he just looked back at her with an innocent glance, asking what he could’ve done that was so bad.

“Ren,” she started, pulling her own phone out with her screen facing them.

“What?” he asked, tilting his head and leaning into a flustered Sumire, trying to figure out what could make Futaba leave from the café and come running up the stairs. “I haven’t said anything.”

Giving him a glare, Futaba kept her phone up, slowly going down the stairs as Sojiro called for her to come back down and continue working.

Once her footsteps had left the stairwell, Ren let out a little chuckle, giving Sumire a peck on the cheek before leaning back against the wall.

“I’ll tell you that one when we’re on our own,” he said, his smirk still on his face.

“Do I want to know?” Sumire asked, somewhat concerned at the rare break in composure from Futaba.

“Hey, if anything happens, it’ll be to me,” Ren said, his smirk fading back into a neutral look. “I’m already used to it.”

There was a slight pause as “So, let’s move on to something that’s fine to talk about,” he continued. “Do you know why we text lobster emojis in the group chat sometimes?” Ren asked. Sumire shook her head. “I see it sometimes, but I never see any follow-up,” she not sure where the question was going.

“At the beach, Yusuke spent all of his money for food on two lobsters he bought on a whim,” Ren started, his smile making a slight comeback at the memories. “And because she was curious about everything, Futaba wanted to get her hands on them and feel them up; what she wanted to do after that, I have no idea.”

“Of course, since Yusuke spent a large amount of his money for them, he took advantage of his height and kept them out of her grasp,” he continued as his smile slowly started to grow as he remembered the day. “I don’t remember who started it, probably Ryuji, but it somehow became our stand-in for wanting more information.”

The smile on Ren’s face was something that Sumire was happy to see, but it only made the information she had gotten that morning dig a deeper feeling of dread for what happened next.

Chapter Text

As the smile on Ren’s face slowly started to fade, he turned to look at the stairs at something. Seeing his intense look eventually fade away and leaning against the wall, Sumire looked at the stairs, wondering if Ren had heard something coming up the stairs.

Her suspicion was quickly confirmed when a face popped out towards the bottom of the stairs.

“Hey,” Ren said as Morgana walked over, glancing at them as he jumped onto the bed.

“Hey,” he answered back, looking at Sumire for a brief moment, seemingly more at the laptop that occupied her lap, but his eyes locked with hers for a brief moment before he curled up next to them.

“Learn anything?” Ren asked as he reached a hand down, giving the cat scritches.

“Not really,” Morgana said, turning his head in an attempt to have it lay on Sumire’s lap, raising his body a bit to reach. “Just her typical self, nothing that we really needed to worry about.”

Satisfied with the answer, Ren looked to the laptop and over to Sumire, giving her a go ahead to keep reading.

She looked at Morgana, but his eyes moved over towards the screen, so she took a breath and picked up where she had been.

• August 31^st, 20XX

I went out with Sojiro for some sushi today to celebrate Futaba leaving her room with him. Morgana didn’t get any.

Morgana let out a small hiss at the reminder of missed sushi, making Ren chuckle and pet his head. “You got your fill eventually,” he said, placating the cat with the resuming scritches.

He said something about not believing that the Futaba in front of him was the same person who locked herself into her room and that he wanted me to help keep an eye on her.

Which led to her needing a rescue when we went to Akihabara, when she got separated in a crowd from people rushing towards a sale.

She’s aware of how much she needs to improve, as she was completely unable to deal with a security officer who was talking to her.

She did other things, like calling the beach a tutorial level, and wants me to help her go forward with other things. I just hope that they don’t result in me having to explain to Sojiro how she ends up in certain scenarios.

Feeling her seating shift, Sumire turned to look at Ren, as an uncomfortable look spreading on his face. She also felt Morgana shift against her lap, looking down and seeing the cat tensing up a bit as he glanced up to Ren.

Seeing his girlfriend glancing between them, Ren rested his head on her shoulder, giving her a few seconds to feel him resting there.

When she did, Sumire briefly paused before leaning back and rested a hand on his head.

“Something happened, right?” she asked, recognizing the pattern to his behavior.

“More than something,” Ren answered, eyes quickly glancing at the stairs before looking back down at the screen. “It’ll come eventually, but not now.”

Blinking for a few seconds, Sumire stopped at the rather sudden and firm dismissal of her question. If he didn’t want to talk about something, he would try to steer the conversation somewhere else while not giving a proper answer, so a flat-out rejection of something was that Sumire rarely ever heard him say.

Taking a moment of hesitation, she looked up at Ren, then at the stairs his eyes quickly looked at, but continued on.

• September 1^st, 20XX

Schools back in session. And now I’m starting to get how big we have gotten.

Some people would say this and that, but it’s the first time the top of the government has said anything about us. Sojiro was surprised, which means it’s a first for him to know about it as well, seeing how the TV is almost always on.

Even go to and at school, I could hear everyone complaining about summer break being over, or gossiping about the Phantom Thieves. We were a bigger deal to some people than summer break having come to an end.

Sumire gave a small smile at the line, noticing the small self-congratulatory tone in his words, giving Ren a look to which he responded to by pressing his cheek against hers.

We had a meet up at our old spot before Futaba’s palace, and the topic of whoever was causing the mental shutdowns came up.

Makoto’s sister is looking into it, so hopefully she’s able to get us more information that we just don’t know.

Futaba gave her a USB stick to forcibly download everything on Makoto’s sister’s computer, and that will hopefully get us all that we need before our trip to Hawaii.

Feeling a smirk on Ren’s face, Sumire had an idea about what he was going to say, and waited for it to happen.

There was a strange pause as Morgana looked up at the two of them, wondering what was holding them up from continuing.

Sumire briefly felt the smirk grow a bit as Ren’s head left her shoulders, leaning over to look at her face.

“Were you expecting something?” he asked, not even hiding his smirk and smug tone as he looked at her.

“No,” she huffed, a light blush on her face as she averted her gaze.

Keeping his smirk, Morgana looked between them, rather confused at a joke he was seemingly not in on.

“Were you expecting something?” Morgana asked, repeating Ren’s question with confusion in his voice.

Smirking at the extra pressure Morgana was putting on her, Ren looked to Sumire as her blush increased, changing his smirk to a more innocent look.

“Yeah, were you expecting something?” he asked, the smug tone gone from his voice matching his innocent look.

Sumire mumbled something under her breath, keeping her eyes away, which only made Ren lean in closer.

“What?” he asked, his smug tone sneaking in a bit.

“Nothing!” Sumire finally huffed, making Ren laugh as Morgana just sat there even more confused.

Chapter Text

Deciding that it wasn’t worth the wait to find out what the two were keeping from him, Morgana gave a stretch as he adjusted his positioning, laying a bit higher up on Sumire’s leg than before.

Feeling the cat move against their legs, Ren lightly rubbed his cheeks against Sumire’s before leaning back against the wall.

“Want to keep going?” he asked, looking down at Morgana, who suddenly let out a rather loud yawn, drawing the couple’s attention to him. “Or do you want to make do like the cat and take a break.”

“I’m not tired,” Morgana huffed, arching his back as he stretched. “It’s just close to that time of day.”

Looking at the bottom of the screen, Ren let out a ‘hmmm,’ seeing that it was indeed close to when Morgana would start dozing off a bit with catnaps before it got dark; a hold-over from their old nightly excursions back when the Thieves were up and about that Morgana had every now and again.

“Fair enough, go take your cat nap,” Ren teased, giving Morgana some scritches to quiet the protests that he knew were coming. Within a few seconds, the mews of pleasure changed into soft purrs, with Morgana’s body curling up against Ren’s leg, his head sliding off of Sumire’s lap.

Watching the cat drift off to sleep, Ren put his head onto Sumire’s shoulder, putting a hand on the lid of her computer.

“Before we continue,” he said, slowly closing the screen. “There’s something I want to talk about.”

“What about Morgana?” Sumire asked, taking a look down at the cat, his ears twitching at the mention of his name.

“We’ll be fine,” Ren said, closing the laptop completely. “If we let him, he’ll sleep till the moon is up in the sky.”

Letting the laptop be taken out of her hands, Sumire looked at Ren as he put it to his side, unable to put it on the desk with her sitting on his lap.

“What is it then?” she asked, letting herself get comfortable, wriggling a bit to find the best position as he turned back forward.

“We only have one more night together,” Ren answered, putting his head back onto her shoulder.

“Really?” Sumire asked, leaning in closer to her boyfriend at the comment.

“Yeah, it’s been so fun being with you that I forgot how long I’ve already been here,” he answered, leaning to the side to get a better view of Sumire’s face. “I only realized what day it was when I looked at the time on the computer.”

With a ‘hmm,’ for a response, Sumire shifted a hand to reach for Ren’s, letting their fingers intertwine.

“Nothing to say?” Ren asked, a playful smirk on his face as he changed the direction he was leaning. “Nothing like ‘I’ll miss you’?”

“No,” Sumire said, reaching her other hand out. “I will miss you while you’re gone, but you’ll be back soon enough.”

“Plus, you always find something to tease me with if I do say something like that,” she finished as their fingers mixed.

Letting a chuckle out, Ren gave both of her hands a squeeze as he straightened himself up, pulling Sumire in a bit closer.

“But you’re so cute when you get teased,” he laughed, moving their arms so that they sat in Sumire’s lap.

“Sure,” Sumire answered, letting her answer hang for a second before a growling made it drop to the floor.

“Want to go make dinner?” Ren asked, letting go of Sumire’s hands, placing his on her knees.

“Sure.”

As they waited for the ingredients in the pot to simmer, Ren and Sumire stood in the kitchen, a warm atmosphere floating over them as they listened to the gas burn and the pot bubble.

Sojiro had already closed up shop for the night when they came down, leaving a note for them that said they were free to make something with what was left in the fridge. They decided to make some beef stew, with Ren heading out to the store to find the rue while Sumire started the prep work.

It was quick work to be done once Ren came back, as the two split their tasks without much talk. Since making dinner was always first, they could talk while they ate.

Once they had stood there for a few seconds, Ren shifted his weight a bit as he looked over to the wall of beans, eyeing it up and down for what he thought he could get away using.

“Thinking about what to make?” Sumire asked, turning to look at him as his eyes continued to scour the wall.

“Maybe,” Ren answered, stepping away to open some of the drawers to see how full they were.

“He won’t be happy about it,” Sumire said, a small smile on her face as she checked on the stew, taking the lid of the pot. “I know you’re looking at the pricy beans.”

“What’s he going to do, kick me out?”

 That got a small chuckle out of Sumire, stirring the stew and putting the lid back onto the pot as she determined that it wasn’t ready yet.

“Besides, he rarely uses the stuff,” Ren continued, seemingly content with the amount in the cupboards. “It’ll be a waste if they’re not used.”

Shaking her head, Sumire said, ‘I don’t know you if he gets mad,’ under her breath as Ren started to make his blend, lighting up two of the siphons to get the water boiling.

Sitting next to each other at the counter, Ren patiently waited for Sumire to be done with her food, taking sips of his coffee while watching her working her way through her second plate and thinking if she should have a third because she played hooky and didn’t exercise.

“So,” Ren said, putting a hand on Sumire’s shoulder, turning her face with her mouth full, a grain of rice on the edge of her lip.

“Was the coffee worth it?”

Chapter Text

As the last plate was put on the drying rack, Sumire and Ren took a step back as they looked in different directions of the café; Sumire looked over to the wall of the beans, wondering if they would actually get in trouble for using some, while Ren looked down at his feet, mind wandering as his balance shifted around.

When Sumire turned back to look at him, he was looking like he could fall over at any moment, seemingly so absorbed at his feet that a small push would send him toppling over. There was a part of her that was tempted to give him a little nudge, perhaps a bit of payback for all the teasing.

If she did go through with it, she knew that Ren would be able to fall properly given his time as a thief, and as she thought about it, he could probably take the fall and pull her down with him.

Thinking about how that would end up, a bit of heat crept up on her face, her mind wandering as the possible responses from Ren that would only make her attack into a quick rout.

She was so caught up in these thoughts that she didn’t notice some footsteps come behind her, only once something came to rest on her shoulder did Sumire realize how lost in thought she was.

“So,” Ren said, his breath tickling her ears. “Shall we go back up?”
 

Ears twitching, Morgana opened his eyes as Ren and Sumire came up the stairs, raising his head and letting out a yawn. Before he could say anything, a shout from further down the street made everyone stop, turning to see what the source of it was. 

Poking his head out the window, Ren saw a man, wobbling as he walked, clearly intoxicated as he nearly walked into a power line, yelling about something that he didn't care to listen about.

Waiting a few seconds longer as the drunk had walked past by then, Ren looked down at Morgana, stretching as he gave another yawn and flicked his tail.

"What did I miss?" Morgana asked, looking at Sumire as she walked up to the mattress.

"Dinner," Ren said bluntly, reaching down to give him some scritches. "And some small talk."

"So nothing," Morgana mewed, breaking away as Sumire sat on the mattress, sitting next to her.

"I guess," Ren shrugged, sitting down and turning to look at Sumire.

There was a moment of silence that was only broken by a yawn, which got a small pat on Sumire's head.

After a few minutes, Ren decided to break the silence.

"Morgana," he said turning to look at his friend. "Can I have you spend the night downstairs?"

"Any reason?" Morgana asked back, leaning out to get a look at Ren's face.

"Some things that I want to talk about with Sumire, where it's just the two of us."

Staring Ren down, Morgana gave it some thought as his eyes flicked back and forth between Ren and Sumire.

"Sure," Morgana eventually answered, hopping off and making his way to the stairs.

"I'll sleep on one of the booths tonight," he said, tail flicking as he made his way down.

"Good night."

Watching as Morgana's tail disappeared, Ren and Sumire waited for the 'click-clack' of tags on Morgana's collar to stop, before Ren turned to face Sumire.

“First,” he said, lowering his hand and putting it on her lap. “Do you want to talk about me going, or what is about to happen?”

“About to happen?” Sumire asked, returning Ren’s gesture.

“Okumura,” Ren said, his eyes not moving, seemingly staring at something behind Sumire’s head.

“Oh,” she said, slowly giving his leg a rub, from about the middle of his thigh to his knee.

“Do you want to talk about Okumura?” Sumire asked, giving his leg a squeeze before continuing to rub.

“No,” Ren answered, eyes focusing back onto Sumire. “But there were plenty of times where I made you talk about what you were feeling even if you didn’t want to. I can’t deny it from you if you want to know my feelings on the matter.”

The mention of discussing her feelings made Sumire hesitate, remembering her feelings at the moment and all of the support that Ren had given her. While she didn’t deny that it was rough, having to go through everything and having to say it all out, a part of her wondered if she could go forward and give him the same kind of support he had given her.

“Let’s start with you going, then,” she answered, pausing her rub at the halfway point. “What is your plan?”

“My plan?” Ren asked, taking a moment to think about it.

“Well, finish preparing for certification, I suppose,” he started, looking down at Sumire’s hand resting his other one on top of it. “And once that’s done, move back to Tokyo, hopefully by New Year's, and prepare for entrance exams.”

“Exams?”

“Yeah, to enter university. Kind of hard to prepare for that when you didn’t study any of the material needed because of circumstance,” Ren answered, giving Sumire’s hand a squeeze.

Holding her breath at his answer, Sumire squeezed back, letting Ren’s answer hang over their heads.

“Was it really so hard?” Sumire asked, thinking about what sort of problems Ren would’ve faced in his final year.

“The only place that would take me was where I went for first year. No one else wanted someone who was potentially involved with a political party losing the Prime Minister on election day to cut at their funding,” Ren hissed, leaning over to rest his head on Sumire’s lap.

Squeaking in surprise, Sumire looked down at Ren as he looked back, a hand reaching up to her cheek.

“It’s going to be rough, to do everything I can to support you going forward, be it as an athlete or whatever it is you want to do after that,” Ren said, fingers traveling across Sumire’s face.

Letting him explore, Sumire watched as he closed his eyes, his fingers first going for her lips, his thumb rubbing against them while his index finger ran into her glasses.

Chapter Text

As she started to wake, there was a chill that ran over Sumire. Not entirely sure what it was, Sumire opened her eyes and looked down, seeing a small something of blue that covered her upper body while her bare legs gave off a warm glow in the morning light.

As she became more aware of her surroundings, Sumire noticed that said small blue something was a blanket, and that under said blanket was her naked body.

Trying to remember what had happened last night, Sumire slowly started to blush as she recalled bits and pieces. Sitting upright and covering herself with the blanket, Sumire spotted them folded neatly on the shelf, and she was quick to change into them.

After getting dressed, Sumire looked down at her chest and gave a light tap, as if trying to remember if what had happened actually did, when she heard a large smack.

Flinching at the sound, Futaba said something, though Sumire couldn’t hear any of it, which was followed by the sound of walking, and the jingle of the bell on the door came soon after.

Hesitating to head down, Sumire heard Sojiro let out a big sigh, and he seemed to have said something.

Checking herself to see if she was dressed, Sumire walked down the stairs to see Sojiro standing behind the counter by himself, shaking his head as he lit a cigarette.

“Um,” Sumire hesitated, looking to see if anyone else was still there, maybe just out of her line of sight.

“Oh, morning miss,” Sojiro said, letting a puff of smoke out as he spoke.

“What happened?” Sumire asked, only making Sojiro shrug.

“Not too sure myself,” he said, walking over to the kitchen, plating a plate of curry.

“They were talking rather quietly amongst themselves,” he continued, placing the plate in front of Sumire. “Not really sure what happened, but Futaba got mad and smacked him across the face.”

Pausing with the spoon almost in her mouth, Sumire looked at Sojiro as if she didn’t believe him, making him chuckle.

“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it either,” he said, getting a siphon boiling as he looked at the beans. “But seeing how the cat didn’t complain, I can only say he had it coming.”

Putting the spoon down, surprise and confusion were the dominant expressions on her face as she thought about what Sojiro had told her.

Ren and Futaba were talking about something, and Ren was so far in the wrong, Morgana felt it was justified that Futaba slapped him.

If it was something Futaba cared about, she should be able to keep in even if Ren may have said something to completely upset her, but Sumire couldn’t even imagine what it was that would get both Morgana and Futaba mad at him.

“Ah, he used the good beans,” Sojiro huffed, making Sumire look at him. “I hope the smack was hard enough.”

“So,” Futaba said, sitting in her chair with Morgana in her lap, as Ren sat on her bed, averting his gaze. “Do you have a better explanation?”

“Why?” Ren asked, looking to see how exactly her room had changed, seeing something resting over the doorframe.

“You know why,” Morgana said as Ren looked elsewhere, noticing the empty fridge that was next to Futaba’s computer. “Why can’t you just ask for her support?”

“I don’t need to,” Ren huffed, giving the pair side-eye as he scooted towards the wall, checking the shelf with figures if any were some that his money had bought. “I only need to support her.”

“Ren,” Morgana sighed, shaking his head. “We’ve talked about this more times than we can count, just because she still actively wants your support doesn’t mean you can just ignore that everyone doesn’t need you to support them as much anymore.”

“Oh, I know,” Ren said, his eyes hardening into a glare as he looked at the two. “I saw that well enough.”

“Ren,” Futaba let out an exasperated sigh, lowering her face to her hands, glassing raising up her forehead as she pinched her nose. “We eventually came back and realized we were wrong, why do you still bring it up?”

“Who did you come back for?” Ren asked, crossing his arms as Morgana’s own eyes hardened.

“You…” he started before stopping himself, taking some deep breathes and lowering his face. “I know that it hurt you, the thought that we would leave you behind after everything you did for us, but you have to stop saying that as your only excuse. Just because we said Joker, that was not who we came back for. You are Joker as much as you are Ren.”

There was a bit of hesitance in Ren’s eyes at the mention of Joker, as he did every time they talked about it, but all of that disappeared when Morgana continued.

“Just because she’s the only one who depends on you as Ren and not Joker in your mind doesn’t mean you can hide it from her.”

“Sumire is not involved in this,” Ren said, leaning forward.

“She’s going to be,” Futaba pushed back, rolling her chair closer. “She’s going to see what you wrote and ask why you say certain things later on. Will you just dodge everything to keep things in your control?”

“This is not about control,” Ren growled, leaning in closer and resting his chin on his hands.

“Yes it is,” Futaba rolled closer, her face a few inches away from Ren’s. “It’s always been what control being Joker gave you. The perfect control you felt when you could just cruise through the first few Palaces, the fear of losing that control that fighting my mother put in you, the belief that if you stayed thinking as Joker that you could’ve saved Okumura’s life, the idea that you were the one who could free everyone from a false world.”

Leaning in further, Futaba pressed her forehead against Ren, looking at him straight in the eyes. “Or making the moves on your girlfriend so she doesn’t question you about how you felt when ‘you,’” Futaba punctuated, poking Ren in the chest, “took control before Okumura died? Yeah, does sound like someone who’s not driven by a need for control.”

A raging fury boiled over in Ren’s eyes as Futaba said that, quickly standing up and making his way to the door.

“We’re not done, Ren,” Futaba said, looking at him reach for the knob, not turning to look at her.

When he started to twist it, Futaba let out a sigh and clapped her hands. “Palace,” she said, which caused a bolt to come down and keeping Ren from opening the door.

Trying to open it a few times and failing, Ren turned to face Futaba with an icy glare that she didn’t back down from.

“Open the door,” he said, his voice just as icy as his eyes as Futaba just looked back at him.

“No,” Futaba answered, looking right back at Ren with just as much determination

Staring each other down, Ren instead turned his eyes to the device above the door that seemed to have triggered the bolt, reaching a finger up to test it.

“Don’t bother, that’s just the mic,” Futaba said, making Ren lower his hand. “You break that, and you have to bust us out of my room, which Sojiro won’t be too happy about.”

Realizing that he was trapped, Ren’s hand went back to the doorknob, giving it a few twists and shakes, pushing against the door, before stopping, his breathing being the only movement he made.

“I know you hate the idea that somehow, you’re imperfect, and that being Joker made you perfect, but we think it’s true,” Futaba said, as Morgana gave a small nod, ignoring the suddenly still Ren. “Why else would you try to make Sumire think about things as Joker would, not as you would.”

“I’m not perfect, no one is,” Ren said, his hand still on the doorknob, tightly squeezing it.

“We know,” Morgana said. “But Joker wasn’t either.” 

Chapter Text

Stewing in the silence of his admission of imperfection and Morgana’s response, Ren stood there with the doorknob still in his hand while Morgana got out of Futaba’s lap, jumping onto the bed to get a closer line of sight with Ren.

“I know that you still value us deeply, that you want us to stay with you,” Morgana said, raising his body and resting his forelimbs on Ren’s waist, trying to get even closer. “But what you want from Sumire is different; that you two stay together through thick and thin, but she can’t do that if you won’t let her support you.”

Moving his head to look at his friend, Ren looked at Morgana before glancing up, staring into nothing as his grip on the knob relaxed.

“We get that us falling to ‘temptation’ hurt you, and we don’t deny that we were wrong,” Futaba said, getting up from her chair. “And we know that our apologies may not have been enough for you to completely forgive us, but we all love you.”

Feeling a pair of arms wrap around him from behind, Ren took a look over his shoulder as Futaba buried her face in his back, glasses pressing into her nose and his spine.

“It hurts seeing my brother deny himself something he gave to everyone, especially when that something is what you need right now to ensure that the happiness you have will last in the future.”

Turning to face the door again, Ren lowered his face to press against the wooden surface, its cool touch seemingly calming him down as he let out a sigh.

“Alright,” he said, reaching a hand over his shoulder to give Futaba a pat on the head, getting her to look up. “I’ll talk about it with her.”

Feeling Futaba relax her grasp and Morgana sitting down, Ren let go of the door and turned around. “But not today.”

Morgana reached further up, leading Ren to push Futaba off and sit against the door, making Morgana back off to not fall.

“She has practice today, and I’d hate to have my last day with her to be a downer.”

With a sigh of her own, Futaba shook her head as she made her way back to her chair.

“That talk won’t get you out of here,” she said, giving the chair a quick spin as she slid back, stopping while facing away from Ren, making her scoot her feet to look at him.

“Doesn’t get you out either, and I’m sure you’re bleeding money to get the internet back,” Ren said, crossing his legs as he looked back at Futaba.

“I’ll be fine,” Futaba said, leaning back in her chair. “School will be back soon, so I’ll be busy enough. Not like I have friends to be with, so I can just work after school and problem solved.”

Sitting in their game of chicken, Morgana just stood in the middle, looking from the bed as the two of them stared each other down, before letting out a sigh.

“Ren, you said that you would talk to Sumire, but you were trying to control the situation again,” he said, jumping down and sitting in front of him.

Not answering, Ren looked at Morgana as he stared back, the two of them staring each other down.

“Okay, how about this,” Futaba said, clapping to get the two to look at her.

“You answer a few questions to me honestly, and I let you go,” she started, surprising both Morgana and Ren, the former having a look of betrayal on his face.

“In exchange, you have to call me daily and assure me that you will talk with Sumire about what happened with Okumura, the false reality, and why you can’t have others support you.”

“Deal,” Ren said, while Morgana’s look of betrayal staying as Futaba stretched her fingers.

“Okay, first…”

“Was it really okay to do that?” Morgana asked while Futaba stood on a stool, reaching for the device that rested above her door.

“I understand that those were his real feelings and that it’s good that he’s let those all out, but making a daily call seems too easy.”

“We’re fine,” Futaba said, taking the thing off without much issue, making Morgana blink.

“Wha…” he started trying to get a better look as Futaba stepped down.

“While it was true that this was a mic,” Futaba grinned, no wires poking out of the device as she showed it to Morgana, a hole in the wall behind where it had rested missing. “It’s not connected to the bolt.”

Looking at the device, Morgana gave it a blank stare before Futaba pulled a layer of plastic off, making him realize what it was.

“Great, right?” Futaba smirked, pulling a chip out of the bug and putting it into a reader.

“I’ll send bits and pieces of it to Sumire, and before he comes back, I’ll send her the full thing.”

As the two of them stood behind the counter, Sojiro watched in utter confusion as Ren and Futaba seemed to have looks on both of their faces that showed that they both thought they had won.

Ren had been the first to come back, Sumire already leaving for practice by the time he had done so, but when Futaba and the cat came back, there was a strange feeling of acceptance that was going, and after seeing what had happened that morning only made Sojiro shake his head.

“Kids, he said, checking the rice cooker to see if he would need to make a new batch soon, lunch was surprisingly busy, when he heard the door open.

“Hello,” a voice said, making Sojiro poke his head out, recognizing it.

“Hey,” Sojiro answered back, while Ren was already moving in front of the counter, reaching a hand out to the man.

“Father,” he said, making the man chuckle.

“Now, now,” Shinichi chuckled, taking the hand, playing the public part.

“I’m just a customer, and I want to have a little chat.”

Chapter Text

Standing to the side, Sojiro and Futaba watched as Ren plated some curry, a siphon of coffee boiling as he put the plate before Shinichi.

Despite the fact that he was fine to be the one serving, Futaba pushed Sojiro to the side, a look on her face asking him to let it play out.

It didn’t really matter who served Shinichi, and for Sojiro, he was rather interested in how the two would interact, seeing how the last time he saw them together, Ren shoved a fork up his own nose. Futaba, on the other hand, wanted to hear what kind of juicy things she could pull out of the conversation, no matter how minute of a detail it could be.

“So, how did you hear about this place?” Ren asked, serving Shinichi his coffee.

“Well,” Shinichi started when his phone buzzed. Taking a quick look at it, he put it to the side after turning it off.

“Sorry about that, work things,” he said, getting a nod from Ren who missed Futaba sliding her phone back into her pocket. “Sumire mentioned this place a few times before, and I figured that I should at least come by once.”

“If you like it, you should come by more often,” Ren said, getting a smirk from Sojiro. “Sumire already doesn’t have to pay, he’ll just make me work it off,” he finished, pointing at Sojiro, whose smirk turned into a disapproving frown.

“Hey,” he protested, getting a chuckle from Futaba and a laugh from Shinichi.

“Maybe I’ll take you up on that offer,” he chuckled, taking a sip of the coffee as Sojiro sighed, giving Ren a look who just shrugged in response.

“Still, I can see why she loves this place,” Shinichi said, putting his cup down and taking a bite of curry. “With the atmosphere, amazing food,” he continued, letting the flavor settle for a moment before taking another bite, getting a smile out of Sojiro.

“Yeah, I got lucky this was where I ended up,” Ren said, pouring himself a cup as Sojiro gave him a look, looking behind him as if he could see if any high-quality beans were missing from their containers.

“Speaking of,” Shinichi continued, putting his spoon to the side and taking a sip of coffee. “Can you tell me about how you ended up in Tokyo, Sumire is rather adamant about not talking about it if you’re not there.”

The somewhat cheerful mood quickly faded at the question, as Ren stood still, wondering what he was going to do.

Briefly glancing over to Sojiro and Futaba, the latter had already disappeared, most likely upstairs with Morgana, while Sojiro just gave him a look and reached for a newspaper.

“I suppose I should,” Ren said, getting a tea pack from his apron, an annoyed ‘hey’ coming from Sojiro as he poured some hot water into a cup.

Watching the teabag seeping into the water mirrored Ren’s thoughts as he tried to think of how he was going to explain to his girlfriend’s father that he was an ex-convict. He had been proven innocent in the whole ordeal, but there would still be some difficulties later on just from being associated with the crime.

“It started back in my hometown, when…”

Taking Ren’s story in, Shinichi sat there at the counter, looking at his coffee, a brown distorted image of himself looking back at him as his hands trembled a bit, with many thoughts racing through his and Ren’s minds.

There was a part of Ren that absolutely did not want to say anything about his past without Sumire around, hoping that having her present would soften the blow when he inevitably did have to tell them, but with Futaba leaving and Sojiro being the only one around, the sudden nerves and fear he felt was certainly more than he had been anticipating.

“She knows about this, right?” Shinichi eventually said, taking a sip from the coffee to seemingly still herself.

“Yes,” Ren said, biting his tongue as the rest of his answer sat on the tip of it. “She was informed when we ran into each other by chance when Kamoshida had finished talking with her.”

Shinichi visibly stiffened at the name, which Ren couldn’t fault him for, having seen how his mind had worked.

“She said nothing happened, but it still worries me; did it seem like anything happened?” he asked, with Sojiro peaking out from his paper.

“No.” It was a firm answer, one with no hesitation as it left Ren’s mouth. “Nothing happened between them.”

“That’s good,” Shinichi said, visibly relieved and taking a sip. “I was worried that with what had happened with Kasumi, she didn’t want to say anything about it to us.”

Ren bit his tongue again, hesitating to say any more at the mention of Kasumi, as Shinichi looked at him, a softer look on his face.

“I understand why you would want to hide this from us, and I had my thoughts,” he started, making Ren freeze. “But I think you’re good for Sumire. She wouldn’t talk about you like she does if you were guilty of anything, and she’s the happiest I’ve seen her when she talks about her future.”

Finishing his plate and passing it to Ren, who took it and placed it in the sink, following Shinichi to the door.

“Thanks for the meal,” Shinichi said, a quick bow coming from Ren as Sojiro’s ‘come again’ followed him out the door, quickly stretching for a moment before going on his way.

The ticking of the clock was the only sound that could be heard in the café as Ren let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, leaning against the counter as he felt his legs give way, his nerves catching up to him.

“You okay?” Sojiro asked, getting up from his seat and putting the paper to the side, walking back behind the counter, taking a cigarette out of his apron.

“I think so,” Ren answered, putting his strength back into his legs as he shakily got up. “Just my nerves getting me.”

“I’ll bet,” Sojiro said, giving a puff to his tobacco as Ren made his way to the stairs.

“That’s what you get for not telling them right away with her.”

Chapter Text

Making his way up the stairs, Ren didn’t even see Futaba laying down on the couch, phone up in the air as she was watching something with Morgana curled up on her stomach, seemingly in a light nap from how he was breathing. Ren just bee-lined to the bed and plopped right down, laying down with his feet hanging in the air over the edge of the mattress.

“That one had weight to it,” Futaba said, looking away from her screen as Ren let out a massive sigh, rolling over as a hand reached for his face as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

“I thought my heart was going to explode,” he said, hand still on his face as he massaged his cheeks. “My mind completely froze when he asked about why I came to Tokyo.”

“I bet,” Futaba said, turning back to her phone. “Would’ve been nice to have someone vouch for you there.”

Sitting up, Ren gave Futaba a glare that she promptly ignored, turning her phone to type something before going back to whatever she had been doing.

“Don’t look at me like I’m responsible,” Futaba said, her eyes still on her screen. “Sojiro was with you and he could’ve said something.”

“Why would he?” Ren answered, turning his body to face Futaba. “It was a part of my relationship that had nothing to do with him.”

“True,” Futaba replied, moving a hand to give Morgana a little scratch. “But there is someone who you could always count on.”

Letting her answer sit for a moment, Ren had a realization as his glare returned. “Did you tell him about this place?” he asked, a near hushed tone like he was back to the time of the Thieves.

“And what if I did,” Futaba shrugged, turning her phone to have the screen facing Ren. “You know I can just hide it from you, and maybe he just chanced upon her by luck.”

Knowing that if she really wanted to, Futaba could hide any evidence that she had been in contact with Shinichi from him, Ren just resumed his glare, his eyes not softening as Morgana started to stir.

“What are you trying to pull?” Ren asked, Morgana letting out a yawn, completely unaware of the rising tension around him.

“Nothing,” Futaba said, turning her screen back to her face, tapping away at something before crossing her fingers and holding her breath.

Not happy with the answer Ren got up and walked over to her, hand reaching for her phone to move it out of her sight, when “What’s going on?” interrupted him.

Ren and Futaba turned to face Morgana looking at them, flicking his hind legs and tail after a stretch, a general look of curiosity in his eyes.

“Nothing,” Ren eventually huffed, letting go of Futaba’s phone, causing it to slide from her grasp and fall on her face, ignoring the squawk of pain that came from her as he lay back down on his bed. “Nothing you need to be involved in.”

Looking at Futaba who quickly stuck her tongue out at Ren when his back faced her, instantly going back to her phone, Morgana didn’t think much about it and hopped off her, landing about half way between the couch and the bed as he walked over towards Ren.

“Anything I missed?” he asked, sitting down at Ren’s feet, looking up and tilting his head, hoping to lower his guard a bit.

“When did you doze off?” Ren asked back, raising his feet and rolling over, his back facing them.

“I don’t know, Futaba’s gotten really good at picking me up without me noticing when I’m sleeping,” Morgana answered, hopping up onto the bed, walking over toward the head to try to peer over Ren’s head.

Ren started to turn his head over, but there was a slight hesitation in his movement. While it wouldn’t have been strange for Futaba to develop such a skill, it was something that Ren had never seen. And now that he was thinking about it, the two of them seemed to be in cahoots with each other. Well, it was more like Futaba had a plan and was drip-feeding information to Morgana to do what she wanted him to if Ren thought about it, but it was still cooperation.

“You’re thinking about something,” Morgana said, making Ren turn over and look at him. “I’ve known you long enough, and seen you lie in bed like this enough times when we lived here, you’re thinking about something and don’t know what to say or do.”

The two of them stared at each other for a few minutes, Ren’s mind trying to calculate if it was worth trying to question Morgana about what Futaba was planning, if he learned anything at all, while Morgana just lay down, not breaking eye contact on the way down.

“Sumire’s father came in for lunch,” Ren eventually said, breaking their staredown as he rolled back over. “He asked me about why I lived here while in Tokyo, and I thought I was going to die.”

“Yeah, that sounds rough,” Morgana said, scooting across the bed to move out of the way if Ren were to roll towards him.

“It flowed into how she found out through Kamoshida, and how she might not have said anything because Kasumi had just died, and I didn’t know what I was supposed to say,” Ren continued, the tension in his voice reflecting in his tightening frame.

Seeing how Ren was reacting, and the rather nonchalant reaction from Futaba, seemingly more invested in whatever she was doing on her phone, a part of Morgana was hesitant to say something to either of them. And it was the first time in a long time, since he was on his own after running off, that Morgana didn’t know what he was supposed to do.

Chapter Text

As he sat on the edge of the bed, Morgana’s eyes kept looking between Ren, curled up against the wall and quietly brooding to himself and Futaba, who was still looking at her phone. Watching the two made a few thoughts go back and forth in his mind. The first thing was Shinichi talking to Ren about his past, and how both Ren and Sumire were adamant about telling her parents about their pasts together. Second was the questions that Futaba had asked Ren, and her mission to try and tear him down so that Sumire could build him back up again. Now that he was seeing how she had laid out the foundation of her plan, Morgana was hesitant if he wanted to tell Ren about it or not.

There was a part of him that either didn’t realize, or more likely, didn’t want to admit, how much Ren had built himself out to believe that he didn’t need support and seeing him slowly falling apart made Morgana worried that they were doing it in the wrong way. But a different part of him that knew that something had to change with Ren and that doing nothing now would only make his inevitable crash hit him and Sumire all the harder.

Lowering his face as he thought about it, the ringing of the bell on the door made his ears twitch, with a familiar rhythm of footsteps making Morgana put a hold on his thoughts; a perfect test case for Futaba’s methods had come.

As she entered the attic, something about the atmosphere was defiantly wrong to Sumire. Ren was curled up against the wall on the mattress, Morgana was looking at her expectantly and Futaba, well, she was just looking at her phone like usual, but something about it didn’t sit right.

Focusing on Ren, she made her way towards him, Morgana hopping out of the way and sitting on the floor, making room for her to sit next to him.

“Hey,” she said, reaching a hand to his shoulder. “You alright?”

It seemed to take a while for Ren to respond, slowly turning over to look at her. Seeing her face, he immediately relaxed, tension leaving his shoulders as he completely rolled over.

“Hey,” he answered, reaching a hand out to grasp Sumire’s, quickly clasping them together. “Good to see you.”

“That was rather firm,” she said, lifting her legs onto the mattress as she adjusted her posture to get closer, knees getting close to his face. “Did something happen?” There was a moment of hesitation in Ren’s eyes, looking to Morgana and Futaba.

Sumire didn’t miss it, turning to look at the two. “Can I ask you two to leave?” she asked, looking at Morgana first, flicking his tail as he got up.

“Sure,” he said, walking over to Futaba, posturing for a jump.

“Don’t,” Futaba said, swinging her legs to the side and sliding her phone into her pocket in one move. “I’ll go,” she said, giving Morgana only the briefest of glances.

“Thanks,” Sumire said, getting a casual wave from Futaba as she made her way down the stairs, the clicking of Morgana’s collar following suit.

Seeing that they had left, Sumire turned her attention back to Ren.

“So,” she asked, missing the small black ears that were poking out from the floor. “What happened?”

“Your father showed up today and asked about why I was in Tokyo,” Ren started, his grip firming up as the feelings slowly started to resurface.

Poking his face up so that he could see, Morgana saw Sumire’s grip tighten, her hand clamping with Ren’s so hard that Morgana was certain that his paw would’ve been broken if it was between them.

“Why?” Sumire asked, shifting her position again to get a better view of Ren’s face.

“I don’t know,” he answered, reaching a hand for her face. “He said he just got curious and came by, but I don’t think that was the real reason.”

Easing her grip, Sumire raised a hand to reach for her cheek, gently rubbing the hand resting against it.

“It’s always possible that he really did come today by chance, but still…” Letting his thoughts drift, Sumire

“I know that we wanted to talk about this together, but I couldn’t avoid it,” Ren continued, releasing his grip on Sumire and sitting up. “I couldn’t not answer those questions without raising suspicion, especially since he said you didn’t want to talk about it with him.”

“Yeah,” Sumire said, lowering her face. “We were going to say everything together.

Holding his breath, Morgana watched as the two sat there in silence, a gentle rubbing sound being the only thing in the air.

“Well, it would seem strange if we kept hiding it for so long,” Sumire broke the silence, reaching for Ren’s face. “When we get the chance, we should probably have a talk with my parents about our pasts.”

“Yeah,” he answered, covering her hand with his. “Maybe not everything, but we should let them know.”

Sitting on her bed and scrolling through her phone, Futaba processed what Morgana had told her, not taking in anything she looked at as she thought.

“Do you really think that’s good enough?” he asked, walking around at the foot of the mattress, preparing to curl up.

“It’s a start,” Futaba said, reaching a hand down to pet Morgana. “Sumire needs to get the idea that she needs to do something to get him to open up a bit.”

“Is this the best way to do it though?” Morgana asked, looking at the hand that was too far away to reach him, having chosen to curl up against the wall. “Getting them to talk with her parents is one thing, but I don’t think anything about Kasumi or Maruki will be involved.”

“It’s fine~~,” Futaba said, dismissing Morgana’s worries as her hand moved back to her screen as she started to scroll again. “If getting her talk about it looks like it’ll help him, then I’ll find a way to make it happen.”

The casual dismissal of his worries, while normally was something that he would only be annoyed at or ignore, was now really starting to make him anxious about carrying out the plan.

“I hope you’re right.”

Chapter Text

Stirring a bit, Ren was the first to wake as he looked around the dark attic of Leblanc. Attempting to move his arm, he felt a weight on it. If he were to just raise it without thinking, it would’ve been easy to do so, but a soft, warm feeling in him told him to slow down and look around a bit. Taking a moment to let his eyes adjust, Ren saw Sumire lying peacefully on her side, her head resting on the mattress while her neck rested on his arm.

With a small grin, an automatic response for him at this point, Ren reached a hand out to gently rub Sumire’s face, brushing some hair out of the way as he felt a warmth build in his chest.

Hearing the sound of the door opening downstairs, Ren slowly moved his arm, trying not to wake Sumire. After successfully doing so, he sat up, shifting his weight before wondering if his underwear always felt like it did at the moment.

Reaching a hand down to make sure, Ren froze when he realized nothing was there. Memories from the night before started to rush back, making his eyes dart around in panic, wondering if anyone had already come up, and he just wasn’t awake when they did.

Scanning around for where their clothes were, his first worry was alleviated when he noticed that they were relatively close by before checking to see if anything else was amiss.

Seeing that there didn’t seem to be, Ren moved cautiously, lest he expose Sumire, making sure that the blanket was completely covering her before reaching for his clothes.

Hastily putting them on, Ren took the chance to check around the room again, looking at things from a new perspective as his mind tried to remember how things were.

Everything seemed fine, and he let out a sigh of relief. Ren went and picked up Sumire’s clothes, hesitating a bit as a patch of strawberries stared at him from the floor. Looking around again, Ren bit his lips as he picked them up, walking back over to the bed as he carried it. Instantly putting it down, Ren piled the rest of Sumire’s clothes on top of it as he tried to take it out of his mind, thinking of what made him do such a thing and what he was supposed to do now.

Was it the supposed finality of outing himself as a thief to her parents, did it make him panic?  Feeling like there was now a very solid chance that Shinichi would no longer approve, the one parent that Ren thought he had an …, amicable relationship with, possibly falling through? He couldn’t deny the possibility of it being a factor. As that thought lingered, a somewhat bitter taste started to form in his mouth. He didn’t want to think that he was so shallow as letting something like that drive him, but if it really was a deciding factor, Ren couldn’t help but feel a building sense of disappointment in himself.

Hearing fabric shuffling behind him, he turned to look at Sumire, who seemed to have noticed a Ren-shaped object missing from the bed, slowly stirring and waking up. It took his mind off of such thoughts as Sumire rolled over, facing him as her eyes slowly started to open.

A groggy, ‘morning,’ came from her, reaching a hand out that fumbled a bit trying to find something to grab onto. Reaching his hand out, Ren smiled as Sumire softly grabbed onto it, the yawn she let out as her fingers intertwined with his, his thoughts slowly beaten out with a kind of warmth in his chest. There was little more for him to think about as she got up, realizing that her clothes were neatly in a pile at the corner of the bed and what that meant, fumbling around as she pulled the sheet up to cover herself as her eyes darted towards the stairs, making Ren smile as he let go, giving her room to get dressed.

Watching as Ren walked away through the ticket gates, Sumire shuffled in place a bit as he got further away before giving her one last look back and wave before he melted into the crowd. Seeing that he had left, Sumire let out a sigh that she didn’t know she was holding, turning around as she carried her bag, a mix of nervousness and dread forming in her stomach as she thought about what would be waiting for her back home.

Hesitating for a moment, Sumire paused when Leblanc came to mind when she thought of home, a small, pained smile on her lips as she thought about what that actually meant.

As she opened the door, the apartment was rather quiet, though that was to be expected. Both of her parents should still have been at work, and it would be a while until they would come back. Making her way to her room, Sumire put her bag on the floor as she thought about everything that had happened in the few days that she had been away from home.

Learning more about Ren’s past and his thoughts about how he saw the Metaverse well before she had access to it, Futaba slapping Ren in an argument, her father’s surprise visit that prompted them to talk about coming (somewhat) clean about their pasts, which somehow lead to … an advancement in their intimacy. If it hadn’t been for the last three, it would’ve been a regular period of time they spent together, like it used to be.

The ‘pomph’ of her landing on her mattress put a halt to those thoughts, staring up at the ceiling as she wondered what was supposed to happen next. The time to study for exams were approaching, something that she couldn’t wholly avoid with her status as an honor student, waiting for Ren to come back during winter break so that they could spend some more time with each other, the reduced amount of practice she was going to have as she studied.

Those thoughts lingered until her phone started going off, notification after notification breaking her thought process. Sumire picked it up, wondering what it was, only to see about ten texts from Futaba. With concern building, Sumire quickly jumped to her messages, scrolling up to see what was so important that Futaba would constantly message her:

You up?

You out?

You up?

You out?

You up?

You out?

You up?

You out?

You up?

You out?

You picked up!

Call me, we need to talk

Chapter Text

Seeing the text, Sumire blinked at it for a few seconds before making sure it was the right number.

The first part was a perfect match for something that Futaba would send her, and it was rare that any text from her was actually serious. Staring at her phone, Sumire wondered if Futaba was being serious or not, despite having been friends with her for nearly two years now.

You’re still looking at texts, call me

She was being serious.

Sumire called the number, took a deep breath, holding the phone up to her ear.

“Hey,” Futaba answered, startling Sumire with a yelp, Futaba’s voice being louder than expected.

“Sorry,” Futaba called out as Sumire’s phone fell to the floor. “Haven’t put a way to see accelerometer readings on your phone on my screen yet,” she continued, voice muffled by the phone being upside down. “Guess I should work on that later.”

“What did you want me to call you about?” Sumire asked, glossing over how Futaba had easy access to her phone as she sat on her bed, looking down at it.

“Right, so, hate to break this to you, but we think it’s time for Ren to start getting some tough love.”

“W-what?” Sumire asked, barely able to hide the quiver in her voice as a light blush flashed on her face, putting her hands to her face.

“Given your reaction, I’m surprised that you even thought in that direction,” Futaba chuckled, making Sumire flush even harder. “But no, I’m talking about something else. I’m getting worried about him wanting to reach out to others.”

Hesitating at the comment, Sumire held onto a thought as Futaba continued.

“To be honest, I really didn’t want to do it this way, and I’m pissed at him that I have to, but I suppose it’s fine,” Futaba’s muffled voice said, almost being passed over as Sumire turned her head to the sound of her computer starting up. “I know you have other things to worry about and that the last thing I need to do is to give you one more thing to worry about, but I’m worried that he won’t listen to any of us anymore if we try to push him on the subject without your help.”

“We?” Sumire paused, looking between her phone and her computer, hesitating to get up to open the latter.

“Eh, nothing,” Futaba answered, an audible mouse ‘click’ following her. “I just want you to keep going with his entries on your own.”

“Is that it?” Sumire asked, a bit cautious at the simplicity of the request. “Nothing else?”

“And listen to some things after you read certain parts to help you better understand what went through his mind and why it affects him now.”

Sitting on the last part, Sumire looked at her computer again, thinking about how she was supposed to respond.

On one hand, she had gotten caught by him before by learning some things that were supposed to be buried because of the journal. She had betrayed a bit of trust and accidentally gave away that she had done so. A part of her was worried about what would happen if she did it a second time. On the other, he had forgiven her and even joined in on reading it with her, making small talk and commenting about his thoughts about the whole thing and everything that happened. And he seemed like he was perfectly fine with her reading so long as she was with him.

But now, Futaba was recommending that she read some more without him knowing. And it wasn’t something that she wasn’t supposed to discuss as something that the Thieves had agreed to drop; it was something that Ren was trying to hide.

“Hey, I get if you’re hesitating a bit, but I’m serious that we feel like we’re running out of options to get Ren to talk about these things,” Futaba’s voice cut through, pulling Sumire out of thought. “And I know that you talked to him about certain things that you didn’t exactly want to talk about. It sounds mean, but guilting him into talking about it is probably the best way we can do to get him to talk at all.”

Chapter Text

Sitting on the train on her way home from practice, Sumire fiddled with her phone as she went back and forth between folders, a new gifted pair of earbuds (Phantom Thief mark copyright pending) in her ears as she thought about what she would do.

It had been a week since her call with Futaba, being cut short when her parents came back, welcoming her back without too much of a hassle, aside from her mother insisting that something happened while she was away. Despite her best efforts to deny that anything had happened, Sumire was only saved from further questioning by her father pulling her mother away, saying how Sumire had to get ready for exam season. That was, honestly, the best help she could’ve gotten from her parents at the moment. While her mother wasn’t exactly wrong, that pestering was the last thing she needed, and her father giving her a reason to hide behind in case of further questioning was the best-case scenario.

Seeing how her father had given her a way out, Sumire had taken to studying and practicing seriously, it not being unusual to see her going through practice material while she inhaled her meals during lunch. But it had only put Futaba’s request on the back burner, and a few recent texts from said girl had brought it back higher from things she was spending her time on.

She had gotten one earlier that morning, followed by one at lunch and one right after practice had ended. Thinking about what she would do, Sumire finally lost to curiosity again and looked for the file Futaba had sent her.

“Yo, you finally listening to me?” As Sumire looked at her screen, Futaba's voice called, half expecting something to appear.

“Like I said before, I know you have other things to worry about, but I got this set up for you if you need a break from studying or something. You won’t have to read for a while, because you can listen to it.

So now, where did you leave it off from….”

“September 3^rd, 20XX,” a robotic voice picked up, surprising Sumire at the change in voice.

“We’ve gotten our data, and it’s already pretty significant from a quick look.

Although there is no obvious connection, there seems like these are being done at the request of someone. Futaba says that she should be able to go through all of it by the time we’re back from Hawaii, so I’m not too worried about what to do going forward.”

Hearing the pause, Sumire looked at her phone, checking if everything was alright when the next entry started.

“September 6^th, 20XX

Hawaii trip, tomorrow, no new entries for a while.”

Hearing that it was normal for a brief pause between entries, Sumire relaxed as the next one started to play.

“September 12^th, 20XX

Futaba says our data is done and that we can look at it whenever. That’s good; I’m tired from jetlag, though a certain greeting from yesterday is making me smile a bit now that I think about it.”

Sumire gave a small smile, trying to hide her blush as she thought of her supposed ambush that he certainly saw coming before getting interrupted by the next entry.

“September 13^th, 20XX

Man, what a welcome back.

Not only is the principal dead, but we’re also the main suspects, according to Makoto’s sister.

Which reminds me, the common point that she found when going through her cases was that it benefited one person.

Kunikazu Okumura.

He apparently also has a palace already.

Morgana was all revved up about going in, but some of us had an uneasy feeling about the hype surrounding us. I don’t know what it was, if it was a bad day or something changed internally for him, but Morgana snapped at us and singled Ryuji out for not being as excited as usual.

He said he would clear Okumura on his own and that he would be fine and ran off.”

Sumire shifted in her seat, having heard stories about what had happened from that night when Futaba’s voice suddenly came in.

“This is something that Morgana and I think planted a seed in Ren’s mind about what we could do with the power that we were granted in the Metaverse. I don’t know how much you know about what happened while you were in Maruki’s palace, but what you need to know for now is that Ren felt so betrayed and hurt by what happened, it’s somewhat affected the current state of relationships between us. If you have questions, ask me.”

“September 14^th, 20XX

Something has happened.

Not saying that it wasn’t him, but someone broke into Okumura HQ.

We’re going tomorrow to make sure.

September 15^th, 20XX

It seems like not only can he not walk the walk, but Morgana can’t talk the talk either.

While we didn’t go too far deep into Okumura’s palace, he knew we wouldn’t be too far behind and waited at a point we couldn’t cross.

While we have some thoughts on why that’s the case, and we’re going to confirm it tomorrow, Morgana found someone who is able to use a Persona to join him, and got her to say all of his complaints about us.

She clearly practiced everything beforehand despite forgetting parts of it, probably something that was drilled into her by Morgana, but that’s not the point.

The real point of concern is that to go deeper, there’s a door that requires Okumura family members to unlock them. And the girl that Morgana was so proud of and showed off to us opened it.

Morgana acted all proud when he just lucked out at who he got to follow him.

Regardless, as soon as the door opened, there was a horde of Shadows behind it, panicking Morgana as he said to run.

If he were still with us, I doubt they would’ve proven to be a problem, but fighting Shadows wasn’t our main objective, so as I held them off, everyone else ran back to the entrance, following Morgana and the girl he brought with him out.

Chapter Text

Getting off the train, Sumire pulled her earbuds out as she walked home, her mind thinking about everything that she had just listened to. While there had been mention of how much people seemed to be talking about the Thieves just before Okumura, she couldn’t really remember it. She had a vague idea of what it was like, struggling to remember something that she honestly didn’t care for much at the time, as she thought about Ren's worries in his entries.

Morgana running off was something that Sumire had a hard time believing that he did, but Futaba didn’t contradict it, nor did she make any comment on it as Sumire thought she would. And while Futaba was right in saying that Sumire didn’t really know about what had happened while she was with Maruki, she didn’t want to listen only to Futaba about this. Maybe it was the fact that she was Ren’s girlfriend and that she wanted to be the one to make some kind of decision about what she was supposed to do; if she should dig up information that he didn’t want to be exposed if it wasn’t hindering him in any way.

She thought it was different from what she had been going through; something that was actually detrimental to her, that didn’t let her be herself and get stuck in the past, having hang-ups on nearly any subject if she thought it correlated to her past. Ren didn’t look like he was experiencing anything near as extreme as she was, and Sumire didn’t feel it was hindering him too much.

It had been a few days since she listened to the recording that Futaba had given her. Sitting on the train again, Sumire felt a burning hole in her pocket as her phone and earbuds sat there, asking to be picked up and be used again as her thoughts wandered back to what Futaba had said about Ren.

Hesitating for a few moments, Sumire looked to see what the next station was before pulling her phone out, looking for the file as one hand fiddled with her earbuds, putting on into her ear.

“September 16^th, 20XX

Well, Morgana did indeed get someone close to Okumura to be his helper, the daughter. We happened upon her picture in the list of students and, by chance, saw her doing some work in the garden by the school entrance on our way out. Makoto must have seen me by her and approached once I had helped her move some bags of something, don’t remember what it said on them. And while she does seem to want to change her father’s heart, she doesn’t want us to be involved. More specifically, she said that we haven’t been helping the weak, Morgana, and don’t even have a reason to do so.

While I can protest that Morgana just left on his own, and if he got roughed up a bit, that’s on him, the part where we don’t really have a goal is somewhat true. We never had a unanimous decision to go and dive into Okumura’s palace.

September 17^th, 20XX

I didn’t mention this yesterday because I was about to go to sleep, but I got texted that some requests on our message board had been completed.

Morgana was probably trying to get Haru’s Persona to awaken, but that wouldn’t be the point of our excursion. If requests were getting done, that meant they were going down into Mementos and that waiting for them would be the best thing to do.

And we have been waiting.

For nearly two hours. Which is why I’m writing this down now.

Well, it’s hit the fan. Haru has a marriage that she wants to get out of, and it’s only possible if we get her father to cancel it. I hope that there aren’t as many blocks for this one as with Futaba. It would be bad if we didn’t have every option available to us if we're taking Okumura down.

September 18^th, 20XX

I was presumptuous when I said that we would be taking Okumura down yesterday, but we’re doing it now. Haru said that she’s willing to cooperate with us to take him down. Ryuji said something about how people online are getting upset about our lack of action, but I think we’ll be fine.”

Shifting in her seat, Sumire looked up as a familiar station came into view, scrambling to get up and off the train as she realized that she was close to home, her earbuds popping out of her phone.

She was the first to have gotten home again; both of her parents were still busy with the end of the year approaching. Sumire didn’t think much about it, practice and studying had taken too much of her time to really feel it, but a feeling in her gut, knowing where she had left off and what was coming next, made the silent apartment feel somewhat emptier than it normally did.

Laying down in her bed, Sumire fumbled around for her earbuds, putting them back in, the file having stopped when the cord popped out.

“September 19^th, 20XX

Haru’s Persona has fully awakened. Which is good, because now we’ve got more flexibility in our team to have her take on her knock-off Darth Vader of a father. And I have to commend her for keeping up so well, she’s a bit behind us in terms of power, but she’s been able to follow us all the way to the Treasure.

Her resolve in taking down her father has only grown as we got further and further into his palace; seeing not only the sort of things that he does to employees, but how he sees them as little more than a stepping stone, rocket fuel for him to advance in the world, has lit a fire under her to fix this, not just for her, but everyone that’s affected by her father’s actions.

He also had a rather convoluted system of pressure locks that just shot us around towards the end, and I only mention this because everyone threw up at least once as we got shot around. And I mean everyone, you can’t deny it by just burning it, Ann; it leaves an arguably worse smell behind.”

Sumire let out a small chuckle, believing that her friend would try to do something like that to hide the fact that she hurled.

“While we have reached the Treasure, we still won’t send our calling card.

Haru is not yet at our level, and our fight with Futaba’s mother showed us how dangerous going up against a cognition, and a poor mental scape can be, and we have to be ready for anything.

September 27, 20XX

I think we’ve spent enough time, we’re ready for Okumura.

While Haru is not as strong as we are, she’s getting close, and her determination to plan that calling card showed through.

We’re going to have one hell of a fight ahead of us.

Hopefully, it doesn’t go too badly.”

Chapter Text

“September 28^th, 20XX

Well, I think I was a bit too paranoid because nothing bad happened in the fight. I can breathe easy since Wakaba seemed to have been an exception to the rule more than anything. It was annoying how he kept trying to get Haru to pity him and thinking that he was above having to face us directly.

What really matters is that we have confirmation that someone is taking people out in the Metaverse, and it’s a contractual thing. But until the change of heart, we can’t press any further.

Time to take it slow for now.

Quick addition from tomorrow, the guy in my heart or whatever, said something that I didn’t like where it was heading. That when we think that we’re at our highest peaks, you are the closest you are to falling.

I don’t know why I wrote that down, but something tells me that there’s more to be had here.”

As the last line from the machine was read, Sumire felt a sense of dread at the inevitable fall that she knew was coming.

It was inescapable, given that it had happened so close to her own awakening. She definitely remembered, regardless of the somewhat hazy filter that playing Kasumi put on her memory, how hesitant Ren was to get close to her after Okumura’s death. If she thought about it, she could understand why he was so hesitant to get close.

“September 30^th, 20XX

I think the twins are trying to find roundabout ways to kill me.

I took them to a gym today, and they just kept messing around with me. Hanging on the bar for bench presses while I’m using it, pushing buttons on the treadmill at random moments. I swear, no matter how much they want to understand the outside world, I’m still human.”

Laughing at the small anecdote, Sumire felt a small bit of the tension that was building fade away. She tried imagining two of the small girl she had seen messing with Ren, seeing little kids pushing buttons and pushing against him as he ran.

A small smile crossed her face as she thought of how he was still living his life despite everything that happened and was going to happen.

“October 3^rd, 20XX

Something happened today that I wasn’t expecting. Kasumi has a Persona.”

Sumire took a sharp breath upon hearing that, stopping the recording. There was a slight sense of panic building in her now, bits and pieces of what happened coming back to her as ‘Kasumi has a Persona’ echoed in her mind. She knew what was coming, and a declaration that she had made back then rang in her ear as well, her breath starting to become erratic.

 Sumire put a hand to her chest, trying to steady her breathing as she tried to remember where Ren’s glasses were. That’s not what listening to this was for; to panic about her past, worry that her belief of who she was being what Ren thought of her at the moment.

Seeing the case they were in, Sumire dashed across her room, and just holding it seemed to have calmed her down a bit, letting rational thoughts return. Her hand was still shaking a little, but it had the desired effect. Taking a deep breath, she held onto them and hit play.

“I was going to give her a charm that she dropped from Hawaii, and we were going to meet in front of the incomplete stadium from the meat festival when we somehow entered the Metaverse and found a Palace. I don’t know whose it is or what the key words were; I haven’t checked it, but that will be something we’ll have to figure out later.

What matters is that Kasumi somehow triggered the app, got pulled into the Palace, and was put face to face with a cognition.

She didn’t seem happy seeing it, and I couldn’t make too many details out about it, but we couldn’t linger for too long since a Shadow came in and quickly got rid of it, saying something about rejecting the mercy the lord had given her.

Kasumi wasn’t happy upon hearing that, as voices started calling out, saying about how she’s been underperforming and getting special treatment. She got mad at that, saying that she understands that she has all these expectations that haven’t been met and that she’s not meeting them for their satisfaction, about how it’s for the dream she had with her sister, and that the world was dealing with Kasumi Yoshizawa.”

There was another deep breath with that one, but Sumire continued, letting the audio play.

“Saying that seemed to have triggered the awakening, and the Shadow seemed to know that, going in to interrupt it, but I cut it off, waiting for her to finish her awakening. And it was a quick fight; her Persona had Bless skills that knocked the enemy down, ending with a quick all-out attack.

What’s even more impressive is that she managed to immediately get up after faltering a bit after the fight, something that only Makoto has done. Maybe Haru has, but awakening her Persona in two stages may be different from what I have in mind.

We left soon after, because it’s not a good idea to have someone, no matter how strong they seem, to take on more enemies right after an awakening.

Kasumi naturally had questions, and only once we were done answering them did she realize that Morgana is a talking cat. Even if he got annoyed, he seemed more surprised that she didn’t immediately catch on to it.

We then had a talk about us being Phantom Thieves, and Morgana seemed interested in having Kasumi join. She quickly shot him down, saying how the experience was rather eye-opening for her, and she wanted to go focus on her gymnastics.

I think it’s fine, she has other things in her life that she wants to do, so I’ll just wait to see if she ever feels like she wants to join.”

Pausing it at that, Sumire felt her grip on Ren’s glasses case tighten, hand shaking from both her nerves and how hard she was holding onto it. The line about Morgana getting annoyed about being called a cat would normally have made her laugh. It probably would’ve in any other context, but after listening to everything, Sumire could only really think about how wrong she was.

Awakening her Persona did give her a boost in confidence, but it did nothing to fix her real problem of not being herself, it only made it worse. Believing that all she needed was to look elsewhere, to have a different perspective, only made the crash hurt that much harder. It hurt her, hurt Ren, and was still hurting them now.

Reaching down to close out of the player, Sumire bumped the play button, starting the next entry.

“October 11^th, 20XX

What the fuck, what the fuck, what the fuck.”

Chapter Text

With exams right around the corner, Sumire was trying her best to keep the monotone of the machine’s reading of Ren’s diary out of her mind as she looked over her notes.

It wasn’t that he had never sweared like that before, there were small moments where it would slip out if he was spacing out and hit himself on furniture or something, but the fact that all that his mind could process at the time was just a single phrase in panic shook her.

If she were to be honest, that revelation was more shocking to Sumire than listening to Ren describing her awakening. Her belief that he was completely unshakable after becoming a Phantom Thief seemed more like a lie every time she listened to it, going back to make sure that it really was all that he had written down, that he was panicking beyond the ability to write a coherent sentence. It clouded her mind more than she thought was possible.

It seemed so muddled, that Sumire didn’t consider any potential consequences as she walked through the door, a surprised ‘hey little miss,’ greeting her as she walked up to the counter. Before she could sit, there was a frantic sound from the small toilet, as Futaba scrambled out, forgetting her apron on the small hanger on the inside of the door as she tripped and fell on the floor.

“Yo!” Futaba said, pushing her glasses up as she ignored the red bump on her forehead as Sojiro just shook his head, muttering ‘wash your hands,’ under his breath as she got up, turning around to get her apron.

“What are you doing here?” Futaba asked as Sojiro served some coffee, eyes watching her as he made sure she washed her hands in the bathroom sink. “Exams are still a way away; do you need some kind of help?”

“No,” Sumire shook her head, thanking Sojiro for the coffee before taking a sip, letting the hot liquid calm her down. “I wanted to talk with you.”

“Me?” Futaba asked as she turned the water off, wiping her hands off on her apron, getting an annoyed sigh from Sojiro.

“Yes.”

There was a brief silence as Sumire drank more of her coffee, while a look of realization came on Futaba, nodding in understanding. “I’ll be in my room.”

“Hey,” Sojiro said, but Futaba just ignored him, taking her apron off and walking to the door. “It’s serious stuff,” she said before opening it, walking out and tossing her apron to the counter.

Sojiro let out a huff, but after seeing the conflicted look on Sumire’s face, he let it go.

“She’s working extra on the weekend.”

“So,” Futaba asked, spinning her chair around with her fingers pressed against each other, a serious look on her face as Sumire sat on the bed. “What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?”

“Um…” Sumire hesitated, glancing around as she tried to think about what she wanted to say, multiple questions going off in her mind. How badly did Okumura’s death shake Ren, why is Futaba fine sharing everything, why does she think it’s so important that she doesn’t listen to just him; she didn’t know where to start.

“Can I start then?” Futaba asked, getting a nod in response.

“I’m aware of where you are in his diary, so let me say this, he bounced back almost immediately after it came to light that someone else was involved with Okumura,” Futaba said, a look of surprise on Sumire as she looked at her.

“Surprising after how much of a big deal he makes about it now, right?” Futaba asked, to which Sumire tilted her head.

“Does he?”

“Right, he doesn’t talk about it to you,” Futaba reminded herself, snapping her fingers and turning around to face her computer.

With a few clicks, Futaba turned her head back as a file was opened up on screen, mouse hovering over the play button.

“I recorded a conversation from a while back when he was still in town, where I pressed him about a few things. I think you should listen to it.”

Reaching for her mouse, she clicked play and waited. There was silence, making Futaba turn around and check what had happened.

“Up, headphones are still plugged in,” she mumbled, restarting the file as she changed the selected speaker, turning to Sumire.

“Here we go.”

“You know that Akechi only rose from the dead because you wanted to beat his ass, why are you acting like part of your petty desire to personally beat him is totally different than having Okumura or my mom alive,” Futaba’s voice came, an accusatory tone in her words as said speaker rolled her chair out of the way.

“I wasn’t the only one that wanted to put him under,” Ren’s voice retorted, startling Sumire with how sharp his tone was. “Good luck stopping Haru if he was actually still alive after we dealt with Maruki. And if there was something that I really wanted to have had fixed, I would think my record would’ve been the first thing to go?”

“Don’t say that in retrospect, I barely remembered about it until you disappeared after Maruki’s palace did, and I’m pretty sure you thought it was going to solve itself with Shido confessing,” Futaba’s voice shot back. “And even if Maruki’s rules would’ve meant that Haru couldn’t kill Akechi under his watch, it was still your desire that brought him back, the same desire on principle that let Haru reunite with her father.”

There was a pause, making Sumire shift uncomfortably as she realized how much Ren had actually been holding back from her.

“Don’t look at me like that, you know it’s true that after Okumura came back, you saw how happy Haru was and you went back to thinking about things you could’ve done to save him,” Futaba’s voice continued, informing that the silence was Ren not talking. “There was nothing more we could’ve done than know what was coming and take his Shadow with us. That does not mean you failed, or that Joker knew that something would happen.”

Chapter Text

As the file ended, Futaba turned to look at Sumire, expecting a certain amount of confusion and questions to be made.

She didn’t get any of that, as Sumire’s gaze was firmly down to the ground, her hands clenched together as all of this new information came in.

Futaba didn’t say anything, watching as Sumire’s hands cycled between loosening and tightening, moving between holding her hands and her skirt as more and more of her view of Ren started to change.

After a few minutes of silence, Sumire finally looked up, a rather worried look on her face as she turned to Futaba.

“Does- does it really get that bad?” she asked, shifting on the bed as she clasped her hands together, a hopeful look on her as Futaba tilted her head.

“Not really,” Futaba answered, shrugging her shoulders after she gave a brief moment to think about all the times she talked with Ren about this in the past. “He normally just avoids giving me an answer or just stops talking to me at all, so that was a new thing for me.”

Taking her answer at face value, Sumire looked back down as she started to think again, her view of Ren slowly starting to change again.

Waiting again to ask another question, Sumire looked back at Futaba. “What was wanting to beat up on Akechi about?”

“Did you never get a full story about what happened?” Futaba asked, tilting her head up to think when Sumire shook her head. “I’ve heard bits and pieces from everyone else, but it sounds like I haven’t.”

“Then I’ll let Ren answer that, be it in journal form or his mouth,” Futaba replied, sliding her chair back in front of her computer. “I have some other things I want to bring up, but I’ll wait if you have a few more questions.”

Letting herself think, Sumire looked back down, kicking her feet a bit as her eyes followed their movement, trying to see if there was anything that she wanted to ask Futaba about.

“What was it exactly about Okumura that you think made Ren turn into who he is now?”

Somewhat surprised by the question, Futaba didn’t let it bother her as she slowly spun in her chair, thinking about how she was supposed to answer the question.

“I think it’s a two-pronged answer,” she started, stopping her spin as Sumire intently listened. “First thing was when Morgana left, it left a seed in his mind that we could leave at any moment if there was something that we wanted, no matter what sort of bond we shared before whatever made us leave,” she started. “You remember that I brough that up?” she followed up, getting a nod from Sumire.

“Now, do you remember when your Persona, … evolved, shall we say,” Futaba asked, getting a nod from Sumire. “Do you remember the feelings you had?”

“Yes,” Sumire blushed, the memory, although hazy, still seemed to be so strong in her mind. “I just showed off a new routine to my coach, and he was there, hugging me as I said that we could take on gymnastics together.”

“Cute,” Futaba said, a small smirk and a new piece of information for her to use to tease them smartly tucked away. “I get the feeling that it was romantic, but you get a general idea of how you think Ren would’ve felt, yeah?”

“I suppose I could understand,” Sumire nodded, the warm thoughts still in her mind.

“Now imagine a more platonic version of that, for all of us, with him,” Futaba said, a drop in her voice as she continued. “And then Maruki happens and all the effort Ren put in to reach that feeling, days and hours spent trying to reach that point by spending time with us, helping us through things were uncertain about, completely gone.”

Tilting her head, Sumire seemed unsure about what Futaba was talking about. Seeing that she missed it, she turned around to face her desk, moving some things around before a presenting a piece of paper.

“When Mom was still around, I used to do these things called promise lists with her, where if I could finish some promises, she would spend some time with me doing whatever I wanted. And this,” Futaba said, shaking the paper, “is a copy of the promise list that I made with Ren, where he would get something for me.” Pausing as she fought the small smile on her face, Futaba continued. “From just going shopping on my own, to helping one of my old friends from being sold by her parents, it made us feel like we were brother and sister, that I was ready to move on.”

Realizing where the conversation was going, Sumire covered her mouth with her hands as the thought of what sort of feelings must have been going through Ren’s mind became suddenly much more understandable with the advent of Maruki’s reality taking hold.

“See, this is where Morgana just taking off comes back; we were offered something that we wanted, seemingly more so than all the time we spent with him, and it made it seem like we just took all of his effort and left it behind.”

As Sumire was starting to put more the pieces together, Futaba let out a sigh, putting the paper on the desk.

“And the second part is that Ren feels like he is responsible for Okumura’s death, something that he briefly got over, but quickly came back swinging when he rose from the dead. This is what leads into both his immense hatred for Akechi and belief that he and Joker are not the same person.”

“Why?” Sumire asked.   

“Because he gave the order to Haru to leave her father behind, to let us leave the Palace before it exploded and took all of us with it.”

Confused at the answer, Sumire looked at Futaba as she just shrugged, seemingly just as lost as her.

“I don’t get it either, because it was the best decision to make at the moment, be it Ren or Joker. We had no idea Akechi was there, that Okumura’s Shadow hadn’t disappeared by the time we turned our backs, and that we were walking right into a trap.”

Chapter Text

As the final words in Futaba’s sentence hung around in Sumire’s mind, Futaba let out a sigh as she slumped in her chair.

“I think I should clarify, but you know about how we used codenames in the Metaverse, or how we have certain saying like ‘Void of Noir’ when Haru just stares at someone?” Sumire nodded, waiting for Futaba to continue. “Something that both Morgana and I think, is that with how much power he had, being able to face Akechi solo, barely survive my mother’s cognition, and other such feats on his own, Ren started to treat Joker like he was a separate entity from himself.”

“Was he really that strong?” Sumire asked, to which Futaba just laughed. “Oh, he was,” she chuckled, shaking her head. “I get you joined us later on, and that most of us had reached our maximum potential then, but at the start, everyone was nothing compared to him.”

With a smirk, Futaba seemed to be remembering something, probably some antic she heard of or witnessed that quickly faded when she remembered what she was talking about. “Because he was so strong, there was nothing that Ren thought Joker couldn’t do. But once the job was done, he would just go back to being Ren, which is why Okumura’s death is something he’s always hung up on.”

“Because he thought it was over, his mind went to being Ren, which he thinks led to Okumura being killed,” Sumire said, putting more of the pieces together as Futaba gave a sad smile, nodding as she continued. “But Joker and Ren are not separate entities; they’re just different versions of himself. But after everything that happened after the false god, which we’ll get to,” Futaba said, raising a finger to stop Sumire from talking as a confused look came over her. “Everything should’ve been done. We knew who was responsible, we had taken care of them, and the world would go on.”

Not even mentioning Maruki, things started to fit into place in Sumire’s mind as Futaba continued, though it fell on deaf ears as Sumire looked down and thought about what she was supposed to do with this new information.

How was she supposed to talk to Ren about this? That he needed to let go of his past self, an identity that was only a part him, that kept him from moving forward and being happy with his friends. Friends who were sorry that they chased after a false promise, and were still trying to be with him as they walked their separate paths.

“Hey,” Futaba’s voice finally came back into Sumire as she flinched, Futaba so close that Sumire could see her reflection in the girl’s glasses. “You listening to me?”

“No,” Sumire shook her head, looking back at Futaba, who scooted her chair back to her desk. “This is just, a lot for me to take in right now.”

“That’s fair,” Futaba answered. “To finish this all off, before we rescued you from Maruki, Ren tried to talk to us before he left to save you, it made us think about where we were, and what we were doing. Once we got together as a group to do so, we had been freed from Maruki’s influence, and left as fast as we could to try and find you guys. But the name that he probably needed to hear most, his own, isn’t what he heard, it was Joker.”

“The name that had all the power,” Sumire said, to which Futaba nodded. “Honestly, seeing how everything played out, and with the hurt that he was feeling, I think I would react similarly to what he did.”

Sitting on the train back home, Sumire thought about all the files that were sitting on her phone about Ren.

The few pictures that they had taken together, from her first birthday together, Christmas and New Year’s, to some other moments when he would come visit her just to surprise her; it wasn’t a lot but she treasured them. Then were all of the images that Futaba had given her, stuff that she should’ve gotten rid of, but couldn’t quite bring herself to do so. She would do it. Someday. Regardless if they were ones she had taken or not, they all showed her a Ren that she knew, that she had fallen in love with, and wanted to stay with.

And then there was the entirety of his dairy, in text and audio form, for her to read or listen to. And they were going to show her not the Ren that she loved.

As the thought of Ren’s image forever changing in her mind, from someone that she could always count on, would help her through his toughest moments and get her where she wanted to go, to someone who didn’t even believe that his friends wanted to stay with him. It was scarry.

Getting a text, Sumire looked at it. It was from Futaba, and a part of her wanted to swipe it away, to let it go and not think about it. Her Ren was perfect for her, and he seemed just fine being that for her. So she ignored it.

But Futaba kept messaging her.

Again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

And again.

Turning her phone off, Sumire thought that it would be the end of it, but Futaba, being the kind of person she was, turned it back on, and kept messaging her.

Finally opening her messages, Sumire was about to give Futaba a piece of her mind when she realized that she had no keyboard. Trying to figure out what was wrong, she looked everywhere, before reading Futaba’s message.

I think I know what you’re thinking about right now. That you don’t want the Ren you know to disappear, to change and become someone you don’t know

But you’re in the exact same position that Ren was in when he went to rescue you. He could’ve just given up, let you stay as Kasumi, and probably still get to go out with you

But he made a choice, the harder one, to fight for you, to bring you back to who you were

Now’s your chance, support him. Get him to say that I need your support

Chapter Text

With finals drawing closer, Sumire tried to keep her mind away from the thoughts about what Futaba had told her.

Ren was perfectly fine, there was nothing that she needed to worry about there was no need for her to consider pushing further into his psyche if he didn’t want it to happen.

Just like he didn’t have to help her, regardless of how much she resisted.

It didn’t matter how many times she thought these thoughts, the fact that he still came back and fought for her, not only to be herself, but to be happy as herself would find their way back into her mind. Trying to pass it off as something she shouldn’t worry about, Sumire tried to go back to her studies, though little came from it.

As finals were set to start next week, Sumire sat as she ate lunch looking over some notes as her phone chimed, her notification for Ren making her eyes light up.

Hey

I wanted to let you know that I have a rough schedule figured out for the rest of the year

I won’t be able to visit until around New Year’s, but I will make time to call for Christmas

Let me know if you need anything

Love you

With a smile, Sumire put her phone away, a renewed sense of vigor flowing through her as she went back to her studies. New Year’s couldn’t come fast enough.

Setting her pencil down, Sumire let out a silent sigh as she stretched her shoulders, looking over her work again before relaxing, her final exam done, she looked at the clock, checking how much time was left till the end of school.

It was as if Ren’s texts to her had been a protective ward, keeping Futaba from contacting her and letting her concentrate on her studies. Every now and again during exams week, she would just check her messages with him, smiling at them and refreshing her mind.

Standing on the train home, Sumire smiled blissfully as the relief of finishing finals started to finally come into effect.

Once the third semester started, she wouldn’t have to spend time as much time at school, graduation was probably all she really needed to attend, which would mean that she could spend all the time she wanted with Ren. Maybe not all the time, she still had to practice, and Hiraguchi was probably itching at the opportunity to whip her back into shape after she stopped coming to study for finals.

Lost in her own mind, Sumire had reached her station quickly, hastily getting off before the door closed on her, transitioning into a nice slow walk, letting happy thoughts bounce around in her mind as she walked out the ticket gate.

And as if it knew where she was now, her phone went off, making Sumire check.

It was Futaba.

She tried to ignore it, fingers hesitating to touch her screen or turn her phone off as Sumire knew that it was a losing battle to try to get away from Futaba in this digital age.

Shaking her head, Sumire turned her phone off and made her way back home, though her light steps had gained a bit of weight to them as she went down the road.

Sitting on the couch, Sumire hesitated to open her phone, a notification from her parents waiting for her as Futaba’s sat below it. While she probably wouldn’t go as far as to keep her from reading something from her parents, there would be nothing that would keep her from opening it after she was done reading the one from her parents.

Knowing that she had no other choice, Sumire opened the notification from her parents.

Congratulations on finishing your final exams!

Your mother and I will be off work early today, so if there is somewhere you want to go celebrate, let us know.

She should have a similar message sent to you as well, so let her know as well.

Congrats on your exams!

Your father and I will be off work early today, so let us know if you want to go somewhere and celebrate!

Also, let me know when Ren is coming back, I still have plenty of questions for him as well.

Looking around, Shinichi and Ayako wondered if giving Sumire the choice of where to go was a mistake, as some eyes would occasionally make their way over to their booth, as another plate of meat and vegetables was taken away.

Yes, it wasn’t as much as when Kasumi was still around, but it was still quite a bit, especially for the yakiniku place she had chosen.

“So,” Shinichi started, hoping that a conversation would slow Sumire down. “Anything happened recently?”

“Hmm?” she pondered, putting her chopsticks down, eying what cuts and vegetables were left, and glancing at the extra-large bowl of rice. “Aside from finals, not really.”

“Is that so,” Shinichi said, looking at Ayako for backup. Immediately picking the conversation up, she asked, “Any sort of news from your boyfriend?”

“A bit,” Sumire blushed, before setting more stuff on the grill. “He’s going to come at around New Year’s, and said that he would call for Christmas.”

“That’s all?” Ayako asked, seemingly more disappointed than Sumire was.

“It’s not his fault,” Sumire said, flipping some pieces of meat and taking vegetables off the grill. “He’s doing what he can so that he can come here, even if it wasn’t all his fault…”

Feeling her tapering off at that, Ayako gave Sumire an inquisitive look while Shinichi raised his brow, thinking about his encounter with him in the café.

The rest of the night went off without a hitch, with a heavy sigh from Shinichi and Ayako when the bill for the night had come to them, saying that spending would be a bit lighter for a few months. Sumire was fine with that since there really wasn’t anything that she wanted at the moment, and just took the chance to enjoy some time spent with her family.

Chapter Text

 Her tranquil rest didn’t even last 24 hours, for when Sumire had finished practice the next day, Futaba was waiting for her at the station.

“Sumire!” she shouted, drawing attention to herself as she walked over. “Futaba?” she asked, not expecting her to show up outside of Leblanc.

“How’s it going?” Futaba continued, letting the eyes that had been drawn to her fade away, dismissing her shout as someone with little social awareness.

“Why are you here?” Sumire asked, shifting her legs in a defensive posture, wondering what the girl was up to.

“Just wanted to talk,” Futaba answered, pulling her phone out. “There’s a store we can sit at nearby, let’s go there.”

Looking at Futaba starting to walk, Sumire was about to continue on her way when she felt someone grab her hand.

“On me.”

With a quiet moment of solidarity for Ren, Futaba watched as Sumire made her way through a Big Bang Burger challenge with little effort, her own stomach starting to hurt just watching it happen.

“So,” Sumire said, taking the last few bites of the burger. “What was it that you dragged me here to talk about?”

“Um… Oh, right,” Futaba said, picking at her own fries as Sumire took a drink, ignoring all the eyes on her as an employee looked at the stopwatch in disbelief. “I’m just letting you know that I will be trying to make you listen to the recordings, no matter what.”

“Why?” Sumire asked, taking some fries without complaint, Futaba unable to make a dent in her small order. “I don’t think I should.”

“I disagree,” Futaba answered, putting the conversation on pause as an employee gave Sumire her first badge. “I have no other choice but to have you listen.”

“Why does it have to be me?”

“He won’t listen to anyone else.”

“You said that last time.”

“Because it’s true.”

Moving to get her stuff, Sumire was about to stand up when Futaba cut her off.

“He barely hangs out with anyone other than you. During your finals, I’ve asked everyone else; most of their meetups with him have been chance over the last two years.”

Pausing at that, Sumire looked at Futaba who pulled out her phone, opening a list of times that Ren had met with everyone and showing it to Sumire.

Ryuji:

• hang out in arcade a bit after graduation
• surprise meet-up when he was shopping for your birthday present

Ann:

• before she left for America
• Harajuku a few months back

Yusuke:

• attending a gallery opening
• your aquarium date

Makoto:

• meeting with her sister for legal advice
• encountering each other on the road while practicing driving
• him drinking with Sojiro and your dad while she was working

Haru:

• celebrating her new position in Okumura Foods
• your breakfast at her diner

Blinking at the list, Sumire reached a hand out, trying to scroll the page, looking to see if that was really it.

“Aside from meeting everyone for graduation and New Year’s, that’s all,” Futaba said, shrugging her shoulders as she took her phone back, as Sumire just looked in shock.

“Surely there’s more,” she said, sitting back down as Futaba shook her head.

“No, that’s all,” she answered, making Sumire stiffen up. “In two years, that’s the number of times he’s met with everyone.”

 Trying to think of something to say, Sumire’s mouth kept opening and closing, the words dying on her tongue as her thoughts kept going off into different directions.

“Call them and ask yourself,” Futaba said, seeing Sumire’s hand hover over her pocket, her finger tips just centimeters away from going in.

“Do you believe me now that you’re the only chance we have to get him to listen?” Futaba asked, getting a small nod from Sumire as it finally clicked with her how much Ren had been avoiding everyone.

Laying down on her bed, Sumire’s hand hovered over her phone, her mind still thinking about if she should still do this.

A part of her mind tried to rationalize the list; Ann was in America, of course it was so low. Haru and Makoto had their first year of university, they were probably busy. Ryuji and Yusuke also had to work for their colleges of choice, they would’ve been busy trying to get in.

Yet every time she thought that, all of her dates with him during the last two years would come in as well; the weekends where he would come just to visit her, summer break he spent solely with her, the effort he made to come visit her on her birthday, and everything he seemed to talk about would circle around back to her.

With a final breath, she plugged in her earbuds and hit play.

Chapter Text

Staring at the ceiling, Sumire listened as the monotone voice of the recording started.

“October 13^th, 20XX

First, I’m just glad that Haru doesn’t seem mad at us. She came to talk with us, and said that while the police were investigating her home, she heard that someone had found a calling card in the principal’s office. If that’s true, then someone’s trying to make a believable case that we kill people.

If someone did plant a calling card there, then someone else is at play here. Futaba seemed to take interest at the fact that Makoto’s sister was there as well, and said that she would be thinking about something and dived back into the files. Finals are also coming up, so we’ll wait and keep our heads down until we figure out what to do next.

October 20^th, 20XX

Oh man, it’s not looking good. Futaba figured out what she was thinking about. Apparently, someone had used the name of Medjed to provoke us, raise our name, and then had us target Okumura by manipulating the forums. A way to control a potential threat in the future, before there was enough momentum that we could swing into whoever targeted us. While I don’t get all the technical aspects, Makoto seems to think the same way as Futaba, and if that’s the case, I’m pretty sure they’re right.

I’m adding this later today, but the pressure is really on now. Makoto’s sister is investigating us, and they’ve brought the real deal. We have to be sure they never figure out about the Metaverse, or we’re done for.

October 21^st, 20XX

The police showed up to school. They’re being serious. To try and cover us from any suspicions, Makoto is putting me, Ryuji and Ann together with her for the festival planning committee so we can still talk and not have too many eyes on us.

October 22^nd, 20XX

Having fun, mop head? Being voted into attending our school festival, then saying that we’re not responsible for what happened with Okumura. You’re even disappearing for a bit to just drum up more talk?

October 23^rd, 20XX

Damn it, Makoto is actually trying to invite Akechi to our school and try to rope him in as a source of intel. I shouldn’t have written anything yesterday.

October 24^th, 20XX

Fuck me, he’s actually coming. He told me in person in Leblanc. Which is strange. Why not just tell Makoto.

October 25^th, 20XX

I got a good laugh, Akechi at the ‘special’ takoyaki. I’m still worried about tomorrow though, and he seemed a bit too friendly walking up to us

October 26^th, 20XX

We got you now, fucker. You acted surprised when Morgana talked, but you’ve heard him before. Way back with pancakes. He’s clearly lying, we just need to catch him for the rest of the group so we can prepare for what to do. Futaba seems to be on him as well, given how he had spoken yesterday. I will make sure you’re dealt with.

This is from yesterday since everything that happened after Akechi was a lot, and I needed to figure some things out. There were two major things that happened after I wrote about Akechi; me dancing, and Futaba’s calling card being found by Sojiro.

Let’s start with that since it’s the one I understand the most.

 I’m busted.

Sojiro had apparently found it suspicious that Futaba had changed so suddenly, especially with the news about Okumura and the Phantom Thieves going around, and by chance, found Futaba’s calling card while he was cleaning her room. I don’t know why she didn’t get rid of it, but so it goes.”

“It was the start of a new me, no way I could let it go,” Futaba’s voice cut the recoding off. “I still have it, by the way if you want to hold a genuine Calling Card.”

“He noticed how quickly her behavior had changed, and did some research, and concluded that she underwent something similar to a change of heart.” the mechanical monotone returned, as Sumire relaxed again. “Naturally, he was pissed at me, thinking that I called the Thieves to act on Futaba on my own, when she protested, saying that she was the one who initiated contact with me. Widening his eyes at that, Sojiro looked at Futaba as she realized what she had said, slinking behind me as Sojiro tried to figure out what it all meant.

Futaba brought up the fact that her mom was killed, Sojiro sound like he didn’t believe her. He backed off after she asked if he was like everyone else who just thought she was a child, and admitted that he thought something strange had happened to make her die as she did. He said that there wasn’t much he could do at the time, so he quit his job as a government employee and took Futaba in.

I can stay with Sojiro for now, but I’m still worried.

Now, as for dancing, I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say. I was on my way out, when I ran into Kasumi near the courtyard. She asked me if I wanted to join her in the gym for a dance, and after hesitating a bit, I agreed.

As we walked in, or Kasumi pulled me in, we made our way to the stage, and danced for a bit.

But when the music changed, Kasumi was asked to go and dance herself. And while she’s certainly impressive, when she stopped her dance right in front of me, hand reaching out, I felt something.

I’m not sure what this feeling is, but looking at her, an eager look on her face as she smiled at me, hand reaching out as if to pull me in, I felt it in my chest. I don’t know what it is, but I don’t hate it. But I don’t know how much I can act on it right now.”

There was a small smile on her face by the time of the final pause, remembering the moment when Ren told her that he fell in love with her first during the festival. But when the date of the next entry was starting, it faded, as she waited to hear more about the fight she knew was soon approaching.

Chapter Text

“October 27^th, 20XX

Thirty million for info about us. It’s official, we were set up. I know what we have to do, even if I really don’t like it.

October 28^th, 20XX

All bullshit. Everything he’s said at our meeting is crap. Maybe not about his grudges, but that is not enough.

Regardless, our new target is Makoto’s sister to make an example of her. To show that we can fight against the government. I also asked Futaba to see if she could find a way to bug Akechi’s phone. She’s already somewhat suspicious of him, I don’t think it’ll be too hard to get her to do so.

Octo…”

Before the date could be read, there was a knock on the door, startling Sumire as she sat up, her earbuds falling out of her ears as she came to attention. “Yes,” she said, not even thinking about why she was answering, more of a reflex than an actual response.

“It’s dinner time,” Ayako’s voice said from the other side.

“Coming,” Sumire answered, looking to see if the recording was still playing, pausing it and going back to the start of the file before getting up and out the room, missing the concerned look on her mother’s face as she walked past her.

As she sat at the table, it was quiet aside from the occasional bumping of plates, the end of the year rush starting to show on her parents as they barely looked at their food, mostly taking the chance to just enjoy each other’s company.

“Sumire,” Shinichi said, finally breaking the silence, getting her to look at him. “Your mother and I are getting busy again, so we probably have a few more dinners together until we’ll be staying out extremely late. You’ll be on your own for dinner until three days before New Year’s.”

“Okay,” Sumire said, nothing unexpected from the statement. If anything, last year was the exception, deliberately taking time off to spend Sumire’s first Christmas with Ren despite how busy the year had been. “Back to normal then?”

“Yes,” Shinichi said, though his face seemed to say that he had some other thought on his mind.

Sumire missed it though, as she had gone back to eating, only halfway through her massive portion as Shinichi turned to look at Ayako, a rare tactful look on her face as they spoke between their eyes.

“Sumire,” Ayako finally said once Sumire was done, looking at her mother as she wiped her mouth of specks. “I don’t know if something happened, but you seem, not excited but…” Pausing as she tried to think of a word, Sumire looked at her mother while she was being actually considerate, trying to express something without drama getting in the way.

“Anxious,” Shinichi finished for her, getting a nod as Ayako continued. “You just seemed so happy when exams were over and during dinner yesterday and I was expecting some lowered excitement today, but you looked like you had the world on your shoulders when you left your room.”

Freezing at that, Sumire put a hand to her face, feeling it as if she could tell the difference by touch.

“I know we didn’t try to force it last time and we probably can’t get anything if we try to right now, but we really need to have a talk with you at some time about your first year of high school and your relationship with Ren.”

“Why?” Sumire asked, some panic crossing her eyes as she tried to think of what she was supposed to say.

“It’s not to break you up,” Ayako said, no mischief in her eyes as she spoke. “He’s been extremely good to you, probably better than we have at some moments,” she said, a hint of pain in her voice as she said that. “But you seem to mentally revolve around him being with you.”

Her breathing started to get quick and shallow, Sumire quickly got up from her chair and dashed back to her room, ignoring her parents as they called her name, the panic quickly building in her as she searched for the glasses case. Finding it, she took them and dived onto her bed, quickly changing her pair for the one inside and curled up, the case in her hands as she held it close to her chest.

She was supposed to be beyond this. She could talk with her parents about some things. Not everything, but something like this shouldn’t have made her panic. No, a part of her thought, feeling the calming effect the two items put on her mental state. He wasn’t supposed to be a last resort.

She knew that he would drop everything in the world just to come help her, and her saying she shouldn’t let him help would just hurt him.

Reaching for her phone, equal parts of panic and calm running over her as Ren’s icon showed up on her screen, his old mask looking back at Sumire as if everything was going to be alright, yet something would change if she acted.

A part of her wanted to call him, just hear his voice so that she could calm down, and try to think about what she was supposed to do.

Another part wanted to text him, let him know that she needed help and that she wanted to hear him at her side, even if only for a moment.

And another part wondered if she was even doing the right thing in calling him. Her door wasn’t completely closed, and even if she didn’t take in that they were watching, Sumire saw that her parents were looking in, missing their worried looks as she kept thinking.

Eventually, she closed out her contacts, rolled onto her side, and took her headphones out, looking for the last file before laying down, hitting play and letting the monotone voice take her back two years.

Chapter Text

“October 29^th, 20XX

We’ve entered the Palace. It really is just one giant casino. And as much as I try to hide my contempt, I can’t let it go completely. I don’t show it, but I don’t buy his acting that he doesn’t know what he’s doing. And if my suspicion is right, I will avenge Okumura. We will come back later, though, as it seems like she doesn’t intend to let in further today.

October 30^th, 20XX

Man, the bar of entry in this Palace is really high. It requires so many steps to just enter the casino proper, not just the ground floor. To many blue coins spitting out and hitting my face to care about saying most of it. But the final part is one that I do take an interest to, and it is the part where we have to enter a courtroom to get further in. There’s a cognitive block that we can only clear by being seen in a courtroom by Makoto’s sister if we’re to go in further, but that seems like a tall order. However, it seems that Futaba has gotten our proof that he’s not with us. I’ll give it to everyone else individually tomorrow after the Palace.

October 31^st, 20XX

It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. We were able to enter the courtroom rather easily, Akechi was aware that she would be present, so we took our chance to enter. After getting spotted and leaving once the trial was over, we went right back in. And while I wasn’t expecting anything else, it really was pretty rigged against us to get further in.

And as much as I hate to say so, Akechi proved to be a useable asset. He found a way to outsmart the system we were given, and managed to clear a final checkpoint we wouldn’t be even able to clear in time.

He’s not just brains for show, that killer.

Regardless, we’ve secured our route to the treasure.

Time to end this.

November 2^nd, 20XX

We had gathered to send out the calling card, but Akechi seems to have other plans. He said that we should wait until the end of our time frame to let her feel the pressure of not having anything ready, then send it in. While I think that there’s something he’s hiding behind it, if Makoto agrees with his outward reasoning, then there’s nothing that we can do about it.

So we’re just going to wait, but we’re not going to sit by idly.

We told him that we would like to talk amongst ourselves about what to do going forward and leaving the Thieves behind, and Akechi seemed to buy it.

We then took our chance to figure out how we’re supposed to counter his plan to not only frame us, but kill me as well. He’s also planning to bring the police in to try and take us by surprise. I could also feel the heat radiating off of Haru as she brought up how he’s the one who killed her father. Hell will be too kind him if he gets to live after I or Haru deal with him.

However, Futaba seemed to have realized something, even that took Makoto for surprise. Good on her. Makoto quickly seemed to have changed whatever plan she had in mind once Futaba explained her thoughts, and I think it’s pretty good.

I’m just rather nervous if they can actually make it work.

Not that I don’t trust them, but this has a few too many moving parts compared to last time. Who knows what will happen if something goes wrong or unaccounted for happens.”

Taking her chance to pause, Sumire let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she pulled Ren’s case closer to her chest. Her grip had relaxed as she had listened, but the more she heard about the machinations that were going on in the shadows to take him and everyone down, the more nervous she felt, reflected in how tightly she was holding the case. There were memories that came back to her as she started to remember what had happened towards the end of the month, something she sometimes would still have nightmares over.

“November 5^th, 20XX

Well, he’s finally shown his true colors to me.

Akechi called me out and asked me to go into Mementos with him. I had an idea of what it would probably be, but he pulled out a real gun. Not his laser pistol, but an actual firearm. He told me that he wanted to fight me in a duel after seeing how quickly I had caught up with him, and said that I should come with lethal intent. Seeing that this was how it was going, I just weakened him with Arsene and quickly closed the distance, my knife against his neck before he could shake me off.

I don’t think he was trying, but that wasn’t the point, he just said it was his loss and left Mementos. Before I left to go home, he told me that he hates me, how I seem too good at anything I try, and that he can’t keep losing.

He even threw his glove at me in challenge, saying that he would be the one to take me down.

The feeling’s mutual asshole.

The knife will go through your neck the next time we meet if an ax doesn’t get to you first.”

Not pausing, Sumire let out another breath as she took in the amount of hatred that seemed to go between Ren and Akechi. The thought that Akechi carried a real gun around back then was enough to make her relive some of the nightmares, the scenario evolving into different situations where he probably could’ve killed everyone without anyone noticing, and just didn’t because there would be some kind of way to trace it back to him in the real world. So many scenarios crossed her mind, it was more of a surprise to her when the next entry started.

Chapter Text

“November 15^th, 20XX

Yusuke, Makoto and Futaba have confirmed that the room in the police station is the same in Sae’s cognitive world as it is in reality. How any of them know what it’s supposed to look like is a bit unnerving, but it’s probably not Yusuke. I would be surprised if it was him.

Regardless, it looks like our plan will be able to work without a hitch.

November 17^th, 20XX

Today was a nice surprise. I got invited to a date.”

Frowning at that, Sumire tried to think about who would’ve done something like that at such a moment.

“Kasumi came and talked to me during lunch, asking me about my future as a Phantom Thief.”

Realizing her mistake, a blush ran over Sumire’s face as she remembered what Ren was talking about, being so wound up over talk about backroom plots and lies, she had forgotten that it was her who did it.

“She spoke about how she’s heard nothing but bad words and ill intent towards us, and asked why we’re still going. I told her that there was still other things that we needed to take care of, and while I’m not sure if she bought it, she let it go.

She made me agree that once I’m done with whatever business I still have left, that we’re going to go do something together, and that left a feeling in my chest that I’m not entirely sure what it is still.”

A small smile crawled its way across Sumire’s face, listening about how unsure Ren felt about his love towards her in such a way was such a surprise for her, showing how the emotions that she had felt to confess herself weren’t that foreign to him.

“November 18^th, 20XX

Well, something happened today that I honestly didn’t expect.

I haven’t written much about my encounters with the councilor, Dr. Maruki, and I thought that I wouldn’t have to, but he said something during his talk with me during lunch that startled me.

He called me a Phantom Thief without ever needing something done from us. Looking back now, there are a lot of people that I’ve been talking and spending time with, all of who needed some sort of help from me, that I haven’t written down, but he’s the only one who thinks I’m one without ever talking to me about it. Even scarier, he has how and what we do down to a T.”

Feeling her heart race again, Sumire felt a sense of panic, realizing that Maruki was indeed only mentioned only once before. It was back when he had first come to Shujin, and Ren didn’t think much about it then if she remembered correctly.

And while he never said he had a bad experience back then, seeing how aware Maruki was and just how easily he found it acceptable to manipulate the world in a way he saw fit for everyone, was always a bit of a shock for Sumire every time she thought about it, and how if what Ren said was true, how he inadvertently helped Maruki realize his perfect world. It didn’t help that she was feeling anxious about what was coming next, even if she knew what happened.

“He even claims that he saw us leave the Metaverse once, back when Ann just joined us based on what he described.

Honestly, I missed the rest of the conversation from that point, hiding my panic until the discussion ended. We have bigger fish to fry tomorrow for me to try and remember it.

To be honest, I’m trying my best to keep my cool.

We’re going into the Palace tomorrow, and a part of me is wondering if it’ll be possible for us to carry out our plan. Makoto said that her sister had read the Calling Card, so all that’s left is to go in and take the Treasure. I hope I remember everything for the plan tomorrow, since I have no idea what will happen in the police building.”

“Just to serve as a reminder,” Futaba’s voice cut in. “Our plan was to deliberately have Ren be captured and taken into police custody. That way, when Sae would try to interrogate him, he would be there in the real world, affecting her cognitive world. Ren was then supposed to reveal to Sae that Akechi was the rat, and to have her show him Ren’s phone. That way, I could use the GPS function of both of their phones to determine if she had spoken with him. And with that, I just took advantage of bookmarking of his phone, and made it so that his phone thought that he pushed the button. It was so easy, I tell you.”

Rolling her eyes at Futaba patting herself on the back as she chuckled, Sumire kept listening, a few details that were new to her being listed out.

“Since Sae had recognized Ren to be in the interrogation room, if someone entered the Metaverse in her cognitive world, he should still have been there. Which means that we didn’t take her treasure, and we used a dummy briefcase and sent some of our own to get the treasure. Since Akechi wouldn’t know that we didn’t take the Treasure, he wouldn’t know that Sae’s Palace still stood, and would probably just ignore a transition into the Metaverse, he would be none the wiser when he tried to kill Ren that it wasn’t him. Though with doped up he probably was, it’s a miracle that he managed to tell Sae about Akechi.”

Realizing how close it could’ve been where Ren had been killed, a wave of anxiety washed over Sumire again, her grip on Ren’s glasses case tightening as she remembered how anxious she was when she heard that he was supposedly dead.

“Honesty, I have to praise Sae for managing to get Ren out of there, jumping in and out of the Metaverse to avoid choke points and security systems. Especially in heels, how does anyone manage to pull someone along in like that?”

Taking a mental note to thank Makoto’s sister the next time that she saw her, all of the tension that she had been feeling fading once she heard the next entry.

"November 22, 20XX

I’m alive. We made it work.”

Chapter Text

Hearing that Ren was alive, Sumire decided that it was a good stopping point for the night. Pausing the recording and getting up, she made her way to the bathroom, not noticing the looks on her parents' faces as they watched her from their room.

“What do you think she’s listening to?” Shinichi asked, sitting down when the saw the light of the bathroom fade, door closing behind Sumire. “I don’t know,” Ayako answered, joining him on the bed. “I’ve tried asking Futaba-chan about it, but she’s rather tight-lipped this time around.” There were much more details after that, but after years of being married, Shinichi had learned how to filter out his wife’s rants and rambles about dramas and other peoples’ love lives.

“Still, she seemed much more relaxed at the end,” Shinichi said, cutting Ayako off as he heard the sound of a door open, footsteps making their way past their room and hearing a separate door close. “I wonder what about it was making her so stressed out before?”

“I don’t know,” Ayako answered, taking a peek out of the bedroom to see if Sumire’s lights were on. “All I can say is that we should be ready for something, it feels like she’s trying to build her courage for something.”

“Is that drama talk?” Shinichi chuckled, getting under the sheets. “I’m being serious,” Ayako answered, quickly following him in. “There’s been some kind of new determination in her again, and I just have to know what it’s about if she doesn’t want to tell us.”

A few weeks had passed since Sumire had last listened to an entry.

With practice and having to make her own meals, she didn’t have the time to relax and listen to some entries.

Practice had been tough, with Hiraguchi slowly raising the intensity of the work-outs as time went on. She had felt that the increase would be too sharp sometimes, but she climbed through it all, feeling a rush every time she got to the peak of practice before it was time to cool down. And once she was done for the day, she tried her best to not completely doze off from the rocking motion of the train.

And her one day off for the week, Sunday, was spent preparing meals for the rest of the week, taking most of her time and concentration. She would go to bed, always thinking about if she had everything ready and how to spread it all out for a week.

Today’s practice, however, Sumire felt that for some reason that it had been going quicker than normal. Or, rather than quick, it wasn’t nearly as intense, more like Hiraguchi was letting Sumire move as she wanted, letting her express herself a bit more than she normally was allowed in practice.

Hearing her coach clap her hands, Sumire stopped her routine, taking a moment to catch her breath as Hiraguchi’s face remained neutral.

“Sumire, is something on your mind?” she asked, getting a confused look in response as her athlete walked towards her.

“When I’ve given you something to practice, you have perfect flow and grace, but the moment you do something that you’ve already done before, something changes in your movement.”

Taking a drink of water, Sumire hesitated to answer, eyes wandering as she tried to think of what to say. Seeing her response, Hiraguchi sat down, surprising Sumire at the action.

“Talk with me.”

Slowly lowering herself, Sumire sat across from Hiraguchi, waiting for a question that she really didn’t want to answer.

“Can I ask you a question first?” Sumire asked, getting a nod in response.

“Have you gone out with anyone?”

“Where did this come from?” Hiraguchi asked, raising a brow at such a question, though she softened her face as she saw Sumire’s concerned face.

“It was back when I was in college, nothing really serious. We just found ourselves going down different paths in life, so we ended it there.”

“Is that so,” Sumire answered, Hiraguchi picking up the disappointment in her voice.

“Not what you expected?”

“Well, it’s just…”

Trying to find the words, Sumire looked down at her lap, a blush on her face as she shuffled in place. “With the expectations you put on Ren, I thought you had more experience.”

Hiraguchi smacked her knees as she leaned over with a hearty laugh, Sumire flushed even harder, realizing the mistake she made with the amount of emotion her coach was showing.

“Oh, Sumire,” Hiraguchi said, a few chuckles leaving her mouth as she started to calm down. “I have those expectations on him not because he’s your boyfriend, but because he’s looking to be your partner as a performer.”

With one final chuckle, Hiraguchi straightened herself out, continuing her thoughts. “Of course, he won’t out there with you, but he’ll be standing by your side at every step before and after you perform. He’s late to the party, so to say, and if he’s going to be worthy of standing next to you, he has to take the heat now rather than crack when you’re at your peak.”

“Is that so,” Sumire answered, looking down and away as she thought about what Hiraguchi said.

“Sumire?”

Not answering, Sumire kept thinking, images in her mind as she imagined Ren on the edge of the mat, waiting for her with a bottle of water and a wet towel to wipe her face.

Stewing in her thoughts for a bit longer, Sumire eventually looked up. “Can I ask to end practice early?”

"Alright," Hiraguchi answered, getting up and reaching a hand to Sumire. "Maybe I'll give my boyfriend a call, see if he can go on a date."

"Wha?" Sumire asked, blindsided by Hiraguchi who was walking back to the locker room, stopping to look back to give her a smirk.

"Coach~~~~!"

Chapter Text

Even though she was annoyed that she was tricked by her coach, Sumire couldn’t help but think about what she had said about Ren cracking on the big stage.

The train seemed to become her spot for thinking about things like this as she went home, her earbuds waiting for her by the side of her bed.

If she really was going to be up there, and if he was her… husband; Sumire blushed at the thought, but went back to the reality of the situation. If Ren was going to stand up there with her, there would probably be way more pressure than he was used to. While he could hide behind being a transfer student with a record and little else to mark him with, that would be a different story if he was the husband of a famous athlete.

There was a chance people would probably dig into his history and try to use him to take her down. They would see that even though he was cleared of his criminal charges, there was still ways to try and paint him poorly for it. And if they managed to dig deep enough, they could probably find a connection to him and the Phantom Thieves investigation, and she could only imagine the fallout if someone tried to use that as a basis for a claim against them.

And even though the fallout could be huge, they had so many connections that they could count on to support them; Ann had sent an excited message to the group text about trending on a social media site a while ago, though it stopped as it happened more frequently, Okumura Foods being a sponsor would be very possible with Haru at the helm, and very few legal teams would probably want to try and take on a former prosecutor from the SIU. That was only a surface level of connections that could be seen as a way to protect themselves, and who knew what kind of hell waited for someone if Futaba decided to set her sights on them.

But Ren, not just her, would have to be willing to reach out to them if they needed help. And while they would probably do it for her, Sumire wondered if they would be so moved to do so if their relationship with Ren soured if was keeping his distance from everyone.

With the announcement of her station, Sumire put the thought on hold and got off, waiting to hear where she had left off.

“November 22, 20XX,” the monotone voice of the recording started, as Sumire started getting comfortable with a cup of tea to the side as she sat on the couch, a blanket over her legs as she relaxed.

“There’s a lot that happened yesterday that I didn’t write down about, mostly because of how tired I was. We spent most of the time getting Sojio and Sae up to speed about what had happened and how we got around Akechi, but the main thing is what to do going forward.

We know who Akechi’s boss is, and Sojiro had a bunch of information about him from his time as a government worker.

The guy’s name is Masayoshi Shido. He’s a politician, the one who probably ordered the hit on Futaba’s mom.

He used us to try and accelerate himself in the political world, so we’re going to use the fact of how publicly he’s been against us to our advantage. Because for all intents and purposes, I’m dead to the world, and nothing is as scary for someone than something rising from the grave to haunt them.”

It took a lot to keep Sumire from gasping at that line. She knew that it was written before he knew about the situation with Kasumi, but it still hurt a little to hear that kind of thing seeing how everything played out.

“We’ve only figured out two of his three key words, but it won’t take long.

November 23^rd, 20XX

It’s him. He’s the one who got me arrested.

I’m going to get that son of a bitch.

November 24^th, 20XX

Holy shit, this guy is insane. His Palace is not only the Diet Building, but it’s also a fucking ship. And it’s the only thing that’s survived in his world, a place where he’s on top.

Everyone on board are people that he thinks are worth keeping alive, to ensure that his ambitions can go forward, so there’s little they fear in there. They even think us fighting Shadows is some form of entertainment.

Regardless, we know what we have to do going forward. There’re five people we need to get letters of introduction from, and with that, we’ll be able to enter the chamber that holds the Treasure.

We left so that we can get ready to go in and do what we normally do, push in as far a possible at once.

I’m gonna get that bastard.

November 25^th, 20XX

I’ll ensure that we’re successful. I have to make sure that I can ask Kasumi out.

Not only did she tail us without us knowing in Sae’s Palace, but she also asked to join us. And as much as I want to say yes, I can’t risk her getting caught up in this. Shido is just someone who we can’t risk having someone else involved, and I don’t know how I would feel if something happened because she was with us. Never mind how worried she said she was when she heard that I was dead.

I’ll come back this time. I will ask you out again after everything is done.”

Chapter Text

She didn’t know what it was, but something about how Ren would constantly bring up spending time with her always made Sumire smile as she listened.

She that at this point, he was in love with her, and that he didn’t know what the feeling was, but just listening to it aways gave her this warm, fuzzy feeling that she didn’t know she could feel, that Ren being unaware could make her feel so excited about something.

She had finished her thoughts about it when the next entry began.

“November 26^th, 20XX

A lot has happened today. Akechi is probably dead. Bastard didn’t even give me or Haru a chance to be the one to finish him off.”

There was a pause in there that Sumire didn’t expect, wondering what it was, when Futaba cut in.

“Ren was so pissed about what happened with Akechi,” her voice started, pulling Sumire back in. “After being ‘killed’ by him, Ren was determined to be the one to end Akechi. Haru was just pissed because of what happened with her father, and let me tell you,” Futaba’s voice changed a bit, “I have learned from her encounter and fight with Akechi to not mess with her too much. It’s one thing to have a Persona punch through solid steel, it’s another thing to have someone do it with their own strength, regardless of how sharp you ax is.” Widening her eyes at the comment, Sumire took a moment to be thankful that she never did anything that would ever anger Haru. “And there was one more thing that I have to mention about how Akechi died, and it was that he denied Ren and Haru the chance to kill him. You probably don’t know how he died, and probably only heard that he did die, so I’ll give you a simple explanation.”

Shuffling her spot, Sumire sat up a bit more as she took the chance to learn a bit more. “Like you heard earlier, Shido’s Palace was the Diet building transformed into a ship, and it required five letters to enter the room where the Treasure was stored. We had just beaten the last guy required to get the final letter in the engine room of the ship when Akechi came down from the ceiling and challenged us to a fight. And to be honest, it was satisfying to watch him get tossed around by Ren and Haru, especially after the grief he gave Haru and Ren’s personal vendetta against him. But the reality of the situation came back when Shido’s cognition of Akechi came in, pointing a gun at the real one as he was on the ground.

To be honest, if he wasn’t the one who probably killed my mom as well, I would’ve had more sympathy for him with how Shido viewed him in their relationship, but to Ren and Haru, it looked that their kill was going to be taken from them in front of their eyes. And I think Akechi knew that, so when he was ordered to shoot us, he not only shot the cognition, but an alarm that put a wall between us where the main purpose was to prevent flooding. To everyone else, Akechi’s actions must have looked like a self-sacrifice, but to Ren and Haru, and me the more I thought about it, it was his final laugh against them, denying Haru her revenge and Ren the final victory in what was some sort of game that was going on between them.”

Tilting her head at the mention of Akechi’s relationship with Shido, Sumire tried to think if she had heard anything from anyone about Akechi’s past beyond what was public knowledge. Was there something in there that was supposed to make her feel sympathy for him. Even in the few moments that she met him in the studio, he rarely talked about his past, and the time against Maruki was just her trying to accept herself again.

Shaking her head at the thought, Sumire turned her attention back to the file.

“And being denied that kill still somewhat gets to Ren to this day. And here is something else to prove it.”

Hearing the pause, Sumire waited before Futaba’s voice returned.

“Do you really think that if Joker was so perfect, he would’ve known that we were being watched, and that a different mindset would’ve actually saved Okumura?” It was a much sharper tone that Futaba spoke in, one Sumire never heard of, when Ren’s voice came in. “No, we had no idea, it wasn’t even on our minds, and even if it was, there were plenty of other things that Akechi could’ve done to ensure that his plan worked,” he said, a somewhat defeated tone in his voice.

“Then how could you have saved him without prior knowledge, that you had a way of making sure that Haru is with her father right now and that she has the relationship that she wants with him.”

“I don’t know!” Ren shouted, making Sumire flinch at how harsh his voice was. Had she ever heard him talk like that? “And after seeing how it could’ve been, there were so many things we could’ve done to make sure that he disappeared,” Ren’s defeated voice came back, as if he was running the scenario again in his head.

“But you only saw that after we thought there was nothing more we could’ve done. Akechi and Shido, the people ultimately responsible for what happened, were dealt with, and that was supposed to be the end,” Futaba huffed, seemingly fed up. “Why can’t you be satisfied with that?”

“Can you ask that to Haru?” Ren asked back, daring Futaba to say something.

“I have,” she answered, voice not faltering. “And you’re right, she isn’t satisfied, but unlike you, she’s has accepted what has happened, and is moving forward with her life.”

Sumire could only feel the awkward tension in the air as she shuffled around again, trying to think of what she was supposed to do with this information.

“Now,” Futaba’s voice cut back in. “Let’s finish the entry.”

“But we’ve made it to the Treasure, we just have to get ready and prepare ourselves for the fight of our lives.”

Chapter Text

Pausing the recording, Sumire took some deep breaths as she thought about what Ren had said in them. Was something like revenge that was unfulfilled tearing into him so much that he couldn’t forgive himself for not being the one who killed Akechi?

She felt a shiver go down her spine at the thought of Ren wanting to kill someone. Sumire had seen his power before, and while she didn’t doubt that he could kill anyone in the Metaverse, the thought that he was only a few steps away from actually killing someone as a bit unsettling. But a part of her hesitated, because as she thought about it, if Ren or Haru had gotten the kill, what was the likeliness that he would’ve had someone to listen to about the distorted world under Maruki.

Seeing who he was, Sumire felt that Ren would probably have felt that something wasn’t right, but would just let his friends be happy, and let Maruki take control. Which meant that she would’ve been completely gone as well, and as she thought about it, a part of her wondered if Ren thought about this as well, which is why a part of him couldn’t let go of Akechi; not killing the person he hated the most was what let him meet the love of his life.

Thinking about it herself, if Sumire thought about having to pick between staying with Ren and bringing Kasumi back, she felt a bit sick, putting a hand to her stomach. She was unable to imagine what sort of situation would require her to make such a choice, and she would just hope that such a choice would never rear its face towards her ever.

Calming her stomach, Sumire put the thought on hold and resumed listening.

“November 28^th, 20XX

We’ve spent a lot of time in Mementos raising our strength, and it seems like we hit our peak. While it seems like our Personas can still grow, our bodies have hit their limits. While it would be best to keep trying to raise our Personas, we don’t have the time to do so.

We’re sending the calling card tomorrow.

I’m ending this.

November 29^th, 20XX

It’s done.

A bunch of stuff has happened, but I’m tired after cleaning up Leblanc.

It’s over.”

Raising her brow at the mention of Leblanc, Sumire had a few thoughts about what it could’ve been, but let it slide.

“December 1^st, 20XX

Something is odd.

People seem to not care about my supposed suicide. Rather than who I am, it seems more like no one cares about the fact that I managed to escape from police custody. Do they really think that despite what we’ve done, that Shido is going to be the one who cleans everything up that they don’t have to worry about it.

December 18^th, 20XX

Ha ha, you see that! He confessed! I shouldn’t have anything to worry about in the future. Sae said she’s going to take care of most of it, and I’m sure that removing my charges will be part of this. As much as I love everyone here, the feeling that it could be removed from my record is something I feel that has removed a massive weight from my chest.

December 19^th, 20XX

Today was my first day back at school. Nothing usual happened, I thought that some people would want to come talk to me and ask why I was gone for so long, but nothing of the sort happened. Maybe its because exams are coming up and their minds are focused on that.

I would think that at least one person would be interested.

December 20^th, 20XX

I encountered Kasumi today before exams. She congratulated me for giving Shido a change of heart and asked to have our promised meet-up be a shrine visit for New Year’s. Exams weren’t so bad today.”

That made Sumire smile, glad that she was able to lighten his mood by just meeting him during that time.

“December 23^rd, 20XX

Well, I don’t believe it as I write this down, but we have no other choice. We’re destroying the Metaverse.

As it seems more and more likely that Shido isn’t going to be tried, and that his lackeys will try to have us arrested, then we need to change the public. If the Metaverse is the Palace of the public, then we need to steal the warped center of public thought that doesn’t seem to care about what’s happening in the world, and make sure that we survive.

December 24^th, 20XX

I have several thoughts.

We all died. Rather, we disappeared from the public consciousness for a moment. It seems that my connection to the Velvet Room saved me, and let me pull everyone else back into existence. Morgana was created by the true master of the Velvet room, instead of whoever I had been with all this time. And then we fought them, since it was claiming to be a god and that it was making the world right.

While we did beat them with the twins’ true form, I don’t remember her name, I have to thank her for the amazing Persona, it was honestly the power of the people wishing to destroy the enemy that let us win.

And since we got rid of the Metaverse, Morgana is gone. As is the nav.

Christmas eve was fun; watching Futaba knock herself out on a turkey made me chuckle a bit.

And the thing I still can’t get my head around, Akechi is not as dead as I thought he was. Because the metaverse supposedly disappeared, there would be no one to testify how and what Shido had done. Sae had come up to me and asked me to turn myself in, but Akechi showed up out of nowhere and said he would do it.

If it weren’t for the fact that I was shocked to see him alive and being with Sae, I probably would’ve thrown him to the ground.”

Chapter Text

Christmas was a few days away, and Sumire couldn’t bring herself to listen to more of the recordings. She knew what was coming, and the anxiety she was feeling every time she thought about it was sometimes paralyzing. She had considered bringing Ren’s glasses with her, but she had decided against it, knowing that it would be the end of her control if she had to keep it on her person to keep her thoughts elsewhere.

Practice had been taken away from her, with Hiraguchi making good on meeting up with her boyfriend and saying that she would spend the next few weeks away from coaching. That didn’t mean she couldn’t practice on her own, but she was finding it difficult to keep her thoughts from creeping in when she had tried once. She should be grateful that it was only the roots of the tree and not the actual tree she stumbled on.

Which is how she found herself in a batting cage, with Futaba saying that her swinging sucked and to ‘go back to little league.’

Finally getting annoyed at her, Sumire honed in on an incoming pitch and smashed it, the crack of the metal bat hitting the ball refreshing to her as the ball finally flew above the halfway point on the net.

“Wow, you can do so much better when you have something to prove,” Futaba finally said, her own bat in hand as she stepped into a pen.

Turning to look at Futaba, Sumire smirked as her heckler struggled to even react to some of the pitches flying at her, swinging wildly as balls flung right by her. “You really needed something else to get your mind reset,” Futaba said, continuing to miss her swings as Sumire took the time to look at Futaba’s posture, realizing that it was perhaps better than she had anticipated.

“Sometimes, I would get tired in challenging Ren in retro games for competition, that exploit knowing cheater, so I made the mistake in challenging him in something he chose,” Futaba said, finally getting a hit on a ball even if it got grounded.

“I think he found it funny in dragging someone like me to a batting cage, where the only things I ever saw fly this fast were plumbers going up stairs, but he soundly beat me the first time,” she continued, ignoring the confused look on Sumire’s face as Futaba took another swing, missing the ball by fractions of a second.

“Of course, I haven’t beaten him sense, but I’ve sometimes come here on my own to let out my frustrations physically when I don’t have cat cheeks to pinch and tease, so that’s something I guess,” Futaba said as she finally got a solid hit, reaching the same height as Sumire on the net, a smirk on her face as she looked at the shock on the gymnast’s.

“So,” Futaba said, letting a ball fly right past her as she turned to look at Sumire. “What are you taking your frustrations out about?”

“Frustrations?” Sumire asked, pulling out a few hundred-yen coins for Futaba to see before dipping out, going back in to pay for another round.

“Maybe not frustrations,” Futaba said as Sumire came back out, eyes already focused on the pitching machine. “Anxieties is probably better.”

Ignoring Futaba, Sumire took a swing at a ball, hitting the homerun ring at the top of the net, getting a few eyes to look her way as Futaba just looked at her.

“So am I right?” Futaba asked, but Sumire didn’t respond, hitting another ball, this time flying into the square labeled ‘Double.’

Shaking her head, Futaba decided to drop it, figuring that she was probably in the zone. Fine, she would probably talk once her mind had cleared up a bit.

Taking a sip of coffee, Futaba looked with expectant eyes as Sumire took another taste, her lenses getting a bit foggy from the steam rising from the drink.

“Well?” Futaba asked, an expectant look on her face as Sumire put the cup down.

“It’s good,” she answered, eyes still looking down at the cup. “It’s just…”

“Ah that bastard,” Futaba muttered, getting Sumire to look up. “It’s unfair that a tea drinker like him gets to make the better coffee between the two of us.”

“I didn’t…”

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Futaba cut Sumire off, putting a hand out. “If anything, I got the curry out of the deal, and I know he would trade his coffee skills for that in a heartbeat.”

“What?” Sumire asked, a confused frown on her face as Futaba blinked, seemingly not believing what she had just heard.

“Are you serious?” Futaba asked, leaning over the counter. “You don’t know why he would trade his coffee skills for my curry?”

Sitting there for a moment, Sumire looked down with a blush as her stomach growled, making her realize what Futaba was insinuating as the latter let out a laugh.

“Oh, that was too perfect,” she chuckled, entering the kitchen and getting a serving ready. “Ren better be careful, or I’ll steal you away with my superior curry.”

“Can you make anything other than curry?”

“Oh shush,” Futaba said, putting a plate before Sumire. “That’s not what I was talking about anyway.”

Chapter Text

Washing the plate that Sumire had eaten from, Futaba watched as Sumire enjoyed the ambiance of the café, the tick tock of the clock, the occasional train and car sound passing by.

“So,” Futaba said, breaking the atmosphere as she turned the water of and turned to Sumire. “Let’s talk about what you’re really here for.”

Adjusting her position on the stool, Sumire waited for Futaba to start, making the girl sigh as she realized that she would have to initiate.

“Why haven’t you read anything past Christmas?” she started, leaning against the counter.

“I don’t know,” Sumire answered, shuffling in her seat. “It was just where I had stopped, and I haven’t gotten around to going further.”

“Was it surprising to hear that Akechi was alive at that point?”

“A bit,” Sumire admitted, her moving her hands to her lap. “It’s just that, if what I understand is correct, that would mean Maruki’s first act upon gaining some power was…”

“To grant Ren’s desire, to see Akechi again, yep,” Futaba answered, squatting down as her chin rested on the counter. “Satisfying the desire of the person who let him realize his potential, if you will.”

“I…” Sumire hesitated, realizing that it was true that Maruki probably learned more about the Metaverse through Ren than any kind of research he could perform.

“It’s a lot to take in, right?” Futaba asked, standing up straight as a figure that looked like Sojiro passed by, making her wait before continuing. “He managed to cast an illusion so perfectly, that the world bought it as reality and it became real.”

“And that was probably something Ren thought about as well,” Sumire mumbled, raising her knees and burying her chin in them. “And I just…”

“Don’t know how to talk to him about it?” Futaba completed Sumire’s thought, getting a small nod.

“Yeah, that sounds tough,” was her nonchalant answered, making Sumire pout. “I get it, I get it,” Futaba said, putting a hand up. “I know I’m the one who put you up to this, but I honestly don’t know how this will go down.”

“If there’s one thing you can take comfort in, he’ll never blame you and stick by your side no matter what happens,” Futaba said, leaving the counter and walking next to Sumire. “If it goes poorly, he’ll probably just refuse to talk to me more than necessary, and just keep his distance from everyone else.”

“Um…” Sumire said, visible fear and concern on her face as Futaba sat next to her.

“Not trying to scare you or anything,” Futaba chuckled, putting an elbow on the counter and resting her head on it. “But I’m really worried about him. His desire to be perfect for you, so that no Joker is needed, is something that will grow out of control and just make him spiral if he can’t let himself be supported by you and reach out to us.”

“I don’t think it’s too bad,” Sumire said, getting a scowl out of Futaba.

“Really? Because what is he going to be devoting his life to once you start competing on the big stage, and you become his life?”

Opening her mouth, Sumire hesitated as she thought about what Futaba said, trying to deny how much Ren was revolving his life around her. If his life did, why didn’t he just drop everything and move to Tokyo to be with her the moment he graduated, but the look Futaba was giving her made her drop her thoughts.

“I have one more thing I want to ask you,” Futaba said. “When was the last time you called him ‘senpai?’”

“What?”

“When was the last time you called him something other than his name?”

Looking down, Sumire tried to think. “Boyfr…”

“No,” Futaba immediately cut her off. “Anyone can say he’s your boyfriend, what is something that only you get to call him?”

“Um…” Sumire hesitated, realizing that there was probably nothing special that she actually called him, his insistence on being called Ren, finally setting in.

“See what I mean when I said no Joker required? Even if his logical side understands that we were following our rules of combat in the Metaverse, his emotional side still has not let go of the fact that when we came to help him, it was not Ren we called out to, it was Joker.”

Letting Futaba’s answer hang over her, Sumire looked down at her lap, eyes running back and forth as more and more of what seemed to be an impossible task for her started to pile up.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it too much,” Futaba said, putting a hand out to Sumire’s shoulder. “He’ll love you no matter what you do, and will do anything for you.”

Making it back home, Sumire sat down on the couch, earbuds not present as she looked for the files, a sense of dread filling her.

There was no going back now, the magnitude of how much Ren was afraid of not being perfect enough and that he needed to be the one to support her, friends be damned, finally putting their full weight on her shoulders.

Finding it, Sumire turned her phone over, taking a few breaths to calm herself and clear her mind.

Flipping it over, she hit play.

“December 25^th, 20XX

Morgana is not as gone as I thought he was. It was a surprise from Sojiro, when he had gotten the chicken for our party, he seemed to have encountered him by chance. And according to Morgana, it was his Metaverse form that disappeared, and since we all thought of him as a cat in the real world, that form was able to keep existing.

So not only was he actually a cat, he was cat in our hearts as well.

Nice try, Mona, maybe you can be human in your next life.

December 31^st, 20XX

It was a good day today. The woman who was involved in my arrest is willing to come forward and testify, so my record is likely to be overturned. And everyone was introduced to the bottomless pit that is Kasumi’s stomach; as much as I got a laugh out of it, I’ll have to be careful if we go out somewhere to eat.”

Chapter Text

Pausing at the end of year, Sumire took deep breaths as she prepared herself for what she knew was coming.

Several things ran across her mind, Ren joking about Morgana, her appetite, but most of all was the dread that she felt coming with his thoughts about the new world that he had found himself in.

“It’s okay,” Sumire said to herself, rubbing her hands together. “You’re past this.”

“January 1^st, 20XX+1

While I would love to write about my shrine visit today, I have questions. Futaba mentioned something about her mom, Haru mentioned dinner with her dad, I don’t see Morgana anywhere, and the most bizarre thing to me, reality seemed to have glitched out. I met Kasumi ’s dad today, and when he was talking to her, when he said her name, I did not hear Kasumi. I couldn’t hear the start, but I swear that I heard れ(re) at the end. I think Kasumi noticed as well, because she seemed to hesitate after hearing that.

January 2^nd, 20XX+1

Something is very wrong. Not only did I wake up to a guy right in my face, it’s apparently Morgana. Not only that, Wakaba is somehow alive. And even worse, I’ve agreed to team up with Akechi on my own volition.

I stand corrected with what I wrote earlier, Sumire being taken is the worst thing. I think that’s her name, I’m still not completely sure what has happened.”

Taking some deep breaths, Sumire put a hand to her chest, feeling her heart beating wildly as she tried to calm herself. She thought she had been fine when it came to her father actually saying her name, instead of the spell Maruki had put on her breaking in the presence of Ren, or how Morgana apparently had a human form (she had never heard of such a thing). But hearing that Ren was confused about who she was after the truth was revealed hurt her a little bit.

It had probably hurt Ren a lot as well, learning that Sumire wasn’t who she said she was, and yet still finding it in himself to love her.

Flushing at that, Sumire realized that she had completely skipped over the last entry, so she restarted it.

“January 8^th, 20XX+1

I’ve had some time to think about what has happened after encountering everyone. With what has happened with Sumire. Maruki was willing kill Sumire to let Kasumi live. He was…”

Sumire hit pause at that moment, letting Ren’s words echo in her mind.

Kill her?

That’s not what Maruki had tried to do, was it? Just make it so that she wouldn’t be… Sumire… anymore. Wasn’t that the same as death?

As the thought lingered in her mind, all of Ren’s attempts at trying to keep her from looking like Kasumi made more and more sense. Maruki had killed Sumire to bring Kasumi back in Ren’s mind, and anything that was her seemingly sliding back into being Kasumi was the same as her dying.

Maybe that was a bit extreme, but thinking about how he had gone back to his hometown right when they had started dating, there was nothing Ren could do if she had slidden back into becoming Kasumi while he was away. And that probably terrified him. Remembering their discussion in Leblanc, where she accused him of only loving her in glasses, maybe this was why he cried when he realized what his thoughts were. Sumire would be very much alive, even if she took her glasses off for a moment.

Putting the thought to the side, Sumire went back a few seconds and resumed the recording.

“Sumire to let Kasumi live. He willing to let a person die to let someone else live. And I’ve been thinking a bit about what he said about a world without hardship.

If I remember correctly, Sumire was upset that no matter what she did, she was never Kasumi’s equal. If they were magically equal, who is worthy of winning then? Who gets to be the one who wins? Does Maruki think he can flip a coin and have people be satisfied with that? What about other people, who both work towards a goal and are equally worthy, but only one can advance? There can only be one winner in a game, in sports, where fairness and being just require someone to lose. Can he fairly choose someone to lose, if both of them are worthy of winning in his eyes.

Then why do I have to lose unfairly? Everyone I’ve talked to; they all had their desires fulfilled. Every minute, every second I spent helping them work their own way towards what they wanted, gone without a trace. Where is the effort I put in to help them, all of them? Why should I have tried if warping reality to what they wanted was all it took?

Fuck that. Fuck him.”

Pausing again, Sumire took a few breaths to calm herself at how angry Ren sounded in his writing. Even though it was said in the monotone voice of a machine, she couldn’t help but think of the icy tone that he spoke to Futaba with when he was confronted with the questions that she asked him.

But there was nothing wrong with his thoughts, if Sumire tried to think about it. All of his friends, who he really did help if their willingness to still talk with him and be around him indicated anything. It was just now that she could feel the resentment that he felt towards Maruki, and despite beating him, his time alone and separated from everyone may have caused that anger and hatred to manifest towards them instead.

But she couldn’t know that for sure, and that could be a poor thought to have if he really was just angry with his friends and his resentments towards Maruki had faded with his world.

But that didn’t matter at the moment.

“Tomorrow, I’m going back to face Maruki again and I’m going to take Sumire back.”

Chapter Text

“January 9^th, 20XX+1

I’ve done it. Sumire is back. And I know what this feeling I’ve had in my chest when I think about her is. It’s love. I love Sumire. I will do everything I can to make sure that Sumire will still be around once we deal with Maruki, and that she never has to worry about herself ever again. Despite how much as I want to tell her all this, I have to make sure that Sumire’s okay first. She’s probably shaken from everything, and I can’t force myself onto her when she’s not stable at the moment.”

With a blush across her face, Sumire paused as she tried to take in Ren’s confession. Well, she was the one who confessed, but to hear it in writing gave it a certain feeling that Sumire couldn’t help but gush a bit about as she thought about all of things that he said he would do for her. Not to mention waiting until she was stable and ready to be confessed to, and not take advantage of the situation.

“And take care of Futaba. She’s lost her mother for a second time today. I think she cried for maybe two hours, I’m not sure how long it was.”

Oh. There was the other truth of the matter. Everyone coming to about the false world that they were in.

Haru and Futaba probably had it the hardest, losing their father and mother again after supposedly getting over it and having to relive the loss so soon. From what Sumire could tell and heard, Haru seemed much more resilient in the face of her father’s death the first time around, probably because she knew that it was a hit and could act on it, but given how she hadn’t heard about how she reacted the second time, Sumire could only imagine how Haru had taken the loss the second time.

And Futaba. Given how close she was with Ren, Sumire had an idea of how much she was hurt given that she freely talked to her. But it just left Sumire with more questions about why Ren held onto his frustration about them leaving him, when he knew first hand how much the choice to return hurt everyone involved.

Still, there was nothing more she could say until she spoke with him, and that would probably have to wait.

“January 10^th, 20XX+1

I tore out some pages of my diary.

Just seeing it made me mad, and the only outlet I had at the moment were those pages.

They were all related to the bastard Kamoshida, and what he said about Sumire in one of the worst rooms in his Palace.

Where the queen book went into the wall, there was something to the effect of, ‘her sister is dead, it should be easy to make her want me’ with Sumire’s name at the end. It happened to be the page that opened when I planned on writing what happened today, and after seeing what happened in Maruki’s Palace, I lost it.

Morgana had to scratch at my ankles for a few seconds before I felt him, stopping what I was doing to look at him.

He lectured me about losing my cool with an extremely worried face.

That wasn’t good.”

Blinking at the thought, Sumire wondered what Ren was talking about. Kamoshida? At this point in time? Trying to remember why he was brought up, Futaba’s voice cut in.

“Remember back at the beginning, how some pages were missing about Kamoshida’s Palace? Well, this is when it happened. And if what Mona has told me is true, he was furious in a way he hasn’t seen since. Maybe even a few steps away from just tearing the whole thing apart.”

Wait, that did sound familiar.

“Either way, with what happened to you still fresh on his mind, seeing something like that just set him off.”

“I’ve calmed down a bit,” the mechanical voice picked up after a few seconds, bringing Sumire back into the moment.

“Sumire seems to be alright. She came to school today and met me before class started. She also apologized for what happened in Maruki’s Palace. It’s not her fault. She still seems to be struggling with what she’s supposed to do for now, so I’ll wait. I can’t force anything that will just make her want to revert back.

I also told everyone what Lavenza has told me. We’ve all agreed to take Maruki down. And for a surprise, Lavenza called me on my phone. Don’t know how she did that, maybe she connected through the app somehow. Either way, she’s going to meet with everyone at school, so we’ll see how that turns out.

And even more surprising, when the topic of Akechi was brought up, Haru seemed to agree that he should join up. We need the power, and she said that if he betrays us again, she’d be ready for it.

I think she wants a justified reason to cut his head off. Can’t blame her, I still keep his glove on me for when I get the chance to stab him with it.”

It seemed like Ren and Haru really hadn’t let go of killing Akechi themselves. Shaking her head at the thought, Sumire was about to let the next entry play when she heard the sound of the door being unlocked, quickly closing the file and checking the clock to see that it was already 11 o’clock.

It was finally Christmas Eve, and since Hiraguchi was making good about spending time with her boyfriend, Sumire spent her day waiting at home. She was unusually well dressed for someone who would just be staying home, but there was always the chance that it would be a video call for the special day, and she couldn’t be seen dressed as she normally was, especially after how long it had been since they’ve seen each other.

And because it was a special day, she pulled out Ren’s favorite outfit of hers, the one they had bought nearly two years ago. Nervously gripping the fabric of the blue dress, Sumire waited for her phone to light up, having received a message that he would call at around 9 in the evening, constantly checking herself in her mirror to make sure that there was no button out of place as she ran one of her fingers down the front of her dress.

When her phone did finally go off, she was quick to jump on it, her smile relaxing as Ren’s face looked back at her.

“Hey Sumi.”

Chapter Text

Sumire couldn’t remember the last time she had a call with Ren like this. After their greetings, Sumire put her phone on her desk and gave her dress a twirl, showing it to him in full, his smiling face greeting her as she picked her phone up. There was small talk here and there, Sumire noticing the stubble on Ren’s chin, something he seemed completely oblivious to, (and Morgana making fun of him for forgetting in the background,) to showing her the condition of his apartment. Nothing had really changed, his small one-room apartment still just as cozy as the last time Sumire had seen it through her screen.

Sumire gave a tour of her own room, though nothing had really changed as well, aside from the few pictures of the two that she had resting on her desk or on her dresser.

It was small things like this that made these calls so fun, where nothing was really said, but it was just being able to hear each other’s voices again and being able to laugh over something that seemed so long ago that made everything so enjoyable.

“Hey Sumire,” Ren said, pulling Sumire out of her stupor after they had finished talking about something pointless, the conversation already escaping from her memory.

“Yeah?” she asked, putting her phone down as she got her charger out, plugging it into the wall.

“I have a few things that I need to tell you.”

“Go on.”

Taking a deep breath, Ren took a moment to wait until Sumire appeared on screen, looking straight at the camera. “First is that I have a major favor that I want to ask you.”

“Which is?” Sumire asked, adjusting her posture as she lay on her stomach.

“Would it be possible for you to ask your parents to have me move in with you by the time you graduate?”

“…What?”

Pausing at the request, Sumire looked down as Ren had a nervous smile on his face. “Yeah, I’m starting to not feel welcome here anymore.”

Despite the smile on his face, Sumire knew that a part of his heart probably broke admitting that he wasn’t wanted in his hometown anymore. They were most certainly not getting a PR visit once they reached the world stage.

“I can’t promise anything, but I will try.”

“Thank you.” Ren seemed to have relaxed at the answer, his phone sliding so that Morgana appeared in frame, looking up at the phone as Sumire gave him a small smile.

“Is there anything else?” Sumire asked as Ren reappeared, Morgana making a mew as Sumire assumed he was getting scritches off camera.

“Yes,” he quickly answered. “I won’t be able to make it for New Year’s exactly, but I will come on the second.”

“Oh,” Sumire said, her eyes dimming as the thought of her potential first visit being delayed. “That’s too bad.”

“Hey, don’t be too worried about it,” Ren chuckled, a small ‘clink’ being heard as he rested his head against his hand. “Sorry that things aren’t working out as I hoped, but I’ll be there.”

“I know,” Sumire smiled, her mind drifting towards what had happened almost two years ago. “You will be.”

“Hey,” Ren asked, noticing how Sumire seemed out of it. “Is something on your mind?”

“Oh, no,” Sumire shook her head, missing how Ren’s eyes quickly followed the flow of her hair. “Just been thinking about other things.”

“What sort of things?”

“Nothing,” Sumire giggled, to which Ren smirked.

“Is it?” he asked, the angle on his phone changing as Sumire saw him hold a glass of something. “It’s never nothing when you say it like that.”

“It is nothing,” Sumire answered back, trying to take a look at what Ren was drinking. “Nothing that you have to worry about.”

“If you say so,” Ren said, taking a sip and letting out a hefty sigh. “Ah, I made a mistake.”

“What?” Sumire asked, having a sneaking suspicion that she knew what he was drinking once Morgana poked his head up.

“I thought it would be weaker, but I guess it’s just not for me then,” Ren said, a slight flush on his face as he put his glass down, leaning back before realizing that he left his phone on the table. Raising a hand up to pull himself up, Ren looked at Sumire with a goofy grin, Morgana already reaching for the phone based on how his paws came into view.

“I love you,” Ren said, a bit of slur in his voice as he moved Morgana out of the way, a goofy smile on his face as he looked down at his phone.

“I know,” Sumire answered, shaking her head at Ren’s antics.

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

“I know.”

“I love you.”

Realizing what Ren was trying to accomplish, Sumire gave him a warm smile, before pulling her phone up close to her lips. She whispered, ‘I love you too,’ and was satisfied to see Ren be a bit redder than she had anticipated, the alcohol making him weaker than she had anticipated.

Ren seemed absolutely floored, before letting a few tears out, making Sumire freeze.

“Good,” he mumbled, placing his phone down against the table and leaning against it. “I miss you,” he said, Sumire’s screen completely blacked out from what she assumed was him leaning on his phone. “I want to stay with you.”

What should’ve been a sweet moment of weakness, made Sumire feel much more concerned when Ren didn’t say anything else. He kept mumbling about her; nothing about Futaba, Sojiro, the Thieves, it was just her.

“You will,” she eventually said, her darkened screen shifting as the corner of Ren’s eye was visible.

“I’ll never leave you.”

Chapter Text

With Morgana telling him that it was time to hang up and that he needed to go to bed, Sumire giggling as she remembered some of the stories that Ren had told her about when he and Morgana had first started living together.

Raising his face and giving her one final look, Ren gave Sumire a soft ‘goodnight,’ before tapping around a bit. Sumire laughed as Ren seemed to keep missing the button to end the call, and ended the call herself, smiling at the antics her boyfriend showed.

‘Oh,’ Sumire thought as she got into bed. ‘I should’ve asked him to show me some snow,’ was her last thought as she closed her eyes, an uneventful but still very enjoyable Christmas Eve passing by as she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

As she was waking up, Sumire rolled over, leaning against the cold wall before waking up, hands feeling around for something that was missing. Once she had fully awakened, Sumire realized that she was alone in her bed, a sad smile on her face as she had acted like Ren had been sleeping with her.

Even though she was used to the quiet apartment, it was somewhat sobering to Sumire as she walked out of her room, the expectation of something happening buried inside as she remembered last year’s Christmas, along with the Christmas’s she spent with Kasumi.

Well, maybe it wasn’t too bad, her phone going off with a text from Futaba.

Yo

You have anything going on right now?

Doesn’t matter if it’s yes, because I know you don’t have plans

I’ll be there right away

Shaking her head at that, Sumire let out a laugh as there was a knock on the door immediately afterwards, imagining that Futaba was standing right in front of the door as she texted.

“Took you long enough,” Futaba said, glasses fogged up as her scarf directed some of her breath back up to her. “I was wondering if you were even awake.”

“Why wouldn’t I be?” Sumire chuckled, Futaba quickly walking in as she set some bags that she was carrying down, defensively posturing over one bag to hide it from Sumire’s view. “I can wake up on my own without needing ice.”

“That bastard!” Futaba shouted as she took her shoes off, getting a laugh out of Sumire. “I’ll send him the request for the most expensive thing I want at the moment!”

“I’m sure you will,” Sumire chuckled, laughing as Futaba picked up her bags again, walking on in towards the kitchen.

“So,” Futaba said, a collection of snacks Sumire had always seen but never eaten laid out before her on the table; her diet as an athlete not permitting such consumption. “We’re going to have a little Christmas party between the two of us.”

“And before you say anything,” Futaba said, pointing a finger out. “No, I will not bring up Ren unless it’s something stupid he did, like the ice. It’ll just be the two of us, so we’re not going to bring that idiot up.”

Ignoring the small sigh of relief from Sumire, Futaba spread her arms out over the snacks, as if she was revealing it to Sumire for the first time.

“So, let’s have some girl’s talk.”

As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Sumire was starting to feel some of the joys she had forgotten about spending time with another girl. Not that she didn’t at all, it was just that spending time with Futaba was something she thought she would never feel again after Kasumi had left and Ren had come into her life.

There were several things that Futaba had managed to bring up, like how from snooping around on his phone, it seemed like Ryuji had a girl he liked that was working with him in rehab, being the reason he let his hair turn black again, or that Haru seemed determined to bring some more women up through the ranks, though it was difficult with how few had been employed under her father, or that Yusuke had been relegated to babysitting Tora for a few weeks now in exchange for an apartment.

But what really got it heated was when Futaba presented her with something she didn’t expect.

“Now,” Futaba said, leaning forward and letting the glare of the light reflect in her glasses. “I have one final thing for us tonight.”

“Oh,” Sumire said, a bit of excitement in her voice as she wondered what it was.

“Yes,” Futaba said, getting up and playing into the role. “I hid it in the fridge because it’s supposed to be best cold.”

“And now that we’re winding down,” she continued, opening the fridge and turning around, keeping it hidden in the bag. “It’s the perfect time to try it.”

Sliding back into her seat, Sumire waited as Futaba left her in suspense, before pulling some cans out.

“Tada!”

Silence hung in the air as Sumire just stared at what Futaba was holding, her excitement fading from the lack of a reaction.

“Is that beer?”

“What’s with your reaction?” Futaba asked, lowering the cans, passing one to Sumire as she cracked one open.

“Ah!” Sumire let out, reaching a hand out to try and take the can from Futaba who simply laid down, beer can in hand as she rolled, keeping the can level.

“What are you trying to say?” Futaba asked, sitting back up and taking a sip. “That we’re not supposed to be doing this?”

Taking another sip, Futaba dodged as Sumire stumbled over herself as she tried to get the can again, wondering how proficient at dodging Futaba was.

“If that’s the case, you should’ve stopped Ren when he said he was a Phantom Thief,” she let out a burp, the alcohol getting to her a bit as some red came to her cheeks. “That was something that we shouldn’t have done because we could’ve been killed for it.”

Letting out a sigh, Sumire sat down, realizing that it was probably best to let Futaba drink a bit and get over the thrill.

“Ohh, you get it now?” Futaba asked, sitting down next to her. “Here,” she said, putting the can in front of Sumire.

“Take a sip.”

Chapter Text

Despite succumbing to the pressure, Sumire was surprised to see that Futaba was sloshed after drinking only half a can. Meanwhile, the liquor seemed to go down easy for her, already on her forth can as Futaba started to mumble about something.

“Hey,” Sumire said, feeling a slight buzz after her fourth drink. “What brought this on?”

“On?” Futaba asked, her glasses missing as had Sumire taken them off, afraid that they would break if she lost control and slammed her face down. “Of course my clothes are on.”

“No,” Sumire sighed, wondering if this was how her father and Sojiro felt when they went out with Ren. “Why did you bring this stuff?”

“Dis?” Futaba asked, making Sumire concerned as the words started to slur. “I uzed Sojiro’s indo and the ank acc…” Futaba let out a hiccup, seemingly losing her train of thought before getting back. “Accou of Shiro’s laddies hat hadn’t been arezed et.”

Disregarding something that sounded very dangerous, Sumire as quick to stretch a hand out to catch Futaba’s head, blocking it nearly smashing into the edge of the table. Keeping her hand in place, Sumire slowly moved around, the table and pulled Futaba back, reaching under the table to pull her legs out and lay her down.

“I don’t understand anything about that, but you should’ve thought this through a bit more,” Sumire huffed as Futaba tried to sit back up, pressing her shoulders back down to keep her from getting up.

“I am smrt!” Futaba protested, trying to swat at Sumire’s face, though failing as she swiftly moved out of the way. “I’m ay smarrer tan uu.”

“Alright,” Sumire sighed, backing up and letting her feet rest on Futaba’s shoulders, more than enough to pin the skinny girl down as she continued to flail around. “I’ll wait until you realize what you’ve done.”

“Uhhhhhhhhh,” Futaba moaned as she sat against the table, hands clutching her head as Sumire stood in the kitchen, making some miso soup.

It had taken a few hours for Futaba to sober up, and she looked at Sumire with contempt in her eyes as she realized how much more she had drunk and still seemed fine.

“You know, I think you drank half of what Ren did to have the same reaction as him,” Sumire said, walking out with a bowl in hand, which was quickly taken by Futaba who drank it up.

“Fuck off,” she grunted, nearly dropping the bowl as she set it down. “He’s a man and bigger than me, of course he can.”

“I drank almost five and I’m fine,” Sumire answered, getting a glare in response.

“Regardless,” Sumire shook her head, taking the bowl and refilling it. “Why did you think this was a good idea?”

“Because Ren sounded super hung over this morning, and I thought I could beat him.”

Raising her brow at that, Sumire gave Futaba another bowl as it quickly disappeared, Futaba coughing a bit and putting a hand to the bag she had brought the beer in.

“I also did want to talk to someone who would actually listen to what I had to say about everyone and not use it as information to justify keeping their distance.”

Hesitating at that, Sumire sat down as Futaba realized what she had said.

“Keep their distance?” she asked, making Futaba scowl as she put a hand back to her head.

“Let me ask you this then,” Futaba mumbled, looking up at Sumire through the top of her glasses. “If I wanted to keep my distance from someone, and learned that they got into a new relationship, wouldn’t that sound like the perfect time to start slipping away?”

Letting out a sigh, Sumire leaned over the table as she realized how much life must have changed for everyone else and hadn’t told her because the information could end up going to Ren.

“Fuck, I said that I wouldn’t bring that idiot up,” Futaba grumbled, grabbing her head with a firmer grip, as if bringing him up made her head hurt. “I guess I got caught up on the atmosphere and told you some things I shouldn’t have.”

Reaching across the table, Sumire gave Futaba’s head a pat, ignoring the glare that came after it as her thoughts fought with each other.

“If something like Ryuji having an interest in a girl was something that Ren knew about, would he use it as a chance to put some distance between them? Would he give his support for a brief moment, then bail once the relationship as stable?”

Looking at Futaba, Sumire pulled her hand away before a lazy attempt to swat it away hit her, making Futaba hit her own head. “Was I right about your thoughts?” she hissed as she recoiled from the hit, resuming her glare as she rubbed her head.

“W-well, I,” Sumire hesitated, Futaba seemingly getting everything down.

“Listen,” Futaba said, a pained groan as she leaned back and raised her face to Sumire. “I get that it’s hard to confront Ren with this. I don’t even know how to bring it up to him without pissing him off.”

“But!” she shouted, grabbing her head as she realized her mistake. “It’s so hard not to be able to talk about things like this to him. It’s like we have to keep him out of the loop so that he’s willing to come back.”

Leaning back down, Futaba rested her forehead against the table. “It’s so hard not being able to talk about so many things. Like how I want to talk about the friends I’ve made, or how I just want to talk about something stupid Ryuji texted, or how Yusuke is a surprisingly good father figure.”

Sitting next to Futaba, Sumire saw her socks getting a bit wet, looking up at Futaba’s face.

“I don’t want him to leave us like he felt that we left him. I don’t think I could take that kind of rejection ever again."

Chapter Text

Letting the dam break as Futaba started to cry, Sumire put a hand to her back, rubbing circles before quickly reaching for the bag Futaba was holding on, her sobs turning into dry heaving. Guiding her to the restroom, Sumire sat outside the door as Futaba instead that she was fine and that she just needed to calm down a bit.

Leaning against the door, Sumire eventually heard it go ‘thump,’ indicating that Futaba had probably done the same.

“You’ve been holding that in for a while, huh?” Sumire asked, getting a bitter chuckle in response.

“Honestly, that idiot,” Futaba mumbled, the rustling of the plastic bag seemingly calming her. “He’s worth the trouble once you get through it.”

After a few hours, Futaba eventually decided to leave, though she had a furious Sojiro waiting for her at the door when she did try to go.

It didn’t matter how much she tried to hide behind Sumire, Futaba was pushed out the door by the smiling gymnast, who gave her a pat on the head as she closed the door behind her. Once they had gotten back to the ground level, Sumire smiled as she watched Futaba get a well-deserved lecture from Sojiro as they walked towards his car.

Once they were quickly out of sight, Sumire went back inside, thinking about what fun it was to have a little chat like that, before she realized that there were more beer cans in the trash than were in the fridge. “Worth the trouble once you get through it, huh?” she chuckled, figuring that she would probably get a similar punishment when the time came.

Standing in front of the station, Sumire shuffled her feet as she checked her phone for the umpteenth time that morning. Most people around her were dressed in normal winter clothing, but she dressed up in a full winter kimono. It was her own kimono, a dark blue fabric with koi and water lilies making up the pattern, with some of her hair tied up in a bun.

It was finally January 2^nd, and she was going to meet with Ren for their first shrine visit and see each other for the first time that year. He made it to Leblanc on New Year’s, but because of the slow nature of the move, he was done late and too tired to go visit her. He had anticipated it though, so he suggested that they meet on the 2^nd well in advance, for them to go visit Meiji Shrine like they did for the last two years.

Yes, it was difficult and took time to actually reach the shrine and offer their prayers, even if it was the 2^nd; but it had become a little tradition for them.

As such, Sumire had been standing in front of the station for nearly an hour now, despite the fact that Ren had texted her that he was leaving Leblanc only ten minutes ago.

Okay, maybe it was more so she could sort her thoughts out before meeting him in a different place than her home.

Futaba’s pestering to get her to confront Ren about keeping his distance from everyone, while it was in the back of her mind, Sumire couldn’t completely silence it. It had been a few months since she had seen him, and the fact that it clung to her mind despite her excitement was annoying to her.

She wasn’t going to immediately confront Ren about him keeping his distance, that would just sour the mood, but she wanted the conversation to happen before Ren outed himself as a Phantom Thief to her parents.

Maybe that’s what she would pray about. For guidance on what to do.

Looking down at her feet, Sumire felt her phone go off in her hand.

Looking down, something got in between her eyes and glasses, blocking her sight with a familiar pair of brown gloves, she felt a head rest on her shoulder.

“Got you.”

“Hey,” Sumire giggled, putting her phone in her small bag, raising a hand to lift her glasses and to push Ren’s hands down.

Stepping out of his embrace, there was a brief silence between the two as their foreheads touched, just letting themselves feel each other’s presence in the moment.

“Do you know what to pray for?” Ren asked, breaking the silence as he pulled his head back. Shaking her head, Sumire put her glasses back on, reaching a hand out.

“Not yet,” she lied, smiling as Ren took her hand. “I have several things that I could be praying for.”

Shuffling their way through the crowd, Sumire and Ren managed by some miracle to find an empty bench to sit on, leaning against each other as they watched people walking around them.

“I missed you,” Ren said, taking a glove off as he intertwined his fingers with Sumire.

“I did too,” she answered, letting herself relax as she leaned against the bench, realizing how anxious she was as she felt a few knots in her back.

“Anything fun happen while I was away?” Ren asked, scooting a bit closer and leaning over her shoulder.

“Nothing special,” Sumire replied, knowing that was a full-blown lie. “I had a little Christmas party with Futaba.”

“She’s grounded for that, you know?” Ren chuckled, a smile on his face as he remembered entering Leblanc, wondering why Futaba was in the café instead of her room.

“Still?” Sumire asked, a smile creeping up on her face.

“I wonder why she would do something like that,” Ren shook his head, still smiling as Sumire bit her tongue, trying not to answer.

Ren didn’t seem to notice her hesitation, her tension already fading when he turned to face her.

“Come on,” he said, getting up as he stood in front of Sumire, still holding her hands. “Let’s get you your first sip of coffee for the year.”

Chapter Text

Sitting against the counter and flipping through TV channels, there was an air of boredom on Futaba’s face as she waited for Ren to return. Sojiro had been ignoring her since Ren left, still a bit upset over her stunt with the beer, so he took the chance to sit at a booth, smoking a cigarette as he flipped through the morning paper.

“How long is it going to be~~~~~?” Futaba eventually let out, having gone through all of the channels at least seven times. “Why do they have to take so long?”

Sojiro said nothing, flipping the page in his paper and kept reading.

Leaning against the counter, Futaba was about to say something when she heard Morgana coming down the stairs, a sign that Ren had come back.

“Finally!” she huffed, turning towards the door as his familiar frame cut through the glass, opening the door as Sumire walked in in front of him.

“Pardon me,” Sumire said, making Sojiro turn around. “Hey, little miss,” he said, folding his paper up and grinding his cigarette into his ashtray.

“Haven’t seen you sense last year,” Futaba said, walking up to Sumire and giving her a hug and getting a chuckle out of her.

“It’s been a while,” Sumire returned, watching as Ren made his way behind the counter, Sojiro telling him what beans were free to use with a knowing smirk on his face as he faced Sumire.

“Always so quick for you,” he chuckled, turning to enter the kitchen, turning the heat on a pot as Ren started to grind some beans.

Smiling at the comment, Sumire looked down and blushed a bit as Futaba turned to look at Ren, seemingly sizing him up as he pulled the grounds out, ignoring the glare as Sojiro checked the rice cooker for how much rice was in it.

“I’ll have to wait my turn,” he chuckled, closing the lid as the pot started to bubble, lowering the heat as he heard a satisfied sniff come from the counter.

Standing at the sink, Sojiro shouldn’t have been surprised that Ren was willing to give up his portion of curry to Sumire. While he certainly didn’t think that Ren or Futaba was bad at making curry, they still had a long way to go before they could match him, given how quickly the miss had made her way through her serving.

Sitting on the floor, Ren, Sumire and Futaba were circled around Morgana, his body coiled and ready to strike, moving in a circle as everyone held a hand out with two fingers pointing out.

It was a game that they had developed during their Thieving days, where if going to play darts wasn’t an option, everyone would come to Leblanc and sit around Morgana, where they would try to poke his paws before they left the ground. If they were too slow, Morgana would leap into the air, winning the round. Of course, if Morgana jumped and whoever was playing hadn’t moved, it would be a loss for him. How Ren managed to come up with this game, he didn’t remember, but Morgana had approved of it, saying that it worked their wordless communication skills as well as their reflexes, something that would matter a lot if they were to fight something that they were unprepared for, or there was no way to communicate verbally.

It also forced them to not use the same signal twice, because Morgana would catch onto certain tells that everyone had; he remembered one game where Ryuji would blink twice before who was sitting behind Morgana touched his paws, and he tried it again the second game. The smirk on Morgana’s face when Ryuji realized that he had been busted would sometimes make its way back into his mind every now and again, and it never failed to make him chuckle.

However, the atmosphere was a bit different that what he was used to, Ren being much more open with Sumire than he was with Futaba, something that both of them had noticed as the games went on. Sometimes, Ren would miss a tell that Futaba would give him, or the annoyed look on Ren’s face if Futaba acted on a tell that Ren had been giving Sumire, and Morgana was quick to notice.

“Man,” Ren huffed, laying down on the floor. “Has it been so long since we’ve played?”

“Maybe?” Futaba lied, sharing a look with Morgana as Sumire got down next to Ren, asking if he was cold.

Saying he was fine, Ren rolled over, looking at some of the boxes that were piled up in the corner of the room. Everything that he could bring to Tokyo, he had brought it with him.

It was a rough experience, spending New Year’s Eve packing up a rental truck, getting up early to avoid people seeing him leave, as well as being out of everyone’s mind, making sure that nothing had been stolen during the night, dealing with the limited roads that were cut off for New Year’s celebrations and walking crowds, to the narrow streets of Yongen-Jaya, dropping everything off at Sojiro’s house, finding that the office to drop of the truck that was supposed to be open for a few hours to be closed, finally figuring out a way to leave the keys and come back, and then moving everything from Sojiro’s house to the attic in Leblanc. It had been a long New Year’s for Ren, and one that he hoped that he wouldn’t have to repeat again.

But was worth it.

He was here again, almost three years later, starting a new life in Tokyo once more, and it was a life that he chose.

He was going to make the most of it, to be here again.

To be with Sumire again.

Chapter Text

After a satisfying afternoon of talking, playing some games, though it was more like her watching Ren and Futaba duke it out, and a hearty osechi dinner, Sumire let out a sigh as she walked into her apartment.

While she would’ve wanted Ren to spend some time with her, after the tension she felt while playing with Morgana, it was relieving to her to see him play with Futaba like there was never a problem. As much as Ren would probably deny it later, he looked like he was having fun; showing off a new trick, using a new technique, something that an older brother would do to put a fire under their sibling to get on their level. And it made it seem so difficult to believe that he was trying to keep is distance from her, and that he was already doing so from everyone else.

Shaking such negative thoughts from her head, Sumire went to bed that night with a promise to visit again and help Ren unpack what he needed for the next few weeks as he started to settle into living back in Tokyo.

Going through some of the boxes that Ren said could be opened, stuff that he would need like clothes, some documents, and a few other personal items that he would keep, Sumire helped Ren go through his boxes as he moved them around.

“Oh?” she asked, pulling something out of a box, looking at it. It was a plush doll; of what it was she couldn’t quite remember, something that she didn’t think Ren would have, and it was a bit surprising to her that he would have something like this. “What’s this?”

“Do you not remember?” Ren asked, pausing as he lifted his head from a box, clothes in his hands as he looked at her.

“Remember what?” Sumire asked, tilting her head in a way so that some of her hair covered her cheek, something she knew Ren couldn’t resist and just tell her the answer.

“Maybe the memory is fuzzy for you, so take a few guesses,” Ren grinned, one that only meant some teasing was on its way.

Looking back down at the plushie and away from Ren, Sumire started to look at it more closely. It’s blue color and wavy shape, along with the yellow dots running against its body seemed familiar, but from where exactly it was, she couldn’t remember.

Glancing back at Ren, he had already moved on, pulling some more clothes out as he kept an eye towards her, smirking once he realized she was looking at him.

Ignoring him, she looked back down at the plush, messing with the small black felt that stuck out of the plush on one end. Something clicked when she put it on the ground, looking up at the shelf against the wall.

“Is this from the aquarium?” she asked, a light blush on her face as embarrassment crept up on her.

“Yep,” Ren nodded, a softer smile on his face. “It’s the first gift you gave me.”

With a smile on her face, Sumire looked for a place to put the plush down. Maybe it wasn’t something that she thought too much about, especially since ‘she’ wasn’t the one who gave it to him, but if he valued it enough to still hold onto it and have it be one of the first things to be taken out, maybe it was worth holding onto.

Moving on to another box, the rustling of paper got Ren’s attention as Sumire found a box full of documents.

“Wait!” Ren shouted, dropping the box in his hands to try and block Sumire from reading anything.

Rather than his shout, it was the box he dropped that startled her, making her look at him as he put a hand out to cover them.

“What?” Sumire asked, looking at Ren as he pulled the box away, a flush on his face. “There’s stuff in there for later…” he trailed off, looking away as he tried to hide his face.

“Oh,” Sumire’s face followed, a light red on her cheeks as Ren put the box in the corner. “Was it supposed to be a surprise?”

“Yeah,” Ren chuckled, getting back to his box as he looked at its contents. “Though it doesn’t have to happen now.”

With a small smile, Sumire scooted over to Ren, pressing her cheek against his.

“Later then.”

“Is this it?” Sojiro’s voice cut through, making Ren and Sumire jump.

“I heard something drop, so I wondered if something happened.”

Chapter Text

Finishing his unpacking, Ren and Sumire sat in Leblanc with Morgana. Futaba and Sojiro had gone off to do their own New Year activities by the time they had come down.

The two of them sat at the counter while Morgana was sprawled on one of the tables. Futaba had left him a heated water bottle there, enjoying the source of heat as he closed his eyes, getting smiles from Sumire and Ren who watched him.

“And he says he’s not a cat,” Ren chuckled, the subject too absorbed in warmth to care at the moment.

“It really does seem like he doesn’t have a care in the world at times,” Sumire responded, taking a sip of her coffee.

They didn’t say much after that, letting the gentle quiet of winter linger as Sumire took sips of her coffee and Ren his tea.

“So,” Ren eventually broke the silence, looking down at his cup. “I’m going to start working and studying to go to school.”

“Yeah?” Sumire asked, wondering why he seemed so down in saying that.

“I’m not going to be able to spend us much time as I want with you, and if that’s the case, I don’t know if I should ask your parents if I could live with you.”

Wait. Was it?

“Are you worried about something?” Sumire asked, hoping that this could the start of something. Ren almost never consulted with her over anything serious, so maybe this would be a good opportunity to get him used to asking.

“Perhaps,” he answered, eyes not moving away from his tea. “It’s just that now that I’m here again, I’m starting to realize how difficult it’s going to be to stay with you when I probably won’t even have the time to say ‘goodnight’ to you every day.”

Tilting her head at that, Ren let out a chuckle as he just shook his head.

“My life is going to revolve around working and studying, and I probably will only be able to see you once every few months once I start.”

“So?” Sumire asked. “It was like that the last two years.”

“Yeah,” Ren nodded. “But I’m in Tokyo now. I’m going to be living here. Which means it could be so easy for me to just jump on a train and end up at your home to see you at some random time when I feel like I just need to see you.”

Oh?

“Is that so?” Sumire asked, a rare moment for her to tease her boyfriend not getting away. “Worried that you can’t do anything if I’m around?”

She smiled when Ren looked away, taking a sip of his tea instead of answering her.

“Anyway,” Ren continued, looking back down at his tea. “If you already did, could I ask you to tell your parents that I won’t be staying with you in the foreseeable future.”

“Okay,” Sumire nodded, thankful of her choice to wait until she could get Ren to come clean about him distancing himself…

Wait.

Once Futaba and Sojiro came back, Sumire excused herself, saying that she would have to start preparing to go back to practice again. Which was true, but that was not the only reason why she left.

Sitting on her bed, her phone looking back at her as another file was on her screen, unable to shake the thought from her head.

Should she be doing this so soon after Ren got here?

Surely, there was nothing so urgent that she had to do so right now.

But the thought that he was now distancing himself from her burrowed its way back in, so put her earbuds on and hit play.

“January 11^th, 20XX+1

Fuck.

Maruki has way more power than I anticipated. Not only is he our fault, apparently, but he also has the ability to mess with Mementos as well. According to Lavenza, after we beat the false god, it was possible for us to take its place in the world. However, none of us thought of taking that spot, and taking advantage of that, the things that everyone has spoken about to Maruki with in their counseling sessions, materialized in that power vacuum and gave Maruki the ability to act on them.

It’s apparently the same thing he did to Sumire to make her think that she was Kasumi, it’s just that instead of just changing how she viewed the world, he managed to change the world views itself.

What’s more, despite the fact that the world was trying to separate after being freed from the false god, Maruki seems to be pulling it back together. Lavenza thinks that we only have a little under month before Maruki gains total control over his powers and came make his world a reality.

We have to get serious now. Even if I don’t want to, it seems like I’ll have to work on getting Akechi as strong as everyone else.”

Rolling her eyes at his statement, she continued to listen as the voice continued.

“Sumire came to me before closing up shop. I’m happy she did. Even though its not completely solid, her resolve to live as herself is there, even if she doesn’t know it. She even came to ask me what she was supposed to do. I told her to just chose herself. Given her reaction, I think that was the first time someone has told her that in a long time.

Fight on Sumire, I’ll be waiting for you.”

Chapter Text

Despite the small smile on her face, Sumire couldn’t wonder if what Ren had written at the end was true.

Had it really been so long that someone had told her to decide for herself up to that point? Coach Hiraguchi may have said things similar to that, but she never explicitly said about having Sumire decide on what to do. Her parents seemed to just go along with whatever she wanted with gymnastics, but that was not what she wanted to do. It was what Kasumi wanted to do.

Bringing her thoughts back to the moment, Sumire waited for the next file to start.

“January 12^th, 20XX+1:

I’m feeling so proud. Sumire has awakened her Persona in full. She’s fully determined to live as herself now, and there’s nothing that could make me happier.

Now, going forward, I’ll have to make sure we take care of Maruki. We found the room in his Palace that lets Maruki tamper with Mementos, so we’re going to investigate to see if there’s anything we can do to reduce some of his control in the time being. It also blocks us from moving in deeper into his Palace, so we have to hope our investigation takes care of it.”

Pausing, there was nothing Sumire could do to suppress the blush on her face, unable to hold back the smile that threatened to split her face in half.

Even though she was used to him talking like that to her now, it still felt a bit exciting like when they had started going out.

“January 13^th, 20XX+1:

I checked in with Sumire today. She asked if it was okay that we weren’t going to Mementos, and I said it was fine. She seemed to accept it, and asked if we could talk somewhere.”

The smile quickly faded as Sumire realized where this was going.

“On the school roof, she apologized again, this time about going around as Kasumi. She mentioned about how everyone must have been just being nice to her because her sister had just died, and I wasn’t exactly very tactful. I’ll have to change that.

She went on about how Kasumi was the one who decided everything that they did when they were little, and how they managed to keep going. Or how frustrated she felt that Kasumi was being nice to her after they had started to separate in results. How she wanted to be Kasumi to reach the heights that were set upon her. How people wanted Kasumi, and not Sumire. How it would’ve been better if she was the one who was gone. Who was going to miss her?

Her parents, Kasumi. They would. How sad they would be if Sumire disappeared.

She sounded like she was falling back into wanting to run away from it all again, so I told her that I would be there to catch her if she did. I always will, no matter what it takes.”

It was unfair to have him say what she knew to be true now. How much it would affect her parents, how if Kasumi was still around, how much her disappearing would really do to them.

They lost one, and to think that she could just make their sorrow disappear by offering herself in her sister’s place.

Shaking her head, she cleared her mind as she waited for the next file to begin.

“January 14^th, 20XX+1:

We went into Mementos today. While it was somewhat disturbing before, all of the tubes going around gives a different kind of creepy feeling. It’s really bizarre seeing all of the tubes just running through everything, clashing with the more grotesque looking parts of the lower floors. And then there’s Jose.

Looking back, I haven’t written much on him, but we spoke a little as we made our way to our destination in Mementos. The flowers he uses to study us tasted staticky, whatever that means. Jose said that it’s because the selves of everyone is uncertain about their own cognitions. In other words, no one knows if they’re themselves at the moment.

Our objective in Mementos was an observation and enforcement room that Maruki created from the core of Mementos, using the room the Holy Grail was in as its foundation. It was located at the top of a new path that was created by him, with the same sterile white inside that his Palace is made of.

The room is probably used to not only change Mementos, but to look for people that Maruki can change in order to ensure that his world is coming to total fruition. If he didn’t need to make changes, then all of the monitors full of cameras seem pointless if not to look for targets.

Regardless, Futaba fiddled around with the system a bit, and retracted some of the cables that were being used to transfer data from the Palace to the room. Hopefully, that means the room that was blocked is now open. We’ll see.

And since we still had some time, I made sure that Akechi and Sumire were up to snuff.”

Shaking her head, a few things that she heard clicked in her mind as she listed to what Ren had written, especially about the ‘staticky’ taste.

She was uncertain about who she was, and that was what made her want to become Kasumi. She was uncertain that she, the second sister, had anything that was worth keeping about herself. And looking back, to think that Maruki thought that he could just put millions of people into that kind of mind set, where they would be unsure if they were their real selves forever, made her shiver.

How many other people like her would’ve changed under his influence. Lying to themselves and the world about who they were, what they were, and what they had.

Shaking her head, the whole idea now that she was happy being with Ren and being herself, just seemed like such a foreign thought to her now.

Chapter Text

It took a bit to realign herself after listening to her thoughts about being unsure of herself before Sumire continued to listen to what was next. Taking a deep breath, she hit play.

“January 15th, 20XX+1:

I met with Sumire’s coach today. Man did she tear into her. And my body.

Her coach really laid it down on her, asking if she really did learn what find herself meant. I think now that Sumire has a clear mind, it really struck her down. When Sumire walked off, her coach turned to me, telling me something I wasn’t expecting. Apparently, Kasumi also thought of Sumire as her rival, and envied her grace.

After the session, Sumire realized that her problem with her performance has been trying to be Kasumi when she isn’t her. I then told her what her couch told me. She was rather surprised when I told her that Kasumi was cautious about her catching up, and what she envied about Sumire.

Given how she found out through me, Sumire seemed rather surprised at the idea that she was pushing Kasumi. I understand, always being a step behind, it seemed like Kasumi was just better, but that means she was taking steps forward as well. She was pushing her.

Taking the knowledge that she was pushing Kasumi, something seemed to have been lit up in Sumire, saying that if she combined her grace and Kasumi’s energy, it would be as if they were both on stage, performing to the world. There we go. Positive thinking.

She asked me out again, to see her grow into the graceful gymnast Kasumi believed she was. I took the chance to tease her for saying going out. She recovered quickly once she realized I was joking.

For now.”

Ignoring the part about going out, Sumire just stared up at the ceiling, unplugging her earbuds as the ‘December’ of the next file started to play.

Hearing everything about her inferiority complex about Kasumi again was difficult for her to listen to. Even though she had moved on from all of it, there was nothing she could do if the thoughts came back to her, especially after listening to the last entry. But now was not the time for that.

Well, maybe it was, because she heard her parents coming in through the front door, which meant to get ready for dinner.

Laying down on her bed, Sumire looked at her phone as she prepared to listen to the next file.

Dinner was fine, it was quiet as the tired look on her parents faces said everything. It would take about another week before they would have the energy for a proper conversation during dinner again if she were to base it on previous years. The very end and beginning of every year was hard on them, given the prep going into New Years and the momentum that had to be kept once the day had passed.

Thoughts about that could come later though, as she pressed the play button.

“January 16^th, 20XX+1

Well, today was certainly something.

Sumire asked if we could meet up at Shibuya, and boy was I in for a surprise when I got there.”

Oh.

Oh no.

She knew where this was going.

“She was in a fashion, if that’s what that was, store, and I had a few things run through my head. My immediate thought when I saw her was ‘way to rock that trendy grandma look.’”

Pausing the recording, Sumire put both hands to her face as she recalled the ridiculous get-up she had chosen when Ren appeared in front of the store. Opening her mouth, nothing came out as the red wave crashed onto her face, kicking her feet as small bits and pieces came back to her.

The yellow shirt with giant red letters below the head of a leopard spelling out TORA, the fact that it was neither leopard or tiger pattern on the shirt. Or that she was wearing zebra stripped leggings and sleeves. And then the neon pink sandals. Where did that come from?

That outfit may certain have had people looking at her, but was definitely not for the right reasons.

Getting a few more kicks out, Sumire felt the blush fade, before pressing onward again.

“She said that she wanted to show off her own personal style, but when I said it may have been too much, she quickly doubted herself. While that shouldn’t be the case, she quickly rebounded when I told to just go with her instincts.

She was rather cute when she was trying to find something else to wear after that, weaving between racks, bobbing up and down as she looked at what she could choose.

Thinking about it some more, she eventually decided on something that she was rather cute in.

She wore a navy-blue dress with white cuffs and collar, along with gray leggings and some black shoes.

I think I was a bit to honest about what I thought, because she seemed to panic, and tried direct it towards her outfit.”

She had had her suspicions about him saying that he loved her that day, but she still chuckled a little as she thought about how he answered that day.

Looking over to her closet, she still had the dress in the front, where she could easily see it if it were open.

“She bought it though, so that’s a plus. I hope I can see that again sometime.

We talked a little more about her selection afterwards, and she said something that made me tense up a little. I think I hid it well, but she said the thought of me seeing it made her a bit more relaxed, and that she wanted to show me how she looked, and see how I would react.

That was unfair.”

Rolling over to her side, Sumire made a small smile, grinning at the thought of Ren struggling with Sumire telling him something that he wasn’t ready for,

“You get it now?”

Chapter Text

As the high of hearing that Ren had dealt with similar feelings that she had started to die down, Sumire waited for the next entry to start. Expecting the monotonous voice of the machine to come back, Sumire was a bit surprised when Futaba came through.

“Now this, despite how brief it is, gives me a bit of hope. That Ren’s just remembering this time wrong, and the time and distance between him and everyone is what’s making all of this happen. Though Ryuji still needs to learn some tact.”

Wondering what Futaba was talking about, Sumire didn’t stop as the next file started.

“January 17^th, 20XX+1

Today was a surprise.

Ryuji wanted to talk about something for a while, and I agreed to talk with him about it today.

We went to his apartment, where he talked about losing to the Maruki’s temptation. Honestly, I understood why he was tempted seeing how he was, wanting to ease the burden on his mom about college by getting a scholarship. Life hasn’t been doing him very well.

But the weird part was, he took a position I wasn’t too sure what it was about, before he started to do squats, saying that he wouldn’t stop until I said so. He said that’s he was doing it to make it up to me because he couldn’t think of anything else, but it was just awkward.

A perfect encapsulation of who he is though.”

Letting out a laugh, Sumire could imagine Ryuji just doing something like squats in front of someone as a way to punish himself. It probably was awkward, given how he might just do it unprompted, but that sounded like him.

“January 18^th, 20XX+1”

Oh.

This was a special day.

Looking up at the calendar on her desk, there was about 10 days till it came around.

Their anniversary.

Remembering the feelings she felt, building the courage to confess, the relief upon learning that the feelings were returned. The tingle of her lips after their first kiss.

Even now, almost three years later, she couldn’t contain the small smile.

What did Ren have to say about it?

“I can’t stop smiling.

I’ll come back in a moment.

I’ve got a girlfriend now.

January 19^th, 20-,”

Wait. That was it?

Pausing at the start of the next entry, Sumire tried to make sense of how short it was.

Ren had normally put details about everything else he’d written about for her, why was this any different.

Could he not? Or did he really just not have words to describe his happiness.

The latter seemed more likely, given how Ren had always made his thoughts known about her before this, and the fact that he was lost for words to describe how he was feeling about her becoming his girlfriend; it just made her smile grow.

Remembering his cool attitude walking her to the station afterwards, his warm tone when the talked on the phone afterwards.

To think that he was barely holding it all in to keep himself from smiling ear to ear, it just made Sumire so happy.

Dinner that night was quiet, her parents still tired from the work that went into New Years, and Sumire was quick to go back to her room, ready to listen to the next file.

“January 19^th, 20XX+1

Having had some time to think about what happened yesterday, a part of me still doesn’t quite believe it. But seemed much more real today.

Sumire said she had a new routine that she wanted to show her coach, so I went along with her. I think her coach was amused by my presence, but her stance quickly changed once Sumire started her performance.

 To be honest, I had no idea what I was looking at, but it did remind me of the dance at the school festival. In a good way, I suppose. I’m not sure how I’m supposed to say it.

Her coach seemed to be impressed with her as well, telling her that the international stage was reachable. And Sumire apparently told her coach for the first time that she wants to make it to the world stage. That’s good.

I better study up if I’m going to follow her to the world stage. Kasumi and I will be with you there.”

Oh. There it was.

That warm feeling making its way up again.

Smiling at the memory of the routine, Sumire held her arms together as the warm feeling of the hug returned. She didn’t realize how quickly she made up her mind about showing her resolve to Hiraguchi with Ren at her side. Did having him as her boyfriend embolden her so much that she just went right for it?

Blushing at the possibility, Sumire shook her head as she thought about how foolish it was, but look at her now.

Chapter Text

“January 20^th, 20XX+1,” the mechanical voice carried on, bringing Sumire back in.

“Today was, an interesting day. One way to putting it.

The deeper we got into Maruki’s Palace the more I wondered about the rationality of his thoughts.”

Oh. Taking a breath, Sumire continued to listen. Here it comes.

“It started when we discovered the first of some memories, which were used as answers to get through security checkpoints. The first one was where his girlfriend at the time went through some trauma, and seemingly unknowingly, he made her forget everything about the trauma and him as well.

The second one we found was then how his research money had been taken away, and that there was nothing he could do about it. This is where Shido and Wakaba, even if indirectly for her, came into this. But the second one showed that he was already obsessed with saving everyone from pain, no matter what he had to do. But he didn’t even think about using for his own needs.

Before the third tape, there was a large part of the Palace that was dedicated to finding out what sort of insecurities and ‘problems’ people had, and based on how they would answer would affect the ‘treatment’ that they needed. And this is one of the things that I have the biggest problem with in his view and execution of his power.

It was a questionnaire where people had to choose between some presented options, and then you would receive ‘treatment’ based on how you answered.

The first question was what you should do if a friend of yours was being ganged up on. You can go in knowing there’s not much you can do, or go and look for help from someone who can do something about it. There were two cognitions that took two separate answers after we asked them for their thoughts, but since there is morally no right answer, we took a moment to stop and think about what Maruki would say was the right answer. The first one has inherent risk to the one who goes in, and if that is, and was, unacceptable to Maruki, because everyone is supposed to be happy. The second option sounded like running away to Ann, which reminded her about when Maruki left school that it was okay to escape from something if it was too painful to deal with.”

Taking a pause, Sumire looked up as she thought about what Ren had said. It had been nearly two years since she had thought about what had happened in the Palace, and even then, the memory was hazy at best; seeming more like a story that she had come up with than something that had actually happened.

But listening to this, wasn’t this just something that Ren himself was doing? Running away from everyone, not facing the fact that somewhere down the line, his forgiveness waned and the frustration he felt from being hurt the first time started to swallow him whole. Running to her so that she would talk with them all for him?

“The worst thing about the question was that there was no guarantee that the person you are trying to help in the scenario is going to be alright either, but how much the person making the decision would be hurt. Sure, don’t shove someone out of the way of danger if you risk tripping on your own feet; how brave of you Maruki. I assume we also wish that fires disappear on their own.

The second question was about achieving one’s dreams, where you want something but just can’t reach it, with the options of keep working at it, do whatever it takes, or just doing something else. Asking the cognitions again, a few points came up. For someone who just keeps working at their dream, stress about how much they worry over their decision, and if Maruki would consider it to be a form of self-harm. The second answer, doing whatever it takes, was from someone less than savory, a professional shit-stirrer. Regardless of the motivation, it’s an obvious no go. You don’t even need Maruki’s twisted view to see why it’s bad. And the third option was driven not by agreeing with the choice, but just disagreeing with the other two options, and reducing the likeliness of pain in your life.

Given how pain-avoidant he is, I wouldn’t be surprised if Maruki has people taking anesthesia for shots in his world. And if working towards that dream was so painful, you should’ve given up part way through.”

Holding her tongue, Sumire was about think about some other stuff when the next sentence cut her thoughts off.

“And the third question was seemingly targeted right at us. He asked if we had the ability to take anyone’s heart and get away with it, what would the right option be. To steal, don’t steal, steal your own heart, punish evildoers, or steal the heart of the person you love.

The first and last one need no explanation; you’re still taking from others for your own selfish needs. Given how those two options can hurt others, not getting caught doesn’t mean it’s right. Unless he thinks I stole Sumire’s heart. No Phantom Thieving required, I just let Sumire be happy as herself. Stealing her heart was just a secondary effect.”

There was a small blush there, but Sumire let the record continue.

“The third one is just admitting to a problem that needs to be fixed, and that’s obviously not an answer. Leaving to not steal and punishing evildoers as the two remaining options. And while I don’t see anything wrong with the second answer, the wrinkle in this is that Maruki want’s people to be completely satisfied. And if not stealing anything means you live not as happy as you can be because there are still things you want.

Honestly, what is wrong with him? It doesn’t matter what you do, there is always going to be a chance that you’re going to be unsatisfied in life going forward. Are regrets that you hold onto from the past things you have to be unsatisfied with? Not being able to experience something because you have other things you need to take care of? I can only imagine what sort of things the family man of a cognition wanted to do but put his family first because it was the right thing to do.

And while punishing evildoers is technically what we’re doing, it’s also part of the justification that Sae had in her Palace and her own methods of getting the results she wanted. For that to be the only thing to be correct, seems to me that he agrees that what we did was right. It’s just that he probably forgot about the pain of doing so, seeing how I was supposedly dead a few months ago, and that he can do so with a snap of his fingers. Try falling 100 meters onto stone at terminal velocity before saying that no pain is involved.”

At that, Sumire let out a small laugh, seemingly forgetting the fear and worry that she felt. But Ren was right, it was a fact that Ren had to risk his life to change people’s hearts, that didn’t mean that there was no risk involved. Surely Maruki had heard some of the news about his alleged suicide in police custody.

“After we answered the questions the way Maruki wanted us to, we were unable to progress. But given how we just said what he wanted to hear; it shouldn’t be too surprising that we would be stopped. Finding a separate way to move forward, we ended up in a place that was called the Counseling Room.

And man, did it not look good. There were just a group of people sitting in chairs with strange devices strapped onto their heads, looking like a classic brainwashing device from kids shows.

We found the player for the third tape, but it wasn’t there, so we looked around a bit more.

It was located in an area where I assume people with extremely ‘twisted’ views in Maruki’s mind would be, because they were far away from everyone else, constantly monitored by Shadows.

Once we got the tape and watched it, I had to do my best to not act out. It was when Maruki changed Sumire’s view of herself into Kasumi.

To be honest, seeing it happen made something stir inside me. Just how wrong it was. Seeing how she just seemingly forgot how to cook half-way through the discussion, that she had no idea why she was even with Maruki. And how easy it was for him to change it. When Ann asked why no one seemed to notice, Futaba answered that it was more like her name was filtered out and she would hear Kasumi when someone spoke to her.

Then I was the only one who engaged with her fantasies.”

Taking a pause, Sumire knew that there was nothing that Ren could’ve done there. She had deliberately been carrying around Kasumi’s student ID, and since there wasn’t anything that could challenge her claim to the name, there was nothing that would’ve made Ren question it. It also didn’t help that Maruki went along with it, and was the one who actually enabled her. Maybe this was another reason he was so adamant about her staying herself. Honestly, it was a miracle that her father was able to say her name back then with Ren able to hear it, even if it was slightly distorted.

“Entering the next area, I really wonder what the hell is going on in his mind.

It looked like he was creating a Garden of Eden and cognitions were literally ascending up into the sky. He’s completely lost it if that’s how he thinks.

Making our way through, there was one final video to watch, and it was when he ascended to his position of power.

And it’s within sight.

We just have to wait and be patient.”

Chapter Text

Pausing the file before the next one could start, Sumire looked at her computer for a brief moment. Several thoughts ran through her head as she had finished listening to Ren’s; about how much he disagreed and questioned Maruki’s ways. And how he seemed to following the one that lead Maruki down his path.

Running from his friends. Running from his feelings. Running from his responsibilities. From someone who used to face his problems head-on, seeing it as running was something he probably didn’t even consider. A ‘tactical withdrawal’ maybe, as Morgana may have called it.

Shaking her head, Sumire decided that maybe she should take some time to ask about what had happened with Ren when he moved back home. He didn’t really say much aside from how he just went to school and spent his time studying. She knew that he was in his own apartment the day school started, but she didn’t hear much beyond that.

Closing the file reader, she opened her text messages. Hesitating for a moment, she looked at her contacts as she wondered if she should go through with it.

No, she would.

Futaba

Do you know if anything happened to Ren when he went back home?

…

…

…

What?

Where did this come from?

Taking a breath, Sumire tried to think about how she should word it.

I finished listening about Maruki’s Palace, and I was wondering a few things

And I have a few thoughts, but I want to confirm if you know anything

…

…

…

To be honest, I don’t know much

I know that he was on his own as soon as school started, and that he was alone the entire time he was studying, but aside from that I have nothing

Nothing? That was surprising.

You really found nothing?

Not really

I can tell you everything he studied though

Well, that wasn’t helpful.

Could you not look elsewhere?

I tried monitoring his parents, but they’re surprising old fashioned

Best thing I could do was monitor their doorbell system, but then it would be too easy for the security company to notice

An increase in their power bill would surely follow as well

Well, that was a bit telling.

His school also didn’t keep many records on him aside from just monitoring him

There was talk of trying to deliberately fail him, but I let Sae know and she successfully got them to back down

…

…

…

What

Deliberately fail him?

He was seen as a liability

He told you about how it was the only school that let him in, right?

Didn’t mean they couldn’t try to get rid of him before he could do damage

Taking a few breaths, the whole thing started to sound like what had happened between him and Kamoshida, and that was probably not the only thing that he had to put up with. Sumire saw why Ren was trying to leave as soon as possible.

If you have questions, you’re probably the only one who’s going to get answers out of Ren

Well, maybe I can get some info out of Mona, but that still probably isn’t the full picture

I’ll try, Ren still hasn’t found a place to move to

Let you know if I get anything

Laying down, it was surprising for Sumire that Futaba had nothing to tell her about what happened to Ren when he was home.

Futaba told her that his school had tried to get rid of him discretely, and if that was what they were trying to do behind the scenes, what could they have been doing up front that wasn’t officially recorded.

Was there really nothing that could tell her about what had happened aside from asking Ren directly.

She wanted to avoid that for the moment, if possible, to help Ren get comfortable back in Tokyo and try not to shake him up too much while he was readjusting to life back in the city. But how long would she be able to delay it then?

There was nothing to do for the moment, so Sumire decided to call it a night.

When she woke up the next morning, there were several messages waiting for Sumire.

You awake

Hello

Right, you sleep like a normal person

So I asked Mona a few things

He didn’t really have much to say

All he did say was that Ren would occasionally come back moving a bit stiff or without much energy some days

And that coming home late was normal when he was at school

But aside from stiff movement, that was all stuff I knew

Good luck

With a sigh, Sumire shook her head as the information didn’t seem very useful.

Moving a bit stiff could be many things, but if he was being hit, there was no way he would’ve stayed quiet about it.

Trying to think about it now wasn’t going to do her any good.

Maybe she should go for a run.

With her mind clear after practice, Sumire leaned against the side of the train car as she watched the cityscape fly past her, feeling the train start to lower itself into the darkness. Looking away as the train continued to run in the tunnel, Sumire’s mind briefly wondered if there was some sort of way for her to trigger a return to the metaverse, to see if there was some small, even if it was most improbable, chance that there was something wrong with Ren’s heart and that there was a way that she could fix it.

She quickly brushed the thought to the side, knowing that wondering such thoughts did nothing about the situation as she took a deep breath.

It had been a while since she had gone to do this, and it was going to be the first time that she was going to do it alone.

But maybe the change in location would help her, the train exiting the tunnel as it got closer to her destination.

Walking out of the train, Sumire checked her phone to make sure that she was going the right way, walking out of the exit as she looked for a store.