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Welcome back, my dear Trickster."
Ren woke up to see Lavenza standing by the door of his cell. Looking at his clothes, he sighed and walked up to the door.
"Hey, Lavenza. What's up?" He greeted.
"Was that how it is expressed? I was certain that the way I said it in your school was already enough." She frowned a bit.
"Eh, people can say it however they wanna say it."
"So like how the Chariot and the Hermit do it? 'Wazzup?'" Lavenza gives a puzzled expression while making a punk pose like how Ryuji does his AOA Finisher.
Ren snorted and nearly laughed as he nodded his head. Igor then called the two and commanded them to approach him.
"My dear guest, we are now halfway into your mission to once again stop the madman you once called a friend. However, it seems you are currently stuck in a pit that requires the best skill to climb out of."
Ren squinted his eyes. "Meaning?"
Igor chuckles as he snaps his fingers. "Allow me to give you a special power to aid you in escaping that pit."
Ren then felt dizzy as he gripped onto the bars.
"What I have given you is the power of telepathy. You can read the minds of the Councilor's hostages to gather more information about them and how you can progress further. Use it carefully, and gather around important information."
The alarm blares as Ren bids Lavenza and Igor farewell.
Later on that day, the Phantom Thieves gather for a meeting. However, they all seem out of it for some reason.
"Two cups of coffee for you, and one ice-cold soda."
Ren began giving everyone drinks to keep them awake, but even Akechi - the most dead-serious one in this mission - feels sleepy despite the service.
"For some reason, I feel quite exhausted just from coming here." He exclaimed.
"Busy day?" Ren asked.
"Now why the hell would I be busy?" Akechi spat back.
Ren shook his head, but then remembered about the new telepathy power given to him. Looking back at Akechi, he uses the new power on him first.
"Stupid goddamn popularity poll! I disappear for a few weeks and end up in jail only to lose to some killjoy bitch who isn't even supposed to be called a prince to begin with!"
Ren then gave off a mischievous grin. "You sure it isn't about a popularity poll?"
Akechi spat his coffee and woke the group up.
"How the hell did you..."
Ren shrugged to defend himself. "I just guessed. It was trending on the internet lately."
"REALLY!?" Futaba then began accessing the internet and saw that Naoto Shirogane, the first Detective Prince, was declared the winner in a popularity poll against Akechi. "Ohhhhh! You lost!"
"Ah, not leverage-worthy or blackmail material. Gotta search up for something juicy."
"Futaba, don't even think about searching the internet for any blackmail crap for Akechi."
"WHA-" Futaba gawked at Ren at how he knew her plan. "Why would I-"
"You dare try to fish out any humiliation regarding me?" Akechi's eye twitched as he glared at Futaba. "Listen here, you little gremlin!"
Futaba darted off her seat and hid behind Yusuke.
"If you wanna go through me, kill Inari first!"
"You're becoming more and more of a nuisance, Futaba. Have some decency, will you?"
Ren then chuckled. "Yo, Yusuke. Your next line will be 'You're becoming more and more of a nuisance, Futaba.'"
"You're becoming more and more of a nuisance, Futaba." Yusuke chided her before realizing what Ren said. "What!?"
Ryuji picked up on this and questioned Ren warily.
"Dude, when the hell did you become a mind reader or something?"
"Who said it's mind-reading?" Ren began to play along. Ryuji shrugged it off and went back to using his phone.
"I wonder if that Mika chick has new photos of her in a bikini..."
Ren then called Ann and used his eyes to give away Ryuji's secret.
"HEY! THE HELL YOU LOOKING AT MIKA FOR!?"
"WHA- WHY ARE YOU SO TRIGGERED ABOUT IT!?"
Ren snickered but did not notice Sumire keeping watch of him.
After a few minutes, Ren went upstairs to grab a few things. Sumire followed him up and confronted him about what happened.
"Senpai."
"Sumire."
"How did you know what Akechi-san was thinking, what Futaba-senpai was planning, what Yusuke-senpai was about to say, and what Ryuji-senpai was doing?"
Her intense gaze at his gray eyes was betrayed by her thoughts as Ren used the mind-reading power again.
"It feels scary. I just hope he doesn't know that I think about him a lot."
Ren smiled and leaned on the wall with his hands in his pockets. "You're concerned about me?"
"Yes, of course I am!" She pouted. "I'm scared of people reading minds. It is superstitious, but it's still scary."
"I still find it cool though."
"Your next line is 'I still find it cool though.'" Ren chuckled as he walked to the TV.
"I still find it cool though. Wait, what?!"
Sumire furiously shook her head and stopped him from getting closer to the TV.
"Sumire?"
"You better tell me what you're up to!"
Ren then rests his hand onto a wall as if he was cornering Sumire. Sumire attempted to hide her blush, but once again her mind betrayed her.
“This is the part where he turns me on by speaking in a sexy voice.”
"Um....."
"What's wrong, Sumire? Cat suddenly got your tongue?" Ren spoke in his Joker tone.
"I... uh... um...." Sumire was beginning to stutter but kept her composure as her mind began racing.
“Ngh! Senpai looks so damn good in front of me. My heart is beating so fast, I feel like I'm gonna faint if he pecks me in the lips.”
Ren dared to peck her on the lips, and she ends up fainting as expected. She is then placed onto Ren's bed until she wakes up.
Descending the stairs, Ren catches wind of both the minds of Makoto and Haru.
"I wonder what Sumire-chan and Ren-kun are doing up there? They're not hiding something from us, right?"
"I don't know what kind of scandalous shit they're up to up there...."
Ren rolled his eyes and answered them by surprise.
"Makoto, how dare you to accuse me and Sumire of doing something scandalous!"
"I didn't say that!"
"But you were thinking about it, weren't you?"
"I.... Okay, I was! But-"
"And Haru, I'm not hiding anything. Trust me."
"Oh! Um, okay?"
Ryuji leaned onto Yusuke's ear and whispered.
"He really has mind-reading powers."
"What makes you say that?"
"Dude, he spoke out what Makoto and Haru were thinking. Plus, he predicted what you were gonna say when Futaba hid behind you!"
Ren shook his head as then used his telepathy to spy on what Ann was thinking. Sighing in defeat, Ren only gathered what may be another set of sweets on her mind. And Shiho, of course. However, his head quickly changed to Futaba as she began hatching some sort of plot to expose Akechi's reaction to the internet.
"Now I just gotta make Akechi lose it so he can finally make me money with his reaction video."
"Why don't we play some Tycoon, guys?" He announced and immediately received an objection from Akechi.
"Are you out of your mind!? We still have to deal with Maruki and his bullshit of a world, and you dare want us to play some stupid card game?"
"Ah, I guess a card game can be relaxing. If only it weren't in such pressure."
"Really, Akechi? From the looks of it, you kinda wanna join in."
"Like hell, I would plan to play a mere childish game."
"He's tempting me..."
Ren then began to smirk and play along.
"Alright, then. I guess you'll never know the source of that popularity poll then."
Everyone reacted to Ren's words as Akechi grabbed him by the collar.
"Speak of his name, Amamiya. I don't have time to dawdle around."
Ren continued his play. "Who said it was a he?"
Futaba then slowly backed away as Akechi glared at her.
"Where do you think YOU'RE going?"
"Uh, to check on Sumire?" She nervously replied.
"Gonna try escaping through the window. Maybe Sojiro won't mind."
Ren then leaned onto Akechi's ear and whispered. "She's gonna escape through the window."
"Escaping through the window, eh?"
Futaba gawked at Ren and yelled angrily. "What the hell, Ren!? Quit that mind-reading crap already!"
"I'm not reading minds. Plus, your face clearly has 'Humiliate Akechi' written all over.
"Liar!" Futaba accused Ren, but Akechi began stalking her.
"The only liar in this cafe is you!"
"Inari, save me!"
"Preposterous!"
"Get over here, you sniveling weasel!"
As Yusuke is being caught in a tug-of-war by Futaba and Akechi, Ann begins eyeing Ren and then glances at Ryuji.
"Hey, Ren."
"Yes, Ann?"
"If you aren't mind-reading, tell us what Ryuji is thinking."
A devious smile crept onto Ann's face as Ren took a look at Ryuji, who was already busy looking at Mika's photos again. Using his mind-reading, he shrugged off the result and smirked smugly.
"Let's just say he's polishing some meat to cook."
"WHAT!? Like hell, I did!" Ryuji burst out loud.
"Sorry, bud." He dared to laugh at his friend's impending doom. "Are you sure you weren't polishing anything?"
"Hell yeah, I wasn't! I was busy giving a dry massage on Mika and-"
"You dirty little-"
Ann and Ryuji began going at their little catfight, leaving Makoto, Morgana, and Haru disengaged. Knowing that Morgana is thinking about Ann again, Ren began reading his mind.
"Ryuji, when will you ever learn that vulgarity does not win women? This is why Lady Ann hates you!"
"That's not nice, Morgana," Ren called him out. Morgana's ears perked up as he went defensive and exposed himself on his own.
"WHA- I wasn't thinking about Lady Ann in pink bikinis or anything!"
"What was that?" Ryuji snickered.
"Mona-chan, you often mock Ryuji-kun for being who he is, and yet here you are being the very thing you mock." Haru held onto Morgana with an iron grip.
"But I was only thinking of it!" Morgana attempts to defuse the heat on him.
Makoto shook her head and suddenly stood up. Dragging Ren out of the cafe for a bit, she began to interrogate him.
"How are you doing that?"
"Doing what?"
"Verbal prediction... mind-reading... those things!"
Ren shrugged as Makoto continued probing him.
"Ren, this isn't funny. Who knows what could happen if Maruki got hold of you and that power?" Her tone was stern to make sure Ren took things seriously.
"I know, alright?" He then chuckled after saying that. "But I'm not mind-reading. Trust me."
Makoto sighed in exasperation and defeat. "Fine. But you better not abuse that luck of yours."
"When was I ever lucky?"
Makoto and Ren then reenter LeBlanc to find it in near disarray as Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana bickered big time while Akechi and Futaba lock their hands to overpower each other.
"I swear, it's like I'm babysitting a bunch of morons every meeting. " Makoto's mind ran as Ren read it and snickered.
"QUIET!" Her voice echoed throughout the entire cafe and woke Sumire up in the attic.
"Oh, yes. I've seen your hashtags. Did you think someone like me, an ace detective, would give a shit about your pathetic popularity poll!? To think a group of losers on the internet would do anything to affect me! For every one vote I received, there is a legion of my supporters out there waiting in the shadows for the moment to trend at number 1! Just you wait.... Vengeance will be mine! Goodbye, Goro? How about Hello, Loki!!!!"
Futaba and Ryuji laughed after Akechi gave up and decided to comply with Futaba's demands. While Yusuke began to draw Akechi in multiple art styles, Sumire hid behind Ren after getting to know more about 'everyday Akechi'.
"That was wonderful!" Futaba jeered. "You'll surely win the next-"
"THAT IS ONLY GOING TO BE A ONE-TIME THING, SAKURA!" Akechi snarled. "Never will I do that again."
Ren then began reading Akechi's mind with a smile. Sumire noticed him and slaps his shoulder.
"Senpai, you're doing it again."
"Doing what?"
Makoto hung her head in disbelief and muttered, "Ren, please stop pretending."
"Dude, not cool." Ryuji squinted his eyes at Ren. "You made Ann nearly kill me twice."
"Best to not perv around someone who will never care about you."
"You want someone to perv on at night? Perv on me, Ryuji!"
Ren snickered as Ann caught him.
"Ren. You did NOT just read my mind."
"Senpai..."
"I would like to know what Ann's thoughts are, as of the moment." Yusuke barged in.
"No, none of you will know what I just thought of! And don't you dare expose my secret with that tongue of yours!" Ann jabbed her finger onto Ren's chest. Ren, however, read her mind again.
"Please, Ren. Don't tell them I gawk at your shirtless bods sometimes. Ugh, now I sound like a perv myself."
"No worries, Ann. I'll make sure I keep it to myself."
"WHAT!? NO FAIR!" Morgana surprisingly reacted. "HOW COME YOU WON'T EXPOSE LADY ANN?"
Ann cleared her throat. "Phrasing, Mona."
Akechi shook his head. "This is becoming a meaningless meeting. I'll be heading off."
"But you'll miss out on Tycoon though," Ren informed him.
"Yeah! We need to know if Inari will break out of his Beggar status for once!" Futaba pats Yusuke's head like it was nothing.
"I am not in the mood to join you in-"
"Bawkbawkbawkbawkbawk!"
Ryuji and Ren began making chicken sounds to irritate Akechi further.
"What's wrong, Akechi-kun? Having cold feet?" Haru, of all people, taunted him.
"Senpai, please stop this," Sumire begged before turning to Akechi. "Just go, Akechi-san. I'll hold them off."
Before he left, Akechi then made one request.
"Ren. What's on Yoshizawa's mind, as we speak?"
"H-Huh!?" Sumire reacted.
"Why do you want to know?"
Akechi then gave an eerie grin and chuckled. "Oh, nothing. It's just that I remember Yoshizawa-san gushing over you like you're some sort of idol and all."
After Akechi left, Ren then turned his sights to Sumire.
"Sumire..."
"S-S-Senpai?" She sheepishly eyed him.
"Dude, don't tell me you're gonna do it..." Makoto pinched her nose bridge.
Ren then shook his head and continued to the kitchen. As the group went on to relax instead of conducting a meeting, Ren began to read everyone's minds while keeping his mouth shut.
"Man, if I try to look up for any other chick on the internet, Ann is gonna whoop my ass 100%!"
"Ugh, why were you a natural-born perv, Ryuji? That kind heart of yours would have been the best example if not for that big mouth of yours."
"I bet Lady Ann wants to be with Ryuji now, huh? Unlike me, a proper gentleman, that blonde monkey is a literal bad boy with a heart of gold. Maybe if I try to be bad, Lady Ann would still go for me even if I'm a cat!"
"I swear Ren if you try reading my mind... Ah, who am I kidding? I'm too stressed with this crap."
"I wonder if I should try passing my art to my instructors? I know that they are under a false reality, but maybe I could try to get away with the grade just this once..."
"Ah, this blows! How come I got little views?! This is the OG Goro Akechi, for crying out loud!"
"I know this is a bad time, but I hope I have some time left to tend to the plants on the roof."
"Maybe I can ask Dad to let me stay here for tonight."
Ren chuckled to himself. "Maybe I'll do something about that later."
He slammed his hands onto the counter and announced for training in Mementos.... against the Reapers.
"What the hell is he thinking? Putting us into the pits of hell just for some training?"
"He seriously has a deathwish."
"Any unwise actions will spell our demise before we could defeat Maruki."
Ren held his laughter as he drove everyone down to Sheriruth and parked in the middle of the tracks.
"Joker, I hope you know what you're doing...." Morgana nervously reminded him.
"Don't worry. I know what I'm doing."
As if on cue, a Reaper managed to patrol onto them. Joker readied a Goho-M in case things go wrong. The Reaper then managed to spot the group but just stared at them... menacingly.
"Nobody move a muscle!" Ren commanded the group. He then snickered under his breath to get a reaction out of them.
"Man, I'm so effing screwed if they suddenly jumped on us!"
"Joker, this has got to be the worst plan you've ever had."
"Maybe it won't see us if we don’t move...."
"Senpai, I don't feel so good...."
"The last thing we need is another Reaper..."
The chains rattled behind them, and Morgana decided to spit his words out.
"LET'S GET OUT OF HERE!"
The Reapers' wails echoed all over Mementos as Ren uses the Goho-M and warps them back to the entrance.
"What were you thinking?!" Makoto yelled as she lifted her mask.
Ren leaned by the wall and began reading their minds again.
"I am so putting that boy to sleep tonight. I don't care if he has stuff to do, he is GOING TO SLEEP!"
"What. The. Eff!"
"I am not gonna be sleeping tonight after all that shit!"
"Such a shame I couldn't capture everyone's horror. But then again, I am horrified by the experience myself."
"I'm gonna watch some Buchimaru-Kun and Friends before going to sleep tonight... I just hope I don't wet the bed."
"I need to play some platformer games before sleeping! Playing Outlast after this is such a bad idea!"
"I wonder how those Reapers are doing after we abandoned them..."
But what got Ren the most was Sumire's thoughts.
"I knew I shouldn't have read Latin in the library. I feel like I'm cursed now. Senpai, you damn meanie!"
Ren then saw a flash of blue light in the corner of his eye. Lavenza appears and taps her foot on the ground.
"Trickster."
"Look, I can explain-"
"It appears you haven't used the telepathy power wisely."
While the others are still trying to shake off the horror from earlier, Lavenza chided Ren for how he used a powerful skill to his own mischief.
"Who else was I gonna test it out on? I had to make sure the power is good enough for a week or so."
"I understand your predicaments, but would it have been wiser for you to use it on people whom you have seen as miserable in the previous circumstances?"
Ren sighed as he raised his hands in defeat.
"Alright. I accept whatever punishment I will receive."
Lavenza then opened the grimoire, but as she was looking for some Personas...
"Your next line will be, "I shall use the strongest Death Arcana Personas onto you as punishment."
"I shall use the strongest Death Arcana Personas onto you as punishment." Lavenza's eyes widened before glaring at Ren. "Trickster!"
Ren chuckled as he rubbed his neck. "Can't live up to the title now, can I?"
Lavenza sighed and closed the grimoire shut.
"Just... go back to the real world. I shall grant the power of removing exhaustion for a wasted trip to Mementos."
The group arrives back in Shibuya where they then meet up with Akechi, who was very upset with them.
"You dare charge into Mementos without informing me?"
"I-"
Ryuji then bolts ahead of them. "You guys go chat. I gotta head back to my room and dive into my bed! Later!"
Ann then follows suit and marches back to the Underground Mall. "That reminds me! I have to, uh, buy me some food to chow to eat the horror that took years off my lifespan! Ciao!"
Yusuke turned towards Central Street. "I shall go back to Madarame's home and try to paint the empty walls of my old studio to keep me relieved."
"But isn't that vandalism?" Makoto reprimanded him a bit until Akechi held his hand up.
"Allow him to vandalize Madarame's shack. In this pathetic reality, people would just see his art as a mural."
Yusuke bowed and walked away. Haru then made her way to the Ginza Line.
"I'll be heading back to Shujin to tend to my plants. I have to know if they have lived throughout this raging cold."
Makoto sighed and marched towards the Inogami line. "I'll just take a breather in Inokashira Park. Then maybe watch something at home after."
Morgana dugs his claws on Ren's shoulder before scooting off. "You better make your night plans properly, coz I'll make sure my voice will be your only nightmare tonight!"
That now leaves Ren, Sumire, Futaba, and Akechi.
"Just what happened down there?"
"Senpai brought us to Mementos and then we had to face off weird monsters with bags on their heads and then we nearly died and-"
"Wait just a moment. You tried to fight the Reapers?" He then turned to Ren. "You're out of your mind if you thought that was a good idea."
"Dammit! I missed their reactions! I would have loved to get back at them for making a mockery out of me!"
"Your thoughts say otherwise, Akechi." Ren snorted as he felt his shoulder punched by Sumire.
"Can you stop with the mind-reading thing, Senpai?"
"Yeah, Ren. Knock it off!" Futaba joined in.
Ren then decided to play mischief again. "Alright then. Futaba, you and Akechi go off somewhere and wait for me. We'll have a proper meeting this time, but it's gonna be big brain energy at this one."
Akechi scoffed and compiled as he dragged Futaba to the arcade to kill time. Ren then accompanied Sumire to the Inogami Line to bring her home to Kichijoji... or is he?
"Senpai."
"Sumire."
"We're going the wrong way."
"I know." Ren then asked her to inform her father of staying over in LeBlanc for the night due to a huge group project for school'.
"Um... um...."
"For real!? Time with Senpai tonight? Awesome!"
After Sumire called her dad and did as Ren instructed, he read Sumire's mind again as he found a cute discovery.
"What am I gonna do? I didn't bring any clothes! Oh, wait. Maybe I can borrow Senpai's clothes, but they're mostly big for me to wear. Not that I'm complaining or anything, but I could just try to explore new things? No, no, no! Quit thinking of something dirty, Sumire! Senpai might get the wrong idea and all. Ugh, classic Sumire. Can't even muster the strength to confess to Senpai."
"Alright, Senpai. I just-"
Sumire turned and felt his lips on hers. Yelping in surprise, she accidentally uppercuts his jaw.
"Oh, God! Senpai, I'm so sorry!"
Ren raised a thumbs up. "At least you didn't bite my ear off."
"Senpai kissed me. DOES THAT MEAN HE LIKES ME BACK!?"
Ren got back up and then guided her to the train as they headed back to Yongen-Jaya.
"Why don't we discuss a few things first over coffee?" He offered.
"As long as we don't do something provocative in the end."
Ren raised an eyebrow at what Sumire said, but shrugged it off as she began scolding herself mentally.
After confessing his feelings to Sumire and gathering enough mind-reading intel for their mission, Ren wakes up in the Velvet Room again as he feels his head aching.
"It seems that telepathy can be quite a headache." Igor chuckled with glee.
"Ugh, tell me about it. Can you take it off now?" Ren asked.
"Have the powers of telepathy garnered you such pain to know their situations?" Lavenza uttered. Ren nods as Igor snaps his fingers.
"At the very least, my guest, you have gathered enough information in under one night alone. Remarkable indeed!"
Ren then sheepishly chuckled and then looked at both of them awkwardly. "Yeah, about that... can you tell Morgana not to gag me to death?"
"What makes you say that?"
"It's 9 am in the morning. As for how I slept... you don't wanna know."
Morgana, Futaba, Akechi, Ryuji, Makoto, Haru, Ann, and Yusuke stared at their sleeping leader after he got drugged with sleeping powder while his mouth was stuffed with cloth.
"I think we might’ve killed him," Ann muttered.
"We’ll all blame Mona if Sojiro asks about Ren!"
"Why me!?"