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Chapter Text

3/19  Leblanc Attic, Evening

“I can’t believe it’s already nearly time for you to go home, I’ll miss you.” Sumire laments, resting her head on Ren’s shoulder.

After the Phantom Thieves put an end to Maruki’s reality and got Ren out of jail, Ren and Sumire decided to try and spend as much time together as they could before he had to go back to his hometown. Today was no different, and now they’re sitting on his couch enjoying their last night together, while Morgana is staying with Futaba for the night.

“I know, I’m going to miss you too,” Ren replies while running a hand through her hair, “but I’ll try to visit you whenever I can.”

“I’d like that.” Sumire softly says.

They sit together in silence for a while, simply enjoying each other's presence. Ren checks the time and realizes how late it's gotten.

“It’s getting late, we better head to bed before we incur Mona's wrath.” Ren jokes.

Sumire giggles a bit before going along with it. “Well, we wouldn't want to do that!”

The two head towards the bed and lay next to each other. Ren wraps an arm around Sumire while she rests her head on his chest. Comfortable in each other’s familiar warmth, the two slowly start to fall asleep.

"Goodnight... I love you, Sumi." Ren says in a soft voice.

"Mmmm… I love you too." Sumire sleepily replies with a small smile as her cheeks slightly redden.

3/19 ???, Night

Ren feels something is off, Sumire is still next to him but the bed feels… hard, yet familiar. He opens his eyes and sees the familiar blue walls of the Velvet Room. He’s not in his prisoner outfit though, thankfully, just the clothes he fell asleep in. He feels Sumire stir before she opens her eyes, she looks around and gasps before looking back at Ren.

“S-Senpai, what’s going on? Where are we?” she says, her fear showing in her voice.

“We're in a place called the Velvet Room.” Ren responds, not knowing how to answer the first question but not wanting Sumire to worry more.

“V-Velvet Room?” Sumire questions, still scared and confused.

“Yes, welcome to the Velvet Room.” a familiar voice responds.

Looking over towards the center of the room, they see a short girl with platinum blonde hair and gold eyes dressed in all blue. Strangely, Igor seems to be missing. Sumire and Ren get off the bed and enter the main area of the Velvet Room, Ren grabbing Sumire's hand to comfort her.

“Lavenza, is something wrong? Where's Igor?” Ren asks, subconsciously squeezing Sumire's hand while fearing the answer.

“Nothing is wrong here, my Master doesn't often appear in the Velvet Room of a Wildcard that has completed their journey.” Lavenza responds, easing Ren's worries.

"That's… good…  so why are we here then?" Ren asks, now just as confused as Sumire.

"I have a request for you, Trickster, there is another world much like your own with its own Trickster, except this one is female. The false god you defeated will likely be rigging the game even more than it did with you, she will likely not have access to the Velvet Room at all." Lavenza answers.

Ren takes a second before responding. "How will she fuse Personas then?"

"That is why I need your help," Lavenza answers before taking what looks like a pair of matching silver bracelets out of her pocket before handing them to Ren "I was given these by the being who created my Master, the false god has bent the rules too far this time and it is time for retaliation."

"What do they do?" Ren questions while examining the bracelets, one slightly larger than the other.

"They have two functions, first, they will allow you to fuse Personas the way my Master does, it'll come to you as instinct, like using a Persona, so you don't have to worry about practicing." Lavenza explains, "The second function is that they will allow you to enter the Metaverse in a similar way as the Magician does, as it is unlikely the false god will give you the navigator, and I will be unable to give it to you myself if you go to that world."

"I know you've been through a lot and that your journey has already ended, but will you help this new Trickster?" Lavenza pleaded.

"Just a question first, why is Sumire here with me?" Ren asks, gesturing to Sumire who seems similarly confused about her presence here.

"That is why there are two bracelets, if you so wish, the Faith will be permitted to accompany you to this other world, we felt you would not want to be separated from her." Lavenza answers.

Ren looks at Sumire and squeezes her hand again "Sumi, will you come with me if I go?"

Sumire looks up at him with a nervous yet determined expression "U-Ummm, I wouldn't want you to go on your own..." she mutters.

Ren smiles at her, hands her the smaller of the two bracelets and puts on his own before turning back towards Lavenza again with a smirk "I think you have our answer!"

Lavenza smiles at the two. "I'm glad. You two will each have a place and history prepared for you in that world. Faith, you will still have your family and they'll already know of your relationship. Trickster, you will not be able to live at the Hierophant's cafè this time, instead you'll be living in.. I believe you refer to it as an apartment? You'll remain a student of Shujin Academy."

Ren was surprised by how much was already handled for them and takes a second to answer, "I see," he turns to Sumire, "that certainly makes things easier."

Sumire just nods shyly, happy that she won't be separated from Ren just yet. Suddenly the prison alarm sounds, making Sumire jump in fright.

Ren lets out a chuckle at Sumire's reaction while Lavenza looks on in amusement, making her face go red.

"It seems our time is up, good luck Trickster." Lavenza says as Ren and Sumire feel themselves drifting out of the Velvet Room.

?? ???, Early Morning

Ren wakes up in an unfamiliar room on an equally unfamiliar bed. Looking around the room he sees a wooden desk with some books on it in the corner to the right side of the bed, a nightstand on the left side of the bed with Sumire and Ren’s glasses on it, a potted plant like the one in Leblanc on the left of the nightstand, a window with closed curtains next to it, a dresser on the opposite side of the room, and a door immediately to its left. Sumire is still sleeping next to him with her head on his chest just like she was the day before.

Ren feels Sumire waking up as her eyes flutter open, "Good morning, Sumi." He greets her with a kiss on the head.

She looks up at him and beams, "Good morning, Senpai!" she begins to look around a bit more, surprised at first before remembering what happened last night, then looking back at him. "I guess that wasn't a dream, huh?" She jokes.

Ren chuckles a bit. "Guess not, seems this is where I'll be staying. We should find out exactly where we are though."

Sumire agrees and the two get up from the bed, Sumire grabbing her glasses off the nightstand and putting them on, then walk towards the window before pulling back the curtains. "K-Kichijoji?! We're not too far from where I live!" Sumire exclaims in surprise.

Ren smiles at the thought of living so close to Sumire before checking the date on his phone and telling her. "It's March 13th, a Sunday." she noticeably freezes, Ren looks at her in concern. "What's wrong?"

Sumire takes a deep breath to calm herself before speaking with a shaky voice. "K-Kasumi died on the 16th…"

…

"What? "

Chapter Text

"Wait, you mean Kasumi’s alive?" Ren asks, eyes wide.

Unable to speak, Sumire simply nods in answer, tears threatening to fall at the painful memories that flash across her mind. Seeing this, Ren puts his phone on the desk and embraces her while rubbing her back comfortingly. Sumire returns the embrace and buries her face in his chest, lightly sobbing.

After a few minutes, Sumire’s tears dry. She lets go of Ren, signaling him to do the same, and then steps back. Taking a deep breath, Sumire finally manages to find her voice. “I’m better now. Thanks, Senpai.”

“No problem, Sumi.” Ren replies soothingly. “We can figure this out together.”

Before Sumire can respond, they hear knocking on a door, assuming this to be the front door, Ren moves to find and answer it. After finding it, he answers it and sees a girl who looks almost exactly like Sumire, save for the brown hair in a ponytail, brown eyes, and a beauty mark beneath her left eye. ‘Kasumi…’ he thinks, stunned for a few seconds as this is the first time he’s seen Kasumi in person.

“Good morning, Ren-san!” Kasumi greets with a smile before noticing his expression and furrowing her eyebrows in concern. “Is something wrong?”

Ren finally gains control of himself and responds while faking a smile to mask his current inner turmoil. “I-It’s nothing, do you want to come in?”

Kasumi doesn’t look convinced but decides to drop it for now and smiles again. “Of course!” she enthusiastically replies. She enters and looks around before asking: “Where’s Sumire? We need to get to practice soon!”

Ren looks back towards the hallway he went down to get to the door before looking back at Kasumi and answering. “She’s most likely changing right now, we got up just recently. Speaking of, I should probably do the same. Make yourself comfortable.” He proceeds to head back to the bedroom and knocks just to make sure.

Sumire opens the door looking extremely nervous, while Ren was gone she had, indeed, decided to get dressed. “I-I don’t know if I can talk to Kasumi right now…” She mutters, having heard the conversation at the front door.

Ren sighs and twirls his hair between his fingers while thinking of how to respond, on one hand, Sumire’s his girlfriend and he doesn’t want to force her into a situation that’d make her uncomfortable, on the other, Kasumi being alive is a game changer and they’ll have to get used to it sooner rather than later. After some thinking, he makes a decision. “Wait for me to change, then we can go talk to her together, does that sound good?” He’d try to be as supportive of her as he could be.

Sumire looks up at him and reluctantly agrees before leaving the room and letting Ren go in. He changes before coming back out and grabs Sumire’s hand to comfort her while the two enter the living room to talk with Kasumi. Once they enter the room, Sumire looks down at the floor, unable to force herself to look at her sister. Ren gives her hand a gentle squeeze.

Kasumi is casually sitting on a chair angled towards the entrance of the room, once she sees them she beams before greeting her sister as if nothing was wrong. “Good morning, Sumire! You’re not gonna believe what happened this morning!”

Sumire’s near-somber look persisted as she kept her head down, but she was able to force herself to talk anyway. “What happened, K-Kasumi?” She struggled to even say Kasumi’s name, still unable to look at her sister.

Thankfully, Kasumi didn’t seem to notice as she went on with what she was talking about. “Our acceptance letters from Shujin came in today! We’re starting there in April as honor students!” Kasumi’s sunny smile changed into a mischievous grin as she continued. “You know what that means…”

Sumire was curious as to where Kasumi was going with this. “What?” Sumire asked while looking at Kasumi for the first time since she entered the room.

Kasumi’s grin widened as she teasingly stated: “It means we’ll finally be going to school with Ren-’senpai~’”

…

Sumire just gave Kasumi a blank stare. Kasumi, who had been expecting Sumire to flush at the prospect of going to school with Ren, looked confused.

Eventually, Sumire spoke up, “So… what about it?” she questioned, unphased.

Kasumi continues to stare at her like she’s grown a second head. Ren looks on in amusement before deciding to change the subject. “Anyway… Have you had breakfast yet, Kasumi-san?” He asks, two stomachs growl in response. “I’ll take that as a no.” He chuckles as the two slightly redden. “Sumi, do you want to help me with it?”

Sumire silently nods and the two enter the kitchen to start preparing the meal while Kasumi waits in the living room. After finding out where the necessary ingredients were, Ren begins making Leblanc-style curry and coffee out of pure habit, Sumire had often helped Ren with cooking when she’d stay over the the night and the curry always seemed to taste better when they made it together rather than on their own. On top of that cooking always helped with Sumire’s nerves, Ren and Sumire had a lot of lunches together in between forays into Maruki’s palace because of this.

Once they finished making the curry and coffee, Ren and Sumire took it to the dining room after letting Kasumi know it was ready. After sitting around the table and saying their thanks for the food, they began eating and chatting. Sumire’s responses were mostly short, never saying more than a few words at a time, Kasumi kept casting worried glances at her, but didn’t say anything. They talked about various topics, ranging from school to gymnastics, even bringing up a meet on the sixteenth (Sumire flinched at the mention of it, Kasumi made sure not to mention it afterwards) and Kasumi asking Ren some questions about Shujin. Once they had all finished eating, Sumire went back to the bedroom to get her stuff in preparation to go to practice with Kasumi.

Seeing the opportunity, Kasumi decided to ask Ren what had been on her mind ever since they started eating, “Ren-san, is Sumire okay? Is it about the meet?” She asked, concerned.

Ren looked at her and sighed, “I can’t tell you, but don’t worry, I’m sure she’ll be back to her usual self in no time.” he answered with a reassuring smile, trying to come to terms with Kasumi’s presence himself. If Kasumi doubted him, she didn’t say anything.

Soon after, Sumire came back. “You ready to go, Sumire?” Kasumi asks, unable to mask the worry in her tone. Sumire nods in response, Kasumi casts another worried glance at Ren.

Sumire walks up to Ren and hugs him, “See you later, Senpai, I love you.” she whispers to him quietly so that Kasumi couldn’t hear it.

Ren returns the hug and whispers back, “I love you too, Sumi. As I said, we can figure this out together, good luck.” They kiss each other goodbye and Sumire reluctantly leaves Ren to follow Kasumi out of the apartment, Ren watches them leave and hopes that practice will help clear Sumire’s mind. Maybe he can comfort her tomorrow on White Day.

Chapter Text

3/14 Shibuya, Early Morning

Practice had, in fact, not helped Sumire clear her mind. As Ren, Sumire, and Kasumi made their way out of the station, Sumire kept quiet, seemingly unable to look at Kasumi for more than a few seconds. Kasumi had a lingering look of worry on her face as she shot glances at Sumire every so often, still unsure why she seemed so depressed lately.

Eventually, they reached the point where they’d have to split up and go to different trains. Kasumi’s conflicted expression morphed into a strained smile, trying to be as positive as possible for Sumire’s sake. “Guess this is where we split up, see you later Ren-san!” She said as cheerily as she could.

“Goodbye, Kasumi-san.” Ren replies before hugging Sumire and saying his farewells to her as well, “Bye, Sumi, I’ll see you later.” he tells her softly.

She hugs him back, “See you later, Sen-Ren…” she quickly corrects herself. Sumire hated not being able to call Ren ‘Senpai’ in public yet, it had become a pet name after they first started dating, but in this world Ren wasn’t technically her senior yet, so it’d just seem weird.

After a few seconds they release the hug and reluctantly part ways for the day. Ren heads to the station leading to Aoyama-Itchome and catches a glimpse of a familiar head of natural blonde hair, he sighs as he runs a hand through his hair, wondering if any of his old allies are his friends here.

3/14 Shujin Academy, Morning

Ren thought he might have a difficult time finding his shoe locker or class, he knew he’d be a first year for the month which meant it was on the third floor, but he wasn’t sure which room he was in. Thankfully, Lavenza had thought of that, when he was checking his phone the day before he noticed a few notes were written on it, one of them told him what shoe locker he had and which class he was in, all masqueraded as the sort of notes someone would make when they first started at a new school.

As he sat down in his seat, which was in almost the same place as his previous seat, he noticed a few of the students looking at an empty desk a few spaces away from him and talking amongst themselves. Curious, he decided to listen in.

‘Is Sakamoto still not back yet?’

‘Pretty sure he’s still in the hospital, he should’ve been expelled though. Did you hear he tried to assault Kamoshida-sensei?’

‘Seriously? Why wouldn’t they expel a delinquent like him?’

Ren stopped listening after that last response as he started growing more frustrated, it never showed on his face, but listening to the Shujin rumor mill ridicule his friends always made him angry. He wasn’t a loud or outspoken person, mostly keeping to himself, but he really wanted to defend Ryuji, to tell them what really happened, but he knew that wouldn’t help. As much as he hated it, there was nothing he could do for now.

Soon, the homeroom teacher came in and Ren pulled out his notebook. He let himself forget about the conversation he heard, but made a mental note to himself to show Ryuji a little kindness the next time he saw him. Hopefully, it would ease Ryuji’s struggles.

3/14 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

On his way out of class, Ren noticed Ann and Shiho happily talking to each other while walking to the cafeteria. He smiles internally, knowing Kamoshida likely hadn’t gotten to them yet, before remembering what happened to Shiho and grimacing outwardly. ‘ There has to be a way to save Shiho and get Ann to join the Thieves without drawing attention to Sumire or myself… but how? ’ He starts coming up with a plan, he’d have to run it by Sumire later, as much as she doubts herself, she actually has a knack for planning things out, and preparing accordingly.

Ren unwrapped a bento he’d made for himself earlier and began eating while texting Sumire, there’s no urgency to their texting yet so he doesn’t have to use his phone during class for now, he’s happy to avoid any chances of receiving chalk to the forehead.

Ren: Are you doing okay?

Sumire: No… not really…

Sumire: Is it okay if I come over after practice today?

Ren: You don’t even need to ask, plus, today we have the perfect excuse

Sumire: Excuse? What excuse?

Ren: Did you forget? It’s White Day

Sumire: Oh! I completely forgot about that… sorry, Senpai

Ren: Don’t apologize, I know there’s been a lot on your mind recently, besides I’d be one to talk if I got on your case about forgetting

Sumire: Huh? What do you mean, Senpai?

Ren feels some sweat start forming on his forehead.

Ren: Don’t worry about it… I’ll see you later, okay?

Sumire: Okay? See you later, Senpai

Ren wipes the sweat from his forehead before he puts his phone away and finishes his lunch, then he heads back to class.

3/14 Yongen-Jaya, After School

With plenty of time before Sumire got out of practice, and a desire for coffee and curry, Ren decides to head to a certain cafè. Once he gets there, he stands in front of the door for a few minutes to prepare himself, if school was anything to go by, none of his old friends or confidants know him in any way here.

After a few moments, he heads in. It looks exactly as it had when he first came to Tokyo, save for the ‘Sayuri’, everything is in its place, the yellow telephone he used to call Kawakami, the crossword puzzle he used to fill out every night, if he looked closely and activated Third Eye, he could even see the bugs Futaba had spread all over the cafè.

Sojiro spotted him and promptly entered customer service mode, “Welcome, what do you want?” Ren internally winced, the lack of familiarity Sojiro conveyed hurt, luckily it didn’t show.

“The daily special, please.” Ren replied, taking a seat at the counter.

Sojiro nodded and got to work, selecting some beans to use for the coffee then getting Ren some curry that’d been cooked earlier. “You should wait on eating it until the coffee is done, it’s better if you have them together.” Sojiro advised him.

Ren nodded in return. After a few minutes, the coffee was done and Sojiro served him. “Thanks.” Ren said before digging in, making sure to savor its taste and properly appreciate the familiar flavors.

After a few minutes, Ren had finished, Sojiro decided to strike up a conversation with him. “So, what brings a kid like you here? You move-in to Yongen recently?” Sojiro asks.

“No, I’m from Kichijoji.” Ren answers, shifting his focus from his plate to Sojiro.

Sojiro raised an eyebrow in surprise, “That’s quite a ways away from here… what brings you here then?” he asked in a curious tone.

Ren shrugged, “Heard some people talk about this place while I was out in Shibuya, decided to give it a try.” he lied a bit too easily. “Speaking of, I think this is the best curry and coffee I’ve ever had.”

“Thanks.” Sojiro replied, unsure what else to say.

Ren stayed quiet for a few moments after that, debating internally how to bring up what he wanted to ask. “Could you teach me?” Ren asked, he’d figured that if he could find a way to work there, it’d make it easier to watch over the new Trickster, it wouldn’t hurt to establish a bond with this world’s Sojiro either.

Ren was slightly amused by the look of confusion that showed on Sojiro’s face. “What? Why?” Sojiro asks.

“Well, I’ve always had an interest in cooking and brewing coffee, but there’s only so much you can teach yourself. When I heard of a cafè in Yongen with really good coffee, I figured it’d be worth my time to check it out. I was not disappointed” Ren explained/lied again.

Ren knew how sharp Sojiro could be, but he also knew that Sojiro wouldn’t ask questions if he didn’t think the truth would affect him or Futaba, he’d deduced that Ren had a connection to the Phantom Thieves and had likely suspected it since Yusuke had joined, but he never actually said anything until he found Futaba’s calling card.

“Why would I?” Sojiro responds gruffly.

Ren looked back up at him, “How about this: I work here when I can, and you give me a lesson? I imagine managing this place alone can’t be easy, I could serve customers just in case anything important comes up that demands your attention.”

Sojiro looked at Ren for a few seconds before sighing. “You’re right, I could use an extra set of hands but this business doesn’t make enough to pay for them, you’re sure you’re okay with only the lessons as payment?” Sojiro questions, just for the sake of it.

Ren nods, “Yes, although I’ll mostly only be able to work afternoons or evenings, I am a student after all.” he answers.

Sojiro nods in understanding. “Alright, what’s your name?”

“I’m Ren Amamiya, yours?” Ren answers before returning the question.

“Sojiro Sakura, but you can just call me Boss, everyone does.” Sojiro replies.

“Alright, Boss. If it’s alright with you, is it okay if I start now?” Ren asks.

“That’s fine, I could use it today.” Sojiro responds.

Ren felt the Hierophant arcana buzz in his mind, he could feel the bond forming once again, yet no words accompanied it. He shook his head internally, then joined Sojiro behind the counter and began his ‘first’ day at Leblanc.

3/14 Shibuya, After School

After an hour, he had wrapped up with Sojiro, explaining that he had a White Day date today and needed to prepare for it, Sojiro understood and let him leave. With a couple more hours to spare before he needed to get back home he decided to look around Shibuya for anything that’d help Sumire relax. Eventually, he found himself in the Shibuya Underground Mall, and passed by a familiar clothing store, one that he had many fond memories of.

Helping Ann find new outfits, Sumire’s horrendous fashion failure, even the blue dress with the white stripe down the middle Sumire liked so much. Wait a minute… he just remembered something, while he kept his gear and a small portion of the money he had in the previous world, he didn’t have any of the outfits he had bought or were given to him during his time on probation, only some casual clothes and a first year male uniform for Shujin.

Assuming this to be the same for Sumire, he entered the clothing store, found the dress, then bought it. The dress had meant a lot to Sumire when she’d originally bought it, it was the first outfit she’d chosen for herself, after all.

Ren found himself getting more excited for this evening as time went on.

3/14 Ren’s Apartment, Evening

Ren waited in his apartment for Sumire to arrive, having already had a White Day date not too long ago he figured he’d simply use this time to let Sumire relax as much as possible, he knew everything since yesterday was weighing heavily on her and he hated seeing her so stressed.

* knock knock *

‘ That must be her ’ Ren thinks, before going to answer the door. He’s greeted by the sight of Sumire wearing the same outfit as she had on their previous White Day date, though this time her hair’s down and she’s wearing her glasses. He didn’t mind, he preferred the look, it felt more genuine, more like he was seeing the real Sumire.

Ren smiles and invites her in. They enter the living room and take a seat next to each other on the couch, Sumire’s looking down at the floor, deep in thought but still with that somber look on her face, it hurts Ren’s heart, seeing her like this. He nudges her and she looks at him, then he embraces her, rubbing her back gently. “Sumi, I know it’s hard, but know you can always talk to me…”

Sumire returns the embrace and finally speaks, “I know, Senpai, it’s just… I don’t want to burden you with my problems…” she says.

Ren breaks the embrace, grabs Sumire’s hands, and stares into her eyes before responding seriously. “Allow me to make them my problems then, Sumi. I don’t want you to suffer alone anymore.”

Sumire’s eyes widen, she then looks down, “Sorry, Senpai… i-it’s just t…that…” she begins shaking as tears begin falling, clearly trying her hardest to tell Ren what’s been on her mind. Ren pulls her back into an embrace as Sumire buries her head in his chest, before she attempts to complete her thought. “I-It’s just that… e-everytime I look at K-K-Kasumi, all I can think of is that day… t-that look of pure terror on h-her face when she pushed m-me… t-then…” she trails off while shaking with sobs.

Ren understood where she was going with it and hugs her tighter. “You don’t have to say it, Sumi.” He soothingly tells her. Sumire wraps her arms around him, hugging him tightly as her sobs grow louder.

After a few minutes, Sumire quiets down, her sobbing stopping entirely. “Are you better now, Sumi?” No response. “Sumi?” Looking closer, it seemed she’d fallen asleep, she must’ve been tired after all those hours of practice. Checking the time, Ren sets her on the couch and drapes a blanket over her. He then heads to the kitchen and starts preparing a meal for them to eat.

Almost an hour passes before Ren finishes, he checks in on Sumire who appears to be waking up. “Had a good nap?” Ren teases her with a smirk.

Sumire blushes a little, “S-Sorry, Senpai…” she sheepishly replies. Sumire catches a whiff of the food Ren made and her stomach growls, making her face even more red.

Ren chuckles, “Looks like somebody’s hungry.” he tells her. “Hope you like what I made.”

The two enter the dining area where Ren had set out the food he made, and begin to eat. Sumire seems better than before and is even slightly smiling, the sentiment warms Ren’s heart.

After eating, the two sit back on the couch, after a few minutes of silence, Sumire speaks up. “Senpai… are you okay?” Ren looks at her in confusion before Sumire continues: “I just want to be sure, Senpai… just in case.”

Ren sits in silence as he thinks about everything that’s happened in the past two days, he finally speaks up, “It… hurts a little, knowing none of my old friends know me here, but I could be worse off.”

Sumire looks at him curiously. “How so?”

Ren smiles at her and responds. “Well, I could be doing this alone. I’m glad that you’re here with me, Sumi.”

Sumire’s blush returns, but she smiles back and grabs his hand while she rests her head on his shoulder. “I’m glad to be here with you too, Senpai…”

They stay like that for a while, before Ren speaks up again. “Are you going to be okay? On the sixteenth, I mean…”

“I’m not sure…” Sumire frowns again and tenses slightly, causing Ren’s heart to ache. “I think… I think this will all be easier to handle after…”

Ren says nothing in response, opting to comfort her by running his other hand through her hair. It seems to be working, as Sumire sighs and relaxes, her smile returning.

Once again, they find themselves sitting in silence, enjoying each other’s presence, but strangely, it feels more comforting now. Ren suddenly remembers the dress and lets go of Sumire’s hand.

“Senpai? What’s wrong?” Sumire asks, concerned.

“I forgot something, just wait here a moment.” Ren responds before getting up and leaving the room.

After about half a minute he comes back with a bag in his hand. Sumire looks at it curiously, wondering what it could be, but doesn’t say anything. Ren hands her the bag and she takes a look inside, before smiling bright enough to light up the entire room.

Ren finds himself smiling just as brightly. “I figured you might like to have it while we’re here, it meant a lot to you beforehand, after all.”

Sumire hugs him again. “Thank you, Senpai…”

The two teens return to their position on the couch and enjoy the rest of their time together. Once it gets late, Ren and Sumire head to bed, falling asleep in each other’s embrace once again.

Chapter Text

3/16 Odaiba, Afternoon

'This is it… today’s the day…’ Sumire thought to herself as she made her way home from the meet with Kasumi walking next to her. Sumire kept her head down, without Ren here to comfort her, the painful memories came back. Keeping her eyes to the ground was all she could do to lessen the pain, dread, and fear.

Sumire knew that Kasumi would live this time, there’d be no reason for her to walk into traffic after all, yet she couldn’t stop the fear that she’d have to watch Kasumi’s life be snuffed away once more. Despite herself, Sumire cast a glance at Kasumi-

Sumire pushed herself off the asphalt as she looked at her. “K-Kasumi?” She stared wide-eyed at Kasumi’s body sprawled on the ground, blood pooling out underneath it. At that moment, Sumire knew her sister was dead, it was her fault, she’d killed her sister, and it was all her fault. All her fault. All her fault. ALL HER FAU-

“Sumire!”

Sumire flinched as she came back to the present. “Y-Yes?” She replied, unable to look at Kasumi.

“Y-You looked really out of it. You were breathing really f-fast… a-and you didn’t respond to me until I shouted…” Kasumi told her, sounding scared herself. “Y-You’re not okay… P-Please don’t lie to me anymore… What h-happened?”

“I-I’m sorry, K-Kasumi… I just c-can’t tell you…” Sumire responded as she continued looking at the floor.

Kasumi sighed irritably as she walked in front of Sumire before stopping, causing Sumire to stop as well. Sumire looked up at her curiously-

Kasumi pushed her out of the way, time seemed to slow down, all she could see was the fear in her sister’s eyes-

She looked away again, it was too painful to remember.

“I-I want to trust Ren-san, but it’s only been getting worse… these past few days…” Kasumi said, her fear and worry etched into her voice, painting a clear picture of the expression Sumire couldn’t bring herself to see. “I-Is… Is Ren-san involved with it somehow?” Kasumi asks hesitantly.

“N-No… it has n-nothing to do with him…” Sumire forced herself to answer.

Kasumi looked at Sumire for a few moments, trying to come up with something to say, but no words would leave her mouth. Sighing once again, Kasumi began walking to the station once more, Sumire following after her.

They neared an intersection, that intersection, the feeling of dread Sumire was feeling increased tenfold. People were crowded in the street, all seeming to stare at something. Curious, Kasumi went to check it out, Sumire followed close after.

Sumire looked up and she saw it , the truck, the same one that had taken her sister’s life, crashed into the side of a building. Sumire stared at it, the unwanted memories slowly flashing through her mind, she was afraid she’d have another episode, and she would have if not for what happened next.

*buzz buzz*

Her phone buzzed and she fished it out of her pocket, almost dropping it due to her shaky hands. The name listed gave her immediate comfort. ‘Senpai…’ Sumire quickly answered, hoping her lover’s voice would provide solace.

“R-Ren?” Sumire answered nervously, having gotten better at remembering when to call him by name.

“Hey Sumi, I just had the urge to call, are you okay? ” Ren said in the most soothing voice in the world, or at least, it felt that way to Sumire.

She let out a breath as the pain, stress, and fear that had been plaguing her all day washed away, replaced by that strange feeling of warmth she had become familiar with. “Mhm, I’m fine… Is it okay if I come over after I get home?” Sumire asked, her stutter disappearing, even though she already knew the answer.

“Of course you can, Sumi, it’s like I said before, you don’t even need to ask.” Ren replied, the warm feeling in Sumire’s chest grew.

“Thanks, Ren, I love you, bye.” Sumire responded, only just noticing the smile on her own face.

“I love you too, Sumi, I’ll see you later. ” Ren responded before ending the call.

Sumire ended the call and looked up at Kasumi, who was staring at her, strangely, no memories came with it. “What?” Sumire asked.

Kasumi shook off her confused look and smiled at her sister. “If I ever had any doubts about Ren-san… I think that moment would have ended them.”

Sumire stared at Kasumi for a few seconds before shaking her head and smiling to herself. Her outlook on the day suddenly became a lot more positive, she couldn’t wait to see her lover once more.

3/16 Yoshizawa Apartment, After School

Kasumi and Sumire got home and Kasumi put her umbrella away, Sumire, on the other hand, simply went to her room to drop some things off before heading to Ren’s apartment. So Kasumi was now alone in the house, her father still at work and her mother running errands. She went to her room and lied on her bed, thinking over the events that had occurred today.

‘Sumire… What happened to you? ’ Kasumi thought to herself, she wasn’t an idiot, she knew what a panic attack looked like… but what could have happened to Sumire to make her like that? How does Ren-san know about it? Why can’t they tell her?

‘It didn’t sound like Sumire was lying either… it doesn’t have anything to do with Ren-san… so what could it be? ’ Kasumi thinks a bit more. ‘Maybe she witnessed a mental shutdown recently… but even then, why wouldn’t she be able to tell me? ’ She lets out a frustrated groan, deciding she wouldn’t be able to figure out what was wrong on her own.

Kasumi got up and picked up her phone, she went to her contacts list and called a familiar number.

After a few rings, the other side picked up. “Yoshizawa-san? Is everything alright? ”

“Yes, I’m fine, I was just wondering if I could discuss something with you?” Kasumi asked, trying her best to keep her voice normal while pushing down her worries.

“I’m really busy today… would tomorrow work? ” The other end asked, in clear confusion.

“Yes, that’d work great! See you then?” Kasumi responded more enthusiastically this time.

“Alright, I’ll see you then, Yoshizawa-san. I have to go now, goodbye. ” The other end responded, in a somewhat positive voice this time.

“Alright, bye Dr. Maruki!” Kasumi replied before ending the call and putting her phone down. As soon as it did, she let her facade drop. She lied down on her bed again as her feelings of fear for her sister resurfaced.

‘Sumire… whatever it is you’re going through… I'll help you... I promise… ’ She thought to herself. Whatever was wrong, she was determined to help her sister through it.

Chapter Text

3/17 Maruki’s Office, After School

“So, what did you want to discuss, Yoshizawa-san?” Maruki asks as Kasumi takes a seat.

“I’m worried about my sister…” Kasumi answers as she looks down, no longer attempting to mask her worry with enthusiasm.

“Your sister…?” Maruki looks slightly confused as he asks that, before shaking his head as if to dismiss a thought. “Sorry, what makes you concerned, Yoshizawa-san?”

“Well… Sumire… she’s been really down recently… and yesterday I think she had a panic attack…” Kasumi replies as her hands begin to shake.

“I… see…” Maruki responded while writing something down. “When did this start?” He asks, looking back up at Kasumi.

“A few days ago… on the thirteenth… she seemed a lot better today though…” Kasumi replies, keeping her head down.

“Oh? Do you know why?” Maruki seemed a bit surprised as he responded.

“After her… e-episode…” She stutters as her face pales at the memory. “S-She got a call from her boyfriend. I-I didn’t see her again until that evening, but she seemed a lot happier afterwards. She still looked happy this morning too, when we were practicing.” Kasumi answers, before finally looking back up at Maruki.

Maruki smiled at her response as he wrote something else down. “Well, it doesn’t seem like there’s any need to worry then.” He tells her.

Kasumi was confused, “Huh? Why not?” she asks with a tilt of her head.

“Well, whatever it is she went through, it’s clear that supportive influences in her life, like her boyfriend, are helping her heal from it.” Maruki answers.

“Okay… but what do I do?” Kasumi asks, in hopes that she can fulfill the promise she made to herself.

“All you can do right now is be there for her. If she chooses to confide in you, all the better, just don’t force her to do so. If it gets worse though, you should talk to her about trying therapy.” Maruki responds.

Kasumi feels her resolve grow as her worries decrease, she finally has a clear direction to take. “Alright! Then I’ll do just that!” She stands up enthusiastically, feeling more determined than ever to help Sumire.

After saying her farewells to Maruki, she heads out. For a split second, she has an odd feeling, shaking it off, she heads out of the building before taking the train home.

3/17 Shibuya, After School

“Are you ready?” Ren asks as he puts on his bracelet.

Some time after school ended, Sumire and Ren met up at Shibuya. Sumire and Ren had discussed it the day before when Sumire had come over, and decided that today would be a good day to have a short exploration of mementos, Ren soon found a spot where they’d be able to enter without being seen.

“Yes!” Sumire enthusiastically responds while putting on her own, she suddenly feels the presence of the metaverse, and wonders if this is how Morgana usually felt. She’d secretly been excited for this ever since they arrived, moving around in the metaverse always felt so liberating, like all the natural restrictions of what the human body could do just disappeared entirely, it was a field day for people like her.

That’s what she told herself, anyway, deep down though she just really wanted to see Ren’s Joker-outfit again.

Ren smirked, causing Sumire’s heart to skip a beat as she tried to contain her excitement. “It’s showtime!”

Sumire and Ren’s outfits shifted into their familiar, now-nostalgic, Phantom Thief outfits. Every immaculate detail of Sumire’s outfit was exactly as she remembered, from the red gloves to the silver chain and sheathe for her rapier. Looking over to Ren, she could see he was admiring his own outfit before he looked at her.

“Looking good, Violet.” Ren said in his Joker voice, causing Sumire’s face to turn red.

“Y-You too, Joker-senpai!” Sumire responds, stuttering through the embarrassment. Ren just looked at her, seemingly contemplating something. Confused, she decides to ask. “What is it, Joker-senpai?”

Ren shook his head and sighed. “It might not be a good idea for my codename to continue being Joker…”

“Why not?” Sumire asks, not knowing what he meant.

“Well, it’s likely that the Trickster will end up using the same codename.” Ren answered.

Sumire was slightly disappointed but understood, she liked calling him that. She shakes her head, “So we have to come up with a new codename?” she asks, already thinking of one.

“Seems like it, have any ideas?” Ren nods before asking.

“I-I have one…” Sumire responds, slightly doubting her name choice.

Ren simply smiles at her. “What is it?”

“W-Well, you know how ‘Violet’ is my name in English?” Sumire asks, Ren nods, she continues nervously. “What about L-Lotus? Th-That’s your name… in… in English…”

Ren keeps smiling and nods, “I love it,” he responds. “from this point forward, you can call me Lotus. You may… also want to ditch the ‘Senpai’ part when we’re around this world’s Thieves…”

Sumire’s glad Ren liked the name, but feels disappointed once again that she can’t always call him ‘Senpai’ even after they start going to the same school, she could tell Ren was too.

They made their way down into the first floor of mementos, it looked disgustingly familiar to Sumire, the cables weren’t there anymore though, apart from that, everything looked exactly the same. Sumire felt a pit in her stomach, knowing all this represented the collective unconscious of humanity, she had never fully grasped the concept of the metaverse, instead opting to let her more experienced peers guide her during their brief time working together, but even then, all of this just felt… wrong…

Once they reach the platform, Sumire remembers that they don’t have Morgana to get around these massive tunnels anymore. “Jo-... er uhm, Lotus-senpai how are we going to get around without Mona-senpai?” She asks.

“We’ll have to go on foot, it’ll be slower but it shouldn’t be a big deal.” Ren responds as he hops off the platform and onto the tracks.

Sumire follows him and they begin exploring the floors of mementos, grabbing some flowers in case they run into Jose on the way back and tearing through any shadows they see. Eventually, they reach a locked door after the second floor.

Sumire looks at it strangely, “Uhm, Lotus-senpai?” Ren looks at her as she continues: “Is… is that supposed to be there?”

Ren nods, “Yeah, we won’t really be able to move past it until the Phantom Thieves start taking down targets.” he explains while looking around. “Though, if Crow was able to take down so many targets, there’s likely a way through without opening it.” Ren mumbled the last part, but Sumire still heard. His face changed to a grimace mixed with something akin to… sadness? Sumire felt she knew why.

Sumire walks up to Ren and taps on his shoulder, once he turns around, she embraces him lovingly in hopes to comfort him. It appears to work as Ren returns the embrace and holds her close. They stay like that for a while, saying nothing as they both feel a strange sense of peace.

After their moment, they head back to the surface, though not running into Jose on the way back, they opt to leave the flowers they’d collected near the entrance, knowing Jose would likely find them there.

3/17 Shibuya, Evening

Once in the real world, Sumire turns to Ren and finally decides to say something. “S-Senpai… I-If you need anyone to t-talk to… about… about Akechi-san…” She could barely get the words out, afraid that she might inadvertently bring up bad memories for Ren. She even forgets not to call him ‘Senpai’ now that they’re in public, luckily, Kasumi isn’t around to hear.

Ren simply smiles at her and grabs her shaking hands, “Thank you, Sumi… I’m glad I can rely on you…” he replies in a soft tone, his actions causing a small blush to bloom on Sumire’s face as she can suddenly only focus on him. Ren then leans in and kisses Sumire, which she reciprocates subconsciously, as at this point her mind’s completely shut down while her face reaches levels of red previously unknown to man.

Once Sumire’s mind turns back on, she realizes that they’re already in Kichijoji, not too far from where she lives. Had she really spaced out that long?

Ren looks at her and chuckles, “Welcome back, Sumi. It’s been a while since you got that embarrassed…”

Sumire’s blush deepens again as she responds, “U-Uhm… Sorry… Y-You just caught me off guard…” she shyly looks away, causing Ren to chuckle again.

They arrive at Sumire’s apartment before parting ways, hugging as a farewell this time so as to not cause another scientific discovery. Sumire heads into her apartment and straight to her room. Even though she’s blushing, she feels inexplicably happy. Happier in fact, than she had been since they’d arrived, smiling to herself, she changes out of her uniform and into casual clothes before leaving her room.

As she enters the living room Kasumi, who’s sitting on a chair studying, looks up at Sumire and beams. “You look happy! Did something good happen?” She asks.

Sumire keeps smiling, “I guess you could say that…” she looks away as she responds, her face still red.

Sumire was expecting Kasumi to tease her about it, but no, instead Kasumi just nods before focusing on her work again. Sumire finds it odd, but shrugs it off, not thinking much about it. She takes a seat as she reminisces about her day with Ren, excited for what’s to come.

Chapter Text

3/18 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

Haru Okumura, the soon to be third-year, was not a big fan of her current life. Many of the other students looked at her in envy, assuming her life to be better than theirs, assuming that she got everything she asked for, assuming she could do whatever she wanted. None of this was true, everything she did was decided by her father, and because of that, she’d recently received the news that she wouldn’t get to pick who she married, she’d be forced to marry someone she didn’t love.

With all the stress of the life she never wanted, she tried to enjoy what little freedom she did have. Gardening was always something she was fond of, and after discussing it with a teacher, she was able to get permission to set up a garden on the school roof.

Excited by the little bit of reverie she’d get that day, as soon as the bell rang for lunch, she quickly left the classroom and darted for the roof. Once she got there though, she noticed someone was already there, a frizzy-haired student wearing glasses with a bento on his lap, about to start eating.

He looked up and his eyes met hers, for a split second his eyes flashed with a look of familiarity, as if he knew who she was. Yet he didn’t show any signs of envy or suppressed anger, looks that she’d become unfortunately familiar with, instead he looked almost… sad? Unsure what else to do, she decided to speak up.

“Are... Are you okay?” Haru asked with concern in her voice.

The strange boy stayed quiet for a few seconds before responding, the sad look completely gone, was he masking it? “I’m alright.” He answered, though Haru didn’t believe him, “Did you want to eat up here too?” he asked.

“Oh, no, I just wanted to tend to my garden up here during lunch.” She responded with a fake smile on her face.

“So the garden up here is yours?” Haru nodded at his question. “Do you want any help?” The boy asks, puzzling Haru.

“Hm? Are you sure?” She asks, surprised.

The boy chuckles at her confusion. “Yeah, I’ll just finish this real quick then help out, if you don’t mind?” He gestures to his bento as he responds.

Haru wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but appreciated the offer of assistance. “I don’t mind,” She shakes her head and smiles as she responds. “I could use the help, actually.”

True to the boy’s word, he finishes his lunch and helps her with weeding and fertilizing the garden. It was a very enjoyable experience for Haru, they discussed gardening, food, and various other topics as they went. Haru wondered if this was what it was like to be a normal high school student, free from the chains that had slowly grown tighter over time.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. The bell rang signaling the end of lunch and the boy packed his bento back into his bag. As he was heading out, Haru realized she hadn’t even asked for the boy’s name, and called out to him.

“Wait!” The boy turned as she called, “Do you mind telling me your name?” she asks.

The boy smiles again, for some reason, the simple action gives Haru a warm feeling and she can’t help but genuinely smile in return. “I’m Ren Amamiya, you?” He responds, pushing his glasses up a bit.

“Please call me Haru, it’s nice to meet you.” She tells him, intentionally omitting her family name.

“It’s nice to meet you too, Haru.” For some reason, Amamiya saying her name causes chills to go down her spine. “It was fun helping you with the garden, do you mind if I help you out more after this? Maybe on occasion after school?” He asks.

Haru has that strange warm feeling again as her smile brightens. “Not at all, I’d be happy to let you help!” She responds cheerily.

Amamiya nods and makes his exit, Haru puts her gardening equipment away, still feeling warm. Even as she heads to class, the smile on her face lingers, as though for the first time in a while, everything will turn out just fine.

3/18 Inokashira Park, After School

Yusuke Kitagawa was struggling, stuck in a slump, but he had to paint something, he owed his sensei that much and more. The exhibit was still two months off, so he found himself strolling through the park, hoping to find some inspiration. He was growing frustrated, the trees, trails, plant-life, and river were all beautiful sights indeed, but they didn’t give him any ideas, any inspiration, any motivation to sit down and bring his brush to a blank canvas.

“That was amazing, Sumire!” a nearby cheery voice said.

Turning to the sound, Yusuke found the source, two girls in tracksuits, one with brown hair, the other with red, appeared to be practicing gymnastics in a small clearing where they wouldn’t bump into anything. He stopped and decided to watch, perhaps this would give him what he desperately needs.

“T-Thanks, K-Kasumi…” The girl with red hair responds in a shy tone.

“Let’s go one more time!” The brunette said in a more enthusiastic tone in contrast.

The two girls began practicing their routines again. Yusuke watched from a distance, hoping he’d be able to get something, anything from this. He focuses his attention on the brunette as she starts, her bold moves are very well executed and she radiates confidence as she goes. As beautiful a sight as it was to see, Yusuke was still lacking a clear solution.

Shaking his head, he refocused his attention on the redhead, and his eyes widened.

Her moves exuded grace, while she didn’t show the same confidence as her partner, she made her passion for the sport clear in every move. Both performances he’d watched were on par with each other in terms of skill and execution, but Yusuke found exactly what he was looking for in the red-haired girl’s performance.

As soon as they'd finished, he made his presence known. “That was magnificent!” He shouts as he walks up to them.

The redhead looks at him and her eyes widen while the brunette watches him cautiously.

As he approaches the redhead, the brunette intervenes. “Who are you and why were you watching us?” She questions him confrontationally.

“Oh, I was simply walking by and heard you two practicing. They were very beautiful performances.” Yusuke answers her, confused by her tone.

The brunette continues to eye him suspiciously, “So then why were you approaching my sister?” she asks, her voice still laced with hostility.

“Well, I’ve been in an art slump for some time now and I’ve been looking for a way out…” Yusuke replies before walking up to the redhead once again. “But then I felt such passion from your performance I think I’ve found the answer I’ve been looking for…” He stops in front of her, “So please, will you help me?” he asks in an exaggerated and desperate tone.

The girl shyly looks away, seemingly not knowing how to answer. “U-Ummm…”

The brunette gets in the way once more. “Stop, you’re making Sumire uncomfortable.” She tells him sternly.

Yusuke backs off a bit, not wanting to give a potential muse a bad impression. “Sorry about that.” He apologizes, “Though will you please consider?” he reiterates pleadingly.

“You still haven’t answered my question: Who are you?” The brunette asks once more, slightly less hostile now, but still cautious.

“Ah right, I’m Yusuke Kitagawa, a first-year art student at Kosei. Would you mind telling me who you two are as well?” He answers, realizing he forgot to actually do so.

The girl doesn’t seem satisfied, but finally relents. “Fine… I’m Kasumi Yoshizawa, and this is my sister, Sumire Yoshizawa, we’re rhythmic gymnasts but you probably already knew that.” Kasumi tells him with a more neutral voice.

Suddenly, Sumire speaks up. “U-Uhm, c-can I have some time to think about it first?” She asks hesitantly. Kasumi looks at her in clear surprise but doesn’t say anything.

Yusuke thinks about it for a bit before answering, “I suppose I don’t need an answer right away… Can we exchange contact information at least?” he asks her.

Sumire nervously nods and they exchange information. “Thank you, I think I’ll take my leave now, please do consider it.” Yusuke tells her, as he’s leaving, Kasumi pulls Sumire aside and begins speaking to her in a low voice, too low for Yusuke to pick up, he doesn’t particularly care though. With any luck, he’ll finally be able to put this slump behind him.

Chapter Text

3/18 Ren’s Apartment, Evening

After Ren gets home from his shift at Leblanc, he sits on the couch in the living room and goes over the events of the day in his mind. He was surprised how easy it was to befriend Haru that day, even if he wasn’t expecting to meet her. She must’ve been feeling lonely if the simple act of helping her out made her so happy.

At the same time, he feels a little sad he couldn’t practice with Sumire that day, as he’d picked up his shift right after school ended. Though, it’s not like he’d be able to practice with her every time anyway, their schedules aren’t always going to line up.

*knock knock*

The knocking of the door snaps Ren out of his internal thoughts, he heads to the door and opens it. He’s not all that surprised to see none other than Sumire on the other side.

“Good evening, Senpai!” Sumire cheerfully says, wrapping her arms around Ren as she greets him.

Ren reciprocates the hug and responds, “Same to you, Sumi! How was practice?” he asks as they break the hug and enter the house, closing the door behind them.

Sumire beams, “It went great!” she responds in the same tone. “I was able to convince Kasumi to practice with me at Inokashira Park.”

Ren smirks, “Oh? Why there?” he asks teasingly.

Sumire's cheeks slightly dust with pink, but she's prepared this time. “Oh, I don't know...” She trails off with a smirk of her own, “Maybe it's because that's where I officially met my favorite Senpai~” she playfully admits.

They both break into quiet laughter as they sit on the couch. Sumire shakes off her blush before talking again.

“In all seriousness though, I wanted to ask you something.” She tells him.

“What is it?” Ren asks.

“Well… while Kasumi and I were practicing...” Sumire trails off a bit before speaking again. “We kind of… met Kitagawa-san… and he asked me to be a muse for him...“

Ren could only imagine how that went down, he just hoped Yusuke hadn’t said anything… weird… “What did you tell him?” He asks, hoping his worries are unfounded.

“I asked if I could think it over first, and we exchanged contact information.” Sumire responds, showing Ren Yusuke's contact on her phone. “I wanted to ask you first, so… should I accept?”

Ren thought it over and nodded. “I think you should.” He responds, knowing this may be their only chance to befriend Yusuke, “I want to be there with you though.” no way is he going to let the “incident” happen again.

“You got it, Senpai!” Sumire cheerfully exclaims before changing the topic, “By the way, how was your day, Senpai?” she asks.

“Ran into Haru during lunch, helped her with her garden on the roof.” Ren recalls. “After school I had a shift at Leblanc, it wasn't bad, but pretending to not know how to make coffee can get annoying.”

Sumire lets out a snort. “Of all things to get you, it's coffee?” She teases.

Ren turns to her with the most serious expression he can muster. “I'll have you know I take my coffee very seriously.”

Sumire can't help but start laughing again, Ren joins in too, happy to see her less reserved than she had been in the past few days.

After they finish laughing, Sumire scoots closer to Ren and rests her head on his shoulder. They enjoy the rest of their evening together before Sumire has to head home for the night.

3/20 Shibuya Underground Mall, Morning

“Do you think Kasumi would like a new outfit?” Sumire asks Ren as they head in the direction of the clothing store.

Sumire and Kasumi's birthday was nearing, so Sumire asked Ren to help her pick out a gift. They had looked through various stores and nothing seemed good.

“Uhhh… Are you sure you trust yourself to buy her an outfit? Don't you remember what happened last time?” Ren replies, remembering Sumire's “fashion” sense.

Sumire blushed in embarrassment at the memory. “W-Well… it can't be that bad, can it?” She responds, attempting to reassure herself to no avail.

“Look at this one, Shiho! This is perfect for you!” A familiar voice excitedly says before Ren can respond.

Looking in the clothing store, they see Ann holding a white sweater out to Shiho. As they head in, Ann turns her head and sees them, her eyes flashing with vague familiarity when they land on Ren.

“Oh, you're… Amamiya-san? Right?” Ann asks, Ren nods in response, but feels a twinge of pain in his chest again. Her eyes shift to Sumire, “Are you two getting new clothes too?” she asks curiously.

“Sort of…” Ren replies as he rubs the back of his neck, “We're trying to find a gift for someone's birthday.” he explains. “Actually, do you mind helping us, Takamaki-san?” He requests, hoping to use this chance to befriend Ann and maybe also Shiho.

“Oh! Sure, I don’t mind!” Ann replies in the same cheery voice, Kamoshida must not have her completely under his thumb just yet. “What are you looking for?” She asks.

“Something nice for Sumire’s sister.” Ren replies, gesturing to Sumire.

Ann nods and then they get to work, looking through different clothing options, answering Ann’s questions about Kasumi’s looks and personality as they go. Eventually, they settle on a nice pink dress, the design of which isn’t too different from Sumire's blue one.

Sumire looks a bit nervous about the selection they’d chosen as they all leave the store, noticing this, Ren attempts to quell her fears by grabbing her hand. “Don’t worry, I think Kasumi-san will love it.” He tells her softly, Sumire’s worries, while not entirely gone, are mostly replaced by comfort, and she lets a small smile bloom on her face.

Ann looks at the two of them and nudges Shiho who looks back as well. They then look at each other again and smirk, both having the same idea. “Just kiss already!” Ann suddenly exclaims, giving a near-Futaba grin Ren had never seen on her face before.

Sumire's face reddens into its signature blush at the sudden exclamation. To make matters worse for her, Shiho joins in: “We're waiting~!” Her face adopts the same grin as she teases them.

Ren rolls his eyes at them, and, with a smirk of his own, decides to fulfill their 'request'. As Sumire's face reaches volcanic temperatures, Ren pulls her towards him and kisses her on the lips.

The act surprises everyone, especially Sumire, who looks like her soul is about to float out of her body from embarrassment.

Ann recovers from the surprise first. “You actually did it...” She shakes her head and grins again.

“Can’t keep the audience waiting.” Ren responds with a bow, if he was in the Metaverse, he’s sure Raoul would be cackling like a madman.

They all break into laughter, except for Sumire (who isn't entirely conscious yet). It's a heartwarming sight for Ren, seeing Ann and Shiho like this without any need for a fake reality. He's more determined than ever to preserve this, to find a way to protect Shiho.

After their laughter dies down, Ann and Shiho look at Sumire, who's looking at the floor with an intense blush, in concern. “Is… she gonna be alright?” Ann asks.

Ren looks at Sumire and grins, “Just give her a bit, this happens every now and then.” he replies.

“So how long have you two been together?” Shiho asks curiously.

“A few months,” Ren responds. “but we've known each other for nearly a year.”

“Really?” Ann asks, baffled. “You two seem much closer than that...”

Ren nods and looks at Sumire fondly before memories start flashing through his mind, “We've been to hell and back together.” he responds.

“I’m begging you, Ren-senpai… Please let me live as Kasumi!“

“I know it sounds cheesy, but right now, I can't imagine being with anyone else.”

“Kasumi is gone forever, and… and it’s all my- All Sumire’s fault! I can’t live that kind of life!“

Ren feels his heart aching all over again, just like it had in that moment, he shakes his head of the memories and focuses back on the present. Ann and Shiho are both giving him sympathetic looks.

“Of all places to end up after whatever you two went through… It had to be Shujin…” Ann says quietly, Shiho looks down at the floor.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ren replies, “I’ve been through far worse. I’m more worried about you two, to be honest.” his hand that isn’t holding Sumire’s clenches into a fist and shakes a bit as he remembers Kamoshida and everything he did.

Ann and Shiho both look surprised again before looking down again, no words needed to be exchanged. They all very well knew the delicate situation they found themselves in.

From that point forward, they change the subject, trying to restore the previous mood that had since been lost. They never manage to before they part ways as they exit the underground mall.

3/21 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

Ryuji Sakamoto was sick and tired of Shujin and all the no-good effin' shitty adults! It's his first day since being cleared from the hospital and he already wants to just leave. He received a thousand warnings from teachers that day, most students talked shit behind his back, and his old pals in the track team hated him.

As soon as the lunch bell rings he marches right out of the effin' room, or at least he tries to, before someone taps his shoulder.

He turns around, bracing himself for another scorn-filled lecture, what he gets instead surprises him. A student with messy black hair and glasses he vaguely recognizes is looking at him, no hate or indifference present in his expression.

“Do you want to join me for lunch, Sakamoto-san?” The boy asks, no judgment in his voice either.

Ryuji is caught completely off guard, he should be suspicious of this guy, randomly asking him to have lunch even without any sign of ill-intent, but something's telling him, for some reason, that this guy is genuine.

“Uhhh… sure?” Ryuji responds, confused.

The strange guy smiles, “Follow me.” he says. Despite everything that happened that day, Ryuji listens.

They make their way to the roof, nobody else is up there. Then something really strange happens, the boy takes out two bentos and hands one to Ryuji. Why is he being so nice?

“I hope you enjoy it, I'm not sure what lunches you had when you did track, so I just made something to fit the average athlete's diet.” The boy tells him.

If Ryuji was confused before, he was completely bewildered now. This guy made this? For him?

“Why?” Ryuji can't help but ask, though it comes out a bit too quiet.

“Hm?” The boy urges him to repeat himself.

Ryuji takes a deep breath. “Why? Why did you make this for me? Why are you bein’ so nice, dude?!” He yells, frustrated by his own confusion.

The boy looks down at the floor, an unreadable expression on his face as he takes time to carefully choose his words. “I’m sorry.” He says simply.

“Huh?” Ryuji is unsure how to feel right now, this dude asks him to go up to the rooftop, gives him food, has been kinder than anyone besides Ryuji’s own mother had been the past two weeks, and now he’s apologizing?

“I wasn’t sure what else to do…” The boy continues, his tone sad and frustrated. “I wanted to tell off the track team for blaming you, I wanted to reprimand the teachers for taking Kamoshida’s side, I wanted to do something in your defense, but I can’t. Not right now, at least.”

Again, Ryuji has that feeling that this boy is being genuine, he’s not sure why. “R-Really?” He asks in exasperation, for some odd reason he really wants to just believe this guy, but, at the same time, he just can’t .

The boy nods, but says nothing else as he starts eating his food. Unsure what else to do, Ryuji digs into the one the boy gave him as well. It was an oddly nice experience for Ryuji, though he was still suspicious of the guy, at least he wasn’t being lectured or reprimanded. There was simply silence, a break from a terrible day, it helped that the food was delicious, he would’ve preferred a beef bowl though.

Chapter Text

3/22 Madarame’s Atelier, After School

“Are you ready?” Ren asks Sumire as they walk up to the door. Shortly after meeting Yusuke, Sumire figured out a time to meet with him over text. Today worked best for both of them as Sumire didn’t have to meet her coach today and Madarame wasn’t there right now.

Sumire takes a deep breath to calm her nerves, “Yes, I’m ready.” she answers.

Ren nods in return and rings the bell, though Sumire can tell he’s not entirely comfortable with this even if his facial expression hasn’t changed at all. She was never told the exact details of how Ren met Yusuke, she’d have to ask him later.

Shortly after the bell is rung, they hear Yusuke’s voice speak through the door monitor. “Who is it?”

“Uhm, It’s Yoshizawa… from the park.” Sumire responds.

“I’ll be right there!” They hear Yusuke exclaim as he fumbles to quickly answer the door. He opens it and seems relieved for a second that Sumire actually showed up, his eyes then land on Ren and he frowns. “Who are you?” he asks in confusion.

Sumire wants to facepalm as she suddenly remembers she forgot to tell Yusuke that Ren was coming with her. “O-Oh… This is Ren-sen- U-Uhm… This is Ren, my boyfriend.” She almost bites her tongue, there’s no way he didn’t catch her almost calling Ren ‘Senpai’ , right?

Somehow though, Yusuke didn’t seem to notice, in fact, he seems intrigued by Ren now. Rather than saying anything, Yusuke looks Ren up and down, but not in a judging way. Instead he just seems deep in thought. Sumire expects Ren to be apprehensive or at least a little weirded out, but no. When she looks at him, he just has a small, almost imperceptible, smile on his face, like this is completely normal.

“My name is Ren Amamiya, nice to meet you.” Ren formally introduces himself with a small bow.

Yusuke appears to snap out of whatever thoughts he’s having. “Ah, sorry, I’m Yusuke Kitagawa.” He looks at Ren, then at Sumire, then at Ren again, “Would you mind being a muse for me as well?” he asks.

Sumire is caught completely off-guard, Yusuke wants both of them to muse for him? Why? She could understand herself, since gymnastics can be considered a form of art, but all Ren’s done so far is introduce himself. How can you get any inspiration from that?

Yusuke starts to explain. “There are certain emotions I’ve yet to capture in my art, and it would be remiss to lose this opportunity.” His tone becomes a bit more serious and dramatic as he continues, “Please, allow me to capture your love for each other in one such painting!” he enthusiastically shouts.

Sumire's face heats up at the implications. "U-Uhm..." How is she supposed to respond to that?! Being a muse is one thing, but having her feelings for Ren on display for a museum full of people to see is a completely different deal!

"So are you asking us to be models or did you have something else in mind?" Ren ever-so calm and confidently asks.

Yusuke seems to smile at not being turned down immediately, “If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to try various things, but modeling is one of them, yes.” he answers.

Sumire is just about ready to explode from embarrassment,”W-Wait! C-Can we talk about this first?!” she shouts in an exasperated voice as her face turns even more scarlet.

Yusuke looks at her curiously, “What would you like to ask about it?” he says, confused.

Sumire can’t find her voice or think coherently enough to speak, so she instead turns her gaze to Ren, hoping he’d bail her out. The smirk on his face told her he wouldn’t.

With a chuckle, Ren looks back at Yusuke. “She’s just a bit nervous, she’s never done anything like this before, I’m sure you can understand.”

Understanding fills Yusuke’s eyes, “Oh, of course! Do let me know if you need more time to think about it then.” he replies.

Ren looks at Sumire again, her mind is still too scattered to say anything, and she can still feel the heat on her face. Ren looks back at Yusuke and responds.

“We’ll probably need a little bit more time, I don’t think it’s off the table though.” Ren tells Yusuke, who simply nods in response.

“I’ll await your answer, thank you for considering.” Yusuke replies, after this, they all say their farewells, though Sumire says hers quietly, still too embarrassed to talk any louder.

As they’re walking away, Sumire starts to feel a little guilty, the guilt slowly grows as they make their way back to Kichijoji. Once there, she can’t take it anymore, “I’m sorry, Senpai…” Sumire suddenly says.

Ren looks at her weirdly, “Huh? What for?” he asks.

“I just wasted our time…” Sumire looks down at the floor as she mentally berates herself for the thousandth time since they left.

“I don’t think we wasted any time at all.” Ren replies simply, Sumire looks up at him, confused.

“What do you mean, Senpai?” She asks, despite still feeling dejected.

Ren looks at her and just smiles. “Do you want the cheesy response or the serious one?”

“Huh?” Is Sumire’s only response to the question she wasn’t expecting.

Ren seems to take that as an answer since he continues, “Well… I would say that no moment spent with you is wasted…” he stops to appreciate Sumire’s sudden blush before continuing. “The real answer though is simply that… We may not have done what we intended to do, but we still did accomplish something.”

Sumire shakes the blush off her face before asking. “What do you mean?”

“Well, we now have a good reason for me to be there and we gave him a positive first impression. That’s already a lot better than when I first met him.” Ren assures her.

His words achieve their intended goal as guilt seeps away from Sumire’s mind as she looks at it from a new perspective, she still makes a mental note that she should get better at managing her flustered state before it causes any actual issues.

3/23 Shibuya, After School

Ren was surprised when he got a text from Kasumi immediately after school asking him if he could meet up in Shibuya. As he arrives, he spots a familiar head of auburn hair in a ponytail in the distance, he feels his chest tighten slightly. He’s only noticed it recently, but he has a hard time looking directly at Kasumi. He thinks he knows why, but hopes it’ll go away on its own, given enough time.

Kasumi spots him and dramatically waves in his direction to get his attention, “Ren-san! Over here!” she calls out with her trademark sunny smile.

Ren makes his way over to her as she continues frantically waving in his direction, only once he gets there does she stop and greet him properly. “Good afternoon, Ren-san!” She says in the cheery tone he’s come to associate with her.

“Hello, Kasumi-san. Why did you call me over?” Ren asks, still not knowing exactly why he’s here.

“I kind of need your help with something…” Kasumi answers, looking slightly nervous in contrast to her usual bold confidence.

“I’d be happy to help, what is it?” Ren assures her honestly.

“Thanks, I’ve been struggling with finding the right gift for Sumire this year…” Kasumi explains in a sad tone, “It’s just strange since I never struggled with finding her a gift before… so I figured I should ask you. You probably know her even better than me, after all.” she finishes, brushing her bangs with her pinky the same way Sumire often does.

“Well, we can take a look around the underground mall, see if anything sticks out. What do you think?” Ren asks, trying to be as helpful as possible despite his growing discomfort with the situation, it was so much easier to deal with when Sumire was around.

Kasumi’s face lights up again, “Good idea, let’s go!” she says before walking in the direction of the underground mall.

After getting there, they look around various stores, nothing looks good to Ren, none of it seems like something Sumire would like or otherwise doesn’t already have. They eventually enter a bookstore and start looking around, once again, nothing really strikes him as something Sumire would like.

Then he sees it, as he looks through fairytale books he finds one he’s sure Sumire would like. He takes it off the shelf and finds Kasumi, then proceeds to show it to her.

“ Dressed in Ashes? Oh! ” Kasumi has a realization as she reads the title. “Sumire would love that book! She always enjoyed those fairytales when we were little, this is perfect!”

“Alright, let’s go pay for it.” Ren responds, happy he was able to help Kasumi with her problem.

Kasumi pays for the book and they leave the store, once they get out of the underground mall, Kasumi turns to Ren and starts to thank him.

“Thanks for your help today! I’m not sure I would’ve been able to figure anything out if you hadn’t been there.” Kasumi’s voice is full of genuine gratitude and relief, she must’ve been really stressed about this.

“It’s as I said, I’m happy to help.” Ren responds, twirling a strand of his own hair between his fingers.

“We should get going, I need to wrap this.” Kasumi tells him and they start heading back to Kichijoji.

As they walk off, Ren has a familiar feeling in his chest, the same one he would feel whenever he grew closer to his friends, though there was no sound of chains breaking or Lavenza’s voice. He lets out a genuine smile as he heads home, feeling reinvigorated as they reach the station.

Chapter Text

3/25 Yoshizawa Apartment, After School

Today was Sumire and Kasumi’s birthday and to absolutely no one’s surprise, Ren was invited. This didn’t stop him from feeling ecstatic, he wouldn’t have been able to celebrate Sumire’s birthday in their own world, which made him that much happier to have the opportunity to celebrate it with her here.

After he arrives at their apartment, he knocks on the door. Soon, Kasumi opens it and greets him, “Welcome, Ren-san!” she says with a smile, inviting him in. Once Ren enters, Kasumi turns around, “Sumire! Ren-san is here!” she calls out to Sumire.

Ren hears footsteps coming towards the door and he catches a glimpse of gorgeous red hair coming quickly towards him. Sumire pulls him into an embrace, which he returns, feeling a big smile make its way onto his face.

All too soon, Sumire pulls away, but has a smile just as large as his on her own face. “I’m glad you’re here, Ren!” She tells him excitedly before grabbing his arm and guiding him towards the living room where the party is being held. She then pulls him to one of the couches and they sit down, he feels her hug his arm, teenage girl gossip ensues on the other side of the room.

Sumire’s actions were a sharp contrast from her usual self, Ren couldn’t help but wonder what caused it. Now that he’s not being dragged around by Sumire, he takes the time to actually look around the room, he doesn’t recognize anybody in there except for Shinichi. Even though he’s only seen Shinichi on a few occasions, it feels weird that he’s not wearing the red-framed glasses that Sumire had gotten him in their world, instead wearing black-framed glasses of a similar shape.

Sitting by Shinichi’s side, a woman with red hair and brown eyes is looking between Ren and Sumire with a smile on her face. Ren assumes this to be Sumire’s mother, he suddenly realizes he actually hasn’t met her before since he’d only been to Sumire’s house once, right before they fought Maruki.

Before he can linger on the thought any longer, Shinichi speaks to him. “It’s been a while, it’s good to see you again, Amamiya-kun.” he greets Ren with a certain fondness in his eyes.

Ren knows that look, it’s the same one Sojiro started giving him after he’d helped Futaba. It’s a strange look to have coming from someone he barely knows and causes him to briefly wonder what exactly his history is in this world. He files those thoughts away for later as he realizes he should probably respond.

Ren allows a smile to show on his face as he responds, “Same here, Shinichi-san.” he inclines his head towards Shinichi respectfully.

Shinichi returns the nod as Kasumi enters the room. “Looks like everyone’s here! We can start now!” Kasumi enthusiastically says as she looks around the room at all of the guests, the girls who were invited stop their quiet whispering.

Soon after, the party starts. That doesn’t mean Sumire is done using his arm as a de facto pillow though, no, if anything her grip tightens. As he looks at her, she has a beautiful sunny smile on her face. Ren sighs and resigns himself to his fate, who needs feeling in their left arm anyway?

First activity on the list appears to be a movie as Kasumi turns the TV in the room on and puts a disk in the player. The movie seems to be a romcom, not something he expected Kasumi to be into, maybe he had the wrong impression of her?

Occasionally looking at Kasumi throughout the movie, it appeared she wasn’t as focused on the movie as she was on her friends or even on Ren at times, as though trying to make sure everyone was enjoying themselves.

Once the movie had ended, they moved on to opening presents (Sumire had to let go of Ren to open them, he couldn’t feel his arm anymore). Kasumi and Sumire got mostly the same gifts: new clothes, candy, and even just money from those who weren’t sure what to get them. The gifts themselves were pretty generic in Ren’s opinion, like they didn’t have much thought put into them, and made him question how close Kasumi and Sumire were to them. Ren internally snorts as he realizes that he wasn’t really close to any of the “friends” he had before moving to Tokyo, they were all forgotten after his experience with the Phantom Thieves, maybe Kasumi’s relation to these girls was about the same.

Eventually, it was Ren’s turn to give his gifts, he pulled out a thin box with a ribbon keeping it shut and handed it to Kasumi. She opened it to reveal a nice purple ribbon, “This is nice, thanks, Ren-san!” Kasumi cheerily says as she undoes her red ribbon and reties her hair with the purple one, it doesn’t look half-bad.

Kasumi then looks at him confused, “Don’t you have a present for Sumire as well?” she asks.

Ren simply smiles as he answers, “Oh don’t worry, we made some plans for today.” he turns to Sumire, who’s claimed ownership of his arm once again, and pecks her on the head.

Sumire reddens a bit but nods, unlike his gift for Kasumi, he’d discussed this with Sumire previously. Now it was time for Sumire and Kasumi to exchange the presents they’d gotten for each other.

Kasumi opens hers first and sees the pink dress they’d chosen, her smile widens, “It’s beautiful! Thanks, Sumire!” she happily says. “Okay, now open the one I got you!” Kasumi hands her a small wrapped gift.

Sumire lets go of Ren once again to unwrap it and finds the book, she smiles nostalgically when she sees the title. “ Dressed in Ashes? Thanks, Kasumi!” She says gratefully as she casts a knowing look back at Ren, who shrugs helplessly in return.

Ren notices Kasumi let out a small sigh of relief at Sumire’s reaction, was she afraid Sumire wouldn’t like it? As the day goes on, Ren finds himself having more and more questions about Kasumi.

With the gift sharing over, the party has officially ended as well, though some of the girls linger to talk to Kasumi or each other. Ren turns to Sumire, who he’s starting to think might become a permanent attachment to his arm.

“Are you ready to go?” Ren asks her, Sumire looks up at him and nods.

With that, they leave and start the date they’d planned for her birthday. First location on the list: the expensive sushi restaurant Sojiro took Futaba and Ren to near the end of August. If not for all the mementos money they had saved up, there’d be no way they would even consider it.

Once they get there, they settle in their seats and order. As expected, Sumire orders a lot and proceeds to demolish all of it as Ren watches in stunned amazement. He'll never get used to this.

Sumire notices his stare and is hit by a wave of self-consciousness before she suddenly resembles a tomato. Ren laughs a bit at the change in attitude and Sumire pouts in response, this is the Sumire he knows and loves.

“Not funny, Senpai!” She says but her tone betrays the pout on her face. Ren just keeps laughing.

Soon, Sumire can't help but start laughing along. Their light laughter fills the mostly empty restaurant, they get some strange looks but neither of them care.

After they finish, Ren pays the bill and they leave, they head to their second location: the Ferris wheel. The two teens get on, sit close together, and hold hands as they're slowly brought up to the peak.

Now alone, Sumire looks at Ren like she has something to say, Ren silently urges her to tell him what’s on her mind by squeezing her hand. “Uhm… Sorry for clinging to you so much earlier, Senpai…” She looks a bit embarrassed about bringing it up.

Ren’s face stretches into a small smile, “Don’t worry about it, I am curious why though.” he responds.

“W-Well… I was kind of nervous being there, celebrating my birthday with Kasumi again…” Sumire explains, slightly down, “I guess… holding onto you just… made me feel better about all of it…” she finishes, still looking embarrassed.

“I understand.” Ren replies simply, wrapping a comforting arm around her.

Sumire leans into him and the two sit in complete silence as they continue rising. It’s a beautiful evening, Ren thinks, the sun setting on the horizon, the view of the city lights turning on as it gets dark. As Ren looks at Sumire, it seems she’s thinking the same thing, staring at all of it in wonder, looking as radiant as ever, the smile he has on his face grows ever so slightly as he looks at her.

Eventually, they reach the peak and start descending, once they reach the bottom they head to the third and final location: Inokashira Park. Now that it’s dark, there aren’t many people there. Ren and Sumire walk, arms intertwined, through the trails, enjoying the scenery and silently recalling all of their fond memories of this place in their own world.

It’s oddly peaceful, being here at night, Ren makes a mental note to come back here in the evening with Sumire sometime. The wind picks up a bit and Sumire starts shivering, in response, Ren removes his arm from hers and instead wraps it around her side and pulls her close.

“Better?” He asks with a smirk as she leans into him again.

Sumire nods, her cheeks turning ever so slightly pink. Soon after, they leave the park and head back to Kichijoji. Ren intends to take her back to her family’s apartment then head home, but as he’s about to leave once they get there, Sumire stops him.

“Sumi?” He asks, confused.

“U-Uhm…” Sumire starts, her face now very obviously red. “C-Can you… stay the night? Please?” She asks, unable to meet his eyes out of sheer embarrassment.

The question causes Ren to pause for a bit, she’s stayed the night at Leblanc many times since they started dating, but he has never actually stayed at her place before. Regardless, he doesn't have a real reason to refuse her.

“Sure thing, Sumi, if it's alright with your parents I can get a change of clothes real quick.” He answers with a teasing wink, Sumire's face reddens more but she nods and goes into the apartment, presumably to ask.

Ren heads to his apartment, which is only a couple minutes away, and gets a change of clothes ready when Sumire texts him.

Sumire: They're okay with it

Ren smiles and heads over, Sumire nervously guides him to her room and then leaves so he can quickly change, after he does so she comes back in and neither of them know what to do.

It wouldn't be their first time sleeping together, but it felt weird now that it wasn't his bed. Despite being so nervous, the two get in bed together. After a few minutes of awkwardness, they slowly start to get more comfortable, Sumire wraps her arms around him and lays her head on his chest as they both begin feeling sleepy.

Soon, they drift off to sleep, peacefully resting in each other's warmth.

3/26 Yoshizawa Apartment, Early Morning

*buzz buzz*

Ren opens his eyes to a room he's not used to seeing when he wakes up, he quickly remembers how he got here and looks down at Sumire. She's still asleep with her head on his chest and arms wrapped around him with an ever so beautiful smile on her face. The sight causes Ren to smile as well.

*buzz buzz*

Reminded of what woke him up, he grabs his vibrating phone off the nightstand and answers the call.

“Hello?” Ren says, his voice groggy from waking up.

“Hey,” Sojiro's voice says from the other end. “Sorry for calling so early, kid, but do you think you can come in today? I need some help clearing out the attic.”

Sojiro must've just been asked to take the Trickster in, Ren thinks, though he can't act like he already knows.

“Sure, you need more space or something?” Ren replies, faking confusion.

“It's not that, I'll let you know once you get here.” Sojiro answers.

“Alright, I'll be there after school then, see ya.” Ren tells him.

“Good, I could use the help, good luck with school, kid.” Sojiro responds before hanging up.

Ren looks at the time on his phone, it's still a good half hour before Sumire and himself need to get up. He lays his head back down on the pillow and absent-mindedly strokes Sumire's hair, he closes his eyes as he waits for the alarm to inevitably go off.

3/26 Cafè Leblanc, After School

The sign on the door says “closed”, Sojiro must've closed early to give Ren and himself time to clear up space in the attic. It can't be that bad, right? Ren somehow doubts that this will be quick or easy.

As he enters the store, Sojiro looks up at him from behind the counter, “Good, you're here.” he says.

“Hey, Boss. You needed help clearing out the attic?” Ren asks, feigning ignorance.

“Yeah… I promised to tell you why so sit down, it’s a bit of a long story.” Sojiro tells him, Ren goes along with it and takes a seat.

“Alright, I got a call this morning from an old… friend…” Sojiro looks a bit hesitant to refer to whoever this was as a “friend”, regardless, he continues. “Her daughter was in the wrong place at the wrong time and got in the way of the wrong person. Now she has an assault charge on her record and I’ve been asked to take her in.” If Ren didn’t know Sojiro so well at this point he would’ve missed the empathy in his expression and tone, he wonders if it was there when he had first met Sojiro.

“I would keep her at my house but for personal reasons, I can’t, so I want to at least make the attic livable for her before she gets here.” Sojiro finishes.

Ren thinks about what to say next for a few seconds, wondering how he should respond. Admittedly, he was curious if this new Trickster was just a female version of himself, or a different person entirely. If it was himself, he was never really told if his parents did anything for him, he wasn’t allowed to call them during probation and after he was found innocent their calls were always very brief.

Not that it mattered since he couldn’t come up with a non-suspicious way to ask the question anyway, maybe if he’s lucky, Sojiro will just tell him eventually. Ren sighs, “Alright, just let me know what you need me to do.” he says.

Sojiro simply nods in response and they head up the stairs to the attic. Ren has a new appreciation for how much Sojiro actually did for him when he sees the absolute mess that is the attic. There’s stacked boxes taking up a majority of the space in the room, and there’s more dust and grime than he’s ever seen in the room before.

Sojiro looks back at his shocked expression and chuckles. “Be glad you’re not the one who’s going to be living in here, kid.” He says with an amused look on his face. “Let’s get started.”

Chapter Text

Over the course of the next two weeks, not much happened. Ren helped Sojiro furnish the attic after they cleared out a bunch of space, there was still some dust that Ren just couldn't get rid of no matter how hard he tried, now he knows what Kawakami felt like. Yusuke, Ren, and Sumire made a group chat to make it easier to find a time that worked for everyone, though they did meet up a few times, they haven’t done modeling yet. 

Ren continued to help Haru with her garden whenever he had time and hung out with Ann and Shiho during most lunches, though Kamoshida’s grip on the two was ever increasing, making him frustrated he couldn’t do anything about it. On occasion, Ren would encounter Ryuji, it seemed that Ryuji still didn’t really know what to make of Ren, but at least he wasn’t outright aggressive.

4/9 Café Leblanc, After School

‘Any minute now…’ Ren thinks to himself as he’s drying a mug with his hands. It shouldn’t be much longer before the Trickster shows up, Sojiro is doing a crossword, the elderly couple are eating their meal at one of the tables, and the news has just started playing on the TV. All exactly like when he first arrived, he made sure he was working today even though he didn’t really need to be there, but his curiosity about the new Trickster kept growing as the days passed.

A few seconds pass and he hears the bell of the door ring just as the news starts to cover the train incident.

“A public transit bus was driven down an opposing lane with its customers still in it!” The news cast said. “The citizens can’t live in peace if this keeps up.”

Ren quickly finishes drying the mug and sets it down as he turns to see the Trickster.

She bears a striking semblance to himself; Steel gray eyes, long curly black hair (though hers is considerably more tame than his own), even her head shape is extremely similar to his, though not exact. She doesn’t look like simply a female version of himself though, more like a sibling or cousin, similar traits, but altogether a different appearance.

“How frightening.” He hears the elderly male patron say before the female follows him up. “What could be going on? Didn’t something similar happen just the other day?”

Appearing to completely ignore the news and customers, though Ren knows it’s just a façade, Sojiro thinks out loud with his crossword. “And down is… the name of a shellfish used in pearl farming…” He then looks up at the Trickster and just stares for a second, Ren doesn’t remember him doing that when he first arrived.

“...Oh, right.” Sojiro finally says, getting off his chair and setting the newspaper aside. “They did say that was today.”

The elderly man suddenly speaks up as the couple leave their seats, “We’ll be going now. The payment’s on the table.”

“Thanks for coming.” Sojiro replies.

“This place is in the back alley, so there’s no worries of a car crashing in here.” The elderly man jokes.

“A what now?” Sojiro asks, appearing surprised.

Ren tunes out the rest of the conversation as he’s heard it before, there’s nothing new about it. Instead, he just stands around and waits for Sojiro to finish, once the couple leaves, Sojiro sighs.

“Four hours for a single cup of joe.” Sojiro says with a slight shake of his head, “So, you’re Hikari?” he asks.

“So that’s her name…” Ren silently thinks to himself as he focuses on their conversation.

Hikari looks up at him before responding. “Yes, that’s me… Are you Sakura-san?” She asks, trying to be polite, Ren assumes.

“That’s right, I’m Sojiro Sakura. You’ll be in my custody for the next year.” Sojiro answers her before explaining the situation she already knows. He looks back at Ren, “Think you can look after the store for a bit, kid?” he asks, Ren nods in response.

Sojiro guides her to the stairs, as they pass, Hikari glances at Ren for a brief moment and looks slightly confused, before following Sojiro. Ren watches as they head up the stairs.

“So the game begins…” Ren quietly says to himself as he looks after the store, even if he’s well aware nobody is going to come in before Sojiro comes back down.

4/9 Yongen-Jaya, Afternoon

Hikari takes another look at the address on her phone, not used to the city, she struggles to find what she’s looking for. After asking around for some guidance, she finally makes her way to her guardian’s supposed residence, but after she rings the bell, she doesn’t hear any sounds on the other side of the door. Is nobody home? Wasn’t Sakura-san informed she’d be coming today?

She groans in slight frustration, until she hears someone talk behind her.

“Are you looking for Sakura-san?”

She turns to see a mailman holding a package.

“Yes, do you know where he is?” She asks, quickly hiding the frustration from her face.

“He’s usually working at his café around this time.” The mailman answers, “It’s in the back-alley, so just go there and you’ll find it, it’s called ‘Leblanc’” he informs her.

Quickly thanking him, she heads to the back-alley and finds the café, mentally preparing herself, she heads in. She takes a look around, it’s a nice place, she thinks, before looking around at who’s there. There’s an elderly couple sitting at one of the tables, a man sitting in a chair looking at a crossword, and a boy her age near the back that looks like a part-timer.

The boy looks at her, but doesn’t say anything. Eventually the man doing the crossword looks up at her and talks to himself before getting up and setting the paper aside, the elderly couple leaves, and the man, Sakura-san, introduces himself.

Sakura-san starts guiding her up the stairs, and she passes a glance at the part-timer. Come to think of it… he looks a bit… familiar? No… she can’t think of a time she’s seen him in her life. As she makes her way up the stairs, something just doesn’t feel quite right… it almost feels like he isn’t supposed to be here? She quickly shakes the feeling away as she makes her way up the rest of the stairs.

Now at the top, she looks around the attic, it looks like a storage room made into a living space. There’s a futon set on some milk crates in the corner of the room, a couch on the left side of the room, a desk with some books neatly placed next to each other near the wall, but is otherwise empty, a couple of shelves, a plant in the corner next to a space heater, and her belongings in a cardboard box set in the center of the room. Surprisingly, there doesn’t seem to be much dust in the room. Does Sakura-san expect her to live in here?

“This is your room.” Sakura-san suddenly says, jerking Hikari out of her thoughts. “I’ll at least give you sheets for your bed.” He continues. “You look like you wanna say something.”

He must’ve noticed her slightly apprehensive expression, she really needs to get better at hiding it, at least while she’s here. Taking another look around, she tries to be polite, “Thank you.” she says with a small bow. Might as well try to get along with Sakura-san, it’ll make life here easier.

“Thank Amamiya,” Sakura-san says, dismissing her gratitude. “he’s the one who insisted on cleaning up this room.”

“Amamiya… is that the boy downstairs?” Hikari asks, thinking about her strange impression of the boy again.

“Yeah, don’t bug the kid too much though. I’ll throw you out if you cause any trouble.” Sakura-san reminds her sternly.

“I won’t.” Hikari says quietly, remembering why she’s here in the first place.

“Now, I’ve got the gist of your situation.” Sakura-san says, making her feel even more uncomfortable. “You protected some woman from a man forcing himself on her, he got injured, then sued you. Right?” Hikari feels yet another lecture coming, and she's really getting tired of those.

Without waiting for an answer, Sakura-san continues: “That’s what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults. You did injure him, yeah?” Hikari wants to challenge him, but also doesn’t want to make his clearly low opinion of her worse by being defensive. “...And now that you’ve got a criminal record, you were expelled from your high school. The courts ordered you to transfer and move out here, which your parents also approved.” Right, her parents… even though she didn’t really get to see them much after her arrest, she didn’t believe they had a choice in the matter. At least… she hoped they didn’t…

“In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass.” Sakura-san says that, but it feels more like he’s joking than anything, not that she finds it funny. Hikari bites her tongue to avoid making a snarky remark.

“It’s best you don’t talk about anything unnecessary. I am in the restaurant business, you know.” Sakura-san gets back to the point, “Behave yourself. If nothing happens, your probation will be lifted after your year is up.”

Hikari lets out a small sigh, never in her life did she think she’d have probation, even less so for doing the right thing.

“We’ll be going to Shujin tomorrow.” Sakura-san tells her, it seems his lecture is over.

“Shujin?” She asks, not knowing what he’s talking about.

It’s Sakura-san’s turn to sigh. “Shujin Academy-the school you’ll be attending.” Oh, it’s just the school… she was never actually told where she’d be going, she was only given the uniform for it.

“We’ll introduce ourselves properly to the staff there.” Sakura-san continues. “Consider yourself lucky they even accepted you.”

“What a waste of my Sunday…” He says under his breath, though Hikari still hears it.

Now turning to the box at the center of the room, Sakura-san finally mentions it. “Your stuff arrived a little while ago, I brought it up here for you.”

Sakura-san then heads back downstairs without another word. Hikari looks around the room again, it is surprisingly clean for an attic, especially one being used for storage, maybe she should take Sakura-san’s advice and thank Amamiya for it. If she’s going to be here for a year though, she should get some stuff to decorate it with, that’s all it really seems to need.

She puts the box of her stuff on a storage rack and sits down on the bed, then thinks about her situation again. Arrest… Trial… Criminal record… all things considered, she’s lucky she has space to herself at all. Not that she believes she deserves it, she doesn’t regret what she did, and she won’t let a criminal record stop her from doing it again, if need be. That was the promise she made to him back then, after all.

Her mind wanders to the strange boy… Amamiya… when she first saw him she had the distinct impression that he shouldn’t be here, but why? Nothing about him seemed out of the ordinary otherwise, just looked like a typical high school student working a part-time shift. On top of that, it’s not like she’s seen him before, yet something deep in her mind keeps nagging at her, like she should know who he is and just as much that he should not be here.

She shakes the thoughts out of her head as she’s just going in circles. She looks at the desk, might as well get some study time in, not like she has much else to do today.

4/10 Ren’s Apartment, Early Morning

*buzz buzz*

Ren fishes his phone out of his pocket as he’s eating breakfast. “Hello?” He asks.

Sojiro speaks on the other end, “Hey, can you manage the store today? I need to introduce the kid to the staff at Shujin today.” he asks.

Ren expected this; if Sojiro didn’t have to leave the store closed, he wouldn’t. Ren would admit he was surprised how easy it was to get Sojiro to trust him, at least partially. Knowing Sojiro’s past always made him suspect it would take much longer…

“Yeah, I don’t have much else to do today anyway.” Ren answers.

“Thanks, I’ll wait for you to arrive before we leave.” Sojiro responds on the other end before ending the call.

Ren finishes his breakfast and gets properly dressed before heading out, shooting Sumire a quick text to let her know where he’ll be.

4/10 Aoyama Itchome, Daytime

Hikari’s introduction had gone about as well as she expected it to: Several warnings from the principal and her homeroom teacher, standard transfer talk, and another warning from Sakura-san to add on top of it. Other than that, it seemed going to school here wouldn’t be much different than back home, if she’s lucky, she might even make some friends.

Now here they were, stuck in traffic on the way back.

“Uuugh.” Sakura-san groans. “Traffic’s not moving at all… You’re taking the train starting tomorrow.”

“So how was it? The school, I mean. You think you can manage?” Sakura-san asks, seemingly just to pass the time while they’re still stuck in traffic.

“I’ll be fine.” Hikari replies simply, trying to be optimistic.

Sakura-san just shakes his head, like he doesn’t really believe her. She doesn’t really believe herself either. After some more silence, the radio starts reporting.

“A subway train has derailed, severely affecting the timetable across all of-”

Sakura-san starts speaking again, cutting off the newscast. “...Another accident?” He shakes his head again, “So that’s why it’s so crowded. There’s been a lot of those lately.” he remarks. “Amamiya told me about one just last month, some truck got out of control, it’s a miracle no one got hit.”

Sakura-san then glances at Hikari before focusing back on the road. “Come to think of it, you two look a lot alike. Are you related or something?” Sakura-san asks, his curiosity sounded genuine.

“No, I’ve never met him before.” Hikari shakes her head as she replies, though it feels wrong to say it. She’s sure she’s never met Amamiya before, but still can’t shake the strange feeling.

Sakura-san doesn’t say anything else after that, they drive back in silence as the radio continues to report the accident.

4/10 Café Leblanc, Evening

Hikari and Sakura-san finally make it back, Amamiya looks up from behind the counter and his face forms into a slight smirk.

“Traffic trouble?” He says snarkily.

Sakura-san doesn’t seem to appreciate it very much as he gives Amamiya a dirty look, “Quiet you.” he responds sternly. Amamiya just chuckles before his phone buzzes and he takes it out of his pocket, presumably to read a text.

Amamiya frowns a bit when he looks, “Well you two arrived at a good time because I really need to get going right about now.” he types out a response on his phone and takes off his apron.

As he’s about to leave he looks at Hikari and it looks like he has a thought. “I don’t think we've been introduced yet, my name is Ren Amamiya.” He introduces himself to her with a small bow.

“Oh, I’m Hikari Kurusu.” Hikari responds, bowing in return, before remembering what Sakura-san told her. “Thank you for cleaning up the attic, by the way.”

Amamiya smiles in response to her gratitude and responds. “Don’t worry about it, it was the least I could do.” He says, sounding honest but Hikari doesn’t agree, he didn’t have to do that much just for some stranger he doesn’t know… unless he has the same feeling as her.

Before he has a chance to say anything else his phone buzzes again, he takes it out and looks a bit nervous as he reads it, he mutters something under his breath before talking a little louder. “I really need to get going, see ya.”

Without another word he leaves with haste, Hikari stares at the door for a few seconds after he’s gone before Sakura-san clears his throat to get her attention. She looks at him and he starts talking.

“Head on upstairs. There’s something I need to give you.” Sakura-san tells her, heeding his advice, she goes up to her room with Sakura-san following close behind.

He mutters something about the subway crash before focusing on her again and taking out a small book.

“Here’s a diary, keep it up to date.” Sakura-san begins explaining, “You may be on probation, but there’s no special limitations on what you do in particular. Besides following the law, of course.” he tells her. “However, I’m obligated to report on you, so make sure you record your daily activities.”

Sakura-san’s phone rings and he takes it out of his pocket. He talks to the person on the other end with a much fonder tone than what he’d shown her so far before putting it away and turning back to Hikari.

“Well, I’m off. I’ll lock up, do whatever you want for the rest of the night.” Sakura-san tells her. “Just don’t mess up the store, if something goes missing, I’m kicking you out.” He sternly reminds her for the… she’s lost count of how many times today.

After that, he tells her to head to bed and leaves. She looks at the book before taking it to the desk and writing a short account of the events of that day. She then changes and heads to bed before looking at her phone.

The strange app is there again, didn’t she delete it? She shakes her head and deletes it again, if it comes back maybe she’ll get the phone checked for malware. After that, she closes her eyes and lets another dreamless night pass.

4/10 Ren’s Apartment, Evening

All things considered, Ren made good time getting back. There’s still an hour before he really needs to sleep, unfortunately, he made a promise to Sumire about hanging out with her this evening, he completely forgot about how long it took Sojiro to take him home last time. Whoops, he hopes she isn’t too mad about it.

As he heads in, he sees Sumire sitting on the couch, she looks up at him and smiles. Ren breathes a little easier, knowing she likely isn’t mad at him.

“Hey Sumi… Miss me?” Ren jokes, still trying to make sure she isn’t just hiding any frustration she’d be justified in having.

Sumire giggles a bit at the joke before getting up and walking over to him. “Don’t be nervous, it’s like you told me before.” She wraps her arms around Ren. “I’d be one to talk if I got mad at you for forgetting, remember?”

Those words instantly make Ren feel a lot better, and he returns the embrace. He still feels a little guilty though. “Sorry for being so late, Sumi.”

His apology just makes Sumire giggle. “It’s funny… usually I’m the one being comforted in situations like these.” Her cheeks pinken suddenly. “...And yes, I did miss you.”

The realization makes Ren chuckle as Sumire continues giggling, after a bit they break the hug and Ren suddenly has a thought.

“You know, Sumi…” He starts, Sumire looks at him curiously and he continues his thought. “Starting tomorrow… you can call me ‘Senpai’ in public again.”

…

Sumire’s face remains blank for a few seconds, Ren knows by now what’s coming. A small smile paired with a familiar blush blooms on Sumire’s face. “U-Uhm… Excuse me for a moment.” Sumire says before walking out of the room.

“YEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSSS!!!!” He hears Sumire shout excitedly, though slightly muffled by coming from a different room in the apartment.

After a few more seconds, Sumire comes back with an even bigger smile and an even redder blush. She approaches Ren and, slightly nervously, pulls him into a kiss that he happily returns. They head back to the couch and enjoy the rest of their limited time together.

4/11 Aoyama-Itchome, Early Morning

Hikari regrets not taking an umbrella with her this morning, she saw the clouds but hoped it wouldn't start raining until after she got to school. No such luck. Now here she is, standing underneath an awning next to another girl wearing a hood who'd also taken shelter there.

The girl pulls back the hood and Hikari gets a look at her face: Blond hair tied into pigtails and blue eyes. The girl notices her and looks back at her, before appearing a bit confused.

“What is it?” Hikari asks, confused herself simply by the expression.

The girl looks a little apologetic. “Sorry, you wouldn't happen to be related to Ren Amamiya, would you?” Ah, so she must know Amamiya as well, she supposed it made sense since he also went to Shujin.

Rather than responding, Hikari just shakes her head. Before the girl has the opportunity to say anything else, a car pulls up and some guy with curly black hair, though different from hers or Amamiya’s, who’s dressed like a coach rolls down the window.

“Good morning, do you need a ride? You’re gonna be late.” The coach says to the girl next to Hikari.

“Um, sure. Thank you.” The girl answers, but the tone is vastly different from when she was talking to Hikari, like she was forcing herself to say it.

The coach looks at Hikari next and asks her the same, Hikari simply shakes her head and the coach pays her no mind beyond that.

Hikari looks at the blond-haired girl again before the car drives off, she looks downright depressed now. Should Hikari have stepped in? Was it wrong to let the girl go with that coach? Hikari shakes her head of these thoughts, she doesn’t have any proof that the coach is the cause of it.

The car drives off and some bleach-blond haired boy comes running up after it, stopping a couple meters in front of Hikari.

“Dammit. Screw that pervy teacher.” The boy mutters almost too quiet for Hikari to hear.

“Pervy teacher?” She asks without even thinking, the boy turns to her with a frustrated look on his face

“What do you want?” The blond boy asks accusingly. “You plannin’ on rattin’ me out to Kamoshida?”

“Kamoshida?” Was that a teacher? Maybe that was the name of the coach in the car?

The boy's expression and tone suddenly change. “Huh? In that car just now, it was Kamoshida.” So that was the name of the coach then.

The boy doesn’t seem to be done ranting about Kamoshida though. “He does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is, the king of a castle? Don’t you agree?” He looks at her with an expression that screams: “Please be on my side.”

“The king of a castle?” Hikari asks, still confused by the whole encounter but slowly understanding what the boy is talking about.

“No I mean… Wait, you don’t know Kamoshida? For real?” The boy asks. “You’re from Shujin, right?”

“I’m a transfer, actually…” Hikari tells him, suddenly wishing she did so sooner.

“Ah, gotcha. No wonder you don’t know him.” The blond boy looks around as the rain begins slowing to a drizzle. “This rain ain’t too bad, we better hurry up before we’re late.”

The boy turns around and Hikari suddenly feels light headed, seems the boy feels the same as he puts a hand up to his head and mutters something about wanting to go home.

They begin walking towards, presumably the school, as Hikari just follows the blond kid in front of her. Something feels ever so slightly off as she makes her way there, she brushes it off as simple first-day nervousness.

It’s not until she actually arrives that she starts wondering if she’s even really awake.

The school isn’t there anymore.

In its place is a gigantic castle.

…

What.

Chapter Text

“What.” Is all Hikari can think. 

She takes a look at the sign, which indeed says ‘Shujin Academy’ and begins seriously wondering if this is some dream and why she’s having it.

“We didn’t… come the wrong way though.” The blond boy next to her says, snapping Hikari out of her thoughts. “Yeah, this should be right.”

“I guess we should just go in and… ask?” The blond boy doesn’t sound so sure as he looks at Hikari.

Hikari flashes him a strange look as she briefly wonders why he isn’t questioning the logistics of BUILDING A MASSIVE CASTLE IN THE PLACE OF THE SCHOOL!

She sighs to herself and really hopes this is all just some weird dream and she didn’t somehow stumble on a theme park… or worse…

They head inside and Hikari’s vision flickers to what looks like the school before fading back to the castle, is she hallucinating then? Every second brings more questions and gives her no answers.

The blond boy in front of her mutters something to himself but looks just as confused as Hikari feels. If, by some small chance this is real, Hikari’s surprised the boy isn’t losing his mind, then again, she’s surprised she isn’t losing her mind right now.

The blond boy turns to her, “What’s going on here?” he says seemingly more to himself than to Hikari. He pulls out his phone, presumably to try and figure out where exactly they are, this just leads to more confusion on his part. “Out of service? Where’d we end up?”

He glances around again, now looking extremely nervous. “The sign was for the school, right?” He asks her in what feels like desperate confirmation.

“Yeah, it was…” Hikari confirms.

It was at this point what looks like an exaggerated knight wearing a weird teal mask approaches them, the blond boy proceeds to take this sight exactly the wrong way.

“Geez, you freaked me out…” He says, startled. “Who’re you, you a student?”

Hikari is almost impressed with how oblivious this boy seems to be, maybe he’s just desperate that this is all a practical joke… she kind of hopes it somehow is as well.

“Man, your costume’s impressive… Is that armor real?” The boy continues. “C’mon, don’t just stand there, say somethin’.”

At this point another knight approaches and Hikari tenses, her bad feeling about the situation growing worse.

“W-What’s going on?” The boy says, seeming to match her sudden nervousness at the situation.

The knights don’t say anything in response, one steps closer to the blond boy suddenly. The boy steps back in fear and the other knight advances as well.

“C-Calm down! Time out, man!” The boy says in desperation, seeming to cling on his last hope that this is some harmless prank. He quickly discards whatever hope he may have had though as he turns to Hikari. “We gotta run!”

Hikari quickly nods and they both start running to the exit before being surrounded by even more knights, she desperately tries to think of a way out of the situation but draws a blank as no obvious opportunities open up.

“Ugh, what’s with these guys!?” The blond boy says in an exasperated yet terrified voice, the bleak situation finally dawning on both of them.

One of the guards hits the blond boy with his shield hard enough to knock him down, Hikari winces as she sees it. “Y-You’re gonna break my bones, dammit!”

The knights say nothing as they continue to close in on both of them, Hikari feels a blunt object hit her head and her vision goes black.

4/11 Kichijoji, Early Morning

Ren, Sumire, and Kasumi meet up near the station and begin walking to the station for their first day. Sumire, in particular, seems excited but also looks like she wants to ask Ren something. It must be something personal, or maybe just something that Kasumi can’t hear about. Ren knows Sumire wouldn’t be this hesitant to ask him anything otherwise.

It’s not long before Kasumi notices too and goes ahead a bit so Sumire can speak with Ren privately. Taking the opportunity, Sumire looks up at Ren and begins telling him what’s been on her mind.

“Ummm… Senpai?” She starts, Ren turns to look at her as she continues. “You said today was when you first discovered the Metaverse, right?” She asks, Ren nods and she goes on to her next question. “Shouldn’t we be there? J-Just to make sure they make it out okay?”

Ren thinks for a bit about the question, he’d thought of it before but ultimately decided it likely wasn’t a good idea. “That would draw too much attention to us, even Ryuji would be able to figure us out. Plus, if she discovers us too early, it could result in her not growing strong enough to take on Yaldabaoth. For now, it’s best that the Trickster doesn’t know there’s a net to catch her.” He answers.

Truthfully, Ren knew he wouldn’t have grown nearly as much if there was less risk to his actions, or if there was something there to bail him out. By keeping this knowledge away from Kurusu, she’d be more likely to grow whether or not a net existed, they’d just have to be careful about the ways they helped her.

Sumire seemed satisfied with that response, Ren figured she’d had a similar thought process but simply wanted to confirm it with Ren. They catch up with Kasumi and head on the train to Shibuya before transferring to Aoyama-Itchome.

As they head off the train, Ren stops both Kasumi and Sumire. They look up at him curiously, Ren thinks about how to go about it. He’s worried about both of them. In the other world, Sumire had just lost Kasumi and hadn’t been performing as well, but if Kamoshida gets nervous they’ll outshine him this time… he suppresses a shudder of what Kamoshida would be willing to do to the two.

Ren kind of hoped it would be the same here, that Kamoshida would just ignore them while trying to ruin Ryuji and Kurusu’s reputation even further, but something keeps telling him leaving it be is a bad idea.

“Ren-san?” Kasumi asks, looking at him with a confused face.

He guides them both out of the foot traffic and begins explaining.

“Can you two promise me something?” Ren asks, Kasumi and Sumire look confused but nod.

“There’s a… teacher at Shujin. Kamoshida…” He begins telling them, “I want you two to promise me that you’ll never be in a room alone with him. Please?” his fears and worries seeping into his voice.

Sumire immediately understands what he’s talking about and nods. Kasumi, on the other hand, looks confused but nods anyway. Ren lets out a nervous smile.

“Thank you. I’ll explain why later, just… please be careful…” Ren gives them a final plea before resuming his walk to the school. Kasumi briefly looks at Sumire, but soon follows.

4/11 ???, ???

“Hey, wake up!” Hikari faintly hears a familiar voice as her vision and feeling comes back.

She finds herself laying on what appears to be a prison bed made of wood, she takes a look around. They appear to be in some sort of dungeon cell, she slowly remembers how she got here and has the stomach churning realization that all of this is real.

The pain in her head spikes and she begins rubbing it as she sits up on the wooden board she’d been laying on. The blond boy looks concerned for a moment.

“You alright?” He asks, Hikari nods as the pain goes away again. She remembers that this boy took a pretty hard hit as well.

“I’m fine, are you okay?” She asks, even if it’s most likely a moot point.

“More or less, yeah.” The boy says, with the same worried expression he had when they first entered the ‘school’.

“Looks like this ain’t no dream…” The boy says as he looks around before groaning. “Ugh, what’s goin’ on!”

The boy proceeds to run up to the bars and bang on them a few times while shouting for someone to let them out. Hikari doubts it’ll be that easy, but finds herself hoping that it does work.

The boy gives a final bang to the bars out of pure frustration before heading back towards Hikari. “Dammit, where are we? Is this some kinda movie set!?” The boy shouts.

Before Hikari can respond, they hear a blood-chilling scream in the distance. The blond boy looks just as horrified as she feels right now as they both head toward the bars, but Hikari isn’t sure she wants to see it even if she can.

“Th-The hell was that just now?” The blond boy nervously asks.

They hear the voice beg for help before being put through what sounds like more pain. The blond boy starts panicking even more than he was before, Hikari does her best to maintain a calm expression if only to make the boy feel better.

They look at each other and realize they should probably look for a way out before whatever caused that reaches them. Unfortunately after looking around for a few minutes, there isn’t anything in the room that’d help them escape and the bars on the door were too sturdy for them to bust out.

They ran out of time. More knights approach the door and, for a change, actually start talking.

“Be glad your punishment has been decided upon.” It says, how exactly is Hikari supposed to be glad about that!? “Your charge is unlawful entry, thus, you will be sentenced to death.” Hikari’s blood turns cold once more at that, she desperately hopes this is some elaborate prank, even if it doesn’t make any sense.

“Say what?” The blond boy once again matches her fear with his voice.

“No one’s allowed to do as they please in my castle.” A voice says, Hikari’s heard that voice before, but where?

The figure approaches, Hikari recognizes it as the coach she saw earlier, only now with a crown, a robe with hearts on it and some pink underwear. He’s the textbook definition of “creepy”.

“Huh? Wait… is that you, Kamoshida?” The blond boy says, just as startled as Hikari by the revelation.

‘Kamoshida’ looks at the boy, “I thought it was some petty thief, but to think it’d be you, Sakamoto…” he says. “Are you trying to disobey me again? It looks like you haven’t learned your lesson at all, have you?”

‘Kamoshida’ looks at Hikari before continuing. “And you brought a friend this time… because you can’t do anything yourself.” He looks Hikari up and down as if checking her out, she wants to throw up.

Sakamoto seems to realize what ‘Kamoshida’ is doing. “H-Hey, leave her alone! This ain’t funny, you asshole!”

‘Kamoshida’ suddenly gives Sakamoto a look like he’s nothing more than an annoying bug. “Is that how you speak to a king? It seems you don’t understand your position at all.” He starts acting all high and mighty, it makes Hikari even more sick. “Not only did you sneak into my castle, you’ve committed the crime of insulting me, the king.”

He gives Sakamoto a smug look, “The punishment for that… is death.” he waves his hand dramatically. “It’s time for an execution! Leave the girl though… I have ‘plans’ for her.”

The door opens and the knights surround Sakamoto, he nervously mutters something under his breath before running into one of the knights and knocking it down with brute force. Hikari is actually impressed by this display.

He looks at her and starts speaking frantically. “Come on, you need to get outta here!” He appears to be concerned about what would happen to Hikari, his moment of heroism is short-lived however, as one of the other knights punches him and knocks him back to the ground, before another pins Hikari in place to make sure she doesn’t escape.

‘Kamoshida’ walks towards Sakamoto and begins beating him up while throwing a plethora of demeaning insults his way, Hikari tries to break the grip of the knight but just ends up getting pinned against a wall instead. She struggles against the grip but ultimately watches helplessly as Sakamoto gets pummeled.

Sakamoto gets knocked to the floor again and ‘Kamoshida’ spits on him. “Where’d your energy from earlier go?” He mocks Sakamoto. “A peasant like you isn’t worth beating. I’ll have you killed right now.”

Hikari tries to yell out one last time. “Please don’t! Please, just stop!”

‘Kamoshida’ turns only his head to look at Hikari. “Quiet you, I’ll ‘deal’ with you after…” He says as he turns back towards Sakamoto and approaches him.

Sakamoto looks up at him and pleads something too quiet for Hikari to hear. Is this how it’s going to end for them? Will she really not be able to keep her promise, even just this once?

The world freezes and tinges with a hint of blue, she sees a beautiful blue butterfly appear in the air before hearing an ethereal voice come from it.

“This is truly an unjust game… your chances of winning are almost none.” It says. “But if my voice is reaching you, there may yet be a possibility open to you…” The blue butterfly disappears and time resumes.

Hikari is willing to take whatever she can get as she struggles against the guard’s grip even more before another voice speaks in her head.

Be calm…

Hikari stops struggling if only to hear what this voice has to say, or to confirm that she’s going crazy.

Is this how you want this to end? Cowering in fear as you watch yet more injustice?

Is that what he would want you to do?

“No…” Hikari thinks as an answer to the voice.

Good, you know what you must do then.

Hikari feels a sudden migraine and can’t help but cry out in pain.

Vow to me: I am thou, thou art I…

Thou who art willing to do all things to keep thine oath! Call upon my name, and vanquish these scum!

Show the strength of thine will to keep this vow thou hast made, even against the world, if need be!

The pain clears and Hikari’s fear goes with it. ‘Kamoshida’ points at Sakamoto.

“Execute him!” He says in a commanding tone.

“That’s enough!” Hikari shouts at him in retaliation.

‘Kamoshida’ frowns as he looks back at her. “Do you want to die too?” He says, irritated. “Seems you’re too much trouble to keep around… What a shame.” He gestures to the knight next to her, who slams his shield into her, causing her to stumble, but she doesn’t black out this time.

She gets pinned against the wall again, and ‘Kamoshida’ orders the knight to kill her. She feels strange, like some energy deep inside her is trying to release itself, she feels an instinctual desire to be free. The knight’s blade sails towards her head, but never reaches it.

The power welling within her peaks and she feels a powerful gust push all the knights away, they crash against the walls and the floor. She looks up but feels a weight on her face, it’s an eye mask, as if by instinct, she tries to pull it off.

It won’t budge, she pulls harder, it still doesn’t.

She tugs as hard as she can and feels the mask separating from her face as blood starts pouring down. The mask comes off fully and for the first time since she got here, she feels free and powerful, as though keeping her promise is now, somehow, feasible.

Blue fire covers her whole body, but it doesn’t hurt. If anything, it feels good, almost comforting. The fire recedes from her body and coalesces into a beautiful woman with brown hair and a white dress.

“I am the goddess, Frigg. If you so wish, I will grant you power to make it through this perilous event.” The woman says.

Hikari feels a deep connection to this woman, as though she is looking at a mirror image of herself… no that isn’t right… it isn’t quite herself, but close. “Please, lend me your strength!” Hikari pleads to Frigg.

“Very well, let us fight our way out.” Frigg smiles at Hikari as she says this.

‘Kamoshida’ for the first time since they got there looks nervous, but he quickly shakes it off. “Who the hell are you!?” He shouts, though the question seems rhetorical. “Guards!” He starts commanding his knights again. “Start by killing that one!”

The knights turn into jack-o’-lanterns with a pointed hat and one hand holding a lamp. “You’ll learn the true strength of my men!” ‘Kamoshida’ shouts, looking downright psychotic.

“My power is yours to command, let us purge these miscreants!” Frigg advises Hikari.

Instinctively, Hikari puts her hand over her face and wills Frigg to cast a spell. Golden light materializes and strikes one of the jack-o’-lanterns, knocking it back a bit as she dodges a swipe from the other one.

She finds a dagger in her hand which she uses to finish off the jack-o’-lantern she’d hit prior and then focusing on the remaining one. This time it hits her with some fire, she gets pushed back a bit and it definitely hurts, but she doesn’t appear seriously injured by it, she quickly stabs the jack-o’-lantern as it strikes again, a little more golden light finishes the job.

After seeing there are no more enemies left, Hikari relaxes her battle stance. Sakamoto looks shocked, but not scared anymore. “What…?”

Hikari takes a second and realizes she’s no longer in her school clothes. Instead she’s wearing black boots, black jeans, and a gray shirt covered mostly by a black open jacket with red gloves on her hands. She feels the mask has appeared on her face again but she doesn’t have time to examine it just yet.

“What was that just now?” Sakamoto says, snapping Hikari out of her thoughts.

‘Kamoshida’ approaches them, looking furious. “You little…” Before he can continue his thought, he gets decked by Sakamoto.

“Hah! You like that, you son of a bitch!?” Sakamoto gloats, Hikari spots a key on the ground.

“Get the key!” She calls out to Sakamoto.

“Y-You mean this!?” Sakamoto asks as he goes to quickly grab it.

They leave the cell and lock ‘Kamoshida’ in. ‘Kamoshida’ looks even more pissed now as he gets up.

“Damn you!” He says angrily.

Sakamoto completely ignores him as he looks at Hikari. “Hey! What was that just now!?” He then looks at her outfit. “And… your clothes…”

With a flash of blue fire, they disappear and Hikari finds herself back in her regular school outfit. This seems to freak out Sakamoto even more.

“Woah! They went back to normal!?” He says, startled.

Suddenly, ‘Kamoshida’ doesn’t seem content to be ignored any longer as he pulls on the bars and yells at them angrily. “You bastards!”

“This is effin’ nuts…” Sakamoto says under his breath before turning back to Hikari. “Let’s scram! You lead the way!” He tells her frantically.

They run, cross the river, crawl through a hole in the wall, and keep going until they hit a dead end with a drawbridge that neither of them seem to know how to lower. They then hear a voice call out behind them.

“Hey! You there!” The voice says, “Blondie! Lady! Over here!” it says frantically.

They turn and see what looks like some kind of cat-like creature pulling at the bars trying to get their attention.

“What is this thing!?” Sakamoto says, clearly bewildered.

“You guys aren’t soldiers of this castle right!? Get me out of here! The key’s right there!” It desperately pleads, while pointed to a keychain on the wall.

“We’re tryin’ to get out of here! You look like an enemy too!” Sakamoto says back.

“I’m locked up here, so how can I be your enemy!? Help me out!” The creature says, trying to convince them, Hikari isn’t sure if it’s a good idea.

They hear the sound of footsteps drawing closer, they’re running out of time.

Sakamoto takes out his phone real quick. “Shit! Still no service, ain’t there any way to contact someone outside!? How are we gonna get out!?” He starts panicking again.

The cat-creature takes the opportunity to try and convince them more. “You want to know where the exit is? If you let me out, I’ll take you there. You don’t want to be executed, right?”

Hikari doesn’t like it, but it seems their best bet is to release the cat-creature and hope it doesn’t attack them. Sighing, she grabs the key despite Sakamoto’s protests and lets the thing out.

The cat walks out and takes a deep breath. “Finally! Freedom tastes so great!”

Sakamoto, in a rush, frantically asks the creature the question on both their minds. “Now where’s the exit, monster cat!?”

The creature seems annoyed at that. “Don’t call me a cat! I am Morgana!”

Sakamoto isn’t having it, too panicked to care about Morgana’s feelings. “Shuddup! You wanna get locked up again!?”

“Alright, sheesh.” Morgana responds before guiding them out.

Morgana shows them how to lower the drawbridge, teaches Hikari how to fight better, and gets them back to the main floor where they can finally get out through a vent. Hikari felt so relieved as she made her way out, Sakamoto seemed worried about the cat but it appears Morgana still has some plans here.

Once outside the castle, they ran back where they came, all the way to the awning she was standing under just earlier. Feeling a little light headed again, everything appears to be back to normal.

Sakamoto tries to catch his breath once they finally stop running. “Did we make it?”

A synthesized voice from Hikari’s phone starts speaking. “You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.”

“Huh? Returned? Does that mean we got away?” Sakamoto asks Hikari.

“I guess so.” Hikari responds simply.

“I don’t know what to think anymore…” Sakamoto says, appearing weary from the whole experience.

Sakamoto proceeds to shout when he probably shouldn’t. Tells the truancy officers they were in a castle like he probably shouldn’t… and proceeds to get accused of being on drugs even though he probably isn’t.

What a great way to start the day, right? Hikari realizes they’re almost half a day late already and rushes Sakamoto back to the direction of the school as well. Once they get there, they’re greeted by a counselor at the front steps. Well, assuming being “greeted” includes being lectured.

After a few minutes of back and forth between the counselor, Sakamoto, and Kamoshida after he showed up. Hikari spots a familiar face emerge from the entrance.

“Kurusu-san! Where have you been?” Amamiya asks her as he walks up to greet her. “Sojiro’s gonna be pissed, you know.”

4/11 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

Ann and Shiho wanted to have lunch privately that day, so unfortunately, Ren was unable to introduce Kasumi to them today. Regardless, he invites Sumire and Kasumi to eat lunch with him in the cafeteria. This doesn’t go unnoticed by the student body, of course.

“Is Amamiya-san acquainted with the honors students?” One of the male students asks no one in particular.

“I’ll bet he’s dating one of them.” Another student responds.

“Which one do you think?” A third asks.

“Could be either one, maybe even both.” The second student answers again.

“Wait seriously? He should at least give us a chance…” The first male student says again.

Tuning them out, Ren enjoys his meal with Sumire and Kasumi, after they’ve all finished eating, Kasumi takes the opportunity to quietly ask him a question.

“Ren-sa- I mean… Ren- senpai .” She starts, casting a teasing look at Sumire as she does so, before making a more serious face. “What did you mean about avoiding Kamoshida-sensei before?”

Ren really hates this part, explaining why is always so hard to talk about when it comes to Kamoshida. “Most students don’t believe it…” Ren starts, “And those who do either stay quiet about it or are forced to stay quiet about it.” he takes another deep breath. “Kamoshida abuses the volleyball team, disbanded the track team, has forced Ann into a relationship with him, and I’m afraid he might do something… much worse… if he can get one of you alone with him.”

Kasumi understands immediately, but also looks horrified at the prospect of a teacher doing something like that. “W-Well…” She begins nervously, “I trust you, I’ll try to keep Sumire and myself away from him whenever we can.” she flashes him a reassuring smile, Ren smiles back.

Sumire, who has been quiet through the whole exchange as this is a topic of discomfort for her as well, grabs Ren’s hand from under the table and squeezes it, Ren squeezes back.

The rest of the conversation at the table is taken up by more lighthearted topics, gymnastics, Yusuke’s art, and other random topics that come up to fill the time. Before Ren knows it, there’s ten minutes left of lunch.

“Well, we should probably start heading back to class,” He gives Sumire’s hand a final squeeze before releasing it and getting up, putting away his empty bento.

“Alright, see you later, Ren-senpai!” Kasumi enthusiastically says her farewells.

“Bye, Senpai.” Sumire says a little more quietly than Kasumi had.

They depart, Sumire and Kasumi heading to the third floor while Ren heads to the entrance where lo and behold, Ryuji and Kurusu are getting scolded. Putting on a face of innocence, Ren greets Kurusu.

“Kurusu-san! Where have you been?” He says, “Sojiro’s gonna be pissed, you know.” he warns her just for the sake of it.

Kurusu looks surprised to see him, as does Sakamoto, and Kamoshida.

“You know her, Amamiya?” Kamoshida asks with the face of a good teacher that everybody there knows he isn’t.

“Yes, her guardian owns the café I work at.” Ren explains to Kamoshida, he sees Ryuji roll his eyes as he does so.

“Well, if you’re meant to keep an eye on her, you can do the rest. As for you Sakamoto, get to class.” Kamoshida says with a stern teacher voice.

Kamoshida and Ryuji leave while Ren guides Kurusu to the faculty office.

“You haven’t answered my question yet, you know: Where were you?” Ren asks again, even though he already knows.

Kurusu looks slightly nervous about the question, but masks it quickly as she responds. “Got lost, won’t happen again.” It’s a bad excuse, but Ren remembers he couldn’t really come up with a better one when it happened to him.

“Well, whether or not you’re telling the truth isn’t my business, but I don’t think Sojiro will be happy about it.” Ren warns her again, Kurusu shudders a bit. Ren knows the feeling, getting a stern talk-to from Sojiro is never fun.

They make the rest of their way there in silence, they get looks from the other students as they walk along.

“Say… the delinquent transfer looks a lot like Amamiya-san, doesn’t she?”

“You think they’re related? Siblings, maybe?”

“Nah, I heard her name was Kurusu, they’re probably cousins at best.”

“I wonder why Amamiya-san doesn’t seem scared of her, then again, if they are family it would make sense.”

Ren sighs at the all familiar Shujin rumor mill, he turns to Kurusu. “Don’t worry about the rumors, pretty much everyone has something said about them here and most of it isn’t true. You’ll still find friends, you’ll just have to look for the ones who don’t put any stock in rumors.” He advises her as she looks a bit down about them.

They reach the faculty office, “Well, we’re here.” Ren says. “I’ll see you in class, Kurusu-san.”

He begins to leave, but Kurusu stops him, Ren gives her an odd look, confused why she’s stopping him.

“I know that we don’t really know each other, but can you call me Hikari? It just feels weird when you call me ‘Kurusu’.” She asks.

Ren thinks it’s a little weird she feels like that, maybe it has something to do with both of them being wildcards? Regardless, he sees no reason to refuse.

“Sure, you can just call me ‘Ren’ then. I’ve never liked formalities anyway.” He tells her, he’s used to not hearing Lavenza’s voice by now, but he doesn’t feel like a bond has formed at all yet. It makes sense, he guesses, they haven’t made any sort of deal that would lead to a confidant forming.

Hikari lets out a small smile, “Thank you, Ren. I’ll see you in class.” she tells him.

Ren nods and heads to class, sitting down in his seat which is actually just to the right of Hikari’s, Ann gives him a wave as he sits down, he nods in return. Then he simply awaits Kawakami and Hikari’s arrival.

Chapter Text

Hikari watches as Ren walks away and takes a deep breath. Honestly, she feels a little bad for Kawakami-sensei, having to wait in the faculty office for Hikari to show up.

Hikari enters the room and walks up to where the exhausted-looking teacher is sitting. Kawakami-sensei takes a look up at her and sighs.

“Unbelievable…” She says, once again, Hikari feels bad for her. “Being over half a day late on your first day? Can you explain yourself?”

Hikari remembers what Ren told her, but she really doesn’t have a more believable explanation on hand, “I got lost.” she decides to go with.

Kawakami-sensei scoffs at that in clear disbelief, Hikari can only imagine how Sakura-san would react. “You can’t be serious… Will you pull yourself together? You were given fair warning yesterday.” She sternly tells Hikari. “More importantly: I heard you were caught along with that Sakamoto-kun?”

The teacher’s phrasing confuses Hikari. Sakamoto didn’t seem like that bad of a kid to her, maybe a little brash, but a good guy nonetheless. He did try to save her, after all. “‘That’ Sakamoto?” She can’t help but ask.

At this, the teacher sighs once again before warning her: “Don’t get involved with him, okay? He’s nothing but trouble.” She tells Hikari, who in turn, wants to defend Sakamoto but stays quiet as she doesn’t want to give her teacher any worse of an impression than she had already.

“He wasn’t like that when he was devoting his time to track and field though…” Kawakami-sensei continues. Hikari wonders what Sakamoto’s side of the story is to all this, maybe she should ask him later… when no teachers are watching.

The teacher looks at the clock on the wall. “Lunch is almost over, class ends after fifth period today because of the subway accident. I’ll have you introduce yourself when class resumes.” She tells Hikari.

Kawakami-sensei gets up, “Follow me.” she says as they head out of the room and towards the classroom. Hikari tunes out all of the rumors surrounding her as they make their way there.

Before they enter the room, Kawakami-sensei stops and turns to Hikari. “By the way, when you introduce yourself… Be serious about it even if you are lying to the class, okay? Don’t say anything unnecessary.” Hikari nods in response and they enter the room.

She stands at the front next to Kawakami-sensei and picks up bits of conversation being made around the room.

“Being this late on her first day? She really is insane…”

“She looks normal though…”

“So? Doesn’t change the fact she assaulted someone, along with all the other stuff I’ve heard about.”

“She also showed up with Sakamoto earlier, right? Think they were trying to ditch school together? Think they were dating before she transferred here?”

“Maybe, the two delinquents probably go together like bread and butter.”

Kawakami-sensei seems to hear it as well and stops it before any more rumors can form. “Settle down.” At that, everyone ceases talking. “...Well, I’d like to introduce a new transfer student: Hikari Kurusu.” She then addresses the elephant in the room. “Today, we… had her attend from the afternoon on since she wasn’t feeling well.” And Ren said her excuse was bad!? What was that!?

Kawakami-sensei then turns to Hikari, “Alright, please say something to the class.” she tells her.

“Nice to meet you.” Hikari says just loud enough for everyone to hear.

“She seems quiet…”

“Maybe she’s one of those creepy yandere types? All the more reason to avoid her and Sakamoto.”

That last comment seems to catch Kawakami-sensei off guard, “Um… so…” she recollects herself quickly. “Your seat will be… Hmmm…” She points to an open seat in the room. “That one, behind Takamaki-san and next to Amamiya-kun.”

Hikari looks over to where she’s pointing, she recognizes the blond girl from earlier and to the right of the seat is Ren. Kawakami-sensei begins speaking again, “Sorry, but can the people nearby please share your textbooks with her for today?” she asks.

“Ugh, this sucks.”

Hikari walks over to her seat and passes by the blond girl who says something under her breath that Hikari doesn’t quite catch. Ignoring whatever it was, she sits in her seat and Ren greets her with a slight nod and a wave which she returns.

“Did you catch that? Do the delinquent and Amamiya-san know each other?”

“Haven’t you heard the rumor?”

“What rumor?”

“That they’re related.”

“Wait seriously? I guess they do look kind of similar…”

How fast do rumors spread in this school!? Hikari internally sighs as she comes to realize that school here will be nothing like back home.

“Oh, right! The volleyball rally’s in two days…” Kawakami-sensei says, snapping Hikari out of her thoughts. “Everyone’s just changed classes, so make sure you use that time to get to know each other.” Maybe Hikari can use that time to get to know Ren and Sakamoto better?

“Well then, let’s get class started. Who’s on duty today?” Kawakami-sensei asks.

A beat up looking blue-haired boy stands up. “Everyone, please rise…”

Hikari sighs and takes out her notebook. As the periods pass, she shares textbooks with Ren. After fifth period ends, Ren puts his books away and leaves the room with Hikari, though he heads to the third floor instead of out of the building, where she expected him to go. Before she makes it too far away from the class, her vision fades into the castle once again, giving her a headache as she grabs her head.

“Hm? What’s wrong?” She hears Kawakami-sensei ask from behind her, Hikari turns around to look at her.

“It’s nothing, just a small headache.” Hikari lies.

Kawakami-sensei gives her a scrutinizing look that tells Hikari she doesn’t believe her at all. Eventually she relents and discusses something else. “It seems like people are already talking about you, I’m not the one who told them though.” Kawakami-sensei sounded honest as she said that. “I can’t even catch a break… Why do I have to deal with this?”

Hikari feels a little apologetic about it. “Sorry, Kawakami-sensei…” She says, while she doesn’t blame herself for what happened, she would at least like to express that she didn’t want it to turn out this way either.

Kawakami-sensei looks surprised by her sincere apology before sighing. “You should head straight home without stopping by anywhere. Sakura-san sounded pretty angry.” The teacher informs Hikari.

“Fantastic…” Hikari sarcastically thinks to herself before nodding in response.

Kawakami-sensei continues speaking. “Oh, and about Sakamoto-kun. Don’t get involved-”

Before she can say anything else, the very person she was about to warn Hikari about shows up. “Speak of the devil…” Kawakami-sensei says to herself. “What do you want? I heard the police caught you cutting classes today.”

Sakamoto looks slightly upset about the reminder but for once manages to hold his tongue. “Ugh… It was nothin’.”

“And you haven’t dyed your hair back to black yet, either.” Kawakami-sensei observes.

“Sorry ‘bout that.” Sakamoto says, not looking apologetic at all, before walking up to Hikari and whispering something to her. “I’ll be waitin’ on the rooftop, meet me there.” He says before walking towards the stairs.

The teacher sighs to herself once again. “See? That’s why I don’t want you getting involved. Understood?” She warns her once again.

Hikari nods once more just to appease the teacher, but also finds herself curious about what Sakamoto could want. Plus, she hadn’t been able to thank him yet. Kawakami-sensei seems to accept the nod and walks off.

Before she can follow Sakamoto though, she sees Kamoshida talking with the school principal. They don’t seem to notice her, so she eavesdrops on them.

“Why did you allow a student like her to transfer here? She’s already associating with Sakamoto.” Kamoshida tells the principal. “A student with a criminal record, and the culprit of an assault case. At this rate, it’d be pointless how much I contribute to the school.” While not being as blatant as the other ‘Kamoshida’, this one still seems full of himself, no wonder Sakamoto doesn’t like him.

The school principal is quick to reassure Kamoshida. “Now, don’t be like that… The school counts on you, Kamoshida-kun. You are our star.” The amount of ass-kissing this principal appears to be capable of is astounding to Hikari, especially if anything she saw in that castle was true.

“Still, a steady build-up is necessary behind such brilliance as well.” The principal says.

Kamoshida appears to understand what the principal is saying, or at least, he pretends to. “Your troubles never seem to end, do they, Principal Kobayakawa? Alright, I understand. I’ll continue to do my best to fulfill your expectations of me.” Kamoshida assures him in the fakest tone Hikari can imagine.

The principal then walks off and Kamoshida follows, Hikari shakes her head and goes up the stairs. Before reaching the roof, she catches a glimpse of Ren happily talking to someone a little down the hall, but she can’t see who. Ignoring the off-limits sign on the door, she enters the roof and sees Sakamoto sitting on a chair, presumably waiting for her.

“There you are.” Sakamoto greets her. “Sorry for callin’ you up like this. I bet Kawakami already told you stuff like: ‘don’t get involved with him.’ huh?”

“Yeah, I don’t intend to listen though.” Hikari tells him honestly.

“Huh?” Sakamoto seems surprised by her response before shaking his head and getting back on track. “I figured as much, guess we’re in the same boat though.” He says before leaning forward in his chair, “You got a criminal record, everyone’s talking about it.” he gives her a slight smile as he says his next words. “No wonder you were so gutsy.”

Hikari has a feeling he’s going to bring up the castle, so she pulls the other chair closer to Sakamoto and makes herself comfortable.

“What happened earlier? You know, the castle and stuff…” Sakamoto asks her, “It wasn’t a dream… right? You remember it too, yeah?” sounds like he wants to confirm he isn’t crazy, Hikari’s glad she isn’t either.

“Yeah. It was… something.” Hikari says, she’s still unsure of what exactly that castle was, she’s not sure how she’d get back though.

“Oh yeah, I wanted to thank you for saving me from Kamoshida. So… Thanks, Hikari.” Sakamoto thanks her genuinely.

“I was just repaying a favor, you tried to save me first, you know.” Hikari brushes it off.

Sakamoto snorts, “Emphasis on ‘tried’, it didn’t end up doin’ you any good.” he admits.

“Still… Not a lot of people would have done that, so… thank you.” Hikari thanks him with the best smile she can muster.

Sakamoto’s eyes widen, but he smiles in return. Then he gets more serious. “But man, the Kamoshida we saw there… You prolly don’t know about it, but there are some rumors about him.” Sakamoto proceeds to start venting about Kamoshida. “No one says anything against him ‘cause he’s some medalist who took the volleyball team to nationals. The way Kamoshida was the king of that castle felt crazy real ‘cause of that…”

“I wonder if we can go back to that castle again…” Sakamoto looks down slightly and says seemingly to himself this time.

“I’m not sure…” Hikari responds. “I don’t even know how we ended up there in the first place, it was the same route you usually take to school, right?” She asks him.

“Yeah…” Is all Sakamoto says in return. “I’m just gonna try to forget about it, maybe it was all some crazy dream, y’know?” He tells her, dismissing the events of the first half of that day.

Sakamoto then seems to remember something. “Say… Amamiya seemed to know you, are those rumors true? The ones ‘bout you two bein’ family?” He asks her curiously.

“No, he knows my guardian though, so we’ve met before.” Hikari explains to him before remembering he was there when Ren explained it. “Weren’t you there when he told Kamoshida?”

“Oh yeah, totally forgot.” Sakamoto smacks his head as he remembers. “I was hopin’ you’d know him better.” He explains. What’s got him so curious about Ren?

Hikari decides to ask just to satisfy her own curiosity. “Why are you asking about him?”

Sakamoto suddenly seems pretty frustrated. “I just don’t get that guy!” He shouts, Hikari would tell him to be quiet if there was anyone around to hear.

“Do you hate him or something?” Hikari can’t help but ask, she doesn’t know Ren all that well but he didn’t seem like a bad person to her, maybe Sakamoto has a bad impression of him?

“No, it’s not that…” Sakamoto responds, shaking his head. “It doesn’t matter anyway, just forget I said anything, okay?”

Hikari becomes more curious about what happened between Ren and Sakamoto but ultimately decides it isn’t any of her business. She opts to nod instead of asking more questions that she probably won’t get answers to.

“Sorry to drag you out here like this, that’s all I had to say.” Sakamoto says before grinning. “Y’know, I think we’re pretty similar. I think we’re gonna get along just fine as ‘troublemakers’” He then introduces himself. “I’m Ryuji Sakamoto. I’ll come talk if I see you around, don’t ignore me, alright?”

Hikari nods in response as she allows a small smile to form on her face. She’s glad that she isn’t entirely alone here. Ren might make a good friend, but someone like Sakamoto who understands what it’s like to be a so-called ‘delinquent’ will probably be what keeps her from going crazy.

“See ya.” Sakamoto tells her as he gets up and walks to the rooftop door.

Hikari checks the time on her phone real quick… she really needs to get back. She is not looking forward to facing Sakura-san.

4/12 Shibuya Train Station, Early Morning

Much to Hikari’s surprise, all she got from Sakura-san was a scolding, no punishment. Maybe if he wasn’t distracted by that phone call he got there would’ve been one. She did want to make it up to him somehow, even if she was being honest when she told him she couldn’t help it. She shakes the thoughts out of her head, maybe she can just do the dishes or something for him as an apology.

“Look isn’t that her?”

Hikari sighs to herself, seems the other Shujin students waiting at the station noticed her.

“You mean the one with the red ribbon?”

That peaks Hikari’s interest, she looks ahead and sees a brown-haired girl with a red ribbon tying it in a ponytail. She looks pretty normal though, what’s got the other students talking?

“She’s so thin… It’s not fair, I’ve got my hair tied in a ponytail too…”

What does that have to do with being thin?

“Okay, and what’s that got to do with being thin?” Seems the other Shujin student mirrored her thoughts exactly.

Still, just being thin doesn’t merit being the subject of a spontaneous conversation, maybe she’s popular or something? The train arrives and Hikari gets on along with the brown-haired girl, who manages to find a seat. As they near Aoyama-Itchome, the brown-haired girl notices an elderly woman who’d gotten on at the station before.

“Please, take my seat. My station’s coming up.” The brown-haired girl gets out of the seat and offers it to the older woman.

“Are you sure? Okay then…” The woman asks.

Unfortunately, the seat quickly gets stolen by some rude guy wearing a suit. The brown-haired girl looks surprised for a second before asking the man to give the seat to the elderly woman, instead of doing that though… he just feigns falling asleep. Ordinarily, Hikari wouldn’t get herself involved in this sort of situation, it’s just another thing that happens.

“...You know what you must do.” Frigg speaks in her mind. Hikari sighs, and turns to the man in the seat.

“That seat isn’t for you. Get up.” Hikari speaks in a stern tone.

Before anything else can happen, the brown-haired girl intervenes. “Don’t worry about it, I can understand his position as well.” She then turns to the elderly woman again. “I’m sorry I couldn’t be of any help.”

“It’s alright, dearie. Don’t you worry.” The elderly woman responds. Hikari doesn’t like it, but she lets it go as well.

The brown-haired girl doesn’t budge though. “At least allow me to carry your bags.” She tells the older woman.

This causes the woman to smile. “Thank you, aren’t they heavy though?” She asks.

“Not at all! I train plenty.” The brown-haired girl replies cheerily before grabbing the bags.

Well, at least some good was done for the woman, enough to satisfy Frigg within her mind at least. The rest of the train ride is uneventful, as Hikari gets off at Aoyama-Itchome, the brown-haired girl catches up with her.

“Pardon me…” She says, causing Hikari to turn around. “I wanted to thank you, for earlier.”

This confuses Hikari. “What for?”

“For speaking up when I offered my seat on the train.” The girl says, that doesn’t really clear up why she’s thanking Hikari though, nothing ended up happening. “You’re a second-year at Shujin Academy, right? I’m a first-year myself. Thanking you completely slipped my mind earlier, and I didn’t want to be rude to my senpai.” She explains.

“Oh, don’t worry about it. I didn’t really do anything.” Hikari responds, though it doesn’t seem to satisfy the girl.

“On the contrary, most people wouldn’t do it at all. So, thank you.” The girl explains, Hikari sighs but doesn’t argue further.

“Well, we both go to Shujin, right? Want to walk there together?” Hikari offers, the brown-haired girl shakes her head though.

“I’m sorry, I’m waiting for my sister and her boyfriend since they couldn’t fit into the earlier train I took.” The girl informs Hikari, who nods in return.

The girl heads back towards the platform and Hikari makes her way to school, at least this time she won’t be half a day late.

4/12 Shujin Academy, After School

Sumire doesn’t make a move to get up once the bell rings as she’s waiting for Ren to come up to her classroom. Kasumi, who has already put everything away and is in the process of getting up, looks back at Sumire with confusion… Until it turns into a teasing expression.

“Sumire, I get that you’re happy to be going to school with Ren-senpai… but can you save the daydreaming for when we get home?” Kasumi says just loud enough for Sumire to hear.

Sumire blushes slightly even though that’s not the reason but shakes it off as she explains why. “I was going to go out with Senpai today, he told me he’d come up here to get me after school.”

Kasumi nods in understanding, but doesn’t look satisfied. “...I don’t really feel comfortable with you staying here after school… Especially with all Ren-senpai told us about Kamoshida.”

“I know… but he wouldn’t have a good reason to come in here, right?” Sumire tries to assure Kasumi.

Unfortunately, Kasumi isn’t relenting. “I know, it’s just… how about this:” She makes a compromise. “You can text Ren-senpai to meet you outside the school, I just… I don’t want you to be here any longer than you absolutely need to be.”

Sumire rolls it over in her mind, it… shouldn’t get in the way of anything, right? She nods and gets her phone to text Ren.

Sumire: Change of plans, can you meet me outside the school?

Ren: Sure, why?

Sumire: Kasumi is being a worry wart about Kamoshida

Ren: Gotcha, it shouldn’t get in the way of anything. If you see Kamoshida on the way though try to avoid him

Sumire: Don’t worry, I will!

Ren: Thanks, I’ll see you there

Sumire: See you there, Senpai

Sumire then looks up from her phone to Kasumi. “Okay, let’s go.” She tells her, hoping they don’t run into Kamoshida even if it’s unlikely he’d do anything yet.

They head out of the room and out of the school. Luckily, they didn’t see Kamoshida on the way. As they head out of the building, Sumire stands near the entrance of the gate and waits for Ren, Kasumi having left to get to the train already. Eventually, he shows up and looks slightly relieved to see her.

Sumire smiles at that, it’s rare for something to get him so nervous. She feels warm knowing how much he cares for her. “Worried about me, Senpai?” She asks teasingly.

Ren smiles in response. “It’s kind of hard to not be worried right now.” He answers her tease.

Ren walks to stand next to Sumire, then trains his eyes on the alley while putting on his bracelet. Sumire puts on her own in response but Ren doesn’t seem to be making a move to enter the metaverse just yet, which confuses Sumire.

“Aren’t we going in now?” Sumire asks, wondering why they haven’t entered yet.

“Not yet, we need to wait a little bit.” Ren answers as he keeps his eyes on the alley.

As Sumire’s about to ask why, Sakamoto-senpai and Kurusu-senpai walk out of the alleyway and into the open before looking extremely confused and discussing something with each other, then heading back in.

“Alright, we should be good to go.” Ren says, double checking to make sure nobody else is there to see them.

Ren starts fading from reality as he enters the metaverse, Sumire follows and feels the world change around her as her clothes shift into their phantom thief counterparts. She casts her gaze on the castle that used to be Shujin Academy. Something just seems so wrong about the spectacle, someone like Kamoshida having a palace like this is just… Sumire has no words for it as she shudders to imagine how many horrible things he must do, only to never face any consequences for any of it. It must have all gone to his head at some point, this can’t have all just come from his medal, right?

“We should probably find a good place to hide, fast.” Ren says suddenly, snapping Sumire out of her thoughts.

Sumire doesn’t ask questions, she knows at this point it’s best to simply trust Ren when it comes to the metaverse. Ren looks up to the roof tops and silently gestures for Sumire to come over to him, she does and he wraps an arm around her waist as he shoots his grappling hook to the rooftop and they sail towards it.

Now uptop and out of sight, they stay perched over the ledge, unmoving as to not attract any unwanted attention. After a few minutes, they see Sakamoto-senpai and Kurusu-senpai enter the metaverse and look at the castle. Sumire does like the look of Kurusu-senpai’s outfit though, it looks more practical than hers or Ren’s, no loose coattails to get in the way, even if that can’t really happen within the metaverse.

Kurusu-senpai and Sakamoto-senpai approach the castle’s closed doors and start talking to each other, Sakamoto-senpai starts to get loud enough for Sumire to hear it, but not loud enough for her to make out what he's saying.

Sumire takes a look at Ren, his eyes are tinged with gold, an indicator he's using Third Eye right now. Sumire was always fascinated by that ability, increasing Ren's natural senses to superhuman levels whenever he used it with no obvious drawbacks, along with being able to see which objects are important or even invisible.

She was even more fascinated when she discovered the ability wasn't limited to the metaverse, Ren could use it whenever he wanted. While she always thought it was cool, right now she's a little jealous that she can't hear what Sakamoto-senpai and Kurusu-senpai are saying, but Ren can.

Looking back at the castle, Morgana has made himself known, and speaks between the two. Sumire flinches as a sudden horrific scream from the castle is so loud even she can hear it. After a little back and forth, Sakamoto-senpai bangs on the door and shouts, causing Sumire to cringe a bit. Even if he did have a persona at the time, all that will do is draw attention to him.

After that, he turns back to Morgana and says something that clearly makes Morgana upset, after a bit more back and forth, Morgana guides Kurusu-senpai and Sakamoto-senpai into the palace. Now that they're gone, Ren and Sumire can move again. While they're both used to staying perfectly still for long periods of time, it can get uncomfortable, Sumire stretches her legs a bit to get the blood flowing again and Ren does the same.

“Alright, we can head in now.” Ren tells her quietly, Sumire nods in return.

They jump off of the roof and land on the ground before making their way into the castle. Unfortunately, the vent is the only currently available entrance to the castle which means they’ll have to be careful not to be spotted by Morgana, Kurusu-senpai, or Sakamoto-senpai. Though, before they enter, Ren stops and takes something out of his pocket.

“Lotus-senpai?” Sumire asks curiously.

“Mona has some navigation abilities, since we’re going to be pretty close to them we’ll need a way to hide from it.” Ren answers before taking what Sumire recognizes as stealthonol out of his pocket and using it on both of them. “This should hide us for a little while, long enough to avoid them.”

Sumire is glad for the stealthonol especially as they make their way through the vents, while having a persona within the metaverse does a good job of keeping movements quiet, the stealthonol makes any sound they make almost unhearable. As they reach the end of the vent they see Morgana lead the other two out towards the first room of the castle. Making their way behind them stealthily, Ren signals for Sumire to hold on to him, which she does.

Ren then grapples to a chandelier and they perch there as they watch the three below. Luckily, nobody seemed to notice them or the slight sway of the chandelier as they grappled onto it. After hearing Morgana explain a bit about the metaverse to Kurusu-senpai and Sakamoto-senpai, the three start heading towards the dungeon, this time Ren makes no move to follow them.

Once the three leave hearing distance, Sumire turns to Ren. “Senpai?” For the second time, she’s not sure what’s going through Ren’s head right now.

“I’m not too worried about what will happen down there, that area has the least amount of shadows in this place. We’ll need to stay here until they get back.” Ren explains, Sumire nods, it seems logical especially since they’re more likely going to get caught if they continue following.

The stealthonol wears off and their movements start making noise again, but there’s no one, not even a shadow around to hear. As the time passes, Sumire starts to get a bit antsy, even when going through Maruki or Sae’s palace, she never had to stay quiet for this long.

She looks to Ren, his stoic and serious face tells her he’s thinking hard about something, most likely he’s worried about Kurusu-senpai and Sakamoto-senpai. Sumire grabs his hand and gives it a comforting squeeze which causes Ren to look at her, she looks into his eyes and rests her forehead against his after a moment, somehow their masks don’t get in the way.

Glancing around again, it appears no shadows are around and the three still haven’t returned. Sumire decides to ask Ren what’s on his mind, in case her assumption is wrong.

“Senpai? Is something wrong?” She asks him while staring directly into his eyes again.

Ren sighs, “I’m mostly worried about Skull’s awakening, that was a tense moment when I was there. If it goes any differently here though… we could be in trouble.” he explains, now understanding Ren’s clear stress at the situation even if she doesn’t have all the details, Sumire wraps her arms around him comfortingly once again. She’s… kind of surprised they’re able to keep their balance on the chandelier like this, granted it doesn’t take much movement to do this as they’re right next to each other anyway.

Now she’s thinking about it… her face heats up a bit, she lets go and Ren’s stoic look breaks into a small smile. Sumire smiles as well, before remembering where they are and focusing back on the room. The door opens and the three return, she looks to the other side of the room and has a bad feeling. Shadow Kamoshida, tailed by three other shadows, enters the room from the other side.

…What is he wearing? Sumire decides to look at Shadow Kamoshida as little as possible from this point forward. He looks furious to see Kurusu-senpai and Sakamoto-senpai again.

“You knaves again?” Shadow Kamoshida says in frustration. “To think you’d make the same mistake again. You’re hopeless!”

Sakamoto-senpai doesn’t seem to take the sight of Shadow Kamoshida that well. “The school ain’t your castle! I’ve memorized their faces real good. You’re goin’ down!” He shouts angrily.

“It seems it’s true when they say ‘barking dogs seldom bite.’. How far the star runner of the track team has fallen.” Shadow Kamoshida replies smugly.

“The hell are you gettin’ at!?” Sakamoto-senpai sounds even angrier now.

“I speak of the ‘Track Traitor’ who acted in violence, ending his teammates’ dreams.” Shadow Kamoshida answers, just as smug. Sumire had heard before what happened between Kamoshida and Sakamoto-senpai, she sees Ren’s hand tighten into a fist in the corner of her eye. “Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your… selfish act.” Now Sumire feels her own hand tighten into a fist, she never realized how vile someone’s shadow could be.

“‘Track Traitor’?” Kurusu-senpai asks Sakamoto-senpai in confusion, though not seeming to fully believe Shadow Kamoshida’s words either.

Shadow Kamoshida smirks as he looks at Kurusu-senpai. “What a surprise. You’re accompanying him without knowing anything at all? He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever.”

“That’s not true!” Sakamoto-senpai shouts, though this Sakamoto-senpai seems to still blame himself for everything that happened. A far cry from the Sakamoto-senpai Sumire knows from her reality.

“What a tragedy… You blindly trusted this fool, and he’s led you right to your death.” Shadow Kamoshida then looks at Kurusu-senpai again. “Although… if you denounce him and ‘serve’ me… I’ll consider… ‘forgiving’... your little rebellious acts yesterday.”

Sumire finds herself completely disgusted with Shadow Kamoshida, Kurusu-senpai looks like she just ate something nasty. “As if I’d ever let you do anything to me!” She shouts in response.

“Fine then… if that’s how you’re going to be.” Shadow Kamoshida turns to the shadows tailing him. “Dispose of them. I can’t stand their stench.”

Two of the shadows burst into Bicorns, Sumire recognizes them as one of the personas Ren is capable of using. Though he never used it when taking a fight seriously as he always had much more powerful personas on him. It’s a bit of a shock to see them semi-uncontrolled like this.

A fight breaks out and in no time at all, Kurusu-senpai and Morgana get pinned to the ground. Sumire slowly moves her arm to her rifle but Ren stops her and signals her to simply watch. Trusting Ren, she does so.

Shadow Kamoshida seems more smug than ever. “I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn’t that right?”

Sakamoto-senpai looks like some mixture of scared and desperate as he responds. “No…”

“What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly…” Shadow Kamoshida’s clear resentment of Sakamoto-senpai starts being made known. “How dare you raise your hand against me? Though it wasn’t for long, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising your track practice?”

Sakamoto-senpai talks back. “That wasn’t no practice… It was physical abuse! You just didn’t like our team!”

Surprisingly, Shadow Kamoshida agrees with his statement. “It was an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me!” Sumire’s eyes widen at that, hearing it come from Shadow Kamoshida makes her even more wary of him. Before, she would’ve simply made sure not to be in the open when he was around, now she shares Kasumi’s sentiment of not even wanting to be in the school.

“That coach who got fired was hopeless too…” Shadow Kamoshida continues: “Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would’ve settled it with only breaking his star’s leg.”

“Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!” Shadow Kamoshida finishes. Sakamoto-senpai says something she can’t quite make out.

“Once these two are dealt with, you’re next.” Shadow Kamoshida starts laughing maniacally, like some cartoon villain.

Kurusu-senpai doesn’t seem to be content to watch Sakamoto-senpai suffer from his own doubt anymore. “Don’t let him get to you!” She cries out desperately.

It may not be some grand speech, or even a great call to action… but it appears to be enough for Sakamoto-senpai, all he seemed to need was a push or a reminder that he isn’t alone anymore.

“You’re right. Everything that was important to me was taken by him… I’ll never get ‘em back!” Sakamoto-senpai still sounds scared, but Sumire can hear the determination coming through.

“Stay there and watch. Look on as these hopeless scum die for nothing because they sided with trash like you.” Shadow Kamoshida clearly thinks he’s about to win, but as Sumire watches Sakamoto-senpai, it seems like this is the moment he awakens.

Sakamoto-senpai gets off the ground, and stares directly at Shadow Kamoshida. “No… that’s what you are… All you think about is using people. You’re the real scumbag, Kamoshida!” He shouts out.

Shadow Kamoshida looks at the guards surrounding them. “What are you doing? Silence him!”

Sakamoto-senpai steps towards Shadow Kamoshida and points at his face. “Stop lookin’ down on me with that stupid smile on your face!”

All of a sudden his eyes turn golden and he starts screaming in pain. As he rolls around on the ground in agony, Sumire remembers her own awakening, how painful it was. She wonders if different people experience more pain when they awaken? She was able to stay standing when she awoke, even if it was as ‘Kasumi’.

A skull mask appears on Sakamoto-senpai’s face, the golden knight standing over Kurusu-senpai raises its sword. Sakamoto-senpai rips the mask off of his face and blue fire fills the room with light, Sumire covers her eyes for a second until the light fades.

Sumire had only ever seen Sakamoto-senpai’s second and third personas, never the first. “It definitely suits him.” Sumire thinks to herself. It’s a pirate skeleton riding a small boat, the very definition of a rule breaker.

“Right on… Wassup, Persona… This effin’ rocks!” Sakamoto-senpai loudly exclaims to himself. “Now that I got this power, it’s time for payback… I’m ready, bring it!” Sakamoto-senpai shouts as the others get back into a fighting position.

The golden shadow turns into Eligor, yet another persona Ren had shown her at some point. A new fight begins, this one a lot less one sided than the first. With a new teammate, Kurusu-senpai, Sakamoto-senpai, and Morgana start making quick work of Eligor and the remaining Bicorns, it definitely helps that they have electricity now which the Bicorns are weak to.

There was one worrying moment when a Bicorn managed to get behind Kurusu-senpai, but Morgana warned her and Kurusu-senpai was able to dodge the attack just in time. The whole fight, Ren had a hand on his pistol, ready to take out the shadows himself if need be. Luckily, there was no need, the Eligor went down with ease.

Shadow Kamoshida looks pissed, Sakamoto-senpai looks exhausted. Then something happens that Sumire was never actually told about, a cognition of Takamaki-senpai wearing… a bikini and cat ears… walks up to Shadow Kamsohida. Sakamoto-senpai doesn’t seem to fully realize this is just a cognition and Sumire can tell why she never heard about this part.

As more shadows appear, Morgana leads the other two to escape and Sumire feels the security level of the palace increase. Soon after, Shadow Kamoshida and the cognition of Takamaki-senpai leave the room.

Ren lets out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad that went smoothly. Now, we should find a way to make their journey through the palace a bit easier next time they come.” He tells Sumire quietly.

Sumire thinks about how to do that and she gets an idea. “Every palace has a map, right?” Ren nods in response to her question. “What if we label it? So they know where to go.” She asks him.

Ren thinks about it but shakes his head. “No, that would probably be too obvious. Mona would definitely figure out someone had been there before, and every palace using that method afterward would make them more suspicious that someone was helping them.”

Sumire nods in understanding, it makes sense since Morgana would likely know how palaces function as well as their maps. “Well, I’m not sure what to do then…” Sumire says after a minute of trying to think of something else.

“...I might have an idea.” Ren responds. “We have a lot of spare items from our world, ones that would be useless to us now. We could hide them around the palace, plenty of other useful stuff gets hidden in chests or gets picked up by shadows, so it probably wouldn’t raise any suspicion. As long as it matches the power of other items within the palace.” He explains his idea.

Sumire nods, “Sounds like a plan!” she exclaims excitedly, though still quiet enough that the patrolling shadows don’t hear.

Ren checks the time on his phone, one of the few things that still works within the metaverse. “We have about an hour, let’s get to work.” He says.

Chapter Text

Hikari feels exhausted after sprinting out of the palace, paired with all of the fighting they did that day, she’s out of breath. Morgana’s looking back at the palace with a confused expression on his face, at least, as confused as some weird looking anthropomorphic short cat can look. While Ryuji is checking out his new outfit, Morgana asks them both a question.

“Did you guys see anything weird in the palace?” Morgana turns back to them, awaiting their answers.

“Uhhhh… Is there anything in that place that isn’t weird?” Ryuji points out the poor phrasing of the question.

“Urgh, You know what I mean!” Morgana looks frustrated now. “I thought I felt something weird back in the castle! Like there were other people there! Did you two see anything?” He repeats his question.

Hikari thinks back, nothing seemed out of place and she doesn’t remember seeing anyone other than the cognitions in the dungeon. “No, I didn’t see anything out of the ordinary, for this palace, that is.” She responds, though the idea of other real people in the palace is kind of freaky to her.

“I don’t remember seein’ nothin’. Should we go back and check? If regular people are there, they could be in trouble!” Ryuji almost yells .

“No, I wouldn’t have felt anything if it wasn’t a persona-user. Maybe I’m just imagining things if neither of you saw anything though, I’ve probably been here too long…” Morgana says, seemingly to reassure himself that no one was there other than shadows. “Forget I said anything, there’s something more important to discuss. I’ve guided you two as promised, it’s your turn to cooperate with me.”

Hikari and Ryuji give him a blank look, he rolls his eyes and explains. “That’s why I’ve been super nice about teaching you two everything.”

“Cooperate?” Ryuji still seems confused.

“Don’t you remember? I originally came here to investigate.” Morgana continues. “I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my true form! That’s why we must delve deep into Mementos and-”

He gets cut off by Ryuji. “Whoa, hold up. What’re you goin’ on about?” Ryuji asks, clearly not keeping up with Morgana. “We never said anything about helpin’ you out.” Yikes, Ryuji’s being a bit blunt, isn’t he?

Morgana seems hurt, though it’s hard to tell if it’s genuine as he gets overdramatic. “Huh? Don’t tell me, are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you?” He turns to Hikari. “Especially you! You’re going to up and leave, even though you’re already part of my master plan!?” Either the not-cat is making stuff up to get Hikari to side with him… or he’s being honest and is really just that naive.

Hikari feels slightly bad about it, but with her and Ryuji trying to gather evidence against Kamoshida, she can’t make any promises about helping out Morgana. “I can’t promise anything yet, I’m sorry.”

“Is it because I look like a cat? Is that why you’re making a fool out of me!?” Morgana takes her semi-refusal exactly the wrong way, seems like he’s self-conscious about the whole cat thing too.

Ryuji seems to get tired of Morgana’s antics, admittedly, Hikari is too. “We’re busy. Thanks for everything, cat. You’ve got guts, bein’ a cat and all! See ya around!”

If Hikari didn’t know better, she’d assume Ryuji was actually trying to be rude, but he seems like he’s being genuine with his gratitude. She sighs to herself, asking Morgana about the metaverse in the future probably won’t be easy after this.

Ryuji begins to leave and Hikari follows him before Morgana can guilt trip her into staying. Morgana is definitely not pleased as he shouts angrily at them as they make their way out.

“Hey! Seriously!? Get back here!” Hikari hears no more as she feels the world fade back into reality once they reach their entry point.

“You have returned to the real world. Welcome back.” Hikari’s phone chimes from her pocket.

Ryuji takes a huge breath of air. “Phew… we’re finally back.” He says, exasperated. “I dragged you around a lot, huh? Sorry…” He apologizes.

“Don’t worry about it,” Hikari shakes her head. “I wanted to help, we still need to find a way to deal with Kamoshida, right?”

“U-Uh, yeah… that’s right.” Ryuji’s brain appears to malfunction for a bit. He quickly collects himself and takes another deep breath of air as he slouches a bit. “Ugh, I’m dead tired… you?”

“I could be worse off… maybe it’s because you got your persona? I slept like a rock last night after that.” Hikari scratches her head as she comes up with a possible reason. She’s tired, sure, but not as tired as Ryuji appears to be.

“Maybe… Man, I’m gonna sleep like a baby when I get home.” Ryuji responds, having finally caught his breath. He quickly regains his energy however, as a big smile appears on his face. “But damn, if what we saw was for real, this is gonna get good! I know the guys Kamoshida was treatin’ like slaves. If we can get them to fess up, Kamoshida will be done for!”

Hikari finds herself doubting it’ll be that easy, but Ryuji’s pure excitement gets to her as she feels a smile creep up on her own face. For some reason, the idea of getting justice for Ryuji is really appealing.

“I know I’ve already asked for your help a lot… but wanna help me find those guys or any other witnesses?” Ryuji asks a little bit nervously.

Hikari’s smile persists. “I’d love to help, you don’t even need to ask.” She assures him.

Ryuji somehow looks even more enthusiastic about taking down Kamoshida. “Now that’s what I’m talkin’ about!” Then his eyes widen and his smile disappears as he appears to remember something. “Hey so…” He seems to struggle to look at her directly. “If you’re thinkin’ of layin’ low ‘cause you have a record, I don’t think that’ll help.”

Hikari finds herself frowning at the reminder, Ryuji continues. “Everyone already knows, they totally got you pegged as a criminal…”

Hikari says nothing in response, Ryuji looks frustrated again, but this time it seems to be for her instead of because of anything that happened to him. “I’ll bet it’s because Kamoshida opened his damn mouth!”

This confuses Hikari, she can’t really think of a good reason for Kamoshida to do that. “Why would he do that?”

“No one besides a teacher could’ve leaked it that fast. Plus, the asshole’s full of himself, he just wrecks anything he doesn’t agree with! Just like he did with me!” Ryuji vents.

His gaze finally shifts back to Hikari. “No one takes me seriously anymore, not after that… Still, those rumors about him gettin’ physical are probably real, he did that with the track team too. I can’t sit back anymore, not after seein’ Kamoshida’s distorted heart or whatever the cat called it.” He looks more determined than anything now.

At that, Hikari nods. “I can’t either.” She responds simply.

Ryuji’s massive smile returns. “I’m countin’ on you! Let’s take Kamoshida down!” He shouts just a bit too loud, though nobody still hanging around the school appears to care.

Huh? The world around Hikari slows down, just like it had when she first arrived in Tokyo, and then again yesterday while she was in the metaverse. She hears the mystical voice of the blue butterfly speak in her mind once again.

“I am thou, thou art I…

Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Chariot Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…”

Time resumes and Hikari looks around a little nervously, hearing things is usually not a good sign.

“Uhhh… You okay? You’re lookin’ a little pale.” Ryuji asks in concern, Hikari realizes she must look a little weird right now.

“Sorry… I just thought I heard something, it’s nothing.” Hikari apologizes, Ryuji continues staring at her for a few seconds before brushing the apology off.

“It’s no big deal… Anyway, I’m kinda hungry, wanna grab a bite somewhere?” Ryuji offers her.

Hikari quickly gets herself together before responding. “Sure, I’m a little hungry myself.”

Ryuji grins at that, “Just follow me. I totally gotta hear about your past!” he says excitedly.

Hikari does as he says and thinks about how to explain what happened as they go. Eventually, they arrive at a beef bowl shop, not exactly the sort of place a guy would take a girl, even if this isn’t really a date.

Ryuji turns to her, “I know, I know.” seems like he had a similar thought. “I can be pretty stupid sometimes, but I’m not that dense. I could really go for a beef bowl though.” He looks at the shop longingly.

“Don’t worry about it.” Hikari assures him with a small smile. “I get weird looks all day, what are a few more?”

Ryuji chuckles a bit at that. “Right with you there, let’s head in!”

Admittedly, Hikari wasn’t a particularly big fan of beef bowls, but she found it difficult to tell that to Ryuji when he seemed so enthusiastic. As they eat, Hikari recounts how she got arrested, going home late one night, protecting the woman from that man, the rigged court trials, everything. She’s not quite sure why, but it’s easier to talk about it with Ryuji than she expected it to be. After she finishes her story, Ryuji looks pissed while simultaneously baffled by her story.

“Seriously!? They just sided with that douchebag!?” Ryuji shouts.

“Don’t just shout about it!” Hikari hisses as they start getting more weird looks than before. “But yes, that’s what happened.”

“Sorry…” Ryuji apologizes sheepishly. “But damn, if it was me I wouldn’t have calmed down until I punched that dick in the face.”

At that, Hikari snorts. “He would’ve deserved it too, I don’t think that’s a fight I could win though.”

“So you left your hometown and now you’re livin’ here?” Ryuji looks retrospective all of a sudden. “Huh, We might be more alike than I originally thought.”

“Maybe, I still want to hear what happened to you though.” Hikari nudges him a little to tell his own story.

Ryuji however, doesn’t seem ready to tell her what happened. “I just… did somethin’ stupid at school once…” He checks the time on his phone real quick. “You live in Yongen, right? It’s rush hour on the subways so you might as well kill some time before headin’ home.”

Ryuji then looks at both their empty bowls. “You wanna order some more?” He asks with a slightly hopeful look.

Hikari just smiles at his antics, but goes along with it anyway. “Sure, I could go for more.”

4/12 Ren’s Apartment, Evening

Ren and Sumire arrive back at his apartment feeling tired. Once they head in, Sumire collapses onto the couch and Ren sits next to her. Though they didn’t do any actual fighting, not wanting to alert Shadow Kamoshida and draw attention to themselves, having to hide and stay still so much made them both very sore afterwards. They managed to hide a bunch of soul drops and life stones in the first half of the palace though, as well as put some materials on the patrolling shadows to be picked up once they’re defeated.

“I almost forgot how exhausting being in the metaverse could be.” Ren hears Sumire lament beside him.

He wraps an arm around her, and she scoots close and rests her head on his shoulder in response. “Me too, even if it wasn’t too long ago, it kind of feels nostalgic for me already.” He can’t help but reminisce over his old adventures with the thieves.

The moment of silence and memories is broken by Sumire. “Senpai?” She asks.

Ren turns his head to look at her. “It’s in two days, isn’t it? Wh-When Suzui-senpai…” She appears to have a hard time getting the words out, but he understands what she means regardless.

Ren sighs, “Saving Shiho will be easy, but we need a more long term solution to ensure he doesn’t do anything else.” Ren does have one idea, but he’s not sure if Sumire will like it.

“All we need to do is invite Shiho and Mishima somewhere, we can probably go to the diner I took Ann to when I first spoke to her about Kamoshida in our world. We may as well bring Kasumi along too.” He explains his plan for tomorrow to her.

“Well, that’ll work for now, but you said we needed something more long term, right?” Sumire asks lifting her head off of his shoulder to look at him directly, Ren sighs one more time.

“The only reason he didn’t do anything more last time was because his attention was on Ryuji and I, but it won’t be possible for his attention to be drawn to Hikari and Ryuji this time if they never have reason to confront him…” As he’s about to continue, Sumire stops him.

“Ren,” Sumire starts speaking with a very serious tone. “Please don’t tell me you’re planning on being bait again.”

Ren doesn’t say anything, as that was exactly what his plan was, do something to make Kamoshida mad and keep his attention until Hikari, Ryuji, Ann, and Morgana can change his heart. Sumire takes his silence as an answer and looks down a bit.

“Ren…” Sumire starts as she puts a hand on his cheek, causing him to look directly at her in turn. “A-Are you sure this is the best solution?”

Ren grabs her hand but makes no move to pull it away. “No… but it’s the only one I can think of.”

Sumire, for the second time that day, moves her hand behind his head and pulls it against her forehead. “I just… I don’t want to see you get hurt again…. Like last time.” It hurts Ren to see her like this, and he knows what she’s referring to.

The interrogation wasn’t easy on Ren. Even when Sumire still thought she was Kasumi, she was extremely concerned for him. After revealing to her that he was still alive, she visited him while he was ‘dead’ often just to make sure he was recovering well. The loving care she’d shown for him made the lingering pain bearable, and he was glad that side of her persisted after her actualization was broken.

Seeing her like this, remembering the days when she was so worried about his safety, he found it hard to stick to his answer. “Hey, don’t worry.” He whispers to her lovingly as he begins stroking her hair. “We’ll have all of tomorrow to come up with a better solution, I may not have to become Kamoshida’s target at all.”

He knows it’s a longshot, but right now he doesn’t care as long as it eases Sumire’s worries. Hearing this, Sumire backs her forehead away from his a bit to look into his eyes once more.

“Promise?” Sumire asks nervously.

Ren gives her a small smile. “I promise.”

A small smile makes its way onto Sumire’s face as well, Ren pulls her into a kiss and then lays on the length of the couch, Sumire resting on him with her head on his chest as he continues stroking her hair.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Ren says after a few minutes, causing Sumire to look at him curiously.

He stops stroking her hair and she gets off of him looking a little disappointed but still curious, he stands up off of the couch and heads to his room before coming back with a thick book in his hands.

“What’s this, Senpai?” Sumire asks as Ren hands her the book and she starts examining the cover.

“I found it on the desk in my room, I realized recently I never actually took the time to figure out where everything is here other than in the kitchen.” He starts explaining. “This is a Persona Compendium.”

Sumire opens it to a random page. “It’s blank, though?” She asks, confusion showing in her voice.

“All compendiums start like that,” Ren begins explaining before turning it to the first page. “Look here, this is Hikari’s first persona: ‘Frigg’. As she gains more, the pages will start to fill up. In fact, my own compendium was brought here with us.”

He then looks at Sumire again. “I want you to hang on to this one.”

Sumire looks up at him, her eyebrows rising in surprise. “Huh? Wouldn’t it be better for you to have it?”

“I could, but I’m already going to be fusing personas for her. I’ve heard from Lavenza before that Igor used to do the fusions while the attendant would only manage the compendium and in some cases, the skill cards. I think it’s best that we mimic that experience for the Trickster, in case she’s ever tasked with watching over another wild card herself.” He explains, Sumire nods, accepting his explanation even if she doesn’t fully understand it.

“Keep it hidden though, we don’t want anyone to ask questions if someone finds it laying around.” Ren warns her, Sumire nods in response as she slips the compendium into her school bag.

Once she’s done, she looks back up at him with a beautiful smile and a cute blush. “Now, where were we?”

This causes Ren to chuckle and Sumire to giggle as they lay on the couch again, Ren stroking her hair once more.

4/13 Shujin Academy, After School

Hikari stares at a vending machine as she’s swallowed up by her own thoughts, the ones concerning what to get constantly being overshadowed by her growing frustration. She couldn’t get one person to talk, only some vague hint about a boy named Mishima and denial.

As she continued staring at the vending machine, doing nothing as she couldn’t get her head on straight, she hears someone call out to her from behind.

“Can I talk to you for a sec?”

Hikari turns around and sees Takamaki, what could she want?

“What is it?” Hikari asks.

“It’ll be quick.” Takamaki assures her. “What’s with you? First the rumors, then the obvious lie about you being late, and now you’re asking around about Kamoshida?” She asks almost accusingly.

“Whaddya want with her?” Ryuji asks from behind Takamaki.

“Right back at you, you’re not even in our class.” Takamaki deflects.

Ryuji looks at Hikari then back at Takamaki. “We just happened to get to know each other.”

Takamaki then looks between the two. “What are you guys planning on doing to Kamoshida?” Hikari’s first thought would be that she was planning to sell them out, but something about the way she says it makes her doubt that…

“Huh?” Ryuji seems surprised by the question. “Oh, I get it, you’re all buddy-buddy with Kamoshida afterall!” He accuses her.

Takamaki doesn’t take it lightly. “This has nothing to do with you, Sakamoto!” She retorts with a slightly raised voice.

“If you found out what he’s been doin’ behind your back, you’d dump him right away.” Seems even Ryuji believes some rumors, though Hikari finds herself doubting that’s the case.

“Behind my back…? What’s that supposed to mean?” Either she has complete faith in Kamoshida, or her ‘relationship’ with him is more complicated than the rumors imply.

Hikari’s had enough of just watching this play out. “Ryuji, I don’t think it’s that simple.”

“Huh? What d'ya mean?” Ryuji turns to her to ask.

Not answering his question, Hikari turns to Takamaki. “Takamaki-san… you’re not really in a relationship with Kamoshida, are you?”

“Of course not!” Takamaki responds before realizing what Ryuji implied and turning back to him. “Don’t tell me you of all people believed that stupid rumor!”

“Woah, heyhey!” Ryuji starts panicking. “I-I didn’t believe it, I-I just meant that… uhhh…” And… he can’t come up with anything.

Takamaki doesn’t seem to believe the lie either as she groans disgustedly. “Eugh, as if I’d ever willingly go out with him!” She starts walking away in frustration before turning back to them and saying one last thing in a more sober tone: “It won’t help, you know. I get what you’re trying to do, but nobody’s going to help you… and Kamoshida won’t be happy if he finds out. Be careful.” She walks off.

“You two seemed like old friends for a bit there.” Hikari points out, Ryuji looks at her.

“Yeah, somethin’ like that.” Ryuji shakes his head, and looks at Hikari again. “Anyway, you got anything?”

“Yeah, I heard some kid named Mishima was getting ‘special’ coaching from Kamoshida.” She answers him with what little information she got.

“‘Special coaching’, huh? True, I always see the guy covered in bruises. I think he’s still here, we should talk to him before he leaves.” Ryuji tells her and they start heading towards the entrance of the school to catch him if he’s there, or wait for him if he’s not.

4/13 Ren’s Apartment, Evening

“What if we… ummm… Oh! What if we do something to his palace in the metaverse!” Sumire throws her thousandth idea of that evening at the wall, hoping it’ll stick this time.

They’d been at this for over an hour. Sumire knew that if anyone were to play bait, Ren’s the safest bet, but she just couldn’t accept that! Even when she was ‘Kasumi’, she still had that crush on him. It hurt her heart so bad to see him in so much pain every time she visited. Making himself a target would just give Kamoshida an excuse to beat him up, they both knew that and Ren seemed fully prepared to accept it.

Ren shakes his head at her, making her look down at the floor as she tries to keep the tears and desperation from showing. “Only way to do that would end up drawing unnecessary attention to us, we don’t want Shadow Kamoshida to know we’re there either. Nothing should be amiss to the thieves of this world either.”

He’s right again, not that it makes Sumire feel any better. Still, she tries desperately to come up with another idea. “What about…” She can’t come up with anything else, every solution she can come up with would just lead to something worse than Ren’s idea. “...”

With a deep breath, she finally admits defeat. She walks up to him and hugs him tightly as she says her next words: “Senpai… Is there really no better way?”

He starts rubbing her back, and she buries her head in his chest. “If it means you’ll be safe… I’ll take any injuries Kamoshida can give me.” He affirms her.

She really hates this plan, but they have no other choice. It’s either this, or something much worse happening to one of the female students. With no other choices available, she does the one thing she can do, she promises herself to help Ren as much as she can to get through the month.

4/14 Shujin Academy, After School

After yet another day of school, they still can’t get anyone to confess about what Kamoshida is doing to them. Seems Mishima and Takamaki were right, there really wasn’t anything that could be done, the people who knew were doing nothing about it, and those who were victims were too scared to talk.

All of this added up and Ryuji doesn’t seem to be taking it well, after admitting he couldn’t find anyone either, they begin discussing something else they can do. Ryuji makes it clear they can’t simply sneak up on him or tell the cops anything, so that leaves only one option:

“What if we punish the king?” Hikari throws her last idea out, if the metaverse reflects the person in the real world… could it also go the other way?

“The king? You mean that other world’s Kamoshida?” The idea seems to intrigue Ryuji as well. “I didn’t think of that… but would that really do anything?”

“I finally found you!” A familiar boyish voice speaks from behind Hikari.

“You say something?” Ryuji asks after looking around to see no one speaking. Hikari shakes her head.

A black and white cat jumps on the table and starts talking. “Don’t think you can get away with not paying me back for helping you two.”

Ryuji seems surprised as realizes who the cat is. “Morgana!? Is that you!?”

Morgana isn’t done ranting. “How dare you up and leave me the other day!”

“The cat’s talking!?” Ryuji looks completely freaked out.

“I am NOT a cat! This is just what happens when I come to this world!” Morgana explains angrily. “It was a lot of trouble finding you two.”

“Wait, you came to our world!? Does that mean you’ve gotta phone!?” Ryuji questions him.

Both Hikari and Morgana proceed to look at him like he’s an idiot.

“Uh, sorry to burst your bubble, Ryuji… but how exactly would Morgana carry a phone on him?” Hikari points out.

“Oh yeah… whoops. Then how did you come to our world?” He asks sheepishly as he rubs the back of his neck.

“You don’t need a phone when you’re at my level, I did get pretty lost during my escape though…” Morgana admits, it would make sense if he wasn’t used to their world though.

“That aside, why can you talk!? You’re a cat!” Ryuji exclaims.

“How should I know!?” Morgana retorts before changing his tone. “You guys are having a rough time with this, right? I heard you mention something about witnesses.”

“Oh, Shuddup!” Ryuji replies in frustration.

“You know, I could let you guys know how to deal with Kamoshida.” Morgana tells them before looking at Hikari. “You were pretty close just a moment ago.”

“Wait, you mean about punishing the king?” Ryuji asks, then looks around. “Actually, this probably isn’t the best place for it.” He grabs Morgana by the collar. “Here, stick it in your bag for now! It should be just small enough to fit!”

Despite Morgana’s protests, Hikari does as Ryuji says and puts Morgana in her bag. They then head to the rooftop, once they’re there she lets Morgana out of her bag. Morgana, however, didn’t appear to enjoy his ‘ride’ all that much.

“Don’t be so rough with me!” He yells when they let him out.

“Enough of that… you said you know how we can deal with Kamoshida, right?” Ryuji asks him.

Morgana listens to Ryuji and calms himself down a bit before turning to Hikari. “It has to do with what you said earlier. You’ll need to attack his castle.”

“What do you mean by that?” Ryuji asks, Hikari is right there with him, nothing they did in the castle so far seemed to have any impact on the real world.

“That castle is how Kamoshida views the school. He doesn’t know what happens in there, but it’s deeply connected to the depths of his heart.” Morgana explains. “If the castle disappears, it would naturally have an impact on the real Kamoshida.” So he means to remove it entirely? How would they do that?

“Well, for one, how would we even do that, and two, how would that help us?” Hikari can’t help but ask.

“I’ll start with your first question:” Morgana begins answering. “There’s a treasure deep within the palace, if we take it, the whole palace will go with it.”

“Second, a palace is a manifestation of a person’s distorted desires, if we destroy the castle…” He pauses intentionally to allow one of them to complete the sentence.

“Then his desires would go too?” Hikari finishes.

“Exactly, you pick up on things fast!” Morgana praises her.

Ryuji seems shocked by the revelation, it would be a lie to say Hikari wasn’t either. “For real!? He’s gonna turn good!? Wait… is that really gettin’ back at him, though?”

“Does it matter?” Hikari tells him. “If he stops doing what he’s been doing, then that’s enough for me.”

“I like the way you think.” Morgana seems pleased with Hikari. “Though erasing a palace is more like forcing a change of heart. Even though the desires go, none of the actual acts go with them. The palace owner will drown in their own guilt and confess everything themselves, they can’t do otherwise.”

“For real!? That’s possible!?” Ryuji looks like he’s just won the lottery.

“Though…” Morgana looks reluctant to explain this last part. “Erasing a palace will definitely get rid of all the distorted desires, but it could also end up erasing all their desires. The desire to eat, sleep, or simply take care of themselves. Someone without desires would be no different than someone who’d shut down entirely. They could die without being given the proper care…”

“They could die!?” Ryuji shouts.

“Isn’t that a risk you’re willing to take?” Morgana questions him.

Ryuji turns to Hikari, looking unsure. “What do you think?”

“...” Hikari’s not sure at first what to say. “It… might be worth a shot.”

“Seriously!?” Ryuji exclaims.

“Morgana, if the palace represents their distorted desires and only their distorted desires, where are the other ones? Do they have physical manifestations?” She asks.

“I don’t know… I’ve never managed to take out a palace before, I just know how it’s done.” Morgana admits.

“...I don’t know then, do we even have any other options?” Hikari turns to Ryuji and asks.

“I don’t think so… Dammit! I want him gone but I don’t want him dead!” Ryuji shouts as he stomps his foot.

“I guess… I’ll wait on making a decision for now, I don’t really know him like you do, Ryuji, so I’ll trust your judgment.” She ultimately leaves the decision to Ryuji.

Morgana seems to sense the inner turmoil of both Ryuji and Hikari at this moment. “I’ll give you guys some time to make a decision, make sure you have by the time I’m back!” He leaves the rooftop.

“Dammit, I’ll try and see if I can find another way, let’s get going.” Ryuji tells Hikari, she nods and they leave together.

Later…

“Mishima, come here.” Kamoshida commands, Yuuki hates that tone, he’s about to be asked to do something horrible again, isn’t he?

Regardless, he walks over like the coward he is. What does Kamoshida want him to do this time, he wonders. Destroy another student’s reputation? Inform another volleyball student that they’re about to be beaten?

“I want you to call Suzui into my office.” Kamoshida tells him, didn’t he just ask for Suzui a couple of days ago? She didn’t do anything wrong… unless he plans to…Yuuki wants to throw up at the thought, but he chokes the urge down. He could just say no, right? It sounds so easy, but Yuuki can’t bring himself to say the words.

“Mishima, you heard me, right?” Kamoshida asks, Yuuki shudders a bit.

“Y-Yes! Right away!” Yuuki quickly leaves the room and looks for Suzui, he hates himself for it, why can’t he just say no!?

It isn’t long before he finds her, wandering around the second floor. As he’s about to go up to her, he feels a tap on his shoulder, he turns around quickly as it freaks him out. He just sees a frizzy-haired student though, Amamiya, was it?

“Hey, Mishima, I’ve been looking for you.” Amamiya says, Yuuki starts to wonder what he could want.

“What is it…?” Yuuki asks, hoping this doesn’t hold him up too much.

“Well I’ve been looking for you and Shiho.” He then turns to where Suzui is wandering and calls out to her. “Hey Shiho! Over here!”

She turns around and walks over to him, though she still looks dejected. “Yes? What is it, Ren?”

Amamiya’s face forms into a small smile. “Practice is over for you two, right?” He asks, and they nod. “Want to come with me to that diner in Shibuya? Food’s on me.”

Yuuki hesitates and Amamiya gives him a pleading look, mixed with… knowing? Did he hear what Yuuki was being asked to do? Yuuki isn’t really sure what to do right now.

“Oh, sure, are you inviting anyone else?” Suzui asks as she stands next to Mishima.

“Kasumi-san and Sumire will be going with us, Sumire should be getting her right now.” Amamiya answers, so the rumor about him knowing the gymnast honors students was real? “That just leaves you, Mishima, are you coming with us?” Amamiya asks him.

Yuuki snaps out of his thoughts. “Uh-Uhm.. Sure.” He sputters out. Yet again, he agreed nervously, Amamiya’s smile grew a bit wider.

“Alright, they’ll meet us at the front of the school, then we can go.” He tells them, and they begin heading for the entrance. Yuuki hopes Kamoshida doesn’t get too mad about this.

4/14 Shibuya, After School

“This has nothing to do with Shiho!” Ann yells into her phone, the line goes dead. She holds it, stunned, what should she do?

“Shiho’s… starting position…” She says out loud to herself, Shiho worked so hard for it, and it was going to be taken away if Ann didn’t just throw herself at Kamoshida!? …Did she really have another choice though?

She hears someone walk towards her, she jumps back and takes a look, it’s Kurusu, the girl she’d warned about Kamoshida just yesterday. Was she listening?

“Wait… were you listening?” Ann accuses her.

“Not on purpose…” Kurusu responds, for some reason it makes Ann frustrated.

“Have you ever heard of privacy?” She questions before quickly calming herself down. “No… I was out of line, sorry… How much did you hear?”

“You were arguing with someone?” Kurusu tells her, though seeming unsure.

“Yeah… It’s nothing. Nothing at all!” Ann wipes the tears forming in her eyes and runs from it all, maybe if she can get far enough away, all her problems will disappear.

She stops shortly after, not wanting to accidentally run into someone in the crowded area. Unfortunately for her, Kurusu was following and catches up soon after.

“Stop following me… Just leave me alone!” Ann cries out at her.

“Calm down, please.” Kurusu says simply with a concerned tone. “We should go talk somewhere.”

For some reason, Ann goes along with it, she doesn’t know why. “What the heck…? I really don’t get you…”

They head to a nearby diner and sit down, Ann is still unsure why she even came along. It would be nice to get it all off of her chest, but she doesn’t even know Kurusu! How could she just confide in her about it!

“I don’t have anything to talk about with you. It was just an argument…” Ann tells her, Kurusu doesn’t appear to give up just yet though.

“With Kamoshida?” Kurusu guesses, hitting the mark.

Ann sighs. “You heard every last word then…” No wonder Kurusu was so pushy about it, Ann would think she just wanted more dirt on Kamoshida, but she seems genuinely worried. It kind of reminds her of Ren, worrying about everyone even when it shouldn’t  be his problem. Maybe… maybe it wouldn’t be so bad to tell Kurusu about it.

“You’ve heard the rumors, right?” Ann starts, something about actually telling someone about it all just feels right. “About me… about Kamoshida. Everyone says we’re getting it on, but that’s so not true.” She can feel the weight of the world slowly lifting off of her shoulders with every word. “You’re right, it was Kamoshida on the other end… I tried to avoid giving him my number for the longest time. He told me to go to his place after this… you know what that means.”

The whole time she’s talking, Kurusu isn’t saying a word, patiently listening to her story. Though she can see a flash of irritation and the slight clenching of her hand that’s resting on the table.

“If I turn him down, he said he’ll take my friend off as a regular on the team.” Ann turns her head towards her legs in a vain attempt to conceal her tears. “I keep telling myself this is for Shiho’s sake… I can’t take it anymore…” Out of the corner of her eye, Ann sees Kurusu about to say something, before stopping herself at the last moment, Ann continues her thought. “I’ve had enough of this… I hate him! But… Shiho’s still my best friend, she’s one of the few things I have left in that sorry excuse for a school!” She gives up trying to hide her tears as she looks back up at Kurusu in desperation. “Please tell me, what should I do!?”

Ann has to remind herself again that Kurusu isn’t Ren, despite the similarities. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have asked… it’s not your problem…” Even as Ann says that, Kurusu looks like she’s going to make it her problem. The silent determination in her facial expression still looks so much like Ren’s, and Ann’s sure that he would have done the same if he saw her like that.

It causes her to chuckle a bit, but there’s no mirth to it. “You really are a lot like Ren, you know?”

This seems to catch Kurusu off guard, she gives Ann a strange look. “How do you mean?” She asks.

“It’s just… Ren’s not the type to leave something alone if he can do something about it… I haven’t known him for long but… He always tries to help the students on the volleyball team, he even made lunch for some of them and Sakamoto at one point.” Ann explains before getting to the point. “Kind of like what you did just now, you could have left me alone, but you didn’t. Why?”

Kurusu looks lost in a painful memory for a few seconds before answering. “...I used to know someone… nevermind. It’s not important right now.” She quickly dismisses the question with a shake of her head, Ann wonders what she was going to say.

“Well, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.” Ann assures her. “Are you really a delinquent?” Ann changes the subject to one that’s (hopefully) more comfortable for Kurusu. “People have been talking about you… but I don’t see it.”

It looks like Ann achieved her goal as a small smirk makes its way onto Kurusu’s face. “I’m bad to the bone.” She jokes.

This causes Ann to let out a small laugh. “I had a feeling they were just exaggerations, I should have guessed too, since Ren never seemed all that bothered around you. How do you know him anyway?” She asks, Kurusu already told her a few days ago that she wasn’t related to him.

“He knows my guardian, works at his café.” Kurusu answers simply, like she’s told people that a thousand times. Knowing Shujin, she probably has.

“He did tell me he worked at a café once,” Ann responds. “Leblanc, was it?” She asks, Kurusu nods. With her question answered, Ann goes back to thinking about Shiho and starts feeling down again.

“Is there really nothing I can do for Shiho?” Ann shakes her head. “I wish Kamoshida would just… forget about me and everything. As if that’d ever happen…”

“It could happen.” Kurusu responds suddenly, surprising Ann.

Ann laughs again. “I wasn’t asking for a serious answer… I do feel a little better though, thank you.”

At that point the door to the diner opens and two subjects of their conversation enter along with Mishima and Sumire and her sister. Shiho and Mishima seem surprised to see her here, she knows her face mirrors the same surprise.

“Speak of the devil…” Ann says quietly to herself. “What are you guys doing here?”

Shiho starts smiling a bit. “Ren invited us all out for food. He said he’d be paying.”

Sumire’s sister chimes in as she turns to Ren. “I still don’t know why you promised to do that… you know how much Sumire and I eat.”

“Don’t worry about it, just… try to limit the number of servings you get, okay?” Ren asks nervously.

Sumire smiles mischievously as she responds. “No promises, Senpai!”

Ren dramatically sighs in response and both Sumire and her sister burst into laughter, though Sumire’s feels forced somehow. Come to think of it, Ann hasn’t really been introduced to Sumire’s sister yet, has she?

Before she can say anything, Ren has her back. “Oh, you haven’t met Kasumi yet, have you Ann?” He asks, Ann shakes her head as an answer.

“I haven’t, it’s nice to meet you.” Ann says.

“Oh, nice to meet you too…” Kasumi trails off, Ann gets the hint and introduces herself.

“I’m Ann Takamaki.” She replies.

“Nice to meet you, Takamaki-senpai, I’m Kasumi Yoshizawa! Do you want to join us?” Kasumi asks cheerily.

“Sure,” Ann then looks at Kurusu. “Do you want to join them too, Kurusu?”

“Huh?” Kurusu looks surprised by the invitation. “Oh, I’m fine, I should probably be getting ba-”

“Come on, don’t be like that.” Ren cuts her off. “I’m sure Sojiro won’t mind, I can vouch for you if he does.”

This seems to surprise Kurusu even more, she just stares at Ren for a few seconds. Eventually she sighs and gives in. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt,” The smallest of smiles forms on her face. “sure I’ll join.”

They all sit around a bigger table and order their food. Mishima nervously glances around as though he’s not supposed to be here, everyone else talks about various topics as they wait, consciously avoiding anything to do with Kamoshida or the school. Sumire keeps casting nervous glances towards Ren and Ann briefly wonders why, did something happen between the two of them?

Once their food gets there, they begin to dig in, Mishima slowly seems to get more comfortable as time goes on. Eventually, when he’s finished with his smaller meal, he asks the question that Ann’s sure is on most of the students at Shujin’s mind.

“S-So… is it true…?” Mishima looks at Ren. “Are you really… dating one of the honor students?” He asks, glancing between Ren, Sumire, and Kasumi who are all sitting next to each other.

“Yeah,” He gestures to Sumire. “Sumire and I are a couple.” He answers like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, which it kind of is if anyone was paying attention to the way they’ve been interacting with each other.

Ann smirks. “One of the very few rumors that are actually true.” She points out, Ren laughs in return.

“Ha! Yeah, I guess it is.” He replies with a bright smile as he wraps an arm around Sumire and pulls her closer, causing a blush to appear on her face.

Soon everyone finishes their meals, except for Sumire and Kasumi who are half-way through their thirds, Ann finds herself wondering if these two are even human. Ren is just staring at them, a fake smile plastered on his face as Ann’s sure he’s fearing for his wallet’s life. Mishima, Shiho, Kurusu, and Ann herself are all staring at the twins with wonder.

“H-How?” Mishima quietly says to himself.

“What.” Kurusu goes next in total disbelief.

“Uhhhh…” Shiho doesn’t even seem to fully comprehend what’s happening.

“I… see what you meant before now…” Ann finds herself saying to Ren with a little sympathy in her voice.

“Don’t worry, I’m used to it.” He responds, Ann wonders how often he takes Sumire out for food. Probably only on special occasions, she thinks to herself.

After everyone breaks out of their stunned amazement, Sumire and Kasumi finish their third servings, and don’t order anymore, probably out of respect to Ren and not because they couldn’t keep going. Ren pays the bill, everyone thanks him for it and begin to leave. As Ann is getting up, Ren stops her.

“Hey, can I speak to you for a bit?” He asks, his tone has a serious edge to it.

“Sure, what about?” She asks him in return.

“I’ll tell you in a bit, first I need to get Mishima as well.” He says before calling towards Mishima, who also approaches looking confused.

Sumire looks at Ren and a silent conversation passes between their eyes, before he nods and goes outside of the diner then to a place where no one would hear. He sighs deeply and gets to the point.

“Kamoshida almost got Shiho today.” Ren informs them, Ann finds herself gasping as dread fills her body.

“Wh-What?” She asks, Ren holds up a hand to stop any further questions and turns to Mishima.

“Mishima, I want- no. I need you to promise me something, okay?” Ren’s serious side becomes more prevalent as time passes, it’s a whole new side of him, the snarky and sarcastic Ren is gone, replaced by… something else entirely.

Mishima looks down at the ground, as though dreading what Ren is going to say next, but he nods anyway.

“Please stop being Kamoshida’s puppet, can you do that?” Ren doesn’t so much ask as he tells Mishima. “He had you leak Hikari’s record, right? He’s also been having you call the volleyball students to his office.”

“H-How did you know that?” Mishima asks, his tone full of fear.

“Doesn’t matter, what matters is that it’s happening.” Ren dismisses the question. “Please promise me that you won’t do what he tells you to anymore.” He reaffirms.

“B-But… volleyball is all I have, if I don’t do what he says, he’ll kick me off the team! O-Or he’ll… beat me more…” Mishima lamely replies.

“Leave the volleyball team, there’s much more good you can do with your talents than serve him.” Ren assures him. “...And don’t worry about being beaten, I have a plan for that.”

“Huh? What plan?” Mishima asks curiously, but still doubtfully.

“...I’m going to get in his way.” Ren responds, both Ann and Mishima’s eyes widen.

“What!?” They say in unison.

“Don’t do that! He’ll just beat you too!” Mishima warns him.

“Yeah, listen to Mishima! You don’t deserve to get hurt!” Ann can’t believe Ren would put himself at risk like this.

Ren slams his foot against the ground, causing Ann and Mishima to quiet down. “And what? The volleyball members do? Shiho does? If I didn’t stop Mishima today, Kamoshida would have done to her exactly what I imagine he wanted to do to you, Ann!” He retorts with a forceful tone. “It’s better this way, if he’s distracted by me, he’ll have no reason to go after any of you.”

Ann opens and closes her mouth several times, trying to think of something, anything, to convince Ren otherwise. Nothing comes to mind though, Ren looks like he’s made up his mind already, how long has he been thinking about this? She then remembers Sumire’s strange attitude.

“You already told Sumire… didn’t you? She didn’t like it, did she?” She asks, Ren nods in response.

If his own girlfriend couldn’t convince him, how can Ann or Mishima? Ren looks at them and speaks one last time.

“Nothing he can do to me would be any worse than what he would do to you or Shiho, I’ve been through worse anyway…” He says the last part quietly to himself, but Ann still hears it.

“D-Do you really think he would go that far…? With Shiho?” Ann tries to retort one more time, Kamoshida’s bad, but he wouldn’t go that far… right?

Ren gives her a serious look again, there seems to be so much pain behind it. “Do you?” He asks, Ann realizes she does.

Ren shakes his head. “I’ll do my best to keep that from happening, but there isn’t much more I can do.” He tells her.

How far is Kamoshida willing to go? He was willing to blackmail Ann into going to his place and… but… would he really force a random student to…? Of course he would… the disgusting bastard would do anything to get what he wanted… Ren’s taking a huge risk here, just to keep Kamoshida from going that far, but it won’t work forever. What should she do?

She remembers what Kurusu and Sakamoto were doing, maybe if they had a helping hand… it’s a long shot but she could see what they’re up to and help them, right?

She sighs finally. “Fine… I don’t like it, but I can’t really convince you otherwise, can I?”

“No, no you cannot.” Ren answers simply.

Ann says nothing else, instead she just nods and walks towards the station to get back home. She finds herself thinking again: “Why can’t Kamoshida just forget about me? Why can’t he just change?”

Chapter Text

Ann heads home, Ren’s words playing over and over again in her mind. Kamoshida almost got Shiho, Kamoshida is definitely willing to go that far… Ren is going to take the hits for everyone else. If Kamoshida had Mishima go out to get Shiho… and she never arrived… Ann suddenly feels her stomach drop. She quickly gets her phone out of her pocket and calls Shiho.

*ring ring*

“Hey, Ann, What’s up?” Shiho’s voice comes from the other end, sounding just as drained as it had every time Ann talked to her recently.

“Ummm, Can you do me a favor?” Ann asks, hoping Shiho will listen.

“Huh? Sure, what is it?” Shiho asks from the other end.

“Can you stay home tomorrow? Like pretend you’re sick or something?” Ann pleads with her, attempting to emphasize in her voice how important this is.

“Why?” Shiho asks, sounding more alert now.

“I’d rather not say… it has to do with Kamoshida.” Ann really doesn’t want Shiho to know what Ren said.

“I-I see…” Shiho says with a hint of fear in her voice. “I… I can do that, will you be okay though?” She asks.

“I’ll be fine, there’s something I need to do there anyway.” Ann is determined to talk to Kurusu and Sakamoto, she can’t just stand by anymore.

“Okay, please be careful.” Shiho responds, clearly not happy with Ann going.

“I will, I should get going now. Goodbye.” Ann responds.

“Bye.” Shiho replies in turn.

Ann ends the call and continues heading home, she doesn’t care what it takes anymore. She’s going to take Kamoshida down.

4/14 Leblanc, Evening

Hikari finally gets back and walks into the café. Sakura-san, who’s sitting on a chair reading a newspaper, looks up at her and doesn’t seem very pleased.

“You’re late. Where have you been?” He asks gruffly.

Debating her options, she decides to be honest. “I was talking with one of the girls from school about something, then Ren invited us to eat with some of his friends.”

Sakura-san’s expression changes, almost imperceptibly, to one of surprise. It quickly turns back to normal though. “Huh. As long as you’re staying out of trouble I guess.”

He then turns to the clock and lets out a yawn. “Look at the time, seriously, think about how I feel having to stay up here waiting for you.”

Hikari feels a little bad. “Sorry, I’ll try to be quicker about getting back in the future.” She promises him.

“Yeah.” He responds, putting the newspaper on the counter and closing up shop before leaving.

Hikari heads upstairs and puts her stuff away, her phone buzzes with a text from Ryuji.

Ryuji: So, whaddya think of what the cat told us?

Ryuji: I mean, sure I’m pissed at him… but is that really worth killing him?

That’s the big question, isn’t it: Is it better to allow Kamoshida to continue doing what he’s doing, or is it better to stop him even at the cost of his life? Hikari herself doesn’t know what he’s done or what he’d be willing to do.

Hikari: I don’t know. If you don’t want to go through with it, all we can do is find a better way.

Ryuji: Yeah I figured… I dunno what we can do though

Ryuji: I’ll keep looking, see ya tomorrow

Hikari: See you

Hikari puts away her phone and goes to bed.

4/15 Aoyama-Itchome, Early Morning

Ren was surprised to see Mishima approach him while walking to school, Sumire and Kasumi having early practice that day so they couldn’t come with him.

“You shouldn’t have come today,” Ren warns him. “Kamoshida’s already pissed at you, let me get in his way so he has someone else to be angry at.”

Mishima nervously but quickly shakes his head. “P-Please let me help, Amamiya-kun! I’ve already hurt so many p-people j-just because I was afraid to go against him…”

Ren sighs, Mishima’s a good kid at heart, but it’s likely he’d still chicken out if he’s directly confronted by Kamoshida. Regardless, it doesn’t seem like he’s going to listen to Ren, as long as he can keep him out of the way though…

“Fine, there is something you can do to help.” Ren says, Mishima’s face lights up a bit at that. “Stay out of Kamoshida’s sight, and tell Hikari and Sakamoto everything.”

Mishima’s face dims as it fills with confusion. “Huh? Why?”

“They’re the only two people actively trying to stop Kamoshida, right?” Ren asks and Mishima nods. “They’re more likely to succeed if they have more information and more help. I’m certain Ann is going to help them after today, but you know everything Kamoshida’s done so far, she doesn’t.” Ren explains.

Mishima seems to understand and his face lights back up as he nods. “Got it, I’ll do it, Amamiya-kun!”

“Call me Ren.” Ren responds with a small smile of his own.

“O-Oh… got it, R-Ren.” Mishima nervously responds, Ren nods.

“Now, let’s get to school.” Ren tells him, Mishima nods as they continue walking to school.

4/15 Shujin Academy, Morning

“So,  I assume all of you know about the separation of powers? There are three branches in our government.” Mr. Ushimaru drones on about information Hikari has known for years. In front of her, Takamaki is staring out the window not paying attention at all, to her right, Ren is spinning his pen in his hand. His posture and expression just screams: ‘I’ve heard this a thousand times, please move on to something interesting.’

“The National Diet is legislative, the Cabinet is executive, and the Supreme Court is judiciary.” Mr. Ushimaru continues, some students appearing close to falling asleep at this point. “This division of power provides checks and balances, which ensures no one branch becomes unstoppable.”

“Have you made up your mind?” Morgana suddenly pops out of her desk and starts speaking. Next to Hikari, Ren stops spinning his pen momentarily to look at the cat before just ignoring Morgana entirely and getting right back to it. “No matter how much thinking you do, there’s only one option. You’d be better off just listening to me.”

Hikari silently hopes no one can hear Morgana as she quietly whispers her next words to him. “Please don’t talk.” She warns him, as expected the teacher looks around the room.

“Did I hear a cat just now? Could that rumored cat be nearby? Settle down! We’re in the middle of an important lecture!” Mr. Ushimaru shouts, Hikari’s not sure what he hopes to achieve. As far as anyone besides Hikari and Ryuji are concerned, Morgana is just a normal cat.

She’s just glad that Ren isn’t selling her out right now since he definitely saw Morgana in her desk. As Ushimaru turns to write something on the board, Hikari conveniently gets a text from Ryuji, positioning her phone in a way where no one can see it but her… and Morgana, she reads the text.

Ryuji: It’s no use, I can’t think of any other way

Hikari: Focus on class, please

Ryuji: I can’t deal with that shit right now! ‘Sides, what’re we gonna do about Kamoshida!?

Ryuji: Do we just gotta go along with what the cat says?

Ryuji: Urgh, that damn furball…

Morgana doesn’t appreciate the comment very much as he quietly voices his disapproval. “If only he knew I’m reading this too…”

Hikari quickly puts her phone away as Ushimaru finishes writing on the board and turns back around.

“As I was saying…” He starts, Hikari sighs, this is going to be a long day.

4/15 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

Morgana, Hikari, and Ryuji gather around the area next to the vending machines. Morgana jumps up on the table and asks them his question.

“Alright, I’ve given you guys a couple of days, do you have an answer yet?”

Ryuji looks unsure of himself. “I-I dunno, I really wanna do somethin’. But… killin’ him is just…” He doesn’t finish the sentence, Hikari looks back at Morgana.

Morgana looks a little sympathetic, and finishes the sentence for him. “Too far?”

“Yeah…” The normally talkative Ryuji seems stuck, not knowing where to go from here.

Suddenly, they hear a familiar voice behind them. “You guys are still going against Kamoshida, right?” They turn around to see Takamaki, she has a determined look, “I want in.” she declares.

This surprises everyone, Hikari didn’t think her conversation with Takamaki would lead to something like this. Ryuji voices his thoughts first.

“For real!? Weren’t you the one who warned us to stop before!?” Ryuji nearly shouts in surprise, and everyone proceeds to shush him. “Sorry…”

After a few moments, no one around seems to have heard. Takamaki starts speaking again. “Please, let me help! A friend of mine is going to get seriously hurt if we don’t do something!” She desperately pleads with them.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Ryuji asks, confused.

“It’s Ren…” Ann takes a deep breath, Hikari tenses as she talks about him. He seemed so carefree the day before though? “He told me he was going to interfere with Kamoshida’s abuse as much as he could. That he would take the hits if it came to it.”

“He did!?” Ryuji and Hikari exclaim in unison, both surprised he would be so reckless.

“He wouldn’t be that careless, would he!?” Ryuji questions Takamaki.

Suddenly, Mishima turns around the corner and defends Takamaki. “She’s not lying…” He says in a defeated tone. “He stopped me from bringing Suzui to Kamoshida’s office… She didn’t even make any mistakes… I can only imagine what he wanted to do with her must’ve been… worse than usual…”

Ryuji suddenly looks furious. “What!? You’re joking, right!? Please tell me you’re joking!” He frantically looks between them as if trying to find any indicator that they’re pulling his leg.

They both shake their heads, Ryuji’s face turns red with pure anger. He looks back at Hikari and Morgana. “Fine, we’ll go with your plan!” He exclaims, Hikari and Morgana nod in response.

“What plan?” Takamaki asks desperately. “Please let me in on it! I want to help, I can’t stand by anymore!”

Mishima repeats her sentiment as he stands right beside her. “Me too! I’m done being Kamoshida’s punching bag, and I don’t want the same to happen to Ren either!” He tells them with a determined voice.

Ryuji only shakes his head. “It’s too dangerous, just stay out of our way!” He responds, probably a bit too harshly.

“I can’t just do that!” Takamaki retorts frustratedly.

“Neither can I! Not anymore!” Mishima exclaims just as desperately.

Before Ryuji can make any more harsh comments, Hikari butts in. “It’s like he said, it’s too dangerous, the less people know what we’re doing, the better.” She explains to them. “Trust me, if this goes wrong. It goes really wrong. It’s best if you two stay out of it.” Okay, maybe that was also a bit harsh, but she really doesn’t know any other way to put it.

Takamaki lets out a frustrated groan and leaves, Mishima looks at them for a few seconds, seeming a bit nervous, before following Takamaki. Ryuji turns back to Hikari and speaks a bit more quietly.

“I’ll meet you after school by the usual alley, okay?” He asks, Hikari nods in response.

Meanwhile…

“Senpai… are you sure about this?” Sumire asks for the thousandth time as she sits beside him, it’s no bother to Ren though. If she were doing something reckless like this, he’d be just as worried (He probably also wouldn’t even let her do it in the first place…). They’re eating alone, Kasumi having decided to eat lunch in her classroom, and only allowed Sumire to leave as long as Ren accompanied her.

He sighs, “Not really, but I don’t have a lot of options.” he admits. Though he’s made up his mind, no matter how much thinking he does, the only sure way to ensure Kamoshida doesn’t do anything extreme is to be a distraction.

Sumire looks at him for a few seconds before scooting closer and grabbing his hand with her own. “I know… I just wish you didn’t have to do this.”

He squeezes her hand comfortingly as he offers her a small smile, hoping to ease her worries. It doesn’t seem to do so as she still has an unsure expression on her face. They begin eating in silence, once they finish, they put their bentos away and get up. Ren feels a tug on his arm and turns around to see Sumire nervously looking up at him with a small blush on her face.

“Sumi?” He asks, wondering what she could want.

“C-Can you come with me for a few minutes, Senpai?” She asks, Ren simply nods his head. Ordinarily, he’d tease her, but right now doesn’t feel like a good time to do so.

Sumire guides him to a spot in the school hallways where no one can see them. Once there, she looks up at him and seems to be getting her nerves together, Ren doesn’t quite register what’s happening as she quickly wraps her arms around his neck and pulls his head down to meet her lips. After his surprise dies down, he wraps his arms around her and pulls her close. About half a minute later, though it felt longer to Ren, she ends the kiss and looks up at him with a much redder blush on her face. Ren’s sure he’s blushing too.

“F-For good luck…” She stutters nervously. “Please be safe, Senpai.”

Ren shakes off his own blush quickly and smiles as he tightens his grip on her slightly, Sumire burying her head in his chest in response. “I’ll try, Sumi. I love you.”

“I love you too, Senpai…” She responds, a bit muffled.

After a minute, Ren releases his grip on Sumire and she steps away. “We should probably get to class before someone finds us here…”

Sumire nods but her blush never dies down as Ren escorts her back to her classroom before heading back to his own.

4/15 Shujin Academy, After School

“The moment we enter the palace, we’ll treat each other like phantom thieves, I hope you’re ready.” Morgana says excitedly as he appears eager to start.

“Huh? Phantom thieves?” Ryuji asks, confused.

“Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure, that is what we become!” Morgana answers his question with flair.

It has a nice ring to it, but Hikari mostly just wants to get this done. She’s not sure why, but she really wants to keep Ren from getting hurt as much as possible, even though Suzui or Takamaki would get the worse end of that deal. “Got it, we should get this done as quickly as possible though.”

Ryuji looks at her in understanding. “Yeah, if we take too long, who knows what Kamoshida might do.” He turns back to Morgana. “I’ve gotta admit though, that sounds really cool!”

Then he frowns as he looks at his phone. “How the hell does all this work? Did someone make it?”

“I don’t know,” Hikari replies. “It just appeared on my phone one day.”

“Creepy… but at least it’ll help us.” Ryuji looks back at Hikari as he responds. “We’ll show that effin’ Kamoshida!”

Hikari nods and pulls out her phone, then goes to the history on the ‘navigation’ app and hits Kamoshida’s name.

Nearby…

Ann turns to Mishima, who’s standing next to her as they’re both watching Sakamoto and Kurusu from around the corner. “They really are going to do something to Kamoshida…”

“I don’t see how using their phones is going to do anything though… maybe they already have evidence?” Mishima does his best to figure out what they’re doing.

As Ann is about to respond she feels lightheaded and clutches her head, Mishima appears to be doing the same. Then… three figures emerge from the alley and go up to where the school is as Ann and Mishima attempt to collect themselves. Looking back at where the school should be, it’s now a massive castle, what the heck just happened!?

“Alright time to bust on through!” One of the figures says, maybe Ann should’ve kept quiet but she was too shocked to care.

“What is this!?” She shouts, the figures turn to her and Mishima.

“T-Takamaki!? And Mishima!?” Ann would recognize that voice anywhere.

“Wait, Sakamoto!? That would mean…” She turns to the other figure who looks female. “You’re Kurusu-san!?”

“Wh-What’s going on!?” Mishima chimes in beside her, looking terrified.

Sakamoto doesn’t appear to be doing much better. “Wh-Wh-Why are you two here!?”

“How should I know!?” Ann retorts, just wanting answers about what all this is. “Where are we!? Isn’t this the school!?”

Mishima looks like he’s about to pass out from sheer shock the longer he looks at the scene in front of them, Ann herself isn’t doing much better.

Then the third figure begins to speak, looking at it more closely it appears to be some kind of cat-thing? “I see, perhaps she was dragged in because of that app thing.” It says, Ann is too terrified to comprehend whatever the heck it just said as there’s a talking cat-like-thing right in front of her!

“Wh-What is that thing!? A monster cat!?” Mishima beats Ann to the punch.

“I’m not a cat!” It responds, clearly frustrated at Mishima.

“You two better explain what’s going on! I won’t leave until you do!” Ann shouts at them, whatever the cat thing is, it doesn’t seem dangerous.

“Y-Yeah, me neither!” Mishima shouts but sounds a lot more apprehensive than Ann as he looks ready to bolt any second.

Sakamoto, instead of explaining anything, turns to Kurusu. “Looks like we gotta force ‘em. How’re we supposed to do that, though?”

“Just take them back to where we came in, that’s how it worked before, right?” The monster cat replies.

“Oh yeah, you wanna lend me a hand?” Sakamoto asks Kurusu, who nods.

“What’re you-” Ann gets cut off.

“We’ll explain after everything’s over, please wait until then!” Sakamoto says as he and Kurusu approach them.

“Hey, w-wait!” Ann desperately pleads, the two ignore her though as Sakamoto easily pushes her towards the alley.

Mishima puts up no resistance to Kurusu pushing him, and then like nothing happened at all, the world returns to normal. Where the castle was, the school is instead, she looks at Mishima.

“Urgh, those idiots!” Ann channels her inner Sakamoto and kicks the wall before turning back to Mishima. “...Now what?”

“I-I don’t know…” Mishima admits, still looking startled by the whole experience.

Ann sighs and pulls out her phone… before seeing a mysterious looking app that definitely wasn’t there before.

“What!? This wasn’t here before!?” She exclaims before remembering something. “Wait… didn’t Sakamoto and Kurusu use an app to get there?”

“U-Uh… maybe?” Mishima doesn’t seem too sure, but Ann knows what she heard.

She taps on the app to open it, a couple more clicks and she’s in the history, where Kamoshida’s name is displayed. “It is! We can go back!” Ann says excitedly, if this has anything to do with Sakamoto and Kurusu’s plan to take down Kamoshida, then they can help!

“Are you ready?” Ann asks Mishima as she holds her finger over the button.

“Uhm… I think… I think I’d rather stay here…” Mishima admits, it seems his desire to help had been overcome by fear.

“Your choice, I’ll see you when I get back.” Ann tells him, she isn’t about to force him to come along if he doesn’t want to, after all.

Mishima walks away and Ann hits the button.

Meanwhile…

“The Shadows have noticed us. You better brace yourselves, got it?” Morgana then turns to Hikari. “We’re counting on you, Joker!”

“Joker? That a nickname?” Ryuji asks, looking a bit confused.

“It’s a codename, what kind of phantom thief would use their real name?” Morgana asks rhetorically. “Plus, there’s no telling what kind of effect yelling our real names would have on the palace…”

“So, why’s she Joker?” Ryuji asks the question that is also on Hikari’s mind.

“Because she’s our ace when it comes to fighting strength.” Morgana answers.

Hikari’s not sure if it fits though. “You sure? I mean, it didn’t feel like I was doing any more damage to the Shadows than you two.” She points out.

“Just go with it, you’re Joker!” Morgana insists, Hikari just rolls her eyes and nods.

“It isn’t too bad, what should mine be?” Ryuji asks, seeming excited by the prospect of having a codename.

“Let’s see…” Morgana thinks for a bit. “You’ll be… ‘Thug’”

“You pickin’ a fight!? I’ll just choose one myself!” Ryuji clearly doesn’t like the name. “It’s gotta be about this mask. How ‘bout you guys call me: ‘Skull’?”

“If you’re happy with it, we can use it.” Morgana replies clearly just trying to get them to move on.

“It sounds good, I like it.” Hikari tells Ryuji, who grins in return. She then turns to Morgana. “What is yours going to be?”

“How ‘bout: ‘Mona’?” Ryuji answers for him, clearly just using a name that would be easy for him to remember.

“Well, if you guys think it’s easier to call me that, I’ll go with it.” Morgana doesn’t appear to like the name very much, but will at least tolerate it for now. “Remember to only use these names while in the metaverse: Joker, Mona, and Skull. Let’s head in.”

The three of them then head to the vent which, somehow, had not been closed yet. Once inside, they found they couldn’t go to the main hall, as a ton of shadows were gathered in there to take orders from Shadow Kamoshida. Deciding to go another way, they run into a shadow that turns into one of the fairies they’d seen before. Morgana decides to use the opportunity once striking its weakness to teach them how to negotiate with shadows. What happens next is not what they were expecting…

“Give us some money, and we’ll let you go.” Hikari demands the downed shadow.

“You’ll let me live if I give you some money?” The shadow asks, Hikari nods. “This happened so suddenly though… I don’t actually have anything on me.”

“Wait what? This isn’t going how I was planning…” Morgana mumbles to himself, clearly not expecting a shadow to have nothing on it. “If that’s the case, I guess it’s time for you to go to hell.”

“W-Wait!” The shadow cries out. “Can’t we work something out? Don’t kill me, please! Just let me go!”

Hikari looks to Morgana for advice, he shakes his head, Hikari sighs. “You chose the wrong enemy.”

“Wow, you’re really confident.” The shadow responds. “But I’m the same way, in any other situation we’d get along really well.” The shadow then looks surprised all of a sudden. “Woah, I feel different, something’s happening! I remember now! I don’t belong just to Kamoshida… I’m an existence that drifts about in the sea of humanity’s souls… I am ‘Pixie’! From now on, I’ll live inside your heart!”

The shadow then turns into a smooth white eye mask with messy black along the edges, identical to Hikari’s mask, before flying into Hikari’s face. Morgana and Ryuji both jump back in shock.

“Wh-What was that just now, what happened!?” Morgana questions.

Ryuji hops on board the question train. “Yeah! The hell was that about!?”

Before any other questions can be asked, another shadow enters the room and turns into a two horned horse, the same that had pinned them down once before. As another fight starts, Hikari feels another presence within her. Calling upon it, she summons Pixie and strikes the horse with lightning, the fight ends soon after that.

“Was that the shadow from earlier!? Wait, does that mean you can use multiple Personas!?” Morgana asks Hikari, though it feels more like he’s thinking out loud.

“What was that!? What did you do, Joker!?” Ryuji questions, completely stunned by Hikari’s new power.

“She sealed the shadow’s appearance and powers into a mask, and made it her new Persona…” Morgana answers, it doesn’t look like even he knew that was possible.

“Think it’ll come in handy?” Hikari asks a little awkwardly, not used to being the center of attention even with all the rumors at Shujin.

“Of course it will!” Morgana answers. “Normally people would only be able to have one Persona, I didn’t even know what you just did was possible!”

Hikari would admit, feeling the presence of both Frigg and Pixie within her was a little weird, is she going to have more than one voice speak in her head now? Regardless, Morgana seems to think the ability is going to be very useful, she wonders what other applications this could have for their team.

The three go to the next room and sneak their way past the shadows in there, only taking one of them on and getting a Bicorn out of it. After more trekking through the palace, they enter what Morgana calls a ‘Safe Room’. A place that escapes the control of the palace ruler, where no shadows can enter.

“Say, aren’t there even more shadows here than before?” Ryuji mentions. “Just gettin’ this far’s been a huge pain.”

“It probably has to do with what we heard earlier.” Morgana offers.

“What do you mean?” Ryuji asks in response.

“Lady Ann said that her friend got in Kamoshida’s way, right?” Morgana asks to which Ryuji nods. “Kamoshida probably isn’t too pleased about it, even if he doesn’t know who did it yet. It makes sense the security of the palace would rise after he’s been thwarted.”

“That’s right…” Ryuji seems to recall something. “Damn, never took the guy for a hothead, he always seemed more rational when I’ve seen him.”

“Speaking of which,” Hikari decides to use the break in action to bring up something that’s been bugging her. “You still haven’t told me how you two know each other.”

Ryuji sighs. “He made me some lunch after I got back from the hospital… I never really knew what to think about him though.” His fist clenches. “He was the only one who was really nice to me after all that…”

Before the discussion can continue further, they hear voices on the other side of the door.

“Still, why was the princess in such an odd place?” One shadow says. Princess? Do they mean the Cognitive Ann?

“I could’ve sworn we were pursuing the readings of an intruder…” That gets Hikari’s full attention. Did someone else accidentally end up in the palace as well? Maybe it was the same person Morgana thought he felt before?

“It doesn’t matter now. We must take her back to King Kamoshida!” Another shadow responds.

“I’m gonna go investigate, stay here!” Morgana quietly whispers to Ryuji and Hikari.

After a bit Morgana comes back looking frantic. “This is bad! They got Lady Ann, the real one!”

“What!? But we sent her back earlier didn’t we!?” Ryuji responds, the situation slowly dawning on him.

“If Lady Ann got the app, it’s possible she found a way back in.” Morgana answers.

“Oh no, Don’t tell me it got put on hers just like mine!?” Ryuji quietly yells to himself. “We shouldn’t waste any time then! Let’s get to her!”

Nodding, Morgana guides them to where Takamaki was taken. They enter to find a disgusting scene, cognitions of all the girls on the volleyball team are strewn about the room, topless and squealing praises to ‘King Kamoshida’. At the far end of the room, Takamaki is bound with two shadows keeping guard over her. Shadow Kamoshida and the cognition of Takamaki are talking to her. Morgana, Ryuji, and Hikari approach in hopes to stop whatever is about to happen.

“Takamaki!” Ryuji calls out as they approach.

“Just as I was about to start enjoying myself…” Shadow Kamoshida mutters irritably.

“What’s the deal with this guy!?” Takamaki cries out.

“How many times are you going to keep coming back!?” Shadow Kamoshida turns to Takamaki. “I bet you’re just like those thieves. You came because you’re pissed at me, huh?” He chuckles to himself smugly. “I should have known you had something to do with Suzui never showing up, or maybe it was that boy you always talk to during lunch… Amamiya was it?”

“Keep him out of this!” Takamaki yells back.

“It’s really too bad I can’t just expel him for getting in my way…” Kamoshida fakes somberness before it turns back into that infuriating smug look of his. “Guess I’ll have to show him what happens when I get crossed some other way!”

“Don’t you dare do anything to him!” Takamaki struggles against her bonds, trying to free herself.

“Once I’ve taught him a lesson… I think I’ll take another shot at Suzui. If you’re going to be so reluctant to throw yourself at me, I’ll just have her take your place!” Shadow Kamoshida’s face looks completely twisted now, it’s really disturbing to Hikari.

One of the shadows takes another step towards Takamaki, clearly intending to execute her. Ryuji shouts out as tries to run towards her before the other two shadows hold their swords to her throat, causing Ryuji to stop.

“Take another step and I’ll kill her on the spot!” Shadow Kamoshida shouts to them. “Just enjoy the dismantlement show… maybe I’ll start with her clothes…”

Cognitive Ann laughs. “You’re such a perv~”

Ryuji turns back to face Hikari. “H-Hey, what do we do?”

Hikari doesn’t know, she shakes her head, it’s too risky to try anything at the moment. Takamaki looks scared for her life as she continues to struggle, one of the guards approaches her. Takamaki stops struggling suddenly, as though she realizes it’s useless at this point. Hikari can’t take it anymore either; she’d seen the girl the day before, how much she resented Kamoshida. In a last desperate attempt, Hikari tries to do the same thing with Takamaki that she did with Ryuji.

“Are you just going to let him get away with this!?” HIkari cries out, shocking Morgana, Ryuji, and even Takamaki.

Takamaki appears to get it though as she turns to Shadow Kamoshida with an infuriated look on her face. “She’s right… I’ve had enough of you, you son of a bitch!” She shouts out at Shadow Kamoshida.

Then Takamaki starts crying out as she writhes in pain, it worked. She’s awakening to a Persona.

A red mask that kind of looks like a cat appears on her face, she bursts through her restraints and pulls it off with as much force as she seems able to. Her pained cries stop as a large pink woman in a dress appears behind her, the literal definition of femme fatale as she stands on one ‘man’ while holding another on a string. Takamaki’s school outfit turns into what looks like a skintight red bodysuit with zippers.

In one smooth motion, Takamaki steals a sword from one of the shadows and kills her cognitive version. Even though it’s just a cognition and likely will simply come back, Hikari can’t help but feel a little satisfied seeing that abomination go down.

Takamaki looks in Shadow Kamoshida’s direction as the remaining shadows in the room move to defend him. “You know what? I’m not just some cheap girl you can toy with… I’m done being your plaything, you better be ready. I’m going to come at you with everything I have!”

“How dare you! Enough of your insolence!” The shadow in gold armor shouts back before… turning into a demon on a toilet? Honestly, it’s not even the strangest thing Hikari’s seen in the last week.

“No, I’ve had enough of you! Let’s go, Carmen!” Takamaki retorts as she gets ready to fight. Hikari, Ryuji, and Morgana rush to join her.

For a demon, Hikari wasn’t expecting its weakness to be fire. Unfortunately, she never picked up a shadow that could use fire attacks, luckily it seems Takamaki has them covered there. The shadow is hardly a challenge as they pelt it with attacks from every direction. They fall into a rhythm with their fighting strategy: knock it down with fire, lay into it with their weapons, heal anyone who got injured if need be, repeat. After a few minutes, the shadow goes down, although it was a little tougher than the knight riding a horse they fought before. Hikari silently wonders if the shadows will keep getting tougher as they go.

Seeing the shadow go down, Shadow Kamoshida flees the room. Takamaki tries to go after him but stumbles to the floor, she must be exhausted from the awakening. Ryuji uses the opportunity while there are no more enemies to question Takamaki.

“Why’d you come back!? And how!?” He asks frantically.

“Hey, is that how you speak to a lady!?” Morgana berates him. “Are you alright Lady Ann?” Looks like Morgana’s trying his best to appeal to Takamaki.

“‘Lady Ann’? Wait…” Takamaki looks Morgana up and down. “What is this thing? Is it alive? How can it talk?” Morgana takes a hit from every question until the last one: “Where in the world are we!?”

“J-Just calm down. Everything’s going to be okay, don’t worry.” Morgana tries his best to assure her and hide his emotional pain.

If there’s anything you don’t want to tell someone on the verge of freaking out… it’s to calm down, and Morgana is about to learn that the hard way. “How am I supposed to calm down!?” She suddenly realizes what she’s wearing. “Huh? Why am I dressed like this!? When did I-” She quickly tries to cover herself. “What’s with this place!?”

“We’ll explain everything,” Hikari says quickly. “But first, we should get out of here.”

“Alright… You better tell me everything though!” Takamaki tells her, Hikari nods.

They rush out of the palace, managing to evade the shadow patrols searching for them. Once back, Takamaki looks out of breath.

Takamaki takes another deep breath before talking. “...Okay, now tell me everything!”

“You guys made it back!” A familiar voice calls out to them, they turn and see Mishima running up to them. “You’ll tell me everything, right? Just like you said?”

Hikari sighs but nods regardless, this is going to be a long discussion.

Earlier…

Ren idles, pretending to be on his phone, as he waits to see if anyone goes to Kamoshida’s office. It’s the only place in the school where Kamoshida would be able to do anything he wanted to any student, while Ren wishes he could help the volleyball team’s ‘practice’, it just isn’t feasible at the moment.

What he doesn’t expect is for Kamoshida to approach him.

“Amamiya-san!” Kamoshida says in a fake cheerful teacher voice, it makes Ren sick. “Would you like to come to my office? I have something I want to discuss with you.”

Some students surrounding them watch the interaction and start whispering to each other, Kamoshida’s fake smile has a hint of malice to it. He knows in this situation the average student couldn’t say ‘no’, as it would result in negative rumors about said person. While Ren couldn’t care less about his reputation, he can use this to his advantage to keep Kamoshida’s attention on him.

He takes a deep breath. “Sure, lead the way.”

Chapter Text

4/15 Ren’s Apartment, Evening

Sumire idly taps her fingers against the fabric of the couch as she waits for Ren to get back. After leaving school she’d gone straight to his apartment and got in using a spare key he’d given her. She wanted to see him as soon as possible, just to make sure he’s alright. It should be fine, right? It’s only been a day since Ren started going against Kamoshida, even if he found out somehow, a one-time offense couldn’t be that bad, right?

Every minute the door doesn’t open makes Sumire more anxious than the last, she keeps checking the time, it isn’t too late and Ren did tell her he’d stay at school for a bit. Yet she can’t get the bad feeling to go away, all she wants is for Ren to open the door and tell her everything’s fine, that he’s okay. That Kamoshida hadn’t touched him.

Sumire hears the front door open, causing her to jump a bit as she quickly gets up and rushes towards it. All of her fears are confirmed when she lays her eyes on him.

At the doorway, Ren is leaning against a wall, his form seems lackadaisical, his expression gives nothing away. To anyone else he’d seem perfectly fine aside from the bruises on his face but they’d be easy to explain away as just falling, Sumire knows better. She’s seen him like this before, the memories start flooding her mind.

‘Kasumi’ stands in front of Leblanc, a bento of food (this time without curry flavoring) in her hands. She takes a deep breath and heads inside, Sakura-san looks over at her from behind the counter.

“Welcome, I’m guessing you’re here to see the kid?” Sakura-san asks.

‘Kasumi’ nods her head. “Yes! If it isn’t too much trouble.”

“It’s no trouble at all,” Sakura-san assures her before his voice sobers. “In fact, I think he could use the company.”

“I-I see…” ‘Kasumi’ replies, looking down at the floor, her usual bubbly attitude all but gone.

“Well, you should head on up, good luck.” Sakura-san urges her, she nods once again.

Without saying another word to Sakura-san, ‘Kasumi’ heads up the stairs and into Ren’s room. He’s sleeping in his bed, she’s glad, he needs the rest after everything he’s been through. She pulls up a chair and sits next to the bed, she sets down the bento she’d brought with her and examines Ren’s face.

It’s covered in bruises and scratches, it pisses ‘Kasumi’ off. How dare those interrogators do this to him? She wishes Ren would’ve let her on the team just so she could give Shido’s shadow a piece of her mind, and maybe also a rapier to the face.

Ren unconsciously shifts his position a bit, his face scrunching in pain as he does so. Now he’s facing ‘Kasumi’ as he lays on his side, it hurts her heart, seeing him like this… She brushes some of his hair out of his face… or tries to at least, it just falls back in place as soon as she lets go.

Normally the action would cause ‘Kasumi’ to giggle or at least smile, now it just causes the frown already on her face to deepen. “Senpai…” She quietly whispers to herself.

Ren begins to stir from his sleep and looks up at her. “Kasumi…?” He asks groggily, he starts to get up but ‘Kasumi’ pushes him back down.

“Don’t get up! You need to rest…” She tells him sternly.

Ren chuckles a bit but winces slightly. “Okay, you didn’t tell me you were coming over today though, what’s up?”

“W-Well… I got off practice early today and I thought I could make up for last time I tried to make you lunch…” She admits, looking away as she feels her face heat up a bit.

“I told you before… It was fine, I just wasn’t expecting it to be curry flavored.” He recalls the moment, a slight smile making its way onto his face.

Something about him remembering that day with fondness, even if she totally messed up… It makes her feel warm inside and she lets a smile bloom onto her face as well.

“Even so… I wanted to make it up to you!” ‘Kasumi’ insists, grabbing the bento off of the floor and presenting it to him. “You don’t have to eat it now if you’re still tired… but I tried really hard to make it work this time!”

Ren lets out a laugh. “I am tired, but I’m also really hungry. Thanks, Kasumi.”

He sits up again, this time ‘Kasumi’ doesn’t push him back down, instead handing him the bento. Ren takes a bite as ‘Kasumi’ watches him anxiously, hoping she got it right this time.

“This is really good!” Ren exclaims, causing ‘Kasumi’ to let out a breath she only now realized she was holding.

“I’m glad you like it, Senpai!” She cheerfully replies with a wide smile on her face.

The smile persists as she watches Ren demolish the rest of the food hungrily. Once he’s finished, he hands the bento back to her.

“Thanks, Kasumi.” He says as he lifts up a hand to pat her on the head.

‘Kasumi’ internally screams as she feels a deep red blush appear on her face, it takes her a bit to collect herself enough to reply.

“Y-You’re welcome, Senpai…” She finally responds, Ren starts to laugh. Her face gets hotter as her embarrassment rises. “Senpai!”

“Sorry,” Ren pauses for a bit to control his laughter. “You can be really cute sometimes, that’s all.”

“I-I-I-uh… uhm- Senpai!” This was exactly the wrong reply for ‘Kasumi’s’ current dilemma, her heart’s doing backflips as she can almost feel steam coming out of her ears.

Her reaction only seems to cause Ren to burst into laughter again. She’s about to admonish him before he suddenly gasps and clutches his ribcage. ‘Kasumi’ suddenly remembers why she’s here in the first place.

“Are you okay, Senpai?” She asks worriedly.

Ren nods dismissively. “I-I’m okay, it just hurt a bit, that’s all.”

“W-Well… you should get some rest…” She tells him worriedly.

Ren snorts. “Who are you? Morgana?”

‘Kasumi’ isn’t having it. “I’m serious, Senpai! Please, get some rest…”

“I know, I know. I promise I’ll get some rest.” He assures her before lying back down and closing his eyes to prove his point. “See? Resting.”

‘Kasumi’ rolls her eyes at him and gets out of the chair she’d been sitting on. “Well, I probably shouldn’t interrupt your rest. See you later, Senpai!”

“See ya, Kasumi.” Ren responds with a slight wave.

‘Kasumi’ leaves the room with the bento she’d brought, her mind lingering on the last several minutes with Ren. She hates how good he is at hiding his pain, if it weren’t for the obvious marks on his face and his few pained reactions, she wouldn’t have even known.

The memory fades as Sumire quickly rushes to the door and supports Ren, wrapping his arm around her shoulder and holding her arm to his back as she guides him towards the couch. It doesn’t matter if he didn’t need it, he may not even be as hurt as he looks, but Sumire couldn’t stand seeing him hurt at all.

“Senpai! Are you alright!? What happened!?” She has a very good guess of ‘what happened’ but it’s her last hope of Ren’s injuries being some accident and not Kamoshida’s doing.

They reach the couch and sit down, Sumire positioning Ren so he’s leaning against her. Ren looks at her and sighs as he sees her worried face.

“Kamoshida happened, guess I wasn’t careful enough…” Ren answers reluctantly, Sumire’s chest tightens at the mention of Kamoshida.

“S-Senpai…” Sumire swallows nervously. “I-I…” She doesn’t know what to say, how to convey her feelings, fears, and worries about this.

Ren grabs her hand, seeming to understand her feelings even without her managing to say anything. “I know, Sumi. I know.” He takes a deep breath. “It’s too late to do anything about it now, even if we did have a better solution…”

It wasn’t what Sumire wanted to hear, but it was the truth. Unsure what else to do, she embraces Ren before pulling back and leaning him against the couch instead.

“I-ummm… I’ll go get a hot towel for the bruises…” Sumire tells him as she gets up, Ren nods in response.

Sumire heads to the bathroom and grabs a hand towel before turning on the tap water as hot as it will go. After waiting for the water to heat up sufficiently, she runs it over the hand towel. Once the towel is mostly wet, she turns off the water and twists and squeezes the towel to get any excess water out so it won’t drip onto the floor.

She heads back to Ren with the damp hand towel and presses it against one of the bigger bruises on his cheek. Ren gives a wry smile at her actions, but makes no move to stop her from doing them.

“It’s just some bruises, it’s not like I’m paralyzed, Sumi.” He tells her, Sumire shakes her head.

“I know… just… let me do this much, please?” She insists, Ren lets out a low chuckle in return as he lets her continue.

After a few minutes, the towel loses its warmth and Sumire removes it from the bruise. Ren’s skin is still bruised, but a little lighter than it was before. She repeats the process a few more times that night on a few more bruises until she inevitably has to go home. 

When she first saw Kamoshida’s change of heart, she was a little unnerved.

Now, she can’t wait to see it happen.

4/16 Kichijoji, Early Morning

Kasumi stands near the station waiting for Sumire to arrive with Ren. It was a little strange to Kasumi, usually they’d just wait for Ren at the station, for some reason though, ever since they’d met up at the diner, Sumire’s seemed more protective of Ren. Along with that she also looked more down whenever he was brought up.

Once Sumire and Ren arrive though… Kasumi figures out why.

His face is covered with bruises and the small amount of wrist she can see through his blazer appears to be no better. On top of that, he looks exhausted, like he didn’t get any sleep last night.

“Ren-senpai! Are you okay!? What happened!?” The surprise and worry of seeing him like this is plainly evident in her voice.

A strained smile appears on Ren’s face. “I’m okay, it’s not as bad as it looks…”

“That doesn’t tell me what happened!” Kasumi almost shouts in response, garnering weird looks from passersby.

Ren’s smile completely disappears and he avoids eye contact with her. “Kamoshida called me into his office yesterday… you can probably guess what happened after that…” He reluctantly replies.

Kasumi’s eyes widen as she looks from Ren to Sumire for confirmation. Sumire’s bleak look and silent bubbling fury is all Kasumi needs. Is no one safe from Kamoshida then? Ren shouldn’t have had any connection at all to him, he wasn’t on the volleyball team and he wasn’t actively going against Kamoshida either, so why Ren?

Kasumi nervously runs a pinky across her bangs, a habit she’d admittedly picked up from Sumire recently. Kasumi sadly frowns but says nothing, only heading towards the station as Ren and Sumire follow behind. Normally she would have said something, but for one of the rare occasions of her life, she has no words. Only an ugly feeling in her stomach and a firmer resolve to keep Sumire away from Kamoshida at all costs.

As they board the train and head to Shibuya, she keeps casting glances at Ren’s bruises. He said it wasn’t as bad as it looks… while it looks like they were treated a bit, most likely by Sumire last night, they still look really bad…

Maybe she should head over to his apartment after school with Sumire. Even if he’s getting the support he needs through Sumire, it just feels wrong to leave him be. What to do though… Oh! She could make him something! Except… she’s no good at baking or cooking, not like Sumire…

Urghhhh, she’ll think about it later. Right now what’s important is keeping Kamoshida away from Sumire.

They transfer trains and arrive at Aoyama-Itchome before heading to the school, Ren noticeably hesitates upon arriving at the entrance but soon shakes his head and enters anyway. The ugly feeling returns as they part ways at the second floor, she sighs and heads to her class.

4/16 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

Haru examines her garden again, it’s been quite healthy since Ren started helping out. He had a bunch of useful tips about keeping the garden healthy that he told her as they worked on it. She lets out a true smile, ever since she met him, every day seemed that much brighter. Haru’s not entirely sure why, spending time with him just makes her… happy for some reason.

All of a sudden, the door to the rooftop behind her opens. She turns around to see… Ren… but something’s wrong. His face looks all beat up and there are bags under his eyes, telling her he hasn’t slept well recently.

“Ren, what happened!?” She quickly gets up from where she is to inspect the bruises.

“Oh, I fell over yesterday, it’s no big deal.” He answers, but it doesn’t ring true to Haru.

Looking closer, the bruises don’t look like an accident, they look like someone hit him… The realization makes Haru furious, but she decides to not press Ren about it as it’s clear he doesn’t want to talk about it.

“...Well as long as you’re here… are you willing to help me with the garden?” She does her best to keep the anger out of her voice.

Ren simply nods, no sign of the eagerness she’d come to expect from him present on his face. They get to work, plucking weeds, fertilizing, and watering the garden. Ren’s moving as efficiently as ever, but he seems out of it, like he’s thinking intently about something…

Haru feels a pit in her stomach and pain in her heart, she’s never seen Ren seem so… Tired? Apathetic? Neither word seems like it quite fits, but it looks like he’s going through something awful right now, maybe gardening is a sort of escape for him? Just like it is with her? That would make sense considering how eager he was to start helping her at first.

As much as she wants to broach the question, it’s clear Ren doesn’t want to talk about it and she doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable either. Her frustration moves from whoever hurt him to now being unable to do anything about someone hurting him… She lets out an audible sigh though Ren ignores it, or maybe he just didn’t hear it while he was stuck in his head.

Eventually, the bell rings which seems to snap Ren out of whatever trance he was in as he prepares to leave.

“Wait!” Haru calls out, with a slight feeling of deja vu. Ren turns to her and looks confused. She actually hadn’t thought out what she wanted to say so she just goes for the first thing that comes to mind. “I-Is there anything I can do for you, Ren? Anything at all?”

She doesn’t want to feel useless, like she can’t help a friend in need. Haru mentally crosses her fingers hoping Ren will take the offer. Unfortunately, it’s quickly snuffed out with Ren’s next words.

Ren gives a simple smile, hiding the pain Haru knows is still there. “I don’t need anything, thanks for the offer though. See you on monday.” With that, he turns away and quickly leaves.

The pain in Haru’s chest increases, she’s not really sure what to do… It wouldn’t feel right to pry into Ren’s personal affairs when she hides her own from him. Still… if this continues without any sign of stopping, she may not have any other choice.

She heads back to class looking at the floor the whole way, a feeling of dread rolling in her stomach.

4/16 Shujin Academy, After School

Hikari can’t help but keep casting glances Ren’s way as she packs up her stuff in preparation to meet with Mishima, Ann, and Ryuji on the rooftop, Ann having already left the room. Within her bag, Morgana does the same, peeking out occasionally with a look of concern. Ren’s just sitting there, not making any move to get up, although that’s not what has Hikari’s attention. It’s the splotches of discolored skin all over his face and wrists.

She wouldn’t really blame him for not wanting to get up, for maybe even being afraid to do so. His face tells a different story though, his look is not one of fear or uncertainty, but one of intense determination. That’s all Hikari needs to know Ren’s not planning on going home, but rather ‘getting in Kamoshida’s way’ once more.

As Hikari finishes packing up, she heads out of the room. Once out of earshot of the other students, Morgana perks up out of her bag and speaks quietly.

“We’d better hurry with this…” His voice is a stark contrast to anything she’s heard out of him before. Rather than being one of feigned confidence or irritation, it’s one of sympathy and worry.

Nodding in response, Hikari meets up with everyone else on the rooftop, Morgana hops out of the bag and they begin their discussion.

“Listen up! I know you’re all probably eager to head in, but there’s something we need to do first.” He announces to everyone, who turns to him in anticipation. “Treading through a palace can be really dangerous, we’ll need to stock up on supplies like medicine and weapons.”

“Huh? But… Wasn’t there stuff like that in the palace already?” Ryuji asks, confused.

Morgana rolls his eyes. “If you think you can survive on the barebones amount of supplies we can get from the palace itself, be my guest. If you really want to take out Kamoshida though, we need something more reliable.”

“Ohhh I get it, I know this really cool place in Shibuya we can get weapons at!” Ryuji offers, Morgana happily nods in return.

“That solves one problem then, does anybody want to go with him to check it out?” Morgana asks as he looks around.

“Oh Uh-Uhm… I will…” Mishima raises his hand and stutters about it.

“Uh dude, if you’re nervous about goin’ to an airsoft shop, you don’t have to.” Ryuji tries to assure him, Mishima shakes his head frantically.

“N-No! I want to help, just a little. I can’t go to the palace with you guys, a-and I haven’t even done as much as Ren-kun has! Please, let me do at least this much.” Mishima pleads with them.

“Fine fine, but nobody’s gonna judge ya if you wanna chicken out.” Ryuji reiterates.

Morgana clears his throat to get everyone’s attention again. “Anyway, now we just need to find a place to get medicine.”

“Where would we even do that?” Ann asks, but Hikari remembers something.

“Oh! I know! There’s a general practitioner who went to Leblanc one time, I don’t know if I’ll be able to convince her… but it’s our best bet right now.” Hikari informs them.

“Alright, we’ll go there, and Yuuki and Ryuji will go to the airsoft shop, does that sound good to everyone?” Morgana asks as he looks around, everyone nods or otherwise voices their agreement.

“Good, we can meet back up tomorrow and head in if this works out… I really hope it does…” Morgana says the last part quietly to himself.

With that, they split off for the day and head to their respective locations. Hikari prays this all works out, for Ren’s sake as much as everyone else’s.

4/16 Kichijoji, Evening

Ren stumbles his way back to his apartment, he barely managed to stop Kamoshida from taking a female student to his office. Once again, he took the place of the would-be victim. “Still, this is better than what he would’ve done to the girl.” Ren assures himself mentally once again, it’s the only thing keeping him going right now.

He still remembers being in that interrogation room, still has nightmares from time to time about it. He clutches his stomach as he thinks about it. For some reason, getting hit there sends him right back to the interrogation room, right back to that awful place where one wrong move would end with his death.

He shakes the thoughts out of his head, Kamoshida at least had the ‘mercy’ to not hit him in the stomach a whole lot. Though it’s more likely he just didn’t realize what it truly did to Ren. No, the place that took the most hits were his legs, not enough to break them, but enough that every step he took sent a painful jolt through each of his legs. Ren’s slightly worried he’ll just collapse before he ever makes it back, but he reaches the door before that happens.

Opening it and heading to the couch, he’s greeted to a scene he wasn’t expecting. Kasumi is sitting on the couch and he smells something good coming from the kitchen, which must mean Sumire’s in there.

Kasumi looks up at him and smiles, “Welcome back, Ren-senpai!” She's smiling but her eyes tell a different story as they look him up and down in clear worry.

Ren manages to keep his composure as he walks over and sits down next to her, feeling instant relief as he does so. Not even half a minute later, Sumire rushes out of the kitchen. Unlike Kasumi, she doesn’t bother trying to hide the worry as she rushes to him before carefully pulling him into a hug, trying not to irritate any unseen injuries.

Ren returns the embrace and pulls her down onto the couch with him, through the corner of his eye he sees Kasumi awkwardly looking away. Thankfully it appears like Sumire doesn’t notice as she continues hugging him, just gently enough that it doesn’t hurt.

Eventually, Sumire appears to be hit by a wave of self-consciousness as she suddenly pulls away with a red face. “O-Oh! Sorry, Kasumi!” She apologizes, Kasumi just waves it off.

“Don’t worry about it!” Kasumi assures her. “If anything, I think he needed it.” She points to Ren, who just now realizes he has a massive smile on his face.

Sumire lets out a small sigh of relief as she turns back to Ren. “A-Anyway… I made us all some dinner… I can bring you a plate if you want.”

Ren’s smile widens. “That would be great. Thank you, Sumi.”

Sumire smiles in return with a hint of the blush from before as she heads into the kitchen. Ren feels a tap on his shoulder and turns to see Kasumi looking a bit nervous. He tries to think of a time he’s actually seen her nervous about anything and the closest he can come up with was when she asked him to help her get a present for Sumire, but that was more worry than nervousness.

“Ummm… Ren-senpai…” Kasumi starts, looking like she’s trying to find the right words.

“Yeah?” Ren responds, really curious about what she could want.

“So… I kind of wanted to do something for you, but I can’t really cook… and your apartment is already spotless as it is…” She attempts to explain as she reaches into her bag for something, and pulls out a book before taking a deep breath. “I decided to see what I could get you from that mall in Shibuya… and well… I hope you like it!”

She hands him the book and he reads the title out loud. “Arsène Lupin - Gentleman Burglar…” Of all the things she could get him, he smirks a bit.

“...Do you like it?” Kasumi asks, still looking nervous.

“I love it, this is one of my favorite series. I never actually owned this book though.” This is a half-lie, he does have the book in his own reality, but he doesn’t have it here.

It’s Kasumi’s turn to let out a sigh of relief. “I’m glad you like it, Ren-senpai!” She replies, back to her regular cheery self.

At this moment, Sumire enters the room again with one plate for Ren and one for herself. Kasumi gets up off the couch as Sumire sits down and heads to the kitchen herself, presumably to get some food.

Ren shows Sumire the book in his hands with a teasing smirk. “Did Kasumi have you help her pick this out?”

Against Ren’s expectations, Sumire actually shakes her head. “No, it surprised me as well when she first showed it to me after she bought it. I did tell her you’d like it though when she asked.”

Ren chuckles to himself, with all Sumire told him about Kasumi, it was a surprise she could be so nervous about gift-giving. Though he does wonder how she thought he’d like it, he never actually brought his tastes up to her before. He shakes the thought out of his head as he sets the book down and grabs the plate Sumire’s offering him.

“Thanks, Sumi.” He tells her again, she smiles and nods.

Kasumi enters the room again and sits on a chair instead of the couch, they all say their thanks for the food and dig in. As expected, the food Sumire made is delicious, it always surprises Ren just how good she is at cooking. After finishing the food, Sumire gets up, takes Ren and Kasumi’s plates, and leaves the room. She comes back with a hot towel as she repeats the process from last night. Ren doesn’t mind though, it’s just another reason he loves her.

The three discuss various topics, although still consciously avoid talking about Kamoshida, as Sumire tends to Ren’s bruises. Eventually, Kasumi heads home as it gets late, Ren’s expecting Sumire to do the same but instead she seems to choose to stay as she continues to do all she can to help him.

“Sumi, I appreciate everything you’re doing for me, but shouldn’t you be getting home?” He can’t help but ask as he checks the time again.

Sumire just smiles as she responds. “Oh, don’t worry about that… I already have permission to stay over tonight.” Her genuine smile shifts to a teasing one. “Don’t you think you can get rid of me that easily, mister!”

“Hmmm… Bold of you to assume I want to get rid of you.” Ren responds with a teasing look of his own. Truth be told, he’s really happy she’s staying over, maybe he’ll actually get some sleep tonight. “Thanks, Sumi.” He tells her with a genuine smile on his face.

Sumire’s expression shifts to confusion as she tilts her head. “Huh? What for?”

“For being here for me, it really helps, you know?” Ren explains as best as he can.

Sumire smiles again as she moves the towel away from his face for the final time that night and sets it aside. She snuggles up to him as they move to a lying position on the couch. “I’m happy to hear that…” She coos in response. “I love you, Senpai.”

Ren’s smile somehow widens even more as he hears that. “I love you too, Sumi.” He kisses the top of her head as she rests her head on his chest.

For the millionth time since Ren and Sumire arrived, he’s really glad that he’s not doing this alone.

Chapter Text

??/?? ???, ???

Ren feels blood on his lip and pain everywhere else. Where… is he? He opens his eyes but it’s hard to see anything as he can’t seem to focus them. He hears a distinct sound, like someone speaking, but his hearing’s too hazy to make it out either. Then he feels something cold splash onto his face, it at least helps with the haziness he was feeling as now he can focus on what’s around him.

An unfortunate side effect is now the pain he was feeling is about ten times more intense than before. He looks around, there are three men in a dark room with him, the one closest to him speaks up.

“No dozing off.” The man orders Ren.

Still unsure of what exactly is going on, he tries to move his hands only to find that they’re bound behind the chair.

“You still don’t get it, do you…” The man begins mocking him. “Give it up!” He kicks Ren off of the chair and onto the floor, knocking the wind out of Ren.

The man then grinds his foot on Ren’s head. “Come on, cooperate. Or what, you want another shot?”

Ren looks and sees the syringe on the floor, the little amount of awareness he has is able to put two and two together and he realizes he must’ve been drugged. Looking around the room more, he sees a camera, but something tells him it’s either not on or the footage wouldn’t help him anyway.

“Huh? What about the camera?” The man bends down and picks up Ren’s head by his hair. “Are you thinking it can be used as video evidence?”

Ren chooses not to respond as he continues trying to figure out how he got here, he fails to recall anything.

The man slams Ren’s head back down on the ground suddenly. “Didn’t hear my question? Answer!” The man winds up for a kick.

Ren’s eyes widen as the foot travels to his gut, it connects and then-

Ren flinches awake as he feels a cold sweat on his forehead and a pounding heart. “Dammit, again!?” Ren starts taking deep breaths to control his rapid heartbeat, as he  does this, he feels Sumire start to stir next to him. He strokes her hair gently in hopes she’ll fall back asleep, it appears to work as she settles back down and her grip on him tightens.

Ren looks out the window as he continues taking deep breaths, it’s still dark out. He grabs his phone from off the nightstand and checks the time. April 17th, 2:30 in the morning.

He sighs as he puts it back, but suddenly realizes how dry his throat is. Carefully prying Sumire’s arms off of him and managing to not wake her in the process, he lifts her head off of his chest and lays it on a pillow instead. Ren then gets up, leaves the room, and heads to the kitchen.

He grabs a glass cup out of the cabinet and fills it with tap water, he drinks it and savors the cool sensation in his throat. He takes another deep breath and finally feels his heart rate return to normal. He takes another drink then sets the cup down on the counter, before sliding down to the floor with his back against it, deep in thought.

The nightmares are nothing new, but it’s been a while since they’ve been this vivid. It was like he was back in that interrogation room again, gambling with his own life. He never regretted it, but he’d be a liar if he said he wasn’t completely terrified at the time. An even bigger liar if he said he was over it.

“Senpai…?” Ren hears Sumire’s voice before the light to kitchen turns on, temporarily causing him to blink a few times as they adjust to the light.

Next to the light switch is Sumire, she has the same worried expression she’d worn earlier, only it seems to increase exponentially once she actually sees him.

“Senpai!” She cries out as she rushes to his side. “Are you okay!?”

He strains a smile as he tries to mentally shake the memories out of his head. “I’m fine, I was just thirsty.” He tells her, not wanting her to worry too much.

“Senpai…” Sumire’s tone tells Ren she doesn’t believe him.

Ren sighs again. “I had a nightmare… about the interrogation… It woke me up and I decided to get a drink. That’s all, really.” He attempts to assure her.

Sumire suddenly wraps her arms around him comfortingly and presses her head into his neck. “Ren, you’ve helped me so much… th-through everything! Please, let me return the favor!”

Ren lets out a simple smile as he returns the embrace. “Trust me, Sumi. You’re already doing more than enough.” He assures her again, whether she believes it or not, it’s the truth.

Sumire pulls away from his neck and looks him in the eyes for a bit, she then sighs. “I just… I just wish I could do more… It hurts, seeing you like this…”

Ren can see the tears forming in her eyes as she says this, he pulls her head into his chest as he allows her to sob freely as he strokes her hair again. After a minute or two she stops and moves her head to look up at him again.

She lets out a sad laugh, no humor present. “Pathetic… You’re the one in pain and here I am, the one being comforted.”

Ren gives her a somber smile as he brushes a few strands of hair away from her face. “Don’t be so hard on yourself…” He says softly as he begins rubbing her back. “This hasn’t exactly been easy on either of us.”

“Senpai! Don’t downplay what you’re going through just to make me feel better! Nothing I’ve gone through here has been even close to what you’re going through right now!” Sumire berates him, Ren simply keeps his sad smile.

“I’m not… Have you been alright? With Kasumi, I mean…” This is something he’s been wanting to ask for a while, Sumire seemed to be able to be herself around Kasumi again, but Ren doubts that it’s easy either.

Sumire looks away, her expression tells him everything. “I-I… No… it’s been getting better, but I still have a hard time looking at her…” She admits as she buries her head in his chest again.

Ren continues stroking her hair in silence, it’s kind of comforting to him… Holding her close, being there for her when she needs it. It’s nothing new, it was something he’d discovered all the way back when he first revealed to Sumire that he hadn’t actually died. Reassuring her did a better job of helping him move on than anything else, not that he’s completely moved on but he hopes he can get there eventually.

Ren suddenly remembers how late it is. “Uhhh, Sumi?” She looks up at him again. “We should probably go back to bed…” He nervously chuckles.

Realization dawns on Sumire’s face. “O-Oh, right! I totally forgot, sorry Senpai!”

“Don’t worry about it, I was the one who woke you up either way…” He reminds her before instantly regretting it as Sumire’s expression falls.

They shuffle back to bed, both down from the conversation. Luckily, a few minutes after they get back in bed the tension drops as their drowsiness overtakes them. Ren crosses his fingers he won’t get thrown head first into another nightmare.

4/17 Café Leblanc, Morning

Hikari has never been much of a morning person, she’s happy about the opportunity to sleep in after the rough week, even if she didn’t draw the shortest stick. Unfortunately, her sleep is prematurely ended by shouting downstairs.

“Wh-What the hell happened to you, kid!?” Sojiro yells from downstairs, causing Morgana to jolt awake beneath Hikari’s legs.

“M-Mreow!?!?” Morgana, the totally not-a-cat, cries out in confusion.

Hikari quickly gets out of bed and peaks downstairs, not wanting to physically go down in her pajamas. It looks like Ren came in for work, which is strange, considering it’s Sunday. Those thoughts are put aside for the time being as he looks even more beat-up than he was yesterday. It’s not surprising, but it causes Hikari to subconsciously clench her hand into a fist as she heads back to get ready for the day. Now motivated to get through the palace as quickly as possible.

Morgana, who’d gone to look with Hikari, turns to her with a grim yet determined expression on his feline face, somehow. “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

Hikari’s face turns into a twisted smile as she nods. “We’re heading to the Palace. Today.”

“Mwehehe!” Morgana mischievously laughs in response. “I knew I was right about you! Let’s contact everyone and meet at the school.”

Hikari nods again, grabs her phone, and goes to the group chat with Ann, Ryuji, and Yuuki.

Hikari: We’re heading to the palace today, meet at the school in an hour

Ryuji: Ohhhh yeah! I’ve been waitin’ for this!

Ann: I can’t wait, see you guys there!

Yuuki: Ummm… What can I do?

Hikari: Do you think you can come to Leblanc? Ren’s working today and it would be nice to have somebody keep an eye on him

Yuuki: Got it! I’ll be there in a bit!

“I’ll leave you alone for a few minutes while you get changed, then we can head to the school.” Morgana says, hopping onto the window sill, Hikari nods in response as she begins to get dressed.

Meanwhile…

Ren probably should’ve thought this through, he thinks to himself as Sojiro shows overwhelming concern for him.

“Wh-What the hell happened to you, kid!?” Sojiro sputters about as bad as he did when Futaba told him Ren was a phantom thief.

“I… don’t have a good answer for that…” Ren admits, not really wanting to lie.

“Jeez kid, you look like you got mugged!” Sojiro continues with shock on his face. “You sure you want to work today?”

“I’m fine, it’s not like-” Ren gets cut off.

“You are not fine!” Sojiro’s fatherly instincts start to kick in. “Sit down, let me take a look at it.”

Ren sighs to himself but doesn’t argue, he sits down in one of the booths as Sojiro walks around the counter and takes a closer look at his face.

“Well it looks like you at least tried to treat it.” Sojiro observes, his expression now looking even more troubled. “Will you actually answer me this time? What the hell happened? ”

As Ren’s thinking of how to respond without getting Sojiro even more concerned, Hikari comes down the stairs with Morgana in tow inside of her personal bag.

“I’m going out with some friends, I’ll be back later.” She says as she’s passing by, but Sojiro stops her.

“Wait here one second, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about how this ” He gestures to Ren. “Happened, would you?” He questions her in a stern, but not accusing, tone.

Hikari stops and looks at Ren… apologetically? Before turning to Sojiro. “He was assaulted. By a teacher.” She says matter-of-factly, causing Ren to groan.

Sojiro’s eyes widen. “He was what? ” He turns to Ren for confirmation, who reluctantly nods.

Sojiro really starts laying into him now. “So let me get this straight. You were assaulted by a teacher and, instead of doing anything about it, you went to work!? ”

“Do you think I’m an idiot?” Ren asks rhetorically, hoping to gain an advantage in the conversation. “It’s being handled, there’s nothing more I can do about it now.” He casts a glance at Hikari as he says this.

“…Are you sure you’re okay?” Sojiro asks again, Ren nods. Sojiro sighs. “Fine, but you’re staying behind the counter today.” He then casts an annoyed look in Hikari’s direction. “You’re meeting with friends right? Then get going, you don’t want to make them wait, do you?”

Hikari nods and proceeds to leave with Morgana. Ren gets up out of the booth, puts on an apron, and heads behind the counter before shooting Sumire a quick text.

Ren: Sumi, can you watch over the thieves in the palace today?

Sumire: Okay, Senpai! I’ll let you know if anything happens

Ren: Thanks, Sumi. See you later

Sumire: Bye!

Ren smiles as he puts away his phone, with Sumire looking over them today nothing should go wrong.

4/17 Kamoshida’s Palace, Daytime

Sumire perches on a rooftop where she observes the new phantom thieves from above. This is her first time ever entering the metaverse without Ren, excluding Niijima-san’s palace. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t nervous, but she knows she can pull it off, Ren wouldn’t have asked her otherwise.

Sumire waits for the thieves to enter the castle before quietly following behind. She had brought some stealthonol with her but the effects don’t last long so it would be better to hold off on using it for now. She follows them through various hallways and rooms until they end up in the map room.

Ren had been concerned about Kurusu-senpai not being able to figure out the mechanism since the only reason he knew to try pulling the chains was because of his Third Eye, something Hikari may not ever get access to. So instead of leaving it to chance, they unlocked the mechanism and ensured it couldn’t be relocked. A process they had repeated for some future puzzles.

Sumire applies some of the stealthonol as now she needs to be closer to the thieves and watches Kurusu-senpai curiously approach the map on the table.

“Uhhh, are ya sure we should be grabbin’ that?” Sakamoto-senpai asks cautiously. “This whole room looks kinda like a trap to me.”

Morgana looks a bit surprised as he turns to Sakamoto-senpai. “Huh, that’s very observant coming from you, Skull.” He ignores the ‘What’s that supposed to mean!?’ response from Sakamoto-senpai as he continues. “But yes, it should be perfectly fine to grab it. This palace isn’t based on anything high tech and there don’t seem to be any hidden mechanisms on or around the table itself.”

Kurusu-senpai still looks nervous as she approaches the table and quickly grabs the map, waiting for a second but then calming down as nothing seems to go off. She takes a look at the map.

“This looks like some kind of map?” Kurusu-senpai observes, turning to Morgana.

“Oh! That’s really good! Maps found within palaces are a necessity when it comes to infiltration routes!” He tells her, looking extremely pleased about the find.

Kurusu-senpai looks through the whole map. “This doesn’t appear to be complete though, think we’ll have to find another one?”

“Probably, it’s pretty normal for palaces like this one to have multiple maps.” Morgana explains. “We’ll just have to find it, let’s make do with this one for now though.”

They leave the room right as Sumire feels the stealthonol start to wear off, she lets out a breath she didn’t know she was holding as she continues to follow them. Their fighting is pretty sloppy, she observes, it’s not nearly as coordinated as her own experience fighting alongside Ren. She starts wondering how much Kurusu-senpai’s journey mirrors Ren’s, and if she’ll get to see how much Ren actually grew throughout his journey.

Eventually, they make it to an area that looks kind of like a cathedral. There are no guards in sight but Ella warns Sumire of a dangerous presence, one she could defeat with ease, but the same cannot be said for the current thieves. When everybody is distracted, she hops up to the upper area as she watches the thieves look around the room below.

“Oh I get it! The gym is a holy place for him, he’s a god there!” Sakamoto-senpai yells out in clear frustration.

“I can’t believe he still thinks like that! Especially after everything he’s been doing!” Takamaki-senpai’s tone seems to match Sakamoto-senpai’s rage.

“That bastard makes me sick! Just you wait, Kamoshida!” Sakamoto-senpai stomps his foot on the ground to get his point across.

“I see… So you’re the ones who tampered with the library. It seems my time waiting here has paid off…” The voice of the shadow Sumire felt says.

A puddle of black and magenta bursts from the ground as a guard wearing golden armor appears. “Just as that ape said, this place is sacred ground for our great King Kamoshida!”

The shadow then bursts into an Archangel… Wait a minute… Isn’t Archangel strong against bless and weak against curse? The thieves don’t have any personas that can use curse though! Sumire readies herself in case things head south.

“You will pay for foolishly defying King Kamoshida… with your lives!” The shadow declares.

A fight breaks out, this shadow is significantly stronger than the other ones the thieves had faced thus far. It doesn’t make any move to dodge their attacks but it’s tough and a lot stronger than they are. It starts to become clear that they’re struggling with this fight, which feels strange to Sumire, Ren had told her some stuff about this fight it didn’t seem like he struggled nearly this much.

After what definitely should have been enough hits to take it down, it’s still going, hardly bothered at all. Sumire soon realizes the thieves won’t win this fight as they all get knocked down at once. The shadow begins to approach Kurusu-senpai slowly as it readies its sword.

“Ha!” It laughs. “You never learn do you, miscreants? Nobody steals from King Kamoshida.”

Kurusu-senpai pushes herself off of the floor but clearly in a lot of pain, she won’t be able to fight back anymore. Looking at the other thieves, it doesn’t seem they’re doing much better. The shadow raises its sword as it prepares to finish Kurusu-senpai off. Sumire quickly grabs her rifle and shoots the shadow.

The loud echo of her gun going off makes everyone freeze in place as the shadow stumbles back from the sudden attack, not enough to take it out though. Sumire leaps from her perch onto the ground below as she takes a deep breath and puts on a mask of pure confidence, secretly hoping it’s even half as good as Ren’s.

She turns to look at the downed thieves and tosses a bead chain their way. “Take this and heal, stay back. I’ll deal with the rest.”

The shadow looks pissed now. “Another one? You knaves never learn, do you!”

It rushes Sumire and tries to strike her with its sword, she dodges easily. It’s fast, but she’s far faster. She unsheathes her rapier and strikes the shadow in the back, causing it to stumble from the deep wound.

“Argh! How dare you!” The shadow shouts angrily.

Another strike, another dodge. Sumire jumps in the air and slashes the shadow across the face, it finally dissolves. This is worrying though, that shadow should have gone down from just one rifle shot, she shrugs it off. If there was any manipulation from the ‘Yaldabaoth’ that Ren keeps talking about, this was probably as far as it went for this palace.

Sumire turns to the thieves once again. “I suggest you leave for the day. Come back better prepared next time.” She tells them, she turns back to where the shadow once was, she really needs to talk to Ren about this.

The shock of the thieves seems to finally wash away as Morgana looks at her somewhat suspiciously. “Who are you!?”

Sumire stops and thinks for a moment, it probably isn’t a good idea to let them know who she is just yet. “That isn’t important, what is important is that you’re all still alive. You won’t stay that way if you remain here though.” She begins walking towards the exit as she faces away from them. “You’re lucky I was here, I think I’ll take my leave now.”

“H-Hey wait! Come back!” Morgana tries to call out to her.

She doesn’t listen as she rounds the corner, applies more stealthonol, and rushes the rest of the way out of the palace. It’s probably not a good idea to straight up exit the palace though, so instead she enters mementos and makes the rest of the way to the station before reappearing in a secluded spot and taking off the silver bracelet. She heaves a sigh of relief as she lets her mask fall, she wonders how Ren does it so effectively.

Speaking of Ren… Sumire grabs her phone and texts him.

Sumire: Ummm, can I talk to you? Something weird happened in the palace today and I had to intervene

Ren: Sure, my shift will take a few more hours though so just meet me at my apartment

Sumire: Got it, Senpai! I’ll wait for you there

Ren: See ya there, Sumi

Sumire smiles at the nickname as she does almost every time he uses it, she puts her phone away and enters the station, allowing the tension from the palace to seep away from her. She couldn’t help but be a little giddy from her fight though, there was just something so satisfying about coming out of a fight unscathed.

Back in the palace…

Hikari and the others made haste to follow the mysterious girl they’d encountered, once they got to the palace’s entrance though… It was clear the girl was long gone, who was she? Why was she here? Was she also going after Kamoshida’s treasure? These are the questions that were on everyone’s minds at the moment. Once the sheer fear and terror from the fight that nearly cost them their lives faded, Ryuji finally broke the silence.

“Okay… WHAT THE HELL WAS ALL THAT ABOUT!?” He yells way too loud and Ann slaps the back of his head.

“Be quiet!” She hisses, Ryuji apologizes as he rubs his head. Ann turns to Morgana. “Still, what was all that about? …And is it just me or did that girl seem really experienced?”

Morgana shakes his head. “...I don’t know, Zorro felt that she was really strong though.” He turns fully to face the rest of the thieves. “Unlike you guys, she’s definitely cleared a palace before, probably even more than one.” He seems to sense the burning questions everyone has for him. “We should follow her advice and head back to the real world though, this is something we should discuss with Yuuki as well.”

Nobody argues as they head back to the real world and Hikari takes her phone out of her pocket to text Yuuki.

Hikari: Something strange happened in the palace, we’re planning on discussing it somewhere. Do you want to join us?

Yuuki: Oh, I’d like to! But should I really be leaving Ren alone right now? He seems even worse than yesterday

Hikari: Don’t worry about it, I’m sure Sojiro will keep him from doing anything rash at the moment

Hikari: Meet us in Shibuya, alright?

Yuuki: Got it! See you there!

Hikari puts her phone away as she turns to face everyone. “Okay, Yuuki’s going to meet us in Shibuya. We should get going.” She tells everyone.

They all voice their agreement and head to Shibuya before waiting outside of the station for Yuuki. After a few minutes, he exits the station and walks up to them.

“Hey guys, so what happened in the palace?” He asks quietly, a clear look of confusion on his face.

Morgana pops out of Hikari’s bag. “We should go somewhere first, isn’t there a diner around here?” He suggests.

Ryuji nods and looks excited all of a sudden. “Oh yeah! I’m starvin’ let’s go there!”

“Of course you are…” Ann mumbles quietly to herself before speaking louder. “Come to think of it, I’m kinda hungry myself.”

“So do we all want to go to the diner?” Hikari asks just for the sake of it, everyone nods in response. “Alright, I don’t remember where it is though… Can you guys lead the way?”

Ryuji leads the way and everyone follows, they enter the diner and find a table. The four, Morgana being a cat so he can’t exactly order, place their orders. While they wait, they fill Yuuki in on what happened in the palace. After they finish, Ryuji speaks up about something that had likely been on his mind the whole time.

“Okay… was it just me, or was it impossible to make out anything about that girl?” Ryuji asks.

Yuuki looks confused for a second. “Huh? What do you mean?”

Hikari thinks she knows what he’s talking about though. “You mean those shadows covering her face and hair?”

That was another thing about this girl… The clothes she was wearing appeared very clearly, the black mask with silver highlights, the black leotard, and the matching black jacket with coattails… but anytime she tried to focus on the girl’s hair or face, the shadows on her just grew until Hikari couldn’t tell what they were anymore. She didn’t even know the color of the girl's hair, she just couldn’t make it out.

Morgana seems to understand as well. “Actually, I have a theory about that…” Everyone turns their attention to him. “Well the Metaverse is built from cognition, right? What is the purpose of a mask?”

“To conceal your identity?” Ann asks, seeming more engaged to what Morgana is saying than she had ever been to anything a teacher told her.

“Exactly, so naturally if we don’t already know who that is… wouldn’t the cognition of the mask make it completely impossible to tell?” Morgana proposes his idea.

“So… you mean that we won’t be able to tell who that girl is unless we already know her in the real world?” Ryuji seems kind of confused.

“Not necessarily, I think we would just have to already know who’s behind the mask.” Morgana answers, Ryuji still seems to be scratching his head though.

“So… how would we figure that out?” Ryuji asks.

“Well… I imagine if we watched her summon her persona, since it requires you to remove your mask, that might allow us to figure out who she is.” Morgana answers once again.

“...But that was never an issue with Ann or Yuuki, was it?” Hikari asks as she raises a brow.

“...Actually…” Ann starts talking and everyone turns to her. “You guys just seemed like… mysterious silhouettes when I first saw you, with the exception of Morgana. It wasn’t until Ryuji talked that I figured it out.”

“And when she called you guys out, I could see you clearly too.” Yuuki adds.

So it seems like Morgana’s theory might actually have something to it, still there’s something more important to talk about.

“Should we even go back to the palace? We nearly died today.” Hikari asks Morgana.

“I think we should be fine, we don’t know why the girl was there, but that shadow seemed way stronger than anything else I’ve seen in that place.” Morgana answers with a shake of his head. “It would be a good idea to follow her advice though and prepare even more than last time.”

“Got it, I don’t want to wait too long before heading back to the palace though…” Hikari trails off.

Ann realizes why. “That’s right… Ren…”

Silence consumes the table as quiet frustration at both Kamoshida and Ren’s predicament fills their hearts. Eventually, the waitress brings them their food and they dig in, the delicious food helping the down mood somewhat. No more words are exchanged between them though, not even as they pay for it and begin to head home. All Hikari knows is she’s not going to let this roadblock keep her from helping Ren.

4/17 Ren’s Apartment, Evening

Ren had just got home and is now sitting next to Sumire on the couch as she explains what happened in the palace. Hearing the details of the Archangel fight makes him slightly concerned.

“You’re sure none of them recognized you?” He asks, just to be sure. “I mean, your hair is pretty distinct.”

“I’m sure, maybe they were too winded from the shadow’s attacks?” Sumire suggests with a shrug of her shoulders.

“Maybe…” Ren contemplates her response but can’t help but think there could be more to it. He shakes his head, at the very least, they didn’t recognize her. “Still, it seems like Yaldabaoth isn’t taking a backseat this time. We’ll need to keep a close eye on mementos from here on out, it’ll be easier for him to change things there than in the palaces.”

“Alright, Senpai… Do you think there’ll be more like that shadow in the palace?” She asks, Ren shakes his head.

“No… getting even one in there would’ve been extremely difficult for Yaldabaoth, palaces are separate spaces in the metaverse that escape his influence after all.” He explains. “Although… Do you have practice after school tomorrow?”

“No, I have it in the morning, why?” Sumire looks at him curiously.

“Do you think you can scout out the palace tomorrow and see if you can find any other major shadows?” Ren asks.

“Sure, do you want me to kill them?” Sumire asks but Ren once again shakes his head.

“No, these could be valuable for the growth of the phantom thieves, just leave some better items in the rooms or safe rooms before it.” He tells her, she nods her head.

“Got it, Senpai!” She cheerfully says before her mood drops at a sudden realization. “...You’re still going to be going against Kamoshida, aren’t you?”

Ren nods and Sumire tearily embraces him again. “...I-I can’t convince you otherwise… But can you please tell me if you get any more nightmares?”

Ren nods as he returns the embrace and pats her on the head. “I promise, Sumi. I promise.”

Sumire looks at the time. “Well, I should get going.” She pecks Ren on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow. Okay?”

Ren nods with a smile. “See you tomorrow, Sumi.”

Sumire doesn’t move for a few seconds, seeming hesitant to leave Ren, she forces herself to move as she gets up off the couch and Ren walks her to the door. Once more she seems reluctant to leave, Ren grabs her hand and gives it a comforting squeeze.

“I’ll be fine, you can go, Sumi.” He assures her, Sumire gives him a small sad smile as she nods and heads out the door.

Ren stands at the door for several seconds after she leaves, he didn’t exactly want her to leave either. Shaking his head, he prepares to go to bed, then actually gets in bed, then stares at the ceiling with his eyes wide open, praying he won’t have to relive the interrogation once more.

Whatever deities exist answer his prayers as he fades into a dreamless sleep.

Chapter Text

Over the next few days, Hikari, Morgana, Ann, and Ryuji make the rest of their way through the palace while Yuuki keeps them informed on what’s happening with Ren. As they head through the palace though, there seems to be a lot of medicine and restorative… things (Morgana calls them soul drops) throughout it.

“Yeesh, if Kamoshida wants to keep us out of his palace, why is there so much stuff helpin’ us here?” Ryuji asks as they find more soul drops within a safe room.

“This stuff doesn’t only help us, shadows can use them too.” Morgana informs him before seeming to contemplate something. “Still, there is an unnatural amount of useful items in this place… Maybe that’s why the girl was here?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Hikari asks curiously.

“Well…” Morgana collects his thoughts. “Soul drops and the like are extremely handy for thieves when they go through palaces. The more you have, the longer you can last. If that girl discovered that there was an abundant amount in a palace that wouldn’t give her any issue, wouldn’t it make sense for her to be exploring this place as well?” He suggests.

“That… could make sense.” Hikari follows his manner of thinking. “It would also explain why she fled so quickly if she saw we were here too.”

“Yeah, we’re just lucky she wasn’t hostile. I mean, you saw how easily she took out that shadow, right?” Morgana reminds everyone. “Definitely not an enemy we’d want to be facing right now. She didn’t even need to use her persona…”

As the days went by, theories about the mysterious girl and why she was in the palace spread among their group, though it was clear that they wouldn’t get any answers without confronting her directly. Unfortunately, none of their forays into the palace yielded any results, only Morgana suggesting they might be able to find her again in a place called ‘Mementos’, whatever that is.

Once they got to the treasure room though, their focus shifted fully to Kamoshida and what they should do next.

“This is the treasure.” Morgana says, pointing to the floating cloud above the gold coins and other valuable objects in the room.

“The floatin’ cloud thing? Uhhhh… how’re we supposed to steal that?” Ryuji asks doubtfully.

“We’ll need to make a calling card for it to materialize, let the real Kamoshida know we’re going to steal it.” Morgana answers smugly.

“Ohhh! I get it!” Ryuji seems really onboard with this. “That’s totally somethin’ a phantom thief would do!”

Ann smiles and shakes her head. “Boys…” She says to herself.

Ryuji turns to her with a massive grin on his face, having heard what she said. “Oh come on! Don’t act like you’re not super excited about this too!”

Ann laughs at his enthusiasm. “You got me, so what now?”

“We’ll need to write the calling card and then deliver it to him. Anything should work as long as we say we’re going to steal his ‘distorted desires’.” Morgana explains.

“Let me!” Ryuji excitedly says like a kid who just discovered a new favorite game. “I know just what to write!”

“Just don’t make it too weird, alright Skull?” Hikari half-teases half-pleads with Ryuji.

“Don’t worry about it, this is gonna be sick!” Ryuji answers, still reminding Hikari of an excited little kid.

Hikari has a bad feeling about it, but pushes it down as she gives him free reign over what to write on the calling card. It can’t be that bad, right?

4/21 Shujin Academy, Morning

It can be that bad, Hikari thinks to herself as she reads one of the cards that Ryuji posted all over the school. She turns around and sees Ann talking with Ryuji and Yuuki before she goes over to meet them.

“So… what did you guys think?” Ryuji asks in excited anticipation.

“Meh…” Ann answers as she reads over a card she’d grabbed off the board.

“‘Meh’!? What do you mean ‘Meh’!?” Ryuji responds with offense.

“Like… I get what you wanted to say… but it sounds like a kid trying to sound mature.” Ann answers as Ryuji slumps.

“Your logo is lacking too…” Morgana kicks him while he’s down.

“You know what!? That ain’t true!” Ryuji lamely responds.

“...I thought it was cool.” Yuuki suddenly speaks up, Ryuji rushes over to him and wraps an arm over his shoulder.

“You guys see!? Yuuki gets it!” Ryuji speaks in a tone that screams ‘I’ll take whatever I can get’ as Hikari, Ann, and Morgana just shake their heads at him.

Over near the board, it seems like Ren and the Yoshizawa twins are looking at it. Ren pulls one of the cards off the wall and holds it in a position where they can all read it. Everyone around Hikari quiets down as they want to know Ren’s thoughts on the card.

“What are these, Ren-senpai?” The brown-haired girl (Kasumi? Or maybe it’s Sumire? Hikari can’t remember) asks Ren.

“They look like calling cards?” Ren seems confused as he scratches the back of his head with his other hand. “At least, I think that’s what they’re supposed to be. Looks more like some kid trying to scare an adult.”

Hikari quickly takes a look back at Ryuji, who slumps over again. She holds her hand to her mouth to hide a giggle as she turns her attention back to Ren.

Ren looks down a hall that Hikari can’t see and pales a bit as he quickly turns back to the girls. “You guys should head on to class, I’ll see you later, alright?” His voice sounds somehow even, completely contradicting the look on his face.

The girls turn to him, then look down the hall and see whatever he saw. They both look at him uncertainly, but head off to class right as Kamoshida rounds the corner and Hikari understands why Ren was freaking out.

“WHO’S RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS!?” Kamoshida looks around angrily as students clear away from the bulletin board in fear. “WAS IT YOU!? OR YOU!?” He shouts as the students pass him.

He then turns to Ren, who has a straight face now as it seems he’s gained control of his emotions. Kamoshida’s face reddens so much upon seeing Ren that Hikari almost expects his face to explode.

“Amamiya!” He shouts out in rage. “It was you, wasn’t it!?”

Ren gives no response but Kamoshida walks up to him and lifts him by the collar of his shirt. “Didn’t you hear me!? ANSWER!” He shakes Ren around.

Ren’s eyes widen and lose focus, becoming distant. Kamoshida looks like he’s about to hit him before someone calls out suddenly.

“WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?” An authoritative feminine voice calls out.

Hikari turns to the source of the voice and sees Niijima, a girl she’d encountered in the library before, who she thinks is the student council president? Her eyes look murderous as it seems she’s prepared to give Kamoshida the biggest scolding of his life.

“Put Amamiya-san down. NOW!” Niijima yells, Kamoshida reluctantly sets him back down.

Ren doesn’t even respond to it, he just steps back and leans against a wall as his eyes still appear unfocused. Kamoshida turns to Niijima and attempts to explain himself.

“This brat posted these lies all over the school!” Kamoshida growls as he grabs one of the cards and presents it to Niijima.

She doesn’t seem impressed. “Oh? And do you have any proof that he did this?” She questions him.

Kamoshida flinches, Hikari has to admit it’s pretty funny watching a student scold a teacher. “W-Well… No, I don’t.” He admits before gathering himself again. “But I’m sure he did it! He’s been getting in my way since the beginning of the school year!”

Kamoshida drops all pretenses of being a mature adult and regresses to what is essentially a child throwing a tantrum. Needless to say, Niijima doesn’t seem to be buying it, though she does back off a bit.

“If he really did it, let me handle it. Just focus on the volleyball team.” She relents, Kamoshida scoffs.

“Fine,” He turns to Ren, who still looks like he isn’t even registering what’s going on around him. “But you’re seeing me after class!”

“Mr. Kamoshida, please.” Niijima says sternly, Kamoshida huffs and reluctantly walks towards the gym.

Niijima turns her attention to Hikari, Ryuji, Ann, and Mishima. “What are you guys still doing here? Get to class!”

That seems to snap everyone out of what they just witnessed. Hikari turns to everyone else. “Let’s meet after school by the alley, okay?” She says quietly to everyone, who nod in return.

With one last look at Ren, Hikari makes her way to class.

Meanwhile…

Makoto watches as the last of the onlookers leave, and she turns her attention back to Amamiya. He definitely needs to go to the nurse, not only is he covered in bruises, he looks completely out of it. She waves a hand in front of his face just to check, no good, whatever just happened with Kamoshida caused him to go completely catatonic.

Makoto looks at one of the cards posted on the bulletin board, is there some truth to it after all? She shakes her head, that’s not important right now. Knowing Amamiya likely won’t respond to her voice either, she instead opts to grab his wrist and guide him to the nurse’s office.

They enter and the nurse looks at them, her face shifting into concern. “What happened?”

“I’m… not sure.” Makoto does her best to tell the nurse. “He’s been coming to school with bruises and became unresponsive after Kamoshida nearly hit him.” Like she’d attach ‘sensei’ after what she just witnessed.

The nurse’s expression becomes dark as soon as Kamoshida’s name is uttered, casting even more doubt about Kamoshida into Makoto’s mind. “I see… Well, leave him here to rest and I’ll send him back once he seems a little better.”

“Thank you.” She respectfully bows before leaving and heading to her own class.

4/21 Shujin Academy, After School

“Alright guys.” Morgana says as they all, with the exception of Yuuki, prepare to head into the palace. “We only have one shot at this, we absolutely cannot screw this up!”

“Right,” Ann adds with a determined expression on her face. “It’s time Kamoshida went down.”

“Yeah!” Ryuji enthusiastically responds. “We’ll show that effin’ Kamoshida what’s up!”

“Are you guys ready?” Hikari asks with a grin as she prepares to press the button on her phone.

“Yeah!” Everyone cheers in response.

Hikari smiles and they enter the palace.

Earlier…

Ren wasn’t planning on going to Kamoshida’s office after school. Assuming everything went well, there’d be no need. He may have been… stuck… when Kamoshida said those words but Ren still heard everything else that happened as well. Though just in case, he did ask Sumire to head in without him to keep an eye on the thieves if she could.

It seems his worry was justified as a little after he watches Hikari and Mishima leave, he gets up and opens the door to leave the classroom. Kamoshida is waiting for him on the other side.

In the Palace…

They make it back to the treasure room where the treasure has taken physical form. It appears to be a giant royal crown, Ann gives it a scrutinizing glare as Morgana happily walks up to it.

“AW YEAH! The treasure appeared, just like I said!” Morgana exclaims, clearly happy and relieved he was right.

“It kind of pisses me off… Why is it so pretty?” Ann asks angrily, Morgana completely ignoring her as he now seems entranced by the treasure.

“T-Treasure…” Morgana mumbles to himself looking almost euphoric.

“Uhhh, the cat’s actin’ awfully excited.” Ryuji observes, seeming a little off-put.

Morgana doesn’t seem to hear him as he proceeds to jump onto the crown and let out a long ‘meow’. What happened to not being a cat? Hikari sighs and snaps her fingers to get Morgana’s attention.

“Mona!” Hikari shouts, causing Morgana to suddenly stop. “Focus!”

“O-Oh, right…” Morgana jumps off of the crown. “Forgive me for displaying such an insolent sight in front of the ladies…”

“What happened? You’ve never done that before.” Hikari asks, Morgana shakes his head in response.

“I don’t know…” He answers sheepishly. “To think I’d be drawn to human desires so much… Wait! Doesn’t that prove I’m human!?”

“How should we know!?” Ryuji looks like he just wants to get this done.

“R-Right, anyway, you guys’ll need to carry it out.” Morgana tells them, finally getting back on track.

“Really!? But the thing is massive!” Ryuji exclaims before sighing in defeat. “Fine… let’s just get this over with.”

The three pick it up with some struggle. “Man this is heavy!” Ryuji exclaims as he adjusts his position to get a better grip. They take it out of the treasure room and as they’re heading towards the door Hikari hears something.

“Go go, Kamoshida!” A voice that kind of sounds like Ann’s cheers.

Suddenly a volleyball knocks the crown out of their hands and Shadow Kamoshida stands at his throne with a smug look on his face as Cognitive Ann continues cheering. He holds a hand out and the crown shrinks and flies into his hand.

“I won’t let anyone take this!” Shadow Kamoshida yells angrily at them. “I really would’ve thought it was that Amamiya kid who sent those cards, but it was just you thieves!” His face then resumes its smug look as he lets out a laugh. “Of course, he’s still being punished for it in the real world.”

That causes everyone to step back in surprise before Ann regains herself and shouts back. “WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM!?”

“Nothing yet, but soon it won’t matter what you think. I’m going to take you out myself for going after my treasure!” Shadow Kamoshida’s voice starts changing as red light surrounds him. “I am the demon that rules this world!”

Shadow Kamoshida’s body starts changing, his skin turns pink and he starts growing. The crown returns to its large size and rests on his head as he holds a red drink in his left hand and a giant knife in his right. His tongue turns a gray color as it hangs out of his mouth, large horns sprouting out of his head… and he’s no longer wearing any clothes, causing Hikari to gag a bit.

“I’ll crush all of you right here right now! Then I’ll make that Amamiya kid regret ever going against me!” Shadow Kamoshida spouts at them in a disgusting voice as saliva drips from his tongue.

Hikari shakes away the shock as everyone else around her recovers as well, they silently nod to each other as they enter into a battle stance. They can’t afford to screw up now.

In the real world…

Ren lets out an involuntary cry of pain as he falls to the ground and clutches his left arm. The bastard broke it, he looks up as Kamoshida leers over him with a smirk. He kicks Ren in the gut while he’s down.

“DON’T!” Kamoshda kicks him while shouting.

“GET!” Another kick.

“IN!” Yet another.

“MY!” Ren can feel his ribs cracking from the punishment.

“WAY!” By far the hardest kick sends Ren sprawling a good meter across the floor.

Ren sputters out a few coughs and nearly vomits from the pain of getting his stomach kicked. He instinctively guards it by bringing his knees up to his chest and further covering them with his non-broken arm. He feels Kamoshida’s spit land on him.

“This is all pointless, isn’t it?” Kamoshida seems really annoyed now. “You’ve already made it clear you’re going to keep getting in my way, no matter how much I pummel you.”

Ren looks up to see a twisted grin from Kamoshida. “How tragic will it be, when the honor students’ best friend mysteriously dies.” He lets out a twisted laugh that reminds Ren of his shadow counterpart. “If the principal of this place will let me get away with sexual abuse, what’s a little murder?”

Ren fights to keep his expression neutral as he silently prays that the thieves will manage to change Kamoshida’s heart. Soon.

Kamoshida walks up to him and grabs him with both hands by the neck before lifting him up off the floor. Kamoshida’s taller height keeps Ren from being able to touch the floor, he can’t reach anything else with his legs either, not being close enough to the wall or desk.

He can’t breathe, his vision starts to get spotty as he makes a last ditch effort to preserve himself. He lifts his legs up and pushes off of Kamoshida’s chest with everything he has. It works as Ren manages to escape Kamoshida’s grip and tumbles to the floor. Unfortunately he lands on his broken arm and lets out another cry of pain as he feels another crack emanate from it.

Taking deep breaths, he looks up at Kamoshida, who’d stumbled into the wall behind him from the force. He looks even more deranged, any ounce of smugness present before is replaced by murderous rage.

“Son of a bitch!” Kamoshida shouts out as he rubs the back of his head where a bump is likely forming. “You’ll pay for that!”

Despite himself, Ren shudders.

In the Palace…

Sumire, once again, hides on the upper level of the room as she watches the thieves. They’re too distracted by the fight to notice she’s there, luckily, but she still needs to be careful about staying behind cover. While they are struggling with the fight, it doesn’t appear as though they’re actually losing this time. She’s glad as fighting alongside them here could be bad for their cover.

Suddenly Sumire feels intense pain in her heart, she gasps but manages to hold a hand to her mouth and muffles it right in time. What’s going on?

“Your Fool is in trouble.” Ella speaks from within Sumire’s mind.

It must be Kamoshida… Sumire feels a wave of dread as sweat forms on her forehead, she sincerely hopes the thieves can finish this quickly. They took out the cup that Kamoshida was using to heal by… rather crude means. Shadow Kamoshida is obviously getting weaker from every attack but Sumire feels the thieves are cutting it rather close.

After cognitive Mishima is dealt with, Shadow Kamoshida doesn’t seem to have anyone else to call on. Strange, didn’t Ren say there was a cognition of Shiho when he fought Kamoshida? Is she absent because of Ren’s interference?

“WHERE ARE MY SLAVES!? I NEED MORE VOLLEYBALLS!” Shadow Kamoshida shouts angrily as nobody comes to his aid.

Sumire shifts her focus back to the thieves, it seems like they’re going for the crown now. Sakamoto-senpai breaks off from the main group and hides behind a statue while the rest of the team barrage Shadow Kamoshida with weaker attacks to distract him. As Sakamoto-senpai slowly makes his way to a position where he can snag the crown, Shadow Kamoshida slowly seems to realize something is wrong.

“Wait a minute! Weren’t there four of you!?” Shadow Kamoshida notices just a bit too late.

Sakamoto-senpai summons Captain Kidd and knocks the crown right off of Shadow Kamoshida’s head. The crown shrinks to its smaller size and rests on the floor.

“NOOO! MY… PRECIOUS!” Shadow Kamoshida cries out in surprise as Sakamoto-senpai quickly snags the crown and returns to his team.

“Now! Hit him with everything you have!” Kurusu-senpai commands her team, they all nod and dive in with their weapons.

They leave several scratches, cuts, burns, and bruises all over his skin, Shadow Kamoshida barely being able to take all the punishment. Sumire smiles to herself as Kamoshida’s shadow finally goes down, returning to his ‘normal’ look as he rests on the ground.

“Pl-Please!” He pleads desperately. “Don’t steal it! I’m nothing without this!”

Takamaki-senpai simply gives him a smug smile. “It’s really satisfying, seeing you get what you deserve.” She then takes the crown from Sakamoto-senpai and holds it out teasingly in front of Shadow Kamoshida.

“You want this?” Shadow Kamoshida makes a desperate lunge for it, but Takamaki-senpai pulls back at the last second. “You don’t deserve it, not after everything you’ve done to us… not after everything you’ve done to Ren.”

This causes Shadow Kamoshida to freeze in place, looking down in utter defeat and humiliation. “I’ve lost… it’s all over when you lose, what do I do now?”

“Admit to your crimes… Turn yourself in.” Kurusu-senpai advises him, Shadow Kamoshida nods.

“I will, I shall leave now, and return to my real self… thank you.” Shadow Kamoshida says before he dissipates into blue light.

Sumire continues smiling as she watches them, at some point, Kurusu-senpai looks up and sees her, eyes ever so slightly widening as she does. Sumire nods at her before turning and running towards the exit. It isn’t long before the palace begins crumbling, she soon makes it out and rushes towards the school.

She hopes they changed his heart in time, but Ren could still be in trouble.

Several minutes earlier…

Kamoshida strangles the utter son of a bitch who dared try to expose him. Amamiya had long since stopped struggling, clearly not getting enough oxygen to do so properly. He then feels something strange, a slight headache, then he feels… guilty, ashamed of what he’s doing right now. The surprise shocks him and he accidentally drops Amamiya.

He quickly checks to make sure he’s still breathing, he lets out a sigh of relief as it seems he is. Why is he relieved? He shakes the thought out of his head, it didn’t feel right to do any of this anymore. As more time passes he starts feeling sick to his stomach, more and more ashamed, more and more disgusted with himself.

He needs to go home, he glances at the floor where Amamiya lays unconscious. Maybe he should take the boy to a hospital? Why am I trying to do anything for him, he tried to expose me! It feels wrong to just leave him though…

Kamoshida makes a compromise with his odd feelings and decides to drag the poor boy outside of his office and leaves him there as he heads home, hopefully someone will find him. Sweat starts pouring down Kamoshida’s face as his shame is making him want to vomit. As he’s leaving, he sees a girl with red hair and glasses give him a disgusted look as she makes her way past him, he can’t focus enough to remember who she is, but he somehow empathizes with that look.

Kamoshida shakes his head and makes his way to his car, driving off the school property and making the rest of his way home.

In the palace…

Hikari continues watching the spot where she last saw that mysterious girl. Just as she’s about to mention it to everyone else, the whole palace starts shaking. Morgana turns to them with panic evident on his face and starts speaking frantically.

“We should get out of here! Now!” He yells as he panics, nobody argues as they all quickly rush to the exit.

As the palace crumbles, Morgana reverts to his cat form and jumps on Hikari’s shoulder. Ryuji trips because of his bad leg but Ann quickly pulls him back up on his feet and he quickly thanks her before the both of them continue running. They barely make it out in time as the whole castle crumbles behind them and they hit solid ground.

Ann takes some deep breaths before speaking in an exasperated tone. “...That sucked.”

Ryuji pulls out his phone and opens the nav, surprise painting his face. “Woah guys, take a look at the Nav. Kamoshida’s palace ain’t there no more!”

Hikari pulls out her phone to check. Sure enough, the palace isn’t listed anymore. Morgana has something else on his mind though.

“Wait, where’s the treasure!?” He yells, Hikari pulls a medal out of her pocket.

“A medal, where’d that crown go?” Ann asks, confused.

“It means that was the source of Kamoshida’s distorted desires.” Morgana explains, appearing to sigh in relief that they still have it.

“So… that perv kept clingin’ to his past glory and couldn’t let it go…” Ryuji guesses, which surprises Morgana.

“Wow, I wouldn’t have expected you of all people to make that kind of assessment.” Morgana remarks, seeming honest despite his rudeness.

“Yeah yeah I know, I’m not the best at this stuff…” Ryuji takes it surprisingly well, but he’s most likely just too tired to put up a proper fight right now. “I guess I can understand his feelins’ though, not that I’d ever forgive the bastard.” He looks down with a conflicted expression present on his face. “He wasn’t lyin’ when he said I was the star of the track team. It pissed me off for a long time when all of that was taken away from me by the disgustin’ son of a bitch…”

“Ryuji…” Ann says sympathetically as Hikari pats him on the back comfortingly.

“Eh, don’t worry about me guys.” Ryuji pushes down his sad look and grins happily. “Even if the track team still resents me for everything back then, we still showed Kamoshida what’s up!”

“Yeah!” Ann matches his enthusiasm before she turns to Morgana. “So Kamoshida’s heart should be changed, right?”

“Probably.” Morgana answers with uncertainty.

“Really!? All of that coulda been for nothin’!?” Ryuji balks in response.

“This is the first successful attempt for me too!” Morgana retorts in his own defense. “What we can be sure of is that this definitely affected Kamoshida in some way, we just have to wait and see what way that is.”

Ann doesn’t seem satisfied. “Isn’t there a way to check now? Ren could be in trouble if he’s still the same!”

Hikari agrees with the sentiment, but impatience won’t get them anywhere. “We just have to wait and see. With any luck, Ren should be fine now, right Morgana?”

“Right, I doubt Kamoshida will go after Amamiya anymore at the very least. Like I said, this is bound to have some effect on him. Most likely a major one.” Morgana reiterates, helping to ease the tension.

“Right…” Ann replies bleakly.

Just then the four hear ambulance sirens that make them jump out of their skin. After a few minutes an ambulance truck pulls in front of the school and paramedics jump out then rush into the school with a stretcher.

Exchanging looks between each other, Morgana jumps in Hikari’s bag and they all head inside to see what happened.

A few minutes earlier…

Sumire saw the guilty look on Kamoshida’s face, the change of heart definitely went through but where is Ren!? Almost without thinking, she heads to Kamoshida’s office where she sees a sight that would leave anyone horrified upon witnessing. Her lover, lying on the ground unconscious, his chest rising and falling weakly. She feels even worse upon seeing his disfigured arm.

She rushes to his side and kneels down next to him, she sees suspicious marks around his neck. The fury in her heart rising as she realized what Kamoshida tried to do to him before relief that he’s still alive overtakes the emotion, causing tears to form in her eyes. She doesn’t waste any time though, he’s in pain and barely breathing, she grabs her phone and calls 119.

“What’s your emergency?” A woman’s voice answers from the other end after one ring.

“I-It’s” Sumire feels a lump in her throat as she clears it. “It’s m-my boyfriend, I found him unconscious… he’s barely breathing, a-and his arm….” She manages to get out, unable to get herself to properly describe his injuries.

“I understand, what is your location, miss?” The woman asks disinterestedly, while Sumire can’t blame the woman, it causes a little irritation to stir within her.

“Sh-Shujin Academy, i-in Aoyama-Itchome.” Sumire gets out, fear and pain in her chest quickly overcoming her irritation.

“We’ll send an ambulance to your location shortly, stay on the line just in case there are any updates, make sure he continues breathing and let me know if he stops.” The woman requests, to which Sumire barely gets out an ‘Okay’ as the thought of Ren not breathing invades her mind.

Luckily, Ren’s breath, while weak, remained steady the whole time. After a few minutes, she heard the relieving sound of ambulance sirens, the sound causing students who stayed behind after school to leave the classrooms and library as they look around curiously. Their eyes settling on Sumire and Ren, most gathering around to try and see what’s wrong

Soon after, paramedics come in with a stretcher, Sumire thanks the woman on the phone and hangs up before insisting on going with Ren to the hospital. As she’s leaving the building with them,  she passes the thieves. They look pale as they see Ren, and empathetic when they see Sumire’s teary expression.

Soon, Sumire enters the truck with Ren and holds his hand as they’re driven to the hospital.

Chapter Text

4/21 Inokashira Park, After School

Kasumi breathes heavily and wipes sweat off of her forehead as she finishes up her practice routine. She takes a drink from her water bottle as she sits on a bench and looks around the park.

It’s oddly… calming being here. Ever since she practiced with Sumire here that one time at her insistence, she’d come here occasionally, to practice or just to sit by the lake. Despite everything with Kitagawa, she still enjoys coming here, she knows Sumire feels the same and absentmindedly wonders why.

Kasumi knows whenever Sumire and Ren practice together they come here… come to think of it she doesn’t remember how Sumire met Ren exactly, nor when she confessed to him. Maybe that happened here?

Before Kasumi can get too far into her thinking, her phone rings with her father’s number. It’s not anywhere close to being late yet, and he doesn’t usually call just to check in, so it must be something important. Kasumi picks up her phone and answers the call.

“Dad?” She asks, confusion showing in her voice.

“Where are you right now?” Her father asks hastily from the other end, causing Kasumi to feel slightly worried about what he’s going to tell her.

“O-Oh, I’m in Inokashira right now, why?” Kasumi answers, trying her best to keep her voice level.

“Sumire hasn’t called you yet?” He asks, completely ignoring her question.

“No… what is it? Did something happen?” Kasumi replies, desperately hoping the answer is no.

“Unfortunately, yes… Head to the station, I’ll pick you up and explain everything.” The line goes dead, he must be in a rush.

Kasumi has a sinking feeling in her stomach as she packs up and heads to the station as instructed. Once she gets there, she sees her father’s car waiting for her. She gets in the back and sees her father’s concerned expression for the first time, her mother wearing a similar look in the passenger seat .

“Okay, what happened?” Kasumi asks again, trying to control her voice.

Her father sighs and clears his throat before responding. “It’s Amamiya-kun,” Kasumi’s stomach sinks even more as she hears that. It had to be Kamoshida. “I don’t know the details, Sumire couldn’t get herself to talk for long enough to tell me, but he’s unconscious and in the hospital. She told me he’s really badly hurt.”

Kasumi’s face pales, while the description is vague, she can only imagine what Kamoshida was willing to do to Ren. She can only imagine how Sumire must feel.

They head off towards the hospital and make it inside, quickly heading to the front desk to ask for Ren’s room. After being directed to his room, they enter and see Sumire, who had clearly recently been crying if her puffy eyes are anything to go by. Her hand is intertwined with Ren’s, who is lying unconscious on the bed with his head against a pillow. His face is covered in the bruises that are now familiar to Kasumi, there’s some weird marks on his neck in addition, and his other arm is… Kasumi feels a desire to throw up upon looking at it. It looks completely mangled and has clearly started swelling. Just what did Kamoshida do to him!?

The tense atmosphere in the room tells her that her parents had a similar reaction. Before the shock even wears off, the doctor enters the room, causing them all to turn around.

The doctor clears his throat as he holds a clipboard in his hand. “I suppose you’re all here to see Amamiya-san?” He asks, to which everyone nods and he sighs. “We’ve been trying to contact his parents ever since he got here, but we haven’t had any luck.”

Kasumi’s father nods in understanding as he explains. “We’re family friends. You see, his parents have jobs that make it difficult to pick up their phones and they're hardly ever home. If you want, I can tell them what his injuries are once they’re available.”

The doctor sighs in relief. “Thank you, that would be great. I’ll go over his injuries now.” He clears his throat to get everyone’s attention (Except for Sumire, who has not taken her eyes off of Ren since they entered the room). “It isn’t pretty, so if anyone wants to leave, now is the time to do so.”

He gives a pointed look around the room to reinforce the severity of what he’s about to say. Nobody makes a move to leave, not even Kasumi’s mother. The doctor nods and gets onto the assessment, reading off of the clipboard.

“Let’s start with the obvious: Amamiya-san’s bruised all over, some abrasions could be attributed to a nastly fall, the others though…” The doctor shakes his head. “Not all of the bruises on him are fresh, this has definitely been going on longer than just today. A week at most.”

That sounds about right, that’s around when Ren had suddenly earned Kamoshida’s ‘interest’ (Kasumi still hasn’t figured out why).

The doctor then moves on. “His left arm is clearly broken and swelling. We’ll have to run an x-ray to see what exactly we’re dealing with, but it’s likely we’ll have to perform a surgery on it.” He then stops and clutches the clipboard ever so slightly harder. “...”

It seems like he takes a moment to collect himself and sigh before continuing again. “These last injuries are by far the most suspicious… His neck has deep hand imprints on it. It looks like someone tried to… strangle him… to death.”

Audible gasps emanate from each person in the room, with the exception of Sumire whose tears resume as she appears to squeeze Ren’s hand harder. Kasumi clenches her fists as she looks down to hide her furious expression, she knows it’s a bad idea to confront Kamoshida… She knows Ren wouldn’t approve… but she has to do something.

If anything happens to Sumire, it would be all her fault. (She sort of blames herself for not trying to help Ren)

The doctor clears his throat, getting everyone’s attention once more. “He’s very lucky to still be alive, especially without any permanent damage… ” His eyes flick to Ren momentarily before looking away again. “Much like his left arm, his ribs are definitely injured, possibly also fractured…”

The doctor sighs again as he sets down the clipboard. “It doesn’t seem like he was mugged… It’s possible it happened more than once, though unlikely.”

“It was a teacher.” Kasumi blurts out suddenly.

The doctor raises a brow as Kasumi’s parents look at her in shock, Sumire shows no reaction.

“I don’t know if I misunderstood you or if I misheard you-” The doctor starts.

“It was a teacher.” Kasumi reiterates slightly louder, cutting him off. “A teacher did this to him. Has been doing this to him. For almost a week.”

The doctor grimaces, her mother holds a hand to her mouth as her eyes widen more, Sumire closes her eyes as her tears continue pouring, and her father’s face fills with a protective rage.

“What!?” Her father almost shouts, clearly taken aback that a teacher would do this to someone. “And you never thought to tell anyone!?”

Her mother steps in, trying to calm her father down. “Now now dear, I’m sure she had her reasons.” She turns to Kasumi, a pleading look on her face. “Please tell me you had your reasons, sweetheart.”

Kasumi bites her lip, she did have a reason, but it wasn’t exactly a good one. “Ren-senpai kept telling me not to worry… Th-That he was handling it…” She takes another glance at his prone form on the hospital bed and clenches her fists harder, feeling her nails dig into her skin but she doesn’t care. “I think he was afraid that even if he did tell someone, it wouldn’t do anything.”

Kasumi’s father gapes at her after her ‘explanation’. “Wha-Why? He knows we’d help him if it came to that!”

Kasumi shakes her head in response. “I don’t know… but it’s gone on long enough. As soon as Ren-senpai wakes up, we can help him!”

The doctor interrupts them. “About that…” Kasumi and her father turn to him. “While he didn’t fall into a coma, his injuries are still severe. We’re going to keep him under at least until we can figure out how to properly treat him.”

“How long will that be?” Kasumi’s father asks.

“At least a day, longer if we have to do a surgery. A few days at most.” The doctor explains, her father sighs in defeat.

Kasumi’s father pushes up his glasses on his face. “Can you at least let us know when he wakes up?”

The doctor actually smiles for the first time since they entered the room. “Definitely, with his parents gone for the time being, he needs as much support as he can get.”

Kasumi’s father thanks him and turns towards Sumire. “I think it’s time for us to go, do you want to stay here for now, Sumire?”

Sumire looks up from Ren for the first time since they entered the room and nods her head slowly.

Her father gives a reassuring smile. “Alright, just don’t stay too late.”

As much as Kasumi wants to stay as well, she figures it’d probably be best to leave Sumire alone for now. She lingers for a few moments after her parents start leaving before following behind.

After today though, smart move or not, she is going to give Kamoshida a piece of her mind.

??/?? ???, ???

Ren slowly opens his eyes and looks around the room, it takes him a second to figure out exactly how he got here. “That’s right… Kamoshida…” He thinks to himself. He hates to admit it, but he was completely terrified of Kamoshida in the minutes before everything went black. The fact that he’s still alive means that the thieves were successful, at least.

He lets out a sigh of relief at the realization, then he hears a sound to his right and turns to look. He smiles as he sees Sumire sitting on a chair, eyes closed and lightly snoring as her head rests against the back of the chair. Ren’s smile wavers, however, when he sees the concern and tension present on her face.

Ren’s stomach drops as he feels guilt start to fill him. However scared he may have been, Sumire must’ve been even worse off upon finding him. He reaches out with his right hand (his left being in a cast.) and grasps her hand, giving it a light squeeze. He tries to show her a soft, reassuring smile as he sees her eyes flutter open.

“Senpai! You’re awake!” Her expression is full of delight, warming Ren’s heart.

He tries to speak but realizes his throat is far too dry for Sumire to understand him, luckily she seems to notice his struggle.

“Oh! Let me get you some water!” She says, releasing his hand as she gets out of her seat.

Sumire grabs a bottle of water out of her bag and hands it to him, Ren takes a few sips as he lets the water soothe his throat before he starts speaking.

“Thanks, Sumi.” He gives her a smile as he hands the bottle back to her, then looks out the window where he can see the sun just barely rising. “Did you stay here overnight?”

Sumire blushes slightly as she nods her head. “Yeah… I figured it’d be okay since today’s Sunday.”

What?

“Sunday!?” Ren shoots up before regretting it as the sudden motion sends a shock of pain through him, Sumire gently pushes him back down.

“Yes…” Sumire confirms in a soft, conflicted voice. “You’ve been out for three days. It’s the twenty-fourth now.”

Ren settles back down without resistance. “Three days… I don’t recall hitting my head, what happened?”

Sumire quickly explains. “They had to do surgery on… on your arm…” She looks away, clearly trying to hold back tears.

Ren winces and grabs Sumire’s hand again. “Hey, it’s alright…” He assures her soothingly. “I’m okay...”

Sumire’s tears begin to fall, causing Ren to let go of her hand again and reach around her back before pulling her close. His arm can barely reach around her and some extra pain comes with the action, but Ren doesn’t care.

Sumire, seemingly instinctively, wraps her arms around him and buries her face in his shoulder. “I-I… I just…” She struggles to get the words out through her sobs. “I c-can’t lose you too…”

Ren continues holding her, ignoring the pain, as she releases her sorrow. After a few minutes, she stops, processes what she’s doing, then proceeds to quickly, but carefully, back off as Ren prepares for what’s about to come.

“O-Oh, I’m so sorry!” Sumire starts as her face flushes before continuing so fast Ren almost can’t understand what she’s saying. “D-Did it hurt!? I sh-shouldn’t h-have done that! I-I-” Ren starts laughing, causing her face to flush deeper. “Senpai!”

It hurts a bit, sure, but it was worth the laugh. “Adorable as always. Never change, Sumi.”

Sumire looks at the floor in a vain attempt to hide her blush. “Senpai…” She whines quietly.

Ren chuckles again. “Anyway,” He changes the subject to spare Sumire from further embarrassment. “Do you know how long I’ll be stuck here for?”

Sumire looks up at him again, then averts her eyes as it appears she tries to get control over her blush. “R-Right, the doctor said once you woke up they’d need to do a checkup and if everything was alright, you could be released.”

Ren smiles happily at the thought. “Great, I’ve never been a particularly big fan of hospitals.”

Sumire gives a small smile in return, causing Ren to feel warm again. It falls just as fast, causing the feeling to disappear.

“C-Can you promise me something, Senpai?” Sumire asks, Ren has a feeling he knows where this is going. “Please, don’t do anything like this again. I don’t- I can’t… Just… Please?” She can’t seem to find the right words, but Ren gets it nonetheless.

For the first time since he woke up, he’s the one to avert his eyes. The last thing he wants to do is make a promise he knows he can’t keep. Shiho is hardly the only thing he wanted to change here, and he’s not sure if he can do so without putting himself at risk again. He lets out a sigh as he turns his head to Sumire again, having made a decision.

“I promise.” He gives her a reassuring smile, and is rewarded with a bright smile.

Their moment is abruptly ended by Sumire’s phone ringing, she startles slightly before checking the phone.

“It’s Kitagawa-san, should I answer?” Sumire asks him, Ren nods.

“Yeah, it should be fine.” He tells her, and she answers the phone.

“Hello?” Sumire says into the phone, Ren can make out Yusuke’s voice from the other side.

“Ah, hello Yoshizawa-san. Is Amamiya-san with you right now?” Yusuke asks from the other end.

“Yes, do you need something from him?” Sumire asks curiously.

“Actually, I was wondering if the two of you would like to continue helping me today?” Yusuke requests.

Ren sees Sumire bite her lip and once again feels a bit guilty for his current circumstances. She takes a deep breath and continues speaking to Yusuke.

“I’m sorry… Can we do it some other day?” Sumire hesitantly asks.

“That should be fine, is there any particular reason why?” Yusuke asks on the other end.

Sumire sighs before reluctantly letting Yusuke know the situation. “Ren-senpai’s in the hospital, he got badly injured recently.”

“O-Oh I see… Sorry to bother you then, I hope he recovers well.” Yusuke apologetically responds.

“It’s no big deal, I’ll let you know when he recovers and then we can plan something. Is that okay?” Sumire offers.

“That would be great, I’ll await your call. Farewell.” With that, Yusuke hangs up suddenly before Sumire can even say anything in return.

“Same old Yusuke.” Ren says, smiling in reminiscence.

Sumire gives him a small smile in return, they then talk about various things as she catches Ren up on what happened while he was out. Ren’s mind keeps going back to the promise he made to Sumire as they talk, he sincerely hopes he can keep it.

4/25 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

Hikari, Ann, and Yuuki head up to the rooftop. Earlier in the day Ann said she had something she wanted to talk about with everyone so they all agreed to eat lunch on the roof.

Once they get there they see Ryuji waiting for them, Morgana gets out of the bag and they all sit around as they anticipate what Ann is about to tell them. Ann sighs and delivers the news.

“I heard from Sumire that Ren woke up yesterday…” Ann says, the overall mood brightens up as she tells them.

“That’s great!” Yuuki exclaims, but Hikari feels like that’s not all Ann has to say.

Her assumption is confirmed when Ann continues: “He was released from the hospital but he won’t be coming back to school for a while… It’ll take some time for him to recover.”

Everyone looks down. They were already worried about the change of heart not going through, but after Ren nearly died that worry exponentially increased. Their only real solace was Kamoshida not showing up since they stole the treasure. It’s good to know Ren’s still alive and will recover but if Kamoshida’s heart doesn’t change, how long will it be until someone does die?

“Come on guys, cheer up!” Morgana loudly exclaims, attempting to console everyone. “I’m sure it worked!”

“How can you be so sure?” Ann frustratedly replies. “If this doesn’t work… Everything we did- everything Ren did would all be for nothing! ”

Morgana winces. “W-Well I just know, okay? I’m sure it worked… It has to have worked…” He says the last part quietly, only loud enough for Hikari to hear it, clearly doubting himself.

Ann seems to calm down again and looks apologetic. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have yelled. I’m just really worried…”

“We all are.” Hikari assures her. “But all we can do now is wait.”

“Yeah, I know…” Ann looks down again, a somber expression on her face.

A few moments of silence occur until Morgana speaks up again.

“Once Kamoshida confesses, if Amamiya still isn’t back, we should go visit him.” He says.

“Yeah… I don’t really know where he lives though.” Ann responds, still looking conflicted.

“We can probably ask Yoshizawa-san if it comes to it, though.” Yuuki offers, Ryuji and Morgana give him a confused look in response.

“Huh? Why would either of them know?” He asks, scratching the back of his head.

“Why wouldn’t Sumire know?” Ann asks incredulously, rubbing her head. “She’s his girlfriend.”

“Huh!? You sure that wasn’t just a rumor!?” Ryuji’s eyes widen, clearly surprised at the revelation.

“Oh right, I guess you wouldn’t know.” Yuuki answers in Ann’s place. “Ren told Hikari, Ann, Suzui-san, and I that he was dating Yoshizawa-san himself.”

Ryuji just looks dumbfounded. “Lucky…” That reaction earns him a slap to the back of the head by Ann. “Ow! Stop doing that!”

“Then stop being stupid!” Ann scolds, Hikari sees Morgana quietly snicker. “You saw what Kamoshida did to him!”

Ryuji looks down and rubs the back of his head, Ann sighs in irritation. No more words are exchanged as they dig into their respective lunches, only a mood of impatience, irritation, and worry. Hikari just hopes Morgana is right.

5/2 Shujin Academy, Early Morning

Kobayakawa grins as he looks across the papers on his desk. It’s times like these he’s glad he made that deal with Shido, all of the profit and good press for his school, and all Kobayakawa has to do in return is inform Shido of anything that he thinks might be a threat to Shido’s conspiracy or his political image. Truly a low risk job for such a high reward.

The calling cards didn’t concern him, seemed more like a prank really. Kamoshida might have been pissed about it at the time but Kobayakawa assured him it was nothing to worry about. What was a bit concerning was Kamoshida calling in sick after that day, and then proceeding not to show up ever since. It’s probably nothing though, he most likely just caught something and needed time to recover.

The phone on his desk starts to ring, causing Kobayakawa to pale a bit before looking at the number. It’s not Shido, that’s good… It looks like it’s Kamoshida, maybe he recovered and is coming in today?

He answers the phone. “Hello Kamoshida, how can I help you?”

Kamoshida waits a few seconds before answering his question. “Can… Can you call a morning assembly today?”

Kamoshida’s tone lacks the familiar confident pep it used to have, perhaps he’s a bit frustrated he couldn’t come in for so long? “I should be able to do something, what is it for?” Kobayakawa asks.

“I have something I need to announce to the school. I’m sorry to ask, but can you do this for me?”

Now that’s concerning, Kamoshida’s never been apologetic for anything, not sincerely anyway, for as long as he’s been a teacher. Kobayakawa shakes the thoughts out of his head, whatever it is, it’s probably not a big deal.

“Alright, I’ll let the teachers know.” Kobayakawa answers.

“Thanks.” Kamoshida answers simply before hanging up.

Kobayakawa lingers in thought for a few moments before preparing to actually tell the teachers. He shakes off the strange feeling he has, it’s probably nothing.

5/2 Shujin Academy, Morning

Kasumi’s anger had turned into annoyance as the days went by, Kamoshida hadn’t shown up since he put Ren in the hospital. She’d tried to go to the principal once but he’d waved it off, as if a student hadn’t almost been killed. On top of that Ren didn’t seem all that interested in help when her father talked to him about it, insisting that it was under control, nobody believed him though.

Kasumi sighs in irritation as she walks to school with a downcast Sumire, Ren still staying at home to recover. A little after they settle into class an assembly is suddenly called over the morning announcements, she grits her teeth in irritation as she’s once again reminded how little the school cares. What could be so important that it had to be announced now and interrupt regular classes? (Even if Kasumi isn’t the best student)

Kasumi smoothes her expression and turns to Sumire, who barely seemed to register the announcement. “Well, we should probably go.”

“Huh?” That seems to snap Sumire out of her trance. “Oh, right!”

The two gymnasts get out of their seats and head to the gym where the assembly is being held. Kasumi immediately has to suppress an angry shout upon entering and seeing who’s on the stage. Kamoshida.

Kasumi silently seethes so much she doesn’t register anything other than that he’s there. Standing on the stage. It isn’t until he starts speaking that she realizes something is… off.

“I have been reborn.” He says in a tone that’s immediately unlike anything Kasumi has heard out of him before. Reborn? What’s that supposed to mean? “That is why, I will confess everything I’ve done to all of you.”

“I have… Repeatedly done things unbecoming of a teacher.” Kamoshida kneels on the floor. “Verbally abusing students… physically abusing my team, and… sexually harassing female students.” He then looks up with pure anguish on his face. “That’s not all. Just recently I… I tried to murder a second year student named Ren Amamiya!”

Kasumi’s jaw drops as she gapes at the ‘teacher’. She turns to look at Sumire, who’s clenching her fists as tears run down her cheeks. Kasumi can hear whispers all around her.

“Sexual harassment!?”

“That’s what happened to Amamiya!?”

“Isn’t this just like what those cards said?”

Right, the cards… She doesn’t know how they did it, but she silently thanks them. Kamoshida soon continues.

“I thought of the school as my own castle… I did whatever I wanted because I knew I’d get away with it.” Kamoshida looks down at the floor again, as if trying to keep himself from crying. “I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts… I’m an arrogant, shallow… and shameful person. No, I’m even worse than that… I will take responsibility and kill myself for it!”

At that, Kasumi gasps. Kill himself? He can’t just do that, he has to pay! She finds herself unable to contain her fury any longer.

“DON’T YOU DARE!” She shouts, getting the attention of everyone in the room. She narrows her eyes at Kamoshida’s defeated form. “Ren-senpai is still alive even after everything you did to him! He’s my closest friend, and my sister’s boyfriend! SO DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ALL OF THIS! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!”

Gasps ensue after her shouting, and she sees a particularly strange look from a third-year girl with fluffy hair. She doesn’t care about what any of the other students think, all that matters is that this sick bastard gets what he deserves.

Kamoshida looks at her for a second before nodding. “You’re right… you’re absolutely right… I should be punished by the law to atone for my crimes…” He then looks frantically around at the students pleadingly. “Please, someone call the police!”

A teacher calls for everyone to leave, shouting that the assembly is over. Kasumi really wants to see Kamoshida get arrested, but begrudgingly does as the teacher says and heads back to class, Sumire following close behind.

Meanwhile…

Hikari’s face was stuck in a state of pure shock ever since Kamoshida started confessing, even more so when one of the Yoshizawa twins started shouting at him. As the twins leave the room, Hikari’s shock finally wears off as she feels a smile slither onto her face. She turns to Ryuji, who has a similar look.

As the rest of the students make their way out of the room, Hikari, Ryuji, Ann, and Yuuki linger with Morgana peeking out of Hikari’s bag. Morgana, smug as ever, is the first one to speak.

“See!? I told you guys it would work!” He exclaims, smirking as much as a cat can.

“His heart really did change…” Ann quietly says, staring at the stage.

“Seems like it but… was this really for the best?” Ryuji asks no one in particular, clearly stuck between grateful and conflicted.

“There wasn’t any other way.” Hikari affirms, then turns to Ann. “Are you alright?”

“Hm?” Ann turns to everyone. “Yeah I’m fine.” She then smiles. “We should tell Ren the good news after school.”

“Agreed… Should we tell him anything about… how it was done?” Hikari asks, she feels Morgana shake his head in response behind her.

“No, I think it’s for the best that as few people as possible know anything about this.” Morgana answers. “Unless you guys trust him completely, he probably shouldn’t know.”

“I… agree.” Ann replies before anybody else can. “I mean, I’m thankful for what he did and he’s a good friend… but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to tell him about any of this…”

“What are you guys still doing here? Get back to class!” A teacher yells at them.

“Meet you guys after school alright?” Hikari says to everyone, who all nod in return.

As they’re leaving, Hikari feels a tap on her shoulder and turns around to see Yuuki, who hadn’t said anything during the conversation, looking at her with a guilty expression on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Hikari asks, not being able to think of a reason he’d have that expression on his face.

“I’m sorry…” Yuuki apologizes, confusing Hikari further.

“What for?” She tilts her head.

“F-For leaking your record… Kamoshida told me to do it, but that’s no excuse.” He tells her.

Hikari’s surprised, not that Kamoshida had anything to do with her record leak or that Yuuki was the one he forced to do so. No, she’s surprised that she doesn’t really… hate or resent him for it. Strange considering if he had told her this about a week ago, she may have.

She shakes the thought of her head, disguising it as dismissing his apology. “Don’t worry about it.” She gives him a simple smile.

“H-Huh?” Yuuki’s face mirrors the surprise she’d felt. “Wh-Why? I practically ruined your whole school life!”

Hikari shrugs. “And? You regret doing it don’t you?”

Yuuki nods dejectedly. “I mean yeah but-”

“Then there’s nothing to worry about, see you after school.” She turns and leaves a stunned Yuuki behind. As she goes, she hears the same voice she’d heard with Ryuji, Morgana, and Ann.

I am thou, thou art I

Thou hast acquired a new vow,

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity,

With the birth of the Moon Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…

She really needs to figure out what all of this means.

Chapter Text

5/2 Shujin Academy, Lunchtime

Ann can’t believe it. It worked. The change of heart worked! It still hasn’t quite sunk in, should she be happy? Shocked? Scared? She shakes her head as the bell jerks her out of her thoughts and signals the most important part of the day: Lunch.

She heads out of the classroom and meets up with Shiho before heading to their usual lunch spot, outside next to the vending machines. As Ann’s eating, she catches Shiho looking at her with a smirk on her face. Ann looks back at Shiho, confused.

“What is it?” Ann asks with a raised brow.

“Oh, nothing. It’s just…” Shiho giggles, continuing to smirk as she pulls a familiar card out of her bag. “‘The Phantom Thieves of Hearts’? Of all the names you could have gone for?”

Ann’s stomach drops, but she keeps her cool. “I-I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Okay she lied, she’s completely panicking right now and her voice sounds so fake.

“You should really get better at lying, Ann.” Shiho giggles again, clearly amused by the situation. “You may as well have just told me. So… how did you do it?”

“Doooo whaaaat?” Ann’s voice has somehow gotten even more fake.

Shiho is clearly not impressed, and it appears she’s going to start pushing harder. “Come oooon! You can tell me! I won’t say a word to anyone.”

Ann sighs to herself, this is going to be a loooong discussion. She hopes the others won't get too mad about this.

5/2 Shujin Academy, After School

Hikari, Ryuji, Ann, Yuuki, and… Shiho all wait by the school gates for the Yoshizawa twins to exit. Turns out, as expected, none of them knew where Ren lived and the Yoshizawa twins hadn’t exactly been the most… approachable after his hospitalization. The redhead always looked like she was on the verge of tears while the brunette looked like she wanted to punch a wall the whole time. They’re hoping Kamoshida’s confession improved the two’s moods.

Everyone awkwardly shuffles as they look at Shiho, Ann had told them the whole thing. Now Shiho was in on the secret, everyone else seemed to trust her, Ann just looked thankful that Shiho believed her. Hikari sighs internally, Shiho seems trustworthy, but she doesn’t really know her.

Soon, the Yoshizawa twins exit the school and Ann walks up to them.

“Hello!” Ann greets the two with a smile.

“What do you want?” The brunette spits, clearly annoyed, Hikari watches as Ann winces slightly.

Luckily, the redhead intervenes. “Kasumi… She’s one of Senpai’s friends, she probably just wants to know how he’s doing.”

“Sorry,” Kasumi looks down, seeming ashamed at her own behavior. “We’re not sure how he’s doing right now, we were going to visit him on the way home.”

“Oh! That’s fine!” Ann assures her, having recovered from Kasumi’s rudeness. “We just wanted to check up on him since Kamoshida confessed.”

“I see…” Kasumi doesn’t sound too happy about it.

“Sure! I think he’d be happy to have you guys visit.” The redhead saves the day once again, Kasumi gives her a strange look before shaking her head.

“Are you sure, Sumire?” Kasumi asks the redhead, who gives her a nod.

“Absolutely!” Sumire answers enthusiastically, Kasumi just sighs and hangs her head low, but doesn’t argue further.

Sumire seems to ignore her sister's behavior as she turns to Ann and everyone else. “I don’t know if we’ll all be able to get on the same train, so let’s all just meet in Kichijoji, okay?”

Kichijoji? That’s where Ren lives? That’s… pretty far away from Yongen… Hikari shakes the thoughts out of her head. That’s not important right now.

They all follow the twins to the station and head towards Shibuya where, as Sumire predicted, they couldn’t all fit into the train to Kichijoji and got separated. Around thirty minutes later they all finally made it to Kichijoji. From there, they walk for a bit before (finally) making it to Ren’s apartment.

Sumire rings the bell and they wait, hearing some shuffling behind the door and fumbling with the nob before the door finally opens. Everyone except for Sumire and Kasumi gasp upon seeing him, sure they knew he was badly injured, even saw him on the stretcher, but now seeing those injuries in detail...

Ren’s left arm has a cast and is in a sling fastened around his neck, the bruises, while clearly healing, look way worse than anything they’d seen on him before. Finally, the marks on his neck…  Just how far did Kamoshida go?

“Hey, Sumi!” Ren greets Sumire with a quick kiss, before turning to everyone else. “And… everyone? What are you guys doing here?”

“Oh! They wanted to visit you too, Senpai!” Sumire explains, running a pinky across her bangs.

At that, Ren’s face stretches into a smile. “I see.” He turns back to everyone else. “You’re free to come in, I don’t think I have enough seating for everyone though…”

“Oh! We didn’t even think of that…” Ann admits sheepishly, to which nobody protests because she’s right. “Sorry if we’re intruding.”

“Not at all, I’m happy to have you guys.” Ren assures them, turning around and entering the apartment again. “Come on in.”

The Yoshizawa twins head in without a second thought, everyone else lingers for a few seconds exchanging glances at each other before heading in themselves. If it weren’t for the obvious injuries, it would be impossible to tell anything happened to him at all.

The apartment is pretty nice actually, it’s not huge but it’s clean and organized. Hikari feels a pang of jealousy at the cleanliness as she remembers how impossible it is to get rid of the dust in her own room. Said jealousy is slightly remedied when she remembers that Ren had done most of the cleaning to get her room ready in the first place.

As they enter the room, Sumire helps Ren to the couch before taking a seat beside him. He winces a bit as he sits down but soon addresses everyone as most of them stand around, not taking a seat at all.

“So… I’m happy that you guys decided to check on me, but was there a particular reason…?” Ren asks, clearly confused.

“Kamoshida confessed, he was arrested by the police this morning.” Kasumi answers matter-of-factly, perfectly guessing the exact reason they came here.

“He did?” Ren’s tone confuses Hikari a bit, he doesn’t sound surprised but he does sound relieved.

Does he know?

“Yes! He did!” Ann exclaims happily. “You don’t have to worry about him anymore!”

“It’s true, Senpai.” Sumire tells him as she grabs his hand. “Kamoshida really did confess.”

Ren smiles and, in what seems to be a rare moment of emotional vulnerability from him, lets go of Sumire’s hand and wraps her in a one-armed hug with his right arm, pulling her close to him. Sumire, clearly being careful not to irritate his injuries, returns his embrace as she wraps her arms around him in return.

There are mixed reactions to the couple’s tender moment. Ann and Shiho both let out a quiet ‘Aww’, Ryuji scoffs in clear jealousy, Kasumi simply smiles at the two’s interaction, seeming less irritated than before, Yuuki awkwardly fidgets, and Hikari and Morgana just watch in silence.

Ren and Sumire soon separate as they turn back to everyone else, though still holding hands and leaning against each other. Somehow, while already nonchalant, Ren seems even less stressed and more comfortable than before.

In order to break the somewhat-now awkward atmosphere, Hikari decides to bring something up that had been on her mind.

“We should all get together to celebrate Kamoshida’s arrest soon.” Hikari offers, addressing everybody in the room.

Ryuji grins in response to her suggestion. “Definitely! We gotta do somethin’ now that the son of a bitch is gone!”

“Absolutely!” Ann shares Ryuji’s sentiment.

“Sounds like a good idea.” Shiho responds next. Rather than responding himself, Yuuki just nods with a small smile on his face.

Everyone turns to the last three people in the room in anticipation: Ren, Sumire, and Kasumi.

Ren and Sumier look at each other, a silent conversation passing between them, before they turn back to everyone else. “I mean… We’d love to come but…” Ren starts, rubbing the back of his head.

“We’d prefer a more… private celebration.” Sumire finishes quietly.

So they’re going on a date, makes sense, Hikari thinks. Everyone turns their attention to the final person who hasn’t voiced an answer.

“...” Kasumi seems to be thinking intently about something, eventually she speaks up. “I think I’ll sit this one out, Kamoshida didn’t really do anything to me, after all.”

Something tells Hikari that’s not the real reason, unfortunately it doesn’t appear as though Ryuji noticed.

“Come on, don’t be like that! We’d be happy to have ya!” Ryuji attempts to assure her, Kasumi just shakes her head though.

“No thanks, I appreciate the offer though.” She answers simply.

It seems as though Ryuji’s about to continue pressing her, but Ann elbows him in the stomach to stop him. He’s about to yell at Ann before seeing the look of warning on her face and finally understanding, then he just quiets down and says nothing more.

After this, everyone catches Ren up on what’s been happening at Shujin, Sumire had told him some of what happened but not everything. He seemed a bit surprised when they told him that Kamoshida admitted that he almost killed him. Although he did seem a bit sad that of all the things Kamoshida confessed, he never said anything about forcing Ann into a relationship.

Ann assured him that it was fine, but he didn’t seem happy about it. It was strange, like he blamed himself for that… Especially since Ren didn’t strike Hikari as someone who struggles with self-doubt. It just didn’t make any sense for him to blame himself.

Eventually everyone, with the exception of Kasumi and Sumire, decide to take their leave and head out of the apartment. As they stand on the front stoop, Ryuji brings up something that had likely been on everyone’s mind since they first saw Ren.

“Is it just me… or does he seem not at all bothered by the fact that he almost died! ” He exclaims, though mindful to be quiet.

“I know, right?” Ann adds before staying quiet for a moment, deep in thought. “It’s so weird… It’s almost as if…”

She quiets down, but Morgana seems curious about what she’s going to say as he pops out of Hikari’s bag.

“Almost as if what, Lady Ann?” Morgana’s ears twitch in curiosity as he asks.

Ann seems reluctant to finish the thought, but does so anyway. “...Almost as if this isn’t the first time…”

Everyone’s eyes widen as they turn back to face the apartment door, eventually Hikari interrupts their thoughts.

“It’s possible…” Hikari soon shakes her head, dismissing the theory. “But it could be anything, maybe he’s just good at hiding his emotions?”

“Maybe…” Ann doesn’t seem convinced, like she knows something the rest of them don’t. Shiho averts her eyes as well, she’s likely in on it.

“Urgh… I don’t like all this depressing crap!” Ryuji suddenly exclaims. “Come on, let’s just plan out our celebration!”

With that, they head towards the station while trying to forget about Ann’s ‘assumption’, in the end, after some discussion, they decide to sell the medal and go to the Wilton Buffet on the fifth. Hikari secretly hopes that Ann is wrong, she doesn’t really know Ren all that well but the thought of him going through something that could have been worse than this… No, Ann’s most likely wrong. She has to be.

Meanwhile…

Sumire watches as the door shuts, then subconsciously squeezes Ren’s hand. She can’t help but wish she could do more to help Ren through all of this. Sumire feels tears threaten to fall once more as her fears of losing Ren resurface. Her fear is suddenly met by a comforting warmth.

Looking up, Ren had wrapped her in yet another comforting one-armed hug. Wordlessly, she gently returns his embrace, nestling her head into his right shoulder.

“You two know I’m still here, right?” Kasumi’s words break Sumire out of her trance, she had completely forgotten they weren’t alone. Sumire starts to stutter out an apology but Kasumi stops her. “Don’t worry about it,” She gets up. “I think I’ll make some dinner for all of us, is that okay?”

“Huh?” Sumire looks at her, confused. “I thought you didn’t enjoy cooking?”

“I’ve been practicing a bit,” Kasumi admits with a shy smile that would fit better on Sumire’s own face. “I can’t always rely on you for meals, can I?” With that she heads into the kitchen, leaving Ren and Sumire alone.

Sumire continues staring at where Kasumi just was. “...I don’t remember Kasumi ever being interested in cooking...”

“Well, this is a different reality, right? Maybe something different happened that got her interested.” Ren theorizes, his arm still wrapped around Sumire.

“Yeah… Maybe…” Sumire replies, unsure. Ren might be onto something, but Sumire just can’t help but have a strange feeling there’s more to it than that.

Eventually she discards the feeling and leans against Ren again, his arm tightening its grip around her in response.

“We’re going to have to meet them in mementos soon, aren’t we?” She asks quietly.

“Yes… We are…” Ren answers slowly.

Sumire turns to look up at him. “...And how will that work with your injuries?”

“If it comes to that, we’ll just have to heal it.” Ren shrugs, or comes as close to it as he can at the moment, but Sumire doesn’t know if that’s a good idea.

“Are you sure? Wouldn’t that just make the doctor suspicious?” Sumire asks, Ren shakes his head.

“My next checkup isn’t until next week,” He answers simply, completely unconcerned. “It would be strange, sure, but I doubt anything else will happen.”

“W-Well… if you’re sure…” Sumire mutters as a reply.

Ren grins the same smug grin she’d seen on his face many times in the metaverse, the same grin that always causes her heart to skip a beat. “Sure I’m sure.” He answers.

Ren then bends his head down for a kiss, he doesn’t make it all the way though and Sumire has to tilt her head further up to meet him. As they kiss, Sumire turns her whole body towards him and wraps her arms around his neck again, while she does so she feels Ren pull her even closer to him.

“Hey, Ren-senpai? Where’s the-” Kasumi’s voice causes Sumire to freeze and look at her sister, who just gives them both a teasing look. “Jeez, I wasn’t even gone for two minutes!”

Sumire feels her face heat up considerably in reaction, Kasumi isn't done yet though as she turns back to the kitchen. “Well, I think I’ll take another look around… Make sure things don’t escalate too much, alright?”

At that, Sumire peaks in embarrassment once more and hides her face in Ren’s neck. She hears Kasumi giggle before retreating back into the kitchen.

After a while, (Long enough for Sumire’s embarrassment to wear off) Kasumi comes back and tells them it’s ready. Sumire and Ren separate as they head into the dining room to eat, they sit down and Kasumi brings them three plates of… curry of all things, one of the plates being obviously smaller than the other two which she puts in front of Ren.

The three say their thanks for the food and dig in, despite having a much bigger portion, the twins finish way before Ren does. Sumire catches Kasumi looking at Ren with a conflicted expression on her face

“Uhm… Ren-senpai?” Kasumi speaks up, causing Ren to look at her. “...I know you may not want to talk about it but…”

“What is it?” Ren asks as Kasumi goes quiet.

Kasumi takes a deep breath. “Dad wanted to talk to you after your… incident…” Her eyes briefly shift to Ren’s cast. “...He’s been busy recently but he’ll probably try to ask you about it soon.”

“I… see…” Ren sighs, Sumire can tell he’s thinking of what to say to her father.

“Yeah…” Kasumi averts her eyes from Ren, looking towards the floor. “I don’t know why you didn’t tell anyone… but I’m just glad Kamoshida confessed.” She then looks at him with a determined expression. “I’m sure Sumire already told you, but you better not do anything like that again!”

Ren laughs. “Ha, I’ll do my best!” He answers with a smile.

“You better!” Kasumi returns his smile. “I won’t forgive you if you don’t!”

Sumire feels something warm in her chest as the two continue to banter, is this what it would have been like if Kasumi was still alive… is this what it would have been like if Sumire had never…? She quickly shuts down that line of thinking, knowing it would inevitably lead to the warm feeling dissipating. Instead, she simply enjoys the moment, wishing it could last forever, but knowing one day she’d have to let it all go again.

5/2 Okumura Mansion, Evening

Haru isn’t sure what she’s feeling right now as she lies in bed staring at the ceiling. Ren was being abused by a teacher? He almost died and she didn’t even know about it? She should be happy, maybe a bit angry and shocked, but mostly happy that Kamoshida got caught.

Instead she just feels… empty. The same feeling she’s had ever since that one girl yelled at Kamoshida.

“DON’T YOU DARE!” The brown-haired girl shouted, causing Haru to turn her gaze from Kamoshida to the girl. “Ren-senpai is still alive even after everything you did to him!” Haru sees tears start to form in the girl’s eyes as she continues. “He’s my closest friend and my sister’s boyfriend! SO DON’T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ALL OF THIS! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT!”

“Boyfriend…” Haru says to herself, why did that word make her feel so empty inside? It shouldn’t have affected her. ‘So what?’ She tries to tell herself, It’s not uncommon for highschool students his age to be dating someone. So why does she feel like this? Why is she so surprised?

She groans as she turns over more and faceplants onto a pillow, feeling the tears on her face for the first time as they drench her pillow. It just doesn’t make any sense, does she have a crush on him? No, there’s no way, she barely even knows him! Besides, even if she did she knows she can’t date him… not with her father deciding all of her life decisions.

Her father… Change of heart…

She gets up off of her bed and walks over to her bag, before pulling a familiar red card out of it. She reads over the back of it and her eyes land on the name of the group.

‘The Phantom Thieves of Hearts’… if they’re real, maybe they can help her?

5/3 Café Leblanc, Daytime

As Hikari’s preparing to leave to sell the medal, she hears Sojiro call from downstairs.

“Hey! Can you come down here for a second!?” Sojiro shouts up the stairs.

“I wonder what he wants…” Morgana thinks out loud, Hikari finds herself curious as well.

She heads downstairs and Sojiro throws an apron at her, she catches it and looks up at him curiously.

“Amamiya hasn’t been available recently, he didn’t tell me why, but I could use some extra help. Do you mind?” Sojiro asks her, Hikari bites her lip as she remembers why Ren hasn’t been working.

“Sure, just tell me what to do.” Hikari answers, Sojiro gives a satisfactory nod before putting her to work.

A few minutes later…

Hikari is in the middle of washing the dishes when Sojiro starts speaking again.

“Sorry I kind of pressured you into doing this…” He apologizes.

“It’s no big deal, I don’t have much planned for today.” Assuming selling the medal goes smoothly, she should still have plenty of time to do so.

Before Sojiro can respond, the news starts playing a familiar story: “And now to our next topic…  Fall from Grace: The story of a dishonored olympic medalist.” The newscaster begins covering the story. “Just recently, a high school coach confessed he’d been repeatedly abusing his students. Considering his prior Olympic achievements, this has caused quite the stir.”

Hikari sees Sojiro watching the TV intently, it seems the story has caught his interest.

“This isn’t all. He also confessed to attempted murder; his victim, who was also a student, nearly lost his life in the process.” The newscaster continues.

“Isn’t this?” It seems Sojiro recognized the picture of Kamoshida that had displayed on the screen.

As the news switches to interviews with students from school, it appears Sojiro’s suspicions are confirmed. “This is your school isn’t it?” He questions her gruffly.

Hikari sighs, looking down at the floor. “Yeah… The student, the one who nearly died, was Ren.”

“Wh-What!?” Sojiro sputters, his gruff attitude all but disappearing completely. “Amamiya said it was being handled though!”

Hikari shrugs sadly. “He probably thought it wouldn’t do anything, most of the students being abused by Kamoshida did.” She turns her gaze back to the TV. “We were lucky he confessed when he did.”

If they were even a second too late… Ren would be…

“That idiot. ” Sojiro mutters to himself, Hikari can’t find it in her to disagree. “He should’ve told someone… Is he… alright?”

Hikari nods. “Yes, some friends and I went to visit him yesterday. He seemed mostly okay, he’s still injured though.”

“Well… that’s good at least.” Sojiro seems relieved, then he notices Hikari staring at him. “What are you looking at!? Get back to work!”

…And back to our regularly scheduled programming. Hikari quickly finishes up the dishes and puts them away. It seems that Sojiro’s fond of Ren though, even if he tries to hide it most of the time.

5/5 Wilton Buffet, Daytime

Hikari, Morgana, Ryuji, Ann, Yuuki, and Shiho all sit around a table at the buffet. Though Morgana is hiding in Hikari’s bag so as to not get caught by anyone in the hotel, occasionally taking a bite of food when he won’t get caught. Ann and Shiho have two plates full of sweets, Ryuji has a plate full of meats, Yuuki has a little of everything, and Morgana and Hikari are sharing a plate with one side dedicated to some meat, fish, and sweets, and one side dedicated to just sushi.

As they’re eating, Yuuki speaks up, causing everyone’s attention to shift to him. “So… I know I can’t really follow you guys into the metaverse, but I still wanted to do something to help out.” He then pulls up a website on his phone and shows it to everyone. “So I started a website: The Phantom Aficionado Website! Or Phansite for short.” He then opens up a page that looks like a forum. “I made it so that people who are struggling can request a change of heart!”

“Oh nice! That’ll be really useful!” Ryuji tells him, with a giant grin on his face.

Hikari, on the other hand, is a little more unsure about it. “I mean… it’s nice but…”

Ann seems to have similar thoughts as she completes the sentence. “Do we really want to continue doing this?”

Before Yuuki can say anything, Ryuji speaks up in his defense. “Come on guys! We aren’t the only people sufferin’ because of some shitty adults. We have this power now, we should totally help people with it!”

“I agree,” Shiho speaks up as well. “There are more people like us out there, more people like Ren, if you guys can help them: Shouldn’t you?”

“Plus,” Morgana pokes his head out of Hikari’s bag momentarily to speak. “If you guys are going to continue helping me, we’ll need to head into the metaverse anyway. Why not stylishly steal distorted rulers’ treasure while we’re at it?”

Hikari considers her decision carefully. Is it really right to continue doing this? To use the metaverse as a means to help people?

“You know the answer already, it is the same one he would have given.” Her other self speaks from within her mind.

Hikari grins, and turns her attention to her team. “Alright, I’m on board.”

“That’s great!” Ryuji cheers. “We gotta come up with a cool name though, ‘Phantom Thieves of Hearts’ was just the first thing that popped up in my head.”

“Of course it was…” Ann says with a shake of her head. “If you guys are all behind it, then so am I.”

“To be honest… I kind of like ‘Phantom Thieves of Hearts’.” Hikari admits, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.

“We can keep that name if everyone wants.” Morgana tells her, everyone voices their agreement and he continues. “Now we just need a leader.”

Everyone turns their heads to Hikari, she sighs but smiles. “Alright, I’ll do it.”

“Great!” Ryuji exclaims, his grin widening. “I’m sure we’ll go far with you as our leader!”

“We should also unanimously agree on a target.” Ann suddenly says, seeming deep in thought. “I mean, I wouldn’t want to be pressured into changing a heart I didn’t want to change.”

Yuuki nods in agreement. “Definitely, with a small group like this it shouldn’t be hard to reach a conclusion.”

“Then we’ll do that as well.” Morgana adds before looking at his sushi hungrily. “We can refine the details later though, right now is sushi time!”

Hikari smiles to herself as everyone begins to dig in, she truly found some good friends here. She may not have him anymore, but she’ll be okay. After all this time, she finally feels truly happy.

“What’s wrong Hikari, not hungry?” It seems Ryuji noticed her not eating, she shakes her head dismissively.

“Don’t worry, I was just thinking about something.” She begins to dig into her food as well, Ryuji grins again and goes back to his own.

As she’s eating she can’t help but be hopeful and excited for her future with the newly formed Phantom Thieves of Hearts.

Chapter Text

5/7 Shibuya, After School

The newly formed Phantom Thieves hang around the station, looking for names on Yuuki’s Phansite. Morgana had requested they come here to help him with his ‘mission’, whatever that is, but they’re still struggling to find any viable names. That is until-

“Oh! I got one!” Ann suddenly shouts eagerly. “Let me read it: ‘I don’t know what to do about my ex who’s stalking me. His name is Natsuhiko Nakanohara’.” She then reads further down the post. “It says here he’s a teller at city hall.”

“That should be a suitable target.” Morgana nods his head, satisfied with the name. “Alright, now get the Nav ready.”

“Huh? We don’t even have a location though?” Ryuji questions Morgana.

“Uhm… I can’t hear him, what did the cat say?” Shiho speaks up, Morgana takes offense.

“I’m NOT a cat!” Morgana yowls in response.

Hikari rolls her eyes with a small smile as she turns to Shiho. “He wants us to use the Nav and put in the name. He also says he isn’t a cat.”

Shiho nods in understanding and Morgana continues his earlier thought. “Anyway, put in the name.”

Ryuji looks confused, but just shrugs. “Okay… Natsuhiko Nakanohara.”

“Candidate Found.” The phone chimes, Ryuji looks back up.

“Alright… We still don’t have a location though…” Ryuji says, scratching his head.

“Don’t worry about that,” Morgana replies confidently. “Now say: ‘Mementos’.”

“Ooookay…” Ryuji clears his throat. “Mementos.”

“Candidate Found. Beginning Navigation.” The phone says, Hikari feels something shift in the world as her head feels light.

“What the!? Where did everyone go!?” Ryuji cries out, looking around, only the thieves are here now, nobody else.

“We’re in Mementos.” Morgana says simply, now in his metaverse form, Shiho looks at him horrified.

“WHAT!? IS THAT SOME KIND OF MONSTER CAT!?” She shouts, Morgana looks at her frustratedly.

“I told you! I’m not a cat! I am Morgana!” He retorts, Shiho calms down just a bit.

“S-So… You really are some talking cat-like thing?” Shiho asks with wide eyes.

“You said you believed me!” Ann suddenly yells, betrayed.

“I-I did!” Shiho retorts, still shocked. “I just didn’t expect… this! ” She vaguely gestures to Morgana, who still looks frustrated.

Hikari pinches the bridge of her nose and turns to Morgana. “So we’re clearly in the metaverse, did you take us to Nakanohara’s palace?”

“No, we’re in the place I was talking about before. Mementos.” He then starts walking towards the subway, and gestures for everyone to follow. “Follow me!”

They walk down to where the station floor should be, and suddenly everyone, with the exception of Shiho and Yuuki, gain their outfits. Hikari turns towards Morgana, and gestures to Shiho and Yuuki.

“Should they be here?” Hikari asks, concerned. “There are shadows here, right?”

“There are, but they never come up here.” Morgana explains helpfully. “Shiho and Yuuki should be fine, plus this way you guys won’t have to translate what I say to Shiho constantly.”

“Good point… Where are we anyway?” Hikari questions Morgana.

“I already told you, we’re in Mementos.” Morgana reiterates. “Think of it like-” He’s suddenly interrupted.

“You can think of it like the collective unconscious of humanity.” A mysterious male voice interrupts, causing everyone to freeze.

They all turn towards the sound, the entrance of the subway, and see two shadowy figures, one male, and one female. As the figures walk into the light, while like before no details can be made out, the thieves recognize the outfit of the female figure.

“It’s you! ” Morgana shouts.

Earlier…

Ren casually watches as the thieves look at their phones, presumably trying to find targets. He’s slightly surprised to see Mishima there with them, less so to see Shiho, however. He was sure that if Shiho didn’t move, she would have joined the Phantom Thieves eventually, persona or no, it would have been impossible for Ann to keep such a big secret from her. On the other hand, Ren isn’t sure what could have caused Mishima to join, is it something he did? Or was it merely a consequence of this new reality?

He shakes the thoughts out of his head as he turns to Sumire beside him. “You ready?”

Sumire gives him a determined, if nervous, smile as she responds. “Absolutely!”

Soon, the thieves disappear, which is their cue to enter Mementos. Putting their silver bracelets on (Ren requiring some help from Sumire to put his own on), they enter Mementos and quickly hide out of sight of the thieves.

Eventually, the thieves head down the stairs and Ren looks at Sumire. “You ready to heal me?”

Sumire nods and summons Ella. The air fills with a bright light that focuses around Ren, he can feel the painful ache of his arm slowly disappear until it’s barely noticeable. It’s an odd feeling, admittedly, his bones mending their fractures until they’re all but gone entirely. Sumire made sure not to heal him all the way though, leaving a few of the bruises so it’s less suspicious once they leave.

“Is that good, Senpai?” She asks, Ren gives her a smile.

“Feels a million times better than before, thanks Sumi.” He tells her, happy the constant pain has eased.

Sumire blushes slightly as Ella disappears. “It was nothing…” She then walks towards the stairway, grabbing the compendium out of her bag. “Come on, we shouldn’t keep them waiting, right?”

Ren grins as he follows her, they both summon their outfits and Ren’s cast disappears in the process before they head towards the subway. He is so glad that Sumire healed him beforehand or else he’s sure he’d be in a lot of pain right now. As they’re approaching he can hear Morgana speaking to the thieves.

“I already told you, we’re in Mementos. Think of it like-”

Ren smirks as he cuts Morgana off. “You can think of it like the collective unconscious of humanity.” He finishes the thought.

Morgana and everyone else turn to him and Sumire and freeze up, Morgana narrows his eyes at Sumire and shouts. “It’s you! ”

Sumire giggles next to Ren, then speaks in what is clearly the most confident voice she can muster. “No need to be so tense, we aren’t here to fight.”

The thieves do seem to relax a bit, save for Mishima and Shiho, who have paled considerably since the duo entered the room.

“Who are you?” Hikari asks from the group, tensing again slightly as she does so.

“Ah, that’s right, we haven’t introduced ourselves have we? You can call me Lotus.” Ren responds, then gestures to Sumire. “And this is my partner, Violet.”

Sumire bows after Ren introduces her, Ren continues. “We are here to assist you, there’s no need to be afraid.”

Ryuji lightens up a bit after that. “Oh! Why didn’t ya just say so! You wanna help us fight some shadows?”

Ann, in what has clearly become a ritual, slaps Ryuji on the back of the head. “Don’t you think we should be a little more suspicious about this!?”

“Lady Ann is right,” Morgana responds, turning to everyone else. “We don’t know if they’re really on our side, but it may not be a good idea to fight them.” He whispers quietly, Ren has to activate Third Eye once more to hear him.

Ryuji rubs the back of his head as he speaks quietly as well. “Ow… If it comes to that we can just fight ‘em can’t we?”

Ann facepalms and mutters ‘Moron’ while Morgana gives him a stern look. “Not a good idea, I mean you saw what that girl did to the shadow before. Zorro’s telling me these two are not people we want to mess with.”

“S-So what should we do?” Mishima mutters, still petrified.

“Humor them for now?” Morgana replies, then turns back to Ren and Sumire, watching cautiously.

Ren smirks again. “I’m glad you’re taking us seriously.” He tells them smugly, causing Morgana to freeze again. “Unfortunately, we’re not here to join you.”

“B-But you just said you would assist us!” Mishima shouts, panicked.

“Oh don’t worry, we intend to do just that. Just… how should I say this…” Ren scratches his chin in faux thought. “Not all of you.”

“What do you mean by that?” Hikari asks, her hand drifting towards her dagger.

Ren looks at her, he has to admit, acting menacing like this is really fun. “Well, because we’re here to help you develop your power. It is the most unique of your team, Trickster.”

Hikari’s face fills with confusion, and her teammates look at her with a similar expression. She clears her throat. “What do you mean? What is a Trickster?”

Ren’s smirk shifts into a full-on smug grin. “That’s what you are, you’ve heard them, right?” He points to his head. “The voice in your head? The one that you hear every time you bond with someone?”

Hikari pales. “H-How did you know about that!? Who are you!?”

“You’ll find out eventually, Trickster.” Ren continues. “For now, we can help you fuse your personas.”

“Fuse!? What does that mean!?” Ryuji yells out, clearly extremely bewildered about the whole situation.

“It is as I said.” Ren explains, continuing to look at Hikari. “We can fuse your personas together to create new, more powerful ones.”

“How?” Hikari asks simply as she continues to watch the duo cautiously.

“Allow us to show you, Trickster.” Ren waves her over as he takes a seat on the floor.

Seemingly ignoring the protests in her team, Hikari approaches cautiously, and takes a seat in front of him. Ren gives a genuine smile, happy that Hikari is willing to humor him with this.

“Alright, so which two personas do you want to fuse?” Ren asks.

“Ummm… Bicorn and Jack-o’-lantern?” Hikari answers, seeming unsure.

Ren’s smile brightens, just like himself, Hikari was probably unwilling to let Frigg go just yet. As Lavenza had told Ren before coming here, his next actions came as pure instinct. He could feel the personas leave Hikari as they turned into tarot cards that lied on the floor. With that he waved his hands and concentrated, fusing the two cards together. It resulted in Saki Mitama, which flew back into Hikari who stared blankly for a few seconds as Ren was sure the persona was speaking to her from within.

“H-How did you do that?” Hikari asks, Ren’s genuine smile switches back to a smug grin.

“Trade secret, Trickster.” Ren tells her before signaling Sumire to hand him the book, which she quickly does. “In case you ever want to use your old personas, or just get them as fusion fodder. You can have us register them in here.”

Hikari doesn’t ask anymore questions, but has them register all of her personas before fusing a few more new ones, (still leaving Frigg untouched). Once satisfied, she gets up and heads back to the rest of the thieves.

Ren gets up and dusts himself off, before turning to leave. “Oh and one more thing,” Ren says as he looks back at them. “We won’t be available all the time to help with fusions, and we’ll only ever be here at the top floor of Mementos.”

With that, he leaves with Sumire. As they exit Mementos and head into the real world, having been cautious that nobody followed them, Sumire lets out a small giggle.

“What is it?” Ren smiles at the sound of her giggle.

“You’re such a dork sometimes, Senpai…” Sumire continues giggling.

Ren’s smile brightens as he wraps his right arm around her, his left being back in its cast. “But I’m your dork, right?”

“Mhm!” Sumire happily responds as she leans into him.

With that, the two head back to Kichijoji, Ren once again being glad the pain’s, for the most part, ended.

Meanwhile…

Hikari watches where the two mysterious figures, Lotus and Violet, had left. The shock of the past few minutes causes her to forget about even trying to follow them out and figure out who they are. After another minute of staring, she finally snaps out of it and turns to everyone else.

“Well… we should probably go find Nakanohara now.” Hikari speaks up, casually walking towards the stairs downwards.

She can feel Ryuji looking at her strangely. “Does nothing phase you?” He whispers, seemingly mostly to himself. Did he not notice Hikari’s fear before?

After that they head down, with the exception of Yuuki and Shiho, who stay at the top floor where they should be safe, according to Morgana. Once they find him, the fight goes surprisingly well, in no small thanks to Hikari’s new personas. He mentions someone named ‘Madarame’ who he wants them to change the heart of, Hikari makes a mental note of it in case they hear anything else.

Afterwards, Morgana insists on heading further down, leading them down to a wall with a strange marking on it. Upon finding it, Morgana goes and touches it, some hidden mechanism can be heard going off and the wall lifts up to reveal stairs that go lower.

“I knew it!” Morgana exclaims excitedly.

“Knew what?” Hikari asks, she feels like she should be surprised by the wall opening, but… she’s seen stranger things in the metaverse already.

“This wall wouldn’t open last time I came here,” Morgana explains. “I think it’s linked to the masses’ cognition of us.”

“The masses’ cognition?” Ryuji questions, scratching his head. “You mean… people are more aware of us or somethin’?”

“Something like that, there are likely more walls like this one below.” Morgana answers, turning to Ryuji. “I imagine that the more targets we take down and calling cards we deliver, the more of these walls will open.”

“I see…” Hikari folds her arms in thought. “Seems the phansite will be more helpful than we previously thought.”

“Right,” Morgana seems pleased Hikari understands. “For now we should probably head back, I think we’ve done more than enough fighting today.”

Everyone nods in agreement, once they reach the top though they find a peculiar sight… Yuuki and Shiho are talking to what looks like a child with silver hair and yellow eyes, both seeming a little freaked out while the child just looks confused.

Upon approaching, Shiho and Yuuki see them and hurriedly walk their way. Yuuki begins whispering frantically.

“Guys, you’re not going to believe this!” Yuuki says, Shiho picks up immediately after him.

“That kid over there just drank a flower!” She finishes, just as frantically as Yuuki had.

“Huh? What do you mean?” Ann asks, scratching her head.

“I don’t know how else to explain it! He just touched this weird floating flower and it turned into orange juice! At least, that’s what it looked like!” Yuuki tries to explain.

“What are you all talking about over there?” The strange child calls out.

“Uhm… Something about flowers?” Hikari calls back, doing her best to remain calm.

“Oh!” The child’s expression brightens. “Did your friends tell you about my request?”

“Huh? Request?” Ann asks, looking at Shiho.

The child seems to hear though. “Yeah! About helping me collect flowers for my research! Would you like to help?”

“He said those flowers were ‘bits and pieces of human thought’ floating around…” Shiho explains, clearing up absolutely nothing about the situation.

“Actually…” The child seems to have thought of something. “I’ve never seen regular humans around here before, but every now and then there’s a bunch of flowers left around here! Was that you guys?”

Hikari gives a questioning look at Morgana, wondering if it could’ve been him. Unfortunately, he just shakes his head so she turns back to the kid.

“This is our first time here.” Hikari answers simply, the kid looks confused.

“Then who could’ve…?” The child scratches his head in thought. “Nevermind… Will all of you help me then?”

“What’s in it for us?” Ryuji asks, earning him yet another smack to the back of the head by Ann.

“Hmmm… I find all sorts of neat things here, maybe we could trade?” The kid suggests.

Hikari turns to Morgana once more, Morgana just shrugs. “I mean… our earlier deal went well, maybe this one could help too? It never hurts to have access to more items within the metaverse.”

“You have a deal,” Hikari tells the child. “What’s your name?”

“Oh, right! It is formal to introduce oneself to another when making a deal isn’t it? Thanks for reminding me, miss! My name is Jose, nice to meet you!” Jose introduces himself.

“Nice to meet you too, Jose!” Ann cheerily responds.

Soon after, the thieves all head back up the stairs, Hikari has to admit she’s slightly surprised she didn’t forge a bond with either Lotus and Violet, or even Jose who seemed a lot more upfront about his intentions. However, right before they enter the real world…

“Before we head back, there’s something we should discuss.” Morgana stops everyone.

“Huh? What is it?” Ann asks.

“Look,” Morgana has a serious look in his feline eyes. “I know that these deals are really great for us as phantom thieves… But I don’t think it’s a good idea to trust these people just yet.”

“But… Jose’s just so cute!” Ann weakly defends.

Morgana rolls his eyes, clearly irritated by the comment. “I get it, Lady Ann… but we still need to be careful.”

“He’s right.” Hikari adds. “Lotus and Violet in particular worry me.”

“Oh yeah, what was all that ‘bout some voice in your head?” Ryuji asks, rubbing the back of his neck.

Hikari sighs. “I don’t know, sometimes when making deals with people I hear some voice, I don’t know what it’s about. I want to keep up the deal with them since they seem to know.”

“I see…” Morgana seems to ponder it for a few seconds. “Well, we can head back now just be sure to be cautious of them.”

With a round of nods, they all head back to reality, where it’s already gotten late. After saying their farewells, they all head home. Hikari finds herself once again pondering who the two mysterious people could be.

5/7…? Ren’s Apartment, ???

Sumire opens her eyes and looks around the dark room as she figures out where she is. She’s cuddling with Ren on the couch, textbooks stacked on the coffee table in front of them. She remembers how she got there, after getting back home from their venture into the metaverse earlier, they’d started studying for the upcoming exams (even though Sumire’s sure Ren didn’t need it). They must’ve gotten sleepy at some point and decided to simply sleep there, a look at their clothes confirms it. They’re both still wearing school uniforms.

Sumire sees her phone on the table next to the books and goes to grab it, having to free her arm from Ren’s hold in the process, even if he’s only using one of his arms. She picks it up and checks the time, only to realize it’s actually very early in the morning of the next day.

Oh well, at least it’s the weekend. With that thought, she sets her phone back down and snuggles back into Ren again. Although Sumire never actually falls back asleep, time passes quickly as hours feel like mere minutes until her boyfriend begins to stir.

The room has brightened up quite a bit by now as she opens her eyes again. A loving peck to the top of her head indicates that Ren is finally awake, she giggles a bit as she turns to face him, careful not to fall off the couch in the process.

“Good morning, Senpai!” Sumire gives him her best smile as the two bring their lips together for a kiss.

Once they separate, Ren returns to greeting. “‘Morning, Sumi.” He says with a smile on his face. He then looks around the room and seems to recall what happened as well. “Guess we got a little too comfortable, huh?”

Ren makes a move to separate from Sumire, only for Sumire to tighten her grip on him. She can feel Ren look at her curiously as she buries her face back in his chest.

“Don’t you need to head home soon?” Ren asks as Sumire continues snuggling into him.

“Well it’s the weekend…” Sumire snuggles even deeper into him. “Just a little longer?”

Ren chuckles and wraps his arm around her again. “I suppose that wouldn’t hurt…” Sumire can feel him kiss the top of her head again, causing her to giggle again. “Think you’ll do well on the exams?”

“I mean…” Sumire contemplates for a bit. “I’d be really disappointed in myself if I didn’t. This is my second time through, you know.”

“I’m sure you’ll do great.” Ren assures her, causing the smile already on her face to brighten immensely.

With that they rest peacefully together as Ren begins to stroke her hair. Unfortunately, their peace together eventually has to come to an end as they hear a knock on the front door. Sighing irritably, Sumire and Ren separate then stand up, heading to the door soon after.

Ren opens the door to reveal Sumire’s father behind it. “Good morning, Amamiya-kun, you didn’t inform me Sumire would be spending the night…”

“Yeah, sorry about that…” Ren sheepishly twirls a strand of hair between his fingers as Sumire blushes a bit. “We got some studying done and then… kinda fell asleep by accident.”

“Well as long as nothing happened, I trust you.” Sumire’s father responds, causing her blush to deepen.

If Ren was drinking something, Sumire’s sure he would’ve spit it out. “D-Don’t worry, Yoshizawa-san, we wouldn’t do anything you wouldn’t do…”

“I’m well aware, as I said I trust you…” Her father’s expression suddenly turns dark. “I’m more concerned about how much you trust me, though.”

“Huh?” Ren looks confused. “What do you mean?”

Sumire’s father sighs before turning to Sumire. “Is it okay if I speak to Amamiya-kun privately about this?”

Sumire looks between Ren and her father a few times, eventually getting a nod from Ren. She in turn nods to her father and goes back to put her textbooks away and grab her bag. Sumire then gives Ren one final kiss goodbye and heads home, she knew something like this would happen eventually, she just wonders what the result will be.

She also kind of hopes her father can reinforce the point she’d made to Ren after he woke up.

Chapter Text

5/8 Ren’s Apartment, Morning

Ren watches as Sumire leaves, half wishing she could stay as that would make what happens next a thousand times easier. He goes and sits back on one of the couches with a wave of dread crashing over him. Shinichi takes a seat on the other couch in the room, looking like he’s dreading this conversation just as much as Ren is.

A few minutes pass where no words are exchanged, until eventually Shinichi speaks up.

“Amamiya-kun?” He starts hesitantly, causing Ren to look up at him. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

Ren looks back down as he thinks about how to answer. There really isn’t a lot he can say, any justification he can think of is rooted in something he can’t tell anyone yet besides Sumire.

“Amamiya-kun?” Shinichi begins repeating himself, extreme worry present on his face. “Why did you hide it?”

Ren sighs as he twirls a lock of hair between his fingers. “It wouldn’t have done any good to tell anyone… At least if he was after me, he wouldn’t get anyone else…” That’s as much as he can say, although it pains him to use the same excuse that Mishima did.

“Amami-... Ren-kun…” Shinichi seems like he was afraid of that answer. “You could have died… you almost did die.”

Ren looks up at Shinichi again as the older man’s eyes show worry. Shinichi turns his gaze downward as it seems he’s thinking of what to say next. Eventually, his gaze shifts to Ren’s cast.

“You didn’t have to suffer through all of this alone… How do you think all of this makes us feel? How do you think all of this makes Sumire feel?” Shinichi presses, Ren has no words for him, he knows exactly how it makes Sumire feel.

But there was no better option, it was either himself or somebody else. Ren keeps telling himself.

“Does it still hurt?” Shinichi hesitantly asks, looking at Ren’s cast. He must’ve noticed Ren’s silence and didn’t want to make things awkward, he’s definitely Sumire’s father.

“No, not too much anymore.” Ren answers simply as he shakes his head, nudging the casted arm with his other to prove the point, feeling a slight shock of pain from the recently healed bone in the process.

“That’s good…” Shinichi responds, though his tone is anything but and he lets out a sigh. “Listen… I may not be your father or anything like that, but you’re very important to my family. Not just Sumire, but Kasumi too.”

Shinichi’s face hardens as he goes on. “We would all be devastated if anything happened to you, Ren-kun…”

“I understand, Yoshizawa-san.” Ren responds with a nod.

“Do you?” Shinichi retorts, not buying it. “That teacher tried to kill you! And even if he didn’t succeed you still left with a broken arm and some fractured ribs!”

“I didn’t expect him to go that far…” Ren automatically responds, though he knows it’s a weak argument.

“He shouldn’t have been abusing you at all!” Shinichi exclaims before he sighs again, clearly attempting to calm himself down. “Listen, I don’t know why you thought it wouldn’t help to tell anyone… but Good Morning Japan is going to be running a smear campaign against Kamoshida.”

Ren looks up in surprise as Shinichi gives a small, but slightly smug grin. “We’re going to be getting some Shujin students on the show to talk about their experiences with Kamoshida.” Shinichi continues, before reining in his smug look and replacing it with a sincere one again. “I don’t expect you to want to talk about any of it so soon… especially not publicly, but if you want to play your part in destroying that coach’s reputation, let me know and I’ll see if I can slot in some time for you.”

Ren looks at Shinichi as he thinks about the offer. It’s definitely a genuine one, even though Ren’s sure Shinichi’s business would benefit from it as well. He lets a small smile show on his face, he already knew Shinichi wasn’t that kind of person in his own reality but it’s nice to have confirmation of it here.

“I’ll think about it, Yoshizawa-san…” Ren nods, as much as he wants to bash Kamoshida… he’s not exactly comfortable talking about what happened. At least not yet.

“Please, call me Shinichi.” Shinichi responds, Ren looks up in surprise. “No need to be so shocked,” Shinichi laughs a bit. “I may not be… happy with some of your recent decisions but I still trust you. You’re dating one of my daughters and are the other’s best friend, there’s no need to be so distant with the rest of us.”

“Okay… Shinichi-san?” Ren hesitantly responds, Shinichi gives him a nod. Ren sighs in relief before looking down. “I’ll think about it, I-I’m just not ready yet…”

“I understand,” Shinichi nods reassuringly. “If you ever feel up to it, just let me know.”

Ren suddenly feels something bloom within him, like a new arcana is forming. Without Lavenza’s voice to accompany him though, he has no idea what it is. Although it does feel a bit like Sojiro’s, just not quite the same.

Soon the feeling passes, and Shinichi stands up from his seat. “Well, I’ll leave you to recover, don’t forget what I told you though.”

Ren nods and moves to get up, only to be stopped by Shinichi. “You’ll need as much rest as you can get to heal, I’ll see myself out.” He begins heading out of the room but turns back. “Oh right, I heard from the school that they’re going to be hiring a counselor. I'm not sure who though, it might help if you go to see them. I don’t know if she ever told you, but Kasumi actually has a counselor too, he was able to help her a lot.”

“Maruki?” Ren mutters accidentally.

“Oh, did she tell you about him?” Shinichi asks, Ren quickly shakes his head.

“No, she may have mentioned him in passing though.” He quickly comes up with a lie, luckily Shinichi doesn’t press him.

“I see… Well, I’ll be off, be sure to take care of yourself now, will you?” Shinichi urges, Ren nods in response. With a final smile, Shinichi leaves and Ren hears the door open before shutting again.

Ren sighs as tension seeps away from him, only now realizing how stressful the whole conversation was. He soon realizes how hungry he is and checks the time, then heads to the kitchen to make some breakfast. He should let Sumire know how the conversation went soon. It also seems Maruki is Kasumi’s counselor… Perhaps he and Sumire should give his palace a visit soon…

5/11 Shujin Academy, Early Morning

Here it is, the most dreaded thing to ever grace the existence of humanity. Exams. Hikari’s never been the worst at them, but she hasn’t exactly been the best either. Needless to say, she’s not sure she’s all too excited to get even more stupid rumors because of her grades, which she’s sure is going to happen even if her score doesn’t end up being that bad.

As she enters the school though, it seems the students aren’t all too interested in her record this morning. Instead they’re standing by the bulletin board talking amongst themselves.

“An assembly? In the middle of exam week?”

“Ugh, I can’t believe they’re messing with our schedule like this…”

As the students complain, Hikari takes a peek at what they’re all looking at. As mentioned, there’s an assembly right in the middle of the exam week. She can’t help but be curious of what the assembly’s all about, last time it was for Kamoshida’s confession, maybe they’re introducing a new coach?

Hikari supposes she’ll just have to wait and see, heading to class without another thought as she prepares herself for the exams.

5/13 Shujin Academy, Afternoon

Ren’s really glad to finally be rid of his cast, his checkup had been the day prior and, while getting a couple of weird looks, the doctors didn’t seem all too surprised. His arm had healed enough that he was able to take off the cast but he was still advised to avoid any strenuous activities while they were still weakened. Unfortunately, this meant he still can’t practice with Sumire for another week.

Oh well, at least studying was still on the table, while not Sumire’s strongest suit she wasn’t bad at it either. He’s sure she’ll do great, the whole doing the exact same exam as last time should help too.

Soon after the exams for the period finish, the speaker announces the assembly which means it’s time to be reintroduced to his most and least favorite counselor. Much like Akechi, his feelings about the counselor are complicated, especially given that in this world he has no idea what exactly Maruki has done yet. He hasn’t been able to go to Odaiba yet so he’s not sure if the palace is even there, which means it’s entirely possible that this Maruki hasn’t done anything at all.

His thoughts are soon interrupted by the familiar sight of his favorite kouhai, who he approaches quickly upon spotting.

“Good afternoon, Senpai!” Sumire greets as he approaches before walking close to him as they depart to the gym.

“Afternoon, how are exams treating you so far?” Ren asks, smiling a bit as she beams.

“Pretty well actually!” She tells him before quieting to a whisper. “I suppose that doesn’t mean anything when I’ve already done it before though…”

“I guess not,” Ren chuckles a bit. “Won’t stop me from showering you with praise for it though!”

Sumire reddens slightly as they enter the gym, they pick a spot to stand at and Kasumi joins them soon after.

“Figured Sumire was looking for you when she darted out of class, Ren-senpai…” She teases, causing Sumire to avert her eyes and look elsewhere. “What do you think the assembly’s about?”

Ren shrugs nonchalantly. “No clue,” He lies. “Could be anything.”

Eventually the principal comes up and starts speaking. Honestly, Ren couldn’t be bothered to pay attention the first time he heard this. This time however… he still can’t and just stops paying attention until Maruki gets on the stage, eliciting a small gasp from Kasumi upon seeing her counselor on stage. Not before being subjected to all the female students excitedly whispering about the counselor, of course.

Maruki clears his throat. “It’s nice to meet you all, my name is-”

Just like last time, the microphone cuts out and Maruki taps it a few times to make sure it still works.

“My name is Takuto Maruki.” He finally introduces himself. “Thank you for welcoming me to your school.”

He forgets to move to the side before he bows, hitting his head on the microphone. Well, this Maruki seems to be no different than the one he knows, which can be either good or bad depending on how much he’s done before arriving at the school.

“No need to be formal with me though. I’m just here to counsel anyone who’s interested.” Maruki declares, trying to recover from his mistake. “If any of you need assistance with anything I’ll be- Oh… I can’t really help with any money problems…”

Soon the principal takes over again and Ren stops listening, turning to see Sumire warily eye Kasumi who still looks shocked that Maruki is here. He had told Sumire about what Shinichi told him during his visit, she seemed to think that Kasumi wasn’t actualized but did agree that Maruki being her counselor was worrying.

Later…

Hikari, Ryuji, Ann, Yuuki, and Shiho walk to a secluded spot where no students will listen in on their conversation. Hikari has to admit it’s a bit surprising that the school even bothered to hire a counselor, knowing they let Kamoshida get away with everything for so long.

“You guys ever expect this place to give a shit about our mental health?” Ryuji asks everyone, clearly confused.

“It would probably just look worse on them if they didn’t do anything.” Shiho responds. “Especially with the media constantly bashing the school over it; even Good Morning Japan.”

“Oh yeah, that did surprise me a bit.” Yuuki admits. “But it makes sense, I hear a lot of their staff have children who attend Shujin, including the director.”

“For real?” Ryuji asks, Yuuki nods. “Huh, anyway, the guy they got was basically clownin’ it up on stage. You really think he’s gonna do us any good?”

“Ryuji…” Ann whisper-shouts at Ryuji as the counselor they were just talking about approaches.

“Hey there.” Maruki greets, looking around at all of them. “Mishima-kun, Sakamoto-kun, Takamaki-san, and Suzui-san?” Then he turns to Hikari. “That must make you Kurusu-san, right?”

“How do you know our names?” Yuuki asks with wide eyes.

“I was informed of certain students who were more… involved… with Kamoshida than others, all of you were on that list.” Maruki explains, clearly trying to be careful not to upset them.

“I’m guessing Ren’s on that list too?” Hikari asks, Maruki looks a bit surprised.

“Oh, you’re acquainted with him?” Maruki asks to which Hikari nods, then he continues. “Yes, I was also informed about Amamiya-kun’s… circumstances. Although I was told about all of you, none of you are required to come by if you don’t want to. Just like the other students, the offer is on the table if there’s anything you want to talk about.”

“We’ll think about it,” Hikari replies for everyone else. “We should probably be getting back to class now though.”

“Oh, right! Sorry for holding you up like this, good luck with your exams.” Maruki tells them before going on ahead to the classroom building, presumably to find Ren.

“Any of you guys thinkin’ of goin’?” Ryuji asks once Maruki’s out of earshot.

Everyone shakes their head, well almost everyone. “I might go see him.” Ann answers.

“For real!? Why?” Ryuji asks, Ann scratches her head.

“Might as well.” Ann tells him with uncertainty. “ One of us should go see if it’s actually worth it.”

“Knowing this school they’ll probably force us to go eventually anyway.” Shiho adds. “At least if Ann goes we’ll know what to expect.”

“Yeah yeah I get it, but if the school doesn’t force me to go, I’m not goin’.” Ryuji stubbornly responds.

With that, they all head back to their respective classes, Hikari finds herself a little curious about Maruki but puts those thoughts away as she tries to focus on her exams.

5/13 Shujin Academy, After School

Ren sighs to himself as he approaches the nurse’s office where Maruki is. He’d already guessed that he would be required to go but that didn’t mean he was really looking forward to it. His only real solace is knowing Maruki doesn’t have a reason to actualize him, not unless he makes the wish himself.

With another breath, he opens the door and enters the room, he just wanted to get it over with and headed over as soon as school ended so Ann wasn’t there yet. As he enters, Maruki greets him.

“Oh, hello there! You must be Amamiya-kun, right?” Maruki asks, Ren nods.

“Yeah, that’s me…” He answers with a little too dead of a tone, which seems to worry Maruki immediately.

When did he get so bad at acting? Granted, if he seemed totally fine that might just worry Maruki more…

Maruki clears his throat as he clearly attempts to throw an easy smile onto his face, likely trying to make Ren feel more comfortable. “Welcome, shall we get started?”

Ren nods while looking down somberly, might as well run with it. “Yeah, sure. Not like I have much of a choice.”

“Not much of a choice…?” Maruki mutters to himself, an expression of confusion filling his face.

“Yeah, I was told it was mandatory for some students… Clearly I’m one of them.” Ren answers the unasked question.

Maruki sighs, clearly a bit frustrated that the school wasn’t leaving it up to the students. “Well, if you want to leave I won’t stop you. I should probably talk to the principal after I’m done today. If you want to stay though then that’s great! I can get you a snack if you want.”

“Don’t worry,” Ren chuckles a bit. “It’d probably just be more trouble for me if I left. I don’t mind having a quick snack though…”

Maruki obliges and shows him a surprisingly large selection of snacks, of which he picks the least messy option available. After selecting his snack, Ren takes a seat across from Maruki who pulls out a notepad.

“Well then,” Maruki looks a little more at ease himself now. “I suppose, if you’re willing, we can talk about what happened between you and…” He trails off, but Ren understands what he means.

“Between me and Kamoshida, right?” Ren asks, Maruki lets out a sigh of relief as he nods.

“Yes, are you comfortable talking about it?” Maruki asks, Ren shrugs.

“As comfortable as I’m going to get,” Ren affirms. “Not like anything will get better if I just avoid the subject entirely, right?”

Maruki’s smile turns more genuine as he hears that. “I suppose not, just don’t be afraid to stop if it gets too difficult.” He grabs a pen and puts it to the notepad. “So, do you remember much about your… experience…?”

“Not a lot…” Ren admits with a frown, looking down at the floor as he tries to remember that day. “I remember feeling… really scared, terrified actually.”

“That would make sense… Do you remember what exactly happened when you felt like that?” Maruki asks as he writes something down on his notepad.

“He was choking me…” Ren mutters, distinctly remembering the feeling of Kamoshida’s hands around his throat.

“Sorry?” Seems he was too quiet and Maruki didn’t hear.

“Kamoshida was choking me.” Ren repeats a little louder this time, Maruki’s eyes widen. “I don’t remember much about it, my vision went black and I woke up in the hospital.”

“I see… That couldn’t have been easy on you… have there been any lasting effects…?” Maruki asks hesitantly.

Ren thinks for a bit, honestly his experience with Kamoshida and the interrogation room keep overlapping, sometimes he dreams that Kamoshida was in the interrogation room with him, sometimes he dreams that one of the interrogators is the one with their hands around his throat. Sometimes he can still feel the hands around his throat and the pain in his stomach and ribs.

“I guess… sometimes I dream about it,” He decides to tell a partial truth. “And every now and then it’s like I can feel the pain, even where the bruises have already healed.”

Maruki looks empathetically at him, Ren feels as though he knows what’s coming. “I see… Thank you for telling me…” He then looks at Ren directly. “Symptoms like these are not uncommon for people who have been through similar… experiences… to what you’ve been through.”

Maruki sets the notepad and pen aside as he leans forward in his seat. “I don’t imagine you get a lot of sleep, do you?”

“Depends on the night…” Ren answers simply, preparing himself for what’s coming.

Maruki nods, seemingly to himself. “What if you could forget that it ever happened? What if you could sleep at night, and never feel that pain again? Do you think you’d be happier?”

Ren thinks carefully about his words, while he doubts it would be easy for Maruki to change his cognition after failing the first time, tipping him off about anything this early would be bad.

Ren slowly gives his answer. “I think… It would be better if I remembered.”

Maruki seems shocked by his answer. “Huh?” Then he quickly shakes his head. “Er sorry, your answer just surprised me. Why do you think that?”

Ren gives a small shrug. “I don’t know… I guess… It’s a pretty big part of my life now, it feels like something I shouldn’t just forget.”

Maruki just looks baffled by his response, almost seeming to forget he’s supposed to be counseling right now. “But you almost died! Why wouldn’t you want to forget that?” He asks exasperatedly.

“Wouldn’t be the first time…” Ren accidentally speaks out loud.

Realizing what he just said, Ren looks up at Maruki who’s staring at him with a pale face. Without another word, Ren gets up quickly out of the seat and leaves the room, bumping into Ann on the way out. He barely even looks at her as he continues on his way, ignoring Maruki calling his name.

Meanwhile…

Hikari sits at her desk, debating whether she should just go and get the counselor meeting over with now or put it off. Morgana seems to notice her hesitation as he pops his head out of her desk.

“It would just be more trouble if you put it off, you know…” Morgana tells her, and he’s right.

Hikari sighs as she gets up and Morgana discreetly hops into her bag. She picks the bag up and heads down to the nurse’s office, passing by Ren on the way who looks like he’s just leaving. He doesn’t say anything as he hurries past her towards the exit, maybe he’s in a rush?

Shaking her head slightly she makes the rest of her way there, the door’s shut which means somebody else is probably already in there. Sighing again, Hikari leans against the wall as she waits for Maruki to be available. As she’s waiting, she spots a familiar head of auburn hair coming down the hallway towards her.

“Yoshizawa-san?” Hikari asks, getting the girl's attention. “Are you also here for a session?”

“Oh! No, not exactly.” The girl explains. “I’ve received counseling from Dr. Maruki before so I was just coming to visit him.” Then her eyes seem to fill with slight familiarity. “You’re Ren-senpai’s friend right…? Er, I don’t think we’ve been introduced before.”

“Oh right, I’m Hikari Kurusu, nice to meet you.” Hikari bows slightly as she introduces herself.

“Nice to meet you too, Kurusu-senpai!” Yoshizawa responds cheerily.

Before the conversation can be carried any further, the door opens to reveal Ann leaving with a smile on her face. Maruki seems a bit surprised to see Yoshizawa but quickly douses the expression and turns back to Ann.

“Thank you for coming to see me today.” He tells her, Ann shakes her head.

“Oh no, thank you for listening! I feel a ton better now that it’s off my chest.” Ann responds, indeed she looks a lot less tense than she’s been ever since Hikari met her.

“I’m glad to hear it, feel free to stop by anytime.” Maruki tells her, Ann nods happily in response.

“Will do! See you around!” Ann then turns to Hikari. “Oh you’ve decided to come have a session too?”

Hikari shrugs. “Might as well get it over with if the school’s going to be forcing me to go anyway.”

“Aw, don’t have that attitude!” Ann assures her. “Dr. Maruki’s great, just give him a chance.”

“Will do, oh.” Hikari turns to Yoshizawa. “Didn’t you want to talk to him first?”

Yoshizawa nods then turns to Maruki. “Hello, Dr. Maruki! I wasn’t expecting the school to hire you as a counselor!”

“It surprised me too when they reached out,” Maruki scratches the back of his head as he responds. “Have you been doing well, Yoshizawa-san? It’s been a while since our last session…” He says, looking a bit down, Hikari wonders what the context is but decides it’s probably not any of her business.

“I’ve been great! Sumire’s been well too… mostly…” Yoshizawa looks a bit down herself, it must have something to do with what happened to Ren.

“Mostly…?” Maruki looks a bit confused.

“It’s a bit complicated… I’ll tell you about it some other time, I just wanted to stop by and say ‘hi’ for now…” Yoshizawa explains, Maruki still looks confused but gives her a nod anyway.

“I see…” Maruki replies hesitantly.

Yoshizawa wipes the somber expression off her own face. “Anyway, it’s nice to see you again! I’ll definitely schedule another session soon!”

Maruki gives a faint smile in return. “I look forward to it! So,” He turns to Hikari. “You’re here for a session, right? Come on in.”

With that, Yoshizawa and Ann leave while Hikari enters the room with Maruki. She’s surprised just how friendly Maruki actually is, it also feels like he actually wants to help the students. The final nail in the coffin that earns her trust is the bond she forms before leaving. The Councillor. While she doesn’t know the meaning behind the bonds that Lotus had mentioned, she feels they’re important.

Next time she visits Mementos and runs into the mysterious duo, she should ask about it, hopefully they have an answer for her.

5/14 Shibuya, Early Morning

Hikari yawns as she waits for the train to arrive with Ryuji, having run into him on the way to school that morning. After getting home she’d spent the rest of the day studying well into the night, maybe she should’ve listened to Morgana because she doesn’t think she has the energy to do well on the exams today. At least it’s the final day and she’ll have plenty of time to study for the next one.

Ryuji yawns just a bit after Hikari does. “I’m so sleepy… I ended up pullin’ an all-nighter once I realized today’s the last day of exams…”

“Really?” Hikari asks, surprised. “I didn’t think you’d be able to force yourself to study for that long.”

“Nah, I gave up on the exam. I was playin’ some games and before I knew it, it was morning.” Ryuji admits sheepishly.

Hikari rolls her eyes. “May your grades rest in peace.”

Ryuji slumps a bit after hearing that. “Yep… it’s nothin’ new to me…”

They hear another faint yawn in the distance as they see Ann approach them. “Morning…”

“Yo, look who else is yawnin’!” Ryuji seems to pick himself up a bit, knowing he and Hikari aren’t the only ones tired here.

“Exams are almost over… so I thought I’d make one last effort to cross the finish line.” Ann tells them, clearly trying to keep herself from yawning again.

“That’s already better than Ryuji…” Morgana speaks up from Hikari’s bag.

“Yeah yeah whatever, let’s just get to school.” Seems Ryuji is not up for more insults to his intelligence from Morgana.

Ann suddenly looks behind herself suspiciously, before shrugging whatever it is off and turning back. “Agreed, let’s go.”

With that they get on the train to Aoyama-Itchome and get off at their stop, as they head up the escalator Ann looks behind herself again. Hikari looks in the same direction but doesn’t find anything out of the ordinary.

“What is it, Ann?” Hikari asks.

“That guy got off,” She points a finger at what looks like a student their age with blue hair, he’s clearly wearing a uniform but Hikari doesn’t recognize what school it’s for. “Isn’t this bad?”

Ryuji yawns, then after getting a dirty look from Ann, looks back at where she was pointing and sees the student too. “Yeah that is kinda weird… Isn’t that the Kosei uniform? Think he’s followin’ you?”

“Maybe? I keep getting the feeling he’s staring at me.” Ann quietly says, clearly worried.

“Alright… Come on.” He then starts walking further up the escalator as Hikari and Ann follow him.

They break line of sight from the strange blue-haired Kosei student and Ryuji motions for Hikari to follow him and Ann to stay there. They walk a bit away where it wouldn’t be obvious they were part of the same group and waited, eventually the blue-haired student came up and approached Ann.

As he was about to get her attention, Ryuji steps in his way and Hikari joins him. The boy looks slightly surprised as they get in his way.

“Is there something you want?” The boy asks, which confuses Hikari, wasn’t this boy following Ann?

“That’s my line! Why were you following me!?” Ann yells accusingly.

“Oh, that’s because-” The boy gets cut off as a car pulls up.

The window rolls down to reveal an older man looking at the boy. “I was wondering why you left the car so suddenly… So this is where your passion led you? All’s well that ends well.” The man then laughs to himself, weirding everyone out.

“I saw you from the car and I couldn’t help but chase after you-” The boy is cut off once again by a familiar male voice.

“Kitagawa-san? What are you doing here?” Ren asks, approaching from behind with Sumire by his side.

“Amamiya-san? And Yoshizawa-san?” Kitagawa turns around, surprised to see them before realizing they asked him a question. “Oh right… Well I saw this woman and I just felt something… I had to chase after her.” He explains, creeping Hikari out slightly, but how does he know Ren?

“...And you were going to ask her to model for you, right?” Ren guesses, but Ann takes it as an answer.

“That’s what you were going to ask me!?” Ann shouts frustratedly.

“Yes? Is it really that outrageous?” Kitagawa looks confused once more.

“Yes! I mean no- I mean… URGH!” Ann groans.

“Are you alright? Do you need anything?” Kitagawa seems completely oblivious to the situation.

Ren laughs but stops himself soon after as everyone looks at him. “You get used to it, just know that his offer is genuine.”

“Indeed,” Kitagawa adds. “I don’t believe I’ve introduced myself. I’m Yusuke Kitagawa, a second-year in Kosei’s fine arts division. I’m one of Madarame-sensei’s pupils and I’ve been permitted residence as his place.”

“Wait, you mean that Madarame? The one who was on ‘Good Morning Japan’ the other day?” Ann’s frustration seems to have been replaced by curiosity.

Hikari can’t help but notice a slight look of… almost annoyance flash by Ren’s eyes at the mention of Madarame though, and even more so when Ann mentioned ‘Good Morning Japan’. It’s there and gone so quickly though it could have been anything.

“The very same.” Kitagawa confirms, Ann looks to Ren for further confirmation and he nods his head as well.

“Who’s that?” Ryuji asks no one in particular.

“He’s a famous Japanese-style artist,” Ren explains. “His work is displayed around the world.” Again there are hints of frustration in his tone, nobody else seems to notice though.

“Anyway,” Kitagawa continues, looking at Ann. “Would you be willing to be a model for my next art piece?”

Ann calmed down a lot after hearing about Madarame, but still looks unsure. “Uhm… I don’t know-” It’s her turn to get cut off.

“Yusuke!” Madarame calls out from the car.

“I’ll be right there Sensei!” Then he walks up to Ann and gives her three tickets. “These are tickets to Madarame’s exhibition, you should have plenty of time to think about an answer. Your friends may come as well.” Then he turns around to Ren and Sumire. “You two still have the tickets I gave you, correct?”

Ren nods with a smile on his face. “Yeah, we’ll be there.”

Kitagawa returns the smile. “Perfect, I’ll see you there… Er… Have your injuries healed alright…? I didn’t get to ask before.”

“They’re better for the most part, these bruises are stubborn though.” Ren tells him jokingly.

“That’s good, I’ll see you all at the exhibit tomorrow.” Kitagawa then bows and heads back to the car.

As they head off, Ryuji turns to Ren with a questioning look. “So you know that guy? How’d you even meet someone like him?”

“That’s… a long story,” Ren scratches the back of his neck. “I’ll have to tell you some other time, we should get to school before the exams start.”

Ryuji realizes what time it is. “Oh shit you’re right! We gotta hurry!”

With that, they all quickly make their way to school. As they head there, Hikari remembers what Nakanohara’s shadow said. Could he be referring to the same Madarame?

Chapter Text

5/15 Ueno Museum Exhibition, Daytime

Hikari, Ann, Ryuji, Ren, and Yoshizawa all meet up at the exhibit with Morgana quietly hiding himself away in Hikari’s bag. Shiho and Yuuki would have been there but Kitagawa had only given them three tickets, honestly Hikari wasn’t super interested in going but Madarame’s possible connection to Nakanohara made it a necessity. On top of that, she’s also curious about how exactly Ren got to know someone like Kitagawa, she swears the guy knows everyone.

Upon entering the building she watches as Kitagawa spots them and eagerly approaches, looking between Ann, Ren, and Yoshizawa.

“You really came!” He excitedly exclaims before turning his attention to Hikari and Ryuji. “You really came…” Seems Kitagawa wasn’t particularly happy to see them.

“What didja think was gonna happen when you gave us those tickets!?” Ryuji retorts, clearly offended.

“Now now,” Ren tries to defuse the situation before it can get out of hand. “It’s not every day you get to visit a museum exhibition, it makes sense Sakamoto-san and Hikari would take advantage of the tickets just like Sumire and myself.” He grabs Yoshizawa’s hand as he says her name.

“Yes I can understand that,” Kitagawa admits, although he clearly doesn’t enjoy the situation. “Just ensure you don’t get in the way of any of the guests.”

“I’m sure they’ll be fine,” Ren defends them again. “Sakamoto-san might be loud sometimes but I’m sure Hikari can keep him in place.”

“What’s that supposed to mean!?” Ryuji exclaims before receiving an elbow to the stomach from Hikari.

“See?” Ren gestures to Hikari while continuing to look at Kitagawa. “Foolproof.”

Hikari swears she hears Morgana snicker from inside the bag.

“I suppose that will work…” Kitagawa sighs before turning back to Ann. “Would you like me to show you around?”

“Oh, sure!” Ann says, slightly surprised from being directly addressed.

“Wonderful,” Kitagawa smiles before turning to Ren and Yoshizawa. “Would you two be more comfortable going through the exhibit alone or…?”

Ren chuckles as he twirls a lock of hair between his fingers, an action Hikari’s come to associate with him, one that reminds her of someone else. “We’ll go with you too, it would be nice to have some insider knowledge on the paintings here.”

“That’s a good point, I didn’t think of it that way.” Kitagawa says, seeming pleased. “Well come along now, there is much to show.”

Ann turns back to Ryuji and Hikari. “I’ll see you guys later, don’t leave without me.”

They nod and Ann follows Kitagawa, Ren, and Yoshizawa towards the exhibit while Ryuji and Hikari decide to take a look around. Of course, Ryuji gets bored after a few minutes and just hangs around until they spot Madarame getting an interview.

Curious, the two decide to listen in while the artist is talking to a reporter, hopefully this will get them some clues about whether this Madarame is indeed the one Nakanohara told them about.

Meanwhile…

Yusuke guides the three from painting to painting, giving long explanations for each and every one of them. He praises Madarame, his art styles, his ‘works’, it pains Ren to see Yusuke living the delusion that took so much heartache to break. Ren can’t wait to see the moment Yusuke tears off the mask, to once again see Madarame for what he truly is.

As he’s thinking about this, Madarame approaches them, appearing completely friendly and humble, masking the fraud Ren knows he is perfectly.

“There you are, Yusuke.” Madarame greets as he approaches, before looking at Ren, Sumire, and Ann. “Ah, you’re the three from yesterday, right? Are you all enjoying the exhibit?”

“I don’t know how to put it into words…” Ann responds. “But it’s really amazing.”

Madarame seems happy at that and turns to Sumire and Ren, awaiting their answers. Ren thinks for a bit about how to respond, attempting to be as polite as possible.

“All of the pieces we’ve seen are very beautiful, and Kitagawa-san’s done a good job of explaining them to us.” Ren decides to praise Yusuke rather than Madarame.

Madarame appears satisfied by the response, but he soon feigns a look of concern.

“I’m glad you’ve all been enjoying the exhibit, enjoying the art we artists produce alone is satisfaction enough. However…” Madarame directs his attention to Ren, the look still on his face. “Are you alright?”

He must’ve noticed the bruises and decided it would make him look better if he showed concern for them. Ren decides to humor him, not wanting to make the situation awkward. “Yeah, they’re old, they don’t really hurt much anymore.”

“That’s good, now, if you’ll excuse me.” Madarame says before leaving, presumably to talk with more reporters.

“I thought he’d be difficult to approach… but he seems really friendly.” Ann says, not at all suspicious of Madarame, it makes sense to Ren though. She hasn’t seen his palace yet.

“Indeed.” Yusuke responds simply, clearly happy to hear his Sensei being complimented.

Ann then walks up to a painting nearby, one they hadn’t gotten to yet. “Oh, this is it! I wanted to see this one in person.”

Ren takes a look at the painting she’s referring to, he recognizes it as one of Yusuke’s, a beautiful landscape full of reds and oranges, representing his suppressed frustration with Madarame. Looking at Sumire, her face making it obvious that she likes the painting as well, he gives her hand a small squeeze.

“This one…?” Yusuke asks, Ren can hear the conflict in his voice as Ann unknowingly praises his painting.

“I guess it’s the painter’s anger? I’m not sure, but I get a strong feeling of frustration from this one.” Ann observes, Ren looks at her strangely, he never knew she had such a good eye for the arts. He briefly ponders if Yusuke ever considered asking for her help instead of Ren’s.

“It’s strange… for something like this to be made by someone so cheerful and friendly…” Ann continues.

Ren sees Yusuke flinch slightly from the words, he suppresses a wince as he sees this. He then turns to Ann.

“I guess it just goes to show, even the seemingly friendliest of people can have demons hidden beneath the surface.” Ren adds, Yusuke looking down in a depressed manner as Ann looks contemplative. Sumire, on the other hand, picks up the hint immediately and keeps a neutral expression as she squeezes Ren’s hand back.

“I suppose…” Ann turns back to look at him with a… sympathetic expression?

“A-Anyway,” Yusuke stutters a bit before collecting himself. “This particular painting isn’t important, there are other more interesting ones to look at, follow me.”

Yusuke seems very eager to leave, Ren and Sumire share a knowing look as Ann looks, once again, like she’s contemplating something. They wordlessly follow along as Yusuke shows them more paintings, after a bit it seems like he forgot about the painting he ‘gave’ to Madarame and begins enjoying himself again.

After another hour, the personal tour finishes and Ann leaves to look for Hikari and Ryuji, who Ren suspects probably left by now due to the ever-growing crowd. With just the three of them left and a quiet growl from Sumire’s stomach, Ren decides it’s probably time to go get something to eat.

“Hey Kitagawa-san,” Ren starts, getting Yusuke’s attention. “Sumire and I are going to head out to lunch, would you like to join us?”

“Oh! No thanks, I’d rather save my money.” Yusuke turns down the offer.

“It’ll be fine, I can pay.” Ren assures him, Yusuke still looks conflicted though.

“Are you sure?” Yusuke asks, Ren nods. “...Thank you, I truly appreciate it.”

Ren smiles, he’s tempted to pat Yusuke on the back but refrains from it for now, this Yusuke isn’t his Yusuke after all. With another subconscious squeeze to Sumire’s hand, the three head out to get some food. He decides to pick a different location from the diner they usually go to, as Yusuke will likely be taken there once he joins the thieves. Instead he decides to head to Big Bang Burger (Sorry Haru), hoping the larger portions there will satisfy Sumire… And maybe keep Yusuke from going hungry for long too.

Upon entering, they place their orders, Ren pays, then they wait at a table for their order to arrive, Ren and Sumire sitting next to each other on one side with Yusuke on the other. Yusuke keeps glancing at Ren, looking like he wants to say something, Ren waits patiently for him to gather his words.

“Amamiya-san…” Yusuke gets Ren’s attention before continuing. “I must thank you again for this, I don’t eat at places such as this often. The space aesthetic of this one is very appealing.”

“That’s just the brand…” Ren rubs the back of his head. “But I’m glad you like it, doesn't hurt that this place is cheap either.”

“Indeed, perhaps I should come here more often when I have the funds.” Yusuke responds in a very Yusuke-like manner. He then looks at Sumire and Ren with a questioning expression. “Do you think it would be possible for you two to continue helping me with my painting today?”

Sumire looks confused. “Huh? Didn’t you want to start one with Takamaki-senpai first?”

“Oh yes I did, however she has yet to properly accept my request.” Yusuke explains. “If you two would be willing, that would be wonderful.”

Sumire and Ren look at each other, it shouldn’t really get in the way of anything they planned. Ren just hopes that Yusuke doesn’t ask them to do anything embarrassing…

“Sure,  we can head over to the atelier after we eat.” Ren answers, Yusuke seems happy.

“Thank you once again, I am truly indebted to you both.” Yusuke gratefully replies.

“Don’t worry about it,” Ren responds, waving off his gratitude. “It’s no big deal.”

“I don’t think you understand, Amamiya-san.” Yusuke shakes his head. “I’ve made much progress with both of your help, I’m sure I’ll be able to finish the painting before the end of the exhibition.”

At that, Sumire and Ren pass another glance at each other but don’t argue further. They both silently hope that Yusuke doesn’t finish the painting of them before joining the Phantom Thieves.

Soon, their food is finished and brought to the table and the three dig in. Sumire demolishes the three burgers she ordered, Yusuke eats his slowly as he clearly savors the flavors, and Ren eats his own normally as he watches Sumire with some amusement.

After finishing her three burgers around the same time Ren finishes his first, Sumire looks up at him, sees his amused look, and proceeds to heavily blush. Ren chuckles a bit as he sees this and Sumire starts pouting.

“Senpai!” She whispers at him as she pouts.

“Sorry, sorry.” Ren apologizes as he attempts to stop laughing.

Yusuke soon finishes his burger as well and starts questioning Sumire’s blush but ultimately drops it. After cleaning up the desecrated remains of their food, they leave the restaurant and head to the atelier. Once they arrive, they enter and head to Yusuke’s room.

“Okay, can you two resume the position from before?” Yusuke asks, Ren scratches his head, having thought of something.

“Sure… but… won’t my bruises get in the way?” Ren asks, he knows how much Yusuke can be a stickler for perfection.

“That won’t be a problem,” Yusuke assures him. “In fact, I think it would add quite a lot to the painting.”

“Huh?” Sumire seems curious now. “What do you mean by that?”

“A girl wrapping her lover in a comforting hug after he sustains injury! Truly an incredible way to present the bond between two lovers!” Yusuke extravagantly explains.

Before Ren became Kamoshida’s personal punching bag, Yusuke settled on a more simplistic approach to ‘capturing their affection’ by simply having the two hug. At first this didn’t pose a big issue since they hugged each other all the time, even in front of other people. It wasn’t even a kiss or anything like that, which would’ve been impossible to hold for as long as needed.

However, after about half an hour of staying posed like that, Sumire’s emotions caught up with her and she blushed for the rest of the session. Yusuke didn’t seem to mind though, he even seemed to think it would make the painting better once he finished the sketch. Now it seems like he’s doing a similar thing but with Ren’s bruises.

Sumire’s face reddens slightly as she hears that. “I-I see… W-Would you like us to start…?”

“If you would, please.” Yusuke nods.

Ren and Sumire get into position and Sumire’s face reddens even more, looks like he doesn’t have to tease her to achieve the effect again. Yusuke resumes sketching and after a while he announces he’s ready to paint before letting the two take a break.

After a quick break, Ren and Sumire get back into position and Yusuke begins painting. By the time he stops the sun has already set, he looks out the window in surprise.

“Seems time flew by while we were working…” Yusuke observes. “Thank you both for coming, I appreciate it greatly.”

“No problem, Kitagawa-san!” Sumire smiles as she replies, attempting to shake off her blush that somehow persisted the whole time.

“Our pleasure, Kitagawa-san.” Ren responds immediately after.

“I imagine I’ll be able to finish the painting the next time you two are available.” Yusuke says… and Ren proceeds to feel a little dread.

“That soon?” Ren twirls a lock of hair nervously.

“Indeed, usually I would have to revise the painting multiple times but this one is turning out quite well.” Yusuke answers, seeming pleased.

“W-Well…” Sumire nervously responds. “It might be a bit… Perhaps next Sunday?” She looks at Ren for confirmation, he nods.

If the timetable remains the same, Yusuke should have already joined by then. Hopefully it doesn’t take Hikari too long to make it through the palace, or else they might find themselves displayed at Madarame’s exhibit.

“That should work, I’ll cover this one up until the next time you two can come.” Yusuke tells them, then moves the stand holding the canvas to the corner and covers it with a cloth.

Sumire grabs her bag and checks the time on the phone. “Oh! Senpai, we really need to get going!” She shows Ren the phone, it is really late, luckily the trains will still be running for a couple more hours.

“Right,” Ren nods in response before turning back to Yusuke. “We’ll be back next week, see you then.”

“See you as well, I wish you safe travels.” Yusuke replies, Ren smiles as he nods again.

With that, Ren and Sumire leave and head to the station. Sumire makes a quick call to Shinichi to explain where she’d been and to tell him that she’s on her way home. Thankfully, Shinichi doesn’t seem upset that she’s been out so late and simply asks her to come home safely.

As they approach the station, Ren and Sumire lock arms subconsciously, Sumire leaning ever so slightly against him as they go. They reach the station and take the train to Kichijoji. On their way back, Sumire admires the night sky and what few stars can be seen despite the city lights.

Unfortunately, the two have to separate as they approach Sumire’s house. After a quick kiss goodbye, Ren heads home himself, goes through his nightly routine, and heads to bed, quickly falling asleep after everything they’d done that day.

5/16 Madarame’s Atelier, After School

“Is this the place?” Ryuji asks, scratching the back of his head as the thieves look at the shack in front of them.

Unlike the exhibit, Shiho and Yuuki had accompanied them here, though Hikari doesn’t know how Kitagawa will handle such a large group of people. She hopes he takes it well.

“We’re at the right address… And the door plate does say ‘Madarame’.” Ann responds. True to her word, the plate on the door does say ‘Madarame’ on it.

“Uhhh…” Ryuji still seems surprised that this is Madarame’s house, Hikari can’t exactly blame him. “You ring the bell.”

“Me!?” Ann’s eyes widen. “The walls won’t collapse when I do, will they?”

After a couple more bad jokes about how frail the house looks, they head up and ring the bell. The speaker on the door turns on soon after.

“Who is it?” A static-sounding version of Kitgawa’s voice asks. “Sensei is currently-”

“It’s Takamaki.” Ann interrupts him.

“I’ll be right out!” Kitagawa’s voice frantically speaks from the other side.

“People actually live here…?” Yuuki silently asks, getting a shrug in response from Ryuji.

“Seems like it…” Ryuji answers, appearing just as baffled.

Some shuffling is heard behind the door before it slides open, revealing Kitagawa. “Takamaki-sa-” He stops as he looks at everybody else. “Why are all of you here?” He asks, confused.

“Oh!” Ann sheepishly responds, realizing the same thing Hikari thought of. “Sorry, ummm… They’re my friends and we’re kinda just here to ask you some questions?”

Ann doesn’t seem too sure of that herself, but it’s possible she’s simply trying not to offend Kitagawa. Still, he looks a little disappointed when Ann says she’s not here for modeling.

“I see… What questions would you like to ask?” Yusuke asks, probably trying to do the same for Ann.

“We heard some rumors online…” Shiho speaks up. “About Madarame, saying he’s abusing his students and stealing their work.”

Kitagawa takes a step back, looking aggravated by the accusations before laughing almost maniacally. “Preposterous! Sensei has done no such thing! He welcomes pupils into his own home! It’s charity, not violence!”

“And I’m the one residing here, studying under him. There is no doubt in my mind that those rumors are false.” Kitagawa concludes. Hikari isn’t sure if it’s just the artist being his usual eccentric self, or if he’s bad at lying. He could have just calmly told them the rumors were false, going on a rant like this makes Hikari wonder how much truth there is to what he’s said.

“But… What if you’re lying?” Yuuki speaks up nervously, having cowered behind Hikari after Kitagawa started laughing.

For a brief instance, Kitagawa hesitates.  “That… That is utter rubbish.” He then looks Yuuki in the eye as he continues. “I had no family when Sensei took me in, he raised me into the man I am today! Don’t you dare ridicule the man to whom I owe everything!”

“Yusuke?” A familiar voice speaks from the doorway, upon looking they see Madarame. “What’s the matter? I heard you yelling.”

Kitagawa turns to Madarame as he attempts to explain the situation. “These people are slandering you with baseless rumors!”

Madarame quickly comes to their defense however. “Forgive them Yusuke, they probably heard some bad rumors about me and were worried about their friend’s safety.”

Kitagawa sighs, clearly a bit frustrated. “Understood, Sensei…”

Madarame continues brushing the rumors off. “Even an old man like me is bound to be hated by someone…”

“That’s not what we meant…” Ann says, looking down a bit guiltily.

“I’m sorry for butting in on your conversation, I do have neighbors around. Would you please be so kind as to keep it down?” Madarame requests, come to think of it, they were being a bit loud.

Madarame then excuses himself and heads back inside, Kitagawa turns back to everyone else soon afterwards. “That was a bit discourteous of me… I hope you can forgive me…” Then Kitagawa seems to remember something. “Oh! You people are acquainted with Amamiya-san and Yoshizawa-san, correct?”

“Huh? You know them?” Yuuki asks, Hikari had forgotten to inform him and Shiho that Ren and Yoshizawa knew Kitagawa.

“Indeed,” Kitagawa answers before continuing his earlier thought. “If you were to ask them, I’m sure they could quell the rumors themselves.”

Hikari turns towards the group, they all look at each other as they silently come to a conclusion. Hikari then turns back to Kitagawa. “We’ll do just that then, sorry for disturbing you.” Might as well be polite, offending Kitagawa would get them nowhere.

“No need to apologize, as Sensei said, you were simply misled by the rumors.” Kitagawa reassures her, then turns back to Ann.

“Have you thought anymore about my offer to you, Takamaki-san?” Kitagawa asks, clearly hoping she’d say yes.

“Huh? Oh! Sorry, I think I’ll need a little more time to decide.” Ann responds sheepishly.

“Very well, I hope you will come to a decision soon. Now, if you’ll excuse me.” Kitagawa excuses himself and heads back into the atelier.

A little surprised by the outcome of the conversation, the thieves head away from the door to the edge of the property before stopping. Something about all of this bothers Hikari, but she can’t figure out what exactly it is. Madarame’s response seemed fair and she knows better than most how jealous people can get, and how that jealousy can turn into hatred.

Nothing about Madarame’s words here raised any red flags to Hikari, and assuming he’s lying without having a basis for any evidence seems foolish. Wait, lying… Kitagawa definitely hesitated when Yuuki accused him, although it didn’t give them much evidence in and of itself, it’s a little suspicious.

“Those two seemed really nice, didn’t they?” Ryuji asks, snapping Hikari out of her thoughts.

“Maybe the Madarame we heard about in Mementos was a different one?” Ann suggests, Hikari has her doubts though.

“So we don’t have a new target yet…?” Yuuki asks, clearly disappointed.

“Not necessarily…” Hikari says, everyone turns to her and she explains. “Kitagawa-san definitely hesitated when Yuuki accused him of lying, it’s possible Madarame is keeping him quiet somehow.”

“Didn’t he say he owed a lot to Madarame though?” Shiho asks, doubting the explanation.

“Maybe… I think we should poke around some more, Lotus and Violet might know something if we manage to run into them again.” Hikari suggests, Morgana quickly voices his doubts though.

“...But didn’t Lotus say he wouldn’t help us with the palaces? He only said he’d fuse personas for you.” Morgana reminds her, Hikari shrugs in response.

“I think it’s worth a shot, for now though, we should probably confirm whether Madarame has a palace. That much we can know for sure if we check.” Hikari says, everyone nods in response.

Ryuji quickly pulls out his phone and opens the nav. “Ichiryusai Madarame.”

“Candidate found.” The nav responds.

“Huh!? So he does have one!?” Ryuji yells out, shocked.

“Keep it down!” Morgana hisses and Ryuji apologizes.

“I guess we can just go to the next keyword and say ‘plagiarism and abuse’.” Hikari speaks loud enough for the phone to pick it up.

Another hit, abuse didn’t register, but plagiarism did. Ann decides to go for the location.

“Atelier.” She says, clearly just thinking of the first place she sees, another hit.

“This is going really smoothly! Now we just need a distortion!” Morgana excitedly says.

“What could it be though? ‘Castle’, like Kamoshida’s?” Yuuki attempts, but the nav rejects the answer.

From that point forward they guess a few different options, none of which work. After their random guesses fail, they decide to take a step back and think a bit.

“It’s probably something related to art…” Shiho says, everyone thinks a bit.

“A building related to art… A museum, maybe?” Ann suggests offhandedly.

“Distortion found, beginning navigation.” The phone accepts the answer.

The world shifts and after a light headache, Hikari casts her eyes towards where the atelier used to be. Now it’s a gaudy museum, probably bigger and fancier than any she’d seen in her life.

“The shack’s really some kind of museum?” Yuuki asks, baffled. “I mean, I’d get it if he saw Ueno as something grander, but what’s so special about his atelier?”

“Only one way to find out,” Morgana announces. “Joker, Skull, Panther, and myself should go in.” Then he turns to Yuuki and Shiho. “You two should head back and make sure nobody sees us leave.”

Yuuki looks conflicted but ultimately nods, Shiho responds more confidently. “Got it! We’ll see you on the other side.”

With that, Yuuki and Shiho leave, then the remaining thieves head in and look around. After making it inside, they find themselves in a room full of paintings of what look like people with what they assume to be their names in place of where the painting title would be.

After more exploring, they figure out exactly who the people on these paintings are. They had a bit of suspicion upon seeing Nakanohara’s painting, but this one confirms it.

“Isn’t this a painting of that guy?” Ryuji asks, Morgana nods.

“Yusuke Kitagawa, there’s no mistaking it. These are all Madarame’s pupils. Past and present.” Morgana says, appearing to follow a similar line of thinking to Hikari.

“Do you think these might be Madarame’s cognitions of them?” Hikari asks, wondering if it’s even possible.

“Probably,” Morgana answers. “We won’t be able to confirm it until we explore more of the palace though.”

“We should keep investigating then, maybe we’ll be able to find something more definitive.” Hikari suggests, everyone agrees.

Soon they find their way to the main lobby, surprisingly there aren’t any shadows in sight. The pamphlets on display contain maps of a good portion of the building, but not all of it, causing Hikari to think they’re probably going to have a similar scenario to Kamoshida’s palace where they’re going to have to find another one.

After making it past the lobby, they approach a strange golden sculpture with black figures on it. Heading up to the display, they read the name.

“The infinite spring?” Ann reads. “A conglomerate work of art that the great director Madarame created with his own funds. These individuals must offer their ideas to the director for the rest of their lives, those who cannot do so have no worth living!”

She reads the last part angrily, is this really how Madarame sees his pupils?

“This is most likely about the plagiarism, right?” Ann asks as she turns back to everyone else.

Hikari stays quiet as she contemplates the sculpture, Ryuji on the other hand immediately jumps to what is probably the right conclusion anyway. “That phony geezer!”

“So his pupils are his property!? If this is true he doesn’t even qualify as an artist!” Morgana yells.

He then turns back to everyone else. “I guess this confirms our theory about the paintings in the other room: Those likely are the cognitions of his pupils.”

“So they’re nothing but tools to him!?” Ann asks, disgusted.

“Why’s Kitagawa keepin’ quiet about this!? He’s got no reason to cover it up!” Ryuji shouts.

“There’s probably more to this going on,” Hikari suggests. “Maybe he feels like he owed Madarame his ideas for taking him in, or maybe Madarame threatened him.”

“He did act a little strange when we got to one of the paintings in the exhibit. Maybe that one was his?” Ann responds.

“Probably…” Morgana looks around. “We should discuss this with everyone, I think we’ve done enough exploring for the day.”

“Right, it would be better if we were all together.” Hikari nods in response.

They leave the museum, but before entering the real world, Hikari takes one last look at the building. She swears she sees a flicker of movement in the corner of her vision, but once she looks there she sees nothing unusual. It was probably just in her head, she turns back and quickly leaves the palace.

Chapter Text

Once the four persona-users left Madarame’s palace, they meet up with Yuuki and Shiho before heading to the diner in Shibuya. It’s a different one than the one Hikari had taken Ann to before, there aren’t many customers in this one right now making it the perfect place to discuss their findings in the palace.

After they’d settled into a table and ordered their food, the four caught up their remaining two members on everything that happened in the palace.

“So Madarame really sees his pupils as nothing more than a means to an end?” Shiho asks, a hint of disgust present in her voice.

“That’s what we think,” Morgana answers, popping out of Hikari's bag after ensuring nobody was looking at the table. “There has to be more to it if Kitagawa’s refusing to talk though.”

“We were thinking it might have something to do with Madarame taking him in.” Ann adds before looking at Hikari momentarily. “...but we’re worried it could be something worse.”

“I can poke around online and see if I can find anything,” Yuuki offers before turning to Hikari. “I’ll let you know if anything comes up.”

“I’m thinkin’ it might be somethin’ worse.” Ryuji suddenly speaks up. “Like, I don’t get why the guy would hide it even if Madarame took him in!”

“Don’t be so loud, Ryuji!” Morgana hisses. “I get what you mean though, Kitagawa must have his own reasons for keeping it secret.”

“Maybe we can ask Ren and Yoshizawa, like Kitagawa suggested? They’ve known him longer than we have, after all.” Yuuki suggests, Hikari nods.

Ann looks a bit conflicted though and speaks up after a moment of silence between everyone. “Are we sure something worse is going on though? Kitagawa seemed offended when we asked, not afraid. Madrame may not be the best person if he looks at his students that way, but should we really get involved if he isn’t actively hurting anyone?”

“People have been hurt though,” Yuuki responds, everyone looks at him before he explains further. “Well, it’s just a rumor but…” He pulls out his phone and shows everyone an article. “According to this, one of his students committed suicide, the rumor implies it had to do with Madarame’s plagiarism.”

There’s a round of gasps upon looking at the article, if this is true then they definitely have to do something before Kitagawa turns out the same.

“We should gather more information,” Hikari decides, breaking the silence that had once again enveloped the table. “Figure out if this is true, maybe we can locate a former student if any are willing to talk?”

“Unlikely…” Yuuki responds with a downcast expression. “Most of them have left the art scene entirely, it won’t be easy to find them.”

Hikari sighs, then turns to Morgana. “Is there any chance we’d find evidence in the palace itself?”

Morgana shakes his head. “No… It would only be there if it was significant to his distortion, even if he mourned the loss we wouldn’t find evidence of it there.”

“Then I guess we’ll just have to keep looking in the real world, maybe we’ll get lucky.” Hikari relents, trying not to get frustrated over the growing odds against their favor.

…

“...Or…” Shiho starts, looking at Ann with a teasing smile on her face.

Ann groans in frustration. “Do I have to…?”

“Come on…” Shiho smirks. “It’s just modeling, it’s literally your job.”

“That’s different!” Ann retorts. “All I usually have to do is wear some designer clothes and look sexy! What am I even supposed to do as an art model!?”

“Cover yourself in paint?” Hikari jokingly offers, thankful for the distraction from their current situation.

Ann groans again as she turns her gaze to Hikari. “Can you at least try to take this seriously!?”

Hikari doesn’t respond, instead just giggles teasingly as Ann glares at her. Shiho’s smirk turns into a more genuine look as it seems she decides to stop teasing Ann.

“It’s still our best shot at figuring anything out about Madarame,” Shiho says. “At least consider it?”

Ann sighs as she finally gives in. “Fine… I’ll text Kitagawa tomorrow about it.” She then glares at Shiho again. “This is a one time deal, okay? I’m NOT doing this again!”

Shiho laughs a bit as she waves away Ann’s worries. “I’m sure we can figure something out if it doesn’t work.”

Ann continues glaring at Shiho until the food arrives, at which point she stops in favor of what Hikari is slowly realizing is her ultimate weakness. Desserts. Shiho shoots a smug look in Ann’s direction while she’s not paying attention before proceeding to eat her own food.

Hikari doubts that they’d be able to get a confession out of Kitagawa this soon though, with any luck they’ll be able to find some definitive evidence to act on elsewhere…

5/17 Shujin Academy, After School

Hikari wanders aimlessly through the halls of the school, she was hoping to talk to Ren immediately after school but he left so quickly she hadn’t gotten the chance. She decided to instead meet up with all the thieves to discuss who should go with Ann to the atelier, as they were too big of a group to all go at the same time. In the end, Ann had chosen to take Ryuji and Shiho with her, Hikari passed Morgana off to Shiho before they left in hopes he could scout the shack out without being noticed.

Yuuki, on the other hand, decided to go home immediately after school to keep looking for evidence online. Hikari was secretly hoping to be able to hang out with him that day, she hadn’t gotten the opportunity to yet like she has with Ryuji and Ann, both of which she felt some, almost ethereal, connection strengthen each time.

Without anything to do, she finally decided to just study in the library, despite her failed attempts before. On her way back to that floor though, she passes by the principal’s office and hears some muffled voices speak through the door. Normally, she wouldn’t bother with eavesdropping, so she doesn’t know what possessed her to make sure nobody was watching before pressing her ear against the door.

“-I’m afraid I don’t understand your concerns, Dr. Maruki.” A voice she recognizes as the principal speaks through the door. “Amamiya-kun is at the top of his class, surely the teachers would recognize if something were wrong with him.”

They’re talking about Ren? Why? She leans closer against the door, curious about what they’re going to say next.

“I can’t disclose anything he said to me during our session,” Maruki’s muffled voice replies. “But I’m sure most of the teachers and probably even the students already know he’s not okay!”

“I still don’t understand your concerns, Doctor.” The principal responds again. “Isn’t that the very reason we hired you?”

“That’s the thing, he’s not willing to speak to me anymore.” Maruki answers, seeming desperate. “It’s not much of a surprise in my field, sometimes clients and counselors just don’t click, I’m suggesting that either you hire another counselor or contact his parents about it.”

“I see…” The principal says, but it feels more like a formality to Hikari, like he doesn’t intend to do anything about it at all. “If it interferes with his grades, I will consider it. For now though, I don’t see the big deal.”

Hikari hears Maruki let out a sigh and say something inaudible. After that, it seems like Maruki gives up on trying to persuade the principal and moves on to other topics. Concerns that the principal would more likely be willing to address, like making the counseling sessions optional for the former volleyball and track teams, having teachers remind the students about the option of counseling without pressuring them.

Ultimately, it doesn’t sound like anything will change though, Hikari decides to step away from the door and walk off before Maruki leaves. She supposes she shouldn’t be too surprised that Ren was traumatized by Kamoshida, or even that he’d be reluctant to talk about it… And yet it feels… wrong, like there’s more to it.

She looks at her phone and sees the red and black eye symbol on her home page. Maybe… she should check… just to be sure…

She shakes her head quickly. No. Ren’s business is his own, without Kamoshida’s influence any distortion left behind will fade with time. Plus, he has the Yoshizawa twins to support him, there’s no reason for the thieves to interfere… although…

Hikari has to shake her head of the thoughts once more before they can even form, she turns her phone off and decides to leave the school. She’ll just study in her room, she wouldn’t be comfortable at the school anyway.

Meanwhile at the Atelier…

“Is that another painting?” Ann points at the corner of the room where a painting is obscured by a cloth.

Kitagawa looks over at where she’s pointing. “Ah yes, but it’s unfinished.”

Ryuji looks confused by his response. “...But if you’re already working on a painting… Why did you ask Ann to model for you?”

Kitagawa flinches slightly at the question. “Well that’s… not important. Anyway, Takamaki-san, would you please take a seat?”

Ann stares at the painting in the corner of the room curiously before going to sit down. While following Kitagawa’s instructions on how to pose, she wonders what the other painting could possibly be and why Kitagawa seemed so reluctant to talk about it. Perhaps if they manage to get him to talk about Madarame’s plagiarism, she could get the details?

Soon Kitagawa seems happy with her pose and tells her to hold it. Minutes quickly pass by as Ann tries to think about how to approach the situation without angering Kitagawa, soon they reach the half hour mark and she’s tired of waiting.

“Hey… Kitagawa-kun?” Ann begins, unfortunately Kitagawa seems to be too absorbed in his work to hear her, a scowl present on his face.

“Uhhh… You hear her?” Ryuji speaks just a bit louder than Ann, to the same result.

“Geez… How are we supposed to ask him anything when he’s like this?” Shiho thinks aloud.

“...I guess wait for him to finish?” Morgana speaks up from the bag, having only come out after realizing that Kitagawa wouldn’t notice him anyway. “I’m gonna scout out the shack, I’ll be back soon.” He says, hopping out of the bag and quietly leaving the room.

Ann lets out a slight groan, but keeps her pose so as to not annoy Kitagawa. After a long three hours, Kitagawa finally puts down his paintbrush and sulks. Ann winces slightly, realizing he must not be happy with the result.

“Oh!” Ryuji stands up from his seat as he realizes Kitagawa’s stopped. “Are ya done?”

“...No.” Kitagawa shakes his head. “It’s no good…”

Ryuji groans but Shiho shoots him a glare that stops him from saying anything. Ann releases her pose as she looks apologetically at Kitagawa. “I’m sorry… Am I the problem?”

“No, it’s just…” Kitagawa assures her, but doesn’t seem to have any words to back it up. “I’m not sure, I’ve been having some trouble focusing today. Could we resume another time?”

“Oh hell no! Do you know how long you made us wait!?” Ryuji exclaims, despite the glare from Shiho.

“I’m sorry,” Ann speaks up, realizing now is the best time to ask her questions. “We had another reason we wanted to talk to you today.”

“It’s about the rumors regarding your sensei.” Ryuji clarifies, sounding annoyed.

“This again…?” Kitagawa sighs, clearly ready to defend Madarame once more.

“It’s been bugging me for a while… That painting we saw at the exhibit, you were the one who painted it, right?” Ann asks directly, hoping Kitagawa will at least admit that much.

“That’s…” Kitagawa flinches again, Ann’s guess must’ve been right on point.

“I knew it…” She whispers to herself.

“Your sensei’s seriously messed up. He just uses his pupils as tools.” Ryuji adds a little unhelpfully. “He doesn’t give a damn whether he steals their work or physically beats them.”

Ann wants to smack Ryuji for that last comment. They’re sure Madarame’s been plagiarizing his students, but they have no proof even within the palace that he’s done anything else. Still… If Kitagawa is going through the same things Ren did… The same things the volleyball team did, then they have to do something.

Kitagawa chuckles, but looks conflicted. “I have no idea what you’re talking about…”

Ann sighs somberly. “You can’t go against him, can you? Is there anything we can do to help?”

“Stop it…” Kitagawa warns, but seems to lose all intent of concealing the truth. “It’s just as you’ve said. We’re… our sensei’s ‘artwork’. Don’t misunderstand me though, I offered my ideas to him myself. As such, it cannot be called plagiarism. Sensei’s simply suffering from artist’s block right now.”

“Kitagawa-kun…” Ann starts, but before she can go anywhere she’s interrupted by Ryuji.

“Why do you even stick around then!?” Ryuji shouts. “All his other pupils left! Why haven’t you!?”

“What’s wrong with a pupil helping out his master!?” Kitagawa retorts, although it almost feels like he’s in denial. “There are no victims here! Stop pushing your self-righteous agenda onto me!”

“That doesn’t make any sense though…” Shiho speaks up, causing Kitagawa to look at her. “Even if he’s suffering from artist’s block, wouldn’t it be better if the works he created were truly his own?”

“...” Kitagawa has no retort to that. Instead he shakes his head. “This conversation is going nowhere, don’t ever come here again. I’ll sue you for causing a disturbance.”

“Woah wait just a moment! We ain’t done talkin’ here yet!” Ryuji yells, only serving to worsen the already bad situation.

“You leave me no choice… I’m reporting all of you to the police.” Kitagawa announces, shocking everyone in the room. “I asked Takamaki-san to be my model today, but I never invited you two!”

“Please calm down, Kitagawa!” Ann pleads, hoping to defuse the situation as she casts a glare at Ryuji telling him not to say anything else.

“I won’t report you under one condition…” Kitagawa says, Ann’s curious about what it could be. “I want you to continue being my model, Takamaki-san.”

“Just that?” Ann asks, that should be simple enough.

“I think I may know the reason it wasn’t working today.” Kitagawa continues, piquing Ann’s interest. “I was unconsciously being modest for your sake, I have nothing to worry about anymore, however. If you’re willing to bare everything to me.”

He then dramatically announces something that serves only to fill Ann with shock, embarrassment, and dread. “I shall pour my heart and soul into creating the best nude painting ever!”

“WHAT!?” Ryuji asks, baffled.

Shiho simply glares at Kitagawa while Ann takes a step back as her cheeks pinken from the suggestion. “Nude!?”

Oblivious to the mounting tension in the room, Kitagawa continues. “To think I could create a nude painting with the most ideal model! It’s not like the grace of a gymnast or the youthful love of two teens… but it shall do.”

Had Kitagawa not just told Ann she’d be the subject of a nude painting, she would have noticed the peculiarity of the latter part of that statement. Unfortunately, she was too busy thinking about just how much she is definitely not doing a nude painting!

“You two, along with your other friends, won’t be allowed inside of course. I ask that you forget about our conversation today as well.” He then thinks a bit longer and adds a little more. “I would also much appreciate it if you don’t tell Amamiya-san or Yoshizawa-san about anything you’ve heard here, if I find out you have, I will be reporting you to the police.”

Kitagawa then glances at the painting in the corner of the room before looking down at the floor. “If I don’t submit a new piece to Sensei soon… there will be some inconveniences.”

Ann’s temporary stunned embarrassment finally ends as she begins speaking. “Nude!? You mean like without clothes, right!? Why are things escalating so suddenly!?”

“Those are my terms.” Kitagawa smiles, appearing completely oblivious to what he just asked Ann to do.

“Sensei is out during the afternoon, so I can use this place as I please.” Kitagawa once again seems to be thinking out loud, completely unperturbed by Ann’s embarrassment or Shiho’s growing murderous gaze. “I should buy more art supplies…”

“Can you just give me a second here!?” Ann desperately asks, in hopes of convincing Kitagawa to change his ‘terms’.

Unfortunately, he just continues along the same line of thought as before. “Of course, I can make time according to your plans as long as you come before the exhibit ends.”

“Th-That’s not what I meant! Are you even listening!?” Ann shouts, growing more frustrated by the second. If the topic had been anything else that got Ann this embarrassed, she’s sure Shiho would join in and just make it worse.

“Sensei will be returning home soon, we’re done for the day. Please contact me once you’re ready, Takamaki-san.” Kitagawa continues not listening to her pleas.

As much as Ann continues to try and get some acknowledgement or reconsideration or anything from Kitagawa, he simply ignores her. Eventually, they leave, Morgana quickly hopping into Shiho’s bag as he sees them. The whole way home, she ignores the texts constantly pinging her phone, they’re probably just the group chat trying to decide a time for everyone to meet up and discuss what happened. Not wanting to deal with that right now, Ann opts to simply head home and go to bed.

Earlier…

Hikari gets back to Leblanc with a few hours of daylight left, she was expecting an ‘Ah, you’re back.’ from Sojiro followed by asking her if she’s been staying out of trouble. Instead, Sojiro seems to be absent and only Ren is standing behind the counter. She hadn’t forgotten what she heard earlier though, but knowing it’s none of her business, she decides to try and not bring it up around him.

“Welcome back, Hikari. Boss gave me permission to make you some dinner, you up for it?” Ren asks, a smile present on his face. If not for knowing what’s happened to the boy followed by hearing what Maruki said, she’d never know anything was wrong.

Hikari realizes she should probably say something. “Ah, yes, that’d be great. Thanks, Ren.”

She takes a seat and Ren expertly begins preparing some curry for her. After a few minutes, he’s done and hands her the plate. She says her thanks for the food and begins eating. As expected, the curry tastes delicious, she wonders if she’d be able to convince Sojiro to teach her the recipe…

“I’m sure Boss would be more than willing to teach you.” Ren suddenly says, interrupting her thoughts while also seemingly reading her mind.

“Are you sure?” Hikari asks dumbly, Sojiro didn’t seem the type to her.

“Yeah, I mean I’m just some random kid who ate here one time and he decided to teach me.” Ren shrugs, although it feels like there might be more to the story than that. “Besides, even if he doesn’t want to teach you, I can probably get permission to teach you myself.”

Hikari raises a brow, if Sojiro wasn’t willing to teach her himself, she doubts he would let them use his equipment for it.

Once again seemingly reading her mind, Ren reassures her. “I have plenty of ingredients for this kind of curry back at my place, you’ve been there before. So, how about it?”

Hikari thinks for a bit before smiling. “I think we have a deal.”

“A deal?” Ren chuckles. “I guess you could call it that, I’ll let you know what Sojiro says.”

Hikari thanks him before once again feeling time slow to a halt as she hears that same ethereal little girl’s voice.

I am thou, thou art I…

Thou has acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Fool Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…

If that was all that happened, she wouldn’t have been so weirded out by this experience. Suddenly her vision shifts and the world darkens, she looks around confused as little objects in the room are highlighted to her. She doesn’t know what they are, but as she looks back at Ren he isn’t darkened like everything else either, there’s a small tarot card hovering over his head displaying the Fool arcana.

Just as soon as it starts, it ends and reality turns back to normal as if it had never happened in the first place. What was that? Ren looks at her with concern present on his face.

“Is everything alright, Hikari?” Ren asks worriedly.

“O-Oh, yes, I’m fine… I just felt a little weird suddenly.” She makes up an excuse.

Ren doesn’t look convinced though. “Was it the curry? Maybe you should go to bed early.”

“R-Right…” As she gets up, the bell chimes and Ren looks over.

“Shiho? What are you doing here?” He asks, confused.

“Ren? You work here?” Shiho looks just as confused before shaking her head. “I was looking after Morgana for Hikari today, I’m just giving him back real quick before heading home.”

As she says that, Morgana hops out of her bag and onto the floor before rushing up the stairs. Hikari thanks Shiho who nods her head then leaves the establishment. Hikari then thanks Ren for the curry and heads upstairs, pens a new entry into her probationary diary, and tries to study for a bit. Unfortunately, she can’t focus after what she just experienced and decides that tomorrow she’s going to go into Mementos and get some answers out of Lotus.

She lays down in bed without Morgana even having to tell her to and closes her eyes. Morgana takes his usual spot on her chest and starts purring peacefully like the not-cat he is. Admittedly it was a bit awkward at first, until Hikari realized that when Morgana lets his guard down… he’s basically just a regular house cat, so she let it go after the first time.

She gets a few texts on her phone, looking at it, it appears to just be Ryuji and Shiho informing everyone else about a time to meet up at the diner tomorrow. Hikari texts that she’ll be there then turns her phone off and allows sleep to take her.

5/18 Shibuya, After School

After school they’d all met up at the diner to discuss what Ann, Shiho, and Ryuji learned yesterday. Ann recounts the story and they break into heated discussion.

“So, are you gonna do it?” Ryuji asks soon after the story’s over, which is strange to Hikari considering he was there when it happened.

“Of course not! Why would I!?” Ann angrily replies, completely flustered after telling the story.

“I mean… We ain’t gonna get anything else out of him unless ya do.” Ryuji points out.

“Do we really need to though?” Hikari asks and everyone turns to her. “Kitagawa admitted to everything, right? Isn’t that enough for us to change Madarame’s heart?”

Ann’s blush dies down as she seems to think about Hikari’s question. “I don’t know if that would be a good idea…”

“What do you mean, Ann?” Yuuki asks, appearing confused.

“I mean… Madarame doesn’t have any other pupils does he? If Kitagawa is fine with all of this happening… Do we really need to intervene?” Ann answers, seeming unsure of what their next step should be.

Everyone quiets down for a bit, Yuuki looks around nervously before taking his laptop out of his bag and putting it on the table. They all turn their heads to him with confused expressions as he rushes to explain.

“Maybe we still should…” Yuuki says, turning his laptop around to show everyone. “I got a message from someone on the Phansite last night, Nakanohara. Isn’t that the guy you changed the heart of before?”

“Yeah… What did he say?” Hikari asks, wondering why he would try to contact them.

“Well… He wanted to thank all of you for changing his heart, and he wanted to request one as well.” Yuuki explains. “I told him to look for a girl wearing a Shujin uniform with a cat sticking out of her bag by the station at a specific time. Which is about thirty minutes from now.”

That was plenty of time for them to finish the food they’d ordered. Knowing what Nakanohara said before, it’s likely he’d ask for them to change Madarame’s heart, they should still meet up with him to get the request in person though.

With that, some grumblings from Morgana about not being a cat after hearing Yuuki’s statement, they all quickly finish their food before heading to the station to meet Nakanohara.

Later…

The information provided by Nakanohara was helpful, it not only confirmed the rumor about the student who committed suicide, it also gave them a reason to actively go against Madarame. The thieves now had someone directly asking them to take Madarame down, who knew changing the heart of a random stalker would pay them back later? Before entering Madarame’s palace that day though, Hikari wanted to stop by Mementos in hopes to bump into either Lotus or Violet again.

She told the rest of the thieves that she was going to visit Mementos. Although she told them she was going to try to find Lotus or Violet again, she omitted the real reason why. She was going to keep information about bonds or whatever happened yesterday to herself for now, even though the rest of them had heard what Lotus said before, she doubted they understood any of it.

Hikari told the rest of the thieves to meet her by the atelier before heading to Mementos, they weren’t concerned for her safety as they knew shadows never went to the first floor. They probably should have been a bit more concerned about the mysterious duo, but Hikari’s sure if they wanted to hurt her, even with all of her teammates, the two wouldn’t struggle either way.

She heads to the station and enters Mementos, then takes the stairs downwards. She’s slightly surprised to see both Lotus and Violet waiting for her at the bottom, playing a game of what looks like shogi.

Upon Hikari’s entry though, Lotus looks up and they end their game, putting the board and pieces away.

“Welcome back, Trickster.” Lotus greets while Violet simply gives her a slight nod as she rests the compendium on her lap. “What do you need?”

“I have some questions,” Hikari answers. “I was hoping you could answer them for me.”

“Very well, I will answer your questions depending on the contents.” Lotus nods, then waits for her to start asking.

“The voice… these ‘bonds’ as you’ve called them… What are they?” Hikari asks as she takes a seat on the floor next to where the duo is sitting, not sure how exactly to describe them.

Lotus smiles, Hikari’s not sure how she can tell with all the shadows covering his features, but he does. “I suppose I forgot to tell you before, didn’t I?” He pauses and looks forward with a straightened out expression. “Bonds… are a wildcard’s strength, nurture them well.”

He looks at her again as he explains further. “Personas are all linked to the arcana, as you’ve probably noticed by now, each of your bonds are linked to one as well. As you strengthen those bonds, the Personas of that category will strengthen as well.”

“That… doesn’t make sense though…” Hikari can’t help but say, causing Lotus to look at her curiously. “They’re tarot arcanas, right? In that case, shouldn’t the Fool represent me? Why does it, instead, represent a friend of mine?”

Lotus shrugs. “Who knows? Perhaps this particular bond represents your personal growth, or it will later on. It could also be something completely different that even we are not aware of.”

It makes some sense, strangely, although Hikari has one last thing to ask before she leaves. “I see… I just have one last question: When I got the Fool arcana, something weird happened. It was like the world went dark except for some random objects around the room, and… maybe also the people?”

She wasn’t sure about that last part, Ren wasn’t darkened like everything else, but that could have been because of her bond to him. Lotus smirks, like he was waiting for her to ask that particular question.

“That is called ‘Third Eye’, while I cannot say for sure how you got it, it’s an incredibly useful ability in… your line of work.” Lotus answers. It seemed he was also confused as to how she got it, if his strange tone was anything to go by.

After a few seconds of silence, Violet speaks up, her comparably soft voice filling the room, though still filled with confidence like her partner’s. “Is that all?”

Hikari sighs, admittedly she’s surprised that her questions were answered so easily. She’s already felt her bonds with Ryuji and Ann strengthen a few times as she’s hung out with them. “Yes, thank you for answering.”

Hikari then looks towards the exit. “I suppose I’ll leave for now, I may come back in a few days to fuse some personas though.” She figures she might as well inform them, as of right now, they’re her only way of fusing personas.

Lotus nods. “We will try to be here when you’re ready.”

Hikari thanks the two again and leaves, with this new information at her disposal, she thinks she should spend more time strengthening her bonds. Perhaps form some new ones when possible as well? She already has one with the doctor in Yongen, maybe the owner of Untouchable is another potential bond?

Hikari shakes the thoughts out of her head to focus on the task at hand: Meeting up with everyone else to go into Madarame’s palace. She quickly makes her way there, hoping she didn’t take too long.

5/20 Shujin Academy, Early Morning

Ren, Sumire, and Kasumi make their way to school as Ren once again thinks about his metaverse encounter with Hikari a couple of days ago. He suspected she was going to go there as soon as possible, it was obvious from their discussion at Leblanc that she had just used Third Eye for the first time, the golden eyes mixed with the pale complexion and frantic looks around were proof of that. He thinks once again about the list of personas he’d prepared recently, he’d thought of using that opportunity to introduce it to Hikari, however, he eventually decided that the next time she wanted to fuse personas would be a more suitable time to get her started on the strength arcana. Assuming it’s that simple, of course.

Perhaps he and Sumire should have checked in on the thieves over the past couple of days while they were exploring Madarame’s palace, luckily it seems like they weren’t needed. Had Yaldabaoth thought Hikari would die in the first palace? It would make sense if he was behind the absurdly strong shadow Sumire told him about… given that Kamoshida’s palace was not part of Yaldabaoth’s domain though, it must have required a lot of effort to achieve.

He stops his thoughts as he enters the school, Kasumi looks on ahead and turns to Ren and Sumire with a nervous expression, foreign to her usual bold and confident expression.

“Seems like the exam results were posted today…” Kasumi nervously says.

“Oh?” Ren takes the opportunity to tease her, he’s found it fairly fun to do so. Not as fun as Sumire of course, but it’s interesting when the victim fights back. “Don’t tell me the bold and confident Kasumi Yoshizawa is nervous about her exam results?”

Kasumi giggles, amused by his teasing. “You would like that, wouldn’t you? What about your results, Amamiya-sensei?” She winks after retorting.

Ren chuckles in return. “I’m confident in my grades, you don’t have to worry about that.”

“Oh, are you now? I suppose we’ll just have to look then.” Kasumi replies as they approach the board.

All of the results are posted on the first floor, students listed in order of score with different papers to divide each year. The top ten students of each year are listed on a separate piece of paper a little to the right of the main three.

As expected, Ren is at the top of the second year, and a little surprisingly, Sumire is at the top of the first year. Kasumi gawks at their scores, particularly Sumire’s, as she turns back to them.

“Wow, those study sessions have been very effective, huh?” Kasumi says, still looking perplexed. Ren takes a closer look at the first year paper, Kasumi isn’t within the top ten, but she is fairly high up in her class.

“You didn’t do too bad yourself,” Ren tells her, then smirks. “You’re going to have to do a lot better if you want to catch up with my girl though.” He wraps an arm around Sumire and pecks her cheek to prove his point.

Sumire blushed a little when he called her ‘his girl’, that light blush turned into a full-on tomato blush when he pecked her cheek though, she squeaks in embarrassment in response. “S-Senpai! N-Not in front of everyone!” She reprimands him as they get stares from the students surrounding them.

Ren chuckles. “Everyone already knows anyway, what’s wrong with giving my girlfriend a little affection?”

As expected, Sumire gets even more flustered as she buries her face in her hands to avoid the stares from the students. Ren chuckles more before relenting.

“Still, congratulations, you two! You both did great.” He compliments them, Kasumi genuinely smiles.

“Thank you, Ren-senpai! Honestly, I wasn’t expecting to do that well, I’ll have to study harder next time though. Can’t have my rival beating me, now can I?” Kasumi tells him, a determined expression on her face.

“Guess not, don’t overdo it though, alright?” Ren says just for the sake of it.

“Don’t worry, I know my limits.” Kasumi giggles then looks at the time. “Oh! We should be getting to class now, bye Ren-senpai!”

She quickly grabs Sumire’s hand and rushes to their class. Upon looking at the time, the rest of the students follow suit, Ren casually makes his way to class afterwards.

5/20 Shujin Academy, After School

Makoto Niijima looks at the exam results for all of the students again. She stares at Amamiya’s name at the top of the second year scores; she'd intended to call him to the student council room as soon as he came back to school. Unfortunately, between her presidential duties and the Phantom Thieves investigation the principal put her up to, she had no time.

Fortunately, Amamiya being the top scoring student in his year gives her the perfect excuse. With renewed determination, she makes the announcement and waits. Minutes feel like hours as she waits for Amamiya to arrive, although she’s not sure what she wants to say.

No apology would suffice for whatever hell Kamoshida put him through, and she didn’t even know anything was going on. She should have guessed too, maybe she could’ve saved Amamiya a lot of pain had she intervened sooner. Him and the volleyball team.

The door opens and Amamiya comes in, Makoto still doesn’t know what she should do, so she just does what feels right.

“Welcome, Amamiya-kun. Thanks for coming, please take a seat.” Makoto greets, might as well start somewhere.

Amamiya does as she says and takes a seat across from the table she’s sitting at. “Any particular reason you called me in here?” He asks, clearly confused.

“Well, I would say to congratulate you on getting top of your class, although that’s just an excuse for the real reason.” Makoto quickly explains.

“‘Real reason’?” Amamiya tilts his head slightly.

“Yes.” Makoto gets up from her chair and deeply bows. “I’m really sorry, Amamiya-kun. Please forgive me.”

“Er…” A clearly taken aback Amamiya doesn’t appear to know what’s going on. “For what?”

Makoto looks up slightly to see his stunned expression before dropping her head again. “It is my duty as the student council president to help students in need. I’ve failed you and everyone else Kamoshida hurt, I’m truly sorry.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong though.” Amamiya tells her simply, quickly regaining his composure.

It’s Makoto’s turn to be shocked as she looks up at Amamiya again. “What do you mean? If I wasn’t so ignorant, you and everyone else could have avoided the pain Kamoshida put you through!”

Amamiya gives her a wry smile. “Forgive me if I’m mistaken… But I don’t believe you’re the one who broke my arm and put me in the hospital for half a week.”

Makoto’s shock turns into fluster as she can’t see how Amamiya doesn’t blame her for what happened. “E-Even so I-”

Amamiya cuts her off. “You didn’t know what was going on. Ignorance might not be a good thing, but I can hardly blame you for not doing something when you never knew anything was happening.”

“W-Well I-... I don’t-” Makoto can’t think of any retort and soon just opts to close her mouth.

Amamiya stands up too, Makoto straightens her back as he begins speaking again. “I don’t blame you for what happened.” He reaches out and pats her shoulder briefly before turning around. “I suggest you don’t blame yourself either. The only person in the wrong here is Kamoshida.”

Without another word, he walks out of the room. Makoto sits back down in her chair and thinks hard about the things Amamiya said. He doesn’t blame her? Even after everything he went through? She’d heard some of the rumors floating around, people assuming she knew what was happening, Amamiya was the first victim she’d seen who didn’t completely resent her for it.

Makoto holds her head in her hands. She’s not sure what she should be doing right now. With a deep breath, she proceeds with her leftover presidential duties. She grabs a stack of papers out of her bag and begins filling them out.

Her mind keeps going back to Amamiya’s words as she works. He may not have blamed her, but the least she could do is try to be more mindful. Less ignorant of what’s going on around her. Perhaps, with time, she can earn back the respect from the student body she’d lost after Kamoshida’s confession.

Later…

Makoto opens the door to the apartment she and her sister live in. She expects to be greeted by Sae, even just an acknowledgement that she’s back… But nothing, Makoto looks at the time, Sae should be back by now.

Shaking her head, she heads inside and looks around, the lights are on, but nobody is in the room. With a sigh, Makoto feels like she knows what happened. She heads towards her older sister’s room and opens the door slowly, sure enough, Sae is slumped over with her head on her desk, sleeping soundly.

This has become a fairly common occurrence recently. Although it had happened prior to the incident, after Kamoshida’s confession, she would find Sae like this at least twice a week. Ever since the news reported that Kamoshida had nearly killed a student… Amamiya… the boy she’d spoken to earlier, Sae had been busier than ever before.

Makoto can only hope that this calms down soon, she leaves her sister be and turns off the desk lamp. Makoto then heats up a quick dinner for herself, eats it, shuts off the rest of the lights, and heads to bed.

She stares at her ceiling for what feels like hours as she thinks about her life right now. Would her father be proud of her? Disappointed in her? Ashamed of her? Amamiya… the students on the volleyball team… and now her own sister, they’re all suffering because of her ignorance.

Amamiya told her not to blame herself, but how can she not?

Chapter Text

5/20 Shibuya Diner, Evening

Once again, Hikari finds herself glad Sojiro trusted her with a key to Leblanc, meaning she can stay out longer in the evenings. This was particularly useful now, as it had taken hours after their palace infiltration that day to gather everyone together. Once everyone had finally gotten there, the four persona-users took turns explaining what they had discovered in the palace so far, including the locked door that Morgana seemed to recognize the pattern of.

“Did you guys find anything in the palace that might unlock the door?” Yuuki asks, scratching the back of his head.

“No, we’ve looked everywhere. If anything in the palace can open that door it’d be on the other side.” Hikari replies, shaking her head.

“Like I said though,” Morgana adds. “There’s a door in the atelier that matches the pattern on the door in the palace. If I’m not mistaken, those two are likely linked in Madarame’s cognition.”

“So we’d have to get back inside the atelier somehow…” Shiho replies, looking down. “How are we even going to do that?”

All eyes turn to Ann, who proceeds to blush heavily.

“No!” Ann folds her arms and averts her eyes. “Nonononononono! I am NOT doing that!”

Shiho soon takes Ann’s side and turns to face everyone else. “Absolutely not, there is no way I’m letting her do it.”

“Surely there’s another option?” Hikari asks, as much as she wants to change Madarame’s heart, she’s not about to force her friend to be a nude model for it.

“Does she really have to though?” Ryuji asks, all eyes turn to him. “I mean, all we need is for her to get inside that shack. The cat knows where the door is so he could deal with the lock while Ann stalls for time, y’know.”

“But then we’d still need Madarame to see it…” Morgana says. “And stop calling me a cat!”

Ignoring Morgana’s outburst, Ann says. “So… I ‘stall for time’ while Mona deals with the lock, then what? Once Mona’s done what am I supposed to do!?”

Shiho thinks for a bit. “You could send me a text and then I could call you. You could pretend it’s something super important that you can’t skip out on.” She offers.

“That sounds good. What do you think, Ann?” Hikari asks, just to make sure Ann is on board, but she gets no reply. “Ann?”

Turning back to Ann, she looks a little embarrassed, or maybe nervous. Similar to when she’d first told them of KItagawa’s ‘terms’. Ryuji smirks as he looks at Ann.

“She’s probably thinking ‘bout how shit she is at actin’.” Ryuji bluntly states.

Ann looks offended. “It’s not that bad!” She scoffs.

“It’s pretty bad…” Shiho responds, facepalming as she appears to realize just how bad her suggestion was.

“Well- I- You- URGH!” Ann can’t seem to think of any retort of her own and instead averts her eyes as her face pinkens again. “You guys are the worst!”

“That plan might still work though,” Hikari says and everyone looks at her. “I mean, it might just be me, but Kitagawa seemed pretty oblivious.”

“Oh yeah!” Ryuji seems to realize the same thing as he turns to Ann with a grin on his face. “Maybe your shit actin’ won’t ruin everything after all!”

Ann stares at him coldly. “Do you want me to slap you again?”

“N-No thanks…” Ryuji quickly shuts himself up as he subconsciously rubs Ann’s favorite ‘slap Ryuji’ spot on the back of his head.

“Still…” Morgana speaks up again. “I think we have the makings of a plan. Are you okay with it, Lady Ann?”

Ann sighs and looks down, her face still slightly pink before nodding. “Yeah… I’ll figure out some way to stall him. I am NOT doing this again though!”

“That’s exactly what ya said last time…” Ryuji mutters, luckily Ann didn’t seem to hear him.

“Relax,” Shiho attempts to assure Ann. “If this doesn’t work, we aren’t going to force you to model for him again.”

“You better!” Ann hisses through gritted teeth.

Shiho rolls her eyes and the thieves all talk for a little longer until they finish their dinners. They then all pay their share and leave the diner, animatedly chatting with each other about topics unrelated to their current dilemma. With any luck, their gamble will work and they’ll be able to progress through the palace.

5/21 Shibuya Diner, After School

Yuuki fiddles with his food, Hikari and Ryuji must be in the palace by now. Morgana is most likely working on unlocking the door, with Ann distracting Kitagawa. Everybody has their roles to play… except for him. He lets out an audible sigh.

“Are you doing okay?” Shiho asks worriedly from across the table they’re sitting at.

“I’m fine, Shiho.” Yuuki replies with a flat voice. “I just wish I could do more.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Shiho asks, sounding confused.

“It’s just…” Yuuki thinks about what he wants to say for a second before sighing again. “I can’t go into the Metaverse… and I can’t help here in reality either…”

“What are you talking about? You already have helped plenty.” Shiho assures him, he looks up at her as he hears that. “I mean, without your site we never would’ve found Nakanohara… And without Nakanohara we never would have got Ann on board to take down Madarame.”

“Even so,” Yuuki shakes his head. “I can’t change hearts, and it was only because of you that we were able to convince Ann to model for Kitagawa-kun in the first place.”

It’s Shiho’s turn to shake her head. “I’ve known Ann for far longer than you, if modeling for Kitagawa-kun was what she had to do to save people… she would have done it anyway.”

Yuuki can’t exactly refute that point, he knows Shiho is right, but he can’t admit that either. Despite Shiho’s kind words and reassurances, he still doesn’t feel like he’s doing enough. His mind soon shifts to someone he’s developed a lot of admiration for. Ren. What would Ren do in this situation?

Ren, who didn’t even know the thieves were busy changing Kamoshida’s heart, did everything he could just to ensure the safety of the other students. While Yuuki has his doubts that Ren knew Kamoshida was going to try to kill him, something that had even surprised the thieves upon hearing about it, that doesn’t change the fact that he’d risked himself anyway.

And Ren didn’t even have access to the Metaverse! Compared to him, someone who isn’t even a member of the team, Yuuki can’t help but feel he’s lacking. He desperately wants to do more to help, but he knows he can’t, not yet at least.

Yuuki lets out another frustrated sigh, but tries to stray his thoughts away from what’s happening with Madarame, knowing that it would only make him feel worse. Unfortunately, that doesn’t help very much.

Meanwhile…

Yusuke wasn’t quite sure what was going on as he followed after Takamaki, the girl that he just wanted to stay put so he could display her beauty on a canvas. He knows the direction she’s going in, it’s towards that room, the only one with a lock in the atelier. Sensei will be home soon, he has to stop her before that happens!

“Takamaki-san! Wait, we can’t be in this part of the atelier!” He desperately calls out to her.

“What’s past here?” Takamaki asks, pointing to the hall that leads to only one room: Sensei’s.

“That’s…” Yusuke tries to formulate a response, but can’t. As she starts going down the hall he desperately calls out again. “I keep telling you, you can’t!”

Takamaki enters the hall and sees the door, but flinches back suddenly. Yusuke finds that reaction odd as, while the door is different from any other door in the house, it’s quite nice to look at from time to time when Sensei isn’t home.

“Is something the matter?” Yusuke asks, hoping his model is okay.

“Oh! Uhm… What’s in here?” Takamaki asks, gesturing to the door that is not yet within Yusuke’s line of sight.

That’s a question Yusuke’s not quite sure of the answer to… All he really knows is he’s not allowed in there, however, he has seen Sensei enter and exit the room with a covered canvas. Perhaps it’s a storage room?

“It’s a… Storage area, for Sensei’s old paintings.” Yusuke answers, not quite sure himself.

“I see… Kitagawa-kun, why don’t we… do it in there?” Takamaki politely asks, although Yusuke is sure Sensei wouldn’t want them in there.

“Only Sensei is allowed in there, I don’t even have a key…” Yusuke says, hoping that lack of accessibility will get Takamaki to finally give up.

“O-Oh… Are you sure?” Takamaki questions, looking a little… downcast, Yusuke thinks?

“I understand you value your privacy, Takamaki-san.” Yusuke attempts to reason. “But my room is really the only place we can use.”

Just as he thinks he’s finally getting through to her, the sound of the front door sliding open alerts him.

“I’m home!” Yusuke hears Sensei’s voice from the front door.

“S-Sensei!?” Yusuke calls out, unfortunately it seems they took too long… which means they may have to postpone painting for another day.

“Yusuke?” His Sensei asks, coming into view.

Just then, he hears the sound of a door opening and turns around. Takamaki quickly rounds the corner to the door, Yusuke following her, and, somehow, the door is now wide open! Sensei will definitely get the wrong idea if he sees this..

Like he thought, Sensei rounds the corner as well and sees Takamaki in the room. Yusuke is about to explain that neither of them had anything to do with the door opening when Takamaki suddenly pulls him inside the room…

To find that the whole room is filled with various paintings of the ‘Sayuri’.

“What the…” Yusuke can’t help but say, looking around. Why would Sensei have all of these?

“Aren’t all of these… the ‘Sayuri’?” Takamaki asks from beside him, he can’t blame her for being surprised. “Why are there so many of them?”

“Get out!” Sensei barks angrily from the doorway.

“Sensei, what is the meaning of this?” Yusuke has to ask, it makes no sense for these to be here.

His Sensei quickly reels back his angry expression, replacing it with a more somber one. Although, something feels ever so slightly off about it…

“I suppose I can’t keep it quiet now that you’ve already seen it…” Sensei explains. “I’m in severe debt… I made these ‘Sayuri’ copies and have been selling them through a special connection of mine.”

Debt? From what? And to use this painting in particular to do so? It sounds disgusting but Yusuke believes there must be a good reason for this.

“But why?” Yusuke questions, desperately hoping for a real answer.

“The real ‘Sayuri’ was stolen by one of my pupils long ago. I assume they begrudged my strictness…” Sensei tells him, Yusuke can understand where those feelings might have come from. “Ever since then… I’ve been mired in a terrible art block…”

He then looks directly at Yusuke. “Because of this, some of my pupils have given me their ideas from time to time. I’ve tried recreating the ‘Sayuri’ a number of times, but all I’ve gotten were mere replicas. Then somebody came to buy them, knowing full well they weren’t the real thing… I had no choice.”

“I don’t buy it.” Takamaki speaks up after a few moments. “If the original got stolen, how did you even make copies of it?”

“Well… I found a finely detailed photograph of the original in an artbook.” Sensei explains, but that doesn’t make any sense to Yusuke.

“So you managed to sell copies of a photo of the original?” Takamaki asks, mirroring Yusuke’s own thoughts. “I’m not sure how exactly the art world works but… Don’t people who buy paintings generally have a very keen eye for the arts? That sounds like a lie to me.”

“What would you know!?” Sensei barks once more, his face once again filled with anger.

“Something just doesn’t feel right!” Takamaki says, Yusuke almost nods his head, but doesn’t want to make his Sensei any angrier.

Then, Yusuke swears he can hear… meowing? No, it must just be him. Takamaki turns around and takes the cloth off of one of the paintings that Yusuke had assumed was simply unfinished.

His second surprise of the day was that this was the original ‘Sayuri’, the painting that had inspired him to become an artist in the first place.

“The ‘Sayuri’?” Yusuke says softly, almost not believing his eyes. “This is the real ‘Sayuri’! You said just a moment ago that it was stolen!” Why would his Sensei lie about that? Is something even worse than what he said going on?

“That’s a replica!” Sensei insists.

“It’s nothing of the sort! This painting kept me going, it’s the reason I made it this far.” Yusuke looks at his Sensei pleadingly. “Sensei… Please don’t tell me…”

“It’s fake… A counterfeit! I heard there was a counterfeit spreading around so I bought it!” Sensei says, but Yusuke just can’t find it within himself to believe that.

“You’re telling me the actual artist behind a painting bought a counterfeit? That’s pushing it.” Seems Takamaki doesn’t believe the story either.

“Sensei… please tell us the truth.” Yusuke pleads once more.

“You too?” Sensei gruffly asks. He then takes out his phone and presses a button. “I’ve reported you to my private security company!”

“What!?” Takamaki shouts, taking a step back.

“I set it up to deal with paparazzi, but I never thought it’d come in handy like this.” He then turns to Yusuke. “This includes you, Yusuke.”

While reeling from shock, Yusuke hears a meow and Takamaki darts out of the room along with a black cat. Sensei says something in surprise but Yusuke doesn’t hear it, he simply runs after Takamaki. As they’re heading down the hallway, he feels slightly light headed and then realizes he’s falling towards the ground.

He manages to land on his feet, somehow not breaking them in the process, and instinctively catches who he thinks is Takamaki… Before something heavy lands on his head and bounces off causing his knees to bend.

As he’s trying to process what just happened and where he is, Takamaki says something that doesn’t quite register in his ears before pushing herself off of him. He grunts as he falls to the hard floor on his back, after a few seconds he gets back up and looks around at the four mysterious figures around him draped in shadows.

“Who are you all!?” Yusuke yelps in surprise.

“Calm down, Kitagawa-kun! It’s me!” One of the female figures assures him with a familiar voice.

That voice… Takamaki? As he’s thinking this, the shadows on her figure recede until there is no more room for doubt, that is indeed Takamaki. He looks around at the other figures, they must be a couple of her friends from before, their forms reminding him of two in particular.

Just like Takamaki, the shadows recede once more to reveal Sakamoto and Kurusu. Their outfits look interesting, and Yusuke can’t help but want to sketch them out. Then his eyes turn towards the final figure, the outline suggests it’s some kind of cat-like creature, although the shadows cover up the finer details.

“So if you three are Takamaki-san, Kurusu-san, and Sakamoto-san… Who’s wearing the cat costume?” Yusuke then turns to Takamaki. “I don’t believe any of your other friends were this short.”

Before he lets his artistic tendencies stray his thoughts any further, he shakes his head and looks around again.

“What is this place?” Yusuke asks.

“We’re inside Madarame’s heart… er… in a manner of speaking.” Takamaki informs him.

It sounds absurd, if his surroundings are supposed to represent what truly resides within his Sensei’s heart… All of this vanity and grandeur, none of the humility he typically associates with his Sensei. He can’t believe it, or, he doesn’t want to believe it… And yet, something tells him what Takamaki had just told him was the truth.

“A-Are you sure…?” Yusuke can’t help but ask as he continues to look around, hoping for all of this to be some prank, a cruel joke perhaps, and not the truth his mind is insisting it to be.

“Yeah, she’s sure.” Sakamoto speaks up. “This is what the bastard truly feels, he’s nothin’ but a greedy money-grubber.”

“I wish it wasn’t the case as much as you do, Kitagawa-kun.” Takamaki attempts to be sympathetic. “But this is his true nature.”

“All of this repulsive decor that surrounds us?” Yusuke asks, not fully sure he wants the answer. “Just who are all of you?”

“We’re the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.” Kurusu answers, Yusuke has only noticed it now, but the way she holds herself here is different from reality. There she felt like a typical unruly teenager, here she feels like a leader.

He closes off that line of thought as his mind latches on to what she just said. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts? Yoshizawa and Amamiya had mentioned them before, that they had saved Amamiya’s life.

“You are…?” Yusuke’s eyes widen as Kurusu nods in confirmation. “I… must thank you then.”

“Huh? What for?” Takamaki asks in clear surprise.

“Amamiya-kun has mentioned your group before… I… was never told the specifics, but if you truly did save his life… Then I have nothing but gratitude towards you all.” Yusuke gives a bow to emphasize his gratitude.

This seems to catch everyone off guard, clearly not expecting thanks to come from him. He supposes it isn’t too surprising, had Yusuke not regularly called during Amamiya’s recovery, he’d never have heard of this group in the first place.

Although, now that his thanks is out of the way, he looks around again.

“Still… If everything you’ve told me is true… and my eyes do not deceive me… Then the Sensei I knew never existed…” It feels strange to admit, a strange, ugly feeling forms in his chest.

Should he be enraged? Sorrowful? Disappointed? Instead of any of those, he just feels confused and uncertain.

His Sensei had still put a roof over his head, took him in and kept him safe for years after his mother passed. Even if he is truly this vain and greed-filled… Perhaps he still, at least to some degree, cared for each of his students.

“Hey so… I get that this is all new to ya,” Sakamoto snaps Yusuke out of his thoughts. “But it’s dangerous to stick around here, we should get goin’ now that our job here is done.”

“Right, Kitagawa will be helpless against any shadows, we should leave as soon as possible.” The cat figure adds.

Although still uncertain, Yusuke follows the Phantom Thieves towards the direction of what is presumably the exit. He’s still torn inside as he goes throughout what looks like a vain museum, passing by paintings of some he doesn’t recognize. And some he unfortunately does.

Eventually, they near the entrance of the abomination of a museum Yusuke sees before him. Until they’re suddenly stopped by strange creatures dressed as guards. Yusuke hears laughing behind them and turns to see… Sensei!? With golden eyes, dressed in matching robes, the whole look sickened Yusuke. This is most certainly not the Sensei he knew.

“Welcome to the museum of the master artist Madarame!” ‘Sensei’ greets.

Yusuke’s not sure if he wants to believe what he’s seeing right now. “Is that you, Sensei? That attire…?”

“My usual ragged appearance is nothing more than an act!” ‘Sensei’ explains. “Besides, a famous person living in a shack? I have another home, under a mistress’s name.”

That makes… an unfortunately large amount of sense to Yusuke. The strange feeling in his chest bubbles once more as he remembers what happened with the ‘Sayuri’.

“Why did you say the ‘Sayuri’ was stolen? And if you had the original, why make copies?” Yusuke asks, whether this is the real Sensei or not, it seems more open to answering questions.

“You still don’t see?” ‘Sensei’ asks mockingly. “The painting being stolen was just a rumor! A hoax! The perfect stage! I could make copies of the painting and sell them as the real thing… for a special price, of course.”

For a second, Yusuke didn’t want to believe his ears, eyes, or anything else. He wished that this whole day was a dream and that he would soon wake up. No such luck.

The ‘Sayuri’, the painting that had inspired him for so many years, the one he had believed was stolen, was being exploited for dirty money? By the very person who made it? The one he looked up to above all others?

“How’s that for preferential treatment!?” ‘Sensei’ laughs, mocking those he scammed. “Art snobs eat that up, and pay good cash for it too!”

“Unbelievable…” Yusuke looks down at the floor and clenches his fists. “This is…”

If this is truly how his Sensei sees things… If all the rumors are true, then Yusuke never meant anything to Sensei at all. Neither did the other students, are any of the works displayed in that museum truly his own Sensei’s work? Or had he done the same with other students what he had been doing with Yusuke. Was his teacher even really an artist? Or was the ‘Sayuri’ just a fluke? Or something worse?

His teacher soon goes on, confirming each and every one of Yusuke’s worst fears. Although never talking about the ‘Sayuri’ itself beyond the scheme, it appears that Sens- no. It appears that Madarame saw his students as nothing more than livestock, existing only to feed his fame.

“You are truly unforgivable…” Yusuke mutters. “I don’t care what you’ve done for me, I can never forgive you!”

“Brat! This is how you thank me for keeping you around all those years?” Madarame scoffs at him. “Guards! Dispose of these thieves!”

The creatures surrounding them close in, and Yusuke hears a voice in his head.

Have you finally come to your senses?

Yusuke gasps as a sharp pain emanates from his head, which he grasps tightly as writhes in agony.

How foolishly you averted your eyes from the truth… A deplorable imitation indeed.

Best you part from that aspect of yourself!

Yusuke falls to the floor, crying out as he scrapes his fingers against the floor, drawing blood as he goes.

Let us now forge a contract…

I am thou, thou art I…

The world is filled with both beauty and vice… It is time you teach people which is which!

A weight falls onto Yusuke’s face as the pain ends and he is able to stand again.

“Very well.” Yusuke answers the voice within his head, its name instinctively known to him. “Come, Goemon!”

He rips away the mask that has now appeared on his face, blood flies as blue fire overtakes him. The fire recedes, revealing Goemon by his side, although he can tell this is a reflection of himself. With this power, he is confident of taking on the guards encircling them.

“A breathtaking sight… Imitations they may be but together, they make a fine spectacle…” Yusuke says. “Though the flowers of evil blossom, let it be known… Abominations are fated to perish!”

“Who do you think you are!?” Madarame appears enraged. “The price for your insolence will be death! Guards! Kill them all!”

More guards appear and Madarame flees. A fight quickly starts. Although alone Yusuke is not sure he could take them all on even with this newfound strength, Takamaki and her friends back him up. An act he is truly grateful for.

One of her friends in particular interests him as the fight continues: Kurusu, the girl with black hair and silver eyes, nearly matching Amamiya’s, does not fight with just one representation of herself… But multiple, switching a few times throughout the fight in response to the different enemies they’re facing. A fine spectacle indeed, one much better than the museum before him.

Would she be opposed to being a muse for him as well?

The fight finishes with little difficulty thanks to the help of Takamaki’s allies. By the time they’re done, Madarame is already gone, likely to call for more guards. Yusuke feels tired and can barely continue standing as he rests on his blade.

“We should get out of here, quick.” Kurusu urges everyone, they all nod and leave.

As they’re making their way out, they can hear more guards entering the room, finally they make their way out of that abomination of a museum and into what appears to be the real world. As Yusuke catches his breath, Kurusu gets her phone out and appears to be texting someone.

Soon after, she puts it down and turns to everyone else. “Yuuki and Shiho are still at the diner, we should meet up with them there.”

“Got it,” Takamaki replies before turning to Yusuke. “Do you think you’ll be able to walk with us there?”

“Ah, yes, I should be good for that.” Yusuke replies, though still a bit tired.

They begin making their way to the diner, albeit slowly as Yusuke has trouble moving quickly.

A little later…

Hikari, Ryuji, Ann, Shiho, Yuuki, and now Kitagawa somehow manage to all fit at a table, only ordering drinks as they don’t have space for full meals. They exchange stories about Madarame and Kamoshida, the thieves attempting to explain their beliefs to Kitagawa, and Kitagawa explaining why he believed in Madarame so much. Although Yuuki looks noticeably saddened when they bring up Kitagawa's awakening.

Some complicated emotions appear on Kitagawa’s face when they explain what Kamoshida had done to Ren, and Hikari gets a better understanding of how Yoshizawa and Ren had met Kitagawa in the first place.

“So you also asked Sumire to model for you?” Ann asks, Kitagawa shakes his head.

“Not exactly., but I had been looking for a muse at the time and Yoshizawa-san’s performance, although only a practice, was mesmerizing. I was sure I could produce a beautiful painting with her performance as an inspiration.” Kitagawa explains, Ann looks a little confused.

“...Did that not go well then?” Ann tilts her head to the side a bit. “Is that why you asked me?”

“Ah, no, not exactly…” Kitagawa answers a little sheepishly. “You see, it was going fairly well… but…”

“But what?” Yuuki asks, seeming as curious as Ann.

“I got… carried away, I thought I was getting close to understanding what was so great about the ‘Sayuri’... And I wanted it to be my own painting.” Kitagawa admits. “I didn’t want that one to show up in a museum under Madarame’s name… So when I saw Takamaki-san from the car, I figured perhaps if I could provide Madarame with a different painting, he’d be satisfied and I could keep that one.”

“Wouldn’t he have just had you give him both though?” Ryuji points out, and Kitagawa nods.

“Yes, I understand that now. The humble and kind Sensei I thought he was never existed, he would have taken it from me either way.” Kitagawa bleakly replies.

Silence falls over the table, eventually being broken by Ann.

“...Are you still going to finish that one?” Ann asks.

“Yes, although I may not be sure if I can paint in that place anymore, I have to try.” Kitagawa tells her. “An opportunity like this does not come often, I intend to take full advantage of it. Regardless of what happens to the painting, perhaps simply knowing I painted it will be enough.” Then he looks down again, some unknown emotion on his face. “Besides, once we change Madarame’s heart, I will no longer have to worry about my work being taken.”

Ryuji grins as Kitagawa says that. “Aw yeah! Welcome aboard, we’ll change that rotten bastard’s heart no matter what!”

“Ryuji!” Morgana hisses. “Quiet down!”

“R-Right, sorry.” Ryuji apologizes, a lot more quiet that time.

With that, a new member joins the team. Although Hikari isn’t sure if he’ll remain after Madarame is dealt with, having more manpower within palaces will definitely help get through them quicker. The next day of infiltration is monday, Hikari figures she should probably stock up on more supplies tomorrow to help Kitagawa get used to the palaces.

5/22 Madarame’s Atelier, Daytime

Ren and Sumire find themselves tightly hugging each other once more as Yusuke stares at his canvas. He hadn’t yet touched it with the brush that day and it had been over half an hour since they got into pose.

“Kitagawa-kun, are you okay?” Ren asks, getting the artist’s attention.

“Ah, yes… I’m just… having some trouble focusing.” Yusuke says, his expression conveying it all.

He must be a Phantom Thief by now, his behavior wouldn’t make sense otherwise. Ren and Sumire break the hug and turn to him with concerned expressions.

“Should we try another day, Kitagawa-kun?” Sumire asks, seeming unsure of what to do.

“No no, I think… a change of atmosphere might be best.” Yusuke says, clearly trying to think of a place they could go.

“We could go to my place.” Ren offers, Yusuke looks up at him. “There’s plenty of empty space there, if it helps.”

“I see… Yes, that would be great, could we go there?” Yusuke asks, Ren just smirks in response.

“What did I just say? Come on, let’s get going.” Ren responds, picking up his and Sumire’s bags from off the floor.

He hands Sumire her bag and Yusuke wraps up the canvas and collapses the stand. The three head out towards the station and take the next train to Kichijoji. Yusuke gets some strange looks on the way, as expected.

Eventually, they arrive in Kichijoji and head towards Ren’s apartment. On the way, Yusuke seems mildly interested in some of the stands and shops they pass by… particularly the ones that sell food. Finally, they arrive at Ren’s apartment, Ren unlocks the door, and the three head inside.

They head to the living room, the room that has the most open space in the house and get set back up.

“Is this okay, Kitagawa-kun?” Ren asks, just to be sure.

“Yes, this will do quite nicely.” Yusuke answers with a nod and small smile. “You have a very nice place, Amamiya-kun.”

“Thank you,” Ren then turns to Sumire. “Shall we?”

Sumire nods and nervously wraps Ren in another hug. They stare into each other’s eyes once more as requested by Yusuke, and Sumire’s blush soon returns. Although the bruises have mostly faded from Ren’s face, there is still slight discoloration which can hopefully help with the painting.

Unlike in the atelier, Ren can hear the frantic brushstrokes of Yusuke, clearly having inspiration now. The minutes quickly pass as Yusuke continues painting and Ren and Sumire stare into each other’s eyes, after an hour, he sets his brush down and looks proudly at the painting.

“It has come along quite nicely, I must thank you two.” Yusuke thanks them with a nod.

“No problem, Kitagawa-kun.” Ren smiles and attempts to break the hug with Sumire.

Sumire doesn’t seem to want to let go though but soon compromises by hugging Ren’s arm instead, her blush still very prevalent on her face. This gets a slight chuckle out of Ren as he turns back to Yusuke.

“So, we’re done here then?” Ren asks, just to be sure.

“Indeed…” Yusuke confirms, before seeming slightly troubled.

“Is something wrong, Kitagawa-kun?” Sumire asks, noticing the complicated expression as well.

Yusuke snaps out of his thoughts and looks up at them. “Ah, no… I was just wondering…” He appears to be deciding his words very carefully. “Would it be alright if I left this here?”

“Huh? Are you sure?” Ren asks, a little taken aback.

“Yes, would that be okay?” Yusuke reiterates, a little pleadingly.

Ren’s smile brightens, although he’s not sure of the exact reason, he has assumptions. “Sure, that should be fine.”

Chapter Text

Yusuke leaves the apartment looking like a weight had been lifted off of him. Ren can’t help but smile as he sees this, although now he needs to find somewhere to put the painting. Once Yusuke’s gone though, Ren realizes that Sumire is still attached to his arm.

“Ummm, Sumi?” Ren turns to her questioningly.

“Yes, Senpai?” Sumire replies, looking completely innocent.

“You can let go of my arm now…” Ren tells her.

She then looks down at his arm and seems to just now realize she’s still clinging to him. Although, surprisingly, she doesn’t let go immediately, instead she just looks up at him again.

“Just a little longer?” Sumire requests with a light blush.

Ren rolls his eyes but smiles nonetheless, they head to the couch and sit down together, Sumire resting her head on Ren’s shoulder. The two stay like that for a while, simply enjoying each other’s presence once again. Between all the alternate universe, time travel, and Metaverse shenanigans, it’s always nice for the two to get some time to themselves.

Unfortunately, they’re rudely interrupted by a pinging sound, which happens to be coming from Ren’s phone. With a deep sigh and a little disappointment, he untangles himself from Sumire, much to her displeasure as well, and fishes his phone out of his pocket.

He answers the call without even looking at the number. “Hello?”

“Hello! This is Ren, right?” Hikari’s voice asks from the other side. Odd, since he never gave her his number.

“Yeah, I’m assuming you got my number from Ann or Shiho?” He deduces, it’s the only thing that would make sense.

“How’d you-? Nevermind, you offered to teach me how to make curry before, do you have time today?” Hikari asks, Ren bites his lip for a second as he considers his options.

On one hand, he really wants to have some more time alone with Sumire, on the other, he knows that Hikari has established a bond with him and is likely trying to strengthen it. After a few seconds, he sighs quietly so that the phone doesn’t pick it up, and answers the question.

“Yeah, I’ve got time. Were you planning on coming to my place or did you get permission from Boss…?” Ren asks, secretly hoping for the former as that would mean he gets more time with Sumire.

“No dice on getting permission from the Boss…” Hikari giggles seemingly out of amusement. Ren understands why, of course, Sojiro is a big softy. Ren lets out an inaudible sigh of relief, knowing he’ll be able to spend more time with Sumire. “At the very least, not today. So I’ll have to come over, is that alright?” Hikari finishes.

“Should be fine, I’ll wait for you to arrive.” Ren tells her, and she responds with a simple ‘See you then.’ before hanging up.

Ren leans back on the couch with a sigh, he debates finding somewhere to put the painting but ultimately decides it really doesn’t change anything if it’s still here. He feels Sumire shift slightly next to him, causing him to look at her.

“Should I get going…?” Sumire asks, sounding a little disappointed as she gets up off the couch.

Ren scoffs with a smile as he wraps an arm around her, much to her surprise, pulls her back onto the couch, and places her on his lap. Sumire lets out a cute yelp but quickly obliges him and nestles her head into his neck.

“Don’t worry,” Ren assures her with a kiss to the top of her head. “You can help me teach her, you remember the recipes right?”

“Er… a few of them…” Sumire answers after thinking for a bit.

“That’s more than enough, we can get Hikari started on one of the easier ones that you already know.” Ren offers, Sumire smiles in response.

She always enjoys having something to offer, and Ren always enjoys seeing her smile when she realizes she can help. Needless to say, when it comes to things like cooking, Ren offers to have Sumire help him whenever possible.

“For now though…” Ren trails off as he tightens his grip on Sumire, causing her to giggle.

The duo moves into a lying position on the couch with Sumire on top of Ren, resting her head on his chest as he gently strokes her hair. Assuming Hikari made that call from Yongen, it’ll take her a good half hour to arrive, giving Ren and Sumire plenty of time to enjoy their peace before having to get up.

Ren notices a beautiful smile on Sumire’s face as he continues stroking her hair while her eyes are closed.

“You really like it when I stroke your hair, don’t you Sumi?” Ren asks with a chuckle as he plants another kiss atop her head.

“Mhm!” Sumire nods in confirmation, giggling again affectionately. “I can’t really put my finger on it… but for some reason it feels really nice when you do it!”

“I think we both know why you like it~...” Ren teases, chuckling again when a slight pink blush blooms on Sumire’s face.

“Yeah…” Sumire admits before burying her whole face in Ren’s chest to hide the blush.

Ren continues chuckling but decides to relent, instead simply allowing Sumire to relax. After about half an hour the two hear a knock at the door, reluctantly get off the couch, and head to the door. Ren answers the door to reveal Hikari.

“Hey, Ren!” She greets, her eyes shift to Sumire and she gives Ren a guilty look. “Did I interrupt something…?”

“Not at all, don’t worry.” Ren reassures her, lying just a little bit in the process. “Sumire will be helping out, you probably don’t know this, but she’s a really good cook.”

Hikari’s guilty look is replaced by a small smile. “Guess I’m in good hands then, should we get started?”

“Yeah, follow me.” Ren tells her, turning around to head to the kitchen.

Hikari steps inside, closes the door behind her, takes her shoes off, and follows Ren into the kitchen. Before getting started, Ren decides to get a feel for how familiar Hikari is with cooking.

“Have you ever cooked meals for yourself before?” Ren asks, hoping the answer is yes.

“Sometimes,” Hikari answers with a shrug. “Before my probation, I used to make bentos for myself on occasion when my mom couldn’t. Although I’ve never made curry before, and I haven’t really made any complex meals either.”

Good, so Ren shouldn’t have to explain any of the basics and can move right on to teaching her how to make the curry itself.

With a nod of his head, Ren and Sumire proceed to teach Hikari one of the easier curry recipes they both know. Ren remembers the way Sojiro had taught him in his own world and, a little less gruffly than Sojiro had, repeats the information to Hikari.

Hikari definitely wasn’t as talented of a cook as Sumire or even himself, but she wasn’t nearly as terrible as… some people… Ren knew back in Inaba (He never wants to have food that spicy again…). Although he’s only had food from Kasumi once, it was clear she wasn’t a bad cook either.

After careful tutoring from Ren and Sumire, and just a few mistakes, Hikari’s curry was finished. For her first time, it didn’t look too bad.

“Good job, Hikari.” Ren praises Hikari.

“Thanks Ren.” Hikari replies, clearly grateful.

After a few seconds, Sumire’s stomach growls. Hikari and Ren turn to look at her, causing Sumire to look away, slightly embarrassed. The sight causes Ren to start laughing, which makes Sumire blush even more.

“Sumire’s stomach seems to think so too.” Ren jokes, smiling shamelessly as Sumire pouts at him.

“Seeenpai!” Sumire whines in embarrassment.

“Okay okay,” Ren continues smiling as he turns back to Hikari. “It looks good, but now it’s time to eat it.”

Hikari nods and they take the plate she’d prepared to the dining room where she takes a test bite. After a few seconds of tasting the food, she looks down a little disappointed.

“Is it not good?” Ren asks, confused by her behavior.

“It’s fine… but it’s nowhere near as good as when you made it…” She explains, looking down a bit.

“Well it is your first time making curry,” Ren assures her again. “I’d feel weird if you made it as well as me on your first try.”

Hikari shakes off her disappointed look and replaces it with a wry smile. “I guess you’re right, I’ll just have to keep practicing on my own if Boss lets me use the kitchen.”

“That’s the spirit!” Ren cheers her on. “You should probably finish the curry, it’s not good to waste food.”

Hikari looks at him oddly for a second before shaking her head. “Right.” She responds with a nod and goes back to eating the curry.

Soon, she clears the plate and heads to the kitchen to clean it. After she cleans it, she comes back and they all head to the living room to chat for a bit before she leaves. Hikari sits on one couch by herself and Ren and Sumire sit side by side on a different one. After a few different conversations come and pass, Hikari eventually asks a question that Ren doesn’t really have a good answer for:

“So how did you two meet?” She asks, Ren and Sumire glance at each other, wondering what to say.

Eventually, Ren decides to abridge the truth a bit. “We first met on the train going to school last year, we didn’t really introduce ourselves to each other until we met again at Inokashira though.”

“The park?” Hikari asks curiously, assuming her bond to Ann is similar to Ren’s, she’s probably been there at least once by now. “Any particular reason you guys went there?”

“It’s a nice place,” Sumire quickly answers. “Sometimes my sister and I practice there, it’s very relaxing compared to the gym we usually practice at. Even though the gym outfits are more restrictive than we’d like, I feel like we get a lot more done when we’re there.”

“Plus it’s just nice to stroll around occasionally, I used to do that even before we started dating.” Ren adds, which is completely honest, it was always a nice escape from all the rumors floating around at school.

“I see…” Hikari slowly responds, likely having similar thoughts to Ren. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

Hikari then looks a little troubled as she focuses back on Ren.

“Um… Ren…?” Hikari starts to ask, but before Ren can respond she quickly shakes her head. “Nevermind, it’s not important.”

That felt like a lie, but Ren thinks it’s better not to pry. She’s probably slowly building up courage to say it, if it’s anything like his experience with Sumire, who does this sort of thing quite frequently, he should probably just wait rather than press her to say it now. He highly doubts it’s anything super urgent, she wouldn’t even think to discuss it with him if it was.

“I’ve been meaning to ask…” Hikari continues, clearly trying to change the subject away from whatever she was talking about before. Looking around the room, she soon points to the painting that Ren had yet to put away. “What’s that?”

Ren and Sumire turn to look at it, with the latter blushing lightly upon seeing what Hikari was pointing at.

“Oh, right. Remember Kitagawa-kun?” He asks, knowing full well she does. Sure enough, Hikari nods and Ren continues. “He had us help him with a painting, he finished it just today actually and asked if we could keep it here for the time being.”

Hikari nods in understanding.

“So I’m guessing he approached you two the same way he approached Ann?” Hikari asks, nearly hitting the nail on the head.

“Not exactly, he’d approached Sumire first then met me through her.” Ren explains just for the sake of it, he’s sure Yusuke’s already explained all of this to Hikari.

Hikari nods once more before looking at the time and standing up from the couch.

“Well I should probably get going, thanks again for teaching me.” Hikari bows politely in gratitude.

“It’s no big deal, I’m sure Sojiro would prefer you know so he can dump the work on you whenever he doesn’t feel like it.” Ren jokes, causing Hikari to groan in jest.

“Ugh, don’t remind me…” Hikari replies sarcastically, she’d probably had to do the busy work a bunch while Ren was recovering. She doesn’t appear resentful of that fact though, simply playing the role of a lazy teen instead.

Ren can’t help but chuckle a bit at her response, then Hikari pauses and a smile blooms on her face. Ren can feel it too, their bond has just increased, he allows his own smile to brighten in response. Soon, Hikari picks up her stuff and Ren and Sumire show her to the door. With one last goodbye, Hikari departs presumably to head back to Yongen.

Upon heading back to the living room, Ren and Sumire sit on the couch again.

After a few seconds of silence, Ren speaks up: “You’re really hungry right now, aren’t you?”

Sumire nods, a small smile appearing on her face. “Yep!”

Ren sighs with fondness as he prepares to stand up from the couch once again. “Well, let’s get something to eat.”

Later…

Hikari sighs as she walks up the stairs to her room in Leblanc. Upon seeing her, Morgana hops off the bed where he’d just been napping to greet her.

“Welcome back, how’d it go?” Morgana asks, having been informed of where Hikari was going earlier.

“It went pretty well, don’t expect Leblanc quality curry from me any time soon though…” Hikari scratches the back of her head.

“Oh…” Morgana looks down, clearly saddened.

This causes a small smirk to make its way onto Hikari’s face, the not-cat was completely hooked on Sojiro’s curry after he first had it. Maybe once Hikari gets a little better, she can make some for him. After a few seconds of silence, Morgana looks back up and talks to her again.

“So are you going to bed then?” Morgana asks, looking out the window at the slowly darkening sky.

Hikari shakes her head. “I’m going to study for a bit first, I’ll turn in soon though.”

“Alright, don’t stay up too late alright?” Morgana warns her.

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” Hikari eases his worries, trying not to giggle at the recurring thought of a cat monitoring her sleep schedule.

Accepting her answer, Morgana hops back on the bed and curls up again. Hikari heads to the desk and takes out her textbooks to study. As she works on some of the easier questions, her mind wanders back to Ren and Yoshizawa, particularly Ren.

It’s… a little concerning how easygoing he is after what happened with Kamoshida. It’s been almost a month and he’s acting like it never happened at all. Even with everything that happened to him, it almost seems like he wasn’t affected by it at all.

She shouldn’t have anything to worry about... Except…

“I can’t disclose anything he said to me during our session,” Maruki’s muffled voice replies. “But I’m sure most of the teachers and probably even the students already know he’s not okay!”

Maruki seemed convinced something was wrong with Ren, although she couldn’t bring it up with Maruki himself since that would encroach on Ren’s privacy… She can’t help but worry that something is seriously wrong with him and he isn’t getting the help he needs. Once again, her eyes flick to the phone by her side, and yet another time she admonishes herself for even considering using the Metaverse and looks away again, ashamed.

She continues studying for another hour before finishing, stretching her arms out, changing, and getting ready for bed. Eventually, she tucks herself into the bed with Morgana resting atop her, unfortunately another intrusive thought arrives as she’s trying to fall asleep.

Putting himself at risk for the sake of others, acting like nothing’s wrong when clearly something is, offering to teach her how to cook curry when he barely knows her. Now she realizes why it had felt so weird after she’d met Ren and he called her by her family name, and why she insisted he call her by her given name.

A tear falls from her eye.

He really is just like Akira, isn’t he?

5/23 Madarame’s Palace, After School

The thieves manage to make it really far in Madarame’s palace without much difficulty now that Yusuke is on the team, under his new codename of ‘Fox’. The extra manpower as well as his ice attacks open a lot of new opportunities for the team, eventually they make it to a room that looks kind of like a storage area of sorts. A maze of palettes and stored away paintings create these narrow hallways, making it more difficult for the thieves to avoid detection.

Thankfully, the majority of the shadows they couldn’t get past were easily defeated without alerting any others. Hikari signals the rest of the thieves to stop as they’re about to round a corner, a shadow passes by but as she’s about to break for it towards the doorway Morgana stops her.

“Wait!” He hisses quietly. “There’s another shadow!”

Hikari peeks her head around the corner and sees it. Unlike the other shadows in the room, which they had avoided mostly to save energy, this one had a red aura meaning it was dangerous. It was also blocking the doorway to a hallway they needed to get through, just standing there unmoving.

Hikari had tried to use her third eye ability in the Metaverse after she’d gotten it, and quickly discovered that it had allowed her to figure out how strong a shadow was before they engaged it. She uses the ability and time slows to a near halt, another side effect of the ability although she slowed down with it.

Her heart sinks, this shadow is really strong, it’s probably even stronger than the other shadow they’d had to face in Kamoshida’s palace.

“Damn it…” Hikari mutters, getting the attention of the rest of the thieves.

“What is it?” Ryuji asks curiously.

“There’s a shadow blocking the doorway, if I’m not mistaken it’s a lot like the one we faced in Kamoshida’s palace.” She whispers back.

After a little bit of deliberation, Hikari decides it would be best to retreat back to the safe room and plan their next move. Upon reaching it, they all make themselves comfortable and Hikari explains the situation.

“According to this,” Hikari lays out the map on a convenient table. “We need to get through that doorway if we ever want to reach the treasure… But a really strong shadow is blocking the way.”

“Right,” Morgana adds, seeming uncomfortable. “Zorro’s telling me it’s much stronger than the one we faced back in Kamoshida’s palace.”

“How much stronger could it be than that one? We should just fight it now and get it over with!” Ryuji offers, as much as Hikari would like to get it out of the way, she’s not sure how feasible it is right now.

“Are you sure?” Ann asks nervously. “If not for Violet, we wouldn’t have been able to beat the other one…”

“Huh?” Yusuke has a look of confusion on his face. “Who is ‘Violet’? Another Phantom Thief?”

“Oh right, we forgot to tell you about them…” Hikari facepalms.

“Them?” Yusuke seems even more confused now.

“They’re… Really strong and experienced persona users we ran into a while back.” Ann explains. “We never really found out the reason, but Violet was in Kamoshida’s palace when we ran into a shadow very similar to that one and she beat it on her own without even using her persona.”

“Lotus is the name of the other one,” Hikari adds. “We didn’t run into him in Kamoshida’s palace, but he’s been helping me with my abilities.”

“Ah I see, I would like to meet them if possible after we’re done here.” Yusuke requests, seeming genuinely interested.

“Well first we need to figure out a way past that shadow… Um, Mona, do all palaces have shadows like this?” Hikari asks, this is the second time they’ve run into one after all.

“I hadn’t encountered anything like them up until Kamoshida’s palace…” Morgana admits, shaking his head. “Though, if we’re going to keep running into them we should probably come up with a name. How about ‘Dire Shadows’?”

“Sounds lame…” Ryuji responds.

“Oh yeah!? I’d like to see you come up with a better one!” Morgana retorts, seeming offended.

“Of course I have a better one!” Ryuji responds excitedly. “We should call ‘em: ‘Badass Shadows’!”

Hikari almost snorts, the name honestly isn’t terrible but it’s so… Ryuji. She quickly realizes the other thieves don’t seem to think it’s that good though.

“How crude…” Yusuke responds, clearly not taking a liking to the name.

“Fine, Mr. Fancy Artist Guy, what do you got!?” Ryuji asks, not wanting to be the only one getting scrutinized.

“Of course, they should obviously be called…” Yusuke pauses for dramatic effect as he does a dramatic pose. “The dark crimson creatures of demise!”

Everyone facepalms at the name.

“Guess it’s my turn?” Ann asks before continuing. “How about: ‘Super dangerous shadows’?” It was clearly just the first thing that came to mind.

“...Dire Shadows it is.” Hikari concludes, causing Ryuji to groan and Morgana to puff his chest out in pride (as much of a ‘chest’ as he has, anyway). “Anyway we’ve gotten off track, how is everybody feeling right now? Still have enough energy?”

“If it were a normal shadow I’d be fine…” Ann says. “But I don’t know about that one.”

“I’m raring to go!” Ryuji says next enthusiastically.

“I still think this is a bad idea…” Morgana doesn’t seem comfortable about the idea of taking it on.

“I wonder what kind of creature it will turn into? Maybe I could try painting it…” Yusuke says to himself, completely ignoring the conversation.

Hikari sighs and closes the map before addressing everyone. “We’ll stop here for now, tomorrow I’ll go to Mementos and see if I can get more personas fused. Then we can come back and throw everything we have at that shadow.”

Everyone agrees except for Ryuji, who finally sighs and says: “You’re the leader…”

With that, everyone leaves the palace. Once in the real world, they text Shiho and Yuuki that they’re done for the day but don’t end up meeting with them this time. As everyone’s leaving, Hikari stops Ryuji to talk to him for a bit.

“What is it?” Ryuji asks, still seeming frustrated about not being able to take on the shadow.

“Just wanted to let you know, I liked your suggestion for the name of the Dire Shadows.” Hikari informs him.

“I don’t need your pity…” Ryuji doesn’t take her seriously.

“I couldn’t pick it because nobody else liked it…” Hikari explains. “But it was really… ‘Ryuji’, you know?”

For a second, Ryuji seems stunned. “Wait, ya really liked it?” He asks.

“Yep!” Hikari responds, happy his mood is getting better.

Ryuji just stares at her with wide eyes, then quickly turns away and Hikari thinks she sees a light blush appear on his face.

“Thanks… We should prolly get goin’, don’t wanna stick around here too long.” Ryuji quickly changes the subject, the blush now gone. If it was ever there in the first place.

Hikari nods and decides she was probably just seeing things. The two chat about various things, including when next to practice running again. Although she doesn’t feel closer to Ryuji than before, he does seem a lot happier than he was earlier.

A little later…

Hikari stops a yawn as she reaches Yongen-Jaya. Morgana, who had been silent ever since they left Madarame’s palace, suddenly speaks up.

“You actually liked Ryuji’s suggestion?” He asks, seeming surprised.

“It wasn’t that bad, I understand why nobody else wanted to use it though.” Hikari explains, Morgana seems to ponder her answer.

“Fine…” He hops out of the bag and onto the ground. “I’m going to wander around for a bit, leave the attic window open for me.”

“Alright, be safe.” Hikari tells him just for the sake of it.

“Hah, who do you think I am?” Morgana retorts with a smirk before walking away.

With a sigh, Hikari heads to Leblanc and is surprised to see that Sojiro actually isn’t there. Inside, Ren is cleaning the tables as it appears he’s getting prepared to close the shop down.

Upon hearing Hikari enter, Ren turns to her. “Oh, hey Hikari! Welcome back.” He smiles.

“Hey, where’s Sojiro?” She asks.

“He had to run home real quick, he’ll be back soon, did you need to talk to him?” Ren asks in return.

“No, just curious.” Hikari explains, Ren nods in response.

“I should have free time tomorrow, did you want to meet up for another curry cooking lesson?” Ren asks, causing Hikari to bite her lip in guilt.

“Sorry… I was going to meet up with a couple of other people tomorrow then hang out with my other friends for the rest of the day.” Hikari tells him.

“I’m assuming the same people who visited me while I was recovering?” Ren presumes.

“Yeah.” Hikari nods in confirmation.

“They seem like good people, you’re very lucky to have found friends like them.” Ren tells her what she already knows, with a strange hint of an emotion Hikari can’t quite pin down.

Still, Hikari can’t help but smile when she thinks about her friends. “I know.” She then rubs her eyes as she has to stop herself from yawning yet again. “Hey, I’m going to turn in for the night, can you tell Sojiro that I came back when he returns?”

Ren smiles, almost knowingly although Hikari isn’t sure if that’s because he actually knew what she was up to. “I will, make sure you get plenty of rest, okay?”

Hikari nods and heads up the stairs before turning in for the night.

5/24 Mementos, After School

Once again, Hikari heads into Mementos alone, figuring it would probably be better to introduce Yusuke after they deal with Madarame. There was no real reason for the rest of the thieves to follow as they had no targets here today. She crosses her fingers and silently prays that either Lotus or Violet will be there today and feels relieved to see Lotus sitting in his usual spot.

Strangely, Violet is not with him this time. Well, it isn’t too surprising considering they saw Violet alone back in Kamoshida’s palace.

“Welcome back, I presume you’re here to fuse more personas?” Lotus asks, Hikari nods in confirmation.

“Yes, that would be great.” Hikari replies.

“Figured you’d come here today,” Lotus tells her, causing her to raise a brow. How would he know that? Lotus continues before Hikari can ask. “Now, I’m not too sure of how this will work… but if it does you should establish a new bond today.”

Hikari tilts her head in confusion. “Huh?”

Lotus pulls out a piece of paper, upon inspection it appears to be a list of ten personas. Each one has a specific ability attached to it, Hikari recognizes the first few personas on the list but some of those abilities don’t match up with their natural powers.

“This is a list of personas,” He hands the list to Hikari. “Try creating the first persona on that list, with the ability listed next to it.”

First on the paper is a Jack Frost with Mabufu, a wider spread version of its normal ice attack, should be easy enough.

She already has a Jack Frost, and she believes she picked up a skill card before that has Mabufu on it which means she doesn’t have to train the Jack Frost to get it. She grabs the skill card out of her jacket pocket and, with some mental focus, forces Jack Frost to learn this power. The skill card disappears from her hand and she feels power surge through Jack Frost.

She then summons him in reality and demonstrates the power to Lotus, who smirks.

“Well done, it will only get harder from here though.” Lotus informs her, she nods in response.

Suddenly she feels something, it’s like the formation of a new bond but ever so slightly different than normal.

I am thou, thou art I…

Thou has acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Strength Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…

She comes to and hears slow clapping from Lotus.

“Congratulations, this particular bond will strengthen in direct relation to you completing that list. Make sure nothing happens to it.” He warns, Hikari nods and pockets the list.

Strangely, this bond she feels is not towards Lotus, she isn’t sure who she’s connected to through this bond… But if Lotus deems it important, then she should do her best to complete the list.

“Now that that’s out of the way,” Lotus continues. “You wanted to fuse some more personas?”

Hikari nods and then spends the next half an hour trying to get the best personas she can for facing the Dire Shadow.

Later…

“Are you guys ready?” Hikari whispers from the corner they’re hidden behind, near the Dire Shadow. Everyone nods in confirmation and she then whisper-shouts her next order. “Let’s take it down!”

She rushes out from the corner and manages to ambush the Dire Shadow. She tears the mask off and jumps off, preparing herself for whatever is to come. After bulging and bursting, the shadow turns into Angel, a persona Hikari had fused before but gave up just today in favor of a more powerful one.

Although this Angel is clearly not nearly as weak as the one Hikari had. It should be weak to curse, but Hikari doesn’t have anything that can do that. As the fight starts, Hikari quickly finds out that this shadow is both stronger and faster than them. However, after managing to land a few hits she finds out that they can break its concentration momentarily and stop it from attacking.

Realizing this, she gives an order to the rest of her teammates. “Guys, keep hitting it and don’t let up! As long as it’s under constant fire it won’t be able to fight back!”

“Got it!” Everyone responds.

Ryuji takes the initiative and strikes it with a few electric and physical attacks, followed up by Yusuke who not only hits it with an ice attack, but also uses the ice to block an attack that had slipped through due to electricity being ineffective and almost hit Ryuji. After Yusuke, Ann strikes it with fire and lowers its attack power.

Morgana manages to land an attack with his weapon, but even after all of that the shadow barely seems affected. At this rate, they’ll get surrounded before they manage to take it down. Hikari switches her persona and lowers the shadow’s defense, which Ryuji responds to by immediately increasing his own attack power and going in for physical attacks.

Hikari then switches back to Frigg and increases Ryuji’s speed in hopes he’ll be able to avoid attacks from the shadow. It works for a time, as he manages to land a few attacks and narrowly avoid some of its bless magic which Hikari is sure could take any of them out in one hit. Unfortunately, he isn’t so lucky the second time and gets kicked by the shadow, being knocked into a wall in the process.

“Skull!” Hikari cries out, thankfully, Ryuji gets back up seconds later, not as injured as Hikari was expecting.

“I’m fine! This thing’s got nothin’ on its physical strength!” He assures her before going back in, not before being healed by Morgana of course.

“Don’t be so reckless, Skull!” Morgana scolds him.

Following similar patterns to before, they continue fighting the shadow. Minutes pass and once they’re all nearly completely drained from fighting, the Dire Shadow finally falters, clearly badly injured from all the fighting.

In a last ditch effort, Hikari pours whatever strength she has left into an ice attack with the Jack Frost she’d fused earlier and strikes the shadow down. Finally, the Dire Shadow disperses into black smoke.

With some struggle, and numerous scratches on each member of the team, they head back to the safe room.

“Damn…” Ryuji manages between labored breaths. “Violet made that look so easy…”

“You’re… telling me…” Ann replies, just as tired as she leans her head on the table. “I never want to do that again…”

“At least… At least it’s dead now…” Hikari adds. “We won’t… have to deal with it… in the future…”

“I… am suddenly having regrets joining you on this expedition…” Yusuke says before looking at his stomach. “I am quite famished…”

“Let’s take five… then call it for the day…” Hikari tells everyone, who look glad for the chance to rest. She finally gets control over her breathing. “We can head to the diner for some food afterward.”

After their rest, the five leave the palace and head to the diner after inviting Yuuki and Shiho.

5/25 Café Leblanc, Evening

The thieves had decided to take a break from going to the palace after taking down the Dire Shadow, Hikari decided to use this time to hang out with Ann and Shiho. After they’d finished, she headed home and entered the store, Morgana hopping out of her bag to head back upstairs. Ren isn’t here today, only Sojiro is behind the counter, as she’s about to head up the stairs though…

“Wait,” Sojiro tells her, she listens and turns to him curiously. “I’ve been thinking that if Amamiya is going to teach you how to make the curry, I may as well teach you how to make coffee.”

“Huh?” Hikari’s surprised by the offer.

“Don’t act so surprised, I’m only doing this so I can rely on you if Amamiya can’t work.” Sojiro says gruffly, which is a fair point considering what happened with Kamoshida. Although, it doesn’t feel like that’s the real reason.

Hikari doesn’t see any reason to reject the offer and goes ahead with it. Sojiro’s method of teaching is a lot different from Ren’s, he’s a lot more stern and gives her this scrutinizing stare that causes her to shiver, it’s worse than anything she’s seen in the Metaverse so far, including the Dire Shadows. Eventually, she makes her first cup of coffee and presents it to Sojiro.

After a taste, he looks at her, not disappointed but she can already tell it wasn’t good. “Flavor’s bland, but it’s to be expected from your first cup. I’ll let you use the kitchen to practice but don’t use any of my expensive beans, if I find out you did, I’ll kick you out. Understand?”

Hikari nods, she’s gotten used to these kinds of threats from Sojiro by now. She’s sure he wouldn’t go that far, but she won’t challenge him either.

“Good,” Sojiro takes another sip. “It’s not too bad for your first cup, if you keep this up maybe you’ll get to Amamiya’s level by the end of the year.”

That’s high praise from Sojiro, she’s had one of Ren’s cups of coffee before and dare she say it’s even better than when Sojiro makes it. Yet again, she hears the ethereal voice.

I am thou, thou art I…

Thou has acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion

that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of the Hierophant Persona,

I have obtained the winds of blessing that

shall lead to freedom and new power…

“What are you looking at?” Sojiro asks sternly and Hikari realizes she’d been staring. “It’s getting late, I’m going to close up.”

With that, Sojiro closes up and tells her not to stay up too late before leaving.

??/?? ???, ???

…

Another powerful shadow, defeated? This Trickster is quickly proving to be more problematic than Yaldabaoth had anticipated. He was sure that by cutting off her access to the Velvet Room, she would naturally succumb to her fate by now. Even ensured extra powerful shadows showed up in those two palaces, not without great effort, of course.

Just what is going on? …And what’s this strange feeling he keeps getting towards the upper levels of Mementos. It feels… dangerous, Yaldabaoth dare not provoke it, at least not until the distortions of the world increase first.

The Trickster is unwittingly aiding in this, of course, perhaps he should stop trying to kill her for now. Allow the distortion to strengthen him so he can confront this strange presence first. It is the will of the masses that he be their absolute ruler, after all.

5/26 Ren’s Apartment, Early Morning

Ren wakes up to a burning sensation on his wrist. With a hiss of pain he quickly finds the source to be the silver bracelet he’d forgotten to take off earlier after a quick visit to Mementos. He pulls it off with rushed movements and tosses it onto the nightstand, narrowly missing his and Sumire’s glasses.

Ren takes a look at his wrist, it’s visibly burned but it doesn’t look too bad. He can deal with it and let it heal naturally, he hears Sumire grumble next to him as her grip on him tightens. Luckily, his actions didn’t seem to wake her.

He smiles as he carefully turns to face her, which causes her to bury her face in his chest as she sleeps. Ren chuckles lightly and begins stroking her hair again. She’s so adorable in her sleep.

Although it was a weekday, she’d decided to stay over regardless. Surprisingly, Shinichi didn’t mind when they called to let him know. Ren was of course really happy she was staying over, it helped with the recurring nightmares of the interrogation room that his experience with Kamoshida had reignited.

Tonight was different though…

His smile drops as he remembers that strange dream. It… was from the perspective of Yaldabaoth? Ren’s sure with Satanael, even without the will of the masses, he could take on Yaldabaoth as the false god is now, but that wouldn’t be wise. This is Hikari’s journey, not his own, after all.

This is good news for now though, it seems as though Yaldabaoth will no longer be going after Hikari’s life. At the very least, he and Sumire don’t have to worry about more strong shadows appearing. Seems like Hikari ran into one in Madarame’s palace, he has a strange feeling of pride knowing she managed to beat it.

Ren looks at Sumire’s comfortable sleeping form once more, he should probably discuss the dream with her tomorrow. Although he’s not quite sure what caused him to have it… He already knows Sumire isn’t going to like it but perhaps he’ll sleep with the silver bracelet on more often.

Chapter Text

Ren’s alarm goes off and he lifts his arm to turn it off. Although he’s a little more tired than usual, likely due to the dream last night and the pain from the burn, he and Sumire still have to get up for school. Speaking of Sumire…