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One of the early rooms contains a fear originating from the time Rin was stuck in juvie. It reveals to her friends much that was unclear to them back then, such as the fact that she was in a romantic as well as sexual relationship with ‘Boss’, a thing which none of them guessed at, not even Makoto, and which is much more shocking to them, initially, than the actual fear Rin possesses regarding the day she was let out of juvenile hall.
“What. The. Hell! Is this dodgy? Do I need to beat Boss up or something? Wait...Is he the dad?!!” Ryuji exclaims, stomping his foot as cognitions of an amorous Rin and Sojiro hug and kiss each other right in front of him. The actual horror hasn't even begun yet.
“They're both of age for…that, Skull. Also, I think you'd lose.” Makoto pushes a lock of hair behind her ear, her eyes studying the cognitions, before returning to her volatile teammate.
Ryuji shakes his head violently. “But, Mona! You must have known! And you, Oracle?! What the heck, duuude?”
The aforementioned either shrug, in the case of Futaba, or look guilty, in the case of Morgana.
“I wasn't gonna go revealing Joker’s secrets! Who do you think I am, Skull?!” hisses the cat, whilst hopping up and down and slashing the air with his saber.
Meanwhile, Futaba appears defiant, her hands behind her back, her nose in the air, resembling her adopted father for haughtiness. “Sojiro is the dad, and I like it. I'm not gonna get in the way of me having a proper family, are you joking? Maybe you should wonder why she never told you, Skull.”
“She didn't tell me cause she knew I'd do something stupid. At least that means I’d actually do something, cat.”
“Why, youuuu-”
The other Phantom Thieves have little to add on the topic since Rin's love life has never preoccupied most of them, or if it did they imagined she had something going on with Ryuji.
That pretty posh puff of a girl - Haru - pipes up. “Anyway, it's really only relevant to this part of Rin-chan’s palace so let's just work through it, okay?”
Akechi hefts his jagged sword. “Aww, you sweet summer child. Just you wait. I guarantee we're in for some more nasty surprises.”
The actual horror begins, the dark forest the gang is standing in warping into a recreation of the road the juvenile hall stands on, leaving the viewers floating in nothing, their bodies invisible to even themselves. For a moment the majority of them freak out, before a door in the concrete wall across the road opens, and a well known figure steps out. Joker, she looks perturbed, a deep line deforming the skin between her eyebrows. She's also pregnant. Not heavily, but still clearly. In her left hand is her bag, in her right is her phone. She glances at its screen, then turns it off and stuffs the thing in a pocket. Her frown intensifies. But it smooths out, fading away when a yellow Porsche turns a corner, stopping next to her.
An arm ejects itself from the window, an arm clad in a white jacket and pink shirt. “Hey, sweetheart. You made me wait,” Sojiro smiles, warmly, for him. “I didn't want to come but Futaba wouldn't stop nagging me.”
“Eish, did he really say that?” mutters Ryuji and a couple of the others.
The disembodied voice that is Futaba adds her two cents. “Sojiro's always nice to me, but he's a bit of an asshole to everyone else. I think he's insecure or something.”
Although in the real world Sojiro's remark was met with a playful clapback, in her Palace the cognitive Rin scowls, scowls in a way rarely seen in reality. She still climbs into the car though. When it drives off, the disembodied Thieves follow like they're on rails. The newly released inmate pulls out her phone again, glances at it, then puts it away.
“So, it's great about Niijima-san getting you out and having your records wiped.”
“Mmm.”
“I spent a lot of time talking to the jobbers. They intended to pin some crap on you, I'm sure.”
“Hmm.”
“...I missed you. How are you doing? How's the, uh, you know, the, um, baby?”
“Oh, Sojiro…” mutters Futaba, somewhere.
At that a hunched Rin sits up straight, as best she can. “I need to grab a croissant. I haven't tasted anything decent for like a month.”
“Can't you wait till we get home?”
“No.”
“Alright. Hold on.” The driver turns the vintage wheel, piloting the vintage vehicle towards the closest petrol station. Fat, flaky croissant on the way. It doesn't take long, and soon he's going over to the passenger side to open the door and help Rin out.
“Let's be quick. It's cold out.” he says.
“It is.”
The complicated couple, entirely mismatched, wander around the attached convenience store, awkward when they weren't before juvie arrived to interrupt the mutual life they'd built. Horrifying Shadows work as shop assistants and fuel pump attendants, but neither person pays any attention to them, while the lurking Phantom Thieves try not to be seen, despite being invisible. The gimmick of this Palace has yet to be determined, and they're extremely crippled without Joker to lead them.
“How many croissants do you want, Rin?”
“Five. And a couple energy drinks.”
“Are those wise in your condition?”
“I don't know, Sojiro. You tell me. You always know better, after all.” By now cognitive Rin is spitting her words through clenched teeth.
“Oh, man. He's in the shit.” sighs Ryuji.
“I think our favourite cafe owner might be experiencing difficulties.” drones Yusuke, at the same moment.
Cognitive Sojiro defaults to the hands-off, cowardly behaviour of back in the day, reluctantly purchasing the caffeine drinks for his lover.
Out by the car is where mild if intimidating Rin transforms into Boss Form. She waits, though, for Sojiro to open her door for her, before angling herself aggressively, facing his side. “Someone I know said they saw you out and about with another woman while I was sitting in a cell hoping I wouldn't be raped by the guards or stabbed by the other prisoners.” she says, neither loudly nor softly, but pointed as a blade, her eyes invisible behind the double layer of fringe and glasses.
“No!” scream and gasp various members of the hidden gang, including Akechi.
Sojiro flushes tomato red, and rears back. “What? That's a lie. Where did you hear such an insane thing?”
Rin holds up her phone, which displays a covert photo taken of Sojiro and the flirty woman from the cafe in flagrante delicto. “I have more friends than you know about, you bastard. Better friends than you.” The girl lunges, roughly snagging the dangling car keys off their owner's index finger, making him yelp. Far too quickly than should be possible for a pregnant woman, Rin surges around to the driver's side and climbs in.
“This is my geriatric bullshit Porsche now, asshole.” She drives off, narrowly avoiding running Sojiro over with his own car, the passenger side door slamming closed when she makes a hard turn.
“Hahahahaha!” The sound of laughter follows the speeding sports car.
“Futaba! This isn't funny! Stop laughing!”
“Yeah it is! Did you see the look on Sojiro's face?!”
She stops laughing abruptly, and begins screaming instead when Rin drives full speed into a wall.