Work Text:
(9/13)
Ren would never admit it. But he was too reliant on Morgana. He brought Morgana nearly everywhere he went, school, jobs, and to Ren, Morgana was one of the most important members of the team.
Morgana had been acting aloof recently, distancing himself from Ren during the real world so he could focus on Phantom Thief activities. It hurt A LOT. The first day Morgana chose to stay home instead of coming to school, Ren had to call Sojiro because he had three separate panic attacks.
This seemed to knock some sense into Morgana who refused to leave Ren's side for a couple days with a snarky, "You can't do anything without me can you?" Ren made sure to buy him some extra tuna.
Then the argument happened. Ryuji snapped at Morgana, a common occurrence between the two. But this time, It really set Morgana off. Ren tried to say something but Morgana ran off before he could. He attempted to chase after the not cat, but Makoto stopped him with a, "He probably needs some alone time."
Morgana hasn't come back yet. It's been hours and it's too late in the evening to justify being awake. Ren eventually sits down on his couch and throws on a DVD he rented. He has to turn it off because it's not the same without Morgana. He puts his head into his lap and cries. Loud enough that resting birds outside fly away.
(9/14)
Ren heads to school, headphones on to block out the noise. Back in his hometown, he would wear his headphones all day, every day. It was the simplest way to manage his emotions. Shujin had a no headphone policy. But, at this point he had blackmail on one teacher, and the other teachers respected him enough to overlook it. A couple people reached out to him asking to hang out. Ren declined.
The evening was much the same, he couldn't really sleep without the weight of him on his chest. So he settled for staring at a wall and tossing and turning. Sojiro tried to comfort him earlier but couldn't really find the right words to say.
(9/15)
Ren woke up screaming. It was an reoccurring nightmare he had before he left his hometown. Total darkness bound him and filled his lungs as the people he cared about scoffed and walked away, talking about how annoying he was. Before he woke up, the last person was Morgana. Who didn't even spare him a glance. He had just fallen asleep a hour prior and now it would take too long to fall back asleep before his alarm went off.
He heard the bells of the door ring, indicating that Sojiro was getting ready to open Leblanc. He walked downstairs and told his guardian that he threw up while he was gone, and asked to stay home. Sojiro reluctantly agreed. Ren went back upstairs and sobbed into a pillow before eventually falling back asleep.
—
Sojiro had never seen the kid this upset. He gave up on the idea of opening shop today if his the kid was sick today. He sat down in one of the empty booths and put his head in his hands. The kid had already had a shit life before coming to Tokyo. He was vaguely aware the kid was somewhere on the spectrum after watching him not take off his headphones for seventeen hours straight. Not that his parents bothered to send him medical records to confirm his suspicions.
He doubted the kid was aware he could hear his sobs through the floorboards. Part of him screamed to go upstairs and comfort NOT HIS KID, SOJIORO. And the other half was that, he didn't want to overstep a boundary. He settled on making the kid some curry.
"If that cat doesn't return soon, I swear…" He already starting figuring out how to print missing posters for the cat.
—
The phantom thieves were… to put it mildly.. internally imploding. No one had heard from Ren since the night Morgana left. Ryuji and Makoto had seen Ren individually. Ann had noted that Ren was wearing headphones all day and she decided to let him be. Futaba had taken out the bugs she planted in Leblanc out of respect for Ren's privacy, but she kept the one on his phone.
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Queen : So you saw him with headphones on and decided to leave him alone.
Panther : yea
Panther : mona stormed out on him id be upset too
Fox : Maybe if Skull hadn't started the argument, Mona would still be here.
Skull : HEY SCREW OFF
Skull : HE STARED IT FORST
Skull : STARTED*
Queen : First*
Skull : jfjjffjfjdkfj
Oracle : ya i dont think hes taking it well
Oracle : i left a bug on his phone from before i joined
Oracle : he asked boss to stay home and was sobbing quite loudly earlier
Panther : 😔😔😔
Panther : we should go cheer him up
Fox : I don't think that would be wise. We may end up making the situation worse.
Oracle : i think we should
Oracle : do like.. a movie night in or smth
Queen : I can ask him. I was planning on stopping by Leblanc to bring him the schoolwork from today once I saw he was absent. Now, Lunch is ending and we should get back to class.
Oracle : leaving me all alone how dare you all have school and not be chronically online like i am
Oracle : im going to read featherman fanfiction
Fox : Without me? :(
Skull : cringeee
Oracle : ur name is skull YOURE CRINGE
—
Makoto knocked on the railing leading up to the attic. "Ren? It's me. I brought you the missing work from today." She finished the climb up the stairs to see Ren sitting in his bed with his back against the wall. Even from here she could tell he had been crying for hours. "Is there anything you need?"
Ren shook his head no and buried his face in the covers, "I'm sorry you had to come bring me my stuff."
"It's not a problem. Everyone was worried about you, Futaba asked if you wanted to do a movie night with all of us. We're no Morgana but we know you like the company." Ren pulled his face out of the covers as Makoto sat next to him. "That sounds nice…"
"I'll text everyone else then. Go take a bath to reset yourself and I'll go buy some snacks."
"Mmh." Ren nodded.
—
Ryuji showed up first, he talked to Ren privately which ended up with a hug. Makoto assumed he was apologizing for going off on Mona.
Ann and Yusuke showed up together, both of them carrying the too many blankets Ann decided to bring.
Futaba showed up last despite living a ten second walk away, talking about some stealth mission she took to not be seen by people.
"Ta-da!! I brought all five seasons of Featherman and the three season 2012 reboot, which was the best reboot in my opinion." Futaba annouced.
"I'm not watching that." Ryuji said flatly
"You are clearly mistaken, the 2012 reboot lacked the spark of the original. The 2007 remake on the other hand was clearly the best having gone the darker route." Yusuke added. Futaba and Yusuke started arguing.
"Anything you want to watch, Ren?" Ann asked
"Watching those two bicker is entertaining enough." Ren said sarcastically.
Makoto let out a smile at seeing his sense of humor return, "How about a standard action movie. I picked one up while I was out." Ren nodded.
—
After the movie ended, everyone had to return home for school tomorrow. Futaba offered to stay to help Ren sleep, which he declined. They decided to head into the Okumura palace tomorrow to get their bearings.
(9/16)
The school day had been mostly uneventful. The nerves of entering a new palace always spiked his anxiety. Usually Morgana was here to help… The eventually met up at the hideout and entered the metaverse. The spaceport was huge and futuristic, prompting Oracle to buzz around like a child in a candy store. The part advanced forward. Taking note of how few shadows were in their path currently.
They eventually reach a door that requires a biometric lock. Confusing everyone.
"How are we supposed to bypass this!?" Queen exclaims, punching the giant door.
"Out of every door why does this one have to be unhackable." Oracle pouts after trying to unlock it for the seventh time. Joker had looked around with his third eye. Spotting no routes past it.
"We might have to leave. There's probably a condition like what happened with Madarame and Oracle."
"Halt vigilante!" A voice calls out from above.
A person in a black mask steps out from the shadows.
"A black mask? Could she be the one Madarame and Kaneshiro were talking about?" Panther mused.
"Are you the one who has been following us?" Fox asks.
"…." She doesn't respond. Looking to the side instead.
"Mwhahaha, Enough of the misunderstandings" Morgana says as he appears next to the mysterious girl.
"Morgana! You're okay!" Joker yells, stepping forward. Tears already streaming down his face. Morgana looks away, "If you've come for the treasure you should just go home. Me and Beauty Thief here are going to steal it first."
"…" The party goes silent. Ren stops crying at the absurdity of the moment. "What."
"Beauty Thief?" Queen asks, the tension in the air proofed into smoke. The pair hopped down and she exclaimed, "We will take the treasure!"
"Mona already said that…" Oracle adds.
Morgana and Beauty Thief go into a speech, that was very obviously rehearsed, and complains about Fox, Ryuji and they falter on Panther.
"You came all the way here just to talk about them?" Queen asked, clearly very annoyed.
"It doesn't matter. Come on Beauty Thief. Through the door!" Morgana yells. The two run to the door, it seems to recognize her and begins to open.
"Wait!" Oracle yells too late as a swarm of enemies appears behind the door.
—
In the mad dash to leave the palace before they get caught, Morgana and Beauty Thief separate from the team. Leaving everyone back at square one. Now outside the giant building that is the Okumura Foods office. Ren walks away first, not even bothering to talk to the group. Ryuji tries to catch up to him but his knee gives out and he stumbles to the ground. Getting helped back up by Ann.
—
Ren stalked the thieves group chat as he silently cried. The tears began to fall less as he was dehydrated.
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Queen : We can stalk mementos tomorrow in hopes of catching them. (Joker : 👍)
Queen : Good to see you, Joker.
Skull : u need one of us over?
Joker is typing…
Panther : ill take that as a no then
Oracle : u better have eaten smth or im sending boss after u
(9/17)
The mementos trip was a half failure. Morgana and Beauty Thief yelled at the group before leaving.
Joker tried to call for Morgana and ended up in a chase scene that ended with the two leaving mementos without them. Joker fell to his knees and cried. Everyone immediately tried to comfort him to no avail.
Arriving home, the thieves brought along blankets and pillows to stay the night with Ren. Who had flopped on his bed the second he could and tried to quietly cry. Ryuji tried to convince him to eat something as Ann and Makoto stepped outside.
"We couldn't convince Haru to help us. Morgana is still with her and it's practically killing Ren." Ann lamented, Makoto patted her back.
"We'll figure something out. We always do-" They were cut off by yelling from the alleyway over. The two rushed over to the scene to see Haru being grabbed by someone and Morgana limp by a wall. The man turned around angry as the pair surrounded him.
"See, look what you're causing. Leave us alone this doesn't involve you!" The man yelled.
"Like hell it doesn't! You leave our friend alone or we'll call the police."
The man seemed threatened by this and stormed away, muttering curses under his breath.
"Haru, are you okay?" Makoto asked, now by her side. She nodded and ran over to Morgana. "Mona-chan!? Are you alright?" The non cat stumbled to his feet, limping slightly.
"Ugh.. I'm okay. I'm okay. Hi, Makoto. Lady ann."
—
When the four of them walked in, Futaba and Yusuke shot up at the sight of Morgana.
"Mona!" Futaba yelled, running and petting the cats head. A loud noise could be heard from upstairs as Ren bolted down the stairs, almost falling over. His face was red and puffy from crying so much over the last couple days. Tears somehow welled up in Ren's eyes again as he ran over to grab Morgana. The not cat let out a massive wheeze as he was squeezed.
"Careful! Careful! I was just assaulted!" Morgana yelled. Ren seemed to pay no mind as his arms began to shake from joy. Not letting up on his grip.
Makoto and Haru recounted the story. Sojiro headed home shortly after, leaving the group with enough curry for thirds for all of them.
"I apologize but I should be heading home." Haru annouced, "Though I am excited to join the Phantom Thieves! Here's my number, do let me know when we are entering the palace." She exclaimed before heading off. Morgana apologized to everyone, not even making an attempt to leave Ren's lap as he apologized directly to Ryuji.
—
The movie had ended with almost everyone asleep. Ren put Morgana on his shoulder as he moved around the tangled mess of people sleeping on the floor to turn off the TV.
He settled back into bed and pulled Morgana under the covers.
"I'm sorry Ren. I didn't know how much you needed me."
"Mmm. Don't leave again. Please."
"Hah.. I won't. I promise."
For the first time in a couple nights, neither of them had any nightmares.