Chapter Text
Traditionally, this shade of blue and that woman's sombre melody was accompanied by prison bars and piano. And sure, there was a piano in sight, and bars of a certain kind, but more so the kind drinks were served at. And, sitting across from what should have been an inmate, on the other side of the comfy little booth they were in, was a familiar girl with silver hair.
"Welcome, trickster," Lavenza took a long sip of her chocolate milkshake from an extremely silly straw, "I'm sorry to disturb you in your dreams again, but I had news I thought you may appreciate."
Naturally, talking to The Velvet Room's attendant typically came in times of trouble. "What's wrong?"
"Oh, nothing that isn't easily fixable," Another long sip, "You see, compared to other tricksters, your life has been… Particularly difficult."
"TRY FIGHTING DEPRESSION AND TURNING INTO A DOOR!" A woman, unsurprisingly in blue, called out from the other side of this lounge, clearly unimpressed.
"Maybe at a later date, sister!" Lavenza addressed before turning back to face her trickster of choice, "A difficult life, along with people suffering particularly rough fates of their own. Yet you survived, saving the world multiple times over from those who may wish to shape it into their own image."
"It was nothing." The confidence that came with not being stuck in prisonwear was astounding.
"It definitely wasn't!" Even still, Lavenza had a bit of a ways to go understanding human phrases, "So, I may have organised a few things with the aid of my sisters and brothers. I would like to reward you and your closest allies, and then all will be right."
For the whole of The Phantom Thieves, then… "What's the reward?"
"You will find that out soon enough," Smiled Lavenza, straw approaching her lips once again, "Though, if I could briefly have your phone, that would speed things up."
With The Velvet Room typically residing in dreams, the idea of taking a phone out of a pocket seemed inconsequential in the long run. Nonetheless, after her next sip, Lavenza took the phone and toyed with it a bit. The screen was pitch black once it was slide back across the table into its owner's hands.
"There, the game has finally swung in your favour, for your ultimate victory lap," Smiled Lavenza, "May your night go well, trickster. I hope you know your name by the next time we meet."
"Wait, know my-"
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Ren jolted out of bed, shaking the mattress enough to spook Morgana into stirring. Somehow, out of all the dreams he had ever had about that place, that was both the most menacing and most baffling.
"Nmmnnngggg… Nightmares again?" Protectively, Morgana wandered over from the end of the bed up to Ren's chest for emotional support reasons, "What was it this time?"
Unsure how well he could speak, Ren just shook his head. Whether or not Velvet Room dreams counted as nightmares was a debate that had been had many a time, so it was honestly just easier to act like it was nothing. Though, if Lavenza had really tampered with Ren's phone, then she had some incredible timing based on how it started buzzing like mad on his bedside table.
Obviously, the first thing noticeable was the string of texts he was getting.
[ORACLE: joker]
[ORACLE: joker hey]
[ORACLE: earth to joker come in joker]
[JOKER: It's 2 in the morning.]
[ORACLE: it's back]
[ORACLE: the whole thing is back]
[ORACLE: on my phone and laptop and i'm about to check my switch but]
[ORACLE: it's fuckign back]
… The second thing was that it, indeed, was back. That little red and black app icon, now with a blue plus symbol in the corner that looked like it was scribbled on in crayon.
The Metaverse was back.
☆♡☆♡☆
For parents who really were far too detached and kind of cold to their son, Ren's folks really liked to nag him about how much he preferred being in Tokyo. It was all about him betraying his roots, ignoring family values, being a trend follower, all in the same tone as the standard "kids these days on their phones all the time" stereotype rant.
The thing is, after doing a country-wide road trip, Ren could pretty firmly say that it wasn't about Tokyo. Not that it didn't help that he slipped into the city so easily when not being put through the torment nexus. No, the thing that Tokyo had that Inaba didn't was the right kind of people, Ren's friends and confidants.
There just weren't people Ren's age to connect with in the small foggy town, and all the adults bar a handful thought he was a total delinquent. It only got worse after the arrest. If Shujin was bad when the world was forced to hate him, then Inaba would have been literal Hell to stay in. It always sucks when everyone knows your name and face, and your not-supernatural criminal record.
At least the Metaverse gave a pretty good excuse to see everyone again so soon after the big road trip. Ren had wanted to visit basically every holiday. And every weekend. Every day, really. Not being able to just see friends in person was horrible. The big city really turned Ren Amamiya, introvert, into a people person.
"Ready to stretch your legs again?" He asked as he made the familiar walk to the Sakura household, skipping Leblanc for now since he certainly didn't have months to work out what was happening this time.
"Please…" Morgana probably purred a little too loud once he was let out of the bag, "Ugh, I hate how long that trip is each time. When you can move out, you better get some place closer to home!"
"Of course." Ren couldn't help but chuckle. Home really was here, not in Inaba. Something about 'where the heart is' made a lot more sense when a certain group of thieves had a habit of metaphorically stealing his.
As leader of The Phantom Thieves Of Heart, Ren was highly capable of sensing people coming, and it wasn't just because he could recognise footsteps. However, being in the real world and outside of the building with a gremlin running through it, Ren couldn't actually hear a thing, resulting in a perfect sneak attack from his pseudo sister.
"Blegh," Futaba was muffled as she buried her face into Ren's jumper, "You smell like rice fields."
"It ain't easy, but it's an honest day's work." Naturally, Ren put on an exaggerated accent for the bit.
"Should've seen Dad first," Oh, so she was extra sleepy, "… No, we need to check the thingy. Even if it means you don't reek of coffee yet. Ugh… Missed you."
"And no big welcome for me?" Morgana teased, even though it was something everyone knew he was kind of worried about, "You can't forget about me that easily."
"Of course not," Futaba leaned into the theatrical tone as she bent down to scritch her feline-shaped friend behind the ears, "Missed you too, Mona."
Ren hated interrupting, but there wasn't enough time not to. "Meeting with the rest after Leblanc closes?"
"Yep, already made sure they all could come," Beamed the team's navigator, proud of her work, "I also let Sophia and Ichinose know even though they arent coming, just in case they could find anything. All hands on deck."
The high-five that followed was well deserved. Joker was good at being a distraction and occasionally a tactician, but Futaba was truly clever and with important skills to boot. To be even close to being her sibling was an honour, inside the Metaverse and out. To Joker, Futaba was closer to family than whatever Ren had back in Inaba.
And he wasn't going to question why it felt better to separate his life in two like that, because he did know his name, despite what Lavenza implied.
"I do have some early information on M-Nav Plus, if that helps plan for the meet up," Even if Futaba was being subtle in her words, it was unsubtle how she was basically dragging Ren into the house, "I figured I'd call it something different, since it seems a bit fishy, and-"
"And you want sibling time inside?" Ren figured.
"And I want sibling time inside…" Clearly, Futaba had thought she was being sneaky, "Don't act like you don't, though! I know you have to get lonely in the middle of nowhere! And we didn't even get quiet time during the road trip! I need a checkpoint!"
"I'll keep an eye out for you two, maybe let Boss know we're back," Morgana stretched before leaping up to the fence, "I'll meet back up with you at the hideout, at least. Stay out of trouble, if you can."
"We'll try!" The inherent gremlin tone in Futaba's voice made it hard to believe, "Now come oooon, Ren! You owe me so much more episodes of Featherman than we have time for!"
Ren was more than happy to be dragged back into the familiar house, as if he had lived in there for a year instead of a cafe attic. He was gladly dragged up, into the bedroom that once made up Futaba's tomb, as a part of what felt like a family. This wasn't breaking into the house, this was being invited as if he lived there. It was perfect.
… Okay, not perfect. But still, it was as close as possible. Ren would have wished for this to be how it always was, but that would involve changing reality, which… Yeah, no.
Most of the other thieves, excluding Morgana, had no idea exactly what sibling time meant for Ren and Futaba, nor did they really know it was called that. The assumption was probably just hanging out and playing video games, which, to be fair, was done on occasion. But when it came to clingy hugs like Ren was greeted by, that meant something specific was needed.
Already wearing his warm jacket, Ren was pretty capable of feeling comfortable in the cold weather and dark room. Even though his go to comfy cuddle buddy was Morgana, a borrowed plush that funnily enough resembled Jack Frost was a good substitute, and he was able to hide in the shadowy corner of Futaba's bed as she set up her laptop.
Once the show was ready to go, Futaba leaned up against Joker with an appropriately large Feather Toucan plush in her own arms. The siblings went quiet as the introduction played, though not the one for one of the newer Featherman incarnations. Both were already caught up with the series. No, they were watching a version a little more nostalgic to the two of them, from when they both would've been a lot younger.
It wasn't the best written, but it was silly fun, playing off of the tropes already done to death in the long running franchise and things found in old samurai movies. Maybe Yusuke would appreciate it. Based on the last time they had watched, the siblings were up to the episode where it was revealed the Feather Dooka for this series was a decoy, and the real one was a girl.
Joker had a lot of complicated feelings about this series, largely related to that reveal. Sure, it wasn't that the Feather Dooka the show had been following got turned into a girl, but as a kid, seeing merch suddenly include a hero, a leader clad in red, wearing a skirt? It might as well have been the case.
The two siblings could probably only watch a small handful of episodes before it was time for Ren and Futaba to get back to Phantom Thief work for the first time in a little bit, but it was worth every second. With how calm this felt, and how much easier it was to exist like this than back in Inaba with the Amamiyas, this could've been the reward from Lavenza and there'd be no complaints.