#Ren Amamiya would be thinking that guys trust me I know

[ryanthel0ser]

New Party Member: *talking about their past, their trauma and how they ended up where they are*

Me yelling at the screen:

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[auncyen]

chasing dumb ideas from work lol

-

Ren’s Palace takes the form of a video game world, bright and zany.  The Shadows have their silhouettes color-coded according to difficulty, the cognitions are NPCs repeating stock dialogue--Mona pops up surprisingly often, considering he and Ren haven’t really hung out since May--and some of the logic used to progress is worthy of a click-and-point game.  Which means it’s lucky they have Futaba with them, since she’s the only Phantom Thief who understands the logic of click-and-point games.  Still, it’s such a breeze that it takes only three hours to reach the center of the stage, and Oracle complains they never even left the hand-holding tutorial.

Ren’s shadow smiles at them when they arrive, and hands Ryuji a controller for the P4Storm his parents took away from him and sold after his arrest.  “Wait--is this the Treasure?” Ryuji blurts.  “We didn’t give you a calling card, though.”

“Hmm...we did talk with him about what he thought the distortion might be, though,” Futaba muses.  “He’s the NPC who knows the most about our methods, so that might have accidentally triggered the effect.  Good thing we moved fast.”

The shadow nods at Futaba’s explanation.  “I didn’t want to give you guys too much trouble.  You’re my friends, after all.”

“Dude, you gave us no trouble at all,” Ryuji says with a laugh.  “You’re way too nice for your own good!”  Still, in this case, he’s relieved it’s not coming to a fight.  Ren’s a friend, and he hasn’t seemed all there lately--they might have curbstomped his shadow if it’d come to that, and wouldn’t that feel awful.

Ren’s shadow smiles shyly, and waves them off before disappearing in bright light.  The PT make their usual escape.  The Palace crumbles.

So does the controller in Ryuji’s hands.

-

Despite the alarm the crumbling treasure causes for the entire group, Ren seems to take his change of heart just fine, doesn’t even throw himself a week-long slumber party like Futaba did.  He stays home from school one day, Futaba reporting that he seems a bit sleepy but nothing too serious, and then the next day, Ren gives Ryuji a fist-bump and smile outside Shujin.  Ryuji grins and tackles him into a headlock.  He’s so glad the change of heart didn’t hurt Ren.  Ren’s his best friend.  The Phantom Thieves might have given Ryuji a reason to stay at Shujin and not drop out, but Ren’s pretty much an honorary Thief anyway, and he’s been running with Ryuji, and helping him deal with the track team’s problems, and he’s just so good at knowing exactly what to say to make people feel better.  Ryuji’s thrilled he could help Ren for once.

And then, days later, he gets a text from Makoto during class, which he knows is urgent because Makoto texting during class: “Ren is still logged in the MetaNav on my phone for some reason.  The location and distortion have been erased, but his name is still there.  Is anyone else seeing this?”

Yusuke starts typing.  Futaba and Ann chime in well before him that yes, they see it too.  Ryuji opens the Metanav on his phone.  Ren’s name is glaring on the screen, a partially-complete entry that shouldn’t be there at all.

“Class was that bad?” Ren asks when Ryuji trudges out of his classroom, prompting the blond to immediately shove the phone in his pocket.

“Uh, yeah,” Ryuji mutters.  “Hey, Ren, can we talk about the--uh--you-know-what?”

“The completely unsuspicious you-know-what, yes, what about it?” Ren answers, because oh good the change of heart gave him his sarcasm back.  Actually--that would be good news.  It means the change of heart worked and the Metanav’s got some random glitch.  “Let’s get off school grounds first.” 

Ryuji manages to only jump a little when his phone buzzes.

When he checks, the Metanav has accepted “school” as the distortion’s location, even though the Palace was actually at the scramble in Shibuya and, more importantly, doesn’t exist any longer.

They go to Leblanc, where Shiho and Futaba are both waiting to talk to Ren as well, which helps Ryuji with the conversation ahead.  It’s...kind of hard to muddle through ‘hey, we were trying to help you with your heart, but something might have gone wrong and we don’t know what’.  It both helps and doesn’t that Ren stays calm the entire time, doesn’t get worried or pissed off that they might have screwed up.  Wouldn’t a distorted person get mad?  Wouldn’t a normal person at least be nervous?

Then again, Ren’s always had nerves of steel underneath the nerdy glasses.  It never made sense to Ryuji why he didn’t awaken to a Persona when Ryuji and Ann and Shiho all could, not until they found his Palace.  He’s got the guts for it.

Futaba openly prods Ren on how he views the school, and he shakes his head.  “This must be a glitch.  You guys have already helped me.  I feel better, and everyone else has only needed their heart changed once.  Why would I be different?”

Shiho purses her lips but then agrees.  Ryuji feels a little antsy, wants to push but also wants to trust Ren, and even if the change of heart didn’t work for some reason, his friend is pushing back now.  Ren’s not hurting anyone.  His heart is his call just like Futaba’s was hers, and even the hacker, for all her curiosity, respects that.  They gotta drop it.

But it stays on the back of Ryuji’s mind for weeks as the entry stays in place, 2/3s complete, and everyone else is worried too because they all like Ren and something does seem a little off about him--like he’s trying too hard to be normal, to convince them everything is fine--and then apparently one morning, right before class starts, Ren startles Ann by leaning over her shoulder and drily reciting: “Ren Amamiya, Shujin Academy, theater”.

The keywords work, Ren supplying them is taken as an implicit request, and there’s a good chance their calling card timer is already running just like the first time, since Ren knows how they work after tagging along for most of the first Palace and helping them with supplies for later ones.  So they go.

-

Ren’s second Palace is a theater.  It’s completely different from the video game world, with dark, muted, traditional colors, yet unmistakably Ren’s, and Makoto has to get their navigators back on task several times because Morgana and Futaba are going nuts theorizing (because who has a second Palace to begin with?).  Luckily Shiho doesn’t have much trouble leading the group through anyway.  Once again, Ren’s Palace is weirdly easy.  The Shadows aren’t color-coded any longer, but they also don’t seem to care about the Thieves as long as they don’t interrupt the show on stage.  It’s...an improv show, Ryuji thinks?  Yusuke says it might be an avant garde direction on a play.  (Ryuji has no idea what the difference would be.)  What happens is Ren’s shadow is always acting, and sometimes a cognitive audience member will leave their seat and join him.  All of the Thieves are there, even Morgana, which the cat seems touched by, plus Mishima, and Ms. Kawakami, and Ms. Chouno, and Ryuji is about to question why Ren has the hots for so many teachers when Ushimaru gets up and that thought becomes cursed, and the newspaper club girl, and that cute gardening club girl, and actually, Ryuji still thinks Ren has some kind of bias for hot girls going on here.  Even if the (former) stalker girl is pushing it.

That’s probably nothing to do with the Palace distortion though, since Ren’s interactions are always a simple back-and-forth with the cognition: they request something of him, even if it’s just to talk, and Ren obliges them admirably, or sometimes he acts as though he’s ignoring them at first, only to swoop in at the last second and give them something even better than they asked for.  It’s interesting maybe the first couple times?  Morgana stands out again because his cognition nags Ren to study and make infiltration tools, something Morgana says he’s never done, which makes sense because Ren is one of those aggravating people who never needs to study to ace exams and Shiho’s always made the infiltration tools just fine.   After Morgana, though, it just falls into a predictable pattern, and the only reason to keep watching is to see who else comes up to stage.  And once cognitive guest stars start repeating, the Thieves are out.  Every improv act has been slightly different, but the flow is so obvious that it’s become mind-numbingly repetitive anyway.

They sneak past security into the back halls and find a dressing room.  Futaba and Morgana both detect the Treasure inside.  There’s a white-and-black domino mask sitting on a vanity in a dark corner of the room that both navigators swear up and down has to be the Treasure.  It almost seems appropriate for a Thief mask.  Maybe because Ren’s seen most of the team’s?  It fits the theater setting, at least, but...

“Are we just...taking this?” Ann questions, with an uncertain look around the dressing room.  “Seriously?  His Shadow’s not even going to talk to us?”

“I would not complain about us being proper thieves and going undetected for once,” Yusuke points out.

“Okay, point, but it just...feels like I understand Ren less than I did before the video game place.”  Ann sighs.  “I thought he was just a quiet guy, but he saw part of Tokyo as a game?  Now he’s acting with everyone at school?  I wish I got what it actually meant...”

“We can ask him about it later,” Shiho reassures her.  “Right now we just have to take the Treasure.”

That suits Ryuji.  They take it.  The Palace collapses.

The mask crumbles in Shiho’s hands as soon as they reach the real world, and she makes a small noise of distress.  Morgana and Ryuji spit out the same curse in a rare moment of heartfelt unity.  Futaba, on the other hand, just whips out her phone.  “Hey-hey,” their navigator says, “Guess who doesn’t want to leave the Metanav?”

-

Ren is sympathetic with his thief friends not being able to steal a Treasure, which feels wildly inappropriate to Ryuji because it’s Ren’s heart in question here.  Ryuji thinks in his shoes, he’d be losing his mind.  Ryuji’s in his own shoes and he’s still losing his mind a little, because the only answer the group can come up with for what’s going on is that Ren’s somehow got three distortions.

No, sorry.  It’s that he has at least three.  Three may not be the magic number.  Ren doesn’t seem to think it is, anyway, because now he puts down his foot.  “I’m not hurting anyone.  I’m fine.”

“Yeah, you weren’t even down for a day like last time,” Futaba mutters, giving him such a suspicious look that Shiho nudges the girl.  Ren is their friend, and he’s been helping them be Phantom Thieves.  They’ve got no good reason to antagonize him.

Ren gives her a long, silent look before shaking his head.  “You guys should be figuring out your next target.”

They should be.

They do.

Ren helps them less with supplies this time.  Ryuji wonders if it’s because of the distortion, and then he catches himself and realizes he’s been wondering if everything with Ren is because of a distortion or not.  It’s probably not even Ren’s fault.  They’re just not talking to him about Thief business as much, since...yeah.  The only upshot might be that Morgana has been making some effort to get to know Ren better.  Because Morgana was a jerk when they first found him--he’s still a jerk sometimes, but even Ryuji would say he’s gotten a lot better--and he pretty much brushed Ren off in favor of people who were actually awakening to Personas, like everyone else.  They never really argued or anything, though, and apparently judging by Ren’s Palace...s, Ren’s fond of him, and Morgana seems to have finally realized that sometimes, making friends is its own reward, even if they can’t wield kickass Personas.  So that’s a thing, now, Shiho passing Morgana off to Ren so they can trot off and do whatever people do together when one of them is a cat (apparently watch movies, get food, fish, and just talk).

And that’s why when Morgana says “I think I know Ren’s keywords” at the start of a Phantom Thieves meeting, Ryuji blurts out “I thought you stopped being an asshole” with a disappointment so deep that it kind of surprises him, because, wow, he really had been expecting that Morgana was just trying to be nice and not obsessed about Palaces and Treasures for once, huh?

Morgana blinks at him across the table.  “I have never been an asshole,” he says, outright lying.  “Though there are a few things I could say about you--”

“Morgana,” Shiho says, heading off that argument.  She looks upset, too.  “We don’t have any reason to pursue Ren’s Treasure.  He’s not hurting anyone.  He...seems to be doing all right,” though the hesitation is audible in her voice, and quickly followed with, “and even if he isn’t, it’s his heart.  You’re not getting a unanimous vote here, and if this is why you’ve been friendlier to him lately, I... don’t know what to say, except that I thought you were better than that.”

There are two Phantom Thieves who can scold Morgana and actually make him feel ashamed: Ann and Shiho.  Sure enough, she lands a critical hit; Morgana’s ears pin back, and he nearly ducks down under the table to escape her stare before stopping himself.  “I’m not asking for a vote,” Morgana says.  “If we took his treasure it’d probably just crumble again.  But I want to check if I’m right about the keywords.  It could be critical information.”

There is a long moment of silence.   As much as Ryuji’s still pissed off at Morgana, he can’t deny being curious.  If they at least knew the keywords, even if they didn’t go in, they’d understand Ren better, right?  Though...after how the last two distortions went...

As it turns in, they go in anyway, because Makoto taps on her phone to open the Metanav, places it in front of Morgana, and when he utters “Tokyo, Metaverse,” the app responds “beginning navigation”, and--

“Fascinating,” Yusuke says.

“That’s not the f-word I’d use,” Ryuji says.

“Huh, Kaneshiro’s Palace is here,” Morgana notes, because that is indeed an effing bank flying through the sky, narrowly avoiding a blimp.  The cat continues getting down to business despite the absurdity of the situation he just launched everyone into.  “That means both that he’s seen it, and that his mental map of the Metaverse isn’t accurate.  It might be based on his most recent memory?  We never brought him in the bank, though.  What do you think, Or--”  He stops when he actually turns to Futaba and sees her face.  She’s paler than usual.  “...Oracle?  Are you okay?”

“My Palace is there,” she says, pointing in the direction where Yongen Jaya would lie.  The golden tip of a pyramid gleams over dozens of other riotously colorful, stylistically mishmashed buildings.  “How does he know what my Palace looked like?  How does he know about any of these?  There’s at least two hundred--maybe three!”

Three hundred palaces is a stupid number of Palaces for anyone to personally remember, but it’s especially stupid for a guy who doesn’t even have the Nav on his phone.

-

the idea: “if persona users simultaneously having a Palace can be justified with wildcards having multiple personas (for one to turn into a shadow while the others remain to use), what kind of shitshow would Ren create if all his Personas just--” and then ng+ shenanigans wandered in

[icipersona5-pricefamily]

Who are your Top 5 fave Phantom Thieves of Hearts?

It could be just one or two, but sometimes you can't help it, but to love all of them. But there's always a fave or two and sadly a dislike. But let's focus on the top faves. Honestly for me... it's hard to chose. I mean I have my two faves, but do I have my top 5 faves? 🤔 Hmm... well, most do share the same spots... And please don't be mad at choices! 🙏 We all can't like the same the thing or person after all. Anyway! I will expose my top 5 and be warn, there are spoilers, so I advise you not to look at the list until you played the games or seen the walk through. If you like to spoil yourself, go ahead....

5. Sophia/Sophie. Why her? Well, she's adorable and an AI who has a Persona. She's not the first technology thing to have one, of course. But I like her plot and how she's trying to learn what a heart is. She has YoYo as her weapon which is cool and despite many let downs, she had learn from her teammates and understand what it means to be a Phantom Thief of Hearts. As the story goes, she was slowly losing her robot like voice and to find out how she was created! I like it! I'm gonna miss her...

4. Futaba Sakura/Oracle (Navi in Japan). Why? I just like her personalities and how she's a great hacker while trying to be outgoing. (You can do it, Futaba!). She's funny and I love her siblings relationship with Ren/MC and Yusuke. Her past was so sad and I just wanna hug her. I am glad she has an adopted dad like Sojiro and how she was willing to change her heart to save him. I'm really glad in Royal she has her victory pose after the all out attack. I just wish she'd had one in Strikers when things are looking bad, she actives her showtime to fully heal the HP and SP. PS, I love her UFO like Persona!!

3. Yusuke Kitagawa/Fox. I love this dork! He is beautiful, such a soul of an artist and kinda gullible in most things. He's a sweetie and never miss an opportunity to art. What happened to him in the past and in P5, I wanna protect him. I'm glad the Phantom Thieves came in to help and he becomes one. His relationship with Futaba is funny. They're like siblings to each other (Sorry to those who shipped them!). And he's sort of the first for Futaba to interact with. I do worry about his money situation, but he seems to be doing okay. I really wish Atlus added that you could date guys, I mean they made you date older women, but not a guy at close age to? O.o Anyway, Yusuke is a funny and sweet guy, kinda naive but a good guy. Kudos to the voice actors, both English and Japanese.

2. Morgana/Mona & Ryuji Sakamoto/Skull. Eh? Two?! Hey, it's hard to chose, okay? =3= Now why? Let's start with Morgana... He's a talking cat and he's adorable! (Morgana: I'm NOT a cat) Hehe... Anyway! He's like a mascot yet he's strong and wise in most situations. Despite being a cat in the real world, he still hangouts with the team to join in the fun. I love how he's smitten over Ann yet acts like a gentleman (sometimes) towards her and the fact he can become a bus (and helicopter in Royal) is awesome! I feel bad about when Morgana started to feel useless to the team and no one notice it until Haru appears as a thief. But I am glad he'd came back and to learn his past, wow! I nearly cried at the end of P5. I kinda wish he a human form like Teddie, but at least he kinda did in Royal. And I really wish his cat sprite has more reactions and stuff. The fact his Persona is Zorro... pfft X3c It's like Puss in Boots in Shrek! Now, Ryuji... He's such a good boy with a temper, but he has reasons why. Despite that, he's a good friend and never abandons his friends. Thanks to the MC, he slowly becomes who he should be and I'd a funny guy. I feel bad that his track team treated badly because of what happened and I kinda get it, but still... Anyway! He's like the loyal friend who got your back and is willing to stand up for his friends, even his life to save them. He even didn't judge the MC and becomes his first friend of Shujin Academy. Now, why both on the top fave 2? Well, they always bicker at each other yet they kinda get along sometimes. They both are close to the MC and they're funny like Yosuke and Teddie in P4. Glad their relationship had grew in Strikers and the fact that they are not afraid to blunt insults to each other. At least they're good friends.

Now, the top most fave(s), drum roll please........................

1. Ren Amamiya/Akira Kurusu/Joker & Zenkichi Hasegawa/Wolf. Again another spot is share! And before Strikers, Joker is still my top fave then Zenkichi came in, it's a tied. Let's start with Ren. Ren is handsome! He's cool and mysterious! The plot for him is perfect and how his Persona is Arsene is even more perfect. The background of his shows how hard life is, despite doing something good, he get punish in the end? That's bull crap and everyone treated him like he's a bad boy when he's not. Thankfully, he made friends and people around soon learns he's not a bad boy at all. Ren is charmer and he's still the guy who is willing to help those in need, of course that's up to the player. I do wish in Strikers that it kinda shown his distrust and trauma of the police. I would protect him and make any cops stay a safe distance from him. (Sorry Zenkichi) At least he kinda got his life back thanks to his friends and allies. Did I mention I like him? Seriously I do! 🥰 He's handsome and his smile... Sorry! Now, Zenkichi... This guy is a goof ball, the only adult of Phantom Thieves of Hearts and is a cop! Well, PubSec. He's like Dojima and Sojiro in one, sort of. At first, I did distrust due to he's a cop and all, plus you know in P4 and with Goro. I wasn't sure about him until I had watch the walk through and when first seeing him and when he'd laughed, I thought 'I might like this guy, but let's wait and see'. Now, I thought he would be a comic relief which he sort of is while still not trusting him until we learn he's a dad and how he'd lost his wife which 'Wait! He's a dad and had a wife who was killed in hit and run? Dojima 2?!' OwO I was surprised. Of course, not exactly the same, but similar plot. We get to learn about his past, his relationship with his daughter and why he was using the Phantom Thieves for such case. I start to feel bad for him and his daughter, heck even the Phantom Thieves felt bad. At some point, I did started to like him and Zenkichi was starting to bond with them and they even started to think as him part of the team. Once Zenkichi reveals why he'd hadn't caught the killer, I truly feel bad and understand why he let the killer go. Then boom! He has a Persona that fits him perfectly and such a cool Phantom Thief attire! 😳 That's when I fallen for him 'Dang it! First Joker now him!' He became like a dad of the team, always reminded them that despite what happened to the Monarch, it's still wrong what they're doing now. Despite how old he is (He's in his 40s) he can still fight and is cool! Still a goof ball good looking guy. Now, why both on the same spot? .....I love both them equally! 😍 They're both cool, good looking and those smirks... How dare Atlus did this to me?! I love their Personas. I wish we could see them having bonding moments though. *clears throat* Anyway. Because how I like them, as always I had created OCs to be with them. Hehe 😅

Now, for the rest of Phantom Thieves of Hearts. I do love them all, truly. Makoto is cool and she's the mom of the group. Ann is good friend to hangout, plus she's caring about others who had suffered. Haru is a sweetie who has scary side to her (Do not let her drive). Goro is someone that you wish he had saved sooner and yes I did hate him but I feel bad for what happened to him. Sumire, I wasn't sure about we had learn her background and wow! What a twist. I did call her a hypocrite while I can see why she thought that the people don't help themselves when reality the thieves gives courage and they done something to move on with some help, unlike what she did but I get it and I do like her persona.

Who would I want to be part of the team? Hmm... Hifumi since she was gonna be part of the team, but sadly that was cut off. She would've been better as a thief. Maybe Mishima, maybe! Sojiro... What?! It would've been cool, although he isn't young as he use to be, still. Lastly Maruki. I am surprised he doesn't count to be part of the team, but I guess it's because his Persona was kinda controlling him (I can't remember 😅) and didn't join the team. He would've been a neat addition to team, being a dad/uncle of the group. I feel bad for the guy and I get why did all that yet what about him? Doesn't he deserve to be happy to? Also... what happened to his girlfriend after the Metaverse vanishes in Royal? Anyway, he still like a sweet guy to me and I kinda wish Royal was mentioned in Strikers, but Strikers is technically a sequel/spin off to P5 since Strikers was part of P5, but it was too long and got cut. Hence of no mentioning of Royal.

Whew! Anyway! No hate on this, not everyone agrees with my choices and it's different from everyone opinions. But what about you guys? Got top faves and wish who would've been part of the team??

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 53: Blackmail

The next day, Makoto was called into Principal Kobayakawa’s office. “You wanted to see me sir?”

“Ah, Niijima-san,” Kobayakawa said. “I just wanted to apologize for yesterday.”

“Apologize?” Makoto wondered.

“Yes,” Kobayakawa insisted. “I got a little too heated, and I feel the need to clear the air.”

“I see,” Makoto responded, wondering what this conversation was going to turn into.

“Of course you know I want nothing but the best for these students,” Kobayakawa siad. “I didn’t mean to insinuate that I dislike the Phantom Thieves because they exposed Mr. Kamoshida. I’m just worried. They might think that honest, hard-working people, such as myself, might be a target for their changes of heart. All because I didn’t know about the heinous actions being taken by Mr. Kamoshida. And if they think I might be an acceptable target, who knows who else might fall under that?”

“I see,” Makoto said. “So, your worry is similar to that of Akechi-san’s, right?’

“Why yes,” Kobayakawa said. “That boy sure is smart.”

“Smart enough not to go to school here, apparently” Makoto whispered under her breath.

“Did you say something?” Kobayakawa said.

“Oh” Makoto said, a little embarrassed. She decided to play it off. “It’s nothing. Akechi-san just works with my sister a lot. I feel like I’m a bit jealous because he gets to see her more than I do these days.”

“Why, that’s nothing to feel ashamed about,” Kobayakawa informed her. “I’m sure you’ll be just as successful as your sister once I write you that letter.”

“Oh, right…” Makoto said.

“So, I’m sorry I put all that pressure on you,” Kobayakawa apologized.

“But you still want me to find the Phantom Thieves?” Makoto asked.

Kobayakawa nodded. “I understand, go at your own pace, but I would appreciate it. And so will you.”

“Hm. Thank you” Makoto said. She walked out.

“I knew she’d see it my way,” Kobayakawa said, once he was alone.

Makoto, outside of the office, sighed. “I used to think you were that honest, hard-working person you claim to be. I kind of wish you still were…” She walked off to class.

At lunch, the Phantom Thieves group chat went off again.

Ryuji: Yo. I was just thinking.

Ryuji: While we might be able to look for a new big target, we could do some Mementos missions if we have any.

Yusuke: Isn’t that the opposite of laying low?

Ren: We might as well.

Ren: I wanted to meet up today anyway.

Sumire: Why’s that?

Ren: Something happened last night, and I wanted to talk about that.

Yusuke: Very well then.

Yusuke: The usual place?

Ann: Yeah.

Jose: OK.

Jose: See you after school.

They put their phones away and turned their attention back to class.

After school, Ren and Ann were heading out when Ann’s phone rang. “Oh, sorry. That’s my agent, I gotta take this quick. You go on ahead, I’ll meet you all there.” Ren nodded as Ann walked off to take the call.

Before Ren could continue walking, she came face to face with Makoto. “Ah. Nice to see you, Amamiya-chan.”

Ren was caught a bit off guard. “Likewise” she responded.

“If you don’t mind, I would like to talk with you, is that OK?” Makoto asked.

“Uh, sure” Ren said, feeling unsure about what was happening. “I was going to meet up with some friends. Mind if I tell them I’m going to be a bit late?”

“That’s OK,” Makoto said.

Ren got out her phone and sent the message. “OK.”

“Great. Now, if you don’t mind, could you follow me to the student council room?” Makoto asked.

“OK” Ren said again, still a tad nervous. The two started heading to the student council room.

Morgana opened the bag just a crack. “You don’t think she’s onto us, do you?” he whispered.

“Well, she might be if she hears you” Ren whispered back.

“All she’d hear would be meowing,” Morgana said.

“That’s also a problem!” Ren fired back.

“Are you alright?” Makoto asked.

Ren seemed a little flustered. “Fine.” Makoto seemed curious, but decided to not push it right now. She nodded and continued on. Ren sighed and continued following her. Once the two of them entered the student council office, they sat down across from each other. “Is it just you today?”

“Yes,” Makoto answered.

“You...know I already talked to someone about Mr. Kamoshida, right?” Ren continued.

“Of course,” Makoto said. “I was the one that orchestrated all of that.”

“So, why am I here?” Ren asked.

Makoto kept calm. “I called you here because I want something, and I believe you can give it to me. You, and your friends.”

“Oh?” Ren said, matching her calm demeanor.”And what would that be?”

“Hm. I’d like you and your friends to change someone’s heart” Makoto requested.

“I see,” Ren replied.

“She DOES know,” Whispered Morgana.

Ren decided to not let that remark bother her. “Well, I know I did well on the show with Akechi, but I can’t be expected to be able to convince everyone of whatever you need. After all, I couldn’t even convince Akechi in the end.”

Makoto smiled. “Resilient to the end. I like that in a leader. I guess I have to say it to get you to move. I’m making a request to the Phantom Thieves to change someone’s heart.”

“Crap!” Morgana muttered.

“Well, there’s the Phan-site,” Ren pointed out. “You can use that.”

“Why would I?” Makoto asked. “I’m speaking to their leader right now.”

“That’s a big accusation” Ren stated. “What makes you think that?”

“Well, I could list off all the circumstantial evidence I have,” Makoto began, “but I’m willing to bet that one way or another, you’ll deny it or obfuscate. I’d do the same in your shoes.” She brought out her phone. “So, let’s go to the hard evidence.”

Makoto pressed play. On the phone Ryuji can be heard saying “we busted our asses as the Phantom Thieves to get him to confess!”

“Ryuji…” Morgana whined.

Ren’s face was beat red, and looking down. “So, I assume this is enough then?” Makoto asked.

Ren looked up, smiling. “How do I know that isn’t doctored?”

Just then, Ren’s phone rang. “It’s OK, you can answer it.”

Ren did, worried. Of course, Ryuji was on the other end, and of course he was loud. “Yo, Ann just got here. All we’re waiting on is for you, leader! C’mon! Let’s get to some Phantom Thieving!”

Ren looked defeated. “Are you going to tell me that was doctored too?” Makoto asked, shrewdly.

Ren sighed. “I’ll be over in a few. But there’s a bit of a change in plans. Also, next time we get ramen, you’re paying.”

“Huh? Why?” Ryuji asked.

“You’ll understand as soon as I get there,” Ren replied.

“Um, OK?” Ryuji said back, sensing something was a bit amiss. “...Well, seeya then.”

Ren hung up. “Ugh.”

Makoto chuckled. “Don’t worry, I know how hard it can be to lead something.”

“Thanks” Ren snarked back. She sighed. “Though I doubt you actually have any ill intent towards us.”

“How do you figure?” Makoto asked.

“Because you came to us,” Ren answered. “You could have turned us into the police or something with something like that.”

Makoto was blindsided by Ren's deductive reasoning. “Yes, well, I am my own person, with my own opinions at the end of the day.”

Ren nodded. “Well, we should get going. We don’t want them to wait for the surprise.”

Makoto laughed. “You’re more relaxed about all this than I thought you’d be.”

“Eh, it’s something I’ve gotten used to,” Ren admitted. The two of them headed out.

The rest of the thieves were waiting. “Where is she?” Ryuji wondered.

“Hey everyone” Ren said, slightly nervously.

“Oh Hey Reeeeeeeee…” Ryuji said, as the thieves looked up to see that Makoto was also with her. “What’s she doing here?”

“I don’t know Ryuji, what IS she doing here?” Ren snapped back.

Makoto took out her phone and pressed play again. “we busted our asses as the Phantom Thieves to get him to confess!”

The thieves were surprised. “Ryuji…” Ann said, exacerbated.

“Oh…” Ryuji said, feeling guilty.

“That’s why you’re paying for our next ramen outing,” Ren said. “And don’t think I’m going to go light.”

Ryuji’s face went pale. “I’m...sorry…”

“So what are you going to do?” Ann sniped. “Take this to the principal.”

“Um, why would she be talking to us if she was going to do that?” Sumire asked.

“Sumire brings up a good point,” Yusuke said.

“She wants us to change someone’s heart,” Ren explained.

“Oh…” Ann said, now a bit embarrassed.

“Well, we’re willing to help,” Jose said. “Do you know who?”

“A mob boss,” Makoto said succinctly. The thieves were shocked. “You can do it, can’t you?”

“Of course we can,” Ryuji fired back.

“How are you acting so high and mighty now?” Morgan wondered.

Before Ryuji could angrily retort to the cat that Makoto doesn’t know can talk, Ann said “We’re going to need some more information. Like a name for instance.”

“Oh” Makoto said, taken slightly aback. “Well, we’re not sure yet. Maybe you can help with the investigation?”

“What?!” Ryuji said.

“Need I remind you what I have recorded?” Makoto angrily replied.

“No!” Ryuji whimpered.

“We’ll gladly help,” Sumire said with a smile.

“Excellent,” Makoto said.

Ren turned to Makoto. “So, what information do you have so far?”

“Well, not a whole lot,” Makoto admitted. “But they’ve been scamming school kids left and right. Not just at our school either. But we’ve received multiple complaints, and as student council president, I would like to put a stop to this.”

“I see,” Ren said, impressed with her spirit. “Well, we’ll join this fight.”

“And if you’re successful, I won’t release this audio,” Makoto said.

“Hm. Sounds like we have a deal” Ren said.

“Quite” Makoto agreed.

“Now, uh, if you’d excuse us, we’d like to discuss this as a team” Ren said.

“Oh!” Makoto said, surprised. “Of course.” She bowed. “Have a good day.” She walked off. Once she was far enough away, she sighed. “I guess they don’t fully trust me yet…” She continued walking.

Once Makoto was fully gone, Ann smacked Ryuji across the head. “Ryuji!”

“Ow! Sorry!” Ryuji said.

“No, I should apologize,” Ren said. “I should have known something was up.”

“Come now, it’s no one's fault,” Yusuke said.

“Besides, if we change this guy’s heart, then everything will be OK” Jose chimed in.

Ann groaned. “I guess…”

Ryuji similarly groaned. “I’m sorry…” he muttered again.

“So then, what’s the game plan?” Sumire asked.

“Well, we’d have to figure out who this mob boss is,” Ren pointed out.

“Do you think anyone knows in Mementos?” Ryuji asked.

“Even if they did, I might advise against it,” Morgana said. “That Makoto person seems keen to keep an eye on us. If we were to go through Mementos, we might have to explain more than she already knows.”

“I guess you gotta point there” Ryuji sighed.

“Still, you shouldn’t underestimate what you can get from this world,” Jose said.

“Jose and I will ask around Kosei to see if anything has come up there,” Yusuke explained. Jose nodded.

“We can ask around Shujin,” Sumire added. “And I can see what I can get at practice.”

Ren looked at her bag. “You wanna see if you can get anything tonight Morgana?” Ren asked.

Morgana popped out fully. “Well, I guess there’s no harm in trying.

“Great, so it seems like we have a plan then,” Ryuji said. “I guess all that’s left is to execute it.”

“Wait!” Ann said. She turned to face Ren. “What happened last night?”

Ren was surprised. “Oh, right. I did say I wanted to discuss it.” She proceeded to explain her meeting.

“Woah!” Ann said.

“Grah!” Ryuji said. “Usin’ people like that. Pisses me off!”

“Why didn’t you tell me last night?” Morgana wondered.

“Well, I figured it was best for the group,” Ren answered.

“Why should we believe her when she says that she hasn’t corrupted anyone?” Ryuji asked.

Ren sighed. “I believe it because lying about this isn’t Eris’s style.”

“But she’s all about chaos, isn’t she?” Jose wondered.

“Yeah, but her brand of chaos is obvious,” Ren explained. “She wants people to see what she’s wrought. She’d tell me to watch me squirm as I couldn’t do anything rather than lie, because if the truth is chaotic enough, it might make me think about joining her team.”

“Yeah, I can see that,” Ann said.

“Still, it sounds as if Eris herself has the same resentment toward the people with palaces and such,” Yusuke noted.

“Yeah, I get that feeling too,” Ren said. “But she’s not doing all too good a job at endearing me to her side either. Her end goal might be similar to ours, we both want to expose the evils of society, but I cannot condone the way she’s doing it.”

“Well said,” Jose replied.

Sumire looked at her feet. Ren noticed this. “Sumire?”

“Huh?” she said, looking up. “Oh, sorry. It’s just… I’m wondering if I would have been someone Eris targeted… Or if I’d have a palace myself…”

“Sumire…” Ren said, gently.

“I was in a really bad place until recently,” Sumie said, tears starting to form. “Just the thought of one false move, and I’d be your enemy. I’d hate that.”

The thieves were stunned silent for a minute. “Hey” Ren said, walking over and lifting Sumire’s head up. “We’ve all had our share of bad days.”

“Yeah” Ann said. “And besides, who says we only fight people we dislike? I mean, I fought my best friend.”

“And I fought a fellow student, as well as someone I respected,” Yusuke added. “And once the battle was over, we respected each other again.”

“Yeah” Ryuji said. “Friends don’t have to agree on everything all the time. But if you’re still friends at the end of it, everything’ll be fine.”

“Even though I’m not all too well-versed with humanity yet, I can still see the power friends like these have” Jose said. “And as long as you have us, you don’t have to worry.”

“Yeah!” Morgana laughed. “If you need to talk to any of us, just let us know.”

Sumire smiled. “Thanks guys.” She wiped the tears from her eyes. “I guess I’m a little more nervous than I thought. I have a big gymnastics meet coming up, and I think it’s starting to get to me.”

“Really?” Ren said. “Are you up for it?”

Sumire giggled. “Coach thought the same thing. She said she could get me out of this one if I needed it.” Sumire grew determined. “But I feel like I'll be ready for it.”

“Well then, looks like we’re going to need to clear our schedules” Ren said.

“Huh?” Sumire said.

“If we’re going to cheer you on, we’ve gotta show up,” Ren said.

“Oh, um,” Sumire started getting flustered. “You don’t have to.”

“Nope. We’re not taking ‘no’ for an answer” Ann said.

“Yeah! If it’s important to you, it’s important to us” Ryuji said.

Sumire started crying again, this time with tears of joy. “Thank you everyone.” She checked her phone. “Goodness, it’s getting a bit late. We should get going soon.”

Ren chuckled. “Yeah, alright.” The thieves left their hideout and headed home for the evening. Just as Eris said, trouble came knocking, but they knew that together, they could overcome it.

[renxamamiya]

Theatre of Mirrors - The Empress Theatre Part 2

This took me a month plus and 20k+ words LMAOOOOOOO. I’m trying a lot of things in this chapters, including writing a fight scene and taking feedback into account.

Special shout out to @rui-the-galax-angel and @digifangirl97 for helping me with this!!!!

Also please check out the fic on AO3 here!

I’ve also added notes on certain things at the bottom of the chapter, so please read them!

“Is that Goro-?”

“He’s alive!?”

Ren and Joker gasped as they both stared at the same monitor, stunned that the brown-haired detective was alive, disbelief in their expression as they mirrored each other: wide eyes, mouth hung agape, exhaling gentle yet purposed breaths. Both Ren and Joker blinked, Ren shifted in his seat to get a better look, Joker leaned on the console table as he looked closer at the projected image in front of them, seeing their Phantom Thieves going through their shared bewilderment. Neither of them made a sound.

“Is he a...?” Ren trailed off after a long silence, turning to ask his shadow who was observing the detective with careful eyes. Joker gently shook his head in response, an amused half-smile slowly appearing on his lips, barely making eye contact with Ren as he continued to stare at the screen in awe. Goro was here. The invitation he sent, the one he thought would be the only one which would fall on deaf ears, instead called his Crow back to him once more. Though he did not dare show it to Ren, he felt elated at the sight of his rival, alive, well, and scowling at his friends.

Yet this small joyous moment of his did not last. He felt himself suddenly getting tired as he spotted Ren’s eyes gleaming with newfound hope at the sight of Goro. Joker hid his sneer as he got up from his leaned position, standing up, gloved hands tucked back into his pockets. He hated that look of optimism in his other’s eyes, wanting to snuff it out right there and then, but he stopped himself. No; his plan would suffice enough to allow him to slowly crush that hope Ren held; and more, he reminded himself. He turned on his heel, walking out of the room. Ren noticed him leave; before he could utter a word his shadow had slammed the door shut to his prison, not bothering to lock the door as darkness all but swallowed him, the sounds of chorused chatter of the cognitive guests the only thing keeping him company.

Joker snapped his fingers as he continued his stride, an audible click echoed the room. Two shadows belonging to his twisted theatre erupted from the floor to join him as he reached for the door leading to the rest of the building pausing only for a moment to converse with the shadows followed obediently.

“Now, remember the script,” he ordered the both, impatience in his tone as he pulled the door open, wind rushing towards him, gently ruffling his messy hair and flapping his tailed coat. He turned to look over his shoulder, a golden eye glinting murderously at them as he wore a serious expression, “This needs to go perfectly. If you fail, I’ll make sure to kill you as painfully as possible, you understand?”

“Yes, boss.” they both replied in unison. Joker’s stern expression melted at their reply, now grinning wildly with anticipation, his heart starting to beat rapidly with a newfound thrill, blossoming into a crescendo, feeling the tips of his fingers beating with anticipation as he found himself drowning from the thumping of his own excitement. He turned to look down the bland hallway before him, eyes narrowing, vision sharp as he inhaled a deep, deep breath. On exhale he promptly stepped forwards, another he broke into a run, focusing only towards him, his vision tunnelling as he heard his lackey’s footsteps behind him.

“It’s showtime!” he thought to himself, laughing out loud with thrill as his performance commenced.

---

"Akechi-senpai, you're alive!"

Goro heard Sumire before he saw her, the redheaded gymnast wrapping her arms around him, pulling him into a sudden, affectionate hug. He squirmed instinctively in her embrace, not used to displays of affection, and not used to ones that involve touch.

“Yoshizawa.” he growled, hoping that his unamused tone would give her the hint he needed to attain freedom from her grip, yet she did not loosen her grip around him, “Get. Off.”

“Oh, sorry,” Sumire mutters as she lets Goro go, hiding her hands behind her back as she looks away from him. Her face flushed slightly red, obviously embarrassed by the impulsive hug she had given him.

“I’m so sorry, Akechi-senpai.” she apologizes, moving her hands to her side as she gave him a formal bow, “I’m so sorry. I was just happy to see you.”

“Yo Akechi, is that really you?” Ryuji inquired, looking at him sceptically as he places his hands casually on his hips, “Or are you just a cognition?”

“I can assure you that I’m no such thing.” Akechi said, closing his eyes as his face contorted to an expression of great offense, “To think of me being here as nothing more than a figment of Amamiya’s cognition...”

“If you’re not cognition, then why are you here?” Ann said, her and Futaba now with the rest of the group, staring at him suspiciously, “Are you trying to kill Ren again?”

“More importantly, if you are indeed alive, then what have you been doing all this time?” Yusuke inquires, stepping towards the former detective, Goro looking at them, unamused.

“I do not have to answer the latter question, nor do I want to.” Goro said, clearly annoyed by Yusuke’s prying question, “As for answering Takamaki’s question: I’m simply here for curiosity’s sake.”

“You mean you have the app as well?” Makoto asks. Goro’s head snaps towards her, his eyes widening in astonishment, “With the strange notification, correct?”

“So, you’ve gotten it too?” Goro queried rhetorically, yet all of them answered with a single nod. He pursed his lips, furrowing his brows in thought as he looked down at the carpeted floor, “It makes sense for you all to be here. But why-”

“Hey, where’s Mona?” Futaba whispered, poking her head from behind the rest of the group as Goro continued to mutter to himself, “I don’t see him anywhere.”

“Mona?” Haru said, perplexed by Futaba’s question, yet a second later she realised that the feline was nowhere within the group, “Wait, has anyone seen Morgana? I thought he was with us?”

“I dunno, I was with Futaba the whole time.” Ann said, looking at both the faux blonde and the fluffy-haired girl, “I mean, I thought he was with you guys. You did go up before us after all.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t see him, he must have run off somewhere.” Ryuji sighed, reflexively kicking the floor in frustration and disappointment, “That cat’s always runnin’ off somewhere. I guess we should find him before he runs into trouble again.”

"I think I saw Morgana-senpai run that way." Sumire said, pointing to where the cognitions were congregating, no doubt to head to the numerous auditoriums that were located within the Palace, "I didn’t see clearly though, he ran by me so fast."

"It's as good of a lead as any," Makoto said, ignoring Ryuji's string of curses towards their missing teammate. She walked a couple of steps, all the other thieves following her casually, but noticed Goro still in contemplative thought, one his hands cupped his chin while another held his phone.

"Akechi, aren't you coming with us?"

Goro looked up, red eyes gazing into her own.

"Me?"

"Yeah, him?" Ryuji asked in earnest, which resulted in him getting elbowed sharply in the chest by Ann, "Hey, what was that for!?"

“You can’t say stuff like that in front of people!” Ann exclaimed, annoyed by Ryuji’s boldness towards Goro, eyebrows crossed in an angry expression, “Besides, we have no idea what’s in this place. I don’t like the idea too, but we have strength in numbers, and we can keep an eye on him if he tries to do something to Ren.”

“Thank you, Takamaki, but I’ll be fine on my own.” Goro said, resisting the urge to grimace at Ryuji and Ann’s words (though he was not surprised in the slightest in the fact that they did not trust him), “I’ve had more than enough experience in combat to take care of myself. That, and we’re obviously not considered as threats. I doubt that whatever’s happening to your leader, will in turn put any of us in immediate danger.”

“Still, it’s still an awful thought for you to get left behind.” Haru said, although she did not sound too eager with the prospect of Goro coming along to find their furry friend, “Even if it’s you...”

“As I said-”

“Please, Goro-senpai?” Sumire pleads, giving Goro the biggest puppy-eyes she could muster as he turned to look at her, her bottom lip quivering, trying to evoke sympathy from within the detective, “Please? We haven’t seen you for a long time, and I know you really want to come with us...”

Goro looks at Sumire, his expression firm and unreadable, his gaze piercing, yet the girl continues to pout. The rest of the group looked at each other, not knowing how to break the tension between the two of them, waiting for either Sumire to succeed in her attempt to convince Goro, or for Goro to win in his efforts to further distance himself from the group.

The victor was decided when Goro broke his gaze, sighing deeply in defeat while Sumire smiled and cheered in triumph.

“Thank you, senpai!” Sumire grins, going in for another hug, only to be stopped by Goro’s hesitant scowl.

“I’m doing this only for you, Yoshizawa.” Goro muttered under his breath, though he can’t help but smile a bit when he saw her growth in confidence over the last year and a half. He turned to look at Makoto, “Lead the way, Queen.”

“With pleasure.” Makoto huffed, trying not to get worked up by his use of her codename, seemingly brushing it off as she resumed her pace towards the inner area of the foyer.

It did not take the group long for them to spot Morgana. He stood still as cognitions passed by, some of them muttering happily as they noticed the feline gazing upon something. A few steps more passed the crowd of cognitive people did they find what he was looking at.

“Is that?” Ann gasps, looking upon the fountain statue of Joker. The glint of the gold that accented its mask and buttons and eyes sent a shiver down her spine, its grin, smug and sinister, unsettled her, and she dare not make eye contact with the gaudy decoration. The others shared her uncomfortable reaction, a loss for words as to why such a decoration would be displayed all to see. They knew Ren, knew how he acted, knew the confidence he held in himself, yet did not associate him with the apparent narcissism they were currently gazing upon.

Morgana’s ears twitched, sensing the others as they approached behind him, turning to greet them with a sombre expression as he stood in front of the fountain.

“I think this was where Ren was caught.” Morgana informed the group, yet no one in the group found any comfort with this information, “I saw some commotion around here until I got thrown out by those shadows.”

“Where could they have taken him?” Haru asks, yet she knew Morgana’s answer, “Could he possibly be somewhere deeper in the Palace?”

“He has to be.” Morgana said, turning to look up towards the top of the twin stairwells, “I don’t know how to explain it, but I can feel him somewhere up there, calling for us.”

“Futaba, can you check if that’s the case?” Makoto asks the girl. Futaba snaps back into attention, the fountain statue previously lulling her into a trance. She looks at Makoto with a dazed expression, blinking several times as she tries to grasp what she had said to her.

“Sorry? I didn’t catch that, Queen.” she confesses, Makoto sighs.

“Can you confirm that Ren’s somewhere in his Palace?” Makoto again asks her, though she could not help but send a sympathetic expression towards the girl. The man that had helped her free herself from the shackles of her distortions was now trapped from his own, and admittedly, none of the thieves have yet fully come to terms with the formation of Ren’s Palace.

“Oh yeah, why didn’t I think about that,” Futaba said, abruptly squatting down as she puts her laptop on the carpeted floor. She opened it, her device flicking to life, and started to type rapidly on it, focused on her task, “It’s gonna take a while for me to find him.” she informed the rest of the group, raising her voice slightly to be heard above the chatter of the cognitions around her, “Though I can tap into the Palace to get a look at the place, I can’t exactly pinpoint him with ease without my Persona.”

“That’s alright.” Makoto said, “We can work on finding him once we get a rough idea as to where he’s located.”

“Hey Yusuke, you’ve been really quiet since we’ve entered the Palace.” Haru said, looking at the blue-haired artist with concern "Are you okay?"

"Hm? Oh. I am, thank you for your concern, Haru." Yusuke smiles, "I'm sorry if I caused any worry, I was simply marvelling the architecture of the Palace. It's simply beautiful"

"But isn't that weird? I mean this is Ren's Palace after all." she said with concern, a hand pulling back a strand of her hair as she continued, "I mean, it's nice here but, I don't really see how it could be considered 'beautiful'."

"That's okay, I understand completely that finding an aspect of Ren's distortions 'beautiful' is less than savoury; however, I do marvel at the detailing of the architecture especially. It certainly has a lot of Western influences. Definitely matches his more Western interpretation of a rebel."

"Like the 'Gentlemen Thief' persona huh?" Haru mutters, "That makes sense. After all, Arsene does wear a top hat."

"Precisely." Yusuke said, "Details like that do put a smile on my face."

"Well, I guess you can say-"

The screams of cognitions from the floor above interrupts their conversation, all the thieves snapping their heads to see the guests fleeing from above, down the twin stairs in a desperate panic in order to run from an unseen danger. Blue flames suddenly erupted from each of the members, exposed skin and fabric alike replaced with their iconic thief outfits, another flash across their eyes placed their masks as their forgotten powers and Personas electrified their veins.

“Shit!” Ryuji exclaimed in surprise at the sudden eruption, tightly gripping his mallet, already anticipating a fight. The rest of the thieves sans Goro immediately sprung into a fighting stance, readying their weapons as they grouped together, prepared for whatever was causing the commotion upstairs. The only not in the front lines was Futaba, who was hoisted to safety by her Persona Al Azif, hovering above the group as she prepared to support them.

“It seems we were finally acknowledged,” Goro grumbles, yet he could not help but smirk at the idea of taking down the enemy approaching them. He unsheathed the serrated sword he used while in the Metaverse from his side, feeling the familiar echo of Hereward in his mind as the mask he adorned gleamed slickly in the light, “Finally. I was getting on edge with how   the atmosphere was.”

“Oracle, what are you seeing?” Makoto asked the girl, already springing quite comfortably into the lead role as Futaba typed rapidly across the different screens surrounding her from within her Persona, “Are there any dangerous shadows heading in our way?”

“Two of them. They’re pretty strong, but nothing we can’t handle.” Futaba informs Makoto, still tying away across her screens, her eyes flickering rapidly from one window to another, “They seem to be chasing something. Another shadow. A powerful one at that!”

“Why would they be chasing one of their own?” Yusuke muses as he readies his katana, his gloved hand resting delicately on the decorative hilt, “Unless-”

Two gunshots rang in the air, followed by the screams of the shadows, a blur of black and red suddenly appearing, sliding down rapidly from the polished stair rails while being pursued by two shadow guards, their head turned back as to keep an eye on their pursuers, yet they could see a smirk on their lips. Before the Phantom Thieves could realise who, the shadows were chasing, the figure turned towards them.

The gold and black mask. The red waistcoat. It was Ren’s shadow. He looked just like the fountain statue nestled between the twin stairs of the foyer. He landed in front of them with practised, familiar poise, turning around towards the shadows, gritting his teeth as he readied a knife the thieves found familiar.

“There’s the fugitive!” one of the shadow’s yelled, pointing to the golden-eyed thief as another indistinguishable shadow joined its side, “Help me snag him! The boss’ll have our heads if we keep lettin’ him run free around this place.”

“Ren-”

“Call me Joker, Queen.” he interrupts Makoto, turning back his head to give her a signature wink before turning back towards his assailants, the two shedding their suits to reveal a Dionysus, Titania and Oberon, all ready to attack, “I know you all have questions right now. I’ll explain later, but first you have to help me with taking these guys out.”

Makoto nods at Joker, agreeing with his commands as she readies her mask. The shadows jumped towards Joker, the Dionysus charging with electricity, static climbing across his multicoloured arm.

“Oh no, you don’t!” Morgana shouts, lunging forward towards the shadow as he summons his Persona, “It’s payback time! Diego, Miracle Rush!”

The Persona erupts from behind the cat, a strong, dashing, masked man with a comically tall moustache and long black cape appeared surrounded by blue flames. A single swish of his sword was enough to summon multiple golden boxing gloves supported by springs that aimed at the shadows. They reeled in back, and then suddenly sprang into action, punching the Dionysus square in the jaw and knocking it off its feet, but unfortunately missing the other two shadows in its company.

“Nice shot, Mona.” Ryuji compliments the cat as he rushes forward, assisting the feline with his enemy, readying the large mallet on his side, “But you missed the other two, might want to work on your aim.”

“I’m rusty-!” Morgana squeaks, looking at his friend with an offended expression as Ryuji brought the mallet down on the shadow, sending it straight down onto the floor, “What about you huh, you’re gonna just let the shadow get up?”

“Huh, you got a point.” Ryuji said, and went on to summon his Persona, dramatically gripping his hand onto his metallic mask, “Alright, William! Give this guy a hand. A God’s Hand to be exact!”

As soon as he did so the mask burst dramatically into the same blue flames, licking harmlessly on Ryuji’s face, rising to conjure a figure beside him. His Persona, dressed in a black and white hood, a skeletal face with its eyes behind red goggles rode atop a yacht triumphantly, conjured a fist out of nowhere, propelled by what looked like a rocket, dancing circles above its target’s head before slamming right down on top of it, injuring the shadow further.

“Skull, that was terrible.” Morgana sighs, frowning at his friend’s pun as he readies his cutlass to strike the incapacitated shadow

“Aww don’t be such a moaner, Mona.” Ryuji chuckles, Morgana ignoring the blonde as he strikes the shadow, “I’m just havin’ fun!”

“Skull, I know these shadows are nothing but total squishies, but you still gotta be careful.” Futaba buzzes through their ears, Al Azif hovering away a safe distance from the battlefield, “We can make terrible puns AFTER we’ve dealt with these shadows.”

“Hey, my puns are not-”

He did not see Morgana dodge Dionysus's attack, only hearing the electricity from its Ziodyne attack before it was too late. His head turned at the sound of the wild crackle of electricity heading towards him. His eyes widened as the bolt connected, a section of the bolt diverged and struck the carpeted floor, causing him to be engulfed into a cloud of dust and smoke.

“Skull!” both Futaba and Morgana exclaimed, calling out for their friend in a panic. Morgana summons his Persona, commanding Diego to blow away the cloud of smoke that obstructed their view of Ryuji with a quick Garudyne, only to find him completely unharmed.

“I’m okay!” Ryuji yells out, waving out to them to attract their attention, “Barely even touched me, you on the other hand.” he said as he almost sneered towards Morgana.

“Hey guys, you can fight all you want later, right now you’ve got a shadow to toast.” Futaba hisses at the two, reminding them of their situation as Dionysus charges for another attack, “Another Ziodyne coming towards your six!”

Both Ryuji and Morgana exchange brief sour expressions towards one another, before shifting their focus towards the enemy before them. --- The Oberon thrusts its sword forward towards Joker, the boy sidestepping each time it swipes towards him, golden eyes carefully observing his opponent as another swipe of the shadow’s sword barely misses him. Makoto readies into position, resting her hand on her mask as she instinctively climbs on the Persona that appeared beneath her.

“Agnes, hit it with an Atomic Flare!” she said to her Persona, and Agnes complied, a ball of blue aura appeared in front of the attacking shadow, growing before independently detonating in the shadow’s face. However, the Oberon dodged it with ease, escaping the otherwise effective attack.

“Dammit!” she whispered harshly under her breath as Ann went in to strike the Oberon, uncoiling her whip as she swung it, a sharp ‘thwack’ echoed as she struck the Oberon on the face.

“How dare you strike me!” the shadow hissed, swinging its sword towards her only to be stopped by Joker’s dagger. The weapons clashed. And they clashed again, Joker slowly driving the attacking shadow back as Makoto readies another attack.

“Agnes, Atomic Flare!” Makoto commanded her Persona again, the same blue orb appearing to engulf the Oberon, but the attack yet again missed as the Oberon evaded it.

“Queen, got any ideas to stop this shadow from moving so much?” Ann hisses as she ducks a swipe from Oberon’s sword, “We could really use some help right now!”

“Maybe slowing it down would help?” Joker said out loud before parrying multiple slashes of the shadow’s sword with his gun and knife, “I don’t have any ice skills on me. Maybe we should call over-”

“We don’t need Fox. I have an idea, just follow what I say!” Makoto instructed her teammates, Joker and Ann both nodded at her with acknowledgement as they continued to dodge the wild attacks of the shadow.

“Joker, aim your shots at its wings!” Makoto instructed Joker. He raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

“Panther, get ready to cast Agidyne on the Oberon!” Makoto yells towards Ann, who nodded in acknowledgement, her gloved hand resting on her mask as she readies herself.

A shot from Joker’s gun rang out, and another, and another. two of the three bullets managing to tear through the thin membrane of the shadow’s left wing, the shadow howling in pain. Joker aimed carefully; a single bullet left in the magazine of his gun. He looked down at the sight of his pistol. He aimed at the Oberon, who was hovering in the air, wobbling back and forth in pain from its injury. He squeezed the trigger.

Bang!

The last bullet tore through the shadow’s wing. The Oberon cried in pain as it floated down, its injuries too great to keep itself airborne.

“Now Panther!” Makoto shouted. With a quick shout of her Persona’s name, Ann summons Célestine behind her, the avatar of her heart standing tall, nonchalantly blowing a piece of gum as the overhead light reflects from her glasses.

“Agidyne!” Ann ordered her Persona, and Célestine lifted her hand towards the crippled shadow. Heat gathered beneath it, and before it could react, a tower of fire erupted from the fire, consuming the shadow, leaving it with embers still singeing its skin.

---

“Ella, use Kougaon!” Sumire said to the bride like Persona behind her, Ella responded by summoning a pillar of white light to strike Titania, the shadow grunting in pain as she took the attack. Yusuke followed up with a swipe from his sword, yet the fairy-like shadow managed to dodge him with ease.

“Psiodyne!” Haru shouted, her Persona, Lucy, towered behind her, one hand holding an elegant looking briefcase while another one held its masquerade like glasses in front of where its face would be, summoned forward pink swirling circles with colours accenting them towards the shadow. Titania managed to evade her attack, retaliating with its own spell as it casts Freidyne.

“Noir, watch out!”  Sumire shouted after her, Haru trying her best to escape from the Nuclear-based elemental attack, yet the blue ball persistently followed wherever she went. It was Yusuke who had saved her, pushing her out of the way just as the nuclear ball exploded, taking the brunt of the attack. He grunted audibly, Haru’s eyes widening in alarm.

“Yusuke are you okay?” she asked the artist. Yusuke responded with a smile, standing from his previously hunched position.

“I’m fine,” he reassured her, “the damage I received was less than anticipated.”

“But you still took damage, are you sure you’re-”

“We haven’t the time to worry about injuries!” Goro hissed at the both as he spots the hands of the Titania glow green. He sprints forward, his sword held by his left hand as his right clasps his mask. He cries out wildly for Hereward, and the black, bow-wielding Persona erupted behind him, an arrow pulled back as it readies for Goro’s command.

“Hereward, Laevateinn!” he commanded his Persona, Hereward complying as it lets go of the strung arrow. A sword descended onto the Titania, a lucky strike by Goro as it tumbled down onto the ground, its healing spell interrupted.

“Regroup, everyone!” Futaba instructed the Phantom Thieves, all of them listening to their navigator as they jumped back into a defensive position, their various ranged weapons all pointed towards the downed shadows.

“W-wait!” The Oberon shrieks as the embers on its body continue to injure it, “Please, don’t kill us!”

“Yes, please, we were just following orders!” Titania said, whimpering on the floor, her hands curled on the carpeted floor.

“Yeah right!” Ryuji said, cocking the barrel of his shotgun, aiming his sights towards the wounded fairy, “Orders from who? Certainly not our friend Joker here, you practically attacked him!”

“Well… He-”

“Alright, I’ve had enough of them.” Morgana said, clearly annoyed by the situation as he held his slingshot ready, “Everyone, it’s All-Out Attack time!”

Before the shadows could utter another word all the thieves pounced towards them, weapons out and ready. Each thief took turns slashing at the enemies, a flurry of attacks as the sound of weapons echoed throughout the hall. Joker dealt the last swipe, a clean cut through the three of the shadows, before he flipped backwards, away from them.

A second passed, and soon a black ooze erupted from each of the three shadows before their bodies evaporated into thin air.

Joker scanned the rest of the foyer, readying his weapon as the others put away theirs, his back towards them, senses still alert as adrenaline still flowed through his veins. Al Azif descends slightly down towards the floor before allowing Futaba to gracefully float down to join the rest of her friends before dissipating, blue flames gently caressed her face as her Persona became her mask. They stared at Joker, watching him anticipate yet another attack. No additional shadows came, and he stood up, his shoulders relaxing, and he tucked away his weapons before he turned to face them, golden eyes staring at them. He smiles gently at them.

“Hello, everyone.” he greets.

“Ren… is that-”

“Ren!” Morgana cried out, interrupting Ann as he rushed towards him, arms wide to embrace him with open arms. Before the masked thief could properly react to Morgana, the bipedal feline jumped, and Joker caught him instinctively.

“Ren! Ren, I was soooooo worried!” Morgana said as he hugged Joker, burying his face affectionately in his chest. Joker returned Morgana’s hug, petting the feline with his free hand as Morgana purred audibly, “I’m sorry for interrupting you Lady Ann!” he continued to shout, trying to sound apologetic despite his joyful tone conveying otherwise, “But I’m so glad you’re okay!”

“But isn’t that senpai’s shadow?” Sumire points out, her expression guilty as she feels as though her observation had spoiled the moment between the two, “I’m sorry for being so rude, but we shouldn’t trust him-”

“Yoshizawa’s right.” Goro agrees with her, eyeing Joker carefully beneath the red filters of his mask, “Like it or not this is not the Amamiya you know and love, but an ugly, distorted version of him.”

“Am I really that-” Joker started, reflexively responding to the comment with an air of jest, yet when his shining, golden eyes met Goro’s hauntingly red ones he stopped himself, mouth still open, hanging agape. Silence fell between the two, Goro looking at Joker closely, his face expressionless, eyes narrowed in contemplation and suspicion as Joker looked at him with stunned disbelief.

“Crow, you’re-”

“Alive? Yes, I am.” Goro said, not taking his eyes off the shadow, “And you’re a shadow. Now, tell us where Ren is so we can get on our way, thank you.”

“He’s still Ren, even if he’s his shadow.” Ann huffs, her tone of voice clearly irritated by Goro’s total rejection of Joker, walking up to the shadow’s side, “Besides. Him helping us still means that Ren’s not only here, but his shadow can help us rescue him, right?”

“Yes, you’re right, Panther,” Joker nods, “I’ll be more than happy to help, and please, call me Joker.”

“Why? Do you prefer to be called that? I’m so sorry if I-”

“It’s okay, Panther.” he smiles reassuringly, touched by Ann’s kindness in accommodating his request so readily, “And yes. Though I am his shadow and should share his name, I am more comfortable with using Joker.”

“Note taken, now come here, Joker!” she exclaimed, running to join in with Morgana’s hug, wrapping her arms around his neck in affection, “Even if you’re Ren’s shadow, we’re still so glad to see you!”

“Yeah, we were so worried when we saw you had a Palace,” Ryuji said, walking to rest a comforting hand on Joker’s shoulder, “So it’s good to see you here and well buddy, and we’ll deffo help in stealing your treasure and easing your distorted heart.”

“And I’m glad to see you, Skull.” Joker smiles at his long-time friend, “If there’s anyone who can help me get rid of the distortions of my heart, it’ll be you.”

“I am happy to be here.” Yusuke smiles, walking up to stand next to Joker, the close proximity he stood next to his friend’s shadow enough to ease his heart, “Though it is unfortunate that you… our friend… have a Palace, we are honoured to be here if only to untangle the distortions that have brought this theatre in the first place.”

“And it’s nice to see you too, Fox.” Joker laughed, clearly amused by how flowery Yusuke’s language was.

“Joker!” Futaba yells, running towards him and wrapping her arms around his torso from his side, “Joker you’re okay! You’re really okay!”

“Well, ‘okay’ is putting Joker’s situation quite mildly,” Haru laughs as she joins the thieves in greeting their leader’s doppelganger, “But I have to agree with everyone, seeing you here with us, even if this is your Palace. ”

“Does the idea of me having a Palace really make you uncomfortable, Haru?” Joker asks her, eyebrows knitted as he looks at her with concern, “You can always leave if you’d like, Noir. I won’t judge you; it must be hard considering...”

“Yes, it does.” Haru answers for him, yet the spark of resolve she had in her eyes did not flicker as she looked in his golden ones, “But I promised only the others, but also myself, to be strong for you, and to help you in any way I can in getting rid of your distortions.”

Joker smiled at her, touched by her kind words.

“Thank you, Noir, I’ll be counting on you then.”

“She’s not the only one you can count on.” Makoto said, as she walked towards him, “I don’t think it’s far-fetched to assume that all of us here are more than willing to lend you their assistance should you need it, Joker. We are here to help heal your distorted heart, after all.”

“But what if I just want a kiss from my advisor.” Joker cooed at her. A blush slightly reddened Makoto’s face as she coughed, tucking a stray hair behind her ear as she cleared her throat.

“I’m sure, I can accommodate that request of yours,” she said confidently, yet the blush on her cheeks grew a deeper red. She leaned in, gently caressing his free shoulder, and gave him a peck on the cheek, Joker grinning delightfully as his golden eyes twinkled brightly with joy.

“A peck on the cheek is all I get?” he said, mockingly pouting at her, “But I thought you were here to ease my distorted heart.”

“We can kiss more when we steal your treasure; besides, the others are...” Makoto trails off, the mention of the other thieves reddens her face more in embarrassment, Joker giving her a toothy smile, only deepening the flush on her face.

“Okay, if you insist, my Queen. I’ll hold you to that promise.”

Someone audibly clears their throat. Joker looks past the group of friends that surrounded him to see Sumire standing in the middle of the foyer, her body tense, her legs straight, the girl grabbing her arms as she looks down on the floor with a saddened expression. He lightly shook his shoulders, his friends stepped away from him, Joker put down Morgana, and he walked towards her.

He stopped in front of her, not speaking a word, looking at her sympathetically yet allowed Sumire to converse with him when she was willing to.

“I’m sorry, for doubting you, Senpai.” she apologised, stepping back from her previous spot as she gave him a formal bow.

“Violet, you have nothing to be sorry about.” Joker smiles at her, slightly amused by her formality towards him, “In all honesty, you all have the excuse of being wary of me. Most of the shadows we’ve encountered were pretty hostile after all.”

“Like mine.” Futaba mutters to herself.

“But there are kind shadows, right? Shadows who just want help from us to steal their treasure, to return to normal. They exist, do they?”

“Yes.” Joker laughs, and Sumire couldn’t help but smile herself.

“Then…” she trails off, before throwing herself towards Joker, arms wide, Joker catching her with ease as she hugged him with all her strength.

“Violet, you’re hurting me.” Joker wheezed as Sumire squeezed her arms around him, and Sumire freed him from her embrace, apologising profusely.

“Oh, by the way,” Futaba said to the group, “While you guys were fighting, I picked up a signal that’s unusual to what you normally find in the Metaverse. I think it’s Ren.”

“You found where Ren’s being held?” Haru inquired the navigator, Futaba, shaking her head.

“Probably.” Futaba said, a frown on her face, pulling out a general map of the Palace to the rest of the group, a green blip pulsating on what looked to be the top of the cognitive building, “This is the signal that I found. It’s unusual for sure, the signal unlike any shadow or cognition we’ve ever encountered, and certainly not the treasure-”

“Oh right, the treasure!” Ryuji exclaims, interrupting Futaba, who reacted with an annoyed expression. “You got anything about the treasure, Futaba?”

“Remember, codenames, Skull.”  Futaba warned her teammate, “And as for the treasure....”

She trails off. The others stared at her, waiting for her to continue.

“Oracle?” Makoto said, walking slowly towards her, “Oracle, you okay?”

“...Um…”

“There’s no treasure, is there?” Goro interrupted. All the thieves snap their heads to look at him, shock and disbelief on their faces except for Futaba, Joker and Goro, “At least, the treasure has yet not materialised.”

“Wait, no treasure, are you crazy!?” Ann stammered, clearly uncomfortable and confused by this revelation.

“Yeah, every Palace we’ve encountered has a treasure!” Ryuji said hysterically, “What do you mean this Palace ‘doesn’t have a treasure’!?”

“I……. I…...I….”

“...I think we should discuss this somewhere else.” Joker informed the others, stepping in to protect Futaba from the bewildered Phantom Thieves, “I know a safe place. Follow me.”

---

The shadow led his friends up to the above floor via one of the twin stairs, cognitive guests staring at them as they followed Joker up, whispering amongst each other with excitement and curiosity, yet Joker paid them no mind as the rest of the thieves could only try to ignore their presence.

They arrived on the first floor, the foyer one decorated differently compared to the entrance below. Soft lilac replaced the colour red on the carpets and curtains, pristine, white marble replaced where gold would be, shapes of different flora carved in the stone, accented by gold paint which glittered under the bright light from the chandeliers above. There stood four doors around the foyer that lead to what the thieves assumed to be separate auditoriums: two of them closed with golden number plaques next to them; the third one, sealed behind two tall doors, had the words ‘The Empress Theatre’ titled atop of them.

Joker gestured to a large booth, one of many that occupied the room along the walls, a white curtain made of linen used to give the privacy the thieves needed to discuss their plans, hiding them from curious eyes.

“After you.” he said, smiling as he held the curtain open. Futaba was the first one to go in, diving onto the seat before sliding inwards to allow Haru to follow her in. One by one they went into the booth, Morgana having to be picked up by Ann, not tall enough to reach for the seat, and sat on her lap as his head rested just above the small table in front of them.

“I’d rather not.” Goro said, the only still standing other than Joker, crossing his arms as he looked towards the booth with scorn.

“Why not?” Joker asks, tilting his head as he looks at the reluctant detective, “Don’t you trust me, Goro?”

“Do not call me that.” Goro snapped, and Joker flinched visibly, “And to answer your question: I don’t. I don’t trust you at all.”

“Akechi-senpai, it’s okay.” Sumire said, immediately going into Joker’s defence as she pokes her head out from where she was sitting, “He helped us, remember? I’m sure Joker-senpai would never hurt us. I mean… I trust him, and I think everyone does as well, and they have way more experience than I do.”

“Yeah, Akechi,” Ryuji said, also coming to Joker’s defence, “And this is Ren we’re talking about. I mean, sure it’s his shadow but isn’t like the shadow the something true self or something?”

The others nodded in agreement, Goro looking away, a cross expression on his face. There was a small amount of movement that caught the corner of his eye, and he looked up to see Joker himself sliding into the booth to join his friends.

“You can have the end spot if it makes you comfortable.” Joker smiled at Goro, and while he did not want to admit it, he was feeling slightly fatigued from the earlier fight. He took a moment of hesitation, staring at the spot next to Joker, and sighed before he complied with the shadow’s request.

“Now that we’re all here,” Makoto said, her eyes scanning the group as she spoke, “We need to discuss-”

“Can someone please pull the curtain,” Morgana said, an expression of disappointment on his face, “We’re not exactly in a safe room you know, have you guys forgotten everything I’ve taught you!?”

“I can do it if only I wasn’t stuck here.” Yusuke offered, gesturing to both Haru and Ryuji of either side of him. The thieves lightly bickered amongst each other; one person would offer to close the curtain if the other person moved, which would cause the other person to gesture to the person next to them. This cycle, absurd and tedious as it was, repeated until all eyes landed on Goro.

“Hm, you’re asking me to close the curtain?” Goro said, not bothering to hide his unamused expression towards the Phantom Thieves.

“Well Crow, you’re the only one who can actually get out of here.” Futaba points out, gesturing to the column piece that obstructed her path to freedom, “And everyone can’t exactly move out easily as well. You gotta do it bird brain.”

“Bird brain?!” Goro scoffs in both surprise and offence. He growled in anger, trying very hard not to retaliate at the girl sitting across him. He sighed, muttering ‘fine’ as he slid out of his seat, reaching for the curtain and gently pulling it across until it hid the group from view before sitting back down again.

“Okay… so now that’s out of the way, we need to discuss several things that are imperative to ensure this infiltration is successful,” Makoto said, addressing the group around her, “First of, we need to discuss who will lead the infiltration, seeing as Ren isn’t here.”

She turns to look at Joker.

“Can you lead us?” Makoto asks, Joker replies by shaking his head.

“I don’t think that’s appropriate,” he admits, Makoto giving him a confused look, ��I’m a shadow. The shadow of Ren. While I do know the ins and outs of the Palace, I fear that if I were to lead you it’ll compromise the mission in some way. In addition, I think it’s best for you guys if you could plan strategies somewhere out of the Metaverse.” “That is true.” Makoto nods, “But if you’re not going to lead us then, who will?”

Joker simply smiles at Makoto. Her eyes widened, the deep blush on her cheeks from earlier flushed her cheeks.

“Y-you want me to lead?!” she stammers, Joker nodding in response, and Makoto swore she would have fainted right there and then.

“Of course.” Joker said, “Everyone trusts you, and you yourself have the necessary leadership skills. There’s no one who I trust more.”

Makoto laughs, Morgana exclaims with a ‘hey!’ at Joker as Ryuji rolls his eyes at what he’s witnessing before him.

“Geeze get a room you guys.” he groaned, yet there was no malice in his tone as Ann and Sumire snicker at his comment.

“If Makoto’s our leader, then it would be appropriate to elect ourselves someone to replace her in the advisory role.” Haru said, “I was thinking about Mona being our advisor since he’s more experienced than all of us when it comes to Metaverse stuff.”

“Well, I am knowledgeable with the Metaverse itself.” Morgana said smugly, crossing his arms as he holds his head out proudly, “And I did teach you all how to be the best thieves possible. Sure, I’ll gladly take on the advisory role.”

Goro rolled his eyes in annoyance, Joker noticed him do so, and he smiled in amusement.

“Great, now that’s out of the way, we need to now discuss our course of action in regard to our infiltration: how we will conduct it, where Ren is, why there is no treasure being detected, and if it does apply, when we need to invoke a change of heart.”

She turned to look at Joker, the shadow nodded in acknowledgement.

“As you all know, Ren’s been kidnapped by the shadows of this place.” Joker said, his gaze cast to everyone except Goro who sat right next to him, “He’s being held in the uppermost auditorium of the Palace: The Fool’s Theatre.”

“The Fool’s Theatre? I don’t like the sound of that.” Ann mumbled under her breath, a look of concern on her face.

“Why is it called the Fool’s Theatre?” Sumire queried Joker, her eyes glittering in perplexity. Joker shrugged; his expression confessed uncertainty.

“I don’t know.” he said, “But what I do know he’s kept there. I honestly think they caught him, thinking they were me. Apparently, I’m a nuisance in my own Palace, which is quite absurd if you think about it.”

“Then we should go there now.” Ryuji said, “You know, bust him out and stuff if it’s just at the top floor, no problem!”

“I’m afraid it’s not that easy.” Joker frowned at the blonde, wincing as he saw Ryuji’s enthusiasm falter a bit, “The doors to the auditorium itself are locked by special keys which are held by what they called the ‘Lead Actors’ that reside in special auditoriums. I would have entered the Fool’s Theatre myself, but it’s the only room which I can't even access.”

“And who are these, ‘Lead Actors’?” Goro asked the shadow, “What do they look like? And where are they located?”

“I… haven’t seen any of them, so I don’t even know what they look like.” Joker confessed to the group hesitantly, “But I’ve heard they reside in the auditoriums like that one-”

He gestures to the Empress Theatre on the floor.

“-and they seem to only open their doors to patrons who meet two special conditions.”

“How do you know this?”

Joker turns to Goro and smiles at him.

“Goro, I’m a thief, sneaking about and eavesdropping is what I do best!” he said. Goro only narrows his eyes slightly in response.

“And what are the two conditions, exactly?” Makoto inquired.

“The first condition-” he started as he turned to Makoto, “-is to watch the performances on each of the floors. For example, I heard that in order to gain permission to even get within the Empress Theatre, you must present a ticket with punch holes showing you’ve watched the two performances located within numbered halls.”

“Well, that’s easy enough,” Ryuji said, leaning back in his seat and crossing his legs, Makoto ignoring them as Joker continued his explanation.

“The second condition is to enter the auditorium with the person who matches the Lead Actor.”

“Matches the lead actor?” Ann said, looking at Joker with confusion, “What does that even mean? And how are we gonna get in if we’ve never seen the actor before?”

“I suggest we concentrate on the theatre watching first,” Morgana said, crossing his arms, easily slipping into the advisory role he’s been assigned. He turned to Joker, “Joker, do you have any idea how to get these tickets to access the halls?”

“Actually, I have them here already,” Joker said, pulling several golden tickets from his sleeve, the slips of admission shimmering beautifully form the light above. He put them down, pushing them towards the middle of the table in order to allow everyone to take their own slip of the key they need to help them unlock their friend’s heart, “I… stole them from the counter, just in case you guys would ever come to...”

His face flinches for a moment, an expression of pain flashed before the rest of the group. He smiled at all of them, yet sadness was still reflected in his golden eyes.

“Never mind, all that matters is that you’re all here.” he smiles, “Oh, and I almost forgot-”

He took a booklet out of his coat.

“-A program that contains the map to the Palace.” he elaborates, “It should tell you everything about the building, and should give you a clue on how to navigate it.”

He placed the program alongside the tickets, Yusuke snatching it up before anyone who could look despite the protest of an annoyed Futaba who hissed him with insults as well as calling him ‘Inari’. Makoto shakes her head, yet the rest of the girls couldn’t help but giggle at Yusuke’s eagerness to examine the peculiar booklet, the boys of the group rolling their eyes at the artist’s eccentricity.

“Well, while Fox has the chance to thoroughly inspect the program you gave us,” Goro sighed as he turned his head to the shadow next to him, “Might as well explain as to why there’s no sign of a treasure.”

“Do you think I’m the reason why there’s no treasure?” Joker asks, and Goro pursed his lips in response.

“Well, it is weird that neither I nor Futaba could detect it.” Morgana piques up, jumping up from Ann's lap and onto the table, “Even when Futaba’s treasure turned out to be her, I could sniff it out easily...”

He trails off his gaze drifting onto the ground, before his head snapped up, his eyes filled with resolve.

“But that doesn’t matter right now!” Morgana said, “Our first goal here is to rescue Ren, treasure or no treasure!”

"Well, if our primary goal is to rescue Ren from the Fool's Theatre, we must do it by the 11th of April," Yusuke said suddenly, closing the program before gently returning it to the centre of the table and grabbed one of the golden tickets for himself.

"The 11th of April, where did you get that date from?" Sumire puzzled, Yusuke turned to look at her.

"It said so in the program." he replied as Futaba took the booklet for herself, "'Join us at the Fool's Theatre for the World Premiere of a performance of a lifetime' it said, and it referred to a special guest appearance; no doubt referring to-"

“Ren-senpai.” Sumire finished his train of thought.

“Well, judging from the map here, it’s gonna be pretty easy.” Futaba said as she flicked through the booklet herself, “There are only nine floors we need to go through, ten if we’re including the Fool’s Theatre.”

“And all we have to do is to just watch some plays, right?” Ryuji said, crossing his legs casually in his seat, “Man, this is gonna be a piece of cake for us. I mean, even if there are shadows who are gonna jump us like with those shadows earlier, taking them out would be easy.”

“Still, I think it would be best to exercise caution.” Haru said, “Speaking of which…”

She turned to Yusuke. He raised an eyebrow.

“Yes, Noir?”

“I think you need some healing. I can still see the impact of the previous fight on you.”

“I’m fine, Noir. Really, it is no trouble-”

“No, please, Fox. At least take some-”

“I would rather not-”

“Fox-!”

While the group was too occupied with the bickering members, Joker turned to look at Goro. His eyes gazed soft and longingly at the black figure who looked away from the commotion, instead more content in observing the wandering cognitions as they talked amongst each other.

“Akechi.” Joker said, his voice a whisper, “How did you-”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Goro grumbled back, his back still turned towards the shadow, “I don’t have to explain anything to you. Just know that I am alive.”

“Oh, okay,” Joker mumbled, taken aback by Goro’s dismissive tone, sinking back into silence.

“-There we go, Fox. Are you feeling any better?” Haru said, her words caught the attention of Joker as he turned to look to see a smiling Yusuke.

“Why yes, Noir.” Yusuke smiles, “I feel much better actually, thank you for healing me, although you did not have to.”

“Well, you were stubborn about it, but I’m just glad that your injuries are-”

“If you’re all done fooling around, then I suggest we get this infiltration started.” Goro snapped and interrupted Haru, everyone flinching at Goro’s outburst as he got up from the booth seat, “We haven’t got time to waste. We have a deadline to keep to, remember?”

“Dude we’ve got more than a month.” Ryuji said, “And besides, why are you so eager to get started?”

Goro’s only response was a cold look towards Joker, the shadow stone-faced as red gazed into gold. Without another word, Goro turned on his heel and walked away.

Joker slipped out of his seat to address his friends after Goro’s leaving.

“He’s right.” Joker admits, “You all need to get going. Every second you waste here is a second that Ren… my other… stays trapped in this place with the puppet master that’s holding him in there.”

“Does that mean you’re going to watch the performances as well?” Makoto asked the shadow; Joker shook his head in response.

“Forgot to grab a ticket for myself.” he said, “That, and I was thinking of making myself useful to the team. I can get into places that I doubt you guys even can, so while you see whatever’s going on in those halls, I’ll see whatever I can uncover regarding my other’s psyche.”

“But you’re already useful,” Sumire said.

“Yeah.” Ann agreed, “You already told us how to get into those auditoriums and got the ticket and the map to the Palace for us. You’ve done so much already for us, Joker. Don’t worry about it.”

“...Thanks.” Joker smiled as he watched his friends slowly exit from the booth, “It’s just. You’re doing so much for me already, it’s the least I can do to help you guys.”

“Nah man, you’ve already done so much for us before this.” Ryuji laughed, pulling the shadow into a quick hug, “If anything, this is us repaying you for all you’ve done.”

“I agree with Skull,” Morgana said as he hopped from the table, his own ticket glittering in his paws, “This is our way of returning the favour.”

The other thieves nodded in agreement to Ryuji and Morgana’s words, and Joker’s smile grew larger. He felt loved, their resolve glittered in their eyes.

“Thank you, everyone,” he said, before turning to Makoto.

“Well, I suggest you all go into the Devil Theatre first, the one numbered fifteen.” he informed the temporary leader, his gaze looking sternly at her as he nodded towards the general direction of their goal, “It’s the only one currently available for showing. I’m sure the other hall, numbered seventeen, will open once the performance is done.”

“Thank you, Joker,” Makoto said as she nodded at him.

“You’re welcome, my Queen.”

He watched the rest of the thieves wander towards the auditorium, sans Makoto, who briskly walked towards Goro. He watched as they spoke with each other, Goro standing from the wall he was leaning on, hush words exchanged between the two thieves. Their conversation stops, and both Makoto and Goro wandered towards the entrance where the others stood.

Joker waited, watching silently as his friends all went through the door, he watched as the door closed fully, watched he was alone with the cognitions of his palace. No sign of the door opening again, he waited for a bit, until he assumed, they'd taken their seats. Good.

He looked behind him. At a small black, glistening speck nestled within the dark where even the sharpest eyes could barely detect it. He looked directly at the hidden camera.

And smiled deviously.

  ---

  Makoto was the last one to seat herself within the last row of the small auditorium room, the thieves sitting in the row behind the rest of the cognitive audience, allowing themselves to be hidden among the shadows. The lights that illuminated the sides of the room dimmed into darkness, signalling the audience that the play before them was about to begin. A second passed. Then two, then three. Slight creaks echoed amongst the audience within the room as cognitions shifted impatiently in their seats, the Phantom Thieves on edge as they anxiously waited for the performance to start.

“Is something supposed to-”

A stark shutter interrupted Ryuji’s inquiry, the stage lit with a single spotlight, the cognitions muttering ceasing as their heads snapped to watch the stage.

Stillness sunk within the small space. Then the sounds of steps, before a figure emerged into the light. Black curls of hair characterised the actor before them, his face down, shrouded and obscured to the rest of the audience. Yet the Phantom Thieves knew who it was. It was…

“Ren?” Ann whispered as she turned to Futaba who was sitting next to her, “Is that him?”

“Hmm, doesn’t look to be him,” Futaba said, adjusting her goggles as she took a closer look at the actor on the stage, “Readings seem to be giving off that this Ren is merely a cognition of sorts. A fake.”

“Why would Ren have cognitions of himself?” Yusuke queried Morgana who was seated next to him.

“It may have to do with something related to the particular formation of his Palace,” Morgana explained as he observed the cognitive Ren closely.

The cognitive Ren looked at the audience, his eyes unfocused.

“February was where my end, began.” The cognition started; his tone flat as he began his monologue. He talked about saving a woman from a drunken man while he was walking home, how his parents found out he was sued, how he was shipped off into the city, and how he had to stay in an attic within a coffee shop. The thieves quickly understood that the cognitive version of their leader was recounting his time in Tokyo.

“April the 11th,” the cognitive Ren continued, “I met someone who would become my best friend, I discovered a World where the deepest, darkest desires of men manifest, and it was the day that I finally felt… free.”

“That’s when he awoke to Arsene, right?” Ann whispered to Ryuji, who gave a nod as the cognitive Ren continued his monologue.

“I mean, it makes sense.” Morgana said, “When you guys first tore off your masks you are tearing off the mask you wear around society and the outside world.”

“-And so, every time we summon our Persona’s, we are revealing our inner selves towards the rest of the world?” Haru said, clasping her hands, “That’s really poetic.”

“I suggest you all shut your mouths if you don’t want to get caught.” Goro snaps at them, his voice controlled yet a hint of annoyance towards the conversing thieves. Ryuji looked at him as he was about to snap back towards the traitor, but decided against it, while the other thieves shifted uncomfortably in their seats before turning back their attention to the play before then.

Madarame’s Museum, Makoto’s blackmail, Kaneshiro’s Bank. Futaba’s cry for help in exchange for helping take down Medjed. Meeting Haru. Taking down Okumura. Changing Sae’s heart. The interrogation and Goro’s betrayal. The cognition continued to recount the events of Ren’s year in Tokyo with a monotone voice to his crowd, yet the thieves noticed that memories he even considered ‘positive’ during his time there were few and far in between.

“If these were his memories, then why are there barely any happy ones?” Sumire puzzled out loud towards Makoto, who crossed her arms in thought.

“He might be minimising his happier memories and magnifying his traumatic memories,” she said, watching the cognitive Ren as he continued to monologue to his audience, his voice dull, his expression downcast with shadow.

“Why?”

“I… I don’t know Sumire,” Makoto admitted, turning to her with sorrowful eyes.

“Is it just me, or has the spotlight dimmed a bit?” Haru said, Yusuke giving her a nod of agreement.

“I’ve noticed it too,” he confirmed, his voice solemn, “Is it perhaps something to do with the play itself? The subject matter?”

“Yeah, it makes more sense if that were the case,” Morgana said, “After all, this reflects a part of Ren's psyche. If the stage is dimming, it will be related to whatever this play is about.”

“Another thing, Morgana. If we are required to watch these plays in order to access the main theatres to get the keys to unlock the Fool’s Theatre, is it Ren’s way of communicating his troubled mind to us?”

Before Morgana could answer Yusuke, stunned gasps erupted from the audience. The cat turned his attention towards the stage, only to find the cognitive Ren sinking into darkness, still monologuing, unaware of his current predicament.

Morgana caught the words that came out of the cognitive Ren’s mouth, and he felt unease slowly churn his stomach. The cognitive Ren was talking about his life back in Inaba: the shame his mother and father bore with his false arrest, the shunning and isolation he faced from his classmates, the rumours that seemed to follow him from Shujin. Though the cognition kept the same, blank expression towards the audience, each word he seemed to utter sank him deeper and deeper in his own shadow, swallowing him whole as the audience did nothing but watch the spectacle in bewildered silence.

“What the eff...” Ryuji said, trailing off in horror, turning to Ann with pleading eyes. Yet Ann shook her head in response, knowing that the impulsive member of the group wanted to save the sinking mockery of their friend - something she wanted as well.

“Ann...”

“Skull,” Ann said, careful to use his codename as she spoke, her voice soft and pleading as she gently pulled him down back onto his seat, him following almost instinctively as he sat back down. He too saw her desire to spring into action, to save the cognition as he drowned in his own shadow, dragged into sentient darkness while staring at them with blank eyes; but she knew she could do nothing, as so did the other thieves, and Ryuji tried to swallow the rage he felt as the audience clapped with disappointment at the cognition’s performance.

---

“Are you enjoying the performance so far, my guest?” Joker asked Ren, him smiling gleefully as Ren looked at him with hatred, bound hands curled into fists as his shadow, Joker’s eyes illuminating with pleasure.

“Performance? You call that a performance?” Ren spat, concealing his confusion of his shadow’s plans, and plotted to use Joker’s smugness in order to get even a sliver as to what his shadow had in store, “I’ve seen better performances at kindergarten productions. Even low budget soap operas have more effort than that story excuse for drama.”

“I know what you’re doing, Ren,” Joker said, his expression unchanging, amused to see Ren trying his best to outsmart his own shadow, “It’s cute but, don’t think for a second that it’ll work on me. I know you, and I know you’re trying to slyly trick me into giving away my plans.”

Joker chuckled as Ren’s expression, his other wearing one of annoyance, licking his lips before he continued to taunt him, “I can’t give you a hint. Not yet. It'll ruin the surprise.”

“Surprise?” Ren pondered, raising an eyebrow, and Joker mockingly covered his mouth and gasped.

“Oh, there I go again, running my mouth,” he gasped, before laughing hysterically, clearly amused with himself as he stepped forward towards his bound other, “I must really be careful with what I say. I really mustn't spoil the plot for our grand performance.”

“‘Grand performance’. you mean whatever’s going to happen on the 11th next month, right?”

“You’ve been paying attention.” Joker said, and Ren frowned in response, “But yes. I have a great production for you…for the whole world to witness. It will be the culmination of our desires and dreams, and-”

Joker stopped himself mid-sentence, realising he had gotten ahead of himself, almost making an amateur blunder, and withdrew his hands back into his pockets. Ren could only hiss in disappointment as he anticipated his shadow causing his mistake, playing on Joker’s smug demeanour and using it against him. Instead, the shadow continued to observe him, intense gold shining coldly behind his mask, leaning lazily on the doorframe where he stood.

Something on one of the monitor screens caught Joker’s attention, his eyes focused intensely behind him, as if hypnotised by whatever’s currently playing. Using his strength, Ren swivelled around in his chair to see what Joker was staring at, following his shadow’s gaze to see…

Himself. Crying. Cupping his hands, ash in them, kneeling on the hardwood stage as multiple shadows around him laughed mockingly at him. Two Kodama’s circled his crying copy, giggling as they floated, swirling freely in the air, drowning his sobs as they laughed over him. Ren could see two other shadows that stood behind the curtains, Sraosha looking quietly with its gigantic eye as a Fuu-Ki summoned a gale of wind, his clone trying to shield the ash from the gust, clutching the ash closely to him, yet Ren could see the spotlight illuminating clearly that his treasure was falling swiftly through his fingertips.

“Joker.” Ren said, his voice demanding, angry as he did not understand what the both were watching, “You mentioned scripts, right? What is this supposed to mean? Why are you making me watch… whatever this is!?”

Joker snapped from his trance, blinking his eyes slowly before looking at Ren in acknowledgement. He answered Ren’s question by giving him a grin that made Ren’s blood boil, his knuckles white, rage bubbling in his throat, and Joker couldn’t help but laugh at Ren with utter glee.

“Ren, don’t be upset,” Joker said, walking towards Ren until he loomed over him, the shadow’s shadow cast upon him. He craned down his neck, face inches from Ren’s, his smile full of teeth as his eyes gleamed with such intensity that Ren could not help but wince in intimidation, “After all, we haven’t reached the climax of today’s show, Don’t you want to know what happens? Don’t you?”

“I don’t think I have a choice in the matter.” Ren said, grimacing as Joker’s smile stretched even wider.

“That’s the spirit!” he exclaimed with joy, patting Ren on the head in a congratulatory gesture towards his guest, “After all, I did prepare all of this for you and your friends to enjoy. And enjoy you all shall, ‘ll make sure of that.”

“I still don’t underst-”

“Nononono.” Joker murmured, putting a finger onto Ren’s lips to silence him, shushing each time Ren dared parted his lips, “No more questions. I have to go see the others soon, I can’t miss my cue, you’ll sit tight and watch my performance, won’t you, Ren?”

Ren did not reply. He couldn’t, the steady, defiant look he gave to Joker was the only thing he could do in that situation, and Joker enjoyed how much power he exerted over him.

“Good, good, Ren. I appreciate it,” he said, taking his finger from Ren’s lips, his other keeping silent, maintaining his rebellious expression, up until Joker again closed the door to his prison did Ren allow himself to finally shed a tear.

  ---

  “Damn, that was another bummer, huh.” Ryuji sighed as they exited the other auditorium, his expression dejected as he watched the other thieves emerge from the room alongside him. Each thief wore a similar expression of sadness, coming to terms with what they have witnessed, and the only two who did not seem perturbed as they made their way towards their booth were Morgana and Goro.

“Yeah, both of them sucked,” Ann agreed as she hesitated in following Yusuke within the seat, instead content to just stand over the table as Futaba took her place within the booth, “The audience weren’t all that great either, ‘he’s just being a cry-baby’?! Why would they think that?”

“Same,” Haru sighed, rhythmically tapping her fingers on the polished table in front of her, “It didn’t help that the audience were so rude about it.”

“How can anyone even be ‘bored’ by someone’s misery like that,” Futaba seethed, ignoring her laptop in front of her, her voice cracking as she threatened to cry at any moment, “I know they’re just cognitions, but the idea of even them complaining about Ren’s suffering...”

“...It truly is sadistic, isn’t it?” Yusuke mumbled, hand resting on his chin.

“Remember, whatever is shown in the Palace is a reflection of their ruler’s heart,” Morgana stated, hopping on the table as he addressed the group, “There must be a reason, something in Ren’s psyche that states we have to bear witness to… whatever these plays represent. If we do, it may hold a clue for us to bypass the other plays within this Palace, making our infiltration faster.”

“Mona’s right,” Makoto said, nodding with agreement at the cat’s words, yet the others looked at the both of them with doubt, “Maybe if we ask Joker, he can give us a clue-”

“A clue about what?” a familiar voice purred, and she turned to see Joker standing in front of her, expression neutral, hands in his pockets as he tilted his head in curiosity, “Is it something you need my help with, my Queen?”

“Your entrance was certainly timely,” Goro said, narrowing his eyes as Joker removed his hands from his pockets, allowing them to hang beside him, “Where were you while we were watching those plays? We didn’t see you when the first once ended.”

“I was looking into some things,” Joker answered nonchalantly, absentmindedly waving his hand in the air as he spoke, “Mostly to do with the theatre at the top,”

“Did you find a way to get in?” Makoto asks, in which Joker responded with a frown and the shake of his head.

“No… I’m sorry, Queen,”

“That’s okay,” she reassured him, giving him a reassured smile, “You tried your best, it’s all we can ask for at the moment,”

“Still, how were the plays?” Joker asked, his gaze looking towards the rest of the thieves, “Judging by your expressions, I take it that they weren’t great?”

“No...” Sumire trailed off, expression sullen behind her mask, “They were really depressing, Senpai, it was really hard to watch at times,”

“Oh,” was all Joker had to say to her.

“Yeah,” Haru said, agreeing with Sumire as she adjusted a loose strand of hair that had fallen in front of her face, “It was certainly hard to watch without feeling sad, certainly. Joker, do you know if all the plays are as depressing?”

“I don’t know, they might be, they might not,” Joker admits, “If the plays are too hard to bear, I suggest you come tomorrow and-”

“Nu uh, we’ve come this far already,” Ryuji huffs, uncrossing his legs, “And we aren’t bailing on you, Joker, not until we get… whatever is in there.” he said as he points towards the Empress Theatre.

“Ah, yes,” Joker said, “The Empress Theatre… to get the key right?”

“Speaking of the Empress Theatre,” Makoto remembered, “We still have no clue as to what the second condition is in order to enter it. Will you mind filling us in, Joker?”

“That I can do,” Joker said casually, “But be warned… I don’t exactly understand it myself.”

“Meaning?” Goro challenged, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Joker.

“Well,” Joker started, his eyebrows furrowed as he tried to collect his words, “I’ve mentioned earlier that the person going in has to match the Lead Actor, correct?”

“Correct,” Makoto said as she nodded to Joker, “But, what does that actually mean?”

“Well, I suppose it has to do with it resonating within one of you,” he said, “Ren wears many masks, each one representing an aspect in his daily life, a person who he faces every day. If these auditoriums are so important that the Lead Actors reside in them, that much mean that each hall might represent-”

“One of us,” Morgana finishes, and Joker nods.

“He cares a lot about you all.”

“So, those messages we got, and the Metaverse app installing itself back on our phone… are you suggesting the reason why is because of these Lead Actors?” Goro theorized.

“It might be, Goro,” Joker shrugged, “However, when it comes to each of you belonging to which hall, I don’t really know. What I do know is that I can go into any of them besides the Fool’s Theatre; I suggest whoever goes first that I’ll accompany them as well. There’s no telling what can happen in there once the Lead Actor appears, if they’ll appear, of course.”

“If I may ask, Joker, how do we know if we're the appropriate thief to enter them in the first place?"

“That I… I don’t know.”

The thieves pondered for a moment, each of them looking around at themselves and back at the double doors that lead to the Empress Theatre. Silence fell upon them, the chatter of the cognitions echoing in the background.

Then Ryuji stood up from his seat.

“Well, if you guys are okay with it, I’m going first,” he stated, shocking everyone as they all looked at him with baffled expressions.

“Ryuji, how do you know it is you who fits the conditions of the Empress Theatre?” Yusuke queried his teammate and friend, looking at him with questioning eyes.

“Honestly, I don’t,” Ryuji confesses, “But like, I don’t like the idea of us just sittin’ around here while Ren is above our heads enduring god knows what-”

“But it says Empress, Ryuji,” Futaba interjects as she slumps in her seat, “Meaning it’s gotta be one us girls, not you, who goes in there,”

“Hey, Empress’ can be boys, too!” Ryuji exclaims.

“Nu uh,”

“Can too, probably,”

“I’m sure that’s not how it works,”

“Well, I’m sure if Naoto Shirogane is still called the Detective Prince despite being a woman, Ryuji could very well be an Empress of some kind,” Goro remarked, grinning mischievously, amused somewhat by his own joke.

“See, Futaba? Goro’s got a point!” Ryuji smiled, crossing his arms, and Goro dropped his jaw in astonishment.

“Ryuji, you are aware that I’m making fun of you, right?” Goro huffs, and Ryuji looks at him with an expression of shocked betrayal.

“Wait-what?! I thought you were helping me?!” he stammered as some of the thieves could not contain their giggles, and even Joker couldn’t help but smile at Ryuji’s reaction, “Well, I’m gonna take that as a compliment, anyway,” he said, crossing his arms, “At least I’m trying to think of something to help Ren, why you gotta be an ass about it?”

Goro responded by rolling his eyes before he returned to staring at the double doors.

“Um, I’m sorry to interrupt, but may I volunteer myself to enter it with Joker” Haru piped up, raising her hand quite timidly, trying to get the attention of the rest of the thieves.

“Sure, Haru, but is there something wrong? I hope I’m not being too forward with this, but I didn’t expect you to volunteer so readily,” Makoto said.

“It’s okay, Makoto,” Haru smiled, “And as for me volunteering… I don’t really know how to explain it, but...”

She looks directly towards the Empress Theatre’s doors.

“I feel… strangely drawn to it,” Haru confesses, her eyes steadily fixated on the doors, “It’s like… It’s calling me, I think? I’m sorry if it sounds absurd, but-”

“You have nothing to apologise for, Noir”, Ann said, smiling at her friend as she puts a reassuring hand on Haru’s shoulder, “I mean, we’re in the Metaverse, and there’s bound to be some crazy things that occur here.”

“That said, Panther,” Morgana said as he approaches Haru, “It might be because Noir is the only one that’s able to go into the theatre,”

“How can you be so sure, Mona?” Yusuke inquired, resting his hand on his chin in thought.

“I mean, it is calling for her, right?” Morgana explains to Yusuke, “And given what we know of the Lead Actors, there must be a reason why the theatre itself is calling to Noir specifically. Plus, if we were wrong and Noir is not who the Lead Actor is calling to, Joker would be there to safely get her out, right Joker?”

“Yes,” Joker nods, “I’ll be sure to safely escort Noir out if anything happens. You have my word.”

“Oh okay then,” Haru said cheerfully as she got in her seat, the others doing their best to shift around their legs as she clambered out of the booth before giving Morgana a pat on head, “Thank you so much for the speech of confidence, Mona-chan, I appreciate it greatly!”

“Oh, it’s no trouble at all,” Morgana purred as Haru’s hand left his head. He turned to Joker, “Just make sure that whatever happens, both of you get out safe, okay?”

“We will, Mona,” Joker said, nodding as Haru approached his side, “You can count on me, I’m Joker after all,”

The both said their goodbyes to the others, Haru barely eye Goro as she did so, before they both turned towards their destination, Joker jumping ahead to grab one of the doors for Haru, opening it for her.

“After you, Miss Noir,” Joker said, bowing gracefully at her, hand tucked politely in front of him, earning a giggle from his teammate, a sound he was happy to hear from her, grinning playfully himself.

“Thank you, Joker,” she bows back playfully before entering the room, Joker standing up from his bow and following Haru inside, allowing the door to gently close itself, gently thudding shut behind them.

---

The interior of the auditorium was unlike Haru had ever seen, lilac carpeting over white marble trailed on the floor that led to the polished stage before her. Beautiful plush seats, all adorned with small white pillows sat in rows facing forward, all the same matching lilac as the carpet, while flowers of various colours decorated the column that supported the balcony seats above, vines supporting vibrate green leaves snaking neatly around railings, the pleasant floral aroma wafting down alongside small petals that landed beside her feet. She looked up, slow, hazy movement having caught her eye, to see a giant, crystalline chandelier hanging below a moving landscape of soft, painted clouds floating by an idyllic sky.

“It’s… beautiful...” Haru marvelled, her eyes wide with complete awe, the hall completely resonating with her aesthetics as she slowly stumbled forward. Joker watched her take in the sight of the decorations that adorned the room, smiling at how happy she looked as he walked ahead, patiently waiting down in front of the steps that lead up to the stage as she slowly clambered down among the row of seats, “Joker, this place is… it’s amazing!” she gasped giggly, and Joker could not help but chuckle at her excitement.

“Is it?” he asked rhetorically, raising an eyebrow in mock curiosity, yet Haru paid no mind to his playfully sarcastic response as she approached him, giddy with excitement.

“Yes...” she sighed as she looked at him, and Joker could see her flinch as soon as she remembered the task she was here for, “I mean… I…. I-” she stammered, a light shade of blush forming on her cheeks, “I’m sorry, I got carried away there, haha,”

“It’s okay, Noir,” he chuckled, before gesturing her to go up the stairs first, a curt bow as he raised his hand towards them, “After you,”

“Thank you, Joker,” she giggled, climbing up the stairs on the stage, her pumps clicking as she walked on the polished floor. She wandered on it, Joker following behind her with a casual stride, “I suppose we need to find the Lead Actor now, right?”

“I guess-”

The lights shuttered shut, both Haru and Joker jumped in place, both grabbing and readying their weapons as they stood side by side. Nothing happened. There was no movement, only the sound of silence echoed the walls, their own breathing almost deathly silent as the two of them prepared for an enemy to pounce.

Another shutter echoed the still theatre. A single spotlight shined suddenly in the dark. Haru narrowed her eyes in confusion and worry, her grip on her axe tightening, feeling Lucy stir under her mask as she took small, slow steps towards the solitary spotlight. Her ears strained in the silence as she slowly approached the outer rim, yet she saw no shadow slithering in sight.

“Joker?” Haru whispered, turning her head to find the shadow of her friend missing, sweat now gathering under her gloves, gaze flicking anxiously as he tried to spot him. Another sound. Haru turned to see nothing lurking in the audience area.

She felt rough hands grab her shoulders, and she was promptly shoved into the light. She tumbled into the spotlight, shrieking as light consumed her vision, before shifting to dark, and Haru could feel herself falling.

She fell, wind whipping her hair, weapon slipped from her grip as she flailed in nothing, she screamed, pleading for help, yet the shadows responded with nothing.

A sudden “oomph” fell between her lips as she sunk into the shrubbery, the plant miraculously cushioning her from what felt like to be a very steep fall. She groaned, the wind knocked out of her lungs as she impacted the bush, allowing her a moment to gather her strength before pushing herself up.

“W... where am I?” Haru thought out loud as her eyes scanned her surroundings. She found herself to be in some sort of garden, the plants looking sullen and sickly, wilting, starving for sunlight and warmth as they sunk into the stone that decorated the area, the sky black and empty, lacking any features. She got up to her feet, dusting her legs and trousers of dirt as best she could as she continued to look around, marvelling grimly at the state of the garden, yet found it odd that she could see without an obvious light source.

“Hello?” she shouted, her voice echoing, yet she heard no response. She quieted her breaths, listening intently for any sound in the stillness.

A sob. Haru rushed quietly towards it, softly stepping on the dead flowers and leaves as best she could, following a weathered stone path into an alcove next to a dried waterfall, only to see Ren sitting on a dead lotus, surrounded by a ring of anemone, naked and crying. Petals of marigold drifted gently down the golden shaft of light that illuminated him from above, some sticking on his skin, seemingly clinging it to him as the thorns of white roses dug into him, Ren covered in bruises and scabs as they seemed to suck sickly on his blood while narcissus flowers were stuck, rotten in his hair.

“Ren,” she said, reaching out to him in hopes of soothing her crying friend, only to be stung by the thorns that clung to him, and she could see them tightening around his body, pricking fresh new blood as he continued to wail. She panicked, his whines tugging at her heart, Haru desperately trying to reach out for him, calling his name over and over, yet for every word she uttered, his wail of pain and anguish drowned her out.

“Ren, please!” Haru begged, yet Ren barely acknowledged her, still sobbing as the vines strangled him more and more. She panicked, trying to desperately calm Ren while trying not to touch the vines, yet each patch of skin she reached for earned herself another lash from the roses as they rushed to cover Ren, causing him to howl and bleed.

“Ren, I’m so sorry, I don’t know what to do,” she apologised, watching solemnly as Ren continued to cry, barely acknowledging her presence, too absorbed within his despair as marigolds continue to flutter down towards him, earning another gasp as they landed snugly on his flesh. It seemed to her that the only thing that remotely stirred Ren were the flowers that surrounded him.

An idea sprung to mind. Hushing a goodbye, Haru retreated from the alcove back into the wider garden, a goal that kept her steadfast as she trudged among the floral graveyard. Her eyes swept across sickly green and brown until-

She spotted a single, small daffodil sprouting amongst dead branches, yellow barely shining amongst brown, its petals poking out just enough for Haru to see. She approached the flower, gently pushing the branches away before she carefully reached for the flower and plucked it from the ground.

“Hello, little friend,” she said as she gently held the daffodil in her hand, its petals shining in the omnipresent light. She stood up from her crouching position, the flower in her hand, and continued to patrol the garden, looking for any more flowers she could salvage from the decrepit garden.

In what seemed like hours (though she couldn’t tell, as time felt like it had no governance in that realm) she had collected four additional flowers for her small, makeshift bouquet: twin red Carnations sat next to the Daffodil in her hand, a purple Iris and a pink Hibiscus intertwined together wrapped up with the other flowers, and a Sunflower stood tall amongst them. By coincidence, she happened to find a pink ribbon amongst the mess of twig and stone that defined the garden, its origin unknown, but in which Haru used to tie the stems tightly together.

A last patrol around the garden and Haru made her way back to the alcove where Ren sat, the bouquet in her hands. She felt sickly as she saw the number of marigold petals that covered him, touching any inch of skin not already occupied by the snaking thorns around his hunched body. “Ren?” she whispered, in which he did not reply, but when she held up her gift did Ren stir from his position. He blinked; black, shimmering eyes stained with red looked at the flowers with curiosity. Haru choked back a fearful sob as Ren weakly reached for the flowers she held in her hands.

“Here, Ren. These are for you,” she said, yet she did not know if her words reached his ears, or whether he could even comprehend them while in his current state. He grabbed weakly at them, thin fingertips brushing against the petals of the flowers, grasping at them with great difficulty, and Haru helped him seize his gift by grabbing his hand before clasping his fingers for him.

“There you go, Ren. Just hold them tight,” she cooed, wrapping the flowers to his hand with the bouquet’s ribbon, making sure the knot she tied around them secure. She gave him a smile, and although Ren’s gaze was wholly fixated on the flowers he held, he smiled in return.

The white roses and their thorns rapidly snaked up his arms as Haru’s flowers erupted spontaneously into cyclamen and sweet pea, the anemone hissed at her feet as she stumbled back in fear. The petals of marigold once fluttered down sparsely from above now rained on Ren in a torrent as they drowned the boy, his hand holding what was once his gift still exposed, left untouched.

Haru tried to save him, she tried to approach her friend, yet something snaked between her ankles and held her in place, Haru looking down to see stalks of spider lilies squeezing her stationary, more and more joining as the stone path fell before her, Haru’s frame supported by the spider lilies that continued to assault her, Haru screaming as she desperately fought off the flora binding her in place. One latched onto her right wrist before pulling back, another one doing the same to her left, and Haru thrashed, squealing in utter fear as the flowers restrained her, and she looked to still see Ren’s exposed hand, still clutching onto the flowers, the ribbon gleaming vibrantly against pale skin.

“Get-” Haru tried to shriek, fighting instincts flaring in her muscles as terror pooled in her stomach. Yet she was silenced when the lilies snaked up her neck and around her mouth, and she muffled as they continued to climb up her body. She jerked wildly, her body flailing, her vision blackening, the last thing she saw being Ren’s still outstretched hand and the marigolds that continued to pour violently onto him before the lilies snaked around her eyes, and soon suffocated her other senses entirely.

  ---

There was nothing. Black.

Her head was full of fog.

Haru felt her mouth dry. She smacked her lips, the skin chapped, her throat hoarse. Dizzy. She felt dizzy.

The sound of chirped chatter, the patter of a carpeted floor and the clatter of cutlery. Bright light in her eyes mixed with darkness. She could smell something savoury.

Haru opened her eyes, her eyelashes fluttering against her face, the sound of the diners eating and chatting around her, the smell of the buffet reaching her nostrils caused her to salivate, the intensity of the yellow lighting above her made her wince as her eyes adjusted from the brightness from above. She raised her head from the cool dining table she was currently slumped over, waiting for her tired brain to register where she even was.

Blinking a few times, she finally knew where she was: at the famous Wilton hotel buffet in Tokyo. Memories of the spider lily assault sprung back to mind, and Haru panicked as she rushed as she felt her face and looked at her hands. Her mask was on, and she saw her purple gloves and her pink blouse. She was still in her Phantom Thief attire. She was still in the Palace; Ren’s Palace.

A pang of emptiness echoed in her heart as familiar giggles caught her attention, Haru turning her head left to see a copy of herself and a smiling, casually dressed Ren laughing over their cakes. She narrowed her eyes in confusion. She recognised this as one of the numerous meetings she had with him during Ren’s stay in Tokyo; a recent memory to be exact, celebrating her finishing her exams with some of the best confectionery and coffee the hotel could supply. She watched as they conversed, yet barely acknowledged the heavy feeling that weighted her breaths.

“This is good.” Ren complimented, gesturing to the piping, white mug he was holding, “Good coffee, certainly not close to Sojiro’s though,”

“I don’t think there’s coffee that comes close to how Sojiro makes it.” other Haru complimented, taking a sip from her own cup, a satisfied sigh passing through her lips.

“I mean, the guy had help from a certified genius in the form of Futaba’s mom, after all,” Ren pointed out as he gently put down the mug of coffee in front of him, “Wakaba helped a lot with perfecting the stuff Sojiro currently makes… although, I wouldn’t be surprised if he’d discover some special coffee tricks himself.”

“Yes well, I’ve actually arranged with him some hours in Leblanc, where he’d promise to teach me some of his coffee making skills,” other Haru said, and Haru could have sworn the sinking feeling came back with more intensity.

“Oh, stealing my job now, aren’t we?” Ren jokes, and other Haru laughs, waving her hand sheepishly. Haru’s own breaths grew heavier.

“Of course not, Ren,” other Haru giggles, “But it’s certainly a good experience to gain for running my cafe. Sojiro-san is kind, patient, and has good experience with running Leblanc, so I personally think it’s appropriate to be guided by him.”

“Well, good luck.” Ren said, taking another sip from his coffee mug, “I’m sure you’ll do great.”

“Thank you!” the other Haru smiled as she took another sip from her cup, “I know I’ll sound quite absurd, but I’m so thankful that you’re so supportive of me opening my cafe. It brings me with joy knowing that I have a friend like you.”

“It’s really no problem, Haru,” Ren said, yet Haru felt otherwise with another pang of dread and stress  echoed in her chest, “I want to see all my friends succeed, and last time I checked you’re one of my friends, unless of course there’s a fight or betrayal of trust I missed the memo of participating in,”

“Ren!” other Haru gasps and Ren casually laughs at her shocked reaction.

“I’m just kidding of course,” he winks, taking a sip of coffee, earning a giggle and a hushed, playful scold from the other Haru, yet Haru could feel inside her heart that it was anything but.

The two continued to talk amongst another, Haru quietly both Ren and her past self as they chatted about all sorts of things, absentmindedly consuming the various delectable treats as they did so. It was when the other Haru gasped did they both realise that they'd run out of sweets to eat. The other Haru stood up from her seat, Ren looking at her with a perplexed expression.

"I'm thinking of grabbing more treats for myself," she said, "The Wilton hotel does have the nicest desserts don't you think? I'm thinking of getting some more of their crumpets, they go well with the jam they provide. What about you, Ren? Would you like anything?"

"I'm fine, thank you," Ren said, smiling at the other Haru. With a nod of understanding and a hushed 'I'll be back' the other Haru quietly wandered away from the table, and it was the first time Haru herself could see Ren noticeably relax in his seat, the smile he wore flattening into a tired frown.

She grimaces, the suffocating feeling coming back now full force within Haru as Ren stared off into the distance, his fingers rhythmically tapping the gleaming surface of the dining table he was sat at. It was a feeling of aimless dread, the feeling that Haru was acquainted with, welling up inside of her from nights staring up at her ceiling, miserable as she had no tangible control of her life as she was used as a people by her father, then again as she was suddenly thrust upon with the responsibilities of managing an entire corporation without so much of an ounce of experience or help. She remembers the dizzying feeling of being so lost with what to do, aimless and stressed and drowning in her emotions, and she remembers Ren being the one who helped her overcome the thoughts of doubts and self-loathing that came with such a huge responsibility of planning her future.

So why was she feeling this all over again? Unless…

"I'm back, sorry I took so long." other Haru apologises as she puts down her plate of treats, Ren sitting back up in his seat and smiling at her, yet Haru could now see his expression was less vibrant than before, "Some vanilla sponge cake caught my eye while I was helping myself with the crumpets, and I was deciding whether to further indulge myself or to take what I wanted, which I ended up doing of course,"

"Shame to that sponge cake," Ren said jokingly, "Left alone in the cruel world, never to be eaten by someone as sweet as it, oh the tragedy!"

"Haha, I'm sure someone will save it from this cruel world," other Haru played along, gently cutting one of the crumpets on her plate into two, "Unrelated to our conversation on sweets, but how have you been doing recently?"

Haru felt herself choke at the question, yet Ren still wore his cheery expression.

"Other than applying for universities, nothing really major," Ren said casually, and Haru felt another well of stress rising from her chest, "I really want to go to a good culinary school, but I'm also looking at drama schools as well, not that they'd accept me, but I'm hoping at least,"

"Drama? I didn't know you were interested in drama. When did this happen, Ren?" other Haru said, and Ren smiled at her.

"When I was applying, I remembered my time as Joker," he explained, his voice now hushed, yet Haru could hear him just as clearly as if the surrounding noise quieted in volume around her, "I… I really enjoyed how free I felt, and though I love cooking more than anything, I… I really want to relive that feeling, I want to be Joker again, I guess is what I'm saying, even joined the drama club as soon as I got back to Yasogami High. A lot of my friends there were shocked by the sudden change of interests almost, but I guess I never knew I had that side within me until then, haha,"

"Well, I'm sure you'll do great," other Haru said reassuringly, and all of a sudden Haru felt… doubt creep out her throat, "You're a strong and determined person Ren, I'm sure whatever you put your mind to, you'll do great!"

Though Haru knew her words of encouragement to her friend were genuine, hearing them again while alien feelings churned around her heart felt disingenuous, fake, lacking any warmth as her past self took a bite out of the crumbling pastry, "And if you need any help, I'll be here for you okay?"

Ren could not help but force a smile, and Haru felt so alone as Ren replied a small, forceful, polite "okay" to the other Haru.

---

Light consumed her vision once more, and Haru found herself back in the Empress Theatre atop the polished, wooden stage, the bright spotlight shining down upon her as she rose from her knees. She looked around the stage, seeing only herself, not even Joker who had mysteriously disappeared, likely wandering within the depths of the backstage to investigate while she was trapped in her trial.

Grabbing her axe that lay beside her, Haru noticed a peculiar object that she had not seen before. It lay in front of her, edges gleaming beautifully in the light, and she recognised it as her mask.

“Is that…” she exclaimed in bewilderment, quickly touching her face to see that yes, she did still have her mask on. She pushed herself off the floor, picking up the handle of her axe before approaching the object, grabbing it off the floor.

It was a perfect replica of her mask, down to the soft bend where it settled on the ridge of her nose. It felt light, yet fragile, Haru marvelling at the craftsmanship down to the stitching on the edges, the material shone slickly as she tilted it around, taking a closer look.

She heard familiar heels clicking gently on the polished floor, turning around to see Joker, his golden eyes looking quizzically at hers as he walked towards the thief, hands in his pockets, his coat flapping lazily in time with the sway of his steps.

“So, you’ve gotten a key,” he informed her, looking at the black mask in her hands.

“To the Fool’s Theatre, right?” she asked him, and Joker nods, smiling proudly at her achievement.

“You did great, Noir!” he smiled at her, and Haru smiled in return. She pocketed the mask before she turned to leave the stage, yet when she made her way towards the stairs Joker gently grabbed her arm.

“Joker, what’s the matter?” she asked, slightly startled by his abrupt action. Joker pulled his hand away from her, a look of intensity in his eyes before they wandered from her own down towards her hand that clutched the mask.

“Why don’t you put it on?” he said, before meeting her gaze again, his tone assertive, not really asking her but rather demanding her to put on the strange object. Haru’s eyebrows furrowed.

“Why would I do that?” she asked, puzzled by Joker’s peculiar suggestion, tilting her head slightly, “Is it something I have to do in addition to-”

“No, that’s not it.” Joker admitted. He looked hesitant, constantly shifting from one leg to another, looking down at the floor as he tried to find the right words to convey his thoughts.

“It’s just...” he began, his voice trailed off along with his gaze. They both snapped suddenly back towards her, “Aren’t you tired of being Haru?”

“I… I don’t understand,” Haru replied, taken aback by his strange question, “What do you mean, tired of being me’? I don’t think I can ever be tired of being ‘me’ if I’m always ‘me’ so to say,”

“I meant, are you tired of being Haru?” he clarified, “tired of the responsibilities, tired of having to hide your true self, tired of having to suppress your feelings, tired of having to force yourself to smile, to pretend, to please everyone? Don’t you want to be free of it all?”

He pointed at the mask she held beside her, “All you have to do is wear that mask, Haru. If you do, you’ll be able to finally be free.”

Haru felt uncomfortable. She couldn’t fathom why Joker would suggest such a thing to her, stepping back in almost fear, his words settling a feeling of unease in her stomach.

“I’ll be free?” she asked, yet she feared she knew what he was suggesting. Joker stepped towards her, his eyes transfixed onto hers, his expression unreadable, and Haru could feel her heart thump loudly, ringing in her ears.

“Put on the mask, Haru,” Joker insisted, his tone demanding, expecting her to do what she was told to, “Put it on. Become Noir,” he said, “Leave Haru behind,”

“Joker, you’re scaring me,” Haru squeaked, again backing away from the shadow, her grip on her axe tightening, ready to defend herself if she absolutely had to. Yet Joker did not deter from his goal. He still pursued her, his pace quickened to match the fleeing girl, and Haru felt herself on the precipice of hysterics.

“Put. On. The. Mask. Haru.” Joker demanded, his calm, polite facade dissipated, the shadow from under his mask overcasting his eyes, taking one large stride across the gap between to loom over her, “Do it, Haru. Do it!”

“No,” she mumbled, and Joker looked at her, confused.

“What?”

“I said,” she began, her voice rising, her fear evaporating, the anger in which she wielded against shadows in the Metaverse coming to her aid once more. She eyed Joker, the same defiant look he had taught her to embrace when she rebelled against her father and her unwanted fiancé, the same call to action she had felt when she had first fully awoken to her Persona now buzzed within her fingertips, “I said, no! You might be Ren’s shadow, but you are not Ren! You’re an ugly part of him, one that could grow, and fester unchecked! I don’t care if you call yourself, Joker. You are not him! You will never be him! And I will never take orders from you!”

“But, Noir!” Joker pleaded, shifting once more into his polite facade, “I’m trying to free you! To give you a better existence! To exist unchained by society! Why are you throwing this opportunity to truly live as you are!? If you join me, you and I and the others would enjoy a perfect world where we rule it. Don't you want that?!”

" I don't want to, because,” she now shouted, politeness and kindness towards the shadow replaced with scorn and fury, regaining her footing against Joker as she stood up tall, axe now at the ready, feeling Lucy pulsating within her as her Persona itched for a fight, “I’m already living as my true self, as me! You should know, Joker. It was you - no - Ren, who showed me that, showed me that I can live and exist as myself, both around my friends and in society! I don’t need to exist as Noir, because Noir is me and I am her! And your "perfect world" idea? It goes against everything we, as Noir and Haru, and as the Phantom Thieves, stand for, and you know it yourself!”

The mask in her hand suddenly began to shake violently in her grip, Haru gasped as it fell out of her grasp and onto the floor, shattering into pieces.

“No!” both shrieked as the mask shattered, shards of black spilling across the stage. Before either of them could utter a word, the pieces began to vibrate erratically on their own before erupting into dark tendrils that rose into the air. They congregate together, swirling into a ball of black before morphing into a silhouette. Suddenly, as quick as it appeared the silhouette shed the shadow that formed it to reveal a Kali.

“Haru!” Joker gasped, yet Haru ignored him completely, running towards the shadow with a battle cry, both of her hands gripping tightly on her axe as she swung it with her entire strength. Kali blocked Haru’s attack with ease with the use of its swords, pushing Haru away, the girl stumbling back on the wooden floor, yet she managed to regain her footing, taking a fighting stance once more.

“Haru, stop!” Joker begged as Haru continued to fight the shadow, yet she did not heed his words, instead continuing her assault towards the shadow. Joker attempted to step between the shadow and the girl yet stopped when Haru reached for her mask.

“Lucy!” she shouted, ripping her mask off her face, summoning her Persona in an eruption of blue flame, casting Life Wall on herself as the Kali charged towards her, Joker desperately trying to find an opening to intervene, yet the gap between them closed too quickly. The Kali took a swing, the strength of its strike immediately bouncing off the magical wall that Haru put over herself and striking the shadow instead, and the girl used the opportunity provided to take out her grenade launcher before blasting the shadow back completely.

“Noir, what are you doing!?” Joker growled at her, yet Haru paid little attention as she raised her axe, and before the shadow could react, let alone flee, she brought her blade down upon it, killing it.

“No!” Joker shrieked as the Kali dissipated from the stage, leaving a crystalline version of the mask behind, clutching his hair as he stared at the object, eyes wide and panicked, “No no no no no!”

“W... what?” Haru mumbled, blinking rapidly as she calmed down, withdrawing her axe to her side as she saw the crystal mask on the wooden floor. It had the same shape, but it now appeared crystalline, its colour purple like the gloves she currently wore. She approached the masked and crouched down looking at it curiously, yet she dared not touch it.

“Joker, w-”

“You ruined everything!” Joker screamed as he stomped on the floor, tears forming around the corners of his eyes, enraged as he looked at Haru with hatred, “My prop… my precious prop… I spent so long preparing it, making sure it would do what I wanted; I even had to ruin my statue, only for you to destroy it!”

Haru flinched each time Joker raised his voice, her sudden burst of adrenaline from the Kali fight, the drain from her trial and the uncharacteristic tantrum Joker was throwing left her kneeling on the floor, too stunned and exhausted from her trial and fight to do anything but watch as he complained incessantly about his plans. He reached into his hair, intertwining his fingers around his curly locks, mumbling frantically, and Haru could just hear him talk to himself.

“Ruined… ruined… the key… the script… fuck...” he muttered, Haru straining to hear him through her frantic heartbeat. She reached slowly for the crystal mask that lay beside her, gently brushing the smooth surface with her fingertips before she grabbed it. As she did so, Joker snapped to attention and saw the mask in her hands.

“Haru,” Joker warned, hands dropping to his sides, staring at her with a blank expression, yet his eyes followed the mask obsessively, “What are you doing?”

“I’m… I’m taking the mask,” Haru said, her voice hesitant as she stood up from the floor, Joker’s gaze still following the object.

“Hah, you are, aren’t you?” he snarled, scowling with hatred as he looked at her, golden eyes radiating hatred towards Haru, “Ruining my plans, my production, just like that? Hah, I expected nothing less...”

“Joker, please stop this-”

“No!” he screamed, and Haru jumped, her breath lurching as he laughed maniacally in restrained gasps, holding his head in his hands as he closed his eyes, “Why, why would I stop? I want to achieve my goal, Haru, something you can relate to correct? After all, I was the one who helped you gather the courage to attend that stupid Okumura Foods meeting to launch your dream in opening your little cafe,”

He raised his head to look at her, “So why did you ruin mine?”

“Joker-”

“I know why,” he started, again walking towards her, his chin held high, his grin bearing teeth as he looked down at her, “It’s because you like to ruin things, don’t you, Haru?”

“I-”

“Taking Morgana away from us, always whining about the father who treated you to an end. By the way,” he pondered for a moment, tapping his chin with a finger in mock thought, “that guy you were supposed to get married with, Sugimura. Whatever happened to him?”

“I managed-”

“-to call off the marriage, I figured as much.” Joker smiled, causing Haru further unease, “To think you’d be able to do something on your own. Never thought you’d be even capable of something like that-”

“Joker,” Haru interrupted, and Joker stopped his rant as she slowly got up to her feet, “Ren… why are you saying all of this!? What are you talking about!? What’s gotten into you?”

Joker flinched visibly at her calling his real name, as if remembering that it was indeed his own name, and he wore a sour expression.

“Why do you want to know?” he spat at her, eyes narrowing in contempt as he addressed her.

“Because, this is unlike you,” Haru said, walking slowly towards him, expression sincere and kind as she spoke, “This is not the kind, understanding, supportive leader that I got to know. Ren...”

“Then you really don’t know me at all, do you?” he chuckled dryly, shaking his head in almost disbelief, “Haru; there’s so much you don’t know about me, yet you trust me? Why?”

“Well… why wouldn’t I?” Haru asked, genuinely confused as he continued to chuckle to himself.

“I know why,” he said, “Because you are an idiot. An airheaded, spoiled idiot that wormed her way into our friend group. If it weren’t for your father, we wouldn’t have to deal with Sae, I wouldn’t have to play bait just to get back at Akechi, and we wouldn’t have to deal with the scathing backlash, only to be forgotten like just some…. Some cultural FAD!”

Each word Joker said raised his voice until he was screaming at her, and each word caused Haru to become more and more upset as Joker assaulted her with his voice, echoing across the walls of the empty hall, until Joker was huffing, a hand over his forehead, almost heaving with exhaustion, and Haru attempted to reach out for him, only for Joker to swat her hand.

“Don’t” Joker managed to gasp as he suddenly felt dizzy, the same surge of power and energy he felt when first confronting his other that boggled his mind even further. ‘Why was this happening now?’ he asked himself as he eyed Haru with malice, while the curly-haired girl looked at him with horror; worry even.

“Just go,” he growled, his words only bringing more power to his veins, Joker trying to restrain the groans that bubbled up his throat, opting instead to huddle further towards the stage floor. Haru did not know what to do. She wanted to help, eyes widened with panic as to her, Joker’s condition continued to worsen, yet a small part of her feared retribution from the shadow if she tried to help him once again.

“Joker, are you-”

“LEAVE ME.” Joker screeched; his voice boomed in unnatural volume as the walls shook violently. Haru yelped as the power surges continued in Joker’s veins, him now unable to contain himself, uttering a groan of pleasure. He looked up from his curled position to still see Haru looking at him with worry, and with another boom, he shouted, “LEAVE”.

And Haru did. There was first hesitation in her steps, but she obeyed his request, turning and running from the stage and out of the auditorium as the petals from the flowers around her shed their petals at horrifyingly unnatural speeds, leaves shrivelling up and dying, falling towards the now running, scared girl as she swore her surroundings were collapsing around her, and Joker could not help but cackle behind her at the sight of her fleeing before he hastily retreated behind the back of the stage.

---

 “What do you think they’re doing in there anyway?” Ryuji sighed, leaning back at his seat as he bounced his leg impatiently.

The rest of the Phantom Thieves sat in the booth, waiting for Haru and Joker to emerge with the mask, eager to continue with their pursuit deeper into the Palace. Some occupied themselves, Futaba typing away on her laptop, trying to ignore the detective clad in black in front of her, while Yusuke lightly sketched the Palace interior in a little notebook. However, most of them did not have such objects to distract themselves as they waited, Ryuji finding it increasingly annoying that he couldn’t connect to the Internet while in the Metaverse, Ann absentmindedly flicked through the little program Joker provided them over and over again, while Makoto and Morgana discussed their next plan of action.

“I dunno, when they’re done, I guess,” Futaba answered “I’m trying to see if I can hack into anything that’ll give us a view as to what is happening inside. Hopefully, there are cameras and a network feed of some kind that I can easily hack into,”

“And what about Senpai?” Sumire asked Futaba, who looked up from her laptop to address her.

“He’s okay,” Futaba answered, “I’ve set up some signals to track his vitals and location. Though nothing’s major’s happening now, I’ve set up alerts if there is a change in either his location or condition,”

“I doubt that any real harm would come to him,” Goro informs, and Futaba scows.

“I didn’t ask for your opinion, bird brain,” she seethed in a hushed tone, Goro acting like he hadn’t heard or cared for what she said as Goro continued, “Whoever or whatever has Ren needs him alive to continue to exist of course; their existence is too intertwined with his wellbeing, and any disruption to that can cause serious harm to either the Palace or it,”

“And what do you suppose this ‘thing’ that has Ren, is? A rogue cognition?” Yusuke said, entering the conversation as he put his small sketchbook down onto the table. Goro hesitates, his tongue pressing against the roof of his mouth.

“I-”

“It’s probably some rogue shadow or whatever, maybe a cog’ of his parents since they’re really strict towards Ren,” Ryuji interrupts Goro, “Nothing to worry about, we can probably take them on easy, especially with Joker on our side,”

“I wasn’t going to say-”

“Guys cut it out and stop bullying Crow,” Ann scolded both Futaba and Ryuji, “I know we have our differences and stuff, but we need all the help we can get if we’re gonna save Ren. That also means no interrupting and name-calling, okay?”

“I didn’t call him names,”

“And I didn’t interrupt him!” Both Ryuji and Futaba defended themselves, Goro sighing at the bickering thieves, barely expecting them to allow him to speak at all, retreating away from them to see Yusuke and Sumire still intently holding their attention towards him.

“So, what do you think it is, Crow?” Yusuke inquires politely, Sumire looking as though she has the same question in mind. Goro looks away from the both for a moment, trying to word his thoughts.

“Well, I don’t think you’ll like it either way,” he began, his gaze still distant and thoughtful, red eyes looking at the double doors as he allows himself to ponder for a moment, “I still don’t have any evidence myself, but. I distrust the shadow that roams here,”

“You mean Joker?” Sumire asked, and Goro nodded in response, “But why, Crow-senpai?”

“I’m not one to question gut feelings, but why do you suspect his shadow?” Yusuke queried Goro, “He’s been doing nothing but helping us so far. The shadow is the true self is it not? If Joker is acting kind, can’t we suspect that he is kind in turn?”

“I don’t want to appear as being crass but: I have a feeling that Joker’s hiding things from you all,”

Everyone within earshot stopped abruptly with their prior conversations, Makoto and Morgana pausing from their discussion, Ann interrupted from her scolding of Ryuji and Futaba, all of them turning to face Goro in stunned silence, some with their mouths agape.

“Joker’s… lying to us?” Ann questioned Goro carefully, eyes unnaturally wide under her mask, “A-are you sure!?”

“Are you sure about that?” Ryuji interrogated Goro, leaning forward, looking at him with suspicion, “I mean, we are his friends, and we’ve known him way longer than you,”

“Yes, I know,” Goro gasped quickly, “But I have an uneasy feeling that he’s lying to you a-”

“Joker would never lie to us,” Futaba snapped at him angrily, the thieves flinching as she hissed at Goro with such uncharacteristic anger and boldness, “He would never! You’re just, just trying to get us to not trust him, aren’t you?!”

“Oracle, I-”

“No, you shut up, this is Ren we’re talking about,” Futaba hissed, her hands curling into fists as she glared at Goro under her goggles, “He would never lie to us! He would never! You don’t know him! You tried to kill him!”

“Futaba-”

“Shu-”

The Palace abruptly trembled, the chandeliers above rattled violently, vases shattering, cognitive patrons screaming as the Phantom Thieves sprang from their seats, with a quick order from Makoto, they all dived under the small table as their surroundings shook.

“What’s going on?!” Ann cried out as she tried her best to retreat underneath the table, pulling Ryuji in as he clumsily fell forward, “Why is the Palace shaking?!”

“I don’t know, but I do know that something’s happening to Ren,” Futaba informs them, voice barely audible shaking from the tremors and her fear as her laptop beeps noisily in her lap.

“Oracle, what’s wrong!?” Sumire screamed as the tremors worsened, Futaba scrambling to look at her laptop, typing away at the keyboard as her eyes darted around the screen.

“It’s Ren!” she replied, “I don’t know what’s happening to him, but-”

Haru stumbles out from the double doors, her expression one of haste and panic, and fast as the tremors came the Palace suddenly stood still. The cowering Phantom Thieves paused as Haru fell onto the carpeted floor in a daze, lying on her side and breathing heavily, clutching her axe alongside an object in her hands. One they suspected that the reason why the quake that had hit the Palace had passed, they each emerged from under the table, excluding Futaba, who was still working away on her laptop.

“Noir! Haru, are you okay?!” Morgana exclaims as he rushes towards the fallen girl, paws glittering with green healing magic, ready to aid her, “What happened in there?! Where’s Joker?!”

“Joker...” Haru mumbles, her expression downcast at the mention of their missing friend, her eyes fixated on the carpet floor, her fingers curling with reflex. She closed her eyes temporarily, feeling suddenly, very, very tired, and she could physically feel bags forming under her eyes.

“Haru, what’s wrong?” Ann asked the girl, too occupied with worrying about her friend’s help to use their allocated codenames, swooping down to her level, kneeling alongside Morgana on the carpeted floor, “You look tired, take it easy okay?”

Haru slowly nods, as if the gesture was a Herculean task on its own, acknowledging Ann’s words as she allowed herself to be assisted by the red-wearing girl. Ann approached Haru, sliding an arm around her back, slinging Haru’s arm around her neck before lifting her up by the shoulders.

“Haru, I’m sorry if I agitate you further, but may I inquire about the glittering object you’re holding in your grasp?” Yusuke asked, pointing at the shiny purple object in the hand that slung around Ann’s shoulders.

“Just… take it,” Haru slurred, her eyes fluttering as she struggled to stay awake, her energy quickly draining as she stood there, “Please, I feel...”

Yusuke nodded, catching the crystalline object as Haru dropped it, Ryuji running by her side, helping Ann up as Haru looked as though she was about to lose consciousness, her skin flushing white.

“Is that?” Sumire gasps as Yusuke observes what he assumed to be a key Joker mentioned earlier, “Is that Noir’s mask?”

“Whatever it is, it’s definitely a key,” Futaba said, having already scanned the object in their hands with Al Azif, “It’s resonating with the door on the topmost floor, no doubt the same one that leads to the Fool’s Theatre,”

“While I do want to discuss additional things, I suggest we first get Noir out of here,” Makoto commands the others, “She is in no fighting condition, and if we were faced with another ambush like we did earlier, with Joker missing, we would be in an especially vulnerable position,”

“But, Ren-”

“We can’t go on, Skull,” Makoto shakes her head, “As much as I want to rush ahead in order to save Ren, we need to let Noir rest and regather her strength. We have plenty of time, Ren is a strong person, and we can strategize what to do next back in the real world, but for now, we need to retreat, okay?”

Ryuji opens his mouth to argue, a force look burned in his eyes, yet when he looked at Makoto’s stern, uncompromising expression he closed his mouth. He visibly winced, attempting to argue with their leader, but when he looked upon Haru’s pale, sickly face he realised that Makoto had a point.

“Okay, Queen,” he sighed defeatedly, before gesturing to Ann to follow him out of the Palace. She nodded, and while carefully supporting Haru they made their way down the stairs towards the grand foyer.

“As for the mask,” she turns to the rest of the thieves that remained in the Metaverse, “Oracle and Mona, you should hold onto the mask for the time being since you’re close to the meetup spot. I’m sure Skull and Panther would escort Noir back home just fine. As for the rest of you, we’ll discuss our next meeting session when Noir feels better and regains her strength, and Oracle and Crow; please stay behind for a bit, I need to discuss possible methods of communication between us all, if that’s okay,”

Futaba and Morgana nod in agreement, Yusuke handing the object to the girl as he leaves, Sumire giving the remaining thieves a tiny wave as they both exit the Palace.

“You aren’t leaving, Mona?” Futaba questions the cat, noticing him standing vigilantly between her and Goro.

He gives a nod and a smile. “I made a promise to Ren that if anything were to happen to him, I would be there to protect you,” he explained, Futaba giving him a puzzled look, “I mean, he didn’t, but he implied it, and that’s good enough for me,”

“Anyway,” Makoto coughed, grabbing the attention of all three of them, “Oracle, how easy is it for you to make sure our chats and calls are secure?”

  --

  The foyer of the top floor was empty compared to the rest of the building, no cognitions of people or ushers holding shadows alike wandered along the red-carpeted floor of the foyer in front of the most important auditorium in the Palace: the Fool’s Theatre.

Two red doors stood vigilant, surrounded by smooth black walls of marble, veins of gold running through the stone as red curtains hung along it, potted plants sprouting tall, green shrubs sparsely decorated the room, a golden chandelier hung in the middle, glittering beautifully in the surrounding light.

Joker emerged from the elevators that hugged the wall next to the stairs, hands casually in his pockets, having escaped the Empress Theatre he made his way back into his own. He strides across the room with long steps towards the doors, grabbing its golden handle, yet paused to inspect the velvet that decorated them. Cavities that held the keys to the theatre, won by the trials all the thieves had to face stayed empty, Joker brushing a gloved hand to where Haru’s mask would have been slotted in, before pulling the door open, it obeying its rightful master and allowed him entry, the lights of the auditorium shuttering dramatically to life.

Bathed in golden luminosity, the interior of his beloved hall glittered wonderfully in his eyes. Black, pristine leather seats lined each row along with red carpet decorated in a faint checkered pattern, golden walls and columns accenting the room and balconies, leading up to the beautiful mural that reminisced Yusuke's interpretation of Desire and Hope, brought to life as colours swirled and shifted and radiated above the grand, obsidian chandelier that dangled below it. He made his way down among the row of seats, his footsteps padded on the carpet, and with one quick motion he shot out his grappling hook, zipping across the air, before landing perfectly onto the wooden performance space.

Retracting the grappling hook and tucking his hands casually in his pockets, Joker retreated under the towering, black and gold curtains of the stage as he headed towards his dressing room.

The door to his sanctuary was located at the end of the otherwise bleak hallway, the red velvet shining against blank white doors, his name on a star-shaped door plate made of gold. He reached for the doorknob, twisting it, a soft ‘click’ echoing in the hallway as he pushed it open.

His dressing room was as luxurious as the theatre it was housed in, red and blacks decorated each crevice, white and gold accenting countertops and tables and door edges, expensive platters of food, bottles of drink, and electronics scattered across the room, all with a marble floor, gold veins accenting cracks between the rock. In the middle room, a black leather seat faced a large screen TV that was nestled comfortably within the wall, two beautifully velvet lined doors stood next to each other, leading to his bedroom and ‘office’ respectively. Closing the door behind him, Joker ignored all the temptations surrounding him completely, instead wandering towards the back of the room, where a single door lay forgotten, untouched by the same opulence which adorned its surroundings. A gloved hand on the doorknob, he twisted, flinging it open with gusto, flooding the dark monitor room with light.

“Bonjour mon invité, je suis de retour!” he called, laughing as he reached for Ren’s chair, grabbing it before he spun around to his other’s scow, Ren’s face illuminated by artificial, flickering lights. Ren did not reply, he did not want to give the satisfaction that he knew his shadow craved, yet Joker noticed his glistening wet cheeks, taking upon himself to inspect Ren’s face by suddenly grabbing his chin, his other’s eyes astonished as Joker inspected him.

“Ren, what happened to you?” Joker cooed, yet his tone lacked any real concern or warmth as he tilted Ren’s head, inspecting the glistening streaks of tears on his face, “Why did you cry? Do my plays not bring you joy?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Ren hissed as he jerked his head away from Joker’s grasp, feeling more disgusted and sicker the closer his shadow got to him, “Don’t touch me, don’t you dare touch me,”

Joker withdrew his hand back at Ren’s sudden outburst, feigning surprise at Ren’s rebellious attitude towards him, “I’m safe to assume that your tears are the result of the performances I put on for you, or perhaps from me interacting with your friends?”

“Whatever your plan is, leave them out of it,” Ren fumed, pulling on the restraints that bounded his hands, “They’ve got nothing to do with this place. I’m clearly the one you want, and I suspect you’d want to keep it that way,”

“I do,” Joker muses, “But I also want them. You see, Ren, I’ve clearly invited them here, not to steal your heart, but to save them from themselves, from this Hellish society that we all live in-”

“And you’re doing that by insulting them and brainwashing them?”

“I… didn’t mean to say those things to Haru,” Joker confessed, “But she left me no choice. If she wasn’t going to join us, I had to drive her out, I had to push her away, so she wouldn’t interfere with us, you understand right? I know you do, because you’re me,”

“I’m not you,” Ren spat, though he knew deep down his shadow was right, the words he uttered to Haru were his, thoughts he kept deep within his heart, yet he tried anyway to deny the manifestation of his darkest thoughts and feelings around him, “I’m not you,” he cried, “I’m not you,”

“But I am you,” Joker said plainly, raising his neck above to look down on Ren, both to dominate and to allow him to accommodate the intoxicating surge of power that again surged his veins, “I am thou, and I will see my - our - plan to its conclusion. Because you know why,”

“Because-”

“Because I get things done.” Joker stated, interrupting Ren as he snarled with superiority, “I always get things done. You. You get nothing done. I always do, I will succeed in our plan, I will see my play come to its intended conclusion, and I WILL get our friends to our side, so we can finally get what we deserve,”

“You won’t, because the others will stop you,” Ren said, though he quickly knew he was losing his argument the further Joker’s amused grin twitched wider, “They’ll save me, they’ll change my heart, they’ll-”

Ren choked a sob, Joker’s eyes widened abruptly, and the shadow stumbled back, clutching the red fabric of his waistcoat tightly, crashing into the wall behind him as he gasped.

It was another surge, more powerful than before, Joker groaned as his head spun, dizzying sensations clutched his consciousness as his eyesight blurred, tears welling up the corners of his eyes, and he could feel his heart twist in his chest. It was the same feeling he’d experience with Haru, the same sensations he felt taunting his other, yet as he looked at the horrified expression Ren had on his face with forgotten tears freshly streaking his face did he finally realise where these sensations came from.

Joker laughed as the surge fizzled away as fast as it had arrived as he sat on the floor, lying against the wall as he looked at Ren who was dumbfounded by what he just had witnessed. Joker allowed himself to relax before he clambered back onto his feet, the surge leaving him a shaky mess as he supported himself with a hand on the wall. He took a minute for himself gathering his breaths as he slumped against the wall, all the while Ren observed him with perplexed, fearful eyes.

“Hah, what a revelation,” Joker exclaimed breathlessly, straightening his posture and turning to Ren, “To think we learned something about the Metaverse during our chats, and I thought Mona had told us everything,”

“You’re insane, you really are,”

“Hmm, I wouldn’t describe myself as such,” Joker shrugged, “Then again, I’m-”

“Don’t say it,”

“Then don’t make me,” Joker laughs before turning towards the exit, a hand resting on the doorknob, “Anyway, I’ll make sure to get you some water so you don’t dehydrate yourself, and in something that you can’t easily smash or use to spill onto the controls,” he added, “I’m not an idiot.”

With his last remark, Joker closed the door behind him, leaving Ren alone with the numerous screens, some of them empty, some of them with plays that played repeatedly, and some of them looping footage of Haru’s saddened expression, of his friends, fighting and bickering. He closed his eyes, trying to drown the incessant chatter that surrounded him.

But he had hope. Hope for his friends in reaching him, hope that he was able to hold his sanity together, hope that they’d change his heart, that they’ll persevere, that they’ll be able to fight through whatever his twisted Palace had in store for them, and whatever Joker had prepared for them.

Because, he knew he had to, or allow his twisted heart to consume him entirely.

FLOWER MEANINGS Sunflower - Respect, Passionate Love, Radiance. Iris - Good News,Glad Tidings, Loyalty Gentle - Gentle. Daffodil - Respect. Carnation - Fascination, Distinction, and Love Anemone - Protection from evil, Forsaken, Expectations. White Rose - Innocence, Silence, Devotion. Narcissus - Self-Esteem Cyclamen and Sweet Pea - Resignation, Good-bye. Lotus -  Purity, Chastity. Marigold - Grief, Despair, Jealousy / God’s Perfect Light. Red Spider Lily - Never to meet again, Lost memory, Abandonment TRANSLATE Bonjour mon invité, je suis de retour - Hello my guest, I have returned.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #536: We Love You, Ren! (Super Smash Bros Ultimate)

2:00a a.m. at Smash Mansion's Living Room.......

Ren: (Sitting on the Living Room's Sofa, Looking Down on the Floor in a Sad, Tired Manner) ('Sighs Heavily')..........

?????: Renny?

In a matter of seconds, Ren quickly looks up, turns around and see that the person who called his name was none other than one of his now official adopted mothers, Bayonetta, who is staring at her with concern in her eyes.

Ren: Oh! Uh....Hey, mom. What are you doing up so late?

Bayonetta: Wondering why the living room's light was on. What's wrong, sweetheart? Why are you up this late as well?

Ren: I was just uhh.... Enjoying the atmosphere so far. ('Heh') Pretty.... normal so far......

Bayonetta: (Crosses her Arms) Renny, please be honest with me, dear. I know something is wrong with you the moment I stepped down those stairs. Now tell me.... Did you had a bad dream tonight?

Ren: ('Sighs in Defeat') Yeah....I did....It was.... Pretty bad to say the least..... B-But I'm pretty sure it was stupid anyways.

Bayonetta: It doesn't matter to me if this dream of yours was stupid or not. (Made her way to the Sofa and Sat Right Next to Ren) What's important to me now is that dream in particular is bothering my baby boy to the point of waking up in the middle of the night.....And all I really want to do right now, as a mother, is to listen and help you the best way I can, but only if you talk to me about this. Please....

Ren: (Took a Deep Breath Before Speaking Again) Okay. So....I don't wanna go into too much detail the dream, but.....long story short, I....dreamt that.....you, other mom, Pit, Pitto, all of my friends from Shiyuba, and.....even everyone here......hates me.....That....you all said that....I was a nuisance......that I was in everyone's way.......a waste of space.....(Tears Start Falling Down on his Face) that you don't want anything to do with me anymore.....('Sniff') and then after that.....you all vanished...... leaving me.....('Sniff') in the dark..... alone.....

Bayonetta: (Immediately Hugs Ren in a Loving Matter) Oh my poor baby, I'm so sorry.....

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly....and Sadly) See? ('Sniff') I told you....('Sniff') The dream was stupid.

Bayonetta: Renny, no. It wasn't stupid at all. It is worrying me to no end now because what everyone of us said to you in that dream of yours is very FAR from the truth. We do not think of you a nuisance, a waste of space, or any other terrible things that version of us told you. You are our everything, Ren Amamiya!......And we love you...(Tears Fell Down Her Face) ('Sniff') We love you so so very much everyday......

Ren: (Immediately Hugs Bayonetta Back) H-Hey! Mom, don't cry! I believe you guys one hundred percent. I promise.

Bayonetta: I know you do, sweetheart, and I never doubted you for a second. ('Sniff') I just wanted to tell you that from the bottom of my heart.

Ren: And it definitely shows. It just that..... Honestly.... I'm not even sure what that dream came from. It's like....it just came out of nowhere and everything, you know?

Bayonetta: I can believe that. Dreams does work in mysterious ways after all. But if you ask me, I really want you to try your hardest not to let it get to you. (Gently Holds Ren's Hands) Because at the end of the day, no matter how many people would try and say otherwise, you, Ren Amimaya, mean so much to each and everyone of us in this mansion and in Shiyuba. Promise me you'll do your best to remember that for as long as you live.....(Kiss the Top of One of Ren's Hands) Okay?

Ren: (Smiles Softly While Using his Other Hand to Wipe the Tears Away) Yeah.......('Sniff') I promise. (Chuckles Lightly) Sorry you had to see me like that. Usually whenever I cry, it... mostly have to deal with me getting pulled to the edge. Emotionally speaking. Plus....I know you used to be annoyed with seeing people cry in general, so....

Bayonetta: "Annoyed" (Giggles Softly) Oho, sweetheart, trust me, I am way past being annoyed with it now. You seem to forget that your mother and I cry almost all the time nowadays. It's a miracle I don't have that much masscara on tonight. My face would be a complete mess.

Ren: Are you kidding? With and without any masscara or make-up, you and goddess mom would always be beautiful to me. Inside and out.

Bayonetta: (Heart Begins to Melt Happily as She Gives Ren a Big Kiss on the Cheek) I love you so much, Renny. I know I may have technically already told you this a lot tonight, but it's the honest truth.

Ren: (Smiles Softly) I know. And I love you and everyone in my life too, mom. Always.

Bayonetta: (Smiles Softly as She Got Up from the Sofa) So, you are going to be okay now, my dear?

Ren: I going to be okay now that you were here to talk to me. I appreciate it a lot.

Bayonetta: Well, if that's the case......(Picks Ren Up From the Couch, Holding him in a Bridal Carry)

Ren: (Confused) Huh?

Bayonetta: I believe it's high time we head ourselves back to bed, no? (Head Upstairs While Holding Ren in her Arms)

Ren: Yeah, but.....You do know that I can just walk up to my room on my own, right?

Bayonetta: True. But right now, you are going to sleep with your two mommies for the rest of the night.

Ren: (A bit Surprised) Seriously? Are you....sure you want me to sleep with you guys for the night

Bayonetta: (Smiles Softly) Of course I'm sure, my little ray of sunshine. I wanna make absolute sure you have a peaceful sleep tonight. And if it means having you sleep right beside your mother and I, then so be it.

Ren: (Smiles Softly Again) You know, I know said this before, but...you guys really are good moms.

And with that, Bayonetta begins to lovingly gives Ren a bunch of kisses, all while making their way to her and Palutena's room.

Bayonetta and Palutena's Room...

Palutena: (Already Fast Asleep) 'Zzzzzzzzz'

Bayonetta: (Whispers into Palutena's Ear) Pauuuuliiie~

Palutena: (Slowly and Tiredly Begins to Walk) Bayo..... what's- (Turns to see Bayonetta Carry-on Ren in her Arms) Ren? What's going on here?

Bayonetta: Well, as you see, our baby boy here has gotten himself a terrible dream. So I figured that he would be sleeping with us for the rest of the night. (Gently Places Ren on the Bed Right Beside Palutena)

Ren: But only if you're okay with this.

Palutena: (Gives Ren a Tired Yet Soft Smiles) Renny, of course I'm okay with this you sleeping here tonight. (Hugs Ren Lovingly) You are our son now and we would do anything in our power to be there for you no matter.

Bayonetta: (Whispers to Ren with a Smirk on her Face While She Lays Down on her Side of the Bed) Told you so~

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) I know. I know. But really, other mom, thanks. (Gives Palutena a Kiss on Top of her Forehead) I love you.

Palutena: (Gives Ren a Big Kiss on the Cheek) I love you too, Renny.

???: Moms?

Bayonetta: (Turns to see Pit and Dark Pit Standing Besides Her and Palutena's Doorway) Pit? Pitto? What's wrong, our darlings?

Pit: We were just looking for- (Eyes Widened as He Sees his New Big Brother is Already on the Bed with Palutena and Bayonetta) Ren!

Ren: (Waves at Pit and Dark Pit) Hey, guys. What's up?

Dark Pit: Dude, we were looking for you all night.

Pit: (Frowns Worryingly) You wasn't at your bed at the time. So we got up and look for you just so we can try and help.

Dark Pit: (Frowns a Little) You had a bad dream again?

Ren: Yeah, but I'll be fine. Witch mom helped me through it.

Bayonetta: (Proudly Nodded)

Dark Pit: Huh. Well, if that's the case then-

Pit: Can we sleep with you guys for the night? We wanna make sure our big bro is okay.

Dark Pit: (Turns to Pit) Dude, he just said that he's-

Palutena: (Smiles Softly) Of course, sweetie. You two are always welcome to sleep here.

Bayonetta: (Giggles Softly) The more the merrier.

Pit: (Smiles Brightly) Sweet! (Happily Makes his Way to his Mothers' Bed) Make room for us.

Dark Pit: (Sighs in Defeat as He Follows Along) Whatever.

Pit: (Lays Next to Ren and Palutena on His Side) Goodnight, Ren.

Dark Pit: (Lays Next to Ren and Bayonetta on his Side) Try to rest easy, alright? Highly doubt that any of us are ain't anywhere out if this bed.....

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) Sure thing, man. I love you guys.

Pit: We love you too, bro.

And with that, the entire family peaceful went back to sleep together.

Bonus

Next Morning.......

Ren was busy watching television in the living room, when suddenly......

'Doorbell Rang'

Ren: (Made his Way to the Door)

'Door Opens'

Makoto: (Standing in the Doorway with a Very Worried Look on Her Face).....

Ren: (Smiles Softly at Makoto) Hey. You're finally here-

Makoto: Oh, Ren....(Immediately Hugs Ren Lovingly) I got your message and I am so sorry you had to go through with that last night.

Ren: Makoto.

Makoto: I understand that dreams in general can be terrifying most of the time, but it isn't something you could let it get the better of you. No matter how traumatizing it may be at times.

Ren: Makooooto.

Makoto: ('Sniff') And I know I already told you this before and everything, but I wholeheartedly mean it when I say that each and everyone of us loves you with all of our-

Ren: (Gently Pulls Away From Makoto's Embrace while Having his Hands on Both of her Shoulders) Makoto, honey, I'm gonna be fine. Don't worry.

Makoto: (A Little Bit Skeptical and Worried) Are you absolutely sure?

Ren: (Smiles Softly) Yeah. (Kiss the top of Makoto's Forehead) I promise. Mom helped me through it last night.

Makoto: Witch or Goddess?

Ren: Witch. (Chuckles Lightly) Ironically enough, dhe almost said the exact same thing you were about to say to me last night

Makoto: (Blushes a Little) W-Well, it's the honest truth! We love you so much, Ren Amimaya. You mean the world us and I'll be more than happy to tell you that every single day if I have to.

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) Wouldn't mind that for second. Cause I love you guys too. (Hugs Makoto Again) Thanks for coming by here and keeping me company.

Makoto: (Happily Hugs Ren Back) You don't need to thank me, Ren-Ren. I'm always here for you, now matter what. Remember?

Ren: Clearly. So uhh.....You wanna go to the living, binge watch some anime shows, and cuddle the entire day away.

Makoto: (Giggles Softly) I'd love that.

@keyenuta

@cyber-wildcat

@princeoflions123

@ma-lemons

@albion-93

@26shann

@chompycroc

@italian-love-cake

@shumakoweek

[jokerrenwriting]

Bad Guy - One-Shot

A/N: IDK I prefer the name Ren because I’m lazy and it’s shorter so that’s what I’m gonna call him through most of my writing, probably. This is based on a prompt I saw on Pinterest. Enjoy!

I smirked up at the black-haired, masked young man, whose dagger blade was pressed against my throat. “How did you get in here? You’re not a Shadow---you’re a persona-user,” he growled. There was more of a purr than a growl to his voice.

I chuckled. “You’re the Phantom Thieves, eh?”

“What of it?” he retorted.

“That makes you Joker. Everyone keeps telling me you’re the bad guy.”

Joker glanced over his shoulder at the rest of his group before turning back to me. In the corner of my eye, I saw the rest of his team file away into the darkness. He pushed me against the wall again, holding my overcoat in his fist, arm across my chest, dagger to my throat. “How did you get into the Metaverse?” he snapped. His hot breath brushed my face.

“Same as you, I assume,” I said, keeping calm despite the mild panic at having a dagger to my throat. The cocky façade I put on was just that---a mask as obvious as the ones covering both of our faces. Hopefully, though, my false confidence would be convincing enough to fool even the charismatic Joker. He was gazing at me with curiosity in his dark eyes. “But, I’ll level with you, Joker. I don’t think you are the bad guy.”

“That right?” he challenged quietly.

“I’ve met plenty of people who’ve done far worse things than you,” I said. “Most of them people I trusted.”

“So you got in using the Meta-Nav?”

“The very same.”

“How have you survived on your own this long?” He released me and dropped his dagger, taking a step back and looking impressed.

“By not being a reckless idiot?” I suggested, pushing my gloved hand through my hair. The muted sunset orange of my gloves stood out against the shadows and reddish light of the depths of Mementos. “By only picking on people my own size?”

That earned me a smirk---a lopsided, alluring one full of amusement and mischief.

I was liking this Joker.

“Look. Maybe you are smart, but this place is dangerous alone. You should come with us.”

“Sorry, J, I work better by myself.”

“What, don’t want anyone to slow you down?” he needled with derision and sarcasm.

I scoffed. “No,” I retorted sharply. “The opposite, actually. I would slow everyone else down if I worked with people. I may be the fastest walker at school, but when I’m in a place like this I want to examine everything.”

I kept the fact that, despite being a pretty good fighter with my persona, I wasn’t actually terribly athletic to myself.

Joker regarded me thoughtfully. “Come with us anyway,” he said.

“No thanks, sweetheart,” I replied, saccharinely sweet, patting Joker on the shoulder. “But if we run into each other again, you’ll have to introduce me to your friends.”

“I, uh... do you even know the rules of the Metaverse?”

“Of course I do. What do you think I am, anyway? Pea-brained? I think not.” I whirled, my braid striking Joker in the chest, and jogged off into the darkness. “It was nice to meet you, Joker!” I called over my shoulder before turning a corner.

*^*^*^*^*

It was about a month before I ran into the PTs in Mementos again.

I’d decided, despite finding Palaces with the Nav, to leave those big targets to the Thieves. They had more people and therefore more power. I could take down one minorly-twisted Shadow on my own. But I wasn’t equipped to fight Palace rulers or steal their Treasures operating alone.

“Evening, Joker,” I remarked upon running into the Phantom Thieves.

“Evening,” Joker replied. “You never told me your name, you know.”

I smirked. “You never told me yours either. I just knew it.” I winked at him and then smiled at the other Thieves. “I’m Sun. Nice to meet you all.”

“Sun, huh?” a girl in black with green circuitry on her suit and long red hair asked skeptically. “I’m Oracle.”

Oracle and Joker? No one told me that codenames had a Batman theme going on...

“Skull,” said a boy with yellow hair and gloves---along with a skull-shaped mask, interestingly enough.

“Fox.”

“Panther.”

“Queen.”

“Noir.”

Oh. So there most definitely wasn’t a Batman theme going on.

“Pleasure to make your acquaintance.” I smiled at them all, waving cheekily and winking at Joker again. “Have a good night. Stay limber. Stay in school. Don’t do drugs. So long.” With a mock, two-fingered salute, I ran down the passage in Mementos.

“Sun!” Joker shouted after me.

Too late. I was already gone.

*^*^*^*^*

“Amaterasu, I’m sending you to Ms. Kawakami’s class for today,” my teacher said.

I bit my tongue to avoid back-talking and asking why. “Yes, sir,” I said instead, getting to my feet and leaving the classroom, bag on my shoulder. The hallways were abandoned since everyone else was in class.

I knocked on the next classroom door. “Ms. Kawakami? I was sent by---”

“Yes. Miss Amaterasu. Go sit by Mr. Amamiya, would you?” She waved over to the column of desks next to the window. There was an open desk in the column next to it, second-to-the-back. The boy directly next to it---seated behind a dirty-blonde girl---had shaggy black hair. He nodded to the empty desk.

“Sure,” I said, crossing the front of the room and edging down the column to fall into the chair.

When Ms. Kawakami wasn’t looking, Mr. Amamiya passed me a piece of torn notebook paper.

What’re you in for? -Ren

I snickered and peeked at him out of the corner of my eye before writing a reply. I back-talk my homeroom teacher a lot. He’s getting sick of me. Doesn’t like that one of his students is smarter than him and corrects him. Nice to meet you properly, Joker.

I passed the paper back.

Ren’s eyes widened behind his glasses and he glared at me. I smirked.

Realization dawned on his face. Amaterasu... he mouthed. Sun goddess... Sun...

I smirked at him and winked. I’ll explain later, I mouthed back.

He nodded.

We went back to our notes to avoid getting called out for not paying attention in class.

*^*^*^*^*

“Amaterasu,” Ren called in the lunchroom, catching sight of me. He jerked his head for the door as I got my tray. I followed him out. He led me up to the roof of the school.

“Haven’t been up here in a while,” I said, sitting on the table part of an old broken desk and balancing my tray on my knees as Ren sat in a chair like a good boy. “Guessing you’re wanting an explanation then? On... me, I guess. Who I am, where I came from, all that, right?”

“That’d be helpful.”

“Well, let’s make a deal. Information exchange. You tell me about you and I’ll tell you about me, Joker.”

“Shh. Don’t use that name here.”

“No one can hear us up here.”

Ren looked around apprehensively. “Okay. It’s a deal. You first.”

I smirked. “Oof. You’re good,” I said, impressed. “The charisma, the confidence, the directness. I appreciate that, man.” I crossed my ankles and swung them. “Alright. Me first.” I told him my story. How I found the Metaverse, how I awakened my persona, how I trained to use my weapons and persona. In return, he promised to tell me his---we ran out of time for his turn as the bell tolled to go back to class.

“Hey. LeBlanc café. After school. Stop by any time. It’s a great place. I’ll be there after school today if you want to hear my story,” Ren said. “Let’s exchange contact info so I can send you the address.”

“Okay.” I pulled my phone out. “Hey Ren?”

“Mm?”

We exchanged information.

“You’re that kid that everyone accuses of being a criminal right?”

He sighed. “Yeah... that’s me.”

“You’re not what I expected. You seem like a good guy. Sorry for what I said in Mementos.”

“Oh. Uh. Thanks.” He rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah. My pleasure. I’ll see you later.” I smiled and headed back down into the depths of the school.

*^*^*^*^*

“Joker. Long time no see,” I said as the PTs wheeled around a corner in Mementos. My sarcasm wasn’t lost on them. I’d literally seen him a few hours ago at LeBlanc.

“Yeah,” he said with a smirk. “Hey guys, you go on ahead. I’m gonna talk to Sun for a minute.”

“Ah. The never-ending recruitment quest,” Ryuji---I mean, Skull---joked.

“Yeah. Sure. We’ll leave,” the strange small cat-like creature remarked. I still didn’t have a clue that that thing was and I definitely didn’t have the courage to ask. Back in reality it looked like a normal cat. But it was a talking normal cat in the real world. Which was more than a little trippy. When Ren was telling me his story occasionally the cat would butt in and add something. Every time I had to resist the urge to scream. We were in the attic of the café at the time---that was serving as Ren’s living space for the year---and there were customers below.

I digress.

The Phantom Thieves jogged down the darkened tunnels and vanished into the shadows.

“What about it?” Joker asked.

“Huh? What about what?”

“Wanna join?”

“I already said, hot shot, I’m better off alone. But thanks. And if I ever really screw up and need a hand I’ll know who to reach out to.” I pulled him down to my level---he was several centimeters taller than me---by the lapel of his sexy overcoat and kissed him on the cheek just below his mask. “No matter what the public says, you’re not a bad guy and more people than just me believe in you, ya hear?” I whispered.

He leaned back just enough to meet my eyes. “I hear. Thanks.”

“‘Course. Good luck.”

“You too. Be careful.”

“I should be saying that to you. You’re the reckless one. Take care of the other Phantom Thieves, okay?”

“I do my best.”

“I know. Goodnight, Joker.”

“Goodnight, Sun.”

Before I could run off, he snagged my hand. I paused, half turned away from him to dive deeper into the depths of Mementos on my own. But his red glove was wrapped around my orange one.

I didn’t even get the chance to ask what he thought he was doing.

He just lifted my hand to his lips and kissed my glove. “A pleasure, as always,” he said.

“Oof you’re suave,” I teased, sliding my hand out of his grip, giving him a wink, and running into the darkness. “Careful Joker.” I was too far away for him to hear me, so I was talking to myself. “Keep that up and I may end up head-over-heels.”

[dragonsinkwell]

🛌 for Velvet! Attendant Ren pretty blease? Thank you so very much, I hope you have a lovely day/night!!💙

“It won’t do to keep pressuring yourself without end,” comes Akira’s gentle voice from beside you, causing you to jump in your seat as you pull your thoughts out of the clouds and remember your surroundings. “Okita-san deserves your trust, as both your friend and your partner in this endeavor. Trust that she will succeed on her end; you owe her that much.”

With a resigned sigh you slump forward, elbows on your knees as you bury your face in your hands. He’s right, of course, but it doesn’t put your mind at ease in the slightest. If only you’d been more careful, more skeptical, more cautious, perhaps you could have held onto secrecy a while longer and kept your identity under wraps. While yes, in turn you solidified your suspicions about Joker’s identity, that he was indeed Ren Amamiya as you’d begun to think, making it easy to piece together the rest of the Phantom Thieves, it put you in a great deal of danger. How many times did you invite your classmate over? Even as you began to doubt his intentions? What doesn’t Ren know about your civilian life by now? Not only where you live, but your day-to-day routine, your favorite hangout spots, your class schedule. Everything. And with patience for your opposition running out with utmost haste, by his own admission, drastic reveals took drastic measures to remedy.

Leaving you here, temporarily stranded in the Velvet Room (or, you dearly hope this is a temporary maneuver) while your partner-in-crime and dear friend does her best to find accommodations for you back in the real world. It’s enough to drive you positively mad. Trapped and currently on the defensive, all you can do is wait and begin to plan for a push back into the lead.

An arm casually slung across your shoulders derails your newest train of thought and you pick your head up just enough to peer at your inhuman assistant. “Your face might just freeze like that if you don’t relax soon,” Akira jokes softly, trying to find a crack in your distress, “and just think of what might happen to that lovely hair of yours.”

Despite the malaise clouding your mind, the fact that he would even consider your future appearance a factor gets a chuckle out of you. It’s a completely out of place sentiment, but it does its job, taking the edge off your panic. “’S that what happened to you, then?” you manage to eke out between the giggles starting to bubble up from your chest, “Thought you were awful grey for a guy my age.”

“Doesn’t it lend me a nice air of mystery, though? Rather dashing, don’t you think?”

You watch his now smiling expression shift into a playful flirt, as Akira flutters his eyelashes, and you can’t help but laugh a little louder at the sight. The shared mirth lasts a moment longer before simmering down as reality creeps back into the forefront. All the same, it’s lighter, the edges of the situation dulled ever so slightly. You share a moment of silence with him, mind whirring as you try to map out a plan, not noticing as you start to slowly lean into his shoulder.

“You’re sure it’s alright if I wait here a while?” you finally ask, voice timid. Even after all this time, you’re not one-hundred percent sure about the rules of this strange, otherworldly place. You have no fears being in Akira’s company, if anyone could keep you safe it’s your attendant, but you’ve never stayed in the Velvet Room for more than half an hour at most. “I’m not gonna, y'know, turn into a Shadow or something just because I spend a night or two here, right?”

You can feel Akira’s laugh as much as you can hear it, now resting snugly against his side the way you are. With the danger past and the adrenaline fading, it’s hard to deny the comfort of his warm embrace after a long and harrowing day. A nap would do wonders.

“Mm, I thought those dark circles under your eyes were looking awfully deep.” He chuckles once more as you snicker into his shoulder. Akira lets this moment linger too, enjoying the chance to see you laugh despite your mounting troubles, before continuing when the mood settles. “No, no harm will come to you here. A few days out of necessity will do nothing to you. So rest while you have the time and safety to do so.”

“Not gonna get any arguments from me, boss,” you mumble, finally allowing yourself to relax for the time being. That’s right, you’re safe here. You need to keep your strength and energy up while you can; it’s only downhill from here. “You got like, a guest room or somethin’? Feels a little weird just, camping out here in a blue office-thing. Don’t wanna impose or nothin’.”

“Well, you are the guest, and this is your Velvet Room, so in a way, I suppose this is a guest room.” You give a snort of derision and start to pull away to sit up, perhaps to keep up the facade of propriety long enough to find a ‘real’ place to sleep. Or, that’s Akira’s best guess. Either way, he keeps his arm wrapped around you and finds that upon being met with this meager resistance, you give in to his silent request. “Trust me, it’s no imposition. Rest while you can and trust your friend. You don’t have to carry this on your shoulders alone.”

Glancing over at you, he fully expects you to quip back, but instead Akira catches you staring off into the distance with a drowsy, half-lidded gaze. He’s not sure exactly how the day’s events transpired, though he generally watches you carefully, he’d been distracted making plans with Lavenza while Joker was preoccupied. Though, there’s no forgetting the terror on your face as he caught you dashing through the Metaverse to shake off your pursuers and reach some modicum of safety, and while your future security is still up in the air, for now you’ve reached exactly what you sought. This was a place unique to you and, short of an outright horrifying turn of events, none of the Thieves would be able to so much as be properly aware of it. However, regardless of what brought you here, it’s beyond clear to him that you are perfectly exhausted and in need of rest and relaxation.

Which is why Akira stays quiet for once, letting your silence signal the conversation’s proper end. Though he’d only been teasing you when he called this your room, and intended this hug to be for emotional comfort, these things didn’t seem to really matter to you given how quickly you finish drifting off against his side. He’d have to wake you eventually, both to actually provide you a somewhat-decent temporary room for your brief stay and to see about how to proceed forward in a safe manner, but Akira finds he can’t even bring himself to think about waking you right now. Memories about his past life, how tiring so much of it had been, and the unfamiliar tenderness you’d started evoking in him stood squarely in the way of any thought of disturbing you.

Besides, he thinks with a spark of amusement, you’re rather cute like this, devoid of any and all of the tension you’ve been carrying for months. Simply at peace, calm at last. It hasn’t been often lately that Akira’s been able to drag more than a shallow, quickly fading break in your malaise as you’ve started piecing together the truth of the situation you’ve found yourself in, and he can’t bring himself to interrupt this moment of peace.

And yet this decision of his own means Akira can’t exactly move in any meaningful way from his own spot on the admittedly garish blue couch, lest he disturb your sleep. With a quiet sigh at his own self, Akira shifts his position ever so slightly to increase his comfort. If he’s going to be stuck here until you wake from your well-earned nap, he might as well rest up on his own accord, however little he actually needs it. It’s better than sitting there running his mind in circles, or worse, staring at you like some cheap ero-romance novel character, he says to himself as he allows himself to echo your state of slumber. Definitely better.

[pulaasul]

Femoral Meeting - C10

One day after school, Ryuji stumbled as his broken leg was acting up, and because of that, he met one of Gekkoukan High’s former athletes. Kazushi Miyamoto.

FFN I AO3

Prologue I C1 I C2 I C3 I C4 I C5 I C6 I C7 I C8 I C9

------

After the dinner between his benefactors’ friends, he suddenly found himself with Yukari, Junpei, Ken, Fuuka, a blond girl in a suit and tie and a white haired man in a police uniform.

The group Ryuji was with were inside the same office he was in earlier. His doctor’s office.

“I thank you all for coming.” Mitsuru stated as she walked inside the office. “Sakamoto, the new faces you see are Aigis and Police officer Akihiko Sanada.”

“Nice to meet you kid.” Akihiko greeted.

“It is nice to meet you.” Aigis bowed in respect.

“Even if you arrest me.” Ryuji glared. “I’m not telling shit.” He snarled, suddenly defiant to everyone in the room.

Everyone else in the room looked at each other, confused at the younger boy’s exclamation.

“Calm down.” Ken tried to diffuse the situation. “What are you talking about Sakamoto?” He questioned. “No one’s arresting anyone here.”

“Oh right.” Yukari perked up. “I think the way Mitsuru-senpai demanded how the change of hearts occurred gave him the wrong conclusion.” She explained. “I mean it was kinda similar to how Fuuka was recruited to become part of our group back then.” She continued. “So I thought nothing of it.”

“To be fair, the higher ups at the National Police Agency have been hounding Mitsuru and I for answers of causes of the mental and psychotic shutdowns.” Akihiko piped in. “They just want to save their asses and not get caught up in the crossfire that was Shido’s confession.” He finished.

“Don’t forget the change of hearts the Phantom Thieves were involved in.” Aigis supplied.

“So you guys, adults, thought that hounding a kid, abused by an adult, is going to make him talk?” Ken questioned.

“You’re an adult yourself Amada.” Junpei countered.

“I believe that having a police officer in our group also enforced the idea that he is being arrested.” Aigis supplied. “Considering his status as a Phantom Thief.” She continued.

“I suppose when you put it that way.” Mitsuru began. “It was a bit forceful of us to demand answers from you.” She admitted to their guest. “Which lead to him making the wrong conclusions.”

“Let me clear things up for him.” Ken volunteered.

“Everyone, let’s leave things to Amada.” Mitsuru ordered. “We will reconvene once he’s finished clearing things up.” She finished as she prompted for everyone to leave.

“Wait, what’s happening?” Ryuji asked. “What is going on?” He glared at Ken.

“Don’t mind them.” Ken started. “They’re going to their prior commitments.” He explained. “For what it’s worth they just don’t know the first thing to do with kids like you.”

“Kids like me.” Ryuji repeated. “What about you then?” Ryuji’s eyes narrowed at the Akechi-look alike.

Maybe Futaba was right, this guy was really Akechi. If her hunch was right, he doesn’t know if he’s prepared for the things that Akechi’s going to do to him.

Granted, Akechi wasn’t the person responsible for torturing Ren while in captivity.

He only killed him.

“I was a lot like you once.” Ken started. “I didn’t trust any adult, or anyone older than me for that matter.” He continued. “After a rogue Persona killed my mother, and the police mocked what I saw, I lost faith in them.” He admitted.

Maybe this wasn’t Goro Akechi at all. Maybe this was simply Ken Amada, like he claimed to be from the beginning. After all Akechi did say that his mother died because she killed herself. Amada’s mother on the other hand was killed.

Wait did he say a rogue Persona?

“I lived my life consumed by revenge until Akihiko-senpai and the others made me see the error of my ways.” Ken added to his earlier admission.

“What does that have to do with me?” Ryuji asked, calming down from his recent outburst.

“It was something Mitsuru-senpai was indirectly part of.” Ken continued with his story.

“I still don’t see how this connects to me.” Ryuji interrupted.

“My point is that Mitsuru-senpai can be trusted.” Ken answered. “She can be a bit forceful but you can trust her.” He continued. “You’re not being arrested.” He informed the young boy. “We just want to know how the stealing of hearts occur.”

“If I’m not being arrested,” Ryuji trailed off. “Then what was up with the men in black that were questioning about my days before that green surroundings thing happened?” He questioned. “It’s what made me and my friends conclude that I was being arrested.”

“That…” Ken trailed off. “We’re going to open that up with them.”

------

Mitsuru and the others reconvened inside the office of Ryuji’s doctor. They were all seated in the same place as before. The person named Akihiko was only wearing a sleeveless tank top and holding some kind of drink while the person named Junpei was in the process of removing his blue baseball jersey.

The group had a new addition was with them. A female dressed as a maid from a maid café.

“Sakamoto, this is Kikuno Saikawa.” Mitsuru introduced.

“It is nice to finally meet you in person Sakamoto-sama.” Kikuno greeted as she bowed.

“Y-yeah.” Ryuji was caught off guard at the address. “S-same to you.”

“Amada has told me that you and your comrades concluded that you were going to be arrested because of the inquiries about you made a few days prior.” Mitsuru stated.

Ryuji merely nodded at the statement.

“Kikuno?” Mitsuru looked at her maid, prompting her for an answer.

“A few operatives had heard that you had a conversation with Sakamoto-sama and promptly investigated.” Kikuno answered. “Before they could launch the investigation, however, Sanada-sama’s office received a call from a concerned citizen about someone not getting the justice they deserve.” She continued. “And a few moments later, Sakamoto-sama’s mother called Sanada-sama’s office and wanted to file a case.” She added.

“Who were those that launched the investigations Kikuno?” Mitsuru asked.

“I believe they were also the ones responsible to follow Ren Amamiya back to his hometown, following his release.” Kikuno answered.

“Wait, Ren’s involved in this too?!” Ryuji’s exclaimed.

“He was your leader no?” Mitsuru asked.

Ryuji fell silent at this inquiry. He can’t say anything or he’ll get Ren in trouble again.

“Kikuno, please continue.” Mitsuru prompted her maid to continue with her report.

“I believe they wanted to redeem themselves after failing at the task that was assigned to them.” Kikuno complied. “They weren’t able to follow Amamiya-sama’s trip due to a single missing part of the car they were using.” She finished.

“Thank you Kikuno.” Mitsuru smiled at her maid.

“By your leave Kirijo-sama.” Kikuno bowed.

“You may continue your duties Kikuno.” Mitsuru dismissed her employee as she looked at the youngest boy in the room.

“I should apologize for the misunderstanding my employees caused.” Mitsuru apologized “I am pretty sure my demands for information weren’t any help to dissuade you from the conclusion you and your comrades drew.” She bowed as she finished her sentence.

Ryuji was at a loss for words. He didn’t expect a big shot like Kirijo would apologize to him, let alone bow before him.

“We would really appreciate if you could shed some light on how these changes of heart occur.” Yukari spoke up.

“I imagine he’s going to need his team’s approval to disclose anything.” Ken offered.

“Why does he need that?” Junpei questioned. “The Shadow Operatives is sanctioned by the government isn’t it?” He continued.

“I see.” Mitsuru nodded.” I think I see why you are reluctant.” She nodded.

“What do you mean senpai?” Junpei asked. “Why does he need the approval of his friends when the government is asking them for information?” He continued. “Wouldn’t that count as treason if he won’t say anything about it?” He added.” This is a matter of National Security.” He finished.

“You misunderstand Iori.” Mitsuru spoke up. “You forget that some politicians still blame the Phantom Thieves of Hearts for the evolved cases of the Apathy Syndrome.” She continued. “Any information about the other members could put them behind bars.”

“I see.” Fuuka perked up. “Masayoshi Shido is still viewed by his allies to have been a victim of the Phantom Thieves.” She stated as she typed on the laptop she brought. “Most of them are still saying that the disgraced politician was a victim and Japan lost a capable Prime Minister.”

“The hell!” Ryuji reacted to Fuuka’s statement. “He forced his son to induce both Mental and Psychotic Shutdowns across Tokyo.” He growled. “He ain’t innocent in all this shit!”

Ryuji’s eyes soon widened at the realization of his words. He just revealed more information to these people.

“I see.” Mitsuru responded. “Just as we feared.” She sighed.

“Forgive me for intruding.” Makoto’s voice was suddenly heard.” I had Alibaba bug Skull’s phone to eavesdrop on the conversation.” She admitted. “I’m the Phantom Thieves’ Queen.” She introduced herself.”

“Queen.” Ryuji started. “Sorry for not keeping my mouth shut.” He apologized.

The members of the Shadow Operatives looked at each other at the sudden interruption. The spying and the eavesdropping. They also took note that Sakamoto didn’t react negatively to the interruption.

“No Skull.” Makoto dismissed the apology. “Oracle has told me about how you three reacted to Amada-san’s appearance at school.” She continued. “I am pretty sure Kirijo-san’s organization has already connected Akechi to our cause.”

“You are right Queen.” Mitsuru nodded as Ryuji placed his phone on a nearby table. “We concluded that the missing Goro Akechi was likely a Persona user and a member of the Phantom Thieves.” She finished.

“He was a member at a certain point.” Makoto confirmed. “But we claim no connection to his deeds for the Mental and Psychotic shutdowns that has proliferated Tokyo in the last year.” She added “We intervened so that we can distance ourselves to the deeds Masayoshi Shido had ordered Goro Akechi do.” She finished.

“Can you confirm Sakamoto’s statement?” Akihiko voiced his question.

“Yes, we can confirm Skull’s statement that Goro Akechi is indeed Masayoshi Shido’s son.” Makoto stated. “Including the deaths caused by Akechi like Shujin’s principal Kobayakawa, Okumura Food’s CEO, among others.” She finished.

“This is Alibaba.” Futaba’s distorted voice was heard next. “You promised Oracle, Panther and Skull that you’d explain how and why the green surroundings with coffins happened.” She demanded.

“The speaker is right Mitsuru-senpai.” Fuuka voiced out meekly.

“Save the explanations for later.” Makoto interrupted. “I’d like to request for Skull’s release.” She demanded.

“You can’t do that!” Junpei exclaimed!” This is official business.”

“You misunderstood, while we lack the ability to change hearts, we can still use legal means.” Makoto started. “I could have all of you sued for warrantless arrest and kidnapping.” She threatened.

“You got balls for threatening Mitsuru like that Queen.” Akihiko commented. “Even the National Police Agency won’t dare cross her.”

“She is after all, the Imperious Queen of Executions.” Aigis piped in.

“Queen is right.” Mitsuru voiced out as she stood up. “The Shadow Operatives are walking on thin ice as it is.” She continued.” With Minazuki’s escape a few years earlier, we can’t have a legal battle in our midst.” She added. “I do hope you would share any information you have with us Queen.” She finished as she gave Ryuji a stack of papers.

“Are you sure Mitsuru-san?” Aigis questioned. “Is it right for them to know of the Dark Hour?”

“It’s alright Aigis.” Mitsuru nodded.” If they hadn’t experienced the phenomenon, I would have preferred to keep this a secret from them.” She explained as she placed a small set of papers beside Ryuji’s phone. “Queen.” She turned her focus unto Ryuji’s phone once more. “I gave Sakamoto a detailed explanation about the Dark Hour.” She added.

“Dark Hour?” Ryuji and Makoto questioned in unison.

“The phenomenon where you saw coffins standing.” Yukari supplied.

“That and how they came to be.” Mitsuru continued her train of thought.

“We thank you for complying with our request.” Makoto voiced her appreciation.

“You basically blackmailed us into releasing your friend.” Junpei bitterly commented. “We were doing official work here.”

“I understand that Iori-san.” Makoto responded. “However, I was not about to leave Skull to be eaten in a Lion’s den.”

“Magnifique!” Mitsuru praised. “You’d make a fine addition to our organization Queen.”

“I am flattered.” Queen acknowledged the praise. “I just want Skull released from your custody.”

“I understand.” Mitsuru nodded. “Now for the next agenda.” Mitsuru voiced out. “Iori?”

“Next agenda?” Ryuji, Makoto asked in unison, quite alarmed.

“Don’t worry.” Mitsuru assured. “This won’t take long.”

“I told you before Mitsuru-senpai.” Junpei stood up and went towards Ryuji. “I don’t know how to control Chidorita’s ability.”

“What about the times when the kids you’re training were injured?” Yukari asked. “Didn’t you heal their bones and scrapes?”

“They just come out spontaneously when I fuss over them.” Junpei admitted. “And I wouldn’t say I healed them completely.” He corrected. “It’s more like they’re being healed up until basic first aid can do the trick.”

“What do you mean Iori?” Mitsuru asked.

“Say a kid I was coaching got a nasty scrape on his knee.” Junpei answered with an example.” I rush in and look at the wound, by the time one of my hands are close proximity to the boy’s wound.” He continued as he hovered his hands over his own knee. “Chidori’s ability kicks in and heals the boy’s injuries up until the bleeding stops.” He added. “But the wound is still there, but not as serious as it was before.” He ended his explanation.

Junpei knelt before Ryuji and hovered his right hand over the knee of the youngest in the group. He closed his eyes as if in concentration but nothing happened.

Ryuji just looked at them with a confused expression. The conversation shifted from one topic to another with a few words. He then realized that they were attempting to use their Persona abilities to heal his leg injury.

“Why don’t you try summoning your Persona?” Akihiko suggested.

“Akihiko-san is correct.” Aigis agreed.” Maybe summoning your Persona can help you better control Chidori-san’s ability.”

“I agree.’ Yukari nodded.

“Well Iori?” Mitsuru prompted.

“If you say so.” Junpei sighed. “But I can’t promise anything.”

Junpei then got a silver gun from behind him and pointed it on his head.

“What the eff!” Ryuji yelled! “You don’t gotta kill yourself for not being able to heal my leg!”

“Skull! What’s happening?!” Makoto demanded.

“They made some guy heal my leg with his Persona and now he’s pointing a gun to his head!” Ryuji answered, still in panic mode.

“Calm down.” Ken voiced out as she clasped the young boy’s shoulders. “He’s not committing suicide, if that’s what you’re thinking.”

“The hell?!” Ryuji snarled.” What part of that is he not committing suicide?!” He yelled his question as he pointed at Junpei.

“Trismigistus!” Junpei announced as he pulled the trigger.

“What the hell?!” Ryuji yelled. ”That’s how you summon your Personas?!”

A figure in reed and gold appeared behind Junpei and seemed to glow golden light.

“With enough practice, we can summon them without the aid of our evokers.” Akihiko supplied.

“Stay still kid.” Junpei ordered.

Ryuji obeyed the command as Junpei once again hovered his hand over his right leg. A soothing feeling flooded his senses as the older man’s hands glowed a golden light.

It didn’t take long for the glowing to stop and the older man to sit on the floor as his Persona faded from view.

“Before anything else.” Junpei spoke up.” I don’t know if I healed you or anything kid, so don’t get your hopes up.” He cautioned as he stood up and stored his evoker back inside his pant pocket.

“It was worth a try Junpei.” Akihiko nodded.

“Hey.” Ryuji tried to put some weight on his leg. “This feels great.” He exclaimed in glee.

“Hey, hey.” Junpei tried to get the boy’s attention. “Don’t go straining your leg kid.” He cautioned. “There’s no guarantee that I completely healed your bad leg.” He explained.

“A-aah o-ow.” Ryuji flinched as he sat back down.

“See!” Junpei exclaimed.

“Skull!” Makoto’s panicked voice.

“I’m fine!” Ryuji managed to voice out in between his whimpers. “It’s fine.”

“That didn’t sound fine to us.” Futaba’s Alibaba voice responded.

“It’s alright.” Ryuji managed to wheeze out. “I had that one coming.” He explained in between his breaths. “Nothing’s probably broken.”

“Call for the doctor immediately.” Mitsuru ordered.

“On it.” Yukari nodded as she fished for her phone and dialed the doctor’s number. “Hello sensei.” She started the phone conversation. “Could you hurry back to your office?” She asked. “It’s about Sakamoto.” She explained. “He says it’s nothing major.” She continued. “We can never be too sure.” She supplied. “Thank you sensei.”

“What did the doctor say Yukari-chan?” Fuuka questioned.

“He says he’ll be here in a minute.” Yukari answered as she stored her phone back inside her purse.

[individuationfic]

Hoping I’ve Got It All Right Chapter 5: I’m Just As Dangerous As You

AO3

The next time they venture into the Palace, Morgana claims they need codenames.

“We don’t know what effect shouting our real names in Kamoshida’s Palace will have on the real Kamoshida,” he explains. “Our plan could be ruined if he somehow figures out what we’re doing. The masks and costumes help, but we should be as careful as possible.”

“What do you suggest, then?” Akira asks.

Before Morgana can answer, Ryuji starts wiggling like a little kid and his hand shoots up in the air. “Ooh! Can I be ‘Skull?’ Y’know, ‘cause of my mask?”

The conversation that ensues probably takes more time than it’s worth but it makes Shiho smile, so Akira decides not to complain.

*

“Skull, Mona, Widow, Panther, and Joker… Were all of these codenames tied to your masks?”

“Only Skull and Panther’s codenames are based off of their masks. And Fox and Crow’s, eventually. Everyone else’s are too abstract for that.”

“Please explain how the other codenames came to be.”

“The won’t give you clues to the others’ identities, Prosecutor-san. They would be pretty bad codenames otherwise.”

“Humor me.”

“Mona is just a shortened form of his name. Widow decided on hers in the spirit of a black widow spider.”

“And you?”

“Why, Prosecutor-san, what else could you call a trump card if not Joker?”

*

Akira decides to text Dad and Papa after he drops Shiho off at her apartment. He’d offered to let her sleep at the café again, but she refused. I can’t rely on you forever,” she’d said.”You’ve been really supportive, and I appreciate it, I really do, but I need some time alone to really process everything.”

So he makes her promise to reach out if she needs anything, gives her a hug, and pulls his phone out of his pocket when she’s safely inside. He’s always had a great relationship with Dad and Papa, and this is the first time in his life he’s ever wondered how to start a conversation with them.

[Akira]: You guys remember how I’m a triplet, right?

[Tatsuya]: Of course. We helped you look for them for years.

[Jun]: Why do you ask?

[Akira]: I found my sister.

[Jun]: !!!!!!!!

[Akira]: Her name is Suzui Shiho. She goes to Shujin, too.

[Jun]: That’s great, Akira!

[Tatsuya]: What is she like?

[Akira]: Something awful happened to her recently. Our friends and I are trying to help, but it’s been hard on her.

[Jun]: The poor dear…

[Jun]: Is there any way we can help?

[Akira]: I don’t really think so. She’s doing her best to come to terms with it right now so all we can do is be there for her while she does.

[Tatsuya]: That’s a very mature thing to do, Akira. Good job.

[Akira]: Thank you, Dad.

[Jun]: How are things otherwise? Is school going okay?

[Akira]: Shiho’s friend Ann sits in front of me in class, so we’ve become friends, too. She’s ¼ American and doesn’t look Japanese at all.

[Tatsuya]: Well, neither do you.

[Akira]: Fair enough.

[Jun]: Have you joined any clubs?

[Akira]: I don’t think any clubs will let me join.

[Jun]: Why not?

[Akira]: Someone leaked my records. The whole school knows about my assault charge.

[Jun]: Oh, honey, are you okay?

[Akira]: Yeah.

[Tatsuya]: I can’t believe the school would let that happen. Do you want me to call the principal?

[Akira]: There’s nothing that can be done about it now.

[Tatsuya]: You still shouldn’t have to deal with that.

[Akira]: I can manage.

[Akira]: My cat’s nagging at me to go to bed, so I’ll text you later. Love you.

[Jun]: Love you too, sweetie.

[Jun]: Wait. Cat?

[Jun]: AKIRA?

Akira plugs his phone in and lays on his bed. Morgana wastes almost no time curling up on the center of his chest. “Your dads seem nice,” he says.

“Yeah,” Akira says, “they are.”

*

They have to dedicate a whole afternoon to getting through the tower because of the swinging axes.

“If Shadows hae the keys,” Skull gripes as they head back into the fray, “why didn’t they drop them the first time we kicked their asses?”

“Us becoming aware we need the keys brought them into existence,” says Mona.

“That sounds like bullshit.”

“It’s cognition.”

Joker spots a Shadow in golden armor and snaps to get everyone’s attention. “Widow, Skull, with me. Panther and Mona, focus on keeping us healed up.”

“Got it, Joker,” Panther says, and the rest of them nod in agreement.

“Let’s do this.” And then they pounce.

*

Now that the path to the Treasure is secured, they have to think about the calling card.

They gather on the roof after classes end to begin planning. Shiho sits gym style in front of Akira and lets him braid a scarlet geranium into her hair. The color looks good in her dark hair; maybe he can convince Ann to help him get Shiho more colorful clothes. Ryuji is leaning against the wall, and Ann is sitting, legs crossed at the knee, on one of the abandoned desks that litter the rooftop. All in all, Akira thinks, we really do look like a group of delinquents.

After a few moments of silence, during which Akira can feel Ann and Ryuji staring at him as he works, Ryuji finally says, “Okay, what’s up with you two? How’re you so close when Akira only moved here like a week ago?”

Shiho looks up at him over her shoulder. There’s a little bit of humor glittering in her eyes, Akira is pleased to note. “What do you think, Akira? Should we tell them or make them guess?”

“We could give them a hint or two.” Usually he would just be honest about it, but if playing along cheers Shiho up a little, he’ll gladly do it. He glances up at their friends and smirks. “I’ll go first: we’ve known each other our whole lives.”

Ann jolts a little at that. “But how? Shiho was raised in Tokyo and you… weren’t.”

Shiho leans back against Akira’s legs. “I was raised here, yeah, but until I was four, I lived in Sumaru City.” 

“It’s a great place,” Akira adds “It’s on the coast. Hey, Shiho, remember that time you and Ren buried me in the sand at the beach and I got that awful sunburn on my face?”

Next to his thigh, Morgana shifts a little. Before Akira can comment on it, Shiho laughs and says, “Amamiya-san was so mad at us!”

“She was always mad at us,” Akira points out. “The other kids kept making fun of me, so Ren would beat them up, and you would encourage him, so he’d do it more…”

“Hey, no one gets to pick on my baby brother but me.”

“I’m, like, an hour younger than you, at most. Stop calling me your ‘baby’ brother.”

Ryuji makes a noise not unlike a dying whale and Akira and Shiho’s heads whip over to look at their friends. It’s then that Akira realizes he and Shiho let the cat out of the bag a little early. “You’re siblings?!” Ryuji demands.

“As entertaining as this is,” Morgana says, voice strangely snappish, “can we focus on the calling card?”

And so the conversation turns to a more serious topic.

*

Akira agrees to let Ryuji handle the calling card, but drags him to a nearby supermarket before letting him go home. He has to search the produce section for a while before he finds what he’s looking for: unplucked celery flowers. They’re small, white, and unassuming—to the untrained eye, that is. But Akira knows better. Akira knows they mean “lust.”

He grabs a handful off some celery stalks and holds them to Ryuji. “Use these in the calling card,” he says.

“You know flowers?”

“My dad’s partner owns a flower shop.”

“Don’t cha think that could link you to… the thing?”

God bless Ryuji, but he’s not very good at being subtle. “It’s not like I advertise knowing a lot about flowers, and I doubt I’m the only person in Tokyo who does.”

“If you’re sure, man…”

“I am.” He softens his voice. “Please, Ryuji. If you’re putting your neck on the line writing it, let me have something to do with it, too.”

Ryuji swallows hard and clenches his jaw. A hard sort of vulnerability enters his eyes. “I’ll do my best.”

Akira squeezes his shoulder. “I know you will. I trust you.”

That was the right thing to say, because Ryuji’s answering smile could outshine the sun.

*

Akira grins when he sees the calling card—or, rather, calling cards—plastered on the bulletin board the next morning. They’re not professional by any means (the logo Ryuji came up with is lacking, and the flowers are just taped onto the cards in a blank space), but the message is clear.

He knows this could end up on the news, so he takes a photo of the board and sends it to Dad and Papa and pretends to be confused. Then he pockets his phone and goes to his friends. They have a heist to pull off, after all.

*

The fight against Kamoshida’s Shadow is a lot easier than any of them anticipated. As soon as they take out his healing factor, he goes down laughably quickly.

After, when they Have Kamoshida’s crown in their possession, Widow steps forward. Her eyes are cold beneath her black lace mask. “You hurt me,” she tells Kamoshida’s quivering Shadow. “You beat me and berated me and tried to break me.”

Amazingly, the Shadow tries to defend himself. “You don’t understand! I was under so much pressure!”

“That doesn’t justify what you did to me!” Widow’s shout echoes, harsh. “Nothing could!”

“I—” The Shadow slumps. “You’re right.” He tilts his head to the side, baring his neck. “If you’re going to kill me, just make it quick.”

Joker sees Widow’s grip on her cane go white-knuckled and moves to restrain her, but is beaten to the punch. Panther places on pink-gloved hand over Widow’s and wraps her other arm around her shoulders. “He’s going to pay for what he did to you and to everyone else,” Joker hears her whisper. “But he has to be able to confess what he did.”

Widow sighs and goes slack in Panther’s grip, and Joker takes the opportunity to step forward and address Kamoshida’s Shadow. “Go back to yourself. Go back without your broken, distorted heart, and confess all of your sins. Only then can you begin working to redeem yourself.”

And the Shadow disappears, and the castle begins to crumble around them.

*

Shiho comes back to the café with Akira that night. Morgana hops out of Akira’s bag and into Shiho’s arms once they’re off the train, and the way she cradles him to her chest tells Akira she really needs to talk about what happened today.

Sakura-san raises an eyebrow at them but doesn't otherwise comment as Akira leads Shiho up to his attic. Shiho sinks into the couch and waits for Akira to sit beside her before she starts talking. “I thought confronting him would make me feel better,” she says, “but it didn’t. I’m still scared.”

Akira gently puts an arm around her and tugs her into a loose embrace against his shoulder. Morgana shifts a little so he’s half on Shiho’s lap and half on Akira’s, purring so hard Akira can feel it in his chest. “There’s no set timeline for your recovery,” he tells her, his voice gently above a whisper. “Take as much time as you need.”

“We’re all here for you,” Morgana adds. “None of us are whole, not really. I don’t think there’s a group of people out there who can understand you better than us.”

If the fabric of his shirt where Shiho’s face is pressed into it is a little damp, he doesn’t mention it, and the three of them fall asleep like that, almost restful for the first time in a long time.

[an-obligatory-blog]

"Don't cry, I can't deal with children"

Babies are fucking ugly.

Their filthy snot and warm drool covers the bedsheets, the sofa, the floor– everything really and holy shit do I hate it. I don’t get people honestly. “But they are so cute and sweet!” they said. “Babysitting would be an easy job!” they said. Quick money is necessary to fund my poor ass in this capitalistic society, considering that my life literally depends on it, but I’d like to dream of a world where obligations are dead and people actually like my bad porn. (I only say that it’s “bad” because Takemi said so and since she’s a doctor I figured that she would know what’s good and not good on the “bringing people to the state of arousal” scale. I trust her expertise, even though the truth hurts me so.)

Anyways, I’m a responsible adult now so I went off to go watch some kids.

And so that is how the legendary tale of Ren Amamiya’s death and rebirth started. A classic to go down into the history books. Absolutely inspirational, that Ren kid is. A riveting narrative told by a college dropout who freeloads his boyfriend’s apartment! Man, I sure hope that Ren Amamiya kid is doing well now. That would make me really happy. Get it? Because I’m that kid. I want to be that kid. Everyone says that the American Dream is dead, but fuck them and their unwanted negativity. I’m not even American and I’m going to make it happen because if I do it, would severely increase my self-esteem and my boyfriend would be like, “omg ren ur so amazing, take me

Oh, right. Kids. I still hate them.

Like alright, they don’t mean that they’re malicious little devils all the time, and yes, they deserve better than whatever the fuck I’m doing with my life, but when a kid walks up to me with his new-fangled “swag” of the new xxxx generation and tells me, “Tachibana-kun stole my vintage 100,000 yen Featherman laser gun that I’m keeping to kill the baddies in cold blood,” I just sit there. And breathe in. The boy is crying. When looking at the tears streaking down his face, any sane person would say, “It’s okay, sweetie, I’ll go talk to Tachibana-kun and get it back for you.” Of course, I’m a completely sane person so I did just that.

Well, sort of. 

So I mentioned my boyfriend earlier, right? He’s hot as hell, but he’s also a complete nerd. He thinks he’s being sneaky, but I see those limited-edition figmas he stores in his secret cabinet. So, a 100,000 yen Featherman laser gun? Guess what he had. The answer is….

…

…

A 100 yen Featherman laser gun. He’s too cheap to be a dumbass.

So I went to talk to Tachibana and here’s the thing. Tachibana is just some bratty shmuck who thinks he’s sooooo cool when he pulls off his “wild” pranks. He’s like that guy who switches the eggs around in the egg carton so that the owner “doesn’t know which egg is which,” and he did just that but with an overpriced laser gun and some piece of plastic that looks like a gun. Obviously, the kid from earlier didn’t see no replacement gun, so where the hell is it, I asked. And he’s like, “I don’t know, please don’t hurt me, onii-chan.”

So of course, I’m sweating bullets because you know. What if my boyfriend kicks me out if I never get it back? What if we break up over a fucking plastic toy gun? What if he tries to murder my for the 3rd time? The possibilities are endless and you better bet your biscuits that I was hella desperate.

I practically demolished the house.

But I found the guns at the end.

The parents come home. The kids are crying because they were getting scolded over some shit like not doing their homework, but when they approached me….

I ran like the fucking loser I am.

Goro comes home seeing me dying on the sofa. He orders a pizza delivery, heals my soul, and comforts me at my lowest point. “Don’t cry, I can’t deal with children,” he says teasingly. 

“Spoil me, daddy,” I said. He laughs. Then, we went to bed.

The end.

[auncyen]

two snippets from an early draft of “when the Cat Dragged in the Trickster” that had more buildup covering the school year and the repeat requests for Ren to be given a change of heart...because I’m deleting old docs to clean up but I still like them.

The first time they checked the MetaNav because Amamiya had been requested on the Phansite, Morgana crowed at the negative result. "See! He doesn't have a distorted desire! If he was wicked before, he has clearly reformed."

The second time they checked the MetaNav because Amamiya had been requested, Morgana rolled his eyes before explaining to a mildly curious Yusuke that people were only scared of Amamiya because of his dubious past and that they weren't paying enough attention to his current impeccable conduct. Ryuji then filled Yusuke in on what said dubious past was. Ann informed everyone the result was still negative. No distortion.

The third time Amamiya got requested, Ryuji shook his head when Makoto started to bring out her phone. "He ain't gonna be on there," he told her.

"You're certain?" the student council president asked. "With a record like his..."

"He's been on the site before, I believe," Haru said. "Was he already given a change of heart?"

Ann sighed in aggravation. "No, but we've checked both times Mishima's forwarded the requests before, and he hasn't shown up then either. I mean, yeah, you'd think if he assaulted someone out of the blue, he must be distorted, but he got arrested and put on probation for it. That'd be enough to make most people reflect on themselves, right?"

Haru nodded, accepting the logic, but Makoto still said aloud, "Amamiya Ren."

"Candidate not found."

Morgana huffed. "See?" He jumped up on the accessway's railing. "Lady Ann, I say we tell Mishima to not accept these requests anymore. They clearly have no basis."

Ann frowned, thinking. It'd be a little hard when they were still trying to keep some plausible deniability with Mishima, but she could probably...drop a heavy hint. "Okay--"

"Wait," Makoto said. "You only think it lacks basis because of the app. We don't know where it's from or how it was made, so how can we trust it to be accurate?"

"Do you think the accusation has merit, then? That he threatened the writer?" Yusuke asked. Morgana gave a loud, exasperated sigh.

"I...don't know," Makoto said slowly. "Honestly, I'd prefer if Ann's explanation was right. If Amamiya's reformed, it would mean the justice system at least works sometimes. It's just...what if these are serious? Haru made multiple requests, and you still nearly missed them before I brought them to your attention."

"By blackmailing us," Ryuji muttered.

Makoto's cheeks colored. Haru squeezing her hand as gentle reassurance didn't help. "...That's besides the point. I just want to make sure no other victims slip through the cracks either."

Ryuji and Ann exchanged looks. Ryuji shoved his hands in his back pockets and leaned against the railing. "Honestly, I kind of wonder if I'd be on the Phansite if it'd gone up before Kamoshida went down," he said. "People mostly just leave me alone now, but last year there was talk about how I was gonna haul off and hit the next person who looked at me funny. Shit made me want to quit school for a while."

"You called Amamiya-san 'the guy who stabs people'," Morgana reminded him.

"Well, that's how I knew him! And I wasn't spreadin' anything--Ann had already heard about him, and who were you gonna tell?" Ryuji shot back before a gesture from Makoto reminded him to lower his voice. "Look, I know the guy's done something bad once before, and from what I've seen of him, he's a little weird. Like, I can't get a read on him at all. But none of that means he should be harassed. I guess...we should check to be sure nothing's going on...but can we do it without bothering the guy?"

"I think...both Mako-chan and Ryuji-kun have a point," Haru said slowly. Since we don't know much about the MetaNav, we can't know for sure if it's always working correctly, can we? So I think we should do some questioning ourselves to make sure Amamiya isn't involved in anything suspicious. But we must be discreet, and if we find nothing, we ask the administrator to not accept any more requests about him. I wouldn't want us to be used as a tool for harassment. People deserve second chances."

"That seems reasonable," Yusuke said. "I agree with the proposed action." Makoto nodded, and Ryuji shrugged. Ann hesitated for a moment, but...if there was a victim...and if there was a chance the MetaNav didn't always work, they needed to know, considering how much they relied on it. She nodded.

Morgana held out for a couple of tense minutes, his tail swishing in agitation behind him, but at last it slowed. "I guess...it'd reflect badly on the name of the Phantom Thieves if we ignored a request that turned out to be legitimate... very well, then. We investigate, and then we tell Mishima to reject any further requests."

Morgana's phrasing made it obvious he expected Amamiya to be found innocent. Fortunately, he seemed to be right. Morgana tailed Amamiya from a distance. Yusuke kept an eye out for Amamiya when he people watched at the station. The four Shujin students kept an ear out for any current rumors that might have any basis. Ann asked Mishima if he would be able to find more details about Amamiya's record, since the original leak appeared long-deleted and he was good with the internet and searching for information.

Mishima was more than happy to help her find information--he actually pulled up the record itself for her. The details on the trial were sparse, with the victim's identity completely missing from the record. Was that normal...? Ann hoped it was, to protect victims. It seemed the assault conviction was legitimate enough, anyway. Amamiya had pleaded not guilty, but there was an identified witness who had testified that he had attacked the man she'd been with out of the blue. The judge had made a quick ruling--Ann guessed it was a fairly open-and-shut case. The most troubling thing was that the transcript of the proceedings gave no hint into what had provoked Amamiya to assault that man, who seemed to have been a stranger, besides the allegation that he had anger management issues. That lined up with a few of the rumors, but...the rumors were based on his record to begin with. And they were all old--nothing they turned up sounded that different from what they'd heard in April. Yusuke and Morgana had nothing suspicious to report, unless Amamiya holding three part-time jobs, one of which seemed to be where he was living, counted.

It was...weird. No, she guessed it made sense if Amamiya had reformed and was working to control his temper. They ended the investigation. Ann dropped hints to Mishima that the Phantom Thieves weren't after criminals who'd already been punished.

Mishima seemed seriously reluctant to take those hints, considering they got a fourth request for Amamiya while they were waiting for Futaba to wake up. Ann hadn't even finished reading the message before she deleted it in aggravation.

-

The second snippet being a slightly different form of investigating with interesting/concerning results:

Haru and Makoto were in agreement from the beginning, with Yusuke agreeing it seemed reasonable enough soon after. Ann was the first to be won over from skepticism. Then Ryuji. Finally, Morgana's ears drooped. "We really don't know how that thing works," he said with a glance at Ann's phone. "It'd be terrible if we accidentally ignored someone in danger...all right. We investigate, and then we tell Mishima to reject any further requests."

Morgana's phrasing made it obvious he expected Amamiya to be found innocent, and Ann was a little worried what would happen if he was wrong. Still, for now, they had a unanimous vote. They started an investigation.

Makoto tailed Amamiya, with Ryuji at a distance just in case she was confronted. All she learned was that that Amamiya worked at both 777 and a beef bowl shop and seemed to be a decent employee. Yusuke kept an eye out when he people watched at the station and spotted Amamiya a few times, but never saw him do anything or go anywhere unusual, and most of what he had to say about finally seeing the transfer student for himself was "his aesthetic is appallingly drab". He also figured out somehow that Amamiya's glasses were fake, but Ann didn't know what that information had to do with anything, even if Yusuke found it the one interesting thing about Shujin's transfer student.

Morgana also tailed Amamiya, and by 'tailed' he really just strutted up to Amamiya, meowed and acted like a lost cat, and let Amamiya take him home for the night. It was a lazy approach. It was also the most informative, though not in the way Ann had expected.

Amamiya returned Morgana to Ann in the morning. That, she'd expected: either Amamiya would be conscientious and return a cat he'd recognize as hers, or Morgana would eventually slip away and return on his own. What she hadn't expected was that Amamiya looked nervous--really nervous--when he let his schoolbag down on his desk and showed her Morgana, safe inside. Morgana looked upset.

"He...must have gotten out somehow? I found him in Shibuya, after my work shift--"

"He thinks you'll think he stole me," Morgana blurted.

"Okay, okay, come on," Ann said, reaching into the schoolbag to extricate the smallest thief. She was confused. Why on earth would Amamiya think she'd suspect him of kidnapping Morgana? He'd gone up to Amamiya himself--

Well, though...if Ann didn't know that, if Morgana was a normal cat--oh. Yeah, it might be suspicious that Amamiya of all people had 'found' him. Shoot. She immediately looked up at Amamiya and gave him her brightest smile. "I'm glad you found him! I was sooooo worried about this little guy. Thank you."

"'Little guy'?" Morgana muttered, but he clambered into her desk and turned himself about, his blue eyes focusing on Amamiya. "See? It's fine. Calm down."

Obviously, Amamiya couldn't understand Morgana. But he did seem to be relaxing. He smiled back a little at Ann, an awkward thing, and she felt so lost. What had happened to the guy who'd intimidated the entire class just to let a cat sit in a desk?

[ask-the-phan-site]

Phan Cam: Horizon Heist: Max Modell

>Horizon High. A lot of people were gathered around. Fox and I see that the statue of Max was being rebuilt... And another one was being made, but I couldn’t make it out. Then, I noticed that among them was the real Max. And with him was... A man. A man who I can only guess was his boyfriend, Hector Baez. We get closer.

It looks better than ever, mi amour.

You haven’t seen anything yet, honey. Just wait until we show the other statue.

What’s the other statue of?

Max: Ah, Ren, Yusuke, so glad you’re here. I don’t think you’ve met, but I told you all about him. This is my boyfriend, Hector Baez. Hector, this is Ren Amamiya and Yusuke Kitagawa, two of the visiting students I told you about.

Hector: Hola, nice to meet you.

It is a pleasure to meet you, too.

Ren: Same here.

>We all shake hands.

Max: I was about to make some coffee in my office. Care to join us?

Yusuke: Absolutely. I was just feeling parched.

Ren: Me, too. It’ll be nice to have someone else make me coffee.

>Inside Max’s office, we sat down and Max gave us some coffee.

Ren: So how are things? I just thought, since you were a mutated spider...

Max: It was an unusual situation for me, but I’m fine. Hector managed to help me though it after the cure was released.

Ren: I see. Hector, were you also...

Hector: No. I was out of town when it happened. But when I learned what happened, I tried to get back here. However, S.H.I.E.L.D. wouldn’t let me. They said it wasn’t safe. It wasn’t until after the cure was released that they let me in. I was really scared of what may have happened to Max.

Yusuke: I’m sorry about that. But things are better now. Max is cured and the two of you are together. Be happy for that.

Hector: I know. Gracias, Yusuke.

Max: Yes, the both of you have shown us a lot of support. Normally for an educator, it’s the other way around. But sometime, it’s the educator who learns from his students. I know I should have heeded the warning when I had the V-252 and it almost hurt a lot of people, but all I can do is move on and try to do better. When I learned Otto had a secret reactor under the school, I was angry because of the dangers, but I knew he meant well. I just wish I knew what happened to him after that.

Yusuke: Yes, we saw the news. I’m sure he’s alright. Hopefully getting all the help he needs.

Max: I’m sure he is. After all, you guys taught me to have a little faith. It even helped Hector.

Hector: The reason I was out of town was so I can get the finalized work to make it so we can get married. Though it will still be sometime before we do get married, we still won’t give up.

Max: We just want to say thank you for all that you’ve done. Just as our love for each other is strong, we hope the same for you.

Thank you, Max sensei.

You, too, Hector san. ありがとうございました。(Thank you.)

Max: Please, take this from one couple to another.

>Max gives us the V-252 Canister.

Max: I kept this to remind me of what I’ve learned since the Stark Expo. But now, I don’t need it anymore. From now on, I’ll try to be more open minded about what others think. I know that will make me a better scientist.

>I can feel Max’s sincerity. The bond between us is stronger than ever.

I am thou, thou art I… Thou hast turned a vow into a blood oath.

Thy bond shall become the wings of rebellion and break the yoke of thy heart.

Thou has awakened to the ultimate secret of the other Emperor, granting thee infinite power…

Rank Up!

Confidant: Max Modell

Arcana: Emperor

Rank: 10 (MAX)

Ability: Graduation

Max will give you private lessons that will help you and the Phantom Thieves gain EXP outside the Metaverse.

Hector: You know, Max, I think the next statue should be these two. Either as great students... Or great Phantom Thieves.

What!?

Ren: Max...

Max: Sorry, I told him. But don’t worry, he won’t tell anyone. He promised.

Hector: Max trusts you and I know what you do is for the good of the people. It would only be a disaster if you end up behind bars. So I won’t turn you in. I have respect for that.

Thank you.

We won’t forget this.

Yusuke: Well, now you know our secret, I think it’s only fair we know your secret... What is the other statue of.

Max: Very well. It’s our new mascot... Spider-Man. You know, I still can’t believe that one of my students was behind that mask the whole time. How did he even get like that?

Ren: Just be patient, he’ll tell you when he’s ready... When they’re both are.

Max: True, it looked like both he and Harry were having some problems. Are you sure changing their hearts will be good?

Ren: Who knows, Max. All we can do is hope.

>With that, we continued with out coffee and started talking of others things.

[vgckwb]

P5R: Rebel Girl (A FeMC Story/P5R Rework) Chapter 51: A Nudge in The Right Direction

After breakfast, Ren decided to head over to the medical office of Dr. Takemi. Once she arrived, she said “Hey doc.”

Takemi looked up. “Oh ho, it’s been a while. I was beginning to think you were afraid of me.

“Nah, I know you don’t bite,” Ren said. “I’ve just been kind of busy.”

“Well, you seem productive,” Takemi said. “But actually your break was productive for me as well. I had some time, so I began processing the results of our tests.”

“Really?” Ren said. “And how’s that going?”

“Hm,” Takemi laughed. “It’s going exceptionally well. I think with a few more tests, this thing could be fully functional.”

“Splendid,” Ren said.

“Excuse me?” a man said, walking up. With him was his wife and their child, a young girl who looked under the weather to say the least. “Is this a medical facility?”

“Um, yes…” Takemi said, surprised by this development.

“We need some help,” the man continued.

“Our daughter is sick, and the treatment we’ve been given isn’t working” the mother informed her.

“I see…” Takemi said.

“Can you help?” the father asked.

Takemi was silent. Ren could tell she wasn’t entirely sure of herself, so she did what any friend would do; hype them up. “Of course. Dr. Takemi doesn’t have this medical facility for nothing. She’s an expert.”

The parents and Takemi looked at Ren. The parents looked at Takemi. “You’re in charge here.”

Takemi looked back at them. “Yes,” she said. She caught up to the situation and gained her confidence back. “Let’s see what we’re dealing with. Come in.” Everyone started to move except Ren. Takemi noticed this. “You too.”

“Her?” the dad said, surprised.

“She’s my assistant,” Takemi informed him.

“Well, OK then,” the father said. Ren shrugged and walked in.

Takemi was doing a check up on the symptoms her parents described. “Hmmmm.”

“We’ve been trying the medicine for over a month, but it doesn’t seem to work.” the mother said. “When we tried explaining as such to our normal doctor, he just brushed us off.”

Takemi finished her check up. “I see. Well, either this guy is either pretty stupid, or has an ego the size of Tokyo.” She went to her desk to write out a prescription. “Does she have any allergies I should know about?” Her parents shook her head. Takemi finished filling it out. “Well then, here. Her symptoms lineup with a few different diseases, but there are subtle differences, and I feel like they just got it wrong. If this medicine doesn’t see an improvement in  her condition in a week, come see me again.”

The father took it, looked up to her, and said “Thank you. How much do we owe you?”

“10,000 yen,” Takemi said.

“What?” the father said.

Ren tried to cool things down. “That’s a joke. She does that from time to time.”

“I mean, it’s fine, we’ll pay it…” the mother said.

Takemi looked at all of them. “Tell me, the facility you went to before, was the head doctor there a man by the name of Oyamada?”

“Um, yes” the father said.

Takemi smiled. “Then consider today on the house.” Everyone was shocked. “That one was not a joke.”

The girls’ parents were still stunned, but they nodded, and the father said “Thank you.” They left to go get the medicine. Takemi sighed a sigh of relief.

“So, how does it feel?” Ren asked, smiling all the while. “Being a doctor in situations like this?”

Takemi smied. “While I didn’t like getting jumped into it,” she gave Ren some side-eye, “I will say, it is a rather nice feeling. While I get patients here, nothing like that really happens all too much.”

She glanced off. “To be honest, I thought I’d lost my touch. I was worried about what would happen if I did something wrong. I guess I still am, but the difference is I took action once you pushed me. Besides, I’m certain I figured the problem out. Not to mention I got to stick it to Oyamada. That’s always good.” Ren seemed a bit confused, but didn't worry too much. “So, despite the manner in which you did so, thanks for supporting me. I mean, I did call you in there for a reason.”

Ren was a little worried she’d get more of a reprimand than that. She smiled and said “Thanks.”

“By the way, we still have your test to do,” Takemi said. “Are you ready?” Ren felt a little sheepish, but nodded, and they ran the test as usual. Once Ren woke up, Takemi noted “Faster than usual. That either means the medicine is improving, or you’ve changed dramatically recently.”

“Well, I've been in Tokyo for a full two months now,” Ren said, not missing a beat. “The city certainly changes people.”

Takemi got a laugh out of that. “I mean physically, but I do like hearing about that. I take it you’re doing well.”

Ren nodded. “And part of it is thanks to your medicine.”

“Hm. Well that’s good to hear” Takemi said.

“Speaking of…” Ren said. She took the time to buy some. She bought more than she usually would as a sort of apology for forcing Takemi’s hand earlier.

“Well thank you” Takemi said after the transaction. Ren nodded. She flashed a very genuine smile. “You know, it’s nice to have a friend like you.” Ren smiled back.

Death-Tae Takemi: Rank 4

Ren left for the evening.

As she was leaving, she got a message from Yoshida.

Yoshida: I’m having another speech tonight. Care to join me.

Ren smiled.

Ren: Sure.

She headed off to Station Square to meet up with Yoshida. Once she did, Yoshida greeted her. “Ah, Amamiya-chan. Might I say that was quite a spectacle on TV.” Rn groaned. “Did I do something wrong?”

“No,” Ren said. “I’m just not used to that much attention.”

“I see,” Yoshida said. “Well, if you aim to be a politician, that can’t be avoided. People will always be watching you because you’re supposed to be a reflection of the people who elected you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Ren said.

“Well, it’s about time,” Yoshida said. “Shall we get going?” Ren nodded. “Oh, before we go, I do have a question.” Ren was curious. “I could avoid it, but I did write this speech based around the interview, and there’s even a part where I point you out. Would you like me to take it out?”

Ren looked at him and shook her head. “It’s fine. People are already talking about it, and I trust you more than most people to handle things well.”

“Why thank you” Yoshida said, smiling ear to ear. “Now let’s go.”

Ren picked up the card she would be holding. “‘Tonight’s Topic: What We Can Learn from Today’s Youth’.” Ren smiled, picked up the card, and headed over.

Yoshida took his place, Ren took hers, and a crowd started to gather. Ren noticed some people from last time she was here, but also noticed some new faces. “People of Tokyo!” Yoshida began. “As you may know, the Phantom Thieves struck again, this time at the heart of the art world. Of course I was surprised by this as well. But one thing the two incidents have in common is that both perpetrators have abused children.

Society goes on and on about how we should think of the children, but are we really thinking? Or are we pretending to think about them when really we’re thinking of ourselves? Recent data shows that only 12% of people throughout Japan believe and admire the Phantom Thieves, with the plurality of that being children and young adults.

Of course, generational divides exist, and of course, with age comes wisdom, but as adults, we cannot ignore everything these children say just because it doesn’t agree with our point of view. Children have opinions and ideas. To ignore them would be to discourage them from thinking at all. Why, just recently my assistant here debated another student about the Phantom Thieves.”

The crowd was more alert as they turned to Ren to confirm it was her. Ren was feeling the heat just a little too intently and began hiding behind the card she was holding. “Ahem!” Yoshida exclaimed, getting everyone’s attention back on him. “This makes it very clear that children have ideas they wish to express. And the popularity of the interview suggests that people are willing to listen. But we can’t make that a sometimes thing. We need to learn to listen whenever we can. I know that they can’t vote, but that doesn’t mean that if I’m elected, I’m representing them less.

I will listen to everyone’s concerns, no matter who brings them to me. I am running to represent all of you. To be that reflection of you all. And I wish that I would be a reflection you are proud to wake up to in the morning, and proud to see before you go to sleep. Thank you.” There was a little bit of clapping.

After the speech, Ren and Yoshida met up. “Sorry about that,” Yoshida said.

“No, it’s fine. I said it was alright” Ren said, clearly exhausted.

“Well, neither of us expected that much attention to shift towards you,”Yoshida responded.

Ren gathered herself. “By the way, that was an excellent speech.”

“Ah ha, thank you,” Yoshida said. “And as I said earlier, you did well yourself. Especially against someone like Akechi.”

Ren was a bit stunned. “You know Akechi?”

“Well, not personally,” Yoshida said. “But his reputation as Japan’s second Detective Prince precedes him. He’s apparently solved quite a few cases the police were stumped by.”

“I see…” Ren said, going into some thought. “Switching topics…” Yoshida looked at her, curious. “Well, I know you said kids have their own thoughts, and you used mine and Akechi’s debate as evidence, but…I don’t know if that’s more the majority, or just a vocal minority.”

“Bah ha!” Yoshida laughed. “I can see why you’d think that. But let me ask you this: Do you think every adult is as driven to stand for something?” Ren was surprised. “Exactly. So why should a concern be ignored just because it comes from a child? It shouldn’t.”

“Right. Sorry” Ren said.

“It’s fine,” Yoshida said. “As much as you know, there are some things you only learn through experience. But even so, you’re something special.”

Ren was surprised. “I am?”

Yoshida nodded. “While you might not have as much experience, you’re strong-willed, and have a good heart. That alone will take you a long way, no matter where you go. And also, you’ve helped me too.” Ren was shocked.

Yoshida continued. “Before you began helping me, I would make my speeches, and I would try to get the crowd stirred, but there was always a voice in the back of my mind saying that I’ll never earn the people’s trust. But you have proven me wrong, and I feel that makes me a better politician. Not just promising results, but seeing that people listen. So thank you, for helping me find my footing.”

Ren smiled. “Thank you. For helping me find mine too.” Yoshida’s smile widened. Ren’s did as well.

Sun-Toranosuke Yoshida: Rank 2

After their meeting, they headed home.

[kotorirod]

Chapter Summary With no idea if the change of heart was happening to Kamoshida, Ren decides to go spend his Sunday to relax the best he can. Needless to say, things didn’t go according to plan. 

Notes So this one took awhile longer because I debated on what I would have Lucien (Simon) be focused on. Just a head’s up, he’s mostly going to be toying with Ren in the first couple of ranks before something happens :P

I had also wanted to put Victor’s (Zen’s) Confidant start in here but decided against it. He’ll be having his own chapter :D

Also I did art of one little scene because I was bored, thought it be fun :3  Enjoy the chapter! Pic here

5/1/XX - Daytime  

Ren finished the curry bowl that Sojiro was kind enough to make for him. It was one of the many perks he got while working some nights with his guardian, especially a tasty coffee to match. As the teenager finished the warm cup, Ren heard the bell ring. He could feel the urging daggers from his elder, making him rush to down the coffee so he could leave and let the man work. The teenager had grabbed his bag and slid off the stool, only to stop when he saw who the person was at the entrance. It was that man from before, the one who had been drinking with Dr. Takemi. What was his name? He knew the doctor had mentioned it once offhandedly before they discussed their deal.

Not that it mattered. 

Ren began to ponder on what his plans would be for today. Maybe he can head to the diner to try that one dish Kira had mentioned before. Ever since that afternoon, he and Kira would hang out every so often at school. Sure, people were still spreading rumors about him, but after taking the upperclassman's advice, they weren't as frequently heard. He remembered Kira and Ryuji mentioning about a movie called The Cake Knight Rises . It sounded corny, but for it to be a sequel of a rather highly-acclaimed film, he could give it a chance.

His thoughts stopped as Morgana meowed something, alerting him that the man hadn’t moved from the door. Thinking he was in the way, Ren had taken a step the side to let him pass him. However, the man never moved. Instead, he saw that his smile and gaze was focused on him as the man asked, “Amamiya-san, right?”

”Um... yes?” Ren answered with some uncertainty.

”Ah, good,” the man spoke. “I was looking for you.”

Ren kept his face from going pale. Wait, why was this guy looking for him? Was he someone that worked at school, maybe? Maybe he worked with Kamoshida, and this was how they were going to be silenced by outside means.

Oh great, Ryuji’s crazy theories were suddenly rubbing off on him.

As if reading what was on his mind, the man chuckled and stated, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing bad. I had wanted to thank you for helping Takemi-san.”

”Is he troubling you?” Sojiro’s stern voice broke through, making Ren look behind him to see that his guardian was ready to scold him. Even with the times that they had worked together, he knew he still had to earn the full trust of his caretaker.

”No, it’s alright, Sakura-san,” the man assured him. “This young man has been helping a friend of mine, and I wanted to thank him.”

Although his expression softened, Ren did see that there was still distrust in his eyes. Although, he felt that it was less aimed at him and more at the would-be customer. It seemed his plans weren’t going to be done by his lonesome as the man suggested he treat him to a meal. At least he could probably get a chance to try to that item at the diner.

-+-+-+-

5/1/XX - Daytime  

The meal was excellent, and he was able to sneak a few bites to Morgana, who softly mewled in thanks. He smiled down at him before he heard the man ask, "Do you always carry your cat everywhere?"

Ren looked up, staring at the man who was Simon Gentou. They had traded a few words on the way to Shibuya, mostly what felt like the older man trying to get information on what Takemi-san was working on. It may not have been said, but he wasn't going to break her trust. She helped him get the best medicine they needed to fight the Shadows in the Palace and Mementos. Plus, she was a kind woman.

So now, the topics have been more revolving on him or more so, Morgana.

"I can't really leave him be at the cafe," Ren confessed. "Sakura-san may have fatten him up when I'm not looking."

He ignored the glower from his feline friend and the soft chuckle from Gentou-san.

"He does seem to do that with the strays around Yogenjaya," Gentou-san agreed.

Ren watched him rest one of his arms on the table, chin resting on the hand before the older man stated, "I'm unsure what to make of you, Amamiya-san. With the way Sakura-san spoke of you, you seemed the kind to keep to your own devices, but for you to go out of your way to help Takemi-san on whatever she is working on... I must say, I am thankful for your assistance."

With that said, the older man bowed his head, taking Ren a bit aback by this. He wasn't sure what to make of the guy. Was he really thanking him or poking at him to figure him out? 

"Do you... know what she is working on?" Ren asked carefully.

Gentou-san just smiled before asking, "Do you? It seems rather reckless for you to help someone who could be altering your body for nefarious reasons."

Okay, so that meant that Gentou-san was aware of Takemi-san's research. This means he was trustworthy, right? Unless it was a lucky guess. 

"She and I have a deal," Ren confessed. "I help her with her research, and she gives me medication for my entrance exams."

There was a long pause between them as Ren reached with the hand hidden by the table edge to pat Morgana's head for comfort. After a while, he watched Gentou-san relax in his seat and relayed, "My apologies, Amamiya-san. I simply wanted to be sure that my colleague wasn't being used. She is a close friend and has been through a lot."

Up until this point, Ren felt he was walking on eggshells around this man. With that confession, he felt the conversation's weight finally lifted as he listened to the older man continue.

"I'm not sure what she has told you about herself so far, so I won't go into detail. That's her story to tell, but I was there when she was taken away from her calling. She used to be someone who had a strong drive to help people, even after all that's happened. I'd hate for someone to toy with her when she's getting closer and closer to her goal."

Ren didn't miss the subtle warning in the man's words. He nodded his head and replied, "Although we have a deal, I genuinely want to help Takemi-san on her research. She can help a lot of people if it is completed."

Nodding his head, Lucien tilted his head to the left and smiled. "So, I would also like to propose a deal with you, Amamiya-san."

"A deal?"

Gentou-san laced his fingers together, resting his chin on it before smiling almost too innocently.

"I'd like your help with a research project of my own."

The teenager stared blankly at him, waiting for the older man to explain. The next couple of minutes were filled with information about mental health and cognitive research. Ren blinked at the last part, finding it somewhat surprising that the word "cognitive" has been thrown everywhere lately. At least, around him, he heard it used. 

"So, I would like you to accompany me when we are both free on Sundays," Gentou-san requested.

Ren blinked a few times, thinking carefully about this. It'll probably help to have another adult help him, especially if it's to understand the cognitive world. 

"What exactly am I supposed to do?"

"We'll figure that out in a second," he told the young man, pressing the call button to end the meal.

They stepped outside together as Ren patted his stomach. He realized he had eaten a lot in just a small span of a few hours. The teenager shouldn't have eaten the curry, but Ren didn't plan to eat so soon, especially with Gentou-san. Still, the meal was worth it, something he'll have to tell Kira tomorrow if he saw him at school.

The two stood out in Central Street, people walking around them to get by. Ren turned to Gentou-san as he asked, "What do you want to do?"

For the next few hours, Ren walked with the man around Shibuya, namely the station's underground mall. They hopped between shops, some of which Ren took note that he could apply for some jobs. As the day went on, he noticed that Gentou-san had been buying some trinkets here and there that were in small bags that he had placed in his carrier. Morgana had pointed out such every so often, but neither made a verbal inquiry towards the older man about it.

-+-+-+-

5/1/XX - Evening  

The sun was starting to set, disappearing behind the 109 department building of Shibuya. It always astonished him how almost no matter the time of day, the city was still lively. 

Ren and Gentou-san were at the entrance that led to the J Line as the older man took a few of the bags. After situating everything into a more manageable container, he smiled at Ren and stated, "Thank you for a fun day. It was quite interesting."

The teenager glowered behind his glasses, looking at him before stating, "I felt more like this was some weird shopping spree, and I was your carrier."

Gentou-san looked slightly surprised before he let out a soft chuckle. "Is that what you think happened today?"

Ren continued to observe the man before Gentou-san reached out, grabbing the teenager's wrist so that the palm was facing upward. He then placed the bag of all the trinkets and items into his grasp and making him grasp the handle. 

A long moment of silence emitted from them as Gentou-san just held an innocent smile on his face. 

"Who said these were for me?" 

Ren kept holding a skeptical look on his face as he felt Morgana move about in the bag that was slung on his shoulder. He stared down at the items in the bag, seeing assort knick-knacks, little figures, and posters. One was of that famous singer that was shown across the electronic billboards and pillars. There was even a small Jack Frost plushie, something he remembered staring at in the little store selling stuff animals. As he looked, even more, he realized why all the items were sticking out to him even more.

They were all items he had stared with some interest while walking with Gentou-san in the Underground Mall. 

"Wait..."

Several assumptions were now going through his mind. After a while, one stood out, but that was impossible and the most unlikely. He didn't say it out loud, only returning his gaze to Gentou-san's smile. 

"So, what do you think happened today, Amamiya-kun?"

Keeping his composure the best he could, Ren lifted his shaking hand to his glasses to keep them still on his face. He felt that the sudden realization of the past few hours have made him shrink as he felt smaller in Gentou-san's presence. Ren could feel his face warming up, a blush growing on his face as he reached up to play with the bangs of his black hair.

"Uh... I mean... I guess this could be..."

He couldn't get himself to say the last two words, averting his eyes towards the ground as he continued to play with his bangs. Gentou-san finally chuckled, shaking his head as he stated, "I'm sorry, Amamiya-kun. I just wanted to see what sort of conclusion you would think of, and I can tell what you are thinking right now."

Ren was probably looking red as an apple at this point, keeping his eyes at the ground. He nearly jumped from where he stood when he saw Gentou-san's face appearing before him, having bent down to match his avoiding gaze. Despite the sudden closeness, Ren stood in place and stared back with little confidence. His red ears and cheeks weren't helping, given that Gentou-san looked extremely amused. If only he was in the Metaverse, he could easily stare down this man. He could feel the temptation to rip off his glasses like it was his mask, hoping Arsene or one of the other persona he collected would appear.

The older man just continued to smile before standing up straight and heading towards the turnstiles. "I hope you'll be free next weekend, Amamiya-kun," he called back at him.

The teenager was left standing dumbfounded as he felt a swelling sensation in his chest.

[blackhakumen]

Mini Fanfic #513: Morning After Comforting a Nightmare (SSBU X Persona 5)

10:05 a.m. Outside of Smash Mansion.....

Ren: (Takes a Walk with Dark Pit Outside of the Mansion) So I heard you and Pit help calmed Ryuji and Ann down from their nightmare last night. Couldn't thank you two enough for that.

Dark Pit: (Shrugged) Eh. It was nothing really. We just saw them crying and decided to help. Pretty sure they would do the same for us.

Ren: (Smiles Softly) Oh they would. Ann especially. But still, I'm glad those two got the help they needed last night.

Dark Pit: Yeah. Me too.

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) I also heard you were that close on going to Shiyuba to kick Kamoshida's ass.

Dark Pit: Yeah well....The way they described him and what he done to you guys did managed to pissed me off.

Ren: Yeah....I wouldn't blame you for being upset with him. He was a certified jackass if ever see one.

Dark Pit: Ain't that the truth...

Ren: But....In all honesty, I'm really glad you didn't go through it last night. I really appreciate you looking out for all of us, kiddo, but I don't want you to get yourself in trouble because of it.

Dark Pit: I know. I know. I won't try doing that again. Don't worry. I just....('Sigh') I really don't think any of you deserve that kind of crap, you know? I'm pretty sure Pit-Stain would say the same.

Ren: (Ruffles the top of Dark Pit's Hair) I know you don't. But the thing about all of this is that it's all in the past now. Sure, it sucks that we had to go through everything Kamoshida did to us and all the other victims he hurt along the way, but at the end of the day, we still manage to do whatever we can to pull through and put the bastard in his place. It wasn't easy, but....(Smiles Softly) we did it. So you guys don't have to worry about what happened to us in the past. Cause as long as we all got each other, I believe we're gonna be just fine. You understand?

Dark Pit: Yeah.......(Turns and Give Ren a Determined Look on his Face) But just know that neither of you dumbasses are alone here, you got that?! Because no matter what, we always got each others backs. So you better not forget that for years to come, Ren Amamiya!!

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly) Relax, man. We ain't gonna forget that for a long time. Trust me. (Smiles Sincerely) But.... seriously though, thank you.

Dark Pit: Yeah. It's... whatever......Also....

Ren: Hm?

And with that, Dark Pit rushes over and gives Ren a quick, yet loving hug which last around a whopping five seconds before pulling away.

Dark Pit: (Starts Blushing and Looking Away) That never happened.

Ren: (Gives Pitto a Playful Smirk on his Face) Okay, Pitto.

Dark Pit: (Glares at Ren) No seriously. I will literally fucking murder you if this goes back to the mansion!

Ren: (Chuckles Lightly While Ruffling Dark Pit's Hair) Dude, relax. I promise I won't say anything. You have my word.

Dark Pit: You better.....................I love you......

Ren: (Smiles Sincerely at his New Little Brother) I love you too, Lil' bro. (I love each and everyone of you guys so much.)

Bonus

Pit: You guys sure you're going to be okay for the rest of the day? Because I can-

Ann: (Giggles Softly) Pit-san, for the millionth time, we're going to be just fine. We promise.

Ryuji: (Smiles Brightly) Yeah, man. Relax. The nightmare sucks and all, but you and Pitto were there to help us out. We couldn't be anymore thankful than that really.

Pit: (Pulls Ann and Ryuji in for a Group Hug) I'm just glad you two.are doing a lot better now. I love you guys.

Ann: (Smiles Softly as She Hugs Pit Back) We love you too, Pit. Thanks again.

Ryuji: (Hugs Pit Back as Well) Yeah, man. It's kinda a shame we didn't get a chance to thank Pitto too before he left.

Pit: Yeah. That's Pitto for ya.........(Begins to Smile a bit more Evilly) You wanna give him an all out hug tackle together once he and Ren comes back here?

Ryuji: (Smiles Brightly to that Plan) Oh hell yeah!

Ann: (Smirks Playfully) I am so down with that.

@keyenuta

@princeoflions123

@cyber-wildcat

@26shann

@albion-93

@ma-lemons

@italian-love-cake