Red and black blurred by in a mess as the veiny motif covering the walls pulses in time with the sound of wheels hitting the railways. Akira peering out the window of Morgana's bus form as Makoto drove them to one of their requests destinations. To his left, he could hear Skull tapping away at his pipe in a way to stave off the boredom. Next to him, Fox, Oracle, and Noir seemed to be deep in a conversation which Akira payed no mind to. Panther and Queen chatted casually, about what, the leader couldn't tell.

"Hey." He lowered his voice as he directed his attention to Ryuji. "Are you doing anything later?"

Shadowed brown eyes shifted over to him. "I ain't got any plans."

Akira playfully nudged him. "Movie night?"

The blond smirked and nudged him back. "Hell yeah."

"Gross, stop being all coupley." Oracle said from the back seat.

Akira watched as the smile faded from Skull's face as he rubbed the back of his neck. The leader reached over and gave the blond hair a ruffle. Skull gave a short laugh and batted his hand down and the Mona Bus jerked to a stop outside a red and black swirling vortex. The teens jumped out as the black and white vehicle and Mona returned to his regular form.

"Who's on the front lines, Joker?" The cat asked, knocking his bladed weapon against his shoulder.

Akira surveyed the team, taking in their pros and cons along with their abilities. He ultimately decided on Skull, Panther, and Noir; allowing the others to be back up in case they needed help. They leapt through the vortex and prepared to fight the enemy before them. Akira was giving orders while simultaneously dodging whatever the shadow was throwing at them.

"Oracle." Akira said sternly while summoning one of his many personas to give the team a boost. "I need a scan."

"On it! Hmm… It looks like electricity and ice are its weaknesses."

"Skull!"

"Hell yeah! Eat Ziodyne! Let's go Captain!" The blond ripped off his mask and for a split second, Akira saw what looked like to be an image of Ryuji that replaced the skeleton captain.

Nothing came out, leaving the teen stunned and… the leader saw a flash of fear in those brown eyes.

"Skull move!" Akira heard Oracle as he felt and head the sound are a garudyne charging.

The leader acted fast, tackling his teammate and rolling them both out of the path of the deadly wind spell. Ryuji grunted as his mask flew off, skittering across the ground, while Joker turned to the shadow with anger in his eyes. He commanded Skull to stay where he was, brought Fox in as backup and swapped masks, aiming a bufudyne right at the monstrous creature. Akira was thankful that the tall artist followed up with his own ice spell. The shadow sunk to the floor in a daze where the team killed it off with an All Out Attack. Akira snatched the treasure before turning to where Ryuji sat, still frazzled and maskless on the ground.

"Skull… Ryuji, are you-"

Morgana interrupted the fuzzy haired teen. "What was that, Skull?" The cat crossed his arms. "You should've said something if you couldn't summon your persona. You could've gotten Joker killed."

Ryuji flinched at the tone and Akira had never wanted Morgana to shut up more in his life.

"I know it's hard to summon, but even someone as simple minded as you can do it."

"Mona." Akira hissed after catching another flinch from the blond. "That's enough."

The cat took one look at his leader before shrugging, dropping his paws at his sides. Panther moves over to his side and inspects him for injuries, which Skull waves off with a mutter as he got up.

"But you could've gotten hurt."

"I'm fine."

"But-"

The faux blond's voice came out hostile. "I said was fine, didn't I? Damn…"

Panther frowned. "Geez, I just wanted to check up on you. Be an asshole for all I care."

Skull shoves his hands into his pockets and made his way towards the whirling portal, mask and pipe forgotten on the ground. It was clear that Ryuji was going to wave off whatever the team said to him. The team watched as he left before they turned their attention towards Akira.

"Let's head back for now, he's probably just tired."

The drive back to the entrance of Mementos was silent, apart from the sounds of the Mona Bus. Akira glanced out of the corner of his eye at Ryuji, who sat with his arms crossed, glaring harshly out the window at the multitude of vines. The leader wanted desperately to say something, but he feared he would get the same treatment as Panther had. Once they departed from mementos, Ryuji left Leblanc without a word, shoulders hunched and hands jammed into his pockets. The team watched as he left, a cold feeling settled over them until the others said their goodbyes and left the café. Akira pulled out his phone and looked at his text messages, finger tapping on the one between himself and Ryuji.

Me: Ryuji? Do you want to talk?

Ryuji: Leave me alone man.

A pang of hurt stuck Akira's heart and he did as his friend requested, locking his phone and throwing it on the bed. He changed into his pajamas before collapsing on his bed in a huff; he closed his eyes not long after his head hit the pillow.

The sound of his phone going off drove Akira out of a dreamless sleep as he slowly blinked into the darkness of the attic. He waited a few seconds, figuring that it was a text message until ringtone went off again.

"Who's calling at this hour?" Morgana whined as the teen rolled over to grab his phone.

Akira's eyes squinted at the brightness as he stared at the caller ID. "It's… Ryuji…" He sat up and answered the call with a yawn. "Ryuji?"

"Akira."

The sound of the blond's voice snapped Akira awake. "What's wrong?"

"I-" The sounds of fabric being moved was heard and the distant sound of a sniff. "Shit…"

"It's okay. I'm here, just talk."

"Eff… I had a nightmare… My mom and him…"

Ryuji's father.

"What happened?"

"The same ol' thing." Another sniff. "Expect this one was more intense. I can hear everythin' he was doing and not just my mom's screams…"

"Ryuji…"

Another sound of shifting fabric. "Akira… after he was done, he came after me…"

"Oh…"

"He had a broken beer bottle in his hand and a scowl on his face. The effin apartment melted, leaving only me and him. I tried to run away, but I couldn't." Akira could hear the blond's breathing increase at a rapid rate. "My leg… my shitty lame leg was broken again and blood was coming from it and-" Ryuji was starting to hyperventilate.

"Ryuji. Ryuji! I'm right here! Deep breaths and listen to my voice, okay?" Akira wished he could be there to help the blond. He heated hearing all of this and not being able to help. "Deep breaths and listen to my voice. You know, Morgana snores and he's heavy."

He heard a snort over the phone followed by a deep inhale. Good, it was working now all Akira had to do was keep talking until Ryuji's breathe evened out. So, he started speaking randomly, talking about the other members of the Thieves or about the different types of coffee had made. By the time he finished reciting a recipe for a sweet tasting mocha; Ryuji's breathing had evened out.

"Are you good?"

"Y-Yeah, thanks man… sorry about all this."

"No, no, don't apologize."

He heard Ryuji huff. "Dude, I woke you up at like three in the mornin' to talk about my shitty nightmare."

"I don't mind talking to you. I like your voice; it's kind of calming to listen to."

"The hell? Are you flirtin' with me?"

"Would that be bad?"

"Nah-" Ryuji stopped suddenly and Akira pulled his phone away to make sure the call didn't disconnect.

"Ryuji?"

"Shut up…"

"Huh?"

"I said shut up!"

Akira yanked his phone away from his ear at the sudden yell. "Ryuji?"

"…."

"Ryuji?" Akira's voice rose in concern as the call disconnected.

Morgana opened one blue eye to stare at the shocked teen. "What happened?"

"I-I… I don't know." He looked at his phone and a heavy feeling of dread came over him.

What was going on with Ryuji?