A/N:: I have not posted a story in so long... I may have forgotten how to even write. So I'm super sorry for any grammar errors and the like...

This will take place after Futaba's palace but before discovering Okurama's.

Disclaimer: I do not own Persona 5. If I did, Shumako would be cannon for sure!

Of Curry and Love

When Ren walks through the door into Leblanc, it does not surprise him that the café is empty. Nor is it surprising to see its owner sitting at a barstool, flipping through the newspaper while taking a long drag from his cigarette. The older man glances up at the chime of the bell, but only grunts his acknowledgment.

"You're late."

Ren is slightly curious as to his response. He actually returns earlier today than he has all week. Sojiro notices the flash of confusion as he sighs, grumbles under his breath, and sets the paper aside.

"Help me prep for the dinner rush," is all he says as he turns his back and makes his way into the café's kitchen. Ren almost chuckles out loud, as he has never seen a "dinner rush" since he has been living at Leblanc. Out of respect, he simply nods and smirks.

Sojiro notices. "Something funny?" A grin is on the older man's face as well.

Ren's eyes widen ever so slightly. Futaba did warn him about the eyes on the back of his head. He debates about jabbing back, noticing Sojiro's good mood, but he does not want to test his new, yet fragile, relationship with the man just yet. He drops his amused smirk and stands up straight before responding, "No."

To his surprise, Sojiro's shoulders drop and he waves him off. "You don't need to be so stiff, kid."

Ren shifts into his regular posture, shoving his hands into his pockets before walking towards the back of the café towards the stairs. He almost mutters an apology, but Sojiro speaks first.

"Well, before you go too far, sit." His voice no longer playful, he places a heaping plate of curry on the edge of the bar. "You're going to need some energy to help. Eat."

His tone leaves no room for declining, not that he would be stupid enough to turn down a delicious free meal. His stomach thinks much the same, the mere aroma of the curry enough to cause him to grow hungry. He places his bag down by his chair as he sits, thanking Sojiro for the food before he picks up his spoon.

"So. How's school? You're not failing any classes, are you?"

Ren looks up at him over his glasses, eyebrows drawn together in confusion. Sojiro had stopped prying into his life several weeks ago. He does not know where the current interest is coming from. However, he does not want to be rude to his caretaker.

"Not yet," he replies with his trademark grin.

Sojiro returns in an attempt at banter. "Who are you paying to take notes for you then?"

Ren takes another bite of the curry before saying, "I just have a good tutor."

The older man cackles dryly as he turns to the stove top. "You have a tutor? You mean to tell me that someone is willing to spend time with you? Is this why you come home well after school hours?"

"It was her idea at first. Now it's just a habit. It's nice though. Now I'm known as the smart delinquent."

A mistake.

Sojiro stops what he is doing to turn his attention to Ren. The look he gives him causes the younger man to pause, unaware of what the look is for. Did he take his joking too far?

Then, Sojiro's grin widens and his eyes narrow. Ren knows this look. "Her?" Ren stares back for a minute, still processing the look on Sojiro's face. It is only after the man laughs that he realizes what he has said. Sojiro continues in his silence. "You have a girlfriend? And, what, you didn't want to tell me?"

Truth be told, she was not his girlfriend, not yet anyway. Ren has also been very nervous to even speak to Sojiro about anything for so long, so naturally he has never brought it up. On top of that, he has never asked until now.

It is only when Sojiro is standing in front of him that Ren realizes he is waiting for his response. He gives him the simple answer. "She's not my girlfriend."

Something akin to disappointment flits across Sojiro's face. Ren cannot help but look away, the beginnings of a blush working across his cheeks. He lowers his head to hide his face behind his unkempt hair.

But his caretaker is no fool. "I recognize that look, kid. You just need to buckle down and ask her out."

Ren's jaw pops open, but he covers up his surprise by blurting his thoughts. "She's way out of my league."

Silence. Ren suddenly feels like he is suffocating. Did he really say that out loud? Yes, he has spoken his mind, but he never enjoys wallowing in self-pity, much less voicing it. He sadly notices Sojiro's silence and fights the urge to slump into his chair.

What he does not expect is for the man to come around the corner of the bar and clap him on the back, hard. "Enough of that. What makes you think that any girl would turn you down?"

Ren starts to feel uncomfortable. He does not like talking about his feelings. He prefers listening to others' problems. He stares at his food, forgotten at this point, willing himself to find an appropriate response.

He chooses to remain silent.

Another mistake.

"Boy, you really have it bad, don't you?"

Ren also does not like the heating sensation spreading on his face. He lowers his head further, hoping to hide this from Sojiro, but the man is not having it.

"Look up, Ren."

It is the first time Sojiro calls him by name, and it compels him to do as he is told. He hesitates for a second, worrying about what he is going to see or hear, but he owes much to this man. The least he can do is obey.

"Where is all of this self-doubt coming from?"

It is as if he sees right through his soul. Slowly but surely, Ren's eyes dart away, a chill of fear running up his spine. He begins to list off all of his faults in his head. He's always been a loner. He prefers the company of books and silence to that of people and conversation, not so much currently with his newfound friends. His parents never speak to him. People think he's violent. He's not the smartest. He's not the best looking. He's not the strongest, the fastest, the…

"Stop."

Sojiro's voice cuts right through his doubt and the boy finds himself looking back into his eyes. "No one is perfect," he says with a sigh. "In fact, no one is even close." He then chuckles while rubbing the back of his head. "But I can guarantee you this, kid. You can't let every imperfection scare you into thinking you're not good enough. You'll regret it."

A trace of sadness crosses Sojiro's expression, but it leaves as quickly as it came. "Besides," he says as he turns his back on Ren, and when he addresses him again, there is a familiar smugness on his face. "She must not be good enough for you if you have never mentioned her before."

Defensive, Ren speaks after finding his voice. "That's not true. You actually-,"

He stops. Should he tell Sojiro that he actually knows her, or is it too early in their relationship to start asking advice about girls and romance? The look on Sojiro's face is priceless; a look between confusion and surprise. He cannot recall the man ever wearing the expression in the past.

Sojiro's voice breaks the silence. "So then, what's she like?"

Ren debates again about just telling him her name, but he decides to just answer his questions. If he figures it out on his own, gods help him. "She's nice."

The older man nearly face palms, and Ren cannot help but find it amusing. "You're telling me that's the only thing you like about her?" He shakes his head. "It's no wonder why she wouldn't go out with you if that's your best compliment."

Ren lowers his head once more, finding his face warming again and a strange feeling blossoming in his chest. "…She's perfect."

The words come out before he thinks them. Sojiro's eyes widen for a second, before a genuine smile makes its way across his face. He says nothing in return.

Ren builds on his comment. "She was one of the first people to talk to me. I met her in the library." He hears Sojiro chuckle at this but presses on. "…And she didn't seem bothered to let me sit with her, even when everyone else was talking about me."

He pauses to let the memory wash over him, then continues. "She's so cute, too. I never told her that I wanted to sit at her table because I thought 'This girl is cute'. She took me by surprise when she didn't freak out and walk off. Better yet, she looked up at me, then ignored me for the rest of the time I was sitting there."

Ren believes he makes out Sojiro saying "smart girl," under his breath. The man laughs softly afterwards, which prompts Ren to keep talking.

"She wasn't the nicest to me initially. I sat with her again a few days later and she glared at me and asked why I kept sitting with her."

"Your response better have been good," Sojiro says with a playful tone.

Ren ran a hand over the back of his head, already sensing his reply. "…I asked if she was smart."

He hears Sojiro face palm this time, muttering "you idiot" quietly. Ren continues to rub the back of his head sheepishly.

"She definitely didn't answer me," he says with a small laugh. "Went right back to studying."

Sojiro leans against the wall holding his precious coffee beans, reaching into his pocket for his pack of cigarettes. "How the hell did she end up tutoring you?"

"She probably got tired of me sitting with her without a good cause?" He really doesn't know, but he wonders if it was part of her plot to "spy" on him. He does not tell Sojiro this. "Eventually she started tutoring me after school when she could." A pause. "And that's that."

Ren picks up his spoon, remembering he is hungry, but hears Sojiro sigh. And it bothers him. "I thought you were a charmer, but you are pretty shitty when it comes to winning a girl over."

It's Ren's turn to sigh. He has spoken quite a bit, and it makes him feel vulnerable. Sojiro basically wants more details, but he is not so sure he wants to air his feelings to a man who he looks up to as a father. He doesn't want to chance losing that bond over continuing the conversation and saying something stupid.

"Isn't it getting late? What about that dinner rush?" His grin widens as Soijro sighs again and shakes his head.

"You know there's no such thing as a dinner rush." He lights his cigarette. "And I can just as easily-,"

The pause worries Ren. He stops eating and watches as the man's smile darkens. He walks around the corner of the bar, his eyes still on Ren's stiff form, before crossing the room to the door. When he steps outside, Ren releases his breath and the tension in his shoulders, only to straighten up at the sound of Sojiro's voice.

"Forget the dinner rush all together. I'm getting you to talk about your girlfriend if it's the last thing I do."

Ren notices the sign on the door facing him now says "open", meaning Sojiro has made the decision to close for the night. He has to fight to keep his head from falling into his plate of curry. He groans in frustration; he has never seen Sojiro act so aggressively. Over him, for god sakes! He makes a mental note to use male pronouns and names if he ever talks to him.

"What's her name?"

Going for the kill. What is Sojiro going to think if he tells him he has a huge crush on someone he has already met? He shoves more curry into his mouth, hoping to distract the man long enough to find a way around the question.

His next question forces Ren to choke on his food. "Is it that school president?"

Ren does everything in his power to hide all of the emotions that he is sure Sojiro notices instantly. Failing epically, he puts his spoon down and rubs his hands on his pant leg. Sojiro knows. There is no need to keep denying it now. "Yes."

Sojiro adds more to his humiliation. "What was that? I'm getting old, kid. My hearing isn't what it used to be. Speak up."

"Yes!" Ren tilts his head back, stretching the muscles in his neck while averting Sojiro's beaming expression.

To his surprise, Sojiro reaches for another cigarette, his smile only widening. "I knew when I caught you two in my place that it would only be a matter of time. She seems like a good kid. After all," he pauses to take a drag from his cigarette. "She has to be to keep you in line."

Ren does not respond. He is still trying to recover from his embarrassment. Sojiro does not wait too long before pouncing on him again.

"You might not enjoy taking advice from an old guy like me, but girls love a guy with confidence. You really need to work on that if you're this flustered by simply talking about her."

Ren frowns at his words. Him? Flustered? Oh, his friends would love to hear about this.

"Just bring her over, make her dinner, and talk to her," Sojiro continues. "It might be hard at first, but if you keep postponing it, it will only get worse, kid."

Ren pushes his plate away from him and places his elbows on the counter, his hands cradling his head. "What if she says no?"

"Then she says no. At least you'll know."

"She's my friend. If she says no, then how am I supposed to keep being her friend?"

Sojiro sighs. "Let me ask you this. Do you think she likes you?"

A pause. "I don't know."

"Do you think she likes you?" Sojiro's question sounds fiercer than the previous attempt.

Ren thinks before he responds. "…I would like to think so."

"Why?"

He cannot help the surprise in his voice. "Huh?"

Sojiro asks again. "Why?"

He begins to ponder why he thinks so. When he had first met Makoto, there was no way in hell he thought he would ever have a chance. She was cute, yes, but very dedicated to school and her studies. It was when she never appeared to be afraid of him that he decided to accept the challenge. He visited the library every time she was there. He took her up on her offer to tutor him, even if there was an underlying reason. He even went as far as helping her with her "broadening horizons" goal. She could have gone to anyone else, but she chose him. That meant something, right?

He remembered when she asked him to pretend to be her boyfriend. He was initially thrilled, while simultaneously feeling stabbed in the heart. But he didn't let it get to him. He had only known her for…a few months? Was that enough time to know someone before asking them out?

"You're thinking too much again, kid." Sojiro's voice pulls him out of his memories. "But at least this time, you're smiling."

He notices a proud look on Sojiro's face, causing Ren to sit taller in his chair. "If I plan on bringing her over, will you teach me how to make this curry?"

Sojiro grinds his cigarette into a tray, his smile never fading. "You need some serious training. Your curry is subpar at best. She will never go out with you if your cooking is that bad."

Ren beams at him, nodding once in thanks. "If she says no, I'll blame it on your terrible teaching."

The older man laughs, a sound Ren enjoys a little too much, and he laughs along with him.

"Then I suggest eating the rest of your dinner. It's going to be a long night for you."

Ren does as he is told before he grabs his bag and heads up to his room to change. He stretches out his back, his muscles tight from sitting for so long. He is about to head back down the stairs when the sound of a satisfied purr grabs his attention.

"Guess I know your little secret, huh?"

Ren freezes where he stands. Shit! Morgana jumps onto the banister and scratches behind his ear with his hind leg. "Tomorrow, you are buying me sushi."

Ren glances at the cat, staring into his bright blue eyes. He already knows the answer to his question, but he asks anyway. "And if I don't?"

"Fatty tuna." Ren can literally hear Morgana's smirk. "Or everyone will know that the dark shade of "Ren Red" goes great with Makoto and curry."

Ren almost falls down the stairs.

I picked up Persona 5 maybe six months ago. Loved it. Only on my second play-through. Having said that, I'm not an expert on the characters yet, so if this seems way too OOC, I apologize. The idea has been stuck in my head for days and I finally sat down to write it. I also fought over which name to even use, but as Ren was the first name mentioned to me, I went with it.

I also love Sojiro. And cannot get enough of Ren and Makoto!

Until then, the dragon rests.

龍の神様