The door-chime rang as Ren entered the diner. It took when look at the empty booth in the center to realize that he was the first one to have arrived. He decided to take a seat.
This was quite the fascinating establishment Haru had opened up recently. An American-themed diner right in the middle of Tokyo. On the menu were a variety of dishes he'd only known about through Hollywood movies. This wasn't his first time dining at one of the Okumura cafes, however, and if his prior experiences were anything to go by, the food would most definitely be worth the money.
As he fiddled with the old-fashioned jukebox on the table, Ren heard the door-chime ring and saw Haru and Makoto enter.
"Hey, you came early!" Haru said, smiling and sitting opposite Ren. Makoto sat next to him.
"Well, you know me." he replied.
"Where's Futaba?" Makoto said.
"Oh, yeah she told me she'd be a while. Apparently there's some kind of hackathon scheduled today."
"Ah, it seems she never did let go of her talents." Makoto smiled knowingly.
"Well, I hope she's enjoying herself." Haru said with a smile of her own.
Ren finally decided on "Don't Stop Believin'", an English song from the '80s he'd heard on MTV a few times.
Just then, the door-chime rang again. Ryuji and Ann had arrived, along with some other folks who took a seat at a side table.
"Hey!" Ryuji said, taking a seat beside Haru. Ann entered from the opposite side to sit next to Makoto.
"It's effin' amazing seeing you back here after so long!"
"It's...effin' amazing to see you too." Ren said with a smile.
"Okay, I get it, you find it weird. But I've always had my reasons for watching my language."
"Oh please." Ann began to giggle. "You watching your language? That's totally not like you."
"I'm serious! I've realized I have a lot of growing up to do, you know."
"Well, I'm glad you finally realized it." Makoto said with a teasing smile. He simply giggled in response.
"So, where's Morgana?" Ann said, looking around the table.
"Futaba's bringing him over. She's going to run a little late." Ren said.
"Oh, okay."
Just then, the door-chime rang again.
"Ah, Yusuke! Over here!" Ryuji waved him over.
Yusuke didn't take too long to come over. Fortunately, there was enough room for him to sit next to Haru.
"It was really nice of you to reserve this booth for us." Ann said. "Seriously, Haru, without you I don't think we'd have come back like this."
"Thank you!" she smiled. "I always wanted to make sure everyone came back together whenever we could!"
"To think it's been seven years since we disbanded. My word." Yusuke smiled.
"Well, I don't know if we can truly call it that since we've remained so close to each other." Makoto said.
Ren smiled and took another glance at the door. A couple of other men had come in, and one of the guys on the side table seemed to be looking back at him.
"Ah," Yusuke piped up. "That reminds me. You were talking about a case against one of Shido's people other day, weren't you Makoto?"
"Oh yeah. My sister gave me an update this morning. Apparently, her friends at the prosecutor's office got another witness against the TV station guy. He's going to testify tomorrow."
"Holy shit, seven years and they're still prosecuting those assholes? That makes me miss being a Phantom Thief."
Ren glanced uncomfortably at Ryuji for once again blabbing about their identities before calming down. After all, he'd already confessed his own involvement a long time ago.
But was he still being tailed as a result? He didn't know if it was just his paranoia, or if some people here were genuinely surveying him.
"I wonder..." Haru said. "Are all those people watching me?"
"Relax!" Ryuji piped in. "They're probably wondering why the owner of the diner is out here trying out her own menu! Speaking of which, maybe we should order something."
"Oh, today's special's the onion rings! I've personally overseen the recipe."
"Well, I hope it's good. I haven't had a great experience with American restaurants here, to be honest." Makoto said.
"Let's just give it a try." Ann said, reading off the menu, which was typed up in both Japanese and English. "Onion rings. Fantastic delicacy from city of New York, made in America."
"I did not supervise the writing of the menus." Haru muttered in embarrassment.
"Uh, excuse me." Ren said to a passing waiter. "Uh, four plates of onion rings, seven risottos, and seven cups of cold coffee. Would that be alright?" he faced the others. They all nodded in agreement.
"Understood sir. And nice of you to visit, Okumura-san." he nodded towards Haru.
"The pleasure's all mine." she smiled.
It didn't take long for the order to arrive, and they all dug in.
"Let's keep these for Futaba and Morgana." Ren said, putting two plates and a cup of coffee aside.
"So, is Futaba going to drive over here? She got her license a week ago, right?" Yusuke said.
"Yeah, she insisted." Ren chuckled. "She's been obsessed with the new car ever since Sojiro bought it."
"I do not blame her. The design will remain etched in my mind for the rest of my days."
"Well, it did look rather cute, I'll give you that much." Ann said with a giggle.
"I'm gonna be real for a sec." Ryuji said between mouthfuls. "How the hell did all of you get such cushy jobs? I'm still answering phones and dealing with whiny adults who don't understand their computers."
"Everyone follows their own path." Makoto said. "You're just at the entry level, Ryuji. Buck up!"
"Yeah, well, I'm only doing for the money. All I really care about is going on a run whenever I get the time. Which isn't often enough!"
"Just remember the good times." Ann said.
"Don't be sarcastic." he grumbled.
"No, I mean it. Isn't that what you said to me, when we visited Shiho together?"
"Oh, I did?"
"Yeah. You need to work on practicing what you preach you know."
"Ah, well, thank God Mona wasn't here to listen to all this. He'd never get off my case."
Mona was actually on Futaba's case as she drove her car to the entrance to the diner. The only available space required her to parallel park, a prospect she absolutely dreaded.
"Come on, don't hesitate now! We're already late."
"I know, I know." Futaba grumbled as she tried to get the car into position, and failed.
Meanwhile, as everyone was still eating away at the diner, Ren began humming the tune from the jukebox.
"Just a small town girl, living in a lonely world, she took the midnight train to anywhere."
"What do those lines even mean?" Ryuji said, before shooting a look at Ann, "Don't answer that. Rhetorical question."
"Well, I think I can understand the lines just as well as Ann by now. Because I took my studies seriously." Makoto said and giggled.
"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up." Ryuji said, with a chuckle of his own.
Futaba had tried and failed a second time to parallel park. Morgana was not impressed.
"The shadows searching in the night." Ann hummed as a man entered the bathroom directly opposite Ren's position.
"Shouldn't Futaba have come by now? Her plate's getting cold." Haru said.
"Don't worry, it won't be long." Ren reassured her.
Sure enough, on her third attempt Futaba had succeeded. Or rather, Morgana told her she was "close enough" and they both decided to get out and head for the diner anyway.
"Don't stop believing. Hold on to that feeling." Ren hummed.
"Ah, if I remember correctly, these are the last lines. The song's about to end." Ann said.
"Ah, yes, I remember too." Yusuke remarked knowingly. "The story of this song will end, just like all stories eventually do."
Ren looked up as the door-chime rang again.
"Don't stop-"
Author's note: Yes, the entire story was a shoutout to the ending of The Sopranos. I am not sorry.