Ren disliked third-year mathematics. Not all mathematics. Just third-year mathematics. He'd aced second-year stuff: functions, graphs, lines, equations- all of them honest and straightforward operations. But third-year stuff? Imaginary numbers. Matrices. Probability calculations. A whole slew of ways to calculate exactly how inexact something was. It all seemed an entirely different subject.

Makoto was not sympathetic. "Just wait till you get to economics," she murmured without looking up from her own homework in the opposite booth seat.

A light spring rain drizzled against the windows of Cafe Leblanc. Futaba was in "the zone" and typing furiously on her laptop at the bar. Morgana was snoozing in the next stool. Sojiro was having his evening smoke and watching the evening news, muted and subtitled. As was customary to the cafe on weekdays around this time: no customers.

They could study in Ren's room upstairs- but that didn't seem the right thing to do after enjoying a free curry dinner from Sojiro. And free dinners were valuable- especially since the splurge on karaage the night before. And without the strange financial benefit of metaverse adventures, Ren and Makoto were readjusting to one of the more mundane disadvantages to young students: personal poverty.

So, they passed the after-dinner hour in companionable silence. Makoto would answer Ren's questions with evasive, leading hints. She would never give him the answer to anything, or even tell him how to do something. That wouldn't help him learn, apparently. Meanwhile, Makoto was composing some sort of essay about the Japanification of Buddhism. At the bar, Sojiro seemed content to just be in the same room with everyone. The cafe was, if anything, the living room of the Sakura family- of which Ren was an adoptive member, and Makoto more or less was "married-in", as Futaba put it.

A quiet Thursday night. Ren idly wondered what Ryuji, Haru, Yusuke, and Ann were up to. He hadn't seen much of Ryuji and Ann at school, both had rushed off after last bell- while Yusuke and Haru moved in different realms entirely. Ren suddenly realized his group of confidants was evolving. A sort of new family was growing here in Cafe Leblanc: there was a father, a little sister, a family pet (sort of). Ren's eyes shifted to Makoto, her brow was furrowed as she proofread her own work in progress. A spouse.

And in Sae a big sister. Meanwhile, the other four seemed to be orbiting new centers of their own lives- something near to Ren, due to the existence of the Phantom Thieves, but not around him. Separate. They were all becoming somewhat less close as a group.. but perhaps that was the way it was supposed to go? Ren felt a little sad at the thought.

But then again, they all had seen each other as a full group yesterday, and that was the second time of the week. Still, in the old days- or rather, a year ago, they'd been together almost every day. But maybe he was just overthinking it. Probably.

"Did you finish?"

Ren blinked and realized Makoto was looking at him. He glanced down at his homework. It wasn't done, but it was done enough that he could get the rest completed before that class tomorrow. He closed his notebook.

"Finished enough," Ren said with a sigh.

Makoto's eyes narrowed and her face tightened into a look of disapproval- it was the student-council-president face. Ren's hackles rose slightly as he realized he was about to get nagged. It was one of the few aspects of Makoto's personality that could get on his nerves.

But the click of the television turning off drew Ren and Makoto's attention to the bar. Sojiro was untying his apron. It was time to close up for the night. Futaba closed her laptop, spun, and hopped off. Morgana yawned awake on his stool.

"All right, your two," said Sojiro, "Close up will you?"

"Goodnight," said Futaba. "Wanna watch another episode of that show, Morgana?"

"Yes!" said Morgana. "Goodnight!"

And with that, Ren and Makoto found themselves alone in the Cafe Leblanc. Thankfully, Makoto seemed disinterested in her own schoolwork now. She closed her notebooks and leaned back into the booth seat with a sigh.

"It's later than I thought," she said, her eyes closing with apparent mental fatigue.

"Yeah," said Ren as he watched her. She was tired. It had been a taxing week for her. School. Job. Otohime. Her father. Ren's mind spun for a way to help Makoto relax. Oh! There was the new menu item he and Sojiro had worked on a bit.

"Want some honey ginger tea? It's a new drink Sojiro is trying out."

Makoto's eyes opened and she smiled. "That sounds good. Sure."

"It will take a bit to make. Gotta boil some water. Is that okay?"

Makoto took in a breath and Ren watched her eyes travel to the clock away behind him. "How long exactly? I still have a train ride in front of me."

Ren felt a rush of disappointment. She wanted to go home tonight? Was she over the ghost thing? Or was she just forcing herself to face it? Or was it simply because this wasn't her home, and it was a school night. Regardless, Ren would rather have her here- not because it was more fun to have her in bed than to be alone (well, not JUST because of that) but- well, he just wanted her around a bit longer today. They'd been together almost constantly the last few days. It felt like spring vacation again. Ren liked it. Things were just… better when she was around.

"Don't go out into the rain. Stay here," said Ren, a bit of Joker-mystique blending into his voice.

Makoto's eyes flicked back to Ren. She looked thoughtful, but she was frowning. Ren was pretty sure that was the expression of Makoto reevaluating the plan she'd made for herself. That meant she wasn't iron set on leaving, but a plan was a plan. She needed a bit of convincing:

"You have plenty of things in my room," said Ren, careful to turn off the suave in his tone. "I'll start making the tea, and... And! You could head to the bathhouse and soak a while! Much better than an apartment shower."

"Umm.. well…" said Makoto.

Time to bring out the big guns:

"Stay," Ren reached out and laid his hand on top of hers, the familiar feel of her skin adding a sensual undertone to what he was trying to articulate. "My life is better when you're with me."

Makoto blushed. She looked like the novice student of romance that she'd been over a year ago. It was a rare sight these days. Neither of them were novices anymore.

She smiled shyly and nodded. "Okay. I will."

Ren felt mild elation shoot through his mind, and he smiled. They looked at each other for a short time, lost in the other.

"Oh. Well," said Makoto, blinking away the shared spell. "Yes. I'll get my clothing and towel and head across the street."

"And I'll get the tea going."

"Okay."

They both scooted out from the booth. Makoto went upstairs to Ren's room to raid her own stash of sleep-over supplies. Meanwhile, Ren went behind the Leblanc counter and placed a small pot of water onto the burner. While it heated, he began to skin some ginger root. The citrusy smell of ginger quickly filled the cafe.

Makoto descended the stairs, bath bag in hand. She stopped near Ren and sniffed. "Mmm, that smells refreshing already."

"It gets better."

"Mmmhmm," her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

Oops. Had he sounded too salacious?

But Makoto let it pass: "Twenty minutes, you said?"

"Yes."

"All right."

The cafe door tinkled as she left. Ren watched her cross the alley and enter the bathhouse. She could take care of herself, but they could take care of each other, too. She was beautiful. It was nighttime in a big city. Though crime rates were supposedly low in Japan compared to many countries. But... things could happen. Things had happened. Lots of bad, crazy, unlikely things happened, and happened to him. To Makoto. To them all. He had to be ready for the next thing to happen: Always. Forever.

Anyway. This was a darkly tiring train of thought. Makoto was safely across the street, and this ginger wouldn't cut itself. Ren turned his attention to the moist root and began chopping it into small pieces. He then crushed it slightly to loosen the juice, and then scraped the pieces and the juice into the pot of boiling water. And that was pretty much it. Twenty to thirty minutes of boiling to get the water nice and... gingery. Then, a dash of lemon and a generous spoon of honey.

Simple, yet excellent. And the young, blue-ring Hawaiian ginger was especially good for drinks- or so Sojiro said. Apparently, that was what made Cafe Leblanc ginger tea so special (and his supplier gave him a good deal).

But with both the ginger and Makoto soaking in hot water, Ren had some time to kill. He looked around the cafe. It was relatively clean and he didn't feel like attempting a half-hour of cleaning anyway. His eyes settled on the small collection of ragged books on the cafe counter. It was a sort of informal leave-one-take-one library for customers. Ren never saw anyone use the system, but it some people must utilize it, as the books did gradually transform into other titles, almost like magic.

Ren leaned over the cafe counter and rifled through the titles: The Waiting Years, the second Harry Potter book, Snow Falling on Cedars, Kokoro ((of course)), Helen Keller's autobiography… most of it seemed far too heavy for a twenty minute wait. Well, except the Harry Potter book, but Ren didn't want to jump into the second book right now. Then his hand stopped on a particularly ragged book. It felt like old leather; like an out-of-date encyclopedia, decades forgotten on some shelf. He pulled it out to get a better look at the cover. It was the "Records of Ancient Matters." Kojiki. A collection of Japan's myths, written way back before 1000 A.D. Interesting.

Ren began flipping through the pages. It was a common enough book to see. Anyone who studied Japanese mythology and religion would need to reference it at some point, but the old way of writing used by the author was awkward and a bit tiresome- so it wasn't exactly the ideal pleasure read, but it was the most interesting option at the moment. Ren flipped to a random page and began reading. The old Japanese was hard to read, but he slowly made sense of it. It was about the god of storms and his various adventures and feats. Ren read, and as the ginger tea boiled next to him, he eventually came to the passage:

And so, Swift-Augustus-Susano-O came to the head of the river and heard the sound of weeping. Searching for the source of the mournful sounds, he came across an old man and an old woman and their daughter. Said Susano-O: "Honored elders, why do you wail thus?" And the old man replied: "Because once we had eight daughters, but Rice-Haired-Inagami is the last. Eight-Forked-Serpent-Orochi devoured the others, and soon will come for her."

The cafe door tinkled again. Ren looked up to see Makoto entering the cafe, her brown hair still damp. Had it been that long already? He glanced at the clock: 7:34 pm. Yes, and a bit of extra soak time, too. Makoto smiled in a relaxed sort of way as she walked towards the cafe bar where Ren stood. She wore some mundane sweats and a long sleeve shirt, standard go-to-sleep-ware, but to Ren's eyes, she always looked magnificent.

"Hey," he said. His mind failing to provide him with anything better.

"Hey," said Makoto, her smile growing slightly. Then she laughed lightly. "What's that look about?"

"What? I have a look?"

"Yes, you do. You definitely were giving me a look."

"Oh. I dunno...Uh, take a seat. I'll finish up the tea."

"All right."

As Makoto set her bathhouse bag in one of the empty booths, Ren poured the ginger water into mugs. She then sat at the nearest bar stool across the counter and watched what Ren was doing, her hands on top of her lap in that habitual prim-and-proper way of sitting she had.

Which meant she wasn't relaxed. Was something bothering her? Had she wanted to go home that much? Maybe he shouldn't have pushed for her to stay.

Ren paused his search for the honey. "Is something bothering you?"

Makoto blinked in surprise, then averted her gaze slightly. "Umm… well. I can't stop thinking about something…"

Ren stared at her. Waiting. "...okay…"

Her crimson eyes flashed back to his. "That man..."

"That man?"

"The one under the tree. The one I- I- executed."

Ren's mind recalled the sound of a human skull smashing against stony ground. Oh. That man. He'd been buried under fallen trees and Makoto used her powers on him before he could get up. Ren had been shocked by the ruthlessness of the act; not because he felt it was unnecessary, but because he hadn't known Makoto had the capability for it.

"But-" said Ren, fumbling to make sense of what Makoto was telling him. He couldn't. "But why?"

Makoto's eyes dropped to bore into the countertop. Her fists clenched into tight balls atop her thighs. She puffed up slightly with a large breath.

"Because I can't stop thinking about Father. He called me a killer, and I know he's talking about that man."

"But- you're father-" Ren paused as Makoto's eyes rose back to him with an intense gaze. He was about to make claims about the ghost of a man he'd never known. Someone very important to Makoto. Perhaps that wasn't the wisest path. Ren averted his own gaze. Grabbed the honey bottle and began adding honey to the steaming mugs. He gathered himself in the brief silence. Makoto waited. Watching him.

"Makoto," said Ren. Putting down the honey. "Everything on the Mountain Top was necessary! We had to do what we did to live!"

"I think that's true for everything that I did up there," said Makoto, "except what I did to that man."

"He would have shot us in the back!"

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Didn't you do that because the first guy you let go came back and shot me?"

"Yes. But the first man was not that man. Maybe he wouldn't have done the same."

"...Makoto you made the choice between him and us. You chose us. We all survived. That means you made the right call."

"But was it just?"s

"What?"

Makoto leaned forward in her chair. Her gaze deadly serious. "Was it a just act? Or was it just the best action for us?"

Ren opened his mouth to dismiss the difference, but he held himself back again. This was the crux of the issue. This question was the core of Makoto's turmoil over the ghost of her father. This was an opportunity to unclog an emotional issue in Makoto's mind. That was his job as leader, right? And as a boyfriend. He just needed the right words to draw it out. Ren bought time for himself by slicing a lemon and juicing the teas. He could feel Makoto's eyes boring into him.

He needed a question- but one that didn't sound confrontational or dismissive. Something phrased to bring out what Makoto was feeling- whatever inner concern that was driving her logic engine down this pathway. Ah. That was it.

Keeping his voice carefully even, Ren finished adding the lemon to the tea and then returned Makoto's gaze: "What is the benefit to knowing the answer to that?"

Makoto's mouth tightened into a white line. Her crimson eyes began to glisten. Then she blurted: "I'll know if I'm still a good person!"

Ren was aghast. "What? You're a good person."

"Am I? How can I be so sure of that now? I was sure of my actions, then. So sure I was right. But now- now I'm not. And the more I think about it, the more I think I could be wrong. And that I did something really bad. Something evil! Without even realizing it till now! Before this, my mind was clear. I was sure 'I'm good'. But now…" She closed her eyes, tears flowing down the side of her face. "I can't stop thinking about it. I'll forget for a while, then all of a sudden, it's back in my mind and I worry and I worry. I debate with myself the merits of both sides, over and over. But it never works."

This was almost exactly what Ren worried about after the Mountain Top. The nagging doubt. The could-haves, would-haves, should-haves. Was I right? Did I do wrong? All these endless questions he could never get the answers to. Normally, he was trapped in these cycles and Makoto got him out. Talk about a role-reversal. But how did she get him out of it?

Ren leaned forward and placed the cup of ginger tea in front of Makoto. Then he raised his hand to her face and cupped her cheek, using a thumb to rub away a tear. She didn't smile, but she closed her eyes and leaned into his hand a little.

"Makoto, you're a good person. I think only a good person would agonize themselves like this. An evil person is so sure they are right and good and just, they wouldn't even worry about it. And I know you did the right thing."

Makoto's eyes opened and she looked at him. She looked a little better. She nodded and Ren withdrew his hand. She picked up her tea and sipped at it.

Ren continued: "Overthinking in retrospect is what I do. You're in the same trap I get myself. You'll never know the answer, Makoto. There's no way to-"

"There's a way. I already have a plan to get the answer."

Ren froze. "What?"

Makoto took a deep breath. Her voice regained it's matter-of-fact tone she had most often when planning something. "I'm going to get the Matsuzaki incident report from Sae. I'm going to identify the man. I'm going to visit his relatives."

"Wh-... WHAT?!"

Makoto closed her eyes briefly, and when they reopened, Queen was staring at Ren. Hard and determined. "I know it's stupid, illogical, foolish. I've thought about how it could expose us, but I already have a cover story figured out. Ren, it's the only way I can learn about him. By meeting his family, seeing his home, figuring out his life.. I can learn who he was. Learn what he was motivated by. Learn what he would have done if I hadn't killed him. Learn if I acted with justice."

Ren's mind was blank. It was insane. An insane plan. An insane idea. And from Makoto! It was logical, yes. It could potentially solve her private delimma, yes. But from an emotional and social aspect… it was insane! But Makoto's logic pathways had driven her to such actions before- like back when they first started dating and she hunted down the other women Ren had in his cell phone. Or when she seemed to consider executing Otohime after their Palace infiltration. Both things were logical in a Makoto way, but also insane in a general-population way. It was Makoto's one true imperfection that rarely made itself visible, but here it was, staring him right in the face.

Ren didn't know how to argue against this plan. It had come so far out of left field for him. "But- but you can't just-"

The bell of the cafe door tinkled. Both Ren and Makoto's heads shot around. A goon stood in the doorway. A goon man in a goon suit with goon sunglasses. Triangle sunglasses.

"Hey, kid," said Triangles. "The Boss wants you. Now."