Ren:….


Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Twenty – Five

"L-Leave me alone!" Kasumi shouted as she stood at the dead end of alleyway as three rough looking students stood at the entrance of the alleyway. "I-I didn't do it!" She exclaimed.

"You hear that Ichigo? She says she didn't do it," The black haired boy to the left cackled to the red haired boy in the middle.

"Look here Red," The blonde girl to the right said dryly. "You got something our boss wants."

"Give us pocket watch or else we fuck you up. Real simple," Ichigo said as he flicked out a pocket knife and twirled it in his hand.

"I-I don't have a pocket watch!" Kasumi exclaimed.

"Well…We did warn her boss," The blonde girl said to Ichigo.

Ichigo shrugged and began to advance only for a rock to collide with the back of his head. "Come on you three. How many times do we have to meet like this?" An amused voice asked, which prompted the the trio turned around.

"Aww fuck Ichigo, it's him," the blonde girl said with apprehension in her voice.

"It's-a me," a voice replied dryly.

"Get him," Ichigo commanded to his two lackeys. She watched as the two ran forward only for each one was knocked to the ground and as they fell, she finally saw the smirking face of her savior. "Damn you Amamiya!" Ichigo yelled as he rushed forward and swiped his pocket knife at the newcomer's torso but the boy easily avoided it with a jump backwards.

She watched as her tormentor ran forward and continued to try and stab at the newcomer but he was a slippery as an eel, avoiding each lunge of the knife before he ran forward and leapt up to land a solid knee to the middle of Ichigo's face, sending the boy to the ground.

The newcomer kicked the discarded knife to the side and knelt down beside Ichigo and asked "So what did we learn?"

"S-She has our Boss' pocket watch," the downed teen groaned out.

"And how do you know that?" The curly haired teen questioned.

"We saw her snag it…" The downed teen replied.

The curly haired teen stood up and looked to Kasumi and asked "Do you have the pocket watch?"

"N-No…I d-don't even know who these people are. I-I just moved to this city three hours ago," Kasumi explained.

"Did you?" The boy questioned.

Kasumi nodded as she fumbled with her purse then and pulled out a piece of paper and walked up to the tall boy and handed it to him. He glanced at it then nodded and said "Looks like its legit…"

"O-Oh…" Ichigo said weakly. "I-It must have been that other red haired girl Rena…S-Sorry about that Red…"

"At least you apologized. Now if I have to do this again, I won't take it easy on you," The teen said as he held the paper to her and said "Welcome. I hope your official first day at Gorin will go better than this."

Kasumi stared into his storm gray eyes and for a moment, she forgot where she was. She then shook her head and stammered "I-I hope so too…" before she took the paper from his between his fingers. The taller teen gave her a confident grin and walked away with his hands in his pockets. "W-Who was that?" Kasumi asked the downed Ichigo.

"The so called "Shield of Gorin" Amamiya Ren…ah, my chest," the teen answered, which caused Kasumi to look back at the retreating teen.

'Amamiya Ren…' Kasumi thought with a faint blush on her face.

"R-Ren…" Kasumi whispered as she stared at the teen in front of her. She could easily recognize that messy, curly black hair her fingers had once gripped and pulled when they kissed.

Despite the glasses, she recognized his storm gray eyes. The same eyes that drew her to him after he saved her that day in the alley.

Ren began to stand up but Kasumi stammered out "W-Wait!"

She began to stand up as well but Ren was already taking off down the sidewalk. "Ren!" she yelled after him before she lowered her head, the guilt in her heart starting to reignite. He had looked so stunned to see her. She didn't blame him.

She had said some horrible things the last time they saw one another. Some of those things she said were from her heart. Other things that she said came from her parents but she said them all the same.

And regretted it the minute she did.

'Maybe this is for the best…' Kasumi thought but that didn't stop the hand of sadness from gripping her heart.


Makoto was concerned.

She had been taking a walk in Inokashira Park in an effort to get her mind off of the racy dream she had of him and just as it began to fade away, she saw him.

'Amamiya…' Makoto thought as her heart rate began to rise. For a moment, she wanted to try and run the other way but it was then she noticed something.

He looked as if he was in pain. 'Should I go over there and talk to him?' Makoto asked herself.

"Why should you?" That familiar voice whispered in her head. "You ignored the suffering of everyone else under Kamoshida's reign of terror for a long time. Why should you care about his suffering? Is it because you get off to that dream?"

'Get out of my head,' Makoto thought angrily.

"I can't…We're one in the same Mako-chan. I know you inside and out," The voice taunted with a purr. Makoto could feet the world darkening around her as she stood face to face with her replica, the replica's eyes glowing that sickly yellow.

Makoto froze up and muttered "Don't ever call me that again…"

Her replica laughed. "Does that nickname make you feel weak? Make you long for the man that is dead?"

"Shut up…" Makoto hissed out as she balled up her fist.

"Oh my dear Mako-chan…" The replica purred with a small smirk on her face. "Look at you…So small. So afraid…so weak. Unable to face the truth of your own cowardice. You know why you don't want to hear your father's nickname for you? It's because you let him down!"

'SHUT UP!" Makoto shouted as she hunched over, her hands pressed against the side of her head as a pained expression appeared on her face. "Please just shut up," Makoto whispered, her body shaking as tears began to build in her eyes.

"Niijima-san…" her eyes snapped open and she looked up to see Amamiya standing before her.

Makoto tried to stand upright and look normal but a single tear fell down from down her cheek but to her surprise, Ren had one falling down his cheek as well. "A-Ama…" Makoto tried to speak to make herself seem normal but she felt so weak.

"Are you okay?" Amamiya asked, his voice faint and exhausted.

Makoto wanted to tell him that she was fine. She just had a temporary break from reality, which wasn't a lie but she couldn't find the energy to lie to him. "No…I'm not okay…" she answered.

Ren gave a small smile and said "Neither am I..."


"How long have you heard this voice?" Ren asked.

"Since the whispers of Kamoshida's misdeeds began…" Makoto replied.

After their admittance of their own pain, the pair left Inokashira Park and found themselves at Big Bang Burger. "I keep trying to drown them out but I can't. It's always there…Always taunting me…Angering me," Makoto muttered softly.

"Why do you think it's there?" Ren asked her before he took a drink of his milkshake.

"I wish I knew…But it's voice has gotten stronger lately. I just wish I knew why," Makoto replied before she took a sip of her drink. "But enough about me. Why are you not okay?"

Ren took a deep breath and asked "Do you remember when I broke down my past to you?" When Makoto nodded, Ren continued with "The girl that betrayed me and broke my heart, I saw her today…And it brought up a lot of terrible things in me…"

"Amamiya…I'm so sorry…" Makoto said. "That must have really hurt you."

"More than anyone will ever know," Ren said. "There's so much damage that she did that I…I just can't…"

"Trust anyone again," Makoto finished softly.

"I can trust my friends but I…" Ren paused before he let out a deep sigh. "Ann, Ryuji, Haru, Shiho…I trust them, more than they will ever know but…When it comes to love…I can't…I can't let myself be hurt like that again…"

Makoto stayed quiet as Ren let out a small laugh. "That's the first time I've ever said it out loud…I don't trust love…" Ren said softly.

"Ren," Makoto said after a moment. "I'm not going to pretend I know about love but…Maybe you should talk to her. Tell her how much that betrayal. Get closure…I can't promise that it'll make you trust love again but…It's a good place to start."

Makoto then took a breath and said "A-And if you want…I can help you. Give you an ear to talk to…"

Ren looked at Makoto in surprise. "Really? You'll do that for me?" Ren asked before suspicion filled his heart. "Why?"

"I-I wish it could be out of the goodness of my heart but…Amamiya-san, I don't have many friends and…the thoughts in my head. That voice, it's getting louder…I feel like I'm going insane…So Equivalent exchange…"

"You listen and coach me on my issues if I do the same with yours," Ren said before he raised his milkshake cup to her. "Very well Lieutenant, we have a deal."

Makoto smiled and raised her soda and their cups met in agreement.


"This is the place. Shujin Academy…" Sae said as looked to the officer at her side.

The man beside her had black shoulder-length hair and a goatee and he wore a pair of glasses, a black suit with a tie and a light turquoise long-sleeves shirt with golden buttons in each end of it and black buttons in each side of the collar; and white sneakers.

This man was Hasegawa Zenkichi, a member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department Public Security Bureau and as of right now, her partner in discovering what was causing these breakdowns.

"When I was brought here, I never expected this to be my case," Zenkichi said with a raised eyebrow. "But with these mental shutdowns going around, Kamoshida's spilling his guts out of nowhere does ring suspicious…"

"I agree but the sooner we figure it out, the sooner we can stop the next one," Sae replied.

"So, shall we go investigate?" The man asked with an easy going smile.

Sae merely frowned and said "Let's go Hasegawa-san."

'This incident with Kamoshida…I know it has something to do with the mental breakdowns and once I figure it out, there's nothing that will stop me…' Sae thought with a determined gleam in her eyes.


Rain: So now Ren and Makoto's friendship(?) has began while Sae and Zenkichi start their investigation. What will the next chapter bring? Also, to clarify something. In the first chapter, I stated that Ren would be with three women. After some thought, I decided to change that so now the story will be Ren/Makoto/Shiho as the main pairing, along with Ryuji/Ann. The rest you'll have to wait and see! Until the next chapter…

Zenkichi: See you all later!