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Both Iwai and Kaoru walked into the café and watched all eyes turn to them. "So, you're all a bunch of kids after all."
"The hell kinda introduction is that?" Yelled Ryuji.
"Just calling it as I see it." He said, pulling down his hat and sitting across from Ren's parents. "Good to see you again."
"Uh, likewise." Masato greeted.
"Excuse me, but where's Ren?" Kaoru asked.
"He's upstairs." His mother answered. "I take it that you're Kaoru."
"Oh, yes ma'am. It's an honor to meet you!" He said, standing up and bowing.
The bell rang again and in walked Doctor Maruki. "Hello again, everyone. Sorry if I'm a bit early."
"Woah, woah, woah," Ryuji began. "What's Doc doin' here?"
"Amamiya-kun asked me to come." He said, sitting down at the counter. "I ran into him by coincidence and he let me know about the meeting. He thinks since some of the people coming are from Shujin, it would help things go along smoother."
"Sounds like you know more than the rest of us." Iwai stated. "I take it that you're in deeper with the Phantom Thieves than anyone else that's comin' here."
Maruki chuckled to himself. "I suppose you could say that. They actually stole my heart."
"S'that right?" Iwai spoke with wide eyes and a stunned tone, almost choking on his lolipop.
"Seriously?!" Kaoru asked. "How'd they do it? Do they have some sort of magic weapon or something?"
Maruki bellowed aloud. "Well, you're closer than you might think."
"He is?" Iwai asked, completely bewildered.
"Actually, yes." Ren spoke, coming down the stairs. "But, let's hold off on that for now."
"Ren!" Kaoru yelled, standing from his seat and embracing the ex-Phantom Thief.
"How's it going, Kaoru?"
"How's it going? How's it going?!" He yelled. "Dad picked me up from school and just randomly told me that you're a Phantom Thief! That's how it's going!" Kaoru was ecstatic with a mile wide smile across his face.
"Yeah, I'm sure that came out of left field." He supposed. "Listen, just take a seat and wait for everyone else to arrive. We'll explain everything then, okay?"
"Sound's good!" The young Shujin student exclaimed, sitting back down with his father.
"You're like a little kid again." Iwai smiled.
"I-Dad!"
More time passed and Kawakami came in "Hello." She said, biting her lip and hoping she wouldn't instinctually say something involving the word 'master'.
"'Sup, Miss Kawakami." Ryuji greeted.
She smiled. "Somehow, I knew you would be here, Sakamoto-kun." She turned to the model and smiled again. "You as well, Takamaki-san. Though, I can't say I knew about the rest of you." She said, looking across the room until she saw the previous councillor of Shujin.
Before she could ask about his presence, however, Mishima walked into Leblanc. "Hey, everyone, I hope I'm not too-" His words cut off the moment he saw Maruki. "Woah! Doctor Maruki is a Phantom Thief?!" Mishima phanboyed.
"Woah there, Mishima! Don't get it twisted. Maruki was one of our targets." Ryuji corrected.
"Targets?!" Kawakami confirmed. "Is that true?"
"I'm afraid so." Maruki said with a small nod and smile.
After a quick greeting with Ren, the two sat down, awaiting for the meeting to start. As more and more time passed, the others entered the small coffee house, each of them fondly greeting Ren and discussing their history with him to pass the time.
Once everyone was finally there, the Phantom Thieves all stood up and presented themselves towards the back of the café. "Alright, everyone's here, so let's get this started." Ren began. "As you all know, we're here to discuss the nightmares you've been having since around the time I left Tokyo." Everyone, save for Sojiro and Ren's parents, nodded.
"Thing is," Ryuji stepped forward. "From what we can tell, none of you guys are really having different sorts of nightmares."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Ohya inquired.
"It means that they're not really nightmares." Futaba explained. "All of you are dreaming about a blood red sky and huge bones sprouting up all over Tokyo."
"Don't forget the Phantom Thieves in funky ass get ups fighting some giant monster." Iwai added.
"That too!" Futaba enthusiastically yelled. "You see, those dreams are actually repressed memories."
"Repressed… Memories?" Shinya asked.
"That's impossible!" Tae yelled. "How could the sky turn red? Or the bones turn up out of nowhere? How could that monster exist?"
"That's what we're going to explain." Ren said, gesturing to his teammates. "I know it's pretty crazy, but please, just listen to us." Tae slowly sat down and nodded her head, knowing full well she could trust her former patient. "Doctor Maruki, do you think you can explain a bit more about cognitive psience?"
Maruki took a quick sip from his coffee and set it down. "Right, of course." He said, standing up and walking in front of everyone. "This will already be a lengthy discussion, so I'll keep things simple. Imagine, if you will, a world completely different from our own. The metaverse is formed by cognition. It's shaped by how we as both a society and as individuals see the world. Fake guns become real if they look real." He said, gesturing to Iwai. "Video game abilities are completely feasible acts." Pointing at Shinya. "And even, a cat being able to talk." He said, stepping aside and presenting Morgana who simply meowed at everyone.
"Was… Was that supposed to be him talking?" Kawakami asked.
"He said, 'hello'." Ren confirmed. Upon looking at both her and everyone's doubt, he decided to perform a test. "Let me prove it to you." He said, picking up Morgana and handing him to his former teacher and maid. "Whisper something in his ear so that none of us can hear it. We'll even cover our ears to make sure."
With that, the Phantom Thieves all stuck their fingers in their ears and watched as Kawakami sat in thought before whispering into Morgana's ear with a confident smile. Handing him back to Ren, she held a smirk. "Good luck guessing what I said."
Morgana looked up at Ren with an embarrased expression. "I don't think this is a good idea."
"Why not?"
"Because of what she said…"
"Just tell us, you damn cat!" Ryuji cried.
Though the Phantom Thieves, as well as Doctor Maruki, could hear the cat speak, the other's just watched in confusion as the cat meowed and the Phantom Thieves stiffened.
"Morgana, could you repeat that?" Ann requested, almost terrified.
The cat meowed again and a small blush spread over the face of their stone faced leader. Clearing his throat, Ren repeated what Morgana had said, his voice cracking with each word.. "W-Welcome home… Master…"
The café went silent and Kawakami felt a pit arise in her stomach. She quickly shrunk into her seat, red in the face as the silence grew. She hadn't thought that Ren would guess such an embarrassing and dangerous phrase.
"Ren?" Ann asked, her eyes scanning his face. "Why did Miss Kawakami decide to say that?"
"H-How should I know?" He defended, avoiding the eyes of his associates by looking at the ceiling.
"Because it sounded like a message of some sort." Makoto chimed in, her voice filled with suspicion.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said obliviously.
"Oh, come on! This is ridiculous!" Masato yelled. "Do you really expect me to believe our cat can talk?"
"Actually, the explanation is very simple." Maruki interrupted. "You see, Morgana isn't simply a cat. He's a being that was made in the cognitive world that was meant to help your son here triumph over the desire to be controlled.
"How is that simple?!" Masato asked. "I didn't even understand a word you just said!"
"Dad." Ren calmly spoke, walking up to his father. "I understand that it's… out there. But please, just listen. None of us are lying. There's a lot to get through, but you'll understand by the end of it. I promise."
Masato stood there for a moment, looking into his son's eyes before quietly sitting back down. "Alright," Ren said. "Back to business. It's time you all learned about our personas."
Sorry if these endings feel abrupt. I'm not too sure about how to properly segue between chapters when they're all happening within one conversation. Also, if anyone is asking how Maruki knows about Iwai selling the Thieves model guns and Shinya teaching Joker game moves, I figure it would make sense given his reshaping of reality. Chances are he'd know about them given their connection to Joker. At least that's my rationale.