The train doors closed behind them. "Next stop is…" the train announcer droned on.

Ren took note of the train car he was on. It was empty, outside of a couple of men in business suits.

Ren took another glance behind him, even when he just took one before. He made sure to only move his eyes, not his head. Men in suits again, but different faces this time. Where were the suits from last time? Even when Sae got him out of prison, these guys were still following-

Ren shook his head. He caught himself again. No one was following him. The Phantom Thieves of Hearts don't exist here. There would be no reason to keep tabs on him. These businessmen were just that: office workers going home from work. Hell, both of them were taking a nap.

"So, first things first, my name is Amamiya Ren," Ren said as he leaned back on the closed train doors. The car jolted forward as the train moved to the next station. "And you guys?"

Baseball Cap came first as he pointed to himself. "Name's Iori Junpei. Nice to meet ya."

"My name is Takeba Yukari," Pink came next, though she said so warily.

'Takeba Yukari? Where have I heard that name before? I'm sure I remember Futaba talking about her,' Ren thought. Ponytail's voice took him out of his musings.

"And I'm Shiomi Kotone!" Kotone introduced herself. "Good to get a name for you, Glasses!"

Ren stared at Kotone's enthusiasm. "You doing okay there? You were pretty close to being beaten by a small gang, you know. I didn't expect you to be this…"

"Energetic?" Yukari asked him and shrugged. "Pretty much. Only Junpei can match that energy."

Junpei nodded. "Yep! She's pretty much a tomboy."

"Oh?" Kotone smirked at Junpei as he reeled back. "Who was the one blushing at the dorm? Saying something about protecting both of us? I didn't think you'd blush for a tomboy, hmm?"

"H-hey, don't bring it up now!"

Yukari sighed. "Enough, you two," she reprimanded before turning to Ren. "Sorry about that. These two are always like this."

Ren shook his head. "It's not a problem. Not the first time I've met people with enough energy for a crowd."

"Oh yeah, you said that you travel around, right?" Kotone spun to face Ren. "Met any interesting people?"

"Hey, don't forget to talk about how you're doing all this alone!" Junpei told Ren.

"Hey, hey, one at a time. I'll explain everything," Ren said to placate Kotone and Junpei. "Around the beginning of 1st-year, I realized that I didn't like what I was doing. I decided to take tons of part-time work to fill my time. By the end of the year, I got tons of money, enough for me to move out."

"And your parents let you?" Junpei asked.

Ren chuckled. "No, no. I moved out of an orphanage. I don't have any parents."

Suddenly, the atmosphere dropped. The three flinched at what he just said.

"Hey, hey, come on. You guys had no way of knowing and I'm over it. No need to be sensitive about it," Ren said, hoping to stop the atmosphere from getting worse.

Junpei rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry about that..."

Ren shook his head mirthfully. "I told you, it's cool. I'm not going to bite, so ask away."'

"Erm-uh well, where did you come from?" Junpei asked.

"From Tokyo. That's where I grew up," Ren answered.

"You're from the city?" Yukari asked.

"Yeah. I don't look like I do, don't I?"

"Yeah, sorry..." Yukari said apologetically.

Ren laughed. "Not going to lie, it tends to happen. I look like any guy in the crowd."

Yukari chuckled at that. "So, what's it like there? Any different from Port Island?"

Ren looked out the train window. "Well, for one, there are a lot more lights. Whether it's Shibuya or Shinjuku, there're lights everywhere. The only place I could imagine that would have that here in Port Island is Paulownia Mall."

"Well, you're not wrong in that," Junpei said as he shrugged. "It's open 'till midnight. Depending on the people in the shifts, some stores could stay up even later."

Kotone nodded. "Yeah, there's even that club in there. It's open only at night."

"Wait, really?" Ren excitedly asked. "What kind of club is it?"

"The party kind," Kotone answered, only for Ren to deflate. "Not your type?"

Ren sighed. "Nope. The jazz club I went to in Kichijoji was quieter, calmer." Kotone nodded at his response.

"Tokyo's like a 'pick-your-own-adventure' place, hmm?" Junpei asked. "That's honestly kinda cool."

Ren nodded. "It is. You could be surrounded by bright neon lights in one area, but if you take the subway to a different part of Tokyo, you'd be surrounded by old bookstores."

"We have a bookstore here too!" Kotone said excitedly. "It's in Iwatodai Station and it's owned by the nicest grandpa and grandma."

"Yeah? Sounds fun. I'll keep that in mind when I'm in the area. I might find something."

"So..." Yukari took Ren's attention. "Why Port Island of all places? It sounds to me like you love Tokyo a lot."

"Like I said, I left Tokyo to do some soul searching. I've been there for so long that I need to separate myself from it. Otherwise, I'd just be another cog there," Ren stared outside the train before turning back to the three. "As for why Tatsumi Port Island, no real reason. It was just a matter of curiosity about the Apathy Syndrome."

"Why that, specifically?" Yukari asked.

'Instead of freezing up like last time, she's taking the offensive. Not bad.'

"No real reason. It's just this weird thing that centers in this city for a decade. Cases were rising slowly over the years but then, it suddenly dips twice. I've never seen anything like it."

"Ya can't just ignore it?" Junpei asked.

Ren smiled bitterly. "Kinda hard when they're stuck in my head. I saw some in Iwatodai Station and they're not something I'm forgetting anytime soon."

Suddenly, the train bell rang out. "Next stop is Iwatodai Station. Next stop..."

"Do you guys have any other questions for me?" Ren asked. "My stop is up next."

"Oh," Kotone spoke up. "Then what kind of part-time jobs did you take?"

Ren hummed as he tried to remember what he did. "Well, I did a lot of jobs. Monday was volunteer work," and he began counting off each job. "Tuesday was in a coffee shop as a barista. Florist on Wednesdays. There was that beef bowl shop on Thursdays. Friday was for the convenience store. I worked in an airsoft shop on Saturday. To round it off, Sunday was for a bar in Shinjuku."

"Wait... Monday through Sunday? You had no free nights?" Junpei asked, only for Ren to shrug with a little smirk. "That's crazy!"

"Shinjuku..." Yukari pondered to herself. "You didn't work in the Kabukicho district, did you?"

Ren blinked at Yukari's question. "You know about it?"

"Well, yeah, it's the red-light district of Tokyo!"

"Wait," Junpei interrupted. "You mean, like Shirakawa Boulevard?"

Yukari's only response was a nod.

Kotone had a confused look on her face. "Shirakawa Boulevard? That place is bad?"

"Oh, right, you're new to the city. You wouldn't have known about it." Yukari said. "It's all love hotels there. It's a place for couples."

"Oh... It's that kind of place," Kotone had an understanding look and turned to Ren. "Is it even legal for us high schoolers to be there? How'd you even get that job?"

"Well, from the beginning," Ren began recounting his story. "The proprietress and I had a mutual friend. After meeting a few times and talking to her about how I needed some money, she decided to offer me a job. She needed help during Sundays and she was getting overwhelmed, so I would be called in and help out, even for a couple of hours. As for legality, so long as no one realized that I was younger than I looked and that I didn't handle alcohol, we were fine."

Suddenly, the train slowed down. "Arriving at Iwatodai Station. Arriving at Iwatodai Station..."

"Well, I guess that's us," Ren said. He lifted himself off from the closed train doors. I hope my life was entertaining enough to you guys."

"To be quite honest, it's kind of unbelievable," Yukari answered as everyone stepped out of the train car. "It's sort of believable, but there's a lot that I can't believe."

"Yeah..." Ren reminisced. "A lot of things happened last year; I could hardly believe it myself."

"But man," Junpei interjected, "That's amazing. You're basically free; you don't have to study for exams!"

"Still feeling how hard rock-bottom is, Stupei?" Yukari mocked him.

"H-hey, I told you, I resent that!" Junpei shouted back and the two soon devolved into their own world of insults as they descended from the station into the Iwatodai Strip Mall.

'It's just like with Ryuji and Ann, or Yusuke and Futaba.'

Kotone chuckled beside Ren as she watched Yukari and Junpei. "Sorry about them. They've known each other for a while and they just bounce off each other like that."

"That's not a problem for me," Ren assured her. "It's fun seeing people be that comfortable with each other; it reminds me of some people I knew. To be honest, I'm more worried about you."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well," Ren began. "You've got this energy in you, but you were quiet most of the way here."

"Oh! No, no, it's not like that. Junpei and Yukari are great friends. This stuff usually finishes quickly. On top of that, they usually come to me and talk." Kotone answered.

"Oh..." Ren said, thinking to himself. "You weren't like this back in Port Island Station, and it was only on our way to Iwatodai Station that you became like this. Was it me then? Did I do something wrong?"

Kotone's eyes widened. "No, no! You didn't do anything wrong, really," she reassured him.

Ren saw her hesitation but didn't push onwards. Her secrets were hers to keep. She had to be the one to open up and pushing her might have the opposite reaction.

"Alright. It's your call." Ren said as both of them used an elevator to descend to the Iwatodai Strip Mall.

"Hey, you guys!" Junpei called out from the bottom of the elevator.

"We thought we lost you guys," Yukari said with a sigh. "Sorry, we kind of left you two behind."

"Don't worry, Yukari! Just get me a beef bowl tomorrow and we can call it even!" Kotone exclaimed, pointing to a store in the strip mall.

Iwatodai Strip Mall was quiet and barren. No one was there outside of the 4 teens. Ren noticed that the people with Apathy Syndrome that were in the streets during the day were gone.

"Are you two okay? You two look awkward." Yukari asked, narrowing her eyes while shifting glances at both Ren and Kotone. Her eyes suddenly widened and her face frowned. "You didn't ask her out, did you?! I knew I shouldn't trust a guy that works in the red-light district!"

Yukari's frown turned into one of confusion as Ren and Kotone burst into laughter.

"See?" Kotone said to Ren, having calmed down. "She's great, isn't she?"

"I never said you were lying, Shiomi-san," Ren responded. "I'll agree that she is great though."

"Uh..." Junpei shifted his baseball cap while looking at Kotone and Ren, unsure how to respond to the two of them.

"Don't worry, don't worry. I'm fine, you guys," Kotone said, waving her hands in front of her, as if to placate Junpei and Yukari. "Nothing happened."

"Anyway, where are you guys headed?" Ren asked. "I'm off North; that's where my hotel is," he said, nodding to one side of the street.

"Our dorm is actually behind the station, so we have to go down the street and turn from there," Kotone answered, pointing to the end of the street, opposite of Ren's direction.

Yukari nodded in agreement. "She's right. It looks like this is where we split up," she said with a frown, glancing at Ren.

Ren noticed and raised an eyebrow. "Is there something wrong, Takeba-san?"

"O-oh, um..." Yukari murmured. "Listen, in the back alley, I called you scum before. I also judged you since you worked in the red-light district. I'm really sorry about those."

"Don't worry about it," Ren said with a smile. "It's a small thing."

"Anyway, we have to get going," Junpei interjected. "We have to talk to Kirijo-senpai and Akihiko-senpai when we get back to the dorm."

Ren's eyebrows rose in surprise. "You know a Kirijo?"

"Yeah, we do," Yukari said with a frown. "What about it?"

Ren shook his head. "Nothing, really. I'm just surprised to hear that you guys know a Kirijo. I heard that they basically own the city."

"Well," Kotone pondered, placing an index finger on her chin, "I know that the Kirijo Group owns Gekkoukan High School."

Ren grimaced. 'That's some money and power...'

"I see..." Ren said. "It's surprising to hear that it is true."

Kotone shrugged her shoulders. "Eh, you get used to it. It was surprising to hear at first, but after a month, it's just another thing."

Junpei crossed his arms with a smile and nodded with his eyes closed. "Same with me when I moved into the city. It's like knowing an actual princess."

Ren chuckled at that. 'Haru was like that too, wasn't she?'

"Anyway," Yukari said, grabbing Kotone's hand and pushing Junpei down the street. "We really have to go, Amamiya-san. Have a good night."

"Good night, have a safe trip back," Ren waved at them, then began walking in the direction of the hotel.