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His Safe Haven

Wednesday—June 10, 2021

Ren came to with a stiff neck, but memories of last night came flooding back. He rubbed the back of said neck and stretched the best he could without disturbing Goro from his sleep. He looked down at his feet and knees, both of which were touching Goro's, so he was careful not to move too quickly. Despite his best efforts, the brunette still stirred.

"Sorry," he murmured, sitting up straighter and wincing as he grabbed his shoulder, letting out a disgruntled exhalation through his nose. "Wasn't very comfortable."

"I was fine," Ren said at once but his phone continued to chime endlessly and relentlessly. He yanked it out with vigor and a twinge of annoyance that he could not get any peace.

Ann (23:52): Where are you?
Ryuji (23:52): dude, everyones worried
Ann (23:53): Why aren't you responding?
Sumire (23:54): Where did you and Goro go?
Yusuke (23:55): Everyone is frazzled at your disappearances.
Ryuji (23:55): renren, i wanna sleep, but i cant if i dont know where you are
Sumire (23:56): Please answer our calls.
Ann (23:58): I'm going to look for you.
Yusuke (23:58): I will stop her.

Ren had eleven missed calls and his phone was going off again with Ann's caller ID popping up. He was not going to miss it for a twelfth time no matter how much he wanted to ignore it.

"Sorry," Ren said the moment he picked up the call. "I found Goro. We are fine."

"That's no excuse!" Ann said though he could hear the relief in her tone. "We were out looking for you for over an hour, Amamiya!"

"Sorry," Ren repeated, making sure the hint of apology was evident in his own voice. "I didn't mean to worry."

"Shit, give 'em hell from me," Ryuji's voice crackled in the background, followed by the sound of rustling sheets. "I'm sweaty and tired."

"Did you forget we are—"

"I didn't," the black-haired boy said and cracked his knuckles on his leg. "We'll be back in a few minutes."

Goro was already scrolling away on his phone by the time Ren hung up; the detective rose to his feet with a firm nod. "Let's head back. We have a lot to do before we go this evening."

.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.

Ryuji felt the sweat stick his shirt to his back, unable to remember when it was ever this hot. He swore he was somewhere hotter than an African desert with no water. There were too many people on the streets, making it even more suffocating than it was and not every part of the New York subways had air conditioning. Okay, sure he was being dramatic, but he really was warm.

"How are you not dyin'?" he asked Ren, who was looking as cool as a cucumber. "Shit, it's freakin' hot."

"It is," Ren said and looked at his watch. "We should get going; we have less than an hour to get ready before we go."

Ryuji nodded.

That hour went by fast; they just barely got inside their townhouse before Ann was harping on them for being late. He groaned as she continuously chided them and while Ren took it well, all he could do was groan and roll his eyes, which angered her further.

"Let's focus," Ren said and tapped the table with his hand to gather everyone's attention. "Does everyone remember the plan?"

"Hell yeah," Ryuji shouted and let out a cheer, his heart filling with excitement and replacing his fatigue.

"Remember," Ren said as he lifted a finger while pushing his glasses further up his nose with the other. "Our route is almost finished, but we need to figure out the best way out...otherwise our heist won't work."

"Ready?" Goro asked, pulling out his phone.

"Everyone has their notebooks?" Ann asked, holding hers up.

"Got it," Ryuji said, waving his sketchbook around, although he didn't tell her he already lost her pencil.

"Mine as well," Yusuke said proudly.

"Begin navigation."

Ryuji waited patiently for the world to warp around him, something he had finally gotten used to after a year and a half of going in and out of the Metaverse. He could feel the warmth of his fire trigger his transformation into Skull, and when he looked around, all he saw were masks. As predicted, Makoto and Haru were waiting for the rest of the Phantom Thieves, leaning against the wall and talking amongst themselves.

"All right," Ren said, adjusting his red glove.

The moment their Leader spoke, they walked over to the others and waited patiently for his instructions. Ren's eyes travelled to the four portraits that were portrayed. The rest of the group followed him to the one of an apartment complex, leaping into it after him. Ryuji groaned as he shivered at the feeling of being immersed into the picture. It felt like someone dunked an entire bucket of ice water on him, but the feeling disappeared as quickly as it came.

When he emerged on the other side, he recognized the familiar streets and the oversized Central Park. From where they stood, the single apartment complex stood out against the trees, towering several stories above the treetops. The streets around Central Park were still bustling with cars as if the rest of the world was still moving; however, no one was on the streets. It would have almost been a convincing copy of the actual New York City.

"Wait," Haru said and held up a hand to stop everyone. "Where's Oracle?"

"Helllloooo, Phantom Thieves!"

The new voice scared them and Ryuji couldn't help but let out a tiny scream as he jumped a mile in the air. He whipped around, ready to fight, but stopped short when he spotted a tiny figure in white with bright red hair. It took him a few moments to realize he was looking at Sophie.

"Holy shit," he barked and slapped a hand to his forehead, eyes widening almost comically. "What the hell? What're you doing here?"

Sophie tilted her head to the side as she bounced on the balls of her feet, arms swinging merrily at her side. "I was summoned here."

"By who?"

"By meeee!"

Ryuji, once again, jumped at the disembodied voice and craned his neck to see who the hell was talking this time. Except...he recognized that voice, too.

"Oracle?" he gawped.

"I don't have time to explain," Futaba's voice said in exasperation. "Just trust me and Sophie, okay? Joker, she's gotta go with you."

Ren grunted with a nod, eyes casting over the group before settling his gaze on Ryuji, who gave him the thumbs-up. Sophie merely hummed blissfully as she watched the others begin to break off into their assigned groups. Yusuke and Makoto stood together, while Goro and Sumire stood shoulder-to-shoulder. Ann and Haru branched off from the others. Lastly, Ryuji rested his arm on Ren's shoulder, glad to be fighting at his friend's side again.

Ren gave him a genuine grin, eyes alight with the prospect of battle and perhaps feeling as reawakened as Ryuji felt.

"Ready?" the Leader murmured to him.

Ryuji grinned back and gave him a playful nudge. "Hee-hawww!"

"Not again," Ann groaned, pinching the bridge of her nose.

Ren let out a bark-like laugh and twirled his blade around his finger, showing-off like he usually does. "Let's go!"

The Phantom Thieves broke off and went their separate directions. Ryuji matched Ren's pace perfectly, able to keep up now that he had started physical therapy for his broken leg, which was feeling stronger with each day he worked and trained. The pair moved swiftly to the first blue beam of light, leaping into it and emerging several yards closer to the apartment complex.

"Oracle's prediction worked," Sophie said to herself as she followed close behind, her blue-ringed eyes blinked.

Ryuji wanted to ask about it, but he knew now was not the time. Instead, he picked up his pace, ducked behind tree trunks, and swerved between the bushes to avoid the Shadows lurking around. Although, they did not seem to pose much of a threat. It vaguely reminded him of the dormant ones around Mementos.

"Shadows," Sophie whispered in a too-calm voice. While she was exceptionally bright, she still had to tackle the whole human-display-of-emotions thing. "Approaching."

"Shit," Ryuji said and pressed his back against the wall as Ren crouched lower to the ground, slowly pulling out his gun from the depths of his long-ass tailcoat that Ryuji was still amazed hadn't gotten caught on something so far. "Whadda we do, Joker?"

"There's three," Ren whispered and looked at him. "We can handle them."

Ryuji's face broke out into a grin; did Ren really even need to ask? "Hell yeah we do. We're the OG Phantom Thieves after all!"

"That we are," Ren said and sprung to his feet; with agility and grace, he did a forward flip in midair and landed on the shoulders of the Shadow, ripping off its mask with flair. "You're mine!"

The ambush triggered an outbreak of Shadows to emerge, but Ryuji came forward with a battle cry and brandished his mace. Together, he and Ren initiated the close-range combat, striking from all angles.

"Sophie, all yours!" Ryuji shouted as he and Ren split away to avoid the AI's blast of energy. Ryuji could feel the heat behind the rays of yellow light, so he made sure to stay clear.

Morgana followed up with an attack of his own Persona, Zorro—creating a gust of wind so powerful, it would have knocked Ryuji flat if it were aimed at him. The Shadow stumbled just long enough for Ren to get in with a follow-up attack. The last slash of his blade caused it to explode in a cloud of black smoke.

"Nicely done, Phantom Thieves," Sophia said pleasantly, arms aloft like a ballerina.

It did not take them long to finally reach the apartment complex, looking at the front door. Ryuji was about to walk in when Morgana hissed.

"We're Phantom Thieves, not common burglars. We don't go through front doors, idiot!'

Ryuji threw his head back in annoyance and groaned. "Where should we go then?"

Morgana paused to look around, jumping in place a few times when he spotted whatever he spotted. Ryuji tried to follow the not-cat's gaze to try to see what Mona was looking at.

"See that window on the second floor?" Morgana asked, pointing his sword at it and turning to face them all. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Ryuji genuinely had no idea what they were thinking, but he didn't want to be that guy, so he nodded with a little too much enthusiasm and paced around the window for a moment, looking up and around. Morgana came over to say something, but Ryuji didn't hear it in time. He grabbed the not-cat by the scruff and chucked him as hard as he could, hoping he judged his aim right.

"Skull!" Ren said in shock, running up to him with a face that definitely indicated he did something wrong.

"What?" Ryuji asked, eyes wide at his friend's not-so-subtle reaction.

"Why did you do that?" Ren asked, bewildered.

"Y-you...I thought...wasn't that the plan?" Ryuji spluttered, now rubbing his neck awkwardly as he realized maybe they were not on the same page. Okay, they were definitely not on the same page.

"No," Ren said with a vigorous shake of his head. "We were going to use the grappling hook."

Ryuji paused then… "oh…."

He looked up and frowned.

"It's like...look, the window's half-closed. Only Mona woulda fit!"

Ren gave him a disapproving look and if it weren't for that, Ryuji definitely wouldn't have playfully teased him with his next comment.

"Well, your skinny ass coulda."

Ren gave him a click of his tongue and an exasperated roll of his eyes, but both boys were grinning at each other. It was Ryuji who was able to bring out the more playful side of Ren, the one who acted more like a teenager; Ryuji's bond with Ren truly meant the world to him.

"No tact," Ren said with a shake of his head, shooting him a sly grin.

He spun on his heel and released the hook, which caught on the window sill. He saluted and launched himself up, landing perfectly on the window's thin sill. From inside, Ryuji could hear him talking to Morgana as he was sliding the window up to fit through. He was totally right—he could have definitely fit through the gap just fine.

Once Ren's shoulders disappeared and he reemerged with just his head popping out, the ravenette called out down to him.

"7 outta 10, man," Ryuji said with his hands on his hips. "No flashy, showy stuff with just that."

"Let's see yours," Ren replied cheekily and rested his elbows on the sill, cupping his chin in his hand and looking way too smug.

"My pleasure!" Ryuji insisted. He vaulted up the side of the complex, using the bricks for foot and hand holds, kicking off from the first level window ledge and grabbing onto the second floor one, pulling himself up the rest of the way. "Ha!"

"Not bad," Ren sighed with dramatic reluctance, waving a hand as he withdrew from the window to make room for Ryuji's entrance. "Whatever."

"Ha!" Ryuji repeated and clambered through the window, folding his arms over his chest haughtily. "10 outta 10. It's gotta be!"

"Sophie's next—"

"Excuse me!" came her polite voice.

Sophia had climbed up after Ryuji with the aid of her yoyos.

"I can't with you…" the blonde said as he hung his head.

.oOo.

Yusuke pressed his back against the wall, peeking around the corner. His eyes travelled down the long hallway, hating how there were so many rooms; his fingers brushed softly against the sketches he made, eyes scanning each detail he had on the page. There were countless rooms, too many for them to explore individually. Still, he didn't want to admit this in case of dashing his friends' hopes. However, he knew Makoto was thinking the same.

Speaking of which, Yusuke winced as she grabbed his arm tighter, nails piercing his skin through his clothes. He looked down at the usually fearless woman, noticing how her eyes darted around nervously. He blushed a little at their close proximity, but he had no problem supporting and comforting a friend.

"You seem unwell, Queen," he observed and put his free hand on her shoulder. "Do you need to rest?"

"No, it's not that," Makoto mumbled and forced herself to take a deep breath. "How far are we? How much longer?"

"Quite a ways," Yusuke replied honestly despite it being the answer he, himself, did not want to hear. He sighed and showed her the sketches, pulling hers from his pocket to combine them.

"It's endless," Makoto breathed and gently hit her forehead against his arm with a suppressed groan.

"There is a limit," Yusuke said as he looked at the top of her head.

"How do we know that?" Makoto protested sullenly, loosening her grip slightly but still not letting go. "It's the Metaverse. Really, it can do anything."

"Don't be silly," Yusuke said brightly, patting her shoulder reassuringly before moving it to the paper as a gesture. "Cognition is limited to one's restricted perception of reality."

Makoto simply blinked up at him.

"In compendium, because of human's natural insubstantial understanding of reality, a cognition cannot be endless," he continued thoughtfully, staring at his work and mulling it over in his head. "Ergo, I believe these countless rooms are, in other mere terms, a 'trick of the mind'."

He finished his conclusion and looked to Makoto for a rebuttal or agreement; however, she just stared at him agape, mouth hanging open and eyes widening comically. Yusuke drew his eyebrows together in confusion and tilted his head to the side.

"Unless you have a different opinion?"

"Of course," Makoto breathed, seemingly lost in her own thoughts as her metaphorical gears ground hard enough for the smoke to start pouring out from her ears. She ran over to the nearest door, much to Yusuke's surprise, and stopped before it. "Look!"

Yusuke couldn't look because she took off again but just to the next door. She pondered it for a moment while she tapped her lips thoughtfully; once he caught up to her in arms-length, she reached over and seized him by the collar of his attire, yanking him close to her. Once again, Yusuke blushed furiously and stammered an apology as he crashed into her with his greater weight, body crushing into hers.

"No, no," Makoto said dismissively and waved a hand, trailing her finger along his sketch. "Look at the numbers here...they're not apartment numbers—"

Yusuke narrowed his eyes as he looked at the long sequence of numbers. He was not familiar with what apartment numbers were seeing as he never stayed in one, but he did notice something else.

"They're—"

"Dates!" Yusuke exclaimed, his heart soaring at their newfound discovery. He tapped his pencil excitedly and jotted that note down, making sure he lined up each door number on the side. "Behind these doors unveils memories significant to these dates specifically."

"Yes!" Makoto said, pleased as she beamed up at him. "You can see which dates have importance and which ones don't because there are time skips between each door. Do you see?"

"I do," Yusuke said eagerly and began pacing in front of it; he was sorely tempted to open one, but he knew better to do that before consulting with the rest of the group and their Leader. "I wonder if the Treasure resides in one of these rooms."

"I bet," Makoto said with a nod of confirmation. "The problem is we don't know which one."

"It would take too long to go through each one. There are over 419 rooms alone and we are only scouring the second floor. There's got to be over 20 floors in the complex together!"

"We need to do more research on our target then," Makoto said logically, putting a hand to her earpiece as she spoke to Yusuke. "We need to regroup and let them know what we discovered."

"Precisely what I thought," Yusuke said and gave her a soft smile. While he was close to Makoto, they did not spend as much time together than he would have liked. But, he came to really enjoy her company and he would be more than pleased to spend time outside of the Phantom Thieves with her. "We need to relay this information to them and to our Leader."

"Joker can decide what to do," Makoto said with a nod, but sighed sadly.

"What is it?" Yusuke asked, concerned.

"I wish Oracle were here," Makoto said and shook her head. "I wonder why she isn't. She usually never misses Phantom Thieves meetings...I think Joker knows more than he's letting on."

"Perhaps," Yusuke said in agreement as Makoto called in the others.

He was definitely curious to see what kind of memories lie behind those closed doors, but he was a little hesitant. One way or another, they would find out.

.oOo.

Sumire frowned at her partner.

Goro removed his mask without his usual flair. "Robin Hood…"

The Persona flickered out without its normal burst of energy, but the low, dim glow of Robin Hood was exactly what he was looking for. She was certain there was something else on his mind, but she didn't feel he was ready to be confronted. Instead, she offered silent, moral support, giving him reassuring smiles and short phrases of motivation. He seemed to have brightened with her, but he was still more somber than usual, which was strange.

Lost in her own thoughts, she rounded the corner without checking and without thinking; she was about to step right into a Shadow's view when a firm yet gentle hand grabbed her by the waist and yanked her back around the corner. She gasped and tripped into Goro's arms, hands bracing against his chest as she regained her balance.

"Careful, Joker!"

Sumire blinked; Goro had just called her by her senpai, but why? She opened her mouth to finally make a comment and maybe get her foot in the door to the conversation she was leading up to, but Goro looked away and withdrew his hold around her.

"My apologies, Violet," he said hastily, voice low. "Your attire strongly resembles his."

"It does…" Sumire said as she looked down at her own black tailcoat.

"Why?" Goro breathed.

"Because he taught me so much," Sumire answered truthfully, thinking back on what she had told Ren. "My appearance took after his. But, on the inside I am different from him, too...that's why only the tailcoat and gloves are the same."

Goro rubbed his eyes, nodding at the answer; it was sufficient enough, so Sumire left it at that. She had given it months of rigorous thought and it was the only logical explanation she could come up with so she stuck with it. Sumire pulled out her gun and crouched lower, poking her head around the corner.

"What should we do, senpai?"

She would have expected a lust for the kill from Goro, but all he did was shrug his shoulders.

"You attack from the ground. I'll get the Shadow from up top," Sumire decided for the both of them, knowing if they sat around debating, they would be caught. "I'll go in for the ambush."

Sumire pressed her back against the wall and slid around the corner, waiting until the Shadow turned its back to her before she leaped. She did a forward flip in midair and landed on the Shadow's shoulders.

"Prepare yourselves!" she cried out.

"You even move like him," Sumire could hear Goro mumble before lunging with his blade and pointing it at the Shadow. "Robin Hood!"

Goro's Persona sent an arrow flying from the bowstring, watching it pierce the Shadow, who wailed in agony and contorted its body. Sumire threw off her mask and thrust it above her head, matching her partner's.

"Cendrillon!"

Her beautiful Persona emerged from within her in a shower of light.

"Kouga!"

Cendrillon pierced the flailing Shadow with spears of light, watching it explode.

"Crow?" Sumire asked cautiously, reaching out and putting a hand on his arm. It was now or never. "I know it's been a while since we last talked...I think it was around the time of Maruki...well..."

Crow just stared at her, which definitely wasn't a good sign. However, despite the discouraging results, she plowed on.

"My senpai taught me a lot of things and the more time I spent with him...the bigger the impact he had on me," Sumire said, although her thoughts were scrambled and unorganized. Now she wasn't so sure where she wanted to go with it. "So, it's okay—"

Her floundering was cut off by Makoto-senpai's voice.

"Regroup at the pond."

Sumire sighed as she watched her opportunity to talk to Goro dashed. She had no choice but to trail after him as he retreated, leaving without a word or even acknowledging the conversation. Akechi Goro was as closed off and guarded as their Leader.

The party of two found Futaba's warp light; she definitely wasn't used to the feeling of teleportation seeing as she would have never assumed it was even possible. When the world came back into focus, she spotted the rest of the Phantom Thieves standing around their pond, a place where the distortions were the weakest.

"What is it?" Ryuji asked, thumbs hooked around the belt on his hip, looking like he was favoring his bad leg.

"We made a pretty important discovery," Makoto said, getting right to the point. She gave Yusuke a very fond look, dipping her head in his acknowledgement. "Fox figured out most of it but we managed to reach the second floor of the complex."

"We made it to the second floor, too," Ryuji said while Ren nodded in support.

"We made it to the basement," Ann said and gestured to herself and Haru. "It was pretty small, but we have it mapped out…"

"We had the perimeter," Goro said as he put a hand on Sumire's shoulder again, beckoning her forward with a rather gentle nudge.

Together, they set down whatever drawings of a map they had conjured. Yusuke's was most definitely the best and most detailed, so they mostly looked at his. Sumire would have guessed Ryuji's to be the worst, but it was Ren's, whose map consisted of scribbles and lines.

"What's this?" Makoto chided as Haru giggled. "Was there any effort put into this?"

Ren shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not an artist."

This elicited a ringing laugh from the group.

"Each door has a sequence of numbers, but usually they should be accompanied by a letter. However, these doors aren't."

Ryuji had the most severe look of concentration, but he eventually hung his head and scuffled the ground with his foot. "Yeah...ya lost me, Queen."

"I was getting there," Makoto said and turned to point at the dates Yusuke had written down on the side. "They're days...dates to be specific. They must hold significance. We believe it's memories."

Ren hummed thoughtfully then snapped his fingers. "That's what we've been hearing."

"Voices comin' from behind the door," Ryuji supplied and shook his head. "I don't do freakin' ghosts though. I ain't trying to get haunted or some shit…"

"They're probably his memories," Makoto said although she seemed to be more in agreement with Ryuji than she was putting on.

"Either way, we weren't aboutta test it," he said with a shrug of his shoulders, sounding rather unapologetic.

"We'll have to eventually," Ren said, low voice carrying out with authority and decisiveness. He bit his lip. "To make sure we're right."

"And that means we need to do more research on our target," Makoto said with a nod of her head. "In the real world...before we go opening these doors because we can't go through every single one of them."

"Then, what are we waitin' for?" Ryuji asked, frowning.

Sumire realized one thing—while the Phantom Thieves have chosen their targets carefully, this time they really had no idea who or what they were up against. She had her doubts about them and their sense of justice, but she had faith in Ren...and Ren was the Phantom Thieves.

Sumire watched Ren pull Goro away, for he had slipped away from her side in favor of the Leader, but something felt wrong. The way they talked with their heads bent and the way both boys stiffened, she had a feeling they were unhappy with one another. She slowed her pace back through the Central Park area, glad she saw no Shadows. Truthfully, she had very little energy left to spend in a fight.

"Not now," Sumire could hear Goro snarl rather aggressively.

She flinched at the sound, briefly wondering how Ren didn't automatically shy away from that tone...until she remembered they knew each other on a completely different level.

"Why not?" Ren barked, temporarily losing control of his volume. She didn't remember a time where he sounded so...different. Angry?

Goro hissed something, causing Ren to scoff. She tried to keep to herself, but Sumire was walking behind the pair and to get with the rest of the group, she'd have to awkwardly pass them. Still, she walked behind them as Ren's squared back shoulders slouch menacingly.

And then it all happened at once.

Sumire caught Goro sneering, "hate" and that was when Ren had lost control of his temper completely.

"Liar!"

Ren seized Goro by the collar of his attire and slammed him against the trunk. The group jumped, expecting a Shadow or some other great threat. However, when they saw Ren pinning Goro against the tree, they were stunned to stillness.

No one moved to do anything, but the attack looked completely unprovoked.

"Joker!" Haru said shrilly.

It was the only thing said or done, but Ren did not pay her any attention. His eyes were trained solely on Goro, mask burning off in a passion of anger; Arséne erupted from the fire, and that was when the rest of the group woke up. Ryuji was the first to run forward and grab Ren away, Makoto coming in close behind. She tried going for his arms, but Ryuji pushed her back.

"Don't," he warned, waving her off. "Lemme."

He grabbed Ren by the waist as Yusuke came up and wedged himself between the two fighters, hands thrown out to stop them from coming back. Goro ducked his head, hiding it from the rest, curling his hands into fists.

"Why do you insist?" Ren snapped, his voice trembling. He stopped straining against Ryuji, knowing the blonde was stronger, and summoned Arséne back to have his mask back. "Stop ignoring me!"

No one was quite sure, Sumire even less, but Ren might just be crying. Their once-calm Leader held an arm out against Yusuke's chest, trying to push the taller friend away.

"Where did this even come from?" Ann asked Haru, who could only clap a hand over her mouth and watch the entire ordeal with wide eyes. "No one knows what happened."

Sumire kept her mouth shut, deciding it was simply not her story to tell.

"Get off," Ren grunted to Ryuji but with no anger directed to him. Instead, the ravenette forcibly turned away, sighing as he adjusted his glove. Without a word, he strode off, looking forward but never back.

Sumire carefully looked at the group, biting her lip so hard it bled.

"Really? No one saw what happened?" Ryuji asked in disbelief, slapping a hand to his forehead. "Shit…"

Sumire sneaked a glance to Goro, who still had his head down.

"You good, Crow?"

At first, he didn't answer and it didn't seem like he would, but he did.

"Let's just get back...before we attract anymore attention."

He had paused when he realized he was going to be pressured.

"Please."

With that, Goro gave them all a nod and walked past them in a solemn silence.

What did go on in that conversation? Hm...