Café Leblanc's insignia brought back so many memories. When he moved in two years ago he never would have thought he'd be so… eager to come back to it. The potted plants were tidy and well kept as always, and so was the chalkboard that detailed the specialties of the day.
The sign was on it's 'closed' side and the lights were turned off, but as he approached the door he knew from his heart that the place was not truly vacant.
"The trick has kinda become old now hasn't it, Ren?" Morgana's voice chimed in as he shuffled his head out of Amamiya's bag. At this point it had become predictable: lights off, no one present, he enters and BOOM! everyone jumps out to salute their leader. Ren smirked as his hand grasped the heavy door's handle.
"Quite the contrary, it gets better and better each time." He replied before swinging open the café's door.
And just as predicted the lights flickered on.
"SURPRISE!" the phantom thieves unanimously jumped out of their hiding and confetti were sent flying to celebrate the leader's return, and the leader just couldn't stop smiling.
"It's so good to see you Ren!", "How have you been?", "Have you grown taller?" and many other questions stormed the previously silent café, so many in fact that Ren could only smile and laugh at the immense amounts of affection the Phantom thieves were giving him. Morgana was growing jealous, but Ann was quick to pick up on him.
"Oh, I'm happy to see you too Morgana!" She pet his head and scratched behind his ears and he was almost forced to meow and purr in appreciation. Ren's eyes quickly fell on Sojiro who had stepped out of the kitchen's shadows to greet Ren. The whole scene felt like a flashback to him, a really pleasant one at that but thankfully it was more than just a mere memory.
Soon enough everyone was upstairs in what was once the Phantom Thieves' hideout, the classic logo compromised of a top hat and sleek glasses being proudly displayed on a large banner hanged on the wall behind the couch.
"Let us begin with the official annual Phantom Thieves of Heart REUNION!" The trumpet's triumphant tune was a surprise to many as Futaba expertly played what could have pretty much be a king's court's theme. Ren eyed her, taken aback from the new skill she had learned.
"That's right, now I'm a musical genius too!" She joked, before giggling ensued. The rest of the Phantom Thieves couldn't help but join Futaba in her high spirits.
"Hopefully this year we'll actually have a normal vacation." Commented Makoto, to which the others were quick to understand what she was referring to.
"Don't jinx it!" quickly uttered Ryuji. "Last thing I need is for another god to whoop our asses and our vacation!"
"I admit it would be quite unpleasant, we wouldn't be able to visit the art museums…" Yusuke's worries were on par to what was expected, yet it was still somehow surprising. "You're worried about the MUSEUMS?" Asked Morgana.
"Alright, alright, settle down. Why don't you tell me what you've been up to for the past year?" finally some
"I picked up knitting recently since I wanted to try an alternative form of art. Speaking of, this is for you." Yusuke handed Ren a small gift bag, who quickly picked it up and pulled out a hand crafted wool winter hat. It was august. As Ren tried it on he could see the deadpan look on the rest of the Phantom Thieves' faces. Despite the silliness of the gift, Ren thanked Yusuke and put the hat back in the bag, keeping it for later.
"You've already seen it but I picked up an instrument! Now I can make a fanfare for the Phantom Thieves!" Makoto couldn't help but hope that Futaba's fanfare would be left unused, at least for the near future.
The pleasant chat delved into a variety of different topics, school, summer jobs, fun anecdotes and all sorts of hobbies they had decided to pick up over the course of the year. It turned out that Ren's cooking skills were highly requested by all sorts of friends and family back home and the Phantom Thieves could only agree with such a sentiment. Last year's 'vacation' trip all over Japan was totally carried by the delicious curry that their leader's magic touch could produce. Too bad Sophia didn't get to taste any of it, maybe they could have tried stuffing the rice in the USB port.
Eventually though Ren had to notice. Haru had been so quiet, so silent as she occasionally took a piece of sushi or a sip of cola. Soon the rest of the team picked up on the strange behavior.
"Are you alright Haru? It's not like you to be so quiet." Questioned Ann, genuine worry behind her words along with the rest of her friends staring at her was putting stress of her.
"Sorry, that wasn't really elegant of me was it? Don't worry, I was just thinking." She excused herself with as much grace and calm as she could muster although there was a hint of doubt in her manner of speaking.
"Thinking about what?" Morgana spoke in between bites out of the fatty tuna left specifically for him.
Haru hesitated to speak further but she had to. It probably wasn't that important anyways.
"Have you guys heard about that rumor that's been circulating on the web? The one about weird doors appearing and disappearing?" The Phantom Thieves' attention immediately shifted to Haru's words.
"Isn't that just a meme?" Futaba quickly picked up her phone and got to searching. The rest of the Phantom Thieves looked at each other In confusion, most of them being unaware of such a thing. Despite this, Makoto managed to recall.
"I think Sae told me about it a couple of days ago, what about it?"
Haru took a deep breath before uttering: "I've seen one of them yesterday."
"For real?!" Ryuji's classic line was almost so iconic Ren couldn't help but feel at home just by hearing it.
"Wait a sec, what even is this rumor all about? Magical doors?" Ann was getting riled up, she didn't know anything about this.
"Apparently some people have been posting on the internet saying that they saw some strange 'eye-doors' appear for some brief moments and in totally random places! I've read it online but I thought it was just bogus…" Futaba scrolled past the various articles detailing weird testimonies, trying to find something of substance in all the garbage filled declarations.
"Sis told me that a man tried to appeal a traffic citation saying he was trying to avoid 'a floating door in the middle of the road'. Easy to say he didn't win the appeal." Makoto recalled more and more the weird story told to her by her sister.
"I was tending to my garden as usual when I saw something bright from the corner of my eye. I turned and there was a door next to the bonsai I was taking care of. It had this weird glowing yellow eye embedded on it and when I tried to walk over and examine it, it seemingly phased out of existence!
Now, I don't want to jump to conclusions, that would be hasty, but what if it has to do with the metaverse?" Everyone suddenly quieted, unsure of what to say. In the end, Ryuji had just the perfect thing to say.
"MAKOTO YOU JINXED IT!" He lamented, afraid of having to spend another summer fighting some bullshit god or crooked adult. Makoto's dagger eyes quickly penetrated into Ryuji and he was quick to cower back on his statement. "Just joking… jeez."
"Well, if it is correlated with the Metaverse, wouldn't we have the MetaNav on our phones? And besides, we never had to find a door to the Metaverse." As Yusuke pondered the possibility Ren took the moment to check his application folders in search of a possible MetaNav. No trace could be found.
"Yusuke's right, it's too early to correlate these to the Metaverse, although it certainly isn't normal…" Morgana gulped down the last piece of tuna, probably setting a world record in Tuna Speed Eating.
The discussion continued and in the meantime Ren's memories floated back into his mindscape. The sensation of wielding a persona was certainly unforgettable. His eyes befell on the red banner, was it wrong to crave that feeling of power?
At last, he made a decision.
"Alright, Phantom Thieves. Let's not think about it for now, how about meeting again tomorrow to discuss this properly? For now let's just enjoy our reunion." The wise words resonated with the group and quickly the subject changed once again. Still, in the back of their head everyone kept on thinking about this possible turn of events. Doors appearing? Would they even lead to somewhere?
Soon the evening set in and the Phantom Thieves had to give each other a sorrowful salute, promising to meet once more the next day.
Futaba opened the door, ready to head home. "See you tomorrow Ren!" She said, but before she could close the door behind her Ren spoke.
"Futaba?" He asked, gaining her attention. She quickly turned, staring at him as he stepped over from behind the counter still wearing the café's apron.
"Would you mind searching a bit about that rumor? If it ends up being true then the Phantom Thieves might need to intervene once again." Futaba blushed at the towering figure before quickly nodding.
"Also…" She stopped again.
"Have a great night." Ren winked at her, and she could only smile.