Ren Amamiya didn't hate his living space in the attic of Leblanc. He never considered himself very high maintenance. Sure, it was dusty and lacked any sort of decor, but it was pretty roomy once he got all the clutter squared away. All he really needed was a work desk and a bed and he was golden.

But he wasn't going to lie, ever since he arrived here two days prior, he wondered why he was living here of all places. Didn't Sojiro have a spare room? Ren had seen his house. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't small either, and he didn't seem like a family man. Surely that would let him keep better tabs on the delinquent he'd be housing, wouldn't it?

Putting that out of his mind, Ren suited up in his school uniform. He really wasn't looking forward to today, to be honest. If his homeroom teacher, Ms… Whatever her name was. If she was any indication, the faculty were already highly skeptical of him, what with the assault on his record. All he could do was keep his head down. So it was that he pushed the question about Sojiro out of his mind for the time being and mentally prepared himself for the worst case scenarios that could befall him for the school day.

Just as he began walking towards the stairs, he paused. He was unfamiliar with Tokyo and didn't really know what to expect, so he figured he might as well check the weather forecast on his phone. After deleting that stupid red mystery app for what felt like the hundredth time, he checked the forecast and, on seeing there was a pretty decent chance of rain later in the day, decided to bring an umbrella just to be on the safe side. After a quick breakfast, Ren darted out the door, not wanting to be late on his first day of class.

Once he got off the subway and got lost for what felt like an hour, he was really glad he packed an umbrella, as a sudden shower had kicked up during his commute. Pulling his umbrella out, he quickly dashed off in the direction of Shujin Academy. He didn't pay any mind to the attractive platinum blonde student who was staying out of the rain, nor the rowdy-looking student with the dyed blonde hair walking in the other direction looking several different flavors of irritated. He avoided eye contact and thankfully managed to avoid causing a scene.

The day started off well enough. He met with the very tired-looking Ms. Kawakami in the faculty office like he said he would, and his first class went off without a hitch, as did his next few. Good, he thought to himself. Just keep your head down and this year will be a breeze. You got this.

Then lunch happened and the universe reminded him that any hope whatsoever was a naive, childish fantasy that would only be rewarded with pain.

As he ate, he noticed a bunch of other students all glancing at their phones, whispering to each other, and looking in his direction with expressions ranging from concern to skepticism to fear to suspicion.

Ren's own suspicions were confirmed when, as soon as his next class started, he heard the whispers around him.

"Did you hear? That guy's a criminal."

"What's he doing at Shujin?"

"He'll be expelled by the end of the week, mark my words."

"You think he's the one who broke into that store yesterday?"

"No way! He's got yakuza connections?"

He sighed and rested his head on his desk. He knew it was only a matter of time before word got out about his criminal record. But on his first day?!

On sitting back up, he noticed that the girl in front of him, the pretty blonde from the subway station, was glancing back at him with a sympathetic look in her eyes. He wasn't really sure if that meant she didn't believe them and felt sorry for him or not, but he wasn't going to take any chances. The second the last class was dismissed, he grabbed his bags and bolted towards the school gate, ignoring the whispers.

He made good time getting back to Leblanc. He entered the cafe, which looked to be pretty empty, only a couple people seated at tables having their drinks. As he made his way back to the attic, he paused and realized Sojiro was nowhere to be seen.

"You lookin' for Sojiro?" one of the customers asked, a regular, if Ren wasn't mistaken.

He nodded. Not that he needed to know real badly, he did have homework to do after all, but he was curious.

"He said something about an emergency and ran back to his house. Said he'd be back in 15 minutes or so."

Ren nodded. He trudged back up to his room, but paused once he set his school stuff on the floor.

An emergency? At his house? Maybe it's family related?

His question from earlier resurfaced and his curiosity got the better of him. So he walked back down to the first floor and out the door, taking only a minute to reach Sojiro's house. The front door was left ajar. Evidently Sojiro was in such a haste that he neglected to close it.

As he dared to enter the house, inch by cautious inch, he heard frantic voices from upstairs. One of them was Sojiro but the other he couldn't make out.

"Please, open the door, Futaba…!"

Futaba? Ren thought.

"I'm trying to help, just… please, can you let me in?"

As the frantic, sad voice of Sojiro echoed downstairs, Ren felt the distinct impression he was intruding on something personal and made himself scarce. By the time Sojiro got back to the cafe and popped in to check on him, Ren was already working on a math problem, behaving himself and not causing any trouble. Sojiro simply shrugged and went back to the counter.

It looks like he's been crying…

"Hey kid, can you help me back here real quick?" Sojiro asked later that evening, prompting Ren, now changed into something more casual, to come out of his room.

"Sure, what do you need help with?"

"If you're staying here, I'd like you to know at least a little bit of coffee making. I don't want you to be dead weight, you hear?"

"Loud and clear."

"Good. Now let me show you some things…"

Sojiro guided Ren through the steps of brewing coffee, which beans were which and how much was too much, that kind of thing. Ren felt like his time wasn't wasted, and Sojiro had seemed satisfied by Ren's first attempt at coffee. He said the flavor was a bit bland, but hey, it was his first time, so he cut him some slack.

It was when Ren was washing some dishes that he began thinking about the day's earlier events. He could always vent to Sojiro about his first day at school, but he didn't want to give Sojiro the idea he was engaged in any misconduct at school. Looking over at Sojiro, who was currently wiping off the counter, and realizing the two were alone in the shop, Ren took a deep breath, figuring he might as well get it over with.

"Sojiro? Can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"Who's Futaba?"

Sojiro's hand froze mid-wipe. His eyes narrowed as he turned his head slowly. "How do you know that name," he growled.

Ren stammered to answer at the change in tone, but swallowed, figuring honesty was the best policy. "I, uh, when I got home from school you weren't here. One of the customers said you had a family emergency, so I, uh, went over to see if everything was okay. Your door was open so I went in, and I heard you say that name. It sounded like you were arguing, and it sounded kinda personal, so, um, I… I left."

Sojiro leveled a glare at Ren. "That's all?"

"That's all."

The two were silent for a bit before Sojiro finally responded. "It's none of your business."

Ren wasn't going to let this lie. "You know, if you don't tell me, I'm just going to keep trying to find out," he said, not sure where his newfound guts came from.

"Leave this alone, Amamiya-"

"And I'm gonna be here for a year, so I'll probably find out eventually. Worst case scenario, I might come to the wrong conclusions, so you might as well set the record straight right now."

Sojiro grumbled, his glare not easing up. Finally, he spoke. "I took her in a couple years ago, when her mother passed away. She hasn't had an easy life so she's a complete shut-in. She never leaves her room, let alone goes outside. I don't want to make things harder for her by having a criminal living under the same roof as her, so you're staying in the loft here."

Ah, so that explains it. "...Thanks. That's all I wanted to know. I'll, um, I'll leave it alone now."

"Hmph," Sojiro simply responded, returning to wiping down the counter. "You'd better."

The rest of the cleanup took place without a word, a thick fog of tension between the two, Ren not wanting to push his luck any further. Frankly, he was amazed he hadn't been kicked out yet. As Sojiro got up and walked to the door, Ren spoke up. "Actually, I do have one more question. You had to step out earlier because of an emergency with her."

"What about it?" Sojiro asked evenly.

"Does, um, does that happen often?"

"Often enough," he said simply. "Now please, don't bring it up again."

"R-right," Ren said. "Good night."

Of course he wasn't going to leave it alone. Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Ren would know that. And he found his perfect opportunity to do something the next day after school.

Now, he wasn't going to push his luck with Sojiro any further. He didn't bring it up, and thankfully, neither did Sojiro. The man simply made breakfast the same as before, and Ren headed out.

School wasn't actually as bad, he didn't think. Maybe that's because he knew what to expect, but in addition, he actually made a friend, or at least something slightly similar to one: Shiho Suzui. She was a member of the school volleyball team, from what he could gather. As Ren was hurrying out the gate trying not to be seen, she stopped him. Ren vaguely recognized her, having seen her at lunch chatting with that blonde girl he sat behind.

"Don't let the rumors get to you," she said to him.

"I'll get used to them. I don't really mind," he lied through his teeth. The two chatted for a bit before the blonde girl (Ann Takamaki) came up to them, looking like she wanted to talk to Shiho. Ren excused himself and headed back to the subway. He didn't want to waste too much time today.

He wasn't going to risk being "dead weight" to Sojiro, especially not after their conversation the previous night, so he decided to get a part-time job so his caretaker wouldn't have to spend too much money on him. Sojiro simply wished him good luck when Ren texted him about his intention to go job hunting.

(By this point he had given up deleting the mystery app and resolved to just ignore it.)

So it was that he looked around Yongen-Jaya for a part-time job. He knew he'd have better luck in Shibuya, but he wanted to start close to his living space for the time being. He started with the grocery store and a couple other nearby establishments, but no luck. Undeterred, he checked out the movie theater, only to see it was closed.

And then, he entered the clinic.

The woman running the place, Tae Takemi, looked up at him with a bored expression, and didn't react much when he asked if there was an opening for a part-timer.

"Can't really say there is one," she said. "Although…"

"Oh?" Ren responded, wondering if he'd get a lead on where he could find one.

"I could always use a guinea pig to test drugs on," she said with a sinister smirk and a teasing voice.

"Eh…" Ren said nervously. "I, uh, I think I'll pass on that."

As Ren exited the clinic to continue his search, a man walked past him and barged into the clinic, looking all sorts of unhappy. Ren began to walk away, but his accursed curiosity got the better of him yet again and he went back inside. The man and Takemi had walked into the back room and he could make out their conversation, at least parts of it.

"Developing experimental drugs, medicine, and herbal remedies violates all sorts of health regulations," the man said, seeming to be in the middle of a heated argument. "Are you trying to make a super-stimulant?"

"You're really persistent, aren't you?" she responded. "I'm just a quack."

A stimulant? And an illegal, experimental one? Maybe I shouldn't be listening to…

That was when his idea struck him.

His habit of sticking his nose into adult business had brought him nothing but misery so far, but once the idea formed in his head, it refused to leave. He just had to ask.

Ren sat down on one of the chairs and made himself as small as possible as the man stormed out. Takemi went back behind the reception desk, and saw Ren there. "You again?" she asked, slightly annoyed.

"I, uh, couldn't help but overhear your conversation."

Takemi didn't even look up. "You shouldn't believe every rumor you hear, you know."

Ain't that the truth. "I was the only one in here at the time, I won't tell anyone about it. I promise. But at the same time… I'm… kind of interested?"

Takemi looked up, mildly surprised by this, but regained her composure quickly, simply gesturing to the back room.

Once they were in there, she looked Ren in the eye. "What could you possibly need an experimental drug for?" she asked skeptically. "Assuming I even have such a drug."

"Well, it's not for me , it's just… well, he called it a super-stimulant. Could, um, could it be used as an antidepressant? Hypothetically, of course."

Takemi raised an eyebrow, but her expression remained neutral otherwise. "Care to explain?"

"My, um, my legal guardian's daughter. Her name's Futaba Sakura. She suffers from severe depression," he explained. "I imagine her father's tried every normal treatment by now, and when I heard about some unregulated experimental stimulant, I thought… you know… it could help?"

Ren hadn't even met Futaba, whoever she was. But she was also the one person who seemed to be able to elicit any emotion out of Sojiro other than irritation. He clearly cared a lot for her. And even if their current relationship was on thin ice, the man had still taken Ren in despite his circumstances. He had been literally the only thing between him and juvie, and for that, he felt he owed Sojiro.

Takemi gave it some thought. "How depressed are we talking?"

"Super-depressed. She's apparently spent the last couple years in her bedroom, never leaving it… except to use the bathroom, I would think. Geez, I sure hope she does. Not only that, but it occasionally manifests itself in explosive depressive episodes."

"I see..." Takemi said, mulling it over. "Look, I'll be blunt with you. I know you mean well, but even if this experimental drug existed, and even if you could afford it, it's a risk you don't want to take. For all you know, it could make her disposition sink even lower after its effect wears off."

"I see," Ren said. "I figured it was a long shot, I just heard that argument, and it's just…" he sighed. "She needs help. She refuses to go outside and she's determined to trap herself in her room, like it's her tomb or something."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you," Takemi said. "But if you're looking for some sort of miracle antidepressant to help her, you're going to be looking for a really long time."

"Yeah… I know…"

Just then, he felt an unpleasant sensation in his head, that felt like a brainfreeze, but sharper. His vision darkened a bit as he hissed in discomfort, but his sight returned to normal and the pain subsided quickly. He looked over at Takemi, who had her hand pressed against her forehead as though the exact same thing happened to her somehow.

"What was that…?" she asked.

"I really have no clue." Ren hoisted his bag back onto his shoulders. "Well, sorry to waste your time," he continued, heading towards the door and opening it. "I'll just be going now- the hell?!"

Takemi ignored his exclamation, as well as the fact that he was just standing there, hand holding the door open and staring outside. What she did notice, however…

"Hm, did the A/C break again? It just got really hot and stuffy all of a sudden. Hey kid," she said looking up, "Could you close the-"

She paused. She stood up, eyes wide as dinner plates, and briskly strode towards the door. Once she was standing right by Ren, she rubbed her eyes and looked out again. She blinked.

"I'm… not the only one seeing this, right?"

"I... don't think you are?"

The two stared outside, where what was once the backstreet of Yongen-Jaya had been replaced with a vast, empty desert with burning heat coming in through the door, a glistening pyramid about a few kilometers away, and the surrounding buildings replaced with what looked like an empty, sun-bleached marketplace that would be at home in a Middle Eastern desert.

Takemi took a deep breath. "What. The. Hell."

Hey, you know what's a great idea when I have an unfinished Pokémon story and an incomplete My Hero Academia series? Starting a THIRD project!

A couple weeks ago, Persona 5 got a price drop and I decided to see what all the fuss was about, and I absolutely adored it. I just finished my first playthrough and I felt the need to write something. So I decided to combine a few minor prompts I thought of as I played through the game, and I hope you enjoy.