An imagined God of Control that had enslaved humanity from the inside out… That was now in the past, mostly forgotten by the greater populous. However, a select handful of people could not possibly have forgotten, for it had been their own experience.

Now, the Phantom Thieves, and those who had helped them in their journey for vigilante justice, had moved on to a new stage of their lives. The next chapter of Tokyo's story began in the same place as the last story ended: a quaint, yet prosperous, cafe in the Yongen-Jaya area named Leblanc.

"Oh good, you're finally up," chuckled the endearing yet hardened Sojiro Sakura.

Ren Amamiya (Codename: Joker) ran a hand through his scruffy black hair, scruffing it further as he sat down at the coffee bar. The refreshing smell of a cup of coffee, made just the way he liked it, was enough to wake him up even before the cup touched his lips.

"Oh, by the way, there's mail for you," Sojiro remembered, sifting through deceptively colourful bills and pulling out a gray envelope. "It doesn't say who it's from, but it's got a cool seal, wouldn't you say?"

The envelope was sealed with a surprisingly high-class three-dimensional wax seal in the shape of a white rabbit's head, with red eyes. Ren placed his finger on the gray envelope, unsure what it could be. He wasn't expecting any mail. It could be a report card from Shujin Academy, but… with a formal wax seal on it?

"Maybe it's fan mail?" Sojiro joked with a chuckle. He as well had a mug of coffee in his hand. The bell on top of the door dinged, signaling that the door had been opened. Sojiro and Ren both turned their heads to face the door. "Hello there, good morning," greeted the coffee shop's owner. "What can I get started for you?"

"Just a black coffee. Uh, to go please," the customer ordered. "On debit."

"Right away," obliged Sojiro. He poured coffee from a freshly-brewed pot into an insulated paper cup, and wrapped the cup with a sleeve with Leblanc's minimalistic logo printed on it.

While Sojiro and the customer made their exchange, Ren finally made up his mind to open the letter, which was indeed addressed to him, in name and address. What was contained inside the envelope was a gray card, slightly darker than the envelope itself. There were glossy, light-catching diamonds printed onto the semi-3D card, along with a print of the same rabbit face seal that was on the envelope.

He turned the card over, where there was writing. It was typed, not handwritten. The former Phantom Thief read the message that was printed on the fancy paper card. "You fight for justice. You steal the wealth of the wicked and powerful, and distribute prosperity among the just and disadvantaged. If your resolve is true, meet me at the Palace of your last individual target this Wednesday, July 1st, at noon."

The Palace of the Phantom Thieves' last individual target…? But the Metaverse had been destroyed when the God of Control had been slain…

There was something threatening about reading such an address… because Ren had written multiple of such before. A calling card.

However, this one was different. It didn't have an explicit threat written on it. Luckily, Wednesday, July 1st, was still the greater part of three days away, so Ren had time to think about whether he should follow the orders of the address. He wasn't even sure what the card meant, or how he was supposed to meet anyone in a Palace when the Metaverse no longer existed. And who were they referring to 'last individual target'?

The door bell dinged again. "Morning, Sojiro! Morning, Ren!" It was Futaba Sakura, the girl in Sojiro Sakura's custody, and the youngest member of the Phantom Thieves, at least back when they were Phantom Thieves.

Ren quickly grabbed the envelope and the card, and shoved both of them into his coat pocket.

"Good morning, Futaba," Sojiro greeted with a wave. He put down the coffee pot he was cleaning and walked over to his daughter in the doorway. "Did you walk all the way here? But it's so early." He knelt slightly to give Futaba, who was quite small, a hug.

She hugged him back. "Well, uh, I wanted to go for an early morning summer walk, before it gets too hot out." She hopped up onto one of the bar stools at the coffee bar, and slid it closer to Ren. "What'cha doin'?"

Ren rubbed the back of his neck. "Nothing," he said quietly. "I just got up."

"I gotta admit, my grades are really high right now! But I'm a bit scared of the summer finals," sighed Futaba.

"I'm sure you'll do fine, Futaba," Sojiro consoled. "What are your finals on this term?"

"English, Chemistry, and… History…" Futaba groaned.

"Why're you groaning over a history test?" asked the coffee master.

"'Cause I hate history… Why do I even need to know what happened hundreds of years ago? How does that help me in the 21st century?" the girl scoffed.

"Well… because…" Sojiro shut up and pretended like his lack of an answer was because he was choking on his own cup of coffee, though it was not very convincing. "So…" He changed the topic, and turned to Ren. "What are you going to be studying in university, now that you've moved all the way back to Tokyo for it?"

Ren shrugged, not because he didn't know, but because he thought his answer might be unsatisfactory to the high expectations Sojiro had of him. "I'm keeping my options open."

Sojiro chuckled. "That's not so bad, boy. You think I always had the dream of opening a coffee shop?"

Ren shrugged again. "I mean… yeah, I kinda did."

"Well… yeah, you're right, I kinda did…" The older man scratched his shoulder to try to alleviate some of the awkwardness. "But I did go to university, and I had no idea what I wanted to do until I was, like, two years in. So don't feel so bad about keeping your options open."

"Summer's almost here," Futaba jutted in. "After I get through the tests, which I will… I WILL… I hope… uh, then I want all of us to get together and hang out as much as possible during the break!"

Ren nodded agreeingly.

"Oh, yeah, can I just have some milk, Sojiro?" asked Futaba. "I just remembered I was thirsty."

"I wish you'd take better care of yourself…" Sojiro sighed. "Of course you can have a drink. Don't hesitate to ask."