The sun had yet to peek over the horizon as Mitsuru Kirijo entered the compound's gymnasium. The young commander of the Shadow Operatives made it a habit to get a jumpstart on the day before anyone else on the team. Which made it all the more surprising when she heard the sound of a punching bag being struck inside.

'Someone's already here? This early?' She wondered to herself as she looked around to investigate.

Upon finding the source of the noise, Mitsuru discovered that it was none other than one of the team's newest recruits, Ren Amamiya, a.k.a Joker. The younger, frizzy-haired man was currently beating down on the gym's punching bag with his hands wrapped in bloody bandages.

"Amamiya?" Mitsuru asked, getting the young man's attention.

"Kirijo-senpai?" Ren turned around in surprise, seeing the beautiful woman before him. Dressed in a red sports bra with tight black yoga pants, her flowing red hair tied in a ponytail behind her, it was hard to keep his eyes from wandering. "What are you doing here this late?"

"Late?" The redhead's eyes widened. "You mean you've been here all night?"

"Huh?" He turned to the room's clock before his own eyes widened. "Oh...Whoops."

"Whoops? That's all you have to say? Look at your hands!" She pointed to his bloody knuckles.

"Yeah…" Ren replied sheepishly, examining his wrappings. "I definitely went a bit overboard. I'll head to the med bay and patch these up." He stated as he began to walk away. "Sorry about the trouble."

"Hold on." Mitsuru stopped him before he could leave. "I want to know what instigated this. For what reason were you here all night?"

"Hmm?" The young man gave a confused look. "No reason. Just looking to improve I guess. My unarmed combat skills aren't at the level that I'd like, so I decided to dedicate some more time to it."

Mitsuru narrowed her eyes at him, determining whether or not he was telling the truth.

"Um, can I go?" He asked, not wanting to sound rude.

"This is because of the other day, isn't it?"

"I don't know what you're-" Ren began only to be interrupted.

"Your sparring match with Akihiko, when he pinned you in under a minute. This is because of that isn't it?" She deduced, a hint of a smirk crossing her face. "You want a revenge match don't you?"

"What?" Ren scratched the back of his neck. "I'd totally forgotten about that. Just felt like improving my technique, that's all." He stated, trying his best not to give himself away.

But Mitsuru saw right through him, the lie clearly present on his face. The younger man was usually better at hiding his expressions, but after a whole night of tireless training, he was far too exhausted to put up a facade.

"Come on then." She guided him toward the gym's exit. "Let's get you patched up."

"It's fine I can-"

"Nope." Mitsuru shook her head. "I'm not trusting you by yourself. From the way you're standing, you could collapse from exhaustion at any minute."

The walk to the med bay was silent, but relatively quick as it was located near the gymnasium which, given the sheer size of the building, was a blessing. The Shadow Operatives compound was a truly impressive sight, being 4 square acres and 3 stories high with another 8 acres of land around it. The building was equipped with the latest in medical and training equipment along with an armory, dining hall, an entire floor of dormitories, fully stocked kitchen, garage, and simulation room amongst other things. They even had a helipad on the roof and a small runway for private jets nearby. Truly it was far more luxurious than anywhere Ren Amamiya had ever been.

When the pair finally sat down in the medical bay, Mitsuru set to work unravelling Ren's wrappings, leaving Ren himself in an awkward situation, unsure of what to say. He and the commander of the Shadow Ops weren't especially close, having only spoken a handful of times since the Phantom Thieves were inducted into the team a year ago. While they did go on plenty of missions together, communication was usually only limited to what was necessary on the job.

"So," Mitsuru broke the silence, not looking up from Ren's hand. "Is this the first time you've done something like this? Or have you been making a habit of staying up every night?"

"No." Ren shook his head. "This is the first time. Morgana usually tells me off if I try to stay up, but he retired early last night, so I was on my own."

"The cat dictates your sleep schedule?" Mitsuru looked up at him, raising an eyebrow. Morgana was an oddity to her, even more so than Teddie. Sure, she'd seen animals with Personas before, after all she'd been on a team with one. But Koromaru couldn't speak, at least not in a voice that she understood.

"Don't let him hear you call him that. But yes, he's been doing it since I was in high school." Ren shrugged. "Guess I didn't realize how much I relied on that until now."

"I see…" She nodded, returning to her work. The two of them sat in silence once again as Mitsuru began disinfecting the wounds on Ren's knuckles. "You know," Mitsuru spoke up once more. "I hope you don't mind my saying but…I never took you for a sore loser Amamiya."

Upon hearing this, the young man let out a chuckle. "You can just call me Ren, everyone else here does already, there's really no need for the formality." He assured her. "As for the sore loser thing, I'd say I'm just as surprised as you are. Though I will admit, I'm not too used to losing. Especially when it comes to combat."

Mitsuru hummed in response as she bandaged his hands. "Well, Akihiko is the best hand-to-hand fighter we have. He's travelled the world for a decade now, learning every technique he could. So I'm sorry to say this, but you're a long way off from beating him in a fight."

As she released Ren's newly bandaged hands, he smiled, flexing his fingers. "Thanks for the help." He nodded, standing up and extending out a hand. "Sorry again for troubling you. I didn't mean to take up your morning like this."

"It's no trouble at all Ama-er Ren." She accepted the handshake. "It was nice getting to talk to you one on one. I realized a long time ago that connecting with others is what gives us our strength as Persona users. So in a way, this is training of its own."

As she stood in front of Ren, Mitsuru took in the younger man's appearance for what felt like the first time since they'd met. He was tall, standing a few inches taller than Mitsuru who herself was the tallest of the women on the team, but not quite as tall as Narukami or Kitagawa. He was fit too, his lean build apparent through his loose tank top which showed off his defined arms and abdominals. Granted, all of the Shadow Ops were in great physical condition as part of their job, but something about his muscles in particular drew the eye. And as for his face, he was easily one of, if not the best looker of the men on the team. His soft grey eyes and long eyelashes as well as his chiseled bone structure made him undeniably attractive and his wavy hair always seemed perfect even when-

"Uh...Kirijo-senpai?" Ren raised an eyebrow as he gave her a concerned look. "You okay?"

"Oh!" Mitsuru released her grasp on his hand as her face became flushed. "I-I apologize. I spaced out for a moment."

Ren only smiled. "That's alright. I'm gonna head out now if you don't mind." He said as he began to exit the med bay.

"You had better be heading to bed." Mitsuru placed her hands on her hips as she turned to face him. "That's a direct order from your superior officer."

"Oh my, Senpai." Ren smirked. "I had no idea you were so bold!"

"Wha-" Mitsuru paused for a moment, processing what he'd just said. "N-No! I didn't mean-" Her cheeks became as red as her hair.

Ren broke out into a laughing fit as he watched her struggle. His laughter only further fuelled her embarrassment. When his laughter finally died down, the two of them exited the medical bay and later entered the kitchen where they chatted shortly with Ren making a few more jokes before he grabbed a piece of toast and walked off to his bedroom. Mitsuru let out a sigh as she watched him walk off before she began to make herself a cup of tea.

"So, you and Ren huh?" A voice came from behind Mitsuru. Turning around in surprise, she came face to face with Akihiko Sanada, preparing himself a protein shake as he leaned against the refrigerator. As usual, he wasn't wearing a shirt, showing off his muscled and scarred chest, and instead opted for a simple pair of running shorts.

"Akihiko!" She said in surprise. "God! You scared me!" It wasn't normal for her to be so caught off guard. Had she been that distracted? And why did she feel like she'd just been caught doing something bad?

"Sorry." He apologized. "Didn't mean to surprise you, I just didn't want to interrupt the two of you."

"What?" Mitsuru looked confused. "Interrupt what? And what did you mean by 'you and Ren'?" She said in air quotes.

Akihiko let out a chuckle. "Oh come on. You couldn't tell? The two of you were flirting."

"F-Flirting!? I-We most certainly weren't! That would be completely inappropriate." She protested, but the more she thought about it, the more the realization set in.

"Mitsuru, I know you see me as a musclehead, but I do, in fact, have basic social skills. And I know flirting when I see it."

Rather than dignify that statement with a response, Mitsuru turned away, opting to instead focus on her tea.

"Look, all I wanted to say is that I'm happy for you. It's good that you're putting yourself out there after all this time. You deserve a bit of happiness after all the work you put in."

That got Mitsuru's attention, turning back toward Akihiko, she gave him a questioning look. "What are you talking about? I'm plenty happy. And I'll have you know, I go on plenty of dates."

"Really?" Akihiko raised an eyebrow before taking a sip from his protein shake. "When's the last time you went out on a date?" As Mitsuru was about to answer, he interjected. "Dinner meetings with business partners don't count."

"..."

"..."

"...Okay, fine it's been a while." She finally admitted.

"A while? Mitsuru, we've known each other most of our lives. I haven't seen you go out with anyone since…" Akihiko trailed off, not wanting to bring up painful memories. "Look, I'm just saying that Ren's a good guy. From what little I saw, the two of you get along well enough. Just...I worry about you sometimes, you always keep everyone at arm's length. It's okay to let people in."

"I'm the commander of the Shadow Operatives, it's my job to be peoples' leader. Not their friend." She crossed her arms, sending an icy glare in Akihiko's direction.

"You're also a human being with human emotions. People want to get to know you better, good people who want to be your friends." Akihiko sighed before getting up to leave. "Look, you're free to do whatever you want, but I think you should at least try to open up a bit." He advised before leaving her to her own devices.

"Am...Am I really that closed off?" Mitsuru pondered.

Sure she hadn't been on a real date since...him. And had she really been flirting with Ren? Sure he was handsome, charming, kind (if a bit sarcastic), a competent teammate, handsome, wait had she already said that? Images of him in his tank top flashed through her mind again as a comforting warmth spread through her body.

"God it really had been a while, hasn't it?" She took a sip of her tea before resting her head against the kitchen counter. For a 28 year old woman, a billionaire at that, her sex life was anything but active.

[Shadow Operative File: 002]

Mitsuru Kirijo

Codename: Commander

Status: Active

Species: Human

Age: 28

Sex: F

Persona: Artemisia, formerly Penthesilea

Description: Founder and acting commander of the Shadow Operatives, Mitsuru is in charge of the team's long term decisions as well as overseeing operative training, the team budget, and scheduling team duties. While not in charge of field operations, she still makes an effort to participate in missions when it doesn't conflict with her schedule.

Notes: Several concerned operatives have submitted requests to H.R that Mitsuru decrease her workload, however all requests up to this point have been denied.