*Click*
"..."
*Click* *Click*
"...hrng."
*CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK* *CLICK*
"Um...Fuuka?"
"Ah!" The teal haired woman turned in surprise to see Ren Amamiya standing behind her. "Oh, sorry Ren, I didn't see you there."
"Didn't mean to spook you like that." He replied before turning his attention to the elevator door the two of them were standing in front of. "Looks like the elevator's out. That's going to be a problem."
"Yeah…" Fuuka replied, grimacing as she looked down, her wheelchair creaking as she shifted her weight.
It had been two years since Fuuka's last mission in the field. During an encounter with a group calling themselves 'Neo-Strega', an enemy's bullet hit her spine, severely damaging her L5 vertebrae. Thankfully, the injury wasn't life threatening, but the damage that was done couldn't be repaired and Fuuka was left unable to stand or walk again. Physical therapy had helped her retain some feeling below the waist, but hadn't made much progress beyond that.
"Where're you headed?" The raven-haired man asked, putting his hands into his hoodie pockets.
"Well I was going to grab some things from my room before heading to the monitoring room, but I can just wait for maintenance to come by. Don't mind me." She assured him.
"Ah geez, that could take forever." He turned back to the door, giving the button another useless click. "Y'know, if you want," Ren scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "I could...give you a lift?"
Pondering what he meant for a moment, Fuuka's eyes suddenly widened in realization, her cheeks flushing with embarrassment. "O-Oh, I couldn't ask you to do that!"
"It'd really be no trouble." He assured her. "Just a quick trip up the stairs, like 5 seconds tops."
"..."
"..."
A few moments later, the pair found themselves in front of the stairs with Fuuka's arms wrapped around Ren's shoulders while he supported her legs, her wheelchair tucked beneath his arm.
"I'm not too heavy, am I?" The teal haired woman asked worriedly.
Ren chuckled to himself as he carefully ascended the steps. "Not at all, I used to do this with Futaba all the time when she'd pass out at Leblanc. This is nothing."
The pair reached the top of the steps quickly, after which Ren set out Fuuka's chair for her. She got back in before wheeling herself to her room, inviting him in as she did so. While the older woman grabbed some items from off of her desk, Ren took a look around the room.
Fuuka Yamagishi's room had a few notable differences from her teammates' rooms. Most notably, everything was closer to the ground for obvious reasons. It was also completely littered with tech in various states of deconstruction. Fuuka and Futaba were similar in that way, both had a love of computers and coding. While most of what they would discuss was lost on Ren, he was glad they'd found a kindred spirit in one another.
Glancing at a nearby dresser, he saw a lone picture frame sitting on it with a small notebook nearby. Wanting to get a better look at the photo, Ren picked it up off the dresser to examine. It was a photo of the original SEES team posing in front of their school. Among the members, there were two whom he'd never actually gotten to meet but had heard alot about. Minato Arisato and Shinjiro Aragaki, two heroes who had tragically laid down their lives to save their friends and the world.
Ren moved to put the picture back, but in the process, accidentally knocked down the notebook to the floor. As he bent over to pick it up, he couldn't help but read the page it had opened up to.
'Item # 3: Make snow angels in the winter.' He read silently before turning to the next page. 'Item # 4: Spend a day at the beach and feel the sand between my toes.'
"Alright, I think I've got everything I-oh!" Fuuka said in surprise as she saw Ren holding the notebook.
"Huh?" He looked up before realizing what he'd been doing. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to read it, it just fell open!"
"I-It's fine, really."
"Um, Fuuka? If you don't mind me asking, what is this?" Ren held the book out for her.
The girl accepted the book, staring at the cover for a moment before answering.
"When I was in the hospital, recovering after...you know. One of the doctors recommended that I make a wishlist of things I wanted to do when I got out. He said it helped patients' morale if they had something to look forward to once their recovery was completed. I thought it was kind of silly, but it helped pass the time while I was there. When I finally did get back, things were so busy that I kind of forgot about it."
"So did you do any of them?"
"Hmm?" Fuuka looked up from the book, confused.
"Did you do the things you wrote in there?" Ren clarified, pointing at the notebook.
"Oh...I-I meant to, but I could just never find the time." She confessed.
"Do you want to?"
"Huh?"
"Let's do one." He smiled. "I'm sure there's something in there that we could find that would be fun." He held his hand out for the notebook. "Do you mind?" He asked kindly.
Fuuka handed him the book but shook her head. "R-Ren, we have a job to do! There could be a Metaverse outbreak at any time! I need to be monitoring to make sure there's no danger!"
"We both know the monitoring system can function independently of you." He reminded her as he flipped through the pages. "Besides, you were about to wait for hours for maintenance to fix the elevator. You have free time."
"Still-"
"Aha!" Ren said as he pointed to a page in the book. "'Item # 17: Go to a bar and drink a beer.' That sounds easy, we could knock that out in like, half an hour."
"Ren no, I...That whole list was just a silly exercise. I barely even remember writing it."
"Please?" Ren asked, kneeling down to her level. "We can just do this one and if you really don't have a good time, we never have to do anything like this again."
Fuuka considered the proposal for a moment. "J-Just this one thing, okay?" She finally relented.
"Yes!" Ren stood up excitedly, a big smile on his face. "You won't regret this!"
"Just give me a minute to get changed okay? I don't want to go out in sweatpants."
Ren nodded before exiting the room. Five minutes later, the pair were in Ren's car, driving into the nearest town. It was one that the team frequently visited any time they needed to pick up groceries or get out of the compound. As the two drove through the small town streets, Ren glanced over at Fuuka who was staring out the window, curiously observing the townspeople with a smile on her face.
The 26 year old woman could be very childlike at times despite being a technological genius, Ren found it cute and couldn't help but see the resemblance to another close friend of his. Fuuka's short teal hair blew in the wind, her white blouse and denim skirt billowing as well before coming to a stop as the car parked in front of the Seven Sisters bar.
The two exited the vehicle and Ren held open the door for Fuuka as she wheeled herself in. Luckily it wasn't too late in the evening yet so the bar had plenty of open seats. They sat down and Ren ordered two beers for the table.
"So, looking forward to this?" He asked.
"I'm...A little nervous. I've never really tried alcohol before." She explained, her cheeks flushing red again. "I don't really know what to expect."
"There's really nothing to be nervous about. I had my first drink at 11 and I turned out great!" He smiled playfully.
"Really?" Fuuka gasped in shock. "How did that happen?"
Ren shrugged. "My dad fell asleep on the couch one night with a half empty can on the table and young me was a curious little shit."
"Here you go Ren." The bar owner said as she placed two bottles in front of them. She was a pretty woman in her thirties with purple eyes and dark hair pulled into a loose bun. Her outfit consisted of a black tank top with a pink heart on the front and faded jeans that were torn at the knees.
"Thanks Maya." He nodded to the woman before she walked off. Turning back to Fuuka, he raised his bottle. "So, are you ready for your wish to be granted?"
Fuuka giggled in response before raising her own drink. The two clinked glasses before taking a drink.
*PFFFT!*
Fuuka immediately spat out her drink, unintentionally splashing Ren's face in the process. "Oh my god that's disgusting!" She coughed before a look of shock came across her face. "I-I am sooo sorry! Here, let me clean you up!" The girl desperately looked around for any napkins.
Ren, meanwhile, was chuckling to himself as he wiped the beer from his face with his sleeve. "Yeah I was pretty much expecting that reaction. I guess I should've been smarter about where I was sitting though." He waved Maya back over. "Can we get some napkins and an ice water?"
The woman gave a thumbs up before going behind the bar.
"So…" Ren turned back to the girl across from him. "I take it wasn't to your tastes?"
*cough* "Not exactly, no."
"Yeah, I threw up in the bathroom sink my first time. After that I never touched the stuff again until I was 20. It's an acquired taste, almost like coffee. Definitely takes longer to get used to though."
"And you didn't think to warn me?"
"If I said you weren't going to like it would you have still come?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.
That was a good point. As Fuuka thought of a response, Maya came back with a handful of napkins and a glass of ice water with lemon.
"Here you go sweetie." She said, setting down the glass on a coaster. As she did so, the front door swung open and four large men in leather jackets and sunglasses walked in. "Oh geez not these guys again." Maya rubbed her temples.
"Who are they?" Ren asked, watching the men gather around a pool table.
"A couple of assholes who come by every now and then to hit on the wait staff and not pay off their tab. Just general nuisances."
"Have you tried contacting the police?" Fuuka suggested.
"Yeah, but it turns out, the big guy with the beard," She pointed out the man. "His brother is head of the precinct, so they just get let off with a warning every time."
"Want me to go talk to them?" Ren offered.
Suddenly, a feminine voice let out a cry of surprise.
"Don't touch me asshole!" A woman in the corner shouted as one of the men stood uncomfortably close to her.
"C'mon baby, don't be like that." The burly man said, putting his beefy hand on her shoulder. "Come outside and take a seat on my hog. Then afterward maybe I can show you my motorcycle." He laughed.
Before either Ren or Maya could move, they were surprised to see Fuuka rolling over to the man, a determined look in her eyes.
"Excuse me, sir?" She pulled on the man's jacket, getting his attention. "You're causing a disturbance, I think you should pay off your tab and leave."
The man stared at her for a moment before bursting out laughing. "Hey guys! Check it out!" He turned to his friends. "Wanna see if I can get her all the way across the room?"
Fuuka was pushed back and rolled across the room before being stopped. When she turned around, she saw Ren standing behind her with an expression she'd never seen on him before. Before she could intervene, he began to walk toward the large man.
"What the fuck is it now?" He asked, annoyed.
"Apologize and leave." Ren stated simply, his voice barely masking the rage behind it.
"Yeah? Or what, you're gonna kick my ass?" He asked sarcastically, shoving Ren backwards. "The fuck are you gonna do kid?" The other men formed a circle around him. "Get lost before I-" He didn't get to finish the sentence as Ren's fist collided with his face.
The large man fell instantly, slumping over a nearby table before it collapsed from his weight. There was a moment of silent shock before the other three men lept into action against their friend's assailant. One threw a punch at his face, but Ren moved out of the way, putting the man's arm on his shoulder, he used the man's momentum to throw him onto the pool table.
As he turned to face the other two, he was caught in the face by a beefy fist and sent to the floor. Turning up to look at the bald man standing over him, he saw the man pull out a switchblade. Thinking quickly, Ren delivered a strong, precise kick to the man's kneecap. The bald man's leg buckled in the opposite direction of how it normally would and he screamed out in pain as he collapsed to the floor.
The Wildcard of the Phantom Thieves stood up to face the last man standing, the bearded man. He broke a beer bottle on the table next to him before brandishing it as a weapon toward Ren. Just as he was about to fight the man, Ren was grabbed from behind by the burly man who he'd first put down. He fought to break free as the bearded man approached, broken bottle in hand when he was suddenly hit in the head by another bottle from across the room.
"Shit!" The bearded man held his hand to his head, feeling blood seep from the shards of glass stuck in his skin.
Everyone turned to the source of the bottle, surprised to see Fuuka, who looked equally surprised at what she'd just done.
Capitalizing on the opportunity, Ren elbowed the man behind him in the gut, escaping from his grasp. He then kicked the broken bottle out of the bearded man's hands before delivering a roundhouse kick directly to his nose. The man went down clutching his face in pain. Ren turned around to face the last man, now breathing heavily.
However, before either of them could move, a large crack sounded through the bar as the last man went down. Standing behind him was Maya holding a broken cue stick like a club.
"Next time pay off your tab, asshole." She said, tossing the broken stick aside.
The bar was silent, save for the crying men on the ground, clutching their wounds in pain. As he surveyed the damage caused by the fight, Ren scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
"I can-" Before he could finish, there was a loud crunch as the legs of the pool table gave out, the unconscious man lying on it letting out a groan. "I can pay for that." Ren offered.
"I'll take you up on that," Maya said before pulling out her phone. "But first, if you don't want to deal with the cops, I suggest you get going now."
"But I thought you said-"
"It's fine, even if they just get a slap on the wrist, they know not to come back here." She smiled. "Besides, if they do try something again, I've got you on speed dial."
"We should probably go." Fuuka suggested, tugging on Ren's sleeve. He nodded and the two of them exited the bar.
Both of them were silent as they got back into the car, after buckling himself in, Ren let his head rest on the steering wheel and let out a deep sigh.
"I'm sorry Fuuka, that didn't go how I thought it would at all. Let's just head back home and forget this ever happened."
"Are you kidding?" She responded.
Ren turned to her in surprise, seeing a wide grin on her face.
"I haven't felt that alive in years!"
[Shadow Operative File: 006]
Fuuka Yamagishi
Codename: Siren
Status: Active
Species: Human
Age: 26
Sex: F
Persona: Juno, formerly Lucia
Description: The original navigator for both the Shadow Operatives and its progenitor, SEES, Fuuka Yamagishi is an essential member of the team and provides navigational support in every team operation. An unfortunate injury 2 years ago has made her unable to operate in the field so she now communicates with the team through earpieces. Since first discovering her abilities at 15, Fuuka's range has increased greatly and with the help of several monitoring towers built by the Kirijo group across the country, she can now monitor the entirety of Japan for Metaverse activity.
Notes: Following her injury, several renovations had to be made to the compound in order to accommodate Fuuka's needs. Unfortunately, as there is no room for dormitories on the first floor, Fuuka is required to use the elevator on a regular basis, which has been known to break down frequently. After two of the facilities three maintenance men retired, the compound has been struggling to find suitable replacements who can pass a background check.