"So, I take it your wrist is all healed up now?" Ren asked, taking a seat across from the redhead in front of him and handing the girl her food.

"Yep! Back to one hundred percent!" Sumire smiled, giving him two thumbs up. Her smile then dropped slightly as she looked away. "Too bad we're done with competitions for the year though."

The pair were currently sitting at a table at the Big Bang Burger in Shibuya, catching up after Sumire texted Ren the night before, asking to meet in person. The younger girl was wearing her hair down today, sporting a large purple sweater, black jeans, and a new pair of glasses, she really looked the role of a typical college student.

"Well, on the upside, at least that gives you time to prepare for finals, right?" Ren offered, trying to look on the bright side of things.

"Yeah, I guess there's that." She nodded before moving to grab her food. "But that's enough about me, Senpai. What's been going on in your life?"

"Oh, you know…the usual." Ren deflected, grabbing a fry from his meal.

"Senpai, you've got to give me more than that!" Sumire whined.

"Sorry Sumi," Ren rubbed his neck awkwardly. "I just really don't know what I would say."

The girl crossed her arms, pouting. 'Senpai never talks about himself.' She thought to herself, watching the man in front of her innocently eat his meal. 'What is he hiding?'

A soft buzzing then sounded from beneath the table, causing both parties to check their phones, seeing who was calling them. When Sumire saw that her own phone wasn't vibrating, she turned to Ren as he stood up from the table.

"Sorry, I've gotta take this." He excused himself before stepping outside to answer the call.

Sighing to herself, Sumire looked down at her meal. For once, she didn't have an appetite. Looking down at her phone again, she saw that she had an unanswered text from the gymnastics team group chat.

'So, how's ur date with Senpaiii going?' It read, causing Sumire to blush.

Sumire's teammates had planned on spending the day together, going to the mall and enjoying other bonding activities together. However, Sumire had declined the invitation, preferring instead to spend the day with Ren. Of course, she hadn't wanted to share the reason of why she was ditching the rest of the girls for the day, but they had more or less forced it out of her after a confrontation in the locker room. Needless to say, when they found out it was about a boy, they teased her relentlessly, excitedly squeezing all of the information they could get out of her.

'It isn't a date! We're just friends catching up!' She responded, her face still flush as she aggressively pressed the send button.

As she heard Ren walk past her and take his seat across from her, Sumire panicked, nearly dropping her phone as she quickly put it away. Looking back up to face Ren, she saw that his mood had dropped significantly.

"What was that about?" She asked, seeing Ren clearly annoyed by the phone call he'd just received.

"Ugh, it's that time of the year again." He replied.

"What time?"

"I have to go visit my family."

'What!? Senpai's family!?' Sumire's eyes widened in surprise. 'He's never even mentioned them before.' She thought to herself.

"Y-Your family?" She asked, her voice wavering.

"Yeah, my mom's from the U.S. so our family sort of celebrates Thanksgiving. It isn't anything big, really it's just a way for my parents to make sure that I come home at least once a year." He explained.

"Wow…" Sumire replied softly. That one sentence was probably the most Ren had ever said about himself to her. "Um, w-when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow morning." He replied casually before deciding to change the subject. "So what-"

"Can I come with you?" Sumire blurted out without even realizing.

"What?" Ren's eyes widened.

"Wha-?" The redhead's face became even more red as she realized what she'd just said.

"…You want to come with me? To my parents' house?"

"I-I…" Sumire struggled for a moment, unsure of what to say. Finally finding her courage, she nodded, deciding to follow through with this. "I do. Senpai, you know everything there is to know about me, b-but I can't say the same about you." She explained. "I…I want to know you better, Senpai, and I can't think of a better way than meeting your family."

Ren sighed, placing his head in his hand, causing fear to shoot down Sumire's spine. Had she overstepped? Was this not okay? What if-?

"Okay."

"W-What?" Sumire looked up at the man. "Y-You mean it's okay?"

"Yeah." Ren nodded, not meeting her gaze. "You're right, it isn't fair of me to keep my secrets when I know your's. If you really want to come, you're more than welcome to."

"Really!?" Sumire beamed, standing up from her seat, grabbing the attention of everyone around them. Upon realizing how loud she'd just been, the already embarrassed girl sat back down before placing her head against the table. "Thank you." She said, her voice muffled as she tried to hide her face.

Chuckling at the girl's cute antics, Ren patted her on the head softly. "You're welcome."

The next morning, the pair met up again at the train station. Sumire was dressed to impress, wearing her contacts, a white blouse, black leather jacket, black skirt, leggings, and red dress shoes along with tying her hair up in its usual ponytail. After a brief exchange, the two were on their way to Ren's hometown. They arrived a few hours later and managed to grab a taxi just outside of the train station, riding it directly to Ren's house.

As they stood outside of the door, Ren took a deep breath, simply staring at the door before him for a solid minute.

"Senpai?"

"Sorry, just…Preparing." Ren sighed before knocking on the door twice.

There was a brief silence before it was suddenly replaced with the sound of feet hitting the floor. A moment later, the door swung open to reveal a middle school aged girl with short black hair and brown eyes standing on the other side.

"..." She merely stared at them for a moment, creating an awkward silence.

"...Hi Akiko, you've gotten taller since last year." Ren smiled, waving to his little sister.

"H-Hello." The young girl replied softly, her voice barely audible. She gave a shy wave, trying to avoid making eye contact with them. "I-I'll go tell mom you're here." The girl was walking away before she even finished the sentence.

As she left, Sumire turned to Ren with an astonished look.

"Sorry, she's a little shy around strangers." He explained.

"You have a sister!?"

"Well, yeah?" He looked confused.

"Senpai…"

"Renny? Is that you honey?" Another voice called out.

The pair turned back toward the door, seeing the woman who had just stepped into view. Sumire was stunned by the woman before her. If she was truly Ren's mother, she had to have been in her early forties, but didn't appear to be a day older than thirty. She looked like an older, female version of Ren with dark messy hair that fell down past her shoulders and the same silver eyes as her son. Despite her unkempt appearance, a dirty apron and bits of flour across her face, she had a large grin on it that only further served to showcase her beauty.

"Hey Mom." Ren greeted, stepping into the house with Sumire. "Hope you don't mind that I brought a friend."

"Of course not sweetie!" She walked over to greet them properly, only for a timer to go off in the kitchen. "Oh! I should go-"

"I'll get that." Ren offered, giving his mom a hug as he passed by. However, unnoticed by Sumire, he whispered into his mother's ear. "Is he here yet?" He quietly asked, trying his best to mask the venom in his voice.

The woman subtly shook her head, causing Ren to breathe a sigh of relief before entering the kitchen.

Now the two women were left alone and Sumire had no idea of what to say to this woman whom she'd just met.

"H-Hello," She greeted, bowing to the woman. "I-I'm a fan of your work. Err…" Sumire then realized what she had just said. "I-I mean, I'm a friend of your son's!" She corrected, embarrassed. "It's nice to finally meet you Mrs. Amamiya."

The woman before her smiled, approaching her before placing a calming hand on her shoulder. "It's nice to finally meet one of my son's friends from Tokyo, and please, call me Rei." The older woman added kindly.

'This is Ren's mother? She's so nice! And so beautiful! It's no wonder where Ren gets his looks from.' Sumire thought to herself. 'But then…why was he so depressed about coming here?'

"My son sent home plenty of letters talking about his friends during his…" She looked away for a moment. "His year away. Now, remind me which one you are? Were you the part-time model?" Rei asked, examining the girl's face.

"Oh, n-no that's our friend Ann. She's actually a full-time model now."

"Ah, I see." Rei nodded her head. "Were you the student council president? Oh! Or the corporate heiress?"

"N-No, again…Th-Those are other friends of ours." Sumire explained awkwardly, her smile slowly dropping.

"You...You aren't the little one who likes to hide inside all day, are you?"

"Um, no." She shook her head. "I'm…I'm Sumire?" She suggested, hoping the woman would recognize the name.

The woman's expression was confused for a moment, as though the name wasn't familiar to her. However, she then put on another smile.

"Right! Right! Sumire, of course! Renny's told me a bunch about you too!" She assured the girl, but somehow, the redhead doubted her. "Come on, let's go to the kitchen, I want to make sure that Ren hasn't burned it down yet."

The pair stepped into the kitchen where they spotted Ren removing the turkey from the oven and placing it on the stove, meanwhile his younger sister leaned against the kitchen counter, texting on her phone.

"It didn't look quite ready yet so I gave it another minute." Ren stated, taking off his oven mitts. "Smells great though, can't wait to dig in." He smiled.

"That's great dear." His mother replied. "Um, Renny? I hope you don't mind me asking after you just got here, but before you take your shoes off," Rei pointed upwards. "The satellite dish has been on the fritz again. Do you think you could go up and take a look at it? And Akiko, could you go make sure that he stays safe?"

"No problem." The young man replied cheerfully.

Akiko said nothing in reply, merely following after her brother as they left the kitchen. It seemed that even at home, Ren was always eager to help out anyone he could, anywhere he could. Sumire supposed that some people were just hardwired that way. As her son exited the room, Rei turned to the redhead with a grin.

"Would you mind helping me set the table?" Rei asked. "We can have ourselves a 'girl talk' while we're at it!"

"O-Okay." Sumire nodded her head. She'd never had a 'girl talk' before. As Rei began to hand her plates to set out, she decided to ask the question that had been on her mind for a while now. "S-So um, what exactly has Ren told you about me?"

"Oh…" Rei seemed somewhat caught off guard by this question. "Well, you know Ren, he isn't exactly one for talking much. He's usually more interested in what other people have to say."

"Yeah, that much I do know." Sumire replied with a sigh. Sadly, she was beginning to feel like that was all she knew about him.

Had he really not told his family about her? Had she…Had she misinterpreted their relationship? Maybe she wasn't as special a person to Ren Amamiya as she had believed. Who was she kidding? Of course she wasn't! After all, out of their friend group, she'd probably spent the least time with the raven-haired man out of everyone. They had even gone on a whole cross-country adventure to save the world without her!

"Sumire?" A voice snapped the girl out of her thoughts. Turning to the voice, she saw Rei staring at her with a concerned look in her eyes. "Are you okay sweetie?"

"O-Oh! Yes, I'm fine!" She assured the woman, waving off her concerns before grabbing more plates. "Sorry about that, I was just distracted for a moment."

"...Alright then." The older woman nodded, but seemed to have her doubts. Regardless, she continued to prepare the silverware.

"So um, i-is Ren's father around?" Sumire asked, deciding it was time for a change of topic. For all she knew, she could be asking if he was home, if he and Rei were still together, or even if he was still alive. That was how little she knew about the story behind the man who she considered her best friend.

"Ah, Naoya…" Rei trailed off once again. It seemed to Sumire that she had hit another conversational landmine making her 0 for 2 in terms of small talk. Even so, the mother of the Amamiya family continued. "He's still at work for now but…well," She looked over her shoulder to make sure they were alone before turning back to Sumire. "He and our son have been at odds for some time now. I imagine it's part of why Ren doesn't visit very often. I've tried to make amends between them, but they're both far too stubborn to properly discuss things."

"Oh, I see." Sumire nodded.

"It's a shame really, they were so close before. And so alike too. Ren may get his looks from me, but personality-wise, he's just like his father. Quiet, stoic, generous, doting…It's funny really, they're two of the kindest people you'll ever meet and yet they can hardly stand to be around one another." The woman remarked, sniffling before turning away to wipe her eyes.

"He sounds wonderful." Sumire assured the woman, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "If you don't mind me asking, how did the two of you meet?"

Regaining her composure, the woman let out a small laugh as she fondly recalled the memory.

"Oh, it was way back when the two of us were living in the big city. I met him on the subway ride to university on my first day. There was one open seat left and the two of us kept insisting that the other one take it. We ended up going back and forth about it for so long that someone else came along and took it while we weren't looking!" Rei chuckled.

Sumire did as well, but couldn't help but think that the story felt…familiar.

"Anyways, so after that, as we got off the train at the same time, and followed the same route, and eventually we ended up at the same place. When I got to my first class, he entered with me and at first, I thought that meant we would be classmates. Needless to say, I was caught way off guard when he started to write his name on the board."

"He was the professor!?" Sumire blurted out before she could stop herself.

"He was a grad student teaching introductory level physics, but…yeah, he was technically my professor." Rei awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck, something Ren had no doubt picked up from her. "Don't worry though, we didn't start dating until after I finished his class." She assured the girl.

Sumire couldn't help but smile, watching this woman joyously recount meeting the man who she clearly held a lot of love for. Her own father had told her stories about her late mother before, but there had always been a twinge of pain in his voice whenever he spoke about her, recalling everything he had lost. To experience it now, in its purest form was a truly wonderful experience.

"But I think that's enough about me. I think it's about time I get to ask you something." Rei said playfully.

"O-Of course!" Sumire replied, bowing slightly. "Please forgive my rudeness!"

Rei only laughed at the display. "Please, there's no need for that." She assured the girl. "There's just one thing that I'm curious about." Her gaze suddenly zeroed in on Sumire, studying her intently and the girl felt like a deer in the headlights.

"..." Sumire gulped audibly, unable to turn away from the older woman.

"What exactly is your relationship with my son?"

Meanwhile, up on the roof of the two story home, Ren inspected the satellite dish, trying to find the source of the issue while his younger sister stood on the ground, holding the ladder Ren was standing on in place. Both of them unaware of the approaching figure behind them.

"I see the gutters haven't been cleaned since last time I was here." The raven-haired man muttered to himself as he inspected the area, pushing a handful of dead leaves out of his way. "Ah! Here we go." He said, discovering the issue. "Looks like squirrels have been chewing on the cable. Maybe I can run to the store before it closes and-"

"Hey there stranger!" A voice called out from below.

Akiko suddenly cried out in surprise, releasing her grip in the process. Up above, Ren felt the ladder shaking beneath him. He attempted to right himself, but was too late as it began to tip backwards, causing him to fall back with it onto the front yard.

Things went black for a moment before Ren's faculties quickly returned to him. His head was pounding, he had no air in his lungs and his vision was blurry. He heard two muffled voices calling out to him before they quickly became audible again. The blurry faces slowly beginning to clear as well.

One was his sister, crying and apologizing profusely as she fretted over her injured brother.

The other…

"Oh my god! Ren are you okay!? Can you hear me? How many fingers am I holding up?"

He knew that voice…

"E-Emi?" He replied weakly.

Sure enough, as the other face came into view, he instantly recognized who it was before him. It was Emi Takahashi. His best friend from childhood, his first crush, his first kiss…

His first girlfriend.

[Field Report - Cognitive Deity Encounter: 009]

Entity Name: The Demiurge a.k.a The Ark of The Covenant

Date of Encounter: August 28, 2017

Location of Encounter: Osaka, Japan

Field Data: From the account of events gathered from the former Phantom Thieves members by the compound staff, it has been determined that the entity which they reportedly encountered in the late summer of 2017 was, in fact, a Cognitive Deity. After evolving from the A.I. known as EMMA, the Demiurge became the first known artificial intelligence to become a Cognitive Deity. This has unveiled a new world of threats to the Shadow Operatives in the form of sentient technology, resulting in the formation of a new team specifically meant to monitor A.I. development. Operatives 006 and 030 are listed as reserve members of this taskforce.