"Um…I uh…sorry, what was the question again?" Sumire asked, her nerves getting the better of her.
"I just wanted to know what kind of relationship you and my son have." Rei Amamiya repeated, her gaze turning away from Sumire and back toward setting the table. "Are you two just friends? Or is there something more going on?"
"W-We're just friends ma'am!" The redhead assured the older woman before turning away. "B-Besides, with my school and his work, we're so busy that we hardly ever see each other anyways."
"Hmm?" Rei seemed confused by this. "How busy could my son be? I mean, he's a barista at a hole-in-the-wall cafe."
"Huh?" Sumire was taken aback.
Ren's parents didn't know about his work? Of course, she hadn't exactly told her father about the Metaverse either, if she had he probably would've just booked her more therapy sessions. But this was different, Sumire had been out of the game for years, she'd moved on past that part of her life, Ren however was still very much involved in that business, and to not even tell his family? The people who he should be closest to?
"Sumire…Is there something going on that I don't know about?" Rei asked.
"I-I…um…"
Fortunately for her however, before she could answer, the pair were interrupted by the front door swinging open and Akiko's voice calling out.
"MOM! MOM! REN'S HURT!" The young girl cried out as she and another girl who Sumire had never seen supported Ren's arms, helping him to walk as they entered the house.
Rei immediately dropped what she was doing and ran over to her son, helping to guide him to a nearby chair before turning to her daughter.
"Akiko, go and grab the first-aid kit." She told her daughter before beginning to examine Ren.
"Should I call an ambulance?" Sumire offered, pulling out her phone.
"Guys," Ren began, attempting to stand up only to be pushed back onto the chair by his mother. "I'm fine, really there's no need-"
"Oh no you don't mister." Rei stopped him. "I'm a nurse, I'll tell you if there's a need or not." As she said this, Akiko returned with the first-aid kit in hand. Rei grabbed a small flashlight in the bag, shining it in her son's eyes much to his displeasure.
As she watched the mother begin examining her son's injuries, Sumire's attention turned to the other girl in the room, the unfamiliar one who had entered with Ren.
She clearly wasn't a member of the family, her tanned skin, green eyes, and brown hair made that much obvious. The girl wore a baggy white hoodie along with tight black yoga pants and a pair of gray running shoes. Her hair was cut fairly short, only reaching halfway down her neck and had little in the way of styling. Based on her appearance, Sumire pegged her as the tomboy type, one who was particularly into sports and exercise at that. And she was (unfortunately) very, very pretty, she possessed the kind of effortless beauty that most women would kill for.
Had this girl been a passerby who had seen the accident and decided to help? Or…could she be someone Ren knew personally?
"Mom! Stop it! Come on!" Ren's cries of protest snapped Sumire from her musings.
"Oh calm down, I'm just checking for cuts or bruises." Rei replied as she pulled her son's shirt off to further examine his injuries.
"Eep!" Sumire unintentionally let out as she caught sight of Ren's exposed chest and abdominals. Her cheeks beginning to turn as red as her hair, she quickly tried to look anywhere besides at her best friend's six-pack. Catching a glimpse of the mystery girl from earlier, Sumire noticed her unabashedly staring at Ren.
"Oh my…" The girl murmured, biting her lower lip.
"Uh…" The man in question looked over at the two girls in front of him before turning to his mom.
"Oh alright," Rei rolled her eyes, turning to the pair. "Sorry girls, my little Renny's a bit shy. Why don't you two go wait in the living room? I'm sure that it's more comfortable there than here."
"O-Okay." Sumire nodded and exited the room with the mystery girl.
Upon entering the living room, the two strangers were left alone, awkwardly sitting across from one another in a silent room with only a small coffee table separating them. Checking around the room, Sumire noticed several photos on the walls depicting the Amamiya family throughout the years.
"So…you a friend of the family?" The mystery girl was the first to break the silence.
"Hm? Oh! Um, yes?" Sumire answered nervously before correcting herself. "I'm a friend of Sen-*ahem* of Ren's from Tokyo."
"I see." The girl nodded her head. "Well, I'm Emi by the way. Emi Takahashi. I live just across the street from here so Renny and I kinda grew up together."
"N-Nice to meet you." Sumire greeted the girl before realizing that she'd forgotten her own. "I'm Sumire Yoshizawa. Ren was my senpai back in high school, he…he's helped me out a lot over the years."
"That sounds like him alright." Emi nodded. "It's good to know that's still the same at least. But let me tell you, growing up, he was the shyest kid you'd ever meet, a bit like Akiko is now, it was adorable really." The girl smiled, looking over to a picture of a young Ren seemingly on his first day of school. "Really…really adorable."
"S-So," Sumire gulped. "I-I take it you two were close then?"
"We were best friends throughout elementary and middle school. I would come over here every day to play video games and read manga with Ren and on weekends I would usually spend the night." She chuckled softly. "Of course, when we started to get older, our parents made us stop out of fear of…well y'know, something happening."
"I see." Sumire forced a laugh, trying not to give away how nervous she was feeling. "So then, you two were *ahem* just friends?"
From the story she was hearing, it sounded like these two were even closer than Sumire had feared they were. But regardless, she had to know.
"Well, about that," Emi paused before continuing the story. "When we started our first year of high school together, that was when I realized that I liked Ren as… as a lot more than a friend. I knew that dropping hints wouldn't work with how dense he can be at times, so one day while we were walking home from school together I just sorta…blurted it out."
Sumire's grip on her armchair tightened. She couldn't help but pray silently. 'Pleasetellmehesaidno! Pleasetellmehesaidno! Please! Tell me he said no!'
"I was shocked when he told me that he'd liked me for years and had been too scared to say anything. At that point I just kinda…kissed him on the spot and the rest was history."
Sumire could practically feel her soul exiting her body then and there.
'So they were a couple…' She thought to herself sadly. 'And just look at her, she's clearly still interested in him. And besides that, she looks as though she just finished jogging and she could still win a beauty pageant. Whereas I spent two hours frantically getting ready this morning and can't even compare.' The girl thought to herself in despair.
But there was one question that still lingered in her mind. One that she had to know the answer to.
"S-So then, what happened after Ren's arrest?"
The mood in the room suddenly shifted as the tension grew thick. Emi's green eyes looked down in shame as she recalled the painful memory.
"That was…an unfortunate situation. I believed that he was innocent as soon as I heard about the assault, I knew he would never do something like what they were accusing him of, but rumors spread like wildfire in small towns like these. Ren was always a quiet kid, and I was pretty much his only friend, so not many others could speak on behalf of his character. Before you'd know it, everyone in the town was accusing him of being a shady character, saying how they always suspected that he was a delinquent."
"Oh…" Sumire looked down sadly. This sounded a lot like Ren's situation when he first entered Shujin as well.
"My parents, I suppose they were just trying to look out for my best interests, I was in line to be a top pick for a few scholarships and they…didn't want my name attached to the case against Ren." She looked away in shame. "They told me to sever all ties to him, otherwise I could be blacklisted from getting into college. I didn't want to, I love-er loved Ren but…I was just a kid. I was scared. So I did what I was told and broke things off. Not a day has gone by since that I didn't regret it."
Sumire was completely silent. She had no idea of how to respond. If she was being completely honest with herself, she had hoped for a simple answer like 'I took a bribe and left him to be with the guy I really loved and am secretly an evil bitch mwahahaha!' That sure would've made the situation a lot easier.
"Sorry," Emi awkwardly apologized, rubbing her shoulder. "I probably overshared a bit there. Seeing Renny again after all this time has made me a bit nostalgic I guess." The girl then looked at Sumire. "So, you and him are good friends now, right?"
"Y-Yes?" Sumire responded, though honestly, she couldn't be so sure at this point.
"Is he…" Emi looked away, shyly tapping her index fingers together in a manner that the redhead couldn't help but find cute. "Do you know if he's seeing anyone?"
Sumire gulped.
Meanwhile in the kitchen, Ren sat patiently as his mother wrapped a bandage around his head to stop the bleeding.
"You're lucky you know, considering you fell nearly two stories and hit your head. If you hadn't supported it at the last moment like that…" Rei shuddered at the thought. "You're lucky to be getting away with just a-"
"A bruised collarbone, dislocated shoulder, and minor concussion, I know." Ren finished for her, tired from the long spiel about safety she'd given him.
"Y-Yeah…" His mother looked at him in disbelief as she finished his bandages. "How did you know that?" She was certain she hadn't told him the diagnosis yet.
"Huh?" Ren looked up in surprise, remembering that he wasn't supposed to know that. He had picked up some medical skills through his training with the Shadow Ops as they were necessary to have in the field. "Oh, I um, I learned it in school." He lied quickly, which was nothing new for him. At this point it was practically a reflex to lie to his family.
"Huh, I guess Tokyo schools are better than I gave them credit for." His mother stated, adjusting the ice pack on his collarbone, causing the boy to shiver. "You know, you certainly came back from there a lot different than you left. Makes me wonder sometimes if they sent back the right kid."
"Ha ha." Ren replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I'm serious, you've changed. And not just physically." To emphasize her point, she flicked his bicep.
"Ow!" He pulled his arm away, wincing as he painfully remembered that it was the arm he dislocated. "How do you mean different anyway?"
"Well for starters, I know that you aren't a virgin anymore."
"WHAT!?" Ren turned to her in surprise. "H-How could you know that? I never-"
"Oh please. I'm a mom, we have a sixth sense for this type of thing. And besides, you have an air of confidence about you that you never had before you left. I noticed it, and those two girls in the other room definitely noticed it. You saw how they were looking at you when-"
"Mom!"
"Well excuse me for wanting grandchildren." Rei placed her hands on her hips. "That's the one thing that makes me sure you're the same kid as before. Still dodging any and all expectations we have for you."
"Now you're sounding like Dad." Ren scoffed, looking away from his mother.
"Your father just wants what's best for you, and so do I. You have so much potential Renny, he just thinks that maybe you're wasting it working in that dingy little cafe."
"Mom, I'm happy with where I am in my life! Isn't that enough?" He protested.
"Of course it's good that you're happy Renny, that's all we want for you. We just think that you could be even happier if you went back to college, got yourself a good job and really made something of yourself." She reasoned, placing her hand on his good shoulder "You're capable of so much Renny, you could do a lot of good in the world if you just put your mind to it."
Ren quietly scoffed to himself. 'If only you knew. If only I could tell you what it is that I really do.' He thought bitterly.
Of course there were rumors about Shadows, Personas, and the Metaverse circulating around, firsthand accounts from people who had gotten caught up in the collisions between that reality and this one. However, with no hard evidence, (phones and most other electronic devices that weren't specially designed couldn't function within the Metaverse after all) they never became anything beyond rumors.
He could never tell his family what it was that he actually did for a living. Even if they did believe him, which was definitely a stretch of the imagination, they would most certainly try to force him to leave that position considering that he was putting his life on the line every time he was out in the field. His parents might've wanted him to do good in the world, but they definitely didn't want their son to be killed by some otherworldly deity created by humanity's subconscious desires.
If only-
*CRACK!*
"Fuck!" Ren cursed as his arm was placed back into its socket. "Ow." He furrowed his brow at his mother as rolled his arm, making sure it functioned properly.
"Okay, that should be good for now. We'll change out your bandages in about an hour." Rei said, clapping her hands together as she turned to open the door to the other room. "Who wants dinner? Akiko, could you put the turkey on the table?"
"O-Okay." The young girl nodded, walking over to the dish.
"Just be careful, it might still be-"
"Ah!" Akiko yelped.
*CLANG!* *SPLAT!*
"...Hot." Rei finished as she watched the dinner that she worked 3 hours on splatter across the kitchen floor.
"Eh, I…I um…" The girl responsible looked like she was about to cry.
"Okay," Her mother clapped her hands together, trying to keep her composure. "New plan."
Five minutes later:
"And that's basically the tour of the house." Ren finished as he showed Sumire his childhood bedroom.
There wasn't really much to see in the room; a bed, a desk for studying, a dresser, and a smaller cat bed presumably for Morgana. If Sumire had to guess, Ren hadn't spent a night here since he graduated from high school.
"That's…that's great Senpai." Sumire replied, seemingly occupied with her thoughts.
"Sumi, is something wrong?" Ren asked, concerned for his friend.
"What? N-No, I mean…" The redhead sighed, emotionally exhausted, she took a seat on Ren's bed. "Yes, there's something that's been…eating away at me since we first got here."
"Well, what's on your mind? If there's something I can do to help I'd be glad to-"
"Why didn't you tell your family about me?" Sumire blurted out, finally getting the question off her chest.
"What? What are you talking about?" Ren seemed genuinely confused.
"Your mom knew about all of your other friends: Ann, Makoto, Futaba, Haru…" She listed the other girls in Ren's life painfully. "But she'd never even heard of me. We stopped Dr. Maruki and saved the world together Senpai, did that not mean as much to you as I thought it did?"
They didn't need to worry about being overheard, Rei and Akiko were out picking up takeout from a nearby Thai place, and Emi had gone home following her conversation with Sumire. So the pair were able to speak freely.
Ren paused for a moment, taking in what Sumire had just said. As it finally finished processing, Ren chuckled…and then chuckled some more…and then burst out into full on laughter.
"Wha-? Senpai? Why are you laughing? What's so funny?" The girl's cheeks began to burn red as she pouted, crossing her arms.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Ren apologized as he wiped a tear from his eye. "It's just…" He chuckled once again, standing up. "I did tell them, I told them all about you."
He walked over to his desk, pulling open one of the drawers before finding a stack of letters and pulling them out. Searching through them, he found the particular letter he was looking for. Handing it over to Sumire, he smiled as the girl accepted it.
As she did so, Sumire recalled Rei mentioning Ren sending her letters during his time in Tokyo, that was how she knew about Ren's other friends in the first place. The letter was dated May 30th 2016, if she recalled correctly, it was the day Shujin had their school cleanup event in Inokashira Park. The day that she and Ren formally met for the first time, the day they actually became friends.
"Dear Mom," She read aloud. "Do you remember that girl I mentioned meeting on the train a while back? The one with the red ribbon in her hair? I met her again today at the park and got to know her a little better. She introduced herself to me today as Kasumi Yoshizawa." Sumire gasped in realization before continuing to read. "It turns out that she's a really kind girl with a great personality. I even saw her go out of her way to rescue a little kid's balloon from floating away. In a lot of ways, she kind of reminds me of you. I miss you guys alot and I hope Akiko's doing well in school. I'm sorry to hear that the other kids have been bullying her for having a criminal brother. Please give her my best and tell her I'm sorry for all the trouble I've caused. Love - Ren."
By the time she finished reading the letter, Sumire had tears welling up in her eyes.
"So do you see now?" Ren bent down, reaching eye level with the girl. "Sorry about the confusion, I meant to clear it up, but by the time I actually learned your real name I had to stop sending letters because of the whole y'know, faking my own death thing. And afterwards there was the-"
"Shut up." Sumire said before standing up and wrapping her arms around him. "I'm sorry, but please…just stop talking." She reiterated as the two just stood there in silence, embracing one another.
Sumire mentally slapped herself for ever doubting her Senpai, the nicest, most amazing guy in the world. As she tightened her embrace around the man, all her doubts and worries about whether or not their relationship meant anything to him washed away. This was her Senpai, her Joker, her Renny.
"S-Sumi…" Ren managed to painfully breath out through the embrace. "My ribs…please…"
"Oh!" Startled, she quickly backed away, unintentionally dragging both her and Ren down onto his bed.
As they tried to get up, the pair met each other's gaze. Ren on top, staring down at Sumire with stormy gray eyes, seeing her beautiful ruby hair splayed out across the covers. Meanwhile the redhead's own maroon eyes stared back at him, her lips quivering as she debated her next move.
Before anything else could happen however, the sound of the front door opening caught them both off guard.
"We're back!" Rei's voice called out to them from downstairs. "Hurry up and come down before the food gets cold! Oh and Ren, your father says he's on his way home now!"
With the mood now officially ruined, the pair got up from the bed and straightened out their clothes, not wanting Ren's mother to make any assumptions about what they were up to. As they made their way out of the room, Ren turned to Sumire with a jovial smile.
"I know we saved the world together and everything, but now I'm going to need your help for an even bigger challenge. Dinner with my parents." They both chuckled as they reached the top of the stairs. "It's just too bad Emi had to leave so early, usually she loves eating dinner with us."
"Yeah…" Sumire replied. "Too bad." Her mind flashed back to her earlier conversation with the girl as they sat alone in the living room.
"Do you know if he's seeing anyone?" Emi's question sent a chill down Sumire's spine.
It was clear that the Emi's feelings for Ren remained and, if Sumire didn't do anything about it, it was possible that the two of them could rekindle their relationship, possibly even tonight.
"...Yes," She lied, not really meaning to but it was the first thing that came out. "We haven't really made it official yet but um…" She paused nervously, letting out an audible gulp.
"Ren and I are together."
[Field Report - Cognitive Deity Encounter: 008]
Entity Name: Adam Kadmon a.k.a Azathoth
Date of Encounter: February 3, 2017
Location of Encounter: Odaiba Stadium, Japan
Field Data: While technically a Persona for Dr. Takuto Maruki, the Cognitive Deity known as Adam Kadmon possessed powers far surpassing ordinary Personas. Powers it is believed to have possessed include: reviving the dead (unconfirmed), rewriting memories (confirmed), and altering space-time (unconfirmed). While it is unclear if this deity was controlled by Dr. Maruki or was actually controlling him, it is believed to have had the goal of creating a 'perfect world' for everyone in it by granting their deepest desires. However, it is generally believed by compound staff that a world such as this would be unsustainable and would create numerous paradoxical situations, eventually collapsing in on itself.