I bring you the continuation of the chapter. I hope you like them and don't forget to leave a comment and constructive criticism of the story.
Enjoy!
The train had parked in the indicated place as it had previously in its first time when all reality had been rewound by the alteration of its new masters. Passengers left the cargo, conglomerated in lines as they always did in working hours, which is usually the custom in Japan as an economist and trade country. Ren ascended the stairs in the normal way, taking with him his backpack and his clothing that he wore on his arrival in the city.
After leaving the station, he began to walk down the street crowded with people who were walking from one place to another like ants in an underground colony; some crossed the avenues, others walked with their friends or coworkers enjoying the day off. The buildings stood like gleaming towers through their windows, the shops and stores were full, the vehicular traffic was calm ... the normal thing for the big cities that made up the countries of the world in which many inhabitants reside, be they immigrants or those who have been raised in it.
When Ren advanced into the city center, his touch phone rang, and to his joyous surprise, the Metaverse Navegitor had appeared in the app log. With a smile hooked from ear to ear, he pressed it, and everything around him had stopped; the people, the cars, the flying birds ... everything had stopped in a supernatural way that made an impression.
In the distance, among the sea of paralyzed people half-walking, blue fathoms manifested themselves in the middle of the frozen crowd.
The blue flames had taken a pattern to that of a slim, shouldered figure, different from that of Arsene who had her wings and top hat, but that manifestation of her psyche was different: the blue fathoms changed to that of a pink one dark, and sinister blood-red eyes opened on his oval burning face. He had the vision again of releasing his Persona at the Kamoshida Palace, albeit with a different twist ... quite sinister ... and evil.
Ultimately, he had made a deal with the Gods of Chaos under destroying his former companions and all the filth that made up Shibuya.
Earth and its inhabitants would perish in the heinous fires of eternal damnation ... Wildcard users and cognitive entities would be exterminated ... no one would stop their thirst for revenge ... the time would come to attack.
After the time returned to normal, and the citizens did not notice the strange event, Ren continued his walk as the normal teenager who would not "hurt" a fly.
It was not necessary to use the GPS application of your cell phone to guide you; he knew where the Yogen-Jaya district was by having the memory fresh in his mind.
He turned some corners, traversed the intercepts that had led him to urban areas with pedestrian activity, until he reached his destination.
The Yongen-Jaya residential district remained the same: a narrow residential area that ran along a long avenue that divided into nooks and crannies that converged with other urban areas. On both sides were houses with their own businesses next to each other. The bicycles were locked in their respective places; the cobblestones passed through the avenues from one place to another, he even saw Tae Takemi pass him as he walked; She did not know him when all reality was rewritten, but he did ... although he would save himself the trouble of never visiting her, neither to diagnose himself nor to interfere in helping her to clear her name.
Two businesses later, he found the open Leblanc Cafe with two older customers sitting at a second table and Sojiro Sakura himself sitting in a chair doing crossword puzzles in the newspaper. In the news channel there was talk of the mental closings with the accident of an overturned bus on a railway with passengers inside: Goro Akechi was doing his thing in Mementos in his pathetic undercover plan of personal revenge against Shido. He would make sure that both of them die as cruelly and slowly as possible.
"How scary ..." the client had said.
"What is going on?" replied the woman, unhappy. "Didn't something similar happen just the other day? This is so weird ..."
Ren did murmured a growl that did not give him away to attract attention: just what was happening was something that one had to get used to the various mysterious calamities that are manipulated by entities born from the distorted flow of negative emotions that shaped humanity. The Dark Hour was an example appropriate to mental closings.
"The vertical is ... the name of a shellfish used to grow pearls ..." Sojiro was still indifferent in his ignorance of crossword puzzles, something Ren saw in him ... even when he considered him a father, but no longer it is.
When the owner noticed the presence of his guest, he put down his crossword puzzles to find the shellfish that pearls provide and got up from his chair.
"They said today was the day," said Sojiro when he saw him out of the corner of his eye.
"We're leaving," said the older male customer, as did the woman. "The money is on the table. This place is in the alley, so here we have no worries that a car will crash"
"And now?" Sojiro asked him questioningly.
"There has been a chain of those riotous accidents, you know," the older man continued speaking. "I just hope nothing happens around here. We'll see you next time"
The couple left the room, leaving them alone.
"So ... are you Ren?" he said, letting out a groan, and the latter nodded to him silently, to which the owner spoke again: "I am Sojiro Sakura. You will be under my care for the next year. I was wondering what kind of rebellious boy will appear, is it you? Mmm. Have you heard? A client of mine and your parents know each other and ... "
Ren knew beforehand the story of how his parents met at the Leblanc, and he was indifferent to hearing something that didn't matter when it all fell to destruction. Their masters would be happy to see this world burn.
Sojiro accompanied him to the attic as he went up the stairs.
"This is your room," he said, gesturing to the spacious square area surrounded by boxes, plateaus, sacks, and gas cylinders. The sofa, the bed, the work table and the dining table were in their respective places ... everything was in its place: messy. In the center was her box full of her belongings "At least I'll give you sheets for the bed. It seems like you want to say something"
"... Is big"
"It is," Sojiro agreed, scratching his hair. "It is up to you to clean up the rest. I will leave after closing every day. You will be alone during the night, but do not do anything stupid. I will kick you out if you cause problems" he gave her a look of understanding. "I understand the meaning of your situation: you protected a woman from a man who forced her against him, he was injured, and he sued you, right? That's what you get for sticking your nose in a matter between two adults, what You hit, right? ... And now that you have a criminal record, you were kicked out of your own institute. The courts ordered you to be transferred and moved here, which your parents also approved. In other words, they got rid of you for being a pain in the ass"
He had to suppress a thirst for rage when he heard the last word squawked by the stupid old man who thought he was doing it with humor, but he was risking his life; He would gladly take him to where his precious Wakaba was.
"It is better that you do not talk about anything unnecessary" he spoke seriously. "I am the owner of this restaurant, you know. Behave this year. If nothing happens, your parole will be lifted."
"... A whole year doing nothing," Ren commented in a calm tone, hiding a hate that burned inside him to see everything around him being swallowed by the Ruinous Powers.
"It causes any problems, and you will be sent straight to the correctional facility," said Sojiro. "We will go to Academic Shujin tomorrow"
Ren nodded at him; there he would meet one-on-one with his ex-friends as they began their first day in second grade. Makoto would be his guide who would show him the style he had to wear, while Kamoshida would continue to abuse Physical Education students. Everything would be square when it was time to make some changes.
"Rarely would they accept someone like you, well you will understand me ..." his tone turned into one of annoyance. "What a waste of Sunday"
Ren restrained himself from insulting his face.
"Your luggage arrived early; there it is" with that he was left alone, not even realizing that he was receiving a withering and ruthless look from the boy with deep hatred.
With a catch of air that he then exhaled to the last, Ren began to rearrange his miserable residential room again: stacks of notebooks on the shelf, boxes and sacks in the pantry, he arranged the bed neatly, swept the wooden floor with a broom lying around it, cleaned the windows with a foil on the ceiling and on the windows. Everything was impeccable in just a few seconds.
"What has happened?" Sojiro had replied as he ascended the stairs. "I heard you make kind of noises, but I didn't think you were cleaning" He peered around the neat and tidy space, a smile peeking out of his corners. "Now this place doesn't seem to look that bad. Although it's natural that you want to have your room tidy. Why don't you go to bed for today? You don't have anything better to do now, right? I'm going to close the store and I'll be out of here soon. I don't want to be held responsible if you get sick from staying up too late, understand?"
Ren watched him go down the steps until he disappeared; He listened as he closed the door and passed him safely through the lock.
Being finally alone, Ren let out a deep growl of anger: how much he really hated that old man, his deal with him is for just washing his hands regardless of his well-being. He did not accommodate anything, but had to do it himself.
In the past he understood resignation for being a teenager with criminal problems, but now everything is different during his rebirth at the restart of Earth. She no longer respected him, but a profound contempt for treating him like the scum he was, a dead weight on his shoulders.
He frowned as he remembered that Futaba's hikkomori had several cameras that monitored the Leblanc from his locked room with all the screens of his computer observing him as a strange being ... then he would take care of destroying them, but first he had to have lunch to nourish his body. He uncapped the adhesive that wrapped the package; he opened it, pulled out an electric cooker, and plugged it into a nearby outlet; He put an iron bowl on the hot stove, put the water in, and waited for it to heat up. After minutes, Ren was quietly eating his instant noodle soup that relaxed him from the stress of being at Shujin Academy, and that meant he had to put up with the dramas that were about to start.
After they had finished dinner, Ren changed his clothes as he sorted the luggage from the box and from his backpack. He lay back on the firm white-lined bed, pulled the sheets halfway up his body, and let sleep take him to sleep.
Dreams began to form in the vast darkness of his mind like the smoke that evoked an epiphany from a past life ... a life he hated where the calamity had begun: a drunk Masayoshi Shido dragging against his will a helpless woman who he was crying out for help. It was that same night that Ren decided to interfere in something that would risk his life, and it was when they took him handcuffed by two policemen when they put him in the car. The judge found him guilty for the crime of violence and assault against a government official, granting him an almost condemned pressure if it were not for the payment his parents had made to get him out of there ... although to his misfortune he received cold looks, accusations hints, insults and the contempt of their own parents for not believing the truth.
The world had betrayed him ... the woman he rescued did not help him testify in the jury ... his life had been completely ruined by the stupidity of helping an innocent person ... he was doomed to suffer for the rest of eternity ... an innocent incriminated by the blind justice of the law.
Ren woke up, startled by the painful memories of that night that ruined his image. Rubbing his eyes with his hand, Ren wondered that what he was seeing was a wall with a dark blue lining when he sharpened his gaze, and to his surprise it was really, as was his room being reduced to a small space with a toilet close to half a meter where he was sitting on his bed. His clothing was replaced by white clothing with black stripes ... the clothing of a prisoner locked in a cell, and not just any cell, but his mental representation inside his heart.
He was in the Velvet Room.
Ren quietly got up from the bed, resting both handcuffed hands on the black bars that adorned the door.
"I see you woke up," an older, bald man with a long nose and a dark formal suit had said with interest and curiosity, scrutinizing him with his eyes wide and bloodshot. Her voice was deep and husky as she stared at him, judging him, sitting at a desk with his arms crossed and a glowing whitish yellow lighting.
Ren remained calm, silent, trying not to express any negative emotion towards the man ... No, the thing that was; a clay figure created through magic to express what life is, and also a bait for poor souls in disgrace who would be used in a senseless war against the self-destruction of humanity.
Philemon's favorite toy, Igor, but at this moment it would be Yaldabaoth who was talking to him through his gestalt after capturing the Velvet Room and uniting it with the Metaverse as part of his unfortunate plan that did not deserve to be explained as it does not transcend anything for the plot.
He saw the twins standing at the two ends, whose eyes were fixed on him, studying him.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room, Trickster" Igor was formally introduced in his state of possession by the God of Control, "a place located between dream and reality, mind and matter. My name is Igor, I am the owner of this establishment that changes its shape according to how the individual feels emotionally and internally. What you see is the firm representation that your heart captures: a prisoner locked in the chains of eternal damnation. You have much regret, you seek meaning in your life after that incident occurred. Feel happy, as you will have a second chance through your rehabilitation. Now, the reason I brought you here is to talk about an important matter, which implies your own life"
"... Which?" Ren replied calmly without showing any negative thoughts in his speech.
The puppet looked at him in great detail, an eerie glint of amusement gleaming in his eyes. The two girls looked at him curiously, which Ren ignored without minding their miserable existence.
"Hmmm ... very calm and reserved, even though you don't show any startles" he let out a hoarse laugh. "You are interesting, Trickster. You see, in the near future, all corruption will gobble up the foundations of civilization."
"... Corruption?" Human nature was self-destructive, a time bomb that was about to explode at the least indicated moment. Saving a race that was destined to follow that path was not worth the risk in trying to save it.
"A calamity looming over humanity from the earliest beginnings," the Gestalt specified. "There is a way to oppose that fate. It must be rehabilitated, rehabilitated towards freedom. This is the only way to avoid corruption ... do you have the determination to challenge the distortion of the world?"
"... I am" Of course he had it ... but to destroy it instead of saving it. The Ruinous Powers would see to it that everything burned with flames.
The puppet that was Igor gave him a terrifying smile.
"Admirable determination, an excellent potential I see in you. I will observe the progress of your rehabilitation"
The two girls took two steps forward as a soldier by standing firm.
"Ah, forgive me for not introducing myself to them. To your right is Caroline, and to your left is Justine. They both serve as guardians here."
"... Try and fight as hard as you can" Caroline said sternly, holding her stick firmly.
"... The duty of the guards is to watch over the prisoners," Justine had said in a calm and soft voice, carrying her briefcase with her. "We are also your helpers, that if you remain obedient"
Ren nodded silently, holding back his hatred that he processed towards the two bitches for the mistreatment and abuse he constantly suffered when he always came to the Velvet Room; Caroline beat her with her cane without mercy, while Justine watched him without any sign of pity in her golden eye ... he hated them with all her soul ... he wanted to see them dead and dismembered.
He knew that, in the revelations given by Tzeentch, the twins were the two halves of Lavenza, their true guide when Yaldabaoth fractured her after the takeover of the place. The two halves had amnesia, unaware that they had been a single being, and that their master had been possessed by an entity created from human distortion.
"I will explain the function of those two in another occasion" the gestalt took the word again, and the two girls turned around. "So, it looks like the night is over ... It's almost time. Take your time so that you gradually come to understand this place. We will see each other again eventually ..." He snapped his fingers, and the alarm went off, meaning it was time to go back to bed; to which Ren accomplished it by lying on the surface and placing his head on the pillow, feeling how everything began to distort.
Ren's eyelids fluttered lazily as he adjusted his vision to the warm morning light that bathed the entire room. He groaned and got quietly out of bed; he had his first encounter with possessed Igor and the two guard bitches, which would specify that his power to summon his Persona could be realized when it came to awaken him in the dungeon at Kamoshida Palace. He was anxious if a new Persona would be different from Arsene when he had the vision of that figure wrapped in the burning coals that made up the Warp ... he would wait at the right moment to invoke him.
After getting dressed and having breakfast, Ren left with Sojiro to the car where they crossed an entire highway with high vehicular activity in the following turns until they reached the Aoyama-Itchome district. Sojiro parked in a corner, and they had both got out of the car. A shudder of hatred ran through his entire body as he contemplated the unpleasant school he had to repeat again ... how he hated that place, but it was his duty to do his part in making everything go according to plan.
The Shujin Academy had remained the same since the rewinding; a rectangular building with two floors and a terrace where the botanical gardens were that Haru frequented in hydrating the plants with water. It was very spacious with several classrooms and a gym where sports were held, as well as its own training ground.
After entering the interior of the institution, both walked to the director Kobayakawa's office where Sojiro signed the documents. Ren spotted Kawakami with her sleepy face tired from work as a maid; she knew what her situation was, and he would put it to good use as a servant in cleaning her room like a slave while reforming those responsible for bothering her.
"We repeat" had said the robust director of the institution who gave him a severe look. "Just to be clear, if you cause any problems you will be expelled immediately. I honestly hesitated to accept someone like you, but there were some circumstances on our side ..." Lie, it was Yaldabaoth himself who did it to keep him under surveillance in a classroom full of students with personal problems where he would observe his development as a vigilante. No one is saved from the gaze of Tzeentch, the Architect of Destiny. "Maybe you did a lot of things by hiding in your hometown, but you will behave here. If you are expelled from our school, you will have nowhere to go. Keep that in mind."
'Says the director who covers up a former volleyball Olympian who sexually abuses the girls and suppresses the boys until leaving them half-dead with serious fatalities that almost killed them to preserve an impeccable image of the Shujin Academy as the best. Silencing parents 'concerns and heavily arming faculty and most students quietly on the matter ... not to mention that he's involved in Shido's network to win his favor, you piece of shit,' Ren thought with bitter hatred as he nodded. nod at the warnings.
"This is the teacher in charge of your class" he gestured towards her.
"My name is Sadayo Kawakami" she introduced herself in a sleepy tone from her second secret job. "Here's your student ID," she put it on the desk, and Ren grabbed it. "Be sure to read the school rules. Any violation will send you straight to the principal's office. And, if for any reason you get into trouble, I won't be able to protect you at all." She turned her gaze to the obese principal. "Is that your word, director Kobayakawa?"
"He will be responsible for all his actions" he said with simplicity.
"But nevertheless, why me? There should have been better candidates," Kawakami said dejectedly, which Ren started with in a thousand and one ways to make life impossible for him to be his servant.
"It was a sudden transfer, and your class was the only one with a part available."
"If you have finished explaining things" Sojiro replied with a sigh, "does that mean we can go? I have a store to return to"
"Mister Sakura, please keep an eye on him" Kobayakawa advised. "Don't let him cause any problems outside"
"Okay" Sojiro agreed, "I will have a serious talk with him about the situation he is in"
Kawakami sighed, and said:
"Come to the teachers' lounge when you get to school tomorrow. I'll show you where your class is"
With everything arranged, the two of them had left the office and started walking down the hallway that led to the entrance.
"They treat you like you're some kind of nuisance ..." Sojiro muttered, scratching his head. "I suppose that is what it means to have a criminal record. It seems that your past follows you wherever you go. By the way ... if you are expelled now, I would not hesitate to kick you out, do you understand?"
"... Yes" Ren told him, hiding his anger with him and the others who treated him like a scum of evil; Receiving ill-treatment again made him open his newly opened wounds due to the lack of empathy for an alleged innocent. If you had a criminal record and told someone that you did nothing wrong, they did not believe you, but they would hate you like the plagues you are, they would treat you like a true criminal who deserved to be eliminated.
The judicial system was corrupt ... the whole society where the innocent pay for the evils of others was decaying ... the human being was the plague itself that deserved to be eliminated, and would ensure it with the forces of the Chaos of his side.
The caretaker and guest duo with a criminal record had arrived at the Leblanc in the late afternoon due to highway traffic that was caused by an accident where the bus overturned violently, provided by the mental shutdowns of the mentally ill Goro Akechi.
"Damn it," Sojiro blurted out from the stress of the trip, "to think there would be so much traffic ... What a waste of time. I'm afraid I won't be able to open the cafe today ... whatever. Just go up those stairs. there is something I have that I want to give you"
Ren knew what the gift was going to be, but he said nothing and went up the stairs to the attic.
"They talk about a horrible accident; eighty people were involved," he quoted reading the news on his phone; He put it in his pocket and took out a small pocket notebook. "This is a journal. Be sure to write in it every day." He put it down on the metal desk. "You may be on probation, but there are special limitations on what you do in particular. Other than following the law, of course. However, I am required to report on you, so I will have you write down your daily activities."
The phone rang in his pocket; he took it out of his pocket and put it to his ear.
Ren was silent without moving, watching as Sojiro spoke to the broker on the phone from the other line. I knew it was Youji Isshiki, Futaba's uncle, a bastard son of a bitch who was extorting Sojiro who paid him weekly money to pay his outstanding debts with powerful people in the underworld of society ... would kill him without hesitation, remembering when he tried to attack Sojiro, but he accidentally slipped, running away pretending to be assaulted ... he wanted to see him dead instead of reforming him
Another thing he had to emphasize about his caretaker was that a former government official who had resigned upon learning of the existence of the Metaverse and of other activities that had occurred in Japan. He selfishly adopted Futaba by atoning for his sins by mocking Wakaba in a cynical joke of his possible death, and that was accomplished under the action of Masayoshi Shido after taking over the Metaverse.
He was no longer interested in fixing his relationship between stepfather and stepdaughter ... that was part of his past when he embraced the absolute truth of the Ruinous Powers.
"Well ..." Sojiro said after finishing the phone conversation, "I will close the store, so do whatever you want for the rest of the night. Oh, but don't mess up my store. If something is lost, I'll deliver you directly to the police, okay?"
Ren suppressed the anger that boiled over him because of the hostility and the threat his caretaker gave him ... how very despicable and miserable he was.
"You have to go to school tomorrow" he continued saying: "You better go to bed, understand?"
Sojiro left him alone when he locked the door until the entire venue was frozen in deep silence.
He clenched his teeth tightly, letting out a growl like a wild animal, while clenching both hands into fists. He didn't want to cry out and curse him, knowing that Futaba was still watching him from the hidden cameras ... Although he decided to do it anyway by going down the stairs and scanning the contours of his surroundings.
He found them and destroyed them, both on the low level and in the attic.
Finally being completely free of harassing glances, Ren began to curse Sojiro with all his guarded fury.
The phone in the lower area rang, and Ren had to go with a boiling anger: it was Sojiro, asking him to put the sign from open to closed, which he did anyway, and then go to his room and sleep ... Tomorrow he would meet Ann at the bus stop in the drizzle, like the depraved Kamoshida and Ryuji ... how he really hated those people.
He wanted to see you all dead.
He did not appear in the Velvet Room in his dreams when he lay down on the bed to sleep, but on the same hazy wasteland with the four spectral manifestations of the Ruinous Powers of the Warp.
"Your blood and anger anxiety is latent inside you, human" Khorne said with macabre delight in his voice. "You are desperate to see them die under your hands, and I love that of those who swear to spill blood in battle"
"... Although that moment will have to wait" Tzeentch replied to his brother, and concentrated on Ren. "Your power to summon your new Personae has been improved; you will soon see it when you are in the Palace of the sports coach"
Ren showed a respectful inclination to his masters.
"... I will make sure everything goes according to plan. I will not fail, masters."
There were monstrous, insane laughter from the Warp rulers.
"Tomorrow is when he meets that girl at the stop ... Ann Takamaki" Slaanesh's word sounded like an erotic purr, then he frowned. "... including that first friend of yours, Ryuji Sakamoto"
Ren understood the displeasure of the demonic hermaphrodite deity regarding the rough and explosive demeanor of that jerk who nearly fractured the Phantom Thieves team when arguing with Morgana, gave him a grudge just remembering him.
"Patience is a virtue, young," Nurgle had said to him in a parental tone similar to that of a father, advising his son gently and delicately, better than Sojiro. "The time to fulfill your revenge is near. Form the team one by one, and then you will kill them all ... Their faces will be beautiful when they infect my diseases!"
The three entities and the human looked at him with blank expressions.
"Anyway ..." added Tzeentch hitting him straight to the point, "you'll have to do everything from scratch to earn their trust with both of them in the formation of the Phantom Thieves ... without excluding two axioms on stage"
"... What?" Ren said confused.
"During the alteration of reality," the deity of manipulations and change explained. "The two new components have been interestingly annexed. They both have regrets about their past deeds, believing that this new opportunity will allow them to redeem themselves from their sins. I will soon give you their names, but first you must fulfill your mission in following guides of Yaldabaoth and the Philemon puppet. Successfully fulfill the requirement, and we will give you our divine blessings to make you powerful"
Ren bowed again.
"... So it will be done"
With that, everything around him began to distort until he succumbed to darkness.
After having returned his astral body to the physical body, Ren prepared to start his first day of classes at Shujin; He put on his clothes, his pants, his shoes and his bag with all the pencils and notebooks inside. He said goodbye to Sojiro after having finished his dead lover's curry for breakfast. He had grabbed an umbrella out there knowing that Shibuya's weather was going to change, the first time he hadn't carried it when it was time to leave, but in this altered reality he would do his best to change it.
He walked down the avenues until he reached the Yongen-Jaya Subway; he got into the train and waited three hours to park at the next station. The doors of the train opened, and Ren left from there at a hurried pace through the subway crowded with employees, businessmen and workers of all kinds. He took a direction that led him up the stairs, leading him out of the subway and into the outside of Shibuya Square Station. He walked through the shops, stores, and stores amidst a sea of people when he reached the Ginza Gate Line.
At the station, Shujin students were waiting for the train, at least he did not feel alone, but he was attentive to the appearance of the two mysterious individuals that Tzeencth had spoken to him.
Were you exchange students? In that it may be possible, since the only exchange students is him and Ann, that others would come could be the work of Yaldabaoth to test him if he had enough courage and determination to save humanity from its destruction ... that already I would see it.
The yellow train had arrived, and everyone entered until it was completely full.
A red-haired teenage girl tied to a ponytail with one and ruby eyes wearing the institution's clothes gave her seat to an elderly woman in a polite way, but a man had taken it from her. The red-haired girl asked the man to get up, but he pretended to sleep as a defense strategy. The red-haired girl was embarrassed, but the old lady kindly told her that she has been generous in helping her.
Ren hid his smile at the scene he was watching, turned his head towards the window, avoiding not to draw the attention of the red-haired girl or one of the students. It was so much fun to watch.
Everyone inside the train had exited when they reached the station that connected to the Aoyama-Itchome district. The raindrops descended like lead bullets fired from above, the sky had turned a dark gray and the rumble of thunder was minimal. The students rushed in not to get wet while carrying their umbrellas.
Ren turned off his cell phone when he observed that the Metaverse application had appeared; This time she wanted this to be different when he was late for his first day of class. She would stay where she was with her parasol tucked away in her bag without seeing the public eye. He would wait for Ann, then Kamoshida, and lastly Ryuji.
He waited with his hands tucked in his pockets with a calm, relaxed expression for Ann to appear in the right place ... but she thought about it for a moment; Was it worth waiting for those two blondes to re-commemorate the good old days while fooling around on their first day of class? He brought with him his umbrella that was stored in his backpack, since in his old timeline he had to wait for the rain to camp, but in this new opportunity, Ren decided not to waste something he had lost.
If he left the stop, perhaps he would get to Shujin before the doors closed, avoiding being notified as retarded. If he came to school before Kamoshida, he might not expose his reputation as a juvenile delinquent.
There was the possibility that he would threaten him if he didn't do what he was told, but patience was a virtue: he had the Navigator on his phone, which gave him a clear advantage in subduing the perverted coach when he would forcefully reform him with the use of your new Persona.
With the decision made, Ren looked for the umbrella that was stored; He opened it with the click of his button, and began to walk down the rain-covered sidewalk.
Not having lasted an hour of walking since she was almost a few kilometers from arriving at the school with the time exhausted, Ann made her appearance by jogging beside him and asking her if she could accompany him. Ren nodded, and the two of them started walking calmly.
In his perspective of the encounter with the philanish girl, it seemed to him very different from how it had been in the removed past; At their first meeting, he had been fooled by her beautiful foreign beauty, but now, he was only displeased and indifferent to her pretty appearance when she took off her hood. There was no surprise when she looked at him, but rather a deep disinterestedness that did not amuse him in knowing of his personal appearance. Slaanesh was far superior in beauty and elegance than any girl on Earth.
After an hour's walk, Kamoshida's car passed in front of them. Ann hid on her left side, preventing her from being recognized after putting her hood back on; the gesture was one of a kind when Kamoshida discovered her by slowing down her car.
"Ann? Is that you, Ann?"
Ren saw Ann swallow hard, she was shaking and moaning in fear of being next to the perverted coach again. Ren would make a noble move to help her, but not wanting to repeat that experience that led to a criminal record, he decided not to participate in protecting her.
Ann sighed, she took off her hood, she turned to the pervert coach who was pretending to have a pleasant smile on her lips, and she walked towards him.
"Shall I give you a ride to school?" Kamoshida said with all good innocence. "It's raining, you would get cold if you don't go in"
"Huh ... Hmmm ... yeah, I'm coming ..." Ann said, trembling as she entered the passenger seat. She shot Ren a desperate look, pleading for help, but the boy ignored the message expressed in his facial expression as he continued walking.
"Hey!" Kamoshida called him. "Where are you going? Why don't you come with us? It will be easier to get to school early without getting wet"
"No thanks a lot" Ren denied the offer. "I have little time to get to class"
"Sure? But, the rain is very stormy this time."
'The torment days are always the same in a dead society' thought the boy with poison.
"I appreciate your kindness, but I insist that I will be on time"
"If you say so" Kamoshida started the car when looking through the rearview mirror at the walking figure of Ryuji Sakamoto who was running towards him as a psychopath.
"Shit!" the vulgar blonde growled. "Damn it, that fucking bastard lost it!"
Ren frowned as he heard his curses fade into thin air as he walked.
"Wait wait!" he yelled, approaching as he jogged. "Could you come with you? I just don't want to get wet, since I had forgotten my umbrella when I thought it wasn't going to rain"
"... Of course," Ren shrugged nonchalantly as he rolled his eyes to his annoyance at being accompanied by the idiot who was his first friend in Shibuya. He already wanted to see the city burn.
"Thank you!" The vulgar blonde said, hoping to find a good person to help him. "It was a bother not to bring mine; I don't want to catch a cold when classes start. By the way, I saw you talk to Kamoshida"
"Kamoshida?" Ren lied. "You mean the guy who was driving the car?"
"That same one" Ryuji said sourly. "That bastard struts around the whole school like he's the king of his own castle. He's a perverted bastard who doesn't deserve to be the coach"
"... She gave a girl a ride. I refused when she was kind enough to take me to Shujin. I think he called the girl Ann, or something like that"
"Ann?" Ryuji asked as he raised an eyebrow. "Wait a minute, didn't the girl have platinum blonde hair and light blue eyes, that beautiful beauty?"
"... yes"
"... Oh man" Ryuji snorted. "Too bad she is immersed in the gossip ... even that her attitude always ends up getting her in trouble. And besides, your face doesn't make me familiar, are you new?"
"Yes," said the boy seriously, "I am the exchange student"
"Ah! You're the new one Kawakami has taken over. My name is Ryuji Sakamoto"
"... Ren Amamiya" introduced himself formally. "Tell me, Ryuji, why don't you tell me about Kamoshida; we have plenty of time while we almost arrived. A conversation would keep us in a mood"
This introductory chapter marks the beginning of the formation of the Phantom Thieves and some changes to the plot. I put Kasumi in a cameo where he will have a leading role, like Takuto Maruki ... as meat for the slaughterhouse, like Sae, Akechi, Shido and Yaldabaoth.
See you in the next chapter.