It was a long, eventful day. But the mission was a success and now they could all relax until the moment of truth arrived. If the method was to be consistent, Madarame would have a change of heart in the coming days. But for the time being all they could do was wait. Ren and Morgana were in Ren's room, and the latter had to vocalize how pleased he was at their recent successes. "Not only have we dealt with our second big target, we even have a new member to the team! Goodness, things are going so well!"

"Heh, yeah. We're on a roll." Ren said with a slight grin, sliding his phone into his pocket. "But we can't let it get to our heads."

"Could the day our name becomes common knowledge be nigh?" Morgana said with a gleeful tone. "But I have to say, you're something special."

"Nah, I just got lucky." Ren said while shaking his head. He didn't have anything to do with it, as far as he was concerned.

"This is our fifth Persona user, it'll help broaden our strategies as well. Still, having an eye for beauty is a must for Phantom Thieves and an artist is a rare talent. Yusuke is a great addition to the team." The current cat nodded. "An artist, huh…what kind of person do you think I was? There's no way I'd turn out to be some bad guy in the end, right? I get so engrossed in human desires. And that's not all, when it comes to the Metaverse, I'm the only one who can transform too…who could I actually be?"

"….A cat." Ren had this chance and he couldn't slip it by.

Morgana, of course, hated that answer. "Will you give it a rest!? That's definitely not the case!" He then sighed. "What a half assed answer."

"I feel like you wouldn't like any of the answers I had in mind." Ren added.

"There's no way a dashing, honorable rogue like me could be evil!" Morgana surmised. "A man who sturdy body and vows to do one good deed a day, be it rain or shine, in the north, east, south, and west! I'm that kind of ideal person…! I hope. So if I turn back to being human, surely she'll take notice of me, won't she?"

She? That was a juicy detail right there. Ren had to ask more about it. "You like someone?"

"Me!?" Morgana backed up. "Don't be ridiculous! People always come to me when it concerns love! Ah…but I wonder where she'd like to go when I'm human…" His eyes gleamed with excitement and anticipation.

Ren let out a quiet chuckle and rubbed the back of his neck. "It feels like Morgana and I are getting closer…" Soon enough, Ren's phone buzzed. When he went to check it was Ryuji hitting up the group chat with Yusuke added now.

Ryuji: Yo, good job guys.

Ann: We all did our best.

Yusuke: Allow me to express my thanks once again.

Because of you all, I was able to retrieve the painting that had been filled with my mother's love.

Ryuji: Hearing you say that makes the whole thing worth it, Yusuke!

Ren: Yeah, it does.

Ann: Seriously. I wasn't sure if you'd really want to change Madarame's heart.

Yusuke: I'm sorry to have worried you. I have no regrets about it now.

Ann: And the change of heart WILL happen this time, right?

Ren: It'll be fine.

"Yeah, we did everything like before." Morgana was reading the conversation. Since he couldn't actually type, he had Ren type for him while he looked in.

Ryuji: Yeah, it'll be just like with Kamoshida.

Ann: By the way, I'm still curious about what he said back there at the end.

Ryuji: You mean about the other guy in the Palace? It was something about a black mask, yeah?

Yusuke: That may have been nothing more than a lie. Madarame was quite deranged at that point, after all. For now, we should wait for his chance of heart in peace.

Ann: OK.

"I wonder about that too." Ren place his phone on the windowsill nearby and charged it. It had been a long day and he was feeling pretty tired. He slid into bed, placing the covers over himself. There was nothing to do now but wait. "Goodnight, Morgana."

"Night…" Morgana stretched, yawned, and got comfortable somewhere. "Another intruder besides us…" It wasn't impossible, he knew that much. But it was concerning that there was another Persona user out there with unknown motives. There was nothing they could do now but wait…

.

.

While Ren drifted off to sleep in the real world, he found himself waking in another. Eyes popped open and he once again found himself in the Velvet Room. This wasn't the first time he had been taken for a visit while he slept. Standing from the bed, he crawled out to the bars, where Justine, Caroline, and Igor waited. "You have expelled one who was stained in vanity. You are now one step closer to your rehabilitation; it's a delightful thing indeed." Igor said.

"Our master is giving you praise. You should feel honored, Inmate." Justine said.

"However, that man's remarks are concerning. It seems another has made their way into the Metaverse." Igor continued.

"Do you know who it is?" Ren asked.

"That is beyond my knowledge." Igor replied.

"I figured…" Ren sighed quietly. It was worth a shot…but Igor kept throwing around the word Rehabilitation without actually saying what it meant. It was starting to get on Ren's nerves a little bit, but there was hardly anything he could do to question it.

"But your rehabilitation is progressing smoothly, that is for certain. May the devotion to your rehabilitation grow even deeper. I have high hopes for you." Igor's final words for the night. Though it was odd, Ren could feel his bond with Igor growing deeper…

.

.

May 24th.

Even after taking down Shadow Madarame and his museum of vanity…they still had to go to school. Ren got up bright and early and was just getting ready to leave when his phone rang, so he answered it. "Hello?"

"It's Kitagawa." Yusuke answered. "I'm calling about Madarame's state. For the time being he hasn't suffered a mental shutdown. But his demeanor has softened a bit…is that the change of heart?"

"I'm not sure." Ren answered honestly. "It might be."

"I got curious and looked into Kamoshida as well. It was almost as if he was an entirely different person. Will the same be true for Madarame as well?" He let that question linger in the air, he was truly curious about how this would all turn out… "Anyway, that is all I wanted to talk about. Oh! One more thing. I will probe him for questions about the intruder when the time is right. Farewell this time." With that, he hung up.

"It'll be fine. It worked last time." Morgana told Ren. "Now you should hurry up, you don't want to be late!"

"Yeah, I'm going." Ren nodded, and off to school they were.

.

.

Lunchtime!

Finally, a break. Perhaps it was just the exhaustion of the battle catching up to him, but Ren felt like today was just dragging on and on. He sat in the courtyard, enjoying his lunch and minding his business. That's when Ryuji came along with a glint in his eyes. "Yo, I've been looking for you! I need your help with something."

"Yeah? What is it?" Ren stared at his blonde friend curiously.

"I got this in my mail the other day. Check it out." Ryuji sat next to Ren, holding up some kind of poster. "It's for a maid service! When I saw this I knew I had to come take it to you."

"A maid service…?" Ren blinked, oblivious to what Ryuji's aim was. "So like…a maid for Leblanc?"

"Nah dude!" Ryuji shook his head, grin widening. "How can you be this dense? Look here! It says a maid that will grant 'any' of your desires!" While it did say, cooking, cleaning, and laundry…it did heavily imply the 'any' part, which is what Ryuji was aiming towards. "Don't you wanna check it out?"

"I…I…uh!" Now that Ren understood, he was starting to get a lot of thoughts. It was…probably wrong to try and act on this, at least that's what he told himself. "I don't know…"

"Check it, dude…" Ryuji slung his arm around Ren's shoulder. He could see his friend was having a hard time deciding what to do, so he had to put the final nail in the coffin. "One of my neighbors just moved out, which means there's an empty apartment we can use. And the key is under the mat! Come on, we just finished a big mission, we can afford to cut loose a bit and relax!"

"….!" Ren was finding it increasingly difficult to say no.

At that moment, another 2nd year walked into the scene: Yuuki Mishima, a classmate of Ren's. "Hey, can I get in on this? I happened to overhear it."

"Ahh, you wanna get in on this too? The maids interest you?" Ryuji said with a suggestive eyebrow wiggle.

"N-No…! That's not it!" Mishima shook his head. While that was the absolute truth he couldn't just admit it. "I…I just want to see if they're being truthful in the services that they're promoting! We can't let the adults just get away with lies and deceit! I want to stop that after all!" Mishima proclaimed his resolve loudly. "It's for justice!"

"…That's the spirit!" Ryuji could see through that lie. "At least you're way more honest about than this guy. So whaddya say, eh, Ren-Ren?"

Ryuji and Mishima were down for it…Ren…Ren decided he would be too. "You're right, Mishima. We must punish those evil adults."

"Exactly! Now you see it my way." Mishima was feeling confident.

"Alright! We're all on board! What should we call this operation?" Ryuji stood up. This was about to be a dude's night out!

"…Operation Maidwatch?" Mishima suggested.

"I like it." Ren nodded. "Operation Maidwatch. When do we start?"

"Tonight." Ryuji slung his arms around Mishima and Ren's shoulders. "Clear your afterschool schedules. We're meeting up in Shibuya to take care of this! There comes a time in a boy's life where he has to seize his moment. Gentlemen, this is our moment."

"You're right, Sakamoto! This is our moment and I will seize it!" Mishima gave an enthusiastic nod.

"Yeah…! Our moment…!" Ren was a little quieter about it all.

While the three boys made plans for their Operation, a member of the faculty was nearby. While he didn't exactly hear what the conversation, he did chuckle lightly at their current position. "Haha…I suppose boys will be boys?" He said, adjusting his glasses for a moment. He then went back towards the Nurse's Office.

.

.

Afterschool.

Ren already had plans for the evening, but he still had plenty of time to kill until Operation Maidwatch started. So he decided to keep in line with a deal he made with a certain someone at school. Ren made his way to the Nurse's Office to talk to the school's temporary councilor: Tatuko Maruki. Ever since the Kamoshida incident, the school hired him to show that they cared about the mental health of the student body. Maruki asked Ren for help with his research in exchange for mental training. It wasn't a bad deal, since Ren thought it might help out in the Metaverse. Maruki and Ren sat down and the therapist began to speak. "I've been getting a lot students coming in ever since I arrived. To be honest, it's kind of a relief."

"How so?" Ren was confused that Maruki would feel this way. "Didn't you hear how popular you were back during your introduction?" if it was a question of popularity, Maruki would take the cake. He was laid-back, funny (even if it wasn't exactly intentional on his part), and his looks made him popular with the female student body.

"The whole Kamoshida incident was the reason I was called, after all. They warned me a lot of students had been impacted. I knew that there had to be a lot of free-floating anxiety around. Bur when I actually got to talk to everyone, I was pleasantly surprised. The forefront of their concerns were college exams or relationship problems; normal teenager anxieties. Some students were still struggling with scars from the incident, yes…but at the very least, I'm glad the ones who came to me have taken some steps towards recovery."

"Thanks to you, I'm sure." Ren said with a slight grin.

"I hope so!" Maurki replied with a slight chuckle. "If I can make a difference in even one persons' life, that's what matters to me. Of course, if you need anything you can talk to me. I am the counselor here. Having said that…it's a little awkward for me to ask you for help with my research."

"I haven't forgotten about that." Ren leaned back in his seat. "What's it about, exactly…?" He never did get the details on that.

"What I'm studying now is pain felt in the mind. Or to be more fanciful, the heart. Some specific examples include instances of someone saying hurtful things to you, or being separated from ones you love." Maruki said, then realized an easier way to explain it. "Feelings brought about by emotions like stress and trauma. Bodily pain is a necessity, as it's a response to illness or injury. But what about pains felt in one's heart?"

"The heart…" Ren was fully aware that Maruki was not talking about a physical sense. It was a bit of a confusing topic to grasp, but he understood the idea of what the good doctor was looking into.

"That pain isn't born from any tangible problems in our bodies, right? It's something strange and immaterial. I guess it goes to show there are a lot of mysteries in our heart and minds. And I…well, I want to learn more about these psychological pains. Now, this is my question to you, Amamiya-kun. When do you feel these pains?"

"Hm…" Ren had to think about that one. It was a bit vague for a solid question. "When someone betrays me."

"Yes, I can sympathize there. Sometimes all it takes is one action to turn intense trust into intense pain." Maruki let out a solemn sigh for a moment. "It can be rough. It's not easy to deal with the pain in the heart. But what about you? What do you think about the pain of a broken heart?"

"I think it's necessary. It sows the seeds for new love." Ren gave a nod.

That response made Maruki chuckle. "I never took you for a poet! But it's a wonderful sentiment and a positive way of looking at things. Internal, emotional pain can always be difficult to deal with. Though sometimes it's always coupled with other emotions. And I agree of course. That's a fair assessment. Though personally speaking…" Maruki's tone lowered a bit.

"..?" Ren picked up on this, wondering what the councilor was going tos ay.

"I think if pain can be avoided, it should be. Maybe it shouldn't exist at all." Maruki likely didn't realize it, but for such a casual conversation, he made that statement from the heart. "If my research could find some way to remove that pain…mm…" he shook his head. He was thinking too far ahead. "But you've helped me realize once again that wounds of the heart are far more complex than external injuries."

"…Did that help?" Ren tilted his head. Maruki almost went off on a tangent, but seemed to have stopped himself.

"Of course! Thank you, Amamiya-kun." Maruki stood up, offering a smile. "I think we should call it here, though…wait, I feel like I'm forgetting something." There was an awkward pause as Maruki actually realized what it was he forgot. "Oh! Your mental training!" And so, the bumbling doctor hastily sat back down.

"I was wondering when you'd remember." Ren was making a light jab at Maruki's forgetfulness. When it was all said and done, Ren left and left Maruki.

Now alone, Maruki went to his notes, looking over what he was working on for the past several months. "I didn't think coming to this school would provide me with the perfect chance to pursue my research. But after what I saw when I arrived here, I knew it was fate that guided me here. Amamiya-kun…you and your friends are proof of a big part of my research…because I know that you're…."

.

.

Evening.

Ren and Mishima were waiting for Ryuji in Central Street in Shibuya. Mishima was feeling a little anxious about all of this, but excited at the same time. "Man, leave it to Sakamoto to be late…" He grumbled. "He's the one who invited us here in the first place."

"I wonder what's taking him so long…" Ren checked his phone. Morgana didn't want any part in what was happening so he was left back home. "It's only been a few minutes, but…"

"Wanna look around some while we wait?" Mishima was bringing up his phone as well. "I've actually been updating the Phan-Site a little bit."

Oh boy. Here we go. Mishima never missed a chance to bring up the Phan-Site, especially around Ren. Mishima was extremely convinced that Ren and his friends at school were the Phantom Thieves. He couldn't outright prove it, but the way the Kamoshida incident played out led him to believe they played a huge role in it. "Oh, is that so…?" Ren was glancing around, hoping Ryuji would show up soon enough.

Not too far away, Hifumi was exiting from the nearby café. It was getting late and she decided it was best to go home. "I should get home before Mother gets upset at me for staying out too long…" Her free time was limited. Between practicing shogi, school, her professional matches, and whatever her mother scheduled for her, she hardly had time to herself. As she walked, she ended up noticing two people approaching her. "Huh?"

"Hey there." Two men. They seemed casual enough but something about their demeanor was off. "What's a young lady like you doing out so late?"

"…Just going home." Hifumi responded quietly, attempting to shuffle along, but they weren't going to make it that easy for us.

"Hold on, we have a good offer for you." One of the men said. "How would you feel about doing a quick part time job?"

"A…part time job?" Hifumi blinked, curious, but not willing to accept whatever was being offered.

"Yeah." One of the men held out a small envelope. "All you gotta do is drop this off nearby. It only takes a few minutes and you get a ton of yen for it. Hard to pass up, right?"

"Uhm…" Hifumi was being backed into a literal corner. When she took a glance back, she realized she was being backed into a nearby alleyway in an unfavorable situation. Even worse, there were people who were either ignoring this, or just didn't notice somehow. "No thank you!" She spoke up, hoping her voice would catch someone's attention.

Luckily for her, Ren was the one who heard it, along with Mishima. "That sounded out of place." Mishima glanced around. "Where did that come from?"

Ren narrowed his eyes, taking a look around. He saw it. A familiar scene and one he could not turn his eyes away from. "This way." Ren told Mishima, approaching the scene. "Hey, there you are. We were looking for you." He told Hifumi in a familiar tone.

"Huh?" Hifumi stared at Ren. She recognized him from the art exhibit. "You're…"

"Are you two bothering her?" Mishima stared at the two men with a bit of a forceful glare. "Leave it to rotten adults to bother a young lady! Step back…!" Boy was he trying not to sweat up a storm here. It was probably because Ren took the initiative that he didn't feel as nervous, but still, this sort of confrontation was nerve wracking.

One of the shady guys threw his hands up defensively. "Whoa, relax…! We're not looking for any trouble. We were just offering her a part time job. You interested?"

"Nah, we should back off for now." The other man said. "We don't want any trouble. See ya around!" And just like that, the two men left.

Hifumi let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you both. I didn't know what I was going to do…"

"It was no problem." Ren gave a slight smile. "I couldn't stand by and just watch as someone was in trouble."

"Thank you again." She flashed a soft smile. She really didn't know how to thank them.

"Yo, sorry I'm late!" Leave it to Ryuji to arrive right about now. "What'd I miss?" That's when he saw Hifumi and immediately thought 'cute girl', as he usually did.

"Nothing." Ren said.

"Hold on…" Mishima stared at Hifumi for a bit…then looked something up on his phone. "Oh, that's why you look so familiar! You're Hifumi Togo! The famous Shogi player!"

"O-Oh, well…" Hifumi held a smile. "Yes, that's me."

Mishima was feeling a chance now. "By chance, are you a fan of the Phantom Thieves?" Ren and Ryuji looked at each other. Did they let Mishima crash and burn or did they save him?…Well, as Ren discussed with Maruki earlier in the day, it was best let Mishima experience this necessary pain.

"T-The Phantom Thieves? I've heard of them…I think they're doing good things." Her gaze wandered to Ren and Ryuji. She wasn't exactly suspicious of them, but she did wonder when Yusuke started hanging out with them. "I was present when they delivered their calling card to Madarame…I actually have their…ah, no, never mind…" She probably shouldn't mention she held onto the Calling Card. s

"Wait, seriously?" Ryuji whispered to Ren. "I would've noticed if a girl that cute was nearby!"

"We had an important mission to do…" Ren sighed quietly in response.

Mishima found his chance and continued to push. "So you've heard of the Phantom Aficionado Website, right? Well, I happen to be the Admin of the site. You know, where people post their issues and I forward the information to the Phantom Thieves so they can solve it? Yeah, I'm pretty much like their manager, haha."

"O-Oh, is that so…?" A thought crossed Hifumi's mind for a moment…but she shook her head. It wasn't something she should have been thinking of to begin with. "Well, tell the Phantom Thieves I said hello. If they really are out there helping the weak, I want them to know that I'm on their side."

Once again, Ren and Ryuji just gave each other a look. There wasn't anything they could really say since they didn't want to out themselves. Mishima was giving them second hand embarrassment while Hifumi's words almost brought a smile to their lips. It was a tough situation. "I think we should be going." Ren said. "We have uh…that movie to watch, remember?"

"Huh?" Ryuji blinked confused. "But aren't we…"

Mishima picked up on the hint. As much as he didn't want to leave the cute girl they did have plans. "R-Right..! The movie!" Mishima started to pull Ryuji along the opposite direction of the movie theater.

"But…" Hifumi pointed to the theatre behind them. "The theater is…" And they were gone. What a day…she just wanted to go home now…

After at trio pulled away from Hifumi, Ryuji got back on track. "Okay then! You guys ready to Maidwatch!?" He said, putting his fingers into a horizontal piece sign.

"Maidwatch!" Mishima said enthusiastically.

"Maid watch…" Ren said, not as enthusiastic.

Off in some alleyway, the two men from before were lamenting the loss of a good target. "Man, we had a good one; too…the boss would've loved that one."

"It's all right, though. We got plenty of others today alone." The other man chuckled. "Highschoolers are pretty easy targets. But we still gotta make more money, or the boss'll have our heads…"

.

.

Finally, it was time. Ren, Ryuji, and Mishima gathered in the vacant apartment, huddled around Ren as he was about to make the call. "Okay…here goes nothing." Once he made this call, there was no turning back in the Operation.

"Thank you for calling! This is Victoria's Housekeeping!" A man answered the line.

"They answered…!" Mishima was shocked.

"Sssh!" Ryuji whispered.

"So, I take it you're interested in our services, huh? Is there anyone in particular you want to request?"

"T-Tell them no preference…!" Ryuji said, hastily. They didn't really know who they should be requesting anyway.

"No one in particular." Ren responded.

"Very well..! Let's see here…" There was a brief moment of silence. "We have a maid available in 20 minutes! May I have your address?"

"R-Right…it's…" Ren looked to Ryuji, who gave him the address. With the confirmation all they had to do was wait now.

"I wonder what we should have her do…" Mishima pondered. "Cooking…cleaning…of course, I wouldn't mind the other services either. Should we hold a strategy meeting to discuss?"

"I don't think we need to go that far…" Ren adjusted his glasses. But they did need to figure out something for the maid to do while here…

"They said 20 minutes right?" Ryuji started to walk off. "I gotta go to the bathroom…" It was out of the blue, but clearly the blonde was feeling a little nervous. When he emerged some time later, Mishima picked up on his expression.

"You were in there for a long time, did you wash your hands?" Mishima asked.

"…Huh? Who? Me?" Ryuji seemed taken off guard by that question.

"You're really nervous…it's almost time…" Mishima sighed. Actually, now that he thought about it. "…Are high school students even allowed to use this kind of service?"

Record scratch.

"What?" Ren turned to Mishima.

"…Huh?" Ryuji blinked.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN 'HUH'?!" Mishima's eyes widened at Ryuji's surprised answer. "You didn't research this!? What if they find out who we are!?"

"H-How should I know!?" Ryuji fired back. "But why does your age matter when asking for cleaning!?"

Mishima turned to Ren, now realizing the grave mistake they may have made. "We would've been screwed if your number had shown up on their caller ID…"

Ren was sweating. This may have been a bad idea after all. "Ah…"

Ding dong!

Oh.

Oh no.

She's here.

"Hello? I'm from the housekeeping service." It was a woman's voice.

"W-What!?" Mishima turned to the door. "She's already here!? She's five minutes early!? What do we do?! I'm not mentally prepared?"

"Oh, the door's unlocked? May I come in…?" The maid asked.

Nope. Ryuji couldn't handle this. "I can't do this…! Okay, you handle the rest, don't let her find out you're in high school. We got your back from the balcony!"

"I can't do this either!" Mishima and Ryuji just…bailed on Ren.

"W-wait! You can't just leave me here alone with…!" Ren tried to call out to them, but they were already gone, and the door. Worst of all…the maid was standing right behind him. His back was turned to the corner, now fighting an uphill battle as he had to hide his identity.

"Welcome, home, Master~! My name is Becky, and I have the pleasure of serving you today~!" Becky gave a slight curtsey.

"…?" Ren could see Becky's face from the reflection in the window. "What the…?" Perhaps it was the nervousness talking, but this woman looked very…very familiar. She even sounded familiar too…it was actually bothering him, but he also had to answer her. "N-Nice to meowy-eet you…" Why did he say that?

"Oh! How cute~!" Becky giggled. At least she liked the response. "I should explain our services to you, Master!" She took a few steps forward. "Our services include cooking, cleaning…all of those things. But there are… 'other' services I can provide if you like…"

Ren gulped and proceeded to sweat too. Other…services? That was a serious thing? As a teenage boy, having a maid offer such things was, well…extremely tempting. But also…as a teenage boy, Ren was beginning to realize this was more than he bargained for. He could not follow through with this and his cool façade was starting to crack a bit. "O-Oh…? Uhm…that's nice…!"

"Hm?" Becky was trying to get a look at Ren's face, but he wasn't allowing it, turning his head every which direction to avoid her direct gaze. "How old…are you exactly, Master~?" She questioned with that cutesy voice.

Oh. Oh no. Of course she'd ask that. Ren only had two options because revealing he was a highschooler was off the table. He could either be reasonable and say he was in college…or should he go further than that? He didn't have much time to decide because he could feel Becky's cutesty gaze burning a hole into his back! "I'm…*ahem* I'm a dad."

…..Silence.

Becky…wasn't buying it. The voice crack, followed by the immediate attempt to deepen his voice…told her everything she needed to know. "My…what healthy skin you have…! But I think…I'll wait to provide those other services until you've matured a bit, Master. So…I'll be going now."

Ryuji and Mishima were listening on the whole thing. "What? She can't just leave!" Ryuji shouted.

"Quiet down…!" Mishima tried to hush him, but it was too late for that. Becky heard them.

"Huh? Is there someone outside?" Becky started to approach the window.

"Oh shit..! Let's go Mishima!" Ryuji and Mishima now had no choice but to flee from the balcony.

"I'm right behind you!" Mishima followed Ryuji, leaving Ren in the dust.

"Mishima…? That voice…Sakamoto…?" Becky turned around, now face to face with Ren. "And you're!?"

"…Thanks guys." Ren could only sigh as he was abandoned by his friends. The sting of betrayal cut deep. But now that he was face to face with Becky…she was exactly who he thought she was…which made this extremely weird. "You're…Miss Kawakami…!?"

Oh crap. Kawakami's eyes widened and she tried to think of 1,000 excuses out of this but…she had nothing. "…I can't believe this. Caught by my own student. I'm so done." She wanted to die. This was too much. "Yes…it's me. Your homeroom teacher."

"Wh…" Ren suddenly felt very tired. Tonight was too much.

"Who told you about this!? I bet it was Ms. Chouno! That harpy!" Kawakami grumbled.

"U-Uh, no…this actually…is a big coincidence." Ren rubbed the back of his head, trying to explain himself.

Kawakami looked around and sighed. "Well, it doesn't look like this is even your real home address. So I guess you thought this out at least. Listen, let's keep this between us, okay? I'll do anything."

"…Anything?" Ren asked, though the unintentional curiosity of his tone made it come out worse than he intended.

Kawakami just gave him a look. "You know, it wouldn't be good if people found out you called a maid service. So, let's just forget this happened and I'll treat this like you canceled. Goodnight." Kawakami was fast to scurry out of there, leaving Ren on his own with the shocking truth he just learned about his teacher…moonlighting as a maid afterschool.

"…I'm tired…" Ren mumbled and just went home…

When Ren slunk home, he trudged towards his bed. Morgana was waiting, curious as to how things turned out. "How'd it go?"

"Don't wanna talk about it now…" Ren grumbled and collapsed into bed. Operation Maidwatch…was a failure.

.

.

May 25th

And yet…despite everything, the next evening, there was Ren, on Leblanc's payphone, staring at the number Kawakami gave him earlier in the day. After bailing her out of intense questioning from Ms. Chouno, she decided to give Ren the number to the Maid Service. It…wasn't free. But he felt like had the Guts and yen to pay for a visit! Morgana was peering over his shoulder, snickering as he dialed the number. "So, you're really gonna do it, huh?"

"W-Well…it would be a shame to let this go to waste…" Ren couldn't exactly justify himself in this matter. He was just gonna do it. At the cost of 5,000, a somewhat hefty amount…he called Kawakami to Leblanc.

Surprisingly, she showed up in his room. "So you really did call…? You're a weird kid, you know that?"

"Well…I was curious." Ren admitted while seated on his couch. It really didn't go beyond anything more than that.

Kawakami read his expression. "Oh, right. You did just move here after all. I guess you wouldn't have too many friends yet. Plus there's that whole thing with your record and all…"

"Yup." While it didn't bother him that much per se, he would be lying if he said it didn't make some things difficult around school and all. But with Ryuji and Ann around, he was managing.

"Sometimes, I wonder about you." Kawakami sat down next to Ren. "You really don't seem like a bad kid. Judging by the way you opposed Kamoshida, I'd say you have a strong sense of justice. Yet…here you are, calling a maid service." And here she was, his teacher, as his maid. This really was a bizarre situation.

"I couldn't stand by and watch." Ren responded.

"Hm…" Kawakami looked over Ren. She could tell he was an earnest guy. "Well, you know my secret…and you did save me earlier. So…how about this? I'll let you cut class every once and awhile. But I reserve the right to change my mind if your grades drop."

"Wait, really?" That was a surprisingly kind offer, not one Ren would look away from either.

"As long as you keep this secret, it will be fine." Kawakami gave Ren a smile. "I can tell you're a good kid. So I don't think I have any reason to worry."

"Well…thank you." Ren gave a slight smile. Oddly enough, despite the initial Operation being a failure, it felt like Ren was starting to forge a bond with Kawakami…there was some trust in this mutual deal they made…

.

.

Date: ?

After being arrested, Ren was detained in an interrogation room. He was covered in bruises as the police had their fun with him. The only reason he was even still conscious was because the police needed him as a scapegoat. As it stood right now, he was being interrogated by one of the most notable Prosecutors around, Sae Niijima. As he told his story, she interjected every so often, attempting to force the truth out of him one way or another. "You may be a Phantom Thief but you're still just a highschooler. I find it hard to believe that you'd be able to miss out on school without raising any suspicions. I can only surmise that someone was helping you…a teacher, perhaps?" Sae leaned forward, glaring at Ren as he remained silent. "Tell me who it was."

"…." Ren didn't say anything. It was a bit hard to focus with the drugs that got injected into him, but he had to keep telling his story. There was…something that he needed to do. His mind was hazy, memory foggy in a few spots. But he wasn't giving up. He had a mission to do, even in this state…and he had to complete it no matter what.