Author's note: I wanted to thank everybody for reading my first finished fanfiction. Persona 5 Royal is in my top five favorite games, but I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. That was what mainly led me to writing this story. I know not everyone is going to enjoy this type of story, but I still enjoyed writing it. I hope you'll give my next fanfiction a shot as well especially if you enjoy the anime/manga: Bleach.

Epilogue

Reunion

Ren waited outside of the airport, checking his watch repeatedly for the time.

Her flight should have gotten in by now, he thought. As he waited, he watched the crowds of people exiting the building, calling for cabs or headed for cars that were there to pick them up. Some waited where they could, trying not to be in the way of anyone else. Ren looked at his watch one last time before he finally saw who he was waiting for.

She walked out of the airport wearing a white frilled blouse and blue jeans along with black high-heeled Mary Jane shoes. Her red hair was up in a ponytail, and she adjusted her black glasses as she scanned the crowd. Ren gave a slight wave, and Sumire walked toward him.

"So how was Paris?" He asked.

"It was fun," she answered. "Though, as you know, I was busy almost the entire time."

"Well, not for nothing. You managed to get bronze."

"Yeah," she seemed a little down while answering.

"You'll win gold next time. You just have to keep at it."

Sumire took a breath before responding, "I know. And you'll be there with me next time. Promise?"

"I promise I'll be there."

Ren, unfortunately, couldn't go with Sumire because he had to open the second location of Café Leblanc. It had taken him the last few years, but he was able to finally convince Sojiro to let him do it. Sumire promised to help him run it whenever she wasn't training, and he had made an arrangement with Haru where she provided him and the original Leblanc with ingredients. Of course with her father still under house arrest, Haru was the public face of Okumura foods, so she was rather busy most of the time.

"Come on," Ren said. "They're waiting for us at the cafe."

He managed to hail a taxi, and he put Sumire's luggage in the trunk before both of them hopped in the back. The driver turned toward them to ask where they were headed, and both Ren and Sumire fell silent for a moment, staring at the bespectacled man with brown, short unkempt hair.

"Hello?" The man asked.

"Oh, uh," Ren shook himself out of his daze. "Yongen-Jaya."

"Alright," the driver turned back around and began to drive. Ren and Sumire glanced at each other. They didn't have to say anything. They knew that they were thinking the same thing. But that was impossible. Their counselor had died over five years ago during their final battle.

"Is everything alright?" the driver asked as he drove.

"Oh, it's…it's nothing," Ren answered.

"You just…you kind of look like someone we used to know," Sumire replied.

The driver chuckled, "I get that alot actually. I must have one of those faces or something. Who was he?"

"The person you reminded us of?" Ren responded. "He was…a complicated person. He meant well, but he didn't always use the best approach. Overall though, he was a good man. Neither of us would be here if it wasn't for him." Ren placed a hand over Sumire's.

"Well, we're all a bit complicated," the driver said, and the rest of the ride was silent though it didn't last too long as after about twenty minutes, they arrived near Yongen.

"You're lucky," the driver said. "Traffic was relatively light today."

Sumire got out first, but before Ren could, the driver turned back to him, "I'm sure whoever that guy is, he knows you're happy."

"Uh…yeah," Ren said, a little confused before getting out of the cab himself. He paid the fee, got the luggage, and the taxi drove off.

"That was weird," Sumire said.

"Yeah," Ren replied before turning toward the backstreets. "Come on." As they walked, they passed by the clinic where Tae was standing outside, waving goodbye to a patient. She turned and noticed Ren and Sumire. She headed over to them.

"I saw you on TV," she spoke toward Sumire. "You were amazing."

"Well, it wasn't the best," she chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of her neck.

"Third place is still pretty damn good," Tae said, patting Sumire on her shoulder.

"Are you coming over?" Ren asked.

"Nah," Tae responded. "I have another appointment, unfortunately. But you two have fun." She wandered back to the clinic entrance while Ren and Sumire continued on. They approached the front door to the cafe and could hear voices coming from inside.

"Are you ready?" Ren asked. Sumire took a breath and nodded.

Ren opened the door to reveal the cramped inside of the cafe where he spent so much of his life. Sojiro stood behind the counter, looking the same as ever with his arms folded. Futaba stood near him, an apron on as she now worked part-time at the shop. She had grown a little taller, but not by much.

Sitting on one of the stools, enjoying a cup of coffee and conversing with Sojiro was Makoto who had grown her hair out slightly past her shoulders. At one of the tables sat Shiho and Ann on one side, and Ryuji and Yusuke on the other. None of them had changed that much as well. It had only been five years. Ann's blonde hair was down instead of in the pigtails she used to wear. Shiho's hair was up in a bun. Ryuji had stopped dying his hair, so now it was its natural black color, and Yusuke looked exactly the same.

Sitting at a different table was Haru who also looked the same as she always did. Across from her sat Hifumi who now wore glasses, and had cut her hair to shoulder-length though she still wore the red hair accessory. Next to Haru, sat a black cat with a yellow collar. Morgana also hadn't changed except that he had put on some weight.

When Ren and Sumire entered, they stopped their conversations and greeted the two of them. There were several "congratulations" and "you were amazing" and similar words spoken to Sumire. She was asked to show off the medal which she did. They ate, they talked, they laughed like people do at a reunion of friends. It had been several years after their final battle, and everyone had moved on to do different things.

Ann was now a model with some international fame while Shiho had taken up Volleyball and played semi-professionally. They still found time to support each other though. Ryuji had moved near a rehab facility soon after the final battle had ended, and was able to rejoin the track team by his third year of high school. He had tried to go for a track scholarship in college, but no one would take him. Luckily, Shujin offered him a position as assistant coach to the track team. Whether or not the offer was so that Shujin could save face after what happened between Ryuji and Kamoshida would never be answered. But Ryuji accepted it, so that he could finally earn money to help out his mom.

Yusuke was still painting, and had a few pieces featured in galleries, so not much had changed there. Hifumi was still playing Shogi and was currently on a win streak, and Makoto was still working hard to become a police commissioner.

"So, I noticed Sae isn't here," Ren said to Makoto as Sumire continued to speak with the others.

"Well the new Director of the SIU is busy," Makoto said with a slight smile. "After all, she's still dealing with stuff from the Shido case."

"He's in prison though," Ren said. "And it's been five years. How is there still stuff coming to light?"

"Apparently, Shido was just the tip of some conspiracy," Makoto responded. "And so the deeper my sister has the SIU dig, the more things they reveal. Okumura and Akechi weren't too deep into the whole thing, so they shouldn't be affected too much by any new information."

"Has your sister said anything about how they're doing?"

"Well, you can ask Haru about her father. As for Akechi, he's actually been a model prisoner apparently. Another year or two and he'll be able to appeal his sentence. But enough about that. Tell me about the new cafe you just opened."

Their conversation continued for the next ten minutes before more people joined in causing the topic to shift to other things. Ren managed to ask Haru how her father was doing. She replied that he was doing well and was still trying to make amends toward everyone he had hurt. After about a couple of hours, people began to leave the cafe. Eventually, the only ones who remained were Sumire, Ren, Futaba, Sojiro, and Morgana.

"You two are still getting along, right?" Sojiro asked as he poured Ren and Sumire a cup of coffee.

"Yes," Ren chuckled.

"Are you two living together yet?" Futaba asked, causing Ren to slightly choke as he was trying to take a sip of his coffee.

"Futaba," Sojiro said sternly. "You don't just ask people personal questions out of the blue." He paused before glancing at Ren and raising an eyebrow. "Well?"

"Yes," Ren said, finally getting his coughing under control. "We are living together in an apartment above the cafe."

Sojiro chuckled, "Some things never change." Ren glanced over at the stairs that led to the attic above.

"By the way, you left something," Sojiro spoke again. "You hid it really well on that bookshelf up there. Probably why it took me so long to find it." Ren raised an eyebrow in question, but Sojiro just motioned with his head for Ren to go check. Ren set his cup down and stood up.

"I'll be waiting here," Sumire said with a smile. Ren nodded and headed for the attic, followed closely behind by Morgana.

When he got up there, he glanced around. It looked relatively the same since he moved out save for a new layer of dust in certain places. The bed was made up as if waiting for someone to sleep in it again, and there were even still some parts to craft tools sitting on the desk. But they weren't the only things occupying the desk. As Ren walked closer, he noticed several pieces of paper spread out on it. They were the notes that Lavenza had left for him.

"Do you miss it?" Morgana asked.

"Sometimes," Ren answered. "Sometimes I have dreams that I'm fighting again, or that I'm back in the Velvet Room. I know I'm not actually there, but…"

"I feel the same way," Morgana replied. "Futaba does as well." Ren knew that Morgana had been staying at the Sakuras' house since Ren had moved out.

The window near the bed was open, and the wind blew the chimes that were hanging there causing Ren to glance over. As he did, he saw what appeared to be a blue butterfly flying past. He quickly went and stuck his head out to try to see it again, but it was gone. He sighed and pulled his head back in. He gathered the notes, folded them and slipped them into his pocket. He and Morgana headed back downstairs to where the other three were waiting.

"Did you find them?" Sojiro asked to which Ren nodded.

"I did," he replied before turning to Sumire. "We should get going. I'm sure you're tired after everything." Sumire thanked Sojiro for the coffee, and she and Ren headed for the door. Ren opened it, causing the bell to jingle. They said one more goodbye to the cafe owner, his daughter, and the cat before closing the door.