04/12

Ren would wake up, not that he wanted to. Ren didn't want to admit it to himself but he didn't want to get up anymore, but he forced himself to get out of bed and get dressed. The teen didn't wait for Sojiro to call him down and went down of his own accord. His morning was almost the exact same as the day before, except this time he actually made it to school on time.

Ren walked through a set of open double doors, immediately the topic of conversation turned to him.

"Is that him?"

"I heard he robbed a bank"

"I heard he kidnapped someone"

Ren tried to ignore the baseless rumours... and the woman still stalking him and just headed towards his classroom. The start of the school day went as expected, mostly just listening to the rumours surrounding him, and one of his teachers throwing a stick of chalk at him for not paying attention.

Lunchtime rolled around and Ren walked to the cafeteria to get himself something to eat, ignoring the never ending rumours and the still very obvious person following him from a "safe" distance. Ren decided to get some bread and eat it outside.

He ran into who could be called his only friend, Ryuji, they both walked to the outdoor seating area. They sat down and ate together in silence, as silent as a school could be. It was odd for Ryuji to be this quiet as he had learnt throughout the palace yesterday. Even the unknown third wheel was curious as to why he was being quiet, this third party had positioned themselves around the corner.

"Is any of it true?" Ryuji would finally break the silence, making Ren look up and the third party to focus more.

"And of what?"

"Those rumours... that you're a criminal"

Ren would take a moment to think before answering.

"Yes" He didn't want to lie to what may very be his first and last. He then proceeded to tell Ryuji and the unknown third party about what actually happened to him.

"Seriously?!?!" Ryuji would return to his usual state, Ren would nod and the third party tried to recover their thoughts, while gathering their stuff and heading towards the student council room.

"Don't listen to them" Ryuji tried to reassure Ren. The bell rang and the pair stood up. "Meet me later, same spot." As per the usual the two friends parted ways and went to their own classroom. The day continued the same as yesterday, boring lessons and rumours.

Meanwhile a certain President couldn't sit still, she had heard Ren's story, and was torn. "Was he lying? he sounded sincere the whole time... No! he must be lying... surely there'd be no one in the world who'd do that to a teenager." Ren had essentially invaded her thoughts since yesterday.

The end of the day came quickly and Ren and Ryuji met at the same place before Ryuji asked Ren to come do some training with him, by running around the school grounds... after running Ryuji revealed that he used to be in the Track and Field team, before it was shut down due to an "incident". The pair were under close surveillance the whole time, Ren was aware of it and even thought to himself "hasn't she finished reading that manga yet?", Ryuji was unaware of the situation entirely. He knew why she was following him, well he had his suspicions atleast... he assumed it was the same reason as everyone else "because he was a criminal".

After their rather peaceful run around the grounds they split up for the day. Ryuji went his own way and Ren and the parasite attached to him went another. The parasite in question was feeling a little but adventurous today and followed Ren all the way to LeBlanc...

"Surely he isn't living here" She asked herself... the "spy" recalled Ren's story from earlier, he did say this was how it ended. She started doubting herself and everyone around her again, she noticed that Ren had stopped at the door, almost as though he had suspecting something.

"Why is she just standing there?" She had been stood there for a minute, in the open, hiding behind the same manga. Ren was stood there, at the door to LeBlanc. He just shook it off and went inside.

"Oh, you're back... Look kid, I can't keep waiting for you to come back..." Sojiro would throw a key into Ren's hand. "Just remember to lock up behind you" The older man would take off his apron and head out of the cafe. Ren would walk to the door and see that the weather had turned upside down, rain hitting the glass door... and a familiar young woman stood sheltering from the rain.

"How could I be so dumb?" She thought outloud, her thoughts were tied up in that dumb boy that she had forgotten her own umbrella and was stuck right next to his home... God she hated herself, how would she even explain this to her sister? "Oh sorry sis, I got caught in the rain stalking a boy."... Her mind was thinking a thousand per second, she didn't even notice that the Boy of her thoughts was stood next to her holding an umbrella.

Ren would clear his throat, hoping to return her to the real world... It worked obviously but it also broke the girl even more... "He knows, he knows, he knows..." the same words would repeat in her head over and over and over. Ren would pull out his phone to check the time, it was on 5 o'clock.

"So you admit you've been stalking me..."

What was he going to do? the older girl started to panic...

Was he going to kill her?

Kidnap her?

Ren would let out an audible sigh alongside saying "Whatever" it was clear she wasn't going to talk to him, so he left the collapsed umbrella on a low hanging wall and went back into his home... locking the door behind him. He didn't want to deal with her.

Makoto would pick up the umbrella and start her journey home, carrying a large weight of guilt on her back...

04/13

Ren's mood only worsened, first being forced into a new life and second that girl had admitted to stalking him... it really does take a heavy toll on a young life. He forced himself to get out of bed, to follow the same routine as the previous days, to flip the sign and to go to school. It was pretty clear everything was getting to him, "I guess that's what you get for being a criminal" Ren thought to himself.

Entering the school, the rumours were still the exact same. He had arrived a little earlier than normal so he made his way up to the roof, just to relax in the peace and quiet it provided... Atleast when Ryuji wasn't there, is what he assumed, he hadn't been up there without him before so first time for everything.

Time passed slowly... a minute felt like an hour, it was the calm he was expecting... Obviously the calm was cut off by the obnoxiously loud bell, signalling that he had to leave. On his way down towards his room, he didn't notice it but he had walked passed his stalker, she noticed and almost even called out to him but she couldn't.

She immediately went into sleuth mode, why was he on the roof by himself... could he be considering? No he couldn't be... surely he wouldn't turn to that... It was her job to protect the students! Why was she stalking this boy? it didn't matter if he was a criminal, she had a duty to everyone including him to protect them. She was done being the puppet for adults to use to their advantage.

Time passed as normal, the same classroom chatter mostly about Ren... he was the gossip of the whole school... The boy in question didn't care anymore, it was clear that the academy was trying to get rid of him... The bell rang as lunchtime had arrived, Ren and Ryuji met eachother on the roof and enjoyed each others company. Ren didn't admit it out loud but he was glad he ran into Ryuji, he made the days go quicker. The bell rang again signaling the end of their lunch. The pair of friends walked down to the second year floor together, walking passed The Student Council President and not even noticing her once again.

The rest of the school day went quickly... Ren and Ryuji met outside in the outdoor seating area... "I knew it!" The pair of teens would frantically look around, a black and white cat would jump up onto the table. "I found you!"... Ryuji would look at the cat and then at Ren

"Did that thing just talk?"

Ren would look at the cat and then at Ryuji before asking:

"Morgana?"

"That thing is Morgana?!?!?"

Said cat was currently being hunted by the student body and the faculty. "Did I just here a meow over there?"

"Shit! We need to hide him... Quick put him in your bag"

Ryuji would pick the cat up by his neck causing him to panic, Ren would open his bag allowing Ryuji to stuff the cat in...

"Be quiet a minute" Ren would whisper to the cat while leaving his bag slightly open so the cat didn't suffocate. He would then turn his gaze onto Ryuji. "Roof?". The two boys would make their way back to the roof, this time with a... rather light add on. Once there Ren set his bag down down carefully.

Morgana would emerge from the bag and jump onto the table they had there... "I need your help..." The cat wanted to get right to the point, he explained that the palace had gotten more dangerous and that more of it was explorable, he was essentially begging Ren to go back into the palace... Ren being who he was, was quick to accept and Ryuji being Ryuji wanted to tag along and support his friend... even if he couldn't actually do any fighting. After all that was settled the Trio headed towards the outside of the school, to re-enter the Palace.

Elsewhere The President was searching the halls, looking for a certain "Delinquent". She knew where all of his hangout spots were, and he always stayed with Ryuji for an hour or two after the school day had ended... So why wasn't he there now? She's certain that she saw him multiple times today. Maybe it was time for more drastic measures. She had one destination in mind... LeBlanc.

The girl was nervous... why couldn't he have just been at the school? why did he leave so quickly? why didn't he even acknowledge her?... Her thoughts kept her preoccupied the entire train ride and now here she was... Yongen-Jaya.

It was a very small area, as made clear by the short walk between the station and her target. Standing outside the cafe the girl would take a deep breath before entering, she was still nervous... but why wouldn't she be? She was in foreign territory although she had to admit the aroma of the coffee was welcoming her in. Examining the room she elected to sit at the bar in front of the barista... she would quickly order a coffee as to not draw and suspicion to herself... she wasn't a coffee expert so she asked for recommendations and chose whatever sounded good to her.

"Here you go." The Man behind the bar would place the cup down in front of her.

"Thank you" The girl would pick the cup up take a shallow sip from it... It tasted like coffee. The young girl would place the cup back down before reaching into her bag and fishing out the manga she had been partially reading while spying on her junior... She hadn't really read anything like this before and she had began to enjoy it, not that she'd admit that to anyone. She took her time drinking her coffee, hoping to run into Ren, but he never showed... was this normal?. Half an hour had passed and the girl had read roughly half of the manga.

The girl couldn't wait forever... she stowed the book back into her bag and pulled out a small letter and an umbrella before looking at the man behind the bar at the man stood idly, she was his only customer. His attention was immediately drawn to her.

"Need something?" The man would ask

"You're the guardian of Ren Amamiya, aren't you?" The man would tense up. "Can you make sure he gets these?" She'd place the umbrella and letter down on the bar.

"What's this? a confession?" The comment would make the girl blush.

"It's nothing like that" Her attempt to remain calm and collected was mostly successful. "Just can you make sure he gets these?" The President would ask one more time before standing up from her seat.

The Barista would look at the girl and then at the items on the bar. "Fine."

"Thank you" The young girl would place down however much the coffee costed on the bar, before leaving the cafe and heading back to her home... Elsewhere just outside the school

"Holy shit!! Man that was so cool!" Ryuji was clearly pumped, the trio of Ren, Ryuji and Morgana had left the palace after discovering even more of the disgusting actions Kamoshida had been up to. On their way out the team was ambushed by King Kamoshida and his elite guards, Ryuji had finally awoken his Persona, he felt good being able to truly help his friend and Ryuji planned to scout out the school and figure out who Kamoshida had enslaved in his palace.

"So what do we do about that?" Ryuji would ask, staring down at the cat that isn't a cat. Ren would look down and place his bag down on the ground. "I'll take him" Morgana would hop into the bag and make himself comfortable. The trio then walked to the station, then onto the train to Shibuya and then split up for the night... after a short period of time had passed Ren had finally made it to LeBlanc, being greeted by the familiar "Oh it's you."

"Meow" Is all Sojiro would hear coming from the bag... causing Ren to gently place it on a bar seat and open it.

"You brought a cat here?" Sojiro was confused.

"It's a stray I found wandering the school, I thought I'd bring it here to take care of it" Sojiro was still confused...

"I guess it'll keep you out of trouble..." I'm not helping take care of it, Sojiro had reached his hand out and started to gently stroke the cat... "Can I name it?"

"Sorry... I already named it... His name is Morgana" Sojiro would look disappointed at both the cat and the Boy.

"I'm going home for the night, by the way some girl came here earlier and left these for you" Sojiro would look at the umbrella and the letter on the table. "She never left her name... A love confession already? You remind me of myself..." Sojiro would laugh a little as he heads out the door, locking it behind him.

Ren would look down at the bar, he recognised the umbrella, it was his own umbrella that he lent to his stalker. Ren would let out a loud sigh. "You can get out the bag you know? You live here now" Ren would pick up the umbrella and stow it back in his bag, he was lucky it hadn't rained. He then picked up the "letter" is was just a small folded piece of paper, unfolding it revealed a small and brief message "Your usual spot, lunch time." The note gave Ren a time and a place to go, whether he actually wanted to go was a different story.

It was evening time and Ren was sore from his trip to the palace, so he decided to end the night by doing some studying. It felt nice having someone with him. A few more hours would pass before Ren decided to stop for the night and finally go to sleep.