NewWorldFool: Hello, everybody! The New World Fool and CloudStrife07 coming at you with the new-and-improved Chapter One! Well, outside of that, I don't think we really have anything else to talk about, so let us start the game!
Chapter One
The Band Is Back Together
Tokyo-Train En Route From Shibuya Station Square To Yongen-Jaya
June 14th, 2017
Among the fairly sizable throng of people onboard the train was a young man of around seventeen with frizzy black hair with steel gray eyes that gave the boy an intense gaze that was somewhat nullified by the fake glasses he wore. In addition to these glasses, he wore a black and white polo shirt, gray pants, and black and white sneakers, with a white and black bag slung over his shoulder.
From the bag emerged a black and white cat with intelligent blue eyes and a yellow collar and identification tags. However, in reality, this cat was far from ordinary, and he would be the first to tell you that. Assuming you could understand him like his apparent owner could, anyway.
"It's been a while since we rode this to Yongen-Jaya, hasn't it, Ren?" the cat, Morgana, said to his apparent owner.
The frizzy haired boy chuckled. "That it has, Morgana… that it has indeed…" Ren Amamiya said before he looked up at the television monitors embedded into the train's walls.
"Now for today's Train News. Today's headlines are..." the broadcaster on the monitors said. "Confession of document tampering! The National Diet is in chaos once again over the Vice-Minister of Finance's confession, and the power struggles have flared. Members of the Vice-Minister's party have refused to comment across the board while the country awaits his court summons."
"In Business News, fledgling IT company Madicce reported record first-quarter profits at a conference earlier today. Madicce's earnings have exploded largely in part to their new virtual assistant, which, if stocks are any indication, is gaining fans fast."
Ren frowned at the monitors. He had been hearing all sorts of things about this new virtual assistant that was making the rounds with people as of late, but he hadn't really bothered to look too much into it. After all, technology stuff like that was more Futaba's thing. But, it was the first headline that really got his attention. Ren had been hearing all sorts of stories of people having bizarre episodes and causing incidents all across Japan.
Given the escapades he and his friends had pulled last year, a small part of Ren thought that someone had up and decided to take up the mantle Phantom Thieves of Hearts, and were trying to become their successors by using the Metaverse to trigger changes of hearts. Except, not only were half of these incidents not even remotely similar to what he and his brothers and sisters in arms had done, having seemingly been done for shits and giggles, but due to the apparent annihilation of Mementos and the Metaverse thanks to Satanael blowing a hole in the head of the God of Control, Yaldabaoth, and purging the gentle madman Takuto Maruki's twisted "perfect" cognitive overlay, it was completely and utterly impossible for these new incidents to be connected to cognitive psience.
Ren was pulled out of his thoughts when Morgana spoke up again. "We're almost there…" Morgana said, a nervous sort of excitement entering his voice as he spoke. "We haven't seen everybody in so long… I know it's stupid, but I'm getting kinda nervous."
Ren couldn't help but smile. In truth, he himself was rather nervous to reunite with his old friends and comrades. The crass and vulgar Ryuji Sakamoto. The beautiful and chipper Ann Takamaki. The starving artist Yusuke Kitagawa. The intelligent and driven Makoto Niijima. The socially awkward computer genius Futaba Sakura. The green thumbed and cheerfully sadistic Haru Okumura. And above all else, his girlfriend and beautiful violet, the rhythmic gymnast Sumire Yoshizawa.
True, he and Sumi had only gotten together in an official sense while he and the others were dealing with Maruki, but in truth, Ren and Sumire had been in love with one another for much longer, back when she had been cognitively reprogrammed into thinking she was in fact her late sister who had died to save her from suicide, Kasumi. Even when the cognitive reprogramming had been reverted, Sumire and Ren's love had remained unblemished, if not grown stronger.
Ren smiled as he fondly recalled both the romantic nights he had spent with Sumire on Valentine's Day and White Day. While they hadn't done anything intimate in the sexual sense, they had ended up cuddling and doing all that other cheesy romantic stuff. In all honesty, Ren was only willing to make the next step to third base if Sumire was willing to as well. He would never do anything to hurt her.
Weirdly enough, it seemed as though his own Persona, from his initial form of Arsène, to his second-tier form as Satanael, and even his third-tier form, Raoul, which he had acquired right before he and the others went up against Maruki and Adam Kadmon, had actually fallen in love with Sumire's Persona, Cendrillon, and its subsequent transformations into Vanadis and Ella. Then again, Personas were the manifestation of one's innermost self, so perhaps it wasn't that surprising after all.
"This is going to be awesome," Ren said, that smile still on his face.
"Yeah!" Morgana agreed happily. "When the Phantom Thieves of Hearts come together, it's never anything less!"
A few moments later, the train came screeching to a halt. A moment after the train came to a complete halt, the doors slid open and an automated voice spoke over the intercom.
"Yongen-Jaya. This is Yongen-Jaya," the female voice said as Ren and Morgana departed the train and made their way up the escalator and into the district proper.
"Ah, Yongen-Jaya… we may only have been gone for a few months, but it sure brings back memories…" said Morgana, bringing a wistful smile to Ren's face.
"Yeah, it does, Morgana… it really does…" said Ren.
"Yeah… okay, let's go to Leblanc posthaste," said Morgana. "I wonder how the chief's been getting along."
Ren chuckled. "Knowing Sojiro, I'm sure he got along just fine these past few months. But, you're right, we should get to Leblanc right away," he said before making his way towards the cafe in question.
Upon arriving at the door to the cafe, Ren entered the building to find that it was completely dark and quiet, despite the fact that the sign on the door clearly said open. The hair on the back of his neck tingled as Ren began to develop a sneaking suspicion that he was in for a surprise, a suspicion that was proven correct when a voice from the shadows spoke.
"...two, three!" a female voice said before the lights were thrown on and a couple of party poppers went off, some of the confetti landing on Ren and Morgana.
"WELCOME HOME!" cried multiple voices as faces that Ren and Morgana knew all too well emerged from their hiding places.
Ryuji Sakamoto, a young man with bleached blonde hair clad in a red tank-top, a dog-tag chain necklace, puffy black sweatpants that went down to his shins, a camo-pattern belt and a pair of yellow shoes, walked up to Ren and threw his arm around his best friend. "Surprise! Did we getcha or what?" he asked Ren, prompting the dark haired teen to smile.
Futaba Sakura, a young woman with orange hair and glasses wearing a neon yellow T-shirt with a purple pixelated heart on it under an olive-colored overcoat with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, black denim shorts, and sky blue sneakers with orange laces, ran up and glomped her older brother figure. "We missed ya!" she said.
"It's been a while," said Yusuke Kitagawa, a young man around Ren's age with dark blue hair wearing a knee-length indigo hoodie with the sleeves rolled-up to his elbows with a thick ultramarine stripe and white tassels with a black T-shirt with a white flower pattern on the left side underneath, white pants and black loafers.
"Did you get taller?" asked Haru Okumura, a woman a year older than Ren with fluffed up ginger hair wearing a knee-length pink dress with white stripes and pleated skirt, along with a white belt around her waist, a white bolero jacket with the sleeves buttoned to her elbows, and white sandals.
"You seem to be doing fine," noted Makoto Niijima, a woman a year older than Ren with brunette hair wearing a short-sleeved black leather crop top jacket over a white T-shirt, shin-length black leather pants, and black shoes.
Ann Takamaki, a blonde bombshell wearing red sunglasses above her eyes, large heart-hoop earrings, a white short-sleeved crop top with a neon rainbow comic design over pink and red camisole, seafoam green denim shorts, a red belt with a star buckle, and high-heeled white shoes with pink heels and pink socks. "You too, Morgana," she said as she pet Morgana, causing the cat to mewl in contentment.
"You guys did all that for us?! Man, talk about a greeting!" Morgana said once Ann pulled her hand away.
"Well, we hadn't seen you in so long, we knew we had to do somethin'," Ryuji said. "We figured the best way to getcha was to have Boss let us in early!"
Suddenly, Ren felt his left hand being gently grasped onto by a familiar pair of tremendously soft hands. Ren looked over to his left and his attention was fully drawn onto the last member of the group. Wearing her crimson hair tied up in the bright red hair bow that originally belonged to her late twin sister, and clad a cyan blue v-neck blouse with a black knee-length skirt and black heeled sandals was his girlfriend, Sumire Yoshizawa.
"Hey, beautiful." Ren said as he smiled down at his girlfriend.
"Hey yourself." Sumire said while smiling up at her boyfriend.
Ren slowly moved his right hand towards Sumire's face and gently placed it onto her left cheek. Ren slowly leaned in towards Sumire and planted a soft, loving kiss onto her lips. Sumire moaned softly as she deepened the kiss, causing the other Phantom Thieves present to roll their eyes. After a good half a minute, Ren and Sumire broke apart, the former with a dopey smile on his face.
"Mmm, Strawberries…" Ren said, causing Sumire to blush lightly.
"I- I've been wanting to feel you kiss me again for quite a while now… I really missed you, Senpai." said Sumire as she smiled over her blush.
Ren perfectly understood Sumire's reasoning. Since they both have been apart from each other for nearly three whole months, when Ren left to go back to his home town in the countryside, Ren and Sumire haven't been able to have any physical contact with each other. They couldn't kiss each other, hug each other, or even hold hands. The most they could do while Ren was away was call each other over face time so they could see each other's faces and hear each other's voices.
"Well, would you like me to kiss you some more?" Ren asked softly.
"I would love that very much." Sumire said softly as she slowly closed her eyes while Ren slowly leaned in to kiss her again.
"Ahem," said a gruff male voice, causing Ren and Sumire to look over at the counter to see Sojiro Sakura looking at them with a smug smirk on his face, causing the couple to blush in embarrassment.
"Well, Ren, I gotta say, you're looking sharp," Sojiro said with that smirk on his face.
"Hey, Boss," Ren said with a smirk of his own that quickly turned into a frown. "Say… did you get even older?" he asked as his smirk quickly returned.
Sojiro chuckled. "On second thought, maybe the only thing that grew on you was your mouth," the old timer replied. "I'm sure you all have plenty of catching up to do, but I've gotta open up soon. Go ahead and take it upstairs… after all, it's your room. Have a good time."
Ren couldn't help but smile. "Thanks for hosting again, Boss," he said.
"No prob," Sojiro said with a smile of his own. "You can just pay me back by working the counter."
"Deal!" said Futaba. "Now, thieves, to the hideout!"
As the former Phantom Thieves of Hearts made their way upstairs, Sojiro let out a chuckle. "Great… just when I was starting to enjoy the peace and quiet…" he said.
Ren's Room-A Short While Later…
Ren's attic bedroom, aka the hideout of the former Phantom Thieves of Hearts, was alive with the sound of laughter, its occupants having just been told a story about a misfortune Ryuji had.
Morgana was perched on the corner of an old desk that was once used by Ren to fashion Phantom Thief tools. Makoto and Haru were sitting on the sofa, while Futaba, Ryuji, and Ann were sitting in chairs. Yusuke was leaning his back against the window that stood in-between Ren's bed and the old work desk where Ren would craft his own infiltration tools and even use his laptop. Ren was sitting on the edge of his bed, while Sumire was perched on his lap, her arms wrapped around her senpai/boyfriend's neck. Sitting on the table between them all was a thing of snacks and drinks they'd brought over.
"I flunked three of my finals in one day too. I was really freaking out," Ryuji said.
"You flunked three finals…" Ren said with a deadpan expression. "Ryuji, how are you even a senior student at this point?"
"That… is actually a really good question," Ryuji admitted. "My guess is that it's because I had you around to help me with my homework. But, seriously, I had so many make-up lectures in a row that I almost wasn't able to come over today…"
"Hehha! Then I win! I only flunked one final!" cheered Ann, a shit-eating grin on her face.
Makoto couldn't help but chuckle. "You two are the same as always… can't you at least take your classes a bit more seriously?" she said.
"Ooooh, watch out! Miss President's gonna unleash her fist of justice!" teased Futaba.
Makoto groaned in embarrassment. "Geez… will you please forget about that already?" she said.
"Changing the subject," Morgana said. "Haru, Makoto, is college life all it's cracked up to be?"
"Yes, it's going well," said Makoto with a nod. "I've been using the time to take care of the core curriculum."
"I've been busy too, but it's also a lot of fun," said Haru. "For example, I've learned how to selectively breed certain vegetables!"
"Oh-ho! Yielded any results yet?" Yusuke eagerly asked.
"Boy, that got his interest," mumbled Ryuji.
"Wait, aren't you in the management program though?" asked Futaba.
"Yes," Haru confirmed. "But, students are allowed to take courses beyond their own programs if they feel so inclined. They even offer agricultural science courses. You can learn all sorts of neat things, like the correlation between soil nutrients and yield-"
"Guh," interrupted Morgana. "That'd put me to sleep in a minute flat."
"Good, then you can go to bed for a change," said Ren, a shit-eating smirk on his face as Morgana gave him the stink eye.
"And you, Futaba? How's school been for you?" asked Makoto.
"Mweheheheheheheh! Too easy!" said Futaba. "At this point, the only hellish parts are the commute and P. E."
Ren chuckled. "That's amazing, Futaba," he said with a smile.
"Uh-huh! Uh-huh! Praise me more! Keep it comin'!" Futaba said eagerly.
"Well I would come over there and give you headpats, but both my lap and my hands are full." Ren said before turning his attention to Sumire. "Speaking of which, how's life been treating you, Sumi?"
Sumire smiled. "Life's been treating me pretty good, Senpai. I managed to take 2nd place in the national competitions earlier this month... While I was a little bummed that I didn't get 1st place, I actually felt more proud of myself than I ever did before in my life, because I did it all as myself, and not as Kasumi… I think she'd be pretty proud of me." Sumire said with a bright smile on her face.
Ren couldn't help but smile proudly at the girl who he couldn't be any happier to call the love of his life. She had come so far from being someone who had little to zero confidence in her own abilities as a gymnast, and now she's taking high ranking national wins with pride. Sumire truly has grown so much over just about half a year.
"Well I know she would of you, Sumire..." Ren said softly. "And I'm proud of you too."
Sumire's eyes glistened in reaction to Ren's words and she giggled.
"What about you, Senpai? You're the one we're the most curious about. Everything going okay back home?" Sumire asked.
"Eh, I've been doing fine enough, but to be honest… I really missed you guys," Ren said with a smile.
"What a coinkydink! Me too," said Futaba.
"Well, I've been getting by, too… but without you around, it's sorta like stuff is just kina… bleh," said Ryuji.
"Well of course, he is our leader. It's only natural," said Futaba
"That's right!" added Ann.
"Well, for me, he's more than just our leader..." Sumire added as she looked at Ren "He's both my hero and the one that I love."
Ren felt his heart swell up in his chest. It meant so much to him, knowing that all of his friends and his girlfriend had missed him this much and that they all still thought this highly about him. Ren held his left hand onto Sumire's right cheek and he pulled her towards him and kissed her once again.
"You guys are the absolute best." Ren said, a smile plastered on his face. "Although, you guys don't have to keep calling me your leader. I mean, we're not really Phantom Thieves anymore."
"What are you talking about, man?" Ryuji chuckled. "Once a Phantom Thief, always a Phantom Thief!"
"Well, what say we start coming up with summer vacation plans?" Makoto suggested. "With the Ministry of Education experimenting with how schools in the west do things, we have quite a lengthy break ahead of us."
"Ooh, you're right Makoto! We should figure that stuff out!"said Ann.
"Your parents are fine with you staying here through all of summer vacation, right Senpai?" Sumire asked her boyfriend.
"Yeah, they're totally okay with me spending my vacation with you guys," Ren confirmed for everyone.
"Then how about a trip, guys?" Ryuji suggested. "Come on, we got a whole three months to rage!"
"Technically, we have two and a half." Futaba corrected Ryuji. "We are just starting today on the 14th of June, but we are still expected to start up school again on September 1st."
"Also, aren't you forgetting about your summer homework?" Makoto pointed out.
"Bluh," said Ann in disgust.
"Not only do you have homework, but you're third years now." said Makoto. "You need to start thinking not just about graduation but post graduation-"
"Ah! No, stop!" cried Ryuji, holding out his index finger and shutting his eyes as tightly as he could. "Don't bring that up! Not now!"
Morgana couldn't help but chuckle. "Ryuji never changes," he said.
"Back to the topic at hand, if I may suggest Kyoto. I'll find an abundance of inspiration if we tour each temple and shrine," said Yusuke. "Oh, the sheer wealth of beauty I can witness in two and a half months! I can hear the treasures of our history calling to me!"
"Yeah, if it's a two-and-a-half-month long art tour, I'm gonna pass," said Futaba, causing Yusuke to look dejected.
"I think Ryuji-senpai and Yusuke-senpai might be onto something." said Sumire. "A trip does sound pretty nice, so what if we all went camping first? We can all go hiking, hang out at a lake during the day, and even throw together a barbecue at night!"
"B-b-barbecue?!" Futaba stammered, a look of panic crossing her face. "Aren't those b-big gatherings for people to socialize IRL?!"
"Don't worry, Futaba, it's just gonna be us. Nothing to worry about." said Ren, trying to comfort Futaba.
Haru giggled. "Sounds fun! You can leave the firewood chopping to me," she said.
"Kicking summer off right with a barbecue buffet… sounds badass to me!" said Ryuji as he turned to Ren. "How 'bout you, man?"
"Hell yeah, let's go all out on it!" said Ren with a smirk on his face.
"Look for decent marbling in the cuts. That's how you get the real good stuff. Trust me on this," said Morgana.
"It does sound rather fitting for the summer," said Makoto. "I like the idea, but we'll need an awful lot of vegetables to balance it out."
"Ha… a barbecue is one of the few things in this world that can drag me away from art," said Yusuke. "Our history's treasures can wait a bit longer."
"Choosing food over art?" asked Futaba. "You sure your priorities are solid there, Inari?"
"Umm, Futaba, I'm pretty sure food is naturally a higher priority for anybody, especially for someone like Yusuke." said Ren, remembering how bad Yusuke's diet normally is with how bad Yusuke is with managing his own money. "In fact, and I'm afraid to say it, but I think Yusuke is thinner than the last time I saw him."
"...Yeah, fair point." Futaba commented.
"All right, our first reunion party has been decided! We're going camping!" declared Ann.
"And with that settled..." Futaba said as she pulled out her phone once the plans for their vacation were finalized. "EMMA, list recommended camping gear."
"I have compiled a list of items recommended for camping," a female automated voice said from Futaba's phone. "There is a sporting and travel goods store near 705 in Shibuya. Customer reviews rate this as the best relevant store in your area."
"Ooh, what's that?" Morgana asked, his interest piqued.
"The virtual assistant, EMMA," explained Futaba, holding up her phone so everyone could see. "You haven't heard of it yet?"
"Oh, I think I have," Ann said. "It knows, like, basically everything, and does all sorts of stuff for you, right?"
"Ah, yeah, it's got this eye that thinks for it, right?" Ryuji asked.
"... Ryuji-senpai, that's 'AI,' not 'an eye,'" said Sumire with a disturbed expression.
"Right, it stands for 'artificial intelligence,'" explained Futaba. "It can search all kinds of databases, conduct navigation, manage your schedule, even talk out logic problems and stuff with you. The makers go on about how you can ask it anything and you'll get the best possible answer."
"I remember seeing a demo of one on TV the other day," said Makoto. "They were showing off its functions and talking about how it's the next big thing."
"Yep, that's it all right," confirmed Futaba. "Pretty solid tech, considering it's about a thousand times smarter than Ryuji."
"A thousand times zero is still zero, Futaba." Ren commented, causing everyone except for Ryuji to burst out into laughter.
"Shaddup!" snapped Ryuji. "Although, it does sound kinda cool, though… I bet it'd tell us where all the best ramen shops are."
"Yeah, you should all download it! I'm telling you all, it's the bee's knees!" said Futaba.
As one, the former Phantom Thieves of Hearts pulled out their smartphones, and downloaded EMMA, the virtual assistant.
Later That Night…
Ren, his friends, and his girlfriend had talked until nearly sunset, at which point, Sojiro treated them all to curry as a "Welcome Back" gift. Ryuji and Ren then agreed to meet in front of the Buchiko statue in Station Square the next day to gather the things EMMA had suggested for their camping trip.
Once his friends had left, Sojiro had put Ren to work helping out around the store. Admittedly, Ren was a little rusty, but he was able to figure everything out again before too long. Exhausted, Ren and Morgana climbed back up the stairs and plopped down on Ren's old mattress.
"Hoo, boy, does this bed bring back memories," said Morgana as he stretched out on the bed. "It's nice to see everyone doing so well. The chief seemed to be the same as ever too… this place is just as great as I remember…"
"Yeah…" said Ren as he stretched out his back and tucked himself into the covers. "It is… it really is… no wonder Maruki's reality would've had me stay here forever…"
"Yeah…" said Morgana. "So, we're camping in a couple days, huh? Talk about a way to kick off your summer vacation!"
"Yeah, I'm really looking forward to it. I wanna visit tons of places, and do a lot of fun activities with everyone… I hope I can even make some very memorable moments with Sumi too." Ren said as he shifted to get comfortable.
"Mwah ha ha ha rawr! Me too!" said Morgana as he laid down on Ren's chest. "Well, we should get some sleep… good night, Ren."
NewWorldFool: And this concludes the chapter! If you liked what you saw here, then be sure to fave, follow, review, and be sure to join us next time as we meet Alice Hiiragi! See you then!