As the door swung open and the bell rang, Ren stepped into the Cafe Leblanc, returning home from an exhausting day of school and the metaverse.

"You're a little late coming back," Sojiro mentioned. "Something up?"

"Uh," Ren flinched. "Yeah I was helping a friend out," he explained.

"Oho, friends already? Maybe you really are getting your act together," Sojiro admitted.

"And I was also um, helping this cat…" he told Sojiro as he opened his bag to show Morgana.

"Wha- I'm not a cat!" Morgana said, annoyed at Ren's words.

"Kid, I can't have animals around here you know that right? This is a restaurant still," Sojiro said while shaking his head.

"I'm not an animal! I'm a human too!" Morgana cried out to deaf ears.

"But…" Sojiro began. "I can't say no to that now, can I? Here he's probably hungry, right? Let me see if we've got anything he can eat."

Sure enough, there were leftovers left for Morgana. Sojiro's own leftovers, fatty tuna.

In an instant, Morgana's attitude changed nearly instantly. "Wow, I really wouldn't mind eating this all the time," he exclaimed as he dug into the meal that Sojiro had set for him.

"So does he have a name?" Sojiro asked much to the amusement of Ren. Despite his tough exterior, Sojiro seemed to really care about the thought of having a cat.

"Yeah, his name's Morgana," Ren told him much to his disappointment.

"Oh, is that so? I was hoping I'd get to name him," Sojiro said dejectedly. "But it is a good name at least."

Sojiro looked at the clock before gathering some of his things. "Alright, I gotta get going but don't remember to clean up after him, alright? Make sure that my cafe isn't a mess when I get back tomorrow."

Ren waved goodbye to Sojiro as he left, flipping the sign from the outside to "closed."

After Morgana had finished eating, Ren made sure to clean up his plate before the two went upstairs.

"So, this is where you live, huh?" Morgana said idly as they walked up the stairs. "I gotta say that guy is pretty cool."

"Huh? Oh Sojiro? Yeah he's…" Ren paused for a moment as he remembered the last couple days he had spent at Leblanc. "Dependable. He's sort of mean on the outside, but once you get to know him, he's pretty cool. He'll open up eventually, though I get why he's reluctant right now."

"Huh, so about the whole palace thing?" Morgana asked. "Why were you there today? You told me you'd tell me later, you know?"

Ren sighed as he prepared himself for a long story. "Look, I know it probably doesn't make sense, but someone or something sent me back."

"Sent you back?"

"Time. I know things that no one should. Things that haven't happened. Things that are going to happen. It's like I was sent back in time, but there was no reason for it. I just don't get it."

"Well that doesn't really explain why you were in there," Morgana stated impatiently.

"It's because I knew you in the future, if that makes sense. You didn't meet him today, but Ryuji and I wandered in there in my original timeline. But… I changed it. I don't know if what I did was right or not, but I had to do something to make sure that the people around me don't get hurt… You were one of those people that I needed to save."

"Ok, so if what you're saying is true, then wouldn't things be completely out of order now that you've already changed something? Something like the butterfly effect or whatever?" Morgana asked.

"I thought my first change would've brought a lot more differences too but honestly, nothing major really happened outside of the intended effect," Ren told Morgana, in reference to Kasumi and Sumire. It seemed as though the sisters weren't out of the ordinary. To him, Sumire acted the same while Kasumi acted just how he expected the "elder" Yoshizawa twin to act.

There was no major shift in personality. After all, despite his intervention, most people weren't as malleable as they really believed. At most, his interaction with Sumire's shadow was more akin to a light shove rather than the subjugation that they put other shadows to. He had never fought against her, instead opting to talk it out. And it worked.

"Huh…" Morgana pondered. "So you really came back from the future?" He asked.

"Yeah," Ren replied. "And I'll do whatever I can to secure a better one for everyone. There was too much pain in my time… I just wouldn't wish it upon anyone. If I'm careful enough, the deadlines that we once had wouldn't matter. We could come and go as we please, in and out of palaces without worry of running out of time."

It really was inconvenient when every single one of their targets had some sort of deadline to complete. Kamoshida's threat of expulsion. Madarame's threat of suing and police action. Kaneshiro's photos. So on and so forth.

This time around, there would be no reason for Kamoshida to suspect anything. No reason for him to try and expel Ren, Ryuji, or even Mishima. No, Kamoshida wouldn't even know what hit him until it was too late.

"Well, I'll be counting on you to help me secure that palace's treasure, you got that?" Morgana said as he climbed up onto the bed.

"Loud and clear," Ren said with a laugh. "Let's get to bed. Still got school tomorrow."

As Ren closed his eyes, he felt his body weigh down on him as a familiar tug on his consciousness brought him to the imposter's velvet room.

"My my, it would seem that your path to rehabilitation has already begun, trickster," the False God proclaimed. "Although the future you seek may not be as you believe, there is always room for change, lest you allow yourself to fall into ruin."

Ren suppressed the urge to laugh in the face of Yaldabaoth. He had already known his plans. There was nothing he could do to affect the outcome. The god of control was only convincing himself that the trickster could be played for a fool.

"My attendants are always here to assist you should you so need it," Igor stated, referring to both Caroline and Justine.

As Igor finished, Ren approached the twins, knowing full well that the two wardens wouldn't remember him. "Care for an assignment, inmate?"

"I'd love to," Ren replied. In actuality, he had an ace up his sleeve. He had previously already completed the twins' checklist. There was no reason that they would've changed it seeing how isolated the velvet room was from the outside.

"We request that you come back with a Jack Frost with mabufu. Bring us our desired persona and will see that your access increases to our services."

To this, Ren simply smiled. "Check your compendium. It should have everything that you've requested, and are going to request," Ren said with a soft expression. Although they were a product of Yaldabaoth's interference, Ren knew that Caroline and Justine were more than capable of coming through when it mattered most. Their hearts allegiance didn't truly lie with the false Igor.

Instead, his completion of their checklist in such a short time was a wake up call. It told them that something was wrong. Something like this shouldn't have been possible. It was completely true that his compendium had every persona with the requested skills. Even the ones they hadn't told him about.

Jack Frost with mabufu? Check. Neko Shogun with dekaja? Check. Seth with high counter? Also check. It seemed his personas met every criteria that they had written down. The question remained: how?

It wasn't for someone to form bonds with such high level personas when lacking the experience to handle them. So why was it that he had them in his compendium already? How could he have obtained them?

"Caroline, he truly does have all that we ask for," Justine noted, in awe. She looked to her sister as something inside her awoke.

It was more like something within her had been cleared, but she wasn't entirely sure what. The only thing she knew now was that she could fully trust her inmate. He was the key to the threat of ruin.

"Well, if he did what we asked then we have to give him everything we promised. We have a few things lined up for you, inmate. Though, we certainly didn't expect you to have access to them so quickly. Justine, if you will."

"Your fusion capabilities have become far greater than what you were previously capable of. Although we typically limited you to just two personas per fusion, we believe you've earned the right to more. In addition to your increased capacity for fusions, we've decided that you're ready to access higher, more powerful personas even if your experience doesn't quite match their level."

"Hey, Justine, do you mind if I take a look at the compendium real quick? I've gotta pick up a couple of personas before I head out," Ren asked as he stood up from his cell.

"Certainly," Justine obliged as she pulled out the oversized book detailing every persona available to Ren. "There seems to be some personas that even we do not recognize," she informed him. "I would suggest you check them out if you have the capacity to do so. Who knows what secrets they hold?"

As Ren checked on his list, he noticed a few personas that he had never fused nor captured.

"A persona of another story. One of the ancient gods who existed before Japan was formed. He created the Oyashima from chaos, then gave birth to countless children and laid the foundation of soil and nature."

A persona of another story? Ren had certainly heard of the god Izanagi, however he never even considered that he could embody a persona. Disregarding the actual god Izanagi, what was this of another story? What other story was there where personas had played a part? Perhaps he'd have Futaba look into it whenever he had the chance. For now, his priorities were focused on Kamoshida and the livelihood of students like Shiho and Mishima.

"I'll take these, if you don't mind," Ren told the twins. He had picked out some of his old reliable personas, Seth, Kali, and Alice. Along with them, he also wanted to see what was up with the persona of another story, Izanagi. Something told him that it would be important. Paying the fine of yen to the velvet room attendants, Ren returned to his consciousness, asleep until daybreak.

As the next day rolled around, Ren noticed a distinct lack of dread. His first time in Tokyo had been hostile. Although he hadn't shown it, the attitude of his classmates seemed to always weigh down on him. He knew though, that today would be different from yesterday. There was plenty of time for Kamoshida to spread all the rumors he wanted about him.

And why would they not believe him? From either intimidation or ignorance, the students of Shujin would take Kamoshida's word against that of an outsider like Ren. The good news was that his attendance on his first day left him time to give an impression to the students before Kamoshida could go around spreading anything. Of course, it wasn't going to stop some, but he hoped at the very least, some students would open their eyes and see that not everything that Kamoshida said was the voice of god.

As Ren walked up the front steps of Shujin Academy, he could already feel the fingers pointing at him, eyes staring at him, and could hear the conversations regarding him. Some students looked away if he glanced at them, others looked in curiosity. As he watched, he became aware of footsteps approaching him.

"Hey," the voice said. "Don't let the rumors get to you, okay?" Shiho told him as the two walked into the school.

It was surprisingly nostalgic, actually. He remembered that Shiho had said the same exact words in one of their few interactions. She was one of the only students that even gave him a chance, all due to Ann's status as the butt end of a lot of rumors regarding her and Kamoshida. Shiho truly was a kind soul. Ren remembered Ann's motivation. Shiho was one of the main reasons that the Phantom Thieves of Hearts had formed in the first place. That was something Ren wouldn't forget.

"Thanks, Shiho," Ren said with a smile. "But I'm not gonna let them get the best of me, so don't worry about it."

"Well, I'm glad to hear," she said. "What do you think is going to happen to Kamoshida? You said before that something was coming his way, didn't you? Don't tell me that something is you, is it?"

"Oh come on, Shiho, you know the answer to that already, don't you?" Ren said as his smile widened.

"Ren, please don't do anything too reckless, okay? You're already on probation as is so try not attract too much attention. We just got to know you yesterday, so try not to leave us so soon, alright?"

"Don't worry. What comes to him won't be seen by anyone else other than me and maybe a couple others. I can let you in on it too when the time comes, if you'd like," Ren informed her. He had plans to include at the very least, Morgana. Though, he knew he would cave in and bring Ann and Ryuji along.

"Yes, I'd like that," Shiho said. "As long as you'll stay here in Shujin with us, I'm fine with whatever you do."

The two went their separate ways as the school day was beginning. Although the scenario would change, Ren would remind himself:

"This one's for you, Shiho."

The Phantom Thieves of Hearts would be born anew. The world would see that no evil goes unpunished if they had something to say about it.

As classes came and went, Ren found himself idly wondering about the other changes that he would set off through the changes he had already made. On one hand, Maruki was likely not a threat to the Phantom Thieves specifically. Kasumi never died and as such, Sumire never needed therapy. As such, Maruki would have never realized the full potential of his persona's abilities… right?

Disregarding Maruki's potential, Ren shifted his focus to other people that met unfortunate ends in his original time. The obvious thought was of Kunikazu Okumura, Haru's father. Akechi's involvement in the multiple murders and mental breakdowns couldn't be changed. At least, not the ones where the target was unknown. Ren had no information to go off of if he wanted to try to stop even one of the mental shutdown cases.

But with Okumura, he knew that he had to have died shortly after they defeated him. There was simply no time afterward where Akechi could have gotten in. The collapse of the palace meant that he was there the whole time, trailing them somehow. Perhaps it was Loki's doing. Perhaps it was his sheer skill. Whatever the case, Ren would be sure to ensure the safety of Okumura's shadow. For Haru.

As corrupt as Okumura was, as inconsiderate and callous, he was still her father. He had seen in Maruki's dream reality that Haru still wanted her father back. It was clear that she had missed him dearly even after his attempt at selling her off for marriage.

As for Yaldabaoth… how could he fight that? Sure, he defeated him in the end, but what could Ren even do to stop him from changing the world in the first place? The fusion of mementos and reality meant that their access to the metaverse had been cut off. Although they had been content with what they had accomplished originally, what if he could change it? What if he could make the Phantom Thieves into a fully fledged organization, run by persona users for the sake of the oppressed.

It certainly was an option. The only thing he needed to do was defeat Yaldabaoth before he attempted to fuse reality and mementos. And to do that, he'd need a certain persona to cast aside the false god into the abyss.

Satanael, the fallen angel. With the bullet that pierced the heavens, Satanael was able to fell Yaldabaoth in nothing but a single shot. If he could get Satanael earlier through his fusions…

Maybe his plan could work.

As Ren walked out of class, he came face to face with Kasumi Yoshizawa who had bumped into him. She had begun to fall backwards before being swiftly caught by Ren who took her hand before she could hit the floor.

"Oh geez, sorry about that," Ren said as he observed the auburn haired girl's reaction. He hadn't expected to interact with the Yoshizawa sisters yet. He was unsure of how to approach them, but this gave him the perfect opportunity.

"You're Kasumi Yoshizawa, right? The first year gymnast?" Ren asked her.

"Oh!" Kasumi said wide eyed. "I'm actually surprised that you've heard about a first year like me. It's not often that I talk with any of the second years after all."

"Yeah, my name's Ren Amamiya. Your sister is here too, right? I heard you two were the best in Shujin when it came to gymnastics so I thought it was pretty cool," Ren told her.

"You think gymnastics is cool?" Kasumi asked him. It was a strange take to be honest. She had always believed she was too biased to take any sort of stance on the "coolness" of gymnastics.

"I mean yeah, have you seen the way you guys move? It always looks so difficult to pull off, yet you always make it seem like it's nothing special. I'd say that's pretty cool," Ren said genuinely. His routine with Sumire was hard enough. The fact that she didn't even think it was that bad said a lot about her athletic capabilities.

"I mean no, I guess I never really had a chance to look back on my performances. I've always just moved on and went to work on my next routine. Any mistakes that I made were pointed out by my coach and I fixed them just like that."

"Say, if you and your sister don't really talk to second years that much, why don't you come get some food with me and a couple friends so you can meet some of your seniors?" Ren offered. "There's a ramen shop in Ogikubo that we could all go to. Food's on me."

"Well, we don't have practice today so we could go. I'll have to ask Sumire about it though. If you don't mind waiting by the front for me for a bit, I could ask her real quick."

"Sounds great! I'll let the others know that you two might come along," Ren said pulling out his phone. He had already gotten the contact information of all three of them, so asking them was a lot easier.

Ren- Ramen in Ogikubo? On me. The Yoshizawa sisters might join us.

Ryuji- Wait, what? The Yoshizawa sisters might come with us to get food? What brought this up?

Ren- Bumper into Kasumi by accident and almost knocked her over. It's the least I could do.

Ann- Yeah, sure I can get food with you guys!

Shiho- I would but I've got practice today so…

Ren- Nah just skip it

Shiho- And have Kamoshida mad at me? I don't know if that's really a good idea

Ren- Oh come on, as if he isn't always mad at you. It's just this once anyway. I'm sure he wouldn't mind if you were gone just for today.

Shiho- Fine, I'll go too.

Ren- Nice. Everyone meet up at the front gate in 5?

Ren followed Kasumi down to the first year classes, waiting for her to ask Sumire. He waited at the door and watched as she entered the classroom. Kasumi went straight to her sister, and although he couldn't quite make out what she was saying, he saw as she pointed towards him as Sumire followed her finger.

He offered a small smile and a wave as she began to pack her belongings before the two made their way to him.

"Well, we'll be in your care!" Kasumi said excitedly. The three walked out towards the entrance of Shujin to see the other three waiting for them. The three seemed to be getting along well with each other as they were all stacked up practically on each other as Ann seemed to be showing them something on her phone.

"Alright, are we all ready?" Ren asked, getting their attention. "Let's go then."

The six made their way to the train station as Sumire and Kasumi introduced themselves to the other three and vice versa.

Everything was coming together. Ren had already gathered the four founding members of the Phantom thieves in himself, Ann, Ryuji, and Morgana. Additionally, he had instilled confidence in Shiho, allowing her to confide in him whenever she wanted to. Now, he had the opportunity to bring forth at the very least, Sumire. He was unsure if Kasumi had any potential as a persona user, however considering her sister's aptitude, it wasn't unreasonable to believe she also had the capability.

For now, he would take the time to get to know the Yoshizawa sisters once more. It was obvious that Kasumi's death in his original time had weighed heavily on Sumire, making it reasonable to believe that she wasn't entirely herself. As for Kasumi, it was possible that Maruki's therapy gave him some insight as to how Kasumi acted based on Sumire's own beliefs.

The six entered the small ramen shop that Ryuji and Ren had gone to back in their original time. It was a nice cozy restaurant to eat at even in a group as large as theirs. As they got seated, Ren listened in to the conversation that had arisen on their way to the ramen shop.

"-can't believe that you guys have so much work to do," Shiho told the sisters, "Compared to volleyball, you guys seem to have such a heavy workload it's kind of crazy how much there is."

"Oh, it's not all that bad," Kasumi replied. "Sumire and I have been doing gymnastics since we were a lot younger so we're used to the amount of time we have to spend doing it. I do feel bad for you though, that gym teacher really seems off all the time. I just don't see him being a very good coach."

Kasumi's straightforward reaction came as a surprise to all of the students there. She was one of the first ones Ren had ever seen to openly criticize Kamoshida like that. Sure, some students made off hand comments about him to some of their closer friends, but Kasumi had just gone out and said it to a group of second years she had just gotten to know.

"Oh trust me, don't spend too much time with him. You'll see that he doesn't seem off. He completely is. Take it from me who's been on the volleyball team since my first year that he isn't someone you should ever look up to. I don't care that he has an olympic medal, the fact that he…" Shiho stopped herself, realizing that they were still in public. She took a deep breath to calm herself, yet her message had already gotten through to the two sisters.

Although they weren't quite clear on the details, it was clear that Shiho had a less than pleasant experience being coached by Kamoshida.

Ren put his hand on Shiho's shoulder, assuring her that Kamoshida's career would be over soon enough. There wasn't much he could tell her just yet, but he wanted to let her know that they were there for her.

As the Shujin students ate their meals, new bonds were formed as Kasumi and Sumire found a lot of common interests with Shiho as athletes. Along with her, they were interested in Ann's role as a model along with Ryuji's history of track. Although he wasn't yet ready to share the details of his issues, everyone assured him that there wasn't any pressure and that they were also there for him.

Finally, their interest in Ren stemmed from his history as "the delinquent student." Even though Shiho had told them about how they shouldn't really trust Kamoshida, it was still known that Ren had a criminal record even though his behavior didn't match up at all with what he was charged with. It was obvious that he was kind hearted, a parallel to the assault charge that he had on record.

They wanted to get to know the so-called "delinquent problem student" who had moved from the countryside to the inner city of Tokyo. Only time would tell how his character was, though he already knew that it wouldn't change. Ren wasn't one to cave in to society. Hell, he had become a phantom thief to rebel against it, so why would he change now? Sure, his initial motivations had changed, but his justice was still there. His convictions lied with those that he saved.

His ambitions for a network of thieves began to seed itself. He already had Morgana by his side. Now, he just needed to properly introduce, at the very least, Ryuji and Ann to the metaverse. They were reliable members, capable of much more than they seemed to let on as some of the phantom thieves' heaviest hitters. Ann's aptitude for magic was highly underestimated, while Ryuji's ability for physical hits was unparalleled. A glass cannon and a tank, like two sides of a coin.

He would be sure to ease them into it, start off with some physical training to get them ready before they even stepped foot into the metaverse. Although they had initially gone in completely blind when they had awoken their personas, each case was dangerous. They had nearly been killed, only to be saved at the last second by their awakening. This time, they would reign in their power, giving them the absolute advantage over anything that Kamoshida's palace had to offer. In the meantime, he would scout out the palace, checking for any changes and securing their route with Morgana. He at least had some back up in a healer when Morgana was with him, making it much safer for him to infiltrate.

He knew he had a long road ahead. The baggage came with the knowledge. But he was sure he would get through it all to ensure a better future.

As the group parted following their return to Tokyo, Ren had asked to talk to Ryuji and Ann real quick. His intent was to prepare them for the coming fight against Kamoshida. He wanted them in the best condition they could be in without becoming too suspicious of his intent, therefore he was limited in what he could ask them to do.

"I know you both have something against Kamoshida," Ren said as he pulled the two to the side. "So what if I gave you the opportunity to do something?"

Ryuji and Ann looked at each other. Although they were worried about Ren's offer, they understood that he wasn't one to do anything that would cause any real harm. Ren never gave off any sort of indicator that he was actually some delinquent like his police report might have claimed.

"Well I'm sure you've got something planned out," Ryuji said. "But I gotta ask, what could we possibly do against that? That guy is like the face of Shujin. There's no way we can do anything out in public to knock him down a few pegs. They're not gonna listen to a couple of students who are already considered outliers."

"What I have in mind doesn't involve anything public," Ren said, looking around for anyone nearby that might be listening in on them. "I want you guys to learn how to meditate. I know it sounds weird, but mentally, I want you guys as prepared for this as possible. If you're up for it, exercising would also be pretty good but not entirely necessary."

"So meditation and working out? Just sounds like you're trying to trick us into just bettering ourselves you know," Ryuji told Ren. "I mean sure, exercise is good and all but what's so important about this whole operation you've got going that we need to like, do all this shit for?"

Ren sighed. "I told you, we're taking down Kamoshida. If we want to succeed with the highest possible success rate, I'm gonna need you guys to be in top shape. I'll show you guys when we get there."

In truth, Ren didn't believe that they would believe him in the first place. The idea of the metaverse was something straight out of a comic book. The idea that there was this whole other world that you could use to steal people's desires seemed so foreign. So out of place in their society that it just seemed like a joke.

The only way he could think to even prove it was to just bring them in cold, explaining everything once they were in already. He needed them to take this seriously or else their desire to seek fame would cloud their judgment, leading to a similar outcome as they had before.

"I know it sounds odd but if you guys want to help me take him down, you've gotta take me seriously and trust me. I promise it'll do you well," Ren assured them.

Ann and Ryuji gave him a nod, on board with his plan. As curious as they were, from what they had learned about him in the past two days was that he was serious when he needed to be. The thought of taking down Kamoshida seemed unreachable. It was a forbidden fruit, never to be touched by their hands. Yet Ren was giving them a way to succeed.

To get their revenge on Kamoshida. It was a dangerous mindset to have, though they would come to realize that what they were doing wasn't for them. It was for the greater good of the students that they attended school with. It wasn't some selfish attack based purely on their own experiences with him. No, they would come to embrace what it meant to be a phantom thief: to protect those in need, even if it meant fighting the impossible.

Ren made a mental note to always remind everyone of their goals as phantom thieves. There was never any intent for personal gain. Instead, the power that lied within the metaverse was to be used to reform society. To protect those in need and to do whatever it took to make sure everyone had a bright future ahead of them.

Ren laughed to himself. The way he thought about it, the more he realized how much he sounded like Maruki in his dream world. But he was sure to remind himself that everyone still had their free will. Although Maruki's intent and even execution was good, the truth behind it all wasn't.

Ren took his train back home to Yongen, ready to call it a day after going out with his friends. It was nice to be able to call them that. He had already befriended 2 of the original founding members, people he held dearly to him, and also managed to lend 3 others a hand if they ever needed it. He was sure that at the very least, Sumire would join up with them as a phantom thief, but even if that wasn't the case this time around, he was glad he could help her again.

He reminisced in their days as the fully fledged phantom thieves. They had gone through a lot together.

Until then, Ren made sure to keep a low profile. Make sure none of his actions seemed suspicious. Even though he had gone through it once already didn't make him infallible. He had been caught by Maruki in his original time and he was the biggest threat that they had faced. But now? Shiho had seen him leaving Kamoshida's palace. And she wasn't even a threat.

What if someone much more dangerous had seen him leave the metaverse? Regardless, Ren knew he had to keep everything in front of him. Any sort of leeway left too much room for error. The threat of Akechi still loomed, running amok in the metaverse as Shido's personal assassin.

Until they met, Ren wouldn't know his next move. Until then, he'd do whatever he could to prepare.