The sounds of metal on metal rang through the dark, gloomy tunnels of Mementos. Shoes shuffled as two figures exchanged blows back and forth.
Her rapier darted through the air as Sumire thrusted forward. She was accurate and elegant, yet her opponent saw through it all. Despite her many attempts to break his defense, Ren stood strong, countering her every move with his knife.
"Your movements are far too telegraphed," he said after deflecting another stab. "Your grip changes whenever you're about to attack."
The rules were simple. If she could land a single hit within 10 minutes, she won. Yet as that precious time ticked down, Sumire was yet to land a single hit on the leader of the Phantom Thieves. The gap in their skill was astounding. Even with her natural talent and unbelievable stamina, Ren matched her every thrust, deflecting each and every jab.
Although she had yet to awaken her persona, Sumire had insisted that they sparred. She had witnessed some of their Mementos runs. Shortly after joining the Phantom Thieves, their three new members had all observed as their leader went to work. The others would stand back in case anything went wrong.
Ren had explained how due to her choice in athletics, she would likely be proficient with a rapier. Of course, he actually had no idea if that was the reason. He just based it on what he had seen her use before. Yet his guess seemed to still hold true. Much like the Sumire he had once seen, the girl was a natural.
"He really is something, huh?" Kasumi noted as her sister sank to the ground next to her. Sumire panted, tired from the relentless nature of their fight. Even though she was more than capable of enduring hours of gymnastics, it didn't hold a candle to combat training. The rush of wielding something a weapon was otherworldly.
"I can't do a thing against him. He's so fast it's actually ridiculous," Sumire shook her head. Ren's agility was unmatched among the Phantom Thieves. Understandably so. Knives were short range, get in and get out types of weapons. The experience of his past life and the amount of time he had now all compounded into a monstrously fast thief.
His attacks were lightning fast and although Sumire could see his movements, she couldn't react to them. Neither could Kasumi for that matter. Ren figured that if both sisters were practically the same person, if Sumire was good with a rapier, perhaps Kasumi was as well.
They spent hours in the safe areas of Mementos, honing their skills and improving their swordsmanship against their leader. Meanwhile, Ren had hoped that their training could lead to the awakening of their personas. And his hope was answered. After three hard weeks of training in Mementos, Sumire had partially awakened Cendrillon.
In a last ditch effort to block an attack from Ren, she had exploded in a bright blue blaze. Although it wasn't a full awakening, it was evident that she at least still had the potential to. It was something he had never seen before. Although she hadn't been put into a situation that called for the need for her persona, Cendrillon still showed up. It was a testament to her tenacity. She had put everything she had into blocking a single attack and it worked. For the first time since they had started, Sumire had both blocked an attack from Ren and immediately followed it up with a counterattack.
"Well that answers it," Ren said as he rubbed the spot where Sumire had landed her attack. "Seems like you've still got the potential." It was unexpected to say the least. Although he knew she had once wielded the power of a persona, her life was significantly different now compared to how it was before. He knew her trauma had been tied to Kasumi's death. What could have allowed her to manifest Cendrillon now? All he had done was face her shadow. As far as he knew, personas were born from rebelling against their supposed fate. It was the reason he and Ryuji had escaped in the first place.
"I actually did it…" Sumire said, wide eyed. "I finally…" the girl yawned and wobbled on her feet. "I finally got a hit off huh?" She stated triumphantly with a smug grin. Her arms came down, having stretched while she yawned. Yet with them, the rest of her also began to collapse, only to be caught by her mentor.
"Sumire!" Kasumi shouted as she jumped up to her feet to see what was wrong with her sister.
"She's fine," Ren assured her. "She's just tired. All of us had to rest the day we first summoned our personas. It's mentally and physically taxing so I'm not surprised she passed out like that."
Ren unlocked his phone and used the MetaNav to bring them out of Mementos. As they arrived back in the real world, Sumire was still out cold. Even though Kasumi had told him she could carry Sumire back home, Ren insisted on carrying her and walking Kasumi back home.
The two made their way back to the Yoshizawa household as Sumire rested, sleeping blissfully as Ren carried her. He figured that her exaggerated fatigue was likely due to the exertion she constantly had as an athlete. Despite having had gymnastics the same day, Sumire had insisted on going into Mementos to train further. She was adamant on beating Ren at least once. Her conviction finally led to her first ever triumph over her leader.
Before they arrived at their house, Sumire began to stir. Her hold on Ren had tightened as she subconsciously held on, somewhat aware that she was being carried. It wasn't until she finally decided to open her eyes that she was surprised and embarrassed to see just who was carrying her.
"R-Ren! You can put me down now!" She said frantically. As the flushed girl was set down, her sister giggled while Ren looked at her with an amused expression.
"Sleep well?" He asked. "Forgot to tell you, but those of us that awaken personas normally feel really tired the same evening. Sometimes it takes weeks for us to be back up but I didn't really expect you to pass out on the spot like that."
"Gee, thanks," Sumire rolled her eyes. "Could have used that information earlier don't you think?" She huffed and crossed her arms. Shaking her head, she turned back to Ren. "Thanks though… for helping Kasumi carry me back home."
The three exchanged laughs as they made their way to the Yoshizawa household. Unfortunately, it didn't take long and Ren found himself saying goodbye earlier than he had wished to. He didn't think he would click quite like he had with the two sisters. Yet here he was late in the evening walking the two of them home. His journey home was uneventful.
The day had finally come where The Phantom Thieves of Hearts had all agreed to infiltrate Kaneshiro's palace. Between the day the three new members had joined, plenty of time was spent building up a proper team dynamic. They had all met Yusuke shortly after they joined. As strange as he may have been sometimes, they quickly became friends with the Kosei art student.
They had already tested their theory regarding Kaneshiro's palace. All the other members of the Phantom Thieves had access to the main portion. Along with that, Makoto had unleashed Johanna, her own persona after Shadow Kaneshiro had threatened both her and her sister. It was much the same as it originally had gone down. This time however, her convictions were different.
She knew now what it meant to have meaningful companions in her life. The Phantom Thieves were full of people she could call friends without any burden of expectation. It taught her that it didn't matter how people thought of you. The you that you are is what matters. Not some made up fantasy of expectations that someone dreamed up. She wasn't a puppet to anyone's whim. The Phantom Thieves- no, her friends had taught her that. No fate was set in stone.
She had showed her true self to her fellow teammates, and although it may have been embarrassing to her, she felt as though a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. The burden of expectation that she had lived most of her life under had disappeared, replaced by the uplifting emotion she felt when she finally realized that she had people that cared for her.
When she finally summoned Johanna, Makoto felt more free than she ever had before. Their initial attempt at entering Kaneshiro's palace had succeeded. They all had access to the bank where the man's shadow resided.
Now, the day of their first infiltration had finally arrived. They arrived in the metaverse after school and quickly made their way to the outside of Kaneshiro's palace.
From here, they split up into teams. Ren would go with Makoto, Sumire, and Kasumi. Although Kasumi hadn't manifested her persona yet, it was good practice for her to understand how they fought. With Makoto and Sumire having only recently awakened their own personas, they needed combat experience. No one was as experienced as Ren in that aspect. He knew he could cover them in a pinch and help point out flaws in their approach.
That left Ann, Ryuji, Yusuke and Morgana teaming up while Shiho acted as their navigator. Ren knew the layout of the palace already. He would act as both the leader and navigator for his own team. Their team setup was good. Morgana and Ryuji covered for each other's weaknesses while the same applies to Ann and Yusuke. They had a wide spread of elemental coverage while also checking off the necessary archetypes for a good team setup. Ann was their best damage dealer due to having a high affinity for magic. Due to his background as an athlete, Ryuji was quick and fit the role of an agile physical hitter. Yusuke filled the role between physical and magic damage, capable of doing both rather effectively. Finally, Morgana was skilled in healing magic, easily being able to keep the whole team alive while also being able to occasionally knock down enemies with random, unexpected attacks.
Ren knew that Sumire had access to curse and bless magic, Makoto had nuke and good support magic, and Kasumi was completely unknown. If he had to guess, it was likely that her own affinity would be similar to her sister's.
Ren walked over to the pig statue that rested above the hidden passage into Kaneshiro's bank. Their time to shine had finally come. As they reached the interior, they spotted a new type of shadow that they hadn't seen before. The dog-like shadow was much more perceptive than their counterparts. Their senses were keener, forcing anyone that approached to fully commit to the fight or get caught before they could reach.
The shadow soon noticed them and was quickly put down by an overeager Sumire. It hadn't even reached the same room as them when she struck. Cendrillon appeared and, in a flash, the shadow melted back into the darkness. Cendrillon's Sword Dance had practically vaporized the shadow in an instant.
The party looked back towards the girl who herself was wide eyed. "A bit of a miscalculation," she laughed sheepishly.
They continued on into the next room. The door had been boarded up after Makoto's awakening. It was clear even from the outside that Kaneshiro's shadow was afraid of the display that Johanna had done. The two teams spotted two shadows in the room and moved in sync to attack at the same time.
Yusuke moved with precision, getting into position to attack first with his blade. Meanwhile, Ren had also gotten close to the other shadow. Ren nodded and Yusuke understood his signal. With the thrust of a katana and the stab of a knife, the two shadows fell as they were taken by surprise.
"Move up the stairs," Ren commanded. "There's a surveillance room up there that should have a keycard that we can access. Our goal is to get onto the elevator and go down."
Their journey up the stairs led them straight to the vent that housed a single shadow. This was their target. Ren moved silently, slipping out of the vent and rushing the shadow that stood watch over the surveillance monitors. He quickly ripped the mask off and was met by the shadow splitting into four. However, before they could even react, the rest of the Phantom Thieves had already arrived through the vent, overwhelming them with a torrent of attacks.
Ren took care of one alone with his knife, swiftly dashing in with an upwards slash to finish it off. Yusuke and Ryuji teamed up. While Ryuji ran in with his weapon, Yusuke followed closely behind. While Ryuji swung for the head, Yusuke rushed forward, slicing clean through the torso of the shadow. Ann summoned Carmen and quickly burned a different shadow with agilao and Morgana followed up with garu to wipe out a third shadow. Lastly, Sumire summoned Cendrillon and used kougaon, knocking the shadow down. This created an opening for the Phantom Thieves as they went all out, attacking the shadow from every angle to absolutely demolish it.
As the party finished up, Ren walked over to the desk where the keycard laid. Sumire walked up behind him with a confused look on her face. Ren glanced over at her and saw her staring at the CCTV monitors. There was nothing special about them, so why did she seem so absorbed?
"Um, what's with the screen?" Sumire asked. "It's like, rippling or something…" Sumire reached forward and touched the screen. Although none of the other Phantom Thieves seemed to notice what she was talking about, the ripples on the screen intensified as her finger made contact. She quickly pulled her hand back.
"Are you alright, Sumire?" Ren asked with a concerned expression. Was it due to her inexperience with the metaverse? It couldn't have been. Despite not even having a persona, Kasumi was doing fine while her sister wasn't.
"I'm fine, I think. Maybe my eyes are just seeing things," she said while rubbing her eyes. "Let's get going."
Ren nodded before turning to face the rest of his teammates. "This keycard will get us access to the top part of the elevator," he explained. "We have to keep going lower and lower into this place to find his treasure."
The group made their way down the elevator, crawling through some vents before ending up in a large room. As they reached the bottom, a voice came echoing through the halls of the bank.
"Attention all guards, it would appear as though some rats have infested this place. Under no circumstances let them further down. Strengthen security as much as you can!" Just as Ren had expected, their entrance to the bank wouldn't go unnoticed. Even though they had tried to stay on the down low, Kaneshiro would eventually find out. After all, it was obviously strange to not have any communication with the shadow monitoring the CCTV cameras.
This meant that the rest of the CCTV cameras in the basement would be heavily monitored. Any misstep would raise the security level of the palace. Of course, Ren already knew the blind spots. They quickly made their way down the hallway, making sure to dodge any and all camera sight lines. At the end, Ren kicked the junction box that powered the cameras in the area. Should they ever need to backtrack, they didn't have to worry about getting caught on camera.
Ren led them through the halls, making sure to turn off every electronic security system Kaneshiro had. They soon reached the final security room. This was where the two shadows that held the keys to the vault resided. Although they had split them up the first time around, with the amount of firepower they had, Ren was confident that they could take on the two guards.
A loud knock on the metal grating quickly alerted the two guards. The doorway soon opened up as the Phantom Thieves immediately went in, Ren jumping on one while Morgana followed suit. They both pulled off the masks of each shadow revealing Fuu-Ki and Sui-Ki.
While they jumped off the backs of the two shadows, their teammates quickly took the opening they created to begin their assault. Heeding what Ren had said, Ryuji summoned Captain Kidd and immediately hit the Fuu-Ki with zionga, knocking it over. Makoto did the same to Sui-Ki, attacking with frei to knock the shadow over as well.
With both down, they initiated their all-out attack. Blades flew, whips cracked, fists crashed, and clubs smacked as the Phantom Thieves delivered devastating blows to the two shadows. Even so, the two were resilient and recovered from the barrage of attacks that hit them.
Fuu-Ki swung its weapon, catching Yusuke as he tried to retreat to a safer distance. It clipped his shoulder and he stumbled backwards only to be caught by Ann. Morgana quickly went to work summoning Zorro in order to heal Yusuke with dia.
Sui-Ki swung at Ren only for him to dodge with a graceful backflip. While it was still recovering from the missed swing, Ren rushed in with Sumire. She thrusted her rapier forward, aiming for the shadow's knees to try and slow it down. Meanwhile, Ren jumped over the head of the shadow before plunging his blade straight into the back of the shadow. It shouted as he withdrew his blade and retreated.
"Focus on the Sui-Ki!" Ren called out. "It's almost done!"
Heeding his word, Shiho hit the shadow with sukunda, hoping the shadow wouldn't be able to dodge any of the attacks that were soon to follow.
Morgana pulled out his slingshot, hoping to tack on quick damage while still staying out of range of any of its attacks. Yusuke summoned Goemon who assisted him with rising slash. Ann also quickly tacked on damage, choosing to stick with her whip in order to hit the shadow without much issue. Ryuji followed up with his shotgun, rushing the shadow before unloading three shells straight into it. Lastly, Makoto moved in with her fists ready and quickly finished off the shadow with three swift attacks.
Now, all that remained was Fuu-Ki. With one down, Ren was comfortable with letting his teammates decide the best course of action. He was more than capable of scouting palaces out alone. Instead of doing that however, he wanted his teammates to learn how to fight. He wanted them to be independent.
"I leave the last one for you guys," he said as he backed away from the fight. He stood by Shiho and Kasumi who naturally stayed in the back of the fights. Shiho's persona didn't require her to be anywhere near the actual target to afflict her support skills. Instead, she sat in the back line making sure no harm came to Kasumi. Should she pick up anything with her third eye, she was to call for help immediately. Ren knew it was a risk bringing her in, but he had no other idea as to how Kasumi would awaken her own persona if at all.
The remaining Phantom Thieves were naturally in sync. Their movements were refined, meaningful, and accurate. Most notably, Sumire never seemed to waste any movement whenever she approached. Her stabs were quick and powerful, capable of dealing heavy damage incredibly precisely. She seemed to be very in tune with Cendrillon as well.
It didn't take very long before the shadow fell. With both down, they now had the two keycards needed to continue down through the locked vault. As they walked through hall after hall of security cameras and shadows, the group mowed down whatever they could.
Their ride in the elevator down revealed the truth behind Kaneshiro's palace. His treasure was locked away in the center of a lock shaped room. Due to his shortcomings in life, Kaneshiro had become bitter. He locked his past away behind tight seals kept together only by his vast wealth. It was all a sham though.
None of the wealth that Kaneshiro had amassed had been done so through his own work. Although he commanded it all, Kaneshiro was nothing but a coward hiding behind his wealth. When they reached the bottom of the elevator, they stepped and were amazed at the sheer scale of the room.
They were nearly done. It was amazing how quick they moved when one of them knew the ins and outs of every palace. Ren's expertise in each area led to exponentially faster encounters with the shadows that they either faced or avoided. Along with that, he still knew the codes of each terminal. Rather than collecting each slip of paper from the golden pigs scattered across the palace, one look inside his notebook told him every number he needed to input.
They reached the center of the room in record time. Although Ren didn't actually have a count of how long it took them, he knew it had been harder his first time around. Now, with all of his combat experience, he was more than ready to clear the palaces as fast as he could.
They descended to the absolute bottom of the palace. Ren explained the existence of the treasure to their newest members. What it was, what it did, how it came to be. Kaneshiro's treasure had been fitting for the man built up of ill-gotten gains.
The group concluded their infiltration. The day was a success and a very productive one at that. Just as Ren had planned, they had gotten everything done in one day. Now, all that was left to do was scatter the calling cards throughout Shibuya and one would find its way to their target.
As they exited the metaverse and stepped back into the real world, their fatigue began to set in. Even after all his experience, Ren couldn't shake the grogginess he felt from venturing into the metaverse. He pitied his teammates. They definitely had it worse than him considering most of them weren't acclimated at all to the conditions of the metaverse.
Kasumi yawned as soon as they got out, clearly the one most affected by the metaverse. It seemed that her lack of a persona left her worse off compared to the other Phantom Thieves.
Ren checked his phone and saw the time. It was getting late. He soon realized just how hungry he was and offered to cook dinner for the group. It was the least he could do for them after dragging them through the entire palace in a single day. He knew they were exhausted.
Sumire and Kasumi were the first to decline. It was clear that Kasumi was overly exhausted. The two sisters bid their farewells as they headed for the station. Although the offer of Ren's cooking was enticing, Kasumi wanted nothing more than a decent nap in the meantime.
Next was Ryuji who explained that his mom had been expecting him home. He brushed off their concerns in his tardiness, claiming that she wouldn't mind.
Yusuke also had to go back. For the time being, he had to go back to his dorm at Kosei. He claimed that he had been inspired by the sights within Kaneshiro's bank. He simply wanted to paint.
Ann and Shiho had decided to take him up on his offer. Ann had no real curfew. With her parents almost always gone, she typically felt alone within her home despite the presence of her caretakers. Shiho lived close enough that she was sure her own family wouldn't mind. It wasn't like she went out with friends a lot.
They walked through Central Street, food shopping for their dinner that night. Although they loved Ren's curry, he wanted to change it up a bit. Tonight's meal would be chicken katsu. When they returned to cafe LeBlanc, Sojiro stood behind the counter. Adjusting his glasses, his face seemed to light up as he saw Ren accompanied by two of his friends.
"Ah, you're back," he said. "You three seem a bit tired, huh? Have a seat."
"You could tell?" Ann asked.
"Well I'll say you're not as high energy as you usually are. What'll it be? A cup of coffee to wake you up?" Sojiro offered.
"Oh I actually offered to make dinner. Everyone else had plans but Ann and Shiho were free so they accepted the offer. I picked up some ingredients already so I hope you don't mind if I use the stove."
Ann and Shiho talked while Ren cooked. The smell of the chicken wafted through the cafe. Ren set their plates as he sat down beside them.
"Well, I'm gonna close up shop," Sojiro told them. "Make sure you clean everything up after you're done, alright? Have a good night you three," Sojiro waved as he walked out the door.
The three friends stayed up for a while, talking, laughing, and just enjoying each other's company. Ren felt nostalgic. He was thankful for the chance he had to go back. Although he knew things wouldn't be quite the same, the laughter from Shiho and Ann, the smiles from Sumire and Kasumi, and the fun times he had spent with Ryuji and Yusuke had made it all worth it. Not to mention, he still had plenty of time to spend with his other friends. Makoto was warming up to the group while Futaba and Haru would come soon.
He enjoyed the little moments he had with other people as well. He liked teasing Kawakami while still keeping their relationship and her well-being in check. He always brainstormed new ideas when playing shogi against Hifumi. He helped Mishima handle the Phan-Site. So many more people and opportunities awaited him.
Although nothing would ever be the same, maybe it didn't have to.
Shorter chapter than usual.
I'm releasing the chapter alongside another fic. If you're interested in Breath of the Wild at all, you should check it out too.
This does mean that my updates might become more spread, but I never really had a real schedule anyway so it's not like I have an obligation to update one over the other. Chapters will continue to come as my motivation for either fic rises and falls.
Thanks for reading!