May 4th, 20XX
Star Wars day, hell yeah.
Fine, not important to anyone but him. Sure, he brought his old shitty lightsaber to school, but he was a loser, that was to be expected.
Ren noticed an odd pattern in the behavior of the student population. They'd flow like a river through the halls, never stopping to even think. The analog to the spot they fought the neon gorilla in the metaverse was strangely free of footprints like they were scared to step onto it. They gave a wide berth to anyone just standing in the hall, not even looking up or noticing them. The newspaper club girl (who swore she didn't have a crush on Mishima-san, of course not), Ryuji (when he was loitering outside the classroom), and just about anyone else who wasn't getting with the program. Speaking of…
He noticed Haru—was that her name?— talking to someone with a dirty apron in the hall. She walked up to the rooftop, and he noticed some of the students glaring at her for getting in their way.
It was slightly concerning, so he followed her up.
She dropped her bag on a desk, and instead of tending to the plants like usual, pulled out a red plastic laser sword and turned to an old kendo dummy in the corner.
"Sick," said Ren, as he pulled his green lightsaber out of his bag.
Haru jumped, and hid the toy behind her back.
"A-Amamiya-san, hello." She seemed determined to look anywhere but his face.
"Hey, I'm not judging," he vaguely gestured with his sword, swinging it lightly.
"...My father has always had a penchant for the franchise, but he's very busy, and we haven't had a match in a long time."
Ren shrugged, "I've just had this thing around forever, but my grandfather hasn't wanted to cross swords since I started beating him."
Haru giggled. "I just thought I'd practice on my own, my mother and I used to have a small tradition, but…" She looked sad for a moment, but shook it off and smiled again.
"I'll practice with you. Best day to do it, right?"
"That sounds like fun!"
"It's over, Okumura-san! I have the high ground!" He spun his lightsaber around, holding a defensive position on the roof of the stairwell.
She looked up, lightly glaring. "You underestimate my power," said the pink-clad girl in a cute attempt to deepen her voice. She spun her own lightsaber and backed away for the run-up.
"Don't try it…!"
Haru ran up, climbing up the wall with one hand, jumping from a desk, and slashing at his legs with the other. She pushed him back, to the ledge, locking blades.
He leaned in, trying to push her back. "You were the chosen one! It was said that you would destroy the Sith, not join them! Bring balance to the force, not leave it in darkness!"
She stumbled back, spinning her blade.
Plastic klacked against plastic as they danced on the rooftop.
Inevitably, Haru took a wrong step back, tripping over the roof's edge.
Ren barely caught her in time, wrapping an arm around her waist, keeping her from falling. They locked eyes for a moment, precariously leaning over the edge, before he pulled them both back.
She broke out into a smile, "I HATE YOUUU—oh, I can't do this anymore, it's too silly." She giggled, straightening up, and smoothing out her skirt.
"This was fun." He hopped off the roof, right in front of Ryuji, who had just walked up the stairs.
"...Prez was looking for you." He noticed the blade in Ren's hands.
"Hello there." He spun the saber, widely gesturing to the blond.
Ryuji sighed and reached into his bag, whipping out a blue lightsaber. "General Kenobi."
"What on Earth are you doing?" Makoto walked into the three-way duel between Darth Haru and the two Jedi-impersonators.
Ren and Ryuji froze, hiding their blades behind their backs.
"It was Ryuji's idea."
"Dude!"
Niijima just shook her head. "...Never mind. We have work to do."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming." Ren regretfully walked down the stairs, followed by the president.
Ryuji and Haru just glanced at each other, looking like they were about to resume their duel, but decided against it.
"Why are we here?" Yusuke asked.
"I think, if we're going to ever figure out the source of the distortion, we'll need something of a different approach," says Makoto. "We've already tried the hallways, the inner workings of the school itself. But…I have a particular feeling about this place."
The three of them, plus Morgana, stood in front of the cognitive gymnasium's entrance. Luckily there'd been no class today because the current gym teacher had some family issues to attend to.
Perfect opportunity for a heist.
Ren remembered a conversation he'd had with Ann and Shiho, way back when. "Does this have something to do with that…Kamoshida person?"
Makoto folded her arms, eyes flashing with disgust, "Yes."
Smart on her. But goddamn, she looks like she hates being alive. "You ready to do this?"
She didn't even look back at him, kept her eyes focused on the gym, "Yes."
And off they went.
The lock to the gym was rather easily broken. It was strange that it had a lock in the first place, considering it was still in use by the students.
Red. Splotches of it. All over the floors and walls.
"The hell?" Ren stepped in, looking around the room at battered cognitions in sports uniforms.
Makoto kneeled over and covered her mouth. It looked like tears were gathering in the corners of her masked eyes.
Ren knelt down to her level, "H-hey…"
Seething, she tore her eyes up and glared back at him, "You've heard about the Kamoshida incident. How much about it do you know?"
"Shiho mentioned it offhandedly a while ago, but…I wouldn't say I knew that much. She said he died or something."
Yusuke didn't seem to be listening, trying to capture the scene with his fingers.
"That's certainly a part of it," she sadly looked around at the moaning cognitions on the ground. "He was in charge of the volleyball team and… he did terrible things, completely unbefitting of a teacher."
"Beat the students, for example."
"Yes… and worse. I still consider that situation my worst failing with the student population to this day," she sighed. "I suppose that was why I was so harsh on you when you first arrived."
All of them had a little moment of silence, let the air settle. Makoto could've stayed stewing in that self-directed anger for an hour.
Ren saw to it she didn't. "We should keep moving."
She breathed, "Yes."
"Okay, you stupid bastard…the hell do you do now?" He said to himself.
Moments after the thieves had made another foray into the Palace, Ryuji Sakamoto had gone to the usual alleyway, by himself, and pulled up the app that had appeared on his phone. It already had the travel history, likely because it was pulled along when Ren brought him there.
He had only shuddered briefly as the world melted into the cognitive hellscape, and the school became only slightly more dystopian.
He saw receding ripples on the ground, and remembering the water he'd kicked up while visiting, decided to follow along on his own.
He'd have told Makoto to tell his mother he loved her, and that he was sorry for being an idiot of a son, who was nothing but a burden on her and would only pile more things on her shoulders with his every waking hour.
But Makoto wasn't there.
"So how did he die?" asked Ren as he climbed a stairwell.
"My sister prosecuted his estate, but I don't know very much. They said his body was discovered in winter with burn marks, frostbite in some places, and that it was slashed, stabbed, and hit with blunt weapons all over his body, with certain…appendages missing. They suspected torture."
"Vengeful student?"
"That was their best guess, but considering the wide range of victims… They couldn't pin down a single suspect."
"Damn."
"Why do you say that?"
"It may seem ironic, but I do prefer that people be brought to justice alive rather than dead."
"What would you have done?" She seemed legitimately curious like she'd thought about the subject herself.
"I really dunno. I would have tried to gather evidence, maybe change his heart if I had access to it."
He nearly opened the door to where the gym faculty office should have been, before being stopped by Makoto.
"I wouldn't. The reports said that Kamoshida used that room as a… Base of operations."
She sounded ashamed with every word she said.
"We're here to investigate the distortion of Shujin Academy. No matter what, even if it hurts me to look at, I need to fix this place." He tightened his grip on the handle.
Makoto's breath hitched and she winced because she knew she was about to see something she would never be able to stomach, but like always, in the end she understood. "If- If that's what you find is the best course of action, Arsene."
The door slammed open, but not because of any force he had put on it.
A naked stone gargoyle ducked under the door and out of the room, with pink eyes and a very human haircut. Even a rusty iron crown. His body had shown signs of prior muscle, strength and youth, but now it was emaciated to the point where the flesh clung to the bone. Rather than vigorous, reddish-pink skin it bore pale grey— necrosis wreaked havoc upon the gargoyle's joints and nether regions. His four bony arms were as long as tree branches; on his hands were six-foot long fingers with three-foot long nails that could easily pierce through steel.
Ren stepped back, trying to size up the thing with a head that scraped the ceiling.
"The King's throne is everlasting, chosen by the Lord God Himself. Even in death, I remain in the hearts and the minds of my most loyal subjects."
Makoto's eyes widened as it turned on her and leered at her, flexing its hands. She whispered, "Kamoshida…?"
"Heathens who invade the sanctity of my beloved castle. Thou shalt not proceed further, nor disrupt this tranquility with thy filthy rebellion. Forever I curse you in name. Forever I bless you in death. Thy salvation shalt be found in my satisfaction. So YOU BETTER HOLD STILL!"
Before it could take a lunge forward, Ren stabbed as hard as he could into its leg. His knife glanced off, chipping more of the blade than the rock.
The cognition glared at him out of the corners of its eyes, before grabbing him with its incredibly long arms and throwing him down the hallway into the others.
Luckily, Ren had learned from the last time, twisting in mid-air, shifting into his Persona with Arsene's wings wrapping around him. He landed on two feet, right in front of Makoto.
"Why is there a dead man inside of your school's unconscious?" Yusuke pondered.
"Fight now, talk later!" Ren tried a curse spell on the legs, but the decay only rippled across the surface of the stone, not even damaging it.
It started actually moving towards them, imposing its enormous form over all of them. It whipped out with a kick, sending Morgana skittering on his claws.
He felt his body kick into overdrive, green lights seeping out of the ground below him. He turned to give a thumbs up to Yusuke.
"You know, it's about time I use this drill the way it's supposed to." He clicked on the wheel, and stabbed it into the cognition. It scratched along the surface, leaving a trail in the literally-chiseled abs.
Fun fact, drills do not work on non-perpendicular surfaces. And Ren Amamiya does not know how to throw a straight punch.
He was slammed into the ground before he knew it, cracking the tiles.
"Fuck."
He grabbed his bleeding, broken nose, before being kicked into the ground again and again and again and again and-
Yusuke froze the cognition's legs in place, giving Makoto enough time to summon Johanna, grab him, and pull him away.
Or at least, it should have.
Ryuji walked into the gym, after following the trail. He stumbled, seeing all of the bloodstains covering the walls.
Suddenly flashes of him barrelled into his brain, laughing and sneering and looking down on everyone with some stupid grin on his face. He was tall, tall enough to cast a shadow upon him like a giant to an ant—and all Kamoshida had ever needed to do to make him stay down was a single stomp down on his knee—Who the hell do you think you're speaking to? A voice not his own blared into his mind, Who is it you think you see?
He managed to grab his leg hard enough to stop the quaking, while he ground his teeth. His eyes flashed yellow for a moment, before he heard multiple voices and horrible noises from up the stairs, in a certain room he knew all too well—
"Goddamn stairs…!"
Ryuji charged up the stairway with a slight limp, even if his leg was never broken, some of the ligaments had been messed up, he could manage, he had to manage, because if he didn't it'd be just like it was then—
—and by the time he got up to the floor of the bloodshed he couldn't bear to turn around the corner, he was scared and he was freaking out but he didn't wanna be completely effin' pointless yet again, and once he gained the courage to run out and see the carnage.
One of the voices struck him, cut him far deeper than any others.
It spoke with the words of a dead man.
Ryuji turned the corner and saw a stone monster choking Makoto in the air with its tongue, while pressing Ren further into the floor.
His eyes flashed golden, as a blue mist coalesced around him.
Again and again and again and again and there goes my tongue and again and again and again and that was a few ribs and again and—
Ryuji flew out of nowhere and slugged the gargoyle with one damn rusty anchor.
It flew back into the wall, stunned.
He pulled Makoto onto Captain Kidd, before realizing Ren might have a spine injury. He looked back to the monster, who was pulling itself out of the foot-deep hole in the wall.
He hit it with the anchor again.
Yusuke hit him with a speed buff, while he and Morgana finally got to Ren, checking up on him. Morgana tried to slip some medicine into his mouth, but didn't want to move his head.
Ryuji was pummeling the monster, fueled by more than just protective instinct. It was the rage against Suguru Kamoshida, his regret at not being strong enough before, and the pain he felt every time he took the wrong step. Stones and chips flaked off like chalk, as he kept slamming his anchor like a heavy club. His Persona barely did him any good besides giving him the strength he needed in that moment.
Yusuke pulled out his evoker and shot Ren in the curve of his neck. Arsene De La Mort appeared, looking disappointed at his user's state.
"You have the power to save him, don't you?" Yusuke nearly pleaded, seeing the blood soaking onto the tiles and covering Ren's skull.
The Persona tapped its chin for a moment before shrugging and grabbing Ren's head with a clawed hand. But instead of stabbing, it phased right through and jerked. Pixie appeared, looking alarmed at her boss's state.
"Whoa, that's not good." The redhead flitted around, assessing the body, and glancing at the blond's rampage. She tapped Arsene's death form, before channeling dark healing energy into Ren's body.
Ashes swirled up from the ground, before funneling themselves back into the same place as before.
Ren shakily pushed himself up as the two Personae disappeared, with a blank look in his eyes.
"YOU BITCH, YOU EFFIN' DEAD BITCH, WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU SEE NOW, HUH!?"
Ryuji kept swinging. The cognition was barely anything more than a modern art statue, with its jutting angles and odd tensegrity. It couldn't even move, for god's sake.
Makoto had never ever seen him this way before. "R-Ryuji…!"
He kept swinging.
"TELL ME, KAMOSHIDA! TELL ME WHAT YOU GODDAMN SEE! TELL ME WHAT IT'S LIKE IN HELL SO I CAN GO THERE AND MAKE IT A THOUSAND TIMES WORSE—!"
A gentle hand landed on his shoulder. He turned with a feral glare.
Makoto looked at him with a soft look, patting his back. "It's done."
"It's not done until I say it's done!" He lifted the anchor again, intent on finally breaking the damn thing in half, tears welling up in his eyes. "It'll never be done…!"
"It's not real, Ryuji. I know what he did, but you need to stop."
The blond hesitated, before dropping his weapon and leaning into the wall. The cognition crumbled anyway, scattering like dust.
"I still see him sometimes…," Ryuji hissed. "I still feel what he did, every goddamn day."
"He's dead. He's gone. He can't hurt anyone anymore." She placed a hand on his shoulder again.
A sob pierced through the choked silence of the distorted hallway.
She wrapped her arms around him as he clutched for something to support him.
Ryuji Sakamoto cried that day, for the first time in years.
Ren clutched his head in the Velvet Room, letting the monotonous sound of Lavenza working behind the bar and the performer's music soothe his mind.
Makoto decided to escort Ryuji home, because he looked and felt horrible and was just plain tired. Yusuke, seeing as how today's expedition went completely pear-shaped despite the new help, followed suit soon after. He didn't look as affected as the rest of them, but that just might have been his mind filtering it out.
Lavenza poured him a cool glass of water before sitting next to him, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Is everything alright, Trickster? It's my duty to care for your needs."
He managed a nod, before taking a tiny sip from the cup. He didn't notice her look of concern. He choked out harshly, "I'm—I'm not strong enough, Lavenza."
"Would you like to fuse your Personae?" She lightly placed a menu on the counter.
He looked at it for a second before shaking his head.
"I see."
"I just—I nearly—I could've—"
"Would you like to 'get some fresh air' as they say?"
"...Yeah. I think—that would be nice." He slowly exhaled, before getting off his barstool.
She sat down next to him on a bench in Inokashira Park.
The cool night air flowed around his body like a gentle breeze, settling his nerves. He leaned back and breathed it all in.
"What ails you, Trickster?"
"I… I almost died, Lavenza. If Yusuke wasn't there, I would have, and if Ryuji wasn't there, so would have everyone else," he said blankly with tired eyes.
"Those are the risks, are they not?"
"I know, but… My perspective is out of whack right now, it feels like my head is going to explode." He hesitated for a second. "The Metaverse, exams, my friends, you, I just—" His voice softened, "I don't know if I can take it all."
"I believe I know what you need. A 'night on the town', as my sister once said it was called. It's an activity that allows the participants to relax and—"
Ren interrupted her with light laughter. "I know what a night on the town is, Lavenza…"
"Then?"
What the hell, why not. "Sure. Let's go."
Ren wanted to be a little further away from the school, far enough that he'd be able to push it all to the back of his mind.
By the time he realized how far they'd gone, he and Lavenza were already walking around in Shibuya's underground mall.
Tons of shops lit up all over the place. People his age, not constantly plagued by thoughts of almost dying to giant monsters, actually happy and ignorant, and spending all their shit on food and accessories and trinkets.
Took his mind off the angst for just a little bit.
"—I believe we need proper attire first, do we not?" Lavenza tugged on his arm as they passed a second-hand clothing shop.
He checked his wallet, and seeing all the money dropped from the cognitive gym coach, shrugged, and walked her inside.
He probably needed the new clothes anyway. Well, maybe stretching the definition of 'new'.
Ren considered buying one of those UA tracksuits, but he didn't think that would be proper date attire.
Since when was this a date? Said a little voice in his head.
Are you some kind of dumbass? Said the other.
His head was still scrambled. Literally, quite possibly.
Eventually, he found a red blazer, gray button-up, black suit pants, old loafers, and an antique belt.
All under ten thousand yen. Crazy what you can find for cheap in some places.
He put his old clothes in a spare clothes bag and walked out of the changing room.
Lavenza would probably attract attention no matter what she wore, but she had changed too, and hot damn—
Same hair clip, but she had a Velvet blue sundress, black leggings, and matching shoes. She kept the usual gloves, which he could now see only reached to her elbows.
"Trickster." She pinched the edges of her dress and bowed slightly.
His mind blanked. Maybe it was the absurdity of seeing her in normal clothes. Or maybe just the fact he was a teenage boy, and—
Shut up, me.
"You look… Yeah. Ready to go?" He tugged the collar of his shirt, suddenly feeling a bit red.
"Of course."
"Right, so…" He didn't actually think that hard about where they were going. Not that it would stop him.
They ended up at a nice aquarium in Shinagawa. He'd latched onto the first travel pamphlet he could find and let Lavenza flick through it.
So they were walking around and looking at the cool fishies. She immediately ran up to the first populated tank she saw and started tapping on the glass.
"Interesting!"
"Uh, Lavenza… Maybe don't tap on the glass?" He was concerned with the strength of the attendant. That was probably her Arcana for a reason.
"Ah…" She sounded disappointed as she saw the fish swim away. "I didn't mean to frighten them."
"It's fine, they're fish." Truth be told, he was more scared for the glass than for the animals.
"So, people come here to view aquatic life?" She looked around at the few families currently visiting. It was a slow day in the middle of the week. The light refracted peacefully over their bodies and the floor.
"I guess. Inaba didn't have one, but when my grandparents would take me into the city, we went somewhere like this once or twice."
"I can't say the same…" She frowned, leaning to look deeper into the tank.
"Right," he said as he walked over to look at the fish too.
By the time looking at the fish had satisfied them (mostly her), they'd decided to eat some of the aquarium food. Not the fish, obviously, just the junk that was sold at the concession stand. He flicked through the travel pamphlet some more.
...
Hot springs?
Co-ed hot springs?!
He really couldn't flick past that page fast enough.
"Oh?"
I'm going to commit seppuku.
Because her interest was piqued, they went to one.
One of the normal hot springs, thank god.
He trusted Lavenza enough to know what to do when they got there, and he didn't want to think too hard about it anyway.
He sat back against the wooden barrier, alone in the men's area, listening to the quiet 'fwoosh' of water flowing down the artificial rocks.
He heard an 'eep' sound from the other side of the barrier.
Looks like she wasn't used to the hot water. Again, don't think too hard about it.
"You okay in there, Lavenza?"
Her voice was muffled, but her voice traveled clearly. "Yes, the sensation was simply surprising, don't worry."
Ren struggled to not think of any other sensations. "Is there anyone else on your side?"
"No, it's empty." He heard water being splashed around. "What of you, Trickster? This heat is making me rather…flushed…"
Goddammit. "I'm good. I'm alright, all things considered."
"I'm glad. I hope you've managed to relax, in at least some fashion. You were quite taxed earlier…"
Ren allowed a smile. "Y'know, this trip wasn't bad at all, honestly. Wouldn't say relaxing is the proper word for it, but…hell. Took my mind off of just everything…"
"Perhaps you ought to take a few more days to rest, before another foray."
"No. Maybe a day, at least. But we gotta go back in there. Something's nagging at me. And besides. I don't wanna have to stay in a school full of zombies for that much longer."
"Would you say you're prepared to return already?"
"I've gotta be."
"But are you?"
"Doesn't matter. I have to be."
"Would you be able to face your death again so soon?"
Ren stayed silent for a little. "Haven't I already?"
"You've come to terms with it, as much as you could have before. But it was a completely different beast you've had to face today. It's one thing to be wary of one's death. It's another to be so close to the brink."
"What do you expect me to do?"
"Accept everything you feel, as it is. Pace yourself through it, as much as you need to, before doing anything else."
"...Maybe I should talk to Minatos about this."
"His true self had barrelled through the world, leaving behind a beast swathed in the malice he couldn't accept as a part of him. Would you want a similar fate for yourself?"
…God, no.
Suddenly, Ryuji walked into the room with a towel. "Dude?"
"Dude?" Ren was surprised by the blond showing up, "What are you doing here?"
"What are you doing here?" They both paused as they heard Makoto greet Lavenza.
Ren was the first to break the silence. "Hot date?"
"The prez is literally right there."
Yusuke walked in the room, also with a towel. Surprised, he was about to ask, "What are you-"
"What are you doing here?" Asked the two of them.
Yusuke closed his eyes to think, "I read in a travel aid that my artistic skills may be improved if I relaxed in one of Shinagawa's hot springs. After today, I thought it would help." He opened his eyes and turned to them, "What are the two of you doing here?"
There was once again another silence as the girl's muffled conversation eased through the barrier, along with splashing and giggling.
"...I see."
Ren sunk into the water and sighed. "Morgana, if you're about to walk in, don't. Please."
He didn't know why a cat would go to a hot spring, but it's not like logic existed when it regarded him.
Yusuke was meditating on one of the artificial rocks, luckily facing away from either of them.
Ren turned to Ryuji, smirking. "So, hot date?"
"Right there. Literally, right there." He shrugged towards the wall. "It was Makoto's idea anyway."
"Oh, you're calling her Makoto now?" He teased.
"I can't win here, can I? And what about you? You're here with that blonde, aren't you?"
"It was her idea."
"Dude, seriously?" Ryuji actually seemed a bit impressed.
"Yeah, luckily I managed to steer her away from the co-ed springs."
"..."
"What?"
"And I thought I was an idiot. That's the opposite of what you should've done."
"I'm telling the prez you said that."
"Uh, please don't."
"..."
"..."
"You okay?" Ren decided to ask. "From earlier today, I mean."
"Well, I..." Ryuji breathed. "I kinda lost it, didn't I?"
"You acted like you had a score to settle with the guy."
He pursed his lips. "Guy was an abusive d-bag. Asshole liked putting us down, sometimes he'd smack the shit out of us if he thought we were phoning it in. Even though none of us were. I called him out on his BS and..." he raised his leg up, showing it through the misty waters. "This happened."
The scar was ring-shaped like it had torn some kind of muscles, but not broken the bone.
"I threw the first punch," he said, lowering his knee back down. "Guy brought up my dad."
"Your dad?"
"Or lack of one, I guess," he groaned. "Tried to egg me on, and I just...bought into it like a dumbass. Wasn't even thinking. By the time I woke up, I was stuck in a gurney, carried off into an ambulance, and my leg wouldn't stop screaming at me. Bastard ground my ligaments into paste."
"What about everyone else on the team?"
"Didn't say a thing or do a thing to stop him. Not that I blame 'em, guy held their whole futures in his hands. But he dissolved the track team anyway."
Ren simply offered his silence and his ear to the blond.
"Some nights I still see him. Looming over me, smashing up my knee," Ryuji made a hhhh sound. "But, it's over now. Hopefully, at least. I just pray I don't see that thing in the school ever again."
"Ya kicked its ass. I don't think it'll show it's face around you again."
Ryuji laughed, breaking the somber atmosphere. "Now can I join you guys?"
Ren smiled. "Help us, Ryuji Sakamoto. You're our only hope."
"You're a hell of a nerd, you know that?"
Ren did actually feel marginally better after sitting in the spring for an hour.
Yusuke didn't seem to notice them leaving, so they decided to just let him meditate.
"Damn, dude, what's with the get-up?" Ryuji asked him while he was pulling his t-shirt back on.
Ren looked over his shoulder at him while buttoning up his blazer. "Lavenza suggested that we buy some clothes. This was actually pretty cheap, with all the money we got today."
"...Now I feel kind of underdressed."
"You've never been 'dressed' to begin with."
"Whatever, man!"
Makoto and Ryuji split off not long after Ren and Lavenza had, leaving the attendant alone with her charge.
"I think that was a good call. Definitely took some of the stress off," said Ren, rolling his shoulders.
"I'm glad to hear you're feeling better. Would you like to go anywhere else?" She latched onto his arm as they walked down the street.
"I think—"
"Ahem."
Ren stopped, glancing at the voice that called out to him.
Three guys, hoods up, hands in their pockets, gestured for him to walk into the alley.
"Can I help you?"
"Those are some nice duds. How much are they worth?" One of the guys' arm's twitched, flicking something pointy in his pocket.
"Ten thousand yen, I think. Second-hand shop up in Shibuya."
"No way, really? Thanks, dude, I've been looking all over." The leader pulled down his hood and brought a tourist's map out of his pocket.
Ren was happy to point out the location on the map, right in between the 777 and the pharmacy, and sent them on their way.
"Later! Thanks again, good luck on your date!" They waved back to him as they walked off down the street.
He waved back halfheartedly. "...That definitely didn't go how I expected. I didn't even have to threaten violence!"
She raised her eyebrow, tapping her foot. "So, is this a date, Trickster?"
Now, Ren could obviously feel fear, as most other people could, but unfortunately didn't have access to his at the time.
"I dunno. Anything else you want to do?"
"...I cannot think of anything in particular, what would you prefer?"
"You know, it's been a long day. I think I just want to go home." His mind felt hazy, all of his energy loss coming back to him, and really, he'd probably collapse on his bed as soon as he got home.
AN:
Sorry for being a bit late, but it is still the weekend where I am.
The characters in P5 really have a great sense of style, the character designers really did a good job.
Co-ed springs are actually a thing in Japan, which is weird because they've never shown up in an anime before, and I haven't heard of any tropes about them. Probably because there's less inherent comedy/drama potential. And you know, it's usually high schoolers. Japan has a few issues with that kind of thing.
This may or may not be a cliffhanger, depending entirely on how you look at it.
Damn, I probably need some cover art for the story. Anyone know what I should use? Like, I don't want to grab some generic art from promotional material, and I know that PQ has the roster, but that style doesn't fit very well. And I can't draw for shit, so… You know. Just post a link to something.
Thanks to NoRoleModelz for beta'ing, as usual.
Less importantly, reviews, please. It's encouraging to know people on the internet like my shit. I'll obviously keep writing even if you don't, that's my obligation as a writer. Even if you don't like it, review, I could always use more criticism to keep my ego deflated. Oh man, what if I had a tvtropes page, that would be cool. Down the line, maybe. Not you NoRoleModelz, you're busy enough dude, and you've already helped plenty.