May 9th, 20XX

It was raining, Monday morning. There was a somber air settled over Shujin Academy when Ren arrived, Lavenza at his back. Most students trudged by with dark circles under their eyes and refused to look anywhere but the ground.

Lavenza's introduction to the class was a subdued experience. Instead of all the passionate reactions you would expect, there were simply weak nods and silence. Kawakami told her to take the seat behind him next to the window. Even as she bowed to him walking past, there wasn't a single whisper. The teacher herself noticed the dulled atmosphere, he could tell, with the way she looked around the room with confusion.

Ryuji called him to the student council room after the first classes of the day. Lavenza came along too, deciding that more orientation would be good for her.

"There's something off today, isn't there?" Ren said, as he shut the door behind him.

"It's obvious this is a result of our actions." Makoto sat at the head desk, and rubbed her temple.

"Maybe it's temporary?"

"I hope so. The atmosphere hasn't been this depressing since… Well, since Kamoshida was exposed."

"I can see what you mean. You think there's anything you can do about it?"

"I'll talk to the staff, and see what I can do. While you're waiting, I suggest studying."

"At a time like this?"

"Yes, especially now. Acting strangely will only heap suspicion on ourselves."

"Aw man…"

"Not you, Ryuji. It'll look more suspicious if you study."

"Hell yeah- Hey, wait a minute!"

Leaving the school, Ren felt a certain absence in the school. It was as populated as always, yet there seemed to be something missing. Like a motivation, or a passion, that simply wasn't there anymore. Lavenza followed behind him, her footsteps reminding him that he said he'd get some separators for the attic. A futon too, maybe. Some decorations, even…

It's amazing what you can buy and have delivered to your house in mere hours.

It was a simple affair, really. Prop up some pieces of painted drywall, glue them to the rafters, and add some elbow grease. Lavenza did do most of the physical work though, having frankly superhuman strength and endurance, as well as insisting that he not do all of the work himself. Boss was a little pissed about all the deliveries, glaring at them even as he understood the necessity, but what can you do?

Ren layed on the floor, panting, after finally getting the thing in place and secure. It matched the rest of the cafe wall pretty well, narrow but fitting snugly into the corner that had his old bed. There was plenty of room inside though, so he moved a few old and empty shelves in too. Using some spares, he put a trap door on the staircase, so he'd at least be comfortable with himself sleeping out in the open. The room shrank, but it was more snug than cramped, and Lavenza had her own private space, which was what they really wanted.

It finally hit him that he was going to be living with a girl for the next few months, and not just 'some friend' of his.

"Trick- Ren, are you alright?" Lavenza kneeled next to his head, looking down at his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine, just a little winded." He didn't use Arsene, because seriously? Using a demon in your brain for housework? There's pathetic, and then there's that.

"Are you sure you would not prefer the more comfortable arrangements?" Lavenza looked back at bed in the makeshift room, door still ajar.

"Of course. What kind of man would I be if I made a girl sleep on the floor?" He joked.

"I see. Very well then."

Makoto called him to discuss her plan. There was going to be an assembly the next morning. She told him her idea, and he agreed. He didn't tell her his own plans, of course.

May 10th, 20XX

The atmosphere in the auditorium was just as dreary as the rest of the school. The teachers had clearly taken notice of the frankly depressing state of the student body, and some of them had even been afflicted themselves.

Kobayakawa gave a lame speech about motivation, that he was fairly sure he nodded off to while listening, but he perked up when he handed it off to a man in a lab coat.

"Ah… Hello, everyone." The man fumbled with some note cards, dropping them to the floor. "I am Takuto Maruki, pleased to meet you."

He probably expected people to laugh at his bumbling, but there was only an awkward chuckle from the staff.

"I'm going to be counseling at your school from today on, so I hope we can get along well." He bowed and retreated to the staff seating.

Looks like Kobayakawa had him on back-up for a while. So sudden, he probably had him in reserve for something like this.

Makoto took up the microphone, so Ren actually started paying attention. She spoke about motivation too, but he could see the spark in her eyes, that she actually cared about the students as people, and not just objects. She focused her eyes on him, nodding.

"Ren Amamiya, if you could give a few words?"

There were a few mumbles among the students and teachers, confused at the choice. The principal looked like he was about to interrupt, but refrained. His footsteps echoed as he climbed onto the stage, and carefully took the microphone.

"Hello, my name is Ren Amamiya, and I have a criminal record."

The auditorium was immediately thrown into an uproar.

"I won't tell you why, because it's not important. I… I know what it's like to feel lost. And I can't say for sure why everyone is feeling this way, but…" He paused, and looked over the crowd. Looks of anger, surprise, stoicism. "You may feel like you've lost your way, or forgotten something important, or you've been left behind by someone. No matter what it is, I understand. But when you're lost, or in the depths of despair, you need to be strong, y'know?" He placed a fist at his chest, even as people began shouting. "Your passions, your hopes, your dreams… They're all still there, you just need to look for them."

"Shut up!"

He pressed on. "You can keep going. I know you can, because I still am, and I know you're stronger." He dropped the microphone on the podium and walked backstage, even as teachers tried to calm the crowd.

It was raining that day, he noticed, as he left the emergency exit and stared at the sky.

"Hey, Amamiya."

He turned at the unfamiliar voice, and received a fist to the face, express delivery.

"You hypocrite bastard! My brother's in jail because of you!" The boy was crying, even as he pummeled Ren's back.

"I forgive you."

"Bastard! You're not better than me!" He kicked Ren down again, even as he tried to stand.

"I forgive you."

There was a crowd gathering, full of students and teachers who didn't know what to do.

"How am I supposed to go on? He's the only family I have left!" He punched Ren in the face, as the black-haired boy stared at him with a face covered in blood.

The rain, even then, was washing the blood away, just like the other boy's tears. It kept coming down, in dull thuds against the pavement and their skin.

"I forgive you."

"You took him away!"

Ren didn't bother catching his foot, letting it bruise his ribs.

"I know what you're feeling, what everyone else is feeling." He tried to stand up, but was kicked down again. Rain started flowing into his eyes, blurring his vision. "You're in the depths of apathy, like someone has taken away what matters most."

"You're damn right about that!" He grew frustrated by Ren's refusal to fight back, how he let him keep bruising his skin and breaking his bones.

"And… I forgive you."

The boy stopped, mid-stride, and froze.

"It's not your fault." Ren layed spread-eagle on the cement, letting the pain sharpen his words like daggers aimed at the heart.

Someone in the crowd, a girl, broke down into sobs, and fell to her knees.

"You can go on. No matter what you've done, or who you've hurt. I think… If you keep moving forward, and trying to become better… I think I can forgive you."

The boy fell to his knees, sobbing. "What- What am I supposed to do?"

"I can't tell you that. It's something you need to learn for yourself." He held up his arm, grasping at the storm clouds. Water ran down his veins and further soaked his clothes. "I think… Passion, motivation, desire… They're invisible. Only you can see them, but when you lose them, it can be hard to find them again. But you can, y'know? I've done it before, and I'm sure that you can too."

Darkness grew in his periphery.

"You can't lose hope, because that's the one thing that's always with you, even if you can't see it. I forgive you…" His final words said afterwards were inaudible, as he finally fell unconscious.

He was awoken by drops of rain slapping onto his face.

Kasumi and Lavenza were staring back down at him, and the red-head was crying. Lavenza only had a look of concern, which quickly turned to relief.

A laugh tried to rise in his throat, but he couldn't move his jaw to let it out.

They were in the nurse's office, prompting him to realize he wasn't woken up by rain.

Nope, not doing this right now. Pixie, give me a hand.

Sure thing boss, take a nap.

When he woke up properly, Kasumi was gone.

"Miss Kasumi has returned to her classes. She requested for me to give you her well-wishes."

"I'll thank her later." Ren felt around his body for bruises that Pixie might have missed. He felt a bit of aching in his chest but he could still move just fine.

"That was a brave thing to do, Trickster. Risking your own wellbeing for the sake of words."

Ren laughed, "I'm the biggest coward there is, Lavenza. You think I would have done that without healing magic?"

"Yes."

"Then… I think you don't know me as well as you think." Ren stared at the white-paneled ceiling.

"That is unfortunate. I trust you will give me more opportunities to learn more about you in the future?"

"I just might, Lavenza. I just might."

"Hardcore, dude." Ryuji took him out for ramen as soon as he was cleared to leave. The nurse hadn't done a very thorough inspection of his wounds, and they let him walk out as soon as classes ended.

"Meh." He absentmindedly tugged at a new tear in his jacket.

"Like, I would've started swinging. How'd you do that?"

"I think… Saying he was weaker than me wouldn't be the right phrasing. I did what he said I did Ryuji, and sometimes it's not a matter of right and wrong. It's a matter of how you hurt someone, and even then, some people won't care about your 'why's' or 'how's'. They want to do something about it, their anger and their emotions, and sometimes they pick the wrong thing to do."

"…"

"..."

"...You know, dude. It's kinda weird how you act like a dumbass like me and then go all philosophical sometimes."

"Depends on my mood, I guess? Might also be all the demons in my head."

"Ha, whatever man. Let's get extra beef, I'm dying for some protein.

May 11th, 20XX

And thus, mid-terms began.

timeskiptimeskiptimeskip

It went a little something like this:

Ren: What even is a logarithm, man…

Ryuji: Yep, Makoto's going to kill me. Right after my mom does. And Ann's going to show up and laugh at my grave.

Ann: English was a piece of cake, as always! What? No, I'm not telling you how I did in math, at least I'm not Ryuji!

Shiho: Um… I think I studied really hard, but I'm not sure…

Mishima: See, this is my little secret, but there's this thing called 'blackmailing other students into stealing the answers'. Of course, I'd never do that. It's not blackmail, it's coercion.

Kasumi: I'm certain I did very well! I've done my homework on time and everything. But I definitely aced P.E, that's what matters.

Lavenza: I don't quite understand what the purpose of these questions are, but I answered to the best of my ability.

Yusuke: I don't go to Shujin academy, why would you ask me about their midterms?

Kasumi caught his arm right before he could leave school, that Saturday. She had a determination in her eyes that he hadn't seen in weeks.

"Ren, I've been thinking... About a lot of things... I know you're probably tired from your exams, but could we talk?" She turned to Lavenza, who quickly walked up behind them, curious. "Could I borrow Ren for a few minutes? I get you probably don't want me to be alone with him, but it's a private conversation."

"If the- If Ren has no qualms, I see no problem, go right ahead." Lavenza bowed, and turned to him. "I will await your arrival." And with that, she left.

He shook his head at the implication, but Kasumi... Strangely, she didn't actually seem to be bothered.

They walked up to the rooftop. Makoto reluctantly had given him a key, finding that she much preferred him taking the stairs to him climbing out of a second-floor window for lunch. It was a habit of his that he wasn't working all too hard to break.

She sat down, cross-legged, and gestured for him to do the same.

He awkwardly obliged and scratched his head thinking about her intentions.

"I don't really know how to say this..." She fidgeted with her hands in her lap, looking anywhere but his face. "I think I should start with the 'why'."

"Uh, yeah, go ahead."

"Last year... My sister died."

A pang shot through his heart, a bullet hole formed like the one on the Hollow card.

"I used to do gymnastics with her. We were twins, but she was always one step ahead of me." There was a hollow tone in her voice, like her mouth was moving on its own.

"I'm... I'm sorry." That was all he would say, all he could say. His mind was frozen, like a clock made of stuttering gears, always rewinding to the last second.

"I can keep going, please... Let me do this." She pleaded, but the way she asked, it seemed like she was talking more to herself than to him. "On the way home from competition, she'd taken home first, and I hadn't even placed, and I was just so- I ran ahead of her, and before I knew it, there were headlights and flashing sirens and this horrible scream, and-"

"Hey, hey, Kasumi." He reached forward and put a hand on her shoulder when she started crying into her hands. "I'm here. You're here." The girl was shaking. "Listen, you're at Shujin academy. You don't have to remember what happened, you aren't there anymore, alright?"

Ren was always shit at talking to people. His words didn't affect her in the slightest.

"My sister died because I was weak," she sobbed out. "She wasn't able to depend on me, and she died. I don't want that to happen to you, Ren! You, or anyone else!"

"Hey, it's okay, I'm not dying any time soon." He weakly smiled, shaking her shoulder.

She collapsed further, folding into herself. "I've seen you! You jump into situations, you don't think, you always put yourself at risk- And then you'll die! I can see it! You'll jump in front of a car to save someone, just like her! You don't let me help you, even when it's eating you up inside, and then- Then-" The girl broke down even further into burning hot tears.

He silently swore, not knowing how to deal with her. He awkwardly hugged her and patted her back. "I'm not going to die, Kasumi. Not any time soon."

"I was a jealous person, and looking at what I've been doing to you... I still am! I want to be someone you can depend on, and help you, like how you help everyone else!"

Ren felt a tug in his skull, like something trying to break free. He could've sworn a flame flickered across his face. "Kasumi..."

God, I'm going to sound like an asshole for saying this. But I think this is the only thing I can do.

"I think... We should go to my house. I mean, Lavenza and I can talk to you about this. She's helped me out of a slump before, and I think she can help you too."

Quickly sending a text to the other thieves to wait on standby, and one to Mishima to cut off any rumors, he carefully walked Kasumi to Leblanc. He handed her a handkerchief and let her walk close.

Boss gave him a certain look, but was surprised when Ren fired his own back, saying something akin to, "Don't ask, you old bastard."

Clearly, against his better judgment, the older man didn't say anything.

Lavenza was sitting at the desk, flicking through a book and taking notes. She looked surprised when Kasumi arrived.

"Trickster, miss Kasumi, what seems to be the issue?" She stood up, pacing over to the girl and carefully taking her hand.

Ren held a finger up to his lips, and eased the trapdoor shut.

"You two live together?" Kasumi was missing the energy to properly exclaim.

"Separate rooms. I sleep on the floor." He nodded to the rolled-up futon in the corner before walking her over to Lavenza's bed.

The two girls sat on the cloth, while he took up a small stool.

"Lavenza, can you help Kasumi? Like you did me?"

She looked confused by the request, but her expression soon switched to one of determination.

"How can I help you, miss?"

"You're involved with whatever Ren is doing, right? What do I have to do to help him?"

Ren nodded when she looked up for confirmation.

"It's... Very complicated, miss Kasumi, and I believe illegal under some circumstances. I warn you, once you learn, you cannot forget."

"And you can't tell anyone."

She stopped, collecting herself, and took a deep breath. "...Alright. Whatever I must do, I will. If it's something shady, I'll pull him out. If it's a secret past, I'll help him come to terms. If I have to become she who fights monsters, then so be it."

Ren coughed. "Funny you should say that."

He was fairly certain that if Kasumi had been holding a cup of coffee, she would have dropped it long before.

"You're the phantom thief?"

"Yep. And Lavenza is my... Assistant, in the right terms."

"And you... Steal hearts... By using a cell phone app, entering the psyche's of others, and fighting shadowy monsters?"

He chose to leave out the parts about demons being real and most religions being partially correct. "Uhuh."

She fell back on the bed and laughed in a low tone, "Where do I sign up?"

"It's what I do, Kasumi. You don't have to put yourself at risk."

She shook her head, her face dried of tears. "I want to help you, Ren."

"Why?"

"Because... You're a good person. Just like my sister. I don't want to lose you too."

"I'm going to show you the cognitive world sometime next week. Make your choice then, and take your time."

"Why so long?"

He leaned back, sighing. "I figure that letting this all sink in would be for the best before we jump right into it."

"... ..Y.u." She looked down, her eyes hidden.

"What?" He leaned forward

"Thank you!" She cried, collapsing forward.

He just barely managed to catch her, kneeling down to the floor.

She was crying again, but... They seemed like tears of relief. He could swear she had a small smile on her face, though it was hidden by her hair.

Lavenza hesitantly took hold of the girl and laid her out on the bed, stroking the redhead's hair out of her wetted face.

"...Do you think we should call her folks? I don't think she should be taking the trains like this, if I took her to her house, her dad would probably punch me in the face, and if you tried to take her, you'd both end up lost."

"As they say, 'it is your call', Trickster."

Kasumi's cries had lasted long into the afternoon, and it seemed like she had come down with a bad case of pollen allergies.

Him and Lavenza stood outside of the room with the redhead's phone, quickly moving through the contact's list. Yes, it was a slight violation of privacy, but he felt it was acceptable in the circumstances.

"Tell him she got sick during school, couldn't tell you where she lived, so you took her to your house. Do not mention me, or I will end up as a corpse floating in the Inokashira lake."

Luckily, she managed to say exactly that. The man, who he assumed to be Kasumi's father, seemed simultaneously frightened that his daughter was sick, and happy that she had such great friends. He gave them instructions to give her as much time as she needed, and he would reimburse them for any medicine.

That made Ren feel a little guilty, because he thought it was his fault anyway, but managed to bite his tongue long enough for Lavenza to end the call.

They both sighed a sigh of relief, before re-entering the 'bedroom' to take better care of their charge.

Now, Boss wasn't a pervert by any means, but noticing that the kid had two girls in his room at the same time, and neither had left in time for him to close late into the night, he felt obligated to check it out.

He quietly eased open the trapdoor, seeing no mess or clothes strew about.

Boss quickly rapped on the door, and hearing no response, opened the door.

What greeted him was a heartwarming scene.

By the light of a lampost and the reflection of the moon, the room was barely lit.

The kid was sitting against the bed, with his head leaning on his folded knee, and his arm clasping the hand of one of the girls laying down.

The blonde who had moved in just a week ago had pillows stacked behind her as she laid upright against the window, legs hanging off the side.

In between them, a clearly exhausted redhead was snoring, her hand held by the boy and her head in the lap of the girl.

Boss chuckled silently to himself and eased the door shut.

AN:

Okay, I swear to god, Ren doing bad on the midterms is like, essential to his character, or something like that. Sorry for the short chapter, it's that thing about 'letting my creativity flow' or something like that.

Review review review review even if you've got nothing to sayyyyyyyyyy.

Time is a bit weird, sorry. In the story, I mean. Some days take up whole chapters and I just skipped through a whole week. In my defense, it's my fault for making the other days so long.

Kasumi and Ren are not an example of a healthy relationship. DO NOT EMULATE THEM. Ren is some loser who has supernatural social skills, and Kasumi is a traumatized girl looking for an anchor in the world.

pls.