First come the buzzing sound and then the vibrating sensation. A young man with frizzy raven-colored hair woke up from his nap. Taking off the glasses on his face, he softly rubs his eyes before putting them back again. Looking at the shoulder bag resting on his lap, the black furred feline that is sleeping inside, peaks its head out after hearing the sound coming from his pocket.
Gently moving the bag on his side, he took his phone to check what was happening. "Ryuji's calling." He murmured and made a quick glance at the feline. Hovering his thumb at the screen, he paused for a second before hitting the answer button. "Hello?" He said.
"Yo wassup, Ren!" His friend on the phone greeted him with excitement in his tone. "I just want to check where you and Morgana right now." Ryuji Sakamoto has been a close friend of his since highschool. Not only that he's also a part of the Phantom Thieves of Heart that causes stir against the corrupted hearts last year. The two of them have each other's back regardless of the difficulty of the situation.
On the other hand, His name is Ren Amamiya. Though he presents himself as ordinary in the public eyes. He is the fearless leader of the Phantom Thieves that stole the heart of many, he's known to his teammate as Joker. He leaves his hometown to meet his friends for a reunion.
"I'll be at Yongen soon. But I won't be heading straight to Leblanc. I have someone to pick up first before meeting all you there." Ren Amamiya answered with a smile on his face.
"Who is that? I don't think I forgot anyone to invite." Ryuji asks in wonder. There is no doubt in Ren's mind that he's speaking the truth. When it comes to parties, Ryuji is always up to it.
"It's Lavenza." He said and noticed the surprised look coming on his side. "Lavenza helped us so much. She's more or less a member of the Phantom Thieves, don't you agree?" It didn't take a moment for Ryuji to answer his question.
"You're right. Without her help back then, we'll be in deep shit." Ryuji chuckled on the other end. "But how are you going to get her? Isn't she living in that weird room?" His friend's curiosity is expected. That girl is living in a place that exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. And only him could enter that room.
"Well Morgana helped me to get in contact with her." He said before petting the feline that cried out in complaint before eventually liking it. "She's waiting at Shibuya at the moment."
"Woah, Morgana become useful for once." He can hear Ryuji burst out in laughter after knowing the feline just taunted him for his comment. "Anyway, I'm on my way to Leblanc, we'll see there!" Saying his goodbye, Ren checked his messages from his friends and promptly made a reply on each one of them.
"That Ryuji…!" Morgana whispers angrily under his breath. "Still did I hear that right? Lady Lavenza is joining us for our reunion?" He questioned and quickly moved on from the comment earlier. The talking feline who accompanied him is Morgana, a unique member of their group, a mentor, and also a close friend of his like Ryuji.
"Yes, It did take some begging before she agreed." Nodding his head, Ren leaned on his seat and snickered quietly. "Convincing Igor is a different story. He's like a strict father to his daughter. Luckily, he still owes me from saving him against Yaldabaoth." He added.
"Well you're the very first visitor that saved the master from harm." Morgana agreed and let out a sigh of relief. "Better make sure that Lady Lavenza enjoys every second of it. You might not have another ticket to make the master concur." Stretching his back, Morgana ears perk up after the train message came in.
"Yongen-Jaya...Yongen-Jaya…" The female announcer repeated the station name.
"Wait this isn't our drop yet." Morgana utters in disappointment. Ren could only smile, they both are excited to be with everyone right now, but that must wait for a while, they first need to escort a lady along the way.
Minutes after arriving at Shibuya, Ren decided to buy a soda on the nearest vending machine. Opening the can of soda, he drinks it under the shade of a tree near the famous statue of Hachikō. "Hmm...?" Feeling the same earlier sensation in his pocket, he took his phone thinking that it's another call from Ryuji. However, to his surprise it's someone else.
On his screen appears a moving red circle with a hooded face on it. Then a second later, it pops like a balloon, revealing a portrait of a young girl with bright red hair and a strange seven hearts on the side of her head. "Yo~ Joker!" The girl greeted with a beaming smile on her face.
"Sophia!?" Morgana quickly jumped on his shoulder after hearing a familiar voice. "Is that really you?" He said and didn't hide the same energy that Sophia has. "It's really you!" After confirming the identity of the girl, the feline leaned closer to the phone which made everyone giggle.
"Hello, Mona!" She said to the excited feline. "It's good to see the two of you are well!"
"It's been a while Sophia." Ren spoke up before moving Morgana on his lap. "You're going to the reunion as well, right?" He said and smiled in relief when the girl nodded eagerly.
"Hehe, Of course. I won't miss any important moments with the Phantom Thieves." Sophia hopped like a child in delight. Like Morgana, she's also a unique member of the Phantom Thieves. Sophia is an Artificial Intelligence that helped them during that incident they face in the past.
"I'm excited to see everyone. But If you don't mind. Can I join you two first?" She asks in a somewhat bashful manner. When the young man and Morgana nodded their heads, the joy fuelled Sophia, already overwhelming happiness. "Yay!" Sophia added as she twirls.
"I feel the same. I couldn't contain myself to see Lady Ann." Morgana commented in his fantasizing tone. The three of them talked almost non-stop, catching up with each other, and forgot about the passing minutes.
"Then I should get Lavenza now." Letting Morgana inside his bag, Ren carried it on his shoulder and continued conversing with Sophia as they halted at the crossing after the light turned red. "Hmm…?! That kid." Ren heard Morgana's surprise voice. Moving his attention away from the phone, he looked ahead and saw a little girl holding a camera.
Then the sound of moving vehicles made him and everyone nearby of what may transpire next. "Hey look out!" Ren shouted. Without any hesitation, he dropped his bag and dashed toward the girl. Like a deer in a headlight, the little girl couldn't move away from the car, she stuttered and screamed in fear as the sound of tires scratching the road reached her ears.
But then nothing happens. Moments passed and there was still nothing but the warm feeling around her. Perhaps this is what afterlife feels like, however, a gentle voice calls her out. "Are you okay?" She started to wonder who owns the voice that sounds so worried. Finding the courage to open her eyes, what first greeted her was the face of a young man, then she realized that the warm feeling was from his arms covering her.
"Kurumi!"
"My daughter!"
Hearing the concerned cries of her parents. The young man let go and made way for the parents who're bawling in tears as they hug their daughter. "Thank goodness you're safe!" The father of the girl said while continuing crying together with his worried wife.
"We almost lost you Kurumi! I promise I'll never let it happen again!" The mother swore shakingly as she tightened her hug on the girl. Crowd of people started to surround them and shred their tears seeing the girl is safe."I won't know what to do if we lose you…" She said.
The father stood up to his feet and wiped the tears on his eyes. "Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much." He said gratefully while holding the tears back. But it eventually came back after the thought of almost losing his daughter came to his mind.
As time passed, the family started to calm down, after retrieving his bag and Morgana, Ren returned to check them. "Let me thank you again young man. If it weren't for your bravery, our little princess would be gone from us." The father stood up and shook his hand in gratitude. "If there is anything you wanted, please just say so." He offered sincerely.
Surprised by the father's thankfulness to him. Ren waves his hand to decline the offer. "Oh, you don't have to-" He stopped after feeling something rolled on his cheek. His feline companion jumped on his shoulder and gasped. "Ren, you're bleeding." He heard from Morgana. The family also express their concern after noticing it.
Ren touched his cheek and saw the blood on his hand. Taking his phone, Sophia quickly launches the mirror app for him to use. Seeing his reflection, there is a small cut on his left cheek, most likely of the event recently. Regardless, it seems that is the only thing he got.
"Do you want us to take you to a hospital?" The mother asks.
"There's no need." Ren replied with a reassuring smile. Taking him to a hospital for a small cut is a bit too much for him. Besides, he could just wipe it out with a clean piece of cloth or handkerchief. Although, he isn't sure if he bought anything of that sort.
The daughter suddenly approached him and reached out a beautiful handkerchief at him. "Here…" She said bashfully to him before quickly withdrawing back to her parents. Both the father and mother smiled from watching their daughter flustered expression.
"Thank you." Ren replied and was pleased about the girl's kindness. Wiping the trail of blood on his cheek, he glanced at Morgana, mentally asking if it's gone now, the feline simply nodded at him to answer. "Anyway, you don't have to thank me, I'm already content that your daughter is fine." Realizing that he's been late in meeting Lavenza, he is about to politely excuse himself.
However, the father of Kurumi intercepted him. "No, no, no, I insist. We cannot do that, you deserve a reward for saving our precious princess." Taking a piece of card and pen out of his coat, he started writing on it before handing it to him. "There is our address and home number, come by anytime and we'll make a grand party for you." He said and from the looks of it, his wife isn't against it.
"You don't really have to, Mr. Tokisaki." Ren tried to reassure the father after reading the entire card. "Like I said, I'm already content that she's safe-"
"Please come…" He paused after hearing Kurumi's voice. The young girl stepped forward while looking hopeful at him. Ren finds himself unable to respond, after seeing how genuine she is, declining their offer becomes harder. Morgana and Sophia could only sympathize in his situation. After some deliberation to himself, he let out a sigh and gave in.
Away from her earlier shy composure, Kurumi didn't hide her joy after seeing the man agree. "That's good to hear." Her mother answered in delight. "Would you mind telling us your name?" The woman added. Kurumi quickly shifted her attention solely at him, waiting in anticipation for his reply.
"I'm Ren Amamiya."
"I see, you're a good man, Ren Amamiya." Mr. Tokisaki commented sincerely. "We should talk more about it once you visit us one of these days." He said before showing his respect to him by bowing his head. "Once again. Thank you very much for what you did."
Morgana already has a high regard toward Ren, his heart never waver when it comes to helping someone, he always thinks of others before himself, that spirit of his truly gives inspiration to him. If one day he'll become a human, there is no other person he would like to become other than him.
"It seems our car has arrived." said Mr. Tokisaki after a luxurious vehicle park near them. "We'll be expecting you one day on our home, Amamiya-kun." He said and let his wife and daughter enter first. "Take care." Ren waves them goodbye as he watches the tail of the car drive away.
Kurumi looks behind to have one last image of the man who saved her. She waved her hand at him on the back of the car. "Ren Amamiya." Kurumi muttered with a soft smile on her face. Taking the camera hanging on her neck, she pressed the 'on' button and prayed that it was still working. Looking at the screen, her smile became even more lively after seeing the last picture she'd taken.
"I'll see you soon."
Ren let out a sigh as they finally left the train station and arrived at Yongen-Jaya. "I'm really sorry for being late." He apologized to the young girl in velvet clothing standing beside him. "Something happened along the way." The leader of the Phantom Thieves tried to explain.
"You don't have to explain yourself and apologize. I heard what happened." Lavenza replied without any sign of ire on her tone. "There might be some mishap that occurred. But I'm still looking forward to this celebration with you and the confidants that you've met during your journey." She said and smiled to make her Trickster feel reassured.
"They are also looking forward to seeing you again, Lady Lavenza." Morgana confidently added. "Also Sophia, everyone misses you." He said and the girl inside Ren's phone giggled in response. "I heard that Haru brought the best sushi for us to devour~ I really can't contain myself anymore, can we start picking up the pace and dash through Leblanc? I can see the corner right there."
"I do feel the same. But could I take a moment first? I just have something important that I wanted to say." Lavenza requested. Ren stops to listen to what she is about to say. "Though I'm just an attendant on your journey. I would like to express how happy I am that you've invited me for this occasion."
"I thought I would be just a distant memory of yours. But I was overwhelmed with joy that you've remembered me, even made a miraculous attempt to enter the Velvet Room once again." Having said that, the young girl tears up and smiles. "Allow me to thank you on the bottom of my heart."
Ren walked towards the young girl and put his hand on top of her head. "Of course, I would never forget about you. The bond we share is the proof of that." Giving her a head pat, he smiled and let the girl hug his waist. However, the moment was broken when they felt something passed through their body. Making their heart stop for a second.
It's not only them who experienced it, people nearby also wondered what they just felt. Then a frightened scream caught their attention. Ren quickly looked where it came from and saw a really strange event happening in the convenience store. Items on the shelf started to float in the air, then even the tiniest pebbles on the street started to rise into the skies.
Then the air started to move abnormally, everyone began to run in panic, a vortex of ferocious wind has been formed above and throwing everything as it's landing on the ground. "Trickster!" Lavenza hastily shouted to Ren before materliazing the grimoire in her hand.
When the vortex hit the ground, it exploded like a powerful bomb made from darkness. Ravenging anything it passes, destroying every establishment, killing any sentient life, engulfing the environment with its eeri color. Ren couldn't see clearly, but he can feel that someone is holding his hand tightly. "Trickster!" He heard Lavenza's shaking voice calling his name.
But the force is too much, he can feel his hand losing its grip. Then he saw a shining figure in the middle of the darkness, a woman in white-silk dress, and crystal-colored long hair. "This power...It's coming from you?!" Lavenza said as she used more of her power to protect Ren.
However, the barrier she made is starting to break, cracks begin to run through the shield like broken glass. "Why are you-" Hearing another tick of her on the side, Lavenza glanced behind with a smile on her face. "We won't make it." She murmured softly, her Trickster might not have heard it, but perhaps that is for the best.
"I'm sorry." Deciding not to fortify the shield she created anymore, she pulled Ren closer to her. "Goodbye, My Trickster." Lavenza whispered in his ears as their bodies glow bright. This isn't what she imagined this day going to be, but at least she's able to spend even just a little minute with the man she admired the most.
Hopefully he'll find the strength to face tomorrow.
A/N: Decided to add another Persona x Date a Live crossover on the archive. Though updating this might take a while since it will contain spoilers on Persona 5 Scramble/Strikers, but regardless hopefully you all enjoy it!
If there's any question feel free to ask~ I'll answer through PM (Can't do that with guest though)
