Disclaimer: I own nothing

Ren sat in his room with Morgana, planning each location he'd go to with his parents and how he'd disguise it as a tour. First, while his parents thanked Sojiro, he'd give Mona a calling card that he could take to Takemi. Then, while in Shibuya, he figured he'd take them to a movie theatre and sneak out under the guise of an upset stomach to get to both Iwai and Yoshida to deliver their calling cards. After that, they'd go to Inokashira Park where he'd anonymously send Ohya a message about a dead drop location where he'd leave the card, then, making his way to Shinjuku he'd convince his parents to get a lengthy reading from Chihaya so that he could find an opening to slip a calling card into Chihaya's tarot deck when she wasn't looking, finally, they'd head to Akihabara where he'd lose them in one of the large tech stores so he could rush over to the arcade and discreetly place Shinya's calling card in his pocket before returning to his parents.

He laid back comfortably on the hotel bed, satisfied with his plan. Morgana winced at how convoluted and needlessly complicated it was. "Joker, is all this stuff really necessary? Why not just talk to them?"

"Two reasons." He said, holding up his fingers. "One: I don't want to risk getting into a lengthy conversation with them and having my parents come look for me."

"Fair point." Morgana meowed. "And the second?"

Ren's face sagged with impatience. "Because I haven't been able to do anything like this in months!" He exclaimed, sitting upright.. "I miss being a Phantom Thief, Morgana. The action, sneaking around palaces, using my personas. What can compare to that in this world?"

"You could always try getting into law enforcement like Makoto." The cat offered.

"Being a police officer means holding back. I never had to hold back against shadows. As a matter of fact, I couldn't hold back! Unless I wanted to get killed..."

"Do you really miss fighting that much?" Morgana asked, his voice filled with worry.

"It's not just that…" He replied, his voice growing more somber. "After fighting so much, risking our lives… I just find it hard to get excited about anything anymore. It's like nothing can get my blood pumping again."

"I get it." Morgana replied. "But we gave all that up to save the world. That was our duty as Phantom Thieves."

"Yeah…" Joker lamented. "Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't change a thing about what we did. I just miss it. I miss working with everyone. I miss celebrating taking down the bad guys."

"I won't lie, that stuff was amazing." The cat said with a glowing smile. "But that was then, and this is now. But you don't have to worry about not getting your blood pumping, cause I'm gonna help you as soon as we get back home!"

Ren smiled as he satisfyingly petted Morgana. "Thanks, Mona. I'm counting on you."

"Alright, that's enough heart to heart. We should go to sleep."

"In a minute." Ren said, standing up from the bed and walking to the door. "I've gotta make a call."

"To who?" Morgana asked.

"Futaba. I'm gonna need a favor from her for tomorrow." Morgana simply nodded as Ren left the room and made himself comfortable on the bed.

The next morning, as soon as his parents were ready to head out, Ren guided them through the Subway in order to get to Yongen. Both his mother and father were impressed with how well he knew the subway system considering how their hometown only had the one station. Quickly making their way through the backstreets of Yongen-Jaya, the former Phantom Thief escorted his parents into the café that he called home.

As they entered, Sojiro stood behind the counter, reading the newspaper. He looked up with a calm smirk. "Welcome. My name's Sojiro Sakura, but you can call me Boss." He greeted them.

Both Masato and Kimiko bowed. "Thank you for taking care of our son, Mister Sakura."

Sojiro chuckled. "I said you can call me Boss. Besides, you've got no business thanking me. I'm the one that should be thanking you."

Ren smiled. "I didn't think you were serious when you said that."

"Of course I was serious, you idiot."

"Excuse me, Mister Sakura-" Kimiko interjected.

"Just Boss, please." Sojiro reiterated once more.

"Mister Boss-" Sojiro let out a long sigh. Ren's mother cleared her throat and tried again. "Boss, what do you mean when you say that you should be thanking us?"

Sojiro began pouring some hot coffee. "I mean what I said. You both raised a good kid, and he helped me out a lot last year." He smirked.

"How exactly."

"Ain't it obvious?" Sojiro asked. For a split second, Ren felt his heart race. He had never mentioned to Sojiro that his parents were unaware of his escapades as a Phantom Thief. Before he could interrupt, Sojiro already spoke. "He's a responsible worker and a hell of an employee."

Ren's heart quickly calmed at Sojiro's response.

Kimiko turned to him curiously. "You helped Mister Sakura in the café?"

"Yeah." He quickly answered. "I learned a lot from him."

"Why don't you show them, kid. I already made the coffee, so you can make the curry." He said with a reminiscent smile.

"On it, Boss."

With that, Ren set down the bag Morgana was in and donned his apron as he walked into the kitchen and examined his ingredients. Masato and Kimiko watched intently as their son moved about the kitchen without any hesitation. It seemed as if he had been working there all his life. When he was finally done, he presented plates to both his parents as well as one for Sojiro.

The coffee house owner was the first to dig in. "Don't mind if I do." He said, taking in a savory mouthful. His parents quickly followed suit, both of them amazed at how well made the dish was.

"This is fantastic, Ren." His father praised.

"Why don't you cook for us at home?" Kimiko asked.

Ren shrugged his shoulders. "It's not the same there, I guess."

"Not bad, kid." Sojiro complimented. "But I thought I told you to make it your own and change it up."

"You can't improve perfection, Boss."

Sojiro laughed. "Damn right, you can't! But still, you really should make it your own instead of just copying me."

"Maybe, but I'd rather keep the family recipe the same. Seems disrespectful otherwise."

"Damn it, kid. Why do you gotta say things like that?" He said, fighting back a few tears.

Suddenly, the bell above the entrance rang. "Excuse me." A soft, feminine voice greeted. Looking up, Ren saw someone he hadn't expected. "Senpai!"

"Sumire?" He asked. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here because of your text." She pointed to her phone. "I would have come sooner, but I was in a competition overseas, and Coach wouldn't let me leave until I finished. I came here to ask Boss if he knew where you were."

Masato cleared his throat and gave his son a knowing look. "So, Ren, who's this lovely lady."

"Mom?"

"Sorry, but I want to know too. I'll hit him after you tell us though." She said with a bright smile.

Ren walked around the counter to Sumire and gestured to her. "Mom, Dad, this is Sumire Yoshizawa. One of the friends I made here."

"It's an honor to meet you both." She said with a respectful bow. She turned to Ren and whispered into his ear. "Senpai, what is it that you wanted to talk about?" Ren promptly guided Sumire outside Leblanc after a quick apology to both his parents and Boss. She looked at her old leader with worried eyes. "Senpai?" She asked.

"Meet me here tonight, at eight o'clock. I'll explain everything then, alright?"

"Is something wrong?"

"Not at all. I just don't want my parents knowing about what we were doing in our spare time last year."

"Ah, I see." Sumire's look of worry quickly became one of confident joy. "You can count on me, Senpai!" A sudden grumbling quickly reverted her confident smile into that of an embarrased one. "Sorry. I haven't had any breakfast yet."

Ren smiled and opened the door to Leblanc. "Come on in. I still have some more curry that I can serve you."

"Thank you so much, Senpai!"

With that, the two reentered the café. While Kimiko and Masato chatted with Sumire, Sojiro pulled Ren aside. "Hey kid, it's not too busy, so why don't you show your parents up to your room. It's the same as how you left it. I figure they'd like to see where you lived the past year."

"Sounds good. Oh, and Boss?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for not dropping the bomb on my parents."

Sojiro laughed and shook his head. "I almost did, but then I saw that look on your face. Priceless."

Ren grabbed his mom and dad so that he could show them upstairs, but not before grabbing a calling card from his bag and discreetly handing it to Morgana who took the card in his mouth before escaping the café and making his way to the clinic.

The room was as dusty as ever, but even then, he felt a sudden rush of nostalgia being back. "So, this was your room?" His mother asked as she looked over all the decorations.

"Yeah. Pretty nice, isn't it."

"It's not exactly clean." Masato pointed out as he examined the workbench. "What's all this stuff that you've got here?"

"Oh… uh… Arts and crafts. I used it for school." He lied.

With lightning speed, his father made it to his bed and began looking under it. "And what sort of 'art' are you stashing down here, huh?"

"Dad, no!" Ren yelled. But it was far too late. He could tell as soon as his father's body stiffened.

A loud clattering sound echoed throughout the room as his father dropped the model gun he had used in the metaverse onto the floor. Masato pushed away from the bed, clambering to his feet. "Ren! What is that?!" He yelled.

Before his mother could ask what her husband was on about, she laid her eyes upon the gun and choked on her own breath. Ren quickly held up his hand and tried to calm them. "Wait! I can explain! Don't freak out!"

Kimiko rose a trembling hand as she pointed to the gun. "T-t-t-that's a gun…" She uttered.

"No, it's not! It's a fake!"

"What do you mean, a fake, Ren?!" His father asked.

"It's a model! I swear!" Ren picked it up off the ground and aimed it towards his bed. "Watch." He said slowly and calmly before squeezing the trigger several times. The two worried parents instinctively covered their ears before realizing that the gun wasn't firing. They hesitantly looked back to their son, waiting for him to continue.

Slowly, he placed the gun onto the bed. "I got interested in them while I was staying here. I even had a job with the owner of the place that sold them. It's just a model, I swear."

Kimiko and Masato both took in several, calming deep breaths before allowing their son to continue. "It was a hobby I picked up. I thought they were cool so I looked into them. As a matter of fact…" Ren's words trailed off as he reached back under his bed and grabbed the cleaning kit. He grabbed the gun and the kit before moving them to the workbench. "I haven't done any proper maintenance since I left, so let me show you."

Carefully and methodically, Ren disassembled the gun, cleaning it thoroughly as he went and explaining each piece of the model firearm and how it made the gun unable to fire any real ammunition. His parents watched with a continuously calming sense of worry. By the time he was finished, their fears were almost completely assuaged. He set the gun down on the table and gestured to it. "Do either of you want to hold it?"

"Hold it?" His mother asked bewildered. "I don't want to see it!"

"Mom, I already explained-"

"I know! I also don't care!" There was a pregnant silence in the room before Ren's mother took a deep breath. "I'm sorry. Seeing it just scared me. It almost made me think that you really were some sort of criminal…" Her words pierced right through Ren's heart, but he couldn't blame her. Guns were nigh impossible to get in Japan. If he had a real one, it would truly be worrying to any parent.

"I want to see where you got it." His father said calmly.

"What?" Ren asked, shocked.

"You heard me. I want to see the place that you got it. And I want to meet this owner that gave it to you."

Ren's heart sank to his feet. He would have been fine if his parent's wanted to meet literally any other friend of his, but Iwai was without a doubt, the most intimidating person they could ask to meet. It didn't help that he was actually ex-Yakuza. But he didn't have a choice. "Alright, I'll introduce you…"