WHAT'S UP I'M RIGHT BACK! After years of being completely inactive, I decided to return to doing things I love. Lately, I've been playing Persona 5 and I really love the friendship bond the MC has with Ryuji Sakamoto, who is my favorite character in the game. His interactions with the MC are the best and they really have the ultimate bro bond. So yeah, starting now, I'm gonna become more active again and make up for those lost times. So without further ado, I present my very first Persona 5 fanfic. Also, just a heads-up, I'm using the name Ren Amamiya for the MC for all my Persona 5 fanfics. Okay, now, ONTO THE STORY!

Day - Saturday

Time - After School

Location - Shujin Academy

Classes just got dismissed. 16-year old Ren Amamiya was packing up his bag and made sure that his "cat", Morgana, couldn't be seen by anyone. Exam season is finally starting next week and Ren must make sure to use majority of his time to study.

"Hey," Morgana said, slightly peeping his head out of Ren's bag, "Exams are already starting soon. We better head home so you can finally start studying."

"I know," Ren replied.

After packing up, Ren walked away and headed for the classroom door.

"Well," Morgana spoke again as Ren exited the classroom, "I know you'll do well. You've always been diligent and serious about your studies. Unlike someone we know."

Ren knew whom Morgana was referring to. And, unsurprisingly, his blonde best friend, Ryuji Sakamoto, was just waiting by the stairs near his classroom. He was wearing his winter uniform that consisted of the standard Shujin black blazer unbuttoned to reveal his yellow t-shirt that says 'ZOMG!' and has a star symbol in the background and his plaid trousers rolled up.

"Speak of the devil," Morgana said.

"Yo," said Ryuji, patting his best bro's shoulder, "Going home?"

"Yeah," Ren replied.

"I'll come walk with you."

The two boys went down the classroom building and approached the school gate. Ren asked Ryuji a question right in front of the academy.

"Ummm... Ryuji," he said, "Are you free tomorrow?"

Ryuji's eyes widened as he smiled, thinking his bro wants to have a day off with him the next day.

"RENREN!" he shouted rather enthusiastically as he grabbed Ren's shoulders and shook him by it, "I knew I can always count on you, man! Are we going somewhere?! We've been training a lot this week. Why don't we lay down low man?! I know! We should go bowling. I've searched up a strategy on how to strike the pins easily. Oh wait! We should go fishing again! My mom got me a new fishing rod and it would be great to try it out. What do you say Ren? Shall we-" Ren immediately cut him off afterwards.

"Uhh... actually..." he said, "I was just gonna ask if you're willing to study at my place tomorrow."

"Wait, what?" Ryuji asked, scratching his head, looking completely confused and clueless, "Why?"

"Dude! Have you forgotten what's going to happen next week?!"

"Ummm... what is it again?"

Morgana used this opportunity to insult Ryuji as always.

"IDIOT!" he shouted, "It's exam season starting Monday!"

"Oh yeah hehe," Ryuji said, slightly smiling and laughing, "That..."

Ren and Morgana stared at each other with their eyes rolled. They then gave the same facial expression to Ryuji, symbolizing their response for his utter density.

"Let me guess," said Ren, "Since you didn't know about this, I assume you never even went through the source materials at least once throughout the entire week, right?"

"Well..." Ryuji was already being obvious. He had no other answer, "No."

Ren and Morgana gave Ryuji a double facepalm.

"Hey!" Ryuji shouted, "Why are you two giving me that as if it's something that's really bad?!"

"Uhh... cause it is?" Morgana answered mockingly.

"Bro!" Ren answered. "Our expectations from you were low but what the eff man!"

"Damn! You're already starting to sound like him."

"I don't know. I guess he's just contagious at times."

"Well, whatever! This guy needs help."

Ryuji sighed at their conversation.

"Come on!" he said, "You think this is easy? How am I supposed to focus on this whole studying thing while worrying about our next target as Phanto-"

"SHHHH!" Morgana whispered loudly, cutting off Ryuji, "Be quiet! We're literally in the middle of the school gate."

"Oh... right," said Ryuji while he was checking the surroundings. "Let's go somewhere with less people."

Ryuji and Ren, together with Morgana in Ren's bag, walked away from the school gate and went nearer towards the train station. They stayed in an area where people can't hear them much and continued their conversation.

"We already discussed this with the others," Ren told Ryuji, "We're calling off any of our Phantom Thieves activities until our exams are done with. That means we won't be exploring Mementos nor are we going to search for our next target while we're at it."

"Dammit..." Ryuji expressed, "This is boring. Who knows what other forms of injustice is still lurking among those shadows?"

"The only injustice happening right now is your incapability to balance Phantom Thieves business with your actual real life obligations," Morgana roasted again.

"Hey shut it you stupid cat!"

"I AM NOT A CAT!"

Morgana and Ryuji stared at each other ragingly. But they stopped after a few seconds.

"Well," said Ryuji, "Even though I did try to study, I can't get any work done. I'll just end up playing video games or reading manga."

"Which is exactly why I'm offering to help you," said Ren, "I decided to invite you to my place since I know you can't study on your own. I'm sure you'll get to concentrate more if I assist you into studying."

"Do you really think you can help this guy?" Morgana asked, lowkey roasting Ryuji again, "Even Makoto can't help him focus. What makes you think he'll actually get work done if he studies with you, and not to mention that the exam will already start in two days?"

"Are you judging me again?!" Ryuji shouted at Morgana, looking pissed.

"No, I'm just telling you the truth."

"WHY YOU LITTLE?!"

Ryuji was reaching for Morgana, wanting to strangle him. But Ren held back his hands.

"Please don't put yourself in a situation that will get you accused of animal abuse," Ren told Ryuji.

"HEY!" Morgana called out Ren, "Who are you calling an animal? I'm a human! 100%."

"Tch..." Ryuji got his hands back. "Guess I have no choice then."

Ryuji is completely devoid of motivation for studying. However, he also realized that studying alone isn't gonna help him due to his habit of resorting to playing video games or binge-reading manga the night before an exam. Also, Ren was very much willing to help him. He decided to accept the offer.

"Okay!" he said, smiling, "Looks like we're seeing each other tomorrow. I'll be counting on you man."

"Good," Ren responded, "I trust that you'll dedicate yourself to overcoming this ordeal."

After they concluded their conversation, the two boys headed for the train station. As they parted ways, they gave each other a fist bump and called it a day. Then Ren rode the train going back to Yongen-Jaya from Shibuya.

"Do you really think that idiot can absorb half a semester's worth of material in one day?" Morgana asked while the train was moving.

"I trust him," Ren replied, looking confident. "He ain't the smartest guy but I'm sure he'll put some passion into this."

"You think so?"

"Uh-huh."

The train finally stopped at Yongen-Jaya and Ren went down with Morgana in his bag with his head popped out. As Ren was walking up the escalator, he stared at Morgana, smiling.

"You know?" he said, "Even though you constantly insult and judge Ryuji with his antics or when he does something completely stupid, you're actually genuinely concerned about him."

"WHAT?! NO!" Morgana was looking away, trying to be apathetic, "I couldn't care less about that pathetic loser."

"Come on. Don't deny it. I know you don't want him to fail. Even though both of you constantly tease each other, deep down, you care about him."

"Oh shut up. He's just part of the Phantom Thieves. It would be bad if anyone of us forgets to do their everyday duties just because of this life outside school."

"See? That's the point. The fact that you acknowledged him as one of us means that you do respect him as much as everyone else. You even heal him willingly during our infiltrations. You also remind him of his obligations just as much as with me. Admit it, you see him as a friend too."

Morgana sighed. He couldn't deny it.

"Well," he said, "I guess he's alright. He is important in our team after all and he does have a good sense of justice. He's also a good friend to you and to everyone around him."

"Told ya," Ren smiled again, "He's the best bro ever! Even you think of him as a friend."

"Yeah... he's not bad alright," Morgana admitted, "But he's still an idiot though."

"Okay, I won't deny that," Ren answered as he looked straight towards the path.

Day - Saturday

Time - Evening

Location - Café Leblanc

Their conversation ended exactly as they reached the entrance of Café Leblanc. Ren entered and Sojiro greeted him home, wearing his pink dress shirt and khaki pants which were both rolled up, white loafers, and his black apron with a white pinstripe design on it.

"Oh, you're home," he said not too enthusiastically.

There were no more customers inside. The shop is about to close soon and Ren sat down by one of the tables to bring out his reviewers and study for the upcoming exam season. Sojiro was preparing to lock up and arrange everything in order before leaving.

"You won't have much time to study when you step into the real world, so you better make the most of it now," Sojiro told Ren, "I'm locking up shop right now and be sure to stay away from trouble."

Afterwards, Sojiro left the shop and changed the sign to "closed". Ren went through his notes and prepared hard for the most difficult questions. At the same time, he was also thinking about how he can help Ryuji study for tomorrow. He actually discussed this matter with Makoto, the student council president and fellow member of the Phantom Thieves. It was her idea to have Ryuji study with him. She said that Ren would be able to help Ryuji more with this problem because the two boys get along the most. Ren agreed to help and he also took this opportunity to bond with his best friend more and be his motivator. Ren kept studying for the rest of the night and immediately went to sleep afterwards, preparing to meet Ryuji tomorrow morning.

Okay, that's the first chapter done with. I'll release the next one as soon as possible. Ever since I played Persona 5, Ryuji became my absolute favorite character and I couldn't help but write fanfics about his friendship with Ren. Also, I don't ship them as couples but only as best bros and I won't be coming up with any romance fanfics about them. I always tried to look for friendship fanfics about these two, but there's very few of them as most of them are yaoi fics. This will definitely not be the last fanfic I'll be writing about Ryuji and Ren's friendship, and I've got future ideas in mind. If you also have plot ideas about this, you can PM me or send suggestions in the reviews. On a side note, it was my birthday two days ago, so consider this work as my treat.

Revived Hero - SIGNING OUT!