November 20th

Ren stared down at the cold metal desk in front of him. Everything about this plan weighted on him. If he made one misstep, one miscalculation he knew the fate that awaited him. His whole capture was a farce, an excuse for the corrupt adults to rule over the masses. He could change all that, but only if he could convince the person that was going to step through that door. This plan wasn't without flaws so he needed to be flawless.

The squeak of the door drew his attention, for a moment a figure was silhouetted against the bright lights of the outside hallway. It was just a jarring enough sight that Ren had no chose but to advert his eyes. His eye were far more use to the dim light of the interrogation room. The sound of high heels on the cement floor informed him that Sae had walked in, all according to plan. Then there was 2 more foot falls followed closely by the door shutting.

Ren's eyes instantly snapped to the two new figures. A woman with long blue hair and a tall man with a silver hair. These two he had never before seen in his life, and this wasn't part of the plan at all. Suddenly a bit of fear begun to well in Ren. If he failed this part of the plan then everything was forfeit. His life, his friend's lives, and the corruption would continue… Ren needed a new plan, but these damn drugs… He could feel them claw at the fringes of his mind numbing everything. It was going to be tough to concentrate. Still Ren's life depended on this.

The whine of the metal chair scrapping against the cold floor filled the room as Sae took a seat in front of him. The woman with blue hair moved to her side as the silver haired man leaned against the wall, his dark grey eyes focused solely on Ren. Sae sighed as she looked around the room and the state Ren was currently in.

"So it was you…" Sae started.

Ren remained silent as his mind fought through the drugs that infected it; trying to figure out what his next step would be. But still one question needed to be answered more than anything. If his friend hadn't made it out then this was all for naught. His life was already forfeit in this sick game he was merely the victim of. A sigh echoed from his chest, causing a new wave of pain to course through his body.

"Where are the others..?" Ren managed to get out despite his state.

Ren didn't catch the glance the blue haired woman gave to the taller man but he did catch what she said. "They are safe."

Something about what the woman said didn't sit right with Ren. He expected the police to lie to him but to say something as blatant as they were safe. Was this good cop bad cop? Honestly Ren didn't know what to make of the statement and as he glanced up, the expression on Niijima's face seemed to say she wasn't sure about what the woman had said either.

"You almost sound for certain Shirogane-san. Do you know his accomplices, might I remind you this man is under investigation for murder!" Sae voice was elevated as she spoke.

Whoever this Shirogane person was she didn't seem phased by Niijima's words. "Please, this young man is innocent and is taking the fall for the corruption in the heart of Tokyo. You know firsthand about that corruption don't you Niijima-san? The same forces that hold you down now threaten to swallow this young man."

Ren blinked unsure of how to respond. Sae gave the other woman a very interested look. Something about this Shirogane persons worlds even affected the stoic Public Prosecutor. Did Sae realize the conspiracy they were all trapped in? Would she believe him about Akechi? If she was as bright as Makoto then that answer had to be yes. Good, Ren could use that to his advantage.

"What evidence to do you have to this point Shirogane-san?" Sae pressed her lips into a firm line as she eyed the other woman.

"Akechi is the traitor," Suddenly a wide smile appeared on the woman's face. "And I can prove it with only this." The woman picked up Ren's phone.

Ren stared dumbly at the phone before his eyes flickered up to Shirogane. Did she already know the plan? What the hell was going on? Ren bid his muddle mind to make sense of his current situation but it would seem that at the moment; whomever this Shirogane person was, she was definitely on his side and knew more about his situation then even Sae did. Ren had no choice but to trust her at that moment.

Sae seemed apprehensive before she folded her arms across her chest. "Alright, Shirogane you seemed to be on top of everything since our meeting we had yesterday, let's see this evidence."

"Akechi will come into this room and assassinate this boy and there will be a big cover up about it. But first we need to get him out of here and send Akechi to this room. Niijima-san if you would just entertain me and my partner for 10 minutes you'll have all the evidence you need." The blue haired woman explained.

"Alright, say I go along with this, what reason do I have to trust you?" Sae asked.

Ren could only become a spectator to his own fate, but this change of fate seemed to be working in his favor.

"Because if we are right then you'll be the one getting all the credit." The mysterious woman bargained.

Sae seemed to consider all this. "I won't be an accomplice but I'm curious how this will turn out. I'll place my bet on you."

The woman finally turned her attention to Ren. "Now Amamiya-san, tell me about this other world…"

Ren's eyes flashed to the blue haired woman. She wore a knowing look on her face as her blue eyes stared deeply at him. Other world? Did she mean..? Ren narrowed his eyes slightly as his drug addled brain processed exactly the request she had asked. This Shirogane person seemed to know more than anyone else in the room. Honesty was probably the best policy with her. Ren silently weighted his option about how he wanted to take this before he settled on one.

"Okay…" Ren shifted slightly taking on the cocky confident facade of the leader of the phantom thieves, Joker. "What do you want to know?" The question was framed with a smirk.

Ren sat in the back of car, still trying to piece together what exactly happened. He had been fully ready to convince Sae but then walks in two people he had never met and knew what a Persona was. They both convinced Sae to go along with the plan that he and his friend had made without a hitch. Whoever these people where they were either a godsend or Akechi was playing a longer game then any one had realized. Ren wasn't sure which one it was. Ren glanced out the window letting his mind wonder about the possibility for each unsure future.

"Amamiya-kun, are we getting closer to the café?" Shirogane the female Detective asked from the front driver seat.

"Yeah, park here the Café is off this upcoming alley." Ren instructed.

Narukami the tall guy pointed out a parking spot along the street before Shirogane pulled into the spot. The two detectives got out, moving to the back to help Ren out. They hadn't really said anything during the whole car ride and the side effect from the drugs wearing off left Ren in a daze to say the least. Surely those drugs had to be illegal but leave it up to a corrupt system to do something like that. All's Ren really wanted to do was sleep, but the questions about what was happening hung in the air. Like a torn in his side, Ren knew without some answers he'd never get the solid rest his body needed. Narukami open his door offering his battered body a place to lean as Ren struggled to get out of the car.

"I can't believe they did this! To a kid no less!" Shirogane grumbled as Narukami fully shouldered Ren.

"Better this then dead I suppose." Narukami commented helping Ren towards the alley that hosted LeBlanc.

"Who are you guys..?" Ren managed to get out, his voice dry and rough.

"Us? That's a complicated question…" Shirogane started.

"We are Persona user like yourself and we are on your side." Narukami voice held some power to it that seemed to suggest he wasn't lying, for the moment Ren was put at ease.

"We can explain everything later, but we met your friends in that other world. They explained to us what was happening to you and we volunteered to help get you out and away from Akechi. Akechi fell for it so you are safe for now." Shirogane explained as she stepped up to the door of Café Leblanc and opened it.

"Good…" Ren's words were hollow as his mind seemed to become fuzzier.

Narukami pulled Ren pass the threshold of the café much to the surprise of Sojiro. The look in the old man eyes were definitely one of surprise as he fumbled the coffee mug he had been holding. It dropped to the table with a 'thud' but didn't break, the coffee inside however spilled across the counter and dripped to the floor.

"Who are you and what happened to him?!" Sojiro demanded ignoring the coffee mess for the moment.

"All that can be answered in a moment, but for now we need to get this guy to bed and hide him. He's been beaten badly and drugged." Shirogane explained as she stepped through the door behind him.

"O-Of course, his room is upstairs. Just past that door." Sojiro motioned to the back of the shop.

"Let's go," Narukami said to Ren as he pulled him through the shop and up the stairs.

Shirogane remained downstairs and through Ren's muddled mind he heard Sojiro's and Shirogane's voices downstairs no doubt conversing about Ren current situation. Ren room was dark and was missing a certain cat that always told him to go to bed, but other than that nothing was out of place. A small comfort but a comfort none the less. Narukami got Ren to his bed and carefully placed him down. Ren being too tired to do much just collapsed right there in his Shujin uniform. If it wasn't for the piercing stare of Narukami he might have just fallen asleep just then.

"Do you know a man named Igor that is in charge of a velvet room?" Narukami asked.

"Yes," Was all that came of Ren's simple response, he was too tired to lie or realize the full ramifications of the whole question.

"I see, we will need to talk later Wild Card..." Narukami turned and walked from the room.

If Ren was in any condition to talk more, he might have stopped Narukami. This was not one of those times. Pulling his sore body back on the bed, he fumbled for his blanket and just threw it over his head. He had escaped death, and the two new detectives where a problem for future Ren to deal with. Now alone, the leader of the phantom thieves quickly fell into deep sleep only to be drawn into the velvet room that night, to clear up the finer details the drugs had kept from him.

Yu watched Naoto set down her leather bag on one of the 'L' shaped sofa of the condo they were staying at. The sun was just starting to set and was casting the room in a rich orange glow. Yu pulled off his long coat and hung it up in the closet next to the door. Naoto collapsed into the sofa looking just about ready to fall asleep right then and there. They had gotten very little sleep yesterday in their bid to both get information out of the phantom thieves and then turn around and save Ren from possible assassination. Yu moved and sat down in a large arm chair opposite of his partner, letting himself just relax.

They were currently in Rise's upscale Tokyo condo. They had been offered hotel rooms by the Kirijo group, but honestly Rise's condo had been the better choice for the both of them. Rise's production studio was based out of Tokyo so the idol spent a fair share in Tokyo in between tours and her time in Inaba. This condo was bought for the sole propose of being both a home base here in Tokyo for Risette but also functioned as a small recording studio. A room down the hall was dedicated to that very task. The condo was rather large for a place in Tokyo proper but then again Rise had dropped a significant sum for the down payment. Luckily half the mortgage was paid for by the studio, a perk of being a super crazy popular idol.

The condo was in located just outside of Shinjuku and close to most of the action in Tokyo. The condo building itself was geared towards rich and famous people, with 23 floors and each floor dedicated solely to one tenant. So in order to get in, one had to put in a key for their floor and the elevator would take them to the proper floor. There was also a door between the elevator and the inside of the condo just for added privacy, in case someone got the floor wrong. Honestly both Yu and Naoto where pleased to have such a place to crash during their investigation.

Naoto stirred from her place upon the couch and slowly got up rolling her shoulders. She rose to her feet flicking on the lights for the living room. Yu leaned forward on his chair as Naoto sat back down on the couch. Looking in the direction of her partner, she paused seeming to collecting a few thoughts. Yu sat quietly letting his partner collect herself before she spoke.

"Are we going to call the others?" Naoto asked.

Yu thought about that for a moment. "It would probably be best too. I know Rise will probably rush over as soon as we tell her."

"Wouldn't surprise me if Kanji does something similar." Naoto said before she yawned as the fatigue seemed to be hitting her hard.

It wouldn't surprise Yu if Naoto got close to little sleep the last few days. The chronic workaholic had a thing for working late into the night and still managing to get up at a normal time. Not that she was all sunshine and roses when she got up… Quite the opposite, she was more… I'll stab you until I can get my coffee kind of morning person. Never stand between Naoto and her coffee… It was one of the solemn rules Yu had cataloged working so closely with his partner.

The fact the Shirogane hadn't slept was probably compounded by their excursion the day before into the other world. That place had a way of just zapping energy from you. They both needed sleep and a good night's sleep at that. Still out of the two of them, Naoto looked ready to pass out. She no doubt was still probably planning on staying up to work on a report but Yu knew that probably wasn't the best idea right now.

"How about you go take a long nap and I'll call everyone." Yu suggested, hoping his partner would go with the idea.

An internal conflict reflected on Naoto's face before she nodded. "If you are offering, I'll accept."

The fact she gave up so easily hinted how exhausted his companion truly was. She quickly got to her feet and disappeared down an adjacent hallway that lead to the condo's bed rooms. The condo had 3 bedroom in total, along with the recording studio and a rather large office. Naoto had taken one of the spare bedrooms for herself when they arrived well Yu stayed in the master bed room. In all honesty this wasn't his first time spending time in Rise's condo. He generally stayed here a few intermittent weeks a year to just be with Rise well she was busy with idol duties. He stayed here so often he had his own dresser full of clothes in the master bed room.

Now alone in the rather large living room, Yu reached for his phone. There was a slight hesitation as he tried to figure out who he was going to call first. After thinking it over in his tired mind for a moment or two he came to the conclusion that he should probably call his girlfriend first. She would probably be the one most available to help them right out of the gate. She had only stayed behind to be with her grandmother. Yu had a suspicious if they had stayed longer than a week here that she would of eventually came to Tokyo herself just to be with him. After pressing the digits to his girlfriend's familiar number, Yu put the phone to his ear. 2 rings passed before he was greeted by a voice he would never tire hearing from.

"Hey Handsome, what's up?" Rise answered her voice's warmth projecting through the phone.

Yu couldn't keep the smile from pulling at his lips as she heard her voice. "Hey beautiful… Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come down to Tokyo."

"I suppose I could. Are you really that lonely without me?" Rise questioned in a flirting tone.

"Always." Yu casually responded. "Also we found the phantom… thieves." A yawn cut his words, a reminder of how exhausted he truly was.

"Oh?" A surprised tone echoed over the phone. "That was fast. Then again it is you and Naoto…"

"We got super lucky I'd like to think, but this case is definitely tied to the other world." Yu explained. "They are a bunch of teenagers and the situation is eerily similar to ours 5 years ago."

"Huh, well it's a good thing I was looking up plane tickets to Tokyo this morning…" There was certain mirth in Rise's words that lead Yu to believe it wouldn't have been only a day or two before Rise would have joined him here in Tokyo.

"Well we could use you… And the others." Yu told his girlfriend knowing she would probably be booking the first flight down.

"I'll be down as soon as possible!" Rise announced. "Have you told the others yet?"

"No, you were the first one I called." Yu informed leaning back upon the arm chair and glancing out into the now dark Tokyo skyline just beyond the windows at the back of the living room.

"You want me to take care of all that?" Rise offered. "No offense Yu but you sound like you've had a rough day."

Was his tiredness that clear in his voice? Or was Rise just that good at reading him? A mystery for sure but Yu liked to believe Rise was just that good at reading him. Well he had sent Naoto off, the idea of being able to rest himself was an offer that was too tantalizing to be simply discarded. He was tired enough he could of crashed right there in the armchair if given 5 quiet minutes.

"If that's not a big deal." Yu pressed.

"Of course not… Go get some sleep, I'll text you the details." Rise added with a small light laugh.

"I'll leave things in your hand. I'm going to go get some rest. Good night Rise. I love you." Yu appreciative tone was hopefully conveyed through the phone.

"I love you too. Good night." Rise warm voice called back to him before she hung up.

Yu let a soft smile rise to his cheeks as he looked down at his phone. He could really appreciate the small things Rise did for him. A recurring theme of their relationship always seemed to be distance, but strangely that distance did nothing but strengthen their relationship. Even when Rise was away, they always talked on the phone to each other and it was always just nice to hear the voice of someone you love. He made a mental note to call his girlfriend tomorrow to get details from her about how she was going to be coming to Tokyo.

Rising to his feet he moved towards the back room to finally collapse. He'd call his friend in the morning to confirm everything but for now he just wanted to sleep. Ren was safe but would probably need a day or two to recover after what had happened to him at the police station. He didn't look so good when Yu dropped him off this afternoon. Poor kid. Yu didn't even really know the kid but wanted justice for him. Nothing could justify beating and drugging a teenager, even if he was a suspected murder.

Speaking of kids…

Yu made another mental note to talk to the group chat tomorrow and see what their plans were. If anything he and Naoto still needed to be caught up on their full adventures. They had been given a rough overview but the exact details of curtain things had been glossed over in the rush to save Ren. No doubt a few hours with Makoto Niijima would sort that out. The girl was sharp and could explain things swiftly and concisely. A trait she seemed to share with her elder sister Sae Niijima.

Turning on the lights of the master bedroom. An empty room greeted him. Quickly getting changed into something more comfy. Yu sat down on the large bed in the middle of the room. His mind tried but still anxious to go over the events of the last few days in his head. If almost felt as if he was on the cusp of another grand adventure. How things would play out from here he couldn't foresee that far. Part of that was exciting, but the idea of facing ruin once again… Yu drew that line of thinking from his mind. Flicking off the lights, Yu got to bed.

Ruin could wait until tomorrow.