Ren collapsed onto his bed. The Metaverse just had a way of zapping energy in some unexplained way. The teenager wanted nothing more than to just lay there and not move for a while. Naoto had dropped him off a few minutes ago. As they left the Metaverse the child Akechi tried to go with them, but Naoto had promised him she would return and play with him as Ren was forced once again into that obnoxious bear suit. The quicker they finished this palace the better in his mind. The soft feeling of something jumping on the bed alerted Ren of Morgana.

"Man we are gonna have a busy couple of days, but think of it as training!" Morgana said as he sat down next to Ren's head.

Ren just gave his feline friend a thumbs up not bothering to speak. The cat shifted his position and curled up in the space between Ren's head and shoulders. For quite a while neither of them spoke and just enjoyed the ability to do nothing at all. Ren figured he must have drifted off before the ring of his phone tramped his simple peace. With a slight groan, the teenager reached for his phone and got up. As he sat up, he rolled his shoulders and yawned. The simple rest had restored some of his energy at least for the moment.

Glancing down at the phone, Ren figured it was most likely going to be a wall of text in the group chat that everyone was subscribed to. There was now officially two of them. One that included Yu's group and one that was just the original Thieves. It wasn't that there was anything they wanted to keep from the adults but the original chat was mostly for comments that more related to teenagers. The larger one was for Phantom Thief stuff as a whole. As Ren turned on his phone expecting a list of text to appear, there was just one. From Makoto. The text was simple.

Queen: Are you available?

Morgana who stepped up to Ren, put his paws on his owner's leg so he could lean in and read the text. Ren didn't know how to respond at first as he glanced at the time on his phone. It was just an about an hour after school would have let out. Ren decided the best option was to text back.

Joker: I could be. What's up?'

It took a minute before a reply appeared.

Queen: I'll meet you at Leblanc in an hour is that okay?

Joker: Okay

Morgana looked up at Ren as he sent the message. "Looks like you are gonna hang out with Makoto for a while. I think I'll head over to Boss's place to try and figure out what Futaba is working on. If anything I'll crash over there." Morgana stretched before jumping up onto the windowsill above Ren's bed. "I might be back later."

The way he seemed to excuse himself, seemed to imply the cat was eager to give the teen space to speak with his female teammate. With that Morgana opened one of windows and disappeared out into the chilly Tokyo air. Ren moved to his window and closed it enough so the chill won't get in, but didn't lock it so the cat could sneak his way back in later if he so needed to do so. From the window Ren caught sight of Morgana walking along several buildings before jumping down and disappearing into the streets of Yongen-Jaya. Stretching, Ren rose to his feet and looked around his room. The place was as it normally was; clean and tidy which meant Ren had nothing to do except wait for Makoto to arrive. If it was any of his other friends maybe he wouldn't be as anxious, but it was Makoto.

Ren sighed to himself. He was supposed to be the cool confident leader of the Phantom Thieves, yet here he was sweating over a girl coming to him. He had hung out several times with Makoto alone at this point. Why was this so different? He knew the answer and it caused his gut to twitch with the realization. This might be the night when he finally expresses interest in Makoto as more than just a friend.

He could do this right?

Of course!

But there was nothing wrong with asking someone older for advice right?

Ren grabbed for his phone and dialed Yu's number before he even fully realized what he was doing. One ring then a second... two more. Ren glared at his wall, Yu said he had his back and here he needed him and he wasn't picking up. How could Yu do this to him!

"What's up Ren?" Yu's voice echoed from Ren's phone.

"I need advice." Ren quickly responded trying to sound smooth but failing at it. Where was all that cocky confidence or calmness he was known for?

"Okay... I'm all ears." Did Yu sound way cooler then he normally did or was because of the slight panic Ren was in?

Ren just let out a long sigh, no longer bothering to hide his apprehension. "Makoto is coming over here to Leblanc."

"And?" Yu questioned, but was that a bit of amusement echoing in his voice?

"How do you tell a girl you like them?" Ren dropped, not bothering to skirt around the issue.

There was a slight pause on the other end of the line before Yu spoke up. "Alright listen to me. First thing you are going to do is go take a long shower to calm down and clean up. Next you are going to dress in some clean clothes and make yourself look sharp. When she comes you bring her up to your room and explain your feelings in that calm style you are known for. She'll tell you she feels the same and voila."

"What if she doesn't feel the same?" Ren questioned. The words falling out of his mouth.

"Then you call me. I'll gather the boys and we'll have a boy's night out." Yu stated simply.

"It's that simple?" Ren took a deep breath and suddenly felt more like himself again.

"It's that simple." Came Yu's non-judgmental tone from the other end of the phone. "Let me know how things turn out."

"I will." Ren nodded even if Yu couldn't see him before hanging up.

Okay; shower, clean clothes, sharpness, and just explain. It all sounded simple and it was a plan he could get behind. Taking a deep breath, Ren put his new plan into motion. He was going to steal Makoto's heart the old fashioned way. If he just thought of this as a normal mission there was no way he could fail.

"Let's do this!" Ren said to the emptiness of his room.

Ren followed Yu's advice, taking a shower at the bathhouse down the street and putting on clean clothes. All that was easy but as he looked in a mirror at the bathhouse he had to question if glasses make him look sharp or was he sharper without them? He mulled over it before leaving his glasses in his toiletries tub and headed home. His reason being that the glasses were just another mask he wore to blend in and he wanted Makoto to see the real him tonight.

Stepping back into the café, the customers didn't pay him any mind as he headed towards the stairs at the back. Sojiro on the other hand watching him from behind the counter, the sparkle of knowledge shining in his eyes. "Hey, your friend is here. I told her you only stepped out for a minute and to wait for you upstairs." The old man called out behind Ren.

Ren glanced back towards his guardian. "Thank you." Ren called to the wise man before heading up the stairs again.

As he got to the top of the stairs he spotted Makoto. She was sitting on his couch looking through some papers. Her Shujin academy bag rested against her feet as she seemed very preoccupied with whatever was on the papers. Ren walked in placing his bathhouse stuff in their normal spot in his room, the movement alerted Makoto of his presence as her eyes flickered towards him. Ren turned to her and for second wondering if he should be the first to speak or let her speak. Luckily Makoto made the first move.

"Sorry to intrude, but I figured you'd like to see this." Makoto held the papers out to Ren.

Ren reached over and grabbed the papers sitting down on the couch next to Makoto. A quick scan of the papers instantly told him what he needed to know. This was Naoto's report about the Phantom Thieves' case in Tokyo. As he flipped through a few pages, it became obvious that the whole report was fictitious in nature but the way Naoto worded things it would appear quite believable to anyone reading it. Basically it eluded to their being more thieves but after a thorough investigation it quickly ruled out half of his friends.

"Here's the real report." Makoto said as she pulled a much larger stack of papers and handed them to Ren. "Shirogane-san has been working closely with my sister giving her information about us. But in order to feign ignorance should she suddenly get suspected, Naoto gives her two reports. She was going to dispose of this one, but she gave it to me and told me to get rid of it." Makoto explained zipping up her school bag. "The first report I gave you is a copy my sister also gave me. She knows I have an interest in it and I suppose she is trying to be a good big sister."

"Huh," Ren said skimming through the second report. This second one was worlds apart from the first. It contained details about everything. Who all his friends were, what the Metaverse was, explanations on Palaces and Mementos. If any of their enemies got this, it would have been game over for everyone including Yu and his friends. But it also contained vital information about the corruption happening in Tokyo.

"I leave this with you now. Make sure you burn it after you are done reading it. It is too dangerous to just leave lying around." Makoto grabbed her bag and got to her feet. "I guess I'll see you Sunday."

Makoto turned to leave, but Ren quickly got to his feet. "Wait!" The urgency of his voice made Makoto stop in her track and look back at him, confusion playing on her face.

"Is something the matter Ren?" Makoto asked. "Also where are your glasses?"

Ren sighed going over Yu's words in his head. This was that explain your feelings in a calm matter part right? Setting down the papers on the TV next to the couch, Ren motioned Makoto to sit back down. She complied with his unspoken request clearly curious about what Ren wanted and willing to entertain him for the moment. Now was the part he would remain calm and explain his feelings. Yet as he looked at her looking up at him, the words he wished to say evaporated in this throat.

"… I-I-I wanted to report that we have obtained Akechi's keyword and we explored his palace today." Ren started, his words smoothing out as he talked.

Makoto got to her feet and put her hand on Ren's head. Ren froze instantly at her touch as he felt himself start to heat up. Makoto gave him an intense stare before she sighed and let her hand fall to her side. Ren blinked as his ability to control his body returned to him. There was definitely something about Makoto that was slowly making him fall to pieces and that made things so much worse for him. Why couldn't he just act normal..? He knew why…

Makoto grabbed Ren's arm and pulled him across the room and over to his bed. "You should get some rest, apparently you aren't as bullet proof as the others seem to think you are. It's not a bad thing to admit you're stressed Ren. Facing Akechi, someone who wanted to kill you, over again and what went down at the police station. Morgana reported you also didn't sleep to well two days ago. You may be our leader, but you do need to take care of yourself."

Stressed? Yes, he was clearly stressed but she was far off base as to why. "…"

"Now crawl into bed and promise me you'll take tomorrow off!" Makoto ordered.

"We sti-" Ren tried to state but was quickly cut off.

"Ren you can't do this to yourself!" Makoto raised her voice as if reprimanding a small child.

This was going nowhere. He didn't want to fight with Makoto, but with his lack of ability to find the proper words meant he wasn't going to be making any ground. He needed a new plan. A better plan. His mind reeled with possible solutions before one came to him. Reaching into his pocket he procured his phone which caused Makoto to pause probably believing he had a text message. Opening up his MetaNav app he held up for Makoto see before he pressed go.

The world around them faded away before it slowly faded back into focus. They stood at the top level of Mementos, just the two of them. Joker turned away from Queen, sliding his hands into his pocket. He had thought to come here yet the steps about what to do afterwards still eluded him. Still, there was something about this world that allowed Joker to express his true self and that's why he had brought her here. If he couldn't express himself to her here then there was probably no other place he could.

"Joker?" Queen seemed to ask the concern evident in her voice.

"Look, I'm not stressed about any of those things." Joker admitted gazing towards the downwards escalators that would bring them deeper into Mementos.

"Then what is stressing you out?" Queen carefully inquired. "You can tell me."

Joker let out a breath. "How is Eiko?"

"Eiko?" Queen's voice echoed with surprise as clearly she hadn't been expecting him to bring it up. "I finally made up with her. I think she knew it deep within her heart and seeing him like that finally helped her realize"

"That's incredible." Joker smirked to himself.

"I suppose, but I'm just glad she didn't get into any danger…" Joker heard Queen move closer to him. "Oh, and she told me she quit her job. Right now she doesn't know what she wants to do, but she's going to go to college and figure things out. It sounds like she is going to seriously start focusing on her studies again." Queen put her hand on Joker's shoulder as she stepped up to his side. "I plan to honestly do the same as well."

"Back to studying?" Joker asked looking towards Queen.

"Yes. I thought there was no point in continuing my studies, but… This time I'm not seeking anyone's praise and I'm not trying to show off my intelligence. I simply want to fulfill my own personal goals and dreams. Before now, I didn't have a clear vision of what that meant. I was lost in life…" Queen looked at Joker as a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. "But thanks to you, I've finally come to realize it. My dream is to become a police commissioner. That's why I need to study."

"That sounds difficult." Joker was instantly reminded of the cognitive version of Sae he saw today and how she appeared to struggle under the weight of that stress. Did Queen realize how much stress her sister was under? Still, there was a confidence in her words that gave Joker confidence too.

"I know. But it's the head of police operations. I'll need an extensive academic background though. There are too many incidents in this country that are never brought to light. That host… it was just one of them. Villains who prey on the hearts of the week with cowardly, legally questionable methods… My father risked his life trying to catch a group of those people. I will never forgive them! However I won't be able to eradicate them all on my own… Instead, I want to head an organization that will destroy the lawless and help rescue victims." That conviction in Queen's voice made Joker hang on every word she spoke.

"That's an admirable goal." Joker light heartedly smiled at Queen.

"It is... but I won't let it end as merely a dream. That is the justice I aim for. I also believe it will be a continuation of my father's legacy." Queen took a deep breath as if she was coming to a realization about something. "Honestly, it's a little strange that I found the true meaning of my studies outside of my studies." Queen looked towards Joker once again. "… Thank you for all your help. Must have been difficult babysitting the uptight Miss President, right? … Just kidding… Even so, I'm glad I asked you... I think now I'll be able to see the world even more differently."

Suddenly Queen took a step back from Joker. A confused look appeared on her face for a moment as she put her hand over her heart. Joker took a step towards her, concern welling up. Queen gave him a small reassuring smile as her mask suddenly lit up and was consumed by fire. Johanna appeared beside her in an instant before a bright light encompassed the persona. This light blinded Joker for a moment. Once the light cleared, there was no longer Johanna but Anat now stood where Johanna had once been.

"My power… My persona has grown… No, it's been born anew." Queen declared.

Joker stood there stunned. He had never seen a persona change like that before, yet there was the evidence right in his face. Could his personas evolve like that? Was it Queen's conviction that her persona heard so it took on a new form? Surprised Joker stepped up to the persona marveling at its new appearance yet similarity to Queen's previous persona. The persona stared down at him before it leaned forward and cupped Joker's face in its metallic hands. Without any other context it leaned down kissed Joker before fading away back into Queen's mask. Joker just stared in the direction the persona had disappeared from, his mind slightly reeling.

The sudden kiss made Queen jump back from Joker and start to fumble over her words. "I-I don't know why it just did that. I m-mean it is Anat and Anat is often associated with L-Love and S-Sex but… the mythos does state she married her brother Baal. I mean that's probably n-nothing right? Don't think too much into it…"

The fluster in Queen's voice drew Joker from his temporary stupor about being kissed by a persona. He looked towards his fellow thief noticing how beat red her face had become. Like him, all of that queenly demeanor that Queen had gotten her name from was lost to the wind. Joker watch her flounder for several long seconds both amused and just realizing how cute it was. If a persona was a projection of one's true self then Joker knew exactly what that kiss met and he was going to capitalize on it.

"I mean it's totally nothing at all… right? We should probably get going. It's pretty weird here…" Queen continued to struggle before Joker stepped up to her and ended all of that fluster with a simple action.

A kiss of his own.

The world froze in perfect harmony. If this was Joker's reward for all the hardships that he had to endure up until that point than it was definitely worth it. Queen leaned into the kiss half a second after the initial shock wore off, bringing up both arms to wrap around Joker's neck. In response Joker wrapped his arms around her pulling her close to him. Once the kiss ended, Queen buried her face into Joker's chest and a calm silence enveloped the two.

"D-D-Does this mean what I think it does?" Queen asked softly, her words slightly muffled by the waistcoat of his Phantom thief attire.

"What do you want it to mean?" Joker asked as he put his chin on top of her head just enjoying the moment.

For about 20 or 30 seconds Queen didn't say anything so they just enjoyed the silence, holding each other close. Queen slightly pulled away from Joker so she could look him in the eye. "I-I think I honestly l-love you. Granted I don't have much experience in this particular field so I don't know what the next step is."

An honest smile slowly grew on Joker's face as he reached up and gently ran his gloved hand down her cheek. "We can figure that out together starting now because I love you too."

Queen's face went red again with that proclamation; causing her to bury her face back into Joker's chest. Not that Joker minded, but a small chuckle rose up from his chest at her cute reaction. In all the ways he had run over this in his head this was far better than anything he could have possibly imagined. Joker just soaked in the moment, etching it in his memory forever.

"You know, I got this new persona and well I'm fine with just this, but the fact remains we are in Mementos and it'd be a shame to waste this trip without trying it out." Queen stated as she pulled away from Joker and looked up at him.

Joker nodded, liking were this conversation was going. "I believe you have a point. Shall we call it a date?"

Queen returned Joker's nod. "Stealing a kiss even before the first date. You're going to need to make that up to me you know." Queen grinned at him before bolting off towards the entrance of Mementos shooting him a coy look before heading down the staircase.

Joker chuckled to himself before he followed after her. "Let's do this…"

Yu yawned and rubbed his eyes. The dull glow of the computer screen in front of him was making his eyes sore. Naoto had insisted they get working on their joint report and Yu had nothing to argue with his partner about on the topic. He swiftly conceded and had been working at this report for the past several hours after they got back. Glancing towards the empty coffee cup at his side he figured it would be a good time to take a small break. Picking up the mug he glanced towards his partner.

"I'm getting a refill, do you want one?" Yu asked holding up the mug.

Naoto looked up from her computer screen and stretched. "Yeah, I'll join you." Naoto collected her coffee cup.

The two exited the office heading for the kitchen. As Yu and his partner entered the kitchen they found Rise and Yosuke talking, but as the two detectives enter the conversation went silent. This slightly raised a red flag for Yu, but he couldn't bring himself to fully care. He wanted caffeine more than anything at the moment. The pot was empty so Yu started a new one. Once the coffee pot was running Yu turned his attention towards the others in the kitchen.

"Sorry to interrupt you, we needed more caffeine." Naoto explained as she leaned again the kitchen island.

"There wasn't anything to interrupt. I was giving Yosuke advice on a way he could surprise Yukiko when he gets back to Inaba." Rise said leaning against the kitchen island with Naoto. "It's a conversation we started at the restaurant the other day, but weren't able to finish."

"For her birthday?" Yu asked as he leaned against the counter the coffee pot was on.

"Yeah, I want it to be special. I owe it to her." Yosuke was firm in his conviction. "Rise and I have been thinking. What would you guys think about heading back to Inaba for a few days?"

"Head back? I won't mind if we could make it so the kids didn't need us for those days." Naoto shrugged.

It was at that moment Yu's phone went off. He pulled it out and when he saw it was a text from Ren, Yu had a bit of apprehension opening it. It wasn't that he didn't want everything to work out for the kid and was fully committed to standing by his side if things blew up. It was just that Yu really wanted things to work for the best for him. His fear for Ren's abilities at getting the girl were however quickly alleviated as he opened the text. The words were simple, but made Yu smirk and let out a small chuckle.

Joker: Mission success: I stole her heart.

"What are you grinning about?" Rise asked as she looked at her boyfriend.

Yu looked up at his friends. "It would seem our little wild card thief stole the heart of the girl whom had his heart."

"He's with Makoto-chan?" Rise's excitement was evident as she clapped her hands together. "They are going to make such a cute couple! So your advice worked?"

"Yeah." Yu nodded as he slipped his phone back into his pocket.

"I'll have to congratulate Ren-kun tomorrow." Rise giggled.

"You've been giving Ren advice? Well I can't say your advice isn't spot on. After all it worked for both me and Kanji." Yosuke shrugged.

"You gave Kanji advice?" Naoto asked looking surprised.

"Of course he did! I was there. Kanji is as thick as a box of rocks. Yu had to practically spell things out for him." Yosuke spelled out as he folded his arms across his chest.

Naoto paused thinking. "He was surprisingly calm when he actually did it so I suppose that makes sense. Oh! That reminds me Kanji is coming in tomorrow on a super early flight. I don't know how lagged he'll be from travel, but we could definitely pick him up and head back here before we head to Akechi's Palace tomorrow."

"Naoto, you and I can pick him up, then pick up Ren and Morgana before heading back here. We can then see how everyone is feeling before heading out to the palace." Yu started making the plan for tomorrow.

Naoto nodded. "That works. We'll have to get up early so we should probably ditch that pot of coffee and head to bed."

"If this is coming from Naoto 'No Sleep' Shirogane; it must mean it's serious. You actually going to sleep in your room tonight Shirogane?" Yu chided his partner.

Naoto rolled her eyes at Yu's display before putting her mug in the dishwater. "Shut it Narukami. I'm going to go turn off my computer and head to bed." She looked over her other friends. "Good night everyone." With that the Detective Prince left the kitchen.

Rise yawned. "I kind of have to agree with her, I'm going to head to bed. Sleep deprived is not a good look on an idol." She walked past Yu giving him a kiss on the cheek before disappearing from the kitchen.

Yu reached behind him turning off the coffee maker before loading his coffee cup in the dishwater next to his partners. As he looked up from the dishwater he caught sight of Yosuke. Yosuke was leaning hard against the kitchen island giving him a firm stare that meant his partner had something to say to him. Yu responded the stare with a far more passive look. Yosuke glanced towards the door to the kitchen as if reaffirming that the girls were gone before turning his attention to his best friend.

"She wants you to marry her man," Yosuke suddenly said.

Yu was at a loss for words about how to react to the bomb shell Yosuke just dropped. Marriage? Sure he had thought about it, but with Rise being an idol and stuff it would just complicate things. Rise could attract more fans if she feigned being single. Then again there was really nothing stopping Yu from marrying her. In fact there were some fans that would probably be happy to her settling down. Yu folded his arms across his chest trying to think of a proper rebuttal for Yosuke, but he was clearly struggling to find one.

"I'm being serious." Yosuke announced keeping his voice low as he spoke.

"I don't doubt your seriousness it's just…" Yu started.

"She's an idol I know, but you've been dating for five years." Yosuke countered before Yu could even put up a proper defense.

Yu sighed before he gave Yosuke a suspicious look. "How do you know these things?"

Yosuke relaxed his posture and shrugged. "We didn't talk about just ways to surprise Yukiko for her birthday the other day. Anyways, think about it." Yosuke turned and walked out of the kitchen.

Yu definitely had somethings to think about, a lot to think about in all actuality. Shaking his head he headed off to get ready for bed.

I tried to have a schedule to get these out, but I failed it... Please don't hate me.