"...Hey, are you all right? Don't fall asleep until we reach our destination... Are you listening?"
Ren was exhausted. He could feel his consciousness slipping away by the minute, and any second he'd fade away into sleep. It took him all his might to not give in to exhaustion, as he looked around his surroundings to see where exactly he were. He was clearly in the passenger seat of a car, with prosecutor and older sister to his girlfriend Makoto, Sae Nijima, in the driver's seat. It was raining at a moderate level as the windshield wipers did their job. He had a grey hoodie on covering his head and hiding his school uniform underneath, with a pair of sunglasses doing the same for his baggy and bruised eyes. The lights and buildings outside were passing them by, and he had no idea where in Japan they were right now. All Ren could do way lay back in his seat and examine all the pain he felt in his body.
He was covered head to toe in bruises, his stomach especially was in pain from that one police officer who kicked him. He wouldn't be surprised if there were some broken ribs inside him right now, hell he was almost certain one of his legs was broken, and the other wasn't doing much better. His head was throbbing from the headaches, and his vision was incredibly blurry, his breath was shaky, he struggled to keep himself from fidgeting his crippled fingers, all of which he guessed were side effects of the truth serum and whatever else they jammed into him wearing off. His heart was beating a thousand miles per minuet, not only because of the sensory overload, but also because of his near-death escape
Even though he wasn't the Ren that the traitor Akechi ended up killing, he could still clearly picture it in his mind. How he would have dispatched the guard outside his cell, how he would have held the gun in his head at point blank range, the wicked and cruel smile as he pulled the trigger. He was barely able to remember the plan he and the rest of The Phantom Thieves devised during that whole investigation. If one thing had went wrong- if he couldn't get Sae on their side, he would have-
"Hey, I asked are you awake?"
The snap of his driver's finger brought Ren attention right back to reality. Though stern in her voice and keeping her attention on the road, she clearly felt empathetic for the Phantom Thieves' leader in her face
"...Y-Yeah, I'm awake..." Ren's throat hurt as he answered
Sae responded with a sigh, though Ren couldn't tell in his state if it was a sigh of relief or frustration "Just hold on a moment. We're almost at Leblanc's"
"...It's starting... to come back... about Akechi... and the plan..." he barely made out in his shaky voice
"Don't worry about that right now, I don't need a full explanation from you quite yet" The prosecutor assured him in a surprisingly caring and understanding tone "Just try to do what you can to relax"
Would if he could, but Ren wasn't in any position to do so. Normally he's able to put on a cool face, even during his deadliest fights in the Metaverse, in order to keep moral up amongst the team. But after everything that happened in the last couple hours, and the injected drugs wearing off, it was a trial to keep the façade up. and Nijima could see this. She felt an immense scale of guilt watching this poor boy suffer like this
"You were very brave to go through all that" She tried assuring the second-year "Most men twice your age wouldn't have even half the courage or will power to go through what you did. I hope you realize that"
"...The doctor next door... she knows... sh-she can... examine me..." Ren tried letting her know
"Thank you for letting me know. We'll worry about that once we get you settled in"
Ren felt the car started to slow down as Sae parked it. Outside Ren's rain covered window, he could see an all too familiar sight that was his home for over half a year now, Café Leblanc. It was almost too good to be true. He could cry right now if he wanted to, but he knew he couldn't. Not yet. Not for a while. Sae exited out her door and walked over to Ren's side, opening the door and extending her hand out for him. He firmly gripped it and tried walking out until-
"GHA!"
He stepped right on a puddle with his broken leg- the right one to be specific. Sae was able to catch his fall in the nick of time before he fell on the wet floor and pull him back up, allowing his left arm to drape across her shoulder, and doing her best to keep him steady with both arms without putting too much physical pressure in him. His breathing grew heavier and he could barely keep his eyes open at this point, Sae could see that. Just a little bit more, and he would be safe
"Ren? Sis?"
Both the prosecutor and the phantom thief turned their heads towards the voice they both knew all too well. Standing right in front of the café door was Makoto Nijima, Sae's younger sister, and Ren's girlfriend. She had on a blue trench coat draped over her school uniform, her heaving breathing could be heard from across the alleyway, and even through the rain it was clear that the young woman was on the verge of crying at the dreary site before her
"Ren!" The student counsel president rushed over to the pair before her
"Makoto!? What are you doing here!?" Sae asked, shocked at her sister's sudden appearance
"Y-You're not supposed t-to be her t-till..." Ren speaking out as his partner gently cupped her hands around his checks
"Tomorrow, I know. I-I just couldn't wait! I got so worried, and when I saw the news I just got so scared and had to rush over here and... and..." Makoto could barely form cohesive sentences in her adrenaline panicked state
"Makoto!" Sae yelped to bring her younger sibling back to reality "I have several questions, but right now they can wait. We need to get him inside now"
Makoto whipped away the tears in her eyes with her trench coat's sleeves, trying her best to put on a determined face "Right"
Makoto did the same to mimic her sister, draping Ren's right arm across her shoulder. Makoto firmly held the hand on her right shoulder with the corresponding arm, and both sisters kept his back steady with their closest arm to him. They both took one step forward in unison on their way to the café doors, their bright warm light juxtaposed to the cold rainy sky above them was within arms reach at this point. The sign said it was closed, it was still unlocked for the three of them. As soon as they reached the doors, Sae used her free arm to grab the door's handle, and pushed it open
Ring*
A familiar bell filled Ren with a gigantic sense of relief. He kept his head up to bare witness at the all too familiar sight of the café shop. It was mostly empty, save for 3 all too familiar faces that Ren expected to be there. Sojiro Sakura, the man who'd looked after him for over half a year, wearing his iconic pink shirt and black apron, standing behind the cash register, with a completely shocked face at the sight of who came in. The second, sitting in one of the cafe's booths, Futaba Sakura, Sojiro's adoptive daughter, who had an oversized blue blanked draped around her green jacked and white shirt. Much like Makoto earlier, she also looked like she was about to cry any second now, if she hadn't been already. Lastly, the black cat that sat on top the same table Futaba sat at, and Joker's secret partner in crime, Morgana. Despite looking like a regular cat in the cognitive world, it was still very clear on his face that he worried about Ren. They all did
"Ren!" Futaba leaped out of her seat to rush towards her leader, tears pouring out her eyes as she did
"What the hell happened to him?!" Sojiro practically jumped across the counter to join the cluster "Did you have something to do with this?!" he angrily asked the older Nijima sister
Sae was taken slightly aback with how furious the coffee shop owner acted compared to her normal visits, which made her regretfully look down as she answered "I didn't do this to him, though I know who did. Couldn't say exactly what happened though, even if I wanted to.
"Rgh..." Sojiro growled under his breath "Damnit, didn't I tell to run if things got too dangerous!?" Sojiro scolded Ren, but in a worried manner "Why couldn't you have just listened to me...?"
"...I...I'm-" Ren tried apologizing, but could barely even speak at this point
"We're sorry, Boss" Makoto took over from there "We didn't want to, but we had to in order to put our plan in motion"
"Plan? What plan!?"
"Sojiro, there's no time! He needs help ASAP!" Futaba protested with tears continuing to rapidly run down her face
"She's right, they can tell us everything they know later" Sae agreed with the younger Sakura "He said the doctor next door can examine him. We need to make sure he's settled and bring her over here immediately!"
Sojiro snapped out of his angered shock and nodded his head. He stepped in front of younger Nijima and seemed to offer a helping hand "I can take it from if you want"
"It's fine. I want to help him as much as possible" Makoto stood her ground and assured both of the adults
Reluctantly, Sojiro allowed it, and instead focused his energy of trying to comfort the crying Futaba as this all happened, with Morgana doing the same as he jumped up to the table closest to her. Sae took note of Makoto's facial explanation and the tone in her voice as she said it, but knew she couldn't pry into it right now.
Meanwhile Ren, as this all happened at once, was filled with so much emotion and gratitude, even while exhausted and going through withdrawal. The fact that it all miraculously went as planned, despite everything stacked against them, felt like an impossibility on its own, but the fact that these people were here to greet him home, including an early appearance of his kind and caring girlfriend? Despite all the screaming pain he was currently in, it made it all feel completely worth it. He did his best to conceal his tears, but the joy and relief he felt forced a couple out of him, which Makoto was able to notice. Assuming him it was alright, she took her free hand to gently rub his face. Despite flinching for a moment, the touch was exactly what Ren needed to realize that none of this was in his head; it was real, he was really here, and he was truly blessed to have such amazing people in his life now
Makoto didn't bother hiding her grateful tears, and gave her boyfriend as assuring of a smile as she could "It's going to be okay now Ren. You're safe"
"Yeah. I know..." Ren was just barely to return a wide grin for her as well "It's good to be home"