"Sorry guys, my Mom just called, so I gotta split," Ryuji told them.
Futaba snorted. "Pfft. Momma's boy."
"Oi!"
"Alright, you two," Makoto interrupted. "We've covered everything we wanted to talk about, so let's wrap up the meeting and get going."
A little later, it was only Ren and Makoto left in Leblanc's attic. "Something wrong, Makoto?" Ren asked.
"Well…" the dark-haired girl started, "Ryuji mentioning his Mom got me thinking. What're your parents like, Ren?"
Ren smirked at some far-off memory. "Oh, they're crazy. Our situation is a little complicated, so you may want to sit before I tell you." He sat down on the bed and patted the space beside him expectantly. Makoto obliged, joining him on the side of the bed as he began his story.
"My Mom's name is Akari Amamiya, and she was only seventeen when she had me. A guy she had a crush on invited her to a party one night, got her drunk, and then raped her. She didn't remember what happened until she learned she was pregnant. She didn't want to get an abortion, and decided to carry me to term. Naturally, her parents weren't very happy about the whole situation and basically kicked her out of the house almost as soon as she graduated high school. She didn't have the money to attend college, so she was forced to work several jobs just to make ends meet.
"At one of these jobs, she met my actual dad, Kazushi Isobe. He noticed how much trouble she was having and did his best to help her out. It started with him sharing his lunch with her when she forgot to make any, turned into him helping her with extra hard parts of the job, and before long, he was driving me to daycare in the mornings and keeping an eye on me when she couldn't. Before long, we weren't struggling to make ends meet anymore. Still, I remember my Mom telling me secretly that she liked him and had been dropping hints years before he actually asked permission to date her." Here, Makoto stifled a laugh. "I know. You can't get much denser than that.
"Anyway, they finally got married when I was twelve. Been pretty much smooth sailing ever since."
"Quite the story," Makoto acknowledged. "But what are they actually like?"
"Hmm," Ren mused for a moment before answering. "I guess you could say that my mom is a bit like a combination of Haru and Ryuji. Absolutely loves her family to death, and never anything less than sweet and kind, but when the situation calls for it, she can be an absolute terror. She also really loves sports and fitness. My dad on the other hand, it's almost impossible to get him to stop smiling. He seems to find something positive or funny in almost any situation, and he's always been there to shake my mom or me out of doing or saying something really stupid, sometimes literally. In fact, when I was still a little kid and I did something bad, he'd pick me up and hold me upside down for a little while to make me 'start using my head' as he put it."
Makoto finally let a giggle slip through. "Sounds fun. Are they still doing alright?"
"Yeah, I've received a couple of texts from them since the beginning of the year, just checking in on me. My arrest hit them hard, Makoto. They believe me that I was framed, but...it was really hard on them once the rest of the town heard about it. All of a sudden, pretty much everyone just abandoned us. Family friends, coworkers, neighbors,...all of them just turned their backs and didn't even listen. When the courts ordered me to spend my probation in Tokyo, we had a talk and agreed it would be best if I came here alone for the year so I could figure out what I wanted to do with my life and they could work on getting the home situation back under control."
Ren sat back with a sigh. "But it's all okay. They don't blame me for anything, and it's not like I had any friends back home. I still wish I could introduce you all to them, though."
Makoto smiled adoringly at her boyfriend. "I would love that."
"Mom! Dad!"
Ren's gleeful cry echoed in Makoto's ears as he rushed to embrace the youthful couple he called his parents. They met him with smiles and (in the case of his dad) uproarious laughter, and Makoto couldn't help but feel a twinge of envy as she looked at them. After all, both of her parents had died years ago.
"Ha ha ha! Good to see you, ya little fluff head!" Ren's father greeted him. He wasn't an especially big man, but he was fairly well-defined and had crew-cut black hair, both emphasized by his rather tight-fitting red t-shirt.
"Easy there, sweetie, you'll crush him," Ren's mother told her husband gently. Her hair was the same combination of black and wavy as her son's, only much longer, reaching halfway down her back. Ren very much resembled his mother, both of them having the same steel-gray eyes and chiseled cheekbones, and much like Ren, his mother also favored black clothing.
All in all, Makoto could absolutely see these people as the parents of the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
Still laughing himself, Ren managed to extricate himself from his dad's hug. "I can't believe you're actually here! What are you doing here? What about work?"
Ren's father was grinning like a maniac. "Oh-ho, did you really think your mother and I would be content to suffer in that middle-of-nowhere town without you after everything that happened to you here in Tokyo? Hell no! Took us a while, but we finally found a couple of places at a company here in the city and an apartment we could rent in the meantime."
"And you did all that behind my back!?" Ren asked, shocked.
"We spread it out over the last couple of years," his mom explained. "After all the incredible stories you told us about your life here while you were on probation, it was pretty clear there wasn't anything still tying you to our old town except us, so we decided to just make things easier and move."
Ren just gaped at them for several seconds before saying, "I really don't say enough just how much I love you guys." His parents stood up from their seats for another round of hugging. Makoto continued to give the little family their space, though judging by the amount of warmth radiating from her chest, she was starting to have a hard time resisting the urge to join in.
Finally remembering she was there, Ren once again extricated himself from his parents' hugs and motioned for her to step closer. "Speaking of which, Mom, Dad, meet my girlfriend, Makoto Niijima. Makoto, my mom and dad."
Makoto smiled at the pair and gave a small bow. "It is very good to meet both of you," she greeted them. "I am quite honored to meet the people who raised Ren-kun."
Ren's dad laughed again. "No need for formal speech, miss. Just call me Kazushi. Kazushi Amamiya at your service."
Ren's mom returned her bow. "Akari Amamiya. Thank you so much for taking care of Ren for us."
Makoto gave a slight giggle. "I appreciate the thanks, but to be honest, it's always felt more like Ren's the one who's been taking care of all of us."
"By 'us' you refer to the rest of your group, right?" Kazushi asked, slipping in a conspiratorial wink.
"So they know about the Thieves?" Makoto asked Ren.
"It would be a bit hard for them not to figure it out after they got a notice from the police about my arrest a year and a half ago," Ren reasoned.
"That and the Phantom Thieves' activities both last year and the year before lining up perfectly with times that you were conveniently away from home and meeting up with your friend group," Akari said with a half-rueful, half-amused shake of her head. "We still don't have any clue how the whole 'Metaverse' thing works, but at this point, the lot of you are basically adults and there's not really anything we can do to stop you, especially since at the moment the Thieves' main job seems to be hunting monsters that are putting people in danger." A dangerous look suddenly entered her eyes as she continued, "But don't you dare get hurt out there. It was distressing enough when you ran off to play in the woods without telling me-"
"Mom, I was ten," Ren protested.
"-or when you got in a fight with an armed mugger when you were fourteen-"
"He started it! I didn't have any control over that!"
"Oh? What about that time when we went on a trip to Iwatodai and you tried to sneak out at night because 'the sky turned green and people turned into coffins'?"
"Mom, I was barely nine! And that actually happened!"
Makoto couldn't help bursting into laughter. "Oh my, you must tell me more of these stories of what Ren did when he was little."
Akari ignored Ren's aghast expression and quickly agreed. "Oh, you need only ask, Makoto-chan! Ren was the most adorable thing when he was little!"
Ren hung his head. "Makoto, you're the new leader of the Phantom Thieves. I'm just going to head out and die."
"Oh shush, drama queen," Makoto told him.
Ren raised his head at her and smirked a little. "No, you're the Queen. I'm Joker."
Kazushi burst out laughing again. "An appropriate name for him indeed! He's been a tricksy little handful ever since he could crawl. Too smart for his own good and always being followed around by more trouble than the entire rest of the small town we used to live in! Speaking of which, we were hoping that you could show us around to all the places you've been in town. We get to spend some time together and find some places we can visit when we're off work. Kill two birds with one stone."
"Make that three," Ren told them. "I was hoping to test something with a couple of people, but you can absolutely tag along. I'm going to message them to meet us at an old church in Kanda and then we can head out."
"Oh?" Akari asked. "Are they…?"
"No, they're not part of the group," Ren replied, pulling out his phone and starting to text. "They're a couple of my Confidants from our original series of targets as the Thieves. It's going to take a while to explain everything, so I'll just do it when we're all together."
Mishima
Ren: Hey, Mishima
Ren: You got some time this evening?
Mishima: Sure. What do you need?
Ren: Mind meeting me and a couple other people at the church in Kanda in about an hour?
Mishima: I can make that work.
Mishima: But what do you need me for?
Mishima: Is it about a new target?
Ren: No, I'll explain when I get there. Easier that way.
Mishima: Okay, sure.
Hifumi
Ren: Do you still go to the church in Kanda to practice?
Hifumi: Planning to meet with me again?
Ren: And a few other people.
Hifumi: What for?
Ren: Going to be discussing something Persona-related
Ren: Going to explain when we're all there.
Hifumi: I'll be here.
Hifumi: Just don't crowd me out of the place, okay?
"So, we all set to head out?" Ren ventured.
"All set," Kazushi answered.
"Where are we headed first?" Akari asked.
Ren smirked a little. "I think first, I should show you around all my old hangout spots around Shibuya. While we're there, maybe we can…"
"You still good, Ann?" Ryuji asked.
Ann grinned at him, sweat streaming down her face. "Good as ever! I don't think I can increase the pace any more though."
The two blondes were both jogging on treadmills at a medium speed, as they had been for the last several minutes. It's a bit hard to exercise discreetly when you have powers that make you superhumanly strong and fast, but somehow the two were managing. Regardless, they were still managing to draw the awestruck eyes of several other gym patrons who couldn't believe how long they were managing to keep up the pace of their exercises.
After a few more minutes on the treadmills, the blonde duo had managed to work up a fine sweat and their muscles ached with satisfaction. "Wow," Ann remarked as they stepped away from the machines, "I can almost feel myself getting stronger already. Is your leg doing alright, Ryuji?"
Ryuji gave a bark of laughter. "Better than ever! All that rehab seriously paid off. It's still a little weaker than my other leg, don't get me wrong, but it doesn't hurt to run on at all anymore! How 'bout you and your modeling? How's that been going?"
Ann gave a half-mocking, half-rueful smirk. "Mika's as competitive as always, but while she's managed to get under the skin of some of the newer models, she's basically given up on trying to compete with me too much. She's still jealous that I don't really even need to be too careful about what I eat or do and still have a nice form, but ever since we became 'official rivals', I've only felt more and more confident about using my modeling to show off who I am, if you know what I mean. It helps that the way our appearances and personalities contrast helps emphasize certain areas. As a result, we've ended up being paired off more and more, especially recently, but she's become a lot more tolerable, so it's fine."
Ryuji nodded along, barely understanding anything about modeling etiquette, but still glad that his friend was enjoying herself. His gaze drifted over to the gym's entryway. "Wait, ain't that Ren?"
Ann followed his gaze. "And Makoto, and...are those his parents?"
Ryuji grinned like a lunatic. "Let's go check it out!" After quickly checking out of the gym, the blonde duo quickly left the building and stood face to face with their leaders and the two adults they were talking to.
"Yo, RenRen!" Ryuji greeted. "These your folks?"
"Right in one," Ren replied with a similar grin. He turned back to the two adults. "Mom, Dad, this is Ryuji Sakamoto, track star and my best friend, and Ann Takamaki, a model with a heart of gold. Both of them were founding members of our group, along with me and Morgana. Ryuji, Ann, my Mom and Dad."
"Yo!" Ryuji greeted them.
"It's so nice to meet you!" Ann beamed.
"Likewise," Akira's mother smiled at the blonde duo. "I'm Akari Amamiya, and this is my husband, Kazushi. And we've had plenty of time to hear all about you two from Ren."
"Can't say the same here, unfortunately," Ryuji remarked.
"Oh?" Ren's dad asked. "Ren didn't talk about us?"
"He did every now and then," Ann rescued their leader before his parents could begin interrogating him. "We just didn't want to pry very much because we didn't want to make him relive his arrest too many times. Plus, it didn't really help that whenever we were together there happened to be rather a lot going on, especially over the summer last year."
Finally, Kazushi relented, "Okay, fine, I suppose that's understandable. Ren, they just saved you from being picked up and dangled upside-down by the ankles. Be grateful."
Ren rolled his eyes. "You haven't done that since I was nine, Dad. I'm almost as tall as you now, so wouldn't that be a little difficult?"
Kazushi ignored his son. "So, you two been working out at this gym? You go here often?"
"Yep!" Ryuji replied, "Ren and me especially stop by here fairly often. I highly recommend it as a good place to work out while you're in town."
"Actually," Ren interjected, "they just finished moving here."
"For real!?" Ann and Ryuji echoed each other.
"Yeah," Ren confirmed. "Quit their jobs out in the small town where we used to live and came here to the big city so they could see for themselves all the places where I made a life for myself two years ago."
"Awesome, man!" Ryuji exclaimed, pounding Ren on the back. "So that where you're headed off to now?"
"Something along those lines," Akari answered.
"Ooh, then we should set up a welcome party at the Den!" Ann suggested with a clap of her hands.
"That's a great idea!" Makoto spoke up. "And almost everyone else is already there, so all you would have to do is get everyone's suggestions and put together some food. Although you would probably want to message Haru and Zenkichi to see if they're able to come, since they weren't there when we left."
"Wow, a party already?" Akari asked. "We only just got here!"
"You're Renren's folks," Ryuji reasoned. "Of course we're going to celebrate you coming all the way out here to the big city."
"Besides," Ann added, "in times like these, we could all use more reasons to celebrate."
"Sounds good to me," Kazushi grinned. "We'll let Ren and Makoto take us on a tour of the city and do their errands. In the meantime, the rest of you can all get together and prepare."
"It'll probably be around seven by the time we're done, so don't take too long," Ren told them.
"You got it, bro!" Ryuji replied, pounding Ren on the back one more time before heading off with Ann. "See ya tonight!"
"Way ahead of you, Ryuji," Futaba was saying.
"Oh, right," Ryuji remembered. "Camereas."
"Yeah," Akane confirmed. "Most of us were also watching Ren's little family reunion on Futaba's cameras down in her little computer room on the first floor. We had actually decided to start planning something along those lines when you two walked in."
"And?" Ann prompted. "What kinds of ideas have we been throwing around?"
"Well curry is a must of course," Futaba said.
"I already texted Dad," Akane continued. "He said he was going to pick up a few bottles of a nice sake that Ren's parents might enjoy."
"Sushi," Morgana stated. "Always a treat."
"Udon or hotpot would also be enjoyable," Yusuke put in.
"Bringing back memories for that second one," Ryuji said.
"And I can locate any ingredients that we need to purchase," Sophia stated with a smile.
I smirked as I watched the proceedings. They were definitely going to be having a good time with this, but I would have to get home soon, so I turned to leave.
"Kouhai?" came Sumire's voice. "Where are you going?"
"Home," I replied simply. "I did what I came here to do, and I have to get going if I'm going to catch the train ride home in time for dinner."
"Nope! That's not gonna fly!" Futaba cut me off.
"What?" Now I was confused.
"Come on, you seriously think you're going to be left out just because you just got here? Nuh-uh. You're coming too."
"Uh, I mean...I guess I could call my mom and ask if it's okay…"
"Come on dude, where's the enthusiasm?" Ryuji asked. "It's a party! A chance to let loose and have fun!"
I gave him an exasperated look. "Give me a break, I'm not used to people wanting me around! Well, aside from my family-"
"Then let's change that!" Ann said brightly. "Come on, it'll be fun!"
"Alright, alright," I relented. "But I still have to check with my mom first."
"Sweet!" Futaba exclaimed. "Now get in here. We'd like your input."
"What? What do you need my input for?"
"Oh, just get over here!" Futaba marched over, seized my sleeve and dragged me over to the group.
"I suppose a church is hardly the strangest place to meet with someone," Akari was saying.
"I like the vibe here," Kazushi remarked. "Humble, but still maintaining honor and dignity."
"Yes, well," Ren continued his explanation, "this is where I met Hifumi Togo, a shogi player who...well, let's just say her mother rigged her competitions in order to live famously through her daughter."
"At least until the Phantom Thieves got to her," Hifumi spoke up as she approached, a somewhat apprehensive-looking Mishima following close behind. She smiled as she stepped up to the small group. "It's good to see you again, Ren. I don't believe I've met the others though?"
Ren put a hand on Makoto's shoulder. "Well, for starters, this is my girlfriend, Makoto Niijima."
"Oh yeah," Mishima spoke up, "You were the student council president of Shujin two years ago. I never knew you were part of their group."
Makoto smiled. "It was quite a shock to me when it happened too. But if I am called to fight, then I will fight."
Hifumi sized up the other girl. "You certainly have the bearing of a warrior. Good to meet you, Niijima-san."
"Likewise," Makoto acknowledged. "I hear you were of assistance in honing Ren's strategic abilities."
Hifumi gave a slightly embarrassed smile. "It's nothing so special. We were only playing shogi while Ren listened to me ramble about my problems."
"Don't worry about it," Makoto reassured her. "Ren does that for everyone."
Ren continued, "And these are my Mom and Dad. They just moved here to Tokyo."
Ren's mom waved. "Akari Amamiya. A pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise," Hifumi answered.
"Pleasure's all mine, ma'am," Mishima bowed.
"And you can just call me Kazushi," Ren's dad told them.
"Nah, you're the father of the guy who's basically my boss, so I'm just going to call you 'sir' if you don't mind," Mishima said matter-of-factly.
Kazushi had to visibly restrain himself from suddenly bursting into laughter and destroying the church's quiet atmosphere.
"Well," Hifumi ventured, "as nice as it is to meet so many people who are important to you Ren, I can't help but wonder what you really called us here for."
"I wanted to test something with you," Ren explained briefly. "We should head out to a nearby alley or something. Somewhere it's more or less safe to use spells without destroying anything."
"Spells?" Mishima demanded. "What's going on?"
"I'll explain when we're outside," Ren told him patiently. "Now come on."
A few minutes later, the group of six were gathered in a stone and steel alleyway about a block from the church, where Ren was explaining the existence of Spellstone and what it could do. To finish the explanation, he opted for a demonstration. At his instruction, he moved a few paces away from the rest of them and handed Makoto an Agi gem to throw at him.
Both of Ren's parents protested. "Hold on! Isn't that dangerous!?"
Ren smirked at them. "Don't worry, I have Beelzebub equipped at the moment. When I'm using him, I can absorb fire, even when I'm not in Thief attire. Go for it, Makoto."
Makoto obliged, tossing the stone in an arc towards him. "Agi."
The stone turned into a baseball-sized fireball mid-arc and plummeted towards Ren's chest. Ren's hand blurred as he seemingly snatched it out of the air, the flames being quickly absorbed into Ren's fist and snuffed out.
Mishima found his voice first. "That was...mega cool."
"Glad you think so," Ren replied, dusting off his hands. "Because it's your turn."
"Wha-? Me?"
"Yep," Ren confirmed. "That's why I summoned you and Hifumi. I have it on good accounts that the both of you are close to being able to awaken yourselves, and I wanted to test whether Spellstone still activates for someone who has the potential but hasn't yet awakened."
"I mean...alright, I'll give it a shot," Mishima shrugged and took another Agi gem from Makoto. He took a deep breath and gently tossed it to Ren. "Agi."
To Ren's surprise, it actually worked. The gemstone was engulfed in a fireball just like Makoto's had, though his was closer to the size of a ping-pong ball. Ren still snatched it out of the air and absorbed the flames into his palm.
"That was...surprisingly tiring," Mishima admitted.
"Tiring?" Makoto asked. "Spellstone only takes energy to enchant, not to use."
"Let me try, then," Hifumi suggested, taking up her own chunk of Spellstone. She produced a fireball similar to Mishima's, and just as similarly reported mild exhaustion from conjuring it.
Makoto's eyebrows were drawn together in confusion. "This is strange. Full-fledged Persona-users can use Spellstone with no difficulty at all."
"Maybe that's the thing," Hifumi suggested, drawing in a deep breath and straightening her posture. "Maybe the fact that we haven't awakened yet means that it takes energy for us to use these spells. Like...people who are strong are giving us the ability to use these, but since we aren't used to them, it's harder? I don't know, it's only a half-formed thought."
"Half-formed or not, that's still better than anything I've got," Mishima admitted. "So what now?"
"Well, we've figured out what we wanted to know," Makoto mused. "What time is it?"
"A little after six," Kazushi reported.
"Hmm," Ren muttered. "We still have a little time before dinner."
"Well, I should probably head home," Mishima stated. "I've been busy trying to update the Phan-site for the new times, but it's been hard with jobs and college going on at the same time. And now that I know that I'm close to getting a Persona of my own, I need to start doing some introspection as well. Might help me awaken when the time comes."
"I think I'll stay at the church a little longer before heading home," Hifumi reported.
"Alright," Ren replied. "Just take care of yourselves and watch out for any Shadows, especially after dark."
"Will do. See ya," Mishima answered. Then he headed out. Hifumi gave Makoto and the Amamiya family one last bow before walking away as well.