5/10 – Tuesday
Evening
Mementos, Path of Aiyatsbus
As Ren rode the escalator back up towards the shallower parts of Mementos, he noticed a familiar black fuzzball riding it the other way. On a whim, he reached over and plucked Mona off the moving stairs.
"Hey!" The feline protested, wriggling in Ren's grasp.
No words came. He held Mona in both arms, one around the not-a-cat's chest and the other under his feet, hugging him tight. The tiny creature probably could have squirmed out, but he didn't, merely grumbled under his breath about "manhandling."
When they reached the top, Ren carefully placed Mona back down on the concrete. "I'm sorry," he said, realizing only then how dry his throat still was.
"You should be!" Mona's fur ruffled. "It's not polite to pick someone up like that–"
"No," Ren interrupted, "I'm sorry for what I said earlier." He leaned against the subway wall, trying to keep his breathing steady. "I'm scared, Morgana."
Mona, for the first time in a while, looked at a lost for words.
"I shouldn't..." Struggling to keep himself up, Ren let his weight fall against the wall, gravity pulling him down from standing to sitting, legs splayed out across the ground, arms limp. "Out of all four of us, I was given the 'Wild Card' – whatever that even actually is. Oxymoron gave me the parcels, made me responsible for sharing or protecting whatever future plans they have for us. You guys made me your leader, but...I don't know what I'm doing. Half the time, it's you or Ann or Ryuji doing the heavy lifting, and I'm just doing my best to support you. And the other half, I'm just improvising, trying not to trip up or get one of you..." He coughed, cleared his throat. "If I make a bad decision, one of you could get hurt. How am I supposed to keep calm and levelheaded with that in the back of my head?"
They were both quiet, for a time. Mona sat down next to him. "It's okay to mess up," he said. "I'm tougher than I look, you know. We all are. You don't...a leader doesn't have to be perfect. It's not your job to keep us safe all the time." He leaned over, resting his large fuzzy head on Ren's arm. "It's your job to trust us. If you see the road forwards, you have to trust us to hop the speedbumps." Ren felt a quiet vibration, almost a purr, radiating through his side. "And it's our job to trust you to find that road. That's all."
"I don't know," Ren mumbled. "It's not that I don't trust you, I just...I don't trust myself to not get you all hurt, or worse–" A sharp pain in the side of his leg. "Ow!"
Mona retracted his claws, glaring at Ren. "I told you, we're tough! How do you expect to change the world without having to fight for it!?"
Ren blinked. "Change the world?" He found a smile creeping onto his lips. "You really think the Phantom Thieves are capable of that?"
"Yeah, of course!" Mona raised his nose, fur ruffling. "You saw what happened when Kamoshida's heart changed. It wasn't just him who was affected, everyone at the school had a chance in perception too."
"Mishima," Ren said. "He's like a different person now."
"And you didn't even need to change his heart!" Mona poked him in the side, smiling. "We find more Palaces, steal their treasure, and explore deeper into Mementos. Soon enough, everyone's going to be talking about the Phantom Thieves, and people will start seeing the world differently all on their own. Changing the world is the least of what the Phantom Thieves could do."
Ren chuckled. "Big dreams for such a little guy."
Mona ruffled his nose. "Yeah, well, I'll be bigger once we find a way to turn me back human." He looked away, feigning offense.
"Hm." Ren thought about that. He reached over and ruffled Mona's fur. "Do you remember what it was like? Being human, I mean."
"I'm not lying," Mona grumbled.
"No, I don't think you are," Ren replied. "I'm just trying to imagine what you look like as a human." He closed his eyes. "You'll probably have black hair. Short and fuzzy."
"I bet people would mistake us for brothers. Twins, even!" Mona giggled. "We could play pranks on Kawakami."
"Sounds like a blast." Ren scratched behind Mona's ears. "I sort of assumed you'd be a middle schooler though."
Mona pushed his head into Ren's hand. "I'm not some dumb kid," he mumbled.
"No, I know, you're smarter than all of us," Ren said. "The smartest Phantom Thief."
"Don't patronize me!" Mona swatted his hand off.
"I'm not, honest." Ren let his arm lay limp. "I really do think you're smart. Smarter than me, at least."
Mona was silent. Then he picked up Ren's hand and placed it back on his fluffy head. "Why did you think I'm a middle schooler then?"
"You're brave," Ren said. "You're too kind, too strong. And you're not angry." He laughed, drier than his throat. "The world hasn't worn you down yet."
5/13 – Friday
After School
Shujin Academy, Classroom
"One day left," groaned Ryuji. He'd most likely rushed over as soon as the bell rang. He squatted down, resting his face on Ren's desk. "Duuuuude, I dunno if I keep going."
Ann turned around in her chair. "Dude, if you skip tomorrow, you get a big fat zero. At least show up and put your name on the exam."
Ryuji turned his head towards Ann and stuck his tongue out at her. "Thays the geniuth Takamaki."
Ann snorted. "My eyes are still swimming from the essay section. You think a genius would write the same paragraph twice on accident?"
"A genius would probably write the same paragraph twice on purpose," Morgana chimed in from inside Ren's desk, poking the tip of his face up to join the conversation.
Ryuji reached over and pushed Morgana's nose back into the desk with one finger. "And that's why they don't let cats take the exam." And an instant later, "ow!" as Morgana nipped his finger.
"I'm not a cat!" Morgana mewled indignantly.
"Yeah, yeah," Ryuji said, shaking off his slightly injured digit. "Hey, Ren, how'd you think you did?"
This 'Aigis' had received a parcel. She was a Persona user, did she have the Wild Card as well? Or a Metaverse Navigator? Who was in the buisness of building weapons to use against Shadows, when Shadows only appeared in Palaces and Mementos? Was there another group out there trying to invade Palaces, change hearts? Could they or Aigis be related to the mental shutdowns?
"Ren?" Morgana prodded at his stomach, making him jump.
Ren pretended to finish cleaning his glasses. Too much on the mind. Too much to focus. "I dunno, fine I guess." He forced a laugh. "I can still see numbers when I close my eyes."
"Yeah, me too," Ryuji replied with a chuckle.
Ann squinted at Ren, but didn't pry. He kept forgetting how sharp she was, hiding anything from her was tough, let alone something this all-consuming. "So...you guys wanna do another last minute study session before tomorrow?"
"Nope!" Ryuji pushed off the desk and stood up. He stretched his arms as wide as he could, nearly smacking another student in the face. "I'm going to go right home, eat my mom's amazing exam-night dinner, and then pass the hell out."
"Luckyyyy," Ann groaned. "I'm probably just going to eat at stupid Big Bang Burger for, like, the third night in a row."
"Hey, don't diss Triple-B's," Ryuji said. "That place kicks ass."
"Yeah, but every single night?" Ann shuddered.
"Hm." Morgana poked his nose out again. "Maybe we could keep Lady Ann company and get dinner there too?"
Ren shook his head. "Sojiro's cooking curry tonight, he made me promise I'd come home and–" He blinked. "Oh! Ann, Leblanc curry?"
Her eyes lit up. "Yes please."
"Cool." Ren pulled out his phone to text Sojiro.
Unknown Number
Joker,
Short notice, I know.
Unfortunately, a personal emergency came up and I need you to cover for me tonight.
Head to Ore no Beko, on Shibuya Central. Tell the doorwoman you called ahead.
It'll be worth your time,
Anachronism.
Ren stared at the lock screen, at the impossible text. Parcels were one thing, but now they were communicating with him directly?
"Are you okay?" Ryuji asked. Ren took one look in his worried eyes and had to swallow a knot in his throat.
"Sorry, Sojiro's closing early." He reached one arm into his desk and deftly slid a shocked and squawking Morgana into his bag. "He needs my help with something. Personal emergency or something."
Ann quirked an eyebrow. "That seems serious."
Ren shrugged, scooting his chair back and hurrying to his feet. "Probably nothing, you know Sojiro. Gotta go." He darted towards the classroom sliding door before any of the other Thieves could protest.
"What's...the...deal!?" Morgana mewled, squirming fruitlessly to adjust his position in Ren's bag.
"Anachronism," he whispered, and Morgana's protest ceased.
"Did they slip you another note?"
"Texted, actually," Ren said with a dry laugh. His heart was pumping about a hundred miles a minute and he didn't have time to calm down. "The bastard texted me."
Morgana finally managed to right himself. "What did they say?"
"Something in Shibuya," Ren replied. He descended the stairs as quickly as he could while keeping his bag from shuddering. Another pair of students gave him a funny look, and scooted to the side to let him pass. "It'll be 'worth my time'."
5/13 – Friday
Evening
Shibuya, Ore no Beko Beef Bowl Shop
"Figures," Ren grumbled, speed-washing a dirty bowl to hopefully unclog the rush hour order jam. "The one time they don't talk in code and riddles, it's to get me to literally cover their shift." Apparently, someone had applied for part-time work for Ren over the phone earlier that day. The moment Ren showed up, he was escorted into the manager's office, given a uniform and the barest hint of training, and tossed onto the assembly line.
"At least we were promised extra pay for working rush hour?" Morgana offered from the bag between Ren's feet. Thankfully, no one but Ren could hear the feline mewling over the hustle and bustle of the packed shop.
"If this is what they meant by 'worth my time,' I'm going to kill them," he mumbled. Ren dried the bowl and held it over his shoulder. "Clean bowl," he called. After two seconds without reply, he turned around to see that his coworker – a greasy-haired twenty something – had completely abandoned his post. "Oh. Shit."
"You can do this!" Morgana said. "I'll, uh, help where I can! So you don't have to remember everything on your own."
Ren checked the crimson sports watch. "Two more hours," he mumbled, "two more hours."
"One more hour," Ren mumbled, "one more hour." Thankfully, half the shop had emptied out, served as quickly as Ren and the haggard-looking woman bouncing between door and register could manage.
Morgana, despite his offer of help, had tuckered out a little while ago, too overwhelmed to do anything more than hide in Ren's bag. From the rising and falling of its sides, he was probably taking a stress nap.
"More like a high schooler now, kid," he said under his breath, then chuckled.
Two businessmen, too engrossed with a conversation of politics to give even a bare thanks for the meal, left their seats to pay and were immediately replaced by two high schoolers in different uniforms. "We'd like two bowls, please," the young man said.
"Size and toppings?" Ren asked.
"Uh." He looked down at a scrap of yellow paper. "Medium and none?"
"Why are we getting two?" the young woman asked. Her voice was lilted, odd, sort of familiar. "You know I don't eat."
"Yeah, but I figured Yosuke would want one." He turned to Ren again. "Can we get one of them to go?"
Ren shook his head and pointed to the sign on the nearby wall: No Takeouts.
"Oh." The young man looked back down at the yellow paper. "I don't know if I can eat two beef bowls."
The young woman sighed. "The most logical course of action would be to use one coupon now and save the other."
The young man considered that. "Huh. Yeah, that makes sense." He smacked one of the yellow scraps on the counter and pocketed the second. "Just one bowl then."
Ren picked up the coupon. First one he'd seen that night, but it seemed legit. "Coming right up."
The young man nodded. "Sure, take your time, Ren."
Ren froze. Finally, he lifted his gaze from the counter to the faces of his customers. One, the familiar soft smile and distant eyes of the young man he'd met in Leblanc a few weeks previous. The other... "Aigis," he said.
She nodded to him, her expression calm but stiff, sort of unnatural. Aigis was wearing white gloves and a black buttoned-up jacket this time, but still had on that bright red tie. "Good evening," she replied.
Yu Narukami glanced between Aigis and Ren. "You two uh...know each other?"
Aigis gave him an odd look. "I told you, I ran into him last night."
Yu shook his head, confused. "You said you ran into Joker last night."
Aigis simply closed her eyes and scrunched up her nose. She sighed, a sound not unlike a compressed air valve.
Yu looked at Aigis, then at Ren, then started in his chair. "Right! Right, yeah." He laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, still thrown by the whole 'double names' thing. I'm face-blind enough as it is."
Ren just kept staring at the two of them. "Why are you here?"
"Opened a parcel," Yu replied, "got a coupon."
Aigis nodded. "I as well. Though, I cannot eat. Yu has my coupon."
Parcels. These two weren't just conspiring with each other, they were...what, on Oxymoron's payroll!? Ren white-knuckle clenched the bowl, holding it in the sink like he was trying to drown it in dishwater. "Do you want something?" Sharper than himself.
"A beef bowl," Yu said. "Medium, no toppings. She's not hungry."
Ren resisted the urge to strangle him. "Oxymoron. Anachronism. Tell me something."
Yu's smile faded immediately. His eyes focused, and Ren felt a chill run up his spine. He reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a pair of folded glasses, unfolding them and offering them to Ren. "Take a peek."
Ren snatched the spectacles from Yu. Wordless, he shook the water off his hands and swapped his glasses for Yu's. Reality pitched to the left.
"Momma," Ren sobbed, holding the cloth up to his mother.
She bent down, her brow knit, but her expression softening as she unwrapped the cloth. "Oh, dear," she said. "It broke, didn't it."
Ren nodded and his tears fell from chubby cheeks onto the fragments of blue glass.
His mother closed the cloth and placed it to the side, hugging her child tightly. "Sweetie," she said, "tell me what happened."
"I tried to, to wrap it up," he blubbered, "to keep it safe, and, and, I wanted it a lot, but it broke and I'm sorry and–"
"Shh shh shh," she said. "Sometimes things break, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with making mistakes, dear, so long as you clean up after them."
He shook his head. "I don't wanna clean it up! I don't wanna get rid of it!"
She broke the hug and looked him in the eye, and he looked away. " ████," she said, "I know you loved that bird a lot. It was very pretty, and a lovely gift, but sometimes you have to let things go."
He shook his head harder. "No!"
His mother sighed, and her hands tightened on his shoulders, but then she let go. "Can you tell me why not?"
"Cause," he looked at the floor, "it's my Ren bird."
"Your Ren bird?"
"It's my bird and it gave me my name and if it breaks," Ren explained, "then my name breaks and no one will call me Ren anymore, and, and..." He sniffled.
"Oh, dear." His mother chuckled, and hugged him again. "Your name won't break. People will still call you Ren, if you ask them."
"You and papa don't call me Ren," he said.
And she was quiet for a moment. "Tell you what," she said, finally. "How about we take what's left of your bird and put it somewhere where me and papa can see it, and it'll help remind us, okay?"
And Ren thought about that. "Okay," he said. "That's okay."
And she smiled and took his hand and squeezed it. "I know things changing can be scary, but it turned out okay now, right?" Without waiting for him to reply, she continued. "Sometimes we need to change, and see the mistakes we make, and make better choices instead." His mother looked at him. "Okay, Ren?"
And he smiled. "Okay, momma."
Ren caught himself on the countertop. His head blurred with...that. He hadn't thought about that moment in years. Not since...not...Ren shook his head. There would be time for blue glass birds later. Now...
Now, these glasses had darkened the world, spiralling the overhead lights into blue fracteline shapes at the corners of his vision. Then he noticed the veins, the black and red roots spreading across the floor and walls. And the sound of the subway chugging along underneath him. And the customers that were not so much people as things in the shape of people, sludge shaped with human casts, each staring straight ahead with glowing yellow eyes. "Mementos," he said, breathlessly.
A quiet rush of air, and Yu appeared on his stool, wearing a matching pair of glasses himself. His eyes, behind them, were no longer grey but bright blue, glowing a very familiar shade of cerulean. "Howdy," he said.
Another rush of air, and Aigis appeared as well. No glasses on her, but her eyes matched the blue glow of his. "Did I miss anything?" she asked.
"Only that we agreed you were going to explain the whole," Yu gestured to their surroundings, "to him."
"Him has a name," Ren grumbled.
Aigis giggled. "Ren. Mementos isn't the only world that Shadows have called their home." That got his attention. "In 2009, they resided in Tartarus. In 2011, the Midnight Channel." Names he didn't recognize, but...
"What about Palaces?" he asked.
Aigis gave a wry smile. "Those are a new development. I belive Yu has some experience with more individualized sections of the Metaverse?" She sent him a glance.
"Not exactly like this," Yu said, rubbing his chin. "Parts of the Midnight Channel focused on specific peoples' Shadows, but you could...I mean, we did literally walk from our entrance to all of them. They're not seperated, the way Palaces are."
Ren's head spun. "Sorry, slow down. Who the fuck is we?"
"My team," Yu replied with a grin. "Aigis and I didn't do the whole Shadow hunting thing on our own. Both of us had teams to back us up."
Teams. Shadows. Metaverse. "This, I, I mean..." Ren stuttered. "That just sounds like...what, history keeps repeating itself, and I'm the newest jackass?"
"Harsh," Yu mumbled.
"Am I wrong!?" Ren fired back. His exhasperated voice echoed off the walls and smacked him in the face. Too high a pitch. He grit his teeth.
"Events do seem to be iterating," Aigis said, calmly. "That brings with it good news...and bad."
Yu nodded along. "If you guys – the Thieves, I mean – if you follow the trend, you're probably going to end up throwing down with some kind of deity by the end of the year. Probably bent on subjugating humanity, yadda yadda."
Ren wanted to sit down. There wasn't a chair behind the counter, so he simply slumped backwards against the inside wall of the counter.
"Good news is you'll win," Yu continued. "But, uh, yeah. That's the stakes so far as we know it."
This was too much. Time travel, fine, Ren could deal with time travel. Having to fight monsters, sure. Stealing treasure from giant demons, alright. But fucking deicide? Ren took a deep breath. "I'm out," he said, and pulled the glasses off his face.
Reality lurched right and back to center. Mementos vanished. The silence was gone, replaced with the hustle and bustle of the beef bowl shop. Yu and Aigis's eyes were normal, the customers were normal, Ren was probably still having a heart attack. "I'm not fighting a god. I'm not...I'm not sending my friends to fight a god. No way. Not a chance. This..." He swallowed hard. "I didn't sign up for this."
Yu silently pulled off his glasses, and tucked but them and the pair he'd given Ren back into his pocket.
Aigis let out a small hiss of a sigh. The steam escaping her lips seemed slightly luminous, and distincly blue. "None of us did," she said, softly. "That's why we're here."
Yu chuckled dryly. "Oxymoron couldn't keep us from this, no way."
What did they...Oxymoron couldn't 'keep' them? "You're not getting involved because of the parcels," Ren said, quietly. "You're getting the parcels because you're involved?"
Aigis nodded. "Bing-go."
Yu shook his head. "Aigis, it's 'bingo,' one word." He leaned his forearm on the counter. "Uh. Not to be a bother, but...I really am hungry."
Ren stared at him, feeling beyond empty.
"I'll..." Yu staightened up. "No worries, we can grab a bite to eat around the corner or something." He slipped the coupon back into his pocket as well.
Ren took a long breath. "Just to make sure we're on the same page," he leaned on the counter, trying to keep his breathing steady. "You two are Persona users, and you've fought – and I assume beat – literal gods before. And you're going to, what, kill all the Shadows so me and my friends don't have to?"
Aigis pursed her lips. "It's not that simple, unfortunately."
"Of course," Ren grumbled. "Complications galore."
"We can sneak our way into Mementos and use our Personas there," Yu added. "But we still don't know how to access the Palaces, our way into Mementos doesn't work for them. Plus, we can't open any of the doors in Mementos, we were stuck at the entrance till you changed that abusive teacher's heart." Their way...meaning they didn't have Metaverse Navigators.
Aigis quickly cut in. "We'll be keeping close whenever we can, and we can pull you out of danger."
"And when the time comes to throw down with divinity?" Yu cracked his knuckles. "We'll be there."
Ren closed his eyes. This was too much. This was all just too much. "We still need to put our lives on the line though." It wasn't a question.
"Yes," Aigis said. Her voice carried a surpising depth of sorrow. "I am sorry. If another way presents itself, we will relieve you of this suffering. Until then...I hope our experience can help your efforts."
"You're not alone," Yu said. "I know we're kinda unwelcome, but we've still got your back, kid."
"I..." Ren's voice broke, and he cleared his throat. "I need some time."
A short silence. "Take all the time you need," Aigis said, quietly. "Ren. Things will turn out all right. I promise."
And then he heard them leave.
Ren's head swam, his heart still raced, his eyes blurred and unblurred against his eyelids. He didn't know how to even begin to process this.
Someone cleared their throat from behind him, and Ren was reminded he was currently on the clock. With sme effort, he forced a smile onto his face and turned around to address a middle-aged man in a grey buisness suit. "Sorry for the wait sir, how can I help you?"
The man smiled and waved a hand dismissively. "No help needed, my boy. Simply wanted to tell you to hang in there." He chuckled.
Ren blinked at him, jolted off-script.
"First night on the job, am I right?" the man continued. "Your face is redder than a tomato." He laughed again, deep and hearty. "Sorry to tease you, I simply wanted you to know..." The man paused. "Well, to know you aren't alone. Lots of young folk have to work these sorts of jobs, dip their toes in the deep end of stress and the low end of pay." He shook his head sadly. "A failing county fails its youngest first, and its them who carry the burden."
"Right. I've definitely got my burdens, sir." Something about the way the man talked felt...calming. Easier to follow along to, script or not. "Did anyone ever tell you that you have a way with words?"
The man laughed again. "Oh, seldomly. Thank you very much for thinking so." He beamed at Ren and extended a hand. "What's your name, young man?"
Ren shook his hand. "Ren Amamiya. You, sir?"
"Toranosuke Yoshida," he said. "It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Mister Amamiya."
