6/25 – Saturday
The Twelfth Hour
Everywhere And Yet Right Here
The boy not currently in the black mask was sitting in an uncomfortable metal chair, at an uncomfortable metal table, in an uncomfortable metal room, with bloodstained medical bandages wrapped tight around the right side of his face, covering up his freshly injured eye.
The Trickster closed the door behind him, and he couldn't help but chuckle.
"Let me guess, you're amused by my state?" the boy asked, spite dripping in every syllable. He massaged his raw wrists with exaggerated woe. "You're crueler than you look."
"No, sorry," the Trickster replied. "Just a bit of irony." He sat down across the table from the boy. "I've been having these weird dreams ███ █████████████ ██████ ███████████ ███████████ ██████████████████████ ███████████ ████████████ ████████ ██████████████ ███████████████████ ████████████████████ ██████████████████ ███████████████ ██████████████████ ████████████████ ██████████ ████████████████████ ██████████ ██████████████████████ █████████████ █████████████ ███████████ ███████████████ ███████████████ ██████ ██████ ███████████ █████████ ████████████ █████████████████ you killed my mom!" The Trickster's sister stared at the boy through the tears that sparkled in her eyes. "I don't care what everyone else says, I'm never going to forgive you!"
The Trickster said nothing. He could have, but it wasn't right, wasn't his choice to make for her.
The boy stared at her, and reached up to tighten the tie around his neck. "I'll accept that," he said. "I don't believe I asked for your forgiveness. I neither want nor deserve it." He chuckled without humor. "Hate me, and I think we'll both get through this easier." And with that, he ████████ ████████ █████████ █████████████████████████ █████████████ ███████████ ████████ ████████████ ██████ ██████████ ██████ █████████ ██████ ████████████ ██████ ███████████ █████████████████ ███████████████ █████████████████ █████████ ██████████ ██████████ ████████ ████████████████ ███████████████████ ██████████ ███████ █████████ ██████████ ████████████ █████████ ████████████ ████████████ ████████ ████ ██ █████████████ ███ ███████████ lifted the glass jar and shook it slightly, jostling the dusty blue glass shards inside.
"Careful," the Trickster warned. "That's my name, you don't want to break it."
The boy not currently in the black mask stared at him, as if he was a complete idiot. "It's already broken," he said, deadpan. "You do realize that, yes?"
The Trickster shrugged. "I'm not the witch here. I don't know how these rituals work, but Oxymoron █████████ ██████ ████ █████ ████ ████ ██████ ███████ ██████████████ ████ ███████████ ██████████████████ █████████████ ██████████ █████████ ██████████ ████████ ████████████ ████████████████ ██████████ ███████ ████████████ ██████████ ███████ ████████████ ██████ █████████ ████████████████ ████████████ ██████ █████ ██████ shoved the Trickster as hard as he could.
He stumbled back, blinking, too shocked to even react.
"You," the boy in the broken black mask said, "fucking idiot." He swept his arms out to either side, and was momentarily drowned out by thunderous crash of a falling star obliterating a building behind him. "Your friends are putting their lives on the line to buy you time, and you have the fucking audacity to show up now!?"
"I can't let you all just die alone!" he snapped back.
The boy grit his teeth and jabbed a finger at the Trickster's chest. "You were the one who told us it was hopeless in the first place! And now you show up to, what, extend our lives for another few minutes?"
"Hopeless or not," he replied, "I'm the leader of the Phantom Thieves. If they're fighting, I should–"
The boy in the broken black mask slapped him. The Trickster couldn't say a word. He just lifted a hand to his stinging cheek, staring at the boy.
"Wake up!" he snarled. "The world is dying, and you've already made the call. Over and over, you told us..." He trailed off, rolling his one good eye, and then whirling to plant a bullet directly in the forehead of an advancing Shadow. It crumpled, and he turned back to the Trickster. "You said you would rather preserve hope for another world than struggle to save this one. And yet you show up here, trying to win both battles at once?"
"I can't," the Trickster said, and he could hear his own pathetic voice in his ears, "I can't just stand by and do nothing while you die."
The boy with the broken mask stared at him. Emotionless. And then he reached out a boot, drawing a line between them in the ash on the ground. He pointed his pistol at the Trickster and cocked the hammer. "Cross this line then," he said. "And I'll kill you myself."
The Trickster said nothing for a moment. "You haven't killed me yet," he said, "despite what you've threatened."
The boy laughed, furious and cold. "Do you care to bet on that? Every time, you've stopped my hand, but this time it's not for me." He jerked a thumb over his shoulder, at the chaos of downtown Shibuya, at the Earth's final bulwark against the apocalypse. "They're expecting you to be dead. So, why not at my hand instead of hers? I hardly think they'll have much time to be angry at me as their world burns to the ground." He smirked. "Turn tail, Joker. Give up this fight. You've cast your role, now play it."
It was quiet between them. "I'm sorry," the Trickster said, finally. "You deserve better–"
"Amamiya!"
Ren started in place. His hand was clutching his shirt over his heart, his breath was shallow in his ears. A dozen pairs of eyes were on him, including Ann's, and beyond her, the equally concerned and irritated Kawakami.
"Nurse," he said, and even that word felt like prying breath from a vice.
Kawakami sighed, and nodded. "Go ahead," she said. "Just try not to throw up in the hallway."
Ren tried to steady himself as he jammed his pencil case and notebook into his bag, then lifted it to let Morgana slip inside from his desk, and then stood and practically sprinted out the door. He wasn't aiming for the nurse's office, just a quiet spot in the hallway, just desperate to be out of sight, just somewhere.
He almost tripped down the stairs, leaning back against the wall between staircases, struggling to breathe, gasping and panting and light headed.
"Ren," Morgana mewled, "the panic meds, here!"
Right, right, right. Ren grabbed the bottle from the bag, from Morgana's paws, and struggled with the cap for far longer than he wanted to. Pop, and he shook out a capsule into his hand and then half-threw it into his mouth.
It tasted awful. He swallowed as hard as he could, hoping the taste would leave, but somehow the moment it went down his throat, some foul stench shot back up directly into his brain–
He was lucid.
His heart was pounding, his chest felt tight, his brain hurt, and he was lucid. Ren shook his head, cringing at the taste still in his mouth. Indescribably bitter.
Morgana poked his head out from the bag. "Are you okay?" he asked, so very concerned.
"I'm okay," Ren said, a little quiet, as his throat began to unwind its tension. "I'm okay." He took a deep breath in, and out. "Ow."
Mona nodded, but didn't look exactly satisfied. "What happened? You just spaced out there, and then you started freaking out. It was like you didn't even hear me."
Ren closed his eyes, keeping his breath steady, rubbing his temples. "I don't know," he mumbled. "It was like the previous memories, but just...all at once. Jumbled up, like my brain was trying to remember everything at the same time."
"That sounds awful," Morgana said, frowning. "I'm so sorry, Ren."
He smiled softly, and reached out to ruffle Morgana's fur. "I'm okay," he repeated.
"Ren?" a confused voice from the floor above him.
Ren started, and Morgana shot back into his bag. He leaned over, staring at the red-haired girl who had stopped halfway down the stairs. "Hi Kasumi," he replied. "Are you...do you not have class right now or something?"
She shook her head. "Bad anx-iety," she said. "Some of my teachers let me leave early so I don't have a panic attack."
Ren blinked. "I didn't know that was an option."
Kasumi scrambled down the last few steps. "My dad had to get a note from Mister Maruki," she explained, "and my coach and talk with Principal Kobayakawa." She swung her arms back and forth, her breath catching oddly for a moment.
"Ah," Ren said. He didn't have a coach. He could maybe get Sojiro to talk to Kobayakawa, but there was no way in hell he'd feel comfortable enough to ask for that. "Wish it was easier," he said, out loud.
She nodded, then started. "Oh! What are you doing here then Ren?"
He paused. How to explain this... "Panic attack," he decided. "Remembered a lot all at once. Uh, I'm okay now. Just taking a moment."
Her expression went from calm to concerned in an instant. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, and shifted in place. "Um, Mister Maruki says that it's not a good idea to go back to class right away, after you panic."
"Alright," he said, "I'll take that advice then. Wouldn't wanna worry him, or you." Ren reached up and twisted a lock of hair between his fingers. "I'm not really sure what to do, then."
Kasumi brightened up. "You could come with me! Whenever I get nerv-ous like this, I go to Mister Maruki's office. He always writes a note for me so I don't get in trouble. I bet he'd write one for you too!"
He blinked. Oh. "Cool," he said. "Uh, lead the way."
She nodded, flapping her hands a little as she shot down the rest of the staircase. Ren had to rush a little to keep up with her excited pace; she walked incredibly quickly without even trying. It didn't take long to reach Maruki's office, but by the time they did, Ren had already worked up a sweat. Kasumi though, didn't seem so much as winded.
"How are you so fast?" he asked, wiping some sweat off his forehead.
"Endurance training!" she chirped, and then started to open the door to Maruki's office. Kasumi stopped, then quickly closed the door, and knocked twice.
Ren could hear a muffled laughter from inside. "Come on in, Kasumi. Thank you for being polite."
She opened the door and slipped inside. "I hope that it is alright," she said, stumbling over her words for a moment before cutting herself off with a deep breath, "but I bought someone else with me."
Ren, before she had to explain further, walked inside and closed the door behind him.
Maruki was at the desk at the office's far wall, bent over some paperwork. His confused expression lit up into a surprised smile as soon as he saw Ren. "Oh, Ren!" He ran a hand through his messy hair. "I'd been meaning to let you know you could stop by even when you didn't have an appointment, but I kept forgetting." Maruki beamed at Kasumi. "Thank you very much for letting him know for me."
Kasumi bounced on the heels of her feet and giggled. "Yep!"
"Thank you," Ren said, though he wasn't exactly sure which one of them he was thanking.
Maruki motioned to the two couches. "Go ahead and sit down. I've got a few more forms to fill out, but then I can check in with you both. There's apple juice in the cooler if you want any."
Ren sat down on the patient couch, only to notice that Kasumi had done so as well. She started, probably just noticing it too.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" she said.
"Do you want me to move?" he asked, almost speaking over her.
She shook her head. "No, no, it's alright. Do you want me to move?"
He shook his head. "No worries. I trust you."
And that knocked a big grin onto her face. "Okay," she said. And she rested her hands in her lap and stared at the far wall, kicking her feet a little.
Ren leaned back, sinking into the couch, and let out a long breath. He shifted his bag from his side to his lap, hugging it close. He could feel a slight purr emanating from within, and all the tension dripped out of his posture, down his spine and into nothing. "This sucks," he mumbled. "Forgetting stuff sucks, but it's like remembering sucks even more."
Kasumi nodded slowly. "Yeah," she said. She hesitated a moment. "Are you scared to remember? Like that you'll remember bad things?" Her voice was lower, quieter, but she didn't seem to be trying to keep Maruki from hearing her. At a glance, the therapist was focused intently on his paperwork.
"I've already remembered a few bad things," Ren admitted. "Good things too, but a whole lot of bad. And I feel like the bad sticks with me more." The world ending, stars screaming as they fell from the sky, a friend assuring their own demise, a smoking gun and a boy falling.
"I'm sorry," she said. Kasumi glanced at him, an odd knowing sadness behind her eyes, and then turned her gaze back to the far wall. "I haven't remembered any bad stuff yet. I don't know if that's better, but if I'm really tr-aumat-ized, then I should start remembering bad soon too."
He wished he had an answer. A solution. Something. But if he did, he wouldn't be in the same boat. "Would you rather not remember the bad things?" Ren asked. "If you could choose not to."
She seemed to consider that. "I don't know. If I never remembered the bad stuff, I might never know what happened to her."
'Her,' that's right, it was Kasumi's sister that she'd forgotten. Ren let the silence hang as he searched for the right words to say. "I think, for me, I'm scared that I'll end up...just, not remembering something that's important for my life right now. Like a lesson, or something." He shrugged. "Maruki said I should be holding onto stuff, even if I don't remember it. But I don't know, I'm still worried."
"Hm." She kicked her legs off the side of the couch. "Well, do you remember more important things from the good memories, or from the bad ones?" It almost sounded like a leading question, but Ren got the feeling she was being earnest.
And that...hm. He leaned back, staring at the ceiling. The more he thought about it, the more the lines in his head seemed to blur. Good and bad, useful and useless. It wasn't exactly clear which was which. The future apocalypse, those broken bonds and the fate of Anachronism's world – but the doomed who fought for it, that strength of will and love and the line drawn in the ash.
Those memories like scars, so many across his heart.
And a scar is a death avoided.
"I don't know," he said, finally. "It's weird. Like every time I remember a bad thing, there's a good part to it too. Not just that I remembered it, but something that makes me feel...just, like it's all gonna be okay."
"That sounds nice," Kasumi said, a little smile in her voice. "Do you think..." She shifted in place. Like she didn't want to ask.
"When you remember," Ren said, not waiting for the question, "if it hurts, and you can't find anything good, then you'll still have me." He quickly added "and Maruki, and stuff. But...you're not alone. And I think you'll remember a whole lot of good, even with the bad. Your sister loved you, right?"
Kasumi didn't answer. Ren glanced back down to see her wiping something from her eye, an odd expression on her face. "You're very kind," she muttered. Kasumi reached out, and then hesitated, her hand sort of shaking. Finally, she placed it very gently on Ren's shoulder. "You've got me too," she said. "If it gets bad, and you rem-emember bad stuff."
He wanted very badly in that moment to hug her, but he didn't. She was clearly nervous enough just having her hand on his shoulder. "Thank you," he said.
6/26 – Sunday
Afternoon
Cafe Leblanc, Attic
Ann arrived to the meeting first. She sat on the couch in the attic and stared at Ren, patient but stoic, refusing to prompt him. They were on the same page, after all.
"More memories," he explained. "Anachronism's stuff. Like, I saw that guy in Kaneshiro's Palace, and I think it just..." He gestured at nothing, and then shrugged. "Like, all at once." He reached down and gently ruffled Morgana's fur. The feline in his lap yawned and leaned into his hand. "I found out some stuff about him a couple days ago, and I was planning on telling you all anyway after we changed Kaneshiro's heart, but then apparently–" Ann put a hand up and Ren stopped.
"Wait till everyone else is here," she said, with a soft smile. "So you don't have to repeat yourself."
He nodded. "Right. Okay."
Ann leaned back against the couch, letting out a long breath. "So, where'd you rush off to yesterday anyway? I checked the nurse's office after class, but I didn't see you there. Did you get sent home?"
"Oh," Ren said, "no, uh, I spent some time with a friend." In Maruki's office, obviously, but...confidentially. "We ended up talking for a while, and I think I lost track of time."
"A friend?" she prompted. "Like, not a Thief?"
"Not a Thief," he confirmed. "Her name's Kasumi Yoshizawa, she's a freshman."
Ann's brow furrowed for a moment. "Doesn't ring a bell." Then she paused. "Yoshizawa though...I feel like I've heard that name before."
"Good Morning Japan," Ren said, and her face lit up with recognition.
"Oh!" Ann said. "Fuck, right, yeah! The director's name was Yoshizawa something or other. Your friend's dad?"
"Probably," Ren replied. "Been sort of forgetting to ask her."
She chuckled. "Small world." The chime of the door downstairs, and the faint sound of talking. Even muffled by distance, Ren could hear Ryuji's excited voice as clear as day. "Well, that sounds like everyone else is filing in." Ann glanced his way. "Ren...I won't ask if you're okay, cause I know you're going to say yes, but would you tell me if you weren't?"
"Of course," he said, then corrected himself at her strict gaze, "yes, I'd tell you. This is all crazy, and it's more than I can process and probably more than any of you could process either." He ruffled Morgana's fur again. "But being in over my head doesn't mean I'm helpless." Ren chuckled. "I can't even logic out the reason. All I know is, no matter what, I've got you all. You're not gonna let me give up, or get hurt, or die." The word left his mouth before he could stop it. He cleared his throat. "We're gonna be okay. I might just be crazy here, but I just keep thinking about that we're three-for-three, and I'm pretty sure we can make it all the way to the end."
Ann nodded slowly. "What you said in the palace, about us 'taking this country's heart' or whatever..."
"We're going to," Ren replied. "I mean, we don't have to, but I'm pretty sure we've got everything we need, should we decide on that." He locked eyes with her. "And no matter what happens, I'm not giving up."
"Hm," she said. And she smiled. "I like that answer, Ren."
"Couple days ago," Ren began, still sitting on the bed, the other Thieves having formed a small semicircle with their chairs and the couch, "Yu introduced me to one of his friends, who's sort of a consultant for the SRU. And, I guess before I say anything else, I want to make something about that clear." He took a pause, making sure he could articulate this properly. "I think Mitsuru is a good person. Makoto, Yusuke, I know you two never met her, but I feel like her heart is in the right place."
"Sorta got the same impression here," Ryuji said. "I mean, she's a booro...buh...burro..."
"Bureaucrat?" Makoto asked.
Ryuji snapped his fingers. "Yeah, that. But I bet she meant it when she said she wanted to save the world and stuff."
"Exactly," Ren said. "Myself, Ryuji, Ann and Morgana had decided before to stay on friendly terms with the SRU, while continuing to work independently. But," he nodded to Yusuke and Makoto in turn, "with two new Thieves, I feel it's appropriate to revisit that topic of discussion. We decided the Phantom Thieves only operate unanimously, and I feel like I've been neglecting that." He twisted a couple strands of hair between his fingers. "It's unfair to assume that you both share our point on view on this. And while my opinion hasn't exactly changed, it's possible Ryuji, Ann or Morgana's has."
Ann shook her head. "I mean, mine hasn't. I still don't like the idea of taking orders from a bunch of adults, even if they're good people."
"Same here," Morgana chimed in. Ryuji mimicked with a thumbs-up.
"There's no pressure to agree," Ren added. "If there's any dissenting opinions, I'd like to hear them."
Yusuke glanced at the contemplative Makoto before clearing his throat. "I for one," he said, slowly, as if he were choosing his words carefully, "support the Phantom Thieves' independence. As you say, I've never met this Mitsuru woman, but I don't feel as if I need to." He smiled. "I trust you all. I have no reason to believe your judgement is anything other than sound, and I doubt I would feel differently. I can't imagine any impression of the SRU that would change my opinion on that. We have acted of our own accord, for our own reasons, and I see little reason to change that."
Makoto took a longer pause, staring at the ground, her chin in her hands. "I don't disagree with your decisions," she said, "but I do have a potential concern."
"I'd love to hear it," Ren said.
She opened her mouth to speak, and then closed it again. "No, actually, that's dependent on an assumption." Makoto finally lifted her gaze to Ren. "I'd like to know something, before I address the SRU. I know that Oxymoron's intentions aren't clear to you, and you don't know what exactly she wants of us, but there's something about the way that you've talked about this that makes me think you know what happens if we fail."
"Oxymoron turns back time–" Ren began.
"No," she interrupted, "I mean what happens. You don't know specifically, that's fine, but I need to know the stakes of what we're dealing with here. Is Oxymoron just power-hungry enough to turn back time for the sake of some sort of boon, or are we dealing with..." She didn't finish. Simply left the implication hang in the air.
He could claim plausible deniability. Ren knew he could. It had been easy enough to avoid the full story, to simply file it away as yet another 'unimportant' fact that his friends were leaving to him to sort out. But being asked directly? He wouldn't dare obscure the truth. "The latter," he said. "Anachronism's memories are fuzzy, and I'm still getting mostly bits and pieces, but I've already seen his ending. And what he failed to prevent. I'm willing to go into as much detail as you like, but I'm not going to dump that on your laps unless you really want to know, right now, exactly what happens if we fail."
Silence.
Makoto sighed, running a hand along the buzzed part of her hair. "Sorry," she said. "You're right, I..." She laughed. "I don't think I do. Not yet. Even if it was just me that you told...I'm not ready for that, you're right." It was as if the room let out a long, tense breath. "But the reason I asked isn't just curiosity. I want to know if we plan on working with the SRU in the future. If this is a matter of life or death, or something worse, then do the Phantom Thieves join in full cooperation?"
Ren would have waited for the others to answer first, but all eyes in the room turned to him. "If it's up to me completely," he said, "then yes. Changing hearts is one thing, but I think the Thieves and the SRU's priorities might become completely aligned in the next months. When that happens, I'll likely ask us all to discuss again whether we work alongside the SRU. And at that point, I'll probably vote for an alliance."
Makoto nodded. "Understood. Then, for the moment, I have no dissension to voice."
Another silent pause to make sure everyone had a chance to speak, and then Ren continued. "Yu Narukami, the Shadow Operative that Ryuji, Ann, Morgana and I met before, introduced me to a friend of his a few days ago, before we went into Kaneshiro's Palace. He's sort of a consultant for the SRU, but it seems like he and Mitsuru are on tense terms. And furthermore, I feel like if we felt we needed the assistance of other Persona users but could not trust the SRU, then there's no doubt in my mind that he, and Yu, and probably a few others, would be more than willing to go against Mitsuru to support us. Should it come to that." He gave everyone else a moment to absorb that. "His name is Naoto Shirogane, and I'm happy to pass on his contact information to any...of you..." Ren trailed off, raising an eyebrow at Makoto's inexplicable shocked expression.
"You met," she said, her voice a little shaky, "the Naoto Shirogane. You got an offer of support from the fucking Detective Prince?!"
Yusuke's eyebrows practically shot off his face, Ann similarly letting out a low, impressed whistle. Ryuji however, looked utterly clueless. "Wait, wasn't that Akechi guy supposed to be the prince of detectives or whatever?"
"Goro Akechi," Makoto corrected, "has been heralded as the second coming of the Detective Prince. A title that was originally given to a small-town nobody who single handedly rocketed from middle school to a position as a police detective." She laughed, a little manic, and ran a hand through her hair. "I mean, he quit the force a few years ago, and sort of dropped off the face of the planet. But, Ren, you're telling me he gave you his number."
"Yes?" he said.
"Cool," she said. "Uh, continue."
He smiled, though it faded fairly quickly. "Well, beyond him just introducing himself, he actually told me about something that the SRU's been sort of keeping from us." And that knocked any lingering excitement from the room. "I'm pretty sure just for the sake of wanting to handle it themselves, but...that Persona user in the black mask, the one in Kaneshiro's Palace. They've run into him before."
"Is he like one of them, or something?" Ann asked. "Like a former Shadow Ops member? Miss Yukari was wearing an all-black outfit too."
Ren shook his head. "Not that I know of. To the best of my knowledge, and theirs, they've only met him once before, in Mementos." He took a deep breath. How, exactly, was he supposed to explain this? "Well, okay, there's sort of two things about him that I know. One of them is what Naoto told me: it's likely he's causing mental shutdowns."
"Holy shit," Ryuji muttered, and the rest of the Thieves looked just as shocked.
"The SRU saw him murder a man's Shadow in Mementos," Ren continued, "and that same man had a mental shutdown a few days later. Naoto has idea what his motivations are, or if he's working alone, but it stands there's a Persona user in a black mask running around the Metaverse causing mental shutdowns. And I'm almost positive it's the same guy we saw two days ago."
"It seemed like he was trying to make a deal with Kaneshiro," Yusuke said, brow furrowed, "some sort of partnership."
"Or he was threatening to make Kaneshiro have a mental shutdown," Makoto added. "It sounded more like extortion than a partnership to me."
"Could be either," Ren said. "I don't know."
"You said you know two things about him?" Morgana prompted.
Ren nodded. "I had a whole bunch of memories all hit me at once yesterday. And I sort of realized...that I've seen the guy before." He tangled his fingers together, running the next words through his head over and over. "He's in Anachronism's memories. Not just a few either, he's in a lot of them." Ren took another long, deep breath. "I don't know when, or why, but I think he joins the Phantom Thieves."
It was if all breath stopped. Silence in the attic, an odd and motionless silence. If it wasn't for the chirping of birds through the open window, he might have been concerned that time had stopped again.
Ann spoke again first. "Did Anachronism trust him?"
Ren thought about that, tried to piece some clarity out of the fogged recollections. "Um, probably not. I think Anachronism shot him in the head. He survived, and I think he got arrested or something. I don't know, it's all...vague. Either way, I'm pretty sure that Anachronism considered him an ally, but he also hated him? I have no fucking idea why."
"So uh," Ryuji said, running a hand through his hair, "honest question: does that mean we have to work with a fucking murderer or something?"
"No," Ren said, firmly. "Anachronism did, and I don't know why, but I also know he failed. He said, in one of the letters that he wrote, that I wouldn't make the same mistakes as him. If working alongside the black-masked Persona user was one of his mistakes?" Ren's fingers clenched against each other. "Then I won't repeat it."
6/26 – Sunday
Evening
Cafe Leblanc
Ren felt like his eyes might glaze over, staring at the chess board in front of him, as if trying to pull some secret meaning from the pieces, some sort of strategy that might make itself clear to him.
"White moves first," Akechi said, sounding on the verge of impatient.
"Right," Ren said, "yeah, I know, just...been a long time since I've played."
"I was almost worried you had no experience," the young man noted, with no shortage of condescension in his tone. "You do know the rules, don't you? I could tell you what all the pieces do, if you wished."
Ren chuckled. "No thanks, I'm not twelve." With a little thoughtful hum, he reached over and picked up the second-to-rightmost pawn, shifting it two spaces forward.
Akechi smirked. "Ah, the grob attack, is it?" At Ren's blank stare, he elaborated. "You're attempting to open up a space for your bishop to enter the fray. And not only any bishop, but the more deadly of the two, the one that can naturally put me in check should my king remain motionless. It's quite a controlling move, and an aggressive one." Akechi smirked. "But many would call it a novice trap." He plucked the pawn in front of his queen, and moved it two spaces forward. "One that thinks only of your own strategy, and has no consideration for your opponent's."
"And what would they say about your move, then?" Ren replied, looking intently at the board again.
"A natural response," Akechi said, and did not elaborate.
"Hm," Ren said. "Your right bishop can move now too." Maybe he was planning to chase Ren's across the board. Or, merely threatening if Ren got too cocky. His fingers hovered over his right bishop, but he moved them over to the pawn in front of his king and moved it a single space forward.
"I see," Akechi mumbled. "If I take your pawn, you'll take my bishop. Shifting to a defensive play the moment you're called out...you're more spineless than I thought, Second-Year." He hummed for a moment, thinking through his next move. "I suppose I might as well limit your options." He lifted his left knight, placing it within leaping distance of both Ren's advance pawn and his own. "There."
Ren couldn't help but chuckle. "What was that about a defensive play?" He picked up his right bishop and shifted it all the way over to the other side of the board, one space from the wall. "Check."
Ren would have expected Akechi's surprise, or his anger, but Akechi merely sighed. "And yet again, all it takes is a goad, and you've wasted a play. You continue to disappoint me." With that, he moved one of his pawns a single space forward, both blocking and threatening Ren's bishop.
Ren raised an eyebrow, shifting his bishop back into the wall, remaining on the same diagonal line as Akechi's king. "How is it wasted? Now I've got your king on lockdown."
"You're welcome to think so," he replied. Akechi took the second-to-right pawn and moved it up two spaces, once again threatening Ren's bishop.
Ah. Yeah, that would do it. Ren reached over to take the bishop once more, but paused. "Wait, no." And he grabbed his active pawn, moving it one space forward, threatening Akechi's knight. "There. One for one, if you think that's worth it."
And that brought a smile to Akechi's lips. Not quite the same as the smirk he'd had before. This one seemed a little more honest. "Clever. I like the way you think." With that, he slid his right bishop over to where Ren's pawn had been, threatening Ren's queen, backed up by his knight. "One for one, was it? I'll let you pick."
Take his knight, lose his own queen. Take his bishop, lose his own queen. And the second he stopped threatening Akechi's pieces, he'd lose his bishop. "Ouch," he mumbled.
Akechi chuckled. "You're welcome to surrender, if this is all too stressful for you."
Ren broke into a grin. "You kidding? It's just getting good." He moved a pawn forward one space, protecting his queen and threatening Akechi's bishop.
Akechi seemed a little taken aback by that. He paused, carefully considering his next move, then he moved his bishop back against the wall, out of danger. A trade still on the table.
Hm. Ren didn't like the idea of trading, but it wasn't looking like his bishop was long for this world no matter what. So, he might as well be a little bold with it. He took his bishop, moving it off the wall and then taking one of Akechi's pawns.
Akechi had...an odd, physical reaction to that. Almost repulsion, or shock. He blinked, and looked up at Ren, and then down at the board. Without a word, he moved his active knight out of danger, shifting it over in front of his queen.
Ren could take the remaining pawn now threatening his bishop, but that was guarded by a knight. So he backed his bishop to the wall once again.
Still silent, Akechi moved his leftmost pawn forward a space.
"Can't help but notice," Ren said, moving his now threatened pawn forward a space – still threatened, but now by a pawn that would expose Akechi's king if moved, "that you haven't taken a single one of my pieces yet."
Akechi immediately moved his bishop backwards, taking Ren's pawn. "Haven't I?" he said, dryly.
"And what was that about falling to goads, exactly?" Ren asked, moving one of his pawns forward to prevent Akechi's bishop from safely threatening his queen again.
Akechi didn't answer, merely moving his leftmost pawn another space forward.
There weren't any clear moves, nor threats to account for. Rather than attack again, Ren moved his left knight out, insurance in case his bishop against the wall was threatened again.
Wordless, Akechi moved his bishop a single space, blocking but neither threatened nor threatened by Ren's farthest pawn.
Ren paused. What was his plan? Maybe something with his rook? This was a lot of moves just for that, and only Ren's knight was exposed from the front. He moved his rightmost pawn forward a single space.
Akechi, sure enough, advanced his left rook two spaces.
"Are you silent because you're angry," Ren asked, curiosity getting the better of him, "or are you just that focused?" He moved his second-to-leftmost pawn forward a space. Maybe he could sneak his left bishop in while Akechi was focused on his rook.
"You'll see." There was no emotion in his voice. Akechi slid his rook over to position it in on the same vertical line as Ren's king.
Hm. He was definitely up to something. Some sort of future blitz on Ren's king with his inactive bishop? Might as well force his hand. Ren took Akechi's pawn with his active knight.
Akechi responded immediately, taking Ren's knight with a pawn.
Bingo. Now there was only a knight standing between Ren's bishop and Akechi's king. He slid his other bishop to the same wall, both next to each other, locking off two lanes. Now, he was free to slowly advance his pawns, and start whittling down his foe's defenses.
And Akechi burst out laughing. Ren started, staring at the young man, lost to whatever humor he'd found. Akechi moved his middle pawn forward a single space. "The game is over now. A valiant effort, but you should concede now if you value your dignity."
Ren blinked. "You don't even have me in check. I've still got plenty of moves left."
"You're more than welcome to extend this game, if you wish," Akechi said. He leaned back, stretching out in the booth, cracking his neck. "But you've lost. You had four moves with which to block me, and you failed to do so." He reached over, tapping his queen, active rook, active bishop, and the pawn he'd just moved, in turn. "You now have no way of blocking these four. One of them, certainly, and perhaps even two, but not all four. And they will put you in checkmate."
Ren stared at the board. That couldn't be right. He could still...no, that wouldn't...what if...huh. "Looks like it," he said. "Good game." He slowly, carefully, lowered his own king onto the board.
"Yes," Akechi said. He took a deep breath in, and out. Something odd, distant in his expression.
Ren started gathering up the pieces, arranging them back in their proper spots on the board.
"Well," he said, "I suppose..." And he trailed off. "What, exactly, are you doing?"
Ren glanced up at the boy's perplexed expression. "I'm setting up for another game? I mean, I guess I should have asked first." He put down the pieces he was still holding and addressed Akechi directly. "Rematch?"
Akechi just stared at him, for a long few seconds. Then, he smiled, sort of surprised and yet honest. "Very well. Let's see if you can do any better this time."
