CONTENT WARNING: The final section of this chapter contains multiple references to sexual assault, attempted suicide and abuse. If any of this content would be upsetting for you to read, please stop reading at the section "6/28 – Tuesday, Evening, Mementos."


6/27 – Monday
After School
Aoyama-Inchome, Subway

Ryuji was quiet, hand on his chin as he considered his response. Both Ren and Mishima were on the edge of their respective seats, waiting for the jock's answer. Finally, Ryuji decided: "Part Four."

Mishima snorted. "Four!? Come on Sakamoto, that's a normie answer."

"Three is the normie answer," Ren corrected. "Just because Four is still airing doesn't mean it's the most popular one."

"And here I was gonna say Three," Ryuji mumbled, slumped over in exaggerated dejection. "Fine, fine, Mishima, which one's your favorite?"

"Part Six," he replied. He patted out a rhythm on his lap as he talked, eyes sort of wandering out the window. "It's just got a real, you know, real feel to it."

Ryuji scratched his head. "How many parts is it up to again?"

"Eight," Mishima said. Then, he glanced towards Ren. "How about you? Got a particular favorite part?"

Ren shrugged. "I've only watched Three." And, before either of them had a chance to reply, "and I haven't read any of them yet. School's kept me a little too busy for manga." He hadn't meant it to be particularly aimed, but Ryuji immediately looked super sheepish.

Mishima snickered. "Normie with a capital-N then."

Ren's phone buzzed in his pocket, and he fished it out while flipping Mishima the bird. "Sue me," he fired back. Then he scooted a little farther along his seat, so Mishima and Ryuji could continue debating while he answered his phone. "Ren here."

"Hello Ren," came Yusuke's polite voice on the other end. "This isn't a bad time, is it?"

"Hey Yusuke," he said. "Not at all. Just on the train, so there might be a bit of background noise." He lowered his voice slightly to make sure no one else could overhear. "Ryuji, Mishima and I are following up a potential lead. Might be another Palace, not sure. I'll keep you all updated."

A little chuckle. "Kaneshiro still hasn't confessed, and you're already searching for the Phantom Thieves' next target? Is there no limit to your diligence?"

"None," Ren replied, smirking. "So, what's up?"

Yusuke said nothing for a few moments, nothing but a thoughtful hum on the other end. "I have been at a loss," he began, "with how to proceed on our search for my mother's lover."

"Right," Ren said.

"But earlier today, I think I may have stumbled across some sort of epiphany. A teacher of mine prompted my class with a particular trick question meant to dissuade us from drawing too great a meaning from..." He trailed off, and laughed. "Well, rambling aside, I found myself struck with a potential realization. We have no evidence that my mother ever intended to name her painting 'Sayuri' in the first place."

Ren blinked. He understood what Yusuke was saying, but the implication was struggling to sink in. "Wait, so if 'Sayuri' wasn't a name your mom came up with..."

"It's possible," Yusuke continued, "that name may be yet another aspect that Madarame invented."

And beyond that... "And that your other mom's name wasn't Sayuri at all."

"Indeed," he said. And there was silence between them. "I have no idea yet where that leads us, but I will think on that."

"Right, okay." Ren twisted a lock of hair between his fingers. "Fuuka said she couldn't find much about your mom's associates, or friends or whatever. But I could ask her to take a look again with that in mind."

"I think," Yusuke said, "that I do not wish to trouble your hacker friend further with this search. I'm sure she has much more important things to do." Ren was about to protest that, but Yusuke continued. "And I feel, even as this search has expanded, that I have an idea of where to start."

Ren waited a moment before replying. "Are you going to tell me what that idea is?"

"Hm," Yusuke said, and Ren could hear a quiet chuckle in the sound, "no. I do believe I will ask for help if it is needed, but I will otherwise simply inform you once my search yields results."

"You're that confident, huh?" Ren leaned back against the seat, glancing over at Ryuji and Mishima, the latter of which currently had the former in a headlock.

"Not in the slightest." A quiet shuffling on the other end. "But I can't afford to give up. I'm a Phantom Thief, after all."

"That you are, Yusuke." Ren let out a long, content breath. "That you are."


"So uh," Ren said, staring back at the front door that had just been slammed in his face, with its gaudy neon sign: MAID FOR MASTER, "did either of you happen to have a backup plan?"

Mishima shook his head. "The rumors all said you could just walk on in. And that was from Shujin students, so it's not like they were adults."

Ryuji nodded to the 'NO MINORS ALLOWED' sign. "Looks like they're stricter on us than on them," he said, "assuming they didn't have a fake ID or some shit."

"Is that it then?" Mishima asked, glancing from Ren to Ryuji and back again. "Is there anything else we can do?"

"How do you feel about being arrested?" Ren said.

"Pretty bad," Ryuji replied.

"Then we're sort of out of ideas." He twisted a lock of hair between his fingers. "I'm pretty confident about our cover story, but we still need to actually find a maid who might talk to us."

"Cover story?" Mishima said. "I mean, it's not really much of a cover story if we're just telling the truth." Right. Concerned Phantom Thief fans, trying to help the Thieves. They definitely weren't two Phantom Thieves and an oblivious third wheel.

Ren stifled the urge to smack himself in the face. "That's what I meant, yeah. Sorry."

Mishima just shrugged and stared at the building. "We could loiter a bit more?"

"I think that guard guy wants my head on his wall," Ryuji grumbled. "I'm not really eager to get the cops called on me for stalking or harassment or whatever."

"Yeah," Ren mumbled. "We've still got a couple hours, so let's hit up a cafe or something. We can hang out there and figure out–" And he stopped talking as a woman with poofy black pigtails, in a full maid costume, turned the corner, saw the trio, and stopped in her tracks. Mishima and Ryuji followed his gaze, and were similarly speechless.

"Uh," Ryuji said. "Hi? Miss? Could we like–?" And the woman promptly turned on her heel and started power walking down the street.

"Don't let her just leave!" Morgana said from inside his bag, rusting around in the insides in some attempt to spur Ren to action. It worked.

"Excuse me!" He half-jogged after the woman. "I'm really sorry, I just want to ask a few questions, I promise."

"I'm, like, a busy lady!" she nearly-shouted back in a very fake falsetto, no slower in her stride. "Buzz off, please!"

"Your boss has been cutting your pay, right?!" Mishima shouted out, a few steps behind Ren. "He probably keeps talking about how business is struggling but he drives in on a fancy expensive car or something."

The woman hesitated. Slowed just a bit. Ren similarly slowed his pace to match. "Please," he said. "We're trying to help out the Phantom Thieves. Find corrupt people and make requests for those who can't do it themselves. All we want is a few answers."

The woman, finally, stopped. Her shoulders drooped, and she let out a long, maybe frustrated, maybe defeated, sigh. "If I tell you," she said, in that same falsetto, "will you go away?"

"Yes ma'am," Ryuji said, a little out of breath, hobbling just a bit as he reached the other two boys. "We're not going to ask your name even, and no one will know you talked to us. Promise."

She seemed to contemplate that. Then, slowly, she turned back around and jerked her head to the side, towards a small shadowed alley. The quartet had ended up farther down the street, into a slightly more populated area of Shibuya. "Come on," she said, falsetto dropping for just an instant, before she cleared her throat. "Like, let's talk."

Ren glanced towards Mishima and Ryuji, who looked more than a little nervous. "I'll talk with her," he said. "You guys can like, stay guard?"

They glanced at each other and exchanged a small nod.

"Sure," Ryuji said. "Uh. Stay safe?"

"Always," Ren fired back. Then, he followed the maid woman into the alley.

It was mostly dark, and shallow. Ren and the woman were less than ten feet from the sidewalk, facing each other on either side of the alley. She stared at him, almost sizing him up, then simply gestured him to continue.

"There's been some really nasty rumors about 'Maid for Master' going around," Ren began. "We asked a friend to do a bit of research, and we found some evidence that the owner's been skimping money from the maids who work there, and paying them crap." He shrugged. "It's probably about as bad at other businesses, but–"

"That's all true," she said, rather out of nowhere, her voice free of falsetto. Ren almost flinched at her sudden, blunt response. The woman sort of turned her head a little, staring off at one of the nearby buildings. "Phantom Thieves need a name or something, right? It's Hiruma Toshiyaki. He pays us peanuts, says we should work better for tips, but steals those tips as punishment for mistakes, or being unlucky enough to get put on his arbitrary shit list. He's a tyrant and a bastard." She glared at Ren. "There. That enough of a confession for you?"

"Uh," he said, almost terrified of bringing it up. "There's...another rumor. About a second company, and maids getting funneled into–" The woman flinched like she'd been struck, and Ren stopped talking immediately. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to..." He had to force himself to breathe steady.

"Yeah," she replied. The woman leaned back against the near building, and let out a long, miserable chuckle. "Hit the nail on the head there. When you can't earn enough, you'll start getting job offers on the side. Toshiyaki, or one of his friends, or some random guy. Half a million yen, maybe. Give or take a couple thousand. It's all legal, since everyone technically consents." She shuddered. "Technically is the operative word."

Ren was silent for a long few seconds. "If you don't mind me asking," he said, quietly, carefully, "why do you stay?" He believed her. And he could believe that she would stay. But he...he needed to know. Maybe curiosity, or some desperation for insight.

The woman didn't answer for a moment. She pushed off the wall, a shadow across her face obscuring her expression. "I'll leave that to you to figure out," she said, "Mister Amamiya." And with that, she turned and walked back towards the street.

Ren didn't move. She knew his name. And now, brain tripped back into motion from that shock, he immediately realized her voice had been so utterly familiar to him. Something. Something something he was missing. Oxymoron? No, not even close, thank god. But he was almost positive he knew her from somewhere. He just couldn't figure out where, exactly.

"Have you met her before?" Morgana asked, sounding as confused as Ren felt.

"Not that I remember," Ren said, glancing over just in time to see the woman slip back around the corner. "But she sure remembers me."


6/27 – Monday
Evening
Velvet Room, Lockdown

Caroline was stronger than him. And stronger by a frankly unreasonably margin. She was almost more vindictive than careful, she would attack Arsene twice as hard as any of Ren's other Personas. It could have been a defense response, but it seemed each time more like a furious denial than a desperate strike.

So, no Arsene. Not until he was ready to lose, or win. The longer he went before summoning him, the more erratic and irate Caroline got. It was almost as if beating him at his 'strongest' was cathartic for her.

Ordinarily, he wouldn't mind that much. But the constant losses were starting to weigh on Ren's pride. So, might as well deliver his one and only malformed shard of humility.

Ren slipped his silver knife back into its sheath, and Caroline raised an eyebrow.

"What," she jabbed, "are you giving up or something, Inmate?"

"Not on your life," he fired back with a little smirk. "But it's not like you're going to let me attack you like that. It's Persona to Persona, right?" She was strong, yeah. But he was reliably quicker. That didn't count for much, he couldn't knock her out in just an ordinary showdown, even if he could beat her on the draw. Caroline was far too resilient for that. But there was one quality of hers that he had yet to test...

Caroline's eyes narrowed. She was silent, for a moment, then her hand flew to her eyepatch, Ren matching her movement. "Agathion!"

...her stamina. "High Pixie!" he invoked.

A spark. A voltage flicker, shooting through the air, right towards Ren. He heard the deafening hum of impending destruction. And then, came the gale. Not nearly as powerful, but it didn't need to be. It was strong enough, sweeping divine thunder into mere static. He felt his hair standing on end, but beyond that, he was unharmed.

Caroline's eyepatch reformed, and she stared at him. Surprised, maybe. Then, the girl flinched back to anger, growling out another command. "Onmokori!"

Ren didn't dare blink. "Shiki-Ouji!"

Warbling starlight, an azure supernova in the air between them. Expanding, screeching, and then twisting in on itself. Ren felt the strain on his Persona, gritting his teeth. His fingertips tingled, warm, itching and aching, as if it were him holding that exploding star in place. And then, both he and Shiki-Ouji pushed. As hard as they possibly could. That blue oval wailed, warped, and compressed. A watermelon into a baseball into a marble into nothing.

The girl stumbled backwards. She was breathing hard now, her expression no longer furious but no less determined. "Jack Frost!"

"Orthus." He was more adrenaline than blood. All focus drawn into a single line, his vision locked. He couldn't back down. He wouldn't dare.

Frost shot across the ground, quicker than Ren could possibly react. But it did not reach him. Flame erupted around Caroline, and her ice melted into nothing. She stumbled, wrapped in fire, no doubt struggling to adjust from offense to defense. After what must have been an agonizingly slow few seconds, she swept her arm to the side, extinguishing the pillar. Ren could feel the warm air wash over him like a wave from here.

Caroline didn't move. Strained, and still, staring at the ground. Her eyepatch reformed beneath her hand, and she let her arm fall. Limp by her side. She said something, too faint to hear. And then she raised her gaze towards Ren, and his heart held itself. She was crying. A single stream of tears down the left side of her face. And she repeated herself, this time loud enough for the whole world to hear. "One more," she said, swallowing what must have been a sob. "Come on Trickster, give me one more!" Her eyepatch shattered. Her hand by her side, nothing to obscure it. Ren, for the first time, saw what was beneath.

Her shut eyelid covered with scar tissue, pale white lines that at a glance, resembled the wing of a butterfly. But 'scar' was not the word that shot through every neuron. It was 'brand.'

Hurt her no further, said his aching heart.

Show her what you're made of, said the dark spot sewn across his soul.

Don't break your promise, said the voice that he could not recognize.

And Ren grit his teeth. "Arsene Dusk."

Maybe, she smiled. "Shiisa!"

Oblivion darkened the sun that dawned between them. Ren closed his eyes. He could still see it. Black and white, clashing and spiraling. Night and day. The half-butterfly wing burned into his mind. Those tears in her eye.

"Ardha." An odd ripple. Like wind across the surface of a lake. And then it exploded.

The shockwave ripped both dawn and eve apart, sending Ren stumbling backwards, eyes flying open, struggling to stay on his feet.

She was standing in front of him. Or was she kneeling? No, it wasn't her. He uncrossed his eyes and one became two.

Justine was directly between Ren and her sister, he wasn't sure which of them she was defending from the other. Most likely, she was defending them both. Caroline was slumped, sitting on her legs, her eyepatch still gone, just sort of staring off at nothing. Her expression strained. Like she was trying to piece together some melody from cacophony.

"The fight is over," Justine said, as steady as she had ever been. "The Inmate is the victor."

Ren's mask formed across his face again, and Caroline's eyepatch similarly manifested.

He was exhausted. Like he'd just run an entire marathon, his mouth was dry and his whole body ached and something in his chest was straining against his ribcage. "Caroline," he said, his voice sounding so unlike his own in his ears, "are you alright? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you."

Caroline moved slowly, sort of oddly. She raised her arm, up and down and up again, and then let it fall. "I'm fine," she said, almost like she was confused to be as such. "I'm not hurt at all."

"I," Justine said, in a firm voice, "stepped in. To ensure neither of you would kill each other."

Caroline stared at her, confused. "Lockdown would bring us back."

Justine didn't answer, but there was something stiff in her posture. Like the mere concept unnerved, or upset her.

"I'm glad you're okay," Ren said, quietly. He almost wanted to collapse there on the spot, but... "Ardha. I've never heard of that Persona before. You said you two get power from me, but then how can you use a Persona that I can't?"

Justine turned towards him, a faint smile on her face. "You haven't yet earned the answer to that question, Inmate." And she turned back towards Caroline, though still addressing Ren. "You've only beaten one of us, after all."


6/28 – Tuesday
After School
Shujin Academy

Ren and Makoto walked silently together for a short while, out the front entrance, down the steps and then towards the train station. Ren pulled out his phone and double checked the time. "We've still got a couple hours before we're all supposed to meet," he said. "Any plans till then?"

"None," Makoto replied. Then she glanced towards him. "You?"

"Ditto." Ren pocketed his phone again.

Morgana wriggled his way out of his bag, putting his paws up on Ren's shoulder. "We should hang out then!"

Makoto smiled, reaching out to pet Morgana's head. "Sounds like a plan." She hesitated, and Ren had to slow his pace to match her. "Ren, Morgana, sorry, can I ask you two something?"

"Mhm," Morgana said. He sounded a little concerned, leaning into Makoto's hand.

"Anytime," Ren added.

"Kaneshiro has gone all but radio silent," she began, retracting her hand from Morgana's head and running it through her hair. "He'd been texting me reminders almost daily up until we sent the calling card, but after that, I've heard nothing." She let out a shallow breath. "I've been too frightened to reach out to Eiko, or any of the other students he's blackmailed, but she seems...more relaxed, maybe?" Makoto shrugged. "So far as what you've all explained to me, and judging by how relaxed the five of you are, I've assumed that none of this is out of the ordinary for the target of a change of heart." She glanced towards Ren with an odd, sheepish smile. "Am I wrong to assume that?"

"Not at all," he replied. "All of that sounds pretty in line with what happened to Kamoshida and Madarame. "

She nodded. "Alright. Should I..." Makoto seemed lost for words. "Is there anything further that needs to be done?"

Ren almost said no immediately, but he hesitated. Makoto seemed more impatient than unsure. "Talk to Eiko," he concluded. "I mean, you've been worried about her, so it's probably a good idea to check in. I don't think she'll have any more insight than you, but it's possible. And either way, I think you've got some stuff to talk to her about, right?"

Makoto smiled, just a little. "Yes," she said, "I think I do. Okay, I'll reach out. Thank you."

"Of course!" Morgana chirped, and Ren stifled the urge to tease him about his lack of contribution.

"Hm," Makoto said, glancing up at the cloudy sky. "What exactly do the Thieves do, when you all have downtime like this? How do you make the waiting bearable?"

"Well," Ren replied, twisting a lock of hair between two fingers, "we train in Mementos, hang out, search for more targets. We'll probably throw you a welcome party after Kaneshiro confesses. And, uh, most of the time we end up dealing with Oxymoron's latest bullshit. So get ready for that, I guess."

Makoto burst out laughing. "Well, at least that's something to look forward to."

"The party or the bullshit?" Ren asked, smirking.

Rather than answer, Makoto just reached over and lightly punched Ren in the shoulder.


6/28 – Tuesday
Evening
Mementos

Skull stretched both hands over his head, yawning. "How long have we been sitting here?" The Thieves were in a loose semicircle in Mementos' entrance, a messy pile of opened snacks and drinks on the floor between them.

Fox rubbed his chin in thought, glancing up from his sketchbook. "Time moves differently in Mementos. It feels like it's been quite a while."

"Sorry," Ren said, cross-legged on the tile floor with his notebook in his lap. "We can head out real soon, but I'd like to finish up this play if that's alright?" A chorus of nods.

Mona, lying on his belly, kicked his legs a little as he thought. "Queen, how good is Johanna on defense? If you can soak up a lot of the damage, you should probably be in front of Fox and Skull."

Queen, leaning against the wall, near the door, nodded. "If we're hunkering down, I can just park Johanna at the front and keep her braced there."

"And I'm at the left corner behind everyone else," Panther added, reached over to scritch behind Mona's ears. "Doesn't that make it sort of lopsided?"

"I can take the other corner," Ren said, taking furious notes the whole time, "I mean I could probably be anywhere, but another caster flanking with Panther sounds crazy deadly."

Mona craned up to rub his head into Panther's hand. "That leaves," he cut himself off with a low purr, "leaves me in the middle. So I can heal Queen, and just make sure nothing goes bad."

"We're going to be a proper pyramid then," Queen noted, amused. "One, two and three."

Ren tapped his pencil against the notebook page a few times. "That looks pretty solid. We should probably test it out to check for flaws, but I don't see any issues." Then he hesitated. "If there's a seventh–"

Panther, Skull and Mona groaned in unison.

"You don't need to keep asking that after every plan!" Panther chastised.

"We shouldn't use any of these plays with someone who isn't filled in all the way," Mona added.

"And," Skull said, "it's not like we've got a seventh Thief in the wings right now anyway. We'll figure it out when we get there."

Ren glanced back down at the playbook, and silently wrote 'tail of the arrow?' at the very bottom of the page. Then, he closed the book and slipped it into his bag. "Okay, okay." Ren scooted forward and started to separate trash wrappers from the unfinished snacks, and Panther immediately scrambled over to join the effort. "We've only got three targets today. I think we should take our time and practice a few of the new plays on weaker Shadows."

"Bout damn time!" Skull leapt to his feet, and then immediately winced, his leg almost buckling. "Oh crap, cramp, crap cramp."

Fox chuckled, and stowed his sketchbook in his bag, standing to help support Skull. "There there, my friend," he said. "Lean on me if you wish."

Queen pushed off the wall, crouching down to grab a few nearby drinks. "Who was drinking the cola?" Skull raised a hand, and Queen tossed him the bottle.

Mona rolled onto his back, and then rolled up to standing. He brushed a few crumbs off his fur with a little growl. "You guys are such messy eaters."

Panther snickered. "Sorry Mona," she said. "That's probably on me."

The last of their mess taken care of, Ren stood up, stretching each of his arms in turn. "Alright then. Let's head out."


"Maybe," Queen called out, strained as she braced against Johanna, "this play doesn't exactly work well against coordinated enemies!" Yet another bolt of ice struck the side of her Persona, and Queen grimaced, managing to stay stationary.

"I'll keep that in mind!" Ren placed one hand on his mask, leaning out from behind Skull, Arsene's name on his lips, but he quickly dodged back to safety as lightning streaked through the air towards his head. Three Shadows in front of them, each one humanoid with thin fluttering wings. Two women in green dresses, each channeling spheres of frost, flanking a crowned man man in a poofy red top with a long sword and voltaic tendencies – Toshiyaki's Shadow. "I don't want Skull and Fox to risk dropping their defense," he said, brain whirring at nothing, "but we need to return fire. I'd welcome any suggestions!"

Mona let out a resonant growl. "I'm sick of just waiting around!" Before anyone could react, the not-a-cat dropped his sword and scrambled up Skull – who squawked in a very undignified way – and then leapt off the jock's shoulder into the air. He pointed both paws forward. "Go, Zorro!"

Wind swept through the Thieves, but rather than striking their foes from the front, Ren watched the chartreuse gale split in two. The two green-dressed fae screeched as they were thrown bodily into Toshiyaki's Shadow. Ice and lightning discharged harmlessly into the nearby walls, and the three faeries floated in midair, stunned.

Opportunity shot through Ren's veins. "Phantoms! All-out!"

The pyramid split, Fox and Panther going left as Ren and Skull scrambled right. Four hands reached for four masks.

"Let's go, Captain!"

"Goemon, strike!"

"Dance, Carmen!"

Two simultaneous blows shattered both faerie assistants, and a spiral of flame wrapped around Toshiyaki's Shadow

"Ravage him, Shiki-Ouji!"

Reality bent around the fae. Like a sphere confining him, Carmen's flame spinning and writhing across its edges. Ren held him there, held the sphere in place, until the Shadow's frantic struggling ceased. Then, he let it go, and the flame extinguished itself in an instant.

Toshiyaki's Shadow dropped to the ground, his body letting off smoke. For a moment, he was yet monstrous, and then that visage melted away. All that remained was an old man in a business suit, breathing heavy, staring at the Thieves with a mortified expression. "You, you," he stuttered, "you can't do this to me! I'm important, I'm–"

"You're through," Mona declared, picking his sword back up and pointing it at the Shadow.

Queen dismissed Johanna, and cracked her knuckles, though her breathing was somewhat shallow. "Your business is built on the backs of those you have exploited. It's far past time you pay them back for all those funds you skimmed off the top."

Ren opened his mouth to speak, but Panther's cold voice cut the words from his tongue. "Tell the truth." Of the Thieves, only her mask had not reformed, Carmen still hovering in the air behind her. Panther's hands sparked, and she raised one arm slowly towards the Shadow. A fireball leapt to her palm, swirling flame pointed right towards the man. "How many of them did you abuse? How many women did you...did you take advantage of? How many times did you abuse your power over them?!" Toshiyaki's Shadow was silent, stunned, terrified. "Answer me!" Panther snarled. She swept her arm out and the fireball slammed into the wall, inches from his head.

"I don't know!" Toshiyaki yelped, cowering, almost curled into a ball. "I-I paid them well–" Another bolt of flame struck the wall next to him, and he screamed. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I knew it was wrong, I knew it, I just..." The Shadow let out a shuddering laugh. "There's no excuse for what I did, is there? I assaulted them, and I let my friends assault them, for money." He slowly uncurled, staring at Panther with fearful eyes. "I know I deserve to die for–"

"Shut up." Panther's whole body was tense, her mouth drawn into a firm line. "Stop...fucking talking." Her hand, still pointing towards the Shadow, shook. Sparks danced across her fingers.

None of the Thieves moved. They wouldn't dare. But Ren took a step forward, placed a hand on Panther's shoulder.

"If he has a mental shutdown," Panther said. "Then it shouldn't matter, should it? He deserves that. And we wouldn't–"

"Ann," Ren said. Panther stopped talking. "Whatever you're doing, it's not for us." And he squeezed her shoulder. "It's for you. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't." He glanced towards the pathetic coward, Toshiyaki's Shadow in fearful silence. "If you kill him, we'll dig the grave." He took a deep breath. "What happened to you was...fucking disgusting. However you pay him back for that, however you pay back the world, that's your choice. And I'll be by your side, no matter what."

Panther closed her eyes. Shallow breath, shaking arm. Then, she shrugged off Ren's hand. Panther whirled, sweeping her arm out to the side, letting out a scream that tore through Ren's chest. And an explosion rocked the far wall, blue fire billowing out with an intensity that sent Ren stumbling backwards. Panther almost slumped, shuddering, breathing hard. "Toshiyaki," she said, and the Shadow whimpered out an unresponse. "Repent. For everything you've done. And if you don't properly confess to every single sin, if you don't properly pay back everyone you fucked over?" She turned, tears streaking down her cheeks, blue fire shrieking behind her eyes. "Then I'll kill you with my bare hands."


The Monamobile was larger on the inside than it had been during their first few outings into Mementos. Two rows of seats was far too cramped for five Thieves, so the feline had expanded it into a near-limo, with a U-shaped trio of seats in the back of the car-or-bus. Queen driving, Fox in the passenger seat, Skull on the left side seats, Ren on the right, and Panther on the back seats. She held herself, her mask loose on her forehead, staring at the Monamobile's soft floor.

Ren scooted a little towards her. "I'm here for you," he offered.

"Yeah," she said.

Silence. Skull, almost nervously, slid a little farther towards the front of the car, as if trying to give the two some privacy.

"Why did you say that," Panther said, finally, "back there? I was..." She shuddered. "I was out of control. You know that, right?"

Ren nodded.

"Then why didn't you just stop me?" she asked. "I was gonna kill him, for fuck's sake, why didn't you stop me?"

It took a while for him to find the words. "Because it's not my pain. You're my friend, I care a lot about you, but it's not my place to tell you how to hurt." He had to take a breath, swallow the knot in his throat. "I almost died in prison Ann. That's not an exaggeration, I..." Ren hesitated. Fuck, this was mortifying. But it was right. It was the right time.. He scooted onto the back seats, next to Ann. Another breath, and Ren slowly slipped the glove off his left hand, and pulled up the sleeve.

She stared at him, at his arm, at his wrist, and at his scar. Silent. Stunned. Like she had no idea what to say.

Ren put his glove back on, and held his hands in his lap. "I lost a year of my life because of him. My parents abandoned me, my doctor stopped treating me, and I tried to...yeah." Ren took a long, deep breath "If we ever find the guy who had me arrested, I might lose control too. I might try to kill him. And I don't know that if I could stop myself. I don't know if any of you could stop me." He reached up, twisting a lock of hair between gloved fingers. "I trust you, Ann, implicitly. You didn't need me to stop you, cause even out of control, you're still you. Whatever choice you make, I'm not abandoning you. And I know none of the other Thieves would either."

Panther didn't say a word, for a while. "Ride or die, huh?" she finally muttered.

Ren smiled, a little. "Guess so."

Panther leaned over, resting her head on Ren's shoulder. She sighed, long and full and tense. "You're a better friend than I deserve, Ren."

"Bull," he said. "I'm as good a friend as you deserve. I mean, you probably deserve better. But you've got me."

She snickered. "Okay, okay," she mumbled. "Guess I'll make do." Panther was quiet, for a little while. "Honestly, if you were a girl, I'd probably want to kiss you." He could hear the smirk in her voice. "Guess I get what Ryuji sees in you."

Ren felt his face heat up, and he quickly stared at the ceiling rather than towards Ryuji on the far side of the Monamobile. "Lucky I'm a guy I guess," he replied. "Otherwise Shiho might get jealous." An instant of silence, and then Panther reached up and flicked his nose. "Ow!"

Panther burst out into quiet laughter. "That's what you get!" She giggled, then they were silent for a while. "You know what next week is, right?"

Ren let out a long breath. "I've been trying not to think about it."

"You should probably start thinking soon. You're still planning on telling him then, yeah?"

Ren nodded.

"Well, if your big ol' brain gets fried thinking about your crush," she teased, "then you've got my number. Happy to help however I can."

"Yeah," he laughed. "Same to you, if you want to plan out your own confession."

She giggled, sort of high and nervous. "Good to know, but that's not happening anytime soon." Panther hesitated. "Ren, thank you." She laughed softly, and there was almost a sob in it. "I don't think I could have stood against Kamoshida without you. And you just keep helping me, and carrying my slack, and everything." She reached up and wiped her eyes. "I'm really lucky to have you in my life. And I think I wanna be your friend forever."

Ren took a deep breath, swallowing his own rising emotions, reaching over to hold Panther in an awkward one-arm embrace. He couldn't find the words to say what he wanted to, not without bursting into tears probably, but he hoped she could feel what he meant regardless. He glanced towards the front of the Monamobile and caught Skull just sort of gazing at the two of them, a soft smile on his face and his eyes glittering with what must have been tears. Quiet. Like nothing needed to be said anymore.