9/5 – Sunday
Afternoon
Cafe Leblanc, Attic
Your Favorite Sister
Kasumi's ready!
We're heading over in just a sec.
Funny Jokes
Thumbs up
Wait
Futaba did you change my contact names
When did you even do that
What the fuck
Your Favorite Sister
Mwehehehehehehehe
"I'm a little surprised Futaba is the last one over," Yusuke noted from his perch, sitting on the table in front of the television. "She lives so close by, after all."
"Maybe she's recovering from yesterday?" Ann offered, leaning back into the couch.
"That would make sense." Makoto sent a little smirk towards Ren from her spot next to Ann. "Considering she had to navigate for two of our rowdiest Thieves on her own."
"Hey!" Morgana fired back, the ruff around his neck poofing up. "I'm not rowdy! I'm a very well-behaved gentleman."
"Yeah, don't be bullying Mona, come on," Ryuji added. He scooted a little closer to Ren on the bed, reaching over him to ruffle Morgana's fur. "The guy's a national treasure."
"Sorry," Makoto laughed.
Ren forced his focus away from his phone and the itching urge to double-check what other pranks Futaba might have installed. "And Futaba's doing fine. She'll be here in a bit." He took a break. "Okay. Big news to share, but it's good news."
"We're not waiting for Taba?" Ryuji asked, his head quirked.
"She was there when it happened." Where was he supposed to start with this? "Okay, so, yesterday. When Morgana, Futaba and I went into Mementos, someone else ended up getting dragged in after us."
The unaware quartet flinched in unison, eyes wide.
"She's okay," Ren assured. "We kept her safe, and I trusted her enough to tell her about Thief stuff." He gave a skewed smile. "Sorry, I didn't have the opportunity to run that by all of you at the time. Sort of got caught up in the moment, and we were already in Mementos before we realized. We took her along with us, and...she ended up awakening to a Persona."
Yusuke let out a low whistle. "That's quite the surprise. And so soon after Futaba's own awakening."
"You didn't send her back out?" Makoto asked. Her question was honest enough, but her eyes narrowed as she asked it, like she was an instant away from picking apart his answer. "Even if you protected her, whoever she is, that was still really reckless."
"Considering the situation..." Ren began, but trailed off as the door downstairs chimed out an entrance. "Actually, I think it's best she explain it to you herself."
"Dude, you're being kinda cagy about this." Ryuji sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Like, I get it, but also I don't understand why you gotta–" And his words stopped as his mouth fell open, staring at the two girls who had just made it into the attic.
"May I present," Futaba announced, voice filled with manic flair, "brand new Persona-user and probably hopefully Thief-to-be, Kasumi Yoshizawa!" She gestured dramatically towards the shy freshman with both hands, fingers wiggling.
"Hi," Kasumi squeaked, waving to the Thieves, her posture reserved but a huge smile on her face.
"Kasumi!?" Ann found her voice, and shook her head, and stared at the girl. Then she whirled towards Ren. "When you said the situation–"
"We were going to change her parents' heart," Ren finished. "I didn't feel it was right to ask her to leave, and let us do that for her."
"I'd meant to ask yesterday," Yusuke said, nodding politely to Kasumi. "Ren mentioned her as a friend, and that was my first hearing of her, but you all seemed to react with recognition to the name. Would you mind filling me in on the context I'm missing here?"
"Kasumi is a freshman at Shujin, and a student gymnast." Makoto brushed her hair behind one ear, then addressed Kasumi directly with a little warm smile. "We haven't met before, but I've heard a lot about your scores, and the fact you've been outperforming upperclassmen from other schools. From all accounts, you're incredibly talented for your age."
"I've tr-tried really hard," Kasumi replied, a little bashful.
"Ren took me to one of her gym meet things," Ryuji added, "and she was crazy awesome. Never seen anyone move like that before." Then he started. "Oh, do you think shit like that can help in the Metaverse? Like moving all graceful to kill Shadows and stuff?"
"Definitely." Morgana sat back on his haunches. "I saw Lady Yoshizawa fight yesterday, she's a natural. Very unique, but effective. I bet you could learn a lot from her, Ryuji." It was a loaded statement, but something about the way the not-a-cat said it sounded almost honest.
Kasumi giggled. "I'd be happy to teach you, Ryuji. Or, try to, at least."
The jock's eyes lit up, and Ren could have sworn he was on the verge of tears. "For real?"
"Ren introduced me and her, and we've been texting pretty often." Ann grinned. "She's a really good person, really nice and polite and kind and stuff. I really think she'd fit in well here."
"With such glowing praise," Yusuke chuckled, "then I have no reason to object. I doubt we even need to hold it to a vote."
"Sounds about right." Ren nodded towards Kasumi. "Welcome to the Phantom Thieves."
Kasumi burst into frenetic, excited laughter, hands up, knocking her knuckles against each other. "Yay," she mumbled, grinning with her eyes.
Kasumi took a long sip from her water bottle, clearly rolling both liquid and thought around. "So," she said, "the f-future's not set in stone, right?"
"Uh," Ren said, "no, it's not. Otherwise there wouldn't be much point to this whole 'resetting time' stuff Oxymoron keeps pulling."
She nodded. "Okay. That's good, then. Whatever bad stuff happened before, or will happen...before..." Kasumi frowned, probably frustrated with the limitations of language. "All those other times, like with Anachr-Anachronism, it doesn't have to happen here. We can st-stop it."
Ren forced a smile. She wasn't wrong, per se. They didn't have to make the same mistakes, Anachronism said that himself. But, whatever it was they were facing, whatever awaited them that day...Ren couldn't help but be scared of it. The fear leaked through the memories, those recollections drenched in dread. He didn't know if they could–
"Can we stop it?" The Trickster watched Oxymoron as she worked, drawing sigils onto the azure-tinted prison floor in chalk, in that place between dream and reality. "That thing at the end of the year. Can we, or whatever future version of us, actually beat it?"
Oxymoron straightened up for a moment, still on her knees on the ground. "If you cannot, then I have doomed a hundred worlds to a death they did not deserve. And perhaps I doom a thousand more, before such time as I have no heart left to break, and no abhorrence left to attempt."
"Going through the motions," he finished. He sighed, working a finger under his mask to scratch an itch above his cheek.
"I have hope," the Witch said. Abrupt, and honest. Maybe she read his mind, or maybe she simply needed to say it herself. "You have no reason to believe me, but I do have hope. Hope that one day, one perfect year, you will succeed where all others have failed." She laughed, wry and bitter, and it echoed in this empty place. "I would do anything to hold onto that hope. I think, perhaps, one with naught but faith left to lose is more dangerous than one without–"
Ren shook off the memory, forcing his eyes to focus again. His head felt light, and his gut felt heavy, heart at a rabbit's pace in his chest.
"You're taking this all rather well," Makoto noted, blinking fast. "I'm not sure whether to be concerned or impressed."
"I hope impressed?" Kasumi offered, a little sheepishly. "I mean, it's not that much different from the M-Metaverse stuff that Miss Futaba explained to me." She giggled. "It sounded like a fairy tale already, so time travel is sorta...par for the course, I think."
"Wow," Futaba mumbled, grinning like a dork. "She really is like a real life princess."
Choosing not to tease his sister for her doe-eyes, Ren cleared his throat. "Then, do you have any more questions we can answer?"
"Hm." Kasumi glanced upwards, in quiet contemplation for a moment. "I guess I'd love to know more about how the Ph-Phantom Thieves got started, and how everyone here ended up joining?"
"Oh!" Ann flipped one ponytail over her shoulder. "Yeah, totally. You haven't heard the whole story, huh?"
"I saw the calling card you left for Kam-Kamoshida," Kasumi said, "and heard a lot of rumors. But otherwise, nope!"
"I don't believe Makoto knows any of our full stories either," Yusuke added. "She joined after our hot pot round-robin – and Futaba should have been witness to that, considering."
Futaba nodded out a quiet confirmation.
"Hot pot?" Makoto tilted her head. "But, uh, yes. I didn't want to make anyone feel uncomfortable, or like they had to tell–"
"Makoto," Ryuji said, firm and direct. "You're one of us, my dude, uh, girldude. You're a fuckin Phantom Thief, and it's not like I only trust these guys and not you." He sent a smile towards Kasumi as well. "Same to you, Kasumi! You're part of the team now, so I trust ya. I'm comfy telling you all about my heavy shit, when you're ready to hear it. No worries there."
"Oh," she said, a little surprised. "Um, thank you." Kasumi shyly fiddled her thumbs together against her water bottle.
"Our last two welcoming celebrations were really public," Ann added, "so what about for Kasumi, we do a smaller one with just us? We can share stories again, just hang out and chill."
"Another hot pot?" Yusuke offered, with hasty excitement.
"I get a little unc-uncomfortable about communal eating," Kasumi admitted. "And, when people mess with the stuff I'm about to eat." She bowed her head a little. "I'm sorry."
"Are you alright with eating in the same place as everyone, so long as we all get our own food?" Ren asked.
Kasumi seemed to consider that. "That should be fine," she said.
"You haven't tried Ren's curry before, have you!?" Futaba's volume was a little louder than she probably intended, brimming with excitement. "It's soooo good, you've gotta try it."
Kasumi shook her head. "I didn't know you cooked, Ren."
"Only sometimes," Ren said, trying not to let his bashfulness drown out his words. "It's sort of a special occasion thing, honestly–"
"What's the special occasion?" the Trickster's Sun asked. "Shit, wait, it's not our anniversary or something, is it?" He scrambled in his pocket for his phone.
"You started dating him on your birthday, you dork." His sister snickered, kicking her legs off the side of the counter-side stool. "How do I remember this better than you?"
His Sun grumbled something under his breath, then reached over to gently ruffle the girl's hair. "Aw, shuddit you little gremlin."
"A guy can't make curry for his three favorite people on a whim?" the Trickster asked. It hadn't been a good day. He'd woken up sleep-deprived, fatigued and lonely, in a room empty by circumstance. It almost felt right, to dwell on that emptiness, on that hurt. But at the same time, making his loved ones happy made him happy. And even if he deserved to be miserable, they didn't deserve to worry so much about him.
"Your spontaneity is always such a treat," his Moon said. She gazed at him over the counter, polite but warm, seeming to just enjoy watching the Trickster work. "And it helps that I enjoy your cooking so much, as well."
"Glad to hear it." And it was quiet, but wonderfully so–
Ren choked on the recollection, forcing himself to swallow his breath. No, stay focused. Come on. No one noticed, or no one said anything – and Morgana was silently staring at him and he must have known but he didn't say. Ren's eyes were blurring over and he squeezed them shut and open. Okay. He was okay.
"I did enjoy our curry meal together last time," Makoto admitted, chuckling. Then, she blinked, her expression falling away. "Wait." She pulled out her phone and swore under her breath. "It's the fifth today."
"Yeah?" Ryuji quirked his head. "What's that gotta do with anything?"
"The school trip is on the seventh," she said, simply. And the entire room erupted in a chorus of groans that seemed to take Makoto by surprise.
"I totally forgot about that," Ann said, running a hand through her hair. "That whole inter-school unity thing."
"Can't we just, like, ditch?" Ryuji shrugged. "I mean, don't get me wrong, school-paid vacation ain't the worst thing in the world, but like...I'd much rather just chill with you guys instead."
"At least we'll all have some time together, since both Shujin and Kosei students shall be boarding in the same hotel," Yusuke said. "Though doubtless we'll have to participate in quite a few mandatory team-building exercises."
"Those are the worst," Kasumi mumbled.
"Do you..." Makoto began, then trailed off, like she wasn't sure how to word this. "Didn't they tell you where the trip was going to?"
Ren twisted a strand of hair between his fingers. "Kawakami just said we'd be flown out for a week. Somewhere called Oahu, I think."
Futaba's jaw dropped. "Oahu, Hawaii!?"
Ren's eyes went wide, and the other Thieves reacted with similar stunned silence. No one said a word for the longest time.
"Koto why the fuck didn't you tell us we were going to Hawaii!?" Ryuji said, gesticulating wildly.
Makoto threw her hands up. "I thought you knew!"
"Volume," Futaba said, almost a quiet whine, and the energy dropped immediately.
"Right, sorry Futaba." Makoto rested her hands back in her lap. "Kobayakawa apparently convinced the school board to shill out for something more exciting than the normal team-building trip, probably to take everyone's mind off of the student council strike." She smiled, a little wryly. "And, most likely, Kamoshida."
"Damn." Ann sighed, stretching both hands over her head. "We still get to be excited about going to Hawaii, right? That's fucking awesome."
"Of course," Makoto assured. "Anyone who cares enough to fight for the right thing won't be thrown off by something shallow like this."
"I suppose so," Yusuke said, letting out an odd laugh. "But what a pleasant surprise it is. White sandy beaches, clear waters, regional cuisine." He closed his eyes, as if preemptively savoring the experience.
Kasumi perked up at that final note. "I've heard really interesting things about tr-traditional Hawaiian food. There's a lot of dishes who use taro root, and that's a really good ing-ing-ingredient," stumbling over her words excitedly, "for helping digestion, and it's a great source of complex carboh-h-h-hydrates for long stretches of activity."
Ryuji blinked. "Kasumi, holy shit. Are you some kinda food genius too!?"
"Um," she said, giving a shy smile, "I'm just really p-passionate about nutrition?"
"Don't forget about the seafood," Yusuke added. "I'm quite excited to try poké from the area that originated the dish in the first place. Being so close to the ocean has its perks; one could not hope for a fresher fish than that."
"Fresh fish you say!" Morgana's eyes were practically gleaming.
"Sorry Mona," Futaba said, scooting her chair closer to the feline to scratch under his chin. "Students only, you and me are not invited. And I don't think Ren wants to break parole by smuggling you out of the country."
"But, my fish!" Morgana whimpered.
"Aww, don't worry your fluffy little head." Futaba moved her hand to scritch behind Mona's ear. "I'll get some sushi for us while they're away!"
Morgana grumbled something under his breath, but pressed his head into Futaba's hand anyway.
"You don't sound too torn up about not getting to come with," Ren added, half teasing and half curious.
Futaba shrugged. "Hawaii sounds kinda cool and all, but I've got a pretty sweet setup here. Plus, nowhere in the world has curry anywhere as good as Leblanc."
"You like curry a whole lot, Miss Futaba," Kasumi said, tilting her head.
Futaba giggled, waving a hand like she was trying to fan the statement away. "What can I say? I'm a curry fiend."
"Oh!" Ann broke into a wide grin. "Well, if we're all gonna be down in Hawaii anyway, why not do our celebration there?"
"But what about Miss Futaba and Mister Mona?" Kasumi asked.
"Mister Mona," Morgana echoed, a look of prideful awe on his little feline face.
"We can video call in?" Futaba offered. "I can help Ren set it up, and give him an extra phone stand or something. Then it'll be like I'm right there with you."
"Won't time zones be an issue?" Makoto typed something on her phone. "If we all meet up for dinner around six or seven there, that'd be almost midnight for Futaba."
"Futaba is kind of a night owl," Ren pointed out. "I don't think a midnight video chat would be too much of an issue."
"Yep!" Futaba grinned, almost like she was proud of the tendency. "I usually stay up way later than any of you nerds anyway, so no worries."
Kasumi made a noise like she wanted to add something, but took a silent sip from her water bottle instead.
"Then it's settled!" Yusuke brought his fist down into his open palm with a resonant smack. "We shall reconvene in paradise for a lavish feast, to open our hearts and fill our stomachs."
"Dude," Ryuji said, chuckling. "You're kinda really into this, huh?"
"I love good food and good company," Yusuke replied with a shrug. "What else could be better than that?"
Ren shared the sentiment; towards good company, at least. And the Thieves were the best company. He couldn't help but be thankful, couldn't help but swell with some spark of gratitude towards how things had turned out, despite everything–
"I wish things could have turned out better." It was a pathetic statement, the Trickster knew that. "I wish I hadn't hurt you, the way I did."
"I don't care." The boy not currently in the black mask lifted his coffee cup to his lips, and drank. Slow, and calculated. Like he knew he was in control. "What's done is done. I'm not getting back my eye, and you're not getting back the bullet you lodged in my mask." His colored contact was almost the same shade as his other eye, but it wasn't quite the same, a little redder. Anyone who didn't know him might assume he had a mild case of heterochromia. Anyone who wasn't the Trickster. Anyone who hadn't pulled the trigger.
"It's not about that–" the Trickster began, before cutting himself off. "Okay, it is. But I mean what I asked █████ to do."
"You asked for my imprisonment, in order to keep me from taking drastic action against the Thieves." The boy said it like it was the simplest thing in the world. Quiet enough to not be heard by the other cafe patrons, but the Trickster could hear him. "While I register your regret, do you honestly think that I wouldn't have immediately waltzed into your home and shot you in the head, had you left me to my own devices?"
"I don't know." The Trickster was quiet, for a time. "I'd like to think you're smarter than that. You had a goal, I don't think you would have thrown everything away just for a chance to hurt me."
The boy not currently in the black mask laughed. A sharp sound, almost like the bark of a crow. "Then you underestimate both the lengths of my fury and the depths of my spite." He smiled, and there wasn't an ounce of humor in it. "You're a fool, █████, and a dangerous one at that. Because you've convinced yourself that even the cruelest hearts can–"
"Ren?" He couldn't pick out the voice. All eyes on him.
He blinked, and shook his head. "Sorry, did I space out?"
"You looked really tense and shit," Ryuji mumbled, scooting closer, until the two were shoulder-to-shoulder. "More memories?"
"Memories?" Kasumi asked, her eyes wide and confused.
"We mentioned that Ren's past-iteration self was named Anachronism," Makoto said. "For whatever reason, Ren's been able to inexplicably access some of his memories."
"Recollections from a doomed world," Yusuke added, his tone quiet and serious, almost morose.
"I'm okay–" Ren began.
"Don't," Ann warned. "You promised me, remember?" Her eyes warm, and her tone cold. "Don't lie. Especially not to make me, or anyone else, feel better."
Ren blinked. He couldn't meet her gaze, so he stared at his hands. Eyes tracing the edge of that scar on his wrist. "I'm...scared?" he offered. "That's not a question, I guess. It's not fucking fun, seeing this stuff. Not being able to control it." Ren shrugged. "It's not, like, painful. It just feels bad. Intrusive, I guess." He smiled, and he wasn't sure why. "I dunno, they're just hitting me a lot today for some reason."
Ryuji's hand on his, and Ren took it, squeezing it tight.
"Everyone has those sort of days, right?" Futaba said. Almost like an echo, like he'd heard the words before. Maybe they were his words.
"Sure." He glanced up at his friends, at his...closer than friends, maybe. If there was a word for what they were to him, Ren didn't know it yet. Or he wasn't ready to know it. "I'll get Futaba to help set up the video chat thing tomorrow. And let's...come up with some suggestions, for what to do together in Hawaii. And then we can figure out a game plan on the plane there."
Morgana silently pressed his warm body against Ren's leg. There was silence, but it wasn't an uncomfortable silence. Maybe the memories felt unsafe, but Ren knew that here, and now, he was safe. He wasn't alone.
? – ?
The Gate of the Millennium Choir
Ren placed his hand against that warm metal again, and the bell tolled through his bones. There was a scratch, an imperfection in the golden shape of the door, like a wound hastily filled in. Like a scar.
"We forgive you for that, by the way," she said.
Ren glanced over at the precious thing. Maybe they were clearer now, more defined. Maybe he could see them better from farther away. But he still couldn't quite make out the space where she ended and he began.
"Not that you need our forgiveness," he added. "It wasn't your fault."
Tracing the scar, Ren could almost feel the hurt beneath it. The ache from a gash that had never quite closed. "I did this?"
"A heart is a dangerous thing," she said, like it was enough of an answer.
"Yours is sharp," he said. "I don't think she expected that of you. She wouldn't have brought you here if she had."
"She?" Ren asked.
And they spoke a name that burned a redaction into his brain.
Ren shook his head. "I don't understand. I'm sorry, I can't understand."
"You will," he said.
"Probably best to be patient," she said. "Give it time. The truth never keeps itself forever."
"I want to understand," Ren pleaded. "Can't you just tell me what I'm missing?"
"Time," they said in unison.
"Time enough to love," he said.
"Time enough to see," she said.
"Time," Ren said. "I don't know that I'll ever have enough. Not for everything I want to say."
They laughed. "You will. If you make it."
The dark abyss of sleep broke beneath Ren's feet, and he dropped. Falling, and falling, and falling. Until even gravity was too tired to carry his weight.
9/6 – Monday
Morning
Cafe Leblanc, Attic
"Ren?" A distant voice, and a gentle hand on his head. "Come on kiddo, you're gonna be late."
Words like driftwood caught in a riptide, dragged out to sea in an instant. He wanted to say something, but he couldn't find the energy. He was tired. He was so very tired.
"Ren," a lighter voice, higher, tinged with a distinctly feline mewl. "Are you okay? Come on, please say something." Anxious, and the pang pushed him closer to lucidity.
Dragging his eyes open felt like lifting a two-ton weight. "Hey," and Ren's voice was more like a croak in his ears.
Sojiro, standing next to his bed, winced. "Kid, you sound awful. Are you feeling okay? It's getting closer to flu season, you know."
"I'm...not..." His breath came heavy. "Not flu." Ren could still taste the memories just underneath the surface of his consciousness, fish dancing in the shallows, waiting for him to test the waters.
Sojiro frowned. Ran a hand through his hair, silent, maybe thinking. "You're still seeing that woman in Yongen-Jaya, right? Doctor whats-her-name, the goth one?"
Ren nodded as best he could.
"I'll go get her." Footsteps, and before Ren could focus his eyes again, the man was gone. The chime of a door some ten feet below his head.
"What happened?" Morgana asked, pressing his head into Ren's back.
"Memories," he said, simply. "I'm...gonna close my...for a sec." He didn't intend to sleep. But it found him nonetheless.
█████
The Twenty-Sixth Hour
Apex of Qliphoth
It was painful. Beyond the agony, the loss. He screamed for his world. That furious awful grief, overflowing, bursting from his mouth and streaking down his cheeks like liquid fire. He saw, beyond the Witch, the ash of two years worth of love and hope falling in reverse.
A hand that was not quite his own. Claws, or talons, sparking with unholy fervor. And he swept them across reality. Burning a hole in existence, straight through to that hidden thing the witch treasured above all else. So long as she pressed that blade into his heart, wove chains out of scars, then he would hurt her. He would hurt her as his world hurt, as he hurt.
His talons screeched against golden metal. A jagged crack in something very precious. Such a little fissure, and yet from that scar he heard the echoes of infinity, the millennium choir, like a bell slowly chiming back and forth. He felt dark fingers pull the corners of his mouth into a hungry grin, salivating at the luxurious bounty to be taken.
"Trickster." A stern voice, familiar, but strained. A flash of blue and the schism in the precious thing was gone. "Do not turn your ire to them. Should you wish to exact your vengeance?" And maybe it was magic that tore his gaze towards her, towards grit teeth, towards yellow eyes brimming with fire and tears. "Exact it upon me."
And he moved that hand that was not quite his own. Over the blade, over her hands, her arms, to her shoulder. The witch was already tense, already struggling. Perhaps she was already afraid. But he would remind her whose heart she was unravelling. "Remember," he said, in a hollow voice. "May this agony burn forever. May you remember it, and may it enforce the chains of your oath." He moved the hand that held the scar from the day he should have died, and placed it on her shoulder. Four long claws, digging into flesh. "Remember what it feels like to hurt by my hand."
She shuddered but did not cry, did not break. Her task was more important than her suffering. Most likely, even more than his. "It will be alright," she said, her voice marred. "It won't be much longer. It's almost over. I'm almost done."
He bared his fangs and laughed. Oh, what an irony. What an infuriating oddity. That at the end of the world, even a witch would bleed red.
9/6 – Monday
Late Morning
Cafe Leblanc, Attic
Takemi stared at him, like she was trying to pull the truth out of silence. "You don't have the flu," she began, "or any common illness I can easily test for, for that matter. From what I can see, you seem to be experiencing something quite similar to acute depressive fatigue, perhaps mental burnout as well."
"Only similar?" he asked, quieter than he'd intended.
"No less than twice while I was examining you," she said, her voice sharp, "your entire body tensed up like you'd just had some sort of painful spasm, and then it was a solid few seconds before you even seemed to be cognizant of reality again." She sighed, spinning her pen in one hand. "That indicates to me either a cluster headache, aftershocks of some life-altering stressor, or something..." Takemi seemed to struggle with her wording. "Something outside the sciences I got my doctorate in."
It took Ren an embarrassingly long time before he realized what she was implying. "It's sort of supernatural, yeah."
"Do you care to fill your doctor in?" she asked. "It is my job to ensure that you're not dying. Even if I know nothing about whatever you do to change hearts, I'm still a smart enough woman to help when I can."
How did he even begin to explain this? "Uh," Ren mumbled, "I'm remembering things that haven't happened yet. Kinda. Like, things that could happen. Premonitions, I guess." It wasn't accurate, but it was close enough.
Takemi nodded. "These premonitions. I would assume they are outcomes meant to be avoided?"
"Sometimes," Ren said. "Sometimes they're just nice stuff, but it's still really...abrupt, and intrusive. And, uh, they've been worse than usual these last few days, I guess. More of them, and more vivid."
"Hm." She let out a long breath. Like she didn't quite believe him.
"It hurts." He didn't know where the words came from, but they flowed like tears. "Even the good stuff fucking stings. Like it hurts to see the way things used to be, which is insane, because none of that has happened yet – and maybe it won't ever happen."
Takemi watched him with cold eyes that seemed somehow warm, as well. "You're grieving, aren't you?"
He just shrugged. If that's what this was, he didn't know how to tell.
"Understood," she said. "Then, in as much of an expert opinion as I can provide: rest. I'll let your guardian know you're struggling with fatigue, and write a note for your school. If you have a therapist, switch to a phone session – happy to write a note for that too, if needed. But so long as that pain doesn't worsen? You need at least a week to recuperate."
"Okay," he said.
"And not a work week, a full week. Seven days." Stern, and careful, and maybe kind. "Please text me at least once a day with updates when you have a chance, but otherwise? Hydrate often, avoid significant stressors, and sleep as much as possible." She cracked a small, sympathetic smile. "That includes no thievery. If you push yourself to continue changing hearts before I give you a go-ahead, I won't hesitate to replace your painkillers with sleeping pills."
For whatever reason, the threat didn't quite feel that threatening. "I'll rest," he promised. "Thank you."
Takemi chuckled, and turned towards the stairs. "House visits will cost you extra next time. I would prefer not to make a habit of this."
Sunshine Boy
duuuuude
does that mean you're not coming on the hawaii trip?
Funny Jokes
Guess not
Takemi said a week
So looks like I'll be stuck here till then
Sunshine Boy
brb ditching the trip
Pretty Lady
Ryuji, don't you fucking dare.
I WILL come over there and kick your ass.
Yes Queen
Ann's right.
Do u think ur bf would want u 2 get in trouble just 2 hang out with him?
Funny Jokes
The answer is no, I definitely don't want you to do that
Sunshine Boy
renren nooooo
come on man, what's the point of being a punk if i can't even be gay about it?
Funny Jokes
Sorry, haha
IRL Princess
We'll miss you a lot Ren! :'(
Or, I will, at least. I don't wanna speak for anyone else!
Inari
Kasumi I believe you speak for everyone when you say that we will miss Ren.
We will indeed miss him greatly.
But we will make sure to bring souvenirs from our trip so that he may marvel at the wonders of Hawaii and sample its cuisine assuming that they let me take back food on the plane!
Your Favorite Sister
Yusuke how the FUCK do you write an entire novel every other text and never use a single goddamn comma?
IRL Princess
I guess we should hold off on celebrating until we get back? :\
Your Favorite Sister
Not necessarily!
IRL Princess
:O
Your Favorite Sister
I mean me and Mona were already planning on popping by via video call anyway.
One more Thief on this end shouldn't break the phone djhfbhj.
Yes Queen
Only if Ren is OK with it.
Funny Jokes
That should be fine
I don't want you all holding yourself back from having fun for my sake
Pretty Lady
You're gonna take care of yourself though right?
If not, I'll kick your ass when I get back.
Funny Jokes
Please stop threatening violence against your friends who love you
Sunshine Boy
yeah ann wtf
Pretty Lady
Lol okay fine fine, sorry.
But seriously take care of yourself Ren.
Funny Jokes
I will
Your Favorite Sister
Me and Mona will be taking care of him too!
He's in good hands.
And paws.
Funny Jokes
And paws
Damnit Futaba
Your Favorite Sister
;p
Big thanks to Jane both now and in advance for helping me brainstorm a metric ton of Anachronism flashbacks, and for beta-reading this chapter.
