CONTENT WARNING: This chapter contains brief misgendering and mentions of corpse defilement and police brutality, including the drugging of a suspect. While not graphic, this content still may be difficult or upsetting to read, so please take breaks or skip sections as needed. Stay safe.
11/18 – Friday
Lunchtime
Shujin Academy, Maruki's Office
Fool Card: Blank
Maruki's office was an echo of what it had been the first time Ren had met the man. Boxes were stacked haphazardly along the far wall, filled to overflowing with loose papers and manilla folders. Two small couches sat on either end of a coffee table. Otherwise, the room was barren, unadorned. Ren was almost disappointed that Maruki hadn't traded in his cheap door plaque for another paper sign.
"Do you usually treat your patients to lunch?" he asked, gesturing with his head to the two bowls of instant ramen steaming away on the table.
Maruki smiled. "Occasionally. Sometimes, you just need to meet people where they are." He picked up his pair of chopsticks and cleanly snapped them apart. "Or, when they are, I suppose."
"And 'when I am' is lunchtime," Ren said. "Got it." He picked up his pair as well. Pinching the small end of each conjoined stick, he pulled them to either side...and a little less than half of one snapped off. "Uh, thank you."
A nod. "Oh! Before I forget. I know this isn't a proper therapy session." Maruki pulled his bowl closer to the edge of the coffee table, shifting in place, clearly thinking on how to approach transporting piping hot noodles from his shins to his mouth. "But is there anything on your mind, Ren?"
A dull prompt with a sharp conclusion. Not that Maruki could have known. 'I'm about to fake my death' wasn't exactly a response most people predict from a question like that.
"Don't forget," Morgana whisper-hissed from his bag. "Crimes break confidentiality."
Ren gingerly lifted the hot bowl closer to his mouth as he considered his answer. Even if he trusted Maruki not to call the police on him – and he mostly did, but the jury still had their foot in the door – telling his therapist that he was about to bail on his parole, legally obliging Maruki to break confidentiality...Ren couldn't afford that risk. The whole sell would obviously be easier if the man just knew he was a Phantom Thief, but that solution had its own dangers.
Ren blew the steam from his soup with a sigh, and his glasses fogged up. "I'm anxious. My friends and I...we're working on something. A project."
Maruki nodded along. "These are your friends who help the Phantom Thieves?"
"That's them." He brought a half-bite of noodles to his mouth and slurped them down. A wince left him; still too hot. "It's a big project. And it's going to turn out well, I trust everyone to do their part. Just the same nerves as usual: that I'll fuck up my part."
"Well, Ren, at the risk of giving you too much to think about," Maruki chuckled to himself, "it sounds to me like you spend a lot of time focused on your own failure."
Ren lowered his bowl back to the table, then shook the heat off his hands. "That does sound like me." Ren Amamiya: he who failed, who fails, who will fail. Whose judgment was that? His father's, his mother's, his own? Anachronism's, Oxymoron's, Shido's? "It doesn't serve me."
He could see Maruki's smile through the still-clearing fog on his glasses. "It doesn't serve you," he echoed, and then took a loud slurp of soup.
Ren leaned back on the couch. He removed his glasses and cleaned them on his shirt. One last bit of unfinished business. "Maruki, sir?"
"Mm-?" Maruki replied, his mouth full of ramen.
Ren allowed himself a smile as he donned his glasses again. "I don't know if you're still working on your repressed-memory stuff, but I ran into this author you might find helpful." He tapped the edge of his chopsticks against his ramen bowl. "Her name is Wakaba Isshiki. She was a family friend–" Mother of his sister. Potentially had been dating his dad. That would make her...Ren's stepmother? His aunt? His mom?! Okay, that was something to process with Futaba later.
Ren cleared his throat. "She's written a lot about Cognitive Psience. The ways we trick ourselves and hide from the truth, and how to go about changing that. Like a change of heart." He watched Maruki's eyebrows slowly climb. "Most of her articles are..." Delicate phrasing ahoy. "There's only one public right now, but my sister has some excerpts of the private ones. I could ask her to send them your way, and she'd probably love to talk about this with someone else."
Maruki slowly, carefully, returned his bowl to the table. He leaned back in his seat, both hands in his lap. He shifted one of his chopsticks to rest on his pointer finger, like a pen. "Cognitive Pscience," he said slowly, sounding the words out, emphasizing the sharp sound of the 'Ps.'
Ren nodded.
"And you think someone like me could use them to change hearts, like the Phantom Thieves." A glint in his eye of something that rhymed with excitement.
Ren nodded.
"I see." Maruki fell back into silence. He flicked the chopstick with his thumb, setting it to spin. It didn't complete even a single full rotation before falling off his hand onto the table. He sighed, and picked it up again. "That's a very generous offer. But...I think I'll have to decline."
Maruki gave a near-wry smile before he continued. "I'm sure there's someone out there who can be trusted with meddling with people's heads – or hearts. The Phantom Thieves are doing a good job of it so far." He chuckled. "I'm no Thief, Ren. I appreciate your confidence in me, but I think I'll stick to integrating Harm Reduction for the time being."
"Sure," Ren said. It was worth a try. "Well, it's an open offer, I guess. Just let me know."
Maruki continued smiling, and gestured to Ren's bowl with his chopsticks. "I can write you a note for being late to class, Ren, but not for cold ramen. You should eat."
"He's right!" Morgana whispered. "You need the strength!"
Twice scolded, thrice shy? Ren sighed, silently lifted his bowl, and took a long sip of broth.
11/19 – Saturday
After School
Sae Niijima's Palace
Fool Card: Blank
Oracle swayed in her seat in the Safe Room, humming along idly to the whir of her laptop fan. A quiet digital ping, and she jolted upright. "Done!" Oracle yanked free the cord connecting Queen's cell phone to her laptop, handing the cell back. "You're all set." Before Queen could get a word of thanks in edgewise, Oracle loudly cleared her throat and thrust her open hand, palm up, in Skull's general direction. "Skull! You're up!"
"Yeah, yeah, don't gotta shout," he grumbled, shifting out of his spot a few feet away and shuffling over to her, placing his cell phone in her awaiting hand. "So, uh, is this gonna be like a normal old boop if we use it, or full on washing machine brain?"
Oracle seemed to consider the question as she plugged the adaptor cord into his phone's charging port. "Explain."
Skull huffed out a breath, shaking his hand at nothing as he searched for his words. "I mean, normal going into Mementos is kinda wobbly," he rolled his finger around his temple for emphasis, "but Renren and Mona said the last button go-home thing was–"
"Oh!" Oracle said. "Right, yes. This one's normal wobbles." She turned her gaze to Skull's phone, still balanced on her palm. "It's just an input macro. Close current app, open Meta-Nav, enter Mementos in fields, hit enter. No cognitive magic here."
"That's a shame," Mona mumbled, kicking his little legs off the side of Ren's lap, nudging his head into both Ren and Panther's attentive scritches. "We worked...really hard – a little to the left, yeah, right there – on the Goho-M."
Oracle shrugged. "Yeah, but that one's not going anywhere. I'm sure we'll need a cognitive magic box at some point. Just not now."
"If it shortcuts how we normally use the Navigators," Noir said, "then does that mean we can't use it as an escape button in the Places?"
"I disabled skipping from Palace to Mementos, yeah," Oracle replied, no-selling the laptop beep this time. "Otherwise, you'd probably get pretty...uh..." She unplugged Skull's phone.
"Washing machine brain," Fox helpfully offered.
"Washing machine brain," Oracle said solemnly, handing Skull his phone back. "I mean, assuming you didn't tear a hole in cognition."
"Oh," Skull said, holding his phone somewhat gingerly, regarding it with newfound caution.
"You'll be installing this feature on Kasumi's phone as well, I assume," Crow added, leaning against the wall next to the Safe Room door. Maybe he was eager to leave.
"Uh, I'm her girlfriend, " Oracle said. She closed her laptop with a huff and slipped it back into her bag. "She got an install days ago."
Ren whistled. "There's favoritism for you." He sent a little smirk towards his sister that she returned with a glare. Maybe he was seeing things, but her hackles genuinely seemed raised.
Panther's sigh drained the momentary tension. "I still wish Violet could be here to see Queen's big moment." A little smile towards Queen, who bashfully busied herself with phone-fiddling.
"Shido doesn't know she's a Thief, honorary or not," Crow cut in, sharpness undercutting his neutral tone. "It would be too risky for her to be seen with us tonight."
"I'm aware, Crow," Panther said, lips set in a firm line, and gaze distinctly not towards the target of her words. "I can still miss her."
Oracle scrambled up to stand on the couch, cutting off Crow's probably-biting response. "Attention, Phantom Thieves! Your Navigator is speaking!" One hand on her hip, the other holding her phone aloft.
"Yeah!" Skull cheered, fist-pumping at nothing.
Oracle grinned. "You are all now in possession of a state-of-the-art Goho-ME Metaverse Navigator Macro – trademark pending, all rights reserved, et cetera." She thrust her phone forward, her thumb hovering over the lock button. "If you ever find yourself in danger in reality and need to get the heck out of there, simply take out your cell phone and follow these simple directions: click-click-hold your lock button," displaying her instructions as she gave them, "and you'll be sucked into Mementos lickety split. Don't spam click, otherwise you'll get a two second cooldown before it accepts inputs again. Got it!?"
A myriad of mumbling confirmations from six different Thieves more interested in practicing on their phones, the Safe Room filling with the sound of tiny clicks. Ren couldn't help but laugh, making eye contact across the room with an equally amused-looking Crow, whose smirk faded a moment later.
The detective straightened up, stepping closer to the group. "Queen," he said, and she started, looking up from her phone. "Shall we show your sister the fruits of our preparation?" Our preparation? Ren glanced between the two, watching Queen's expression harden.
"Right," she said, and pocketed her cell. "Yeah. I'm ready." An azure spark across her wrapped knuckles. "I'm ready."
When Ren helped push open the double doors to Sae's office, the fresh air hit him at the same time as the blinding golden lights, stuttering his step. He still managed to scoot out of the way in his daze, holding the door open for the other Thieves, taking in the scene. The office was open air, apparently the elevator had taken them to the roof; he could even see the top of the neon lady poking up over one side. The entire 'room' was surrounded by the ring of an enormous circular dice roulette, spinning slowly and steadily, filling the space with little clicks and creaks of the oversized wood.
Sae's Shadow was standing calmly, patiently, at the center of the faux-roulette, in front of a table with rounded edges and a green felt top. A poker table.
"If she tries anything," Queen began, her voice shaking ever so slightly.
"We'll keep you safe, Makie," Noir cut in, sweet and firm. "Just focus on what you need to do."
Queen sent a little thankful smile, her gaze finding and lingering on Panther. A nod, and she turned back, facing forward and striding towards her sister as the rest of the Thieves spread out near the elevator, exchanging darting glances. Oracle jogged to Ren's side and sat down next to his leg, pulling her goggles on and beginning to tap away at one of her invisible screens.
"Sae," Queen said.
"Makoto," the Shadow replied. A sweeping gesture towards the table. "Have you come to play, or to beat my Treasure out of me?"
Without a word, Queen pulled back the nearest chair and sat down at the table, Sae's Shadow mimicking the motion. Queen reached up, removing her mask and placing it off to one side on the tabletop. "Five card draw," Makoto said. "I'll wager my life against your Treasure."
Sae's yellow eyes flickered towards the mask, then back to Makoto. A wide smile spread across her lips. "How brave of you, little sister," Ren stifled his wince, "but your life , in the sorry state as it is? It's barely worth a page." One hand poised, the Shadow snapped her fingers.
A blur of motion as a small mountain of poker chips cascaded across the table in front of Makoto, manifested from nothing. Ren strained to see; they seemed more colorful than the chips he'd seen downstairs, a myriad of six, seven, maybe eight different colors?
"Your calling card said the Phantom Thieves were coming for my heart," Sae said, her lips curled in a wicked smile. "So if you are to bet on my Treasure, Makoto? You'll do it with their lives as well." A wide-angle glance across the assembled Thieves.
Ah. That would explain the chip shades, each one color coded for one of them. Red for Ren, pink for Panther, yellow for Skull, black for Morgana, light blue for Fox, dark blue for Queen, green for Oracle, lavender for Noir, grey for Crow.
Makoto stilled. A long moment. Then she plucked chip after chip from the pile, organizing them in front of her. "Three chips for each Thief," she said. "And if you win them all?"
"Then their life belongs to me," Sae said, humming an idle little tune. "I'll kill them nice and quick, at least. You can be sure of that." Hm. 'I'll kill them ,' even though Makoto's chips were on the table as well.
"And our nine lives add up to your Treasure?" Makoto said, her voice calm and steady. "Nine lives including an ace detective, a genius hacker, a cognition expert, a professional model, and a man on first name basis with politicians and underground artists and the head of a major corporation." It took Ren a long second to realize that the man she was talking about was him .
"From where I sit, it seems like my stakes exceed yours by a large margin." Makoto raised her gaze from the chips. "How exactly are you planning on stopping me from strong-arming you out of every single hand, sis?"
Sae's Shadow hesitated. A silent motion, and two piles of golden chips manifested before the woman. "Nine chips will do," she said sharply. "And I get to choose the dealer."
"Agreed," Makoto said.
A wide, victorious smirk. "Oh Goro! " the Shadow crooned, snapping her fingers.
Silence. Sae's smile dropped. She snapped her fingers again, to no avail.
Crow sighed his way into a chuckle. "Are you trying to call for that gaudily dressed Shadow butler?" He stepped forward, rolling both eyes and his right shoulder. "We've already dispatched that mess of a mockery." Had they? Ren didn't recall, but...ah. Their preparation. Crow strode up to the table, standing by Makoto's side. "But, since you've decided on an Akechi to deal this game, I'm more than happy to fill his role."
Sae's Shadow was stock-still. Staring at the stoic Makoto and smirking Crow. Nine chips, facing down twenty-seven and a Phantom dealer. Homefield advantage, and yet the odds were still stacked against her.
And she smiled. "Fair is fair. I've chosen my dealer." Sae held out a hand, palm up, a sealed deck of cards nestled against her palm. "One chip ante. We play for keeps."
Makoto nodded. "Crow. Deal us in."
Crow tutted his tongue and plucked the deck from Sae's grasp, strolling to the middle end of the table. "I don't recall agreeing to take orders from you, Niijima. Last I checked..." And catching a glare from both siblings for his trouble. "So much for respecting your peers," he grumbled, peeling the plastic from the sealed deck and sliding the cards out, beginning a rigorous shuffle. Without another word, he dealt out two hands of five cards to each.
Sae flicked a chip into the table center, Makoto placing hers – a yellow chip, one of Skull's – more carefully.
Both examined their cards. "Bet two," Sae said, flicking two more gold chips into the pot.
"Call." Makoto placed a pink and a red chip – Ren felt his stomach lurch slightly as that second one hit the felt, and a cold sweat dig its way down his arms. Himself and Panther, up to bet.
"One card." Sae placed a card from her hand to the side, and was dealt a new one by Crow.
"Three cards." Makoto discarded three, and was dealt three.
Sae smirked. "Raise three." Idly flicking her bet into the pot.
"Fold," Makoto said immediately, handing her cards to Crow. Ren felt another lurch as Sae dragged the pot to her side.
Fresh hands and fresh antes – green and golden chips – for both. "Check," Makoto said.
A single breath. "Raise five," the Shadow said.
"Fold."
Light blue and golden chips. "Bet two." Sae said, tossing in two more golden chips. She was only betting with her Treasure, despite having Thief chips to spare.
Makoto hummed. She reached up, scratching her lip with her thumb. "Raise two," tossing in one each of black, dark blue and lavender chips. Finally anteing one of her own.
"Fold," Sae said immediately. Makoto let out a sharp hiss of breath as she returned her hand to Crow, and Sae's smile only widened.
Gold and lavender ante. Noir again. Ren's gaze involuntarily flicked towards his girlfriend, finding her expression steady. She turned to glance his way, but he was already looking back towards the action.
"Bet two," Makoto said, placing a black and a grey chip.
Sae kept on smiling. "Call." Two more golds.
"No cards," Makoto said.
"Five cards," Sae hummed, discarding her entire hand. Ren blinked. She'd bet three chips now on a hand she'd planned to discard? Crow's deal was stalled behind his hesitation.
Makoto hesitated too. She started to bounce her right leg, the fingers of her left hand tapping against the edge of the table. "Bet two," tossing, not placing, a light and dark blue chip.
"All in," Sae hummed, the second those two chips clattered against the rest.
Makoto sucked in a breath. Her jitters continued silently. "Fold," she half-whispered, grimacing as Sae took the pot. She was down to two chips of each Thief, and one golden.
Sae's Shadow flicked a golden chip into the center as she received her hand. Makoto's fingers lingered on her chips, rolling a dark blue between her fingers, brow furrowed. Playing with her life.
"You need to ante," Crow said, irritation leaking into his tone. Makoto's jaw was set as she placed a grey chip in the center. Grey for...Crow let out a little chuckling breath. "I see you're not above pettiness, Niijima."
"She takes after me that way," Sae's Shadow said. Something about her smile seemed more amused than malicious, for a moment.
Makoto glanced over her cards. "You're not petty, Sae. Prideful, but not petty."
"I can defend my own reputation just fine," Sae fired back. "And, for the record–"
"It's your bet."
Sae rolled her yellow eyes, tossing in three chips. "For the record, that 'pride' is hard-earned confidence. I know what I'm capable of, and I've no shame in what I can do."
"I'll alert the media." Makoto studied both her hand and her chips, tapping away at the table with her left hand. Dark blue in, light blue in, and...her hand lingered over the sole gold before sliding a yellow chip into the center instead. Sae's gaze flicked down at the bet, a twitch of a smirk at the corner of that smile. "Sae Niijima, who loudly proclaims her own hubris–"
A little bark of a laugh. "You might as well pass on that little diatribe on your calling card," smirking with equal bitterness and humor. "Tell them all about my wicked envy , Makoto."
"You're not evil for wanting better, sis." Something like a plea beneath those words. "I want better too. For both of us."
Sae quietly contemplated the pot. She slid four golden and one blue chip into the center, leaving her with only a single gold. "But I am evil for taking it, isn't that right?" All warmth had fled from her tone. "I can want without issue, no one's ever been harmed from simple want. But the second I strive ," gritting her teeth through the word, "is the second you take umbrage."
Makoto took a long, deep breath. "Not like this, Sae." She slowly matched Sae chip for chip, leaving her with only one chip of each color. "Not like this."
Sae handed over three cards, and Makoto took two.
"Check," the Shadow said.
"Check."
Ren strained again as the two placed their hands on the table.
"Two pair Aces-Threes beats two pair Jacks-Nines," Crow said, and Ren watched Makoto visibly deflate, letting out his own breath with her. "Younger sibling takes the pot."
"All right Koto!" Skull shouted, punching the air.
"She's got a ton of chips to work with," Oracle mumbled into the coms, her fingers wiggling wildly. "That's our Queen!"
"A 'ton of chips' you say?" Sae asked, voice smooth. Oracle flinched at the woman's sudden address. "That's certainly true. Twenty-six to my nine, and all but one of my Treasure." Sae raised her last golden chip and wiggled it back and forth. "But tell me, girl. How many of those chips is Makoto able to bet with?"
Oracle stalled. "Uh," she said. "Twenty...six?"
Fox hummed, rubbing his chin. "That's not quite right. Queen wouldn't bet any of our lives." Ignoring the scowl Oracle sent his way.
"She's probably not going to bet with the golden chips either," Morgana added. "Otherwise, there's a risk of backsliding. So that leaves–"
"Ten," Makoto said. Her voice was steady, but something beneath it trembled. "I can bet with ten chips."
Sae's smile widened. "I don't have to win twenty six chips," she purred, placing a black chip in the center. "Only ten."
Makoto matched her with a black chip of her own. Cards dealt. "Raise two." Dark blue and red. Betting herself and Ren. Fingers tapping on the table.
"Raise five," Sae said, sliding all but her golden chip into the center.
Makoto stalled. Tap tap tap went her fingers. She bit her lip. "Call." All of her extra chips except pink and lavender, leaving two of each for Panther and Noir. Not surprising, but...
"No cards," Sae said.
Makoto stared intently at her cards. "Three cards," she said, her voice wavering.
Sae laughed as the cards were dealt. "Are you going to force me to go all in?" She fiddled with the last golden chip again, rolling it between her fingers. "How badly do you want this, Makoto? Bad enough to risk all but your last safe chip?"
And what a safe chip it was. Makoto's fingers wavered over the pink chip. Tapping on it with her nails, leg jittering. Ren could almost see the thoughts behind her eyes. Did she want to lose her girlfriend's only buffer? Did she want to risk getting close to losing Ann?
"Makoto," Panther mumbled.
"Check," Makoto said, her voice wavering.
Sae barked out a laugh and turned over her cards. "Ten-high Flush!"
Makoto winced, pushing her cards towards Crow. "Pair of Sixes." The pot went to Sae.
Two safe Thief chips left, and Makoto anted the lavender, Sae matching her with a red – Ren's stomach gave yet another somersault. "Bet two," Sae said, pushing a grey and black forward.
Makoto's fingers hovered on her last 'bettable' chip, that solitary pink. Anything further, and she risked a Thief, or surrendering some of Sae's Treasure. A strained breath escaped her. Head down, fingers clenching down on her cards enough to bend them.
"Queen." Crow's voice. All eyes towards him, and his towards Makoto. A silent moment. "Despite my difficulties with you all, I am still a Phantom Thief." His gaze flicked up towards Ren, towards Oracle, then back down. "I doubt your sister would kill me right away. Sentimentality and all. Or, even if she did..." He idly shuffled the cards as he spoke, nodding towards her single remaining grey chip. "You need a buffer. Since no one else is offering to be your sacrificial lamb, allow me. Buy yourself time."
No. No fucking way. Ren opened his mouth to protest, to call for...nothing came out. His throat constricted around his words. Nothing left him but a near silent wheeze.
Makoto was still. Silent. Contemplative. "Akechi," she said, quietly. "Thank you. I...thank you." She slid the pink chip into the center. "But, for future reference?" Then in smooth motion, she picked up her entire pile of golden chips and tossed it into the pot. " Never ask me to throw your life away again." Ren could practically see the nuclear fire in her eyes. "Raise seven."
Akechi chuckled as Sae stared open-mouth at her sibling. "Certainly," he hummed. "I'll keep that in mind, next time I feel like offering my help."
Sae's fingers lingered over her own pot. Her eyes seemed locked on Makoto's hands, at the fist she'd made with her left, ignoring the jittering of her leg beneath the table. "Fold."
The entire room breathed again as Makoto took the pot.
Ante grey and yellow.
"Check."
"Check."
"No cards."
"No cards."
Makoto's leg was still. Her fingers tapped against the table. Sae was expressionless. Neither said a word for a long time. Makoto's eyes traced Sae's chips. Twelve Thief and one golden.
She started counting out her own. Four safe Thief chips. Eight hard-earned golden chips. All into the middle. And without a second of hesitation, Makoto plucked the final blue chip from her pile and slammed it into the center. "I bet my life." Her teeth grit, the words leaving her like a growl. "All in or fold, sis. "
Sae was silent. Makoto's fingers returned to the table, tapping away. A smile spread into a smirk. "You're bluffing," Sae said, sweetly. "It's a good bluff, Makoto. You've learned a lot from our games. But...I think you've forgotten something very important." Sae slid all of her chips into the center. "I never lose. You haven't beaten me once ." A gleeful smile as she turned over her cards, and leaned to the side, resting her chin on the back of her hand. "Ace-high Flush. And now, you'll never get another chance to–"
Makoto stopped tapping. Sae's voice cut abruptly, watching her sibling straighten up. "And you think I'm bluffing because of this?" Makoto asked, her voice calm, steady. She tapped her fingers on the edge of the table. "Because I didn't do this," scratching at her lip with her thumb as Sae slowly grew more and more pale, "my hand must be bad. Not to mention, you got a Flush; second time in a row, you must be very lucky. You didn't even trade a single card for it."
Sae whirled towards the steadily smirking Crow. "You–!"
"It's a strong hand, Sae. Only four hands beat it." Makoto flipped a card over. "Just." Second card. "Four." Third card. "Hands." Fourth card.
"That's four Twos!" Oracle sounded breathless. "Makoto wins!"
"You, that's not," Sae spluttered, pushing away from the table, stumbling to standing. "You were bluffing!"
"Over-the-table tells are such a nasty habit, aren't they?" Crow said. "But that shaking leg?" He tutted his tongue. "I could feel it all the way over here."
"I'll work on it," Makoto said, halfway to a snap. "But she wasn't paying attention to that. I already tested to make sure."
Realization dawned on the Shadow's face. "Your tells aren't the same." Staring at Makoto. "You've been playing me. This whole time, you were testing if I'd see your tells!?"
"You always used to know them," Makoto said, pulling the pot to her side of the table. "You knew when I was bluffing." She shook her head. "But you're still gambling with phantoms." Makoto stood up. "It's over, sis. We're not playing the same game anymore." Her gaze was steady, but the air around her rippled with heat. "And I can't afford to lose to you."
Sae didn't move. Didn't speak. She opened her mouth and not a sound came out. "You beat me," she said, finally. "Fair...and square." The Shadow reached into the pocket of her dress with a shaking hand, and retrieved the notebook, that little black thing glowing with a faint golden hue. Sae extended her hand, offering the notebook to Makoto.
Makoto stepped around the table, picking up her mask on the way. She placed it back onto her face as she passed Crow. A Queen advancing towards her prize.
"You..." Sae backed up, still holding out the Treasure. "You can learn the truth now, Makoto. You can...you can see things as they...as they..." Stumbling, a fearful retreat from her sibling. "No more secrets, no more...I'm sorry, is that it!? Is that what you want me to say!?"
Queen stopped, and Sae jolted to a stop as well. "What the fuck are you doing?" Queen asked. "I'm not here to hurt you, Sae." She extended a hand, and the Shadow recoiled, stepping away. Queen scoffed, incredulous. "I can't believe you're this much of a coward."
Sae gawked at her, fear shifting to anger. "I'm your older sister! I don't know where you get off–"
"Then act like it." Queen's gaze was frigid. "Stop running ."
The Shadow stilled again, staring down at her Treasure. Without another word, she slowly, steadily handed it to Queen, who pulled it from her grasp. Sae turned away, crossing her arms in what must have been an attempt at indignance, but looked more like she was hugging herself.
Queen took a long look at the book's black cover, then glanced towards Ren and his sister. "Oracle. Is that enough?"
"Yep yep yep!" Oracle grabbed Ren's leg and pulled herself back up to standing, climbing up his side in the process. "The Palace is already getting the rumblies. We're all eggie golden." Ren gently swatted her off him with a laugh, and she swatted him back.
"Golden eggs," Fox echoed, nodding seriously. "Perhaps we should treat ourselves to a late night victory breakfast."
"Later," Queen said, and Ren could hear the exhaustion in her words. She tossed the Treasure onto the poker table. "We need to get Joker in place first."
Sae's gaze flickered between Queen and the notebook. "Aren't...you going to read it?" she asked.
Queen glanced over her shoulder at her. "Why? It's blank." And Sae became, somehow, even more pale. "You're not actually scared of what dad did, or else he'd be here, somewhere." She gestured to the Place. "Or, I don't know, maybe that's your way of blocking it out. Scare yourself shitless about a fucking notebook, put all these logic gates up, distract yourself. Maybe if you had read it..." She paused, and let out a long sigh. "It's just a book, Sae. I don't need dad to tell me what I already know. I don't need him to sign off on the bruises he gave me."
Queen ran a hand across her collar, and Sae echoed the motion, her expression haunted. Ren felt his guts fall out beneath him. "I know what he did to us," she continued. "If you don't want to think about it, fine. I won't force you. If pretending makes it hurt less, then pretend as much as you want." A sharp glance that the Shadow shied away from. "But don't expect me to stay here while you do. I've got my own life to live." Queen turned, throwing a glance across the Thieves. "I've got a family here, with them. I've got friends who want to see who I'm going to be in a year, five years . " Her gaze lingered on Panther, who sucked in a quiet breath." I've got a girlfriend who loves me."
Sae's gaze flicked towards Panther as well, and red eyes were almost green. "Do you think I don't love my own flesh and blood, Makoto?" she spat. "I'm just some heartless machine!?"
"I think you love your sister." A calm fire bubbled beneath Queen's voice. The Shadow froze. "I think you'd do anything for her. I think you love her so much that you can't see she's gone." A familiar blue flame in her irises. "And I can't keep pretending to be her." Holy shit.
A shudder of her jaw, and Queen sucked in a sharp breath. "Your sibling is going to keep on looking for the truth, wherever she finds it." A disdainful look towards the Treasure. "I sure as hell know it's not here." Queen turned away, hands tense and open by her sides, and strode back around the table, towards the elevator. "You can't keep me and a lie at the same time, Sae; and I'm not going to wait around for you to pick."
Ren watched the Shadow Sae walk up to the notebook on the table, her eyes distant, her expression empty. She reached out and caressed its cover, closing her eyes. Ren turned, taking in one last breath of fresh air before heading back into the Palace proper.
The security level had been maxed out before the Thieves had made it to Sae's office, but now Ren was pretty sure they needed a new upper limit. "Cerberus!"
"Carmen!"
Twin gouts of blue flame seared across a triplicate of Thors, then paused long enough to let Noir, Fox and Crow whirl out a myriad of stabs and slashes, starting the flame assault again when they pulled back.
"Zorro!"
A burst of wind sent the flame into a roiling azure tempest. One Shadow melted under the pressure. A second crumpled. And finally the stubborn third fell, dissolving into black dust before he hit the ground.
Ren sucked in a breath as Cerberus's mask formed on his face, and Panther looked similarly winded. "Fucking asshole dipshit big dumb motherfuckers," Skull grumbled from somewhere behind Ren, and then a chocolate bar was unceremoniously shoved into his hand. "Eat, dude."
Ren unwrapped the bar best he could with shaking hands and bit off a mouthful, swallowing it half-chewed with a swig of water.
"Uh, hate to be the bearer of bad news, again ," Oracle said, "buuuut we've got another bunch of Shadows on their way, coming down the east path."
"Oh come on!" Mona shouted, kicking a nearby trophy stand and sending it clattering to the ground. "We can't keep this up!"
Ren raised two fingers to his ear, swallowing another bite of the bar. "Oracle, are the Safe Rooms still locked off?"
"Busy!" his sister replied. Beat. "And yes!" Beat. "Okay, got it! Route to the main entrance straight ahead, down that Employee Only staircase."
Without a word, Fox brought his sword down on the keypad next to the locked door, then sheathed his blade as Queen yanked the door open – and off one of its hinges.
"And of our route?" Crow asked, his voice somewhat strained with what sounded more like frustration than exhaustion. "All this is for naught if Amamiya–"
"Northeast path and over that stack of boxes and past the patrol and up a ladder to the catwalks and into the storage area and then the vent system and three lefts and two rights and a left and you're welcome!" Oracle said in one quick grumpy breath.
"Thank you," Ren said with a mouth full of dense chocolate.
"Yes, thank you," Crow said. "Very helpful." He cracked his neck, eyes on the dimly lit northeast path. "Joker. Sometime today, if you please."
Ren pocketed the wrapper. "Yeah, yeah. Give me a sec, just–" He turned towards his teammates only to find two firm hands on his collar as Noir yanked him into a lingering kiss.
Someone whistled.
Noir broke the kiss, looking remarkably calm and put-together, because Ren felt a little like his face was going to melt off his skull. "Stay safe, won't you? Dear leader."
"Uh," Ren said. "Yeah. I...yes. I'm going to do that."
She beamed and patted his cheek and then turned on dime and headed down the staircase. Ren was vaguely aware of the smirk on Queen and Fox's faces as they followed her.
And then Ren blinked and Panther was hugging him and he felt someone's lips on his cheek and oh look blonde hair with brown at the scalp out of the corner of his eye.
"Your roots are showing," he mumbled, met with a grumbling laugh from his boyfriend.
"Fuck off and don't die," Skull said, ruffling Ren's hair.
Panther squeezed him tight one last time and then pulled away, turning before Ren could catch her eyes, darting down the staircase with Skull a few steps behind her. Mona paused to headbutt Ren in the shins, give him a long slow blink, and then scramble down the stairs. The comms buzzed a mumbling "please safe," and the static faded slowly.
And then there were two.
Ren turned back to Crow, who simply nodded, then gestured with his head towards their path.
He drew Anachronism's knife, took a long deep breath, and jogged into the dim hallway.
In hindsight, the lack of a patrol should have clued Ren in. He was two steps ahead of himself, distracted by the thought of the vents before they'd reached the catwalk, still expecting Oracle to chime in any second to warn him of potential threats. It was only when his feet first slammed against the metal that he recognized his mistake.
The storage room at the end of the catwalk was swarmed with Shadow guards. They were facing him and Crow already, a bulwark between them and exactly the place they needed to go. Ren could even see the vent behind one of their heads.
Crow let loose a torrent of curses, and Ren heard his saber ignite. "Only way out is through?" Ren offered.
"Shut the fuck up and kill these things already!" Crow snapped. "We don't have time for this."
Ren sucked in a breath. "Okay. On three."
"If we must ."
The Shadows began to advance. "One."
Ren slid a foot back and braced himself. "Two."
They were a step away from the edge of the catwalk–
"Persona! " A shout not from behind, but within the Shadows. A brilliant cascade of luminous blades descended onto the crowd, disintegrating half a dozen instantly. A blur of black peeled away from the far wall, light catching flashes of silver as the throng of guards tried to simultaneously keep an eye on Ren and Crow and this new threat and Ren recognized that new threat; the black of her mask, the thin blade, the fire in her eyes.
"Kasumi!?" he spluttered.
Violet whirled towards him, scowling. "Stop just st-standing there!" Her mask shattered and another burst of light shredded through a clump of Shadow. "Crow–!"
"On it!" Crow shoved past Ren, bolting across the metal and into the fray, his own mask exploding off his face. "Robin!" A thunderous twang as an arrow pierced forth. "Joker, now!"
The final straw and Ren's feet started working again, and he sprinted onto the concrete with his eyes set on the vent entrance. A slip under one Shadow's grasping arm, slashing at its side and then pushing forward - no delay, only follow-through. The path before him converged into a swarm of grasping hands and pale porcelain. Ren grabbed his mask.
"Robin!"
"Cendrillon!"
"Phoenix!"
The metal sky parted and the sun itself fell as rain. Triplicate blades, spearing through the black-mist tide, an ocean of dust roiling in all directions.
Ren's mask hadn't finished forming again when he heard the whistle of a baton through the air at his periphery. He swayed left, dropping his knife into its sheath as sparks danced across his face, and then sprung right back. He vaulted up and onto the extended arm of his foe, and he could only imagine the shocked yellow eyes as he grabbed hold of the Shadow's mask with his free hand, his other going for his pistol.
"Drop." One hand tore the mask free, the other unloaded a triplicate of shots into the swimming mass of Shadow beneath. The guard started to tip, started to fall, and Ren sprung off the disintegrating flesh, towards the vent. Five feet. The twang of a bowstring. Three feet. The whistle of a rapier. One foot.
And Ren's feet pounded against the metal of the vent. He almost missed the first left, scrambling to a stop and lunging through the ducts as the sound of battle echoed off the walls behind him, fueling him on.
A left and a left and a right and a right and a left and Ren saw the wall and met it blade-first, Anachronism's knife sliding cleanly into the metal–
And reality pitched to the right.
Ren was standing in a dark alleyway, his fingers curled around nothing. The streetlights were buzzing softly. Someone was yelling something a few streets over, muffled by distance; a late night drunk, probably. He turned towards the closed-off end of the alleyway, his hand going towards his phone. His world ignited.
He froze. Someone was standing at the end of the alley, pointing a flashlight at him. Night guard? Property owner? No, this was government property, it wouldn't...
"Alright kid," the man said, too loudly, and Ren flinched. "Hands on your head, down on your knees." What? Why would a night guard...the glint of handcuffs beneath the light.
Ren wrenched his phone from his pocket, scrambling for the lock button. Click and click and then the phone was wrenched from his grasp and clattered to the concrete and "one of them here, I've got one here!" one of them one of them one of them and the cacophony of approaching footsteps as Ren was shoved against the alley wall. "Stop struggling!" And Ren stopped struggling.
As the handcuffs closed around his wrists, Ren was a thousand miles away.
11/19 – Saturday
Late Night
Interrogation Room
Fool Card: ?
Ren had less bruises this time. It was a small consolation. His first arrest, he'd been half concussed from his head being shoved into the roof of the police car in an effort to get him into the backseat. He hadn't struggled as much this time, so they'd gone easy on him. For now.
Good cop only went so far.
The room was barren. A cheap table and a cheap chair; the handcuffs binding Ren's wrists to the loop divot of the table were probably the most expensive thing in the room. Oh, and the security camera up in the corner, watching him from a ceiling perch. Ren stared and it stared back. An unblinking eye, with a little red light next to the lens.
The truth was hitting him in waves. He'd been caught leaving the Metaverse. They'd taken his bag. Cops, in Shido's pocket. They knew where he'd be. There had been dozens of them. He hadn't seen any of the other Thieves. They knew he was a Thief. None of them had called him by any name but "kid" or "this one" or "the Thief." Shido had his file. Shido had his Thief.
Ren was alone.
He leaned back, trying to settle into the chair. It resisted his efforts. Think, Ren. Anachronism had been brought here too. He got out. Sae Niijima. She was going to come talk to him. If Ren could get to her, if he could get her here...how the fuck was he supposed to do that!?
Okay, fine. Think of something else. Assuming, hoping, praying the other Thieves got to Mementos, they'd know he was gone, right? Akechi would. Akechi...was his position compromised? Shido was supposed to send tails, not fucking cops . Akechi was quicker than Ren. He wouldn't freeze up, not...he wouldn't, right? No, stop, think. Think .
SRU. Mitsuru and Naoto knew the plan, they'd know if something was wrong. They had...resources, what fucking resources could help here? They couldn't exactly beam a metaverse portal into an underground box!
...Ren didn't know what to do. Worse than that, he didn't even know where to start . Anachronism's experience, Joker's smarts, and...and Ren was completely and totally devoid of options. He was trapped .
The lightbulb in the ceiling flickered once, and began to dim. Ren glanced towards the failing bulb, and felt a sudden breeze shift through the stale air. When he looked back at the table, there was someone sitting across from him, wearing a tattered grey cloak, their face obscured.
"Hello, Ren," Oxymoron said. "I'm sorry."
Ren stared at her. "I've come full circle, huh? This was just..." He gestured weakly to the handcuffs. "This was fate? I'm always just going to end up in this fucking room?"
Her yellow eyes opened slowly. There wasn't an ounce of malice or pride behind them. Only fatigue. "This isn't your fate, Ren. You did everything right. Your exit strategy was sound. That officer was never supposed to be in that alley. This...is just bad luck." The Witch let out a long breath. "I'm not here of my own accord. Your family asked for my assistance."
His family. "The Thieves," panic leaking into his tone, "are they–"
"Safe. They escaped into Mementos. Not a single one is in danger."
Ren deflated back against the chair. "Okay. Okay." At least it was just him.
"I can't free you now," Oxymoron continued. "A prisoner vanishing of his own accord would risk the vengeance of your captor."
"Shido knows where I live," Ren said, his voice a croak. "Where my family lives." Futaba. Morgana. Sojiro. If he slipped out, they'd pay the price.
Oxymoron hummed in grim agreement. "As we speak, your allies are planning a means of obscuring your escape." Her head tilted, her eyes softened. "I do not know how long you will need to wait for them. I'm sorry."
How long. Hours? Days? A flare of fear boiled up in his gut and left his lips as anger. "What are you here for, then!?"
Oxymoron calmly reached into her cloak and pulled out a small syringe full of clear liquid. "Firstly, to deliver a gift. From Doctor Takemi. I assume you know its utility."
The anti-barbiturate. Heavy duty painkillers. Ren's eyes lingered on the needle, and he forced his focus away. "Just stick me when I'm not looking."
Clink . An empty vial on the table. "Done."
His left shoulder blade twinged with a tiny ounce of pain, as if it was surprised it had been hurt. "Thanks," he mumbled.
"And secondly." Oxymoron leaned forward slightly, her tone growing firm, and Ren's gaze fell back on her face. He could see her mouth move beneath the hood. "I will keep your interrogators occupied and distracted to the best of my abilities. I will keep them away from you for as long as I can without showing my hand." She leaned back, and her features fell once again into darkness. "I promise you, Ren Amamiya, that you will leave this room alive and free. I swear it."
"So long as you tell the truth, you'll be out of here before you know it! I promise. You are telling the truth, aren't you, █████?"
Three echoes of old cuffs weighing on his wrists, the metal digging into the scar across his left. Ren's lips wavered into a pained smile. "I've...been promised that before," he managed.
Oxymoron leaned forward again, her yellow eyes closer to golden fire. "Not. By. Me." Her voice was halfway to a growl.
The lightbulb above flickered, and brightened. Ren was alone again.
11/20 – Sunday
Morning?
Interrogation Room
Fool Card: ?
The officer extended a clipboard and a pen. "It's a confession in your name," he said.
Ren was on the floor, his back against the metal wall. His ribs ached. His wrists burned numbly. His head was buzzing and his thoughts were blurry.
"Sign here," the officer tapped the dotted line.
Ren couldn't imagine what this would feel like without painkillers. Every breath was a struggle.
The officer lifted the heel of his shoe and placed it down on Ren's leg, on the fresh bruise he'd put there minutes earlier. "I'm not asking , kid. Sign it."
Somewhere, a splinter named pride demanded him to refuse. He was better than this. He was a rebel, a trickster, a fighter. He didn't capitulate to threats.
'Somewhere' was very far away. Ren took the pen. He signed, with a shaky hand, a name that no longer belonged to him.
No food. No water. No knowing how much time had passed, but it felt like more than a few hours. Maybe the sun had risen. Maybe the bustle of the weekend morning had settled in Yongen-Jaya. But Ren was still here, in a metal chair, drifting in and out of troubled almost-sleep. Only a single police visitation, maybe that was something to celebrate. Ren might be jumping for joy if his body didn't still pulse with pockets of agony from that 'chat.'
The lock on the room's one door clicked, startling Ren to lucidity. He watched, his eyes blurry but attention alert, as the door opened.
"I'll give you an hour," came a man's voice from the hall. "Don't agitate the kid too much, Madame Prosecutor ." Bitterness leaked into his voice.
"I'll keep that in mind." A woman's voice now, as a figure strode into the room, out of the hallway's bright lights. The door closed, and the figure sat down across from him. Long silver hair, a sharp suit. Careful eyes the same near-crimson shade as her sibling's.
"Sae Niijima," Ren said, his own voice sounding hoarse in his ears.
Sae stared at him for a long time. "What did they do to you, Amamiya?" she asked, shaking her head in disbelief. Ren wasn't sure where to begin, but it seemed she wasn't actually waiting for his answer. "Here." A water bottle extended across the table. "It's unopened."
Something in the back of Ren's mind told him he should check the cap for puncture marks, and the thought solidified itself once he was halfway through his first gulp of water. He paused, choked slightly, and kept on drinking. Fuck it. There were plenty of drugs in his system as-is.
Sae waited for him to catch his breath before taking two items from her purse and placing them on the table as well, out of Ren's reach. Two cell phones, both in plastic bags. They'd been identical once. One of them was now crushed, a mess of twisted plastic and metal and broken glass. "An officer stepped on it," she said, catching Ren's stare. "We can't access the other one."
She tapped the remaining phone's screen through the bag and it lit up, displaying a parade of toothy circular cat faces with no eyes, silently laughing circles around a single sentence: "O Says NO!" in very familiar green text. O...Oxymoron? No, Osiris . Ren couldn't help but smile. Future-Past Futaba was still as much of a mischievous little genius as his Futaba was.
"How exactly did a sixteen year old felon get his hands on a piece of government-grade cryptography?" Sae asked.
Ren took a long breath. In and out. His ribs still ached. He didn't need Prosecutor Niijima here. If anyone was going to help, it would be Sae . "It was a gift from Futaba Sakura. My sister ."
Sae took that in silently. "You're in Sojiro's custody. You're not his child."
Bingo. Hitting on that rather than the fifteen year old with cryptography. He forced his smile to continue through the sting of her words. "I think that's up to him, not you. I'm honestly surprised you didn't know. Hasn't he told you? You're friends."
"I see," Sae said. She shook her head. "Stop playing at being some savant manipulator, please. It's a little bit pathetic." Her gaze was steady and cold. "I'm not interested in your mind games."
Ren sighed through his nose. Even with the water, his throat was still dry and sore. "Why are you here, then? I've already signed a confession." Joking off the shame. His right hand shuddered against the cuffs.
She hesitated. A long few seconds. She leaned back in her chair, letting out a long breath. "Makoto is gone," Sae said. Finally quiet, finally human . "She's not at home and she's not answering her phone. She always answers when I call her. I..."
A glance at him, almost a plea in her eyes. "Makoto gave me a calling card, and then vanished. I know...the case against you is solid. I don't need to be here, not as a prosecutor." Sae shook her head. "I'm here as her sister. That's all I am right now. Please tell me where she is, and I'll cut you a deal with the prosecution."
On the right path, Sae. Not quite there yet. "I don't want a deal," Ren said.
"What do you want?" Sae asked. Exasperated and desperate. "I..." She pursed her lips. "I'll do everything I can short of defending you myself. I swear, as soon as I confirm Makoto is safe, I'll help you. You have my word."
Here it was. The script fell into place. Ren smirked and opened his mouth and–
He couldn't remember his line.
The smile vanished. He floundered. What had Anachronism said? He'd said something here, something about...cards? No, no, that wasn't it, he'd been angry and bitter and Ren didn't feel bitter he just felt empty and small and fucking terrified .
"I need you to stay," he finally managed, halfway to a gasp, his unfocused eyes prickling. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry, I don't know what else to say. If I tell you where she is, you'll leave, and I...need you here or else everything falls apart, I just..."
The glare of the ceiling light caught on his glasses. The ceiling light. The Witch. Ren took an unsteady breath in. "Oxymoron?" His voice sounded so fucking frail. "I know you're there. Please, I need her to understand, if you care at all , please–"
Anachronism's phone lit up, buzzing repeatedly as its suddenly visible lock screen filled with texts. Ren tried to blink away the blur from his eyes to read the messages, but Sae got to them first. She spun the phone around, lifting it up, squinting at its screen.
Her expression shifted seamlessly from confusion to shock to horror to amazement. Eyes wide and distant, Sae placed the phone back on the table, screen down. "I," she said. "That's..." She shook her head. "Fuck. Fuck!" An echo of ineffectual anger. She ran a hand back through her hair. Glanced at Ren, and away, and back at him.
Sae took a long deep breath in. "Okay," she said. "I...I'll stay here. You need me here, Makoto needs me here." Looking as if she was amazed at the words leaving her mouth. "What..." Swallowing, closing her eyes for a moment. "What do I need to do to help you, Ren?"
Sae interlocked her fingers, staring intently at the back of Anachronism's phone, still face-down on the table. "You're describing teleportation. That's not cognitive pscience, that's cognitive pscience fiction." Ren glared at her, and she raised her hands in surrender. "Yes, fine, I'm sorry. Keeping an open mind." Sae pursed her lips into an odd strained smile. "Wakaba would have been yelling at me right now, I hope you realize that."
"I'll gladly yell at you too when I've had an actual breakfast," Ren grumbled. He gestured at the phone, the handcuff chain rattling against the table. "Palaces all have entrances and exits at specific real places." He wheezed as a sudden full body ache washed over him, every inch of skin prickling cold. "Most of the time...that's the same place. Mementos...isn't normal." Ren forced himself to catch his breath. "It's Tokyo's Palace. You can enter it anywhere, and we have...we have friends watching the exit." She didn't need to know about the MEER.
Sae considered that. "If all of Tokyo has the same Palace, how are there also other Palaces?"
"Are you...?" Ren held back his vitriol. The clock was running out, surely, but fine . "Tomatoes on a vine. All Palaces start in Mementos, until their distortion gets bad enough. It's where Treasures grow." Natsuki's Shadow tangled in roots, and the Yoshizawas on their gilded podium.
"That is...terrifying," Sae said.
"I'm shaking in my shoes," Ren said, deadpan.
Sae sent him a stern glare. "You're not doing either of us any favors by working yourself up.." She subtly jerked her head towards the camera, disguising it behind a stretch. " That can't hear us, but it can see us. So until you or 'Oxymoron' can figure out how to hide your vanishing act, just...try to keep a level head."
"Fine. Sorry." Ren glanced towards the camera. Was there something about it he hadn't considered? Maybe...he double-took. "Sae. Isn't the red light supposed to be on when I'm here?" Panic rising into his throat. They'd turned the camera off.
Her eyes slowly widened as the implication must have hit her too.
The door lock clicked open.
Sae lurched out of her seat, the chair screeching against the concrete floor. "My hour isn't up yet!" The Prosecutor layered atop a pane of panic. "Don't make...me..." Her voice failed.
"Take it up with my employer?" A cool, familiar voice. The click of well-fitting shoes. "You can place your grievance on the pile, Niijima. He has more important business than your hour ."
Ren squinted towards the scrawny frame backlit by the hallway's blinding lights. Well-combed hair. Two cold, sharp brown eyes bordering on crimson. "It's okay," he wheezed, relief flattening his lungs against his back. "She's with...with us. She's on board. She'll help."
Those eyes twinged towards something that, in Ren's lightheaded state, looked like softness. "In that case," the condescension was gone from his voice, replaced with dark and bitter fury. "Make yourself useful and unlock his handcuffs." A blur of motion, and Sae scrambled to catch whatever key he'd tossed to her. A pause, maybe a glare. Then she turned her attention to the cuffs.
"And to you: congratulations, Amamiya." Akechi finally stepped out of the light and into the room, as another, large figure filled in the space he'd left, pulling something metal in from the hallway. A man in a suit, wheeling in a stretcher with a black body bag atop it. "I'm about to save your life."
The barrel of a gun in another world, cold against his forehead, a memory of a dream of a world he didn't call home and a person he almost did.
Click. Click.
Sae dropped the key on the table and pulled the handcuffs from Ren's wrists. "Thanks," he mumbled, pushing his chair back, massaging the raw skin of his wrists. In the back of his mind, something kept asking him where he'd left his red gloves. Ren's gaze wandered over to the stranger in his suit, who was currently hefting the body bag off the metal stretcher. Greasy-looking black hair, a goatee, glasses. "Who is he?"
The man threw a glance at Ren, then returned to his work without a word.
"An officer under Shido's payroll," Akechi replied, pulling the stretcher back and away. "He was assigned to confirm that I did my job in murdering you." His tone was dismissive, paying more attention to the body bag than Ren or Sae. "But thanks to a charitable donation from the Kirijo Group, he graciously agreed to enable our alibi."
Akechi chuckled darkly, motioning the man away from the bag and kneeling down next to it. "Even if I actually murdered you, it's only a matter of time before Shido starts considering a witness like him a potential loose end. I think that knowledge...let's say: greased the wheels further."
Kirijo Group. Mitsuru. She'd counter-bribed a corrupt cop? Ren stared at the man, who seemed distinctly queasy. Maybe at the bag, maybe at conversation regarding his own disposability. "And after Shido falls?" Ren asked.
"I'm sure Miss Niijima would welcome another witness to Shido's corruption," Akechi said. He glanced towards Sae, who seemed distinctly overwhelmed. "You have filled her in on that, haven't you?"
"He mentioned it," Sae cut in. "The Thieves need me to prosecute Shido, and implicate his associates." She nodded towards the body bag. "Now, what is that? "
Akechi's expression turned sour. "Shido will want proof of Amamiya's death. He might want to trust his own eyes, rather than mine alone." The detective took a deep breath, reached over and pulled down the zipper on the body bag.
There was a pale girl inside the bag. She was wearing a hoodie, and her hair was short and black. Her eyes were closed and sunken, and Ren could almost see her hollow gaze through her eyelids. She was dreadfully, impossibly still.
"What the fuck, Goro?" Sae's tone was strained with horror.
"Who is she?" Ren asked, his own voice hoarse.
"A Jane Doe," Akechi replied, standing up and stepping away, adjusting his gloves. "No one knows her name, she arrived in the morgue a few days ago. Your file still lists you as female, so..." He grimaced. "I'm sorry. She was a year older than you, but close enough to fool him."
Jane Doe. A teacher's mumbling voice echoed through the fog in his skull, the remnants of some half-remembered lecture. Jane Doe: unidentified corpse. A couple days. No one knew who she was. No one was looking for her. No one could identify her. "How did she die?" Ren asked.
Akechi stared at him, something like confusion or concern in his gaze. "An overdose. Shido will be bribing the mortician not to test 'your' blood, since it might show the barbiturates. All he'll be looking for is a bullet." Akechi reached into his jacket and withdrew a small, familiar-looking pistol. A police handgun with a customized slide.
Sae sucked in a breath. Her face was rapidly approaching sheet-white. "You're going to desecrate a girl's corpse!?"
Akechi's face twitched, and he whirled towards her. "Do you have anything constructive or helpful to add, Sae? Or are you going to continue clutching your fucking pearls!?" He grit his teeth. "In case you haven't noticed, Shido just signed off on a group of police officers drugging a minor, beating a false confession out of him, and then murdering him in custody. I'm fairly certain the time for turning the other cheek has long since passed."
Akechi turned away, scoffing, throwing an aggressive nod towards the officer; the man immediately sprung into action, leaning down and gingerly easing the girl's body out of the bag, his lips pursed the entire time. "I'd gladly welcome an alternative solution," Akechi continued. "I'm not exactly eager for another mark on my fucking consience. If you can think of a way to ethically put a fake body with a gunshot wound into the SPD morgue, I'm all ears."
Sae opened her mouth, and closed it again. She didn't say a word.
"The Thieves agreed?" Ren asked. He couldn't look away from the girl. Jane Doe. A name assigned. Unwanted. Unknown.
"Unanimously," Akechi replied. "And not a single one did so gladly, nor lightly."
The man lifted Jane Doe out of the bag. Holding her remarkably gently, like a father might hold a daughter. Cradling a corpse. Ren tore his gaze away. "What now? Am I leaving with you?"
Akechi shook his head. "Too risky." He leaned over, nodding to the metal table. "Are either one of those phones still working?"
"One of them." Ren carefully stood, wincing at the pulses of pain that shot through his limbs. His body was making it extremely clear that it would rather he curl up into a ball right where he stood, please just ease himself onto the metal floor and close his eyes and wait for the hurt to stop. Ren stepped around the table, one hand on it for balance, and picked up Anachronism's phone in its plastic bag.
"The SRU has a gate open for you in Mementos," Akechi said.
Ren popped the bag open, discarding it and pulling out the cell. "Okay. Can I go now?" He sounded as desperate as he felt. More a plea than a question.
Akechi pulled a small metal cylinder from his jacket and placed it against the muzzle of the pistol, turning to screw it into place. A silencer. "Yes. Please do. We'll take care of things from here," throwing a sharp glance towards the still haunted-looking Sae.
"Thank you." Ren shifted his grip on the one. Okay, Futaba had told him...he clicked the lock button twice, then held it down.
The realization struck him a breath later: this was Anachronism's phone. Futaba hadn't installed the GoHo-ME on it.
The screen lit up, engulfed by a bright pixelated display. Ren squinted. An animated pair of bright red shoes? As he watched, the shoes shifted, their heels tapping against each other.
Tap.
Reality pitched to the left. Ren toppled forward, falling into the whirling maelstrom of red and black, into iterative sets of widened mouths and open jaws, through a net of grasping hands and idle teeth, a void that pulled and wrenched and wailed.
Tap.
Reality pitched to the right. Ren sucked in a pained, panicked breath. He was in a dark room. Back where he left!? No, no, it wasn't underground. Not a cell. The air was fresh and chill. He was sitting on something. A bench? A bench. He was inside. Fresh air inside. A glance to the left showed an open door out onto a sidewalk half lit by the grey of the early morning sky, sun unrisen but rising, and a line of washing machines . He was in the Yongen Jaya laundromat. Directly across the way from Leblanc. From home.
Tap.
Ren brought his attention back to the phone in his hand. The pixel display of the shoes kept on tapping away, but now they were accompanied by an equally pixelated line of text:
There's no place like home.
Ren lurched upright, stumbling but not falling, making his way to the doorway as relief began to drown out his lucidity. He grabbed the frame, braced himself, and kept going.
There's no place like home.
Four long unstable steps and Ren's hand found the cafe's handle and pulled the door open, his eyes glazing over at the bright lights and moving bodies within. Someone shrieked, and it sounded like his name. A large figure bolted around the countertop, blocking out the light, his eyes wide behind his glasses.
There's no place like home.
Ren stopped holding on. He closed his eyes and involuntarily tilted forward, toppling over into his father's arms. The harmony of familiar voices became both an elegy and a lullaby. Ren let go, and every stimulus fell away into the pervasive, steady dark of slumber.
There are not enough words in the English language to express my gratitude, so I'll just say: thank you Jane for your amazing notes and your presence in my life. Thanks also to Dave for help with a few sections, Ralu for ongoing brainstorming backup, and Rabbit for her continued enthusiasm and inspiring writing.
And thank you all, readers, for your patience.
