I changed the Cover for the story, the Elizabeth image was nice and all but I decided to make a cover myself just to be on the safe side, its not great by any means but i felt its got more of an "Homemade" feel to it, right? (I'm bad a Photoshop)
Chapter 4: Justice's Proposal
Ren was guided to an empty chair in the lobby, although he has traveled in and out of the Velvet Room hundreds of times in Tokyo it seemed that this forced exit took a toll on him, a mild headache was setting in and he didn't feel all that great physically either, doesn't help that it seemed that from Fuuka's and Naoto's point of view they encountered him in the elevator when it reached the first floor, greeted him, but he did nothing at all, he just stood there ignoring them until he suddenly "woke up".
-"Are you sure you're okay?, we wanted to continue where we left yesterday but if there's any problem with your health that takes priority"- Ren was covering his forehead and part of his eyes with his hand, and although he wasn't feeling great it wasn't something to put him out of commission.
Dismissing it with his free hand he answered rather weakly -"I'm fine, just need to catch my breath a little"- Before neither of them could say anything they turned their attention to a noise coming from behind Ren, more specifically, his bag.
-"Owowoow, my head…"- Said bag started to move around and seconds later Morgana came out of it and just managed to land on the floor of the lobby, clearly still affected of what the two of them just experienced it.
-"You too huh? poor little thing"- Fuuka bent down and picked up Morgana from the floor, who was still clearly not in his best condition… and obviously didn't mind her concern.
-"Did you have breakfast yet?, we wanted to return the favor from yesterday's food, we can chat after that"- Naoto's proposition was interesting, and he wouldn't mind having something to eat, talking with these too was an added bonus, he nodded and got up from the chair where he was sitting.
-"Please lead the way"-
The four of them got out of the lobby and went in direction to the train station, it Seems Naoto was a little bit familiar with the area, she explained that she worked for a brief period of time in this part of Kobe and knew a few places to go, from Ren's point of view it seemed that neither of his companions wanted to press the issue yet, maybe because of his condition which, thankfully, was getting better little by little, still unknown to him why he experienced such side effects from exiting that Velvet Room.
The group arrived at a restaurant that was near the Train station, it was not so far away from the main street of that part of the city but it seems that only some locals knew about it, which made it a perfect spot for them to talk.
-"Wow Shirogane-san, I didn't know you were so knowledgeable about restaurants in the area, this place looks adorable!"- And it did, it was a really small, cozy place, only five tables which none were occupied probably because it was just around 11 AM, so quite early for dinner rush… if this place experienced rush that's it.
-"The person I was working with at the time was the one that found this little place, you should thank him."- The old man that was behind the counter greeted them and handed them menus, each picked their own and ordered what they wanted, Morgana letting Ren know what to order for a to-go meal.
The dishes arrived rather quickly and the three of them started to eat, however there was silence at the table, only the sound of plates and utensils moving around were heard, although peaceful Ren knew that he wasn't going to get anywhere by just eating and answering their questions, so he decided to take the initiative.
Finishing his rice and pork bowl he cleaned his mouth with one of the napkins on the table and asked. -"So… Morgana. Why can you hear him?"-
-"Would it help for the sake of this conversation to let you know that we both are persona users?"- Ren nodded, at least they were being direct about it.
-"So you two have entered the Metaverse then?"- This time it was Morgana making the question, however the two girls looked puzzled by the cat's statement.
-"I don't believe I know what the metaverse you're referring is but by how you said it, I think it's something similar to what Shirogane-san and myself have dealt with, I personally knew it as The dark hour"-
-"And I knew it as the Midnight Channel"-
-"H-huh? Are there more metaverses out there with different names? I haven't heard of this!"- Morgana seemed to be quite upset about it, Ren remembered how he introduced himself as a Metaverse expert willing to strike a deal with him and Ryuji to navigate Kamoshida's castle, so telling him something about the metaverse that he didn't know was exceptionally rare.
-"I'm not the expert on the topic, but from what I could piece together is that all the places where we could use our Personas are tied to some degree to the Collective unconscious. A realm where just a few people can enter."- Although Naoto offered a pretty sound explanation for the discrepancy at hand Morgana seemed to be debating with himself if accepting that as truth or not.
-"Continuing in why we wanted to talk with you about all of this"- Their attention turned to Fuuka, who just finished her meal. -"The two people that we showed you last night have a lot to do with the problems that we have encountered in this Metaverse place, that's why we're looking for your help."
Ren could see why Dr. Maruki's actions would cause problems in the Metaverse, he altered it to his own free will after all, however, he didn't knew how Akechi was fitting into all of this, what he and the others concluded is that he met his end in Shido's Ship and that his return was in the same vein of Wakaba and Makoto's Father, an Illusion that ended alongside the Doctor's reality.
Yet he still remembered that sensation in the train station.
It was brief, less than a second, but in that small period of time while he wasn't looking out of the train's window Ren felt as if Akechi was… there, somehow, although initially he dismissed and thought it was his mind playing tricks on him.
-"Maybe it was not the case"- Ren stayed silent, but the possibility that Akechi was still out there, trapped in the metaverse somehow was… awkward, to say the least, he didn't knew how to feel about it, but if he wanted to find out more about this situation then he would have to cooperate with the Shadow Operatives, although making a decision without Futaba's information would be reckless.
Another thing to consider was that Mark of approval that Elizabeth mentioned, he knew that Fuuka had the Navigator, but wasn't sure if Naoto had it, and in any case, what was Elizabeth trust to him?, he just met her less than a day ago, and they haven't really had one normal conversation in that velvet room of hers.
-"Alright, I'm gonna be honest"- Ren was trying to encounter a middle ground between playing it safe and finding more information from the source itself, said sources staring at him, hoping for a cooperation agreement -"I haven't made up my mind yet, I have to talk with my team about it, I cannot make this decision alone."-
Naoto sighed, Ren could sense a very faint hint of exasperation in that action, maybe he was already getting on her nerves, on the other hand Fuuka looked like he was expecting that answer, the braided woman turned her neck to her side to face the detective -"Taking his past into account his reaction to us coming out of the blue it's completely normal"
-"I know, I'm not blaming him, but the sooner we can get this done the better."-
-"Is there any reason why they need to wrap this out quickly? are they low on time?, maybe I could use that…-
-"Is there a problem, Shirogane-san?"- Ren asked, maybe too innocently.
She could detect his intent, however the detective was running out of options. If possible she wanted to seal the deal in this very table, so the best path forward would be to concede more information
-"I cannot tell you completely until we have an Agreement in place, however, let me ask, you're familiar with the "Detective Prince" title that Akechi kid had, right?"- Ren nodded, nothing out of the ordinary, as of yet.
-"I was a detective prince too, albeit some years ago, the news took an interest in me due to my Grandpa and my work with the police while i was in Highschool"- Ren had his questions regarding Naoto being a prince he thought that she could pass well enough… if not for her endowed features, however, he kicked those thoughts out of his mind and kept listening.
-"Although I'm the one that started it, Akechi-kun was the one that popularized it to the masses in the big city and nationwide, however i had my reservations, he only focused in metal shutdown cases, and somehow avoided all questions regarding his MO, i thought something was weird, so I did my own investigation, eventually leading me, and by proxy, the Shadow Operatives to you."-
After the explanation provided by the detective Ren remembered something, it's kinda hazy but… there was one time at Leblanc, while he was having breakfast he saw an interview with Akechi on the Tv of the cafe, more than that, if his memory was right he remembered the host saying something about another detective prince, so that was Naoto Shirogane they were referring to back then? How much does she know about us and the Phantom Thieves?,
Fuuka complemented -"Aside from that, it seems that the "Detective Prince" as a concept is causing problems too, although that's a little bit more complicated"- She raised her sign, signaling the server to come in, opening her purse to pay for the food.
-"If you're not convinced yet, come see us in… let's say 4 hours from now, around 3 PM in the train station."- She stood up from her chair and without looking at Ren said one last thing before leaving -"Come prepared to engage in Shadow related activities, if you know what that means."- Fuuka left after her, not before a -"See you later"- at the Phantom thieves direction.
Ren and Morgana picked their things up and planned to head to the apartment to regroup, they thought that they wouldn't have to fight shadows anymore, but it seemed that was about to change, they were talking about what to expect about the duo they have been engaging with these last two days, before they could continue there was a notification coming from Ren's phone, currently located in his pocket.
It was a notification from his messaging app, specifically from Futaba, it seems that she did her "sidequest" quite fast, hopefully she could throw some light into their situation. He started to walk towards his apartment, tapped her icon and hoped for the best.
Futaba (F): Sup!, got some information for you. Imma dump it all here and let me know when the delivery of that Kobe meat is going to arrive, already looking up to it!
(F): So regarding these "Shadow Operatives" guys, there's almost nothing regarding them on the Web, the only thing I could find is about some weird incident that happened in the countryside some years ago, but I could find only vague mentions, nothing definitive.
(F): So they have either covered their tracks extremely well or that's the only instance where they were deployed!
(R): That's weird to say the least, but thanks anyways, anything about the two persons i told you?
(F): Yeah!, regarding Fuuka Yamagishi… She's completely off the web. It's like she doesn't use the internet at all, and if she does she's an expert in not leaving any marks. If she wasn't I would have known about them! The only thing I could find about her was that she graduated from Gekkoukan High and a College in Tokyo years later.
(R): She mentioned she was the head of IT for these Shadow Operatives guys.
(F): Ohhh! Maybe she IS an IT goddess more than a ghost, I would like to meet her!
(R): Wanting to meet someone after just finding out they existed about 2 hours ago, are you sure you're Futaba?
(F): I have made a lot of progress in my social stats! You should be proud, not tease me about it!
(R): Just joking, and what about Naoto Shirogane?
(F): She's the heir of the Shirogane family, her bloodline is filled with amazing detectives! Currently holds rank in the police force as a detective but acts as a PI on occasion if needed.
(R): A private investigator?
(F): Yep, and another thing about her, it seems that she started working on cases very young, like, my age young, and rose through the ranks in her local police force, which attracted the media and gave her a lot of coverage in whatever she was dealing with.
(R): Deja vu?
(F): A lot, interestingly enough, the place where she started to become famous was in that small town in the countryside where the Shadow Operatives acted years back, I believe its called "Inaba", although the times don't match, the her police work started around 2 years before the Incident.
(R): Thanks for your help, Futaba, let me know if you find something else.
(F): My pleasure, forget the Kobe meat for now, if you can get this IT Goddess Fuuka's number please send it my way!
(R): Heh, I'll see what i can do.
-"Well, that's a lot to process"- Morgana was looking at his phone as usual to stay updated on the messages of the other Phantom Thieves. -"Wonder what that incident was and how those two ended up working for that group".-
-"For the time being that doesn't matter, let's get ready, we're here."- Ren and Morgana disappeared into the lobby of the apartment lobby, with nothing but the date they will have with the Shadow Operatives in a couple of hours in their minds.
Author here, Sorry that I wasn't able to maintain the speed of my uploads, work got quite hectic and my college semester just started, but I'm happy that I managed to finish this chapter already, longest to date! also, idk if this its a good format for the text messages, I don't plan on using them that much anymore buuuut in the case that i do end up using them i would like to know if its something readable.
Also what do you think about the paralles between Akechi and Naoto?, I'm adding my own spin to an idea that I read on a fic a while back that tried to do something similar but i can't remember the name nor the author of it. Need to search for that, and credit them properly if I do find it.
Edit: For some reason i Mixed Yasogami High with Gekkoukan High, my bad, fixed it already and thanks to bwburke94 for pointing it out.
Anyways, thank you for reading, see ya later.
