Aigis: Hello everyone. My name is Aigis and I shall be introducing the next chapter.

Ren: Aigis?

Aigis: I am here to introduce the next chapter as well as observe you for I may need your help in the future.

Ren: *Narrows eyes* what do you mean?

Aigis: We will see in time. Enjoy the chapter everyone.

Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Twenty – Three

[Opening Scene: Batting Cages (Daytime)
Theme of Hanging Out: Afternoon Break from Persona 3]

"I am still stunned that he had that change of heart," Ryuji said to Ann, Morgana, and Ren as Ren stepped onto the plate.

After school let out, Shiho was immediately taken home by her parents, and Haru's father took her away as well for some reason, leaving the four of them alone to hang out.

"And he didn't die or have his brain melted. We won out," Ren said before the ball shot out from the cannon. Ren swung and missed the ball.

"Strike 2, Ren-Ren!" Ryuji yelled out from behind the cage.

"Well, we all can't be perfect!" Ren yelled back before getting ready for his third try.

"But I wonder…Does this mean that they won't have a mental shutdown even if their palace disappears?" Morgana thought out loud as he laid across Ryuji's shoulders, his eyes at the medal that Ryuji had around his neck.

"Seems like it," Ann happily said while she munched on a cupcake.

"W-Where did you get that?" Ryuji asked, perplexed.

"Cupcake button," Ann replied instantly.

"B-But we don't have a button…Anywhere!" Ryuji responded.

"Then where did I get this cupcake?" Ann pondered.

Morgana and Ryuji stared at her long and hard, which caused a defensive "What?" to come from the blonde girl.

Ren walked out of the cage, grumbling as he sat down beside his friend, only to look at the cupcake in Ann's hand. He looked back at Ryuji and Morgana, who equally looked baffled.

"What?!" Ann exclaimed.

The trio shook their head before Morgana said, "Anyways, if that's the case, then this opens up a new door. As long as we persuade the shadow and send it back to its real self, they get the change of heart, but they don't suffer the death part of that."

"So we can get them to confess with no bad effects? How badical!" Ryuji exclaimed before he paused and muttered, "But…that assumes that we're going to keep doing this."

"Wait…You mean changing more hearts?" Ann asked.

"Yeah…I mean…I dunno. Maybe it's the hype beast in me talking, but we made a difference. Kamoshida made Shujin a place of fucking terror, and not only did we stop him, but we also made him confess to everything he did," Ryuji explained before he looked to Ren and added, "And that's just the monster we knew. Who knows what evil lurks out there."

"But that depends on if everyone has a Metaverse thing as he did," Ann said.

"It's possible," Morgana said. "A palace is something that can appear in anyone if their heart became warped from their desires. It's all about finding them, though…" Morgana then licked his paw and rubbed his face before he added, "But, that's if you guys want to keep doing this."

Ren opened his mouth to speak but saw a painting of a woman with a red shirt and black hair appear in his mind. But as fast as the image appeared, it vanished.

Ren shook his head with a wince and rubbed his temples.

What was that?

"Let's shelve this discussion until Shiho and Haru get back," Ren said. "I think we should lay low and be good little boys and girls."

"Yeah…That's a good point," Ann said. "Especially with the rumors going around."

Ren raised an eyebrow curiously and asked, "Rumors?"

"Yeah, have you looked at our school website chat? A lot of our classmates think we have something to do with the Phantom Thieves, considering that Kamoshida called us all out by name in his confession," Ann said.

"It makes sense, but the hell, man?" Ryuji groaned out.

"Yeah. The people aren't going to believe that the Phantom Thieves exist easily. Hell, we don't even know if they exist yet," Ann said. "For now, the calling card's being treated like it was either us or someone close to us that knew of Kamoshida's wrongdoings."

"Hmm, perhaps we should have someone investigate these rumors. They are painfully close to us already," Ren said, but then he shrugged. "But let's just let everything die down a bit."

"Right? Anyways, we should see how much Kamoshida's medal can be sold for," Ryuji said with a mischievous grin.

"Good call. We can't be seen with that anyway. Might as well pawn it off," Ann said as she pulled out her phone and began to search, and after two minutes, she said, "Thirty-Thousand Yen."

"What?! That's all a gold medal's worth?!" Ryuji yelled.

"Looks like it. That means you can pay me back," Ann said.

At the look of confusion on Ryuji's face, Ann smiled and elaborated further with, "Remember that time I lent you some money back in middle school?"

"Oi! There's no way I borrowed that much money!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"I don't know. Wouldn't it be around that much with compounded interest?" Ann asked curiously.

"Interest my ass!" Ryuji retorted.

"Well…Perhaps we could find another way for you to pay me back?" Ann suggested with a coy grin.

"Oh? And how will we do that?" Ryuji questioned with a tilt of his head.

Ann's grin grew before she said, "We'll talk later about it. Just be prepared; you have a long way to go to repaying me, Sakamoto." Ann then smiled and walked away with an extra bounce in her step, leaving the befuddled Ryuji and the amused duo of Ren and Morgana behind.

"W-What just happened?" Ryuji asked.

"Moron," Morgana said with a laugh before he leaped into Ren's backpack.

"What?" Ryuji said defensively.

Ren could only smirk.

[Scene Change: Café LeBlanc (Afternoon)
Theme of Café LeBlanc: Beneath the Mask From Persona 5]

"Hey, you're here."

Ren closed the door to the café and saw Sojiro behind the counter pouring a cup of coffee for himself. "Hello Sojiro-san," Ren said with a wave. "How was your day?"

"Same old, same old," Sojiro said. "I heard about what happened at your school. It's been all over the news."

"The news? Already? It just happened today," Ren said with surprise.

"Yeah. The vultures work fast when it's a disgraced former celebrity," Sojiro replied with a sigh. "Things might be getting turbulent at school, but you need to keep your head down, all right?"

"Understood, Sojiro-san," Ren replied with a nod.

Sojiro nodded and said, "I know you just walked in, but I need some assistance from you."

"No problem," Ren said with a smile. "Just point me where you need me."

Sojiro shot him a grin and motioned to the sink to his right side. "Those dishes can be the first thing." Ren nodded, hung up his school jacket, and placed his bag in a chair before rolling up his sleeves and heading to the sink.

The café was quiet as Sojiro and Ren cleaned up, but then, Ren felt his phone vibrate as his ringtone rang out.

(I tried hard, but where did we go wrong?)

Ren dried his hands and pulled out his phone as the ringtone continued.

(I hope we could... but I won't start all over again. Mid-day Street wa-)

Without thinking, Ren answered the phone with, "This is Amamiya's Pizza Shop, Ren speaking."

"Even after all this time, you still answer with that," a familiar voice said tenderly, which caused Ren to stiffen at the voice.

"Mom…" Ren whispered. "H-Hey, I gotta lot of work to do here so I'm going to have t-"

"Wait, Ren…Please…" His mother replied swiftly, a begging tone in her voice. "Don't go. I want to talk to you. Please?"

Ren felt like punching the air, but he hated hearing how sad his mother was despite it all.

"H-Hold on…" Ren said before he looked to Sojiro with a pleading look, half of him wanting the man to take his phone and the other half wanting him to let him go from cleaning to speak to her.

"Go ahead, kid, I can finish up. You've been a great help," Sojiro said with an understanding smile.

Ren nodded his thanks and went to grab his back, which was surprisingly lighter. 'Morgana probably snuck out at some point while we were cleaning,' Ren thought as he walked upstairs into his room and shut the door.

"Alright, mom," Ren said while he walked to his bed and plopped down on it. "What's up?"

"I…I wanted to see how you were," She replied.

"Hasn't Sojiro-san been keeping you and dad up to date on me?" Ren questioned.

"He has," his mother replied softly. "But it's always good to hear from your own child's lips how he's feeling."

"Wow, I'm honestly surprised you want to hear me say how I'm feeling," Ren said, unable to stop the bitterness and pain from showing in his voice. "Since I doubt you'd believe me anyway."

[Theme of Sadness: Living with Determination from Persona 3]

"Ren…I know you're upset about what happened, and believe me, if there were any other way, I would have done it…" His mother responded with remorse thick in her voice.

"But you didn't," Ren retorted gently. "You and Dad just took their side over mine. No hesitation. No mercy. You just allowed them to do that to me. Why?"

His mother was silent for a moment before she replied, "Just…Believe me when Is say, it wasn't what I wanted to do. I had to go along with it. There's a lot of things that you don't know, Ren. A lot of issues that you can't see. I just need you to know that I miss you, and this is hurting me just as much as it's hurting you…"

Ren could hear his mother's voice wavering as if she was struggling to hold back tears, and for a moment, he wanted to reach out to her and tell her that it was all okay, but he couldn't.

It wasn't okay anymore.

"How can I believe that, mom?" Ren asked after a moment of silence, his eyes watering as he continued with, "As much as it stings, I knew Dad would be a dick but you? You called me a criminal that deserved the worst when all I did was do the right thing. How could I…"

Ren took a deep breath and blinked multiple times, tears falling down his eyes before he asked, "How can I believe anything you just said after hurting me like this?"

There was silence on the other end before he heard his mother take a shuddered breath.

She was crying…

"Oh, Ren…" She whimpered. "Oh, my baby boy…I know that it doesn't seem like we care. That our words about our son didn't hurt us, but we do, and they did…" Ren then heard the door behind her open, and suddenly, her voice got low as she told him, "I-I don't have a lot of time left now….When this is all over, you can be angry at me, you can hate me, you can do anything you wish to me, and I deserve it, but I need you to understand something vital."

"Mom?" Ren asked, his eyes squinted as his face morphed into one of confusion and concern.

"Ren…This world is not a kind one, and it will destroy you at any chance the second you slip up, so stay on your toes, think wisely, and when things get tough, be strong, okay?" His mother asked. "Promise me you'll be strong."

"Mom?" Ren asked again, his voice rising just a bit.

"I have to go. I love you, Ren," his mother said before the line went dead.

"Mom?!" Ren yelled in alarm. He immediately called her back, but it went straight to voicemail. Undeterred, Ren called two more times, but each call went to voicemail. Finally, he set his phone down and began to think.

She sounded so scared before she hung up, but why?

[Scene Change: Yacht (Afternoon)
Theme of Restlessness: This Mysterious Feeling from Persona 3]

Haru was bored.

Despite her father saying he would return on Friday, he arrived earlier than expected.

So when school let out, her father appeared in a limo, took her away, and flew her to this lavish party on a boat with her beloved Sugimura. She sat in the corner as she watched her father and Sugimura talk to a woman, both of which were in an enthusiastic conversation.

"Is this seat taken?" A voice said from beside her.

Haru looked up to see a girl with long dark hair with bangs and a red hair accessory resembling a rope with a three-leaf clover. She also wore a white dress with a checkered pattern consisting of white, orange, blue squares, and black shoes.

But all Haru noticed was her dark green eyes.

"N-Not at all," Haru replied as she quickly looked forward, her cheeks reddening slightly.

"Thanks. This party sure is something, isn't it?" The girl asked dryly.

"Yeah, it's something alright," Haru replied with a pleasant, albeit reserved tone. "Honestly, I wish to be at home."

The girl chuckled and said, "Same. I could be practicing for an upcoming match, but mother loves to drag me to these things."

"Upcoming match?" Haru asked.

"Yes. I have a Shogi match-up against Himawari Maya in a few weeks. Nice girl but fairly young to be facing me," The girl answered with a wry smile. "Doesn't matter anyway. I'll win. Just like I always do."

Haru then realized that she was speaking to the "Too Beautiful Shogi Player" Togo Hifumi, the Female Shogi League's reigning and defending champion.

'They weren't joking about the "Beautiful" part of her moniker,' Haru thought before she said out loud, "I see. Well, I hope you win all the same. I'm Okumura Haru."

Haru held her out, and Hifumi stared at her hand before she reached out and shook it as she replied, "Togo Hifumi. It's nice to meet you."

Haru smiled.

Ren: And that is the end of this chapter. I left some hints in this chapter so I hope you guys catch them. Until the next chapter!