Rain: Hey guys! Rain here and I have an announcement to make. Hey guys…Rain here and this is MY last chapter for Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate I had so much fun on but I want to focus more on my book and doing this and FF (For me) has been more harming than good so I decided to end my time here.
Originally, I was going to delete all of my fics but my cousin Blues convinced me that not only should they stay up but he can take over so I'm leaving all my fics in his capable hands. Besides, he's played through Royal so he knows it better than I do.
I want to thank every single person that has reviewed my stories and no worries, each of my fics will get their last chapter with me as the main writer but after that, It's all Blues. So sit back, relax and enjoy the show!
Persona V: Reversing the Wheel of Fate
Chapter Thirty
[Opening Scene: Shibuya - Takamaki Residence (Evening)
[Theme of Gentleness: Memories of the School From Persona 3]
(I tried hard but where did we go wrong?
I hope we could... but I won't start all over again.)
The sun was setting when Ren found himself waking up from the vibration in his right pocket, the familiar tune of "Way of life" coming out muffled.
Ren found himself cuddled close against Ann, his forehead pressed against her chest, their arms loosely wrapped around one another protectively. At first, Ren was confused, but the memory of how he wound up here flashed through his mind.
He bared his soul to Ann.
Ren wasn't prepared to do something that he wasn't able to do, but talking to his parents and seeing Sumire again had awakened the raw hurt he had forced down when he got on that train to stay with Sojiro.
But despite it, he felt more at ease from the outburst of emotions. Unlike when he had to battle the world back in his hometown, he was not alone here. And his new friends had shown him this.
Ren pulled his phone out and saw that it was Sojiro who was calling him. Ren answered the phone and placed it to his ear, and mumbled, "Hello?"
"Kid! Where in the world are you?!" Came Sojiro's angry voice.
Ren gently pulled back from Ann's grasp, which caused her to open her eyes sleepily. "Ren?" she groggily questioned as she leaned up from the couch.
"Kawakami-san called and said that you never showed up to her class and you didn't come here, so where are you?!" Sojiro shouted.
"I'm sorry," Ren said genuinely. "I…I had something bad happen today, and I couldn't take it. I know it doesn't make up for me leaving, but I was in a terrible place mentally…"
There was silence on the other line before Ren heard a low sigh come from Sojiro. "Just get back to the café, kid. We'll talk more there, okay?" Sojiro asked.
"Okay, Sojiro-san," Ren said before the line went dead and his cellphone switched off. Ren suddenly felt guilty. Sojiro sounded stressed out. He was a grump, but he gave Ren a place to call home and didn't want to stress him.
Maybe he should do something for him as a thank you.
"Well, I better get going," Ren said softly. "But before I do…I just wanted to say thank you…"
Ann eyed for a moment before she shook her head and smiled, still a little groggy from being woken up.
"Ren, you never have to thank me for being there. After everything we've been through with Kamoshida…With all of us share our shame, failures, and triumph. I feel like you, Shiho, Haru, Morgana are like my siblings…I can't see myself without any of you now. And I can't let one of us hurt so much," Ann told him. Ann then reached over and placed a kiss on his forehead and said, "So cheer up. We'll face her together if we see her. I won't let you be alone ever again."
Ren felt touched by the gesture to the point he felt his eyes watering, but he pushed it back and smiled at her. "I know I don't have to but thank you, Ann…" Ren said.
Ann merely smiled in response.
Ren then blinked in confusion. "Wait…You didn't mention Ryuji at all during that…" Ren said to her. Ann blushed a bit at this.
"Ryuji is…In a different level than the rest of you. I don't know where to place him yet," Ann admitted. "He's more than a friend and a sibling, but I don't know how…"
"What do you mean, Ann?" Ren asked.
"I…I um…D-Don't you have to see Sojiro-san?" Ann asked him, obviously flustered by his question.
Ren squinted his eyes at her in suspicion as he said, "Hmm, Okay, I'll leave you off the hook but eventually, you'll need to tell me how you see him."
"Well…Are you able to help me with that?" Ann asked him. "I don't mean to put you on the spot, but I've been feeling these feelings for him, and It's confusing to wade through it alone an-"
"I'll be happy to," Ren responded with a grin on his face.
"Really? Wow…T-Thank you…I can't promise that I'll make sense a lot of the time, but I want to figure this out and will do what I can to do it," Ann told him with a wide grin.
It was then Ren heard that familiar voice in his head.
"I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Lovers Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…"
"When you're ready to start your investigation about your feelings, let me know. For now, I better get going. No need to get Sojiro even angrier at me," Ren said before the two shared a tight and supportive hug.
Ren pulled back and made his way to the living room doorway. He turned around and said, "See you tomorrow, Sis."
The enormous smile on Ann's face had him smiling all the way home.
[Scene Change: Shibuya - Café LeBlanc (Evening)
Theme of Café LeBlanc: Beneath the Mask From Persona 5]
"I see," Sojiro said as Ren sat in front of him.
LeBlanc was empty, and it was just the two of them sitting in the middle booth, sitting across from one another with a cup of coffee in front of them. The minute Ren had arrived back at the café, Sojiro was there waiting for him.
Instead of trying to bullshit the older man with a lie, Ren swallowed his reservations and told the man the truth about why he cut the rest of the school day.
Even if it was in the attic of his store, the man gave him a home—no sense in disrespecting him by lying. "Considering the situation, I can't be too angry at you," Sojiro said after he took a sip of coffee. "But I have to ask. Why didn't you come to me with these problems?"
"Admittedly, Sojiro-san, you have done so much to help me," Ren admitted. "You gave me a home and put up with me. I didn't want to drag you down when you already aren't too thrilled with me…."
Ren glanced at the coffee cup that sat in his hands.
Sojiro let out a soft sigh and asked, "Did you know I have to report to your Probation Officer twice a month?"
Ren nodded.
"With the incident with Kamoshida and your attack by the students under his employ, it's been a pain in my ass to report all of that. However, both your Probation Officer and I know that those incidents were out of your control," Sojiro continued. "The emotional aspect of you leaving today, I am willing to say that is not under your control either. You got dealt a shit hand, and having to confront it can make you react," Sojiro told him.
"However, how you react is in your control, and I don't need your ass doing poorly in school or skipping it because of facing your past," Sojiro admonished. "Which is why whenever something like this happens again, you come to me and talk to me. No more skipping school, Ren, because if anything happens, you got to juvie, and we can't have that. You're a pain in my ass, but I see there's something good in you, and I don't want to see that wasted. Got it?"
Ren nodded.
"Good," Sojiro said before Sojiro's ringtone went off.
(I did it so hard. I did my best
So, a bit (heart). I ask you just a little bit
Quickly chocolate. Please give me chocolate quickly!
Pass me chocolate! Chocolate, please!)
"I-Is that Baby Metal?" Ren asked with a snicker, but a quick stare from Sojiro stopped the laugh in its tracks.
Sojiro answered the phone and said, "Hey…Hm? What's the matter? Hm, yeah, I'm leaving now, just closing up the shop. The usual, right? *chuckle* Alright. See you soon."
Ren noticed a slight smile on Sojiro's face as the older man stared at the phone for a moment, then shook his head and placed it back in his pocket.
"Now, before this happened, I was going to ask you something when you got home. As you can tell, I'm busy with my work life and personal life, and I wanted to see if you would be willing to work for me. You won't be doing it for free. If you help me out, I will teach you out to make the perfect cup of coffee," Sojiro said.
"I do love my coffee, and I did want to do something as a thank you for putting up with me…" Ren said with a thoughtful expression before he nodded and smiled. "Count me in."
"Good. I'll be counting on you now, kid," Sojiro said with a grin.
And like with many others before, the mysterious voice appeared in his head.
"I am thou, thou art I…
Thou hast acquired a new vow.
It shall become the wings of rebellion
That breaketh thy chains of captivity.
With the birth of the Hierophant Persona,
I have obtained the winds of blessing that
shall lead to freedom and new power…"
'I am never going to get used to that…' Ren thought.
[Scene Change: Shibuya - Okumura Residence (Evening)
[Theme of Building Affection: Brand New days -The Beginning- from Persona 3: FES]
"Would you like some tea?"
Hifumi looked up at Haru and nodded with a flustered expression.
This was the first time Hifumi had been over someone's house before, and she should have expected Haru to have a beautiful home, but beautiful would be understating Haru's home.
"I have to admit," Haru began as she poured a cup of tea and handed it to Hifumi on a saucer. "You showing up at Shujin was not something I expected today."
Hifumi took the cup and smiled as she took a sip of the tea.
It tasted magnificent.
"I told you, Haru-chan. There is no force alive that could keep me from obtaining what I want," Hifumi said as she sat the teacup and saucer on the table. "Did you think I would give up? Especially how you left it?"
"I was hoping you would," Haru softly admitted. "I was hoping you would stay far away from me. Keep me from your thoughts. But I guess I failed in that regard."
"I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," Hifumi told her. "Not since that night. I hated that you walked away from me, especially after taking my first kiss. Why did you kiss me?"
Haru looked away from Hifumi before she said, "It was a combination of reasons. The first was the setting. We were on a boat, in the middle of the ocean, the sun was setting, and it amplified your beauty, which should be considered a crime."
Hifumi laughed at this, her cheeks reddening.
"But truthfully, my heart took control and moved my body into action. If it were up to my mind, I would have left, as I did after the kiss, but my heart wanted to tell how I felt. That kiss told you that I didn't want to leave you," Haru admitted. "It made no sense. It still doesn't. We only knew each other for such a short time, and yet, these feelings appeared and I haven't been able to stop them."
"When I first saw you on the boat sitting all alone, something drew me to you. It was like this invisible force that wouldn't stop pestering me from walking over to you until I was there. When I looked into your eyes, I realized that there was something special about you," Hifumi told her. "And after spending time with you and you leaving after that kiss, I realized that you took more than just a piece of me."
Hifumi summoned all of the courage she had and walked over to the couch Haru was sitting on and sat beside her, prompting Haru to look at her with shimmering brown eyes. "I've been miserable without you, Haru-chan," Hifumi whispered as she reached up and caressed Haru's cheek as tears began to fall from young socialite's eyes.
"I've been miserable without you too," Haru tearfully replied as she shut her eyes. "But it isn't right. I-I'm engaged to be married to Sugimura. He already found out that we were talking and grew jealous. I shouldn't encourage this. I-I'm trying to protect you."
"I don't care about Sugimura, and I don't care about what he could do to me," Hifumi stubbornly said. "God, Haru. You bought a lot of emotions into my life in such a short time that I feel like I'm drowning. I want to be…I want…"
Hifumi looked away from Haru huffed in frustration, hating that she lost the words she was going to say. But then, she felt Haru take her hand, prompting Hifumi to look at her.
The sounds of the Shibuya streets seemed to fade into the background as Hifumi felt her frustration melt away at the sight of Haru's face.
Thanks to the blinds on Haru's window being open, Hifumi could see that the sun was setting behind Haru, causing this soft, glowing aura to surround the light-auburn-haired girl. Combined with this image and the glistening brown eyes of Haru, Hifumi was transfixed.
She could now understand what Haru meant about beauty being enhanced by a sunset. Slowly, Hifumi reached up and touched Haru's cheek as she breathed out, "I want to be with you."
Haru let out a soft gasp, surprise shining in her eyes before she lowered her head and whispered, "You're making it so hard to fight this…"
Hifumi placed her fingers beneath Haru's chin and lifted her head softly, only to lean close and moved her lips against Haru's with the softest of touches, and softly replied, "Then stop fighting it, Haru, and let me be with you."
She felt Haru let out a soft gasp before Haru pressed herself closer, allowing their bodies to touch as her arms found themselves around Hifumi's neck. "I don't want to fight this anymore," Haru whispered, her lips hovering above Hifumi's.
"Then don't," Hifumi whispered back just before their lips connected in another kiss.
Rain: So a lowkey chapter with two starts of social links. So what the plan I have is that some social links will have some changes to them. Ryuji's for example, is going to be the largest change compared to the game. And with this lowkey chapter, ends my time on this fic but the fic is not done. Blues will take over from here and trust me, you guys will love one of his biggest ideas with the new palace involving our favorite Shogi girl.
So with this, I say goodbye and come next chapter, say hello to Blues!