Chapter 14: The Morning After

This was going to be a normal morning, Sae had decided. The days tended to blur together when she skipped going home in favor of getting more work done, so she had to do a hard reset. That meant she needed her morning coffee. She took the train to Yongen-Jaya, completely unaware of the surprise she had waiting for her. She was too wrapped up in thoughts about the Kaneshiro case to care about much else. Especially since the Phantom Thieves case was stalling out, in the wake of Medjed's threats. The Thieves had made no attempt to combat them or make any sort of public statement against the hacker group. That only solidified Sae's theory that the Phantom Thieves were high school students. Students wouldn't have the resources or the know-how to strike at Medjed.

She opened the door to Leblanc to find Ren behind the counter. That was unsurprising. She'd seen him working the shop a few times before. What was more surprising was Makoto's presence on one of the stools. Makoto would've had to gotten up extremely early to come here for morning coffee, earlier than she normally got up on days off. That wasn't completely out of the equation. Sae hadn't been immune to stupid decisions in high school and college before their father's death. More damning was the state Makoto was in. Her hair looked like she had just woken up and she wasn't wearing her braid headband. That was odd, she practically never left the house without it, seeing as she had picked up the habit after picking through old family photos of their mother.

Wait, was Makoto wearing a men's button-up shirt? Was that Ren's?

Damn it, she had been really looking forward to that coffee too.

Ren and Makoto looked over to see who had walked in. They both went pale. "S-sister!" Makoto stammered out. "I didn't know you-"

Sae sighed. "Makoto, tell me you weren't stupid in your reckless behavior last night."

Ren cocked his head in confusion. "Are you... not going to bite my head off?" He ventured hopefully.

"I will get to you in a moment, Amamiya!" Sae snapped.

Makoto tried in vain to deny her sister's completely valid accusations. "Reckless? Me?"

Sae groaned. "You're wearing his shirt, Makoto. That has certain connotations."

Makoto blushed. "Ah. Yes. No, I was not reckless. As you know, I'm on birth control and last night was a safe day. I never would've initiated... things if it wasn't."

Ren nervously raised his hand. "Uh, I'm kinda lost here. Why is this more of a big deal than you being mad at me, Sae-san?"

Sae held up a finger. "I am not having this conversation before I have my coffee. Peruvian blend, two sugars." As Ren went about making her coffee, she decided to needle him a little. "So, Amamiya, why did you decide to disobey my very simple guidelines on how to conduct yourself?"

Ren's eye twitched. "You try having anything resembling rational thought when the person you love pins you to the wall."

Makoto hid her face behind her hands. If she blushed anymore, she would probably spontaneously combust.

Sae bit back her rebuke. She had been in love. Once. Ugh, the less she thought about that disaster the better. "Alright, Amamiya. I will explain why I've been so... prickly about this. Our mother... did not handle pregnancy gracefully. Carrying me to term was very hard on her, and after she had me the doctors warned her that if she got pregnant again, the chances of her survival were low."

Ren connected the dots. "So..."

Makoto had recovered enough from her embarrassment to contribute. "I was an accident. My parents took every precaution, but somehow, I squeaked through. The doctors warned Mom again and again, but she was determined to give birth to me."

Sae grew uncharacteristically wistful. "Mother kept saying how Makoto was her little miracle."

"What happened?" Ren asked.

"They had to induce. I was born a month premature." Makoto said. "Mom... made it long enough to name me and hold me in her arms." She wiped away a tear. "Or so I've been told."

Sae glared at Ren as he set her coffee in front of her. "I'm sure you can see where this is going. The chances that me and Makoto have inherited mother's... frailty when it comes to children is high."

"I would never do anything to endanger Makoto, Sae-san." Ren said, "Regardless of whether or not you believe me."

"It doesn't matter whether or not I believe you, Amamiya! If you cannot figure out how to control yourself, then-"

"Oh my God, Sae!" Makoto said, "Stop! Thank you for proving once again that you know nothing about Ren!"

Sae shot Makoto a look. "I know he's a teenage boy."

Ren had reached his absolute limit. Yes, he knew Sae had a Palace and that some of the things she was saying was probably affected by that. But even then, he had to stand up for himself and Makoto. "Look, Sae-san. Can we just skip to the part where you disown your sister for refusing to stop seeing me so that we can move on with our lives without our shitty excuses for family members?"

"Ren!" Makoto said. "That's a step too far!"

"What are you talking about?" Sae asked. She was genuinely puzzled as to what brought this on.

"Oh, guess you haven't heard." Ren said. "Turns out my dad cares so much about his public image that he can't bear to have a criminal related to him, so he disowned me. Bastard didn't even bat an eye."

Sae froze. "I... I didn't know. I'm not going to disown her because she is dating you, Ren. I promised our father that I would look after her. I just wanted to make sure you understand the risks of you two being... active."

Sae finished her coffee in silence and left, leaving behind tension so thick that it clogged the very air. "Ren, you were out of line." Makoto said gently.

"I know!" Ren said. "I just... I..." He shook his head violently. "I checked Dad on the Meta-Nav. There's nothing. No Palace. No Mementos. He's just a fucking piece of shit bastard!" He ripped his glasses off his face and threw them at the wall. They broke apart on impact, the pieces clattering about. "I just can't reconcile it, Makoto! What happened to the dad that let me take my mom's family name? What happened to the dad who taught me how to build models? What happened to him to make him such a dick, and not be distorted at all?" He grabbed at his hair, stopping just short of ripping it out. "I'm just so angry! At dad, at the system that decided to chew me up and spit me out, at the bastard that decided to frame me... God, it would be so easy to just let it out. Just go around causing mental shutdowns in everyone that I think is responsible for this. I know that's wrong, and I'm not going to do it. But... in my darker moments..." He shook his head helplessly. "I... Makoto... I don't..."

Makoto walked towards him and reached out, guiding his head into her chest. She stroked his hair and hummed. She didn't know what to say. After all, even with as messed up as Sae was in her heart, she still cared about her. Ren's father... didn't. As for Ren's admission of what he thought about doing at this lowest, that troubled her. If it wasn't for her and his other friends... what would he do? What would he become?

"I'm sorry I lashed out. Sae was hitting all the wrong buttons." Tears were flowing freely now. Ren didn't bother trying to hold them back. "I just... I don't know what I'm going to do. After this year, after my probation's up... I won't have anywhere to go." The rational part of his brain knew that wasn't true, Yukari and Sojiro would never let that happen. But he wasn't thinking rationally right now. "I'm scared, Makoto."

As he began to sob, Makoto held him fast. "Shhhh... it will be alright, Ren. You're going to be okay. You're in my care."

Ren stilled, although his breathing was still shaky. "Makoto, I'm sorry. I'm not normally like this..."

Makoto released him and then turned his head so that he had to look at her. "It would be unfair to expect you to be able to shoulder everything you've been through alone. You're allowed to cry, Ren. It's okay if you feel like you're not strong enough to do it all."

"It is?"

Makoto cupped his cheeks and gently lifted his face until he could look her in the eyes. There was no trace of his usual snark. Bereft of the walls he put up to protect himself, he was just a teenage boy who had constantly been hurt by those whose duty it was to protect him. A boy who despite all of the crap that the world heaped on him, was incorruptibly good. Someone who knew that if he let the rage inside of him flow without restraint that he would destroy the evil that nipped at his heels, but also all he held dear. Worse yet, it would be toxic to his soul. "Ren, I swear to you, I will not fail you." She said, "I promise you; I will not let you fall." She kissed him on the forehead. He sighed and sank back into her embrace.

It was at that moment that Sojiro walked in. Ren and Makoto were too wrapped up in each other to notice. Upon seeing them, he walked right back out and flipped the sign to closed.

Futaba yawned and sat up in her bed. The first thing she noticed was that the amorphous blob that was the pile of garbage bags she shoved to the side was gone. She put her glasses on, only to reveal that much more had happened. Someone had mopped, swept, organized all her books -both academic and manga- on shelves that definitely hadn't been there before. She sniffed. Was that air freshener?

With a growl, her stomach announced that she was incredibly hungry. As she walked to her door she stopped. Usually, she would've had some hallucinations by now. Guess that was over thanks to the Phantom Thieves.

She went to the kitchen and turned the hot water on. She blatantly ignored all the other food in favor of instant ramen.

"Oh, Futaba! You're up! That's great to see!"

A female adult voice. That had to be Kawakami. Futaba was happy that Sojiro had found someone, but she wasn't sure if she was ready for someone to try to be her mom. Besides, Ren and Makoto were totally dad-friend and mom-friend coded. "Uh, yeah. Just had to recharge the batt-" Futaba had made the mistake of turning around. Kawakami was wearing one of Sojiro's dress shirts. In a way that left no mystery of what her father and Kawakami had done last night. The hickeys on her neck didn't help matters.

Futaba promptly shut off the water and walked back to her room without a word. She flopped on her bed and groaned with her face buried in her pillow. That was not a mental image she needed! Sex was gross! She didn't need to think about her dad doing that!

There was a knock at the door after a few minutes of her protesting this heinous violation of the Geneva Convention -she didn't know how, but this had to be a war crime- and she automatically responded. "Yeah?"

"I finished making your ramen for you." Kawakami said.

Futaba went to her door, opened it, and took the ramen from her. "Thank you." She said, "If I seem rude, it's because I'm still half-asleep and I still have to unlock most social cues." She knew she had a lot of catching up to do in that regard. But knowing was half the battle! "I'm happy that you make Sojiro happy, but please understand that I might never call you mom."

"I understand." Kawakami said. She knew that Futaba didn't need someone to fix that particular problem, just someone to acknowledge and validate her.

"Great. Glad we got that out of the way before things got awkward." Futaba said, "Now put a damn shirt on! Am I the only one in this house with any sense of shame?" With a huff, she comedically slammed the door.

Kawakami stood there for a moment, wondering how to take that. She heard Sojiro laughing. "What's so funny, mister?"

"She's warming up to you faster than I thought she would." Sojiro said. "Maybe it's a Persona thing. I'll ask Ren."

Kawakami narrowed her eyes. "So, you were being serious when you told me that your... other self is Sherlock Holmes's greatest adversary?"

"Yes?"

Kawakami sighed. "God, I love you."

Ryuji's idea of a good time generally didn't include studying during summer vacation and going to a bookstore. However, if he was with Haru that was flipped on its head. Maybe it was because her remaining time before her arranged marriage was limited, and she chose to spend it with him?

Thinking of that just made Ryuji angry. In what limited research he'd been able to do, he only found one possible out that Haru had, and that was if the contract was verbal only and one of the parties that had made the contract died. He scoffed. That would never happen, besides there was no way that old man Okumura wouldn't have it in writing.

It was beginning to look like the only way within his power to save Haru was to change her father's heart. He immediately launched into an online investigation. If he couldn't find anything, Haru was screwed.

That wasn't a problem. He quickly found worker's rights violations, hostile takeovers, and smear campaigns. Okumura was basically just gobbling up any vaguely similar companies like they were the Borg Collective from Star Trek.

That made Ryuji nervous on its own, considering the only way his mom was making ends meet right now was because of her second job at Big Bang Burger. Okumura had the two most important woman in his life in his iron grip, and all he had to do to crush Ryuji was to start squeezing.

"Ryuji? Is everything alright?" Haru asked.

He shook himself out of his own head and smiled. Haru really did look cute carrying an armful of books clutched to her chest like that. "Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking."

Haru cocked her head. "About what?"

"What I'm going to get you for Christmas."

Haru blushed and sharply drew a breath in. "Ryuji... but what if..."

Before she could finish, a man walked up and grabbed her arm. "The hell are you doing talking to other guys, Haru? You belong to me!"

The newcomer was a man in his late twenties. He wore a sleazy white suit with purple dress shirt. "Let me go!" Haru tried to pull away, but he was too strong, or she didn't have enough leverage.

Ryuji stepped in. "I'd listen to the lady. I tend to get real pissy when pervs start grabbing at her."

The man glared at him. "Who do you think- Oh, I see. You're the scum that made my future trophy wife think she has a mind of her own."

Ryuji's eye twitched. This bastard was Haru's fiancé? "Let her go you fu- freaking piece of crap."

Oh no. He was that angry. Wonderful, so much for spending the afternoon with Haru.

Haru finally broke away from the man. "I would thank you to keep your hands to yourself, Sugimura. We aren't married yet." And with a little hope and a lot of luck, maybe we won't ever be.

He pointed at Ryuji. "I'm just glad I finally get to put a face to the name of Haru's little rebellion. If you try to stop our marriage, I will bury you."

Ryuji glared at the man, saying nothing. He didn't want to make things worse for Haru by accident.

"That's enough!" Haru snapped. "I was having a delightful day with Ryuji until you intruded. If you know enough to know who he is, then father undoubtedly told you to leave me alone until the deadline. Leave. Now." She saw some cops out of the corner of her eye. "Unless you would like me to file harassment charges?"

Sugimura scoffed. "Whatever. Nothing either of you do will change a thing." He walked off in a huff.

Haru turned to Ryuji. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Shouldn't I be asking you that?"

Haru hesitated. "It's just... you almost said fuck. Usually, you don't ever say that."

Ryuji's eyes bugged out of his head. "Haru? You just..."

She smiled all too sweetly. "Oh, I swear like a sailor when no one can hear me. Another little rebellion, as it were."

Ryuji blinked. Well then. "Uh..." He looked around for a bit before he saw a bench. "We should probably sit down. This is gonna be a long story." After they had taken their seats, he took a breath. "Okay, there's a very good reason why I don't say the F-bomb. It was my dad's favorite word."

Haru tilted her head. "But I thought you just lived with your mother? And that she had to work multiple jobs to make ends meet? What happened?"

"He was a drunk. Kept losing all his money to gambling." Ryuji said. "The more he drank, the worse he played. And the worse he played... the more likely he was to beat me and mom."

Haru's hands flew to her mouth. "Oh my God." She pulled him into an embrace. "You poor dear. Don't worry, I've got you."

Ryuji's breath hitched as he held Haru close. "You're not... gonna run away?"

Haru froze. "Why would I do that, Ryuji?"

"Because everyone who finds out does. They abandon me, treat me like crap. Hell, my leg got busted because Kamoshida used it to keep pushing my buttons until I lashed out at him!"

She stroked his hair. "You deserve so much better." He started to cry, and Haru guided his head into her shoulder. "I won't leave you. Like I said on the school rooftop, I have made my choice. I'll always be by your side."

"But what if..." Ryuji started to choke out.

Haru gently shushed him. "Don't think about that. We'll figure it out." Her expression hardened. Failure to escape was unacceptable now. Conventional methods wouldn't work... "Do you think the Phantom Thieves could change my father's heart?"

Ryuji stilled. What did he say here? Did he tell her? What would be the consequences of keeping her in the dark? He knew that her father had a Palace. Maybe he should hint at it? No, that was stupid. He wasn't Ren. He didn't do subtle.

"I mean, we both saw firsthand what they did to Kamoshida." He eventually said. He was walking a razor thin line here, but it was one he couldn't refuse. The risk to Haru was too great if he didn't. "But how are we supposed to get in contact with them? They might as well not exist."

Haru released him and took out her phone. "There was a website that I overheard some of my classmates talking about. The Phan-Site they called it. Apparently, if you need help, you can post on there and the Phantom Thieves will help you." Before she clicked on the icon for her internet browser, Ryuji spied something else on her phone.

The icon for the Metaverse Navigator.

While Haru was busy creating an account on the Phan-Site, Ryuji hurriedly texted Ren. "Hey man, I know this is short notice and all, but WHAT THE HELL DO I DO IF MY GIRLFRIEND THAT I'VE KEPT SECRET FROM ALL OF YOU HAS THE META-NAV?"

In his rush to send the message, he accidentally sent it to the entire group chat.

Ann was the first to respond. "I'm sorry, your WHAT?"

"Hehe, you owe me 1000 Yen, mon amour." Kasumi replied.

He couldn't devote more attention to his phone at the moment. "Well, that was easier than I thought." Haru said.

"Hmm. I suppose we'll need to meet. Just as well." Yusuke said.

One last message caught his eye, from Ren. "Ryuji, does this have anything to do with the request that Mishima just pinged me about? From a Haru Okumura?"

Out of nowhere, Futaba joined in. "Wait, how? I thought that out of everyone, Ryuji had negative rizz!"

Makoto was next. "Can we please focus? Everyone, meet at Leblanc as soon as you can. Ryuji, please bring Haru if you can."

Ryuji exited out of the chat app, only for Haru to grab his wrist. "Wait, what's that? On your phone?" She asked.

Ryuji followed her pointing finger to the Meta-Nav. "Uh..."

"I saw that same weird red eye app a couple weeks ago, but every time someone else tries to look at phone to fix it, it disappears as soon as I hand it over." Haru looked at him. "You know what it is, don't you?"

Ryuji stood. "You know, I'm really in the mood for curry. I know a place."

A flash of confusion on Haru's face was replaced with a nod of understanding. He wanted to take her somewhere safe to talk about this. "Okay, lead the way, Ryuji." She slipped his hand into hers and drew close to him. "I trust you."

"I know." He spoke. "And I'm not about to let you down now."

After all, the Phantom Thieves hadn't failed yet.

Once again, everyone was seated in Leblanc's attic. Well, everyone but Futaba and Sojiro. He had to mind the café, and she still hadn't fully recovered yet. The mood was awkward. Everyone wanted to give Ryuji all the grief over Haru, but business came first.

"Alright, Ryuji. I waited until he got here. What's going on?" Haru asked.

"Uh... I'm a Phantom Thief?" He gestured to the others, "So are they... and uh... you could be too?" He said haltingly.

She gasped. "You... they... me?" She shook her head. "I'm going to need... some explanations."

Ren took over. "Ryuji said he saw a weird red eye app on your phone, right?" At Haru's nod he continued. "That's how we do what we do. We also don't know how to control who gets it. It just sort of... appears on the phone of anyone that should join us."

"Oh..." She spoke. "In that case, what about my request?"

"Your father has you in a marriage contract you don't want to be in, right?" Makoto said. "What's the deadline?"

"Mid-October, but if we change his heart too early, Sugimura might get suspicious and try to enforce the contract anyways. We need to cut it closer." There was a pause before she giggled. "Sorry, I forgot that I'm not actually a member yet!"

"We can start in September after we get back from the school trip!" Ann said. "That should be close enough, right? Also, we have to block out some time for a girl's night. I have so many embarrassing stories about Ryuji to tell you..."

"Ren, what do I do?" Ryuji pleaded.

Ren fixed his best friend with a dead-eyed stare. "Suffer."

Ryuji turned around to see Ann handing a wad of yen to Kasumi. "Seriously?"

Ann laughed. "Come on, I know you way too well. I never thought that you'd land anyone while we were in high school, to be honest."

Normally that would be a scathing insult, but Ryuji saw the truth in it. Kamoshida had not done wonders for his reputation. Haru rose to his defense. "I don't think that's fair, Ann." She said. "I mean, Ryuji's more or less perfect for me."

Morgana glared at her from his hiding place atop the shelves. "Really?" He muttered, "What's that idiot have that I don't that he can land some big shot CEO's daughter?"

Kasumi glanced at him. "Um, maybe we shouldn't do this right now? Morgana sounds like he's having a bad day?"

Ryuji had explained Morgana's situation and the conditions for understanding him to her already. Haru got out of her chair and got on her tiptoes. "Hi. I know I can't understand you yet, but I know you can understand me. Please don't be hard on Ryuji. I know that you undoubtedly have valid reasons for the way you feel, but you shouldn't take that out on others."

Morgana looked at her for a span of three seconds before turning around and curling up for an alleged nap with his back facing the others. She frowned as she returned to her chair. "He seems... depressed? I think?"

"I'll talk to him later."

With no actionable intel, the meeting wound down quickly. Ann quickly began planning the girls' night -which caused a shiver of doom in Ren and Ryuji- and Yusuke asked Ren and Makoto to model for a painting for him sometime in the next week, which they agreed to. After everyone else had left, it was time for them to address the elephant in the room.

Ren got up and walked over to Morgana. "Hey, you good?"

"Go away."

Ren rolled his eyes. "Please, you know that doesn't work on me."

Morgana opened one eye. "Ugh, fine. I'm leaving."

Well, that was dramatic. "Seems like you're sitting there."

"You know what I mean! I'm leaving the Phantom Thieves!" Morgana hissed. "Futaba can navigate better than me, Makoto can heal while being able to fight back with more of a punch than me, and you guys already know everything I can teach you about the Metaverse! I'm useless!"

Makoto flinched. She promptly stood up and walked over to him. "No one is useless." She said fiercely. "You're still a valued member of this team."

"Oh yeah?" Morgana shot back, "Then why am I always on the back line while you're the frontline healer?"

"Because Ren has a crippling addiction to the battle couple trope." Makoto said. "If we actually break it down, you're the better healer, since you have the ability to cure status ailments."

"It's not my fault that battle couples are a big enough part of the collective subconsciousness of mankind that we actually get powered up from it!" Ren protested.

Morgana laughed, the first real laugh he'd had for a while now. "I guess I do fill the role of cuddly mascot."

"Exactly! Morgana, you see the vision." Ren said, sounding uncomfortably close to Yusuke. "And do have any idea how many times in Featherman history that the mascot character is responsible for taking out the big bad?"

"It sure ain't zero!"

They turned to see Futaba. "Futaba! You're up!"

She nodded. "Been up for a couple days now, but Sojiro made me wait a bit before I zapped Medjed. Which, by the way, happened. Medjed, offline. They were fake anyways."

Ren and Makoto both did a double take. "What do you mean, fake?" Ren asked.

"They were just using the name for credibility. In reality they were sloppy as all heck."

"But how do you know they were fake?" Makoto pressed.

Futaba scoffed at her. "Please, I've been building PCs since before you knew how to open up Mario Teaches Typing." She laughed mischievously. "Hehe. Of course, I know the Medjed that threatened us was fake."

"But how?" Morgana asked.

"Well, I know the real Medjed. She's me."

Ren raised a finger. "Futaba, did you just talk in circles just so you could make a Star Wars reference?"

"Yep."

Makoto looked confused. "A what reference?"

Ren gasped; his hand held to his chest as if he was clutching an imaginary pearl necklace. "Makoto, you never said you were uncultured!" He shook his head. "You think you know someone. You think you love someone. Truly, the betrayal of the heart cuts deepest."

"Why do I feel like I'm walking into a trap and that you're about to make me sit through way too many sci-fi movies?"

Ren and Futaba looked at each other before turning back to Makoto. "IT'S A TRAP!" They said in unison.

Thou hast created a new bond...With the birth of the Hermit Arcana...

Ren rolled his eyes. It had been a while since that had happened. Before they could make plans to force Makoto to watch some of the objectively best science fiction of the modern era, Sojiro called out. "Kid! You got guests!"

They went downstairs to find Yukari with a sizable package under her arm and Isako standing next to a couple of suitcases. "Mom?" Ren asked, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, I've decided to leave your father, Yukari was perfectly happy to put me in touch with a lawyer on the Kirijo Group's payroll that assisted me with the divorce papers." Isako smiled. "If he is so concerned with his public image and not his own family, then I will let him suffer in an empty house."

Futaba was bluescreening. "Ren... that's... that's..."

Makoto laughed. "Yes, Futaba. That's exactly who you think it is. She's Ren's stepsister."

"Oh. My. Gosh." Futaba said. "I'll be right back; I need to go get... a thing. Be right back!" She dashed out the door so quickly she practically left an afterimage behind.

"So, you're divorcing Da- Akira?" Ren asked

Isako nodded. "Yes, it wasn't an easy decision to come to, but I refuse to continue to be passive. I suspect it will be quite a nasty surprise when he comes home to find no dinner ready for him and divorce papers on the table."

Sojiro chuckled. "You haven't told him yet?"

She shook her head. "No, I have not. I have decided to take after my children and choose chaos."

"What are you going to do for work though?" Makoto asked. "What about your living situation?"

Yukari waved her off, "No need to worry about that. I just waved my I'm best friends with the CEO of the Kirijo Group magic wand, so everything is taken care of." She placed the package on the counter. "By the way, this is for you, Makoto."

"Really?" She said. She began to open it up, and gasped once the contents were revealed. It was a Pink Argus helmet. Not the cheap-o ones you saw in stores. The actual version that was worn in the show! She reverently removed it from the box. "Yukari, I... I don't know what to say..."

"You can keep going." Yukari grinned. "There's more in there."

Makoto fought through the packing material to find a full uniform to go with the helmet. Gloves, boots, and morpher. Everything she would need for the perfect cosplay. The only thing missing was-

"This wouldn't fit in that box." Yukari handed her the final item. An actual prop of the bow. "Oh my God..."

"Happy very late birthday, Makoto." Ren said. "I found out that I had missed your birthday by about a mile from Ann, so I wanted to do something special, and..."

Makoto put the bow down, then rushed at Ren, throwing her arms around him. "I love you." She planted a kiss on his cheek before delivering the death blow. "If you're not careful, I might have to concoct a reason for me to stay the night again..."

"Uh... Makoto..."

Oh no. She had just tried to seduce Ren in front of his mother. "Okay, I'll go die now."

Isako laughed. "Don't worry about it, I was young once. And Yukari certainly can't judge."

"Mom!"

"I seem to remember you having quite the crush on a boy during your second year of high school." Isako continued, blissfully unaware of the fatal end to that relationship. "Whatever happened to him?"

"He moved away. We fell out of contact." Yukari shrugged, doing her best to hide her pain. "It was before social media. You know how it is."

Ren said nothing. Yukari had just smoothly informed him that Isako knew nothing about SEES or the Phantom Thieves, and he knew that she wouldn't want anyone to poke at that subject more.

"Anyways, make sure you use protection, Ren." Yukari said, eager to change the subject.

A strangled noise of some sort escaped from Ren. Futaba came back with some Featherman memorabilia for Yukari to sign and left again. "Oh, don't think you have to hang around because I'm here, Ren. Go on, it's summer. Enjoy yourself. Besides, me and Yukari need to have a talk with Makoto here."

Ren felt a vague feeling of impending doom, then retreated to his room to get Morgana. "Hey, let's go. We're going out."

Morgana tilted his head. "Does Makoto know?"

Ren groaned. "Didn't you all get the memo? I'm the comedian here, not the rest of you!" He threw his hands up in a pantomime of frustration. "Come on, we'll get fatty tuna..."

Morgana narrowed his eyes. "Are you trying to butter me up?"

Ren grinned. "That depends, is it working?" After Morgana jumped in his bag, he took the time to pat the not-cat on the head. "I'm sorry, Morgana. I've been neglecting you, and I need to apologize for that, I've just been so wrapped up in everyone else's problems that I forgot to check on you because you're with me basically all the time, and I figured that if you needed something that you would say it."

"From one gentleman thief to another, I accept your apology." Morgana said, mock formality dripping from every syllable. "Let us go acquire the blessed tuna."

Ren rolled his eyes. As he walked past Makoto, she begged him to spare her the interrogation. "Ren, please! I need you for this!"

Yukari wagged a finger at her. "Oh no no, Makoto. Ren's dad deprived us of a chance to this properly, so you're gonna sit through this."

"So, when's the wedding going to be?" Isako asked all too sweetly. "After Ren is out of high school?"

Makoto blushed. "Ah... well, while my sister has told me that if I do get married, my husband should be someone dependable like Ren-"

It was Ren's turn to blush. "Husband? Can you say that again?"

Makoto hid her face in her hands. "AHHH! Forget I said that!"

Ren, Yukari, and Isako looked at each other, then delivered their verdict. "No."

Makoto stared Ren down. "Why must you betray me like this, my darling thief?"

"The answer to that is quite simple, my dear detective." Ren said. "Morgana wants tuna."

He promptly walked out of Leblanc, leaving Makoto to a cruel and unusual punishment, being interrogated by his sister and mother.

That was just unneighborly.

Luckily for him, Makoto loved him anyways.

Summer continued to slip by day by day. Everyone made sure to spend some time with Futaba to help her adjust to people again. As it turned out, leaving Futaba and Yusuke unsupervised was a recipe for disaster, as he had decided that her Featherman figurines needed to have the same color scheme rather than each to its own.

When Ren heard about it, he contemplated tying Yusuke up and forcing him to watch all of Featherman Overdrive. He let the moment pass, because he knew deep down that this would likely be detrimental to team cohesion.

Also, Makoto and Yukari would never forgive him for exposing anyone to that embarrassment to the franchise.

Oddly enough, it was Yusuke who called them altogether next. About a week after Ren and Makoto had modeled for him, he informed the group that he had entered a painting into an art grant contest, and he wished for his friends to see it.

This was slightly odd for Yusuke, generally he couldn't wait to show off his artwork. On top of that, navigating Shibuya Station -and the train ride to the gallery where the contest entrants were being displayed- was a trial for Futaba, but she soldiered through. According to her, she had her key items of Dad Friend and Mom Friend.

Ren and Makoto weren't sure how to feel about someone finally saying the quiet part out loud.

They arrived without further incident, save for Ryuji's elation that Haru had somehow arrived at the same art gallery by complete chance. She was similarly thrilled. Ren quickly deduced that this was a method they used to allow Haru to spend time with him at times her father never would've allowed normally.

They began to tour the gallery. There wasn't much of a crowd, save for a painting on the second floor that they couldn't see yet. "Man, I really hope that painting that's getting all that attention is Yusuke's, otherwise he's gonna be down in the dumps for months." Ryuji said.

They had made it to the popular painting, and they couldn't see it for the crowd. However, given his above average height, Yusuke could see them. "Excuse me, please make way for the other patrons." He said as politely as possible. There was some grumbling, but enough people made way to reveal what Yusuke had done.

Makoto gasped and Ren sharply drew in a breath.

The painting was a portrait of Ren and Makoto, the background of which was split in two. Makoto's half was a sunlit meadow, while Ren's side was shrouded in darkness. From said darkness, shadowy hands and chains were trying to bind him and drag him away. In the painting, Ren and Makoto were in an embrace, her hand was on his chest and cheek, while his were around her waist. Most significantly, in the places where Makoto was touching him, the sunlight in the meadow was forcing the darkness back.

Ann was the first to find her voice. "Yusuke, this is beautiful." Kasumi didn't say anything while she clung to Ann's arm. It was a wonderful painting. Unfortunately, it was reminding her about her crush on Ren. But not in a bad way. It was bittersweet. She could live with that. Ann glanced over at her. She knew that Kasumi tended to get clingy with her when her feelings for Ren snuck up on her. Almost like it was an apology. That was probably a can of worms they needed to address.

"Yusuke... I don't know what to say..." Makoto said.

"What's it called?" Ren asked.

"Hope and Desire." Yusuke said simply.

An older gentleman came up while they were there. "Congratulations, Kitagawa-kun. You're the winner."

Yusuke bowed. "Thank you very much."

"Yeah! Go Yusuke!" Ryuji said.

"Mwehehe. Way to go, Inari." Futaba said, invoking her nickname for him.

Haru clasped her hands together. "Congratulations!"

The old man shook his head. "I don't understand you. First you turn me down, then you go ahead and enter the competition and win it by a landslide. Why not just accept my offer to begin with?"

"Because of how you wanted to market me. It had nothing to do with my skill." He gestured to the painting. "Instead, it was all about the twists and turns of my personal history. I may have been Madarame-sen- Madarame's last pupil, but I refuse to be defined by him or his crimes. I will never become like him, sacrificing lives and dreams and the talents of others for fame and riches. But I also understand that money is necessary for food, shelter, and comfort." He smiled. "I have found a balance between the two sides of the coin of the art world. I have realized how to paint for the love of art while accepting that money is needed to continue to make art. Please do not market me as a tortured artist. I will be very annoyed."

The old man harrumphed. "We might not need to now. What you just said, there's something there. Something that speaks to Yin and Yang... " He looked at the painting again. "There's no shortage of it in your work as well. That's close enough for me. Have a pleasant evening, Kitagawa-kun."

After the man left, Yusuke heard a voice in his head. "You have passed the test."

No one but his friends were around, so it didn't matter that he spoke out loud. "Goemon?"

(Music Start: Persona 5 OST - Our Beginning)

"Indeed. It is as you said. You have achieved balance. You have overcome the reverse of your Arcana, the Emperor. You no longer seek to impose your immature view of the world on others, instead you seek new perspectives and exercise self-discipline to ensure you learn and thrive. And with your growth, comes growth in me."

Yusuke chuckled. "I am thou, thou art I..."

"Oh, sweet!" Ryuji said, "Yusuke's getting an upgrade!"

Ann lightly swatted his arm. "Don't interrupt!"

In the sea of his soul, Goemon began to glow and change form. No longer was his Persona an archetypal gentleman thief. It had evolved into a mythological trickster. And when it came to all things Japanese, that meant there was only one thing it could be...

Susano-o, the trickster god of storms! "Hmph. Don't get cocky now. You still have a portion of your journey yet to go."

Yusuke smiled. Yes... Sensei.

"Hey, we should cap off summer vacation with something!" Ann said.

Makoto nodded. "Yes, a group study session sounds like a wonderful idea to make sure that you and Ryuji are-"

Haru beamed. "Oh, you don't need to worry about Ryuji. He isn't neglecting his studies."

Kasumi laughed as her eyes sparkled dangerously. "And I'm making sure Ann stays focused. She's doing well."

Makoto blinked. "Ren, did I step into some alternate timeline?"

He contemplated this for a moment. "I don't know. And that worries me."

"So that means something fun, right?" Haru said, "Let's go to the beach!"

"Won't the crowds be a nuisance?" Yusuke asked.

Ryuji shrugged. "It'll be good practice for Futaba, right?"

"Ugh. People." Futaba grumbled. "Fine, whatever."

As they all laughed at Futaba's brooding, Ren shook his head. He had to stay focused. If Akechi was following through with the plan he had given him, then this next mission would be crucial.

Game on.

A/N: Finally, Sae's true reasons for being so protective of Makoto in regard to her and Ren come out. Turns out she's completely valid, but her distortion is making her be much too aggro about it.

Is Ren's outburst here a symptom of a teenage boy pushed too far while shouldering more than he should have to? Or did Akechi's meddling with Loki finally take effect in some way? Honestly, it's probably a little of both.

Yep, Futaba's up and at it. I'm so ready to write her as the gremlin she should be written as.

Poor Ryuji. Bro just can't catch a break. Sending messages like that to the group chat? Mega oof.

Haru knows now! Yay! And Morgana's issues are nipped in the bud because Ren understands that communication is vital!

Also, Makoto learns that not only is Ren an amazing boyfriend who will most certainly be husband material when the time comes, she also learns that a fringe benefit of dating him is that she gets all of the good Featherman stuff.

Good for Isako. Akira's a dick.

This fic's version of Hope and Desire is revealed, and Yusuke is the next to evolve.

I'm probably going to skip over the beach trip, to be honest. It happens. No cringe trying to pick up girls because Ren and Ryuji are happily in committed relationships and Yusuke is Yusuke.

Until next time.