Ace In The Hole

by eiranerys

Shido has barred the Shadow Operatives from action for two years. But when the Phantom Thieves appear, Mitsuru decides that they have to take action. Luckily, there's a certain former member Shido doesn't seem to be aware of: Ken Amada. But when Ken meets the Phantom Thieves in person, he can't help but agree with their goals. He can't help but befriend them. Phantom Thief!Ken AU.

43. 42: Step Ahead

Chapter 42

Step Ahead

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Sunday, November 20th, 2016

---

Minako was often deemed a terrible patient. But it wasn't her fault! It was just so boring to just lie in bed. Especially with how uncomfortable hospital beds were.

It was more bearable when the nurse brought in Kiyomi. Minako was a little sad that she couldn't nurse Kiyomi quite yet, however. She had always intended to nurse her baby. She had read up on it and it was supposed to help with infections and other chronic conditions. Though Keisuke-senpai had informed her that it was doubly good now, since breast milk was especially beneficial to premature babies.

But everything with Kiyomi's examinations was going well and if they were lucky, they'd be released in a couple days.

There was a sudden knock on the door. A nurse came inside, smiling, as she carried Kiyomi over to Minako.

The nurse said warmly, "Someone missed you. Oh, and Kirijo-san called. She said your husband will be here soon."

Minako detected a tinge of disapproval in the nurse's voice but she ignored it, choosing instead to thank the nurse. Aki would've been there while she gave birth if it wasn't for Shido's crap. And Kiyomi would get to meet her daddy soon enough.

But Minako eagerly took Kiyomi in her arms, stroking her baby's cheek with her fingertip. She scrunched up her face at Minako's sudden touch for a moment. But then she opened her eyes, blinking up at Minako.

Minako smiled down at her daughter before bending down to kiss her forehead.

"Your daddy's coming to meet you soon, Kiyo-chan."

Kiyomi softly cooed.

"Your daddy isn't the best with people but he's always been so eager to meet you. He's loved you from the start. I know he'll be a good daddy. I'll do my best to be a good mommy to you too."

She really wished that Minato could meet little Kiyomi though. Her brother always did have a soft spot for kids, which was why he liked Maiko so much. He would've been a wonderful father... and uncle.

Minako just chuckled to herself as Kiyomi slowly shut her eyes.

"Tired already, are we?" she asked, giving her daughter an amused look.

No answer, but it wasn't like she was expecting one.

But then the door opened and Aki all but flew inside.

"Mina!"

It took Minako a moment to realize that Aki was clutching a pink and white bunny plush. It was adorable, with floppy ears. A white ribbon was tied in a bow around its neck.

"Aki, did you just go out and buy this?" Minako had to stifle her laughter.

"I... uh..." Aki's cheeks flushed. "I commissioned Kanji to make this for me a while ago. Since you know, what I gave you when we were teenagers."

"I remember. It's sweet, Aki," Minako said with a smile.

But then she shifted Kiyomi in her arms.

"There's someone who wants to meet you."

Aki set the bunny by the bed before Minako carefully eased Kiyomi into Aki's arms. His eyes softened as he gazed at Kiyomi's face.

"H-Hey, Kiyo..." he said shakily, keeping his voice low since Kiyomi was still sleeping. "I'm your daddy. I'm sorry that I couldn't be here when you first arrived but I promise I'll always be there for you."

Minako just smiled as she watched her husband. There was a look of wonder on his face, like Kiyo was the first baby he had ever seen. It was cute to see her husband so gently cradle Kiyomi like that.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Aki's expression turned concerned as he looked at her.

Minako shrugged. "Sore… and bored. Mostly bored, if I'm being honest."

"You're bored?" Aki repeated incredulously, his voice shaking from barely suppressed laughter. "You just gave birth and you're complaining about being bored."

Then he actually laughed, shaking his head.

"Only you, Mina."

Minako retorted, "You're one to talk. You're a terrible patient! Remember what happened when you broke your ribs—"

"Don't remind me, Ken brought it up earlier today," Aki grumbled.

Minako immediately grew somber at that, frowning in concern. "How is he, Aki?"

Aki suddenly grimaced, his grasp on Kiyomi tightening. Her face scrunched up before she let out a soft whimper, making Aki look down at her in alarm. He inhaled before slowly loosening his grip on her, slowly rocking her to lull her back to sleep.

"He's honestly… kinda a mess, Mina," Aki said quietly.

Aki's voice shook with barely repressed anger, and then he looked at her.

"And I... I felt useless. I couldn't help him when he needed me the most."

There was what Fuuka said too. She knew something but Minako couldn't coax it out of her. Fuuka could be pretty stubborn when she wanted to be. Minako sighed to herself.

"Aki, it's not your fault. And you rescued him in the end. That's the important thing, right?" she said quietly, reaching out to touch his arm.

Aki gave a little nod.

"Although... Ken pulled through the end." Aki smiled faintly. "He summoned in the real world without a trigger for the first time. Gave Shido a real shock."

Minako's eyes widened at that.

"Really?!"

Aki's smile turned proud. "Yeah. Surprised all of us. And… Kala-Nemi changed again."

Minako gasped. "Hang on, seriously?!"

Aki just shrugged in response. "I mean, Ken was only eleven when Nemesis changed to Kala-Nemi. It makes sense, in my opinion."

"Mitsuru-senpai is gonna have a field day," Minako couldn't help but chuckle.

"Haha, yeah I can just imagine her face," Aki said with a small chuckle.

But then his expression turned somber as he looked back down at Kiyomi.

"Have you ever thought about our kids possibly inheriting the potential?"

"Aki…" Minako bit her lip.

"I-It's just—this incident got me thinking, you know? The idea of our kids being Persona-users kinda scares me. And the thought of Kiyo putting herself in danger like we did as teenagers…"

"Aki, look at me…!" Minako said firmly but softly. "We can't really think about what-ifs, you know? We promised to look towards the future. And Kiyo-chan isn't even a day old!"

Aki then gave her a little smile. "You're right, Mina. I just… got kinda freaked out after last night."

"That's why I'm here for," Minako joked lightly.

Minako was beginning to think that she should try to coax the truth out of Aki. Fuuka was being annoyingly tight-lipped about it. But that could wait for another time—like when she was finally released from the hospital. Besides that, she was curious about a certain something... or to be more accurate, someone.

"So... what do you think of Makoto-chan?" Minako asked, doing her best to sound casual.

Aki huffed out a laugh, before quickly rolling his eyes. "Really, Mina?"

"What? I'm curious! After all, Ken-kun is like my little brother. Only the best for him!" she huffed.

Aki chuckled. "Well, personally... I like her. A lot. She's been dealing with some insecurities but she's a lot stronger she's giving herself credit for. When everyone was blaming themselves for what happened, she basically told us to shut up and stop feeling bad for ourselves. And it's obvious that Ken likes her a lot too, just from how he looks at her."

"Aww!" Minako then gave her husband a knowing look. "It must be incredibly obvious if even you can see it."

"H-Hey! I wasn't that bad!" he protested.

Minako just giggled, pressing a hand against her cheek. "I had to spell out your feelings to you."

Aki grumbled at that, even pouting a little, making Minako laugh.

"Hopefully Kiyo-chan takes after me in the romance department."

Aki paled. "Don't even joke about that."

Minako snickered before teasing, "Already an overprotective daddy, huh?"

"Don't start…" he grumbled out.

But then he looked down at Kiyomi, his expression softening.

"I don't want Kiyo to grow up in a world where… crazy people like Shido are in power. I want to protect her."

Minako just smiled at her husband.

"I feel the same way, Aki. Believe me, we'll just have to do our part in ensuring that never happens, yeah?"

Aki just grinned at her.

"Yeah."

---

Monday, November 21st, 2016

---

Goro wasn't sure why Shido had called him to his office so suddenly. Surely, he trusted that Goro had gotten the job done. But he supposed that he'd never find out the truth if he kept standing around.

So Goro raised his hand, knocking firmly on the door.

"It's me, Akechi," he called out.

Shido then answered, "Enter."

"Curt as always," Goro thought with a roll of his eyes.

Goro then reached for the doorknob and pushing the door open. He noticed that Shido was holding a sheet of paper but he set it down on the desk as Goro approached. He glanced towards it. Amamiya's death certificate.

"That's the death certificate of the principal offender, correct? Is there a problem with it?" Goro couldn't help but ask.

He was somewhat curious on why Shido was looking at it. He assumed that Shido would put it aside once he had proof that Amamiya was truly dead.

Such an ignoble end for him. But Amamiya really should've known better. He was biting off more than he can chew.

But then Shido shook his head.

"No," he answered. "Nothing in particular."

He then took that moment to look at Goro.

"More importantly, you've done well with regard to the prosecutors."

Goro just gave a small nod, offering Shido a small smile. That reminded him, he had received the autopsy report regarding the SIU director not too long ago.

"Speaking of that... the cause of death for the SIU director has been settled as a stroke."

Goro had nothing personal against the SIU director. However, Shido wanted to tie all loose ends. And Goro needed Shido to believe that he would follow orders no matter what. Oh, he couldn't wait to see the look on Shido's face... when Goro snatched everything away from him at the moment of his victory. Give that bastard a taste of his own medicine.

"It is a shame though." Shido suddenly spoke up, steeping his fingers together. "I had him work quite substantially on forging evidence. His loss should be mourned."

But Shido spoke casually as if he was discussing that it was a shame that it was raining today. However, it was nothing out of the ordinary. He eliminated any of those who he viewed threats. Goro was only safe because he was the source of Shido's power. And that was why Goro wasn't going to take any chances once Shido had become prime minister.

"It was thanks to his efforts that I could enter the Phantom Thief's interrogation room too," Goro couldn't help but add.

It wouldn't hurt to remind Shido that he was the reason why Amamiya was dead now. Though Goro frowned slightly at the memory of Amamiya stubbornly holding onto his defiance to the very end. It was just frustrating, to see it. Why had Amamiya continued to dig in his heels, even when he had lost utterly and completely?

Maybe if it was anyone else, Goro would have admired them for their courage.

But Amamiya just angered him. His almost carefree attitude about how society perceived him... the way he managed to gather so many friends loyal to him. It honestly sickened Goro to think about it.

But it didn't matter. Goro had done the deed and thus, was so much closer to his goal. Nothing mattered aside from his revenge. He would make Shido regret the day that he tossed Goro's mother aside.

"The SIU is in disarray with his death. I'll take my time choosing a successor after the elections," Shido suddenly mused, stroking his chin.

It would only be a month until the elections. Goro was so close…

Goro just allowed a saccharine smile to cross his face.

"At any rate, I'm now praised as a hero, and I owe it all to the Phantom Thieves," he stated.

Shido said, "There's no doubt that this election is mine. And then... I can work towards eliminating Kirijo."

Wait, where did that come from?

Goro raised an eyebrow. "Sir, I thought you had a plan on how to handle them already. That is why you took K—my cousin, no?"

Shido's expression darkened and his hand clenched into a fist.

"Amada..." Shido hissed out. "He threw my generous offer right in front of my face! If he had only listened to me! But he was truly idiotic—deriding all of my hard work! He basically said that he'd never listen to me! On top of that he summoned that power right here. How is that even possible?!"

His cousin defied Shido? Goro couldn't help but feel stunned. He was always on the quiet side. He seemed content to stand aside in favor of Amamiya or Niijima. He would offer his input, but he didn't seem particularly ambitious as far as leadership went—despite the fact that the Phantom Thieves indicated that he had past experience in combat.

And yet he had the courage to stand up against Shido?

But… didn't that mean—? Had Shido killed him? Shido always killed those who got in his way.

Goro's heart had actually sunk a bit the thought. He had been caught completely off guard by Shido revealing that Ken was his cousin. But his mind couldn't help but veer back to Ken's acts of kindness towards him. And now he was dead? Goro could never even thank him for that, let alone possibly actually developing a relationship with him.

"Wait… what am I saying?" Akechi asked himself.

"Once I get my hands on him again, I will make him suffer," Shido spat out. "Make no mistake of it."

Goro raised a brow.

"Sir, what do you mean by... again?"

Shido scowled fiercely. "Kirijo's dogs—two of her inner circle—came for him. They knocked out most of my men, came barging in to demand him back. They... backed me into a corner and I was forced to give in."

There was something not adding up. Shido had alluded to Ken summoning his Persona in the real world. Goro wasn't even aware that it was possible. But more importantly, that meant he got away from Shido. He defied Shido and came out of it alive? Just how many people would boast of that?

"That's... I did not expect that." Goro admitted.

"Hmph—of course you wouldn't." Shido snorted, folding his arms over his chest, "I was guaranteed victory. It was a fluke that they snatched it away from me. But they'll regret it soon enough."

"So what now? Regarding... Amada and the Shadow Operatives," Goro pressed, struggling to keep his voice even.

Shido looked like he had suddenly swallowed a lemon whole.

He then stated, "We will leave them alone for now. Taking action after the death of the leader of the Phantom Thieves will only garner attention we do not need. We will handle them after my election as prime minister."

"You only realize that because I advised you against killing all the Phantom Thieves immediately and to wait until after you won," Goro grumbled to himself.

But Goro crafted an obedient expression on his face before giving a little nod.

"As you wish, sir. Very wise of you."

Shido then flicked his hand. "But that is all, Akechi. Keep up the good work."

Goro just bowed his head. "Thank you, sir."

Goro's mind was racing even as he left the building. He just... couldn't believe it.

After all of this, Ken would have a grudge against Shido, wouldn't he? On top of that—didn't his aunt allude to Shido before? Shido… was the reason why their family had been fractured. His grandparents wouldn't have disowned Goro's mother if that wasn't the case. Goro's aunt wouldn't have been stuck in between her parents and sister. On top of that, if Goro's mother hadn't been so stubborn about Shido—then maybe Goro would have grown up with Ken.

This was all of Shido's fault.

He could just imagine Ken's reaction. He'd be simply outraged once he knew the entire story—of how Shido had used his mother, how he ultimately broke up their family. He'd have to understand. Especially how his mother wanted to take Ken in when she found out about her sister's death! And even with that man, the miserable little shit who was looking down on his mother while breaking the news so insincerely about his aunt's death... interfering with his mother wanting to reach out to her nephew... yes, there could have been a chance. They could have still met with Ken eventually.

But that was stolen from them too! The despair that Shido inflicted on his mom had eventually led to her committing suicide. Surely, Ken would understand. Yes, it would all work out. Then he'd offer his help right away. On top of the personal reasons why Ken would fight against Shido—there was also how Shido had been threatening Mitsuru Kirijo.

They would make such a powerful alliance! And Ken had suggested that they'd keep working together just a couple days ago...

Surely, this would make their mothers happy too. Goro knew that his mother sorely regretted not mending her relationship with her sister until the day she had died—her suicide note even mentioned this. He still remembered the tear-stained piece of paper, lamenting about how she regretted not be able to patch things up with her sister. Goro wouldn't be surprised if it was vice versa for Ken's mother.

However, given Shido's anger towards Ken (and the Shadow Operatives as a whole), Goro would need to bide his time. Perhaps this would allow him to do some research. It always struck him as odd how Aragaki had taken guardianship of Ken. Why him of all people?

Goro needed to bide his time but fortunately he was very good at that.

---

Ren slowly inhaled. The familiar scent of coffee that permeated all of Leblanc was comforting. And yet… Ren couldn't forget.

All of his body was aching, all the way down to his bones. His leg especially throbbed painfully, from that bastard who decided to stomp so hard on Ren's leg that for a fleeting moment, Ren had thought he had actually broken it. He had downplayed it with Chie-san, but hell. All because Ren was slow to react to the man. Maybe it wouldn't be a problem if they hadn't drugged him.

And Ren couldn't help but feel unnerved every time he looked at his wrists. Dark bruises marred his skin, reminding Ren just how long he had been in those damn handcuffs. On top of that, his senses were... dulled from those drugs they had injected him with. It was like he was in a fog and he couldn't get out.

He had almost messed up too. He had remembered the plan just in the nick of time. What would have happened if he hadn't remembered?

He knew the answer already. Everyone would be dead. Akechi would have slowly picked them off.

"Ren?"

Ren looked up to see Sojiro walk up to him. Ren just forced himself to give the older man a weak smile.

"How are y—" He then cut himself off, shaking his head. "Do you want to come down and have some coffee? Your friends should be here soon."

Ren shook his head. "I'm good on the coffee. But you're right about everyone... I should get downstairs."

Concern shone in Sojiro's eyes, as clear as day. But at least he didn't voice it, just allowing Ren to lean against his shoulder for support. As they entered the main part of the café Ren could see that dusk was quickly approaching. Ren had just sat down when the door opened, revealing Sae Niijima.

"Good evening," she said, looking a bit nervous as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Then she suddenly abruptly bowed her head at Sojiro.

"But first of all, I'd like to apologize to you, Sakura-san. I offer no excuses because I have none but... I am deeply sorry for what I tried to do, in order to force you to give me information. It was wrong of me to do so, when your daughter had depended on you so much."

Sojiro just stared for a moment. Ren couldn't blame him—she looked horribly guilty; she probably wasn't expecting him to forgive her.

But then he suddenly chuckled, cracking a smile.

"Well, I'd be lying if I said that I was expecting this but... apology accepted."

Then the door bell suddenly chimed once more. His friends slowly trickled inside.

"Wait a moment… did you all seriously travel in a group like this?" Sojiro asked in disbelief.

"Do not fret, Boss," Yusuke said. "We traveled in smaller groups. For example, Haru took me in a car…"

"Ryuji and Makoto came with me," Anne chimed in.

Sae then cleared her throat abruptly, before looking to Futaba. "A-Ah, Futaba-chan… I'm so sorry for how I treated you this past summer. It was wrong of me to threaten your adoptive father like that, when your situation wasn't exactly stable to begin with."

Futaba frowned but Sojiro quickly cut in.

"She apologized to me as well. Gave me a huge shock too..." Sojiro sighed, rubbing his jaw. "With how sincere she was."

Futaba's stony expression wavered.

"O-Oh…" she mumbled out.

She then looked up at Sae, swallowing hard.

"Well…" she said hesitantly, "if Sojiro can forgive you—I can too."

Anne let out a large gasp. Ren realized she was staring at him. Before he could say something, Ryuji ran over in response to Anne's loud gasp. He pushed Sojiro out of the way, and Ren was crushed in a one arm hug.

"Sup, you big bastard!"

Ren struggled to keep both feet planted on the ground but he couldn't help but smile. Ryuji's cheer was infectious as always.

"Should've known you would come up on top! Like always!" Ryuji exclaimed.

"Hey it's my turn, Ryuji!" Anne huffed, "Quit hogging him!"

"Bros get dibs on hugs first!" he whined.

"I'm his girlfriend! Move it!" she growled.

Ryuji huffed, rolling his eyes but he did what Anne demanded.

Anne then caught him in a hug. She pressed her forehead against Ren's shoulder. Ren slowly wrapped his arms around her trembling form; she must've been terrified this whole time. He then gradually inhaled her scent, a sweet tropical perfume. It was soothing, to hold her in his arms.

"I'm here. It's okay," he murmured, soft enough so only she would hear.

Anne slowly nodded, looking up at him.

"Y-Yeah."

"My turn, Anne!" Futaba demanded. "No monopolizing!"

"Fair enough..." Anne said with a slight pout.

Anne sighed in disappointment but giggled as she stepped away from Ren. Futaba then threw her arms around Ren. He couldn't help but grunt a little at the force.

"I-I'm glad you're okay," she mumbled out as her grasp loosened slightly.

Ren smiled down at the girl who had slowly become like his little sister.

"It's all thanks to you."

Futaba froze for a moment before hugging Ren tightly. "I-I did nothing. You did the hard work, trying to convince Makoto's sis..."

"Suddenly so modest," Ren said lightly.

"S-Shut up! Jerk..." she huffed out and pushed him away.

She then stuck her tongue out at Ren. This drew some laughs from his friends.

"How you've been?" Anne kept her voice light, a smile on her face, but Ren could pick out the telltale signs that she was trying to force her cheerfulness.

Ren smiled to reassure her. "Pretty ghostly. I mean… I died last night."

Anne just shook her head, a weak giggle escaping her. "There you go, cracking jokes like that."

"It truly is a relief to see your face," Makoto said, pressing a hand against her chest.

"I bet that moron Akechi don't even know that we tricked him yet!" Ryuji predicted with a confident grin.

"You certainly helped with the façade, Ryuji-kun." Haru giggled.

Yusuke chuckled. "That was quite a show you gave him."

Ren raised an eyebrow. He would have to get that out of Ryuji at some point. It sounded like quite a story.

But then… Ren realized something. Ken was missing. Ren winced, pressing a hand to his forehead. How could he miss such a big detail?

"Hm? What's wrong?" Yusuke frowned.

"Where's Ken?" he asked.

A hush seemed to fall in the group and they all looked uneasy.

Morgana spoke up for the first time. "Ren... he's fine but—"

"But?" Ren repeated. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"What are you talking about?" And what's this about Amada-kun?" Sae asked.

The door suddenly opened once more. Shinjiro-san and Chie-san ushered someone inside, someone wearing a gray jacket with a fur trimmed hood. Then they reached up, pulling it off, revealing that it was Ken.

"Wearing that hood is like sticking my head in a furnace," Ken complained with a huff.

"Quit whining, Ken!" Shinjiro-san snapped, a rebuke in his tone. "You know why you have to wear it."

"You don't have to lecture me—"

"Hey, hey, guys, no need to bicker!" Chie-san scolded, wagging her finger at them.

As they bantered, Ren studied Ken's face. He might've looked fine… it wasn't for those huge dark shadows under his eyes.

"What happened?" Will someone tell me already?!" Ren demanded.

Ken winced in response. "So, we're going to jump right into this, huh?"

But then his expression steeled, before he looked to Ren.

"Ren, look. This isn't easy to say but... you weren't the only target on the nineteenth."

It took a moment for the implication to sink in. Ren's hands began to shake.

"No… no! It was supposed to be just me!" Ren thought in panic. "Why? Why did they target Ken?"

Ken winced. "Ren, please don't blame yourself."

Ren then demanded, "How can you say that? That was why we came up with the plan… you were supposed to be all safe!"

"It caught us all off guard, Ren-kun," Chie-san said gently. "Don't beat yourself up for this."

Ren took a deep breath to calm himself. "But… why?"

Ren knew it was out of his control but… he couldn't help but feel guilty. Why didn't he see this coming?

"Shido... that damn bastard wanted leverage against Mitsuru. He thought Ken was the best way to get through to her." Shinjiro-san let out a guttural growl, his hands clenching into fists.

"It was effed up, man," Ryuji mumbled out.

"But that was why they were late. Takemi-san was giving him a check-up." Then Makoto tilted her head. "By the way... how was that?"

Ken shrugged. "Takemi-san couldn't determine much more than what we knew already. She was really concerned with the blood tests, though."

"That's..." Makoto winced.

But Ken gave her a slight smile.

"Don't worry, Makoto. We'll sort it out," he reassured her.

Makoto just pursed her lips. "I know, I just can't help but worry."

Though Ren noticed Sae giving the two of them a funny look. That was kinda concerning. If they weren't careful, she'd find out about them before they were ready.

Ren wanted to ask more about what the hell happened with Ken, but Ken gave him a pleading look. That made him waver. Ren wasn't comfortable with talking about what happened to him in front of everyone... so how could he ask the same of Ken?

"But seriously... how did you guys pull this off?" Sojiro asked incredulously.

"Ren is now 'dead'," Yusuke stated.

Makoto nodded. "It was all part of our plan."

Then Ken frowned. "Wait, I thought it would've been explained to you."

Sojiro shook his head.

"Nope, that—" he pointed at Chie-san, "—woman showed up with a friend of hers, dumped Ren on me and told me that I had to keep him safe. Then they hightailed it out of there."

Chie-san smiled sheepishly, "Sorry, uhh… Sakura-san, was it? But Rise-chan and I were nervous about being followed so we had to be hasty about it."

"Why isn't she here anyways?" Sojiro asked, curious.

"Well, her manager put her back to work," Chie-san said.

He looked baffled, raising an eyebrow. "Manager?"

Chie-san rubbed the back of her neck, looking sheepish. "Does the name Risette ring a bell?"

"That pop singer, right?" Sojiro scratched the back of his head, only for his eyes to practically pop out of his sockets. "H-Hang on, that was your friend?!"

"Kujikawa agreed to help us out because the plan itself was risky," Shinjiro-san said.

"Hmph—how rude, Shinjiro-san!" Futaba complained.

"It was a damn good one though," Ryuji said, grinning, "You gotta admit that."

Shinjiro-san rolled his eyes, "I don't hafta do anything, Sakamoto."

"What a grump." Futaba pouted.

"We're getting a little off topic though," Ken interjected.

Makoto nodded. "Right, we should explain what our plan exactly was to Boss."

They took the opportunity to seat themselves at the tables and the bar before speaking again.

Ren explained, "We needed our enemy to believe that I was dead. They were after all of us, so we needed them to believe that with my death, that the Phantom Thieves would be neutralized."

"What we did was make that enemy kill his fake in the Metaverse," Makoto stated.

"Enemy? Fake?" Sojiro sputtered out, his eyes wide with shock.

Ren smiled with pity in his eyes at Sojiro. This was all new to him; he was totally lost. Poor Sojiro.

"I'm surprised that the only thing that you're not confused by is the Metaverse," Shinjiro-san said dryly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"That's—" Sojiro huffed, rubbing the back of his neck. "It's what's connected to Wakaba's research, isn't it?"

"Speaking of that… Shinjiro-san told Mitsuru-san that you knew about the Shadow Operatives," Chie-san said cautiously.

"Shadow… Operatives?" Sae repeated.

Chie-san suddenly froze, before she smacked her forehead.

"Oh man, I can't believe I forgot! We promised Mitsuru-san that we'd let her listen in on it too."

Ken held a hand up to halt her. "Hang on, Chie-san. I think we need to catch up Sakura-san and Niijima-san on a few things…"

Chie-san smiled sheepishly. "You're right, Ken-kun."

They started out with explaining the Metaverse. It felt kinda weird explaining it to non-Persona users.

"So that's where you took me? When we were escaping?" Sae asked.

"Yep!" Chie-san nodded.

"Though it's only been a second time for Satonaka," Shinjiro-san said dryly.

"H-Hey, they don't have to know that!" Chie-san protested, pink dusting her cheeks.

Ren couldn't help but joke, "Hey, be nice, Shinjiro-san. We could tell on you to Fuuka-san."

Shinjiro-san narrowed his eyes. "Put a sock into it, Amamiya. You don't even have Fuuka's number."

"I can always hack into your phone for it!" Futaba said in a sing-song voice.

"Um… can't you just ask Ken for his number?" Anne asked.

"That's no fun, though!"

"Come on, we're getting off topic," Makoto interjected.

Ken grumbled, "I have a feeling that this is going to be a common thing..."

Sae was ignoring the bickering and couldn't help but stare.

"You're going to—w-what?"

"I told you that Futaba's a genius hacker," Ren said.

Sae's eyes were wide with bewilderment. "She just said it so casually though..."

Ryuji just grinned. "Welcome to dealing with Futaba on a daily basis."

Sae sighed, pressing a hand against her temple.

"What have I gotten myself into?" she questioned.

"You wanted to know, didn't you, Niijima?" Shinjiro-san asked before Chie-san pulled out her phone.

"I'm going to call Mitsuru-san!" the brown-haired woman stated. "It's better if she's here starting now."

She let it ring, setting the device down as Mitsuru-san took the call.

"It's about time you all called me, I was starting to get worried. How is Amamiya?"

Her elegant voice rang out, almost as clear as day. It was almost like she was standing with them in person.

Sae was confused at first soon as she heard Mitsuru-san's voice, but her eyes slowly widened with recognition by the time of hearing Ren's last name uttered.

"That's—!" Sae gasped.

"Yeah, yeah, the CEO of the Kirijo Group, etc, etc," Shinjiro-san deadpanned.

"Shinjiro-san, it's not something people ordinarily expect," Ken huffed.

"And shouldn't you give her more respect?" Sae demanded.

He took it that Sae admired Mitsuru-san, then. Ren couldn't help but smirk slightly. That made sense. They had some similarities.

Mitsuru-san quipped, "It's quite alright. Shinjiro wouldn't know respect even if it struck him right across the face."

Shinjiro-san glowered at the phone. "Shuddup, Mitsuru."

"Not denying it?" Yusuke murmured.

"It's Shinjiro-san..." Ken said dryly.

"Though… may I know who is present?" Mitsuru-san asked.

"Uh... there's all of Ken-kun's friends, me, Shinjiro-san, Futaba-chan's adoptive father—Sakura-san, and Niijima-san—Makoto-chan's older sister." Chie-san quickly rattled off.

"I see. Thank you, Satonaka. So Amamiya is with you then... good. How are you feeling?" Mitsuru-san inquired.

"What a loaded question…" Ren thought sardonically to himself, trying not to grimace.

"Pretty good for someone who died, I guess," he said lightly.

"I—what?"

"Oh for hell's sake." Shinjiro-san groaned. "I'm pretty sure Aigis would've gotten that was sarcasm."

"Hush, Shinjiro!" Mitsuru-san retorted.

"Great comeback, Mitsuru," he snarked before he smirked.

"Ahem!" Ken coughed, giving his guardian a pointed look. "If you two are done..."

"My apologies, Amada," Mitsuru-san said quickly.

"Hmph..." Shinjiro-san then crossed his arms, looking away.

"B-But Mitsuru-san... we were going to explain to Niijima-san and Sakura-san about the Shadow Operatives," Ken said nervously.

There was a moment of silence, as if Mitsuru-san was mulling it over.

"Hmm… I see. Well, given how they've helped us out and Sakura-san's past, I have no objections," she answered.

"Wait, what?" Ryuji asked.

"What do you mean by that, Kirijo-san?" Haru asked.

Sojiro began to explain, "I was Wakaba's liaison with the government. I knew bits and pieces of her history regarding the Kirijo Group and their... not-so-stellar past. My only knowledge is from the official records, though."

"Mm... Isshiki always spoke highly of you as well, Sakura-san. She was… very fond of you."

Sojiro's eyes widened for a moment, before his shoulders tensed.

"Yeah. I... cared a lot about her too," he said with a surprisingly thick voice.

It got quiet for a moment—very awkwardly quiet. Chie-san thankfully interrupted it with a loud clear of the throat.

"So… uh about the Shadow Operatives," Chie-san said. "It's kinda a secret organization in the government."

Mitsuru-san then took over, explaining what exactly the Shadow Operatives were. Not quite in full detail if he had to guess, probably left out several parts. But she summarized as best as she could.

"Wait, so there's like a society of these... Persona users?" Sae asked, looking baffled.

"There are more incidents than you realize. Though it's been years since we've had a huge incident like with the Metaverse," Ken explained.

"But how are you even acquainted with them?" Sae questioned.

"There was a Shadow incident seven years ago on Port Island," Ken said.

"You asked me about it, remember?" Shinjiro-san added, "It was connected to Apathy Syndrome."

"That was connected to this Persona and Shadow business?" Sae gasped.

Shinjiro-san scoffed, "Why are you so shocked, Niijima? Apathy Syndrome and mental shutdowns are the same. That's why you tried to harass me about it."

"I wasn't harassing you!" Sae retorted.

Mitsuru-san chastised, "Shinjiro, must you be so hard on her? This isn't exactly normal."

Shinjiro-san just shrugged in response. "I ain't gonna mince my words. That's more your thing, Mitsuru."

Sojiro just rolled his eyes in response.

Sojiro grumbled as he shook his head. "So this plan, you were in on it?"

"That's right!" Chie-san said with a nod.

Mitsuru-san explained, "It was the idea of another friend to send Amada here. We were concerned about the activities of the Phantom Thieves. Not that any of us expected him to become a Phantom Thief himself."

Ren didn't think that Ken ever clarified whose idea it was to send him to Tokyo. He had always assumed it had been Mitsuru-san but… apparently not.

Ken's cheeks suddenly turned pink. "It's not like I did either..."

"It's not something I'm complaining about, Amada." Mitsuru-san said, her voice turning warm. "I have to admit that Shinjiro was right—your time with them has been good for you."

Ken huffed, shooting Shinjiro-san a withering look. "So, gossiping about me to Mitsuru-san?"

Shinjiro-san snorted. "Call it what you want."

"Boys!" Chie-san scolded.

Ken and Shinjiro-san just huffed in unison, drawing laughter from everyone.

"But anyways, it did give us prior knowledge of who to look out for," Makoto said. "Especially regarding Akechi—"

"H-Hang on..." Sae raised a hand, as if to halt Makoto. "You're saying that you knew Akechi-kun was up to no good from the start?!"

"Well, to be honest we didn't figure it out until Akechi 'asked' to join us," Yusuke said.

"We knew something was up when he tried to feed us a story that he was attacked by the person behind the mental shutdowns," Ren said.

"Not to mention that he could understand Morgana all the way back in June." Ryuji added.

"Understand?" Sae asked, blinking in confusion.

"Wait… our cat can talk?!" Sojiro demanded.

Yeah, he must think that they were screwing with him.

"It's true!" Futaba said. "He's a rather chatty kitty too!"

"I AM NOT A CAT!" Morgana shouted, hopping to his feet and hissing at Futaba.

"Yeah, yeah, you don't have to scream," Shinjiro-san grumbled out.

"I just... what?" Sojiro said in disbelief. "Was he... talking just now?"

Futaba nodded and grinned up at Sojiro.

"He only meows here, but in the Metaverse he can talk. Once you hear that, your brain suddenly realizes that he was talking the whole time. It's a change in cognition!" Futaba exclaimed.

"Though you're better off just thinking he's a cat," Ryuji grumbled.

Morgana puffed up with anger. "Hey! How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not a cat?! And you're just jealous of my superior wit!"

"What was that?!" Ryuji barked.

Sojiro and Sae just stared blankly as Ryuji and Morgana started to argue.

"I must admit, even with everything I've seen… this is quite bizarre," Mitsuru-san commented.

Chie-san then stepped forward, clapping her hands.

"Hey, hey, settle down, Ryuji-kun, Morgana!" she scolded.

That earned small sheepish apologies from them both.

"I just can't believe it..." Sae said quietly, before she stared down at the floor—apparently finding it fascinating. "Akechi-kun, it really was all a lie? He was using me this entire time?"

Ren could hazily recall the shock on Sae's face when he revealed that Makoto had gone to him about Kaneshiro. But... the hurt in her eyes was different. Ren couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She must have really cared about Akechi, more than she had let on.

"Sis..." Makoto mumbled out.

Sae sighed, shaking her head.

She muttered out, "Never mind that. It's... not important. We should continue this discussion. But still, why didn't you just tell me that Akechi-k—Akechi was the traitor? It would've made things simpler."

"Well, maybe because I couldn't remember to begin with…" Ren thought with a wince.

But he caught the look on Makoto's face. She heard Sae slip up and almost called him Akechi-kun. Ren couldn't help but wince. He hoped for Makoto's sake that they would be able to make amends.

But then Makoto seemed to realize that Ren was looking at her, as she quickly wiped that sad expression from her face.

She then shook her head. "That wasn't something we could simply bring up. We couldn't have you suspect Akechi. Besides, neither you nor the other investigators would have believed something like that, would you?"

"That is true," Sae acknowledged, giving a small nod. "Akechi was credited with the arrest of the Phantom Thieves. Not even I would think he was the culprit. In other words, you left him alone on purpose... that was a bold move."

"When we realized something was up, we asked Futaba to wiretap his phone," Anne piped up, before beaming at the younger girl. "It was pretty clever too, the way you pretended to exclaim over his phone all while sneaking your bug onto it."

Futaba just grinned. "Thanks. It was pretty nerve wracking though; my heart was pounding the whole time while I was doing it!"

Yusuke nodded. "Your quirky nature certainly helped the ruse."

"That was part of the act!" Futaba retorted, giving Yusuke a quick glare. "Stupid Inari…"

"Besides you're one to talk about 'quirky', Yusuke." Ryuji snorted.

"He wouldn't be Yusuke-kun without those quirks." Haru giggled.

"I do have to admit that it was rather clever of you to keep tabs on that… but I'm not sure if I approve of this," Mitsuru-san said.

Shinjiro-san scoffed. "Didn't you get Fuuka to hack into the systems for info that you were sure that your old man wasn't gonna tell you? Face it, Mitsuru—you're not exactly squeaky clean."

"Shinjiro!"

"Am I lying?"

Haru just giggled before speaking up.

"But we basically got a confirmation with Futaba-chan's recording," Haru stated. "That he was the culprit behind the mental shutdowns and that he was going to target Ren-kun."

"But why? Why would Akechi-kun do this? What motive could he have to start all of this? I'll admit that Akechi-kun could easily cause these incidents to build up his reputation as an ace detective but—" Sae cut herself off, before she sighed. "Forgive me, I'm just... having a difficult time wrapping my mind around it."

"That's because there was someone else pulling the strings. A puppet master, if you will," Mitsuru-san stated.

"Does the name Masayoshi Shido ring a bell, Niijima-san?" Ken asked.

Sae asked, "Who doesn't? Masayoshi Shido... he's the most popular candidate for our next prime minister."

Shinjiro-san's face darkened with anger. "That bastard has been too much trouble for too long. Hiding behind the law, meanwhile slapping Mitsuru with red tape... Not to mention that crap he pulled a couple nights ago!"

In that moment, Ken seemed to shrink into his seat, a look of guilt crossing his face. Makoto looked concerned and seemed to reach under the table for his hand. Ken's posture grew less tense but he still looked horribly guilty.

"What the hell happened?" Ren thought, a sense of dread filling the pit of his stomach.

"Hey, hey, Shinjiro-san, don't go there!" Chie-san admonished. "You one-upped him. That's something, right?"

Mitsuru-san said quietly, "Satonaka is right, Shinjiro. It's certainly something after over two years of him having the upper hand on us."

"I guess," Shinjiro-san said listlessly.

Sojiro coughed. "So, what about that plan? You mentioned something about getting Akechi to kill Ren's fake? Or something like that? I'm still confused."

It was an obvious ploy to change the subject but Ren was relieved to hear it.

Makoto shifted in her seat. "So, we baited Akechi in Sis's Palace, making him dispose of Sis's cognition of Ren. But the real Ren would be okay."

Sae folded her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow.

"Can you elaborate on that in more detail? What exactly happened in my cognitive world?" she asked, looking curious. "I'm still trying to wrap my mind around all of this and... I'm still not sure what happened last night."

Haru brushed a stray curl out of her face. "We're sorry for using you without your permission. Your Palace had all the conditions we needed."

"Conditions?" she echoed.

Makoto held up one finger. "First, we required a place inside the cognitive world that was the same as in reality."

"Do you remember what I told you about Kamoshida's Palace?" Ren asked. "I practically stumbled into it. I didn't realize that I had entered the Metaverse until I came across the castle. We needed something similar to that for this plan."

Ryuji nodded. "Yeah, that place's based off of the real world, after all. Anywhere that's not warped looks normal."

Ken commented, "I remember the first time I entered the Metaverse. I was kinda shocked how I had all but ran into the Metaverse. You feel nothing as you step through."

Haru giggled. "Same for me. For Okumura Foods' headquarters to suddenly turn into a spaceport. It was quite a shock."

"That's why nobody but the person who uses the Nav even realizes they're in the Metaverse," Anne explained.

"This Nav is simply extraordinary," Mitsuru-san commented. "I still have to wonder who created it."

"That is a good question..." Chie-san said, nodding.

Trying to explain a certain long-nosed man might confuse the issue further so Ren kept that to himself for now. He couldn't help but wonder if any of the past Wild Cards ever tried to explain Igor to their comrades.

"But anyways, back with Kamoshida. We came in from the station without even noticin'..." Ryuji just shook his head. "It's kinda crazy."

Ren just chuckled, "Brings back memories, huh?"

Ryuji snickered. "No shit! It feels like ages since then, but it's been what—seven months? You totally can't tell the difference if there ain't any distortions around."

"Futaba was the one to recall that there seemed to be no distortions around the police station," Yusuke stated.

"And then she reminded us about Niijima-san having cognitive selves in her Palace," Haru added.

Ken then supplied, "So we made a plan to utilize that and the interrogation room deep in the police station. Though Makoto and Futaba were the ones doing most of the work."

"It was a very clever plan," Morgana said.

Ren tried not to wince. While it was a good plan... he had nearly forgotten because of those damn drugs. He almost didn't give Sae his phone. And then where would they be?

"It was a dangerous plan," Shinjiro-san corrected, looking sternly at Morgana.

"Your plan seemed rather solid." Sae said, "Then why—?"

"That was Shinjiro's idea, actually," Mitsuru-san said with a chuckle. "He was concerned about the outcome."

"Feh." Shinjiro-san just crossed his arms over his chest, not willing to meet anyone's eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, okay, tough guy." Chie rolled her eyes.

"But Shinjiro suggested that we bring in Kujikawa and Satonaka as part of the operation. Another friend of ours was going to be part of the operation but... things became complicated."

Mitsuru-san trailed off at the last part.

"But we did really want this to succeed," Ken said quietly.

Makoto nodded, looking anxiously at Sae. "That's why I joined the Phantom Thieves originally, Sis. I wanted to heal your heart. And finding out that Akechi was going to use you... that was the last straw."

"Makoto…" Sae looked shocked at Makoto's declaration.

Her face suddenly crumpled.

"I'm sorry, Makoto. I am so sorry... I was so caught up in my obsession for success that I lost my way. My own achievements were all that mattered to me... I was desperate. I wasn't myself at all. And well, Ren-kun made sure to highlight the mistakes I've made with you."

Ren blinked, "I did?"

Sae just smiled sardonically.

"You highlighted that I had failed as a guardian... and as a sister."

"It's probably best that you don't remember certain things you said though," Ken suddenly mumbled out.

Makoto reached over, smacking Ken's arm.

"Ow!" Ken complained, shooting Makoto a look. "It's true…"

"Is there something you need to tell me?" Ren asked, raising an eyebrow.

"It's nothing," Makoto insisted before shooting Ken a quick glare.

Haru then cleared her throat before speaking, "But we knew that you'd be doing the interrogation, Niijima-san."

"And regarding the location... I assume you discerned that from my laptop?" Sae asked, looking amused.

Makoto bowed her head slightly, an embarrassed blush spreading across her cheeks. "I'm sorry."

Sae waved her hand, letting out a chuckle. "Go on."

"We needed to confirm a couple of things before we could go forward with the plan," Makoto said.

"Our clothes needed to stay the same while inside the interrogation room," Haru chimed in.

Makoto nodded. "And that the scenery needed to remain the same."

"Makoto, Haru, and Ken went to check it personally," Anne added.

"And then we needed to confirm that your cognition of Ren would look the same," Makoto said.

Yusuke explained, "Ren hadn't been caught yet… but we had our answer inside your actual Palace. The people inside... looked no different than real living people."

"After that, we just had to work our way into the Palace like usual while keepin' Akechi in the dark." Ryuji then shook his head. "But maaan, he sucked at being a so-called detective."

"'I think the games are rigged'," Futaba said in a poor imitation of Akechi's voice, making both Ryuji and Ren snicker. "No duh! We're in a casino! How do you think they make money?!"

"He's a complete idiot. Nothing compared to Naoto-kun," Chie-san grumbled out.

"Naoto?" Sae echoed, eyebrow raised.

"You know, the first Detective Prince?" Chie-san asked.

Shock filled Sae's face. "H-Hang on, you know Naoto Shirogane?!"

"We went to high school together actually," Chie-san said with a sheepish smile. "I was a year above her."

"I… how many celebrities do you know?" Sae stammered out.

"Is it really important, Niijima?" Shinjiro-san questioned.

"I suppose not. B-But anyways…" Sae looked back to Makoto. "You were saying?"

"Everything went according to plan… until we faced off against your Shadow, Sis. However, it was then that we were met with a terrifying, unexpected police ambush. As a result, even though we managed to grab the Treasure, we couldn't get it out of the Metaverse... except that was an act."

Ren said, "It was all part of the plan. I was going to offer myself up as bait, act as a distraction while I carried out the Treasure."

"But the Treasure was a fake, prepared by Makoto," Ken stated.

Sojiro shouted, "Hang on, so you willingly put yourself in police custody?! That's just insane!"

"It was a risk I was willing to take," Ren said adamantly, meeting Sojiro's panicked gaze evenly. "If our enemy thought that I was taken out, he'd assume that the Phantom Thieves would fall apart. He wouldn't have to worry about us anymore. He'd leave them alone."

He then smiled sardonically before shrugging at Sojiro.

"I'm sorry, Sojiro, but I just... can't look away. I guess I can't help but stick my nose in other people's business. It's part of who I am."

"That's...!" Sojiro's eyes widened. "You still remember that?!"

Ren just shrugged. "I'm never going to forget that."

"You snot-nosed punk..." Sojiro grumbled out, but the smile tugging at his lips told Ren that he actually found it pretty funny.

Everyone else looked confused, but they seemed to shrug it off.

"It's kinda crazy how Akechi so willingly took the bait though," Anne said, shaking her head.

Sae just exhaled, shaking her head. "And I had been interrogating him with no knowledge of this. But, how did you lure Akechi into this... cognitive world's interrogation room?"

Futaba just snickered. "All I needed were the coordinates. Hehehehehe..."

"Seriously, you're too scary." Ryuji grumbled out.

"And I thought Yamagishi's skills were formidable," Mitsuru-san remarked.

"Yeah, Fuuka-san is good, but… Futaba has her easily beat," Ken seconded.

Though Ren couldn't help but be curious. He should ask Futaba how exactly she managed to pull this off later. Maybe another day, though. He was exhausted.

"But Akechi took the bait, hook, line, and sinker!" Anne chimed in.

Yusuke nodded firmly. "Indeed. He killed Niijima-san's cognition of Ren and left, thinking that he had prevailed over Ren. It must have been truly hilarious for our leader who sat idly in the real world's interrogation room."

Well... he couldn't deny that.

"Surely he was acting quite cocky by himself in that quiet chamber," Yusuke added with a chuckle.

Ren frowned. "I resent that comment..."

"And yet you can't deny it." Anne said teasingly, playfully sticking her tongue out at him.

"Jerks..." Ren grumbled out.

"Aw, I still love you though," Anne cooed.

"Gross," Ryuji grumbled out.

Anne glowered at him. "Shut it, Ryuji."

"Make me!"

"They're reminding me of Yukari and Iori..." Mitsuru-san said idly.

"You're not the first to think that, Mitsuru-san," Ken said, shaking his head.

Sae ignored the bickering and cleared her throat.

"But that's why you gave me your phone? I only took it because of what you told me."

Sae then sighed, shaking her head.

"I will admit that you really had me on the ropes. Dangling the truth right over my head."

"It got your attention, didn't it?" Ren asked, quirking an eyebrow at her. "I needed to get you to remember the real reason you became a prosecutor. You had lost your way for the sake of success."

"I just wish that I could've seen this exchange," Yusuke remarked. "It must've been a scene to behold."

"Well, I didn't see much of it, Yusuke," Ren pointed out. "I gave her my phone and had to trust in her."

Sae chuckled. "The instruction given to me was so overwhelming though. Along with our escape... Alibaba brought me to the Metaverse in order to enact the plan, didn't she?"

"Futaba visited her Palace back in August," Yusuke said.

"Gave me a heart attack though," Ken grumbled.

Futaba stuck her tongue out at him. "Pfft, please, I saved all of your butts there and you know it!"

Ken rolled his eyes. "Didn't say that it was a bad thing. Just that it was rather shocking."

Ryuji nodded. "But anyways, that's how we knew that it'd be fine to bring ya in."

"Wait, that's a thing?!" Chie-san sputtered out. "I uh… we kinda brought Niijima-san into the Metaverse again when we were escaping."

"Wait, why?" Haru asked, her brow furrowing together.

"Uh... it's well..." Ren winced. "My leg wasn't one hundred percent last night."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Makoto questioned.

At that, his friends all looked at him in concern. Ren bit the inside of his cheek. Why did he have to draw attention to this?

Chie-san sighed. "Ren-kun, you can't hide it from them forever."

She said it gently but Ren couldn't help but cringe. His friends were gonna be pissed.

"It's well... the guy who made me sign the confession. He kinda... stomped on my leg when I was all drugged up, to the point where I could hardly walk. I guess he thought that I was refusing—"

He was cut off by several angered cries.

"They did WHAT?!" Anne screeched out, her hands forming into fists.

Ryuji slammed a hand against the table, making it rattle hard. His eyes flashed with anger.

"Those bastards!" he growled out.

Yusuke's voice shook with anger. "This is simply unforgivable!"

"Ren-kun... that's horrible!" Haru trailed off with a mournful look.

"I... I didn't expect you to come out unscathed but this is..." Makoto shook her head, her expression torn. "Yusuke really put it best. It's just unforgivable."

"We'll make him pay, no matter what! Shido and every last member of his stupid conspiracy!" Futaba declared.

"If we ever see that man, let me know Ren! I'll claw his face off!" Morgana hissed.

Ken however said nothing. But the look in his eyes said more than he could have said.

Ren could only manage a small smile. He appreciated it; he really did but, he didn't want to look so weak. He was their leader, after all.

"Shido really authorized this?" Mitsuru-san questioned; her voice numb, "This is just despicable! I—"

Ken winced. "Mitsuru-san, you know what the people under Shido are like."

"I know, Amada! I just—" Mitsuru-san suddenly cut herself off, a frustrated sigh escaping her. "This is not what I wanted, when I founded the Shadow Operatives. You shouldn't have to endure this."

"I'll be okay. I know a doctor. She's the best in the city. She'll have me all patched up soon," Ren said, trying to sound reassuring.

"But there must be something I can do..." Mitsuru-san trailed off, a frown in her voice.

"Like what, buy him a shit ton of medicine?" Shinjiro-san snarked.

"Oh, what a marvelous idea, Shinjiro! I'll look into it right away!"

Ken-san coughed. "Mitsuru-san... that was a joke."

"Oh… Well, I can never tell with you, Shinjiro!"

"That's 'cause you don't have a sense of humor."

"Excuse me?!"

"Did I stutter, Mitsuru?"

Mitsuru-san huffed. "You're incorrigible."

Their argument couldn't help but make Ren laugh. He really needed some laughs after this entire month.

"Whatever." Shinjiro-san scoffed.

"But anyhow..." Sae brushed a stray strand out of her face. "I am impressed with this plan. It was literally like a game of 4D chess."

"I'm just glad that Ren could convince you. We were really worried about that," Anne stated.

"Why's that?" Sojiro asked, looking surprised.

"Well, while it's true that Mitsuru-san got a few people to give us backup, we couldn't help but be nervous. Especially with breaking out Ren..." Makoto explained.

Sae just smiled. "Still, I'm surprised you could convince me in such a short time. Were you confident you could do it?"

"RenRen does have a gold tongue," Ryuji said.

"I believe you mean silver tongue, Sakamoto," Mitsuru-san corrected.

"Same thing!"

Ren shrugged. "As confident as I could be with the plan, I guess. It's all kinda foggy due to the drugs."

Ken's expression grew somber. "That's right—Futaba told us while she was monitoring everything that she suspected that they used truth serum on you."

Sae scowled. "They injected him five times."

"Wouldn't they have overdosed him with that?!" Chie-san gasped, horror in her eyes.

"They obviously don't give a shit! Goddamn bastards!" Ryuji spat out.

"Will you truly be okay, Amamiya?" Mitsuru-san asked.

The concern in her voice was surprising. Not that he thought she was a cold bitch or anything, but she didn't know him. She mainly knew him as Ken's friend.

"I just would like to do something... to help you. I despise having my hands tied as is."

"You're fine." Ren reassured the CEO. "I appreciate the concern but you don't need to trouble yourself to getting me a personal physician or whatever else you have in mind."

She chuckled. "Well, if you insist."

Sojiro turned off the stove and let out a heavy sigh.

"I do have one question though..." Sojiro asked. "What about the 'body'?"

"Well, Satonaka-san and Kujikawa-san took Ren-kun from the police station. But afterwards, I realized that I needed to ensure that the body was never checked. By the time I returned to the supposed scene of the crime, they had a coroner. They had a coroner working to ensure Ren-kun's death was reported as a suicide. That coroner didn't take one look at the scene, and just passed along a falsified death certificate," Sae explained.

They were really too arrogant for their own good. Oh well—that would just mean that they'd fall even harder.

"Oh and don't worry about any security footage. I hacked into their system and made certain any footage from the interrogation room during the rescue would be deleted. They were prolly gonna erase the data themselves anyway since they were gonna rough him up then kill him," Futaba chimed in.

Chie-san's eyes just about bugged out of her head.

"Seriously?! They were that confident about the plan?!" she yelped, before gasping. "Wait, am I in trouble though? I would have been walking towards that interrogation room before we slipped into the Metaverse!?"

Futaba pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose, before cracking a confident smirk. "No worries! Got ya covered! Any cameras you walked by I made certain to delete any evidence of you being seen in that building. With the craziness going on of announcing his suicide I highly doubt they're gonna notice something so small. Especially when they're erasing their own tracks themselves. Prolly think it's just part of that."

"They were quite sure of themselves." Yusuke sighed.

"Arrogant seems like the better word," Makoto noted, tilting her head slightly.

"Sometimes I wonder how they can walk through the door with their inflated egos," Ken quipped with a half-hearted smile.

"I dunno, Akechi seems to manage," Ren deadpanned.

Ryuji nearly choked on his drink as he started snickering. He grabbed some napkins cleaning his face off after that.

"I can't believe they have that kind of influence, though..." Sojiro remarked, disbelief clear in his voice.

He shook his head.

"This entire story is just mind-blowing."

"Mm, it would seem ludicrous… if it wasn't Shido we were dealing with," Mitsuru-san stated.

"Of course it did help that with the 'suicide', the police station was in disarray," Sae remarked, folding her arms over her chest. "No wonder it was so easy to spirit him away from the police station. I did have to stick around, however, to ensure that nobody would touch the morgue."

"I'm surprised that you managed to pull that off, Niijima-san," Yusuke said.

"I thought my heart was going to burst out of my chest while we were getting Ren-kun out of there though!" Chie-san confessed. "Rise-chan kept telling me to relax or we would look suspicious and that would get us pulled over."

"You guys just about scared me to death with that..." Sojiro sighed.

"I'm sorry about that, again, Sakura-san..." Chie-san apologized, bowing low.

"But it's not like you could've called Sakura." Shinjiro-san snorted. "Like 'hey, don't freak out but we're bringing back the kid you're watching over. The news is lying about him being dead. See you soon!'"

"H-Hey, I don't sound like that, Shinjiro-san!" Chie-san pouted at Shinjiro-san's poor imitation of her voice.

"But... I am glad you're safe, Ren," Makoto said, sincerity shining in her eyes, "I just... I can't believe they did that to you. The callous use of violence and even drugs…"

"If he had lost consciousness and hadn't been able to tell Niijima about the phone, he would've died…" Morgana added, his gaze dropping to his feet.

Makoto nodded. "I'm truly glad you made it back safe, Ren."

Ren let out a small laugh. "I won't lie... it was pretty close. Even with all the help we got."

"That's not even counting how Niijima-san's Palace was self-destructing while we were escaping!" Chie-san exclaimed.

"Shinjiro was right to suggest the back-up," Mitsuru-san said. "That being said, I am thankful that the plan was a complete success. You've pulled the wool over Shido's eyes."

Anne let out a weak chuckle. "You have no idea how much it freaked me out when I saw the suicide on the news though... I knew we had to pretend that everything was okay—since Shido was keeping tabs on us but..."

Haru nodded. "Pretending to lead normal lives like that... it was so difficult."

Then she smiled warmly at Ren.

"I'm just glad you're safe, Ren-kun," she said.

"Well, I knew right away that our plan worked out," Ryuji said with a big grin.

Yusuke sighed heavily. "I wanted to believe, but considering what we were up against... I couldn't stop the self-doubts from festering in my mind."

Morgana just snickered. "Ryuji's a bit on the dense and carefree side."

"Can it, cat!" he hissed at the feline.

"I am NOT a cat!" Morgana retorted.

"Enough already..." Makoto chided.

Anne sighed, "It's such a relief though. We had to avoid LeBlanc like the plague until things finally calmed down."

"And you guys aren't even out of the woods yet," Shinjiro-san warned. "It's only been a day."

"Not to mention dealing with Shido himself…" Mitsuru-san sighed.

Ken nodded. "We will. And we'll take him down, no matter what."

"But first we need to make sure that you're fine, Amada," Mitsuru-san's voice grew stern. "And the doctor will need to give you a clean bill before we will even begin to discuss allowing you to continue Phantom Thief work."

Ken sighed heavily, his shoulders slumping. "Yes, Mitsuru-san…"

"Wow, she totally mom'd you there!" Futaba snickered.

"A-Am I not allowed to show concern for Amada?!" Mitsuru-san demanded; if Ren had to guess, she was probably blushing out of embarrassment.

"Doesn't mean it'll save you from Sakura mocking you," Shinjiro-san snarked.

"Don't be a hypocrite, Shinjiro."

"But wait… what doctor?" Ren interjected. "Didn't Takemi already examine him?"

Ken winced. "Um... that was a preliminary examination, Ren. I'm going back to Port Island—"

"WHAT?!" Ren gasped, already on his feet.

"Please let Amada finish, Amamiya," Mitsuru-san interjected.

The imperious tone made Ren stop short. He reluctantly nodded, before lowering him back into his seat.

Ken smiled faintly. "So, Shinjiro-san and I will be going back for a few days. The Kirijo Group scientists will be making sure that everything's okay with me."

"The Kirijo Group?! Isn't that overkill, Ken?" Ren stared at him in disbelief.

"It's not!" Shinjiro-san and Mitsuru-san said in unison.

"What. The. Hell?! What am I missing?" Ren thought as his body started to tense up.

It was obvious that everyone else at least had an inkling with what was going on. Ren couldn't help but feel frustrated. He got that he had just gotten into contact with everyone else, but he didn't like being left out in the dark.

Ken sighed. "Ren, I will tell you. Just... not now."

Ren might have argued the matter if he didn't catch the look on Ken's face. His eyes were practically begging Ren to not push it.

Ren sighed in defeat. "I'll hold you to that, Ken."

Sae looked back and forth at the two, she was curious but didn't comment. Then she frowned, apparently troubled by something.

"Now that I think about it, my interrogation was just a formality from the head commander. What a joke, letting me interrogate someone who was meant to die. They just wanted to avoid backlash..." The prosecutor let out a sigh, but then a small smile appeared on her face. "Very well. From here on out, I will do my upmost to assist you."

Sae then brushed some hair out of her face, an even bigger smile appearing on her lips.

"You saved me, after all," she said sincerely.

"That's reassuring to hear!" Anne exclaimed.

Sojiro nodded, before slipping his hands in his pockets.

"I'll do whatever I can to help too. Just let me know. Oh, and feel free to use the first floor when you guys want to get together to talk. You'll need a hideout where you can be safe. Just say the word and I'll close shop early."

Anne's eyes widened. "Are you sure, Boss?"

Sojiro nodded. "This guy can't leave—it'd be reckless to, after all the work you did to ensure that Shido thinks he's dead. Plus, you won't make much progress if people can hear you from downstairs. It's not like this place is the liveliest joint in town. It won't be a huge loss for me."

"We did manage before when we were targeting Futaba but this will be a big help." Makoto smiled before bowing her head. "Thank you very much."

"But seriously, how do you make a living?" Shinjiro-san grumbled.

"Shinjiro, don't be rude," Mitsuru scolded.

"It's an honest question!" Shinjiro-san huffed.

"Your definition of honest is different than most."

Ryuji shrugged. "I mean, he's got a point."

"Don't push it..." Sojiro said through narrowed eyes.

"Fine, fine… let's switch gears then. When's the election?" Ryuji asked. "We gotta take care of Shido before that, yeah?"

"It's December eighteenth," Chie-san said automatically. "Kinda weird since it'll be the first election for me when I can actually vote."

"Shido, huh..." Sojiro grimaced, for some reason.

Ren glanced over at Sojiro; his eyebrows knitted in confusion. Ren however didn't need to comment as Yusuke pretty much voiced what he was going to say.

"Hold on a moment..." Yusuke frowned, looking at Sojiro curiously. "Boss, are you acquainted with him?"

He grimaced. Sojiro pulled his glasses off for a moment, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He then placed his glasses back on and looked at Ren with a very serious expression.

"Yes, I... I strongly suspect that he arranged Wakaba's death."

Everyone in the room went still. They all were thinking the same thing. Everyone suddenly avoided looking at Futaba directly. Ren glanced at her from the corner of his eye. She was sitting still and staring at the ground.

"I suspected that right after Isshiki died," Mitsuru-san spoke up. "It's... how I came into contact with Shido."

"You tried to challenge him, huh…? You're lucky. Most people are crushed by Shido, if he sees you as a problem." Sojiro shook his head.

Futaba then tensed. Makoto reached over and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"We'll take him down. For Mom!" Futaba finally looked up, fire in her eyes.

"Father... why did you have to come into contact with such a horrible man?" Haru sighed, wrapping her arms around her torso.

"Haru... Futaba..." Makoto sighed, her voice soft with sympathy.

Ren looked at his two friends with pity. They'll never get back what they lost. Because of Akechi... and Shido. Ren let in a deep breath through his nose, keeping his face calm.

"Though I have to ask... why didn't you go after Shido sooner?" Sojiro asked. "You knew, from what the Shadow Operatives told you, yeah?"

Ken said, "That was the plan... but then we were... stuck. And then we found out about Haru, coupled that with the scandals around Okumura."

"Yes, and we decided to target Okumura instead," Makoto finished.

"We fell into Shido's trap but… it did bring Haru into our lives. A silver lining, so to speak," Yusuke stated, offering Haru a smile.

Haru smiled at Yusuke as well and gave him a small nod.

"But no more delays," Ren said, clenching his hands into fists. "We're gonna take down Shido, for the sake of our lives and for the sake of our country."

Mitsuru-san said, "Thank you, Amamiya. I truly wish that you wouldn't have to step up to the plate but—"

"Eh... don't sweat it." Ryuji shrugged. "If anything, it's taught us that we gotta act if we want to see change. And Shido—he's ruined Futaba's life personally. He ordered the death of Haru's dad… not to mention all the shit with the mental shutdowns and psychotic breakdowns! That bastard's begging for a change of heart. And hopefully if we're in luck we can teach Akechi a lesson too."

Ken shifted awkwardly; his expression showed discomfort. Ren raised a brow at that. What was that about?

"Remember Ryuji, Shido is the bigger fish to fry right now," Morgana stated.

"Yeah, yeah, I know." Ryuji rolled his eyes.

"Not just that, he deserves so much more than a change of heart," Makoto stated before brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "He's ruining countless lives... all for the sake of his ambition. He doesn't care who he crushes."

"But let's start with a change of heart," Ken said.

"We've agreed, then?" Morgana asked. "Our next target—Masayoshi Shido. We can't let him take this country."

They all nodded firmly.

Anne then suggested, "Let's start tomorrow then. Let's meet up after school."

But then Ryuji frowned, scratching the back of his head.

"Hang on, what about you though, Ren? You can't exactly go to school when you're 'dead'," he pointed out.

Sojiro said, "I already called in. Said that he's gone back home for a family emergency."

"Pretty much had to use the same excuse for Ken..." Shinjiro-san sighed.

"Him too?" Haru asked, blinking in confusion.

Shinjiro-san nodded, before shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Yeah, we forced Shido into leaving us—the Shadow Operatives—alone, when we blackmailed 'im. We made him think that we were cutting ties with you guys. We can't risk Shido thinking that Ken's still associating with the Phantom Thieves," he explained.

"I see..." Makoto sighed, before biting her lip.

Ken gave her a sympathetic look. She gave him a small smile but her eyes showed she was still worried.

"But yeah, we can't let them think that RenRen is alive after all too!" Ryuji said.

"Yes, we'll be taking advantage of the police's statement that Ren-kun committed suicide." Haru began to explain. "Our leader who is presumed dead will come out of hiding to deliver a grand statement. He'll say he has escaped prison, not committed suicide, and was in fact almost killed by a criminal."

Futaba chuckled, "Everyone is gonna flip."

Sojiro shook his head with a heavy sigh.

"This plan is just too elaborate for this old fart's brain…" Sojiro said, before cracking a smile.

"I'd be lying if I claimed that I wasn't impressed," Sae stated.

"But we need to stay on our toes." Makoto said, narrowing her eyes.

Ken nodded. "Yeah, we may have won the first round, but this will definitely be our toughest battle yet."

"It's not the time to be celebratin'!" Ryuji agreed.

"These people tried to trap and kill us. There is no end to their inhuman, conniving nature. We will need to be prepared for whatever may come our way." Yusuke said solemnly.

Morgana hopped down from the chair, his expression stern.

"But for now, we need to recharge," Morgana stated. "Tomorrow—our work begins."

Futaba nodded, "Yeah, this explanation took wayyy longer than I expected. But eh, we're done for today—"

"Not quite," Sae interrupted before looking straight at Makoto and Ken.

Ren blinked. He was... forgetting something, wasn't he? Something nagged at the back of his mind.

"So, Makoto…"

"Um... what's with that look, Sis?" Makoto asked nervously.

Sae stared hard at Ken specifically.

"When were you going to tell me that you were dating Amada-kun?"

"Oh… Oh crap!" Ren's eyes widened as a fuzzy memory began to resurface. "Makoto and Ken are going to kill me for this!"

Ren's eyes darted over to Makoto and Ken. Both of them had frozen. But then Makoto spoke.

"W-What?" Makoto's voice cracked unexpectedly, her eyes growing wide with panic. "How did you—"

Sae just crossed her arms over her chest before looking pointedly at Ren.

"I... uh... I plead the fifth?" Ren offered feebly, praying that his two friends would be forgiving.

Makoto glared at that comment but was cut off before she could say anything.

"W-Well... Ren-kun was on truth serum?" Haru said, desperately trying to diffuse the tension.

Ken and Makoto both looked shocked, Makoto took a deep breath, her glare returned, but was cut off again before she could say anything.

"But yes, Ren-kun did 'blab' about certain matters," Sae said dryly before she narrowed her eyes at Makoto. "I wouldn't blame him for it though. As your friend pointed out, he was on truth serum, and was also roughed up severely by the police. So, wipe that glare off your face, young lady. You don't get to be mad at him for lying to your sister. Were you planning on telling me… ever?"

Ken looked to Makoto in sympathy, as Makoto winced. Ren looked back and forth between all of them with wide eyes as what Sae said sunk in. He blabbed about more than just that?!

"What the hell? What else did I also say to Sae? Damn drugs!" Ren thought with frustration trying to recall what else he could have possibly told the prosecutor.

But then her gaze suddenly shifted to Ken. Ken's posture stiffened as she scrutinized him, but Ren at least had to give him credit for not grimacing. He really did not envy Ken right now.

But then Ken suddenly met Sae's gaze.

"With all due respect, Niijima-san... I am not going to apologize for dating Makoto. We spent a lot of time together over the past few months. I ended up liking her. She ended up liking me. When she told me how she felt, I asked her out. That's all there is to it."

Sae froze at Ken's words. Clearly, she hadn't expected Ken to offer a retort. Though to be fair, neither was Ren. Sure, Ken was snarky towards Shinjiro-san and to a lesser extent, Akihiko-san but they were practically Ken's older brothers. But he was respectful to any other adults. Hell, he still called Sojiro—Sakura-san, even though he insisted that Boss was fine.

"That doesn't change matters! The fact is that you concealed this from me. And for what reason?" Sae retorted.

"I dunno, Niijima, would you have even cared?" Shinjiro-san demanded with a fierce glower, taking a step towards Sae.

"Shinjiro—" Mitsuru-san began to rebuke but she was swiftly cut off.

"I want to know, Niijima, because you've treated Makoto horribly. You may have regretted what you did in the past, but how could you expect her to be open about this? For all she knew, you would tell her to dump Ken because of how she needs to focus on her education or some shit." Shinjiro-san's voice suddenly turned bitter at the last part.

Ken couldn't help but visibly cringe. Ren was right there with him, even if it was true—it was still harsh. Especially since Ren already gave her the third degree earlier in the interrogation room about her past actions.

"That's…" Sae trailed off, she had no response to that.

Then she turned to Makoto. Her expression was so sad. Ren couldn't help but feel pity for her.

"Makoto, you didn't think that, did you?" Sae asked, obviously hurt.

Makoto winced, "Well…"

"Exhibit A," Shinjiro-san deadpanned.

Ren cringed. As did everyone in the room. That was not helping.

"Shinjiro! That's enough!" Mitsuru snapped through the line.

"No, I'm just getting started," Shinjiro-san glared at Sae, who just glared back.

Ren wanted to smack his forehead. Why was he trying to pick a fight when she was already down? That's only gonna make her more irritable and defensive.

"Is that what you think?! Well, who knows what things you've taught him! Living with a rude, foul-mouthed, thug!" Sae snapped. "Makoto's a bright girl—top of her class! She's responsible and diligent! She deserves the best!"

Ren hated when he was right.

Shinjiro-san's eyes flashed with anger. "You really wanna play that game, Niijima? Fine. Ken is plenty smart. Smart enough to earn a partial scholarship for Gekkoukan."

"Are you two serious?!" Makoto exclaimed, while Ken just pressed a hand against his forehead.

Sae scoffed, placing a hand on her hip. "You know the CEO of the Kirijo Group. That's not impressive."

"Hang on a moment—" Mitsuru-san began to object, but she was cut off by Shinjiro-san's retort.

"Mitsuru doesn't play favorites!" Shinjiro-san snarled out. "Ken earned it by his own merit! On top of that, he was the soccer club star and he was on the student council for years!"

"Shinjiro-san…" Ken moaned out, his face flushing with embarrassment. "Please don't do this."

But his plea fell on deaf ears.

"And presumably he quit," Sae said coolly, folding her arms over her chest. "Meanwhile Makoto was elected as the student council president."

"Sis, that's not fair!" Makoto protested. "Ken may not have an official position but he helps me out a lot with my duties!"

Ren felt his head pounding, probably from the pain he was still in and some of the after effects of the drugs he was overdosed on. But he was getting tired of all this squabbling.

"Will you all shut the hell up!" Ren snapped.

The room went silent and everyone looked at him in shock. But he was not gonna stop there. He had it. Shinjiro-san and Sae were both out of line.

"Listen to you both! Bickering like a bunch of stuck up PTA moms trying to say which honor student is the bestest ever, good god! Get a grip! You're adults! You're not Ken and Makoto's nannies! They can decide for themselves what they want and that's the end of that! Stop acting like brats and quit arguing! They're dating, stop thinking about your issues and think about how they feel!" Ren yelled.

Ren sat down in his seat, his arms crossed as his body became more tense. He wasn't finished.

He glared at Sae and Shinjiro-san.

"We get it, you both can't stand each other, deal with it! Because Makoto and Ken's feelings are more important than your pissing contest!"

Everyone was speechless. Sojiro hid it, but he just shook his head, a proud smile tugging at his lips. He was obviously impressed. Sae and Shinjiro-san stared at him wide-eyed but then looked to the ground in shame.

"I guess… I did come on too strong back there," Shinjiro-san mumbled out. "So uh… sorry 'bout that, Niijima."

Sae narrowed her eyes. "Just because you give me an apology doesn't mean I'm obligated to accept that."

Shinjiro-san's eye twitched.

"You little—"

Ren glared at Sae, ready to pop off another rant.

Ren could only hope that Ken and Makoto could get them to chill out in the future. Otherwise it would lead to a bunch of headaches.

"Hey, hey, that's enough!"

Chie suddenly shoved herself in between Shinjiro-san and Sae, obviously not wanting them to get into another argument. It was kinda comical, given that she was dwarfed by the other two adults. She planted her hands on her hips, tilting her head up to look at Sae.

"Jeez, can't you just accept Shinjiro-san's apology? He doesn't do that often, y'know!"

Shinjiro-san huffed, giving her an annoyed glare, "I'm right here, Satonaka."

"I have to second Satonaka's statement." Mitsuru-san chimed in.

Shinjiro-san huffed, "Nobody asked you, Mitsuru."

"I'm simply paying you back for all the times you've given me unwarranted opinions."

Ren could feel Mitsuru giving him an eye-roll through the phone.

"And didn't you hear Ren-kun just now?" Chie-san continued her reprimand.

But Sae huffed, looking away. "I… suppose I can do as you request. I accept your apology, Aragaki."

"Whatever."

"Jeez, Shinjiro-san, would it kill you to be a little nicer?" Chie-san huffed.

"Shut up."

"Pffft, we all know that he's a total softie," Futaba scoffed. "Remember that he c—"

"Shut it, Sakura!" Shinjiro-san snarled out.

"Hmm… Sakura seems to have you pegged already, Shinjiro," Mitsuru-san remarked.

Shinjiro-san opened his mouth to retort but Sae cleared her throat.

"There is one more matter..." Sae then turned to Ken, who looked unsure, but then she bowed. "Amada-kun, I apologize for my earlier words. I do not approve of you hiding your relationship with my sister. But I still shouldn't have been uncharitable towards you just because I dislike your guardian."

Ken was speechless at that. Shinjiro-san's eyes widened for a moment, before he scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest. He looked rather… annoyed. Regardless, it seems that they won't have to deal with that headache.

"So… are we all done for today's meeting?" Makoto asked, changing the subject quickly.

Haru giggled. "I think we are. But this took much longer than I had expected."

"Thank you for letting me talk to you all," Mitsuru-san said, a smile in her voice. "I hope to speak with you sometime in the near future."

After Mitsuru-san hung up, Chie-san picked up her phone. She just grimaced as she glanced down at it.

"Sheesh, it's almost dead," she complained.

"At least Rise-san's apartment isn't too far, Chie-san," Ken said, obviously looking to console her.

Chie-san smiled and nodded. But then she looked to Sojiro.

"But uh… you open to whipping up some curry? Ken-kun mentioned that your curry is great."

"Thinking with your stomach as usual, huh?" Shinjiro-san snarked.

"H-Hey!"

But the meeting quickly broke up soon afterwards. Makoto and Sae were some of the first to leave. Ren hoped that they would be able to work things out. He knew how badly Makoto wanted to make amends. Though, it was a bit complicated with how Sae obviously disapproved of Makoto dating behind her back. Ren thought that it wouldn't be so bad if Shinjiro-san wasn't Ken's guardian. Sae obviously could not stand Shinjiro-san for whatever reason. It made Ren kinda glad that Anne's parents were currently overseas. He wouldn't have to deal with that quite yet.

Ken awkwardly lingered near the bar, looking unsure about if their conversation was going to happen now. Ren glanced towards Anne, but Anne just gave his hand a quick squeeze.

"Go talk to Ken. I'll be here after you two are done," she whispered.

Ren smiled at her in thanks before leaning in to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. He then stood up, trying to cringe as his leg protested it. He then gestured for Ken to join him up in the attic.

Ren winced as he sank onto the couch. His leg was still throbbing painfully.

"Is it bad?" Ken asked hesitantly.

Ren shrugged. "I'll live."

"Don't act all tough," he chided, shooting Ren an exasperated look. "I can help heal it."

Without another word, his hand started to glow blue. Ken and Morgana's healing spells differed slightly. Morgana's spells felt like a cool breeze. But Ken's spells were warm, almost akin to the sun.

"They didn't break it at least," Ken murmured.

"Yeah there is that..." Ren agreed, before managing to crack a sardonic smile.

A frown appeared on Ken's face. "Please don't joke about this."

"Sorry..." Ren quickly apologized with a wince; but then he met Ken's gaze with a stern expression. "But only if you start talking about what happened, like you promised."

Ken sighed heavily, the gust of air ruffling his bangs.

Ken sat up straight. "If you insist. I'll start with what happened when we had to separate from you..."

Ken started to summarize the events... and Ren felt as if a huge block of ice was dropped into the pit of his stomach. He was horrified at the reason why Futaba suddenly had cut off communications. He had been worried, but he had forced himself to focus on the mission. But this was unforgiveable.

"They shot Futaba?!" Ren demanded, anger surging through him.

Ken nodded slowly before he bit his lip, "It was all a ploy though... they took her hostage."

If anything, that just pissed off Ren even more. They had hurt Futaba to get to Ken. So they could kidnap him. But a sudden movement caught Ren's eye. Ken's hands had been resting in his lap but they started to shake.

"I should've watched out for her more... I dragged everyone in a huge mess and I—"

"Don't blame yourself, Ken…" Ren cut him off, he refused to let his friend finish that thought.

Ken shook his head.

"No, you don't understand, Ren. Did you ever think about Akihiko-san's absence?" Ken said with such guilt in his eyes.

Ren frowned. It had slipped his mind. Akihiko-san must've gone to help them rescue Ken from Shido's grasp. But what did that have to do with why Ken looked so guilty? Did Akihiko-san get hurt during the rescue attempt?

"No, not really. Sorry, my head's still kinda foggy," Ren admitted.

Ken looked at him with pity. "Right. I'm sorry."

He then let out a deep sigh, before staring down at the floor.

"Shido gloated to Mitsuru-san about abducting me. And when Minako-san found out... she lost it. She went into labor three weeks early. She probably blamed herself. For suggesting that I go to Tokyo in the first place. And she might have lost the baby. And family—it means the world to her. The only person she had for a decade was Minato-san. If she lost the baby because of me… I don't think I could forgive myself."

"Ken..."

Ren was honestly speechless. He didn't know what to say.

But he had to try.

"How is she now?" Ren asked tentatively.

"The baby was born healthy but..."

"There's no buts then!" Ren said, holding up a finger. "That's something to celebrate. It just means that the baby was too impatient to meet her mom and dad."

Ken stared at him for a moment, before a smile tugged at his lips.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it."

"And you'll get to meet her when you go to Port Island, right?" Ren said carefully.

Ken nodded. "Yes, but um... I suppose I should get back to the story."

Ren nodded in agreement.

"They... kinda pushed how Futaba was Isshiki-san's daughter. I couldn't help but feel afraid that she was going to be taken to Shido and he'd do who knows what to her. It's just—I don't know—I was panicking. It was in the heat of the moment. So... I offered myself as a trade."

Ken then cringed, before staring down at his lap.

"It really wasn't my best moment," Ken admitted, his voice scarcely above a whisper.

"I don't blame you for wanting to protect Futaba though. I would have done the same in your shoes," Ren said quietly.

Ken looked up at Ren with slight surprise but then shook his head.

"Right, of course you would. I forgot who I was talking to."

Ren gave him a small smile. It wasn't much, but he wanted Ken to know there was nothing to be ashamed about for risking his life for Futaba.

He had never said it to her, but he considered Futaba like the little sister he never had. His parents were both focused on their careers so they didn't have him until they were in their mid-thirties. But Ren remembered always wanting a sibling. But when Futaba crashed into their lives, he found himself getting easily attached to her.

He was grateful Ken saved her, even if it was a ploy. And he was even more grateful both friends are safe now. He would feel even worse if neither of them made it back safely after he risked himself.

Ken sighed. "I can't help but think of the what-ifs... Shido's men let us say goodbye as an act of 'kindness'. She had been crying and begging them to reconsider but of course they didn't listen. They had achieved their objective, after all. They drugged me with... a refined version of the Persona suppressors."

"They what?!" Ren gaped, "What… how the hell did Shido of all people get ahold of that?!"

"Well, the Kirijo Group kind have fractured after the experiment that split Nyx into thirteen Shadows. Mitsuru-san's father wanted to atone and fix the mess that her grandfather had created. There were scientists who left the company completely. Mitsuru-san hadn't been able to track them all down, even now."

"Even though it's been what—seventeen years?" Ren said incredulously.

Ken slowly nodded. "At least one is under Shido's employ. So they brought the drug to him."

"Wait, hang on—I thought the drug was supposed to just... control your Persona? Since the Kirijo Group scientists experimented on those kids who became Strega and since it was forced, their Personas weren't as stable. And with Shinjiro-san—it messed up his temperature regulations or something, right?"

Ken shrugged. "They must have done some refinement to it. To knock out the person as well. I could feel Kala-Nemi being cut off from me before I passed out."

Ren couldn't help but shiver at the thought. He couldn't imagine that feeling. But then Ken took a deep breath, before continuing the story.

"But then... I woke up on a... hospital bed, I guess? One of Shido's men came to get me and took me to Shido."

"What was he like?" Ren asked hesitantly.

He was going to be their next target after all. He couldn't help but wonder.

Ken paused, pursing his lips as he pondered the question.

"He's... very charismatic. I will say that. He definitely knows how to be persuasive. But..."

Ken suddenly shivered, before wrapping his arms around himself.

"He was also intimidating. He knew just where to get to you...!"

Ken's shoulders then tensed at that, before dropping his hands to grip at his knees. Ren couldn't help but think of the man who 'interrogated' him. Claiming that the law wouldn't protect criminals like himself. It was sickening, to see how Shido had abused the system to this kind of degree.

A part of Ren wanted to ask Ken what exactly happened. But... at the same time, Ren wasn't sure if he could talk about what happened during interrogation. Not to Morgana, who had been both his friend and partner since Day 1. Not to Ryuji, who was the best friend he's ever had. Not to Sojiro, who had become like a dad to him. And... not to Anne. Definitely not her. He didn't want to burden her.

He didn't want to admit that he had been very afraid. The way Shido's goons had ganged up on him, kicking him to the ground. It seemed like anywhere they could reach, they hit.

It just made him feel weak.

"Ren?"

Ren snapped to attention.

"I-I'm sorry, Ken... I just..." He winced, pressing a hand against his forehead. "I'm out of it."

Ken said gently, "Don't feel bad, Ren. You've been through a lot these past couple days."

Ren somehow managed a slight smile. "We both have. But we're still here."

His friend gave him a small smile back. But then Ken then rubbed his arm, his expression morphing into a morose one.

"I'm not sure if Makoto and the others know this... but Shido tried to manipulate me into agreeing to help him. He wanted leverage on Mitsuru-san and he was determined to get it no matter what."

Ren winced. He knew that Ken really cared for Mitsuru-san. (even though it was painfully obvious that he also had a healthy dosage of fear for the CEO).

"What a bastard, right?" Ren tried to halfheartedly joke, to try and distract Ken. "You'd never do that."

Ken heaved out a sigh. "This was just a mess. He kinda hinted to me that he knew the truth about Mom's death. And..."

He suddenly trailed off, only for anger to flash in his eyes.

"Ken…?" Ren questioned.

Ken remained silent, glaring a hole practically into the ground.

"What's that about?" Ren thought with worry.

"He claimed that he knew my mom. Like my mom would ever associate with a scumbag like him!" Ken spat out, his hands suddenly clenching into fists.

Ren blinked. He wasn't expecting that. But then the anger seemed to drain out of Ken, and his shoulders slumped.

Ken then bit his lip, "Then he... he tried to imply that Akechi of all people was my cousin."

"Your cousin?!" Ren stared at his friend in shock. "Wait a sec—is your mom's maiden name Akechi then?"

How the hell could they miss that kind of detail? There was just no way that Ken would miss that kind of thing. He was very observant.

Ken shook his head. "No, it was Himura."

Ren felt his muscle tension decrease as he sighed in relief.

"Then it's a load of crock," Ren said with a firm nod of his head. "Shido obviously wanted to screw with you."

"Family..." Ken repeated before scrunching up his nose in disgust. "Yeah, you're right! The only blood family that ever cared about me was Mom. Shinjiro-san, Fuuka-san, Minako-san, and everyone… they're my family now."

"I'm sure that they've all been worried," Ren said quietly.

His friend heaved out another sigh. "Yeah, that's putting it lightly... not looking forward to telling them what exactly happened. I talked to pretty much everyone yesterday over the phone and… there was a lot of crying from Fuuka-san, Yukari-san, and Minako-san. But I'm pretty sure Shinjiro-san or Akihiko-san haven't given anyone the full story."

He then inhaled deeply, letting out a slow exhale. There was something else he wasn't telling him? Ren steeled himself for whatever it was.

"There was one last part I haven't told you. You know how I mentioned that Shido wanted leverage on Mitsuru-san?"

Dread began to pool in the pit of his stomach.

"Yeah?" Ren said carefully.

Ken then looked down at the floor. "I remember getting angry at Shido. He basically wanted me to become a traitor."

He spat out the word like venom, his eyes hardening with anger.

"He wanted me to join him. I got so angry, he was trying to manipulate me with the memory of Mom and then... he tried to threaten my life. But Shido—he got me to shut up by using an electroshock device on me."

For a moment, Ren just stared.

"He… tortured you?" Ren said numbly.

What the hell? If he remembered right, electroshocks could go right to your heart and kill the subject. It was just barbaric—no, barbaric wasn't enough to describe it. Ren couldn't even think of a word that correctly described this.

This did explained why Ken was so off today. He almost seemed skittish. Ren clenched his fists and grit his teeth.

Ken just nodded slowly. No other words were needed.

"How much do the others know?"

Ken shrugged listlessly, "Makoto, Ryuji, and Futaba came with Shinjiro-san and Akihiko-san to rescue me. They know most of it. They... saw a video recording of Shido talking to me. Anne, Yusuke and Haru went to go back into Niijima-san's Palace to take care of her cognition of Akechi."

Talking? That was too tame of a word to describe what Shido was trying to do. Wanting to force Ken to become a turncoat. Ren couldn't help but be disgusted. This just added to Shido's long list of crimes. Akechi was definitely no saint... but Shido had used Akechi's ability to claw his way to the top, even if Akechi helped him. He wouldn't be nearly as much of a threat if he didn't have his own Persona-user hitman.

"Wait, they went back?" Ren asked.

Ken nodded. "They realized that Niijima-san's cognition of him could screw things up, if Akechi ran into him."

"So what did they do?" Ren asked.

Ken let out a strained laugh, reaching up to rub the back of his neck.

"Haru and Anne, they uh… might've beaten him up?"

Ren blinked. Then what Ken said sunk in.

"Wait, are you serious? They just—" He broke off laughing. "Oh man. Did they get him good at least?"

"Ask Yusuke, not me," he quipped, before cracking a wry smile. "He was there."

"Will do." Ren snickered.

Ken smiled.

"You should've seen Ryuji when they recounted the story to us yesterday. He fell off the sofa and laughed for five minutes straight," Ken said with a wry smile.

"Only five minutes?" Ren asked teasingly.

"Might've been longer if Shinjiro-san didn't tell him to get off the floor already."

It was nice seeing Ken smiling more sincerely. Though that did remind Ren of something.

"Has he been worrying? Shinjiro-san, I mean."

Ken shrugged. "He's been hovering, but I honestly expected that."

He spoke almost nonchalantly, but Ren couldn't help but worry. Which was probably the opposite of what Ken was going for, but still. He couldn't help but think of how everyone else on Port Island was gonna react.

"But um, hey, Ken... do you think that Mitsuru-san is going to make you stay in Port Island?" Ren asked tentatively.

Ken's lips formed a thin line before he stared down at the floor.

"I... I don't know," he admitted, and said with a sigh as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just know that this whole incident freaked out everyone. I worried them all with this..."

Then he looked up, meeting Ren's gaze.

"But I won't go down without a fight, I swear."

"I believe you." Ren flashed a grin at his friend, only for it to fade. "But um, Ken... about Makoto's sister—I'm really sorry about that. I didn't mean to—"

Ken held up a hand. "I know you didn't, Ren. You were drugged and weren't exactly in the right mind. I couldn't blame you, even if I wanted to."

Then he paused.

"But... you and Anne aren't running out of er... protection, are you?" Ken said awkwardly, even blushing a little.

Ren blinked and raised a brow. Where did that come from all of a sudden?

"Uh... no. Why are you asking?"

Ken looked away from him, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"N-No reason." Ken's blush deepened.

Then it hit Ren.

"Ohhh… so you're interested in that now, huh?" Ren smiled slyly at his friend. "Should've known since you and Makoto are dating now—"

"W-What?!"

Ren then teased, "Pretty brave of you to ask that now, considering her sister's reaction to finding out about the dating thing."

Ken's head whipped back to Ren, his face already crimson red. Ren couldn't help but laugh. It was just way too much fun to embarrass the hell out of Ken.

"That's not it!"

"Then what is it?" Ren asked innocently.

"It's nothing important!" Ken insisted.

"Fine, I'll drag it out of you another time," Ren said with a fake pout.

"You most certainly will not!" Ken was actually pouting.

Ren just smirked. "Don't test me."

"You can be such a jerk!" Ken complained with a huff.

Ren couldn't help but laugh but he composed himself quickly. He gave Ken enough ribbing for one day. And they both been through a lot.

Ken then stood up.

"But I should get going. I shouldn't keep Shinjiro-san and Chie-san waiting. And besides that, I'm sure that Anne is waiting for her turn to talk to you."

Ren just sheepishly scratched his cheek. He honestly can't deny that.

Then Ken smiled. "Good night, Ren."

"Good night..."

Ren watched his friend go with a frown. He then pressed a hand against his face. Why hadn't he foreseen this? He couldn't help but think about how out of it Ken had looked the entire meeting.

And what if Mitsuru-san insisted that Ken stay in Port Island? Ren couldn't help but worry about that, with how last month they had all thought that Ken would be going back. He couldn't help but think of all the what-ifs.

"Ren?"

He dropped his hand to see Anne approaching him. For a moment she just stared at him. Then she sat down next to Ren, before her hand suddenly touched Ren's cheek. Her thumb then traced one of his bruises. Even though her touch was gentle, Ren had to fight back a wince.

Tears suddenly filled her eyes.

"R-Ren..." she stammered out, even as the tears continued to spill down her cheeks.

Ren tried to smile at her.

"I'm here."

"I-I'm sorry, it's just..." Anne trailed off while still sniffling.

Ren reached out to brush away the tears; from the moment she had broken down in front of him about Kamoshida, he had hated seeing her cry. The way she had cried her heart out... it had tugged at his heartstrings, from the very beginning.

"It just kinda sunk in, you know? That you got beaten up—bruised—for us. You even got drugged for all of this... Just to protect us. T-Thank you, Ren."

Ren felt something in him crack.

"B-But it wasn't enough."

"Ren? What are you talking about…?" Anne questioned, before shaking her head hard enough to make her pigtails bounce. "Of course it is!"

"The plan might've succeeded but, Futaba got shot. She was caught up in the crossfire because Shido wanted to kidnapKen. And he... Anne, did you know that he was drugged with those Persona suppressor drugs? And that he was electrocuted? Shido probably planned to torture him in order to get some leverage on Mitsuru-san."

A gasp escaped Anne, her eyes widening. "No... it's just—they were vague about what happened, just that Ken got hurt pretty badly."

Ren bit his lip, "This plan... it was supposed to protect all of you. But I failed. I didn't—"

"Stop it, Ren!"

Anne's voice suddenly cracked.

"Stop it already! It wasn't just about saving us! It was about keeping them from killing you also…" she whispered, her eyes swimming with tears. "Stop blaming yourself, okay? And... don't forget that you went through hell too. They nearly broke your leg! And they… they beat you black and saved us all. Please don't forget that!"

Ren bit his lip.

"But I almost didn't. It was almost too late, Anne. I remembered at the last second! Those drugs—they made me forget. A-And then Akechi would have gone after all of you! I just..."

She then embraced him, hugging him carefully. Ren took in a shuddering breath as he clung to his girlfriend.

They stayed in this position for what felt forever. Anne didn't speak. She ran her fingers through his hair, rubbing circles into his back.

"But you did, Ren. You beat the odds, even when they were stacked so high against you."

She then pulled away, her eyes still teary.

"So please, don't beat yourself up. We're all safe now, because of what you did. For us. Everything is going to be okay, Ren. You'll be okay, I promise."

She then reached up, cupping his face with both of her hands. Ren closed his eyes for a moment. Anne was… so warm.

"Promise me that you'll reach out if you need support, Ren. I'm sorry that you had to go through this. So sorry… But you don't have to deal with this alone. You have so many people who love you," she murmured, gently pressing their foreheads together.

As if she wanted to prove her point, she leaned up and pressed her lips against his forehead.

"I'm sorry, Anne, I just... the what-ifs keep bouncing inside my head."

"And that's okay," Anne reassured, her expression softening. "That's why you have me. I'll remind you of the truth."

Ren just nodded slowly, before pulling her into a tighter hug. His ribs gave a twinge in protest but right now Ren didn't care. He just wanted to hold her after everything.

"Will you stay with me tonight?"

Anne just smiled at him.

"Of course I will."

---

The commute back to the apartment was awkward. Makoto honestly didn't know what she could even say to Sae. Makoto could tell from Sae's expression that she wanted to say something but she seemed to change her mind at the last second.

Makoto sighed. She hoped that Ren and Ken would be able to talk things out. She had a feeling that they'd be able to understand what each other went through the most.

She couldn't help but grimace as Ren's bruised face floated to her mind. The police did that to him. They beat him black and blue, injected him with drugs, threatened him with his life.

This was the exact opposite of what her dad had stood for. It honestly disgusted her, thinking about how far the police had fallen. She would never allow something like that when she joined the ranks. She will stomp that out, no matter what.

"Makoto, we're here," Sae said quietly.

Makoto glanced over to Sae before giving a little nod, to acknowledge that she had heard Sae.

She wanted to say the words she had buried deep inside her heart for so long, but something stilled her tongue. Makoto couldn't help but feel... afraid. Afraid that things wouldn't change. And that her sister would be forever out of her reach.

She followed Sae into the apartment. Sae unlocked the door and they both stepped inside.

"Do you want to order takeout?" Sae asked hesitantly. "It's been a long day, after all... I feel drained, in all honesty."

"N-No it's fine, Sis... I just want a little time to rest," Makoto quickly said.

Sae nodded. "I see. But..." Then she pursed her lips together. "Can we talk, Makoto? We have a lot to discuss."

Makoto nodded slowly.

"I assume that you joined the Phantom Thieves back in June?" Sae asked once they were seated together on the sofa.

Makoto gave a heavy exhale but gave another nod.

"I don't know how much Ren told you but Principal Kobayakawa called me in back in May, to see about investigating the Phantom Thieves."

Sae pressed her lips into a thin line as she crossed her arms.

"He... said something along those lines. I can't believe he just dangled that over you."

Sae uncrossed her arms and rested them into her lap, but her hands suddenly clenched into fists. She let out a loud exhale, before reaching up to run a hand through her hair.

"Makoto, I… this is long overdue. I'm sorry. For what I said to you about..." She winced.

Makoto was speechless, but her sister continued.

"About eating away at my life. It's not true. I was just frustrated at work and I took it out on you. And… I couldn't help but think about how Dad spent his life, chasing after criminals like that and lost his life over it. I didn't want you to chase after the same ideals that got him killed."

"Sis…" Makoto mumbled out.

She snuck a peek at her older sister, licking her lips as her brows creased with worry. She was scared to ask it, but she had to...

"Do you believe that now?"

"No," Sae said firmly.

Makoto let out a breath she was holding in.

"I will admit that Ren-kun… he turned my entire mindset upside down. He kept pushing me to question what I was doing. I felt frustrated, but he... he reminded me of how idealistic I once was. I once believed that I would be able to change the legal system from within. That insufferable nerve... it kind of reminded me of my younger self. But I lost my way. And during all that, I ended up hurting you. I'm sorry, Makoto."

"I'm sorry too, Sis. I didn't realize the pain you were going through. I was caught up in my own grief that I didn't notice what you were going through. Please forgive me."

Sae shook her head. "I just wish that you weren't pushed to the brink like that. You shouldn't have to deal with Kaneshiro. Or any of the other targets."

Makoto then bit her lip, "Honestly, as despicable as Kaneshiro was… the situation with him—it was also a wake-up call. And I got to avenge Dad. So... I am grateful for that. And I might've not befriended everyone otherwise."

Sae's expression became conflicted. She then pursed her lips.

"We need to discuss your... relationship with Amada-kun."

"I will not break up with Ken, Sis!" Makoto said, somehow managing to keep her voice steady. "I… I like him a lot, Sis. And you'd like him if you tried to get to know him too. He's—"

Sae held up a hand to stop Makoto.

"I may strongly disapprove of his guardian—"

"Shinjiro-san is all bark and uh… mostly no bite!" Makoto said hastily. "He's not a bad person, I swear it. He's actually kinda sweet, despite the front he gives!"

"Will you let me finish?"

Makoto shrunk in her seat. She gave her sister a sheepish nod.

"I may not like Amada-kun's guardian... but I won't hold that against Amada-kun himself. Ren-kun was right to get after us earlier. So long as he doesn't distract you from your studies then I won't interfere. It would be childish of me to hold a grudge against him just because I don't like Aragaki."

Her mouth suddenly twisted in distaste. Makoto couldn't help but cringe a little. What exactly had Shinjiro-san even said to Sae?

She then sighed to herself. She would just have to convince Sae, then.

"Besides... I can always have him arrested if he breaks your heart," Sae said in a teasing tone.

Makoto was stunned. She wasn't expecting this. She almost wanted to cry.

"T-Thank you, Sis. Thank you so much!"

Sae smiled and nodded, but then her expression changed. Her sister had a look of guilt on her face.

"But let's not continue to discuss this, Makoto." Sae's face then softened before reaching out to touch Makoto's hand. "I... I want to get to know you again, Makoto. It's not too late… right?"

The earnest look on Sae's face was shocking. Tears began to fill her eyes.

She had dreamed about this—starting over with Sae again. Closing the distance. She could hardly believe that it was actually happening.

"M-Makoto? I-I'm sorry, I—"

"No, Sis." Makoto sniffled before wiping at her eyes. "I'm crying because I'm happy."

Sae then reached out to touch Makoto's face. Then she gently wiped at a tear.

"I'm sorry, Makoto. For leaving you alone for years."

"It's okay, Sis... I'm just glad that you came to your senses. I was so afraid that..." Makoto trailed off.

"I'm sorry for all the grief I put you through," Sae apologized. "But I'm here now. And I'm not going anywhere. Not after I lost my way once already."

Makoto's heart gave a little squeeze. It really wasn't too late. It was like how her friends said. And… she had never been gladder that they were proven right.

---

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2016

---

People just would not stop talking about the Phantom Thieves Leader's 'suicide'. Even though Anne knew it was a lie, it grated on her nerves. The official excuse was that Ren's family called in and claimed that he'd be absent for a while as he went back to his hometown. She was pretty sure that it was Futaba helping Sojiro who made that happen, though. Kawakami had apparently been covering for him too.

Anne just sighed to herself before pulling out her boxed lunch. Her caretaker usually prepared a lunch for her, but it didn't compare to the lunches Ren would bring with him.

It had only been a few days since Ren had to drop out of Shujin for his protection but she missed him already…

"At least Ren is still in Tokyo," Anne thought ruefully to herself.

She couldn't help but wonder where Ken, Shinjiro-san, and Chie-san were exactly. She really hoped that Ken would be given a clean bill by the Kirijo Group doctors.

But her stomach suddenly growled, reminding her that she needed to eat. Though she didn't really want to eat alone. Maybe she'd see if Ryuji wanted to eat with her. Or maybe even Makoto.

She exited the classroom with her lunch in hand, heading for Ryuji's classroom: 2-E. But then a voice called out to her.

"Takamaki?"

Anne couldn't help but jump, before whirling around to face Kaori Sato. Anne was honestly kinda confused. She had never talked to the newspaper club member before.

"O-Oh hey!" she said before managing a polite smile. "Do you need something, Sato?"

Sato looked thoughtful as she straightened her glasses.

"So, I've heard the news about Amamiya." she stated.

"W-Wait, does she suspect the truth? I mean, I've seen Ren talk to her a couple times... and she's part of the newspaper club!" Anne tried not to panic.

"Y-Yeah, it was urgent!" Anne mumbled out. "He was in a real hurry that I didn't even get the entire story."

She then sighed, wrapping an arm around herself. It was ridiculous. She had literally seen him yesterday. But she still missed him. She was just so used to seeing him every day. It was kinda weird to not have him idly play with her hair when he was bored by a lecture.

Sato's gaze suddenly softened. "Um... hey, I don't know if you were aware, but Amamiya has always been nice to me. Even when I believed the rumors that Kamoshida spread."

"That does sound like Ren," Anne said, shaking her head.

"We'd talk from time to time, you know. He was always curious about the latest scoop. Especially this past month with the Phantom Thieves' reputation being sullied."

Anne raised both her brows. From the way she way she talked about this, it sounded like she still supported them!

"Do you believe in the Phantom Thieves then, Sato?"

Sato nodded firmly. "Mm-hm... I mean, they got rid of Kamoshida. They forced us to look at the truth. They also helped out a lot of people in Shujin, with Kaneshiro."

Anne was surprised she'd so willingly admit this to her. After all, for all she knew, Anne could have been one of the many people who turned on them. She was impressed.

"Yeah... they did." Anne then let out a frustrated sigh, folding her arms over her chest. "And yet, the entire school seems to think that the Phantom Thieves are nothing but crazy murderers."

Sato then pressed a hand against her chest. "Everyone else in this school may turn against the Phantom Thieves but not me. I believe in them. To the very end."

Anne blinked. Honestly, all of this was reassuring. Like they hadn't quite messed up. But she had to keep up the façade that the leader of the Phantom Thieves was dead.

"I just... I can't believe that he got caught," Anne said quietly. "And then he... he..."

Anne squeezed her eyes shut.

"He killed himself." Anne managed to get out.

Sato's expression steeled, "Maybe it's a good thing that Amamiya left when he did, though. Tokyo's been thrown into chaos with the announcement of the leader of the Phantom Thieves' death."

Anne winced, "It really has. I just can't believe that they actually caught him, y'know? After everything that happened. I just hope that things calm down here. Things have been just really crazy, with Kamoshida and then Kaneshiro..."

"Yeah, and then there was how people kept thinking that the Phantom Thieves originated here," Sato remarked, stroking her chin.

Anne had to fight back a grimace. If only Sato knew that she was talking to one of them.

Then Sato played around with the pen in her hands, clicking it off and on.

"Personally, for me, I can't help but think that theory might be true... and the leader was right under all of our noses."

"T-Too bad we'll never find out, huh?"

Anne tried not to wince at the stammer. She had to keep up the act—she had to protect Ren. She was not the best actress but she was going to give it her all. Ren's life depended on how well all of them managed to keep up the act.

"Yeah, it's too bad. I bet Amamiya would be curious. I'll have to ask him if he has any theories when he gets back," she said with a rather cryptic look.

Sato's eyes then flickered to the boxed lunch in Anne's hands.

"Well, enjoy the rest of your lunch, Takamaki. I'll see you around."

Anne just gaped at her as Sato walked away. Did she seriously suspect that Ren was the leader of the Phantom Thieves?! That was what she was hinting, right? But if she suspected that then why would she say that to Anne… unless… she suspected her too?

She bit her lip, before raising her head.

No, she couldn't freak out. Sato supported them. That means that she wasn't going to rat out Ren. She needed to keep her head clear. They needed to figure out Shido's keywords later today, after all.

---

The sun had already begun to set by the time Moonlight Bridge was finally in sight. Shinjiro couldn't help but feel relieved.

As he pulled in front of a red light, he noticed Ken was texting someone. Shinjiro raised an eyebrow. He couldn't help but wonder if he was texting the Phantom Thieves.

"Texting Fuuka-san that we'll be there soon," Ken suddenly said, as if he caught onto what Shinjiro was thinking.

Then he suddenly looked out of the window.

"Port Island looks so different now," he commented.

Shinjiro frowned. "Not really. It's probably because it's been five months for you. I visited back in August, but you didn't."

Shinjiro had a nagging feeling that if Ken had to pick between Port Island or Tokyo, he'd pick Tokyo. He seemed to grow more comfortable with Tokyo way faster than Fuuka had and even then, Fuuka had suffered from homesickness the first few months.

Which was fine. Ken had a strong bond with the Phantom Thieves. Not that he was distant to his school friends back on Port Island, but they wouldn't be able to understand what Ken had gone through. He had honestly worried a little for Ken at the beginning of the school year when he had given up his extracurriculars. Ken had shrugged it off, saying that it was the best for entrance exams, but Shinjiro couldn't help but wonder if it ever bugged him.

He wasn't just going through the motions with soccer club. Ken wouldn't have gotten as good as he had, if he hadn't loved the sport. And as horribly boring Shinjiro found the logistics of student government, he had known that Ken had liked it a lot.

"Um, Shinjiro-san..." Ken abruptly spoke up. "The light's green."

Shinjiro blinked.

"Right."

"Must be tired from all the driving…" Shinjiro thought to himself before pressing the gas pedal.

It only took another few minutes before Shinjiro finally pulled into the apartment's parking lot. Shinjiro just sighed, rubbing his neck.

He really wished that they could've taken a train. But they wanted to remain off Shido's radar as much as possible.

"And yet I'll probably be doing this again in a few days…" Shinjiro huffed to himself.

They unloaded their duffel bags from the back before heading inside the building. Shinjiro had barely knocked when the door suddenly flew open, revealing Fuuka.

Fuuka was wearing her favorite sweater dress, a white dress that went to her mid thighs. A tan belt cinched at her waist.

For a moment, Fuuka stared at Ken, as if she wasn't sure whether or not he was really there. Then she suddenly burst into tears before all but tackling him in a hug.

Ken stumbled backwards a few steps before finally catching his balance.

"I'm s—"

"Don't you dare apologize, Ken-kun!" she suddenly snapped, pulling back slightly to glare at him; it was about as intimidating as a puppy's growl, but it was the principle of the matter. "Now hush and let me hug you."

Somehow Shinjiro had a feeling that Minako and Takeba were going to say something similar to Ken whenever they got to see him. However, despite that, Shinjiro couldn't help but worry about Ken's injuries being agitated. He knew how much it hurt.

He quickly interjected, "Hey, hey, Fuuka, ease up. His ribs are bruised."

"Oh!" Fuuka's eyes widened with horror before she immediately jerked away from Ken, "O-Oh, god! I'm so sorry, Ken-kun! I didn't mean to hurt you—"

"It's okay, Fuuka-san. I know you were just worried," Ken said quietly.

Fuuka bit her lip. "Um, maybe we should go inside? So you can rest. I've made dinner but I can warm it up any time."

Shinjiro nodded. "Yeah, you should probably lie down for a bit, Ken."

Ken opened his mouth to protest, only to shut it when Fuuka gave him her best pleading look.

"Fine..." Ken grumbled before finally stepping inside the apartment.

In the background, they could hear Koromaru's joyful barks.

Fuuka then glanced to Shinjiro, her eyes becoming worried. But she just reached out to lace their fingers together before tugging him into the apartment as well.

He noticed that Koromaru wasn't in the living room as they stepped inside. Maybe he went to go curl up with Ken.

"Hey…" Fuuka said quietly, "How are you, Shinji?"

Shinjiro tried not to wince. Fuuka was just concerned.

"Damn, what a loaded question that is." Shinjiro thought with a wry smile.

He then heaved out a sigh. He squeezed her hand lightly back as he rubbed his neck with his other hand.

"I'll be honest, Fuuka... these past three nights have been stressful as shit. Between what happened to Ken and then worrying about Amamiya getting it out there alive. And I can't help but feel like I fucked up somewhere."

He then pulled away from Fuuka to fall into the loveseat. He pressed his face into his hands.

"I was there, Fuuka. When they took him. But I was so focused on Amamiya. I should've known—we knew what kind of person Shido is. He'd be the kind of person who stooped to that kind of level. I couldn't stop it from happening. On top of that, that sicko refined those damn pills and drugged Ken with it!"

"H-He… what?!" Fuuka gasped, before clasping both hands over her mouth, "Oh my god, I didn't know that he would—"

"He did..." Shinjiro said.

He still remembered the way that Ken's body had convulsed as Shido subjected him to electric torture. And the screams—they were still haunting Shinjiro's dreams. Shido could've killed Ken from the torture and he probably wouldn't have lost any sleep.

He said hoarsely, "And I was in the room when he electrocuted Ken. He used that to distract us and then he fucking tried to threaten killing me. All to fuck with him. I couldn't save him, not when he needed me the most twice."

"Shinji… stop."

Fuuka suddenly dropped to her knees, cradling one of his hands in both of hers. She then looked up at him, her eyes swimming with tears.

"Do you think that Ken-kun could've gotten out of there without you or Akihiko-senpai?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper. "I wasn't there, but I think Ken-kun would've given up if you hadn't come. Please stop blaming yourself for this. You didn't do anything wrong!"

"But—"

Fuuka interrupted sternly, "But nothing! You made it out alive. Both of you. And that's the important part..."

"But Ken—he's been fucked up by all of this..."

"We'll help him through it," Fuuka instantly replied. "Like before."

Shinjiro just stared at his girlfriend.

"Your patience really has no bounds."

Fuuka just giggled, the sound warming Shinjiro's heart.

"I try."

Then her eyes softened.

"But... even though it's not for good, I'm glad you two are home."

Shinjiro couldn't help but nod. "Yeah, I'm glad too."

Shinjiro wondered if this visit would be a good time to figure how the hell to ask Fuuka to marry him. He wished it wasn't so hard.

He wished he could just pull out the ring and say, "Will you marry me?"

But no, he had to figure out this incredible memorable way to propose.

"W-What?"

Fuuka's startled voice snapped him out of his thoughts. Fuuka looked shell-shocked, her jaw just about dropping to the floor.

"Shinji, you just—" Then she squeaked, turning pink. "Did you just propose?!"

"Wait… FUCK! I said that out loud?!" Shinjiro thought with panic.

Why did he have to fuck up this of all things?!

"I—I didn't mean to. Not now…"

"Yes!" Fuuka interrupted. "Yes, I'll marry you, Shinji."

"I—what?!" Shinjiro sputtered out. "But—But don't you want me to start over? Give you a memorable proposal?"

Fuuka giggled. "How could I ever forget this? I don't think I've seen you this red since I told you how I felt about you."

"S-Shut up, I ain't red!" Shinjiro snapped.

"Hmmm, you're right. Red doesn't even begin to describe it. What about crimson? Scarlet?"

"You're just... unbelievable. Any other girl would want a flashy proposal, something that she'll wanna tell her friends about."

"I mean, sure, some girls want a spectacle." Fuuka laughed at first, but then she smiled gently. "But I just want to be your wife. I love you, Shinji, and I don't really care to make a show out of it. I don't even care if you don't have a ring."

"Fuuka, I..." Shinjiro then blinked. "Well, actually I have a ring."

He then reached into his coat's pocket, pulling out the velvet box. His hand shook for a moment as he popped it open and took it out. The sapphires sparkled under the light. He then took Fuuka's hand, sliding it onto her ring finger.

"Oh…" Fuuka breathed, her eyes growing wide as saucers as she lifted her hand to examine the ring more closely. "This ring is beautiful, Shinji. Where did you—?"

"Ken gave it to me. It was... his mom's."

Fuuka gasped, "This was Ken-kun's mother's ring?"

Shinjiro rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah. He gave it to me for my birthday and said he wasn't interested in taking it back. I know that you deserve a new ring but—"

Fuuka shook her head furiously. "No! I love it! It has sentimental meaning..."

Then Fuuka ran her finger along the ring, her eyes softening as she looked at it.

"And it's a beautiful ring. I'd be honored to wear it."

Shinjiro coughed into his hand, "I'm glad."

Then he shook his head.

"I can't believe that I've spent three months trying to come up with a plan."

Fuuka giggled before kissing him on the cheek. "It's the thought that counts, Shinji."

"Just don't tell Minako and Takeba. They'll kill me for not proposing 'right'."

"Hee-hee, your secret's safe with me."

Fuuka let Shinjiro tug her into his lap, and she rested her head against his shoulder.

"I've really missed you, Shinji. I'm glad you're home—if only for a little while," she said softly.

Shinjiro took a moment to inhale her scent. It was always mildly sweet; Fuuka liked more subtly scented shampoos and soaps, compared to how Minako liked fruity scents and how Takeba liked flowery scents.

"I've missed you too, Fuuka. Tokyo's fine and all... but it just can't beat Port Island."

Fuuka just smiled softly. "Now you know how I felt a few years ago, huh?"

Shinjiro just nodded.

"Yeah."

But Fuuka did have a point in trying to look on the positive side. Shinjiro just found it easier to focus on the negatives.

They were back on Port Island, even though it was a few days. And... Fuuka had agreed to marry him. He didn't know when the hell they could even get married, with all the shit that was going down but... it just gave them another reason to make Shido go down. So they would be able to live their lives in (relative) peace.

---

And Sae's arc is finally concluded! Only took me a year, haha. But we're officially launching the Shido arc next chapter, guys! I'm REALLY excited to get into Akechi this arc, and I hope you'll like what I've cooked up!

And again, thank you to my wonderful beta angelrin89 for her edits! She has also edited Chapter 3, so be sure to check out the edits!

Oh, and happy early birthday Shinji!