Chapter 5
After returning to the previous floor of Mementos, they finally found Mona, who had slipped away earlier and was waiting for them at the safe room.
From a safe room, they could instantly return to the entrance of Mementos. Ren, no longer in the mood for leveling up, led Yu out of the Metaverse.
A distorted space enveloped them. Yu followed Ren through it and arrived in an unfamiliar place.
“Is this… a train station?” Yu was surprised.
“Yes, the underground passage of the station.”
At this point in time, Ren and his friends’ hideout was still on the school rooftop. But since it was nighttime and he had visited the Velvet Room, he had chosen to enter Mementos from their secondary base. Their third hideout wouldn’t be available until Makoto Niijima joined them.
Yu didn’t comment on their emergence from a strange location. After all, Teddie had also mentioned that the pathways between worlds were unstable, and they could exit anywhere.
However…
Yu looked at the drizzling rain outside.
“The rain hasn’t stopped.” He sounded troubled. “I don’t have an umbrella.”
He had entered Mementos through his television; normal people wouldn’t carry an umbrella at home.
Ren glanced at him, then pulled an umbrella from his bag. “I have one.”
Yu turned to meet his gaze.
“I’ll walk you home,” Ren said.
“Is that okay?” Yu hesitated. “My house is a bit far from the station, and it’s getting late. Are you sure it’s alright for you to get home so late?”
“It’s fine. The cafe is closed, and I’m the only one there.” Ren didn’t give Yu a chance to refuse. He opened the umbrella, stepped into the rain, then turned to Yu. “Let’s go.”
Yu blinked.
Unlike his unrestrained demeanor in Mementos – perhaps the Phantom Thief attire gave Ren more freedom of expression, making him seem less reserved despite his quiet nature – back in reality, Ren reverted to his familiar, introverted self.
A slender frame, black-rimmed glasses obscuring his eyes, soft black hair slightly long, not quite covering his eyes but giving him a somewhat gloomy appearance.
Yet now, this gloomy boy stood in the rain, holding an umbrella, offering to walk him home.
Yu stroked his chin, then spoke after a few seconds. “I was thinking…”
Ren looked at him, silently prompting him to continue.
“This is like a scene from a drama.”
Ren: …
Ren felt like he had three dialogue options.
[Yes, you’re the female lead.]
[What are you talking about?]
[…]
He chose the first option without hesitation.
“Yes, you’re the female lead.”
Yu fell silent. They stared at each other, an awkward silence filling the air.
Just as Ren considered pushing his glasses up to alleviate the awkwardness, Yu suddenly laughed.
A gentle look in his eyes, a faint smile reaching them, he said, “So, what does the female lead need to do?” He stepped closer, under Ren’s umbrella. “Like this?”
Ren silently nodded, and they walked together under the shared umbrella.
This person was truly fascinating. Sometimes his words were surprisingly blunt, yet other times he was incredibly gentle and heartwarming.
Yu’s house wasn’t too far, but walking in the rain with a shared umbrella was slow going. It took nearly half an hour for Yu to reach home. The rain varied in intensity, sometimes a light drizzle, other times a downpour. By the time they arrived, both of them had damp clothes.
Watching Yu wave from his doorstep, Ren nodded before turning to leave.
He stopped under the awning of a nearby convenience store, wiping the raindrops from his glasses.
Morgana emerged from Ren’s bag, shaking his fur. “Ren, we need to hurry home. My fur is all wet.”
“Yes.” Ren put his glasses back on. “Want me to take you to a pet store for a bath?”
“Huh?!” Morgana instantly retreated back into the bag. “No way!”
So afraid of water, yet claiming not to be a cat.
Ren chuckled inwardly but wisely kept silent.
Meanwhile, Yu watched Ren until he disappeared from sight before turning to unlock his door. As he opened it, he saw his mother standing in the entryway.
“Mom?!” Yu was startled. “Aren’t you on a business trip?”
“I traded shifts with someone else. It’s too pitiful to always leave you home alone.” The woman gently ruffled his hair. “Your younger brother called me when you got back and said I was being too neglectful of your feelings. I didn’t expect to be lectured by my younger brother, so I thought I should make a change.”
Yu looked at his mother, his eyes brightening slightly. “Okay.”
“Come in,” his mother pulled him inside. “Look at you, your clothes are soaked.”
“Was that your new friend who walked you home?”
Yu nodded. “Yes.”
“He seems like a well-behaved boy.”
Well-behaved?
Yu thought about Ren driving recklessly through Mementos, crashing into Shadows, and then summoning his Persona to mercilessly defeat them.
“Yes,” Yu nodded seriously, genuinely believing it.
“He seems very quiet and polite.”
Although he was fierce when fighting Shadows, Shadows were Shadows, and people were people. They couldn’t be lumped together.
His mother laughed. “That’s good. You made a new friend so soon after returning. That puts my mind at ease.”
“Go take a shower and get ready for bed. It’s late, and you have school tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
The next day, Yu enjoyed his mother’s cooking for breakfast for the first time in a while, then headed to school at the same time as yesterday.
He didn’t run into Ren at the station this time.
Slightly disappointed, he boarded the train and returned to his classroom. Just as he was about to check his messages, he heard a commotion.
A crowd of students gathered at the classroom door, with more outside. Yu looked towards the entrance and saw a familiar figure step inside.
“It’s Akechi! Akechi’s here today!”
“I’m a huge fan of the Detective Prince!”
“Wow! He’s even more handsome in person!”
He was actually in the same class as Goro Akechi?!
Akechi barely managed to enter the classroom before being surrounded by his classmates, swallowed by the sea of people.
Although he loathed being surrounded at school, Akechi cultivated a friendly persona. Whether for his image or popularity, he had to attend classes, maintain good grades, and aim for a prestigious university, all to maintain his outward appearance of success.
Yu watched as Akechi, clearly bothered yet forced to smile and placate the crowd.
It seemed celebrities shared similar troubles.
Perhaps Yu’s gaze was too intense, as Akechi turned towards him amidst the crowd. Their eyes met, holding for three seconds.
Akechi blinked, then offered Yu a smile.
Yu naturally nodded back, then returned to his phone.
Ren’s chat window was still empty, containing only the system notification of their newly formed connection. He hadn’t added Yu to the Phantom Thieves’ group chat either.
However, there were several messages from Naoto Shirogane.
Before going to bed last night, Yu had messaged Naoto.
After learning that Ren was a Phantom Thief, Yu immediately recalled his mention of Akechi. This Detective Prince was someone Yu had never heard of before leaving Tokyo. His sudden rise to fame in just a year had aroused Yu’s suspicion.
The best way to inquire about a detective was to ask another detective.
Specifically, Naoto Shirogane, a true descendant of a detective family.
[Naoto Shirogane: Goro Akechi is a rising detective in Tokyo, but his path to fame is quite strange. He isn’t a private investigator; he directly solved murder cases, working directly with the police department.]
[Naoto Shirogane: Typically, detectives and police don’t collaborate, unless they come from a detective family like myself and are already known to the police. But Goro Akechi has no such background. How he connected with the police and gained their trust remains a mystery.]
[Naoto Shirogane: I have a bad feeling about him. Be careful, Narukami.]
After reading the messages, Yu slowly typed his reply.
[Yu Narukami: He’s in my class, the seat next to mine.]
[Naoto Shirogane: …]
[Naoto Shirogane: Just be careful.]
[Yu Narukami: He’s very popular, so he’s surrounded by classmates. I haven’t had a chance to talk to him yet.]
[Naoto Shirogane: Excessive fame is a disadvantage for a detective. I’m even more puzzled now. I’ll investigate him further. Contact us if anything happens, Narukami.]
Reading this message, Yu smiled unconsciously.
Although he had left Inaba and returned to Tokyo, he felt his heart remained connected to his friends.
[Yu Narukami: Of course.]
Closing his messaging app, Yu took out his textbooks. Class would start in five minutes; he needed to be prepared. He was a good student, but this was his final year of high school, and he needed to work even harder.
Just then, his phone chimed.
Yu checked and saw a message from Ren.
[Ren Amamiya: It’s the weekend tomorrow. I’ll take you to the Velvet Room and see if we can enter together.]
Yu’s eyes lit up.
[Yu Narukami: Okay!]
[Ren Amamiya: But be prepared…]
[Yu Narukami: Prepared for what?]
[Ren Amamiya: Be prepared for the Velvet Room to be different from what you remember.]
[Yu Narukami: ?]
Ren didn’t know what Yu’s Velvet Room looked like, but it definitely couldn’t be the same as his. His Velvet Room was a fake, created by the false god impersonating Igor. It wasn’t just a prison cell with him in prison garb; it also included two violent lolitas.
If it weren’t for fusing Personas, leveling them up, or buying new ones, he wouldn’t set foot in that prison.
In his desk, Morgana looked at Ren’s messages curiously.
“What’s the Velvet Room?” the cat asked sincerely.
Ren paused, then replied, “A blue prison cell with lolitas and an old man. I’m the prisoner.”
The cat was shocked. “You have such unique tastes?!”
“And you’re taking that white-haired guy there with you?!”
Ren: …
His reputation was ruined. He felt like silencing the black cat.
