Chapter 6
After morning classes, Ren bought a bread roll and a soda from the vending machine, eating lunch alone at his desk.
Morgana peeked out. “Ren, you haven’t told everyone about that white-haired boy yet.”
“Yes.” Ren finished his bread, took a sip of soda, then opened his messaging app.
His conversation with Yu had stopped at the question mark that morning. Ren hadn’t bothered to explain further. According to Morgana, his choice of words had been rather alarming.
It was better to let Yu see for himself.
He slowly opened the Phantom Thieves’ group chat. Ryuji Sakamoto was still discussing their next target, filling the chat with messages.
After reading through the messages and confirming they hadn’t started the “Kaneshiro arc” yet, he typed his message.
[Ren Amamiya: Want to add an outside member?]
Ryuji, always enthusiastic about Phantom Thief activities, replied first. As a victim of Kamoshida, he was currently reveling in the excitement of reforming evildoers.
[Ryuji Sakamoto: You mean Mishima? His Phantom Thieves website is pretty good, actually.]
[Ann Takamaki: The support rate is a bit low, though.]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: That’s why we need to decide on our next target quickly! That’ll boost our support rate!]
[Ren Amamiya: Not Mishima. It’s someone who can also use a Persona.]
[Ann Takamaki: ?]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: ???]
[Ren Amamiya: I ran into him in Mementos. He’s not interested in changing hearts, but he can help us in other ways.]
[Ann Takamaki: Sounds suspicious.]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: So it’s someone you know, Ren?]
[Ren Amamiya: I just met him yesterday, but he awakened his Persona earlier than us, so he’s much stronger.]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: Awakened earlier… Wait, could he be the mastermind?!]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: The one behind the mental shutdowns! Didn’t Morgana say it’s caused by cognitions being killed?!]
[Ann Takamaki: Not necessarily, though it is suspicious.]
[Ren Amamiya: It’s not him.]
Silence followed, perhaps because Ren’s curt reply had stunned them. Ann glanced at Ren, confirming he was still his usual quiet self, then returned to her phone.
How could Ren be so certain it wasn’t him?
Of course, Ren was certain. He was a returnee from the future, and the secrets of this world had already been revealed to him in his past life. Yu was the helper Lavenza had mentioned.
He trusted the Velvet Room and Lavenza.
Finally, Ren explained.
[Ren Amamiya: He wasn’t in Tokyo for the past year. He just transferred back a week ago. He doesn’t have an alibi.]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: The mental shutdowns did start last year, and they only happened in Tokyo. If he wasn’t in Tokyo, he couldn’t have done it.]
[Ryuji Sakamoto: In that case, I’m fine with it. The more the merrier.]
[Ann Takamaki: I’m okay with it too.]
Morgana read the messages, stroking his whiskers with his paw.
“Ryuji actually used his brain for once. I thought he was suspicious too, but then I remembered his Persona and figured there’s no way.”
Ren looked at the cat in his desk drawer, remaining silent.
“Exactly! With a Persona that powerful, able to take down the Reaper in one hit, if he were our enemy, he would have already wiped us out. There’s no need for him to pretend.”
Ren continued to remain silent.
He thought: There actually was someone incredibly foolish. Despite discovering the Phantom Thieves, he had inexplicably waited until they had grown stronger, to the point where dealing with them became nearly impossible.
He supposedly didn’t want to kill anyone, yet he had already killed several people, even daring to attempt to kill Ren in the real world after his capture…
Goro Akechi was truly difficult to understand.
Yu didn’t realize he’d been added to a group chat until after school. Besides Ren, there were two unfamiliar names, presumably members of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
He greeted the group, and Ryuji, incredibly curious about him, immediately bombarded him with questions.
Honestly, aside from Ren, these people were strangers to him. While he didn’t feel offended, he was a bit overwhelmed.
Yu was rarely proactive, but he opened up once he became familiar with someone.
The problem was: he was rarely proactive.
At the station, Yu walked hesitantly, unsure how to initiate conversation. Just then, he heard someone call out to him.
“Hey, you there!”
Yu paused, turning to his side. He saw Ren and two other high school students in Shujin uniforms.
It was the boy next to Ren who had called out.
“Amamiya-kun?” Yu approached. “Were you calling me?”
Ren: …
No, I didn’t say anything.
“It was me!” Ryuji raised his hand. “Ren told us the new member is a tall, handsome guy with white hair, and he goes to the same school as Akechi. I spotted you right away. Yup, perfectly matches the description.”
“Honestly,” Ann sighed. “What if it wasn’t him? You’re too careless.”
Ryuji grinned nonchalantly. “But I was right, wasn’t I?”
“Hello.” Yu, ever good-natured, greeted them with a smile, then looked at the cat peeking out of Ren’s bag. “Hello to you too, cat.”
“I’m not a cat!” Morgana protested. “I’m Morgana!”
“Yes, hello Morgana.” Yu calmly corrected himself.
Ryuji and Ann exchanged glances, both shocked.
They had been startled by Morgana when they first entered a Palace, and again when they realized he could talk. After learning about the new member, they had relentlessly questioned Ren, discovering that this new member had fallen from Mementos.
Ren had walked him home afterward, and Morgana, seeking shelter from the rain, hadn’t left Ren’s bag.
So, this was the first time Yu had heard Morgana talk, and he wasn’t surprised at all!
“These are my friends,” Ren finally spoke, breaking the awkward silence.
“Right, introductions!” Ann quickly added. “Hi, I’m Ann Takamaki, second year at Shujin Academy.”
“Ryuji Sakamoto, second year as well.”
“Yu Narukami, third year at Sōyō High,” Yu followed suit. “Nice to meet you all.”
“Third year?! So you’re a senpai?”
Ren was also surprised. He hadn’t realized Yu was a third-year.
How should he put it? Yu was so gentle and approachable, without any of the usual upperclassman airs, that Ren had assumed he was a classmate.
After brief introductions, Ryuji and Ann left, leaving Ren, with Mona in his bag, and Yu alone.
“Sorry, they insisted on meeting you.”
“They were worried,” Yu didn’t mind at all. “They were concerned you were being tricked.”
Ren: …
Was that something one should say out loud?
“You don’t have to be so tactful around me. Just say what’s on your mind,” Yu said, seemingly sensing Ren’s discomfort.
“Because you’re an honest person?”
“Not really,” Yu blinked. “My previous friends said I’m never surprised by anything and that I tell bad jokes that aren’t funny at all. Even if someone says something harsh, I probably wouldn’t notice.”
Ren: …
This person was incredibly candid.
“By the way, that’s Shibuya’s Central Street up ahead,” Yu changed the subject. “Are you hungry? There’s a burger place around there that’s pretty good.”
Ren hesitated. “Let me treat you.”
“Are you sure?” Yu didn’t refuse, but he hesitated slightly. “You work at that cafe, right?”
“I don’t work there. I live there,” Ren checked his balance. “But I have plenty of money.”
“Are you rich?”
“No.”
Ren thought to himself: Getting money was easy. He could just rob Shadows in Mementos. Plus, he’d discovered he had brought his money from his past life with him.
A whopping forty million yen!
He no longer had to worry about affording equipment and could even splurge on TV shopping every Sunday without running out.
“Okay.” Yu didn’t say whether he believed him or not, simply replying gently, “I’ll treat you next time.”
They arrived at the burger joint. This time, Ren didn’t attempt the eating challenge. He and Yu ordered regular combos. While waiting for their food, Yu casually picked up a napkin and started folding a paper crane.
Ren watched the small crane take shape in Yu’s hands.
Only after finishing did Yu seem to realize what he was doing, pausing in surprise.
“Ah, sorry, force of habit.”
Ren picked up the paper crane. “You often fold origami?”
“Last year, I was staying with my uncle and did some volunteer origami work. It paid a little, so I got into the habit of folding cranes in my free time.” Yu sounded slightly resigned. “Even though I’m back in Tokyo, I haven’t fully adjusted yet. I still feel like my heart is back there.”
This was the first time Yu had confided in a stranger about his current state of mind.
Honestly, despite witnessing Ren’s flamboyant side in Mementos, in reality, Ren appeared harmless and innocent, someone who inspired trust.
Yu couldn’t help but share a bit of his feelings.
“Last year was the happiest year of my life.” Yu poked the crane’s wings. “I wasn’t lonely at all. I had many friends, and I was very happy.”
Ren looked at Yu, reminded of himself.
He had grown up in a small town, in a poor family. His parents hadn’t cared much for him, otherwise they wouldn’t have silently sent him to Tokyo alone after he was falsely accused, leaving him to live with a ‘stranger.’ Their indifference had hurt him deeply.
But that year had also been his happiest. He had found like-minded companions, experienced endless excitement and unexpected events, and found a family-like figure in Sojiro and Futaba…
They were quite similar.
“Let’s not wait until tomorrow,” Ren suddenly said. “I’ll take you to the Velvet Room after we eat. It’s on the way. We’ll go home after that.”
So, after finishing their burgers, Yu followed Ren towards a backstreet off Central Street.
Then he fell silent.
“Say…” Yu hesitated, looking at the familiar blue door and the two blue-clad lolitas standing guard.
“Why is the door to the Velvet Room always on a busy street?”
“Is it to prevent us from getting lost?”
Ren: …
He had expected Yu to be suspicious of Caroline and Justine, but instead, he was questioning the Velvet Room’s location?!
Every time Ren thought Yu was a normal, gentle person, he would demonstrate his unique train of thought.
Ren pondered for a moment, searching for a foolproof answer.
“Perhaps the seams of the soul are like that. Even if others can’t see them, they still want to subtly express themselves.”
Yu turned to Ren.
They stared at each other, a few seconds of silence passing between them.
After a moment, Yu turned back, nodding expressionlessly.
“You’re right.”
It just brought back some unpleasant memories, like a certain bathroom in a late-night TV show and a certain tall, imposing, yet girly-hearted underclassman.
