See title name.
-Raoul
---
Walking into the beef bowl restaurant, Ren was surprised to see that it was surprisingly bustling for a weekday.
Unfortunately, only one person was working, besides the chef. He hoped. The poor guy was running everywhere.
"Over here, Ren my boy."
Waving from his seat, Yu was bent over a half-finished beef bowl.
"Why are you talking like that?"
"Would you rather I put on a mask?" Yu said as Ren sat down.
Ren's eyes briefly widened before his jaw dropped.
"You..." Ren looked at Yu to see his shit-eating grin.
There was a beat of silence as Ren sat in shock and Yu finished his beef bowl.
"Let's go on a walk, buddy," Yu said. "We have a lot to talk about."
"Are you sure that's okay?" Ren asked with narrowed eyes, following him out of the restaurant.
"Funny thing about cognition. If people don't know what to listen for, they don't know what they are hearing. We could be talking about anything."
"I don't think that really applies here," Ren said with a flat face.
Yu paused momentarily, glancing at the door to the Velvet Room and letting out a sigh. Ren didn't notice because his attention was also called to the door when he heard Caroline yelp and drop her baton. By the time he looked, she was gone. But he was sure that it was her voice.
"Don't worry. Just follow me to my apartment. We can chat in private there," Yu said. "Lucia keeps secrets well."
Ren just sighed.
---
"Can we stop the mysterious mentor shit and just talk normally?" Ren asked in exasperation as they entered the apartment. "And why the hell do you have an apartment in Tokyo?"
"All in time, young one."
Ren gritted his teeth before sighing.
"Well, since you know about it, that makes it easier."
"Hee ho hee!" Yu said without prompt.
"I hate you so much right now," Ren said as Pyro-Jack began to celebrate in his head.
Nodding, Yu simply said, "The old ways hold true."
Ren just glanced at him dryly.
"Well, let's get down to business." Yu suddenly said with a face that was acting as though that whole conversation never happened.
"Tell me about your first day of school." He said as he pointed to the couch, sitting down across from it himself.
---
"Hmm. What a weird-sounding experience."
"What happened to you? How did you find out about this stuff?" Ren asked. He was extremely curious!
"Remember when I was living in Inaba for a year?" Yu asked.
"Of course, that's when I met you guys," Ren answered immediately.
"Yeah, we were dealing with the same shit you are right now. But instead, we accidentally fell into a TV and didn't use an app," Yu nonchalantly revealed.
Ren scrunched his brow.
"What?" he asked. Before remembering, "The murders?"
"Got it in one," Yu said with a nod. "Someone was tossing people into the TV and they were getting killed by Shadows."
"Officer Adachi is involved in this too?"
"Well, he's in confinement, but yeah."
"And he keeps his silence?" Ren asked.
"Yup. He's a pretty logical guy. You know, for being a crazy murderer," Yu said with a sigh.
"So, we need to somehow send this calling card without it being traced back to us," Ren revealed.
"We can't really interfere too much or the journey will get even harder on you, Ren..." Yu said in pity.
Ren looked back at him with a stern face of conviction.
"Yu, they're counting on me."
Sighing, Yu stood up and gave a bright grin.
"Let's give our friends a call."
---
"Yu, that's kind of an important thing you just completely glossed over," Yukiko said through the speakers of Yu's laptop. "Hi, Ren!"
"Hello, Yukiko! I hope you're doing well!" Ren said back, then turned his attention to Yu, who was apologizing with a face that said he wasn't sorry.
"What?"
"Tell me about the Wild Card," Ren asked.
"Make friends, solve problems, cards change. Lots of noise in your head."
"You won't get a straight answer out of him because we don't really get it either," Fuuka's voice sounded from the speakers. "But Ren, are you sure about this? I'm confident, but a little uneasy."
"It's perfect," Ren and Yu said simultaneously.
"Well, let's get you back to Leblanc before Sakura-san thinks you bailed on him," Yu said.
"When did you meet Boss?"
'Boss?' the group thought.
Embarrassed, Ren coughed and said, "Sakura-san."
"A few days ago," Yu replied.
"I give up." Ren sighed in defeat as the girls giggled from the other end of the computer.
---