"Looks like the princess made contact with them, boss." A man shrouded in darkness said; all that could be gleaned was that he was a man.
Beside him stood a taller man, also shrouded in darkness. They were standing in the sky near the heart of Tokyo.
"Hmph." The taller man muttered. "So many different timelines. So many failures."
"Hm? Looks like we might have a cat on our tail," the shorter man suddenly said.
The two vanished.
---
Ren woke up to his phone violently vibrating. Swiping the app open, he saw that he had been spammed with messages by Ryuji asking about the medal.
'I wonder what this guy needs money for?'
He responded that he would go after school.
Splitting the money four ways was still a hefty sum; he was excited to receive it himself!
'A true thief appreciates the heist, not the reward, Trickster,' Arsene said suddenly.
'Easy for you to say, I'm a poor high schooler, not a world-renowned thief.'
'Yet.' Arsene chuckled.
---
The school was boring for Ren, as usual. Orihime was upset with him since he brought Morgana with him again, but after offering her melon bread and letting her pet Morgana, all bad blood evaporated.
"Mishima transferred the day that Orihime arrived," Shiho revealed softly as she walked to class with Ryuji. "I didn't even get to say goodbye. He didn't even show up at school again."
"It's gonna be a bummer if Kamoshida really confesses and he isn't here," Ryuji muttered.
"I feel complicated," Shiho said with a conflicted expression. "Were we too late to act?"
---
Ren yawned in class. Listening to Incubus say crude things and be beaten by the other Personas was getting old, so he decided to stop by the Velvet Room.
'I recommend Jack Frost,' Silky said. 'I am too weak to be of any help right now.'
'We can train,' Ren projected toward Silky.
'Just remember to summon me back sometime. Jack Frost has more potential than me.'
---
"Christ, kid, did you rob a porno shop?" Iwai said in disbelief. "You got a lot of weird shit here."
"Will you tell me about where you get your merchandise?"
"Fair enough," Iwai said with a shrug. "Totals out at... 52,500 yen."
"Seriously?"
"The medal and that lamp that looks like it's out of The Christmas Story will sell pretty easily. Some of the other shit..." Iwai shook his head. "But weirdos are everywhere."
"Thanks, Iwai-san. I'll be back soon," Ren said with a bow and walked toward the door.
"Buy something next time!"
---
After a brief trip to the Velvet Room, Ren was walking around Tokyo. He was waiting for Morgana to show up, but he was also enjoying the solitude. So much had changed for him so quickly, and—
"Ren!"
An orange missile approached with great force!
"Why is Morgana wandering around?" Orihime demanded, revealing the not-cat blissfully purring in her arms.
"Uh... he is smart?"
---
"Oh, so Morgana was a stray you found on the first day of classes." She nodded. "That doesn't excuse it!"
The three were sitting on a bench near the Hachikō statue. A politician nearby was giving a speech.
"But he—"
"It's okay, Lady Orihime!" Morgana said blissfully.
Despite Orihime hearing only meowing sounds, she glared at Ren.
"You're lucky he's vouching for you!"
?!?!
Morgana's ears shot up, and he darted away.
"Awh, why did he leave? Did I scare him? His meowing was so cute."
"I think it's just a cat thing," Ren mentioned casually, his heart racing.
'I really thought she understood him.'
"Why are you out here, Orihime?" Ren coughed and swiftly changed the topic. "I figured you'd still be adapting to Tokyo."
"Just exploring!" Orihime said happily. "It's completely different from Karakura Town. It's like a new world!"
"Tokyo can be dangerous, especially for young women," Ren said, remembering the man from... that night. That was in Inaba. What about in Tokyo? Would he see such a thing again—?
"Ren, are you okay?" Orihime asked worriedly.
"I'm... I'm fine. I just remembered something important," Ren breathed out, preventing himself from panicking.
"It will get better, Ren. The world is a beautiful place," Orihime suddenly said with a smile before hopping up, winking, and running off.
Time froze.
"I am thou, thou art I. Thou hast established a new bond. It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. With the birth of the Faith Persona, thou hast obtained the blessing that leads to freedom and new power."
Rattling chains as always. Ren knew by now to just ignore it.
Blinking, he snapped back to the present, and Orihime was gone. Morgana was sneaking toward Ren, carefully looking in the direction she had run off.
"Did she understand me?!" Morgana asked Ren rapidly.
"I don't think so." Ren paused before smirking.
"She said your meows were cute."
That caused Morgana to puff up in pride.
---
On their way back to Leblanc, Ren suddenly asked Morgana,
"Why does she keep finding you so easily? Aren't you very stealthy?" Ren eyed Morgana.
Morgana stammered for a few seconds before giving a haughty hmph and walking away with his nose in the air.