(A/N: Oh. My. God! I must be faster than Sanic! 😂😂😂
The thing is, I wanted to write this chapter for quite some time so I got excited and started writing quickly! So I'm spoiling you, dear readers; you must be very happy now~
And now the next update is here, so BUCKLE THE FUCK UP!!! 'CUZ HERE WE GO!!!)

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Opening

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

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------Shibuya's Passageway------

The operation was an absolute success, so the young high schoolers felt like they can finally take a breather and rest assured knowing that Madarame will have a change of heart very soon and that the nightmare that surrounded Yusuke day after day ever since he was a child will finally be over at last. Then again, there was the thing that Madarame's Shadow mentioned a black-masked individual who also has the ability to access the Metaverse which made them feel agitated and a bit on edge. It was really a very concerning matter knowing that there was another individual who had access to the other world aside from them, and that was truly troubling to the high schoolers the more they think about it.

On the other hand, Yusuke was carrying the "Sayuri" portrait and staring deeply at every feature of the beautiful woman drawn in it, especially since it was the first time he saw it in person, and couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful it was while gently and delicately stroking his fingers over it afraid he might ruin it and turn it to dust. Everything had finally fallen in place, why he felt that rush of emotions the first time he saw it in Madarame's art book, and why he felt happy, safe, and loved every time his eyes fell on it and kept asking himself whether he was dreaming or not.

But it was no dream. No, it was the reality.

"I guess the mission was a success. All that's left is to see if he had a change of heart or not." Ryuji spoke after taking a sip from a can he carried, "Ugh, so bitter... why'd you get it black?"

"The 'Sayuri'..." Yusuke trailed.

"You're not gonna get all teary-eyed and say stuff like 'Mom...!' are you?" Ryuji slightly widened his eyes.

"To think that this painting was the source of Madarame's distorted desires. The only saving grace is that my mother won't know of what transpired..." Yusuke smiled to himself in satisfaction.

"........." Ren twirled his finger around his dark locks.

"The genuine painting at his atelier has been altered, after all... ironic as it may be, this one here is her true self-portrait now." A wave of sadness washed over Morgana's voice.

"...It's a wonderful painting. And... although it took some time, it's in your hands now, Yusuke." Ann spoke.

"...I'm thankful for it. However, it's impossible for this painting to be acknowledged by society anymore..." Yusuke remarked.

"I'm curious though, Yusuke... was 'Sayuri' your mom's name?" Ren asked out of curiosity.

"No. I doubt it's the name of any woman in particular. I bet it was to make it more mysterious--just a part of Madarame's foolish staging."

"Well, it would've been obvious that he plagiarized it if he had used the real name." Morgana stated.

"So this is my mother... there's no way that I would remember her face clearly... but I was right about the rush of emotion I felt when I saw this painting." Yusuke smiled to himself gratefully.

"To think that you were emotionally connected to the painting, even though you didn't know that she was your mom..." Emiko mumbled.

"........." Ren brought his hand close to his chest as he furrowed his eyebrows.

Along with the chat, Ryuji stood up again and walked a few steps away from the group towards a vending machine before returning back to them with a bottle of soda. He was gulping it down in huge amounts down his throat as he walked back to his friends next to Ann, but then he suddenly burped right into the platinum blonde-haired's face.

"Stop that! That's so gross!" Ann yelped.

"You're so vulgar, Ryuji." Morgana commented.

"You've never changed..." Emiko trailed while sweatdropping.

"So, what're you gonna do now? We're gonna keep targetin' big shots." Ryuji looked at Yusuke.

"...Why do you do such things?" Yusuke questioned.

"It's to get back at scumbags and like... society in general? We also wanna give courage to the people that're suffern' 'cause of selfish adults."

"That's us, the Phantom Thieves." Ren added.

"Courage, hm... what good does that do? You mean the courage to stand up for themselves, correct? Will acquiring that make them happy?" Yusuke asked.

"I'm not sure..." Ren looked down.

"........." Light shone on Emiko's glasses, thus covering her eyes.

"Right. There's no knowing that. We just have to give it a try." Ann stated.

"...In other words, it all depends on the person, hm? Then the same can be said about myself right now. I also suffered because of an adult's selfish act. Moreover, if we investigate these Palaces, it may expand my artistic repertoire." Yusuke pulled a close-eyed smile.

"You really only think about art, huh? You're impressive." Ryuji grinned sheepishly.

"Well, I won't take part in any inelegant plans, all right?" Yusuke reminded.

"No worries! I've got us covered!" Ann winked, making the rest sweatdrop heavily.

"Are you absolutely certain about that...?" Emiko trailed while sweatdropping.

"Plus, we have a rule that says we always have to decide on a target unanimously." Ann added.

"How about it, Ren? We can give our calling cards more oomph if we have Yusuke on the team." Morgana suggested excitedly.

"Again, I look forward to working with you." Ren smiled while offering his hand to the new recruit.

"I will try and live up to those expectations, Ren." Yusuke smiled reassuringly as he shook the leader's hand.

The brown-haired girl firmly and quietly observed the scene of the Phantom Thieves' leader and the new recruit shaking hands, while smiling at the other as the other two blondies were grinning sheepishly at such a heartwarming scene before exchanging eye contact and smiling at one another. As that scene unfolded right before Ren and Yusuke broke their shake, the slightest smirk plastered on her face as her lips curved upwards.

"At any rate, I'm curious... another intruder besides us, huh?" Morgana questioned.

"Our only clue's a black mask, so that doesn't necessarily mean it's just one person, right?" Ann asked.

".........." Ren grunted in annoyance.

"I wonder..." Emiko held her chin.

"But there's no way to check anymore. The Palace is gone." Ryuji reminded.

"I'll try probing Madarame. I may be able to learn something from him." Yusuke furrowed his eyebrows.

"Are you sure? I mean--" Ann shut her mouth before saying any further word.

"I'll contact you all if anything turns up." Yusuke added.

"We should probably exchange our contact info with you then." Ann stated.

Earning a unanimous nod from each person who was present at that point, everyone gathered closely while pulling their phones out exchanging their IDs and contact info together by sending them to the other so that they can add Yusuke to the group IM chat.

"An artist and a phantom thief... it seems I'll be engaging in two trades from here on... very well. You only live once, after all. Still, the incident about this other intruder does concern me a little..." Yusuke admitted.

"I am thou, thou art I... Thou hast acquired a new vow.

It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity.

With the birth of The Emperor Persona, I have obtained the winds of blessing that shall lead to freedom and new power..." These words rang inside Ren and Emiko's heads.

*******

------Evening: Leblanc's Attic------

It was finally over, that hellish battle against Shadow Madarame and his tyranny will finally be done sooner or later. Ren was smiling to himself happily all the way home from the hideout and back to the café, and yet exhaustion was very visible on his face after the events that unfolded that day. The moment he set foot in Leblanc, Sojiro noticed how much tired Ren looked and let him climb the stairs up to his room without even asking him anything especially since he thought he just had a tiring day at school, and so the high schooler walked past him without hearing any word from his guardian.

The raven-haired slowly climbed the stairs up to the attic, and there he placed his bag on the table making Morgana hop out of it and make his way to the bed by jumping up to it. With a heavy and distressed sigh of tiredness, he threw his body down to the bed while massaging his temples with his fingers while breathing deeply as the thought of the existence of another Metaverse user lingered in his mind troubling him a lot as he thought about it. But then, he felt more tired just thinking about it, so he shook his head wanting to change his clothes and sleep.

"Not only have we dealt with our second big target, we even have a new addition to the team! Goodness, things are going so well!" Morgana exclaimed happily.

"It's all thanks to you, Morgana."

"Ahhh! If only I could make a certain, stupid Ryuji learn from you... but I have to say, you sure are something special. This is our sixth Persona-user. It'll help broaden our battle strategies as well. Besides, having an eye for beauty is a must for phantom thieves. We're lucky to have Yusuke. An artist is a talent you rarely come across."

"I agree. I know that he'll do well as everyone else did. Ryuji, Ann, and Emiko."

"I mean, he IS a bit strange, but still... an artist, huh... what kind of person do you think I was? There's no way I'd turn out to be some bad guy in the end, right?"

"What do you mean? Something's wrong?" Ren asked worriedly.

"I get so engrossed with the embodiment of human desires... and that's not all. When it comes to the Metaverse, I'm the only one who can transform into a car... I'm special... but it's still odd. Who could I actually be...?"

"You're human, obviously." Ren replied with a smile.

"Eh?"

"After solving the mystery of Mementos, everyone will live in a happy world and you'll return to your normal form."

"You really think so? What a half-assed answer. Well, there's no way someone like me, who has honorable aspirations, can be evil. A man who saves those in trouble in the west, while punishing evildoers who may lurk in the east! A man who chastises people that smoke inside in the south, while saving bullied cats in the north! A man who has a sturdy body and vows to always do one good deed a day, be it rain or shine. I'm that kind of ideal person... or so I hope."

Ren clapped at his speech.

"So if I turn back to being human... surely she'll take notice of me, won't she?" Morgana asked himself dreamily.

"You like someone, Mona?" Ren raised his eyebrow.

"Me?! Don't be ridiculous! People chase after me when it comes to love! Where should I go when I become human...? I wonder where she'd like to go... an amusement park, a movie theater, a fancy café, shopping..." Morgana was daydreaming as his eyes sparkled causing Ren to sweatdrop.

"What do you think?" Morgana smiled.

"I think my bond with Morgana is growing deeper..."

Magician Arcana: Rank 3

After that heartwarming conversation with Morgana, Ren covered his mouth as he yawned loudly, making Morgana yawn as well while stretching his limbs. Knowing that he was going to pass out at any moment, Ren hurriedly changed his clothes to his pajamas, turned off the lights, and laid on his bed with Morgana curled next to him like usual. His eyelids felt heavy and were about to close on their own the second his head hit the pillow, and that exactly what happened as he closed his eyes and drifted away to the world of dreams.

*******

------The Velvet Room------

Though everything was pitch black in his vision, Ren could clearly hear metal clunking in his ears along with the faint sound of water dripping in the distance. Though he couldn't see anything since darkness was his only companion at that moment, he could feel numbness running through his arms and legs as his back laid on a hard surface.

"........!"

Ren's fluttered open as a hitched breath escaped him and blinked several times since his vision was still a bit blurry but could see a ceiling above him and four cramped walls around. Still feeling lightheaded, the dark-haired adjusted himself by sitting down and holding his aching head as his vision started clearing up, only to get greeted by the now-familiar sight of the Velvet Room's prison cell. Then, he got up from the wooden bed he was sitting on and walked towards the cell's door to see Igor's usual sly smirk and his bloodshot eyes staring intensely at him as if he was staring at his own soul, causing a cold sweat to roll down on Ren's face.

"You have expelled one who was stained in vanity. You are now one step closer to your rehabilitation. It's a delightful thing indeed." Igor spoke delightfully.

"Our master is pleased. You should be honored, Inmate." Justine added with her usual calm voice.

"However, the man's remarks are concerning. It seems another has made their way into the Metaverse." Igor added.

"Is that true? Who could it be?" Ren nearly jumped.

"That is beyond my knowledge... but your rehabilitation is progressing smoothly." Igor added, "...That is for certain. May the devotion to your rehabilitation grow even deeper." He eyed the inmate even more, "...I have high hopes of you."

"Be aware, Inmate." Justine suddenly spoke, "An unknown and dark presence is swirling around you."

"Our warning's for your own good, so you better stay on your toes!" Caroline scoffed like always.

Ren opened his mouth attempting to say something or at least ask about what the warden twins meant with their mysterious words, but that was when the bell rang indicating that Ren's time was up in this world and his consciousness will drift back to the real world now.

"W-Wait--"

Ren wanted to get more info on what the twins were talking about, but his limbs grew numb again, his head felt heavy, his breath quickened, and his vision blurred. The last thing he remembered was the blurry image of Igor's sly smirk at him, and the twins' intense glances at him as his body began falling down and blacked out only to get pulled back to his real world.

*******

------Hayashi's Residence------

The squeaky sound of the water tap being closed echoed inside the small and steamy bathroom after the bathtub was filled to a very reasonable level. A small, yet pale hand dipped into the water to taste its temperature only to find it perfectly fine and nod in acknowledgment, making the short brown-haired girl strip from the towel around her and slowly, yet carefully stand into the water before fully dip herself into it and sit in the bathtub.

A long sigh made its way out from Emiko's lips as she felt relaxed the moment her tired body went inside the hot water and warmed her up. Her wet hands went up to her head to brush her hair backward away from her face, enjoying the feeling of water dripping down her face especially since she closed her eyes and stayed like that. The bathroom grew even quieter after Emiko closed her eyes and remained sitting in her position in the tub without making any movements at all, and she didn't mind that at all since she grew accustomed to silence to the point that she became indifferent about it.

"........." A grunt escaped her as she lowered herself even more.

She opened her brown eyes and stared down at the water's surface to take a closer look at her distorted reflection. She had the same blank and emotionless facial expression she always wore on her face ever since that bloody day three years ago, and Emiko became used to her new silent and quiet persona, adapted it, and even embraced it.

But now something was different...

"Is this... really how I want to live...?"

She shook her head as in denial to those thoughts in her mind which made no sense to her at all. All she knew was darkness, pain, and suffer so what changed at that point that made her think like that? Perhaps it's because she chose to join the Phantom Thieves? Is it because of the power and confidence she felt in the Metaverse? Whatever it might be, she didn't care and chose not to think about it anymore, or else she felt like she could seriously lose it.

She joined the Phantom Thieves for the sole purpose to prove her point and nothing else, and that was how it'll always remain.

"I'm so sick of this..."

After that mumble to herself, Emiko closed her eyes again before she sunk herself inside the water while laying on her back. She wasn't intending on committing suicide or anything, but only wanted to escape the world around her for a little time and have a moment of peace of her own, besides she has the ability to hold her breath underwater for a few minutes so that wouldn't be such a big problem anyway. It was quiet and peaceful the way she wanted it to be since she couldn't see or hear anything, it was mere blackness around her eyes and no sound in her ear, and she loved it.

But then...

Emiko could hear a dripping sound on the bathtub's water which made her open her eyes widely and see blood dripping down on the water's surface along with a shadowy figure standing outside of the tub and just looking at her. Before she could even react, the figure's arms moved towards the girl underwater and began choking her by gripping her neck tightly. She couldn't breathe or scream, or call her mother for help. Her eyes were wide open, and her screams were muted due to her being underwater, and then... her vision started getting blurry and her limbs were growing numb.

With a rush of adrenaline that kicked in her body, she grabbed the assailant's arms and forcefully pushed them away from her neck before she pulled herself out of water sitting inside the tub again. She panted and breathed heavily due to her lack of oxygen while sensing her neck before coughing a few times; she expected for her neck to feel on fire, except that it didn't. Emiko took a very close look around her to notice that there wasn't a single soul inside the bathroom beside her and couldn't be any because she always locks the door before she uses the bathroom or to take a bath.

Once again, she eyed the water's surface to see that it was clean and clear as crystals with no traces of blood on it like she saw. That wasn't the first time that something like that happened to her in the course of three years, but this time was very much to her. Emiko covered her eyes with her hands as tears rolled down from her eyes and began weeping and sobbing quietly so her mother wouldn't hear her. Even if she was imagining things, the experience this time was very traumatizing to her and felt like she was going to reach her breaking point where she'd snap for real.

"My God..."

The brown-haired wiped her tears with her hand deciding not to dwell on it that much despite it being very scary and decided to finish her bath before growing crazy from thinking too much about it. She grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the shelves next to her on the wall and began scratching her hair and rubbing her head with it while sighing deeply and roughly. It was scary... really, really scary. What if it really happened? What if someone actually killed her there and wasn't just her imagination?

Death actually seemed more merciful to her than imagining it at every corner.

After a while, Emiko finally finished her bath and got up from the tub after emptying it from the water that was inside it. She reached for her clean spare of clothes which were placed close to her and changed into them while drying her hair with another towel. Then, she exited the bathroom and headed to her bedroom so that she could sleep after that tiring battle in the Metaverse earlier that day especially now that her body was relaxed after that hot bath.

After she walked into her bedroom, she walked next to her dressing table that had a mirror where she paused her tracks, looking at her reflection in the mirror while removing the towel from her head and wrapping it around her neck. Her eyes were dull and tired as she stared at her appearance without glasses and tangled hair, and yet her expression remained blank like always. But then, she felt a rush of emotions swirling inside her the more she looked at it herself; anger and disgust mostly.

"Why...? Why do I have to look exactly like him? Why...?!"

She gritted her teeth angrily as the image of her cursed father appeared before her in the place of her reflection in the mirror. Her knuckles were turning white from how much her fists were clenched, felt like her blood was boiling within her veins, and her teeth were about to chatter due to the amount of force she poured in her gritting action. Why? Why did she have to look like her father? Why did she need to remember him every time she'd see herself in the mirror? She hated it, she hated every single moment of it. She hated the way she looked and wanted to be different and even considered herself to be ugly and still does.

She despised her appearance.

All she wanted was to be more beautiful; with different hair and eye color, no glasses, smaller thighs, bigger breasts, and a sexier body. But she knew so damn well that it was impossible to accomplish, she was born like this and has to stick with it for the rest of her life, whether she likes it or not. On the other hand, she always envied Ann ever since she met her in middle school because she was a real beauty. Breathtaking platinum blonde hair, turquoise eyes, long silky wavy hair, flawless milky skin, sexy body, big breast, and she always caught the attention of boys wherever she was while Emiko felt like she was left in the shadows.

She sighed deeply at that memory while rubbing her temple from the mental and physical stress she was feeling at that moment from everything around her. She opened the drawer of her dresser to get a hair comb so she can fix her messy hair before going to bed. Sure it'd be messy when she'd wake up the next morning, but didn't want it to get any messier than it was, otherwise it'd be almost impossible to comb it in the morning. But as she opened the drawer to look for her comb, something caught the attention of her eyes.

An object wrapped in a white cloth.

Her arm hesitantly reached for the wrapped object and brought it close to her looking at it skeptically before unwrapping the cloth that was covering it. It was a gun, a beautiful and shiny black handgun with a wooden handle that was skillfully crafted. Flipping it with one hand to the other side of the handle, a name was carved on it with very clear cursive English letters instead of Kanji that read as "Isao Hayashi."

"Never thought I'd see you again after all these years."

Emiko mumbled to herself while grabbing the gun with both her hands recalling that damned moment she had to use it three years ago against her own father and shot him right in the forehead. But then, her hands and legs began shaking uncontrollably as her heartbeat fastened as well; sweat was dripping down from her forehead almost non-stop, and started breathing and panting abnormally as her eyes widened open. She felt as if her red blood cells were rushing inside her veins as the beating of her heart became more and more audible to her, and everything was turning blood red around her.

Then, she began screaming as a figure of a middle-aged brown-haired man was approaching her with his face lowered down. When he lifted it, he revealed his demonic and sick grin along with blood dripping down his face from the bullet hole that existed right in the middle of his forehead along with blood dripping down from his eyes as well. Emiko felt like she was paralyzed and couldn't move a muscle of her body at that horrifying and disgusting scene, but all she could do was scream as the man kept staring intensely at her soul while grinning sickly at her.

"You killed me..."

"Emiko...!"

"You killed me..."

"You shot me..."

"Murderer!"

"YOU KILLED ME!"

"AAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Unable to take it anymore, Emiko let out the loudest scream ever of her life while dropping the gun from her hand before rushing out of the room. She hurriedly made her way back towards the bathroom while covering her mouth before lifting the cover of the toilet and throwing up hardly inside it. She was coughing and breathing crazily after she finished emptying what was inside her as she flushed the water open and washed her face again.

She returned to her bedroom with sloppy footsteps as if she was about to pass out at any moment while walking and was even supporting herself with the wall as she made her way back. Luckily, her mother's bedroom was far from her own and was in deep sleep since she was working all day, so she didn't wake up at the sound of her screams. Emiko felt weak as she slowly set foot in her room before bending down to place the gun back in the close before wrapping it again and placing it in the drawer where it originally was and closed it again.

The brown-haired lifted her face to see herself in the mirror again, and that time she looked even paler from it originally was just a few moments ago. She was almost as white as a ghost and felt sick after what happened since her stomach began hurting her a little. All she could do was stare blankly at her reflection in the mirror and frown at her pathetic and weak appearance.

"I look terrible..."

Emiko thought to herself with a frown before making her way towards her bed with sloppy and slow steps carefully so she won't faint on the floor. Then, she threw her body on top of the blanket as her fingers dug deeply into the sheets since she was still traumatized from that entire experience as her heart was still beating fast, and felt like her limbs were shaking a bit. She felt a lump in her throat along with tears forming in the corner of her eyes, looking more desperate and hopeless than ever.

"Help me..." She whispered desperately.

"Someone... please help me."

*******

It was a cold and calm night in the suburbs as the wind blew off wiping the fallen leaves from the roads up the starry sky. The sky was clear and filled with stars, and nothing was illuminating the roads other than the pale moonlight giving a dazzling radiance to its surroundings. The streets were also almost empty from people passing by there and there since it was late night already, but under the darkness were two figures walking hand-in-hand into a narrow alleyway; one of the two shadowy figures was tall and the other was extremely short.

On closer inspection, the two figures seemed to belong to a beautiful youthful woman who had charming grey eyes and long silky dark hair. With her was her ten-year-old child who represented her a lot with his grey eyes and unkempt curly dark hair. The two of them seemed to be very happy as they walked together, hands tangled with the other as the child had the biggest grin on his face and the mother was no less happy than her son.

"Mmm, I still can't believe that dad's birthday is tomorrow." The boy sang.

"Days come by really quickly, right Ren?" The mother gave him a gentle smile.

"But I'm worried... what if dad won't celebrate with us tomorrow because some job turns up?"

"Don't worry, sweetie. I've got us covered." She winked while placing a finger on her lips.

"Huh? What do you mean, mom?"

"That's a secret~" She winked again.

"Come on, that's not fair mom! Tell me!"

"You'll see for yourself tomorrow, honey."

"........" He puffed his cheeks.

"There, there." She patted his head while giggling.

"Still, we got him a cake from the best bakery in the city! It was so crowded that we could barely have a turn."

"Yes, and that's why we're so late already... come on, Ren let's hurry back home." The mother quickened her pace while holding her son's hand and the bag with the cake box in the other.

"Um, mom? Why did we enter this alley? It's so dark..." Ren's voice whimpered, "Mom, I'm scared..."

"You don't have to be scared about anything, sweetie as long as I'm here with you, OK? Plus, this is a shortcut to the house. We don't want your father to get even more worried about us, do we?"

"Y-Yeah..." He nodded slowly while tightening his grip around his mom's hand.

Ren's mom smiled at him reassuringly once more which made her son relax a bit seeing the warmth and love coming from his sweet and beloved mother. He was the loving type of his mother who always preferred her company over his father and enjoyed spending time with her a lot more than anything else. He was really obedient and kind to her and would never do anything to harm or upset her... or at least he tried to. He was still a child, after all.

However, footsteps were echoing from the way they were heading to since they were approaching the end of the alley which caused Ren's mother to stop her tracks and be wary of the sound. She held her son extremely close to her and held him tightly, reassuring him that everything will be fine. But that was when two men went out from their hiding spot, blocking the way of the mother and her son while eyeing the mother hungrily and grinning at her, making Ren hide behind her back while still holding her hand due to the appearance of the two scary and shady men.

"Hello, ma'am. What are you doing here alone with your kid? Don't you know it's dangerous to walk alone at a time like this in this place?" One of the two men grinned evilly, exposing his golden tooth.

"I was returning home with my son. Now if you'll excuse me, gentlem--" She attempted to walk with her son.

"You're not going anywhere, lady." The other man grabbed one side of his open jacket and opened it, revealing a knife hidden in its pocket.

".......!" Ren yelped as he widened his eyes fully.

"It's fine, Ren."

"Give us your bag and jewelry, fast." The one with the golden tooth demanded.

"........." A cold sweat rolled down her face.

"Hurry it up, woman! We don't have all night!" The one with the knife screamed.

"........." Ren's mom grunted while taking a step backward.

"Give us your money fast, or else..." The boss with the golden tooth pointed his head.

"MOM!"

"........!"

The young woman quickly spun her back to see a third man who appeared out of nowhere behind them who was wearing a leather hat grabbing the arm of Ren as he managed to snatch him away from her. The poor Ren's face went pale and kept screaming as his eyes were filled with tears causing the mother's heart to drop and for her jaw to open widely. She was panicking inside since her face also went pale as the man kept laughing while examining Ren thoroughly from head to toe.

"...Or god knows what'll happen to your kid." The boss continued his sentence.

"Fine, fine. I'll give you what you want. Just please, don't hurt my son."

The poor woman was on the verge of tears as she started taking her wristwatch off which was a gift from her husband on their first wedding anniversary, then began taking her necklace and earrings off which were given to her by Ren and her husband on her birthday two years ago. Then took off her wedding ring before slowly sliding her bag off her shoulder making the thugs' jaws open widely in anticipation and could feel their mouths getting watery, hungry for the treasure they were about to obtain.

"OUCH, YOU LITTLE--"

That scream of pain came from the man who held Ren as a hostage after the child bravely bit the man's hand that was holding him. Much to the shock of the gang and his mother, Ren freed himself from the grip of that man and started running away to his mother. At that moment, everything seemed to go in slow motion for Ren's mother as she noticed the man, who was hiding the knife in his jacket and was standing next to the boss, grabbing that bladed weapon and bringing it out of his jacket. Her maternal instincts kicked into her, making her dash towards her son so she can protect him from the danger that was going to strike him.

"Ren, RUN!"

"MOM!"

*******

No...

No...

NO!

"--n!"

No... no...!

"-en!"

Noooooo...!

"REN!"

".......!"

Ren's grey eyes widened open fully as a gasp escaped his lips. He blinked his eyes several times since his vision was still a little blurry but once it started clearing up, he could see the image of Morgana calling his name repeatedly and looking at him worriedly. He held his aching head as he slowly and carefully sat on the bed as Morgana hopped down from his chest to sit down on the bed. The teenager still looked terrified and traumatized from what he was seeing in his dreams since his face turned paler than usual and his limbs were visibly shaken and felt wetness on his cheeks, so he sensed them with his shaky fingertips feeling that tears were still fresh on them, thus he wiped them away with his hand.

"Are you all right, Ren? You were crying and yelling in your sleep. I tried waking you up many times, but you were still screaming." Morgana looked deadly concerned.

"I-I'm sorry..." Ren was still shocked.

"No, you don't have to apologize about anything at all. But I'm a little concerned... it seemed like you were having a very bad nightmare."

".........."

"Do you... want to talk about it? I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. I can clearly see that you're still terrified of what you saw."

"Yeah..." His fingers dug deeply into his sheets as he narrowed his eyes.

Morgana understood clearly that whatever nightmare Ren saw must've been very traumatizing to him since he still looked terrified from it, especially that his arms were still shaking uncontrollably. He decided to drop it and not ask Ren anything further about it, but instead let it be and leave the dark-haired to talk about it when he feels like can. But Morgana couldn't shake off the worry he felt towards Ren, because seeing him in such a state was completely new to him since the Phantom Thieves' leader kept a cool and calm persona around his comrades, so witnessing him that... scared and vulnerable was something really worrying for Morgana.

Ren hugged his shaky arms tightly as he lowered his face down, mentally chanting for his shakiness to stop and kept telling himself that it was only a nightmare and wasn't real. Though, Morgana kept staring at him with his worried eyes that were filled with sympathy, and couldn't stop feeling bad about him. Even though he decided to drop it, he really wanted Ren to talk about it and express what was scaring him that much, and he maybe... just maybe... could help him somehow.

Pi

Pi

Pi

But that was when Ren's phone rang, making the two of them snap back to reality as Ren grabbed his phone which was placed next to him on the bed.

"Huh...? Who could be at this hour..?" Morgana trailed.

"Yusuke...?" Ren looked at the screen before picking his phone to answer the call.

"It's Kitagawa. I'm calling about Madarame's state. For the time being, he hasn't suffered a mental shutdown."

"Well, that's a relief..."

"Other than that, his demeanor seems to have softened a bit. Is that... the change of heart?"

"It could be... I'm not entirely sure..."

"I see... I was curious and looked into Kamoshida as well. It's as if he was an entirely different person. Will the same be true for Sensei...?"

"Let's hope for that, Yusuke..." Ren replied while fixing his sitting position.

"...I'm sorry to have taken your time. That's all what I wanted to tell you. Good--Oh. I'll try asking him about the black-masked intruder from the Palace when the time is right. Goodbye then, Ren. This time for sure."

"Goodbye." Ren hung up.

He took a deep breath after the call ended before throwing his body again on the bed. Ren doubted he'd fall asleep again after the nightmare he saw, but he was tired and really wanted to sleep... but just wasn't sure if he could at that point. Morgana walked close to his face, staring at him with those worried blue orbs which made Ren smile softly to himself while stroking the cat's head gently, slightly feeling calmer and at ease.

"I... I don't know what I'm supposed to do anymore..."

"I'm scared... really scared..."

"Someone... anyone..."

"Help me..."

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Ending

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Word count: 6553 words

A/N: Uwaaaaah! This chapter is finally done!

I'm finally glad to write my first own original chapter in this story that doesn't really follow the plot of Persona 5.

I loved to focus on Emiko in this chapter and reveal more about herself since very little is known about her.

As for Ren, I planned for a REAL good backstory other than his mad parents since that one got a little too cliché. 😅

What do you think of this chapter? Like it? Was it good enough for your expectations of me?

Let me know! 😊

Rand Talih💞

Published on: Fri/Aug 23/2019