— –Sae Nijima– —
Leaning back against the wall, Sae glanced around the room. It was a small office, nicely decorated but simple. Everything she saw indicated that the owner of the small practice wasn't anything special. The reviews were good, and the prices fairly reasonable. Yet the qualifications of the owner behind said practice were all but simple.
Someone like Takuto Maruki should have been leading the research of psychology in one of the big universities of Japan. In fact, from the faint records of his past she'd found, that was the very path he once walked.
Yet the man who showed so much promise had vanished from the public eye. Most of his recorded classes had been lost. His research had been disproven. Overnight, the man who might have led the new age of psychology had vanished. And in its stead, this small little practice had appeared.
Now, that very same man had been hired by Shujin Academy to act as their personal Counselor.
Part of her was surprised that no one else had been able to follow the path he'd left behind. But in a way, if it weren't for Makoto, Sae might not have suspected Maruki either. Yet the deeper she looked, the more suspicious and clear everything became.
A man who was once researching a way to help "cure" criminals by somehow changing their cognition. A man who gets hired into the very same school in which a teacher who had been molesting and abusing students suddenly has a change of heart before dying. A man who happens to work at the same school whose students were being targeted by Kaneshiro, forcing students into becoming drug mules.
If she was being honest, she wasn't sure how Madarame fit into the picture, but one thing was clear. Takuto Maruki was far too close to all of the events to not be involved.
Then there was Makoto. Really, what the hell was she supposed to do with her.
Sae wasn't blind, and there was only so long she could pretend to be oblivious. She might not have wanted to see it before, but somehow, someway, she too was involved with the Phantom Thieves.
Maybe she wasn't one… god, she really hoped her sister wasn't one of those vigilantes. Maybe she too, had stumbled onto the trail left behind by Maruki, and had gotten involved that way. In turn, involving her friends into the vigilantism lifestyle.
God, she didn't know what to believe.
Really, she could probably solve this by talking to her sister. If she asked her directly, she doubted that Makoto would be able to lie to her. But for the first time in a long time, she was afraid of what she might find.
What a headache.
Really, she was starting to wonder why the hell she had gotten involved with the Phantom Thieves. Or hell, why the Phantom Thieves had reached out to her in the first place. If Makoto was involved with them, shouldn't she know better?
Maybe that's why she was here now? To see if she'd made the right choice back then, keeping the fact that the Phantom Thieves had reached out to her a secret.
In a way, they'd already helped her. Not long after changing Madarame's heart, they'd targeted people from her department. They'd changed the hearts of around twenty or so people, all of which had previously had reports filed against them. One of which was her former boss, who'd stolen the credit for everything she'd done while working under him.
He'd confessed, and in turn, Sae's own reputation had increased exponentially. She'd even received a sizable bonus from the SIU Director as an "apology." Along with a bit more wiggle room to move as she pleased while researching the Phantom Thieves. The blade hanging over her head had finally been removed. By now, even if she just continued to cruise in her job, she'd probably be guaranteed the promotion she'd been waiting for.
The entire department of public prosecutors and SIU had been turned on its head by their actions. But in a way, that also gave Sae another headache.
If they'd helped her this much, while keeping their assistance discreet, what would they ask of her in the future? She'd yet to give them anything worthwhile. Maybe she'd just replaced the blade over her head with a noose by choosing to side with the Thieves back then.
Before she could let out another groan, she heard the door to the office rattle for a moment before opening. Stepping out was a young girl with red hair, after which Maruki followed.
"Thanks again Doctor Maruki!" She said with a warm tone as she gave the doctor a small bow. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your day off, but I feel much better now."
"Don't worry about it, Miss Sumi." The doctor answered with a chuckle. "You already know that my office is always open to my patients. I'm just sorry I didn't have a chance to restock on the snacks."
The young girl laughed for a moment before turning to look at Sae, giving her a small bow as a greeting before making her way out of the office. Then, as she turned to the doctor, she saw him give her a warm smile.
"Miss Nijima." Maruki called out to her with a smile. "I'll admit, I'm somewhat surprised. Usually I wouldn't be taking any more clients at the moment, but since you're the sister of one of my students I thought I'd make an exception. Come on in."
Following behind Maruki, she stepped into a room much like the reception, small yet welcoming.
"Is there something that I can help you with? To give you a full disclosure, I do know a bit about your life from your sister, but it would be better for our session if you told me your story and your problems from your own perspective. Was there anything specific that you are worried about? Or that you want to talk about?"
For a moment, Sae's eyes narrowed. It hadn't been a minute since they walked into the room and the doctor had already mentioned her sister. If Takuto Maruki was truly the head of the Phantom Thieves, then she would have to "gently" convince him to never get in contact with Makoto ever again. The further she was from this mess, the better.
"Well, first of all, what is your involvement with Makoto?"
"My involvement?" Maruki echoed with a raised eyebrow. "I am her counselor, Miss Nijima. As you know, the former P.E. teacher was… problematic to say the least. He left a big scar on the students of Shujin. So I am simply doing my part to help heal the damage that man left behind."
"And my sister has been coming to you for counseling?" Sae challenged him, trying to make the man in front of her break, to give her the smallest thread to pull from.
"Of course she has. Most students have." Maruki answered, giving her a gentle smile. "I am limited in what I can say due to client confidentiality. But since you are her legal guardian I can at least tell you this. Makoto is a bright young girl, but she can at times take too much of a burden onto herself. She's the student council president, so the fact that she was powerless to help her fellow students was hard on her."
Sae opened her mouth to try to rebuke the man, or press him harder. But in the end, she couldn't find the words. Rather than make a fool of herself by stumbling, she kept quiet. At least until she could stabilize her train of thoughts.
"You know, Miss Nijima, I said I wanted to hear your story from your perspective, but I feel I should begin with this. I feel like you are a very strong woman. You were given a burden so heavy at such a young age, yet you managed to not only remain standing, but to push forward despite it. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must have been for you."
Sae's mouth opened to answer before closing again. Yet, rather than continue speaking, Maruki simply sat in the silence as he looked at her.
"You don't know me." Were the first words to leave her mouth. Pathetic really, considering the plans she'd had made in her head before walking in.
She'd known it before, but it wasn't until now that she could clearly see just how much of a weak spot Makoto was for her.
"Then help me get to know you." Maruki answered as he gave her a reassuring nod.
Yeah, no, that wouldn't do. Sae could already feel herself being pushed into a corner, and she didn't like it. If anyone was going to hold the cards in the conversation, it had to be her.
"I know you are involved with the Phantom Thieves. Are you their leader?"
"Huh?" Maruki answered, looking genuinely bewildered at the question. "You think I'm the leader of the Phantom Thieves? Wait, no, you think I'm one of the Phantom Thieves?"
"Spare me the act." Sae pressed once more. "I have evidence, so let's have a proper conversation. I know about your research into cognitive psience. You're also directly connected to the first two changes of heart."
"I am?" Maruki asked once more, his eyes widening after a few moments. "Sorry, let's step back for a moment."
The doctor in front of her scratched his hair before continuing.
"First of all, I am not a Phantom Thief." He spoke, sounding a bit too genuine. "I did research into cognitive psience, but if you know about it, then you should probably also know that all my work has been discredited. That's the reason I began counseling."
For a moment, Sae almost let herself believe him. But she knew better.
"Listen, I don't care if you are a Phantom Thief." Sae answered, holding back a sigh. "Just be honest with me."
For a moment, the small room went silent, until finally the doctor let out a faint chuckle.
"I am sorry Miss Nijima, but you are wrong." He answered, adjusting himself on his seat before continuing. "If I may ask, you seem a bit stressed, have you been getting enough rest?"
"No." Sae answered absentmindedly.
The answer felt wrong, somehow.
"I see… Well, now that you've gotten the answer you were looking for, do you want to continue the counseling session?" Maruki asked, giving her another warm smile. "I know it must feel quite strange and vulnerable, but trust me when I tell you that everyone needs someone to talk to. Let me be that person for you."
— –Ren Amamiya– —
Far ahead, they could see Haru, Ryuji, and Morgana fighting the Shadow of one of the targets they'd gotten from the Phansite. Given the floor they were in, the Shadow itself wasn't much of a challenge for them at the time, which was exactly why they were letting Haru take the lead on defeating it.
He'd been worried for her. But maybe he should have known better. Because now, the short, cute and kind girl he'd known was running face first into the enemy while swinging an axe that was a tad too big for her body.
Behind her, Milady was lifting her skirt, only to reveal an arsenal of guns that hid beneath it and firing a barrage of cover fire to let Haru move closer.
"Die!" Haru shouted as she swung her axe at the leg of a Take-Minakata.
The strike caused the Shadow to fall down to their knees, giving a chance for Haru to yank the axe out and deliver another strike directly at the shadow's neck. Then, jumping back, she allowed Milady to send a barrage of Psychic attacks, causing the Shadow to explode and return to the appearance of a businessman.
"She's something else…" Makoto muttered by his side. "I think she's ready. There's not much left for her to learn here."
Ren took a moment to answer, lifting his hand to look at the small ring with a crimson gem on his middle finger, the ring of Wrath. The accessory form of the Crystal of Wrath that Jose had created for them.
Thanks to him, the Thieves were now far better equipped than ever. Jose had taken their will seed crystals and transformed them into rings. And, with the treasures they'd given him from the other changes of hearts they'd done in Mementos, the young kid had managed to create far more tools for them to use in the Palaces.
"Yes." Ren finally answered. "The sooner we finish this, the better. Goro warned me that the Black Mask is keeping an eye on Okumura, so we can't afford to extend our infiltrations like we've been doing."
Makoto hummed in agreement, yet her face twisted in slight discomfort.
"What is it?"
"Well…" Makoto trailed off. "Joker… how much do you really trust Akechi?"
Now it was Ren's turn to grimace.
"So far he's given you what, six palaces? He gave you names, locations, and distortions. But all of them feel a bit… I mean, according to Futaba, while they were all true, and they do appear to be connected to the Antisocial Force, they all seem like distractions. Ren… if anything… I'm not saying he's the Black Mask, but are you sure he's on our side?"
It took Ren a moment to answer, and finally, with a sigh, he spoke.
"I hope so. But, no… or well, I think his goal is different from ours. Or well, our goals are parallel." He told her honestly. "We want to dismantle the Antisocial Force to bring 'Justice.' We want to stop them from taking over. We know they are dangerous, so our goal is to stop them."
"What's Akechi's goal?" Makoto asked him, drawing a bit closer.
"Revenge."
Closing his eyes, Ren thought back to the meeting they'd had in the Jazz club. When they'd let the cat out of the bag. When they'd agreed to work together, while at the same time keeping their distance.
"To be honest, I don't know exactly what is going on in his head. What I know is that Goro wants to take down the people behind the mental shutdowns far more than we do." Then after a moment, he turned to look at her. "What do you think?"
"That's…" She trailed off once more.
"No, I mean it. I trust your judgement more than I trust mine when it comes to this."
Makoto looked slightly taken aback by the statement, even bringing her hands to her face for a moment before sighing.
"Well, first of all you shouldn't say that." Makoto answered softly. "You're our leader. You've guided us through things we couldn't even begin to imagine and understand. So far, it's been your intuition that has kept us hidden and alive."
She looked away for a moment, glancing at Haru who was celebrating her victory by spinning Mona in the air.
"But if you want my honest thoughts, then that's a bit harder. I don't know Akechi like you do." She began, pausing for a moment before continuing. "But just from the way he's been feeding you information and what I've heard from my sister, I feel like he's just trying to use us. I can't say exactly how, but… I have a bad feeling about it."
"I see…" Ren muttered, glancing over to the Thieves that had begun to walk their way. "Queen, there's something important we need to discuss. Would you mind meeting me in Leblanc after we leave?"
Makoto gave him a nod, and by that time, the three Thieves had returned to them, with Haru smiling brightly as she wiped some sweat off from her forehead.
"How many more did you say we had left?"
"Three." Ren answered, letting out a faint chuckle as he saw just how excited Haru was. "Or should we make it five?"
"Don't enable her, Joker!" Mona shouted.
"Five? Oh, I think I could manage ten!" Haru laughed, her eyes sparkling with a strange light as she raised her axe. "This is exhilarating!"
"It's always the nice ones that are the scariest I tell ya." Ryuji muttered, though he was grinning. "She's a natural. Probably scary enough to make the Reaper run away."
"Let's stick to the plan." Makoto intervened. "Three more rounds of drills, then we regroup. We need to have enough energy for our infiltration. We've yet to see what effects or advantages Noir might have on the Palace, so we need to be ready to either escape or press on with preparing our route."
"She's right." Morgana added, hopping down from Haru's arms and shaking out his fur. "Let's go!"
— — —
Pushing open the door to Leblanc, the familiar chime of a bell rang. The cafe was empty, filled only by the scent of curry and coffee. The tv had been left on, playing the news which were reporting about the changes of hearts. After all, they'd been busy the past few days.
Without either of them speaking, Makoto took her seat behind the booth as Ren moved to brew the two of them a cup of tea. Even without fighting, simply being in Mementos was enough to drain one's mental energy. And, for his part, Ren was trying to delay the conversation as much as he could.
But eventually, the water boiled. You can only push things back so far before they catch up to you.
Ren set the steaming cups on the table and slid into the booth next to her. He took a long, slow sip, letting the warmth ground him before he finally broke the silence.
"I'm sorry for asking you to come here so late, but now that we are so close to stealing his heart, I wanted to speak about Okumura."
Makoto took a sip of her own tea, her eyes tracking the steam rising from the cup. When she looked up, her expression had shifted into that sharp, analytical seriousness that reminded him why she was the team's strategist.
"I figured as much." She replied. "I've been thinking about it too, especially while watching Haru these last few days. We spoke about it before, didn't we? The moment we steal Okumura's heart, we are dooming him, aren't we?"
"Yes." Ren said, setting his cup down with a dull thud against the wood. "If the Black Mask is really keeping an eye on him, then the moment we make a move so will they. Madarame and Kaneshiro were just puppets, so their confessions might not have pushed their hand. But Okumura is directly involved with the Antisocial Force."
"Honestly, it makes me wonder why they went out of their way to… silence Kamoshida." Makoto muttered, grimacing slightly.
"To be honest, it was probably because of me. Kamoshida already had a whole mess around him because he got caught beating me up. Maybe they thought it wouldn't bring too much attention to them if they just simply silenced him. And well, Kobayakawa was also probably pushing for Kamoshida to disappear."
Makoto hummed in acknowledgment, but the tension in her shoulders didn't fade.
"Still... I know stopping Okumura is the right thing to do. He's hurting people. But it feels wrong to just... let him die. I know it wouldn't be our hands on the weapon, but it would be our actions that put him in the crosshairs. To be honest, I've been avoiding Haru lately. I can't look at her without thinking about it."
Ren let out a short, dry chuckle, causing Makoto to flinch slightly in surprise.
"I noticed." He said, his voice softening."But you don't have to worry. I have a plan to save him. I just... I needed to run it by you first."
Makoto's eyes widened, her posture straightening instantly.
"You do? But... why only me?" The surprise on her face flickered through a rapid cycle. Confusion, worry, and finally, a sharp spark of suspicion. "Why keep the rest of the team in the dark?"
"Because this plan is going to spiral." Ren explained, looking her dead in the eye. "It's going to change things down the line, things I don't want the others weighing themselves down with yet. But we're at the finish line now. It would be a mistake not to have you in the loop, especially if things get messy."
Makoto's gaze dropped to the table, her mind clearly racing to connect the dots. Then, her eyes snapped back to his.
"The scalpel?"
"The scalpel." Ren confirmed. He reached into the empty air, and with a faint, electric shimmer of blue light, the golden blade appeared in his palm. He turned it over, the dim cafe lights glinting off the surgical steel. "Most of the plan hinges on this. I managed to keep Kobayakawa under control with it, and I'm going to use it to intercept the Black Mask. Among other things."
"But—" Makoto began before going quiet, the gears in her head visibly turning. "Explain."
Ren hesitated. His hand drifted back to his cup, taking another slow, deliberate sip to buy himself just a few more seconds of silence.
"Did you know, Makoto… I died once before?"
He said it with a jarring level of detachment, his voice as matter-of-fact as if he were commenting on the weather. If he were being honest with himself, he hadn't been sure when he'd ever say those words out loud, or who he would tell first.
Part of him had always assumed it would be Morgana. Or maybe Ann, she always had an easy time reading him. Or maybe even Shiho…
But in the end, it had to be Makoto. She was the only one who could handle what he needed to explain now. Yet even now, he found himself weighing every syllable. He had to be careful; he never knew when, or if, Igor was watching from the velvet shadows.
"My life was never really mine ever since I got to Tokyo. I shouldn't be here." Ren continued. He idly spun the scalpel between his fingers, a blur of gold and light, before making it vanish back into the ether. "But I was given another chance. A contract with the Velvet Room. Igor brought me back to be an actor on his stage. He's the one who gave us the power to enter the Metaverse, and as you know he was the one who gave me that scalpel."
He paused for a few seconds, waiting for Makoto to speak, but when she didn't, he continued.
"So far, I've barely used it. You already know why. Because the more I use it, the less 'human' I become. In the end, I'll probably end up as an attendant to the Velvet Room. Or maybe something like Jose. That's the price of the power he gave me. My freedom. In the end, this is all just a big game for someone like Igor. Some idle entertainment."
"And you still want to use that thing?" Makoto's voice cracked the silence. She slammed her hand down on the table, the tea in their cups rippling. "Are you saying you're just going to be stuck in the Metaverse forever? That you're just giving up?"
"Makoto." Ren's voice was firm, cutting through her rising panic. "If I can ask one thing of you, it's to just listen and think. You're the smartest person I know, and the one I trust most with this. That's why I'm telling you. It's also why I'm holding back on telling the others, they'd react with their hearts. I need you to react with your head."
Makoto opened her mouth, a sharp retort clearly ready to fly, but she caught herself. She took a deep, shuddering breath, closing her eyes for a moment to steady her pulse. When she opened them again, the fire was still there, but it was controlled.
She gave a stiff, singular nod.
"Continue."
"Well, where to begin…" Ren trailed off, tapping his finger on the table. "Ah, I know. Makoto, did you ever wonder why I like tarot so much?"
She shook her head.
"Well, it's because the arcana is the means by which all is revealed."
~ Confidants ~
Makoto Nijima (The Priestess) Rank 8
~ A/N ~
I'm going to be very evil and leave you all in the dark as to what conversation happens between Makoto and Ren. Just as I've been really vague as to what Ren's plans have been every time he interacts with Tartuffe or just thinks about it in general.
But, hey, to be fair, all the pieces are on the board already. I know it seems like endgame is happening right now, but we still have a bit to go. Anyways, Imma get started on the next chap. I was originally going to just skip directly to the palace, but after trying to write that chap like 3 times I decided to take a step back and try something else.
Gonna go back to writing the Palace. Hopefully I can get it done now that I got the vibe I was looking for going.