Chapter Text
Ren took a sip of his coffee as he leaned back in his stool, watching as Ryuji and Ann squabble back and forth in their booth. His gaze drifted over to where Zenkichi was working on a case, the sight of the older gentleman’s determined eyes making a smile grow on his lips.
His eyes continued around the cafe until they landed on Goro and Akane, with the former begrudgingly humoring the latter as she pestered him about some of the cases he’s worked on when he was a detective.
It was a quiet day in Leblanc, with only a few customers so far throughout the day. Not that Ren minded, he enjoyed the quiet air, filled only by two blonde’s bickering, an old detective’s grumbling, and an excited third-year’s chirping followed by a brunet’s quiet story.
He reached down to rub a hand down Morgana’s back, the cat sleeping soundly by the legs of the stool as his chest rose and fell softly. Ren closed his eyes as he allowed himself to relax, his foot idly tapping the air as he hummed a tune quietly to himself.
He was, unfortunately, pulled from his song as the bell above the door rang out, causing him to open his eyes and look over towards the new occupants. Ryuji, Ann, Zenkichi, Goro and Akane did the same, though Morgana stayed soundly asleep.
When his eyes landed on the newest entrants, he was… honestly surprised. There were three women, not much older than him by the looks of them.
At the front was a woman who stood at around 5’5, maybe a bit taller. She had vibrant red hair, though it was probably a bit duller than Sumire’s, and bright ruby irises that seemed to glance around the cafe with a keen eye.
To the woman’s left, was a blonde who was just a tad bit shorter than her. She had baby blues that seemed to pierce through Ren’s very soul. Very charming, if he does say so himself.
To the woman’s right, was a woman with teal hair that was about the same height as the blonde, though she was trying to make herself seem smaller. She had dull gray eyes, of which Ren wouldn’t be surprised if they were around the same shade of his own.
“Welcome in.” He said, putting on his most charming smile. He placed his stool’s legs on the ground as he stood up. “What can I get you?”
The woman in front finally met his gaze. Her eyes were calculating, searching for something. Whatever that something was, he hadn’t the slightest idea. It wasn’t until she opened her mouth did he realize that these were not his average customers.
“Ren Amamiya?”
Ren paused in grabbing a cup, lifting his hand and placing a palm on the table with a carefree smile. “To some.”
“I’m Mitsuru Kirijo.” She introduced herself before motioning to blonde. “This is Aigis.” To the teal bluenette. “And this is Fuuka Yamagishi, my associates.” She met his gaze again. “We would like to speak to you.”
Ren leaned back. It took him a moment before his smile started to grow into a grin. Well now, he thought humorlessly, this day just got a whole lot more interesting.
“Well, I’m right here. Feel free to speak all you want.” He said, holding out his arms openly.
Mitsuru’s gaze drifted over to the other four occupants in the room. “...Alone.”
“Ah, well, I’m afraid I can’t do that.” He motioned to Ryuji and Ann, who had been deathly silent since the woman had said his name. “See those two? They get into all sorts of trouble without me, I can’t leave them out of my sight for more than a minute!”
He nodded towards Zenkichi. “And gramps back there, well, he’s very protective of me. It would be rude to go out of his sight.” He finally met Goro’s gaze, and he smiled widely. “And the brunet back there, hah, he’s a wildcard in the most crazy definition of the word. Not even I can guess what he’s going to do next.”
He finally turned back to meet Mitsuru’s gaze. “So, whatever you have to say to me, feel free to say it in front of them.” He said, a challenge lingering in his eyes. “So, what do you three want with little ol’ me?”
Mitsuru was silent for a moment before she went over to take a seat in front of the counter. “...I would like to speak to you about your time as the leader of the Phantom Thieves.”
Ren’s smile didn’t falter one bit. “I gathered.” He replied dryly, leaning onto his forearms. “So what do the cops want me with me this time?”
“You’re mistaken, we’re not the cops.” The blonde said softly. “We’re representatives of a group known as ‘The Shadow Operatives’.”
“The Shadow Operatives?” Zenkichi questioned with a tilt of his head.
“You know them, Gramps?” Ryuji asked, turning his head but not letting the trio out of his sight.
“Only by name. They’re a branch of the government that specializes in… something.” He said, taking a quick sip of his coffee and subtly pulling Akane closer to him. “I’m not too sure.They’re above my clearance level.”
“We specialize in hunting Shadows.” Mitsuru replied, now gathering everyone’s attention fully. “Three years ago we were notified of a disturbance located in Tokyo, of which none of our charts have seen before nor since. We gathered it had to be the work of the Phantom Thieves, which had gathered quite the name for themselves over the calendar year.”
Ren’s tongue darted out to lick his suddenly dry lips. “Let’s say you’re right. That we did play a hand in whatever happened on Christmas Eve in 2016.” His eyes narrowed. “What exactly does that have to do with us two years later? In case you forget, we’re retired.”
“That’s precisely why we’ve decided to seek you out.” Mitsuru said with a shake of her head. “While we understand that it has been a couple of years since you’ve been active, Shadow Nests are still on the rise, and we, as a group, could use someone with the talents of your team in our ranks.”
Ren leaned back again, eyes dancing to each Thief in the room. He’ll have to talk about this with everyone, that’s for sure. Working for a branch of the government was one thing, working with fellow Persona users was a whole different can of worms.
He remembers, vaguely, of something that happened roughly around the time of Sae’s Palace, where they met two other groups of Persona users in some kind of theatre where they fought Shadows. He’s pretty sure he’s the only one who remembered it, but when he asked Goro about it, the former detective was in thought for a moment before he admitted that he believed it was just a dream, but he remembers almost none of it.
His fingers tapped along the wooden counter for a moment before he put on a smile. “That’s certainly quite the offer, but you’ll forgive me for asking for a little bit of time to gather my team and ask for their opinions.”
Misturu nodded. “I understand, shall I leave my contact info for you once you’ve made a decision?”
“No need. We’ll contact you when we’ve made one.”
The redhead looked confused. “But how would you…?”
Ren grinned his trademark grin. “We have our ways.” He said, giving her a wink. “But, before you leave, shall I make you some coffee as goodwill? It’s on the house.”
Once the trio had left, the present Thieves were silent for a moment before Ren let out a sigh and leaned back in his stool. He noticed that everyone was looking at him, waiting for him to be the guiding voice in the dark. It brought him back two years and he felt like he was 16 all over again.
“...Let’s meet up at the hideout.”
Two weeks came and went, and suddenly Ren found himself at the front of his team once more as they followed Mitsuru, Fuuka and Aigis as they walked into the headquarters of the Shadow Operatives.
Goro was on his right as Makoto was flanking his left. He glanced behind him to see that everyone was glancing around, soaking in as much information as they could.
Ryuji and Ann were trying their best, but got distracted by each other, which didn’t surprise him a bit. Futaba was practically glued to Yusuke’s side as she attempted to make herself as small as possible. Haru had Morgana in her arms as she smiled brightly at every employee they passed, and Zenkichi was bringing up the back as his eyes seemed to snap over at the slightest bit of movement.
Sumire wasn’t with them, though that was mostly the team’s decision, as apparently the Operatives had files on everyone except for her, and they would prefer it to stay that way. She didn’t mind, really, as her gymnastics were starting to pick up and she didn’t need the distraction.
“I’m glad you decided to reach out, Amamiya-kun.” Fuuka said with a small smile.
“Of course, Yamagishi-chan. We figured it’d be best to at least take a look at what we’ll be working with.” He replied breezily with a smile of his own. “On our way over, you mentioned something about field agents and leaders, right?”
“That’s correct.” Mitsuru said, garnering his attention. “Our current field leader is Yu Narukami, a wildcard like yourself and Akechi-kun.” She slid a hand into her jacket as she stopped to face them. “If you do agree to our offer, then you each will be tested in terms of strength, skills and variability. You will then be assigned to a team, or, if you so choose, we will create a team specifically catered to you.”
“Also, we have little to no data on how you as a team operate.” Aigis chimed in. “We’ll be asking questions based on your experiences, of which you are fully free to decline.”
“Thank god.” Ryuji muttered, earning him a sharp elbow from Ann.
“I understand. Any more of these ‘field leaders’ or is it just Narukami-kun?” Ren asked curiously.
Mitsuru faltered for a moment and had a faraway look in her eyes. “We do have a… part-time field leader, but she’s mostly retired. She’s one of our oldest members, but since she lost her brother due to an… incident many years ago, she’s been staying out of fieldwork for the most part.”
Ren spared a glance with Goro, who seemed deep in thought before he caught Ren’s gaze and schooled his expression. He turned back to Mitsuru. “I’m sorry to hear that, were you close?”
Mitsuru nodded, a barely noticeable action. “He was our leader, back when we first awakened to our Personas and had our own incident with Shadows.” She said, her voice surprisingly strong. “He gave his life to save us.”
“I’m sure he doesn’t regret it.” Goro murmured softly. “I would know.”
Ren smiled lightly at Goro’s words, as did most of the Thieves. Mitsuru though, unaware of the past lingering behind the words, merely nodded. “Thank you, Akechi-kun.” She took a breath before continuing her walk. “Moving along, if you were to accept our offer, you will not have to worry about working as an operative full time. As I just stated, working part-time is an option. We all have our lives, after all.”
Ren nodded and was going to ask a question when a bright, bubbly voice practically echoed through the lobby.
“Mitsuru! Why didn’t you tell me we had newcomers?!”
The thieves all turned in unison at the voice, only to see a head of auburn hair rushing towards the group. She froze when her gaze landed on Ren and Akechi, but that wasn’t that surprising since Ren and Akechi stilled when they saw her.
Ren tilted his head ever so slightly, taking in her features and the pin in her hair. He recognized her. Sure, it’s been three years since he last saw her, probably even longer for her, judging by the fact she looked to be in her mid-twenties.
Ren idly took in that a brunette was right behind her, sighing fondly as she chided the woman for rushing ahead like she always did. Then it hit Ren that he recognized her too. In fact, he recognized everyone here. Mitsuru, Fuuka, Aigis… Yukari and…
“Kotone?” He asked, his voice barely audible.
Kotone’s eyes grew wider. Her mouth opened and closed a few times before she was able to mutter out, “...Ren?”
Ren’s feet started to move on their own, and then suddenly they were rushing towards each other. Ren caught her in a crushing embrace, feeling her arms wrap around him and clutching at his jacket like he could disappear in any moment.
He could hear the voices of his team, but he didn’t care. All he was focused on was hugging the girl in front of him as tightly as he could without hurting her. He buried his face in her hair, taking a deep breath of her shampoo, which smelled so impossibly perfect.
Quiet sobs racked her body, and he held her tighter, not relaxing his grip one bit until she finally decided to pull away, her tears still streaming down her face. She had a big smile on, though, one that Ren dreamt about seeing again. He rested their foreheads together in a sign of affection he did when they last saw each other.
“I’m here, Kotone.” He murmured, closing his eyes and taking a breath. “I’m here, and I’m never going away again.”
She sniffled. “It’s been eight years, Ren.” She mumbled, eyes red with tears. “I-I thought I’d never see you again.”
“I'm sorry for making you wait.” He whispered, and he never meant anything more in his life. “So… about that date?”
She giggled wetly and buried herself in his chest again. “Ask me again after you’re finished talking with Mitsuru.” She murmured, wrapping her arms around him again.
“They have Makoto and Zenkichi, they’ll be fine.” He reasoned as he pressed a kiss to her hair, causing a shiver to run up her spine.
“Mmm, no.” She leaned back to boop his nose. “If you’re here to talk about the offer that Mitsuru is giving you, then they’ll need their leader.”
He pouted, jutting out his lower lip and leveling her with his best puppy-dog eyes. She shook her head, though, far beyond immune to it. She looked up at him, her tears subsiding to reveal the tenderness in her eyes.
“...Hey, Ren?”
“Yeah?”
“I think I remember that I owe you something, actually.” She said, waiting for a beat before she gently pushed herself up on her toes to capture his lips in a gentle kiss, pouring out all the love and affection that she’s bottled up the last eight years.
Ren returned it with just as much, if not more. He reached up to caress her cheek and run a thumb over her smooth skin. But, unfortunately, they had to pull apart for air. He kept his hand on her cheek as he shot her a smile.
“Join us for the tour?”
She put on a sharp grin. “Like you even have to ask.” She leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “I’m not letting you out of my sight for a long, long time.”
A shiver ran up his spine and mirrored her grin.
“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”