Chapter Text
March 20th
Ren Amamiya does not return to Inaba.
R_Amamiya: I'm finishing the remainder of the semester in Tokyo. I’ll be back after summer break starts.
Naoto places the half melting cake in the fridge. Blue frosting slipping down the sides of vanilla sponge, bright red lettering floats down the frosting waterfall and eventually “Welcome back Ren!” slides right off the cake stand. Yukiko and Chie give Naoto concerned looks as they saunter off to help Yosuke take down the decorations they’d put up, red and black streamers and banners being neatly packed away in uncomfortable silence. Teddie and Rise lean against each other on the couch and blow petulant blares out of the noisemakers sitting in their mouths, the paper rolling down Teddie’s chin and smacking against the bridge of Rise’s nose. Yu just sighs glancing at the miserable lump of phantom thief merchandise on Kanji’s living room table before picking it up and joining the clean up crew.
Kanji runs a hand through his now black hair, and walks over to the dining room, where leaning against the counter Naoto gives a numb stare into their phone screen. Joining his partner he wraps a gentle arm around shaking shoulders and takes the phone out of their hands and places it softly on the counter.
“Naoto...” Naoto collapses against him and Kanji pulls her into a hug. He runs his hand down her back, rubbing soothing circles. Naoto shakes again, and he feels the front of his shirt getting damp. If the others hear them they don’t say anything, either out of empathy or for the sake of Naoto’s pride.
“Kanji…” She whispers into his chest, arms wrapping themselves even tighter against his waist. “I f*cked up”
“Not just you Nao, we all kinda did.” He murmurs into Naoto’s ear. He’s not going to patronize them, with empty reassurances and platitudes. He won’t Justify what happened, what they did, what they all did. He’ll walk with Nao, and take a piece of the blame he also deserves.
A glassy wall of tears builds up in his eyes, he takes a shuddering breath and his lips flatten against each other into a shaky scowl, fists trembling at his sides. The cool night air bites at them.
“You too...?”
He tightens his hold on Naoto and breathes in the scent of mixed citrus lingering from their shampoo. Naoto slowly lets go and Kanji follows her lead, breaking apart the hug. Naoto lets out a shaky breath and wipes the remaining tears with her sleeves.
“Let’s go help the others,” They whisper out hoarsely, Kanji nods and wipes away the tears that remain with his thumbs. Naoto stands up on their tip toes and returns the favour.
“I’ll inform the others...”
“Thank you.”
It’s almost midnight now and they're both still up. Old habits die hard, but Kanji eventually drifts off to sleep after a clumsy kiss to Naoto’s temple and she shuffles a bit closer to him taking in the soft rumbles emanating from his chest. Soon Naoto’s eyelids grow heavy and she drifts off into an empty sleep.
He looks nothing like himself, The fire in his eyes is gone and his chewed up lips are devoid of that mischievous smirk he’s infamous for. He’s slouching, staring blankly at the cracking pavement of the station clutching the strap of his new bag. They hand him the glasses, the black frames with giant round lenses that Teddie had crafted. He takes them out of her hands gingerly, careful as to not to even touch her. The train arrives and he slips them on, a white glare forms on them the moment the frames bind to his face. Ren steps off the platform and leaves Inaba without so much as another word.
For their 7th birthday, Naoto was given a compact mirror from one of her uncles. She had hated how girly it was but accepted it anyway out of politeness. It was made of cheap pink plastic and opened to an even cheaper reflective acrylic. She had quickly grown bored of it and threw it unceremoniously to the bottom of her toy bin. She found it again when they turned 13. Years of her neglect and the pressure from being under mountains of heavier toys had caused it to break. Plastic cracking and falling apart in her hands in sharp, dangerous chunks. The reflective surface had become opaque and peeled away in large scratches, her own reflection became a murky bundle of vaguely blue shapes. Naoto tossed it out.
In the split second before Ren’s eyes were obstructed by the lenses. It was like staring into the weathered acrylic of that mirror again. A muddled and shattered reflection, who they were before falling into the TV, who they were before Yu, before she stopped being so bull headed and simply resigning herself to hating who she was.
Broken, broken, broken and Naoto tossed Ren out too.
She shivered next to Kanji and cuddled up even closer to his warmth.
Earlier that year:
June 20th, Ren sends an accidental text and Naoto is torn between hysterical laughter or violent sobbing because Of course Ren is a Persona user, and if Yu’s insight is right (which it is, damn world Arcana), he’s also a wild card, a Fool of all things. Ren, the boy Naoto can still remember crying because he couldn't tie his shoelaces properly, who stole Yosuke’s knives to play with, who ate Yukiko’s cooking and made a face like he sucked a lemon but still said “It tastes good Yuki!”. The boy who she had gotten into a pointless argument with, threw harsh words and kicked every ounce of goodwill between them off the proverbial cliff and then just dropped him off at the station. The boy who sobbed out wet thank you’s and hugged Kanji and Yu as tight as a 7 year old could for bringing Naoto back home after she disappeared. The cousin she affectionately called little brother, was away fighting shadows with a god waiting for him at the end with the single minded goal of killing him.
Naoto is 26 years old, the first detective prince, one of (if not the best) of Japan’s finest detectives, the shimmering pride of the prestigious Shirogane name, an international policing advisor and a Shadow Operative. They are also very, very, sensible and rational. Naoto’s not going to cry or have a breakdown. They’re just going to rip Tokyo apart and find a Phantom Thief. Simple.
It takes the combined effort of Kanji holding Naoto over his head like Simba, Yosuke tying himself to the car, Rise threatening to slash the tires and Teddie eating her car keys to physically stop her from driving to Tokyo and tearing up Shibuya to find Ren.
“Let. Me. Go. KANJI!”
“Let me think about it... No.”
“Kanji, I love you but let me go this instant and TEDDIE COUGH BACK UP MY KEYS. SO HELP ME THEY BETTER COME OUT THE FRONT!”
The three wildcards were the ones to finally calm them down. Citing that a Fool’s journey must go uninterrupted, any interference from them at this point could yield disastrous consequences, besides all three could sense that Ren was still very much in Tokyo alive and safe. That didn’t make them feel any less worried. The Velvet Room had gone completely dark, there was no word from Margaret, Elizabeth or Theodore, even Marie didn't know why. No amount of divination from Yu or the power of the twin Universes gave any clue as to why. That had caused a lump of ice to form in Naoto’s stomach, the chill never left her and was steadily growing colder and colder as the months went by fueled by Ren’s complete radio silence.
October 11th, Kunizaku Okumura’s eyes roll back into his head and he slumps over, head hitting the microphone as black blood pours from his mouth, and the conference is immediately cut to black. He’s comatose, the Phantom thieves had sent a calling card to Okumura, and now he’s comatose due to a semi-shutdown. Naoto doesn’t want to believe it, none of them do. Then, the principal at Shujin academy, Ren's new school died of a metal shutdown and the police had found another red calling card in his office. Suddenly more cards started to appear and more shutdowns occurred. Newscasters and pundits began railing against the Phantom Thieves, calling them terrorists trying to hold Japan ransom. The United Future party was gaining a worrying amount of public support.
////
Naoto Shirogane -> Ren Amamiya
N_Shirogane: Ren, what’s going on?
N_Shirogane: Ren please
N_Shirogane: You can’t be behind these shutdowns
N_Shirogane: Ren please
*You can no longer send any messages in this chat line*
////
She’d nearly thrown her phone after realising they’d been blocked. Fuuka’s hackspertise did nothing. Ren’s phone was impregnable, the security somehow got beefed up to a point where even Fuuka couldn't get in, that shouldn't be possible.
“Either he somehow has protection that even I can't crack, or he’s not even using the same phone” Both options raise more questions than answers.
Naoto refused to believe Ren was going about conducting the mental shutdowns, wildcards were forces for humanity’s salvation not their destruction. And above all it was Ren, their Ren, he wouldn't.
The silence had gotten deeper and settled into her bones, the ice in her chest had become a blizzard. Throwing herself into work and the investigations with the other operatives did nothing.
Then in the windy afternoon of November 20th as she’s cuddling with Kanji on the couch watching some cheesy romance drama on the TV. Halfway through the show’s climax, as Chiyo is confessing to Umetaro, the ice shatters, crystalline shards tear at her throat and stab at her heart, and a burning sensation builds up at the back of her eyes.
A breaking news bulletin had interrupted the sitcom.
“The leader of the Phantom Thieves has committed suicide while in custody!”
“Ren...” The name rolls off their tongue far too easily. Instinctively Naoto knows, maybe they always did. Who else but a wild card could lead a group like the Phantom Thieves of Hearts.
She feels the bile building up in their mouth and the world starts spinning around her. Kanji’s concerned yelling, the buzzing of their phone, the news caster’s almost bored sounding voice, they all sound so far away and quiet compared to Yamato Sumeragi screeching inside her head. Naoto can’t do anything but crash.
Mitsuru is furious.
Fuuka bursts into her office with tears flowing down her face holding her phone open to a tweet from Channel 3 Tokyo.
“Sources report that the leader of the Phantom Thieves committed suicide while in police custody. We will update you as the story progresses.”
Comforting Yamagishi first, tearing apart Japan later. Akihiko and Shijiro arrive next, stone-faced and silent.
“I’ve already messaged Yu.” Shinjiro tells her. Good man.
Fuuka lets out a horrified gasp into Mitsuru’s rapidly dampening shoulder
“Naoto…! They...”
f*ck. She didn’t even think of that, too caught up with not trying to break down over the news of Ren’s death. Because of course, of course the leader of the Phantom Thieves had to be Ren. Stupid f*cking wildcard bullsh*t. Wait. Wildcard!
“Get Minako and Minato here. Now!” She barks as calmly as she can while trying to console Fuuka. Akihiko nods and whips out his phone, nearly destroying it with his iron grip.
The entirety of SEES gathers in her office, Koromaru desperately trying to lick off Fuuka’s tears. The twins arrive frustratingly last. Mitsuru is about to lay into them before she sees their faces. Minako looks like a wreck, thick ugly tears streaming down her face, hiding her face behind her frazzled hair as she sobs quietly. Minato has shut down completely, words turning to ghosts on his lips, but like his sister he too cries silently. God, they look the same as they did at Shinji’s hospital bed.
Minako breaks the silence first. “W-we can’t-. We can’t tell where he is.” she wails. “We can’t- sense him anymore. We should be able to sense him, even if he’s- Even if he’s...!” her voice descends into a pitchy whine and then to anguished sobs. She doesn’t want to say it, Mitsuru can’t blame her. This is wrong, so very wrong.
A Fool dying? Like this? Minato and Minako had escaped their fates through sheer force of will and binding two halves of the universe to Nyx’s seal. Yu had nearly died at Izanami’s hand but he had prevailed in the end. This wasn’t even a god, this was murder suicide in some dingy holding cell. What the hell is going on?
Minato’s phone rings and Yu’s shaking voice comes through the speaker.
“Minato...I can’t-” Minato cuts him off with a shaky breath.
“We can’t either,” A stream of muffled swearing erupts from Minato’s phone. “How’s Naoto?” Minato asks instead of acknowledging the 10 million other thoughts running through his head.
“Naoto...they’re... f*ck man, they’re a mess. Kanji’s trying but…” there’s sounds of muffled sobbing in the distance. Naoto’s sobbing.
A heavy silence falls over the room, the only noise being quiet sobs and soft sniffles. Mitsuru has her head in her hands, desperately trying not to cry, desperately trying not to scream, she has to be strong right now. Yukari and Fuuka had begun leaning on each other for support and Junpei had a hand on weepy Ken’s shoulder. Shinjiro and Akihiko stare blankly out the window, sharing quiet words with each other as the skyline darkens. The Mina’s talk into the phone at a corner, holding a private conversation with Yu, frantic and hushed words flying between the three.
Something is wrong. They have no way to find Ren. Nearly every detail about his file was kept secret, who he had supposedly assaulted, the terms of his probation and so forth. They had only learned of the location because of Sojiro Sakura’s acquaintanceship with Ren’s parents. Far too much red tape and black ink for a teenage probationer, who ever Ren had “assaulted” was high profile enough to get eyes away from Mitsuru Kirijo of all people. Ren’s own silence didn’t help.
They have to go to Yongen-Jaya now. Full investigation, full mobilization of the shadow ops. She denied the Tokyo PD’s request for help in their Phantom Thieves investigation, maybe it wasn't too late to cash in on that request and turn it to their favour.
She’s about to convey her thoughts before the room is bathed in blue light and a white butterfly flies around the room, shocking them all into silence.
“True reh… draws …ear. …ve …aith in th… Trickster” A soft voice rings out, words broken and sounding so very far away. The soft hymn told her what she needed to hear. With a flap of gossamer wings the butterfly is gone in a fountain of starlight.
“Did you guys... also see that?” Yu cuts through the silence.
“The magic Velvet Room butterfly? Yeah.” Minato responds dryly.
Mitsuru can’t trust her voice right now as hope quietly starts to beat in her chest.
“Does that mean? He’s… Ren's?” Yukari trails off clutching Minato's hands.
The twin’s faces are grim but there’s a faint trace of wishful hope.
“All we can do right now, is have hope.” Minako says firmly as if she’s trying to convince herself more than everyone else. “Whatever’s happening now, we cannot interfere with directly.”
That’s all they can do, sit back and cling onto some desperate hope that Ren's not dead and the world won't be destroyed by some malevolent god. God, she needs a drink, but first checking up on Naoto, then setting up a proper investigation into this f*ckfest.
If Ren is alive, he’s going to wish he wasn’t when Mitsuru finally gets her hands on him.
Rise’s opening up a photo album, a large book bound with pink leatherette. One hundred twenty five pages holding precious, precious memories.
They’re gathered in the Naoto and Kanji’s apartment. Yosuke arrived grim-faced and ushered Rise quickly into his car, Teddie sat silently in the passenger seat though the redness of his eyes gave him away. And now she’s sitting on the worn blue fabric of the couch trying not to cry again for Naoto’s sake. Naoto who was now nursing a cup of warm matcha and cloaked in a soft yellow blanket courtesy of Kanji. She looks awful, they all do. Red rimmed eyes, tear tracks leaving itchy channels along their cheeks as they dried.
Rise’s fingers dance across the shiny plastic of the album. Wide collages of smiles and memory, pressed in between plastic and paper with delicate care.
Page three. Photo 6; 7 year old Ren laughing as he hangs off Kanji’s left bicep. He lost a baby tooth that day, he and Nanako had been playing tag and the boy had run face first into Kanji’s scooter. Naoto had flipped when Ren had excitedly run towards them with a bloody and lopsided smile.
Page 10. Photo 18; 10 year old Nanako and 11 year old Ren stand side by side caked in mud carrying a lumpy watermelon in their arms. Ryotaro Dojima is far in the back, dismayed, exasperation painting his face at the sight of the two helions dripping mud all over the garden path. They grew that watermelon together. Ren saved up pocket money and bought the seedlings with Nanako.
Page 12. Photo 9; A very tipsy Naoto and a blushing Kanji cuddle on Yosuke’s couch, Santa hats mid-fall as they droop off their heads. 12 year old Ren looking on in endeared disgust in the background.
Page 22. Photo 15; two plates of omurice, one that looks like omurice and one that looks like a crime against humanity. 13 year old Ren stands victorious over his expertly plated dish while Yukiko is hunched over in the corner of shame. Chie seems to be cackling while her hand rests on her girlfriend’s back.
Page 32. Photo 19; a large group photo of the shadow operatives at the beach off of Naha. Teddie, Ryoji and Junpei wearing matching welts on their foreheads.
Page 56. Photo 3; A selfie of Ren and Nanako posing with a sleeping Yosuke, who had been the victim of Nanako’s sharpie.
Page 56. Photo 4; A selfie of Ren and Nanako running away giggling from a now very awake and very angry Yosuke.
Page 88: Photo 13; Ren’s first day of middle school. Standing in between Naoto and Kanji at the gate. The boy gives a beaming smile toward the Camera.
Page 97. Photo 15; Some police dinner that Naoto got an invite to. Ren and Naoto dressed in suits, Naoto in her classic navy blue and Ren in a fetching maroon. He has his arm slung over Naoto's shoulder.
Page 98. Photo 7; a shaky photo of Naoto lying their head against a table, muffling her laughter into the white table cloth as Ren stuffs crab rangoons down his suit pockets, Yu wheezing into his wine beside him. Dojima can’t take them anywhere.
Page 112. Photo 16; Ren’s first day of highschool. Dressed in Yasogami’s uniform, cat-like eyes squinting in the glare of the morning sun as he towers over Naoto, hair still untamed and a gentle smile on his lips, giving a peace sign to the camera.
Beside her, Rise hears a sniffle. Naoto had made their way beside her on the couch. She can’t hold back anymore and they both descend into another round of fresh sobs as they turn to another page: 113. photo 1; Ren laughing along with Naoto, stretched out cheeks pressed together in a tight hug.
Tears fall onto Ren’s grinning face.
Fuuka was not having a good day, scratch that, she hasn't been having a good year. Her attempts of sneaking into Ren’s phone had been repelled since April. Someone else had gotten into his phone first and was working against her every step of the way. Grinding any of her progress into dust. Mitsuru had nearly begged her for some progress. Which explains why she’d been staring at her laptop for the past six hours.
ACCESS DENIED,,,
> #3334;
ACCESS DENIED,,,
> #3335;8[3:34%{if<34}]...
SERIOUSLY ACCESS DENIED,,,
-WHAT PART OF ACCESS DENIED DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?
> AcCeSs DeNIed
-CATTY AREN'T YOU?
-DON’T YOU KNOW IT’S RUDE TO HACK INTO OTHER PEOPLE’S PHONES?
>You’re one to talk, from what I can tell you’ve been in his phone since April.
-TOUCHE LUCIA…
>How…?
- :)
-I AM THEY WHO SECRETLY WATCHES. THE WOODCUTTER HIDING IN THE DESERT SANDS. BLAH BLAH CRYPTIC STUFF BLAH BLAH.
- WELL,,, L-CHAN IT’S BEEN FUN. DEFLECTING YOUR LITTLE ATTEMPTS HAVE BEEN GOOD PRACTICE, A LOT MORE FUN THAN BREAKING INTO G*O*V*E*R*N*M*E*N*T AND CORPO SERVERS ALL DAY. KEK.
-GOOD BYE FOR THE LAST TIME~ YOU WON’T BE GETTING INTO THIS PHONE EVER.
-P.S: GET A BETTER VPN.
-P.P.S: TELL THE KIRIJO GROUP TO INVEST IN YAK CHEESE. I’M TELLING YOU THE FUTURE IS HIMALAYAN OX MILK
-P.P.P.S: SERIOUSLY GET A BETTER VPN OR SOMETHING. THIS IS GETTING EMBARRASSING. YOU HAVE MITSURU KIRIJO FUNDING YOU AND YOUR SECURITY IS THIS LACKING? TSK TSK. :P
Fuuka’s screen turns dark and a grinning black cat chews through her precious code, deleting any of her progress at hacking into Ren’s phone. Alibaba was absolutely insufferable and annoyingly competent. Destroying Medjed was no easy feat, it’s no wonder the Phantom Thieves would have a proficient hacker like Alibaba on their side.
A hacker that knows that she’s on the Kirijo payroll...
“Well Alibaba, you won't be getting the better of Lucia!”
Immediately retrying to enter her code and chip away at Ren's phone, her screen erupts into green light and her laptop shuts down and restarts opening to not her screen saver of the SEES group photo but to a large green pyramid with a black cat serving as its capstone. Well sh*t.
“Oh. It's on.”
She will find her answers, she will find the truth (Yu-Kun would be proud).
“Ren, I'm going to find you. Don’t you worry.”
Mitsuru needs a drink. Preferably one of the many fine brandys from her father’s old personal cellar. The investigation was going nowhere, the Tokyo PD once desperate for her aid was now rebuffing her offers. Damn fools were too drunk on celebration from capturing a ‘terrorist’ that they thought she was trying to swoop in and steal the glory for herself at the last minute. Still, the idiocy of Tokyo's police bureaucracy did have its benefits, like being able to sneak in Akihiko as a spy very easy. Akihiko’s stake out of Yongen yielded no results, the neighbourhood was dull and boring, the only thing of worth in the sleepy back alleys being Sojiro Sakura’s cafe, whom Aki was not to make any contact with.
Change of Hearts were also becoming less frequent as November slowly started to bleed into December. No shattered whispers from her informants in the underground or the ones in the open streets of Tokyo, everything was conspicuously silent. The United Future Party lead by Masayoshi Shido was gaining more and more prominence, the bald headed f*ck was spouting near fascist rhetoric and the public was just eating it up.
The only upside to this was the Kirijo Group’s increase in worth and profit thanks to Mitsuru once more taking the reins from the board of vultures she’d entrusted the company with during her little sabbatical.
*ping ping*
////
Fuuka Yamagishi -> Mitsuru Kirijo
Fuukachan: Did you know yak cheese is three times higher in omega-3 fatty acids than regular cheddar?
Fuukachan: (ɔ¥‿¥)ɔ
////
“What.”
“Something’s wrong with the world, the distortion that I was feeling earlier this year are getting even worse.” Yu’s voice comes through the group video call. “It’s like the fog but at the same time different. This time it’s like the public is fuelling it directly.”
“Like Nyx…” Ryoji supplies.
“Yeah.”
“The thing is though, This feels way different from Nyx,” Minako says. “This time, it's almost directly more malicious.”
“Yes, unlike Izanami, whatever is behind the curtain is doing this solely for its own gain and not humanity’s.” Minato narrows his eyes.
“The distortion got particularly worse as soon as Shido started gaining more popularity…”
“And it’s all spilling out from Tokyo…” Minako whispers.
Come election season in December and the Operatives are left in awe as the Phantom Thieves’ logo appears on every screen in the country.
‘TAKE YOUR HEART’ burns across every police and government server in Japan. A black cat icon grins as files upon files of classified data are stolen and then deleted from their original databases. Files regarding the Phantom Thieves and the arrest of their leader along with decades of classified information are gone in a flash, like they were never even there. It’s the largest cyber attack in Japanese history, perhaps even internationally. The leader of the phantom thieves emerges from the darkness, very familiar grey eyes glaring into the lens through his white mask. They know that voice.
“...And before that happens we will take this country!”
He’s alive.
December 18th:
Masayoshi Shido confesses to all his sins on live air to an uncaring Japan.
The Shadow Ops base was in turmoil over the election results.
Rise had thrown support for the Phantom Thieves very early into their career, hoping it would coax Ren into reaching out to her. Her popularity plummeted after what happened to president Okumura and had fallen even further after she publicly denounced Shido after his confession.
“Another hate tweet, ugh. Baldy admits to killing Okumura and shifting the blame to the Phantom’s and people are still mindlessly following him?!” Rise huffed.
“Don't worry they’re all talk, though if someone does give you real trouble, tell us ‘kay?” Chie sighed.
“I will, I will.”
“This just feels so surreal,” Ken murmured. “Shido basically just confessed to perpetrating the shutdowns and no one cares…”
“That and Ren’s alive” Shinjiro hums.
“He won’t be when I’m done with him.” Naoto mutters darkly.
“And me!” Mitsuru’s smile is small but sharkish.
“Uh huh…” Minato says blankly. “Back to the matter of Shido; Yu? You said the distortions were getting worse?”
“Is that even possible?” Junpei asked.
“It is now. Before it was just focused in Tokyo, but it's completely enveloped Japan and now is spreading around the world. And it feels more...” Yu turns to Minako.
“Cruel… Like it's laughing at us.” Minako finishes for him.
“Well, what can we do?” Akihiko asks.
“Pick a god and pray.” Minato says grimly.
“I understood that reference.”
“Thank you Aigis.”
December 24th:
It started out as a little Christmas eve get together for the Seekers, and then the soft rapping of droplets hitting the glass grew too loud to ignore.
“Rain? In December?” Kanji’s face grew pale.
“Rain ain’t red Nao…”
The sky had turned crimson and started weeping blood, gnarled columns of bone and rock had erupted from the ground, writhing against the sky. People walked in the flooded streets blanketed by black fog, blissfully unaware of the end of the world.
“Is it Her?” Yukiko stammers out, recoiling at the sight of the red mists consuming people.
“No! No it isn't,” Yu reassured quickly. “This is something else entirely.”
“Sensei, that's not beary reassuring”
“Really Teddie?” Rise snapped.
“It’s the apocalypse, give me a break!”
Yosuke turned to Yu. “What do we do pard?”
“We trust Ren.” Naoto answers for him. “We have to believe in him.”
Mitsuru takes a swig of her vanilla whiskey. And clinks her glasses against Aki and Shinji’s
“Give em hell kid”
Fuuka clasps her hands together.
Yukari leans against Minato, hair brushing against his chin. “We believe in you RenRen”
“Kick that god’s ass!” Ryoji slurs out from his drunken stupor.
“YEah beat his assh!” Junpei crows out equally drunk.
Minako laughs. “You better win! I still haven't given you your birthday present!”
“Little Ren, I believe in you”
Ken and Koromaru let out a whoop. Howling at the bloody sky.
Naoto has her hands entwined with Kanji’s and the entire team holds hands in one big circle in the living room. Nanako gives her a gentle squeeze on her left hand, Naoto can only muster a watery smile for the girl.
They all pray, pray for hope and for Ren to keep fighting and take their world back. The climax of the Fool’s journey is here. May he inherit the world.
Then a miracle happens.
Millions of shooting stars race across the bleeding sky and black feathers rain down from the heavens as the clouds return to a comforting dark blue. A righteous storm descends as pale lighting dances across the heavens to symphonies of baleful thunder. Heaven itself seems to have split open and everything pours out from the rift, every feeling, every wish, everything that felt like it was missing this entire year, like a fog lifting.
The crack of a gunshot rings around the world as everything explodes into white.
Minato and Minako feel a weight lift from their chests, something returns to them. The world has been reborn anew, humanity holds onto a new hope. The universe is complete once more. Hope, freedom, justice. Humanity has reclaimed its potential.
There’s a name on Yu’s tongue, within him Izanagi-no-Okami softly rumbles; Satanael.
