Nearly dragging himself into Leblanc, Ren yawned. Luckily, there was only one customer — a young woman with a bob haircut dressed in 90s punk clothing, complete with combat boots and lace stockings. Her head was buried in papers, brow scrunched in concentration. She didn't even notice the ding of the bell.
Sojiro looked up — and froze slightly when he saw Ren.
"You're back early. Are you okay?" he asked awkwardly. "Go upstairs. I'll come see you in a moment."
"Sure thing, boss," Ren replied absentmindedly — before catching himself. "Take your time, sir," he added more firmly as he headed up the stairs.
Setting his bag down, Morgana hopped out as Ren yawned again.
"You need some rest, Ren. You look worse for wear."
"I guess I'll take a short nap," he muttered, collapsing onto the bed. He was asleep within moments.
"Poor guy…" Morgana murmured.
"He has been carrying much these past few days," Zorro said calmly. "His probation must weigh heavily on him. We have made a good friend."
Morgana hopped onto the bed and curled up beside Ren. The tension in Ren's jaw slowly loosened, and in his sleep, he shifted closer, lightly hugging Morgana.
"…Guess I have…" Morgana thought quietly before drifting off as well.
A few minutes later, Sojiro came upstairs. He paused in the doorway at the sight of the two asleep.
Without a word, he turned and went back down to the café, letting them rest.
---
Ren blinked awake.
It wasn't too late — just an hour or two had passed. There was still time to do something with the day.
Carefully avoiding waking Morgana, Ren stood and stretched. His eyes drifted to a support beam overhead.
With a small hop, he grabbed it and began doing pull-ups.
After a few minutes, footsteps creaked on the stairs.
"I heard some noise," Sojiro said as he reached the top. "Didn't expect you to be working out."
He held out a mug.
"Brought you some coffee."
Ren released his grip and landed lightly.
"Thank you."
He took a sip.
"Oh — this is really good!"
"It better be," Sojiro replied. "That blend's one of my best. Hawaiian Kona isn't cheap. But if you blend it right, you don't need much."
"Thank you, sir," Ren said automatically.
Sojiro's expression shifted — awkward, but firm.
"You don't have to be that polite. You're a kid. I don't expect you to act like an employee. You can relax."
Ren exhaled quietly.
"Thank you, Sakura-san. I've had… a rough few months."
"I won't pry," Sojiro said. "Just don't run yourself into the ground. You don't need to break yourself trying to stay ahead. Just stay out of trouble."
"I'll do my best, sir."
"Don't call me 'sir' anymore," Sojiro muttered as he turned for the stairs. "Call me by name. Or boss. And don't carry the whole world on your back."
He paused halfway down.
"And bring the mug down when you're done!"
Ren chuckled softly.
He sat on the couch, setting the mug on the table, and pulled out his phone.
He resumed researching Carl Jung.
A buzz interrupted him.
[Alibaba]
You are strong.
Ren stared at the message.
The phone buzzed again.
[Alibaba]
No, this is not a wrong number. You are strong.
Ren hesitated, then typed a brief thanks and asked who it was.
NUMBER UNAVAILABLE.
He frowned, closing the messager app.
More supernatural nonsense, he assumed.
Returning to his search, he skimmed over archetypes, the Shadow, and then Tarot.
"The Fool's Journey…"
His eyes paused at the final stage.
The World.
Integration. Completion. The end of one journey and the beginning of another.
"…Right," he muttered. "I told Yu-Niisan I'd return his card… got sucked into my mask though…"
His gaze lingered on the screen as he traced where his mask would sit upon his face.
"The Arcana is the means by which all is revealed, huh?"
---
Timeskip
Shujin
Ren and Ryuji passed Kamoshida at the school gate, ignoring the glare he gave them, and met up with Ann and Shiho by the vending machines.
"Looks like Mishima is back," Ann mentioned to the group.
Turning, they saw the boy in question. He looked mostly the same, but he had a healing black eye and a knee brace. He had also cut his hair shorter.
"Told ya he'd be fine," Ryuji said. "Hey, uh… Shiho, you doing good? Awakening was exhausting for me."
"Still don't know why it became a tarot card… it's still integration of the shadow," Ren murmured.
Barely catching his words, Shiho responded, "Scáthach told me, 'All that is hidden will be revealed,' so I have no idea either. But I was fine after a bit of rest yesterday. You did text the group chat asking, remember?"
Ryuji chuckled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his neck. "Oops, yeah. Forgot."
Morgana, noticing a lull in the conversation, quickly asked the group the same question he had asked Ren the night before, and they agreed. Ann, however, looked uneasy.
"I don't think we should go in quite yet…" Ren said wryly. He was still tired from the past few days.
"Oh, I agree," Morgana added. "We need to prepare anyway."
"But where are we even going to get weapons?" Ryuji said loudly, earning a kick to the shin from Ren.
"Ahh, I get it, dude," Ryuji groaned.
"Sorry, wasn't thinking. You good?" Ren asked, realizing what he had done.
"Yeah, I'm fine…"
"You deserve it," Ann stated. "Why would you say something like that so loudly? Ren is on probation!"
"How would we even buy medicine and first aid stuff without looking mega suspicious going into 777? Would ibuprofen even do anything?" Shiho wondered.
"Well, remember — the Metaverse is a world of the mind!" Morgana said. "If it looks real enough, it should work. So we don't need real weapons. The medicine, however…"
RING.
"Eh, let's deal with it later," Ryuji shrugged — then froze. "Shit. We have that stupid volleyball crap today! Dammit! I don't wanna watch Kamoshida show off all day!"
---