Time felt like it was crawling. Ren had hardly been paying attention to class. The material being taught was something that he had learned in the past. He was glad to have not chosen to continue advanced placement classes.
Ren lazily glanced at the chalkboard and then back to his notebook. His notes were a mess. Drawings of Arsene, Pixie, Captain Kidd, and doodles of different shadows the group had fought were scattered in the margins. Small notes next to some of the doodles, specific tarot arcana. Persona and Shadows all correspond to a major arcana. And ultimately, so do people to a specific extent.
Rolling his eyes, he thought about how Arsene referred to Morgana as The Magician when they first encountered each other. He later drew that card from the mysterious deck that had an illustration of Morgana on it. Now, Pixie referred to Shiho as The Tower, yet referred both herself and another as The Lovers.
'Want to fill me in, guys?' Ren asked his personas.
Unsurprisingly, they didn't respond.
---
RING
The bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Kawakami had asked Ren to see her before he left to head home. He did have plans to meet Shiho at Inokashira Park later in the day, but there was more than enough time. Unless he was getting expelled or something.
"Kamoshida has been pushing for your expulsion at faculty meetings." Kawakami revealed with a tired groan. "I don't get it. You don't cause problems and your grades are fine."
Ren held a stoic face but was internally fuming. He believed he was hiding it well, but he had clenched his fists at his side.
"Well, I guess all I can suggest you do is to at least APPEAR to be engaging in the class? The other teachers haven't made any specific judgements yet." Kawakami meekly said before she turned back to her paperwork.
"I understand. Thank you." Ren replied.
---
Calming himself, Ren parted ways with Morgana at Shibuya station. But not before Morgana made sure to drill into Ren's mind to be "a gentleman towards the kind Lady Shiho."
Tokyo didn't have great air quality compared to Inaba, but the park in early April had its own appeal. A warm, comforting atmosphere, the cherry blossoms blooming and falling gently through the air.
Ren sat on a bench and observed the environment, enjoying a temporary moment of peace. Closing his eyes, he exhaled deeply.
"Guess who!"
Ren opened his eyes to see Shiho in front of him with a massive grin. She had changed into casual clothing, letting her hair down, a form-fitting flannel over a tank top advertising an underground band. Her jeans slightly torn in some places, she appeared both sporty and artsy at the same time.
"Do you think I'm trying too hard?" Shiho asked awkwardly when she caught his gaze.
Allowing his mind to catch up with him, Ren responded. "Not really. I was just surprised. I didn't expect you to wear this kind of stuff. It suits you."
Shiho's grin returned and she thanked him with a slight blush.
The two began their walk through the park in comfortable silence. Both felt a bit awkward because it was the first time either of them had hung out with someone of the opposite gender alone in a long time. But soon enough, the conversation was flowing naturally.
"Thanks, Ren," Shiho suddenly said.
"For what?"
"I thought I knew what strength was. But it looks like I was wrong." Shiho started, looking into the distance with a light smile. "I thought that endless endurance was the key to being strong. If I could endure, no one else would have to! Hehe, so foolish."
Ren glanced at her. "I think that's more kind than foolish."
Shiho giggled. "No, it's fine, it's foolish….Dignity isn't something you are given, it's something you fight for."
"But that doesn't make your kindness a weakness." Ren and Scathach's voices rang out in unison.
"No. It doesn't." Shiho whispered with a smile as she caught sight of a group of people practicing martial arts.
"I've always admired martial artists. I don't know why… Would you like to take a class with me sometime, Ren?"
"When?" Ren replied with a smile.
Time slowed to a pause.
"I am thou, Thou art I. Thou hast established a new bond. It shall become the wings of rebellion that breaketh thy chains of captivity. With the birth of The Tower Persona, thou hast obtained the blessing that leads to freedom and new power."
"Oh yeah! You do know some martial arts already, don't you?!" Shiho exclaimed.
"I don't have a formal rank. I was taught by a friend of a friend." Ren said with a grin. "It is fun though."
"The mysterious delinquent transfer student is also a martial artist. What, are you some kind of protagonist?" Shiho teased.
"Heh," Ren chuckled, "I don't know why those guys pretty much adopted me, but I'm very grateful to them."
"Those guys?" Shiho wondered aloud.
"You'll probably meet a couple of them at some point. They were a group of high schoolers that took care of me when I was like 8." Ren shook his head, before giving a crafty grin. "There are a couple people in that group I think you'd be interested in meeting."
"Who?"
"Hehe."
"No fair!"
---
Ren sat on his bed, thumbing through the strange tarot deck. A majority of the deck was still blurred with no distinct image or arcana listed, however now a few of the cards held illustrations.
The Magician depicted Morgana standing before an altar in ceremonial magician's robes, pointing a wand above his head.
The Chariot depicted Ryuji dressed as a Roman centurion upon a war cart. One side being pulled by a black horse, and the other side pulled in the opposite direction by a white horse.
The Death depicted Takemi sitting on a throne of bones, the Rod of Asclepius held lazily in her hands with a massive scythe looming above her.
The Tower depicted Shiho's face. Her eyes reflecting the shape of a collapsing tower. The destruction giving the sensation of catharsis.
Each of the images on the cards were bound in red and black chains.
Sighing, he shuffled the deck back together and placed it in a safe pocket within his bag.
"Morgana!" Ren called out the window, before he began to prepare for bed.
---