"Ren, are you okay?" Morgana asked worriedly as they walked to the school. "You've been out of it since we saw Lady Orihime's Shadow and you..."
"Morgana, how does one define reality?" Ren asked.
"Huh?"
"The world looks fake to me. But I know it's real. It looks like a diorama, but also like it did before," Ren explained.
"What do you mean?" Morgana asked.
"I feel like dying fundamentally changed me. I don't know if I am in reality or not. Things look similar but feel different," Ren continued. "Everything feels revealed, yet shrouded. Like a mysterious secret I can think of but not articulate."
"Ren, maybe you should talk to Takemi."
Thinking of his sadistic doctor, he nodded.
"Good idea. I'll just say it was a traumatic event I suppressed. She doesn't need to know it was recent."
'Ren, you shouldn't lie about those things,' Morgana thought sadly.
---
"Hi, Ren!"
"Hello, Orihime. You're as happy as always," Ren said with a smirk.
"Ren, why aren't you wearing your glasses?" Ann asked as she approached.
"Huh?" Ren touched his face. "I'm not?"
"No. And your eyes are still gold. Like, really bright gold. Has no one else told you?"
"No," Ren said in confusion.
"How do you feel, Orihime? Awakening hits hard." He changed the topic. He didn't want to think about it right now.
The two girls seemed to notice, and Orihime said, "I'm doing peachy! We had a girls' slumber party last night!"
"Shhh, that was a secret!" Ann said with a blush and her finger over her mouth.
"Why? It's not like I told him th—"
Before Orihime finished, Ann covered her mouth with an embarrassed glare.
"Do I need to tell him what you said?"
Orihime went pale and shook her head.
Unfortunately, Ren wasn't listening. He could see a vague silhouette of a man floating behind Orihime, but it vanished as quickly as it appeared, followed by a black butterfly. He blinked, and the butterfly was gone.
"I really hope I'm not going crazy or cursed or something," he muttered.
---
The team spent the next few days training in Mementos and fulfilling requests they unanimously agreed on. Orihime was a natural-born healer. She would cast a heal as soon as someone was injured and use buffs and a shield that reflected physical damage. Her weapon of choice was a blunt bo staff. Even though they were just Shadows, she had no intention of killing them. It wasn't that she was on a moral high horse. Rather, she was restricted to spells and had no physical attack techniques. She basically whacked a Shadow for ten minutes, and it laughed the whole time.
However,
"I NEED TO SEE JACK FROST AGAIN!" Orihime demanded with great vigor.
---
"We have another assembly today," Kawakami sighed. "The principal needs to introduce two new staff members."
"How she was hired is beyond me," she muttered in dismay.
---
"I wonder what the new teachers are like?" Shiho hummed.
"I'd like a female gym teacher. I don't trust a male one right now..." a student whispered.
The Thieves' faces dropped as they looked up. The principal cleared his throat and began his speech.
---
"My name is—" The man smacked himself in the face with the mic.
"Ouch. I'm sorry. My name is Takuto Maruki. I was hired to be a therapist here to help the students recover. You don't need to treat me like a teacher. In fact, I prefer you don't. I will be open and candid with you. I will be patient and wait for you to be vulnerable."
Ren exhaled through his nose. He didn't trust such words. Most people grew up to be the things they hated. They stepped on others to advance themselves, using anything possible to—
"Ren, she is HOT!" Ryuji gasped with an open mouth.
Snapping back to reality, Ren noticed that the gym teacher being introduced was a sensual, dark-skinned woman with dark purplish hair.
"My name is Yoruichi Shihōin," she said with a seductive voice. "I'll be teaching gym. I'm trained in a variety of martial arts and will be willing to teach any student who wishes to learn. However, it won't be easy." She gave a flirty wink and sauntered off the stage.
"Holy shit," Ryuji gasped.
"Ren, that was the woman who offered to teach me martial arts!!" Shiho said, pulling on his sleeve.
---