Ren arrived at Takemi's clinic and gently opened the door.
As always, the waiting room was empty, and the young doctor was reading from a textbook.
"Nice to see you again, Doctor," Ren awkwardly said.
Takemi looked up with a smirk. "I was actually going to call you today. I have something that needs testing."
"That's why I am here." Ren nodded while bracing himself.
"Come to the exam room. I need to draw your blood before and after the test," she said.
---
"Bloodwork looks normal," Takemi said. "Your antibodies are very active. Did you just get over a cold?"
Ren paused. Maybe something related to the cognitive world or Hollows was physically affecting him in ways he didn't know about.
"Not that I know of, but I'm just starting to catch up on rest in the past few days," he revealed hesitantly.
"...I see." Takemi nodded. "Well, this is a good thing. I just may have to tweak the formula a little bit."
She paused before turning to Ren with a grin.
"Alright, guinea pig. Take this and tell me how you feel."
Ren looked at the beaker. It looked fairly safe. It wasn't bubbling or anything. It seemed stable. But he didn't like the rich red color of it.
"...Bottoms up," he said with false bravado, courageously chugging it.
"Not as bad as the aojiru," he mentioned before glancing at Takemi, who had an expression of shock.
"...Did you not smell it? How did you drink that without—"
Ren passed out on the exam table.
"There it is." She sighed and began to take notes.
"Better than the aojiru," she repeated, shaking her head with a giggle.
---
Ren woke up groggy.
"Hello, guinea pig. How do you feel?" Takemi asked.
Ren blinked. He had forgotten he was here. He looked around for a moment before clearing his throat.
"Uh... grogginess, confusion. I feel like I'm waking up for the day after only sleeping a few hours."
Takemi tapped her pen on her clipboard a few times.
"Nausea? Chest pain?" she asked gently.
Ren paused.
"Not particularly. Things are moving rather slowly right now."
"Hmm. Thank you," Takemi said gently.
"Let's do bloodwork once more, and you can head home. Make sure you get some rest," she continued softly.
Ren squinted at the clock and saw that it had only been an hour.
"Slight time dilation too," he added, staring at the ground.
"Thank you, guinea pig."
---
As Ren left, Takemi's face dropped.
"That was a hell of a nightmare. Woke him up despite the dose of sedative... It wasn't much, but a bad dream shouldn't be able to wake him like that... In fact, a dream would be hard to have."
---
Ren felt like shit.
But also fine.
It was frustrating. He felt tired and rested. Sore and energetic.
He sighed as he walked into Leblanc.
"Shit, kid, are you okay?" Sojiro asked in shock.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm, uh, helping Doctor Takemi in my free time, and I tested something for her."
"Excuse me?" Sojiro asked with narrowed eyes as the café fell silent.
Ren, realizing what he just said, panicked.
"It's totally safe! It's just a clinical trial because my body type is useful for it. I'm getting paid, and her insurance is covering it!"
Ren made up complete nonsense, feeling guilty about what he said.
'I was supposed to keep that private!!' he thought in a panic.
Sojiro let out a sigh and picked up a coffee mug, the one that the girls had gifted to Ren.
"Sit down. Have some coffee. The day is still long..." he started.
Sojiro began to drum his fingers on the counter in thought, glancing at his phone, the clock, and then the TV before his face changed to a serious one.
"I don't know how you did it, kid, but Futaba asked to meet you," he said quietly.
He paused and looked at Ren gravely.
"I'm trusting you on this, Ren. She... needs help, and I don't know how to do it."
Ren was silent for a moment.
"Is she okay?"
"...She is safe. She is taken care of. But wounds of the heart aren't so easily healed."
Ren looked out the window on the door and sighed once more. He had been doing that a lot lately.
"Don't I know it."
Sojiro was silent. He knew more than the kid had told him. He felt guilty about it, but he believed it was better for him to know. He silently thanked Yu for filling him in.
'I would never forgive myself if I treated him poorly.'
---
Morgana woke with a yawn. He wasn't in pain anymore, but he was deeply touched by the care of his friends. They may have teased him and called him a cat, to his dismay, but they had all been there to check on him as soon as they could be.
Ren had even shown him the texts from the night before. It really surprised him how angry Ryuji was. But he didn't say anything. That idiot would definitely deny it and call him a cat or something.
He went down the stairs into the café quietly. If there were customers, he would leave through the upstairs window. But thankfully, everything was quiet. Sojiro was reading the paper. The news mentioned something about a gas explosion in the residential area near Shibuya.
"Ren, I think that's where I fought that Shadow," he said as he hopped onto the stool next to Ren, who was peacefully drinking coffee out of his red and black mug.
"I wonder who covered it up?" Ren muttered. "I don't like that."
"Me either," Morgana said.
Seeing the cat out and about, Sojiro got up, went to the fridge, and brought out a plate of fatty tuna.
Petting his head as he laid the plate down, he said, "You're very loved, aren't you, Morgana? The kid and all his friends got you quite a lot of fish. I'm a bit worried you won't finish it all."
Morgana's eyes sparkled. He didn't miss what Sojiro had said, but Ren had kept a straight face, like he wasn't paying attention.
Morgana could feel his attention, though.
He let out a loud roar!
"Thank you!"
To Sojiro, it just sounded like a happy meow.
---
Ren and Morgana decided to head out. Ren was planning on calling Kawakami later. He was a bit worried about her. Although the ad wasn't explicit... there was a chance she had to do things she didn't necessarily want to.
Before he could dwell further on it, he walked past the secondhand shop. Urahara and Yoruichi were both inside. Putting on an act, Yoruichi stormed out, catching Ren's attention.
"Fuck off, you shitty hat! I've known you for years, and you still try to scam me!"
Ren blinked.
His teacher knew that guy? It appeared she was annoyed by him too. He couldn't help but nod.
"Great minds think alike."
Yoruichi spun around and looked at Ren before asking, "You've met this idiot too? I'm really sorry."
"Aww, you wound me, Yoruichi!" Urahara called from inside the shop with fake tears.
The shop itself had changed. It was completely different from when the old couple owned it before. Not only had it been renovated, but it looked like the man had somehow extended the shop outward. But it didn't cause any issues with Takemi's clinic. Nor had there been any noises Ren heard.
"Sensei, this guy is suspicious." Ren nodded. He decided to ignore the man.
"You've got that right, Amamiya." Yoruichi nodded deeply. "Don't let his stupidity infect you. I saw you're at the top of your class. Keep it up, and you might surpass your student council president."
"Uhm, Sensei. It's already a bit into May, and we haven't had any phys ed classes yet," Ren awkwardly reminded her.
Pausing for a moment, Yoruichi clicked her tongue.
"That waste of space screwed so much up that I'm still cleaning up after him. Reopening clubs, ordering new equipment. Did he only teach volleyball?"
Giving a sigh of frustration, she continued.
"Your first class will be in a couple days. But if you and Suzui want to learn a martial art, just see me after school before the teachers leave."
Ren blinked, surprised. He thought she was kidding and only wanted to teach Shiho. Or maybe it was just a flirty joke to break the ice when she introduced herself to the school.
These two were very suspicious, so Ren decided to see if he could fish some information out of them. Urahara may be a genius pretending to be an idiot, but Ren felt like he could trust Yoruichi, despite her... seductive attitude. She was never vulgar about it.
"Thanks, Sensei. We probably will. Shiho is interested in martial arts, and I can't really teach her myself..." Ren said awkwardly. "I learned karate and boxing as a child, but it was never formal. I don't have a belt, and it was basically taught for self-defense and exercise."
Yoruichi nodded, seemingly impressed.
"It's good you didn't teach her. Bad habits are hard to break. I don't mean to knock your training, but it will pale in comparison to mine."
Ren was silent.
"Thank you, Sensei. I'll see you soon."
Time froze.
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 Devil Persona, thou hast obtained the blessing that leads to freedom and new power.
This time, it wasn't the single gentle voice. It was that familiar voice overlapped with Caroline and Justine. The voice didn't sound strained or tired anymore. It felt stronger and even encouraging.
There were no shaking chains this time. But he felt a vibration in his chest and a pressure build just under his ribs and above his stomach before time resumed.
"See you at school, Sensei."
He left with a polite bow.
"The Devil," Ren muttered once he was at the station, remembering the teacher's crazy hearing.
---
Yoruichi wasn't paying attention to Ren anymore. She was standing in the same spot she was when Ren left, in shock.
"Kisuke, is it just me, or did his spiritual pressure just skyrocket?"
Urahara had a smile that wasn't a smile. It was like he had found the most interesting thing on the planet.
"Kisuke, don't experiment on this kid. If your game-of-gods nonsense is correct, he's definitely a 'piece,'" she said in deep disdain.
'All I can do is train them for the future for now,' she thought gravely.
Urahara suddenly interrupted.
"Yoruichi, did you not notice? You may be dressed like an average human... but you are in your soul form."
?!?!
---