72 The Hidden Clues.

As Sae gazed upon the slumbering figure below, a light, bemused shake of her head escaped her. Venturing into a nearby closet, she retrieved a soft blanket and gently placed it over him. Since he had gone out of his way to help her sister she was willing to do this much. Though she had to hold back a slight chuckle as she saw Ren, still lost in dreams, instinctively snuggle deeper into the warmth of the blanket.

Treading softly towards her bedroom, Sae poised herself for another work session on her computer before heading to sleep. It was then her eyes caught sight of the small stack of CDs she had confiscated from Makoto. A reminder of the first time Ren had been in her home. She had planned to return them, but she had gotten carried away with work.

She contemplated using the lectures her sister was interested in as background noise while she worked, but she hesitated and ultimately decided to place the recordings in one of the drawers of her desk. She didn't want to accidentally wake up her sister with the TV since their bedrooms were next to each other.

"Should I take the day off tomorrow...?" she mused aloud, only to dismiss the thought with a firm shake of her head. As much as she wished to spend the day making sure Makoto recovered, she was in the middle of an important case. Her reputation would be damaged if she took the day off without warning.

She had been assigned to the case of the Phantom Thieves, but it was practically impossible to find anything about them. They were, as their name stated, like ghosts. They had shown up one day, and the next week, Kaneshiro had turned himself in.

Having conducted the interrogation with Kaneshiro herself, she couldn't help but become even more suspicious. They appeared to have almost no connection to the man, with Kaneshiro confessing that their only interaction was a small 'calling' card that had been left on his desk one day.

A single one-sided interaction, a calling card, and the criminal mastermind had a change of heart.

Yet, this pivotal piece of evidence, along with any other potentially incriminating material, had vanished, stolen away by the Thieves, or destroyed by Kaneshiro's underlings before law enforcement could intervene.

"It's almost like the case with the gym teacher in Makoto's school…" Sae murmured, her thoughts turning to the confessions of Suguru Kamoshida. 

Were it not for her personal concerns for Makoto, she might have overlooked this specific detail.

As Sae scrutinized the playback of Kamoshida's confession, a shadow of concern creased her brow. The parallels between Kamoshida's and Kaneshiro's admissions were unnervingly close.

"Yet, there was no precursor, no 'calling card' announced for Kamoshida..." she whispered to herself, her frown deepening.

A chill of apprehension threaded through her as she pondered the discrepancies and similarities in the cases before her. Kamoshida's confession unfolded, and Sae's unease grew when she heard Kamoshida speak again about his crimes. Especially when she heard a name that was becoming increasingly familiar to her.

"Ren Amamiya..." she murmured, picturing the boy who was currently peacefully sleeping on her couch.

"Shiho Suzui, Ann Takamaki, Ryuji Sakamoto..." The names tumbled from her lips, each one making her discomfort grow. These were Makoto's friends, young lives harmed by Kamoshida's cruelty. People with a motive.

But the more she thought about it, the less sense it made. They were just kids right now without any proper backing.

The leap from a corrupt teacher to a small criminal empire was too large. Sae's mind raced as she contemplated just how impossible the connection was, yet she hesitated to entirely dismiss it. 

However, the longer she thought of it, the more ridiculous it felt. Kaneshiro was someone whom even the entire police force had been unable to capture, unable to gather evidence against. But the more she thought of it, the more she felt that the case had been dismissed too quickly.

"Not everyone you work with can say their hands are clean…" Sae muttered the words the Phantom Thieves had used to sign off their email with a frown.

Trying to shake off these swirling thoughts, Sae refocused on Kamoshida's rambling confession, yet her attempt at humor felt hollow.

"Am I really entertaining the thought that these students could pull off such feats?" she chuckled to herself, disbelief and exhaustion mingling in her voice.

The hack into Japan's billboards and news sources was large enough by itself. But it was absurd to imagine students executing a heist against Kaneshiro's building to steal the records the Thieves had sent to the police.

After all, the only strange thing the police was able to find during the police raid into the building was some cat hairs, nothing else.

"But what power could compel such confessions...?" Sae pondered, her mind unwillingly drifting towards the supernatural.

Closing her laptop, she decided to call it a night, hoping rest would clear her mind from the strange thoughts she had. Yet, the unease lingered, a silent whisper of possibility that refused to be silenced. Lying in her bed, the day's revelations swirled into dreams more vivid and chaotic than any she had experienced before.

— — —

Ren Amamiya's eyes fluttered open, confronting him with the sight of a ceiling that didn't belong to his room. 

Wrapped snugly in a blanket, a slight sense of disorientation enveloped him as he sat up. The morning light seemed unusually bright as if his eyes had suddenly found a new sense of clarity overnight. The best way to describe it would be as if he had woken up wearing contact lenses he didn't know he needed.

As his gaze wandered the room, pieces of the previous night slowly stitched themselves back together, from his meeting with the principal to his talk with Sae.

"Ah… that's right," he murmured to himself, his hand absently combing through his hair. His fingers encountered a strand, which he gingerly extracted, inspecting it as if searching for an anomaly. "Still the same color."

Other than his slight improvement in his eyesight, he wasn't sure what other improvements or changes yesterday's 'torture' session had brought. But he could worry about that the next time he visited the Metaverse.

As he sat up on the couch, he couldn't help but think about the names Kobayakawa had mentioned.

"Madarame, huh… That's another reason to call Yusuke about his modeling offer." He thought out loud as he remembered their strange meeting.

His eyes then drifted to a small note left next to the couch, which he unfolded to read.

[I had to leave early for the office. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, but please avoid the bento on the right side. I prepared those specifically for Makoto as per the doctor's recommendation.]

Chuckling slightly, he put the note away as he stood up. He had some time before he would have to leave for school, so he decided to call Sojiro to reassure him that he was still alive.

Not long after he finished the phone call, he heard the door of Makoto's room open. She walked out with messy hair, letting out a yawn as she walked out half asleep.

"Sis…? How did I- Ren? Ren!" Her voice spiked from confusion to surprise as she suddenly snapped awake, the memories from last night flooding back.

"What happened? Why am I at home? Why are YOU here? Did Sae see you?" Her questions came in quick succession, tinted with confusion and concern.

Chuckling slightly, Ren invited her to sit down as he began explaining everything that had happened, as well as telling her about his conversation with Sae. The fact that her distortion had a few cracks was a good sign, so if they played it safe, they might be able to bring her to their side without having to dive into her palace.

Makoto's tension dissolved into a sigh of relief as she heard him, nodding her head along as she pieced everything together.

"Thanks for looking after me…" she started with a warm smile, pausing briefly. "Did you... go into my room?"

A mischievous smirk appeared on Ren's lips as he answered.

"Don't worry about it. If anything, I am the one who should thank you for trying to help me… As for your room… pandas, eh?" Ren said teasingly, causing Makoto to let out a few awkward coughs.

"It's Buchimaru-kun..." she corrected, a mix of amusement and embarrassment in her voice, before realigning the focus of their conversation. "But that's beside the point. The real takeaway is my ability to summon Johanna in the real world." 

Makoto's eyes closed in concentration, a visible effort to connect deeper with her Persona. 

"The static is not as strong as it used to be." she began, her voice threaded with a mix of determination and discovery. "It's still there, but our bond feels stronger, more tangible. I can't summon her yet, but with some time and effort..."

Ren, however, expressed his concerns, shaking his head gently. 

"You were out for nearly a day last time, Makoto. The doctor even said you had signs of physical and mental exhaustion. If this happens every time, it might not be reasonable to try to use them in the real world. Getting knocked out for one use is not worth it."

Makoto countered, her voice laced with conviction.

"No, I think it's the 'static' that is causing the strain. In the Metaverse, using Johanna feels like pushing a practically empty wheelbarrow, right? Here, it felt as if the wheelbarrow was filled with concrete, and they had taken the wheels off. I think if we can improve the connection, we can "lighten the load.'"

Nodding his head, Ren's expression then became more serious.

"In that case, we should let the rest of the group know. Right now, we are going against the director of the SIU, Okumura, and whoever their boss is. They all have a lot of influence. If we can summon personas here, then we might be able to protect ourselves better if it comes to it."

Makoto hesitated for a moment, the weight of the challenge ahead momentarily clouding her mind before she nodded with determination.

"It would be nice to have someone with influence watching our back…" She said with a sigh. "But you are right. We need to be prepared. Speaking of which. How are things with Igor? Any changes after what happened last night?"

"Igor didn't call me like usual yesterday, but I think he must just be busy with something since he wasn't in the Velvet Room the last time I went there. As for changes… better eyesight, I guess. That's as far as I know for now."

Makoto looked Ren up and down before saying.

"No, I think you are also taller…" She muttered before her eyes wandered to the clock behind Ren. "Oh crap, we are going to be late!"

She hastily finished her breakfast, ready to bolt toward her room, when Ren's voice stopped her mid-step.

"Don't you think you should rest for today?" he asked with some concern.

Makoto paused, a brief conflict crossing her features, but her resolve was quick to return. Shaking her head, she firmly replied,

"No, I'm fine. Plus, I wouldn't be able to rest anyway, knowing I'm skipping school." With that, she darted off to prepare for the day.