That night while Ren slept, vivid memories began to surge in her mind. Her dream was so lifelike that it felt more like reality than any dream she had ever had before.

She was laying on the couch, in her male body, in a hotel room… a familiar hotel room, the muted voices of her friends talking nearby reminded her just where she was. As soon as she remembered her entire vision cracked and shattered, now she was looking up at the ceiling laying in a bed in a very similar room while in her girl body. This had to be during the school trip to Hawaii.

Ann was laying in a bed on the other side of the small hotel room. They were both on their phones when there was a loud knocking at the door. Ren got up to check who it was, when she opened the door Ryuji came into the room.

“Ryuji? What are you doing here?” Ann asked while sitting up in her bed

“The guy I’m roomin with brought his girlfriend back to the room… it was gettin way too awkward in there” he rubbed the back of his head and looked away from them, “so uh… is it fine if I just stay in here tonight?”

Ren and Ann both looked at each before shrugging.

“I guess, you can sleep on the couch if you want” Ann said nonchalantly

“Oh thank god, I thought you were gonna freak out on me…” he breathed a sigh of relief.

 

They all got comfortable in their beds before Ann sighed, “The school trip… Shiho was really looking forward to this…”

“Ann…” Ryuji said solemnly

“Sorry… I didn’t mean to bring the mood down” she looked over at them, “but it’s already been almost six months since then, hasn’t it? This all feels so strange”

“Right? Hard to believe the rowdy kids at school are now famous all over the world” Ryuji sat up on the couch

“Don’t you think we still have a lot to learn about each other though?” Ann smiled, “You know, things like what kind of people we like… So, time to come clean Ren, what kind of guy is your type?”

“Hm? I guess I don’t really have a type” she answered without a moment of hesitation, “for either guys or girls”

“Woah does that mean you’re-” Ryuji started but stopped himself with a stammer, “Uh actually n-nevermind, forget I asked”

Immediately following that sentence the memory started to fade away, Ren’s vision going completely dark for a few moments before she woke up sometime in the afternoon.

As she was getting out of bed she heard the pinging of a message on her phone, so she grabbed it and opened the chat.

 

Ann: I totally had the weirdest dream last night

Ann: We were on the school trip, Ren and I were rooming together

Ann: But Ren looked like how she does now, instead of her old appearance

Ann: And then Ryuji came in to sleep on our couch

Ryuji: For real?! I had the exact same dream!

Ren: Same here

Yusuke: Three of you having the same dream on the same night?

Yusuke: It’s unlikely to be a mere coincidence

Makoto: I agree, that’s way too specific

Makoto: Come to think of it, did Ren room with Ann on the trip at all?

Ann: Well… she had to have, right?

Makoto: The rooms weren’t co-ed though

Makoto: So in reality Ren probably didn’t room with you but…

Makoto: I can’t remember for sure where she was assigned

Ann: Now that you mention, I can only remember her as her during the trip!

Ren: Yeah, I don’t remember anything about Hawaii in my old body

Futaba: Well that’s weird, Mona! Report what’s going on

 

Morgana was looking at the group chat over Ren’s shoulder luckily, and tried to theorize on it.

“It seems that maybe our memories that would have a significant difference with your new body might be changed accordingly…” he had a puzzled look on his face, “...I think”

 

Ren: Morgana says it could be replacement memories

Haru: Is that bad? Could the events of our lives change more dramatically?

 

“It’s doubtful, there aren’t many events in our Phantom Thief endeavors that would have played out any differently if you had this body” Morgana shook his head, “I’d imagine if any more happen they will be more small scale things like this”

 

Ren: Apparently not, most of our heists wouldn’t change at all

Makoto: True, it’s not like our targets knew much about us to begin with

Futaba: Also there being another girl wouldn’t affect much even if they did

Makoto: Still, we should take note whenever these dreams happen

Makoto: Ren, be sure to let us know if you have anymore

Ren: Will do

 

“In a way, since this is your real body now, the memories are being updated to reflect a more accurate state of the world… I think” Morgana said before shaking his head, “What I mean is… these revised memories are probably more than just memories, they’re what actually happened in reality now”

“I see…” she was deep in thought about the whole situation.

 

A few hours later Ren was helping Sojiro around the shop, even the apron she had on now seemed far bigger than it used to be for her. She was in the middle of making some coffee for a customer when her phone began to go off with another notification.

“Don’t you have any plans today?” Sojiro asked before smiling, “Go on, you don’t gotta help me here all day, you should enjoy your break”

“Thanks” Ren nodded and went upstairs to check her phone messages.

 

Ann: Hey Ren! I was thinking, I totally gotta come over and see your clothes!

Ann: I wanna make sure you’ve got a good selection before school starts!

Ren: That sounds good to me

Ann: Great! I’ll meet you at Leblanc in a bit!

 

“What’s up?” Morgana asked while stretching and getting up

“Ann wants to come and look through my clothes” she explained plainly

“Your clothes? Well… I’ll leave you two be then once she gets here” he sounded all proud, “afterall, I would never snoop through your clothes anymore”

“Ok?” she rubbed the back of her head, “Wait, does that mean you have looked through my clothes before?”

“B-back when you were a guy yeah! I had to make sure you weren’t some kinda slob when I came to live here” he said defensively.

 

A little while later Morgana slipped out right before Ren heard Ann walk into the shop.

“Hello!” she greeted Sojiro cheerfully

“Ren! Your friend is here!” he called up to her, “you can head on up, she’s in her room”

Ann came quickly up the stairs, “Hey Ren!” 

Ren smiled and waved at her, already having gotten out a whole bunch of the clothes that she had. She laid them all out on a table she set up in her room by the couch

“Oh wow, you got it all nice and ready to present” she giggled, taking a seat on the couch beside her, “I’ve been dying to see what kind of style you have”

“Style?” she looked at her, confused

“You know, like what kind of clothes you prefer to wear!” she looked back at her with an excited smile.

 

The two started to look through her outfits, currently Ren was wearing a black jacket that looked identical to the one she wore as a guy when she wasn’t in her school uniform, with a white v neck underneath it. Instead of the jeans she used to wear with the outfit though she had on a black skirt that matched with her jacket and a pair of black tights.

The more they looked through her clothes the more they both realized just how many skirts she had. For warmer days she had a white blouse with a shorter black skirt and thin thigh high socks. For the even colder days she has a longer jacket and scarf with a beige turtleneck and a longer, more tight looking skirt with leggings. Other than that there was her pajamas that she was wearing earlier, and a swimsuit presumably from when they went to the beach with Futaba.

“Wow, you really like skirts huh?” Ann giggled

“It… would appear that I do” Ren laughed with her

“Soooo, try them all on!” she enthusiastically grabbed an outfit and practically shoved it against Ren

“H-huh?”

“Well I can only tell how good it all looks on you once you put it on” she smiled, “so you’re going to model for me!”

She opened her mouth but didn’t bother putting up an argument, honestly she had also been curious how it all fit her and what it all would feel like to wear.

 

It took awhile, but eventually they managed to get through all of Ren’s clothing, though she skipped the swimsuit. The first few outfits were awkward for her, mostly out of embarrassment of being seen in girl’s clothing but after a few she became pretty used to it. They sat back down on the couch together once she was back into her same outfit from earlier.

“I’d say your style is pretty good!” she smiled, “I might wanna take you shopping sometime to get a few other kinds of outfits, but overall it’s super cute! Which is fitting for you!”

Both of them stopped and just stared at each other for a second before Ann’s face started to turn red and Ren just stared at her. Ann couldn’t tell if Ren was still processing what she said or if she was caught off guard by it

“Uhhh.. wh-what I mean is, i-it’s fitting for your style to be super cute because you’re so smart!” she giggled nervously

Ren stayed quiet for a few more moments, her heart was beating pretty rapidly, she wouldn’t have even thought much of it if Ann didn’t freak out and react the way she did, “Uh yeah… that makes sense”

 

Ann quickly stood up and changed the subject, “Come on, let’s go get some food!”

“Oh, ok” she grabbed her bag and followed her downstairs, they were both moving very fast

“Where are you two going in such a hurry?” Sojiro asked while they were pretty much already out the door

“To get food I think” Ren answered quickly, trying to keep up with Ann

Once they got on the train there was a bit of an uncomfortable silence for just a little bit, Ann was actively looking away from her for most of the ride. Eventually though she stopped blushing, so Ren figured things were more or less back to normal again. 

They got off at their stop and went to Ann’s usual crepe shop before sitting down in the station plaza together to eat.

“You know… you’re kind of different like this” she looked at Ren, “I like it, you seem like you’re happier now”

She looked back at her for a second before smiling, “You think so? I hadn’t noticed I guess”

“And you’re definitely more talkative now” she giggled

“...that part I did notice” Ren giggled with her

Ann suddenly looked a bit more somber.

“You really did have us worried… even before the change” Ann sighed and looked away, “When you refused to tell Akechi-kun what you wanted you just… looked so sad”

Ren sighed, looking away as well

“You’ve always been so strong, reckless, but strong… I knew you could handle pretty much anything” she looked up at the orange sunset sky, “but it didn’t make it any easier seeing just how… tired and defeated you looked, I think we all could sort of tell something was wrong but we didn’t know how to help”

She didn’t say anything in response

“But now? You look like a huge weight has been lifted off your shoulders” Ann looked back at her and smiled, “and I don’t just mean the whole ‘finally killing a god’ thing, you seem a lot happier in yourself”

Ren smiled and looked back at her as well

“I’m glad that you trust me, and the rest of us, enough to let us see your true self” 

“I’m sorry for worrying you all… I should have trusted you with the truth sooner” she said quietly

“Well, it is a pretty personal thing, so I get not being too open about it” Ann reassured her

“Even still… we’re teammates, more than that, we’re friends” Ren bowed her head for a moment, “But now that you all know the truth… I’m really happy that you decided to stay by my side”

“Well of course we were still going to be your friends, you’re really important to all of us, at this point I can hardly imagine my life without you” there was another short pause, the two girls smiling at each other for a few moments.

The sun then was starting to set past the buildings, which meant the sky was growing darker as it turned to night rather quickly. So Ann stood up, “Well, I guess I should probably be going home for today”

“Right” she nodded and stood up as well

“It was fun seeing you today Ren!” she smiled warmly

“You too Ann” she waved before they both started to go separate ways, “Oh, wait, Takamaki?” Ren called back before they got too far away from each other

“Hm?” when she turned around Ren had gotten fairly close to her, not so close that it was weird but definitely closer than they usually were

“I think you’re super cute too” she practically whispered the words, with a smirk on her face

“Wha- h-hUH?!” Ann stammered and took a step back, stumbling over her words and already more red than before, “Y-you th-think what?!”

“See you later” Ren giggled and turned around, waving behind her, slowly walking back towards the station.

 

During the entire train ride back towards Leblanc Ren’s heart was beating out of her chest. She was no stranger to teasing her teammates, matter of fact she had more or less flirted with all of them at one point or another, not that they all understood it. But this time it took so much more effort to keep her composure, she didn’t know if she had just lost some of her ability to keep cool or if it just felt different because of her body. But something had made it quite a bit more difficult, but also quite a bit more fun.

Once she got back to the shop Sojiro was the only person left in the store other than Morgana.

“Ah, you’re back, everything alright?” Sojiro asked

“Huh? Oh, right, yeah absolutely” she smiled back at him

“Hmm… alright then, make sure to lock up” he left for the night

 Ren quickly got changed and locked up the store, she felt incredibly drained from the day she had, happy but drained. She started stretching with a yawn while Morgana came upstairs.

“So? How did it go with Lady Ann today, Lady Ren?” he laughed a bit to himself

“It was fun, turns out I have a lot more clothes than I thought” she said before laying down in bed

“Oh? Are you going to sleep already?” He jumped up into bed with her

“Yeah, I think I’m still tired from… everything…” and like that she was out like a light the moment she got under the covers.

 

Once her eyes closed she slipped into sleep and another memory began to surface. It was scorching hot, the smell of the ocean was clear and there were hundreds of crowded beach goers. This had to be when they all went to the beach with Futaba. 

Ren was standing near Ryuji and Yusuke in her male body for just a moment before the image completely shattered. As could be expected she was once again in her girl body, wearing the dark blue two piece swimsuit she saw in her room today.

“Sorry Ren, we were going to invite you but there really is only room on the boat for three people” Ann let her know before she headed out with Makoto and Futaba, “We’ll switch when we’re done. Keep an eye on our stuff for us!”

“Dammit… they just don’t get how amazin we are” Ryuji grimaced, “We risk our lives bein Phantom Thieves, there’s no way we’re the same as guys around here”

Morgana and Yusuke both looked at Ryuji, “Shouldn’t we be havin more good times in reality too?!”

“Well… if you put it that way you may be right” Yusuke said, the only one of the group wearing a hoodie

“Ann and the others don’t get it cause they’re always around us” Ryuji continued on

Morgana turned to look at Ren, “Hey, how do we get Lady Ann to notice how amazing we are as Phantom Thieves?”

“Why are you asking me?” she cocked her head in confusion

“Well… you’re a girl after all, you mean to say you have no idea how to convince her?” Morgana sounded just a bit desperate

“I know the perfect way! We just gotta show our skills in reality, we gotta steal girl’s hearts for real” Ryuji had a cocky grin on his face, “Ren!”

“Hit me with your best shot” she grinned and put her hands on her hips

“What?! Hell no! You’re coming with us to be our witness!!” Ryuji stammered

“Very well, let’s do this, pulling off our work in reality doesn’t sound bad” Yusuke stood up. Once Yusuke was on his feet the dream faded into total darkness just as before. 

 

Ren awoke in reality to find her phone already buzzing.

 

Ann: I had another one of those dreams, it was super short though

Makoto: Yeah, we just told Ren there wasn’t room on the boat at our beach trip

Makoto: and then we left

Futaba: talk about a short change! I wanted a longer one!

Ren: That’s not all that changed I think

Yusuke: Yes, in my dream our conversation went on after you three left

Yusuke: Ryuji wanted us to prove our skills in reality by stealing hearts

Ann: What, like, trying to pick up girls?

Yusuke: Precisely

Ryuji: You don’t gotta tell em all of that dude!

Makoto: Considering that you hadn’t bragged about it, it’s safe to say you failed

Futaba: Not surprising

Futaba: As a member of the opposite sex I sense no charm from Ryuji

Ryuji: Not this shit again!

Haru: So what was Ren supposed to do?

Haru: If she was with the guys at the time, did she just watch everyone’s stuff?

Ryuji: Nah we let Mona handle that, Ren was going to be our witness

Yusuke: Perhaps we really should have tried our skill at stealing her heart

Ryuji: What?! Hell no!

Ren: Huh, you said the same thing in the dream

Yusuke: Why not?

Ryuji: Because she would never let us live it down!

Yusuke: Come to think of it, she was wearing a swimsuit in that dream

Yusuke: But I doubt you had a girl’s swimsuit before, did one appear in reality?

Ren: Yeah, I actually saw it in my room yesterday

Makoto: To think that your whole wardrobe changed as well

Haru: When it gets warm again we should take a beach trip together!

Haru: I wasn’t there for the last one

Ann: We totally should!

Futaba: Then Ryuji can try to steal Ren’s heart for real

Ryuji: Shuddup!

 

Just as the day prior had gone Ren went downstairs after getting changed and helped Sojiro around the shop for a few hours before her phone started to get a few text notifications. She went back upstairs to check it out.

 

Ryuji: Yo, what do you think about Futaba and I coming over?

Ryuji: We can play some video games and stuff!!

Ren: I’m down

Ryuji: Sweet! I’ll let Futaba know and then head over!

 

“Ugh, today will sure be loud” Morgana sighed

A little under an hour later the door to the shop opened, Ryuji, Futaba and Yusuke all walked inside.

“Yo!” Ryuji yelled

“We’re here for a tournament!” Futaba yelled right after

“What’s Yusuke doing here?” Ren asked casually

“I had a yearning to see the Sayuri, I happened to run into Ryuji at the station” he also spoke calmly, “but I would also rather like to see this tournament”

“Inari can be our spectator then!” Futaba ran past them all and up to Ren’s room

“At least try to keep it down a little bit, I do have customers” Sojiro sighed

Ryuji looked around but didn’t see anyone else in the shop, “...where are they?”

“Can it, just go upstairs” he snipped back.

 

The four of them went upstairs to see that Futaba had already gotten the game started, with an extra chair next to her and a controller sitting on it.

“Hey! You agreed to let me practice against Ren first!” Ryuji ran over and snatched the controller from Futaba’s hands

“Uuuggghhh fiiiine, I’m still gonna kick your butt later though” Futaba giggled like a gremlin and moved out of the chair over to the bed

“I’m practice?” Ren sat in the chair next to Ryuji

“Hey don’t take it personally, you’ve never even played this game before” he playfully elbowed her, “This is finally a game I’ll beat you at”

“Is it really a fair match up if she’s never even played before?” Yusuke asked while drawing in a sketchbook

“It’s the only way he’ll get any wins in before he faces off against me” Futaba bragged

“Unless he also loses against Ren” Morgana chuckled

“Shuddup!” he yelled back at them both as the match began.

 

It was an old fighting game, one that Ryuji seemed to have a decent grasp on. Even so, Ren almost always had an upper hand over him in most games that they played together, he wasn’t exactly a tactician and preferred to just attack.

But even with that knowledge in mind she just couldn’t keep up without actually knowing how to properly play the game. She got completely destroyed three games in a row.

“Hell yeah!!” he yelled out at the end of his third win

“...how is this supposed to help you face Futaba?” she looked at him with a bit of confusion

“It’s all about confidence, Renren!” he got up out of his chair and pointed to Futaba, “You’re so going down!”

“Bring it!” she practically threw Ren out of her chair and stole it right out from under her

In a complete whirlwind Ren was now on the floor while Ryuji and Futaba had already started a round.

“Renren?” she cocked her head at him

“I believe it’s a nickname” Yusuke said from behind, frantically drawing in his sketchbook

“Well I got that part” she sighed and got back up to her feet

“I’m almost impressed that he beat you three times in a row” Morgana said and then sighed, “and then he had to go and ruin it by yelling all over the place”

 

She stood behind the pair that was playing the game, though she had to bend over a bit to get a good angle view on the old tv, Morgana was standing just in front of her on his hind legs and watching just as intently. They saw pretty quickly that Ryuji was getting slaughtered even harder than she did. The games were going incredibly quickly for a while, but to her surprise they slowly started taking longer and longer.

After fourteen straight losses, Ryuji had finally won a round. Now if he clutched it here he could actually have one win under his belt. But by now Ren’s back was starting to hurt so she stood up straight again to stretch.

“Ren! Please get back into position!” Yusuke snapped, “I haven’t finished the sketch yet!”

“Wait, you're drawing this?” she raised an eyebrow at him

“The camaraderie of teammates, the rivalry of friends” Yusuke chuckled, “there is plenty of beauty in that”

He showed her the beginning of the rough sketch, well, Yusuke called it a sketch when in reality it was more like a finely detailed picture

“So I would please ask that you stand the same way as before, so I can finish” he went back to drawing

Ren paused for a moment in thought before speaking again, “...should I  get nude?” she asked with a completely straight face

“L-Lady Ren!!” Morgana jumped back in surprise

“WHAT?!” Ryuji turned his head around quickly just long enough for Futaba to finish the match in her favor

“I wiinn!” she laughed like a gremlin again and stood up proudly

“Huh?! That’s totally unfair!! They distracted me!!” he flew out of his chair as well

“That is exactly what this piece is missing! Ren, you are a genius! Please, remove your clothes!” he looked at Futaba and Ryuji, “Resume your game!”

“Nah, after fifteen wins I’m done playing for the day” Futaba giggled, “thanks for the assist Ren and Inari, not that I actually needed it”

“That is so totally unfair!!” Ryuji grumbled and sat back down in his chair with his arms crossed

“Why are you pouting so loudly Ryuji?” Morgana groaned before stammering at Ren, “A-and you shouldn’t say something like that so casually!”

“Why did you hafta say that dude?” Ryuji groaned

“You could say I won a round against you” she crossed her arms

“Wh-what?!” he yelled back

“That was for calling me practice” she smirked at him

“You knew he would react that way? So you did it on purpose?!” Morgana gasped

“It’s Ryuji… if there’s one thing I know that would absolutely break his concentration, it would be the potential of seeing a naked girl” she said back with a completely serious face

Both Morgana and Ryuji were in a stunned silence

“A flawless plan really, relying on Ryuji’s carnal desires” Yusuke crossed his arms and chuckled, “Perfectly executed”

“Damn Ren, that was a petty grudge” Futaba giggled

Ren giggled herself before walking towards the stairs, “Come on, I’ll make everyone some curry”

“Sounds good to me!” Futaba raced down with her

“I am quite famished” Yusuke followed closely behind

Morgana and Ryuji were stunned for another few seconds before they finally went downstairs as well.

 

Once the food was all done they all sat down, Ryuji and Yusuke sat next to each other in a booth while Futaba sat on the other side of the booth. Ren sat at the counter facing the group with Morgana sitting on the stool next to her.

“You know, I wasn’t expecting you to start making teases like that so quickly” Futaba said while eating really quickly, “I mean, I figured it would happen eventually but you surprised me with just how fast”

“It’s good that you grew so comfortable with yourself so quickly” Yusuke said, “I think most others in your shoes would take infinitely longer”

“To be fair, I joke about getting naked for your paintings all the time” she shrugged, “it’s like a reflex at this point”

“I only hope that one of these days your offer is serious” Yusuke smiled back

“Dude, can you seriously not tell when it’s just a bit?” Ryuji sighed

“You’re one to talk, considering how you reacted” Futaba giggled

“It was just surprisin to hear! I didn’t actually think it was gonna happen!” he responded aggressively, as usual

“This does kinda make me curious about something though” Futaba looked at Ren, “Do you think your outfit in the Metaverse would have been the same as before, or do you think it would have been pervy like Panther’s?” she asked with a snicker

“Hm…” she thought for a moment

“Considering that her personality is the same, it’s unlikely it would change all that much” Morgana informed, “at the very least I wouldn’t expect it to be completely different from her old outfit”

“Perhaps we will see it in one of our revised memories” Yusuke offered

“Hopefully” Ren said, “I’m kinda curious now”

“Ya know, those altered memories have me thinkin” Ryuji looked at her, “eventually will we only be able to remember you as you are now?”

“It’s wholly possible, though I doubt that much will be altered” Morgana theorized, “so far it only seems to be targeting memories where it would have made an impact”

Futaba started to fixate on her phone and ignored the conversation.

“That makes sense, it’s kinda weird rememberin two of you though” Ryuji said with a shrug

“It’s probably a bit weirder being the one who has been both of those people” she countered

“It is only fitting though, our leader who can have any number of Personas has also possessed two entirely different forms” Yusuke said, “I find it to be rather poetic”

“That’s one way of looking at it” she shrugged

“A very Yusuke way of looking at it” Morgana grinned.

 

Futaba flew up out of her seat, “Ah! I forgot there was a stream I wanted to watch tonight! I need to get outta here!” she flew out of the shop before any of the others could even get a word in

“Impatient as ever” Yusuke sighed, “but perhaps we should be leaving for the night as well”

“Yeah, guess that’s about as good a time as any” Ryuji yawned while stretching, “It was cool hanging out with you dude”

“Anytime” she smiled and waved as the two guys started to leave

“Until we meet again” Yusuke said on his way out the door

“See ya later Renren!” Ryuji grinned before following behind him.

 

Ren was left to lock up the store and clean up the dishes that the group had used that night.

“...you know something?” Morgana asked, sitting on the counter behind her while she finished up, “your boldness can sometimes be kind of scary Lady Ren”

“Heh, you think so?” she laughed a bit, drying her hands off

“Just… be careful teasing Ryuji like that, last thing you want is him falling for you” Morgana sighed, “Now come on, let’s go to bed”

“I’ll keep that in mind” she giggled

She then got changed before heading upstairs to go to sleep, once again awaiting another revised memory to occur.