It was quite a few hours after Akechi had left before the rest of the Phantom Thieves arrived at Leblanc, all completely unaware of what had happened earlier that day. It was around dinnertime when they all showed up as a one large group.

“Heyy!” Ann greeted first as she was the first to walk through the door

“We’re here to party!” Ryuji yelled immediately after

Everyone came inside and sat down, Haru and Makoto sat on one side of a booth, Ren and Ann sat across from them. Futaba sat backwards in the booth behind Haru and Makoto while Ryuji, Yusuke, Morgana and Kasumi all sat at the counter.

“Thank you for having me, though I must admit I do feel a little like I’m intruding” Kasumi said once everyone was situated

“Nonsense, after all we’ve been through, there are no strangers here” Yusuke smiled

“Yeah, and you really helped Ren out before!” Ann smiled at her as well

“In that case, I accept” Kasumi also smiled

“It’s good to see you” Ren said

“Likewise Ren-senpai!”

A short while later Sojiro had to make a quick run out to grab some of the food that they were going to be eating, once he was gone Yusuke turned to look at Ren.

“I do have to ask, there is something I’ve been wondering for awhile now Ren” he opened his mouth to say more but quickly looked at Kasumi and then stopped himself, “Ah… right”

“Hm?” Kasumi cocked her head

“Oh, are you going to ask something about Ren’s old body? It’s ok, Kasumi remembers” Morgana jumped in

“Wait, she does?” Futaba asked

“Ah, yes! I was pretty confused about it when she came to train with me the other day” she explained, “She said it was probably because of my persona”

“That would make the most sense” Makoto thought aloud

“Well, if that’s the case, than I can ask my question without worry” Yusuke looked back at Ren, “We’ve had revised memories from all across this last year, but as far as I’m aware you haven’t mentioned any from your home”

“Oh yeah, that is kind of strange” Ann also looked at her

She just shrugged, “Well, I haven’t had any of those, so far it’s all been from this year”

“That seems strange… you’d think there would be a lot of memories to change from before this year” Haru said

“It’s possible those will come at a later time” Morgana theorized as Sojiro walked back into the shop with plenty of food for them all.

 

Once all the food was passed out and everyone was eating, Makoto now looked at Ren.

“You know, come to think of it, I don’t believe you’ve ever mentioned your home life at all” she said

“Oh yeah, that’s true!” Ryuji spoke with food still in his mouth

“There’s not much to mention” Ren shrugged and went back to eating

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you on the phone with your parents all year… Do they ever check in on you?” Morgana asked with a concerned expression

She sighed and looked around at everyone who was looking back at her curiously, even Sojiro who couldn’t hear Morgana’s voice, “I’m not really close to anyone back in my hometown”

“Even if you’re not close… to have no contact for a whole year?” Futaba looked away

“My folks aren’t abusive or anything like that” she clarified, “they just… are pretty hands off”

“That’s an understatement!” Ryuji said in a shocked voice

“Are they out on business a lot?” Ann asked

“No, or, they’re not out of town all that often, but they do run a business” she explained and sat back, “they’ve pretty much always been busy, ever since I was a kid I was mostly left to myself”

“That sounds quite lonely” Haru said quietly, “I hope it won’t be too hard for you going back”

She didn’t say anything at first, just looking away from the group

“Man, I wish you could just stay here!” Ryuji said, this time without food in his mouth, “It’ll be weird with you gone, ya know?”

“Yeah… I, dammit… to be honest I really didn’t want to become attached to anyone here… I’ve never had any real close friends before so I figured I’d wait out the year here and then everything would go back to normal… but now?” She took a deep breath and looked back at everyone, “I really don’t want to leave…”

A palpable silence filled the cafe, no one was entirely sure what to say for a few minutes.

“...Sorry, I didn’t mean to spill my guts like that” she sighed

“Oh no, it’s not your fault, I shouldn’t have brought it up” Makoto immediately apologized

“But there is nothing wrong with sharing your feelings, I’m sure we’ve all vented to you more times than we can count” Yusuke said, to which pretty much everyone nodded

“Inari’s right, you can lean on us, all of us!” Futaba grinned

Ren smirked back, “Thanks everyone…”

 

There was another short silence before Ann broke it.

“You’ll have to be sure to visit us often!” she looked at her

“Of course, we’ll try and visit you just as often as well” Haru smiled warmly

“Right” Ren nodded

“You better!” Futaba said to her with a little bit of a shaky voice

“I’m certain that any time you arrive back in town we’d all be willing to drop anything to meet up with you” Yusuke smiled

“Hell yeah!” Ryuji agreed

“And I’m sure we’ll still be talking just as much as always over the phone” Makoto nodded

“I’ll make sure to visit anytime a meet brings me close to your area, Ren-senpai!” Kasumi said

“Well, the attic is always open anytime you want it” Sojiro smirked, “all it’ll cost you is helping out behind the counter”

“I appreciate it” she smiled back at him.

 

There was another short pause, the group just discussing whatever came to mind in their own smaller groups for a few minutes.

“A lot sure happened for us this year though, huh?” Ann said, “But you know what? Despite how hard it was, I think it was an amazing year”

“Right?!” Ryuji agreed

“I doubt we’ll experience anything close to it for quite some time” Yusuke smiled

“That’s probably for the best” Haru giggled

“It’s weird to think that a year ago I didn’t know any of you” Ren looked around at everyone, “But now? I couldn’t imagine a future without you all”

“Well, we all feel the same about you as well Ren” Makoto smiled at her

“Mhm!” Ann nodded

“Best leader ever if you ask me!” Ryuji grinned

“...hey, Ren? Don’t you think we should tell them what happened?” Morgana stood up on his stool

“That’s an abrupt change of subject” she said plainly

“Well, it’s been on my mind” he responded, “it is pretty important”

“What happened, Mona-chan?” Haru asked curiously

Ren sighed before she began, “...Akechi’s alive”

Everyone other than Sojiro and Morgana looked at her in shock

“He turned himself in, Sae brought him here a few hours ago” she continued, “because of him, Shido will be convicted of everything”

“So he survived” Futaba’s voice reflected her conflicted feelings

“And he turned himself in? Why would he do that?” Makoto asked

“He said he wanted to repay us, for keeping our promise with him” Ren’s voice was flat

“I’m… afraid I might be a little out of the loop” Kasumi asked to Morgana

“We uh… have a history with him, we didn’t know he survived our last encounter with him though” he explained solemnly

“So, the man who killed my father turned himself in” Haru’s voice was barely more than a whisper, “At least he can face justice”

“Haru…” Morgana sounded concerned

“There’s another thing” Ren continued, “if he didn’t turn himself in? I would have had to confess in order for Shido’s crimes to come to light”

Everyone looked shocked at her again

“For real?!” Ryuji gasped

“...It makes sense” Makoto sighed, “No wonder sis has been so frantic lately”

“I’m glad he survived then” Futaba said, “I… I will never forgive him, but… if he kept you out of prison? Then I’m glad he’s ok…”

“I agree” Haru nodded

“That does make me wonder something senpai, do you still have an assault charge on your record? I only ask because I’m not sure if that changed with you or not” Kasumi asked, getting a lot of surprised looks in her direction now

“Changed?” Sojiro raised an eyebrow, “what do you mean by that?”

“Don’t specify! We never told the Chief!” Morgana quickly yelled, being the only one that Sojiro couldn’t hear

“O-oh uh… I-I meant well… when you changed Shido’s heart!” she stumbled over her response enough times to still garner Sojiro’s suspicion

“Uh… w-well changes of heart don’t work that way, they don’t change the past” Makoto quickly tried to cover for her

“So unfortunately she has a criminal record” Haru was much better at keeping her cool, “I do wish we could do something about that though”

“It’s fine, it doesn’t really bother me anymore” Ren shrugged

Sojiro made a long hm sound before speaking, clearly still suspicious, “Well, so long as you stay well behaved for the rest of your probation, things will be alright for you”

“There’s no need to worry Sojiro! I’ll keep her out of trouble” Futaba grinned

“Wouldn’t she be the one keeping you out of trouble?” Yusuke said calmly

“Shut it Inari!”

They all continued to eat and party for a few more hours, eventually though the time came for everyone to head out. Soon enough Ren was left cleaning the dishes before bed.

 

“You know… uh… Lady Ren?” Morgana jumped up onto the counter behind her

“Hm?”

“I was thinking… well, I’d like to stay with you, when you leave to go back home that is” he sounded a lot more sheepish than normal, “If that’s ok with you”

“I’d like that” she turned back to look at him with a smile

“Really? I’m glad, hearing how lonely your home can get? It wouldn’t feel right sending you back there all alone” he grinned, “alright then, I’ll be by your side no matter what!”

She smiled to herself and finished drying off the last dish

“Come on, let’s go to bed” Morgana stretched with a yawn

The two went back upstairs to her room where they both quickly fell asleep again.

 

This time her vision began to focus in on her classroom, she was standing by her desk after school one day. With the notification ringing of a message on her phone the image shattered and she was in her girl body yet again. She opened her phone to look at the messages.

 

Ann: Hey!

Ann: I really need your help!!

Ann: Please come quick if you’re able to! I’m at Inokashira park!

Ren: On my way

 

“Lady Ann’s in need? Let’s move quickly!” Morgana yelled from inside her bag

She quickly headed out of the school and got onto a train as fast as she could. Ann probably wasn’t in danger but it couldn’t hurt to get there as fast as she could. Once she arrived she saw Ann standing in the park with a bunch of guys standing around, it looked like a crew that was all set up to take photos.

“Oh, hey Ren!” Ann started to call out as soon as she noticed her

“What’s the matter? Your message was pretty urgent” she jogged over to her and looked around at all the guys

“Yeaaahhh, about that” she smiled a bit nervously, “See, I was supposed to do a photo shoot here with another model, but she had to cancel super last minute because of an emergency”

“Ok…” Ren raised an eyebrow at her

“So the shoot needs a substitute to model with me aanndd you’re the only person I could think of to call”

“H-huh?” she was taken aback, “You needed someone to model with and… you thought of me? Instead of like… an actual model?”

“I don’t know any models that could show up here at a moment’s notice, so it was either you or Makoto” she looked away for a moment, “since Shiho’s still recovering…”

“Right…”

“And I know Makoto’s always studying and would probably turn me down, so I figured I’d ask you!” she got pretty close to Ren, “Pleeeease!”

“Uh… are you sure you want me in it? I’m not really sure I’m model material” she leaned back a bit but didn’t step away from her

“I know you can rock this!! You handled Yusuke after all” she took a step back and walked over to a rack of outfits that had been set up, “We’d just wear pretty similar outfits and get some basic photoshots, nothing that extreme”

“Well…” she sighed, “Alright, I’ll do it”

“Yes! You’re totally the best!!” she jumped with excitement, already grabbing two dresses off of the rack and handing Ren the blue one while she held the red one, “Come on, there are some bathrooms nearby where we can change!”

“I’ll watch your stuff for you, you can just leave the bag here” Morgana said from her shoulder

By the time she had set the bag down she was already pretty much being dragged towards the bathroom by Ann’s iron grip on her hand.

 

Ren was a bit surprised that the dress fit her so well, then again her and Ann were fairly similar builds and sizes so it shouldn’t have been all that surprising. The dresses were pretty simple but fashionable, at least as far as she knew. They weren’t too tight or sexy or anything like that, nor were they overly cutesy either, they were quite pretty though.

Once she left the bathroom Ann handed her a pair of heels to wear, and maybe not so surprising by now they fit exceedingly well. 

“You look great!” she smiled and took Ren’s hand again, bringing her back over to the group

A pair of women that were a part of the crew there helped in applying some simple makeup to Ren in a very quick and precise manner. They descended on her so quickly that she couldn’t even question what they were doing before she had already had all of her makeup done.

It all happened so fast that it felt like her head was spinning when she was handed a few silver bracelets to put on as well as blue earrings to wear.

“It can be a little overwhelming your first time” Ann giggled, watching it all happen

“That’s an understatement” Ren giggled as well, “I still don’t really feel qualified for this”

“I’m a bit surprised to see such a shy side of you” Ann smiled, “don’t worry, you’re going to do amazing!”

“So what exactly do I do?”

“Oh I’ll help you with the poses, plus the crew will also help make sure you’ve got it all right” she explained

She nodded and walked over with Ann to the area where they were supposed to stand.

 

It started out a bit rough, she couldn’t quite get the positioning right, but everyone was very patient with her. After a few failed shots she finally started to get it a bit more by just mimicking what Ann was doing.

They had a whole bunch of poses and shots, ranging from some standard ones to a few where they even got pretty close together. A handful of shots being super close to Ann made Ren’s heart rate raise just a bit.

A little while later into the shoot and it was starting to feel quite a bit more natural, maybe even a little bit fun. She wasn’t sure how many photos in total were taken but it definitely felt like it had been quite a bit. A little while after the photos were done and the crew was all starting to pack up, Ren and Ann sat on a nearby bench where Morgana came over to them.

“You two did amazing!” he smirked, “I was really impressed!”

“I think Ren might be a natural at this” Ann smiled at her

“It… wasn’t too bad, it was kinda fun” she smiled back

“I can’t wait to see how these turn out! I’ll show you every single picture once I get to see them” she giggled, “Seriously though, I can’t thank you enough for this, you’re a real lifesaver”

“I’m glad I could help” Ren said sweetly

One of the photographers then came over to them, “Great work today Ann-chan, you as well Amamiya-san”

“Thanks! Isn’t she the best?” Ann smiled

He nodded and smiled before walking away

“Oh yeah! These two dresses are actually ones I brought from home, but honestly that blue one looks amazing on you! So you should totally keep it” Ann said

“R-really? You’re fine with that?”

“Totally, I have a lot of clothes as it is!” she grinned

“Alright… thank you Ann” she smiled back at her

Morgana chuckled, “We got to help Lady Ann today and we discovered a new talent for Lady Ren!”

“Well, I’m going to head home, thanks again!” was the last thing she heard before slowly awakening again to her phone going off.

 

Ann: That was a good memory!

Yusuke: Oh? I didn’t have any last night

Haru: Same here

Ann: Yeah, it was just Ren and I

Ann: She really helped me out! I needed a sub to model with

Ann: And she filled in!

Ren: It was fun

Makoto: I guess that makes it pretty easy to tell what changed this time

Makoto: I doubt you had Ren’s old self model with you

Haru: So does that mean that Ren is a model now? Are the photos published?

Futaba: Yup, I just found them online

Ryuji: For real?!

Ann: Would it kill you to have SOME tact Ryuji?

Yusuke: I also wish to examine the photos composition and lighting

Yusuke: Photography is a work of art as well after all

Futaba: Ren’s pretty good at this

Futaba: A+ job

Ann: Oh by the way, that dress I gave you, did it appear in reality?

 

Ren got up and searched through her clothes, they didn’t see the dress last time when Ann was here. Surely enough though this time she found the blue dress from that memory sitting with the rest of her clothes.

“Huh… so some effects only occur at the same time that our memories catch up to reality?” Morgana thought aloud, “how bizarre”

 

Ren: Yeah, I just found it

Ann: Huh, kinda weird that it didn’t appear until now

Makoto: These changes seem to just be delayed

Makoto: In all likelihood? I imagine that eventually 

Makoto: We will only remember Ren’s old body through these discussions 

Makoto: Without any memory of what she looked like

Haru: That seems to make sense

Yusuke: Agreed, how do you feel about that, Ren?

Ren: It makes sense

Yusuke: What I mean is, is that a positive for you?

Ren: Only if you all are ok with it

Ann: No complaints here!

Haru: Yes, same here

Makoto: We already view you entirely as a girl

Makoto: So it makes sense to only remember this form for you

Ryuji: Hell yeah! plus rememberin two Rens is kinda weird

Futaba: Honestly it’s way more weird thinking about your old body now!

Futaba: I’ll be glad to only remember this look for you

Ren: Thanks everyone

 

“Heh, I’m of the same mind as them, we’ll remember you as your true self” Morgana smiled, “That’s the best result we could ever ask for”

She smiled back and nodded, getting up out of bed and getting changed before heading downstairs to help around the shop today.

 

It was a fairly normal day until later in the evening when Futaba came by unexpectedly.

“I’m here for dinner Sojirooo!!” she chanted the instant the opened the cafe door

“Ah, right, I forgot to tell you” he looked at Ren as she was finishing the dishes “We’re heading out for sushi again so go ahead and get your coat, you can finish cleaning the shop later”

“Futaba! Lady Ren! You have to be sure to get me some this time!!” Morgana essentially panicked, coming off to Sojiro as a sudden meow attack

“What’s he saying?” Sojiro looked at Futaba in confusion, “I still can’t quite believe that you can actually understand him…”

“Mwehehe, he’s just saying he wants us to bring him some sushi”

“Hmm… I can bring him back a little bit” he sighed, “I’ve really gotten soft in my old age”

“You’re the best Chief!!” Morgana was essentially jumping from happiness as Ren came back downstairs ready to go.

 

The trio headed out to the same sushi restaurant that they had visited earlier in the year, back when Futaba had just recovered from her change of heart. 

“Thanks for letting me come along again” Ren smiled, “What’s the occasion?”

“Eh nothing in particular, just the New Year with you kids” he smirked back

“Awww, see Ren? Sojiro does care!” Futaba teased, “You may as well be my big sister now!”

That made Ren cough on her food for a second, something about being called big sister just felt so… amazing

“Heh, well I gotta admit you two do act like siblings” he chuckled

“I suppose we do” her and Futaba grinned at each other

“So does that mean Ren is your daughter, Sojiro?!” Futaba spun her head around fast enough that her long orange locks smacked Ren in the face

“That’s… not exactly how that works” he laughed again, “Not that I don’t see it that way sometimes”

“Aww, you’re gonna make me blush” Ren teased, her and Futaba giggling together

“Yeah yeah, make fun of the old man” he sighed, though the smile on his face showed how he really felt

“You know, there’s all kinds of tricks we can get up to now!” Futaba’s little gremlin giggle reared it’s head again, “you know, now that you’re-”

Both of the girls stopped and just looked at each other awkwardly, another slip up the very next day? Ren had a feeling that Sojiro knew something was up already…

 

“Hm?... alright, time to spill it” his eyes narrowed on the pair, “The same thing happened yesterday, didn’t it?”

“S-sorry Ren”

“Nah, it’s nothing to worry about Futaba, I’ve kinda wanted to let him know anyway” she put a hand on her shoulder, looking over at her guardian, “Well… to put it mildly? Something really bizarre happened… on Christmas Eve”

“Hm? Wasn’t that…” his eyes widened again, “Ah, yeah, well we can talk about that once we get home”

She was thankful that he got the hint, talking about the Metaverse at a sushi restaurant could easily lead to another slip up in public, or as Ren called it ‘The Ryuji Fumble’

The rest of the dinner didn’t feel weird or anything, at this point Sojiro knew pretty much every other detail of her life outside of this. She knew already what his reaction was going to be and had no reason to stress out about filling him in, after the year she had she trusted him completely.

 

A little while later they came back into Leblanc, with a small take out box full of sushi for Morgana, who instantly sprinted the steps the moment the bell rang.

He didn’t even say a word, he was just drooling and now eating away at the fatty tuna they picked out for him. Meanwhile Sojiro stood behind the bar while Ren and Futaba sat on the stools.

“So when we sort of did the whole god killing thing…” she paused, “wait did we even tell you that part?”

“A god?” he grunted in disbelief

“Longer story, and beside the point” Ren shrugged, “Once we beat our last enemy the Metaverse started to disappear… everything for us went completely white as the world changed back to normal”

“And you were out cold right?” he raised an eyebrow

“Right, see… since I’m the leader of our group, I was entrusted with the power needed to kill that god” she adjusted her glasses, just now fully realizing how insane this all sounded, “and when that power was entrusted to me… a pretty big wish of mine actually came true”

“A… wish?”

“Yeah, well… uh… I wasn’t exactly a girl before that night?” she looked away from him for a moment, but immediately let her eyes dart back

“Hhmm…” he looked over at Futaba

“She’s telling the truth! But only us Phantom Thieves remember her old self” the orange haired girl explained

“Everyone else only remembers me as a girl, which to be honest I much prefer but…” she shrugged, “Seeing as your my guardian? I’ve kinda been wanting to let you know for a little while now”

“H-hold on now… I’m still confused on how this all happened in the first place?”

“Essentially? I overwrote the cognition of everyone on Earth by mistake which in turn changed my physical form in the real world” Ren had somehow managed to say all of that concisely and with a completely straight face

“If I hadn’t seen everything I’ve seen so far I’d probably call you crazy” Sojiro laughed, his smirk coming back, “well, it makes no difference to me, you like being a girl better, yeah?”

“Definitely!” she answered with a genuine smile

“Well, then that’s all that matters to me” he smiled back

“Best Sojiro everrrrr!” Futaba partied, grabbing Ren’s shoulder, “Big sis for life!”

Ren couldn’t help but giggle, “alright then, little sis”

 

A little while later Sojiro and Futaba left to go back home for the night and after cleaning up the rest of the shop, Ren headed upstairs to go to sleep as well with Morgana right on her heels.

“So the Chief knows everything now?” he yawned while curling up beside her in bed

“Yup”

“You haven’t been able to stop grinning since Futaba called you sister, you know” Morgana teased, nuzzling her side

“Hey, what can I say… it feels good to hear” she gave a short genuine laugh, looking up at the ceiling and being prepared for another Revised Memory to overtake her in her sleep.