Persona 5 x persona 4

chapter 32

December 8th Thursday

A 4 a.m. wake up call to be at the train station by 5:30, and a departure at 6. It had been a chaotic morning already. Still, the 4 adults, 3 teenagers, and a cat had made it. Because of Morgana's status as a cat, he had to be put in a cat carrier, much to the feline's chagrin. He was loaded in the top luggage rack next to Ren's and Futaba's suitcases. As the train pulled from the station, Ren could feel the death grip Futaba had on his arm. She was more than a bit nervous about all this but her face reflected her pure determination about the situation. She wanted to do this. What was that saying about being brave? Being brave didn't mean you weren't scared, being brave meant you could still be scared but you did it anyway. That was Futaba in a nutshell at the moment. Ren reached over and pat her head.

"You good?" Ren asked.

Futaba made a noise that was purely a Futaba-like noise. "Yes... It's just I feel I might have forgotten something... Ya know something I may need in Inaba."

"You'll be fine if we forgot something we can get it in Inaba," Ren assured his navigator.

"... Was it scary?" Futaba settled down in her seat and gave him a ponderous look behind her glasses.

"What was scary?" Ren looked at Futaba needing more of a context to her question.

"When you moved to Tokyo... was it scary?" Futaba asked.

Ren didn't have an immediate answer to that question. He had to think about it. It was a bit frightening to an extent. However, the main feeling Ren had coming to Tokyo was just this dull numb feeling. His parents had all but kicked him out, he was left disconnected from everyone he knew back in his home town. He was now a convicted criminal. No, he had felt his life had crashed around him. His old life was no more and the only thing he could do was put on the mask of indifference and struggle through it.

"A bit, but mostly I just felt numb," Ren answered after careful thought.

"Numb? I suppose that makes sense." Futaba yawned and rested her head against his shoulder. Futaba was someone who rarely woke up before 9; one of the perks of being a shut-in who didn't go to school. "Do you regret coming here to Tokyo?"

"Of course not." Ren smiled down at Futaba. "I've made to many memories here, I honestly feel more at home living in Boss's attic then I ever did my own home."

"Good, then don't leave. Ever." Futaba whispered as she snuggled down and yawned again.

Ren wrapped his arm around Futaba and pulled her close. That wasn't something he could promise. The weight of having to leave and go back to his lifeless home was something he kept pushing to back of his head. Would his parents even want him to return? They were so easy to abandon him in the first place. So much had happened this past year, so what was he going to do once his time came to an end? It's not like he could just decide to stay. Ren looked out the window at the passing landscape. It wasn't so much that he wanted to stare out the window it's just the repetitive landscape whipping by letting him think. His mind drifted looking for solutions. Solutions that would let him stay close to Futaba, his friends... to Makoto...

Wait.

His mind suddenly snaps to a realization. Yu had the same problem he was currently facing. He had to leave his friends at the end of his year, but his bonds hadn't broken. He was still friends with them all. He had successfully done what Ren was now trying to rack his brain to figure out. It would seem Ren only needed to turn to the man with all the answers once again. Yu sat across from him on the train. He was currently deeply absorbed in a book. From the brief conversations this morning it was made clear Yu hated travel by plane, and would rather take a train. Which meant if he could he take the train and he was accustomed to the long travel times on this particular mode of transportation. That also meant Ren had plenty of time to gain insight from his mentor.