Chapter 3

Slave to Society

?/?/?

It was a calm and ordinary day for the group. They had recently defeated a palace owner's shadow and were successful in their attempt to steal the treasure. Waiting for a change of heart, Ann had gotten an idea and planned a double date for her, Ryuji, Makoto and Ren. The small group agreed to meet up near Shibuya's train station where Ann would show them the spot that she had chosen for their date.

Makoto walked outside of her train. Fortunately for her, getting to Shibuya wasn't necessarily too difficult, especially since the train wasn't too far from her home. She walked up the steps to the surface and was greeted to a familiar sight. The many people on the streets were all walking to many different locations, whether it was a convenience store, a fast food restaurant, the theater, or the subway itself. It fascinated her knowing that everybody out here had their own goals and aspirations that they were working for as well.

She looked at the time on her phone and noticed that she had arrived at her destination about an hour early. She sighed, realizing that her early habits had followed her once more. She decided to walk along through Shibuya in an attempt to kill time and look around for places that the group may be interested in afterwards.

"Oh, Makoto! Over here!" A familiar voice said as she was called from where the famous Hachikō dog statue was.

Makoto looked at her friend in surprise. "Ann? I didn't expect to see you so early." She said as she walked towards her. "The boys aren't here yet, right?"

"I wouldn't worry about them. Knowing Ryuji, he'll just barely make it here on time." Ann replied.

"Let's not count on that. Ren said earlier that he was going to pass by Ryuji's house, so I'm certain that he'll try his best to make sure that they both arrive early." Makoto said confidently.

"Ah, that's good. I'm glad that your early habits are rubbing off him already. It definitely beats waiting an hour for them." Ann said with a glad expression.

"My early habits? Arriving early isn't necessarily a bad thing." Makoto said, trying to justify herself.

Ann looked at the girl with a smug smile. "Makoto, who are we kidding here? If I hadn't showed up just now, you would've been stuck waiting here by yourself for another hour."

"Well, um... I mean..."

Ann took a glance at her friend. "Hmm?"

Makoto stared back and sighed. "Yes, it's become a bit tedious at this point." She said in defeat.

"Hey it's not a really bad thing at all, it's just that you kinda go overboard with your earliness. Just have to tone it down a bit." Ann said, trying to cheer up the girl.

"Right, I'll do that from now on." Makoto said, but remembered that something was off there. Why was Ann here this early in the first place? "Sorry for asking, but if you knew that I was going to show up early, why did you arrive here to see me?"

"Well, I just wanted to have a talk with you. Without the boys y'know?" Ann replied back.

"A talk? About what though?" Makoto asked in confusion.

"Come on, I'll tell you as we walk."

The two walked through the streets of Shibuya as they passed by many businesses that she had visited before. There was the arcade that she adored going to, the Big Bang Burger which she wasn't too fond of, a gym which she had gone to every once in a while, and the airsoft shop which she frequented quite often. Everything was located in this one hub of the city. Not that there was any reason to complain, especially with how convenient it all was. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me?" Makoto asked.

"Alright Makoto, let me ask you a question. What do you think of Ren? I mean, he is your boyfriend." Ann asked curiously.

"You... wanted to talk about my relationship with Ren?" She asked, puzzled by what Ann had meant.

"Come on! I'm real curious about this! You two only just recently told us that you were going out, so I kind of wanted to know what you liked in him." Ann said excitedly.

"Oh, right. Sorry for not telling you and the group earlier." Makoto said guiltily. "We didn't want to tell everybody so suddenly."

"It's not really a big deal. Knowing you guys, I'm surprised you decided to tell us on THAT day of all days." She teased once more. "But spill it out already! What do you like in him?"

"Oh erm, well, I like that he's very honest and down to earth. He's very dependable, and a great leader as well. I also like his sense of justice. He doesn't have any true reason to help others in need, but he still does it for the sake of doing so. His sense of determnation is something I've admired sense I met him, and he's somebody who I can easily rely on too. He's also got a way with words, and he... has this smile that I can't describe. Whenever I'm with him, it just feels like everything is going to be alright. It's like he's there to protect me, and I'm there to protect him. I... I don't really know how to really put it into words, but it makes me feel glad." Makoto said, not realizing she had subconsciously formed a smile. "Sorry if it doesn't make too much sense."

"No, I know what you mean. But it does sound like you're a bit head over heels for him though." Ann replied with a laugh.

"Hey! I thought you'd of all people would understand." Makoto said, showing a light blush.

"I get you, I get you. No need to be angry." Ann grinned.

"Okay then, it's my turn to ask a question. What about you and Ryuji?" Makoto questioned, trying to get back at her. "What do like about him?"

Ann thought about the question, and began to answer. "Well, Ryuji is rash, impatient, rough, loud, and isn't one to think anything through..."

Makoto looked at her friend in surprise. She did hear my question, right?

Ann continued on. "...But after all the stuff he makes me put up with, it's just what makes him who he is. He has really good intentions, and will fight for the friends he cares about to make sure we don't get hurt. He might seem shallow at first, but he's an incredible person and I'm sure he doesn't even realize it. He would always protect me from the insults people would throw at me simply because I was different than them. I've always appreciated what he did for me, and well... I'm glad that we're together now." She said happily with a bright smile.

Makoto smiled back upon hearing the response of her friend. "I see. I'm happy for the two of you."

"That's my line." Ann responded.

"But let me say that you're a hypocrite if you think I'm the only one that's head over heels for someone." Makoto said jokingly.

"Yeah yeah, but I never said that I wasn't though." She said, still grinning. "But still, it's surprising that this Phantom Thief business brought us together. It's hard to think what would've happened to each of us if we never discovered the metaverse."

Makoto looked at a distance, thinking about Ann's statement. "It's something that I've thought about as well, but there's no point in thinking about that now. We're all friends now thanks to it, and we all know that we're going to live for our own sake, not for anybody else's."

"Exactly. No asshole in this world is going to tell us how to live our lives!" Ann exlaimed loudly.

"N-not so loud." Makoto said, slightly embarrassed. "Seems that you're taking from Ryuji's loud and vulgar language."

"Oh woops, maybe he is a bad influence after all." Ann laughed once more.

Makoto laughed with her friend. It was strange revealing her feelings towards Ren with somebody else, especially since she wasn't used to her feelings towards the boy. Regardless though, the more she thought about it, she realized that it would be even stranger not to tell her friend and to keep her feelings to herself. After all, this is what friends are all about.

"Wait a minute, is that them over there?" Ann said, aiming her hand towards a train station.

Makoto looked at where Ann was pointing at. "Looks like I was right." Makoto said, noticing a boy with glasses and his blonde friend. "Let's go get th-"

"Hey Ryuji! Ren! Right over here!" Ann loudly called out.

The two boys looked at the two girls. They all exchanged smiles once they had noticed one another.

"Woah didn't expect to see you guys so early." Ryuji said. "Now I know what this guy meant when he told me to get ready an hour earlier." He said pointing to Ren.

"You knew?" Makoto asked.

"No, but I had a feeling your early habit would show itself again. You've done it a few times before, and well... I didn't want for you to be waiting by yourself again." Ren said, showing his girlfriend a smile.

Makoto smiled back at him. "I see. Thank you Ren."

Ann looked at the two with a familiar teasing grin.

"W-what is it?" The couple asked nervously at the same time.

"Oh it's nothing. Just don't worry about it." Ann replied.

"Well, where's this place you were talking about? You didn't exactly give us the address." Ryuji interrupted.

"Oh, it's real closeby. Now that we're all here, we may as well just get on over there. It's nothing too fancy so we don't need a reservation." Ann said, leading the group to a diner near where she and Makoto had just walked by.

"Ohhh so this is the place. Been here a few times, but man is it just hard not to come back." Ryuji said as he stared at the diner in front of him.

"Ah, I think I've gotten everything the menu offers at this point." Ren replied.

"Same here man, and it's a good thing the food's pretty cheap compared to some other spots."

"Yeah, I didnt want to pick some place too fancy especially with how badly we blew our funds last time, but I still think it's a pretty good spot." Ann said.

"Seems that I'm the only one that hasn't been here then." Makoto said, feeling left out.

"Don't worry about that. As a matter of fact, it might be better this way. You'll get to experience all of what's to offer for the first time." Ren replied back.

"I guess it is a good thing if you put it that way." The brunette said happily. "I'll be counting on you to show me the ropes then."

"It's a deal." Ren replied back.

"Alright then, let's get a move on. Haven't eaten anything since yesterday and I'm seriously starving right now." Ryuji said as he tried to be the first of the group to enter the diner.

"Should've at least eaten some breakfast." Ann said following behind him.

"It seemed like a waste of time, especially since we were coming here anyways. It's whatever though, right? Anyways, let's just get going."

"Sometimes I don't know what to do with you, Ryuji." Ann said with an annoyed expression.

Makoto looked at her group of friends and smiled. It was nice having people that she could rely on. They weren't fakes that didn't care for who she was. They were genuine friends who she could trust. It felt like she was finally somewhere where she could say she could belong. The Phantom Thieves they had formed was the group in where she felt she could finally be herself. Ren took her hand. They both stared at one another as a light blush formed on both the girl and boy. "C'mon. We don't want to keep them waiting, do we?" He said, showing her a smile.

"Right." Makoto replied back gladly.

"Let's go."

11/20/20XX

Makoto's eyes slowly began to open up. She looked towards the ceiling, her room's ceiling. It was the same old room she had always slept in for the past few years. She grabbed her phone to look at the time. 10:43 PM. She sighed to herself and remembered the dream she just had. No, not a dream. It was a memory that she lived through. She had made some of the most happiest memories thanks to him and the rest of the thieves. Without them, she didn't know where she would've been, or what she would've been doing.

She got up from her bed, and slowly made her way to the living room. She walked carefully, not wanting to wake her sister up. My sister... She realized that her sister wasn't in the house. Makoto's sister was out in a secluded interrogation room with Ren. She turned on the lights and stared blankly into the empty room. Loneliness... It's all she could describe how life felt right there and then. A feeling that she was familiar with, and absolutely despised.

She thought about the boy's well being once again. It was the one thing she couldn't help but think about all the time. Nobody knew what was going on at the moment. Futaba was supposed to update the group on any news regarding their leader, but so far there was nothing. Everything was going according to plan so far, but from here on out, it was all up to him. Ren...

There wasn't too much she could do but wait and see what happened. She thought about her life before the Thieves became a part of her life. When she followed the orders of everyone around her with no questions asked. When she believed academics was all there was for her to focus on. When she lived for the sake of other's, and not her own.

04/09/20XX

Makoto had finished getting herself ready to head to school. She looked at the time and saw that she had more than enough time to make some breakfast for her sister and herself. She walked quietly outside to her sister's room. She slowly peaked her head out in into her room, and saw her sleeping at a desk. Makoto sighed seeing her sister like this. She was overworking herself with her job too often. More often than not, she would skip meals to continue her work, and she would purposefully avoid sleep as well. It didn't seem healthy whatsoever. I promise you sis, I'll let you get some rest as soon as I graduate. Just... don't over do it, please.

She headed to the kitchen, there making breakfast for the two of them. She had learned to cook at an early age due to the fact that there was almost always nobody home to give her food. This was due to an incident involving her father and his work. She shook her head thinking about it. It was something that had bothered her immensely. It was one of the main reasons as to why her sister had overworked herself so much. Makoto continued to cook the food and ignore the thoughts that had formed in her mind.

"You're up early." Sae said as she walked to the kitchen tiredly.

"Oh, good morning sis! I was just making some breakfast for the two of us." Makoto responded back.

"I see." Her sister replied. She looked at Makoto with uncertainty, but then smiled. "Well, it wouldn't hurt to eat together for once."

A smile quickly formed on the younger sister's face. "I'm almost done, so just hang on tight for a bit." She said. It had been such a long time since she and her sister were able to eat with one another. A majority of the time, Sae would not be able to stay home for too long due to her job, but it wasn't her fault. Makoto knew that it was necessary for her to do so. She was doing her best to support the two, at the cost of her health and time.

Sae looked at her sister cook. "What did you cook today anyways?"

The younger sister turned around with two plates of food ready to be eaten. "Two sunny-side up eggs with rice and curry." She said as she placed the plates at their table.

The two sisters bowed their heads to the plates. "Thank you for the food." They said at the same time.

"Sorry if you're not a fan of curry in the morning. I didn't want yesterday's food to go to waste." Makoto said.

"No, don't worry about it, if it can't be helped, so be it. I'm always a fan of your curry regardless." Her sister replied, smiling.

"Thank you sis." Makoto said with a smile.

"Anyways, how's school going for you? Doing your best I hope." Sae said, trying to initiate a conversation.

"Of course. It's been going real well. I've already gotten used to most of what we're learning already, Math is material that I already learned prepping for entrance exams so it's mainly review, English isn't all that difficult, and social studies is just basic Japanese history. I think this year I'll be able to be go from rank #4 to #1 if this keeps up."

"I see, that's good to hear. I know you can do it Makoto. With your position as student council president and your dedication, I'm certain you'll be able to have teachers give you an even higher grade." Sae said.

"I'm hoping that's what happens. At the end of the day though, my grades are my highest priority." Makoto replied in a determined tone. These numbers are what would determine if she would be able to get into a college that would allow her to become a successful person in the future. A person capable of succeeding in her sister's footsteps. "Anyways, how's work going?" She asked.

"It's difficult. The cases regarding the mental shutdowns still don't make too much sense, and the autopsy reports never indicate anything wrong with a victim's mental health before an incident even occurs." Sae replied, showing a face of uncertainty once more.

"I see. It sounds very strange." Makoto said, thinking about the case.

"It is, but it's something that you shouldn't be too invested in. Remember to only focus on yourself and not get yourself into things that don't involve you. You don't need any distractions, especially right no-" She suddenly heard her phone begin to ring. "Oh, excuse me."

She got up from her chair and began to speak into her phone. "Hello? You mean right now? How important can this be that it couldn't wait until I got there?" She continued, complaining to the person on the other line. "Alright alright. I'll be there as soon as possible. Bye."

"What did they say?" Makoto asked.

"Something came up at work again. They want me to get there as soon as I can. Sorry, but can you put the leftovers in a container for me?" Sae asked with a sigh.

"Yes sis." Makoto replied, a brief look of sadness appearing on her face.

"Makoto, I'm sorry about this. I know this happens so often that you've probably gotten used to it." Sae said guiltily.

"No it's fine. I understand why you need to do this, so don't worry about me too much." The younger sister said, forcing a smile.

Sae looked at her and thought for a bit, and then formed a weak smile. "I promise you, as soon as I get the time, we'll go on a vacation together, just you and me. I've heard there were deals on some hot springs."

"D-do you really mean it?" Makoto asked excitedly.

"Of course, my only condition is that you focus on your studies and keep your grades up." Sae said with a strict tone. "Do that and I'll have the preparations underway."

"Okay, I'll do that for sure." She replied back.

"Alright, I'll see you later tonight. Do your best, alright?" Sae said, getting ready to leave.

"I will sis." Makoto said as she gave her sister a container with food. "You be careful out there."

"Same goes for you. Bye." Sae said as she left the house.

Makoto looked at the room again. A silence crept within the house once more. A silence that she had already gotten used to. She sighed again, but knew this was the way life had to be. She focused on her studies for their family's sake. For her sister's sake. If my grades are all it would take for my sis to take a vacation, then so be it. She finished up eating her food, and prepared to head to Shujin Academy.

She got on the same train she had always used and headed towards Shibuya. From there, she needed to head to the surface and transfer to a different train to arrive at her school. It was how everyday of her high school life had went in the mornings.

She walked towards the surface and focused on getting to her school. The view was the same as always, with people trying to get to their destinations, but she had to focus on herself. There was no reason to get involved with people she didn't know. That was something her sister had taught her to do.

As she went downwards to catch her train, she decided to check the time and see how much time she had left before class started. 7:23AM is what the phone said. There was something off about the phone though. There was a strange looking app covering the entirety of the screen. She stared at it in confusion and tapped on it to see if it would do anything. All of a sudden, she noticed the people around her bagan to move slower and slower until eventually, everything came to a halt. She couldn't tell what was going on. She looked outwards of the station and noticed a boy stand still and stare at the Shibuya 109 building.

"H-Hello?!" The girl yelled out. There was no response, as if he wasn't able to hear her. She turned her head to the building he was staring at, and she noticed a very strange figure below the building engulfed in flames. She blinked a few times and hoped it was just some strange dream, but nothing. A sudden noise was heard at the bottom of the stairs she was at. She saw a motorcycle revving up its engine on some train tracks as it got louder and louder with each passing second. The motorcycle had a strange face at the front of it, and something about it just seemed very strange. A voice began to speak. "You are a slave... Want emancipation?"

A/N: We finally arrive into original territory! Chapter 2 was just a bunch of exposition and the such and there's still a little bit more of that left, but it won't end up being a 1:1 retelling and instead I'll add some originality to it. One thing that's really noticeable are the "dreams" that happen in chapter 1 and 3. It's a fun way to show what lies ahead, but also a bit hard to incorporate with ease. I'll still add a few from time to time, but not once a chapter and the such. I'll probably sprinkle them out a bit as the story progresses.

Also, Ren may be the main character, but I'm not gonna neglect Makoto. There are some scenes in game where I was curious as to what the thieves were doing while Ren was gone, especially during his interrogation. As well as that, I just want to expand on her character and interactions a bit more too, so expect to see both the perspectives of Frizzy hair and Miss Prez in later chapters.

Sorry for the delay though. This was originally one chapter, but it just kept on getting longer and it became too much to have as a single chapter. On the bright side, the next two chapters should be finished more easily. It will likely be another two weeks though since I need to get back to updating that other fic I sort left behind since writing this story. Anyways, I'll see ya guys next chapter then, have a good one!