By the time Ren got back to Leblanc, Yusuke had most of his things packed.
Which admittedly wasn't much.
A bag of clothes.
Sketchbooks.
Art supplies.
The model katana and airsoft gun were thankfully not currently visible to Sojiro.
Probably for the best.
Yusuke stood near the café entrance with one hand around the strap of his bag while Sojiro leaned against the counter.
"The dormitory arrangements have been confirmed," Yusuke explained. "Kosei has space available. Given the circumstances, they were willing to allow me to move in somewhat abruptly."
Somewhat abruptly.
Ren glanced at his bag.
He had essentially run away from home.
Not that Ren blamed him.
Returning to Madarame's house after everything would have been insane.
Sojiro nodded. "Good."
Yusuke bowed.
"Thank you again for allowing me to remain here."
Sojiro sighed. "We already did this."
"I am aware."
"Then stop thanking me."
Yusuke looked genuinely confused by the instruction.
Ren snorted.
Sojiro pointed at him. "You too."
"I didn't say anything."
"You were thinking something annoying."
"Unprovable."
Sojiro ignored him and looked back at Yusuke.
"If the dorm situation doesn't work out, call."
Yusuke blinked.
So did Ren.
Sojiro continued before either could respond.
"I'm not saying you can move into my attic with him."
"Hey."
"I'm saying if you need somewhere safe for a night, or something happens and you don't know where to go, call."
Yusuke went still.
Sojiro's expression hardened slightly.
"And if that man starts causing trouble because you left, don't go handling it by yourself."
Ren felt something warm settle in his chest.
It wasn't dramatic.
Sojiro wasn't hugging Yusuke.
He wasn't making some big promise to protect him from everything.
He was just standing behind a café counter, acting mildly irritated while casually making sure another teenager knew he had somewhere to go if things went wrong.
Ren smiled.
God, he was glad Sojiro was in his life.
Yusuke lowered his head.
"I understand."
"Good."
"Thank you."
Sojiro groaned.
"I told you to stop doing that."
Yusuke looked up. "I find that request unreasonable."
Ren laughed.
Sojiro glared at both of them.
"Get out."
Yusuke's lips twitched.
"Very well."
Ren walked him to the door.
Yusuke stopped before stepping outside.
"I will see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. Get some sleep first."
"I intend to."
"Good."
Yusuke glanced briefly toward Sojiro before looking back at Ren.
"Until tomorrow, then."
Ren nodded.
Yusuke left.
The bell above the door rang softly behind him.
Ren watched through the window until he disappeared down the street.
Then Sojiro spoke.
"He's a good kid."
Ren glanced over.
"Yeah."
"Bad situation."
"Yeah."
Sojiro started wiping down the counter.
Ren continued staring toward the door for another second.
"Thanks, Boss."
Sojiro didn't look up.
"Go upstairs."
Ren smiled.
"Yes, Boss."
"I'm not your boss."
---
Morgana was already waiting on Ren's bed when he got upstairs.
"You ready?"
Morgana's ears shifted.
"Yeah."
Ren grabbed his phone.
They had already discussed this.
No need to make it bigger than it was.
He called Yu.
It rang twice.
"Yo."
"Hey."
"Everything okay?"
Ren looked at Morgana.
Morgana stared at the phone like it was somehow personally responsible for his identity crisis.
"Mostly. We wanted to ask about Teddie."
There was a pause.
Not a worried one.
More like Yu immediately understood what the conversation was actually about.
"I talked to him."
Morgana straightened.
Ren put the phone on speaker.
Yu continued.
"He can make it to Tokyo by the end of the week."
Morgana's ears perked up.
"That soon?"
"He's apparently excited."
Ren grimaced.
That sounded dangerous.
Morgana hesitated.
Then, much quieter—
"Could I meet him?"
Ren glanced at him.
There it was.
His voice had shaken.
Barely.
But it had.
Yu apparently noticed too.
"You sure?"
Morgana recoiled like he'd been insulted.
"What is THAT supposed to mean?!"
Ren closed his eyes.
Yu remained completely calm.
"Nothing."
"You think I'm scared?!"
"I didn't say that."
"You implied it!"
"No," Ren interrupted.
Morgana whipped around.
Ren stared at the phone.
"Teddie is just..."
He paused.
How did one properly describe Teddie?
Energetic?
No.
Overwhelming?
Closer.
A walking social assault?
Maybe.
"...Loud."
There was silence from the phone.
Then Yu sighed.
"Alright then."
Morgana looked between them.
"What does that mean?"
"You'll understand," Yu said.
"I don't like the way you said that."
"You'll really understand."
"STOP MAKING IT WORSE!"
Ren laughed.
Yu did too.
Morgana huffed.
"I can handle one loud guy."
Ren stared at him.
Morgana narrowed his eyes.
"What?"
"Nothing."
"I can."
"Didn't say you couldn't."
"You're doing that thing with your face."
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
Yu cut in.
"I'll message you when I know exactly when he's coming."
Morgana calmed slightly.
"Okay."
Another pause.
Then Yu's voice softened.
"For what it's worth, Morgana?"
"What?"
"Teddie's probably the best person you could talk to about this."
Morgana didn't respond immediately.
His paws kneaded slightly into Ren's blanket.
Then—
"Obviously. That's why I asked."
Haughty little bastard.
Ren smiled.
Yu apparently heard it too.
"Right."
"Don't patronize me."
"Wouldn't dream of it."
"You sound like Joker!"
"That's terrifying."
"Fuck you," Ren said.
Yu laughed and hung up.
Morgana stared at the phone.
Then at Ren.
"He's weird."
"You'll love Teddie."
"That sounded threatening."
"It wasn't."
"Your face says otherwise."
---
The team arrived at Leblanc that afternoon.
Sojiro had wisely decided to leave Ren in charge of the café for a little while.
Ren suspected he knew they were going to talk privately.
He also suspected Sojiro was deliberately choosing not to ask why six teenagers kept holding increasingly serious meetings in his attic.
Yet.
Ren wasn't stupid enough to assume that would last forever.
Upstairs, everyone settled into their usual places.
Ryuji took the floor.
Ann and Shiho sat together.
Orihime sat beside them.
Yusuke arrived from Kosei shortly afterward and sat near the table.
Morgana took the center because apparently he had appointed himself meeting moderator.
Ren leaned against his desk.
"So."
Ryuji pointed at him.
"Crime."
Ren nodded.
"Crime."
Ann sighed.
"Can we call it literally anything else?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Funny."
Shiho nodded thoughtfully. "He's consistent."
"Thank you."
"That wasn't praise."
"I accept it anyway."
Morgana smacked one paw against the table.
"Calling Card!"
Everyone focused.
Mostly.
Ryuji was still smiling.
Ren pulled out his phone and opened their notes.
"We're rested. Route's secured. We have the Will Seeds. Treasure location confirmed."
"And we know how we're stealing it," Morgana added.
Yusuke's expression hardened.
"Then only the Calling Card remains."
"Right."
Ren looked around the room.
"Mona suggested something this morning."
Morgana puffed up.
"A very good something."
"Debatable."
"It is objectively brilliant!"
"Still debating."
Ann leaned forward. "What?"
Ren sighed.
"Ask Rukia to plant it."
Silence.
Then Ryuji's eyes widened.
"Oh."
Shiho understood almost immediately.
"Because normal people can't see her."
Morgana nodded aggressively. "Exactly!"
Ann blinked.
"That's..."
"Smart?" Morgana offered.
"I was going to say kind of cheating."
"Being a thief is cheating!"
Ann stared at him for a second.
"You know what? Whatever."
Orihime looked uncertain.
"Would Rukia get in trouble?"
Ren pointed at her.
"That's my concern."
Morgana's ears flattened slightly.
Ren continued.
"Soul Society doesn't exactly sound like a casual volunteer organization."
Yusuke tilted his head.
"From the explanation we received, it appeared rather hierarchical."
"Military government," Ren said.
Ryuji frowned.
"Yeah, actually."
"We don't know their laws. We don't know what she's allowed to interfere with. We don't know if helping a group of living humans commit supernatural burglary counts as some kind of crime."
Ryuji raised his hand.
"Regular burglary too."
Ren looked at him.
"The Palace isn't legally real."
"Calling Card is."
"Good point."
Ann rubbed her forehead.
"Our lives are stupid."
"Extremely."
Shiho looked at Ren.
"So we're voting on whether to ask."
"Ask," Ren emphasized. "Not tell her to do it. Not pressure her. We explain exactly what we want and why, and if she says no, that's it."
Orihime nodded immediately.
"Then I'm okay with asking."
Ann thought about it.
"Same."
Shiho nodded.
"Yes."
Ryuji shrugged.
"Yeah. Worst she does is tell us to fuck off."
Everyone looked at him.
"What?"
Yusuke raised one hand slightly.
"I also agree, provided Amamiya's condition stands. We request assistance. Nothing more."
Ren looked at Morgana.
Morgana nodded.
"Obviously."
Ren raised his own hand.
"Then unanimous."
Morgana looked pleased.
"Excellent! Now we just need to find—"
Tap.
Everyone stopped.
Something had hit the window.
Ren slowly turned his head.
Rukia was crouched outside.
On his roof.
Looking through his bedroom window.
...
Nobody spoke.
Rukia opened the window.
"Did someone say my name?"
...
Seven deadpan expressions stared at her.
Rukia froze.
Her eyes moved from Ren.
To Morgana.
To Ryuji.
Ann.
Shiho.
Orihime.
Yusuke.
Then back to Ren.
Ren raised an eyebrow.
Rukia's face slowly turned pink.
"I was nearby."
Nobody answered.
"And I sensed several of you gathered here."
Nothing.
"So I thought something might have happened."
Still nothing.
Rukia's blush deepened.
"I was worried!"
Orihime's expression immediately softened.
"Aww."
Rukia snapped toward her.
"Don't."
Ren crossed his arms.
"You climbed onto my roof because you were worried."
"I did not climb."
"Right. Supernatural roof trespassing."
"Amamiya."
Ryuji looked at Morgana.
Morgana looked at Ryuji.
Ann covered her mouth.
Shiho looked away.
Yusuke stared at Rukia with genuine curiosity.
Rukia noticed.
"What?"
"I was simply considering the dramatic timing of your arrival."
Her eye twitched.
Ren smiled.
"Actually, your timing is perfect."
Rukia became suspicious immediately.
"No."
"I haven't asked anything yet."
"I've known you long enough."
"That's hurtful."
"You asked me to teach you Kidō this morning."
"And you unfairly refused."
"Because you're HUMAN."
"Skill issue."
Rukia stared at him.
Ryuji choked.
Ren gestured toward the room.
"We were talking about the Calling Card."
Rukia's expression changed.
The embarrassment didn't vanish entirely, but duty and curiosity pushed forward.
"The thing you need before this Palace's Treasure can be stolen."
"Exactly."
She climbed through the window.
"You found your route?"
"Yesterday."
"And you're rested?"
"Mostly."
Rukia looked around the room.
Nobody appeared half-dead.
Good enough.
"So why were you talking about me?"
Ren glanced at everyone.
Nobody objected.
He looked back at Rukia.
"We want to ask you for a favor."
Rukia immediately narrowed her eyes.
"What kind?"
Ren smiled faintly.
"The potentially illegal kind."
Rukia closed her eyes.
"...Alright then."
---