The first thing Ren noticed wasn't the change in their appearances.It was how the air felt… thicker. Heavier. Like something unspoken had slipped between the moments they used to take for granted.
A touch that lingered a second longer.A glance quickly turned away.The quiet between words that now buzzed with something more.
He'd been staying late at Leblanc, working on infiltration notes when the knock came. Gentle. Not urgent. But persistent.
When he opened the door, he didn't expect to see them—all three of them—standing there beneath the yellow streetlight.
Ryuji.Yusuke.Morgana.
Except… not exactly.
Ryuji
Her blonde hair fell messier than usual, damp from a recent shower. The hoodie she always wore looked tight on her—almost like it didn't quite belong to her anymore. She shifted on her feet, eyes flicking up to meet Ren's for a moment before sliding away again.
"I… just thought we could hang out. Like old times," she said, her voice a little softer now, a little unsure.
There was something in the way she crossed her arms—like she was trying to hide how she filled out differently now. Her figure was athletic but undeniably feminine. A new vulnerability clung to her, but her gaze still burned with Ryuji's trademark fire.
Yusuke
She stood just behind, composed as always—at least on the surface.
Her long indigo hair had been braided loosely down her back, and she wore a soft kimono tied hastily, like she'd dressed without really thinking. Her movements were graceful, but there was a distant shimmer in her eyes. A kind of daze.
"Forgive the intrusion," she murmured, her voice dreamy and melodic. "I… had the strangest urge to be near you tonight. I believe my art may depend on it."
She tilted her head slightly, observing Ren not as a friend, but as something else. Something she hadn't dared admit even to herself until now.
Morgana
She stepped forward last—small, lithe, and glowing with nervous energy.
She wasn't the cat anymore. Her transformation had left her with delicate hands, a soft face, and feline grace that still lingered in her movements. Her golden eyes glinted as she looked up at him.
"I didn't want to be alone," she whispered. "Not tonight."
There was something innocent in her tone, but beneath that, something pulsing—uncertainty, curiosity… desire.
Inside Leblanc
The café was quiet. Warm. Only the low hum of the fridge and the distant city sounds filled the space.
They sat in a loose circle around the table. Cups of warm tea untouched.
The conversation started normal—talking about recent missions, how strange the Metaverse had felt lately—but it kept drifting. Slipping into silence, into stolen glances, into the sound of rain now tapping lightly against the windows.
Ren saw it now. The change in how they sat. The way Ryuji pulled her hoodie tighter one moment, then loosened it the next, her skin flushed from warmth or something else.
Yusuke's hand rested on the table, fingers twitching like she wanted to reach out but wasn't sure what for.
And Morgana, curled on the armrest of the couch beside him, leaned ever so slightly closer, as if testing how far she could go before he noticed.
The Moment Between
"Something's different," Ren finally said, his voice quiet.
None of them answered right away.
Ryuji looked away, biting her lower lip.
Yusuke exhaled slowly, her eyes heavy-lidded. "I feel… different. My body. My thoughts. I cannot explain it, only that they all lead here. To you."
Morgana touched his arm gently, fingers trembling. "We didn't ask for this. But now… I don't think I want to give it back."
Ren looked between them. He could feel it now—not just attraction, but connection. Longing. The slow burn of something deeper unfolding beneath the surface. Like their souls had shifted toward him, pulled by something divine and unknowable.
He didn't move to act on it. Not yet. But he didn't pull away, either.
He let the warmth build between them. The soft breath. The shared stillness. The sense that something beautiful—and dangerous—was beginning.
Not lust.Not yet.But the promise of it.