Open Up

Ren had been dealing with a lot, to say the least.

It wasn't just that Goro had tried to kill him, it was also the fact that he had to pretend he was completely fine. That was true physically. But emotionally, it was another story.

He wasn't okay. Even though they had figured out Goro's plan fairly quickly thanks to Morgana, that didn't mean that having him as a teammate hadn't made his betrayal hurt less. Ren refused to believe he could be fully evil. Specially after everything Goro had told him.

But he couldn't just say that to everyone else, be it to the Phantom Thieves or the other people at his dorm. He didn't know how they would react, after all. He feared they could see him even caring about Goro as betrayal. He was the leader of the Phantom Thieves, so he was supposed to not let his emotions get in the way of his rational thought. If he were to start having doubts, what would even happen to them?

But the other persona users at his dorm… They seemed to notice something was up with him. They hadn't known Goro as well as he had, but they also didn't have that big of a grudge against him, even though they knew what he had done to Ren.

But he would still put on a smile. There wasn't anything anyone could do about Goro anyway, so telling them anything would just bring them down. He didn't want that. And most of them had no problem leaving it at that.

Hamuko, however, seemed much more persistent. Even more than Maya. He had noticed how she seemed to have some kind of talent for seeing through people's masks.

Everybody had already left off to go to sleep that night, leaving only Ren and Hamuko at the common area, both of them sitting on different couches. But before Ren could even say anything about going to bed, Hamuko had spoken.

"How are you feeling?" She asked.

He was in silence for a second. His first thought had been 'not so good', but he lied instead. "I feel so-so. But I'm probably just sleepy."

"I mean emotionally. Y'know… With everything that's been going on."

"I already told you I'm fine."

“Will you just tell me the truth?” She raised her volume, looking very serious. He had never seen her act like that before. "You're Not fooling anybody as well as you think you are. I can tell you've been faking that smile ever since that day."

He was silent. He should have expected it, really. They knew him far too well.

"We all know how much you care about Goro. Of course you wouldn't be okay after he tried to kill you."

He sighed. There was no use hiding it anymore. "I… I don't think he is all that bad. I think… There must be something else going on. He told me so many things about himself… I refuse to believe those were lies. But… I don't know how Morgana and the others would react to that. They didn't get as close to him as I did." He looked away from her as he continued. It felt weird. He wasn't used to putting his heart out to others so easily. "And with you guys… I just didn't want to bring your moods down with me. There isn't much we can do about him right now, after all. What would be the point of making you guys worry?"

"That still doesn't mean you have to keep it all to yourself. You can trust us. Look, even I always felt like Goro was hiding something behind that pretty face he showed on TV." She sighed. "You don't have to go through this alone. We'll be here for you. I'll be here for you. And I trust you guys to do the same for me."

They were both silent for a moment. He smiled. Hamuko was right. Even if it would still take him a while to learn how to open up properly.

He got up, then walked up to her and hugged her. "Thank you, Hamuko."

She hugged him back. He wondered when was the last time he had opened up to anyone like that. The last time he had let others see his insecurities…

He let go of her, then pat her head. "If you ever need someone to talk to, you can tell me."

She smiled back at him. "Sure."

They told each other goodnight before he went to his room so he could finally sleep. And, somehow, just talking to her was enough to relieve some of his anxieties.

However, he didn't see her smile fading the moment he was out of her sight. Or hear she sigh.

"I really should follow my own advice, huh?" She mumbled to herself.

She knew she could trust them, and that keeping it all to herself wasn't healthy. But that didn't make it any easier.