Raiden Residence, living room, in front of the high-end sofa.
Rita leaned forward slightly, her slender hands, clad in white lace gloves, gently yet firmly kneading Ren Amamiya's body as he lay face down on the sofa. She brushed aside a strand of ash-blonde hair falling near her ear, leaned close to Ren's ear, and whispered in a magnetic, teasing tone, "Mr. Ren, it's only been two days, but your muscles have become much firmer~"
A warm, ambiguous stream of air brushed against Ren's ear, creating a comfortable, pleasant sensation.
Observing Ren, eyes closed in relaxation under Rita's maid massage service, a look of comfortable enjoyment on his face, Raiden Mei, sitting on another sofa, couldn't help but feel a pang of regret and disappointment.
Rita's compliment wasn't empty flattery; it was an accurate description. As a world-class assassin, Rita's understanding of human anatomy had reached its peak. When massaging Ren two days prior, she had silently memorized the state of his physical development.
Her hands had measured which parts of his body possessed the most explosive power, which had the greatest endurance. She had even used this data to simulate combat scenarios against Ren in her mind. Rita had hoped to find Ren's weaknesses, but disappointingly discovered he was remarkably well-balanced, with no obvious flaws for her to exploit.
Ren's physical condition was excellent. Two days ago, Rita had estimated his strength was roughly equal to her own—assuming she was enhancing her body with Honkai energy, of course. Yet, in just two days, Ren seemed to have secretly taken some kind of super-enhancer; his muscle quality had improved dramatically.
Rita's slender fingertips gently traced over Ren's broad, solid back. Her experience and instincts as a world-class killer allowed her to fully sense the terrifying power contained within his body. Two days ago, Rita felt confident she could match Ren's strength. Now, however, she lacked that confidence... even if she wore her Valkyrie battlesuit, the outcome might not change.
Rita was beginning to understand why Otto held Ren in such high regard. This ridiculous situation—doubling one's strength in just two days—was something Rita had only ever witnessed in Schicksal's strongest Valkyrie, Durandal, before meeting Ren.
Although Rita could only currently perceive the improvement in Ren's physical stats, unable to judge his growth in other areas, even this physical enhancement alone was astonishingly fast. Ren was already incredibly strong, yet he continued to visibly strengthen. At this rate, he might reach Lady Durandal's level in the near future, perhaps even surpassing her...
Even now, Rita still viewed Ren as a potential adversary. Feeling the intense warmth radiating from the male body beneath her hands, realizing that if she failed to perfectly conceal her true identity and purpose, she constantly risked Ren detecting something amiss, leading to disastrous failure—a sense of dangerous alertness, like walking on a razor's edge, surged within Rita, accompanied by the intense thrill of touching a deadly taboo.
At this thought, Rita, who always maintained an elegant, composed, and effortless demeanor, couldn't help but blush slightly. Her smile bloomed like a rose, becoming even more alluring and captivating.
Seeing Rita's ambiguous smile, Raiden Mei, on the other sofa, looked even more melancholic. I must learn this so I can replace Rita and give Ren massages myself from now on. Mei slowly clenched her fists, her eyes fixed intently on Rita's massage techniques on Ren's body, absorbing the fatigue-relieving skills like a sponge.
"Hooo~~~ Massage time is over, Mr. Ren. You may get up now."
After a few gentle pats on Ren's back to conclude the session, Rita let out a soft breath, straightened up with a smile, and addressed Ren lying on the sofa.
"Thank you for your hard work, Rita... I feel so much lighter after the massage." Ren stood up from the sofa, stretching his body. He instantly felt signals of relaxation and pleasure from every part of him. Rita's maid service had not only eased his physical fatigue but also swept away the mental stress accumulated from a full day of intense Mementos exploration, leaving his mind feeling incredibly clear and serene.
"Rita has another scheduled appointment, so I must take my leave for now. Thank you for your patronage, Mr. Ren. And thank you, Miss Mei, for keeping Rita's bracelet safe." After receiving payment for her services, Rita picked up the golden Soulium bracelet from the side table and fastened it onto her slender wrist.
She gracefully curtsied, lifting the hem of her maid dress slightly, bid farewell to Ren and Mei, and departed.
"Mei, want to go out and watch a movie? Relax a bit? Even though we have the mission to save the world, we need to rest and recharge properly sometimes."
Watching Rita's figure recede until she was out of sight, Ren turned slightly towards Raiden Mei beside him and invited her out for the evening. Besides grinding Shadows in Mementos for levels and stealing Treasures and Will Seeds to increase power, the pure bonds formed between people, born from the heart, were also a powerful source of strength for Persona users. Therefore, raising Confidant ranks was also necessary.
Ren could tolerate the monotonous grind of fighting in Mementos, but Mei and the others might not adapt as easily. To care for his teammates' mental well-being, and conveniently raise a Confidant rank, Ren decided to invite Mei to the movies.
"Watch a movie? Mm, okay! I'm fine with that!!"
Having also endured a full day of battle in Mementos, Mei had accepted Rita's massage service at Ren's recommendation. After seeing Rita off, Mei had been mentally reviewing and learning Rita's techniques.
Hearing Ren's invitation, Mei was initially a bit distracted, but she quickly snapped to attention. Surprise flashed in her purple eyes, and she nodded vigorously, readily accepting Ren's offer.
After hearing Ren planned to call Rita over for maid service, Bronya had dragged Seele back to her room and shut the door tightly, not emerging since. Ren felt Bronya might have misunderstood something; the Rita he called was a legitimate maid, offering no unspeakable services.
Although Bronya had shut herself in, since she was with Seele, Ren, as Persona Seele's master, could easily contact Bronya through Seele. After asking Seele to inform Bronya via their connection, Ren and Mei left the Raiden residence together, strolling towards the nearest cinema.
At the cinema, after some discussion, Ren and Mei decided to watch a currently popular horror film. After buying tickets, Mei went into the theater first while Ren waited in the lobby for the freshly made popcorn and snacks.
Mei sat expectantly in her seat, waiting for Ren to join her for the horror movie, even secretly fantasizing about making some intimate moves on Ren during the scary parts. Just then, her phone suddenly vibrated in her pocket, emitting a pleasant, crisp ringtone.
The horror movie had been running for a month. Although well-received, the theater was no longer packed; only six or seven people were scattered throughout the auditorium for this showing. Even so, Mei's phone ringing here was quite impolite.
Mei quickly silenced her phone, offered apologetic smiles to the audience members who glanced over, and only after they averted their annoyed gazes did she look down at the caller ID on her screen.
Mei had few friends. Besides Ren, who was always nearby and didn't require phone calls, there was only one other person who would call her.
"...Kiana? Is something wrong? Why are you calling at this time?" Mei answered the call, gently covering her lips with her fair hand as she lowered her voice, questioning her friend Kiana Kaslana on the other end.
[Mei! Mei! I had a nightmare!! A really, really scary nightmare!!]
Even though Mei had lowered the volume, Kiana's energetic, loud voice was still distinctly audible in the quiet theater. Mei flashed another awkward smile at the onlookers and silently turned the volume down to its lowest setting.
"What's wrong, Kiana? What kind of nightmare did you have?" As her best female friend, Mei naturally cared about Kiana's well-being. Besides, the movie hadn't started yet, and Ren hadn't returned from the lobby.
Although Kiana claimed she had a terrifying nightmare, Mei knew her personality well. From Kiana's energetic tone, Mei could tell she wasn't truly troubled by the dream; she just felt like talking and wanted an excuse to chat.
Since Chiba Academy had been largely demolished by Cocolia's Titan mechs, forcing a temporary school closure, Mei had been busy battling alongside Ren in Mementos. It had been two or three days since she'd last seen Kiana. It was perfectly normal for Kiana to feel lonely and eager to call her for a chat.
A pang of guilt surfaced in Mei's heart. She felt she had been focusing all her energy on Ren lately, unintentionally neglecting her friend Kiana.
I should find some time soon for just the two of us to hang out properly...
As a mysterious and beautiful transfer student from abroad, Kiana had initially been popular at Chiba Academy. But because she befriended Mei, who was bullied by everyone, and constantly stood up for her, Kiana had become isolated and lonely.
Realizing she had neglected Kiana, just as Mei resolved internally to make it up to her, Kiana's next words, coming through the phone pressed against her ear, made Mei's pupils dilate to their maximum, her steady breathing abruptly halting.
[I dreamed that Mei got a boyfriend! And he's some mask-wearing kid who likes wearing a black trench coat and a white mask to act cool!! What's worse, Mei actually brought that masked kid along to beat me up!!]
Kiana's whining, slightly aggrieved voice reached Mei's ears, but the information contained within sent Mei's mind into a complete blank.
[It hurts so much! I feel so bad!! Only Mei comforting me can make it better! Mei, hurry up and comfort me!!]
Experiencing battles against Shadows in Mementos, which the real-world counterpart then perceived as dreams—this wasn't unheard of in Mei's knowledge. Siegfried Kaslana could vaguely recall his Shadow's battles against Ren and the Phantom Thieves in Mementos through dreams.
If Kiana Kaslana, as Siegfried's daughter, could do the same, it wouldn't be entirely surprising.
However, what was truly baffling was that Mei was certain the Phantom Thieves had never encountered Kiana's Shadow.
If they hadn't encountered her Shadow, then why would Kiana dream about Mei fighting alongside Ren?!