My Guardian Demon

Little one shot based off of this picture by @15560931 . It’s so cute and I love it to bits. Also Arsene could be the greatest dad change my mind. Anyway enjoy!

Ren had a rough week. Actually, scratch that, he had a terrible week. Let’s start at the beginning.

For some reason, all his friends were ignoring him. When he tried to talk to them, they all brushed him off or ignored him. Even Ryuji and Morgana did this to Ren. In fact, as soon as they arrived at school, Morgana jumped out of Ren’s bag a left him. Though, he didn’t think much of it. People have bad days, but little did he know, it would get worse.

Then some kids thought, ‘Hey, wouldn’t it be funny if we pranked the transfer student?’ So, they decided to cover Ren’s seat and desk with clear glue and let’s just say, it was a very sticky situation. No one even helped him clean it up. Ren brushed it off. It’s just a silly prank. Not like it could get any worse.

After school, when they all went to Mementos, Ren was off his game. Almost all his attacks missed, he barely dodged the shadows’ attacks, and he even got hit with poison, which I’m going to tell you, is very rare considering how fast he is. He felt like a disappointment to the whole team. ‘It’s fine’ Ren told himself. ‘You’re just having an off day. It’ll all be better tomorrow.’

But oh boy was he wrong. The cherry on top of this terrible sundae is went on for an entire week. His friends ignored him, people at school, both students and teachers, gave him a rough time, and when fighting in Mementos, he just couldn’t do anything right. The rest of the Phantom Thieves even suggested that he should take a break from Mementos, which hurt like hell for him. The one thing he loves doing, he was banned from doing.

At the end of that awful week, Ren decided to take a walk after school, after all, he wasn’t allowed to go to Mementos. He ended up going to the park where he would usually hangout with Ann. He walked around and found a nice patch of grass to sit on. He took off his school blazer and set it down next to his bag, as well as setting himself next to the bag.

As the Ren watched the sun set, tears streamed down his face. The events of the past week really got to him. He kept telling himself ‘It’s fine’ or ‘it’ll blow over,’ but deep down it still hurt.

He hadn’t seen or talked with his friends in ages,

BeCauSe tHEy dOn’T CarE aBoUT yOU aNyMOre. yOu’RE OnLY a NUisAnce tO TheM.

Everyone at school was against him,

wHo wANtS A wEirDO At thEiR sCHoOl. NO oNe rEAlly lIkes yOu AnYWay.

And the one activity he felt so free doing was taken from him.

YOu DOn’t dEsERve To bE a PhAnTOm THeiF oR haVe sUcH a GReAt pOwe-

“Trickster, what seems to be the matter?”

Ren, as he wiped his tears, turned towards the voice to find none other than his first persona, Arsene. For some reason, Ren is able to see and interact with Arsene outside of palaces and Mementos. No one else could do it with their personas and Arsene’s the only persona that comes out, even though he was sacrificed to make another persona. Not even Igor or the Velvet Room attendants could explain why it happens, but either way, it was nice to have someone to talk to.

“It’s nothing.”

“Are you mocking me? I’m a being created out of your emotions and rebellious spirit. I can tell that you’re lying and that you’re heart is heavy.”

Ren’s gaze fell to the ground. Of course his persona was going know he was hurting, they became one through the contract. Tears start to fall again. He tried to control his sobs, but it just wasn’t happening. Arsene stared at his user, contemplating what to do. The demon lets out a sigh and proceeds to pick up the trickster, laying him in his lap and hugs the boy.

“Arsene, what are yo-“

“Hush now. Your companions may not be here for you, but I am.” The winged demon uses one hand to push Ren’s glasses up onto his head, while his other hand is used to stroke the user’s unruly hair.

Without a word, Ren kicks off his shoes and hugs his persona back. He lets his tears flow as his other self comforts him and all negative thoughts disappear. “Take your time.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a while, the bespectacled boy fell asleep in the arms of his guardian demon, tears stained his face. Arsene carefully shifts his user’s body into one arm and uses his free one to pick up rest of the boy’s belongings. Gently, he flies off towards the student’s humble abode.

Using his powers, Arsene fazes through the wall and lays Ren down on his bed with his belongings beside the bed. He transforms into his smaller form, which was much more convenient for the smaller space he’s in.

Multiple buzzes were heard from Ren’s bag, presumably messages from someone. The now tiny demon digs through the bag and finds his user’s phone. It was a bunch of messages from all of the Phantom Thieves. All were a long the lines of how they were sorry for ignoring him and brushing him off and how they all wanted to hangout with him some time soon. Arsene sets the phone down and flies over to his user. Settling down next to Ren, the demon dozes off, knowing his trickster will be just fine when the sun rises.

Some secrets are revealed and a promise is made.

After being grilled by his brothers, Minato went to his room and quite literally crashed on the bed. Even without an expression, you could tell he was tired. Minato was use to being asked tons of questions by the two because of the school hopping and all, but this time however, was more tiring. Every time he mentioned an amazing feature of his new friend, he expressed how amazing it was through his face. He wasn’t quite sure what was so different about Ren that made him want to express his feelings on his face.

Bzzt

Minato lifted his phone to face to see the message, coincidentally from Ren.

Ren: Hey, I just wanted to text you to see if I had the right numbers.

Minato: Well, you got it right ding ding.

Ren: Wow, you’re way more sarcastic when you text.

Minato: Nah, I just wasn’t being sarcastic to you today. I wasn’t in the mood.

Ren: After losing the marker right? It’s seems precious to you. If you don’t mind me asking, why is it so precious?

Minato paused for a moment. He wasn’t sure what to do. He’s never told the story to anyone other than Jun and Tatsuya. Then again, he’s never made a proper friend before.

Ren: Ah, sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I was just curious. You don’t have to tell me.

Minato: No, it’s fine. The marker was a gift from my mom for my birthday. She had it specially made for me. It costs a fortune, but she got it for me. She and my dad died a week later in a car crash. That marker is a memory of my parents but more so my mom. My dad was rarely home, so I never really got to know him.

There was a long pause after he sent the message. Minato internally panicked, but calmed down when Ren finally responded.

Ren: Wow. That’s rough. Do you live with relatives now?

Minato: No. My relatives really didn’t want to deal with my ‘problems’, so they sent me to some people they know. Don’t worry though. Jun and Tatsuya are very nice. They even treat me like their little brother, so it’s not terrible.

Ren: Your problems? You mean the fact that you use a sketchbook to express your emotions?

Minato: Yeah. They didn’t want a weird child to be apart of their family.

Ren: I don’t think it’s weird.

Minato stared at his screen for a whole minute. He almost thought he was dreaming. Someone understands and doesn’t think he’s weird.

Minato: It’s nice to hear that from someone other than Jun and Tatsuya. Not many people understand.

Ren: It’s really not that weird. You could say I have a similar problem.

The blue haired boy was now confused. This boy with perfect skin that rivals a porcelain doll’s has a similar problem.

Minato: Oh, and I realized we live pretty close to each other. You wanna walk to school together.

Ren: Sure, but just so you know I have to make a detour for something. If you don’t mind, I’d be glad to walk to school with you.

Minato expression changed. He was glad that he’s able to walk with his new friend. He’s also glad that he’s no longer lonely at school.

Minato: I don’t mind. It’s getting late. Good night Ren.

Ren: Night Minato.

The cardboard kid shut his phone off and got ready for bed. He was excited for tomorrow.

~~~Next Day~~~

Minato got up early that morning grabbing his bag and sketchbook and left sort of excited. And trust me when I say Jun was holding back the urge to hug the boy when he saw him excited. Although no expression was involved, Jun was pleasantly surprised when Minato was out of bed and happy.

Minato left and walked to Le Blanc, where Ren was already waiting outside.

“Hey Minato.” The bespectacled boy greeted. Though, his greeting was ignored by other teen when Minato saw Ren’s face. Ren had a mask on covering his face, from his chin to the bridge of his nose.

Minato flipped open to the confuse face, which seemed to become a common expression when he was with Ren.

“Ah, the mask. Don’t worry, nothing’s wrong. It- I’ll explain when we get to my detour stop.”

Minato flipped through to his resting face and then the boys took off to this place Ren needed to go to. Their destination was a small apartment close to the train station they just got off at. Ren rang the bell and out came a tall, blue haired boy. His hair was similar to Minato, if not for the fact it was more well kept.

“Ah, Ren I was wondering when you would get here, and who is this sketchbook friend of yours.”

“This is Minato. We’re walking together today. And Minato this is my friend Yusuke.”

Yusuke stared at the boy for a while before speaking again. “Well come in. I already have the makeup prepped, so you’ll be out in no time.”

Meanwhile, Minato was very confused. Ren’s mask, this stranger, and the talk about makeup. As they entered the apartment, the first thing Minato noticed was the vast amount of paintings. They ranged from different colors, emotions, and styles. They soon reach a small living room with a coffee table scattered with brushes. Yusuke motioned for Minato to sit on the couch while the other two went to sit on the stools. As Ren sat down, he put down his bag and removed his mask.

Minato’s eyes widened when he saw Ren’s face. When they first met, Minato thought Ren was a perfect porcelain doll. A beautiful man with an unflawed face, but what he saw now was a site. Ren’s face was scattered with scars. A few on each of his cheeks and a really noticeable one on his chin. Yusuke immediately got to work applying the makeup to cover up the scars.

“So, Minato, do you like to draw?” This question came from the makeup artist working on Ren.

“Yeah, it’s relaxing for me. I mostly draw expressions to use, but sometimes I draw random things.”

“I suppose you use those drawings of expressions to express your emotions because your face can’t.”

As if answering his question, Minato flipped to a page with a surprised face on it. “How did you know?”

“Oh, it was a simple guess.” The artist paused to change brushes. “I’m an artist myself, so I kind of understand those kinds of things, and to be honest the faces I’ve seen are pretty cute.”

Minato immediately switched to flustered. He’s never really gotten compliments from anyone for the faces he’s drawn. Then again, he’s never met an artist before either.

“And finished. Alright Ren, we’re good to go.” Minato looked at Ren once again. As if Yusuke had healing powers, all the scars were no longer there.

“Thanks Yusuke. I really appreciate it.”

The two left the artist’s humble abode and headed towards school. Minato, as much as he didn’t want to pry, wanted to know about the scars. Before he could open his mouth however, Ren spoke first.

“I guess I owe you an explanation for the scars. I did say I would tell you.”

The cardboard boy listened as the porcelain boy spoke.

“Back in my hometown, I was out taking a walk and I saw this woman being assaulted by this drunk man. I tried to help her, but this man had a blade and he marked up my face and arms pretty badly. Luckily a police car drove by and stopped the man before he could do more damage. Most of the wounds healed, but some of them left scars. The man did get arrested, but my parents decided to send me out here for a while to recover. They thought being there would trigger memories of that night.”

Minato didn’t really know how to react. He thought he had it bad with all the bullying and school hopping, but Ren’s story was something else.

“You don’t have to worry Minato. I’m fine now, just self conscious about my scars that’s all.”

After a moment of silence, the blue haired teen finally responded. “I don’t think you’re scars look that bad. They kind of look nice and give you personality.”

Minato internally screamed at himself. Did he really just say that? Thank God Minato had his sketchbook over his face, otherwise Ren would’ve seen how red it was. Instead of receiving the response he thought he was going to get, all Minato received was a chuckle from Ren. God, Minato didn’t know such a small chuckle could make his cheeks flare.

“You really think that way about my scars. Maybe one day I’ll go to school without makeup, but when I do, I want you to promise me something.”

“What?”

They both stopped and stared at each other. Ren smiled and finished. “I want you to spend that day without your sketchbook.”

Minato didn’t expect this from anyone other than Tatsuya or Jun. Really, he didn’t think Ren cared about his expression problem.

“I don’t know why, but I have the feeling you can express your emotions on your face if you tried. You’ve mentioned when we were drinking coffee that sometimes it happens, sometimes doesn’t. I think you could control that and actually express yourself.”

Faith. There were only four other people who believed he could express himself. His mom, his dad, Tatsuya, and Jun. Not many people thought he could do it. Nobody really had faith, but the teen had finally met someone who believed in him. A tear almost came out, but right now he didn’t want it.

“Deal. I’ll do it.”

Ren smiled and it made the other’s heart flutter. Minato didn’t know why or how this happened, but one things for sure. He was glad he met the boy with the porcelain face.

Part 1 | Part 2 (you are here) |

Yeah, so in this Fic all the palace bosses, not including Sae, are not pricks to my Phantom Thief children. Shido’s in jail, where he belongs, Kamoshida’s actually a decent person, and Madarame and Kaneshiro were Thanos snapped out of existence. Also Yusuke is financially stable and lives in a nice apartment, and Morgana is a nice cat, happily living with Sojiro and Futaba. I feel terrible for scarring Ren Shido deserves to burn in the firery pits of hell but all is good now because he has cinnamon roll to heal him. ☺️

Pegokita content because the internet deserves more. Also this Fic is based on the song ‘Porcelain Face’ by 4 Door Theatre and it works so well with so many pairings and it’s a nice song all around. Anyway enjoy!

“He’s so weird.”

“Why doesn’t he show his face?”

“He’s insane.”

“The teachers let him do that?”

To most, these phrases are rare for the average person. For Minato however, it was pretty normal. After all, he’s the kid with a cardboard face.

Ever since he was little, Minato had somewhat of problem expressing his emotions. Sometimes they would show through, sometimes not. So Minato would carry around a sketchbook with drawn expressions. He would use the sketchbook to express his feelings. Of course, people suggested that he try to show his emotion through his face, but Minato just couldn’t do it. But of course, with a solution to his emotions came another problem. No one wanted to be friends with him.

Minato transferred around to a lot of schools because of bullying. People just couldn’t understand that Minato had problems. As of now, he’s attending Shujin Academy and the bullying isn’t that bad.

Minato was just minding his own business, drawing new faces in his sketchbook. He draws very often, mostly making his expressions, but as a result, he became a very good artist. The bluenette was proud of the one he just finished. It was a simple smile with sunglasses and a cap.

“Oooh, look at what cardboard boy drew.” A girl teased. She then ripped both the sketchbook and Minato’s favorite marker out of his hands and began to draw on it herself.

“Give it back!” Minato got up, but was held back by some guys the girl was with.

The girl smirked “Don’t worry. I’m only ‘improving’ it. Now for some eyelashes.” She finished and then tossed the items to one of the male students.

“Let’s give him some hair shall we.”

At this point, Minato was furious, but his expression didn’t show it. “Give. It. Back.”

“Okay here.” The male student handed the sketchbook book back, but dropped it when Minato’s hand came in range of it. When Minato reaches for the book, the male student threw his marker out the window.

“You’re so clumsy you dropped it out the window.” The female joked to the male.The group laughed, walking away from the sad teenager who just lost his favorite marker.

~~~After School~~~

After his last class, the blue haired boy went to look for his marker. The marker was very dear to the boy. It was a special marker his mother gave him that costs, well a lot. After a long search, he couldn’t find the marker. One of his only memories of mother lost.

“Um, are you looking for this.”

Minato flipped through the pages of the sketchbook to a confused expression, put it up to his face and looked at the stranger. Standing before him was a male student with frizzy black hair and glasses. Looking at his face made him think he was talking to a porcelain doll. The male student’s face was perfect without any blemishes and had a consistent color across his whole face. The porcelain boy also had his favorite marker.

“Yeah that’s it.” Minato took the marker from the boy, putting it in his bag. He flipped through the pages of his sketchbook for the right expression. “Thanks.”

After a moment of silence, the stranger spoke once again. “I saw what happened in the classroom.”

Minato proceeded to flip back to the confused face. To the average person this seems like a lot of work, but for Minato, this is the easiest way to show what he was feeling.

“Ah, we’re in the same class. You sit a desk over from Ann and I sit behind her.”

It was true. Minato sat one desk away from Tamaki-san, but he never really paid attention to those kinds of things. He mostly kept to himself. He flipped back to his resting face, luckily have one in between every page.

“Hey, if you don’t have anything planned, would you like to come get coffee with me. Coffee helps me to calm down, and after the day you had, I think you need it. You looked so stressed from losing that marker. I mean it looks special too.”

Minato was surprised at this stranger’s request. No one really bothered to interact with him or make friends with him because of how he expresses himself. The bluenette only nodded and followed the taller boy.

“Oh, by the way, my name’s Ren.” The boy proceeded to flash a small smile. Minato didn’t know that such a small act could light up the world for him.

A little flustered he responds. “Minato. My name’s Minato.”

~~~A little later~~~

Minato just arrived back at his apartment after spending some time with Ren. They went to a coffe shop named ‘Le Blanc’ where apparently Ren lives. The owner of the shop, Sojiro, thought he was weird, with the whole sketchbook face, but wasn’t bothered by it.

“Welcome home Minato.” That was one of his caretakers, but more so brother, Jun. Minato lives in a large apartment, occupied by his caretakers, Jun and Tatsuya, and himself. Although, he thought of both his caretakers as brothers since they acted like that.

“Hello Jun.”

“Minato, you know the policy about your sketchbook in this house.”

With an exasperated sigh, Minato puts the sketchbook away. Tatsuya always insists that Minato shouldn’t use the sketchbook at home and try to express his emotions on his face. As much as he doesn’t like it, he complies.

“So, where were you this evening.” Jun continues as he finishes dinner.

“I was out with a friend.” Now what Minato didn’t realize was the manner he said those words.

“Holy sh-“ Jun had to hold himself back as he ran to go find Tatsuya, leaving a very confused Minato. Normally, Jun would not swear under any circumstance, and as a result Minato didn’t either, but what just happened threw him for a loop.

Meanwhile, you could hear distant profanity from presumably Tatsuya. Both of the caretakers ran and gave Minato a hug. Minato, although not shown on his face, was really confused.

“Um are you guys okay.”

They both let go and Tatsuya let’s out a chuckle. “Minato, do you not realize what you said to Jun.”

Jun smiled and continued. “Number one, you said you were out with a friend, meaning you made a friend and number two you made the softest smile when you talked about this friend.”

Minato, once again it was not present on his face, was half surprised, half flustered. He’s never made really any expressions for a few years.

“Oh and dinner’s ready. After dinner though, I want to know about this friend of yours.”

Part 1 (you are here) | Part 2