One of the best things about finally getting out of the apartment is that Ren is free of Akechi. Not that he isn't grateful for Akechi looking after him, but all the fussing was almost unbearable at times. It makes him feel sick to think about his own ingratitude, after everything else he's done to Akechi, but sometimes he just wants space.

The cognitions filling the streets of Tokyo are more taxing, in some ways, but at least they're fake, instead of the hollowed-out remains of real people. And real people... that's a gamble. Some of them aren't bad, but then there are the ones who react to Ren with hatred. And who can forget the murder attempt?

Anyway, all that is to say, Ren prefers wandering by himself, tolerating the presence of the cognitions. He's been doing that for a few hours now, taking solace in the familiar sights of Tokyo and the fact that the cognitions aren't real, and he's getting hungry. So when he passes a street of food stalls, he places an order for ramen and leans against the side of a building while he waits, staring up at the sky and letting his mind drift.

A thick tonkatsu ramen coming through! bellows the cook, snapping Ren out of his daze. His stomach growls. He steps forward to grab his order, but as he does so, he catches movement out of the corner of his eye. He turns, out of reflex more than anything—

—and barely has time to register the person he's looking at before his mind goes blank.