Behind his mask, Ren snarls silently. His hands clench into fists, and his posture shifts as his muscles grow rigid with fury. In his mind, he holds onto memories of Goro, during his Palace and just afterwards, refusing to let him crawl away and die in a ditch, no matter how much he tried to insist. Dragging him kicking and screaming back to survival. That journey started more than a year ago, in the belly of Mementos, with Akira-senpai speaking in a low voice as Ren lay on the grimy floor, stared at the ceiling, and realized he'd reached the end of the line. He'd run from his own death as far as he was willing to go.

That was real. That, and the years of running beforehand. All of that happened, and it sucked, and no punk-ass kid channeling an edgelord moon god is going to fake it for him. He doesn't speak, but his body language screams defiance.