Fuck Ren Amamiya. Fuck him and the complicated feelings that swirl in your chest every time he smiles. Every time he laughs as he takes a Shadow down with an effortless catlike grace. Fuck him and his friends, hudding together in their Safe Rooms, thinking they're such hot shit. It takes four of them to take down enemies Akechi could do on his own. Fuck him.

You finish your work for the day, and before you can think twice, you pull out your phone, send Ren a text asking to meet. Infuriatingly, impossibly, he answers immediately, suspecting nothing. Does he even know how much you hate him? Of course not. You've been nothing but pleasant to him, even as you work behind the scenes to destroy everything he holds dear. You tried to warn him, over your last game of pool. He was in too far over his head, so far from the surface that he'll drown before he ever sees the surface.

He doesn't listen. If anything, Ren Amamiya dives deeper. And so you challenge him to a fight, white prince against black thief. Your red mask matches his gloves, his white mask matches your clothing. Contrast and comparison, as if someone had planned it that way.

And as always, infuriatingly, he beats you into the ground. You call a stop to the match before it can go too far, because it will go too far, your anger threatening to break through your pleasant mask and unleash the true ugliness within. Robin Hood isn't your strongest Persona, and you could inflict so much damage if only you could reveal who you really are.

On the surface once again, you look him in the eye and confess. You hate him. Hatred is the only emotion you've ever known, ever understood, and so you must hate Ren Amamiya with his effortless skill, his quick progression, his friends. You rip off your black glove and hurl it into his face. A duel, you explain, because he's so fucking dense that he just holds the glove and stares at you in bewildered confusion. If he accepts the glove, the duel is also accepted.

Next time you fight, you will be victorious. You refuse to lose to Ren Amamiya again.