[ aaaand that progress is backsliding. the panic comes as a faraway thought. there's something about having perpetually lived your past year on the edge of a knife's point that's trained ren to make his panic work for him. his hands immediately reach out on their own accord, red-gloved hands against blue. this guy, he thinks, doesn't need less harm - he needs something that ren can't quite give him. closure, identity, something to hold onto. and when you don't have that for yourself -

well, someone has to give you something to hold onto, right?

ren pulls the young man into an embrace. the akechi in the back of his head informs ren that if ren gets stabbed or pulverised by, he doesn't know, some kind of a biological
space laser, he'd deserve it for being so stupid, but ren argues that anyone with a working conscience who sees suffering like this wouldn't be able to help themselves. this is real. ren remembers what it's like. there had been a darkened room, a needle, and a single, raised gun. ]

Nah, don't worry about it. ... or, well, do worry about it, but not about apologising. You're doing good. [ a small laugh. ] Losing your memories is apparently a Mementos special, anyway. I have a cat - or I used to have a cat, and he lost his memories here too.

Maybe you'll remember that you were once a cat?