Fanfic / Sitting Behind You

Sitting Behind You is a Persona 5 Alternate Universe Fan Fiction by RedOrange99.

Based on Persona 5 Royal, this story focuses on Ren and Makoto's relationship. It changes Ren into a third-year student who sits behind Makoto and starts dating her earlier than possible in canon.

This story currently updates every four days.

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Tropes found in this fanfiction:

• Absurdly Powerful Student Council: Discussed Trope. Ren notes that they don't have one, so Makoto could not have done anything about Kamoshida.
  Ren: This isn’t an anime where the student council president can fire teachers.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: Aside from imagining Ren as a third year instead of a second year student, the story's main premise may as well be a What If? tale of Makoto being the canon love interest and dating pretty much right from the start.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: Makoto investigating Ren at the behest of the Principal is Played for Drama, as Makoto tailing Ren and Ryuji in Kichijoji and secretly recording Ann and Ryuji loudly claiming they're Phantom Thieves during a conversation strains the relationship between Makoto and Ren for most of the Kaneshiro arc.
• Adaptational Badass: Ren uses Yoshitsune, specifically his Hassou Tobi Signature Move, to breeze through enemies.
• Adaptational Early Appearance:
  • In the original Persona 5, Yoshitsune is only available upon reaching the seventh rank of the Tower Arcana and could only be obtained through a Velvet Room advanced fusion that required advancing other Confidants. In the story, Yoshitsune is Ren's go-to Persona despite not meeting Shinya any sooner than he did in canon.
  • Ren chooses to add Raoul to his his minuscule team of Personas after finally deciding to diversify his moveset. In the game proper, Raoul is a DLC exclusive Persona although can be purchased through the Compendium for cheap.
• Adaptational Jerkass: Downplayed with Ren, whose sarcasm is also leveled at his fellow Thieves on occasion and considers Akechi more of a creepy annoyance than his rival. However, Ren is described as having a "tired dad" personality rather than being a plain unlikable asshole and is still an upstanding young man otherwise.
• Adaptational Job Change:
  • Downplayed with Kawakami and all of Ren's other teachers in the game, who now all teach third year students instead of second years.
  • Ren is initially appointed as Treasurer of the Student Council at Makoto's recommendation, although she's able to manipulate Kobayakawa into promoting him to Vice President by painting it as an idea to get the students to stop talking about Kamoshida. In Persona 5, Ren's involvement with the Student Council begins and ends with Makoto, never once being able to join it.
• Affectionate Nickname: Makoto frets over not being able to find one for Ren and is Played for Laughs when she asks Eiko for help.
• Anachronism Stew: Several examples which stem from Persona 5 being all but stated to take place in 2016.
  • Ren owns a "PlayBox 5" console, which clearly based off of the PlayStation 5 which didn't release until 2020.
  • Among the internet memes acting used hieroglyphics in Futaba's Palace are:
    • The Virgin vs. Chad meme, which didn't take it's modern form until 2017.
    • The use of ඞ (along with Futaba's Shadow occasionally moaning out "Amogus") both originate from 2018's Among Us (although the game's meme culture wouldn't form until the early 2020s.
• Ascended Extra: While a powerful Persona in its own right in the games, Yoshitsune plays the role of Ren's main Persona as he never summons back Arsene after Caroline and Justine force him to sacrifice him to demonstrate fusion.
• Badass Bookworm: Ren is both the Wild Card and a student who loves to study most subjects, with only a real disdain for writing essays. It's this quality that helps him bond with Makoto earlier in April.
• Birthday Beginning: The story opens with a Forgotten Birthday for Makoto. Ren finds out, leading to an impromptu birthday celebration that also turns out to be their first date.
• Cannot Spit It Out: The B plot for the Alibaba arc is Ren being unable to tell Makoto that he loves her despite being in a committed relationship in all but name by that point. Instead, he settles for telling her "I'll miss you" every time she leaves.
• Cats Hate Water: Ren gives Morgana a bath after Morgana falls out of a boat and they nearly drown and Morgana is none too pleased.
• Counterfeit Cash: Like in canon, Kaneshiro's treasure turns out to be a briefcase of fake money. Unlike canon, Ren uses the Twins' ignorance of the human world against them by claiming the fake money is legit so he can buy more Personas with it. It works.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Before Makoto joins the Thieves, Ren's fighting strategy was relying on Yoshitsune to the point where his entire fighting style was literally "Hassou Tobi bitches!" while refusing to use other Personas. While Played for Laughs when the other Thieves offhandedly discuss when he runs into enemies that are immune to physical attacks, Makoto's outright aghast that Joker had no other strategy beyond using a massively powerful physical attack that deals intense recoil damage which is described as if he's having his insides chopped up.
• Drowning My Sorrows: A non-alcoholic variant. Ren seeks out Takemi's clinical trial to get knocked out and take his mind off of Makoto when she is investigating him.
• Forced Transformation: Ren is turned into a rat during Futaba's Palace and it persists longer than a single battle.
• Forgotten Birthday: Sae has forgotten Makoto's birthday at least two years in a row, which serves as only more gossip fodder for the other students.
• Getting Hot in Here: While driving to Futaba's palace in the desert, Ren tears off his too-small shirt and Ryuji takes his shirt off.
• If I Do Not Return: Played for Laughs when Ren has Makoto accompany him to the Velvet Room entrance near Untouchables in Chapter 41, who instructs her that if he doesn't "come back" after fifteen minutes to just kiss him until his consciousness returns.
• Imagined Innuendo: Ann talks about "doing" Ryuji when she means buying new outfits for people.
  Ren (thinking): She’s already ‘doing’ Ryuji, huh? Love that for her.
• In Medias Res: Downplayed. Sitting Behind You starts on April 23rd, roughly two weeks after Ren began attending Shujin.
• In-Series Nickname: Ren is called a nickname by Yusuke ("Renpai"), Ryuji ("Renren"), Sojiro ("Kid"), and Takemi ("guinea pig").
• In Spite of a Nail: Despite Ren and Makoto being close, Makoto still investigates the Phantom Thieves much like in canon.
• Interrupted Declaration of Love: Morgana interrupts Makoto's declaration in chapter 44.
  Makoto: Ren, I’m without a doubt in lo-
  Morgana: You’re not in bed?!
• Irony: Sae has a low opinion of Ren despite never having once met him due to his fraudulent arrest record and wants Makoto to have nothing to do with him. Sae forgetting Makoto's birthday is what helps kickstart the romance between Ren and Makoto at the beginning of the fic.
• Long List: Eiko's attempt to help Makoto find an Affectionate Nickname for Ren has 44 suggestions.
  Makoto: Thank you, Eiko. These were helpful.
• "Miss X" Pun: As Ren is a third-year in this story, "Renpai" puns on senpai. Only Yusuke uses it, with Ryuji and Ann refuse on the basis of it being an Atrocious Alias.
• Mundane Utility: Ann uses Carmen's fire abilities to reheat a plate of curry in a safe room in Futaba's Palace.
• Mythology Gag: In a game of "Would You Rather?", Makoto asks Ren if he would rather be in the same class as Ryuji or Ann. Ren picks Ann.
• Point of Divergence: Ren is a third year instead of a second year, and sits behind Makoto instead of Ann.
• Poor Communication Kills: When Makoto investigates Ren as a suspected Phantom Thief, instead of just asking her boyfriend about the Thieves, she opts to stalk Ren.
• Relationship Upgrade: Ren and Makoto in the first chapter, after the former treats her to a day out on her birthday while being the only one to remember.
• Rotating Protagonist: Chapter 41, Chores 2, changes the point of view between Ren, Ryuji, Ann, Yusuke, and finally Makoto as they prepare for Futaba's palace.
• Secret Relationship: Ren and Makoto's relationship is this until the beginning of summer although by that point, Everyone Can See It.
• Shipper on Deck: Ann (and Ryuji, at her behest) to Ren and Makoto.
  Ann: They’re totally gonna kiss at the fireworks festival. I’m gonna make it happen.
• Shout-Out: Yusuke directly quotes Patrick Bateman's praise of Paul Allen's business card while shopping for blank cards to use to create skill cards.
  Yusuke: Oh my god, it even has a watermark.
• Silent Treatment: Ren's method of punishing Ryuji for violating Male Restroom Etiquette while trying to investigate as to whether him and Makoto are actually dating or not.
• Start X to Stop X: When Ren is turned into a rat in Futaba's Palace, he reverts back to human form by being hit by the same attack from another enemy.
• Straight Man: Poor Ren is stuck trying to mediate the various eccentricities and quirks of his fellow Phantom Thieves.
• Trademark Favorite Food: Ryuji loves Manta soft drinks, getting them as birthday gifts and emptying out entire vending machines for them.
• True Love's Kiss: While Ren is visiting the Velvet Room and remains frozen in the real world, Makoto's kiss is powerful enough to draw him back. Caroline and Justine even notice that it's his "Priestess" pulling him back.
• Vengeful Vending Machine: During the Alibaba arc, Ryuji gets his arm stuck in a vending machine trying to get a stuck Second Maid for Ann.