The Phantom Thieves found themselves in the same situation as yesterday: surrounded by a crowd of enemies, but with another person having awakened their Persona in the process. The day before, it was Makoto awakening with Johanna, today it was Hifumi awakening with Belle Star, and she was not happy either. "Mow them down, Belle Star!" Hifumi commanded. The Persona that was a knight took a grip on her sword, rushing forward while swinging the blade in a horizontal manner, cutting two Onis at once. At first nothing happened, but Hifumi swiped her arm to the side, a burst of light erupting from the wounds on their chests, consuming them whole. "Shining Excalibur!"

"Holy shit!" Skull jumped back from the explosion, having to cover his eyes from how bright it was. "That was strong as hell!"

"Whoa…no way!" Mona's eyes went wide. "Another thing I haven't seen before…" As amazing as Hifumi's awakening was to witness, it was odd to him that only half of her mask came off. That was abnormal, considering everyone else's circumstance.

"Watch out!" Panther exclaimed as a Rakshasa lunged at Hifumi, preparing its twin blades to cut her down. This foe was fast and strong, making its killing intent known as it attacked Hifumi.

Hifumi turned on a dime, bringing up her weapon, a bo staff, to block the attack, narrowing her eyes as she managed to hold her ground before pushing the Shadow away. Belle Star zoomed forward, cutting it down in an instant with her sword. She then turned to Panther, giving a nod of appreciation. "Thank you, ah…?"

"She shrugged it off like it was nothing…!" If she had to guess, Hifumi's Persona was likely resistance to physical attacks, which was why she was able to repel that attack without much trouble. "A-…P-Panther!" Panther quickly corrected herself. Now was not the time for any reveals, especially not when they were in the middle of a battle. So she jumped in front of Hifumi, now calling forth Carmen to attack. This way Hifumi wouldn't see her face and she could participate in the battle. "Carmen, go!" Carmen snapped her fingers, setting all nearby enemies ablaze with Maragi, the sudden flames on their bodies causing them to recoil in some way. "Queen!"

Queen was already on it. "Johanna!" Queen drove forward on her Persona, using the bike's momentum to slam into several enemies at once. "Feel my rage!" The full throttle impact knocked them all off their feet, sending them right into the tile floor with force.

"Hmph!" Hifumi raised her hand, and in turn, Belle Star raised her sword before pointing it down. From the tip of the blade, numerous spikes of Almighty magic began to rain down on the Shadows, impaling them in various places. The spikes then exploded violently, kicking up a fierce gust of wind that caused everyone to cover their eyes. "Sword of Judgement." Even now, she had to stick to the unconventional names of her Shogi techniques.

Skull just stared as the girls went to work so seamlessly. "So uh…do we even need to do anything?" Skull asked.

"Of course we do, you idiot!" Mona shouted. "Hifumi's gonna get tired! We gotta get her out of here before that happens!"

"Oh shit, that's right!" Skull completely forgot. That exhaustion was going to hit Hifumi like a truck in a matter of minutes. So it was going to be best to take out the crowd now before things got hairy. "Captain!"

"Goemon!" Fox and Skull called their Personas out at the same time. Captain Kidd fired off a strong bolt of lightning at nearby enemies, while Goemon froze them over. It was a lightning fast combination that completely froze the enemies in place.

"Meow!" Mona leapt into the air while pulling out his slingshot, firing off pellet after pellet at the frozen shadows, finishing them off after Skull and Fox did a good job at holding them still long enough for him to do so. "Joker, your turn!" Mona landed, his paw colliding with Joker's hand for a Baton Pass.

"Heh…" Joker let out a chuckle as blue flames flared around his face, his mask turning another Persona. "Lenan Sidhe!"A beautiful woman appeared before Joker, giving a slight giggle before she waved a hand once. This resulted in the Mapsi attack, numerous incandescent lights bombarding the enemies that surrounded them. With the power increased from the Baton Pass, it was enough to clear the room.

"Gh…!" Shadow Kaneshiro grit his teeth. It was so hard to find good help these days! Yet he snapped his fingers again, spawning a few more enemies.

"More of them!? How much money does he have to buy these many!?" Fox was surprised.

"More than enough to sustain me for several lifetimes…and I'll always keep earning, too." Shadow Kaneshiro said while adjusting his tie.

A twin headed beast took aim at Hifumi, releasing a fireball from its mouth. She was too late to notice and it made contact, exploding against her and sent her flying back a few feet. "AGH…!" Hifumi hit the ground, winded from that attack.

Panther and Fox immediately rushed over to see if she was okay. "Are you hurt!?" Panther asked.

"F-Fine…that hurt a bit more than I would've liked…" Hifumi admitted. While she still had no real idea of what was happening, fire hurt her a lot. "Ah..!" Her eyes then widened as the beast leapt up and came down, attempting to attack her again.

But it was stopped by Joker's grappling hook. "Queen!"

"Shooting to kill!" Queen's firearm was a magnum. She only needed one shot to take out the enemy. One bullet took it down completely.

"Thank you…" Hifumi was able to get back up on her feet. "Please, cover me…!" And she sprinted off just like that.

"What is she doing!?" Panther was following after her. Hifumi was still new to this; it was only a matter of time until it caught up with her. Hifumi was charging right at an Oni, which raised its blade. Just before it swung, Panther used her whip, wrapping it around the blade to keep the Oni from attacking. "Geez!"

"Zoro!" Mona followed up, his Persona rushing ahead with its rapier, slashing in a Z formation to not only inflict damage, but create a whirlwind to blow the Shadow away and remove it from the equation.

"Thank you!" That was exactly what Hifumi was hoping for. Slipping past the defenses to reach the boss in question! Shadow Kaneshiro was aware of her plan and tried to run, but stopped when Belle Star was in front of him. He was pinched between the two of them. "As for you…you've inflicted enough suffering on the people of Shibuya…and endangered my friend…" Her green gaze narrowed as Belle Star lifted her sword.

"W-Wait, you can't be serious…?" Shadow Kaneshiro started to sweat. Was she going to try and kill him here and now!?

"Concede defeat." Hifumi demanded and she wasn't taking no for an answer.

"Is she gonna take him out!?" Skull asked.

"Don't do that!" Mona exclaimed. "The real Kaneshiro will suffer a mental shutdown if you do that!"

Those words didn't mean a lot to Hifumi. Belle Star swung, only to stop a few inches from Shadow Kaneshiro's face. Before Shadow Kaneshiro could even question the pause, Belle Star…vanished. "Ah…" Hifumi's weapon fell to the ground and vanished…before her Kimono and mask did as well, reverting back into her school uniform. "What's…happening…? My body…feel so heavy…" Hifumi started to collapse, but Panther was able to catch her before she fell.

"The recoil got up to her…" Panther mumbled.

"I knew this would happen. She got too carried away…!" Mona said.

"Is she alright?" Joker asked.

"Dizzy…" Hifumi's eyes were half closed.

"Ahem. Well, that was a surprising nuisance. But I'm getting tired of seeing Personas in my bank." Shadow Kaneshiro motioned to the nearby Shadows to make a move. Now that Hifumi was out of commission, perhaps he could finish what he started.

"Hey, what do we do? We can't get out the same way…" Skull asked.

"Everyone stay close and move on my signal." Joker said while tucking a hand into his coat. Everyone crowded around Joker and he threw a smoke bomb down, filling the main hall in a thick cloud of smoke. "Now!"

"What?! Hey, come back here! Do not let them escape!" Shadow Kaneshiro barked. The Shadows all scattered in an effort to hunt down the Phantom Thieves. They had some dead weight on them, so surely they couldn't have gotten very far. But a few moments passed and Shadow Kaneshiro received annoying news…

"They aren't here, Sir. They vanished…!"

"They vanished?! FIND THEM NOW!" Shadow Kaneshiro wasn't accepting failure as an option. With frantic nods, the Shadows once again began their search…

.

.

The Thieves escaped into a nearby Safe Room. No matter how hard security looked, they'd never be found here. But that didn't mean they could spend all day hiding away. It was just too dangerous to try and escape the bank with the entrance blocked and Hifumi being out of it. Panther placed Hifumi in a nearby charge and sighed heavily. "That was too close for comfort…"

"I'd say I'm surprised such a calm, reserved person has such a wild side, but…" Fox glanced over at Queen.

Queen just stared at Fox. "Is there something you want to say, Fox?"

"…There is you." Fox finished his sentence. He was never one to take a hint or quit while he was ahead.

"Come on, dude. Even I'm not that dumb." Skull shook his head.

"The jury is out on that one…." Mona said loudly.

"Uh…" Hifumi shook her head a bit, trying to regain her bearings. She just went through a lot and felt very tired. "What happened…?"

"Before we answer that, how are you feeling?" Queen took the lead here.

"Very tired…" Hifumi sighed. "But it's probably the adrenaline that's keeping my body moving. So…where am I? Why is this bank in the sky? What were those monsters? Those…powers? And are you all the Phantom Thieves?" Question after question, and rightfully so. Hifumi walked into this blindly.

"…Give us a moment." Queen turned around to huddle with the others. "…What are we going to tell her?"

"I think she deserves to know everything at this point." Joker suggested.

"It's your call, Panther. She's your friend." Mona said. That was a general consensus the group could agree with.

"Right…I should have done this earlier…" It was Panther's fault for waiting so long. But she did promise herself to tell Hifumi the next time she saw her…so now was a good time to begin. The others sat back, planning to help Panther out if things didn't go so well. "Okay, where to start…yes, we are the Phantom Thieves. This is the Metaverse…our outfits change when we come here."

"Huh….?" Hifumi blinked. "Meta…verse…?" And luckily this is where Mona came in to explain what he knew about the Metaverse. He was the most knowledgeable on the world still, so he was the best one to do the explaining. Even though he explained, it Hifumi was still confused…but she kind of understood. "So…this is another world born of people's cognition…or something? And this bank is Kaneshiro's warped world?"

"That's…about right. It's easier to understand the more you stay in it." Panther explained. "And by stealing people's Treasure, we make them have a change of heart. The powers that we have…they're called Personas. You awakened to yours and just like the rest of us; it came with a lot of exhaustion."

"So that's why my clothes changed…?" Hifumi thought back to her outfit before.

"That's what your image of a rebel looks like." Panther said while taking a seat next to Hifumi.

Hifumi's eyes accidentally wandered down a bit as Panther sat. It was setting in how…bold Panther's outfit was, so her eyes quickly glanced up and she tried to pretend she didn't see anything. But the faint pink tint on her cheeks was hard to hide. "I-Image of a rebel…I see…and what exactly are you rebelling against…?"

"Society in general." Skull said. "And all those shitty adults who think they can get away with doing whatever they want."

"It wasn't until recently that I learned how cruel adults can be…" Fox said, staring at his hand. "They often take advantage of those who cannot fight back and do whatever they please."

"Kaneshiro is one such man. Exploiting people for his own personal gain." Queen sucked her teeth in annoyance. The length Kaneshiro was going just to line his own pockets continued to disgust her.

"Our previous major targets, Kamoshida and Madarame…they were the same." Joker explained. "We're fighting back against the injustice in society, to inspire those who can't fight back to fight for themselves."

"…Are you sure that will work?" Hifumi asked.

"We don't know." Mona said.

And now it was just setting in for Hifumi that Mona was some kind of monster. "A cat…monster?!"

"NO!" Mona whined and just sulked. "It took you this long to notice!?"

This felt very surreal for Hifumi. Talking to the actual Phantom Thieves? This world, these powers? It was a lot to take in, but she felt like she understood it it a little bit. "So…the Kaneshiro that I saw…"

"That's his Shadow." Panther explained. "Our goal is to steal his Treasure. Once we do that, his Shadow should return to his self in the real world. If you kept attacking him…he might have suffered a mental shut down."

Now Hifumi felt very embarrassed about how reckless she was. "I see…I'm sorry. It's all a blur to be honest. I could tell that I wasn't in, uh, reality. It's difficult to explain, but I thought it would be okay if I attacked him. I see now that doing so would have made things difficult. I was just…angry."

"Angry?" Panther tilted her head.

"Yes." Hifumi nodded. "Angry at what he told me…and how he threated my friend, her friends, and my family. How he's been using me to throw my peers in the Shogi community in debt, how he decided that people's worth are only decided by the money they could bring him. People are worth more than what they can provide for someone else…" It got a little personal for her there, so she decided to stop. "But I want to help my friend. My mother doesn't allow me to hang out with people, thinking they'll tarnish my growing reputation. But Ann…she reached out to me when I needed someone and that meant a lot, so I want to help her in return. She's great…"

All eyes went to Panther. Panther was a bit taken aback by Hifumi's words, hearing her talk about…her. A soft smile appeared on Panther's face and she went up to grab her mask, preparing to take it off. "It sounds like you really like your friend."

"Ah! You don't have to unmask for me…!" Hifumi waved her hands. "Isn't it better if I don't know who you are..?"

Panther shook her head. "No, it's okay. I promised I'd tell you the next time I saw you, no matter what. I just wish the circumstances weren't as dangerous…" Ann took off her mask. "So, I'm sorry I waited so long to tell you."

"Ann…!?" Hifumi had a feeling it may have been Ann, but for it to be confirmed was shocking news. "So…all of you are…?"

"Yup." Ren took his mask off as well. The others followed suit. "We're the Phantom Thieves."

Suddenly, a lot of things made sense for Hifumi. "Is that why you were asking about Madarame when we met at the art exhibit?" She pointed at Ren and Ryuji, who nodded. "And Kitagawa….you changed Madarame's heart…?"

"I felt it needed to be done." Yusuke confirmed.

"And you're the cat…!?" Hifumi pointed at Mona and then Makoto. "And you…the girl from yesterday!?"

"I only joined just yesterday myself. I'm new at this too." Makoto nodded.

"…I hope you're not mad at me for keeping this secret." Ann rubbed her arm. "To tell you the truth, I wasn't going to tell you at all. It would've been dangerous for you to know. But then you showed me the Nav on your phone, and I froze up. I should've told you about it, but I didn't want to drag you into something you may not want to be a part of."

"I'm not mad…I'm just…surprised." That was the best way Hifumi could put it. "I didn't think the Phantom Thieves would be people I knew…or look admittedly stylish." She was looking over all their outfits. Again, she just saw Ann's and looked up quickly.

Yusuke peered out the Safe Room door. The coast was clear. "I think it would be prudent if we continued this conversation in the real world. Lingering here won't do us any good."

"I agree. Let's retreat for now." Ren said.

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.

After exiting Kaneshiro's Palace, the group gathered at their hideout in the Accessway to continue their conversation. Their group got a lot bigger in the past two days, but as long as they didn't arouse any suspicion, they'd be fine. Ann got Hifumi a drink before they went back to explaining everything. "It's a bit hard to believe, but after seeing it with my own eyes…" She was referring to everyone changing back to normal.

"But I have a question," Makoto began. "Why did she revert back in the Palace?"

"She must not have full control of her powers yet." Morgana said.

"The same thing happened to me." Ren added so Hifumi wouldn't feel too down about it. "But the more you fight, the more you should get used to it. It'll just take time…if that's what you want to do."

"Oh yeah…your suit kept flickering off and on…" Ryuji remembered that.

"What do you want to do, Hifumi?" Ann asked her friend.

"I should first state that I have no intention of reporting you or anything." Hifumi wanted to make that clear. "I don't think the Phantom Thieves are criminals of any kind."

"Oh, trust me. We weren't worried about you doing that." Morgana said. "Any friend of Lady Ann's trustworthy! She knows how to pick them!"

Hifumi blinked. Did she hear the cat say that? "Lady…Ann…?" Actually, that was something to unpack at a later time. Right now, she looked to the group and bowed her head slightly. "Please, let me join you, at least for this operation! I know I may slow you down in combat with my inexperience, but I have to do something. This involves me and I wish to end it!"

"Happy to have you along." Ren gave a slight smile.

"Thank you, Amamiya-kun." Hifumi could breathe easy now.

"Oh, you don't have to do that. We're all on a first name basis here." Yusuke said.

Hifumi glanced at Makoto. She could tell that Makoto was a third year just with the air around her and the way she carried herself, so the thought of calling her by first name made her a bit apprehensive. "…Even her?"

Makoto expected that response. She just gave a smile. "Even me. My name is Makoto Niijima. It's a pleasure to meet you, Hifumi. I've heard a lot about you, and you really are as beautiful as they say." She extended a hand out for a friendly handshake. Her oblivious compliment left the others dumbstruck.

Not only was she taken aback, Hifumi felt really weird about calling a senior by first name after just meeting, but she'd endure it. She shook Makoto's hand and gave a slight smile in return. "Pleasure to meet you too, M-M-Makoto….!"

"Another girl, thank goodness." Ann needed the company to balance out all the testosterone in the group. "I'll add you to the group chat. You can use that to exchange IDs with everyone."

"Okay!" Hifumi nodded. Her stomach then growled and she felt a bit embarrassed. "…I guess that fight took a lot out of me…."

"So you wanna grab a bite to eat?" Ann was already pulling Hifumi off.

"I…guess we're doing that…!" Hifumi didn't object to this. While hanging out with Ann was pretty much going directly against her mother's wishes…she was a bit of a rebel now.

"I suppose we're done for the day?" Yusuke asked.

"Looks like it. We should let our new member rest before going back in. The security level might be higher when we go in again, so be prepared." Makoto told the boys.

"And if Hifumi can't control her powers properly, she will slow us down. But that's just something we'll have to adapt to." Morgana was being realistic. Makoto was new but she could handle herself.

"We'll just have to work a bit harder then, yeah? It won't be a problem. I'm itchin' to get to stealin' that Treasure"! Ryuji was just as optimistic about the operation as always.

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.

Since they were done for the day, Ren and Morgana decided to return home. Ren laid back in the bed, thinking about the events of the last two days. It felt like they hardly had any rest. Morgana sat in front of the bed, staring at Ren. "Two Persona users in two days? You're definitely something special."

"Nah, I just got lucky." Ren shook his head.

"I don't think we can qualify that as lucky anymore." Morgana didn't think this was luck. Ren was special in some way. "A knight and a bike…I feel some sort of kinship with Makoto's Persona, though…maybe it's because I'm a bus?"

"Bikes are cooler." Ren said.

If it was to get a rise out of Morgana, it definitely worked. "A bike can't carry all you guys in Mementos!" Wait… "Carry…? Take something…?" Something about that word tugged his memory. "It's no use; I can't seem to remember…"

Ren's phone buzzed and he decided to check it out.

Hifumi: Thank you all again for allowing me to join your cause.

Makoto: It's no issue. All have something against Kaneshiro.

Ryuji: But man, a bike? A knight? Those are bad ass! I wish I could ride my Persona.

Yusuke: Isn't yours a ship?

Ryuji: But a bike is way cooler!

Ann: Anyway…

Ryuji: Are you two still hanging out?

Ann: Yup! We're at the café!

Hifumi: While I was taking the time to thank you, she started eating my food.

Ren: She does do that.

Ann: That just means I like you! It's not even that much!

Yusuke: Are you texting across the table from Hifumi? Should you not be enjoying your time together instead?

…

Hifumi: She pouted and put the phone down as soon as you said that. But there is one more thing I wanted to say.

Ren: Go ahead.

Hifumi: I may be a little unavailable at times because my mother determines my schedule a lot, but I'll do my best to make time. Just let me know when the operation is beginning…and I can be found in the church in the evenings.

Ryuji: The church, huh…

Makoto: Ryuji, churches are supposed to be holy. Don't do this.

Hifumi: ? I'm putting the phone down now, Ann is eating my food again.

Ren put his phone down as well, giving a quiet laugh before sitting up to head to his work desk. He may as well make some tools since he burned a smoke ball earlier. "Our group's definitely got a lot more energy to it now."