A simple scouting trip into the Palace of Mitsuyo Togo turned into something far more than that. Cognitive Hifumi stood before the Phantom Thieves, under the order of Her Majesty the Queen to take them down. Dragon was unable to move for some reason, making the fight a bit difficult with one of their own down. Between Cognitive Hifumi and the Shadows that attacked, the Thieves had quite an escape battle ahead of them. "I-I'm sorry, I can't…move…" Dragon was forced onto her knees by an oppressive, unknown force.
"I'll cover you!" Panther said while cracking her whip along the ground, igniting it with flames. As a few of the Shadows in armor approached them, Panther spun around once, swinging her whip as wide as she could while slamming it across the ground. The initial crack of her whip sent a few of the Shadows staggering, but shortly after that, several pillars of fire rose up, making sure to burn them to a crisp for even daring to come close to her. "On your knees!"
"That sure was a tone shift…" Dragon said with a light laugh. But she was glad she could rely on Panther to have her back when she needed it.
Fox, Skull, Mona, and Queen were focusing on crowd control. The Shadows around them weren't particularly strong or anything they couldn't handle, but they had to be careful of the fact that they were ultimately outnumbered. "It hasn't been uncommon for us to be met with a show of force upon meeting a denizen of a Palace, but this is the first time they've used such numbers!" Fox grunted, making use of his high speed. A knight swung its blade at Fox, but he deftly jumped to the side and unsheathed his katana, swinging it with precision and focus, taking in large amount of shadows with his slashes. "Goemon!" At the end of it all, Goemon appeared, releasing a powerful burst of ice that Fox slashed through, freezing multiple enemies over.
This was Queen's time to shine. With the enemies frozen over, Queen rode forward on Johanna, barreling through the frozen Shadows at full throttle, shattering them. For the ones that remained, several spheres of nuclear energy formed behind her, soaring towards the foes. "Take this!" Mafrei rained down on the iced foes, the properties of this magic inflicting even more damage than usual, destroying the Shadows with ease.
"Zorro!" Mona called forth his Persona, using Garula to summon forth a potent whirlwind with Mona in the eye of the storm. While a few Shadows were swept away in the storm, Mona simply used this air current to soar into the sky, transforming into the bus before crashing down on the enemies, driving around a bit to run over any unfortunate foes in his way before turning back. "How's that!"
"Heh! Watch this!" Skull ran forward as his Mask vanished. "Seiten Taisei!" He was very eager to show off his Persona's transformation. The soaring monkey followed Skull's movements as he swung his pipe forward, smashing into a Shadow and sent it barreling into others. Seiten Taisei followed suit riding along his cloud to crash into the Shadows, before following up with a Zionga, several bolts of lightning dropping down to fry his foes in a wide area. "Get wrecked!"
"Whoa! What happened to Skull's Persona…!" Panther was shocked.
"It…transformed?" Dragon suggested.
"What…how…!" Mona's eyes widened. How did Skull of all people go through such growth before him? He wasn't even sure it was possible for their Personas to evolve like this, but why did it have to be Skull first!? Outclassed by Skull of all people now too!?
"I feel a flash of inspiration!" Fox said.
"I'm impressed, actually…in such a short time…" Queen remarked.
Joker was dealing with Cognitive Hifumi in place of Dragon. She was quite scary, swinging such a large weapon around with little difficultly. Joker was able to parry some of her strikes with his knife, but he had to be careful. A single misstep would be the end of him. As Cognitive Hifumi swung, he ducked low and propelled himself upward, aiming a rising slash with his knife at her chest. It landed, causing her to stagger back. "Gh, how dare you wound me?" Cognitive Hifumi grunted before swinging at Joker once more, only to find that it was stopped cold by Arsene. "Huh…what is…"
"Hah!" Joker attempted to strike again, but Cognitive Hifumi was able to pull back in time, leaping back to avoid the strike, countering by kicking Joker in the chest with her heel. That kick made him stagger back with a grunt of pain.
"You're pretty agile for someone in such a frilly dress…" Joker remarked while shrugging off that hit.
"As heir to the Togo Kingdom, I am not allowed to lose. Victory is the only thing that exists here." Cognitive Hifumi explained. She was about to strike again, but was halted when a fireball came her way, causing her to leap back.
"…I feel wrong about attacking her, but I know it's not the real one." Panther said. Having just used Carmen, her face was exposed to Cognitive Hifumi.
"You…Her Majesty claims you are a bad influence upon this Kingdom and that you must be dealt with swiftly." Cognitive Hifumi didn't waste any time lunging towards Panther at surprisingly high speeds.
"Wh…!?" Panther was so stunned at Cognitive Hifumi's speed; she hardly had a chance to react. She was also mostly in shock at the notion of Hifumi attacking her in general, so it was difficult to snap out of that initial shock so quickly.
"NO!" Dragon sprang up suddenly with a burst of willpower, fighting against the force holding her down. It surprised her cognitive version as Dragon suddenly clashed with her staff, their green eyes peering into one another. "I won't let you…"
"You…" Cognitive Hifumi felt like she was staring in a mirror. A less obedient one. "How dare you stand here, against Her Majesty!? You are doing yourself a disservice, and I can see in your eyes the fear you hold!"
"I'm not going to let you hurt her, that's all…! Even if you are me…" Dragon grunted as half of her mask fading as she called for Belle Star for a surprise attack. "Megidola!" The knight swung her sword down, an explosion of almighty magic occurring with enough force to knock Cognitive Hifumi backwards. Dragon immediately collapsed again, but not out of exhaustion. "Again…!?"
Cognitive Hifumi landed on her feet, sustaining some damage from Dragon's attack. "Kch…" Before she could attack again, Seiten Taisei and Goemon struck first, both Personas attacking her with their weapons; Seiten Taisei's staff and Goemon's sword struck from multiple angles, the attack causing her to fall to her knees. "Agh…!"
"Now's the chance to defeat her!" Queen exclaimed.
"Arsene!" Joker called upon Arsene once more, allowing the gentleman thief to fly forward with the finishing blow.
"What are you doing!? You know I do not accept any losses in this Kingdom!" A voice rang out.
"I know…!" Cognitive Hifumi nodded and just before Arsene struck, a barrier appeared in front of her, causing Arsene to return to Joker. With a deep breath, Cognitive Hifumi stood back up, her injuries fading, along with receiving a potent buff to her offensive and defense capabilities.
"Hey, what the hell?! We had her!" Skull shouted.
"Watch out, she just got way stronger!" Mona warned.
"We of the Togo Kingdom do not accept losses!" Cognitive Hifumi swung her great sword with so much force; the wind pressure created was enough to nearly knock everyone back. That alone told everyone how strong she got so suddenly. "I have dueled with many opponents and I've never lost a single match. So long as I have Her Majesty's support and follow her orders, I will remain undefeated. And in turn, I shall lead her to the promise land of victory!"
"H-Huh…?" Dragon was only able to stand thanks to Panther's help. "…Is that how my mother sees me…?"
"Now then, Phantom Thieves. Shall we continue?" Cognitive Hifumi snapped her fingers, causing more Shadows to appear.
"I think this is the extent of what we came here to do today." Fox said.
"I agree. We should retreat. Can you move, Dragon?" Mona asked.
Dragon nodded. "Barely, but enough…"
"Let's get outta here then!" Skull said.
"Got it!" Joker pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it down. There was thick cloud of smoke that shielded them from view. By the time it dissipated, the Phantom Thieves were gone.
"So they fled? Hah." Cognitive Hifumi let out a slight laugh. "Then I take this as my win. I do not lose…and I will not so long as I have Her Majesty's power…"
.
.
The group escaped back to their hideout in the Accessway, all of them a bit exhausted from the mad dash they had to perform. Hifumi leaned against the railing, giving everyone an apologetic look. "I am so sorry, everyone. I had no intention of leading you all into danger…"
"It's quite alright." Makoto reassured Hifumi. "I think we should be prepared for something like that in the future."
"But I was super cool, right?" Ryuji said while rubbing the bottom of his nose. "My Persona got all powered up! All thanks to Ren-Ren here."
"I really didn't do anything." Ren said.
"There were more important things to focus on than that." Morgana immediately said. There was no way he was going to deal with Ryuji getting stronger like that. So he'd divert the topic. "I didn't think we'd run a cognitive being so soon."
"Aside from the paintings in Madarame's Palace…and the walking ATMs that barely provided conversation, my experience with cognitive beings are quite limited…" Yusuke admitted.
"They're all based on how the Palace ruler sees those people." Morgana explained once more.
"Kamoshida only viewed me and the other girls on the volleyball team as sexual outlets." Ann frowned as she had to recall that. "While the boys were treated as slaves. We never had to fight them…except when we had to get rid of Kamoshida's version of Shiho…"
"Are they always that strong?" Hifumi rubbed her arm.
"That also depends on how the Palace ruler sees them." Morgana nodded. "The ones we dealt with before were essentially nonexistent…but your Mother is different compared to them. She must see you in some different way for your cognitive version to be that powerful."
"And what was up with what happened at the end!?" Ryuji groaned. "We were kickin' ass, and then she just gets back up all powerful 'n shit!"
"She claimed that she doesn't lose…" Makoto said.
"Is that…because I don't lose?" Hifumi surmised. "If she doesn't think I can lose…then that would mean my cognitive self wouldn't be able to lose either…?"
"That's how it works." Morgana said.
"…Should I…?" Hifumi began.
"You don't have to. We'll find some way to deal with it later." Ann gave Hifumi a firm nod. "…Are you okay? It's pretty weird to see yourself in that light, isn't it?"
"It was…off putting, I will admit." Hifumi said. "I…still don't know why I was the only one who had difficulty moving either. Aside from when I attacked, something was weighing me down. Did no one else feel it?" The awkward silence answered that question. "I see…I'm sorry for continuing to slow you all down."
"You're fine, don't worry." Ren said with a nod. "Whenever you're ready and we have the time, we'll be ready to jump back in there with a more concrete plan. You did get the front door open for us after all."
"…Thanks." Hifumi could at least smile to that.
"…." Makoto had an idea. But they would have to enter again with Hifumi in order to come to a firm conclusion. "I think we've had enough excitement for one day. Everyone should go rest and prepare for finals now, okay?"
.
.
June 12th.
Maruki had a knock on his door. He wasn't busy at the moment, so he went ahead and called out to who was on the other side. "Come on in." It was Makoto, which did surprise him a little bit. "Oh, you're the student council president…Niijima-san, correct?"
The two of them sat down and Maruki had his clipboard at the ready. "I hope I wasn't disturbing you by barging in so suddenly."
"Oh, not at all." Maruki shook his head. "I know the term 'counseling session' can be a bit intimidating, but everyone's free to drop in whenever they like. As the president, I would prefer if they didn't force you to come at all."
"I came of my own volition." Makoto reassured him. "But please, there's no need to be concerned about my being here. Feel free to discuss anything with me."
That one threw Maruki for a loop. He wasn't expecting Makoto to somewhat take charge and use some of the words he usually would. "Ah, right, so I shall…"
.
.
June 16th.
Her friends at Shujin were currently busy with finals. The fireworks festival was on the 18th…two days from now. Hifumi was very apprehensive about asking this to her mother, but she did have a plan. She simply waited for when her mother returned home. It was going to be a bit awkward for her considering what she knew from the Palace, but that was a later problem. "Welcome home, Mother."
"Hifumi." Mitsuyo acknowledged her daughter with a nod.
"Um…I checked the shedcule you showed me again. I'm free on Sunday, right?" Hifumi asked.
"That's right." Mitsuyo replied. "Why do you ask?"
"There's a fireworks festival then…and my friends…" Choking out that part was hard, since she noticed her mother's reaction sour immediately. But Hifumi pressed on regardless. "They invited me to join them…and I'd really like to go."
"That's…" Mitsuyo was about to speak, but that's when Mitsurugi spoke up, hiding his presence until this very moment.
"I think we should let her go. It's not often she gets to go to such events." Mitsurugi said with a gentle smile…before coughing a few times, much to the worry of his wife and daughter.
"You should be resting…!" Mitsuyo snapped. She placed her hands on her hips, backed into a corner since Mitsurugi decided to get involved. She was leaning towards no, but she found it very hard to stick to that position in this situation. So with a reluctant sigh, she agreed. "If you go back and rest like you're supposed to, I will allow her to spend time with her friends. I'll at least know who to turn to if something bad happens."
Whew. That was close. It sounded like her friends were on thin ice as usual, but she'd take that as opposed to a fat no. "Thank you both so much…! Oh…I have to get my yukata ready…" At least the one she had in reality was nowhere near as revealing as the one she had in the Metaverse…although she was also aware of the irony that it was her own image that made it that way…
.
.
June 18th.
The boys gathered together in the Shibuya underground, mostly to escape from the heat. Today was the day of the fireworks festival and they really needed a win after the atrocity that was their boys day out at the summer festival just yesterday. Yusuke was the only one wearing a yukua, Ryuji had nothing, and Ren just wasn't wearing his glasses. He didn't actually need them anyway… "Ugh…it's soooo hoot…" Ryuji groaned. They tried to escape from the heat but failed.
"Somehow it's even worse than yesterday…" Ren said.
"I feel like I'm being baked alive…" Morgana whined.
"Those girls are waaaay too late…" Ryuji kicked the ground.
"It takes time to put on yukata." Yusuke said. "Why aren't you two wearing one?"
"Don't have one." Ren answered.
"Me neither." Ryuji said. "But man…you look way too normal in that."
"People say that a lot to me." Yusuke shrugged. It wasn't anything he hadn't heard before.
"By the way, those exams…" Ryuji let out a sigh just thinking about it.
"I bet you got a big fat F!" Morgana said with a taunting smile. He had to take whatever shot he could at Ryuji after all.
"W-We don't know that…! Yet…" Ryuji couldn't really argue. He knew he tanked them after he gave up to play video games all night.
"I feel pretty good about mine." Ren said.
Two girls in blank and pink yukatas approached the trio, though their gaze was more on Yusuke than the other two. "Are you going to the fireworks festival?" The one in the pink yukata asked.
"That's right." Yusuke replied.
"Us too! Wanna come with us?" The woman in the black yukata asked.
"Are we getting hit on…?" Ryuji's eyes widened in excitement. Picking up chicks by just standing around? This was the life he could live. "Wanna go with them instead?"
"I think it's more Yusuke than us…" Ren said.
"The ratio of guys to girls is off a bit, but we can do something about that…" Ryuji was already going with this.
"C'mon, let's go together." The girl in the pink yukata pleaded.
"That's enough." Yusuke narrowed his eyes. "You're disgracing your yukata. You should be more conscious about your womanhood." After a comment like that, the girls just looked at each other before walking off.
Ryuji couldn't believe this. How could Yusuke do this!? "How could you…!?"
"Why don't you go after them, then?" Ann asked. She, Hifumi, and Makoto arrived in their yukata. The boys were actually surprised to see that Hifumi managed to come after all.
"So those are the kinds of girls' you like, Ryuji…" Makoto narrowed her eyes a bit. She was giving Ryuji a rather judgmental look.
"I'm very thankful my mother had little to no exposure to you, Ryuji. If she saw the type of boy you were and that I was hanging around…" Hifumi pinched the bridge of her nose. Her yukata was green and black with a floral pattern consisting of roses.
"Ah, well…you see…it ain't like that…?" Ryuji was trying to defend himself as the girls' words piled onto him.
"You know, Yusuke is such a pretty boy." Ann said. "But he really misses out because of the things he says."
"I wish he would be more mindful of the things he said, however." Hifumi sighed once more. Honestly the more she was exposed to everyone's shortcomings, the more she was amazed that she was able to hang out with everyone.
"True…but I guess that makes him more likable because he sticks to his beliefs. More than…somebody I know." Makoto turned her gaze to Ryuji once more, along with Ann and Hifumi.
"…" Ryuji couldn't even look at them.
The perfect time for Morgana to poke his head out again. "I heard that Ryuji's pretty much failed his exams."
How interesting. Makoto's gaze burned a hole through Ryuji's very soul. "Oh?"
"Mona, you little…!" Ryuji was about to fight a cat.
"I'm surprised you were able to make it, Hifumi." Yusuke pointed out. "It was quite a surprise to see you."
"I managed to convince my mother…with a little help." Hifumi explained. "I don't get to go to social events such as this often, so I'm very excited."
"Y'know, it's totally a bit weird seein' you in a normal yukata." Ryuji remarked. The difference between what Hifumi wore now, and her outfit in the Metaverse was night and day.
This of course made Hifumi blush. "Please don't mention that…"
"But that is your image of a rebel…" Ren made sure to say this quietly, since the moment he opened his mouth, he was getting a look to cease from Ann.
"We should be going; it's going to get crowded soon." Ann motioned for the others to follow and they did.
Ryuji hung back a bit, talking to himself as the others left. "But man…the three of you look amazin' in yukata. Talk about Japanese beauties…" And then he realized they were going to leave him behind, so he hurried to catch up with him.
.
.
The fireworks lit up the night sky in Shibuya. It was a beautiful sight across the city…although it was so crowded; it was a bit difficult to see as well. "It started already…" Ann mumbled.
"I can barely see…" Hifumi frowned. That frown soon turned upside down when she could see a firework explode in the distance over a nearby building. "OH…!" Her green eyes lit up in awe. She hadn't been so excited about anything in a very long time.
"Hehe, how are they?" Ann turned to Hifumi.
"Very worth the trip!" Hifumi nodded fervently.
"At least you have a better view than I do…" Ann could barely see over the tall man in front of her. She had to resort to hopping up just to see something…and that's when she felt a drop of water land upon her face. "Huh?"
The same thing happened to Morgana. He mewled in discontent and hide away inside the back. "Meow…!"
Makoto held her hand out, sighing as it was indeed getting ready to rain. "Why now…?"
"…I knew I was forgetting something…" Ren saw the weather report before he left, but completely disregarded it. Now it came back to haunt him as they were caught in the rain and had to quickly seek shelter near the convenience store. Everyone now had to wring the water out of their clothes.
"Well this sucks!" Ryuji huffed.
Ann was wringing the water near the lower part of her yukata. As such this left her leg all the way up to her upper thigh exposed. Makoto happened to turn her gaze and noticed a few peeping eyes. "Ann…" She whispered.
"Huh?" Ann turned to Makoto.
"Behind you." Hifumi puffed her cheeks out, not even trying to hide the fact she was selling the boys out. When Ann turned to look at the boys, they were all very conveniently looking away…as if they were trying to avoid the fact they were looking at something. "They were looking."
"Come on…!" Ann huffed. They were just going to stare and not offer any help!?
"Looks like you need help…" Ryuji whistled.
Ann grabbed Ryuji by the shirt. "Then why don't you buy me a towel!?"
"I can't believe Yusuke was looking too…" Hifumi huffed.
"I saw you…" Yusuke began.
"Not for the same reasons." Hifumi immediately replied, now moving to squeeze out the water from her yukata. She was trying to be careful about it, but in the end she ultimately exposed just as much leg as Ann did...and still, the boys snuck a glance out of curiosity. Makoto just…sighed heavily. Never a dull moment with this group.
"Buy her a towel too if you're going to look!" Ann was still shaking Ryuji.
"Due to the sudden change in weather, a heavy rain and flood warning has been issued nearby. Since the festival cannot proceed in this weather, we truly apologize for this inconvenience." The woman speaking on the PA system informed everyone. It was an unfortunate turn of events.
"I think it may be best if we head into the store for now." Hifumi suggest, fighting back a sneeze. "Being out in this cold weather isn't good for our health…"
Taking Hifumi's suggestion, everyone huddled inside the store to stay dry. But it was pretty crowded in there as well. "Man, we were just tryin' to get outta the rain…look how packed it is here." Ryuji said, looking at how crowded the store was.
"I guess everyone had the same idea…" Ann groaned. "My feet hurt, it's cold, the festival's been canceled…this sucks…" Ann stared at the floor. What was supposed to be a fun day was absolutely shitty.
Hifumi seemed the most downtrodden out of everyone. "I had a lot of high hopes coming into this festival…this is very unfortunate. I hope I didn't catch a cold from this either, I feel shivers coming on…"
"We made such a commotion with the public and this is what we get? Laaaame…" Ryuji was complaining along with Ann and Hifumi, but for different reasons. "Aren't heroes who lurk in the shadows boring?" He asked Ren.
"I like the shade." Ren replied without missing a beat.
"What are you, moss!?" Ryuji was hoping for some support, not one of Ren's usual, ridiculous remarks. "I wanna change the world with a BANG, like a firework! But I guess we aren't going to find someone bigger than Kaneshiro that easily…"
"Keep it down." Hifumi told Ryuji. It may have been a bit noisy with all the commotion inside, but she didn't want to risk anyone listening on them.
"Man, you're so strict about talkin' in public…" Ryuji sighed.
"She's just being careful, unlike you." Morgana piped up. "I actually like it. She's not careless…at least when it comes to the public side of things."
"Yes, I still have to work on that…" Hifumi admitted.
Makoto stared out the window, sighing once more. She wasn't going to complain like the others, but… "I hope this rain lets up soon…"
There wasn't anything they could do aside from loiter around a bit. Hifumi used this time to buy Makoto, Ann, and herself some towels. They were selling fast so she made sure grab them while she could. "I just managed the last three…here you two go."
"Thanks, Hifumi." Makoto smiled.
"You're more reliable than some people." Ann cut her eyes at Ryuji, who put his hands up defensively. But not just Ryuji. Ren and Yusuke weren't exempt from the gaze either. Only Morgana got off scot free, because he was currently in the form of a cat.
"We're 0 for 2 on outings so far…" Ren sighed. The boys were not having a good two days.
"Pardon me…" A soft voice spoke up as she tried to shimmy pass them. Haru was in a pink yukata, drenched from the rain. She was looking for a towel but they were all sold out. "Oh, the towels are out, are they? That's unfortunate…"
"Here, take mine." Hifumi handed her towel to Haru.
"Oh…I couldn't…" Haru waved her hands, but Hifumi was insisting. With a soft smile, Haru eventually accepted. "Thank you…"
Makoto stared at Haru for a few seconds. She knew her… "Excuse me, aren't you…?"
Haru turned to face Makoto, tilting her head curiously. "Oh, hello. I think we're in a few classes in Shujin together, right? Niijima-san?"
"Whoa…that girl is super cute…!" Ryuji nudged Ren.
So Makoto did know her! "That's right. Haru…" Makoto was trying to recall her last name, but it also didn't seem like she could remember for whatever reason. Did Haru use her last name…?
"You can just call me Haru, it's okay." Haru smiled and turned to face the others. "It's nice to meet you all." And in turn, everyone gave their names to Haru. Even Morgana popped out of the bag out of curiosity. "Oh, that's a cute cat…"
"Were you rained out too?" Ann asked, though it was obvious. It just felt a bit odd since Haru had a bit of a refine air around her.
"Mhm." Haru nodded. "I…came to the festival with someone else, though I would've liked to enjoy it alone. I was looking for a bit of a better view and then it started raining. Before I knew it, I had to come in here. I see a lot of others did the same thing."
"Today's turn of events was rather unexpected." Yusuke said.
"…" Ren wasn't going to mention the weather report he saw. If he did now, at this point, everyone would ask why he didn't say anything. It was best to just roll with the turn of events here. The conversation with Haru continued for a few moments, everyone seemingly having a nice time while they waited for the rain to pass. Eventually did started to let up, but that was when a man with orange hair and a white suit practically barged into the convenience store.
"There you are!" Sugimura walked directly towards Haru, pretty much shoving everyone else out of the way. "How dare you sneak away from me like that? And to hang around these strangers no less? Where's that same fervor when it comes to spending time with me? I brought you here after all!"
Haru's cheerful disposition immediately vanished, her gaze turning towards the floor. "I wanted to get out of the rain…I'm sorry…"
"Hey asshole, who the hell do you think you are?" Ryuji spoke up immediately. He could see that Haru was not having a good time when this guy showed up and he wasn't having it.
Sugimura gave Ryuji a side glance. "Such vulgar company as well. Are these the kind of people you'd rather hang out without? Boys like this? I should get a turn, too."
"Hey, what's your deal!?" Ann said. This was creating a bit of a scene but nobody else was really going to say anything.
"She's uncomfortable. You should back off." Ren stepped forward.
"This isn't any of your business." Sugimura said while staring at Haru. "Isn't that right?"
"…." Haru didn't say anything. She just kept looking away.
"I'm willing to forget this incident happened…" Sugimura leaned in closer, which made Haru's face grow pale. "If you come back with me."
"That jerk is just ignoring us!" Morgana said loudly. The mewl of a cat did break the tension a bit.
"I'd like to just go home…" Haru said. "The weather isn't very good and I think I'm feeling a bit sick…" She then sneezed. "I was out in the rain for a while…"
"…" It didn't seem like Sugimura was willing to risk getting sick. He just scowled and turned to Ren and the others. "This wouldn't have happened if you stayed away from commoners like these. The sickness of the lower class might spread even to you."
"Wanna repeat that!?" Ryuji was about to get in Sugimura's face, but he was held back by Ren. Everyone was feeling the same way right now.
"I'll help you hope if you'd like." Makoto offered.
"No, that's okay. We'll be going now, right, Haru?" The smug man said while grabbing Haru's wrist, preparing to pull her out of the store.
"Wait." Hifumi spoke up. She had enough of standing by and watching this happen. "Haru…are you truly okay with going with him?"
"Of course she is." Sugimura answered immediately.
"I wasn't asking you." Hifumi's green eyes narrowed. The way she suddenly spoke up caught everyone's attention. "I was asking her."
"Hifumi…?" Ann was wondering where this came from.
"…It's okay." Haru managed a smile. It meant a lot to her that these people who she just met were trying to help her, but she didn't want them getting in trouble. "I'll be fine. Thank you, though…"
"You're lying, I can te…" Hifumi was silenced by Haru's smile.
"Hmph. I'll take you home. But next time you're out like this without me, I expect to get my fair share." Sugimura practically pulled Haru out of the store, to the limo waiting outside.
"What an asshole!" Ryuji grunted.
"She has my condolences to deal with such an awful man." Yusuke said.
"Yeah, no kidding…I see that sort of thing happen a lot…" Ren frowned. This was the second time he outright failed to help a woman in trouble from some man abusing a power dynamic. Haru was such a nice girl.
"I'll see if I can talk to her at school." Makoto brushed her hair back. "But Hifumi, what was that outburst? You claimed rather strongly that there were some lies going about…?"
"Er…" Hifumi poked her fingers sheepishly. "So…the thing is. Since I awakened my Persona, I think I've had the innate ability to sense when a person is lying to me. I think it might be a part of my Persona's power…"
"That's incredible…" Morgana didn't think she'd gain that kind of ability.
"So you're a walking lie detector?" Ann asked.
"It would seem that way. Haru was lying so much I couldn't help but speak up." Hifumi admitted. "I know it was unwise, but I couldn't stand back and watch."
"We're all in the same boat there. But you mustn't go around claiming people are lying without any proof." Yusuke said. The fact he was right made everyone do a double take.
"…" There was just silence as Yusuke was right about something.
"Still, that's a pretty useful ability to have." Morgana said. "Being able to tell when a person is lying could work in our favor."
"If we ever play truth or dare, I'm always picking dare." Ann joked in an attempt to make the mood a bit lighter.
Yusuke looked out the window. Though the mood was a bit somber with how the festival was canceled, and that encounter with Sugimura…it was an unfortunate day overall. "The rain really has let up. Though it is regrettable, we should go our separate ways for the day."
"Yeah…" Ren gave a nod. "I'll see you guys later…"