Chapter 12: Checkmate
Makoto had to admit, as the Phantom Thieves stepped over more debris in search of a different entrance – for it was unlikely they could retrace their steps without alerting Kaneshiro – that there was an inkling of satisfaction in seeing the yellow caution tape plastered over the battered front doors of the bank.
"Not bad," Mona said, surveying the damage. "Not bad at all. She might be of some use to us yet."
"I told you," Joker said emphatically. "She really did save us last time."
"And we're thankful for that," Panther cut in. "I just hope we won't need a repeat performance."
"We might not if we can't find another way in," Skull muttered.
Makoto felt their eyes settle on her spiked shoulder pads. Their wary appreciation was almost as satisfying as being invited to join them on this next mission. "We could really use your help," Joker had said. That was all the encouragement she needed. She almost wished she could add it to her college applications. Niijima Makoto: honor student, student council president…Persona user? She wouldn't call herself a Phantom Thief yet. There were no guarantees until after this Kaneshiro business was over.
"Let's be a little more strategic this time," Joker said as they approached one of the large statues standing guard around the bank. "No charging through the front entrance. No antagonizing the guards." He shot Makoto a pointed look. "And especially no running off to do our own thing. Do we understand?"
Makoto tried to sound breezy and confident. "Don't worry about me." Never mind that she woke up to 37 unread messages, many of them threatening to make good on Kaneshiro's threats.
I hope you will consider my offer, Miss Beautiful President. A girl with your qualifications would be an excellent addition to our roster.
The Phantom Thieves didn't have to know about the text messages, not when there was a chance they could double-cross her. She kept a close eye on Panther, whose entire being radiated suspicion. No doubt she would be more than happy to let Makoto take the fall for the $3 million ransom. And what would happen to her then?
Makoto shuddered as she thought of that girl sitting next to Kaneshiro. She could still see her, recoiling from his touch, presiding over the scene before her with an empty expression. She could only imagine what she had to endure to keep Kaneshiro happy. It was a darker side of the world she wanted no part of.
And yet, she hadn't gone to Sis with the text messages. What did she think she was doing, joining forces with the Phantom Thieves, trying to solve the problem on her own?
She had pretended to be asleep until she heard the door click shut. She waited fifteen minutes – the approximate duration of a rush-hour commute from Shibuya Square to Kasumigaseki – then leaped out of bed and began her morning routine. She was dressed and out the door within minutes, speedwalking to the Phantom Thieves' meeting point, the caffeine from Sis's morning brew coursing through her veins.
She had learned yesterday that she wasn't so useless after all. She not only led the Phantom Thieves to the real Kaneshiro, but she saved them from ruin in the Metaverse. She had awakened Johanna and embraced newfound power that she found exhilarating.
The Phantom Thieves thought she was valuable enough. And Sis took little interest in her life these days. A better question would be why shouldn't she try to solve this problem on her own?
Someone cleared their throat. Makoto looked up and noticed the rest of the Thieves watching her intently. Apparently, the conversation had moved on while she was thinking. She guessed it wasn't their first attempt to get her attention.
"Ready?" Joker said, raising an eyebrow.
"I'm ready." Makoto turned to face them. "Where do we start?"
The first order of business was her code name. The Phantom Thieves all had one. Makoto could see why they didn't want to use their real names, even without the customary explanation from Mona. If the Metaverse was someone's cognition, the landscape of the palace could change – or it could change the behavior of their target towards them in real life. A subconscious awareness of their intentions wasn't something they wanted to risk.
Besides, they were thieves. And thieves used code names.
Makoto looked down at her new clothes for inspiration. She was pleased with her overall appearance; the shoulder pads and fist-loaded weapons gave her confidence she could only dream of at school. It should have been easy to think of a code name, but "Rider" was a tad too literal, and "Raider" sounded more like a smuggler than a thief. She wouldn't go with some variation of "Miss President." It never sounded like a compliment for one thing, and she hadn't forgotten all the extra responsibility, all that effort to please teachers, peers, Principal Kobayakawa, Sis.
Especially Sis.
Useless.
Makoto was vetoing Skull's suggestion of Shoulder Pads (why would she want to be called that?) when an ambush cut the conversation short. The Phantom Thieves jumped into action, assuming their battle-ready positions. Mona, with his small size and speed, zipped around the courtyard bolstering the group's defenses. Makoto tried to provide some cover with her healing and defensive skills but soon realized her efforts were duplicative. After a particularly nasty swipe from an enemy, she decided to unload one of Johanna's nuclear blasts. A corner of her mouth kicked up as it connected with a resounding shock.
"They're in disarray!" she cried, dodging a retaliatory strike.
She felt more at ease now that she had found a way to contribute to the team. The others may have had a few weeks more experience in the Metaverse, but with time and patience, she was sure she could become a formidable Phantom Thie— well, Persona user herself. Or so she thought until they took refuge in one of the finely appointed safe rooms, and she found herself having a stern talk with Joker.
"How are things going?" he asked, approaching her little corner of the room. Makoto sat in one of the upholstered chairs, examining her new revolver. She had her doubts about the utility of a model gun but was pleasantly surprised when it transformed into a veritable weapon.
"Thanks for this," she said, turning it over. "It's helped me avoid a couple of close calls."
"Got it from a friend. I thought you'd like it."
Makoto bit back a smile. She hated that he made her feel this way. They had already kissed, and she had been the one to kiss him, and the absence of any follow-up since then made her want to bury her face in the sand and never face him again. At the same time, it was nice being alone together, tucked away in an alcove while the others gathered around the palace map.
"I wanted to talk to you about something," Joker said after a beat. "And keep in mind, what I'm about to say isn't because you messed up."
"Oh?" Makoto's pulse sped up.
Joker averted his gaze, seemingly lost in thought. Then, with a sigh of resignation, he looked at her again with concern in his eyes, and Makoto knew she was about to be disappointed.
"Do you think you could stand back for now? Let one of the others take your place."
Makoto blinked. So much for not being useless. "You mean watch from the sidelines? Take me out of the fight?"
"Just until you've had a little more experience. Or you can step in when one of us is in trouble. The others just think–"
Of course. The others.
Why even ask me to join? she wanted to ask.
"...you're a new addition to the team and frankly that wasn't a unanimous decision."
"But it was your decision. You're the leader. They have to listen to you," she blurted out.
"That's not–" Joker shook his head. "It's a team. I have to think about the people on it."
So that was it then; she would step aside for the greater good. As Makoto watched him rejoin the others, she thought with some bitterness that going to Sis may have been the better option after all. Despite her earlier optimism, everything about the way the Phantom Thieves operated pointed to the fact that she was an outsider. Even Joker thought she was disrupting the team dynamic. She supposed she couldn't blame them after all the animosity of this school year, but it still stung. Even at her best, she was easily discarded.
A thought occurred to her then, something desperate bubbling up and taking hold: she could turn herself in. As far as she knew, she was the only one receiving the threatening text messages. Perhaps if she were to offer herself, Kaneshiro would accept that as payment enough. It would get Joker and the others off the hook. And if she were to be quite honest, she thought it was due penance for Shiho and the student scam victims and everyone else she had failed to this year.
There was no need to let the Phantom Thieves know of her intentions. They didn't have to be involved at all. She had every right to keep her own secrets.
It wasn't until the party was getting ready to leave that Joker noticed the student council president was missing. He scanned the room again, hoping he had just missed her standing behind a pillar or a potted plant. When yet another sweep yielded no sign of her, he began to worry. They hadn't parted ways on the best terms.
He couldn't ignore the way Panther and Skull changed their battle rhythms to accommodate her. Even a moment's hesitation could have given the enemy enough time to land a critical strike. He didn't want to risk that after yesterday's disastrous infiltration.
Nor could he overlook the fact that she threw herself in harm's way at every opportunity. He'd appreciated her prowess in a fight from the moment he saw her knock out that gangster in the alleyway. But there was a recklessness to her that continued to bother him. It was becoming apparent that so long as she was agitated there was a risk of her going rogue, just as Mona had warned him.
Well, shit. Shit shit shit. He clenched his jaw as he dug through the team's inventory, looking for the leather-bound journal they found upon entering the palace. After finding the trap door at the base of one of the statues, they proceeded through the lower levels of the bank, pausing to recoup after each battle.
Joker realized that for all its historic influence, the palace was actually quite modern. He had to wonder if the old-fashioned style of the journal, which stood out against the high-tech security systems wired throughout the palace, meant that Kaneshiro wanted them to find it.
"Some sort of journal," he said, kneeling to examine it.
Makoto picked up the book and turned to the first page. It took a moment for the sequence of words to make sense, and when they did Makoto's eyes widened with the realization that they had discovered a goldmine.
"Not just any journal," she said. "Kaneshiro's journal."
The others peered over Makoto's shoulder. There were entries about finances and daily operations, meeting notes, and memos about business matters that were beyond a high schooler's comprehension.
There were also entries of a more deranged nature. Pages and pages of rants about the sad state of society, the worthlessness of teenagers, and the way things are versus the way they should be, which was of course a hierarchy with Kaneshiro at the very top.
Those in power work the ones below them to the bone for money. Such is the hierarchy of the world. They should accept their fate as the source of my wealth.
It's always the fools who get tricked! Fools who have to pay for their foolishness! And if those fools don't learn, well they have to suck it up and stay as plain, stupid, fools!
On and on the pages went. "He's out of his mind," Joker muttered. He took the journal from Makoto eventually and examined it himself. He turned a page and noticed an entry dated around the time the Shujin blackmail started.
Being young is such a crime. They're naive, they're reckless, and on top of that, they don't even realize how stupid they are. Now I couldn't just sit back and not cash in on those idiots, right
Only the clever come out on top! The strong and the smart devour the weak. That is the natural order of things. These damn brats who think they know the world through the shit you read online will make the perfect prey.
"Wait a minute." Makoto reached out to touch Joker's arm, then quickly pulled away as he tensed up. Tentatively, she pointed to a series of numbers on the bottom left corner of the page.
At the time, Joker had taken this attention to detail as another sign that working together had been the right choice. Now it turned out that Makoto had stolen off with the information needed to continue the infiltration. Without those codes, navigating the palace would take twice as long.
"Looks like I was right to be concerned."
Joker turned to find Mona looking up at him, arms crossed and looking not the slightest bit pleased.
"I… I don't know what I expected," he said. He'd heard the argument between Sae Niijima and Sojiro that afternoon. The sisters shared the same mannerisms and the same sharp look in their eyes. How could he have been so stupid?
He suppressed the familiar helpless panic rising inside him. He hadn't felt like since… since…
He shut his eyes against the memory. The last time he felt this way was the night of his arrest when it dawned on him that the woman he rescued had no intention of returning the favor. Her testimony had landed him in police custody, then a short stint in that claustrophobic cell, and set the events of the past six months in motion. It was the kind of thing that made one question their grip on reality.
Why had she lied? He still found himself thinking in the late hours of the night. He had gone out of his way to be a good person. To treat others as he wanted to be treated. It hadn't quite paid off in his case. In his darker moments, he even wondered if he'd done something to deserve it.
The Phantom Thieves fought their way to the laundering room, where everyone's eyes bugged out from the sight of so much money. Skull and Mona began a spirited discussion about ramen bowls and sashimi that would have made Joker's mouth water on any other occasion. At the moment, he was too focused on figuring out Makoto's endgame to think about food.
Why did she flee with the journal?
Was she trying to beat them to the treasure?
Did she cut a deal with Kaneshiro?
The last thought turned his blood cold. He trusted her. He put his leadership on the line when he invited her to help them change Kaneshiro's heart. If he had known this was what she planned…
His jaw tightened. He wouldn't stand for another betrayal.
The Phantom Thieves kept up their frenetic pace through the palace, dispatching enemies with their new and improved weapons. Joker had just shot another Shadow point-blank with his pistol when he finally saw her leap between the towering stacks of bills overhead. He immediately gave chase, not even looking to see if the others were following.
He pursued her down one corridor, then another, until they reached what appeared to be the bank's warehouse. She stopped short of the pin machine, rifling through the journal for the next code. She looked weary; Joker hoped she didn't have too many run-ins with the shadows. Her name was on the tip of his tongue, but as they never decided on a code name, he taunted her with something from their school life that he knew would catch her attention.
"Hey, Miss President. Going somewhere?" His voice echoed off the warehouse walls.
Makoto paused then looked up, trying to discern the source of the familiar voice. To her surprise, she felt someone grab her by the shoulders. She whirled around and found herself standing face-to-face with Joker, whose eyes were glinting behind his mask.
"What did I say about running off to do your own thing?"
"I just thought–if I could–" Makoto stammered, regretting that he always found a way to make her lose her composure. His grip on her upper body was firm but not painful; she felt her face grow warm and hoped her mask hid the wash of pink. She couldn't help but think of their afternoon at the arcade, where he had helped her aim in Gun About. It was just a light touch as he adjusted her form, but the memory of it crossed her mind from time to time and had a habit of doing so at the least opportune moment.
No, no, not here. Not now. The presidential mask crossed her face once again, rendering her face hard and unreadable. Joker was taken aback at the change. He released his grip on her shoulder and immediately realized his mistake. Her fist just barely missed his face.
Joker staggered back, spitting out a couple of swear words. Makoto shoved past him, clutching the leather journal that would lead her to the heart of the vault where Kaneshiro's treasure waited, where she could settle her debt once and for all.
An overwhelming heaviness came over her, and she realized she could no longer move. She struggled against the invisible force, only to feel the weight spread throughout her limbs, until she was so breathless she dropped to her knees. The journal fell to the ground, where Joker collected it in one smooth motion, Arsene hovering behind him. Even in her weakened state, she could see the disappointment in his eyes.
"The others will be here soon. I don't think I need to tell you that Panther has bloodlust on her mind. Can't say I blame her, really."
"So you caught up to me even without all the codes. Impressive," she managed to say.
Joker took a deep breath. She had a feeling it was the one thing keeping his emotions in check.
"I trusted you. Why?"
She glanced at the journal. "I just felt so… useless when you asked me to trade places with Fox. I'm not a novice at fighting. I told you my father taught me aikido. As if I didn't save all of you the last time we were here."
"You are a novice fighter, and you don't know what you're doing. You couldn't possibly know." Joker gestured towards their surroundings. "You joined literally yesterday, you've had less than a day with Johanna, and this is a crucial mission. You got us out of a bind, you helped us solve a few riddles – that doesn't mean you know everything about the Metaverse, or the Phantom Thieves, or how we do things."
Makoto looked away. He was right, she knew he was right, and he wanted to keep the interrogation going.
"Why are you working with Kaneshiro?" he asked.
" Work with him? "
"Isn't that why you left with the journal while none of us were looking?"
"Yes, but it wasn't like that! I wasn't going to work with him, I was planning on… on…offering myself."
"What?" It was Joker's turn to stammer.
She told him all about the text messages, about the lewd photos and the awful threats, and everything else that had been on her mind: the fight with Sis, the year of spying and stalking and striving to please as many as she could. The intense pressure to succeed and get into a top-tier college, all because of some distant memory of Sis promising to take care of her. Sis, who had fed her and cared for her and kept a roof over both their heads for years… but Makoto had started to see her sister's fixation on her studies in a new light.
The path Sis laid out for her just so happened to be the path Sis had chosen for herself. Makoto was no longer sure if her dreams were her own, or if they were even for her own good, as Sis had always said. All she knew was that it wasn't quite what she wanted, at least not at the moment. Joker had given her too many chances, far more than she deserved, and she was feeling a sharp, inconvenient stab of something that made his forgiveness of her paramount.
"My older sister has a commendable job, and she's a much more remarkable person than me. A lot happened after we lost our father three years ago, so it's just us living together. But I'm still a child, so all I am is a burden to her," she said forlornly, and gasped when Joker abruptly hauled her to her feet.
"You don't always have to go it alone, you know." Joker steadied her as she stumbled forward a bit. They were standing very close, and he once again pushed the memory of the arcade and the student council room out of his mind.
"Neither do you. This was my fault. My responsibility."
This shit again. Joker would never forget the state Makoto was in when they found her: tied up, gagged, and barely conscious. He shuddered as he thought of what could have happened if the Phantom Thieves showed up just a minute later. It was such a grim thought that he gave her hand a light squeeze and pulled her a little closer.
"You're not useless. Not to me. Never to me."
They stood there, together in the depths of the floating bank, Phantom Thief to Phantom Thief.