"Let's see if your resolve is strong enough, my other self."

With a nod, Hifumi gripped her naginata's handle with both of her hands, shifting her left foot to the back as she lowered her body. "Alright."

Separating her spear and changed into her battle-ready stance, the two Hifumi stared at each other for a few moments. And the world around them turned into a silent void, as the only focus was each other.

And they sprung to their feet, Hifumi immediately raised the naginata and struck down. However, it was blocked as her other self blocked the strike, just in time.

Meanwhile, the trio quickly snapped out from the temporary shock and rushed to her side, and Swan slid aside with her sniper rifle. Taking a deep breath, she aimed at Cognitive Hifumi's arm and pulled the trigger.

However, as if she already expected Swan's attack, Cognitive Hifumi let her body fell behind and slipped out from the blade lock. As the bullet flew right between the two princesses.

As their blade moved away from each other, Hifumi twisted her grip on her Naginata and span around. Just barely missed her other self as she leaned backward, before transitioning into a backflip.

With a bit more distance gained between them and herself, Cognitive Hifumi scanned through the battlefield. It was clear that she was at a massive advantage, but she didn't care. Either way, she was going to lose this fight… that was clear from the start.

But at least… she could still give herself a grand finale.

Biting her lips to fight the fading power, Cognitive Hifumi sprung to her feet. With her eyes locked on her other self, she picked up her pace and swung her blade, clashing with the Naginata again.

However, she could feel something else was aimed at her. Taking a side glance, she saw Raven with his machine gun raised. And there's only a split second left for her to make a decision.

Twisting her blade around, she moved her body with the real Hifumi's so she blocked Raven's line of sight, and rolled away. However, Swan's whip sword suddenly wrapped around the blade of her sword.

Even though surprised, Cognitive Hifumi quickly released her grip and sacrificed one of her blades. And she immediately rolled away again, narrowly dodged Jester's downward strike with his scythe.

But in the corner of her eyes, he could see Raven with Fou Roux summoned. "At Eternity's Gate!"

Before she could make a reaction, a heavy weight fell upon her body again. Just like how it was for their last battle, but with even more disadvantages than before.

"D-dammit…"Gritting her teeth, the cognitive princess tightened her grip on her blade."I should keep that for a bit longer… Now's not the time…"

Shifting her weight, she took a deep breath before darting toward Swan, using all her strength into the swing. And even if Swan had her whip sword raised to block the strike, her defense was still shattered.

"This skill is worse than last time…" Trailing off, Cognitive Hifumi noticed her other self, with a bow and arrow in her hand."So another trick up in your sleeve... dammit, I can't guard in time-"

Taking a deep breath, The real Hifumi pulled back her bow, her eyes locked onto her cognitive self. She didn't know how, but… she had confidence that this would hit, as if something was guiding her hand.

And she released her grip on the bowstring, sending the arrow, and struck her cognitive version's shoulder. But instead of a scream of pain she expected, her other self only let out a small yelp.

But that split moment of lost balance was enough for Swan to attack, sending her back with force.

Coughing out a few droplets of 'blood', the cognitive princess used her blade as support and stood up. Even with her legs slightly wobbling.

"Not bad, not bad…"

Without a second thought, the cognitive princess sprung to her feet toward her other self. As a trail of burning flame left behind with her movement, Hifumi felt much more force clashed against her blade than their last blade lock.

However, just as their eyes met, The Shogi princess saw something… weird. It's like some kind of pop-up next to her other self, showing… her elemental resistance and weakness.

"Nuclear, and Bless…" Murmuring under her breath, she quickly slipped away from their blade lock, and her gaze scanned through the other three Persona-users.

And the same thing popped up as well.

"…Got it," Nodding to herself, Hifumi blocked another strike before raised her voice to them. "Her weaknesses Nuclear, and Bless! Focus on those elements!"

Surprised, the three Persona-users stopped in their track for a split second. But Raven quickly realized what was going on, as a small smirk crept up on his face. "So she's a navigator as well… No, a battle navigator."

"When would I found anything weak to Wind or Curse?" Sighing to himself, Jester sprung to his feet, tightening his grip on his scythe. "But whatever, at least I still can stall you!"

Meanwhile, Cognitive Hifumi snapped out from the shock much quicker and just in time to block the strike. And a thought surfaced."She found out my weakness just from a glance… Good."

For her, this finale only became better and better.

At the same time, she felt the weight on her body had been lifted off. And a small smirk crept up on her face. "Perfect timing-"

But without a second passed, a flash of light suddenly struck her from aside, knocking the cognitive princess down. "Togo-san's right!"

"Atomic Shard!" Without hesitation, Raven also sent a wave of radioactive shards, showering her with it.

However, even with the pain from those ice shards hitting her, the cognitive princess noticed the other half of her blade, still lying on the ground.

Once the barrage of ice shards ended, she immediately sprung to her feet, using all her strength to run, quicker than those attacks coming in her way.

Picking up the blade from the ground, she scanned through the battleground before sighing to herself.

"…Time to use that," With that said, she closed her eyes, and let her mind concentrated. As for letting the energy flowed to the blade itself, and flourish like a flower.

However, decided to not take any chances, Raven summoned Fou Roux again and sent a wave of radioactive ice shards. But it only got to be melted by the flame-covered blade.

Taking the chance, Jester followed up behind him and struck again, but the cognitive princess only dodged that with ease.

Eyes widened, the same vision popped up for Hifumi. And, it looked different. "What is that…" Trailing off, she tried to keep her focus as her other self dashed toward her, and their blade clashed again.

Even though the heat from the flame, the Shogi princess still saw a flow inside. A flow from her other self to the blade itself, a flow… of energy.

Knocked back from the blade lock, Hifumi noticed Raven summoned his Persona again. And the same flow of energy appeared as well, from Fou Roux to him…

"At Eternity's Gate!"

Without a second thought, Cognitive Hifumi immediately leaped away, narrowingly dodged the skill. "Dodged that," Feeling a small smirk crept onto her cheek.

Sensing another barrage of attacks and more coming in her way, she sprung to her feet again. But… she was much quicker than before. As if someone else just cast a speed buff on her.

Meanwhile, the Shogi princess kept her focus on her other self. As the cog inside her head started to turn. The energy stuff flowing inside the cognitive princess, was boosting all of her attributes…

Or in other words, she was holding herself back until now.

"Why would she do that now?" Asking out loud, Hifumi only shook her head and cleared this thought out of her. "But… if she can do this…"

Hifumi didn't know how, but in some way… she could understand how her other self did that. Channeling her energy into her blades, and let it turned into flames…

"I could do it," Nodding to herself, she shifted her right foot backward, her eyes closed and concentrated. "Just channel it into your blade, and let it flourish…"

Before long, the mask resting on her face dissolved with blue flame, and a small ember emerged on the blade of her Naginata. And the ember flourished, into a bright flame, bright enough to rival her other self's own channeling.

"So you managed to copy it…"Trailing off, the Cognitive Hifumi closed her eyes, and all of her thought led to one single answer. "Good, you're becoming better than I am…"

Smirking slightly, the two Hifumi rushed toward each other, as their blade left a trail of flame behind. And as their blade clashed, sparks and embers splattered.

"Show me, Hifumi," She said, knocking the real Hifumi back with a kick, connecting her blade together into the spear again."Show me how much you can do."

"Same for me."

With that said, the two engaged in clashes after clashes of blades. However, between each clash, Hifumi saw something weird. Her other-self… was smiling.

Was she smiling at the fact that they got her into going all-out, or was she smiling at the fact that she was doing the same move as her? Or just… she was enjoying this fight?

But no matter which one was the reason, she felt… happy with this. In the end, in a way… she felt that they were the same person.

However, as the clash between the blades continued, the stalemate only continued alongside it. A weird sense of balance between them, with each strike being perfectly countered and blocked.

And this lasted for a long while, until a whip sword intervened in their clashes, separating them for a bit. And without letting a second of breath, both Jester and Raven appeared behind cognitive Hifumi, their weapon raised.

Hastily turning around and blocked both of their strikes just in time, the cognitive princess quickly noticed how the other two Persona-users started to rush toward her.

With no other choice left, she gathered more strength and pushed both the scythe and the cane sword off, kicking them back before switching her focus to the other two Persona-users.

But before she could react, the whip sword wrapped around the handle of her spear. And Hifumi immediately knocked the spear out of her cognitive-self's hand, pointing the Naginata to her face.

It was clear. The cognitive princess had lost.

Between heavy breathes, a wave of silence stayed between them. As the two slowly wrapped their head around what just happened. The same could be said for the other three thieves as well.

And Cognitive Hifumi only shook her head, and a sense of… relief behind her words."You win, Togo Hifumi. I guess… you're no longer clinging to Mitsuyo-sama to comfort her. But to save her instead."

"Don't say that like we're two different people…" Trailing off, the Shogi princess moved the blade away from her face, the flame extinguished on the blade. "In the end, we are the same, isn't it?"

The cognitive princess didn't say anything, just nodded in response. However, she didn't look sad or anything close to that, she looked… more like she's relieved, or happy with how the real Hifumi was.

"Well, at least I have fun fighting with all of you," Feeling the strength slowly gave out, she gave the rest of the thieves a glance. "And you proved… to be better than I."

"No, I'm not," Hifumi denied, giving the glances to her fellow Persona-users, who decided to stay at where they were. "We just have the number advantage over you… It's a one versus four situations, after all."

"But you still managed to figure out my weakness and copied my technique," The cognitive princess replied. "That's already enough evidence to prove it… on top of how you… don't need to seek approval from Mitsuyo-sama anymore."

"Just… don't forget that technique, let it… be like my legacy or something,"She finished, shaking her head. "Well… it's my grand finale, and I'm content with how it turns out."

"Huh?"

Seeing how her body glowed and slowly fading away, she took a deep breath before giving the real Hifumi a small smile. "It's going to be weird not having this form. But… thanks."

With that said, she faded away from existence, leaving only her double-bladed spear. But for the real Hifumi, she felt… something returned to herself, which was probably her cognitive self.

However, right after that fleeting moment of a whole, a wave of fatigue struck her, and she felt her feet gave out.

"Togo-san!" Without hesitation, Raven immediately rushed over to her side, helping her up.

"I-I'm just tired, don't worry," Shaking her head, Hifumi let out a soft sigh. "But I think I just need a minute, we can continue on."

"We can call it a day, Togo-san," Jester shook his head, letting his hands rest against his hip. "After all, it's just one more floor before reaching the treasure."

"Yeah, Jester's right," Swam agreed. "I was the same when I awaken as well, it's best to take a good night's sleep and… yeah."

"…I guess so…" Trailing off, the Shogi player let her body slumped for a bit more. "Then let's go back for the night."


[Outside of Togo Residence, early evening]

After the sense of distortion, the four Persona users gave out a sigh in unison. And Hifumi felt her body finally gave out, as she slumped against the railing.

"…It's more tiring than I thought…" Even though the fleeting strength in her body, the Shogi princess still found a smile crept up on her face. "Then now I have the power to help you, can I join the Phantom Thieves?"

"Of course you can, Togo-san," Akira said, running his hand through his hair. "Now that you have your Persona… I'm going to ask you whether you want to join or not anyways."

"R-really?" Hifumi said between heavy breaths, brushing her bangs aside to reveal her widened eyes.

"Yeah, I'm with Akira here," Shiho nodded, giving her a wide smile.

"I agree with Ichijo's decision as well," Keigo added, lifting his glasses with a faint smile. "Especially since your Persona is the navigation type we needed… And make it even better, it's a battle-navigation type Persona… In a nutshell, you're irreplaceable and valuable for us."

"I-irreplaceable…" Repeating his words, the Shogi princess felt a weird sense of pride emerged from deep within her heart, and a smile followed. "W-well, I won't say that I am as important as irreplaceable-"

"No, you really are that important," Interrupting her, Akira internally cringed at his accidental interruption before carrying on. "So uh… you don't need to doubt yourself about this."

"She's just being humble, Akira," Shiho deadpanned, which Akira physically cringed this time in reaction. "First, you don't need to read into it too much. And second… what the hell are you cringing for?"

"My own stupidity…?"

With her eyes narrowed even more than before, the volleyball player kept the stare for a while before she sighed. "…Of course you are."

However, before Akira could open his mouth, a loud growl suddenly erupted from Shiho's stomach. And an aura of awkward silence fell upon them.

Until Akira finally broke it with a carefree laugh. "Well, I'm a bit hungry myself as well. So… what about we ate something before calling it a day?"

"I'm the one who had her stomach growled, Akira," Deadpanning, Shiho shook her head before taking a step back. "But yeah, I really need to eat something, like right now."

"I see no harm in going along, you are paying for my food as well, Ichijo," Fighting the urge to smirk at his shocked look, Keigo's gaze turned toward Hifumi. "But um… Togo-san-"

"I wanted to come along," Interrupting him, the Shogi princess brushed a strand of hair behind her ear. "I… Mother is working late for another meeting about my next interview… So I have a night all to myself."

"And… I guess I want to know you all better."

"…Well then…" Trailing off, the amateur writer ran his hand through his hair. "Alright, I know a ramen place in Kichijoji, maybe let's have some ramen… that would be nice?"

"Wait, you know a Ramen place?!" Shiho exclaimed in surprise, her eyes widened. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

"W-well, you never asked…" Trailing off, Akira just looked away, rubbing the back of his neck. "I know you loved Ramen, but there's just… never really a point to tell you about that place…"

"…You have a point…"

Meanwhile, Keigo and Hifumi just stood awkwardly as they watched this exchange. Well, also a bit impatient for the half-Frenchman.

"Hey, are we going to stay here and watch you two…" Trailing off, Keigo found himself lacking in a vocabulary without mentioning anything romantic. "Whatever, Togo-san's tired and we're all hungry. Just… get going, okay?"

"…Y-yeah," Akira nodded, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head. "Anyway, let's get going! That place might get crowded if we're too late."

With that said, the four quickly moved on and toward the train station.

[After a while, Kichijoji]

Fortunately, the four were able to get to the place with enough spear seats. And the ramen arrived not long after.

"Thanks for the food!"

With the four Persona-users said and clapped their hands in unison. Akira and Shiho wasted no time and dug into the ramen sitting before them, while Keigo only gave them a deadpanned gaze.

"…Kamisaki-kun, they uh…" Feeling an awkward smile crept up to her face, Hifumi found her gaze darted between the duo and Keigo himself. "Are they… dating or something like that?"

"No, as much as they looked like it," Shaking his head, the half-Frenchman took a sip to the noodles. "It's entertaining to watch though."

"…I can see that," Giggling, the Shogi princess also returned to her ramen. And Akira was right, it was delicious. The combination of all those ingredients, and with the unique taste from the soup…

It was something that she had never tasted before. Well, not exactly. Mamoru used to bring her and Mitsuyo to ramen for the weekend, but… it's different.

For a moment there, she considered the idea to bring Mitsuyo to this place after they're done with her palace. Maybe… she could use this as a chance to reconnect.

However, her train of thought was interrupted as Keigo spoke up again. "And oh, by the way, you don't need to call me 'Kamisaki-kun', just Keigo is fine."

However, overheard what he just said, Akira and Shiho stopped their eating in unison. "Wait, what about us?!" Saying in unison, the two not-couple only leaned toward him.

"We uh… we've been in the same team for WEEKS now!"

Unfazed by their outburst, Keigo just found it hard to control the urge to smirk. The chance to tease their 'definitely-not-a-couple' relationship was literally dangling right in front of him. And it's hard to not just take it.

Fighting a small giggle from leaking out, he shook his head. "Fine, you two can also call me by my first name."

"Then just call us by our first name as well, Keigo," Grinning, Akira wrapped his arm around Keigo's shoulder "We're also friends, after all. It always feels off for you to be this formal around us."

"Personal space, Ichi- Akira," Deadpanned, the half-Frenchman only adjusted his glasses as he awkwardly took off his hand. "But you're… right. Maybe I should be a bit more casual around you."

"And the same for you too, Togo-san," Shiho added, leaning forward and gave Hifumi a welcoming smile. "Just call us by our first name."

Surprised by the mention of her name, Hifumi found herself only able to nod shyly. "Then… the same for you three too. Uh… it's Shiho, right?"

"Yep," The volleyball player Nodded. "And nice to meet you again too, Hifumi."

Even though it's expected, but the Shogi princess couldn't help but smile brightly in response. Like, it was the first time anyone called her by her first name in a long time.

"I… to be honest, I don't know is there any other time to say this…" Trailing off, she brushed a few loose strands of hair away. "But… thank you all."

"Nah, you can save that until we change your mother's heart," Akira shook his head with a smile. "You're the one who awakened your Persona, we just… kinda gives you the slight push you needed."

"Or more specifically, Keigo here does most of the job for us."

"I…" Trying to find anything to retort, the said half-Frenchman only sighed as he found nothing he could really say. "Fine, you got me this time."

Remembering something important, Shiho took out her phone and walked over to Hifumi's side. "Oh right, we also need to put you in our group chat as well. So you'll know when we going to have our infiltration, and just chatting in general."

"O-oh, that makes sense," Nodding, Hifumi also took out her phone and exchanged their information. And the icon of the said group chat showed up in her iM app. "Oh, here's the group…"

Trailing off, her face fell as she scrolled through the messages. And from the corner of her eyes, she could see the other three exchanging uncertain glances.

Thankfully, their concern was answered a few moments later.

"…Uh… Suzu-Shiho, are you sure that you didn't send your message history with Ichijo over to me?" She asked, holding the phone up and showed them the group chat. "It's literally just you two talking like a couple."

Keigo just face-palmed at the mention of this. "Oh right, I forgot about that aspect…"

"Ah… um…" Finding nothing to really retort this, Shiho only glanced over to Akira. And the totally-not-couple only blushed in unison.

"A-anyway, l-let's just moved on from here!" The amateur writer blurted out, turning his focus back onto the ramen. "W-we still haven't finished our ramen! Uh… they'll get soggy!"

"Dude, it's not cup noodle," Deadpanning, The half-Frenchman almost face-palmed again. "It happens slower."

"B-but, c'mon! Just let me divert the topic!"

"Y-yeah, let's just move on f-from that!" Shiho hastily nodded, rushing back to her seat, and started eating.

And Hifumi found herself erupted in laughter, and Keigo followed not long after. And the night went on, as the two totally-and-definitely-not-couple being teased to the end.


[Back inside Mitsuyo's palace, fifth floor.]

Standing alone in the empty area, shadow Mitsuyo found her eyes landed on the two-headed spear. The only thing the cognitive princess left behind.

Picking it up, her hands slowly caressed the dull side of the blade, a million conflicted thoughts filled her head. On one end, she was happy that she returned to her real self. After all, she didn't belong here.

When this place first formed, it was just Mitsuyo here. Only her alone sitting on that throne. The throne she didn't ask for, the throne that kept reminding of Mamoru's passing.

Maybe it was just a part of Hifumi who wanted to stay by her side, to stay with her. But one day, she just popped up here, and accompanied her for all this time.

But… now, Mitsuyo felt alone. The same loneliness she felt when this place first formed. The same loneliness she always feared to return to.

"So… this is how it really feels,"Giving out a small sigh, she separated the spear for a moment before reattaching them. "…At least, she's the one who wanted to meet her real self. And she was happy with how it turns out."

Watching the spear in her hand also faded away into nothing, Mitsuyo let her hand fell to her side. As she gazed upon somewhere… distant. Through an opened window, the star shining in the night sky.

"Mamoru…" Trailing off, the empress let out another sigh. Soft, but a hint of sadness was clear.

She knew that her time as the sole empress was close to the end, she wanted it to end. "Maybe… I'd feel better after that."

Shaking her head to clear her thought, Mitsuyo left the empty arena.

(To be continued.)


Preview:

Now as a member of The Fools, Hifumi promised herself that she would do the best she could.

The treasure drew closer and closer, alongside the need to make their own calling card.

However, Hifumi volunteered to send it.

As the final battle to save her mother drew closer.

Next Chapter:

"Shoobute"

Stay tuned!


So... it's a day later than I expected (mostly because I changed the last scene). But Chapter 28 is finally here!

So Hifumi is officially joining The Fools from now on, and we also see a lot of ability from her. On top of just navigation, and the other part of her unique skill set as well.

Even though it's a bit subtle for now, it'd be more and more obvious in the next chapter.

Now the Mitsuyo battle is just around the corner, I'm looking forward to actually show it XD. Especially with how unique that fight would be.

Also, now the formalness between The Fools has been somewhat elevated as well.

So one more step toward them finally is good friends instead of just colleagues XD.

Review Response:

Jack Hallow: Yeah, I know it's one of the most weird (not in a bad way) chapter I've ever done. And the whole arranging thing is somewhat of a nightmare to deal with as well XD. But I'm glad that at least you liked it XD.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story so far, and Reviews are definitely welcomed!