Hifumi: Let's change her heart.
Turning off the screen of her phone, Hifumi leaned on the wall behind her. And let her mind emptied for a second, recounting the small words she exchanged with mother's shadow.
Nodded to herself, she hastily rushed back to her room and changed into her casual wear. Her gaze landed on the 'Hime' Shogi piece on her table and picked it up, placing it on top of her heart, and covered it with both of her hands.
Eyes closed, The Shogi player took a deep breath before opening her eyes again. "I can do this, we can do this…" Muttering to herself, she put back the piece on her study table, determination filled inside her eyes.
To Hifumi's delight, the trio didn't take long to arrive at her house. Maybe they were just readied to come here as soon as she notified them, but it didn't really matter right now.
Rushing outside and met up with the rest of the group, she saw the same determination in her teammates' gaze as well. However, it also felt… soft, with a hint of comfort inside.
"As much as I wanted to comment on how quick we get to this point, but…" Trailing off, Akira took out his phone and opened the Meta-Nav. "But it's not really the best time to do that, I'll save that after we changed Togo-san's heart."
"…Here it is, Akira's weird priority again," Shiho sighed, her hands rested on her hips.
However, just as the leader of The Fool was about to send everyone to the palace, Hifumi interrupted him. "Wait, before we actually get into the palace, mom's shadow told me something."
"Wait, you and Togo-san's shadow had a conversation?" Keigo asked, eyes widened in surprise.
And the Shogi player nodded in return. "She told me that she is waiting for us in the shrine, at the spot with the treasure itself…"
"So a battle is unavoidable," Finished for her, Akira shook his head with a small smile. "…Well, at least she wouldn't jump out and ambush us like Kamoshida. And we still beat him nevertheless."
"Don't get too cocky, Akira," Shiho deadpanned, but a small smile still broke through the disappointed look. "But he's still right, we'll win this."
With a nod between everyone, Akira tapped the 'navigate' button. And the world distorted around them again, only this time… they could feel a lot more tension in the air.
[Mitsuyo's palace, Outside]
Now in the palace for the final time, Majesty immediately noticed the red aura surrounding the entire space. Even if at this point, nothing would really be out of the line of 'absurdity'.
"The aura is definitely different…" And just like her, Raven also noticed the change of overall aura as well. "So this is the effect of the calling card?"
"You can say that," Swan nodded, her hand gripped tightly around the cane sword's handle. "This also happened when Kamoshida got the calling card."
"Well, we literally just told Togo-san that we're stealing her heart, it'd be creepy if nothing changed here," Jester said, opening the map of the palace and selecting the saferoom closest to the shrine. "Thank god we don't need to run all the way to the top either."
Within seconds, the four found themselves in the saferoom, the last safe room. Without a word needing to exchange between them, the four thieves immediately opened the door and rushed out.
However, instead of needing to immediately hide behind any cover… They were greeted by an empty hallway. Not a single soul or guard was visible in their field of view. And the same could be said for Majesty's scanning as well.
"So mom also cleared the pathway for us to get to her…" Trailing off, she adjusted her white gloves before continuing her rush to the top. And the other soon followed.
Even though they didn't know why, but… the stairway to the shrine was noticeably shorter. And just as Mitsuyo promised, she was already there, waiting for them.
Upon the sight of her mother, Majesty stopped in her track. "Mother…"
"Save the words for later, Hifumi," Mitsuyo interrupted her, taking a few steps forward. "I already told you this is inevitable."
"But that doesn't mean it's the only way-"
"It IS the only way, it always has been," She said, and the message was clear in her voice and her eyes. "From the day Mamoru got ripped away from me, as the warmth of his hug was replaced with coldness."
"You won't ever understand how it felt, Hifumi," Narrowing her eyes, a pair of war fans slipped to her hands. "Never has been, never will be."
"Mom…" Trailing off, Majesty tightened her hold on the Naginata, full of reluctance. She didn't want to, but…
"If I have to knock some sense into your thick skull… Then so be it."
Even though the rest of the thieves didn't add any words, but they all readied their weapons. Blade brawn and readied to fight.
"Good."
With a solemn look, Mitsuyo's shadow opened the pair of white war fans in her hands. And on those fans were a black flower, just a black flower. Opened them, she readied herself to fight as well.
For a few long seconds there, silence filled the void between Mitsuyo and the thieves. Their gaze locked to one another, unwavering.
And then, the thieves made their advance, sprung to their feet, and dashed in full speed.
Keeping her calm, Mitsuyo narrowed her eyes on each of them, her grip on her fan relaxed for a slight bit before she threw them out like a boomerang.
The four thieves were quick enough to dodge the said fans, but it also gave her a slight window to do her own surprise attack. And grabbing that opportunity, she rushed and leaped, raising her foot and brought it down. Barely missing Swan with the downward kick, Mitsuyo noticed the two steel fans arched the path, spinning and flying back to where she is right now.
However, the thieves also noticed the same, and with a smooth roll, they quickly gained distance with the empress. And Majesty focused her gaze on Mitsuyo, her mind concentrated, as the same displayed showed up next to her mother.
"Her weakness is Bless and Curse, and with no special resistances," The Shogi player said, and her gaze darted between Jester and Swan. "Give her all you've got."
With a nod, Jester and Swan exchanged a brief glance and sprung to a sprint. And both Moriarty and Le Pucelle materialized behind them.
"Eiha/Kouha!"
Shouted in unison, a ball of curse and bless energy shot out, but was quickly blocked by Mitsuyo's fans and knocked her back. Exploding and created a cloud of smoke.
Taking this opportunity, the two picked up their pace and through the smokescreen. And Swan's immediately slashed her with her whipsword, but was blocked by the war fans.
And Jester followed up with an Eiha, struck her shoulder, and knocked one of the fans away. However, Mitsuyo's shadow rolled away, following the momentum and gained distance from the thrives.
But before she could even take a breath, a barrage of bullets and ice shards flew right to her way. Without a second thought, the empress sprung to her feet and ran, successfully dodging most of the bullets, but still had a few of them gazed through her arm and torso.
Gritting her teeth and endured through the pain, she did a side-flip and dodged an arrow from Majesty. Even though right now, she was at a bigger disadvantage than before, with one of her fans knocked away…
But she wasn't here without a backup plan.
With a move of her finger, she manipulated the invisible string between her hands and the steel fans. And the said fan soared through the air and returned to its owner's hand.
And she quickly closed the fan before reopening it, with a small smirk on her face.
Without a word, she sprung to her feet, expecting the same barrage of abilities to hit her. And she was right, one hundred percent right.
With a ball of Bless and Curse energy soared through the air and straight to her, Mitsuyo only narrowed her eyes, but didn't change her course. However, instead of being knocked down as the thieves expected, the two attacks did… nothing.
No harm, no change in pace, nothing.
Eyes widened, Majesty immediately concentrated on her mother again. "No way… it's different…"
Before she could get the new information to her teammates, Mitsuyo's shadow leaped into the air, both fans raised above her head. And she was readied to strike.
Taking out her Naginata, she immediately blocked the strike with the blade. Sparks emerged at the spot the blades met and exploded, and their eyes met.
"Blade of Yomi," She said, and the blade got covered in flame in an instant. "Second form, Psycho Flame!"
Tightening her grip, she brute-forced herself through the blade lock and knocked Mitsuyo back. "She changed her weakness, it's Psy and Ice," She said, turning her gaze to her teammates. "And now she basically has near-perfect resistance to all other magic elements."
"Jester, Swan, focus on support and your weapons," Majesty commanded, shifting back to Mitsuyo. "Either she couldn't, or she chose not to… she didn't resist physical damages."
"And Raven… barrage her with ice."
With that said, she sprinted and slashed, narrowly blocked by her mother's fans. And not letting her even have a second to breathe, a wave of radioactive ice shards barraged her, sending pain throughout the empress' body.
"Psi!" The Shogi player shouted, and Odani-Dono materialized behind her and shot a ball of color. Knocking Mitsuyo back, she immediately broke into a sprint, and Raven followed, firing his machine gun.
However, instead of the normal bullets, the ones he fired at that moment… had an ice trail behind them. And they created a small pack of ice at the impact location, which was Mitsuyo's right arm.
Feeling the pain and her arm being frozen, the Empress hid her other war fan behind her back, closing it and opened again.
And she broke out of the said ice right after that, as if she didn't fear those bullets in the first place.
Eyes widened, Majesty concentrated her mind again. And just as how it was shown, she just changed her weakness again.
"It's Wind and Bless! Swan!"
"You've got it!" As the whipsword changed into its whip mode, the white thief flung that whip and tied it to Mitsuyo's leg. "Kouha!"
As a flash of light hit right to her chest, the empress immediately closed her fans and opened it. Breaking free from the steel whip wrapped around her leg, she back-flipped and gained a bit of distance between herself and the thieves.
She should've expected it, but Hifumi's navigation ability was only making it harder and harder for her. However… she seemed still hadn't figure out how she did the change in weakness.
"That means I still have a chance…" Murmuring to herself, Mitsuyo closed the fans and reached into her pocket. And she pulled out a small ring and put it on. "But for insurance… let's use this."
Clutching her fist, the shadow empress raised her right arm into the air. And a color-filled wave suddenly exploded from her ring, passing through everyone else.
Hifumi gritted her teeth as pain suddenly washed through her head, struggling to concentrate on her teammate. And…
"M-mom nullified our elemental resistance!" She shouted out, before a wave of flame suddenly struck everyone, sending them to the other side of the arena.
"You managed to figure it out this quickly…"Watching the downed thieves with plain-looking eyes, Mitsuyo closed and opened her fan, as sparkles started to emerge on those fans. "Maybe you were better than I thought, Hifumi. But… too little too late."
With a wave of her fans, another wave of electricity soared through the arena, striking everyone again. And this time, instead of just being knocked over, the electricity washed over them, alongside the pain.
However, seeing how her whipsword slowly being covered with the same kind of electricity as Mitsuyo's fan, Swan stood up amidst the pain and the barrage of lightning. Raising her sword and stabbed it to the ground, creating another wave of electricity, neutralizing the one from Mitsuyo.
And through panted breath, Le Pucelle materialized behind her. "Media, now…"
Through her command, green light washed over the thieves, healing their injuries from before. But still not to the point of being completely healed.
And with a bit of wobble, Jester stood up and relied on his scythe. The same for Majesty and Raven as well, relying on their melee weapon.
"So… we have to dodge everything she sent to us…" The leader of The Fools said, tightening his grip on his scythe. "Majesty, we're counting on your information, more than ever now."
"I… I'll try my best," Nodded with slight hesitation, Majesty concentrated on Mitsuyo. "…It's Wind and Bless."
"Got it."
With that said, the four thieves sprung to their feet and rushed at full speed. And Le Pucelle appeared behind Swan, firing a wave of flashes toward the Empress.
Blocking and dodging those flashes, the edge of Empress's fans glowed with curse darkness. Sending a wave of curse energy in retaliation, only to be blocked by Jester's scythe.
And he picked up his pace, exchanging blow after blow with Mitsuyo, sparks flew from the spot their weapons clashed.
Taking this opportunity, Swan cast another Kouha and knocked back Mitsuyo.
Closing her fans and re-opened them, the edge glowed with cyan, filled with nuclear energy. And just like before, the Bless attacks from Swan did nothing to her again.
Eyes widened, Majesty's mind immediately turned to a rush, trying to find the moment she changed her weakness. "…When did she…" Trailing off, a subtle detail caught her attention.
"Wait… she closed and opened her fans before the weakness is changed…" With her eyes narrowed, Majesty concentrated. "It's Ice and Curse!"
"Atomic Shards!"
"Eiha!"
Without a second thought, the barrage of ice shards and darkness hit her. And through the pain, Mitsuyo closed and opened her fans again.
Just the perfect time for Majesty to prove her theory.
Concentrated again, a small smirk crept to her face as she saw the weakness changed. "It's Fire and Nuclear!"
"Blade of Yomi!"
As the continuous barrage of radioactive ice shards grabbed a hold of Mitsuyo's focus, the flame-covered Naginata slashed her.
And she didn't let up, continuing her attacks and left no breathing room for the Empress.
However, this time, instead of changing her weakness, a small ball of energy suddenly formed in her hand. "I can only use it once, but screw it," Kicking her and gained a second worth of space, she slammed the ball to the ground.
And it exploded in a force of almighty, sending the thieves flying and back to the other side of the arena.
"Media! Now!"
With the green aura healing their wounds, Jester sat up with slight wobbling. And as the smoke dissipated, they could see Mitsuyo's form, also wounded considerably from the explosion.
But suddenly, Jester froze. And his eyes widened as if something just hit him. "…Wait…" Trailing off, he took out his hand cannon and glanced at it, then shifted to the watch Raven gave the team.
"…This might work."
Turning back to his teammate, Jester held up his hand cannon. "…I have an idea," He said. "But I need you all to trust me… at best as you all can."
"Of course we do," Swan smiled under her mask. "Just tell us what's the plan."
"I can try and overcharge my bullet with Curse energy… and end this fight with that bullet," The leader explained, trying to grasp as much information as he could from that brief vision. "Just buy me thirty seconds."
"Thirty seconds…" Trailing off, Raven turned his attention to the watch on his wrist and set up a countdown. "I'll try to do my best."
"But mom can change her weakness though…" Shaking her head, Majesty couldn't help but gave out a long breath. "…Then… we're doing a big gamble here, right?"
"Yeah, but that's the only way to win right now," Jester nodded, as much as he wanted to said otherwise or gave out a different solution. "I'm counting on you all."
"…I will notify you when mom's weakness is curse," Her grip on the naginata tightened, the Shogi player nodded as she set her countdown. "Don't fail us, leader."
"…Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained," Sighing, Swan turned to her watch and also set the thirty-second countdown. "And we only got one shot though, don't mess this up, Jester."
With a wry smile, the leader stood up, the countdown on his watch was also set. "Then let's do this… shall we?"
Nodded, the four thieves started their countdown in unison.
Seconds remain: 30
As the other three Persona users sprung to their feet and dashed, Jester raised his hand cannon and aimed. Feeling his deep breath, he could see the cylinder of his firearm started to glow in crimson.
Watching as Mitsuyo consumed a different ball of energy and regained a bit of stamina, his right foot shifted to behind him.
Seconds remain: 29
"Blade of Yomi!"
Eyes locked onto her mother, Majesty only missed her slash, immediately arched her back just to dodge the fans. And her mind concentrated, analyzing the new weakness of her.
Seconds remain: 28
"It's Lightning and Bless!"
Taking this as her cue, Swan rushed to the front and exchanged blows with Mitsuyo's war fans. And just at that moment, she noticed something.
It seemed like… her whipsword was slowly being covered in small sparkles. Not from her Bless energy, but… electricity.
Seconds remain: 27
Feeling a small smirk crept to her face, the thief in white let the lightning built up on her whipsword. And as the blade was covered in yellow lightning, she stabbed the sword to the ground, releasing a wave of electricity.
Seconds remain: 26
Noticing that the empress had closed and opened her fans again, Majesty immediately concentrated.
"It's Nuclear and Wind!"
Seconds remain: 25
"Atomic Shard!"
Without a second thought, Raven opened fire with his machine gun, accompanied by the barrage of radioactive ice shard Fou Roux was sending.
Seconds remain: 24
Being knocked back with those ice shards hitting her, Mitsuyo rolled backward and wiped some blood on her mouth.
"Not bad…" Trailing off, Mitsuyo changed her weakness once again, and both of her fans immediately ignited and covered in bright flame.
"Sukukaja."
Seconds remain: 23
As the green aura emerged from the ground and covered the empress's body, she suddenly blinked to beside Majesty. The burning fans were merely inches away from her.
Seconds remain: 22
"Sukukaja!"
Casting the same spell, Raven sprinted next to Majesty and barely blocked the strike, redirecting it away from her. However, the said strike hit on him instead. Sending him flying.
Seconds remain: 21
Eyes widened at Raven, the Shogi player tried to do something to help him. However, the second fan closed in right after, and she barely blocked it with her blade.
"Eyes of Yahata: Sukukaja!"
Seconds remain: 20
"Swan! Heal Raven now!" Majesty cried out, feeling the weight being lifted off from her body.
And the two Togos immediately engaged in a dance of blades, quicker than eyes could see. However, Majesty found herself unable to concentrate and got ahold of Mitsuyo's weakness.
She needed to get enough space and time to do so, now.
Seconds remain: 19
As the hand cannon's cylinder glowed brighter by the second, Jester's heart sunk as he saw the dance of blade happened before him.
This wasn't what he saw in that vision… had the future changed?
"No… I have to trust them," Trying his best to reassure himself, he shifted his foot and tightened his grip on the gun.
Seconds remain: 18
Seeing how the Majesty and Mitsuyo's shadow fought quickly than eyes could see. Swan pulled out her sniper rifle, aiming it right to the space above, and she pulled the trigger.
"Blind Out!"
Seconds remain: 17
As the blinding light covered the whole arena, the Shogi player noticed the empress' disorientation and took the chance to concentrate her mind.
"It's Lightning and Curse!" She exclaimed, turning her gaze onto Jester. "Jester, now!"
Seconds remain: 16
"No, I still need a bit more to fully charge it!" Jester cried out, clearly feeling the lack of enough power to do enough damage.
"Try to keep her in the same set of weakness!"
Seconds remain: 15
"It'll be hard… but we have to try," Raven said, now recovered and unsheathed his sword cane. "We had to focus on our physical attacks for now."
With that said, he rushed forward again, just as Mitsuyo threw one of her fans toward them again.
Seconds remain: 14
Dodging the said fan with a roll, Raven's strike was blocked by her other fan. But Swan's sight in the air immediately followed, her whipsword raised.
Seconds remain: 13
Calling back the other fan, Mitsuyo narrowly blocked her strike. However, she noticed the flame-covered blade from Majesty, sprinting at her.
Raising her foot and knocked back both of them back, she threw both of her fans at her daughter.
Seconds remain: 12
Parried both of the fans, Majesty stabbed the blade of her naginata to the ground. Using the pole of the support and jumped, planting her feet right onto the Empress' chest.
However, the empress called back both of her fans and closed them.
Seconds remain: 11
"No!"
Eyes widened in horror, Swan flung her bladed whip at her and wrapped around Mitsuyo's wrist. However, it still wasn't enough. Not at all.
And she changed her weakness again.
10.
Shaken out from the shock of what happened, Majesty immediately concentrated and looked for her weakness.
Weakness: Fire and Bless.
"Swan! It's Bless!" She cried out, her blade immediately got engulfed with flame and sprinted.
Right now, she had to get Mitsuyo's weakness back to Curse, in the next ten seconds left.
9.
Immediately barraged by flashes of light and flame-covered blade, Mitsuyo expertly blocked each of their attacks. However, it was proved to be a power struggle, and she was on the losing side.
Rolled away to dodge their heavy slashes, she immediately closed and re-opened her war fans.
But Majesty's callout immediately interrupted her own thought.
"It's Ice and Nuclear! Raven!"
8.
"Got it."
With that said, Raven immediately broke into a sprint and opened fire with his machine gun. And Fou Roux materialized later, as the ice started to spread from the bullets.
"Atomic Shards!"
With the radioactive shards rained upon Mitsuyo alongside the bullets, the Empress closed her fan again.
"It's Lightning and Bless!"
7.
Realizing her bad luck and position, the shadow Empress cursed under her breath before casting a Sukukaja to herself. And she immediately moved as quickly as a blur.
With her eyes darted around and tried to keep up with Mitsuyo's enhanced speed, Swan cursed under her breath before raising her whipsword, covered in lightning.
6.
But before Swan could stab her sword into the ground, Mitsuyo suddenly stopped before her, her fan moving right at her arms.
Eyes widened, the thief in white tried to move, but it was too slow. Way too slow already, but downright impossible now with Mitsuyo's enhanced speed.
5.
Cling!
Thankfully, before the fan could barely touch Swan's body, Majesty's Naginata blocked the strike. Giving Swan the moment she needed.
And she stabbed the sword to the ground, sending out a wave of electricity, knocking the Empress away.
And Mitsuyo changed her weakness again. As Majesty's eyes widened at the new weakness.
4.
"Jester! It's Curse and Ice!"
Realizing her fatal mistake, The shadow Empress immediately regained her ground and closing her fans.
Until a barrage of ice-covered bullets stopped her, and the growing ice temporarily froze her hands and fans in place.
3.
Not giving her a room or chance to take a breath, Raven opened fire at Mitsuyo's feet, letting the emerging ice from the bullets keeping her in place.
2.
Pulling out her sniper rifle, Swan operated the bolt and chambered a light-filled bullet. The reticle of her scope pointed right before Mitsuyo's face, her eyes.
"Blind OUT!"
And she pulled the trigger.
1.
As another blinding light covered her surrounding, Mitsuyo's vision was blocked and covered with light, unable to do anything for a moment.
But that single moment was enough.
0.
Aimed directly at her chest, Jester tightened his grip on the hand cannon, readied for the heavy recoil of this shot. With the cylinder covered in crimson from the curse energy, he took a deep breath in. And held.
"Memento… Mori."
Squeezing the trigger, an orb of crimson light flew from the barrel of the hand cannon. Just as he expected, a heavy recoil struck his wrist immediately, knocking him back, and fell to the ground.
Meanwhile, recovered from the blinding light, Mitsuyo bore the pain and broke out from the ice covering her hand. Raising her hands before her chest, she barely caught the bullet between her fans.
But before she could do another thing, the bullet exploded between her fans. Her fans shattered into pieces and blew her away.
Clashing with the ground and rolled, Mitsuyo struggled to stand up again. She could still fight on, even without those fans, she still had herself-
"It's enough, mom," Pointing the tip of the naginata at her face, Majesty said between panting. "Just… please, don't."
"I can still fight-"
"Please, just stop," Slowly regained the rhythm of her breathing, the Shogi player put her Naginata on her back. "I… I won't lie and say I understand how these years had been for you."
"But… You're not the only one who got dad ripped away," She clutched her hand into a tight fist. "I… I don't want to lose you too!"
Even though Mitsuyo wanted to retort her, but… she couldn't. It's just… nothing could come out from her lips.
"You've been carrying the burden of dad's name for far too long now," Crouched to the Empress's level, Majesty took off her mask and faced her. "Please… let me carry it with you."
"Isn't that what family is for?"
In response, Mitsuyo only widened her eyes in shock… and recollection.
"So… this is Hifumi," As she and Mamoru watched the baby from outside, the Shogi star smiled and glanced at his wife. "I… I still couldn't believe… that she's here with us."
"Yeah… me neither," Mitsuyo chuckled, and the same smile crept to her face as Mamoru held her hand. "But to think that I'll become a mother this early… things are going to be tough."
"Don't worry, I'll carry the burden with you," Releasing his hand from the handholding, the Shogi star wrapped his arms around her waist and embraced her. "We're gonna face it together."
"But you still have your career…"
"My career can take a backseat for her," He reassured, keeping the same smile on his face. "We're a family, after all."
"Isn't that what family is for, right?"
"…So you've always been here, Mamoru…" With her mind returned from her memory, Mitsuyo looked down, clutching her hands. "H-how stupid was I?"
As the tears slowly trailed down from her eyes, she wept with choked breath. All this time, all this time she let her grief took over… how many things she missed because of that?
"Mom…" Trailing off, Majesty's eyes widened as Mitsuyo suddenly pulled her into a tight hug.
"…I-I'm sorry…"She said through choked breaths, tightening the embrace. "I'm sorry… for everything…"
"It's fine, mom, we can start over," Returning the hug, the Shogi player smiled warmly. "It's not the end, there's still a way ahead of us."
Breaking the embrace, Mitsuyo took a good look at her daughter. Ever since Mamoru's death, she had never taken a good look at her… and… she looked different, a lot different than what she remembered.
"…You've grown up, Hifumi," Wiping the tears away, she froze for a moment, taking a good look at the ring on her finger. "I… You should have this."
Without another word, the shadow Empress took off the ring and a luxurious hairclip, grabbing Majesty's hand and put it in her palm.
"M-mom, what are those-"
"T-they are my Memento of Mamoru," Mitsuyo said, closing the Shogi player's palm and placed her hand on her chest. "…Just please, keep them for me. Maybe… you can make new meanings for them."
Blinked, Majesty looked down at the hairclip and the ring in her hand. And before she realized it, the word 'Treasure' was labeled on the hairclip, while the ring was labeled as 'Will Seed'.
Landing her gaze onto the trio, the empress stood up with slight difficulty, also helping Majesty to do the same as she picked up the mask. "…Thank you… for helping my daughter," She nodded at them, and her gaze shifted to Raven. "And you too, for letting her gain the courage."
"I… To be honest, I didn't help that much…" Trailing off, Raven gave a soft glance to Majesty. "It's mostly her own effort to stand up, I just saw the possibility in her."
"But that's enough for her," Nodded, Mitsuyo pushed Hifumi toward the thieves, a small, but warm smile clear on her face."And… please, take care of her, and keep her safe in other palaces."
"…Don't worry, Togo-san, we will," Jester reassured her with a nod. "And actually… I think we rely more on Majesty than she counting on us."
"She's our navigator, after all," Swan added. "We only beat you because of her guidance."
"Then… I'm glad she found more friends," With that said, a white glow slowly emerged from Mitsuyo, as her body slowly become more and more transparent. "I'll go back to my real self soon. And this place is going to collapse…"
"Please, consider this as my parting gift."
Before the thieves could even question what did she meant, the same white glow also slowly covered them. And the void around them lit in pure white.
Just as their vision slowly got engulfed with light, they could barely see Mitsuyo's shadow faded into nothing. And then-
They found themselves outside the palace, as the tower fell and collapsed into pieces.
"So… this is it, right?" Majesty asked, holding the hair clip and ring tightly in her hand. "We've changed mom's heart, right?"
"Yeah, I'm sure we did," Jester nodded, pulling out his phone. "Now, let's go back to the real world."
[Real world, Evening, outside of Togo Household]
"This destination has been deleted, good work Phantom Thieves."
As the robotic voice announced from Akira's phone, the group all gave out a breath of relief in unison. Finally, after all this time… they finished another palace.
And unlike before, they saved someone from themselves.
"Good job everyone!" Akira suddenly exclaimed, raising his arms into the air. "Especially you, Hifumi! We wouldn't do it without you!"
"I uh… you still deal the final blow to mom-"
"But it wouldn't succeed if not for you," Keigo interrupted her, resting his arms on his hip with a warm smile. "To be honest, we wouldn't win this if not for everyone here."
"Yep," Shiho nodded. "Now then… what about the treasure?"
"O-oh right, the treasure," Quickly nodded, Hifumi searched through her pockets and took out a small photo, and the same ring inside the Metaverse.
And the trio approached her side, examining the photo in her hand.
It was a photo of Mitsuyo and Mamoru in Shujin, as the banner behind them wrote 'the 46th National high school Shogi Tournament', Mamoru was holding a trophy and grinned widely.
And stood by him was Mitsuyo, her hand gave out a 'V' sign and smiled warmly to the camera.
"So… this is where it all started…" Trailing off, Hifumi held the picture close to her chest and closed her eyes. However, instead of tears, the corner of her mouth lifted. "At least… she wouldn't be trapped by this picture anymore. And this picture… can find a new meaning to both of us."
"Yeah… I'm happy for you, Hifumi," Shiho nodded before an idea suddenly popped up in her mind. "Hey, actually… maybe we should do a celebration for changing Togo-san's heart!"
"A celebration?" Akira blinked, putting his phone back into his pocket. "Uh… please don't tell me we're going to Wilton… that place is really expensive-"
"Akira, didn't you like… have money from Kirijo? You mentioned that she gives you two hundred thousand yen monthly before."
"But… I used up a big portion of that for our weapon and other stuff…"
"…W-well, that makes sense."
"Then uh…" Trailing off, Akira's head suddenly perked up, as if an idea suddenly hit him. "Wait, what about karaoke? I think I can afford it."
"Kara… oke?!" Eyes widened, Hifumi physically took a step back in shock, shaking her head. "I'm really bad at singing though… I don't want you all to suffer through that…"
"It's fine, it probably wouldn't be THAT bad," The amateur writer rubbed the back of his neck in slight awkwardness. "But the celebration is what is important, not just karaoke."
Keigo nodded, his eyes widened in slight surprise. "For once, you actually brought up a good point."
"Wha- c'mon! I'm not that bad!"
"Yes, you are," Deadpanned, Shiho, and Keigo answered in unison, shutting Akira off with a frown.
"…Fine fine fine…" Giving out a tired sigh, Akira ran his hand through his hair. "But anyway, let's have a karaoke party tomorrow after school! I'll text you all the details later tonight."
"W-wait, tomorrow?!"
"Y-yeah! We got time tomorrow after school, right?"
"But that's still too quick, Akira," Shiho facepalmed.
"I'm with Shiho," Keigo added with a nod. "How are you gonna book a karaoke place, let alone find one this quick?"
"Trust the power of Mitsuru's influence, I guarantee I'll find a place before tomorrow!"
"…I'm going to tell Kirijo-san that you said that," The half-Frenchman deadpanned.
"Wha-"
Before Akira could even start his response, a giggle drew their attention. And… it was Hifumi, just laughing carefreely as she watched the three argued on the karaoke stuff.
"Uh…" Exchanging confused glances between one another, the trio just turned to Hifumi with raised eyes. "Hifumi, you're alright?"
"N-no, it's nothing," Still laughing, the Shogi player shook her head. "It's just… really funny to see you three like this."
"…What's with the Deja Vu?" Akira asked, but a smile still crept up on his face. "But either way… It's not just us three anymore. It's four of us."
"AND we're decided on karaoke tomorrow after school, right?"
"Of course not," Keigo said plainly, and without a second of hesitation.
"Why the hell you just have to ruin the mood again…"
Seeing how the trio just got into those antics again, Hifumi sighed before stepping in. "Actually, I'm with Akira here."
"Huh?!"
"Hifumi… you're a lifesaver!"
"I guess I wanted to have the celebration early as well…"
As the voices slowly faded away, the moon shined above and brightly above them. And with the relief from saving Mitsuyo washed over them, they took another step forward on the path of Changing Hearts.
(To be continued)
Preview:
The Empress of Grief had been saved. And Togo Mitsuyo can finally move on, alongside her daughter.
Meanwhile, a surprise addition of the counselor's office, more to Akira's embarrassment.
A karaoke celebration as he promised, and a slight revelation of a teammate's past.
Just as another set of calling cards got sent to a certain artist.
Next Chapter:
"A calm between the storm"
Stay tuned!
So... after uh... almost a month, chapter 30 is finally here!
For anyone who's confused about the title of this chapter, it's a problem to try and checkmate the opponent's king. And not only it's about Shogi, but also parallels with the fight in general.
And well... the whole Mitsuyo fight took quite a while to finish. Especially the countdown part, I've always had the idea of visually show the countdown to amp up the tension of that portion.
Not only that, Hifumi and Mitsuyo finally got their second chance to move on, to start over. So yay!
Anyway, for the next chapter, just as the preview suggested, it'll a much-needed lighthearted chapter after the plot-focus chapters.
Let's hope it wouldn't take that long to finish that chapter.
Review Response:
Before we started... it's much more review than I expected XD. *cough* back on track.
SkullWolfSteam: Oh thank you! Yeah, it always kinda sucks that Hifumi didn't get to be a PT. But I can get why they didn't do it, it just kinda collides with Makoto's role in the team.
So with The Fools and The Phantom being different teams, it's the perfect opportunity to put her in XD.
Jake Hallows: Yeah, and well... it kinda sucks that FFN never really count small edit as an update (which to be fair, I can see why). And oh, don't worry, the next few chapters would have them interact more with Ren's group. As they finished Mitsuyo's palace, and now can focus back onto Madarame's.
arata7kasuga: Oh, for the lyric part, it's just the song Akira was listening at that moment in his headphone. Nothing more.
And... oh, Akira wasn't short-tempered. It's more just his trauma of Kimiko's passing, and everything that followed (being blamed for Kamoshida's action).
But he got better later on, and apologized to Ann.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the story so far, and Reviews are definitely welcomed!
