Author's note:
Last chapter for quite awhile. Going on vacation!
Also shorter than usual as I am running out of time to get it out.
Chapter 41: Ascension
Sunday, September 18th, 20XX Night
"What a day…" Sighing, Makoto sat down at the empty table at stared at the meal she had made. The rice was overcooked, the meat was drowning in sauce.
Sighing in disappointment at her own failings, she began to shovel the mediocre meal into her mouth. It wasn't bad, but like most things that weren't school exams, Makoto could not do it properly.
Kachink! Jerking up at the unfamiliar sound, Makoto stared stunned at the door as it swung open. "S-Sister!?"
"You don't have to sound so surprised…"
Sae's voice was so tired that someone would be forgiven for thinking she was a decade older. Only until she stood up and fanned out her beautiful mane of light gray hair. Her style, her figure, her flawless makeup, every single detail was honed to perfection to create the aura that she desired. Envy was not the word for Makoto's feelings to her. She loved how amazing her sister was. She only wished that she could not feel like the blemish in her sister's life that held Sae down.
Putting her shoes away, Sae approached the table. "Oh, you made dinner for us, thank you."
"I-It's nothing…" Makoto stuttered, unprepared this meeting after the trial earlier. "Umm, why did you come home? I thought you said—"
"I was not originally planning to." Sae cut her off, meeting Makoto's red eyes with her own. "But you showed up to the trial. I wanted to learn why. …And honestly, I need a break from that place. Sometimes it feels like the justice system is little more than a rigged casino."
Makoto inhaled sharply. The questioning about the trial was bad enough. Does she know about her palace?
"So?" Sae pressed leaning forward. She had not even looked at her food.
"Umm, so what?"
"Don't make this more difficult than this needs to be."
"I-I am not trying to be difficult."
"Makoto!" Sae snapped. "Why were you there!?"
Mouth hanging slightly agape, Makoto sat there wordlessly, unable to come up with a reply. This always happens… Sae would say something, and Makoto failed to respond properly. Every moment Sae's expression became angrier and more exasperated. The smooth face that she wore as a mask during her job distorted in the privacy of her home.
"This again," Sae groaned throwing a hand in the air. "You do something stupid like bringing a group of teenagers to an important trial and then won't even—"
"I wanted to see you work!" Blurting it out over top of her older sister, Makoto hung her head, face flushed with embarrassment. They needed to go for the palace but… this was also the truth. "I am sorry that I was nuisance… that wasn't the plan."
"…" Sae eventually sat back down and doled out food for herself. "Why are you interested in my work?"
"How could I not be?" Makoto whispered. "First dad and then…"
"Forget I asked."
The awkward silence lapsed again. Sae ate the food without a single complaint. She did not seem to hate it from the glances that Makoto stole at her.
"Are you… planning on following in my footsteps?"
Makoto jerked at the question. Blinking in confusion, she was once again left with no words.
"I was joking but the law right now… prepare for disappointment."
As Sae looked down at her food, Makoto had to ask her questions. "Why do think that? Do you regret your career?"
Sae laughed wickedly. "Regret? I only regret how rotten our country is. Polite? Refined? Give me a break. We hide our corroding cores behind flawless exteriors and expect people not to notice."
"S-Sister?"
"Do you know what that trial was for today? Do you know who I was prosecuting!?"
"N-Not really…" Makoto stuttered back. Most of it had been legal talk and discussion of jury selection and whether a settlement could be reached. There was no jury present or judgement made.
"A company was suing their young female employee for slander."
"Umm, why?"
"Because she leaked online that the company has a history of sexually exploiting their employees. Complained that she was getting passed over by other girls willing to put out for the bosses."
Makoto could no longer get a word in. Sae's eyes were distant. Complaints buried deep within her were boiling over. "Slander, they call it. Is she lying? No. But that doesn't matter. All that matters is her intent to injure the company's reputation. Just shut up, smile, and listen to your superiors. That bullshit principle in the foundation of our country."
"B-But, if you're the prosecutor then you can go easy on her! Get her off light and let her press charges of sexual harassment."
Sae shook her head wearily. "You still think I'm a good person… That's… almost cute. I cannot do that. I advocated for the maximum."
"M-Maximum!" Makoto gasped, standing up. "But she's innocent! You said so yourself!"
Sae slammed the table, "It doesn't matter! That's what I'm telling you! Innocent, guilty… all that matters is if you're supposed to win or not."
"That… Can't be true," Makoto replied shakily. "I mean, there are good people on the force!"
"…Ah, maybe. But a good person does not have power."
"What do you mean?" Makoto asked, her stomach clenching painfully.
"Exactly what I said." Sae likewise stood up and returned her plate to the sink. "There are only a certain number of people you can help. The more you help, the more power you relinquish. The more power you relinquish, the less people you can help."
"B-But," Makoto clamped her mouth shut. She was a broken record, unable to debate with any examples or facts. "The phantom thieves can help."
Sae finally looked at Makoto again, her expression pitying. "And what help do they provide? They remove power from their targets and then what happens? The vacuum is filled. Others rise up. There is always another villain, always another weed to pull."
"Is… Is that so." Makoto bowed her head. "Is it not important to still try and pull them though?"
Sae smiled. "Or you burn the field."
"!? What… does that mean?"
"…Never mind me. I'm going to shower and sleep. Good night… sister."
"Ah, y-you too." Falling back into her chair, Makoto stared dazed at where Sae had disappeared into the washroom, the conversation reeling around in her mind. She could barely comprehend most of it.
Once more those doubts that they had discussed ran through her mind. "Are we really… doing the right thing?"
Monday, September 19th, 20XX After school
"Dad… This came for you."
"Hmm, Haru?" Kunikazu looked up from his desk. His fingers pausing in the midst of blitzing out more lines of text on his never-ending litany of emails.
Facing her father now, Haru shifted in place. He's evil, he needs to change! Despite the words, Haru could not see it. She could only see the man who had raised her. The man who had taken her grandfather's dying café and bult it into an international multi-billion-yen corporation.
In his eyes Haru saw only the exhaustion of a middle-aged man who had never taken a holiday in the last ten years or more. A determination and a hunger lingering in his eyes that allowed him to keep pushing forward. The sacrifices he had made bending his shoulders in.
No, Haru could see no evil in him. Just an ambition run wild. A man who lost sight of the people beneath him, supporting and propping up the ventures that he held dear. Stepping forward, Haru blurted out the truth. "A calling card."
To her father's credit, he merely took the card and then nodded sagely. "Shido or the sycophants, I knew one of them would come for me one day. I wonder… if this isn't for the best."
"Huh?" Gaping at her father, Haru blurted out her question. "What are you talking about? How can this be the best for you!?"
Her father gave her not a smirk, but an accepting smile. "I was too late to realize it. The supporters pulling back, people that were open to my ascension one day suddenly distant the next. Shido is plotting my downfall, but that no longer matters. I will have my heart changed by do-gooders who can't even see that they are being manipulated. However, unlike their previous targets, I believe in my path. I will continue to achieve my aims even after!"
Haru felt like she got punched in the gut. Wiping away the tears as they formed, she left her father with one final message. "They take your desires. You will have no aims anymore."
"…I see. I will be preparing a will in case… Well in case there are complications."
Haru had to flee the room before she broke down and apologized.
Monday, September 19th, 20XX After school
"You were right."
"Hmm? What was that?" Maruki asked, lifting his head from his notes.
Having barged confidently into his office, Sumire now colored, regretting her boldness. "S-Sorry Doctor! Is now… a good time?"
"As good as any," Maruki shrugged shooting her a half smile. "This would be about our conversation last week?"
"Yes!" Sumire agreed, nodding fervently. Taking a seat across from him, Sumire dove into her tale. "Basically, I made a deal where I'll only date Senpai if I can defeat my sister!"
Maruki's blank stare of incredulity forced Sumire to avert her eyes. "I-It's a good idea!"
"You have essentially enacted a courtship ritual where the winner of the fight gets the mate. I was not aware that your sister was interested in Amamiya as well…"
"Ehh!? No, nothing like that! She isn't! Well, not anymore at least, she has someone else. We aren't fighting over Senpai we are just… Just…" Sumire could not put it into words. All she knew was that Maruki's conclusion was wrong. Wrong in so far as Senpai would probably not date Kasumi, and Kasumi did not want to, either. Probably.
"Ms. Yoshizawa…" Maruki started slowly, lowering his pen to the tabletop. "I am going to say something. Please don't run out after I do and make another life-altering decision with no consideration."
"Is that… what you think I did?"
"Isn't it?"
Hiding her face behind her bangs, the calm and collected words were a bigger gut punch than any of Ren's objections. In many ways, Maruki was right. She had trampled on Ren's feelings and used her sister as an enemy.
This is the only way I can do it. Sumire repeated in her mind. I need to defeat her, just once.
"Ms. Yoshizawa, are you intentionally dragging your sister into this relationship? Do you potentially view this as something you need to share with her or you will drift apart?"
"No." Sumire replied, all of her good will upon entering gone. A cold iciness gripping her once more. Struggling to move, she raised her head to raise Maruki, the same desperation that she had felt upon facing down Senpai welling up inside her. "Kasumi is my crutch. If I can't get rid of it now, I never will be able to."
"And this is the path you choose to walk, despite how many would call you foolish for doing so?"
"Yes." Sumire replied. Her body was still wrapped in artic chains, bearing her down. Despite them though, she stood and bowed. Her fears would not stop her. Sumire's broken mind that had twisted her sister into a monster to be defeated would not let her.
Rising from her bow, Sumire redoubled her resolve. "I will fulfill my dream, my way."
Maruki smiled. "Ah, yes. So that is what I've been missing…"
"…Doctor?"
"You are rather smart for one so young, Ms. Yoshizawa." Maruki bowed his head slightly back. "I will be around for more chats in the next month if you would like, but I am afraid I will be leaving shortly."
"Leaving? Why is that?" Sumire had to admit, having the man around was helpful. She only got to see him every now and then, but being able to charge in for free and offload some baggage could really lift some weight from the shoulders.
"Oh, you know… Opportunities come knocking. I was worried about taking it, but talking with you has helped me make up my mind."
"Oh, then… you're welcome?"
"Indeed. Thank you, very much, and best luck in your goals, Ms. Yoshizawa."
"And thank you, Doctor!" Giving him one last wave, Sumire left the room. She had more practice to do, a lot more, before she was anywhere near Kasumi's level.
Monday, September 19th, 20XX Evening
"Umm, what am I watching right now?"
Joker took a moment to compose his thoughts before replying. "A rocket, I guess?"
"My Father's ascension," Noir spoke bitterly. "He is leaving his company behind and is shooting for the stars."
"Uhh, but Noir, he is already among the stars. We're in a literal space station."
Panther's astute words made the girl pause. "I guess maybe that's the clearest sign of his distortion. He is unable to see that he already had everything a person could want and still desires more."
"Trying ascend in a place where the word up has no meaning." Queen mused.
"It has a poetic ring to it," Fox agreed, nodding.
"So are any of you noticing that we are running out of time!?"
Mona's screech brought them back to their senses. Waving his arm, Joker led them at a run up the nearby stairs. Okumura and his treasure would be up here somewhere. Skidding to a halt at an intersection, Joker yelled out to his navigator. "Oracle!?"
"Up!"
"Got it!" Joker responded, bounding in that direction. The path from there twisted around up to another landing, but there were no more forks. Skidding around the corner, Joker cursed in the face of the shadows that were there.
"Leave those to me!"
"Queen!?" Joker protestations were pointless as the girl rushed forward. Summoning Johanna, she jumped on her persona and rode down the guards mercilessly. "Support her, Skull!"
"You bet, buddy!"
Queen's charge did some good as the shadows were laid out, but she as well ended up skidding hard along the ground to land painfully in the middle of her victims.
"Violet, can you—" Joker paused awkwardly, blinking as his thoughts paused. She's not here, no matter how I wish she was. As he paused, not issuing commands, hell broke loose. Skull crashed into a shadow, trying to draw them off Queen; the girl in question grabbing the nearest shadow while still on the ground and trying to cave its face in with punches. It was a weird melee that looked more like a street fight than a battle of personas.
Everyone stopped and looked at Joker, waiting for him to issue orders. His mind was still reeling, trying to recover from the intrusive thoughts of his almost girlfriend and the flurry of emotions that she caused inside of him.
Why does she need to beat Kasumi? Can't Maruki do something about this?
"Joker!?"
"Just attack them!" Noir's scream jerked Ren back. She rushed forward, drawing her scythe and slashing with abandon. The others delayed only a moment before rushing in.
The brutal melee was finished in only a matter of moments after. Both Skull and Queen were staggering from the blows they had taken. A quick round of magic later and they were off again.
"My bad," Joker yelled to the group. "And Queen, control yourself."
"Ugh, yeah, that wasn't fun." She groaned back, voice filled with pain.
Snorting, Joker led them up to the last corridor around a shadow that didn't notice them to the final chamber. Skidding to a halt, he beheld Shadow Okumura for the first time, preparing to board his rocket.
"What is this? The intruders? We are too late to stop my glorious—No… you, with the feathered cap! Who are you!?"
Stepping forward, Noir removed her mask, "I'm sorry father, but I'm changing your heart."
"No… No, you aren't my Haru! Haru is running this place when I leave!"
"Yes, and I still intend on doing that!" Noir, no Haru stepped forward again, placing a hand on her heart. "But surely you can see the corruption and greed rotting this company from the inside? Your lack of care and cutting corners has infected the management of the stores. Dodging audits, bribing health officials; everyone is simply trying to make the money they can before it falls apart!
"You know that. You instilled that mentality in this company of maximizing profits to the point that the infrastructure fails. Is that not why you are leaving now? You got everything you can and now it is time for greater things? Well leave then! I'll put things back together. I'll make it a place of laughter and love like grandpa's shop!"
"Your grandfather ran his business into the ground," Kunikazu hissed from his ridiculous fish globe looking head. "But fine. If you think your love can change this company, try."
Joker gasped at the remote but there was nothing to be done. One click of the button and they were all trapped. Everyone but Haru.
Click, click, click. It was a distinctive sound that Joker had heard occasionally. High heels striding across a polished surface in a comfortable rhythm. The very notes had a feminine majesty to them. Inside his glass cage, Joker could only watch on as Haru faced down her cognitive duplicate.
Like Okumura and every robot in this place, Haru was robotic, but the skin was finished to a glossy glow that spoke of quality and perfection. She wore a metallic black pencil skirt and matching top with a pink tie that suited her hair. It did not poof out as dramatically as Haru's did but rather was groomed to fall down to her shoulders in looser waves. Joker could easily see Haru as this version in another ten years.
"You want me to rid you of this doppelganger, father?"
"…Indeed." With that, Kunikazu turned and strode away. "But this is now your factory. Do as you wish."
"Don't you dare leave!" Haru screamed. All of the pain in her heart manifesting in her words. "Watch me. Watch what real love is and remember! If I win… I'm taking your treasure."
"Foolish girl," Robot Haru sighed, sitting down on nothing. It was an impossible stance, balancing on one foot, knees bent ninety degrees with her right foot crossed over her left. From one of her hands, a mug of coffee manifested that she took a long sip from. "You will never even touch me."
"…Very well." Kunikazu said, pausing. "Let me see which Haru is more set on her path."
Monday, September 19th, 20XX Evening
"What are you looking at that's so interesting?" Kasumi meant the words as a joke, but they came out harsher than intended.
Akechi raised an eyebrow over his phone screen before slipping it back into his packet. "I am just waiting for developments, that is all."
"Developments?" Kasumi pressed. "I've had some crazy developments as well."
"You have?" Akechi's eyes lowered obviously to her chest area. "Looks the same to me."
"Oi!" slamming a hand on Akechi's sketchy table, Kasumi pouted. "I don't want my chest to grow anymore! If it does, I will struggle to execute the moves as gracefully!"
"…That wasn't the response I expected."
Kasumi snorted. "Sure, it wasn't. So what developments are you waiting for?"
Akechi gave her that approving smile like she had passed an exam. "I suppose I can tell you. We are worried about the phantom thieves targeting one Kunikazu Okumura."
"Okumura…" Kasumi mumbled the name. It was impossible not to have heard the name. It was all of the news recently. "That's Haru's father, right?"
"Th—" Akechi cut off suddenly. "I believe that is the name of his daughter."
"Hmm? Haven't you met her?"
"I… Do not believe so." Akechi spoke slowly.
Frowning at him, Kasumi raised a finger. "When you came to watch my tournament, I swear that you saw my sister's friend group. Haru should have been there."
"Is that right… I really only know Ren and Makoto, the others are strangers."
"Oh, okay." Kasumi returned to sipping on water, staring at Akechi expectantly.
"Err, yes?"
"…" Pursing her lips, Kasumi tapped the table, waiting. Patiently. Very patiently.
"…Kasumi?"
"Are you an idiot?"
Akechi actually flushed. It was clear that his mind was reeling in an attempt to figure out what he'd missed. As expected from a genius, it only took half a dozen seconds for the light of discovery to appear in his gaze. "Ahaha, of course I am not. What developments have occurred in your life?"
"There it is," Kasumi smirked at him. "I thought you'd never ask."
"It's just that your life is so stable and predictable that I did not consider it a big deal until you pressed."
"Now you're just being an asshole," Kasumi sniffed.
"Oh, save the tough act for your sister. What happened?"
Peering at him sideways, Kasumi kept a careful watch of his expression as she delivered the news in the most brutal way possible. "My sister recently confirmed to me that all of my attempts to help her have left her broken and I am nothing more than an obstacle in her path to happiness."
She got the expression she was hoping for as Akechi's jaw loosened slightly. It lasted only a moment as he furrowed his brow and held his chin with one hand. "That is… troubling."
"How eloquent. If only your fangirls could hear you now."
That got a chuckle and a teasing smirk. "I can make them all happy with one finger, no words required."
Giggling, Kasumi gave him a lop-sided smile. "Who is making the innuendos now?"
Akechi blinked before matching her smile. "Ah, I worded that poorly."
"Who knows, maybe you can?"
"Careful, that almost sounded like an invitation to test it out."
Kasumi sniffed and averted her gaze. She didn't want Akechi to see her flush, although that was probably pointless. "Find one of the hundreds of girls who actually think you're a good person."
"You don't?" Akechi gasped sarcastically. "Well, probably for the best. It sounds like your help is worse than your anger."
Kasumi flinched. What had once been a light-hearted conversation piercing her heart.
"…My apologies."
"No," Kasumi shook off the request for forgiveness. "It is simply something I have to live with. That the person I care most about, the one that I tried to aid at every junction, held her hand continuously, is not only better off without me—I ruined her life. I have to… I have to…"
Kasumi did not remember when the tears started falling, nor when her head ended up on Akechi's shoulder. She could not recall if she had gone to him, or him to her. Only that for the time she was held, Kasumi could find in that human contact a brief solace from the storm of emotions that tried to drown her.
Monday, September 19th, 20XX Evening
"Stand aside, pretender."
Despite the bold words, Noir's robotic counterpoint merely laughed. Running a hand through her curls and flipping it to the side in a flamboyant manner, she gave Haru a cold smile. Her metallic eyes had no life or soul in them. That made no difference, they were as discerning and calculating as her father's.
"No, I don't think I will, shoddy knock-off."
"Shoddy—Why you…" Growling, Noir twirled her scythe once and prepared to lunge at the robot.
Before Noir could move from her spot, Robot Haru snapped her fingers and a circle on the floor opened with a soft whir. From within, a large robot with a masculine build appeared. It must have stood two and a half meters with arms that looked designed to shatter boulders. The robot was painted to be wearing an expensive tuxedo, complete with pocket handkerchief and vest. The part that drew Haru's gaze was the face. It was flat slab of metal with no details added.
"Fiancé dear, can you deal with this girl?"
"Of course, Madam Okumura."
Noir pointed at it this a shaky hand as she retreated a step. "W-What the hell is that!? Sugimoto?"
Robot Haru laughed loudly, derisiveness coating every metallic syllable. "Of course not. Did you not see dear Sugimoto? We left his broken body somewhere in the factory after all."
That weird, discarded robot… Noir shook her head, she couldn't afford to get distracted. Taking a look back, she confirmed that she was alone in this fight. All of her friends were trapped in that glass trap, staring at her with those masked expressions.
"My new Fiancé is faaaaar better. Rich, powerful, and obedient."
"Why does he have no face? No name?" Noir knew it didn't matter. She should be attacking. But she could not bring herself to do so with the appearance of this new, unidentified foe.
Haru smiled widely, steely teeth flashing. "Because those don't matter. We will stick with the first acceptable one until we find better."
Gasping, Noir felt a brief surge of pity for the robot. Turning to her father, Haru unleashed her disgust upon him. "Is this how see me father? No, what you want me to be!? A succubus that seduces the people you want me to? These are innocent men!"
Haru laughed before her father could say anything. "Innocent men? That's an oxymoron. All they want is another notch in their belt. And if they do recognize me, then it is only to obtain the trophy wife they all search for."
"W-What?" Noir brought her attention back to her duplicate as her father stayed silent, only observing.
"You heard me. Men see women as things to collect, we aren't equals in their minds. That very outlook is their downfall. It makes them manipulatable. Surely you can wrap your mind around that much at least."
"You aren't… completely wrong." Noir admitted. Meeting that robotic gaze dead-on, Noir levelled her scythe again. "But you underestimate men, and you underestimate me!"
Rushing forward, Noir ignored the fiancé and aimed straight at her robot-self. She merely sipped on a cup of tea and watched disdainfully as her death approached.
Boom!
The room spun. In a chaotic blur, the room turned into a spiral of color, the roof and floor blending together. With a painful crack, Noir's journey was brought to a sudden end as her back slammed hard against the glass cage.
Pressed against it, she could almost make out her teammate's words. Their panicked, desperate cries for her to stand up. Stand up… and do what?
Groaning, Noir placed a hand to her head. Come to think of it… Which way… is up?
"Oh my, had enough already, faker? My hulking darling here was just getting warmed up."
The infuriating words focused Noir's vision. Forcing the shapes into place, she stumbled back to her feet using the cage as a support. Taking one last look at it, she found Queen's hand overlapping her own on the other side. Unlike the other thieves, there was no panic in her actions. Only a stolid gaze pushing Noir on.
Giving her best friend a grateful nod, Noir turned reluctantly to the Fiancé. "This was supposed to be a contest between up, but fine. I'll cut your arm candy to pieces."
"Good luck," the robot smirked, taking another sip. "As I mentioned, I choose the strongest, the—"
"AHHH!" Unleashing a roar, Noir charged the massive robot. Its right hand was still curled into a fist from when it had knocked her out of the air.
Slashing with her scythe, Noir's blade met steel in the space between them. There was no contest. Her weapon was blown back, and Noir skidded backwards three meters before falling on her backside.
Growling, she hauled herself back up and ripped off her mask. "Milady!"
A hail of bullets crashed against the fiancé. It stumbled back a step, raising an arm across its body. Smiling with her victory, Noir took a step forward. Her glee lasted all of three seconds until the fiancé lowered the arm and looked completely unscathed.
"Oh, you silly girl," Robot Haru snickered. "I did tell you I choose the strongest only. Bullets are no match for his endurance."
"Tsk," Noir raised her weapon in a defensive stance. The robot was not completely uninjured, but the attack had clearly done so little that Noir would need to fire off attacks for hours to bring it down.
"Extermination mode, activate."
The robot raised its left hand, the fist pointed straight at her. Hair rising on the back of her neck, Noir dove to the side. Hitting the floor hard, she rolled once and rose to feet. As she tumbled, the air split from a large boom as the fist shot off the robot's arm like a cannonball.
That would have killed me.
Paling, Noir realized how little chance she stood in this fight as the fist slowly flew back to rejoin with the monster's arms. Help, I need help! Turning to the glass box, Noir took in their panicked faces. The beating of weapons against the unbreakable surface. All but one. Queen stood there alone, eyes fixed confidently on Noir's.
Swallowing, she turned back to the fiancé. "Fine. Then let's try this."
"It is pointless," Haru sighed dramatically. "You'll only realize that when you're reduced to a pile of mush I suppose."
"Milady!" Noir did not know why she had this power, nor did she fully understand. It did not matter. Stretching out with her persona's powers, she crushed the fiancé's mind with psychic energy.
Strong, rich, obedient.
None of those traits did anything to protect his mind from the assault. A pitiful whine emerged from the fiancé as it staggered back a step, falling to one knee.
"Hmm, seems it isn't invincible after all," Noir smirked. Still, this would be a hard fight. The fiancé still had a lot of life left to it. If even one of those launched fists hit…
"Waaaaah!" Turning and wailing, the fiancé fled. It seemed that obedience was not loyalty.
"…Huh?"
"G-Get back here!" Robot Haru demanded, standing up again. "You swore to protect me! You swore that—"
"Enough." Darting forward, Noir slipped her grip up near the blade of her scythe and grabbed the robot around the chest with her left arm. Raising her scythe around her neck, Noir rested the blade against the metallic skin forming the junction between the robot's neck and chin.
"G-Get off of me!"
As the robot struggled, Noir lifted her right arm higher. The Scythe's blade cutting deeper into the skin, threatening to slice her throat open. She was forced onto her tiptoes to avoid that gruesome fate.
"Wait!" Kunikazu cried out, finally speaking again. Stepping down from the stairs he had paused on, Noir saw real fear on his face. "Not my daughter, please!"
"Release my friends," Noir demanded, pulling the scythe blade tight to the point that Robot Haru could no longer speak—only emit frightened grunts. The sounds could not have been further removed from the arrogant laughter of only minutes earlier.
"…I could make the same demand. If you don't release her I'll—"
Noir moved the scythe, creating a cut and getting a whimper of pain for her efforts.
"Alright, alright, I'll do it!"
Ah, this is amazing… Reducing the powerful to sniveling balls of fear. Seeing them turn into the very things that they had once disdained. Noir could feel her breaths coming faster, her chest heaving with excitement. Logical thought faded as did her previous determination and fear. A red haze corrupted her mind.
"Oh, very good," Noir crooned. "That's right. Now get your treasure and hand it over. That was the deal after all…"
Ah, please don't! This is so much fun!
True to her wishes, Kunikazu did not move, instead glaring at her. "And then what? You continue to torture my daughter!? I know your type, sadists who wait for their turn to abuse people!"
Noir laughed. "You don't have a choice! That's the best part!"
"Grr… No, No I could…"
"Father… please…" The robot's desperate words were earned by more cuts. The slick blood now dripping off the scythe against the once pristine floor.
"Get it," Noir insisted.
Kunikazu took one more look at his daughter, sighed in defeat, and stuck out a hand. From the rocket emerged a glowing sphere. It had a metallic sheen that Haru could not identify. It looked like what Noir would imagine an alien energy source is.
"My treasure…" Kunikazu said, mouth clenched, not dropping the orb.
"Oh?" Noir smirked. "I didn't think you liked your daughter's pain that much."
Kunikazu did not even appear to have heard her words. He only gazed at his treasure with a horrified expression. "I can't choose… Why can't I choose?"
Pulling the robot closer to her, Noir whispered in her ear. "Beg him to pick you." Loosening the pickaxe, she waited with anxious excitement to see what the girl would choose to do.
If it was me, I would…
"Run father! Abandon—AHHH!"
Noir giggled as she returned her scythe to the screaming girl's neck. Holding her trashing body was harder now, but oh so worth it. The robot's right hand flopped around on the ground, separated from her body with one clean cut.
"You monster," Kunikazu gaped, "to think you wear my daughter's face! How can you be so heartless?"
"Heartless? This? Oh please father." Tossing the wailing robot to the side, Noir gave it one disgraceful glance. After pretending to be so tough, so collected, she was a fragile doll with no fight at all. "Do you not think that this is simply just punishment for your crimes?"
"Just… punishment?" Kunikazu's fear melted away as he sneered. "I no longer think you are Shido's minions, but you are just as corrupt. Take my treasure, build your empire of power. I only hope that years down the line, you remember this conversation as you kneel before the people that rise up to dethrone you."
"Why you little…"
"Stop it already!"
Noir's strike with the butt of her scythe was stopped early as it slammed into Joker's back. Queen was on her as well, pulling her back and away from her father.
"What the hell are you doing, Haru!?"
"This isn't about you! I am… I am…" Haru blinked and looked over the carnage that she had left behind. Her cognitive version still wailing and clutching her arm. Her father crawling toward her, the treasure now in Joker's possession.
Knees buckling, Haru stayed upright solely because of Queen's support. "I… What did I do?"
"Haru," Queen whispered into her ears. "I want you to listen to me."
"N-No, this isn't me! I only wanted him to see the error in his ways! I was angry I—"
"Haru!"
At last, the rest of her strength faded, and she collapsed fully onto the floor, still being held from behind. "I want you to go to therapy, Haru."
Flinching, Haru shook her head despondently. "I'm fine. This was just—"
"Stop lying to yourself, please." Queen begged, her voice breaking. Haru could feel Queen's warm tears dripping unto her neck. "You always do this. You relish in the shadow's cries and pleading. It's not funny anymore."
"To my own father… myself… Ahh, the pain…" Haru could not find tears in her for her actions, or even regret truly. She felt empty, like a windswept desert hungry for water. What was left behind was the memory of that joy. That thrill that had consumed her when she had won the fight and taken herself captive. "Is this why I struggle, Mako-chan? Is this why I was not able to see my father as evil?"
"We will figure that out later. Let's head out for now."
"…Okay." Letting herself get lead by Queen, Haru kept her head down, vision obscured by the brim of her hat. She did not want to see the expressions that her friends would be making. It was not disgust, or anger that she worried she would find. It was fear.
And Sumire thought she was the broken one… Smirk hidden behind the hat, Haru briefly wondered if this would be her last time in the metaverse.
Monday, September 19th, 20XX Night
As the clock ticked past midnight, Akechi stayed up, staring at his hand. A phantom warmth lingered there from earlier. If he closed his eyes, he could still recall the sensation and feeling of running his hand along Kasumi's back. Over and over again he had started from her shoulder blades and stroked down to her lower back as she lay sobbing against him.
"I've done it… Right?"
Akechi murmured to himself again, still doubting the validity of the statement. She confided in him, she trusted him… Akechi knew that he was close. The girl almost belonged to him, but he had to be careful. Like with Rose, a single misstep and everything could come crashing down.
"I have to further separate her from Sumire. Only when that bond is broken will she be truly mine." It was a fine statement, but Akechi wondered if he even needed to do anything on that front. Sumire seemed perfectly content to snap each one of the cords that bound the sisters together.
What truly concerned Akechi however was the organ in his chest thumping out a rhythm at a speed far faster than it should be. Hours later and his nose was filled with her scent. His body craved for that sensation again. Even knowing that the feelings meant, Akechi could not say the words. He would not.
"I will strike you down, father. Nothing will change that."
And afterwards?
That dangerous thought was cropping up more and more recently in his mind. All of Akechi's plans ended with his father's death. There had never been an objective beyond that. A single bullet point jotted down.
Ring, ring!
Glaring at his phone, Akechi strode across the small room and answered it. "Hello?"
"You failed boy. They must be on to you."
"S-Shido!? Why are you calling me?"
"Never use my name!" His father raged, voice filled with malice and loathing. "Okumura's heart has already been changed. You missed your chance."
"Impossible," Akechi protested. "I've been waiting for news that the calling card was delivered! No one has said a single—"
"It was hand delivered. Now make yourself useful, or else."
The line went dead. Akehi gritted his teeth and clenched the phone to his limit. The hardened glass and plastic resisted his efforts and eventually Akechi laid it back down, the phone looking no worse for wear.
"Hand delivered… Haru must have done that." Akechi muttered. Thinking of the pink-haired fluff reminded him of his slip-up with Kasumi. It was a budding problem; he was struggling to remember what he was supposed to know as a friend versus what he actually did.
Pacing, Akechi tried to think. He needed to edit his plans. Okumura had been a disposable tool that needed to be removed anyway. Even without pining it on the thieves, things should be fine.
The feeling of her bra strap under her shirt was strangely alluring. I wasn't expecting—
Shaking his head frantically, Akechi paced faster. Getting distracted by women was basically the definition of a weak man. You started to obsess over them, provide for them, and your goals and ambitions fade.
Family.
Love.
"All those are… is weakness." Akechi forced the words out. He did not know those things; he did not want them. Kasumi is a tool. Rose is a tool. That was how he had found them. The usefulness or beauty of a tool did not change its essence.
Hesitantly, Akechi spoke a new possibility into being. In a place where only he could judge its veracity.
"Is there any issue with enjoying the use of a tool, however? I mean… the ease of use of high-quality chopsticks, or the result from a professional hairdresser… Yes, that's all this is."
Coming to a halt, Akechi sat down at his laptop. With his feelings in order, he had a job to do. The phantom thieves had pulled a fast one on him with Okumura. Now, he needed to correct course.
In less than a month, he had to bring down the phantom thieves to propel Shido into the prime minister position. Only then would he have climbed high enough for Akechi to relish in tearing him down.
"Hmm, should I leave him alive at the end of it all…" Day dreaming, Akechi smiled as his sadistic thoughts brought up all the different things that he could do to his father. Even now, as his plan was reaching its end, he could not quite figure out what the most satisfactory ending would be.
"Ahaha… Maybe I'll make Kasumi and Rose torture him for me…" Lost in delusion, Akechi slowly plotted; plans getting slowly ironed out as he thought through the different possibilities.