"Why, Sis?!" Makoto shouted. "You weren't like this before?! What changed?!"
Her sister had finally realized that she was here. She had to finally acknowledge her.
"What changed? Simple. I grew up, Makoto" Sae frowned. "Something that you still have to do."
"What are you talking about?!" Makoto snapped.
"You're still such a child." Sae scoffed. "While you're going around, playing pretend with your friends, I had to grow up and realize that trying to change the law and order of our society is not only foolish, but futile."
"And just why is that?" Akechi asked.
"Perhaps it's hard to understand for some brats with a naive sense of justice, but the system we have now is ideal. There's no need for things to change." Sae claimed.
"That's easy to say when you're in a position of power." Akechi pointed out. "I can't help but feel as if you and others in power are abusing your power. Bending and breaking the rules however you wish."
"Those who make the rules can do whatever they want, because they are in charge." Sae said. "In fact, breaking the rules is what you're doing right now, isn't it? Breaking the law in order to implement your own justice."
"We aren't doing it for our own benefit! Not like you!" Makoto snapped. "We're doing it for the victims! Stopping these horrible people helps society as a whole!"
"I wonder about that… is that really true?" Sae muttered. "Are your actions really beneficial to society as a whole?
Before she could ask what her sister meant, Sae disappeared yet again, a guard appearing before them.
"Ugh! Can't she just stay still?!" Ryuji snapped.
"Everyone, be careful. This guard must be quite formidable if Sae thought to send them after us alone." Akechi cautioned.
The guard quickly reformed into a strange floating clock, with 3 golden women attached to it.
"Everyone, let's take it out!" Akechi ordered.
"You got it!" Ryuji shouted, immediately going on the offensive, Akechi supporting him from behind with Eigaon spells.
One of the three sisters holding the clock chanted a spell, raising the group's defense right before Akechi's spell hit, his attack dealing minuscule damage.
Ryuji slammed his weapon into the shadow. The shadow visibly grimaced from the blow, but its increased defense allowed it to endure the blow.
The second woman holding the clock chanted a spell, blowing Ryuji away with fearsome winds.
"Oh Skull." Morgana sighed. "Just leave it to the master!"
Morgana started to fire a wind spell, but the shadow just smiled, making no effort to dodge.
"Mona, wait!" Makoto warned.
"Garudyne!"
Morgana fired off his own fearsome winds, striking the shadow dead on…
Only for the shadow to absorb the spell, healing the wounds it had taken.
"W-What?!" Morgana gasped. "T-That's AHH-!"
The shadow zapped Morgana with lightning, knocking him down.
"Ugh… doesn't this thing have a weakness?" Ren frowned.
"Not that I can see." Akechi frowned. "I suppose some shadows are just that strong."
"Then we just hit them as hard as we can!" Ann shouted.
"I suppose so." Akechi nodded. "If curse skills won't work, then let's try bless skills!"
Both Ann and Akechi fired off their strongest fire and bless spells, but once again, the shadow easily endured the blow, resisting both attacks.
"Alright then, let's try this!" Makoto shouted. "Freidyne!"
An explosion of nuclear energy engulfed the shadow, all three of the women screaming in pain as they finally seemed to take decent damage.
"It looks like Nuke skills work well." Makoto noted.
"Right. Of course." Akechi scowled.
The third and final woman holding the clock began to act, casting another spell.
Slowly, the shadow's wounds began to heal, undoing much of the damage they had done.
"Seriously, it can heal too?!" Futaba exclaimed.
"It's like fighting against those three sisters all over again." Yusuke frowned. "But much stronger."
Makoto wracked her brain, attempting to think of some way to overwhelm the shadow.
"Wait a moment…" Makoto muttered.
She turned towards Haru.
"Noir, are you ready?!" Makoto shouted. "I think we might have to try out that special move out sooner rather than later!"
"Of course I'm ready!" Haru called back.
"Then let's crush them!" Makoto roared.
The arena suddenly changed into a wrestling ring, the shadow looking around in confusion.
Both of them climbed into the ring, Makoto already charging to attack.
"Ah! W-Wait for me!" Haru cried, following after her.
Makoto started with a forceful clothesline, Haru swiftly following up with a dropkick.
"AND HERE COMES OUR LEADER WITH THE STEEL CHAIR!" Futaba shouted from the sidelines.
"We're not done yet!" Makoto shouted, slamming the chair onto the shadow's head.
As the shadow lay dazed on the floor, Makoto and Haru climbed the nearby posts in the corners of the ring.
"You ready?" Makoto asked.
"Always!" Haru chirped.
They both jumped from the poles before slamming down onto the shadow with elbow drops."
"Double Deathblow!"
The shadow groaned in pain before finally succumbing to its injuries.
"Well… That was… what was that, exactly?" Akechi asked, visibly confused.
"Teamwork!" Haru beamed.
"Right. Of course…" Akechi trailed off.
"WOW! That was amazing!"
They all turned around to see the cognitive Makoto staring at them with starry eyes.
"The way you all took that shadow down was so cool!" the cognitive Makoto exclaimed. "You were all 'Bam!' and 'Boom!' and 'FIST OF JUSTICE!'"
The cognitive Makoto started punching and kicking the air, trying to mimic their moves.
"P-Please don't mimic any violence you see!" Makoto pleaded, trying to be responsible.
"Makoto-chan, what are you doing here?" Haru asked.
"Umm… I was told to come here to let you know that you guys probably aren't going to be able to get any further." the cognitive Makoto frowned.
"Why is that?" Akechi asked.
"Just follow me for a second." the cognitive Makoto said.
The group followed her to a nearby lobby, a guard standing in front of large golden gates.
"Outta the way." Ryuji demanded.
"Do you have a reservation on the high limit floor?" the guard asked.
"What the hell do you mean, a reservation?!" Ryuji snapped.
Glancing around, Makoto saw no way to get past the giant golden gates.
"Do you think that this is similar to Madarame's Palace?" Yusuke asked.
"It's possible…" Makoto noted. "Say, is every regular in this casino allowed to enter the high limit floor?"
"That is correct." the guard nodded. "I might be able to let you through, but the others won't be allowed."
"Well, that won't do." Morgana frowned.
"I see… so since this place is a courtroom in the real world…" Akechi trailed off.
"We might have to do something in the courtroom." Morgana theorized. "Say, does Sae have a case coming up?"
"A case she's prosecuting? I believe so." Makoto nodded. "In a few days."
"Perfect!" Morgana cried. "If we can get her to see us in the courtroom, it might change her cognition."
"Oh really?" Akechi questioned. "Interesting. I suppose that we'll all have to go to the courtroom in that case."
"I had hoped that we'd be able to do the entire palace in one sitting, but it doesn't look like there's nothing else to do here for now." Makoto frowned.
"There's no need to worry. We have plenty of time, so we can afford to take things slow." Akechi reasoned.
"Alright, then let's go. I'll let you all know when the case is going to be." Makoto nodded.
They all made their way out of the palace, all of them heading home for the day. She hated the fact that they wouldn't be able to finish the palace so quickly, as the longer she delved into her sister's heart, the more her own heart began to ache.
10/30 Thursday
Days Until Investigation: 20
It would be at least a few days before they would be able to make any more progress in her sister's palace.
Because of that, she thought that it would be for the best that she visit Futaba today in order to make sure that everything in the plan would be proceeding normally.
"So, have you gotten any information yet?" Makoto asked.
"Nothing yet." Futaba frowned. "I do have a feeling that they're gonna try something in the palace, though."
"Do you have a plan then, in that case?" Makoto said.
"I've been thinking of a few things we could do if worse comes to worse…" Futaba nodded. "But…"
"But what?" Makoto asked.
"The cognitive version of you in Sae's palace is a little girl, right?" Futaba asked.
"Yes, that's right." Makoto answered.
"That… complicates things a bit." Futaba sighed.
"In what way?" Makoto asked.
"It's just… I had a plan in mind in case things went poorly, but if your cognition is like that…" Futaba trailed off.
The younger girl seemed to think it over for a moment.
"I didn't really work out all the details yet." Futaba admitted.
"Could you still tell me what you were thinking about?" Makoto requested. "We might still be able to work things out somehow. Maybe adjust the plan a bit?"
"Well, alright…"
Futaba proceeded to give me a basic outline of her plan. It seemed solid, but we still needed some more details.
"Actually, I might have a way to fix the big issue." Makoto said. "Let me think about it for a bit. For now, though… How have things been for you?"
"For me?" Futaba repeated. "Um… shouldn't we be talking more about you?"
"I… I think I'd just like to get my mind off of… everything, right now." Makoto admitted.
"I getcha." Futaba frowned. "But I don't really want to add any more to your plate."
"It's… Fine. I don't mind." Makoto insisted.
"Well, ok. It's about Kana-chan." Futaba explained. "I looked her up, and I found out that she still lives in the small town in Kansai that she moved to years ago."
"Oh, that's good. Did the two of you reconnect?" Makoto asked.
"Well… The more I looked into her, the worse it got." Futaba frowned. "I learned that she never started high school, and some other things…"
"Other things?" Makoto asked.
"Her parents are in massive debt because of their gambling addictions." Futaba explained.
"Ah…"
Considering the appearance of her sister's palace, that… stung a little.
"So instead of sending Kana to school, they had her work to try and help pay it off." Futaba scowled. "They're… having her model in strange clothes and selling the pictures."
"That's awful!" Makoto exclaimed. "How can they do that to their own child?!"
"I know. She… She's not just some thing for them to use!" Futaba cried.
Futaba sat down, glancing at her phone.
"Kana-chan actually sent a request to the Phantom Thieves." Futaba mentioned. "Based on her IP address and everything, I'm very sure that it's her. I know that we're really busy right now, but…"
"I can try to see that we can free up some time for a Mementos visit." Makoto promised. "Did she mention any specifics?"
"Not really." Futaba frowned. "She said that she wanted a change of heart in her parents, but she didn't mention their names."
"That complicates things." Makoto frowned. "Do they doubt us a little, or were they hesitant?"
"I'm not sure, but I do have a solution." Futaba replied.
"Surely there's another way aside from hacking." Makoto sighed.
"Hey, come on!" Futaba protested. "It's not that this time! I just found their names in an odd address book I had."
"Well, I suppose that's fine then." Makoto nodded. "So what were their names?"
"Kouga and Asami Magario." Futaba answered. "I got a hit on them in the Meta-Nav too, so we'll definitely be able to change their hearts."
"So is that what you want to do?" Makoto asked. "We could run it by the others."
"Yeah! If It'll help Kana-chan, then I'll do whatever I can!" Futaba promised. "I can't let her parents keep treating her so horribly! So please help me, Makoto!"
"You don't have to ask. Of course I'll help you." Makoto smiled.
"Thank you so much, Makoto!" Futaba beamed. "I'll be sure to return the favor and work extra hard whenever we're in the Metaverse!"
She felt a strong bond with Futaba.
HERMIT CONFIDANT: RANK 7
She spoke to the younger girl for a little longer about what to do next before heading home for the day.
11/1 Friday
Days Until Investigation: 19
It was difficult to pay attention in class with everything that had been happening lately. Still, she had to keep calm. She was the leader. She couldn't show weakness, even against her own sister.
She had to be strong.
She had to be strong.
She had to be…!
"Makoto?"
She saw Takayo approaching her, a concerned look on her face.
"Oh, Takayo. Hello." Makoto greeted.
"Everything ok, Makoto?" Takayo asked. "You look a little out of it."
"I… suppose that I just have a lot on my mind, that's all." Makoto admitted.
"Anything that I might be able to help with?" Takayo asked.
"Well… I'm not sure. I suppose we could go somewhere private just in case, though…" Makoto replied.
Takayo's information gathering, while helpful before, didn't seem necessary in this case.
Unlike previous targets, she knew all that she needed to know about Sae.
"I guess things must be pretty tough for you right now." Takayo reasoned. "Especially with what happened with Okumura."
"Yeah… I suppose it has been." Makoto confessed.
"Well, even if everyone else turns against you, I'll always be on your side!" Takayo promised.
"Thank you, Takayo." Makoto expressed. "You seem to be in a much better mood than before."
"You think? Well, I guess I've sorta had a bit of an epiphany recently." Takayo said.
"Really? How so?" Makoto asked.
"I was talking to my grandfather about everything that happened. Takayo began. "And I was bringing up some of the doubts that I've been having."
"What did he say to you?" Makoto asked.
"We talked about journalism, corruption, ethics, and all of that." Takayo explained. "And I asked my grandfather if he'd do what he did again."
"And what did he say?" Makoto asked.
"He said that he would." Takayo stated. "He told me that there's always going to be corruption and crime out there… even amongst journalists. So that's why there has to be people out there willing to do the right thing and expose them!"
"Maybe you're right…" Makoto trailed off.
"It's easy to get cynical, but that's kinda what corrupt people want, right?" Takayo pointed out. "If we get too cynical or apathetic, then they're just able to do whatever they want."
Maybe she had a point. Still, it was a hard pill to follow. Society may never be perfect, simple because people weren't perfect. So to keep fighting while knowing that… was hard.
"Thank you, Takayo." Makoto said. "I think you're given me a bit to think about myself."
"Oh, really? Well, I'm glad that I could help you out some more!"
"Thanks again. I'll be sure to make it up to you, Takayo."
She could feel Tayako's kindness shining through.
MOON CONFIDANT: RANK 9
As soon as they finished speaking, she felt my phone beginning to buzz.
RenRen: Hey Makoto, want me to make you some lunch tomorrow?
Oh, right. That was the name she had recently given him in their private chat.
Makoto: Sure. Thank you very much.
After she put her phone away, she saw Takayo intently staring at her.
"Is something wrong, Takayo?"
"You know, if you really want to make it up to me, you'll tell me the story about how you two got together! Now there's a scoop!" Takayo exclaimed.
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
After speaking to Takayo for a little longer, she went home.
11/2 Saturday
Days Until Investigation: 18
"I, uh… know that you've pretty busy right about now." Ren said. "So I figured that I'd fix some lunch for you. Help lessen your load and all."
"O-Oh. Thank you." Makoto whispered.
"Anytime." Ren grinned. "But… Do you ever get the feeling that we're…"
"Being watched?" Makoto finished.
"Yeah."
Her eye twitched in annoyance as she whipped around to see a small group of students staring at them.
"Don't you all have class?!" Makoto snapped. "Leave! Now!"
The other students quickly scampered away.
"Sorry about that…" Ren frowned.
"It's fine." Makoto sighed. "Actually, how have the rumors about you been?
"Not as bad, recently." Ren noted. "I wonder if everyone…"
"Thinks I've tamed you? Domesticated you?" Makoto asked. "I've heard things to that effect.
Ren frowned. "I'm not an animal."
"Well, you do act like a human-sized cat sometimes." Makoto giggled.
"Hey meow, I'm nyaht a cat!" Ren insisted. "I'm purrfectly human."
"Stop."
"Yeah, you're right. The Phantom Thieves only have room for one cat." Ren grinned.
She did the best to ignore the rustling in her bag.
"Thank you again for the food." Makoto expressed.
"Of course. Meet me after school?" Ren asked.
"I have a council meeting later today. Sorry." Makoto replied.
"That's fine. See you at lunch?"
"Yeah. See you then."
They each went to their respective classes.
After classes ended for the day, Makoto went over to the council meeting.
"Is there, uh… even anything to discuss?" Kayo asked. "Things are kinda slow this time of year."
"Not terribly much right now." Makoto. "How did the school festival go, anyway?"
"It went very well!" Daichi grinned. "We did end up making a lot of money for the school, and the students ended up really enjoying it."
"That's good. It was… very stressful to prepare, so at least people enjoyed it." Makoto mentioned. "Now, is there anything else that's coming up?"
"... There are exams." Akemi muttered.
"Right, exams… although those aren't until late December." Chiaki pointed out.
"Still, it might be a good idea to send a reminder to everyone." Makoto reasoned.
"True enough, I suppose." Chiaki shrugged.
"Ugh… it's way too close to the holidays." Kayo groaned.
"Alright then, is that it?" Makoto asked. "Then we can just end things early."
"Well, actually, there was one more thing." Chiaki admitted. "How… are you doing, Makoto?"
"What do you mean?" Makoto asked.
"Well… it's just that lately you've seemed really stressed out." Kayo frowned. "So we were kinda worried about you."
"… Are you ok?" Akemi whispered.
"I guess it's a good thing that the meeting is ending early then." Daichi added. "If you aren't feeling well, don't feel bad about taking a break, Prez."
"I… I'm fine, really." Makoto insisted. "I suppose that… I'm just a little exhausted from studying for entrance exams."
Most of them seemed to buy her excuse, at least, as they all shot her sympathetic looks.
Thankfully, the meeting didn't last much longer, and the others soon left.
Except for Chiaki, who had a rather stern expression on her face.
"Makoto… you're up to something dangerous again, aren't you?" Chiaki accused.
"What makes you so sure about that?" Makoto asked.
"I know you. That's how." Chiaki scoffed. "Listen, I know that I'd just be wasting my breath trying to talk you out of this, so I'll just say… be careful, and if there's anything that I can do to help…"
"I understand. Thank you, Chiaki." Makoto nodded. "But what about you? Are you and your family doing alright?"
"Yeah, we're good…" Chiaki muttered. "And thank you… for not telling anyone about my families situation. I don't need people judging us…"
"It's no trouble at all. I'm happy to help." Makoto smiled.
"Yeah… for the first time in a while, I feel unrestrained. Able to do what I want. And I suppose I have you to thank for that. But you may end up regretting it!"
"Regret?" Makoto questioned.
"Now that there's nothing holding me back, I'll easily manage to beat you in the next exams!" Chiaki smirked.
Despite her words, there was no hostility to her tone.
"Well, if I still win, I don't want to hear any excuses from you!" Makoto shot back.
Nor was there any hostility to her own tone.
Their old, bitter rivalry had become something like a friendly competition.
She felt like she understood Chiaki just a little better.
TOWER CONFIDANT: RANK 9
She spoke to Chiaki for a little longer before heading home.
11/3 Sunday
Days Until Investigation: 17
Today was the day that they would be going to the courthouse, hoping for Sae to notice everyone.
"I've never been in a courthouse before…" Haru admitted.
"The atmosphere is rather tense." Yusuke frowned. "But perhaps that is simply because of our reason for being here."
"I wonder why Niijima-san would think a place like this would be comparable to a casino." Haru said.
"So your sister is the one sitting at the bench, right?" Futaba asked. "She looks really serious…"
"I figured that she'd be busy with the Phantom Thieves case, not something like this." Ann mentioned.
"Well, Sae-san had other cases to attend to before this." Akechi explained "They could have assigned another prosecutor, but Sae-san's always been a bit of a workaholic. Wouldn't you agree, Makoto-chan?"
She didn't bother to respond, focusing entirely on her sister.
She had texted her that she would be there. Made an excuse that it was for a school assignment. But she doubted that sis had even seen it…
"It looks like there aren't too many people around, so she should notice us eventually." Akechi grinned.
Sure enough, a minute or two later, Sae glanced over, eyes widening as they saw her.
"There are a lot of students… wait." Sae muttered. "Is that Makoto and Akechi-kun? Well, it doesn't matter…"
"There we go." Akechi smiled. "She's seen all of us, so we should be fine now."
"Wait, she hasn't seen me!" Morgana cried. "I've been stuck in this bag the entire time! How will I get past the-"
"Look, if we can sneak you in through a bag in the real world, then we can do it in the Metaverse too!" Ryuji hissed. "Now get back in the bag!"
"Looks like the trial's beginning soon." Akechi noted.
Makoto kept her eyes on the trial the entire time, not uttering a single word.
She watched as Sae used every dirty trick in the book to get the culprit declared guilty. How did this happen? How had she fallen so far?
She didn't even realize that she had been shaking until she felt her hand being gently squeezed.
Looking to her side, she saw Ren glancing at the trial with a frown on his face.
He could probably tell how stressful this would be for her…
He gave her hand a gentle squeeze, running her thumbs over her knuckles.
With Sae being the prosecutor, the trial ended with a predictable outcome.
Guilty.
And as they exited the courthouse, she realized that if they didn't change her sister's heart…
The Phantom Thieves would meet the same fate.
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 9
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 9
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 8
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 8
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 7
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 9
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 9
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 9
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 8
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 8
THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 7
THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 6
THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 6
THE DEATH - Yohei Kiritani: Rank 6
THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 8
THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 5
THE LOVERS - Ann Takamaki: Rank 8
THE HERMIT - Futaba Sakura: Rank 7
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 8
THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 5
THE PRIESTESS - Kasumi Yoshizawa?: Rank 7
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 7
THE JUDGMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 6
THE COUNCILOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 9