Chapter 14: March of the Piggytron!

June 15th, 2016

"So Tabers, what you got?" Ryuji asks. The team had all gathered in Leblanc's attic, safe from prying eyes and ears. Despite the small size of Ren's room, it still had enough space for the Thieves. Futaba glances at Ryuji before giving him a grin, spinning her laptop around and showing it to the team.

"This is what I had in mind." She replies, showing what was on her laptop. While Hifumi, Mishima and Shiho gazed in amazement, Ren and the others grinned at the plan. It was, after all, Futaba's original masterstroke.

"So, this is how we deliver it? But will he even see it?" Shiho questions. While it was a good idea, there was the possibility that Kaneshiro wouldn't register it.

"I wouldn't worry about that. Knowing his minions, they'll run to him the moment they see it. So long as he reads the card, that's all that matters."

"He will see it. We can guarantee that." Ren says resolutely. "Besides, this will also throw the trail off us as well. They wouldn't think a bunch of high schoolers would be able to do this."

"The farther we can distance ourselves from corrupt officials, the better." Makoto agrees, drawing a look from Hifumi. "Anyway, shall we get started? We have a card to deliver tomorrow." Nods come from all over as Ren pushes his fake glasses up slightly.

"Time for Tokyo to see who we are."

June 16th, 2016

It was an ordinary day in Shibuya, around lunchtime. Citizens going about their daily lives. Police officers stand watching the crowds while members of Kaneshiro's mob watch from the shadows. Eyeing up any and all students from Shujin. The girls in particular.

New channels report on daily occurrences, outside changes, reports on the weather or just advertisements for new products. Nothing to indicate that anything was wrong.

Until the billboards were suddenly consumed with static, drawing all eyes to the screens as people wondered what was going on.

"Alright, folks, listen up!"

A loud, distorted male voice echoes from the screens as an image flickers briefly on the screen, followed closely by more distorted voices.

"Surprised to hear us?"

"Allow us to introduce ourselves."

"We are the Phantom Thieves."

The emblem of the Thieves blazes onto the screens, the fire raging in its left eye.

"We decided to do a little something different this time."

"Indeed. For we are here to publicly announce our next target."

"The manager of gluttony who prays on the students of Tokyo, Junya Kaneshiro!"

The citizens stand, raptured in awe, as the police stand gobsmacked as a mug shot of the man appears on the boards. While Kaneshiro's goons panic and flee to their master.

"A dirty fly who cares only about money, who has no qualms with targeting innocent students for his own gains."

"You may have managed to avoid the police and SIU, but you can't hide from us!"

The screen changes to show a silhouette shot of the Thieves, their identities concealed with a blinding light behind them.

"Your empire is about to fall apart."

"So start saying your prayers, Kaneshiro!"

"For tonight. We are changing your heart!"

With a single swipe, the middle figure throws the calling card right at the screen. The message is clear for all to see.

Sir Junya Kaneshiro, the money-devouring sinner of gluttony. You indulge in scamming others with horrendous methods that target minors exclusively. Not only that, you indulge in selling young women into the debauchery of slavery. For that, we have decided to make you confess all your crimes with your own mouth. We will steal your distorted desires without fail.

From, the Phantom Thieves of Heart.

Kaneshiro could not believe it. They found him. Somehow, they had managed to find HIM! But it was impossible! He covered all his tracks. Had bribed off all the police looking for him. He even had Shido covering for him with the money he gave to fund his candidacy for Prime Minister! So how?

"How did these Thieves find me!?" He yells, throwing his phone at the wall. Missing the head of one of his minions.

"W-we don't know, sir! But it was broadcasted on all channels! Even streaming services online!" That made Kaneshiro pale. For them to do that required a hacker of genius levels of smarts.

"Pack up everything and get ready to move out! And get in touch with that Togo bitch! Find out if she knows anything about this!" His men scurry away as ordered, fearing the wrath of their boss. Even the woman who was glued to his side looked at him with fright. But while everyone saw a fuming man in the world of the Metaverse, his Shadow was boiling in anger.

"Phantom Thieves! You will not get away with this! Especially you Hifumi!"

"Gotta say, Futaba kicked herself out of the park once again." Ryuji praises while helping Haru with some fertiliser. "Gotta love the 'Futaba Cannon'."

"Just got a message from Yusuke. Apparently, Hifumi's mom is being questioned by Kaneshiro's men about this. We'll need to move the moment school's over." Ann in forms, putting her phone away.

"Do you remember what we'll have to deal with?" Shiho asks, glancing at the door. They had locked it from this side, but they couldn't be too careful.

"If I remember, we had to fight Kaneshiro himself for a bit before he brought out Piggytron." Morgana replies, still lying in the grass.

"'Piggytron' What sort of name for a Transformer is that?" Mishima asks, holding back the urge to laugh. Shiho and Haru were in similar states, wide grins on their faces as they fought back the urge.

"The name may sound hilarious, but its attacks aren't. That thing can take a lot of damage, and when it switched to VIP form, it can run us over, doing massive damage." Ren replies, glancing at his phone. "Let's go swat a fly."

Security Guards rush about as Security Dog sniff at every corner. All searching for the Thieves as they prowl the upper levels. But just like all the other Palaces, they fail to gather near the Treasure itself.

Leaving an open road for the team to sprint from the Safe Room straight to the heart of the Vault. Everyone could feel the excitement in the air, tempered by the anger of the Palace Ruler. None more so than Shadow.

For she was only moments away from regaining her freedom. Descending down the lift, the team eagerly awaited the moment of confrontation. Even as the doors opened to reveal a large safe door spanning halfway across the room. With Kaneshiro and his lackeys standing in front of it.

"Greetings, Thieves. Welcome to my private city bank." Shadow Kaneshiro greets with a sneer. "I'm surprised you made it this far alive. Let alone find my other self. You must have the devil's luck."

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Joker cryptically replies as he and the other future Thieves smirk at him.

"It is over, Kaneshiro. Your plans for using me as your own private toy are done." Shadow scoffs, swinging her kunai around on the chain. "We are changing your heart."

"And why should I care? Those in power work the ones below them to the bone for money. Such is the hierarchy of this world. Just accept your fate as a source of my wealth!"

"And who decided that? You? Or Shido?" Queen questions, earning a look of shock from Kaneshiro, while Shadow tilts her head in confusion, with Spring whispering a 'later' to her. "We know who you're sending your money to. And trust us, he won't hide from us."

"How? How did you know that I'm working for him! No one knows that I'm working for him except Shido!" Kaneshiro bellows in anger. "Either you tell me now, or I'll work you as slaves for the rest of your lives!" He bends over, glaring at the floor as his back begins to bulge. Bones snap, and skin rips from under his suit, the cognitive goons around him staring in fear as two giant fly wings burst from Kaneshiro's back.

He then vomits back blood onto the floor before rapidly rubbing his hands together as his eyes morph and bulge. Becoming the glistening red eyes of a fly. The goons around him flee in terror while the Thieves stare at him in disgust.

"Now I know why you guys call him a fly." Spring says in disgust as Kaneshiro laughs loudly.

"I can take care of you fools myself! Don't need my crew to beat the tar outa ya! Now come get some yo!"

"I've been waiting to do this ever since my mother dragged me into this." Shadow whispers as Kunoichi manifests before her. "Get the hell out of my life!"

"Ehahahah! That's a good one, yo! And I thought being young was a crime! Tell ya what… How about I show you my little secret?" He takes to the air, surprisingly considering the giant belly he has on him, as the safe behind him stops rotating. "Time to roll out… My guardian Robot!" That caused Joker and the others to silently gasp in surprise. Kaneshiro was skipping straight to his mechanical pig straight away!

A centre part of the safe opens up, allowing Junya 'Bael' Kaneshiro to fly inside before it closes and locks up. Then the safe slides open, revealing the centre was, in fact, the noes of a giant, robotic pig. "Gyahahahahaha" You ready to die, you losers?!"

"What's with the pig?" Outlaw shouts, unfettered by the metal machine before them. Spring and Noir were equally unamused, while Shadow shook her head in disappointment. As for the other Thieves, they were already weary as Oracle went to work analysing the pig.

"It ain't a pig, yo! This is my Palace's swine-model defensive mechanoid. Piggytron!"

"Swine model? How fitting." Shadow whispers, her words causing Noir and Panther to giggle while Queen smirks in amusement.

"Goin' against me's a real bad crime, ya know!? It's time for ya all to go to hell!" The Piggytron powers up, deploying missiles from the money slit in its back against the Thieves. Forcing them all to dodge as explosions rock the ground.

"Heads up guys! That thing has no weakness! But at the same time, no strengths either! So don't hold back!"

"No complaints from me. Psio!" Shadow cries, sending a blast of psionic energy at the pig. While it didn't have any resistance, its metallic body still proved to be a hard nut to crack as it managed to resist Shadow's attack. Flames from Panther and lightning from Skull arc over the metal machine, heating it up and turning its silver colour to a reddish tint.

"Oi! No barbequing my ride!" Kaneshiro cries out, using the Gatling guns in Piggytron's eyes to fire on the Thieves. The bullets were harmless to Outlaw, thanks to his resistance, while the other focused on evading the strikes.

"Take this! Frelia!" Queen shouts, sending an orb of atomic fire at the pig, scorching its surface as Joker and Spring unleash a join Curse and Bless attack on the camera eyes. While not destroyed, much to their annoyance, it did damage some of the cameras as they were now stuck in place.

"Ya, punks're really pissn' me off! Ya called my Piggytron a pig earlier, right cowboy?" One of the functioning cameras zooms in on Outlaw before he fires a round and shatters it. "We're you talkin' about me too when you said that? If you were… Imma tear you to shreds!" The hatch opens as it spurs out noxious fumes towards the team, with Mona blowing it away with a Garula. "That does it! Piggytron! Go to Super VIP Fooorm!"

The feet of the pig ignite, revealing them to be thrusters as it lifts Piggytron into the air before the feet, nose, eyes and ears are suddenly sucked into the body. Leaving it as a perfect sphere. Kaneshiro then climbs out of the slit on the back, flying up on top of the body before starting to spin it with his feet. "How's this?! Can't even speak 'cause of how scary my Piggytron is, huh? Gyahahahaha!"

"If that rolls into us, we're done for." Shadow says, glancing around the room. She notes the low-hanging support beams holding the room together, high enough that they won't be crushed. But they needed a distraction. "Queen, is anyone able to distract Kaneshiro? We can use the support beams to avoid his attack and ambush him, but someone needs to keep him busy." Queen catches on to Shadow's plan before glancing at Mona.

"Mona! Distract him in van mode!" Mona looks at Queen with wide eyes before begrudgingly accepting. Jumping into the air and changing into a bus. If it wasn't for the situation, Shadow would be asking questions. "Joker, with me!" Joker raises an eyebrow at Queen yet follows her into the Mona-van regardless. Both take the front seats as Queen grabs the wheel.

"Hope you have a plan, Queen. I don't think Mona can outrun him forever."

"He won't have to."

"Time to roll out!" Kaneshiro cries as Piggytron begins to move.

"Hey, fly head! Think you're so tough because of that metal ball! I bet I can outrun that hunk of junk!" Mona taunts, his van form jumping on the spot. While the Thieves stare at them in befuddlement, Kaneshiro just glares at the van with hate.

"What did you call me! And 'hunk of junk'!? That's it! You're going to die first!" using his feet, Kaneshiro has Piggytron roll towards the van, fully intending to crush it. As it rolled towards them, Queen floors the gas pedal as the Mona-van roars away, Piggytron following straight after them.

"Everyone! Follow me!" Shadow shouts, shooting her grappling hook to one of the rafters. The rest of the team, sans Oracle, who was already flying, followed after her while Kaneshiro continued to chase the Mona-van.

"Well, we're safe. But what about Joker, Queen and Mona?" Spring asks, looking down in worry.

"Easy. He's focused on them, who are on the ground. So he's not paying attention to what's above." Shadow says with a smile.

"Ah, I see. An ambush from above." Fox comments, stroking his chin. "How shall we go about it?"

"Well, I wouldn't recommend guns. Kaneshiro nullifies them. And physical strikes won't do much either." Oracle reveals, her screen floating in front of her. "But magic, on the other hand, will knock him off. But we need him to stay still to get a hit on either him or his pig."

"Why don't we drop this?" Skull says, holding up a bead. "He loves money, right? So we drop something valuable."

"As much I hate to say it, but it could work. I've seen it done at many parties with my father." Noir comments with a wince.

"Well, let's give it a try." Grinning at Panther, Skull drops the Bead down to the floor. With a small clink, it lands on the floor. Seemingly unheard by the loud rumbling of Kaneshiro's Piggytron and the Mona-van driving from it. Before, Piggytron abruptly stops in place as though it had been frozen, with Kaneshiro eyeing the shining bead with extreme interest.

"Hm? What is that!? It's got the shine of somethin' pricey! Go collect it, Piggytron! R-Right away!" Turning back from its VIP form, Piggytron opens its pig noes vault at sucks in the bead. The bead then appears on its back, with Kaneshiro holding it in his sweaty palms as he starts hyperventilating. "Wh-Whoooaaa! Th-This'll make us a fortune! Damn good fine, yo!"

"Now!" Shadow calls out as the Thieves from above unleash every high-level spell they had at Piggytron, with Outlaw helping with a powerful Double Shot. While from the ground, Joker, Queen and Mona join in, striking the underbelly of Piggytron with their own powerful spells.

While the armour of Piggytron was undeniably strong, even it could not withstand the assault of all the Thieves at once. Especially since its driver was too fixated on the item in his hands to realise he was being attacked.

Until he is unceremoniously thrown off as the front left leg collapses, causing Piggytron to fall forward. "Wha— My Piggytron!" Kaneshiro looks in horror, seeing the damage done by all the attacks. Particularly the block of ice covering one of the ear vents on top. "You've messed up the ventilation! That was premium-grade air conditioning in there!"

"So cry us a river! All-out attack!" Joker yells as the Thieves regroup, slashing into the dazed Kaneshiro from every angle. His suit was left in tatters, his tie ruined, and his hair messed up. Even managed to put a few holes in his wings. Kaneshiro stumbles backwards, glaring at the Thieves as they level their guns at him. Even with his immunity to guns, he felt fear at seeing eleven different weapons pointed at him.

"That's it! I'll just deal with you busters myself! Through the power of cash!" No sooner does he say that two giant golden doors come crashing down from above, startling the team. They soon slide away, revealing two fly bodyguards protecting Kaneshiro. A small one flew in the air with a baton, and another giant bruiser holding two blood-stained riot shields in both arms.

"What the—?" Mona gasps as he and the other future Thieves, bar Noir and Oracle, stare in befuddlement. He never called on hired thugs before! But then again, it made no sense that he didn't last time either.

"Ha, wassup! I paid these guys off, and now they're gonna clean you up! Ya like that!? They're super-duper-powerful! And super-duper fly! A totally invincible wall! Hehehe!"

"They might be, but not you!" Skull shouts, sending a bolt of Zionga towards Kaneshiro. Only for the Riot shield fly to block the strike with little to no effect. "Dude! What the heck!"

"C'mooon, I told ya they're an invincible wall, right? Welcome to the power of cash! Booyah!"

"Such shamefulness!" Noir cries sicked at the exorbitant use of cash. If Madarame's Palace was putting her off gold, then this place was putting her off being rich.

"This ain't good guys! Those flies resist everything! And the one with the baton drains bless while the shield drains curse!" Oracle warns in alarm as the two flies attack the Thieves. The baton fly zooming towards Fox, who deftly parries the blow with his katana, while the shield fly spins like a top into the team, forcing them to spread out.

"Time to sleep!" Kaneshiro suddenly shouts, sending a lullaby towards them. While most of them manage to dodge the attack, Queen, Outlaw and Mona are unfortunately struck and are sent on a one-way ticket to Dreamland. "Take this!" Kaneshiro quickly follows up, taking out his gun and firing at the sleeping Outlaw.

Unfortunately for him, the bullet does little damage to Outlaw, thanks to his resistance and instead wakes him up.

"You like sending us to sleep? Well, how about your guards! Dream Needle!" Summoning Drifter, he launches the attack at the baton-wielding fly, sending it into a stupor while Spring quickly starts using Patra on Queen and Mona.

"Hey! You can't do that!" Kaneshiro cries as the shield fly stands in front of him.

"Well, guess what, fly head! We can and we will! Dormina!" Panther shouts back, sending the shield fly off to dreamland and leaving Kaneshiro exposed to a dual Psio attack from Noir and Shadow. Reeling from the attack, he growls in anger while rubbing at his eyes.

"Why won't you just go down, yo!?" He ducks under a blast of light from Spring, his legs shaking before huffing in acceptance. "Fine. It's time for my last trump card! I'm gonna make it rain and party down! Ya dig!?" With a snap of his fingers, the heavens opened up as gold coins, notes, bars, and even giant piggy banks rained down from the sky, slamming into the Thieves who were left with nowhere to hide.

It was the first time in a while that they received such major damage from a Palace Ruler, with even the future Thieves finding themselves resting a hand on their knee or abdomen from the attack. While the team rushed to recover, the two bodyguards woke up, taking position next to Kaneshiro once more.

"How do you like that yo! Not so tough, are ya! How about we do it again!" He snaps his fingers as the team braces themselves for another golden storm. Only for a single golden coin to fall from the sky and roll harmlessly across the floor. While the team stared at the lone coin with relief, Kaneshiro was instead bug-eyed in shock. "NO! I ran outta cash!"

The moment those words left his mouth, the two bodyguards turned to look at him in silence before they both flew away in disappointment, with Kaneshiro holding a hand out in plea.

"Wait! Don't go yo! I'm just a little short on funds at the moment, that's all! C'mon, come back, yo!"

"The bonding power of money can only go so far, Kaneshiro. The second you have none, you are left alone." Shadow tells him simply, spinning her kunai around menacingly. Kaneshiro glances at her in fear before attempting to fly away. Only for Shadow's kunai and chain to wrap around his waist.

"GET OVER HERE!" Shadow yells, pulling hard on the chain and throwing Kaneshiro to the ground. Glance at the approaching Thieves in terror, he flees inside the downed Piggytron. Finding comfort in the money that was stored within. Before Piggytron itself began to malfunction, its thrusters fired and lifted it into the air before cutting out abruptly and sending it plummeting to the floor. Explosions racking its hull as golden bars and Kaneshiro and throw out all over the floor.

"It's over, Kaneshiro." Joker says coldly, the team surrounding the mob boss with icy glares. Kaneshiro ignores him, holding on to one of the golden bars as though he was a toddler.

"I'm not going to let anyone have it… This is my money…"

"No, it's not." Queen rebukes. "You stole it from innocent people. Forcing young girls into slavery while having boys run around with drugs in their hands. And where does all of that money go? Right into the hands of Shido!" Shadow calmly walks up to him, kunai in hand, before glaring at him in the eyes.

"The deal is off, Kaneshiro. No matter what my mother says, my future is my own."

"Fine. I'll call it off and retract my funding. I'll even call the men off who are watching both of you…" Kaneshiro replies, completely defeated. Even as he grasped one lone gold bar, the Thieves were already busy loading the rest onto the Mona-van, leaving him kneeling on the floor penniless after taking the bar from his hands. "You guys don't have any tact. Even with those powers you have… These Palaces could net you loads of cash! Give you positions you could only ever dream about!"

"If you are comparing us to Black Mask, you can forget it. We are nothing like him." Skull rebukes as the team gets on board Mona, earning a surprised look from Kaneshiro before he ruefully chuckles.

"I see… You really do know everything. But do you know this?" He leans forward, even as he starts fading away. "Black Mask has an apprentice." He takes pleasure in seeing the shock in the Thieves' eyes, earning him one more sinister smile. "Better be careful… A chance encounter with them could prove fatal…" And with that, he vanishes as his Palace begins to fall apart. With the team already on board Mona, with Shadow still wondering how it was possible, the team drove their way out of Kaneshiro's Palace.

Landing in Shibuya, the team head for the Untouchable alleyway before returning back to the real world.

Missing the orb of light flowing into Shadow's back.

The destination has been deleted. Thank you for your cooperation.

The Thieves silently sigh as they stand in the shade of the alleyway. Outside, they could hear people still talking about the broadcast they had done while the odd policeman rushed about like a headless chicken.

"We should head back to Leblanc before doing anything else…can't afford to draw attention to us." Ren tells the group before noticing Hifumi holding her head. "Are you okay, Hifumi?" His question draws stairs from the rest of the team as the Shogi player slowly drops her hand with a shake of her head.

"I am fine. I have a lot of questions, but they can wait until we are back in Leblanc."

"For real… I could do with some of Boss's curry right now…" Ryuji groans, stretching his back. It didn't take long for the team to make their way back to Leblanc in small groups. Aiming to minimise all suspicion of them.

It was a not-so-easy thing to do, considering they had a lateral golden briefcase with them. How they managed to avoid suspicion, they would never know, but they would not question it.

Soon, they were in the safety of Leblanc's attic as the team gathered round the table with the golden briefcase. The combination was the same, thanks to Makoto's memory, along with it still being fake money, much to Ryuji, Mishima and Shiho's great disappointment. But it wasn't long before all eyes turned to the silent person in the room.

"If everything okay, Hifumi-chan? You've been quiet ever since we left the Metaverse." Everyone looks back at her, concern written on their faces as Hifumi looks back with recognition in her eyes.

"I remember…" She says with a smile. It was all the team needed to hear before they delved into a cheer. "I wondered why I felt so at ease conversing with you, but now it has become clear. But still, I have questions that remain unanswered…"

"TLDR: We got sent back in time after Yalda-bitch killed us in an Andros move. So we're doing a second chance run to fix our mistakes." Futaba quickly summarizes for the Shogi player.

"But other than that, we have a different concern to be thinking about." Ren interjects, folding his hands on the table. "It's what Kaneshiro said before we left. Black Mask's 'apprentice'."

"What the hell was he talking about anyway? Akechi never had an apprentice in the last timeline." Ryuji asks, rubbing the back of his head. It was concerning, to say the least, that there were now possibly two Black Masks running around.

"All the more reason for us to remain cautious. Especially now that Kaneshiro is down and we're 'revealed' ourselves to the public." Makoto interjects, folding her hands on her knees. "For now, we lay low while my sister and the police deal with Kaneshiro. Shido will no doubt be hunting for us now that we've taken out two of his sources of money."

"So our next target is Haru's dad, right?" Mishima asks, turning to look at the heiress.

"Actually, after Kaneshiro, our next target would have been Futaba and the Medjed menace. However, since we have already dealt with her Palace, we now have an open gap between Kaneshiro and Okumura." Yusuke replies, hand on chin.

"And since I'm already taking steps to stop any and all hacking against us, we won't have to worry about any threats coming our way." Futaba adds with a wide smile.

"Meaning we now have a month of relaxing before the Hawaii trip." Ann cheerfully says. While the rest of the group were cheerfully discussing plans, Ren's brows were narrowed in thought. Brows that caught the eye of Makoto and Hifumi.

"Ren, what's wrong?" Makoto quietly asks, placing one of her hands on his own. Ren glances at her, snapping out of his thoughts before shaking his head.

"It's nothing. Just thinking about what Yaldabaoth is going to do… He is the one behind all of this, after all. There is no way he won't notice the large gap between Kaneshiro and Okumura."

"Meaning that he will force something to take Futaba's spot?" Hifumi asks, one of her fingers playing with her hair. Ren nods silently, eyes locked with the floor as he hums in contemplation.

"The only question is, 'who'?"

And thus, the banker returns to his fold. Four palaces were dealt with, and only four remain. Not an ideal situation… He should have had six palaces remaining for his pawn to dive through, and yet the pyramid had fallen with the girl becoming a persona user and the prosecutor is behaving the opposite of what she should be doing.

Why?

It was all he could do but think why that was, but his efforts to gleam answers had all been for nought. His pawn showed no signs of knowing. The politician only cared about himself, and his 'champion' could care even less.

It would appear that plans indeed had to be changed. As much as he would be fine with his death, the principal would now fill the hole left by the girl. He could worry about the company president later.

It was time to turn a school principal into a commander.

June 17th, 2016

The SIU director could not believe it. Just yesterday, Junya Kaneshiro had turned himself into the police. Crying with grief all over his face. And it had happened after that city wide broadcast of the Phantom Thieves.

And it greatly troubled him. To think that these Thieves could easily hack into the broadcasting channels and deliver a live performance did not even cross their minds. It completely throws off their viewpoint of them being high schoolers! And now that another source of revenue had been stolen from them, they had to start finding them again.

"Blasted Akechi…your theory was a complete waste of time…" The SIU director groans, leaning back in his chair. The phone on his desk rings, its caller unknown as he picks it up to answer. "Yes?" He asks, uncaring.

"…"

"So, our plans to use a false Medjed fell through, did they? They are craftier than we gave them credit…" The director sighs. "And what about that broadcast? Did you manage to find their identities?"

"…"

"Search them again. I don't care what coding is behind it. Find out who they are." And with an uncaring nature, he slams the phone back down. Before it started ringing again, with a very important number that made the director blanch. Swallowing, he quickly picks it up.

"Afternoon, sir. What can I do for you?"

"…"

"Yes. It concerns me, too. The mere fact that they found him at all is worrying."

"…"

"Unfortunately, we have not. For some reason, any attempts to brighten the video are met with failure. Their identities remain elusive."

"…"

"Yes, I agree. We may indeed have to frame them if it comes to it. With that in mind, who do you plan to send?"

"…"

"I see. Personally, I do not trust him. But if that is your will, then I will follow. As for our target…" He stares out the window, eyes flowing over the city. "Why don't we target the academy?"

Hifumi wasn't sure what she was doing when she got home, but packing up her belongings was not one of them. When she had gotten home yesterday, she found her mother distraught. But not over her. And it left her furious.

She was in shock over the arrest of Kaneshiro. And from the unintelligent rambling coming from her mouth, she could hear that she was more upset about losing the easy money coming from him than about her well-being.

When she compared it to her in the other timeline, she could not believe how far fallen her mother was. Even in that timeline, there was still some sense of, albeit distorted, love she had towards her. But this version of her mother was anything but. Even a change of heart would not be enough to repair the damage she had done.

And it was for this reason that she decided to leave. Ren and the others had arrived earlier to help take some of her things to Sojiro's house. The guardian welcomed her into the spare room in his house while other items were taken to her room at Kosei. She still wondered why Ren was living in the attic and not the spare room, but, in his own words, that attic was nostalgic.

It wouldn't surprise her or the others if it was properly renovated one day.

"Hifumi! What are you doing?" Her mother asks, walking into her now empty room as she zips up her bag. She turns to look at her, meeting her eyes.

"I am leaving, mother." She calmly replies, walking past her shocked mother, who quickly composes herself and chases after her.

"What do you mean you're leaving? Where are you even going? What about your future idol career?"

"MY idol career? Or yours?" Hifumi spits back, freezing her mother in place. "That's what you wanted from me. To live a life of luxury at the expense of my freedom." She turns back to look at her, a hidden flame in her eyes. "That's why you went to Kaneshiro. To feed off his dirty money and live the easy life. Without ever sparing a thought for me. It was all about you. Always about you!"

"And what about your Shogi carrier?! Without me, who will be there to sponsor you?!" her mother shouts back. "You call me selfish, but what is it that you are doing right now!?"

"Freeing myself." Hifumi calmly replies. "I know the truth behind those matches I won. You rigged them so that I could win!" Her mother blanches, taking a step back from her daughter. "I promised Dad that I would become a famous Shogi player. Even if he is no longer around to see it. And I will not let you trample all over them so that you can live out your own dreams and fantasies." She turns on her feet and walks out the door. "The mother I knew died the same day my father did. Goodbye."

She didn't look back as her mom cried out to her to stop. She continued walking, leaving the home she once thought of behind, aiming for Yongen-Jaya. When her head had cleared, she found herself in the back streets of Yongen, just outside Café Leblanc along with a heavy feeling in her chest threatening to spill out. She could see Sojiro was inside, busy tending to the shop with no one else.

He looks at her as she enters, a warm smile on his face. "Welcome, Hifumi. The others are currently out at the moment. How are you feeling?"

"I am well, Boss." She replies, but honestly, she was not. And Sojiro could see this as he walked around the counter to her with a heavy sigh.

"Sorry, but I can see that you're not." He places a gentle hand on her shoulder. "You had a final talk with your mother, didn't you?"

"She's not my mother. The mother I knew is long gone." Hifumi replies, but at that moment, she could feel herself begging to break, her voice quivering. It wasn't long before Sojiro had wrapped her up in a hug that the dams finally burst as she cried into Sojiro.

"Let it all out, Hifumi." Sojiro calmly tells her, rubbing her back. And so Hifumi did. Weeping for the parents that she had lost.