Persona 5: Daywatch
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
After School
Kosei, Painting Studio
Yusuke smeared his number two brush into the twin smears of blue and white on his battered wood palette, swirling them together into a lighter blue just off of Ann's eyes.
The west door slammed open and a junior classman shouted, "They're here! The Venus of Shogi's press conference is for real!"
Two of his fellow painters abandoned their works in progress without a second thought. "Think they'll talk about her photo shoots? I can't believe we have a babe like that at our school!"
Yusuke's eyebrow arched. He wiped his paintbrush and set it on the slot in front of a partial painting of Ann. "Perhaps she is right and I should check my phone more often." To his consternation, quite a conversation had sprung up and finished on the group chat while he was working on his painting, with Hifumi detailing her plans to hold a small press conference about her mother's machinations, change of heart, and intentions not to throw today's match. Akira seemed quite annoyed that Makoto and the team leader Morgana both wanted him to remain out so as to present fewer Phantom Thief connections, but ended up acquiescing to the team's request for discretion. Attending her tournament would be easier to explain, she had plenty of admirers.
The Shujin student who gave him shelter for weeks might not be able to be here, but Yusuke owed it to him to provide what support an additional friend's presence could. He made his way to the conference room in Academic Building Two, where a large crowd gathered and one of Kosei's security guards tried to halt him.
A woman with short, dark hair and aviator glasses advanced, a digital camera hanging from a strap on her neck with a guest pass from the front office. When the security guard attempted to stop her too, she reached to a hip pouch and flashed a journalist's badge. "Ohya of the Maiasa Newspaper." Another two journalists, one with a large camera and tripod, presented their own credentials.
The guard nodded, "A moment." He knocked once on the fogged-faux-glass door and opened it. Just inside, Hifumi stood talking to Kosei's vice principal and wringing her hands. "Last wave of reporters, sir."
He let Ohya through, but when the guard tried to stop Yusuke the commotion drew Hifumi's attention. "Kitagawa-san! Please, come in." She turned to the vice principal to explain, "He's one of my few friends here at Kosei."
The vice principal's crossed arms tightened. "He'll have to sit at the back and stay quiet."
Yusuke nodded. If Akira could go through so much effort for him, standing in for Hifumi-san's conference would be the least he could do. The guard closed the door and the last journalists filed in to their seats at folding tables or set up their cameras. The artist stepped closer to her and clasped his hands behind his back. "Are you sure about this?"
Hifumi held a firm, regal posture as she answered, "If the Phantom Thief can change my mother's heart, it would be as cowardly as duplicitous of me to try to hide behind her machinations. Or to blame her for everything when I don't know where her plans stopped and my own permissiveness began. I can't even be certain how many of my victories are mine. I want to earn my place, wherever it is, and I can not do so while hiding behind the specter of falsehoods. Rumors of cheating or fixing have been out there for months anyway, the least this can do is clear the air and give me a chance to get an honest start. I would never willingly be part of such unsporting deceit. At least this way, I can set the message straight."
Some of the nearby reporters whispered to each other about what was next up for the Venus of Shogi's future shoots. When they began speculating on her cup size, the artist looked to the vice principal, who acted as if he couldn't hear.
Ohya gave a smile which seemed just a bit too wide. "Talk about idealistic. Good luck, kid. You're gonna need all you can get."
From the whispers and glances between the journalists, Yusuke doubted Ohya was being generous, but he understood the idea of wanting to be recognized for one's own talents. He gave a nod and received a thankful one from Hifumi before she headed to the lecturn at the front of the room where one of the office's clerical staff double-checked her uniform for imperfection.
The next half hour stretched on as Hifumi explained her mother's plotting, the pain when she found out, the shame of being used and not knowing what she had earned and what she hadn't, her fierce fight with her mother when she found out, and a stupendous impression of surprise when her mother's heart 'suddenly changed'. No few of the journalists acted like sharks smelling blood in the water, but a couple seemed genuinely sympathetic to her plight of being trapped by her ambitious mother's plans.
A man from Tokyo Today raised a hand, "What about the plot to throw your next match?"
A fire kindled in Hifumi's green eyes and the artist wished he brought his sketch pad as she riposted, "There can be no sportsmanship without integrity. The best thing for truth is an open field. I know not precisely how many of my matches were fixed in my favor, but even if this is my first game without any outside interference, I shall not impugn the dignity of shogi by doing any less than my very best. And I hope my opponent will do the same."
Yusuke smiled at the simple integrity.
A journalist from the internet magazine Clear raised a hand. "Is it true that your own mother sold those tell-alls airing your family's dirty laundry?"
Closing her eyes for a slow breath in and out before opening them, Hifumi's facade remained as calm as before. "It is, but I would prefer to focus on shogi."
"But you didn't have any part of them?"
The vice principal stepped in to speak into the microphone, "Let us all remember that Togo-chan is a minor and victim of overly ambitious people, many of whom could and should have stopped things before they developed to the extent they did. Police investigations have already cleared her of participation in the alleged match fixing. None of what happened would have been possible without exploitation by adults who should know better." He stepped back.
A man with a clip for 'Tokyo Weekender' in his hat took the next question. "Is it true that your mother was involved in the financial crimes of the Kaneshiro Group?"
Hifumi's delivered a cool, "I can not tell you about a part of Mother's life which may or may not have existed and was never shared."
"Kosei wishes it to be clear it does not condone any such unethical behaviour and would not associate with anyone who would." The vice principal stepped in, but the conference spiraled out again and again. One of the less disciplined journalists even called her 'Phony Princess' and Yusuke sensed he would be hearing a lot of that over the coming weeks.
The allotted time passed and Kosei's vice principal took Hifumi's place behind the lectern to thank the press and shoo them away.
Yusuke, recognizing a person maintaining a dignified front through willpower alone, stayed as security showed the press away. The artist stepped forward, feeling compelled to speak when Akira couldn't be here to do so. "Whatever the others say, I think that your choice here was an act of utmost bravery. I am certain Akira would be proud."
She folded her hands together and he could tell she wanted to fidget. "I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. With these past few weeks it feels like my castle has turned out to be a house of cards. But I promise I will put up a good fight so I don't embarrass myself. While we share other things in common, I feel like shogi brought Akira and I together." She shifted her weight from foot to foot. "You don't think Akira…?"
Yusuke scanned her noble attempt to mask her apprehension. "He has spoken nothing but praise of your intelligence and virtue. As long as you give your best, I cannot imagine he would do any less than respect your dignity."
Hifumi shifted her weight to her right foot. "Even with as many of those hyenas want me to lose?"
Yusuke let out a huff of a laugh. "You wouldn't give them the satisfaction. It is one of the things which draws Akira-san to you." He drew his phone. "Shall I message the group and tell them you are on the way to the venue? I am certain Akira can be there to see you before it begins."
She shifted her weight away. "The Association tournament hall does not permit school uniforms by players, it might be seen as unfair promotion. I need to stop home to change, and as much as I might like to be with him, I'm so nervous I'm afraid I'd throw up on my dress. But… the match will be streamed online, if you and the others would like to follow."
He nodded and she departed, adding a link to the Pro Shogi Players' Association site to the group chat.
Yusuke rushed back to the painting studio. His latest failure to capture Ann would have to wait, he had sketches to put to paper while the details were still fresh!
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Evening
Pro Shogi Players' Association Tournament Hall
Akira paced in the guest lobby of the tournament hall, his heart hammering from more than the perpetual crowd that made up pedestrian traffic. He still felt hot, not just due to the summer heat beating down. He reviewed the group chat, feeling a small smile from the number of other Phantom Thieves voicing their support but a nervousness that she didn't give him a time or place to meet before the match started.
After giving a link to the Association stream, she texted, [I'm going in. I'll win with these very hands.]
[Give it all you've got, Queen Togo,] he'd replied. She hadn't responded, but he didn't know if that was due to time or if he said something wrong. When he noticed the other guests put on headphones, he plugged in a wired earbud Yuuki gave him and sat down to watch the stream.
Hifumi and her opponent bowed to each other and sat down on opposite sides of a tall, wood board. The commentators gave introductions and yammered about her opponent, but Akira's heart hammered in his throat as he looked over the flattering purple dress draping down from her shoulders. The match began with even more noisy commentary than he expected despite reading up on historical shogi matches to help her. Both players advanced on all fronts, setting up move and counter-move without actually committing to a strike.
Then her opponent seized her lancer with a knight, adding three threatened pieces to half a dozen already contested across the rest of the board. The next few turns consisted of feints and retreats as she tried to regain the middle.
"Is this the end for the Phony Princess?" a magazine journalist commentator blabbed.
Akira made a promise to look up his address so he could burn down the front yard topiary.
Bishops and silver generals advanced, pawns decimated as the sides jockeyed for position. When the stream showed her face, he could see her biting her lip in that way when he made a random move that threw off one of her twelve-step-in-advance plans and she was trying to plan back out to a dozen moves. Her formation's center crumbled and a former shogi master commentator kept calling the end.
Then her silver general seized her opponent's last knight and her opponent sat back to wipe sweat from his brow.
He heard a suited man at another table talk to the man next to him, "Now that was a master stroke. She just cut off three avenues of approach and she's threatening four pieces he can't defend."
A long minute stretched before her opponent responded, capturing a silver general to try to head off a promotion. She slid her other lancer all the way up to capture the bishop guarding his king. She'd just opened up another four pieces to capture without reprisal.
The annoying journalist commentator admitted, "Maybe she is the real deal?"
Her opponent set down a captured rook, re-opening the center of the board. The next long minutes stretched as her captures were responded with capture and he kept blocking her attempts to close in on his king. Even Akira could see the point of no return when her opponent got a pawn into the promotion zone and Hifumi had to defend both from behind and in front.
"There's been a lot of back and forth, but I see at least three routes to checkmate in less than four moves," the journalist commentator said.
Long seconds stretched on and she didn't even reach for the board.
"I concede," Hifumi spoke at last.
The announcers went on about board analysis and passive-aggressive sniping at Hifumi, but she rose with the grace of a royal, bowed to her opponent, and headed to the edge of the tournament square where more reporters waited to hound her about the game.
Akira turned off the stream and took out his earbud. He didn't care what those idiots had to say. She was up against a better opponent and went down fighting, with a great deal more grace than he would have. Even so, being a master of shogi was more than a point of pride. It was her. He had practice in humility in their private games, but this very public loss had to sting for her.
Hence his surprise when she strode out of the hall to the tournament room with her back straight, looking every bit as regal as the first day he saw her at Mass. It wasn't until Hifumi met his eyes that her dignified bearing took a faint hunch and she averted her gaze.
Last time they had problems and walked away without talking, he spent days agonizing over thinking he'd screwed over the relationship forever. Chanting the mantra 'Akira does not run' in his mind, he stood up and paced to her while they were still in the relative privacy of the association hall.
She clasped her left arm with her right. As pretty as those green eyes were, they still wouldn't meet his. "I'm ashamed. An ant would have served as more of a challenge against an elephant. I was a disgrace in front of yo—"
He reached out a hand to clasp her arm. "You were up against a mightier army than ever before. And you were as dignified as a queen, even at the end." A bitter smile broke through her lips, and he drew her in to a hug.
She tensed for a moment, either in surprise or to push him away, but after a moment slipped an arm around him and relaxed. "You just won't let me mope, will you?"
Akira relaxed just enough to let them look each other in the eye. "Your smile is too beautiful for me to give up seeing it one more time."
A giggle slipped out and she leaned her head against his shoulder. "It's strange. I lost and I'm not happy about that, but… I feel like I've been exorcised of a demon. The moment I realized victory was impossible, I felt at peace." She squeezed against him and he wondered if she knew what her breasts pressing against him did to him. "I hope you can look at today as an example of what not to do."
He wanted to give her a chaste kiss, or massage her shoulders, but he already spotted a couple eyes flick their way despite her challenger coming out and dominating the journalists' attention. "You've been trying to teach me from the beginning that one must win the same as one loses: with valor and grace." He opened his arms to step back. "Do you want to sit down somewhere quiet? I can buy you a cup of coffee."
She drew her arms back and turned up her nose. "You're far too kind. Haven't you heard them? I'm the Phony Princess now."
He took her chin with two fingers and gazed into those eyes he could drown in. "You'll always be Queen Togo to me."
She gave a hesitant smile that, combined with the purple dress cascading down her shoulders, made her look like a queen in court. "Don't put me on too high a pedestal, Aki. A queen wouldn't want to be out of reach of her general."
"Then I'll learn to fly," he said, feeling her small smile kindle his.
A flash threw their silhouettes on the wall and both knew there'd be no peace as long as they stayed there. "Leblanc?" she whispered for final confirmation. After his nod, she separated to face the last wave of reporters who hadn't been allowed into the venue.
Late Evening
Yongen-Jaya Station
Akira paced back and forth on the train station, the cram of people replaced by the heat of the fading summer day. Another train pulled in and the doors opened, a handful of people pushing their way out.
At long last, Hifumi was one of those disembarking, looking side to side before spotting him. She stepped around a woman walking her bicycle out of the alley, then walked side-by-side into the narrow alleys, enjoying as relative a silence as Tokyo would ever allow. Hifumi flashed him a small smile and his stomach flipped. She and wrapped an arm around his to hold him close. "So, what shall we do for today's date?"
Akira's face blazed. "Today's?"
She turned to him, that smile of hers driving the butterflies in his stomach. "Aki, what do you think we've been doing since May?"
The books and videos on dating poured through his mind and all he could think of was the number of things he hadn't done. "B-but your mother's rule…"
She tugged him tighter, her smile growing wider. "Aki, she made a rule. I do want to honor my father and mother, but that doesn't mean I'm bound to do everything she says." Her thumb traced up and down his arm. "When the right man came along, I wanted to date again." Something about her smile sharpened, a hungry spark glinted in her eyes and stirred desire in him. Her face tilted up a bit, her lips puckering together.
His eyes drifted from hers to her lips and he couldn't help but be aware of her body heat against his. Her purple dress somehow made it worse. His footing faltered.
"I'm sorry." Hifumi caught him, but there was a distance between them now. "I almost made the same mistake as last time, didn't I? I'm so… eager to get to the stage some of my last relationship, I realized I never asked where you wanted to be." A cringe crept across her face. "You don't think I'm being… inappropriate?"
He straightened his long-sleeved shirt. "I don't understand."
She let go of his arm and stepped further away. "By… being so forward? I know some people say it's wrong for the girl to make the first move or—"
"No," he said taking her hands and wishing he wasn't wearing his gloves so he could feel her skin against his. "Hifumi, I'm not even sure where I am, much less where I want to be." He squeezed just a little and he thought through his fellow Thieves for what advice they might give. Ryuji might have been indelicate sometimes, but he always knew what he was going for and that meant he was always ready to go. "I never thought about it before, but I… like a girl who knows what she wants."
She sidled closer to him, a warm smile blooming on her face and that smoldering look in her eyes again. She slipped a hand up his chest to his neck to tilt his face down towards hers.
"Hello!" Makoto called out from the alley behind, causing the pair to bolt apart. She looked over them in the alley again. "I just interrupted something, didn't I?"
"No!" Akira blurted, then mentally kicked himself when he noticed Hifumi take a subtle step away from him. "What are you doing here?"
Makoto held up a cloth shopping bag. "The party. Futaba invited us all to celebrate Hifumi's first game."
"But she lost," Akira said before seeing Hifumi flinch, and again wishing he could bash his head against the wall.
Makoto lowered the cloth bag. "I don't pretend to be a master of shogi, but she gave a good show. I had trouble following along as the game progressed." She held a knuckle to her lips for a beat. "I wonder if that's the strategic equivalent an anime ninja fight where bystanders can't see anything but a blur."
Standing straight and proud, Hifumi gave a nod and polite smile. "That's an interesting way to think of it. Well, if Futaba wants to host a party, let's not keep her waiting."
Akira nodded, waiting until the girls walked past to pull out his phone and confirm that Futaba did indeed invite the group to a party over group chat while he was crushed in the train car. Hifumi must have been busy talking her way out of the gaggle of reporters. He opened the door for them, letting the two girls step into the cafe.
Sojiro busied himself at the kitchenette while Ann and Yusuke chatted at the first booth. An empty booth sat between them and Futaba, who had a cup of coffee on the table in front of her but perched on the seat. She slipped out of the booth and gave a shy wave.
Ann glanced up at the door's bell, and when nobody else spoke up she jumped to her feet to fill in the void, a glass of soda held high. "To first steps forward!"
Hifumi looked around at all of them with wide eyes for a beat. Then she sniffed. Then sniffled again. Then her eyes shone with unshed tears and her shoulders trembled.
Futaba ran over to jab a finger in the transfer student's face. "What did you do?"
Tremulous laughter rolled out of Hifumi and her eyes welled over. She latched onto Akira's arm. Through the laughter, she pushed out, "He… brought me in… to such wonderful people."
Her undulant laughter transformed into hiccups, but after a minute between Hifumi's grip on the transfer student's arm and Makoto's hand on her shoulder, she calmed down and took an offered tissue from Ann.
The bell jingled as the door swung open and Ryuji paced in. "Yo!"
Yusuke gave her a nod, contemplation in his eyes. "When Sensei changed, I felt the proverbial rug yanked out from under my feet. You have family to take care of, are you sure you are all right?"
Hifumi dabbed at her eyes with the tissue. "I'm still feeling… so many things. These past two weeks have been such a tumble, and I can't even quiet my mind." She slid her other hand down to interlace her fingers with Akira's, drawing a full blush out of him. "I felt like I was in purgatory, where even my victories came with Pyrrhic loss." Her beautiful green gaze dropped. "I have enough distance now to admit, I think part of me knew of my mother's strategy. That my opponents weren't always playing their best. I would have hated my life, even shogi." She wiped at her face again. "But thanks to all of you, I'm free to go out into the world. To show the world the real Togo Hifumi, and play against the real people out there and not the fragments Mother screened."
Yusuke lifted his coffee cup. "Then to the truth and new beginnings."
Ryuji lifted a fist in the air and gave a whoop.
Sojiro came to a stop behind the counter next to the register. "Well, it's late but I suppose I can whip up one last thing. What'll it be?"
Wednesday, 31 August 2016
Late Evening
Yongen, Leblanc
Morgana licked at the oil on the plate, nothing left of the sardines but the spine. The rest of the Phantom Thieves chatted with a joviality as if they'd conquered a palace, and the leader couldn't think of a time his heart had been so full. And he was sure it had nothing to do with his stomach.
The restroom door burst open and Futaba tromped out. "Sorry for dropping toxic waste in your bathroom, Akira." She wouldn't have said anything, but he kept the bathroom cleaner than the one at home. She came to a stop next to the middle booth where the Phantom Thieves had all gathered – Akira and Hifumi sharing a small wedge of the seat next to him, Ann and Yusuke across the table chatting over one of his sketches, and Makoto quizzing Ryuji with kanji flashcards she just happened to have in her purse. Futaba prided herself on having a mind like a steel trap, but the president was an academic machine.
Ryuji took the excuse to pause from the pressured study session to flash a smirk. "Hey, s'long as you weren't thowin' shit around."
A scoff floated out from Makoto and she waggled the last notecard enough to sound above the easy banter. "There's plenty of throwing with the eggs and stones at Toranosuke-san."
Ann looked up from the soft penciled sketches. "Toranosuke-san?"
Akira perked, not often being able to explain a piece of Tokyo when everybody else had been there longer. "He's the politician who's making speeches at Station Square every couple nights. He's always there on Sunday nights." His gaze slid to the student president as his arm around Hifumi tightened. "What do you mean throwing eggs and stones? He's usually pretty deft at talking hecklers around."
Realizing she'd lost momentum with the runner, Makoto put her flashcards together and tapped them straight on the counter before working a rubber band around them. "He's had recurring problems with a couple people in particular who used to come and throw eggs while he was setting up, but as I was passing him Thursday – two weeks back – I saw someone hit him in the face with a rock. I can't be sure if it's the same people escalating or new additions to the group, but the dark ties and striped button-down shirts were the same as his description of problem interns from before."
Hifumi straightened against the transfer student. "Oh, my. Is there anything we can do to help?"
Futaba hopped onto the seat of the next booth and leaned over the seat back. "How does he know they're interns?"
Straightening, Akira took a beat to sip his tea. "He's a consultant for a couple political parties. Just because he hasn't won an election in a while doesn't mean he isn't connected. That might be why representatives without a firm hold on their seats might be concerned about competition. Matsushita wouldn't be above it, he's got a Shadow but Mementos isn't locking in as his keyword so I sent his information to Yuuki-san. See if he could figure out the location or keyword for us."
Swallowing a gulp of iced coffee, Ann pondered for a beat. "I wonder if that's why Yuu-kun asked me to help him look up some of the people in the LDP's staffing office. He works there."
"Is that important?" Yusuke said, his gaze at last leaving his sketches.
Ryuji leaned in, bracing a hand on one knee. "This Matsushita guy a real big shot?"
Ann set her glass down. "He seemed to think so. Matsushita's not a cabinet appointee yet, but he's been a liason to external affairs and blocked a couple investigations into party finances."
Akira's eyes narrowed in thought. "That's pretty suspicious. Toranosuke-san was in the same caucus with Matsushita when their political careers started, and he was accused of embezzling a hefty sum of money from campaign funds. In the hundreds of millions."
Ann shook her head. "I doubt it. Between Yuu-kun's newspaper club buddies and Ohya-san, he's getting pretty good at spotting people who are big spenders. But Matsushita's been pretty thrifty for over fifteen years. If he had pocketed that much, I doubt he'd still be near the bottom of net worth representatives for as long as he's been in the LDP. One of his talking points has even been spending within one's means, if a journalist found him throwing money around they definitely would have busted him years ago. People who would embezzle millions of yen tend to have recurring issues with spending."
Ryuji shrugged. "Could be coverin' for someone else. Corporate boardrooms and political parties both have peeps who stick together when cops come knockin'."
Futaba reached for the artist's sketchbook, only for him to tug the book out of her reach, even adjusting his seat to keep it away from her. "So what's the connection to interns?"
Makoto squinted in thought for a few moments. "Mishima-kun did say over the group chat that Matsushita-san worked as a secretary of some power in the LDP's staffing office. If he's correct, he'd have the power to direct fresh personnel on harassment missions as a test of loyalty. Apparently he's kept out other young people from inner party positions. He might not have the power to appoint a cabinet, but having the ear of the ones who do can be powerful in its own right."
Morgana popped up, paws on the table to give himself a better vantage point. "Obstructing police and toying with young people desperate to prove themselves in politics could be signs of a troubled heart as well as somebody dangerous but passed over by society."
Ryuji pulled out his phone and typed into the Nav. "Well, if he's got a Shadow but ain't in Mementos, that means it's gonna be way harder to get in. You guys sure it's worth it?"
"I think it is," Akira offered.
Makoto snapped a rubber band around her flashcards. "The Liberal Democratic Party has been the majority since we rewrote the constitution, and represents politicians all over the political spectrum."
"Except the United Future Party," Futaba said. "Assuming those guys don't take over completely after the next election. Every time they're on TV, the talking heads keep saying they're gonna sweep both houses of the Diet. Some jerk screwing around with the biggest political coalition against them would definitely be good news for them."
"Whoa," Ryuji said, giving little clue as to how closely he paid attention in civics class. "So… this Matsushita could be a big deal."
"Then shall we infiltrate his heart?" Hifumi offered. "I see many ways he could be dangerous and keeping things low-key.
Yusuke switched his sketchbook to his right hand to keep it from Futaba's grasping hands. "I second the motion. Sensei kept a public veneer of respectability. Matsushita has the opportunity to cause widespread harm to society, or protect those who are."
"All for?" Morgana called, receiving a chorus of 'ayes' but the artist who just gave a nod and switched his sketchbook to his other hand to keep it away from the hacker. "All against?" After a few beats of silence, the team leader cleared his throat. "Then unless an emergency comes up in the mean time, we'll make Matsushita Hiroyuki our priority for a possible change of heart."
Ryuji slipped off his stool and yawned without so much as an effort to cover his mouth. "Well, it's gettin' late. I told Ma I'd have dinner away, but she's gonna be expectin' me soon."
Proving that yawns were infectious, one crawled out of Futaba's mouth even as she tried to grab for the artist's sketchbook. She sat back. "I better get to bed, too, if I'm gonna keep on day shift with you guys." She flopped onto the back of the booth seat and almost onto Ann. "Carry me home!"