9/14 Tuesday
After school had gotten out for the day, she checked her phone, seeing that she had revived a text message.
Hifumi: Excuse me, would you be able to meet me at the Skytree in Asakusa? If it's not too much trouble, that is.
Makoto: Of course. I'll be there as soon as I can.
Seeing as she had some free time in her schedule, she decided to go to the Skytree to see how Hifumi was doing.
As she arrived at the Skytree, she immediately noticed Hifumi waiting around for her.
"Oh, Niijima-san, hello." Hifumi greeted.
"Hello, Togo-san." Makoto replied. "Is there a reason we're meeting here and not back in the church?"
"Some of my fans have been getting a little… overwhelming at times." Hifumi sighed. "They know I spend a lot of time in the church, so I've been trying to keep away a bit."
"Oh, I see." Makoto nodded.
Hifumi pulled out a magazine, frowning as she showed its contents.
"This is a weekly magazine featuring me." Hifumi explained. "But, it's not just about me…"
Makoto read over the magazine, seeing how the magazine went over personal information about Hifumi's family.
"This is…" Makoto trailed off. "Is all of this true?"
Hifumi nodded. "My father's deteriorating health, the fact that he's bedridden, my mother being the one who mostly supports us… and the fact that she works at a nightclub."
"Why would they report on all of that?!" Makoto exclaimed. "Digging into other people's personal affairs just seems mean-spirited."
"It has nothing to do with my skills as a shogi player, but it feels like people will begin judging me for it anyway."
"That… shouldn't be the case." Makoto muttered. "I'm sorry that you have to deal with that."
"It's been hard. My mother was furious when she saw the article." Hifumi said. "She thought that it might end up hurting her career, and that she'd never forgive the person who wrote it."
"What about your father?" Makoto asked.
"He didn't say anything, just listening to mother." Hifumi explained. "He did seem pretty troubled, though…"
"And what about you?" Makoto asked. "Are you doing alright?"
"I'm feeling… conflicted." Hifumi admitted. "My mother told me that we might be able to help suppress the rumors… by becoming more famous. She's started being even more insistent that I appear in more TV and magazine interviews."
"It must be frustrating for you." Makoto sympathized.
"It really is." Hifumi sighed. "But I can't really express that to my mother… She's been so happy for me since I started doing them."
"You'd rather just focus on Shogi, right?" Makoto asked.
"I was hoping that I'd be able to support my family by playing Shogi." Hifumi sighed. "I never thought that anyone would write an article like this."
"Do you think it might be because of your status as the 'Venus of Shogi'?" Makoto asked.
Hifumi nodded. "There's nothing good that can come from me being treated like an idol. My mother keeps making more and more rules and obligations for me as well…"
"Like what?" Makoto asked.
"She keeps demanding more and more interviews and photoshoots. She even started to push me towards… gravure modeling." Hifumi sighed.
"O-Oh…" Makoto trailed off. "That's…"
"And her other rules have only gotten stricter." Hifumi sighed. "It's not enough that I can't date… she doesn't want me to spend any time alone with boys."
"That is very extreme." Makoto muttered.
"It's hard to see how it helps. Most of my competitors are annoyed by my press time. They think I'm all looks and no skill. I heard all sorts of rumors about how I'd do anything to become popular."
As Makoto thought about it more, she felt that idols basically being contractually obligated to 'remain pure' and scandal free forever for the sake of their fans seemed… very unhealthy, to say the least.
"I don't mean to offend, but doesn't that seem a little… exploitative?" Makoto asked.
Hifumi bit her lip, looking away.
"Hifumi-san?" Makoto asked.
"I… I want to help my family." Hifumi finally said. "And I don't want to upset my mother. Maybe it would be better if I just quit Shogi and got a job instead…"
"Is that really what you want?" Makoto asked.
"Well, no, but-"
"I think that you should keep doing what you love." Makoto encouraged.
Hifumi thought for a moment before smiling.
"Yes, you're right. I still love shogi, despite everything." Hifumi smiled. "You really understand how I feel. Thank you, Makoto-san."
"Anytime." Makoto smiled.
She felt a little closer to Hifumi.
STAR CONFIDANT: RANK 6
After speaking with Hifumi for a little longer, she met with the others to discuss what they would do about Ryuji and Haru.
They had gathered in Leblanc to discuss their plans.
"It'll be dangerous for just the two of them to try and take out the entire palace by themselves." Makoto stated. "We need to stop them before something terrible happens."
"But how are we even going to find them?" Ann asked.
"Well, they're going to Okumura's Palace, so it's either their home or Okumura Food's main building." Ren reasoned.
"I would wager it being the Main Building." Makoto said. "The previous palaces were all somewhere important to the target."
"But what about the other code word?" Yusuke asked. "What form would his distortion take?"
"We don't exactly know much about the guy." Ann pointed out. "Anyone have any ideas?"
"Well…" Ren muttered. "Okumura Food's most successful restaurant is Big Bang Burger. So… maybe it has something to do with outer space?"
Keywords acknowledged.
"For real?!" Ann gasped, glancing at the Metaverse app. "The palace is really in outer space?!"
"Strange… why would it be based on outer space?" Makoto wondered. "I know one of his restaurants is named after the Big Bang, but that just makes me wonder more…"
"I suppose we'll figure it out once we enter the palace." Yusuke stated.
"Yes, that's right." Makoto nodded. "Is everyone ready?"
Seeing their nods, she led the group to Okumura Food's main building, where they proceeded to enter the palace.
The moment they stepped inside of the palace, they immediately noticed that the shadows in Okumura's palace took the form of robots.
"Joker…" Makoto muttered.
"Yeeeeessss?" Ren grinned, looking infuriatingly pleased.
"Not. A. Word." Makoto commanded. "Understand?"
"Whatever do you mean, Queen?" Ren smirked.
She rolled her eyes, signaling for everyone to continue forward.
It didn't take long for them to get stuck, however.
As they entered the large room, they found a door blocking their path forwards.
They tried to bust the door down, but found that their attacks had little effect.
"Ugh, what's with this door?" Ann groaned. "How are we supposed to get by?"
"Maybe it's like the door back in Madarame's Palace." Morgana theorized. "Although, if that is the case, I'm not sure how we'll manage to get it opened.
"Well, for right now, all we have to do is find Skull." Makoto mentioned. "And if couldn't get through this door, he probably couldn't either. If he's here, he should be near-"
"Hold it right there, you vigilantes!"
They heard a girl's voice above them.
The girl looked down at them, partially obscured by the shadows, only part of her face visible.
"That mask… is she the one who…" Ren trailed off.
The woman wore a black mask, immediately raising alarm bells in their heads.
"No way… could she really be the one Kaneshiro and Madarame were talking about?!" Ann gasped.
"Makoto, what do we do?" Futaba asked, her expression serious.
Makoto wasted no time, clenching her fists before summoning Anat!
"Freila!" Makoto shouted, a large nuclear blast hitting to the left of the girl.
"Ah!" the girl screamed.
"Makoto?" Yusuke questioned.
"The next one won't miss." Makoto warned, ignoring him. "Talk. Now!"
"I-I, um…"
Makoto started preparing another one, only for someone to grab her arm.
"Wha-!"
"Makoto! Calm down!"
Before she could retaliate, she heard Ren's voice.
"Ren, she could be-"
"Calm. Down." Ren repeated, a stern expression on his face.
"Woah, woah, woah, what's going on over here?!"
Much to their surprise, Skull immediately ran up to the girl.
"Skull?!" Ann gasped.
"Panther?! You guys?! What are you doin' here?!" Ryuji asked. "Don't tell me you're tryin' to find the treasure?! Cause we're going to be the ones to steal it!"
"We actually came here to find you." Yusuke explained.
The two of them jumped down, the girl striking a pose in front of them.
"We will take the treasure!" the girl declared.
Taking a closer look at her, they noticed that she looked a little familiar.
"Hey, wait a minute…" Ren trailed off. "Aren't you…?"
"My name… is Beauty Thief!" the girl shouted.
"Beauty Thief?" Makoto repeated, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Haru, what are you talking about?"
"H-H-Haru?!" the girl, who was most definitely not Haru, gasped. "I-I do not know any H-Haru's! You must have mistaken me for someone else!"
"It's… not exactly hard to recognize you." Ren said. "I don't know anyone else with hair that poofy."
"Darn…" the girl, who was probably Haru, muttered. "I knew that I should have used the manga hiding technique."
"The what technique?!" Makoto glared. "Where did you learn about this?"
"N-Now hold on, guys, let's talk this out!" Ryuji stammered. "What are you guys doin' here in the first place?!"
"We're here to stop you from getting yourself killed!" Ann yelled. "What were you thinking, taking on an entire palace with just the two of you?!"
"The two of you won't be able to handle the entire palace by yourselves." Yusuke pointed out.
"What, you don't think I can handle it?!" Ryuji snapped.
"Skull, none of us would be able to handle this on our own." Makoto stated. "Listen, we're all really sorry if we made you feel stupid or inadequate in some way."
She glanced over at Morgana.
"Huh? Oh! Um… I'm… sorry, Skull." Morgana muttered. "Why don't we just… compare
"Sorry, huh…" Skull trailed off. "Yeah, well, sorry ain't gunna cut it. I have to do this. I gotta prove myself!"
"Skull, I know that this is important to you, but that isn't the only thing at stake here." Ren reasoned.
"What are you talkin' about?!" Ryuji exclaimed.
"What about Haru-" Makoto began.
"Beauty Thief!" Haru shouted.
"… Beauty Thief." Makoto sighed. "What about Beauty Thief? Why exactly is she targeting Okumura? Could you tell us? We might be able to help you."
"And what would you know about being a Phantom Thief?!" Haru declared. "Why would you do this? What do you think it's about?!"
"Being a Phantom Thief is about helping people in need." Makoto answered.
"Ha! That's…. Um… completely right?" Haru replied, surprised.
She turned to Ryuji.
"What do I say now?" Haru whispered.
Ryuji thought for a moment before whispering to her, Haru nodding along.
"W-We don't need your help!" Haru declared. "We're effin' unbeatable!"
"… Seriously, Skull?" Ann deadpanned.
"What?!" Ryuji exclaimed. "What makes you think I told her to say that?! That's her own words, right Haru?"
"Y-Yes!" Haru stammered, before striking another pose and speaking at the top of her lungs. "WE ARE THE PHANTOM THIEVES!"
"… Yup. Definitely Ryuji's influence." Futaba muttered.
"In any case, no one is getting the treasure unless we can get through that door." Yusuke noted. "Haru, was it? Do you have any idea how it opens?"
"I'm not…" Haru began, before sighing. "I might have an idea."
"Well then, we'll just open it up and take the treasure ourselves!" Ryuji grinned.
"Enough about the treasure!" Ann snapped. "There has to be a reason why you're going after Okumura, right?"
"Umm…" Haru stammered.
"Is this about Sugimura?" Makoto asked.
"... Partially." Haru admitted. "But there's more to it than that. Father's treatment of his employees keeps getting worse. You see-"
"Forget it, we don't have time for chitchat!" Ryuji shouted. "Let's go!"
"R-Right!" Haru stammered.
Haru ran up to the door, easily managing to open it.
"Wait, how can she open it?" Ann asked.
"Maybe it's some sort of biometric lock." Makoto theorized. "She might be able to pass through it since she's Okumura's daughter."
As soon as Haru opened the door, however, Ryuji and her immediately jumped back as several enemies poured out of the room.
"Everyone! Run!" Makoto shouted. "There's too many of them!"
Everyone followed her as she ran out of the room, getting to a safe room as soon as they could.
All of them appeared near Okumura Foods main building, struggling to catch their breath.
"Looks like Okumura was pretty alert." Morgana frowned. "He must have known that we were coming."
"Sorry about that." Haru whispered. "We were here before, so that must be why."
"Hmm… maybe we should take a break from going to the palace." Ren suggested. "At least for a day or two"
"Hopefully things will cool down by then." Yusuke added.
"Hold on, what's all this we stuff?" Ryuji grumbled. "Who said that we're goin' along with this?!"
"Um… Ryuji-kun?" Haru muttered. "I know I'm the only one who can open those doors, but… I'm not sure how confident I am going back in there."
"Huh? Really?" Ryuji asked.
"Okumura-san… what about your powers?" Makoto asked. "Are they not strong enough?"
"They're plenty strong, but… I get so exhausted after using them only a few times."
"And you still came in here?!" Makoto snapped.
Haru looked away guiltily, while Ryuji sank under her gaze.
"L-Look, I thought it'd be like every other time, you know?" Ryuji defended. "She'd get exhausted the first time she used her power, but she'd be fine after that."
"Isn't that how it usually works?" Futaba questioned. "She should be fine if she already awakened to her powers before."
"Strange… Do you know what this means, Mona?" Makoto asked.
"Hmm… it's only a theory, but it's possible that she hasn't fully awakened to her Persona yet." Morgana replied.
"Come to think of it, her awakening did look a little different…" Ryuji trailed off.
"Well, we can worry about that later." Ren said. "For now, we need to focus on getting out of here.
"Before that… Okumura-san, can you at least explain why you're going after your father in the first place?" Ann asked. "We're not anywhere dangerous anymore, so it's fine to talk about, right?"
Haru nodded, explaining to them everything that was going with both her father and her fiancé.
"Woah… that's a lot to take in." Ann said.
"Say… that Sugimura guy probably has a palace or is somewhere in Mementos, right?" Futaba brought up. "Why can't we just steal his heart too? From how you described him, he sounded like a total creep."
"W-Would that be possible?" Haru asked.
"It's very possible that he has some distorted desires." Makoto nodded.
"Would all of you really go out of your way to help me?" Haru asked.
"Of course we would." Makoto smiled. "It's what we do, after all."
"Thank you so much." Haru smiled, before turning to Ryuji. "What about you, Ryuji-kun?"
"... I don't know about working with those guys again, but… this Sugimura guy… the way you described him really rubs me the wrong way." Ryuji admitted. "Yeah, I'll come."
"Thank you so much!" Haru beamed.
After they worked out the plan for tomorrow, they continued to rest in the safe room.
The atmosphere was still somewhat odd, with Ryuji having recently left the group.
Most of them didn't seem to know how to approach the issue.
"Ugh… I can't stand this anymore." Ann groaned.
Ann got up and sat down next to Ryuji, much to his surprise.
"… So. Beauty Thief, huh?" Ann muttered, glaring.
"H-Hey, it's not what it sounds like!" Ryuji insisted. "I was going to go with Ripper, cause she rips shadows apart with her axe, yeah?"
"Geez, you're making her sound like a sadist or something." Ann frowned.
"... Well."
"Well what?" Ann asked, confused.
"Nevermind." Ryuji shuddered. Yeah, she didn't like it either. Wanted something more elegant. But I'm not really good with elegant things…"
"Pfft… so you came up with Beauty Thief?" Ann said, rolling her eyes.
"I just said I'm not good with elegant stuff, ok?!" Ryuji grumbled.
Ann continued to frown.
"Listen… I'll take you to a crepe shop or somethin', ok?" Ryuji offered. "I didn't mean anything by it."
"Ugh, that's not what this is about!" Ann snapped. "I'm more upset that you put her in danger! It was only the two of you there, and she can barely use any powers."
"Didn't you come with us to the principal's palace, even though you couldn't use a Persona?" Ryuji countered.
"… Yeah, I guess so. Even if there were more of you guys to protect me back then, it was still reckless." Ann admitted. "You know… I've actually been wondering about that recently."
"What about it?" Ryuji asked.
"I guess I'm just wondering why you helped me?" Ann shrugged.
"Me?" Ryuji asked.
"Yeah. You, specifically." Ann asked. "Why did you help me?"
Ryuji gave it some thought, trying to remember how he felt back then.
"It was cause I was pissed off, ya know?" Ryuji answered. "Pissed off at everything that the principal was doin' to you and everyone else. How he had just let Kamoshida get away with everything he did."
"Was it similar to how you felt about Kamoshida?" Ann asked.
"Kinda, yeah." Ryuji admitted. "I don't think I was as mad, but I still felt like I had to do something, you know?"
"Mmm… I see." Ann nodded. "And what about now?"
"Now?" Ryuji repeated. "Well… I don't know. I mean, it'd be awesome to take down a big target like Okumura, or even Sugimura, with him bein' a part of a big family and all. It's just…"
"Just what?"
"I guess I need to focus more on the victims, huh?" Ryuji admitted.
"What's most important is helping her, right?" Ann asked.
"Yeah…" Ryuji muttered. "Yeah, that's right. Thanks…"
"No problem!" Ann grinned. "I'll still take you up on that crepe deal!"
"Wha- aww, come on, Ann!" Ryuji groaned. "You know my wallet can't handle all these triple chocolate crepes!"
They soon left the safe room, hoping to find the exit. However, they soon found a huge number of guards blocking some of the doors.
"Tch… this is annoying." Ren muttered. "There's too many to fight at once, and it's going to be tough to sneak by them all."
"We'll just have to be very careful." Makoto warned.
They stealthy made their way past the patrolling guards, eventually finding a single door that wasn't guarded.
"I don't like this…" Makoto muttered. "It could be a trap."
"Still… it's the only way that's not blocked off with a ton of guards." Morgana said. "We'll just have to be careful."
They slowly opened the door, shocked and confused at what they saw inside.
"G-Guys… I'm getting some weird readings from this place." Futaba muttered. "It feels completely different from the rest of the palace.
"Yeah, uh, I can see that." Ren muttered.
The room was filled to the brim with innumerable paintings of a man in a white suit and reddish-brown hair.
"No, I mean that the cognition of this room feels different!" Futaba insisted.
"This room…" Haru trailed off. "It must belong to…"
"Well well. So my darling bride-to-be has been spending her time with gutter trash."
They all turned to see the man in the paintings approach them."
"Sugimura…" Haru muttered.
"A cognition!" Makoto gasped.
"No… this feels different." Morgana muttered. "This doesn't feel like a cognition. It feels more like… a shadow."
Makoto's Confidant Progress:
THE FOOL - Ren Amamiya: Rank 9
THE HUNGER - Igor: Rank 8
THE CHARIOT - Ryuji Sakamoto: Rank 7
THE MAGICIAN - Morgana: Rank 6
THE FAITH - Eiko Takao: Rank 6
THE TOWER - Chiaki Yasui: Rank 6
THE SUN - Shiho Suzui: Rank 8
THE MOON - Takayo Tachibana: Rank 7
THE HIEROPHANT - Sojiro Sakura: Rank 6
THE TEMPERANCE - Naoya Makigami: Rank 6
THE STAR - Hifumi Togo: Rank 6
THE DEVIL - Mitsuhide Matsuoka: Rank 4
THE HANGED MAN - Munehisa Iwai: Rank 4
THE DEATH - Yohei Kiritani: Rank 4
THE EMPEROR - Yusuke Kitagawa: Rank 6
THE EMPRESS - Haru Okumura: Rank 4
THE LOVERS - Ann Takamaki: Rank 6
THE HERMIT - Futaba Sakura: Rank 3
THE STRENGTH - Caroline and Justine: Rank 6
THE JUSTICE - Goro Akechi: Rank 4
THE PRIESTESS - Kasumi Yoshizawa: Rank 4
THE FORTUNE - Phantom Thieves of Heart: Rank 5
THE JUDGMENT - Sae Niijima: Rank 5
THE COUNCILOR - Takuto Maruki: Rank 6
Are the Phantom Thieves just? Yes 79.2%