Toyomi Fujiwara, the eldest daughter of the politically powerful Fujiwara family, was a laid-back person with a high appreciation for "fashion sense." When Haruno Yukinoshita transferred to her university, Toyomi immediately took a liking to her as her new "toy."
Compared to Toyomi, whose great-grandfather had been a prime minister and whose uncle was a current cabinet minister, the Yukinoshita family, with their highest political standing being a mere prefectural assemblyman, was so insignificant that they couldn't even serve as a minion. So, even though Haruno's instincts told her that this seemingly carefree politician's daughter was a troublesome person, she had to approach her and befriend her using the "political mask" she had honed over the years, all to elevate the Yukinoshita family's status and importance, which had plummeted after the monster incident.
Despite being just a "toy" to Toyomi, Haruno couldn't tell what was true and what was fake in Toyomi's words throughout their entire conversation. This was a severe blow to Haruno, who considered herself quite at ease in Chiba's political circles. Several times, she almost couldn't maintain her facade, nearly revealing her true feelings.
She had brought her sister, who disliked social gatherings but had reluctantly agreed to come for the sake of the Yukinoshita family, as a self-regulating mechanism to control her emotions. However, her plan backfired. Instead of being a regulator for her emotions, Yukino was more like a cat teaser to distract her, and she, Haruno, was the cat.
Knowing her sister's personality, Haruno didn't think Yukino would make any new friends on her first day after transferring. So, worried that her sister would be "bullied," Haruno had deliberately brought her along to this "playground."
A scruffy boy and a fashionable girl. That was Haruno Yukinoshita's first impression of the boy named Taichi Naruto and the girl named Ann Takamaki. Her second impression wasn't so great. Although the scruffy boy would intentionally avert his eyes, she noticed that whenever he had a chance, he would look at Toyomi Fujiwara and stare for a few seconds. A boring pervert.
She couldn't understand why her "aloof" sister would have any connection with this kind of person. It couldn't be that the monster attack had caused a drastic change in her sister's personality. While she did think her sister had become more sensible after the incident, her personality hadn't changed much. One could only say that she had learned to hide her true nature.
Because their fashion senses were similar, Ann and Toyomi were able to have a good conversation. Taichi, on the other hand, could only talk to the Yukinoshita sisters in an on-and-off manner. Taichi could tell that Haruno was trying to get information out of him through their small talk. But there was nothing to get. Besides the two absolute secrets of being an Ultraman and a transmigrator, there was nothing else that needed to be kept confidential.
This included the matters of the Palace and the Persona. Because based on how well Haruno understood Yukino, she probably wouldn't be able to hide things from her sister for very long. It was only a matter of time before these things were exposed to Haruno's sight.
But that wasn't important. The reason was simple. A lot of people in the real world already knew about the Palace and Personas. For example, those people from the previous series. The list that Ultraman X had created included the name "Kirijo Group." Add to that the main antagonist of this series, Masayoshi Shido... Hah, the fact that a complete, dark, profit-driven organization hadn't formed could only be attributed to a Japanese tradition: one's own personal interests are sacred and inviolable; others' interests don't matter.
Speaking of which, should he ask X to think of a way to see if the "Savior" could still be saved? He didn't know if the protagonist of the third game was Minato Arisato or Makoto Yuki. Once Taichi's mind wandered, it was hard to pull it back.
His spaced-out state did not escape Haruno's notice. If this were a strategy game, a message like "Haruno's contempt for Taichi has increased, affection -30" would probably have appeared above her head. She was growing more and more disgusted with Taichi.
Yukino, however, didn't think anything of it. She knew Taichi's private identity as "Phantom Thief Knight" and attributed his current distraction to "probably thinking about how to communicate with my Shadow sister" or "thinking about how to quickly and safely raid the Palace."
Some people just couldn't be talked about without showing up. Just as Taichi was absentmindedly thinking of Masayoshi Shido, a familiar voice jolted him out of his reverie.
"What a coincidence, the eldest daughter of the Fujiwara family."
For a split second, three faces flashed through Taichi's mind: Shuichi Akai, Shanks, and... Char Aznable! But of those three, the latter two wouldn't appear in this world. And the first one... should still be fighting a battle of wits with that organization. He wondered if the feigned death storyline had already passed.
Taichi looked in the direction of the voice. A man with square glasses, a bald head, and a relatively squarish face gave off an "elite" vibe.
Masayoshi Shido, a member of the Cabinet Office who was aiming to become prime minister. He was one of the few people who stood at the highest peak of Japan's political stage.
"Mr. Shido, it's been a long time," Toyomi Fujiwara said. Even she didn't dare show her relaxed side too much in front of a politician whose status was equal to her uncle's and whose popularity had at one point surpassed his.
Haruno Yukinoshita stood even straighter, trying to minimize her presence as much as possible. This was not a person she had the right to curry favor with.
Ann Takamaki and Yukino Yukinoshita also stood nervously to the side.
After a brief exchange, Shido realized he couldn't get any more information about his "political rival" from the seemingly laid-back but internally tight-lipped girl, so he said a few perfunctory words and left. From start to finish, his eyes never glanced at the others. He completely ignored the beautiful Yukinoshita sisters and Ann, as well as the conspicuous Taichi among the girls.
It was hard to imagine how this kind of person could have forced a woman on the street and coincidentally been discovered by Ren Amamiya. Taichi had reason to believe that Yaldabaoth was secretly manipulating everything.
"Phew... Is this the aura of a great politician? It really makes you breathless." After Shido's figure disappeared completely at the elevator entrance, Haruno Yukinoshita sighed in relief and joked, "Only Fujiwara-san can handle a person of that level."
"Oh my, Mr. Shido puts a lot of pressure on me too," Toyomi Fujiwara said, her eyes narrowing. "Compared to me, little Naruto's reaction was much more interesting."
Just now, everyone in the room except for Taichi had shown a hint of nervousness when facing Masayoshi Shido.