Even after arriving at the safe point, it took several minutes for Kagami to calm down. No one said anything for the duration of her crying; after all, no one really knew what to say concerning this situation.

"Do you want to talk about it, Kagami?" Chance asked after her friend had fallen silent for a few minutes, "We still need to know why you made that request on the Phan-Site ."

Kagami took a deep, shuddering breath. "I suppose I owe you all an explanation…"

"You don't have to do it now," Panther said patiently, "after we change your mother's heart, you can tell us then if that would be easier…"

"No, no," Kagami said, adjusting her new mask, "I'll tell you now."

"Does it have anything to do with the opportunity your mom was talking about?" Queen asked gently.

Kagami flinched but nodded.

"Okaa-sama wants to send me to a prestigious boarding school back in Japan. Their fencing team is one of the best in the world. She had been planning it for months before she finally let me know. She told me it was 'for the best.'"

"...hey, Fox, remember that paternalism thing you talked about a while back? This ain't it," Skull said, his voice uncharacteristically soft.

"You don't want to go, though, do you?" Beat asked.

"No! I tried to tell her that too, but she wouldn't… no, she never listened to me!" Kagami exclaimed, before settling into a grumble of, "...but there was more to it than that - of course there was!"

"What do you mean?" Mona asked.

"It was a few days after Lila's whole confession. I overheard her talking to someone over the phone," Kagami explained, "She said things like 'I won't let this happen again,' and 'She wouldn't understand.' Then… she told me that the Agrestes couldn't be trusted anymore, not if they were associated with people like Lila."

"Did… did she tell you to break up with Adrien?" Chance gasped, horrified.

"She did," Kagami admitted, "And she thinks I have. But I haven't. He's the only other person who knows what's going on."

"This sounds almost like paranoia," Fox observed, "Once she realizes someone isn't as honest as they claim, she'll attempt to cut ties with them."

Kagami nodded, "It's been like that for most of my life. Ever since Otou-san died when I was two."

An ominous feeling fell over the original few members of the group. It was similar to the feeling they got that when they learned about Madarame's history with Fox's mom or the truth about Oracle's mother.

"What happened to your dad?" Viper asked carefully.

"It was a car accident," she said, "not only did it kill him, but it cost my mom her sight too. According to some of the senior maids, she was never the same after that… especially after the investigation that followed."

"Investigation?" Queen asked. That was odd. There weren't usually investigations after traffic accidents… not unless there was something else involved.

Kagami nodded, "Apparently, someone had tampered with the car that they were driving that night. No one was ever convicted for it, but a friend of the family became a person of interest during that time. Apparently, Okaa-sama had known her since childhood… it well and truly broke her, if the loss of Father and eyesight didn't do it."

"...I think something like PTSD might be a factor in this as well," Oracle said sadly.

"So, because a childhood friend supposedly caused the crash, your mom doesn't trust any kind of 'friends' of yours?" Jack asked, trying to gain understanding.

"And maybe it's also 'cause she thinks this could happen to you too," Skull asked, "Even if she means well, it doesn't change the fact she's wrong, though."

"Is that why you joined us on Friendship Day?" Chance asked, "Even though your mom told you not to?"

"I thought if I played the games and made a friend, I could show her that having friends wasn't bad. She said I already had Adrien, but… it wasn't the same."

"So that's why you put in that request," Joker realized, "Hearing that you were being sent away must have been the final straw."

Kagami nodded, punctuating her feelings with a bitter laugh, "I'm such a hypocrite. Just hours ago we were talking about honesty and upholding it, but I was practically lying to you the whole time, Chance."

Chance shrugged, unbothered, "Well, that makes two of us. After all, I haven't been completely honest with you either."

"I guess… I was afraid you'd judge me," Kagami admitted, "When I went on the site, I felt like I was accessing the Hell Correspondence from Jigoku Shōjo."

"Oh! I love that anime!" Oracle exclaimed before her expression became thoughtful. "...Huh, never really thought about it like that, but it's kind of similar, isn't it? Except, the price for changing a heart won't be your soul."

"Not that we'd expect any sort of recompense," Viper said, nudging Oracle a little, "So… you're really just trying to help your mom, right? By changing her heart you think your mom will learn to trust your friends and not force you to go to that school."

"I wouldn't mind going to the school, eventually," Kagami admitted, "But I don't want to leave Adrien or any of my friends right now. Friends like you, Chance…"

She gave Chance a look saying that Kagami thought the world of her. "...you're once in a lifetime."

A minute or two of awkward silence passed.

"So…" Skull finally said, "I guess we're doing this after all?"

"Now that we know the full story, I think we can decide officially now," Joker agreed, "Anyone with any problems? Speak now or forever hold your peace."

"This ain't a wedding, but I'm definitely up for it," Beat proclaimed.

"Ditto!" Jack piped in, "It's the right thing to do, yeah?"

"So there's no objections, then?" Mona asked, giving the team a once-over. For what would hopefully be the last time, silence befell the group.

"Fantastic!" he said before transforming into his bus form again, "If everyone's ready…"

It didn't take much searching past the pocket where Tomoe's Shadow Self had been located for the Monabus and its current riders to find the Polearm-Wielding Woman. She'd lashed out at anything that she sensed, which included other Shadows. Once they picked up the sound of Shadows being punctured alive, they just followed it in order to find their target.

They spotted her just as she cut a Shadow cleanly in half from the head down.

"...Whoa," Skull whistled as she came into view, "we got a big fight ahead of us."

"We've got this!" Jack smirked, "Time to knock some sense into her."

"...You don't have to fight if you don't want to, Kagami," Chance told her, noticing her friend tense upon approaching Tomoe's Shadow again.

"No," Kagami shook her head, "I got you into this, so it's only fair I help you out of it."

"All right, if you say so," Chance relented.

Everyone cautiously exited the Monabus and approached the Shadow once again.

"We meet again, Tomoe Tsurugi," Joker greeted, catching the bloodthirsty Shadow's attention.

"Come to face your death with honor, have you? Hah - I expected you to run away like the cockroaches you are!"

"Um, weren't you the one that ran away last time?" Panther pointed out.

"Semantics!" the Polearm-Wielding Woman shrieked, "Now die!"

The first one she charged was Fox, who deflected each giant attack strike with relative ease.

"Pathetic!" Tomoe snarled, before choosing to target Viper next. Unlike Fox, who was more used to holding a sword, Viper struggled against the Shadow's strength but managed to roll away before he could get seriously hurt.

Then, to everyone's surprise, Tomoe ducked when Jack attempted to shoot at her from behind with her umbrella gun.

"What the-?!" Jack gasped when she felt a strong kick at her stomach, sending her flying back.

"You're foolish to think I didn't see that coming! It was the most obvious move you could try against a blind woman!"

"Always watching your back, huh?" Queen asked, "I'll admit, that's not a bad strategy. But keep looking back too long and you can't see what the future has in store!"

"Yeah! We get that you want what's best for your kid! But you can't ever let anything happen to her, then nothing will ever happen to her!" Skull protested.

"A life where your entire future is decided for you isn't a life!" Mona agreed, "You have to take risks sometimes, or else nothing will happen!"

"And look where that got me?!" the Shadow shrieked, "I lost everything that day because I wasn't careful enough! I let my guard for barely a moment and my enemy took it!"

"You don't know if Haruhi-san did it, Okaa-sama!" Kagami shouted, "The police never closed the case! It could all be a coincidence!"

"They never cleared her either, last I checked!" Tomoe countered, swiping at Joker, who blocked with his dagger.

"But isn't the phrase 'innocent until proven guilty'?" Beat asked while dodging around another strike, "You could seriously just be jumping to conclusions here!"

"Guys, talking is clearly not helping!" Queen said, before summoning Johanna. "Freila!"

Tomoe shouted in pain as the nuclear attack hit her, and she stumbled back.

"Chance! Let's go!" Viper shouted, standing right next to her.

"Right!" she shouted, charging with her flail, before tumbling out of the way for a Garula to hit Tomoe, followed up by a Kouga from Mulan while Tomoe was off balance.

Kagami watched the Phantom Thieves in amazement. Though they were fighting fiercely, she could still see the compassion in their eyes, their willingness to genuinely help her the woman she called her mother.

For the longest time, she was unable to defeat her mother in anything. Not in fencing, not in arguments, not in anything.

At the time, she had been alone, with nobody on her side.

Not anymore.

Gripping her tsurugi blade firmly, she charged towards her mother. Their blades met, creating an audible clash.

Kagami grunted as she was pushed backward, but before she could stumble back, she felt a weight on her back steadying her.

Skull gave her a giant grin. "We gotcha!" he grinned, before pushing her back up.

"There's a creed we Phantom Thieves have, even if it's gone unsaid until now…" Mona declared, healing the team with Zorro's Mediarama, "Either all of us make it out, or none of us do!"

"Well said, Mona," Chance smirked, twirling her flail. She then swung it out, only for Tomoe's Shadow Self to deflect it easily.

"She must be immune to Physical & Gun attacks, guys!" Oracle called out, "Avoid those if possible!"

"In that case, Persona!" Jack shouted, Atalanta swirling to life, "Freila!"

Just like Queen's attack earlier, Tomoe stumbled, but it wasn't enough to go down for good. Joker decided now was as good a time as any to bring out a Persona he'd gotten a small while ago.

"Tantalus!" he cried, summoning a masculine, malnourished-looking demon holding a small cauldron filled with red chunks of unknown material.

Those who knew Tantalus' story decided they didn't want to know if their knowledge of the Greek myth held any water in this Persona's design.

"Psiodyne!" their leader cried, sending the Polearm-Wielding Woman careening into a wall with a heavy blast of psychic energy. The team's foe shakily got up to one knee after hitting the floor, but she didn't get up any further.

"It's… not possible…" Shadow Tomoe got out, shooting them a deadly glare.

"Maybe by ourselves, you could kick any of our butts," Skull countered, "but it's a different story when we're together!"

"Yeah!" Panther chimed in, "Shall we, leader?"

"I think it should be our special guest's decision… what do you say, Kagami?" he smirked, gesturing to Kagami.

Kagami seemed nervous at first, but when the team gave her confident, reassuring looks, she nodded. Taking the cue, the team ripped into the Polearm-Wielding Woman, walloping her with blow after blow until she reverted back into the normal Shadow Self of Tomoe.

"Had enough?" Beat asked.

Shadow Tomoe was on her knees, her bokken cast just out of reach.

"Ms. Tsurugi, we know you want to protect Kagami, but she's not going to be a child forever!" Chance said, "If you don't let her make mistakes, how can she learn anything from them?"

"...you're right," Shadow Tomoe eventually conceded, "I've been quite rotten, haven't I?"

"I suppose you just needed some guidance of your own, Okaa-sama," Kagami said softly, cautiously approaching the Shadow.

"You've become quite the mature young woman in spite of my behavior, haven't you?" Shadow Tomoe sighed, looking up at her daughter.

"I had you to look up to, in many ways," Kagami said honestly, "Things will get better, and with the help of trusted people, I think we'll be alright."

"I suppose you're right… I'm proud of you, Koibito," she whispered with a smile, before fading away.

Kagami looked stunned. Her mom hadn't called her that in years. She felt another tear trail down her cheek, this time from joy.

"...Interesting," Joker murmured after snatching the object in the light. It was a small bowl that was cracked, but the cracks were filled in with gold.

"That's a kintsugi bowl," Fox said immediately in recognition.

"What's a… Kin-shugi bowl?" Beat sounded out.

"Kintsugi," Fox corrected before elaborating, "Also known as kintsukuroi. It's a type of art where a broken piece of pottery is mended by fusing the cracks together with gold, although silver and even platinum have been used before too."

"Oh yeah! We had some of those on display a while back at the Louvre for a Japanese art exhibition," Jack recalled, "They were pretty cool! There was even a video shown of the creation process."

"Fascinating, but why would this be Tomoe's Treasure then?" Viper asked.

"Kintsugi has a symbolic meaning as well," the artist continued, "It's also called 'The Art of Precious Scars.'"

"Those scars are not meant to be hidden," Kagami picked up, quoting a lesson from years prior, "but should be displayed with pride. The essence of resilience."

"Indeed," Fox nodded solemnly.

"Your mom thought she was doing that by not trusting anyone," Chance realized, "She's said that even though she was blind, she wasn't weak; in fact, she seemed to think of her blindness as a strength!"

"Man…" Skull murmured, "I mean, I get the whole 'what doesn't kill you makes you stronger' thing, but that's not an excuse to mark everyone as an enemy because of it."

"That shouldn't be the case anymore," Queen said, "but… maybe I can ask Sis about it. If the case was never officially closed, that means the police are still investigating even years later. Maybe they found something else over the years."

"That is if you'd like us to, Kagami," Panther interjected, knowing this was likely a sensitive topic for the fencer.

"I would appreciate it," she replied, "Whoever's responsible is still out there."

"Try to be careful, Queen," Oracle advised, "If you get too nosy, your sis could get suspicious as to why you're so interested in a case that's nearly fifteen years old. And even if you give the excuse of Kagami being a friend of Marinette's…"

"Yeah, I know," Queen nodded, "I'll be careful."

"Sounds good," Mona said, before becoming a bus once more, "Let's get out of here for the day. Chance, Viper, Jack, Beat, I'm guessing you'll explain everything?"

"We're on it, Mona!" Beat said, shooting a thumbs up.

"We'll text you all later!" Chance said just as everyone got back inside and it drove back to the entrance.

Adrien collapsed onto his bed, exhausted.

The akuma and accompanying amok today had been brutal. Especially because he had to try and deal with it alone or the first twenty minutes before Ladybug, Kobra, and to his surprise, the new dragon heroine, Dragonica finally showed up.

They all apologized profusely for taking so long and managed to defeat the enemy shortly after.

The new Dragon was pretty good, although he had suspicions that he knew who it was. Her mannerisms were too similar to Ryuko's to be a coincidence.

A vibration from his phone shook him from his thoughts as he went and answered it.

"Hello, Adrien," Kagami greeted.

"Hey…" he said with a sad smile on his face. He knew his girlfriend only had a few more weeks in Paris. It would be extremely difficult to keep in contact with just the time zones alone, not to mention keeping it secret from Ms. Tsurugi, too. He honestly wasn't sure how much longer they'd be able to keep it up.

What Kagami said next caused him to sit bolt upright in shock.

"I talked with Mother again. And I convinced her to not send me to that boarding school!"

"What?!" he exclaimed, causing Plagg to shriek in surprise and nearly drop his Camembert from the couch.

"Where's the fire?" the Kwami exclaimed until he noticed his holder's face.

"That's amazing Kagami! So you're staying in Paris?"

"Yes," she said happily, "She...she realized that this was a good place for me after all."

Adrien huffed out a laugh, "I'll be honest, Kagami, I'm shocked your mom changed her mind. Especially after her argument with Father. It didn't sound like she was planning to."

"Normally she wouldn't," Kagami said matter-of-factly, "But, I guess the right words can change anyone's heart."

Adrien went still. The way that was worded sent a chill down his spine.

"You mean metaphorically with that, right?" he asked nervously.

"Hm? Oh!" Kagami seemed to realize what she said and backtracked, "Yes, yes. Anyway, Marinette offered to go on a double-date later this week. At the ice rink we went to a while back?"

"Oh!" Adrien gasped. This was a surprise, especially since Marinette suggested it, "Yeah, sure. I'll talk with the Gorilla about it. I'm not sure how Father would feel after your mom's blowup."

"Sounds good. Marinette will give the details later."

"Great! I'm glad you're staying Kagami, I really am," Adrien said honestly.

"Me too. Goodnight, Adrien."

"'Night!" he said before ending the call.

"Blech!" Plagg gagged, "You kids and your romance! Gross!"

"Like you aren't the sappiest thing when you talk about Ladybug's kwami," Adrien shot back with a smirk.

While Plagg sputtered out attempts at excuses, Adrien flew to his desk chair and immediately began typing on the computer.

The familiar site immediately filled the screen and he began to scan through the comments.

He stopped when he found what he hoped he wouldn't.

Tomoe Tsurugi. Please change her heart.

Underneath was a reply comment.

Thank you.

AN: So, Tomoe's heart has been changed and it looks like Kagami may be the newest Phantom Thief member. And Adrien seems to be catching on to things too. Wonder how that will turn out.

Jigoku Shōjo: Hell Girl

Koibito: Sweetheart

Now, I haven't had any problems with you demanding updates with this story, but if any of you follow my other story, Code Geass: Paladins of Voltron, you'll see that I posted a pretty angry author's note on there. I'm just going to say this now so it's not an issue in the future, but please don't demand updates to my stories. It's easier with this one since there are two authors working on this together, but I just need to get this off my chest. If I see anyone in the PMs or reviews doing this, their message/review will be deleted and their account blocked. Just as we mentioned in a prior chapter, we don't tolerate harassment in any form.

The only exception would be if you're asking how the next chapter is coming along. But don't say things like 'update faster' or 'your updates are so slow compared to ***'. Those are unacceptable and will be treated accordingly.

Thank you everyone for enjoying this new chapter! R&R and see you next time!