In the real world, inside Wakaba Mutsumi's room, Toyokawa Sakiko and the others suddenly appeared from the void.
Sakiko swiped her right hand, closed the Otherworld Navigation app, then pressed the lock-screen button and casually put her phone back into her pocket.
Nagasaki Soyo sighed helplessly.
"I really didn't expect Aunt Minami's Shadow to know basically nothing about the time-reversal mechanism in Mutsumi's palace."
Not long ago, Sakiko had asked Shadow Mori Minami about the mechanism of time rewind.
What were its limits?
Were there any other adjustable parameters?
Shadow Mori Minami had frozen on the spot, mouth open, her eyes full of confusion.
She said she had never thought about any of that at all.
"I actually think that's perfectly normal."
Shinobu's voice came from the side.
"After all, for those of us who live in the real world, reversing time is something unimaginable."
"But for Shadows, the situation is completely different."
"If they think of it, then they do it."
"They don't need principles. They don't need explanations."
"After all, cognition is everything."
"So perhaps the act of turning the key backward originally would not have produced any real effect. But Shadow Mori Minami connected that action with the strong idea of reversing time and restoring everything to its original state. That was what produced the time-reversal effect."
"As for where the boundaries of that effect lie, how far it can rewind, and whether it affects everything, that depends entirely on what she was thinking at the time."
"She never thought about limitations, so naturally, she can't answer what those limitations are."
Toyokawa Sakiko nodded.
"Shinobu is right. And this also brings up a new issue."
"The time-reversal mechanism in Mutsumi's palace exists attached to Aunt Minami's Shadow's cognition. Now that we've removed her distorted desires, her cognition can no longer dominate it…"
Sakiko looked at everyone.
"We can't rule out the possibility that after losing the cognitive support of Aunt Minami's Shadow, the time-reversal effect in Mutsumi's palace may have disappeared entirely."
But immediately after that, Sakiko brought up another possibility.
"Still, it's hard to say. After all, several of us personally experienced the time rewind yesterday, which means the impression of it has already been implanted in our subconscious."
"Cognition determines everything."
"Under the reverse influence of our cognition, perhaps that function has been preserved and become an inherent rule of the palace itself."
She paused, then continued:
"However, these are all just guesses. Whether it still exists or not has to be personally tested."
At the same time, Sakiko thought to herself:
If the rule of time reversal really had been preserved, then she could try influencing that rule through her own subjective cognition. After all, there were still many cognitive blanks around this ability.
This could be treated as a rehearsal for later removing the distorted desires from her father.
After hearing the analysis, Nagasaki Soyo nodded in agreement. Then she turned to Wakaba Mutsumi and asked softly:
"Then, Saki, are we going to test Mutsumi's palace later?"
Sakiko came back from her thoughts and was just about to agree.
Knock, knock, knock.
A knock sounded without warning.
The instant they heard it, Sakiko's pupils shrank, her breathing stopped for a second, Soyo's entire body trembled, and Shinobu's gaze instantly sharpened. The three of them almost summoned their possibility avatars.
After the battle earlier, their nerves were still somewhat sensitive.
But the three of them abruptly relaxed immediately afterward.
They remembered at the same time that this was already the real world, not a cognitive space full of supernatural powers where the slightest carelessness could lead to disaster.
Wakaba Mutsumi, on the other hand, seemed not to have noticed the almost frozen atmosphere at all.
Under everyone's gaze, she walked toward the door with a face utterly devoid of ripples.
Click.
The wooden door was slowly opened, revealing Mori Minami standing at the entrance in casual professional attire, a gentle smile on her face.
After the door opened, she did not immediately walk in. Instead, she stood at the doorway and swept her gaze around the people inside.
The household staff had already reported to her earlier that many of Wakaba Mutsumi's friends had come to visit and had breakfast together.
Therefore, when she saw so many people standing in her daughter's room, no surprise appeared on Mori Minami's face. Instead, a faint layer of relief appeared in her eyes.
After seeing Mori Minami, Toyokawa Sakiko and Nagasaki Soyo immediately bowed slightly at the same time, in tacit understanding.
"Good morning, Aunt Minami."
"Oh my, hello."
Mori Minami looked at them, the smile on her face deepening somewhat. Her response was gentle, without the slightly flamboyant air she usually carried.
She had always had intricate social ties with the Toyokawa family, so of course she was very familiar with Toyokawa Sakiko.
As for Nagasaki Soyo, she also had an impression of her. She knew this girl had been her daughter's bandmate in CRYCHIC.
Then Mori Minami's gaze shifted to Shinobu.
This was an unfamiliar face.
After noticing Mori Minami's gaze, Shinobu immediately gave an elegant smile and nodded slightly in greeting.
Mori Minami's eyes lingered on Shinobu for less than two seconds before she politely nodded back.
If this had been the old her, perhaps she would have immediately begun considering this stranger's identity, background, and purpose in coming to the Wakaba home.
But now, all her attention was on her daughter. She had no spare energy to dig into the origins of this guest with a slightly unusual presence.
After greeting them, Mori Minami withdrew her gaze and finally looked at Wakaba Mutsumi before her.
She lowered her head and carefully studied her daughter's eyes.
"It seems you've already come out of it."
Mori Minami spoke softly.
She was referring to the period when Mortis had forcibly deprived Wakaba Mutsumi of consciousness and taken control of her body.
During that time, her daughter had become extremely unfamiliar.
At the time, Mori Minami had thought it strange, but she had not truly cared.
Now that she looked back on it, she felt a chill of fear down to her bones.
At this moment, she could feel that the daughter she knew had returned.
Wakaba Mutsumi's face still showed no ripples.
She nodded slightly, looked at Mori Minami, and asked plainly:
"Minami-chan, is something the matter?"
Minami-chan…
Standing at the door, Mori Minami froze when she heard that form of address. The smile on her face stiffened at the corners of her mouth.
Then she smiled and shook her head, the laugh carrying self-reproach and bitterness.
"Mutsumi…"
Mori Minami's voice trembled slightly, and a faint ring of red appeared around her eyes.
"You haven't… called me Mom in a very long time, have you?"
In the past, because Mori Minami had always felt fear and jealousy toward Wakaba Mutsumi's innate talent, she had never truly treated Wakaba Mutsumi as her daughter.
In her cognition, Wakaba Mutsumi was more like an opponent and tool that had to be constantly guarded against.
Although Mori Minami usually addressed Wakaba Mutsumi affectionately as "Mutsumi," Wakaba Mutsumi had long since clearly sensed her mother's coldness and rejection. And so, following the expectation buried in the other party's heart, she called her own mother Minami-chan.
But now, Shadow Mori Minami had been defeated by Sakiko and the others.
The distorted desires deep in her heart—the jealousy accumulated over years, along with her pathological desire for control—had been completely removed, leaving behind only her most primal maternal instinct.
It was like waking from a long nightmare. She suddenly realized what she had done to her own biological daughter over all these years.
To the current Mori Minami, fame, victory and defeat, vanity, and talent no longer mattered.
Her only wish now was to make up for her mistakes and repair this broken relationship.
She wanted to truly stand before Wakaba Mutsumi, not as a performer, not as a rival, but as a mother.
Simply as a mother.
Hearing Mori Minami's almost pleading words, Toyokawa Sakiko's eyes instantly lit up.
She immediately clenched both hands into fists and raised them before her chest, staring fixedly at Wakaba Mutsumi's back. Excitement and encouragement intertwined undisguisedly in her gaze.
In her heart, she screamed madly:
Call her that, Mutsumi! Hurry and call her Mom!
Nagasaki Soyo sucked in a sharp breath, pressing both hands tightly over her mouth. Her eyes instantly reddened, tears welling in them.
She watched the mother and daughter at the doorway, watched Mori Minami's carefulness and guilt, and a wave of emotion surged in her heart.
For someone like her, who longed so deeply for familial warmth, seeing this almost made her cry. She was afraid of breaking this moment.
In comparison, Shinobu's reaction was much calmer.
Her face still held that gentle, water-like expression. She was not excited, nor did she cry.
After experiencing too many partings of life and death, and witnessing too many rises and falls in life, the scene before her only made her feel gratified. It was not enough to make her lose composure.
Wakaba Mutsumi tilted her head slightly and looked at Sakiko.
Sakiko looked back at her with shining eyes and desperately nodded.
Her gaze was pure expectation and encouragement without reservation, as if saying:
Go on. Embrace what you should have had.
Then Wakaba Mutsumi slowly turned back and looked again at Mori Minami standing before her.
The corners of Wakaba Mutsumi's mouth lifted into a tiny curve, and her lips parted lightly.
"Mom."
Her voice was not loud, and there was no excessive emotional fluctuation, but it reached everyone's ears clearly.
The next second, Mori Minami suddenly stepped forward.
She opened her arms and hugged Wakaba Mutsumi tightly, so overwhelmed that her movement was almost rough, completely losing her usual elegance.
She buried her face against Wakaba Mutsumi's shoulder. Her shoulders began trembling uncontrollably, and suppressed sobs echoed at the doorway.
Wakaba Mutsumi, suddenly embraced, went completely stiff.
Her hands hung in midair, not knowing where to go, her body rigid like a block of wood.
After being stunned for a moment, Wakaba Mutsumi slowly raised her arms.
Finally, both hands gently landed on Mori Minami's back, embracing her mother.
Only Mori Minami's suppressed sobbing remained in the room. The other three stayed quiet, and no one spoke to disturb this moment.
After quite a while, Mori Minami finally realized there were still outsiders present.
Reluctantly, she let go of Wakaba Mutsumi and stepped back.
She quickly turned around, raised the back of her hand, and swiftly wiped the corners of her eyes, then straightened her slightly disheveled collar.
When she turned back to look at Sakiko and the others again, a smile had returned to her face, though the redness around her eyes could not be hidden no matter what.
"Oh my, I'm sorry. I've embarrassed myself in front of you."
Mori Minami laughed self-deprecatingly, her voice still thick with nasal emotion.
Sakiko immediately shook her head and smiled to show she did not mind.
Soyo also lowered the hand covering her mouth, sniffed hard, and smiled through the tears at the corners of her eyes.
Mori Minami composed herself and once again fixed her gaze on Wakaba Mutsumi's face, as though she could never look at her enough.
"Mutsumi, the weather outside is so nice today. Is there anywhere you want to go? Or anything you want to buy? Mom is free all day today. I'll go with you, all right? It's been so long since we last went out together."
She asked softly, her tone carrying hope.
Then, as if remembering something, she turned to Sakiko and the others in the room and warmly invited them:
"Everyone, you should come too! It's livelier with more people. And I owe you all thanks for coming to keep Mutsumi company today."
"Ah, no, no!"
Toyokawa Sakiko was the first to react. She immediately stepped forward and waved both hands repeatedly.
"Aunt Minami, we still have something to deal with later, so it really isn't convenient for us to stay. We won't disturb you and Mutsumi."
Nagasaki Soyo also reacted quickly and hurriedly waved along with her.
"That's right, Aunt Minami. We were already planning to head back. We'll go out with Mutsumi another time when we have the chance."
Shinobu also smiled and made a gesture that showed she was preparing to leave.
Mori Minami smiled and nodded.
"I see. Then next time, you must come properly and spend time at our home."
"Of course."
Sakiko smiled and agreed.
A few minutes later.
Toyokawa Sakiko, Nagasaki Soyo, and Shinobu Kocho walked side by side out of the Wakaba family's front gate.
Nagasaki Soyo looked back at the Wakaba residence and sighed emotionally.
"That's wonderful…"
"Mutsumi's mother made up with Mutsumi immediately. I suppose that's what happens when cognition changes… The effect really is instant. It's almost like she became a different person."
Looking at the image of Wakaba Mutsumi and her mother embracing, Nagasaki Soyo's heart uncontrollably thought of her own mother.
Soyo lowered her head and looked at her hands.
She had awakened a Persona. She had gained a powerful force capable of changing other people's cognition.
Could she use this power to change her mother's cognition too?
If she erased all of her mother's obsessions about career and money, would that make her stop valuing work so much and spend more time with her?
The moment that thought emerged, Soyo's heart began pounding violently.
Soyo abruptly stopped walking and shook her head madly.
A layer of fine goosebumps rose over her body because of the terrifying thought she had just had.
"No, no, no no no…!"
She frantically scolded herself inside her heart.
How could she have such a frightening thought?
That was her mother, the mother who had carried her for ten months, given birth to her, and worked hard to raise her.
Even if her mother was imperfect in many ways, she was still a person with independent will.
She had her own thoughts and her own life. She was not some NPC whom Soyo could casually modify however she pleased.
If Soyo altered her mother's cognition without permission merely to satisfy her own longing, then would the so-called motherly love she received afterward be real, or only an illusion she had created with power?
If she truly did that, what she obtained would only be a brainwashed puppet, not her real mother.
Feelings forced upon someone like that could not be called love at all.
How would she be any different from those Shadows twisted by desire?
Soyo bit her lower lip tightly, feeling a burst of fear and lingering dread toward herself for having produced that thought.
At that moment, a scene from Mementos flashed through her mind.
Back then, when Toyokawa Sakiko had faced the powerful force in Mementos that was within easy reach and sufficient to solve all her difficulties, she had shown extreme resistance and caution, rejecting it without hesitation.
At the time, Soyo had thought Sakiko's mindset was somewhat incomprehensible. But now, she suddenly understood.
Soyo raised her head and looked at Sakiko's slender yet upright back as she walked ahead.
Sakiko must have seen through this long ago—
If one could not control their own desires, they would ultimately be swallowed by power and become something far more terrifying than a monster.
Some boundaries of being human could never be crossed once stepped over.
Soyo felt that she seemed to understand Sakiko a little more now.
Toyokawa Sakiko, walking ahead, did not notice the war between heaven and man taking place in Soyo's heart.
After hearing Soyo's earlier sigh, she also sighed sincerely.
"Yes. It looks like Mutsumi will be spending the next while with her mother."
Her tone carried a trace of relief. This was a good thing.
Soyo forcibly pressed the chaotic thoughts in her mind back down, adjusted her expression, put on her usual smile, and quickly walked forward to move side by side with Sakiko.
She turned her head, looked at Sakiko's profile, and asked:
"Then, Saki, what do we do next?"
Hearing that question, Sakiko took out her phone from her pocket. The time displayed was just past ten in the morning.
It was still quite early.
However, Sakiko put the phone back into her pocket and turned to Soyo and Shinobu.
"Let's stop here for today."
"So many things have happened. Everyone's nerves have been stretched very tight. It's better for us to go home separately first and rest and relax properly."
She looked at Soyo, her tone becoming somewhat serious.
"Exploring the cognitive world is extremely mentally draining. If we keep squeezing ourselves without giving our minds a chance to breathe, our condition will decline sharply."
Soyo and Shinobu both nodded.
The continuous high pressure had indeed made them feel a deep fatigue—not physically, but mentally.
Then Sakiko continued:
"As for afterward… I plan to gather everyone from CRYCHIC again."
"I intend to explain the real reason why I suddenly left the band back then."
Soyo's pupils suddenly contracted.
Sakiko took a deep breath and looked directly at Soyo.
"And then… I'll ask everyone for forgiveness."
Soyo opened her mouth.
Her first reaction was concern, worrying that bringing up those heavy memories again would hurt Sakiko once more.
But when her eyes met Sakiko's calm and determined gaze, the words of dissuasion caught in her throat and were eventually swallowed back down.
Right.
After everything she had experienced, the current Sakiko's heart had already become incomparably resilient.
Thinking that, Soyo breathed a sigh of relief and instead asked another question.
"Then, Saki."
Soyo's expression became serious.
"Should we also tell everyone about the chat group and the cognitive world while we're at it?"
Being honest about everything would certainly be easiest. There would be no need to weave lies and then patch them up later. But when the cognitive world was involved, things were not that simple.
After a while, Sakiko slowly shook her head.
"It's better not to tell them."
"Once we tell them that the cognitive world exists, they will develop the cognition that such a world exists. Once that cognition forms, they will have a greater chance of being forcibly pulled into the cognitive world by some trigger without realizing it. We can't let people without the ability to protect themselves take that risk."
"And if we explain the chat group to them, we'll inevitably have to explain the special powers of our world."
"So for now, let's keep both the cognitive world and the chat group hidden from everyone."
Nagasaki Soyo quietly listened to Sakiko's explanation, then slowly nodded.
"I understand. Saki has thought this through very carefully."
She was not at all surprised by Sakiko's concerns. After all, Sakiko had always been like this, habitually shouldering every risk herself.
But deep in her heart, a trace of secret delight quietly climbed upward.
They could not tell the others.
In other words, about the chat group, about the cognitive world, about Personas, about Sakiko's most central secrets right now—
I'm the only one who knows.
As for Wakaba Mutsumi…
Mutsumi is a Shadow, so how can she count as a real person?
join here to read ahead.
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 178)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 210)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League ( 126 )
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter110)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl 285
"Is this chat group even serious?" (This matter is completely finished.)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (This matter is completely finished.)
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 77
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 280
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 240
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass Volume2/20
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 305
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 76
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 66
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 65
Uma Musume: The Dark Trainer (This matter is completely finished.)
Uma Musume: A Calamity Born fr 154
I, a Reincarnation-Loop Player Volume5/8
The Violent Girl Group Is Beat 135
Uma Musume: The Horse Girl Who 67
Uma Musume: From Beginner 160
Becoming a Horse Girl, I Will 85
Uma Musume: I Want All 120
I Can Copy Unique Skills 125
Summoning an Evil God, but the 75
Supernatural Multiverse 180
My Harem Is Indescribable 110
Jujutsu Kaisen: Heroic Spirit 115
Uma Musume: Today Is Another Romantic Battlefield 120
Still playing traditional Honk 105
The Most Filial Son Under Heav 120
What Should I Do After Switchi 70
Reincarnated as a Demon, Skill 80
Hell-Difficulty Dungeon? 55
Transmigrated as Sukuna 140
Checking In in Demon Slayer 100
The Reincarnating Trainer of Tracen Academy 115
I Refuse to Become a Heroic 95
My Best Friend Into a Slime? 90
A Saiyan Stands Above Marvel (This matter is completely finished.)
What Do You Mean by Using a Lab Mod to Be the Hero? 95
Tanya Starts from Re:Zero 90
Why did they assign me to Uma 95
MYGO Beauties 80
DanMachi: Emiya the Giant Hero 100
The Gacha Merchant Who Started 135
Honkai's Otherworld? Wait—Who Are You People?! 150
Emiya Shirou, Determined to Slay Every Curse and Evil Spirit 70
The Uma Musume Who Became 75
I'm Definitely Not the King of 130
After Maxing Out Every Class 135
Honkai: World Modulation Mode 120
I, the Elden Sword Saint 70
Dio Brando Is Challenging FGO 65
No One Knows Pokémon Better 65
I, Sakazuki, Won't Go Down Tha 69
From Trilobites to Titans 65
Chainsaw Man: Contracted with 105
DanMachi: My Party Members Are 120
An Anime Heroine Darkened 60
Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Links 80
Honkai: The Fire Devil 115
Honkai Transformation Cards Volume2/70
Age of Heroes, I'm Just a Back 85
Uma Musume Has No Weird Fan Le 80
At age 8, she co-starred with 80
Honkai: Schicksal Media 81
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 70
Chainsaw Man, but I'm Aatrox 60
Honkai Apocrypha: Are the Valk 60
An Extremist in a Slice-of-Lif 45
Morgan Shirou's Journey in Dan 43
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