Whiplash

The SPCMs all gathered in the hotel's lobby as they lined up to check out.

"Ugh, why's there a line!? I wanna get back to Hokkaido," Doraaki whined.

"Sucks for you. I don't need to check out, so goodbye," Safumi sneered as she headed out.

"You could always fly back," Mizuse suggested.

"I ain't made of money like you. Seriously, the hell was Michiko thinking requesting us out for all that dumb shit!?" Doraaki glared.

"I thought she said it was important SPCM duties, but if I had known what the true nature of it was, we wouldn't have come," Tenju snarled as she hugged Taira.

Suddenly, paramedics rushed into the lobby with a stretcher in tow.

"Mi- Michiko," Taira mumbled as she followed after the paramedics.

"Taira!? Don't run off without me!" Tenju cried as she gave chase.

"Hmm? They are heading towards Michiko's salon. No, it couldn't be," Mizuse gasped as she too gave chase.

"The hell they all runnin’ off for?" Safumi snarled.

"Mizuse looked real pale. Wait, you don't think she was implyin’ somethin’ happened to Michiko!?" Doraaki cried as she ran off.

"Tch. Well, might as well see what happened then. I got time to kill," Safumi shrugged.

...

Everyone arrived at the salon to find Michiko on the ground in tears. "She- She just stopped responding! I only went to the back for a minute. I just thought she was snoozing or playing a prank!" she cried as Daria was loaded onto a stretcher.

"That woman. I believe I saw her before with Michiko. Could they be friends?" Mizuse thought as she slowly approached Michiko with the others.

"Everyone. I'm sorry. I'm sorry you gotta see me like this. I- I gotta go. She's my friend," Michiko cried as she slowly got up.

"We understand. In fact, we'll all stay here should you need some comfort."

"HUH!? The hell you sayin, Mizuse!?" Safumi fumed.

"Safumi, have a heart. She might need the support when she comes back. Michiko, go be with your friend. We won't leave until you return.

"Th- Thanks," Michiko sobbed as she ran after the paramedics.

"Hook, line, and sinker. Now they'll all stay put, meaning we just need to have Michiko stall until the DESPERs are recharged," Ai maliciously thought as she and Xiao Lin watched from a distance.

...

At school, Mimoko let out a groan as Mei called her to the office over the loudspeaker. "Ugh, am I going to get chewed out for something the others did? Or did Okaa-chan fail to properly inform them that I was out. Or maybe someone saw me and thought I was playing hooky. Ugh."

Iori scowled as she watched Mimko leave. "That wasn't Mei's "Your ass is busted" tone. In fact, it sounded eerily professional. That's not good. I hope everything's alright with Mimo-chan," she thought.

...

Mimoko entered the office to find Mei, the acting principal, and the guidance counselor all present. "Great, what happened this time?" she thought.

Mei stepped forward. "Mimoko Inoue. Please remain calm while I inform you of what has transpired. Your mother has fallen into a coma."

"Huh?"

...

Mimoko huffed and puffed as she frantically ran down the hospital's halls. "OKAA-CHAN!" she shouted as she entered a room to find her father and brother by Daria's bedside.

Kotora was in tears while Ichimitsu sat with his newspaper obscuring his face.

A nurse was also present and approached Mimoko. "I assume you're her daughter then. In that case, I shall fill you in on what happened. She was reportedly found unresponsive in the Triple Cedar hotel's salon. The chief stylist said she was fine one moment, but when she returned from fetching something from the back, she was unresponsive."

"Mi- Michiko-chan?"

"I believe that was her name. She was here until just a short while ago. In fact, she might still be around."

Ichimitsu suddenly stood up, still holding his paper over his face, and walked out.

"Otou-san, where are you going!?" Mimoko cried.

"Business," Ichimitsu mumbled as he left.

Mimoko wanted to chase after him, but decided to stay and comfort Kotora as they both cried before their mother.

...

After 15 minutes of crying, Mimoko decided to grab some food for her and Kotora. As she made her way down to the cafeteria, she noticed Michiko somberly seated at one of the tables.

"Mi- Michiko-chan?"

"Mimoko? I'm so sorry," Michiko sniffled as Mimoko sat down next to her. "I just thought she fell asleep, but she was unresponsive. Why!?"

"It's not your fault."

"But I still feel guilty. If I had just stayed in the room instead of going to fetch something, then maybe I could have saved her."

"What did they say it was?"

Michiko went silent before nervously darting her head around the room and leaning into Mimoko's ear. "That's the strange part. They don't know."

"Don't... know?"

"Yes, it doesn't make sense. But I fear it might be connected to the strange occurrences that have been happening."

"'Strange occurrences'?"

"Yes. You remember meeting Maestro Himitsu, yes? Well lately, she's been acting more and more... Malicious."

"'Malicious'?"

"Yes, at first I thought nothing of it. But then something happened."

"What?"

"As I was rushing out with the paramedics, I noticed the maestro maliciously watching from a distance. As she turned and walked away, something fell out of her sleeve. Curious, I quickly ran over, only to find this, much to my horror," Michiko stated as she pulled a DESPER out of her pocket.

"Th- That's-"

"I know. Since us SPCMs are technically direct WWCF employees, we know about the Desperado league and their antics. We even take training courses on what to do should a member try and trigger a DESPER in a cafe or target us outside of it. However, I never would have imagined Maestro Himitsu herself to possess such a device. Worse, the device is deactivated, meaning it was previously in use, thus I fear perhaps Maestro Himitsu is responsible."

"Why!? What did my mother do to deserve that!?"

"I don't know. The maestro herself tends to be a rather secretive woman, thus I don't know what she does in her private life. Even amongst the other SPCMs here, I think I'm the only one that's seen her out of costume."

"She was that woman with the long black hair, right?"

"Yes. Come to think of it, all that trouble that occurred at Triple cedar occurred when she showed up. I wonder if she might even be the Desperado league's leader."

"Why's that?"

"Because she's one of the strongest maestros and has a rating of 3200."

"Th- That high!?"

"Yes, and the Ultima-master reportedly is also rated 3200. It is not far-fetched to assume they are the same person."

"I- If she's the leader of the Desperado league- No, was Okaa-chan targeted because of me!?"

"The league is targeting you?"

"Y- Yes, before I got a rating, Mr. Gunnerson tried to kill me, but Tanabe-kun beat him and saved me."

"Gunnerson? Ah, him. I believe he was the Ultima-master's right-hand-man according to our intel. Then was that girl from your school-"

"Yes, she was attacked by a Desperado league member, but we beat him and saved her life. Though I got a bit beat up in the process which is why I was staying at the hotel."

"I see. Mimoko, be careful. They will likely come after us again."

"I'll let-"

"No, the less people we drag into this the better. Now stay vigilant. I'm going to return to Triple cedar."

"We should stick together."

"No, the maestro will likely aim for me first since I took her DESPER. Not to mention, I’ve been having lapses in my memory so it’s possible she’s already gotten to me without me knowing. While I’m of sound mind, I want to try and hide it somewhere she'll never be able to retrieve it so if I do get caught, she'll never be able to use it again. Mimoko, take care," Michiko smiled before running off.

"...Michiko. I understand. Just... Please be careful. I don't want to lose anyone else."

...

As Mimoko returned to Daria's room, she found that Kotora was gone. "Did he leave already? Maybe he went looking for me since I was taking a while," Mimoko thought as she sat down. "Okaa-chan... I'm sorry. I'm sorry for everything!" Mimoko cried as she sobbed into Daria's blanket, unaware that she was being watched.