A bald declaration

The next day, Tenju dejectedly followed the others as they headed for one of Triple cedar's ballrooms. She had completely failed in her quest to save Taira, and to make matters worse, was now forced to walk Taira on a leash to the venue. Worse, Taira was enjoying every second of her degradation.

As the ladies entered the ballroom, they were greeted by crowds of press, though instead of swarming them, they all remained seated while murmuring amongst themselves.

"Looks like they have no clue who we are. Ai, that's your cue, now don't mess up, love," Michiko whispered into Ai's ear.

Ai nodded and went up to the podium as Xiao Lin and the SPCMs all lined up behind her. Xiao Lin began gazing down at her palm, as Ai began her speech. "Hello everyone! You recognize us?"

No one in the crowd seemed to, until someone pointed out Michiko's uniform matched those of the hotel salon's employees.

"Yes, she is the chief stylist of Triple cedar's FABULOUS salon and spa, but she's something more than that. How familiar are you all with chess, or rather, how many of you are WWCF members?" Ai asked.

Some members of the crowd nodded and displayed their WWCF cards.

"Looks like you're mostly rookies, though I see you with the 1900 rating back there. Anyway, you might not know this, but there are secret puzzle cafes hidden throughout the world. And these lovely ladies behind me all manage one here in Japan. As for what secret puzzle cafes are, they're places where you can attempt chess puzzles, hang out at, and even challenge a super grandmaster aka a maestro, like myself."

The crowd gazed oddly at Ai before descending into murmuring.

"Still not convinced, well allow me to show you my rating," Ai snickered as Xiao Lin gazed up.

A tiny black screen with the number 3200 on it appeared before Ai. "I am Maestro Himitsu of Japan. As you can see, my rating is 3200," Ai stated as people began taking pictures.

"That does look like a WWCF card, but it's a different color," a dubious reporter stated.

"Well, then allow me to clear your doubts," Ai smiled as the card before her vanished and Xiao Lin stepped forward.

"Hello everyone, I am Maestro Xiao Lin of China," Xiao Lin stated as she prominently displayed her WWCF card.

Some reporters gathered up close for a better look as Xiao Lin extended her card out so that more could see it.

"This card... It's the real deal," the dubious reporter noted.

"Indeed it is. Now, to get on to the main topic of discussion. My dear friend Maestro Xiao Lin and I have come to the agreement that there need to be reforms to the way the cafes operate. Therefore, we've decided to allow the use of real-world currency to be used within the secret puzzle cafes in Japan and China. This will make getting rewards, and challenging the secret puzzle cafe managers, much easier. And that's not all. Should you best all the SPCMs in a given country, you'll be able to challenge that country's maestro. Xiao Lin and I are but two of the seven secret chess maestros hidden throughout the world Naturally, you'll first need to seek out all our secret puzzle cafes first, and beat our lovely SPCMs. Though as luck would have it, I'm giving all present a lovely deal. I'm going to allow you the honor of gaining the option to challenge all the lovely SPCMs here. All you need to do is follow me to the salon and spa once we're done. Now, any quick questions?"

"Yes, why are you all bald?" a reporter asked.

Mizuse nodded and stepped up to the podium. "It was part of our image rebranding as well as our embracement of the future of women's beauty."

Everyone gasped as they recognized Mizuse's voice.

"Oh, did you all not know it was me, Mizuse Niimi? Well take a good look, because these tattoos are the future of women's beauty! And I guess now would be the proper time to announce my brand is being renamed to Mizuse Kamuro fashion and apparel. The haircare line shall also be discontinued and instead replaced with a headcare maintenance line."

Some members of the crowd let out audible gasps.

"W- Why undergo such a radical change?"

"Because that's just how things are. Now ladies, if you want to truly be beautiful, take the test and dawn the "Mizuse Niimi" look I'm currently sporting. Just make sure you don't have any nasty scars, or you'll turn out like the scarred heap of shit over there," she sneered as she gestured towards Taira.

The audience let out a mortified collective gasp, though Mizuse didn't seem to care.

"I- Is that why you want us to come to the salon!?" a nervous reporter asked.

"Nah, that's so we can show ya the secret puzzle cafe hidden there. Though if ya wanna rock the smooth do, the gals there will happily oblige," Safumi snickered as she rubbed her head and stepped forward.

The room calmed down a bit though tensions still remained, and increased for a different reason as a keen reporter asked a certain question.

"Uh, wasn't there a secret puzzle cafe over in Mito managed by a middle-aged man? Where is he?"

Everyone on stage began to scowl. "He was let go. We have no need for men in our lives. Though fear not, Himitsuue will now manage his place," Ai coldly stated as Taira stood up and began acting like a dog on its hind legs.

"T- Taira will what?" Tenju trembled as the other SPCMs shot her a malicious smile.

"Yes, guess we're putting a bunch of open secrets out there, but enough talk. How bout some action. If you all come on down to the secret puzzle cafe, you can challenge everyone here to chess. Even us maestros will be challengeable if you ante up," Ai declared.

"'Ante up'? But I thought you said all the SPCMs needed to be beaten first!" a reporter countered.

"Well, doing so will just lower the price needed to challenge us. I mean, some just wanna challenge the best, so why lock it behind a bunch of vaults when a little moolah can solve it. Think of this like a gatcha game. You could either just go off free plays and take an eternity to unlock everything or just splash some cash and get everything in an hour. Now you wanna be part of history? Then to the Spa and salon!"

"Uh, one question. If I go bald, w- Will you date me?" a pervy reporter asked.

Ai shot the reporter a look of pure disgust. "No, we are only into women. Speaking of which, if any of you lovely ladies would like to join the harem, make sure to have the lovely ladies at the salon destroy ALL YOUR HAIR FOLLICLES!"

The audience let out its biggest gasp yet as Xiao Lin and Safumi began dragging Ai away from the podium.

"Maestro Himitsu is just a little excited. Now, please come to the salon for the second half of our conference," Michiko nervously smiled as the others restrained and gagged Ai behind her.

...

Raymond scowled as he heard the news about Maestro Himitsu. However, much to his aide's anxiety, he remained silent for a good few minutes before finally standing up.

"We shall observe for now."

"Huh!? B-"

"Talent. That is all I care about. I care not the path they've taken in life or the person they are. All I care about is if they're good at chess. And that girl certainly has piqued my interest."

"'That girl'?"

"I'm sure you know which one I'm referring to, yes?"

...

At school, Okisato noticed a depressed Mimoko hunched over the lunch table. "You came to school today?" he asked as he sat down.

"...Yes."

"What's bothering you?" Okisato asked as he summoned a chessboard with his WWCF card.

"First off, my father's now missing. I haven't seen him since yesterday, nor is he returning my calls. Second, THIS happened," Mimoko scowled as she shoved her phone in Okisato's face.

On the phone, an article talking about Ai's press conference was shown.

"The maestro? What's so bad about her-"

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU LAST NIGHT!? Michiko-chan suspected the maestro was the one who hurt my mother. Not to mention she was afraid the maestro would catch her, and look at her! She caught her and brainwashed her! But it's not just her, Mizuse Niimi... She's gone insane!"

"You sure that's not her just doing one of her-"

"NO! She hates piercings, yet look at her! She's loaded with piercings!"

Okisato let out a heavy sigh as he zoomed in on the picture of Ai and the SPCMs. "Inoue-senpai, who's the woman in the jade China dress?"

"I- I don't know..."

Okisato let out another sigh and pulled up the article on his phone. As he read through, a scowl began to form on his face. "Inoue-senpai, the woman in the jade China dress is also a maestro."

"WHAT!?"

"This is bad. If your theory is right and all the SPCMs have been brainwashed or are going to be, we might have trouble saving your mother.

"Saving- WAIT! SHE CAN BE SAVED!?"

"Yes, so long as she isn't dead, the DESPER can reverse a punishment, but only if you beat the one who originally bested the one affected by the punishment. Remember, that's how we saved Zenihara-san."

"So then are you saying-"

"It's possible we'll have to go through two maestros in order to save your mother. Not to mention if both are with the Desperado league, they'll likely be targeting us next. Inoue-senpai, are you willing to fight against them?"

Mimoko stared Okisato in the eye and nodded.

“Good, then we’ll go into action once school gets out.”