A walk in the woods

The next morning, Mimoko trudged into the Triple cedar hotel salon with her head hung low.

"You don't look good. Want to talk with me?" Michiko asked as she approached Mimoko.

"...Yeah."

The two ended up taking a stroll through the backwoods behind the hotel.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out, and that your brother was killed," Michiko sighed.

"It wasn't your fault. The Desperados got us. I'm honestly glad you managed to take out that madwoman."

"All I needed was enough willpower to suffocate that bald fanatic with wax. If you ask me, she deserved it for how she used me and made me do such heinous and degenerate acts. But I guess she was one step ahead of us all. Damn Xiao lin. What possessed her to side with the Desperados!?"

"Speaking of which, what about the DESPER?"

"I don't know. The WWCF president said we should be able to just store it away and never use it, however, he also warned that DESPERs have a way of finding their way back to their holders. That's actually how the false maestro got the jump on me. I thought I hid her DESPER in the trash, yet as soon as I returned to Triple cedar, there she was with her DESPER."

"I heard the maestro is still missing. So everything was for naught, no, we just made things worse. Okaa-chan's still not waking up, Otou-san's still missing, Kotora's dead... Kotora's dead..."

Michiko embraced Mimoko in a warm hug. "Don't worry, I'll be here for you whenever you need me," she smiled as Mimoko bawled her eyes out.

...

Okisato scowled as he found himself face to face with Raymond Redfield inside a conference room.

"You have a nasty look in your eyes, Okisato Tanabe," Raymond glared.

"I'm sure you know why."

"Naturally. Though that doesn't change reality. However, I decided to consult your services for the benefit of the both of us."

"What do you mean?"

"We want you to take down the mastermind behind all this," Himitsudono stated as he approached the two."

"Then I take it the president has the power to make things right?"

"Sadly, there is nothing I can do for the wounded SPCMs as the irreversible clause was in effect. However, Mimoko Inoue's mother is a different story," Raymond stated as he pulled a gold skeleton key out of his pocket. He then pulled up his WWCF card and shoved his key into it, causing it to turn purple and change his rating from 2899 to 2999.

"So you had hidden secrets too, Mr. President," Okisato glared.

"This is merely my true rating. Though I keep the lower rating and play at that level should I be challenged by normal combatants," Raymond stated as he pulled up some match data.

Before Okisato could get a good look, Raymond put away his WWCF card and began walking out.

"Fear not, when you face the mastermind, just make the winning conditions, "The reversal of the punishment unfairly inflicted upon Daria Inoue as she was deceived into being a spectator and being put in a comatose state should her "teammate" Maestro Xiao lin lose to your proxy, Ai Kamuro". Now allow me to ask, do you know who the mastermind is?"

Okisato nodded and stated his answer, eliciting a round of applause from Raymond.

"And how did you come to that deduction?"

"After hearing what Inoue-senpai told me about her and comparing that with what happened with the SPCMs, she was clearly the one secretly pulling the strings."

"Then let us confront her. I have a bone to pick with her as well."

"For kidnapping the maestro?"

"For snuffing out talent."

...

Mimoko finally stopped crying, allowing her and Michiko to continue on their stroll.

"Mimoko, I believe I should tell you something important. The WWCF president has recently decided to make me the next Maestro Himitsu," Michiko stated.

"What do you mean?"

"I guess he feels Himitsu isn't coming back, or simply wants the show to go on while he forms a rescue team. The Ultima-master is rumored to be hidden in Antarctica, but naturally, that place is a barren wasteland, so who knows where it could be hidden. But onto my main point. Should I accept this offer, I'd need to reorganize and find new SPCMs since all the old ones are either dead or out of commission. As such, I was wondering if you would be willing to be one."

"M- Me?"

"Yes, since I would be promoted to maestro, someone would need to manage Triple cedar in my place as an SPCM. I feel you would be perfect for the role."

"But will you be OK as maestro?"

Michiko smiled warmly and patted Mimoko on the head. "Believe it or not, I actually applied to be the original Maestro Himitsu, but well, lost to the woman that would become her. I then decided to become one of her SPCMs, but as a result, my rating was permanently frozen, and thus does not show my true skill."

"Your rating is frozen?"

Michiko nodded and pulled up her WWCF card. The rating you see is simply what my rating was when I attempted to join the maestro project- Oh, I forgot that's a secret we can only tell when you best all 7 secret chess maestros. Guess I'm making a bad first impression as a maestro," Michiko grinned as Mimoko began to giggle. "Glad it got a laugh out of ya. So wanna become an SPCM? Your rating would still stand, so no need to worry about that, though you would be required to play at your rating level."

Mimoko smiled and turned to Michiko. "I'm honestly not sure, but you truly made me feel better. Thanks, Michiko-chan."

"No worries. Accept or decline, I'll make due. There isn't a rapid deadline though, so feel free to think about it."

"No, there is a deadline," Okisato stated as he, Raymond, and Himitsudono emerged from the bushes.

"Tanabe-kun, Himitsudono, and the WWCF president!? What's going on!?" Mimoko cried.

"Inoue-senpai, the one who orchestrated all of this and targeted your family, was Michiko Azami."

Mimoko began to go pale as she turned to face Michiko. "Mi- Michiko-chan-"

"Ah, guess if the president's here, the act is up. The oni-tiger's right. I'm the puppet maestro," Michiko sneered as put her hand on her head and proceeded to rip off the bald cap she was secretly wearing along with the latex covering up her eyebrows. She then ran her hand through her gloopy, but perfectly intact, short blue hair.

Mimoko began to tremble as Michiko began to smirk. "Mi- Michiko-chan. Wh- Why is-"

"-My hair intact? Because it was never shaved off in the first place," Michiko sneered as she began styling her hair.

"So that's why you were the only one amongst the bald harem with eyelashes," Okisato glared.

"Correct. You can't exactly make yourself look lashless without actually removing your eyelashes, but you can sure as hell make yourself appear bald and browless with a little makeup."

"That wasn't the only thing that tipped me off that you were pulling the strings."

"Oh, what was it, detective boy?"

"Your ego."

"My 'ego' you say?"

"Yes. You just can't help showing off that you know the name of every opening and gambit in chess. Maybe because that's the only thing you're good at, though Inoue-senpai-"

"Shut up. SHUT UP! I'M the best when it come to chess terminology! AND I'm the best female chess player in the world!"

"Really? Is that why you kidnapped the real maestro?"

Michiko began to scowl. "I hate her. I HATE HER! THAT BITCH HAS ALWAYS BEEN PUTTING ME DOWN EVER SINCE WE FIRST MET! HOW DARE A WOMAN LIKE HER BE BETTER THAN ME IN CHESS! Well, now I'M going to be maestro!"

"So it was envy then," Raymond scoffed as he stepped forward.

"Yes, and I imagine her envy was also why she decided to punish all her pawns the way she did. She was jealous of Himitsuue's skill so she had her humiliated and killed, jealous of Himitsutan's loyalty to her sister so she killed her sister, jealous of Himitsusan's speed, so she crippled her, and jealous of Himitsusama's beauty so she marred her look by having her go bald and cover her entire body in tattoos and piercings. Himitsukun is the only one I'm unsure about, but considering I found out that she's now working as a prostitute for one of the most influential men in Hokkaido, I imagine that man or perhaps someone related to him is the root of why you decided to subject Himitsukun to such a fate. Though I'm curious about Ai."

Michiko immediately burst into laughter. "I found her by chance. She was so good, it pissed me off. Luckily, she was so horny, all I had to do was tell her I'd strip and shave all my hair off if she threw the game, and wouldn't you know it, she did! Thanks to my DESPER secretly being activated, she became my proxy, but unlike the others, I decided to give her more freedom and let her keep her personality. Sure I had to put up with all her lustful bullshit, but it was worth it to get to this point. Oh if only no one had suspected me, she would have been the perfect scapegoat for this incident.

Mimoko stared in horror. "H- How could you? HOW COULD YOU!?"

"'How could I'? Simple, I hate them. I hate that bald fetish bitch, the other SPCMs, and you and your mother. That's why I made sure all the punishments would be irreversible."

"I- 'Irreversible'?"

"Yes, it means even if you beat me, NOTHING will be reversed! The other SPCMs won't return to how they were, and your mother will never wake up again! So ready to play?"

As Mimoko began to be overwhelmed by the revelation, Okisato stepped in. "You'll play me, SPCM Himitsuchan," he glared as he pulled up the secret puzzle cafe app on his WWCF card and scrolled to the point menu.

"Boy, we aren't in a secret-"

"I can override that, now bring forth your DESPER," Raymond glared as he pulled out his gold skeleton key.

Michiko's eyes widened a bit, but she maintained her composure and activated her DESPER. "Now should I win, I'll be acknowledged as the true Maestro Himitsu of Japan, and Okisato Tanabe shall be subjected to a cruel death by being impaled several times over by the branches of the tree behind me."

"And should I win, the reversal of the punishment unfairly inflicted upon Daria Inoue as she was deceived into being a spectator and being put in a comatose state should her "teammate", Maestro Xiao Lin, lose to your proxy, Ai Kamuro, shall occur. Not to mention, you Michiko Azami shall be subjected to whatever fate, WWCF president Raymond Redfield decrees upon you," Okisato declared.

Michiko's eyes widened a bit more as she stared at her DESPER. "Tch, so it didn't consider the match completely fair, and refused to enforce the irreversible clause."

"Michiko, you killed Ai Kamuro. She had great talent, yet you snuffed her out. Even though she was a quasi-proxy of yours, she could have been a chess legend, yet you stole that from her. And since you killed her outside the world of chess, you have broken my cardinal sin. And I'm sure you're well aware of what happens to those that break the cardinal sin," Raymond glared.

A single bead of sweat dripped down Michiko's face, yet she still maintained her cool. "I'm challenging the young man. He lost to me before when I was holding back, but now that I no longer need to, I can unleash my true strength."

"So how skilled do you claim to be?" Okisato glared.

"My true rating should be 3000, since I am maestro material.”

A glass dome then appeared around Michiko and Okisato, sealing them off from the outside.

“It seems the DESPER will allow you to play as white, though it won't do you much good,” Michiko sneered as she sat down at the black end of the chessboard.

"Perfect, then let's begin. I know exactly how I'm going to humiliate you,” Okisato glared.