Chapter 68: Hope Shines on the Shore

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New Beginning - Persona 5

"Huh? A beach volleyball tournament?"

The Phantom Thieves decided to leave the cottage a little later today and made sure during the early morning that everything they brought with them was packed and ready to go for when they left the next morning. After that, they'd made their way out onto the beach one last time, with Monomi now kitted out in her own custom swimsuit and more happy than ever.

Hajime and Makoto had been relaxing on the sand when Shuichi approached with the proposal.

"Kaede told me that it might be a good idea to do something to remember our vacation here," Shuichi explained, "She and Komaru said that we couldn't leave the beach without playing at least one game of beach volleyball. The rest of the girls seemed like they agreed, so they got me to come over and ask the two of you. If you don't want to, that's fine, but..."

"What do you think?" Makoto asked Hajime, "You up for it?"

"I mean...If everybody else is in on it, I'm on board too," Hajime affirmed, "but I'm not really sure how to play...Should be simple, right?"

"Yeah," Makoto replied, "we just have to keep the ball from hitting the ground, and if it touches the floor, we lose. And...we'll need some teams, so...I'm guessing we're going to have to split up."

"Yeah, Kaede said we'd draw straws," Shuichi explained, "the net is over by that way, if you'd like to join."

Makoto looked over to the net. Sure enough, Kaede, Kyoko, Komaru, Kotoko, Monomi, and Toko were all waiting there, standing on the side and watching. Toko, who had been very reluctant to get in the sun, was acting a lot more hospitable today.

"Sure," Makoto nodded, "let's go."

"Alright..." Hajime sighed.

They all walked over to the group waiting by the net, where Kaede had brought a bunch of small sticks, with one end tipped with white paint. She smiled when she noticed the trio coming over.

"Hey!" She greeted, "Are you guys ready?"

"Yeah, sure," Makoto answered.

"Then, we'll just draw some of these to figure out the teams," Kaede said.

Everybody drew straws, and the teams were as follows: Kaede paired with Toko, while Komaru coupled with Chiaki. They would be the first two to go, and in the meantime, Hajime teamed up with Kyoko, and Makoto was with Shuichi for whatever round came afterwards. Kotoko, once again, decided to play the referee role as she had done with the beach flag game.

"Let's just start off with one set each," Toko suggested, "it's not like we're gonna be here forever, anyway..."

"I'm gonna serve!" declared Kaede.

"Okay!" Komaru affirmed.

"Are you two even listening to me!?" Toko yelled.

Dismayed, their game got underway while Kyoko and the boys watched from the side.

Last Surprise: ☆Taku Takahashi Remix - Persona 5 Dancing In Starlight

"Here we go!" Kaede smacked her cheeks and grabbed the ball, "You ready?"

"Bring it." Chiaki...SEEMED to cheer, but she seemed less than enthusiastic. It was worrying to think about whether she had the energy for it. She was stationed in the back to catch the ball while Komaru took front to serve it.

Kaede jumped into the air and served the ball straight towards the other side. Her shot was fairly fast and ordinarily would have been difficult to counter, but Komaru slid quickly along the sand and received the shot without a hitch.

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