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Emi didn’t hear a word in class that day.

She was far, far too antsy to listen; if she had any use for pens and paper, her margins would probably be filled with William’s words from last night. “The previous denizen of the stage has made it to your world.” Everything else he’d said paled in comparison: that “denizen” was Mineri, Emi was sure of it! Could it really be that Mineri had returned to the real world? Did that mean her other friends were somehow trapped inside the mirror—the Reflected World, as William had finally called it—too?

The thought was at once thrilling and relieving. Though she’d felt so certain that her friends couldn’t possibly be dead, she supposed there’d always been some little voice in the back of her head telling her that she was just delusional, a grief-stricken girl in denial. But oh, to have something confirm what she so desperately wanted to be true! It felt like she’d spent the last five months clamped in a vise, and only today was she set free.

Of course, that made it all the more difficult to sit idly in a classroom all day when all she wanted was to be out searching for Mineri. But what was she going to do, run around Kyoto shouting a dead girl’s name? Getting scooped up by the police for some kind of psych evaluation wouldn’t help anybody. No, she needed a plan. And she had the makings of one, at least, and although she wasn’t too fond of simply waiting for another sign from the Reflected World to show itself, it seemed like her best course of action. After all, two nights in a row she’d gotten signs from William, who she assumed hailed from there; in fact, it seemed that Mineri herself used to be his “client”, if her understanding was correct. Additionally, the mirror still wouldn’t let her cross, so her only choice seemed to be to wait for… whatever decided to come out and find her.

But at least some threads were popping up, assuring her she wasn’t just entertaining some broad and complex fever dream. People around Hinotori were testier today than yesterday, there was no question about it. It was the same familiar, tense sort of agitation she recalled from a few other locales across town that she and the Torch Bearers had dealt with over the summer; the kind of tension that made you walk on eggshells, fearful that it could snap at any moment. Even the weather seemed angry, judging by the thunder in the distance and the static in the air. The Reflected World was stirring, there was no doubt about it.

In a weird, twisted way, it was almost fun to get back to sleuthing out the Shadows again.

Consumed by thought, Emi missed the toll of the day-end bell, and it wasn’t until a familiar voice sounded right in front of her that she deigned to pay any attention to the world around her.

“Ueno-san, I’m glad I could catch you. I just wanted to...apologize for yesterday. I didn’t mean to come off as insensitive. I was just throwing out potential options. I am grateful that you have taken up the mantle to try and work with the club members. If there’s anything I can do to assist, please let me know.”

Blinking, Emi straightened in her seat, chasing the fog from her head as she tried to absorb what Naomi was saying. “Oh, right,” she finally replied, moving to gather what few things she had on her desk. She took a deep breath, stalling a moment as she brought yesterday’s meeting back to mind. How insignificant it felt now, after learning that such much more important matters were at hand.

“I’m sorry, too, if I came off a little testy. I’m sure you can see that the clubs are a topic pretty close to my heart,” she said, standing. A knot threatened to form in her throat again, but it was less pushy than yesterday; maybe a newfound confirmation of hope was helping her to stay strong. “At the same time, though, I hope that jumping to cuts won’t become a trend on the Council this year. I know the new budget will be a challenge, but like I said yesterday, there’s almost always a way to make it work, as long as we don’t throw things away before trying to fix them. I think we can figure it out.”

Unfolding her cane, Emi hoisted her bag onto her shoulder, gesturing in the direction of the door. “We can discuss more on the way to the meeting, if you’d like,” she suggested, silently hoping that her suspicions would hold true and that the weather would deter the other members from attending. She’d go to save face, but she sincerely hoped she’d find an empty room and with it, an excuse to go looking for her friends without rousing suspicion.

A well-timed, distant boom of thunder punctuated her statement, and she chuckled for good measure. “That is, if anyone bothers going.”

---

---

Oka noticed that it was taking Ueno-san a moment to reply. She seemed to be lost in thought there for a moment. It was then she replied with an apology of her own and Oka felt a sense of relief. The last thing she needed was a rift in the Student Council. Besides, in a way she was still trying to build some sort of relationship with her peers this year without her father knowing.

Oka moved out of Ueno-san’s way so that she could move beside her. Oka began to walk out of the classroom, assuming that Ueno-san would follow. “Well, honestly I didn’t mean it that way. It’s a bad habit of mine. There’s a lot of pressure from administration and I just wanted to throw the feelers out. That and...I guess I just thought of how my father would react.” Oka grew silent for a moment. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. For as long as she could remember, she always worked to earn the respect of her father.

To some degree she felt like she had it and part of her still continued to work hard to keep it. It was a strange ethical dilemma she was experiencing between her father and her school life. Oka had been under this thought process for so long...it was hard to break old habits.

“But I understand, moving forward we will look at other solutions that benefit everyone.” As they walked, Oka thought about Kendo again. It would have been a good time to burn off some frustration but maybe she could really make amends by working with Ueno-san on the club budget. The sound of thunder boomed throughout the school, causing it to rumble. Oka immediately became distracted by it. “So odd that it would be storming today. I’m usually very prepared...what’s going on? I’m sorry to get off topic Ueno-san, first yesterday with the writing on the board and now this random storm today.” Oka couldn’t explain why she felt so uneasy.

"The corruption of that world has started to seep into your own.” That phrase started to ring in her head. It was just a dream right? She just hadn’t gotten enough sleep last night that’s all. Yeah, that had to be it.

---

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The cat was understandably popular, but Daigo was a bit worried all the commotion would spook her again and she'd dart off. Though, one of the onlookers seemed to have stopped more for Hoshino than their new feline companion. She looked familiar somehow, so the redhead assumed she was in their grade or maybe even their class, given her familiarity with the new kid. Or maybe Hoshino was just catching girls' attention everywhere. Figures. The other kid was definitely in their class, though - Mori-kun, if he remembered right. More importantly, he was asking the important questions.

"She was looking for something earlier, but she ran right to Hoshino when she saw him," Daigo explained, "I figured she might be a mother cat looking for k-" His voice trailed off once he registered Noriaki... angry grumbling at the cat? So Hoshino did know her, but then why was he playing dumb earlier? Kinda hard to forget an animal with eyes like that. Evidently, he and the mystery cat didn't get along, though the cat certainly didn't seem to agree with that assessment given how she had acted. Or... maybe he really hated her owner, if he so charmingly referred to them as a 'demon bitch'.

As Hoshino coldly turned away, Daigo reached out to comfortingly scratch the cat's back while it yowled in indignance. Who the hell moves to a new town and immediately gets into beef with a cat? He could at least be nice enough to tell them who the cat belonged to if he was evidently so familiar with her, demon owner or not. The ginger's earlier qualms of the cat not reciprocating the animosity were swiftly dashed, however, when she pulled away from Daigo's hand and snatched Hoshino's shoes. Maybe she liked to steal things and he'd been the victim of her antics once before?

Either way, Daigo moved to stand and offer help retrieving Noriaki's shoes, but the other boy barreled over him before he even had the chance to open his mouth. Hoshino really hated this one cat in particular - maybe if he'd been nicer, he wouldn't be missing his shoes right now. He'd still probably need help cornering the cat, no matter how spirited he gave chase, and Genki seemed a bit too... lethargic to help, if his attitude in class was any indicator. Plus, Daigo absolutely had to know what the new kid had against this cat.

"What was that about?" The boy mused rhetorically as he righted himself from the awkward position Noriaki had shoved him into and stood at last. He shrugged back at the other two students, heedless of the butterfly that had made itself known around the lockers. It wasn't until he'd trotted off in pursuit of the fleeing cat that he noticed it fluttering overhead. Daigo blinked a few times and, still unconvinced, took his glasses off to rub them fruitlessly on the front of his hoodie. It rarely made them any cleaner, but it never stopped him from repeating the futile gesture everytime he saw something weird. Once they were back on his face and the inconspicuous teal dot in the distance had sharpened into a butterfly once again, Daigo was fairly certain he'd be checking in to the insane asylum right alongside Hoshino later. Hallucinations from a recurring dream had to be ranked higher on the crazy scale than desire to fight a cat.

Worse, it was headed right for the gym. The closed gym. Principal's office for trespassing, then insane asylum. So much for going home early. He glanced around to make sure the coast was clear, then slipped into the gym as quietly as the doors would allow. The scene that greeted him was, naturally, Hoshino brandishing a shoe at the poor kitty. And the butterflies. Plural now, apparently. And why was it so cold in there? He would've heard if the new gym had A/C. Clearly he had somehow fallen and knocked himself out on the floor when Noriaki shoved past him.

"Um, Hoshino-kun," The ginger called sheepishly, on the off-chance he could still get in trouble in his dream, "We're not supposed to be in here, so you should probably hurry up..."

---

@Asura@RiverMaiden@Lord Orgasmo

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As he observed the cat more closely, it almost seemed like it knew the boy it was rubbing up against. Maybe it wasn't as stray as he originally thought. Either that, or this kid was exceptionally good with cats. Upon further inspection to the small group that had gathered around, he recognized the two boys, and a third girl who had begun approaching. They were his classmates. He hadn't exactly been able to put names to faces, but he heard a "Hoshino-san" from the girl, presumably Hoshino was the one the cat was rubbing up to.

Now that the novelty of a cat had begun to wear off, Genki remembered that he needed to finish up those posters. He was about to say something, when this supposed Hoshino began muttering to the cat. He sounded... angry. He even had a grip on the cat's head. Guess he must not like cats after all. Or maybe he found cat shit in one of his shoes. That'd piss just about anyone off.

Well, whatever. It was time to get back to work. Or at least it would've been, if he hadn't heard a shout and a brush at his leg. He turned to see the cat had taken off towards the gym, tugging a pair of shoes behind it. Were those...

Before he could finish the thought, Hoshino had taken off towards the cat. Yep, those were his shoes. Though it left one behind as it ran past the gym doors. Running through a gym full of broken glass didn't exactly seem like the best idea, but Hoshino and the redhead took off anyways. As funny as it would be to watch them go traipsing around a gym full of shattered mirrors, Genki decided it would be better to just put the rest of the posters up and head home.

Yet out of the corner of his eye he spotted something blue moving about in the air. It was a butterfly. That's strange. First a cat and now a butterfly? What else was in there, a monkey? Although, he couldn't help be feel a little strange upon seeing the butterfly. Nobody else seemed to care about it, or, at least nobody he could see. It also felt like he'd seen this butterfly before. But where? It was on the tip of his metaphorical tongue, but he couldn't quite place where he had seen it.

Not a moment later, the butterfly returned to the gym, almost as if it was on a predetermined path. Well, this certainly piqued his interest. What other zoological wonder were inside of said gym? Surely just a quick look couldn't hurt.

Heading to the gym doors, he stepped inside and looked around. Yeah, there were certainly a bunch of broken mirrors in there. And Hoshino harassing the cat, though at this point it was pretty deserved. He also noticed that there were now two Butterflies, not just the one. And the air felt... strangely cold, like the AC was on full blast, but only in this room. He heard a voice beside him. It was the redheaded boy. Something about getting in trouble. "Given the fact that a cat stole someone's shoe, we could probably get away with just saying we were playing the good samaritan in helping get our fellow student's possession back. Besides, getting chewed out is totally worth watching this guy dance around after a cat."

---

So this was just the next part of his dream. Daigo had been half-kidding when he entertained the thought earlier, but the sudden shift in atmosphere confirmed it. The butterflies, the blue light; Daigo did miss the melody that had been playing though. It had been an enchanting tune, and it really livened the - what was it called? Silk Room? - up. The silent gym was just ominous. It still felt oddly real for a dream; he had a sense of lucidity that shouldn't have been present through the usual haze of sleep, but he supposed he could say the same about the other visits to the blue train car.

The second shift of lighting quickly turned the dream into a nightmare. Hoshino's warning registered just enough to convince Daigo to hesitantly back up a few steps, though the undulating black mass emerging from the mirror stole his attention far more effectively. It looked like a hand - was a person coming out? Maybe William, he hadn't made an appearance yet. Rather than a man in a blue suit, the ginger was greeted with more hand. And even more hand. And it was fast. The hand cleared the room before Daigo even noticed it was coming for him, and once it seized his leg, Daigo realized he was decidedly not in a dream.

The hand ripped him off his feet and caused him to slam hard on his back, promptly knocking the wind out of him. In lieu of screaming, the ginger sucked air and flailed his arms, clawing for something - anything to grab onto. When he failed to get a firm grasp on either of his classmates' legs, he started to kick futilely at the vice around his ankle. The hand didn't flinch or falter; whatever had grabbed him was either very committed or didn't even notice the sensation. As he slid toward the mirror, Daigo continued scrambling for a handhold, though the smooth floors of the renovated gym offered little in that regard. Wait, Hoshino seemed knowledgable about all this; maybe he knew something.

"Wh-what do I do?! What is this thing?!" Daigo cried frantically, now kicking wildly like a child throwing a tantrum without a better option in sight.

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@Asura@RiverMaiden@Lord Orgasmo

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The girl behind Genki had a point. Staying here would likely result in some sort of trouble, but in his mind it was totally worth it. Though the chewing out he'd get would probably come from her, not the principal. Then, he noticed something strange. The cat holding the shoes put one of its paws on the mirror, and seemed to absorb one of the butterflies, and the soft blue glow from the mirror looked eerily familiar. Just like the butterflies. Then, everything went pear-shaped.

The mirror suddenly turned dark, and something began to come out of the mirror. A black, amorphous blob began to reach out, eventually taking the form of a hand. Genki stood dumbfounded. Was this one of those American prank shows? Were these three in on it? Was the cat in on it? No, it couldn't be. This was too real. And before he could continue the thought, the hand suddenly jumped forward, with extra hands splitting off from it, and wrapping itself around the redhead's leg, pulling him forward before he had time to react.

Hoshino seemed to have some sort of idea of what was going on, as he yelled some kind of warning earlier, which Genki was a little too stunned to hear. He then watched as he dove for the redheaded boy's outstretched hand. But that didn't seem to slow down the hand. Well, if one couldn't do it, how about two?

Genki took off towards the two boys, the occasional piece of glass crunching under his shoes. He lunged forward and grabbed at the other flailing hand of the boy being dragged. He pulled with all his might, trying to slow down the hands, but there wasn't much he could do besides add more weight. The waxed gym floors didn't offer much in the way friction. He looked towards the other boy, Hoshino, or at least, Genki hoped that was his name. "Any idea what to do next? If we keep pulling, will it stop? Do we need more weight?" He looked to where the green-haired girl was. Would she be enough?

---

Three people. That would be enough. It had to be enough. This hand couldn't be that strong. And yet, with every passing second, the door in the distance grew further and further away. Daigo still wanted to scream, but he couldn't will himself to do so. His mouth simply hung open, petrified in fear. Focusing on anything except the floor right in front of him became a challenge, though the hint of blue that still lined his periphery told him it was merely another symptom of panic. Literally nothing he could do here would matter. It was over. As he reached the mirror and the arm saw fit to lift him upward, his mouth finally pursed into a lopsided grin. He wanted to puke.

Then everything was gone, replaced with cold and vertigo and darkness. Did he die? That wasn't so bad.

Daigo's fears weren't assuaged when his body flopped against the cold floor of a new room, mainly because the creepy hand had followed him into the afterlife. It was still there with a vice around his leg like a shackle. He couldn't catch his breath; why couldn't he catch his breath? Dead people didn't breathe. He was alive, but... somewhere new. Even as the hand finally saw fit to release him, his limbs wouldn't stop trembling. Strangely, the other grips remained. Purple. The thing staring at him from the other end of his arm was purple. That wasn't natural.

The redhead pulled his arms away from the two grabbing his wrists with the last bit of strength he could muster, still hyperventilating. He propped himself up just in time to witness some giant figure spear the hand that had harassed him. That new girl did it somehow. Her eyes looked like the cat's. She looked like a cat. Daigo was wrong; he had seen that yellow before. William had the same shade. Maybe a good sign. But why lead him to the hand and then ward it off? Nothing about this was right, he couldn't even think straight. All his thoughts came out choppy. Worse, his glasses probably fell off in the gym. Dazed as he was, the boy didn't have the presence of mind to realize they had simply gotten tangled in his bangs when the hand briefly dangled him upside down as they entered the mirror.

"Who are-" Daigo panted. No, that wasn't appropriate, "What are-" His words failed again as he sucked in another frantic breath. The potentially evil catgirl called the thing with the purple eyes her devil. Devils weren't good. But... she helped him. Was she just warding off another predator when she attacked the hand so she could eat him? "Think... 'm gonna throw up."

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@Asura@RiverMaiden@Lord Orgasmo

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Emi was admittedly a little too distracted to listen carefully to what Naomi was saying, tapping her way alongside the girl with her head in the clouds—literally. The tumultuous weather was growing nearer by the minute by the sound of it, and if it decided to settle upon the school, Emi was pretty sure she’d have another clue. An actual storm whipped up by corruption bleeding through from the Reflected World… that would probably be the biggest disturbance she and her friends had seen if it was true. What did that say about the scale of the disturbance, then? Was what stirred inside the mirror this time a more formidable foe than she’d faced before? And how could she hope to take it on alone?

Those thoughts and others troubled her as she walked, though it was as if Naomi read her mind, bringing up the thunder of her own accord. “The writing on the board and the weather? You think they’re connected somehow?” she feigned ignorance, tossing Naomi an innocent shrug. “I mean, I’m no meteorologist, but who knows? Maybe the electricity building up from the storm riles people up or something?”

There wasn’t much time for further conversation; as they rounded the corner to the Student Council room, a familiar presence made itself known—in the form of shouting at them, anyway.

"Naomi-enpai! Ueno-senpai! You haven't seen Nakano-senpai or the third year Yamamoto, have you?"

“Nakano-san isn’t here yet?” Emi asked in return, brow knit in confusion. The weather was likely going to call off the meeting, sure, but from what Emi knew of Nakano, she wouldn’t be the type to shirk her duty as President until she knew nobody else would be there.

As for Yamamoto, the first person who came to mind was Yamamoto Kenta, the son of a wealthy benefactor of the school. But what did he have to do with anything? Kinoshita sounded more than a little distressed—had something happened to them? “I haven’t come across either of them, why? What’s wrong?”

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Maybe she was just overthinking things. She didn’t really think they were connected, more like the instances were strange. The students were really acting out of character lately. The rise of delinquency was very unlike the school. It was to the point that administration was involving the student council to help manage these issues. Everything just felt off. Then the weather this morning, she initially put it off as a potential error by the meteorologist but the fact that they had gone from no chance of rain to this was a bit odd.

Either way, she couldn’t argue against Ueno-san. Instead, she opted to stay silent and not say anything further. As they rounded the corner to head to the Student Council room, their familiar kouhai came shouting at them. Odd, she didn’t see him as the type to behave this way.

“Yamamoto-san? Hm? Why would I know where he is? And now that you mention it, Nakano-san as well? She’s not here either?” Oka was as puzzled as Ueno-san. For one, she didn’t have too much of a close relationship with Yamamoto-san. What little she did know of him, she didn’t like. He reminded her of a pesky, dirty little weasel. He never gave her the aura that he was truly pleasant to be around. Word around school was that he often gave Nakano-san trouble. That alone was more than enough reason not to like him. She respected Nakano-san too much. She tried not to make a face at the mere mention of the boy.

“It is odd that she’s not here. I understand the weather, but I would’ve assumed she would’ve mentioned something to us today.” And as Ueno-san asked if anything was wrong, Oka followed up with, “Is there something we can help you with instead?”

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