"If you stare too long into the mirror… eventually, it blinks first."
Hoshino Residence – Aqua's Room
May 2, 2011 – 11:43 PM
Aqua sat alone at his desk, the overhead light casting stretched shadows over the books and scripts stacked haphazardly around him.
The window was shut. The air was still.
He stared at a page of scribbled notes, reviewing them for what felt like days. The words blurred—not from exhaustion, but something else.
A hollow silence filled the room.
Then—
tap tap.
Aqua's breath caught.
His gaze lifted to the mirror hanging on his closet door.
His reflection blinked.
Out of sync.
"You again…" he murmured.
Slowly, Aqua pushed his chair back and stood.
The image in the mirror—his own face—tilted its head just slightly, lips curling into something barely-there, mocking.
Then, it whispered.
"You're not the real Aqua. Just a puppet pretending not to be Gorou."
Aqua's stomach twisted. His pulse ticked against his throat.
And then—
The mirror shattered.
His pupils dilated.
Family Meeting – Living Room
May 3, 2011 – 7:01 AM
Ruby rushed into the room, the urgency in her steps making Ai's stomach turn before she even spoke.
"Something's wrong with Aqua!"
Ai stiffened, slowly setting her coffee down. "What do you mean?"
Ruby's voice faltered. "He was mumbling all night. He didn't sleep. And when I tried talking to him, he—" She swallowed hard. "He asked me who Sarina was."
The silence that followed wasn't empty.
It was charged.
Souta's toast slipped from his hand. "No…"
Happy, curled beside Ai, barely whispered, "The mirror's messing with his soul."
Miyako leaned forward from the sofa, arms crossed tight. "Can you stop it?"
Souta inhaled, standing slowly.
He was too calm.
"I can try."
Inside Aqua's Mind – Mirror Rebirth
11:11 AM
Souta pressed his forehead to Aqua's, sinking into the space between them—falling not into the Mirrorworld, but into Aqua's fractured mind.
He landed in a hospital corridor.
Flickering fluorescent lights hummed overhead.
The walls stretched outward, sterile, endless.
No footsteps. No movement.
Just distant echoes—soft cries, muffled voices from a past too far to reach.
Souta turned a corner—
And saw him.
Gorou Amamiya.
He stood motionless, clutching Ai's DVD in his hands. His eyes were red—swollen, tired, worn from things only he had lived.
A wall of memories flickered behind him.
Some were real.
Some were fabricated.
Ai smiling. Ai bleeding. Ai singing. Ai dying.
"You don't belong here," Gorou murmured, voice almost too quiet to hear.
Souta exhaled slowly.
"Yes, I do," he answered. "I'm your brother."
Gorou turned to him, slow, hesitant—like waking up from a dream.
The world around them flickered, moments shifting—the lines blurring between Aqua and Gorou.
"You wanted to protect her," Souta said softly.
Gorou's fingers curled tighter around the DVD.
"I did."
"Then come back." Souta's voice trembled just slightly. "We need you whole. Not divided. Not haunted."
A pause.
The light above buzzed.
And from the darkness behind Gorou—
A mirror stepped forward.
Aqua's reflection.
But not like before.
Cracked. Seething.
"He doesn't want your love," the reflection whispered. "He wants revenge."
Souta's breath hitched, his heartbeat pushing against his ribs.
He clenched his fists.
"Then he's going to have to fight me for it."
Real World – Aqua's Bedroom
11:14 AM
Aqua convulsed in bed, hands tightening into the sheets, muscles stiff with something unnatural.
Ruby and Ai held onto him, gripping his arms, whispering to him, pleading.
Happy paced circles on the floor, tail twitching, ears flicking back anxiously.
And then—
Everything stilled.
Aqua's breathing steadied.
Slowly, his lashes fluttered—his eyes opening.
Golden flecks shimmered for a second, remnants of Souta lingering in the edges of his irises.
His voice was hoarse. Fragile.
"...Mama?"
Ai pulled him into her arms without hesitation.
"Yes, sweetheart," she whispered. "You're back."
Aqua blinked, stilling in her hold.
He looked at Ruby. At Souta.
Then slowly, down at his own hands.
"I remembered everything," he murmured. "Gorou. The stalker. Ai dying. My obsession."
His fingers curled into his palms.
"I don't want to live like that anymore."
Rooftop – That Night
10:38 PM
The triplets lay beneath the stars, Ai stretched out beside them, the blanket beneath them soft against the concrete.
"You saved me," Aqua murmured.
Souta exhaled, resting an arm behind his head.
"We saved each other," he said softly. "Now you're whole."
Aqua closed his eyes briefly, his voice carrying something quieter, something heavier.
"You know… I used to think revenge gave me purpose."
"And now?" Souta asked.
Aqua hesitated.
Then, slowly—
"Now I think… love does."
Happy rolled onto his back, dramatically sighing. "Finally."
Ruby giggled, nudging him with her elbow.
Ai turned her head, glancing at her boys.
"You're still my babies, you know that?"
"We're sixteen," Aqua groaned.
"And I'll still ground you if you sneak out," Ai said simply.
Their laughter filled the rooftop, warm and familiar.
But—
Far off, across the city—
Beyond their world, in the corridors of glass and memory—
The Mirror That Walks stared into a new surface.
Kana's reflection wasn't alone anymore.
Behind her stood another girl.
Familiar.
Glowing faintly.
Akane Kurokawa.