"Some wounds hide in the light. But the mirror sees them all."
Film Club Hall – Yoyogi Academy
May 4, 2011 – 3:31 PM
The room hummed with after-school energy—students flipping through scripts, adjusting lights, reviewing footage.
Akane Kurokawa sat among them, quiet.
A script lay open on her lap. She hadn't turned the page in fifteen minutes.
Across the table, Ruby leaned in gently. "Akane-chan? You okay?"
Akane blinked, as if pulled from somewhere far away.
"Of course, Ruby-chan. Why wouldn't I be?"
But her smile was thin. Fragile.
And her fingers trembled faintly as she turned the page.
From across the room, Souta watched her.
Her reflection in the window…
It blinked before she did.
His stomach tightened.
Hoshino Residence – Night
8:12 PM
Souta paced, hands buried deep in his sleeves.
"Her soul's tethered."
Ai sighed, rubbing her temple. "What does that mean?"
"She's being studied," Souta murmured. "By the Mirror. It doesn't replace you immediately—it learns your cracks first. It becomes you from the inside out."
Aqua sat forward. "Can you break it?"
"I could…" Souta hesitated. "But if I shatter the tether too soon, she'll forget everything. Her career. Her friends. Us."
Ruby's fists tightened. "There has to be another way."
A voice cut through.
"There is."
Everyone turned.
Happy perched on the edge of the couch, ears twitching.
"We enter the Mirror through her dreams. The infection is psychic now. If Souta can reach her mind before the Mirror finishes binding, he can separate her—without loss."
Akane's Dreamworld – The Theater of Masks
12:00 AM
Akane stood in the center of a surreal stage, a blank mask covering her face.
The seats were filled—every one occupied by reflections of her.
One crying. One screaming. One dead-eyed.
And in the front row sat her Mirror.
It wore Ai's face.
"You are nothing without a role," it whispered.
Akane's throat tightened. "That's not true."
The Mirror's lips twisted, mask contorting.
"Then who are you now?"
The stage lights shifted—brightening suddenly.
From above, Souta descended like a burst of light, clutching Happy like a plush sword.
"She's Akane," he said fiercely. "She's kind, strong, and more than the roles she plays."
The crowd of reflections hissed.
The Mirror-Ai rose from its seat.
"You're just a child," it murmured. "You don't understand loneliness."
Souta took a step forward.
His voice was quieter now.
"I do."
Showdown – The Battle for Akane's Identity
Inside the Dream Theater
The stage cracked under the Mirror's words—each syllable shifting reality.
"You lied about your emotions."
"You became who others needed."
"You don't know how to love."
Souta didn't strike back.
He turned to Akane.
"What do you want?"
Akane's breath hitched. She looked at him, voice shaking.
"I… I want to be me. Not just the girl who mimicked Ai. Not just an actress. Not a doll."
Souta held out his hand.
"Then say your name."
The Mirror shrieked—but Akane's fingers curled around the edges of her mask.
And she ripped it off.
"I am Kurokawa Akane!!"
Light erupted from the center of the stage.
Real World – Akane's Apartment
5:44 AM
Akane jolted awake.
Her breath came uneven, her hands gripping the sheets.
A moment passed.
And then—
She sobbed.
Not from fear.
From relief.
She reached for her phone, fingers shaking.
Unread Messages: 14
Ruby. Ai. Souta. Aqua.
She opened Souta's first.
"You're you. And we love that."
Her chest tightened.
Tears slipped down her cheeks, warm against her skin.
She smiled.
Yoyogi Academy Courtyard
May 5, 2011 – 1:32 PM
Akane spotted Souta under the tree and walked straight to him.
She smacked him lightly on the head.
Then pulled him into a fierce hug.
"Thank you, Souta-kun." Her voice was steady. Honest. "For reminding me."
Souta grinned, sinking into her shoulder.
Aqua gave her a nod. "You okay now?"
Akane exhaled. "Still a little shaken. But I think… for the first time in forever, I'm not playing a part."
Ruby squeezed her arm. "Welcome back."
Happy climbed onto Souta's shoulder, tail flicking.
"Another mirror shattered," he murmured. "But I smell something worse coming."
The group turned.
Far in the distance, beneath the quiet hum of the city—
A crack loomed in the sky.
Thin. Barely visible.
But spreading.