Aren't you somethin' to admire, cause your shine is somethin' like a mirror
The first time she comes across the distinct silver eyes of her counterpart was the first few days after she returns home from her hospital stay. Having awakened to the power of Persona took a large toll on her, and she really wasn't in the mood to ponder about it after having Ikutsuki explain the details.
Walking to the sink to wash her tired face and pull out her barrettes, she nearly screamed in surprise when she saw a blue-haired boy in place of where her reflection should be. She backed away a few steps and collided with her desk, where the books piled on top started to slide and hit the floor. Her hands covered her mouth to restrict the urge to shriek, in case the other inhabitants heard her and came running.
The boy on the other hand seemed to just stand at where he was, and though his silver eyes widened at the sight, he made no other notion than a curious tilt of his head to the side.
"Who are you?" They both said simultaneously, though her voice was one of terror and his more of a genuine question. His voice was somewhat unclear due to the glass of the mirror it seemed, but other than that she heard him. Calming her thumping heart down, she took deep breaths as she slowly approached the mirror, as if afraid that it would spontaneously combust.
He seemed amused as he observed her, waiting expectantly for her to ask the same question again.
"Who are you?" She repeated, all signs of surprise fading away into anger. "What are you? Is this some sort of practical joke?"
"I could ask you the same thing."
Pause. She was unfazed, as was he.
"Explain."
"Minato."
"W-wait, what?"
"My name." He shrugged. "Didn't you want to know who I was?"
"O-oh." She became flustered as she realized he wasn't joking. She stood up straight out of her cautious stance, but was unwilling to let her defenses down. Carefully looking around the background of this 'Minato' person, she realized it was the exact same room as hers, parallelling each other, except his curtains and bedsheets were a deep blue instead of a light pink. Her face betrayed the absolute confusion she was experiencing; since when do mirrors do such things? And this boy was actually in the mirror- he wasn't mimicking her actions when she backed into the desk, and certainly wasn't as expressive as she was at the current moment.
Her vision trailed from his room to his face, meeting his silver eyes. The sudden eye contact caused her to blink in surprise. She felt like she knew him from somewhere- he felt extremely familiar, like she was friends with him all her life.
"Have I...met you somewhere before?" She spoke, dazed and confused. He shrugged again, staring into her own eyes as she did to his.
"I don't think I've seen a more striking eye colour than yours before." She blushed at the comment as he gave her a small smile, as if he knew what was going on. Realizing that she was staring, she broke the eye contact, turning her focus to the sink instead. His gaze followed her movements. "You've never told me your name."
"M-my name?"
"Yes."
"Minako." She stuttered, surprised now at the similarity between their names. "What's going on...?"
He looked upwards at the ceiling as if he was thinking, contemplating. "Seems to me like you're my reflection."
"I look nothing like you," she stated, folding her arms defensively. "How on earth do you reflect me?"
"Metaphorically."
She dropped her arms, as blank as ever. "Explain."
"Ever heard of parallel dimensions?" His expression maintained its poker face even though she stared at him in apparent disbelief. " You're me in another world."
"How on earth does that work? That's impossible..." her words trailed off. If the power of Persona and Shadows existed, who was to say that something as unbelievable as this was impossible? Certainly not her.
"You're pretty attractive for the female version of me." He said nonchalantly, observing the details of her room now that she was distracted. She glared at him, a blush spreading across her cheeks. He shrugged yet again at her, his eyes expressing the smile he was hiding as she began to ask him more questions.
Aren't you somethin', an original, cause it doesn't seem merely assembled
When Igor told him that there was a parallel version of him in another world, experiencing what he did, he became interested with the new relevation. Yes, he was bound to the duties and tasks of the Great Seal, the barrier between humanity and the massive entity that would bring calamity to the world, but now that she had taken her place as the Messiah, the two would need to form the Great Seal together- being that she was his counterpart, his soulmate, the half to his whole.
"The Universe works in unexplainable ways." Igor stated cryptically, as Elizabeth stood next to his left, unmoving, and a man that bore similiarities to her in appearance- her brother, Theodore, as he has introduced himself- stood on Igor's right. "Your counterpart, as well as yourself, are ones of the few guests that the Universe has chosen to enlight on this matter." He smiled as the blue-haired boy looked up.
"I've never even met her."
"Indeed," He agreed. "But she is you, as you are she- sounds familiar, does it not?"
"I am thou. Thou art I."
His eyes closed.
"I understand."
But she was certainly not him in terms of personality.
Though he was quiet and at most times minded his own business, uninterested in the irrelevance of petty affairs such as rumors or local gossips, she was bright and bubbly, talking to him with just about anything. It was a rough and rocky start, as he'd wait patiently for her while she took her time adjusting to this new situation of having a different person as your reflection- but that's just exactly it. She wasn't a carbon copy of him made into a woman. She was vastly different from him, but complemented him in every opposite way possible.
And unlike him, she was very sociable in all aspects. She'd talk to him, laughing about the jokes Junpei told her, how Akihiko brings her to all these lovely places to eat after they trained, how Shinjiro was actually a big lovable softie at heart, how Ken would bring her flowers whenever she felt ill. Of course she didn't talk about the boys all the time- she'd talk about how Yukari was the bestest friend she ever had (apart from Junpei of course), how Mitsuru was like a big sister she adored, how entertaining it was to educate Aigis and how fun it was to spend time cooking with Fuuka. She'd also talk about how peaceful it was to have walks with Koromaru, running around and seeing who was the fastest.
It made him feel a little lonely, and most significant of all- jealous. It was a large conflict within him and he hid it very well. This crimson-eyed, beautiful girl was his soulmate, and all these boys suddenly seem to want to be with her, not that he could blame them. But what stood out most was how she was so much closer with the SEES group than he was- he could tell she was well-loved and cared for from each direction. But unlike the jealousy and loneliness he felt in comparing situations with hers, he was relieved that she was her own person- a warm and kind personality within the body of a seventeen-year old girl.
Cause I don't wanna lose you now
I'm lookin' right at the other half of me
The vacancy that sat in my heart
Is a space that now you hold
He fell in love.
Eventually everything she did earned his love- the way she'd absent-mindedly tug on her hair whenever she got nervous, how she'd ask him how his day was despite it always being the same, (she was being considerate) the way she'd tell him her stories and ask for the parallel details on his side. She laughed when he told her about how he met 'Maya' on Innocent Sin Online and how it turned out to be a certain composition teacher, and asked questions about how he dealt with Tartarus levels and Shadows. It was so easy to talk to her, so easy to listen, so easy to understand each other. He'd talk about what sort of music they listened to, and in an attempt to connect more they'd put the other half of their identical headphones to the mirror surface so the other could place their ear there and hear the music.
She'd grin brightly, genuinely, laugh whole-heartedly and smile widely when she was with him, and everything would be perfect if there was no mirror to separate them.
And now it's clear as this promise
That we're making two reflections into one
Cause it's like you're my mirror
My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me
The fated day was approaching, and fast. She was staring at an open notebook filled with her writing, but her thoughts far from where she was seated.
She had broken down into tears when she told him, and he was left with his heart aching as he tried to comfort her.
"You'll be okay. I promise."
She sobbed quietly as he placed a hand on the mirror. "I'm right here for you."
She nodded through the tears, placing her hand on where his was. "Thank you, Minato."
"I love you."
It was so sudden that she stopped crying and looked up into his eyes. "W-what?"
He smiled. "I love you."
Her crimson eyes widened as she wiped away the tears, genuinely confused. "B-but Minato, I-"
"It doesn't matter that we're separated like this," he closed his eyes, satisfied he told her. "I'm in love with you."
There was a pregnant pause in the room, until she gave him a small giggle, smiling as he blushed at how adorable she was. "I love you too."
In present time her crimson eyes were hazy as she stared out the window. He decided to ask her what was wrong.
"How did you deal with it?" She asked quietly as she continued to stare out the window. "Knowing the world is about to end?"
He had refused to tell her the details leading up to the events of becoming the Great Seal for obvious reasons. Sparing her from the inevitable was impossible- she'd eventually go down that path all the same- but he knew she needed time to adjust and adapt, just like in the early stages of their relationship. Letting her know too early would be too much of an alteration to her world.
"You'll know how."
"I'm not asking on how I can deal with it." She turned to him, eyebrows furrowed. "I'm asking how you accepted it."
"Haven't you?"
She shook her head. "I have. All this time I've been thinking on how I should go about this- but what did you do?"
He himself shrugged and shook his head. "You'll find out what I did."
They stared at each other in silence. Her crimson eyes broke away from his silver irises, having decided that what he said was best.
Thinking what he said had hurt her, he placed his hand on the mirror glass, as they always did whenever they wanted to do something as close to holding hands. "Because you're me, and I'm you."
She glanced at him again, and sighed, standing up and walking over to the mirror. Placing both hand and forehead on the surface, she closed her eyes and smiled as he did the same, reflecting each other. "I know."
You are you are the love of my life
The crushing weight that she previously felt started to disappear- she was glowing, radiating a brilliant light as she stood up to face Nyx and the end of the world. Akihiko screamed out her name, the rest begging her to not go alone- but she started to float to the transformed moon, ready to face the biggest battle she'd ever confront.
His voice was there as she collapsed under the obliterating power of the manifestation of Death, alongside the voices of the other SEES members, coming last as she lifted her finger up to the sky in order to summon the Great Seal.
"I'm with you till the very end."
She closed her eyes and everything became white.
So now I say goodbye to the old me, it's already gone
And I can't wait wait wait wait wait to get you home
March came around and she became more exhausted than ever. She slept more than usual, and for some reason she had this urge to look at the mirror for no apparent reason. There was nothing but her reflection, of course.
She had dreams- dreams of a blue-haired boy coming to greet her in an absolute white nothingness, his silver eyes smiling at her even if his face didn't. She knew this boy- she was certain they knew each other for almost their whole lives, and if she was any more certain, she'd bet that this boy was also someone she dearly loved.
He'd take her hand and place his forehead against hers, and she'd comply and go along with it. His silver eyes would become somewhat melancholic as he tells her, in an indistinct, dream-distorted voice,
"Just to let you know, you are-"
And then she'd wake up, hands clenched in the position as if she was still holding his own hands. Lather, rinse and repeat.
Later that day she found herself on Gekkoukan High's rooftop with Aigis, who had finished telling her her final resolution- to protect her. She was strangely relieved to be so sleepy- the world seemed at peace, and with Nyx defeated she thought she had earned a little more rest when the gang's voices can be heard, approaching footsteps getting louder.
I think I'll get a little shut eye at least...sorry guys.
Her eyelids felt so heavy, and unknowingly breathing her last, she closed them.
You're my reflection and all I see is you
My reflection, in everything I do
"Took you long enough."
Here she was again, in this absolute nothingness, except the blue-haired boy- Minato- was standing there, gazing at her face, etching her features into his memory.
"I did it."
"Yeah. And you did a pretty damn good job."
She laughed, suddenly feeling a little lighter despite knowing her fate. "I hope they'll be alright."
"They will be." He held out his hand. "Ready?"
She took it gladly, and with one last look around the nothingness, she somehow felt calm and at peace. He pulled her into his arms, kissing her head as she returned the embrace tightly.
"Ready."