Fuyu: Please note that Taisha is a real place that was absorbed into Izumo which is in the Shimane Prefecture. The version I'm portraying, however is fictional. As I said in the description this whole thing is non-cannon and all characters portrayed and any events are a complete work of fiction.

Chapter 1: Arrival

Look in the mirror, what do you see? Is it you? Or is it some facade imposed upon you by your 'friends' or 'family'?

[June 6th 2014 On JR San'in Train line bound for Taisha. 6:14 AM]

A question I ask myself as I always did long ago while on the train to my old home town, Taisha, a growing town nearby Izumo. Gazing out the window, I watch the world speed by while pondering such things. Getting bored of thinking about that subject, I grab a book from my back to read as I eventually fell asleep. As I slept I find myself in a strange dream finding myself in a room full of mirrors. Each mirror is different in image instead of seeing my own reflection. The memory of such escapes me when I wake up to the conductor heralding arrival at my stop. Grabbing my rolling luggage bag and sticking my book back into my backpack, I got off at the station.

[Taisha Train station. 6:28 AM]

After exiting the station, I find myself welcomed by a seemingly familiar-looking energetic girl. Her dark hair is short and a little messy but long enough for a small ponytail. Her skin is slightly tanned and her eyes are olive green. Her outfit is just a simple white blouse, a pair of shorts and a pair of hightop sneakers.

"Oh! You're here," She said as she ran up to me, "You probably don't remember me since it's been so long. I'm your cousin, Naika Odagari, we'll be going to the same school."

"It's been a while," I say to her, "You've changed quite a lot."

"You do remember," She says joyfully, "But, yeah I think I have changed but to some people here, there's no difference."

"How so," I ask her.

"Eh...They say I'm still very overprotective and... kind of a delinquent," She says with some hesitation.

"Delinquent," I say, "Why?"

"Remember when I still started fights with people who picked on you for your dark red hair," She asks as I nod, she dyed her hair my color in support during that time, "Well I still kinda do fight but not as often," She sighs, "I guess my rep is not as good as it was long ago."

"Well aren't you going to do something about it," I ask her.

"I don't think it's healthy to go against their thoughts about me," Naika says, "Besides It would take a bit of a while to try to convince them I'm not that, anymore."

'I guess that part of her didn't change,' I think to myself and I say out loud, "So, where to? Your appartment?"

"Yep," She says, "I just visited my parents' graves so I could just go straight there now."

"I just got news of that," I say, "I'm sorry I missed their funeral."

[Taisha City streets 6:35 AM]

"It's alright, Cousin," She says with a smile as we walk over to her apartment. Along the way, we heard some housewives gossiping.

One with short hair said to her friend, "How, did you hear? There have been strange things happening."

"What is it now," Her friend asked her, "Something about the local shrine again?"

"No! There's news of kids disappearing," The woman said, "No one knows what happened but the families of such kids say they've last seen their kids in front of a mirror."

"Really!? How does that even happen," The friend says completely in shock.

"My son has been mentioning a certain 'ritual' but I don't know the details," The short haired woman said.

As we were out of earshot Naika looks at me as she says, "There's a little ritual I've heard the freshmen talk about. Apparently you need a large mirror like a bathroom or vanity mirror. It's supposed to be midnight and you have to say a certain phrase and you must stare into your reflection's eyes. They say that the ritual is done when you see your image distort and change into an outer version of yourself. I think it's like self-examination or something. Apparently, some students came up missing but others say they feel the presence or 'see' empty versions of said students."

"That's preposterous," I say, "It's probably that they've come out with Apathy or something and got lost." We then quickly switched to casual small talk as we walked.

[Makado Apartment complex 6:44 AM]

"This has been happening for some time now," Naika argued as we approached the apartment's doors, "I swear there's something strange happening in town," As we walked in she turns to me, "I'll take your bags to your room, you could relax here and call me when your boxes arrive."

"Okay," I say as I hand her my carry on luggage. As she walked away, everything suddenly turned dark saturating the world in monochrome and a tall, curvy woman with long white hair in a ponytail, large golden eyes and wearing a blue sort of flight attendant uniform appears.

"Hello," the strange woman said with a smile, "I see you've finally arrived, pleased to meet you."

"Um, hello," I say to her as she proffers a clipboard with a sort of contract on it.

"Please sign this, before you continue," She says removing the plastic front, "Upon signing this, you'll be taking full responsibility for your actions, henceforth."

As a pen appeared in my hand, I just signed it without question, Last name: Kaindo, First name: Enba. The pen disappeared after I finished signing.

"No turning back now, for you have quite a situation coming," The woman said, "I'll be seeing you again soon." She disappears and the world around me turned to normal. Shaking that off, I decide to take a seat in one of the lobby benches as the mover knocked on the door.

"Oh," I say as I decide to go and tell my cousin, "The stuff is here. What's my room number?"

"It's floor 2 room 02 next to mine," She says back as I tell the movers where the luggage goes. In a few minutes my boxes are at my door.

"Not really much, huh," She comments.

"Yeah," I say, "Dad didn't get me much. Mostly school supplies a few changes of clothes, some cheap appliances and some personal things I got from you and from Mom before she died."

"I see, I guess your father really wants you out of the house," She says grimly but her mood does a 180 as she says, "Well, anyways, let's unpack."

"By the way," I say before she opened my door, "something weird happened-"

"No need to talk about it," Naika cuts me off, "Keep it to yourself." She fishes out a keycard from her pocket and places it against the door's sensor and unlocks it, "There you go. Welcome to your new home for the foreseeable future."

[2nd Floor Room 1]

"Okay," I say as she hands me the keycard and helps me with carrying the boxes inside. The apartment is spacious compared to others I've seen. An equipped kitchen, bathroom, toilet, small bedroom and a living room. The flooring is of traditional tatami and wood flooring in some areas. The currently bare walls are just drywall that's been painted beige. There's a low table in the living room with cushions surrounding it with a flatscreen TV connected to a DVR under it. The bedroom has a smaller TV, a bed with a nightstand next to it and a desk off to the side in front of the window. In front of me past the kitchen is a sliding glass door that leads out to a balcony and clothesline. To my right, is just a generic shoe rack with a sort of log sheet on top of it. So, this will be my home for a while. I guess I should get used to this as well as meet some of the neighbors.

We then spent the afternoon unpacking boxes and putting stuff where they should be. We had various kitchen appliances like a toaster and a blender going to the kitchen as it was lacking in those. Then we put some basic bathroom appliances like hairdryer and straightener. The clothes were hung in the closet, which included my school uniform from my old highschool in Tokyo. After that, we hung family pictures and a few posters on the walls to decorate them. With that business done, Naika heads out after offering to help when needed since she's next door.

I'm now alone in my apartment and it's almost 7 PM. So I just changed into some simple nightwear, tshirt and shorts, and called it a night...

[?]

I hear a voice and called into a blue door. Once through, I find myself sitting at in a sort of luxury plane. The place is covered or painted in blue velvet. Outside is darkness outside the windows. There are seats lining the sides with one side being cut off mid row by a drink cabinet. Accross from me sits an old, balding, skinny man wearing a suit with a long, impish nose leering at me with wide eyes over steepled skinny fingers supported by his elbows over a table. Next to him sits that same woman I saw at the lobby.

The old man spoke to me, his voice raspy yet clear yet a little creepy, "Welcome."