Chapter 2: Velvet and Mirrors

[Private Jet?]

Huh? I was asleep but now I'm here... That stopped me, where IS here? The thin man's voice broke my thoughts, "Do not be alarmed, you are still sound asleep in your bed."

"O-okay..." I say to him as I calm down in my chair.

"It's been a long time since we've had a guest here," The man says, "And you have a rather unique fate." He gestures to himself, "My name is Igor, it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Before I ask him about where exactly am I at, he spoke for me as though reading my mind.

"This is a place between dream and reality," He began, "Mind and matter. It is a place where only those who are bound by a contract may enter and through this, they have to abide by it." In front of him appeared the contract I signed and he continued, "Upon signing the contract, hencefourth, you must take full responsibility of your actions."

Thinking for a bit weather I ask any questions, I simply say, "I see."

"Ah, I almost forgot to introduce my assistant," He says and gestures to the woman next to him, "This is Isabella, she's a resident here like myself."

"Nice to meet you," Isabella says bowing her head.

"Now," Igor says, "Hold on to this." A key appears and floats down into my lap and I take it as he continues, "The next time you arrive it will be of your own free will, until we meet again..." My vision fades to black as I feel my eyelids being hammered by sunlight.

[June 7th, My Room 7:30 AM]

Sitting up, I yawn feeling strange about the dream. Nevertheless, I have to go to school. I grab my new uniform and quickly put it on. Grabbing some breakfast, I hear a knock on my door. I walked over to answer it to see Naika in a similar school uniform beaming at me. "Mornin' cousin! Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," I say pushing the dream out of my head for now as I continue, "Is it time to head for school?"

"Not yet," She says with a quick shake of the head, "We're still half an hour early so I came to see how you're doing, thankfully we're close to school."

"What's the school's name, again," I ask as I let her in to join me for breakfast.

"Sakakuta academy," She says, "It's pretty big, you have probably seen it from the train station."

I recall the huge, pearly white structure I seen reminds me of when I visited Gekkoukan High years ago with my dad on a business thing, "Oh, that building what kind of school is it?"

"It houses classes from grade school to Freshman College," Naika says as we eat, "It's pretty huge, but in reality, it's a bunch of sections connected by monorails, lifts and catwalks."

"That's it," I ask as I finish up my breakfast.

"Pretty much," She says, "All separate buildings have a student principal but it's centered around a head principal. For some reason, he won't show his face, odd... anyways, now that you're done eating, let's head out."

I simply nod and pick up my bag and follow Naika out the door.

[Sakakuta Academy 7:50 AM]

We had to take a ride on the city bus, which wasn't too bad as the stop put us very close to our school. Walking the rest of the way, seeing the school up close was quite imposing, the monorails make it look like it's all held in place by rings. The three buildings are large as well and spaced pretty far apart in a neat circle, which adds to the need for monorails. Naika explained that the railways are nice and fast but it's recommended to walk or take the lifts unless you have free time to go to wherever you want since due to their circular arrangement on the outside of the buildings, it all depends on where you are.

[School Courtyard 7:52 AM]

I note that in my head as we head to the high school/freshman college building marked A3. In front of it is a large board covered in what I assume to be class assignments confirmed by the many students crowding around to take a look. Various students are despairing or celebrating as they found the classes they are in. Among the crowd a hand raised and waved at us the owner of the hand called, "Hey! Nai-chan! We re in the same class!"

"Really?" Naika called back, "Awesome! Come over here, I want you to meet someone!"

"Is it a new boyfriend," The friend called sounding suspicious.

"No way," Naika called back, "Just come over here!"

Among the crowd, there was some bustle and pushing as a guy comes out of the crowd dusting off his uniform. His hair is layered and almost perfectly down save for some strands as he walks up to us.

"Before you say anything, Saa-kun," Naika says gesturing to me, "Lemme introduce her. This is my cousin, Enba Kaindo, from my Ma's side."

The boy looked at me as though sizing me up and he eventually says, "So, this is her? You've been talking about her a lot. I found your name on a note in our class," 'Saa-kun' extended his hand, "Nice to meet you, I'm Saika Aisano."

I decide to shake his proffered hand and say, "Nice to meet you too."

"Pretty and polite," Saika says and says to Naika, "You should learn from your cousin, Nai-chan."

"Shut up," She says curtly turning towards the front doors, "Let's go in, then."

"Same old, Naika," Saika says as he turns to me, "Was she always like this when you two were kids?"

"Absolutely," I say as we follow Naika into the , "So how did you two become friends?"

"I had just got out of Judo when I saw her getting in a fight with a group of jerks during junior high," Saika began, "I basically helped beat them up and we've been friends since then."

I feel a weird grin on my face as I ask, "Do you like her?"

"What do you mean by that," Saika says keeping up a stony defense, "I like her as a friend but that's it."

We just left it at that as we walk down the pristine halls catching up with my cousin. Along the walls were the occasional cork boards covered in announcements and club advertisements. Even when so far advanced, we are still using these.

[Second Year Floor 8:00 AM]

We walk into a class marked 2-C which had plenty of students talking it up as they waited for their teacher. We walked in and took our seats. I sit behind Naika who's in the 3rd row closest to the front right next to the window. Saika happens to find a seat across from me to my right as we waited and traded some small talk about those mysteries. As the teacher walked in, everyone fell silent and sat properly. She seemed clumsy in her words, "S-sorry I'm late, kids."

"Oh boy," Saika whispers, "we got Ms. Namao."

By his tone of voice, I could tell he seems to like this teacher. As quiet whispers went around as she nervously got her things organized. When she was finished, she cleared her throat as she began with a gentle smile, "W-well, welcome t-to your first day of classes, everyone. For those who don't know me, I'm Ms. Namao, I teach w-world history."

The way she stumbled over her words almost made me feel sorry for her as she then proceeded to her first lecture. Clumsy at first, she was able to teach her lecture despite the difficulty, I felt like I retained some gone info. By the time class went for lunch break, we hurried to the food stand to quickly grab some pastries and sandwiches. Heading back, to class we began hearing of rumors of that mirror ritual I heard the other day. "They're still talking about that," Saika asks just before he took a bite of yakisoba bread.

"Seems so," Naika says, "En-chan has just learned about it."

"Are you gonna try it," Saika says to me, "I've heard things like this have caused people to disapear."

"It's probably superstition," I say, "I'll prove it to you."

"Eh? Really," Saika asks, "I was gonna try it as well."

"Well..." Naika says, "I got nothin' better to do so why not? I have a big ol' vanity mirror in my room so why not we try it tonight?"

"Alright," Saika says with an anticipating grin, "We'll all meet at the apartment, wait until midnight and recite the ritual." We all agreed as the next class begins. The next class was complete algebra a bit of a bore but I managed to stay awake as I feel much smarter.

[Courtyard Afterschool 2:03 PM]

The classes soon went by as the three of us headed to the apartments together as we agreed to do. I personally began to feel strange glances towards us and asked, "Um... are any of you two popular?"

"Being the next Judo captain is quite something," Saika says with a wry smile as he points to his face, "especially with this face. It kinda hurts to reject so many girls," He then leans in to whisper, "She hasn't been admitted it but Nai-chan seems pretty jealous whenever a girl tries to ask me out."

I raise an eyebrow at this information as I say, "Really? Hmmm...What did people think of her back then...?"

Saika seems hesitant for a bit but says, "I-I'd rather not say...But all I could say that people tend to avoid her a lot now."

I look over at Naika who's far ahead of us so we simply ran to catch up with her.

[Apartment complex, 2:57 PM]

The ride itself was filled by small talk . The ride felt quicker than this morning despite the streets teeming with activity from other students leaving. Upon arrival, we headed straight up the steps to Naika's room. Lo and behold, the mirror is there almost eerily. Its apparent old age made it seem creepier. "W-well," Saika says hesitantly, "Who's gonna start?"

"I'll go," I say as I feel braver, "It's just a simple ritual, right?"

[Naika's room 11:59 PM]

We waited until a few minutes before midnight, filling the time with small talk and a light dinner to calm our nerves. During that time, I find myself glancing at the mirror a few times as though I could almost see someone or something beckoning me. A digital clock on Naika's nightstand shows it's almost time so we walked to the mirror. I was standing in front of it and take a breath and I began the ritual by first placing one hand on the mirror. Saika told me before this so I remember. "This image is not me," I recite, "Come hither, my true self. Break down the facade I see."

We waited a few moments and we thought it was nothing and then... "Thou art I for I am thou," A voice calls as a hand reached out and grabbed my wrist which is attached to the hand I placed against the mirror and began pulling me into the mirror! Even stranger is that I'm actually sinking in...! Both Saika and Naika grabbed me but it was futile as we were both sucked in with me!