The Girl in the Mirror by Child of the Faeries

Wow oh wow... I am really proud of this once. A Mimato with a dark, and almost evil twist....This *is* a Mimato, I promise.... It's just a bit.. odd.. and roundabout. Basically, I was angry at the way they made Yamato look in 02.. he sounded like a bubblehead almost every time he opened his mouth. That was NOT the Ishida Yamato we have grown to love- the dark, angry, rebel that secretly was the most loyal one of them all. It made me so sad..... so here's a dark story about Yamato returning to his roots.....



Mimi pulled gently on the end of her hair, trying to make it perfect. With a sigh, she flung the pink tresses over her shoulder and glanced in the mirror.

The girl in the mirror blinked her cinnamon eyes, and tossed her head back contemptuously, her blond curls dancing as her laughter reverberated off of the mirror walls. She leaned forward, banging her fist into the glass.

Mimi blinked, and the girl in the mirror faded, replaced by Mimi's usual reflection. She frowned, trying to make sense of it all, but already the memory was fading.

"Mimi, what are you doing?" her mother said, her tone annoyed. Mimi turned around, her face startled. It was as if she had just awoke from a horrible nightmare, and the dream was eluding her, just beyond the realm of her memory. "Are you okay?" her mother asked, concern spelled across her face.

"I'm fine...." Mimi said slowly, not really understanding the words that were coming from her chapped lips.

"All right...." her mother murmured, glancing around the room. "I'll let you finish getting ready."

"We're already running late," Mimi said, her voice vaguely abstract. "I don't want to be late for school."

"Are you sure you're okay? You look sick, Mimi."

"I'm fine," Mimi assured her mother, pulling her bedroom door shut.

The girl in the mirror watched all of this with cold, sagacious eyes.



Opening her locker, Mimi sighed. All day she had felt strange... disconcerted. Like Fate was rushing in around her, trapping her, squeezing the life out of her....

Rummaging through her purse, her fingers tumbled over tubes of lipstick and eyeshadow, sliding over the glossy surface of her mirror. A small shock ran through her body, a shivery force that made her eyes open slightly and a small gasp escape from her lips. There was pain....

"Mimi?" a voice said softly, and abruptly the spell vanished. Yamato's ice blue eyes peered into her, his face calm. "You were spacing out." A small smile crossed her lips, but her eyes remained distant. Yamato looked amused.

She rose to her feet, tottering a bit on her heels, and he extended a hand to help her catch her balance. "It's been one of those days," she said, her head sinking down. "Everything seems to be going wrong."

"I'm sorry, Mimi-chan," he said softly. He lifted his hand to brush her cheek, but paused in mid-air. "Are you coming over to Jyou's tonight? We can walk over there together if you are."

Hesitation crossed her face. "I.....I guess I can," she muttered, looking at the ground. "Will you wait for me while I run into the washroom really quick?"

Yamato's smile was like quicksilver. "Don't take too long in there." He leaned against her locker, and she slowly walked away, lost in the fluid stream of people that flowed through the school.

Walking away, she stopped halfway to the bathroom, and looked back to where she had left Yamato. His golden hair had fallen across his face, and he seemed to be lost in thought.

Angrily she turned the faucet on, feeling the cold water rush onto her hands. How quickly he had forgotten, she thought softly. Absence doesn't make the heart grow fonder- it makes the heart go yonder.

"You were a fool, thinking he would still love you. You were gone for three years!" she said bitterly to herself. "And yet....you thought... that maybe he was different." Scorn crossed her face. "Foolish, foolish you."

Reaching up to grab some paper towels, she looked into the mirror. The girl in the mirror smiled coyly at her, whispering something. Her blond hair lifted lightly in the wind.

"What?" Mimi whispered, her eyes filled with confusion. This girl was her... and yet it wasn't her. "Who are you?"

A fragile melody started.... faintly at first, but with growing speed and strength. It was a hymn of desolation.

The girl in the mirror continued her frightening charade, banging against the glass and laughing. "What do you want from me?" Mimi murmured, fear in her eyes.

Slowly her hands rose in the air, as if propelled by some force that she could not stop. "Why do you want me?" she whispered, her fingers caressing the glass frame.

The pain was real now, melancholy driving deep within the marrow of her soul. She felt a wave of horror wash over her, a blinding, scorching, lacerating swell of anger backlashing in the corners of her mind. She closed her eyes, her will resisting while her body trembled, and committed her soul to the world beyond.

Suddenly she felt her fingers slipping through the glass, slicing through the crystalline ice with the slightest flick of her wrist. Her hair rose high into the air, teased by the currents of liquid glass, changing to gold. Fabric the color of sapphire wrapped itself gently around her wrist, encasing her in a stunning dress the color of running water.

Pure joy, unadulturated and unbidden crept into her mind, and she knew what it felt like to fly. She spread her arms out, her laughter echoing in the eerie stillness of the liquid glass. Breathing in, she was filled with liquid happiness, intoxication chasing away any fears.

Too soon, the glass set her gently on the ground and faded away. Mimi rose softly to her feet, examining the world that was set before her.

The fabric billowed around her as she walked, and she felt like a princess walking alone in her garden. Rosebushes and trees shaded the walkways, the whole world dancing in vibrant colors not found on earth. A butterfly flitted across the sky, it's jeweled wings glittering in the light of the sun. Mimi laughed, the wind twirling through her hair.

High in one of the trees, a songbird sang, filling the whole valley with it's subtle sonnet. Mimi shaded her eyes and tried to find the elusive bird, but it was nowhere to be found.

Instead, she stumbled slightly, and found herself gazing across a large pond. Shock set across her face as she looked into the translucent water, amazed by her own reflection.

She looked older somehow... her eyes more enhanced, simmering like hot coals in a fire. Looking down at her blue dress like she had never noticed it before, she was excited to see how thin her waist seemed, and how becoming the dress looked on her.

Her laughter rang out.

She was the girl in the mirror.



Yamato glanced impatiently at his watch. Mimi had been in the bathroom for more than a half an hour already, and he was starting to get worried. Something seemed wrong.

As Miyako walked by, Yamato caught her wrist. "Hey Miyako... can you check on Mimi for me? She's been in the bathroom for an awful long time."

The girl's face was annoyed. "Yamato... I'm already late for my date with Koushiro... but..." She gave in when she looked into Yamato's eyes. "I guess I can do it... anything for a friend.."

She walked into the bathroom, and Yamato resumed leaning against the lockers. Any moment now Mimi would walk out, and the two of them could go over to Jyou's house...

"I don't know what you're talking about, Yamato," Miyako said almost crossly. "Mimi's not in there."

"What do you mean?" he protested, his eyes livid. "I watched her walk in there! She has to be in there!"

Miyako shook her head sadly. "Well, she's not."

"I don't believe you," he said crossly, pushing open the doors to the bathroom himself. He walked back and forth, looking everywhere. "I saw her go in here!" he said angrily, and Miyako rolled her eyes.

"Looks like she pulled a fast one over you," she teased, giving him a small shove in the back. "Catch you later!"

The purple haired girl trotted out of the bathroom, and Yamato stood alone, gazing at his sorrowful expression in the mirror.



Mimi spun circles, butterflies shooting up out of the grass in blankets of fluttering wings. "It's so beautiful," she said finally, sinking into the knee-deep grass.

"I hope you like it," a male voice said softly, and Mimi jumped. Immediately she rose to her feet.

"Who are you?" she hissed, fear springing to her eyes. The darkened shaped let out a small sigh.

"I am Daemon," he said finally, stepping into the light. "This is my world... my world I share with you."

Mimi recoiled. She remembered what the others had said about Daemon... about his spirit of darkness. "What are you doing here?"

The demon looked at her sadly, his monstrous shape appearing a bit haggard. "Like I said, this is my world. This is my sanctuary," he said softly, lifting his hands, and butterflies darted into the sky.

Mimi backed further away. "Why am I here then?"

The demon gazed at her with wise eyes, unsure of what to say. "I... brought you here.... because I love you," he admitted slowly, and Mimi felt a surge of emotion rock her body. Revolt reached her eyes first, conquering her compassion.

"I will never love you," she snorted, contempt in her voice. "That's not natural."

The demon's eyes shone in a odd light, and a small smile flitted across his face. Taking his two demonic hands, he placed them on his face, and the sickening smell of burning flesh filled the field. Mimi covered her eyes and tried not to vomit.

Red-hot light poured from the place that Daemon stood, until the crimson wave engulfed him completely. His anguished screams of pain and mercy ran chills down Mimi's spine, and she felt the pinpricks of tears in her eyes. Such pain...

The light disappeared completely, and the muffled cried of anguish faded into silence. Mimi looked up, afraid of what she would see.

A man looked at her, his features almost indescribable. Black hair fell in front of his eyes, which glimmered like coal in the bright light. His clothing fit him like a second-skin, dark as midnight, and a defiant smirk graced his face. There was a fire behind his gaze- an arrogant fire that frightened her-- and yet a part of Mimi's soul longed to touch it, to savor the danger.

"Are we so different now?" Daemon whispered, and Mimi felt as though she was trapped in a hideous spiderweb. Daemon leered over her, his smile bewitching.

"Why did you choose me?" she cried out suddenly, and Daemon's face filled with surprise.

"I have watched over you since you were a little girl," he admitted. "I was there the day you built the memorials for all of your lost friends on the beach. I could see your pain- feel your pain- here, deep within my heart. It was then that I realized that there was something different about you." He paused. "I wasn't the only one that noticed your uniqueness. There was another. A boy."

Mimi hung her head low. "Yamato," she breathed softly, as if afraid to say the name.

"Yes... Yamato. And how deliciously dangerous it was to fall in love with him. He was the rebel, the outcast. So cold and aloof... No one could touch his heart. That attracted you, didn't it? You wanted to do something daring and different, love someone moody and rebellious."

"And what if I did?" Mimi challenged, her eyes glimmering with rage.

"But he changed. Gone is that rebellious spirit that you loved, the dangerously angry side of Yamato that he tried to hide. It's not there anymore, is it? He has become just another pretty face in the crowd." Mimi tried to think of something to say, but knew that he was right. "One after another, our dreams must come crashing down," Daemon said gently, his hand reaching out towards Mimi. "But here, you will be safe. Yamato cannot hurt you if you stay with me."

"Yamato never hurt me!" Mimi screeched. "He was nothing less than the best friend a person could have."

"Nothing less... and yet, nothing more. You wanted him to be something more, didn't you? You thought you two were," he said darkly, dropping the word with sarcasm, "soulmates." Their eyes met, and Mimi felt betrayed. "He broke your heart."

"And what if he did? Why do you care?" Mimi whispered, her will to resist fading. Tears were springing already to her eyes.

"I already told you. I love you. It seems I have always loved you," Daemon said, pulling a flower from the ground and blowing it at Mimi. It hovered in mid-air before she took hold of the stem and placed it gently behind her ear. "Don't cry now, my dear Mimi. Everything will be okay." He crept closer to her, and she unfolded into his arms, her body wracking with selfish tears for misplaced love.