Hello. Back with this fic. So, another day, another character. I'm still accepting new characters, so send'em my way. That said, disclaimers, and hope you enjoy the read.

I wish I could say another day another mirror, but I didn't think time mattered there.

Shinato kept staring back at me with his soulless eyes. The mere sight of him brought me feelings I didn't want to deal with again, so I looked away.

But at the same time, a mixture of feelings compelled me to look back at him again.

Mixture so varied, I didn't know what to choose. What did I think about him?

I was there to look into those mirrors, maybe an opinion about that was important.

...

Important as it seemed to be, I couldn't make up my mind at that moment.

I felt in no way hungry, or tired, or anything of the sort, so maybe staring into another mirror could make me reach a conclusion...

... Yeah.

Looking around, I picked one of the mirrors to my right.

Upon looking into a it, the image of a young woman looked back at me. What immediately caught my attention were the two jagged daggers she held. And the second thing that I paid attention were her eyes.

Green. The clearest green I'd ever seen.

It was funny. Her eyes didn't match her expression. You could usually say that when someone faked a smile, but she wasn't. Her expression was neutral, and yet... her eyes were so beautiful, I couldn't help but imagine a small smile underneath them. Aside from that, her hair was tied in a ponytail. Although black, it was clearly dyed, as the tip of her locks were blond. Was she a foreigner...?

She distracted me from the thoughts I had earlier, but not for long. Still an achievement.

I thought about calling the Mirror, but I doubted he was going to give me any answers.

Sighing, I looked back at her as my sword began to shine. Before I could think, I was already dipping it into her mirror, opening the door. I stepped inside and let the white light consume my sight.

...

...

I blinked once, then twice. Adjusting to the lighting wasn't as hard as the other times. When I looked around...

Where was I?

It was a house. A big house, at that. It was a living room, only the windows were shattered, things laid broken on the floor... even signs of struggle were visible.

What the Hell happened there...?

The room was big enough for someone to simply do that cloth acrobatics thing. I didn't know the name of that.

... Oh, it was that girl. I could recognize her by the hair, even though she had her back turned towards me as she swayed back and forth, hanging from the cloth.

What seemed to be bed sheets rather than equipment adequate for the sport hanged from the abnormally high ceiling. As the cloth twisted and turned with her graceful movements, I could see some stains... red ones.

... Oh, no. Not another one...

She sat on the sheets as if they were a swing, except she wasn't swinging.

Then she arched her back and looked at me while upside down.

I didn't exactly see her eyes, though, with her pitch black mask on the way.

She completed her backwards movement and flipped back to the ground, firmly planting her feet to complete her landing. Upon hitting the ground, I saw her drawing her daggers from inside of her black jacket.

"... Just another one. Just another one who'll end up in next week's news. Say, what do you want to accomplish by facing me?" She asked.

I didn't have an answer, and wouldn't say anything even I had one. Nothing I had to say would change her.

I sighed as my sword answered my call...

"Regardless... You stand in my way." She said, pointing a dagger at me. "I'm Rally Kirishima. It's nothing personal, but... I'll have to rip you apart."

I shook my head and took a stance. Something told me that... I dunno. Right off the bat, I figured she was way different from Shinato.

Maybe... just maybe... she didn't deserve to be here.

But I wouldn't let that thought kill me.

With short notice, she broke into a dash towards me, haste on her step.

No way I could let her in. I put my sword in a reverse grip and readied to slash at her midsection. And I did, with a fluid motion as soon as she got within striking range.

What I didn't expect, however, was her doing a back flip to avoid my strike, then rebounding with a lunging thrust.

I didn't even have time to widen my eyes, I only sidestepped. Just enough for her jacket to brush my face before she landed on the ground with a roll.

As she got up, I immediately took a step back.

No matter what measure I took, I got the feeling that I'd be underestimating her speed. I couldn't mess with that... and I thought I was pretty quick.

... And that Shinato was the quickest I'd ever seen.

How would I counter her...?

She got up and turned towards me, before tilting her head a bit. Maybe she was surprised she missed. After clicking her tongue, she charged at me again.

Still trying to think, I fell back and thought about kicking the nearby table to halt her advance, but I didn't think it'd work. Her leap confirmed my theory, and she brought her right dagger down at me.

I hopped back, quickly as I could to make her hit the ground, but instead she fell like she was ready to strike again. And she did, this time trying a thrust to my heart.

My only option was to use my sword to parry it to the side, but that opened my guard to the slash that followed and tore my chest, drawing blood.

I staggered back, the pain getting to me. No persona yet, and she was already giving me this much trouble...

I needed to think of something, fast.

The crown of my sword lit up. "Starion!" I called. "Garula!"

A hurricane was raised in front of her, and she tried to block her face and shield her eyes, but she skidded back. It seemed she wasn't completely vulnerable to wind...

I tried the same attack again, but she quickly hopped back. The green twister blocked my view of her, and I couldn't see the flying black razor until it sliced through the wind I had created.

My reflexes told me to duck as quickly as I could, and so I did. But I didn't count on her being right in front of me.

In fact, Holy Hell, she was fast!

All she had to do was hit a soccer kick straight to my nose to send me to the ground, bleeding and yelling with pain.

"Farewell!" Not relenting, she immediately jumped on top of me, pointing her daggers at my face. I desperately gripped at her wrists and tried to power out of certain death. As she stared me down, I could notice something about her mask.

It wasn't plastic or any other common material. It was like a veil... a supernatural veil. I couldn't make out any of her features, but I could faintly... notice... her face behind the cover, save for her eyes. Were they closed...?

...

Maybe it was the thought, maybe it was the strain, but something suddenly clicked in my head.

And I knew what that click meant, but that only made me more confused.

In fact, I'm sure that if I wasn't trying to push two daggers away from my face, I'd have halted with surprise.

"Garudyne!" I shouted at the top of my lungs. Winds burst forth from underneath me, but I knew that wasn't the work of Starion.

The girl was sent flying back and landed on her knees. When she looked back at me, she tilted her head, noticing the steel masked executioner floating behind me. "Huh... didn't know you could change."

Neither did I, under those circumstances. Sure, I could before, but that was a whole different story. "Now you do. Mastro Titta!" I shouted his full name, as I felt my sword coming back to my hand. Instead of a crown, a shiny balance adorned its hilt. "Fatal End!"

The persona glided towards the girl raising his giant axe on the way only to slam it down with full force with a vertical slash... which scarred and shook the ground where the she would be, if she hadn't leaped to the side in time. Without showing any form of mercy, Mastro swung his weapon once more, now in a horizontal strike, following my quiet command.

She immediately rolled back under the swing to gain some distance and avoid the brutal strike.

Meanwhile, I was set in motion. Calling the persona back into my mind, I infused my sword with wind and sent razor after razor of the element towards her by slashing the air.

She swiftly made her way through flurry of attacks by weaving, ducking and twirling. Her agility was unnerving...

Steadily, she began to close the distance I was trying to maintain. I tried to step back, but the quicker my steps became, the more aggressive her advance became.

Until she found the opening she wanted.

Ducking low under an admittedly pretentious slash aimed to her head, she stepped forward, pressed her left forearm to my throat and rushed me to the wall which was a few feet behind me. My back collided against the wall with a thud as I felt the pressure on my neck abruptly halt my breathing.

My eyes widened as she stared at me through her veil, still with her eyes closed. "As I said before, it's nothing personal. I hope you hold no hard feelings." She said, as she raised the dagger in her right hand, ready to pierce my face.

I would be gasping for breath, if I could. My eyes darted all around, subconsciously looking for an escape. The only thing I could focus on, however, was the deadly sharp dagger that was about to end my li-

...

I intentionally held my breath and called my sword back into my hand to quickly thrust her midsection with it, just as she pulled her arm back. I couldn't even see where I struck her, I just did.

Shrieking, she released her right dagger and clutched the wound as she staggered back and let me go.

I gasped for breath for a brief moment and watched her raise her head once more. I couldn't see it, but I could feel her frustrated rage as she called her dagger back to her hand, in a similar fashion as I did my sword.

... Was she using a persona...? How did she do that...?

She traced a dark circle in the air using the dagger she had just called back, then did little else.

Expecting her to do something, I stared at her, ready to react to any of her movements.

Too late did I notice the black ring under me, which exploded with a darker, purple light.

Gasping, I fell to one knee.

I could feel a foul taste in my mouth. It seemed as if something was dragging me under from within. My head hurt, my teeth were grit without my permission, and I could almost contain my screams of agony, even though I wasn't feeling pain other than the headache. I was just... suffering.

She rushed towards me with a roar, but I could notice a flaw in her guard as she advanced. I held my ground and fainted a slash at her open wound, and she flinched, her movement breaking for the briefest of moments.

Which was just enough for me.

I turned around with a spinning slash to the side she wasn't guarding. It connected and drew blood from her new wound, along with a scream from her throat.

The phantom agony pulled at my strings again, and my vision threatened to black out as she staggered back.

Wait...

Was it really my vision, or was the place getting darker?

I looked at her. The dark veil covering her face was beginning to sip into the surroundings like black fog, which seemed to swallow the light.

Another surge of pain made me clutch my head and shut my eyes. When I opened them again, the place was completely dark...

"Calm down. This will all be over soon..." I heard her voice echo through the darkness.

Shit...

I couldn't even react as a slash tore through my back and I faltered forward with a yell of pain.

I felt a shiver rock my body. Where was she...? Where she strike from next...? What would she do?!

"Don't resist!" Another slash rapidly struck the back of my knee and made me drop to the ground with another scream.

Shit, shit, shit...!

My mind was running two hundred miles per hour, but my body wasn't moving an inch. What if I died?! I didn't understand anything, yet, would I fail? What would happen if I failed?!

"Mastro!" I yelled out in desperation as the balance lit up once more. I didn't even know what to do, I just summoned him so he could guard me from something. Anything!

Even the balance's light couldn't brighten the place. It was like the darkness was solid... rather, it was as if it had a body, and it had a hand around the hilt of my sword, choking it.

But I still looked towards the light, clinging to it. Even swallowed by the dark, it was still a light.

I held the sword up in an attempt to scan the place and it shone brighter, which pierced the darkness enough for me to witness a razor flying at me.

Titta swung his big axe and parried the soaring blade away.

"Tsk... enough games." She said calmly through the darkness.

The light in my sword glowed brighter still, and its light began to engulf my arm, as well, as Mastro was called back into my mind.

After wondering for a brief moment, the situation became clear for me.

Struggling to stand up on my feet, I aimed with my sword.

There she was.

I could see her standing up on one of the room's luster which was almost directly above me, ready to leap down.

And she did.

"Die!" She demanded, throwing two dark razors during her descent, while readying her two daggers to end my life.

I could see too clearly.

Time seemed to slow down as the light on my arm condensed back into the sword, concentrating at the tip of its blade.

"Xanadu!" I fired a thin beam of light through the razors and piercing through her chest, which made her release a cry of pain.

She began to fall to the ground, and I was set in motion on instinct. It didn't take me more than two steps to get underneath her. I tried to stop her fall and managed to do so, only my leg gave out underneath me again and I fell to one knee, struggling to bite back the pain. I failed to hold back a yelp, though.

The dark veil on her face was finally fading away. I was able to see her face, just not her eyes. She was beautiful...

And her mask was finally falling.

... Hm.

"Don't come near me! Why... why did you all come here?! Don't you know what kind of girl I am?!" The ideal form of Maki Sonomura yelled, her voice muffled by the steel mask she wore.

"Maki..." Masao stepped forward. "I know you feel like you can't just let it go. But doesn't everyone get jealous, now and then, one way or another?" He hung his head a bit and put a hand on his beanie. "I know I do... And on top of that, you were just being used. It's Kandori's fault, not yours!"

The girl pulled on the sheets of the hospital bed she was laying, and looked away from the boy that had just spoken to her. "How often did I try to kill everyone... How can you be so nice to me?!" She snapped, curling up even further. "I don't want pity... it just makes me more miserable..."

The way she told them to keep their sympathy... it was if as if she was begging.

That was a hard sight for her mother to behold...

"I deserve to die!" She finished.

And that sent Masao over the edge. "That's not true!" He began, but was having trouble coming up with more words.

Reiji stood by the side and watched the situation unfold, with a scowl on his face. Not out of rage, but of annoyed curiosity. Those guys were too happy go lucky... he didn't understand.

Eventually, Nanjo scoffed, drawing my attention to him. "What a petulant child..."

I looked at him, before Maki's voice called out to me once more. "You know it, don't you, Naoya? You know I'm the worst girl alive!"

I shook my head. "Don't hide like that." I told her.

"Naoya is right." Nanjo cut in, once again. "You've sown those seeds and now it's time to reap them!" He said, before fixing his glasses. "If you want to die, then why sit around and mope about it? Don't make threats if you don't have the courage of your convictions!"

Now everyone was looking at Nanjo. Masao seemed ready to lunge at his throat, and Maki's mother had her mouth ajar.

But Kei... he didn't care and continued his speech. "You spoke of pity?! Don't make me laugh! We came here of our will because we could sympathize with you. But even before that, did you really think you were alone in this world?

We live at the sufferance of others. Each is responsible for each. Your careless decision would have left behind woulds that would never heal."

The eyes and expressions of the people looking at the glass wearing boy began to change. Masao's previously clenched fists and teeth began to ease up, and even Maki's mother found it in her to close her mouth and look at her child, who was staring intently at Nanjo, who continued.

"If you still wanna die, go ahead. Put it all behind you. But you're our friend. We can never put you behind us."

Silence followed. I knew where he was going from the beginning, but... it still hurt me badly to talk to her like that, even though she wasn't the real Maki.

"Now let's get back. We still have to rescue the real Maki on our own." Kei said, raising his chin and turning around. "I don't leave things undone." He finished.

"Wait!"

I turned towards Maki. Everyone did.

We all saw the crack on her steel mask. It went from her chin to her forehead. It was surely going to break.

And it did. The pieces of metal didn't even fall to the ground, they dissipated into a colorless fog before they hit the ground. "I'm sorry, everyone. Please... Please let me come along."

Masao, put a hand on his beanie and lowered his head with a smile. "O-of course you can come! Welcome back, Maki!" he couldn't contain himself and stepped forward to embrace the girl. She returned it, and her mother followed, with tears in her eyes. She truly loved her child... she was that concerned for a separate side of her...

Nanjo closed his eyes and lowered his head with a small smile, and I looked towards him, giving him a nod. I couldn't hold back my smile, either.

Reiji simply put his hands in his pockets and allowed a smirk to show through the corner of his lips. "Heh..." He was kinda glad it ended well. One inconvenience out of way.

But out of the way of what? His revenge plan was already completed... what was he going to do after everything was over...?

Perhaps he'd find out, if he stuck to those guys.

"I'm sorry, everyone. Mom, Naoya, Masao... I'm very sorry..."

...

...

Another mask fell before me. And I was glad.

But... I didn't even know the girl. She could be worse then Shinato, from what I could guess.

And yet...

She began to talk in her sleep.

"No, you mustn't... you'll pay...

How dare you... take her away... from me..."

My vision began to blur.

"This isn't... right..." She said again, as my conscience finally gave away.

One thing about this chapter... I think it's long. Too long. Maybe it feels dragged out, maybe I'm just not used to lengthy chapters like this, but... I dunno tell me what you think. And I know the name of the sport is Aerial Silk, it's just Naoya that doesn't. Anyway, reviews.

Nightly7: That was a bit brutal, yeah. This fic will be dark at times, that's for sure. Poor Naoya, indeed. I dunno if I could live knowing what it was like having my throat slit. The guy's gonna have to live this one down, maybe stare at the ceiling of his room a couple nights. :P Glad that you could enjoy the character and the read, I'll try to keep it up. Thanks.

Raigha Raikouga: Thanks! In fact, thank you for this character. This is her arc, so I want you to tell me how she is. Any complaints, critics, opinions, you know where to say them. Thank you for the read.

Seriously, though, I'm a bit unsure about this chapter's length. Do tell me what you think. Now, on to the usual AN. Critics and opinions in the review box below, I'm Raidou the 16th, and I approve this message. See you whatever I write next. Or not... I dunno. See ya around. o/