A couple of days after hanging out with Miho...

[homeruuun]

"Under the weather" was at once an accurate and inaccurate way for Ren to describe herself. She had much less energy than usual, but being stubborn as ever, she refused to let it show. She attended practice even after hurting her ankle, and grumbled endlessly when the team captain forced her to sit out for her own safety. Her volunteering jobs had been stressful as well, and she found herself with less work to do and less people to help. For any other teenager this would have been a good thing, but for Ren, it was a sign that she wasn't needed.

And then the kitchen knife slipped from her hand while preparing her lunch that morning. Ren idly scratched around the bandaid on her finger during class, chewing on the inside of her cheek. For anyone who knew her well, they could tell she didn't look like herself.

... Not to mention the mirrors were driving her up the wall.

Just as the bell rang to signal the end of the day's last class, the sound stretched and echoed in Ren's head and her mind seemed to blank out. She sat there, immobile, for a good number of minutes, whilst everyone around her was already packing up.

"Hey, Miura, are you okay? You look kinda pale."

"Hm... yeah, maybe you should go to the infirmary. Or get someone to help you walk home..."

"Miura? Hey, Miura, are you listening?"

Abruptly, the girl stood from her seat, surprising those standing around her desk. Without gathering her things or even uttering a word, she turned and exited the classroom, staring blankly and dragging her feet.

She heard whispers all around her... or inside her? But she couldn't actively listen to them. She was barely conscious and it was like she didn't find anything strange about walking to an empty girls' bathroom. Once there, she turned to face the mirror, empty gaze setting on the shifting surface.

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[homeruuun]

Ren had crumpled to the ground after the impact. If she was still conscious, she was too dazed to react. The Shadow, on the other hand, was far from dazed; she lifted her hand, uncovering the ox's left eye; the eye flashed wildly and the beast bellowed, summoning a rock spike to shoot up from the ground under Seiya's feet.

[seiyayamada]

Rolling quickly to the side, the spike grazed her side, blood dampening her shirt. Seiya growled, throwing her mirror down on the ground. "PERSONA!"

In a flash of glorious light, Hlin emerged from the glass, eyes opening wide. She glared at the shadow, hand s outstretched. Quickly aiming at Shadow Ren, Hlin cast Garu, a gust of wind picking up and slamming towards the creature.

[homeruuun]

The gust of wind hit the Shadow in full blast; the ox thrashed its head around and stomped its hooves in pain and the girl tried to stabilize herself on the beast's horn, cringing as she was tossed to and fro. The spell seemed to have been especially effective... maybe just a few more...

The ox's free horn grew in length and it tossed its head, aiming to slam Seiya with it.

[seiyayamada]

Hlin dove in the way of the blow, yet Seiya was still hit, falling to her knees with a groan. Wincing, she glanced to Ren, lip quivering. "Miura-san... you can do this..."

Trying to crawl closer to her classmate, Seiya reached out for her, "Maybe... maybe you have to just... accept these kind of things..."

Casting garu once more, Hlin tried her best to protected the two as they talked.

[homeruuun]

Ren managed to push herself up on her hands and hold her head, trying to shake out the dizziness. She heard Seiya's words, but was still too disoriented to respond immediately; instead, she looked up at her, then at the fight. The ox bellowed again as it was hit by the spell. At that point, it looked like it was severely weakened, but even more enraged. The Shadow on its horn held her face, groaning and whimpering in pain. With its eye uncovered, the ox once again cast Tera, this time in between the two girls and dangerously close to Seiya.

Ren pulled herself to a sitting position, a hand still holding her head. She let everything sink in... the Shadow... her words... the true self? Acceptance...?

[seiyayamada]

As the ground beneath her shot up, Seiya flew back a few more feet from Ren. Hlin could only take so much of the blow, looking disappointed in herself.

Half of her compact still in tact, Seiya slid it across the space between them, watching it slide to a stop beside Ren.

"Maybe it's.. it's just time." She clutched her side, hoping to stop herself from losing too much blood.

[homeruuun]

She watched as the compact slid to her and hesitantly picked it up. She looked at herself in the reflection... thoughts surged through her mind. She steeled herself, pulling herself to her feet with some difficulty. "Alright, that's enough."

The Shadow stopped and calmed down as Ren limped towards it. She stopped in front of it, prompting the Shadow to revert into its initial form as black mist exuded from it and disappeared.

"... I admit it. I haven't been honest with myself, or a lot of people, either," she said, looking at her feet. "I lack faith in people. I overestimate myself, and I get convinced that I have to help them with everything, otherwise they won't be able to accomplish anything on their own... so when they prove me wrong, I take it the wrong way." She looked into the compact in her hand. "Then I start feeling like I'm not good enough, so I try to make up for it by making everyone else's problems my own, and then I just... get overwhelmed."

The Shadow stood perfectly still, listening to Ren's words.

She looked up at her Shadow and locked their gazes. "I'm sorry. I need to learn how to help myself first of all, don't I? Well... maybe this is the first step." She raised her free hand and offered it to the Shadow, along with a smile. "You're a part of me. I can recognize that now. What do you say we work together on improving ourself?"

Smiling faintly, the Shadow took Ren's hand and shook it. In a gentle glow of light, she dissolved and transformed into a tall, masked woman with hair made of leaves and holding a long branch, driving a plough. She faded into the form of a card, which then drifted down into Ren's open hand - bearing the symbol of a maiden and a lion.

"Gefjon..." she mumbled, the name echoing in her mind. A... Persona. The word felt right.

[seiyayamada]

Watching as Ren stepped forward, Seiya gritted her teeth. It was partially a reaction to the pain, yet also a side of hesitant anticipation. She wasn't quite sure if Hlin could get between them in time. It seemed that it wasn't needed, as the girl began to speak to her shadow. As the conversation ended, Seiya watched Ren receive her persona.

So this is what it looked like to Gregory and Miho back in the elevator. Hlin dissolved into a thin mist, returning to her place in Seiya's psyche. "Miura-san... are you okay?" Attempting to stand, Seiya shook. Yes, a visit to the hospital was definitely needed after all this.

[homeruuun]

"Yeah..." As she answered, realization hit her, and she spun around, rushing to Seiya as quickly as her ankle would let her. "Oh crap, what about you? We need to get you out of here, stat!" And she was already throwing Seiya's arm over her shoulders and wrapping her own around her waist to support her, despite the sorry state of her ankle. "I'm sorry for dragging you into this, senpai..."

... Wait. How WERE they supposed to get out?

[seiyayamada]

"I'm just glad you're okay, Miura-san." Seiya leaned on her, panting softly as she lost more blood. "The exit's that way." Pointing, she tried to hobble forward.

"I've never... you did good, okay?"

[homeruuun]

Ren looked a little sheepish. The door had outright vanished, so they were free to exit the room; the soil seemed to thaw, as well, and the small sprouts were set free from their icy prisons. She favored her uninjured foot, hoping Seiya could at least provide some weight for the other side.

"I didn't think those rumors would turn out to be true... and like this, of all things," she rasped, clearing her throat as she turned a corner. Fortunately any other Shadow seemed to have vacated the premises. "I'm still really confused, and we'll have to talk about it later, but..." Later, as in after they were both out and bandaged up. "Is... does anyone else know about this?... It's going to look suspicious when we come out and people find us all beaten up."

[seiyayamada]

Seiya supported her new friend as best as she could, taking her time as they walked. "G-kun and Miho-chan-- unghhh" Pausing, she grunted in pain. "They came with me before..."

They were almost home free now, thank God.

[homeruuun]

She had heard a mention of that G person before, but Miho? "Mippon knows-?" That was a bit of a shock... but then again, that could explain why she mentioned the rumor the other day. Ren felt a little bad for blowing her off about believing it, now.

"Is this it?" They arrived at what looked like a replica of the girls' bathroom, complete with the large mirror above the sink counter.

[seiyayamada]

Hoisting herself up on the sink, Seiya held a hand out to Ren. "Yeah, she was here when the same thing happened to me-- Ah, one sec." Reaching over, she plucked some red ice from the wall, shoving it in her pocket. "Let's get out of here."

[homeruuun]

She supposed that would explain some things, maybe. Ren took Seiya's hand and pulled herself up on the sink (she could have managed on her own, really, but she thought she'd try accepting someone else's help for a change). "So we just... go through the mirror?" She raised her hand, tentatively placing her fingertips against the surface of the mirror and, surely enough, it seemed to ripple.

[seiyayamada]

Nodding, she slid through as if it was nothing, appearing on the other "normal" counter. Seiya held her side, slipping off the sinks.

"I'm gonna call an ambulance... how do I even explain this?"

[homeruuun]

Ren followed suit, staring back and forth between the bathroom and the mirror as she slid off the counter. She scratched her head. This was just like an anime or something.

"... Good point," she said, looking down at the slowly bleeding scrapes in her hands. "I don't think a simple I slipped and fell on something story would cut it."

[seiyayamada]

"We were mugged, right?" Seiya raised her eyebrows, hoping Ren would catch on.

"Out behind the school. He had a knife."

[homeruuun]

Mugged? Ren held her chin in thought. "Yeah... and since I scared him off, he didn't get to take anything." She still had her wallet intact in her pocket, after all. "I sprained my ankle chasing after him, and we came here to clean up since it was closer than the infirmary." Yeah, that sounded good.

[seiyayamada]

Grinning, Seiya wet a few paper towels, dabbing at her wound. "Aggghyeah, I'm gonna call an ambulance. You gonna be okay, Miura-san?"

[homeruuun]

Ren grimaced slightly at her senpai's reaction. "Yeesh. I'm better off than you are, at least. I'll be fine with a visit to the infirmary." Slipping her cellphone out from her pocket, she first checked to see if it was still intact - thank goodness, it wasn't cracked! "I'll make the call, you put pressure on that." Hissing slightly at the stinging sensation in her palm, she dialed the number and held the phone up to her ear.

"Hi, uh, my friend and I had a run-in with a mugger. I drove him off, but she's bleeding pretty bad... no, she was cut on the side. Me? No, just a few bandaids and a brace and I'll be fine, but she might need stitches. We're at Eizou Academy, we're cleaning up in the bathroom on the second floor right now. Okay, thanks."

She pocketed her phone. "They'll be here in about ten minutes. Think you can hold up?" She washed her own hands and wiped them carefully before grabbing some towels and helping with Seiya's wound.

[seiyayamada]

Applying pressure to the wound as instructed, Seiya leaned against the wall. Smiling a bit at the term "friend", she ran her free hand through her bangs.

"I should be okay. You can head to the infirmary if you need to." Worried, she looked over all of Ren's injuries.

[homeruuun]

Ren shook her head. "I've had worse. I'll wait for the ambulance with you, I insist." She clicked her tongue, discarding a towel. "Sorry, looks like you'll need a new uniform..."

[seiyayamada]

"Don't worry 'bout it." She shook her head, taking in short, shallow breaths. "I'm glad I went after you. Who knows what would've happened if I hadn't?"

[homeruuun]

She gave her another sheepish look. What would have happened?... She probably wouldn't have thought to accept her Shadow and fallen into despair. If Seiya hadn't been there to fight the Shadow, she probably would have been killed. She shook her head. "What I wonder is... what about other people? When I came here, I... I can barely remember it, but I must have been in a daze." She looked at the mirror. "It's like something beyond it is calling people there."