infinite_reflection | after school

after school

The conversation was subdued as they trickled out of the locker room, the members of the mens baseball team standing slightly apart from the other students hurrying from practice. They'd just scrimmaged against another team and lost, and it stung even if the game didn't count.

Kota certainly felt it, and one of his teammates slapped him on the arm. "Don't look so down, Kota-kun. You played well, there just wasn't anything we could do."
"That guy could hit homeruns easier than I can breathe," someone else complained, setting off a round of grumbling.
"Alright, enough of that," the captain eventually interrupted. "We've obviously got some work to do, but we can start on it tomorrow at practice."

That signaled the group to start walking again...minus one member. The captain turned back once he noticed Kota wasn't following the group. "Kota-kun, aren't you coming?" Win or lose, they always went to an arcade afterwards to unwind; after all, a bad day on the diamond didn't mean you had to lose at everything!
But Kota shook his head. "Sorry, not this time. I think I've had my ass kicked enough today," he said with a small, strained smile.
The captain hesitated, but now the whole group had paused, with someone shouting for them to hurry up. "Alright," he said. "If you change your mind, you know where to find us."

And so Kota was left standing by himself, making no motion to leave at all. He was looking at the ground with a small frown. They... really couldn't have done anything different during the game. Maybe if their pitcher was a little better, but Kota couldn't really fault him - he'd obviously been doing his best. All their time and effort, and this is where it had gotten them. Losers with nothing better to do than console themselves with an old routine.

Kota turned, his head down, his steps stilted, and walked against the flow of students to slip back inside the locker room. A full length mirror at the end of a row of lockers beckoned him over and he stopped in front of it, only then lifting his eyes.

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"Right!" Seiya tucked hers away, tossing her phone in her bag. She doubted paranormal realms had good coverage. As Ren produced a baseball bat, her heart sank. "Shit, I didn't bring anything..." Digging around the equipment area, Seiya pulled out another more worn bat. It'd have to do.

"A-...." She bit her lip, suddenly nervous. "Are you... do we go in?"

Ren did the same, freeing some space in her pocket by putting her phone in her bag - wouldn't want to damage it in case something happened.

"Do we really have a choice?" she asked, leaning her bat on her shoulder. "We can't just leave him there. Let's go, senpai." She approached the mirror, extending a hand toward its now-still surface.

Nodding, Seiya stepped forward, arm outstretched. Ren was right; it was their responsibility now.

The surface rippled as her fingertips touched the glass, allowing her to pass easily. Seiya braced herself as she fell through.

Ren definitely wouldn't let herself fall on an ankle (or wose) this time, so she prepared to break her fall as she went in.

Once they landed, Ren picked herself up, dusting off her skirt, and looked around for signs of Kota.

Kota was nowhere to be seen, but as soon as they landed there came a soft, echoey version of Kota's voice as if he was standing right next to them.

"Go away. I don't want you here."

As for Kota himself, he had gone along with Ren's advice and stayed exactly where he fell, in a hallway with banks of lockers and a wooden bench, the various fixtures broken, bent, gouged - it looked like someone had gone to town on them, taking out his or her anger on them until nothing was left undamaged. Though he'd been sitting, knees drawn up to his chest, he jumped up when he too heard the whisper.

"Fine by me," he yelled. "Just let me out!"

Seiya gathered herself, standing slowly as the voice spoke. It sounded familiar... Taking in their surroundings, Seiya was careful not to disturb anything. "We're here to help." Her tone was calm, though her hands shook.

Glancing at Ren, her brow furrowed, "Do you know his name?"

She frowned at the whisper... no doubt his Shadow was already on the move. She nodded; "Yeah. Kota Satou." Of course, she was oblivious to the fact that the two had already met.

She raised her voice to call out to him, but not enough to yell. Considering the way the Shadow greeted them, she didn't want to risk aggravating it. "Satou, can you hear me?"

"Help?" The whisper repeated, its tone full of scorn. "That's what they always say. But they never mean it. Never."

Kota frowned; that made no sense as an answer to his protest, so... did that mean that someone else was here? He froze, breathing as shallowly as possible and was rewarded with the faint sound of a voice - one that he had heard recently. "Miura-san? I'm here!" It sounded like she was off over to his left, and he turned that way, climbing on the bench so his voice might carry further. "I'm at a dead end. I'm going to get to an intersection, so it'll be easier to find each other. Just..." His voice wavered for a moment before he pulled himself back together. "Just be careful."

It was stupid, he thought as he jumped down and turned to go, to say that he had a bad feeling about this place. Considering they were (somehow) inside a mirror this whole thing had been screamingly wrong from the start. And yet he couldn't help but feel uneasy, a sense that only grew as he walked down the hallway and noticed how the light started to dim.

"Satou-san?" Seiya frowned, watching her feet. Was this how it would be? People close to them constantly in danger? What good would 'bonds with others' do if they only brought more pain?

Shoving that all aside, she headed towards Kota's voice, bat slung over her shoulder. "We're coming! Just stay still!"

The two walked in the direction of Kota's voice, at least as best as they could gauge with the echoes reverberating throughout the icy halls. An intersection? There were a few, but the ones they encountered so far showed no sign of him, so they pressed on.

Stay still? Who wanted to stay still? Kota wanted out, and he figured that the easier he made himself to find, the better it would be. But... though the others were coming across intersections, Kota hadn't found one yet. The path turned every so often, but there were always walls hemming him in, forcing him to follow a strict path.

And the path was getting darker and darker, until he halted in gloom similar to that of late evening. Kota never claimed to be the bravest of souls, and that harsh foreboding hadn't faded any. "Uh, guys?" he called out, swallowing past a lump in his throat. "Tell me it's getting hard to see your hand in front of your face for you too."

Seiya followed Ren, breathing sharply. Calming herself seemed to be coming a bit more naturally as they progressed. The lighting dimmed slightly as they walked, causing Seiya to widen her eyes.

Kota's voice seemed faint. She frowned, cupping her palm next to her mouth, "Satou-saaaaann!?"

Ren threw a look over her shoulder, at Seiya, and past them before looking forward again. It did look like it was getting dimmer.

This wasn't really helping. "Satou, count out loud or something!" Hopefully they wouldn't have to rely too much on their sight if it continued to get darker, so sound was their next best bet.

At least they couldn't see his bewildered look until he realized why they wanted him to count. "One, two..."

Kota continued to walk, counting for each step. When he made it to ten he started again, counting in English this time, then in Mandarin. His hopes of making himself think about something other than where he was failed miserably once he got to seven for the third time, as he stepped out between a row of lockers onto an open, flat field.

But he turned his back to it, noticing other openings into the maze, but... Should he wait here like they said? He could guess at where they were, because moving was preferable to standing still, but that would probably just delay things.

"Why are you hesitating?" the whisper asked, jacking up Kota's heart rate because it sounded so close. "It's because you know you don't need them, isn't it? You know you're better off without them."

Good thinking Ren! Seiya followed his voice through each number, her free hand steady on the wall. Just keep moving. Working through the maze she could see a dim light ahead. "We're almost there, Satou-san!" Or at least, she hoped they were. In actuality, the maze could spit them anywhere it wanted. She just begged for it to be the right exit.

Ren gripped her bat firmly. If something could go wrong, it was nearing the part where it most likely would. Better be prepared for the worst, she thought.

At least Seiya's voice - now naggingly familiar - seemed equally close. "Careful!" Kota called back. "I... there's definitely someone else here."

"Still acting like you care. Do you think they'll believe it?"

Kota turned sharply. "Shut up!"

"Brave words from a coward."

"Says the guy who's hiding in shadows," Kota shot back, only to hear laughter. And suddenly he could make out a form sitting on a mound, its limbs weighed down by thick, formerly white ropes. The person raised his head, and Kota took a step back, seeing his own face.

"Who's hiding? Maybe you just didn't want to see." The Shadow's yellow eyes then looked past him, addressing the other two. "I told you I didn't want you here."

Seiya entered the field, taking careful steps. Her grip on the bat tightened. Seeing Kota's shadow, her heart raced. This was real. It was happening again.

"We're here anyway." Seiya chose her words carefully, "You can shut us out, but we'll always be right here. Right, Miura-san?"

The girl nodded, resting the end of her bat in her opposite hand before pointing it towards the obscured Shadow.

"If you don't want us here, fine. But we're taking Satou back with us."

"Yamada-san?" His relief at seeing the two was tempered with confusion once he recognized who Ren was with. What in the world was going on?

"Is that right?" the Shadow sneered at the pair before turning its attention back to Kota. "Is that what's going to happen? You're going to give up and run away again like a child because things aren't going your way. That's right: when things go sour you just head for the door, leaving everyone to clean up the mess."

And Kota knew it made more sense to turn around and walk away, to leave behind this impostor and just get out of this place. But the words stung; it would be running away, and it hurt to have it put so baldly. He wasn't a coward. He wasn't! "Go to hell!" he shouted instead. "What do you know?"

"Everything. I know everything about you. I know how much you hate that they're here. How much do you think you'll owe them for this?" The Shadow leaned forward. "You offered her your life. Now she'll take it."

"...How did you know that?"

"I know everything you've done. Everything you think. Because I am you."

"That's not true!" Kota clenched his fists at his sides. He wasn't this asshole, no matter what face he wore! "You're not me!"

The Shadow started to laugh as it slowly stood, blackness swirling around it as it stepped back, deeper into the gloom, its bright yellow eyes still showing clearly through the dark. "Fine. Then I'll just rid myself of you!"

Energy exploded outwards from where the Shadow had retreated, kicking Kota squarely in the chest and taking him off his feet. His head hit the ground hard, and he groaned, seeing stars.

I am a Shadow.. the true self," came the voice from the darkness. Those yellow eyes had grown larger and climbed in height until the Shadow swooped back into view: a shiny, metallic skull, flatter and more angular than any human's, kept aloft by a pair of black butterfly wings, their bright yellow eye spots matching the skull's still glowing eyes. It wasted no more time, instead diving at Seiya and Ren, aiming more at inspiring fear than doing actual damage.

"Satou-san--!!" It was futile now. The shadow continued to taunt him, and all she could do was watch. As the creature transformed and flew at them, she swung her bat, missing due to freaking out.

"Are you okay!?" Seiya dropped the bat to the ground, fishing out her summoning compact. "Miura-san-" She locked eyes with her teammate, expression serious. Hopefully her friend understood. Seiya flipped the compact open, punching the glass. It shattered, Hlin springing forth in a bright light. "PERSONA!"

Ren nodded when she locked eyes with Seiya. She rushed over to where Kota had fallen and helped him sit up before standing before him as a shield, drawing her own compact from her pocket. She placed it on the ground and smashed the glass with the end of her bat. "Gefjon!"

The veiled, leaf-haired woman sprung up with a twirl. Turning to the transformed Shadow, she whipped her branch in its direction, summoning a tall spike of rock that detached from the ground and shot up in its direction.

Kota had obeyed the pull of Ren's hands and was now sitting up, but he wasn't doing much more than staring dully at the ground, his head still ringing.

The rock spike scored on the Shadow, and it shrieked in pain and anger before responding by hurling a ball of elementless energy to explode at Ren's feet. Perhaps fortunately, it had turned all its attention on the one who had hurt it, ignoring Seiya even if she had a Persona of her own and leaving itself open to attack from her angle.

Seiya dug her feet into the ground, throwing her hand out in the direction of Kota's shadow. Hlin soared forward, the bright slice of her Garu attack flying at the creature.

It was all up to their personae now. Keeping a watchful eye on Kota and Ren, she let Hlin continue to wail on the monster.

Rather than dodging it and risk having Kota injured, Ren stood her ground. Gefjon shielded Ren's body from sustaining damage as much as she could, but Ren could still feel the pain even if the wounds didn't appear on her. She propped herself up with her bat to avoid falling to her knees.

Gefjon whipped her branch against her plough and four glossy-coated oxen materialized. Giving the signal, the beasts beat their hooves into thin air and rushed towards the Shadow, pulling Gefjon and her plough in a stampede.

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