The Mirror’s Pulse

Part 1

The school looked normal… at first.

Students talked.

Laughed.

Moved.

But their reflections?

Frozen. Or… wrong.

Some lagged behind.

Others stared back—not matching.

Aoi stood by the window.

—"They're out of sync…"

Rina, pale, murmured behind him:

—"It's like… mirrors don't need our permission anymore."

Kureha's eyes narrowed.

A shadow stretched against the light.

She grabbed her stethoscope instantly.

—"The Threshold is bleeding into here."

---

Part 2

A boy falls asleep at his desk.

But his reflection?

Stays awake.

And starts laughing.

Then—

the boy's body goes still.

The reflection stands up.

And walks—

right out of the board like a ripple in water.

REFLECTION (hollow voice):

—"My turn."

---

Part 3

Beneath the surface of the Threshold…

Kureha leads Aoi and Rina into a chamber of floating pulses.

Each orb vibrates with trapped memories—unspoken pain.

Kureha:

—"We all carry echoes that haven't awakened yet."

—"What Nagi wants… is to synchronize them all."

Aoi:

—"What happens if he succeeds?"

Kureha:

—"There will be no difference between your pain…

and everyone else's."

---

Part 4

A memory. Not Aoi's. Rina's.

A little girl.

Standing before a mirror—

trying to smile.

Behind her:

shouts. Fighting.

Inside the reflection:

she covers her ears.

FATHER'S VOICE (OFF):

—"Stop pretending everything's fine! Say something real!"

REFLECTED RINA (child):

—"If I smile… they won't leave me…"

---

Part 5

Back in the present—

In the school hallway,

Rina stares at nothing.

Then her body jolts.

Her voice splits.

Something else speaks through her.

ECHO OF RINA:

—"I know how it hurts.

Because I swallowed it my whole life."

Aoi walks toward her.

He doesn't run.

He sits beside her.

AOI:

—"Then let it out.

You don't have to carry it alone."

Silence.

Stillness.

Then…

The Echo cries.

Slowly, her reflection realigns.

She collapses into Aoi's arms—trembling.

---

Part 6

Elsewhere… Nagi stirs.

A temple of floating mirrors.

Each one spinning…

showing a different stolen face.

Some familiar.

Some long forgotten.

NAGI:

—"They still believe in shared heartbeats…"

He turns to the center.

A massive, dark crystal heart.

Pulsing. Slowly.

Each beat

shakes the real world a little more.

NAGI:

—"But what happens when one heart beats…

and the rest fall silent?"

---

Part 7

The rooftop. Moonlight.

Aoi watches its reflection ripple in a puddle.

AOI:

—"Rina's Echo almost destroyed her…

What if I'm next?"

KUREHA:

—"You will be."

AOI:

—"…That's not very comforting."

KUREHA:

—"It's not comfort.

It's destiny."

She takes something out.

A broken piece—of a second stethoscope.

KUREHA:

—"Two hearts can resonate together.

But if one breaks…

the other must remember."

They fit the pieces together.

One heartbeat.

Then two.

---

Preview of Next Chapter:

Nagi unleashes the first pulse into the real world.

Aoi begins to hear thoughts that aren't his own.

The line between victim and reflection begins to blur…

What if the real Echo is the one left outside the mirror?