Volume 1:The Prophecy
Chapter 8: The Silver Thread Between Glass
The three walked down the narrow backroad behind the school grounds, mist curling like lazy spirits around their ankles. Morning light filtered through the trees, but the air was quiet—too quiet.
Itsuki was halfway through his latest rant about how his bat was "clearly the most epic soul weapon ever forged by fate," when Rei suddenly stopped walking.
"…You hear that?" he said softly.
Yuki turned, frowning. "Footsteps."
Behind them, the mist parted slightly—and a figure stepped into view.
A girl.
Long black hair. Pale uniform. Sharp silver eyes that shimmered faintly, like reflected moonlight.
She stopped a few feet away. Her gaze didn't waver.
"…You're being followed," she said calmly.
The three stiffened.
Itsuki raised his bat a little. "Uh, creepy mist girl, do we know you?"
The girl tilted her head, then bowed slightly.
"I'm Airi," she said. "Daughter of Raizen."
Rei's pulse jumped. "Wait—Raizen's daughter?!"
Yuki blinked. "But… Raiga said we'd meet you at school…"
"I was at the school," Airi replied smoothly. "But my father was there. So I left early."
Itsuki's mouth moved, but no sound came out. He gave Rei a we're totally screwed look.
Airi continued, her voice light but steady. "My brother said to meet you before the mission. This spot made more sense."
Yuki slowly lowered her guard. "Okay… but just saying, sneaking up on people like that is kinda serial-killer energy."
Airi didn't respond. She just looked at each of them, quietly assessing.
"Looks like this is your squad," she said.
Itsuki grinned. "Then that means we're officially a team now. You, me, Rei, and Yuki—Team Bad Decisions."
She gave him a flat look. "You talk too much."
"And you're cute when you threaten me."
"I will punch your soul out of your teeth."
Yuki raised an eyebrow. "You two are gonna get along way too well."
As they walked toward the city outskirts, Rei glanced at Airi. "So… what's the mission exactly?"
"An abandoned hospital," she said without looking back. "South side. Shut down twenty years ago. Now it's mirror-infected."
"Mirror-infected?" Yuki asked.
"Mirror fog has started leaking through the east wing," Airi explained. "If it spreads to nearby houses, a vein could form. That leads to a breach."
Itsuki whistled. "Cool cool. Totally not horrifying."
Rei frowned. "How do you know so much already? Did you go there before?"
Airi hesitated.
Then, casually: "I read the reports. And I've… always wanted to see a real mission. I want to fight."
Her voice trembled for half a second—but her eyes stayed clear.
Yuki smiled a little. "That makes two of us."
"Three," Rei added.
Itsuki elbowed Airi lightly. "Guess we're all beginners with trauma and dreams. Let's go break some haunted mirrors."
She stared at him, then looked away.
"…Just don't get killed."
High above, crouched on a sloped roof between trees, Raiga watched them silently.
They were walking side by side now. Laughing. Talking. The bond was forming.
He watched Airi especially.
"…You've chosen them," he murmured.
A breeze passed.
And with a whisper of shadow, he vanished.
The road twisted downward into the quiet ruins of the southern district. Old streetlights bent sideways. Cracked fences leaned over dead gardens. At the end of the block stood the building:
St. Bellmont Hospital.
Its faded sign hung by a rusted bolt. Windows dark. Ivy crawling over its concrete walls like veins.
"Looks... cozy," Itsuki muttered.
"Doesn't look cursed," Rei said.
"That's the problem," Airi answered. "Mirror zones are silent. Still. You don't know it's active until it reacts to you."
They stepped through the broken front gate. The rusted hinges groaned like something ancient waking from sleep.
As they reached the entrance hall, everything changed.
The air grew heavy.
Not colder—just denser. Like time itself slowed.
Yuki turned toward a mirror on the wall.
Her reflection was smiling.
She wasn't.
"…Guys…"
They all froze.
SCREEEEE—!!
A high-pitched shriek tore down the hallway like a blade across glass.
Shadows shifted.
And then—eyes appeared.
In the darkness, at the end of the corridor—glowing faintly.
One. Two. Six. Twelve.
Long, spindly limbs slithered across walls. Mouths opened too wide. Fingers curled backwards.
Rei's voice cracked. "That's not a reflection…"
Airi stepped forward, pulling her bracelet up.
Blue light shimmered across her fingers.
"Those are mirror demons," she said.
"Guess this mission's started," Itsuki muttered.
He raised his bat. "Let's dance, glass freaks."
The mirror demons crept forward, their limbs bending in unnatural ways, eyes glowing faintly like shards of moonlight in oil. Their shapes warped the air as if reality rippled around them. Static crackled faintly in the corners of the hallway—like sound bleeding from inside a screen.
Rei tensed. "Get ready!"
But then—
SHFFF—
A sudden gust of cold swept behind them.
Not wind.
Presence.
Airi stepped forward from the rear of the group—silent, calm, her silver eyes gleaming faintly like glass beneath snow.
Her voice was low and emotionless.
"…All of you stay back."
They turned.
"Airi—?"
But she was already walking ahead, slowly, as if time had thickened around her.
Then her wrist lifted.
And they saw it—**her bracelet**, glowing with a pale shimmer of energy that almost looked... frozen.
The glasslike metal spun once, then split apart in a spiral of black mist and static flickers. A blade began forming—*long*, curving, ancient.
It materialized in full with a sharp metallic SHNK, locking into form at her hip.
A katana—longer than normal. The sheath formed itself like smoke condensing into steel.
But the aura…
It wasn't white.
Or blue.
Or green.
It was a dark, greyish-black mist, swirling with crackling lines of black lightning that pulsed silently along the blade's edge.
Yuki took a breath. "That's her soul weapon…?"
Itsuki's mouth hung slightly open. "Okay. That's… way cooler than mine."
Rei's eyes narrowed.
The sword glowed like a shadow sharpened to a razor.
Airi slowly wrapped her fingers around the hilt, drawing the weapon with one smooth pull.
The air bent as it came free.
The black lightning hissed.
The demons paused.
Even they felt it.
She held the blade loosely at her side, eyes still calm, emotionless. Her voice came out cold—so cold it felt like frost.
"I'll wipe them all out."
Her silver eyes gleamed beneath her bangs.
"Just wait a minute."