The mirror outside did not finish cracking.
It simply held.
Thin fracture lines stretching across invisible glass.
Morning came anyway.
Illya did not sleep well.
When she opened her eyes, the memory of crimson light was still there — sharp and sudden behind her eyelids.
A girl.
A spear.
Silence after impact.
She sat up slowly.
Ruby floated near her desk, unusually quiet.
"…Was she another magical girl?" Illya asked the ceiling.
Ruby spun once. "Affirmative! Rival detected!"
"Rival?!" Illya squeaked.
Across the hall, a door opened.
Her twin stepped into the corridor, pausing when he heard her voice.
"You're talking to it again," he said mildly.
"It talks first!"
He considered that. "That seems unfair."
He moved toward the stairs.
Illya followed shortly after, still distracted.
At breakfast, Sella placed tea down with perfect composure.
Leysritt buttered toast lazily.
Everything felt painfully normal.
Illya kept glancing toward the window.
Her brother noticed.
"…Something else happen?" he asked.
Illya hesitated.
"There was another girl."
He didn't respond immediately.
"During the fight?" he asked instead.
"…Yeah."
He nodded once, filing it away without visible reaction.
But the word fight lingered in the air.
School should have been a relief.
It wasn't.
Illya barely registered the lesson until the classroom door slid open.
"We have a transfer student."
Illya's stomach tightened instinctively.
A small girl stepped forward.
Long black hair fell neatly down her back. Brown eyes lifted briefly toward the class — calm, unreadable, not cold.
"Miyu Edelfelt," she said softly.
Illya stopped breathing.
It was her.
Not armored.
Not holding a spear.
Just a girl in the same uniform.
Miyu's gaze moved across the room.
It paused on Illya for a fraction of a second.
Then continued.
Nothing in her expression changed.
By lunchtime, Miyu had already become the quiet center of attention.
She answered questions correctly.
She ran quickly without boasting.
She spoke politely.
She didn't try to charm anyone.
She didn't need to.
Illya watched her from across the room.
There was no visible trace of last night's battle.
No tension.
No acknowledgement.
It made Illya feel strangely uncertain.
When Illya returned home that afternoon, Sella delivered the next surprise without inflection.
"The Edelfelt family has taken residence in the estate adjacent to ours."
Illya nearly dropped her cup.
"Next door?!"
"Yes."
Leysritt nodded. "They moved in recently."
Illya slowly turned toward the window.
Next door.
Her brother followed her gaze.
"…Convenient," he murmured.
Not suspicious.
Just thoughtful.
That night, the air shifted again.
Ruby snapped upright.
"Mana reaction detected!"
Rin arrived quickly.
This time, Illya didn't argue.
She transformed without protest.
The Mirror Road unfolded.
Reality peeled back.
The city emptied.
Rider stood waiting.
Illya's grip tightened.
Rin attacked first.
Lightning burst forward.
It did little.
Illya fired next.
Her aim was better than before.
Still not enough.
Rider moved.
Faster than Illya anticipated.
Steel collided with light.
Illya stumbled backward, arms shaking from the impact.
"Don't freeze!" Rin shouted.
Illya pushed forward.
Another blast.
Closer.
Stronger.
Rider raised her arm.
Mana spiraled sharply, condensing into something heavier.
Illya felt the shift.
She wasn't fast enough.
Then—
A streak of crimson cut through the sky.
Precise.
Immediate.
Rider shattered where she stood.
The Class Card drifted downward.
Silence reclaimed the Mirror World.
Miyu stood several meters away.
Calm.
Unharmed.
She stepped forward and picked up the Rider card before Illya could move.
"You hesitate," Miyu said quietly.
It wasn't mocking.
It was simply true.
Illya swallowed.
Miyu met her eyes briefly.
"This isn't something you do lightly."
Then she turned and walked away, fading into the fractured skyline.
The next day, Illya couldn't ignore her.
At lunch, she approached Miyu's desk.
"Why are you collecting the cards?" Illya asked.
Miyu looked up.
"Why are you?"
Illya hesitated.
"I thought… it would be exciting. And I could help."
Miyu studied her for a moment.
"If you think it's exciting," she said softly, "then you don't understand it yet."
Illya felt heat rise to her face.
"This isn't pretend," Miyu continued. "If you step into danger, you have to accept what it means."
No anger.
Just certainty.
Miyu stood and left.
Illya remained where she was, staring at her hands.
That evening, Illya practiced alone in the yard.
Her stance wobbled at first.
Then steadied.
Again.
And again.
Upstairs, her brother paused by the window.
He watched quietly.
When Illya fired, she didn't look afraid this time.
Just focused.
He felt that same faint tightening in his chest as the night before.
Not memory.
Not recognition.
Just discomfort.
He stepped back from the window.
Outside, Illya raised her wand once more.
This time—
She didn't hesitate.