The floorboards protested as she walked over them to where Akira stood. Erina grabbed the knob and pulled the door over. She took a few breaths to steady herself, testing the resistance of the door as she moved it back and forth.

  …No. Erina shook her head and let go. This didn't make sense. She was definitely just going to hit herself in the face with a door.

  "Akira?" she called out. "Are you there?" But of course, she wasn't. Erina held in her sigh and looked around. The driver was still in the car.

  "Um… excuse me?" Erina watched him roll down the window. "Could you please tell me how to get to the Rev—"

  He rolled the window back up.

  It was really hard not to sigh. Erina picked herself up and went inside the old, broken restaurant. Alone in the dark, she raised one hand and focused. Surely… she could at least…!

  A green orb of light flickered to life in her hand. With a quiet grunt, its shine paled and intensified, casting a soft glow on her surroundings.

  It was a lot harder than she expected, but it was possible. Erina investigated the restaurant, looking for anything door-like. An ancient worn-down bar, decaying wooden stools, cloth sheets separating rooms that had long since rotted away… none of them seemed very door-like.

  The kitchen was more of the same. Erina imagined that back in its day, this must have been a small family-owned restaurant. Perhaps distance from the city and lack of business shut it down? But it must have been a long time ago. She didn't understand why this was a landmark for magic yakuza.

  Finally, something gave her pause in the back room. Erina found a mirror—tall, full-body, big enough to see all of herself in. She looked as lost as she felt, in this dark room tucked away in the back of a rotting building on her own. The comfort she found in her laboratory or under the rain was nowhere to be seen now. She couldn't remember the details of her dream, but she remembered how she felt—powerless and astray.

  But running away wasn't an option. In the mirror, Erina's expression tightened with resolve and she nodded to herself. All she could do was her best.

  The only question was… how?

  Erina felt the mirror. The glass was made of glass, just like in the doctor's room.

  Don't think about what should logically happen, she thought to herself. That was easier said than done. She stepped away from the mirror. Erina looked at herself one last time and made sure she was perfectly aligned. She raised her arm, extending the orb of light towards the mirror.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Then, she closed her eyes and made a fist, snuffing it out.

  One blind step forward. Her fist relaxed into an open hand. She told herself not to expect the resistance of glass. She wouldn't walk into it. She wouldn't walk into it.

  Another step. This was how she exited the laboratory. This had to be how she could return to a place like the laboratory.

  Another step…

  But she only took one step back from the mirror in the first place.

  Hot violent pain exploded around her arm, as if two red-hot irons clamped shut around it—

  Erina tripped over herself as her hand was pulled forward, yanking her through the mirror. The glass washed over her like she ran through a sheet of cool water, and then she was on the dirt under the evening sky.

  "Not bad for a first time," said Akira. The last glimpses of static-like distortion faded from her hand as she let Erina go. "You only almost amputated yourself. Some people cut themselves in half."

  Erina got up nursing her arm. Her clothes didn't seem to be cut, and her arm seemed unharmed now. But if she had gotten stuck like that for even a second longer…

  She looked at Akira. "Did you—"

  "Help?" Akira put her hands behind her head and turned away. "I dunno. Did I?"

  "…Thank you." Erina looked around. The mirror was nowhere to be seen. Instead, they were on the side of a developed street in the core of downtown. Monolithic buildings and skyscrapers met her eye whichever way she looked. Blinking lights, harsh streetlights, and giant neon signs assaulted her vision from every direction. The road seemed to follow the contours of the mountain they drove up to get here, but everything else was completely different. "This is…?"

  "Welcome to the Reverse," said Akira. "Not always what it looks like on the other side." She pointed to the building at the corner of the street—an immense, garish nightclub covered in lights that was the brightest, worst affront to Erina's eyes she'd seen yet. "The name's Kirigami Goukei. He'll be in there. Good luck!"

  "Wait," called Erina. Akira was already testing the nearest door. "Where are you going?"

  "Back," she shrugged.

  The floor was beginning to tilt under Erina's feet. "Are you expecting me to meet with him alone?"

  "So?" Akira didn't seem happy with this door. She tried the feel of the next one over. "I'm not your babysitter."

  "But—"

  "Listen up," sighed Akira. "This is how things work around here. Those men showed up and we got in a tangle because of you. If that was all there was to it, I'd go in there alone and handle affairs, but guess who just signed on today?"

  Erina had to make an active effort not to wobble.

  "Yeah. And guess who you work under?" Those sharp gold eyes slid down from Erina's eyes.

  Erina looked down at the pin that had appeared on her blazer—the very same one worn by the men in the lab. When did it get there?

  "Yeah," said Akira. "Meaning you're a part of this now. Between me and him, this isn't something so big that the boss herself is obligated to attend. The rank and file can deliver messages on my behalf." She swung the door wide open. "Don't make me wait."

  "Stop! Please!"

  Akira froze and looked back. That was the first time Erina raised her voice. Gold eyes flicked up and down, assessing this girl who had such a desperate look on her face. Something had shaken her so deeply that she was even more terrified than at headquarters.

  What a pitiful thing. Akira found it hard to look at.

  "…Fine," she said quietly. "You'll live. Promise."

  The door slammed shut, and Erina was left running up to nothing, grabbing at air. "No! No, no, please no…"

  But Akira wasn't coming back.