Miki nodded. "Okay. Well, you be sure to rest well tonight. It might have been caused by lack of sleep or something. I know the first few days are always hectic." She gave his shoulder a reassuring pat, then waved to the others she recognized. "Shine-senpai! Aryn-senpai! Good to see you here!" She smiled and then went inside to sign her name on the club register. She proceeded to bow to the teacher with the bunny ears attached to a headband she was wearing. They matched the rabbit-paw gloves on her hands. It was the oddest thing she'd ever seen but it wouldn't be polite to comment.<br/><br/>"Miki-chan is it? Would you like to demonstrate your ability?"<br/><br/>"Yes, Naoko-sensei." Miki removed her shamisen and it's matching bachi and then began to tune the instrument. She folded her legs under her and closed her eyes, beginning to pick out a soft, quiet melody that she was fond of. The music flowed from the strings in a gentle tinkling sound, like the sound of rain on stone. As she strummed, she hummed the words of a lullaby she remembered from her own youth, singing in time to her instrument.<br/><br/>The sudden screaming in her ears startled her out of her rhythm. She sat bolt upright, eyes open and widening.<em>What is that?! Where is it coming from?!</em><br/><br/><strong><em>Don't you know?</em></strong><br/><br/><em>What?</em><br/><br/><em><strong>You can't tell me you don't know what's going on, Little Miss Perfect.</strong></em><br/><br/><em>The room swam before her eyes like a mirage. The walls began to weep, trailing a sticky dark-red substance that stank of iron and...something else. The smooth white walls began to burn, crisping away to reveal a shiny black mirror. She could see herself in the walls now, shaking in terror as her many reflections began to twist, each facet reflecting something different and then shifting again before her eyes could adjust. Sweat and flame filled the air, lighting the yen coins that fell from nowhere into flaming incandescence. The molten metal was falling on her, burning away her skin, while in the distance a shadowed woman on a throne of shattering mirrors laughed and laughed....</em><br/><br/>She sat there on the floor of the Music Club room, hunched over her shamisen, almost prostrate, and screaming incoherently.<br/><br/><br/><br/>