Hirahara Mio

* Uniform (R)
* Rouge (1)(R)
* Rouge (2)(R)
* Uniform (T)

**Mio Hirahara** was a major antagonist in *Blue Reflection Ray* and amongst the supporting cast in *Blue Reflection Tie*. The older sister of Hirahara Hiori, Mio is the wiser, reserved, and controlled of the Hirahara sisters. Her wisdom and know-how is paired with her tendency to overthink things and worry often for the safety of others, often to her own detriment. Regardless, many resonate to Mio for her kindness and grace, and she is often the authority when there is none.

> *"Just think about yourself. Don't worry about me..."* -Mio Hirahara
>
>

## Profile

### Appearance

Mio has long black hair with a huge length of it in front of her dress. On the side of her head are two symmetrical bun-like hair features *(odango)*, a huge contrast to Hiori's asymmetrical braid. Her eyes are a hazy purple, although this did not change when she was in her Reflector form. Mio's uniform is a single-piece dress with a purple-gray color scheme, and a belt. Previously in the first Timeline, Mio's school uniform was similar to Hiori's, but the events of the Reflector skirmishes ended up with her beyond school, leading to this uniform, which is also the uniform of St Inés Academy.

As of her entry into Oasis, Mio no longer has access to her Reflector powers. However, she did during the Reflector skirmishes where her dress transforms into a bodied long dress with red traces and accents scattered throughout. Patches of gray-white loop throughout the centerpiece, with bits of black. On her arms are frilly clothes with red accents, extending from these frilly augments are sleeves stretching down to her hands. At the center of her dress is a sort of breast-concealment that runs up to a collar around her neck, with a dark ribbon at the middle point leading to the collar. Surrounding her hair buns are red ribbons, and a gradient from brown to a lifeless cyan can be seen near the dead point of her hair.

Following her corruption at the hands of Mizusaki Shino, during the second phase of the Reflector skirmishes Mio gained a new Reflector form. This form features radical changes and upgrades often referred to as her *Rouge* form, including a torn white apron-like mark now front of her dress, again with red accents stretching through it. A new white accent is running throughout her dress, with dark blue patches at her sides, the breastplate and collar. The black patches previously in her first form are now stretched outside of it. The frilly augments are now white, and doubled on both arms, and the sleeves have also undergone changes with black patches running amongst the arms. Her leggings are nearly all black, and her hair ribbons are fully extended and are now free-flowing. Although it's gone now, there was a dark scorch-like mark running from her arm to the side of her left cheek, a wound left behind from when her mind and will were completely under Shino's control.

During battle, Mio wielded chains, both left and right. These chains seem to have no definitive length allowing them to reach their targets and restrain them with ease. However, at least once Mio did use a sword, particularly in a skirmish against Tanabe Momo. Like the rest of her Reflector powers, Mio lost these chains and more following her entry into Oasis.

### Personality

Like her little sister, Mio is also a kind and loving person. Her priorities are the happiness and well-being of those around her. However, like Hiori, Mio can and has prioritized others above herself, often to possibly unsustainable levels. Mio is very smart and wise, and has expertise in a wide variety of fields, including cooking and astronomy. Whilst Hiori is cheerful and energetic, Mio is reserved and calm, and prefers peacefulness over high activity. And just like Hiori, Mio also struggles with sharing how she really feels, and she has let her guilt and shame from a failed action impact her. This is very evident in her actions after the Reflector skirmishes and in Oasis, where she often thinks of her overly excessive care of Hiori as her way of relieving her guilt from doing harm to her in the skirmish. That being said, she still cherishes and loves Hiori nonetheless, and is equally close to her as Hiori is. Previously, Hiori was Mio's only concern, until with enough time and experience, Mio grew not to worry as much about Hiori as before, but she still maintains a strong and caring relationship with Hiori to this day.

Mio deeply cares for all that she cares about, including Hiori as aforementioned, as well as her friends, from Momo to Hoshizaki Ao. She often wishes for their happiness more than anything, and like Hiori, can forget to care for herself at the same time. Alas Mio's seriousness and wise manner has made her unable to really take part in jokes, but she has teased her friends (affectionately) at least a few times.

## Story

### Blue Reflection Ray

Pre-Reset - The Rise and Fall

>     *"There are so many things in this world that we're powerless against. Adults create these suffering girls and act like they don't exist. **What we're doing is just a temporary solution."*** -Mio questioning how effective Reflectors really are
>
>

In the past timeline long before the Reflector skirmishes began, Mio and Hiori lived together with solely their mother, as their father had (for reasons unknown) passed away at an unspecified point in the past. Sometime after that however, their mother abandoned them, claiming she was going to buy new lightbulbs as a way to excuse her leaving the home, but this was unknown to the sisters at first. This would leave Hiori and Mio alone for the next few years. At first, Hiori and Mio had high hopes their mother was coming home soon, tough Mio might have realized the truth a lot sooner than it is shown, as its revealed their mothers credit card and cheque book have been left behind on the table. When even the sisters' relatives knew their mother wasn't coming home and offered to take them in, Mio refused, as while she too was aware about their mother being gone for so long, she was still holding on to hope, for Hiori's sake.

Hiori and Mio continued to live alone after that, with Mio now taking on a part-time job at Platanus to support her and Hiori. While Hiori was still the happy go-lucky child, Mio struggled and felt huge pressure from having to balance school life, work, and keeping Hiori happy, continuing to believe their mother would eventually come home even as she knew the awful truth. Both Hiori and Mio would, together, wish for their mother to come home during at least one Tanabata together. It was during these darkest hours that Hiori would grow closer to Mio, and one night, while she was asleep, Mio would discover that Hiori had written down in her journal: *"I love my sister."* Rather than feeling any sort of support, the pressure Mio faced only grew.

One Christmas night, Mio revealed to Hiori that she is sending her to Tsukinomiya Girls' High School, with the hope that Hiori will get to *"experience new worlds"*, while also reminding her that she can come back to Mio and the apartment they live in at any time. Tearfully, Hiori gave Mio one big hug, almost like she never wanted to let go.

While Hiori was attending Tsukinomiya Girls' High School, Mio would find herself walking down the street one day and running into Momo, who was in an alleyway punching the wall. Upon attempting to reach her, she found herself transported to the Common, and in what was her original pre-skirmish Reflector form. Under the hasty guidance of Shijō Yuzuki *(Yuzu)* and Shijō Raimu *(Lime)*, Mio would heal and restore Momo's Fragment from going rampant. After that, Yuzu and Lime would appear to recruit Mio into becoming a Reflector of the Tsukinomiya Singularity, promising her, amongst other things, that what she most wishes for will come true. Mio ended up wishing for Hiori's happiness.

Afterwards, Mio and Momo would end up working together, restoring Fragments and battling the Sephirot at every front they showed up at, from the Common to Tsukinomiya on Earth, while also bonding together and becoming partners. During this time, however, Mio would begin running into setbacks, starting from when she ended up hearing Komagawa Uta's true thoughts while restoring her Fragment *again.* Then, upon attempting to help Shino, got outright denied and called a sinner. It was after these streaks of failures that Mio would begin questioning if Reflectors really are as effective as they're claimed to be, while noting that adults like Shino's mother are causing all sorts of despair for girls and then ignore them when girls are actively suffering. Momo would promise that even with these setbacks, she won't back down until every girl in the world is liberated from despair and evil.

Unfortunately, Mio's fears would prove true as she would return home to a nasty surprise: Hiori, returned home early, and her Fragment going rampant. When attempting to restore her Fragment, Mio would soon discover that Hiori misunderstood her intentions, and began thinking if the sister she loved with her heart decided to abandon her, even likening Mio to their mother who abandoned them too. In shock and unable to comprehend the horror before her, Mio could only watch as Hiori's Fragment self-destructed in front of her, and Hiori collapsed with a gasp of pain and lifelessness in her eyes. Before Mio could intervene and begin assessing the situation, Netzach appeared, and with time frozen, Mio could only assume the worst: Hiori was dead.

Mio would later reach the battle with Netzach in tears, unable to comprehend the events of earlier, and her will and spirit, completely destroyed and broken. All Mio could do was shield Momo just barely from being shot, before the despair and sorrow from losing Hiori finally overwhelmed Mio to the point of giving up. Before Momo could assess the situation, Netzach eliminated them both, and destroyed Tsukinomiya in a wave of light.

Fortunately, time would roll back a few months before. But by this point, it was too late, as a spanner had been thrown in the works, and the seeds that would soon bloom to be the Reflector skirmishes had been planted and were growing...

Post-Reset/Pre-Reflector skirmish - The New Order

>     *"You belong only to **me** now, dear Sister..."* -Shino Mizusaki upon granting Mio a Rouge Reflector ring, signaling the start of the Reflector skirmishes
>
>

Following the timeline reset, events played out largely similar to before, only this time, Mio didn't become a Reflector yet. This time while coming home from work one day, she would run into Shino, who earlier had come into contact with dark forces granting her the memories of the past timeline, plus mysterious Rouge Reflector rings with a red gem, that fuel a user's despair and lament. With a new plan in mind, Shino granted memories of the past timeline to Mio, giving Mio remembrance of everything that transpired; including the death of Hiori. Cursed with knowledge she can't comprehend, Shino offered Mio the idea that Hiori can be saved this time, and led her to the St Inés Church, where she would demonstrate the forceful taking of a Fragment. Although this idea was inhumane and alien to her, Mio would seriously consider the idea, and as she returned home to Hiori and looked through her journal one last time, took on the offer. When Yuri came to recruit her, Mio turned her down, and in the final hours she and Hiori lived together, Mio would don the uniform of St Inés, and before leaving, would leave behind her blue Reflector ring in her and Hiori's jewelry box, for Hiori to eventually find.

Back at the Church, Shino would find that Mio had accepted her offer, and as Mio disdainfully joined Shino in a wedding-like ceremony, Shino would bind the two of them together, under the words that Mio would belong only to Shino now.

Sometime after that wedding-like ceremony, Mio would find Yamada Niina in the midst of attempting to commit a murder. Mio would stop her, and upon learning of her despair, would offer her to join Shino's new order. Niina tearfully accepted it. At another point in time, Uta too would join this tyrannical new force.

It was at this moment too that Hiori would discover the blue Reflector ring that Mio left behind for her. At this exact time, Hiori would then begin hearing Mio's voice, calling to her to find her. Hiori's journey would thus begin as the flames of the Reflector skirmish had finally been lit.

Current Timeline -The Reflector Skirmishes

>     *"You didn't do anything wrong, Hiori. It's the fault of this wrongful world [...] As long as this world is a mistake, the pain and suffering won't go away."* -Mio reassuring(?) Hiori
>
>

While Niina and Uta worked to seize Fragments for Shino's scheme, Mio was taking care of Shino, similarly to how she would care for Hiori. When news of Niina and Uta's failed attempt to seize Miyako's Fragment reached her, she disregarded the failure and reminded Niina that they're the only type of Reflectors that matter as they seem to know what's right and wrong. When Niina and Uta's second attempt to seize Miyako's Fragment ended up getting intercepted by Hiori and Ruka, Mio personally arrived at the battle site, and ended up getting into a skirmish against her former partner, Momo.

Mio would stay behind the scenes during Uta's unauthorized attempt to seize Yukiko's Fragment via cyberwarfare. Afterwards, Niina would be fed up with working with Uta and turn to Mio to become her partner, and ended up receiving Mio's memories of the past timeline. When she saw what exactly has troubled Mio so much, Niina's hostility towards Hiori grew. Finally, on the day of Tanabata, during a mass Fragment extraction operation, while Niina was preparing to execute Hiori for being the reason behind Mio's pain, Mio herself arrived. Her immediate action of extracting Fragments devastated Hiori right away, followed by the mass extraction shortly thereafter.

After another mass extraction was thwarted later, Momo herself would personally arrive to the St Inés Church to try to rekindle her partnership with Mio. Mio would lament about the old times and then share her thoughts on what is happening as well as the bombshell of the timeline reset, before a skirmish from Niina upon Momo interrupted her. Before she left later that night, she told Momo that something was coming in three days. Mio didn't comment what it was.

Sometime later, while spending time with Shino, Mio would soon learn that the next target Shino has in mind for Fragment extraction is Hiori. Mio's shock and despair at the bombshell prompted her to attempt retaliation, before Shino gaslighted her and reminded her of the horror that transpired the day Hiori died. Mio was subdued back into submission afterwards, to the glee of a slowly-drunk-on-power Shino.

A little while later, Shino captured Ruka and brought her to the Church. When Hiori and Momo arrived to rescue her, Mio was amongst the rest of the order that prepared to intercept them. While trying to convince Hiori and Momo about how wrong they are on their ideals, Hiori nearly surrendered her ring, her justification being that she loved Mio as much as she loves Ruka. It turned out to be a ploy, and Hiori immediately regained her ring, and not long after, the assault on the St Inés Church was underway. During the assault however, Mio, now drowning in her regret and sorrow from having failed to protect Hiori in the first timeline, tried to take Hiori's Fragment, before being stopped short by Momo, who at that moment sacrificed herself to protect Hiori. The despair that overtook Mio in that moment allowed Shino a chance to turn Mio into a battery to attempt breaching the Common, draining Mio's Ether and Fragment little by little until she essentially became a lifeless husk. And as Shino and her forces abandoned the Church and retreated, before leaving, Mio would become corrupted by Shino, her will and spirit now fully under Shino's control. Hiori could only just watch and break down as Mio abandoned her on the spot.

Sometime after the assault on St Inés Church, the second phase of the Reflector skirmish began as Hiori found herself clashing with Mio again to prevent a Fragment being taken, with Niina now part of the resistance. Following this showdown, Mio would then seek out new Rouge Reflectors, and after a get-together Hiori and friends had with Tachibana Ryoka and Sumeragi Amiru, singled out the latter two to become part of Shino's order, while deluding Ryoka under the promise that Amiru could be saved. Amiru and Ryoka later entered a skirmish against Hiori and Ruka, took a Fragment right in front of their eyes, and retreated to a new pocket dimension Shino opened and retreated to with the rest of her order.

Mio, now fully corrupted, was in her new Rouge Reflector form, now fully cold-blooded and no longer herself. It was here that plans were made to try to take Hiori's Fragment again, Mio remarking that it's because of Hiori's feelings that she is weak.

The day after Niina showed Hiori the memories of the past timeline, Hiori found herself wandering alone, unable to comprehend who is right and who is wrong, while also beginning to believe that Mio is right and the world without feelings would be a better place. Upon walking into an ambush with Ryoka and Amiru and trying to fight back, Mio would show up in the flesh again, justifying Shino's scheme and every Fragment extraction as protecting Hiori and saving her. Hiori and Ruka would fight back against Mio together, and when it came down to Hiori and Mio personally clashing, Hiori overpowered Mio and finally reached her true thoughts, revealing that Mio truly just wanted to protect Hiori. After this, Mio attempted to get away from Hiori, ashamed, but one hug of reassurance from Hiori ultimately calmed Mio down. Shino however was not impressed at this development, and arrived to reclaim control over Mio. It would take one last clash, and Mio regaining control of herself, her feelings, and her will to ultimately break her free of Shino's control. In a turn of events, as Shino started questioning herself, Mio proved that she also genuinely cared about Shino as well, and tried to finish her original task from the original timeline and attempted to bring Shino back to her senses as well. This too also failed, as Shino not only escaped, but had also breached the Common beforehand, and proceeded to conquest and take control of the Common, leading to mass overgrowth and violation of reality on Earth.

After the battle, Mio showed up to the Tsukinomiya Girls' dorms with the rest of the Blue Reflectors to share what she knows and get a sense of living again. During this time, she also checked in with Miyako over how Hiori has been doing since they've last been together, learning that she was on Hiori's mind all the time. After this, Mio then asked Ruka to take care of Hiori for the day and went to visit Momo, who was still in a coma following her Fragment's destruction. When Mio lamented about if she can ever be worthy of being Hiori's sister again, Momo's Fragment became restored, and with it, Momo was brought out of her coma. She then reassured Mio that regardless of her faults, she is worthy of being Hiori's sister.

The next day, Momo offered to cook meals for the team, now with Niina also at the dorms with the rest of the Reflectors. Mio joined Momo in assistance, and before long, they were spending time together again, and as Hiori would note later that day, there was a side of Mio that came about when she spends time with Momo, the happiness coming from her big sister making Hiori happy too. The day after, Mio devised a plan to save Shino, noting that it was because of her beliefs and faults that this conflict began, but now knowing that Reflectors *can* save anyone, she is ready to step up and reverse the damage once and for all, gaining strong support and newfound friendship with Miyako and Ruka, and finally being on the same wavelength of thought again as Hiori.

Together with Hiori, Ruka, Niina, Momo, and Ryoka, Mio would lead the assault to liberate the Common, making it as far as to where Shino hid away at, while escorting Shino's Fragment, personified as a younger version of Shino. When Shino repelled a few of Mio's attacks, Mio then took Shino head-on, sacrificing herself in the process and giving Hiori and Ruka the chance to reach Shino and restore her Fragment once and for all. The assault was a success, and as the Common was liberated and all the stolen Fragments returned to their owners, Mio met with Hiori for what looked like one last time. Hiori promised to keep on looking to the future, if not for Mio's sake. As the sisters parted ways for the last time, Mio gave off a sincere smile.

Although Mio had sacrificed herself during the assault, she did return from the Common, albeit now without her Fragment or her memories. The Reflector skirmish had effectively began with Mio and ended with her.

### Blue Reflection Tie

Pre-Oasis/The Ash Crisis

> *"We were desperate. We asked Reflectors who would listen for their help."* -Mio recounting her and Hiori's search for their mother
>
>

Sometime after the dissolution of Shino's order and the effective end of the Reflector skirmishes, Mio found herself alone again, with no Fragment and no memories, now living life "in a daze." It was during this time that Hiori would then miraculously find her. Determined to help her, Hiori borrowed some of Yuzu and Lime's powers, and together with these powers and herself, Hiori gave Mio part of her feelings and her own Fragment, thus effectively sharing a Fragment together. According to Yuzu, this was possible as the sisters' emotions and memories had deep connections to each other. One way or another, Hiori and Mio were now binded together by a single Fragment.

With Mio essentially alive again, Hiori and Mio would re-launch their search for their mother once again, as their previous attempt when they were younger ended up being abandoned. Throughout this renewed search for their mother, the sisters would engage in numerous skirmishes with Uta, who despite the fall of Shino's order was still a Rouge Reflector causing trouble and mayhem, now bound to no faction or order. In one of these skirmishes, Uta would claim having knowledge of their mother's whereabouts, the intel being the benefits of wielding "the power of a God."

Eventually, these skirmishes would come to an end, but Hiori and Mio were still searching for their mother. Uta then offered them what she knew and figured about the situation, and at one encounter, declared that their mother grew resentful of them, blaming them for the constant stress she was under, a statement eerily similar to Mio's case before the skirmish.

Despite setbacks, Hiori and Mio would eventually find their mother, but not without being met with refusal. Their mother refused to see them, justifying that due to the pain she put them through and the shame she thinks they had for her from being unable to adequately care for them, she abandoned them and figured they would be happier without her. Hiori and Mio would then realize they never really took their mother's feelings into account, and then shared how they really felt, before reassuring her she's not the problem, and after some further convincing, their mother came back to their side.

At an unspecified point in time, the Ash Crisis would worsen, and Hiori and Mio's Reflector abilities were reenabled, courtesy of Yuzu and Lime. The sisters were amongst many Reflectors who fought against the Ash, but as the odds were turned against the Reflectors and the Ash began destroying the world *en masse*, the Oasis project would get underway. Amongst the few who answered Yuzu and Lime's contingency call was Hiori and Mio, who would lose their memories and become stuck in a mental stasis as Yuzu and Lime hastily created Oasis to evade the Ash and bring the Reflectors to safety outside the World System's rampage.

Main Campaign - Against the World System

> *"I could never forget about you, Hiori. Never."* -Mio once she and Hiori were reunited in their Heartscape
>
>

Mio was not summoned directly into Oasis alongside Hiori, but she ended up being summoned to her and Hiori's Heartscape.

While traversing the Park of Lost Children, Ao and the Reflectors would run into Mio, knocked unconscious and on the ground. Before Hiori could rush to her side however, a demon ambush occurred in front of the girls. Following the battle, Hiori rushed to Mio's side in an attempt to wake her up. As she held her breath, Hiori was surprised when-despite the amnesia that affected all who first enter Oasis, Mio still remembered her. The sisters were reunited once more, and with joy in their hearts, they returned to the school in Oasis together along with Ao and the rest of the team.

Mio was then explained what was going on, and after learning about the situation, Mio expressed support in getting her and Hiori's Fragment back. When the girls ventured into the sisters' Heartscape again, it was discovered that Mio had lost access to her Reflector powers, leading Hiori to vow to protect her. The girls would discover Hiori and Mio's memories, including when their mother began resenting them, as well as Hiori and Mio's early days of searching for their mother, before it all came to a head at the Sealed Skies, where Hiori and Mio would reclaim their Fragment, and with it, their memories.

Sometime later during an extreme school makeover as spearheaded by fellow non-combatant Kinjou Yuki, the successful construction of the Sunflower Field would summon long-time adversary Uta to Oasis, much to Hiori and Mio's surprise and disbelief. While Mio and Hiori at first expressed distrust towards Uta, when Hiori decided to give Uta a chance after Ao announced the team was going to help Uta reclaim her Fragment, Mio expressed support for the decision as well, also willing to give Uta a chance regardless of their past skirmishes.

Along with the rest of the Reflectors, Mio was also at the final confrontation with the World System, although due to lack of Reflector powers, she assisted in giving strength and powers to the combat-able Reflectors. Following the defeat of Origin and the return of the Reflectors to the recreated world, Mio has a run-in with Ao by surprise.

### Talent Level Story

Throughout Hiori and Mio's stay in Oasis, Mio began devoting herself to Hiori's needs and care a lot of the time, often taking care of Hiori to near-excessive levels. Hiori would take notice, and would ask Mio to give her some space and refrain from talking to her unless absolutely necessary. Ao noted that Mio was feeling overprotective of Hiori, and that giving her some space would help relieve things. After the sisters gave each other some space and time to grow apart, Hiori began talking to Mio again.

When Ao praised Mio for being an incredible big sister, Mio would begin to reveal her past, including when she was a Rouge Reflector who attempted controlling people's feelings as a way to save Hiori, before ending up fighting her during the Reflector skirmishes. It was more or less thanks to Hiori that Mio can be with her again, but the guilt and shame from having fought her and hurting her during the skirmish is weighing heavy on Mio's mind. Mio then comes down to the conclusion that her actions aren't a form of making up for the pain she caused Hiori, but rather a way to relieve herself of her own guilt and shame. Ao then offers to help her atone. A while later, Mio then reveals to Ao that she and Hiori are sharing a Fragment.

After realizing just how much Hiori has done for Mio, and the pain Mio went through, Ao decides to team up with Hiori to help Mio remember the good things she has done as well, as well as reminding her of who she is, and what she keeps close to her heart. Ao, Hiori, and Mio travel together to the Park of Lost Children in the sisters' Heartscape to reclaim the memory of when Mio changed Hiori's life, from a negative, cynical child to the positive, loving, and optimistic girl Hiori is now. Once Mio discovers this, she soon realizes how much Hiori has changed her life as well, and at long last, makes peace with her past. The sisters were seeing eye to eye again, and afterwards, Ao noted that the smile she saw on Mio's face that day was one of radiance.

## Relationships

Despite the troubles she's faced, Mio has made and maintains strong relationships with multiple characters.

Hirahara Hiori

**Status: Sisters**

As evident throughout her story, Mio and Hiori are biologically sisters. They grew up together to a single mother, and in the pre-reset timeline, were very close. Previously in that timeline, Mio often prioritized Hiori's happiness above her own and devoted many of her tasks to her, often to unsustainable levels. It was Hiori's happiness that kept Mio going, and Hiori's happiness was the wish Mio made when she became a Reflector. Alas, Hiori's collapse before the battle with Netzach would ultimately send Mio into a spiral that would lead her to become a Rouge Reflector in the current timeline.

During the Reflector skirmishes, Mio used her closeness with Hiori as justification for her actions throughout the skirmish, and even as Shino took priority in her and she kept focus on the operation to extract Fragments, Mio kept Hiori close to her heart, but the failures and mistakes Mio made in the past timeline, including Hiori's death, had taken a heavy toll on her. She ultimately became stuck with the past and unable to see Hiori as anything but a helpless girl until one final clash with Hiori ultimately broke Mio away from her stubbornness and revealed to her how much Hiori has changed.

Following the skirmish, both sisters have come to terms with each other, having truly understood what the other was feeling. The experiences they've both been through have only brought them closer together, with Ao even remarking that their relationship is "something really strong," and Mio often thanks Hiori for shaping her to become the person she is now. Mio also notes that it's thanks to Hiori that they can be with each other again, and that Mio is able to get a second chance at living.

As of *Tie* the sisters still maintain a strong relationship with one another.

Tanabe Momo

**Status: Partners, Enemies** (only during the Reflector skirmishes)

Mio and Momo's relationship goes far back as to the past timeline, when Mio met Momo in an alleyway and restored her Fragment. From then on there, both Mio and Momo would go on to become Reflector partners, and work together to restore Fragments and battle the Sephirot, while also growing closer to each other. Upon learning of Mio's wish to protect Hiori, Momo promised that she would help her protect Hiori too. Unfortunately, this relationship would not last, and Momo and Mio would fall before Netzach as Tsukinomiya was destroyed and the timeline reset.

During the Reflector skirmishes, Mio was openly hostile towards Momo, although Momo wouldn't know why until she gained memories of the past timeline from her. Despite this, Momo and Mio continued to fight each other, and during the assault on the Saint Inés Church, Momo kept to her word and stopped Mio from taking Hiori's Fragment, even at the cost of her own Fragment.

After Mio defected from Shino's order later in the skirmish, her feelings were what would bring Momo out of her coma. Mio and Momo were effectively reunited, and would spend the time at the Tsukinomiya Girls' dorms together again, with Hiori noting that being reunited with Momo has brought out a side of Mio that even Hiori hasn't seen, and that ultimately is bringing happiness to Mio's life once more. Momo and Mio led the charge to retake the Common together, with Momo promising full-on that she will protect what Mio values the most: Hiori.

Momo is not present in *tie* and it is unknown at this time her involvement in the Ash Crisis.

Mizusaki Shino

**Status: Sororal Sisters** (formerly)**, Servant** (formerly)

In the original timeline, Shino originally despised Mio and found her unhelping to her situation. That changed in the Reflector skirmishes, where Shino approached Mio with the intention of making Mio her righthand woman during the skirmishes, and used manipulation and mind tricks to lure Mio into servitude for her.

During the skirmishes, Mio was under Shino's influence, being more or less the replacement sister. Mio's care for Shino however was genuine, and is similar to how she cared for Hiori before the skirmishes, making meals and ensuring Shino's health. Unfortunately, this would end up taking a turn for the worse, as Shino would manipulate and exploit Mio for her own use, and before long, even corrupting her in front of Hiori during the assault on the Church late in the skirmishes.

After her corruption, Mio became a lifeless servant of Shino, simply doing whatever she's commanded by Shino, who seemed to have taken full control of her, mind and will. It would take until Mio gained strength from her feelings that she would break free of Shino's influence for good. However, as before, Mio's care for Shino was still genuine, even if Shino's care for her wasn't. Mio would attempt to restore Shino's feelings as well before Shino escaped. It would take until Mio's sacrifice during the assault to liberate the Common, and Hiori and Ruka's intervention, that Shino's feelings would finally be restored.

Mio and Shino's relationship has seemingly ended with the Reflector skirmishes conclusion, and as of this time, Shino is not present in *Tie* nor is there any information about her involvement in the Ash Crisis.

Yamada Niina

**Status: Sororal Sisters**

After being found in the midst of an attempt of murder, Niina found solstice and comfort in Mio. Upon joining Shino's order, Niina became highly devoted to Mio, and would often try to impress her and get her attention as much as possible. Being paired up with Uta during the early battles of the skirmish drove Niina to resonate with Mio and become her partner, which ended up giving Niina the memories of the past timeline. This helped Niina discover what was troubling her, and upon this discovery, her hostility towards Hiori grew, claiming Hiori was the reason Mio is suffering.

However, during the assault on the St Inés Church, Niina would regain her feelings thanks to Hiori, and realize what was really happening: Shino was using her and her devotion to Mio. Following the battle, Niina would go from stealing Fragments to restoring them, and after some time and realization, Niina joined the Blue Reflectors and offered her help, hoping that it would stop Mio from committing any more atrocities.

While it is ambiguous if Mio and Niina are still close, Niina has become more calm-minded, and isn't as angry as before to know that Mio is close to other people like Momo and Hiori.

Niina is not present in 'Tie *and it is unknown at this time her involvement in the Ash Crisis.*

Hoshizaki Ao

Status: Dating(?)

As with other girls in *Tie*, Ao can spend time with, hang out with, and grow closer to Mio.

Ao and Mio met after the team find her in the Hirahara sisters' Heartscape unconscious. Like with Hiori, Ao felt a great responsibility to help her recover her memories, and after Hiori and Mio both reclaimed their Fragment and memories, Ao noted being proud of them both.

Ao enjoys the grace and elegance Mio inhibits, as well as her wisdom and how loving and kind she is to those she cares about, such as Hiori. When Mio struggled with forgiving herself following her actions in the Reflector skirmish, Ao offered to help her atone, for however long that would end up taking. Ao often wishes she had a big sister like Mio, and when Hiori told Mio to give her some space and leave her alone for a while, Ao jumped right at the call and asked if Mio could take care of her a lot. Ao has helped Mio rediscover the good she's done for the people around her, and has helped her make peace with the past.

As of now, Ao and Mio share a very strong relationship, on a status similar to Momo's relationship with Mio.

## Etymology

* **Hirahara** means "flat, broad, level, even, peaceful" (平) (**hira**) and "field, plain" (原) (**hara**).
* **Mio** means "beautiful" (美) (**mi**) and "string/bowstring, handle" (弦) (**o**).

## Trivia

* Contrasting with her younger sister, Mio has black socks versus Hiori's white socks.
* Mio first debuted in *Blue Reflection Ray,* and her appearance in *Blue Reflection Tie* is joined by Hiori and Uta.
* If the player visits the gates to the Church in the Hirahara Sisters' Heartscape in *Tie,* there is an event that can occur where Hiori jokingly proposes to Mio about a pretend wedding. This is merely only for a joke, and beyond that, no other occasions of such occur.
* Mio can be seen at the end of the Story Demo in the *Blue Reflection Second Light Demo Version.* She is however not available in the demo's Photo Mode, unlike Hiori.
* So far, the only food Mio has been seen to cook on-screen is curry, Hiori's favorite food.
* Contrary to what some might think, Mio has smiled outside of huge moments such as being reunited with Momo in *Ray* or making peace with her past in *Tie,* but these are not huge smiles. Mio doesn't smile at all while she was a Rouge Reflector in *Ray.*

## References

1. ↑ Blue Reflection Tie (xq06\_Mini Cutscene (Chapter 6)\_080)