The Mirror

Haruto Nakatsui walked to the rear courtyard.

Small birds played on the artificial stones. Autumn wind moved through the flowers in soft waves.

Haruto knelt outside the room, eyes empty and lips moving.

"No wonder it was a crime that required the whole family to be erased."

"No wonder Toji Fushiguro killed the two dancers and walked away laughing."

"No wonder I had no memory of my parents."

The door shattered.

Folly looked calmly at the man who entered and closed the book beside it. The tumors across its body pulsed rapidly. Pale liquid ran through tubes and into its brain.

"You remembered," Folly said.

"Why?"

Haruto's eyes were full of rage. His muscles swelled unnaturally, and veins crawled across his skin like worms.

Even in autumn, the temperature began to rise.

He was approaching Semi-Grade 1.

"There is no reason," Folly said. "Everything was your own choice."

The ordinary sentence struck Haruto like thunder.

The sealed door of memory opened. Fragments gathered into a complete picture.

There was no joy in remembering.

Only grief.

Tears fell onto his hands.

Haruto stared at them like a child seeing snow for the first time.

"So all of this was because of me?"

After he became the family head, Folly had been revealed to him as a secret inheritance. From then on, whenever he faced a decision, he asked Folly for advice.

As his status rose, he lost himself. Anything that blocked his climb became an enemy.

Countless rivals died quietly during that period. The Nakatsui family's position in the jujutsu world rose sharply. They were no longer a family surviving only because they guarded a seal.

At the same time, his relatives became sacrifices in those power struggles.

Each time a family member died, Haruto asked Folly to seal the memory.

In the end, he had grown used to having no relatives at all.

"It really was my fault."

"Not exactly," Folly said. "It happened because you were not strong enough."

The words entered him like wind through skin and bone. Something profound opened in his soul.

Heat erupted from Haruto's body. One wave, then another, until nine bursts of blood energy shook the room.

His muscles tightened instead of swelling. The redness on his face faded. His body grew denser, closer to the type of power that belonged to someone like Toji, though far from that level.

The Nakatsui family cultivated the body. Their cursed energy fused with flesh, and every advancement improved physical quality, coordinating soul and body.

During that process, however, the sorcerer had no awareness.

That meant he was defenseless.

"Semi-Grade 1?" Folly murmured.

Joy moved faintly through it.

The tumors on its body trembled. Pale-blue energy floated out like fireflies and gathered into a mirror.

The oval mirror had a silver handle. It did not look like something an ordinary household would own.

Haruto's image appeared inside it.

The reflection opened its eyes.

It smiled at the kneeling Haruto with greed, scarlet light filling its pupils.

Folly nodded and tossed the mirror upward.

The hand-sized mirror expanded like a huge mouth and swallowed Haruto.

"I am coming. I am coming!"

"What a fresh body. What beautiful blood energy."

The room emptied.

Only chewing remained.

"Remember to leave the head," Folly said.

Soon, every television station carried the same report.

The mall and subway incident had caused severe structural damage and many civilian deaths. According to the official explanation, it had been an organized terrorist attack by foreign extremists. International experts had been contacted to assist the investigation.

The broadcasters expressed mourning for five hundred eighty-two victims.

After that, they invited a counterterrorism expert to explain safety measures.

"Terrorist attack? Why is there so much news like this recently?"

"Maybe I should leave Japan. It feels unsafe."

"You think going overseas is safe? With bad luck, even a plane..."

"Stop. Say something better."

In the back of a classroom, several students gathered around a phone and argued about the news.

Dorin Fuya listened without joining.

So many people had died. The government had no choice but to announce a "truth" through every media channel to calm the public.

She was completely certain it had something to do with cursed spirits.

She also knew she could not say that.

"So annoying."

After school, she went home, walked directly to the bath, and bent over to fill the tub.

Her figure reflected in the mirror.

The next morning, the agency received two familiar visitors.

"The boss is in his office," Nanami said. "Go by yourselves."

Koyuka Shufuku dragged Dorin behind her and pushed open Ren's office door.

"Hello, we wanted to..."

"Ren! Handsome Ren! Save me. I am being haunted!"

The moment Dorin saw Ren, her fear found somewhere to spill. She cried out before Koyuka could stop her.

She had not even put on makeup. She wore loose casual clothes, her hair was a mess, and dark circles sat beneath her eyes.

"What happened?" Ren asked.

His attitude was flat, his voice cold. That was the person Dorin remembered.

"I saw a ghost at home yesterday."

"A ghost?"

Ren sat up and looked at her.

She seemed genuinely frightened.

"A cursed spirit?"

His gaze moved toward Koyuka as he asked. The two girls had been through enough to understand some of the basics.

Koyuka flinched under those pale eyes but forced herself to answer.

"I checked her home. I did not find any trace left by a cursed spirit."

Ren nodded.

That matched what he could see. Dorin looked terrible, but she carried no residue from a curse.

"You had a dream."

Dorin shrieked.

Ren frowned.

"Too loud."

Pressure filled the room.

Koyuka staggered back, tears immediately rising in her eyes. Dorin suffered worse. The pressure struck her chest like repeated hammer blows. Something sweet rose in her throat, and a drop of blood ran from the corner of her mouth.

The pain wiped away panic.

She fell silent.

"Now speak properly."

The shadow receded. The two girls returned shakily to their seats.

Dorin explained what had happened in broken pieces.

Ren listened, fingers tapping the desk.

According to her description, the thing resembled a mirror ghost.

But ghosts should not exist in this world.

An imaginary cursed spirit?

That did not fully fit either.

Koyuka saw Dorin's distress and grew anxious. Ren was not someone they could simply invite. He needed to be interested.

The tapping stopped.

"Interesting. How much are you willing to pay for your life?"

Both girls lifted their heads.

"I have one million yen," Dorin said quickly. "If it is not enough, I can ask my parents."

"Fine. I accept the commission."

Dorin hugged Koyuka in relief and almost tried to hug Ren too. One look from him froze her in place.

"Time and place."

"This afternoon. Koyuka and I will come get you."

Since they had already taken the day off, the two girls went shopping afterward instead of returning to school.

That afternoon, Dorin brought Koyuka and Ren to her home.

Koyuka stared at the small villa.

"Dorin, this is your house?"

"Yes. I live alone, so I did not buy anything too big."

Koyuka felt briefly betrayed by reality.

Dorin opened the door. The inside was warm and carefully arranged, the furniture clearly custom-made.

Ren felt he had undercharged.

Next time, the price would increase.

"This is the bathroom where it happened. At the time... ah!"

Dorin suddenly grabbed clothes from the washing machine area and stuffed them inside. Only when the machine started did she relax.

Ren ignored the behavior and examined the bathroom.

His pale eyes swept every corner. Nothing abnormal appeared.

He stopped before the mirror. It had been covered with patterned cloth.

If steam had not covered the mirror the previous night, Dorin might have died.

Ren tapped the surface.

Clear sound. No cracks. An ordinary mirror.

"When did you buy this?"

"A few months ago, I think. Do you mean the seller has a problem?"

The mirror looked ordinary and felt ordinary.

But because it had been involved once, it was one path to the answer.

Ren snapped his fingers. A hanging chair appeared behind him.

The Ren in the mirror copied the movement exactly.

Nothing changed.

Ren was not in a hurry.

If it had appeared once, it would appear again.

"Maybe we should buy food," Dorin said. "Sitting here doing nothing is awkward."

Ren already held a glass of red wine.

Koyuka stood immediately.

"I will go too."

She did not want to stay alone with him. Ren carried a kind of dangerous freedom that had nothing to do with good or evil. For someone raised in a temple lineage, it felt deeply improper.

The door closed.

Only Ren remained in the villa.

He tasted the wine and looked sideways at the mirror.

"Everyone is gone," he said. "Are you still not coming out?"

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