Title: Mirror, Mirror
Characters: Kouji, Kouichi, Takuya||Romance: Takuya x Kouji/Kouji x Takuya, non-incestual Kouichi x Kouji
Chapter Word Count: 1,426||Story Word Count: 1,426||Chapter Count: 1/7
Genre: Supernatural, Drama||Rated: PG-13
Notes: This is an AU.
Challenges: Diversity Writing, H10, multichap with at least 6 chapters; Chapter Set Boot Camp, #20, 7 chapters; Secret Santa Fic Exchange 2016
Summary: Kouji doesn't have a brother. Only his reflection looks like him. And perhaps not quite even that...


"I think that mirror's looking at me," Takuya said, lifting his head from where he'd been snuggled up against Kouji. Kouji let out a long, deep sigh and pulled his boyfriend closer to him.

"If you're going to talk, say something intelligent. Otherwise, I can think of a lot better things for you to do."

Takuya started to open his mouth again, until Kouji's fingers tightened on his arm with a hint of warning. Kouji wasn't always in the mood, but when he was in the mood, he wanted to get things done, and Takuya knew better than to delay.

But the mirror did look as if it were looking at him. Most mirrors did, after all. Whatever reflected in them tended to look at whatever the person reflected did. Right now that was Kouji's back, delightfully bare and sleekly muscled and he really should be paying far more attention to it than he was to that foggy reflection.

That was something else that bothered Takuya, but with the way Kouji grabbed at his collar and pulled him over for a heated kiss, he didn't have time to think about it. Not when there were so many other interesting things for him to think about. Or not think about, as the case may well have been.

Mine...

Under other circumstances, Takuya might have heard that single word that hung in the air for a heartbeat or two. But these were not those circumstances and so the word was not heard by anyone save the one who spoke it.


Kouji lay back on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. Takuya curled up to one side, tucked underneath Kouji's arm and snoring fit to wake the dead.

I should throw him out.

Kouji knew he wouldn't, though. As much as Takuya got on his nerves in many, many ways, he couldn't imagine his life without the idiot.

Don't think I want to, either. Maybe one day he'd get around to imagining it and finding out if it was worth the effort. Assuming he could even get rid of Takuya if he wanted to. The guy clung harder than static cling.

He started to close his eyes, then frowned. A small tingle of something unusual began to slide around his spine and work its way up his neck. A warning a lot like what he felt when someone stared at him from across the street, that was what it felt like. Like he was being watched.

Kouji dropped his gaze to Takuya, wondering if he'd woken up, but saw only Takuya's chest going up and down in peaceful slumber. He looked around; he'd pulled all the curtains before he and Takuya got down to the hot and heavy stuff, and none of them had been pulled back. Not to mention he lived on the fifth floor of his apartment building. There weren't many people who would crawl up that high to stare at someone.

Not that he thought no one would do it, but he didn't think anyone would want to do that to stare at him.

But there was still that sense, that feeling of presence, of someone watching him. He looked around; had something been left on somewhere? Nothing seemed to be.

Then he caught sight of the mirror and gave it a careful look. Takuya said it was looking at him.

He rolled his eyes a heartbeat later, dismissing the whole thing as he started to make himself more comfortable. Mirrors didn't look at people, not like that.

From where he sat, though, he could see his reflection, kind of. The mirror wasn't a very good mirror. He'd found it at a thrift store, stuck in the back underneath a ratty blanket, and decided he would get it. The mirror frame was really what got his attention more than anything else, carved of some kind of dark wood he didn't recognize into designs that he almost thought changed shape when he wasn't looking.

But the glass part of it he wanted to get taken out and changed the first chance that he had. It wasn't very clear, three-quarters covered with a film that no amount of scrubbing with any glass cleaner he'd found could get off.

Oddly enough, that didn't seem to stop it from reflecting. What he saw wasn't always clear, but when the sunlight hit it just right, it was as if the glass reflected perfectly.

Kouji thought there was something off about all of it, but it was a mirror. It reflected things, even if it didn't do it very well all the time. What else did he need it for?

He reached out one hand to brush across the surface of it. Most mirrors he'd touched held a vague chill to them, or were at best room temperature. This one wasn't: it was as warm as human skin.

Slowly he raised his head enough so that he could meet his own eyes in the mirror. He'd never considered himself a vain person, but every now and then he found himself losing track of time as he watched his reflection. Sometimes he even thought that he saw his reflection moving ever so slightly in ways that he didn't.

The reflection he watched now moved, just a tiny bit, and Kouji pulled himself away from the mirror at once, turning his back on it and tucking himself around Takuya.

I'm too sleepy for this, he grumped to himself, closing his eyes. He'd probably already drifted off and this was some kind of weird dream, sparked by Takuya's silly mouthing off earlier. He'd have to rage at him about this later, when they weren't asleep.

Behind him, the mirror kept on watching.


Outside, the moon slipped below the horizon and only starlight filled the skies. None of that passed into Kouji's apartment, shielded by the curtains as it was. This meant that Takuya and Kouji both slept far into the next day, worn out by their exertions, and undisturbed by the rising sun.

Takuya woke up first. He blinked a few times, yawning, and stretched as far as he could, looking all around. Everything looked about like they'd left it, except that Kouji had rolled away from him in the night and now slept turned toward that mirror.

I know it's supposed to be bad luck, but I don't think I'd care of that thing got broken.

Wrinkling his nose at it, he pushed himself to his feet and wandered his way to the small kitchenette, eager for a cup of hot coffee. It wasn't as good as what would come from a really good coffee shop, but Takuya wanted something he could wake up to before he took the time to enjoy something for the taste of it.

The way the mirror had been set up, Takuya could see the back of it from where he sat waiting for the coffee to get ready. Seeing it like this didn't really make it any better, in his opinion. If anything, it looked a little stranger, shaped almost like…

Takuya blinked, rubbed his eyes, and looked again. The mirror looked just as it always had, kind of big and blocky, not really that attractive unless you were Kouji and liked it for some reason Takuya couldn't fathom at all. But for a few seconds, he'd almost thought…

No. I'm just not awake yet. He needed that coffee more than he'd thought, clearly.

It didn't take too long for the coffee to finish brewing, and by then Kouji started to stir and look around for either Takuya or the source of that smell. Takuya wasn't sure which, so he satisfied both options by bringing two cups of coffee back to the sofa and settling down next to Kouji. Then he turned bratty.

"Good morning!" He declared as brightly as he could, setting one cup down on the table before he took a drink of his own. "Did you sleep well?"

Kouji shot a glare at him through sleep-riddled eyes before reaching for the coffee cup in front of him. "People have died for being perky in the morning, Takuya."

"Yes, but you won't do that to me. You love me."

"When you talk to me in the morning, I start to wonder why." Kouji drank down half the cup in one gulp and got up to head into the kitchen.

As he passed the mirror, a shadow moved within it, uncast by any source of light, and Takuya decided that he needed another cup of coffee.

To Be Continued

Note: I've got a lot of fun (and evil) things planned for the rest of this story. I'm going to try to update it on Saturdays but I can't be perfectly sure.

So, yes, Kouji is an only child here. But fear not, Kouichi fans. He's going to be around... in fact, you've kind of already met him. I'm not entirely sure if I will use all the ideas I've had or not. It may creep up a tad to a bit more adult, but I can't say for certain and I will try to warn before that happens. Depends on how the ideas flow.

So, what do you think is up with that mirror?