Title: Reflections
date written: 11-14-06 (well. date started. edited heavily and finished... today. :P)
"Mirrors," said Oshitari suddenly one day at lunch. The people present paused to reorganize their thoughts around this declaration.
"Mirrors?" someone said eventually, questioning the random outburst.
"Yes. Mirrors," he repeated. "Has anyone paused to wonder recently what it is about mirrors that captures the imagination?"
There was a general confused silence until Shishido spoke up.
"They were discussing it in our literature class," he said, rolling his eyes. "Like two days ago. Give it up, Oshitari, no one cares."
"I am considering writing my next essay on the subject," Oshitari insisted.
"Why mirrors?" asked Gakuto, stabbing at his cafeteria lunch and making a face. "Wouldn't it be easier to write your essay on symbols of reality, or that stupid lovey-dovey passage you liked so much?"
"Mirrors are far more interesting," replied the tensai, removing the now pulverized mush that was his doubles partner's lunch and replacing it with a snack he had picked up from a vending machine on the way to school. He had started bringing Gakuto snacks in the event that the acrobat forgot his lunch and decided that eating cafeteria food was for losers. The two of them were in the cafeteria with a few of the other regulars. There had been a lull in the conversation, and Oshitari had taken it as an invitation to bring up a new topic. No one was paying very much attention, though; Shishido had gone back to picking at his own lunch disinterestedly, Atobe was filling out student council-related paperwork, and Kabaji was… well, Kabaji. He might have been paying attention, but really, who could tell?
"For one thing," Oshitari continued, "mirrors are a symbol of reality. Unfortunately, no one seems to be sure what they symbolize."
"What does that mean?"
"No one seems sure whether mirrors show the truth or lies," explained Oshitari.
"How is a mirror supposed to lie?" Shishido asked skeptically, in the interests of killing time.
"There is the idea of the 'mirror-world,' a place where everything is opposite to reality, which has made its way into western culture. It has appeared in books, television, movies. On the other hand, some people seem to believe that the mirror holds the true reflection of reality, showing only what's really there."
"And why does it matter?" Gakuto wondered around the cupcake that was stuffed in his mouth.
"It doesn't," said Oshitari. "That's why I'm writing the essay about mirrors: because in the end, everything is up to the interpretation of the viewer."
"…what?"
"It doesn't matter if the mirror shows the truth or lies," he repeated, "because the viewer will ultimately see what they want to."
"That's stupid," interrupted Shishido. "If that were true, why have them at all?"
Oshitari shrugged.
"Nevertheless, it is the case. For instance… Atobe," Oshitari called out to the Hyoutei captain, "what do you see when you look in the mirror?"
"Perfection," replied Atobe, without looking up.
Oshitari smirked.
"My point exactly," he said.