Mirror Mirror on the Wall

At the Teacher's Office.

The Homeroom Teacher of Class 11E, Ms Tanaka, looked at the two troublemakers of her class and sighed.

She had just got an earful from Mr Yamamoto who was a generation above her and truth to be told, although the older man's words were harsh and hurtful, he did get a point.

Kirin and Shion were both second-year senior students trusted under her care.

They had only a little more than a year left before graduation and if she kept on letting this kind of attitude persist, the two would undoubtedly fail their final Graduation Exam and have the latter part of their life ruined.

It was the responsibility of a homeroom teacher to fix their students and thus, despite her soft and gentle personality, Ms Tanaka toughen herself up for once and lectured the two with a stern look.

Her strategy was simple.

First, she spoke of the greatness of the world – of the heights of fame, wealth, as well as power one would reach if one were to study hard. Then, she highlighted the hardships one with poor degrees would have to suffer in the future. 

In short, she spoke of so many things that her cheeks reddened from how fired up she was. The excitement led her by the nose, and she was especially satisfied when she saw how caught up Kirin was.

As for the stone-faced Shion… Well, he was merely being shy and wasn't as expressive as Kirin. Ms Tanaka understood him and patted Shion's shoulder, expressing her support for him.

Now, how will she redirect the two back to the right path…

Ms Tanaka cleared her throat and fixed her passionate eyes to her first target.

"Kirin, I know that you've been studying extra hard these days. Your efforts, I've seen them all with my eyes. I understand your struggles. Without doubt, the process would be long and persisting wouldn't be easy, but gambling your future on something as unreliable as luck isn't right."

Ms Tanaka paused, thinking for a while before she smiled, "Kirin, can you tell me what you've visioned for your future to be?"

"An ordinary life is more than I can ever wish for, Tanaka Sensei." Kirin earnestly replied.

Ms Tanaka was slightly stunned. However, it all dawned upon her when she was reminded of the disregardment as well as the derision imposed on the child throughout his entire school life.

"I'm sure that wouldn't be a problem for you, Kirin." Ms Tanaka hid her guilt and encouragingly said, "And if there's anything that you ever need me for, I will be more than happy to help."

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you, Sensei."

Seeing how obedient Kirin was being, Ms Tanaka nodded with a satisfied smile. It was only then did she think of the second presence in her office space.

"Ah, forgive me for my negligence, Student Shion."

Shion was a new member of her class. Aside from the dubious strings being pulled behind his sudden transfer, Ms Tanaka couldn't really see through this seemingly aloof student, therefore her careful approach.

"As you have heard–"

"I get your point, Sensei." Shion rudely cut her off, offending Ms Tanaka and successfully earning himself a frown. "But I'm determined to be the Greatest Exorcist of all time and nothing aside from that matters for me."

"Grades don't really affect us, Exorcists. Rather, obsession towards such worldly matters would only weaken our resolve and limit our future." Shion recited all that without a pause, rendering Ms Tanaka speechless.

'Fool, stop throwing dirt on the Exorcist profession.'

Standing by the side, Kirin looked at him as if he was a clown, simply foolish and ridiculous to the brim.

Till the end, no matter how Ms Tanaka tried to enlighten the stubborn Shion, nothing could get through that hard nut of a head of his.

After the long session of lecture, the two still couldn't escape from detention.

As a form of reflection, the two were told to take over the whole picket schedule for the entire level, which included: cleaning the drawing boards, wiping the windows, rearranging the tables and seats, sweeping and mopping the floors, and lastly, cleaning the two public toilets respectively located in the east and west.

By the time Kirin completed his own part of the assignment, he looked at the clock and saw that it was nearly half past six. The sun had long sunk into the horizon, welcoming the night with an open embrace.

At this time, although the school hadn't been entirely empty with all the clubs and self-studying sessions going around, the public space, especially the hallways had long drowned into a state of near desolation where not a soul could be seen nor heard.

Kirin stilled for a moment, as if in deep thought when he heard the sound of streaming water from afar. The noise was loud and constant, showing no signs of stopping nor turning down and by the time Kirin reached the entrance of the west wing's toilet, he couldn't help but frown.

This toilet was within Shion's scope of responsibility. And yet, not only was it dirty and smelled bad, the cleaning tools like the scrubbing brushes and mop were left unattended in the middle of the walking space, hindering anyone from entering and using the facility.

Kirin set the cleaning tools aside and walked into the dirty space, noting the eerily flickering lights above him. Shion wasn't being responsible by abandoning this place but what irked him the most was the stream of water gushing out of the tap that was left unattended.

"Each drop of water wasted meant another precious dime spent for the sake of nothing. Does he not know even this?"

Grumbling under his breath, Kirin closed the tap and suddenly, the lights simultaneously stopped flickering as if they had all been changed anew.

Kirin paused to study the strange phenomenon with raised eyebrows. When he felt the sudden call of nature beckoning at him, he headed towards the nearest block to relieve himself, only to be greeted with another sound of water streaming out of the tap.

The lights started to flicker in a disarray again as if dancing along the vigorous gushing melody.

With his patience running thin, Kirin burst out of the block and caught no one within sight. His frown deepened. This time, instead of closing the tap, he let the water stream down his fingers, washing them clean of the stench.

Whatever was happening, he seemed to have a gist of it in mind.

One second, two seconds…

As the cold chill hit his skin and sunk deep into his bones, he locked onto his target and stared at the mirror before him, his dark eyes brooding with unknown danger.

"Messing with innocent humans would do you no good."

Kirin told the reflection in the mirror, noticing the twisting of his lips that soon formed a haughty sneer, before parting to stick out a wagging tongue at him.

This mischievous spirit… it was practically begging for a beating.

Without any further ado, Kirin plunged the sharper end of the toothbrush in his hand into the mirror, breaking the piece of glass and tearing the dimension connected to it apart.

In that instant, a clattering noise was heard from behind him and all lights died out, plunging the entire toilet into complete darkness.

Kirin didn't panic and had instead pulled out his phone to turn on the flashlight, directing it into the direction of the noise.

There within the block situated on the furthest corner was a terrifyingly pale-faced Shion, his medium-length hair a mess and his white top completely drenched in cold sweat.