Late Night Training

Hikaru lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling, trying his best to drift off. His mind was still buzzing with everything that had happened, but eventually, his eyelids grew heavy. Just as he was about to fall asleep—

His eyes snapped open.

Something was off.

He was still in his room, but everything around him felt… wrong. The usual hum of the city outside. The air was unnaturally still, thick with an eerie weight.

Sitting up, Hikaru quickly realized where he was.

"…Mirror world. Again," he muttered, rubbing his face.

A slow clap echoed through the silence. Hikaru turned his head to see the Mirror Man standing there, the same smug look on his face as always.

"Took you long enough to notice," he said, his voice laced with amusement.

Hikaru sighed, already feeling a headache coming on. "Why did you drag me here in the middle of the night? I was just about to sleep."

The Mirror Man smirked, stepping closer. "Because sleep is a waste of time when you still have so much to learn. Tonight's lesson… power control."

Hikaru groaned, rubbing his temples. "Oh, great… Wait." He blinked, finally noticing something different. "What happened to you?"

The chains that had once wrapped around the Mirror Man's body were gone.

The Mirror Man grinned, rolling his shoulders as if enjoying some newfound freedom. "Noticed, huh?"

"Kind of hard not to," Hikaru muttered. The last time he saw him, the guy had been wrapped in chains, like some prisoner cursed to wander the mirror world forever. Now? Nothing. No shackles, no restraints—just that same smug expression that made Hikaru want to punch him on instinct.

"Let's just say I've been… progressing," the Mirror Man said, spreading his arms. "Just like you should be."

Hikaru narrowed his eyes. "What does that even mean?"

"You'll figure it out. Eventually."

Hikaru sighed, already regretting asking. "Fine. So what's this 'lesson' you dragged me here for?"

The Mirror Man smirked and took a step back. The world around them shifted in an instant—Hikaru's bedroom dissolved into a vast, endless expanse of mirrors stretching in every direction, reflecting nothing but each other. It was disorienting, like standing in the middle of an infinite void.

"Power control," the Mirror Man repeated. "You keep thinking of the mirror world as some place you can enter and leave. But here? Here, you make the rules."

Hikaru crossed his arms. "Yeah? Then why don't I just wish myself back to bed?"

The Mirror Man laughed. "Because you don't believe you can." He snapped his fingers, and suddenly, the mirrored ground beneath Hikaru's feet cracked. Before Hikaru could react, the floor shattered completely, and he was falling—

Fast.

The air rushed past him, his stomach twisting as he plummeted through endless reflections of himself, every version of him mirroring his panic.

"Think fast," the Mirror Man's voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere.

Hikaru's heart pounded. His mind screamed at him to do something—anything.

Then, without thinking, he threw his hands forward—

And stopped.

Just like that, his body halted midair, as if the world itself had obeyed his silent demand. He floated there, breathless, suspended in the vast emptiness.

A slow clap sounded above him. He looked up to see the Mirror Man grinning down.

"Not bad," he mused. "Not good, either. But hey, baby steps."

Hikaru exhaled, half in relief, half in frustration. "What the hell was that? You trying to kill me?"

"Nah," the Mirror Man said, waving a hand. "Just proving a point. You didn't fall because gravity exists here—you fell because you expected to. You stopped because, for a second, you stopped doubting yourself."

Hikaru stared at him, mind still racing.

"You keep looking at this place like it's bound by the same rules as the real world," the Mirror Man continued. "It's not. It's bound by you."

Hikaru swallowed, glancing down at the endless abyss below him.

The Mirror Man chuckled, watching as Hikaru floated unsteadily in the air. "Well, at least you're getting the hang of it."

Hikaru scowled. "I know, I know!" he yelled, clearly annoyed. He focused, adjusting his balance midair as he slowly started moving forward. His movements were clumsy at first, like a bird learning to fly, but he was getting there. "I'm just… not sure what I'm supposed to do with this."

The Mirror Man tilted his head, amused. "That's the real question, isn't it?" He floated effortlessly alongside Hikaru, hands in his pockets. "You have all this power in here, but without direction, it's just wasted potential."

Hikaru frowned, trying to process that. "So what? I need a goal or something?"

The Mirror Man grinned. "Exactly. Power without purpose is just noise." He gestured around them, the infinite mirrors reflecting back endless versions of Hikaru. "Right now, you're a passenger in this world. You need to become the driver."

Hikaru exhaled, rubbing his temples. "Yeah, yeah. No pressure or anything…"

Before Hikaru could even process what the Mirror Man had said, a sharp impact struck his stomach.

THWACK!

The force sent him flying backward like a ragdoll, the wind knocked clean out of his lungs. His body crashed through the wall of a nearby house within the mirror world, sending cracks splintering across the reflective surface like a shattered window. Hikaru groaned as he slumped against the fractured wall, his vision swimming.

"What the hell—?!" He barely had time to react before the Mirror Man strolled toward him, hands still casually in his pockets.

"Come on, Hikaru," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "You think you can learn how to control this place by playing it safe?" He gestured around them, at the warped, reflective world that bent to no one's rules but Hikaru's. "You're in your mirror world. Here, you make the rules. So act like it."

Hikaru coughed, glaring at him. "You kicked me! Without warning!"

The Mirror Man shrugged. "And? You think your enemies will be polite?"

Hikaru growled under his breath, pushing himself up—but as he did, he felt something strange. The pain from his back, from the shattered wall digging into him—it was fading. No, more than that. The cracked mirror behind him was fixing itself. Pieces of it reassembled in a slow, fluid motion, as if rewinding time. And his body… it felt fine. The pain was gone.

His eyes widened as he looked down at himself. "Did I just—?"

"Regenerate? Yeah," the Mirror Man said, smirking. "Told you. This world bends to your will. The moment you expect to be fine, you are fine."

Hikaru flexed his fingers, disbelief still settling in. "I can heal?"

"In here, you can do whatever you believe you can do." The Mirror Man tilted his head, eyes gleaming. "So… what's next?"

Hikaru clenched his fists, his mind racing. If he could heal just by expecting it… then what else could he do?

He slowly rose to his feet, the last fragments of the cracked wall sealing themselves behind him as if nothing had happened. The weight of the Mirror Man's words settled in—this world bends to my will.

His glare hardened. "Alright, then."

Without warning, he moved.

In an instant, Hikaru shot forward, closing the distance between him and the Mirror Man in a blur. He didn't even think about running—his body just responded. The air barely had time to shift before he swung his fist, aiming straight for the Mirror Man's smug face.

But—

SWOOSH!

The Mirror Man tilted his head slightly, effortlessly dodging the punch. "Oh?" His smirk widened. "Now that's more like it."

Hikaru didn't stop. He twisted his body, using the momentum to throw a kick toward the Mirror Man's ribs.

CRACK!

The impact landed. The Mirror Man skidded back slightly, his boots scraping against the reflective ground. He let out a low chuckle, rubbing his side. "Well, well. Looks like you're starting to get it."

Hikaru exhaled sharply, his heart pounding—not from exertion, but from excitement. He didn't feel tired. He didn't feel drained. The way he moved, the way he struck—it was effortless.

For the first time, he truly felt free in this world.

To Be Continue.