Reality Glitch — I Can See Her, But I’m Not in the Mirror
Chapter 4: Reality Glitch — I Can See Her, But I'm Not in the Mirror
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🕳️ 1 — Echoes in the Glass
The mirror didn't lie.
Ren stared into it in the bathroom stall long after the morning bell had rung.
His hand moved. The reflection did not.
He waved. Nothing.
He leaned closer.
Nothing.
There was no reflection.
Just the blank image of a bathroom sink… with no one standing in front of it.
He stepped back.
Then forward again.
Still gone.
Only when he turned away did he feel the weight of his body again.
Like his existence had become a trick of angles and memory.
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🌫️ 2 — Her Presence Leaves Scars
Back in class, Aika sat by the window as if the world hadn't shifted again.
Her book was closed. Her eyes were focused on the clouds outside.
No one seemed to see her.
Ren sat down beside her quietly.
"You were right," he said.
"I usually am," she replied.
"I'm disappearing."
She didn't turn to face him. "Yes."
He stared at his hands. Still there. Still solid.
But he didn't feel… real.
"Why me?" he asked. "Why can I see you?"
Aika closed her eyes. "Because you're the kind of person who remembers things you shouldn't."
"What does that even mean?"
She finally looked at him, and for the first time, her voice trembled:
> "Because you remembered me."
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🪙 3 — The Stranger with No Shadow
After school, Ren wandered outside.
He was the last to leave class. No one noticed. Not even the teacher.
He drifted toward the old building at the back of the campus—shuttered and unused. It had been condemned years ago.
But something called him there.
On the third floor, where desks were stacked like forgotten memories and curtains hung like ghosts, he saw her again.
Not Aika.
A girl in black, her eyes bandaged, standing at the edge of the hallway.
"You're fading," she said without emotion.
"Who are you?"
"I'm called many things. But you… you're someone dangerous."
He stepped closer. "Why?"
"Because you still exist with her."
"Is that a crime now?"
"No," she whispered. "It's a countdown."
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🕰️ 4 — Time Glitch: 3:03 AM
That night, Ren woke up gasping.
The clock read 3:03 AM.
The world outside his window looked… broken. The moon flickered like a broken bulb. Shadows moved across the ceiling with no source.
And Aika stood at the foot of his bed.
Her eyes shimmered with a light that wasn't moonlight.
"You're remembering too hard," she said softly. "Reality can't hold both of us."
He tried to speak.
But he couldn't move.
She walked closer, reached out, and touched his forehead.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Then everything—
Froze.
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📸 5 — Static Frame
The next morning, Ren found something strange.
A polaroid photo sitting on his desk. Unlabeled.
It showed him and Aika sitting on the rooftop together.
But he had never taken that photo.
And worse…
In the picture, he was smiling.
But he no longer remembered how that moment had happened.
And behind them, the sky was glitching—pixels breaking apart like torn film.
He looked at the back of the photo.
There were five words written in her handwriting:
> "Please don't forget this time."
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🕯️ End of Chapter 4
Next: Chapter 5 — "The Archivist Remembers the Erased"