Apparently, Inagaki had the key to the school’s storage room. It was less crowded than other places in their school.  Kinnosuke was still busy looking at his face through the hand mirror he borrowed from his female classmate.

“So, what do you see?” Inagaki asked.

“Someone else’s face.”

“I don’t understand. Is that person someone you know?”

“No.”

Inagaki’s eyebrows furrowed, “So it means you see someone that you’ve never met before?”

“Yes. How did this happen?”

While looking at his reflection, Kinnosuke traced his face, hair and lips. He paused for a while, before he blinked a few times, puckered his lips, and then smiled widely.

“I don’t know when this started. I saw myself in Mr. Matsuoka’s mirror, it was still my face. But when I was in the toilet, everything changed.”

“What is Mr. Matsuoka’s mirror like, anyway?”

Kinnosuke tried hard to remember everything about Mr. Matsuoka’s antique mirror. What he could recall was nothing strange about that mirror. Only the unique carved frame and clear glass on its surface.

“Just an ordinary mirror. Full body length with a carved frame around it. Nothing weird.”

“If there’s nothing weird, then why are you hallucinating, seeing someone else’s face?”

“I’m not hallucinating, Inagaki. My eyes are fine.” He looked so desperate, “Inagaki, what happened to me?”

Inagaki asked him to stay still, in front of the small mirror. He took Kinnosuke’s image on the mirror using his cell phone, hoping that the reflection was not Kinnosuke’s. They checked the result and it was still Kinnosuke’s reflection that Inagaki saw.

The only person who could see someone else’s face was Kinnosuke.

“Arrgh! This doesn’t make any sense!” He almost dropped that small mirror on his hand if Inagaki didn’t catch it, “What if I can’t see my face anymore? What am I supposed to do to get my reflection back?”

Another unanswered question. 

***

At first, Kinnosuke refused to go home. He was too scared to see his face in the mirror. The problem was that eighty percent of his house was covered by mirrors and windows. His father designed the house that way because he thought that mirrors could accentuate the wider effect of the house. That was the reason why Kinnosuke hesitated to go home.

He walked slowly toward his house. It seemed too hard to move.

“I’m home,” he said. His mom answered him and told him to take a shower before having his dinner.

He bowed his head all the way to his room, which was on the second floor. His mom saw him looking so gloomy. She was suspicious.

“Something happened at school?” She asked.

“I’m just tired, Mom.”

“Take a shower and come here. Your dinner is waiting, Hiro-kun.”

He didn’t answer and walked to his room while closing his eyes. He knew there were mirrors on his left and right sides. His life was going to be a nightmare. His biggest fear was seeing the bathroom mirror. It was as big as the hotel’s mirror, and even the towel couldn’t cover its surface. Impossible for him to close his eyes the entire time he took a shower.

Kinnosuke changed his uniform to his t-shirt. His eyes were still closed. Yet, his curiosity dominated him, making him finally open his eyes to see his new appearance.

Clearly, it was not him. Slim figure, with a scar on the left arm. This unknown male was young—probably at the same age as he was. That jaw-length hair framed his face perfectly as if he was a model—the kind of haircut which was definitely forbidden in his school.

Those big brown orbs with long eyelashes that could hypnotize everyone who saw them. It was very uncommon for a male to have those beautiful eyes. Kinnosuke touched his lips—the pair of red thin lips. Girls must be jealous of this person.

He then traced down to his breast, shoulders, tummy and he stopped. He felt uncomfortable eyeing other male body parts like that. He might not take a shower for a while, but he couldn’t control the urge to pee. Kinnosuke panicked. What if he saw the private part of this person?

With his one eye open, he finally peed. It turned out that only his reflection had changed, but whenever he didn’t look at the mirror, his other body parts were still the same. Kinnosuke’s body parts.

So, his next mission was to cover all mirrors on the second floor with bed sheets and towels, including the mirror in his bedroom. He took as many unused bed sheets and towels as he could. Meanwhile, his mom thought he was stressed out because he was in the last grade of high school.

He was too busy covering the mirror, he didn’t hear his cell phone ring. It was Inagaki.

“I’m with Mori at the cafe near your house.” Inagaki said.

Kinnosuke startled. Since when Inagaki got closer to Mori?, “Wait... are you on a date with Mori?”

“No—dammit, no! We’re trying to figure out what happened to you.”

“Oh, sorry. I think you both are dating. So, any idea how to help me?”

“Mori hacked the CCTV and he found something. You should come here.”

“Now?”

“Yes! Now!”

He went to the cafe right away. He never thought that Inagaki would do anything to help him, including spending his money to buy a glass of coffee.

“Hey, sorry I’m late.” Kinnosuke pulled the chair beside Inagaki. He slightly nodded to Mori who didn’t even shift a bit. That guy stared at his laptop.

“I hacked Mr. Matsuoka’s CCTV. Take a look at this.” Mori put his laptop in front of Kinnosuke so that he could see, “You were staring at something but the CCTV didn’t capture it. Do you remember what you saw?”

Kinnosuke saw himself staring blankly at the mirror for about five minutes, “It was the mirror.”

“Really?”

“Yes. It was the mirror. I felt hypnotized by it.”

“Was it because the mirror is beautiful?” Mori wanted to make sure.

Kinnosuke shook his head, “Trust me, it was just an ordinary mirror, but it felt like I was drawn into it.”

“Did you see someone else’s reflection?”

He thought a while before saying no. Of course, those two were confused about what made Kinnosuke hallucinate.

“And you know what I saw? This person is indescribably beautiful, his skin is flawless and... and... he has these thin lips. He really looks like an actor. He has a scar on his arm." He rolled up his sleeves to show the scar, but nothing was there. Realizing that, Kinnosuke pouted, “Sorry, I forgot you all can’t see it.”

“Stop acting cute, Kin! You’re not that beautiful man in the mirror.” said Inagaki sarcastically.

Mori tried not to laugh hard seeing those two bickerings

“Anyway, what about going to Mr. Matsuoka’s office right now?” That sudden idea came to Kinnosuke’s mind.

Mori and Inagaki almost choked on their drink. It seemed that Kinnosuke didn’t realize that his idea was shocking.

“Did I say something wrong? Mori can hack the CCTV, so if we go there now it won’t be a problem, right Mori?”

“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. What if someone sees us? The security, maybe?”

“Just let me go inside, you two wait outside.” The expressions that Inagaki and Mori showed made Kinnosuke worry, “Come on, guys. I want to know what happened to me. Please help me.”

***