Putting on an actual sports bra to pair with the tights today, I grumble a bit to myself.

  ‘Why does Yuna want to do stretches with me again? I was fine last time she bothered me for this anyways, so why bother me now? I even stretch in the shower.’

  Sighing, I shake my head, not knowing what that girl is thinking half the time.

  Regardless, I need to go face the music… so I put on some music and sit in my room, hoping she got distracted by work and forgot-

  A few knocks on my door tell me that I was wrong, and she’s here regardless. Damnit.

  “Sal, it’s time for your stretches~”

  Grumbling, I open the door, seeing her there in a matching tights and sports bra… that looks way better on her than it does me, given her bustier figure and unmarred flesh.

  ‘What’s with me comparing myself to these two lately? …maybe it’s all the quiet time, not busy enough.’

  “Do we really need to do this? I’m fine.”

  She gives me an annoyed look, her hands on her hips. “Yup, now c’mon, the longer you put it off the worse it’ll be.” Walking off to the living room ahead of me, I sigh and follow.

  ‘I’d lament about even her butt being nicer than mine, but that’d be a disservice to Lumi who must have those thoughts all the time. …well maybe not, I’m not sure if she’d ever admit it at the least.’

  As we walk to the yoga mats she’s set up on the floor, she gestures for me to stand against the wall.

  “You remember this one, just put yourself against the wall and walk your arms up it with your fingers.”

  Rolling my eyes, I do so, my back and shoulders straining very slowly more as I do so.

  ‘Damn… this hurts a bit still. Such a dumb motion, I could just force it if I needed to.’ I think that, but I’m only halfway up, and struggling to not just let my arms drop.

  As if she can read my mind, she stands in front of me, gently supporting my hands to keep them from falling back down. “There you go, you’ve got it.”

  Her calm and supportive voice is… honestly nice, rather than patronizing. I guess her entire personality being soft in my mind helps that, I’d feel incensed if I heard anyone else speak to me like that.

  “There you go~ nice job.” As she lets go of my arms, I drop them to my sides with a sigh.

  “Alright, that still is such a dumb motion.”

  “But it helps, alright? You did much better this time.”

  Sighing and nodding, I step away from the wall. “So what now?”

  With a big grin and a cute wag of her tail, she speaks, “The ostrich stretch!”

  Giving her a deadpan stare, she chuckles a bit nervously. “Ehe… I mean, the one leg balance, so you can stretch a leg a bit and work on your balance. I saw how you moved on it before.”

  “...fine. And the fuck is an ostrich?”

  As I put my arms up in the air to help balance, I lift one leg up to stand on only my left… struggling a bit and visibly wobbling. “Oh, it’s one of those old animals, I think. Before the great war.”

  Before I could fall, though, her hands are supporting me on my own, helping lift me a bit and keep me balanced.

  After a few moments of me getting used to my balance, and a few more of standing there, I give her an annoyed look. “I can stand on one leg fine.”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  Matching me with an amused look, her ear cocks. “Is that why you’re leaning on me like a drunk sloth?”

  I try to keep the impassive look, but can’t help but giggle at her dumb comment. “Fine, fine. You win.”

  With a smug little cat face staring back at me, I can’t help but laugh more, before losing my balance and falling on her suddenly.

  Groaning from the sudden strain on my burns, I’m just thankful I didn’t slam my head into hers on the way down. Instead…

  Opening my eyes, I see her amber ones staring right back up at me, with our bodies pressed against each other. Hers is so much softer…

  Blushing bright, I force myself off her with a quick movement, ignoring the screams of protest my body gives me at such a motion.

  ‘Fuck… maybe she was right, I do need these stretches, that hurt…’

  As she sits up, her face flushed, she shakes her head out. “Let’s uh… if you want you could do the cat stretches, I’m going to use the bathroom quick.”

  Nodding slightly at that, she rushes off.

  Sighing, I lay on the yoga mat in a pushup pose, before slowly arching my back down and my ass up. It’s a weird one but it does seem to work… my back and shoulders are slowly loosening up.

  ‘I’ll be doing this with her more, I’m sure-’

  Suddenly, a blood curdling scream echoes through the shop, and I jump up and run as fast as I can, ignoring the pain in my body.

  Slamming into the bathroom, I see Yuna backed into the corner, with… another Yuna standing over her.

  Glancing at the mirror, I don’t see it reflected back into it, and it’s already starting to turn.

  Hoping my carver blades work, they extend out from my arms- sparking and creaking before failing to come out my left arm, only my right blade working.

  ‘Damnit, it’ll have to work!’

  Stepping into her, I feel my muscles- freshly stretched and with a new range of motion, I swing out with the twist of my left arm, back, legs, hip, torso, and right arm, all of it working like a loaded spring to impart my whole body weight into this one bladed right hook.

  And it works, stabbing into her neck and shattering her into glass.

  The shards rain on the floor for a frozen moment of time, not even making a sound as they vanish. As if they never existed. They don’t for those in this world, not anymore.

  Panting and in pain, I stumble forward and am barely caught by Yuna before I slam into her.

  “Fuck… are you alright?”

  Her eyes are still wide, her tail wrapped around her leg in fear, and her breathing’s erratic. But, she slowly nods. “S-she… came out the mirror… when I was washing my face…”

  Nodding slightly, I lean against a wall, my blade returning to my arm and my chest thumping. “Yeah… it’s an Other. They copy us… and try to replace us… I don’t know why it was here…”

  Yuna’s eyes open wide. “Any of us? Lumi!”

  Eyes opening, we rush to the kitchen… and she’s fine, just making some lunch. “Are you two alright? What’s wrong?”

  Looking at her reflection… she’s fine, and I let out a trembling breath, collapsing against the wall and slumping to the floor. Both of them run over to me confused, while I just rub my eyes, feeling suddenly exhausted and hurt.

  “Fuck… “

  ‘Fuck, what do I do? Yuna could’ve died or been hurt, Lumi could have if we didn’t get to her. Fuck fuck… what would I have done if she got hurt on my watch, because I was scared to tell them about Others? It shouldn’t even be a concern, they should only be looking at me, so what the fuck is making them look for them?’

  Feeling a hand on my shoulder makes me flinch, but it holds fast and starts to gently massage it. Lumi’s small but firm hand. “What’s wrong…?”

  Sighing, I look up at them. “...don’t… don’t look in any mirrors, alright? Or any reflections. Both of you.”

  Seeing both their nervous nods, I sigh. “Look… what that was, is an Other. It’s… something from another world. They live in mirrors and copy us, and replace us in the real world. They’re usually weak… at first.”

  Lumi looks a bit scared, so Yuna speaks instead. Surprising that Yuna is so relatively calm with something like this, Lumi seems the most offput. “At first…?”

  Nodding slightly, I continue, my eyes glazing over as I remember fighting my own Other. “They are barely present at first… but after being acknowledged and seen more and more, they get stronger and more real, eventually outclassing the original… it’s hard to tell if it’s even different, without seeing it’s reflection missing.”

  When I fought my own… I nearly died. I was asleep when it copied me, and Reta and the Queen both thought it was real. I got lucky that I’m trained to kill things bigger and stronger than I am, but when it is me… it’s a new kind of hell.

  “...nd that’s when Salka ran in and killed it.”

  Lumi stares at Yuna horrified, having just heard what happened to her, before they both hug each other, with me in the middle.

  “Ow!”

  “Sorry!”

  “Sorry!”

  They both let go, realizing they hurt my burns more and looking guilty. Honestly…

  ‘Fuck, what would I have done if they were hurt? I…I don’t know.’

  Surprise! The arcane is very real, and it is indifferent to your feelings, so let’s see how it develops!

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