Story: Mirror Mirror

Mirror Mirror
Hidden away within a dark and ominous forest near Tokyo there lurks a mansion, like an oasis in a desert. A site of comfort within an unwelcome landscape, an old fashioned western styled home that was long since abandoned by the family who ostensibly owned it.

Nowadays it was occupied by one sole caretaker. An old man left behind to manage the very reason that this luxurious home was fled.

You see, once upon a time there was a young noble maiden who was too poorly to leave her room. Despite her beauty nobody wanted to see her, and so she was left staring into a large mirror day after day. Eventually she fell ill, and with her dying breath she uttered the tragic phrase "I wish I had a boyfriend."

From then on her spirit remained trapped within that mirror, ensuring that whenever anyone looked into it their reflection would step out. Though this reflection was not quite perfect, it would share many of the original's personality quirks... Plus a healthier than normal interest in the opposite sex.

You can understand why a wealthy family would want to get as far away as possible from such a cursed item, and so this became known as the Mirror Mansion. And someone's about to pay it a visit.

But who?

1. Someone from Ranma 1/2 that isn't Ranma Saotome, since he's been through this before.
2. Haruhi Suzumiya on a field trip.
3. Lelouch vi Britannia, and it's giving him a few ideas.
4. Class 2-4 of Tomobiki High School. Luckily Ataru doesn't look into it, but...
5. Sadao Maou by a series of convoluted events.
6. Someone else

OPTION 4

It was supposed to be a perfectly ordinary field trip for the students at Tomobiki High. The faculty had been so careful! The location they'd picked out this time around was deliberately educational, but just the right balance between boring and interesting that the normally troublesome students of this class wouldn't act up. As they always did. They had plans. They had precautions. Hell, they had assistance from the locals all set up, so that even if Moroboshi - for example - did decide to goof off and do his own thing as always they'd have containment measures at the ready.

They'd never been more prepared. This time that class would not humiliate their school. This time they were ready. This time it would be a completely normal field trip. Except for the one and only factor they hadn't taken into consideration.

"Teacher!" Shutaro Mendo lifted his hand into the air. "I recognise that this is a delicate matter, but it must be brought to light. I shall try to be careful in my phrasing so it can be accepted easily and without overdue emotional response."

His head was then pushed down from behind by Ataru Moroboshi, who sang aloud "We're lo~ost, aren't we~?"

"We're not lost!" Onsen-mark yelled. "We're taking the scenic route, that's all!"

"Gosh, the scenic route has a lot of trees," Lum whistled, peering out into the forest around them. "It makes me wonder how hard it is to see on the other route."

In a flash Mendo was sitting next to Lum, his hand around Lum’s waist, “Well, I suppose if we’re going to take the long way, we might as well enjoy it Miss Lum?”

Ataru twitched, pointing at Mendo from his own seat, “Hey! Hands where she can see em!”

“That is rich coming from you Moroboshi!” Mendo replied

Lum leaped past Mendo to hug Ataru. "Darling, you do care!"

"I care about not seeing this creep trying to get fresh! It's really disgusting."

The rich boy pulled a sword out of nowhere and brought it down hard, only for Ataru to catch it out. "Have you never held a mirror to yourself when out girl hunting?"

"Why'd I want to look at any boys when I'm looking for girls?" The rest of the class ignored the two arguing boys, they were used to this.

"So this is a field trip...?" Ryuunosuke mumbled to herself. The girl was sitting in the back, leaning back with her hands behind her head. In front of her several girls were turned around in their seats, cooing and sighing at her. "Don't seem too different from class far as I can see."

That was part of the reason Onsen-mark was as stressed out as he was. This was <i>exactly</i> like being back in class, except with even less space than normal.

"Teacher, look!" Shinobu cried out, pointing dramatically out of the window. "There's a mansion over there! We can ask for directions, stretch our legs and maybe even use their bathrooms!"

She said it. The dreaded word. Bathroom. Bathroom. Bathroom. Everyone had silently made a pact not to bring up things like water or liquids or anything directly connected to them. Lest it make them think of how much they wanted to go. It was a lot! They had been on this crummy bus for hours now!

"Feh, if we stop off there we'll be late!" Onsen-mark scoffed. "I'm sure you can all hold it in a couple hours longer!"

Hold it in a couple hours long. As one, every student turned towards him with their shoulders hunched. They moved like zombies with a single minded purpose, even mortal enemies Moroboshi and Mendo acting as one for this single common goal.

"Sit back down!"

Hold it in a couple hours longer. Heh. Funny! Ataru pulled out a length of rope from somewhere or other and brandished it knowingly, while Mendo tapped a large hammer in his hand. Other students behind them were constructing a guillotine. And that high tech looking gun Lum was putting together looked really scary!

"D-driver, maybe we should consider stopping at that mansion for a few minutes?" Onsen-mark mopped his forehead.

"Eh? Are you sure? We're bound to be there in a couple hours anyway -"

"When I say stop at that mansion I mean stop at that mansion!"

And that was how this oddball class wound up at the dreaded Mirror Mansion.

<hr>

It was a lonely job, but that suited him fine and well. He wasn't the sort of person to get on with people per se. Which suited the role fine and well. Yes, yes. The mirror in the main hallway was covered up with the magical curtain that restrained its wicked, perverse magic and protected the world - as well as his own reputation - from something horrible. Something ghastly. Something absolutely and truly wicked! Why, he could hardly think of anything worse in the world!

There was a knock at the door. Yes, for example whoever that visitor was outside could hardly be worse than what lay within that wretched mirror. He opened the door and made ready to give them his usual greeting, and warning too in case they needed to stay a while -

"Welcome to the mansion -" he began, but was cut off when a particularly well off boy brushed right by him as though he wasn't even there.

"Really? This is a mansion?" the boy said, looking around as though baffled at such an idea. "I always thought mansions had to be three times this size to qualify. Why, you could hardly fit an elephant enclosure in this main hall."

An... elephant enclosure? What?

"Darling, are elephant enclosures really necessary before a building becomes a mansion?" asked the cute flying girl who was flying above the ground and in through the front door. What?! "You earthlings have such strange building classifications."

"Oh really?" said a boy of average looks, but below average intelligence. "You want me to get the list of weird things across our cultures so we can do a compare and contrast? Besides, you can't blame the whole human race for Mendo being weird."

"Nor can we blame the human race for your birth!" the rich boy said, whirling around with a katana that the other boy caught with expert ease.

"I'm sorry about them," said a gruff looking adult who appeared behind our poor butler without warning. "They're always like this. If they break anything I'll make sure they have it replaced."

"I'd rather they didn't break anything in the first place -"

"Ooh! What's behind that curtain?"

You'd never seen an old man move this quickly in your life. "No peeking behind the curtain!" he yelled. Oh dear. Oh dear! It looked like an entire high school class had stopped off at his mansion! Plus one floating girl with horns on her head. Gulp! This was a sign, surely it was some kind of omen!  He had to get them out fast, no way he wanted a repeat of that incident with that weird pig-tailed girl. “W-what can I help you all with?”

"We're lost!" the overly excitable boy said with his hand raised.

"No we're not!" the grouchy teacher yelled. "We're just stopping here while en route to our -"

"Do you even know what our destination is?"

"I know the destination of my foot if you don't settle down!"

And that was when the thunderbolt hit the roof. The lights all died, plunging them into darkness. One of the boys began to scream immediately. "It's dark! I'm scared!" Then a few seconds later, the girls started screaming as well. Fortunately it was a simple matter to get some candles lit.

"It's alright girls, nothing to be alarmed about," he said. "I will have the fuse replaced soon enough."

"It wasn't the darkness that made us jump! It was this creep getting fresh."

"Uwah..." said the overly excitable stupid looking boy. He was bouncing between a pretty young girl and a quite handsome young man, hugging onto them briefly for but a moment before heading onto the other. "But it's dark. I'm scaaaared! Hold onto me please Shinobu! Ryuunosuke!"

"I'll hold you if you're scared darling!" offered the flying girl.

"Shinobu? Ryuunosuke? Hold me tight, I'm being attacked by a scary monster in the dark!"

"Will you... Cut that out already?!" the boy - Ryuunosuke based on what was being said - Grabbed hold of the idiot's collar and then backhanded him across the hall. "Quit getting so damned grabby in the dark!"

"Oh no!" the butler yelled. "Everyone, stay back from the mirror! Young man, whatever you do don't grab hold of the top of the curtain!" He grabbed hold of the top of the curtain. "Don't pull it down when you fall!" He pulled it down when he fell. "And none of you rush forward to see how he's doing, then accidentally look in the mirror all at once!"

"Oh no, Ataru! That looked really nasty!"

"Darling!"

"If he thinks he's getting off that easily... Why I oughta!"

The three of them rushed forward to see how that young boy was doing, then the three of them accidentally looked in the mirror. The teacher patted the butler on the shoulder. "This is like catching a cold," he said. "If you catch it quite often, you get used to it. If you don't then when you do catch one if feels like the end of your life. By now I'm more used to their antics than I'd like, so I can only offer my condolences for how frustrated you must be feeling."

"Oh no, don't worry about me," the butler sighed. "If anything you're going to have it even worse for about week until I get that curtain replaced. Again."

"Huh? Why's that?"

The three reflections popped out all at the same time. "Yaaaay!" cried the reflection of the flying girl. "Woo! I can fly this time! This is so cool!"

"Oh gosh," said the reflection of the more normal looking girl. "I'm cute, but that seems to be about it. Otherwise I'm perfectly normal."

"Hey babe," said the reflection of the boy, giving her a winsome smile. "You might just be cute, but you're just my type!"

Everyone stared at the three of them in muted silence for a moment, before Ryuunosuke rose angrily to his feet and made to punch his reflection. To no avail as the blow was caught with equal strength. "I'm... A... chick! Not a guy!"

"Huh?" the reflection grunted. "Are you sure?"

"Oh, she's sure!" the excitable boy said, slipping behind her and dexterously unbuttoning her shirt to reveal several layers of wrappings. "Definitely a girl!"

"Huh! Guess I'm a lesbian this time around!"

"Diiiiie!"

It was quite the sight to behold. The two Ryuunosuke's duelling against one another. The two ordinary girls being hit on by the idiot. While up above, the two flying girls were circling around one another.

"Wh-What just happened here?" the rich boy asked. "That mirror made copies of them?"

"That mirror is cursed," the butler wailed. "Any time someone looks into it, a dark copy of them is made. Down to the last detail, an exact reflection. The same personality, the same abilities, the same preferences..."

"I'm not into chicks, dammit! I'm straight!"

"Keep telling yourself that, babe!"

"The only difference is that they're a little bit... Excitable when it comes to the opposite sex!"

"Pardon me!" the reflection of the flying girl suddenly said to the rich boy, her eyes twinkling with lust. "Name? Address? Phone number?"

"Ooh! How about you mister grabby?" the reflection of the ordinary girl said, wrapping her arms around the back of the idiot's head. "Name? Address? Phone number?"

The crossdressing reflection, meanwhile, had cupped the original normal girl’s chin in her hand. “Well, tell me young lady? What’s your name? Address? Phone number? She caught the hand that would have slapped her in the face. “Please?”

Onsen-mark fell to his hands and knees, openly weeping. “I don’t need <b>three more</b> Moroboshis! One is bad enough! Half of one is already too much! This must be a nightmare!”

All the butler could do was sigh in despair. At the very least the idiot hadn't turned his head to look into the mirror himself, but somehow he felt like pointing this out aloud would somehow cause it to happen.

...

Maybe they should move to another room before something else happens?

1. Ataru plots and schemes to use the mirror for an easy harem.
2. Lum has to deal with her reflection having an easier time getting Ataru's attention for some reason.
3. Shinobu introduces her reflection to her parents.
4. Mendo looks in the mirror next. His reflection behaves basically the same as normal.
5. The next day Sakura arrives to help deal with the cursed mirror. Accidentally looks in it.
6. Something else