The sound of footfalls echoed through the mirrored hall — not from a stranger, but from himself.
Yuichi stared across the polished white floor of his inner world as the second reflection stepped forward. Same height. Same build. Same weight behind the stance. Same calm breath. The opponent in front of him wasn't a vision of what was or what might be — it was the current him.
The mirrored world pulsed softly, alive with power drawn from Yuichi's soul. At the heart of it,
Neither flinched. Neither blinked.
Yuichi stood on one side, gripping his zanpakutō. Across from him, his reflection — not a pale copy, not a memory, but an exact match of who he was now — mirrored the motion with perfect calm.
Their spiritual pressures curled and coiled together like intertwined storms, equally matched. There were no openings. No obvious flaws.
Only stillness. And waiting.
Kagami no Jotei watched from the edge of the room, arms folded in her long sleeves, voice low but clear.
"This will be your hardest opponent," she said. "Yourself — as you are now. Every instinct, every strength, and every weakness. All laid bare."
Yuichi flexed his fingers around his blade. "I've fought worse."
"Have you?" she asked, tilting her head slightly. "Or did you always have someone else to carry the burden and fear alongside you?"
He said nothing.
Then the reflection moved.
One step. Then two. A sudden burst forward — not clumsy like the past version, but precise. Shunpo blurred the space between them. Yuichi met the attack head-on, blades locking with a shock of sparks.
They broke, then clashed again.
Strike. Counter. Parry. Repeat.
The sound of steel echoed like bells through the mirrored palace.
Yuichi launched a low slash — but it was blocked.
He feinted high, spun, and kicked — but his reflection caught the leg, twisted, and threw him off balance.
Yuichi landed in a crouch, skidding back, breath steady but tight.
He knows everything I'll do. Every habit. Every setup. Every angle.
And worse — his reflection could use everything he could.
A sharp incantation was whispered:
"Bakudō #39: Enkōsen."
A glowing yellow shield snapped into place in his reflection's off-hand. A follow-up arc of the blade crashed into it, dispersing the energy but staggering Yuichi.
He gritted his teeth and launched backward.
"Hadō #33: Sōkatsui!"
Blue flame exploded forward — but his reflection moved through it using Mirage Step. The movement was subtle, blurred at the edges. The reiryoku trail left behind misled Yuichi for a second.
He corrected just in time to catch the slash against his shoulder.
Pain lanced through him.
He grit his teeth — and activated a Shikai command in his mind:
"Reflect Kagami no Jotei (鏡の女帝 Empress of Mirrors)"
"Kyōyū sa reta itami."
The pain twisted — no longer centered on him. Someone else now bore it, somewhere in the fabric of the inner world. Yuichi still felt the echo — but it didn't harm him. Instead, his reiryoku dipped. Slightly.
Across from him, his reflection mirrored the same trick.
Another explosion of pain. Another drop in power.
They were both using Shared Pain — and neither had control over where the damage went.
Yuichi hissed, sliding backward, blade in front of him.
"This is pointless," he growled. "We're just bleeding power away."
"Exactly," Kagami no Jotei murmured. "Your current self grows only when pressed, not because you desire it — but because you fear what happens if you don't."
Yuichi shouted and lunged forward, sword flaring with spiritual energy.
His reflection met him halfway.
The blades collided again — but this time Yuichi planted his foot in a specific direction. Reiryoku flared under his boot. A pulse of pressure disguised as movement — a Mirage Step burst.
The image of Yuichi remained in place — while the real one appeared off to the side.
The reflection turned too late.
"Hadō #63: Raikōhō!"
Lightning tore through the chamber, blasting the reflection backward in a burst of thunder and light.
Yuichi landed, panting, his uniform slightly scorched, his palm steaming.
That hit… but not cleanly enough.
The reflection emerged from the smoke, battered but standing. Its blade hummed with reiryoku, and without hesitation it activated Phantom Pain.
A perfect illusory clone appeared beside it — flickering but nearly indistinguishable from the original. The clone mirrored the reflection's stance, and together, they blurred forward.
Yuichi adjusted fast, reiryoku flowing through his body as he activated the same technique.
Two versions of Yuichi now — one real, one mirrored — met two reflections.
A symphony of steel rang through the air. Blades crashed. Clones shattered like glass when struck — inflicting equal amounts of pain to both real combatants.
Yuichi winced as the ache pulsed up his shoulder.
He shares the pain too…
But Yuichi wasn't done.
He dropped low beneath a high slash and whispered:
"Bakudō #4: Hainawa."
A rope of yellow light snapped forward, catching his reflection's arm. He yanked it down.
The reflection cut it a second later — but the opening was there.
Yuichi raised his sword.
"Sutoraiki o kaesu."
The reflection tried to slash downward — a strong, heavy strike. Yuichi caught the blade at the flat just before it reached his face.
Kagami no Jotei shimmered for just a moment — a mirror flash along his blade.
The energy recoiled.
The reflection was blasted back by its own redirected force — hurled across the chamber.
Yuichi staggered. His knees buckled for a moment.
The spiritual drain from that move was intense.
"I almost didn't have enough to pull that off," he muttered.
His breathing slowed.
Across from him, the reflection began to rise again.
Yuichi growled and charged — forcing himself into action.
He zigzagged using Mirage Step, firing three consecutive Hadō 31: Shakkahō blasts in erratic patterns.
The first missed. The second was intercepted.
The third caught the reflection in the chest — and that was enough.
Yuichi was there an instant later, blade pressed to his mirrored self's throat.
They locked eyes.
Yuichi hesitated… then lowered the sword.
The reflection exhaled… and smiled faintly.
Then it faded — not violently, but gently — drifting upward like light passing through water.
Silence returned.
Yuichi dropped to one knee, sweat dripping down his brow, heart hammering.
Jotei approached, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"You didn't overpower him," she said softly. "You outgrew him."
Yuichi nodded, breath still ragged. "Barely."
"But growth, however slight… is still growth."
She raised her other hand, and healing reiryoku swept through him, easing the worst of the pain.
He stood once more.
"Two down," he muttered.
Jotei didn't respond. Her gaze turned forward — deeper into the mirrored palace.
A wave of oppressive heat rolled in.
The light dimmed at the edges. Pressure like molten gravity seeped through the hall.
And there, walking into view with unshakable confidence, was a version of Yuichi whose reiryoku warped the space around him.
Hair longer. Eyes sharper. Flames dancing just beneath his skin.
He didn't say anything at first — just smiled, cruelly.
"Well," he said, "you really are slow."
Yuichi raised his sword again — but this time, his hands trembled.