"My Enemy" A Karamatsu Short Story

"The man in the mirror"

Karamatsu sprinted to the bathroom, the feeling of a panic attack about to burst out. His senses were about to make him lose control once again.

His brothers have been ignoring him again, calling him painful names. He tried to act as cool as possible, but this time, something in him pulled a trigger inside him.

The cherry at the top was when Ichimatsu called him by "Shittymatsu."

That's when he knew he had to get away from their brother's presence. He felt that something bad was coming out of him, he wasn't going to wait to see what it was.

"Please... go away. Please, don't do this to me, please..."

He begged while panting heavily, trying to catch his breath. Holding on tightly to both edges of the ceramic bathroom sink, he wouldn't dare to look at himself in the mirror. This man was terrified.

The question was to "whom."

"This isn't real, it can't be real. I could never..." He didn't finish his sentence.

He shut his eyes tightly, holding his head on the sink with both hands on top of his head, pulling with both fits a portion of his hair and holding on tight to it.

"Go away... Leave me alone please, go, away..." He growled loudly, but not loud enough for his brothers to hear him outside of the bathroom.

He was struggling, trying to keep in control of the inside demon that was starting to live inside him for a long time. It was arising, trying to break free.

But he kept fighting it.

Without looking at himself in the mirror, he opened the bathroom cabinet door to desperately look for his medication.

Opening the small orange jar, he didn't pop just one pill. He took three.

Popping pills was something he would do now and then when his anxiety would try to get him on edge. Nobody knew, except for him. He knew he had a limit.

He didn't want to test it.

Closing the mirror cabinet door, he hid his medications once again, this time taking a slight glance at his facial features.

Gray eyebags down his tired eyes and furrowed eyebrows showing. He couldn't find sleep when it was nighttime.

He would always have his shades on when he was around his brothers, so they didn't get to notice.

Not like they cared, right?

The same nightmare repeated itself for what seemed like days, but in reality, it was months.

The man in blue washed his face with warm water, massaging under his eyes, cheeks, and in between both eyebrows.

Drying his face with a small towel, he let out a sigh and sat at the toilet for a moment.

He felt dizzy and extremely exhausted. He tried to take naps here and there during the day but not too often. He didn't want their brothers to know.

Karamatsu took off his hoodie for a moment; he felt too hot, and he got sweaty, leaving him with his black tank top.

Standing in front of the mirror once more, he looked down at his body. He felt sick, but his body seemed to be okay. Huh, weird.

"You can't keep me trapped here forever, you know?"

That voice. His voice, but it sounded... different, obscured.

The man in blue looked up to find himself face to face with his dark clone, who seemed to be inside the mirror, appearing to be his reflection. However, this "reflection" did not imitate any of his movements or expressions, he had a mind of his own. He looked back at Karamatsu with a mischievous smile.