Episode 16 - The Perfect Mirror

The tension in the Bosatsu dueling team's private arena was incredible. Yukimura Hisoka stood on one side, deep in thought. Tendou Hibiki stood on the other, limbering up for the duel, seemingly the only relaxed person in the room. Kyoru Arashi watched from the sidelines, silent and unreadable, opposite the Bosatsu team.

This is going to be problematic, thought Yukimura, looking down with eyes closed in concentration. I don't have much data on her. I'll have to use the opening throws to draw out her strategy, then lead her into a trap - she appears to be a physical player, so perhaps a modified Serivean Gambit, or a Sierpinski Defense. I'll start with three layers of obfuscation in my approach, but I might have to increase recursion depth depending on her first throw. My first throw should definitely be Paper, as though I'm expecting her to think I'm pretending to play into the expectations that she'll think I want her to believe she's successfully pretended to have. As soon as I see how she deals with that, I'll be able to formulate a more solid strategy.


She nodded, then looked up at her opponent, adjusting her glasses -

- and froze.

Yukimura stood motionless, her right thumb and index finger gripping one lens of her glasses. Across from her, Tendou had transformed completely - her posture, her expression, everything was different. She was holding her left thumb and index finger in front of her face, as though gripping an invisible lens - in every way, her pose was an exact mirror of Yukimura's.

When she regained her composure, Yukimura lowered her hand - but as she did so, Tendou copied her movement. She made a few meaningless gestures, to see if Tendou would follow her - and she did.

"Don't bother with some complicated strategy, Yuki-me," said Tendou, without breaking her synchronization. "My technique is unbeatable. With my Perfect Mirror, I can copy any opponent's movements exactly. It doesn't matter what strategy they use. It doesn't matter what arts they've mastered. It doesn't matter how long they've trained. The Perfect Mirror reflects it all."

"So this is her replacement," murmured Ryoichi.

Yukimura's expression remained neutral, unimpressed. "Yes, that's certainly a powerful technique. I won't be able to beat it with normal play."

The two duelists raised their hands simultaneously.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Yukimura had thrown Paper, as she had planned - and Tendou had mirrored her exactly, throwing Paper as well.

Yukimura frowned. I was right. Her technique is strong, but it has a flaw - one that I can use to win this duel! The Perfect Mirror requires her to match her opponent's movements exactly. Therefore, she can't use it to win a throw, only tie. Her real strategy must be to force a series of ties, and then deduce her opponent's pattern. She'll be able to strike whenever she's sure of my next throw, and force a tie the rest of the time. It's a formidable strategy - but I can turn it against her. All I have to do is fake a pattern and wait for her to break her mirroring. I'll wrap a false strategy in a few layers of simulated prediction, and she should play right into my hands.


They raised their hands again.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

Another tie - both had thrown Paper again.

Yukimura eyed her opponent cautiously. She should be catching on to the false strategy by now. I'd better add a few more layers of obfuscation, to make her think I'm trying to prevent her from discovering my pattern. I need to make sure that she -


"It's over." Tendou said. "I've won the duel. When Arashi said we were going to challenge you, I thought you'd put up more of a fight, but you were easy to synchronize with. So now there's nothing you can do."

Yukimura raised her hand, and Tendou continued to mirror her. On the sidelines, Jihara leaned closer, strangely intent on Tendou's movements.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors!"

Then, at the same time, they each shouted different things - as "Shoot!" passed Yukimura's lips, Tendou instead cried -

"Shatter!"

- and brought down a throw of Rock at the last moment, defeating Yukimura's Scissors.

"This is what bores me about dueling," mused Tendou, her triumphant expression mismatched with her - or rather, Yukimura's - shocked stance. "No matter how strong a duelist is, they all fall to my Perfect Mirror. I can keep up with anyone long enough to synchronize completely, and then I can use that total awareness to shift my throw to beat theirs. It's an unstoppable technique."

Yukimura regained her composure quickly. Impossible. There has to be some weakness to her technique, some way to subvert that "mirror". 

"Okay, Yuki-chan, that's enough." The duelists glanced over in unison at Mizumigawa, who was rolling her eyes at them as she interjected. "Quit playing around. She's starting to get cocky!" She lowered her sunglasses and smirked at Yukimura. "It's time for you to shut her down."

"Thanks a lot, Mizu-kun," replied Yukimura in a deliberately casual tone. "I wanted her to think she had a chance, and you just had to open your big mouth." I need a plan. Anything! 


Jin looked sidelong at Mizumigawa. "Yuki-chan just needs a little encouragement," she whispered.

I need to out-maneuver her somehow. But how can I do that if she's matching all of my movements? ... Wait. She's not matching all of them. There's a place where I can strike! Yukimura looked back at Tendou, raising her hand as light glinted off her glasses.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

As her hand descended, Yukimura formed Scissors - and immediately, as part of a single, fluid movement, switched to Paper right before the end of the throw. As Yukimura had planned, Tendou broke synchronization to throw Rock - but she just as quickly shifted her throw to Scissors in tandem with Yukimura's switch.

"My point again," said Tendou. "What did I tell you? I'm faster than you. Any counter you use against me will be returned in full force."

Think! Yukimura urged herself furiously. Where are her weaknesses? Her movements are all automatic - there has to be some way to use that against her without using...


The two duelists stared at each other for a long moment. Then, they raised their hands for the game-point throw.

"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!"

And it was over - Tendou's Scissors cut Yukimura's Paper, securing a flawless victory.

Yukimura slumped - but Tendou stayed upright. "Arashi!" she stretched and twisted, no longer mimicking her opponent. "When are you going to find someone who can challenge me? So far, everyone's the same to me - too weak to get my blood pumping." She walked over to the sidelines, then draped herself over a few seats and started examining the ceiling.

Yukimura made her way back to the other Bosatsu duelists, lost in thought, deaf to their mollifying words. As she went, Kyoru Arashi stood, then walked at a measured pace to the dueling platform Tendou had just left. "I apologize, Hibiki. But I assure you, we're almost through here." He turned his gaze on Jihara. "Jihara Akatsuki. Are you ready to duel?"

Jihara's expression had become perfectly serene, like a storm's eye. He swept to his position in the arena in a fluttering of white robes. "I am ready." He glanced over at Tendou. "But you should be aware - my technique is similar to Tendou-dono's. The Lord of Emptiness - it is invincible."