I shivered. There would be no tomorrow if I didn’t fight. I wasn’t such a man, but I would struggle. It was a fight or flight situation, and I chose both. I leapt up from my seated position by the track. I sprinted towards the two closest officers. The other two waited a moment before charging in to assist the other two, having seen the direction I would go. I knew they intended to catch me in a pincer maneuver there by the kiosk. It seemed a sound strategy.

I lowered my center of gravity by bending forward, arms out. I ignored the second two flanking me, but at the last moment I pivoted and leapt towards the kiosk nearby, arms and legs spread. The vendor who’d been hiding behind his register shrieked, leapt up and slammed down the security gate.

*RATTLE* *CRASH*

“Don’t let it take a hostage!” an officer yelled.

They closed on me and moved in for an arrest. They obviously thought I was after the clerk hiding in his kiosk, but their having closed the security gate so quickly served my needs far better. I leapt up onto it, scrambling up it. The officers rattled at it below me, shaking it.

*RATTLE RATTLE RATTLE* *CLINK*

One climbed up after me, attempting to seize one of my legs to drag me down, but I kicked him down before I kicked off. I went flipping backwards, landing awkwardly behind the officer.

*THUMP*

The shock of the impact shivered up and down my body as my feet met the platform pavement. I was shocked by how I was able to move like this, but I didn’t stop to wonder. I took the opening I’d created to dash the other way where my way was clear. From there I vaulted through the crowd up the narrow corridor alongside the tracks towards the stairs in the distance. My boots made clopping noises in the dull roaring as they slapped against the flooring. I had a ways to go, so far it seemed impossible to win, but I was determined. Nothing else would stop me!

“Stop!” I heard the officers cry out. People yelled and screamed. Others gaped in awe. One or two cheered me on, oddly. Moments later it was as if everyone was triggered in one way or another up and down the platform. Many started running ahead of me to escape. It was a stampede. It would look as though I was chasing them. Oh, no! I don’t need that!

The shouting continued to fill the station, echoing loudly. I heard a few people start laughing almost loud enough to stand out. It’s likely they weren’t aware of what was happening. Rumors couldn’t spread so fast. I vaulted over the stands as others did the same, milling through and leaping over them. I hurried towards the exit up the stairs.

“Run!!!” Men and women behind me warned everyone else.

“Yokai!”

“Demon!”

“Die!!!”

Even newcomers to the station caught the hysteria as though it was a disease. I covered my face with the briefcase as I climbed the stairs. Covering my face made me feel better. I was hiding my ugly face from the world, but it also placed something solid between myself and the hostile multitude. It was already dawning on me that I was not human any longer.

I charged onto the street, not stopping for anything, including traffic. I kept my briefcase firmly between my face and the world. I danced through people and vehicles, and nothing would stop me. People screamed loudly after me, but others along the way began to just stare at me as an oddity just for holding my suitcase in front of my face. I sweated from head to toes as I dashed the long way back home. A suitcase held before me wasn’t a clever disguise, but it worked. I was conspicuous, certainly.

Kami-sama! What have I done to deserve this punishment? Please forgive me! Is being ugly such a sin? Why does the world despise me so? Am I truly a demonic creature now?!