《No Face, No Life》019

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Everything around me looked different. I was still in a train car, but there was a certain quality to the world it never did. My head probably suffered from a trauma. That might explain why everything looked and felt so different. I rubbed my eyes to try to recover, noticing that the people who’d boarded were now gaping at me, some fingers pointed in my direction. They began to cry in surprise. Some drew into the corners of the car as I’d done in the presence of a true threat, Noh-face.

Attracted by the commotion, an officer boarded within moments. I was preoccupied with the tactile sensations I was receiving from my fingers as I probed my face gingerly.

I freaked out about what I discovered and flailed in panic. Then I clutched my face, hiding it. The action didn’t obscure my sight, thus I clearly saw the officer charge towards me, fists up. I knew I was screwed. I’d encountered them a few times, but it’d never come to violence before. They aren’t known for violence. Why would this man attack me on sight?! I instantly knew I needed to make a quick escape, so I dashed through the car away from that doorway. The boarders screamed loudly as I galloped through it. Thankfully the car was only halfway filled, and with how they were drawing away from me, my escape wasn’t impeded. I headed towards the other set of doors in the car. I wondered why people were lingering despite how they looked. I think it’s because they were curious about the situation, or in some cases, perhaps they were paralyzed as I was.

I didn’t have eyes behind my head, that was a good thing, right? I gasped as a high kick struck my back, bowling me over into the far wall of the car, well past the portal towards my freedom. Then the officer challenged me.

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“Monster, stand down! Place your hands on your head, or is that an egg you have on your neck?!” Visions of people with eggheads flew through my head.

I was stunned by the blow, and the strange insult, but I managed a weak response. “W-what are you doing, officer? I know I’m ugly! Is that now a crime in Japan?!”

Someone to the side laughed, while the others stared and murmured among themselves. That jingle played in the car over the speakers to announce the train’s departure. Apparently the officer rushed into action without arranging for it to be delayed. I wonder if they’d even do it? That action always inconvenienced millions of people when they had places to be when it was necessary.

“Yokai!” an elderly man screamed loudly suddenly. “A demon!” I didn’t put my hands on my head, so the officer resumed his attack. As his fists lashed out, I weaved left and right just barely quickly enough, hearing his fists smash into the wall of the car behind me. A moment later I spotted my briefcase which went flying earlier to rest by a bank of seats after the noh-face attacked. I’d half assumed it was just a horrible nightmare, but that simply wasn’t possible. The situation I was in then was the hard cold truth.

I went down and rolled around the officer. His hands lashed out downwards and to his left. I intercepted the attack with my raised-up case. The strikes made me wince. I side-stepped towards the opening leading to the platform. The officer chased me deliberately with a practiced stance and stride. His movements were smooth. When he attacked me with another high kick, I saw the attack coming thanks to the mysterious nature of this sight I’d been left with. A martial-artist would probably sacrifice everything they possessed to have such an uninterrupted field of view. I quickly lifted the briefcase again, blocking a series of kicks that normally would have dropped me easily.

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*THUMP* *CRASH*

“W-whoaaa!” a child exclaimed as though seeing a sentai drama in action right there before him. He cheered. The policeman flushed and grinned for a moment, but his stern expression quickly replaced it. Others chuckled or cheered him on. Of course they wouldn’t cheer for me! I glanced towards the door I was sidling towards, and noticed it was starting to slide closed. This was very very bad!

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