She led the way up the stairs leading to the street near my neighborhood. People coming down drew to the side, their eyes wide, plainly expressing their horror for how stupefying my appearance was. Rui barely managed to keep ahead of me, panting and gasping as she scurried up the stairs. When we reached the top, she tripped; at that rate, her head would slam hard into the solid sidewalk.

In a split second, I realized I’d be deprived of a loli if I didn’t do something. Somehow, I blurred and charged ahead to throw myself between her and the cement. Her face slammed into my backside, right into Natalia-sama’s advertisement. “Ouch! I hit something really hard!” Rui complained cutely.

I stayed on the pavement, collecting my fragmented mind. It was like when I was recovering from Reiko-chan’s death. My hands clutched at my head as I fought the sensation. My mind was in shambles. It was only because of a small galvanized core of who I was, hidden deep inside, that I was able to hold onto my sanity and an early loss of my humanity.

“Susumu... you really are a wonderful person.” I heard Rui sigh behind me. “I thought you would really kill me, but you’re really actually gentle... I never imagined a guy could be so kind. Your butt is so hard and flat, though.” She rubbed her nose.

I shuddered as I somehow managed to put this power into submission and a temporary remission. And my vision returned to normal, so to speak. Her words finally sank in. “Hey! That’s the pot calling the kettle black, isn’t it? You’re a flatness specialist!”

She gritted her teeth and drove a leg powerfully up between my legs again. I skidded across the pavement to slam my head against the nearby traffic pole. Rushing over to me, she looked a little worried and embarrassed. “Whew, thank goodness. You’re not bleeding, and you’re not out of human blood, yet. I was worried. I’m sorry, just don’t bully a girl about what she’s sensitive about, or you’ll get hurt! Anyways, hurry and get up! We’re making another scene and the police might catch up. Move!” Rui took my hand and tugged me to my feet. My legs felt like rubber bands. “There’s no time to rest. You’re running out of time. Go, go, go! I’m going to save you Susumu! I can’t let you die!” Rui looked at me with a gentle expression, despite her newest assault on Fort Winky. This wasn’t an act. Her desire seemed actually... genuine? Could it be?

Following her quickly, I ran awkwardly after her in a daze, all the while I listened to her soft panting. While doing so, I couldn’t help but notice that I wasn’t noh-gasping anymore. This made me worry that I’d lost some of my humanity when I snapped.

In time, I even realized where we were heading. Up ahead along the narrow street I saw my apartment building. An intense desire filled me to run up those stairs and curl up in the dubious safety. After everything I’d been through, I felt broken. Ninety percent of me wanted to give up and die, but the remaining ten percent pieces were persistent, and even though they were hopelessly outnumbered, they won, bolstered by boiling hot anger. I was always slow to anger, but it was like steam building in a pot. When it came out, it was explosive like when my father had finally pissed me off so much I couldn’t remain silent.

“Thank you, R-Rui... I’d of-offer you tea at my place. It’s right over there, but... we have no time for such nonsense.” I noh-panted. My breaths were coming as heavily as hers again. Perhaps I was copying her. This was something I couldn’t understand nor explain.

“You live in a dump, Susumu.” She scanned the building and flipped a hand dismissively at it. “You deserve way more than this trashy building.” It was in good repair, but the walls did have a stain or two here and there. “You should find a better place once we’ve regained your humanity. No matter what the result is, I’ll hire you to work for me, although there will be a period of indenture. You don’t have boobs, so that means you pay more.” She looked back at me and winked. I was conflicted about these words. When I thought about how she’d said I deserved more, oddly my noh-heart skipped a beat. Shock filled me when I analyzed this emotion and the conclusion made me noh-blink. No way...

She led me past the building. I looked back at it longingly, but I nodded. It wasn’t like I missed the place, it was just the only true haven I had. My neighbors treated me like I was living garbage. Why should I cling to something that didn’t mean anything to me anymore? I wished I could share the place with Reiko-chan, but given Rui’s response to seeing it, I decided Reiko-chan wouldn’t have had a better opinion of it.

“You know, I have a friend who lives not too far from here. He's an outlander and a yokai to boot!” Rui stopped and put a hand on my chest to halt me. “Okay... the thing is... this foreigner is going to be hard to find. He’s a tanuki spirit. An expert in stealth arts and transformation. If we enlist him, no matter what happens, we can get around all the policemen and safely into the tunnel.”

Nodding dumbly, I noh-gasped. “He sounds legit elite! But, can't we just charge right back through the station again? We got through it without any real issues. Wouldn’t that idea be easier?”

Rui laughed softly. “No, Noh-brains!” She patted my chest. “It’s too bad this is so flat,” she commented, rubbing her lips as she thought. FLAT? You’re flat! Damnit, I will not say it again out loud ever again! I clutched at my crotch. She eyed me and grinned. “Too bad that’s not flat too.”

“Anyways," Rui sighed and shrugged with a little smile. “It would be best if we do this the stealthiest way. You nearly lost your mind just now. Way too soon. If we tried that again, you might never return to normal. Maybe you lost too much blood today, meaning we’ll have less time than we estimated. Make sure you give this everything you have while it counts! You can only go nuts when we reclaim your face, but don’t forget the battle won’t be over! Got it?” She clenched her fists cutely.

I paused, but then I laughed softly.