“Don’t talk to me like this, idiot! Without me and his sacrifice you’d already have been killed two times over, idiot!” Rui leaned down and placed her head against Akuchi’s back. “Ummmuuu..." she mumbled softly as she listened carefully for his heart rate.

I waited impatiently, realizing that she was checking for his pulse.

....

...........

“IDIOOOOOOT!!!!”

I gasped and scurried away from Rui. “You didn’t need to call me an idiot three times in a row! That’s a bit much, don’t you think?!”

“Th-that last time wasn’t me..." Rui murmured. She stared up the stairs behind me.

I slowly turned to take in a sight I hadn't expected.

Noh-face stood there with arms thrown wide open and its mouth-like orifice gaping. “Welcome to... yokai... come... see my collection!” Its orifice opened wider in an approximation of a grin. It spun and quickly fled through the nearby doorway, cackling. The door slammed loudly behind it.

*BAM!*

I froze, but my determination solidified. Running up the stairs, I rammed into the door with my shoulder. I tried the knob, but it was locked. Slamming against the door, I clutched at it and then wrenched. It shrieked and shuddered on its hinges which started to creak.

*SLAM* *SLAM* *WHAM* *BAM!* *SCREECH* *KRRRRREEEEE*

I looked over my shoulder and Rui was still standing over Akuchi, barely fazed. Noh-face’s chuckling had turned into maniacal laughter and it echoed out from beyond the locked door.

“AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”

I screamed loudly as I pried at the door. My anger surged. These shitty tactics! And you asked me to come here… bastard! My size increased again as I repeatedly savaged the door. As I struck it repeatedly, my mind started to slip away. Midnight had come. My anger flared up. It was boiling over. “YOU WON’T... WIN!” I bellowed. My deeper and more inhuman voice echoed through the tunnel. Desperation mounted ever higher.

“RAAAAAAAAAAA!!!” I shrieked and came at the door with heightened fervor. Battering at it repeatedly finally started to show results. The door was bending inwards. The hinges shrieked loudly as the frame around it grated and ground. “URRRAAAAAA!!!”

*SHHHHRIIIIEEEEEEKKKK* *SLAM* *WHAM* *THUM*

I leapt back and slung my leg back to deliver a powerful kick. Memories of playing Tekken with Reiko-chan floated through my mind as my life started replaying for me as my memories trickled away.

*THUD* *SHRIEKKKKKK*

*GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRKKKKKK*

*BAAAAAMMMMM*

The door went flying clear from its frame when I seized it and threw it against the far wall. The room beyond was filled to the brim with floating faces. Its collection. There were faces old and young here. Children, grandparents, parents. Their eye sockets and mouths were pitch-black and empty like Noh-face’s.

“AHAHAHAHA! You lose! There’s no hope now!” Its back arched as its arms extended to either side, claws extended.

It was a face-off, literally. The creature stared across at me darkly, its mouth orifice still spread hugely in amusement and joy. “Now we won’t be lonely… Come… my… new friend…" It laughed while its cavalcade of faces turned towards me. They began to spin around me as I approached Noh-face.

“I’m... not here to be your friend. I will bring you to justice!” My face turned as red as my bodysuit, and in the process the costume was nearly completed even without the helmet. I charged ahead through the whirring faces and it responded by crouching. It kicked off the ground towards me. We collided.

*THUD!*

“Be careful, Susumu!” Rui yelled loudly from the doorframe.

Our hands locked as we struggled amidst the faces zooming around like comets. Its eye-holes were narrowed, but they widened again and re-narrowed. It screamed loudly. “SUSSUUUUMMMUUUUU!!!”

It shrieking my name chilled my spine. My knees buckled as it forced me backwards. I lost my balance. It suddenly stepped backward, breaking away. Its claws tightened on my hands as it jerked me around. It was almost as though I was being led in the steps of a dance. We spun and weaved back and forth as Noh-face swung me in circles. Its expression became somehow silly and its orifice spread widely into something which resembled a broad smile. My feet left the ground. Noh-face spun me around so fast I started to feel sick. It got so bad, I couldn’t restrain it. I lost control and vomited. It splashed all over the yokai to plaster it and its eye slits narrowed menacingly. I knew what would happen next, but I couldn’t do anything to stop it. “RAAAAAAAAA!” it shrieked loudly as it released me.

“Ewwwwww…” I heard Rui exclaim as I flew past her.

It catapulted me through the door. “You cannot... have MY COLLECTION!” it shrieked. I whooshed through the door frame to slam hard against the far wall of the train tunnel. Crumpling, I fell to the pavement, but first struck the dented metal door which had landed there. When I hit the cement wall, it was cracked and dust and chips fell on my body.

Getting to my feet was difficult. It charged out to meet me on the tracks. The fleet of faces followed like a danse macabre.

“URAAAAAA! RAGE OF THE LOST!” Noh-face roared as it started to unleash a flurry of blows on me. The way it moved was familiar, and it wasn’t just because I knew how it fought from earlier. My mind was melting down. Before I had time to further consider the situation, the faces launched at me, actively participating when they started to dive bomb me. I dodged repeatedly, glad for the field of vision I had, but no matter, the faces started to break through to score one hit after another. No matter how I evaded and moved, they still battered me. I felt like an aluminum can struck repeatedly by pellets from every direction.

“SUSUMU!!!” Rui yelled loudly and ran to my rescue. This fact barely registered on me because of the furious attacks. Charging into this fight was incredibly reckless. And as hard as it was hitting me, I knew that if it focused on Rui, she’d be turned into a bloody ragdoll in mere seconds.

“Nooooooo!” I howled at Rui. She hopped into the air and raised her umbrella like a broadsword to slam it down hard onto Noh-face’s head.

“URAAAAAA!” it shrieked and struck her firmly with its palm. “RUIIIIIIII!!!”

She opened her umbrella in a flash to deflect its palm successfully, and she landed safely. But she was not finished; she immediately launched herself at it again. Rui continued to rain down savage strikes with her umbrella, turning it into a wrecked and bent mess. Noh-face hissed and when she lifted a leg to deliver a round kick, it seized her leg midair and threw her firmly against the wall besides us.

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooo! I blurred again and slid to intercept. I took the brunt of the strike while cradling her against my chest. “N-no... be… c-care... ful..." I noh-panted. I looked at my hands which held her tightly. They weren’t human anymore. My grace period was over. I gently set her aside, extending my claws. “DON’T DARE TO HURT HER!!!” I screamed loudly. My mind shattered as my anger surged. The transformation was complete.

I launched at Noh-face and gripped its throat, digging my talons into its noh-flesh. My strength skyrocketed. I turned and slammed its head into the wall repeatedly. “DIE!!!” My claws repeatedly rammed into its torso. It slumped against the wall, but I wasn’t done. Seizing the damaged door with my shadowy hands, I charged at it and slapped it repeatedly with the broad side of the door, knocking it firmly into the wall. The wall continued to crack and crumble every time the door drove Noh-face into it. I jumped back and leveled it at Noh-face. It gaped when I drove the narrowest part into it like a battering ram.

The shadowy creature collapsed under a pile of broken stone. After throwing away the door across the tunnel, I rushed to seize its head with one hand and hurled it after the door. Noh-face skidded and hit the railroad ties repeatedly to collide with the twisted door. Noh-face flipped over it and bounced along the railway like a stone over a pond.

*THUD*, *THUD*, *THUD*, *CRACK* -- *CRASHHHH!*

It bounced and impacted the far curving wall to rebound off it. “URAAAAAAA!” I screamed while launching myself at high speed towards it. My whole body was burning with strength.

“SUSUMU!” Rui screamed behind. “You’re doing great! BUT DON’T LOSE YOUR MIND! YOU’RE SUSUMU!”