Chapter Text
Humans like to alter their appearance this time of year, don’t they? There are so many different costumes they put on, so many different masks and makeup. All to make themselves look like someone, or something, else. It’s fascinating.
Mahito is slipping between people on the train, looking at the variety of different costumes and humans. He doesn’t understand why they want to look so different or why today is the only time he’s seen this. He didn’t see anything like this yesterday or even this morning. It was just in the afternoon that he saw the first few humans in costume.
His gaze drifts from one human to the next until they settle on a figure standing near the front of the car. Mahito’s eyes skim from the pointy ears perched on the top of your head to the fluffy tail strapped to the back of your hips. He weaves through the crowd of costumed humans, keeping his eyes locked on you, as he moves closer for a better look.
Cute. That’s the first thing that comes to mind as he steps up behind you. Your head is lowered, eyes focused on the cellphone in your hand, but he can still see the details of your makeup and the outfit you’re wearing. Are you supposed to be a fox spirit?
He begins to reach for your fake fox ears, but then his hand pauses as his eyes lower to something even more eye-catching. You’re wearing a yukata with a bird pattern and you have the sleeves rolled up, secured with such pretty ribbons. With your forearms bared like that, Mahito can see the scars running from your wrist toward your inner elbow.
The fox ears and tail might be fake, but those scars are real. A smile draws across his face and Mahito trails a fingertip along the scar on your left arm, watching goosebumps raise up around it. His other hand lifts toward your neck when he spots a scar there, as well. A scar stretched across your throat. He wants to touch it.
A part of him wants to watch the scar tissue expand and make your skin burst, wants to see the looks of horror on the other humans’ faces when you turn to them and spray them with a shower of your blood. Instead, Mahito traces the scar with his fingertips and presses against your back from behind. His eyes are focused on his left hand, watching his finger trail down the length of the scar on your forearm and tapping your inner elbow.
Your thumb pauses over the phone screen and your stomach clenches as you feel the pressure against your scars, feel the chill of something touching you. With your pulse hammering in your ears, with your throat tightening, you lift your eyes from your phone screen and look at your reflection in the glass. When you open your mouth, you can’t get a word out, but sweat begins to bead on the surface of your skin.
There’s someone behind you. There’s someone pressing against you, someone touching you. He isn’t looking at the reflection so you’re able to take in a few key details before you look down again. One blue eye, one gray eye. Stitches running down one side of his face and across the center of his face from ear to ear, another line running across his neck. Long grayish blue hair that he has secured in sections, some of it hanging forward over your shoulder as he leans down.
What are you going to do? You swallow, hard, and try to find your voice, but you can feel him tracing the scar on your throat. You can feel his breath against your ear when he brings his face near the side of yours. It’s a struggle not to look at him again, but you know that he just wants a reaction. That’s the only reason why people do stuff like this to strangers; they want someone to be scared, to freak out, to make them feel powerful.
There are other people in the train car. Do they see what’s happening? They have to, right? No one is saying anything, no one is helping you. What should you do?
“I can feel your heartbeat,” the stranger teases, rubbing the scar on your left wrist. “I wonder why it’s so fast?”
Why is he doing this? Just to scare you? What is he going to do? Does he have a weapon? Is he going to kill you, right here, in front of the other commuters?
Finally, you force yourself to take a step forward and turn around, sidestepping him. Your heart sinks when you look around at the rest of the train car. It’s packed full of other people on their way out to celebrate Halloween. Someone should have seen what was happening to you, but no one looks unsettled.
“Oh! That’s why!” An arm slips around the front of your chest and your back is dragged against the stranger. “You can see me.”
Your eyes widen and cold adrenaline races through your body, sending a chill along your spine. What does he mean by that? What is he? A ghost? A hallucination brought on by working too many long shifts and relying on energy drinks?
“How did you get this?” His free hand lifts to your neck and his fingers trail over the scar across your throat. “You have a lot of scars, but I don’t think you made this one,” he comments, tapping the marking. “But you made the others, didn’t you? They’re cute.”
“Please…please let me go.” Your voice finally comes out and it’s a whisper. There’s a tightness in your throat and the edges of your vision blur as panic takes over. “I don’t want to die. Please.”
He rests his chin on your shoulder and his fingers stretch, lengthening until they encircle your neck like a collar. The band of chilled flesh tightens around your neck until you tense up and grit your teeth, tears rolling down your cheeks. “You make a cute fox spirit.”
Mahito smiles as he nuzzles his cheek against yours. Your skin is warm and soft. You smell good, really good. He decides that he’s going to stay with you tonight. Mahito alters himself so he can match you; taking on a pair of pointed blue-gray fox ears and a fluffy fox tail to go with it. Beaming, he hugs you tighter against his chest and two fleshy prongs extend from the band around your neck, slipping into the corners of your mouth and pushing them up into a forced smile.
“Now we match! Look!” He turns you both to face the glass again and Mahito loves the look on your face. The terror in your eyes, the tears streaming down your cheeks as your body trembles in his hold. “You look so scared,” he teases, licking the shell of your ear. “More like a rabbit than a fox.”
“Please…” You can see his reflection as he grins, see the commuters closest to you glance over briefly before shuffling further away. You don’t know what this stranger is planning, but it’s obvious that no one is going to help you.
Fear makes you bite the inside of your cheek so hard that it begins to bleed. The second that the doors open, you surge forward and you’re relieved that the fleshy collar around your neck gives way. With adrenaline rushing through your veins, you sprint into the station and focus on getting to the exit. Carefully weaving past other Halloween revelers in costume, not daring to look back.
“You’re even running like a rabbit,” Mahito comments, grinning as he steps off the train. He watches you flee, watches you desperately try to escape, but he’s not going to let you out of his sight. This is his first Halloween! You’re not going to make him celebrate it alone, are you?
He easily slips past the humans in the station and emerges in time to see you dart around a street corner, disappearing out of sight. Not like it’s going to be hard for him to follow you. Beaming to himself, Mahito easily gets you back into his line of sight and lets you think you’re gaining distance. He doesn’t know where you’re going, but you’re not going there without him.
You think you’ve put enough distance between you and the station, so you slow your steps. You’re breathing hard, heart pounding in your chest as you finally look back over your shoulder. Everywhere, you see people in costumes, but you don’t see him anywhere. The stranger, the monster. You still don’t know what he wanted from you, but when he made those fox ears sprout from his head and he made his hand do that thing around your neck…
A shiver runs through you as you try to shake the memory from your head. That couldn’t have been real. No one can make their body do something like that! It was like he wasn’t human. Stretching his fingers, reshaping his body.
Somewhere at the back of your mind, there’s a thought that maybe he was a real fox spirit or some sort of yokai. Maybe you offended him with your costume. Maybe he was just trying to put some fear into you so you wouldn’t use his image like this. That’s crazy, though! Fox spirits aren’t real and even if they were, they wouldn’t be riding a cramped train on Halloween night!
Reaching into your bag, you pull out your phone and check the time. The party should’ve started by now. Just get to the bar, meet up with your friends, and forget about what happened on the train. You shouldn’t stress about it. Honestly, it’s likely you won’t even see that stranger again.
You’re messaging your friends as you continue down the sidewalk, walking slower, but still alert to the people around you. Careful not to bump into anyone, listening for the sound of that stranger’s voice. Everyone in the group chat is excited to see your costume, some of the girls are eager to show you theirs, and your best friend is talking about doing a group picture.
It was work stress, you convince yourself. Your job has been really busy lately and you haven’t been sleeping well. So, what happened on the train? That had to have been a hallucination. Or, at the very least, you hallucinated the way that guy’s body changed.
Yeah. A combination of work-related stress, lack of sleep, and the anxiety of being felt up by some creep on the train. Your brain just took what happened and exaggerated it. You’ll be fine.
This Halloween party is something you need. You need to reconnect with your friends, after spending so much time by yourself. For quite a while, you’ve been avoiding seeing everyone in person. Going to work, going home, running errands only when you absolutely have to. Tonight is going to be your first step back into your social circle, back into the warm embrace of your friends.
As you walk, you release the ribbons holding up the sleeves of your yukata. The fabric falls down your forearms, hiding the scars, and you subconsciously rub your wrist. You thought your bracelets would hide them, but that stranger had still noticed them. None of your friends know about the scars. None of them know what happened when you just quietly started to pull away. You don’t want to explain it to them tonight, don’t want to ruin the celebration, and you just hope no one points out the scar on your neck.
Mahito pouts when he sees you hide your scars. His newly sprouted fox ears perk forward when he draws closer, seeing you slow down. Where are you going? This isn’t a residential area, so you’re not going home. Does that mean he’ll have to wait even longer to get you alone?
He follows you down the sidewalk at a distance and watches you slip into a bar. It’s not like other people can help you. No one else can even see him. Mahito could do unspeakable things to you right in front of them and they’d only be able to see you squirming, hear you whimpering.
As Mahito enters the bar and searches for you among the crowd, he frowns. He thought you were just coming here to drink alone or maybe you had a date. No, you’re here to meet up with friends. Look at how many people are greeting you! Look at how many hugs you’re getting, how happy they are to see you!
This is why he wants to get you alone. Mahito doesn’t want to share your attention with anyone else. Especially not a big group of humans like this.
With another pout, he decides to find someone else to entertain him for now. He sets his sights on a man who’s excusing himself to go smoke a cigarette, a grin spreading across Mahito’s face. Stalking the man outside and into an alley, the curse wonders what kind of fun shape he should twist this human’s soul into.