Danshoku

∞ Long past dark, well after the bars and clubs had closed, a boy had snuck out of his apartment to go to the 24/7 corner store for a late night snack to cut his craving. Dressed in his checkered pajama pants and simple black Tee, the young black haired boy was surprised that he was wearing shoes and not slippers. The clock on the wall above the door to the store was dusty and faded, but well lit from the fluorescent lights surrounding it. The barely legible clock read 3:20am. Rubbing his ear length, natural jet black hair, the boy lazily stepped foot into the quiet corner store. The tiny corner store was dead, no customers, no gasoline customers, no clerk.

 Gripping a bundle of hair, the regaining sleep was settling once again down on the boy’s feminine, lidded eyes. Getting rather frightened from the silence, the boy quickly grabbed what he came for, and rushed to the counter. Placing his item on the counter, the boy began to shake slightly while his eyes wandered the store. The room began to get darker, to lights dimmed to an eerie grey.

“A-ano? Sumimasen.” The young boy froze, shivering in fear as the pure white fluorescent bulbs turned to a yellow haze. The lights from the electric register had died. All around the store only tiny orbs of light of red and white attempted to brighten the large empty room.

“Sumimasen.” The boy repeated louder this time, even more frightened than before. Before his eyes, from across the counter, rose the sales clerk from the floor. His hat covered his eyes, the shadow covered his face, and only his eerie white teeth bared a cunning grin. The young messy haired boy jumped back, letting out a tiny gasp.

The clerk was silent for a few moments, he stared at the boy, or that's all the boy could assume her was doing. That frightening grin grew on the clerk’s lips, baring his tongue as well as his white teeth now.

“How may I help you young sir?” Holding his eerie grin the clerk finally spoke, his voice echoic and hollow.

The young, black haired boy was frozen only for a moment before he pushed his item closer to the man it was barely visible. The sudden flicker of light on the other side of the store made it visible enough for the man to see and grab. Lifting it to the blackened scanner, the man scanned it. No electricity to it yet it still beeped and worked. The young boy looked confused and pulled out his bill to pay without taking his eyes off the man. Still attempting to see the man’s face, the boy pushed the bill across the counter, right at the man’s hand. The shady man rung in the bill, the register opened and he grabbed the boy his change.

Holding the many coins in his fingertips, the man reached to the boy to place it in his hand. His black, messy bangs were in his eyes, the boy brushed them aside before reaching for his change. The man’s arm looked questionable in the dark flickering light that came from behind the boy. His skin was grey and green, blotchy like a tie-dye shirt.

“Thank… Thank you.” Before they were placed in his hand, the coins were let go, bouncing and scattering around the counter and the floor. The last of the lights burst in a bright flash before dimming like the rest of them.

“Hey!” The black haired boy dove to the blackened floor, blindly searching for his coin. Only a few coins were found. From their size and weight, they were only ¥10 coins.

The boy returned to his feet, jumping back away from the counter. The clerk had stood right above him, coming from the other side of the counter without a sound. Shaded more than before, the man’s smile was still eerily visible. He held out his hand again, the contents of his palm were not visible at this time. Stupidly, the black haired boy reached out for the man’s rotting hand/

In less than a blink of an eye, the boy’s arm was grabbed firmly. The bony absence of flesh felt like it tore at his flawless, powdered flesh. Though only a grin was seen, the young, black haired boy did not think that someone that looked like this would have this much muscle. He screamed at the top of his lungs. The lights popped, returning to partial life. More of this young clerk’s face was visible, but he was still unidentifiable. He screamed again, the pain was becoming to great for his frail body to handle. Chuckling hysterically, almost in a psychotic fit, the clerk held the young boy’s arm in an iron grip making him immobile. A loud crack was heard echoing through the small store, making the boy scream even more. The clerk’s opposite hand flailed around like a snake being thrown through the air before it grasped to the boy’s simple, black tee with the same iron grip.

In a higher state of fear for his life, the boy placed his hand on the clerk’s chest, firm and steady, pushing with all his might.

“Let me go!” The young, black haired boy screamed, hoping someone would hear and aid him quickly. With pseudo-strength of clenching his feminine eyes shut, to the point of making them throb, the boy gave it his all and pushed on the clerk harder. Even with all his strength he could muster up, the clerk would still not budge.

Though not attached in any way, the godly strength of the thin man swiftly pulled on the young boy’s shirt, shredding it and his checkered pants to pieces. With that the young boy used every bit of adrenaline he had to push this person away, but failed. Laughing maniacally, the clerk threw his arms in the air, praising to the heavens, his grasp loosening, dropping the boy again.

Shouting in pain and fear, the young, black haired boy grasped his arm in pain. The tiny clerk had obviously broken his bone, handicapping the poor boy into a defenseless state. Injured, crying, petrified and overall naked now, the boy could do nothing but drop to the dusty, black floor and push himself to safety.

Weak and vulnerable, the clerk hastily stepped towards the boy, almost heavily stomping of his mysteriously naked toes. Whimpering, the boy groveled back until his back was against the glass of the cooler doors, with nowhere to go. Looking over his shoulder, the black haired boy peered, squinting through his thick bangs into the flickering cooler. Light flashes revealed sunken boxes of what used to be food, and oblong shapes that seemed to shift with every nervous blink the boy made.

“Please, stay away.” His whimpers only encouraged the man, spread legs around the quivering boy, trapping him in his tiny cocoon on the prior, tile floor. The man gripped the young boy’s thick black hair in a fistful of gnats, pulling him to his knees.

Three painful seconds were endured, while the scrawny, bony man pulled the boy to his feet by his hair, his naked body sway limp below him. Tears flooded his femininely long lashes, which encased his eyes, closing them in a zipper of lashes. Roughly and painfully the young boy was thrown face first to the glass of the wall of cooler doors, hands pinned above his head. The sound of cracking returned, that bone was shattering and there was nothing he could do but scream. Sobbing defenselessly, his tears that dripped down his face were joined by a thicker, hot liquid that flowed from his forehead, blood. Whimpering and writhing, the boy let out a sudden shriek when he felt his legs pried apart from beneath him. ∞