Once the circus finished setting up, Pierrot was sent out into the streets to hand out flyers. He was supposed to bring Harlequin along, but that would just make this unbearable. He could handle himself.

Once I'm done here, I think I'll try baking a new dessert. Pierrot hummed in thought, hopping around the streets with his usual grin plastered on his mask. But he got distracted.

SMACK.

He didn't have time to react. Pierrot's world moved in a blur, and he was knocked to the ground, the flyers slipping out of his hands and splattering all over the pavement dramatically. The man who had hit him was causing a scene, kicking the papers at Pierrot and screaming, "Get out of here you freak! People have been going missing ever since you lot showed up!"

All Pierrot could do was sit there and take it. I'd better not move. He found that only made things worse.

A crowd began to form, whispering amongst themselves. As expected from humans, they didn't do a thing. They stared, wondering what Pierrot did to deserve a beating.

One wrong move, one suspicious step, and they'll hunt the circus down. Pierrot would never do anything to endanger his home, his family, even if it meant remaining passive. Soon he'll get tired! He reasoned, telling himself anything to ignore how his cheek stung. Maybe if he hits me again, laughs at me, makes me bleed, he'll be satisfied.

It was always the same. The same treatment over and over... and over and over again—

A shout broke his train of thought. What? Usually Jester or Harlequin would step in, maybe the Ticket Taker, but what Pierrot saw was a human. They stood between him and the angry man, scolding him until he backed away from Pierrot.

...

Humans enjoy pain. It's what Jester had always told them. They do not love; they are not kind. They're the true monsters. But all Pierrot could think was: You're wrong.

This human looked at him, not with malice or ill intent, but with kindness. They smiled at him instead of laughing as they helped him off the ground, as if Pierrot wasn't a monster. They may not be one of us, but they saw me with love.

Pierrot's chest shook from his overwhelming feelings to the point where all he could do was stare at them and smile.