[http://www.rellawings.com/nofacenolife/nofacebreak.png]

I recoiled from her attack as the elevator slid open. My eyes narrowed. I hadn’t expected that she’d be a formidable martial-artist. We never discussed such matters.

I didn’t know what she was capable of. I was hard pressed to reclaim my scroll. I gritted my teeth and resolved to take my scroll back by force. I challenged her fighting style with mine. Our hands and legs flew as we clashed. As time passed, I was impressed by her anew. There was still the cold hard fact lying between us. She had betrayed me. It broke my heart. With every blow we traded, I saw the hatred reflected in her eyes. I convinced myself that it was determination and not hatred, and yet I couldn’t help but think that subconsciously she had rejected what we’d shared.

The battle escalated as we exchanged strikes with legs and arms. I was feeling her skill level out the entire time and soon I was confident that I’d be able to disable her. I took it up a notch as I started to show her my true skill. We careened across the genkan. I slammed my hands into her, striking her chest repeatedly. She could only dodge a fraction of those blunt strikes. I wasn’t even breathless, at least until I realized that she was starting to suffer from the hits. Regret filled me to the point where I stopped fighting.

“Reiko. Please stand down. I don’t want you to suffer. What you saw isn’t what you thought it was. I’ve hurt no one.” I sighed.

“Bullshit!” Reiko accused me. “You’ve hurt many people! I’ve read all about you! You think what you do goes unnoticed, but the fact is you’re a fool. You pretend to be a noble man with lofty words! Stop hiding! If you regret any of it, just turn yourself in, Mitsuhiko! You even killed your family for your ambitions!”

I smiled, laughing. “Ambitions! You speak of dreams? What of that lofty dream of yours to be an amazing reporter? I can pave the road for you to that dream. If we work together, we can forge an amazing world!”

“I can do it without you, you meathead!” Reiko yelled at me. “I don’t need you at all. This is all I need.” She held the scroll up and walked towards the elevator.

My teeth grated. I lost control when those words left her lips. Leaping over to her, I lost all restraint. I threw her all around the genkan. She dodged and weaved as well as she could, placing herself behind expensive pots and decorations. My eyes narrowed and I glared. I lashed out with my fists, shattering them without any hesitation. None of those fragile decorations meant as much to me as Reiko did, that and my heritage I had bled and let blood for, my demon scroll.

“As long as your pretties are expendable, take this!” Reiko yelled loudly and vaulted around the room to lift more expensive artifacts and artwork pieces. She threw them all directly at me with unerring accuracy. I struck down and destroyed each one. She was persistent. More than a few vases started to pass through my defenses as I started to tire.

Even so, she was outmaneuvered. When she’d destroyed all my collection stored throughout the genkan, I ran out of patience and took the fight directly to her. We exchanged even more colossal blows, one after the next. It was clear that I was the stronger of us despite her seemingly endless reservoir of energy. When I spotted a moment when she was open, I slammed into her to pin her against the wall beside the elevator.

I tried to reason with her for the last time. “Stay with me. Please just return my scroll. I’ll forgive you for what you have done if you stand down. I love you. You accuse me of being a thief or a murderer, but you’re killing everything we have together. You’re a murderer! You’re trying to steal the last relic my family left me, Reiko.”

“Didn’t you kill them?” Reiko persisted, snarling. “In cold blood. That sneer of yours speaks volumes of the kind of man you truly are. Pretty words mean nothing!”

I growled and seized Reiko to retrieve the scroll, holding her up by her neck. I could use Enenra on her, but I didn't have the courage to do it. That creature dwells in my shadow. It executes my orders instantly upon receiving one. I’ve had it steal things I couldn’t acquire by normal means.

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She struggled fiercely against my grip, gulping and kicking at me. When her resistance weakened, I saw my opportunity. I kissed her. A romantic approach might serve to subdue her.

She kissed me back. I was lost in the moment, but I sensed something was amiss. The kiss broke and my eyes panned above us to the scroll she held which had started glowing. I was once again astounded by Reiko. This time her unconscious power amazed me. The fact that she’d accessed the power in my scroll in a moment of desperation showed me what an amazing person she truly was. Her grip on it was feeble. She had no experience with spiritual artifacts.

Even though she was inexperienced, I was still sent flying across my genkan. A demonic creature was born. A noh-face.

I rose to take it on. This time I called on the power of Enenra with the snap of my fingers. The newly born yokai was savage and powerful. Enenra fought it to a standstill. I wasn’t able to chase after Reiko, since my way was barred by the noh-face. It struck chaotically, turning my genkan into shambles. My speed was sufficient to dodge its wild attacks.

Reiko had left in the chaos. There was nothing else I could do. The thought that I’d been defeated by her set me aflame. I was filled with love and reverence for Reiko. She would be the most suitable wife I could have ever dreamed of.

I wasn’t willing to allow her to win. My feelings unlocked a deeper power in me. I fought harder than I ever had with an unlikely opponent. I assaulted the summoned noh-face’s fragile ego. Her grasp on her creation was weakening, since it wasn’t particularly strong to start with. Gradually, I was able to assert dominance over the creature with my consciousness power.

The fact is the scroll was mine. I had filled it with drawings made from demon ink, which contains primarily the essence of my life, my very own blood. The rest were drawn with the blood of my ancestors. Even though Noh-face wasn’t drawn by myself, the power of blood is stronger than a wild girl’s willpower. The yokai sagged and bowed before me when I overwhelmed its id.

I smiled. It would be justice to send the noh-face back to Reiko.

“Take back the scroll, and while you’re at it, take her face from her,” I ordered.

Noh-face vanished to chase Reiko. That wasn’t the last time I saw her, however.

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I stared up at Mitsuhiko, gaping. He spread his arms and laughed softly.

“You killed her! You really did! You stole her face!” I gasped, seething. “Damn you!”

“Yes, I did. If I could have, I would have told her that if she didn’t return in twenty-four hours she’d turn into a noh-face herself--- forever.” Mitsuhiko sighed. “But I didn’t know at the time. Even a genius overlooks something from time to time, but if she had returned to my side, I’m confident that I could have restored her.” He looked away. “That’s assuming she still has her face.”

“Some genius!” I snarled. “That is why she committed suicide!”

“In a manner of speaking. She still lives.” He smiled coldly at me. “Tell me, do you think she ever cared about you? She made her feelings for you abundantly clear. I questioned her after that incident at the amusement park.You were humiliated by her, weren’t you?”

I quivered, nodding. “Yeah, she doesn’t love me. It doesn’t matter. She was my dear friend. It doesn’t matter whether or not she ever would love me. “Do you understand a thing, you freaking monster!?”

I charged at him, unable to restrain myself. He danced backwards and lifted the chair to swing it fiercely against my helmet. I was sent flying. My head was throbbing. I looked at Mitsuhiko to meet his cold gaze.

“Do you think you mean anything to me? I’ve killed far more interesting people than you. So that brings me to why I’ve bothered to capture you instead of killing you. Perhaps you wonder why I shared my past with you. It’s simple. This is because I intend to kill you after you’ve suffered as I promised. Did what I reveal to you start opening cracks in your sanity? Did it escape your notice that I slept with her? She loved me, she never loved you. You were just a useless tool.

“Why, you can’t even help your so-called friends. You’re a failure of a human being. Did you ask about them? You did not. Such a friend you are. You’re garbage.” He laughed. I ground my teeth and attacked him again. He kicked me hard, causing me to crumple on the floor. “Those girls are my prisoners. I will do as I wish with them. Do you want to know what I did with them?” He smirked as he held the scroll he’d mentioned before him. It unfolded. I saw Natalia-sama there. Ume. Akuchi.

“WHERE’S RUI?!” I yelled, grabbing for the scroll. My fingers brushed it, but nothing happened. I hoped that if Reiko-chan had managed to do so herself, I might be able to summon them free, but it wasn’t that simple.

“Oh, that small girl. She’s captive as well.” His eyes narrowed. “I think I’ll have more fun with her, but before we discuss that..." He kicked me again, splaying me on the floor. Reaching down, he wrenched the helmet off from my head.

I clutched my face to hide her face, but he smiled broadly, having already confirmed what he wanted to know. “So you possess her face. I thought as much.” He laughed. “It’s just what I need. When she returns, I’ll offer it to her, and I think she’ll come to her senses eventually. She’ll be restored. Celebrate! Oh, I promised you I would break your mind. And I will keep my promise.” He reached out and touched my face. His scroll glowed again. I yelled as I started feeling as though my whole body was on fire again. I thrashed in agony as he laughed coldly. “Celebrate and cherish the last miserable twenty-four hours of your humanity!” He kicked me a last time, leaving me at the mercy of the pain.

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