He didn’t have a nose, eyebrows or eyes a human would naturally have. Unless his mouth wasn’t being suppressed down, it was like it didn’t exist. If that was the case, how did he have “vision”? How did he recognize “smells”? He didn’t know. If he didn’t have those organs, how did they work? Kusamakura put the mirror away in his sleeve, then hesitantly touched his face. The smooth surface of his face had no unevenness at all. His barely there cheeks were completely rounded. He could tell there was nothing at all on his face as he touched all over it with his hands. There was no way he had never touched his face until now. Even so, he never suspected he didn’t have a face either.
—Aah, aah, I see&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;
Unable to stand, Kusamakura fell to his knees. That’s why everyone would lower their heads around him. Kusamakura finally understood. Of course a creature without a face was creepy. Even the most grotesque creatures had faces. Unable to connect with humans, he must have been able to connect to the others—but he couldn’t, since he was closer to a human. Why, how would that make him feel any better? He found himself incredibly laughable and pitiful for never finding it odd that Shunshou, who also looked closer to a human, had a lot of friends and he didn’t.
—Aah, aah&h.e.l.lip;&h.e.l.lip;