The Faceless One didn't move. But its presence filled the space.
Kenjaku stayed still, but the pressure around him grew heavy. It wasn't cursed energy in the usual sense — no flare, no signal — but it pressed against his senses all the same.
It felt like standing in a deep, dark place where sound couldn't reach. Like something old and watching was leaning just a little too close.
The curse stood a few feet in front of him. No expression. No face.
But Kenjaku's breath slowed as he looked at it.
For a brief second, he thought he saw something — a shape in the smooth, blank surface of its head.
No.
Gone.
It was nothing again.
But that moment left a crack in his focus.
He narrowed his eyes. "What are you?"
Still, the Faceless One didn't move. But the weight of its stare — if it could be called that — was unbearable now. It wasn't just looking at him. It was digging into him.
Then, it tilted its head. Slowly. Its attention focused on the stitches across his forehead.
Kenjaku said nothing. He knew what that meant.
"You've seen this before," he murmured. "This body. Or one like it."
The air thickened again. The stillness stretched out. Then the curse stepped forward. One clean step. Smooth. Silent.
Kenjaku tensed. He wasn't afraid — not quite — but he wasn't calm anymore. The thing in front of him didn't feel like a curse. It felt like something forgotten. Something that had learned to hide for far too long.
The Faceless One circled slightly to the left. Kenjaku turned with it. Carefully.
Another step. Then it stopped again.
Its head tilted to the other side. It was watching him — not with hunger, but something worse.
Recognition.
Kenjaku took a slow breath, trying to stay centered. "You remember the face. But not me."
Still nothing.
But then the curse moved again. Closer.
And again — that flicker. That shape in the smooth, featureless surface. Not a face, but almost. Something that looked like it could become one. Something he had seen before.
He didn't speak. He just stared.
The curse froze again, now barely two meters away. Claws relaxed. Arms loose at its sides.
But its presence…It was choking the air now.
Kenjaku didn't try to push forward. He knew what this was.
The Faceless One wasn't just watching. It was listening.
And it wanted something more than blood.