No Face,
No Life



By

Rellawing

Copyright © 2020 by Rellawing.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews. For certain other requests, write to the author.

Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Names, characters, and places are products of the author’s imagination.

Cover illustration and design by WhiteNamikaze on Deviantart.

Cover concept and design by Rellawing.

Editing by Assurbanipal II, Trismegistus Shandy and Shinji Hinako.

Beta Reading by Yuki Kitsune.

For Sureia, the dear person who taught me the most about writing.

For everyone, particularly those who enjoyed the short version

which was released online under the title Saving Face.

If you love Anime, Sentai, Magic, Crazy Comedy, Romance, Tragedy,

Violence, Fun, Action, and Drama,, this story is for you.

Prelude

Thank you for picking up this book, so to speak. If someday someone holds a physical copy of this story, even if it’s paperback, I’d die from dehydration due to crying too many tears of joy. Please don’t kill me, but I’m willing to take the chance! *hint, hint, hint*

So, let’s talk about my book. This book contains a great deal of my own grief, my humor, my dreams, my thoughts about the universe, my love for magic, Japan, and its wonderful animation.

This book is about a sad unfortunate man... Well, you might think he’s a boy after reading some of it, but he’s been put into a bad situation where the DNA roulette gave him the worst kind of face possible. The man, Susumu, had to live with it for his whole life and it only got worse as he grew older. Had he the nature of a gangster, this face would have been fine, but he was accused of doing and thinking things he never did. He scared people even while helping an elderly woman cross a street. In most cases, said woman would beat him with her cane.

There was a brave girl who didn’t think like the rest. Her name was Reiko and due to her courage, Susumu found friendship and love blossomed. This beautiful and brave girl enjoyed the company of Susumu. She behaved like a bro, since she had very much a tomboy-like personality and old habits can be hard to break even when you grow up. There are many anime-style slapstick scenes. You may hate Reiko for that violence, but if you think it’s a bit overboard, remember that we all have our faults and yes, the physics of this book’s world are malleable due to ‘plot’ and the power of the mind; ergo imagination.

This novel is full of questions about what sorts of creatures might exist beneath the surface of a beautiful and well-kept city. If such beings exist, might some form of magic not exist? Herein Yokai are people, and like all good people, they have flaws and sometimes off-the-wall personalities.

You will find fluff here and I hope it will warm your heart and make you smile. Where you’ll find joy, you’ll also find some sadness though. What story doesn’t have some combination of all of the above elements?

I might not be the funniest woman in the world, but I hope you enjoy my story! *smiles* I do my best to flesh out all the characters I write about so they aren’t just simple cardboard cutout parodies of people.

Now, let’s end this windy introduction in a fine otaku-style so shall we raise the curtains?

*bows deeply*
=^.^= Thank you so much, nya! =^.^=
<3 =^.^= <3 =^.^= <3

Prologue

Many years later, a man came forward to talk about what he’d witnessed that night. The night he was working late with his manager in the financial department of his company. He munched on his lunch, worried about the rumors of the serial killings. His manager, however, didn't care about the news. Working a late shift had been the last thing he wanted to do, but his manager had threatened to fire him otherwise. The company had many reports which needed to be completed. It was tough going through all of them.

Despite how peaceful and quiet it was in the office, he had a premonition. Any time a shadow flickered, he scurried to hide. His manager glared at him.

“We won’t get any work done like this. Hurry up,” his manager snapped at him.

The worker nodded and bowed, but he couldn’t shake off his nervousness. His jumpy nature saved his life. When the shadows shifted again, he darted behind his desk, knowing full well that his manager would complain again. He heard a loud noise and peeked around his desk. A strange shadowy figure wavered as mist-like particles emanated from it. His monitor screen shorted and went black. The creature wrapped itself around his computer. Meanwhile, his manager was still deeply engrossed in his work. He hid, squeaking.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?! How’d you get into here?” his manager bellowed. The man winced and crawled carefully over to peek.

The shadowy figure reached his desk and was absorbing his computer’s case as well.

Fearlessly, his manager sprung up onto his desk to kick at the figure’s form. His foot sank into its substance when he struck. “Get help!”

He leapt onto the strange shadowy silhouette, bearing it down to the floor. His manager went down with a loud thud and then the room went deathly quiet. The man hid behind his desk, knowing he was dead. He clutched his head, shaking, an action he always regretted, and yet he knew to act would have meant a second meaningless death.