Kire frowned. Something was wrong. Well, more wrong than usual. Something had changed in him the moment his eyes met hers, as if he had seen a living nightmare. “What d’you—look, if you keep doing that, you’ll only hurt yourself.” She was about to consider just cutting him loose and letting him run when the realization sunk in. [i]He was afraid of my face.[/i] 

“[i]Hey![/i]" She raised her voice to get him to pay attention, her sword drawn for good measure. “Hey. Why are you afraid of me? Just now—why are you afraid of my face?” She bent a little towards him. “Have you seen this face before?” 

There was one possibility, and she didn’t like it, not one bit. Dolls. The first time she had seen Ikegai’s dolls, they were misshapen, mangled, poor copies. She pitied these twisted forms. His obsession. [i]Her face.[/i] That had to be it. This was her lead, and she wasn’t leaving him alone until she was sure of it.