Chapter 24: Hanya's Costume, Shikijou's Scars

Yahiko: He's a demon...

(Hanya's face is horribly deformed, with no nose, no lips, and mismatching eyes.)

Hanya: A demon? Heh heh... This face is convenient in its way. You don't have to like it.

Kenshin: You... is that face your own...

Hanya: Well now. I am a spy. My primary duties are not fighting, but gathering information. I can disguise my face in any way. I burned off my lips. Cut off my ears and nose. Smashed my cheekbones... I don't know where you're from, but in the region where I was born there are a lot of poor villagers. In villages like that parents sometimes kill their children if they can't afford to feed them. It's still a custom today. Where I come from, it's called "returning the child."

Sanosuke: So you were...

Hanya: Even though they were almost starving, my family couldn't do it. If I had been "returned" then, my life would have ended. Instead, I could only hang around like a dog, kill or steal like a lone wolf. However!

(Long claw-like blades rip out of his gloves.)