Amamiya Rin watched Toshiyuki in this dejected, soul-stricken state and felt that this farce ought to be brought to a reasonable end.
He leaned forward slightly and offered some well-meaning advice: "Sorry about this. Tomie always says things that grate on the ears like that. I think we might as well call off tonight's party. Just drop us off somewhere convenient—that'll do, and it'll give you a chance to pull yourself together too."
His suggestion was quite practical.
In his current state, Toshiyuki really wasn't suited to attending any sort of social gathering.
What's more, Tomie's allure made her even less suited to attending some high-society party. If the Tomies hadn't caught him on his own words, he never would have agreed to a thing like this.
Toshiyuki Eide whipped his head around, the bloodshot streaks in his eyes still not faded, and glared fixedly at Amamiya Rin.
Rage, shame, and a fierce sense of unwillingness churned within his heart.
Just call it off like this? Let this brat see the whole spectacle and then slip away scot-free? Let Tomie walk off with him just like that?
What kind of joke was this?! Absolutely not!
Toshiyuki drew a deep breath and forced that surge of foul fury back down his throat.
He tugged at the corner of his mouth, trying to recover a little of his earlier composure.
"...You're joking, Amamiya-kun. We've come all this way—how could we give up halfway? Miss Tomie has been looking forward to tonight's party for a long time too, isn't that right?"
Toshiyuki Eide looked toward Tomie, his eyes brimming with a pleading expression.
"Rin, you promised me."
Tomie leaned against Amamiya Rin and spoke intimately.
Amamiya Rin shrugged, neither agreeing nor refusing.
Toshiyuki's eyes seemed about to spit fire again, but unwilling all along to stir up extra complications, he immediately turned his head back, fixed his gaze ahead, and spoke as if to drive the point home to himself.
"Besides, now that you've come, Amamiya-kun, it's a perfect chance to broaden your horizons. There's no harm in a young man getting a glimpse of what Tokyo's true high-society circles really look like."
These words were spoken for Amamiya Rin to hear, but they sounded more like an attempt to convince himself.
Thoughts spun rapidly through Toshiyuki Eide's mind.
(Right, once we get there it'll be fine. Just what sort of people come and go at that villa? If not financial magnates, then nobility—plus politicians and famous artists... Which of them isn't an accomplished, distinguished figure? This penniless little brat—how out of place will he look standing among people like that? Miss Tomie is sure to see clearly who can truly give her a life of comfort and a respectable future.)
Thinking this through, the knot of frustration in Toshiyuki's chest seemed to ease a little. The corners of his mouth lifted, and he had already begun to imagine the scene of Amamiya Rin floundering helplessly at the party, mocked by everyone.
"Driver, keep it steady. Head straight for the villa."
Toshiyuki instructed the driver, his tone once more carrying its habitual commanding edge, as though he'd recovered that sense of holding the power of life and death in his hands.
The driver answered in a low voice, and the car accelerated smoothly, heading in the direction of Shinjuku.
Seeing Toshiyuki Eide insist, Amamiya Rin said nothing more and settled back against his seat.
(Rein it in a bit.)
He shot a glance at Tomie beside him, the thought rising in his mind.
Tomie gave him a sly wink, the corner of her mouth curving into a bewitching arc.
Toshiyuki caught this scene in the rearview mirror, and the corner of his eye twitched viciously once more. He immediately looked away, forcing himself to watch the neon lights streaking past outside the window, silently repeating to himself over and over: Endure it, endure it a little longer... once we get there...
The car finally drove into a tranquil upscale residential district of Shinjuku and stopped before a modern-style villa with a courtyard.
Light spilled out from the floor-to-ceiling windows, and one could faintly hear music and the sound of chatter and laughter from within.
Toshiyuki Eide got out of the car first, drew a few deep breaths, straightened his suit, hung an ingratiating smile back on his face, and pulled open the car door for Tomie.
"Miss Tomie, we've arrived. This is the venue for the Libin Club's private gathering tonight."
As he spoke, his tone carried a faint, barely perceptible note of showing off.
"The Libin Club?"
Amamiya Rin got out of the car after them and gave the villa a once-over.
Well, his eye for such things was quite ordinary—he couldn't tell what kind of class it was supposed to have.
"Oh? Have you heard of it?"
Toshiyuki Eide looked toward Amamiya Rin, somewhat surprised.
"No, it's just that the name... is a bit ordinary."
It sounded like a hotel.
Amamiya Rin grumbled inwardly.
A club giving itself a name like that... cultural differences, maybe?
Seeing that Amamiya Rin merely thought the name was ordinary, Toshiyuki Eide instantly lost interest and curled his lip, as though he found Amamiya Rin to have no taste.
Toshiyuki produced an invitation and handed it to the attendant at the door, then led Amamiya Rin and Tomie inside the villa.
The entrance hall was spacious, the lighting a carefully designed warm tone, the air mingled with perfume, liquor, and a certain... faint, hard-to-describe odor.
Amamiya Rin sniffed, and a flicker of suspicion crossed his eyes.
Several exquisitely dressed men and women stood holding stemmed glasses, conversing with one another. Seeing Toshiyuki come in with company, their gazes swept over and lingered for a moment on Tomie's and Amamiya Rin's faces, revealing expressions of fondness.
Toshiyuki was clearly very familiar with the place. He led the two of them through the entrance hall toward the main parlor, where the music grew clearer—it seemed to be some kind of jazz.
A soothing, languid jazz piano trio; the sound of the saxophone was low and richly textured, the drumbeats light and deft, creating a relaxed yet elegant atmosphere.
But Amamiya Rin wasn't immersed in this atmosphere at all. The moment he entered the parlor, Amamiya Rin couldn't bring himself to set foot inside.
His keen powers of observation made Amamiya Rin notice the shape of the carpet right away.
It was a flattened human figure!
The outline of the splayed limbs was clearly visible; the face was flat, but the contours of the features—the bridge of the nose, the eye sockets, the slightly parted mouth—formed patches of shadow beneath the fibers, as if it were still breathing soundlessly!
But Amamiya Rin sensed no breath. The shape of that head was merely an illusion created through a special angle of perspective, giving the impression that it was tilting its face up to look at the guests.
Amamiya Rin raised his head and looked all around.
A few chairs not far off were even more unsettling.
The seat of each chair was a stretched-open human face, the cheeks splitting open toward either side, the nose becoming a small protrusion at the center. The four chair legs were four elongated human arms, extending out from the sides of the face and pressing down against the floor.
Farther away still stood an enormous sofa. Its surface, under the soft lighting, took on a texture almost like skin, while the undulations of the sofa's armrests and backrest twistedly traced out the contours of a face stretched and deformed.
Especially when light struck it from a certain angle, the shadow of an agonized countenance would surface.
What the hell was this place?
Amamiya Rin's brow furrowed deeply, his eyes betraying a feeling of disgust.
There wasn't much furniture of this kind—at least two-thirds of it was perfectly normal—but the one-third that resembled human bodies was genuinely unsettling.
Still, it was probably just for shock value, right?
Surely no one could brazenly peel real human skin off to use as furniture and display it in plain public view.
Tomie had also stopped in her tracks. Her slender eyebrows arched up, and at first she examined that enormous sofa with a touch of curiosity.
Then, an undisguised revulsion appeared on her beautiful face.
"What is this... how revolting."
A few nearby guests who had been conversing stopped and looked toward them, their gazes carrying an air of amused interest.
____
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