"What — really?"
Ameno Maria's eyes went wide with surprise.
"What is it?"
Amamiya Rin looked at her, puzzled.
"Someone as beautiful as you — and there are actually several of them? That's... unbelievable."
Ameno Maria said it with complete sincerity, gazing up at Amamiya Rin's face, her eyes full of wistful admiration.
Aamamiya Rin gave a noncommittal sound and offered her a word of caution instead.
"In nature, the more beautiful something is, the more dangerous it tends to be. Though of course, things that are hideous beyond reason aren't exactly safe either."
Mid-sentence, he thought of the female model and added that last part.
Ameno Maria had no idea what he meant, but nodded along vaguely.
Aamamiya Rin said nothing more. He turned and continued down the stairs.
Ameno Maria followed behind him, and on an instinct glanced at the back of Amamiya Rin's neck.
His nape was smeared with traces of blood, but the skin itself was completely unmarked — smooth and unblemished, without a single wound.
The sight triggered a memory: the horrifying image she had seen just before losing consciousness — those human-headed tumors, growing from Amamiya Rin's back.
She pushed the thought aside. She must have been half-delirious from the shock of waking up. She'd seen wrong.
(Rin — that old book and the portrait. What are you planning to do with them?)
While Ameno Maria was studying the back of Amamiya Rin's neck, a thought from Kawakami Tomie rippled through the [Tomie Network] and surfaced inside Amamiya Rin's mind.
He recognized it immediately — this was the Tomie who had gone all the way to the rural distillery.
(Study them first. Figure out what we're actually dealing with. If it can be handled, handle it. If it can't, we seal it away.)
Aamamiya Rin answered evenly.
Kawahara Miyuki had seemed to reveal a great deal, but she herself was operating in the dark — she knew very little about the Elizabeth portrait and the diary. Still, Amamiya Rin's working theory was that whatever black-magic ritual was recorded in that portrait and diary belonged to the same category as the one Aizawa Yuuma had used to summon the Apology Demon: a ritual of summoning — in this case, summoning Elizabeth herself to obtain some manner of special power.
It was worth running an experiment when the chance arose, just to see what would happen.
(Leave it to me. Keep the portrait for me — I'm heading back to Tokyo tomorrow. I'll test it for you.)
Kawakami Tomie said it at once.
(Oh? Since when are you this generous?)
Aamamiya Rin raised an eyebrow, the faintest smile touching the corner of his mouth.
(I couldn't care less about testing anything. I want to become a Vampire, then burn the portrait to ash — and be the one and only, singular Kawakami Tomie.)
Thoughts flowed freely through the [Tomie Network] — no one could hide anything from anyone. Kawakami Tomie had exposed herself completely.
Far away in the mountain-valley town outside Nagoya, flames were climbing inside the distillery workshop. All twenty fermentation vats had been set alight by the matchsticks Kawakami Tomie had thrown in, each one now a roaring torch. A cloying, sweet stench mingled with the acrid smell of scorching wood and filled the air. The loading workers and the company president's family were moving through the building setting more fires — some dragged the unconscious workers and security guards to safety at a distance; others sloshed the finished Tomie brew across the workshop walls.
Their eyes were glazed and rapt, every shred of their will surrendered to the Tomie larva nestled inside their minds.
Kawakami Tomie stood at the distillery's main gate, one shoulder propped against the doorframe, arms folded across her chest, eyes glittering.
The inferno steadily consuming both workshops flared and dimmed in her gaze.
(Unlike the fakes who just stand still and rot — I'm moving forward. I'm growing. It'll be me who defines what Kawakami Tomie truly is!)
She was done being what she was.
Kawakami Tomie had found her ambition.
She could scream all she liked that every other Tomie was a counterfeit — it didn't change the reality: every single Kawakami Tomie was identical.
If she wanted to change that. If she wanted to seize the kind of power needed to destroy her natural enemy. Then why stop at one change? Why not go further?
Setting herself apart from every other Tomie. Reclassifying every other Tomie as an enemy to be eliminated — for a Kawakami Tomie, that was simply the logical conclusion. The sheer volume of unprecedented upheaval in recent days had kept the Tomies inside the [Tomie Network] from turning on each other. Until the Apology Demon was destroyed, mutual slaughter remained off the table.
But that didn't mean she couldn't start preparing for her future right now.
(Hahaha! Bold words from a counterfeit!)
(A mere fake dares talk about defining what Kawakami Tomie is?)
(What kind of nonsense is that? Turning into some bat-monster counts as growth?)
(And don't forget — we're immortal. Even burning doesn't kill us anymore.)
(Idiot. You're in Nagoya. I'm in Tokyo. Even if you become a Vampire and burn the portrait, I'll get there first.)
One stone, a thousand ripples. Every Tomie harbored the same secret desire — to eliminate all the other counterfeits and be the last one standing — and they all knew it about each other. The relationship between Tomie and Tomie was far more vicious than anything between them and Amamiya Rin. But under the pressure of their circumstances, none of them had ever said it out loud — until one Tomie let the thought slip, and blew the lid off every other one in the process.
(Hmph. Then we'll see, won't we. The flesh may be undying — but the mind is what truly prevails.)
Kawakami Tomie fired back, and in doing so exposed herself all over again.
There was only one factor that would decide which of them ultimately won: the mind.
Khala's true nature was unity — one will, one consciousness. But the mutual antipathy between the Tomies, combined with Amamiya Rin's inherently male mode of thought and his formidable willpower, had warped that unity into the [Tomie Network]. Yet if one Kawakami Tomie's mind could overpower all the others, the [Tomie Network] would naturally revert to its original form.
Feeling Kawakami Tomie's intent, the rest of the Tomies burst out laughing.
Kawakami Tomie's reasoning was sound — but not one of them believed for a single moment that her self was stronger than theirs.
(Rin, the distillery problem is handled. Leave the portrait and the old book for me.)
Kawakami Tomie understood her counterparts perfectly well, and had no interest in wasting energy arguing with herself. She turned directly to Amamiya Rin with her demand.
(OK.)
Aamamiya Rin didn't refuse. Kawakami Tomie had done the work, put in the effort, and she was the first to ask for the portrait and the book — there was no reason to hand them to someone else. The other Tomies knew his character well enough not to argue. The one who'd called her an idiot had just been venting hot air.
Meanwhile, Amamiya Rin and Ameno Maria had emerged from the abandoned building.
At Ameno Maria's earnest request, the two of them exchanged phone numbers. After seeing her off, Amamiya Rin let his consciousness retreat back into his main body.
The gym door swung shut behind him. The evening breeze drifted across his face — cool and light, cutting through the fog of exhaustion that had settled over his mind.
He leaned on his cane and shuffled painfully forward, made his way to the jeep, pulled the door open, and collapsed inside.
____
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