Outside the window, the torrential rain continued.
Dense raindrops battered the glass, producing a ceaseless, almost frenzied roar.
Pale lightning occasionally tore through the night sky. Each sudden flash illuminated every detail of the luxurious furnishings in the small living room, only for everything to fall back into darkness an instant later.
A man's dark trench coat and a woman's emerald-green silk skirt lay scattered across the expensive carpet, along with shoes and stockings strewn here and there. The sofa bore far more weight and force than it had ever been designed to withstand, creaking rhythmically under the strain, its groans drowned out by the storm.
The woman's shadow appeared faintly on the wall whenever lightning streaked across the window. Straddling her new lover, she kissed him deeply, her back arched in a breathtaking curve. Her long hair had come loose, spilling in curls over her smooth shoulders.
Her waist was impossibly slender, as though the slightest bend might snap it. Now, a pair of masculine hands gripped it tightly. The shadow swayed, its fragile beauty enough to make one's heart skip a beat.
In the darkness, their whispers mingled. Funai Er occasionally let out a low laugh, light and joyful, yet like bubbles rising from the very bottom of an abyss, carrying a chill in their wake.
She braced her hand, its nails painted dark green, against the rising and falling chest beneath her.
The green was so rich it seemed alive in the dim light, flowing and seeping along the warm contours of his skin. She admired the strong beat of the heart beneath her palm, feeling life surge beneath her fingertips.
Slowly, she bent down and gently clasped one hand around the man's throat.
She watched the gray-blue strands of his hair brush against the sofa and