[Matoba's wicked smile quivers just a little wider at the rejection, and he flicks the brush into his palm to stash it back in his sleeve. A soft 'tsk' escapes under his breath.]

Too bad. [With an undertone of coward for good measure.] I think it would be an interesting test.

Whether you can stand to have your malice reflected back at you, I mean.

[After all, it could be felt off of him even like this. Hard to hide, when it seems to have climbed out of his right eye and begun to overtake him... Matoba feels a curl of ironic delight at that. Will the Matoba clan, too, one day take on such an appearance that they might as well be ayakashi themselves?]

You mean to question the intent of this place, [Matoba clarifies (not really a question), and then pauses to openly ponder it.] Some ayakashi simply function because their function is what they are, without active intent. Could it be something like that...?

This entire city has the feeling of something overtaken by ayakashi. But I haven't yet discovered a particular culprit. It may be that whatever dwells here is not 'aware'.

[He gazes back towards Rokurou, his overtaken eye.] Can't sense it yourself?