The two of them didn't eat with us in the end since they really couldn't eat in the first place as shikigami.
But they did sit down at the table with us.
I learned quite a bit about shikigamis during this time.
Shikigamis were yokais as well, but they were demons that had been caught and tamed by onmyojis to use as servants.
I couldn't help looking at Kyoko when I heard this and she looked away as if she was embarrassed by this.
Hachibe turned out to be a tengu and Hime turned out to be an oni just like the one that had organized the attack previously.
They even showed me their real form to prove it.
Hachibe still looked the same, but he did gain a pair of wings on his back and his nose became longer and more red.
Hime also looked the same, but there were a pair of horns that appeared on her head.
It seemed that yokai features weren't really that special, most yokais took human forms in the first place.
But since I was here, I couldn't help asking one thing.
"Can I get shikigamis as well?"
I could dream a bit about getting supernatural powers, right?
It was Kyoko who answered this question before anyone had a chance.
She shook her head and said, "No, you have no spiritual energy. I've already checked a long time ago."
I looked at her with a surprised look as I repeated, "A long time ago?"
As soon as she heard this, Kyoko couldn't help panicking as she realized that she had said something wrong. She quickly waved her hand and said, "It isn't what you think. I just checked for you when we were younger just in case you would be able to use onmyoji powers. But you don't have any spiritual energy inside of you…"
She started rambling in a panic to cover up for her mistakes, but all it did was make things worse.
I looked at her with a strange look and said, "Was this before or after you put the tracking talisman on me?"
Kyoko once again revealed a look of panic, but it wasn't her that spoke this time.
Instead, it was her mother who suddenly grabbed her by the ear and said, "Tracking talisman? What is this about a tracking talisman?"
Kyoko revealed a look of dismay when she saw this and turned to look at her father and brother for help, but she found that both of them had turned away and acted like nothing was happening.
I knew that this was just a normal thing for this family.
While Kyoko's mother seemed like a gentle person, I knew about her secret hidden personality that would appear when someone did something wrong.
Seeing Kyoko looking at her father and brother for help, Kyoko's mother glared at them to make them look down before she turned back to Kyoko to say, "This girl…how many times have I told you not to play around with your powers like this?"
Kyoko raised her hand to defend herself as she said, "It was to protect him, I just wanted to protect him!"
Kyoko's mother cleanly made it through her defenses and slapped her on the head before saying, "So you can justify it just because you wanted to protect him? Not to mention, how is this protecting him? This is just stalking Lin Fan. I've taught you better than this."
Kyoko didn't say anything as she just let her mother scold her.
She knew that there was nothing that she could do against her mother.
In the end, that was how dinner ended.
I was satisfied because I had done this on purpose.
I had wanted to get Kyoko in trouble so we could move away from the awkward topic.
I did feel sorry about using her as a scapegoat, but before I could get a shield against her, I didn't want to be ganged up on by her family.
So I could only apologize to Kyoko in my heart.
After dinner, Kyoko's mother asked, "Are you staying over tonight?"
I said with a nod, "It's been a long time, so I'll stay tonight."
Kyoko immediately revealed a bright look and was about to come forward to grab me, but her mother suddenly grabbed her by the head and said, "Go and take a bath, you're first."
She looked at her mother with pouted lips, but she still went to take a bath in the end.
As she went, she waved at me and said, "Don't worry, I'll be back soon."
I waved back at her, but really I wanted her to take as long as she could.
That was because there was someone else that I wanted to talk to before she came out.
Everyone else went to do their own thing and I was invited to watch TV with Kyoko's father and brother, but I got out of it by saying that I needed to go to the bathroom.
As I snuck off, I went off in a certain direction.
This was the direction that Hime had gone in after dinner was over.
I didn't know where she went, but she was the one that I wanted to talk to.
It was just too bad that she found me before I found her.
As I walked through the corridor, I suddenly heard a noise coming from above me.
When I looked up, I found that there were a pair of legs falling down at me that pinned me to the ground.
As I laid there on the ground, there was a spiked club that was brought down atop of me.
I was scared that it would hit me and I wanted to dodge, but the person standing on me firmly pinned me down to the ground. I couldn't move out of the way even if I wanted to.
Luckily, that club didn't smash my head in and just stopped in the air a few centimeters away from my face.
When the club stopped, I was able to look up at the person on top of me.
It was Hime.