The night wind brushed past gently.
Below the stone steps, Kaede’s parents could faintly be heard urging her home.
“Hurry up!
It’s already dark, and you’re still running around outside!”
“But that onii-san was really pretty…”
“What onii-san?
That was a yokai!
Stay away from him!”
“He’s not a bad yokai!
He helped Kikyo-onee-sama drive away the other yokai!
And when he stood next to Kikyo-onee-sama, they looked like a painting.
They were so pretty together, like they matched perfectly!”
“…”
The voices gradually faded into the distance.
Kobe Hikaru stood beneath the torii and heard every word clearly.
An oni samurai’s hearing far surpassed that of an ordinary person.
Even from several dozen jō away, those whispers sounded as if they were right beside his ear.
“Looks like that little girl is pretty protective of me,” he muttered.
As for “matching perfectly” and all that… honestly, that suited his tastes quite well, didn’t it?
The crimson oni mask was still in Hikaru’s hand, and he had not put it back on.
Since he had already taken it off, there was not much point in wearing it again.
Besides, he was honestly getting a little tired of that mask.
Not seeing the light of day for three months did not feel very good.
Although an oni samurai did not actually need to breathe, the psychological stuffiness was still there.
After all, he had only been a yokai for three months, but he had been human for nearly twenty years.
Habits and common sense built over twenty years were not so easily changed.
“Are you not going to put the mask back on?”
Kikyo’s voice came from behind him.
Hikaru turned around.
Under the moonlight, the shrine maiden stood on the stone steps before the shrine hall, looking down at him from above.
Her white kosode was like snow, her red hakama like flame.
Her black hair draped over her shoulders, gently lifted by the night wind, occasionally brushing past the line of her pale neck.
To be honest, from this angle, she looked truly beautiful.
Hikaru withdrew his gaze and hung the oni mask at his waist.
“It’s too stuffy,” he said.
“Besides, my face doesn’t scare you.”
Kikyo did not respond.
She only turned and walked toward the shrine hall.
“Follow me.”
Hikaru followed.
The doors of the shrine hall were open, and the interior was simply arranged.
At the center was a small altar enshrining an unknown kami.
In front of the altar sat a low table with an incense burner, candle stands, and a few empty plates arranged on top.
Sliding doors stood on either side, probably leading into the inner hall.
Kikyo walked to the altar and knelt on the cushion.
She did not invite Hikaru to sit.
Instead, she took several things from a cabinet nearby.
Incense sticks.
Candles.
And—
A small plate of rice. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
A small plate of pickled vegetables.
A bowl of clear water.
Hikaru watched as she placed everything on the low table before the altar, one item after another.
Her movements were practiced, as if she had done this countless times.
Then she lit the incense, brought her hands together, and softly recited a few lines.
It was some kind of prayer or chant.
Hikaru could not quite understand it, but he could sense the spiritual power flowing within.
After finishing all of this, Kikyo stood and turned slightly toward him.
“This is for you.”
Hikaru froze.
For me?
He looked at the plate of rice, the plate of pickles, the bowl of clear water, and the curling incense smoke rising into the air.
This setup…
“Is this an offering?”
He asked.
Kikyo nodded.
Hikaru fell silent.
Three months had passed since his transmigration.
Although he had spent most of that time killing yokai in the wilderness, he still understood some customs of this era.
Offerings were a way for humans to show reverence and make requests to spirits and gods.
By offering food and incense, they soothed those beings and prayed for protection.
For yokai, offerings were also a kind of power source.
Incense was the physical form of human faith.
When humans offered something to spirits and gods with a sincere heart, that sincerity would transform into a special kind of energy.
For yokai, that energy was like food to humans.
It could replenish demonic power and heal injuries.
That was why some yokai disguised themselves as gods to trick people into giving offerings.
Some yokai even truly protected human settlements for that purpose, sheltering common folk in exchange.
“You’re giving me an offering?”
Hikaru confirmed.
“Yes.”
Kikyo’s tone was calm.
“You helped this village.
This is thanks.”
“…”
Hikaru did not know what to say.
A shrine maiden giving an offering to a yokai?
No matter how he looked at it, the scene felt strange.
But he could indeed feel the warm power contained within the incense smoke rising upward.
That power was slowly flowing into his body, filling the demonic energy he had consumed in battle.
It felt very comfortable.
Like soaking in a hot spring.
Hikaru raised his brows slightly.
This was the first time he had personally experienced the benefits of incense offerings.
If he had known earlier, maybe he should have found some village to sneak into sooner and freeloaded offerings every day.
Of course, that was just a thought.
The pot had no right to call the kettle black.
But at least the system was more stable.
Still, at this moment, Hikaru naturally had no reason to refuse.
“Thanks.”
Hikaru said it to Kikyo.
Kikyo shook her head.
“I am the one who should thank you.”
She took the Shikon Jewel from her sleeve, and pale purple light flowed across her palm.
“This jewel should have been handed to me personally by that elder.”
“But he was unable to reach this place alive.”
“If not for you…”
She did not finish.
But Hikaru understood what she meant.
If he had not taken the Shikon Jewel from the old man halfway here, that jewel would probably have already fallen into the hands of yokai.
The consequences would have been unimaginable.
“Don’t put it like that.”
Hikaru waved a hand.
“I’m not exactly a good person.
I’m not even a person.”
He made a small joke, but Kikyo showed no reaction at all.
Hikaru felt awkward for a moment, coughed lightly, and continued.
“Anyway, like I said, saving that old man was just something I did along the way.
Bringing the Shikon Jewel here was also on the way.”
“You don’t need to take it too seriously.”
Kikyo looked at him.
A faint light seemed to pass through those cool eyes.
But only for an instant.
Soon, her expression returned to calm.
“No matter what, you helped me and this village.”
She said, “I will remember this debt.”
Hikaru opened his mouth, wanting to say something.
But after thinking for a moment, he did not say it.
He only smiled.
It was a slightly stiff smile, yet it carried no concealment.
Clean, open, without any disguise.
Together with his reversed black-and-white eyes, pale skin, and yokai identity, that smile created a strange contrast.
Kikyo looked at that smile and froze slightly.
She had seen countless yokai.
But she had never seen one who could smile so…
Humanly.
In fact, he seemed more human than most people in this era, who spent their lives facing the earth and struggling only to survive.
[Shikon Jewel: Naohi Affection +1.]
[Current Affection: 5.]
[It has conveyed a message to you: “She saw the way you smiled.”]
‘Don’t tell me the Shikon Jewel is into pretty faces too, just like Kaede?’
That was something Hikaru truly had not expected.
Had he known this, he would have taken off the mask long ago!
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