Yuya squinted at him as though she couldn't believe her ears, "How about we switch places, maybe you'll understand what it's like," she said through gritted teeth, "I would be fine outside in the cold…I'm used to it." She felt like being tough, but in reality, she was afraid of the dark and slept with a candle lit. Bankotsu knew that fact because she had always suspiciously asked him to relight the fire whenever it went out.
"Alright everyone…dinner is ready," Soya said as she had finished preparing the food and was now placing the dishes onto the table. There was nicely boiled chicken in the center, and around that dish were a variety of vegetables and a platter of fish in a black sauce. Soya went into the hallway and began calling her son and husband out to eat. Soya's husband, a chubby man who was also quite short compared to her, emerged from one of the rooms, holding a bottle of sake. He was kind of drunk and stumbled as he made his way to the kitchen (okay, never mind, he's quite drunk.) Hotaru arrived shortly after and helped his dad into his seat. The man had to rub his eyes and stare at the three new guests.
"Either my eyes are going bad early, or our family has multiplied," he said in disbelief and lifted the bottle of sake to his face and began talking to it, "You need to stop tempting me. I am a married man with a son."
She chuckled uncomfortably and nudged her husband as she snatched away the sake and placed it to the side, "Honey, these are temporary guests…please behave yourself." Turning to face Bankotsu and the others, Soya smiled and apologized for her husband's actions, "He's a bit of a…umm…" she seemed to be lost with words to describe her husband in positive terms.
"Moron." Hotaru said with a mouthful of rice.
Soya responded by quickly clasping a hand over her son's mouth and nagged him, "Hotaru don't say that about your father! And don't talk with your mouth full!" She was grateful that her husband wasn't aware, for he would have probably whacked his son on the side of the head. He was too intoxicated to notice.
Jakotsu and Bankotsu watched the family with blank expressions. They were both envious of the little family that was going on there, and Yuya didn't pay any mind, for she has a mother and father who does that. Her brother wasn't much of a playful type and usually kept himself cooped up in his room instead of eating dinner with the family. She had never tried food that commoners ate, so this was her first time. Yuya was more intrigued by the marvelous scent of the fish and poultry.
Soya had finished with her family and eyed her guests, realizing that they must be hungry, she began gesturing them to eat, "Come on, I made extra because of you guys! Eat it before it gets cold." Turning her head, she looked Yuya up and down, debating on whether or not she should be untied for dinner or tied. The young demoness stared back at Soya, curious of what she was thinking. I bet this granny is going to make me starve, Yuya thought as she shook her head. Soya began approaching her, much to Yuya's surprise, and began untying the ropes around her wrists.
Yuya began rubbing her wrists as she watched Soya move away from her. Maybe this granny isn't so bad after all, Yuya noted to herself, she's probably just tense around us.
The entire household began digging into the food. Yuya was watching everyone at the end of the table; Bankotsu and Jakotsu were joking around and eating merrily, Hotaru was eyeing the boys as though they were his role model, and Soya would cackle or glare at the boys, depending on what they were joking about. Sometimes they spoke in dirty terms, which didn't please Soya for she wanted to keep her son pure for a while longer. Yuya's stare was then diverted onto Soya's husband. He was eating in utter silence and had almost fallen asleep face down into his bowl of rice. Is this what alcohol does to people? Yuya wondered. She has never seen anyone drunk before, not even her sake-loving father, but then he was a powerful daiyokai, and simple human beverages wouldn't affect him like it would for a human.
After dinner was over, Soya was busy cleaning up the table and dishes, Bankotsu and Jakotsu were teaching Hotaru how to fight and said he should train to be a stronger man, and Soya's husband has passed out onto one of the cushions they had sat on during dinner time. He was snoring away while drooling. His breath reeked of alcohol and Yuya's sensitive nose wrinkled from the scent.
She was so glad that Hotaru understood her pain and handed her a bag filled with herbs and flowers to mask the alcohol odor. Yuya thanked him and breathed in the sweet scent within the bag. Hotaru watched her with his lips parted, and Yuya glanced down at what appeared to be a scar across his arm. "What's that?" she asked, reaching for him. Hotaru quickly moved back and pulled his sleeve over the scar, "It…it's nothing…I injured myself a long time ago." His tone of voice clearly showed that he was lying. Yuya knew how to tell if someone was lying, her mother had taught her that…for reasons unknown.
Soya was watching the whole scene, and she bit her bottom lip in response. Bankotsu had caught a glimpse of a teardrop and her quivering chin. He knew something was up with this family, but couldn't seem to put a finger on it.
Later on that night, Yuya was still bound in the same corner, but was given blankets and a pillow to lie on. That pillow happened to be Bankotsu, who knew of her fear of the dark. Yuya was using his chest and biceps as a pillow, and they both appeared to look like brother and sister doing so. Jakotsu, feeling envious and suspicious, was also there with them, lying beside Bankotsu.
Yuya's sensitive hearing had picked up the loud snoring of Soya's husband, and she was a light sleeper. Having been rudely awoken, Yuya sat up and noticed that the room was lit by moonlight, but she was more concerned of the dark corners where light couldn't reach. She imagines things staring at her from those corners, which sometimes causes her to see things that aren't there. Yuya buried her face into Bankotsu's blankets as she scooted even closer to him.