[Kim wasn't wrong. It was an excellent cautionary tale, and the rest of the exorcist community looked at the Matoba with varying levels of distaste for their history- and perhaps moreso, the tradition they spun out of it, and passed along (forced upon) their heirs.]

[But in the view of the Matoba clan, that distaste was only a convenient moral high-ground covering for jealousy. Matoba's mouth curls up at Kim's question, thinking of the disdainful words that were spoken behind their backs by their enemies and rivals.] Never. After all, once the eye is taken, the curse would be broken.

That is because that monster's desire for my eye- mine, and all the clanheads that have come before me- is what has made our clan so powerful. And as long as we are chased, and evade its attacks properly, our power will only grow stronger still.

[He meets Kim's eyes again.] That is also why we have not simply exorcised it. It is a malignant being whose hatred has grown its power so much that even other ayakashi do not wish to cross it, and our own power is reflected in that.

And so, [Matoba curls his fingers under his chin, other hand teasing at another roll of crepe paper,] Even the ayakashi here, who do not seem to have heard the reputation of the Matoba clan, can sense that it's unwise to remain around me... So long as that one may appear.

But don't worry, Kim-san. I wouldn't allow you to be caught up by that thing, so you can rest easy. [Reassuring??]