Yes, it's just an ayakashi. [He sits up straight again as Soma backs off, and even goes to defuse the situation by adding a friendly] When I was a child, I'd sometimes try to ask it questions-- turn left for yes, right for no, that sort of thing. If it was listening, it didn't play along. Though really, I should just be grateful that it doesn't speak out loud. Imagine how awkward that could be.

[He can only imagine how much worse it would be if he had to live with something on his skin that could talk to him, whether it weighed in on his actions or just spoke up for itself. Maybe he would have learned to hide what he could see and hear a lot quicker than he did.

Back on the subject of exorcists, and Natori's suspicions are growing stronger and stronger that Soma and Matoba have met. Odd focal points, attachments from dabbling with youkai... But he's a petty bitch and isn't going to bring up Matoba unless asked. The usual policy for operating in Kumamoto.] No, not at all. In fact, every exorcist I've met back home hasn't seen anything like it. ['It' being the lizard, specifically.] Honestly, I might be luckier teaming up with the exorcists here from different countries and traditions. It's a much larger range of expertise than I'm used to.