I was up before Chiyoko. In fact, I don’t even think I fell asleep at all.

I moved down the stairs with wariness, the dragon statue was solid and unmoving and I had to question if what I had saw last night was real or not. With trepidation, I placed my hand on the dragon’s snout, it’s metal was cold to the touch. My mind swam with questions and I couldn’t sypher through them, they were all jumbled together and almost unreadable.

     “If you’re wondering if what you say last night was real or not. It was.” I turned to face Chiyoko, who stood behind me, her eyes clouded with empathy and regret.

    “Why? What’s going on here?” I whispered, my hand still brushing the golden dragon aimlessly.

Chiyoko sighed, “I’m sorry, Edith. I really didn’t want you to find out.” She walked over to my side and she too placed one of her hands onto the golden dragon head.

    “What didn’t you want to tell me?” I asked, turning to face the elderly lady beside me. Chiyoko was silent for a moment, thinking of her next words carefully.

      It felt like forever when she started to explain to me, what was happening, “Many years ago when the world was new. The world was mostly populated by spirits than it was human beings. At that time, humans and spirits used to live in harmony, but soon humans started getting to get the idea that spirits were below them and soon, spirits had all but started disappearing from the earth.” She paused. “until they were all but gone, back to the spirit realm. And soon they all but became a work of fiction in human world.

     “But there was group of people who could still see the spirits and the spirits knew that these people could see them. Every now and then spirits would make themselves present to these certain group of people. But once the emperor found out that this group of people were said to be gifted by the gods, he ordered that everyone with the ability to see the spirits around them were to be executed.” Chiyoko paused sorrow and grief filled her eyes.

    “When I was a younger woman. I and a few of my close allies were charged with the task of exterminating said people. And I – with great sorrow – did as I was told. And it angered the spirits that we had done something so heinous to the last people who could see them, some of the spirits turned evil and started attacking and killing humans.

    At first, they were only going after those who had killed the ones who could see them, but when the emperor found that the only way his army could possibly begin to defeat the rogue spirits was by using the power of the very people he had gone out of his way to kill. Once the spirits had found this out, they started targeting those with the Sight.” Chiyoko explain to me.

     “Wait.” I stopped her and she paused to look at me with questions. “How could you have been there that must have been probably a thousand years ago!” I inquire.

A sad smile formed on her face and she explained, “That is very true my dear, but it is true. I’ve been alive for thousands of years, while my friends grew older before eventually dying off, I hardly ever aged.”

     “So, you killed hundreds of people?” I asked weakly, my eyes stared to wandered from her to the dragon before asking, “What does that have to do with me?”

Chiyoko was silent, “While my comrades and I had eliminated those who we believed to be possessors of this power, we hadn’t even taken into consideration those who were born to the people who had the Sight.”

    I didn’t seem to quite understand her and she seemed to see that I was still confused, “It was not by chance that Teke Teke had chosen to attack you. She is an old spirit but she can still see that you carry the gift of Sight.”

I was quick to understand what she was talking about, “Are you saying that, I have the Sight?”

       Chiyoko nodded but she didn’t say anything, her eyes were clouded with anguish, she seemed to be stuck in her memories. “Yes, you appear to have this gift. That’s why it’s important that you stick close to either Ryuu or myself. We’ll have to make sure that we train you to differentiate spirit from living human.” Her eyes moved from me to the clock on the wall behind me. “But for now, you have school.”

      I gasped in surprised, I hadn’t eve realized that we had been talking for so long that we had talked all the way until it was nearly time for school. I’m going to be late for school! I spun around and sprinted up the stairs towards my room. I could have sworn I heard Chiyoko laugh from behind me, but I just ignored her.

      I was all dressed and down the stairs to the sushi bar in an instant. The Lucky Cat was already filled with people.

     “See you later!” I called to Chiyoko as I was heading for the door.

     “Come home right after school’s over.” I heard Chiyoko call after me.

Chiyoko may had explained everything to me about what I was and what was happening but it still didn’t make any sense to me at all. I wish I knew what was going on.