[Vincent's joke elicited a genuine laugh from Kit, his shoulders gently shaking as he stifled the sound with a closed palm. Truly, the thought of overstuffed ghosts or other spiritual beings lumbering around the habitat or collapsed somewhere in sugar-induced comas was rather amusing and a much needed momentary distraction from the haunting nothingness he'd felt before.

But if such things as yokai and oni existed, and Kit supposed he did believe in them, then the ones they really needed to worry about weren't mere ghosts at all.]

There's a problem with your theory. Oni aren't interested in the foods that humans eat. They're interested in humans as a source of sustenance.

[He pointed to Vincent and then himself for emphasis as he passed him on the stairs, and even when the smaller boy returned his jab unflinchingly, he didn't bat an eye. Climbing steadily to the first landing, he continued...]

In any case, being eaten is only a problem if you draw attention to yourself and you happen to get caught. [He pushed from his thoughts the vision of that man with the mask and the predatory way he'd focused amethyst eyes on him.] And falling is only a problem if you don't know how to land...or get back up.