Mornings at the Yokai Inn were always chaotic and lively.
Early in the morning, the tiger yokai crouched by the kitchen door, glaring at the empty steamer basket and growling, "There were three red bean buns here yesterday. Who stole them?"
Inside the kitchen, Jin San the trickster ghost hastily wiped his mouth, pretending innocence. "Uh, I was just testing them for poison last night to make sure they were safe... Who knew the poison tasted so good?"
Just as their argument was heating up, a light knock interrupted them.
Outside stood a fox yokai draped in a blue robe, with pointed ears and a long tail. His demeanor was elegant, his voice calm. "Good morning. I'm Lan Xi. I heard this place offers coexistence courses for yokai and humans. I’ve come to enroll."
The yokai exchanged glances, the room falling into rare silence.
Until Lu Ban slowly rose from his chair, brushing wood shavings off his hands. "Enrollment’s fine, but you’ll have to pass a test first."
Lan Xi nodded. "Please proceed."
Lu Ban raised a brow and turned. "Jin San, give him a question."
Jin San clapped his hands and laughed. "Alright! First question: What are the three types of yokai humans fear the most?"
Lan Xi frowned in thought before answering. "The man-eating kind, the ones that appear in mirrors... and the ones who hog the Wi-Fi?"
The tiger yokai burst out laughing, while Jin San applauded. "Two and a half correct! The last one isn’t standard, but it’s definitely the most annoying!"
And so, Lan Xi the fox yokai stumbled his way through the test and was assigned to the "Coexistence Research Team," tasked with observing human behavior and emotions.
But his first lesson quickly turned into a fiasco.
Jin San stood at the whiteboard lecturing. "Today’s topic: 'How Not to Make Humans Scream'—this is crucial for our discreet lives."
Lan Xi raised his hand. "I have a suggestion. We could slip into human dreams at night and gently convey goodwill."
"Hmm..." Lu Ban mused. "Have you done something shady in dreams before?"
"That wasn’t shady! I just borrowed a bit of their incense offerings," Lan Xi protested quietly.
The tiger yokai lazily added from the back, "Our new classmate here is a dream fox. Specializes in making humans forget their fears in dreams... though sometimes they also forget which leg their pants go on."
The classroom erupted in laughter. Lan Xi shot the tiger a glare before turning back to his notes, muttering, "These old yokai aren’t even taking this seriously..."
After class, the yokai gathered in the courtyard for tea, reviewing the day’s lessons. Though everything was rowdy and even a little absurd, they all felt an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.
Because for the first time, they weren’t hiding in the shadows where humans couldn’t see them. Instead, they were sitting openly before a whiteboard, discussing the word "coexistence."
Some yokai had never imagined they could learn such a thing.
And in the distance, the ancient banyan tree that maintained the inn’s barrier rustled its leaves softly—as if hearing the yokai’s laughter and whispering back a gentle reply.
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