Yes, [He answers, steadily,] I am careful not to give power to entities we don't yet understand. Because when you give power to hungry gods, they will not always give you what you think you've been promised. That is a lesson left to me by all who came before me.

[He remembers how Rinne knew immediately who he meant, when he warned him not to trust that Tsuru too easily, that he might have been lying about his involvement. A dallying kami, trotting about the village, but that one was hardly a worry in comparison to whatever had had the power to pull so many souls in under its power in that village.]

[There must be something there that HiMERU is desperate to salvage. Someone. Matoba thinks of the faces he's seen in that village, and how he tells himself that none of it is strictly real.]

[Stay focused. Don't be pulled in by them reading your heart.]

If you give everything and get nothing in return, where will that leave you? Himeru-san, please stop for a moment and think logically about this. That thing is preying on you. I am not saying it may not be an option to feed what is necessary to close the gap, but it's possible that there may be a worse yet fate awaiting them-- all of us-- if whatever is inside that island is fully awakened.