How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster (9 page)

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Authors: M.C Queen

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BOOK: How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster
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What were you thinking!”


Come on Sis, please! Please let me be an exorcist. They're
all so cool and get to fight Obake,” I decided to omit the part
about skipping school. “You always said I should do more after
school activities.”


When I said after school activities, I meant basketball or
soccer. You didn't even think to consult me before running off to
join the exorcists.”


Come on Sis, it's really not that dangerous, I don't even
have to fight anything until I complete training.”


There's not going to be any completion of
training.”


But it could be useful in the future. What would we do if we
were suddenly attacked by Obake? We wouldn't be able to defend
ourselves would we? But if I learned how to be an
exorcist-”


Forget it!” She snapped.


Why?” I pouted.


I don't think you understand what being an exorcist really
means. This isn't some computer game or cartoon, you could actually
die.”


I know that!”


No you don't! Do you have any idea how many friends and
family members I lost to Obake for just being
exorcists?”


I know, I know. I promise to be extra careful. I won't fight
any Obake until I'm ready,” and because Akito wasn't going to let
me. “If I see an Obake who looks even remotely scary I promise to
run far far away.”


The answer is still no.”


Please
 
Sis.”


You're not going there ever again, and that's my final
word!”

In the end it
was impossible to sway her decision. I really wish I'd listened to
my sister because she was right in the end. I discovered that even
Shuro knew about Obake (Sis had probably told him) and claimed to
have seen one in real life.


I was once walking home with your sister,” he said. “We were
going through the park when a strange animal emerged from the
bushes and glared at us. It had blood red rabid eyes, and the
biggest teeth I ever saw.”


That was a rabbit,” Sis corrected.

She continued
to be mad at me for the entire evening, and even threw my lunch box
at my head the following morning.
I finally
gave in and yelled “fine, I won't be an exorcist!  I won't go
anywhere near them if you'll just be nice to me again!”

 

***

 

Despite my
sister's protest, I decided to ignore her and still go to
headquarters the following afternoon. It was my first observation
and I wasn't going to miss the chance to see an Obake again. I was
still slightly afraid, but I was also hoping that it would be as
big and scary as the last one. Maybe they would even let me have
some shots in. 
Everyone used
to call me an idiot back then and I can finally understand why. I
was so naive and stupid, I treated Obake like they were some cool
new toy, and it all came back to bite me in the end.

 
The other exorcists and I gathered in front of
the shrine as Akito lectured us on exorcist safety. The others
stared at him with spaced out eyes, and I assumed they'd been
subjected to the same lecture a million times before. Taisei had
his head down, and I assumed he was in a deep contemplation about
Akito's words until I noticed he was just playing on his cell
phone.

When Akito
pulled out a charm and began meditating, I began to wonder if he
had tricked me into thinking we were going to have fun.


What is that?” I hissed at Taisei.


It's a location charm,” he said. “It begins to glow when
there's an Obake nearby.”


But it's already glowing,” I said as I noticed the faint glow
that the paper was omitting.


That's because we're all here, exorcists gain their spiritual
powers through a deal our ancestors made with Obake, so all of us
have a little Obake blood.”

Obake blood?
 
I thought in shock.
 
No one had told me that before.
I never realized that I was part monster.


Hey, Taisei, does that mean that any one of us could go crazy
and start eating people?” I looked around nervously. Kiyori
certainly looked like he would eat someone if he got hungry
enough.


Don't be ridiculous” Taisei hissed. “It's barely anything,
just enough to channel into the charms.”


Oh,” I felt relieved

Akito then
proceeded to walk around the perimeter searching for any hint of an
Obake nearby. I followed behind to see if the paper would really
glow brighter, and for some reason Souta also decided to accompany
me.


It could be hours before we find anything,” said Souta. “Most
of our time is taken up by searching for Obake, sometimes we don't
find anything until five or six in the morning.”


What!” I yelled. Souta had the tendency to over exaggerate
everything so I looked at Kiyori to confirm if it was true, he
nodded.

Akito did a
few more laps of the perimeter until he finally announced that he
had found a trace.


This way!” He commanded.

We spent half
an hour climbing over the mountain until we finally located a small
raccoon Obake. Akito told me the town was full of them and they
were currently in the middle of fighting off a raccoon
invasion.
Akito stood
beside me and attempted to explain what was happening, but he spent
most of his time yelling out commands to the others.


Watch your form Nina!”


Stop taking pictures and pay attention Taisei! No Mana will
not take them for you!”


Stop standing there Souta! Do something. Put up a
barrier!”


Good job Itsuki!”

Much like
what I saw the previous day, the others fought it off until Itsuki
hit the raccoon with a lighting charm and it was reduced to a 
smoldering pile of ashes.
I asked
Taisei what their strategy was, only to be told “it's simple, we
steer the Obake in a certain direction and then Itsuki does all the
work.”


Hey I'm not certain that's really fair,” muttered
Itsuki.


Shut up you,” said Taisei. “Who was the one who said they
didn't like getting close to the Obake?”


Yeah, but,” Itsuki suddenly went silent. It was the first
time I'd seen him unable to think up a witty retort. I decided to
celebrate the occasion by laughing at him until Akito whacked me
over the head.


This isn't something to laugh about!” Akito scolded. “You all
still have a long way to go!”

 

* * *

 

The sun was
setting by the time we finally made it back to the shrine. Akito
spent a good half hour lecturing the others on their mistakes, so
none of them were particularly happy.  Akito was only there
for my sake, so it wasn't hard for them to conclude that it was all
my fault, and I was given the cold shoulder all the way back to
headquarters. Taisei also spent the trip grumbling about all the
perfect photo opportunities he'd missed.


Did you see that guy's teeth Kiyori,” said Taisei. “We're
never going to find one like that again!”


Well if it weren't for a certain someone,” muttered Itsuki. I
wasn't sure why he was angry at me, because Akito spent at least
ten minutes praising Itsuki, and used him as an example to the
others. They should have all been mad at him for being such a show
off.

The only
person still talking to me was Souta, because the guy wasn't
capable of holding a grudge. It could have also been because he
didn't have many friends, and the others were often angry at him
too. Maybe it was because he didn't have any tact. 


You might suck now,” said Souta. “But if you train really
hard for the next ten years I'm sure you'll make a great
exorcist.”


Thanks Souta,” I said while trying not to feel any
worse.


Beat you to the top dumb arse!” Yelled Kiyori. He punched
Souta in the ribs as he ran past, and then took off out of
sight.

I expected
Souta to follow (maybe even scream out his own declaration of war)
but he remained standing next to me, rubbing his side which must
have been in pain. Kiyori seemed quite charismatic and helpful. We
had gotten along well until then, but his sudden actions reminded
me of his bad side.  I'd seen Kiyori bully Souta on several
occasions, like punching him, or telling Souta to shut up. It was
painful to watch and Souta never did anything.


I don't get it, why do you let that guy treat you like that?”
I asked.


It's OK,” said Souta while forcing a smile. “Kiyori's not a
bad guy. He feels frustrated about his current circumstances, and
he's only taking his anger out on me.”


Oh, I see, I hadn't thought about that before.”


At least that's what my mother keeps telling me,” said
Souta.

I frowned. It
didn't seem like a good way to treat anyone. I really liked Kiyori
and he seemed like a good friend, but I also thought of Souta the
same way, and watching him being treated like that was slightly
mortifying.


But you should really try and stand up for yourself more,” I
advised.


It's fine, just forget about it,” said Souta. “So if your
adopted father passed away when you were small, who do you live
with now?” He asked.


With my sister-” I suddenly stopped because of the horror
which stood before me.

Standing at
the base of the stairs was my sister. She was leaning against the
stair banister and her arms were crossed. You could tell from her
eyes that she was mad. I wanted to turn and run, but unless I ran
away from home I would eventually have to face her. I attempted to
dive behind Taisei and hide, but I had already been spotted.


Dai-chan!” She yelled out to me.

I suddenly
realized how stupid I'd been. Sis was from an exorcist family so of
course she would know where to find headquarters. My fantasy of
living a secret double life was crushed. I was about to open my
mouth to beg for mercy until an equally shocked Akito interrupted
me.


Kanako?” He asked.

Sis squinted at him like she was unsure of his identity.

Akito?

I raised my
eyebrow in surprise, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that
Sis and Akito were already acquainted.


Yes, it has been a long time hasn't it,”
said Akito nervously. “You look so much
more....
 
mature.


Mature?
 
Akito, What's that supposed to-”
her voiced died in her throat when she caught sight of Kurumi,
Nina, and the weapons they were holding. “So girls are allowed to
join now!?”

Akito looked
at the ground and coughed.“Yes, we became low on numbers after,” he
paused. “You know.”
I was hoping
that Akito would provide the opportunity I needed to escape, but
Sis was far too angry to forget about me that easily.


Dai-chan what are you doing here, didn't I tell you not to
hang out with these people.”


Well, I,” I tried to come up with a good
excuse.
 
I now had a part-time job carrying their
bags,
 
sounded
good,
 
but I
had promised not to go near the exorcists again.


Someone's in trouble,”
s
aid Kurumi in a sing song
voice.


Ha! Dai-chan,” Taisei laughed. “Good luck.”


Come on, let's go home now,” Sis reached out to grab me but
Akito suddenly moved in between us.


Look, I can see you're upset,” said Akito. “But maybe we can
take a moment to discus-”


That's very kind of you Akito,” she snapped. “But I don't
think Dai-chan is suitable for the organization.”


But on the contrary I believe that Daisuke can be an
important member in our fight against the Obake.”


Really? An important member? Like my brother and all those
other friends of yours who bragged about becoming exorcists, but
were then shredded to pieces and left to die in pools of their own
blood!”


There's no need to be so dramatic Kanako, things have
chang-”


Dai-chan, is not going to be an exorcist!” She reached out,
grabbed my arm, and began to pull me away. I thought this was the
end of my exorcist career until Akito grabbed my other arm and
began to pull back.


Kanako can you please just wait a moment?”


We're going!”


Can we please just discuss this like adults?”


There's nothing to talk about!”

What followed
was a tug of war match between Sis and Akito with me in the middle.
Instead of breaking up the fight like responsible individuals, the
others stood around and cheered.


Come on Akito, you're not seriously going to loose to a girl
are you!” Yelled Taisei.

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