How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster Page 5

  “You really shouldn't push yourself so hard, if you think it's too much you should just pull back,” said Souta.

  “I'll try,” she muttered.

  I stared in awe as I noticed the resemblance between Nina and my sister. Her face was identical with the same small nose and large eyes. She had even tied her hair up in a ponytail the same way. Nina stared at the bandages, poked the wound hesitantly, and winced at the pain. Up until now I'd only seen glances of her around school, so I decided that it was time to finally walk over and introduce myself.

  “Are you OK?” I asked. I didn't know her back then, but her resemblance to Sis was enough to make me feel concerned.

  “Yes, I'm fine,” she said with a hint of annoyance. Nina must have assumed I was one of the others, because she looked up and appeared shocked to see me staring back at her.

  “You're that guy the others were talking about right? Daisuke Matsumoto? Kiyori told me th-”

  I didn't get to hear what she said next because Taisei suddenly yanked me away by the shirt collar.

  “You!” Said Taisei. He held me up so that we were face to face. “Should not be here.”

  His stare was cold and serious, and I was certain that I had escaped death by raccoon only to face my end at the hands of Taisei Shinya. “But you took the photo's right?” He asked.

  “Yes,” I wheezed through his death grip.“Yes, I did.”

  I handed him the phone and he dropped me instantly and was by Kiyori's side in a fraction of a second. Taisei's hand was sliding across the screen at the speed of light and it was like I didn't exist anymore.

  “Check out this one Kiyori! This is definitely one for the wall,” he said.

  It didn't appear like anything could distract him, and the only time Taisei took a break was to throw his pole over the Mana and order her to begin cleaning up.

  I rubbed my neck and felt relieved that I had escaped another brush with death. I must have developed a strange addiction to near death experiences because I was soon to get myself into a lot of them.

  Mana had begun dismantling the weapons and placing them back into a large duffel bag. It looked like a lot of work, so I decided helping her was the least I could do for defending my life.

  Little did I know that I was just making another terrible mistake.

  “Hey Mana!” I called out.

  “Daisuke, you shouldn't have come here, you could have gotten hurt,” she said without looking up from the weapons she was packing.

  Mana was right, but all I felt back then was joy that a girl was concerned for me. “Hey, I'm sorry, but you did a great job protecting me. Let me help you with that.”

  I picked up a rod and attempted to dismantle it before I realized I didn't know what I was doing, so I handed it back to Mana. I peered into the duffel bag to see what else was there. My second reason for helping out was because I wanted to check out there exorcist gear. I was hoping they kept all their mystical weapons in the bag for special occasions, but it was packed full of arrows and strips of paper no bigger than a envelope.

  “Do you use this stuff for exorcisms?” I asked.

  “Sort of,” she said while brushing her hair behind her ear. “These are paper charms that we use for fighting the Obake.”

  They were all decorated with different calligraphy which I couldn't understand. I picked up a charm and brought it closer to my face for better look. I squinted and attempted to decipher the characters, but before I knew it the charm suddenly caught fire. I quickly threw it away in shock like a kid playing with matches for the first time, but I soon picked up another and squinted, only to watch as it burned from top to bottom. I thought it was a magic trick worth showing Hikaru.

  “Wow! This is awesome, the paper just caught fire by itself. Where can you buy this stuff?” I asked.

  I turned to interrogate Mana about the magic paper, but her eyes were wide and her mouth was open in awe.

  “Daisuke, that's amazing,” she said.

  “Really?” I asked. Her sudden awe was puzzling, and I thought that maybe I could have unintentionally used the power of my mind to make it burn. I attempted the same thing to the grass near my feet but there was no result.

  Before I knew it Taisei was also leaning over my shoulder. “Hey Daisuke, are you sure you've never done any training to be an exorcist before?”

  “No,” I said.

  “That's odd, normally it doesn't do that unless you know what you're doing. Especially not to normal people. Are you sure you're not related to the Matsumotos?” He stared at me sceptically. “But you don't look like the pictures of the other Daisuke.”

  I felt ecstatic.“Does this mean that I also have amazing exorcist powers?”

  “Maybe,” said Taisei. “Or Mana made a mistake when she was writing the charms, we once had a batch that constantly let off smoke.”

  “Hey! My calligraphy is perfect,” protested Mana.

  “Hey! Hey! Do you think that you could teach me some cool exorcists tricks, like that thing were you send out a giant lightning bolt?” I asked naively.

  “Ha!” Laughed Kiyori. “That's a good one.”

  “I don't know,” said Taisei “things didn't end well with the last guy who begged us to join. We thought it would be fun to teach him how to be an exorcist, but we spent a week cleaning him up off the pavement. The worst part was breaking it to his parents.”

  I stood there with my mouth open in horror, and I would have never guessed that Taisei was messing with me until Mana began punching him in the arm.

  “Stop making up stories,” she said. “You're full of it! You're always moaning about how you wish there were more of us out here. ”

  “Hey!” He said while fending off her assault. “We have to talk to Akito, it's not up to me!”

  “But it wouldn't hurt to have another person right?” She asked.

  “Mana,” I said with my eyes wide open in admiration. Too bad that vouching for me only led to her lying in a pool of her own blood.

  “He'll probably just get in our way,” muttered Itsuki.

  “You aren't serious are you Mana?” Asked Kurumi. “Since when do they let guys like this in?”

  “But he's the adopted son of Kousuke Matsumoto so that must count for something. If we train him up, he might turn out to be pretty good. It wouldn't be bad to have a guy called Daisuke Matsumoto on our side, right guys?”

  She turned to the others. I don't know if she expected them to cheer in support but they just stared at her blankly. Souta opened his mouth, and looked like he was going to say something encouraging, before a glare from Kiyori silenced him. I sighed and returned to helping Mana pack so that no one would see my face turning red. I thought that was going to be the end of my exorcist career, but it was only the beginning.

  Chapter 7

  “So who is this Akito guy?”

  The place known as headquarters was a Shinto shine located on a mountain outside of town. It appeared to have been remodeled several times, and was a mix of an old Japanese house with modern extensions (such as a kitchen and bathroom) protruding out in all directions. There was a long verandah, a small Japanese garden, an archery range at the back, and another field which was used for training. There was also a large rock which I named the rock of death, but I'll tell you more about it later. It wasn't far from the place where I watched them take down the raccoon. The path was littered with crumbling statues, and there was even a large worn out shrine gate. I thought it was a cool location until I realized one painful thing. Stairs. My exasperated mind began to count them as we began the never ending assent. One hundred and one, one hundred and two, one hundred and three, one hundred and four.

  Souta (to my great dismay) walked beside me like he was floating on air. “Akito is kind of like our babysitter, he's the one who's been assigned to look over our training,” he said with his high pitched voice which I was slowly becoming accustomed to.

  “What's he like?” I asked.

  “He's pre
tty anal about stuff,” said Kiyori. “Like curfew and training, but other than that he's pretty slack. He's not a scary guy, so I don't think there's anything to worry about. He might agree to let you join, maybe.”

  “I wouldn't give your hopes up,” said Taisei.

  It was a pretty harsh thing to say, and it sounded like something that would come out of Itsuki's mouth. “Hey!” I protested.

  “Well look at it this way,” Taisei explained. “How many exorcists began training when they were fifteen years old. I'm not trying to be mean, I'm only laying down the facts.”

  “But what about Nina's brother?” Asked Mana.

  “That was different,” said Taisei. “He already did some training when he was younger, so it was easier for him to pick things up. Right Nina?” He turned to Nina who was hobbling up the stairs below us. Her leg may have survived the raccoon attack, but it still looked painful to walk on.

  Nina was off in her own world (she did this sometimes) and didn't hear him. She had her head down, and was glaring at the steps below her with unnatural concentration.

  “Hey Nina!” Yelled Taisei in an attempt to get her attention.

  Nina suddenly snapped back to reality and stared up at us blankly. “I'm sorry, did you say something?”

  “What do you think Nina?” Asked Taisei while pointing at me. “Do you think this guy can make it as an exorcist?”

  Nina stared at me but didn't say anything. I could tell from the look on her face that she didn't have high expectations, but was too polite to say so. Maybe she was thinking of how I spent the entire battle clinging to Mana.

  I swore under my breath and turned my attention back to the giant assent before me. The end was finally in sight, but I prayed that I wasn't killing myself on those stairs only to have my hopes crushed when I reached the top.

  As I explained to you at the beginning, Akito was the guy who would become my teacher, and then attempt to kill me once the fox monster had us cornered. I'm still not certain if he's trying to prevent me from running, or if he intends to do the deed himself, but either way, he's not my favorite person right now. Things would have been a lot simpler if I had given up and turned around that afternoon, but I continued to put one foot in front of the other until I found myself walking through the threshold of headquarters.

  Just as Kiyori said, Akito didn't appear to be a scary guy (he never seemed like a scary guy until he made the decision to back-stab me). He was a few years older than Sis, with cropped black hair and a few wrinkles around the eyes. He didn't look happy to see, but he didn't look angry either. He politely guided me into the main room, sat their patiently, and listened to the story of why I desired to be an exorcist.

  “I see, so you're Kousuke Matsumoto's adopted son,” Akito nodded. “It's been a few years since I've seen anyone from the Matsumoto family here.”

  He then brought out a bunch of paper charms, and made me set them on fire, much like I'd done a few hours ago. He raised an eyebrow in surprise, but other than that his face didn't give much emotion away. The whole meeting went rather well, and I would have never suspected that he intended to give me up as fox food.

  “You seem to show quite a bit of potential,” said Akito. “So I'm willing to let you undergo training if you promise to abide by the rules, and do everything you're told.”

  I nodded and agreed to everything, even though I was busy daydreaming about Obake and no longer listening. I was just over joyed that Akito had agreed to take me on without a fight. I thought becoming an exorcist was hard, but it suddenly seemed like a walk in the park. Or so I thought.

  * * *

  Akito talked to the principal so if anyone as school asked, I was now volunteering for community service. I decided to try out my new privileges by arriving at class ten minutes late. As expected my homeroom teacher frowned but didn't say anything.

  “Dude, what was that? He didn't scold you at all,” hissed Keira as I took my seat.

  I put my hands behind my head and leaned back in my chair. “Community service,” I said with a wink.

  “What community service?! I was told there weren't any spaces left.”

  “Sorry,” I said. “They were short one person, and our homeroom teacher thought it would be a good way for me to atone for all my sleeping in class.”

  To tell the truth, my homeroom teacher wasn't happy about my sudden induction into the community service club. He said that I was now academically doomed, and my chances of getting into a good university were slim.

  I felt bad for lying to Keira. He seemed like the sort of guy who'd get a kick out of spoon feeding elderly people.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I'll tell you if there are any openings.”

  “OK,” he nodded.

  The first class was physical education. P.E was my favorite subject because it didn't have homework. All the girls left to change in a different room, leaving the rest of us guys to put on our gym clothes in the classroom. Keira used this opportunity to start telling me about the girl he liked. Her name was Ami, or Aki, or something starting with A. I didn't pay much attention to our fellow classmates, so I couldn't remember her face.

  “Do you think I should ask her?” He whispered so only I could hear. “But I don't know if she'd like a guy like me. What if I tell her, and then she spends the rest of high school avoiding me?” He asked.

  “Just do it man, if you leave things the way they are, nothing will ever change,” I advised.

  Despite my initial expectations Keira was a pretty cool guy. We ate lunch together everyday (fortunately there was no repeat of the Hello Kitty incident) and he lived close to my house. I knew he wasn't an exorcist, but I was also trying to show Mana that I was a popular guy with loads of friends. Keira was a good friend who never screwed me over (unlike a certain someone) so I hope he doesn't get too upset once I'm dead. He was always pretty nerdy, so I'm not sure if he's capable of making new friends, and I'd hate for him to spend the rest of high school as a loner.

  I pulled off my shirt and searched my bag for my gym clothes. Keira was contemplating all the terrible things that could happen if his confession failed, when he suddenly yelled “what the hell happened to your back!”

  I stretched and attempted to see what was there (like a post it note saying kick me) when I realized he was talking about my scars. There was a spider web of scarring that extended from below my neck to my lower back. It looked like I was attacked, or impaled by glass, or got into a car accident, or one of the hundred different ways that people get hurt. Because it's my own back I couldn't see them, so I often forgot they were there. It wasn't until I took off my shirt and people began freaking out, that I suddenly remembered my old injury.

  Sis once told me that it was probably a wound from the same accident which killed my parents.

  A few of the other guys were also looking over due to Keira's outburst.

  “Wow that's nasty dude,” said one student.

  “Were you in a gang during middle school?!” Yelled a guy from the back.

  I quickly pulled out my gym shirt and slid it on. “I was in an accident as a kid,” I muttered.

  “An accident? It looks like someone took a knife and attempted to carve your back up,” said Keira.

  “Maybe,” for all I knew he could be right.

  I realized that Itsuki was also staring, but when our eyes met he quickly looked away.

  We played basketball for gym class. I wasn't particularly good at sports, but I wasn't bad either. To me Itsuki seemed like a die hard nerd, so I expected him to be bad at basketball. Against my expectations he was quite athletic (it was probably all the exorcist training) and almost fell to the ground laughing when the ball hit me in the face. I was disappointed. Just once I wanted to see him struggle at something so that I could point and laugh.

  Chapter 8

  As it turns out, becoming an exorcist wasn't as exciting as I expected. Akito said that I was nowhere near ready to face a real Obake, so I would have to spend some ti
me studying about different monsters and learning simple skills. If I had known I was going to die soon, I wouldn't have tried so hard.

  On the first day Akito took me on a field trip to the museum. The aim was to rock my world and show me everything I'd ever known was a lie. Those were his words, not mine.

  “Obake have existed since ancient times and have since spread themselves out to all corners of the globe. They take on animal form and hide themselves within nature, feeding on human kind wherever they may go,” he said as we walked through the ancient history room. “But if you look closely, there's much historical evidence of their existence which has been overlooked for centuries,” he pointed to a picture of an ancient cave paining. “Take this picture for example.”

  “Cave drawings?” I questioned.

  “This is more than just an ordinary cave painting, This picture depicts large cat Obake in their transformed state. The men you see on the left are some of the first exorcists attempting to exorcise them with the use of primitive anti-Obake weapons.”