How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster Read online

  “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,” said 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.

  The others must have been angry at Akito for chewing them out because they began cheering for Sis.

  “Go Daisuke's sister!”

  “You can take him!”

  “Go for the knees, Akito's weak spot is his knees!”

  “Dai-chan's only fifteen!” Yelled Sis. “He has his whole life ahead of him!”

  “Nothing bad is going to happen Kanako!”

  I felt honored that Akito suddenly had so much faith in me, but the pain in both arms was overwhelming and I couldn't take it any more.

  “STOP STOP!” I yelled. “My arm hurts!”

  It was enough to make them both let go. I let out a sigh of relief and rubbed my wrist where Sis had gripped on like her life depended on it. “Geez Sis that really hurt,” I muttered.

  My sister's anger suddenly evaporated and I could see the regret begin to surface on her face. “I'm sorry,” she muttered.

  I felt terrible for making her look at me like that, but I realized I could use her guilt to my advantage. What I did next was another terrible mistake. “What's the harm in just letting me train to be an exorcist?” I said while trying to put on my best sad face.

  She chewed her lip, and looked like she was going to protest, but I slouched my arm and tried to pretend I was in pain. “Ow, my shoulder.”

  “Dai-chan,” she sighed. She hung her head and looked exhausted. “How about this? I'll stay and talk to Akito if you'll just go home now.”

  “OK,” I nodded. I pretended to limp off into the direction of home, until I remembered that my legs weren't supposed to be damaged and I quickly stopped.

  I felt bad for seeing that look on her face, but those feelings were quickly erased by the prospect of Akito convincing her to let me join.

  “Exorcist, exorcist,” I hummed to myself as I made my way home. I was blissfully unaware that I had just refused my last opportunity to distance myself from the exorcists and Obake.

  * * *

  Akito's chat with Sis worked wonders because she finally agreed to let me undergo training to become an exorcist. She still didn't look pleased about it, and spent over half an hour lecturing me on the hardships of being an exorcist in an attempt to make me quit.

  “You have to train for hours every day,” she lectured.

  “I know.”

  “Even in winter. Sometimes they make you stand outside until your toes freeze.”

  “I'll bring a blanket.”

  “You have to practice throwing paper charms until your fingers bleed from all the paper cuts.”

  “I'll wear gloves.�
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  “My father was forced to retire when he was almost killed by an S-level Obake.”

  “I know Sis, I know.”

  The worse thing was that ever since my sister made an appearance at headquarters, they all began calling me Dai-chan. It was like a curse. I was terrified that they'd use it at school and I'd be called Dai-chan no matter where I went. People would forget that I even had a name.

  I'm certain if Sis has her way, Dai-chan might be the only thing engraved of my headstone.

  Chapter 10

  My happiest memories of becoming an exorcist was when I would study so late, that Sis agreed to let me spend the night at headquarters. I was so excited. It was like the cool kids had finally allowed me into their club house.

  “Wow it's just like a sleep over,” I said.

  “I don't see what's so exciting about it,” said Kiyori before promptly laying down and passing out.

  Taisei on the other hand was full of energy. As I already mentioned, Itsuki was dead set against becoming an exorcist, and the others didn't appear that enthusiastic either. Taisei was probably the only one who thought it was fun. He had collected photos from every Obake they'd beaten, and proudly pinned them all to his bedroom wall. I thought it was an awesome idea until I realized Sis would murder me if I stuck pins into her house.

  “Behold! My ultimate Obake collection,” he proclaimed as soon as I rolled my futon out onto his floor.

  “Wow,” I rushed to the far wall and rapidly gazed over the images like they could disappear at any moment. Cat people, raccoon monsters, and talking rabbits all stared back at me from the paper. He had even done various poses and peace signs in front of the carcasses, and there was even one of him planking.

  “I found one of you Dai-chan,” he said pointing to the far corner.

  I brought my face closer to the photo to see half my body protruding out from behind a giant raccoon Obake. He must have taken it before Akito confiscated his camera.

  “This is amazing,” I said in awe. I turned to see that Taisei had whipped out a powder brush and was proudly dusting his photos.

  “Isn't it,” he said. “I think it's important to have a record of our efforts, but I'm not sure if Akito likes it.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “Because Akito is just Akito, that's all there is to it.”

  “No, no good,” came the voice of Souta. I turned to find him trying to somehow squeeze his futon into the only free space left in the room.

  “I don't get it, why are you guys all squished in here?” I felt bad for taking up space, I attempted to move my futon over so that he'd at least have enough room to lie down.

  “Itsuki gets his own room because he needs to concentrate on his studies,” said Souta. “Then Nina and Kurumi fight all the time so the girls take up the other two rooms.”

  Itsuki must had heard us because he took the opportunity to poke his head in and look around.

  “Hey can you keep it down,” said Itsuki. “I'm trying to study.”

  “Oh yeah, sure,” Taisei turned to me. “Shut up Daisuke.”

  “That dick Itsuki,” I muttered while punching my pillow. I could remember hating him so much back then. Itsuki was chilling out in his own personal room while the rest of us were crammed in like sardines. Souta wasn't kidding when he told me that Kiyori farted all night, and Kiyori suddenly let off one so stinky that I had to flee to the hallway.

  Mana's room was across the hall. She had the sliding door open and I could see her bent over the desk staring at a textbook while taking notes. A large pair of black glasses were resting across her brim. The lenses looked thick, so maybe she wore contacts during the day, but I thought she looked better with glasses. Mana had such a pretty face, I hope the fox monster didn't damage it.

  “Wow Mana,” I said. “I didn't know you wore glasses, you look so smart.”

  She jumped in surprise and looked up to see me standing in the doorway. “Oh Daisuke, you startled me.”

  “I'm sorry.”

  Mana removed her glasses and began rubbing her eyes. “But they're really troublesome for exorcising, and they make my nose look big.”

  “Nah, they're great, you look awesome!”

  “Thanks,” she smiled.

  I heard a cough. I peered down the hall to see Itsuki with his head out the door glaring daggers at me.

  “Don't you have your own room to go to?” He hissed.

  I gritted my teeth, it was like the guy was on a mission to ruin my fun. “Geez,” I muttered.

  Every time I attempted to have a conversation with Mana, Itsuki would always sneak up behind us and begin making coughing noises, or make up errands that she suddenly needed to run. I went back to my room and returned to punching my pillow. I couldn't punch Itsuki in real life (because he was a fit exorcist genius) so the pillow would have to do.

  Apparently I wasn't the only one tired of his attitude, and within a few minutes I could also hear Mana's voice down the hall. All the doors in the house were made of paper so it wasn't difficult to hear them.

  “Itsuki. I don't know what's up with you, but don't you think your treatment towards Daisuke is a bit excessive? This isn't like you,” she said.

  “I just don't think you should hang out with that guy,” said Itsuki. “Just look at him. He's a complete idiot. How could you live with the Matsumotos and know nothing about Obake.”

  “But he could learn a lot from you if you just gave him a chance.”

  “It's a waste of time. He's stupid, unreliable, obviously trapped in his own fantasy worl-”

  “Hey I can hear you!” I yelled.

  Mana dropped her voice to a whisper. Normal people probably wouldn't be able to hear unless they had excellent hearing like me.

  “I know this isn't just about not going to the school you wanted, maybe you're jealous bu-”

  “Me, jealous? Why would I be jealous of Daisuke Matsu-morron.”

  “Things are going to change now that we're in high school, things aren't always going to be the same as when we were kid-” She was suddenly cut off by the sliding door slamming.

  “Itsuki!” Mana yelled. “Don't shut me out like this! When are you going to except change!” I heard her feet stomping back up the hall. “Idiot Itsuki!” She shouted.

  “Welcome to headquarters,” muttered Taisei. “And this is a quiet evening.”

  I turned to ask Souta if it was true, but he already had his earphones in and was peacefully listening to music. He obviously had the right idea. Despite the commotion I felt overjoyed that Mana was mad at Itsuki. I hoped her rage towards him would continue on forever (it didn't) and eventually give me the opportunity to ask her out.

  “Idiot Itsuki,” I giggled. It sounded like a fantastic nickname.

  I attempted to use the bathroom before turning in for the night, but the door was already locked, so I had no choice but to endure and go to bed.

  I was too preoccupied by humming idiot Itsuki repeatedly to myself to look where I was going, and I almost bawled face first into Nina. She was dressed for bed in a pair of pink pajamas and her hair was neatly tied back into a bun. She was carrying a hair dryer and an armful of moisturizers and creams.

  “Watch it,” she muttered.

  I opened my mouth to apologize but I suddenly noticed she had bleached her hair blonde. It looked pretty good, and I assumed she got the idea from Kurumi.

  “Wow Nina, when did you bleach your hair?” I asked.

  Her eyes narrowed into a death glare. “I'm not Nina,” she replied darkly.

  I wanted to ask if she was having an identity crisis, until I suddenly realized that I was talking to Kurumi without any make up or hair accessories.

  “Wow, sorr-” I attempted to apologize, but she shoved me out of the way before I could finish, and stormed off down the hall towards the bathroom.

  “So moody,” I muttered to myself. I rubbed my shoulder from where she shoved me and returned to the bedroom. Taisei was sorti
ng through his latest stack of pictures.

  “Hey, has it ever struck you that Kurumi looks like Nina without all the make up on?” I asked.

  “Of course they do, they're cousins after all,” he replied.

  “Really?” I'd never considered it.

  “I don't know why you look so surprised, most of us are all distantly related. Didn't Akito already give you the big speech about inheritance and our ancestors receiving blood from the great what's-his-name Obake.”

  “No, but tell me more.”

  “Most of it's all a bunch of crap-”

  He was suddenly interrupted by the sound of yelling from the hallway.

  Taisei sighed. “And so it starts.”

  “You've been in there for an hour, just get out already!” Screeched Kurumi.

  “Not this again,” moaned Kiyori. He reached for a pillow and stuck it over his head.

  What followed was at least ten minutes of screaming and insults (which I don't feel comfortable repeating) directed mostly at each others personal appearances, and Kurumi insisting that Nina was so ugly that there was nothing she could do in the bathroom to fix it.