How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster (15 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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Not so much
 
trained
,
but with Kousuke Matsumoto for a father and Daisuke for a brother,
it was inevitable that she'd pick things up. It was all self-taught
of course. Girls back then couldn't join, but that didn't stop her.
She would have certainly given these girls a run for their
money.”


Wow, Sis never told me anything about that,” I
said.

I suddenly
realized that Sis had known secret exorcist techniques all along,
and she'd never thought of letting me in on any of them. I felt
cheated.


I suppose she wouldn't. I thought she'd be first in line once
they changed the rules but I think Daisuke's death hit her hard. I
never saw her again after the funeral. She was supposed to marry
Akito as well, but that didn't work out either.”


What?” His final words caught my
attention. I was certain I'd heard
 
Sis
,
 
Akito,
 
and
 
marriage
 
all within the same sentence. “Sis was going to marry
Akito?”

Shiki's eyes
suddenly bulged out, and I saw a look of terror flash across his
face. “Nothing,” he said while waving his hands around like they
could erase his previous words. “Just forget that I said
anything.”


Did you say
 
marriage
?” I was up on the table and virtually ready to strangle the
truth from his neck, before Shiki grabbed his plate and dashed to
place it in the sink


No of course not,” he said while avoiding eye contact. “Don't
be stupid, as if that would ever happen. You must have misheard
me.”

I stared at
him sceptically as he avoided looking at me. Shiki seemed like he
was hiding something, but I didn't yet have the energy to further
question him. The table suddenly looked very inviting, and I rested
my head against it and watched Shiki washing dishes as the sunrise
began creeping through the window.
I must have
fallen asleep again, because the next thing I knew I was being
shaken awake by Shiki who had changed his clothes and strapped a
large pack to his back.


Hey Daisuke,” he said while shaking my shoulders. “It's been
fun but I have to get going.”

I rubbed my eyes and intended to say something like
s
ee you later,
 
but in my half asleep state it
came out as, “
Seeruuhhhh.”


Here's my card,” he said while
placing something on the table. “Call me if you hear anything about
the wolf monsters, or if they try to kidnap you again.”

I slowly
picked it up and squinted at the inscription “Shiki Moriyama, Obake
slayer and killer of all things unknown,” I  managed to mutter
out loud.


I always wanted to
write
 
vampire slayer
 
on there as well, but I suppose
I can't do that until I meet a real one,” he shrugged. “But you
never know.”


Hey Shiki,” I wanted to ask if vampires were also real, but
Shiki was already walking out the door.


Take care Daisuke, don't get yourself kidnapped anytime
soon!” He waved before disappearing from sight.

Itsuki walked
into the kitchen half an hour later to find me still staring at the
card in awe. I turned it back and forth in the morning sunlight
while searching for any hidden secrets.


Did Shiki leave already?” He yawned as he placed bread into
the toaster.


That guy was so cool,” I muttered.  I got up and looked
through the window, but he was already gone. It's too bad that
Shiki didn't stick around, he was a useful ally who could have
protected us when the fox monster attacked.

 

 

Chapter
15

 

 

I had 
taken to carrying Shiki's card around to help motivate me with my
training. It was also a good reminder of the promise I made to
Itsuki about becoming an awesome exorcist. I felt like I should
have been more loyal to Akito (because he was my teacher and spent
his free time trying to force stuff into my head) but Shiki never
attempted to kill me.
School was a
lot more exciting once Itsuki was my friend. Keira would often join
us, but in that situation we couldn't talk about exorcist stuff. I
got to learn a lot more about Itsuki and Mana that way, and I found
out they'd been friends since elementary school. I had plans to
invite them all over to my house, mainly so that I could introduce
Mana to her future in-laws, but we all know that won't be possible
anymore.
I had to tone
down the incident with the wolves when I told Sis. If I had told
her the truth she would have pulled me out of school and made us
all leave town. Luckily I broke it to her when she was doing
chores, and obviously distracted by how much powder she needed to
put in the washing machine. I know that I often complain about Sis,
but she was my best friend. I could tell her almost anything, but
obviously not the stuff which was going to get me into
trouble.
I told her
about school and the girl I liked in my class. I told her about my
rival for love, Itsuki, and how he was better at school,
exorcising, and how I would never stand a chance of gaining the
affections of Mana.
In return she
usually told me about the horrible deaths her brother's friends
suffered in an attempt to make me quit exorcising.


And then there was Maasa who used to go on BBQs with us every
summer. He thought he could take on a pry-mantas Obake
single-handed. All they managed to recover was a hand,” she said
while happily pulling clothes out of the drier.

I felt the
blood run from my face. I stared at the apple in my hand (which I
suddenly didn't want to eat anymore) and placed it neatly back in
the fruit bowl. I decided to change the subject before she began
recounting more gruesome stories.


Hey Sis, I know this girl there who kind of looks like you,”
I said. “Maybe you've met her before. Her name is Nina.” I've been
thinking a lot about her recently, and I always meant to tell Sis
that I found someone who looked just like her.


Nina, huh,” my sister said. “I think I remember one of my
aunts having a child with that name. Is her last name
Ueda?”


I think so,” I remember seeing Ueda stitched onto her school
uniform,


She's probably a cousin of mine, my mother had a sister who
married a guy called Ueda.”

Sis didn't
talk much about her mother. Grandpa and Grandma separated while Sis
was in high school. After Grandpa died, Grandma used the money from
his will to move to Europe. We still received postcards
occasionally. Personally I thought the money from Grandpa could
have been used for better purposes, mainly me.


Lots of exorcists are related in one way or another, so it's
not odd that we look alike,” she added. “I used to go over there
all the time before my brother died. Those kids that you hang
around with now, I probably knew their parents or older
siblings.”


So you used to go over there a lot right?”

It reminded
me of the conversation I had with Shiki. I spent most of the
evening mulling over how to best ask Sis without getting him into
trouble. I was certain I had it down to the perfect wording which
would not cause suspicion.


So Sis,” I said while leaning over the couch and attempting
to appear casual. “You and Akito, was there ever any, you know,
action going on between you in the past?”

Sis instantly
dropped her basket of laundry in the middle of the floor. Clothes
flew everywhere.


Who told you that!” She screamed. “It was Akito wasn't it,
I'm going to wring his scrawny little-”


No no, calm down Sis. It wasn't Akito, he didn't say
anything!”


Alright then, who was it? Who told you? Have you been
snooping around? Was it Shiki Moriyama?”


No, no. It wasn't Shiki,” I said while
waving my arms in the air much like Shiki had done a few days
before. “It's just that
 
you
,
and
 
Akito
. I sense this chemistry between
you, which could stem from an unresolved relationship in your
past,” despite making it all up off the top of my head it sounded
pretty smart to me.


It was Shiki wasn't it. That greasy little playboy never knew
how to keep his trap shut!”


No, no, please forget I said anything!”

Shiki seemed
like a cool guy and I felt bad for selling him out. I was hoping he
would teach me some cool new exorcist tricks which he couldn't do
if he was dead. I began to help pick the laundry up, but when I
turned around Sis was already at the table writing out charms.


Yes, let's see how he fares with women
once I burn his eyebrows off,” she said dangerously as the brush
glided across the paper. “No, I should just take a patch out of the
middle, let's see what the
 
Shiki chop
 
can do against that,” she then
began manically laughing.

I felt terror
run down my spine, and I wasn't certain if the woman before me was
even my sister anymore. She seemed a lot happier when she was
planning Shiki Moriyama's downfall.


Hey, hey Sis?” I asked nervously, but she was too consumed in
revenge to respond.

I decided it
was time to escape. I didn't want to know what other terrible plans
she had in mind for my new idol. I felt bad for Shiki (and his
eyebrows) but it was already too late and there was nothing I could
do. I was halfway up the stairs when Sis called out to me.


Dai-chan!” She yelled from the kitchen. “I
suppose I should just tell you the truth before your imagination
runs wild and you start making up ridiculous stories!”

Ridiculous
stories
,” I scoffed. “Since when do I make
up ridiculous stories?”

I returned to
the kitchen and watched Sis place the charm neatly on the
refrigerator and return to folding the laundry. I sat there waiting
in anticipation for at least a minute before Sis opened her
mouth.


Akito and I were originally arranged to get married,” she
said.


Really? You and Akito?”

I tried to
imagine coming down to breakfast every morning to see Akito sitting
at the table. Akito going with us on vacation. Akito helping me
with my homework. Akito probably forcing me to study every day.
Actually it was pretty horrible to imagine and I had to stop
myself.


My mother arranged it when we were kids,” Sis continued.
“Women weren't allowed to be exorcists back then, so my job as the
daughter in an exorcist family was to help join them to another
family and mass produce sons.”


That sucks. So why didn't it happen?”


Because I met a guy I liked in high school.”


I see, it must have been Shuro right?” I could see no other
reason why Sis would go against such an important
marriage.


No Keigo.”

Keigo, I'd
never heard of any guy called Keigo before. “Keigo? Who is this
Keigo person?” I asked.


My boyfriend in high school, he was tall and strong, and had
a tattoo,” she began to do that thing girls in my class did when
they were fantasizing about the guy they liked. “ He took me to the
beach one summer on his motorcycle and everything.”

I screwed up
my face in disgust. “He sounds like a gang member Sis.” 


No he wasn't, but then again,” she looked like she was
contemplating it. “Anyway, Akito didn't seem like a bad guy, but I
suddenly didn't want to get married to someone I didn't like. I
told my parents that I didn't want to do it anymore, which was a
bad idea. It caused a huge uproar. I couldn't convince anyone to
take my side, so we ran away together until the police found
us.”


And that's when the arranged marriage broke off?”


No, eventually I gave in and decided to do what everyone
wanted.”


What did you do to end it?”


I tried everything I could and failed, but after my brother
died my family began to fall apart. My father decided to break away
from the exorcists and my parents separated. Nobody was pressuring
me into an arranged marriage anymore, so I just did what I
wanted.”


I see,” I never realized that my adopted brother's death
could have also effected my sister's marriage. “But then you met
Shuro right?” I asked.


Not straight away. Keigo and I got back
together and we were going to get
married.
 
Until, until
, until he left me for
that bitch
!” She tore the shirt she was
holding in half.

I stared in
shock. It was a painful reminder not to mess with Sis. I thought
she was scary before, but after learning about her secret exorcist
powers I made sure not to make her angry. I had no idea when she
was going to pull them out.

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