How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster (17 page)
Read How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster Online
Authors: M.C Queen
Tags: #love, #horror, #humor, #fantasy, #hot, #teen, #free, #monsters, #guys, #free download
Taisei had to spend the rest of the afternoon polishing the wooden
floors so things got pretty boring. I used to play on my phone and
surf the net when I was certain no one was watching. My old cell
phone was destroyed by the wolf Obake so Sis was kind enough to buy
me a new one. It had a touch screen and one of those applications
where you could edit your photos. I found a picture of Akito
attempting to exorcise the cat, and I drew a turd on his head. It
was pretty funny and I spent a good five minutes laughing, but it
suddenly reminded me that I hadn't been to the bathroom for
hours.
Akito said
that training my bladder was also part of my new training regimen
(Apparently there are times when an exorcist must be motionless for
hours) so I had to silently creep there like a Ninja.
I was in the
middle of stealthily sneaking back when I heard voices
through the kitchen window. I approached while wondering if Kurumi
had snuck her secret boyfriend into headquarters until I realized
it was Sis and Akito. The window was just out of reach, so I jumped
up to take a look. I was thinking of suddenly screaming boo
to give her a fright (it would have been hilarious) until I
realized I was supposed to be engrossed in silent meditation.
I remembered
what Sis told me about herself and Akito, and I decided to stay and
watch just to make sure the two of them hadn't started up an affair
behind Shuro's back.
Sis and Akito
were both sitting at the kitchen table across from each
other. Akito had both his hands clasped together on the
table, and my sister's face was stone cold. She was staring at her
glass of water with abnormal concentration.
“
I never thought you'd still be here babysitting children.
What happened to the Akito who said he was going to travel the
world slaying dangerous Obake wherever he went?” She
asked.
“
What happened to me?” He scoffed. “What happened to the
Kanako who used to burst in here and demand to join us?”
“
Hmmm
, this
place was so macho back then, when did they start letting girls
in?”
“
It was a few years after your brothe-” he paused. “We started
loosing people faster after that and we needed to make up the
numbers.”
“
So only a few more years and I could have
been a real exorcist
huh?
Maybe it doesn't matter, I don't
think I would have been a good one anyway.”
“
I wouldn't doubt you, you were pretty good at holding your
own, even without a teacher.”
“
Perhaps. I used to practice by myself every day until my
fingers bled. I was so stupid and desperate to prove myself to
everyone, but then after my brother died, it just didn't seem like
fun anymore.”
“
Yes, I think everything stopped being fun after we lost him.
Daisuke was definitely a talent that only comes along once a
century.”
“
Maybe, perhaps,” she began chewing her lip. “That's what
everyone said, but he couldn't even fold his own clothes and he
failed high school. Everyone used to harp on about how brilliant he
was at exorcising, but he couldn't really do much else. He was such
a useless older brother.”
“
That's what I'd expect you to say, but things used to be a
lot easier back when he was alive.”
“
Maybe, I saw the way you and your friends all idolized him,
and it mortifies me that these new kids still look up to him even
after his death.”
“
I'm afraid there's not much we can do about that, your
brother may have been the strongest exorcist who ever
lived.”
“
That's what everyone keeps telling me,”
she sighed. “But even he died a stupid and pointless death,” she
began tapping her fingers nervously on the table. “Hey Akito, I
know this may sound crazy, but sometimes,
sometimes
, I think that maybe father adopted Dai-chan because he was
hoping to create another Daisuke Matsumoto.”
“
That kid!
”
Akito began to laugh uncontrollably (I didn't know what was so
funny) until a stern glance from Sis shut him up. He coughed a few
times before regaining his composure. “Another
Daisuke
huh?
”
He
coughed.
“I
don't know if that's possible. Your younger brother certainly has a
lot of potential, but in terms of personality they're polar
opposites.”
“
I know that,” Sis paused like she was looking for words.
“They might have the same name, but to me they're completely
different people as well. But knowing father he could have done it.
Brother would have been nothing if it weren't for him.”
“
Really, is that so,” Akito didn't say anymore, but he screwed
up his face like he was still doubtful.
“
It's true!” Said Sis. “Father never bragged about himself or
showed off, but he was actually very talented. I still wonder who
was the better of the two, father or brother. Brother may have been
famous, but I'm certain that father still had a few tricks up his
sleeve that he didn't tell anyone about.”
“
Quite possibly,” Akito sighed. “My grandfather also said that
your father would have been great if that Obake hadn't crippled
him. It's not hard to imagine that Kousuke Matsumoto was trying to
make your brother the exorcist he always wanted to be.”
“
Right!” Said Sis. “That's what I was
saying for years, but no one ever believed me,” she pouted. “He was
completely obsessed with my brother's training. It was always
Daisuke this and Daisuke that, and
Kanako please go clean your brother's room so he can spend
more time training.
”
Akito must have also sensed that the conversation was taking an
irritating turn and decided to change the subject. “You still have
your father's things right? The books, the manuscripts, the Obake
research?” He asked.
“
Perhaps,” she said while scratching her head. “It's all
packed up into boxes somewhere in the house. I haven't really
looked at his things since he died.”
“
I always meant to ask you if it was possible to look at your
father's old things, I'm sure there would be plenty of valuable
material which we could use.”
“
Go ahead,” she shrugged. “I don't have any use for them. It's
unlikely that Hikaru-chan will ever become caught up in all of
this. Dai-chan might be interested, but he's still too stupid to
understand any of it.”
“
Yes he's probably not quite up to that level yet. But maybe I
can pass on anything useful.”
“
I'd appreciate that. Dai-chan has always wanted to know more
about father. I'm sure father had plans to pass everything else on
to Dai-chan anyway if he hadn't died.”
“
Talking about your younger brother,” Akito began tapping his
fingers on the table. “He asked me to investigate any leads on his
real parents. I've made some inquiries, but looking back on it now
you should have been the first person I asked.”
silent for a moment and began staring at the table. “Have you found
anything yet?” She asked solemnly.
“
No, nothing yet. I'll tell you if anything comes
up.”
“
Figures, I couldn't find anything either and I've been
searching for over ten years.”
“
Did your father say anything?”
“
No, I just went to visit him one day and Dai-chan was playing
in the garden. I never found any papers so I still don't know if he
was even legally adopted. I wouldn't be surprised if father just
picked him off the street on his way home.”
“
So you think it could have been child abduction?”
“
At first. I told the police and they did an investigation,
but until now no one has come forward to claim him as their child.
There were a few leads, but in the end, nothing. Father said that
Dai-chan's parents died in an accident where Dai-chan was the only
survivor. It could be true, there's some nasty scarring on his
back. I tried to pry more information out of him but father refused
to tell me anything. He insisted that he planned to raise Dai-chan
as his son.”
“
And the next Daisuke Matsumoto?”
taken back by his words. She ran her fingers through her hair and
leaned her elbows against the table. “It was really mortifying to
watch them together, you know,” she muttered. “It was like he
had my older brother back again. I thought he had finally snapped
and gone crazy. It was hard enough trying to deal with him when he
was obsessed with revenge. But that, that was somehow worse.”
“
I'm sorry Kanako, you've really had it tough haven't you. But
you can't deny that your younger brother possesses a great deal of
spiritual potential.”
“
Of course he does, father wouldn't be interested in him
otherwise.”
“
I'm almost certain that if he had the right guidance from a
young age, Dai-chan would have had the potential to surpass your
brother.”
“
Don't tell him that, he won't be able to suppress his
excitement. He'll be bouncing off the walls. What about now, would
it still be possible?”
“
Now.. I think that with enough hard work he might scrape by.
Maybe he'll never reach the same level as Itsuki or Taisei, but he
should know enough to defend himself.”
“
OK, I suppose that's all he really needs, just as long as he
knows when to run instead of trying to fight in situations where he
could be killed.”
“
We can work on that, but to be honest I never expected that
you'd agree to let Dai-chan join.”
“
Hmm
, but I'm
still hoping he'll decide to give up on his own. If I didn't let
him join he'd probably resent me and join on his own. That's his
personality.”
“
I'm impressed Kanako, you've really changed since you became
a mother.”
“
Maybe, I think children seem to have a strange effect on a
person.”
“
Ah, perhaps,” muttered Akito. “But I feel like these ones may
be driving me to the brink of insanity.”
“
Talking about children,” my sister stopped and glanced at her
watch. “I should be getting back, I have to prepare all of Hikaru's
things for school tomorrow,” she rose from her chair and picked up
her glass to place it in the sink. I was terrified I'd be spotted,
so I quickly fell to the ground and began crawling back to the rock
where Akito had left me.
I sat myself back into the meditation position, but it was
impossible to concentrate. Their conversation was constantly
rotating in my head and refused to go away. Words such as
c
hild abduction, next Daisuke Matsumoto,
not as good as Itsuki,
imbedded themselves into my
brain and continued to rotate on a never-ending cycle. I'd never
considered the possibility that Grandpa could have been a bad guy.
What if he had taken me away from my real family? What if my
parents had spent years looking for their long-lost son who had
been abducted by a crazy man?
And what did Akito and Sis mean by
the next Daisuke
Matsumoto?
What was up with that? I always thought Grandpa had
loved me for who I was, but maybe he could only see his dead son
staring back. Maybe he couldn't cope with the death of the first
Daisuke, so he decided to go out and get himself a new
one.
how I was supposed to deal with this new information without having
a mental breakdown. Everyone else my age was busy dealing with
issue such as which shoes to wear, and what girl to like, no one
else I knew had to go through this crap.
“
Dai-chan!” Came a voice which interrupted my thoughts. I
opened my eyes to see my sister staring back. “It's time to go
home.”
crawled down from my rock and dusted myself off. Sis must have
sensed something was up because she soon asked “are you OK, You
don't look so good.”
“
I'm fine,” I lied. Even though it was far from the
truth.
Chapter
17
became an exorcist I felt like I was being constantly compared to
the previous Daisuke Matsumoto. Akito's words about us being polar
opposites continued to haunt me for the following week, until I
eventually gave in and asked what the difference was between
us.
“
How should I say this, you're certainly a
lot more,
dramatic
than the other Daisuke Matsumoto.”
“
Dramatic?” I questioned. I wondered what that was supposed to
mean.
“
That's not a bad thing, you're certainly
more entertaining.
Hmm
,
what else. Daisuke also did what he was told, and spent most of his
life trying to please others. Mostly his father, but you on the
other hand-”
“
Hey I do what I'm told too!” I said while remembering the
countless hours I spent writing compositions.
“
I saw you eating potato chips in the library again,” said
Akito sternly. “There's now crumbs stuck between the pages. I
opened a one hundred year old scripture only to find it covered in
greasy fingerprints.”