How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster (22 page)
Read How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster Online
Authors: M.C Queen
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over to Itsuki who was also fighting for air.
“
I think....we...should be... OK...
now,” he managed to say between gasps for breath. “But.... we
should... keep moving soon.”
“
Thanks Itsuki,” I gasped. “If it weren't for you she would
have eaten me alive. How did you know she was an Obake?”
stuttered. “She wasn't wearing shoes, didn't you think that was
odd?”
“
No, what sort of lame excuse is that! I saw her wearing
heals.”
“
Oh, busted,” he muttered to himself. “OK, I'll tell you, but
you have to promise not to tell the others.”
“
OK, you have my word,”I held up my finger in an attempt to
make a pinky promise, but he just stared at me oddly.
“
I don't know how to explain this,” said Itsuki. “But ever
since I was young I've been able to sense if someone was an
Obake.”
“
What! Are you serious? Like a six sense or
something?”
“
You could say that. It's a really creepy feeling. My whole
body goes cold and I get goosebumps. Sometimes I feel really
nauseous and I want to throw up.”
“
Really? You still do all that exorcising even when you want
to puke?”
“
I endure it. I'm kind of used to it anyway. But that's one of
the reasons why I want to quit. Don't tell the others because
they'll only make fun of me.”
that Itsuki's special ability sounded awesome. I never realized
that it was possible to have other special exorcist powers, and I
began to wonder if even I could have a few hidden abilities.
“
I don't see why you're trying to hide it.” I said in awe.
“It's an amazing ability. If it weren't for you I'd be
dead.”
“
It's not as great as it sounds,” he began nervously pulling
the grass out around his feet. “When I was little my older sister
took me to my friend's house. I took one look at his father's new
wife and I knew straight away that she was an Obake. I was really
proud of myself for spotting the difference, so I told everyone
straight away. But then she tried to eat me. Luckily my sister was
there, otherwise I would have died. But she had no choice but to
kill the Obake, and my classmate didn't have a mother anymore. He
treated me like I destroyed his family and I couldn't look him in
the face after that.”
“
But it's not your fault that she was an Obake right? She
might have planned to eat them.”
“
That's true. I realize that now, but what they probably
haven't told you is that there are lots of good Obake out there who
don't want to hurt anyone. I may have ruined his family's chance of
happiness.”
“
Nah, she was probably just fattening them up, like in that
fairytale with the witch and the children.”
“
Hansel and Gretel?”
“
Yeah that one. She was just waiting until your friend was
bigger and juicier. You probably saved him from becoming a human
sandwich.”
laughed. “Thanks Daisuke. I feel better, I think.” Itsuki was
always so serious so it was a welcome relief to see him smile every
once in a while.
“
You have an older sister?” I asked. I never heard him mention
having any siblings before.
“Yes,” he said after a moment of silence.
“
What's she like?”
“
Nice, patient, and really good at exterminating Obake,
probably better than I'll ever be.”
“
That's cool, I have a sister too.”
“
I know, we see her all the time.”
suddenly felt quite stupid.
“
But anyway," said Itsuki. "Don't tell anyone that I can do
this, if the organization ever found out they'd turn me into their
personal Obake detector and never let me go,” he stood up and
stretched his hands behind his head. “I should probably call Akito
and warn everyone.”
his cell phone and dialed the number. It rung for a few minutes
before I could hear the faint sound of Akito answering the phone.
The two of them began chatting while I stared at Itsuki's back in
awe. Itsuki was really amazing, not only was he good at exorcising,
school, and sports, but he also had amazing exorcist powers that
made me jealous. It was a shame that someone like Itsuki wanted to
quit so badly. He was like an exorcist prodigy. Maybe this was the
feeling that Sis and Akito had when they spoke of my adopted
brother?
It was then
that it dawned on me that Itsuki was probably the type of person
that Grandpa wanted me to be when I grew up. Smart, fast, talented,
someone who could save people from being eaten. Just like the
previous Daisuke Matsumoto. But instead I was the guy standing
behind him. The guy who had no idea what to do, and had to be
constantly saved. The guy who was no better than a regular person
and couldn't even beat a low-level cat Obake.
I wasn't sure
who Grandpa really was, but the idea of having disappointed him
sent a stab of pain through my chest. Grandpa must have had such
high expectations, and I couldn't fulfill any of them. What would
he say if he could see how useless I had become? My eyes felt sore
and I could feel tears begin to swell and threaten to roll out of
my eyes.
Itsuki
finished his conversation with Akito and flipped his phone shut. He
turned to see me rubbing my eyes with my sleeve.
“
Hey are you crying again?” He asked.
“
No, shut up, there's just something in my eye.”
was going to tease me again, but he decided to let me be. “We
better go, it's getting dark,” he said while staring out into the
forest before us. “Akito's going to put up the fence so we need to
be back soon.”
He extended
his hand out to help me up. I took it and felt the rough crevices
of a teenager who had trained everyday since he was five.
Grandpa may
have given me my name in the hope that I would grow up to be
someone like his dead son, but it would never be. The only person
who could ever be like the real Daisuke Matsumoto was Itsuki.
Chapter
22
she find me?” I asked.
“
I can only guess that she heard rumors of another Daisuke
Matsumoto living in this area," replied Akito. "Maybe from people,
other Obake, young exorcists doing funny impressions of you when
you're not around,” he looked directly at Taisei and
Kiyori.
shrugged his shoulders and attempted to appear innocent. “What, it
was only once, or twice.”
After fleeing
from the fox monster Itsuki and I luckily made it back to
headquarters safely. The other exorcists and I were sitting seiza
style in the front room as we held an emergency meeting with Akito.
I expected everyone else to share my panic and fear, but they were
unexpectedly relaxed (and still continued to fool around) except
for Akito's face which looked like he was at a funeral.
Akito then
shoved us all into the kitchen to explain his battle plan. I could
tell that he was really into it when he pulled out the kitchen
utensils and started positioning them around the table like chess
pieces. The fox was a fork, and I was a pepper shaker. Kurumi
wasn't pleased that she was the sugar bowl, and wanted to know why
she was suddenly fatter than everyone else. She was changed to a
fork, but apparently that wasn't good enough either. Fighting
ensued until Akito gave up and threw everything off the table.
“
The plan is simple,” said an exasperated Akito. “We put up
the fence and lure the fox here. We'll keep it in the vicinity by
using Daisuke as bait until the re-enforcements from Kansai arrive.
They'll sneak up and attack her from behind, while we bring down
the fence and attack from the front. We then attack it from both
sides until it's bye bye foxy,” I could tell that he was attempting
to be humorous, but it didn't suit Akito and no one
laughed
“
Wait, you're going to use me as bait?” I cried.
“
All you have to do is stay in her range of vision, you'll be
behind the fence so there's nothing to worry about,” said Akito.
“We just need her to stay within eye-site and remain distracted for
a few hours, the last thing we need is her fleeing off into the
bushes.”
terrible feeling about this until I realized it was fear.
“
It shouldn't be too hard,” said Akito when he noticed my face
was contorted in horror. “I have a feeling that she's been watching
you for sometime.”
“
Are you saying that I have
a
stalker
?”
“
It's not just that, I wouldn't be surprised if she's known
about this place since long ago. You're adopted brother died not
too far from here, it wouldn't surprise me if she never left this
town.”
me to know that the fox monster may have been here the whole time.
I had innocently gone along with my day to day life without
realizing that death was only inches away.
“
It's OK,” said Souta in an attempt to comfort me. “Foxes are
very obsessive. If it makes you feel better one of my ancestors got
on the wrong side of a fox Obake and it came back to terrorize the
family for six generations. It did lots of crazy stuff like kill
the live stock, splatter blood on the house, and eat the first
born-child. Eventually they managed to kill it. but it must have
been at least five hundred years old.”
with my mouth open in horror. I didn't think it was possible to
feel anymore terrified, but I'd clearly been mistaken. “What!
That's terrible! How is that supposed to make me feel better! Do
you even comprehend the terrible stuff that comes out of your
mouth!”
“
Wow
that was pretty mean Daisuke,”
said Taisei sternly.
“
Geez,” said Kiyori. “Just because a crazy fox Obake is trying
to kill you doesn't mean you have to be such a dick.”
“
This isn't just about you,” added Kurumi. “The rest of us are
in danger as well.”
panicked state I decided to call my sister. I needed to know that
she and the rest of my family were safe, and no fox had come to rip
them up and scatter their remains over the town square like Souta's
great-grandfather.
“
There's nothing to worry about,” said Sis who had already
received a warning from Akito. “I put up a barrier, and Shuro went
to Tokyo on a business trip, so Hikaru and I should be fine. The
one you should be worrying about the most is yourself.”
“
Yeah,” I replied into my cell phone. “But I'm really scared
Sis, what if they can't stop it? What if she develops a taste for
Matsumoto and goes after you and Hikaru next?”
“
Daisuke, that's ridiculous,” her voice
began to waver. “Please promise me that you'll listen to Akito and
won't do anything stupid.
I don't know what I would do
if........”
I
could hear the sound of muffled sobbing on the other
side.
sudden pain in my chest and I felt terrible for making her cry.
“Please don't be sad Sis,” I said gently. “Akito and all the other
exorcists are here so nothing is going to happen, I'll see you
tomorrow.”
Sis attempted to say more, but she was having difficulty
getting all the words out amongst the sobbing. All she managed to
say was a muffled
goodbye
before she hung up the phone.
terrible now that I know I won't ever go back, and everything I
said was the equivalent of lying. I realize that Sis is probably
used to death, but the last thing I wanted was to become another
dead relative who would make her cry.
I didn't
believe that there was really something out there which could stop
the fox monster, so I demanded to see the fence. Itsuki volunteered
and took me outside for a look. The garden didn't look any
different, but when I reached out my hand it hit an invisible wall
which sent a small shock through my hand. I reared back in shock
and rubbed my fingers which now felt numb.
“
This fence is only effective against Obake and people who
have traces of Obake blood such as exorcists,” explained Itsuki.
“Any regular person has no trouble passing through.”
“
Wow,” I said in awe. I had another go until the fence sparked
electricity and my hand went numb and limp. I poked it continuously
but it was impossible to feel anything.
assuring me that the fence was full proof, he decided to take other
necessary precautions in case the charms failed or the fox managed
to sneak through. Everyone was busy setting up traps around the
perimeter, and I'd noticed them dividing rooms off into sections
with the use of sliding doors.
Nina was also
outside dropping various trinkets on to the ground. I watched as
she pulled one from the bag. She quickly became distracted by the
design, and began turning it back and forth in the fading light. It
appeared to be a small faded blue box which was covered in
insignias.
“
Hey Nina, what are you up to?” I asked.
“
Laying charms,” she said with the same lack of energy I had
witnessed the previous day. “I don't know if it will be much help,
but I should do something.”