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
How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster (14 page)
an excellent job of gaining her sympathy. I think if Itsuki ever
snagged Mana, at least I would have had Nina as a back up.
Taisei on the other hand was being his usual self. He was supposed
to be helping Akito unearth the debris around the wolf carcasses,
but he was yet again engrossed in his cell phone.
“
Damn it was so dark in there, none of my pictures turned out
well,” he moaned.
disgusted.“Why do you want photos of decaying wolf carcases?”
“
It's not just that, it's a record of all our achievements
Kurumi.”
“
Records,” she muttered. “You just want a new profile
picture.”
“
Taisei, can you please help me move this!” Interrupted a
grumpy Akito as he moved another chunk of the wall.
“
Oh, yeah, just a moment,” said Taisei as he continued to play
with the screen. They were all quite skilled at ignoring
Akito.
having difficulty with a section of the wall, so Souta, Itsuki and
I went to assist him. Akito also attempted to make Kurumi help, but
she claimed the dust would make her outfit dirty. The debris was
still hot from Itsuki's lightning charm and it almost burnt my
fingers. With all our efforts combined we finally managed to clear
everything and unveil two smoking wolf carcasses.
“
Finally, that's the end of it,” puffed an exasperated Akito.
“Looks like we don't have to worry about anymore wolves for a
while.”
“
Hey Akito, is there another one around here somewhere?” I
asked while looking around the room. I may have been bashed in the
head, but I was certain I'd seen three of them.
“
This is it,” said Itsuki. “We already cleared everything
else.”
“
No this isn't right, there was a third one, I'm certain of
it,” I said. The bodies were charred so I didn't know if it was the
dog, the stocky guy, or the man with the tattoo, but I knew enough
to tell that one of them was definitely missing.
“
Are you absolutely certain?” Asked Akito.
“
Yes, one hundred percent,” I nodded.
“
Looks like we have more work to do!” He yelled to someone
over his shoulder.
who he was addressing until I followed his line of vision and
noticed one extra person (who I had never seen before) smoking a
cigarette in the doorway. He looked about Akito's age but taller.
His head was shaved, his clothes were slightly frayed and he didn't
look like he'd shaved for a few days. Little did I know that I was
staring at my soon to be idol.
“
Hey who's that guy?” I pointed without bothering to be
subtle.
The corner of Akito's mouth winced.
“Daisuke, this is Shiki
Moriyama, he's the agent assigned by the organization to deal with
wolf demons.
Luckily
he arrived just in time to come help save you.” There was
nothing menacing about what Akito said, but I sensed some
bitterness in his tone.
his cigarette and tread on it to extinguish the flame. He walked
over and reached out to shake my hand.
“
So you're the Daisuke Matsumoto who everyone's been talking
about,” he said.
“
I suppose,” I said as we shook hands.
People were talking about me? Did that mean I was already
becoming famous in the exorcist world?
I thought hopefully.
“
It's nice to see how passionate you are about exorcising, but
you still have a while to go until your up to the level of the more
famous Daisuke Matsumoto,” he reached out and ruffled my hair like
I was a little kid.
“
Hey I have skills,” I said while brushing his hand away. “I
found that pack of wolves ages before any of you did.”
“
And then they almost ate you,” said Itsuki.
“
Yeah, but I had a plan, I could take them.”
“
You were tied up and you were crying.”
“
Itsuki you arse!” I took off a shoe and attempted to throw it
at him, but it missed and Itsuki went laughing out the door and
into the distance.“Idiot Itsuki!” I screamed after him.
there and laughed. “Looks like some things never change.”
Akito crossed
his arms and watched as I continued to yell out insults at Itsuki
who was hiding behind the garden fence. “Unfortunately not,” he
said.
Shiki let out
an exhausted sigh and went to pick up his bags which were resting
in the doorway. “I best be off then, don't want that other one to
get away,” he said.
“
By all means don't let me keep you,” said Akito.
“
This job can be such a pain in the neck. Traveling across the
country, engaging in life and death battles with Obake, but I
suppose someone has to do it.”
“
I can only imagine,” replied
Akito
sarcastically.
“
Hey,” said Taisei as he looked up from the wolf carcase he
was taking snapshots of. “You're not leaving now are you
Shiki?”
“
You should at least stay over,” said Mana. “We haven't seen
you in ages.”
“
Mana,”said Akito. “Shiki's now an important member of the
organization, he can't just laze around headquarters in his free
time anymore.”
“
Laze around?
” Shiki muttered and shook his head. “Aki's right kids, there
are things I have to do.”
“
I see, so that's the way things are now,” said
Taisei
“
Someone thinks they're too good to hang out with a bunch of
trainees now that they've become Mr. Super member,” said
Kiyori
“
You used to be cool,” said Mana
“
This sucks. What happened to the Shiki who used to tell us
awesome stories?” Asked Kiyori.
“
And give us training tips!” Added Souta
“
He's finally become a boring old man like Akito,” said
Taisei.
must have struck a cord with Shiki because he suddenly dropped all
his bags. “Look, guess what,” he said while dramatically staring
out the door at something we couldn't see. “It looks like he's
already made a clear run, so I might as well rest up until
morning.”
Akito
narrowed his brow. “But didn't you say you had to catch this guy
before you lost the lead?”
“
It can wait,” Shiki shrugged. “He's probably gone running
straight into Obakemura anyway.”
Obakemura?
That was a word I'd never heard before.“Obakemura? Akito
what's Obakemura?” I asked.
“
That's a good idea, it can be the subject of your next
compo-”
“
Forget it! I don't want to know! I don't ever want to write
another one of those ever again!” I yelled.
I thought the wolf corpses, the room of bones, and our
forensic evidence would pose us a problem when the police arrived,
but Shiki decided to solve that problem by torching the house. He
sent us all home while he stayed to finish the job. I wasn't aware
that
pyromaniacy
was part of the exorcist job description, but I was learning
new things everyday.
I kind of wished I stayed to watch.
One,
because I always wanted to see a
house burn down, and
two,
because I wouldn't have had to
listen to Akito's grouching the whole way back.
“
Travels the wide open roads of Japan.
Engaging in life and death battles everyday? Half the funds I raise
are probably spent on that guys hotel fees,” Akito muttered under
his breath. “
It's so hard being a
top class exorcist,”
he said in an attempt to mimic
Shiki's gruff tone.
“
What's going on with Akito?” I hissed to Kiyori.
“
Beats me?” He shrugged. “Isn't he always like
this?”
“
My brother told me that Akito and Shiki trained here
together,” whispered Nina.“Akito was always the more serious one,
but Shiki got promoted and Akito was assigned to
training.”
“
Oh,” said Taisei. “That kind of explains why he's always so
annal.”
Akito heard that comment. “Taisei!” He yelled.
Akito's mood
only worsened once Shiki (smelling of smoke) walked through the
door. Shiki spent the evening telling us tales of his Obake hunting
exploits, while Akito sat in a corner drinking something out of a
dark glass. Even Shiki himself failed to persuade Akito to lighten
up.
“
Come on Aki, stop being such a grump and join us,” he
said.
“
No thank you, I'm fine where I am,” said Akito while taking
another sip out of his glass.
shrugged (he was probably used to it) and continued telling us
tales of his previous wolf exorcisms.
“
And from that point on I was known as Shiki the wolf slayer!”
He exclaimed.
He even did dramatic re-enactments of all the Obake he had
killed with the use of his
Shiki Chop
. Also known as the
Shi-Chop
for short.
“
It's nothing more than a small lightning
charm attached to a rubber glove,” corrected Akito. “Any child
could have come up with that, but for some reason all the high ups
thought it was
amazing.”
“
Ok,
Akito, it's time for you to go
to sleep now,” said Taisei while shouldering him to the study.
Taisei slid open the study cupboard to unveil that it was actually
a wardrobe with a futon neatly folded up in the corner. Not only
did Akito spend all his time studying there, low and behold he
actually slept there as well. I stood there laughing at Akito's
intoxicated state. Completely unaware that I was standing in the
last room I would ever see.
the next morning by the sound of pots crashing, and a panicked cry
of “oh shit! Not again! Not again!” Accompanied by the sound of
running water.
“
No Kurumi, Nina stop fighting,” moaned Taisei before rolling
over in his sleep.
of my futon and went to investigate before I knew what I was doing.
I yawned loudly and staggered down the halls towards the kitchen in
my half asleep state.
I stared
vaguely through the door with half open-eyes, and wondered who the
strange burglar was, until I realized it was Shiki.
He was
holding his wrist under running water, and I soon noticed his
jacket sleeve was black and charred. Apparently despite being a top
class exorcist Shiki still hadn't mastered how to use the gas
stove.
He looked up
as I entered.“Ah Daisuke right?”
“
What are you doing, it's like four in the morning?” I
groaned.
“
Omelet,” he replied. He grabbed a fry pan off the stove and
motioned for me to sit down at the table. I sat there staring at
the wood pattern and almost fell asleep again, until he shoved a
plate full of something yellow before me. “Here have some,” he
said.
a fork and I was prepared to dig in until I noticed the shells
protruding out from the omelet.
“
No thank you,” I said while staring at it hesitantly. “I
think I'll pass for now.”
“
Suit yourself,” he said before raising his fork and taking a
mouthful.
with a morbid fascination and wondered if he enjoyed consuming egg
shells or he just didn't notice. I was about to ask if eating
shells was the secret to becoming a top class exorcist before Shiki
interrupted my thoughts.
“
So you're the adopted kid of old man Matsumoto,” he said
between bites. “That old man was as hard as nails, it must have
been tough right?”
“
No, not really,” I replied. I didn't know what he was talking
about, Grandpa was so relaxed and easy-going.
“
So who do you live with now?”
“
My sister,” I yawned.
“
Your sister? So you still have other relatives?”
“
She's my adopted sister.”
“
Adopted Sister?
Wait
,
You can't be talking about Kanako?”
“
Yeah,” I nodded.
“
Kanako!?” He almost choked on his egg. “No shit, you've
shacked up with her? Is it true that she got married to a four eyed
businessman and even has a kid?!”
“
Hey! Isn't that a bit mean,” I hated it when people insulted
my family.
“
Wow sorry,” he said apprehensively as he took his final bite
and wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “That's just stupid me
shouting my mouth off, but who would have thought Kanako would
become a docile housewife. I remember I once flipped her skirt only
to get hit by one of the fastest fire charms I ever saw. It took
weeks for my eyebrows to grow back.”
“
Wait,” I wasn't sure if what he said was true or I had begun
falling asleep. “Are you saying that Sis also trained to be an
exorcist?”