by Unknown
“Hey!” I protested.
“Also need to pick up milk on the way back to headquarters,” he added.
“Don’t you know that I can hear everything you’re saying!” I said.
Hugo was supposed to be writing observations too, but halfway through he started writing a list of reasons why his ex-girlfriend may have left him. I could see things such as refusal to wash socks staring up at me from his notepaper.
“There's no way that we can allow this thing to roam around unchecked,” said Shinta after questioning me for an hour. “We need to take him back to the main branch for further testing. Hugo write a message.”
“I suppose if I have to,” said Hugo, and he pulled out a new sheet of paper.
“Tell them that we’ll need restraints,” said Shinta. “And tranquilizers, and make sure they prepare enough charms. Make sure you call up that man who works in the morgue, and make sure we have adequate cleaning supplies. They never managed to get the blood stains out of the concrete last time.”
I was about to wet myself before my sister suddenly burst through the door with Akito behind her.
“Dai-chan you’re okay!” Cried my sister. She pounced on me and wrapped her arms around my neck so tightly that I found it difficult to breathe. “I was so worried.”
“Who is the woman?” Asked Shinta.
“Daisuke Matsumoto’s younger sister,” said Nina’s brother.
“The violent tomboy?” Questioned Shinta.
“Dai-chan, why are you tied up?” Asked Sis as she noticed the ropes around my chair. “Have you been causing trouble again?”
“Sis you have to save me!” I cried. “They want to take me away and put me in a cage!” I often complain about how Sis can be angry and strict, but it’s actually her best quality when it’s re-directed at someone other than me.
“Whaaat! Why on earth would they want to do that?” Said Sis.
“The boy is a monster,” said Shinta.
“Look,” said Sis. “I know that sometimes he can be a little difficult to deal with, and there are times when even I want to tie him u-“
“No Kanako, he’s actually an Obake," said Nina's brother. "A real live man eating monster like the one who murdered your brother."
“Dai-chan almost died tonight, I really don’t think that this is the appropriate time for telling jokes,” said Sis.
“Look at this charm and how it glows when we place it near him,” said Nina’s brother as he dangled a locator charm near my ear. “You of all people should know that’s not normal!”
“Well there’s obviously been some sort of mistake,” said Sis and she ripped the charm out of his hand. “Dai-chan’s just a normal boy!”
“Yeah!” I added. I decided I would emotionally support Sis by yelling yeah at random intervals.
“Akito!” Said my sister. “Tell them to stop it!”
“Yeah!” I said.
“Kanako,” said Akito while looking grim. “It’s hard for me to say this, but a lot of things have come to light recently, and it’s possible that your brother may not be who you thought he was.”
“That’s because I’m a super exorcist!” I yelled back. “Grandpa put some weird charms in my back when I was a kid. Then Akito unleashed them, and now I have super awesome exorcist powers!”
“Really, are you sure?” Asked my sister. “That’s amazing!”
“Not you too,” moaned Nina’s brother. “I can’t believe that anyone would fool for something so stupid.”
"I wish I was a super exorcist," said Hugo. "Girls like that sort of stuff."
“I’ve lived with Daisuke since he was five and I can assure you that he’s no monster,” said Sis. “If you lay one hand on my younger brother you’re going to regret it!”
“I won't get talked down to by a girl,” said Shinta.
“Well this girl might just blast you out of the building,” said Sis.
“Can everyone just please calm down!” Protested Akito as he rushed in and created a human barricade between Shinta and my sister.
“Akito move!” Said Shinta.
“Yeah Akito move!” Yelled my sister. “I’ve been wanting to get a shot at this guy ever since he rejected my application in seventh grade!”
“If you don’t mind sir I would gladly take her down for you,” said Nina’s brother.
“You ungrateful little turd!” Yelled my sister. “After all my brother did for you!”
“Even though it pains me so, I would gladly go against my mentor’s sister for the sake of the great Shinta Watanabe.”
“Traitor!” Sis yelled back.
Hugo also pulled out a charm and pretended to aim it at my sister, but I could tell that his heart wasn’t in it and he was just pretending to be part of the fight.
“We need to take this monster with us,” said Shinta. “He’s clearly a threat to humanity!”
“But there’s no reason why we can’t conduct the necessary tests here,” said Akito. “There’s no reason to burden the main branch when everyone’s already stretched to capacity.”
“We’ll manage,” said Nina’s brother. “There isn’t anything that we wouldn’t do for the sake of the organization.”
“Why you little!” Sis’ charm paper began to burn. It looked like she was going to unleash a fire charm on them all, until Akito grabbed her hand and held her back.
“Why not do the tests here?” Said Akito as he held onto my sister who was desperately struggling to escape. It looked like the two of them were dancing. “This place was once used to contain dangerous Obake, so you can find anything that you need here. Please think of the risks associated with taking him back. If he lost control once more, just think of all the innocent lives that could be placed in danger.
“Sir, maybe he’s right?” Said Hugo. “We don’t want the innocent lives to be in danger again.”
“Danger doesn’t bother me!” Yelled Nina’s brother. “I’d gladly sacrifice my life for the organization!”
“Remember the time you forgot to lock the cage and all those caterpillar Obake got out,” whispered Hugo. “Those cyclists are now scarred for life.”
“I told you never to mention that again!” Hissed Nina’s brother.
“Don’t the organization rules even state that it’s best to move an Obake around as little as possible,” added Akito. “You could almost say that it would be against the rules to take him back to the main branch when we’re already adequately equipped here.”
Shinta gritted his teeth in rage and began turning red. I thought he was going to explode.
“Fine! Fine! Have it your way Akito, and girl,” said Shinta while glaring at my sister. “The monster stays here for testing, and I expect reports. Every week from every single person here! My subordinates will continue to stay here and conduct research, and they will be given access to anything they need. And that thing is prohibited from leaving! It is not to step one foot outside this building under any circumstance. No exception! No exception whatsoever!”
* * *
Sis came and picked me up the next day after Shinta returned to the main branch. Hugo and Nina’s brother put up a decent fight, but they were obviously no match for my sister.
“Stop it!” You can’t take him back!” Said Nina’s brother as he blocked the doorway in an attempt to prevent my sister from getting in. “The boy is a monster and we’re under strict orders not to let him leave!"
“Move!” Yelled my sister.
“Never!” Said Nina’s brother. “There’s nothing you can say or do which would ever make us go against an order from the organization.”
“Then I guess there really isn’t any other option,” said my sister. “I never wanted to use this, but you’ve left me with no choice,” she paused and I stood there wondering what sort of awesome secret weapon my sister was going to use.
“I know about that!” She said.
“What?” Said Nina’s brother and his face began turning pale. “No, you don
’t! You’re bluffing! There’s no way that you could possibly know about that!”
“Oh, I know everything,” said my sister with a smirk. “I’m the adorable little sister of your mentor and there wasn’t anything he wouldn’t tell me.”
“What’s that?” Asked Hugo.
“It’s nothing!” Nina’s brother snapped.
“Is it worse than the time you forgot to turn off the heater and accidently set the ancient scripture room on fire?” Asked Hugo.
“Shut up,” Nina’s brother hissed.
“They still haven’t figured out it was you, so I think you’re still in the clear,” said Hugo.
“I thought we agreed never to talk about that again,” Nina’s brother hissed under his breath. He looked back at my sister to find her smiling like a maniac.
“I’m sure your bosses would love to know who was responsible for the loss of their beloved documents, and that,” she said.
Nina’s brother stared at my sister with his eyes wide in fear. He gulped and began to move away from the door.
“You can’t do that!” Protested Hugo. “It’s against the rules, we can’t go against the commander. We swore an oath as his assistants to do whatever we’re told without hesitation until the day we die!”
“I’ll get you a date,” hissed Nina’s brother.
“Done,” said Hugo.
I couldn’t believe how easily I had escaped the evil clutches of the organization. I was certain I was going to be trapped in headquarters for the rest of my life while the two of them subjected me to tests like mad scientists. My respect for my sister increased tenfold.
“Wow, that was amazing Sis,” I said as we descended the stairs in front of headquarters. “What's that?”
“There is no that," said my sister. "I made it all up."
"Really? How did you know that would work?"
"That guy trained under my brother. He used to suck-up to Shiki Moriyama and do almost anything that guy dared him to, so I'm sure there’s something that the two of them must be hiding together."
“Great one Sis, I knew I could count on you!”
“It should be enough to keep him off our backs, for now,” she said while nervously glancing behind her. “That guy might be a pushover, but he’s still pretty resourceful. We can’t afford to let our guard down.”
“Whatever you say Sis,” I said while merrily skipping down the stairs.
“Don’t worry Dai-chan, together we’ll get to the bottom of this. Akito may be smart, but he’s still only running on theories from my father’s research. Even he doesn’t know for sure what my father did to you."
“Yeah, I’m sure that Grandpa had tons of information and notes on turning people into super exorcists. Maybe it all just accidentally fell down the back of the bookcase like Shuro’s CD that you don’t like.”
“Perhaps. Father went through a pretty dark phase after my brother died, and even I don’t know what he was thinking. I’m sure that he may have other secrets.”
“Yeah! Akito’s stupid theory about me being an Obake is ridiculous. I don’t feel any different at all!”
“That reminds me,” said my sister. “I have something I want to ask you.”
“Okay, what?”
“Don’t mention any of this to Shuro or Hikaru. Shuro didn’t grow up in our world so he would only panic, and Hikaru’s too young to understand anything. I don't want to tell them anything until we know more.”
“Okay,” I said. It was the first time that my sister had ever asked me to keep something a secret from Shuro, but I was sure that a few secrets in their marriage wouldn’t hurt anyone.
I took one last look at headquarters to see Itsuki staring down at us from the top of the stairs. His face was cold and expressionless, and it reminded me of the day that he called out to Mana and told her to stop speaking to me. Sis didn’t notice his presence, and I didn’t want to worry her. I took one final look at his menacing glare and tried to suppress my growing concerns that we would never be friends again.
I was certain that everything would return to normal.
It's only now that I finally realise how naive I was back then.
Chapter 4
The exorcists agreed to let me temporarily stay with Sis on the condition that I didn’t go to school. I also had to go to headquarters every day in case someone from the organization showed up. Sis was dead against it and threatened to tell the organization about the time Nina’s brother did the other that, which completely freaked him out, but Akito convinced her to let me go in for observation just in case my super awesome exorcist powers decided to surface without warning. Shinta had important exorcist business that he had to attend to, so he assigned Hugo and Nina’s brother to watch me. They made me sit in a cage and took photos of me pretending to be in agony to prove they were conducting proper experiments. Apparently they were a great hit back at the main branch. Shinta kept calling to congratulate them and I had to scream in the background. On nights when I wasn't there, they made Kiyori or Souta substitute. They were also supposed to constantly observe me and write about my progress, but Nina’s brother spent most of the time trying to convince me to turn on my sister, while Hugo wouldn’t stop telling me about his ex-girlfriend.
“One moment she was talking about living together, and then the next month she was packing her bags for Russia,” said Hugo. “I just don’t understand how anyone can be so cold.”
“When did you guys break-up?” I asked.
“About three years ago,” he said.
I asked if they could teach me any cool moves (I would need a bunch of them as a super exorcist) but they just stared at me blankly and mumbled that they weren’t allowed to teach new recruits. But then an hour later I caught them teaching Taisei and Souta fire charms in the garden.
Both of them continued to believe that I was some sort of monster, so I hit the books in the library along with my friends to prove them wrong. Our friend Kurumi wasn’t seriously injured, so they let her out of the hospital the next day, but I was told that Mana needed more time. I hadn’t seen her since the night the fox monster attacked her.
“No, no, not this one either,” said Souta as he flipped through the encyclopedia of 100 Cute But Deadly Obake. He turned to a page with a picture of a rhinoceros monster and held the picture up to my face like he was comparing us. “No,” he said before sighing and putting the book down.
“Hey, check this out Dai-chan,” said Kiyori as he held up a picture of a puffer fish monster for me to see. “I think I found a picture of you!”
“Kiyori,” hissed Nina. “You shouldn’t say that.”
Kiyori ignored her and instead held up a picture of a two-headed beetle monster. “And look, I found your mother.”
I wanted to say a smart comeback, but I was too busy trying to prove that I was human. I furrowed my brow and looked back to my book on exorcist abnormalities with a passion. There were cases of abnormal spiritual power amongst young exorcists, but so far nothing about exorcists undergoing amazing transformations that could be mistaken as turning into an Obake. Maybe I was the first case. Maybe they would even write a book about me.
“No, no, no, not here either,” muttered Souta as he turned the pages of his giant textbook.
Kurumi was also helping out, but she and Nina were sitting on either side of the room like they were trying to stay as far away from each other as possible. Apparently the table wasn’t far enough for Nina, so she was sitting on the floor with her back leaning up against a bookshelf. Nina and Kurumi were cousins, but all they did was fight. I'd never seen them get along well, but it felt like the atmosphere between them had become worse recently.
Taisei was also called in to help, but he complained that he had an assignment to finish. Although when I walked past his room he was just playing games on his computer.
“Ha!” Laughed Kiyori as he held up a picture of a toad. “Just imagine if you really looked like this?”
“I don't think it w
ould suit Daisuke at all,” said Kurumi. I thought she was going to say something nice before she added “I think it looks more like Nina."
Nina immediately slammed her book shut. She frowned and I was certain that she was about to unleash a tidal wave of insults towards Kurumi, but she just sat there silently fuming. I shuddered and turned back to my research. I closed my book and stood up to get another one, when a textbook suddenly went sailing over my head and hit the bookshelf behind Kurumi.
What followed was a violent book war between Nina and Kurumi with us in the middle. It went on for about ten minutes and Souta and I had to hide under the table. Kiyori on the other hand just took it as an excuse to throw books around, and he occasionally threw a book or two at both girls when he thought they wouldn't notice.
“You’re such a shit exorcist that can't do anything!" Cried Kurumi as she pelted a book at Nina’s head. "You're a waste of space that wouldn't be able to find anything in these books, even if your life depended on it!"
“What do you know!” Yelled Nina. “At least I actually study instead of wasting my time on stupid hairstyles.”
"You wouldn't be able to kill an Obake even if it begged you!" Cried Kurumi.
"All your clothes look cheap!" Screamed Nina.
"Your little sister has more spiritual power than you!"
"I hope the bleach makes your hair fall out!"
"Fat!"
"Ugly!"
"If I'm ugly, but I can still get a boyfriend, then what are you?" Said Kurumi, and it made Nina the angriest that I'd ever seen her.
The battle only came to a close when Nina’s brother (thinking that I had turned into a monster and begun devouring the library) ran into check. By then Nina had whipped out a fire charm and he had to pry it out of her hand to stop her from setting the library on fire.
“What the hell are you doing!” Yelled Nina’s brother. “Are you trying to kill us all? What would the organization say if they saw my sister acting like this?”
“You're supposed to be my brother!” Shrieked Nina. “Why do you always take her side? She's vain, cruel, and obviously trying to make my life miserable!”
