How I Was Murdered By a Monster King (How I Was Murdered By a Fox Monster Book 2)

by Unknown

  I could tell that he was trying to be kind and understanding, but his words were worthless now that I had an even bigger threat to worry about. A few months ago I only had to panic about some crazy chick who wanted to eat me, but now I had to worry about some insane picture taking maniac who wanted to kill us all and take over the world.

  “It’s been a long night for everyone,” said Akito. “The best thing we can do is go back to bed and rest up. There’s no telling what will happen tomorrow night."

  * * *

  I suggested that everyone should stay up all night and keep a lookout for crazy Obake, but Akito forced us to go to bed. I was way too nervous to sleep. All I could think about was how the Raccoon King could already be creeping up the stairs.

  “Hey guys,” I asked Taisei, Kiyori, and Souta as they were getting ready for bed. “What if that monster was lying about coming back tomorrow, what if he followed those other guys here?”

  “Not this again!” Moaned Kiyori as he pulled his sheets over his head.

  “Look, Daisuke,” said Taisei as he fluffed his pillow and rearranged his blankets. “Every decade you always get some crazy monster who wants to take over the world, or decides to name himself some sort of monster king. It’s nothing new. Do you remember that guy who tried to take over the hill behind headquarters Souta? What was his name again?”

  “Ahhh,” said Souta as he squinted his eyes shut and attempted to remember. “I think he called himself The Great Imperial Highness of all Obake and Things that Live in the Pond.”

  “What! That sounds terrifying!” I said.

  “He was a frog,” said Taisei. “And he wasn’t any bigger than your head. He did have about ten other frogs in his posse, but we dusted him in minutes. My point is that you shouldn’t work yourself up so much. Those guys are a bunch of misfits so it’s no wonder that they couldn’t beat this raccoon dude.”

  “Aren’t you and Raisei supposed to be on the same level!” Yelled Mana from her room down the hall. The halls of headquarters were terribly thin and it wasn’t hard to hear people talking in other rooms.

  “I didn’t ask for your opinion Mana!” Yelled Taisei.

  “Yeah! How dare you put us on the same level!” Yelled Raisei from the living room. “I’m clearly miles ahead of Tire-some!”

  “Shut your face Raisei! At least I didn’t wet myself at the exorcist halloween party when I was six!” Yelled Taisei.

  “At least I didn’t still have a phone without Internet until I was sixteen!” Raisei yelled back.

  “Yeah, well, at least I…I...!” Yelled Taisei while trying to think up another witty comeback, but I could see that he didn’t have anymore material.

  “Can you all shut up!” Yelled Kurumi. “We have to get up at sunrise and it’s already two!”

  I could see tears begin to well up in Taisei’s eyes from just hearing her voice, and I could see another hour long rant about how Kurumi broke his heart coming.

  Souta must have sensed it too, because he quickly pulled out his music player, stuffed his headphones into his ears, and rolled over and pretended to be a sleep.

  “Anyway let’s just go to bed,” said Taisei as he turned away and wiped his eyes. “The sooner we go to sleep the sooner we can wake up and say goodbye to those noobs.”

  Chapter 15

  The whole used to be a monster thing must have been getting to me because it was even showing up in my dreams. Sometimes I would dream I was sitting in class and look down to find that I had eight legs, or as much as I searched my school I couldn't find a bathroom marked monster. I think the whole Raccoon King thing was already stressing me out because my dream that night was especially weird. I dreamt that I was lounging around some country town at night with two young guys I’d never seen before. One had long brown hair down to his back, and the other was bald with an eye patch like a pirate. Both of them were dressed in tattered shirts and pants like they’d walked out of an old-fashioned movie, and neither of them looked like they'd showered in days. All three of us were standing beside a dirt road while passionately debating which passerby we should eat.

  “I say we go for the fat man,” said the guy with the eye patch. “Then it will be enough for us all.”

  “But what about that couple over there,” said the guy with the long hair. “It’s like two for the price of one.”

  “Or,” I interrupted. “We could just have all three. And then maybe one more,” I said with a smirk.

  “Wow you’re a genius,” said eye patch guy. “I would have never thought of that.”

  “You,” said long hair guy. “Have all the best ideas.”

  “Don't I?” I said with a hysterical laugh. “Tonight we feast!”

  All three of us stood there manically laughing about how awesome we were, until we were interrupted by a voice which joyfully cried, “good evening friends!”

  I looked down to find a man in his twenties. He was a foot shorter than me with short black hair and abnormally pale skin. He was dressed in clothes even more worn and tattered than our own, but he didn’t look the least bit concerned. There was a giant smile plastered across his face and he reminded me of Hikaru on Christmas day.

  “Look! One’s already come to us,” I said while pointing at him in glee. “It’s like they want to be eaten!”

  “That ain't no human,” said eyepatch guy. “Look at him, he’s far too pale and he's got those crazy eyes I’ve heard about. He’s probably one of those humans who died with a strong grudge and became an Obake. That happens sometimes you see.”

  “Bingo,” said the ex-human monster. “Now I’m back and better than ever. I’m ready to reap terror in the hearts of men and devour humans just like you guys.”

  “Can we eat it?” I asked and ignored his look of shock and horror. He looked a little pale and sickly, but I wasn’t fussy.

  “I ate one once,” said long hair guy. “It was all bitter and rotten.”

  “Hey! Hey!” Said the ex-human monster. “No-one’s eating anyone. We’re all monsters here right? So that makes us like brothers. I heard through the grapevine that you guys are the baddest Obake in this town, so I came here to ask if I could join you.”

  “You!” I laughed. “What makes you think we’d let a dead human join our gang?”

  “Hey,” he said. “I’m actually a lot stronger than I look, so it might pay off to have a great guy like me on your team.”

  He seemed pretty friendly and optimistic. I’m not usually the sort of guy who turns down new friends, but instead of giving him a chance all three of us just laughed in his face.

  “Ha, ha,” said long hair guy. “The stupid human thinks he can join us.”

  “That’s…a…good..one,” said eyepatch guy.

  “Sorry dead human,” I said with a wave of my hand. “But we have no use for weak monsters. Come on let’s go,” I said while signalling to my two comrades. “Lunch is waiting.”

  “Hey!" Cried the ex-human monster. He stamped his foot on the ground like a small child throwing a tantrum. All his previous optimism disappeared and he narrowed his face in rage. “Don’t you dare ignore me! I’ll show you right here right now what a great monster I am!”

  “So you’re a great monster now are you?” I said. "If you’re such a great monster then why don’t you kill that human over there,” I pointed to a large bulky man as he walked past. “He looks about your level."

  “With all these people watching?” The ex-human monster said. “But I thought we weren’t supposed to eat people out in the open. Doesn't it attract villagers with large pitch forks?"

  “Why of course,” I smirked. “But it shouldn’t be a challenge for a great monster such as yourself.”

  The ex-human monster took a deep breath and flexed his fingers like they were claws. He sprang forward for a moment as though to attack, but then nervously stopped. He turned and anxiously looked at us, mustered his courage, and then like a puppy he attempted to pounce on the large man and dig his teeth into t
he human's neck.

  The large man shouted out in surprise, but quickly pushed the ex-human monster away with ease. The human punched him in the face and the exhuman Obake fell to the ground like a rag doll. The large man leaned over and spat in his face.

  “Take that you fiend! Nobody mugs Strong Tom, nobody I tell you!” He shouted before going on his way.

  The ex-human monster got to his feet and slowly brushed the dirt from his clothes. I could see the disappointment and mortification on his face. Even though I’m a nice guy who’s usually terrified of monsters, I could sympathise with the poor guy’s pain. It wasn’t that different from what I experienced when I began training to become an exorcist. If he wasn’t an Obake I would have given him a hug, or at least a pat on the back and a few words of encouragement. I would probably tell him that if he trained hard, he'd eventually become a fearsome man-eating beast.

  Instead my dream self walked over and shoved him to the ground.

  “Pitiful,” I said. “Can’t even get his own lunch, no better than a regular human, just what I expected. I guess there really isn’t anything to be said about a dead human monster. It's just a walking corpse.”

  Even though it was only a dream, it was impossible to forget how shocked and miserable he looked. He looked even sadder than Souta when Kiyori was picking on him.

  I thought that was mean enough, but then we all began kicking him too.

  “Actually you are pretty fun after all,” I laughed as I shoved my foot into his ribs. The monster cried out in pain, but we all just thought it was hilarious.

  Despite being just a dream, the monster’s stomach felt amazingly soft and pudgy. It was so realistic that it felt like I was kicking someone in real-life. His screams of pain even began to sound a lot like Souta.

  "Ouch Daisuke stop!" He screamed out in what sounded like Souta's voice.

  The dream began to fade, and I started waking up. I opened my eyes to find myself in my friend’s room at headquarters.

  “You kicked me!” Cried Souta from his futon as he covered his stomach. I must have kicked him in my sleep.

  “I’m sorry,” I apologised. “I didn’t mean to do it!”

  "Tell that to my ribs," he moaned and rolled over.

  I knew that it was just a dream, but I couldn't get the image of us hurting that guy out of my head. Only a pretty mean monster would beat up people who came asking to be friends. Maybe even meaner than Itsuki. It was bad enough that I was a monster once, but it would be even worse if I was like Itsuki.

  I was still apologizing to Souta as we walked into the kitchen to eat breakfast.

  “You know that I wouldn't ever kick you on purpose, right Souta?” I said. Just looking at him made me feel terrible. “I was having this freaky dream and I did it in my sleep.”

  “What sort of dream?” Asked Souta.

  “Well,” I said. I was still trying to make sense of it myself and I didn't know how to explain it. “I dreamt that I was with these two weird guys, and we were kicking some other weird guy and-”

  “That doesn’t sound like a very nice dream,” said Souta and I couldn't help but agree with him.

  Raisei, Yu, Hairi, and Toni were already in the kitchen eating breakfast when we entered. I could see flakes of cereal poking up from Toni’s hair, and Hairi was already anxiously fidgeting in his chair like he needed to use the bathroom. Taisei, Mana, and Itsuki, were sitting on the opposite side of the table eating as well, but Taisei looked like he was trying to pretend that Raisei didn’t exist by immersing himself in his phone. Nina’s brother and Hugo were also there having one of their secret exorcist discussions in the corner, but they went silent when I entered.

  “It goes to school,” said Raisei as he examined me in my school uniform.

  “Talk about emersion,” said Yu.

  “Well, not all of us can just sit around doing nothing,” I said while trying to think up a smart response. “Some of us have assignments and grades to worry about.”

  “The rumors were right, he is insane," I heard Raisei whisper to Yu.

  "Daisuke going to school is a secret from the organization, so you're not allowed to tell anyone, got it?" Said Nina's brother. "If I hear one peep from any of you, I'll be coming to get you after they demote me!"

  "The monster goes to school!" Sang Tony. "The Monster goes to school, someone's going to lose their job because a monster goes to school.”

  “Why you little!” Said Nina's brother as he screwed up his fists and walked towards Toni.

  “Hey, I wouldn't do that if I were you,” said Yu and he created a barrier between Nina's brother and Toni. “She scratched the face off the last guy who got too close.”

  “Yeah, that dude still even has the scars to prove it,” said Raisei as he ate his cereal with one hand while frantically texting on his phone with the other.

  “Why are you always on your phone so much?” Asked Mana as she peered over Raisei's shoulder.

  “I'm just messaging my girlfriend," said Raisei. “We’ve been going out for over three months now and she’s super worried about me disappearing. She keeps asking how soon we can meet up once I get back. It’s such a pain.”

  I could see the corner of Taisei's mouth twitch in anger. I thought he was going to let Raisei's comment slide, but I turned around a moment later to discover that he'd picked up his metal pole and was poised to slam it over Raisei's head, until Mana and Itsuki jumped up to restrain him.

  “It's not worth it," said Itsuki.

  “He..doesn’t..deserve..to..live,” said Taisei as he struggled to get free.

  “What do you mean you’re leaving Akito?” Said Kurumi as she and Akito entered the kitchen. "They can't do this, you're supposed to be our teacher!"

  Taisei's pole fell from his hands and landed on the floor with a clang. "Akito, you're leaving us?" Taisei cried.

  "I'm not leaving you,” said an exasperated Akito. He walked over to the coffee machine and poured himself a cup. “I've been ordered by the organization to take these four back to their branch, and I’m just not permitted to take any of you with me. That doesn't mean that I'm abandoning you."

  “Akito is leaving us!” Cried Souta.

  “But you will be back soon right Akito?” Asked Mana.

  “That depends,” said Akito.

  “On whether or not they beat the Raccoon King,” said Kurumi.

  “What?” Said Taisei. “What do you mean?”

  “We’ve been chosen,” said Raisei with a smirk. “We’ll be going to the front lines to help the organization in the fight against the Raccoon King, and you guys will be left here to guard this run down shack.”

  “You have to be kidding!" Said a mortified Taisei. "Why the hell would they choose you guys over us? She’s not even a real exorcist!” He said while pointing to Toni. “And this guy won’t survive without a bathroom.”

  “There might be no bathroom?” Cried Hairi. “But Yu, you told me that there would be a bathroom!”

  “We can dig a hole in the ground and make you one,” said Yu.

  “But what about the paper?” Protested Hairi.

  “I’m sure we can find you some leaves,” said Raisei.

  “But I’m allergic to nature!” Cried Hairi.

  “These are the orders from the organization,” said Akito. “And as exorcists we have no choice but to follow them. The rest of you will have to respect our superiors' orders and stay here.”

  “Yay!” Said Souta with joy, but Taisei shot him an angry glare. “I mean, oh no!” He cried dramatically, but it was easy to tell that he was faking.

  After breakfast we all had to gather outside to say goodbye to Akito and the East Branch exorcists. I was a little sad to see Akito go, but everyone seemed relieved that we didn’t have to go battle crazy monsters. We had barely survived an onslaught from the fox monster, and I doubted we would last long against the Raccoon King and his evil servants. Only Taisei refused to give up.

  “But Akito, why can’t
we go too,” moaned Taisei. “We all want to fight the Raccoon King as well.”

  “No we don’t,” coughed Kiyori.

  “You’ve all been assigned to hold this area in case the Raccoon King gets through,” said Akito. “And I need your parent’s permission to take you, and there isn’t enough time.”

  “But if the Raccoon King beats all our best exorcists then what chance do we have?” Asked Nina.

  “I have faith in all of you,” said Akito. “Taisei, you’re one of the best leaders I have taught so far. Itsuki you have stronger spiritual powers than most grown exorcists, Kurumi you’re one of the most competent girls that we have in the organization, and the rest of you,” he said while looking over at Nina, Souta, Kiyori, and I. He paused for a moment like he was searching for something to say. “Are making good progress.”

  “What!” I said with my mouth wide open. Akito’s speech failed to give me any confidence whatsoever.

  “I want a new teacher,” muttered Kiyori.

  “Daisuke,” said Akito as he led me away from everyone. “With me gone, you need to be careful. Arashi is a competent and experienced exorcist, but he once rebelled against his father and missed out on training during his teens. He is currently an underdog at the organization, and he will do anything to get promoted. Unlike me he can’t be trusted and he will readily report anything strange or unusual about you to the organization. So you need to be on guard at all times. Don’t give him any reason to let them take you away.”

  “Ok,” I said. “You can count on me.”

  I thought that would be enough for Akito to gain some confidence in me, but he just looked even more concerned and gripped my shoulder a little tighter than necessary before sighing and letting go.

  I spent a while worrying about some strange guy called Arashi who I should be worrying about, until I realized Akito had been talking about Nina’s brother. I always called him Nina’s brother in my head, so I never realized that he had a real name.