by Unknown
“I’ll be back soon!” Akito called out to us as he set off with the East Branch exorcists.
“See you next time Itsuki,” said Yu with a nod as he pushed his glasses back up his nose.
“See you later Taisei,” said Raisei. “Or more like, see you after we take down the Raccoon King without you.”
“Death to all Obake!” Yelled Toni. I assumed it was her own way of saying goodbye.
“Hey, do you think there might be a bathroom on the way?” Asked Hairi as he ran to catch up with the others. They descended the stairs along with Akito and walked out of sight.
“Hey Hugo, what’s up with the bag?” Asked Mana. It was then that I noticed that Hugo had also packed up all his possessions into a backpack and looked ready to leave. He had also washed off his eyeliner and was wearing a dark blue T-shirt, which was the most colourful thing I’d ever seen him wear.
“It's time for me to leave as well,” he said.
“What are you talking about?" Asked Nina's brother. "Your orders are to stay here Hugo.”
“I know that orders are orders,” said Hugo. “And we did make that vow to follow Shinta to the death, but she’s finally coming back from Russia! This could be my only chance to get back together again. I need to be around and look available.”
"Can you even comprehend what you're saying?” Asked Nina’s brother. “Your fellow exorcists are being targeted and you're still talking about your ex? You have to stop doing this man. She’s only going to crush your heart again!”
“I know that things might look a little bad," said Hugo. "But I have faith that you guys can survive without me."
“It's not just that,” said Nina's brother. "Even if everyone does survive, they'll demote you! There’s nothing worse than being demoted!”
“I know,” said Hugo wisely. “But what's the point of having a high position and power if I have no one to share it with.”
“I get it, I get it,” said Nina’s brother with a sigh. “If that’s really where your heart is, then just go already.”
“Thanks Arashi, I owe you one,” said Hugo and he gave Nina's brother a pat on the back. “No matter where I go or what happens in the future, I swear that I will always recommend you for a promotion.”
“What’s up with this friendship?” I heard Taisei whisper to Souta.
And with one final farewell, Hugo also turned and left us.
"I'm sorry about your friend," said Nina to Arashi as we watched Hugo walk away.
"It's okay, he always comes back within a few months," said Arashi as he waved goodbye to Hugo.
"I don't want to admit this," said Taisei. "But that might be the last time we see Akito and the East Branch noobs alive again."
"Don't say that,” said Mana. "I'm sure they will come back again soon."
"Nooo, I don't want Akito to die," said Souta. "Come back alive Akito!” He shouted out into the distance.
"He can't hear you tool," said Kiyori.
I stopped waving goodbye and turned to look at Nina’s brother. On the outside he seemed like a kind older brother and ambitious young exorcist, but I was sure what Akito said was true, and he would gladly sell me out to improve his position. I was alone with maybe one of my greatest adversaries, and I no longer had Akito to protect me.
Chapter 16
With Akito and Hugo gone, Nina’s brother was naturally in charge of watching us. He said that things were going to change now that he was the boss. He also attempted to make us say yes sir every time he issued an order. But that only lasted for an hour until everyone started calling him Nina’s bro again.
I guess that got on his nerves because he quickly made up a list of rules and regulations that we were supposed to follow. We found them all written in black marker on a large sheet of paper which he taped to the kitchen wall. My friends and I quickly gathered around to check them out.
“Rule number one,” read Taisei. “All students must be present for morning training, that means you too Nina.”
“Rule number two,” said Mana. “Time spent outside of training will be used to complete school work and assignments, because an exorcist must train not only their body but their minds as well. I guess that would be no problem for Itsuki.”
I rolled my eyes. “All trainees must read the official exorcist handbook,” I read. “What’s that?”
“Maybe he means this,” said Souta as he pointed to a three inch thick book which had been placed on the floor under the rules. He attempted to pick it up, but struggled with the weight.
“Haven’t you guys ever read this?” Asked Mana as she helped Souta pick up the book. “It’s on the required reading list for all teenage exorcists.”
“No, who honestly reads this crap,” said Taisei. “It’s like it was written by a bunch of high monks who spent too much time meditating. Get a load of this,” he said as he turned the pages. “We exorcists are like shadows that move within the drainpipe,” he read.
“No it doesn’t!” Protested Mana and she pointed to the page. “We exorcists are like shadows that move within the darkness. It’s written right here! Can't you read?”
“Dark drainpipe, darkness, same thing,” shrugged Taisei and he shut the book with a thud.
“Look, he wrote more rules!” Said Souta as he pointed to another sheet of paper which was taped to the opposite wall.
“Everyone in bed by nine on nights without patrol. No snacks, ever,” read Kiyori. “It’s like he’s turning the place into a concentration camp!”
“No phones on patrol!” Read Taisei. “You’re right Kiyori, he’s clearly gone way too far! He needs to be stopped!”
“We need to show him that we won’t be pushed around so easily!” Said Kiyori.
“We need to show him that we’re different from those suck-ups at the main branch!” Said Taisei.
“We need to destroy him!” Said Kiyori.
“What! Do you mean kill him?” I asked.
“No, of course we won’t kill him,” said Taisei. “We'll just knock him around a bit and show him who’s boss.”
“I don’t know,” said Souta. “It sounds like we’d just get into trouble.”
“No we won’t,” said Kiyori. “If he tries to tell the organization we can just beat him up again!”
"Great thinking man," said Taisei, and he gave Kiyori a high five.
“You guys are such idiots,” sighed Mana.
I didn’t know if it was a good idea to beat up Nina’s brother, but he was trying to have me shipped off to the organization, so I decided it could be my only chance to save myself. With Arashi gone (or immobilized) maybe I could finally be free to do what I liked.
Taisei quickly gathered everyone into Akito’s tool shed for a meeting. It was a small wooden shack which was located behind headquarters amongst some bushes. Nina’s brother and Hugo always went there for their secret meetings, so we all assumed it was the best place to start plotting to take him down. It was dark, damp, and the dirt floor was littered with sawdust. I could see the left over floorboards we used to fix headquarters stacked up in the corner, but most of the tools inside were brown and rusty like no one had used them for years.
“For too long we’ve lived under his command,” said Taisei as he paced back and forth before us like a general addressing his troops.
“Hasn’t it only been a day?” Asked Mana.
“For the past twenty-four hours,” said Taisei. “Which has been twenty-three hours and fifty-five minutes too long, our freedom has been mercilessly ripped away. We’ve been forced to submit to unreasonable rules and demands, and it all ends today. I say that we take him down now before he goes too far. Are you with me!”
“I’m out,” said Itsuki and he turned to leave.
“And why aren’t you helping us Itsuki?” Asked an angry Taisei.
“His rules don’t bother me,” said Itsuki.
“That’s because you’re already such a nerd that you follow them all anyway!” Said Taisei. “And wh
at about you!” He said while furiously pointing at Mana who was also half-way out the door. “You’re supposed to be my sister, how can you abandon me at a time like this!”
“I refuse to go along with this because you’re acting like an idiot!” She said. “Just accept the rules and move on. You don’t need your phone on patrol. All you use it for is taking stupid photos of yourself and the Obake. It’s just a distraction.”
“We may have spent our entire lives together, but you don’t know anything about me!” Taisei yelled back.
“You’re with me right Kurumi?” He asked, but she turned around and left in a huff. Taisei sadly watched as she, Itsuki, and Mana walked away. I had a feeling that Taisei was always so angry because he still hadn’t gotten over their breakup.
I was a little disappointed that Mana wouldn’t be helping us, but I turned to see Nina sharpening her arrows with Akito’s stone grinding wheel.
“Why are you here Nina?” I asked. “I thought he was supposed to be your brother."
“There’s only so much I can take,” said Nina. “That being out there is no longer my brother, he’s just a shell of his former self who only cares about his career and being number one.”
“You’re probably still only here because Taisei is,” said Kiyori.
“Shut-up! That has nothing to do with it,” said Nina, but her face began turning bright red.
Taisei decided that it was best not to underestimate Nina’s brother because we’d never seen him in a fight. Nina said that he used to be really weak, but then her father kicked him out, so she hadn’t seen him fight for over ten years. We decided not to take any chances. We also decided to wait until after lunch to attack him (because Arashi promised to buy us ice-cream to celebrate him becoming in charge) but after that it was game on.
“Nina you lure him outside,” commanded Taisei. “Daisuke, you and I will attack from the roof. Kiyori, you can attack from behind a bush, and Souta, just do whatever you do when we normally fight Obake.”
“Stay back and wait for someone to get hurt so that I can bandage them up?” Asked Souta.
“Yes, that’s perfect! Just stick with that!” Said Taisei.
After that we all took our positions and waited for Arashi to walk into our trap.
“Why have you called me out here Nina?” Asked Arashi. We all watched as he and Nina strolled out of headquarters and into the middle of the garden. "Don’t tell me that you've finally realised my genius and potential to rise to the top?”
“Arashi,” said Nina. “At first you said that you wanted to get along well with father again, but then once you joined the organization you spent all your time following those old men and running errands for them. Then the next thing I know you’ve completely changed. Suddenly you wanted to get a better job within the organization, but then once you achieved that you won't stop talking about promotions. It’s like no matter how far they promote you it’s never enough, and you only want more and more power. Now you’re even trying to use me to marry old men to gain connections. And if that wasn't bad enough, I heard you’ve been trying to set our little sister up with your co-worker’s kid to get married once they’re older."
“How long is this going to go on for?” I asked.
“My leg is falling asleep,” said Souta who was also hiding with us on the roof.
“Just endure it!” Said Taisei.
“Father said that he was thinking of letting you come back,” Nina continued. “But now you’re just going too far, and it’s such a shame because mother really wants you to live with us again, but at this rate I don’t think that you should expect much."
I wasn't sure what Nina said after that because I stopped paying attention. I was certain that she spent at least another ten minutes saying something which sounded like blah blah blah blah.
“ATTACK!” Yelled Taisei who had obviously had enough. “Nina’s brother!" He yelled as he jumped from the roof with his metal pole out ready to smash Arashi in the head. "Your dictatorship ends today!”
I jumped from the roof to follow Taisei. Souta hesitantly followed after me. Nina pulled a water charm from out of her sleeve, and Kiyori jumped out from behind his bush with his fist pulled back and ready to punch Arashi. Our plan was flawless and I thought that there was no way that any of us could miss, but Arashi just stood there with a strange smirk on his face. I thought it was strange that he could stay calm when being attacked by five teenagers, but I found out why when we hit an invisible barrier which repelled our attacks and sent us flying backwards.
I hit the side of headquarters with a thud and the wind was knocked out of my lungs. Taisei also hit the wall next to me, and Souta and Kiyori were sent flying into the bushes. Nina was the luckiest out of us all, and she only had to dodge her repelled water charm.
“What the hell was that!” I yelled.
Nina's brother pulled a piece of charm paper from his jacket which glowed once before it disintegrated into thin air. "Instant barrier charm," he said with a grin. "Only works once, but great against sneak attacks!"
"That's impossible," groaned Kiyori as he struggled to get out of the bushes. "That's commander Ishikawa's secret charm! He would never share that with anyone."
"Hey, Taisei," said Souta. "Maybe we shou-"
“That was a fluke!” Yelled Taisei as he picked himself off the ground and got ready to charge again. "Attack!"
We all lunged towards Arashi for another strike. This time there was no barrier in our way and I was certain we couldn't lose. I was inches away from striking him in the stomach when he suddenly disappeared from before my eyes. It was too late to stop our attack, so Kiyori, Souta, and I collided into each other before Taisei’s pole slammed into us followed by Nina’s water charm. Taisei managed to avoid the water, but the rest of us were sent floating into Akito’s fishpond.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing!” Yelled a very wet and angry Kiyori as he pulled himself out of the water.
“I didn’t do it on purpose,” cried Nina. “He just suddenly disappeared!”
“I’ve seen that before,” said Souta. He had a hard time getting out of the pond so I had to help pull him out. “That’s my great uncle’s flee at the last moment and let all your enemies hit each other special move!”
“So the rumors were true!” Said Nina with her mouth open in awe.
“Hey! What rumors?" Asked Taisei. "You didn’t tell us about any rumours Nina!”
“I didn’t think it was possible," said Nina. "But I heard that my brother sucked up to every great exorcist in the organization to get their best moves.”
“That's right!” Called Arashi from the rooftop above us. He must have jumped up there when we weren't looking. He leapt from the roof with ease and slowly walked towards us with the confidence of a man who knew he wasn’t going to lose. "For three long years I existed below the very bottom level of the organization. I ran countless errands for old men. I pushed them in their wheelchairs and did their shopping. Sometimes we would even go down to the river and throw breadcrumbs at little ducks. I would sit and listen for countless hours about how their family never came to visit, and how their grandchildren disrespected them. And finally in return they shared their greatest secret techniques. Now, you will all have the honour of experiencing the results of my hard work and suffering!”
“He truly is the super-suck up,” said Kiyori in awe.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Yelled Taisei and we all turned to flee. Arashi was also great at running and he quickly followed after us.
“Anti-monster stunner!” Yelled Nina's brother as he pulled a small black ball from his pocket and threw it against the ground near my feet. Grey smoke rose from the ground and filled my lungs before I had the chance to get away. Everyone else was unaffected, but I felt my body go numb and I instantly hit the dirt. I tried to get up and run, but my whole body was paralysed and I couldn’t even move a finger.
“Save me,” was all I managed to utter. I thought there was no wa
y that my friends would leave me there to suffer, but to my surprise they just continued to flee.
“We can’t leave him there!” Protested Nina.
“I’m sorry Nina," said Taisei. "But if we want to achieve victory there’s going to be some sacrifices."
“Taisei,” said Nina. I thought that at least Nina would never let them leave me, but I had forgotten that Nina was obsessed with Taisei and did whatever he said without a second thought.
“Sorry Daisuke!” She yelled out as the two of them ran off into the distance.
"Trai....tors," I managed to say through my paralyzed lips. I looked to see that Kiyori was also lying on the ground beside me. He wasn't an Obake (therefore the gas shouldn't have affected him) so it was obvious that he was just faking it to avoid fighting Arashi.
“I’ve been caught!” Cried Souta. He froze on the spot and collapsed in defeat, but Nina’s brother had just tapped him on the shoulder like it was a game of freeze tag.
"I expected this from Taisei, but I never thought that you of all people would betray me Nina!" Yelled Arashi as he chased after Nina and Taisei. He pulled a thin steel chain from his pocket and threw it towards them. It hit Nina's legs and wrapped itself around her ankles. She tripped and hit the ground face first with a thud. Nina tried her best to kick off the chain and break free, but it was stuck to her like a magnet.
"You can't do this! I'm telling father!" Nina cried.
"Really dear sister," said Arashi. "Then I'm sure father would love to hear about how you used your weapon's money to buy new shoes."
"You're so mean!" Said Nina as she frantically kicked her legs and tried to escape the chain like a small child throwing a tantrum. "I'm never going to forgive you for this!"
Taisei was the only one of us who was still on the run, and our last hope for defeating the evil tyrant who was Nina's brother. I was certain he would never give up, and definitely fight to the death to avenge us all.
“Surrender now Shinya!” Yelled Nina's brother as he dashed after Taisei.
“Never!” Yelled Taisei. “Akito’s our real teacher and I’ll never take orders from you!” He pulled a paper charm from his pocket and turned to face Arashi. Taisei used his pole to shield his face, and he began to chant a mantra under his breath. The paper slowly began to flicker and crackle with energy. It looked like he was attempting to use a lightning charm.
