Summary: They say life flashes before you in that moment before death. I could see it all reflected in the blade. I was standing under the cherry blossoms at my school entrance ceremony, eating cake at my sister's wedding, standing outside praying the monster wouldn't come tonight. I might not be dead yet but I can see what's coming, this is the story of how I was murdered by a fox monster!
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Chapter 15
I had taken to carrying Shiki's card around to help motivate me with my training. It was also a good reminder of the promise I made to Itsuki about becoming an awesome exorcist. I felt like I should have been more loyal to Akito (because he was my teacher and spent his free time trying to force stuff into my head) but Shiki never attempted to kill me.
School was a lot more exciting once Itsuki became my friend. Keira would often join us, but in those situations we couldn't talk about exorcist stuff. I got to learn a lot more about Itsuki and Mana that way. I had plans to invite them all over to my house, mainly so that I could introduce Mana to her future in-laws, but we all know that won't be possible anymore.
I had to tone down the incident with the wolves when I told Sis. If I had told her the truth, she would have pulled me out of school and made us all leave town. Luckily I broke it to her when she was doing chores, and obviously distracted by how much powder she needed to put in the washing machine.
I know that I often complain about Sis, but she's my best friend. I could tell her almost anything, but obviously not the stuff which was going to get me into trouble.
I told her about school and the girl I liked in my class. I told her about my rival for love, Itsuki, and how he was better at school, exorcising, and how I would never stand a chance of gaining the affections of Mana.
In return, she usually told me about the horrible deaths her brother's friends suffered, and attempted to make me quit exorcising.
“And then there was Maasa who used to go on BBQs with us every summer. He thought he could take on a pry-mantas Obake single-handed. All they managed to recover was a hand,” she said while happily pulling clothes out of the drier.
I felt the blood run from my face. I stared at the apple in my hand (which I suddenly didn't want to eat anymore) and neatly placed it back in the fruit bowl.
I decided to change the subject before she began recounting more gruesome stories.
“Hey Sis, I know this girl there who kind of looks like you,” I said. “Maybe you've met her before. Her name is Nina.”
“Nina, huh,” my sister said. “I think I remember one of my aunts having a child with that name. Is her last name Ueda?”
“I think so,” I remembered seeing Ueda stitched onto her school uniform.
“She's probably a cousin of mine, my mother had a sister who married a guy called Ueda.”
Sis didn't talk much about her mother. Grandpa and Grandma separated while Sis was in high school. After Grandpa died, Grandma used the money from his will to move to Europe. We still received postcards occasionally.
Personally I thought the money from Grandpa could have been used for better purposes, mainly me.
“Lots of exorcists are related in one way or another, so it's not odd that we look alike,” she added. “I used to go over there all the time before my brother died. Those kids that you hang around with now, I probably knew their parents or older siblings.”
“So you used to go over there a lot right?”
It reminded me of the conversation I had with Shiki. I spent most of the evening mulling over how to best ask Sis without getting him into trouble. I was certain I had it down to the perfect wording which would not cause suspicion.
“So Sis,” I said while leaning over the couch and attempting to appear casual. “You and Akito, was there ever any, you know, action going on between you in the past?”
Sis instantly dropped her basket of laundry in the middle of the floor. Clothes flew everywhere.
“Who told you that!” She cried. “It was Akito wasn't it? I'm going to wring his scrawny little-”
“No no, calm down Sis. It wasn't Akito, he didn't say anything!”
“Alright then, who was it? Who told you? Have you been snooping around? Was it Moriyama?”
“No, no. It wasn't Shiki,” I said while waving my arms in the air much like Shiki had done a few days before. “It's just that you, and Akito. I sense this chemistry between you, which could stem from an unresolved relationship in your past,” despite making it all up off the top of my head it sounded pretty smart to me.
“It was Shiki wasn't it. That greasy little playboy never knew how to keep his trap shut!”
“No, no, please forget I said anything!”
Shiki seemed like a cool guy and I felt bad for selling him out. I was hoping he would teach me some cool new exorcist tricks which he couldn't do if he was dead. I began to help pick the laundry up, but when I turned around Sis was already at the table writing out charms.
“Yes, let's see how he fares with women once I burn his eyebrows off, again,” she said dangerously as the brush glided across the paper. “No. I should just take a patch out of the middle, let's see what the Shiki chop can do against that,” she then began manically laughing.
I felt terror run down my spine, and I wasn't certain if the woman before me was even my sister anymore. She seemed a lot happier when she was planning Shiki Moriyama's downfall.
“Hey, hey Sis?” I asked nervously, but she was too consumed in revenge to respond.
I decided it was time to escape. I didn't want to know what other terrible plans she had in mind for my new idol. I felt bad for Shiki (and his eyebrows) but it was already too late and there was nothing I could do.
I was halfway up the stairs when Sis called out to me.
“Dai-chan!” She yelled from the kitchen. “I suppose I should just tell you the truth before your imagination runs wild and you start making up ridiculous stories!”
“Ridiculous stories,” I scoffed. “Since when do I make up ridiculous stories?”
I returned to the kitchen and watched Sis place the charm neatly on the refrigerator and return to folding the laundry. I sat there waiting in anticipation for at least a minute before Sis opened her mouth.
“Akito and I were originally arranged to get married,” she said.
“Really? You and Akito?”
I tried to imagine coming down to breakfast every morning to see Akito sitting at the table. Akito going with us on vacation. Akito helping me with my homework. Akito probably forcing me to study every day. Actually it was pretty horrible to imagine and I had to stop myself.
“My mother arranged it when we were kids,” Sis continued. “Women weren't allowed to be exorcists back then, so my job as the daughter in an exorcist family was to help join them to another family and mass produce sons.”
“That sucks. So why didn't it happen?”
“Because I met a guy I liked in high school.”
“I see, it must have been Shuro right?” I could see no other reason why Sis would go against such an important marriage.
“No Keigo.”
“Keigo? Who is this Keigo person?”
“My boyfriend in high school. He was tall, strong, and had a tattoo,” she began to do that thing girls in my class did when they were fantasizing about the guy they liked. “ He took me to the beach one summer on his motorcycle and everything.”
I screwed my face up in disgust.
“He sounds like a delinquent Sis.”
“No he wasn't, but then again,” she looked like she was contemplating it. “Anyway, Akito didn't seem like a bad guy, but I didn't want to get married to someone I wasn't in love with. I told my parents that I didn't want to do it anymore, which was a bad idea. It caused a huge uproar. I couldn't convince anyone to take my side, so Keigo and I ran away together until the police found us.”
“And that's when the arranged marriage broke off?”
“No, eventually I gave in and decided to do what everyone wanted.”
“Then how did you get out of it?”
“I tried everything I could and failed, but after my brother died my family began to fall apart. My father decided to break away from the exorcists and my parents separated. Nobody was pressuring me into an arranged marriage anymore, so I just did what I wanted.”
“I see,” I never realized that my adopted brother's death could have also effected my sister's marriage. “But then you met Shuro, right?”
“Not straight away. Keigo and I got back together and we were going to get married. Until.....until.....until he left me for that bitch!”
She tore the shirt she was holding in half.
I stared in shock. It was a painful reminder not to mess with Sis. I thought she was scary before, but after learning about her secret exorcist powers I didn't want to make her mad. I had no idea when she was going to pull them out.
“Hey Sis, there's no need to stress out,” I said nervously. “If you'd stayed together you wouldn't have Shuro and Hikaru.”
“Yes, yes you're right.” She folded up the shirt and attempted to regain her composure. “But he said that we'd be together forever!”
Sis then began lamenting about how her old fiance left her for a busty tramp. I was just glad Shuro wasn't there. I wasn't sure how he'd take it, but he may have already heard the whole story.
My sister then spent an hour crying on my shoulder and I had to supply her with tissues. I decided that it probably wasn't a good idea to ever bring up her past relationships. As strong as Sis seemed there were certain topics which quickly sent her into tears.
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