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!
Chapter 12
"It's not a werewolf," said Akito.
We were all gathered before him in the front room of headquarters. All of us were anxiously sitting seiza style on the tatami floor (or in Taisei's case, lying on his back) as we waited for Akito's verdict.
I felt a sense of relief wash over me.
"At least there's no longer any need to worry about a werewolf infestation, right?" I asked.
"It's worse," said Akito.
"Oh, I knew it was too good to be true," I muttered.
"Wolves are high level Obake who are capable of transforming into human form," said Akito. "It's no difficult task for them to trick humans, lure them back to their lair, and then eat them alive."
"But you don't have to worry about them sneaking up on you and ripping your heart out, right?" I asked.
"No," said Kiyori in a spooky voice. "They eat the body whole."
"Eh," I felt a cold shiver run down my body.
"Are you really sure it's them?" Taisei asked. "What if this first year was just making the whole thing up? Didn't we already go through this with the big foot scare?"
"I'm not spending another week searching the city for nothing," added Kurumi. "My skin became so dry last time."
"Always you and your skin," Nina muttered under her breath.
My teacher continued. "There's been a string of violent attacks in a nearby city that I've been following for weeks. Muggings, shop windows, smaller Obake suddenly leaving the area. These are all signs of a wolf gang presence."
Kiyori raised his hand. "Hey Akito! When you made me write that composition on wolf Obake, the textbook said that the organization made a truce with them not to attack humans."
"Hmm," nodded Akito. "That was true when I was your age, but things have changed. Ever since the old pack leader died that truce has be rendered invalid, and most of the wolves now run around doing as they please."
"Err," Kiyori ground his teeth. He was obviously annoyed that he had to write a report which was a lie.
The look on his face was enough to make me laugh, until Akito turned around and said "that reminds me, I think I've found the subject for your next composition Daisuke."
I began to imagine what Akito would look like if he was stabbed with a thousand pins, and I began to consider making my own Akito voodoo doll.
"That's why we need to treat this with utmost caution," said Akito. "We don't know their intentions. They could be after fun, money, or aiming for new territory. The organization even assigned a special task force to combat this insurgency. They requested that we don't make a move until their agent arrives. Until then we will scourer the town and try to discover their location, but we are forbidden from doing anymore. Understood?"
"Looks like another sleepless night," sighed Mana.
"What are you talking about? There's no way you're going," said Taisei. "She's not seriously going, right Akito? This looks dangerous and stuff, and if Mana dies my parents are going to kill me."
"But I hunt Obake all the time!" Mana protested.
"These aren't low level Obake," said Taisei. "We're dealing with level one now!"
"Mana's going, it's part of her training," said Akito.
"Ah hah!" Mana stuck her tongue out at her brother.
Taisei scowled. "Itsuki, it's your job to look after Mana!" He snapped.
I skimmed through the pages while spending every moment wishing that I was outside with the others.
I was beginning to feel disheartened with the whole exorcist thing. Everyone had made it out to seem dangerous and exciting, but until then I hadn't done anything except read books.
I decided to build a fort out of the library books to kill time while the others were gone. I did a pretty good job, but then the encyclopedia of 100 cute but deadly Obake wasn't as stable as it seemed and the whole thing came crashing down.
I realized while picking up the pieces that the answer to all my problems had been sitting in front of me all along.
It was simple, I would use the information from the books to go find the wolf Obake on my own.
I grabbed the closest volume, and flipped through the pages until I found what I was looking for.
It was as Akito claimed. They were apparently very dangerous Obake who many exorcists had died attempting to defeat. The book must have been old because it claimed that all wolves served under one pack leader. He even once had central Japan under his control. Akito did say that he was dead now, so even all powerful Obake have to die eventually.
Of course I had no plans to fight the wolf monsters. I didn't want to be eaten alive, but if I managed to locate them and tell the others, then they would finally take my skills seriously and allow me to go on more exorcisms.
I picked up the rest of the books and shoved them randomly back on the shelves. I collected my book on wolves and readied myself for my first ever Obake hunt.
Looking back on it now it was comical how eager I was to find a dangerous level one Obake, especially after the terrible situation I got myself into.
I searched the obvious spots listed in the textbook. Caves, empty houses, and I even hung outside a bar in case someone suspicious emerged. I tried to be extra cautious not to run into the others as well. If our paths crossed, I was planning to tell them that I was out on my evening jog.
"Hmm, if I was a wolf Obake, where would I be?" I asked myself.
I tried to get my mind into the zone like Taisei had once advised me. I had attempted it before with cat, raccoon, and pry-mantas, but I'd failed up until then and apparently wolves weren't any different. After searching the town for at least three hours I still had nothing.
I was beginning to wish I had brought a detector charm along to help me, but I never imagined it would be so difficult to find an Obake. My ordinary and mundane classmate had managed it after all.
"That's it! The school!" I said to myself.
If Yuto had seen a wolf Obake on his way home, it meant they had to be hiding out somewhere near his commute to school. I began jogging in the direction of my high school with a renewed sense of hope.
I felt like I was a master exorcist stalking his prey. I was ready to take down monsters and free the world from evil.
I was still only halfway to school when I spotted a house which caught my attention. The plot of land was bigger than the houses beside it, and it was surrounded by overgrown trees which blocked out the sun. The grass was overgrown, but the house was still in good condition, so I assumed that the owner was just a lousy gardener.
I couldn't help thinking that if I were a man eating Obake, this was where I would want to hide. All I had to do was knock on the door and confirm that the people behind it were human.
I ran my fingers over the wooden fence nervously. I was suddenly unsure if I wanted to plunge headfirst into a potential Obake infestation.
As eager as I was, I still had no experience when it came to eliminating Obake, and the only charm I knew wasn't anymore useful than a candle.
I continued staring at the house with no idea what to do. If I had just returned straight home instead of lingering to mull over my inner torment, things wouldn't have ended so badly.
"Hey kid! What are you doing?"
A gruff voice made be jump.
I spun around to see a short stocky man carrying a pair of hedge trimmers over his shoulder. He must have been the house owner who had finally given in and decided to tame the garden.
"What are you doing here kid?" He asked.
"I..I," I stuttered.
I wasn't sure how tovoice my intentions in a way that wouldn't sound strange, so I just bowed by head and attempted to quickly walk away.
"Hey kid! Wait up," he put his arm in front of me to prevent me from fleeing. "I suppose you'll do."
I was about to ask what he was talking about, before something bashed into the right side of my head, and everything went black.
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