by M. C Queen
“Are you serious, are you saying that fat cat could show up one day and eat people?” I was certain it would need to lose weight first before it could inflict terror into the hearts of men.
“As for the cat,” said Akito. “I think not, but you are probably familiar with different ghost stories correct? It's not odd for people who die horrible deaths to one day appear as Obake.”
“What! People can also become Obake?”
“It's not as common as you'd expect, most people don't want to become man eating-monsters and devourer their families. But I usually deal with it once or twice a year. It's mostly children and teenagers. Those who didn't get the chance to grow up are always the worst.”
“But you can stop it right, like the stuff you did today?”
“What we did today was all for show, there's no possible way of stopping an Obake until it appears in physical form. While most Obake are born from other Obake, there are also a lot which are born from the physical world, or make the transition from the spirit world. We're still undecided how they come to be, but it's not strange for an Obake to suddenly appear one day out of thin air. The weaker ones are often mistaken as ghosts, but the more malicious kind pose a danger to humanity.”
“Are you saying that it's possible for an Obake just to appear anywhere at anytime? Like on this train?”
“Yes, it's quite possible,” he nodded.
I scooted closer to Akito.
“But unlikely,” he added. That's why we should take these cases seriously. We might not be able to do anything until the Obake appears, but it's a good way to investigate potential Obake infestations.”
“I see, I see,” I nodded. The matter was more serious than I could have ever imagined.
“But that's not the reason why I brought you here today,” said Akito. “It's all well and good to become an exorcist, but it doesn't pay well. Recently I've been thinking that if being an exorcist doesn't work out for you, maybe you could take on a job like this and help raise funds for the organization.”
“Oh I see,” I nodded. “Is that what happened to you Akito?”
I didn't think that I said anything bad, but Akito suddenly went very silent and didn't speak for the entire journey back. Once we arrived at headquarters he ordered me back to the rock with a vengeance.
“So you went on one of those exorcisms,” said Taisei who stopped by my rock for a chat. “Akito made me go a few times but he had to kick me out cause I laughed too much.”
“I thought that too,” I said. “But then I learned how important it was for sussing out potential Obake.”
“That's just a bunch of crap, the organization is only making up excuses to scam people for money. The only way to get rid of an Obake is by destroying it. You should have figured that out by now.”
“That's not true, Akito said that Obake can appear anywhere at any time!”
“But it's usually near the body, so unless someone was murdered and stashed under that rock last night I don't think you have anything to worry about.”
I felt a cold chill go down my spine. “Near the body?”
Taisei sighed. “Akito's been such a pain recently. I don't want to go to university so he's been trying to get me involved with some of these things, like selling charms, and writing columns for strange supernatural magazines. I just know that Akito's trying to convert me into his own personal stooge.”
“Taisei,” I said.
“I mean how hard is it just to give me a break?”
“Taisei.”
“We already train three hours a day.”
“Taisei,” I whispered while tilting my head towards what lay behind him.
“What is it?” He signed and leaned back on my rock, only to be confronted by the sight of Akito glaring at him from the window. He immediately snapped to attention. “Wow look at that, I've got to go kill.. something... and then take some pictures,” he said before dashing off.
After that Taisei had to spend the rest of the afternoon polishing the wooden floors so things got pretty boring. I used to play on my phone and surf the net when I was certain no one was watching. My old cell phone was destroyed by the wolf Obake so Sis was kind enough to buy me a new one. It had a touch screen and one of those applications where you could edit your photos. I found a picture of Akito attempting to exorcise the cat, and I drew a turd on his head. It was pretty funny and I spent a good five minutes laughing, but it suddenly reminded me that I hadn't been to the bathroom for hours.
Akito said that training my bladder was also part of my new training regimen (Apparently there are times when an exorcist must be motionless for hours) so I had to silently creep there like a Ninja.
I was in the middle of stealthily sneaking back when I heard voices through the kitchen window. I approached while wondering if Kurumi had snuck her secret boyfriend into headquarters until I realized it was Sis and Akito. The window was just out of reach, so I jumped up to take a look. I was thinking of suddenly screaming boo to give her a fright (it would have been hilarious) until I realized I was supposed to be engrossed in silent meditation.
I remembered what Sis told me about herself and Akito, and I decided to stay and watch just to make sure the two of them hadn't started up an affair behind Shuro's back.
Sis and Akito were both sitting at the kitchen table across from each other. Akito had both his hands clasped together on the table, and my sister's face was stone cold. She was staring at her glass of water with abnormal concentration.
“I never thought you'd still be here babysitting children. What happened to the Akito who said he was going to travel the world slaying dangerous Obake wherever he went?” She asked.
“What happened to me?” He scoffed. “What happened to the Kanako who used to burst in here and demand to join us?”
“Hmmm, this place was so macho back then, when did they start letting girls in?”
“It was a few years after your brothe-” he paused. “We started loosing people faster after that and we needed to make up the numbers.”
“So only a few more years and I could have been a real exorcist huh? Maybe it doesn't matter, I don't think I would have been a good one anyway.”
“I wouldn't doubt you, you were pretty good at holding your own, even without a teacher.”
“Perhaps. I used to practice by myself every day until my fingers bled. I was so stupid and desperate to prove myself to everyone, but then after my brother died, it just didn't seem like fun anymore.”
“Yes, I think everything stopped being fun after we lost him. Daisuke was definitely a talent that only comes along once a century.”
“Maybe, perhaps,” she began chewing her lip. “That's what everyone said, but he couldn't even fold his own clothes and he failed high school. Everyone used to harp on about how brilliant he was at exorcising, but he couldn't really do much else. He was such a useless older brother.”
“That's what I'd expect you to say, but things used to be a lot easier back when he was alive.”
“Maybe, I saw the way you and your friends all idolized him, and it mortifies me that these new kids still look up to him even after his death.”
“I'm afraid there's not much we can do about that, your brother may have been the strongest exorcist who ever lived.”
“That's what everyone keeps telling me,” she sighed. “But even he died a stupid and pointless death,” she began tapping her fingers nervously on the table. “Hey Akito, I know this may sound crazy, but sometimes, sometimes, I think that maybe father adopted Dai-chan because he was hoping to create another Daisuke Matsumoto.”
“That kid!” Akito began to laugh uncontrollably (I didn't know what was so funny) until a stern glance from Sis shut him up. He coughed a few times before regaining his composure. “Another Daisukehuh?” He coughed. “I don't know if that's possible. Your younger brother certainly has a lot of potential, but in terms of personality they're polar opposites.”
“I know that,” Sis paused like s
he was looking for words. “They might have the same name, but to me they're completely different people as well. But knowing father he could have done it. Brother would have been nothing if it weren't for him.”
“Really, is that so,” Akito didn't say anymore, but he screwed up his face like he was still doubtful.
“It's true!” Said Sis. “Father never bragged about himself or showed off, but he was actually very talented. I still wonder who was the better of the two, father or brother. Brother may have been famous, but I'm certain that father still had a few tricks up his sleeve that he didn't tell anyone about.”
“Quite possibly,” Akito sighed. “My grandfather also said that your father would have been great if that Obake hadn't crippled him. It's not hard to imagine that Kousuke Matsumoto was trying to make your brother the exorcist he always wanted to be.”
“Right!” Said Sis. “That's what I was saying for years, but no one ever believed me,” she pouted. “He was completely obsessed with my brother's training. It was always Daisuke this and Daisuke that, andKanako please go clean your brother's room so he can spend more time training.”
Like me, Akito must have also sensed that the conversation was taking an irritating turn and decided to change the subject. “You still have your father's things right? The books, the manuscripts, the Obake research?” He asked.
“Perhaps,” she said while scratching her head. “It's all packed up into boxes somewhere in the house. I haven't really looked at his things since he died.”
“I always meant to ask you if it was possible to look at your father's old things, I'm sure there would be plenty of valuable material which we could use.”
“Go ahead,” she shrugged. “I don't have any use for them. It's unlikely that Hikaru-chan will ever become caught up in all of this. Dai-chan might be interested, but he's still too stupid to understand any of it.”
“Yes he's probably not quite up to that level yet. But maybe I can pass on anything useful.”
“I'd appreciate that. Dai-chan has always wanted to know more about father. I'm sure father had plans to pass everything else on to Dai-chan anyway if he hadn't died.”
“Talking about your younger brother,” Akito began tapping his fingers on the table. “He asked me to investigate any leads on his real parents. I've made some inquiries, but looking back on it now you should have been the first person I asked.”
Sis went silent for a moment and began staring at the table. “Have you found anything yet?” She asked solemnly.
“No, nothing yet. I'll tell you if anything comes up.”
“Figures, I couldn't find anything either and I've been searching for over ten years.”
“Did your father say anything?”
“No, I just went to visit him one day and Dai-chan was playing in the garden. I never found any papers so I still don't know if he was even legally adopted. I wouldn't be surprised if father just picked him off the street on his way home.”
“So you think it could have been child abduction?”
“At first. I told the police and they did an investigation, but until now no one has come forward to claim him as their child. There were a few leads, but in the end, nothing. Father said that Dai-chan's parents died in an accident where Dai-chan was the only survivor. It could be true, there's some nasty scarring on his back. I tried to pry more information out of him but father refused to tell me anything. He insisted that he planned to raise Dai-chan as his son.”
“And the next Daisuke Matsumoto?”
Sis seemed taken back by his words. She ran her fingers through her hair and leaned her elbows against the table. “It was really mortifying to watch them together, you know,” she muttered. “It was like he had my older brother back again. I thought he had finally snapped and gone crazy. It was hard enough trying to deal with him when he was obsessed with revenge. But that, that was somehow worse.”
“I'm sorry Kanako, you've really had it tough haven't you. But you can't deny that your younger brother possesses a great deal of spiritual potential.”
“Of course he does, father wouldn't be interested in him otherwise.”
“I'm almost certain that if he had the right guidance from a young age, Dai-chan would have had the potential to surpass your brother.”
“Don't tell him that, he won't be able to suppress his excitement. He'll be bouncing off the walls. What about now, would it still be possible?”
“Now.. I think that with enough hard work he might scrape by. Maybe he'll never reach the same level as Itsuki or Taisei, but he should know enough to defend himself.”
“OK, I suppose that's all he really needs, just as long as he knows when to run instead of trying to fight in situations where he could be killed.”
“We can work on that, but to be honest I never expected that you'd agree to let Dai-chan join.”
“Hmm, but I'm still hoping he'll decide to give up on his own. If I didn't let him join he'd probably resent me and join on his own. That's his personality.”
“I'm impressed Kanako, you've really changed since you became a mother.”
“Maybe, I think children seem to have a strange effect on a person.”
“Ah, perhaps,” muttered Akito. “But I feel like these ones may be driving me to the brink of insanity.”
“Talking about children,” my sister stopped and glanced at her watch. “I should be getting back, I have to prepare all of Hikaru's things for school tomorrow,” she rose from her chair and picked up her glass to place it in the sink. I was terrified I'd be spotted, so I quickly fell to the ground and began crawling back to the rock where Akito had left me.
I sat myself back into the meditation position, but it was impossible to concentrate. Their conversation was constantly rotating in my head and refused to go away. Words such as child abduction, next Daisuke Matsumoto, not as good as Itsuki, imbedded themselves into my brain and continued to rotate on a never-ending cycle. I'd never considered the possibility that Grandpa could have been a bad guy. What if he had taken me away from my real family? What if my parents had spent years looking for their long-lost son who had been abducted by a crazy man?
And what did Akito and Sis mean by the next Daisuke Matsumoto? What was up with that? I always thought Grandpa had loved me for who I was, but maybe he could only see his dead son staring back. Maybe he couldn't cope with the death of the first Daisuke, so he decided to go out and get himself a new one.
I wasn't sure how I was supposed to deal with this new information without having a mental breakdown. Everyone else my age was busy dealing with issue such as which shoes to wear, and what girl to like, no one else I knew had to go through this crap.
“Dai-chan!” Came a voice which interrupted my thoughts. I opened my eyes to see my sister staring back. “It's time to go home.”
I quickly crawled down from my rock and dusted myself off. Sis must have sensed something was up because she soon asked “are you OK, You don't look so good.”
“I'm fine,” I lied. Even though it was far from the truth.
Chapter 17
Ever since I became an exorcist I felt like I was being constantly compared to the previous Daisuke Matsumoto. Akito's words about us being polar opposites continued to haunt me for the following week, until I eventually gave in and asked what the difference was between us.
“How should I say this, you're certainly a lot more, dramatic than the other Daisuke Matsumoto.”
“Dramatic?” I questioned. I wondered what that was supposed to mean.
“That's not a bad thing, you're certainly more entertaining. Hmm, what else. Daisuke also did what he was told, and spent most of his life trying to please others. Mostly his father, but you on the other hand-”
“Hey I do what I'm told too!” I said while remembering the countless hours I spent writing compositions.
“I saw you eating potato chips in the library again,” said Akito sternly. “There's now crumbs stuck between the pages. I opened a one hundred y
ear old scripture only to find it covered in greasy fingerprints.”
“Oh, oh yeah, I promise I won't eat in there again.”
“The other Daisuke was also better at calligraphy, meditation, running, compositi-”
“OK, OK, that's enough. Daisuke was an awesome dude, I get it already.”
I was hoping for clarity but it just made me feel shitty about myself. If Grandpa gave me the same name in the hope that I would be like his son, he must have been sadly disappointed by now.
* * *
The following Sunday was spent at headquarters training. I had a distant memory of once spending my weekends having fun, but now all my free time was dedicated to training, training, training, and more training. Akito was out running errands that day so both Taisei and Souta were free to hang out. Taisei showed me a few moves, and Souta brought out all his paper charms and let me practice. It was such an enjoyable day, and I had completely forgotten about my grandfather issues until they showed up in my face yet again.
We were laying on the verandah sun baking when I looked up to see Sis standing over me with a large box.
“Dai-chan thank god you're here, I need you to help me carry these things,” she said.
I sat up and took the box from her hands. “Hey Sis, what's all this?”
She turned and began walking away to get more. “These are some of your grandfather's old things, I had them in storage but I thought that maybe the exorcists would have some use for them.”