How I was Murdered by a Fox Monster

Chapter 5 ~ Exorcist

Hello and welcome to Chapter 5. A big thanks to anyone who has reviewed over the last week or so.

I discovered there were seven exorcists at school. There was Itsuki and Mana, who were both in my class. Kiyori (the big guy) and Souta (the awkward one with curly hair) were both in second year. The blonde girl Kurumi, and Taisei (who seemed like their leader) were both in third. Nina was also in the third year. She wasn't at school the day I met the other exorcists, but I saw her once in the hall. She looked a lot like Sis, but I'll tell you more about that later.

Everyone seemed to find Souta annoying, but he was the only one who was willing to tell me anything. Whenever I talked to the others they'd freeze up and tell me to go away, but Souta let the secrets spill like there was no tomorrow.

“Obake are animal spirits which live in the natural world,” he explained to me.

“I knew that already,” I said while remembering the stories Grandpa told me as a child. “What else?”

“Hmm, Obake usually pretend to be different animals and then transform back into monsters and eat humans. Lots of murders are actually done by Obake instead of people. No one thinks that the cute kitty they find on the street is going to eat them when their back is turned.”

“I knew it!” I didn't feel so stupid anymore for treating every animal with caution as a child.

“But different types of Obake often disguise themselves as the same animal so you never know what you're going to get until it unveils itself. Sometimes its just a talking cat, or a giant cat with massive claws, or a half cat half person thing. It makes exorcising really hard. When I started we had to run away a lot, but now Taisei and Kurumi are pretty good, and Itsuki is probably the best.”

“Itsuki,” I snorted. I could feel my anger begin to rise up already. I'd made a few attempts to be nice to the guy, but he ignored me completely. “I don't get it, why is that Itsuki guy such an arse all the time?”

“Don't worry about Itsuki, he's still mad about having to go to this school. Itsuki actually made it in to a really good high school but they refused to let him go. He's been angry since then.”

“Still, that's no excuse to be a dick to everyone,” I muttered.

“Don't say that, Itsuki's a really loyal friend. He might be angry now, but he's normally fun to hang around.”

“Maybe,” but he had still gone out of his way to build a wall between Mana and I. “So what's the deal with him and Mana?” I asked

“Itsuki and Mana, huh? They're the same age so they've always been close. Mana was bullied in elementary school, but Itsuki would always rush in and save her. Just like a knight in shining armor.”

“I see,” I wasn't sure how I was going to compete with that.

“He helps her with school work at home a lot too.”

“What! Home? So he goes to her house?” The thought of the two of them alone in Mana's bedroom made me want to puke.

“Yes, sort of, we all live together.”

“Really?” That wasn't as bad then. “All of you, as in all the exorcists, like together, in one house?”

“Yes. Taisei, Kiyori, and I have to sleep in the same room. Taisei snores and Kiyori farts all night.”

“And your parents are there too right?”

“Nah, our parents are back home, we just live here during our training.”