Hello and welcome to chapter 3. I've been putting a lot of thought into goals and ideas recently, and I always wonder if it's best to put all my time and effort into securing a good future, of if I should just peruse my dreams. I may be an idiot for doing this but I might just go for the second option. I may be committing financial suicide, but I believe that unless I try I'll never know if I can succeed.

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Chapter 4

"I really want to see an Obake, I'll do anything"

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I've discovered there are seven exorcists at school. There's Itsuki and Mana, who are both in my class. Kiyori (the big guy) and Souta (the awkward one with curly hair) are both in second year. The blonde girl Kurumi, and Taisei (who seems like their leader) are both in third. There's also another girl in third year called Nina. She wasn't at school the day I met the other exorcists, but I saw her once in the hall. There's something about her face and the way she ties her hair back which reminds me of Sis.

Everyone seems to find Souta annoying, but he's also the only one who's willing to tell me anything. Whenever I talk to the others they freeze up and tell me to go away, but Souta lets the secrets spill like there's no tomorrow.

"Obake are animal spirits that live in the natural world," he explained to me.

"I knew that already," I said, 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 any more 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 it's 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-chan?" 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 armour."

"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."

"Wow that must be tough," I tried to imagine what it would be like the live far away from Sis, Shuro and Hikaru.

Souta shrugged. "At first, but I've been here since middle school so I don't really mind any more. But Kiyori was really angry. I think he sometimes sneaks off and goes home when he's not supposed to."

I'd soon discovered Kiyori was probably the biggest guy at school. I'm really glad that he wasn't trying to beat me up because I don't think I would have survived.

Taisei seems to be the oldest, and the leader of the group. He's also Mana's older brother, so I need to be nice to the guy if I want to date her. This means I have to try not to spill their secret.

I tried talking to Mana a few times since the first day, but Itsuki always seems to slip himself between us and foil all my plans. Therefore she can't go with me to the cinema, the mall, the water park, or all the other fantastic date locations I come up with.

I considered asking Sis about her father and older brother but I decided against it. Sis always got depressed when we talked of them. I was also paranoid of what Taisei would do if I told her there were exorcists running around my school. Sis was still in high school when her brother died, so maybe she didn't know much anyway.

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I began to wonder if I would have been an exorcist if Grandpa hadn't passed away. If I had a famous guy like him as a mentor I could have been an awesome exorcist by now. Surely awesome enough to make those other guys take me seriously. Maybe even awesome enough to rival the first Daisuke Matsumoto.

I spent most of my classes day dreaming about fighting Obake. I wasn't certain how they were exorcised, so I made up most of the details. Like with giant swords, or magical weapons that sent out lazer beams. In my imagination I became a fantastic Obake hunter who saved young maidens from terrifying monsters. Unless the maiden was an Obake herself. In that case I would have to destroy her, despite being almost overwhelmed by her beautiful looks.

It was almost a week when I decided I couldn't take it any more. I had to see an Obake, I had to know if they were real.

I decided to ask the exorcists if I could follow along one day and take a quick look. One quick glance, then I would be out of there straight away. I approached Taisei with this idea in break time, but he wasn't enthusiastic about it.

"Absolutely not," he said.

"Why not, I promise I'll stay out of danger."

"There's no way I could guarantee your safety."

"Come on, I really want to see an Obake, I'll do anything."

He looked like he was considering it, but he then shook his head. "They would probably ground me, I have a date with Yui Murase on Friday and it would suck if I couldn't go."

I tried begging for another five minutes, but he wouldn't budge. I later found out that Yui Murase was the prettiest girl in third year, which explained his decision, but I was certain I'd see her making out with a student near my house.

I considered approaching Mana or Itsuki, but I knew it would be a waste of time. Some days they didn't arrive at school until lunch time. Unlike the rest of us (who were lectured for arriving a few minutes late) the teacher just nodded as they entered the room.

"This is so unfair," I muttered to Keira, the guy on my right who has become my new lunch buddy. "The teachers don't do anything when they're late. I wouldn't mind not showing up until one."

"It's because they do community service," said Keira as he took a bite of his rice ball. "Like go to retirement homes and read stories to old people. I asked Yoshida-sensei if I could join, but he said all the places were full."

"Hmph," I fumed. Only I knew the truth. I decided I wouldn't mind chasing Obake all night if it meant I didn't have to study any more. High school was far duller than I expected, and the teachers already started piling on the homework. It was only the second week and I had two assignments due.

I ignored Taisei's advice and attempted to follow them after school. Unfortunately they all seemed to possess some sort of exorcist skill, that allowed them to vanish when the final bell rang. All my stalking attempts had failed.

I felt deflated. It reminded me of how disappointed I felt as a child when I stopped believing in Obake. Maybe this was a sign that Obake and I were just never meant to meet.

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Fact: Obake is a word used to describe ghosts or monsters in Japanese. It's a pretty broad term which can encompass lots of scary stuff, but I've decided to make up my own Obake for the purpose of this story. It is fiction after all.

Believe it or not I have a plan. It's a pretty awesome plan which leave me giggling at all the awesome shit that I have planned that's going to go down, eventually. So keep reading to find out more. :)

M C Queen