The Demon Boy
Hanako strained as she held the large scroll painting up to the wall so her mother could find the perfect place to hang it. A lock of Hanako's brown hair hung in her face and she tried to blow it away but it was useless. It started to tickle her nose but Hanako couldn't do anything about it or else the scroll or she would fall.
Her mother stood behind her with a Feng Shui for Dummies book in her hands as she looked at it and then up at the scroll on the wall. "I think it looks nice there, don't you think sweetie?" she asked Hanako, who only grunted in reply, "Okay, keep it up there so I can put a nail in."
Hanako sighed and tried with all her might to focus as her mother took a nail to the wall and hammered it in ever so slowly. They had just arrived here in Japan this morning and right away their boxes started to arrive from America. Hanako didn't even have a chance to lie down and recover from her jetlag and car sickness. Right away her mother wanted her to help hang up their pictures and things and energize the house through Feng Shui.
She felt a little resentment towards her parents already, even though they weren't her real parents. They were annoying and were strict about things. Ever since they adopted her only a few days ago, Hanako has had to cram Japanese language and culture before their arrival. She still doesn't know enough Japanese to safely get through a casual conversation. What also made Hanako mad was that they had also filed papers to change her name from May to Hanako, after their favorite Japanese artist, Oku Hanako. But her parents didn't change their last name, Wright. When Hanako had asked her father about it, he said that they didn't want to be totally absorbed in the culture that they had forgotten their American heritage.
Totally absorbed, yeah right, Hanako thought to herself. If you mean renaming your adopted child after your favorite Japanese artist, teaching them about Japan as you move to Japan and then filling your new house with all this Japanese stuff and not one American flag or a Christian cross is not being totally absorbed, then what is?
Hanako was excused to take a short break and she quickly rushed up to her room to pull out her Bible from her box. She ran her fingers over the gold letters and remembered how her father made a statement about converting her to Buddhism or Shintoism. She furrowed her eyebrows and growled as she opened her Bible to read the Ten Commandments out of Exodus.
"Thou shall have no other gods before me. Thou shall not make unto thee any graven image. Thou shall not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them," Hanako whispered and she sighed as she came to the fifth commandment, "and honor thy father and thy mother," she gritted her teeth. "But they're not my real parents!" she complained. She closed her Bible, put it away in the box and then closed her eyes and clasped her hands for prayer.
"Oh, Lord, thank you for the wonderful life you have given me. Please help me adjust to my new surroundings and give me the strength to endure my new parents that you have delivered me unto. Amen," Hanako said before opening her eyes once again.
Even though she didn't pray as the nuns had taught her, she felt that her prayers were usually answered in the same way. Already she began to feel relaxed as she sat there in the empty room in front of the box of her very few belongings. Inside were her bible, a few outfits and a messenger bag shaped like a cherry blossom that her new parents had bought for her. At least she was lucky to have caring parents that bought her things. They adopted her out of that Catholic orphanage. Some children never get adopted. Hanako was lucky.
"Hanako," her mother called for her, "Break time is over!"
"I'm coming mother!" Hanako called back down as she went to the door. As Hanako came down the steps, her mother stared at her with her keen brown eyes from the landing with a displeased look on her face.
"You address me as okaa-san. The more you use it, the more you get used to it," her mother wagged her finger in her face, "Or else how can you learn Japanese?"
"Alright, okaa-san," Hanako said as she gazed at the floor. Her mother turned on her heels and led her into the living room where a large Buddha statue had just arrived on a hand truck. Hanako knew this was going to be a long day.
The next day, Hanako's parents gave her a break and suggested that she go for a walk around town to get herself acquainted with her surroundings. Hanako didn't want to at first but her curiosity got the best of her. She got dressed into a pleated pink skirt with a Hello Kitty patch on the left side and a plain white t-shirt. She pulled her bag out of the box and strapped it across her chest. It seemed stylish and matched her outfit. She absolutely loved the bag. She remembered taking the taxi here with her parents and seeing the cherry blossom petals fly in the air as they rode through cities and towns. That was partially the reason for them getting the bag as a welcome home present.
Hanako slipped on her shoes by the door and went outside. It seemed to be more beautiful here in Japan most of the time, compared to America, but Hanako had only been in Japan for two days and it probably isn't the rainy season. Hanako walked down the sidewalk after taking a quick glance at their front yard, which needed developing. Already, her father had placed two maple trees on either side of the sidewalk, waiting to be planted. She unlatched the gate and stepped out of her safe, new home into the unknown of a totally different world.
As Hanako walked down the street, she tried not to take too many turns. She looked for landmarks so she could find her way back home. Soon, she came upon a large fenced in area that had an open gate for the public. It looked like a park of some kind. Over on one side, there was a large grassy area with trees unevenly distributed everywhere and on the other side was a park where some children played. Hanako smiled as it reminded her of recess after school at the orphanage. She was too old for that now, being almost fifteen.
Suddenly, a little boy of what seemed like eight years old ran up to her, holding out a blue book. He had long messy black hair that hung down to his waist and his bangs hid his eyes. He wore a worn down white t-shirt that had a couple of stains in it and ripped denim shorts. Hanako noticed that his toe was sticking out of his tennis shoe as she squatted down to see him.
"Onee-san, please read this book to me," he asked her in English as he handed her the book. It seemed to be glowing but Hanako figured it was the gloss of the cover.
"Alright," Hanako smiled and opened the book to page one. She didn't recognize the language and it didn't look like Japanese either. She leafed through the pages and stopped when she had passed a page in English. Hanako flipped back through it and read it silently. She looked up and the boy was ignoring her, gazing at a couple sitting on a bench.
"The first spell, Igaru," Hanako read and stopped. That was all that was in English.
"What?" the boy asked loudly as he turned his head toward her. A piece of machinery started up somewhere and drowned out all surrounding sound.
"Igaru!" Hanako shouted over the noise and suddenly a whitish-blue laser shot out of the boy's mouth at a bush next to the couple who looked towards the leaf blower, thinking it had caused the incineration of the bush.
"What in God's name are you?!" Hanako shouted at the boy who turned to her with a serious look on his face of what wasn't hidden by his bangs.
"My name is Lee. I am a mamodo," he told her. Hanako only stared at him on her knees, petrified.
"What is a mamodo?!" Hanako screamed fearfully and Lee covered her mouth with his hand.
"We need to speak privately," Lee whispered to her as he took his hand away. Hanako nodded reluctantly, her eyes full of fear. She dropped the book and Lee picked it back up and tucked it under his arm before following Hanako back home. They kept making wrong turns because Hanako was so scared and couldn't remember the way back. Finally, they arrived at her house.
"Okaa-san, otou-san, I have invited a friend over for dinner if it is alright with you!" Hanako shouted from the little room inside the door as she and Lee both slipped their shoes off.
"Of course, Hanako!" her father called. Hanako led Lee into the living room where she found her father reading the newspaper (printed in English) and her mother reading the Feng Shui for Dummies book.
"Who is this? A new friend?" her mother asked as she put down the book and came up to bow to Lee. Lee stood there, either confused or not wanting to bow back.
"His name is Lee. He speaks English," Hanako told her mother.
"Would you like to call your parents to see if you're allowed over for dinner?" Hanako's mother asked Lee with a kind smile. Lee shook his head and the smile disappeared.
"I'm going to take him up to my room and show him my stuff," Hanako said nervously as she headed up the stairs. Lee followed silently.
"I wonder if that boy's parents knew where he ran off too. He seems to like Hanako a lot and probably just followed her home," Hanako's mother said as she watched them ascend the stairs.
Hanako shut the door behind her and turned to Lee, who was inspecting the boring, empty room. She said a small prayer and waited for him to start.
"A mamodo is a demon," Lee began and Hanako's heart almost stopped beating, "We live in the Mamodo world and a hundred of us are sent here every one-thousand years to battle it out for the title of the Mamodo King."
"You were sent by the Devil?" Hanako shook with fear.
"The Devil? If you mean the current king, yes. He's so corrupt," Lee ran his hand through his bangs and let it fall back in his face but Hanako didn't get to see his eyes.
"Satan rules over you? You are demons from hell," Hanako reached for her door but she couldn't find it as her hand was cold and shaking, almost numb as fear was taking over her body.
"No, his name is Kentarou and it's not really as bad as hell. I guess we should be thankful for that," Lee sighed and shook his head, "Anyways, this spell book is full of spells that we can use in battle but I need you, my spell book owner, to say them while holding the book open. That's the only way it works."
"What kind of black magic is that?" Hanako looked close to tears as she remembered what had happened in the park.
Lee only ignored her and continued, "In order to win a battle you must burn an opponent's spell book. You cannot burn your own," Lee turned to Hanako and saw how frightened she was. "Sit up and stop your whining. There are other humans in this world that are going through the exact same thing," he said angrily. Hanako obeyed, afraid to get him mad.
"The question is," Lee started again, "will you help me become mamodo king?"
Hanako sat and stared for the longest time at the little demon child. Why would God send him to her? Was this a blessing or a curse? God had just given her a decent life and then he sends a demon to her door step?
"I don't know," Hanako replied, looking down at the wooden floor.
"Give it some time to sink in, but let me know soon so I can go find a different person that can read my book," Lee muttered before going back out the door and taking the book with him.
Hanako gazed up at the ceiling as she sat against the wall, thinking about what she should do. Was this a dream? If she woke up, she would find herself back in bed at the orphanage. Yes, that was it. There are no such things as mamodos and spell books. That has to be the case. Unfortunately, Hanako wasn't waking up from this dream. This was real.
Here's the revised version! Hope you like it more than the previous one.
Oh yeah, take note on the spell Igaru. That will be explained in later chapters. ^w^
