Kenta sighed and put his books in his bag.
"You'd better not be late next week, Inugami." His teacher reminded him. Kenta looked up, and sighed again. "Yes, sensei." The teacher smiled at him, and walked out of the classroom. Kenta stood up and kicked his chair, making it shift against his desk. He hated this school. To make it worse, the walls and ceiling were painted white and the cement floor was left grey. The windows had horizontal bars, obscuring the view of the outside world. It felt like a prison. And the teacher always picked on him.
Inugami! Read the passage please.
Inugami! Answer the question for all of us.
Inugami! Would you mind working out the sum on the blackboard?
Kenta made a face, and he slung his bag over his shoulder. Stupid teacher. Why can't she leave him alone? He wasn't the only one in the class. At least he had friends. He scratched his head. Two, actually.
"Eh! Don't say such things! What if it really happens, huh, Hasegawa?"
Kenta turned, surprised by his friend's sudden outburst. "What will really happen?" he asked, and Hasegawa and Fujimoto turned to face him. Fujimoto smiled and chuckled nervously. "N-nothing, Inugami-kun." Kenta raised an eyebrow. "You can tell me, I won't kill you or anything." Hasegawa sighed. "You know those headless murders?" Kenta narrowed his eyes. "What about them?"
"They all had 'Inugami' for their surname…"
"Yeah? So what? Are you saying I'm the one killing them?"
"N-no! Of course not!"
"Then?"
…
"Say something!"
"… Something?"
"… Not funny, Fujimoto-kun."
"Sorry."
Fujimoto gulped, then blurted, "We think that maybe you will be next, Inugami-kun." Hasegawa blinked. "If not next, then maybe soon... you'll be-" "Stop talking." Kenta snapped. He glared at both of them, and then sighed. "Look, I know you all are worried and all; but I just want to make one thing clear." He sucked in a deep breath. "I'm not going to get my head chopped off. Alright?"
Fujimoto shuffled uneasily. He mumbled something under his breath, and Hasegawa patted Kenta on the back. "Alright. We'll trust you." Kenta smiled, and started to walk out the door. "See you on Monday!" Kenta called. "See you!" Hasegawa called back, and Fujimoto echoed."See you! If you're not here on Monday that means your head's gone!"
"That's just lame."
"Sorry."
--
"Onii-san! Onii-san!"
"WHAT."
"Can we go to the shop?"
"No. It's late. We'd better get home fast."
"If you don't bring me, I'll tell mom!"
"Mom's still at work, ok?"
"Then I'll tell… um..."
Aiko pouted. "Meanie…" Kenta sighed; his sister can be such a spoilt brat sometimes. He wanted to cut off her tongue sometimes. He looked up, and sighed.
"What's wrong, Onii-san?" Aiko mumbled, tugging at his arm. "Mm… Nothing." Kenta whispered, not as annoyed as before. He had been really snappy towards her the past few days. Maybe he really had to make it up to her. He looked at his sister, he sighed. "Ok, let's go to the shop." Aiko's face immediately brightened. "Yeah! Let's go!" Kenta felt her grip on his hand loosen, and the next thing he saw was his little sister running off ahead. He blinked, and then couldn't help but smile. "H-hey! Wait for me!" he shouted running after her. She soon disappeared around a corner. "If you get lost, it won't be my fault, Aiko!" Kenta yelled, running faster.
Aiko stopped running and tried to catch her breath. She put her hands on the wall and peered around it. "Onii-san isn't here yet…" she then scoffed. "Onii-san runs so slow." She turned. She grabbed hold on a lamp post and started to twirl around it. "Round and round. Round and round. Round and round." She sang, and then she stopped as she was getting dizzy. "Ow…" she mumbled, rubbing her forehead. "No wonder Mom won't let me spin around in the house…" she mumbled to herself. "And Onii-chan still hasn't arrived yet… He's so slow…" She then grinned. "Onii-chan is a turtle! A big, slow tur-"
A bark.
"Huh?" Aiko turned. "A dog?"
And yes, there was a dog. It was sitting down, staring at her with inquisitive, dark violet eyes. Purple eyes? Aiko narrowed her eyes. Its eyes were purple, very dark purple. Like dried plums. A dog can't have purple eyes. This dog isn't real. She blinked. The dog is still there.
"You seem real enough to me." Aiko said.
The dog blinked in reply.
"You didn't disappear."
The dog blinked again.
To Aiko, it was a very colourful dog. It was grey and white, as if someone painted the belly white, and the upper half grey. There were speckles of brown on its snout, where the grey and white met, as well as around its eyes. On it's legs as well, in a similar fashion. Its pointed ears were brown as well. She had always loved dogs, and every time she saw one, she would always try and make friends with them. Onii-san, however, will never let her go near a dog. "It will bite you." He always said. Aiko pouted, then she caught sight of the brown collar around the dog's neck. She grinned. This dog has an owner. She looked around the wall again. Onii-chan was there, but still very far away. "Now Onii-san's an ant." Aiko giggled. She turned towards the dog again. It was still there, sitting down, still staring at her.
--
"Oi! You!" the shopkeeper said, removing his hat. "Why're you standing there, huh? You'll scare customers away if you keep standing there." He stared at the brightly-dressed young man standing outside his shop. He seemed to be talking to himself. "Oi!" the shopkeeper said again, louder this time. "What're you doing there?" The young man continued to talk to himself, continued to ignore him. He smiled, and started to walk towards the other street. The shopkeeper frowned and shook his head. He mumbled. "Freak."
Disclaimer: 'Mononoke' (c) Toei Animation
I do not, I repeat, DO NOT own this anime or the character 'Kusuriuri'.
A/N: Yup. Nothing much revealed int is chapter. Off we go~