LOCO chapter 6
I can't sleep after we are allowed to return to our prospective dorms. The faces of the ghoul in my mind have me tossing and turning all night. The feeling of its nails cutting into my head had me griping my sheets. I have to force myself to not scream. When I finally do fall asleep I wake up an hour later screaming anyway, much to the annoyance of Kamiki.
After hours of nothing, I decide to forget it and go for a walk on campus. The sun is going to rise soon anyway. I slip on some sweats and trainers, grab my music player and head out the door into the quiet hallway. No one in their right mind would be up this hour. Right mind… ha. Ever since I enrolled in this crazy cram school I haven't been in my right mind.
The air outside is damp and cool, refreshing on my clammy skin. It's still dark but the greyness of predawn lights up enough the way so I I'm not fumbling my way through campus.
True Cross, having been built on a mountain/hill thing, naturally has lots and lots of stairs. I want to get to the bridge walkway that's on the east side of the hill. I've heard it has the best view of the sunrise and since I am up at this ridiculously early hour, I decide I should go see it. The dorm buildings are towards the bottom of the hill so I walk up what seems like hundreds of stairs until I find it. I've never been up here. The bridge looks down into the forest that is used for exorcist training and the like. Beyond the forest, the sun is just about to peak over the mountains, clouds beginning to turn pink.
I go up and lean against the railing, absently twisting a lock of hair with my fingers. The red dye is fading, I notice, light brown showing through.
I breathe in the cool air and exhale slowly. I should do this more often. Come up here I mean. It's so peaceful. The most peace I've had since school started between balancing classes and being beaten up by demons.
Those ghouls… That definitely was more than just a fucking exwire exam… That was way too hard for a bunch of kids only into their second month of exorcist training. What in the hell was that Mephisto thinking? I grit my teeth just thinking about him. How can anyone believe a single word that comes out of his mouth? He definitely has some alternative motive. But what the hell do I know about demons like him?
And then there's that Okumura kid. There's definitely something going on about him too. There's no way a dumbass like him could defeat a ghoul, well half a ghoul, by himself unscathed. The rest of us barely got away with our sanity intact. And I have a pretty goddam good feeling that Mephisto knows exactly what's going on.
The sun had crested the mountains in a burst of color that temporarily clears my mind of the puzzles surrounding me. Soon I can't look at the sun anymore without hurting my eyes so I sit on the stone ground and lean against the rail. Another sigh escapes. Oh yeah…
My parents called last night before I went to bed. They're going to some charity event next week that they want me to appear at. What a drag… But I know I have to do it. Part of the reason they're letting me train to be an exorcist is because I promised that I would go to all of their damn company functions and act like a proper heiress. Dad's company isn't huge but it makes a good amount of money and it does have a fairly high standing in the business world. So I know I have to make a good impression. I also know part of the reason I got into True Cross in the first place is because of the large sum of money that my Dad not so discreetly donated to the school right after I took the entrance exam. I like to believe that I got in solely on my grades but that was just wishful thinking. But I guess I do owe him in the end even though he wouldn't have had it any other way.
After about fifteen more minutes of being lost in my thoughts I decide it's time to head back to the dorms and change into my uniform. The results for the exwire exam is going to be announced today… Ah well… I wonder what will happen in I don't pass. I'd probably be forced to focus solely on taking over the company someday. What a drag. I'd much rather be beaten up by demons than be stuffed in a dress suit.
The day passes without incident, regular classes are still a drag but I finished the ridiculous extra homework that Ms. Tachibana assigned me so she didn't pick on me as much. The head bandage has attracted more attention than I would have liked. Rumors have started going around, the most popular being that I'm involved in gang fights… Kamiki's 'affectionate' nickname for me has risen in popularity. I often hear girls whispering behind their hands about the 'scary red-headed yankee.' What a joke. But suddenly the small social standing I had before has suddenly become nonexistent. The few people that had started talking to regularly have stopped talking to me because they're afraid I'll beat them up or some shit. Now I have zero friends excluding Shiemi and the guys from cram school, all of whom are younger than me… Hell, even Nakayama has stopped bothering me in class. I never thought I would miss his annoying chatter. I guess this is a sign from above to get my ass into gear and start studying more. I really want to get started with guns too. And possibly take some more martial arts. I really need to talk to Mr. Okumura about those extra lessons…
I walk down the hall to cram school classroom and I spot Okumura heading the same direction. I haven't really given much more thought into the whole Okumura mystery. He's a weird kid but he seems harmless enough. Maybe he's just super strong underneath his less-than impressive exterior? Ah… well I guess it doesn't matter right now anyway. I call out to him and wave which he returns with a guilty smile. He's still guilty about yelling at me then… Well, I'm still mad at him but I can use that to my advantage. He has to be nice to me now. He's one of the only people who talk to me at this point so no point in being suspicious over nothing.
"Hey, Honda. What's up?" he asks once I catch up to him.
"Nothing really," I smile. "You?" Be nice. Be nice. Be nice. He's one of your only friends now.
"Eh… me too," he laughs scratching his head and then eyes me out the corner of her peripheral. "You're… not mad at me are you? I'm sorry about yelling at you."
I wave it off. "Nah, I had it coming. I need an attitude adjustment anyways. I was stupid back there."
"You were actually pretty cool! That was awesome how you came to help. I was just… frustrated that I couldn't do anything more… or something."
"It's cool, Okumura."
We walk into the classroom together and sit in our respective seats. Everyone else has already arrived. I finally learn that Paku has dropped cram school. That's what she had been discussing with Kamiki in the changing room before the whole ghoul incident.
The door opens and Mr. Okumura walks in followed by Mephisto. Oh… the results of the Exwire Exam… My heartbeat accelerates. Everyone else has snapped to attention too, and waits anxiously.
"Eins, zwei, drei! You all passed! Congratulations, Exwires!" Mephisto announces in flourish. A banner and streamers pop out of seemingly nowhere. At first I didn't even comprehend what was going on. Everyone passed? Suguro brings me back to reality by slapping my back with a grin. Wait… I passed! I'm an exwire!
To say I am relieved that the understatement of the year. Kamiki looks just as relieved. While the guys cheer, we're just taking the breath we've been holding all day. "And to celebrate… Pancakes!"
Mephisto and Mr. Okumura take us to a local Japanese style pancake place. Mephisto has a costume change and is now sporting a traditional yukata and waving around an uchiwa fan. He seems pretty enthralled with Japanese culture, like those crazy foreigners with their cameras and weird ass stereotypes. Who would've thought?
Everyone sits down around a large table, we're served drinks and mix for the pancakes is provided for us. Okumura is crazy good at pancake making! I admittedly suck at all things cooking. Toast even. It's pathetic really and Okumura has to make my pancakes because I can't even manage to flip them correctly.
"Ha! Some girl you are, Honda. You can't even flip pancakes!" laughs Suguro.
"Hey, shut up! Watch those sexist comments, Suguro. Just because I'm a girl, doesn't mean I can cook and sew and clean and shit," I bite back.
"Better watch it. No one's going to want to marry you, Honda! Not with your snippy attitude," snickers Okumura.
"Well, you know what? I don't even want to marry someday. Boys are stupid right, Shiemi? Who needs 'em." I sling an arm over Shiemi's shoulder but she only flushes in embarrassment and stutters. Even funnier is that Okumura looks kind of worried that Shiemi would agree with me.
Everyone laughs and it's a great atmosphere. I haven't laughed this much in a long time.
I glance behind me where Mr. Okumura and Mephisto are chatting about something. It looks important from what I can tell. I sigh. More mysteries, just great, as if my mind wasn't already mess already. What am I missing? What's going on that's so big?
"Hey, Yukio!" calls Okumura to his brother. "Is lemonade okay?" The younger twin calls back his affirmative and soon joins us. I watch Mephisto from the corner of my eye. He's on the phone now. Who could he be talking to? There's no way of knowing of course.
"Hey, it's done!" Shima exclaims. I push all of the mysteries to the back of my mind and grab some pancakes before the guys eat them all. Mephisto scrambles in to get his share as well.
Today is for celebrating. Not for pondering endless puzzles. I'm an exwire now and I've taken the next step to getting stronger! I'm going to show Dad that I can become a freaking awesome exorcist so that he won't have any regrets letting me join cram school.
"Heeeeey, Mio. Snap out of it. I'm going to eat all the food," jibes Okumura.
"Oh, hell no! And who the hell told you that you could call me by my first name? I'm your elder!" Okumura shrugs and grins slyly before scooping up a big pile and stuffing it in his mouth, much to the irritation of Mephisto who had barely gotten any. "Hey, you little skeez!" I complain and wave a fork at him.
"Quit bitching, Honda. Lord knows you should be more feminine and not to mention act your own age," states Suguro with a mouthful of pancake.
"That's not true! I am plenty feminine for your information, you asshole," I growl while shoveling pancake into my mouth. I can be feminine if I want to. Suguro rolls his eyes.
"Besides, Mio is a cute name!" exclaims Shima. "You should want people to address you as that!"
"Fine! Call me Mio for all I care, you bunch of disrespectful first years." I take a gulp from my soda.
"That's the spirit, Mio!" says Okumura slapping me on the back. While I'm choking he continues, "And you can call me Rin now since we're friends."
"Great…" I say sarcastically. But he grins. Stupid cheeky brat with that infectious smile.
"You're so mean, Mio," he complains. "Bon's right, you do need to act more feminine!"
"Try saying that again! I'll beat your ass!"
"Honda, watch your language, or have you forgotten that your teacher and headmaster are sitting right here." Mr. Okumura's calm voice sends chills done my spine.
"Yes, sorry, Mr. Okumura, Sir Pheles!" Rin and Shima laugh at me and I discreetly flip them off. I avoid Mephisto's weird grin.
I hear Kamiki mumble 'Yankee' under her breath and I shoot her a scathing look which she of course ignores.
"Shiemi, you're the only one who respects me!" I cry, leaning my head onto her shoulder. She stutters and awkwardly pats my back.
I complain about being called Mio, but… it's a good feeling to be called my first name by my friends. They may laugh at me and disrespect me as an upperclassmen but I feel like I belong here which is more than I could say for the past sixteen years of my life.
"Oh, Mio, stop complaining. It's a lovely dress!" My mother stands with me in front of a mirror in the fitting room at some dress store in the city. How did I get here again? Ugh…
That charity event that I have to go to is in the a couple days, Sunday to be exact, and so after classes today Mom's dragged me out to find new dresses for the occasion. It is good to see her though.
"But, Mom, it's so… frilly," I moan. Don't get me wrong. I have nothing against dresses, in fact I like dressing up every once and a while, despite my outward disposition, but my mother's particular fashion sense does not… agree with mine to say the least. I check the price tag discreetly. Oh damn. Mom's going all out today.
"You look adorable." And with that I knew there is no use arguing anymore. I drop my head in defeat and Mom calls over the sales rep and asks her to ring up the dress, atrocity I should say. I push Mom out of the fitting room stall so I could free myself. At first she was confused about my shyness to undress in front of her. I had never felt any qualms about it before. So I lied and told her that I have been feeling more self-conscious about my body lately and she dropped it. Really, I just didn't want her to see the fucking scar on my abdomen. God knows she would have a heart attack if she saw.
At the cashier Mom pays and we leave together. It's been a while since I've been out with her like this. It's kind of nice actually. I never thought I would miss her as much as I have. Last year I didn't miss her this much. Maybe it's because of all the shit that's happened so far. She really had no say when I decided to train as an exorcist. She really tries to stay out of any disagreement that my father and I have. After I started lying to them about the demons, mom and I had an ok relationship. But now that I'm out to them, I can, at least to my mom, be a little more open, even though she doesn't really understand.
We sit down in a small uppity French café for drinks and snacks. A waitress comes to take our order. She makes it completely obvious with her accusatory glances and basically ignoring me that she doesn't approve of my appearance. Yeah, I didn't really fix myself up after classes and my shirt's all askew from tugging it back on in the fitting room. But to spite her I order something complicated with lots of alterations. She'll probably spit in my food but it's worth seeing her struggle to get it in order. When she leaves I waggle my fingers at her. Good luck with that, bitch.
I lean back in my chair and face mom again. She fiddles with her designer bag for a minute. It's obvious she wants to say something.
"Mio…" She starts.
"Yeah, Mom? What's wrong?" She puts down her purse and grasps my hands from across the table.
"You are… happy in school right? This exorcism stuff… It's dangerous isn't it? You know how I feel about it all. We can still pull you out if you're not happy." She looks earnestly into my eyes, looking for any sign of weakness. I know she wants me to quit, she worries about me as mothers should.
"Mom, I really do like cram school. Seriously. It's the best thing I've ever done. And I have some real friends that I connect with. Don't be worried about me too much. Yeah, it is dangerous at times but I'll always be careful." She sighs and sits back in her chair. The gray in her hair stands out in the lighting making her look older than she actually is.
"I love you, Mio, so much. You know that right?"
"Yeah, Mom."
"'Yes, Mother.' What happened to those manners of yours?" She smiles. "Make sure to be in your best behavior during the charity gala. We want to make your father proud don't we?"
"Yes, Mother." I grin.
"And what are we going to do with that hair of yours? That red is garish. Maybe an up do will tone down the color…"
"I'm thinking about cutting it."
"Yes, an up do will look—wait what? Absolutely not! Your hair is lovely. Why in the world would you want to cut it?"
"Well, I'm training to be an exorcist and that involves a certain amount of close range combat where… long hair would be a hindrance…"
She hums and narrows her eyes at me. I fidget in my seat. "Close range combat? You aren't doing anything reckless are you, Mio?" My mind flashes to the ghoul for an instant.
"No! Of course not, Mom—Mother. It's just that, I think it would be prudent to… free myself from these hindrances to prevent future damage to myself…" Wow, I do not sound convincing. Mom doesn't say anything. She's obviously suspicious. I sip my coffee nervously and avoid her eyes.
"It's your hair, Mio. Just don't blame me if you regret it later."
"Of course not, Mother," I say and smile at her. She nods her hair seriously and takes a refined sip of her tea.
"You say you have friends in cram school? What are their names?"
"You say you have friends in cram school? What are their names?"
"Well, there's Moriyama Shiemi. She's kind of an air head but really nice. Suguro Ryuuji, he helps me with homework and stuff. He came from Kyoto with two of his friends to study to become exorcists. Okumura Rin is pretty cool but he's kind of weird… He has a twin who's really smart."
"How wonderful. It's nice to see that you have some real friends now." I nod slightly. That reminds me…
"I want to go and visit Father Fujimoto sometime. You remember him right? I've really wanted to stop by the church and thank him again but I've gotten really busy because of school and stuff." She doesn't say anything at first, she looks surprised.
"Mio… You mean you don't know?" Across from me she leans back, her eyes sad.
"Know what?"
"Father Fujimoto died right before you left for school, almost two months ago."
"What?" I nearly drop my coffee. "That's not possible! He was so healthy and he…" But how…? "How…did it happen?" I ask, my voice shakes.
"Well, from what I heard, it was a heart attack. But I've also heard strange rumors about the night he died. Someone had driven a semi right into the front of the church. I don't even know how that could possibly happen but I saw the damage myself. The shock of it all must've stopped his heart! He wasn't a young man after all."
I listen but my mind is elsewhere. It just doesn't make any sense. Father Fujimoto was not the type of guy to just up and die from shock. He was a freaking exorcist, the goddam paladin from what I heard. Now that I think of it. I did hear former paladin but I guess I figured he was retired or something. But nothing should be able to shock him that much. There's something else going on here. Mephisto Pheles will definitely know. Why didn't he fucking tell me?
"I'm so sorry, Mio. I know you really liked talking to him. Perhaps we can visit his grave later if you would like?" I nod numbly and brush a hand over my face.
Father Fujimoto is—was—the reason that I found out that I could do more with this damned ability to see demons. I could protect people and be more than just Honda Mio, that stupid, rebellious rich girl. I'm doing something I believe in now. Something I genuinely want to do.
"Mio, are you okay? Do you want to go home?" My mom's voice brings me back to reality.
I shake my head. "No, I'm okay… It was just a shock. You still need to find something to wear right?"
"I understand, honey. But are you sure? I can always go shopping while you're in school." I look down at my lap and twist my uniform skirt. Going home is tempting but I don't want to hide in a corner and feel sorry for myself.
"No, I'm sure. It's not often we get to go out together like this. We should enjoy it." When I look back up, Mom's eyes are watering and her colored lips are trembling. "Mom, are you okay?" I ask concerned and stand up to go to her side.
"Y-yes," she says and dabs her eyes with a handkerchief and sniffles. "It's just I'm so… so happy to be with you like this. I never thought we could have this type of mother-daughter relationship. Y-you were always so distant and I thought y-you hated me!" And with that she started crying, loudly, in the middle of the café.
"H-hey, Mom! It's okay, really, I don't hate you!" I rub her back and glance around the room. Yeah, people were staring. "Mom, you're causing a scene…"
"I…" she hiccups, "I know, I'm sorry. I'm probably embarrassing you." She hiccups again and wipes her eyes, smearing makeup in the process.
"No, of course not, Mom." Why haven't I noticed before how utterly ridiculous my mother is? She's hopelessly emotional and impulsive, the absolute opposite of my father.
She stops sniffling and looks up at me with a pathetic expression on her face. "I love you so much, Mio. I'm sorry for being a bad mother."
"I know, Mom. Now, let's go get you cleaned up so we can find you a dress."