Hakaishi Shōjo / Gravestone Girl

|Chapter 1|

Certain rumors always circulate in certain towns.  Some beach-side towns boast of singing maidens out at sea, while towns near forests whisper of werewolves and witches.  My town is a simple, ordinary town, and since we cannot brag of singing maidens, werewolves, and witches, we claim we have a girl who eats souls in the graveyard.

Yep.  No biggie.  We call her the 'Gravestone Girl'.  She even creeps me out at times.  Yeah, yeah, you're probably saying, "No, wait a minute.  The charismatic, handsome, oh-so-awesome, happy-go-lucky Yuuta Tonbo is scared of some ghost?"  Well, even the awesomest and handsomest guy has a secret fear.  <--Don't mind my horrible English there.  Anyways, the adults don't believe in this (because they have no imagination), but this always circulate in school.  After all, she was weird.  She never came to school, and the other kids and I had never seen her outside of the graveyard.

Aside from our childish imagination, it was true that she was out of the ordinary.  Of course, we knew her parents were the people who owned the graveyard, but it seemed unnatural.  Every time we rode our bikes past the cemetery, we would see her sitting on a gravestone, looking up, as if she was talking to someone.  Superbly scary and creepy.

That rumor has been circulating since preschool because our school just happened to be next to the cemetery - seriously, what were those architects thinking? - and, as young children, we were told never to go into the cemetery by ourselves.  But, psh, who listens to adults anyways?

So on the second day of school, a bunch of us 'cool kids' went into the cemetery because the ball was thrown over the fence.  There was a small crack in the fence so we pushed our way in quite easily - except for my best friend Aku, whom we had to shove since he's a bit on the chubby side.  When we entered, everything seemed fine, but we couldn't find the ball anywhere.  I was looking under the bush nearby when Aku screamed.

A gho- girl was there, very pale with very black hair, and she was standing there, motionless, holding our ball.  We boys were frozen, too.  Frozen in fear and uncertainty.

Being the blabbermouth I was, I finally worked up my four-year-old nerves and laughed.  It was a nervous laugh, but I stuttered, "C-Can...Can we h-have...have our b-ball back?"  I hate to admit it, but I was probably crying.  I don't really remember because everything was so fuzzy.

The girl didn't bat an eyelash as she suddenly walked up to me and dropped the ball into my arms.  Then she took a step back, as if she was surveying us.

We had enough of it.  The ball was in my hands, so we did what would have been sensible.  We ran.  Yes, we got in trouble by the teacher, but she didn't have to worry about us going in there anymore.  On occasion, as we children grew older, one or so would go into the cemetery just for a stupid dare - but only during the daytime.

I thought I wouldn't have to go back there for anymore dares as I entered middle and high school, but now, I had a dilemma.  The year I entered middle school, my older sister died.

Her name was Hotaru.  She was supposed to be going into her first year in high school, and I'm pretty sure she was probably the most popular, the kindest, the best sister anyone could ever have.  I always called her Hota-ne, and I was always...Shortie.  I was always jealous of her because she was like the perfect model in a magazine.  She looked exactly like my mom, who was a house mom at the time of her death, and was just as graceful.  I mean, who wouldn't want to look like my mom?  She had really pretty teal hair and dark hazel eyes that almost looked red.  I was always jealous that I had lighter eyes and brown hair like my dad.  Everybody was - should be - jealous of my sister's hair.  It was so pretty, and her eyes always were so clear, as if you could see right through them.

She had odd habits, but they made me smile.  Hota-ne always had this weird laugh that sounded like cicadas choking, but I loved it so much.  In fact, I still miss it.  She was the best at origami.  I'd give her any size paper, and it would magically transform into some paper creature.  And the best part was that she would tell me stories about the animal.  She wasn't the best at cooking, though.  Hota-ne always burned whatever she cooked or added too much salt.  I still had to eat it anyways because my mom said so.

I guess her optimism and friendliness and extroverted nature rubbed off on me, because now...that's the only thing I have left to hold on.

The only thing hiding what I really feel.  To hide my...

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Beep.  Beep.  Beep.  Bee-

I groaned, hitting my alarm clock.  "Man, it's hot already," I yawned, pushing away my covers as I stood to stretch.  It was the spring of my last year of middle school, and the weather was already has hot as summer.  "Just two more months, and I'll be done," I comforted myself as I changed into my running clothes and headed downstairs.

Nobody else was awake yet.  I was usually the first to wake up in the morning since I wanted to run around the neighborhood, then I would return to get changed for school, and everybody else would be awake by then.  I grabbed a plum and started eating it as I ran outside, the wind hitting my face as I picked up speed.

I had started down my daily routine when, two blocks down, I realized that there was construction on the streets, meaning I had to take a detour.  "Hn, a detour...but the only detour would pass by..." the words died on my lips as I glanced in the direction the sign was pointing.

I would have to pass by the ce-ce-ce-...cemetery.

Well, I couldn't help it.  If I wanted to continue my early morning jog, I would have to man up and run past that cemetery.  What would have Hota-ne said?

"Neh, Shortie, you're scared of something like that?  You can't be!  Aren't you in high school now?  You're a boy and my brother, for crying out loud!  MAN UP!" she would have scolded, then flicked Tonbo in the forehead.

I shivered.  Yep.  That was what she would have done.  But then again...if I visited the cemetery...I could visit her grave.  I shook my head.  Just get it over with, otherwise the mental Hota-ne would keep bothering you.  I ran my fingers through my brown hair and sighed, running forward.  Of course, it's that early in the morning...and ghosts don't come out in the morning...right?  She's not a ghost, she's a girl.  Thank you, inner me.  You didn't have to remind me.

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By the time that I passed the cemetery's front gates, the sun was peeking on the horizon, and shadows were scrambling and stretching to the west.  My hazel eyes scanned over the landscape, looking for one grave in particular that should be on the hill in the middle of the cemetery.  Even though I was outside, I could see through the metal gate that surrounded the wide piece of land a certain silver black grave on the top of the mountain, reflecting the early morning sunlight with its golden lettering.  I slowed down to a halt, shielding my eyes, as I turned to look in that direction.  I couldn't help but smile.

"Hota-ne," I said under my breath.  "I'm here, like you mentally bugged me to.  I...I miss you.  Ohaiyo."  I felt the urge to bow, so I did.  But when I straightened up, I never expected to see who I saw there when I looked up.

It was the worst-case scenario I had always imagined in my mind.

The Gravestone Girl was there.  To eat my sister's soul.

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A/N:  Yay, I finally finished the first chapter.  Yes, yes, it sounds weird, but you'll understand later.  Wishes to be granted, hearts to be broken, friendships to be made, SO MUCH TO DO!  WITH SO LITTLE TIME!  I hope you enjoyed this, and I will post the next chapter as soon as I'm done with it and as soon as there are 50 reads!  Thank you, minna-san!

Until next time,

GoldenKoi