Komo-Doubutsu

Chapter 10: Pale Green - Part 2

By: Midori Ushi Law

In the lobby, Ray stared impatiently at the intercom. Fifteen minutes had passed since he stepped into the testing room, and the thick chatter she heard when she first entered the lobby was now light. Her mind was mixed with doubt and hope as the minutes passed. Because a number of those who failed the Preliminary Trials seemed to have failed within a few minutes, the young woman was happy to know that Lipagron was possibly holding his own. Doubt, however, seeped into her mind with every second Lipagron did not exit that northernmost door to collect his ticket.

"Come on," she said to herself. "I need you."

"Trudy. Enter," said the deep voice on the intercom.

Rachel Harin's eyes grew as she did not see her friend leave the room before another participant was called in. Quills slowly protruded from every part of her body.

Chapter 10: Pale Green - Part 2

During the rainy night, there was a knock on the door of a house in a subdivision. The light on the porch lit and a visibly tired woman eventually opened the door. Her eyes widened as she saw Ray standing in from of her drenched. Her clothes were torn. Her body seemed bruised, but the woman didn't care about those things. She tightly wrapped her arms around the girl's neck. In that embrace, the raindrops mixed with Ray's tears. She was safe. She was home.

Ray looked back at the house Lipagron lived in. It was late, yet there was no sign of a worried parent. There were two cars parked in the driveway. Ray returned her view to her host mother. "What happened earlier?"

The woman looked at the teenager in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I saw the police cars. Are you alright?" Ray asked.

The woman released the girl from her embrace and said quickly, "Come on in. You're a mess. Where have you been?"

"I can't go inside yet. There's something I have to do first," she explained, looking back at Lipagron's house sadly. She turned and walked across the street mildly reflecting the shimmer of the streetlight.

"You're going to the Nathair's residence?" the woman yelled from her door. "Why are you going there? Ray!"

The girl ignored her temporary guardian, walked through the grassy lawn, and knocked on the old, wooden door of the small house. The door instantly opened with a tall, slender woman staring down at her. She appeared to be well rested looked like she was just about to leave. "Can I help you?" the woman asked impatiently. Ray quickly lowered her head, grabbed her debit card from her pocket, and lifted it up to the woman. The woman raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What's this?" she asked.

"Five thousand dollars, ma'am!" Ray responded promptly, staring at the ground. "Your son, Lipagron died today trying to take the Preliminary Trials of the Great Quest! I talked him into it! I am responsible! I refunded the money I spent on a ticket, so I could help pay for his funeral by giving you all the money I have! I'm so sorry, ma'am! I am!"

Ray felt a hand on her shoulder from behind. She quickly turned to see her host mother standing in the rain with her. She returned her view forward to see a man standing behind Lipagron's mother. Both of there faces were indifferent.

"What is all this?" the man asked his wife.

"Nothing. Some girl is saying that the boy is dead. She says she wants to pay for his funeral," she responded.

"Oh? That's nice of her," he said with a slightly heightened pitch in his voice. "if we were going to hold a funeral for him, that is."

Ray looked at the two in shock. Her lips shivered and she asked, "Wait. What? What's that supposed to mean?"

"Ray!" her host mother yelled, holding tighter to the girl's shoulder. She looked at the two and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Nathair, I'm sorry Ray disturbed you at such a late hour. All this rain must be making her catch a cold. Poor child."

"The poor child indeed," Lipagron's father, LeMarrqueo said. "Our boy caught a cold as well, when he walked home from school. He's been asleep in the bed all evening. Such a harsh prank you're trying to play on us little girl. It's nice to see one of the kids who makes fun of him. Keep up the good work. It'll only make him more determined to throw his life away one day."

Ray's host mother felt a sharp sting and swiftly moved her hand from the girl's shoulder before porcupine quills quickly emerged from her body again. "What did you just say!" she yelled with tears in her eyes. The young woman grabbed a sharp quill from her body and pulled it out. Her hand grasped firmly around it and she charged towards Lipagron's parents. "What kind of parents are you! Who lies about their son!" Before she could stab either of the parents with her ability, the woman's eyes let out a green flicker of light, causing Ray's body to stiffen and freeze. Her body was stuck in her charging pose as it lost balance and fell to the ground. The girl couldn't even blink. Ray's host mother gasped.

"Oh look honey, a porcupine girl wielding poisonous quills," the woman said to her husband.

LeMarrqueo smiled at Charlotte. "Yeah, too bad she can't paralyze a target instantly. Otherwise, we would be in trouble."

The woman looked at Ray's host mother. "Lucille, I'll release the paralysis hold once you take her back to your place," Lipagron's mother, Charlotte, said calmly. Lucille nodded and carefully grabbed a hold of Ray's body where there were no quills sticking out. "And if she tries to come back over here spreading lies about our son or attacking us, we will be forced to kill her. Our property is our property after all."

"Yes Mrs. Nathair. I understand. Thank you for sparing her life," Ray's host mother answered.

LeMarrqueo waved as he saw Lucille dragging the girl away. "And don't forget to keep quiet about why the police were here, if you know what's good for ya!"

She nodded.

As she was being dragged away with her long quill in one hand and her debit card in the other, Ray wondered if what Lipagron's parents were saying was true. Did Lipagron really survive the Preliminary Trials? Was he really asleep in his room? The questions dove further into her anxiety, when she questioned if Lipagron was ever truly with her the entire time. Why would they lie about something like that? That could've been the reason why they weren't surprised when she told them he was dead.

Ray's immobility faded as she reached Lucille's front yard. The girl stood, covered in mud and dirty water. She looked at her host mother in the eyes and walked into the house. Lucille watched as the girl tracked grime on her carpets and went into her room, slamming the door behind her. Ray stared out the window, looking at Lipagron's house shrouded in twilight. She retracted her quills as she stared at her debit card. After a moment, she put her muddy hand into her back pocket and pulled out a ticket to the Great Quest. She looked at both and smiled softly. She raised her eyes to stare back at Lipagron's house, when she saw a tall shadowed figure with giant, white eyes standing on the outside of her window peering in.

KOMO-DOUBUTSU