In class we are writing short stories... here is the one I wrote, called The Eight Kamis. It is a horror story, so try not to be afraid. I did not take any time to edit or revise it, so if it has mistakes or is not very good, I apologize.. Nick Casey slicked his hair back one final time, took a deep but nervous breath, and entered the room to face the horror – twenty-four Japanese students. Nick had spent the last nine years of his life as an accountant in Cleveland, Ohio, but one divorce, one mid-life crisis, one education certificate, and one long flight later, he was now a sensei, ready to teach English to a room full of students at Osaka Language College. The Japanese whispering stopped dead, and Nick pushed forward to the oversized teacher’s desk in front of the room, too petrified to look up at the silent students, too shy to do anything but flash a thin smile.
. “Good morning,” he muttered, finally looking up to see… twenty-four smiling, eager faces. Forty-eight alert, patient eyes. “Good morning,” he repeated with confidence. “I’m Mr. Casey, your new teacher. Welcome to Reading and Writing 219.”
. A week later, Nick had memorized all of the students’ names, aided by one helpful coincidence – eight of the girls were named Kami! He had three other classes and not a single Kami, but R&W 219 had eight of them, a fact that the girls themselves found highly amusing.
. “Mr. Casey,” asked the boldest of the Kamis, “you are going to remember our last names?”
. “I don’t think I can,” Nick answered. “You can be Kami Number One.”
. The rest of the students broke into laughter, and the other Kamis demanded names of their own.
. “Well, let’s see,” Nick said thoughtfully, resting his chin in his hand and tapping his cheek for extra effect. “You can be Tall Kami, and you over there can be Kami With Glasses.” More laughter. “Then we have Kami Coffee-Drinker, Late Kami, Kami With Braces… hmmm. Two more. Sleepy Kami, and… Cell Phone in Class Kami.”
. The students howled their approval. The Kami class had quickly become Nick’s favorite because of their good sense of humor and patience – he was a new teacher, and he made a lot of mistakes (like forgetting the books on the second day of class!), but they always treated his with respect and understanding.
. Nick had taken over the classes of a Mr. Benjamin, who had quit the university suddenly and returned to England, where he was from. Because of that, just when Nick was beginning to feel at ease and the classes were becoming more interesting, the semester was at an end. On the last day of class, Kami Number One raised her hand and said, “Mr. Casey, today we have party for last day of class. We will go to a traditional Japanese bar, called
izakaya. Can you go?”
. Nick agreed immediately – he hadn’t yet made many friends among the staff, and he thought that an evening out with his students would be a great introduction to Japanese culture.
. “You are very good teacher,” added Kami With Glasses. “This class was too short.”
. Nick arrived at Murasaki Izakaya at 8:00 sharp, knowing that the Japanese were usually on time for most events. He nodded his way through an awkward greeting with the doorman, and was led up two sets of rickety wooden stairs. On the top floor of the izakaya was a private room, rented out for large parties – such as twenty-four students and their teacher. As he climbed, the smell of grilled meat and spilled beer faded away, replaced by a sweet smell he couldn’t identify.
. Nick took off his shoes, slipped on a pair of too-small izakaya slippers, and slid open the paper door that the doorman had indicated. Surprisingly, only a few students were waiting inside – the eight Kamis.
. “Welcome,” they cried out.
. “Thanks,” Nick said, looking around. “But where are the others?”
. “They had to cancel,” said Late Kami, who wasn’t late for a change.
. “All of them?” Nick asked.
. The eight Kamis nodded silently.
. The room itself was beautiful. The far wall was really just one big window, revealing the cloudy but bright June night beyond it.
. The girls fell unusually silent, and Nick struggled to think of a topic. “I had a wonderful semester,” he said. “I was very lucky to get your class.”
. “Not lucky,” said Sleepy Kami, who wasn’t sleepy for a change. “You are here because Mr. Benjamin is gone. But that isn’t lucky.”
. “Sure it is,” Nick disagreed. “If Mr. Benjamin hadn’t returned to London, I wouldn’t even have been hired.”
. “But Mr. Benjamin no return to London,” said Kami Number One, standing up from her kneeling position. “We get new teacher every month. Mr. Benjamin May teacher. You June teacher.”
. “Every month?” Nick asked. “I don’t understand?”
. The rest of the Kamis also stood up, and Nick didn’t know what to think. He stood up, too, and began to inch towards the door.
. “Do you know what
Okami means in Japanese?” asked Tall Kami, who was almost as tall as he was.
. “I haven’t really learned much Japanese yet,” Nick mumbled, afraid now because of the girls’ serious expressions. These were the expressions he had been afraid of seeing back on the first day, and now, four weeks later, here they were.
. “Okami means
wolf,” said Kami With Braces, running her tongue across her teeth. “Isn’t it funny that we are all named Kami? That we are all named wolf?”
. Nick took a step back, ready to run, but two of the Kamis had blocked the door. He skirted the edge of the table, and soon was pressed up against the window. The Kamis were coming closer, their eyes vacant. And that sweet smell again. He recognized it. Blood.
. “Look,” whispered Kami Number One, nodding to the window.
. Nick didn’t want to look, but couldn’t help himself. Behind him, the full moon had come out from behind the clouds. He closed his eyes when he heard the first terrible snarl, and waited in the darkness for the Okamis to attack.
