Takeshita Demons Read Online Free Page A

and ask for
advice about whether to come in. And under no
circumstances were we to make the journey into
school tomorrow if it was in any way dangerous
or icy.
    Her words washed over me like a dream. I didn't
care about the snow. All I wanted was to get as far
away from Mrs Okuda as I could, somewhere safe. I needed to think of a plan. We had to get rid of her.

    Minutes later, with the caramel Okuda monster
watching us in silence from the front of the class,
we said goodbye to Mrs Thompson, collected our
coats and left. I didn't wait to see which of us was
last to leave the class. I just grabbed Cait and we
scooted out fast enough to leave burn marks in the
carpet.
    I could feel Mrs Okuda's eyes on my back as
we left.
    But I didn't turn round, and we didn't stop
to say goodbye.

     

Mrs Thompson had been right. The snow was
coming down in big flakes and it was already thick
on the ground.
    "Awesome." Cait kicked a puff of fresh white
snow into the air. "I can't believe we get to go home
early. And we missed the maths test. Just awesome.
Is it still OK if I come to yours? 'Cos my dad'll
still be at work and all. Hey, isn't this amazing?"
She dusted some flakes off her jacket and kicked
up another cloud of snow. "Do you want to make
a mini snowman?"
    "We've got to get home." I pulled on her arm.
We had no time for snowmen, mini or otherwise.
"Didn't you see that woman back there?
Mrs Okuda?"
    "Oh yeah," Cait said, kicking her feet through
the snow and almost keeping up with me as I barrelled ahead. She didn't seem too worried.
"You were great. I can't believe she kept calling you
Takeshita-san. And talking all that Japanese? You
were right to ignore her. I wouldn't have read out my
essay either."

    The snow kept falling. It seemed even heavier
when we turned into my street. Lucky we didn't
have far to go. Usually it was a bit awkward, living
so close to school. Almost every day I'd accidentally
run into other kids, or even worse, a teacher. Usually
I'd be doing something totally uncool, like buying
nappies for Kazu or heading to the shops with my
mum. But today, living right next to school was the
best thing that could have happened. We'd soon be
inside, and safe.
    "I'm not talking about the essay," I said.
"I'm talking about her. Okuda. Her neck. Didn't
you see?"
    "See what? Oh, that. Totally. That was the worst
outfit I've ever seen. Who did she think she was?
I can't believe we have to have her till Mr Lloyd gets
back. Wonder what she'll wear tomorrow?"
    "No!" I fumbled with my key, trying to get in as
quickly as possible, without my fingers freezing off or
a flying head coming to chew on my ears. "Her neck.
The marks? Didn't you notice her itching?"

    The door opened and we stepped inside the
hallway of our building. I shut the door behind
us, banging it hard so the lock clicked into place.
Then I leaned back against the door and looked
across at Cait. She looked fed up with all my
questions. And no wonder. I was being an awful
best friend.
    "I'm sorry," I said.
    Cait kicked the snow off her shoes. "S'ok. Just tell
me what you're going on about."
    "Come on," I said, grabbing her arm. "Come
upstairs. I'll show you."
    We rushed up the stairs to the door of our flat.
I buzzed the doorbell and knocked twice for good
measure.
    Cait bent down to unlace her shoes.
She'd been round often enough to know that we
had a shoes-off policy for our home. Your toes
sometimes got cold in winter, but we kept pairs
of slippers at the door, even a special pair of guest
slippers for Cait. They were moss green and had
cartoon kittens on them, but Cait didn't seem to
mind.
    "So what's the big deal then?" she asked, her
shoes loosened and ready to kick off. "Why the big
fuss about Okuda's neck?"

    "Did you see her marks?" I asked, indicating
my own throat.
    "No, I already told you."
    I buzzed the door again. What was keeping
Mum so long?
    "Red marks," I said. "Little ones, kind