Bitter as Traditional Medicine
[AN: Guess who loves to suffer?! Also, be sure to check out my twitter rp account for Ashiya, find me/him at hanae_ashiya
'Good evening, Itsuki.' Shizuku offered as she came inside The Mononokean.
'Good evening...' Itsuki drawled. 'What are you doing in the Mundane World?'
'Koura-sama wanted me to get some experience with the botany of the human world and I thought I could enlist your help since I won't be able to stay very long. I've been here two minutes and I think I'm already growing faint.' Shizuku joked but Itsuki was unreceptive.
'Botany, huh?' he mused. 'Ashiya will be able to help; perhaps the five year old is useful after all.'
Shizuku chuckled. 'I think Ashiya would object to being called that.'
'Most people object to getting told "they would make good medicine" but I don't see you complaining.' Itsuki rebuked.
'Koura-sama could make lovely medicine from my eyes – unlike yours!' Shizuku snapped.
'Whatever, anyway, let's just go grab Ashiya and he can show you some daffodils or something.' Itsuki said, absolutely detached to the subject of botany.
'Where is Ashiya anyway?' Shizuku asked.
'He's visiting Zeko's temple; I think they're remodelling the garden since Zenko royally screwed it up "weeding". Huh, Ashiya's skills have come in handy twice today. Maybe I should pay him a little more later.' Itsuki replied.
Shizuku scowled and put her hands on her hips; her fat, newt tail raised a little. 'Itsuki, you sure are stingy with your money. Only ever paying your employee pittance. Koura-sama doesn't treat me like that.' Shizuku pointed out, argumentatively.
'How I treat my employees is none of your business.' Itsuki replied.
He turned around and glanced at the wind chime. 'Mononokean, please take us to Zenko's temple, thank you.' Itsuki said.
My pleasure~! Was written on the Mononokean's scroll.
A moment later, when Itsuki slid open the door, it opened to an austere garden with more dirt than grass, the occasional feature point like a tree or statue but over all, it was quite bare.
'Yep, we're here.' Itsuki commented. 'We'll be back soon, Mononokean.'
'Bye, bye.' Shizuku chimed.
The pair stepped out into the temple's garden. They went around the side and quickly found Hanae and Zenko. They seemed to be playing in the dirt as they had muddy knees and shoes. Yahiko and Fuzzy were observing them lazily; they actually looked like they were taking a nap together, on the wooden deck. Zenko's Father could be heard from within the temple but it was uncertain as to what he was doing but it was obvious he was being very loud as his words were quite crisp and angry.
'Ah!' Hanae said and he stood up. 'Abeno-san, it's good to see you.' He paused and his eyes widened. 'Look at how dark it is; I didn't even notice. Are you here to – oh, Shizuku, what brings you here?'
'Who?' Zenko asked as she got to her feet. She squinted ahead. It wasn't as dark as Ashiya was making it out to be; it was barely dusk. She could cleanly see Itsuki but she couldn't discern a second person.
Itsuki and Shizuku came closer. Shizuku smiled and put her hands behind her head; elbows up. 'I'm here to study from you, actually.' she said.
'Really? I'm so popular today, aren't I Abeno-san.' Hanae said, teasingly and obviously hoping for a little raise in payment. He wasn't scheduled to get any pay for helping Zenko.
'Possibly.' Itsuki said, giving away no hints with a stony face and closed off body language.
Zenko squinted a little bit more and she could see transparent outlines of a three dimensional figure accompanying Itsuki.
'Hello?' she said, confused and she tipped her head forward.
'You must be Zenko-chan!' Shizuku squealed and she bowed excitedly.
Her and Zenko's heads almost touched. Zenko could feel something in front of her; something paradoxical as it was both hard and soft. She could hear someone speak very clearly: a girl, someone who sounded as though her own age but she couldn't quite make a judgement.
Both girls straightened their backs.
'I'm Shizuku, I work at Kiyakudo as a part timer to an apothecary.'
'I-It's good to meet you, Shizuku-san.' Zenko said, flustered. She looked ahead but she couldn't see anyone solid or permanent but they were talking just fine; there wasn't even a crackly delay like a telephone conversation.
Shizuku's eyebrows furrowed. 'You can't... see me?' she asked.
'I'm afraid not. My eyesight isn't as strong as Abeno or Ashiya's.' Zenko admitted. She glanced at the boys and they shied away. Neither of them was aware of a way to make the Sight grow stronger in people. It had been a wonder when Zenko had developed in the slightest, even without Yahiko's powers and it had been absolute miracle when Hanae's eyesight had returned after his stint of yokai blindness.
'That's disheartening but you seem like such a nice person – may I touch your hair?' Shizuku asked.
'I wouldn't recommend it.' Hanae and Itsuki both hissed to Zenko but she didn't listen.
'I don't mind at all.' Zenko replied.
It was strange, from her perspective, her hair was being split apart and separated and played with like it was the wind or by magic. From Shizuku's perspective, it was like she was plaiting a doll's hair. Zenko was so tiny; even she was taller.
'My! Your hair would be fabulous in an anti-stress brew with the right treatment!' Shizuku cooed.
'What?!' Zenko shrieked.
'Argh.' Itsuki groaned.
'I, um,' Hanae hesitated.
'Her mistress instilled a bizarre mindset in her. When she meets someone, she feels the absolute need to assess which of their body parts would be best suited to making medicine.' Itsuki explained.
Shizuku chuckled serenely with a broad smile. She acted as though that weren't a peculiar mindset to have.
'When Itsuki dies, Koura-sama and I will harvest his eyes and when Ashiya dies, we'll take his ears. Perhaps, when you die, we can take your hair... Or your nails, or perhaps your teeth – actually... actually! I think we'll take your eyes... They would make a beautiful healing salve.' Shizuku rambled and without asking permission, she began to excitedly prod Zenko's face and enthusiastically tugging at her hands.
Zenko paled. 'Please don't?'
'Okay then. I think its just my inexperience talking... Everyone knows human body parts makes subpar medicine because it's so common and usually mediocre. It's only the humans with strong spiritual power or the Sight that make for good medicine... And you... seem to lack that yet you can hear me... Touch me.' Shizuku lamented.
She paused and gave Zenko some space. She stared blankly. Zenko was oblivious.
'Its times like these that are kind of sad aren't they Abeno-san.' Hanae whispered.
'Or maybe you're just sentimental.' Itsuki huffed but he found himself agreeing regardless.
Shizuku blinked. A dull throb began in her heart. A strange, unidentified feeling followed. She turned back to the boys. 'May I stay here, a little longer? Can I be lectured here?' she asked.
'It would be more comfortable in The Mononokean.' Itsuki pointed out.
'I think I want to stay with Zenko... a little longer.' Shizuku said.
'Why would you want such a thing?' Zenko asked. 'I can't see you after all?'
Shizuku fell silent. 'I don't know why. I just want to.' she replied after thorough thought. She laughed nervously and scratched her head embarrassedly.
'If it's alright with Abeno-san, it's alright with me.' Ashiya piped up.
'I don't really care. Koura isn't expecting Shizuku back for a while yet but, as you can see – well, not you Zenko – Shizuku's form is becoming slightly more unstable.' Itsuki said.
Shizuku looked down on herself. She felt along her collarbone. She had grown scales and she noticed that the webbing of her human-like hands had changed to be more newt-like. She could feel herself becoming vaguely more amphibious and less human in appearance but she wasn't properly aware of it. She wasn't really registering that they were the tiny pinpricks of pain she was feeling.
'Your right.' Shizuku agreed absently. She admired her hands.
'What does Shizuku-san look like?' Zenko asked. She could see vague outlines but they were human-like. She would imagine that Shizuku was not.
Shizuku explained her appearance to Zenko whilst she set up some pre-dinner snacks and whilst Ashiya sorted out what he would teach Shizuku. The conversation was not particularly interesting for Abeno who had both Yahiko and Fuzzy clambering over him for his attention.
The evening became somewhat lazy afterwards. Ashiya explained a few facts about human plants to Shizuku who listened intently; a gallant effort since Zenko was being incredibly distracting. Zenko could only "see" through her fingertips and she was still interested in learning about Shizuku so she could only do so through tactile sensation.
Shizuku and Zenko sat close by each other. Shizuku's tail actually rested over Zenko's lap and she ran her fingers over Shizuku's tail: slimy and scaly but not unpleasant like Zenko had expected. Zenko had played with newts before, as a small child, and hadn't enjoyed it but there was something relaxing and soothing about how soft Shizuku's tail was. Coupled with Ashiya's pleasant voice and how passionate he was about the topic. In this moment, it was hard to believe he didn't want to take over his mother's shop as he had so much knowledge and he clearly enjoyed the topic.
Zenko isn't sure at what point in the evening she noticed her fingers prune but there was a definite correlation between that happening and realising how caustic Shizuku's tail actually was. She could feel a soapy sensation on her fingertips and it burned.
Itsuki told her quietly it was because Shizuku was slipping out of her transformation more and more; that was releasing bursts of powers which of course, had dangerous effects. However, Itsuki wasn't quite quiet enough with telling Zenko that because that's when Shizuku decided she needed to return to the Underworld.
It was always an impressive feat to watch Itsuki call upon the doors to the Underworld. Ashiya and Shizuku had seen it countless times but it was still beautiful to watch the gorgeous doors manifest. Zenko, who had seen it once or twice before, was awed into silence. Her eyes widened and she watched as they opened into misty depths she didn't want to explore.
'Bye, bye, I better go now. I think if I stay any longer, I won't feel very well.' Shizuku said; her face unrecognisable now as she had the maw of a creature and not a human. Her wide, bright blue eyes were still the same.
'I hope you learned lots.' Ashiya said. 'I'm sorry I don't know more about how Mundane World plants would affect a yokai medically.'
'Don't worry; I'm sure Koura-sama can fill in the gaps.' Shizuku chirruped.
'It was wonderful meeting you, Shizuku-san.' Zenko said and she bowed politely towards the door. She still couldn't see more than a vague outline of where a person would be.
Shizuku chuckled. 'Please, Zenko-chan, call me "Shizuku-chan" or just "Shizuku".'
'Alright then, good bye... Shizuku.' Zenko corrected herself.
Shizuku paused and felt her heart flutter. 'I think I better go. I think I'm having heart palpitations. I really need to build up tolerance to the Mundane World.'
'Heart palpitations?' Itsuki mumbled to himself.
'Is that unusual?' Ashiya asked.
'Bye, Itsuki, bye Ashiya.' Shizuku said and she waved goodbye, then politely bowed. She turned on her heel and entered the doorway. She walked down, into the grey mists, before disappearing. The doors shut on her then disappeared.
Zenko smiled mutely. 'Shizuku seems like a lovely person; I hope we meet again. Perhaps next time, I hope to see her.' Zenko stared at her hands, specifically her fingertips. The soapy feeling remained but she didn't mind. She remembered the softness of Shizuku's scales and that was some consolidation for the extremely minor burns.
Itsuki turned his back on where he had summoned the doors. He crossed his arms.
'I have reason to believe that your and Shizuku's paths will cross again.' he said firmly.
'Why do you think that?' Ashiya asked.
Zenko looked at Itsuki curiously; she thought it was highly unlikely.
'Well, I've never had "heart palpitations" reported to be as a symptom of growing weak in the Mundane World.' Itsuki said.
'I feel like your reasoning is baseless.' Zenko said.
'You haven't even seen what a weakened yokai looks like.' Itsuki pointed out.
'I'm sorry but your reasoning seems arbitrary.' Zenko replied then proceeded to do her best Itsuki impression.
Ashiya found it funny and Itsuki almost wanted to strangle her. But he was absolutely certain that like the sun will rise tomorrow morning, somehow, that Zenko and Shizuku's paths will cross. His reasoning was only "baseless" as he hadn't completely explained himself. He knew that look in Shizuku's eyes – that look was more like love or infatuation; a look that was usually primarily reserved for Koura from Shizuku and yet, she was making such a face towards Zenko.
The bell attached to the door at Kiyakudo jangled and Koura looked up from her latest recipe she was arching expectantly. 'How did my favourite part timer go on her field trip?' she asked.
'I think I may have fallen ill.' Shizuku announced; she looked "human" again although her newt tail still remained untransformed. Her face was scarlet and her hands were in tiny fists.
Koura paused; assessed Shizuku. 'You looked embarrassed; not sick. I thought I taught you better.'
'I'm experiencing a heightened heart rate, excess perspiration, what is possibly nausea disorientation, and dizziness.' Shizuku recited with a wobbly, warbled voice.
'Oh.' Koura murmured. 'See, that doesn't sound like illness to me. Just a very common hormone imbalance.'
'A what sort of hormone imbalance?' Shizuku asked, almost desperately but as soon as the words left her tongue she realised her rhetoric.
The realisation was as bitter as traditional medicine.
'Oh indeed.' Shizuku murmured. She swallowed. 'It feels different when it's not directed at you... Koura-sama.'
'Where ignorance is bliss... Tis folly to be wise.' Koura mused.
'I-Indeed, Koura-sama.' Shizuku agreed.
'Perhaps...' Shizuku said, trying to lighten up but only succeeding in darkening, 'it's only infatuation and it will leave me in a few days' time.'
'Perhaps.' Koura replied; some sympathy, some apathy.
It was pointless to fall in love with humans. Their lives never last longer than a moment. The aftertaste of the ephemeral joy is more bitter than sweet.