Under the eyeless smile of the gibbous moon, a lone figure walked across the barren, rocky desert. He made his way, lazily ambling around a pile of rocks there, and some bushes here, tapping the ground with his walking stick. On his other arm he had slung a cloth pouch. It looked like he was out for a stroll and a self-picnic, but it was not.
If the moon could tell us what she sees, she'd recount the countless time this man had walked this exact same path, for the same amount of time, every 79th gibbous moon.
Using just simple landmarks to guide him.
Thirteen steps right of the desert rose shrub, turn eastwards.
Walk until the stone that looks like Kṣitigarbha appears.
Step backwards five steps, and feel for the ground sloping down
Walk along the slope while looking at the moon, and to the right there will be 3 boulders.
Not this pile, but the next one.
Go around the second largest one twice, starting from the sharp edge of the boulder, and look left. Again the ground seems to be sloping down. Carefully sliding down the sandy hill, you'll be faced with a wall of stone.
Go right, around to the front of the stone. Sit on the fourth rock from the edge of the pool.
2,643 steps in total, each step took one second. It had to be timed right, otherwise it wouldn't work. He would end up some place else, no matter what he tried.
But now Kisuke was so used to the path, it was actually like a stroll for him. Even if he didn't consciously want it, he would end up in the same place, every six years…
A pond- rather, it was water that had pooled in a depression of a huge slab of abnormally even rock- in the middle of the desert was an odd sight. So were the purple and blue leaves and grasses peeking up from the slim cracks of the grey floor. The water was clear as sunny day, as though someone had just poured it. Then Kisuke remembered it was night, and that the water had no right to be reflecting colors that were not in the sky. There were things beyond the pond, but they seemed to melt into a darkness that even the brightest moonlight could not penetrate. For once he was not curious, he did not care what lay beyond.
No matter how many times Kisuke came here, he never got used to the – unnaturalness -of the place.
"It's hot tonight," he said. He removed the bag and put it down, and removed his hat. He thought about removing his haori, but that would require him to get up. After a moment he shrugged, and took it off anyways. He doubted it would matter. He folded it up, unnaturally neatly, and put aside with his hat on another rock. Then he clasped his walking stick with both his hands, and waited.
And had almost decided that he had made a mistake, when he heard the click clack of geta on stone.
"On time, as usual," said Kisuke, not looking up.
"…You wait for me now? That is…strange…"
The newcomer crouched down to slide the huge box off his shoulders, and then stood up to stretch his tired arms and back.
Kisuke turned slightly, and he could just see the man's box of drawers. It was almost half his height and double his width. Even if it was made of the lightest timber, there was no way the embellishments on the box could be anything but metal. Like always, Kisuke stared transfixed at the box. One golden, beveled eye stared back at Kisuke in return.
Suddenly-
the eye seemed to shoot out some sort of golden laser-
Kisuke was blinded, all colors were inverted-
he fell back, (Or front? Or sideways?)
he stared into the mouth of a five-faced nue from four different directions at the same time-
the teeth were too close, too black-
And he was back on his rock.
"So you are late then?" inquired Kisuke casually.
Not a millisecond was lost- the stranger still hadn't finished raising his arms to a stretch, and Kisuke had already seen a preview of his adventures. The stranger turned to peer straight at him, as though noting an interesting shade of orange.
"I wonder…" he said demurely.
"I wonder too, why you keep so many things unanswered," said Kisuke, but not coldly. Now he feasted his eyes on the roll of colors that made up the medicine-seller.
His kimono-jacket was winter dusks bound together by burning wood ember. Here and there were haphazard bursts of poor purple and wet green. The medicine-seller seemed to had taken even more pity on the purple and fashioned it into his headgear and claws for his fingers. His skin was clay, adorned with maroon and purple flourishes. And as though that wasn't colorful enough, his eyes were blue.
"Every second is just an illusion," they said. "What I see is not what you see-"
"… So my answers might not be your truth," replied the medicine-seller. "It is hot, I'm getting this off."
As if to mean what he said, the kimono promptly fell to the ground in one pull of some string. Underneath all that, he wore a plain green shirt and hakama, much like Kisuke's. He bunched it up and threw it over to his chest, which opened its drawer and swallowed his clothes.
"Say, how many sets of those do you own?"asked Kisuke suddenly.
"Medicine chests?"
"No, clothes."
"About four."
"Does the chest magically wash them?"
The medicine-seller gave him a look. Sighing, he removed his bandana, combing out his coarse, dirty blonde hair.
"No, Kisuke-kun, they don't. I do them. Everyone has to do theirs."
"Damn."
He sat down on the empty rock-seat next to Kisuke, crossing his leg and turning to face him. Kisuke had his gloomy face on.
"How are things with you?"asked the medicine-seller conversationally.
"Oh fine, fine… nothing new; nothing I had not expected."
"That sounds so incredibly dull. How will you go on if you're like that?"
"I'll make things more interesting… I'll research on something new…something will pop up…" Kisuke's voice and thoughts trailed off somewhere in the recesses of his mind…
"Oh?" The medicine-seller looked at Kisuke more pointedly, if it were possible.
The look bought Kisuke back to sharp focus. "It's not as bad as I'm making it sound like," he complained. "The wishful thinking got me a tad depressed."
"I see," said the medicine-seller.
"Liar."
"No,a magical box like that would be an excellent thing for anybody. Making life simpler for oneself is not a bad thing, it promotes the idea of efficiency…more time to do other things…," he raised a crooked eyebrow.
"More time to 'reflect'," he flashed his canines for a moment. He was mocking him now.
"Pffft," huffed Kisuke. "Your method is tedious, time consuming and dangerous." His 'magic', as Kisuke liked to refer to, seemed just too accessible to anyone.
"Dangerous only to those who knowingly incite evil. Or to the plain stupid."
"I think anyone who would knowingly incite evil are dumb anyways."Kisuke paused. Did I just call myself dumb?
"Mononoke don't follow human ideas," said the medicine-seller. "Yet, they seem to have a better grasp on morals than most humans," the medicine-seller's eyes narrowed for a moment, and Kisuke rolled his eyes. This is not a productive use of time, he thought.
"That is why, Kusuriuri-san, I am here, and you are there,"said Kisuke as he bent down to retrieve his bag. "Sandwiches?"
"If I may," said the medicine-seller politely, and took the plastic bag containing his share.
"No wait, that has mayo, is that all right?"
"I can have eggs today, no problem." The medicine-seller chewed his food thoughtfully. "What would you do if I couldn't?"
Kisuke smiled. "Do what I did last time. Give you tea and fruit only."
"So courteous and thoughtful," remarked the medicine-seller sarcastically with a smile. "But you guessed didn't you?"
"Yep, today is Tuesday at your place."Kisuke winked, with half sandwich in mouth.
"If you say so. I never understood your dating methods anyways."
"Sure I believe you don't understand," said Kisuke, munching nosily on his cucumber.
"There are many things that just shouldn't be understood," said the medicine-seller gently.
"Yes, like how we're meeting."
"I have as much idea as you do about this," he answered cryptically.
"Now you read minds too. Hurrah."
The medicine- seller laughed. "Wouldn't that be an asset in my journeys."
"Imagine what we'd need to make such a device," said Kisuke, wondrously. And the feel of completing such an invention…must be like climbing ten mountains at once…imagine the uses of such a device.
"If only the mind was that simple. And even if it was, I wouldn't want it,"said the medicine-seller, waving the thought away like an annoying fly.
"It would be an asset to anybody," started Kisuke, and he sighed, and in that sigh the medicine-seller heard the thousand thoughts, the countless arguments, and the almost endless reasons Kisuke had wanted to batter him with tonight. They all died as the breath of the sigh descended to the dust.
"Tell me," said Kisuke in a small voice, "… why you can't tell me."
"Because you're better off not knowing. And also, there is no point in knowing. Would you stop it from being? Then you wouldn't be you." he replied simply.
They looked at the pond's dream of blue skies and followed the one cloud currently sailing across it.
"We shouldn't be able to make out that the cloud looks like a rabbit, it's a bloody two dimensional image," said Kisuke, irritability.
"I'm sorry."
"I'll get tea," said Kisuke." Would you like to take the fruits? I don't feel like having any now."
"Thank you."
"Say, do the fruits become seeds?"
"It should, but it doesn't. And I'm thankful for that. How is Yoruichi?" asked the medicine-seller, conversationally.
"Oh. Good...good." Kisuke wished he could reply something more fitting, but just pouring out tea seemed to be demanding the effort of every brain cell he had. Great, he's doing it again, though Kisuke. He won't tell you anything but he needs to poke his nose into your matters.
"Stop it, I'm not telling you anything more," said Kisuke, annoyed. He turned and sat the tea down carefully next to the medicine-seller, as close as possible without touching him, then backed off.
"If you say so, but trust me on this. You can be very convincing at times." The medicine-seller continued as he picked up the saucer. "I say you ask her more formally-"
"Bah, you're too nosy, and that coming from me, makes it an insult."
The medicine-seller laughed, and sipped his tea.
This was the cue for Kisuke. He got up to examine the medicine pulled open a drawer, full of things that even he could not name. "What is this?" he asked as he pulled out a... turtle sitting on a turtle sitting on a turtle.
"That is a turtle sitting on a turtle sitting on a turtle." replied the medicine-seller wisely.
I bet he doesn't know, I bet he made that up. "Looks oddly realistic," commented Kisuke.
"A mark of good craftsmanship," supplemented the medicine-seller. He took another silent sip of his tea.
"Can I keep it?" asked Kisuke.
A pause. Kisuke turned to look at him. the medicine-seller was drinking still, that's why he couldn't reply.
"Of course," he said, once he finished his sip.
Wow, so this is the high point of my day. Or night. Receiving a triple turtle, or whatever.
He continued on, inspecting each object, and remarking this and that about it, while the medicine-seller sipped his tea and they talked.
This was relaxing. For once Kisuke was the one not in the know, he was the dumb student- though the egoistical part of him wanted to be the master, it was a very tiny part, and he chased that part away, saying that you'll get more than enough time later anyways, you show-off. It's not like medicine-box-man will be here forever.
He wondered if he could pause time here. He wondered how bored he'd get if he did pause time here and found out everything there's to know about everything, and he wondered how deep a hole he'd have to dig to not get bored, because that's probably the only other thing to do. Oh, I can swim, he remembered, looking at the lake.
He wondered how many more times they would meet till...he wondered if the medicine-seller would tell him, or he'd know by instinct. Will this place still exist? Maybe then I can bring Yoruichi here...
While wondering, he and the medicine-seller talked.
The gibbous moon, still smiling at them, stayed where it was. The medicine-seller looked at it, alarmed.
I think I should go now," he said. This was his signal for Kisuke to put his things away, while he dressed himself again.
Kisuke meticulously packed everything back, in the order they were taken out.
The medicine-seller had finished dressing. He came close to where Kisuke was working. "You just took the turtles?"he asked. Kisuke nodded. The medicine-seller had a dismal look on his face.
"I wish I could give you something more today," said the medicine-seller wistfully. Kisuke was surprised by this new emotion. Although the medicine-seller had as much of a humor as Kisuke himself, he was usually a stoic person. The medicine-seller seemed to be struggling with some internal dilemma, as though something hadn't gone as well as he had planned.
Though,seeing him distressed made Kisuke a bit happy. Do I have to admit it to myself? That I feel happy that he feels something for me? I want him to like me. Am I gay? No, idiot- this is natural.
"I rarely get to talk to someone as interesting as you,"admitted Kisuke suddenly. "So, talking to you feels like getting my birthday present. Thank you for visiting me."
The medicine seller's face relaxed into an easy smile. "I feel honored," he replied sincerely.
"You should be," laughed Kisuke.
The medicine-seller smiled, and hauled up his box up on his back. "I never asked. How goes your world?"
They both started walking away from the pool. Both of them walked in tandem, carrying their luggage, with just a shoulder gap between them. With every step they took together Kisuke could see that the medicine-seller was fading. Oh, so am I.
"As usual. People come and go- they want things, they need other things- I'm a businessman, I supply." Kisuke waved his hands, dismissing any great notions of his work. "Nothing great." There seemed to be a mist around them now, but they were still in step, still next to each other.
"...you aid their hopes and banish their fears. At least, I'm glad you're someone people can entrust themselves with. Our lines of work are not so different, I suppose," said the medicine-seller. The mist had grown into a fog and it was only with difficulty that he could make out the outline of the medicine-seller.
"So the apple didn't fall far from the tree, did it?" asked Kisuke finally. The mist was now a wall of white. He looked at it, tentatively.
"Hah. I guess. Who knows?" came the medicine-seller's laugh.
A/N: Hello people, its been SO long since I last wrote, and I almost forgot how good it feels! I wrote this not long after Howl Zabimaru, but I couldn't finish it because,well, I didn't know what do to do at the end! So i just..haphazardly tied it up and sent it to you. Sorry, I don't like how it turned out personally :( but this unfinished story was just sitting there in my mind like a son who doesn't want to leave the house. *Throws story out of brain, along with its belongings."Now go find a job!"* Oh that feels so good...
If you didn't catch it already, you probably don't know; the medicine-seller, or Kusuriuri, is from the Mononoke and Ayakashi series. He made quite an effect on me, and I just couldn't help thinking just how similar he is to Urahara...well to me at least :/ so,yeah, this story. If you havent' seen it yet, please do- the art is a treat to watch in itself, and the stories are just.. go watch it! :D
I hope the conversation isn't too confusing..previously in my unfinished draft I scribbled along the lines about what I wanted to do with it, but now a tomato makes more sense than my thoughts. Yum. I just edited this a third time. Oh this story can be so much better..
Did anyone notice the Luggage reference? :D Go Discworld!
I love desert roses. I grow a bunch of them outside my home. They're so pretty I'd eat them, but unfortunately they're poisonous. And Kṣitigarbha is what we call a Jizou Bodhisattva here.
~ohateder