Aiko looked around. Nobody will tell Onii-san anyway. She walked towards the dog, and her gaze fell on its eyes again. She recoiled slightly. It didn't give a friendly look anymore, the blacks of its eyes only just very thin lines and it gave her an uneasy feeling. She looked around, then she squatted in front of it. Nervously, she stretched her hand out. The dog sniffed her hand. She caught her breath. The dog just froze, it didn't move. It opened its mouth ever so slightly, and Aiko withdrew her hand.
"Don't you dare bite me, alright?" Aiko scolded the dog, and it stared up at her. Its eyes were the same, like glass; shining, and cat-like. She put her hand over the dog's head, her gaze still on its eyes; its ears twitched. Her hand landed on its head, and she began to stroke its furry head. Aiko noticed that its eyes seemed to soften, and it had that friendly look again. Its tail began to wag. Aiko smiled. The dog barked.
"Aiko!" She heard the familiar voice of her brother. "Onii-san?" He snatched her hand away from the dog. "I thought I told you… not to… go near strange dogs?" he shouted, panting; he shook her arm. Aiko sniffed, and tears welled up in her eyes. "B-but… the dog's friendly… it-it has an owner…"
"I don't care! Who knows what'll happen if it bit you!"
"…I'm sorry…"
"You'd better not do that again!"
Aiko nodded, and Kenta sighed. Sighing was becoming a habit of his. He turned to face the dog. He gulped. It had a strange look in its eyes. The irises were thin; narrow slits. It wasn't the eyes of a dog, more like the eyes of a cat. It bared its teeth at him, and snarled. It took a few seconds for Kenta to recover. "G-get away!" Kenta hissed, and he kicked it. The dog yelped and it sprinted into the alley. "Good riddance," Kenta mumbled and Aiko shook his arm. "You didn't have to kick it!" she half-sobbed. Kenta stared at her sister. "You heard it! It snarled at me!"
Klok klok klok
"It's scared of you! That's why it snarled!"
Klok klok klok
"Stop trying to be smart!"
Klok klok klok
"I'm not!"
Klok
"You are! We would both get a scolding if the dog bit you!"
"Now, now. There's no need to fight, is there?"
Both brother and sister turned to face the supposed owner of the third voice. Aiko made a face and she hid behind her brother. "Ew! It's the creepy man!" Kenta blinked, and froze. Yes. It was the same, strange, brightly coloured man whom he and Aiko saw in the train. His blue eyes seemed to burn into Kenta's own eyes.
"What're you doing here? Th-this is none of your business!" Kenta said, slightly taken aback. The man didn't say anything, he bent over and he put the same, large rectangular pack onto the ground. "What're you doing?" Kenta shouted again. The man stayed silent. Aiko peered from behind Kenta and shouted. "W-we'll call the police!" The man didn't say anything. "There is…" he turned to face them once more. "No need to," the man finally spoke, standing up straight.
"J-just who are you?"
The man looked at Kenta, his face as stoic as ever. "I'm just… a medicine seller… you see…"
Aiko stepped out. "A medicine seller? Like a doctor?"
Despite the situation, Kenta wanted Aiko to shut her mouth and stop asking stupid questions.
"Something like that… but not really…"
"Then… why are you dressed like that?"
"I have to dress like this for my wares to sell."
"Wares? What does that mean?"
Kenta shook his head. "You didn't answer why question! Wh-"
The medicine seller turned and faced the young boy. "Didn't I already? I'm a medicine seller." Kenta shook his head again. "What are you doing here, then, Kusuriuri-san?" "Oh?" The medicine seller paused, and then his eyes narrowed. "I came… to kill."
"K-kill?" Kenta shouted, and Aiko's eyes widened. "Kill what?"
The medicine seller smiled.
--
"Mononoke don't exist!"
"That's what you think."
"Stop smiling like that, Kusuriuri-san!" Aiko grumbled. "It's creepy!" Kenta gritted his teeth. "Mononoke are spirits, right? Then," he raised his index finger and pointed at the medicine seller. "How do you kill them?" The medicine seller's gaze wandered from Kenta to Aiko, and from Aiko, to Kenta again.
Hearing an odd, metallic noise, Kenta's arm dropped to his side and he looked at the rectangular box that the medicine seller was carrying with him earlier. The noise was coming from there. His gaze went back to the medicine seller, whose stoic facial expression became a critical, strict one, like his teacher when he pronounced a word wrongly. Then his smile faded. Kenta whispered, "K-kusuriuri-san?" At that moment, was a loud creaking noise. The silence that followed was interrupted by Aiko's shriek. "It opened by itself!" Hearing his sister scream, he turned to face whatever she was pointing at. Indeed, there was an open red case on top of the rectangular medicine box.
And then
.
.
.
A bark.
The boy and the young girl turned. "A dog?" Aiko said. "The dog from just now?" There was another bark, but there was no dog; then they could hear what could be the jingling of bells. There was a low, clicking sound, and small objects that seemed to be child's toys practically flew out from the medicine seller's box; they set themselves in a line on the floor. Their line stretched all the way until the end of the street, it seemed. Aiko opened her mouth; whether to say something, or just in amazement, Kenta wasn't sure. Identical bells dropped from each of the 'wings' of the objects. He turned and looked at the medicine seller, who was holding a long, rectangular object embedded with what seemed to be gems. At the end of it, was the face of an ogre, long grey hair streaming down, teeth bared.
Kenta blinked several times, and then he focused his attention to the shiny, brightly coloured objects. "Wh-what are those?" Kenta asked, pointing to the objects with bells hanging from them. The medicine seller looked at him, and then answered, "Scales."
"To measure what? Weight?"
"These scales don't measure weight…"
"Then?"
"They measure… distance."
"Distance?"
Aiko tilted her head to the side. "Distance to what?"
The medicine seller looked up from the floor. "The Mononoke, of course."
Kenta then tried to match the medicine seller's serious expression. "And what about that?" He pointed to the item in the medicine seller's hand.
"Ah, how many questions do children have for me…?"
"Answer!" Kenta shouted. Then he quickly added, "Kusuriuri-san."
"This is… a sword."
"For?"
"Killing Mononoke."
Kenta frowned. How could such a fancy, ridiculous-looking sword possibly kill something like a Mononoke?
"You've got all the things you need to kill the Mononoke, Kusuriuri-san!" Aiko said rather happily. "So, where is it?"
"No."
"Huh?"
"I…do not have all the things I require to kill the Mononoke."
Disclaimer: 'Mononoke' (c) Toei Animation
I do not, I repeat, DO NOT own this anime or the character 'Kusuriuri'.
A/N: That is all. Chapter five is still in progress. When it is done, it will be posted here.
