Kayo slid the door shut in the room where they were staying. She had hoped to get separate rooms but it was just sleeping. Bedrolls were bedrolls. They were likely stuck here for a while given the snow piling up outside during the day. She turned to him, folding his arms. "You sense something, don't you?"

The medicine seller sat on his knees respectfully at the low table, noodle bowls, rice, and tea spread out across it. "Your dinner will get cold if you stand there too long."

Kayo huffed. "Don't change the subject!"

He picked up the noodle bowl in one hand, chopsticks in the other. It had been some time since they had much more than the budget bowl of rice. But with the price of the ginger root during off-season, they could certainly have noodle bowls for a while. "This is a mountain filled with supernatural energies. There could be any of more than a dozen yokai or spirits in the cold near the temple."

"That's not comforting!" Kayo hissed. Then again, when he talked about the supernatural world, it rarely was. Pillow yokai, river yokai, all those creepy ayakashi from the sea. There were even toilet yokai, he mentioned once, and she still couldn't stop thinking about them. Possessing toilets. Gross.

He slurped up a few noodles. Satisfying, not many spices, but perhaps he'd make his way into the kitchen with some herbs and dried veggies another time. "Do you recall the hot springs on the yokai mountain, Miss Kayo?"

Kayo flopped down at the table, puffing her lips at the memory. "With the mononoke that possessed people and made them eat soap? How could I forget that?"

"Mononoke aside."

"Yes, that aside." She picked up the warm bowl of noodles, sniffing it. It certainly smelled better than boring old rice bowls. Though nothing against those as they were filling, she just liked some variety every now and again. "The tanuki den, that wolf with the bird-"

"-okuri-inu and the yosuzume-"

"-Yeah those two." Kayo slurped up a few noodles. Oh this was a nice change of pace from rice bowls. "But that doesn't really help us on a frozen mountain. You still looked like you saw something outside. You kept looking at the snow like it was weird."

"Probably just a yokai shifting the snowfall," he said dismissively.

She frowned while slurping up more noodles. It was entirely possible that he sensed a yokai or some supernatural spook. He'd done it before, drawn to some location by whatever supernatural pull he understood with his probably supernatural self, but it turned out to not be a mononoke. Perhaps she was still seeing haunts in every corner like with the severed heads or the confusing geisha house or even those creepy candles at the inn she once worked at.

She downed the bowl far too quickly than she likely should've, drinking up the broth from the bowl before setting it back down on the table. "You know more about temples and shrines, right?"

"Enough, yes," he replied.

"Is it strange that there are only men here?" she questioned.

He set the bowl down, peering past Kayo and out the window. The snow had shifted again. "The sect may be celebate and only allow men."

"Well that explains a lot," Kayo nodded. "They looked at me like I didn't belong. I'm pretty sure if I weren't with you, they would've left me out in the snow. Yoshimune seems nice enough but some of the other old monks really didn't look pleased with me being here."

"How odd." Something didn't add up here. Even the celibate sects would be more friendly than that. It was almost as if they were hiding something. He'd noticed Yoshimune hesitant about something when they spoke earlier. Perhaps something had happened here. He stood up, heading for the door.

"You realized something, didn't you?" Kayo jabbed a finger at him.

He turned to face her, his hand on the door. "Do they not seem strangely unsettled to you?"

Kayo wrinkled her nose. "So that isn't normal behavior?"

"Not in the least," he shook his head.

"You think it could be a mononoke?" she questioned.

"It could just be a yokai," he said.

"True," she frowned, "but if you're going to check it out, I'm coming with you." She downed the rest of the tea before standing up and following him out the door.

He left the door slightly ajar as they headed down the hallway. He noted several talismans and ofuda plastered along the upper edges of the walls. They were protective charms, legitimate ones that were meant to ward off evil from the temple. Somewhat typical for a temple, as it was sacred grounds.

They passed some of the younger monks in the hallway. Unlike the elder monks that had been most unwelcoming to Kayo, these didn't seem to pay them any mind either way, practicing their chants and prayers. He didn't stop to question them, leaving them to their studies.

Kayo stuck close behind him. She didn't want to see the older monks, but at least the young ones who were definitely not dressed for winter weather didn't seem so bad. With such lightweight one-shouldered robes, she could understand why they got the shivers so easily. She'd stick to heavier kimono.

"Is something troubling you both?" an elder monk questioned. He was slightly hunched over with age, some wrinkles and salt and pepper hair. He wore much the same robes as the other monks, folding his hands behind his back as he spoke. He peered around the medicine seller finding Kayo ducking behind him. "I can bring you more blankets if the cold is bothering you."

Kayo peered out from behind the medicine seller. He wasn't looking at her strangely like the others did.

"We were simply looking around," he replied. "Are you one of the elders here?"

"I am, perhaps the youngest of us," the monk offered a polite bow. "My name is Akimune. Master Yoshimune says you might be staying with us for a while given the weather and a rather sizable supply of medicinal ginger you've supplied us."

"Indeed," the medicine seller said. "Have you seen a storm like this before?"

Akimune shook his head. "I haven't. Snowstorms are typical in these mountains but nothing quite like this. Even after a month, it shows no signs of letting up. I fear you might be here for some time."

Kayo had to admit that not moving for some time would be nice. Her toes would appreciate not being so cold outside in that frigid weather, though she wasn't quite sure how restful this stay would be given how much the medicine seller was staring out the window. Something was out there, but as long as it stayed out, it wouldn't be a problem. "Well I mean if you keep making delicious food like that, it won't be bad."

Akimune laughed. "We do train in all manner of practical skills here. I'm glad you find our food to your liking."

"I do," Kayo said. "Though as nice as it is, I still hope that snowstorm will let up eventually."

"As do I," Akimune agreed.

Shouting and panic erupted in the hallway, and Kayo grasped for the medicine seller's sleeve. "What is going on?"

"No, not again." Akimune took off down the hallway.

Something definitely was going on in this temple. Prying his sleeve from Kayo's grasp, the medicine seller took off after the monk.

"H-hey, wait up!" Kayo pulled at the edges of her kimono and shuffle-ran behind them. She skittered to a stop, colliding into the medicine seller's back at the end of the hallway. She peered around him then quickly buried her face in his shoulder with a bit of a shriek.

The young monks who had passed them earlier clustered together around one of the elder monks who was remarkably blue and frostbitten. His entire body had been contorted, the elbows and knees bent in the wrong direction as his fingers were frozen twisted and strained. His face had frozen with the jaw practically unhinged, open wide in terror.

The medicine seller caught sight of a woman in an icy blue kimono holding a blue paper kasa umbrella. The snow fell around her as she turned, her face contorting to an inhuman smile as she dashed towards the door.

With a swipe of his fingers, the medicine seller shut the door and plastered it with ofuda spell papers. The woman collided with the door, splashing snow and ice across the nearby windows. The papers lit up red as they protected the door from the assault. Then the red split in both directions before the writing turned black then the ofuda flushed white once again.

Akimune stared. He had seen the woman as well. "Have we… somehow angered the kami? Is that what's been causing this?"

"No," the medicine seller replied. "You have on your hands a very angry mononoke."

…

Author's musings

Well well, it seems something has arrived. I wonder what she might be. Is it what you think she is or perhaps something else?