The boisterous scholar Tanbei was frozen where he stood, staring wide-eyed at the seaweed-covered scroll he claimed was his best work with a different name on it. "Th-that must be a forgery!"
Kawa unrolled the scroll some more, noting the correct spellings of each name accompanied by detailed sketches and descriptions of each yokai. "Even with the severe water damage it has endured, this is quite the well-crafted scroll, Mr. Tanbei. I do wonder how long it had been submerged underwater."
"Judging by the seaweed and damage, I'd say for a few months," Akihiko observed. "It takes a few years for a poorly maintained boat to acquire that much, but a scroll probably wouldn't be so lucky."
"How curious that a forgery would be discarded in the sea," the medicine seller said.
"You all know nothing about how false scrolls are handled!" Tanbei insisted.
Kawa rolled up the scroll, shoving it at Tanbei before sitting back down at the waterlogged campfire, returning to drawing prayers in the sand.
"They are discarded into the sea where they will never be seen again!" Tanbei continued without invitation. His proclamation was met with silence. He curled his hand around the scroll, annoyed. These bottom feeders were looking down on him. What did they truly know about scholarly work? They worked to serve those above them, not ponder the ways of the world.
"Perhaps we should relight the fire," the medicine seller suggested. "It will be cold if we remain wet from the sea tonight."
"R-right," Akihiko stammered. "I think there are some sticks that aren't wet yet. Do you have any flint or matches?"
"I do," the medicine seller replied. He hooked a finger around the nearby medicine chest partially lodged into the sand. Drawing the drawer open, he handed Akihiko the flint. With a crook of his finger, he drew a few scales out, distributing them on the sand behind them and letting their bells dangle down as they balanced on the beach. One perched itself on Kayo, distracting her from her nervous fidgeting.
Tanbei seethed. They were ignoring him. Those lowlifes! He threw the scroll at the pile of soggy campfire branches, scattering them about. "Use that for kindling! That's all Kinichiro was ever good for anyway!"
"Oh~?" the medicine seller questioned.
"He was from an unimportant samurai family, and that bottomfeeder had the gall to try to publish this kind of scroll like he knew better than the rest of us!" Tanbei rambled on.
"So you handled him?" the medicine seller urged him to continue.
"Not like it was hard," Tanbei replied boisterously. "He thought I'd take him to the opposite port. Took him on a ferry, pushed him over the edge, let him cry for help as the boat left him behind."
The taima sword chattered in confirmation.
"The mononoke's truth, the means it was created," the medicine seller said.
"Like he'd become anything but a bottom-feeder!" Tanbei continued. "He wasn't capable of thinking of revenge."
"Perhaps," the medicine seller said. "But a mononoke's reason is a strong emotion. Perhaps betrayal. He did trust you, didn't he? And yet you pushed him from the boat and stole his work from him. That feeling of betrayal became his uncontrollable regret, the emotion which drives it beyond human comprehension."
The taima sword chattered in confirmation.
"Like I'd believe some chattering sword and a worthless medicine seller!" Tanbei jabbed a finger at him.
The medicine seller turned as the bells on the scales quickly tipped towards the sea. With a swipe of his hand, the scales returned to the medicine chest. He stood up, holding the taima sword out in front of him as the water drew down the shoreline.
A massive wave erupted as a black mass of an arm shot out of the wave. It wrapped itself around Tanbei, squeezing him tightly as his ribs began to crack under the pressure of its grip.
"Kinichiro, you worthless bastard!" Tanbei gasped as his body began to crumple and contort. His back cracked backwards as the arm nearly folded him in half before yanking him into the waters down the beach.
The wave did not recede this time, and another arm reached out from the seawater. Using the taima sword, the medicine seller deflected the attack. The arm chased him back and forth as he artfully dodged it. He observed it as he moved, watching the shape the arms took. Each arm that had reached out always looked like an octopus arm, and that was exactly what it was.
"Get back, everyone!" Kawa shouted.
He held the sword out, pointing it at the tidal wave. "The mononoke's form is a koromodako!"
"Release!" the sword confirmed.
He grasped the edge of the sword as the water crashed over him and drew him down shore. His inner self grasped the sword, drawing the blade from its sheath. The runes that covered his body kept him from drowning and protected him from the octopus's grasp. Normally koromodako lived in the deeper seas. They were small octopus yokai that grew monstrously large when something threatened them. They could consume anything in their paths then shrink back to normal size when no longer threatened.
But that was the usual yokai. When Kinichiro drowned in the Seto Sea, his strong feelings of betrayal had latched onto an octopus, creating a koromodako outside its natural habitat. They were a dangerous sort, much like the oomukade and could be just about as angry.
The form of the octopus floated before him, its arms extended to impossible lengths as it attempted to reach onto the beach. A pair of sandals floated nearby, Tanbei already consumed by the mononoke's insatiable hunger for revenge.
Arms lashed out, attempting to ensnare the inner self. He quickly pushed off the sand and out of the way, drawing the sword downward and severing the arm. The mononoke seethed, lashing at him again and again. Each time, the inner self severed the arm as he drew closer to the body. He blocked the remaining arm with the taima sword before driving the blade downward and through the mononoke's body. It was time for Kinichiro to finally rest.
The waters receded, drawing back into the sea. The outer self crouched on the beach, the taima sword outstretched before him. At his feet was the body of a small octopus. Tucking the sheathed taima sword into his obi, he carefully picked up the body with both hands, setting it into the tide, and letting it drift back out to sea.
….
It took several days for a boat to find the small island in the sea. During those several days, the stranded passengers persisted and survived, not talking about what they had witnessed. They carried on as they hoped a boat would come along or that Akihiko would finish the one he was starting to create. No tidal waves or giant octopus attacked the beach. The sea remained calm and the skies were blue.
On the docks, Kayo still clung to the medicine seller's arm with a death drip. Her knees wobbled and she desperately wanted to get far away from the sea.
"We are on land, Miss Kayo," he said. "You can release my arm now."
"I hate boats!" Kayo cried into his arm. "I hate them! I never want to take another one again!"
"Alright, alright," he conceded. "Just let go of my arm. It's still sore."
Kayo released his arm, still shifting uncomfortably as they headed into the town. "You're such a baby when you get injured, you know."
A sly grin crossed his lips. "Look who's talking, Miss Kayo."
"Don't make fun of me!" she jabbed a finger at him, puffing up angrily.
"Yes, yes," he continued to grin. "Let's go get some supplies. Have you ever had Ryukyu bananas? They are quite different from northern foods."
"We are not taking another boat!" Kayo fussed.
"No more boats," he said. "They grow here in the southern regions without needing to travel to the Ryukyu Islands."
While the other passengers had gone their separate ways, Kawa had remained behind. She wanted to talk to him, to figure out what she had actually seen when he was drawn into the water. It happened so fast, but for a moment, she was certain someone else was there. But as the water receded, whoever she saw was gone.
She was convinced he wasn't human, but his exchange with Kayo said otherwise. She held her hand out to catch their attention but stopped. Perhaps some things were best left unanswered. Whatever she had witnessed, he had relieved a mononoke of its pain. He seemed to have a purpose with that taima sword he carried, and it was best to leave him and his companion to it.
Kawa bowed her head in prayer for their safe journeys. She then turned to stare out at the calm sea for a moment before heading towards her shrine.
….
Author's notes
Well moral of the story. NO MORE BOATS.
Name meanings! Members of the boat, all named after water
Akihiko, the carpenter. 沖 Aki means open sea
Tsuichiro, the fisherman. 津 Tsu means harbor or port
Hama, the fisherwoman. はま Hama means shore or coastline
Tanbei, the so-called scholar. 丹 Tan means boat
Kawa, the priestess. かわ kawa likely translates to "river (川)"
The only difference is Kinichiro. Kin means gold.