"M-m-m-m-mononoke?!" Tsuya exclaimed. "What's that?!"

"Unnatural spirits borne of strong negative human emotions," he replied. Pointing a finger at the open shoji door, he forced it shut with a simple swipe of his finger.

"H-how did you…." Tsuya dropped the mortar full of medicine.

The medicine seller caught the mortar with his hand before it reached the ground, placing it back in her hands. He stood up, opening the top section of the medicine chest to reveal a box with a rather ornate sword in it.

"What do you think you're doing, medicine seller!" Tori screeched.

"Stopping the mononoke from entering," he replied, withdrawing his left hand towards him as ofuda papers peeked through his fingers. He prepared to set up a barrier to halt the mononoke, but Lady Tori had leapt over the sick Lady Inu to grab at him. She wound her arm around his tightly, preventing him from moving.

"How dare you come in here with a sword claiming that some nonsense spirit has appeared!" Tori screeched. "Are you just trying to get more money, you lowlife merchant?!"

He gritted his teeth a bit, his fanged tooth barely visible at the edges of his lips. This was never an easy thing, especially when dealing with the upper classes. Sure, he was of the lowest social class, but they didn't have to insult his integrity. He considered shaking her off, but he'd rather not end up dragged out by the authorities again. Given the urgency of the situation, it likely wasn't the worst result.

His thoughts were quickly jarred by an unnatural howl echoing through the halls followed by heavy footsteps and bone-shaking growls. It was here, stalking the hallways. He hadn't had a chance to set up any barriers yet. This likely wouldn't end well.

"W-wh-what's that?" Tsuya stammered.

The medicine seller watched the door cautiously as he attempted to carefully shake off Lady Tori and not knock over Tsuya and the medicine sitting nearby. What a predicament to be in.

The shoji door suddenly slid open and the entire doorway was filled with a black and white essence completely with glaring red eyes and large fanged teeth. Lady Tori quickly released the medicine seller, stumbling backwards with an unholy scream as she tripped over Lady Inu.

The essence leapt forward, but the medicine seller quickly intervened. He held the sheathed taima sword out before him, repelling the attack and keeping the essence at bay. "What are you? What is your reason for being angry?"

The essence replied with a deafening howl. The medicine seller could feel its breath on his arm now exposed with the kimono sleeve pushed back. It seemed like some sort of dog mononoke but there were so many that he couldn't yet put a finger on it. Perhaps this was what the mongrels were seeking, this angry growling mononoke that was now trying to invade the room.

"Get back!" he shouted at it. With a bend of his elbow, he pushed the sheathed taima sword forward, forcing the mononoke back out the door and into the hallway. With a swipe of his hand, he forced the door closed even at his distance from it, plastering the walls with protective paper ofuda. Black writing overtook them, transitioning into red with an open eye pattern before returning black then empty.

He carefully watched as the ofuda reacted, following the mononoke's path until all the ofuda were once again empty. That was one angry mononoke. This would require some delicate setup to ensure it didn't get in before he could slay it properly and let it rest.

Arching his finger in almost a beckoning like movement, the bottom drawer opening in a silent command. Tsuya nearly dropped the mortar but remembered it held precious medicine for her lady's sickness.

A single silver scale floated out of the drawer, landing on his finger.

"What's that?" Tsuya questioned.

Same question, every time. It was as if not a single person in the entire country had seen a scale before. Yet somehow, even with the repeated question, it still amused him. "A scale."

With the scale now balancing on his finger, he neared the now-barricaded door, listening to the noise beyond it. Silence, as he expected. The mononoke had left once again. It was prowling, likely hunting, trying to fulfill its grudge.

Carefully, he hooked a finger around the shoji door, sliding it open. Nothing in the hallways but a handful of scratch marks along the walls and floor. It definitely had taken some form of a dog.

Tsuya watched him, clutching the mortar. Lady Tori did nothing but glare at him. Fusa was more focused on Lady Inu's condition, though she looked like she would faint at any moment.

With a flick of his finger, the scale lifted up, landing outside along the doorway and lowering its bells. With a silent command, several more scales lifted from the medicine chest and he placed them just outside the door and down the hallway. He would've liked to place more but he could feel the tension seeping down the hallway, possibly from the mononoke but more likely from Lady Tori behind him.

With the scales now in place, he slid the shoji paper door shut again and resealed it. He turned, tucking the taima sword into his obi and returning to kneeling next to Lady Inu. He reached for her, only to be intercepted once again by Lady Tori. That fear sure washed away quickly.

"Don't you touch her," Lady Tori threatened.

"She cannot swallow the medicine laying down," the medicine seller stated sharply. "She could choke." Even with the threat of a mononoke, he still had his duty as a medicine seller to attend to. He had to make a living somehow.

"I don't trust a merchant with a sword!" the lady hissed. "What are you planning to do with that thing?"

"I use it to kill." He couldn't necessarily blame her. Only the samurai class was allowed to carry a sword and he was four classes below that at the very bottom. It surprised everyone that he carried a sword, but he honestly had it only for one reason. To kill one thing. "Mononoke."

Lady Inu placed a hand on his sleeve, grabbing at it meekly. "You can…. kill that thing?"

She was definitely the more reasonable of the two, he quickly understood. "When I learn of its form, truth, and reason, I can." He peered at her arm peeking out of her kimono sleeve. With his free hand, he pushed the sleeve up her arm a bit. Her skin was covered in shallow wounds that looked akin to scratches. "Do you have a pet dog?"

Lady Inu peered up at him then at her arm. "I don't… where did those scratches come from? They don't…. They don't even hurt. My chest does. My feet do."

"What do you mean this form, truth and reason?" Lady Tori demanded.

"Sister, please," Lady Inu chided her. "He's trying to help us….. All the rest ran away because of the mongrels."

The mongrels. They were definitely key to this whole situation. He reached towards the medicine chest for some ointment for the wounds, only to be quickly swatted away by Lady Tori once again. She really wanted to get rid of him, while Lady Inu only wanted him to help to get better. Tsuya still gripped the mortar in panic, unsure of what to do.

He placed the free hand back in his lap, not shaking the lady's hand off his sleeve. "The form is the shape and the type of mononoke which has transcended into the human world." It definitely had something to do with the mongrels and the sickness Lady Inu was suffering. "Its truth is how it came to be. What caused it to be born into this realm? What is its reason for its anger?"

"That all sounds like supernatural babble," Lady Tori scoffed.

"It's a curse," Tsuya stammered. "It's definitely a curse."

The symptoms of the sickness all were familiar. Tsuya likely wasn't that far off, though the source wasn't human as she likely assumed. Not directly at least. The mononoke was borne of human emotions but it takes on its own life and form. Its reasons and grudges may have originated in humanity, but its actions were its own.

Lady Inu grasped the medicine seller's sleeve once more. "Curse or not, please give me the medicine."

"Inu!" Lady Tori fussed.

"Sister, please," Lady Inu countered, "I can't take this anymore. The symptoms…. They're getting…." she interrupted herself with barking-like coughing. "Ever since…. Ever since…. He….."

"Inu!" Lady Tory fussed again.

Lady Inu was definitely on the verge of admitting something when the growling once again echoed through the room. The medicine seller turned, watching the ofuda light up as a means to protect them from the mononoke. The bells rang out on the scales as they tracked the mononoke's position and its prowl back and forth in front of the room before it left once again.

He watched as the ofuda returned to empty once again. "I believe this is an inugami." The sword chattered in confirmation.

Tsuya nearly leapt as the face on the sword tucked into his obi moved.

The medicine seller reached out, catching the bowl of medicine she had dropped in surprise. "These barriers won't last forever. I need you to tell me everything."

...

Author's notes

So the mononoke finally reveals itself! There are so many dog and wolf yokai in the creepy haunts menagerie I've found in research, but this one is an inugami! Finding out the 3 truths of this mononoke isn't going to be easy with Lady Tori countering every move the medicine seller tries to make. At least he put up some barriers.

In writing this, I had to research quite a bit on the Edo era. It's an era defined by a rigid class systems where merchants are on the bottom. They were often deemed as shady and untrustworthy, which is where the bad reputation stems. Only the samurai class was allowed to have swords, so the medicine seller possessing a taima sword is highly suspicious!