Onmyoji, practitioners of the black magics, Onmyodo. They weren't common in the Edo period, but that didn't mean practitioners weren't still around. Onmyodo wasn't inherently bad by any means, but it had its darker sides. And right now, that darker side was staring him right in the face.

He leaned against the shoji, thankful that the ofuda barricade hadn't broken in the impact. Last thing he needed was an onmyoji on one side and a mononoke missing its truth and reason on the other. The sword hadn't chattered yet. The truth was still incomplete.

"Sister!" Lady Inu yelped in surprise.

"Akimitsu was wasting all our funds away on whores and lavish nonsense," Lady Tori confessed. "He cared nothing for us! Just like the rest of the men here. They're all greedy and horrible!"

Tsuya ducked behind the medicine chest. This was much too crazy to handle.

"So you killed him yourself." The medicine seller pulled the sword from his obi, holding it in front of himself as he took a more defensive stance. Her onmyodo was rather powerful, and he could reason why. "You sacrificed them all to gain more power in sorcery, didn't you?"

"They were all worthless men!" Lady Tori boasted. "They were only good for sacrifices!"

"And you buried them in the rock garden," he attempted to keep her talking as one of the bells from the scales down the hall began to jingle. The mononoke's ire was likely drawn to hers, connected by truth and reason but there was still too much left unspoken..

"The only fitting place for them was under the dirt!" Lady Tori shouted.

The sword chattered. There was the truth. The inugami was created when they were sacrificed then buried under the rock. Akimitsu had been found over a dead mongrel, his ire likely transferring to it and creating the mononoke. But there was still some reason left he hadn't learned.

The scales were slowly tipping. The inugami was getting closer. The ofuda on the walls began to react, slowly turning black then a few turning red as the eye opened on the scrolls.

"Why would you do that, sister?!" Lady Inu questioned.

"He was going to sell you!" Lady Tori shouted back. "We were hurting for money, and you were more valuable than I was!"

Lady Inu's eyes went wide as the color flushed from her face. "It can't be…."

"I found books in his library on onmyodo and I reversed it onto him before he could hurt you!" Lady Tori continued. "His dying words were his only regret, that he wasn't the first to use onmyodo or that he could use us for selfish gain!"

The sword chattered. There it was, the reason that had caused a war to literally break out between brother and sister in a race for who could harm the other first. "Release," the taima sword chattered.

The medicine seller wrapped the sword's face in his hand. He couldn't release the blade right now. Onmyoji or not, Lady Tori was still human. The sword couldn't be used on humans. It could only be used to relieve mononoke of their suffering. And while the mononoke was getting closer and closer, as the scales and the ofuda had told him, there was something a bit more pressing at the moment. Lady Tori.

She drew her hand backwards in preparation for another attack. "And now I'll be rid of you, you pesky medicine seller! You greedy man!"

Her desire to protect her sister had overpowered her, almost as if she'd become a mononoke herself. But the more he was around her, the more he realized she was just possessed by her own ire and the black magics she desired to wield.

"I take your life, I'll be the most powerful sorcerer!" she proclaimed. "That magic you wield would bring our house back to favor! We could rebuild this place to be a sanctuary for women with this magic!"

He glanced at the door. The mononoke was behind it while the sorcerer was in front of it. He was trapped between them with the power to handle one but the other would get in his way. He had to be quick about this.

Tossing a barrage of ofuda at Lady Tori, he quickly opened the shoji door, leaping out into the hallway and shutting the door behind him. "Release!" he grasped the blade, removing it from its sheath. Outspreading his arms, the paint on his face and the embroidery on his kimono flushed away, transferring the power to his inner self.

The blade withdrew in a wash of orange and red colors, slicing the attacking inugami into two halves. "I will put you to rest." The mononoke had been entwined in a sadistic familial battle. It seemed like the same story over and over again. Greed. Ire. Desire. Humans were capable of such terrible things.

The howls of the mononoke rattled the walls and shook the people still within the room. Tsuya clung to the medicine chest while Fusa wrapped her arms around Lady Inu to protect her.

The medicine seller sighed in relief as the howls subsided, the form of a mongrel now laying silently at his feet. Gripping the sheath in his other hand, he turned, feeling the stare of another behind him. Lady Tori had followed him in the hallway, staring at him. But did she see the medicine seller or his inner self?

"What are you really?" she demanded.

"I wonder," he replied vaguely.

She looked less than pleased with the response but she made no move to attack. She stared at him, the dark form with golden paint that moved like it was a living creature on his skin. Whatever this medicine seller was, it wasn't human. He slew the mononoke in one attack with such ease. "How do you have such powerful magics?!"

"I wonder," he replied again.

"How can I attain such powers?!" she shouted at him.

"Don't," he replied sharply.

Her shoulders raised in anger and frustration, but she still hadn't moved to attack him. The medicine seller was definitely powerful, more powerful than she could've acquired by slaying a whole village. "What do you mean?!"

He watched her stance and movements. She radiated magics but she was still remarkably human. He could see it clearly in this form, seeing her inner self as well. A human with a desire to protect her sister. "This mononoke was borne of your feud with your brother," he informed her. "Your desire to acquire magics could create more and more mononoke that could threaten what you have left. What would happen to your sister if you continued down this path?"

The last time he'd spoken in this manner was with Ocho, the woman who had become entwined with the noppera-bo. Humans were capable of terrible things, but sometimes those terrible things were just a result of being set on the wrong path. He wasn't one to interfere with human ways, but sometimes a little nudge wasn't beyond his purpose.

She fell to her knees, holding her face in her hands. "What should I do?"

"That I cannot tell you," he replied. As he sheathed the blade, the medicine seller once again stood before her. He hooked a finger around the shoji door and slid it open. The two servants and Lady Inu huddled together. Lady Tori wasn't alone in this. She just had to realize this herself. He wasn't there to nudge her that much. Humans could be capable of good things once in awhile. Perhaps she could realize that too.

….

He slipped his feet into his wooden geta shoes as he adjusted the chest on his back. Another mononoke now resting outside the human realm. Perhaps he could've asked for payment for that medicine, but the house itself had fallen into so much disrepair from the problems caused by Akimitsu's hobbies, the medicine seller doubted he'd get that large payment he'd hoped for. Back to a rice and bok choy diet for him again. Such was the life of a merchant, after all.

He shook out the paper umbrella, opening it up once again. The rain still hadn't stopped. He walked through the gardens, past the trees and the gates and back towards the main entrance. Not a single mongrel was present. With the inugami quelled, the mongrels likely had no other reason to be here and had probably left in search of food elsewhere.

The medicine seller paused with his hand on the gate as he heard the clamor of sandals slapping against the stone walkway.

"Mr. Medicine Seller!"

"Miss Tsuya," he turned, recognizing the voice.

She skidded to a stop, leaning over with her hands on her knees, panting. "I'm glad I caught you before you left! Lady Inu would've been angry if I hadn't."

"Oh?"

"Here." She shoved an envelope at him. "Lady Inu wanted me to retrieve the secret stash of yen to pay you back for everything, the medicine, the mononoke, whatever you said to Lady Tori in the hallway."

The last one he hadn't expected. Perhaps his short conversation had successfully nudged her. Perhaps there still was some good left within Lady Tori. Perhaps she could release her ire and care for what remained of her family and her household so that other mononoke wouldn't be created here.

Accepting the envelope, he took a peek within. It was certainly thoughtful to pay him for the medicine with a personal stash, even when the household seemed to be hurting for money after Akimitsu's actions. He offered a polite bow. "Please offer Lady Inu my gratitude."

There wasn't much within the envelope, but it was enough that perhaps he could splurge and have some edamame with his next meal. He offered the slightest of smiles before turning back to the street. People could be capable of good things once in awhile.

...

Author's notes

Onmyodo was the name of magics in general but at times they were considered forbidden, particularly with the links to sacrifices and summons. It's unclear exactly where the medicine seller's magic originates, but it's possible that he may practice some onmyodo.

Onmyoji refers to magic practicioners. Funny enough, it's also a name of a mobile game where the medicine seller appeared as a guest character during an event.

Name meanings:

Tori – bird. Refers to the year of the rooster

Inu – dog. Refers to the year of the dog.

Tsuya – possibly means beauty or charm

Fusa – tassel. Connotates completenes "right down to the tassels"

Akimitsu – there are several ways to write the kanji characters for the name, but I picked out Bright Light because it sounds cool.