"W-w-what do we do now?!" Kayo shouted into the back of his kimono. She'd encountered mononoke a number of times now, but they still startled her, causing her to wrap herself around him in fear and uncertainty. Sometimes it was a mononoke, sometimes it was a rat. Both could be unsettling.
This was the first time that Kayo had been shoved out of a room by a mononoke, but it wasn't the medicine seller's first time. While there were still ways to solve a mononoke's truth, form, and reason without being able to speak to the mononoke's targets, it would be considerably difficult to find the information.
He outstretched his hand, waving it to the side as if to open the door from a distance. The shoji door wiggled a bit on its tracks then shut tightly once again. The mononoke was certainly intent on not letting them back inside the tea room.
"Miss Kayo, if you would untangle yourself, please," the medicine seller peered over his shoulder, finding only her hair ornaments in view. "We are outside the mononoke's domain."
Kayo unwound herself, placing her feet on the ground and puffing up a bit to try not to look frightened. "I thought it was dangerous to be outside."
"It can be," he replied vaguely.
"Then let's get back in there!" Kayo stomped over to the door.
"Miss Kayo."
"I don't want to be caught out here where the mononoke can attack us as well!" She attempted to force open the shoji door, but it wouldn't budge. It felt like it weighed as much as a metal and wooden door, far too much for a paper door with a thin wooden frame.
"Miss Kayo."
She pursed her lips, her hands still on the door frame as she leaned nearly horizontally in somewhat of a comical fashion, attempting to pull the door open. That was twice he'd said her name. She peered over her shoulder at him.
He stood calmly with his hands at his side, the taima sword now tucked into his obi. At least he wasn't trying to throw ofuda spell papers all over the place without warning this time. "The door will not open."
"I noticed," she frowned at him.
He peered at her calmly. "Do you recall the rumors in the town?"
She released the door, straightening back up and smoothing her kimono down. "Yeah, the ones about how the place got so popular by a wish. Wait, do you think this wish stuff has something to do with the mononoke?"
"I do," he replied simply. "Miss Mitsu did mention a wish to spend time with her sister, and now we are here, outside the room, while they are inside."
"Her wish came true!" Kayo reasoned.
A grin tugged at the edge of his lips. Being able to collaborate with someone about mononoke was certainly a new experience but one that could be incredibly beneficial. Kayo didn't have the supernatural knowledge or abilities he did, but perhaps a human perspective wouldn't be a bad thing. She wasn't quite as observant as he, but that could be a learned skill. "Yes, and following that statement, I heard something say 'What's next?'"
"That's creepy," Kayo admitted. "Was it the mononoke?"
"Likely." He peered up at the top of the shelf. It was just as he suspected. The shelf was now completely empty. "They're gone."
Kayo situated herself next to the medicine seller, peering upwards then yelping in surprise. "Where are the dolls?!"
"Mononoke possessing dolls," he reasoned.
"That's really creepy," Kayo frowned.
"There are a handful of doll yokai, but I do wonder," he peered up at the shelf, tapping a finger on his chin. "Which could it be?"
Kayo stared at the shelf. Moving dolls. This was unsettling, though probably not as bad as that fish ayakashi that showed everyone their worst fears. She still couldn't unsee that, and if it hadn't been for the medicine seller helping her regain her wits, she might've been stuck in that illusion forever.
"While we remain ejected from the mononoke's room, perhaps we should do some research elsewhere." He hooked a finger, the bottom drawer on his medicine chest responding to his motions. The scales within sat up, ready to be put into action. "Miss Kayo, if you would."
She perked up, seeing the scales once again. Something about them always made her smile. It was like they had their own personalities, reacting to her and bowing to her. As she wiggled her fingers, a few of the scales flew up and perched on them. She paused, noticing the medicine seller placing a few spell papers on the door frame. "Wait, why do we need scales if you're barricading that room?"
"There were two dolls," he replied simply. "One is likely within this room, but the other is uncertainty."
Kayo gulped. "It could be out here?!"
"Possibly," he replied, placing a hand on the bookshelf. It was filled mostly with containers of tea with several large teapots on the upper shelf. They looked like they hadn't been used in a few years, collecting dust along with several unused tea cups. "We do not know where the second one went. It could be a pair, but it also could be two separate entities. Nothing has attacked directly, so it is simply unknown."
She frowned, turning her attention back at the scales that now have covered her arms as they eagerly awaited their next location. Sure, she'd seen a number of mononoke so far, but being the one to learn their truth, form, and reason was proving a bit more difficult and unnerving than she'd thought.
She frowned as rain began to pour outside, darkening the skies. The tea house looked incredibly dark for some reason, almost as if all the candles had gone out at the same time.
Candles. She didn't want to see candles ever again. She peered at the end of the room. The candles looked like normal stick candles, at least, no weird people candles.
But that still presented the problem that everything just appeared dark, and right now that darkness just felt spooky. On the other side of the door was a doll mononoke. On their side might be a doll mononoke. Shuddering, she moved her arms, the scales scattering about to their new locations. Most were located at the door to the tea room, but a few had scattered themselves about the room, docking on the walls and ceiling.
"Such sudden rains." With a hum, the medicine seller turned back to the medicine chest, kneeling down in front of it. He pulled out a few drawers, removing the mortar and pestle along with something that looked like a paper lantern.
With the scales now situated with their bells down, Kayo turned to the medicine seller, leaning over his shoulder to watch what he was doing. He removed a few ordinary-looking herbs and supplies, but then he opened the drawer of unusual ingredients like gunpowder, some salt, a few other odd things she didn't recognize. "What are you making? Another light bomb?"
"A light," he replied, "unless you would prefer carrying a candle, Miss Kayo."
She huffed at his coy response.
He grinned a bit as he continued his work. "It can be used to illuminate that which often cannot be seen. If the mononoke is hiding within the shadows, we may be able to see it with this." He pulled out one more ingredient that she couldn't quite identify, something crushed that had some strange iridescent sheen to it. Crumpling the substance between his fingers, it reacted to his touch and began to glow.
Kayo stared at the substance. "Wait wait, it glows? Is that magic?"
The medicine seller held up the container to her. "Just an ordinary reaction. Take a pinch and rub it between your fingers."
She took the offered bowl as he poured the mortar's contents into the paper lantern. "What is it?"
"It's a phosphorous mixture," he replied. "Don't eat it. It's poisonous."
She frowned at the substance, choosing very quickly not to sniff it. Instead she pinched a bit between her fingers, rubbing it until it began to glow. She had to admit, for a poisonous substance, it sure was pretty interesting. She dropped the pinched phosphorus mixture into the lantern, watching it light up.
Sliding the drawers shut, he stood up with the orb in his hand. "Let's see what we can learn." He headed in the opposite direction of the tea room, up a narrow path of stairs.
She followed him, feeling weird that she was pretty much investigating someone's house while they were preoccupied with mononoke. "So what are we looking for anyway?"
The upstairs hallway was quiet and dark, shadows peering out around decorative tables that displayed bonsai trees and a teapot here and there. It was a much larger area than Kayo had expected, but for a booming tea house, the upstairs likely was as big as the downstairs. People with their large houses. It seemed excessive.
"Something to point to the truth, reason, or form," he replied. He paused as something came into view, laying in the hallway.
Kayo yelped, curling her arms around him.
"A doll," he observed calmly. The doll simply lay on the floor, unmoving and inanimate, but something about the doll's features seemed recognizable. Porcelain face, black hair in disarray, a black kimono. While this doll didn't seem to be possessed by a mononoke, the features were familiar. "I do wonder. Perhaps we are dealing with a hinnagami."
The sword chattered, confirming the form.
"How interesting," the medicine seller mused.
Perhaps the only thing more unnerving than a mononoke was to hear him say that something was interesting. Kayo gulped. Hopefully they'd live through this.
...
Author's musings
Hinnagami are pretty creepy yokai. They are created by meticulously collected grave earth combined with fresh human blood to create clay. The doll formed from the clay must be trampled by a thousand people on a busy road until it becomes alive and probably pissed off. The hinnagami will grant any wish the owner desires, however with a catch. Once one wish has been fulfilled, another must be requested. They are borne of greed and desires.
Death will not free a person from a hinnagami. They will follow them to hell.
