The mononoke stood before him as a bloodied miko who must've suffered a terrible death. A stab through the heart by the looks of it, almost as if a nail had been driven through her chest like a wara-ningyo. She grinned nearly ear to ear with almost animalistic teeth peeking out from behind her slightly opened lips. Her brilliant eyes stared at him as if they were trying to bore through his soul. Her ears pointed upwards, peeking out of her long black hair.
The medicine seller stood poised for an attack, the mirror in his right hand, the taima sword in the left. He watched her cautiously even though she had made no move to attack him.
"Kichi!" the screech rang out across the courtyard followed by straw sandals slapping against the stonework. "Kichiiii!"
"No, stop, Miss Sumi!" Kayo grabbed for the miko, snagging her by the collar. "That's not your missing friend!"
"Kichi?" the medicine seller echoed, staring at the mononoke before him. How strange for the mononoke to take the form of the one slain. Or perhaps the one slain had fallen and became the mononoke herself. He couldn't discern her form at all, but it was definitely some sort of front. That inhuman grin was a rather good indicator.
'Kichi' jabbed a finger out, first at the medicine seller then pointed right past him. "Fake." The voice was warped and garbled, marred by whatever anger held her to this world.
The medicine seller glanced over his shoulder. Still crumpled behind him was the priest who wrote garbage and passed it off for a protection spell. "Is he your truth? Is he the reason you are linked to the wara-ningyo?" The taima sword didn't chatter for either guess. Something wasn't adding up here.
'Kichi' continued to point. "Fake. Fake!" She stepped forward, rubbing her sandals into the ink scrawled across the stone. "Fake!"
The medicine seller had guessed that the priest was involved in the truth but perhaps that was only part of the truth. Someone definitely killed her, but it didn't seem to be the priest. Only Fuku had approached him earlier while the rest seemed to keep away. He was involved somehow, but it wasn't the truth. Not directly, at least. He was somehow linked with the reason, but the medicine seller couldn't yet see the connection. It was an unusual circumstance, the reason possibly not linked to the truth of her creation. But mononoke didn't always think as humans did. There was some other connection.
"Fake!" 'Kichi' screeched.
"Take out that unholy creature!" the priest shrieked.
"Ho~? I thought that was your job," the medicine seller commented snidely.
"Is now really the time for that?" the priest hissed.
The medicine seller's attention quickly darted back to Kichi as the mononoke lashed forward. He leapt backwards, returning the mirror to his necklace and the sword to his obi. Moving his hands in a sweeping motion, he summoned the paper ofuda in a single line. Pushing his hands together, he opened them to manifest more and more rows of ofuda before twirling his wrist in a circular motion. The ofuda papers barreled forward, encircling 'Kichi' in a paper barricade.
"How is he doing that?" Sumi stared. "Just who is he?" She glanced at Kayo for a moment, but Kayo didn't really have an answer.
"Someone who can help put the mononoke to rest," Kayo answered vaguely. Now she was the one with vague answers.
"But how could Kichi become a mononoke?" Sumi worried. "Fuku said she just went home for a few days. I thought everything was fine!"
Kayo glanced across the courtyard to Fuku. The miko stared uneasily at Kichi, gripping her broom. Perhaps Kayo had cornered the wrong miko to get information. Sumi did seem to know something and was desperately hiding it, but Fuku may have been the last one to see Kichi alive.
She glanced across the courtyard, seeing the medicine seller with his hands full.
The ofuda lit ablaze suddenly, exploding one by one in a column of blue fire. The medicine seller leapt back as small fireballs streaked across the courtyard, one setting the charm stand ablaze.
"Miss Kayo!" he shouted over his shoulder. "Baking soda will put that out! Use the supply in the bottom drawer!" He hadn't seen blue fire for awhile. It was only used by various races of kitsune, of foxes. There were plenty in the area with a shrine to Inari. They were the kami's sacred messengers after all.
"I see. Your form is a kitsune." The sword chattered in response as he leapt to avoid several more blue fireballs. It explained the pointed ears and pronounced teeth. He hadn't spotted any tail or more fox-like features, but kitsune could shapeshift into whatever they desired.
Kitsune could take two general forms. The benevolent form was of a protector of a shrine. At times these kitsune could also punish wicked priests, which could explain the ire towards the priest. But there were also the tricksters, the ones with malicious intent. As this Kichi seemed to be entwined with the kitsune, it was a good chance the mononoke originated from the former.
Kayo pulled up the edges of her kimono, quickly scampering over to the medicine chest. Hefting it on her shoulders, she pulled it away from the flames before setting it back down. She knew well where the baking soda was normally kept, but the medicine seller had specifically mentioned the bottom drawer. That was where he often kept the more mystical supplies, the scales, the large orbs, the suspicious amounts of gunpowder.
Pushing up her sleeves, she rummaged through the drawer, locating the small container labeled baking soda. There was far too little to put out the now raging blue fire. She had her back turned to the battle, but the shadows beside her began to grow larger quickly. She turned, her eyes wide as the blue fire erupted towards her.
She grasped for the medicine chest, tripping over her sandals as a rush of blue and brilliant colors quickly stopped the flames. There he was again, protecting her at his own expense. His left arm was showing signs of battle with a few burns and some scratches.
"Put a pinch of baking soda into one of the lanterns and toss it into the fire," he quickly instructed as he summoned more spell papers. They were quickly proving ineffective against the kitsune's increasing rage. At this rate, she'd burn the entire forest down before he could quell the mononoke's ire.
Kayo quickly went to work, understanding the urgency of the situation. She pulled the lantern out of the bottom drawer, popping it open with a flick of her wrist. "Mr. Medicine Seller, I think Fuku's involved in this somehow. I think she was the last to see Kichi alive."
"How interesting," the medicine seller remarked, pulling the mirror from his necklace once again to deflect the fire. The mirror was proving more effective than the spell papers for now. Fox fire was incredibly potent. If this kept up, he might not be able to actually slay the mononoke this time.
"Sumi thought Kichi left because of the priest Yoshimune," Kayo added. "But Sumi quickly clammed up after mentioning that."
"So the priest is involved," the medicine seller understood. "Work to get that fire out. If the lantern fails, there's a black fire snake in the second drawer."
"W-wait, you want to use a firework on the fire?!" Kayo gasped.
"It's concentrated baking soda," the medicine seller informed her. "The worst it'll do is smell very bad." He turned back to the situation at hand, leaving Kayo to handle the baking soda. The mononoke had suddenly stopped attacking, the mononoke suddenly disappearing back into the woods. It was a moment of respite he hadn't expected.
He looked over the scene, first at the priest cowering behind the incense hut then at Sumi barely able to stand at the back edge of the courtyard. On the opposite side of the incense hut was Fuku, the one who may have been the last to see Kichi alive. This wasn't the sort of scene he'd expected to find at a shrine of people trained to work with the supernatural. It was a rather large mess.
He placed the mirror back on his necklace and the taima sword back into his obi as he stepped forward, the geta shouting out over the deafening silence. He stopped halfway across the courtyard, pointing first at the priest. His arms now possessed multiple burn marks and a few scratches from the battle he'd just endured. "Talk."
"W-why me?!" the priest stammered. "It's not like that monster in Kichi's skin actually said anything true!"
The medicine seller stared at him unimpressed. "Your protection spells are gibberish."
"How dare you!" the priest emerged from his hiding place to point angrily at the medicine seller. "You're nothing but a simple merchant! You're-"
The medicine seller cut him off as he stepped forward. He was shorter than the priest, even with the geta giving him a good few inches in height, but he didn't need a height to intimidate anyone. It was the sharp stare that could bore a hole through the man's heart and the small glint of fangs at the back of his teeth.
"What… what are you?" the priest stared.
"Perhaps the better question is who are you truly?" the medicine seller quickly reversed the conversation.
"He's a fake!" The sharp words rang out across the courtyard.
The priest turned towards Fuku, scowling.
"He's an absolute fake!" she repeated. "We all know it! And if anyone mentions it at all, he beats us. He's just a tradesman trying to make a quick yen off the people who want to honor Inari!"
The priest looked taken aback. "What lies are you trying to tell, Fuku?!"
The medicine seller didn't need anyone to respond to understand Fuku's statement was true. The miko had suddenly backed away, cowering. Sumi looked as if she would cry. "I see." The taima sword hadn't reacted yet, but this sort of despicable act was bringing them closer to the truth.
The priest reeled back in anger, attempting to strike the medicine seller. He simply thwarted the attack with a single finger, stopping the priest with little effort. "How did she die?"
"How the hell should I know?!" the priest hissed.
For once, he seemed to be telling the truth.
"He didn't kill her." Fuku gripped the broom tightly, tears streaming down her face suddenly. "I did."
...
Author's musings
Apologies for the delay.
Kayo is definitely getting better at picking things up for investigations.
I had found his use of the mirror as a mononoke-combating device in the Umibozu arc fasicnating. It was a pity that ability wasn't used again. So here it is! Ofuda won't work well against fire, so the medicine seller has to resort to other tricks to prevent the mononoke from burning down the place. Though with how angry Kichi is, something's bound to get burnt.
Baking soda can actually put out fires. I found some mention that black fire snake fireworks could be used as a means to extinguish strong fires. It just smells reallky gross when you do. Whether or not it's true, I'm not going to be one to test this.
