Chapter Text
After the situation at the Ooku, Kon’s life settled back to mostly normal. The most powerful trigrams are in charge of the more dangerous or tricky mononoke, but cases like those are much rarer. The Ooku was an anomaly, THREE powerful mononoke in a single place?? It was unheard of. It had been a year since then and Kon was extremely bored. Every month a new job would be sent to him and he could complete it in a snap. Afterwards he would just laze around in the human realm or The Jyu-Yoku. He got sick of this pattern very quickly.
Today was just another one of those days. The realm of the Jyu-Yoku was as quiet as ever. At the surface it appeared to be a secluded countryside dotted with luxurious buildings, but upon closer inspection it was easy to tell that this was not the human realm. The forests surrounding the residences were eerily quiet. As though there was not a single creature residing in them. Anyone familiar with even a little bit of divination could clearly sense the chokingly dense spiritual energy.
The Jyu-Yoku was a place where all of the Medicine Sellers could rest and regain their strength after missions. It was also where they all lived when they weren’t travelling. Kon’s little residence was within a building where all of the eight trigrams resided. It was in the middle of the Jyu-Yoku. There were plenty of gardens and little ponds all over the place. It was a ‘tranquil place, away from all the noise and troubles of the human realm’ as Son would say. Personally Kon couldn’t care less about the aesthetics of the place, it just made it more boring.
Currently, Kon was inside his room. He was sprawled out on the floor, his back on the exquisite tatami, as he played with a kendama. The owner of the 7th sword, Gon would probably give him an earful if she saw him right now. Ugh, it wasn’t fair! Why were there no fun things to do in this dumb place! Training this, meditating that. They were practically minor gods and yet they had the hobbies of a soggy ofuda.
“Hey, Shingi! I’m bored. You should give me something to do,” Kon said, rolling towards the sword that was still within its box.
“How about throwing yourself off a cliff,” Shingi responded flatly.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say. Is Ri back yet?”
“Good question.”
“Let me try again. Is Hyper back?”
“Yep.”
Kon promptly left the room after getting the answer he had wanted. He wandered around the place trying to spot the blonde haired medicine seller. Ri had been his partner when he first started this job. All of the medicine sellers were required to have helpers to show them the ropes for their first couple missions. This reduced the amount of deaths they had to deal with. Kon always found the system a little harsh. Reducing death? Why can’t they just help out of the goodness of their hearts? The Kaicho and the others would yell at him if he said this aloud (He knew this from experience).
Their main focus was slaying the Mononoke’s not saving human or Medicine Seller lives. The oath they had to say before officially becoming one of the Sellers literally said, “I will dedicate my life and purpose to the slaying of Mononoke. I shall be known only as the Medicine Seller of *****, and I will be willing to sacrifice anything and everything to reach our goal.” Sacrifice anything and everything, even lives. Of course they wouldn’t care about if someone got hurt or killed, as long as the mission was completed.
Where is Ri? Goodness. Kon hadn’t found him in any of his usual places. Did Shingi lie? No, that dumb*ss wouldn’t lie about something about Hyper. Kon would never tell anyone (Except everyone but Shingi), but that stupid sword was definitely down bad for Hyper. Hmm, where could Ri be then? In another Medicine Seller’s place? He internally frowned. For some reason he didn’t really like the idea of that. Besides, Ri was only friends with him. He was too much of a recluse to talk to anyone else, and Kon was the only person who actively sought him out. Did that even count as friendship? Whatever.
Maybe in the infirmary? Kon couldn’t imagine Ri getting hurt enough to go in there. But it couldn’t hurt to check. Kon opened the fusama to take a peek. Ri was sitting on a futon, using a pestle and mortar to crush up some medicines. His kimono was partially off (I know this isn’t really possible but hear me out) and it was clear he had some sort of shoulder wound he was covering up with some cloth bandages. Classic Ri, not asking for any help.
“There you are. I was starting to suspect you were eaten by a spirit,” Kon said, sitting down next to him.
“Of course you did,” Ri responded flatly.
Kon watched as he continued to smush the dried leaves into small bits. Despite usually being full of chatter he found himself a little stuck. If a powerful Mononoke appeared, why didn’t he ask for help? He guessed he already knew the answer to that question. Ri never asked for help, but he always came if someone else was in a bind. Ri, oh Ri, you dummy. Kon flicked Ri’s face. The injured Medicine looked up.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because you are being stupid.” Kon turned his back to Ri with a humph.
“You’re acting more like a child than usual,” Ri observed.
“No I’m not!”
Ri gave Kon a look before returning to his work in silence. Kon pretended to be mad for a little while longer before getting bored of it.
“I think those leaves are more than crushed by now,” Kon noted.
Ri paused. Before setting the pestle and mortar down and putting the powder into the mixture of other things at his side. Kon stole the concoction right out of his hand. The message was pretty clear. Ri warily allowed Kon to start applying the medicine onto his wound.
“What sort of mononoke did you run into,” Kon asked, trying to be casual. He had this weird feeling that he couldn’t really put into words. He couldn’t help but be sort of.. Angry? That Ri hadn’t reached out for help. Or at least asked for assistance bandaging himself. He had never been this bothered by it before, but then he had never really seen Ri like this. He didn’t like that Ri didn’t seem at least a little pained by the wound. Ugh, why was he thinking so much?! Kon was just helping out a friend that tolerated him and that found him annoying and usually was off by himself and...
“...A Tanuki,” Ri responded, “Kon. Have you, by chance, noticed something odd about the mononoke you have exorcized recently?”
Kon was momentarily pulled out of his strange spiralling thoughts. A Tanuki? Ri wasn’t a Tanuki. Right, Ri was here right now. That was a lot more words than Ri usually had to say. “Huh? Oh, something odd? Nope, nothing odd at all.”
“Nevermind then. Forget I said anything.”
“Wait, have you noticed something weird about the mononoke recently?” Kon started to get a little concerned. Ri had been doing this for longer than him. Had he found a super duper powerful mononoke.
Ri hesitated before saying, “It’s nothing much. I just noticed a lot of strange cases recently. Every single one of them seem to come from extremely mundane reasons. A lost dog. A small falling out between friends. A stolen piece of jewelry. Things that you would not expect to manifest into mononoke.”
“That does sound weird,” Kon said, a little sarcastically. He didn’t think it was that concerning. If they could still be exorcized, it didn’t matter how meaningless their formation might be. Mononoke didn’t really have logic anyways. He learned that after the chaotic events at the Ooku. Though... if RI was worried perhaps it could be a little bit of a problem. And if it wasn’t this could be a perfect opportunity to convince Ri to take Kon on more missions with him.
Kon finished dressing Ri’s wound (He secretly tied the bandages in a little bow so the others could laugh at him when they noticed). It might be a little disingenuous to fake worry just to talk to Ri more... but it was too perfect of a plan to resist. Besides if it really was something him being there would help. “Well if you are that worried, how about we can investigate the next odd case together.”
That seemed to be good enough for Ri. He gave a curt nod and fixed his kimono. “I’ll be going now,” With that the blonde Medicine Seller was gone.
After the situation at the Ooku, Kon’s life settled back to mostly normal. The most powerful trigrams are in charge of the more dangerous or tricky mononoke, but cases like those are much rarer. The Ooku was an anomaly, THREE powerful mononoke in a single place?? It was unheard of. It had been a year since then and Kon was extremely bored. Every month a new job would be sent to him and he could complete it in a snap. Afterwards he would just laze around in the human realm or The Jyu-Yoku. He got sick of this pattern very quickly.
Today was just another one of those days. The realm of the Jyu-Yoku was as quiet as ever. At the surface it appeared to be a secluded countryside dotted with luxurious buildings, but upon closer inspection it was easy to tell that this was not the human realm. The forests surrounding the residences were eerily quiet. As though there was not a single creature residing in them. Anyone familiar with even a little bit of divination could clearly sense the chokingly dense spiritual energy.
The Jyu-Yoku was a place where all of the Medicine Sellers could rest and regain their strength after missions. It was also where they all lived when they weren’t travelling. Kon’s little residence was within a building where all of the eight trigrams resided. It was in the middle of the Jyu-Yoku. There were plenty of gardens and little ponds all over the place. It was a ‘tranquil place, away from all the noise and troubles of the human realm’ as Son would say. Personally Kon couldn’t care less about the aesthetics of the place, it just made it more boring.
Currently, Kon was inside his room. He was sprawled out on the floor, his back on the exquisite tatami, as he played with a kendama. The owner of the 7th sword, Gon would probably give him an earful if she saw him right now. Ugh, it wasn’t fair! Why were there no fun things to do in this dumb place! Training this, meditating that. They were practically minor gods and yet they had the hobbies of a soggy ofuda.
“Hey, Shingi! I’m bored. You should give me something to do,” Kon said, rolling towards the sword that was still within its box.
“How about throwing yourself off a cliff,” Shingi responded flatly.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say. Is Ri back yet?”
“Good question.”
“Let me try again. Is Hyper back?”
“Yep.”
Kon promptly left the room after getting the answer he had wanted. He wandered around the place trying to spot the blonde haired medicine seller. Ri had been his partner when he first started this job. All of the medicine sellers were required to have helpers to show them the ropes for their first couple missions. This reduced the amount of deaths they had to deal with. Kon always found the system a little harsh. Reducing death? Why can’t they just help out of the goodness of their hearts? The Kaicho and the others would yell at him if he said this aloud (He knew this from experience).
Their main focus was slaying the Mononoke’s not saving human or Medicine Seller lives. The oath they had to say before officially becoming one of the Sellers literally said, “I will dedicate my life and purpose to the slaying of Mononoke. I shall be known only as the Medicine Seller of *****, and I will be willing to sacrifice anything and everything to reach our goal.” Sacrifice anything and everything, even lives. Of course they wouldn’t care about if someone got hurt or killed, as long as the mission was completed.
Where is Ri? Goodness. Kon hadn’t found him in any of his usual places. Did Shingi lie? No, that dumb*ss wouldn’t lie about something about Hyper. Kon would never tell anyone (Except everyone but Shingi), but that stupid sword was definitely down bad for Hyper. Hmm, where could Ri be then? In another Medicine Seller’s place? He internally frowned. For some reason he didn’t really like the idea of that. Besides, Ri was only friends with him. He was too much of a recluse to talk to anyone else, and Kon was the only person who actively sought him out. Did that even count as friendship? Whatever.
Maybe in the infirmary? Kon couldn’t imagine Ri getting hurt enough to go in there. But it couldn’t hurt to check. Kon opened the fusama to take a peek. Ri was sitting on a futon, using a pestle and mortar to crush up some medicines. His kimono was partially off (I know this isn’t really possible but hear me out) and it was clear he had some sort of shoulder wound he was covering up with some cloth bandages. Classic Ri, not asking for any help.
“There you are. I was starting to suspect you were eaten by a spirit,” Kon said, sitting down next to him.
“Of course you did,” Ri responded flatly.
Kon watched as he continued to smush the dried leaves into small bits. Despite usually being full of chatter he found himself a little stuck. If a powerful Mononoke appeared, why didn’t he ask for help? He guessed he already knew the answer to that question. Ri never asked for help, but he always came if someone else was in a bind. Ri, oh Ri, you dummy. Kon flicked Ri’s face. The injured Medicine looked up.
“Why did you do that?”
“Because you are being stupid.” Kon turned his back to Ri with a humph.
“You’re acting more like a child than usual,” Ri observed.
“No I’m not!”
Ri gave Kon a look before returning to his work in silence. Kon pretended to be mad for a little while longer before getting bored of it.
“I think those leaves are more than crushed by now,” Kon noted.
Ri paused. Before setting the pestle and mortar down and putting the powder into the mixture of other things at his side. Kon stole the concoction right out of his hand. The message was pretty clear. Ri warily allowed Kon to start applying the medicine onto his wound.
“What sort of mononoke did you run into,” Kon asked, trying to be casual. He had this weird feeling that he couldn’t really put into words. He couldn’t help but be sort of.. Angry? That Ri hadn’t reached out for help. Or at least asked for assistance bandaging himself. He had never been this bothered by it before, but then he had never really seen Ri like this. He didn’t like that Ri didn’t seem at least a little pained by the wound. Ugh, why was he thinking so much?! Kon was just helping out a friend that tolerated him and that found him annoying and usually was off by himself and...
“...A Tanuki,” Ri responded, “Kon. Have you, by chance, noticed something odd about the mononoke you have exorcized recently?”
Kon was momentarily pulled out of his strange spiralling thoughts. A Tanuki? Ri wasn’t a Tanuki. Right, Ri was here right now. That was a lot more words than Ri usually had to say. “Huh? Oh, something odd? Nope, nothing odd at all.”
“Nevermind then. Forget I said anything.”
“Wait, have you noticed something weird about the mononoke recently?” Kon started to get a little concerned. Ri had been doing this for longer than him. Had he found a super duper powerful mononoke.
Ri hesitated before saying, “It’s nothing much. I just noticed a lot of strange cases recently. Every single one of them seem to come from extremely mundane reasons. A lost dog. A small falling out between friends. A stolen piece of jewelry. Things that you would not expect to manifest into mononoke.”
“That does sound weird,” Kon said, a little sarcastically. He didn’t think it was that concerning. If they could still be exorcized, it didn’t matter how meaningless their formation might be. Mononoke didn’t really have logic anyways. He learned that after the chaotic events at the Ooku. Though... if RI was worried perhaps it could be a little bit of a problem. And if it wasn’t this could be a perfect opportunity to convince Ri to take Kon on more missions with him.
Kon finished dressing Ri’s wound (He secretly tied the bandages in a little bow so the others could laugh at him when they noticed). It might be a little disingenuous to fake worry just to talk to Ri more... but it was too perfect of a plan to resist. Besides if it really was something him being there would help. “Well if you are that worried, how about we can investigate the next odd case together.”
That seemed to be good enough for Ri. He gave a curt nod and fixed his kimono. “I’ll be going now,” With that the blonde Medicine Seller was gone.