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zackprincebooks · 30 days ago

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There Are Many Benefits To Being a Medicine Seller

When the bumblebee is away, the hummingbird will play. The Ooku is a perfect place to hunt mononoke, and the ladies are only too happy to tell the Medicine Seller their problems. Takes place after the first movie, no spoilers! (No ships or smut, but contains suggestive themes and nudity. Reference to suicide.)

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The ladies of the Ooku all have the same goal: to catch the eye of the Emperor. He makes his way through his garden of painted flowers, wondering if he shall pluck a lily or a rose. He is a bumblebee, and from his visit to a blushing bloom, sweet honey will flow.

All the flowers cluster together in a vain attempt to capture the bee’s attention. They paint their petals with brighter colors and anoint themselves with aromatic pollen in the hopes of attracting a visit. They tear each other by the leaves and grow tall to block other flowers from receiving sun and rain. After all, if the bee stops visiting, the flowers will wilt.

Wilted flowers don’t look pretty in a garden. They will be pulled out by the roots and replaced with another. Some flowers don’t even bloom before they are pulled. Such is the way of the Ooku.

But if a bee cannot be wooed, then a flower may be refreshed with the visit of a hummingbird. He is heralded with the smell of herbs and incense to calm the nerves. They bend in his wake, seeking his attention. His black wings, spotted with bright colors, are easy to spot among the pastel flowers.

The Medicine Seller flits about the Ooku from flower to flower. Dire matters of health are left to the imperial physicians, but for a skinned knee or a rambunctious stomach, the Medicine Seller is conveniently on hand. Unlike the coldness of the emperor’s gaze, the nervous glances of the guards, or the leering of “special guests,” the Medicine Seller’s yellow eyes are welcoming. He doesn’t linger on the exposed throats or wrists of his patients, but he holds them gently and asks about their day. One would expect his pallid hands to be as chilly and rigid as ice, but they are soft and warm.

When was anything in the Ooku soft and warm?

Perhaps there was something supernatural about his presence. The story of the Medicine Seller flushing a mononoke spread through the Ooku like wildfire; each flame brighter and more lavish than the last.

“I heard from Lady Hana that he pulled the mononoke from the spirit world with his bare hands!” How convenient that Lady Hana was absent from this conversation.

“And I watched him jump off the roof to stab the mononoke with his sword,” Lady Tsubaki said breathlessly. She was down with a fever on the day of the battle and only saw the aftermath.

The Medicine Seller denied any and all acts of heroism. “Of course, I’m just a humble Medicine Seller,” he insisted with a bow of his head before tending to his patient.

So far, the hummingbird escaped the sting of the bumblebee by virtue of his humility. No matter how often the hummingbird visited the garden, he could not produce honey. The Medicine Seller made himself scarce whenever the Emperor visited the Ooku and always showed his pass upon request, even if he had shown it multiple times that day. He was the picture of a perfect guest.

But some ladies longed for the Medicine Seller to be more than a mere guest. Perhaps one day, the Emperor would elevate the Medicine Seller to an imperial physician and appoint him a wife from the Ooku. These theories were discouraged, as it only invited arguments between the ladies about who would be the Medicine Seller’s wife; but everyone dreamed of it when he strolled through the garden and left satisfied flowers in his wake.

There are many benefits to being a medicine seller. ----------------------------------------------------------------

Akari had never been to the Medicine Seller before. She preferred to have her needs met by the imperial physicians. But with two concubines pregnant at the same time, the physicians have their hands full.

“What can I do for you, Lady Akari?” The Medicine Seller smoothly sits in front of Akari, his hands in his lap. The fragrant scent surrounding him is a balm after smelling the stale air of the Ooku, and Akari breathes deeply. The rolling boil in her belly settles down to a gentle simmer.

“Good afternoon, Medicine Seller. I’ve found that I’m having trouble sleeping lately, and it’s beginning to interfere with my duties.” He makes a soft ah that sends Akari’s heart fluttering.

“I can brew you something that will help you sleep, but it would help if you could pinpoint the reason for your troubled nights.” Approaching the cabinet that he carries with him, the Medicine Seller begins opening the drawers and rifling through the assorted herbs and spices.

Akari falls quiet. She kept her nightmares a secret even from the other ladies and brushed off their snide comments about the dark circles underneath her eyes. But when the Medicine Seller turns back to her with a mortar and pestle in hand, his curious hum reverberates in her ribcage.

“I started having nightmares about a week ago. They’re always about the same thing. I’ll be laying in my futon when I turn over…”

Her lower lip trembles. There’s a clunking sound before the Medicine Seller’s hands lift hers. Akari’s sleeves slide down until the bruises around her wrists are revealed to his concerned gaze. “Someone has been hurting you,” he murmurs, and Akari lets out a choked sob.

“In my dreams, a monster breaks into my room. It holds me by my wrists and tears off my kimono. No matter how loud I scream and struggle, no one comes to save me.” Tears dribble down her face and the Medicine Seller offers her a handkerchief.

“Does the monster violate you?” His voice is soft, and when Akari blots her eyes, the pinched brows and downturned lips of the Medicine Seller comes into clarity.

“No. It eats my flesh, and every night it eats more and more. I’m afraid of what will happen when it eats all of me!” Akari breaks down, sobbing into the handkerchief. The Medicine Seller allows her to cry, remaining quiet but continuing to hold her hand. When Akari comes back to earth, his thumb is rubbing the back of her hand.

“Lady Akari, would you please disrobe for me?”

She falters when he asks, and he allows her to withdraw her hand from his grasp. Despite her shaking hands, the Medicine Seller doesn’t offer to help Akari undress as she unties the many knots and ribbons of her kimono. Long lines of creamy skin are revealed to the Medicine Seller, violently interrupted by black and purple bite marks focused around Akari’s stomach and breasts. The drag marks from the upper incisors indicated a wolf, but the sheer size of the bite marks indicated a wolf…that was as tall as a man.

There’s a long stretch of silence as the Medicine Seller inspects the bite marks on Akari. A bead of sweat snakes its way from the shell of Akari’s ear and down the nape of her neck between the strands of her red hair.

“This is very concerning, Lady Akari. I will prepare a poultice for these wounds immediately, and brew tea for you to help you sleep. But more will need to be done before your nightmares can be fully vanquished.” His voice strains in urgency but remains soft as he returns to the portable cabinet and begins pulling different herbs and spices.

“Is this a mononoke?” Akari whispers, her eyes darting around in case her words summoned the creature. The Medicine Seller places a handful of herbs into the mortar and pestle with a spoonful of oil.

“Yes, most certainly.” The Medicine Seller points to a little device that’s shaped like a pretty butterfly or perhaps a bird. Akari watches it jingle as it turns to one side. “This scale measures the distance of a mononoke, and it kept alerting me to one in the Ooku. But I couldn’t find it despite my diligent searching throughout the day.”

“Because it was active at night?” Akari ventures, and heat spreads through her belly as the Medicine Seller smiles at her with all of his pointed teeth.

“Because it was active at night!” His giddy voice resonates within Akari, making her heart dance. The sharpness of his teeth doesn’t frighten her; instead, Akari is overcome with the desire to run her fingers along their edges. “The mononoke waited until we were all asleep before hunting.”

The Medicine Seller sets aside his pestle, crusted with herbs and oil. Akari hadn’t even noticed he’d been pounding them into a fine paste. “May I apply this to your wounds, Lady Akari? It may be cold to the touch.”

It’s only now that Akari is undressed in front of the Medicine Seller, the top half of her kimono folded over the bottom half. They have privacy in Akari’s chambers, but every sound in the Ooku is suddenly amplified: Lady Asa and Lady Sakura chatting in the hallway, maids cleaning the room upstairs, and the plinking of water into the great well.

“Yes please, Medicine Seller.” His head declines in acknowledgement and he kneels in front of Akari, dipping two fingers into the mortar to gather some of the paste. Akari braces herself for the chill of the paste, but she only feels the warmth of his hands. He assiduously applies the paste to her wounds, leaving a tingling sensation in their wake.

“How does it feel?”

“A little cold,” Akari lies, “and it tingles.”

“Good; that means it is working. Please bear with me for a little longer, Lady Akari.”

His hands massage the paste into the tender skin of her belly and ribs. When the Medicine Seller is satisfied, he will wipe his hands and use strips of cloth to cover the wounds. He dips his index and forefinger into the mortar for another round, pausing. “Ah, pardon me.”

Akari’s breath hitches as his fingers brush the underside of her right breast. Her nipples stiffen from the contact, and Akari feels as though she should apologize for her body’s natural responses. The Medicine Seller doesn’t grope her as a lesser man would, but continues massaging the paste and lay the strip of cloth on top.

When he reaches for her left breast, Akari whimpers. She tries to catch it between her teeth but it slips out and hangs in the air between them. And of course, it had to happen during a lull in the activity around the Ooku. Surely the girls in the room above her will hear the shameful noise coming from Akari, and when the Medicine Seller leaves her room, they will know who caused it.

She is only grateful that the Medicine Seller doesn’t say anything, though his yellow eyes flicker and his eyebrows bounce. Akari flushes as red as her hair and successfully clamps down on the whine that bubbles in her throat when the Medicine Seller withdraws his hand one final time to apply a bandage. He turns away, allowing Akari the farce of privacy so she can put her kimono back together.

“You said the nightmares started one week ago.” The Medicine Seller’s voice is throatier when he speaks again, and the warmth that started in Akari’s belly moves to her groin. “What changed one week ago?”

“I moved into this room. Lady Himari originally stayed here, but the Emperor promoted her to concubine.” Akari struggles to keep her voice level, even after her kimono is fully tied. “She left me some of her belongings, however. They’re in those cabinets over there.”

“May I?”

“Yes, of course.”

Akari is grateful for the distance between them as he opens the cabinets. “My, my, such finery! Did Lady Himari come from a wealthy family?” The Medicine Seller withdraws a dark blue kimono in luxurious silk, decorated with golden sparrows and pink flowers.

“Not wealthy enough to afford such goods. I know she had a lover from the lower court, but he stopped visiting when she became a concubine. I believe his name was Lord Kentaro?” Akari watches as the Medicine Seller rifles through fans, jewelry, and more kimonos. His own kimono is tied in such a way that the nape of his neck is exposed and whisps of white hair dance on his pale skin.

If Akari bit down on him, would he whimper, too?

A thudding noise from his portable cabinet jars Akari out of her reverie of sinking her teeth into the meat of his neck. “Medicine Seller! Something is—”

“Lady Akari.” His warm breath cascades across her blazing cheeks; he was able to get in front of her while she was distracted. The Medicine Seller’s gaze demands Akari’s attention, and she gives it to him with both hands. “Would you be able to stay in a friend’s room? You cannot sleep here tonight. I will lure the mononoke.”

There is a tiny smear of purple paint that was transferred from his upper lip to his lower lip. Akari wants to wipe her thumb along his lip, past his lips and let him suck on it.

“Yes, I can stay in Lady Sakura’s room tonight.”

“If you need to lie, tell her I recommended you sleep in another room to help with your nightmares. I will happily be your scapegoat.”

“Thank you.”

Lady Sakura winds up not asking any questions. She was giddy over the idea of having Akari sleep over, and invited four other girls to have a party. The sake flows, the snacks are plentiful, and Akari forgets about the wolf creeping in her nightmares. By the time they sleep in the futon—which is many futons pushed together—Akari is warm and fuzzy, and falls asleep with a smile on her face. ----------------------------------------------------------------

The Medicine Seller can tell why the Emperor took Lady Himari as a concubine: her hair is long and lustrous, her eyes are bright and keen, and her voice is as clear as a bell. Maids pour them tea and immediately scurry out of sight, no doubt pressing their ears to the wall to eavesdrop.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet with me on such short notice, Lady Himari. I understand you have a busy schedule, so I will try to be brief. This is concerning the room that you once occupied.”

Lady Himari blinks slowly as she considers what she should say. “I don’t understand—Lady Akari lives in that room now; why would it be of any concern to me?” Her head tilts to the side in a perfect picture of confusion.

“Because Lady Akari has reported experiencing strange occurrences in your old room. Did anything happen while you were sleeping there?” The Medicine Seller tries to keep his words as inconspicuous and innocuous as possible. If he trips an alarm, Lady Himari may remove him from her presence, making his investigation that much harder.

Luckily, either the Medicine Seller hasn’t alerted her to his true intentions, or she is curious enough to uncover his intentions, because she continues talking to him. “While I am concerned that Lady Akari is having issues in my old room, I can’t imagine that it would be because of something that happened while I was staying there.” But the way she pauses when she lifts her teacup to her mouth signifies weakness.

The Medicine Seller waits until Lady Himari takes a sip from her tea before he asks, “nothing regarding Lord Kentaro?”

While she doesn’t give the Medicine Seller the satisfaction of spitting out her tea, she does choke and cough on it. He gives Lady Himari a moment to thump her chest with her fist until she can compose herself, though her face is still red from the exertion.

“I’m sorry, d-did you say Lord Kentaro?”

He must tread lightly. If anything he says suggests that Lady Himari may have continued her relationship with Lord Kentaro after she became a concubine, she may appeal to the Emperor to revoke his pass to the Ooku.

“If he left something in your room before you moved out, it may attract bad energy. He may have tried to attack you.”

“That’s not possible.” The crease in her brow flattens and Lady Himari picks up her teacup again with a coy smile. “Lord Kentaro is dead. He died a week ago.”

“Oh?” While the Medicine Seller tries to maintain his composure, excitement ripples through him. “Are you sure? I understand information in the palace takes its time before it is passed into the Ooku. What may have merely been an illness may have been reported as a death.”

“I’m quite certain; I’m the one who told him to kill himself. He begged me not to accept the Emperor’s designation as a concubine and to marry him instead. I laughed in his face and told him that he was stupid if he thought being his wife was a bigger honor than being responsible for the future of the nation. I was so ashamed to see him on his hands and knees that I told him to just kill himself and stop being a disappointment.”

“I see, thank you for enlightening me to the truth of the situation, Lady Himari.”

The Medicine Seller makes some light conversation with Lady Himari before thanking her for the tea and returning to Lady Akari’s room. They will call for lights out soon, so he makes sure that no one is around when he closes the screen. If anyone comes running, they may divert the mononoke’s attention away from the Medicine Seller and onto them, instead.

Removing his shoes and placing his cabinet in a corner of the room, the Medicine Seller lays down in Lady Akari’s bed and pulls the cover over his head until not a strand of hair is visible. He hears the call for lights out, the thundering footsteps and slamming doors as everyone rushes to their rooms, and then the hushed whispers as the lights go out one by one until the Ooku is plunged into darkness.

And he waits. His shoulders twitch at the slightest creak of wood or a muffled snore, ready to bolt upward at the first provocation. The timing has to be perfect or else he’ll lose his chance to strike.

The creaking above him settles as the girls fall asleep. The guards finish their patrol and move on to another section. The Medicine Seller’s eyes begin to droop—

And then the door slides open.

Through his blanket, the Medicine Seller watches as a looming shadow fills the room. Glowing red light pierces the darkness, and a growling sound shakes the floor and ceiling.

A clawed paw approaches the bed, but before the mononoke can pull down the blanket, the Medicine Seller throws his blanket at the creature, covering its face. While it struggles with the blanket, he runs over to the screen door and slams it shut.

He gets a good look at the mononoke as it pulls the blanket from its slavering face: a massive black wolf dotted with red eyes, and a thick cord wrapped around its neck that drags on the floor. The cord cuts into his neck, dyeing it a dark red color.

“Normally I would have some compassion for you: the Emperor takes the woman you love as a concubine and she tells you to kill yourself. That’s going to break anyone’s heart.”

The Medicine Seller and the mononoke begin circling each other; the mononoke licking its drooling chops and the Medicine Seller thumbing his sword.

“But then you waited until I was asleep to attack a harmless, innocent woman. Not only are you a coward, but you’re an idiot, too. You couldn’t even attack Lady Himari.”

Unable to take the stabs to its already-wounded pride, the mononoke lets out an eardrum-shattering howl and charges.

The Medicine Seller draws his blade. ------------------------------------------------------

“Good afternoon, Lady Akari. How may I assist you today?”

The Medicine Seller didn’t expect to see Lady Akari after he dispatched the mononoke two nights ago, though it’s possible she continued to have nightmares due to lingering energy in her room. But the circles under her eyes are gone and there is a spring in her step. There’s also a wrapped package in her hand that smells divine.

“No need to assist me, Medicine Seller. You have done more than enough for me. My nightmares have ceased and it feels as though I’m sleeping better than ever before. I cannot thank you enough for all that you’ve done for me, but Lady Asa said you enjoyed rice balls with hoba miso.” She presents the package to him, and when he takes it, it’s still warm.

“This is a princely gift indeed, Lady Akari. My mouth is watering already.”

He is keenly aware of her brown eyes focused tightly on his mouth. When he licks his lips, Lady Akari’s throat bobs and her soft cheeks flush. “I should see you in the next day or two to check on your bruises and replace the bandages. Please inform me before then if they give you any problems.”

The flush on her cheeks deepens until he cannot tell where her hair ends and where her face starts. “Yes, Medicine Seller.”

They part ways, the package of rice balls feeling heavy in the Medicine Seller’s hands. He is not allowed to pluck the flowers in the garden, and he would prefer to keep his head on his shoulders. But as long as the ladies of the Ooku desire him, they will confide in him their secrets: their fears, their worries, their wants, and their nightmares.

Their shape.

Their truth.

Their reason.

The Ooku is a terrible place. Resentment and bitterness choke the air and the ladies climb over each other to feel a fresh breeze on their faces. Mononoke breed in the shadows like hens in the henhouse, but a fox has wormed his way in.

The Medicine Seller only intended to slay the mononoke of the Ooku, but his presence has taken on a dual purpose. If he can give these ladies some comfort—any comfort—then he may prevent the birth of new mononoke.

Opening the package, he unwraps a steaming rice ball and takes a bite.

There are many benefits to being a Medicine Seller.

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