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I finally finished the Hozuki manga last week. Truly loved how everything came full circle at the end. I am really sad it is over, even tho it has been for like four years and I have just been lazy.
Hozuki is truly such a complex and intricate character. He is scary at first glance, incredibly funny with a witty, dry sense of humor, commanding to a fault, caring and nurturing, a huge nerd with knowledge about anything apparently, and so much more. I didn't expect to fall for him, but here I am, ten years after the first time I watched the show, still coming back to him, even if I get crushes on other fictional men. He has me in a headlock, I swear;;;
And it really saddens me only the manga is translated into English. After finishing I wanted to try and read interviews from Natsumi Eguchi, but I couldn't find anything, and I doubt google translate is gonna do them justice. Even if I got it digitally on Kindle, I'm a sucker for physical media, so having the manga and other books has been a dream of mine for so long. Hopefully after settling into my new job I can finally start Japanese lessons (the whole reason I wanted to learn the language is for Hozuki).
What I'm trying to say is I'm grateful I found someone else who is active online that I can talk about him with. You have given Hozuki another perspective for me to take into consideration. I always saw him as the workaholic that he is, but I've also been pondering with the idea that he is aromantic/asexual (maybe I'm putting too much of a latino perspective into this Japanese character;;; idk). But obviously I wanted him to be a lover, and your writing has opened my eyes to yearning Hozuki. The kind of guy to love silently and consistently. god, he is so beautiful. i need him. anyways yap over sorry for the wall of text
HI SWEETS!!!
omg you read the entire manga!?!? yayyy congrats!!! (i still have to do that🥹) ik it's so sad that the manga already ended, but it won't end for us as long as we yap about it😌 and don't worry i'm still going to write about him for a long while hehe
Hozuki is such an intriguing character, so stoic yet he has so many qualities that makes him so endearing. it's only a matter of time that we fall in love with his character!
yessss the resources on the work is so limited (especially in English), and it's so sad because i don't think they even print physical copies anymore🥲 omg that's so cool!!! i wish you the absolute best in learning japanese, and i'm always here if you want any help or even translating some text!!
awww i'm so grateful to have you as well to talk about Hozuki and its niche fandom🥹 i started writing him purely out of my love for him, but i never thought i'd meet someone who would read and enjoy my works, so i'm always and forever thankful for you for giving me all the kind words, especially since. ily sm sheep, and hope we can continue yapping about him together🫶
"He has a habit of having one shoulder exposed whenever the "Shape" is revealed. He is quite aloof and loquacious before the events unfold, but suddenly changes demeanour to a more serious/sharp one when the Mononoke appears.
"The sword features a vulture motif, possessing a great ability of foreseeing and seeing through things.
"His existence serves, honours and purifies human sentiments, and shouts '葬斬' ('souzan'; chinese character meaning 'funeral strike') when he slays the Mononoke."
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Kusuriuri and the Inn Keeper: ろくろ首 (Rokurokubi) — Kusuriuri x gn!reader
Chapter 3 The medicine seller reveals everything
word count: 2.6k
warnings: three part series! graphic details (blood, wounds, lifeless body, knife/razor, family grieving; can be skipped by ignoring the italicised paragraphs) cursing
a/n: thank you SO MUCH for following along with this series!!! everyone's kind words warmed my heart and kept me going throughout the writing of this fic and i hope you enjoy the last part of this story <333
m.list | chapter one | chapter two | chapter three
“Breathe.”
You felt the strong grip of Kusuriuri’s fingers on your shoulder, trying to ground you into place.
Head felt too fuzzy. Lungs were not quite working. Mouth gasped for air.
Your heart felt as though it was gripped by a hand squeezed in unsteady rhythms to dictate your pulse.
You tightly shut your eyes. Everything came into view once more.
The blood trickling down from your aunt’s throat and her husband’s neck.
The stench of iron in the air.
The sensation of her skin turning cold against your fingertips when you cradled her face and wept for eternity.
The singing of crows outside to announce the deaths.
Shadows crept up to every corner of the room that once two lives lived in, the moon darkening under the cover of the clouds. You felt the drop in temperature as you cried
You cried beside her body.
You cried with your face buried in her stomach.
You cried at the foot of the mound of dirt piled up that hidden your aunt’s body.
You stared lifelessly as you watched her husband, laid across a stretcher, be taken away. His eyes were still open, opaque orbs staring right back at you as it passed by your side—judegemental and disgusted.
“I… ca…n’t…”
Ring…!
You clutched onto his kimono, tightening your hold whenever your lungs expanded too much, never contracting back, but trying to greedily suck more air.
“Your aunt’s murder has already passed… there is nothing to do but look forward, and breathe.”
A loud gasp echoed as you sucked in the cool night air. Though tears still trailed freely down your cheeks, making your lashes heavier by each blink of your eye, your chest started breathing properly.
Ring, ring, ring, ring—!
Kusuriuri’s eyes widened. Snatching his sword, he stood up and faced up at the ceiling, shielding you away from the talismans blinking open to stare down at the two of you.
His eyes turned into slits into a glare at the wisps of black smoke that seemed to crawl between the talismans—faint, but definitely there. “The Mononoke… seems to be, focused on… you.”
You started heaving, picking up its speed as a shiver ran down you at the smoke. A trickle of warm tears left your eyes. “I-I thought”—gasp—“it was focused”—gasp—“on-on the room itself…!”
A steady, strong hand held onto your shoulder, making you look up at him with a hitch of your breath. You gripped onto his hand, shutting your eyes tightly until you could shallowly inhale and exhale.
“The only thing we need to kill the Mononoke is to gain the reason,” he said, voice tight. “What do you know?”
“I don’t… I don’t know…” you said, hiccups bubbling out of your throat as it joined your cries. “C-Can’t it not be the fact that she resented her husband?”
“But he had already taken his own life. It doesn’t explain why she would also be attacking you.”
“I-I’m sorry… I don’t know. I don’t know…”
Slowly, you crumbled further to the ground, hands tightly grasping around your head and forehead touching the floor. The surface of your thighs pressed suffocatingly against your chest that shook with effort whenever a heartbroken sob forced its way out of your stomach.
“Why did he kill her?”
Kusuriuri jolted in alarm as he sensed a presence behind. Turning around, a snaking figure slithered out of the talismans placed across the wall, just behind you—heading towards you.
“Miss!”
The first thing that you noted when you woke up was the sunlight basking over your closed eyes, making your blind vision tint with an orange hue. Slowly, your eyes blinked up and stared up at the ceiling, lightened up in a comforting glow.
Your brows furrowed at the tight, painful sensation at the edge of your jaw, tenderly unclenching your teeth to feel the ache properly.
Inhaling… exhaling…
Rubbing the tightness of your muscle at your sides to loosen the soreness, your head slowly tilted to the side to see the rest of your room.
A single cup of tea was placed beside your head, a line of white steam streaming upwards towards the ceiling. You avoided your gaze from trailing up along with it, and slowly braced a heavy arm beside you to raise yourself up.
“You’re awake.”
You flinched. Immediately, raising your gaze, you found the medicine seller seated in front of you, poised and almost leisurely, fingers gingerly settled over a cup of warm tea.
“How… How am I alive?”
“On your back,” he answered, bringing his cup towards his lips. “I placed a talisman last night… when I visited you.”
“Oh… I didn’t realise it being there,” you murmured, grazing your fingers across the paper.
“Fortunately the Mononoke was… weakened by the barrier of the room. A single talisman, was enough to protect you.” The tip of his lips suddenly curved upward, eyes thinning slyly. “And, well… you were too… preoccupied, to notice being there.”
Your cheeks immediately heated up at his words, remembering the smell of his incense and herbs by your bedroom door, the way he pulled you closer by resting his hand on your back. Mouth jutting out slightly in a pout, the coldness in your limbs started to warm up with the rush of blood.
“I wasn’t—”
“You were quite… red in the face, too.” His teeth showed as his smile widened, the sharp canine glinting under the faint sunlight from the open window. “How… cute.”
An indignant sound escaped your throat and you abruptly stood up. “I’m going to get some more water from the well.”
He leisurely stood up as well, taking his wooden carrier. “Then I will also. It is possible for the Mononoke… to appear in daylight.”
“Right, I almost forgot…”
He slowly walked towards you, footsteps almost muffled and silent with his careful strides. Then, a hand reached out, delicately facing up towards you, just right above your stomach.
Your eyes widened slowly, meeting his gaze. His mouth curled into a small smile.
Pulse racing, you bit the inside of your lip to stop them from forming the same curve he adorned on his handsome face, finding it harder from the way your stomach was violently fluttering. Tentatively, you slowly clasped your hand over his. The coolness of his skin contrasted with the warmth that flooded throughout your body from your fluster moments ago.
As Kusuriuri led the two of you out of your room and walked across the hallway to leave the inn, you came to a halt in front of the entrance door. You quickly pulled a drawer, retrieving a key, and raised a silent brow when you saw him delicately holding the heavy lock of the door, caressing the keyhole with his thumb.
“How… uncommon to have a lock.”
He tilted it to the side to look closer.
“Yes, it is,” you agreed, taking the weight of the lock from him.
“I did not… realise you had one yesterday…” He looked at you. “Why, would you have a lock?”
“My aunt… she had noctambulism. It was to prevent her from accidentally wandering outside.”
He tilted his head. “Noctambulism?”
The hand that held the key paused its movement in unlocking the metal. Meeting his gaze, you nodded slowly. “Yes. For around three moons before…”
Click.
The soft sound of the lock opening echoed in the air between the two of you, and you carefully placed the key back to the drawer.
“We did everything. We went to a temple for an exorcist, we burned incense in her room… none of it worked. But we didn’t want the village to persecute her so… we got a lock.”
Your thumb ran over the metal, the rough texture of rust poking your skin.
“I’m a light sleeper, so I woke up whenever she started to roam around the inn, and guided her back… though most of the time her”—you swallowed thickly—“her husband stopped her before she could leave the room…”
He nodded, eyes narrowing. “I see.”
Moonlight obscured, the room was darker than the night prior. The warm glow of the lamp was the only thing making the medicine seller visible to you. He sat beside you, facing you, as you did the same on your futon. Your entire body burned at the weight of his gaze on you, so close that you wondered if he could hear the frantic beat of your heart.
But you finally cleared your throat, peered up at the talismans on the ceiling, and met his blue eyes that appeared orange under the reflection of the light. Hesitant, you asked softly, “Do you think my aunt resents me?”
He tilted his head. “Why would she?”
“The Mononoke… it’s targeting me, no?”
Kusuriuri stayed silent for a moment before he spoke once more. “When did… the sleep paralysis start?”
Your brows raised for a moment at the question, but you cleared your throat.
“About two moons ago,” you murmured, fidgeting your fingers. “It was when the first customer came since I restarted the business… None came after though.”
“Who was it?”
“A man. I know nothing more than the fact that he was a traveller.”
“…And?”
“The night that he stayed at the inn was when I first started experiencing sleep paralysis.”
You paused. Furrowing your brows, your lips tugged down to a frown at the memory.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, just…”
…Ring.
“That customer was gone by the morning.” Biting your lower lip, you felt your limbs start to shake. “I-I thought he simply left, but—”
“He was killed,” Kusuriuri finished. “By the Mononoke.”
Clink!
Kusuriuri leaned in, forehead just barely touching against yours before placing his hand on top of your knuckles, thumb reverently caressing your skin.
“On the day of the incident, was there anything… wrong with her husband?”
Ignoring the violent flutter of your heart, you bit the inside of your cheek. “I… I really don’t know.”
Ring ring ring ring ring!!
The two of you looked up at the ceiling.
Feeling the blood rush out of your face, you screamed.
A pair of eyes stared back at you, glinting bright yellow, and below it a mouth inhumanely large curled into a deep sorrowful frown, framed by long dishevelled hair and you realised with a startle that the head was reaching towards the two of you by a long tail of limb—a neck—slithering like a snake trailing down from above.
Through the tears that welled up from fear, you recognised its mouth moving.
“You… insi…dious bitch…”
“I… kill… you before you… curse… us…”
The sound was deep and monstrous, a strained growl forced out of its soul through a parched throat—but you recognised that timbre of the voice.
It was your aunt.
But it didn’t sound like your aunt. She never spoke like that.
Because layered beneath her voice, it was the sound of her husband.
Suddenly, the Mononoke’s head shot down.
Kusuriuri’s eyes widened and he immediately wrapped his arms around you, a hand coming to grab the back of your head to have your face burrow his chest to hide you away from the Mononoke.
But before he could shield you away, a scream tore out of your throat at the sight of the head snaking down and stopping with a snap right in front of you, just above his shoulder.
You locked eyes with it.
Time seemed to slow.
The room was dark.
Her husband stared back at you with a snarl. Even without the moonlight, the darkness revealed his eyes blazing with fury and disgust.
Your cheek stung, tasting blood when your tongue flicked against the rough edge of the muscle that tore open in a wound.
“You insidious bitch!” he hissed. Upon raising his hand, you inhaled sharply in fear at the sight of a razor. “I’ll kill you before you curse us—!”
Your hands flew to the front of your face, and your breath hitched when you saw the moonlight finally illuminated your surroundings. The hand staring back at you was older… wrinkled from age and spotted from sunburn.
The scream you let out wasn’t yours as well, as his hand tugged your wrist away from your face and the glint of the razor plunged towards you.
When you blinked open your eyes, you were met with the sight of Kusuriuri staring down at you with a deep furrow between his brows. As he saw you regain consciousness, you felt his hands holding you loosen in its grip.
From over Kusuriuri’s figure, you watched as the long neck almost covered the ceiling.
The Mononoke spoke your name. Soft and sad.
“I won’t… let you… die like me.”
The yellow eyes and frown blurred as a tear rolled down your cheek. An anguished sob tore out deep from your chest, stripped bare and broken. You cried out for your aunt, gasping for air as you wept.
“The fear…” Kusuriuri murmured, holding out the sword up at the Mononoke, an arm holding you against him. “Made your aunt merge with the ayakashi. By scaring humans in the night… she felt as though she regained control over her own body and situation. That is the reason.”
The head of the Mononoke swayed, circling the two of you across the ceiling.
Clink.
“Shape, truth, reason… assembled thus, I hereby release the sword!”
"Release!"
The clutters of Kusuriuri’s hands roaming the drawers of his wooden carrier joined the chorus of birds chirping outside, alongside the softest patter of rain.
“What are you searching for?” you asked, a tray held in front of you. Settling beside him, you shifted your legs to a comfortable position to sit and placed a warm cup of tea for the two of you. Your shoulders brushed with his, close enough for you to peer into the drawer.
Kusuriuri didn’t reply for a moment until he found what he was searching for and looked back at you. “A charm.”
You tilted your head to the side, slightly amused. “I didn’t know medicine sellers give out charms.”
He chuckled quietly before leaning in. Your breath gently hitched at the proximity, taking in the bitter yet aromatic incense that enveloped him constantly and comfortingly. There was a slight shuffle and a short moment of discomfort in your hair. Reaching behind you when he pulled back, you touched a smooth sphere. A hairpin.
Surprised, you looked up at him. “Is this…”
His eyes sparkled with mirth, a sly smirk on his lips. “Who… knows?”
Your lips parted, bewildered, before you couldn’t help the small giggle tumbling out of you, cheeks flushing bashfully.
As he handed you a mirror to admire properly, he caressed a hair away from your face and murmured softly. “I believe, your aunt… was protecting you.”
Eyes widening, they snapped back at him in surprise. “Protecting me?”
“It was targeting me,” he said. “Not you.”
“But… why would she scare me in my sleep? Why did I have sleep paralysis?”
His eyes were soft as his fingertips trailed across your jaw and tilted your face up a little. “I think she was simply… watching over you.”
A small, sad smile graced your lips, eyes feeling hot as you recalled the Mononoke’s last words. “That… That sounds like her.”
Silence lingering tenderly, the two of you gradually finished your tea and stood up. You watched him sling his wooden carrier behind his back and take a single step towards the door.
“Would you…” You swallowed thickly before giving him a small hopeful smile. “Would you come back?”
He looked back at you. The purple lip paint on his mouth curled higher, eyes thinning as a smile formed on his face, the blue hue sparkling under the sunlight.
“When I need to rest… I shall visit you again.”
You chuckled, warmth filling your entire body as you beamed up at him gently. “I’ll be waiting.”
Kusuriuri smiled back at you, resting his hand on your cheek.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
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Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Kusuriuri and the Inn Keeper: ろくろ首 (Rokurokubi) — Kusuriuri x gn!reader
Chapter 2 The strange medicine seller searches through the inn
word count: 2k
warnings: three part series! kind of slow burn, mention of a relative's death, slightly graphic details of death (mention of blood, wound, lifeless body, knife/razor; can be skipped by ignoring the italicised paragraphs)
a/n: i'm so sorry for taking such a long time for this part, but thank you so so much for enjoying my fic! i really didn't expect this much love, and i really hope you enjoy!!
m.list | chapter one | chapter two | next chapter
“Is it wise to stay in this room?”
Your voice was calmer and levelled, the thud of your heart beat was still a little stronger than you liked, but the rhythm was steady.
The hands on your lap fisted gently as you looked at the medicine seller sitting across from you, only a paper lantern placed at the centre of everything. The light illuminated his sharp features, highlighting the smile he was giving you.
“Well… I do need to kill the Mononoke…”
“Is it not unsafe to stay here?”
“The barrier would… protect us.”
You hummed, staring at the blank ink of the talismans.
“You are…” You raised a brow at him at his pause, at the way he observed you with that sparkle of amusement that he seemed to hold dearly when talking to you. “…Quite calm now.”
“Well… everything feels so ridiculous now,” you sighed softly.
“Ridiculous…” he murmured, repeating your words. He chuckled at that, slow and deliberate.
He glanced up at the corner of the ceiling, watching the eyes morph into existence in the talisman, blinked close, yet dispersed back into blankness. You followed his eyes as well, shivering at the sight, but you simply straightened up when his next words echoed in the small room.
“Tell me about… your aunt.”
You hesitated, clenching your hands into fists that felt too clammy against your fingers.
“What exactly would you like to know?”
A shadow passed over the room, the moonlight covered by the grey clouds above the inn.
“Her death… at first, perhaps.” His eyes narrowed, though the smile remained. “How did she… die?”
You swallowed thickly. “She was…”
Another pause.
“She was murdered.”
Ring.
“By who?”
Your chest heaved, the steady rhythm increasing as you inhaled… and exhaled, inhaled… exhaled, inhaled and exhaled, inhaled, exhaled—
Ring… ring… ring…
Kusuriuri glanced once more at the ceiling, this time the talismans snapping open its eyes, enveloped in its bright red colour. Slowly, he placed his focus on you once more, smile vanishing at the warm hue of the lamp’s light reflecting the perspiration on your temple, at the light in your eyes dimmed as you kept your gaze on the floor.
“…Her husband.”
Your hand shot out to support yourself, grounding it on the wooden surface that felt too warm under your touch as you looked up at him. The heaving of your chest slowly evening out.
“My aunt was killed by her husband.”
Clank, clank, clank…
You jolted, a heavy thud of your heart ringing in your ear. Your eyes zoomed in on the pairs of sabres and rows of teeth shaking, the mouth desperately wanting to be clenched shut as its pupils flickered around madly. Kusuriuri quickly took it out from the cushioned box, clutching it tightly as he looked up at the ceiling, observing the scale tilting towards the centre.
“Ho…? ‘Husband’… not, your uncle?”
“Well… they were remarried…” you murmured, fidgeting with your fingers. “Quite recently. I was yet to be comfortable calling him my uncle.”
As your focus trailed back towards him, you let out a small yelp when you realised he was seated right in front of you, sword on his lap, staring right at you. The ringing of his scale subsided, yet they were still all directed towards the centre of the ceiling, and the talismans glowed with its eyes widely opened.
His head tilted to the side story, eyes thinning as he stared at your nails peeling layers of skin off of your cuticles. He slowly placed a hand over yours, fingers wrapping around your cold touch. “How… did she die?”
Blood. Your screams. Lifeless eyes.
Petrified to the spot, your hands started to shake, tears welling hotly that burned painfully.
“I-I don’t know…” you whispered, clenching your eyes shut. “There was just… there was just so much blood, I-I couldn’t—”
A soft gasp escaped from your lips when you felt cool hands press against your cheeks, cradling your face, making you open your eyes to look up at Kusuriuri who watched you with an unreadable expression. His thumb caressed the tears away, almost methodologically—starting from the tip of your eyes, right under your lower lashes, and finally at the dark bags underneath your eyes.
You tightened your hold on his kimono and in response, his fingers delicately rested at the back of your head to pull you closer until your forehead touched his chest. You let the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and the patting of his hand on your back calm you.
“I’m sorry,” you whispered softly.
“There’s no need to, worry about me…” He placed a finger under your chin, featherlight, to tilt your head up at him. “But I’m afraid, the Mononoke won’t… wait for you.”
Ring, ring, ring, ring…
“I thought the barrier would protect us!” you hissed, panic making your words shake at the edge.
“The Mononoke is… stronger, then expected,” he said, narrowing his eyes up at the incoming threat.
The talisman broke at the centre and the shadow reached out to the two of you, wispy black smoke swirling to form a shape, almost like a head with an elongated neck.
You flinched at the sight, holding him tighter.
Immediately, Kusuriuri faced his palm towards the broken barrier and his talismans dispatched, rows of it covering the broken spot. Your heart raced as you watched the paper turn bright red in an instant, changing its colour in waves—the Mononoke was circling around the ceiling.
“It is not safe to stay here,” he said, helping you up. “The Mononoke is focused on this room.”
Standing up on weak legs, you asked, “Then where to?”
“I need the Truth and Reason.” He met your eyes, and your heart fluttered at the intensity of his gaze. “I need you to lead me to your aunt’s room.”
You felt the blood rush away from your face at his words, taking a surprised step back. In response, he took a step forward, his hand on your back insistently heavy.
“I-I can’t…”
“We have to.” He took another step forward until your chests touched, so close that you distantly smelt the bitter herbs and incense once more. “Fear will take you nowhere.”
You pressed yourself close against Kusuriuri’s side, clutching onto his kimono sleeve with one hand, and the other squeezed his palm that he lent to you. If it weren’t for your fearful frantic heartbeat numbing your senses, your heart would have fluttered for the way his cool hand felt warmer against your cold ones, his callouses gripping onto your softer ones to remind you of his presence. Glancing up at him, you saw the lamp illuminate his pale skin and sharp features, admiring the way his blue eyes was set forward in great focus.
Tearing your gaze away from him, you looked around the hallway, noticing the lines of talismans around the walls and ceiling.
“Please take them off by yourself,” you muttered, tugging at his sleeve slightly.
He chuckled softly. “Your concern is my talismans, on your walls?”
A faint blush bloomed on your cheeks. “I need something else on my mind.”
“Is it no longer, ridiculous?”
Feeling your face heat up too warm to your liking, you didn’t reply to him and instead pressed a little more closer to him, hiding behind his shoulder.
He let out a snickering huff before snapping his eyes towards the ceiling. The talisman’s colour swished like a wave, going back and forth above the two of you. His hand around you tightened.
“Run!”
Gasping, you followed after him. Your footsteps were frenzied but seeing the wooden plank across the door, you ran ahead of him slightly, hand still intact with his, and removed it off of the hook, and slid it open. The two of you entered the room, and Kusuriuri closed it shut, dispatching another row of talismans until it covered every surface of the room—the walls, ceilings, floors.
You crumbled to the ground beside him, the fear and shock of the event making your limbs shaky and weak, but most of all, at the familiar sets of furniture around the very room that causes your throat to clog up and goosebumps to rise on your skin.
Kusuriuri crouched beside you, his hand on your back, the other cradling your jaw as he tilted your face up at him. “Are you all right?”
Nodding with a frail set of breaths, you swallowed the vile down and steadied yourself by placing your hands on his shoulders. Leaning in, you closed your eyes and rested your head against his chest—inhaling, exhaling—to try to calm yourself.
Meanwhile, Kusuriuri looked around the room, only lit by the small, single lamp beside him. It seemed like it was the biggest room, with minimal furniture. At the centre, two futons were still spread across the floor. Clean. No trace of blood. And most of all, the room smelled like fresh rain from the morning, the sweetness still lingering in the air.
Feeling you shift, he watched you carefully lean away from him, hands lowering from their clutch on his kimono.
“Do you… change the air, quite often?”
“Every day, at the hour of the sheep,” you answered, eyes avoiding the futon.
“Do you enter this room any other time?”
You shook your head.
He slowly sat properly next to you, coming close to your body. His hand still rested on your back as he guided you so that the two of you were facing your backs in the centre of the room, and noticing your hand fidgeting nervously, he wrapped his own one around yours once more, face inching closer as though to wipe away any invisible presence you feel in this room.
“Tell me exactly how she died,” he said, voice soft yet firm, coaxing you to open up.
You sucked in a breath, meeting his eyes, chest soft heaving as another surge of anxiety and panic rushed in. His cool hands gripped tighter around yours, grounding you.
“To kill the Mononoke.”
“To kill the Mononoke,” you repeated, nodding absentmindedly. You looked up at him from under your lashes, fingers trailing up towards his skin slightly, feeling him shiver slightly—the inhumane man feeling human under your touch. “You’ll be there, right?”
Kusuriuri’s eyes widened slightly but he returned the nod. “I will.”
Taking a deep breath, then out, you straightened up and finally let your eyes land onto the futon.
“It was midnight, and I woke up because of a scream…”
Blurry vision welcomed you, the moonlight bright that night. Your mind was still groggy, and couldn’t wrap around the scream properly.
Thunk!
The muffled yet loud sound jolted you fully awake, and you sprung up from your futon, frantically looking around the corners of your room. Quickly lighting up a lantern, you ran out of the room towards where you thought the noise came from. Standing in front of the door to your aunt’s and her husband’s room, you knocked on the wood rapidly.
“Auntie?” you called out, loud and full of worry. “Are you okay? Did you hear the noise?”
Silence.
You felt your breathing become erratic, lungs not filled out completely with air, hand shaking. Choking on a sob, you opened the door carefully, vision becoming blurry once more as hot tears started to fill in.
The blood was everywhere. Spreading across the thin sheet and seeping into the wooden floor beneath, trickling to every crevice.
Imperceptibly you heard your own footsteps as you approached the lifeless bodies. Faintly, you heard your own knees hit the floor as you crouched next to the lifeless bodies. Slowly, you felt the warm blood puddle around your own legs as you stared at the deep blooming camellia on your aunt’s throat.
The sharp metal of the razor that seemed to have pierced her throat was lodged at the side of her husband’s neck, his hand still ghastly wrapped around the hilt.
Clearly, you felt your own throat reverberate as you screamed, tears cascading in waterfalls as you burrowed your face into your hands.
Kusuriuri cradled your face with both hands, thumbs caressing the tears away that flowed too much. His brows furrowed deeply at the translucent sound of the bell on his scales that echoed in the room.
“The truth has been gained.”
Clink.
the hour of the sheep (hitsuji-no-koku; 未の刻) refers to midday (2:00~3:00 pm), opposite to the third quarter of the Hour of the Ox. Changing the room's air during that time is believed to be the best time to wash out the bad energy due to the strong yang (陽) energy.
Kusuriuri and the Inn Keeper: ろくろ首 (Rokurokubi) — Kusuriuri x gn!reader
Chapter 1 A strange man appears at the door of your inn
word count: 2.2k
warnings: three part series! kind of slow burn, mention of a relative's death, sleep paralysis
a/n: it took so long but it's finally here! writing with plot is not for me, but i hope you'll enjoy!
m.list | chapter one | next chapter
“Would you be interested in some medicines?”
You blinked in surprise at the bright and vivid colours of the kimono that the man in front of you wore. With an ethereal face that looked like the children’s stories of gods you heard in your childhood paired with the striking ash blonde colour of his hair and the deep blood colour of the abstract paintings on his face, you quietly wondered whether you have unknowingly died.
He did not seem like he was from this world.
Blinking a couple of times, you squinted your eyes against the light filtering in from behind the mysterious man, making it as though he was inviting you to the doors of heaven, but it was clear enough that you were still inside your inn.
So you’re not dead…
Clearing your throat, you straightened up to give him a small polite smile, though it was barely there and too tight around the corners. “I’m afraid I cannot afford medicines, mister.”
“I see…” The upturned curve of his mouth made you think he was smiling at you mockingly, but a closer look made you realise that the strange purple hue of paint on his lips was what gave that impression. “Well… are there any empty rooms, that I can stay in?”
“Of course,” you said. “That will be 50 mon coins.”
The man slowly sauntered over to you from the entrance of the inn, the sound of his footsteps steady as though they were measured. You watched him settle his wooden carrier, curiously staring at all of the intricate patterns painted across the sleek surface, the drawers smooth as he gently pulled it with his forefinger.
“Are you a kabuki actor?” you asked, taking another look at the golden patterns on his wooden carrier, and then at the brightly dyed kimono that he adorned.
“I am just, a simple medicine seller.”
You furrowed your brows, dubious at his reply, but didn’t ask further. As you counted the coins, a small awkward silence lingered, only the sound of metal scraping metal and the drops of water from the rain outside echoing in the room.
“How long have you owned this inn, miss?”
Surprised at the break in silence, you looked up at him in surprise, stopping in your tracks for a slight pause before you focused back on your hands. “For the past three years, Kusuriuri-san.”
“Was it owned by anyone before you?”
You nodded. “Yes. My aunt. And his husband.”
“Oh? And are they…?”
“They passed away,” you finished his thought for him. He caught onto the distant look in your eyes, at the slight bite on your lower lip that you rolled between your teeth.
“My condolences. Although…” Cautiously, you looked up towards him, jolting when you realised he was already staring at you. “How did they… die?”
Your fingers tightened around the coins, heart lurching at the memory. Straightening up, you cleared your throat. “I do not quite feel comfortable talking about it.”
“I see… My apologies then.”
You nodded stiffly. “I’ll escort you to your room.”
The two of you walked the short hallway, the wooden floor creaking under your weights in age like a moan of pain of the ghosts that live in this inn.
Suddenly, you heard his footsteps stop.
Looking back at him over your shoulder, you froze.
He was staring at a door, a finger placed on his chin as though deep in thought. It was barred with a single wooden plank at the front, coal black ink writing "No Entry". Your heart raced, focus glued to him and at the door. You felt your throat clog up, lungs restricted. Uncomfortable. Fearful.
You swallowed thickly.
“Is there an issue, Kusuriuri-san?” you finally found the voice to ask, shaky and faint.
“No… well, I was wondering why… this room seems to be vacant.”
There was a pause.
Then you slowly, carefully murmured out, “That was where my aunt and uncle passed away. I will be opening the room once their second anniversary is over.”
“So they died at the same time?”
Your eyes widened. A painful thud of your heart beating against your ribcage. “…Yes.”
“I see…”
He took one final last look before he walked towards you once more, slightly smiling as though the two of you were just sharing a funny joke.
“Please… continue to escort me to my room, miss.”
Your eyes opened with a scream.
Your chest heaved with effort, feeling as though your heart was choked by a large hand.
You were still laying down on your futon, muscles clenching and glued to the sheets.
Your eyes flickered across the ceiling. A sound got stuck on your throat, tears welling up your eyes at the sight of a long black shadow, illuminated by the dim white moonlight, slithering back to the corners of your room, reaching all crevices of the wall until they were gone.
Even when the walls were familiar once more, your body stayed frozen in place. Your limbs didn’t allow itself to move. You were forced to live through the dizzy feeling of your mind taking over with fear, throat clogging up yet feeling as though it was at the verge of throwing up.
Ever so slowly, your fingers shook and the tips of your toes started to rush with blood, and gradually your body regained its consciousness. With strain, you propped yourself up, taking in gasps of air as you tremulously searched for a paper lantern and a flint, and after arduous trials, got it lighting up.
As the room was enveloped in warm lighting, you avoided looking back at the ceiling. Your skin still littered with goosebumps and shivers periodically ran through you despite the humid temperature of the rainy June summer.
Inhaling, exhaling. Inhaling and exhaling.
Once your veins felt as though it was not pumping too much blood, you brought your fragile legs to your side and stood up shakily.
Another scream tore out of your stomach.
Knock, knock.
“Miss?”
You were crumbled to sheets once more, but at the translucent sound of your guest’s voice, you swiftly got to your legs once more and scrambled to the door.
Opening it, you were met with Kusuriuri’s striking blue eyes that flickered over your face, then swept across the dark shadows of your room, before settling back onto yours. The action was leisure and calm, subconsciously making your shoulders relax.
“Did something happen?”
“Oh, no… just— just a nightmare,” you mumbled, your heart still racing painfully against your ribcage. You tightened the front of your kimono, wrapping it closer to your skin. “I-I’m sorry, did I wake you up?”
He slowly tilted his head, pausing to note the way your chest heaved. “I just… wanted to borrow the restroom. I was hoping, you could guide me there.”
You hummed softly, nodding distantly. Your feet felt like it was stuck on the ground, knees about to crumble and topple over. You were too scared to look back at your futon, the hazy sight of a strange figure above you making your hair stand in alarm.
“Are you… all right, miss?” he asked, leaning closer.
Your cheeks warmed up at the proximity, face so close you could almost count his fair eyelashes on his pretty eyes. The smell of incense and herbal bitterness filled your nose, with an underlying sweetness that made your head dizzy, softening the harsh edges of anxiety. Taking a small step back, you tried to create a semblance of distance between the two of you to save you some face.
“Y-Yes, I’m all right.”
A small embarrassing yelp escaped your lips and you sucked in a shocked breath when his hand reached towards you, to your waist and rested feather-lightly over your kimono, gliding his palm on your back. Eyes widening up at him, your frantic mind faintly noticed the smile that graced on his lips.
“Perhaps… a cup of warm drink would help.”
You continued to stare up at him, lips softly parting before you swallowed thickly and murmured out, “Per… Perhaps.”
“Here… let me help you prepare.”
“But how about—”
“Now, now.”
Kusuriuri gave you a gentle nudge from behind, making you take a step forward and inviting you to his space, the closeness making it seem and feel as though he was embracing you. Muscles tensing, you froze in place as you were met with his chest, and when you slowly raised your eyes up at him, he was smiling down at you with eyes slightly slitted, almost sly but not quite—maybe more so hooded.
With his hand still placed on your back firmly, insistent, you were guided down the hallway towards the inn’s kitchen and led you down to a stool. He lit up each and one of the lamps, blurring the shadows into an orange hue and soon it was accompanied by the sound of the fire sizzling and water boiling in a low grumble.
“Thank you, Kusuriuri-san,” you finally said after the small silence, fiddling with your hands, trying for a weak chuckle to mend the awkwardness. “I’m like a guest at my own inn.”
“Don’t, worry about it.” He brought another stool to sit across from you, gingerly handing you a cup of warm water.
Thanking him softly, you wrapped your fingers around the warm surface, feeling it coax your body to relax before taking a small sip of the water.
“What kind of… nightmare, woke you up, miss?”
You traced the rim of the cup, clenching your jaw at the memory. You breathed in, then out. “It wasn’t a nightmare. Recently I’ve been… struggling with sleep paralysis.”
“Oh?”
“I see shadows reaching out for me… but I can’t move. I can only watch it creep up towards me, and—”
You didn’t speak further.
Kusuriuri didn’t seem to mind. His head slowly cocked to the side.
“It’s almost the third quarter of the Hour of the Ox,” he said. Careful, yet eyes flickering with subtle mirth. “Will you be… safe?”
A chill went down your spine at the reminder and you cleared your throat. “Well, hopefully I can get back to sleep by then.”
“Should I lie down together with you?”
“…” You blinked. “You are quite shameless.”
“What about me is shameless, miss?”
Speechless, you shook your head, though a small smile reached the tip of your lips. Gently, you set the cup down, the soft clink of the ceramic echoing the room.
You stared at the small ripple on the surface of the water, the way it disappears to the walls of the cup—reminding you of the way those black tendrils escaped to the corners of the ceiling. Sighing softly, you stood up from your stool.
“It’s late. I think it’s best to go back to sleep.”
“Can you, go back to sleep, miss?”
You paused. You bit the inside of your cheek. “I will.”
The shadows were closer this time, chillingly cold.
You couldn’t move again, limbs tied with an invisible rope.
Your eyes were kept close, the blindness making your senses heightened against your will.
You felt the shadows inching closer and closer and closer—
Ring………… Ring……… Ring…… Ring… Ring.
“Miss!”
You gasped. Your eyes flew open and watched as the shadows suddenly repelled back from your body.
Before you know it, Kusuriuri was beside your futon, his hand on your back to lift you up from the ground. His face was close as he inspected you, and you could see the serene features of his expression broken by the faint downturn curl of his lips.
“Are you all right, miss?”
You nodded, tears sliding down your face as you breathed heavily, reaching for his kimono to grip onto him tightly.
He glanced at the corners of your ceilings, observing the moon lit room.
The scale has gone silent, its balance back to normal. The talisman that he placed on the back of your kimono earlier turned black once more.
“This is… troublesome.”
Your eyes widened as the wooden carrier on his back opened on its own, a box floating out of the drawers. The talismans unraveled, the lid sliding before revealing a small, sheathed sword.
“What are you, Kusuriuri-san?” you asked.
“A boring man,” he replied, chuckling. He wrapped his pale fingers around the sword. “I am here to… kill.”
Instinctively you leaned away from him, a hand placed behind you as though to crawl away. “Kill who?”
“Not a who,” he murmured. “I am here to kill… the Mononoke that lives under your inn’s roof.”
You furrowed your brows, heart beating against your ribs.
“Does it… Does it have something to do with my aunt?”
“Oh?” He tilted his head. “What about your aunt?”
Ring.
He glanced away, finding the scale perched onto the wall tilting up towards the roof. Instantly, he spread his palm, dispatching numerous talismans across the room’s ceilings.
“You have been experiencing sleep paralysis frequently, yes?”
You nodded, breath hitching as the drawings of an eye blinked, then reopened to morph into the hues of orange cosmos in autumn.
“The name of the ayakashi that wanders in the night, scaring you in your sleep is… Rokurokubi.”
Cling…
The rows of teeth of the sword’s face clinking shut.
“The sword cannot be released until I have the Shape, Truth and Reason of the Mononoke in order to kill it…”
He met your gaze before taking your hand in his. His skin was cool and smooth, yet steady and strong in how he gently squeezed your hand.
He smiled at you, eyes thinning.
“So I hereby request you to share everything with me."
some side notes!
in Buddhist traditions, the second anniversary of someone's death (3回忌) marks the time of prayer for a full guidance along the Buddhist path in search of enlightenment.
sleep paralysis is called kanashibari (金縛り), often times associated with being possessed by ghosts or being cursed by a sorcerer in Japan.
third quarter of the Hour of the Ox (ushimitsu-doki; 丑三つ時) refers to the darkest hour of the night (2:00~2:30 am) and believed to be the most active time for ghosts to appear and supernatural things to occur.
rokurokubi (ろくろ首) is a female yokai with an elongated neck believed to scare people in their sleep.
Kusuriuri and the Inn Keeper: ろくろ首 (Rokurokubi) — Kusuriuri x gn!reader
Chapter 3 The medicine seller reveals everything
word count: 2.6k
warnings: three part series! graphic details (blood, wounds, lifeless body, knife/razor, family grieving; can be skipped by ignoring the italicised paragraphs) cursing
a/n: thank you SO MUCH for following along with this series!!! everyone's kind words warmed my heart and kept me going throughout the writing of this fic and i hope you enjoy the last part of this story <333
m.list | chapter one | chapter two | chapter three
“Breathe.”
You felt the strong grip of Kusuriuri’s fingers on your shoulder, trying to ground you into place.
Head felt too fuzzy. Lungs were not quite working. Mouth gasped for air.
Your heart felt as though it was gripped by a hand squeezed in unsteady rhythms to dictate your pulse.
You tightly shut your eyes. Everything came into view once more.
The blood trickling down from your aunt’s throat and her husband’s neck.
The stench of iron in the air.
The sensation of her skin turning cold against your fingertips when you cradled her face and wept for eternity.
The singing of crows outside to announce the deaths.
Shadows crept up to every corner of the room that once two lives lived in, the moon darkening under the cover of the clouds. You felt the drop in temperature as you cried
You cried beside her body.
You cried with your face buried in her stomach.
You cried at the foot of the mound of dirt piled up that hidden your aunt’s body.
You stared lifelessly as you watched her husband, laid across a stretcher, be taken away. His eyes were still open, opaque orbs staring right back at you as it passed by your side—judegemental and disgusted.
“I… ca…n’t…”
Ring…!
You clutched onto his kimono, tightening your hold whenever your lungs expanded too much, never contracting back, but trying to greedily suck more air.
“Your aunt’s murder has already passed… there is nothing to do but look forward, and breathe.”
A loud gasp echoed as you sucked in the cool night air. Though tears still trailed freely down your cheeks, making your lashes heavier by each blink of your eye, your chest started breathing properly.
Ring, ring, ring, ring—!
Kusuriuri’s eyes widened. Snatching his sword, he stood up and faced up at the ceiling, shielding you away from the talismans blinking open to stare down at the two of you.
His eyes turned into slits into a glare at the wisps of black smoke that seemed to crawl between the talismans—faint, but definitely there. “The Mononoke… seems to be, focused on… you.”
You started heaving, picking up its speed as a shiver ran down you at the smoke. A trickle of warm tears left your eyes. “I-I thought”—gasp—“it was focused”—gasp—“on-on the room itself…!”
A steady, strong hand held onto your shoulder, making you look up at him with a hitch of your breath. You gripped onto his hand, shutting your eyes tightly until you could shallowly inhale and exhale.
“The only thing we need to kill the Mononoke is to gain the reason,” he said, voice tight. “What do you know?”
“I don’t… I don’t know…” you said, hiccups bubbling out of your throat as it joined your cries. “C-Can’t it not be the fact that she resented her husband?”
“But he had already taken his own life. It doesn’t explain why she would also be attacking you.”
“I-I’m sorry… I don’t know. I don’t know…”
Slowly, you crumbled further to the ground, hands tightly grasping around your head and forehead touching the floor. The surface of your thighs pressed suffocatingly against your chest that shook with effort whenever a heartbroken sob forced its way out of your stomach.
“Why did he kill her?”
Kusuriuri jolted in alarm as he sensed a presence behind. Turning around, a snaking figure slithered out of the talismans placed across the wall, just behind you—heading towards you.
“Miss!”
The first thing that you noted when you woke up was the sunlight basking over your closed eyes, making your blind vision tint with an orange hue. Slowly, your eyes blinked up and stared up at the ceiling, lightened up in a comforting glow.
Your brows furrowed at the tight, painful sensation at the edge of your jaw, tenderly unclenching your teeth to feel the ache properly.
Inhaling… exhaling…
Rubbing the tightness of your muscle at your sides to loosen the soreness, your head slowly tilted to the side to see the rest of your room.
A single cup of tea was placed beside your head, a line of white steam streaming upwards towards the ceiling. You avoided your gaze from trailing up along with it, and slowly braced a heavy arm beside you to raise yourself up.
“You’re awake.”
You flinched. Immediately, raising your gaze, you found the medicine seller seated in front of you, poised and almost leisurely, fingers gingerly settled over a cup of warm tea.
“How… How am I alive?”
“On your back,” he answered, bringing his cup towards his lips. “I placed a talisman last night… when I visited you.”
“Oh… I didn’t realise it being there,” you murmured, grazing your fingers across the paper.
“Fortunately the Mononoke was… weakened by the barrier of the room. A single talisman, was enough to protect you.” The tip of his lips suddenly curved upward, eyes thinning slyly. “And, well… you were too… preoccupied, to notice being there.”
Your cheeks immediately heated up at his words, remembering the smell of his incense and herbs by your bedroom door, the way he pulled you closer by resting his hand on your back. Mouth jutting out slightly in a pout, the coldness in your limbs started to warm up with the rush of blood.
“I wasn’t—”
“You were quite… red in the face, too.” His teeth showed as his smile widened, the sharp canine glinting under the faint sunlight from the open window. “How… cute.”
An indignant sound escaped your throat and you abruptly stood up. “I’m going to get some more water from the well.”
He leisurely stood up as well, taking his wooden carrier. “Then I will also. It is possible for the Mononoke… to appear in daylight.”
“Right, I almost forgot…”
He slowly walked towards you, footsteps almost muffled and silent with his careful strides. Then, a hand reached out, delicately facing up towards you, just right above your stomach.
Your eyes widened slowly, meeting his gaze. His mouth curled into a small smile.
Pulse racing, you bit the inside of your lip to stop them from forming the same curve he adorned on his handsome face, finding it harder from the way your stomach was violently fluttering. Tentatively, you slowly clasped your hand over his. The coolness of his skin contrasted with the warmth that flooded throughout your body from your fluster moments ago.
As Kusuriuri led the two of you out of your room and walked across the hallway to leave the inn, you came to a halt in front of the entrance door. You quickly pulled a drawer, retrieving a key, and raised a silent brow when you saw him delicately holding the heavy lock of the door, caressing the keyhole with his thumb.
“How… uncommon to have a lock.”
He tilted it to the side to look closer.
“Yes, it is,” you agreed, taking the weight of the lock from him.
“I did not… realise you had one yesterday…” He looked at you. “Why, would you have a lock?”
“My aunt… she had noctambulism. It was to prevent her from accidentally wandering outside.”
He tilted his head. “Noctambulism?”
The hand that held the key paused its movement in unlocking the metal. Meeting his gaze, you nodded slowly. “Yes. For around three moons before…”
Click.
The soft sound of the lock opening echoed in the air between the two of you, and you carefully placed the key back to the drawer.
“We did everything. We went to a temple for an exorcist, we burned incense in her room… none of it worked. But we didn’t want the village to persecute her so… we got a lock.”
Your thumb ran over the metal, the rough texture of rust poking your skin.
“I’m a light sleeper, so I woke up whenever she started to roam around the inn, and guided her back… though most of the time her”—you swallowed thickly—“her husband stopped her before she could leave the room…”
He nodded, eyes narrowing. “I see.”
Moonlight obscured, the room was darker than the night prior. The warm glow of the lamp was the only thing making the medicine seller visible to you. He sat beside you, facing you, as you did the same on your futon. Your entire body burned at the weight of his gaze on you, so close that you wondered if he could hear the frantic beat of your heart.
But you finally cleared your throat, peered up at the talismans on the ceiling, and met his blue eyes that appeared orange under the reflection of the light. Hesitant, you asked softly, “Do you think my aunt resents me?”
He tilted his head. “Why would she?”
“The Mononoke… it’s targeting me, no?”
Kusuriuri stayed silent for a moment before he spoke once more. “When did… the sleep paralysis start?”
Your brows raised for a moment at the question, but you cleared your throat.
“About two moons ago,” you murmured, fidgeting your fingers. “It was when the first customer came since I restarted the business… None came after though.”
“Who was it?”
“A man. I know nothing more than the fact that he was a traveller.”
“…And?”
“The night that he stayed at the inn was when I first started experiencing sleep paralysis.”
You paused. Furrowing your brows, your lips tugged down to a frown at the memory.
“What is it?”
“Nothing, just…”
…Ring.
“That customer was gone by the morning.” Biting your lower lip, you felt your limbs start to shake. “I-I thought he simply left, but—”
“He was killed,” Kusuriuri finished. “By the Mononoke.”
Clink!
Kusuriuri leaned in, forehead just barely touching against yours before placing his hand on top of your knuckles, thumb reverently caressing your skin.
“On the day of the incident, was there anything… wrong with her husband?”
Ignoring the violent flutter of your heart, you bit the inside of your cheek. “I… I really don’t know.”
Ring ring ring ring ring!!
The two of you looked up at the ceiling.
Feeling the blood rush out of your face, you screamed.
A pair of eyes stared back at you, glinting bright yellow, and below it a mouth inhumanely large curled into a deep sorrowful frown, framed by long dishevelled hair and you realised with a startle that the head was reaching towards the two of you by a long tail of limb—a neck—slithering like a snake trailing down from above.
Through the tears that welled up from fear, you recognised its mouth moving.
“You… insi…dious bitch…”
“I… kill… you before you… curse… us…”
The sound was deep and monstrous, a strained growl forced out of its soul through a parched throat—but you recognised that timbre of the voice.
It was your aunt.
But it didn’t sound like your aunt. She never spoke like that.
Because layered beneath her voice, it was the sound of her husband.
Suddenly, the Mononoke’s head shot down.
Kusuriuri’s eyes widened and he immediately wrapped his arms around you, a hand coming to grab the back of your head to have your face burrow his chest to hide you away from the Mononoke.
But before he could shield you away, a scream tore out of your throat at the sight of the head snaking down and stopping with a snap right in front of you, just above his shoulder.
You locked eyes with it.
Time seemed to slow.
The room was dark.
Her husband stared back at you with a snarl. Even without the moonlight, the darkness revealed his eyes blazing with fury and disgust.
Your cheek stung, tasting blood when your tongue flicked against the rough edge of the muscle that tore open in a wound.
“You insidious bitch!” he hissed. Upon raising his hand, you inhaled sharply in fear at the sight of a razor. “I’ll kill you before you curse us—!”
Your hands flew to the front of your face, and your breath hitched when you saw the moonlight finally illuminated your surroundings. The hand staring back at you was older… wrinkled from age and spotted from sunburn.
The scream you let out wasn’t yours as well, as his hand tugged your wrist away from your face and the glint of the razor plunged towards you.
When you blinked open your eyes, you were met with the sight of Kusuriuri staring down at you with a deep furrow between his brows. As he saw you regain consciousness, you felt his hands holding you loosen in its grip.
From over Kusuriuri’s figure, you watched as the long neck almost covered the ceiling.
The Mononoke spoke your name. Soft and sad.
“I won’t… let you… die like me.”
The yellow eyes and frown blurred as a tear rolled down your cheek. An anguished sob tore out deep from your chest, stripped bare and broken. You cried out for your aunt, gasping for air as you wept.
“The fear…” Kusuriuri murmured, holding out the sword up at the Mononoke, an arm holding you against him. “Made your aunt merge with the ayakashi. By scaring humans in the night… she felt as though she regained control over her own body and situation. That is the reason.”
The head of the Mononoke swayed, circling the two of you across the ceiling.
Clink.
“Shape, truth, reason… assembled thus, I hereby release the sword!”
"Release!"
The clutters of Kusuriuri’s hands roaming the drawers of his wooden carrier joined the chorus of birds chirping outside, alongside the softest patter of rain.
“What are you searching for?” you asked, a tray held in front of you. Settling beside him, you shifted your legs to a comfortable position to sit and placed a warm cup of tea for the two of you. Your shoulders brushed with his, close enough for you to peer into the drawer.
Kusuriuri didn’t reply for a moment until he found what he was searching for and looked back at you. “A charm.”
You tilted your head to the side, slightly amused. “I didn’t know medicine sellers give out charms.”
He chuckled quietly before leaning in. Your breath gently hitched at the proximity, taking in the bitter yet aromatic incense that enveloped him constantly and comfortingly. There was a slight shuffle and a short moment of discomfort in your hair. Reaching behind you when he pulled back, you touched a smooth sphere. A hairpin.
Surprised, you looked up at him. “Is this…”
His eyes sparkled with mirth, a sly smirk on his lips. “Who… knows?”
Your lips parted, bewildered, before you couldn’t help the small giggle tumbling out of you, cheeks flushing bashfully.
As he handed you a mirror to admire properly, he caressed a hair away from your face and murmured softly. “I believe, your aunt… was protecting you.”
Eyes widening, they snapped back at him in surprise. “Protecting me?”
“It was targeting me,” he said. “Not you.”
“But… why would she scare me in my sleep? Why did I have sleep paralysis?”
His eyes were soft as his fingertips trailed across your jaw and tilted your face up a little. “I think she was simply… watching over you.”
A small, sad smile graced your lips, eyes feeling hot as you recalled the Mononoke’s last words. “That… That sounds like her.”
Silence lingering tenderly, the two of you gradually finished your tea and stood up. You watched him sling his wooden carrier behind his back and take a single step towards the door.
“Would you…” You swallowed thickly before giving him a small hopeful smile. “Would you come back?”
He looked back at you. The purple lip paint on his mouth curled higher, eyes thinning as a smile formed on his face, the blue hue sparkling under the sunlight.
“When I need to rest… I shall visit you again.”
You chuckled, warmth filling your entire body as you beamed up at him gently. “I’ll be waiting.”
Kusuriuri smiled back at you, resting his hand on your cheek.
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The official soundtrack for the Mononoke movies came out!!! As I was taking a listen, I was so happy to see that the insert song in Mononoke Hinezumi 『いとしい いとほしい』 (“Itoshii Itohoshii”) was there as well!
The lyrics are written by さいとういんこ and it's such a beautiful song—but since there are no official lyrics, and basically no one talking about it, here’s the lyrics that I think is being sung and my interpretation no one asked for <3
Disclaimer, this is entirely based on what I hear.
First of all, I believe that the repeating phrase 「なき子」 ("naki ko") and specifically the word 「なき」 (“naki”) is a pun/homonym for “dead/passed away”, “crying”, and/or “gone/not existing” (「亡」, 「泣き」 , and 「無き」) which are all used interchangeably. In my opinion, the word “dead/passed away” is the forefront and fundamental meaning behind the word within the lyrics (considering that the story revolves around the sacrifices of the women in Ōoku make by ab*rting their children). Then it's layered on top with the meaning of “crying”, then another layer added with the other nuances, if that makes sense… They are marked with a * whenever mentioned!
Secondly, the lyrics have an ambiguous vibe in terms of what perspective it is sung in. It feels like 1st person narration of a mother speaking towards their child (but has an uncertainty of whether the child is alive or not). At the same time, however, it sounds like a 3rd person narrator describing a child.
Lyrics:
名前、なき子の
namae, nakikono
名を幾度も重ね
na wo ikudo mo kasane
姿、なき子を
sugata, nakiko wo
抱き上げてはあやす
daki agete ha ayasu
声のなき子は
koe no nakiko ha
泣く声夙に止まぬ
naku koe tsuto ni yamanu
形、なき（無き）口
[The child with no] Shape, *no mouth
この乳を食む
Drinks my milk
母を夢見、ゆるすな
haha wo yumemi, yurusuna
燃えて時が朽ちても
moete tokiga kuchitemo
名前、なき子の
namae, nakiko no
名を幾度も重ね
na wo ikudo mo kasane
いとしい、いとほしい
itoshii, itohoshii
吾子も言う
ako mo iu
Meanings and some interpretations of the lyrics under the cut!
Lyrics + Meanings and Interpretations:
名前、なき（亡き）子の
The name of a dead child
名を幾度も重ね
Repeating their name so many times
姿、なき（無き）子を
A child with *no appearance
抱き上げてはあやす
Cradled and comforted
声のなき（無き）子は
A child with *no voice
泣く声夙に止まぬ
Whose cries does not stop
形、なき（無き）口
[The child with no] Shape, *no mouth
この乳を食む
Drinks my milk
母を夢見、ゆるすな
Dream of their mother, do not forgive her
(The latter lyrics can also be interpreted as "do not acknowledge her as your own mother")
燃えて時が朽ちても
Even if it burns and time decays
(Here I can't tell what's the subject that is being burned. You can interpret it as the child or the mother)
名前、なき（亡き）子の
The name of a dead child
名を幾度も重ね
Repeating their name so many times
いとしい、いとほしい
Such a lovely child, such a poor child
(「いとしい」 and 「いとほしい」 ("Itoshii" "Itohoshii") both means ‘adorable’, ‘precious’, ‘feelings of wanting to cherish’, but the latter has a subtle nuance of feeling sympathy or pity, especially prevalent in old Japanese)
