Chapter II: The Beginning of a New Breed of Mushi Masters
Note: So, I decided to take the story A Sunday Afternoon to a new level. Consider this a full FanFiction instead of a one-shot. Again, let's hope I don't ruin Ginko's awesomeness or ruin the plot. Because knowing me, I'll screw up somehow.
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A full week had gone by, and the Mushi Master awaited the two young women. However, the next Sunday, it was only Sunako who had arrived. Curious, he watched as she approached the house-turned-shop warily, it was painfully obvious that she was unsure of the Mushi Master. He grinned, watching her from the screen door.
"I'm not going to kill you, you know," Ginko said with a smile, as she approached with the nerve set of some sort of wary, battle-worn samurai. "I thought I told you that you can trust me." Sunako gave him a look that showed him that she didn't buy it.
"It's not that," she said carefully, "it's the fact that something seems off today." Ginko raised an eyebrow. So she felt it too? Interesting… "I think there's a Mushi nearby, but I can't say for sure…" she trailed off as Ginko nodded, finally revealing the Mushi that he had carefully picked out to test the pair.
"You're correct, there is a Mushi nearby. It's a Niezikasura – harmless, but very hard to capture. It's a Mushi that absorb sunlight in order to live. They take over a corpse in order to find more sunlight. They're also known for the unnatural phenomenon known as 'the one-night bridge.'" Sunako blinked, and raised an eyebrow.
"So they're the reasons why zombies were created?" she asked, and Ginko laughed.
"If you think about it that way, then yes. They're the exact same reason why zombies were created." He picked it up and carefully put it back in the jar it belonged too. "Now, why don't you come inside, we have much to discuss. Where's your friend?" Sunako blinked in alarm.
"Discuss what? And why do you care?" she asked cautiously. "If I told you, then she might get kidnapped – and besides, why should I go inside? I still think that –"
"I'm a murderer and will put your body parts on the black market?" Ginko teased with a smirk. Sunako glared, her glasses flashing in the light.
"It's a legitimate reason, and you know it!" she seethed, and Ginko widened the screen door.
"Come on in, I promise nothing bad will happen."
"Yeah, watch and I'll get attacked." Sunako muttered to herself, but walked in anyways. It was the same before, the various Mushi were in their jars, each giving off some sort of unreal light. In addition to the room, a small bookcase had been erected that had various items on it, each marked for a certain price. In the middle of the floor, a wooden table, low to the floor, had been placed, with cushions surrounding it. It was a traditional Japanese setting, and Sunako looked out of place in her modern clothes.
"Please take your shoes off at the door," Ginko said, placing the jar with the Niezikasura back in its place on a shelf near a shaft of sunlight. The Niezikasura seemed to dance in its jar, pleased. "And take a seat; I have a proposition for you and your friend." Sunako gave him a curious look, and looked like she was ready to send a retort, but sat anyways. Curiosity is her sin, Ginko guessed, as he took a seat opposite of her. She'll make an excellent Mushi master. However, that curiosity will have to be tamed. It could be dangerous if she sticks her nose in a situation that could be deadly.
"You asked why my friend wasn't here right." Sunako asked, and Ginko nodded, taking a drag from his cigarette, watching her motions with his one good eye. "Well, she went on a school trip, and she won't be back until Tuesday. I'm just here because I have nothing better to do." She said this with a nonchalant shrugged, and she gave him a curious glance. "So what's this… proposition you have? If it's anything illegal I'm refusing flat out." Ginko chuckled.
"You're just full of surprises – tell me, what kind of ideas do you think I have planned?" Sunako tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"Well, you could be trying to blackmail me, coerce me into something I don't want to do, probably have me pull some sort of awesome, yet illegal heist; you could be waiting for me to drop my guard so you can knock me out and torture me for days; you could knock me out and slowly torture me to death, or you could be waiting for me to drop my guard, chloroform me, and then proceed to do whatever you want." Ginko gave her a stare of 'what the hell are you on'. "What," she said with a simple shrug, "You were the one who asked the question, I just gave you an answer." Ginko shook his head, smiling. At least she was aware of her surroundings.
"Paranoid, aren't we?" he questioned, and she shrugged again.
"If you had a dad who made a living as a prison guard, you'd be as paranoid as I was." Ginko nodded in understanding, deciding it was time to discuss what he had originally intended to do.
"Well, since you know that you can see Mushi, what do you, as a person, plan on doing?" he asked, pulling out some papers. "How will you rest easy, knowing that mushi are what cause what people call, 'unexplained occurrences'? What would happen to you if you found out that your entire life was a lie, that mushi was the reason why you are how you are?" She gave him another thoughtful gaze.
"Well, I'd try to figure out the 'unexplained occurrences,' and I'd try to help people. For the 'entire life being a lie,' I don't know what I would do, to be honest. I never thought about it." She noticed the paper, and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask Mr Mushi Master Sir?" Ginko chuckled.
"As you know, I am a Mushi Master. We Mushi Masters always try to figure out how to solve such problems. We don't go looking for the meaning of life or anything philosophical like that, but we do try to explain the unnatural. What would you do if you had an eye disease that no one could cure? You don't know the cause, or the remedy. That's when we Mushi Masters get involved, and we find the mushi, known as the Manadga." He indicated to the jar on the lowest shelf, where the sunlight barely reached. In it was a purple, centipede-looking worm that was wound in the jar; the natural light was just enough to make it weak. Ginko watched Sunako shift away from the jar, amused.
"And you're telling me this why, exactly?" she inquired, and Ginko moved the paper towards her. It was a legal document, claiming that Ginko was a certified Mushi Master, and that anyone willing to train under him had to abide by the laws that the Paranormal Agency (even though Mushi were technically natural creatures) had set down. "What's this for?" she inquired, picking up the paper by the corner, hanging it in front of her face. "It's almost as if you're offering me either a job or to train me." Ginko grinned.
"That's exactly what it's for."
