Chapter 3: The Hidden Secret
Gino's green eye widened but he was not completely surprised. After all, it would explain why Yuki was so fond of Tazuta and why Hina looked like a mother who lost her only son.
"Why do you want to keep that a secret?" asked Ginko.
Hina came from under her husband's arm and sighed. "I would be the one to blame for that." She said with a said smile. "Once when I was young, I lived in the village of Rin where I ruled alongside my family as the leader's only daughter. I was betrothed at 18 to a wealthy lord's son to join the two lands together but I had already fallen in love with someone else. So I decided to elope and run away."
She paused as Saru gave her a loving pat on her shoulder.
"It was in the spring when we met," continued the nostalgic Hina. "we were young but we fell in love instantly. But when I knew I was betrothed, I decided to run away with him and eloped. A few years later I had a child but it died in its first summer and I fell into a sickness. 5 years later, I had Tazuta and we moved here to Ruuyvillage. This at the time was just farming and took over it as the leaders."
She paused again, taking a deep breath as Saru continued to pat her arm.
"How 'bout I continue from here?" Her husband suggested as she silently nodded her head. "When Tazuta became an adult, we decided to retire and let him rule and he was a great leader who everyone loved and admired, especially Yuki. But that was until a fortnight ago when our son came to the council house with those strange eyes and hissed in an unusual way, ordering that if anyone wanted to see him to come to his hut. We did not know what happened to our kind, loving Tazuta and decided to find help."
As Saru finished, Ginko did not move but was thoughtfully considering that it was, as he suspected, a mushi but there was only one way to be sure.
"After you noticed a change in Tazuta-san," began Ginko with his cigarette held between his index finger and thumb. "was he ever afraid of approaching sources of light, such as the sun or fire?"
"Yes," answered Hina quietly as she realized it. "he was always shut in his room with the windows covered and he never approached the council fire."
"Why do you ask that?" inquired Saru.
"To confirm my suspicion," he answered with a small smile. "of a mushi controlling your son."
"Mushi?" asked the elders curiously.
"A mushi," explained Ginko with a knowing look in his eye. "is a spirit or insect-like creature that causes paranormal things to occur. Not everyone can see them; fewer know how to handle them. This particular mushi is called Kagichi; it lives in dark corners of caves and will only attack during a full moon." He paused to take out a scroll from his traveling pack and opens up to a picture of a black, rectangular creature.
"The Kagichi enters through the ears and attaches to the brain and attains all of the victim's information. Then the mushi exits and makes a copy of its victim, and stores the original in the cave."
As the wood door turned to ash in the slowly dying fire, the two elders turned away from Ginko and whispered to each other.
Damn, thought Ginko growing impatient as he watched the two. If it was the last full moon the mushi attacked their leader we don't have any time to discuss. We need to need to—
"Ginko-san,"
Saru and Hina had turned back around to face him and instead of an imploring look, they had their knowing look on their faces.
"What is it?" he asked.
"We know what cave our Tazuta is in." replied Hina with an air of determination. "He visits every month to sit at the entrance and watch the sun disappear behind the hills."
"That is not our greatest problem." sighed Ginko.
"What is?" asked Hina.
"That there is not much time left." He answered thinking quickly. The cave will provide the body, but I also have to locate the mushi inside the fake body and lure it out with a source of light.
"What do you mean," asked Saru confused. "that there is not much time left?"
"I believe what he means," replied Hina thoughtfully. "that there is a time limit to saving Tazuta."
"Exactly, elder Hina." nodded Ginko. "If the mushi is not extracted from the faux body before the full moon, Tazuta-san's real body will perish and the mushi will remain in the fake permanently."
"Permanently?" echoed Hina weakly. "The full moon is in exactly one day. How are we-"
"That's the problem." interrupted Ginko. "The only way to bring out a Kagichi is to use some kind of light to lure it out and capture it."
"That's easy enough." replied Saru suddenly. "You can use fire."
"But that seems too simple." came Hina's voice under his arm that now rested on her head. "The way Ginko-san is explaining it; there must be more to it. Right, Ginko-san?"
Ginko did not answer Hina or even show that he was listening at all, instead he had his head behind his intwined fingers thinking rapidly.
The Kagichi is becoming more self-aware, it might already be too late to remove it unless... While completely oblivious to everything else, Ginko crossed the room to a wall where he had put down his belongings and sifted through the various scrolls. It took several minutes, as the elders eyed him curiously, until he found a heavy blue rimmed scroll and returned to the fire.
"Ah." He whispered, opening the large scroll. "There is only one way to remove a Kagichi when it is this developed: you have to immobilize the false body and then pour melted wax into one ear to force the mushi to use the real body and capture it."
As he finished, Ginko remembered that he was not alone and looked at the elders who stared back amazed. There was a long silence until the elders shared a glance, nodded, and turned back to the Mushishi.
"What is it?" asked Ginko.
"Ginko-san," began Saru. "you first told us that there was no time left and now you are telling us that there is a way to save Tazuta?"
"Yes." He answered.
"How can we trust that? asked Hina. "How do you know it will work?"
"How can we trust that?!" echoed Ginko, smiling. "Elders, you send one of your villagers to locate me specifically and then ask me to help you in exchange for answers. How can I trust that? I am suddenly having strange visions and dreams of an old memory that I do not remember. A memory of..."
"A young brunette boy named Yoki following a white ghost-like figure." Finished Hina, smiling sadly.
"How do you know..."
"So much about you?" replied Hina. "We have known you since you were a little baby in your mother's arms, years before that dreadful rock slide."
"Wait..." said the startled mushishi.
"Enough Hina!" Interjected Saru. "He will learn in due time only if his plans work."
"But Saru," objected Hina. "He deserves to know! In fact, he has every right to know!"
"And he will know," said her husband. "if he saves our son as he promised."
"But-" began Hina weakly.
"Saru-sama is right." said Ginko, rolling up his scroll. "I made a promise to help your leader and I will keep that promise."
Saru nodded approvingly, but Hina still looked slightly guilty.
"So," Saru looked at Ginko. what is your plan Ginko-san?"
