Travelers (GinkoXReader)

Chapter 3: The Journey Begins

When you awoke, Ginko was still out, however, there was a bowl of miso soup waiting for you on the table right beside your bed.

Hm...Food....

For someone who was still recovering, you were extremely hungry again. Your stomach growled, pulling you towards the delicious smell of the miso soup. You eagerly grabbed the bowl and spoon and began to help yourself. When you were done, you mentally thanked the Mushishi for his wonderfully, made meal and took a step outside.

Despite the heavy amount of snow, it wasn't cold. You felt no breeze; heard no sound. It was creepy but you were used to it by now. Even so, you would occasionally feel as if you were not alone. Something else was there with you, something shimmering that was hiding in the surrounding, white atmosphere.

You took a couple steps forward, deciding to go for a short walk around the old, abandoned cottage, as you waited for the Mushishi to return.

As you walked, you kept seeing something moving within the trees. You wondered if it were an animal, or a person watching you from a distance.

.....uh...

The thought of being stalked made you slightly anxious, so you walked faster and chose to head back inside the cottage. But just as you turned the corner-

"Ah-!...Oh...it's you..." There was Ginko, whom you were glad to see instead of some weird stalker.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to spook you." Ginko couldn't help but chuckle slightly.

"It's fine, I shouldn't have gotten so paranoid." You gave him a worried smile.

"Paranoid?" Ginko raised a brow. "About what?"

"About the fact that I feel like I'm always being watched."

"You feel like someone is always watching you?"

"...or something."

Ginko thought for a moment, before gesturing for you to follow him. "Come with me."

You followed him to a tree with a heavy amount of snow on it. "Tell me, can you see this?" He brought his hand out for you to observe. In it, was a small, silver roly-poly type of creature.

"...yeah, what is it?"

Ginko smiled. "It's a mushi. This is probably what's 'watching' you."

"Why does it only have half of a body?"

"It doesn't." Ginko looked down at the Mushi to double-check what you were seeing. "It sounds like you can't see the whole mushi. Tell me exactly what you see in my hand."

"Half the body of a silver worm?"

"So you really can't see the entire mushi, Interesting. I wonder if it's some type of condition."

"You mean you've never heard of this happen before?"

"No, this is all new to me." Ginko said as he released the Mushi.