ahahahaha um.

The mushi lashed out again, its grasping filaments threatening to engulf Loki in their deceptively fine threads. But it was no match for Laevateinn. A flash of green light -- a few wisps of mushi-matter glowed faintly once, and were gone.

"Loki-sama! Are you unhurt?"

"I'm fine," Loki said. Though tiring of this already, he added to himself. Dealing with mushi -- even the more dangerous sorts, such as the ikizui he had just vanquished -- lacked a certain something. Few of them seemed sentient, let alone capable of holding an intelligent conversation, or being even mildly entertaining with their little psychological issues; no, he had to admit that for all their doubtless biological charm, mushi were vastly inferior to humans. If Odin intended boredom to be Loki's punishment, he was succeeding.

"Loki-sama?" Yamino ventured cautiously. "Should we perhaps get moving again; that is, if you do not wish otherwise? The light is beginning to fail, and we have yet to find a village..."

"Mm," Loki said, regarding the rock-strewn beach ahead with undisguised distaste. Perhaps his current garb had not been that wisely chosen. Still, if he had to rough it out on Midgard in a child's body, he would at least do so in style. "You're right, Yamino-kun. If we keep to the coast I'm sure we'll find something. If only these rocks weren't so hard to navig--"

"Loki-sama!"

~*~

Adashino's morning on that fateful day began, as a regrettable number of his mornings did, 1) far too early and 2) with the sound of flustered tapping on his door. On this particular occasion it was an oddly polite variety of flustered tapping, though Adashino did not quite notice this, occupied as he was with the business of finding his monocle and then his way to the door.

"Pleased to meet you," his pre-dawn visitor said breathlessly. "Please, would you happen to be the resident doctor? I made enquiries after your whereabouts down in the village--"

Adashino blinked. He was surprised at several things, including but not limited to the unprecedented level of politeness, the finery in which the visitor was clothed, and the even more ostentatious (if old-fashioned) attire of the young boy cradled in said visitor's arms.

"Good morning," the boy said, sounding somewhat embarrassed. "It's nothing major, to be honest. I hope you don't mind our visit, doctor--?"

"Adashino." There were a few more things to be surprised at, Adashino was sure, but best to deal with the matter at hand first. "Right, do come in-- I'll just get the lamp lighted--"

~*~

It was, indeed, nothing major. The boy's ankle was swollen but not sprained, and apart from a few minor cuts on the same leg, he was otherwise unharmed. ("My clothes took the brunt of the fall," he had said wryly, holding up a sleeve for inspection. The rich embroidery had suffered mild abrasions.) It was only after bandaging the ankle, which didn't take long, and reassuring the boy's guardian, which took a little longer, that Adashino noticed The Box.

He wondered if there was a tactful way to ask. The Box was lying near the doorway where the visitor had left it, and in the slowly-strengthening morning sunlight -- for in the haste they had neglected to close the door -- it seemed almost to glow with promise.

"Oh!" the older guest said abruptly, in a manner that would have had seemed affected had it not been so obviously genuine. "I'm ever so sorry. I neglected to introduce ourselves-- I mean, that is, if--" And he glanced concernedly over at his charge.

The boy nodded airily. "It's fine, Yamino-kun. Introductions it is. My good doctor -- I am Loki, a mushishi seeking to settle down in some welcoming village. This is my indispensable assistant, Yamino Ryuusuke."

A surname, Adashino noted. Well, no great surprise there, given the clothes. It took him another moment or two to realise the more noteworthy revelation.

"Sorry. You're--"

"Yes." Loki's smile gained a touch of unchildlike weariness. "Surprising, perhaps, but I'm a mushishi. The mushishi of the pair of us, as it were. Though Yamino-kun is certainly a great help."

"Did-- did an encounter with some rare form of mushi result in..?" Adashino gestured weakly. "If it isn't rude of me to ask, I mean."

"Ah," Loki said thoughtfully. "Yes, that might be a useful explanation."

In the face of interaction with a mushishi, small matters of normalcy faded into the background. "And you said," Adashino added with growing confidence, "that you were looking for a village to stay in..?"

"Quite. Hoping to establish a consultancy of sorts. Unless that isn't the way mushishi operate here? I met a band of travelling ones the other day..."

"Oh, no. Not at all. Many mushishi live in villages. Our village, I'm afraid, has seen a sad lack of a resident mushishi for decades." He coughed in what was meant to be a subtle manner. "I was thinking, perhaps, if I could be so bold as to suggest..."

"Your own premises? You are too kind, good doctor. No, I couldn't possibly impose in such a way."

"What? Oh. Well, I--"

It would have been nice to say that Adashino had had several things to consider. For a start, he could not very well admit that he had not, in fact, been offering his house as a residence for this mushishi. On the other hand, it would have been unkind to set these travellers on the road again so soon, and with one of them injured, at that. But then there was the question of whether his practice as village doctor could be conducted as efficiently with two lodgers, one of whom would be conducting his own practice of sorts. Yet ultimately these and other considerations paled in the face of an important fact: a mushishi was offering to move in with Adashino. A chance to witness the trade up close! And perhaps, perhaps, even to be shown the contents of all those tiny drawers in The Box.

"I really must insist. If this village is to your liking, and this place suits your needs, then please: do make this your residence."

"Well, if you insist..."

"I do," Adashino said hopefully. "At least stay a few days. I have a friend, a mushishi like yourself, and during his season he often drops by for a visit. You could exchange stories, maybe. Or maybe you've met him already: strangely-coloured hair, only one eye--"

"Oh?" There was a definite curiosity in the mushishi's voice. "Perhaps I have. Yes; yes, Doctor Adashino, thank you. I think I shall stay. Don't look so worried, Yamino, it might turn out to be someone else altogether..."

~*~

Will Adashino get to see the contents of The Box? Will Loki meet the one-eyed mushishi? Who is the young fisherman who confronts them, and why is he so attached to his spear? Next, Mushishi Loki Ragnarok Chapter Five: The Enjaku Mushishi Agency Begins!