Mushi Uta:Volume 12 Prologue

Prologue: 0.00 Daisuke Epilogue

Mushi—

Supernatural beings that suddenly appeared inside Japan more than a decade ago.

Their appearance resembled insects and they were said to possess adolescent boys and girls.

“As you have presently succeeded in the recapture of Akamaki City, the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau will now move onto the next mission.”

People possessed by Mushi were named Mushitsuki. Mushitsuki fed their Mushi with their wishes—their “dreams” of what they wanted to become—and in exchange became able to use supernatural powers.

Until now, the existence of Mushi and Mushitsuki had been concealed from society at large.

The organization called the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau was in charge of this concealment.

“We will commence the annihilation of the Mushitsuki responsible for the mist isolating Akamaki City, for releasing Shinpu, and also for absorbing the Original Three and trying to fuse them, namely—”

Akamaki City, the city functioning as the country’s center, now looked completely different than it did yesterday.

Buildings crumbled and the asphalt ground was raised. There were no passersby dressed in suits or school uniforms, and there were no vehicles on the fissured roads.

Instead stood groups of people clad in long coats colored black, white and grey. These boys and girls were all without exception smeared in blood, their expressions exhausted—

The elite Mushitsuki who managed to survive.

“Ultra Class Rank 1, C.”

The voice of SEPB Vice-Deputy Miguruma Yaeko echoed throughout the ruins of the battlefield.

None there could move even a finger.

They had only just defeated a powerful enemy.

One of the Original Three, those who gave birth to Mushitsuki—Shinpu—was defeated.

There were many casualties.

The biggest city in the country completely lost its functions, and many of the gathered Mushitsuki had dropped out. Each and every one of the survivors were covered by wounds.

In this situation, they received new orders.

Furthermore—against an enemy no one could have foreseen.

Everyone froze, but there was only a single person unable to stop moving, who rose up.

“—“

Wordlessly.

His eyes closed, standing there like a ghost—

“Kakkou—kun…?”

A weak voice resounded right nearby. However, he didn’t even turn to look at it.

“Kakkou…?”

“…Kakkou.”

“Kakkou.”

The tired Mushitsuki all called his name together.

Kakkou.

Right, that was his codename—that he received as a Mushitsuki.

SEPB East Central Branch, Blaze Class Rank 1 member, Kakkou. With both allies and enemies alike fearing him as a cruel combatant, he was one of the three surviving Rank 1s.

“…”

His head lowered, he opened his eyes a slit.

He could see his body clad in a pitch-black coat. He could also feel the large goggles that were the SEPB standard equipment on his face. In his right hand he grasped a pistol.

He slowly raised his face.

First reflected in his eyes were the Mushitsuki wearing coats and goggles.

The SEPB.

As a member of that agency, he’d captured countless Mushitsuki this far. Many times he would kill their Mushi, depriving them of emotions and memories, inducing a state that was called Fallen.

Because of that, many Mushitsuki hated and begrudged him.

Naturally. Because he’d created piles of victims just to keep living.

“Hey, Kakkou…?”

Namie, who used to belong to the SEPB and now was member of another organization, tried approaching him. Behind her were boys and girls in casual wear, completely unlike the SEPB.

They were called Mushibane.

It was a resistance group created by unaffiliated Mushitsuki who opposed the SEPB.

Mushibane held grudges for him too. He had defeated much more than one or two of their members, and he was also responsible for killing their past leader.

How many Mushitsuki had he fought this far?

How many decisive battles had he managed to survive?

How much had they hated each other, cursed each other, hurt each other, won and lost?

Now, however, those two organizations, Mushibane and the SEPB, who before could only hate each other, joined forces and even managed to defeat one of the Original Three.

Mushitsuki combined their forces and faced against the Original Three.

It was something so simple and yet it took so long.

“…Wait a minute.”

A hockey stick-wielding boy grabbed Namie’s shoulder. His forehead, stained with blood and dirt, now had droplets of sweat on it for a reason other than fatigue.

“He’s also taken by Shinpu—no, wait, it’s something else—”

The hockey stick boy’s face strained.

“Dunno what’s going on, but I can feel a really nasty forcefield from him…”

The surrounding air crackled and a shrill sound shook the Mushitsuki’s eardrums.

In the center of the clamoring Mushitsuki—

The Mushitsuki called Kakkou, who survived so many battles—

Wore a smile.

“…You really managed to hold it back well.”

At the same time as that mumble.

As if a finger was snapped like some sort of signal—

Blinding, green light surged from Kakkou’s entire body.

“aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

The surrounding Mushitsuki were all blown back by wild, explosive wind.

A shining, green pattern covered Kakkou’s body. It didn’t stop there, however, with it crawling up over his body and covering him up—

The next moment it explosively transformed into thick armor.

His left arm and both legs swelled to several times their size and sprouted sharp claws. Furthermore, four rock-like wings burst from his back, and half his face was encroached by a green shell. His right arm holding the pistol morphed into a gigantic muzzle.

“—aaaaaaaaaAAAA!”

His mouth, half-transformed into monstrous jaws, raised this inhuman howl.

Due to his suddenly increased weight, the ground under him caved down. All the already-exhausted Mushitsuki were pounded by his shockwave-like scream, sent rolling away.

“So he is—Maturing?”

Miguruma Yaeko’s calm voice could be heard from the goggles covered by the shell.

“N-no way…!”

Unlike Miguruma, this completely flustered voice belonged to his superior, Goroumaru Touko. Just like Miguruma, she was probably checking on things remotely.

“K-Kakkou-san, hold on to yourself! The SEPB and Mushibane combined forces and defeated Shinpu! We’re finally starting!”

Indeed.

Mushitsuki who used to only hurt each other finally faced the root of all evil.

Just seeing this scene—was enough for him.

Because they’d finally managed to grasp their first victory after a string of defeats.

“—”

Inside his weakening sense of self, scenes from the past floated and vanished.

He was made a Mushitsuki by his sister transformed into an Original Three.

Abandoned by his parents, he was picked up by the organization called the SEPB.

Starting then his memories were filled only with fights full of blood and voices of deep-held resentment.

“Right. We cannot allow ourselves any more victims in such a crucial time.”

Even in this situation, Miguruma Yaeko spoke gently.

“I order all of you at the scene. You are—to annihilate Blaze Class Rank 1 member, Kakkou.”

“No way!!!”

Touko’s yell overlapped with her.

“Y-you can’t do that! We still need him! He knows about these Mushitsuki more than anyone! There’s no one else who can lead the Mushitsuki! Without him, we’ll definitely fall apart again—”

“We must defeat him before he fully Matures or this will be a repeat of Lady Bird that ended up destroying Hashiba City. I leave command of Kakkou’s annihilation—to you, Kasuou.”

On top of the debris of a destroyed building stood a girl wearing a white coat.

She was Kasuou. —Since she’d exhausted herself upon saving everyone from the Central Headquarters, she hadn’t participated in subduing Shinpu. She’d been resuscitated by another combatant with regeneration abilities and arrived at the battlefield too late for it.

“—“

Her blonde hair being shaken by the wind, the girl made no move. Her expression was hidden due to her goggles, but she was speechless as she looked at the transformed Kakkou.

“Have you heard my orders, Kasuou?”

“K-Kasuou-san! You mustn’t! You should be able to understand…!”

“Intelligence department, please cut off all transmissions from Acting Branch Head Goroumaru. —Kasuou. Repeat my orders.”

Kasuou made no move. It all seemed to have gone in one ear and out of the other.

Miguruma quickly gave up on the paralyzed battle fanatic.

“Kaguya, then. I will leave command to you.”

Underneath the broken city’s lights, the boy snuggling with Haji Senri raised his face. He was East Central Branch Blaze Class Rank 2 member, Ogata Akatsuki.

Akatsuki supposedly held a grudge against Kakkou. However, he exchanged pleading glances with Senri—and wore a grimace on his bloody face.

“I-it might not be too late…! Even back then when there were signs of Maturation—”

“Terasu.”

Miguruma instantly selected another combatant.

One of the people collapsed on the debris rose up. Next to her was the healer Mushitsuki, Nene.

“Under…stood…! All units, deploy on both sides of Kakkou… we’ll attack him with our full powers simultaneously—”

Although only just healed from her injuries, Terasu strained her voice.

“Kill Kakkooou!”

Hearing these orders, a rain of attacks showered Kakkou.

—Or so it should have been.

“Wha—”

However, those who attacked weren’t even half of the Mushitsuki there. All of them bounced off Kakkou’s armor.

“What are you doing! If we don’t kill this guy right now, we’ll get slaughtered! Did you all forget how badly he treated us until now? This is your chance for revenge!”

Only about a dozen people or so joined the attacks after getting rebuked by Terasu.

Kasuou still stood frozen stiff, and Akatsuki was shouting for them to stop attacking. Other than them, there were also those who exhausted their powers against Shinpu and those intimidated by the Maturing Kakkou.

Those who attacked and those who refrained from attacking. Their only common point was a certain confusion.

—Should they really defeat Kakkou?

This doubt spread through the entire battlefield.

“—”

Kakkou’s body moved on its own. He raised his right arm transformed into a muzzle. Blocking the hockey stick of the boy who instantly appeared in front of him, he counterattacked using the claws of his left hand.

The boy teleported away, but—

“—Gwaah!”

He couldn’t fully evade it, so the boy had blood spurting from his shoulders when he reappeared at a different spot. Also torn by this claw attack, several tons of asphalt and ground assaulted the boy.

As his lower body became covered in sediment, Kakkou’s right arm settled its aim on him.

A red-hot, rotating bullet was launched from the open muzzle.

“T-this is bad—”

Perhaps already exhausting his powers, the hockey stick boy’s expression was strained.

Kakkou’s body was fully controlled by his Mushi. Since the combatants were fatigued by their decisive battle with Shinpu—no, even if they could bring out their full powers, there probably weren’t any Mushitsuki who could stop a Matured Kakkou.

“Kakkou-kun…”

Right—

Except for one person.

The Mushitsuki called Kakkou began when he made a certain Mushitsuki into a Fallen.

Therefore, the one who should close the curtains on this fight had to be that girl.

“—”

Kakkou’s movements stopped.

He didn’t stop himself. The Mushi controlling him—flinched.

He turned around.

A petite girl with a childlike face stood there.

Just like he’d seen her before—in a time that felt like ancient past.

That girl took out her own Mushi, the glowing firefly, and raised it aloft.

“…”

The pair looked at each other on the ruined earth.

—Then I’ll give you my dream.

So she’d said at the time.

He’d nodded.

—I’ll never give up. So you too, one day…

That started everything.

The girl kept her promise.

On the other hand, he—

“—”

He could no longer talk.

However, he slightly nodded.

The girl returned his nod and smiled, tears in her eyes.

“Kakkou-kun, you also have to… alright?”

Light was born above the head of this girl, Secret Class Rank 1 Fuyuhotaru.

It was single flake of snow.

Drifting about as though by a gentle breeze even inside this blowing storm, it fell on Kakkou—and he received it.

Death throes loud enough to strike at eardrums reverberated through the entire battlefield.

Kakkou’s wings touched by the snow twisted, broke off and blew away. The destruction continued, and his thick armor spurted large amounts of bodily fluids while breaking off.

From the fused Kakkou’s mouth came the death throes of his Mushi.

Trying to escape the collapse induced by the frightening snow, the checkered beetle fused with Kakkou was rampaging. Even as it flailed its limbs the destruction wouldn’t stop, and both gigantic legs shattered.

“—aaa!”

Unable to withstand it, the checkered beetle split from Kakkou. Now wearing only cracked goggles and a torn coat, the boy was thrown to the ground.

“Kakkou-kun…!”

As Fuyuhotaru rushed at him, she overlapped with a completely different girl from the past.

She wasn’t Fuyuhotaru.

She looked like the normal girl called Anmoto Shiika.

—I want you to wait for me next year.

The one who made this new promise was him.

Not Kakkou, but the normal boy—

Kusuriya Daisuke.

“Sorry…”

While hearing the checkered beetle’s death throes, Daisuke smiled softly.

Kakkou and Fuyuhotaru fulfilled their promise and reunited after four years.

However, the promise made between Kusuriya Daisuke and Anmoto Shiika—would not be granted.

They would never “reunite” again.

Although Shiika kept her part of the bargain, Daisuke could go no further.

Since she didn’t know Kakkou’s true identity was Daisuke, she’d probably be disappointed when no one came to her come Christmas.

He’d be happy if she was disappointed.

“For breaking… my promise…”

“Eh…?”

Embracing the nearly collapsing Daisuke, Shiika frowned.

Thinking back, he made many promises with many people.

Although he’d promised Kasuou to someday settle the score with her, he was going to break it.

And there were those that he felt like he fulfilled.

There was a person who once dreamt of uniting all Mushi, who then fell into long slumber.

Right now, this situation was undoubtedly the extension of that person’s dream.

He was supposed to look over it properly.

The continuation of that girl’s dream.

“Wake up… already… you idiot…”

As the checkered beetle’s death throes gradually settled down, life was vanishing from Daisuke’s eyes.

“…Kakkou-kun…!”

The fight of the Mushitsuki called Kakkou, that started from back when he’d made Fuyuhotaru into a fallen—

Was, at that moment—

Brought to an end by Fuyuhotaru’s hands.

0.01 The Others

Accompanied by combatants, Miguruma Yaeko stepped into the disturbed battlefield.

There she witnessed Mushitsuki standing like statues. All were hurt and completely exhausted, but all of them looked as they forgot about this fact.

In their center—

Was a boy with a wooden expression and a girl hugging him.

“You can stop now, Fuyuhotaru.”

As Miguruma called to her, the girl turned around.

“…”

Contrary to her expectations, Fuyuhotaru was—not crying. Her former weakness was gone, her eyes were filled with strength and determination.

Had she gained confidence by defeating Kakkou, her fellow Rank 1?

Or perhaps—had she received something from that boy?

Her strong gaze concealing all weak emotions looked the same as Kakkou’s.

“The SEPB will handle the body.”

Seeing how Fuyuhotaru gained new powers, Miguruma wore a gentle smile.

That was fine.

That was why she was the strongest Rank 1.

A Mushitsuki who descended without any advance warning like a natural disaster. Ever since Miguruma saw a glance of her, she felt that this girl was the closest to Undying.

Her brand of Undying—was the death of others.

None could survive other than Fuyuhotaru. She allowed no other existence. She was an Undying with the absolute power required to make this possible.

Fuyuhotaru would consume all other people, survive and become stronger—

“Kakkou.”

On the other hand, there was the Rank 1 Mushitsuki who’d dropped out of the fight at a much earlier stage than anticipated.

Kusuriya Daisuke—Kakkou.

The boy wearing broken goggles and a tattered coat looked at empty air, his eyes lacking life.

“Raise your face.”

What remained of the strongest Mushitsuki raised his pale face.

Fallen.

Mushitsuki who lost their Mushi would lose their memories and feelings. Called Fallen, they became like moving corpses that obeyed all orders.

Miguruma raised Kakkou’s chin with the fingertip of her index finger.

“Looks like he’s definitely a Fallen now.”

Since this was Miguruma, who’d seen more Fallen than anyone, her judgment made everyone around gasp.

Mixed within the silence, she finally heard—

“Ha, haha—”

Someone’s hoarse laughter.

“Kakkou’s… that demon’s finally gone—”

Miguruma smiled. She whispered in her heart.

No other Mushitsuki is hated as much as you—

He’d fought more Mushitsuki than anyone. Thinking that they relied on him every time they needed to capture a strong Mushitsuki, it was obvious for this place full of elites to have so many who hated him.

“—Kakkou-san!”

From behind came a screaming voice.

Arriving belatedly, Goroumaru Touko grabbed the boy’s arms as if trying to snatch him from Miguruma.

“Y-you’re kidding, right? No way that—hey, Kakkou-san! We still haven’t…! We’re just getting started… so you can’t! You can’t let it end here…”

No matter how strongly Touko shook him, not even the boy’s expression moved.

“No—then we’re already—”

Her knees folding, Touko glanced down, her eyes vacant. Lines of tears streamed down her face.

Kakkou being the main pillar of the East Central Branch was common knowledge. Since she was well-known as incompetent at her job, Acting Branch Head Goroumaru Touko’s reaction was natural—and the other East Central Branch members all felt the same.

Rank 2 combatant Kaguya scowled, shutting both eyes. Sinking down to the ground next to him, Special Class Rank 2 member Himiko also had her eyes misty with tears.

“…”

As Miguruma looked around her, she checked the other Mushitsuki’s reactions.

The reactions of high-ranking SEPB members were varied.

Especially noticeable was Kasuou, who looked as though she was frozen in time.

The member called Yakugami scratched his cheek with a cold expression, while the girl called Sakura kept staring at Kakkou emotionlessly.

Nene and Tamamo were shocked. Their faces full of disbelief, they faintly shook their heads. Yotsuba, who’d just been healed by Nene, raised her face and, upon seeing how Kakkou looked, pounded a fist into the ground.

On the other hand, Terasu made no attempt to hide her glee. She looked at him with a creepy smile while the other West Central Branch members were confused.

Many of the other SEPB members were similarly befuddled. Those who wore smiles in secret and those who looked relieved probably never felt favorable toward Kakkou. None of them seemed to be mourning his condition like the East Central Branch.

“…”

Miguruma glanced at another direction.

What she found unexpected was the reaction of Mushibane, for whom Kakkou was an archnemesis.

It wasn’t just their current leader Fuyuhotaru; none of them looked to be happy at the end of their sworn enemy. Namie, who used to be his comrade, did wear a complex expression. However, other members all wore similar expressions.

Did this mean that the new generation of their top brass changed to that extent? If this was the time when the previous leader, Lady Bird had been in command, they would have all danced in joy.

Miguruma turned to the speechless Kakkou again and spoke in her heart.

And no other person has encouraged as many Mushitsuki as you did… as well—

The numbers of Mushitsuki he’d defeated.

The numbers of fights he’d survived.

The amount of hatred he gathered.

The path he lived through.

He made so many Mushitsuki look in the same direction.

Although by force, he managed to gather all these idiosyncratic Mushitsuki under one banner.

“Since it is a Fallen now, it can no longer be used. Transport it to GARDEN.”

Hearing Miguruma’s orders, the Mushitsuki’s gazes all focused on her.

The fight was not yet over.

A powerful enemy—and a danger that far surpassed even the Original Three—lay in wait.

However, would anyone even be able to bring together all these agitated Mushitsuki?

“It…?”

Fuyuhotaru looked at Miguruma with the exact same eyes as Kakkou.

It couldn’t be her. Although even now they played at being comrades and she was worshipped as Mushibane’s leader, her true form was that of the Undying who was surrounded by all other people’s death. She knew that one day, she’d end up feared and isolated.

“Yes, I will admit that I am somewhat let down by him stopping at this point. But since I have given plenty of love until now, I will obviously—“

She blocked Fuyuhotaru’s anger with a wide smile.

“Act with the same feelings against the opponent we will be facing now.”

She could hear a helicopter approaching them. Although they regulated all traffic around Akamaki City and Mushitsuki from the intelligence department ran interference on satellite monitoring, there were limits to how much they could conceal.

The existence of Mushi and Mushitsuki would probably soon be revealed. Not just to this country—but even to the countries always watching them from outside.

This was a turning point for the world.

A world without Mushitsuki would become a world where Mushitsuki certainly existed—

“We need a new leader.”

Miguruma narrowed her eyes, turning her back to the Mushitsuki who just finished their decisive fight.

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