Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Prologue

==0.00 The Others==

There were few vehicles passing one another on the national highway filled with the scent of the ocean.

As it was early morning, the fierce wind blowing at a speed of 60 kmph was cold.

But it felt pleasant.

Riding along the coastal road, she took a full breath of February's wind into her lungs.

"Hmmm."

Dashing through the coastal road on a Vespa, the girl exhaled in satisfaction. A crunching sound came from her mouth that contained a lollipop.  

Her breath became a white mist and immediately vanished behind her.

The analogue gasoline meter displayed the tank was near empty. The girl had been unable to find any gas stations for a while now.

Running on full throttle, the Vespa passed next to a signpost in the blink of an eye.

"Holland City, is it? What a strange name."

Rolling around the candy in her mouth, she muttered to herself.

She could see a large city in front of her. It faced toward the gulf coast and within it she could see tall buildings as well as a dome-shaped structure that seemed like some sort of composite facility.

Holland City. Since it was indicated on the signpost it had to be the city's official name. This was the first time even for her, who had wandered all around Japan, to see a city with a foreign name.

In any case, she was saved by reaching a place where she could refuel. While driving around erratically for no reason, the girl pushed on towards Holland City.

—This world was very beautiful.

Both in the vast ocean she could see to her right as well as among the crowded man-made land ahead of her she could feel the breath of life.

Both humans and fish were emitting excessive life energy. These all converged, swelled, and became a powerful wave that attracted the girl. She couldn't resist their powers.

Those emitting the waves of power weren't just living beings with shapes.

Including this girl, there were very few people who were able to perceive this. And that was why she took on the duty to continue her journey.

"Hmmm, what a nice city."

While muttering to herself in a carefree manner, the girl entered Holland City. The scent of seawater changed into air polluted by exhaust gas. The sounds of cutting through the wind were replaced by the hustle and bustle of people or the sounds of car engines.

It was a powerful city. She could feel the people's overflowing power on her skin.

She soon found a gas station. She slowed down and parked her Vespa next to the fuel filler.

"Do fill up as much as this is enough for."

She submitted several notes towards the young employee, apparently a part-timer, who approached her. It was all the money she had. It should probably fill about half the tank.

The employee stood there for an instant staring at her in puzzlement.

Now then, why was he surprised—

1. He sympathized with the circumstances of the girl who couldn't afford to fully fuel her scooter.

2. He was surprised by the girl's special way of speaking.

3. While her half helmet and goggles were part of her responsibility as a driver, he probably thought that chewing a lollipop while driving was bad etiquette. Or perhaps the fact that she carried the stick used for the sport known as ice hockey on her back seemed dangerous. 

4. And most importantly—he was unable to comprehend the reason for the girl to be wearing a ''yellow raincoat''. Incidentally, that morning had a bright and fair weather.

—These are all the options.

After the part-timer scrutinized her, he looked up to sky to check it. There was obviously no rain pouring down from the completely cloudless heavens.

The correct answer was… all four.

As the part-timer finally remembered to start his work, the girl asked him calmly.

"Does it really say Holland City in katakana here?* What an unusual name."

The girl's tone was extremely overly-familiar and self-important. She actually fancied herself someone important, but that usually annoyed older people, and there were also times where people would pat her head. Because she had a baby face with a petite body as well as a high-pitched voice she apparently looked much younger than her true age of seventeen.

As expected the part-timer also smiled too much. Except for special circumstances where she wanted the other party to underestimate her, the girl loathed being treated like a child in her daily life.

"Oh, it used to be written in Kanji but when the regions around here were merged they changed it to katakana.* So the name was not originally that strange. Have you come here from afar?"

He only inserted a little gasoline, or rather he was having difficulties regulating it. As the part-timer checked the meter being refilled his eyes glanced towards the Vespa's rear. A rolled-up sleeping bag was hanging from it.

"Yeah, I've been around a lotta places. A solitary journey and all that."

"A journey? In this day and age?"

"Is that weird?"

"…Ah, well, I dunno."

He probably did find it weird. Even if he told other people about a young girl wearing a raincoat and carrying a hockey stick who was journeying on a scooter they wouldn't believe him.

"Including me, there's a lot in the world you don't know about. Do remember that."

While the girl adjusted the position of her goggles, the clerk answered "sure" mixed with a wry smile. Perhaps he thought it was just a joke or that the girl was some eccentric under the influence of dangerous drugs—regardless, the girl herself was already used to such responses for a long time. 

"Now then, I can already 'feel' it. But this whole story is a bit—''inconsistent'', though."

"Huh?"

"Just talking to myself. Thanks. Do your best working today as well!"

The girl driving the Vespa thanked him.

Leaving the gas station and returning to the national highway, she drove through the streets in full throttle. She pushed toward a certain direction based on the wave she could perceive. 

What drew the girl was the life reaction of something other than human or another animal.

And it was a—

"Hmm, just like I thought, it appears to be a 'newborn' no matter how I look at it. And what's more, it's on a rampage."

Mushi.

These were strange beings that infested people in order to eat their desires of "doing this" or "becoming like this", meaning their "dreams", and in exchange granted them supernatural powers.

When the girl got off her Vespa and removed her helmet, a single boy was standing in front of her.

At a glance he seemed like the sort of young student one could find anywhere. However, some sort of white, sticky substance was glued to the body of this pale-faced boy. Obviously having lost his presence of mind and breathing laboriously, drops of fresh blood trickled from his hands. 

—Mushi possessed adolescent boys and girls. Those possessed were called Mushitsuki and slowly had their dreams eaten.

It has been about ten years ever since the existence of Mushi began being whispered around. The government had officially declared them to be nonexistent, but rumors and eyewitness reports only kept increasing. At present the fear and discrimination toward Mushitsuki expanded to a scope that couldn't be ignored. 

"Seems like you use mud as your medium. Have you replenished it from asphalt? Also, now that I see you don't have any external wounds, it means that blood isn't yours, right? Being unable to control your Mushi and start destroying anything that moves is a common symptom, but the real problem is—"

The girl mumbled while nibbling the candy in her mouth. The boy emitted strange sounds directed at her while putting both hands on the ground. The ground swelled and a white mass spurt out of it. 

While looking at the countless white needles assaulting her, the girl casually drew the stick on her back.

"The problem is that you're a 'newborn' and a Special Type."

The girl's completely calm voice echoed from behind the Mushitsuki boy's back.

It happened in a split instant that didn't even reach a second.

In the short span of time that could even be called a nanosecond, the mass of white mud was split apart.

The girl had instantly moved more than ten meters and the Mushitsuki boy collapsed behind her.

"Recently I've heard from a friend that he'd defeated the being that gave birth to Special Types like you, so… what's the meaning of this? I don't think he lied. A Special Type Mushitsuki that shouldn't ever be born again exists now… That's really inconsistent…"

With her yellow raincoat fluttering, a purple electrical discharge was produced around the girl's limbs. Still shrouded in purple electricity, she retrieved the stick to her back.

"Also, I did this out of kindness. You shouldn't think of a blink of an eye as the standard. There are people with such overwhelming power who can settle everything even in that split instant, after all. —Well, work hard after you've been taken into custody by the proper agency."

The proper agency. Yes, there existed a place in this country that would capture the "nonexistent" Mushitsuki, take them into custody to isolate them, and even train and command them, depending on the case. That was the organization this girl belonged to. 

She raised her goggles to her brows and gazed up the sky.

Was it a coincidence or fate?

She could also feel other powerful waves of Mushitsuki in this new land. It appeared she would have to stay in this city for a while not only to solve this mystery, but also to devote herself to her real work.

"You failed."

While nibbling her candy, she pointed at the collapsed boy with a finger.

Shishidou Inuko's "scouting" journey.

The place was Holland City.

—Start.

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