Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 4 Chapter 2 (section)

==2.00 The Others==

The morning.

In a certain general hospital in Ouka City, a few people were walking down a passage in a quick pace.

From just one look at the building, one could not be able to tell the difference between the hospital and any ordinary building. But, if one were to take a closer look, they would be able to tell the slight differences the building had.

Unlike the central block which housed the outpatient clinic, the glass of the windows around the passageway connected to the west block was surrounded with a thin metal mesh. It was reinforced glass. As one looked even more carefully, they would find that the view through the glass was faintly distorted, possibly due to the considerable thickness of the glass.

As for the building itself, it seems that only the west block was constructed with asphalt of a different composition. Granulated concrete used for the sake of hardening was mixed into the walls, turning it into a colour more grey than white. In addition, the lightings that was installed on the ceilings most likely hid surveillance cameras. They were installed every ten metres and on every floor.

Ouka City Third Municipal General Hospital—although it has outpatient clinics typical of that of hospitals, only the west block was special.

It was the hospitalisation facility for the East Central Branch of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau. It was one of the facilities built with the purpose of medical treatment for injuries sustained by the members of the East Central Branch during missions.

“She just woke up yesterday and still looks very languid. I already met her and had a few words with her, but her attending doctor wanted me to avoid having a long discussion with her.”

“It’s good as long as she’s alive. I have some things to ask her.”

“''Haah'', please don’t be so rough with her. Although Nene-san’s ability can mend wounds, it can only recover what is in the range of her song. There’s nothing she can do for large amounts of blood loss. I think her limbs are also in a somewhat numb condition.”

The ones walking down the passageway was a woman in her early twenties and a boy in his mid-teens.

“Where’s that Nene? Is she still in Ouka City?”

The boy was walking half a step ahead of the woman. He was wearing a blazer, probably the uniform of some school. His face was plain, lacking any particular features other than the plaster on his cheek. Likewise, he had a medium build that was within the average range.

“No way.”

As for the woman, she was holding onto a large stack of documents in her arms with a sociable smile on her face. Although the shape of her face was not bad, the reasons that people who passed by her would turn to look back were probably due to her hair and her suit. Her bed hair which was not combed was standing up, furthermore, a portion of her shirt was hanging out from her belt. Looking closer, one would find that her spectacles was crooked too.

“There’s no way that that is the case, isn’t it. She was immediately taken back by the Central Headquarters, very swiftly too in fact. If it was possible, I would have wanted her to take a look at the rest of the patients in the East Central Branch, but it seems that one person was already the limit. Ahaha.”

Laughing frivolously, the woman—acting Director of the East Central Branch, Goroumaru Touko said so.

“It’s futile for you to expect anything with my level of abilities. When word of the outburst the other day against the vice-director reached the ears of the audit committee, I got a salary reduction! Now, I wouldn’t say anything extra anymore, that sure scared me. … Ah! Listen to this, Daisuke-san! The loan for my beloved car, the Beetle is almost fully repaid!”

“Aah, of course. I did not have any expectations of you though… Please try to put in at least some effort, Touko-san.”

The one who said so with a sigh as he placed his hand on his forehead was Kusuriya Daisuke. He was a member of the East Central Branch, at the same time, he was also one of the highest ranked Mushitsuki, the Rank 1 Blaze Class Mushitsuki known as Kakkou.

“So? Who was the one being healed? As expected…”

“Yes, it was Haji-senpai.”

There was a slight gloom behind Touko’s smile.

Haji Keigo. He was the young Branch Director of the East Central Branch. After sustaining a serious injury last year during the fight against Mushibane in Hashiba City which was under the jurisdiction of the East Central Branch, he had been in a coma since.

Daisuke’s expression turned sharp as well.

“How was it?”

“…There wasn’t any change. His wound has more or less been healed, now we only need to wait for him to regain consciousness… He’s in the special ward on the third floor, shall we visit him on our way back—was what I wanted to suggest, but.”

“?”

“Haji-senpai’s sister… Senri-san has been by his side the whole time. Furthermore, Akatsuki-san is together with her today. Wouldn’t it be, erm, bad for you guys to bump into each other now…”

Haji Senri. She was Haji Keigo’s biological sister, and was a Rank 3 Irregular Class Mushitsuki. Previously being classified as a Secret Class due to presenting an unknown risk, she was reclassified as an Irregular Class after demonstrating a certain degree of control over her power. According to documents submitted by the Central Headquarters, there may be plans to classify her as Blaze Class in the near future, although that is yet to be confirmed. There have also been words that the Central Headquarters may retract that.

Ogata Akatsuki referred to another person who is a Rank 2 Blaze Class member. He was Senri's friend, and also held a deep hatred for Daisuke since the past.

—…

The East Central Branch was supposed to have weakened due to the retirement of Haji Keigo, but they were currently steadily stabilising their position. There were no doubts about that.

Daisuke and Touko exited the passageway, arriving at the west block.

After walking a bit more, they reached a room on the second floor. It was a single-person room, but it was a general room completely lacking anything apart from the necessities. The windows were completely open, causing the curtains to flutter.

“Good day, hello. How’s your condition, Karasu-san?”

Touko opened the door and entered, carefreely greeting out loud. Daisuke too entered the room.

“Feels so-so, acting Director-san”

A girl with long hair and a grown-up appearance greeted her with a smile in her unique wording. Lying down on the bed, faint burn scars could be seen peeping through her bangs. Her complexion was slightly pale, but one could tell from her expression that she was exceedingly lively. She was not even using the intravenous drip lying in the corner of the room.

She was an unranked member of Central Headquarters codenamed Karasu, Shirakashi Ubuki.

“Didn’t I tell you to call me Ubuki? Cause I hate that codename.”

“Ah, sure. Then, I wouldn’t mind if you called me Touko too. Ahaha, since my actual status is nothing but a salary leech.”

“Ahaha. You’re so interesting, Touko-san.”

“This isn’t a situation for us to be exchanging pleasantries, Touko-san…”

Seeing the boy standing at the side sighing with a worn-out look, Ubuki smiled at him.

“Hmm? Who’re you? Making that expression would be a waste of your cute face, you know?”

“Leave me alone.”

“Ah, our introductions are a bit late. This is Kakkou-san. I’m sorry to do this while you have just woken up recently, but he has something to discuss with you—what’s the matter, Ubuki-san?”

Touko tilted her head.

The smile had disappeared from Ubuki’s face and her eyes were opened wide.

“Aha… Ahaha, that’s a bad joke, Touko-tan. This child is Kakkou? The Kakkou that I saw before was—”

“Whoever I am is not important. Let’s get down to things quickly.”

About to lose his patience, Daisuke glared at Ubuki who was lying on the bed. His visage turned sharp unlike before, causing Ubuki to frown.

“That voice… certainly, that belongs to Kakkou. I saw how he struck down other Mushitsuki like as if he was clearing the trash. Just hearing that voice made me nauseous.”

“N-now, now, don’t say that. Despite how he looks, Kakkou-san is actually pretty kind—”

“You saw the contents of the disk?”

Interrupting Touko’s words, Daisuke cut straight to the point.

“Don’t get us wrong, we’re not shielding a useless unranked trash like you out of sympathy or anything. You better tell us honestly what you know if you know what’s good for you.”

“Kakkou-san… you just ruined my follow-up for you though…”

Ubuki returned a threatening glare to Daisuke.

“Yuu-tan should’ve entrusted it to you. You didn’t watch it?”

“Only till the middle. There was a strange laboratory… it was being used to experiment on the resurrection of the Fallen. It seems that the experiment was a success, and two people were resurrected.”

“…Can you openly say that sort of things here?”

“Ah, it’s okay. This ward and the premises are currently being patrolled by a team led by Kabuto-san. Of course, the room has been thoroughly checked clear of wiretaps.”

“One of the ones resurrected was Centipede. And the other was most likely…”

“If what Daisuke-san heard was true, that would overturn the fundamental facts we knew about the Mushitsuki. Till now, Shiika-san—Fuyuhotaru was the only exception, which led to her being chased by all organisations. However, from now on, that would no longer be the case…?”

Listening to Daisuke and Touko’s exchange, Ubuki sneered at them.

“So, the resurrection succeeded. That’s what I thought so at the start too. Seeing how those who were turned into Fallen but still had to undergo that horrible treatment, I was so angry I stopped watching halfway. —However, there was a continuation of that. Before I returned it to Yuu-tan, I was curious after all and watched the continuation…”

“…The continuation?”

“That was not an experiment to resurrect the Fallen. After all, that was… the two that returned were… '''they were not human'''.”

Daisuke and Touko’s countenance changed immediately.

“W-what do you mean? That they were not human…”

At Touko’s further questioning, Ubuki did not respond. It did not seem like she was keeping quiet on purpose, as a look of fear was clearly displayed on her face.

When she finally started to speak again, her voice was quivering.

“Those dark eyes… that did not belong to humans. There was the sound of a bell… and the two’s mouth opened, speaking in a disgusting voice… ‘Thy two vessels who seek thee king… lend thy thee body’…”

“…!”

The one who was rendered speechless was Daisuke.

“The sound of a bell?”

Surprisingly, Touko was calm. She put her index finger and her thumb onto her chin and thought.

“It can’t be… Shinpu? There was a voice saying, ‘Diorestoi’s fragment’, in the recording, right. As far as Kakkou-san has determined, Diorestoi should have been Shinpu’s true name. However, why would that appear in Central Headquarters base…”

Ubuki may have been frightened from remembering that scene, as she held her hands together tightly without speaking.

…Dio-res-toi—.

She had unquestionably saw Touko forming that name with her lips. In addition, that that was Shinpu’s true name.

She burned that name into her memories.

“…! Touko-san!”

All of a sudden, Daisuke covered Touko’s mouth. And with his other hand, he grabbed Ubuki’s shoulders and brought her close to him.

“Kakkou-san?”

“W-what are you doing, you pervert.”

Daisuke hardened his expression, brought the other two’s faces close to the wall and said something to them.

After hearing him out, the other two nodded their heads.

—…

The secret conversation between the three ended promptly.

“Yes, I understand. But, will Kakkou-san be okay by yourself?”

“I too want to go out and fly.”

“You’ll just be a burden. The injured should just rest obediently.”

“S-see what I told you? Isn’t he kind? His words may be tough, but he is actually watching out for you—”

“I have no intentions of listening to your words. I’m just going out to return what was ‘lent’ to me. My limbs may be a bit numb, but flying is not a problem at all.”

“Hmph, suits yourself.”

“E-erm, the two of you, please get along together… after all you are both Fusion types…”

The three of them looked just like they were casually having an idle chat.

However, two small shadows appeared all of a sudden above their heads.

—…?

They were small insects.

One of them was a green checkered beetle with very long antennas.

And the other was a black raven dragonfly whose wings was vibrating.

And then, in the next moment—.

“…!”

Kusuriya Daisuke looked in '''this''' direction.

“S-shit…! C-cancel assimilation…!”

The ward’s window, the exterior of the hospital, the townscape of Ouka City—the telescoped view she had till then was being retracted consecutively.

“''Kuh''… I need to get out of here quickly…!”

On the rooftop of a building a few kilometres away from the hospital, Konoha, who was spying on the ward, hurriedly tried to retract her Mushi.

Sandwiched between two leaves, a large goggling eye wriggled. A long appendage connected the goggles mounted on Konoha’s head to the centre of a leaf.

I was discovered…? T-that’s impossible… from such a long distance… though it’s true that light will reflect off my Mushi’s eye when it is focusing on something, that can’t possibly—.

The last scene she saw using her Mushi’s ability was that of Daisuke and Ubuki fusing with their Mushi and jumping out of the window. She clearly saw the scene of Daisuke landing on the ground with his strengthened legs and wings sprouting out of Ubuki’s back and she accelerated into the skies.

“…!”

Looking in the direction of the hospital with her bare eye, a black spot was heading towards this direction.

It was Ubuki.

There were no longer any doubts about it. Those two people were heading towards here.

M-monster…! How was he able to notice me from that distance…? It was just as Owl said… he is far too different from the other Mushitsuki…!

She raised the goggles onto her forehead, her other hand grabbing onto her Mushi. The large Mushi that resembled a Leaf beetle adhered to the side of the building, sliding down the building with Konoha on board.

Once her feet touched the ground, the Mushi blended into the scenery of the surroundings.

Searching and tailing enemies under any conditions, as well as manipulating the refractive index of light to camouflage itself was the ability of Konoha’s Mushi. Footage captured by the Mushi can be digitised and sent to Konoha’s goggles. It’s camouflage ability was able to be extended to Konoha herself, allowing her figure to disappear, the problem was that the movement of the Mushi was extremely slow.

She could foresee the arrival of the East Central Branch agents if she continued to remain at this position now that she had been discovered. Even if she disguised herself, the risk of being discovered was high. She judged that her priority should be to withdraw from this spot immediately.

“''Haah…! Haah…!''”

Konoha had not come to Ouka City for a mission by the Central Headquarters. Obviously, there was no support. She couldn’t even wear the SEPB’s coat, but that was a good decision on hindsight. Once she came out of the back alley into the shopping district, it would be possible for her to conceal amongst the general public.

Konoha ran while gasping for breath, knocking over the polyethylene buckets in the back alley. Just as she turned around the corner which led to the fence, her legs stopped.

“!”

“''Tah-dah!'' This is the end of the line.”

Across the alley, a girl with wings on her back was waiting.

It was Shirakashi Ubuki in inpatient clothing. With black patterns on her face resembling a tattoo, she grinned towards Konoha.

She’s fast—.

It had only around one minute since she was discovered. If she flew here in a straight line, she must have been flying at a speed of around sixty kilometres per hour.

“…''Tch''.”

Konoha turned to her right and tried to return to the alley. Running with her full speed, she ran in the opposite direction.

“It’s-the-same-here.”

Ubuki landed from the sky, obstructing her way.

Konoha’s face distorted, and she headed down the remaining passage.

A boulevard with pedestrians could be seen in front of Konoha who was running. But, Ubuki got in front of her before she could reach as expected.

“Will you just give up already?”

“…Don’t underestimate me… Karasu…”

Konoha glared at Ubuki in irritation. Her Mushi hid its outline and came by her side swiftly. She did not have much confidence in her combat ability, but she did not think that she would lose to Shirakashi Ubuki.

The figure of the green Leaf beetle suddenly appeared and slid towards Ubuki.

“Don’t forget that I’m Rank 4 Blaze Class…!”

“''Kyaa'', Konoha-tan is angry. How scary~”

With a smile on her face, Ubuki readily jumped into the sky. She had evaded the ramming blow of the Leaf beetle, but now the path to the boulevard was clear.

Konoha stepped off the ground, aiming for the boulevard.

Konoha tried to dash out of the back alley, heading towards the commotion of the crowd. But—.

“—Don’t move.”

[[File:Mushi Uta 4 p121.jpg|thumb]]

A hard sensation was pressed onto the temple of her forehead.

“…!”

Before she could leave the alley, a single boy appeared from shadow of the building.

The spine-chilling solid object that was pressed onto Konoha’s forehead was Kusuriya Daisuke’s large-calibre automatic handgun. Similar to Ubuki, a green pattern covered his face as he spoke.

“If you make any suspicious movements, I’ll blow off your head. Don’t tell me that you have some naïve thoughts that Kakkou doesn’t kill people?”

The boy’s cold gaze and chilling voice caused Konoha’s throat to dry up. There was not a shred of mercy in his voice; it was truly a pronouncement from a demon.

…Putting aside Karasu, even Kakkou managed to rush here…? Just how fast is he… n-no, more importantly, how did he manage to contact Karasu and corner me here—.

Daisuke instantaneously grabbed Konoha’s lapels and threw her into the dark alley with all his strength.

“…''Kuu…!''”

Thrown into the deserted alley, when Konoha raised her head, she was faced with the barrel of the handgun. Ubuki landed next to Daisuke who was pointing the handgun at her.

“Well, I’ll take back the statement that you were useless. Looks like you are at least capable of stalling for time.”

“Are your eyes just for show? Can’t you see that I purposely incited this girl to head here by predicting your movements.”

“No, that’s wrong. I predicted your movements and came here.”

Konoha widened her eyes.

…These people… didn’t prepare any cues beforehand…?

She finally understood why did vice-director Miguruma of the Central Headquarters and Owl, in other words Konomura Chami, viewed Kakkou and the East Central Branch specially.

Kakkou and Karasu… in addition to Kaguya and Himiko as well as Kabuto… although their ranked members were small in numbers compared to the other central areas, it was not a problem to them… this branch, could possibly already have regained the strength of their prime…?

A classic car came through the entrance of the alley into the view of the stunned Konoha. If she remembered correctly, that was a Beetle made overseas.

“''Wew'', I so surprised when the two of you jumped out of the window. Oh my, is that person the one who was spying on us? She looks pretty cute. I had thought they would be more tough-looking.”

“So, it’s only one person. Guess there wasn’t any need for me to come then.”

A youth alighted the car together with Goroumaru Touko and approached them. He was Kabuto, dressed in the full equipment of the East Central Branch with a black coat and goggles. If she recalled correctly, Kabuto was a Rank 6 Blaze Class member.

“Touko-san. This one may be a diversion. How’s the hospital?”

Still keeping the barrel of the handgun to Konoha’s forehead, Daisuke questioned. Touko replied coolly.

“Akatsuki-san and Senri-san has moved to the rooftop and are on high alert keeping a lookout. This is the first time Senri-san is participating in an actual battle, but Akatsuki-san alone should be more than enough. With those two’s powers, any Mushitsuki within a hundred metres would almost certainly be annihilated, ahaha.”

“Senri too?”

“The only one who received order was Akatsuki-san actually. Senri-san voluntarily offered to help. Before we reached here, she had used her ability, which at this point is able to confirm the presence of Mushitsuki, to verify that there were no one in the premises and contacted us.”

“…I see.”

Daisuke could be seen biting the end of his lips for only a second. He immediately resumed his pointed glare at Konoha.

“So, who are you? From that white goggles, you must be from the Central Headquarters. What were you doing on that rooftop.”

“…”

“Konoha from the Central Headquarters, she is Rank 4 Blaze Class.”

The one who answered was not Konoha, but rather Shirakashi Ubuki. Being one of the old-timers from the Central Headquarters, Ubuki knew her as one of the many people she knew about from the Central Headquarters.

“So this is Konoha. The one who was spying on me in Housawa Town.”

There was no surprise in Daisuke’s voice, as if he had already expected the existence of someone like Konoha.

“Why is it… that you were able to detect me…”

“At Housawa Town, some guy gave me a warning. From then, I kept vigilant about my surroundings.”

“…”

“You still haven’t answered my question. What were you doing there? …Did you hear what we were discussing?”

Daisuke’s voice went lower by a pitch. Immersed in his unforgiving gaze, Konoha’s shoulder began to shudder in fear.

Amongst the people there who held hardened expressions, the only one who still had a thoughtless and civil smile on her face, Touko, squat by the side of the girl.

“Let’s see here, based on the circumstantial evidence we have, we have a right to interrogate you. Having said that, I know that Central Headquarters’ system is unusually severe and moreover ruthless. You may be unable to tell us anything if you consider about your own self-protection. If Haji-senpai was here, he would have been able to carry out a leading interrogation splendidly, but alas, those of us here do not have that talent in negotiation. What a bind.”

“That doesn’t matter. If she won’t speak now, we’ll just restrain her and force it out of her regardless of whether she want for it or not.”

“Praise, praise. This girl had caused me various troubles following me around previously. If it’s alright with you, wouldn’t you let me assist in the interrogation? Though it would no longer be an interrogation but a torture.”

“Have you made your preparations to be sent to Hashiba City?”

“Wait a minute, everyone. Please stop raising your bloodlusts. Look at what you’ve done, you’ve caused this girl to be this frightened.”

Konoha was trembling unstoppably.

She did not know what was the system in place like apart from the Central Headquarters. In the event that Central Headquarters captures a spy from the other branches, she did not know what kind of punishment did they enact, but—thinking about Miguruma Yaeko’s vice-like smile, she shivered in fear. It might be the case that they would actually be tortured. No, if the fact that she had been moving independently and was captured by the East Central Branch was revealed, her fate might’ve been the same even if she returned to Central Headquarters.

After remonstrating her subordinates, Touko cleared her throat with a ''kohon''. She turned back to Konoha, revealing an unguarded and sociable smile.

“How about this, Konoha-san? We can make a deal here.”

“…?”

“We will release you here as you are, and we would also not report nor protest to Central Headquarters. In other words, it’s like we ‘pretend nothing happened’.”

Including Konoha, the other members were all astonished.

“In return, you just answer our questions truthfully. Of course, we would keep your answers within our heads, and not reveal it to outside parties. …How’s that? Isn’t this a fantastic idea? Shouldn’t you praise me, Daisuke-san! Aren’t I currently just like Haji-senpai right now?”

Looking at Touko frolicking in high spirits, Konoha frowned.

…I heard that this person was an incompetent person, but I can’t tell what’s really in her mind… There’s no guarantees that these people would not report me to the Central Headquarters, but…

“Do you think that you have any room for choice?”

Daisuke pressed the handgun onto her head, causing Konoha to groan. It was just as he said.

“Do you understand? Yes, she understood. Now then, here’s the first question: Is there anyone else from the Central Headquarters apart from you around us or around the hospital?”

“…”

Konoha thought for a while before shaking her head. —As far as Konoha saw, there were no such people around.

“Thank you very much. Then, under whose order were you following did you to come here for?”

“…I was moving independently…”

She answered in a subdued voice.

“That’s obviously a lie. Isn’t it Central Headquarters orders?”

“But if that was the case, she’s far too defenceless. If they wanted to infiltrate Ouka City, it would be unnatural for them not to send out at least a unit of a team. Especially for a surveillance type like her.”

Ubuki’s words were refuted by Kabuto. Daisuke was silent.

“''Hmm''… I forgot to tell you this earlier, but don’t even try to lie to us. The moment we find out that it’s a lie, this deal is ineffective. After we report you to the Central Headquarters, no one can promise your safety.”

“It’s true…”

“I understand. Next, what’s your motive?”

“…”

“What’s the matter?”

“…I want to know the contents of the disk delivered to Kakkou by Ebina Yuu…”

Everyone was silent.

—She deliberately spoke the truth. She thought that letting the Central Headquarters know of her own unauthorised movement would be the worst scenario. She must not let Central Headquarters have any ideas about her own actions.

“Why do you want to know? vice-director Miguruma—Central Headquarters should have already known that he has already seen the contents of it. Are you interested not about whether or not he has seen it, but about the contents itself?”

“…”

“Is there a personal reason for that?”

“…Yes.”

“So that’s the case, I shall not ask then. Seems like you do not want to answer either.”

“You’re too trusting, Touko-san.”

Daisuke, who had been silent for a while, reproached Touko. However, Touko only smiled wryly with a, ‘You think so?’.

“The last question. You saw our figures in the hospital. —But, did you ‘heard’ our dialogue?”

Touko’s expression flipped, turning completely serious. Along with Daisuke, Ubuki and Kabuto’s sharp gaze, Konoha was surrounded from all four directions.

“…No…”

Konoha answered nervously with a gulp.

“From that distance… did you think I could hear your voices…?”

This was a lie.

Konoha spent most of her training on practicing how read lip movements. With her level of lip reading skills now, she is even able to convert the words she sees through her Mushi into voices.

Indeed, Konoha would continue to grow and mature even further, so as to fulfil her own objective. She could not let herself be obstructed at this kind of place.

…If they knew that I heard the contents, they would not let me go… I can’t let myself by stopped here…!

“Konoha-san.”

Touko asked calmly.

“Why do look like you are angered?

“…Eh…?”

Only when she was told did she realised that she had been biting her lips so hard that blood was oozing from her lips.

She wondered, when was it that the anger hidden in the deep recesses of her heart had swelled to such an extent that she began to display it unconsciously.

“—I understand. The questioning is over. Thank you for the trouble. Come now, let’s return, Daisuke-san, everyone.”

“…”

Right in front of Konoha who was still glowering, Touko and the rest really let her off and left. Starting from Daisuke, Ubuki and Kabuto also looked like they had some protest, but Touko swept it over with her friendly smile and they reluctantly retreated.

Left in the back alley all by herself, Konoha spent some time coming into terms with the flames of anger raging within herself.