Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 4 Chapter 3 (section)

==3.00 Chami Part 2==

“…”

The view of a commonplace residential area could be seen outside the window.

Sitting on the chair hugging one of her knee which her chin was resting on, Chami gazed listlessly at Ayukawa Chiharu’s house. Of course, she took notice to sit in a position such that her figure could not be seen from the outside.

There were only sporadic pedestrians walking along the street between Chami’s apartment and the Ayukawa house.

Apart from the faces of the pedestrians, the scenery remained unchanged.

The only sounds she heard was the soft ''kicchin'' coming from the vibration of the refrigerator and the sound of the engine of the occasional cars passing by.

The original mission that Chami received from the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau was the observation of the girl known as Ayukawa Chiharu. No reason nor length of mission was given to her.

However, Chami had actually been moving about covertly, laying the groundworks so as to take over the SEPB and dominate all of the Mushitsuki. The one which was monitoring Chiharu was in fact a white cat which had been the very first target of the effect of Chami’s Mushi.

Chami had named that cat as Owlet, while her own codename was Owl. —Why was it that Chami had christened that cat with the same name as she had at that time?

Owlet had understood Chami’s command and faithfully carried out the mission. The stray cat, Owlet, seemed to have acknowledged Chami as its master. Chami was the only person whom it had become emotionally attached to. Now that she thought about it, just what kind of emotion did Chami’s ability amplified in Owlet…

—It was only recently that Chami felt the true strength hidden behind her ability.

An ability which amplified emotions, she thought that was all to it.

But, that shrewdness of Owlet, as well as the Konoha’s shocking rate of development—either of which were something that went beyond common sense.

Could it be that Chami’s ability had drawn out their latent abilities, or perhaps… did the intensification of their emotions resulted in the manifestation of some other kind of effect?

“…Good job holding out for these five years.”

Murmuring softly, Chami smiled.

That goes for me too, right—.

She added in her heart.

While Chami surreptitiously laid down her preparations, all she had thought about was dominating those who had looked down on her.

In her place, Owlet had shouldered her original mission all this time.

Without anybody’s knowledge nor realisation, the two owls had been working behind the scenes all along.

“Good grief… what a shitty life.”

Just as Chami treated Owlet as a pawn, she herself was no more than a pawn of the organisation.

This time, Chami’s pawn, Owlet had died.

Who knows if Chami would be the one to die next.

Be it having her dream devoured completely by her Mushi, or during one of the organisation’s mission.

However, she would never let that happen.

“Who is the one at the ‘heart’ of the Mushitsuki right now? Kakkou? Fuyuhotaru? Harukiyo? The Central Headquarters? …All of them can go eat shit and die. I am going turn the tides on you people who would not even look at me. I’ll show you guys how I reach the heart of it before any of you. And then, I would claim it all for myself.”

That was Chami’s one and only purpose.

Outside the window, Ayukawa Chiharu was walking. She opened the door to her home and disappeared inside.

At the same time, the door leading to the room Chami was in opened with a creak.

“Chami.”

A girl with a taciturn aura entered. She was wearing a dress which matched her long black hair. With skin as white as that of traditional Japanese dolls and thin-slit eyes, she was the splitting image of her elder sister.

Sugitsu Aya. She was Chami’s classmate as well as her pawn and a Mushitsuki. Being the point of contact for Owlet all these time, she took of her shoes and entered the room with familiar movements.

“How was it?”

Chami turned around while still seated on the chair, facing Aya who looked up while sitting on the floor.

“I don’t think there was any particular issue. After finishing her student council work, she walked down the streets… she seemed to intend to enter into ‘URBAN’, but immediately turned back. She then entered the station once, but came out after a while.”

“How are there no issues? Her turning back the moment she reached ‘URBAN’? Entering the station and coming out right after? Aren’t all those suspicious behaviours.”

“But, she was humming to herself all the while, without even a shred of anxiousness. It seems to me like she was just taking a stroll.”

“…Did she look like she came into contact with anyone?”

“Nobody in particular… Ah, she was talking to a girl in front of the station. But, it seems like that was just the girl randomly lending her money to buy a ticket.”

“Hmm.”

Chami placed her hand on her chin and pondered.

She had already heard from Konoha the contents of the talk between Goroumaru Touko and Kakkou—the executives of the East Central Branch in Ouka City.

Looks like there are already movements in the central area.

The Central Headquarters are involved in some shady actions as she had expected. Judging by the contents of the disk, it can be deduced that the Headquarters are experimenting on the resurrection of the Fallen. However, that seems to be a failure. The two Fallen who were brought back were ‘not human’. One of them, Centipede, had already been defeated by Kasuou and was reverted to a Fallen and recaptured.

The East Central Branch too seems to be planning to do something. Putting aside Kakkou, it is also a matter of time before the other high-ranking members, Kaguya and Himiko displayed their strength.

On an unrelated note, the West Central Branch is still adopting the ‘none of my business’ attitude as always, and has no results worth mentioning other than equipment development. The South Central Branch has teams actively patrolling the areas within their jurisdiction, but ignores events occurring outside of them. It is the same as always here too. Seeing as the Branch director obediently does as the Head director dictates, it is safe to say that the North Central Branch is one with the Headquarters.

The key to what would happen from now onwards would be the confrontation between the Central Headquarters and the East Central Branch here in the heartland. Just a tiny spark would be sufficient to ignite the fuse to this high-tension state and cause an explosion between the two parties. If that happens, Chami would be able to move freely.

What would be able to trigger conflict between the Central Headquarters and the East Central Branch? Chami initially had some expectations of Mushibane, but her hopes were completely dashed. Just by losing their leader, Ladybird, the resistance had lost their chain of command and was currently just a disorderly mob.

“Seems like I have no choice but to light the kindle by myself directly.”

She muttered to herself.

There were no doubts that the Central Headquarters of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau knew deeply about the Mushitsuki. Diorestoi—they knew about the true name of Shinpu, but it was a mystery why they did not reveal this fact. If she wants to rule over the Mushitsuki, she would definitely have to probe into the secrets of the Central Headquarters.

It would be far too dangerous for Chami to investigate the Central Headquarters directly. The role of lowering the guard of the Central Headquarters would have to be the East Central Branch now that Mushibane has retired from the field.

The key that would lead to a clash between Central and East, that would be—.

“Fuyuhotaru… in addition, I need to find the other resurrectee that escaped from the Central Headquarters. I can’t possibly do that if I’m stuck here.”

The one at the heart of the battles surrounding the Mushitsuki was indubitably Fuyuhotaru.

That Rank 1 Secret Class Mushitsuki, the one and only person who ‘truly’ resurrected from the Fallen status. Chami must find her and turn her into one of her pawns no matter what. And then, she would cause an internal strife to arise in the SEPB using that girl and find an opportunity to subdue Kakkou as her pawn. …The escapee who ‘isn’t human’ could also serve as a fine substitute for this plan.

“Tomorrow, I would personally shadow Ayukawa Chiharu. If nothing happens, I would completely abandon this mission. After all, nothing happened during these five years, and nothing else would happen from now onwards.”

“…”

“I no longer have any expectations of Mushibane, but let me hear about them for the last time. Were there any movements inside of Mushibane?”

The reason Chami turned Aya into her pawn was to obtain information about the ongoings of Mushibane, as Aya’s elder sister was one of the executives of Mushibane.

“Elder sister seems to be trying to distance me from Mushibane recently… Something seemed to have happen earlier, but she didn’t tell me anything about it. However, she looks slightly flurried.”

“Oh, really. It must’ve been something trifle if it occurred here in the countryside. Well, just keep a lookout for things.”

In response to Aya’s words, Chami gave a noncommittal nod.

“…Are you going leave here? Have I run out of use?”

Aya, who had been answering questions in a mechanical tone all this while, changed her expression all of a sudden. Biting her lips, she clutched onto the hem of Chami’s clothes.

A red smoke that only Chami could see rised up from Aya’s body. Slowly forming into the shape of a queen bee, it was a portion of Chami’s Mushi that was residing in Aya’s body.

“Although I would be absent from here for a while, I would be back in no time. As long as I belong to this branch, my base would be here in Nishito City.”

The emotion that was buried within Aya’s heart was that of ‘loneliness’. This type of people who suppress their emotions cannot take too much of a shock, thus, Chami told her as such to prevent her from going berserk. Chami faked a smile while feeling bothersome inside.

“So… if I do not return, that probably means that I have died. At that time, you give up on me too.”

Those were not words of concern for Aya. It was the truth, something that could happen to her anytime. That was what it meant to investigate the mystery of the Mushitsuki.

Owl—what an ironic codename that fitted Chami perfectly, with her ability that could only be used for disinformation, with never the need for her to show her face. An owl never shows itself, one can only hear it hoot. And when it swoops down on its prey, probably none would see it as well.

“This mission shall end tomorrow. …Having entrusted this mission to her all along, I don’t even feel any sentimentalism for it.”

She smiled.

Chami was determined to abandon this mission. This mission to observe Ayukawa Chiharu probably did not matter to the SEPB either. After assigning this mission to a Rank 10 member such as Chami, they then neglected it for five years. In fact, even if she did not monitor her and just continued sending reports, the upper echelon would not have realised it anyway.

“!”

The door to the room was opened violently with a loud noise.

Chami and Aya turned around in alarm.

A tall young man stood there. With long hair and an unshaven face, he stared in Chami’s direction. He was wearing a combined black suit which she had never seen before and was clutching his torso with his right hand that was stained dark red—copious amount of blood had dried up and hardened. Looking more closely, there were signs of injuries on his face covered by his hair.

[[File:Mushi Uta 4 p173.jpg|thumb]]

The man entered the room with his shoes while breathing heavily.

“Who are you? Did you get the wrong room?”

“Rank 10 member of the Southwest Branch, Owl, right…”

At his words, Chami’s face turned stern.

“…I am Kanata, Rank 3 Blaze Class member of the Central Headquarters. I’ll be using this place as a hideout for a while… I have already spoken with the Branch director of the Southwest Branch.”

Chami’s heart almost leapt out when she heard the words, Central Headquarters. Thoughts that her scheme had been discovered pass through her head for a moment, but she realised that that was not the case.

“I have applied first aid myself… but it was inadequate. Bring me some medical ointment and food… immediately.”

The man spoke one-sidedly and headed for the bed.

“…”

Chami clicked her tongue in secret.

A troublesome character barged in right as she was about to take some concrete actions. He looks like he was in the middle of some mission, but to indicate her ‘servitude’ to the organisation, she has no choice but to abide by his orders for the time being—.

“I was careless… who would have thought that it would possess such an ability. In addition, there was that incomprehensible cat. It acted as if it was trying to protect something…”

Her heart throbbed with a ''dokun''.

There were deep cuts carved into the face of the man who was teetering with his hands on the wall. A long gash extended from his ear till his neck alongside multiple other wounds. All of that indicated as if he had been attacked by some animal or something.

A revelation reached Chami, passing along the thread of logic through her mind.

The man was chasing after something and came to Nishito City. He had pursued the something all the way to ‘URBAN’, coincidentally coming across a white cat and fought against it. He, who was probably a Mushitsuki, chased the cat all the way to the rooftop where it—.

“…A cat…?”

“That has nothing to do with you. Bring some medicine and food. Right now…”

Chami’s heartbeat raced even faster.

He must have possessed quite a bit of strength to be part of the Central Headquarters, not to mention he was Rank 3. If she earned his gratitude here, surely that would be of use in the future.

“…”

“What’s the matter… didn’t you hear me…?”

She tightened her grip around her hand which was already gathered into a fist.

I see… so that’s the case. You were the one who did that to her… well, it’s not like I have any particular grievance about that. After all, she was just one of my pawns out of many, and she had bad luck, that’s all.

—''Kuhuu''.

She seemed to have heard the sound of Owlet laughing.

But, you know…

“…Don’t kid me.”

Chami’s mouth started to move by itself.

She is mine, whether be it her life or her existence—.

“It’s not even my mission, so why do I have to shelter someone like you.”

Her face twisted and she spat out hatefully.

…I’m not so nice as to listen to others obediently when my stuff has been seized from me. What belongs to me shall only be used for my sake alone!

Chami’s head had cooled to below freezing. She calmly devised up a plan to dispose of the man and make it such that nothing had happened.

However, that was an impossibility. Being Rank 3 Blaze Class, that meant that he was someone capable of commanding people in a large-scale battle. There was not even an off-chance of her winning against him.

“Just go along and die alone somewhere, you scumbag.”

Kanata glared at Chami for a second through his fringe. And then, he grabbed Chami’s shoulder powerfully and slammed her against the wall.

“''Ugh…!''”

“My rank is higher than yours. Even if you say you don’t want to, I can make you obey my orders right now.”

Even as Chami grimaced in pain, she still returned a cold glare to Kanata.

“''Haa'', you can beat me up if that’s what you want. But then, I would not let it end there, I’ll make sure to drag you down to hell along with me.”

“Is that so.”

Kanata slowly raised his arm.

Chami resigned to the fact that her scheme would end here. If he had obtained the permission of the Branch director, that would mean that sheltering him had become her official mission. And for Chami who rejected that, that signified that she was a rebel and that she would be detained. If she missed this opportunity of while Fuyuhotaru was on the run, the chances of a minor character like Chami breaking into the heart of the Mushitsuki would be dashed.

However, she thought that this was fine. —Chami was dreadfully enraged.

“…!”

As Chami was prepared to accept the man’s beating, what she saw behind him made her widen her eyes.

“A-Aya…?”

“Let go of that hand!”

Aya had circled around to behind the man before they even realised. She was pointing a kitchen knife that appeared out of nowhere against the nape of his neck.

Y-you shouldn’t have been that kind of character! …Or rather, that guy’s a Rank 3 Blaze Class? How did you even circle around behind this kind of guy?

The blood running through her concussed head ran cold. Although Aya was a member of the Mushibane, Chami never thought that with her strength, she was capable of making such movements.

“What are you doing to my friend here.”

“…''Hmm''.”

The man sneered and casually swung his arms backwards.

“…!”

Aya was sent flying powerlessly against the wall. She seemed to have hit her head and collapsed limply onto the floor.

“Who is that…?”

“…She’s just a pawn. You’ve probably heard about my ability from the people on top anyway, right?”

“She had combat training?”

“How could she possibly had received that kind of thing.”

It seems that even the man was a bit shaken from having his back so easily circled around and he looked down at Aya in silence.

However, Chami was the one who was genuinely surprised.

What in the world was with her movement just now…? Could it possibly be because of the effect of my Mushi? What’s happening right now…? Aya’s unpredicted action was a surprise, but the worst case of her bringing out her Mushi had been avoided. If Aya had brought out her Mushi instead of just using the knife, she would have unquestionably been killed by Kanata.

“I’ll say it once again, cooperate with me. There won’t be a third time.”

“…”

Being glared at by Kanata, Chami regained her composure.

There were no benefits from rebelling out right now. She currently had no evidence that this man had killed one of her pawns.

The course of action that would be most advantageous to Chami would be to turn Kanata into one of her pawns. If she could get her hands on a Rank 3 Blaze Class Mushitsuki, that would surely prove to be a great addition to her fighting power. —But, in the first place, it would not be easy to exploit an opening in a combatant with this level of strength.

…Indeed, this is a chance. There is no need to get so worked up over a trivial emotion as such.

Persuading herself like this, Chami started to speak.

“I’ll cooperate. But, it pisses me off that you said it was none of my business.”

“…”

“Having come from Central Headquarters alone, you don’t know a thing about these streets, right? I’ll prepare some medicine and food for you. Ah, I’ll bring a pair of scissors and a shaver as well. Looking at that squalid state of you is pretty unbearable.”

“…”

“You get me? To put it bluntly, I’m also trying to earn some points like this. It’s not like you can freely gather information with your body like this, right? I’ll go out and take action, and then you can finish it up. You can complete your mission, and I get to have some good word with Headquarters, maybe they might even send me back to the central area if it goes well.”

“…I won’t make any deals. As I said, this is an order.”

“Can you even consider this a deal? To someone like you, is a small fry member like me trying to earn some points even an issue? In exchange, wouldn’t it be good for you to gain the merits of having a pawn to move around freely for you?”

Chami and Kanata stared off at each other as if to probe what was the other scheming.

In contrast to the amicable smile plastered on her face, Chami was scorning him inside of her heart.

…''Ha!'' In the end, you would only be thinking of something of this level, isn’t it? With her ability, it would be dangerous to show an opening… but, she’s only Rank 10, right? Even if I was careless, it’s impossible for me to get done in by a small fry like her. In that case, I might as well use what I can right now… the success of the mission is the top priority. —Isn’t it something like that!

“How about it? Isn’t the completion of the mission your top priority?”

“…No.”

The man shook his head.

“I’ll do it myself… It couldn’t possibly have moved far from these streets… most of its strength had already been used up… that’s why, it didn’t deal the final blow to me… It should be resting its body nearby somewhere… and also, it seems to be chasing after something… I will finish the job myself… This is a battle bestowed upon myself…”

He muttered in delirium and leaned onto the bed. Perhaps it was due to his blood loss being too great or because of his empty stomach, he looked fairly weak. On the other hand, his mental state seemed pretty keen, showing no signs of any opening.

—I see. So, he’s that kind of guy.

Although his reply was different from what she expected, she saw through his true nature and grinned.

“Fine, do as you like then. I’ll provide you with the minimum level of assistance, but I won’t do anything more. …Come on, wake up already, Aya.”

Chami kicked the unconscious Aya and she let out some groans before regaining consciousness.

“This girl will be helping you out. Don’t treat her too roughly, okay. Despite how she is, she is still my stuff. The next time you do something to her… you might find poison in your food.”

“…”

“That’s just a joke, why don’t you laugh.”

At Chami’s words telling him to laugh, Kanata knitted his eyebrows suddenly. Chami noted his reaction and said.

“What’s that, you can’t laugh? You can easily learn that from others by watching them. For example… how about a laughing cat.”

“…”

The man glared at Chami with a severe look. There was a murderous intent in his eyes, as if his nemesis was right in front of him.

So, it’s like that. ''Heh'', as I thought. I see—.

Chami was convinced. She looked down on the man with a chilly gaze.

“You bastard…”

“Well then, all the best to you. —Let’s go, Aya. Let’s go get Mr big-shot from the Central Headquarters his desired meal. We’re going shopping.”

Shaking off Kanata’s gaze, Chami dragged Aya alongside her out of the apartment.

But, she stopped her feet the next moment and turned around.

“Hey, Kanata-san. Do you know about Ayukawa Chiharu?”

“…Ayu… kawa?”

The man creased his eyebrows in doubt. It was not an act, he did not have anything to do with Ayukawa Chiharu.

Chami made some changes to her plan.

She would first investigate into Kanata’s mission before tying up the loose ends with Chiharu’s observation mission. Also, she would take the opportunity to plant her Mushi within the man without fail.

By now, she was positive about it.

Kanata had been chasing after something and came all the way to ‘URBAN’. There, he came into conflict with Owlet. Chami has no idea as to what was Kanata pursuing, but Owlet judged that Chiharu would come into danger. And so—Owlet protected Chiharu. At the same time, that meant that she protected Chami’s mission.

“Aya… why did you try to protect me?”

She turned to Aya and asked, but she did not reply. However, she looked back at Chami with unhesitating eyes.

“…Every last one of you are just my pawns, yet you’re all becoming so impertinent.”

Despite muttering out in resignation, a smile formed on Chami’s face.

“Very well, I shall make use of you thoroughly. No matter if it is your life or your existence… I’ll make use of it all for my shitty dream!”

And with that, I’ll make even someone like me stand at the centre of the stage—.

That was precisely Chami’s dream.

The dream that she had taken a step forward with together with a cat on that day five years ago.