Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 5 Chapter 3 (section)

==3.00 Daisuke Part 5==

Oogui didn't dodge the bullet Daisuke shot at her.

In front of her sleek smile purple scales converged and produced a circular mirror.

The moment after the bullet had been sucked into the mirror, an identical bullet with identical force was launched at Daisuke.

As he leapt aside to evade, the bullet blew up the ground on the rooftop at his back. The entire elementary school building shook and all the classes' windows shattered at once.

"OOOOOOH!"

Kicking the ground without a moment's delay, Daisuke closed his distance to Oogui. Circumventing around the mirror made of scales, he swung his fist aiming at her face.

"We Original Three appear when lured by delicious dreams…"

In front of his eyes the purple scales assembled and created a large Mushi. Daisuke's fist, leaving a green afterimage behind as it was swung downward, collided with the Mushi from the front as it raised a howl.

Having received a full-powered blow, the Mushi dispersed as if exploding. The shockwave gushing out created large cracks in the area around Daisuke and Oogui.

"We're everywhere and yet nowhere. But even so you knew that I would come here… You were the one and only person to know of my appearance here in the entire world."

Facing Daisuke with his full power, Oogui whispered as if dozing off to a dream. Without even looking at him, she kept gazing up the sky while letting his attacks go past as if she was a sleepwalker. Her profile seemed like she was reminiscing about the past.

Small Mushi the size of a fist were created around her.

—All of the Mushi Oogui produced had no real form and were like an illusion given an outline by purple scales. Yet as the Mushi's ability was powerful it reflected his bullets, making him defend with his fist. 

Daisuke promptly used his coat as a shield, jumping back.

The small Mushi scattered to all directions, emitting light. While radiating high temperature heat, they soared toward Daisuke. Having protected himself with his coat, the concrete at his feet was liquefied by the heat.

As Oogui moved while swaying about countless purple masses were born in front of her.

"Now I remember. On that day five years ago your dream seemed very delicious… But I was unable to eat it. It was quite regrettable. Facing you just after you became a Mushitsuki made me mutter some unnecessary words…"

The masses of scales flew toward Daisuke. They all became atypically-shaped Mushi, assaulting him while raising ghost-like cries.

Daisuke shook off the coat he had used as a shield and readied his handgun. The bullet shot from its muzzle blew off several Mushi together. Further rotating his body and repeating a kick, he pulverized the heads of two other Mushi.

"UOOOOH!"

The pattern of the checkered beetle fused with Daisuke emitted a green glow. His fist exerting his full power smashed the remaining Mushi altogether.

"'If one day your sister… Ends up 'recalling' everything that's happened this day'—"

Yet there were too many Mushi. The ones he wasn't able to defeat stabbed their fangs into his body.

Daisuke's eyes perceived Oogui. Without minding the Mushi clinging to him, he charged toward the sunglasses-wearing woman.

"—'She will surely come to deliver me a delicious dream'."

Innumerable Mushi were produced above her. They spewed masses of flames or water from their widely opened mouthparts.

Receiving their attack from the front, Daisuke was blown back.

"Guh…!"

"You probably hadn't understood the meaning of my words at the time. —And you probably don't know what your sister 'remembered' even now. But even so, based on mere intuition…"

Bouncing on the ground, Daisuke's body clashed into the railings and was stopped. Because of the accumulated fatigue and the damage he had received until getting there his feet wouldn't move as he pleased them to. 

Yet he mustered his power and stood up.

A large amount of blood was flowing from his forehead, dyeing the long coat around his body in deep red.

—"I remembered".

This was the short note Chiharu had left behind in Nishito City.

Just like Oogui said, Daisuke didn't know the meaning of her words.

However—

"If, just like I said, your sister comes to fully 'recall' that day… Then she would come back to this place just like five years ago."

The note Chiharu left behind made Daisuke run all the way there.

And he knew he had to hurry.

"That is why you've come, right? Before Chiharu-chan comes back here – before she fully recalls everything."

For the first time Oogui's eyes looked at Daisuke from the front. Looking at him riddled with wounds, she raised an otherworldly ecstatic expression.

"But it's useless you know? Since your dream was snatched away from me five years ago, will you not let me have the best dream this time? Chiharu-chan's dream… her feelings that slowly matured during these long five years—"

Oogui hugged her own body and shuddered. The woman, who was protected by enough Mushi to completely cover one's vision, licked her lips with a red tongue.

"'I want to meet my brother and be convicted by him'… I will not hand over such a delicious dream to anyone."

Before Chiharu came back to Shiou City…

Before she returned to this place just like she did five years ago…

Daisuke had to defeat Oogui by his own hands.

Chiharu, the sister that ended up living separately from him five years ago. He didn't know where she was living now and what kind of girl she has become, all to protect his one and only sister.

He won't let her become a Mushitsuki.

Letting his carefree and good-natured sister shoulder the fate known as Mushitsuki would be too cruel—

"…Convicted, you say?"

While tasting blood in his mouth, he exerted power to his hand holding the gun.

Oogui merely snickered. Even now that they faced each other atypically-shaped Mushi were being created around the woman one after another.

"What on earth are you saying Chiharu remembered—"

During that day five years ago…

Daisuke found Chiharu facing against Oogui in this place.

Yet his later memories were vague.

What remained in his ears was only the mysterious mutter Oogui repeated just now.

"Answer, Oogui…!"

Laughing in amusement, she again averted her eyes from Daisuke. She held up her arm toward empty space. As if – his young sister was there and she was stroking her head.

"So you don't remember as well? Since at the time you had just turned into a Mushitsuki and ran wild it's understandable. You remember only the words I have muttered at the end…"

Daisuke's arm shuddered with a twitch.

"What are you… talking about?"

Oogui smiled, sending a side glance at Daisuke. While leaking a sweet-seeming sigh, she started speaking in a sugary voice that would melt one's reason just by listening to it.

"There were once two of the Original Three in this town you know? One was the blue cocoon wandering in search of paradise… He – no, was it a ''she'' at the time? You of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau call her Sanbikime, but her true name is Aria Varei."

"…!"

"And the other one who keeps eating single-mindedly. The purple butterfly searching for delicious dreams to satisfy its appetite… You call me Oogui. —We two have fought over a very delicious dream in this town."

Oogui kept caressing the person who wasn’t there. Daisuke felt a creep as if she was touching the nape of his neck.

"I have this body, but Aria isn't so. Since she possesses neither a personality nor a physical body, she requires a 'vessel'. And therefore she had chosen the person most close to that dream as her 'vessel'."

''Ba bump—''

Daisuke's heart pounded in his chest.

His heartbeat was rapidly picking up pace.

A bad premonition slowly crawled up from his legs.

"Yet while she had become one with Aria, the girl never tried to eat the dream in front of her eyes. On the contrary, she tried protecting it and stood in my way. And so we have fought to the death—"

The memories of the past flashed in Daisuke's mind.

He headed into inescapable battles just due to him being a Mushitsuki.

He met up with Haji Keigo, killed the Mushi of Anmoto Shiika who possessed the same dream by his own hands, had to separate from his friends, and saw the death of Tachibana Rina who loved him.

And even now he kept fighting.

"No… way…"

—Why had his days of fighting ever since becoming a Mushitsuki passed through his mind now?

Daisuke's instincts rejected the exposed answer.

"We have competed for a cute boy. A stray child who sought a place to belong to, a small boy…"

Oogui's rainbow-colored eyes narrowed enjoyably as she looked at Daisuke.

"—And you are much like a stray child even now, right Daisuke-chan?"

Until now—

From when he became a Mushitsuki and until now, how much pain had he endured?

How much had he experienced shaking in fear of his dream being eaten by his Mushi, of being cursed by other people, and of having the hope he was able to finally grasp slip out of his hands?

He was hurt, confused, lost – and yet kept fighting.

All because he was a Mushitsuki—

"And in the meanwhile what has that child who was once Aria's 'vessel' had been doing? Since she had finished her role she forgot all about her being a 'vessel' and about the dream she had eaten – that was the compensation for her being involved in Aria's sleep. That's the rule required for Aria to pass along to the next sleep. Until now there was no human to ever break that rule, but that girl alone appears to have recalled her memories."

The next thing coming to mind was the older girl who was always at his side ever since the moment he was born.

And while she has seen Daisuke growing up she also grew up along with him.

She would worry for him and tag along.

Until she was separated from Daisuke five years ago she was always at his side.

"Now, will the girl who used to be Aria Varei's 'vessel' – Chiharu-chan really come back here?"

Kusuriya Chiharu.

Daisuke's one and only sister.

She, who was next to him ever since he was born, was Aria Varei—

The originator behind his being a Mushitsuki.

"Can I ask you something, Daisuke-chan?"

Oogui smiled happily from the bottom of her heart.

"—If you are going to kill her, could you do it after I eat her dream?"

Burning fury filled his chest.

''Is that so… is that really so—''

He couldn't speak due his excessive rage. He even forgot that his archenemy was in front of his eyes and felt an urge to throw away his handgun on the floor.

He finally realized the reason for Chiharu having fought against Oogui five years ago.

On the road back from home that day…

Only now Daisuke realized why Chiharu showed him a sad expression for an instant just before parting with him.

''I knew it… Even though I was supposed to understand the meaning of her catchphrase…!''

Chiharu said the following before parting with him.

''—I just got some dirt in my eyes. It's just that, really.''

"It's just that, really" – these were the words Chiharu would always say when she lied.

"—I thought that I…"

Daisuke groaned unconsciously.

"I thought that I ended up being involved in battle because I became a Mushitsuki… That my battle started there…"

Only thinking about ending them, Daisuke never thought about when exactly had the despairing battles surrounding him started.

Without even thinking about it, he thought it happened ever since he became a Mushitsuki.

"But I was wrong—"

Daisuke raised his face.

He looked directly at the woman standing calmly in front of him.

She was one of the Original Three, Oogui—

"Even before that, you Original Three… have involved Chiharu since long ago."

Chiharu tried protecting Daisuke.

Obviously.

There was no way that brother-obsessed sister wouldn't try to protect him.

That was something that her one and only brother Daisuke knew better than anyone.

"And now you're trying to make her into a Mushitsuki as well, Oogui…!"

He couldn't lose.

Until now he went through countless mortal combats. Fights where defeat meant death.

But this time things wouldn't end with his death.

"…Ah, how nostalgic. Just like it was five years ago."

—She was probably stimulated by her gluttony.

Oogui sighed along with a bewitching smile.

"Five years ago Chiharu-chan made the exact same expression as you do now."

A battle in order to protect someone.

Chiharu had already done that here five years ago—

"If you siblings try to protect each other… Then it would definitely be about the same delicious dream as back then."

The Mushi produced by Oogui all attacked Daisuke at once.

He offset the Mushi's attacks with his handgun, responding by using his fist to smash their heads apart.

Gunfire reverberated, and every time the pattern on Daisuke's body emitted a green glow several Mushi would be ripped to shreds, reverting back to purple scales.

But he was unable to protect against the too numerous Mushi, once again being flung to the ground.

Rain assaulted Daisuke's face as he collapsed face-up.

Through the cracks between the dark clouds one could catch a glimpse of a far too large purple-colored swallowtail butterfly. On the surface of its four wings, large enough to cover the entire town, was a pattern like human eyes. Purple scales emitting phosphorous light poured down from the butterfly in the sky.

Daisuke finally realized. 

This was the power of the Original Three and the state of their existence.

Shinpu, who gave birth to Special Type Mushitsuki, possessed the absolute territory known as the Church. He had absolute power while inside there and he ate the dream of those he invited into his territory.

As for Sanbikime who gave birth to Fusion Type Mushitsuki, if Oogui's words were the truth, then just like when Chiharu was the 'vessel', Sanbikime would merge with a specific person and thus become able to eat people's dreams. 

And Oogui, who gave birth to Minion Type Mushitsuki, exhibited her abilities through a separate activator – she needed the butterfly floating in the heavens. Since it was so big and so out of reach, it was impossible for Daisuke to attack that butterfly.

The Prototype Mushi who gave birth to Mushitsuki, the Original Three.

Prototype Mushi.

This truly was the form of the original Mushitsuki.

By noticing the similarities between the Original Three and Mushitsuki, Daisuke was once again convinced.

He felt as if he could see a ray of hope in the long fight.

If the Original Three resembled Mushitsuki, then it was likely that their weaknesses were also the same.

Meaning that if he could hit the activators of their abilities, their true bodies, then—

—He could possibly win.

"Thinking you can win against me – have you come this far telling yourself that?"

While he was being hit by the rain on the cold floor, Oogui's voice entered Daisuke's ears.

"You should have known though… Only you, who knows of my ability, should be aware that you can't win against me as I am now, right?"

Oogui's sweet whisper didn't change in the slightest ever since the time Daisuke had come there. This bewitching voice that took away the reason of all listeners made fun of him putting his life at stake to battle her and played with him as if he was a toy.

"Despite knowing you can't win, you still had no choice but to come here…"

The air mixed with the rain's smell was unchanged from how it was five years ago.

It was the same smell of creeping despair from that time.

"You've shouldered everything by yourself and continually fought by yourself. Nothing's changed in these five years."

Mustering all of his remaining power, Daisuke roused his body.

While he was trying to stand up, the rain wetting his entire body mixed up with endlessly flowing fresh blood. The red stream was being absorbed into the drainage of the already closed elementary school's roof. The Special Environmental Preservation Bureau's long coat he wore soaked up the rain and blood, changing colors.

"I'm different… from how I was five years ago…"

Standing up, Daisuke's face was dirtied by rain, blood and mud.

He raised his face and stared directly at Oogui.

"No, nothing's changed."

Gazing at the wounded Daisuke, she sneered at him.

"You're simply about to repeat the same from that day… from the time you turned into a Mushitsuki."

Purple scales were raining around the woman wrapped in a crimson-colored long coat.

These scales created countless masses in the air, transforming into atypically-shaped insects. The Mushi, crowding so densely as if to completely cover the field of vision, raised a yell that seemed like it would tear apart the rainclouds. 

"When I rescued Senri I'd defeated Shinpu. —So I'll definitely beat you as well…!"

Daisuke raised his gun, pointing the muzzle fused with the jaw of the checkered beetle toward Oogui.

He squeezed the trigger.

—''Clink'', a vain metallic sound echoed. 

Facing Daisuke who had defeated Shinpu, Oogui gradually deepened her smile. She snickered suggestively while overlooking the townscape visible from the rooftop.  

"It seems that the main dish has finally arrived."

"…!"

Daisuke widened his eyes.

He couldn't see anything in front of Oogui's line of sight. But she was probably the only one would could sense a certain person approaching there.

''I didn't make it in time— '' 

He swept aside the sense of despair welling up in his heart.

''No… I can still—''

Throwing away his gun, Daisuke gathered up his remaining power. The green pattern covering his cheeks and fists emitted a bright light. The checkered beetle assimilated with Daisuke handed out its power to him. 

"I won't let you—"

He gazed at Oogui with his blood-dyed face, powerfully kicking the ground.

The green light tearing through the darkness of the night charged towards her.

"Oogui!!!"

The Mushi created around Oogui assaulted Daisuke. Some widened their mouthparts made of purple scales; others spread their wings and shot masses of flames and ice, lightning strikes or shockwaves. 

Daisuke held his right fist aloft. The pattern etched to the fist exerting his full might shone in green. 

His full-powered blow pounded the pursuing Mushi.

Annihilating the Mushi that were hit by it, the wave of the impact was yet to cease and so smashed the surrounding Mushi to smithereens. The school rooftop's floor caved in, wild cracks running through it. The energy created by the aftershock blew the metal fences away. 

Daisuke raised his running speed, aiming directly for Oogui. The remaining Mushi all shot their attacks one after another, but he didn't stop. Several Mushi bit into him, but he pulled them along with him while shortening his distance to Oogui.

"Compared to back then – I became stronger."

Oogui was calmly sneering at Daisuke during his struggle through the curtain of Mushi.

He brandished his shining fist.

"—No matter how strong you've become, you can't defeat me… you should be aware of that, right?"

While Oogui smiled with enjoyment. a lone Mushi appeared in front of her. 

Daisuke recognized the fake Mushi created by the purple scales – that Mushi which had a rear split into two. 

''This is Akatsuki's—''

As he widened his eyes, Daisuke's vision was filled with countless laser beams. 

The torrent of light shot toward the sky pierced him.

"…!"

Several beams shot at his stomach, shoulders and legs, penetrating the long coat provided by the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau.

Further laser beams were fired, vaporizing the violent rain.

Thrown into the sky, Daisuke was pierced by the heat rays again and again. Having already received irreversible injuries, he couldn't even evade.

By the vibration that came as a thud and the cold sensation touching his body he realized that he dropped on the ground. 

He could also feel that along with the flowing blood his life was also spilling out.

He could hear his rapidly weakening heartbeats close to his ears.

"Please forget everything about both fighting and protecting… and sleep peacefully." 

Oogui's voice sounded horribly distant. 

She was facing him as he approached death—

But even so Daisuke tried standing up.