Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 7 Chapter 1 (section)

== 1.00 Akatsuki Part 1 ==
The beings that possessed adolescent boys and girl and devoured their dreams to grow—Mushi.

Although at first there were only limited sightings, these grew with time.

This meant that Mushi, or rather the Mushitsuki possessed by them, have experienced an explosive growth. Mushitsuki stirred up trouble for the populace at every opportunity, so people gradually started fearing them.

It is said that in the initial stages, the military had been employed in order to restrain the increasing numbers of Mushitsuki.

However, normal soldiers had difficulties against the wide range of Mushitsuki abilities. Also, since the military's movements caused unrest in the public, they weren't suited to the purpose of concealing Mushi.

Finally, a certain method had been suggested, then employed.

Fighting fire with fire—

By training the captured Mushitsuki, they would be able to stealthily capture the Mushitsuki blending in with the populace.

A government agency was formed to capture, train, and at times isolate and research Mushitsuki. On the surface their actions would never come to light, and behind the scenes they managed everything related to Mushi.

The Special Environmental Preservation Bureau.

Called the SEPB for short, this organization was deployed throughout the entire country and managed to acquire many Mushitsuki subordinates. Due to the work of the SEPB, the current public awareness of Mushi was able to preserve the delicate balance between truth and fiction.

Why was there a need to conceal Mushi that even led to that organization being formed?

The reason for that wasn't revealed even to the SEPB members.

"—'A town where Mushi disappear', huh?"

Special Environmental Preservation Bureau, East Central Branch.

A faint, sweet fragrance drifted through the conference room located inside the building. It probably came from the flower vase near the wall.

"Sounds like the title of some B-grade horror movie."

The size of the conference room was about that of the classroom of his previous high school. It had a square table and a chair made of some unknown material.

The room was dreary and the only things that could be called furnishing were just about the plain file cabinet, the projector placed in the further end of the room and its slides. That was why the vase at the front was so conspicuous.

His face reflected on the polished wall behind the vase.

"…So, what does that have to do with me?"

Seeing his face, he thought he looked like a ghost.

During these last months he grew taller and his body became fitter, perhaps owing to his training. His long hair was parted for convenience, but that still irritated him upon seeing it.  He still hadn't gotten used to the dark coat that darkened his expression so much.

If his past friends were to see him now, would they be able to recognize him as Ogata Akatsuki?

He'd already lost all of his friends that he could laugh along with. —And that very reality caused Akatsuki to smile less and less.

"Umm, the truth is that the North Central Branch—oh! That vase? Someone from the West Central Branch brought it when they were helping with the repairs here. Creation abilities are really amazing, aren't they? This place'd been completely trashed by Harukiyo but they've managed to fix it all up perfectly. The interior's also a work of art—well, I'm glad Nene-san's restored all of this, but maybe we should've left this to a specialist?"

While Akatsuki stood at the door, the woman sitting on a chair on the other side of the room spoke happily.

She was wearing a business suit, but one button was put into the wrong hole. She didn't look like an adult in her early twenties due to her bed hair and not wearing any makeup.

She was Akatsuki's boss, Goroumaru Touko. She served as the Acting Branch Director, and the fact that she held the most authority within the East Central Branch here seemed like a bad joke. Although the original Branch Director Haji Keigo had retired due to his grievous injuries, it still seemed impossible.

"The person herself apparently said 'Art is inorganic! Plants are philosophy! Die, humans!'  She's just handsome enough to fall in love with—well, but she's a girl."

"Stop there, Acting Branch Director. He's getting angry."

The one who stopped Touko from talking was a middle-aged man sitting on a chair in the corner, smoking a cigarette. Although he was wearing a fancy suit, his face looked unattractive while he played with his white-mottled hair. Position-wise he was Touko's subordinate, but he never spoke politely to her.

The incompetent Acting Branch Director and her detached Assistant Branch Director. It was his first time to be summoned while they were both present. Akatsuki hoped he wasn't called here just to get annoyed.

A calm voice rose from immediately next to Akatsuki.

"Can we return to the matter at hand, Acting Branch Director?"

He could feel the warmth in his hand.

The girl clad in the same coat as Akatsuki, Haji Senri, wore a serious expression. Her long, blue hair shone as it reflected the light. Her slightly drooping eyes were gazing at empty air even as she spoke to Touko.

Due to her congenital blindness, Senri lost all her sense of sight. She was one of Akatsuki's friends and had become a member of the East Central Branch this year. In addition to being a Mushitsuki, she was also the younger sister of the previous Branch Director.

"Let's leave, Senri. This is probably not a big deal."

He had no idea what the matter was, but had no intention of watching his boss's comedy routine.

Akatsuki came to the East Central Branch in order to protect Senri. He hadn't the slightest of intentions to either grow used to or become friends with the SEPB that used Mushitsuki to capture other Mushitsuki.

He prioritized protecting the lone survivor, Senri—

That was his tacit agreement with his dead friends.

And there was another reason.

Akatsuki had yet to fulfill the other objective he'd joined the East Central Branch for.

"Senri?"

Senri made no move. She looked up to his face and shook her head. He furrowed his brows.

"Uh, I'm sorry. Right, that's not what I wanted to talk about."

Touko cleared her throat, finally recalling what she wanted to say.

"Akatsuki-san. Do you understand the situation in the East Central Branch?"

"Who knows? I am not really interested."

He replied immediately. Whatever happened to the SEPB or to the East Central Branch he belonged to was of no interest to him. He was simply going to follow orders.

"A few days ago, Chiharu-san and Ubuki-san have vanished."

Akatsuki made no response. Neither of them had anything to do with him.

"Since there were signs they had contacted someone from the outside, it appears that Chiharu-san had already intended to join up with someone. I believe that Ubuki-san has followed her voluntarily."

"I said I was not interested."

Even while responding in an apathetic manner, he still felt dubious. The two people Touko spoke of were important. And yet they have slipped through all security and vanished.

''Had someone let them escape on purpose…?''

Thinking so might have been reasonable, but he still didn't care either way.

"I'd sent Kabuto out on a search mission, but since he was unable to find anything in these few days I gave up and recalled him. Since Ubuki-san's involved, it's better to assume that they have gone beyond our jurisdiction. —Oh, so is that another one of my mistake as Branch Director? Will I get another salary cut?"

"I was on leave until yesterday so it has nothing to do with me. Bear the responsibility by yourself, miss Acting Branch Director."

"Ugh, you only treat me like your superior when it suits you… Oh, and the intelligence unit's also a bit of a mess. Maimai-san took a lot of independent actions. You see, it's because she really admires Wanko—err, Asagi. The person from the West Central Branch I mentioned before was also apparently her disciple… I found out something bad."

"What exactly do you mean by something bad? Is this about the Instructor?"

Senri bent forward, curious.

Central Headquarters Special Class Rank 3 member Asagi, Shishidou Inuko. This girl had the bizarre appearance of wearing a raincoat and brandishing a hockey stick, but she unexpectedly showed up in the East Central Branch a few times that winter.

Inuko, as part of her special mission of educating combatants, made Senri go through training when she lacked real battle experience. And just like when she had appeared, she also vanished suddenly.

Akatsuki recalled that before she vanished, Inuko had seen him while he was with Senri and ridiculed him.

''—You sure look like a newbie. Seeing your face makes me depressed.''

Rolling a lollipop inside her mouth, she laughed at the person higher in rank than her.

''—The Acting Branch Director also asked me to look after you, but nope. I only teach "warriors", not avengers. Do wash your face and turn a new leaf.''

''I didn't want it, either'', he thought. He'd heard that this raincoat girl had once fought alongside ''that guy''. He wanted no lessons from someone like her.

Ignoring Akatsuki who was opposed to this, Senri had grown unbelievably strong. She developed new abilities one after another as if losing all restraints. Although her personality was twisted, the raincoat girl's teaching skills were apparently the real deal.

"Rather than bad maybe it's horrible… the ones that produced the candies that served as Wanko-san's lifeline are the West Central Branch. But apparently the production was put to a stop. The one to issue this order was the Vice-Director—"

Senri's hand that was held within Akatsuki's tensed.

"The Vice-Director—"

A red light burned inside the room.

As Senri widened her unseeing eyes, red sparks flew around. The table, the chairs, and the flowers in the vase were all covered by insect-like sparks.

[[File:Mushi Uta 7 p029.jpg|thumb]]

"So the Instructor died because of Central Headquarters…?!"

Although she'd gotten stronger, her awareness of her abilities was still rather new. She couldn't fully control her Mushi yet.

"C-calm down, Senri-san! Hot, it's hot! Ah, even my suit…!"

"The direct cause of death was wounds caused by battle. According to the report it was a result of her fighting Shinpu. Even so, the process that led there…"

Branch Director Assistant Ishimaki spoke calmly while nimbly avoiding the sparks.

He heard that Shishidou Inuko had reported about finding Shinpu and was subsequently killed in action. Shinpu was one of the original Prototype Mushi that gave birth to all Mushitsuki.

"Senri, calm down."

When Akatsuki whispered to her Senri was taken aback. The red sparks around vanished.

"A-anyway, Maimai-san's gotten angry because of that… We managed to somehow calm her down for now, but it's only a matter of time until the other disciples find out. I mean, we've also asked Wanko-san for help now and again, but she really was someone great. Seems like her death has plenty of effects, tahaha."

"You sure have it easy."

In contrast to Touko's amicable laugh, Akatsuki directed a derisive smile at her.

"Even if one Mushitsuki dies—no, no matter how many people die, you can laugh it away in a safe place."

"I don't think that's the proper way of speaking to a superior, Kaguya-kun. You'll get demoted."

"Could you please not refer to me using that name? I'm Ogata Akatsuki."

"Adults really are horrible. How annoying; when all sorts of things happen and children younger than us die we can't even cry. Tahaha."

While scratching her bed hair, Touko wore a pitiful smile.

"I can't even bring up memories of Wanko-san just because I can't allow myself to cry in front of my subordinates. I've talked about a lot with her, and she can hold her liquor, too. Oh, that's against the law, isn't it. Oops, can't think about that. Tahaha."

Midway through her speech Touko's ears reddened. She pretended to fix her glasses and her bangs covered her face.

"Haji-senpai sure is amazing. I was supposed to be prepared for this but losing a single person makes me want to run away…"

"Even if you reminiscence about people who're gone nothing will advance. You're the one pulling the East Central Branch together. You can't show your weakness to your subordinates. And it's not like our branch lost its manpower."

Receiving Ishimaki's admonishment, Touko mumbled "R-right" and straightened her back.

Even seeing Touko hold back her tears, Akatsuki felt nothing.

It didn't matter at all.

No matter what happened around him, it had nothing to do with him. He had no interest in any changes.

"Sorry for disrupting the conversation again. Umm, so, on that note, Akatsuki-san."

Raising her face, Touko went back to herself and smiled amicably.

"You will go to the North Central Branch."

"…!"

Akatsuki's expression froze. He couldn't immediately grasp the meaning of Touko's words.

"Apparently there have been strange phenomena occurring in the area under the North Central Branch's jurisdiction. Oh, do you know about them? They're very disciplined, have plenty of strong members and their mission completion rate is high. That's amazing when thinking about the large area under their care."

"They're the Central Headquarters' lapdogs. In contrast to our Branch of rebels and South's shut-ins, they're living the good life. They're similar in essence to West who are simply happy creating anything."

"How blunt… A-anyway, a reinforcement request came from North Central Branch. It looks like the branch's higher-ranked members unfortunately have their hands full, so they want more Ranked members. Since you're a Blaze Class Rank 2 I believe you fit their requirements to a tee."

"Is that mission about the 'town where Mushi disappear' you've mentioned earlier?"

Akatsuki glanced at Senri in surprise. She hadn't seemed surprised at this sudden order.

"Exactly. Umm, actually, rather than Mushi disappearing, it's more like aren't any Mushitsuki in the first place, or that there's some cause—"

"W-wait a minute!"

Akatsuki finally wrung out his voice.

"Why are you making us go help the North Central Branch or whatever? And of all times, during this period—"

"'Us'? Tahaha, it's rare for you to mishear things like that, Akatsuki-san. Didn't I say that ''you're'' going there? You're going alone, Akatsuki-san."

Having Touko laugh at him made him snap.

"D-don't joke with me! You're leaving Senri to someone and sending me to the North Central Branch by myself? I will obviously not obey such an order!"

"Hah, so it's no good?"

"You told me to come to the East Central Branch to protect Senri—hadn't you invited me here for that?! I won't let you say you forgot! And now you're telling me to go to the North Central Branch? Don't screw with me!"

"Akatsuki-kun."

Senri pulled the infuriated Akatsuki's hand.

"I asked this of the Acting Branch Director. I asked her if she could give you missions from the outside."

"Wha—"

''I don't understand anything anymore''. He grabbed Senri's shoulders, still confused.

"You know I'm here in place of Iori-kun or Azu, right? I can't be separated from you, Senri. So why—"

"Please calm down, Akatsuki-san."

''I am calm!''

He wanted to shout this, but shut his mouth.

Although she smiled friendlily until now, Touko now looked at him with a sad expression.

Taken aback and looking at Senri, his friend also bit her lower lip forlornly. As for Ishimaki, he simply lit up his next cigarette with an exasperated expression.

Akatsuki couldn't understand why they were all looking at him like that. He felt as if he was being subjected to some malicious prank.

"You don't understand even after our conversation just now? Really, can't you feel it?"

Touko said in a calm tone.

"Are you talking about Chiharu-san running away and about Maimai and the other disciples? Other than it being your carelessness, what else is there to feel—"

"The next major battle is approaching."

"…!"

"What made Chiharu-san move was probably a new force other than the Central Headquarters or Mushibane. It's probably one of the few others organizations, lurking in the shadows or perhaps waiting patiently for the right time to come… I do not know."

Touko stuck out her fist toward the silent Akatsuki. She lifted up her pointing finger and then her middle one.

"''Mushibane'''s movements also changed a few weeks ago. They returned to their activities of protecting wild Mushitsuki as if all their hatred for the SEPB was gone. Even when we found and attacked them there was no reply. Even when they had victims among their allies. There is only one explanation—they probably have a new leader."

Touko kept lifting her fingers.

"Wanko-san's disciples will also begin to move. They were only taught one thing—to fight. Those who inherited that will are going to rise to the stage of battle. Even the South Central Branch, despite being shut-in like we've just said, appears to be on the movie. Also, even Harukiyo's group's starting to act gradually more exposed."

After spreading all five fingers, she once again clenched them into a tight fist.

"Central Headquarters are gathering power in preparation for inducing something. The other branches, Mushibane, other groups like the ones who are moving Chiharu-san, and Harukiyo will all be striking from the sides. And in the end, where will Central Headquarters receive that decisive blow?"

"…"

"Anywhere's fine. This is simply an opportunity."

Touko brought her clenched fist to her chest. As if she was keeping it from swinging down with sheer force of will.

"But the ones who'll finish up this fight are us, the East Central Branch. This duty alone we will never hand to anyone else…!"

Senri nodded strongly next to Akatsuki. As for Ishimaki, he merely shrugged with a complex expression.

"…What about Kakkou?"

A low mutter escaped Akatsuki's mouth. He glared at Touko and then asserted.

"I don't care what anyone else does right now. Where is he right now and what is he doing? It isn't far-fetched to think he'd already recovered from the wounds he suffered against Oogui. Even so, never mind his whereabouts, I haven't heard ''anything'' about him!"

He raised his voice without noticing. He now dumped out the true reason for his smoldering rage.

In the battle against Oogui, one of the Original Three who birthed Mushitsuki, the boy called Kakkou was wounded grievously. The major secret that spilled out of his mouth during the fight would surely spread to the entire Special Environmental Preservation Bureau.

The reason for Akatsuki to stay in the East Central Branch other than Senri.

That was Kakkou's existence.

That Mushitsuki had taken a life that was dear to him as much as Senri's. —And so Akatsuki kept living and serving the SEPB just so that he could take his revenge.

"We've been talking about something completely different but he's the only thing you can think about, huh…"

Touko lowered her fist, her expression clouding over. Akatsuki gritted his teeth.

"Isn't that strange?! If the next fight's about to start, isn't Kakkou going to fight as well? There's no way that demon wouldn't! Is he trying to kill someone right now? Where's Kakkou!"

"Akatsuki-kun…"

Senri clung to his arm with teary eyes.

"Please… Stop already…"

"Senri! You're being deceived, Senri! Wake up already!"

"You are the one who needs to wake up, Akatsuki-san."

Speaking in this harsh tone was Touko.

"Do you still not understand? Now that everyone's heading toward the next fight, you're the only one still being bound by the past."

"I don't give a fuck about the next fight! I—"

"It's been that way ever since your battle with Oogui at Shiou City. Your desire for revenge against Kakkou burns even brighter."

His heart skipped a beat. He wanted to deny it, but his throat suddenly clamped down.

"You found out the truth that Kakkou-san is trying to end all fighting. And when you saw this, you wondered whether or not he had killed Mushibane's previous leader, Lady Bird—Tachibana Rina-san."

"…!"

"Oogui can use the abilities of all Minion Type Mushitsuki she'd given birth to—did you wonder why Haji-senpai alone, as the biggest supporter, kept this fact close to his chest? I have obviously asked Kakkou about it. I inquired him if he didn't think that the best method to simply defeat Oogui would be to make all the powerful Mushitsuki, including Lady, fight amongst themselves and destroy each other."

Touko smiled. It wasn't her usual amicable smile, but a complex smile like that of someone taking care of a problem child.

"'I just have to become the strongest Mushitsuki'—that was his answer."

Akatsuki gulped.

Taking on Oogui was the same as fighting against all Minion Types at the same time. And he still intended on winning by himself despite knowing this?

How foolish.

Yet Kakkou was deadly serious. That was why he was the strongest and able to survive this long.

It was as though the other Mushitsuki had all been looking at the wrong thing—is what he thought.

"Tahaha… we can say that Kakkou-san's the only one looking at the right enemy. Yet letting him fight all alone makes me a bit angry. He never easily shows his true heart to anyone, and he's apparently the type of guy to hold more secrets the closer he is to you. I wonder if all Fusion Type Mushitsuki are like that?"

Fixing her glasses, the unreliable boss wore her amicable smile again.

"It isn't that Kakkou got called a demon because he liked it. He simply fought and fought to protect his promise with a certain girl. —Yet he ended up with too many burdens along the way. If he'd revealed the secret it was possible that even Lady Bird and all other Mushitsuki would become his enemies. Yet he didn't do so…"

Akatsuki couldn't argue against Touko's words.

"Also, Lady's death was sad. He probably hesitated until the very final moment. And his hesitation caused Lady's Mushi to reach Maturation. Because he felt this way, he announced that he'd killed her. —Although that's the source of his strength, I don't want to think about this anymore…"

"You've probably realized this after fighting Oogui, right? Yet you couldn't accept it, instead fanning the flames of revenge inside your heart."

Ishimaki moved the cigarette in his mouth with an insolent expression.

"Can you not accept Lady's death unless it's someone's fault? Even Mushibane that you belonged to already got over her death and started something new. We don't need such half-hearted combatants at the East Central Branch."

Touko, Ishimaki and Senri all looked at Akatsuki.

"This is an order. Ogata Akatsuki-san—East Central Branch Blaze Class Rank 2 member, Kaguya. Please head out to the North Central Branch. You will receive further details about your mission on site."

"Since this is another branch's mission, we won't be seriously involved. Get your head cooled off on the countryside."

Both of his superiors spoke while leaving him no choice.

"…"

Senri looked like she wanted to say something, but stayed silent. She silently let go of Akatsuki's hand.

He clenched his fist that was now floating in air.

Akatsuki couldn't say anything.