Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 5th Episode 18 (section)

=== Part 1 ===
The rooftop of Horusu Seijou Academy's campus.

With Arisu leaning on the fences, her ponytail was blown by the fresh wind of early spring.

A single butterfly lifted by the crosswind alighted down.

It was a Morpho butterfly shining in silver. Its appearance resembled the actual insect, but it was actually one of the beings that possessed adolescent boys and girls, and fed on their dreams and hopes to produce supernatural powers.

Mushi—

These were fantastical beings that, while coming up in people's rumors, were never officially announced. With the populace still not knowing what they were, they felt shapeless fear toward them.

The reason Mushi weren't revealed was due to the government organization known as the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau.

The people possessed by Mushi—Mushitsuki—were captured, received training, and then used as combatants to capture even more Mushitsuki; thus worked the organization. As they isolated Mushi from the public, their actions appeared to be successful as of now.

To any normal civilian, speaking of the supernatural beings called Mushi and the SEPB was like talking of another world.

Arisu was once nothing more than a normal civilian herself.

However, there was no doubt that in front of her were the Mushi the Morpho butterfly and agents belonging to the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau—the SEPB for short.

"It's still unconvincing. Do it over!"

Crossing his arms and emitting a harsh voice was a normal boy, or at least he appeared like that. He was a middle school senior student with a medium build and completely average hairstyle and face, Kusuriya Daisuke.

Daisuke, as a member of the SEPB, was there in order to monitor Arisu who had received her dead friend's Mushi. Normally he acted like a harmless honors student, but he was actually a combatant feared as a demon.

"I-Ichinokuro Arisu's inspection is on holddd. Danger scaleee, zerooo."

Meaninglessly starting to open up her uniform, the girl kneeling in prostrating position on the ground shook her body to the sides.

She was Uno Noiru. She was also an SEPB member, and just the other day, she'd transferred to their school for the purpose of inspecting Arisu.

Daisuke looked down at her with a cold gaze.

"Stand up!"

"Uuh, don't kill me…"

"Don't strip. …Turn right!"

"Submissiveness scaleee, plus oneee…"

"Now go!"

Following Daisuke's instructions, Noiru dashed away in the direction she was facing.

Watching over this line of actions, Arisu sighed without hiding her anxiety.

"Say, will that really work?"

Although they'd worked for several days now on getting their story straight, Noiru's acting couldn't be called good.

Daisuke shrugged as if it had nothing to do with him.

"She's probably really obvious. Or rather, I doubt anyone exists that could fool Miguruma."

"Then isn't this useless?"

"As long as it conveys the message to the Central Headquarters to watch out. They probably don't want to turn me, a Blaze Class Rank 1, and my East Central Branch into direct enemies. —Conversely, this won't mean I'm allowed to do anything I want within our jurisdiction."

Arisu wanted to find out the will of the previous Morpho butterfly host, Arisu's friend Hanashiro Mari—

Wishing for this, Arisu resolved not to run away until she accomplished her goal. Perhaps feeling conflicted, Daisuke was also going along with her.

However, the Central Headquarters viewed Arisu—the rare case of someone becoming the host of another person's Mushi—as dangerous.

Dispatching the "assassin" Uno Noiru was an event that indicated this.

"I don't really get it… but seems like there's a complex power struggle."

"I did this all under my boss's orders. He said it would probably buy us some time. He would shake the Central Headquarters by himself with some plan. We can just leave the complex tactics to those who like that kinda thing."

He probably trusted his boss, the Branch Head of the East Central Branch. Despite his flippant tone, Daisuke didn't seem pessimistic about the current situation.

"Anyway, now we can devote ourselves to look for clues about Hanashiro Mari."

Arisu's face stiffened.

The one holding a hint to why her friend had left her Mushi was someone wrapped in even further mystery.

"So we need to search for the person who made Mari a Mushitsuki… Sanbikime."

"They're not a person. They're one of the Original Three who give birth to Mushitsuki. It’s a given they were in contact with Mari."

Arisu nodded.

"When Ayuyu used her ability to see the Morpho butterfly's memories, I also saw it. Mari called the 'Doctor' that was with her, one of the Original Three… so he's Sanbikime."

"It's hard because we’ve never been able to determine Sanbikime's appearance or voice. On the other hand, using Ayuyu's ability again would be too dangerous. —We can only wait for Sanbikime to get in contact with another person."

Still crossing his arms, Daisuke leaned his back on the fence.

Arisu craned her head.

"Haven’t you been made a Mushitsuki by Sanbikime too? Don't you know anything about them?”

"Since I became a Mushitsuki without even noticing, my memories from immediately following that event are fuzzy. I've never seen Sanbikime."

She'd also received an explanation about the Original Three before.

They were the elusive three Prototype Mushi that were invited by people's dreams and appeared all over the country. Since most of the ecology and logic governing their actions was shrouded in mystery, especially in the case of Sanbikime—the one who gave birth to Fusion-Type Mushitsuki—they weren't able to confirm even their physical appearance. Other than the late Hanashiro Mari and including Daisuke right in front of her, only very few such Mushitsuki have been created.

"As far as I know, the only ones who have likely been in contact with them were Director-General Ichiku, his subordinate Miguruma, and… Harukiyo. But I don't think Ichiku and Miguruma would volunteer information."

"Depending on our negotiations, perhaps Harukiyo will tell us about Sanbikime?"

"Because he also seems to want to find more about Hanashiro Mari."

"…Can't we just directly search for Sanbikime?"

"We can't predict where the Original Three will appear. Also, if what I heard from Miguruma was true, then Sanbikime's already—"

"…?"

"No, it's nothing."

Seeing Daisuke block his own mouth, Arisu furrowed her brows.

Yet another secret he was hiding. She knew that pressing him about him would yield nothing, though.

"We still have some open doors. We can find at least a few clues."

The boy sounded like he was saying that to himself. Or perhaps the situation surrounding Arisu was becoming even more difficult than she thought—

"So, Arisu. Summon Harukiyo this instant."

"Leave it to me. Oh, Harukiyo-sama, Harukiyo-sama, please come to my aid! —As if I could do that."

Raising both hands toward the sky, she gave Daisuke a back kick.

"…It was a joke…"

Holding his stomach, Daisuke groaned.

"And now seriously, where's that pervert gone to? He always appears when it's not convenient for us, but when we finally have business with him he's gone for a long time…"

"How would I know? He's basically an enemy."

"…I wonder. He appeared from time to time and seemed to get along with you."

"Hah? Who's exactly getting along? While we're on the subject, then haven't you talked to Mari when I switched with her or whatever? —Oh, speaking of it, you said before that quiet girls are your type. Since Mari is so pure, there's no way that you…?"

"W-why would Hanashiro Mari be my…! Where did you hear that? Was that from Harukiyo too?"

"Then what's up with you!"

The pair gazed at each other as they walked closer.

They heard the shouts of the baseball club from the sports ground below.

The weather of early spring served to disperse the bad atmosphere that was about to engulf them.

Both of them rotated their bodies at the same time, turning their backs at each other.

"What are you so impatient about, you idiot?"

"Be a little less carefree, you idiot."

Their fight was like the usual, so they were used to it.

The situation was urgent. The Morpho butterfly was becoming unstable, and the Central Headquarters was viewing Arisu as dangerous. Also, the person that could provide a hint did not appear.

Arisu and Daisuke had no way to make contact with Harukiyo. Even while they were arguing like this, time kept ticking.

"I wonder what we can even do right now. Just wait for Harukiyo to appear?"

"…We lack information. I can't do any investigation that goes over the scope of my monitoring mission, and I have no connections to use to pull out information from the secretive Central Headquarters. We’ve already investigated about as far as the two of us can.”

Turning around, Daisuke's expression turned vexed. Arisu wasn't really familiar with his circumstances, but even a superb combatant like him had some limits.

"Will your East Central Branch not lend a hand?"

"Their suggestion to me is just about the limit. If they carelessly start a big movement, the East Central Branch itself might be destroyed. I can ask for some help, but we can't rely on that."

"So this is the limit of the two of us investigating together…"

Thinking a bit, Arisu drew a certain conclusion.

They couldn't just wait for Harukiyo. They had to take an action of their own.

"Then there's only one thing we can do."

Daisuke looked confused, but Arisu grinned. 

Kurobishi Town was a commuter town located near Akamaki City where Arisu resided.

Unlike Akamaki City, which housed and gathered the country's most important agencies and large businesses, Kurobishi Town had many facilities putting emphasis on normal daily life. It still had a similar feel to the capital, but they devoted themselves completely to tree-planting and welfare. The town was famous for its many green parks and social welfare facilities.

Especially in recent years, it was said that they put effort into advancing air purification and the usage of electrical energy. By employing machines that used electricity without polluting the air, they supported the minds and bodies of all citizens. They also used monorail trains that were noiseless and kind to the environment. 

The unmanned monorail running through Kurobishi Town was made reality by the use of a cutting-edge remote-control system along with autonomous driving. However, since the expenses to design it were enormous, the pricy ticket fare was its major flaw. Perhaps because of that, there were few passengers on board.

"It's been a while since I was in this area. Probably ever since my elementary school extracurricular activities?"

From inside the car speeding through a bridge, Arisu looked at Kurobishi Town's townscape. Since it was their day off, she wore a casual shirt adorned with a ribbon.

"…"

Daisuke, sitting opposite of Arisu, wore a glum face. He wore a plain T-shirt and jeans, with a large sports bag at his feet.

"What is it, Daisuke? You look dissatisfied."

"Even if there's nothing else we can do, I still think that this is a waste of time."

"But it's much more productive than just waiting for Harukiyo, right? There's a limit to what we can do by ourselves, so I just thought of another way."

She thought it was logical, but the boy was unsatisfied.

"A Mushitsuki that will help us—and an owner of power that excels in information gathering will not be found that easily."

Searching for comrades.

That was Arisu's suggestion.

Arisu and Daisuke's Mushi were powerful, but they possessed nothing more than abilities specialized in combat. Among Mushitsuki who possessed varied abilities, there should be someone who could help them.

"There are Mushitsuki that can see Mushi's memories or switching between senses and such. So there should be some Mushi specializing in looking for people."

"There are certainly people like that. And, if they're Mushitsuki not found by the SEPB yet, they wouldn't be affected by the meddlesome Central Headquarters. …But it wouldn't be easy to find them, and I doubt that they'd really help us."

"But you found one, right? Isn't that why we're going to Kurobishi Town?"

Daisuke agreed to Arisu’s suggestion somewhat unwillingly. Since he'd happened upon information about a Mushitsuki that could fit, he and Arisu had left Akamaki City.

"To be precise, we haven't found them yet."

"What does that mean?"

"Before I explain it, explain why you've brought her here too."

Daisuke glared at the seat next to Arisu.

The older girl folded her legs elegantly on the seat. Her slim body was covered in a blouse and cardigans and she had a hat on her head. She had sleepy eyes and at her feet was a sports bag just like Daisuke's.

"Even I learned a bit about handling danger. We have no idea what’s waiting for us, and if anything happened I wanted to have a comrade we could rely on."

Next to Arisu who puffed her chest, the Mushitsuki girl with restoration abilities—Yomori Neiko—smiled. She pointed at Daisuke and then at her, mumbling to herself.

"…Comrades…"

Daisuke also returned her smile, raising his arm. ''Whack'', Daisuke's finger flicking Neiko's forehead reverberated inside the car.

"Who's your comrade? You're nothing but a burden."

Ignoring Neiko who collapsed on Arisu's lap while holding her head, Daisuke turned his gaze to the side.

Yet Arisu grabbed the boy's head with both hands, forcibly turning it to her. As she raised herself, Neiko's head fell to the floor.

"She's our comrade."

"Hmph."

Daisuke laughed scornfully, shaking off Arisu's hands.

Slowly raising her body, Neiko rubbed her forehead and smiled.

"I… was saved by Arisu-chan. If she hadn't stopped you, Kakkou-kun, we wouldn't be able to be here like this…"

Compared to Daisuke, Arisu had met only very few Mushitsuki. All of the Mushitsuki she'd met so far appeared to be fighting against something and were getting hurt as a result.

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_5th_p095.jpg|thumb]]

Meeting and getting hurt. If that was how Mushitsuki were, she didn't care.

However—

"I actually fought against the people I've met until now, and until recently I was so scared of that that I didn't want to get involved with Mushitsuki anymore…"

Arisu spoke to Daisuke.

"But it's definitely not meaningless. No matter how I meet them, I should be able to save all of them."

Parting from people after hurting each other was too sad. They should be able to go past battles and help each other.

Perhaps it wasn't so easy to create such a relationship.

After all, just like Arisu was a while before, people were afraid of getting hurt again. They averted their eyes from one another to escape pain.

Even so, Arisu didn't want her meeting with her late friend Hanashiro Mari—no, with Mushitsuki—to end up being meaningless.

"And we can obviously also save everyone. We are very strong, after all."

It was just that hating each other and fighting was scary.

Even if they fought and got hurt, they could join hands in the end.

As long as she thought this, she didn't fear any new meetings—

By the time she thought of such thing, Arisu suddenly realized something.

"—Oh, right."

Raising her face, she recalled the Mushitsuki who were especially strong among those she met.

"Mari, Daisuke, Harukiyo… and Rina. If all these powerful people became comrades, all the other Mushitsuki would have to follow them and stop fighting."

"Wha—"

Daisuke became speechless. Neiko, too, widened her eyes.

Daisuke the Demon, Mari the Hunter, the Flame Devil Harukiyo, and Rina who possessed absolute charisma. —If there were any other Mushitsuki as strong as them, then these monsters as well.

If they combined their forces and stood next to each other—perhaps everyone would stop fighting.

This ideal future rose to Arisu's mind.

"There's n-no way something like that could ever happen! Never mind that Mari's dead or that pervert, you want even Rina to join? She hates my guts! This is too ridiculous even for a joke!"

Perhaps quite surprised at the girl's plan, the boy wrung out an unusually agitated voice.

Even so, Arisu had the feeling that what she had in mind wasn't completely impossible.

"If none of you are going to directly join forces, you just need a middleman that will connect everyone."

"…!"

Were her thoughts really so astounding? The speechless Daisuke and Neiko looked like they were seeing aliens.

Arisu herself felt that it was far stranger that no one thought the same thing before.

The girl she'd met before, Rina, said she was only fighting to create a place where Mushitsuki would belong.

Yet Arisu held the exact opposite thinking.

If the strong Mushitsuki stopped fighting, at some point their influence would affect all Mushitsuki, and wouldn't the fighting just vanish then? Their existence was that meaningful.

"You can't be that much of an airhead—"

As Daisuke raised his voice in order to hide his agitation, a ringtone echoed from his phone.

Daisuke clicked his tongue and answered. An annoying voice immediately reached Arisu's ears.

"Thank you very much for using the services of the idol of the East Central Branch, Maimai-changh! …I-it's barely safe, they didn't find out I bit my tongue!"

"…Although the Central Headquarters intelligence division is useless, I'm even more pathetic for asking you for help…"

He appeared listless with self-hatred. Daisuke's shoulders sagged.

"This is information regarding your search request for 'an undiscovered Mushitsuki excelling in information-gathering abilities'! Isn’t Maimai-chan awesome for working hard even outside her jurisdiction? You have told me that you were infiltrating Kurobishi Town, but, would you look at that? I managed to get in contact with that Mushitsuki! As expected from Maimai-chan, a bright future awaits me!"

"Get in contact… meaning, you spoke with them? Isn't that incredible."

Near Arisu who voiced her honest impressions, Neiko clapped her hands.

Only Daisuke felt differently.

"Tell the truth, Maimai. I've certainly asked you to find them, but how have you done it so easily?"

As Daisuke questioned the person on the other side, the sound of something popping came from the phone in his hand.

"…?"

For an instant the lights on the train flickered. A line of static electricity sparked between the lights and Daisuke's cellphone.

"Ugh… I-it's alright, they haven't found you yet! They have no idea that this Mushitsuki features at the very top of the intel division's blacklist so everyone knows about them… The one who found this Mushitsuki who's scary enough to be able to hack even in the Central Headquarters' database was obviously Maimai-chan!"

Daisuke widened his eyes.

"W-wait a minute! Is it someone who was fighting against the Central Headquarters and still managed to get away?"

"Yes! Not to mention that we know nothing about their abilities! All we could determine was that their point of origin focused in Kurobishi Town! All of the SEPB agents sent there had the tables turned on them!"

"No, that's—"

"Since, honestly speaking, this is out of our control, the Central Headquarters are currently taking a defensive position and are waiting for that enemy to exhaust themselves! Some think that this might end up as the second coming of Fuyuhotaru—ah! It's barely fine, I haven't touched Kakkou-san's taboo!"

The moment he heard the term "Fuyuhotaru", Daisuke's expression changed.

"Daisuke…?"

The silver Morpho butterfly landed on Arisu's shoulders as she raised a brow. It nervously flapped its wings, spreading around scales emitting a silver glow.

Seeing the Morpho butterfly's behavior, Arisu finally noticed the abnormality.

The monorail started running faster. Since it was so silent, she was late to notice.

The lights in the car kept blinking.

"I-is something happening?"

"Maimai… I realize the opponent's famous. How did someone as excellent as you get in contact with such a dangerous person?"

"They apparently have eyes anywhere and know about everything. Also, regarding Kurobishi Town itself, they basically control the entire town…"

"…"

"J-just now, Maimai-chan's Mushi was attacked while searchingngh. I-I didn't bite my tongue! And they even traced back Maimai-chan's Mushi that was inside Kakkou-san's cellphone, but I will never tell—"

"That doesn’t count as getting in contact…! What you're saying is that we've been found out!"

At the same time as Daisuke's shout, the emergency stop button on the car's back started raising sparks.

"The enemy definitely thinks that Kakkou-san and the rest are the SEPB assassins! But it's fine since it's you! Nice bait strategy, Maimai-chan! Everything turned out alright!"

Reflexively, Arisu looked at the front of the train.

She could see the final station ahead of the gentle curve. There were no rails past that.

"The monorail's being controlled…?"

As long as they kept the same speed, they were going to burst through the station's wall and head-first beyond the elevated structure.

Unlike the frozen Arisu, Daisuke and Neiko took swift action.

"…Since we're unable to see the Mushi's body, it means that one attacking us is a Special Type…"

Neiko intertwined her fingers, closing her eyes.

"I'll try controlling the monorail with my Mushi's territory and driving out the enemy Mushi…"

A singing voice echoed.

The purple glow that appeared as the medium for Neiko's voice enveloped the running train.

Special Type Mushitsuki could take any sort of space and transform it into their own domain in order to activate their abilities. Also, as long as they had some catalyst for the medium of their ability, they could control their Mushi even outside their domain.

After the inside of the car was wrapped by the purple domain, the lights stopped flickering. Also, a jelly-like liquid came bursting out from Daisuke's cellphone—it was probably Maimai's Mushi.

"Now we can stop the acceleration… we can try the emergency stop, but I doubt we'll make it in time… if we stop it right before, my ability could restore the wounded and the destroyed car though…"

"Other than us there are several unrelated passengers. If there are any instant deaths it won't work, and more importantly you can't heal your own wounds, right?"

Daisuke wore a severe expression as a green checkered beetle alighted on his shoulder.

"I-I can also—"

Besides Arisu, the Morpho butterfly was growing wild. She searched for anything it could fuse with as a weapon, but couldn't find any pole-like object nearby.

"You stay seated and hold out."

Standing in the center of the car, Daisuke's Mushi fused with him. The Mushi's tentacles pierced his skin, becoming a green pattern and emitting a faint glow.

Swinging his green glowing arm, Daisuke stuck his fist through the floor without any hesitation.

"…!"

The car shook with the impact.

The strong vibration and violent gravity assaulted Arisu on the seat.

The roaring of metal being crushed and something hard breaking echoed. Raising an ear-grating sound, the monorail running at a wild speed was rapidly decelerating.

Realizing that Daisuke did something, she was dumbfounded.

Stabbing through the floor up to his shoulder, he grabbed the rails underneath the car with his bare hands.

Daisuke's physical strength he gained from fusing with his Mushi lowered the car's speed.

"Guh… Ugh…!"

Daisuke wore an expression of anguish.

Arisu tried rushing to him, but she lost against the vibration and sudden deceleration. She collapsed onto the seat again.

Raising a shrill sound, the monorail crashed against the station platform.

They passed by the surprised faces of the people waiting there.

"Uh…!"

The car swerved with a jerk.

Arisu shut her eyes without thinking—and when she opened them again, she saw the ticket gates outside the window.

The roars and vibration stopped completely.

"W-we're saved…?"

In front of Arisu who muttered this in shock, Daisuke dragged his right arm out of the floor.

"Obviously, stupid. We'll not be killed that easily."

The arm of the boy separating from the checkered beetle was covered in abrasions and red blood.

Neiko's singing voice echoed.

The shining cricket began fixing the hole opened in the floor and Daisuke's wounded arm.

"Seems like we're fully being treated as enemies. We have to get out of here already."

"…I still haven't fully healed you yet…"

With the sports bag hanging from his shoulder, Daisuke pulled Arisu's arm. Unheeding to Neiko, he exited to the platform from the open door.

Arisu, still overcome by fear, let herself be pulled by Daisuke.

But once they passed through the ticket gates, Daisuke suddenly stopped in place. She bumped into his back.

"What's wrong?"

A boy was blocking Daisuke's path.

Seeing that, Arisu froze without thinking.

"You have splendidly overcome the first trial, oh great heroes."

The boy welcoming Arisu and the rest to Kurobishi Town wore a white beard. He also wore a white-haired wig and used a wooden walking stick. His clothes were like the costume of some play, obviously hand-made old-style clothes.

Excluding the strange costume, both face and voice were those of a young boy. However—the eyes looking at Arisu and the rest curiously appeared somewhat murky.

All of the passengers' gazes focused on the boy dressed like an old man.

"I am the Chief of Kurobishi Village. I shall give thee the item that will lead thee to the legendary 'Center of Hearts'."

Arisu and the rest exchanged glances.

"W-what does all this mean…?"

"…Heroes…"

"Looks like this is turning into another stupid event…"

The trio's muttering echoed in Kurobishi Town station and vanished.