Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6th Episode 22 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

“Say, Arisu. Did you know there’s a new cake shop in front of the station? So let’s—”

When classes ended, Ena came to Arisu with a light gait.

Arisu put her textbooks into her bag and smiled bitterly.

“Sorry. I have some business to take care of today.”

“Eh, again?”

As Ena pouted Takako also came from behind her. She tilted her head, looking disappointed.

“You’re so busy as of late, Arisu-san.”

Takako knew about Arisu’s Morpho butterfly and Daisuke’s true identity. Because of that she did not ask too deeply, but still looked worried.

“Right. Geez, you’re not sociable at all… wait, are you actually hiding that you’re doing this and that with Kusuriya-kun—”

“I’m not.”

On the other hand, Ena did not know Arisu and Daisuke were related to Mushitsuki at all. Because she’d been involved in trouble in the past, she hated Mushitsuki.

Arisu hadn’t talked about that with Ena and Takako because she didn’t want to involve them.

Now she couldn’t tell them anything—but one day, when Arisu returned to her daily life, she wanted them to welcome her just like always.

“When will we be able to hang out again?”

Being asked this, Arisu went silent for a moment.

The incidents revolving around the Morpho butterfly that Mari left her ended up involving more and more people by the day. She also knew that the SEPB viewed her as dangerous, since the Mushi possessed an unstable power.

She definitely didn’t have much time to find out her late friend’s dying wish. Arisu had to find the answer before all the sand in the hourglass ran out.

“Very soon.”

Seeing Arisu answer with a smile, Ena looked relieved. She turned to Daisuke who carried his sports bag on his shoulder.

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“When that time comes, will Kusuriya-kun play with us as well?”

Daisuke looked surprised. However, he soon wore the smile of an honors student.

“Of course.”

“So I’ll be waiting for it.”

Feeling better now, Ena wore a carefree smile.

“When you’ll finally be able to hang out, I won’t let you escape. The four of us we’ll have so much fun that it will never end. Be ready for it.”

Lately—

She felt as if Ena’s way of smiling changed from how it was before. When they’d only met it was a somewhat cold and bored way of smiling. It was probably since she had way more talent than the average person.

However, after getting to know Arisu and Takako, just a little—and especially since Daisuke appeared—Ena looked like she was beginning to change.

“Ah, I look forward to it. How shall I play on Kusuriya-kun?”

“Ahaha, Saionji-san, you silly. You mean you’ll play ''with'' me. What a funny mistake.”

As Ena left the classroom in a light gait, Takako lowered her head, left behind “Have a good day” and joined her.

When the pair of friends were gone from sight, Arisu planted an “Arisu Punch!” into Daisuke’s chest.

“Ouch. What is it now?”

“For some reason that face of yours pissed me off.”

“Alright, so I’ll start hitting you for the same reason. Don’t dare complain.”

“Don’t lie so casually with a smile.”

As Daisuke prepared his fist, he froze in place.

Arisu would only be able to return to her daily life once the matter with the Morpho butterfly was solved.

Meaning, it would result in Daisuke, who’d been sent to monitor her, ending his mission and leaving the city. He himself had muttered many times that he wanted to finish it as soon as possible and return home.

“Have you only just now thought of this?”

Speaking bluntly, Daisuke shook off Arisu’s hand still hitting his chest.

“I’ve been doing nothing but lying to her for a while now.”

“That’s terribly not cute. At least hesitate a little… don’t you feel any guilt?”

“What are you so mad about? I’m just an exchange student, so someday I’ll move to another school again—isn’t that fine?”

“Not fine at all. Lying to a girl who likes you that much and acting so nonchalant about it… I’m telling you I don’t like it one bit.”

He was acting as though they were the only ones who thought of him as friends—did it seem that way because Daisuke was a Fusion-Type just like Mari? She thought Mari was her friend, but she never revealed to Arisu until the very end she was a Mushitsuki—

“That’s called liking me…? Well, but.”

Scratching his head, Daisuke sighed as if truly bothered.

“I would’ve been able to avoid it much more easily if it wasn’t Saionji-san.”

What the heck—

She was about to ask him back since she didn’t understand, but two peculiar people exited the classroom.

“Are you two fighting again? You know what they say, if you’re always fighting it means you’re in love.”

“Always fighting…? K-Kakkou-san, you idiot!”

At some point Arisu’s classmates have all gone home, apparently. Instead came a blond girl and someone who was clearly not a middle schooler, a girl dressed in casual clothes.

The startled Arisu turned around.

“Never mind Kasuou… but why did you come here, Erii?”

“I picked her up there.”

The blond girl, wearing the same uniform of Horusu Seijou Academy like Arisu, was the one called Kasuou. Her real name was Mitake Anneliese.

“This school’s security is child’s play to me.”

The ten-years-old girl puffing her chest with pride was Horiuchi Erii. Daisuke instantly grabbed her head. “Don’t call people idiots right after seeing them.” “Ouch, ouch, I’m sorry!” they raised shouts.

“Tch. Arisu asked for your help again?”

Releasing Erii, Daisuke scowled as if bothered by it. Arisu immediately denied it.

“I didn’t, this time.”

“I have an interest in Hanashiro Mari and her Mushi that can possess other people. Since I’m already involved, I want to know if such a thing really exists. Oh, and Kasuou’s unemployed and has nothing to do.”

“I’m not unemployed! I’ve just been moved between commanders a bit!”

“Thanks, you two.”

As Arisu smiled Kasuou turned her face away with a “huh?”. Erii kept glimpsing at Daisuke’s face.

The three girls and one boy took their seats inside the silent classroom. While the girls were facing each other in the center, Daisuke alone sat at a desk near the window.

They could hear the voices of leaving students from outside.

“Did the Librarian not contact you yet?”

“Nope. The promise was if she found Harukiyo, but as expected it can’t be this soon.”

“Isn’t she just tricking you? She’s Harukiyo’s comrade as well. It’s stupid to trust her.”

“Saying she’s his comrade is not quite right, or so she said but… she said that she also needs to get some information from him. She does have a reason to count on us. Even so, I’d say my trust in her is about fifty-fifty…”

The Librarian was a Mushitsuki that she’d met while searching for Harukiyo.

Harukiyo had once met the Prototype Mushi, Sanbikime, the one who turned Hanashiro Mari to a Mushitsuki. Arisu wanted to ask him for details to find more clues about Mari.

“Thinking about it though…”

Folding her hand behind her head, Kasuou leaned back on her chair. Swaying her body and barely keeping balance, she spoke.

“Even if we actually find Harukiyo, will he answer our questions? Since he’s run away from us in the library, I think he has zero motivation to cooperate with us.”

“I have an idea.”

Staring outside the window, Daisuke opened his mouth.

“I’ll burrow Kororo’s power.”

“…”

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that I’ll shoot you right between your eyes…”

While staring at the girls who put their heads together and whispered, “He wants a lick lick,” “Yeah, lick lick,” “Lick lick indeed,” Daisuke put a hand on his hip.

“If Harukiyo doesn’t want to talk, we can just make his Mushi talk. Using Kororo’s past reading ability, we can watch the memories of Harukiyo’s Mushi!”

Right, that could be an effective method.

If Harukiyo had met with Sanbikime, his Mushi should have preserved memories of that place. And they would be able to draw out information free of falsehoods.

“B-but.”

Erii was the one to raise her voice.

“I don’t think Harukiyo will quietly let Kororo use her Mushi on him. If we execute this plan, I cannot think of any other way to but find Harukiyo—that devil who can beat the SEPB all by himself, while creating a devastating number of victims—and beat him to submission.”

“I’ll defeat him.”

Removing his hand from his hip, Daisuke looked outside the window.

“That’s my job.”

Detachedly asserting this, his profile was that of the SEPB’s strongest Mushitsuki, Kakkou.

“…Right.”

Erii smiled.

“If so then there’s no problem. I’ll only provide support from the back.”

“Well, I’ll kill that flame bastard before you do.”

The grinning Kasuou too possessed battle strength not at all inferior to Daisuke’s. If she actually ended up fighting with Harukiyo, they could count on her power.

Daisuke, Erii and Kasuou—they all knew what they had to do.

Then what about her?

She wasn’t as strong as Daisuke or Kasuou, and wasn’t good at investigating things like Erii. Did Arisu also have some duty she was the only one who could fulfill?

“While waiting for the Librarian to respond regarding Harukiyo… I’ve found another interesting keyword.”

Looking at Arisu who came back to herself with a start, Erii wore a meek expression as she spoke.

“The Undying Mushitsuki.”

The classroom was wrapped in silence.

“I know Harukiyo is fixated on Hanashiro Mari. Since he’s investigating her, there’s a high possibility it’s related to her. Arisu-san told me to try investigate it as well, but I have not found any information that seems to relate to that in the SEPB’s database.”

“Undying, huh. Meaning, immortal? Never heard of such a Mushitsuki.”

“I… have.”

The gazes all focused on Arisu.

“In the memories I’ve seen inside the Morpho butterfly, Mari said it. If I recall… ‘If it’s me, then it might be possible to defeat that Undying Mushitsuki’.”

“They’re Undying but can be defeated? What the heck. Ridiculous.”

“Now that I think about it, when I saw the Mari of that time, it seemed like she was looking for that Mushitsuki… right, she also talked to Sensei about that.”

“Does that mean it’s related to the fact Hanashiro Mari fought against so many Mushitsuki that they called her Hunter? But there’s no way the SEPB wouldn’t know about a Mushitsuki with the distinctive feature of being ‘Undying’… do you know anything, Kakkou-san?”

“…”

“Daisuke?”

The girls turned to look at the silent boy.

“No—I know nothing.”

Arisu raised a brow. His cold demeanor was the usual, but she had the feeling that his voice while denying this was somewhat stiffer than normal.

“But if such a Mushitsuki exists…”

As if to hide his own discomfort, Daisuke immediately kept talking.

“We would also need to use Kororo’s past reading on that Mushi as well. They might know about Hanashiro Mari—and perhaps other things.”

“That’s true. Rather than thinking that the number of mysteries keeps growing, let’s instead think we can get more clues.”

Erii’s tone was mature and unlike her age.

“But we’d better get Kororo to promise to cooperate with us. Have you already talked with her?”

“No, I still—”

“*Ringringring*, ''*clank*''. Hello?”

“Ayuyu? Listen, I need a favor.”

“Hey, you idiot! Why are you calling her on your own!”

Kasuou immediately stopped Daisuke from snatching back his cellphone from Arisu. While she and Erii restrained him, the negotiations with Kororo, also known as Kurisaka Ayuyu, continued.

“''*Grin*''. Understood. I accept these conditions. ''*Smirk*''.”

“Right, thank you.”

“Don’t settle everything without me! Since it’s you, those conditions are definitely bad news—”

“Let’s go, then, Daisuke. For now, I’ve decided to use you as the first sacrifice.”

“What do you mean the first!”

Dragging Daisuke, Arisu and the rest left the classroom.

“I have the feeling that if I don’t finish this investigation as soon as possible I’ll die of stress… once this is all done, I’ll knock out all of you and run back to Ouka City, remember this, you perverts.”

“How unmanly, just offer up an arm or two—ah?”

The moment they were about to exit through the school’s main gate, Arisu unconsciously raised a voice.

“What’s wrong, Arisu-san?”

“That car…”

Including Daisuke who had hardened eyes, Kasuou and Erii followed Arisu’s line of sight.

A limousine was parked next to the main gate. The exceptionally long white vehicle caused passersby to turn and look at this rare occurrence.

“What’s that? It’s way too long.”

“I was curious about it since it was parked here in the morning too… someone from school?”

“It’s been parked there all the time while we were in class.”

Arisu and the rest exiting the school gate tried passing next to the limousine just like all other people.

However, suddenly the door opened and a large man wearing a black suit came out of the limousine. He opened the back doors with hands covered in white gloves.

“…?”

In front of Arisu and the rest who stood in place without thinking, a person appeared.

It was a girl who looked around Arisu’s age. She thought there was a rich lady riding the car, but her form wearing the blazer uniform of some school had the air of a perfectly normal and cute middle schooler. She was holding a walking stick in the shape of an upside-down “J”.

“Nice to meet you, Ichinokuro Arisu-san.”

The girl bowed her head politely.

She knew Arisu’s name—

Even before finding that suspicious, Arisu felt something strange.

Arisu felt as if this girl who immediately greeted her—was familiar. She seemed to remember her face and voice.

Where had she met her before?

The girl removed her eyes from Arisu while she dug in her memories.

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“Yahaha.”

The girl looked up the sky and raised a small laughter. Her eyes were focused on the silver insect—the Morpho butterfly left to Arisu by her dead friend.

“You are… a Mushitsuki, right?”

While spinning her stick, the girl pointed at the butterfly fluttering above.

Arisu widened her eyes.

''—What do you think Mushi are?

She recalled the words of a Mushitsuki who smiled despite being covered in wounds.

Mari, who’d referred to that Mushitsuki as the “Kind Magician”, was no longer there.

And the Mushitsuki that failed to become a magician had also met an unnatural death right in front of Arisu.

She thought that this was the end of the Magician’s sad story, however—

“Will you please tell me too?”

The girl that the Magician had been trying to protect grinned.

“How does one become a Mushitsuki?”