Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 8 Chapter 3 (section)

== 3.01 Momo and Sepia ==
Until just recently her way back home was riddled with Coatl Head marks, but now due to the influence of the Mark Hunting they were all gone.

When one mark was gone after another, she was assaulted by an inexplicable fear.

Coatl Head mustn't vanish.

It had to keep on increasing.

Even so—they were vanishing without a trace due to someone's interference.

"Coatl Coatl…"

Momo walked through town with an uncertain gait. Her head hurt like she'd been hit by something because of her fever, but there was something she had to make sure.

Kusuriya Daisuke had told her that he would take her home.

However, Momo had declined his offer politely and despite feeling otherwise in her heart of hearts.

She actually didn't want to go back home.

She wanted to stay with Daisuke forever.

She was very happy that he'd accepted her. Daisuke managed to help her overcome the anxiousness over the Coatl Head gradually vanishing.

"Para Emile…"

Coatl Head.

A charm to bring out courage.

That mark undoubtedly gave her courage.

By letting her meet Daisuke, she received courage from him.

And that was why Momo had to ascertain something.

"Haa…"

Fighting against her worsening fever, Momo arrived at the town's center illuminated by streetlights.

She was headed for the suburbs.

Walking all the way there took time but she didn't think of turning back. Her body was heavy and her heart was full of vague uneasiness, but she didn't think of stopping.

''I don't have to go back home today—''

She ran out of breath.

Even so, a smile naturally rose to her face.

She'd go back to the office and have Daiske and Kirarin nurse her—

It would trouble them, but they'd allow it on account of her being sick. She would monopolize the single bed, Daiske would sit next to her and Kirari would make her porridge.

She was unkind, so she didn't care about being a nuisance.

She'd have the pair spoil her as if she owned the place.

She was confident she could cause them to want to throw her out.

"Haa… Haa…"

Her destination was enclosed by a rusty fence.

A familiar scooter was parked nearby. Momo was unsure if the person she'd called there would come, but she had apparently already come.

Although she found it bothersome, she hated leaving things unfinished. Since she'd been at Momo's side for many years already, she knew her personality the most.

She entered through a tear in the fence to set foot inside the premises.

The ruins of the abandoned substation.

It was such a dark place that one might bump into something if they weren't alert.

Unlike when she'd gone there with Daiske to catch the ferret, no moon was visible now. The thick clouds that covered the skies at some point concealed even the stars.

"Haa… Haa…"

There were lines of countless transmission towers.

They were wrapped up in a network of cables resembling a spider's web.

Exiting the forest of metal—she reached a large crater.

And next to the crater was a white mark on the ground.

The special symbol that had started the fad.

Coatl Hot.

A lone girl stood on top of the symbol that had appeared along with the scorching impact.

Immediately after parting with Daisuke, Momo had called the other girl there by text message. As usual there was no reply, but she believed she would definitely come.

"I knew you'd come here… yeah."

Momo smiled.

Standing on top of the white mark was Momo's friend, Sepia. The horned hat turned toward her.

Coatl Hot looked even bigger when compared to the petite Sepia.

The two girls with the same marker case dangling from their waists faced each other.

"Sepia… The Coatl Heads are disappearing…"

"…"

"I'm so scared… I mean, that suitcase person said…"

"…"

"Why aren't you saying anything? Sepia!"

Momo started shouting at her friend that stared at Momo completely silently without talking at all.

"After all, back then when this Coatl Hot was painted… you were the one who created this crater!"

Sepia stayed silent. Momo kept shouting.

"Don't you remember what the suitcase person said?! As long as this mark is here, everything would be fine… but if it's gone… everything'll go to hell!" 

"…"

"She said lots of people were going to die! That many people would be coming to kill that Mushitsuki!"

"…"

"Wasn't she speaking about you!?"

Her eyes went teary, and her vision distorted.

The world Momo was watching changed its shape.

Sepia's silhouette distorted due to the tears in her eyes.

"You're the Mushitsuki that should never be born!"

She'd kept it a secret this far.

Sepia was her childhood friend and best friend. When they'd graduated middle school, Sepia had actually gotten accepted to a good school in the capital Akamaki City. Even so she said she'd go to the same school as Momo and remained in town.

That was why she stayed quiet.

That was why she kept the secret that her best friend was a Mushitsuki.

"Sepia… you yourself always spoke to me… about how scared you were…"

Even sturdy Sepia had clung to her and cried.

Momo still clearly remembered the warmth of the tears shed by her friend.

"Run…"

Momo said to Sepia.

"Sepia… you should run away before anything bad happens…"

She'd make a request for Kirari.

Since it was her, she would definitely bring Sepia to a safe place.

"Sepia, say—"

"I only came here to make something clear."

Sepia's voice reverberated in the dark substation.

Momo felt as if it was the first time in a while she heard her friend's voice. Ever since the time Coatl Hot had been drawn, Sepia had kept avoiding her.

The petite girl slowly approached Momo.

She raised her arm toward Momo.

"You're—being annoying, so stop already."

The girl's gaze, clearly filled with hostility, stabbed through the dazed Momo.

And then Sepia clearly—

"—"

Whispered the words of farewell in Momo's ears.