Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 4th Episode 15 (section)

===Part 2===

Time passed quickly ever since she became a Mushitsuki.

After leaving far for some business, Kidou Tsukasa returned to her hometown for the first time in months.

"…"

From the main street with its lines of buildings she looked at the rising sun.

She saw the hill where she'd become a Mushitsuki. She could see the cluster of buildings clearly even from afar.

That day felt like it was ages ago. Quite a bit of time actually passed, though.

Smiling, she started walking in the street. As she walked with her long black hair fluttering behind her, Tsukasa's figure was reflected on the polished window of a building.

She'd grown 10 centimeters taller after becoming a Mushitsuki. Her face with brand-new headphones was sharp and her skin was pure white. Her slender arms and legs were protected by boots and gloves.

She could hear a baby crying from the street.

A young mother was trying to lift her baby high up in the air to make it stop crying. Yet the baby's bad mood was not appeased and its mother seemed troubled.

Looking up at a shadow cutting the sky, Tsukasa flicked something with her fingertip.

Launched by her finger was a small daddy long-legs. The spider easily rode the wind, attaching itself to a bird flying overhead. The bird and Tsukasa were connected by a transparent thread.

"''Sight Rapport''."

The next instant, Tsukasa's vision changed.

An image of flying in the sky.

Starting with Tsukasa walking on the road, she could also see lines of cars beneath her.

That vision soaring toward the sun—was from the eyes of a flying bird.

"…"

Preserving the image, Tsukasa passed near the crying baby and touched it softly.

The shining thread passed from Tsukasa to the baby.

Tsukasa's sight returned.

On the other side, the boy was surprised and stopped crying. Seeing her baby suddenly laugh happily, the mother was confused.

This was Tsukasa's ability as a Mushitsuki.

Using the spider, she could switch the senses of two targets. The baby just now had seen things from the bird's point of view.

Seeing that it stopped crying, Tsukasa absolved her ability.

The thread of light snapped off.

Separated from the bird, the spider lightly floated down, returning to Tsukasa's shoulder.

After relaxing for only an instant, now a voice came from the front.

"Wah!"

A boy dashing through the walkway and a man riding a bicycle were about to crash.

Tsukasa's movements were ingrained into her body at moments like these. She flicked the spider with her fingers again before she could think.

"''Pain Rapport''."

The breaking sound of the bicycle echoed. Next came the thud of an impact.

"…!"

A sharp pain ran through Tsukasa's shoulder. Unable to withstand the impact, she staggered.

With the passersby focusing their sights on him, the child that the bicycle crashed into opened his eyes. He stared in shock at his shoulder that should've been injured.

Tsukasa smiled, passing by the child as if nothing happened. Because the rider hurriedly applied the brakes she didn't break her shoulders.

After receiving the injury meant for a stranger, Tsukasa smiled and absolved her ability.

Separating from the child, the spider passed back to her shoulders.

"…"

Feeling a gaze on her, she slipped between buildings.

The instant after she entered an empty alley, a voice called out to her.

"Wait."

Turning around, she could see a boy commanding a strange monster.

He wore the uniform of a high school located nearby and at a glance seemed like the kind of normal boy one could find anywhere. Yet the monster under his control couldn't be said to be normal at all.

—It was a Mushi.

The boy wore the goggles he'd gotten out of his bag. They were mechanical goggles that hid his entire face.

"I've seen it. I'm going to capture you as a Mushitsuki. If you resist I'll hurt you."

Tsukasa sighed.

The Special Environmental Preservation Bureau—they were the government agency that found, captured and isolated Mushitsuki. The combatants that blended into civilian life like the boy in front of her were apparently called the monitor squad.

These people appeared in front of Tsukasa several times until now.

"…"

Leaning her body, Tsukasa made the spider climb her fingers. She wore her headphones and used the remote controller in her pocket to set the volume to max. The high volume shook her eardrums, but as she was used to it, Tsukasa's expression was unchanged.

"Seems like you're not gonna go quietly with me!"

The boy sent his own Mushi at Tsukasa. The monster with a body at least two times larger than Tsukasa assaulted her.

Dodging the monster's legs, she flung the spider toward the boy.

"''Hearing Rapport''."

Confirming the spider attached itself to the boy, she activated her ability.

"—UWAAAH!"

The boy suddenly held his ears and shrieked.

Tsukasa switched her hearing with the boy's. He should be blasted with music at full volume right now. Most of her enemies would be confused and unable to understand the situation just with this.

Feeling its host's abnormal situation, the monster's movements grew dull. Tsukasa leapt, aiming at its jumbled legs.

"''Pain Rapport''."

The moment she muttered this, Tsukasa's head was pounded by the Mushi's leg.

Yet she felt no pain.

The one blown away was the goggled boy. His head bending back, he simply lost consciousness. —Since she had avoided the back of her head where there could be lasting damage, he'd probably soon regain consciousness.

Since its host went out cold, the monster's movements also ceased. Its body quickly shrunk and it clung to the incapacitated boy.

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_4th_p167.jpg|thumb]]

"…"

Pulling back the spider attached to the boy, Tsukasa left the place with a brisk pace.

Tsukasa's Mushi had no ability to fight.

It only had the special ability to exchange things like senses and bodily information. During the other times she'd confronted the SEPB combatants, they all seemed to fear it as an especially rare mental control ability.

It took her more than a year to master her ability. But now that she fully controlled her Mushi's power, it wasn't difficult to escape from the organization known as the SEPB.

More than that, Tsukasa right now could do anything. She never lost against anyone with that ability and she was also able to get money.

And above all else, she was able to help weak humans.

Tsukasa had absolutely nothing, but the power known as Mushi changed her.

The Tsukasa that couldn't do anything no longer existed—

"…"

Passing through the narrow alley, Tsukasa looked into the main street while hidden in the shadow of a large building.

She saw a few uniformed girls gather on the road. They were students from a rich girls' school waiting for the bus.

One of them, a girl wearing a pink coat, looked around her.

When she noticed Tsukasa hiding herself, she said "Go ahead, Kirari. I will get the next bus!" toward someone who seemed to be her friend and rushed toward Tsukasa. Her friend that wore a star-shaped hairpin seemed puzzled, but didn't stop her.

"Hello! We haven't met for a while, so I was worried!"

The girl who created the opportunity for Tsukasa to become a Mushitsuki wore a carefree smile. Ever since then, at times she found her waiting for the bus just like that and they met each other many times.

Tsukasa smiled.

The girl was the daughter of a rich family, so they hadn't had many chances to meet alone. If she was seen speaking with someone like Tsukasa it'd cause problems for her.

"Is something troubling you?"

Tsukasa asked as if on cue. Every time she came to check on her she asked the same question. In the past she'd resolved countless small matters.

The girl made a ''Hmm'' and looked up at the sky.

"There's nothing. Thank you."

Seeing her say this and smile brightly, Tsukasa smiled back. She nodded and turned on her heels.

If the girl didn't require any help, she didn't need her.

"Say—"

The girl called toward Tsukasa as she was leaving.

"Are you going somewhere again, Miss Magician?"

She asked in a lonely tone.

Both Tsukasa and the girl didn't know each other's names. The dreamy little girl referred to Tsukasa as a "Magician". She probably believed the power of Mushi she'd showed her from time to time was real magic.

"Also, I wanted to ask you this from a long time ago… why do you always save me?"

Tsukasa turned around.

If she truly was a Magician, then the one who'd given her this chance was none other than this girl. Tsukasa was meant to die without accomplishing anything, but was given a single ray of hope.

Yet Tsukasa didn't know enough words to be able to convey that. The fact that her upbringing was bad and she couldn't articulate herself was unchanged even now.

She tried just flashing a smile and leaving that place behind.

"If you won't tell me, then at least—"

The girl grabbed onto Tsukasa's coat.

"Won't you stay in this city?"

Staying in this city.

The girl's wish was not a bad choice for Tsukasa.

Staying in a single city and living without danger. Her admiration for the life of a normal person was also unchanged from the past.

"I'll do it after I—"

Tsukasa muttered.

"Finish my current job soon."

Showing her a smile, the girl's expression sparkled.

It probably didn't look like it due to her height and the sharp face shaped by her life's experiences, but Tsukasa was in high school age. She wouldn't be able to find a job and a place of residence easily, but it wasn't an impossible age for her to stay in one city.

Her magic-like power of Mushi called enemies to her. If she stayed in one place she couldn't use saving people as means to make money.

"I will wait for you."

After parting with the girl smiling from ear to ear, Tsukasa entered the train.

Since it was past rush hour it was mostly empty. Finding a woman who was obviously an office worker returning from an all-nighter, Tsukasa flicked the spider at her.

"''Pain Rapport''…"

Since the woman was nodding off, when the train shook she banged her head against the door just as expected.

A throbbing pain ran through Tsukasa's forehead. The woman didn't seem to know what happened. She rubbed her painless forehead absentmindedly.

Tsukasa smiled wryly. She had to be resolved to bear pain several more times until reaching her destination.

Tsukasa met with lots of people in trouble.

During the time she'd just become a Mushitsuki, she thought it was her fate as someone with this ability.

But on the other hand she ended up thinking differently.

Perhaps everyone had people in trouble near them—

Even now there were hurt people everywhere without anyone noticing. Or perhaps someone did notice, but gave up thinking they can't do anything.

"…"

She arrived at her destination past noon.

Akamaki City.

Tsukasa's goal was here.

Ever since becoming a Mushitsuki, there was something Tsukasa kept doing even while polishing her abilities.

In this country were villains that kept living happily while trampling the weak like Tsukasa once was. Was there anyone more fitting to dish out punishment to these villains than Tsukasa as the representative of these weak people?

She had the power to help people.

She had obtained the power of magic, making her invincible, so there were no people she couldn't help—

"I have to… save many more people."

Exiting the station, Tsukasa was greeted by the air of the capital city. Smiling, she looked at the spider riding on her hand.

"…!"

Her heart leapt.

The spider—smiled.

Feeling a chill, she turned her head. She looked down at the spider again.

Its fanged mouthpart simply moved creepily again. It looked to her as if it was warped in the form of a smile—but that seemed to be her imagination.

She was probably just nervous before a huge job. Tsukasa patted her chest.

The mysterious woman with round sunglasses had given her magic in order to save people. There was no way that the spider symbolizing that would go against her and laugh.

Tsukasa came in front of a certain tall building. She entered a café in front of it, sitting near the window.

"…"

Ordering coffee, she looked intently at the building.

—After becoming a Mushitsuki, Tsukasa first ambushed the man that picked up the "sales" from the boy group she'd belonged to. She threatened him using her ability and asked about the organization above.

It was the local gangster group that used children just like Tsukasa to generate profits. After waiting for other good opportunities, Tsukasa attacked several other executives. Doing this she asked further and further—

After many months, Tsukasa found the routes where money flowed one after another. Even with her ability she was caught in trouble and nearly died at times. Yet she didn't give up.

Finally she arrived at an old man who served as a chairman for a corporate giant operating through the entire country. His company was publically known as a manufacturer, but he was also a big-shot in the moneylending business. Coincidentally his residence was in Tsukasa's hometown, but according to info she'd gotten by threats he spent most of the year at a hotel.

The more she investigated what the old man did the more it was abnormal. He sucked weak people dry and used that money to produce many more weak people—

According to the schedule of the chairman she'd found after much hard work, today he was supposed to be inside a certain building in Akamaki City for a party. Unlike the great hotel he was staying in, this building had no parking space.

''I'll do it tonight—''

The chairman would appear on the road in order to enter a taxi or some escort vehicle. Since it was a street in the capital it wouldn't be strange for him to cross paths with a young girl like Tsukasa.

"…"

It happened after her thousandth cup of coffee.

"Dear customers, it will soon be closing time…" the staff called out as it happened.

Tsukasa rose from her chair with a jolt. She left a few bills on the table and flew out of the café.

She saw a black-windowed limousine parking at the building's entrance. Suited men appeared in droves.

Tsukasa cut into the road, walking toward the entrance. Her Mushi came crawling out of the hem of her coat.

A white-haired man appeared from the entrance. Surrounded by a crowd of people, he approached the limousine with a smile.

Tsukasa quickened her pace. She prepared so she could flick off the spider at any time.

"…!"

But just before she thought of flicking the spider…

The sound of a patrol car leapt into Tsukasa's ears. The police were chasing a biker riding without a helmet.

He was probably trying to escape. Since he drove recklessly his bike swerved.

''Why now…!''

While shouting in her heart, her body moved on its own. She flicked the spider, attaching it to the biker.

"''Pain Rapport''…!"

Immediately after, the rider collapsed. He rolled on the ground and hit a power pole.

"Gh…!"

Impact pierced Tsukasa's entire body. The skin under her clothes ripped and her forehead became covered in blood.

She was about to faint, but she gritted her teeth, raising her face. She made the spider get off the biker and absolved the ability.

"Huu…! Hah…!"

Stifling her labored breath and hiding her wounds with the coat, Tsukasa cut near the building.

''I can't miss my chance because of something like this…!''

Even the old man and his entourage were enraptured by the bike accident. Thanks to that she was able to reach in front of the building just before they entered the car.

"''Pain''… ''Rapport''…!"

She muttered inside her mouth while flicking the spider.

—With Tsukasa's ability, she could control only the sensation immediately after attaching the spider. Right now she couldn't pass on her wounds to the old man. This was why she couldn't pass over the senses of someone who was already injured or suffering from some sort of disease.

"Huu… Huu…"

She hid in an alleyway, staggering, and wore a strained smile.

Success. She was able to attach her Mushi to the old man.

Tsukasa's ability activated the moment the spider was attached. The thread's range was several kilometers, and before a certain amount of time passed the old man had no way to escape from her magic.

All she needed to do was to "finish" business as long as the effect was maintained.

The time it would affect him wasn't very long.

She wrung out her energy to walk away.

"—I see, so your ability can pass over things that happen to people."

She saw it just as she raised her face.

Inside the dark alley was a floating silver glow.

Emitting this light was a morpho butterfly—

"Or should I call it an exchange, perhaps? If so…"

The morpho butterfly warped. Its tentacles suddenly extended and it changed into a single staff—a shining spear.

Grabbing the spear was a pure shite arm. Only a slender right arm, right half of the body and a right leg were revealed by the silver glow.

"Depending on the usage of the ability, you can be said to be ''undying''."

Tsukasa froze upon seeing the girl's exceedingly chilly gaze.

The air trembled.

The pressure emitted from the spear stopped Tsukasa's breath. Her whole body broke out in cold sweat.

"Ah… Uh—"

She forgot all about her wounds or fatigue from using her ability. She was pushed away by an overwhelming power and could only feel herself trembling.

She noticed her own misunderstanding.

Every time she somehow overturned the SEPB assassins, she thought she was a strong Mushitsuki.

But she was wrong.

She simply had good luck so far.

There was a new kind of "monster" among Mushitsuki right in front of her—

Even that silver spear's tip would probably easily pulverize Tsukasa's Mushi. So she was convinced by the wave of power that assaulted her body.

"Who—who are—"

She held herself together by barely being able to speak. If she'd stayed silent she would've probably collapsed on the spot.

"…Hunter. There are people who seem to refer to me like that."

Hunter—meaning, was this girl hunting something?

If so—

Tsukasa smiled.

Perhaps this might be good—

"If you hunt Mushitsuki… then go ahead and kill me."

She bluffed with all of her might, challenging her.

Yet the girl's answer was calm. —No, it was cruel.

"Not interested. Even if I attack you it'll probably have no effect. Seeing that you didn't pass the damage just now to that gentleman, it doesn't look like I'll be able to push my sickness onto you. …Well, with that kind of ability, if I attack the Mushi itself or cut off the thread it'll probably lose its effect."

The smile Tsukasa barely held warped in despair.

She'd been completely seen through. Never mind that, her ability was perfectly analyzed.

How many Mushitsuki had this person confronted—or hunted—in order to become able to analyze abilities so easily? Tsukasa felt a chill.

"Such a stupid ability."

The girl chuckled.

A stupid ability—hearing these words, Tsukasa widened her eyes.

"My ability—"

She gritted her teeth.

"Is magic…! It saved me, and I saved many people with it!"

The spear-user dared calling the ability that her benefactor admired as magic, stupid.

Yet the devil-like tone of that girl changed not in the slightest.

"I don't really care, but your target was that gentleman, right? But just before that you saved a biker. Do you have any pride in your power—in your Mushi?"

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_4th_p181.jpg|thumb]]

The spear-user smiled. It was a sneer.

"So you tried becoming a kind magician."

Exactly so.

That day, after answering the question of the mysterious woman, Tsukasa became a magician.

Nothing went well for her and she was unable to do anything, but she was reborn as the Kind Magician.

"Kill me…!"

Tsukasa pressed closer to the spear-user.

She couldn't keep up her ability for long. If only the spear-user attacked her then, she'd be able to complete her goal. If she tried severing the thread, Tsukasa would use her own body as a shield.

"Elvioréne's Mushitsuki really are simple-minded. Didn't I tell you I don't care? I know your ability enough that I don't even need to fight."

Hunter retreated with a laugh. The silver glow grew distant.

"You will soon realize that the power of Mushi is no magic. You fake Undying Mushitsuki…"

Leaving these ominous words behind, the presence of the spear-user vanished.

Tsukasa clenched her fists in anger and frustration. Yet soon recalling what she had to do now, she started running.

"Huu… Hah…"

She had no time.

Entering the road, she looked around her.

She searched for a way to fulfill her objective.

"…!"

She raised her face.

She saw a structure aiming for the heavens. That was supposed to be the Akamaki Skypeer observatory—

Forgetting about her wounds, she rushed to the observatory in her full speed. Ignoring the red light on the crossing, she ran avoiding the honking horns of cars.

While running she looked at her fingertips.

The shining thread was connected to far away. It still hadn't lost its luster, but she knew her remaining time was short.

That day she became a magician.

Because she'd gained the power to save people, Tsukasa had the duty to save many people even all alone.

"…"

Reaching Skypeer, she bought a ticket on the ground level. She tumbled inside the elevator that would take her up to the observatory.

The elevator was rising. On the other side of the transparent wall, the townscape of Akamaki City was left beneath her.

She reached the observatory.

Without even the time to see the beautiful hanging gardens, she looked around the area. In the middle of running toward the fixed window, she grabbed the pot of an ornamental plant.

She threw the pot at the window. The window broke to fragments with a loud crash.

Soon screams rose in the hanging garden. The time was close to night and she saw many couples among visitors.

Because of the difference in air pressure a momentary gale came from outside.

Tsukasa kicked the railing, standing on the opened window.

"…"

The wind coming from behind made her hair float. The visitors clamored and guards came running.

Tsukasa's ability was switching the senses and information between people. Meaning she could receive pain instead of people—and she could also pass to others the injuries she received herself.

She looked at her fingertips. The thread that was supposed to connect her ability was losing its luster.

She mustn't fail.

Wounds that would allow her to somehow live wouldn't be enough. Just letting a car crash into her or stabbing herself with a knife wouldn't be enough.

She had to thoroughly die.

Who would receive that death, Tsukasa or the villain torturing weak humans?

The power of magic would decide.

It depended whether or not the ability would hold—until Tsukasa fell to the surface.

"Unlike back then when I couldn't do anything…"

She didn't hesitate.

Smiling, Tsukasa lightly tilted her body outside.

"I have the power of magic now—"

With her eyes closed, the magician was sucked into the air of Akamaki City.