Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Chapter 1 (section)

==1.02 Inuko Part 1==

Returning the hockey stick to her back, the girl grinned.

"I can't wait to raise you."

Looking down at the boy collapsed at her feet, she was satisfied at her unexpected harvest.

"Seems like I'm not gonna be bored while I'm here."

Silence returned to the gloomy alley.

Smoke rose from the destroyed large motorcycle, and the man wearing a full-face helmet lying next to it made no move.

Next to the other boy who was also unmoving was the collapsed motorbike known as a So1o. With its body toppled over, the engine stopped and its front wheel was spinning idly.

"Having me coach you means you have good luck. Do look forward to tomorrow."

She puffed her chest, which was moderate compared to her age, toward the unconscious boy. 

Although she had been to many towns, there were very few times she happened across this much talent. His ability to control the mass of objects went without saying, and the balance of his mind was ideal.

Normally he wouldn't be able to bear it.

Yet he couldn't continue winning against this abnormal mental state.

Being "half-broken" was ideal.

—All in order to make him into a combatant that would never lose.

"Uh-huh, so you're Shiohara Shachito. What a strange name. Ah, and I'm burrowing this. I have no gasoline money anymore."

She pulled out the boy's wallet and used his license to confirm his name. And she swiped off only one bill.

"Have fun there. I still have a small job to do." 

She returned the wallet to his pocket and wore her goggles again.

"Having two Special Type Mushitsuki being born in this city in so short a time… It's already a state of emergency. It's certainly a rare situation, but I know one thing for sure."

Leaving an afterimage behind, the figure of the smiling girl disappeared from the back alley.

"The Prototype Mushi that gives birth to Special Type Mushitsuki—Shinpu, is unmistakably in this city."

As the girl talked to herself, she was already looking down the scenery of Holland City from the sky.

Soaring up more than 10 meters in an instant, she landed on a building's roof. The yellow raincoat fluttered behind her. The hockey stick on her back and the helmet hanging from her neck generated an electrical discharge.

"Why does Shinpu, whom my friend had supposedly defeated, still exist? I, the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau Central Headquarters' Rank 3 member Asagi—Shishidou Inuko, must investigate this."

Inuko muttered this in a somewhat performative tone on top of a water tank. A belligerent smile rose to her lollipop-filled mouth. 

Inuko closed her eyes behind the goggles and concentrated.

As she cut off her sense of sight, the townscape of Holland City immediately spread behind her eyelids. Yet the shape of this view was somewhat different from the real city; perhaps it could be said to be similar to an image created through thermography.

But the shape of the image Inuko could perceive was not through difference of temperatures.

What she could sense were "magnetic fields".

Inuko's ability, becoming a sensor of the strength of magnetism, perceived the location of an abnormal magnetic field.

"—Found you."

Opening her eyes wide, she looked down at one corner of the city.

It was a certain building sandwiched between several highways. She found a black shadow disappearing to the other side of the wall there.

As a reaction to Inuko's ability, sand from the ground rose up. These grains that had some iron in them—meaning iron sand, created the form of the butterfly known as a Chestnut Tiger, sparkling by the reflection of neon lights.

The next moment, Inuko teleported to the rooftop of the next building over.

''Swoosh'', with a sound of cutting through air, Inuko leapt further to another building. Her afterimage shrouded in purple electricity was moving toward the alley where the black shadow had disappeared.

On a building's rooftop, on a wall, on the top of a power pole, on the roof of a running car, on top of a mailbox.

Inuko moved hundreds of meters in the blink of an eye.

Shishidou Inuko's power as a Mushitsuki took "magnetism" as a medium. By either becoming a mass of magnetism herself or by manipulating magnetic objects, she would make herself and metals be pulled toward each other. At times she could even repulse.

A city that had plenty of iron in it, such as the bars of a building's framework or water pipes buried underground, served as Inuko's playground. With the laws of physics, she would create electrical discharges while moving inside these abnormal magnetic fields, but her insulated raincoat protected her from being shocked.

Moving at speeds the residents walking back and forth couldn't even perceive, Inuko pursued the black shadow.

"It's finally the time of reckoning for you, Shinpu."

While repeating her teleportation, Inuko concentrated in preparation for battle.

"If you want to blame anything at all, it has to be your own foolishness for giving birth to me—as well as your back luck that led my grown self to this city."

—There was an organization known as the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau.

This government agency devoted itself to handling the "nonexistent" (per the official stance) Mushi by capturing, concealing or isolating them. Commonly called the SEPB, they undertook any and all problems related to Mushi. Except for the Central Headquarters, the other branches monitored and controlled the entire country.

As Mushitsuki's abilities were wide-ranging, there were many times when ordinary firearms couldn't stand up to them. The decision taken by the SEPB was to manage the captured Mushitsuki, raising them to become soldiers through training.

Fight fire with fire.

Meaning they used Mushitsuki to capture Mushitsuki.

"So you've noticed me. Trying to run away, huh?"

Wearing her goggles again, Inuko raised the speed of her movements even further. A belt of purple electricity broke through a dark alley on the side of the road. This speed was enough to ruin her eyes by the air resistance if she hadn't worn her goggles.

For the last few years, the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau had secured and built their power inside the country. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they currently possessed enough firepower to rival even the JSDF. 

And that meant that the numbers of Mushitsuki were increasing.

Mushitsuki kept multiplying.

"—Found ya!"

Inuko's field of vision perceived a retreating black figure turning in the alley in front of her.

The Special Environmental Preservation Bureau had confirmed the existence of the three designated as Prototype Mushi, beings that gave birth to Mushitsuki.

The first was Oogui. She greedily craved the dreams of boys and girl and thus kept increasing the numbers of Mushitsuki. There were many to become Mushitsuki after coming in contact with Oogui, who took the appearance of a human female. Since those who became Mushitsuki through her were able to control Mushi that possessed a form operated independently from them, they were called Minion Types.

Meanwhile, in complete opposition to Oogui was the one who barely made any appearances at all, Sanbikime. It was yet to be established what sort of form it took, but those who had been turned into Mushitsuki by it became Fusion Types. They were the kind that exhibited their abilities through merging with their Mushi. 

And the remaining Prototype Mushi was what Inuko was chasing after right now—

"I never forgot that black robe."

As Inuko teleported to a street corner, a fluttering, filthy robe passed in front of her.

Since it had gone into a different road, she could see it only for an instant. Yet she would never mistake that robe by sight.

Inuko was a Special Type Mushitsuki. The type of Mushitsuki whose Mushi didn't materialize and instead used something else as a medium for its abilities. 

The one who gave birth to Mushitsuki like Inuko was the Prototype Mushi known as Shinpu. Although he didn't appear frequently, he kept giving birth to Mushitsuki. His most distinctive feature was the black robe he wore.

No one could tell when and where these Prototype Mushi would appear.

It has been approximately ten years ever the existence of Mushi started being rumored around. Even the SEPB seemed to have given up on annihilating the Prototype Mushi, whose identity was yet to be found out even after all these months and years.

Yet Inuko was different.

No, as long as one was a Mushitsuki they probably all thought the same.

They would never forgive the ones who cast the deadly curse known as Mushi on them—

"…!"

Chasing after the black robe in a straight line, she finally caught up to it in an alley.

The moment she thought this, Inuko's vision was enveloped by a blinding light.

After passing through the back alley she found herself in front of the shopping district. With lines of buildings around, the front of an especially tall building was a plaza.  There were many suits-wearing adults and students on the way back from school around.

"Oh no—"

A black piece of cloth rose from within the crowds of people. That cloth, shaped like a filthy robe, rose above the people's head and dispersed as if melting into thin air.

The magnetic field was being erased—

Inuko scowled.

The magnetic fields would become disordered in the presence of many people. Also, Inuko's sensing ability wasn't searching for the Mushi itself; she perceived the waves induced by Mushitsuki abilities. She could use her ability to sense one's location, but if the disarranged magnetic field returned to how it was then tracking it was impossible.

"…So both of us haven't forgotten, huh. I was too impatient so I've forgotten… since I know Shinpu, he also obviously knows about my abilities."

This was clearly the result of him making use of the blind spot of Inuko's ability. As long as Shinpu didn't use his abilities again—until the moment he gave birth to a new Mushitsuki, she would probably be unable to perceive his wave.

Seeing the girl who was wearing a raincoat put a hand to her forehead and gaze at the night sky, passersby turned their heads in wonder. They all looked above, but there were obviously no signs of rain.

"This time I've fallen behind. But remember this, Shinpu. Next time I'll—"

"Hyau!"

"Gofbh!"

Just as she tried showing off while talking to herself, she was tackled by a girl that came out flying from the crowd.

"I-I-I'm sorry! Excuse me! Are you all right?"

The one who bumped into her was a girl with frizzy hair. She wore a duffle coat on top of a blazer of some high school's uniform.

"Ah, it dropped…"

The force of the other girl's shoulders hitting her solar plexus caused the lollipop to be expelled out of her mouth. She hurriedly felt around her pockets and brought out a new one. If she didn't have ''this'' Inuko would've been in trouble.

"D-dropped? There are no raindrops, it's fine!<ref>The original is a mix-up between "candy" and "rain", both "ame", but I wanted to at least try some localization.</ref> Oooh, you meant your candy, I'm sorry, I'll repay you!"

"Thank you for that. But don't worry about it, this is a special product that can't be bought anywhere. Leaving that aside, it was a nice tackle."

"C-can't be bought anywhere?! Is it some limited edition?"

The girl kept acting exaggeratedly surprised without calming down. 

"Now, now, do calm down first. By the way, have you seen some suspicious-looking individual around here? I believe he looks like an old man."

Shinpu's face hidden by the hood was similar to an old man's. Since she had nothing to lose Inuko tried inquiring the girl.

"Hmm, I don't think I have…"

As she feared, the girl shook her head.

Since Inuko had imagined this response, she wasn't particularly disappointed. Yet she could feel something amiss from the girl in front of her, and gazed at her intently.

''Isn't this girl's wave… a bit upset?'' 

The fact that she acted with a delay and bumped into her was also because of that.

Yet it wasn't rare for the magnetic fields she could feel from normal people to be more distraught than during normal times. It would slightly vary when their physical condition deteriorated or when their mental condition was a mess.

"You seem to be out of breath. Do you feel anything strange? You seem to have a wave I've never perceived before."    

"Wave…? Oh, if you're talking about me being out of breath, it's because I was running here in a hurry—AHHH!"

Apparently recalling something, the girl widened her eyes.

"E-excuse me! I am in a great hurry! The audition is…!"

"Sorry for holding you back. Do be careful to not get into any accident."

"It's fine! I was in an accident just now after all!"

Lowering her head, the girl ran away.

Looking at the direction she had come from Inuko understood. It was the same direction as the highway where the Mushitsuki she had let escape fought with the So1o boy. The other girl had probably also been involved in that danger.

She was glad to see that girl was safe.

Inuko had no intention to involve a girl who lived a completely different life while keeping her dreams in her chest in the battle of Mushitsuki.

She pulled out her cellphone, pushing in the number she had memorized. She moved to the side of the road.

"Please confirm there is no third party in a radius of 10 meters and state your member code."

Hearing the voice on the other side, Inuko knitted her eyebrows. She mouthed her assigned member code.

"Member code confirmed. Comparing voice print. —Finished. Switching over to the internal communication channel."

"…"

"This is the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau's Central Headquarters' information management division. Starting now the conversation will be voice recorded under the personal records of Central Headquarters member, Irregular Class Rank 3 Asagi. Please state the required information."

"What happened to C? My phone was supposed to have been connected to her even inside the information division."

"Concurrently with her reassignment as Secret Class Rank, C was transferred from the information management division to another duty." 

"Where's her new team? I heard that Fuyuhotaru escaped from Central Headquarters last week… Does it have anything to do with that? Could I speak with her?"

"At present, any information related to C can only be revealed to those on the rank of branch director or above. It is also prohibited for members to get in contact with her."

"Hmm. By the way, how much time will it take you to use your abilities to interfere with the main database and draw out information? I want to know anything I can about Shinpu with the authority of a Rank 3. C would have done it in several seconds though."

"…The expected required time is 27 hours."

"You lack training, huh. Well, the disciple I'd found a while ago is about to finish his training soon, so there should be no problems with finding a successor for C. Once you gather up the information please contact me."

Cutting off the correspondence, she looked up at the moon-filled sky.

She looked in the direction of Akamaki City, where the Central Headquarters were located. The Rank 1 Mushitsuki Fuyuhotaru that had been captured during last year's Christmas Eve escaped from there just last week. Perhaps the excellent Mushitsuki called C, whom Inuko put great trust in, had also been involved in that incident.

"Fuyuhotaru causes nothing but trouble around her, just like always."

She spontaneously clenched her fists. 

The fight revolving around Fuyuhotaru that started four years ago continued even now.

The multitudes of powers mingled with one another, involved not only Mushitsuki but also normal people, and even now seemed expanding all the more.

"All sorts of important battles are unfolding in places where I'm not present…"

Originally Inuko should have also been going around battlefields.

She was the "berserker" feared by both enemies and allies, Shishidou Inuko.

She had once even protected the back of the Rank 1 demon, but didn't possess any of the power she had after being exiled from the frontlines anymore. Her abilities were currently on decline, so even if she took part in important battles, it was obvious she would end up standing in the way of something crucial.

"There's nothing as pitiful as a warrior left behind in a battle…"

A lonely smile rose to Inuko's mouth.

"My body can't endure any big battles anymore."

A berserker left behind in battle.

A ruined fighter continuing her lone journey.

Inuko shook her head and recalled her position.

"That's not good, I'm already retired from active duty after all. I need to focus on my current mission."

Since she had already learned all techniques for fighting, there were still things she could do.

She lived to this day by believing so.

"Remember this well, you Original Three who keep giving birth to Mushi. You probably only think of humans as your prey. Yet you can't even begin to imagine our 'possibilities'."

The day will come for the Mushitsuki's greatest battle—the decisive fight against the Original Three.

As well as the clashing between the various powers revolving around Fuyuhotaru.

And Inuko herself would be unable to fight in those battlefields. 

Before long they will be thrown into the war front: those who had been found and raised by Inuko, the new generation of Mushitsuki so to speak.

"By the time you produce one Mushitsuki I'll raise ten warriors."

Special Environmental Preservation Bureau Central Headquarters member Asagi, Shishidou Inuko.

The mission given to her by the organization was to search and capture undiscovered Mushitsuki, as well as to raise combatants. 

"Scouting" those with a talent for fighting was Inuko's current duty.

Shishidou Inuko's "battle training".

The target was Shiohara Shachito.

—Start.

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