Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Chapter 5 (section)

==5.02 Shachito Part 8==

Still collapsed in the empty alley, Shachito didn't feel like even moving a single finger.

Only time was passing, and it became night at some point.

No matter how much he searched for her, he couldn't find Shishidou Inuko anywhere. Her cellphone was also blocked. 

He had been abandoned.

As this truth permeated him, he stopped caring about anything.

If he had to forget about his sinful dream and return to his broken self again he would rather die like this.

"I was able to live well until now…"

Harboring the worst dream, trying to share his pain and trying to destroy other people's dreams, he thought that he was able to live well knowing no shame.

Even so, he felt the current situation was painful.

He suffered.

He was getting his just desserts and yet he still sought salvation.

"Wanting to be saved by Inuko even now… I'm a helpless idiot."

He closed his eyes.

He tried thinking of reasons to keep living.

But he couldn't find any.

Unable to return to his previous life, he also failed in becoming a warrior.

"…"

He couldn't find any meaning in life—

When he noticed that, he lost the need to think.

His mind became empty.

—And inside his supposedly empty head he could perceive something.

"…?"

Shachito knit his brows. Although he was intending to bleed, freeze or starve to death, thanks to that unease his thinking didn't suspend. 

He soon became able to feel the thing inside his mind with his entire body.

Increasingly becoming unable to stay still, he reluctantly opened his eyes.

"So annoying. What the heck is that…"

The pulse in his chest was quickening.

What Shachito felt was a horribly bad feeling. Yet it also felt nostalgic and reliably powerful.

—No, that wasn't all.

There were two sensations.

Something so creepy that it made him feel dread and something with a strong will were fighting. 

"…"

Rousing the upper half of his body, he moved his gaze to the distance. 

He could feel two kinds of powers in that direction.

These were special and abnormal force-fields, different from the usual.

"—Inuko?"

These words leaked out unconsciously. Hearing his own mutter, he finally understood the identity of that presence. 

His body started moving of its own as if he had been blown away. Raising the collapsed motorbike, he revved up the engine again. He turned the throttle before even straddling it. 

Flying into the national highway, he rode toward a certain location, following his mysterious feeling. 

This force-field felt by Shachito—that power that possessed a certain life force, belonged to the girl he knew well, to Inuko. Tough and strong, it was an unbelievably large power. 

On the other hand, he also realized the identity of the power near her.

Shinpu—

Fear was reborn in Shachito's heart.

"Haven't I defeated him…!"

Passing through the town center, Shachito kept pushing on straight ahead toward the location of the powers.

Why was he able to feel Inuko and Shinpu's powers? He had some questions about that, but he felt much more fear at the two powers fighting violently. 

''So strong—''

He could feel that Shinpu's power swelled so much it was incomparable with their last fight.

Even Inuko, fighting against him, emitted a power much larger than Shachito had ever felt before. 

Riding his So1o, Oranje Land appeared in front of Shachito. The closer he got there, the closer he got to the powers he could feel. 

"…!"

For an instant, both powers got even stronger.

Immediately after, one of them rapidly shrank, vanishing.

The power gone—was Inuko's.

"Inuko…!"

Turning in the road, he headed for the spot where he'd felt Inuko's power. Using his Mushitsuki ability, he reduced the motorbike's mass and leapt over the fences.

The area lined up with windmills was ruined as if a bomb fell there.

"Inukooo!"

Finding Inuko's collapsed figure, he jumped off of his motorbike.

When he held up Inuko he could see her chest rising a little. Various spots on her raincoat were ripped away as if gnawed into, and she herself was bleeding horribly.

"Inukooo! Inukooo!"

As Shachito kept calling desperately to her, something small fell out of his pocket. 

It was a lollipop he had been given by Inuko before. He never felt like trying to eat that mysterious candy, so he simply left it aside all this time. 

The girl opened her eyes absentmindedly.

"…You've brought me something good, huh. I'm sorry, but I need it back."

Easily waking up and finding the lollipop, Inuko casually threw it into her mouth.

"—Now I'll be able to fight a bit more."

Although she was that tired and wounded, Inuko has yet to lost her will to fight—

"How did you find me?"

She suddenly inquired, closing her eyes again. 

"I-I don't really get it, but I had the feeling that you and Shinpu were here…"

"…So you also had a sensing ability… We're becoming more and more similar."

She took a deep breath. A cynical smile rose to her face.

"Even so, what have you come here to do?"

"I-I'm—"

He came there as though possessed, so even he himself didn't know why he was there. 

He frantically searched for Inuko in order to be rescued by her. He was simply unable to bear everything he'd done so far, as well as his dream.

He had thought Inuko would be able to save him.

However, now that she was in front of Shachito—he saw that she was far too weak, and not in any state to offer help to him.

"—Sorry."

He was much too pitiful. He buried his face in Inuko's chest, his shoulders shaking.

"I wasn't… able to become a warrior."

Perhaps he would find meaning in life if he could dedicate himself to fighting. If he became as strong as Inuko he would probably be able to save many people.

But Shachito couldn't fight.

He couldn't even turn to face Shinpu's wave he felt at his back. He could only shudder.

"…The right pocket of my raincoat. I'll give you what's in there." 

Inuko said in a calm voice.

Although puzzled, Shachito raised his face and did as he was told. Feeling inside the pocket that seemed like it would tear apart any moment, he pulled out a card.

"This is my secret stash. Since it's under a fictional name it should be hard to trace. The PIN is written on the card."

"…?"

"I also have two things I need to apologize to you about. First is for when I tried to kill Masaki Rio. I was actually serious there. I thought that if you hadn't showed up it would be fine eliminating her."

Shachito widened his eyes. Recalling something, he turned back.

''—Tonight's the premiere. Will you not come watch it?''

Thus Rio had written in the mail she sent him. He finally realized why people were gathering in the Concertgebouw. 

And the Concertgebouw was definitely on Shinpu's route.

Rio was also there—

Inuko continued with both eyes closed shut.

"The other thing is breaking our promise. I hinted about your existence to the SEPB. They will probably hold a large-scale search in this city before long."

"Search…?"

"Get away from this city, Shachito. You should be able to survive for the time being with that money. Until things calm down, do leave Holland City. Since you have sensing abilities, you might be able to slip through your pursuers' search."

"…"

Even hearing Inuko's confession, Shachito felt nothing. He had already lost all worth of living. Being pursued by someone from somewhere was no problem. He had nothing left to do in this city where he had destroyed many things.

"What will you do… Inuko?"

"Me? I'm finished."

The girl sighed again in Shachito's arms. 

"Being unable to live as a warrior is unbearably painful. My failure in raising you is sad enough to make me cry. It's a pity I won't be able to watch the work of my disciples. I'm anxious whether I'll be able to keep my promise with a certain someone or not. I've effectively breached the rules and so I'm scared of receiving a punishment from the SEPB. Losing to Shinpu in the end was so vexing it tore my body apart." 

A small current of lightning surged through Inuko's raincoat. She showed a smile. 

"—And so I'll fight."

The eccentric traveller known as Shishidou Inuko was a warrior through and through. Although she was wounded and unable to move her body, she only thought of fighting.

"I see."

Shachito gently lowered her to the ground.

"So, this is goodbye then."

Inuko said Shachito resembled her, but that was wrong. Shachito was not as strong as her and he didn't have the will to fight.

Looking at the faraway visible city of Holland, he recalled.

He had nothing left to do?

That was untrue.

He had just one thing. Once he took care of that, he could leave the city at any time.

"Yeah, goodbye. Do be careful."

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"I'll probably manage somehow. I'm already used to running away from persistent Mushitsuki."

He would conceal his pitifulness with a casual tone, not think of anything and run away from things that could hurt him.

This was how Shiohara Shachito was in both present and past.

Suddenly thinking of something, he rushed back to where the collapsed Inuko was. He leaned, bringing his face closer to hers.

He was the worst human after all. He wasn't going to check her complexion at so late a stage. There was no fear for any counterattack now. 

The pair's lips touched for a split instant. 

"Nice, naughty act accomplished. You won't punish me for just this much."

"…I'll fucking kill you. Do be gone already."

Running away from Inuko's demonic gaze, Shachito roused his motorbike. 

As he revved up the engine, he could hear a sigh he was already used to.

"You were, to the very end, a completely not serious and hopeless student."

"And you were, to the very end, really cool."

He rode ahead, biting his lips.

"…I wasn't able to become like you."

Below the windmills lined up in Oranje Land, the two berserkers said their farewells.