Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6th Episode 24 (section)

=== Part 2 ===

Ume had faced that instant after a while passed since the start of his vagabond life with Harukiyo.

Harukiyo quit his high school and left the orphanage as well. Rather than him afraid to involve people in the disasters that burdened him, apparently he actually just got tired of life there.

On the other hand, Ume himself was about to study abroad. He had already handed out a resignation letter to the school abroad and gave money to his homestay school. Since he made some other preparations as well, he should be able to fool his family who didn’t care about their son in the first place.

“Say, didja know? Tonight’s a full moon.”

While walking through an underground shopping mall at a certain town, Ume looked at Harukiyo next to him. They were both holding their freshly-bought gelatos in hand.

“Huh? Wanna go watch the moon or somethin’? But yeah, should be the fifteenth of the month.”

Harukiyo looked at a fast-food restaurant with a serious expression. Just as Ume wondered what he was looking at, he noticed that he was trying to look inside the skirt of a high school girl. Ume took his distance from him and pretended they were strangers.

“Fifteenth of the month…? No, that’s wrong. What are you even thinking about? That’s not it; have you forgot the information from that radio guy? The one who’s been eavesdropping on the police wireless.”

“Oh, you mean that random attacker who appears during the full moon. The guy that knocks out his victims and then rubs his cheeks on their hands until they wake up. That’s mostly an urban legend. I mean, just choose if you wanna make it a vampire, a werewolf or Jack the Ripper. What’s so fun about having someone rub your cheeks anyway? I really can’t understand such perverts, that’s stupid.”

“Isn’t that for the same reason that you literally just stared at that girl’s skirt? He has a hand fetish.”

“That one has its own aesthetics. Don’t be an idiot.”

He didn’t know why Harukiyo was angry, but Ume simply let it go with a “Right” with half-closed eyes.

This happened much later, but after they asked about the attacker’s motive, they really did receive the answer of “fetishism” in needlessly fluent English. That was their meeting with the frightening girl who had the same tastes as Harukiyo, Sakaki Haruka, which ended up with them starting to move together, but that was another story.

“If you don’t like it, I have some other leads. What’ll we do?”

Harukiyo’s “search for the powerful” continued as always.

However, he still found no one who fulfilled the conditions.

Frankly, Ume doubted that any person existed who was stronger than Harukiyo.

Did such a person actually exist? It was doubtful whether Harukiyo really was looking for someone “stronger than him” in the first place.

However, since the time spent with Harukiyo was fun, Ume stayed at his side.

Since he’d come to know of the times spent with the boy Sehateno Harukiyo, going back to his old life would make him die of boredom.

“Hmm… wonder what we’ll do.”

Harukiyo absentmindedly threw the very last piece of his gelato into his mouth.

While Ume was fully enjoying his vagabond life, Harukiyo was the opposite; he recently looked bored.

Did the opponent he was looking for actually existed—

Perhaps he was thinking of this as he grew stronger by the day.

“—Oh?”

Harukiyo suddenly raised his face.

“What was that sound just now?”

“What sound?”

“Somethin’ like bells… but they sound kinda dirty, so it’s annoying.”

“Didn’t hear anything like that.”

“That so? Welp, never mind then. —Oh right, have you investigated that thing we talked about?”

“Eh? No way. That naughty thing, right?”

“Idiot, not that. Well, that too, but I’m talking about ''that'' thing.”

''Ah'', Ume recalled.

“I’m talking about Mushi.”

Harukiyo spoke with a serious expression.

That supernatural being which possessed adolescent boys and girl and feasted on their dreams and hopes to grow—

Even when he’d been in elementary school there were rumors.

“Totally forgot about it. Isn’t that even more of an urban legend?”

“Don’t lump those together. There really was a kuchisake-onna.<ref>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kuchisake-onna </ref> I only barely beat her.”

“I can’t tell if it’s true or not when you’re the one saying that, so let’s just drop it.”

Ume was a realist but bad with ghost stories, so it wasn’t a topic he liked to touch if at all possible.

Even so, if Harukiyo told him to look for it he simply had to. It apparently wasn’t a kind of ghost anyway, and if he thought of them similar to tokusatsu or sci-fi, he was actually interested.

While making such trifling talk, it happened as they walked through the underground shopping mall.

“Huh? What’s that?”

Aiming for their next snack, it happened as they reached a station wagon remodeled to a juice stand.

They heard screams from the mall ahead. Unlike the clamor of customers until now, there were abnormally shrill voices—shouts were flying about.

“…” 

Looking next to him, Ume saw Harukiyo was glaring at the direction he heard the voices from.

As they watched over that area, many customers came running. They were all rushing just like a herd of wild animals seen on tv.

They were running away from something.

Screams and shouts were flying around, but Ume and Harukiyo had no idea what happened. Just like the other customers around, they stood still, unable to take in the situation.

“Uwah!”

A roar that nearly burst Ume’s ears echoed in the underground mall.

All of the windows in every store he could see all had their glass shatter at once. Even the station wagon’s lights broke, and women around them raised shrieks.

Alarms started blaring.

The underground road was wrapped in panic.

Most of the customers probably ran away without even knowing what happened. The stairs, escalators and elevators, all possible exits were flooded by people.

“What happened there…?”

Ume too was astonished, getting inside the wagon after the employees escaped. He took a cup and poured mango juice inside it, and also mixed it with other juices as well.

“What’re we gonna do, Harukiyo? Should we try and blend in with them?”

Ume called toward Harukiyo from inside the wagon. Even if they headed for the exit, in the current situation they’d only get pushed around and injured.

“Kuku…”

Still staring ahead without moving a muscle, the boy wore a smile.

“This feeling… so it’s happening ''again''.”

“Harukiyo?”

Ume, who was putting tabasco on top of apple juice for the other boy, furrowed his brows.

“Hey, Ume.”

Looking at the face of the boy who turned toward him, Ume felt goosebumps all over his body.

His eyes were sparkling and he exposed his sharp canines; the devil was smiling.

He looked to be having fun, with a smile as though he’d met his hundred years-old archnemesis. However—it was also somewhat sad. Ume had seen him wear that expression for the first time.

“Run away.”

Emitting an abnormal killing intent, it was obvious that every single part of Harukiyo’s body was wrought with tension.

''I see, so this is—

Ume soon realized.

“If you stay with me, you’ll die.”

It was what Harukiyo had encountered many times before. A “disaster”.

The bad luck that would leave him as the only survivor.

Speaking honestly—in the depths of Ume’s heart, he feared that this time would come.

Since he’d heard Harukiyo’s stories, Ume knew that when the time came, if he stayed with him—

“You’re going to be the only survivor, was it?”

What would he do if the time came?

Ume had thought about this for a long, long time.

He didn’t believe in fate or that sort of nonsense.

Because if he did, he’d be too scared.

But being with Harukiyo, the boy who truly was the epitome of unlucky, he also felt that he couldn’t help but believe in it.

He feared the day of the incoming “disaster”, and yet—he also expected that day.

“So about that.”

He’d stayed with Harukiyo not only due to curiosity.

And it wasn’t only because he looked up to him, either.

“—If I stay alive, it means I can become stronger than you, right?”

The wagon’s broken windows reflected Ume’s sparkling gaze.

The devil he’d met at that day.

The overwhelming sense of presence Ume had felt in that day—he could gain it.

“…Ha.”

Harukiyo rounded his eyes in surprise, but soon returned to smile. He raised his face that was cast down for just an instant, turning his burning gaze ahead.

“Haha! That’s more like it, stupid brat! Your big brother feels so happy about your growth!”

“Every single word of that sounds perverted, geez.”

Exiting the station wagon while puffing his cheeks, Ume brought the juice-filled glass to his mouth.

''Splash''—ripples were created in the liquid present in Ume’s cup.

The intermitted vibrations shook the underground road. And they were growing gradually larger.

No—they were approaching.

Ume gazed along with Harukiyo further down the mall, where the lights broke down. The unceasing alarms were annoying.

“An earthquake? Or maybe there’s a flood and the change in pressure caused the glass to break? Since the stage’s underground it’s quire troublesome.”

“Are your ears just for decoration? Just now, something was howling.”

“A wild beast wouldn’t break all the glass. Wasn’t it just an explosion from somewhere?”

A pair of lights rose in the passage ahead.

Seeing that, Ume now realized the identity of the still continuing vibration.

Those were—footsteps.

The ''thing'' had six legs crushing the ground as it advanced, moving with sounds like a heavy tank—

“Uh—Ah—“

The cup fell from Ume’s hands. He stared at that thing, astonished.

“What the hell’s that—”

Even Harukiyo was, as expected, frozen in place. Seeing what approached them with frightful speed, he was speechless.

The six legs were divided into several joints and their edges stabbed into the asphalt. Its entire body covered by a thick, armor-like shell. The place full of fangs moving creepily was perhaps its head. There were two glass ball-like eyes embedded there.

An insect monster even larger than Harukiyo—

He could only think of that description.

But as far as Ume knew, no such animal existed.

Ume and Harukiyo both spun their bodies.

“Uwaaah!”

“Wooah!”

The ferocious monster charged at the two of them. They broke into running, hearing the station wagon behind them being blown away.

The monster’s tackle was more powerful than it looked. Turning around, Ume could see that all that remained from the trampled vehicle was steel pipes stabbing into the ceiling and walls.

The monster didn’t seem to slow down. It kept on hot pursuit after Ume and Harukiyo at full speed without minding anything else.

“M-monster—”

Ume barely stopped himself from stumbling and falling. —If he fell during this chase, he would probably end up just like the station wagon; nothing would remain of him. His entire body was shaking.

“Monster—”

Harukiyo’s voice was also shaking. Even he, who always seemed to operate in his own special world, couldn’t remain calm in present circumstances.

Footsteps like a bulldozer pursued them from behind. Since the monster’s speed was on a whole different level, it was only a matter of time before it caught up to them.

Ume had never seen or even heard about such a thing.

Was it created by humans like in a classic monster movie? Leaving Harukiyo aside, the supple flesh of a child like Ume was probably appetizing.

He saw a concrete wall ahead.

The end of the road—a dead end.

There was nowhere to escape to.

However, Ume and Harukiyo did not slow down.

Using momentum to jump, they kicked at the blocking wall.

“It’s a monster!”

“A fucking monster!”

Ume and Harukiyo kicked the wall and parted to left and right.

A large tremor shook the underground mall. Unable to make an emergency stop, the monster’s remaining momentum crashed against the wall. Its head dug inside and large fissures ran through the concrete.

However, this didn’t damage the monster. It soon pulled out its head and raised a howl. Finding Ume and Harukiyo who nimbly went around its back, it swung its sharp legs. Perhaps it was angry.

“I-it’s a monster, Harukiyo! It’s my first time seeing one! I have to take a commemoratory photo! I wonder if it can make a V-sign with those legs!”

Ume lowered his body to dodge the legs swinging horizontally. The monster’s legs were sharp and thicker than Ume’s entire body. There was no doubt that a direct hit would have popped off his torso.

“Hey, so it’s a monster this time! Nooo, there aren’t any monsters! That’s against the fuckin’ rules! Ugyah—i-it’s so hard! It hurt! I’m bleeding! Haha!”

Dodging the leg that came swinging at him from overhead, Harukiyo tried sending the monster off flying with a punch. However, no matter how strong he was, he hadn’t been able to leave even a single scratch on the thick shell; in fact, it ripped the skin on his fist, drawing blood.

This situation was way past the point of being unexpected.

Ume never would have imagined the appearance of neither accident nor natural disaster but a genuine monster.

It went much beyond his imagination—so he couldn’t help but be excited.

“I want it! If we beat it, please get me one! Is it a robot? A mutant? A monster made by a secret organization? Its weak points have to be its joints and eyes, right?”

While weaving between the monster’s attacks, Ume shouted with his expression radiant.

Its attacks weren’t much faster than human punches and kicks. Also, because it could only hit them directly, Ume could predict, to a certain extent, the attack’s range and trajectory based on the monster’s joints and leg length. After calmly analyzing it, he realized that these attacks were not impossible to dodge.

He didn’t know what person could stay clam in this situation where they’d die instantly from any direct hit, but—

“Might work, let’s try it out!”

Harukiyo leapt back, reaching out toward a store’s window. He used his full strength to grab a sliding window frame made from aluminum and wrest it free from the broken window.

“I see now—so monsters like that do exist.”

Swinging the metal frame like a spear, Harukiyo wore a smile. His blazing pupils captured the monster standing in his path.

“I’m sure this isn’t the only one. I’m sure there are even worse ones—”

Seeing the boy’s profile, Ume trembled.

Facing an unimaginable monster, Harukiyo was several times happier than Ume.

“I feel like I’m saved… don’tcha agree?”

The boy had been disappointed at something not long ago. His eyes looking up at the monster were those of a person who found someone he’d loved and missed dearly.

Seeing Sehateno Harukiyo like this, Ume thought.

What was he looking for?

Perhaps—he wanted to die?

Despite him having so much fun living?

Despite him carrying no guilt about his cruel past and celebrating his life?

If he wanted to die, he could do it by himself. If he really desired this, he wasn’t the kind of boy to hesitate so much. Ume knew this well.

“Hey, don’t lose focus, Ume! No matter what happens, keep strugglin’ to the very end, kill this bastard and live!”

Despite wanting to live, he desired death—

This foolish thought passed through Ume’s mind.

Just how much of a contradiction—how selfish of a wish was it?

Perhaps this was the most fitting thought possible for the one and only man called Sehateno Harukiyo.

“Okay, so it’s a promise! For real though! I’m taking this thing! I’m turning it to a strap and dragging it around town!”

“Shuddup, I’m gonna eat it.”

Harukiyo and Ume against the large monster.

Their fight continued.

Facing the monster’s one-sided attacks, the two boys began their small counterattack. Yet almost all resistance was futile, as everything bounced off the monster’s hard shell.

“Ugh—”

Finally the Mushi’s leg captured Ume. Although he’d just barely avoided the sharp tip, his small body was easily blown away. As he crashed into a wall, a line of blood came pouring down his head.

“Ouch… Oh no, did I break something?”

Ume tried rousing his body, but couldn’t gather strength in the left arm he’d used for defense. It didn’t feel numb. If it pained him after a while it would mean this was just a blow, and if it got swollen it would mean a broken bone.

“Haha! What’re you doing, so lame!”

Even the sneering Harukiyo was not unhurt. Since he’d focused on counterattacking and only barely dodged, his body was ripped here and there, caught by an attack now and then.

It happened when Ume was about to rise up and restart the fight.

“Wha… who’re you two…!”

Ume heard a hoarse voice from right behind him.

Standing there was a girl with a tie in the shape of a ribbon. She was probably around Harukiyo’s age. The hair gathered at the back of her head was long and parted like a crab’s legs.

“Move, I’ll fucking kill you…! —Eh?”

As the girl threatened and approached them, her knees folded. Seeing the knife stabbed into the thighs visible from beneath her short skirt, she instantly paled.

The moment Ume turned back, he threw this concealed weapon.

Going around her back, he thrust a newly-drawn knife and grinned.

“Who’re you, miss?”

“Eh—Ah—”

“Hey.”

As he raised his face to Harukiyo’s voice, the monster raised a pained scream.

“The eyes worked.”

The twisted metal frame stuck deep into the monster’s eye.

Seeing the boy stand on the head of the monster flailing its legs around, the unknown girl was frozen on the spot.

It seemed that before finally scoring a hit on the eye, Harukiyo had been hit many times. He was covered in wounds all over and dyed bright red from his own blood. Even so, his form with his sparkling, burning eyes and enjoyable smile was just like—

“A m-monster—”

Hoarse voice came out of the girl’s mouth.

The heavily wounded Harukiyo and Ume, the pair of boys, exchanged glances.

“Hey, aren’t you getting mixed up? Your eyes are horrible. Or are you declaring you’ll become a glasses girl? Haha, please do that.”

“Say, Harukiyo. Didn’t it stop moving? Maybe this person has the controller? Finish it off already, can’t turn it to a strap if it’s still alive.”

“W-why’re standing in my way… my Mushi is—”

“Mushi? Hey, did that chick just say Mushi?”

“She did. I see, so that’s a Mushi. It really exists.”

“My Mushi’s—going to be killed—”

Seeing the girl’s expression dyed in fear, Ume gasped.

Just before, the girl had told Ume “move or I’ll kill you”. Meaning, if he didn’t move, she couldn’t kill him, and that she didn’t feel like fighting the two of them in the first place.

He also recalled.

When the monster—the Mushi had first appeared, it was in full momentum, as if it was running away from something—

“…!”

Feeling a chill, Harukiyo and Ume both turned to the same direction.

The wall that was cracked due to the charging Mushi’s impact.

The lump of concrete that became an obstacle was stained in dark red.

“What’s that?”

“—Harukiyo!”

He had a bad feeling. Harukiyo didn’t even need Ume’s shout; he too sensed the danger. He nimbly leapt off the Mushi’s head, distancing himself from the wall.

The exact moment afterward, the concrete wall burst.

The concrete became dark red, melting like chocolate and bursting. The now-sticky concrete covered the Mushi.

The Mushi howled. Smoke rose around and the unpleasant stench of burning flesh filled the underground road.

Concrete turned into red, dark liquid—into lava—covered the Mushi. Although it was struggling to get loose, even its legs were being melted by the overwhelming heat and it was powerless to do anything.

“—!”

In front of Ume, the girl that he thought was controlling the Mushi doubled over. She collapsed listlessly on the floor and, gazing at the ceiling with lifeless eyes, did not move a muscle.

Was it because her Mushi had been killed? Thinking about it, according to the rumors he’d heard the host and their Mushi were said to be connected.

“Huh… that’s odd—”

On the other side of the melted wall there was a hole. The circular hole shone in dark red, becoming a cave shining faintly.

“My prey suddenly got weak… what the heck, so boring.”

Ume’s body rose in air for a moment.

Something large now bore heavily on the spot that the Mushi had occupied until then. The ''thing'' that had a body large enough to shake the entire underground road was yet again a monster Ume had never seen before.

An earthworm covered in lava—was how he saw it? Rather than an insect it was a mollusk; it moved by twisting and undulating, and was about as large as a tanker truck.

“Have you two finished it off…?”

Protected by the dark-red earthworm, a hunchbacked boy was sitting inside the cave. He wore his hoodie over his eyes and pulled the fasteners to his collar to completely hide his mouth. His sunken pupils glared at Ume and Harukiyo in the underground mall.

A chill instantly ran from Ume’s toes to the top of his head.

''This guy’s bad news—

“Yeah, sure did.”

He goggled at Harukiyo who answered this calmly with a sneer.

Harukiyo should have noticed as well. The Mushi they’d been fighting until now was just a small fish compared to this guy.

Because of that, Ume couldn’t understand why the blood-stained Harukiyo’s eyes were sparkling so much—

“So you’re the same? A Mushi’s… err, Mushitsuki, was it? Anyway, is that a Mushi too? What’s your business here, you bug bastard?”

“Nothing special… I was just playing a bit. Hunting other people’s Mushi is fun.”

“Ho. That’s what you mean. We just met by chance while you were playing. You bear no grudge against me, and you weren’t told to do this by anyone. It’s nothing more than a temporary feeling, an impulsive desire about this place alone, this eyesore—”

Sehateno Harukiyo now showed an absolutely delightful smile the likes of which Ume had never seen from him before.

“You’re lookin’ at me with eyes that are dripping with the desire to kill.”

“Since you’ve gotten in the way of my hunt, you’ll take responsibility… right?”

Just as the boy spoke with a penetratingly cold voice, the lava earthworm swung its body.

“Haha!”

Harukiyo stepped back and avoided the earthworm by a hairsbreadth. Where the worm passed, the floor melted from the high temperature, and the lava dripping from it splashed around, scorching the surroundings.

“Incredible, you bastard! This is the best! You have some major future prospects! Amazingly great! Right, kill me! Use every bit of strength you have and come at me to kill me for real!”

Seeing Harukiyo howl with laughter, Ume was frozen.

As expected—this was the limit for him.

It took Ume’s full physical and mental strength just to withstand that Mushi from before. He just didn’t feel like wanting to battle against lava at all. Also, even if he were to target the host, since half of the earthworm’s body surrounded him for protection, Ume wouldn’t be able to approach.

“—You’re definitely not gonna kill me, though.”

Wearing a devilish grin, Harukiyo turned his body without hesitating. Turning his back to the earthworm leaning toward him, he ran through the passage as fast as possible.

“Wawa, wait up!”

Coming back to his senses, Ume also hurriedly followed after Harukiyo.

“What’s up with that challenge of yours! You’re definitely messed up in the head! Even if it’s too late for me to notice!”

“Haha! He’s tryna kill us anyway, that guy!”

“Got any idea? Against that kind of opponent?”

“For now let’s run away!”

The wounds they’d suffered while facing a single Mushi were definitely not shallow. It was only a matter of time before the pair succumbed to their bleeding and pain.

“Run away at full power, recover and come for a rematch! We can find him again, land a surprise attack or whatever and win!”

''Please, do it alone next time.

While groaning in his heart, Ume looked behind.

The large earthworm was sinking its head into the floor. Apparently it could move through the ground just like a real earthworm. At some point its host also vanished.

“—This is bad! This spot is blocked!”

He probably went around several exits.

The emergency staircase they finally found was blocked by cooled-off, solid lava. All entrances they went around were the same.

He thought that it was strange that no police arrived even after they fought the Mushi for so long. He simply thought that they couldn’t enter due to the crowds rushing outside.

However, apparently the hoodie boy went around and sealed all exits. All of the roads connected to the surface were perfectly blocked by lava.

“Ugh!”

As Ume rushed ahead, trying to find another exit, he was kicked by Harukiyo.

As he crashed into the wall, something passed right next to him along with a thunderous roar.

It was the lava earthworm.

Noiselessly approaching from within the ground, the earthworm pierced through the ground to the ceiling in a straight line.

“…”

Comparing the holes opened up in the floor and the ceiling, Ume felt his strength waning. The astonishment and paralysis nearly caused him to faint. If Harukiyo hadn’t kicked him away, that worm would’ve crushed him down to the bones to make some drippy Ume juice.<ref>”Ume” also means plum.</ref>

“Have you survived, son of a bitch?”

Harukiyo showed him a blood-stained smile. However, his legs were shaking. In this situation where he couldn’t even receive first aid, he was running. The amount of blood loss should have already reached the limits.

“H-how did you know it was going to attack? There’s no sound.”

“Who d’you think I am? With whack-a-mole you hit ‘em before they pop up.”

“That’s called missing… more importantly, I feel like that kick cracked my ribs, so why’d you do it…”

“As long as you don’t die, nothing’s impossible.”

It was painful, but he was right. Since the one saying that was Harukiyo, who threaded the needle between life and death countless times, it was pretty convincing. It even made Ume think that sacrificing a bone to avoid the fate of becoming juice was quite lucky.

Dodging the earthworm’s surprise attack, they ran around the underground road looking for a way of escape.

However, as they noticed there wasn’t any path of retreat—they were surrounded by flames and debris.

Both ground and ceiling were had large holes, and almost all shops were still burning and engulfed by the flames caused from lava.

Along with tremors, the lava earthworm crawled out of the floor in the path ahead.

It was finally going to finish them off.

“Harukiyo.”

''I think this is the end—

Raising a spray of lava, the earthworm pursued them.

There was nowhere to run to.

There was no way to win.

Cornered by a situation that led only to despair, a strange feeling rose inside him.

“I’ll become a decoy. So, Harukiyo, during that time you have to—”

The fun days were over.

So, as thanks for giving him such fun, Ume would offer his own life—so he thought.

No, originally he didn’t have the kind of personality or psychology for self-sacrifice.

He just didn’t want to see the boy called Sehateno Harukiyo dying before he did—

He just wanted to pass this final selfishness.

But the next moment—he was hit.

“Agh!”

It was a full-powered blow with no mercy. He thought his chin would fall off.

Harukiyo leapt to the side and Ume was blown all the way to the wall. The large earthworm passed in the interval between them with great speed.

“Have you woken up, brat?”

It was even hotter than the dark-red earthworm, even hotter than the lava flowing about.

That scorching gaze bore into Ume.

“Don’t fall asleep on me! Are you awake now, ah? Are you actually alive, ah? If you’re alive, then why are you sleeping? Did you seriously fry off your brain with thinking and judged there to be no way to escape and no way to win? I’ll fuckin’ kill you, brat!”

Harukiyo shouted so loudly his voice reverberated throughout the entire mall.

The earthworm seemed to aim for the annoying boy first. Ignoring Ume who crouched near the wall, it leapt toward Harukiyo.

“No—”

Holding his cheeks, Ume opened his mouth. Transparent drops spilled through his chin, boiling due to the heat around. His hit cheek felt much warmer than the lava or the flames.

“No way! No way no way no way, I can’t!”

He actually realized this when he’d first seen the earthworm. The moment he saw the host boy, he had the feeling that it would be useless to even try begging for his life.

“We have no way to escape and no way to win! We have nothing! This is impossible!”

“Then stay right there and die.”

Harukiyo’s eyes pierced Ume. —His performance as he dodged the flames, the lava and the earthworm, while leaping between the large holes opened in the ground, was miraculous. But obviously even he would reach his limit soon.

Ume mumbled for a moment.

“—So you’re hesitating.”

As Harukiyo only just barely evaded the earthworm, heat singed his hair. The compress on his cheek peeled off, enveloped by flames.

A fire-pattern tattoo was engraved on Harukiyo’s cheek.

That red, even deeper than the surrounding flames and as vivid as though it would burn him as well, distorted into a smirk.

“You don’t wanna die, right? You haven’t enough of living, right? You still have plenty of stuff you wanna do! Why’re pretending you’ve reached some sorta revelation and don’t admit it’s something that simple! You’re alive, so why don’t you be selfish! You can be as meek as you’d like after you kick the fucking bucket!”

Ume gritted his teeth.

He obviously didn’t want to die.

He was still a kid and had too many things he wanted to do. Not wanting to die was too obvious—he never thought of this thing properly.

“What… Obviously I wanna live! I don’t wanna die! I wanna play more! I wanna eat more good food! I still want—to hang out with you, Harukiyo!”

“Haha! Just like that! Aren’t you getting carried away now!”

“But… If you still die, what will I do?! I hate this so much!”

“If it happens, it would be—my ‘punishment’.”

Fighting the earthworm as if dancing, Harukiyo spoke.

“Although I don’t wanna die, I’ll die. I truly, truly want to live but I’ll be squashed like a bug. Isn’t that what a punishment’s all about?”

“This… I can’t accept that—”

Punishment? Bullshit.

Ume had obviously done many bad things, but he just couldn’t accept that sort of thinking.

After all—Ume himself felt no guilt.

He was just having fun living, so he couldn’t accept being punished for it—

“I—”

Now that he thought this far, he noticed.

That itself—was the punishment.

Although he couldn’t accept it, he would be killed.

Was there any other act as hateful? Any other act that would disallow relief, that would leave so many regrets?

When he thought of this, he became scared.

“No… I don’t want that! I did nothing wrong!”

“Yes, that’s right! You were just having fun, living your life!”

“As if I want to get punished!”

“You don’t give a fuck whether someone gets hurts or dies in someplace you know nothing about! Because that’s not your fault! Let’s keep living and have fun!”

“I wanna keep living!”

“If you die, it means it was your punishment! But you’d never accept that, right! You end up wanting to keep living, even if only out of stubbornness!”

As Harukiyo was sneering and thoroughly enjoying himself, his heels sizzled and raised smoke.

Finally—he’d been cornered.

The surroundings were enclosed by lava, flames and the holes the earthworm passed through, completely blocking all possible paths of retreat. Meanwhile, the worm extended its long body, pressing closer to Harukiyo by sliding on top of the holes.

“Harukiyo—”

Harukiyo wore a smile. Just like he said, he wasn’t going to give up at all.

Even so, he was going to be killed.

“No, Harukiyo!”

If everything was as Harukiyo said, was he trying to get himself punished for real this time?

And so—Ume just couldn’t accept it.

“Harukiyooo!!!”

What had Harukiyo done?

Was it his fault his mother and unrelated people went up in flames after his birth?

Was it a crime for him to survive alone while many people died around him?

That was neither sin nor anything else.

His life was simply the slightest bit unlucky, that was all.

Being unlucky wasn’t his fault. No matter who else got involved in it, it had nothing to do with him.

It definitely shouldn’t count as Harukiyo’s sin.

“Ah—”

While the earthworm carrying death and punishment pursued him, Sehateno Harukiyo was laughing fearlessly.

Even right now he was probably thinking of ways to live. Even if the possibility was zero, he wouldn’t give up.

Even when his life was about to be snatched away.

He mumbled to himself.

“—Stop with those bells already.”

The sound of bells.

Even Ume heard them now.

“…!”

Did this kind of dirty sound actually exist? It was the kind of cracked, hoarse and ear-grating sound that made him want to scream and turn back.

The moment he’d heard that sound, everything reflected in Ume’s eyes stopped in place.

With everyone in the underground mall frozen as if time itself stopped, his vision spun—

“—”

Along with a bizarre sensation of falling, his vision blacked out.

Having been thrown into a pitch-dark world, Ume couldn’t move even a single finger. He couldn’t even see his own body and had no idea if there was any ground or air there.

Bell sounds echoed again.

Following them, Ume turned around. He had no sensation of direction, but he tried turning around still.

There—he found Harukiyo’s figure.

In front of him there was a decayed church. The windows that should have had stained glass were broken, the wall was collapsed and the roof was in shambles. In the place supposed to house a cross there was only a broken pole.

Standing in the wasteland, Harukiyo wore an expression Ume had never seen before.

Both the delight for life that always filled him as well as the blaze-like rage were gone. Instead he was ruled by calm like the sea at a lull.

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_6th_p257.jpg|thumb]]

It was just like a death row convict waiting for their verdict; Ume had this strange impression.

“—”

He tried calling to Harukiyo, but no voice came out.

The boy appeared to be talking to someone. With a calm expression, he moved only his mouth.

Eventually Harukiyo’s legs turned to the church. The boy weaved his way through the open door.

Ume tried calling to Harukiyo at the top of his voice, but it just melted within the darkness. Since he couldn’t hear Harukiyo’s voice as well, perhaps the spaces the pair inhabited were completely isolated.

Again, the sound of bells.

A heavily oppressive, foul air filled the abnormal space.

This was—the sound congratulating the birth of a devil in the truest sense.

“—”

Ume definitely heard it.

He couldn’t hear the voice, but it was undoubtedly—a scream.

While this voiceless scream filled with anger and hatred echoed, Ume was again wrapped in the sensation of falling.

“—”

Ume kept calling Harukiyo’s name.

What happened to Harukiyo? What had happened to him?

It wasn’t just a bad feeling. He was convinced that whatever happened was irreversible. However, Ume’s shouts were swallowed by the darkness, not even becoming a voice.

His vision blacked out and his consciousness cut off.

No, that was wrong.

He was pulled back from the strange space and into the world of reality.

As the darkened world retrieved its previous form, the first thing he felt—was the heat of hellfire scorching his skin.

“…!”

Coming back to his senses, he found Harukiyo about to be swallowed by the earthworm.

Ume watched it, unable to do anything.

He watched Harukiyo, who stood in place with his head hung down, being engulfed by flames.

And—the moment when the head of the large earthworm covered in lava started melting.

“—Piece of shit.”

Harukiyo mumbled as he was swallowed by bright red flames. Hot wind blew in the underground shopping center and his hair was ruffled as if in a mad dance.

The flames covering him slowly changed form. As they writhed like living beings, the earthworm touched by them slowly melted like pudding.

Opening his scorching eyes wide, Harukiyo shouted.

“Shiiiiit!”

The bursting, surging flames changed form to a monster.

It looked like a Great Yama tiger beetle with tusks of differing sizes—

Spitting hellfire instead of a birth cry, the Great Yama tiger beetle made of flames rushed around the underground mall. Not even paying attention to the half-melted earthworm, it swallowed each and every place, sinking all shops into a sea of flames.

Still shocked, Ume could do nothing but etch those sights into his eyes and memories.

“—You asked me if I wanted power, eh?”

In the center of the flames, Harukiyo’s body shook with anger.

Ume only came to know of this later, but the church he’d seen—apparently belonged to one of the Original Three said to give birth to Mushi, the incarnation of the being known as Shinpu.

The desolate church with its dirty-sounding bell.

Harukiyo had been invited there—and became a Mushitsuki.

Ume had no way to know what he sought there and what he’d been given.

“Yeah, I want it! So much that I could die! I can do nothing but want it, right! If I didn’t need it I’d become shoddy, after all! Although I don’t want that thing, I can only keep wanting it! This sort of stupid power!”

However—seeing Harukiyo scream out his lungs, Ume remembered himself thinking something.

Ume never felt guilt. He probably lacked that feeling from birth.

But what about Sehateno Harukiyo?

As if he only suddenly realized it.

What if there was a slim chance, an infinitely miniscule chance that Harukiyo was really just a normal person?

What if he had the thing known as guilt.

“What’re you tellin’ me to do with that power?! What’re you tellin’ me to do by becoming stronger again?! Don’t butt in my business, you piece of shiiit!”

During his birth, his mother and unrelated people died and he alone survived.

He then survived the orphanage. And was also the sole survivor among his classmates.

He was always alone and always survived—but what did he think about it?

As a person, surely he couldn’t help but feel guilt, even if a little, even if a only a particle of it?

“Diorestoi or whatever your name is! You told me to become the King of Mushitsuki?—I don’t give a damn about that! Never show your ugly face to me again! I now bear a grudge! If you ever come to me I’ll kill you! Never felt any grudge for anything, but I’ll kill you with my hatred! If you don’t wanna get burnt to ashes, then you’d better keep living in literally any other place than right in front of my eyes!”

Ume heard the sound of bells.

Leaving a dirty, trailing note behind, that sound which was rapidly growing distant was hoarse—as if it was scared of the Mushitsuki it had given birth to.

“Harukiyo…”

Ume wrung out a hoarse voice, looking at the raging devil.

Since Ume lacked guilt, he didn’t want to get punished.

However, Harukiyo…

Was he perhaps—wishing for punishment?

Not receiving the verdict to be thrown into hell, being cornered countless times while unaware of neither sin nor punishment, the boy was shouting hard as if to expel his anger at having kept surviving all this time.

Just like a flame, this devil would burn down everyone around him and continue blazing forevermore.

Did a person who could punish him actually exist at all?

“S-so you were a Mushitsuki too…!”

Uncovered by the flames of the Great Yama tiger beetle, the hoodie boy revealed himself.

Harukiyo’s pair of eyes turned to capture that earthworm’s host.

“Hey, you bastard—”

“Shit!”

Having lost half of its body, the earthworm came assaulting Harukiyo from a blind spot.

However, the tiger beetle took flight and stuck its fangs of flame in the earthworm’s body. It began melting easily the body of lava, ripping it in half.

“Ugh…!”

The hoodie boy grimaced in agony. It appeared that the host and Mushi really were connected.

Thrown to the ground, the earthworm writhed in pain. Wrapped in his own created flames, Harukiyo walked on top of it, approaching the earthworm’s host.

Harukiyo’s arm grabbed the boy by the collar.

“How will I make you take responsibility?”

“Eek…!”

“I ended up surviving again because of you—”

''Thump''—a pain ran through Ume’s chest.

Perhaps it was because his broken ribs were hurting, or because he saw Harukiyo shaking in anger.

If he actually wished to receive punishment.

The one who could do so was probably already—

“W-why—”

The hoodie boy grimaced. His pupils were losing their light probably because the bisected earthworm’s body was slowly melting away.

“Why was there… another monster here…”

''Another monster.

Ume saw Harukiyo widening his eyes.

“—”

Ume also doubted his own ears.

Another? Did that boy say ''another '' monster?

“In the end—even though I managed to run away from Hunter…”

Hunter—

Was that the name of the other person like Harukiyo?

“I-I shouldn’t have come to this city… thought I could have fun hunting again… but then…”

“Hey—hey, wait a fucking moment!”

Harukiyo’s expression changed. His face twisted in wrath began gradually transforming.

“Whaddya mean by that? Who’s that Hunter?”

“I don’t want to be hunted anymore… I ran inside the ground day after day but I was still scared… I just came out of the ground, and yet…”

Ume shuddered.

Hunter, who was even worse than Harukiyo.

That name hinted at a being that was scary even just to imagine—and made Harukiyo’s eyes sparkle.

“For real…? Hey, is this for real?”

Harukiyo’s face, until now dyed fully in rage, was turning to a smile.

“You saw me and faced off against me. But you’ve run away from that bastard—that Hunter or whatever? Pathetically? Without even trying to resist? Meaning that sorta demonic person that made you run like a coward while being chased exists somewhere? Such a guy, who’s a walking ‘disaster’ in the shape of a human being?!”

“Even though I… managed to escape…”

“Where’s that demon at?! What kinda guy are they?! Is it a man? A woman? Hey, answer!”

“Ah—ah—”

The final piece of the earthworm burnt off.

At the same time the boy’s eyes completely lost all life.

“…”

For a while Harukiyo stood there, frozen and unmoving.

But soon he flung away the hoodie boy. He turned his body and began walking.

“—Harukiyo!”

When Ume called to him, Harukiyo stood in place.

“This time there’s no mistake.”

Turning around, he distorted his fire tattoo while smiling.

“This Hunter or whatever exists to kill me.”

This was—their farewell for a while.

That time, that instant.

Sehateno Harukiyo probably had eyes only for the unseen Hunter.

There was no doubt that he no longer saw Ume.

Later, Ume became a Mushitsuki and met up with him again—but he hadn’t changed.

The only thing reflected in the flame devil’s eyes was a single existence.

Ume had no idea what he thought about and what he truly desired.

There shouldn’t be anyone in the entire world who could understand the man called Sehateno Harukiyo.

If someone could understand him, it was a human who sought punishment, just like him—

Perhaps—that would not be a human at all.

So Ume thought even now.