Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 13 Chapter 2 (section)

== 2.03 OPS3 Part 8 ==

The woman who welcomed Shiika introduced herself as Erii’s 8-years older sister, Yukari.

“I’m so happy. This is the first time one of her friends came here.”

Yukari said this with a smile.

As Shiika entered the living room, she saw a small girl sitting smugly in front of the tea table.

Her hair was gathered into a bun behind her head and she looked to be about preschool age. Her large eyes and puffy cheeks made her adorable. She looked up at the sudden visitor with eyes like saucers.

“T-thank you for having me.”

As Shiika bowed her head, the girl turned a puzzled face toward Yukari.

“Where are your manners? Meiko.”

“…Hello!”

As though this was conditioned reflex, Meiko gave her a cheerful greeting. However, she still looked puzzled.

“She says she’s a friend of your sister Erii. She’s, err…”

“Ah… I’m Shiika. Anmoto Shiika.”

“Big sis Shiika, then.”

Yukari told this to Meiko, but the girl just looked blankly.

Wearing a bitter smile, Shiika was led by Yukari to the adjoining room.

“She doesn’t remember Erii much. That’s to be expected though, considering she was only two years old when Erii was gone.”

The six-tatami room was probably used as a bedroom. In one corner there were an alarm clock and pocket-size paperbacks. There was also a large pile of folded laundry.

And in the very back of the room—was an altar.

“…Erii.”

Looking at the picture placed in the altar, Shiika felt pain in her chest for some reason.

That was without a doubt a picture of the girl who’d once introduced herself as Erii. She was slightly thinner than when Shiika met her, her hair was loose, and her face—was completely expressionless without a smile.

“Still, what made you come here after all this time? I’m glad for it, but I was really surprised.”

Yukari opened the altar’s drawer and brought out some incense, handing it to Shiika.

“E-err, about that, I, well…”

“Heeey, I’m back.”

“Ah, welcome back. —Grandpa’s home. Sorry, can you wait a little? Oh right, will you stay for dinner since you’re here? It’s still early, but we eat early here.”

Yukari eagerly left the room. The scent of ingredients staining her aprons wafted in the air as she left.

Hesitating on what to do, Shiika turned back to the altar and lit the incense.

“…”

As she offered the incense, its distinctive scent made the deceased portrait feel all the more real.

A picture of the deceased. A fragrance to send to the dead.

There was no doubt that Horiuchi Erii existed here as someone who was dead.

Shiika did have some questions about how Erii’s family was treating her since she belonged to the SEPB as a Mushitsuki. —But she never even considered the possibility she’d be considered dead.

Was this arranged by the SEPB or by Erii’s own decision? She didn’t know.

Did Erii find this fine? She was still alive—although she was a Mushitsuki, she kept living and fighting. Even so, her family thought she was dead.

This—definitely disgusted Shiika.

By offering the incense before this Buddhist altar, she felt like she was complicit to this disgust and even felt guilty of it.

“Hmm?”

As she felt a gaze and turned around, she saw Meiko half-peeking from the sliding door.

Was Erii’s friend something so rare? Meiko’s eyes were full of curiosity. Unable to tell how she should react, Shiika opened her mouth wondering if she should call out to her, but since she didn’t know what to say, she just remained silent.

Meiko kept glaring at the confused Shiika.

As a result of feeling so flustered, Shiika just lightly waved at her.

Meiko tilted her head. But she soon waved her small hand back.

“Ehe.”

As the happy Shiika smiled at her, Meiko also grinned back.

Seeing the bun-haired girl’s adorable smile, Shiika felt some of the tension leave her.

This household knew nothing about Erii as “C”—

Being touched by their overly peaceful atmosphere, Shiika realized this fact.

“Here you go, Shiika-san. You can come watch TV until dinner’s ready.”

Yukari came back. She brought out a flat cushion from within the sliding screen and took it to the living room.

“C’mon, Meiko. Clean up.”

“I’ll help.”

As Shiika said this, Meiko uttered a “yeah,” looking bashful.

Returning to the living room, she saw an elderly man taking off his work clothes. He had a striking appearance, with the slim body clad in a tank top and slanted eyes that would probably look scary if he was angry.

“Hey, grandpa, don’t strip here. —Shiika-san, this is our grandfather. Mom’s currently at work.”

“H-hello. Nice to meet you.”

“Erii’s friend, eh? Hmm.”

He directed very suspicious eyes toward her.

So it was unnatural after all? Shiika reflexively averted her eyes.

“Well, feel like home.”

Saying this, the old man vanished into the corridor. Yukari wore a bitter smile.

“Sorry, he’s not very sociable, but don’t mind him.”

“T-that’s fine.”

As Shiika felt her heart beating heart over the prospect of getting busted, she felt something flat slapping onto her hand.

It was a sticker.

She could see bun-haired Meiko was smiling bashfully at her.

Perhaps this was her own way of getting along with the friend of a sister she barely knew.

“Thanks.”

Shiika returned a smile and looked at the sticker.

It was a glossy, pink heart.



—And thus.

Shiika ended up eating an early dinner with a family she met for the first time.

“Won’t your parents worry if you’re out this late?”

“I-it’s alright… I’ve, err, told them already.”

“Well, that’s fine then.”

Seeing Yukari’s smile, she couldn’t really relax; perhaps because she was lying to this family. Or perhaps because she got too used to the world of Mushitsuki.

No—

Shiika came there because she had a certain resolve.

“Thanks for the meal.”

The completely normal meal advanced and the grandfather piled up the empty bowls.

Yukari was facing an immense challenge as she tried getting young Meiko to eat her vegetables.

From what Shiika understood from the mealtime conversations, the mother worked at nights. Yukari worked in any part-time job she could. The grandfather managed the neighborhood factory.

While obtaining all this vague information, the discomfort within Shiika swelled further and further.

Shiika was present there as the friend of the late middle sibling.

Even so—the topic of Erii didn’t rise even once.

“Thank you for the food. E-err… it was good. Very much.”

“I’m glad.”

Shiika put her chopsticks aside and Yukari smiled. The older woman looked at her sister.

“This one’s a goner. She’s already half-asleep.”

Meiko, with rice grains on the sides of her mouth, was already nodding off.

“Clean up and go to sleep already.”

“I haven’t finished already. Wait a little.”

“Ah… I will help once you’re done. Err, washing the dishes and all that.”

“No, it’s fine, it’s fine. You’re our guest, take it easy.”

Shiika and the grandfather finished eating and Yukari kept eating side dishes alone.

Once Meiko fell asleep, silence befell the dining table.

“E-err…”

Shiika couldn’t bear staying there any longer, so she decided to break the ice.

Grandfather and Yukari looked at Shiika.

“I-I’m sorry for not telling you the truth. I’m actually not Erii’s classmate…”

“Oh my, really? I apologize to you, then, for jumping to the wrong conclusion.”

“What are you to Erii, then?”

She hesitated on how to answer the old man as she saw his creased brow.

“I spoke a little with Erii once, so I’m definitely not her friend or anything—”

Once, while Shiika was on the run from the SEPB, that girl appeared.

At first, she helped Shiika’s escape.

However, her true form was an assassin who meant to eliminate Shiika.

''—If only you weren’t there…!

Saying this, the girl known by the alias C glared at Shiika.

She was her ally and enemy. Their only common point was perhaps the fact that they were both Mushitsuki.

No, that was wrong. There was another common point.

Kakkou.

Shiika came to know later that this girl admired Kakkou.

Shiika also selfishly regarded him as a friend.

Therefore, since she and Erii had common friends—

“…I wanted to become friends with her.”

Those was her true feelings.

Erii seemed to hate Shiika, but Shiika did not hate her. She felt no grudge toward being targeted like this—perhaps because it happened too much before.

''—Only I know him…!

That was why she wanted to speak with Erii, who knew Kakkou well.

Kakkou, the boy who held the same dream.

Kakkou would definitely never talk about himself—

“Because Erii was very similar to me.”

There was no mistake that there were much more differences than similarities between the two—but she felt that the fact that both were Mushitsuki and that they had Kakkou as a common friend was the most important of all.

Yukari and her grandfather listened to Shiika quietly.

She hoped that this pair would forgive her for looking at them with eyes that were just the slightest bit reproaching.

“So when I found out what happened to Erii… I became very sad.”

Yukari and her grandfather looked shocked.

“So you didn’t know… Erii has died.”

“Eh, no way.”

“…”

Shiika bit her lips and lowered her gaze.

She knew this. No one in this household did anything bad.

Although she knew this—she thought it was too cruel for them to think Erii was dead when she was still alive.

To be honest, Shiika didn’t want to blame just this family.

There was also Miguruma Yaeko. As well as—all people connected to this fight.

Being told that Erii lost her personality, she just accepted this. It might be true, but if Shiika had to say—

Why didn’t they think that Erii was still alive?

Because they didn’t want to hold onto this lone ray of hope?

Because a Mushitsuki could vanish so easily?

If Shiika was in Erii’s position—she wouldn’t give up.

Thinking about her vanishing from this world without telling anyone, without leaving anything behind, was too sad to bear.

“Erii… what kind of a girl was she?”

Shiika raised her face and inquired Erii’s family.

They said she was dead, but she didn’t ask about the cause of death. The SEPB had many possible ways to fake this, and if her family really thought she was dead due to some easy trick—she might look at these sinless people with blaming eyes again.

“…”

Shiika didn’t miss the fact both Yukari and her grandfather’s expressions froze.

“Erii…”

“Right…”

Seeing the both of them exchange glances while looking troubled, Shiika furrowed her brows.

Why would anyone make that face when asked about their family?

It was the kind of face normal people would make upon seeing something bizarre.

Right, just like—someone seeing a Mushitsuki.

Shiika recalled the faces of her own family when they saw she was a Mushitsuki.

Unable to understand why they’d make this face while recalling Erii, Shiika was stunned.

“She was a smart kid, I guess.”

“Right, she was very smart.”

She knew they carefully chose their words.

“Something happened at the local elementary school, so we sent her to some good private one… but there was even some talk about her skipping grades.”

“Right. We weren’t able to understand anything about her…”

Shiika realized from their behavior.

Even before becoming a Mushitsuki, Erii was already something like a Mushitsuki.

Meaning, ever since she was born in this town—she understood herself to be “abnormal”.

“I really feel like she was born in the wrong place.”

“And what did you know of her, Shiika-san?”

Being asked this herself, Shiika ended up unconsciously clenching the fists on her lap.

“Erii—”

When she became a Mushitsuki, perhaps she finally was reborn into the place fitting for her.

By mixing with the abnormal beings called Mushitsuki, she might have been able to escape the world where only she was abnormal—

“She helped me… and she also yelled at me…”

“Yelled? Did she, really?”

Her grandfather was surprised.

“Also—I believe she fell in love.”

“Eh…?”

Yukari was speechless.

Was it so unexpected for someone to help people, get angry and fall in love?

“Um, I’m sorry. I should be going.”

She was at her limit of holding back her emotions. Shiika stood up.

“Is something the matter?”

Ignoring the surprised grandfather, Shiika headed to the door. Yukari hurried after her.

“I-I feel like I should apologize. Have I said anything that angered you?”

“No, nothing like that. I just remembered I have something to do.”

She couldn’t even look her in the eyes. The moment she slipped on her shoes and was about to exit, Yukari spoke.

“Ah, maybe—you’ve got the wrong person? It didn’t sound like Erii after all…”

Shiika’s legs stopped on the cusp of exiting.

She bit her lips.

Erii was still alive and fought as a Mushitsuki all this time—and it might be Shiika and the others who would actually rob her life.

Right, she felt like spilling everything—

“—No, it wasn’t a mistake at all.”

After asserting this, Shiika now truly exited the Horiuchi household.

As she tried exiting the premises, she saw Aijisupa and the rest waiting for her from afar.

“…”

She turned back to the door. Yukari was still looking at her.

Shiika exited the area of the house—or she pretended to, but she actually went around the wall. Walking against it, she went all the way to the rear entrance.

Aijisupa and the rest were probably shocked at this unexpected action of hers.

And they definitely lost sight of her.

As she went to the empty back of the house, she glanced around her. It looked like she could jump onto the first-floor roof if she climbed the small storage shed.

She wasn’t athletic in the least, but by using a bundle of magazines as a foothold, she managed to climb on the storage shed. She then made a dangerous leap from there to the roof, and used the veranda’s fence to climb all the way to the second-story roof.

Violent passions swirling within her got her to take a bold action.

“One, two… up I go…!”

She managed to climb to the second-story roof so that Aijisupa’s group couldn’t see her.

She was out of breath.

People from the surrounding buildings and apartments could probably see Shiika. However, her Mushibane friends on the surface shouldn’t be able to tell where she went to.

Shiika was alone on the roof of the Horiuchi household.

Gathering her breath, she sat while hugging both knees.

“These people have done nothing wrong.”

There was no clue regarding Erii in that house.

“But—I can’t forgive them.”

A small light was formed above Shiika’s head.

“Erii’s still alive and well…”

Shiika’s Mushi—a glowing firefly—appeared and its glow gradually strengthened.

Erii’s family did nothing wrong.

They simply didn’t know.

Even so—she wanted her own family to know.

“If this was Kakkou-kun, who’s always called a demon… he’d definitely do this.”

This could be said to be just Shiika being selfish.

It might be an unjustified grudge created by seeing herself in Erii.

She actually intended to do this all along.

Ever since she saw Erii’s picture in the altar.

As the firefly overhead was about to spread its wings—

It stopped its movements.

“—”

Shiika felt a presence from behind.

It was certainly not Aijisupa and the others. Because she climbed up here to lose them.

“—Nanana had called this a bet, but this wasn’t my intention.”

Shiika mumbled without moving a muscle.

“The hometown has nothing to do with it. Because I thought you’d be watching me no matter where I went.”

She slowly turned around.

“That’s why the real meaning was in ''me specifically'' coming to Erii’s hometown.”

A girl stood behind Shiika.

Her appearance was familiar, but she was slightly changed from when she last saw her. She wore no glasses and her plain t-shirt was replaced with a fashionable dress. Her hairstyle changed as well, and beneath her sharp eyes on her right cheek was a heart sticker, with yet another sticker on the left side of her neck.

“If something of your personality still remained—it didn’t matter if someone like me was near your family or not.”

Standing up, Shiika faced that person.

“Erii.”

The girl with a heart symbol standing in front of her eyes.

That person had clearly changed from the appearance of her original body.

“Give Yuu-chan back.”

She returned Shiika’s gaze with a gaze that was twice as—no, dozens of times fuller of hatred.

Ebina Yuu—no, Horiuchi Erii stared at Shiika.