Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 4 Chapter 2 (section)

==2.03 The Others==

With his hands in his pockets, Reiji looked up at the station and mused.

It was now the evening rush hour and the roundabout in front of the Nishito City station was congested. Buses and taxis were constantly passing through and pedestrians flooded the walkway as well. In front of the gantry, the area around the ticketing machine was crammed full of people too.

Teenage boys and girls were sitting on the guardrails that separated the roundabout and the sidewalk and were chatting happily or staring at their mobile phones. Similar to them, Reiji was sitting on the guardrail. He took out a cigarette packet from his pocket and held a cigarette to his lips. However, he did not lighted it.

—Listen to me, I want you to stay by the side of a certain girl.

In the past, the girl known as Tachibana Rina had said that to Reiji. That had been the very first and last thing that she had requested of him.

Since the moment he first met her in a nursery school in Akamaki City, the girl known as Rina already had the charm to attract people. There was always somebody gathered around that girl who had a cheery smile.

In contrast, Reiji did not have a single person which he could call a friend. As he did not feel lonely, he did not see the point of making friends either. It was around that time—that Reiji thought that there was surely something crucial missing from his heart ever since he was born.

“…”

Reiji took his hand out of his pocket and clenched it into a fist as if he was grasping something. A white mist formed around his arm. A ''pishii'' sound like that of when a carbonated drink is opened rang out.

Smoke rised from the cigarette that he held in his mouth. —Before one even knew, Reiji’s cigarette had been lighted up. He returned his hand into his pocket.

—Since nursery school and primary school, he had been looking at the figure of Rina.

He had already forgotten who was it that had first called out to the other, except that it had surely begun from something small and insignificant. However, Rina was always at the places where Reiji went to, and the chance of Reiji being at the place where Rina was at was quite high.

From nursery school to primary school, Rina had been the popular person in class. The bright and kind her would always be surrounded by friends, yet whenever she was in a place where no one could see her, she would have a contemplative look.

It was probably around the time during the upper grades of primary school.

While Reiji was smoking alone on the rooftop, Rina came to him.

She would always approach Reiji whenever she wanted to take a breather. That was probably because there was never anybody around Reiji and that Reiji himself was always aloof. Whenever Rina wanted to be alone, she would come to his side. That’s what he thought.

—Please give me one of that too.

—Nn.

—…

—…

—Hey, Reiji.

—Hmm?

—Do you know about… Mushitsuki?

—Only rumours that those things feed on people’s hopes and dreams to grow. I’ve also heard that they eat humans.

—Yea, mine was eaten by it. But, that was only mine. I don’t think others eat humans though…

That was the day that Rina became a Mushitsuki.

Listening to her speak about it indifferently, Reiji opened his mouth.

—You want my help?

—Nope, what I want was probably… a punishment. I thought that if it was Reiji, then you would do so.

—You want me to kill you?

When he coolly asked that, Rina bit her lips with an anguished look. That was the first time that Reiji had seen her look like she was about to cry.

However, Rina only took an instant to conceal that face, immediately showing a smile again. She even told off Reiji about how smoking was bad for his health especially now when he was still a minor. In the end, she did not light the cigarette. She then left with a, ‘See you’.

It seems like Reiji was the only one that Rina said farewell to. From that day on, she never attended that primary school again.

The next time they met was more than one year later.

On the way back from the local middle school, he happened to see Rina in the streets of Akamaki City. She was together with some youths of around the same age as Reiji whom he did not know. He could tell that they were most likely from other city as he had pretty much memorised the faces of the pedestrians he passed by on his way to and from school.

He had heard that Rina had been admitted to a middle school in Higano City next door through the arrangement of a certain person. But, she would occasionally come here to Akamaki City for some errands.

Having met Rina again since a while, he found that she was as beautiful as always. Furthermore, compared to the time when they were in primary school, her current smile was more lighthearted. He thought that she must have been doing something she liked.

—Seems like I’ve also become a Mushitsuki somehow or another.

When Reiji mentioned that casually, Rina was surprised. But, she immediately leaned forward and asked him what his dream was. It seems that to become a Mushitsuki, one must have a dream.

Reiji only tilted his head saying, ‘I wonder’.

The ''something'' that had turned Reiji into a Mushitsuki had said some incomprehensible words to him. It was something about, ‘Thou shalt become the one to protect the king’.

Rina slumped her shoulders dumbfounded, but showed an odd smile right after.

—Are you alright?

Before they parted, Reiji asked that of Rina. He wondered if Rina understood what he was referring to. She was taken aback.

When Rina revealed a lonely smile, the youths around her were stunned.

—I’m still in the middle of a journey, but it hasn’t been going very well.

Just like in the past, Reiji asked if she wanted his help. But, Rina only smiled mischievously and stuck out her tongue at Reiji.

—Reiji really is… really, it’s because you are always like that that you always cause me to waver. No, it mustn’t be anything but like this. Because we’re… that’s why, even if it’s just Reiji alone, you must stay on ‘that’ side.

She said a bunch of things that Reiji did not understand at all.

—Fine, I’ll reserve a request from you first then. Someday, I’ll make such a huge request of you that you would definitely regret it. And that will be something that would shake up your entire life.

After that, he did not see Rina for quite a while. However, Reiji thought that Rina would undoubtedly appear in front of him unexpectedly again for sure

Reiji’s prediction was on the mark, and once again, she appeared before him right as he entered high school.

—I’m gonna head to Ouka City. I’ve been thinking about various things, but I’ve made up my mind now. There’s something I must do no matter what. I’ve finally found my dream.

At that time, Reiji had already received a recommendation to attend a local high school. It was just an ordinary high school as he did not have anything he wanted to do.

Reiji listened to Rina’s words without speaking. He vaguely remembered and felt that there was something odd about the order. One should have a dream so as to become a Mushitsuki, but she was saying that she had just found her dream.

When Reiji asked if she was alright, Rina showed the exact same expression as she did in the past. It seems like she has yet to find a place where she can find peace.

The last time he heard Rina’s voice was through the phone.

—You know. I might die tomorrow.

—…

—That’s why, I have a request for you.

—Fine. I’ll listen to anything.

Reiji answered instantly. There was no falsehood in those words at all, he thought that he would anything that was within his power.

Rina probably knew that as well. That was something like an ‘agreement’ between the two of them.

—Are you okay with that? Don’t regret later after blindly making a promise.

—I won’t do that.

—I see. Just to be clear, this is not me getting even with you, okay? Didn’t I say it before? It’s because Reiji always cause me to be waver.

—Fine, just say it.

—…Thank you.

—…

—Listen to me, I want you to stay by the side of a certain girl. In the case that I fail in what I am going to do from now on… I want you to watch over with your own eyes what that girl would do. She’s my important friend.

—So, you’re saying you want me to protect her? Is that for her sake?

—No, that’s wrong. You just need to stay by her side. This is for the sake of Reiji.

—My sake?

—I want Reiji to watch over that girl, Shiika. That girl has something that neither Reiji nor I have.

—I don’t get what you’re saying at all. This is your request? Something for the sake of myself?

—''Haah''… As expected, you still have not noticed. You—no, more like the both of us…

The girl known as Tachibana Rina was a strange person right till the very end.

She would come by the side of the always solitary Reiji who possessed nothing, just like a freshwater fish that swims to the surface of the water for a breather, leaving just a lonely smile before disappearing. Till the very end, Reiji still couldn’t figure out her true intentions.

In the end, his relationship with Rina was a questionable and inseparable one.

But, the next day following his final exchange with Rina, he gave up attending school.

It was for the sake of finding out what the girl who he had an inseparable relationship with meant by ‘getting even’ with him.

“…”

Several months had passed since Rina found her place of belonging.

When he visited Rina’s family home, he was told that she had gone missing since a few years back. Even so, they had not made a report to the police to conduct a search. After combing through the middle schools in Higano City, he finally discovered the school which Rina went to. She had apparently gone to a certain Moira High School in a place known as Housawa Town.

However, that was just a pretence. Despite receiving the notice of enrolment as well as paying the tuition fees, she did not attend the school.

Reiji trusted her words and went to search through the high schools in Ouka City. He eventually found the public high school she attended, but he also heard that she was missing there. He even got ahold of her classmates that were her friends, but they did not have any idea where she lived either. Being a public school, they had a tough policy on the privacy of their students and stubbornly refused to reveal Rina’s address to Reiji. On the contrary, they seemed to readily accept her notice of absence from school.

Left with no choice, Reiji snuck into the school at night and stole a look at the student’s personal information. Having found the location and visited it, he found that the name of the tenant of the room in a condominium did not even exist.

After that was just a use of force. Stealing the management documents from the landlord’s house, and then checking out the tenant’s bank account—just when he was doing all this, he was contacted by Munakata Kaiji.

Having had the intention of fishing out the relevant people, he had purposely acted flashily. Thus, he was not surprised when Munakata reached out to him. And then, when Munakata told him what happened to Rina after that, he remained unsurprised.

“…”

As he smoked his cigarette, a girl with a small stature sat down next to him.

It was Shiika. —In the first place, the reason they came from the hotel to here in front of the station was because of her saying that she wanted a change of pace after being worn out from staring at the documents.

Shiika stared into Reiji’s face intently. Being so close, she looked all the more childish.

“Hmm?”

“You are… smoking the cigarette?”

“Can’t you tell just by looking.”

“S-sorry…”

Her face turned red and she hung her head. But, she seems to want to say something and kept stealing glances at Reiji’s face.

It was not as if Reiji was trying to stare back at Shiika or intimidate her. It was just that his normal gaze usually caused the other party to think that he was. It frequently happened that he would anger his addressee just by answering their question.

The two of them just continued to look at the hustle and bustle of the crowd in front of the station in silence. Taking a fleeting glimpse at Shiika, Reiji saw that she was enjoying herself just by gazing at the peaceful scenery. This was in contrast to when she was browsing through the documents in the hotel, where she had a look on her face like that of a puppy being cornered.

When Shiika noticed Reiji’s gaze, she looked at his direction too. But, she seemed embarrassed from having their gaze met and she averted her eyes. watching her behaviour like this, Reiji felt a rare sense of irritation.

Rina… is this person really your ‘friend’?

He did not know if Rina noticed this herself, but she almost never called anyone her friend. For her who was constantly surrounded by others, she always referred to them by ‘everyone’ or ‘those people’. After she moved to Higano City, she would often use the word, ‘comrade’.

“E-erm, is Aijisupa-san…”

Shiika timidly spoke out in a voice that was being drowned out by the buzz of the people around them. It appears that she was not used to being around so many people.

Munakata had been the one to give him the name known as Aijisupa. The reason being that he was not used to being called by his name, Shirotani Reiji.

“You are Rina’s childhood friend, right?”

“…I wonder. She was just someone I knew since young, an inseparable existence.”

“From young… What kind of child was Rina like when she was young?”

That was a question that Reiji had heard for the first time. Being labelled as an outsider by Mushibane, there was no one who had asked that of him. It was like they were trying to say that they knew Rina—or the girl known as Ladybird better than him.

“She was just a normal kid.”

He answered honestly. If he had said that to the Rina-worshipping bunch of Mushibane, would they have gotten angry?

“There are many things about her I do not know of either, but she was just like any other person.”

“I see.”

Shiika looked glad. It seems like she did not have any doubts about Reiji and Rina being childhood friends at all.

Reiji answering her question straightforwardly seems to have calmed her down, as her nervous face softened. The reason that they had not conversed much despite all the time they spent together was due to them not having a common topic.

“What kind of fellow was Rina?”

Reiji asked Shiika the same question back.

“When Rina was at Ouka City… what kind of person was the one called Ladybird like?”

Shiika looked surprised but smiled right after. It was a reserved smile with only the corners of her eyes and lips slightly loosened, but it was very frank. Reiji could feel his little remaining irritation being washed away by her smile.

“She was just an ordinary girl.”

“I see.”

“Did you know? Rina had someone she liked.”

“I see.”

“She also had someone she hated too.”

“I see.”

“She had also cried in front of me.”

“…I see.”

Just these few sentences all revealed a side of Rina which Reiji never knew.

“Thank you.”

Those words reflexively came out of his mouth. Shiika only looked at him in puzzlement.

“Surely, you were the only one that she had shown that to.”

“…Yes.”

Shiika nodded and hung her head. She raised her right hand once to rub her eye.

“The only thing that Rina requested of me was to stay by your side.”

Reiji said.

“For me to watch over what you would do. That’s all. She did not intend for me to help you. Even if you die, that would have just been your ending.”

“Yes.”

When Shiika raised her face, her eyes were slightly red, but there was a light-hearted smile too.

Reiji narrowed his eyes and spat out the cigarette. With the sound of ''pushii'', the cigarette falling through the air contracted as if it was squeezed, before turning into dust and scattering. Shiika widened her eyes in astonishment.

“Don’t you want to request for my help?”

“Eh?”

Reiji gazed at Shiika who asked a question in return. Her perplexed face was replaced by one of hesitation.

“If you say that you want me to help, then I guess I’ll help out.”

“…”

“I would do anything that you ask of me, seeing as I have nothing to do anyway. But, she did not request for my help even at the very end. …What are you going to do? If you want my help, then I’ll help?”

Reiji and Shiika stared at each other. The noise from the streets seemed annoyingly loud then.

Knowing that Reiji was waiting for an answer, Shiika reveal a thin smile.

“Because I am still lost… what am I going to do from now on, what should I do from now on, even I have no idea.”

—That was all.

A genuine doubt sprouted in Reiji’s mind.

Rina… Is the reason she did not ask me for help the same as yours?

“!”

Feeling a chill down his back, Reiji's gaze turned sharp. The commotion in front of the station felt very distant all of a sudden, as if the surrounding area had been transported into a different world.

So, it appears again… and it’s close—.

It was the presence that had appeared around Shiika’s vicinity at every turn that followed them for Ouka City to here in Nishito City. The air turned stagnant and it felt like a sticky gaze had set its sights on Shiika and Reiji.

Moving only his eyes, he kept on high alert at the surroundings.

It was not in the station beyond the gantry. It was not at the street left and right of them either. He looked at the roundabout behind, turning his head around just very slightly. But, he couldn’t find any suspicious figures there either.

“Is something the matter?”

He looked at Shiika who was asking him with a unknowing look—and saw it beyond her shoulder, in front of the ticketing machine.

For merely an instant.

A girl with fluttering long hair was looking in their direction with a loose smile hanging on her face. The eyes of the girl who was wearing a thin cloth that looked like that of a hospital garb was a deep black that seemed to suck one into darkness.

“…”

After her figure was swallowed into the crowd, she disappeared.

It’s really a monster… but, compared to the time at Ouka City, its presence seems much thinner now. It must have been worn out from the journey to here, or perhaps it’s being on guard… looks like it’s not planning to make a move yet though. Perhaps, ‘observing’ is the best it can do before it rejuvenates its strength…

Shiika had said that she did not need his help. He did not know just what kind of person was she that a monster like that would be chasing her. As long as she did not request for his help, even if she were to be killed by that monster just like that, that would just be the conclusion of the girl known as Anmoto Shiika.

However, something doesn’t feel right.

From their conversation, Shiika was undeniably Rina’s friend. But, unlike Rina, that girl was far too defenceless.

“Just how long do you plan to dawdle around here for?”

“Eh?”

“Aren’t you being chased? Don’t you think that you are being too conspicuous staying here?”

Shiika jolted in understanding after being warned in a roundabout manner. Getting flustered all of a sudden, she got down from the guardrail.

“Y-you’re right. Somehow, it seems like I was feeling relieved…”

“Relieved? Why is that so?”

“I-I wonder why is that…? Maybe it’s because Aijisupa-san is here.”

“Didn’t I say that I wouldn’t help. Since you did not ask for it.”

“O-oh, right. My apologies.”

Reiji could feel his irritation rising again.

Is she an idiot…?

Sighing out, it seems like it was time for him to return to the hotel with Shiika.

“Fine, the one you are challenging is this Ayukawa Chiharu. I, attendance number 23 of Class H of the Second Year of Nishito Sousei High School, vice-chairman—former vice-chairman of the student council accept your challenge! …Eh, ''uwaah!'' I don’t have enough money. Not even sufficient to buy a ticket… D-dang, if only I didn’t buy that roasted ginger set meal from the school cafeteria and settled for the curry udon instead…!”

The sight of a girl leaning on the ticketing machine and grumbling came into his view. Shiika too seemed to have noticed the girl. They looked at the girl who was called Ayukawa Chiharu.

Wearing a casquette on her head, she looked to be around the same age as Reiji. The figure of her writhing her body exaggeratingly was extremely eye-catching. Her sense of presence was so strong such that she would probably draw attention even if she were to just stand there quietly.

It appears that Chiharu could not buy a ticket as she did not have enough money. It wasn’t any particularly uncommon occurrence. Reiji started to walk towards the hotel.

“Erm… Aijisupa-san.”

Reiji turned around. Shiika was pulling onto his clothes. He understood what she wanted to do even without her saying anything and thrust his hand into his pocket.

“I don’t really mind. Do as you want.”

He took out a note from his wallet and passed it to Shiika. If she wanted something to do something like that, he didn’t mind helping her out.

“Thank you very much.”

Shiika smiled sweetly and ran towards Chiharu’s side.

“E-erm.”

“All because of that aroma which piqued my interest. Now that I thought about it, that was the biggest culprit. How devious, the school cafeteria aunty…”

“Erm…?”

“What’s the problem? If you’re lost, you should look for the station staff for help.”

“Please use this.”

“Thank you. I’m happy for your gesture, but it’s not like I’m actually that troubled. How do I explain it, this is just something like a reckless act of youth? It’s like a, ‘if it doesn’t work out, okay, let’s give up and try again tomorrow’, kind of trouble.”

“But, you look like you really want to go.”

“Yeah, I really want to go. Really, this is so troubling if I say so myself.”

“You, what’s your name?”

“Ah… it’s Anmoto Shiika.”

Reiji was gobsmacked.

As I thought, she’s really an idiot …Even though she is being pursued, she still used her real name—.

“Thank you. I’ll return this to you later.”

“Eh? Return it…?”

Leaving Shiika standing behind, Chiharu rushed through the gantry.

“Come on, let’s go. Idiot.”

“O-okay. Eh… idiot…?”

With Shiika in tow, Reiji began to walk back to the hotel.

Curious about the girl whom she exchanged sparse words with, Shiika turned back to look at the station countless of times.

<noinclude>
{{SimpleNav}}
</noinclude>