Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Chapter 3 (section)

==3.03 Shachito Part 5==

Ever since he came back home, Shachito still felt not fully satisfied. 

Since he'd thought that he was going to train again today for sure he already cancelled all of his other plans with friends. It would be difficult to join up with them at this stage.

According to what Inuko said, his training had apparently already started.

Did that mean even resting was part of his training? Thinking of it, the harsh training day after day and the battle with Shinpu caused him to accumulate quite the fatigue.

"Well, if she tells me to rest then I'll happily do it. Lucky lucky."

Throwing his jacket on top of his bed, he sat on it.

He opened his cellphone and looked at the screen.

He had received 7 text messages.

Perhaps because he lately had fewer chances to hang out with friends, the amount of text messages also lessened.

This didn't mean he severed relations with them, though. If Shachito returned to his previous lifestyle, he would be able to immediately restore all of his relationships.

''—You've said that you have no dream, but is that true?''

As he stayed still, Rio floated to his mind.

He had none.

Shachito couldn't recall his dream. He couldn't even say for sure that it wasn't a big deal.

Since that girl had the dream to become an actress, she probably had to face many obstacles. When she had been asked this by him, Rio's expression grew serious.

Shachito had said that he wanted to see Rio because she possessed what he lacked. Thinking about it, it wouldn't be weird for his words from that time to sound like a love confession. 

If it was an unintentional confession, did this mean he liked Rio?

"That's somewhat wrong, though."

He certainly possessed a favorable opinion on Rio. But if he were asked whether they were feelings of love, he felt like he couldn't affirm or deny it.

While he didn't know the truth about his feelings, his discomfort only kept growing.

He had the strange hunch that he was forgetting something important.

Even so he went to see Rio and naturally ended up supporting her.

It felt horrible unstable.

"I wonder if Rio-chan's doing her audition already."

Yet his feelings of wanting to cheer on Rio were no lie.

''She's working hard even now, right?''

Thinking this, he next became curious about himself. Since he had become a Mushitsuki, was there a time when even someone like him had a dream that made him sparkle just like Rio? 

Several photographs were attached with pins to a board hanging from the wall. All of them were of a carefree Shachito smiling along with his friends.  

Getting off the bed, he opened his closet. Being covered in dust as he fumbled inside, he soon found several albums. All the pictures that couldn't be hung on the board were thrown inside here.

"I should look at my past happy life every once in a while."

Sitting cross-legged, he leafed through the album.

The photos were ordered starting from the latest which were the first year of high school and following to when he was in middle school.

"Wow, I might've been even more of an airhead than I am now."

Even in his photos from middle school he was surrounded by smiling friends just like in the present. With the only difference between them being the background, the photos were all overflowing with fun.

"Now that I'm looking at it that guy looks so stupid. It's me though. This one's amazing, I've done well to capture it. Oh, was it a digital camera? If this one is found won't I be arrested?"

It was clear that even back then he wasn't any different from now that he was on his second year of high school; he only sought after pleasure without thinking of anything.

"…I wasn't self-conscious about it, but was I really a playboy? I mean, these pictures with girls are clearly… it's making me a bit sad."

He leafed through the album's pages with a wry smile.

"I was so stupid back then, I used to do all these—"

Putting a hand on his forehead and smiling, Shachito's expression suddenly froze.

"…Back then?"

A bizarre sense of discomfort suddenly rose inside him.

With his smile still frozen, Shachito's hand moved on its own.

It flipped the album backwards.

With time passing, the pictures of Shachito as a high school student appeared again.

"But right now…"

What changed was only about the scenery and Shachito's height.

For some reason—

He had a horrible premonition—

"It doesn't look like… anything's changed, though…"

He used a hand to touch his face that was frozen with a smile.

He touched his cheeks.

He recalled that time just after Valentine's Day.

Shachito had been called out by his classmate and was then slapped. He wanted to be tolerant and forgive her harsh misunderstanding. "I want to end it already", she said, and Shachito just thought that she watched too many dramas.

But actually—had Shachito really done nothing to her?

She was someone who called out to him despite the fact he was unable to remember her name.

At the time he had been slapped, which of them was tolerant and forgave the other?

When he'd met the girl the following day, wasn't she looking at Shachito with eyes filled with misery—with contempt?

"…Hmm?"

Something was strange.

It wasn't that he couldn't remember or that he forgot because it was too long ago.

He felt as if everything he'd done, everything he was doing, was all rearranged to his convenience. 

Something was twisted.

"—Oh well, it doesn't matter."

He felt as if he mustn't think any deeper than that. The part of him that tried to stop thinking suppressed the part that tried thinking.

"Why was I looking in the album again? Oh, right. I wanted to see if I've ever been sparkling with a dream."

His pupils reflected on the album's film were cloudy like those of a doll.

He mechanically leafed through the album.

As long as he used none of his powers he could live while hiding he was a Mushitsuki—he traced back the enjoyable days that passed as he thought that.

"…Oh?"

Light returned to Shachito's eyes.

Going back to a certain period, the photos decorating the album had a completely different atmosphere.

It appeared to be around the lower grades of middle school.

It wasn't the boundlessly cheerful Shachito, but a Shachito in normal commemorative photos. He was pictured with smiles, but there was also a part of him that was anxious having a camera directed at him.

They were somewhat "normal" photographs. 

But that conversely caused them to stand out inside his album.

"Thinking about it, I don't think I've had plenty of friends back then… compared to now anyway."

He looked for the boundary between the two sides of the album.

He found it.

He could see a photo of his upper half body on the bed of some hospital, wearing hospital clothes.

He was completely expressionless.

There were no traces of either the plain Shachito or the cheerful Shachito.

"Oh, it was this time. I was run over by a drunk driver and nearly died. As a bonus I was infected by something and it was just horrible, yeah."

He suddenly recalled it as if it was some other people's business.

"Now that I think of it, it was also around the time I became a Mushitsuki…"

For some reason he felt fear.

A sensation squeezed below his stomach as though he was falling down. As he stared at the album, Shachito's pulse quickened.

Suddenly unable to calm down, he closed the album.

"Was there… a time where I… was sparkling with a dream…?"

As he kept thinking his mind became more and more chaotic.

Seeing he became a Mushitsuki he should've had some dream. And yet just as he became a Mushitsuki he turned into the Shachito right now that indulged in his irresponsible lifestyle. Meaning he was the dreamless Shachito right now.

Trying to compose himself, he returned to the bed and grabbed his cellphone. He operated the buttons as if possessed, sending a message to Rio.

''—Are you in the middle of the audition right now? Do your best, Rio-chan! You're definitely gonna pass it!''

As he sent the cheering mail, he was able to greatly calm down.

Imagining her going through the audition with a desperate face, he burst into laughter. 

"Looking at Rio-chan doing her best would probably be amusing. Now if she'd only lower her guard a little bit…"

While laughing carefreely, he looked at the phone.

"…Guard?"

His smile once again froze.

"What am I saying…?"

A shudder welled up from inside his body.

He stubbornly clung to Rio because he wanted to support her beautiful dream. Even if he had a favorable opinion of her, he hadn't the slightest intention to do anything to her, never mind feelings of love.

Or so it should have been.

"What am I trying to do to—"

''Don't think of it.''

He was warned by none other than himself.

"I-Inuko…!"

He couldn't understand what had happened to him.

As he thought of seeking help, Shishidou Inuko rose to mind. The girl had taught him what being a Mushitsuki was like as well as plenty of other things.

Inuko would be able to help him. It was like that when he'd fought Shinpu too.

But the girl's response, supposed to become his salvation, was blunt. 

"…What is it?"

Inuko's indifferent voice stabbed Shachito through the receiver. 

He could hear cheerful music mixed with the icy voice.

"I'm in the middle of something. Do call me later."

Without waiting for Shachito's reply, she cut off the call.

He felt anger at Inuko's cold act, but he then noticed something completely different.

"That music just now… It's the clock tower near the station—"

Looking up at the clock in his room, it indicated exactly 6:00 PM.

There was no mistake; the clock tower in the station plaza played music at this time every day.

"Why did she take a break from our training and went all the way there?"

As he thought about something other than himself, Shachito's mind went into full throttle.

He recalled what Inuko had said when he met her after school.

''—Do be careful. There seem to be plenty of accidents lately.''

''—If you still can't take even the first step, I will remove your shackles.''

Why would Inuko, who until now always kept adding more training for Shachito as long as there was time for it, suddenly take a break from it only for today?

Inuko wanted to raise him into a warrior.

But what were the shackles hindering Shachito from becoming a warrior?

Who was the one who made Shachito go to school in his spare time between training to meet up with them—

"…!"

The chaos in his head was blown off as if it never existed.

Grabbing his jacket, he flew out of his room with his helmet. As soon as he exited the house he mounted the So1o parked in the parking area and started the engine.

''—In a building in front of the station. The one recently remodeled.''

So said the girl who planned on having her audition today.

"That raincoat freak… I hope you're not thinking of doing anything—"

After wearing his goggles, he flew into the road without even checking it. A car that he nearly crashed into honked at him.

He didn't care about himself at all right now.

If Shachito's guess was correct, something irreversible was about to happen.

Ignoring a red light, he cut through the road while the cars around him honked. Turning through the coastland national highway, he headed for the town center.

Passing the part of town where he had fought Shinpu, he went through the intersection where he had fought a Mushitsuki other than himself for the first time. By the time he went straight ahead through the main street and reached the station it had already became night.

He stopped his motorbike on the road, exiting to the station plaza through the pedestrian bridge.

"Where are you, Inuko…!"

He surveyed the surroundings in front of the clock tower. Including the station itself, it was surrounded by high-rise buildings from all directions.

Rio had said her audition would take place inside the building just remodeled. As far as Shachito knew, there was only one building fitting that description.

It was a tall building that sparkled as it reflected the city's lights.

"…!"

As Shachito looked up the building, his pupils reflected a familiar yellow. He could see it fluttering by the wind even above the highest floor, on the rooftop's water tower. 

"Found you—"

With a furious expression, he took swift action.

The next instant, Shachito's body left an orange afterimage behind as it disappeared.

He appeared on the zenith of the clock tower along with a light tapping sound. —Since Shachito's weight became zero, he moved the same as if he was in a zero gravity space. Gaining initial speed that it would not be an exaggeration to say was comparable to teleportation just by kicking the ground, and then instantly restoring his weight, he gained super speed like that of a bullet.

On top of the clock tower, Shachito fixed his goggles. What stood in his way after being released from the chains of gravity was air resistance. He just needed to protect his eyes from the wind pressure.

Using the recoil further, he kicked the clock tower with both legs.

The orange flash pierced through the night sky.

"—Why did you come here?"

Leaping up to the rooftop of the high building in an instant, the yellow raincoat greeted Shachito as he clung to the water tower.

"I'll have to deduct points for using your abilities in front of people when it's not an emergency."

Standing on the fences surrounding the rooftop, Shishidou Inuko made a calm smile.

The wind blowing through the upper air of Holland City was strong.

Both Shachito and Inuko had their coats fiercely fanned to the same direction.

"No you. What are you doing here?"

The wind was so cold he felt as if his face froze over. There was none of Shachito's usual light smile.

"I just went for a walk. I've had the habit to somehow end up climbing high places ever since I was young."

"Liar."

"But why are you here? Letting your body rest properly every once in a while is also a part of training."

"I came here to support Rio-chan. She's having an audition in this building."

"She hasn't come out yet. It's apparently still going."

"How did you know she was here, Inuko?"

Shachito inquired, not moving a muscle despite the strong wind.

Inuko stood on the fence. Although she only had a single framework under her feet, she also moved no muscle. 

"That's—because I followed her, obviously."

Shachito shuddered with a chill.

Inuko's smile changed its nature. The girl in front of him exposed her true character as a cool-headed and brutal warrior.

"…Why have you followed Rio-chan?"

"What, assassinating someone is surprisingly easy. I can just cause the magnetic fields of the bus Masaki Rio will ride on her way home and a car on the opposite lane to amplify and be drawn to each other. And just like that I can cause a collision accident." 

"I'm asking you why."

"It's just what you think. —You'll be able to focus more on your training if she's gone, right?"

Seeing Inuko assert this far too easily, Shachito shuddered.

"Just… for that reason, you…!"

The girl smiling calmly on top of the fence couldn't be thought of as human. He felt as if he was facing against a weapon meant only for slaughter.

Although they were this close, the combatant girl felt so far.

Even though there were ten meters between them, she felt near enough to close that distance in an instant. 

"You're crazy…!"

"I know."

Hearing Shachito's hoarse voice, Inuko happily raised the corners of her lips.

She unsheathed her hockey stick that reflected the moonlight.

"Do become crazy as well."

Inuko jumped down from the fence.

The warrior who knew everything about battle landed on the rooftop floor without a sound. 

"It's the perfect opportunity. Seeing her die in front of your eyes will make even you wake up. You'll become stronger by begrudging me." 

"Don't… fuck with me!"

It was just so Shachito would become stronger—

He would never allow Rio to be killed for such a petty reason.

Jumping down from the water tower, he let his emotions control him and drew closer to Inuko.

"As if I'd let you do it!"

"—So what're you gonna do about it?"

Inuko's smile made a half-rotation.

It took him a while to understand what had happened. Once he hit the back of his head he realized that his feet had been swept off by the stick, making him tumble down. 

He felt no pain as usual, but in exchange he was about to lose his consciousness.

"Are you actually thinking that you can stop me? You sure are conceited for a novice who just learned how to fight."

"…!"

"You need to reflect on your weakness!"

As Inuko scorned him, he attempted nimbly grabbing her feet.

He was easily repelled by the hockey stick and his jaw was kicked up powerfully. 

"…!"

Rolling on the ground, Shachito soon stood up. Since he couldn't flinch due to pain, he reached his hands frantically in an attempt to grab Inuko's limbs. Based on arm strength, he should have the advantage over Inuko if he was able to seal her movements. 

"You forgot so much even though it's only been a few days since our hand-to-hand fighting lessons. Never mind shifting your body weight, even your movements are all messed up. You have too many wasted movements."

Nimbly dodging Shachito's arms, Inuko waved her hockey stick.

"Guh…!"

The steel-made stick dug into his flank. His breathing ceased and his movements stopped.

"Don't stop moving, you moron. You'll just turn into the enemy's prey."

Just like she said, Inuko went for a consecutive attack.

Since she was not using her ability, the hockey stick should have been much too heavy for her thin arms. However, Inuko skillfully propped up her body, controlling the stick with circular motions as if drawing. 

Shachito felt no pain.

Yet when his head was hit his vision would be dyed by white, when his stomach was hit he would lose his breath, and when his legs were hit he would lose his balance.

While looking down at Shachito who squatted on the ground, unable to breathe, Inuko leaned on the fence.

"—How ironic."

With her stick placed on her shoulder, Inuko moved her face to gaze at the windy townscape.

"Even if I look like this I like stuff like musicals and theater. I've even seen the original 'Beast' musical, albeit in video form. Jarre Harissi's performance in particular was magnificent. Based on what I heard about him, isn't he going all around the world and raising youth actors?"

Shachito finally regained his ability to breathe and took heavy breaths. 

"Isn't he just like me?"

Inuko's smile seemed lonely. Was she overlapping herself with Jarre?

"We're both scouts on a journey. Is he, just like me, regretting the fact that he can't return to active duty? Is he feeling miserable due to stepping off the stage? Does he also overlap himself with new talent?"

"…"

"Yet the talents that he and I have discovered here in Holland City are the complete opposite. What I found was a frivolous, irresponsible Mushitsuki—and as for him, if Masaki Rio were to pass the audition, he would find a serious and hardworking civilian."

While faltering in her speech, Inuko's expression returned being that of a warrior. Her sharp eyes gazed at Shachito.

"And now, a dreamless Mushitsuki tried to protect a dreaming civilian. —What's up with that? It feels much more like fate than some cheap musical."

Shachito returned Inuko's gaze, his face full of anguish. 

"Shachito, have you woken up to the fact you're angry now? This is my first time seeing you angry."

"…!"

Being told of it, he noticed his feelings for the first time.

How long has it been since he felt something like anger?

It wasn't just "pain"; he felt as if he had long forgotten even feelings like these.

"However, that's not anger. Because you lack a dream, you share it with her to feel like you have one. What you're trying to protect isn't her, but the dream you supposedly share with her."

Being asserted this, Shachito was speechless.

During the time he was with Rio he felt something strange. Although it wasn't love, it felt strangely assuring and pleasant. He felt as if Inuko hit right on the mark.

No, it wasn't like that just with Rio.

In the first place Shachito liked cheering his friends who were all aiming and working hard for something.

He finally noticed that Inuko had seen through this reason—such a thought welled up in him.

But acknowledging that would mean—

"This means that Masaki Rio isn't special to you."

Inuko's eyes were staring into the heart hidden in Shachito's chest. He looked at her in shock.

"Until now you just went with the flow and kept living somehow, right? You're like that now, too. You just feel like you're supposed to be angry. You actually don't care about Masaki Rio at all—"

"—Shut up."

Mumbling this, Shachito kicked the ground. He tried tackling Inuko.

Even though he was finally trying to resist, she was easily able to evade. He received a hard blow on his temple by her counterattack. 

"Did you say something, blockhead?"

The raincoat girl's ridicule continued.

"You originally possessed no anger. You were a half-hearted person that only smiled foolishly, hated worrying, and lived only to enjoy the moment. Because of that you have no fear even in battle. That is beyond any doubt your weapon. Your one and only greatest weapon that will turn you into the strongest warrior."

Her relentless blows kept raining down on him even after Shachito stopped resisting. 

What Inuko said was perhaps right.

But that was about the previous Shachito.

He was trying to change himself—

None other than Rio made him feel that he couldn't keep going like that. If even that was denied, he couldn't tell what to believe anymore.

"…Who cares about the strongest warrior."

If he couldn't protect Rio here he'd go back to being the previous Shachito. Perhaps he was only protecting Rio to save himself.

However, there was no falsehood in his words saying that he would cheer for her.

Shachito right now, different than the other one, was purely thinking about saving Rio—

"Rio-chan has nothing to do with it…!"

He charged at Inuko.

Yet his opponent had no openings. Inuko nimbly evaded, swung her stick upwards from a low position and thrust it into Shachito's solar plexus. 

"If she has nothing to do with it, then do cast her away."

He couldn't get even a single solid hit.

Even though he was supposedly superior to her in his physical abilities, the gap caused by her refined martial techniques and experience couldn't be filled. 

He couldn't win.

''—Is that really so?''

"…Hihah."

As a result of the incessant blows Shachito gained a small sensation. 

It was "pain".

Even if the Shachito of "this side" couldn't rival her, if he were to yield himself to the Shachito of "that side", perhaps he would even be able to beat Inuko.

Just like when he had fought Shinpu—

If he thought of this as a "battle", the smell of the battlefield would change him.

"Hihah!"

An orange glow enveloped Shachito's body. Autumn darters leapt out of him.

About to counterattack, he raised his face with a broken smile on it.

"If you bring out your Mushi then do resolve yourself, Shachito."

The hockey stick, emitting a strong magnetic field, was brought down on Shachito's nose tip, causing him to widen his eyes. The wave that was strong enough to crush his body into smithereens made even the air shimmer.

"And I'm not talking about resolve for being defeated, but the resolve to beat your opponent no matter what. Our Mushi are neither decorations nor toys. Do know that Mushitsuki who have the resolve to kill but not to survive will not be able to beat their own Mushi."

While her eyes were emitting a sharp glint, the distortion of air gave birth to a shadow behind Inuko.

It was a Chestnut Tiger shrouded in purple lightning—Inuko's Mushi.

"I still haven't taught you about the ending known as Maturation. When their dreams are fully devoured by their Mushi, the host doesn't simply die, but their Mushi also gains their own will and go on a rampage. Got it, Shachito? The Mushi is not your slave. It is without a shred of doubt your enemy. A Mushitsuki who uses their powers willy-nilly will just be eaten by their Mushi and die."

"Uh—"

Being shown the overwhelming gap in power, Shachito was forcibly brought back to sanity.

He was made to notice his misunderstanding.

Even while using his Mushi, to say nothing of a mere fistfight, he had no chances of winning—

"…Uaaahhhh!"

Even so he couldn't run away.

If he were unable to stop Inuko here, Rio would lose her life. Shachito threw himself and tried tackling Inuko.

"Wah."

''If I hit her at least once'', he thought as he acted.

Yet unexpectedly, Shachito succeeded in pushing Inuko down.

"Wha—"

It was an unimaginable situation. Now that he straddled her he was confused.

"So you beat me. What will you do now?"

Having Inuko's movements sealed like this looked risqué. 

What would he do now?

What did he have to do to stop Inuko?

"I'm asking if you have the resolve to kill me!"

Kill?

In order to save Rio, he had to kill Inuko.

He had never given any thought to this decision.

"You need to think about this before fighting, you moron."

Seeing Shachito hesitate, Inuko sighed.

"—You've barely passed. The training this time looks at a different kind of quality."

He couldn't follow Inuko's sudden change at all.

The girl's entire atmosphere changed as if her cruelty from before was a lie. She returned from being a battle expert to a mere raincoat girl.

"…Huh?"

"Why are you making a stupid face? I've already told you training's started when I left the bus stop."

Inuko's open hand grabbed Shachito's head.

"You've deduced my goal from the conversation and came here. That was first of all a test of your analytic abilities. I'll also praise you for coming to face me despite the gap in our strength. You've put into practice my teaching of fighting no matter what. Also choosing hand-to-hand fighting against me was also the right answer. It means you don't lack the good judgment to try and find even the smallest of chances against someone you can't win against."

Turning toward the dumbfounded Shachito, Inuko continued her speech.

"To sum it up, it was training to measure your aptitude for battle. I have to check it in preparation of the final test after all."

"Training…?"

Shachito's brain started working again. He squeezed out his voice to ask.

"Then, about you killing Rio-chan—"

"It was obviously a lie. Even rotten as I am, I'm a public servant. Of course I wouldn't become a murderer when it's not even for my mission. If this was a test to check your presence of mind, you would have a failing mark."

Seeing Inuko puff her cheeks and lecture him, he felt exhausted. This time he was undoubtedly angry. 

"You little… Why would you make that lie, of all things?"

"I couldn’t think of any other way to make you angry, so it can't be helped. Do you think there was any other way to make you face off against me for real except this?"

He didn't. Who would have ever fought this sort of monster seriously of their own will?

But now that he knew this, he finally relaxed.

Rio was safe.

"…Up with that… you bastard…"

As he exhaled, he was overwhelmed by fatigue. Since he had uncharacteristically given a lot of thought to many things and acted seriously, he didn't feel like taking even a single step.

"If you understand then move. You're heavy and you're crushing me."

He gazed at the girl struggling underneath him.

"W-what's up with that look. If you still have complaints then I'll fight you again."

"…No, I was thinking of doing some indecent things to you as revenge."

"Move aside, you moron!"

The strike of the blushing girl's stick served as the clincher. 

Turning a somersault and gazing up the starry sky, Shachito could see the dazzling moon shining over the city.

He felt relieved, yet he also felt not fully satisfied.

Although he had been able to protect Rio, the change inside him remained. He was able to pass Inuko's test—yet he wasn't even thinking about that. Never mind feeling accomplished, he didn't have any feeling that he finished the test at all. 

There were the Shachito Inuko desired him to become, and the real, changing Shachito. 

He could feel something slightly off between them. 

But right now—

"I feel… exhausted…"

He was overwhelmed by everything and couldn't think anymore.

Shiohara Shachito's "aptitude exam".

—Passed.