Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 7 Chapter 3 (section)

== 3.03 Youko Part 5 ==
The battle between the mysterious boy and Shinpu was beyond Youko's imagination.

The moment she saw the orange-glowing boy lower his body, he vanished. The next instant he appeared next to Shinpu, wielding his hockey stick.

Shinpu was blown to the sky, scattering large amounts of miasma.

"Curses… Thou obstruct me yet again, child of mine…"

Producing a new church midair, the tattered robe transformed into a large swarm of caterpillars. Yet by the time Shinpu looked below, the boy teleported up above.

"So this time your body is a girl, huh! This is hard… I'm a gentleman after all."

Still wearing the broken smile, he pounded Shinpu down to the surface. The hockey stick turned into an orange spear, piercing Shinpu's body as he crashed into the ground with the speed of a bullet. The boy teleported to the surface again, pounding his fist into Shinpu who was sprawled on the ground. It shook as if dozens of tons of concrete fell on top of it.

The several hundred caterpillars were scattered around with the boy in the center. The caterpillars' body fluids splashed on Youko's cheeks, but she simply stood there in a daze, unable to even wipe them off.

He said it was hard, but his attack was merciless.

"Oh, miss, it's dangerous here so stay put. —Oh, but I should take control of his domain. Since it makes it hard for victims outside to get hurt, it's useful."

The boy looked at Youko with a bright smile. He had chiseled face features, but had the atmosphere of a playboy. He was the type Youko hated.

Shinpu was not nearly done. While a creepy bell voice reverberated, the boy was covered in a rain of caterpillars dropped from the sky.

"Sorry, I lied. I have the confidence I can win domain tug-of-wars with most Special-types, but this one's impossible. Unlike Inuko, just protecting my surrounding takes everything I have."

The boy didn't seem to mind that the caterpillars were gnawing at his body. Pulling out the hockey stick from Shinpu's body, he beat the tattered robe countless times. He was so powerful that just swinging that stick caused a small tremor.

''What's up with this guy?''

The sense of fear, supposedly already conquered, was revived within Youko.

''This is so strange…! He's really wounded but it doesn't seem to hurt? Why does it look like he's having so much fun fighting like that? And that power… how can he be so strong?!''

"I shall destroy thee, child of mine…"

"Hihah! Looks like your vessel isn't as good as Jarl this time, Shinpu-san! Can I just finish you off?"

Raising the hockey stick that hit the collapsed Shinpu on the ground, he rotated it and put it on his back.

Orange autumn darters started flying out from everything around.

The same orange glow even came from Youko's body. Suddenly her body felt lighter and she stepped in place as not to lose balance.

''This power… it uses mass as a medium?''

Since her suitcase became weightless, it nearly floated in air. If she tried jumping, how high would she go?

The swarm of autumn darters was all absorbed into the boy's hockey stick.

"Killer move! Inuko's imitation!"

The stick glowing in orange struck Shinpu's chest from directly above.

A large tremor shook the area.

With the boy in the center, a whirlpool of power blew around. The miasma covering the area was blown away, and the church blocking the night sky was erased. Mixed with the flying asphalt, the crazed autumn darters all returned to their sources, Youko's included.

"Oohh… OooOOOhhh…"

This hoarse death cry vanished into thin air.

"Hihah!"

Standing on the mountain of dead caterpillars, the boy wore a broken smile.

Shinpu's robed form was already gone without a trace, and the remaining caterpillar corpses were vanishing while spurting body fluids.

''So strong—''

Youko calmly focused her dark eyes on the boy.

She'd felt fear only for a moment. She calmly analyzed the Mushitsuki in front of her.

''But if I raise Genius enough… I should be able to win—''

Even now she might be able to surround him with coffins in a direct assault. Perhaps having undergone specialized training, there were no wasted movements in his fighting, but it felt like he used his power only to fight. If she had him lower his guard before fighting, perhaps she could win with a sneak attack.

''He'd make a great meal for Genius. What should I do? Should I defeat him now…?''

The boy approached the hesitating Youko. His uniform was ripped and he was bleeding all over, but his face was fine. When the fight was over his broken smile was gone.

"Are you alright, miss? I had the feeling I felt the power fields of several Mushi, but I don't think this is the right place… it's not you, right?"

He apparently even had a sensing ability. A troublesome opponent.

"I'm fine. Thank you for saving me."

Youko feigned calmness and lowered her head. She also wore an amicable smile as a bonus.

"It's fine, don't mind it. I'm just a warrior passing by. Oh, but if you ''really'' want to thank me, well, you can do something sexy—"

Youko wordlessly brought her face closer to the boy's.

Leaning her body on his, she touched his cheek with her lips.

"—I'm so happy… or actually, it was just a joke…"

She separated her body. Her wet, black eyes focused intently on the gaze of the frozen boy.

"Is that enough?"

[[File:Mushi Uta_7_p263.jpg|thumb]]

"Wow, what's with this sense of guilt? I really don't feel like going back to my journey now."

Happy from the bottom of his heart, the boy wore a sloppy smile.

''This guy's… really creepy—''

Returning a smile, Youko groaned in her heart.

Actually, she just tried to create an opening and use Loci's pheromone ability.

But the moment she kissed him, that guy—he had his hand on the hockey stick. Rather than him doubting Youko, his body moved on its own.

It wasn't to the extent of the Demon Lord's chaining smile, but Youko's eyes could cause disturbances in other people. Even without Loci's ability, the boy didn't seem affected by looking her in the eyes. She imagined that he'd received special training against mental attacks.

''There's no opening—''

He looked like a mere playboy, but it was a powerful opponent she'd never met before.

"You're really strong. Are you perhaps the world's strongest?"

Feigning innocence, she praised him with a clichéd expression.

"Eh? I wonder. No, I tried to get stronger by training though."

The boy looked extremely bashed at this unveiled compliment. Perhaps he was just an idiot.

"But there are people stronger than me. At the very least I know about one… and according to her there was also someone stronger than her."

"Wooow."

She pretended to be impressed. Inside, she grinned.

If even someone this strong only knows two people… then I can think of him as nearly the strongest. And it doesn't look like they're much stronger than him too—

"…Oh crap. If there's been a Mushi reaction nearby, then that means the SEPB's gotta be nearby as well. I'll have to run for it."

"Eh? Are you leaving already? I want to thank you properly."

"Seriously…? Properly, does that mean—no! I'm on a journey and I can't stay put. Horando City was the first. Before that one ran away and it's finally another one here. …Hah, I wonder how many fragments of Shinpu still remain?"

The boy looked tired as he walked to his bike, sitting on it. He put the hockey stick on a metal fixture on the side and revved up the engine.

Apparently he had some sort of goal. Perhaps having come to this town by chance, he'd probably arrived in pursuit of Shinpu.

Youko was slightly relieved.

Since she was destroying Mushi, they'd have to fight one day. But she was able to avoid settling the score right now.

"Oh. By the way, miss."

While putting on his half-type helmet, the boy turned to Youko.

"Who're you?"

"…Huh?"

"You don't seem to be a Mushitsuki and you don't seem like a SEPB member either. Your acting's good, too. —But well, it's slightly off. Seeing that abnormal fight, a normal person wouldn't be able to stay calm."

Youko smiled.

From the very start she hadn't underestimated the boy at all.

"I'm Shiohara Shachito. I've received the qualifications of a warrior from a certain someone."

Naming himself, the boy turned his pointing finger to Youko.

"I know you're not just a nobody. But it's hard to explain. You're not a warrior like me, but something that looks on people from above—"

"I'm just a normal person."

Being lumped in with Mushitsuki was outside her expectations. Youko was a normal person and even her nickname was only something like "the Third Satou-san".

But if she were to call herself another name—

"I'm just a Hero."

She said, grinning.

If he was going to fight she'd accept the challenge. He was in the range of Loci's abilities. Would Shachito employ his ability first, or would Youko's enchanting be faster? Trying to imitate a gunslinger could be interesting.

"You don't really feel like a Hero either… actually, it's the complete opposite…"

Shachito seemed carefree. Perhaps unable to think of any good expression, he just mumbled "oh well" and gave up readily.

"I'm scared so I'll run away. See ya, Hero."

"Let's meet again somewhere."

The Hero and the warrior exchanged smiles, turning their backs to one another.

While listening to the distancing engine sounds, she went down the hill.

"I feel like the title of a Hero is a perfect fit though."

Being denied by both Shinpu and Shachito made her a bit angry.

Shaking the suitcase in front of her, she recalled something.

"Thinking about it, what did Shinpu come to eat anyway?"

''Oh well.''

She imitated Shachito in her mind.

There were many unforeseen disturbances, but by the time she came back home she felt better.

The road to become a Hero was smooth sailing.