Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 15 Chapter 2 (section)

== 2.04 The Others ==

Aoharima Island remained silent at night.

Just ten-odd hours ago there had been intense fighting on the fishing harbor, but now it was empty. Now transformed into nothing more than an empty plain with debris strewn around, the breakwater was illuminated only by the moon hanging in the sky.

A solitary island that banished all human presence from the surface.

Its peace was broken by a small voice echoing from somewhere.

“—‘Flame’ confirmed.”

The curtain of their counterattack was now raised.

The chagrin of those who became possessed by Mushi due to their dreams, were feared by people, and were finally pursued by the country. Their anger at being forced into a defensive battle all this time.

Giant doors sprung open one after another on the surface filled with debris. Multitudes of people came leaping out from stairs leading underground.

Under the moonlight, they immediately assumed battle formations, but the Mushitsuki at the center of those wearing white coats—were the combatants of the former SEPB.

Those gathered around the powerful combatants called Namie and Aijisupa were the members of Mushibane.

They were all annihilated by the assassin sent by C, Fuyuhotaru. —Creating this illusion had been a success because Fuyuhotaru’s second brainwashing succeeded.

Following that, Mushitsuki with matter control abilities used the destroyed large ships as materials to construct and underground evacuation shelter. All Mushitsuki retreated there temporarily and sent away Fuyuhotaru, who returned being the Dove, back to C.

The Mushitsuki that survived after these successive battles—now numbered in the whereabouts of just a few dozens.

“But it’s far away and hard to pinpoint the coordinates…!”

Groaning this was the Mushitsuki with sensing abilities, Himiko—Haji Senri. As she widened her unseeing eyes, red dots flashed on her hair.

“Looks like Fuyuhotaru’s reached the Ark, then.”

Standing next to his sister Senri, Haji Keigo mumbled.

And it wasn’t just Senri, but other high-ranked Mushitsuki as well. Other than the severe-looking Tachibana Rina or those like Shiohara Shachito, there was also the commander Terasu.

“Are you all feeling ready?”

Terasu was speaking not through the wireless, but calling to the Mushitsuki all physically present at the fishing harbor.

“Once we ascertain C’s current location, we’ll be able to move immediately!”

The Mushitsuki were able to rest while waiting for Fuyuhotaru to return to C. It definitely wasn’t enough, but since they recovered their stamina, their morale was high.

“Let’s start the counterattack—no, this’ll be the final battle!”

The voices of the Mushitsuki responding to Terasu’s cheer made the ocean around Aoharima Island tremble.

However—

“…! Multiple large ‘Flames’ appeared!”

Haji Senri paled.

Keigo and others promptly turned back to her.

“Multiple? Meaning, they’re where Fuyuhotaru is thought to be?”

“No, before I narrowed the location—ugh, it keeps spreading…!”

“What do you mean? Any sensors other than Himiko?”

As Terasu turned around, two Mushitsuki and Shiohara Shachito shook their heads.

“It’s too far away, I can’t even feel it…”

“I can feel it, but it’s not my specialty.”

Inevitably, all gazes around focused on their final hope, Senri. As hot-blooded as ever in readiness for this final fight, Kasuou glared at Himiko.

“Hey, what’s going on? Haven’t you just felt Fuyuhotaru’s presence?”

“I do not understand…! Similar ‘flames’ suddenly appeared all over the country, so I can’t tell which of them is Fuyuhotaru…!”

“—They’re dummies.”

Saying this was Rinrin, who specialized in electronic warfare just like C.

“C might’ve spread her own body doubles and had them transmit signal wavelengths that are similar to Fuyuhotaru. C should be capable of doing that…”

“Meaning that C found out our goal?”

Rinrin nodded at Terasu’s question along with a stifling silence.

The final hope for a counterattack left for the surviving Mushitsuki.

They all relied on Fuyuhotaru’s presence to designate C’s location. They couldn’t fight otherwise.

The Mushitsuki started clamoring.

“Looking at this in a different way, it means that Fuyuhotaru definitely managed to sneak right to C. Otherwise C wouldn’t have to slap together all those dummies.”

While fixing his glasses with an index finger, Haji spoke.

The first step of the counterattack plan, Fuyuhotaru’s infiltration, was a success. Feeling flustered due to C’s countermeasures was proof of this success.

However—C’s response came much faster than expected.

“Dummies are just dummies. I doubt she’d be able to fully copy someone as powerful as Fuyuhotaru. —Can’t you ascertain the real presence?”

“I will try…!”

Seeing his sister nod hard to his orders, Keigo felt himself grow depressed.

He simply couldn’t get used to see her fighting. He was supposed to be fighting in order to create a world where no Mushitsuki like his sister were ever born again, and yet—

He was relying on that very sister right here on this crucial moment.

He didn’t care about himself. He created many victims, resolved to get cursed by all Mushitsuki other than his sister. Since he’d conducted many inhuman actions, he’d definitely go to hell someday.

However, if the one to reap what he sowed was someone other than himself—

Every time he saw his sister fighting, he had a bad premonition.

Even so he couldn’t stop Senri—because to him she looked much livelier fighting like this than she had back when he’d been protecting her.

“—Is that true?”

At some point during Keigo’s ruminations Tachibana Rina came to stand next to him.

“What do you mean, Lady?”

“Don’t play dumb. You said it during our last strategy meeting. As long as we know where Shiika is, we’ll be able to get there not just in several hours, but instantly.”

Keigo recalled what happened inside the shelter. Before emerging to the surface, he’d gathered the Mushitsuki and made a small talk before they went for the final fight.

“Right, I did say that.”

“But you didn’t explain how. Why? If you dare and tell me it’s a lie at this stage…”

“It’s not that I haven’t explained it. I couldn’t. I don’t know how.”

Rina was speechless.

Keigo turned toward the sky behind him. A small shadow alighted down from the sky above the island illuminated by moonlight.

“It was like a bolt out of the blue. To think that in this situation and at this stage, a ‘collaborator’ would suddenly appear.”

“Is that a bird? —No, wait. A human…?”

Following Keigo’s line of sight, Rina narrowed her eyes.

“Is that the so-called ‘collaborator’? Who’s that?”

“For now, it’s a former SEPB combatant. But regarding her identity, I don’t know. According to her, there are other ‘collaborators’ as well. At some point she was inside the shelter—and promised that as long as she knew where C was, she’d be able to take us there immediately.”

“…Sounds suspicious. Do you really believe that?”

“I do.”

Perhaps finding his instant affirmation unexpected, Rina’s eyes gradually turned harsher.

“How can you say that?”

“’If a “Bird” or a “Cellphone” gets in contact with you, I believe you can trust them’—”

“…?”

“Contact came from one of the spies I’ve prepared just earlier. I do not know who this ‘collaborator’ is, but apparently they took this spy into their confidence.”

Rina grimaced, exposing her hostility.

“You really like that sorta stuff… you saying we can believe a spy’s information?”

“It’s obviously not quite that simple. After all, that spy had been too good of a kid both now and in the past, and asked me for a favor only one time before.”

“That being?”

“To give support when Kakkou broke.”

Rina’s expression froze. Haji continued nonchalantly.

“I don’t know how much that spy—that handyman—knows about the present situation and if she’s still working about it… but she’s doing enough to send me a message completely unrelated to my request. So those ‘collaborators’ are definitely good people that can be our allies. Those who, unlike me, haven’t dirtied their hands—”

He spoke with a thin smile.

“If they’re small fry that couldn’t become villains—I’ll trust them.”

“…”

“That Mushitsuki flying so happily over there in the sky looks like a ‘bird’ to me.”

There were other grounds to trust them.

If that “collaborator” actually belonged to C’s forces, there would be no need for them to set up such a roundabout trap. Besides that—if they feigned being a third party, it should be convenient for them, now that C and Keigo were fighting and exhausting themselves. For that reason, it wasn’t surprising for them to think it was in their best interest to help Keigo’s group, who were in an inferior position.

“Since the enemy called C is too big, there’s no other option but to combine all other forces together. Just like how the SEPB and Mushibane joined up despite being bitter enemies before.”

Speaking while fixing the position of his glasses with a finger, he added something in his heart.

''Not to mention that they snatched away Kakkou who was supposed to get collected by the handyman… they have to be at least this helpful—

He could faintly sense that there had been another force hiding somewhere. If that force was connected to his own spy, they might become an unimaginable faction.

Right, and as long as his spy hadn’t forgotten her duty, she might lead even that faction into the revival of Kakkou—

“…I see. Well, I’ll accept it for now.”

Being glared with half-closed eyes by Rina, Keigo came back to his senses.

“Even someone like you isn’t going to speak so casually and lie to us in this situation.”

“I’m an honest man at heart, after all. I’m tired of pretending otherwise.”

Just like Rina said, he seemed to be lacking in calmness. If even the commander started having hopes that weren’t part of the plan, it’d be their end.

What card would he use to win against the almighty C?

It was Keigo’s job to think about it.

Right now, they only had a single card to use.

She was Keigo’s one and only little sister, and yet, looking at the current situation—

“Uh… kuh…!”

Her eyes glowing in red, Haji Senri was clearly suffering.

Naturally. She was spreading her range of sensing to the entire country. Not to mention this would determine whether they could head to the final fight or not. He couldn’t even imagine the burden of this responsibility.

“Well? Can’t find it yet? Should I go back to sleep?”

Harukiyo appeared, his voice lacking any sense of tension. Where was he until now? He carried a girl on his back like she was a sandbag.

Lying still on Harukiyo’s shoulders was the Mushitsuki called Arisu. She was clad in an SEPB coat, sleeping soundly.

Seeing Arisu, Kasuou made a complex expression.

“Are we really taking her as well?”

“I fulfilled my promise to her. If she doesn’t actually see it, I don’t wanna get blamed later for it. If we throw her into a battle she’ll probably wake up.”

“Why you piece of… so have you constantly been looking for Arisu?”

“I do these things properly. That’s who I am.”

Spitting this, the flame devil glared at Senri then.

“I do wanna do this properly. If I can’t, there’s no sense in me being here.”

The SEPB Mushitsuki all stood in his path as if to protect Senri.

Rina also stepped between Senri and Harukiyo.

“Then shut up and sit still. We’ll call you when we figure out where the enemy is.”

“Is it fine for you to say that, bitch? While we’re all standin’ around here your pal’s fighting against C for her life, you know?”

“That’s why I’m telling you not to stand in the way.”

The two Rank 1s directed eyes full of killing intent at each other.

Apparently it wasn’t just Keigo who wasn’t calm enough. Everyone on Aoharima Island was on edge right before the final battle.

Perhaps to try and distract the two prickly Rank 1s, Terasu tried urging on Senri.

“H-how about it, Himiko? Are you still unable to differentiate Fuyuhotaru?”

“They all look the same to me… if that’s not enough, more and more dummies keep appearing…!”

“W-wait a minute—”

Rinrin raised his voice timidly.

“What if C isn’t creating wavelengths like Fuyuhotaru, but instead just broadcasting her wavelengths in real time to all sorts of places as they’re fighting… in that case, there’d be no way to figure out which is real or fake, and as time passes, even her strength will change according to the real one—”

“To cut a long story short, it means no dummies will disappear as long as Fuyuhotaru’s fighting?”

Getting impatient, Harukiyo spoke.

“If Fuyuhotaru dies, the dummies will be gone, but we won’t be able to find C. —Meaning, we can’t find C either way.”

A stifling silence befell the harbor.

They had no way to find C’s Ark—

Not only were they unable to embark to the final fight like that, they’d never get any chance for a counterattack, either.

Now that C knew about their existence, she’d probably send assassins to Aoharima Island again.

Having no means for a counterattack, the Mushitsuki side would be unable to bear another war of attrition and simply lose—

“B-but even so, dummies are dummies. Since I’m interfering with C’s abilities, there should be some noise mixed in, something that’s not like the real one… so she’d have to find that subtle difference…”

Even Rinrin’s supplementation tapered off weakly.

Harukiyo turned toward Keigo wordlessly.

He tried thinking of an excuse to have Harukiyo stay there—but the demon sighed first. He shook his head and turned his back.

“I will find her—”

The one to stop the leaving Harukiyo was a powerful voice.

It came from Senri.

“I’ll definitely find Fuyuhotaru-san…!”

“—”

For a moment Keigo’s heart leapt—and not because he was impressed with his sister’s bravery.

He was supposed to be used to his sister’s profile and voice.

However, he suddenly found both unfamiliar. Despite being her own brother.

“Oh?”

Harukiyo turned back.

The red lights vanished from Senri’s eyes. She slowly held up her hand, raising her index finger and thumb to make a pistol gesture. And she used her other hand to support it.

“Big brother.”

Seeing his sister’s carefree smile as she turned toward him—Keigo now realized.

He knew what Senri was about to attempt now.

He knew what she thought about, causing her to be able to wear that most beautiful smile.

The moment he realized this—he felt as if something very heavy fell from his back.

''There’s nothing for me to do here anymore—

They were about to embark on the final fight for all Mushitsuki.

However, only the man called Haji Keigo would be unable to relax and couldn’t pursue them any further, no matter how cruel it was.

When he realized this, Keigo also managed to wear an honest smile.

He spoke to his sister, who was playing it tough but couldn’t hide her body shake, to relax her.

“…It’s fine. I’ll follow you soon after.”

Senri happily widened her smile, turning to the side.

She was now looking to the Mushitsuki called Kaguya. Keigo heard that this boy called Ogata Akatsuki was her friend while she was a normal high-schooler.

“Senri.”

They’d probably already talked it over. Even so, although Kaguya made a pained face, he nodded, seemingly resolved. —There was no doubt that Keigo himself was making the same face right now.

“Thank you.”

Senri stopped shaking. Her smile vanished and she closed her eyes.

As Senri stood there quietly, a red glow began to emerge from her back. It formed a flickering silhouette in the form of a queen bee.

“So you—were also a ‘collaborator’.”

As Keigo mumbled this, Senri widened her eyes again.

In the depths of her widened eyes weren’t pupils that reflected anything—but a pair of rubies with a flickering glow. As though they were unfurling wings, these rubies emitted pillars of flames.

“Uh—everyone, stay away from Himiko!”

Hearing Terasu’s command, the Mushitsuki all distanced themselves.

Only Haji and Kaguya couldn’t part from Senri who was in the middle of transforming.

“Searching—”

While spouting fire from both eyes, the girl said this as though casting a spell. Small sparks hit her coat and it became ruby-colored as though stained. Even her long hair became dyed in bright red.

“Director Haji, stay away from her! You too, Kaguya!”

Terasu strained her voice.

“She’s Maturing!”

He knew that without being told.

He didn’t know how, but his sister immediately unleashed a power past her limits. Because of that, she was Maturing—meaning, the phenomenon where a Mushi would fully devour its host’s dreams and try to become free.

However, Keigo stayed standing in place.

“Searching—”

Clad in a robe of flames, the form of his sister with her eyes transformed into flames did no longer look human.

A red flare was created on the ocean surface where Senri’s thrust finger pointed.

More and more flares like this were created all over the ocean as far as the eye could see, dyeing it entirely in red.

“Searching—”

While her voice echoed with the machinelike repetition, the world was changing.

The ocean became entirely red and emitted a pale glow.

These flares started permeating even the ground of Aoharima Island, dyeing it red.

It was becoming a world of crimson—

“I-is she putting the entire country under her domain…?”

Someone groaned this.

Keigo remained silent, watching over Senri’s back.

These flares spread all over, but there was no heat.

She wasn’t attacking anyone, like back when she’d eat her brother’s dream.

“Searching—”

As her older brother, Keigo’s duty was protecting his much younger sister.

She was blind since birth, she was sickly, and she couldn’t even get out of the house without Keigo’s help. Her growing up properly and not twisted despite carrying all the difficulties was perhaps due to her not seeing all the filth of the world because of her eyes.

While thinking half-seriously about all of this, his sister was distancing herself from this world.

He only realized this was a silly assumption of his very lately. Meaning, only ever since Senri threw herself into the fights of Mushitsuki out of her own will.

“Searching—”

Senri could see.

Although she was blind, she could see through people’s hearts through their attitudes, voices and the like.

Among those Senri had seen through this far, most of them were likely evil. There were also those who were mad Senri couldn’t share their vision, and there were probably also those who tried attacking her.

Despite this Senri forgave them—and even tried helping them.

Why? Because she gave up on being a weakling. She probably thought that since she was weaker than normal people she didn’t have the right to stand against them, and that if she could help other people even a little bit, she had a duty to do so with her full powers.

This wasn’t kindness.

Since she was weak, she had to forgive people and help them.

His sister started thinking that way—because of none other than him.

Keigo had the duty to protect weak Serni, and because his little sister was a weak person—she had to follow this “duty”.

“Searching—”

Even though she was this strong—

It was Keigo himself who forced Senri to remain weak.

He kept pushing excuses to live and to attack other people on to his sister.

However, by allowing herself to get protected by her brother she supported him and so managed to grow up so much she could connect people’s hopes and end up much stronger.

“I’m the one who hasn’t dirtied his hands—”

Seeing Senri fight with her entire body and soul, a lone streak of tears ran down Keigo’s eye.

“Losing someone precious to you hurts so bad…”

His chest hurt so much his body twisted.

He was assaulted by such a freezing sense of falling that he wasn’t sure whether he was standing up or sitting down. He even thought that he wouldn’t mind falling down all the way to hell like this.

Keigo would most likely go to hell.

After sticking his sister in a birdcage to protect her, hurting and deceiving many people—

He was going to lose even the one and single reason he had to fight here.

There was no longer anything for Keigo to do—

“—Found her.”

Senri finally uttered the expected word.

Including Tachibana Rina and Harukiyo, all Mushitsuki now wore the expressions of warriors.

Keigo approached his little sister, hugging her slim body from behind.

[[File:Mushi Uta 15 p185.png|thumb]]

“Thanks, Senri.”

“—Promise me, you two.”

The flame vanished from Senri’s eyes. Her normally kind eyes turned to Keigo—as well as Kaguya, who was behind him. She smiled.

“Big brother and Akatsuki-kun... even after the battle ends—you can’t lose.”

Keigo bit his lips hard.

So even falling to hell—wasn’t allowed to him.

Although Keigo dirtied his hands, he was restrained by his sister, not allowed even to surrender.

She told him not to step down from his own will, but to keep fighting until he couldn’t move even a single finger.

Since it was his one and only sister who wished for this—

That was the only thing he could do.

“I’ll be waiting for you...”

It was too late for the kindly smiling Senri. She could probably not hold back her Maturation any longer.

Saying their farewells, the two siblings snuggled and swore in their hearts.

A single, black feather fell nearby.