Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 3rd Episode 11 (section)

===Part 4===

Daisuke clicked his tongue and looked down the opened floor.

He was being restrained on the other side of the hole but had watched it all from beginning to end. —While being unable to do anything.

He had let Oogui turn Minato into a Mushitsuki and escape right under his nose. 

It was a complete blunder. He let the chance to defeat one of the Original Three escape.

"The Spear-Type's Mushi… I couldn't readily believe that case, but it certainly seems to be real."

Above Daisuke groveling on the floor, the bespectacled boy smiled with contempt. He had watched the abnormal sight in front of him without his expression changing in the least.

''I let Oogui get away because of this guy—''

Daisuke moved his face, staring at the boy.

"—Move."

He used his free hand to grab the boy's suit. Since he tried reaching with his hand in an impossible position, the arm caught by the boy creaked.

The boy looked down at Daisuke, grinning. Daisuke had the feeling that he had seen that smile, that cold penetrating smile that looked as if the boy was a resident of another world and transcendent above everything, somewhere before.

"Nice look you got there. —You don't hesitate."

The sneering boy was sent flying off of Daisuke. Daisuke rotated his body and forcibly flung him. The arm that had been restrained by the boy creaked.

A green checkered beetle landed atop the rising Daisuke's shoulder. Its body started morphing and it extended tentacles to merge with Daisuke's body.

By the time the bespectacled boy had already fallen safely and stood up, Daisuke was closing the distance between them with his strengthened legs power. His fist covered by a green pattern stabbed into the boy's side.

"Mgh…!"

The suited boy was blown away, crashing into a destroyed pillar. The splinters ripped his chest.

Daisuke turned around toward the hole, jumping into air without any hesitation. Although Minato on the other side had been turned into a Mushitsuki, he was merely stunned right now. More important was to prioritize Arisu's safety.

He jumped down to the ground in a single leap and landed.

When he raised his face, a spear emitting silver light was pointed at his nose.

"Good evening, Kusuriya Daisuke-san…"

Arisu looked down at Daisuke, wearing a distorted smile.

He confirmed it with a glance; Arisu would have never worn a smile like that.

"So… you're Hanashiro Mari, then."

"Yes."

"—What on earth are you?"

Catching the silver spear, Daisuke faced Mari. She slightly tilted her head.

"I'm a Fusion Type Mushitsuki just like you. You and I are very much alike…"

"Don't screw with me."

Daisuke raised his handgun. The silver spear and the pistol fused with a checkered beetle—their two weapons crossed as they aimed for each other's heads.

"You should no longer be in this world. So who on earth are you?"

"I am Hanashiro Mari. I wanted to see the continuation of my dream…"

"Are you saying that you're possessing the one who was your friend so you could one day take over Arisu?"

Hearing his words, Mari changed her expression for the first time. She sadly bit her lips.

"No… I just want to be with… But there's also another feeling inside me…"

"…?"

"Save me, Kusuriya Daisuke-kun…"

Daisuke widened his eyes.

Clear drops started spilling from Arisu's eyes borrowed by Mari. The spear held in her pattern-filled hand fell to the ground.

"I just wanted to be together with Arisu… but other feelings get in the way. So—please protect Arisu from me… Before I hurt Arisu any further, the Original Three must be…"

Mari approached Daisuke, leaning her body against him. She put her head on his chest, her shoulders shaking. With his gun still ready, he could do nothing but stand in astonishment.

"—She's unstable, huh. A dangerous condition."

The suited boy appeared near the two Fusion Type Mushitsuki. He seemed to have come down using the stairs.

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_3rd_p125.jpg|thumb]]

Seeing the boy's figure, Daisuke was speechless.

Countless small insects came crawling out of where he had been hurt. Converging on his wounds, they changed their form and restored the missing parts. That scene was the one they had just seen before—the exact same as Oogui's regeneration.

"Before I break Arisu you have to defeat that man—the Undying Mushitsuki, and Oogui…"

Immediately after muttering this weakly, Mari lost her strength. Daisuke immediately grabbed hold of her as she collapsed. Completely changed from how she was while fighting Oogui, the tear-stained girl seemed weak and transient.

"The Undying Mushitsuki… you say?"

As Daisuke gazed ahead, the suit-wearing boy smiled.

Daisuke recalled who that smile resembled.

It was similar to the Secretary of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau, Miguruma Yaeko—the woman who possessed a chaining smile.

"By my authority as the Director of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau, Ichiku Mikitaka, I now confirm that Ichinokuro Arisu—"

The boy declared with a mature tone unbefitting his appearance.

"—Is officially recognized as a Mushitsuki."