Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 8 Chapter 2 (section)

==2.05 The Beast and Kirari==

A solid crashing sound echoed through the office.

Turning around, the boy could see the tableware Kirari was putting away spread on the floor.

He was already used to Ikarino Kirari's fetish—meaning, her liking to wear cosplay such as the monotone maid uniform she would wear even while preparing meals. She tried picking up a bowl, but it slipped from her hands again and she helplessly grabbed empty air.

"What's up? You look like you're nervous recently."

"Sorry, Daiske-san… I'm just thinking."

"Thinking?"

"It's not something terribly important…"

He picked up the rice bowl, but it fell to the floor.

Unable to hold even the light rice bowl, it fell from his hand before he could pass it to Kirari.

"Haha. I'm the same."

"…"

While she was gazing at him wordlessly he managed to pass her the bowl this time.

He felt like he'd been living with Kirari like this for a long time. Perhaps it had actually been very short, but their time together felt like it was moving slowly.

The life of two people with the recent addition of a ferret.

The one preparing food was Kirari. She came up with something to do with the scarce ingredient they had and made food every day.

And the boy did the cleaning and chores.

For the job, along with Momo the three of them took on requests.

The same today as yesterday continued.

And tomorrow would probably be the same as today.

"—Let's go eat something tasty next time."

Kirari's kind smile was unchanged from when he'd first met her.

He had changed. He became able to return her smile.

"You can't splurge on food. It's fine how it was till now."

"I see."

"We have to get many more requests. The office'll be breaking down at this rate."

Even his joke was accepted by Kirari with the same smile.

"Hmm… that's right."

They both carried the tableware to the kitchen, washing dishes shoulder to shoulder.

"Do you have your normal business today?"

"Maybe… it's fine, I guess."

"It's related to Mushitsuki?"

"…Yeah."

That was the only conversation they had while doing the dishes.

He'd heard from Momo that Kirari was helping some Mushitsuki somewhere.

Momo obviously wouldn't be any help since she was a civilian, and he knew the same went for him right now. Kirari also knew that.

Even while just wiping the dishes he'd dropped the bowl on top of the counter more than three times.

"I'm going to go change clothes."

Seeing Kirari go back to the bedroom, he sat down in the living room's sofa.

"…"

He raised both arms toward the ceiling.

No matter what he tried to grab, his arms lacked power.

He narrowed his eyes. —He praised himself for persevering this far.

Kirari, back to normal clothes, exited the bedroom. He put his arms behind his head.

Without saying anything, Kirari sat next to his legs. She sat on the floor, leaning on the sofa. Sepia leapt on her lap as if it had been prepared for it.

He stared silently at the ceiling and Kirari was smiling while petting the ferret.

Both were waiting for requests to come in.

Even if there were no requests today, they would keep waiting like this tomorrow as well.

A calm and boring time.

The time he spent sitting in the living room and hearing only the sounds of the clock's hands felt real to him.

I'm living right now—

He'd managed to live due to an accumulation of miracles and was here now.

He was in a place he belonged in, that made him believe he could keep living tomorrow too.

"Thank you."

He said. He was probably smiling right then.

"Hmm?"

Kirari raised a questioning voice.

"I've forgotten to say my thanks until now."

"Oh, it's not a big deal."

"You've done a lot for me. From the moment we've met until now. Truly a lot…"

Starting by saving his life, Kirari did nothing but help him.

Never mind the fact she gave him food and shelter, but even when he had seizures she would stay at his side until they subsided. Unable to withstand the pain, he spat many complaints. Kirari listened to his self-deprecating words that made even him want to cover his ears without saying anything.

He believed that Kirari was the person who managed to expose most of his weak points during his entire life.

He pretended to be strong and wasn't honest, but he revealed his weaknesses to Kirari. He didn't find that embarrassing because Kirari accepted it all with a kind smile.

"Thanks to you I'm also fully healed."

"It doesn't look that way though…"

"Well, that's how it is."

"…"

"There's something I've always wanted to ask, but may I?"

Kirari raised her face, looking at him. She nodded lightly.

"Why do you like cosplay that much?"

"…"

"School uniform, nurse uniform, business suit, female officer, maid clothes… and was that an astronaut suit inside your closet? It's really too much…"

"All of them were things I wanted to be when I was little."

Looking down again, Kirari stroked the ferret's head.

"Or things that I can't become anymore, I guess."

"…Because you're being harassed by that conglomerate chairman?"

In complete opposition to himself saying this in anger, Kirari just grinned.

Thinking that she probably didn't want to talk about it, he stayed silent as well.

Yet soon Kirari started mumbling.

"When I was in middle school, my best friend was involved in an inheritance and people aimed for her life…"

He was silent.

"There was a Mushitsuki who saved her. My friend called her the Kind Magician, and they were very close… and that girl also taught me many things."

The tone of the girl discussing her past was much too calm.

"But you see, even the fact that she was targeted for her inheritance… was actually because the chairman had been killed by that Mushitsuki."

"…"

"It was all to save the many people who suffered and had their money taken. But she was also very troubled because it put my friend in danger because of that. Finally, she settled everything by letting herself die instead of my friend…"

Kirari still grinned. Yet to him she looked as if she was on the verge of tears.

"When we last met, the Kind Magician asked me for a favor. —She wanted me to stay silent… both about her killing the chairman at the time and about her dying for my friend's sake. She would obviously be blamed for killing people, but if my friend knew that the Kind Magician died for her, perhaps my friend would blame herself…"

Her crying face was apparently his own delusion. —As the girl turned to him, he saw that she wore a completely carefree smile.

"That was Handyman Kirari☆'s first request."

He widened his eyes.

"My friend had since then succeeded the Chairman—but she started hating me. Because I'd never told her the reason why her beloved Kind Magician was gone."

"What the hell's… that…!"

Without thinking he grabbed Kirari's shoulder. He couldn't put his strength into his hands so he wasn't able to grip her, though.

He couldn't stand that sort of silly circumstances.

To protect the request of a single, stupid Mushitsuki, Kirari sacrificed her own life?

"Protecting that Mushitsuki's promise is meaningless! She's already dead, so why d'you have to become a sacrifice because of that?! Isn't that strange?!"

"Hmm…"

"Why're you smiling—"

This time his hand managed to grab her shoulder. He turned her toward him forcefully.

"It's the same with me! I don't know if Haji really asked you for this, but didn't you think accepting that suspicious guy's request is dangerous? You have no money but you let me live here with no complaints… Are you an idiot? A dead man's request means nothing! A request for someone who's not here means nothing!"

"It does mean something."

Kirari grinned. Although his fingers were digging into her shoulders, her face was unchanged.

"Because there's something that I have to take over."

"…"

"So that's why… even if I know that, I love those people called Mushitsuki."

He gritted his teeth.

"But your life's messed up because of a Mushitsuki—"

"No, it's the other way around."

The girl shook her head to the side, narrowing her eyes.

"I became what I wanted to be the most."

That is—

The life of a Handyman—

Was that what Kirari wished for?

Requests only came rarely.

Even if she accomplished a job, she never received enough money for it.

If no request came today, she would be simply waiting for a request tomorrow too.

If that truly was what Kirari wished for—

"…"

He felt envious from the bottom of his heart.

This short span of time he spent with Kirari and Momo was filled with happiness.

He wished for tomorrow to be the same as today.

He even thought that perhaps—this was the place he had been searching for.

"Is there—"

A place that someone like him, who wasn't as kind as Kirari, couldn't reach.

The place of his dreams.

"Nothing I can do…? To help you, Kirari, I mean…"

He at least wanted to assist her.

Although he was hopelessly weak, he wanted to be helpful in some way.

To leave an unmistakable, small proof that he had been there.

"I'll be happy if you remain here for a little bit longer."

Kirari said, moving her finger in the air.

"And… could you please spread this charm?"

Coatl Head—

The charm of dreams that could make any wish come true.

After saying this overly modest request of hers, Kirari smiled. 

He furrowed his eyebrows.

He could understand her wishing for him to remain there.

Kirari probably knew about his and Momo's feelings since long ago.

Yet he couldn't understand why she wanted to spread Coatl Head.

"Coatl Head? Why'd you want me to—"

It happened just as he tried asking.

There was the sound of the office door opening and footsteps coming in the corridor.

The door was opened with a vigorous thud, and a girl showed herself in the living room.

It was Tanaka Momo.

"Momo?"

He immediately noticed her behavior was different from usual.

She was usually in a good mood, but now looked like she was about to cry. Her shoulders were shaking and large droplets appeared in the corners of her eyes.

"Momo-chan—"

"Turn on the TV…"

Momo mumbled.

When they still stayed silent, Momo grabbed the remote control. She turned on the living room's television.

"There were apparently other victims. We checked it today, but the number of incidents has—"

It was a news program.

It was probably drawn at some merchant district somewhere. The mark of Coatl Head drawn on the shutter of a shop was cruelly destroyed.

"—It's Mark Hunting!"

The female newscaster's shouting voice echoed in the office.

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