Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 14 Chapter 2 (section)

== 2.00 The Others ==

“Big brother.”

Taiki woke up the same way as he did yesterday.

His youngest sister Ririe peeked at him from the half-opened door to his room. Petite, meek and wearing black-rimmed glasses, young Ririe looked nothing like either her sister or brother.

“Dad’s going to be angry if you don’t wake up soon.”

“Ngh…”

As he grimaced and raised his upper torso, he felt deadly tired. He was all sweaty.

Perhaps he was looking exceptionally tired, based on Ririe’s next words.

“Do you have a cold?”

“…I just had a weird dream again… I’m tired…”

Ririe pulled her face back. He could hear footsteps going down the stairs.

Taiki sighed heavily and stretched. It made him slightly less tired.

He went down to the first floor while scratching his bed hair, running into his other younger sister, Noa.

“Good morning.”

As he tried calling to her as they met, Noa suddenly reached to Taiki’s forehead with a hand.

“Doesn’t look like you have a fever.”

“Huh?”

“Ririe said you look like you’re feeling bad.”

Noa was already wearing her uniform.

“You can’t ditch school, though.”

Noa retracted her hand and smiled mischievously while Taiki found no words to reply.

As he went into the living room, there was a program about the situation of Akamaki City on TV. Nothing changed from yesterday. The only change was that the reporter sounded already tired of it all.

“Good morning, Taiki. Are you alright? Can you go to school?”

While preparing boxed lunches in the open kitchen, his mother turned to him.

“…”

Ririe was sitting on the sofa, her face the very picture of innocence. Noa was also next to her. His youngest sister apparently spread the rumors, and his older younger sister went on ahead to block his escape path. What a team combination.

“I’m going, I’m fine.”

Taiki sat down at the table full of breakfast.

Since it was so close to winter vacation, he wouldn’t feel guilty taking a day off. However, if his strict father found out it was a feigned illness, he’d be angry. His sisters knew this, so they went on a preemptive attack.

“You look more out of it than usual. Pull yourself together, son.”

While tightening his necktie, his father spoke not even looking at him.

If he “pulled himself together”, would he start having normal dreams again?  Since he even started thinking it might be the case, he couldn’t argue back.

The strange dreams that Taiki started seeing—

Dreams where the people called Mushitsuki appeared. Regardless of whether those known as Mushitsuki actually existed, those dreams were far too removed from reality.

Before, he’d dreamt about a beauty wearing a strange mask.

And as for this night—

“So there’s no vacation today either, eh.”

When it became time to leave home, Noa sighed. Although she was a model student, it probably bummed her out going to a school where less and less students were in attendance every day.

Taiki felt the same. He secretly waited to hear school was on break, but they unfortunately reached the deadline.

“I’m going.”

Ririe, who exited the house a step before, didn’t seem as melancholic as her brother and sister.

Taiki also tried wearing his shoes, but perhaps he was still somewhat sleepy, since it took him some time to tie the shoestrings.

“Why are you slow?”

“Don’t kick me.”

He was urged by Noa’s foot from behind. It wasn’t like their relationship as siblings was bad, but it was embarrassing to go out together. Since Taiki took larger strides, he’d end up going out first.

“I’m heading out.”

While going on his usual route to school, he recalled the TV program from that morning.

It didn’t feel like they were going to reveal information about Akamaki City at all. As a result, it seemed like the populace was split into two—those whose anxiety kept growing, and those who just shrugged everything off and calmed down.

How was this town, with it being so far away from Akamaki City?

He didn’t feel like the number of people he saw on his way to school differed much from yesterday. Taiki was sure there’d be less of them, so this was unexpected.

“Maybe nothing’s going to change, surprisingly enough.”

He mumbled to himself.

Since his school focused on preparing students for high-ranking universities, the lessons were tough as expected, but that suited Taiki just fine. He had no complaints regarding his daily life. 

However—it was true that somewhere deep inside him he wished for just a little special something to happen. People might think of it as imprudent, but it was every boy’s wish to taste a little bit of a thrill.

“Oh well.”

Just like yesterday, he would arrive at class and chat with his classmates about nothing important at all.

About the only thing changed from before was that he started seeing these strange dreams—

So he thought and started walking when it happened.

Just like his father said often, Taiki was normally absentminded.

Therefore, he ended up being overly startled by the person suddenly blocking his sight.

“—Mister Taiki?”

It was a tall foreigner. His short blond hair was waxed and he looked like an amiable young man. His worn-out suit and leather shoes created a mismatch with his young age.

“…?”

Taiki felt his entire body grow tense at this unusual happening.

Taiki had never talked to a foreigner. He was confused and unsure to how even respond.

“I apologize for suddenly calling out to you.”

A woman standing next to the foreigner spoke.

No, rather than a woman, it might be more precise to call her a girl. She looked to be around Taiki’s age. However, since her slim body was wrapped in a suit and she spoke politely, she looked more adult.

“This is Mister John Mash. He is an American journalist.”

While the woman explained this, the youth called John put out his hand to Taiki.

Taiki awkwardly shook it back.

The suited girl did not seek a handshake. Pushing away her diagonally-cut bangs with a finger, she made a Japanese-style bow.

“I am his interpreter slash assistant, Ikarino Kirari. —Nice to meet you.”

She was a calm beauty. She might actually be older than his estimations.

As Taiki just stood there like a statue, John started speaking at length about something in English.

“Eh…? Err—”

In the end, the voice coming out of his mouth sounded this pathetic.

“What’s going on, big brother?”

As Taiki got around, he saw his little sister, apparently having arrived there in a delay, standing there with a puzzled expression.

“I-I don’t really understand it either—”

“Mister Mash wishes to interview you, Taiki-san.”

Both Taiki and Noa were surprised at the interpreter girl’s words.

“Interview?”

“To be more precise, this is about your cousin.”

As Taiki furrowed his brows, John and Kirari glared at him.

“That person’s name is—”

She stared at his face as if to gauge his reaction—

“Kusuriya Daisuke.”

The girl called Ikarino Kirari spoke clearly.

“Also—has anything changed at all around you?”

Being asked this by an exceptionally powerful tone of voice, what came to Taiki’s mind was—

The dreams he started seeing every night.

As well as the dream he had that very night, about that overly powerful Mushitsuki.

That man’s fight was as fierce as a sea of flames—