Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6th Episode 21 (section)

=== Part 1 ===

The center of Akamaki City was a business district.

It would be no exaggeration to say that, in addition to all the country’s important agencies gathered there, it also fulfilled a central role in the distribution of traffic and money. The city obviously had entertainment districts and residential areas, but these were far from the town center, so its function as a commuter town was inferior to those like its neighbors Kurobishi City or Higano City.

The further one got from the main station, the less there were shops of the kind middle- or high-schoolers would frequent. At best there were some fast-food places.

Based on all that, Arisu was a bit curious as to how they’d all look to a third party, considering they were currently in the high-class Italian restaurant directly facing the large national highway.

Since she and her classmates went to Horusu Seijou Academy, school to sons and daughters of the wealthy, she’d been to similar restaurants before, but she’d never entered a place where the only view was the dreary scenery of government offices. Since she avoided the inside of the restaurant and sat in the open terrace, she’d probably not be too conspicuous.

“Come to think of it.”

Since they couldn’t calmly discuss anything with Daisuke back at home, they decided to turn their meeting into a lunch out of town. The choice of restaurant was due to a request of eating expensive foods.

When the one to have requested this, Kasuou, finished eating her third plate of pasta, she pointed at Erii.

“Who’s this brat?”

“You only just noticed?!”

Excluding the blond girl, the other three’s voices intersected.

“Haven’t we introduced her? This is Horiuchi Erii-chan, 10 years old. She’s our new comrade.”

“No, I’m rather amazed at Nene finding this explanation satisfactory… I thought for sure she was some sorta relative of yours. Well, I did understand she’s a Mushitsuki, based on her scent.”

“Is that one of your abilities, Kasuou-san, the berserker that is still unranked?”

“You really looking for a fight so soon? Okay, little bitch, which do you prefer, rock or paper?”

“Stop it… I’m sure she didn’t mean it like that…”

“Thank you very much for covering for me, Nene-san, also an unranked person who’s called a scarecrow that does nothing but hum songs and bob her head during missions.”

“…Which do you prefer, rock or paper…?”

“I have been given the codename of C. I am but a mere novice who just finished her training, so I appreciate your support. Incidentally, I belong to the intelligence department and my Rank is 5.”

Erii bowed her head.

“A Rank 5 so fast…?” Kasuou mumbled with a complex expression.

“That’s amazing, Erii. You were able to properly greet them. You speak much more politely now.”

“Nothin’ proper about it. She’s looking down on us. You’re acting funny as well…”

As Arisu patted Erii’s head while smiling, the younger girl’s shoulders shook. Her eyes looking up at Arisu turned dull.

“Yes, my great Teacher has kindly taught me everything. Whenever I got cheeky, she’d hit me with her hockey stick until I cried.”

“…Eh?”

“She didn’t stop even when I started crying. But Teacher is the best. Teacher’s strong. Teacher’s amazing. Teacher’s pretty.”

“Erii? Get a hold of yourself, Erii!”

“Oh, so she’s a teacher now… raincoat phobia’s popular in Central Headquarters because of that woman.”

“Raincoats are scary… so scary…”

For some reason even Neiko held her head and started shaking.

She didn’t know the circumstances of the SEPB, but apparently there were some scary instructors there.

To get the frightened Erii and Neiko to regain their senses, Arisu decided to forcibly bring the conversation back on track.

“S-so, have you all finished eating? Now, let us start the conference.”

Saying this, Arisu looked up at the Morpho butterfly dancing overhead.

“If we want to learn more about Mari, we need to meet up with Sanbikime, who supposedly knew her. I want you all to cooperate with me to that end.”

Hanashiro Mari.

That Mushitsuki girl was the reason Arisu had become involved with Mushi, Mushitsuki and the SEPB in the first place.

Her silver Morpho butterfly used to be Mari’s Mushi. However, ever since Mari passed away from an illness, the Mushi started clinging to Mari’s best friend, Arisu.

Mushi will terminate following the death of their host—the Morpho butterfly was an irregular existence that overturned this accepted premise, and furthermore it gave its power to Ichinokuro Arisu.

Arisu had been found by the SEPB after a certain incident, and although she hadn’t been captured, a monitor called Kusuriya Daisuke had been sent to her side.

“No, but why now, though? None of us know anything more about the Original Three that the Rank 1 Kakkou doesn’t.”

The “Kakkou” that Kasuou mentioned was the codename of Kusuriya Daisuke.

“Because now we have Erii-chan who’s good with information gathering as our ally, obviously. Also, we managed to get this.”

Smiling, Arisu put her silver rod on the table.

According to Daisuke, that stick, which was about as long as a folding umbrella, was a weapon created exclusively for Arisu’s use. A small pattern was densely etched on its surface, but it was barely visible.

“It’s amazing. I don’t know what it’s made of, but it’s kinda like I’ve been given a powerup? I can also use something like the Morpho butterfly’s new ability. I still don’t really understand it… but it’s perfect for any situation.”

“Didn’t ask about any of that. What I’m asking is why you chose a time when Kakkou’s gone to gather all of us.”

Arisu was at a loss for words.

She didn’t intend to lie.

The fact that Daisuke got sick right after she gained Erii as an ally and got a powerful weapon was a mere coincidence.

However, it was true that she called Kasuou and the rest without waiting for the boy to recover.

Even she herself didn’t really understand why.

But if there had to be a single reason…

Pouting, Arisu averted her sight.

“I mean… whenever I talk about Sanbikime, Daisuke looks like he’s hiding something.”

“Ha! You really get along well. Is that guy’s your friend? Lover? Or just a monitor. Are you just sulking ‘cause he’s hiding a little something?”

“How childish. Based on past mission completion rates, pulling Kakkou-san out would cause a dramatic decrease in the success rate of any mission. I can’t help but feel that adding Kasuou-san and Nene-san to our plan means we’ll never clear our goal.”

“…I see now, so us being here is actually a minus… you bitch…!”

“A-anyway! I don’t think it’s a waste to continue our investigation as far as we can while Daisuke’s not with us! If we manage to find out something that even he didn’t know about, wouldn’t we be able to lord it over him?”

These words of desperation were surprisingly effective. The faces of the three SEPB members instantly twitched.

The first to show her enthusiasm was Erii. She pulled out something from the bag hanging from her chair.

“I should take over it, then. Since I am a Rank 5 within the intelligence department, I can get the most information.”

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_6th_p019.jpg|thumb]]

“What’s that? A game console?”

“…A modded one, yes. I can also use it for wired hacking, but since it’s on wireless mode right now, it’s simply a memory device. Oh, you can play games on it too, obviously. The processing power and resolution are especially high, so it really is amazing… hey, Kasuou just called me an otaku! I’m not an otaku!”

“Leaving aside the immature, please continue, Erii…”

Glaring at the blond girl, Erii continued.

“To cut a long story short, I was only able to obtain normal information about the Original Three. All things that people like the SEPB, the organization thought to be led by the Mushitsuki called Rina or Harukiyo and his comrades would know.”

''In brief'', Erii paused.

“Oogui, who gives birth to Minion-Type Mushi, looks like an adult human woman and turns people who answer a certain question of hers to Mushitsuki. Also, Shinpu, who gives birth to Special-Type Mushitsuki, looks like an old man wearing a robe and turns into Mushitsuki people who wish for power inside the space cut off from the real world, his Church. …All of us know about Shinpu from firsthand experience, huh.”

Excluding Arisu, the other three were all Special-Type Mushitsuki. The blond girl snorted while folding her arms and the tall girl did not move a muscle.

“By being in the intelligence department, I’ve obtained more detailed data. Though only records about certain places and times they have appeared at. All of those were random, so it was already calculated that they have no regular patterns.”

“What about Sanbikime?”

As Arisu breached the main topic, Erii wore an austere face unlike that of a girl her age.

“Sanbikime, who gives birth to Fusion-Type Mushitsuki… I can only say they are a complete mystery. Their appearance, abilities, and how they turn people to Mushitsuki… we know nothing about any of those. I believe you’ve asked Daisuke about it, but even those turned Mushitsuki by Sanbikime don’t know who made them so.”

Arisu bit her lips.

Was it obvious or just as she expected? Erii’s explanation was a repeat of the exact same thing Daisuke had told her before.

“For a Rank 5 like me, this is the limit of what I can find out. Obviously there are secrets and we have to believe what information there is… but—” 

Erii raised her tone. Arisu who was about to cast her gaze down raised her head.

“Since I became an SEPB member, I was able to invade just a little bit into a deep place in the database from the inside. This is information even the Rank 1 Kakkou cannot access… limited only to Branch Director Assistant level and above.”

“…?”

“The SEPB has come in contact with Sanbikime in the past.”

Arisu gulped. Although even Neiko widened her eyes for a change, for some reason Kasuou alone stayed meek.

“I do not know the particulars or the result, but I had been able to find that they prioritized Sanbikime’s annihilation. The reason for that being, they have invested in conventional weaponry—meaning, weapons on a national scale. Obviously, the SEPB also dispatched a few members on the operation, and the participating members and a keyword that seems to be the place’s name remained in the database.”

Erii gazed at Kasuou.

“Kasuou-san—you were also there, right? In the Sanbikime Annihilation Operation at Aoharima Island.”

“…!”

An unexpected name came out. Arisu turned to look at the blond girl.

“…There was nothing for me to do there. I’ve been thrown into a team made of strong combatants, but when we arrived at the battlefield it was already a sea of flames. Never mind me not even meeting Sanbikime, I saw nothing but that annoying scenery.”

“Why haven’t you said anything about that, Kasuou!”

“You moron! I’m not gonna spill top-secret shit like that!”

“It’s quite unlike you to follow your orders!”

“How naughty do you think I am, exactly! Well, maybe I’ll tell you though! Following orders is definitely unlike me! It’s true that I had no idea what happened—but that guy was probably at the battlefield as well!”

“That guy?”

“Harukiyo.”

As Arisu widened her eyes, Kasuou spoke with a bored expression.

“I remember seeing his flames. Most likely—he fought there. Against everyone there, including the SEPB.”

“What does that mean…?”

“Beats me. I wasn’t able to see our target with all those flames. Just had a feeling they fought.”

Impossible. —Arisu wanted to say this, but Harukiyo was indeed a person who went far beyond anyone’s imagination.

“But if that’s true—”

Arisu unconsciously clenched her fists.

“Then Harukiyo definitely knows about Sanbikime! Then we just need to ask him…!”

She turned an enthusiastic glance at Erii. She wanted to recruit someone excelling in information gathering because she thought to make contact with Harukiyo, should Sanbikime prove impossible to find.

Erii responded to Arisu’s expectations with a smile.

“Yes, unlike the Original Three, Harukiyo stands out in many ways. I managed to find some clues about his whereabouts.”

“Amazing! I knew you could do it! Unlike that delinquent Mushitsuki!”

“If you’re talking about me I’ll fucking kill you!”

“But before that—since I myself hadn’t been involved in an incident connected to Hanashiro Mari, I investigated her… and there was a certain question I couldn’t help but ask myself.”

As Erii played with her game console, she suddenly wore a serious face. Arisu tilted her head.

“Was Hanashiro Mari… really a Mushitsuki?”

“…Eh?”

Arisu let out a stupid-sounding voice without thinking.

She never thought that something so basic would be questioned at this stage.

“Y-yeah. Mari said she was leaving her dream to me, and after her passing, the Morpho butterfly…”

“I can only say it is quire daring to assume she was a Mushitsuki just based on this. Normally it would just seem like you became a Mushitsuki after your friend’s death, Arisu.”

“B-but!”

“Yes, you have moved so far based on only those weak premises. And the exchange of personality brought forth by Kororo’s past reading ability—the fact that Hanashiro Mari’s personality came to the surface serves as a little evidence.”

“I-is that so? It really was hard for me. But even so, why would you—”

“—Or at least it seemed that way.”

Arisu froze again.

Erii continued calmly.

“Hanashiro Mari was thirteen years old at death. After enrolling in the middle school department of Horusu Seijou Academy, she never attended even a single day. The electronic medical records of her hospital do have some simple data in them. —But that’s it.”

“That’s it…?”

“Yes, that is everything. The end. Only that. The only testimony about her came from her attending physician, who said she was a ‘poor girl’, a very mundane testimony. Her family made no comment whatsoever. There aren’t even any eyewitness testimonies among her classmates.”

“…”

“About the person known as Hunter, data about her remained in the SEPB. A user of a silver lance who is the host of the Morpho butterfly… I was able to confirm that she fought several times in the past.”

“Eh…?”

“…Then the SEPB has no data about Hanashiro Mari…?”

Neiko turned to look at Arisu with a puzzled expression.

“E-err, I’ve had Daisuke investigate—”

“There’s nothing about Hanashiro Mari. —Both you and Kakkou-san have apparently acted under mistaken premises. The SEPB has not yet determined that the equation of Hanashiro Mari = Hunter is true. Therefore, the data pertaining to Hanashiro Mari is not included in Hunter’s.”

Arisu was speechless. It was just like Erii said.

“Do you understand? This means that we have too few information to pinpoint Hanashiro Mari. —Being blunt, it’s abnormal. Although it’s in the records, it’s not in any ''memories''. …Honestly speaking, the records are so amateurish that I could edit them right from here.”

Next to the speechless Arisu, Kasuou grimaced.

“What’re you trying to say then, brat? You’ve been speaking in circles.”

“I apologize if my way of speaking was not to your liking. But this is the result of me investigating all those cases as a third party. As a representative of this third party, I would like to say the following…”

Erii bit her lower lips. As expected she was hesitant, and seemed to be resolved as she posed the next question.

''“Did the person called Hanashiro Mari… actually exist?”

“…Eh…?”

A high voice leaked from the depths of Arisu’s throat. She couldn’t speak properly due to this unexpected question.

Erii kept talking without pause.

“After all… Arisu-san, you are the only one to ‘remember’ Hanashiro Mari. And if we consider that Hunter might not be Mari… the hypothesis of you having been Hunter in the first place is also possible. Actually, that sounds more convincing.”

“Then what about Kororo’s past reading? She saw Hanashiro Mari talking with someone who seemed to be Sanbikime as well as Hunter, right?”

“There’s the possibility that Kororo is lying. —Perhaps she simply saw a person who was with Arisu-san, or Arisu-san as Hunter.”

“Then what about Hanashiro Mari’s personality that appears when Arisu-chan’s fighting…?”

“She is only acting. Perhaps a multiple personality disorder.”

“Brats nowadays are really distrustful, huh? You think everything’s a lie?”

“I’m just saying that disguise is not impossible. Normally you wouldn’t doubt the existence of a person… But you can in Hanashiro Mari-san’s case! —And another thing!”

She was probably growing irritated at being attacked so intensively. Erii spoke further.

“To me, being possessed by another person’s Mushi… sounds much more like a lie.”

No one could say anything in response.

Kasuou and Neiko’s gazes would obviously pass to Arisu soon.

Perhaps they were waiting for Arisu to insist on Mari’s existence—or they might have gotten suspicious of her as well.

But Arisu couldn’t answer.

Her hand left on the table was slightly shaking.

“You’re saying… that Mari never existed?”

She felt a chill as she wrung out a hoarse voice.

She was scared.

And the scariest thing of all—when she was told that Mari might not have existed, Arisu frantically pursued her memories.

She was there. Without a doubt, her friend lived there.

However, the only one who thought about the girl called Hanashiro Mari right now was Arisu and Arisu alone.

If no one agreed with her, would Arisu be able to assert that her friend actually existed until the very end?

''Oh, right—

She recalled.

There was one time when the Morpho butterfly Mari had left her became angry at her. The time when Arisu tried forgetting about Mari—

She had certainly been alive, but how much did she fear being forgotten? 

If she hadn’t existed from the very beginning, if she hadn’t remained in anyone’s memory—would she feel unimaginable despair?

“I have no intention of trying to dispel your theories. I have tried thinking from the supposition she’d existed, but… then the question becomes whether or not Hanashiro Mari had left you her Mushi on purpose.”

As if unable to withstand the silence she herself had created, Erii spoke bitterly.

“It must have been an extraordinarily cruel decision for her. If she hadn’t left you her Mushi, she would die while only leaving you the memories of her as her friend… however.”

“…”

“By leaving you the Mushi and taking over you, perhaps she could continue to live. —But if the personality of her friend Arisu vanished, the one and only ‘memory’ of Mari having lived would vanish from the world as well. And then Hanashiro Mari would be living as Arisu… that would mean that the person called Hanashiro Mari would end up ‘not existing’ in the fullest sense.”

Erii looked up at the Morpho butterfly.

“Just like the temptation of the angel and devil. Should she die as Hanashiro Mari or keep living as another person… Thinking that there was a Mushitsuki who had to make this choice is too sad. So it’s better for this to have been all your acting. I mean—if she actually existed, the fact that the Morpho butterfly is right here now… means that what Hanashiro Mari chose before her death was…”

“…Stop it already.”

The three girls’ gazes focused on Arisu.

“I’ve already imagined all sorts of things over and over again. But I’ve just decided to keep moving.”

She only had Arisu.

Only Arisu could remember Mari.

Was that—truly so?

“Mari definitely lived. That’s why, in addition to proving that, I have to find why Mari left me her Mushi. —For that, I need to meet up with someone who remembered Mari other than me.”

“And that’s supposed to be Sanbikime?”

Erii asked and Arisu nodded.

“I don’t care what you think about Mari now. But I have to meet Sanbikime. —Will you help me, Erii?”

Erii smiled. Perhaps she had been trying to test Arisu.

“If we believe Kororo’s past reading… Hanashiro Mari had referred to Sanbikime as ‘Sensei’.”

“But the doctor at that hospital—”

“Yes, all the doctors are normal people. The SEPB also investigated them. They gathered every single evidence starting from birth, their entire histories. Right, not only Sensei, but even the other nurses and interns.”

Erii continued.

“These are all the clues about Sanbikime we can get from Hanashiro Mari. You should remember the keyword of ‘Sensei’, though. —That’s why, just like I thought…”

“We need Harukiyo, yeah.”

Arisu said clearly.

They still haven’t run out of clues related to Mari. The single thread was thin and unreliably vague, but Arisu would use her full powers to try and grasp it.

“Err—I think that’s the only possible way.”

Putting her console back in the bag, the small elementary schooler left her seat.

“Let us go and ask Harukiyo.”