Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 3rd Episode 09 (section)

===Part 2===

Looking at the time display on her cellphone, she saw that it was already 9 P.M.

Exhaling white breaths, Arisu pressed the intercom button on the front gate.

"Hello, I am Ichinokuro Arisu, Mari's friend. I'm sorry for disturbing you at this hour, but—"

A morpho butterfly shining in silver fluttered above Arisu's head, giving her the perception that one of the stars in the night sky was moving around.

"My apologies, as the master of the house is not present currently, we ask that you visit another day."

The reply she received was exactly the same as that when came here on her way back from school.

"How can you even call someone who's never home the master of the house."

Arisu grumbled sullenly away from the intercom. This was her umpteenth visit to this house, but the response was always the same.

Hanashiro Mari's residence was a large Japanese-style mansion in the outskirts of Akamaki City, where paddy fields could be seen here and there. Surrounded by high fences, the mansion was even more immense than Arisu's.

The Hanashiro family was renowned as masters of flower arrangements. Mari mentioned before that they had many disciples from the political and business world, and that they'd gather in one of the dojo on the premises during days of practise.

"And such people who aren't even here wouldn't be able to stop me."

Whispering such words that would probably make Daisuke hit her could he hear them, Arisu looked around the area.

Confirming there were no people around, she walked along the fence, coming to a stop where she could see the edges and looked up. 

Taking care not to make too much noise, Arisu leapt off the ground. She grabbed the top of the fence and pushed herself up in one go.

"…And there. Trespassing completed."

With a light jump, she got inside the premises. She could see a large building across a pond with hanging lights. It seemed to be a dojo. Beyond its low roof was a building that looked like the main residence and a structure surrounded by transparent walls.

If they wouldn't let her enter the house no matter what, she would just have to do so illicitly. Mari might get angry with her, but she would hate to remain like what that Sehateno Harukiyo guy had said.

''—You know nothing.''

Just as he said, Arisu would not be able to find out anything more about Mari if she did nothing.

If Mari really had a diary, Arisu wanted to see it no matter what.

"Where is Mari's room…"

After she came out from a thicket, the morpho butterfly following her overhead suddenly emitted a silver light.

"What? Did something happened?"

While the change in the morpho butterfly's behavior surprised her, a high-toned voice reached her ears.

"Confirming that the monitoring target has trespassed a private residence. Monitoring target is judged to be taking dangerous action." 

A white figure hovered over the darkness-covered pond. —Thinking that it was a ghost made a chill run down Arisu's spine, but that wasn't it. It was a blonde person cladded in a pure white long coat. 

"Kasuou will now proceed to apprehend the target."

The girl standing on the pond said with a twisted smile.

"You're—"

She was the foreign-looking girl Arisu had locked gazes with this noon. Her face was concealed by goggles, but she could identify her from her characteristic high voice and blonde hair.

"I've always wanted to fight you brat ever since hearing you clashed head-on against Kakkou." 

Kasuou spoke in a completely opposite tone from how she was a school. She was enveloped by what seemed to be black mist, and apparently it was what held her up above the water surface.

"So you're the monitor covering for Daisuke then. I was wondering if it might've been you, but… unlike Daisuke who strives to keep a low profile, seeing how you stood out so conspicuously made me thought I was mistaken."

Arisu groaned, drawing back.

"That doesn't matter anymore. Since this will probably my first and last time being part of the surveillance team after all."

Ripples propagated thoughout the water surface. The black mist started moving, slowly ferrying the girl toward Arisu.

"All your actions have already been reported to the rest of the monitoring squad. I don't know who that self-proclaimed cousin of Hanashiro Mari is, but I thought things might get interesting if I were to let you two meet. Sure enough, a nice excuse to fight you has appeared."

The grinning girl was already preparing for battle. Indeed, she seemed to be just itching for a fight just as Daisuke had said.

Arisu quickly considered.

''Should I run outside…? —No, as if I'd retreat after coming all the way here!''

"ORAAAH!"

Raising a manly battlecry, Kasuou sprung at Arisu. The black mist surrounding her morphed into countless assailing claws. 

Arisu immediately leapt to the side, dodging the attack. Missing their target, the claws made of mist dug away at the fence along with part of the ground as if by an explosion.

"Just saying, but if we're talking only about battle strength then I'm no way inferior to Kakkou."

While Arisu was shocked speechless at the excessive violence, Kasuou smiled joyfully. 

The claws swung down at her again from above.

"Kh…!"

Arisu unconsciously grabbed a tree branch lying nearby. 

Silver light flooded from her hands.

The morpho butterfly had landed atop the branch and fused with it in a burst. A silver spear now lay in Arisu's hand.

"Wooh!"

When Arisu flashed her spear, silver scales enough to cloud one's vision engulfed Kasuou in an instant.

An explosion followed which blew away the claws along with the ground. However—

"…I see."

Kasuou stood in the middle of a deep gash in the ground covered by the black mist, smiling. This was Arisu's first time seeing someone other than Daisuke stop her frontal assault, causing her to widened her eyes.

"You can make physical attacks with that spear, and those scales can even damage Special Type Mushi, huh. …Seems like this is gonna be more fun than I thought."

Smiling in enjoyment, Kasuou approached Arisu. Endless claws attacked her from every side.

"Your spear technique isn't too bad either!"

Even the martial arts that had been pounded into Arisu for as long as she could remember seemed to be a cause for Kasuou's pleasure. The barrage of attacks cornered her all the way to the edge of the pond.

"…Uh!"

One of the claws grazed Arisu's coat. She turned around and ran along the side of the pond.

"Wait, are you gonna run away?"

Kasuou gave pursuit to Arisu who ran past the dojo.

Arisu's only goal was Mari's room.

It wasn't defeating Kasuou. 

Having said that, Kasuou was much too strong to just let her go. Unlike any of the other Mushitsuki Arisu had met so far, none had such a purely combat-oriented ability as her.

Arisu was barely able to dodge the claws that dug holes in the ground one after another while running. Eventually, she came before a large building.

The conservatory—the greenhouse was so overly large, it could be called an indoor garden. One of its walls was made of a transparent plastic resin.

Thinking about it, she had heard about this from Mari before. That the Hanashiro family cultivated the plants used in their flower arrangement themselves. 

"Aren't you being too careless, looking around you like that?"

The voice coming from behind Arisu caused her to come to her senses.

She reflexively received the assaulting claws using her silver spear. Silver scales burst forth, and Arisu was pounded against the wall of the garden room. 

"Ugh!"

"That Mushi certainly is strong. …But in the end, you're just human."

Kasuou walked up to Arisu.

"Since you haven't fused with the Mushi yourself, you're completely overwhelmed by the power of the Mushi, huh? It certainly would've been dangerous had you been able to swing that around with the kind of strength Kakkou have."

Arisu propped up her body using the spear as a crutch. Looking around her, she found the emergency staircase installed along the wall. She dashed for the stairs.

"I'm telling ya it's useless no matter where you run to!"

Kasuou followed her in pursue.

Climbing up the stairs, Arisu came out to the rooftop. The greenhouse's roof was also made of plastic, so she could see the vivid plants beneath her legs.

She felt as if the spear in her hands throbbed. Looking down at the greenhouse, the structure of the building flashed in her mind for a second.

This was the first time she saw this indoor botanical garden.

And yet, she felt as though she knew of its inner structure as if it were the back of her hand—

"Please wait."

Arisu sharply asserted at Kasuou with both hands on the spear.

"Huh? No way am I gonna wait. It's about time someone's gonna to come to check out the din."

The two girls faced each other close by under the night sky. The transparent plastic at their feet sparkled as it refracted the indoor illumination. 

"I have no intentions of fighting with you. Aren't you Daisuke's comrade?"

"But, I do want to fight. I won't let you buy time just because you're losing."

"Then, at least choose the right place to do so."

It seemed that Kasuou couldn't understand the meaning of Arisu's words. 

"You bastard, what're you—"

"I'm saying this isn't a place for a battle!"

Arisu spun the spear in her hands. Aiming at her feet, she stabbed through it in one blow. 

Silver scales scattered all over, splitting the transparent plastic supporting them.

"Kh…!"

"Why you…!"

The pair fell down along with shards of broken plastic.

"Auh!"

The impact of the fall knocked the wind out of Arisu's lungs for a second.

The smell of the earth and the much more chocking smell of plants filled her nose. Flowers of all sorts of colors had cushioned her fall. 

As she frowned and stood up, she was greeted by the sight of a flower garden.

''—I didn't really like home… but that place alone was breathtakingly pretty so I liked it.''

When Mari was talking about this garden room, she had worn a rare, sincere smile. 

The vivid scene illuminated by the lights in the greenhouse muddled Arisu's consciousness for an instant.

"Right, Mari…"

The spear throbbed again.

The lighting reflected off the falling plastic shards, producing a rain of glitter.

"''I'' liked this place."

"What's all this bullshit you're saying!"

"—…!"

Kasuou's angry shout caused her to come to her senses with a start. She had the feeling she said something, but couldn't remember what it was.

Arisu swung the spear.

"Wha-…!"

With that, the blooming flowers in their surroundings fluttered into the air. 

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_3rd_p029.jpg|thumb]]

The hurricane of petals blocked Kasuou's line of sight.

Arisu immediately turned around and ran. A tall tree stood there just as she had ''known''. It was tall enough for a petite girl like her to completely hide behind.

"…Shit! Where the hell are you!"

Leaving behind Kasuou still swearing, Arisu left the greenhouse.