Editing Mushi Uta:Snowy Day of Dawning Dreams (section)

== 1.01 The Others ==

Dressed as a college student despite wielding an automatic rifle, Siamo shouted.

“Why did you shoot her neck! The plan isn’t killing her!”

They weren’t meant to kill her—

Saying this right now was meaningless.

After all, this would be the second person they killed, after the Mushitsuki they had to stop from Maturing.

Siamo and five of his comrades jumped out of the large vehicle parked next to the collapsed girl. Only Siamo was disguised as a civilian while all others were fully equipped.

The blond girl—Kasuou—lay on the ground, unmoving.

Her wide-open blue eyes gazed at empty air.

Those were supposed to be looking to something in her future.

A dream.

Mushitsuki like her were all looking at their desired future even while dead—

“I didn’t mean to! The woman made an unnatural movement! Maybe she noticed us…!”

He heard the sniper’s excuses from the earphones in his ears.

“Don’t be an idiot! We were more than a hundred meters away from her! She’d never notice your presence!”

Siamo kneeled next to Kasuou, pulling out the pinkie-sized bullet stabbed into her white neck.

“Sniping with a tranquilizer is ridiculous anyway! You should praise me for actually scoring the hit!”

“Yeah, good job! You got her neck, of all places! Even though it’s a tranquilizer, it’s definitely going to break the cervical vertebrae—”

Siamo’s face became unsightly as he let anger grab control of him and traded barbs with the sniper.

But he then noticed blue eyes were looking at him.

“—Eh?”

In the report submitted to the SEPB’s Central Headquarters later, the following was written.

There was an error in the report submitted before about Kasuou’s sniping.

The report about Blaze Class Rank 1 member Kasuou’s death was a mistake, and the safety of the aforementioned member is confirmed.



The number of surviving Mushitsuki:

285→286.



“UooHHH!?”

The black mist gushing out from the blond girl they wanted to abduct and bring back to their country blew Siamo back.

She did not move a single finger. Lying on the mist that suddenly appeared, she was completely still.

“We’re being attacked! Fire! Fire!”

Siamo’s comrades pulled the trigger on their guns. Along with violent gunfire, a rain of bullets showered the black mist.

However, no bullet was able to pierce even a single centimeter into the mist protecting the girl. Seeing the bullets fall to the ground in pieces, they all gasped.

Part of the mist wrapping Kasuou hardened. It transformed into countless sharp claws.

“She’s attacking! Retreat—”

Although Siamo gave this warning, the expected slashing attack did not come.

The girl lying inside the mist looked at Siamo with her blue eyes as if memorizing his face.

She did only that—without attacking—then turned. Using her claws instead of legs, she ran away in a straight line while destroying the walls of residential buildings around.

All his comrades were shocked, looking at the distancing mass of mist.

“She ran away…? So the tranquilizer is working!”

“What’re we gonna do, Siamo! Our mission’s failed! Should we retreat?”

“No—”

Siamo shook off the image of the first Mushitsuki they killed from his mind and spoke.

Kasuou’s eyes looking at him were shaking. To him it seemed like not only she couldn’t even curse Siamo, but like she couldn’t move even a single finger.

“From what I’ve seen, her eyeball movements were weakening as well. It’s a fast-acting tranquilizer. She will definitely lose consciousness within a minute.”

“Then…”

“We go after her! Move the car to be able to pick up Kasuou’s body at any moment!”

If the injured Kasuou attacked Siamo and company in reckless abandon it’d be a lot simpler.

They simply had to focus on dodging her attacks. If a minute passed and Siamo and others just collected the exhausted Kasuou then, it’d be for the best.

Realizing that was going to happen—Kasuou ran away.

He read in the report that she had rich battle experience. She’d survived many battles, both small ones as well as those like the Night of the Meteor Shower or the Decisive Hashiba City Battle.

She was top-class among Mushitsuki in her combat experience.

That was exactly why he planned to conclude this “big game hunting” before she could be seriously on guard.

And in the same timing as the other big game.

Right about now, the team led by Siamo’s older brother should also be aiming for a certain Mushitsuki.

Siamo promised his brother that they would raise a glass to their mission’s success.

“Siamo! Kasuou’s going into town!”

“Don’t worry! The SEPB’s going to manipulate memories and control information to hide it anyway! Shoot and paralyze her already!”

While running, Siamo and company fired toward the mist carrying Kasuou. His comrades were leaning out from the large vehicle that appeared behind them in a delay, firing their rifles.

The mist protecting Kasuou kept running away while destroying all power poles and walls in its path. At last she came out into the road, causing passersby to raise huge shrieks.

“She won’t last even ten more seconds! She has nowhere to run to!”

“Siamo, we’ll also hit civilians if we fire here…!”

“I told you not to worry! Prepare for picking her up!”

He might as well become the villain, a terrorist that doesn’t care about making sacrifices. He didn’t have his older brother’s decisiveness, he didn’t have the natural athletic abilities of his younger brother (who was currently God knows where), so if he wasn’t resolved for something like this, as the half-hearted sandwich sibling—he wouldn’t be able to conduct this mission of assaulting immature boys and girls.

“Good, the mist’s shrinking! I won’t let you escape—”

While the cars around all made emergency brakes, Kasuou broke right into the road.

Even the people in the bus stop ahead started running away while screaming.

However, seeing that one person among them—a girl—stood in place, Siamo gasped without thinking.

“Kasuou…?”

It was a girl wearing large glasses. She was wearing the uniform of the famous school called Horusu Seijou Academy.

Siamo’s legs unconsciously stopped moving.

He realized everything just from seeing that bespectacled girl.

Kasuou hadn’t been running away randomly at all—

“Re—”

Siamo screamed toward his comrades that were still on hot pursuit.

“Retreaaaat! We’re retreating!”

The glasses girl turned toward Kasuou, who was wringing her very last powers to run. She took a boxing pose, with both her fists starting to glow white.

“Those symptoms… I understand, Kasuou—”

Siamo’s strategy this time was meant to capture Kasuou. They obviously thoroughly investigated the people around her, especially other Mushitsuki.

The girl with glasses was a Mushitsuki.

And she was big game on par with Kasuou. Siamo had no idea if this was true, but she was said to be a fearsome martial artist who, during the fight a year ago, had held off the JSDF who were being controlled by the Mushitsuki called C. And all by her own.

They had no way to win if these two Mushitsuki acted together.

Because he judged this to be true, he aimed for the time after they parted, and yet—

The mist protecting Kasuou opened up a little as if to let the glasses girl in.

“Detox Punch!”

The bespectacled girl’s glowing fist aimed for Kasuou’s white neck. She further launched a spin kick in flowing movements to tap Kasuou’s temple.

“Healing Kick!”

Siamo’s comrades could do nothing but stand on the road, stunned.

“That’s—Yotsuba! A Special Class, Rank 3 Mushitsuki…!”

His comrades dispatched on the same mission obviously knew who she was.

Therefore, Siamo issued a retreat order—but apparently his comrades were frozen in place exactly because they could estimate the future shown to them by what they saw.

Two Mushitsuki stood at the bus stop.

The girl with large glasses emitted breath full of a calm fighting spirit.

And the other Mushitsuki.

Mitake Anneliese—Kasuou—looked at Siamo with eyes full of a dim murderous impulse, then murmured. 

“…If you try and run away, I’ll kill you.”

Siamo screamed.

“Retreat!! Run!!!”

As Siamo threw his weapon and escaped, his comrades also followed him.

However, it all ended in vain.

In the end it was Siamo’s group that didn’t last a minute.

Captured by the assaulting mass of mist, his comrades were crushed, spewing blood, tears and bubbles while screaming. The large vehicle that wanted to pick them up was being shredded by mist claws like it was made of paper. His comrades unleashed bullets and hand grenades with angry roars, and even used the grenade launcher they brought as a last resort. However, they were unable to shave down the mist protecting Kasuou who wore a demonic expression even a little. As for the sniper bullets launched from a far—not only did they not even graze Kasuou, they were stopped by the mist concentrated on the road as easily as a toddler grasping a chocolate chip.

Despite parked vehicles, upturned asphalt and all sorts of other objects being thrown on him, Siamo managed to run away for about a minute—

But in the end, he was cornered in a road that led to a complex building straying from the main street.

“Guh… Gpuh.”

Now crucified against the wall by the mist claws, Siamo had another claw buried into his stomach.

While his insides were being slowly destroyed, blood and gastric juices came dribbling from Siamo’s mouth.

“—Who the fuck are you lot? You’ve killed a Mushitsuki before.”

Kasuou calmly looked down at the bloody Siamo. White grains started falling stop the picturesque beauty’s head.

It was snow.

Siamo was bleeding, while the boorish Kasuou looked up expressionlessly.

“How does it feel to shoot an innocent, tender brat? Hey.”

“Stop it, Kasuou. We can’t kill them.”

Yotsuba appeared. She grabbed Kasuou’s shoulder from behind.

“I haven’t killed them. Not a single one.”

“Yeah… I’ve healed everyone thus far. And made it so that they can’t move.”

“Then heal this guy, too. I’ll stab and you heal. We’ll do that a hundred times. If you heal ‘em properly, Central HQ’s not gonna hear about it.”

“…What was all that you said before about it being the fault of the weak? You actually are angry.”

“You—are—”

Within the snow, Siamo moved his mouth that could taste nothing but blood.

“Not human—you’re just monsters—”

Kasuou and Yostuba’s eyes looking at Siamo changed.

Although it was extremely cold, he felt as if the temperature got even lower. However, he continued.

“You’ll never grow in numbers, anymore—but before you go extinct—all countries, want a sample—a precious sample—you’re just guinea pigs—”

Kasuou raised her arm and tried moving the claw of mist. Yotsuba stopped her with a hand.

“Right—I already heard, and yet—”

The two girls wore shocked expressions.

Had the snow pouring down from the sky melted down Siamo’s hidden expression?

Or was he just released from the pain he was supposed to feel because he was crucified on this holy night?

A long streak of tears went down Siamo’s cheeks.

“The girl we’ve killed—looked just like the kind of normal girl you can find anywhere—”

For some reason he couldn’t forget the girl showered with bullets who sank in a sea of blood.

Those eyes.

Although they lost their liveliness, her two eyes looked like they were seeking something.

These were familiar eyes.

They were just like those Siamo and others had when they were young—

Perhaps even Siamo himself, had he been to this country, would have turned out like that girl—

“She wasn’t the kind of kid—we could so easily shoot dead—”

Seeing Siamo shed unceasing tears, Kasuou was speechless.

“You’ve gotta—”

She removed the mist’s restraints. As Siamo fell to the ground on his rear, he felt a warm impact hit his cheek.

“You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me, you son of a bitch! How dare you cry like that!”

Kasuou struck Siamo with her right fist and then her left fist.

However, his tears wouldn’t stop.

“Aah—God—”

“Don’t you dare beg for forgiveness! You’re the one who killed an innocent Mushitsuki! Don’t think you’ll be forgiven at this stage! Die, you piece of shit!”

Yotsuba made no attempt to stop Kasuou’s blows.

Before long the girl’s fist striking Siamo started bleeding, and when she breathed heavily—

“Let’s leave the rest to the intelligence division. Because they’ll be coming here soon.”

Yotsuba muttered this.

Although Siamo’s entire face became swollen like a balloon, he had yet to lose consciousness.

“Tch! So from now on our enemies are these kinda guys…!”

Spitting on Siamo, Kasuou spun her body.

Right.

Perhaps Mushitsuki like them stopped fighting among themselves.

However—this didn’t mean people stopped looking at them.

Even if society at large forgot about their existence, even if they themselves lost all reason to fight—

Those who would aim for the supernatural beings called Mushitsuki existed everywhere.

“—Say, Kasuou.”

“Hah?”

“The poison they shot into you… I did purify the anesthesia, but that dosage—no normal person could keep on being conscious with that amount. Not to mention what happened to your neck…”

Siamo could hear the two Mushitsuki with his dimming senses.

“Ah? What’re you trying to say?”

Siamo’s sight was getting filled with snow.

While his consciousness was growing dimmer, Siamo wished.

''Run, big bro—

Today was Christmas Eve. Perhaps God would hear his wish on a whim.

There was no longer anything to be done about Siamo’s failure.

Mushitsuki were strong.

Siamo couldn’t even put a dent on the girl called Kasuou.

To say nothing of the one his brother was aiming for around this time—

“Doesn’t it mean, Kasuou, that even you—are approaching the Undying?”

A Mushitsuki that supposedly cannot die.

They tried capturing an opponent they shouldn’t have reached for. 

''Please try and run away to a place where you don’t have to hurt anyone… big bro—

Siamo kept praying to God for his brother’s safety all alone.