Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 1st Episode 02 (section)

===Part 3===

“She’s not thinking of suicide, is she…?”

“If it comes to that, we’ll just have to stop her…!”

The three girls had put their heads together and whispered. Immediately afterwards, Ena was shocked by what she saw behind Arisu.

“A-Arisu!”

“Eh?”

Turning around, Arisu could feel something cold wrapping around her neck. She felt goosebumps rising all over her skin as she was pressed by something as cold as ice.

Neiko was touching Arisu’s neck with both of her hands. Their faces were so close to each other that they were almost touching.

[[File:Mushi Uta Bug 1st p079.jpg|thumb]]

“Wha-…?”

“Voice…”

“Eh?”

“Try saying something…”

In close proximity, Neiko’s lips moved. From that distance, Arisu could see that she had applied pink lipstick. She could also see the colour of her iris, which was closer to tawny than black.

“<span style="font-family:Courier New;">What is it…?</span style>”

Her body stiffened, she replied awkwardly. At this, Neiko smiled softly and released her hands from Arisu’s neck.

“As I thought… you have a good voice…”

Murmuring to herself with a satisfied look, she lowered her waist onto the seat.

“A-are you alright, Arisu?”

“Where’s the help… I-I was almost killed…!”

“How do I put it… what a strange person.”

“''…Haah…''”

At her sigh, the heavy atmosphere returned.

S-so she’s like that—.

As Arisu’s face cramped up, she came to a conclusion. She felt bad for Neiko, but she felt like she could understand a bit about why the rest of her group decided to leave her behind.

Their gondola has reached around the midpoint of Ferris wheel. At this height, the view of the whole city could be seen. The neon lights on the ground flickered like stars.

At that moment.

“''Kyaa!''”

Arisu, Ena and Takako’s screams overlapped.

All of a sudden, the gondola was hit by a tremor, causing it to shake violently.

“W-what happened?”

Ena and Takako clung onto the walls while Arisu immediately took a look at the steel pillars supporting the Ferris wheel. The illuminations along the Ferris wheel broke, causing the lights to flicker. Even as the Ferris wheel shook, it continued to rotate, bringing their gondola higher up in the air.

Outside of the window, a silver light was dancing about.

It was the morpho butterfly. As if trying to warn Arisu about something , it flew around in the shape of the number 8.

“Mari…?”

Arisu creased her eyebrows.

The tremors ceased after a while, but the flickering lights did not. The light bulbs along the Ferris wheel spewed out some sparks before dying out. Takako, grasping Ena’s hand tightly, looked at the surrounding anxiously.

“W-what was that just now…?”

In the silent gondola, the sigh sounded especially loud.

“''…Haah…''”

Arisu looked at Neiko who was sitting next to the window. Ena and Takako were shivering in fear.

Neiko was still in her own world, looking down at the cityscape without a care in the world. Her fair expression seemed to be filled with a different abnormality to it than before.

Another slight tremor struck the gondola. The sound of metal clashing against metal was transmitted throughout the Ferris wheel.

“W-why is she so calm…”

Ena questioned unnervingly.

Neiko’s lips moved.

—''Ding Dong~'', ''Ding Dong~'', the chime ringing across the sea, deliver us to his land…—.

“!”

Arisu saw what happened in that instance.

A fog-like substance emanated from Neiko who was leaning against the wall. The thing that emerged from the fog before fading into particles of light had the visage of a long-horned grasshopper spreading out its wings. Arisu could even see its six compound eyes melting into the air.

—Gospel of light, child of resurrection, invite us with the chime of your bell, ''Ding Dong~'', ''Ding Dong~''…—

Neiko’s lips opened. However, the song seemed to echo in the surrounding air itself, overlapping with the ‘''Diiing''’ sound of a bell.

The shaking of the Ferris wheel intensified. Ena and Takako were speechless upon witnessing the scene before them.

The morpho butterfly outside the window flurriedly fluttered its wings.

“Don’t tell me you’re a…”

Arisu stared at Neiko.

“Mushitsuki…?”

—Neiko’s lips twisted into a smile.

“…Mushitsuki…?”

Ena shouted in disbelief. Surprisingly, the one to calm her down was Takako. She held Ena while telling her, ‘It’s going to be alright. Calm down’. This made Ena regain her calm and held Takako back.

The Mushitsuki that Arisu and Daisuke encountered in the previous incident was Takako’s childhood friend, thus, this was not the first time she saw a Mushitsuki. In addition, it was fortunate that Takako had been strong mentally in the first place, allowing her to soothe Ena down.

The more intense the tremors, the louder Neiko sang.

“Stop that!”

Arisu pulled on Neiko’s shirt, making her stop singing. At the same time, the tremors assaulting the Ferris wheel weakened.

Neiko raised her head languidly. Seeing her lifeless gaze, Arisu felt shivers on her back.

“I’m glad… to be able to see this city… from the highest point at the very end…”

Although her singing voice had stopped, the sound that seemed to vibrate along with the air itself persisted.

“This sound is your doing, right! What were you intending to do to this Ferris wheel? What were you doing?”

The Ferris wheel shook.

Neiko smiled and opened her mouth.

The sound of bell chime became louder. It was as if Neiko shook the surrounding air along with her windpipe.

Arisu recalled Daisuke’s explanation while they were at the hospital.

Mushitsuki were broadly separated into three types. One is the Minion type where the Mushi exist with a physical body and obeys the host. Another is the Fusion type in which the Mushi assimilates with the host’s body, giving them supernatural physical abilities. Lastly is the Special type which does not have a physical body, instead giving its host the ability to manipulate various power at will. In exchange for using these powers, the host’s own dream would be consumed by the Mushi. From what Arisu saw, Neiko’s Mushi belonged to the Special type.

“I told you to stop, didn’t I!”

The quaking subsided along with the volume of the sound of the bell.

“Look…”

From the position where Arisu held her down, Neiko looked out of the window.

Not letting her guard down, Arisu looked out of the window. What she saw caused her to involuntarily swallow her breath. Ena and Takako too, temporarily forgot about their current situation upon seeing the view.

The gondola which Arisu and the rest were in was currently at the apex of the Ferris wheel.

The ground was overlaid with a starry sky.

Countless shiny grains lay scattered across a vast black sheet. What differed from the actual starry skies was that each grain wriggled around like water droplets on a screen. The movements of the multicoloured grains served to show that they were alive.

“Over there…”

Neiko’s fingertip hit the window with a ''kotsun''.

“I grew up over there in the suburbs. It’s an old town where telephone poles are still wooden. It's practically filled with the elderly so much so that people around my age could easily be counted with fingers…”

The three girls were all looking at Neiko.

“Over there…”

Next, Neiko pointed to the region which where railway tracks and the national highway ran concurrently. The station which Arisu frequented was located there as well.

“While we were still in middle school and couldn’t leave the suburbs, that was where we first performed before a crowd… At first, no one stopped to listen. But recently, several people would stop to listen to my songs…”

Neiko’s voice tailed off. Subsequently, the ringing of the bell which resonated with the tremors veered into noise. The Ferris wheel shook again.

Having passed the top, the gondola began its descend.

“‘''Aah'', the world is such a wide place’, I thought…”

Taking a breath, Neiko started recounting again.

“I want to go to a bigger, wider venue… With that notion, I heard the sound of the bell chime… And then, I became a Mushitsuki…”

Arisu could feel her sigh on her cheek. A look of deep fatigue emerged in Neiko’s expression.

Looking at her complexion, Arisu had an unpleasant premonition.

“Don’t tell me, the Mushi devoured your dreams…?”

It was rumoured that Mushitsuki whose dream were completely consumed by their Mushi would meet death. In fact, Arisu had already heard that it was true from Daisuke.

“H-hey, that is…!”

Ena, which was clenched on to the window, pointed outside. Far beneath their gondola, the largest supporting pillar of the Ferris wheel looked as if it was being carved down by something invisible. Overlapped with the support pillar, the shimmering silhouette of a long-horned grasshopper could be seen.

“Nonetheless, there is no return for us anymore…”

Neiko smiled, prompting Arisu to ask.

“…What do you mean?”

“There’s nowhere else we can escape, we’ve been chased to a dead end… By the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau…”

Arisu widened her eyes. The Special Environmental Preservation Bureau was the organisation that Daisuke belonged to.

“The Special Environmental Preservation Bureau… Mushitsuki captured by the SEPB will have their Mushi killed with no exceptions… And once they turn into a Fallen, they would never be able to dream a second time again. To be unable to sing… If you take my songs away from me, then there’s no reason to live for…”

“That’s why, you wanted to bring us down along with you?”

At Takako’s words, Ena whimpered a sob.

Arisu immediately looked towards the morpho butterfly outside of the window. —However, she did not have anything at hand that the morpho butterfly can assimilate with. Furthermore, she did not know how she could deal with Neiko’s Mushi which does not even have a physical form.

If only they could reach the ground, then something could be done. If the SEPB was coming, Daisuke should have known about this situation as well.

“Just now, you said ‘at the very end’, right. How did you know that you have been discovered?”

To buy some time, Arisu questioned Neiko. The girl smiled back.

“You know the people on board the gondola in front of us? I heard them talk to the SEPB… It seems that they made a deal with them to lead me here, and in exchange spare them… We were supposed to be in the middle of our escape, and yet they suggested to come here…”

Arisu was lost for words. The attitude they adopted before boarding the gondola, it was all to leave Neiko by herself—.

Forgetting their current situation, Arisu raised her voice.

“They betrayed you? Aren’t they your friends?”

But Neiko only smiled wordlessly. Arisu could feel her anger boiling over.

“Then, why didn’t you escape! Didn’t you already realised that it was a trap? Why… why are you still smiling even though your friends betrayed you!”

“Have you ever placed your trust in somebody…?”

Neiko stared back at Arisu. Her expression held no anger nor hatred at anyone. The only emotion she could see was deep sadness—.

“‘I was betrayed’. Have you ever felt that before?”

Arisu couldn’t make a word.

Hanashiro Mari—.

Arisu had thought of Mari as a close friend. Even more so than her friends in school, Arisu could talk to Mari about anything.

A student from the same grade who had never attended school ever since enrolling. That was Mari. In the eyes of Arisu who lived a normal school life coming to school and making friends, the seat that was always empty frequently came into her sights.

—I’m sorry. I don’t even know the names and looks of my classmates…

The opening sentence between Arisu, who had visited suddenly on a certain day, and Mari was a self-introduction.

From then on, Arisu visited Mari in the hospital nearly every day. She remembered having lots of fun chatting with Mari, but could not remember what they talked about. Arisu would share with Mari just about anything, and Mari would just happily listen to her.

But, she was mistaken.

One day, Mari just disappeared suddenly; leaving behind the morpho butterfly which made Arisu realise that she was a Mushitsuki.

“If you realised you were betrayed, what would you do…?”

Neiko looked at Arisu, then at Ena and Takako.

“How about you? Would you be angry? Perhaps, you would cry? You might just fall into despair, becoming unable to do anything anymore… The stronger you believed in them, the more helpless you feel when you are betrayed.”

The sound of metal creaking reverberated. The quavering of the Ferris wheel intensified. Seeing Arisu and rest gulping, Neiko smiled uncannily.

“And so… what do you think I did?”

“Please, just stop…!”

Unable to stand the situation anymore, Ena shouted.

Immediately afterwards, Arisu widened her eyes.

“Wha—”

Outside the window, countless strange looking monsters closed in to the gondola from the sky.

Some were flapping what seemed like wings, while others floated even without anything resembling a flying apparatus. What they had in common was the appearance of insects with a malicious look.

The monsters started to attack the gondola that Arisu and the rest were in.

“''Kyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!''”

Ena hugged onto Takako while screaming.

Several of the Mushi started ramming themselves into the gondola simultaenously.

[[File:Mushi Uta Bug 1st p091.jpg|thumb]]

“…!”

The gondola jerked more violently unlike any they had experienced before. The window glass cracked and the door bursted in, crushing Arisu and the rest—was not what happened.

At first, Arisu doubted her eyes. It wasn’t just her, even the hugging Takako and Ena stared at the sight irregardless of the situation they were in.

The destruction of the gondola they were in had stopped all of a sudden.

—''Ding Dong~'', ''Ding Dong~'', eternal wind, oh, behold the sunrise—.

They could hear a song.

The broken glass and bent wall reverted back to their former condition as if somebody had turned back time. The gondola was wrapped in a pale light that restore the gondola to its original state.

“Eh…?”

Arisu muttered unconsciously.

“Someone is protecting us…?”

The Mushi floating in the air seemed to be caught in surprise as well. They hovered about in confusion before suddenly recalling their mission and restarted their assault on the gondola again.

“''Nooo!''”

The gondola juddered furiously again. However, the same phenomenon repeated itself. A pale light covered the gondola and repaired the damage done to it.

“We’ve misunderstood—”

Looking down at the support pillar, Arisu finally understood what was happening.

There, she saw large and sharp claws. The claws which seemed to sprout out of thin air were heatedly attacking the support pillar. In opposition, the shimmering silhouette of the long-horned grasshopper surrounded the support pillar, fending off their attacks. As the chime of the bell rang, the fissures in the pillar closed back.

“Were you the one protecting us all along…?”

“I’m sorry for involving you guys into this mess…”

Neiko’s face twisted in pain. She was likely suffering from overusing her power.

“At the very least, I’ll make sure to get you guys…”

In the midst of her words, her consciousness seemed to cut off for a bit. But, it was only for a moment. Clenching her teeth, she regained her consciousness.

“To the ground… no matter what…”

“…!”

Arisu clenched her fist tightly.

—It feels like… I’m kind of tired……

Neiko had already been exhausted from since she boarded the Ferris wheel. She must have been desperately escaping up till now. Even so, she mustered the last of her strength to ensure that Arisu and the rest did not come to harm. Doing so knowingly that her dream would be consumed from using the power of her Mushi—and that that would lead to the end of her life.

“…That means the one attacking us was the SEPB from the very beginning, right.”

Takako, who was being hugged by Ena, said.

“Even though that would incur so many casualties as well…”

“Those people are… that merciless…”

“Why… why are they targeting someone like you?”

Arisu did not think that Neiko was a criminal. Despite being hunted down and betrayed by her own friends, she had used her power to protect Arisu and the rest.

“I guess it’s because I’m a Mushitsuki…”

“Just because…!”

“You must have met other Mushitsuki before, right… Amongst them, aren’t there some who used their power nefariously?”

Arisu could not answer Neiko.

Harimoto Jun. The impetus which led to her meeting Daisuke; he was the first Mushitsuki Arisu met apart from Mari. He had used the power of his Mushi to hurt other people.

“We, just by being Mushitsuki, are a dangerous existence… For us, no matter what happens, our hearts would not change, that’s why…”

“…There’s no way I can accept that just because of this reasoning! I’ll bring a stop to this immediately!”

Arisu took out her mobile phone and called Daisuke. He should be somewhere on the ground. Alas, he did not pick up his phone.

“Indeed, there are surely those understand that in the SEPB… there’s no doubts that they are suffering.”

Arisu could not believe what Neiko was saying. She was implying that the ones attacking them right now were suffering.

“How could you possibly know that? You’ve never even met them before! It’s not like those people even care about others—”

“I know. After all, I’m also a Mushitsuki…”

Neiko said so with a sigh.

“There are no Mushitsuki who are not fighting their own battles…”

At that, Arisu recalled.

The look of weariness on the face of Daisuke at the hospital. He usually wore a look of calmness, but she saw him revealed a look of anguish for an instant. Was he also fighting a battle of his own?

“Mushitsuki… Just what are they…!”

Closing her mobile phone, Arisu yelled out loud as if squeezing all the air from her lungs.

“I don’t get it! I just don’t understand what any of the Mushitsuki are thinking!”

The gondola that Arisu and the rest were in was about to reach the ground. However, the intensity of the tremors was reaching its peak. In addition, the pale light surrounding the gondola was gradually thinning.

“Sor-… ry… I can’t… hold on anyone…”

Neiko’s eyes were growing listless. The glass windows finally broke, scattering inside the gondola.

“Something… there must be something we can do…!”

Glaring at the Mushi slamming their body against the gondola, Arisu grinded her teeth. If only there was a suitable object that the morpho butterfly could fuse with, then she would be able to counterattack. Regrettably, it was not like a pole would just fall from the skies.

The gondola was about to touch ground in just a moment. But at this rate, the Ferris wheel would collapse before they can even escape the gondola.

At this time.

The attack by SEPB stopped. The Mushi attacking the gondola has been struck by some attack and had fallen to the ground.

What had appeared out of the blue and assaulted the Mushi were as expected, other Mushi as well.

“It can’t be…”

There were four counterattacking Mushi in total. —The same number as Neiko’s friends.

“Did they not betray her?”

Neiko closed her eyes. Her lips formed into a broad smile.

—What do you think I did?

Arisu thought back on what Neiko said earlier and bit her lips.

“Even if you were betrayed… your feelings wouldn’t change…?”

Neiko smiled gently.

Even if she was betrayed, her feelings would not change. She would not be angry nor would she hate them.

—For us, no matter what happens, our hearts would not change, that’s why…

She shouldn’t have known that they did not really betrayed her. She ought to have felt forsaken, yet even so, Neiko still—.

“You still believed…!”

“I’m glad… to have seen such a beautiful view… in the end…”

Neiko sunk into her seat. Her eyes, which were reflecting the night scenery, rapidly turned dull.

[[File:Mushi Uta Bug 1st p097.jpg|thumb]]

The four Mushi used the element of surprise to defeat the SEPB’s Mushi one by one. Ena lifted her face.

“We’re…saved…?”

The gondola was just metres off the ground.

“…!”

Amidst the strong jolting, Arisu saw a Mushi fly past outside the window.

It was an insect with an unusually long antenna and green wings.

This Mushi belongs to—.

The figure of the green checkered beetle disappeared.

“Don’t say something like, ‘in the end’, so readily…!”

A thunderous rumble roared.

It sounded like as if somebody fired off a cannon. The four Mushi whose wings were punctured fell to the ground.

“Every-… one…!”

Neiko opened her eyes.

“If you say that all Mushitsuki fight till the very end, then show me that you are going to fight till the very end!”

Arisu evoked the memory of Mari’s smile.

Her close friend could not even struggle.

—No, that may have been wrong. She might have just gave up struggling and left the world for all she know.

Arisu would never be able to find out the truth now. So, there was only one thing she could do.

That was to believe.

Just as Neiko did when she thought she had been betrayed.

Thus, there was no way Arisu would let Neiko who have taught her that lesson give up here.

The gondola finally touched ground.

Immediately, the door was forcefully wrenched open from the outside.

—What it revealed was the Devil shrouded in black.