Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 4th Episode 15 (section)

===Part 4===

Arisu came back to her senses with a jolt.

She could feel a tear flowing down her cheek.

The memories that flew inside her like raging waves were cut off, restoring the sensation of sitting in the hanging gardens.

Widening her eyes, she looked up the older girl sitting next to her.

"…"

Kidou Tsukasa was gently smiling.

The memories of what she'd done until recently were in Arisu's head. After despairing from her actions, Tsukasa also received the pain of other people, escaped the SEPB, and—

"I was unable to become a magician…"

She noticed that Tsukasa's eyes were losing their vitality. Due to disregarding her own body and her long life of escape, Tsukasa was exhausted. By sparing the use of her Mushi powers, her dream was eaten to the utmost limits.

When Mushitsuki overused their Mushi powers, they exhausted both mind and body. And Mushitsuki who continued to lose their dreams as compensation for their powers would lose their very lives too.

"I was just another stupid Mushitsuki, nothing more. I believed Mushi to be magic, got carried away, and failed… it was just like she said that time. This power was not magic or anything like that."

Saying this, she glared at Arisu's face.

"—That's what I wanted to say by showing you my memories. Because I couldn't say it well with words… but seems like I've gotten the wrong person anyway. This was the first time I've used ''Memory Rapport'', but your memories also flowed back to me."

Although tired, her voice also seemed somewhat refreshed.

"You both are and aren't Hunter. If I'd been killed by Hunter that time I wouldn't have failed… I also wanted to say this to her."

While Tsukasa said this and smiled listlessly, Arisu was speechless. Having viewed the life of a Mushitsuki, she couldn't even think of words of sympathy or consolation.

"My preparations are finally complete."

Tsukasa's gaze passed from Arisu to the elevator.

"I've pinned down the executives aiming for ''her''. I also obtained evidence connecting them to the perpetrators. There were reliable people among the executives, and also someone who could become her friend. I did what I needed to. Now if they actually try killing her, and the reliable people will round up all of them…"

[[File:Mushi_Uta_Bug_4th_p195.jpg|thumb]]

Tsukasa muttered to herself incoherently.

"I told the perpetrator that she'll be here now. I'll finally settle the score… I have to take responsibility for what I've done…"

Realizing the meaning of Tsukasa's words, Arisu turned around to the elevator.

"She came here after receiving a letter from the Kind Magician… I want her to be the only one who still thinks of it as kind magic… That's enough for me…"

The girl Tsukasa was speaking of—now grown taller than how she was in her memories—was about to board the elevator along with the security police accompanying her. She was the girl who created the opportunity for Tsukasa to become a Mushitsuki.

"…!"

Arisu touched her head.

The spider that was there until a moment ago was gone—

The elevator's door closed.

On the neck of the girl clad in a pink coat—was a small daddy long-legs.

"''Pain Rapport''…"

Tsukasa murmured. On her face hidden so the girl wouldn't see it was a smile full of satisfaction and loneliness. Ever since the waking ceremony of the person she'd killed, Tsukasa continuously hid herself from the girl.

As she saw Kidou Tsukasa's memories, Arisu knew what she was trying to do—

"Why—"

She rose up with vigor, rushing near the elevator.

Yet the elevator the girl rode on started descending already. Arisu punched the button of the nearby elevator.

"There should be another way! Why do you have to…!"

She turned back to the seat, shouting.

"Your way of doing things is…!"

As Arisu wrung out her screaming voice, Tsukasa kept her kind smile.

Arisu turned back to the elevator, pounding the door. The girl was approaching ground level.

"What do you think Mushi are?"

Tsukasa was there. She also knew it was a long time since she'd uttered these words. Yes, ever since she'd come face to face with Hunter, Hanashiro Mari.

"When I'd received magic, I thought I was saved by Mushi. And—when I made my mistake, I thought it was my enemy…"

"…!"

Finally another elevator arrived.

"Ichinokuro Arisu. You are always worrying, too. Is that morpho butterfly that Hunter left to you an ally or an enemy? You also know fully well that you have to decide this soon."

The elevator reaching the hanging garden was empty. She wrenched open the doors and entered with the cane, much too slow for her liking.

She turned toward the hanging gardens bathing in the sun.

"In the end I was unable to reach a conclusion."

The Mushitsuki known as Kidou Tsukasa—the Kind Magician wore a carefree smile.

"I'd like for someone like you to find the truth one day. —You should be able to understand the feelings of both a Mushitsuki and a normal person."

The door closed.

The figure of the wound-covered girl disappeared as Arisu descended.

—No, she already couldn't see her figure due to the tears warping her vision.

"…!"

Looking down to the surface, she saw the other elevator reach the ground.

On the walkway was a large truck headed directly for Skypeer.

''—If only the truth of the perpetrator trying to kill her existed…''

Tsukasa's words resurfaced in her mind.

Arisu's elevator wasn't going to make it in time—

"Mari… Please, Mari…!"

She looked up at the morpho butterfly.

The butterfly she'd inherited from Hanashiro Mari was silent. The morpho butterfly could be said to be completely apathetic on situations which didn't endanger Arisu herself.

"Mari!"

She raised her voice to almost a scream.

Finally the morpho butterfly responded to her call. Emitting silver light, it burst into countless tentacles. Merging with the cane, it became a single, large spear.

The truck destroyed the fence, charging toward the elevator that just reached the surface.

"UWAAAAAH!"

Drawing a large arc, she threw the silver spear toward the truck.

There was a silver flash.

The spear emitting silver scales pierced the elevator's door and was thrust toward the ground.

Skypeer was assaulted by a violent tremor.

Arisu's unleashed spear split the truck's rear into two, but it couldn't stop the vehicle in place. She could see it directly crash into the elevator.

"—"

Arisu's knees crumbled as if to cling to the wall.

While she raised a scream the elevator kept descending. With alarms blaring from overhead, it reached the surface while shaking.

On the other side of the open door was a gruesome sight.

The screams and shouts of visitors were flying around and the Skypeer's staff was frantically rescuing people from the debris. She could hear sirens from afar.

Rescued along with men covered in blood was a girl wearing a pink coat.

She appeared to have lost consciousness. Her clothes were ripped.

And yet it didn't look like she was injured at all—

"Au… Uuh…"

A small daddy long-legs climbed on the girl's shoulder. The spider spouted bodily fluids and its movements stopped as if in exhaustion.

"Arisu! What're you doing here…"

He probably came there in search of her after receiving contact from Kasuou. It was her monitor and fellow house member, the boy called Kusuriya Daisuke. 

"Daisuke…"

She buried her face in the chest of the approaching boy. He was confused at her unexpected action.

''—What do you think Mushi are?''

The words of the Kind Magician resurfaced in the crying Arisu's mind.

She had no idea.

Right now Arisu had no answer.

She simply hated seeing that sort of ending for Mushitsuki—

Inside her warped line of sight, the spider on the girl's shoulders raised a cry—and melted into thin air along with the lingering traces of magic.

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===Notes===
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