Editing Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Chapter 2 (section)

==2.05 Shachito Part 3==

A So1o's engine sounds resounded at the parking lot of a family restaurant facing the national highway along the sea.

"Yeah yeah, additional menu. I got it."

Shachito, who wore a coat on top of his jersey, turned on the throttle while smiling. The momentum caused his helmet to slide back, tightening the strap on his neck. 

"I have no idea who that Shinpu guy is, but seems like I just need to find him and chase after him."

In contrast to his casual tone, Shachito took action quickly. The accelerating motorbike flew to the national highway. 

Ever since meeting the girl known as Shishidou Inuko he spent all his time on training. She threatened him that ignoring her orders would to lead to him being imprisoned by the organization known as the SEPB or whatever, and so did whatever she pleased with him.

The first thing he was taught was how to leverage his abilities as a Mushitsuki. She spoke to Shachito endlessly about how he could make maximum use of his ability. At times she would sneak into his house, and continued her "lectures" all of the time except for the moment just before he went to sleep and immediately after he woke up.

Next came the running course she called "basic training". Apparently by running while using his ability he would able to naturally combine his movements with his Mushitsuki ability—but basically it was just a pain. He had been made to run stupidly long distances, and at times Inuko even chased him on her Vespa.

And she smacked him. Every time she found him loafing around, she would end up hitting him with her hockey stick, no questions asked. Obviously he was no match for Inuko, so the number of bruises on his body kept increasing.

"Yeah yeah, I will do it. Yes, I'm serious about this."

He rode his beloved vehicle full speed heading for the town center. The family restaurant was the starting point as well as the goal of today's running course.

"—But I can't do anything if I don't meet up with that guy, right. I REALLY wanted to see that Shinpu-san guy and chase him but what can I do…" 

While muttering this monotonously, he kept his distance from the family restaurant.

''The strongest warrior? That sorta thing has nothing to do with me—''

"Now I'll just go back home."

These feelings never changed ever since the day he had yielded to Shishidou Inuko.

Since he couldn't get back at Inuko for now, he simply pretended to listen to her orders.

He fully intended on resigning from her silly training the moment he got an idea of how to run away from her.

"Hah… if only that raincoat girl shut up and put on some normal clothes she'd be cute. She could even compete with Rio-chan."

He sighed. He wondered if saying something like this so naturally was what made people see him as a playboy.

Anyhow, with that today's training was over. So he decided.

"That Shinpu fella won't come this far. Ah, I'm SO hungry…"

Leaving the coastland road, he entered the parking lot of a fast-food place in the town center. He took off his helmet and removed his goggles.

"…Oh."

As he got off his motorcycle something in his pocket vibrated. He took out his cellphone and opened the LCD screen. 

He received 23 text messages.

Again he accumulated text messages he couldn't reply to.

—Heeey, why're you skipping school? Are you sick? Are you alive?

—You're unsociable lately! Actually, have you forgotten about our band practice?

—What's up with you, weren't you going to the event?! I'll punch your head off the next time we meet!

—Is it true you're down with the flu? Should I visit?

—Yo, playboy! How could you ignore our mixer despite being a playboy! Where are you hanging out!

—We are deciding on the schedule for our trip during spring break! Please tell us which days are good for you!

"As I thought I fit better in 'this side'." 

He felt relieved just by looking at his text messages.

Shishidou Inuko, fighting, training, Mushi… a completely normal person like himself shouldn't be concerned with such an abnormal world.

Shachito obviously belonged to the world over there.

Spending his days enjoyably without thinking of anything agreed with him.

"…"

''—Do you have anything you want to do, like a dream?''

The one who said this was Masaki Rio. When seen from the point of view of a person who had a clear goal like her, it might seem like he was living half-heartedly. 

"…It's fine. I'll just stay like that."

And so Shachito had no intention to change his current self.

—Let's celebrate the first message! By the way, Rio-chan, are you the type to go to the cafeteria? Or the type to bring a bento? Since we couldn't hang out let me treat you out for lunch. I'll show you the special menu that only I know about since I'm on good terms with the lunch lady!

Before replying to his friends, he sent a message to Rio. He purposely mentioned nothing about them meeting up in town during the evening. If that didn't receive any response, he would stop making a pass at her.

Why was he so bothered about Rio when he'd met her only a handful of times?

Even he couldn't quite understand.

"For some reason I just can't leave her be."

Putting the cellphone aside, he got off his motorbike. He thought of replying to the other mails while eating something. At any rate he had to get something into his stomach; he felt more likely to faint of hunger than of fatigue.

"…!"

Yet as Shachito tried to enter the restaurant, a black shadow passed in his line of sight.

A shadow with a black, fluttering cloth slid next to the side of a building on the other side of the road.

A robed figure moved through the city at night with movements impossible for humans.

It happened only for a split second.

Yet the moment he witnessed this, Shachito's time stopped.

Rising to his mind was a white room. He could see the figure of a boy covered in a blanket shuddering. He hugged his own body and faintly moved his pale lips.

''—This is unfair, why do only I have to…''

A cracked sound echoed next to the boy widening his eyes.

It was an ear-grating, metallic sound that seemed to pierce through his eardrums. The boy shuddered in surprise and raised his face that was distorted by rage and hatred. 

The white room was encroached by black fog. The air inside became foul as if he was dragged into another dimension.

The next moment, the boy stood in front of a tattered and crumbling building – a "church".

The one looking down at the boy who stood still was a monster that had its face hidden by a filthy robe—

"…Hihah."

Shachito was brought out of his daydreaming by the sound of his own laughter.

He unconsciously pointed at the figure running on the building's wall.

He felt as if he was about to recall something important. But he also had the premonition that it was something he mustn't remember.

Shachito's field of vision became dyed in orange. He rapidly expanded the scope of his ability.

Autumn darters flew out of the objects around, like buildings and cars. His vision was filled with tens and hundreds of these Mushi.

The orange-colored autumn darters turned into flashes of light. Shining spears stabbed into the black robe.

The main street shook.

The black robe crashed with frightening force, shaving off the wall of a building and causing the ground to cave in.

With the sound of meat and bone being crushed echoing from the black robe, the orange light dispersed. 

"Hihaha!"

Lowering his finger, Shachito wore a twisted smile.

—He felt the scent of battle.

The filthy robe that appeared in front of his eyes was without any doubt connected to the battlefield. 

The Shachito of "that side" that had awakened once through battle now felt the temptation to return to it. 

"Yes, yes! Yahoo, he fell like a brick. Heeey, are ya still alive?"

In the battlefield was the "pain" Shachito had completely forgotten. 

The other Shachito had come to know of that fact—

"Hihah! No reply!"

Putting his hand on his forehead as if gazing afar, he looked to the area where the asphalt caved in.

Yet the curious onlookers were in the way and so he couldn't see it well.

"Welp, gotta go check it then… wait, what?"

He wore his goggles and mounted his motorbike. But as he tried turning the throttle, he noticed he had no grip strength. —Since he'd used his ability without thinking of the consequences he became extremely exhausted in both mind and body.  He couldn't gather power in his dominant arm.

"Hmm…"

Tilting his head, he pounded his hand on the handlebar countless times. He couldn't feel any pain. When his skin was ripped and blood dripped to the ground he finally retrieved his sensations.

"Hihaha!"

Smiling, Shachito again turned the throttle. The suddenly rotating wheel raised smoke as the So1o leapt out of the fast food restaurant's parking lot.

"Oh, now we're talking!"

The black robe smoothly slipped out from between the onlookers. He apparently couldn't be seen by normal people. Shachito chased after him.

His other self that loathed fighting seemed like a lie.

With his fatigue also gone, power was overflowing from the depths of his body. He was assaulted by the impulse to release his ability as soon as possible. While driving at reckless speeds, he called toward the robed figure that ran along the sidewalk. 

"Heeey, are you that Shinpu Inuko'd told me about? We're supposed to be playing tag for some reason. Are, you, alright?"

"…"

"Uha! I've been ignored! Well, since I'm the one messing with you it's fine. By the way—"

After lightly tapping his forehead, Shachito raised a thin smile.

"—Haven't we met somewhere?"

He cast a sharp glance at Shinpu.

Yes, Shachito had seen this filthy robe before. That memory and premonition caused his personality to make a complete change.

The Shachito that led a normal life and the Shachito that appeared during battle.

The boundary between these two Shachitos was growing vague. —But even while he abandoned himself to this stimulation, some part of him deep inside was still thinking rationally. 

"Hast thou yielded thyself to insanity, my child…? Do not involve with me…"

Turning right at the sidewalk, Shinpu leapt into an alley sandwiched between high-rise buildings.

"No, it's just that… I just get the feeling I've given you something really important."

Without pulling the brakes, Shachito turned the throttle even further. Orange autumn darters flew from Shachito and his motorbike.

He reached with his hand to grab a streetlight.

The motorbike held between his legs rode on empty air. With their mass brought down to near zero, Shachito and the motorbike became as if they were made of paper. Even the momentum created by the speed of several kmph was practically equal to nil. 

Changing their direction nonstop, he finally let his hand go from the streetlight. As Shachito and the motorbike landed and rushed into a narrow alley, the autumn darters returned to them. Now that it retrieved its former mass, the So1o kept pursuing after Shinpu.

"Won't ya give it back to me?"

He pointed at the robed man running ahead with his index and middle finger.

The autumn darters leaping out of the surrounding objects stabbed into Shinpu. Since his mass was multiplied several times his running speed was drastically lowered.

"—I hope you're still alive."

Bringing up its front wheel, the So1o pressed on the back of Shinpu's head. A normal person would be instantly killed getting run over by a motorcycle at that speed.

"…Thou fool."

As the robe turned around, the pupil-less eyes hidden inside gazed at Shachito. A black fog—a miasma filled the surroundings and an innumerable number of white caterpillars crawled on the ground.

The swarm of caterpillars swelled and they all flung Shachito to the air. 

"Woah…"

An autumn darter split from the So1o flying high. By grabbing an electric line and rotating once, Shachito made his motorbike land on the top of the slender electric cables.

"That's so gross. What's that? Your ability?"

Shinpu wordlessly looked up at Shachito gazing down at him from above.

"But you seem weaker than Inuko."

"Dost thou bear a grudge against me for saving thy young self…?"

Accompanied by his white caterpillars, Shinpu ran inside the gloomy alley. —Not wanting to use his ability, or perhaps completely ignoring Shachito, he appeared to have no intention of fighting head-on.

"No no. I feel like I really suffered because of you."

Jumping down from the cable, he pursued Shinpu.

Continuing to turn through the narrow alleyways, they ran around the town center.

"I won't letcha escape."

He pointed his finger at Shinpu who was trying to climb the wall of a building.

The autumn darter flash stabbed into him. With its weight amplified, the robed figure collapsed to the ground. The autumn darter separated from Shinpu and next stabbed into Shachito.

Now possessing several times its weight, the motorbike rushed toward Shinpu. Different from earlier, he wasn't thrown away by the caterpillars or anything.

"Thou shall regret this…"

Perhaps resigned, Shinpu stood still. He changed the orientation of his body and stared directly at Shachito from the front.

A tidal wave of caterpillars poured out from inside the filthy robe.

"Ugeh!"

The wave of caterpillars crashed on Shachito as he grimaced in revulsion. The motorbike's tires caught on them and tumbled.

Having his whole body gnawed by the caterpillars' mouthparts, Shachito crashed into the ground while keeping his momentum.

"Hihah!"

As his skin was getting bitten off and his shoulder hit the ground—a throbbing impulse rose from the depths of Shachito's body.

Pain.

A sweet, numbing sensation that he could feel faintly. 

Shachito was convinced.

His sense of pain that he had forgotten at some point…

The one who had left it behind was, without any doubt, the Shachito of "this side"—the part of him as a Mushitsuki born by intoxication in the midst of battle.

An orange autumn darter rose from Shachito's body.

"Too baad."

While rolling around violently due to the impact after falling down, Shachito struck the ground with his palm.  

The next moment he took a high leap. Unable to follow the speed of his jump, the caterpillars that clung to his body were all shaken off.

Attaching both legs to the wall of the building, he sank his body low.

"But I'm stronger when I don't ride my motorbike."

The next moment, Shachito leapt over the caterpillars, diving toward Shinpu's chest. He grabbed his robe and kicked the ground.

In the blink of an eye Shachito took Shinpu and jumped over the building. Their bodies were enveloped by an orange glow.

"Let's go!"

As though he was a baseball pitcher, Shachito swung Shinpu around and flung him with all of his power at the ground.

A tremor shook the back alley.

Looking at the dark alley from a high altitude, he could see a white ripple expanding. The large amounts of caterpillars were scattered and Shinpu was crushed on top of the ground.

''—Shachito, think of using your ability for battle just like I do.''

Inuko had taught him how to use his ability. He grasped how to control the movement of masses accurately as well as the delicate timing required for it.

Shachito could turn his own weight from zero to all the way over hundreds of kilograms.

''—What's important is your initial velocity. Originally it would've been proportionate to the size of your mass, so to increase your initial speed you'd require a lot of energy. The power needed to shoot a bullet out of a peashooter and out of a gun is different.''

Inuko's lecture was difficult and full of logic.

''—You, however, can use the power of a peashooter to obtain the strength of a cannon. Although the acceleration of someone starting to run is dependent on their leg strength, if their weight was zero their speed would become immeasurable. After gaining enough initial velocity, you need to next increase your weight. This means you can 'teleport' around just like me, and by applying the same principles on your enemy you can produce a dreadful destructive power.'' 

Although Shachito couldn't understand it with his head, Inuko made him go through hell to pound it into his body. Even while running normally and applying his ability, he could use the minimal amount of power to achieve the maximal effect. 

And what happened now was the result of it.

Shachito turned his weight to zero to leap high like a scrap of paper, then amplified his mass to crush Shinpu like a squashed frog.

Now that he was able to implement Inuko's teachings, he felt like he couldn't lose to anyone.

"…And done. Wow, you sure flew far… Hihahah."

Shachito landed on the ground, not even raising any sound as if he was made of silk. Not paying any heed either to his ripped clothes or to his bleeding wounds, he approached Shinpu defenselessly.

"Shinpu-saaan. Are you alive? Shorry if I killed ya."

He was finally able to understand Inuko's words about the strongest warrior. 

Shachito was strong.

No. From now on he would grow much, much stronger.

There was nothing in this world that Shachito couldn't break—

An ear-grating metallic sound reverberated around.

It was the sound of a bell.

A darkish miasma began pouring out from the sprawled Shinpu. The air around became more and more foul every time the bell rang.

"…!"

Shachito erased his thin smile.

The black domain that encroached anything and everything already reached his feet. He tried immediately using his ability to evade but couldn't activate it. 

"Ugh…!"

He thought he had defeated Shinpu, so he completely lowered his guard. The domain that should have been under Shachito's control was being completely swallowed by the pressurizing miasma. 

He looked up to the sky.

Even the starry sky he had seen earlier was being infringed by the miasma.

What appeared instead, spreading out on the entire surface of the sky, was the image of a large building. On the pointed roof at the summit of the crumbling, decaying structure was a rusted bell that hung from it.

It was the Church.

Although it didn't have any cross, the structure that appeared within the miasma was undoubtedly a church.

"…Thou shall regret thy foolishness, my child…"

The miasma crawled up Shachito's feet.

"Ua…AAAHHH!"

He felt as if his consciousness was being ripped away from him. He was assaulted by an immense exhaustion, falling to his knees.

But just before Shachito's heart completely succumbed…

"—You were carried away and got careless, you moron."

[[File:Mushi Uta 6 002.jpg|thumb]]

The miasma covering Shachito was bisected by a purple flash.

The hazy Shachito couldn't tell what was happening.

The scene unfolding in front of his eyes…

The only thing he could tell was that it was caused by a powerful and refined warrior.

"But I'll praise you for making Shinpu use his ability. Thanks to that I was able to sense this location."

The bisected miasma was splitting further and further. The only thing Shachito could see was a silhouette moving freely through this vast range without ever stopping in Shinpu's domain. 

"I'll destroy you this time, Shinpu."

Every time that silhouette tore through the darkness, the figure of the church reflected on the sky also grew thinner.

"You should regret having given birth to warriors like us."

An intense magnetic field that made even the air itself shake cut the Church into two.

The girl landed on ground, her yellow raincoat fluttering. She rotated the hockey stick in her hands once and returned it to her back.

The bell sounds ceased.

The miasma torturing Shachito was also gone. Breathing heavily, he leaned with both hands on the ground.

"Hah…! Hah…!"

At the feet of the raincoat girl—Shishidou Inuko, a lone man was collapsed.

Shachito—the Shachito that retrieved his sanity, felt his heart throbbing as if he had been slapped. No matter how one looked at him, it didn't seem like he was breathing.

"…Ugh!"

He felt nauseous and cowered.

It was different from when he had first met Inuko. He could clearly remember what he did this time—he killed Shinpu as if he were a piece of trash. 

''What the hell was up with that… was it really me?''

He grimaced and looked at the man's corpse.

''I killed—''

"Please calm down. You didn't kill him. No matter how you look at it—"

Seeing Shachito's state, Inuko kicked the dead man's face.

Looking the cadaver straight in the eyes, Shachito was shocked. He felt like vomiting again.

"It doesn't look like he died very recently."

As Shachito averted his eyes from the festering, putrid corpse, he finally collapsed on the ground. His weak body was enveloped by sleepiness.

"It seems better for now to let the police recover him and gather information. There are still some mysteries remaining, but well, we've completed the first step for now."

Inuko smiled and pointed at Shachito.

"You passed, Shachito."

Shiohara Shachito's "basic training".

—Passed.