Editing Mushi:Vol2 Close

It was spilled all over the hospital's outer wall and it seeped through the ground, leaving dark traces on the earth.

In the middle of it all was a woman who crawled on the ground and groaned in pain.

Hearing that voice, the woman abruptly looked across.

Her skin and pristine hair were dirtied with mud and blood. Possibly having trouble breathing, she did not even wear her mask. This woman, who had blood spilling out of her chest and was sweating constantly, was called Sterilization Disinfection.

She looked at Ame-chan as if asking, "You can see me?" Laughingly, Ame-chan said, "So the largest Fragment in your heart was pierced. The sensory organ is damaged and the soul is collapsing -- In fact, you already can't use power on the level of the seven Great Fragments. Hehe, but... before that you still took away Usagawa Rinne's soul. However, at that point your heart -- the sensory organ -- was already filled, so you had no choice but to construct a new sensory organ somewhere else. You managed to stay alive because you hid a Fragment -- That's right, isn't it? But the emergency vessel had a serious rejection reaction, right?"

Ame-chan talked without pause, and then sneered. Mina gritted her teeth with an incomprehensible expression, staring the other woman's smile that seemed to say, "This is it for you?"

''Everything ends today. It's unfortunate that I found you.''

"Heeheeheehee," Ame-chan laughed.

Sterilization Disinfection struggled to squeeze out these words.

"You don't know? Sterilization Disinfection, you've become weak. I'd heard that you used up all your power in that incident with Noah, but you can't even recognize me? What, if you're down to this level then there won't be a need to be cautious. I won't need to run off to antagonize Gankyū Eguriko. Whatever, I only just realized that." Her hand moved down and her eyes, nose, mouth, and eyebrows all disappeared. Sterilization Disinfection stiffened. Ame, who did not have a mouth, laughed joyfully, "Heehee. Right, it's me, not anyone else, it's me."

"<span style="text-decoration: underline">{{H:title|Ultimate Shield|The Weakest}}</span> -- You traitor..."

She stood up with blood-shot eyes, and glared at Ame-chan while her body shook. This body could fight no longer. That should have be clearer to Sterilization Disinfection than to anyone else.

Even so, she absolutely must kill <span style="text-decoration: underline">{{H:title|Ultimate Shield|The Weakest}}</span>.

"I thought it was annoying, since only your <span style="text-decoration: underline">{{H:title|Genocide Justice|Annihilation Mist}}</span> and Single Room are dangerous to me. Therefore, I will kill both of you to become truly invincible, an untarnished, strongest shield."

Ame-chan stretched out her arms, and said with happiness from the bottom of her heart: "And then I will rule this world. It's idiotic to have an existence like this but not putting that goal first. Hey, my sister, won't you die for me? Since it's so painful, just let yourself dissolve and die! You'll never be able to restore to the complete being anyways. It's useless. Isn't it meaningless to preserve such a life?"

Sterilization Disinfection clenched her fists, and even though she had already lost the ability to form her spray cay, she still slowly reached her arms down.

''How pitiful'' -- <span style="text-decoration: underline">{{H:title|Ultimate Shield|The Weakest}}</span> laughed, and her spread out arms --

Ame-chan sneered, and used her sickle arms to cut her down.

''That was enough'', Guriko thought.

She had lived with Rinne for almost two months here. Along with the laughter and happiness, there were also things from a thousand years ago that she should have forgotten.

''Shining brightly, and ever so lovable, I liked her.''

''So, Rinne.''

''I must return her kindness.''

''Even if this body is broken to pieces.''

She might as well be alone; she should just live in the darkness without causing problems for others.

Gazing at the uneven road's surface, Guriko felt something cold in the back of her head. Was it a gun?

"Then, for the safety of humans like me, I need to kill the monster before it is released."

Standing behind her was Sakaki Guryū. ''No problem'' -- Guriko coldly smiled.

Guriko lowered her head, looking at her remaining single arm.

"I've killed a lot of people, and I've taken so much, so much that this single life can't take enough punishment. Will you free me from that burden? Are you that kind of a man?"

"You've gotten good at hiding your presence. Compared to when I first met you, you're completely unrecognizable. Have you been constantly working hard? You must have always been like this. It's not some prodigious talent, or some inherited gene, just constant hard work that got you to your strength today. You... will definitely become stronger, much stronger than me."

"Yup, you're really weak. Even though you'll become strong, you're still weak right now. I'm also very weak, so I couldn't protect Rinne."

Guriko naturally turned her head, and the gun that had not moved was pointed at her forehead. Stars danced in the night sky. Sakaki, in front of her, was covered in hazy shadow while insect cries could be clearly heard from all directions.

Guriko reached into her pocket, and took out a beautiful spoon for Sakaki to see. It was an expensive, rare spoon that Hino and Kio had bought for her. This piece of decorated cutlery only reflected the aura of night, dark and faint.

"Hino and Kio -- " She looked at the spoon, and continued, "Maybe they were actually Sterilization Disinfection's Meat Dolls, maybe their real personalities had already completely disintegrated, but they didn't kill me and they even saved me that time. Plus, Kio and Hino both turned back into humans as they were dying. There must be more secrets to the Meat Dolls. Perhaps Rinne will return to how she was before, becoming the Rinne that we love."

She gripped her spoon, and said to Sakaki's face, "Sakaki, you said that to me in the hospital, didn't you? You gave hope to the me, who had given up on everything, didn't you? Rinne hasn't died yet, so, Sakaki, help me protect her. Though I don't know how long it will take, I will find a way to return Rinne to how she was without doubt and then come back."

"And then, let's go to school together, the three of us."

This was Guriko's resolution. At first she only wanted to escape from this human world with nothing but pain, but now it was different. During the fight with Sterilization Disinfection, Sakaki had embraced her, and then she felt with even greater conviction that she did not wish to separate from them.

So, for the sake of returning to that period of happiness, Guriko would go on a journey. She wouldn't completely revert into a monster. She only needed to search for a way to recover Rinne by herself.

That was something that definitely could not be achieved while staying here to protect Rinne. She would need to go to the outside world, or rather into an even darker world where Mushi and monsters swarmed in order to find it.

Just a return to her life two months ago. There would be a day when she would definitely meet Rinne and Sakaki again.

"Creak," the door opened.

Rinne stood there. She who had become a Meat Doll, yet her eyes twinkled with firm determination. She sped over to Sakaki, who was pointing a gun at Guriko.

That appearance of hers, that expression as she spoke seriously for some reason.

"I apologize. Aah, milady, do not worry, we weren't fighting."

"Right. This guy pointed a gun at me all on his own. It's not a fight, it's a one-sided assault."

"You can't, sensei."

Rinne truly believed that. With hands at her waist and her chest stuck out, her face completely was serious as she stared at Sakaki. There was a time when she made that expression whenever Guriko and Sakaki fought. Right, since it was like this, definitely --

"You must get along well!"

After making a slightly angry face, she should scrunch her eyebrows. And, not knowing what to do, she should return to a kind, tender face.

Seeing her like this, Sakaki couldn't hold back his tears. A tear flew down the cheek of his handsome face.

Guriko forced out an exaggerated laugh, "Haha, Sakaki you idiot, you still cry at that age. How shameful."

"What? Huh, why am I crying? And Guriko."

Guriko brought up her hand to feel her cheek, and noticed that there was a warm liquid. Tears, these were -- tears. As she realized that, she felt that she couldn't stop --

Guriko silently wept, and then cried out in frustration. Sakaki was quiet, yet it seemed that his tears could not stop either, and he continued to incredulously tilt his head.

She saved a monster who had been swallowed by darkness for a millennium.

Even though she became a Meat Doll, Rinne would never change. She would still look hurt whenever Sakaki and Guriko argued with each other, with an expression showing that she hated seeing their tears.

Rinne calmly pulled the two next to her, embracing them. She was extremely weak, and she didn't feel real compared to before, but Sakaki and Guriko couldn't resist as they were pulled to her thin body.

She was also crying as she said that. And so, the three cried together, feeling each others' warmth under the dark, frigid night.

One was the heir to an enormous corporation, a man who had always walked on a predetermined route.

One could not find a place to call home, a girl who had thrown herself into the sea.

The three met by chance, definitely only by chance. In this world, where God had broken into fragments, perhaps miracles had long ceased to exist.

But Sakaki pledged to always protect Rinne.

And Rinne would embrace the two of them like this.

So there was no need to worry. Rinne's words were right. Though she didn't have anything to base it on, Guriko felt she didn't have to worry.