Mushi Uta:Volume 6 Chapter 2

2.00 Shachito Part 2

He received 28 emails.

—You're super late, man! We'll make you pay the studio rent!

—Say, are you really not dating anyone, Shachi-kun~?

—Heard there was an accident on the main road! You pass there right? You alive, Shachi?

—What pages was the homework in literature?

—I was invited to a mixer! Are you free this Saturday?

—I got my hands on the DVD of that movie we talked about! Should I lend it to you or what?

It was early morning.

Having woken up inside the bed in his room, Shachito checked his cellphone first of all.

Seeing the contents of the emails sent to him, he felt relieved.

Shachito's daily life was stuffed inside a small LCD screen. The voices of his friends dragged him back to his unchanging daily life.

However—

"…"

Rousing his body, he tried wiping off the cold sweat stuck to his forehead. He felt the rough sensation of bandage. Also feeling some discomfort in his chest, he tried rolling up his shirt. He had large bruises.

He recalled the events of yesterday after school.

While riding his motorbike, he was pursued by an abnormal monster—a Mushitsuki and his Mushi on the main street in the town center. It all turned out like this due to a simple reason; it was because Shachito had disturbed the Mushitsuki during his enjoyable rampage.

He felt the premonition of death, but when he came to he was looking down at the collapsed Mushitsuki.

At that point, someone suddenly appeared to attack him.

She was a mysterious girl who wore a raincoat despite there being no signs of any rain. Since she had been freely teleporting all around Shachito, it was obvious she was no ordinary person. It was possible she wasn't even human but some kind of phantom.

Anyhow Shachito lost his consciousness, and when he opened his eyes again the raincoat girl was gone. To run away from the other Mushitsuki who was still collapsed there, he rode on his So1o and left.

Coming back home, Shachito lied to his family that he "fell with his motorbike" and immediately went to sleep.

"…"

When he finished replying to all his emails, Shachito readily made a decision.

"Yeah, I'll just forget all about it. Everything last night was just a bad dream."

He nodded to himself with a light smile. The memories of what happened yesterday after school were gone from his mind.

Although this misfortune befell him, Shachito was able to return to his previous life just like that. He had no intention to ever involve himself with dangerous happenings.

He rubbed his forehead over the bandages.

Just like the bruises on his chest, he felt no pain there.

"Wow, you really were in an accident!"

"Ouch… are you okay, Shachi-kun?"

"At least you weren't run over or anything. You just fell down, right?"

—When he went to school, his classmates immediately swarmed around him after seeing the bandages on his head.

"Yeah, I thought I was a goner. It blew me away. Like this, whoosh."

As he spoke with a smile his classmates were relieved. They cracked jokes and tried touching his head.

They kept talking incessantly ever since he entered the classroom. Shachito's motorbike accident—once they finished hearing his made-up story, the topic changed to the large-scale accident that happened on the main road last evening. The incident caused by the full-face helmet Mushitsuki was apparently reported as a large vehicle going on a rampage.

Even though there should have been plenty of eyewitnesses, it became the fault of a reckless driver—Shachito could feel there has been some intentional information manipulation by someone, but this had nothing to do with him. He didn't have the slightest will to know about the sort of person who could control the media.

"Good mornin'!"

He smiled as he called toward the girl entering the class. She was the one who had slapped him yesterday.

She made a surprised face, but soon dropped her gaze and went to her seat. Perhaps worried about what happened the other day, she made no response to Shachito's voice.

You don't have to mind it that much though, Shachito smiled wryly.

"Ah, thinking about it you've been getting along well with her lately, you bastard. Is it going well?"

"I told you already, that's not a thing."

He draped his arm around the neck of the friend making fun of him and strangled him. Even with his friends it was always like this.

The more he fooled around with his friends, the more he could feel the slightly remaining worries from yesterday vanish. As he laughed heartily he could feel alive.

Like I thought "this side" really is the place for me—

Shachito simply lost his mind yesterday. Perhaps his mind had been confused after being slapped by his classmate. That sensation born from the fight with the Mushitsuki was an incidental by-product of the Shachito of "that side" born amidst extreme tension. He simply became demented.

The Shachito who was carefree, didn't think of anything too deeply and spent his days enjoyably…

That one was his true self.

But suddenly a deep voice was reborn in his mind.

—After all you're a Mushitsuki, right?

Although he almost cleanly forgot all about his anxiety, Shachito's face froze with a shudder.

In contrast to her foolish exterior, the gaze coming from the raincoat girl for an instant was abnormal. It felt like he met someone he shouldn't have—and he had the premonition he would definitely be found out someday. He recalled that indescribable fear.

"…Well, it has nothing to do with me though."

He muttered in the intervals between the conversations with his classmates.

It had nothing to do with Shachito. He was able to keep concealing the fact he was a Mushitsuki and he had the confidence he could live without letting anyone notice it.

He just had bad luck with women or something yesterday.

Thinking this, he then recalled another girl he'd met then.

Right, that girl—

The first-year student that helped him pull out his motorcycle from the parking area... Shachito had gotten into this mess with the Mushitsuki that had nothing to with him all in order to save the bus the girl had been riding on.

Thinking about it, that underclassman girl could also be said to be a part of his troubles with women.

I wonder if she made it in time for her urgent business or whatever—

Yet he didn't have a bad impression of her. He didn't save her because he wanted her to rely on him; he'd just done it on a whim.

"Hey, do you know any girl in first year who's about this tall and has curly hair… and, how do I put it, she always seems fidgety…"

Breaking from the circle of the conversation, he stealthily asked this of one of his friends. This classmate habitually boasted about his extensive knowledge of all girls in the school; he was the kind of well-informed person one could find anywhere. 

"Huh? Any other special features?"

"Umm, she had a checkered scarf. I think she was quite cute."

"A checkered scarf, huh… I can't say for sure, but it might be Masaki Rio."

Shachito had no expectations, so he was surprised at hearing a precise name. Who the hell are you? He wanted to ask, but since his friend began explaining he shut up and listened.

"Among those you'd count as 'cute', if there's any girl that fulfills these conditions it's her. Year 1 Class D, Masaki Rio. She doesn't belong to any club. She's apparently part of some theatrical company, but… I don't know much else."

"No, even that's plenty amazing… hmm, so she's Masaki Rio. —Come to think of it, the first-years apparently see me as some sort of playboy, but is that for real?"

"Are you really asking?"

"…No, let's stop here. Thank you."

He expressed his thanks and returned to his seat. As he was told "don't forget to reply about the mixer" in a loud voice, the eyes of everyone in class focused on him. —And so the misunderstanding about him being a playboy will probably keep spreading through the school.

After a while the teacher in charge came and short homeroom started. The teacher left the class at an earlier time than the usual after leaving a few messages.

Shachito absentmindedly looked up at the clock above the blackboard.

There was still plenty of free time until the first period started.

"…"

He rose from his seat and left the class.

Shachito was headed for the first floor, toward the classes of the first-year students. Going down the stairs, he walked toward the direction of Class D.

Seeing a student with a different tie color walking in the corridor, he felt the gazes of the first-years in no small numbers. He started taking it half-seriously and boldly advanced through the corridor.

He arrived at Class D just as short homeroom ended. The teacher coming out of the classroom glanced quizzically at Shachito who was from a different class year and left.

"Hello everyone, good day! I'm a playboy from second year, is there a Masaki Rio here?"

As he called toward a girl who was about to exit the classroom, the entire class's gazes immediately focused on him. Not only that, it became deadly silent in an instant. He only intended it as a joke, but made a strained smile at the unexpected response.

"What do all my cute underclassmen think of me…? Seriously…"

"U-umm, Masaki-san has yet to—oh, there she is."

As he turned around, he could see the figure of a girl heading for class while half running.

There was no mistake; she was the girl who'd helped him yesterday. He was grateful for the accuracy of his classmate's information network.

Out of breath probably because she came there in a hurry, Rio faced her class and saw Shachito. Perhaps unable to understand the situation she stared in amazement and froze in front of him. Looking between his face and classroom D, she thought of something and crossed her arms in an X shape. 

"What business do you have with my class, Shiohara-senpai? Hah, are you possibly trying to get one of the girls in your clutches… I will protect the peace of Class D!"

"Thank you. I'll borrow this for a bit."

"Hah, go ahead."

"Eh? A-are you talking about me? Wait, have I been so casually betrayed by my own classmate?"

Grabbing the flustered Rio's arm, he went far from the front of the class.

He pulled her all the way to the faucets. Rio seemed as cautious as ever. If someone else were to see them it would probably look like he was pushing her against the wall.

"Uhhh, umm… d-do you have any business with me?"

Since she was restlessly looking around her, was she waiting for someone to rescue her? Shachito was once again shocked at the lack of her trust in him.

"It's not like I'm going to eat you… Can you calm down for now? I'm just a bit curious about what happened yesterday after school."

"Ah, what's up with those bandages! Are you hurt? —Wait! How did you know which class I was anyway?"

"Please listen to what people tell you."

"Auu! Daa! Oou…"

As Shachito flicked her forehead with his finger without thinking, the moment Rio bent herself back, the back of her head hit the wall. She held both front and rear and her shoulders trembled.

As he thought she was an amusing girl. It was like… just by looking at her he would forget about anything that bothered him—like the incident with the Mushitsuki yesterday for example.

"I just wanted to ask you if you managed to get in time for your business after what happened. I just got curious is all."

"After… what happened?"

After your bus nearly got wrecked by the Mushitsuki—he almost said this reflexively toward the girl that looked up at him with tear-filled eyes, but stopped himself.

"I just thought it would be unforgivable if I caused you to become late after helping me with my motorbike. It was something important right?"

"—Yes, it was important."

A radiant smile rose to Rio's face. Shachito was surprised.

"I did not make it in time, but… since the bus I was riding in was affected by a traffic accident, I was somehow allowed in despite being late. So it's fine."

She spoke clearly with a well-articulated tone. Now that she calmed down, Rio's speaking tone was soft on the ears.

"I see."

He had such a sincere smile it surprised even himself.

"I'm glad."

"Eh… N-no, this wasn't really your fault, senpai, so…"

Saying this, her face flushed and she hung her head.

This time Shachito was the one flustered by having an underclassman girl take him into consideration.

"E-even so I can't feel satisfied. Let me apologize somehow. I know, an acquaintance of mine is having an event, so if you have some free time…"

"I do not."

Right after raising her head again, she cleanly refused. Shachito hung his head dejectedly.

"H-huh? What's wrong?"

"It's not like I have any ulterior motive or anything!"

Suddenly speaking in a loud voice, Shachito grabbed Rio's shoulders. Rather than her just refusing his invitation, he couldn't bear not clearing this strange misunderstanding.

"I've caused many misunderstandings, but I never called out girls at random! I don't know what rumors there are, but they're all untrue! Got it?"

"…Umm…"

As Shachito brought his face closer, Rio awkwardly averted her eyes.

"T-that's not what I meant… I really don't have any time to play around."

"Huh?"

"I have practice in the theater during early morning, ballet and Conversational English lesson after school, and my schedule really is stuffed full with theater practice. I also work part-time all through Saturday…"

"Theater… like drama and stuff?"

"Yes! My dream is to someday stand on the grand stage!"

Rio nodded, her expression sparkling.

Her dream.

Hearing that word, Shachito was taken aback.

Mushi were said to exist by eating people's dreams.

—Yet that rumor was a lie.

Shachito was a Mushitsuki yet he had no dream. He simply spent his days playing around.

And that was why he loved cheering for people that worked hard for their dreams. They possessed what he didn't have.

Shachito smiled and let go of Rio.

"I hope it comes true."

"Thanks!"

A dreamless Mushitsuki and a normal girl with a dream smiled at each other.

"But shouldn't you let out some steam every once in a while? If you manage to have some free time call me. Shall I tell you my email?"

"Y-yes. Wait a minute, umm… Ah! Could this pattern possibly mean I've been deceived? As I thought you're a playboy, Shiohara-senpai—"

"Nonono. It's fine, get out your cellphone already. The lesson's about to start."

Rio brought out her cellphone and they exchanged email addresses.

"…Huu, so easy."

"W-what's up with that laugh! So I was deceived!"

As he teased Rio, the bell signaling the start of lessons rang.

"Here it is. Oh no. Today I have to move classes starting right from the first period—"

Turning his body around in order to return to his class, Shachito widened his eyes.

He could see something outside the window on the roof of the parking area in front of the main gate—a yellow figure was standing there. It was a baby-faced girl who wore a raincoat and rain boots despite it not raining. She had riding goggles lowered down to her neck and was busy munching a lollipop… he would never mistake that figure.

"R-return my email address! I have to give a resolute NO to any fraud—H-huh? What's wrong? You seem pale…"

"…! N-no, it's—"

Surprised, he turned back around to Rio.

His heart pounded so strongly it seemed about to burst out of his chest. Although he was supposed to forget all about it by speaking with Rio, the scenes of his fight against the Mushitsuki from yesterday rushed through his mind.

"…!"

The moment he moved his gaze out the window again, he couldn't see any trace of the raincoat on the parking area's roof.

His heartbeats seemed so loud to the point they shook his eardrums. He could feel a chill running down his spine.

"Senpai? …Ah, that was the bell just now. It seemed somewhat stranger than normal… it was a horrible sound that made my head hurt."

"The bell? I-is that so? It might've been so. —So, I'll be going back to my class. I'll contact you again."

As he showed Rio a forced smile and left in fast walking, she called "If you send me any strange messages I won't reply!" at his back.

The first-years all entered their own classes in streams.

Suddenly walking in an empty corridor, Shachito was confused.

"It was my imagination… right?"

When he came to, he was walking fast. He headed for the stairs without looking to the sides.

He was being watched—

He wanted to think it was just an illusion, but he felt a gaze that seemed to pierce his entire body. This sense of tension that seemed to rob his breath wasn't an illusion.

At that time, while Shachito was in front of that collapsed Mushitsuki, that raincoat girl attacked him without any warning. After she beat him easily without him even able to understand her actions, he felt like she said something to him.

—You passed.

He recalled it and shuddered.

What on earth had he passed? What was that person who looked like a ghost—no, like a "traveller" trying to do to him?

Maybe this time she'll really kill me—

"…!"

As he reached the stairs, he could see the corridor with the shoe racks. A girl stood there. She equipped her goggles and her fluttering raincoat was surging with purple electricity.

"Yo, haven't seen you since yesterday, Shiohara Shachito-kun."

Not even the question of how she knew his name rose to his mind.

He instinctively rushed toward the corridor of the special classes to the opposite direction of the raincoat girl. He climbed up the stairs at the end of the corridor, ran through the second-floor corridor, opened a door and leapt inside the cooking preparation room.

"W-what's up with her…!"

He had no idea why he was being chased by such a mysterious opponent. Perhaps he had witnessed some great secret and so some secret organization or whatever sent their assassin after him—only such clichéd guesses rose to his mind.

"I haven't the slightest memory of me doing anything that would warrant me being targeted by something like that…!"

Adjusting his breathing for a while, he carefully peeked from inside the preparation room and probed into the corridor.

The special classroom area was desolate and silence returned to the area.

He was able to stroke his chest in relief only for a moment.

"Don't be so rude. Please call me Shishidou Inuko-sama."

The voice came from above.

Shachito gazed up at the ceiling and was lost for words.

"What you're thinking about now—is perfectly clear for someone as wise as me."

The raincoat-wearing girl was hanging down from the ceiling.

No, the expression "hanging down" was incorrect. She was more precisely using both her legs to "stand" on the ceiling while upside-down.

"You're surely wondering how is it that my skirt isn't falling down even though I'm upside-down, right? You're such a perv. Fufu, I have a trick for that, my skirt is actually—"

He wasn't thinking anything about that.

And even if he did it didn't matter.

She had worn some torn jeans under her skirt yesterday. Yet his eyes were attracted to the raincoat so he shouldn't have had the chance to notice that.

"U-uwah!"

Seeing an impossible scene in front of him, Shachito leapt out to the corridor. Not even breathing properly, he rushed down the staircase.

Coming down to the first floor, he aimed for the passageway ahead of the corridor. It was the same passageway connected to the gymnasium where he'd been slapped by his classmate.

Yet as he stepped into it, a raincoat rolling around in the courtyard was lying in wait.

Noticing Shachito, Shishidou Inuko abruptly roused her body and blushed.

"H-hey! I wanted to surprise you by rolling in iron sand and shouting "I'm the Monster Kabigon!"… Don't come here while I'm still preparing the joke."

"…!"

"Ah, wait! I still have other gags—"

It was just like a nightmare.

Shachito ran outdoors and jumped to the emergency staircase connected to the school building. Clang clang, he caused this sound while rushing upstairs.

The area above the fourth floor was partitioned by locked fences. Yet Shachito lightly kicked the wall and by making a high jump passed over them.

A cold wind blew.

"Do use your power."

Having reached the rooftop, the calmly standing figure of a girl was reflected in his eyes.

In a complete change from her inappropriate easygoing expression just now, the raincoat-clad Inuko's eyes became sharp.

 [[File:Mushi Uta 6 p089.jpg|thumb]]

"Let me tell you something. No matter what you do, you'll never be able to escape me."

The immense killing intent emitted by Inuko became the trigger.

"Uhhh—"

Being cornered, Shachito raised his arms as if controlled by someone. His index finger and middle finger cut through air, pointing at Inuko.

A red glow was emitted from Shachito's body. Assuming the form of an Autumn Darter in midair, the glow morphed into a flash of light and stabbed into Inuko without giving her any time to evade.

Shachito could feel his body growing lighter. At the same time Inuko's weight was increased, and along with a heavy vibration cracks ran through the floorboards.

Using his ability, Shachito transferred his body weight to the girl and further amplified it. With that, her mass should be equal to that of a car. It was a mass that no human muscles could ever move.

Now that he'd sealed Inuko's movements and even turned his own weight to zero, if he were to jump down the roof—

As he tried turning his body, purple lightning cut into Shachito's field of vision.

"—Don't think about getting away."

In the blink of an eye, the edge of the hockey stick pressed under his jaw.

"Giving up and running away will only lead to a loss."

In a split instant, Inuko who was shrouded in purple electricity dove under Shachito. She lightly wielded the stick that should have been made dozens of times heavier by his ability.

I'm gonna be killed—

Feeling death looming, he tightly shut his eyes.

Yet no matter how much he waited for the blow he was resolved against, it never came.

"…?"

Opening his eyes gingerly, he saw Inuko stopped her movements with her stick still poking his neck. Looking up coldly at the frightened Shachito, a sneer rose to her face.

"You're so stupid. Why did you run away? Why didn't you try fighting?"

Having a scornful smile directed at him, Shachito immediately felt blood rushing up to his head.

It's because you attacked me for no reason!

He tried opening his mouth to say this, yet Inuko interrupted his words.

"Obviously you were in panic. And you have had no idea why you were being attacked. So you don't have a reason to fight. —That's the stupid thing you wanted to say, right?"

"…!"

"But it's the opposite, the opposite. You have no reason not to fight."

Lowering her stick, Inuko lightly pushed Shachito's chest. Now standing upright, he was blown away toward the fences just by this blow.

As he fell on his butt, the hockey stick was pointed at his nose.

"You're a Mushitsuki and you were attacked by someone. Where in that situation do you see a reason to not fight? If you don't want to die then fight. If you want to survive then fight before collapsing. If you don't want to become a mindless Fallen then think. If you forget to struggle in order to stay alive then you have already lost."

Shachito gazed up at the girl dumbfounded. He still hadn't absolved his ability.

"Is me being able to move freely so strange? —There are metal fibers inserted into my clothes. This stick is also made of steel. I also told you already while I was chasing you. The story about my skirt, the term 'iron sand'… Since you've missed all of these hints you ended up with your life within my grasp."

Magnetism—

Shachito realized what Inuko's ability was.

If the girl in front of his eyes was a Mushitsuki just like him and could control magnetism then it explained everything. Since the school building had an iron framework then it was fully possible to use attraction and repulsion to stand on the ceiling or move at high speeds. If the magnetism she controlled was that powerful then she could do it even though her mass was amplified by Shachito's ability.

"When I'm at a city surrounded by metal I'm invincible. Remember that."

As Inuko puffed out her moderate chest, he could no longer feel any murderous intent from her.

"…So."

"Hmm?"

"What's going to happen with me? Telling me to 'remember that' means I'm not getting killed?"

The orange Autumn Darter flew out of Inuko and returned to Shachito.

Realizing he was no match for her no matter how hard he tried, he lost all will to either escape or fight. As he felt resigned, the confusion brought by fear was also gone. Even he realized she could kill him any time she wanted to.

What Shachito realized was that the monster known as Shishidou Inuko set her eyes on him. And all because of the one time he used the ability he had been hiding for years and years.

"Hmm… seems like you were able to understand your position. Truly admirable."

Grinning pleasantly, Inuko used her stick to pat Shachito's head. He felt the urge to kill.

"—In this country there's an organization known as the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau."

Inuko started speaking while the cold February wind caused her raincoat to flutter.

This Special Environmental Preservation Bureau appeared to be the name of the government agency made to supervise Mushitsuki. There were many Mushitsuki other than Shachito in the country, and that organization made them work in order to search, manage, isolate and at times train Mushitsuki.

"…Hmm, I get it."

Shachito smiled wryly.

As he lived a normal life, this was obviously something hard to believe. Yet some parts of it he could comprehend. He himself was a Mushitsuki, so he could definitely imagine there being people who thought that letting people like him run wild was dangerous.

"So does that mean I'll be taken to that SEPB place and quarantined?"

He squinted while looking up at the blue sky.

So he wouldn't be able to return to his present lifestyle—

Now that he thought this, he yearned for his enjoyable days.

Even for the cellphone and its unending stream of emails.

Even to his beloved ride the So1o rushing through the roads.

Even for the fresh air he took into his lungs.

Perhaps he wouldn't even be able to experience freedom ever again.

"…So that email address she told me was for nothing."

He wanted to speak more with the underclassman girl known as Masaki Rio.

He thought of such things.

"I'll give you a chance."

With the sun at her back, Shishidou Inuko said something unexpected.

"There's something I have to do in this city. Until I accomplish that I'll keep silent about you from the SEPB. And during that time—"

Shachito widened his eyes. He thought he would surely be thrown into some isolation facility with no ifs or buts.

"I will discipline you."

The girl who boasted of herself as invincible declared in a loud voice.

"You have a talent for fighting. I will make you into a first-rate warrior by my hands."

"…Hah? A warrior?"

For an instant he couldn't understand what Inuko was saying.

Until yesterday he was just a normal high school student but now he was going to become a warrior? How on earth had she arrived at this idea? Was the girl in front of him even sane?

"If you don't like it then run away. As long as I'm in this city I will definitely find you. Just like you saw during our little game of tag earlier, I will never let you escape. If you want to run away from me you'll have to become stronger than me."

Whoosh, along with the sound of cutting air the stick was pointed at Shachito.

"If you become stronger than me before I depart for my journey then I'll give you your freedom again. Do your best."

The confused Shachito and the Inuko who was smiling enjoyably.

The two Mushitsuki facing each other under the clear sky.

This could be said to be the moment when Shiohara Shachito and Shishidou Inuko—the old and the new berserker changed places.

Shiohara Shachito's "basic training".

—Start. 

2.01 The Others

Masaki Rio's time after school was short.

It became natural for her to be the first one to exit the class once the bell for the final lesson rang.

Her after-school time was stuffed full of things like practice at her theatrical company or lessons. She even had almost no memories of hanging out with her classmates.

"Ouch, this—"

The joints in her limbs ached just by her trying to get her shoes out of the shoe rack.

Her body became exhausted by these days of having practice and lesson without any pause. She recently even had to do her best fighting against drowsiness during class.

"—Doesn't hurt one bit!"

She told herself, tightening her lips.

Turning around in the corridor, she could see her smiling classmates walking without a care. Perhaps they were going to hang around the city or on their way to their clubs. Either way, they seemed to be having fun every day celebrating their youth.

She didn't feel jealous though.

Rio had a dream.

When she was little, she had seen the musical known as "Beast" during an overseas trip. Finding herself captivated by its magnificence and overwhelming scale, she also started wishing to perform on the same stage.

"Today I'll also do my best at practice! Oooh!"

Imitating the English tragedy "Emperor", she heroically brandished her fist. Rio's voice, well-trained in pronunciation, echoed well in the empty entrance.

Closing the cover of the shoe rack, she went outside as if jumping.

Today she was also pressed for time by her theater practice. While hurrying to the school gate, her eyes unconsciously went toward the parking area.

"Muuu, are you skipping school again, Shiohara senpai?"

She muttered, puffing her cheeks.

Every time she exited school, Rio would end up looking around for a blue vehicle.

It started ever since the day her teacher had summoned her to talk about her plans for the future and came late to her important audition. Ever since she had helped the boy who was unable to pull out his motorbike from the parking area.

"So you're skipping school today?"

It has been several days ever since she met Shiohara Shachito, who was one year her senior. On the following day he pestered her to exchange their email addresses. 

However, she hadn't seen him at school since then. And even though they exchanged addresses she hadn't received any message from him even once.

If that wasn't enough, Rio hadn't seen his So1o after finishing school. Had he left early or simply hadn't come to school at all?

Was Shachito playing around somewhere today as well?

"You're not even sending me any messages… You're a playboy just like I thought."

The rumors about the second-year student known as Shiohara Shachito were neither compliments nor anything good. She was even warned to "be careful!" by one of her classmates with a stern look.

Yet for Rio, who spent her days practicing and working part-time, just having someone of the opposite sex call out to her was a major event. Ignoring it would be impossible.

Also, there was Shachito's expression as he told her that "me being a playboy is a misunderstanding"… Although they were only a year apart, he seemed so very mature—

"—NO! NO! You can't think of anything unnecessary right now, Rio!"

Holding her head while running, she gazed up the heavens just like the worrying heroine of the French play "The Queen's Tomb".

It would be no exaggeration to say that this was the greatest turning point of Rio's life.

She exited the main gate heading for the bus stop just as the bus arrived. Running through the sidewalk as fast as she could, she was barely able to board it.

"Hah, this was too much for my heart…"

Grabbing onto a strap, she held down her throbbing chest.

As she watched Holland City's townscape flowing outside the window, Rio's expression became serious.

Her heart throbbing violently was neither because of thinking about Shachito nor because she ran there in a hurry.

"…"

As Rio bit her lips, the strap she was grasping made a squeezing sound.

Next month, a musical would be held in Holland City's tourist site known as Oranje Land.

And its name was—"Beast".

This musical, none other than the one that started Rio's dream, was to be reproduced by a large theatrical company in Japan. Furthermore, due to the unplanned vacancy of the actor that should have played a major role, sudden auditions were being held. Those who passed would also be able to participate in public performances in various places.

Originally the company managing it was supposed to supply the replacements. However, due to the strong request of the public performance advisor visiting Japan, Jarre Harissi, the auditions became open to the general public in trial form.

Making a name for himself by the famous play "Beast", Jarre Harissi was part of its cast in the first showing in Broadway. And the young Rio had been overwhelmed by his performance there.

This was truly a heaven-sent chance for her.

If she were to catch Jarre's attention, she would be able to receive genuine Broadway training. She had also heard of many people who received roles overseas thanks to his recommendations.

She might be able to stand on the stage that started her dream—

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say Rio worked hard only for this day to come.

"…Oh no, I can't stop shaking."

Thinking of unnecessary things was far easier. Her hand stroking her chest trembled.

—Today the results of the second judging phase of the audition she had taken the other day would be revealed.

"Uhh…"

Being shaken by the bus, her face grimaced with tension. She could somehow feel her mood growing worse.

If she were to pass, Rio's efforts thus far would be rewarded.

But if she failed—

She cast her gaze down and bit her lower lip.

Rio was butting against a wall right now.

During her theater practice she was scolded by the director and during her ballet lesson she was surpassed by the other students. It could be because she was tired, but what if it wasn't so—what if Rio's talent simply reached its limits…

"…NO! NO! You can't be so weak! You've done everything you can, yeah!"

She spoke to herself in a low voice.

As she did this, she could suddenly hear a strange voice in her ears.

"…!"

Her shoulders shook up with a start and she held her head.

She looked around her, but the other passengers feigned ignorance. They didn't seem to hear it.

This again—

Recently a certain sound followed Rio.

It was a cracked sound that sounded like metal being struck. An uncomfortable, foul sound that seemed to pierce her from head to toes. And although it sounded as loud as possible, only Rio could hear it.

Her head hurt. She was perhaps even more tired than she thought.

"—Have you heard what happened to their daughter?"

She heard the conversation of two ladies who seemed to be housewives sitting near her.

"She's going to Horanto High School, right? In second year, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yeah, they said she was set to perform at the national competition of brass bands… wasn't there also talk about creating a support group in the parent's association?"

The voice of the two thinly-smiling middle-aged women sounded awfully sinister.

"Oh, seems like that's no longer a thing. I heard she herself quit the performance."

"Oh my, what happened to her?"

"Something about receiving a shock from a broken heart and being unable to recover. Even though she had so much talent that seemed to be her limit."

"The guy must've been horrible, right? But…"

"Yeah, and she worked so hard for it too… but it was all for nothing."

Rio widened her eyes.

It was all for nothing—

Hearing these words, she was unable to contain herself. Her pulse quickened and her presence of mind was taken away.

E-everything that I've done so far, might become meaningless—

Becoming scared of continuing to the gymnasium like this, she pressed the stop button. The bus soon stopped and she ran out of it as if escaping some gaze. She could see that something resembling a black fog also separated from the bus. It was probably some exhaust gas.

Rio got off at about two bus stops away from her destination. It was near the crossing where the accident happened a few days ago. She could see laborers blocking the roadway due to repair work.

She could reach the gymnasium on foot even from there. In order to calm herself down, Rio entered a convenience store along the road.

"…NO, NO. I have to fix my habit of getting scared and running away."

Standing still in the magazine corner, she mumbled to herself.

Although she was like this, Rio embodied the hopes and dreams of the theatrical group she belonged to. However, she had the bad habit of folding down to pressure and becoming unable to do her best.

"I want to go have fun somewhere…"

Standing still in the magazine corner, she muttered to herself.

It has been a while since she thought of something like that.

Her days of chasing after her dreams by themselves were fun. But when the time came for her dream to be tested she immediately became helpless.

Until now she was never able to make a satisfactory performance. Because of that she lacked any confidence in herself and couldn't imagine herself succeeding.

She felt as if her dream would never come true—

And this premonition recently made Rio increasingly unable to focus on her practice.

"Not to mention I haven't been seeing that person who said he would take to have some fun…"

Puffing her cheeks, Rio recalled Shiohara Shachito. She felt like she would accept an invitation to hang out if it came from him right now.

She was running away from her dream.

It was an extremely sweet temptation.

"Buha! Sorry, this is… I don't really need a bag…!"

Rio came to her senses with a start due to the loud voice that echoed inside the store.

"Shiohara-senpai?"

Seeing the boy standing in front of the cash register, she widened her eyes.

Holding a plastic bottle in hand, Shiohara Shachito turned to look at her. He was wearing his school-issued jersey and was sweating like a waterfall.

"…Aahh!"

A smile that could be said to be amiable at best and flippant at worst rose to Shiohara Shachito's face. Seeing his fragile and androgynous facial features, she thought that he must be quite liked by girls.

"Rio-chan! What an incredible coincidence!"

Having her name called in a loud voice made her blush. Although they've only exchanged a few words, he drew closer as if they were friends for many years. Excluding her dad, it was her first time for a boy to call her name.

"D-don't say my name so loudly! Also don't call my name! P-politeness is not just for strangers!"

Being cautious, or perhaps embarrassed, she backed away.

"Why? Isn't it fine? You can also call me by my name. If you won't then I'll poke your forehead again."

Yet Shachito didn't mind it and rudely approached Rio.

"S-Shiohara-senpai…"

"Yes, that will do. Sorry for being unable to mail you. Actually I'm in a situation where I can't reply much even if it wasn't you. …Aah, just like I expected you make me feel healed. It works especially well when I'm tired."

S-so casual—

With a grimace still on her face, she was completely cornered by him.

She didn't know why, but Shachito behaved extremely relieved. He was in high spirits as if he hadn't spoken to any person for several years.

She felt as if he might end up hugging her if she shut up. She recalled the words that offense was the best defense.

"W-why are you here after ditching school? That's why people call you a playboy!"

"Hmm? Why do you know I haven't been going to school, Rio-chan?"

She received a counter punch. She couldn't be upfront about the fact she had been looking out for his motorbike every day. She became speechless and sank into silence.

While Shachito was puzzled, he drank some mineral water. After he finished drinking more than half the bottle at once, he took a deep sigh.

"No, how do I explain it… what am I doing? I'm been running every day all the way from Oranje Land to the city and back, but what will become of that? She's called it basic stamina training, but I don't get it at all."

"Huh? From Oranje Land to here… it should be a few kilometers…"

"Well, it's not like I'm giving it everything I have, I just do whatever."

Seeing Shachito say this while smiling, Rio erased her expression.

"What about you, Rio-chan? Have you been working hard for your dream?"

The anxiousness supposedly gone by her talking with Shachito now reared its head again.

If she hadn't gone out of the bus midway through, she would've probably known the audition results by now.

Yet she feared these results and so was here.

"I-I'm…"

Seeing Rio hesitant to speak, Shachito made a puzzled face. Yet he soon grinned.

"I didn't even have to ask. Seems like you are working hard."

"Huh?"

"Look, the fact you're so worried proves it, right? Because no matter the person, when they do their best for something they would definitely be anxious."

While he said this, Shachito himself didn't seem to be even slightly anxious.

Unconsciously making a dumbfounded face, she ended up staring at the boy in front of her.

"Umm… don't you have any kind of worries, Shachito-senpai?"

As she asked him, he shook his hand while grinning.

"Oh, none at all. Every day's fun."

"So casual…"

"That's why I'm jealous of you."

Having this carefree smile directed at her, Rio felt her heart throb.

"Having a clear goal, working hard for it, and worrying about it… all of them are things I can't understand. I have no dream or anything else."

Originally she would have been angry at him at about this point. You don't understand how I feel—was the only thing for her to say, but she didn't think she would be able to affirm it clearly while facing him.

The reason Rio didn't feel anger was probably due to Shachito's expression. She realized from his full smile that he truly envied her from the bottom of his heart.

"So I want to root for you, Rio-chan."

"Eh…"

Shachito spoke as Rio's cheeks flushed.

"If you're fine with me, I'll give you advice whenever you want. You also need to take a breather sometimes, so if you're feeling bad give me a call. And even if you won't call me, I'll call you."

"Ah…"

Still holding her bag, Rio lowered her gaze. She didn't want her blushing face to be seen.

He said he would root for her.

These words were very embarrassing, but they caused a feeling she had never felt before.

A small courage that made her want to go to practice immediately welled up in her chest.

Thank you so much—

As Rio was about to say this, she could see a Vespa parking near the convenience store.

"Geh."

Shachito also saw the girl coming off the Vespa.

Although the sky was clear, she had the weird outfit of a raincoat and boots. Her helmet was down on her back and she lowered her goggles to her neck.

Rio found that special appearance familiar.

She recalled that she had bumped into her during the day of the second phase of the audition because she was running in a hurry.

As soon as the raincoat-clad girl entered the shop, she pointed her hockey stick to Shachito's neck. Her mouth that had a stick sticking out of it made a ruthless smile.

"Until now I've raised many disciples… but you're the first one unable to give up your habit of slacking off. Since you immediately disappeared after I took my eyes off of you I couldn't concentrate on my other job. Today's smacking will be different from usual, so do be ready for it."

Rio didn't know why, but Inuko seemed unable to suppress her anger. Since she was emitting a ghastly aura from her entire body, her cute face was ruined.

"It's a misunderstanding, Inuko. Calm down and listen, okay?"

Raising both hands while still holding the plastic bottle, Shachito wore a smile in an attempt to gloss everything over.

"I just met up an acquaintance by chance… It would be weird if I didn't say hello, right? Y'know, it's that whole politeness isn't just for strangers thingy…"

"When will you realize your own position? This isn't the kind of sweet world where you can get by while acting so half-hearted. I can't feel any motivation from you in the first place. The kind of person to run away from just this much training—"

"Geez, we've had the same talk 300 times already."

As Inuko started her preaching in front of an audience, Shachito smiled and let everything enter in one ear and out of the other.

"I'll talk about it as much as I have to. In the first place it's obvious you're treating it with the sort of half-hearted attitude like 'if I'll just go with the flow it'll somehow turn out alright'. You never tackled any problem seriously, nor do you have the intention to really run away—hey, stop with that stupid smile."

Looking at the girl who started tediously preaching to Shachito, an unknown emotion welled inside Rio once again.

Seeing them refer to each other by only their given names, that girl was probably someone closer to Shachito than her.

As Rio grew silent, Shachito looked at her as if recalling her existence.

"Sorry, Rio-chan. I'll be going now."

Stopping the hockey stick from hitting him, he showed his usual light smile.

"I don't know when I'll be able to take you to hang out. Even so, if there's something that troubles you contact me."

"So you're going to use that as an excuse to loaf around again, huh. Do reflect on your actions!" Inuko said as she wielded the stick.

He was worrying about her—Rio didn't even have the mental leeway to think about this now.

She felt ashamed at herself thinking she was someone special to him just because he said that he would root for her.

"Rio-chan?"

Seeing Rio keep silent, Shachito tilted his head.

"…"

Inuko again stared intently at Rio. —In a complete change from how she was with Shachito, her eyes were cool and sharp. Rio felt creeped out as if a bird of prey was watching her.

Unable to endure their two gazes, she ran out of the store without saying anything.

She ended up running away again.

Thinking this, she turned her neck around.

"This isn't the time to think of anything unnecessary. I need to get a hold of myself…!"

She hadn't run away; she just couldn't think of anything other than theater right now. —She desperately told herself that.

When she arrived to her practice, she was so out of breath she felt as if her lungs were pierced by knives. She couldn't even walk well, so she set foot in the entrance with a staggering gait.

As she entered the locker room, there were other theater members of various ages there. So that they wouldn't see her face, Rio hurriedly greeted them and stood in front of her locker.

"Masaki-san."

Her heart throbbed with a start.

She knew it was her senior from her voice. She was the leader of the girl actresses there.

"Y-yes."

Using her bangs to hide her swollen eyes, she turned only half her body around while gazing downwards.

"Congrats."

She was handed a single envelope.

She opened the seal. Inside were the results of the audition the other day.

She passed.

"…"

She could feel as if the throbbing in her chest somewhat settled down.

Turning herself toward the locker, she squeezed the letter.

Everything was fine, her dream was not yet over—

"…Sorry, senpai…"

Was it her happiness at having passed the audition?

Her regret at having ignored Shachito?

Even she couldn't tell what sort of emotion brought forth the lone tear dropping to her feet.

2.02 The Others

The dirty piece of cloth dancing in the upper air of Holland City slowly descended.

Shaking left and right while still fanned by the wind through the orange-dyed sky, it lightly fell toward the surface.

The piece of cloth fell in Holland City's town center.

The stained, black cloth descended atop the head of a man standing on the walkway.

"…"

The man bended his mouth so wide it seemed as if it was ripped apart all the way to his ears. His jaw creaked with painful-seeming sounds as he wore a warped smile.

The stained cloth squirmed like a living being and clung to the man. Covering his entire body, his head was completely concealed by a black hood.

"So the pair of 'vessels' who pursue the 'king' do oppose my whispers. One is soon to be gone, and the other is pursued by a child of Dio… how futile."

The man looked up toward the sky of Holland City. With his scrawny cheeks illuminated by the neon lights, one part of his dried skin peeled off.

A white lump crawled up inside the hem of the hood. Falling on the ground was a small caterpillar. It wasn't only one, as further caterpillars gushed out one after another from inside the hood and fell to the ground.

The man made a large amount of caterpillars crawl at his feet, yet none of the passersby nearby were able to notice it. Men and women of all ages passed near the man as if their eyes didn't even reflect him.

"However, they have yet to notice our other fragments…"

The man dragged his feet on the ground and began walking. The caterpillars gathered on his legs followed the man and moved along.

"This provisional vessel shall not hold long as well… And yet, would it not be amusing to frolic around till I get mine hands on a new one?"

Although there was no wind, the cloth wrapped around the man continually rippled. The man's left eye peeking from inside the hood—the pupil-less, white eyeball, looked at a certain corner.

The man's face wore a smile.

Those who would become his new vessels were already under the influence of the black stains.

There were two vessel candidates.

One had the sort of despair that festered for long days and months, while the other had a fresh, rich despair. The man had come there after sniffing out their despair. He would never run away.

Which of them he would end up inhabiting depended on the vessels.

The two people who could become his vessels would soon yield in to his foul whispers. When that happened the man would be able to obtain his true vessel and regain his original powers.

But perhaps it would be well to weaken his "enemy" before throwing away his current form of the temporary vessel.

"I can feel it… The place where those who still fetter me are hidden…"

The man kept muttering to himself the soliloquy that only he was able to understand.

2.03 Inuko Part 2

As soon as the girl known as Rio had left, Inuko grabbed Shachito's ear and dragged him out of the store.

"Come on, go back to your training already. You still have one more round trip to go."

"I get it, don't pull me!"

When they arrived near the parked Vespa, Shachito resisted violently.

"It doesn't hurt anyway, right? It doesn't matter where I pull you."

"It does matter! You'll tear it off!"

Shaking off Inuko's arm, Shachito glared at her with an unsatisfied face. Since he was one head taller than her, just matching their gazes was a pain.

"By the way, Shachito. —What is that girl to you?"

"What do you mean by what? She's an underclassman from school. I met her just a while ago, but she's a good kid. Being with her is fun… or rather teasing her is amusing. She said her dream was to become an actress."

Apparently getting back into a good mood, Shachito spoke while grinning.

"…"

Inuko looked to the direction that girl had run off to, thinking.

Judging by his behavior, at the very least it didn't seem like they were romantically involved. Yet judging from Rio's flustered behavior, there was no doubt that she was conscious of him.

What a nuisance. Depending on the situation, I might need to act without his knowledge and take care of her—

Looking at Inuko silently squinting, Shachito tilted his head.

"Inuko?"

"—Just now you've said that you have no dream. Even though you're a Mushitsuki."

Turning again to look at Shachito, she asked about something completely different. He nodded with a "yeah".

"That's right. Whenever I try to recall it I feel like my mind is going to fly off somewhere. My mind becomes blank and I can't think of anything."

"You don't have to recall it."

"…?"

"This is something that happens a lot with us Special Type Mushitsuki. Our dream gets distorted and we forget about it. It doesn't hinder us from fighting as combatants."

These words were not a lie.

Yet according to Inuko's conjecture, his "nearly broken" condition was due to another cause.

For long years, Shachito had continuously suppressed his abilities as a Mushitsuki. Yet even during that time his Mushi kept feeding off its host's dream little by little. The host's spirit locked up inside his mind was gnawed into, which caused him to stray away from the healthy mental condition as a human being.

If he were to recall his dream, his broken spirits would be exposed.

If his "nearly broken" condition crumbled, Shachito would obtain a major defect as a fighter.

"Don't worry. If you listen to me you'll definitely be able to become a strong warrior."

Inuko hit his shoulders as if encouraging him, but Shachito made another unsatisfied face.

"Look here… about being a combatant or warrior or whatever? I really don't think I'm well fit for that sorta thing. I was until recently just a normal high school student after all."

"If you can't do it, I'll simply send you to an isolation facility as a rejected applicant. If that happens you won't be able to stay a normal high school student right? You will also be unable to go and hang out with that girl from earlier."

As Inuko spoke in a causal manner while smiling, Shachito looked at the main street dyed by the setting sun's light.

"Well, that would be troubling."

Scratching his cheek with a finger, he spoke in a completely casual tone. There was no sense of tension.

Yet Inuko felt a certain sense of danger from his response.

Masaki Rio… like I thought she might become an obstacle—

Hiding the murmuring in her heart with a smile, Inuko wielded her hockey stick.

"If so then go already. Don't forget the way of running I've taught you."

"I'm so hungry I might die though. Can't I eat something on the way?"

"You moron. Lick this and try to endure."

"Huh, what the hell's that? It's obviously suspect."

What Inuko threw at him was a lollipop. It was the same kind she was always sucking on. Although he received it with an unsatisfied face, Shachito started running.

In contrast, Inuko had a satisfied face while seeing him off.

The motives of her newfound student Shiohara Shachito regarding the training were quite vague. Probably due to this, he had the habit to slack off the moment she took her eyes off of him. He also lacked self-awareness as a warrior.

Not to mention his physical abilities, but she had nothing to criticize about his flexibility in thinking about the usage of his Mushitsuki abilities, his ability to instantly judge the situation, as well as of his ability itself.

Actually, the training he was going through right now was three times the amount that Inuko had thought up originally. However, even while complaining all the time Shachito completed all of it easily. It was as if he was making up for all the time he concealed being a Mushitsuki.

She had trained countless Mushitsuki until now, but Shachito's natural disposition was outstanding.

She felt as if she was looking at her past self.

There was value for Inuko to pound all of her fighting techniques into him. She intended on raising him into a first-rate warrior no matter what she had to do.

Inuko felt as if she finally found what she was always looking for.

"He'll be able to become my successor easily."

Inuko could only stay in Holland City for a short while. So she definitely had to polish off Shachito into the greatest masterpiece.

She equipped her goggles and wore her helmet. She got on the Vespa and turned the throttle.

Aiming for a certain place, she rode through the town center where the curtain of night fell.

Was it because the sea was nearby? Even the roads in the town center smelled like seawater.

"…What a nice place. Although it's a big city, there's no feeling of being trapped."

Riding through the lines of cars, Inuko started smiling spontaneously.

It wasn't that she hated the countryside, but cities agreed with her more. When she was surrounded by many people, their many waves mixing together felt good to her.

Thinking of it, she started considering the city's atmosphere and the wind as pleasant because she was on a journey wandering through various places.

Inuko went around the country with the mission to find out many Mushitsuki all on her own. Due to that she didn't stay in the same place for too long, but she unexpectedly became attached to the atmosphere and people of each place.

This wasn't something she thought about during the time she had belonged to a battle unit and spent all of her time on her duties.

At the time she was merely drunk on her own power. The only things she laid her eyes on were enemies, and the only things that made her rejoice were the blood and shrieks of those enemies when they were destroyed.

—Yet the price she had to pay for rushing continuously all the way to one step behind the title of the strongest was large.

"I have the feeling my hometown was also similar to this city."

Inuko didn't remember her own birthplace.

As Mushitsuki continued using their abilities, their dreams— and consequently their spirits—were being eaten by their Mushi. Ever since becoming gravely injured during a certain mission, Inuko lost her resistance toward her own Mushi. Even at times like these her mind and body were being exhausted slowly yet surely.

Now she couldn't even clearly recall the faces of her family.

She could only remember the time she had become a Mushitsuki. As she was young at the time she should have had countless fun memories. Even so, she was only unable to forget the worst moment of her life as if it was burned into her retinas.

"No, I also have the feeling I'm completely wrong… Oh well, it doesn't matter."

Muttering to herself with a tinge of cynicism, she stopped the Vespa.

She came to a large building on a certain corner of the town center. With a thick wall creating some distance from the other buildings around it, she could see a guard office inside the premises behind the metal-made front gate.

Inuko got off the Vespa and lowered her goggles to her neck. As she did the gate opened, and a suit-wearing middle-aged woman approached her.

"Nice to meet you, Asagi. So you really are dressed that way. I immediately recognized you."

"Greeting, Branch Director Assistant. It is an honor for you to personally come and welcome me."

In contrast to Inuko's smile, the middle-aged woman made a complex expression. She was probably bothered by the word usage of a girl who was less than half her age. Apparently giving up what she wanted to say, she nodded with a "yeah".

That building served the local branch of the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau that had the area of Holland City under its jurisdiction. Publically it was apparently a governmental investigation agency of some sort.

The one to greet Inuko was the woman who worked as the assistant of the Branch Director. She heard that right after her contact with the branch's intelligence division, that woman volunteered to guide her around the facility.

Shinpu had given birth to multiple Mushitsuki in this city in a short span of time—hearing this fact from Inuko, the local branch hurriedly entered a state of alert.

Consequently Inuko was summoned as a person of interest as she was an eyewitness and had abundant battle experience.

The two entered the gate, heading toward the building. She realized there were surveillance cameras and infrared ray sensors concealed here and there on the premises. More than preparation against an outside enemy, this was a precaution against the escape of the Mushitsuki members who resided underground where there supposedly were housing and training facilities.

"Although late, allow me to thank you for preparing a place of residence for me. However, the shower in the hotel is poor. I wonder if there wasn't any better place."

"Since each branch needs to support a member of the Central Headquarters' Special Squad, there is no need to thank us, Asagi. If you have complaints about what you have been offered, should we exchange your room with a first-rate tent or sleeping bag?"

"During the current season I would like not to sleep outside if possible… But it's a great difference from the reception at the East Central Branch I dropped by recently. There was my great student Himiko there, and most importantly, the new Acting-Branch Director is a reasonable person. It is a pity I wasn't able to say goodbye due to the turmoil caused by Fuyuhotaru's escape."

"Yes, that Goroumaru Touko… Based only on hearsay, she is apparently so incompetent—I mean quite inexperienced that one can't think of her as Haji Keigo's deputy."

She could sense some thorns in the woman's words. It was possibly dissatisfaction toward Inuko's grand way of speaking and perhaps envy toward the young newbie elected for such an important office.

"Since the Branch Director is waiting, let us hurry. Also…"

While walking toward the entrance to the building shoulder to shoulder, the woman frowned.

"We have received the item you had told us about from the West Central Branch's development team, but is that really it? It looks like mere candy."

"Oh, great. I only had a few more left."

With a smile, Inuko shook the stick inside her mouth. The candy she was eating was of a special kind, and the West Central Branch was in charge of its development. It was a special candy manufactured just for Inuko's use.

"Without this I won't be able to live long."

"…? At any rate, it is safeguarded by the Branch Director so please pick it up later."

As they entered the building, there was a reception desk at the front. There were also gun-wielding guardsmen standing watch in the spacious first floor.

At a glance it seemed like a normal building, but it was obvious this wasn't so. On top of there being a thick partition wall in the passage leading inside, there was also an abnormal number of highly-sensitive cameras concealed in places people wouldn't notice.

According to what Inuko heard, there were training and housing facilities underground while the intelligence division and the few guard station operated by civilians were located above ground. Not only was each floor separated by countless partition walls, but the Mushitsuki members would enter and exit through different areas as well.

From the outside it was an impregnable stronghold and from the inside it was a secure prison—

It was incomparable to the Central Headquarters' underground fort or the East Central Branch's 'GARDEN', but each branch had their own ways of dealing with the Mushitsuki members.

"Let us go."

Led by the Branch Director Assistant, they passed through the reception desk and headed to the elevator. While Inuko sent gazes around, she noticed countless small holes in the ceiling. Would they fire tear gas in the case of an emergency? It couldn't possibly be poison gas.

"There is something I would like to confirm before speaking with the Branch Director… is that fine, Asagi?"

"Hmm? That's fine, ask me anything you want."

While waiting for the elevator, the woman spoke as she looked up at the light indicating the floor number.

"Is Shinpu really in this city?"

"…What do you mean?"

"From what I heard, you… when you arrive at a branch you go to oversee the combatant members' training and receive a reward for it, right? Furthermore there were times where, due to your intense training, some members were driven to a point beyond any recovery."

"Since the Central Headquarters is so stingy about money, I end up wasting all of the funding for my journey rather quickly. So there were times I worked part-time as a teacher in some branches. It's also true there were people who were unable to endure my training. Should I train the members here too?"

"—Even if you sponge off of our branch, nothing will come out of it."

The Branch Director Assistant glared at her with cold eyes.

Still smiling, Inuko squinted.

"'Shinpu has appeared. Instead of helping with the search hand over the money'. —Did you really think I would make such a fake announcement for that? Did you send out the Branch Director Assistant herself as a warning?"

"…"

As the woman remained silent while turning again toward the elevator door, Inuko erased her smile.

"I see, so that's why you're in such a state of alert. You've devoted yourselves far more to my actions this far and looking for evidence of my report rather than looking for Shinpu."

Among the Mushitsuki who belonged to the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau, since Inuko had gained the special right to freely travel around the country, there were quite a few people who displayed their wariness of her. Since she had met all sorts of people this far, she was not childish enough to feel resentment at the Branch Director Assistant's upfront impolite attitude. 

Inuko was angry for a completely different reason.

Why are the SEPB so passive toward the Original Three—

Although the organization known as the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau feared Mushitsuki, they made no attempt to touch their originators which were the Original Three. The Central Headquarters actively gathered information only regarding Sanbikime, while each branch only wanted them to leave the areas under their jurisdiction as soon as possible.

"—I will give you a single piece of advice as a special service."

Inuko's raincoat rippled. Sparks scattered from the button on the wall in response to a sudden magnetic field disruption.

While the other woman gazed at her with a start, Inuko directed a fierce smile at her.

"You are the second person to stand before me without any escort or anything while knowing of my past as Asagi. The first was the woman you've called incompetent just now—the Acting Branch Director Goroumaru. If you want to live long will you trust me just like her and bring out about a dozen escorts from now on?"

Thud, the elevator reached the first floor along with this heavy impact. It probably landed with more force than the usual due to it being pulled by Inuko's magnetism.

Noticing the abnormality, guards immediately rushed there. They reached for their guns.

"I will attack you for self-defense even before you're able to draw that. Not only will bullets not work on me, missiles probably won't, either."

As she glared at them, the guards seemed as stiff as if they had been paralyzed. Inuko's magnetism could obviously alter the trajectory of bullets, and it possessed enough power to destroy the sensors of missiles.

Inuko boarded the elevator with her raincoat fluttering. Yet the other woman didn't move even an inch from that spot.

As the Branch Director Assistant stood in place with a pale face, Inuko pulled her arms and forcibly brought her into the elevator.

"Are you that scared of being closed in an elevator with a kid like me? I don't know what floor the Branch Director is on, so press the button already. You were the one who said we should hurry."

As she kicked the elevator with her boots, the Branch Director Assistant's shoulders trembled. Shaking in fear, her body didn't move the way she wanted it to.

"Do press it already. Do press it."

No matter how many times she kicked the elevator, the Branch Director Assistant didn't move. "P-please cease this…" she commanded her with a feeble voice, but Inuko kept kicking the wall while calling her to "do press it!"

"How incompetent of you to be unable pressing a single button. And since you're incompetent there shouldn't be any problem even if you were to break."

Inuko reached for the hockey stick on her back expressionlessly. The Branch Director Assistant's face distorted in fear.

Once she was truly angry, she couldn't stop—

That was Inuko's characteristic as a pure warrior. During the period she had belonged to the fighting squad, there were times when she was covered in the blood of both enemies and allies, and not just once or twice.

Normally she was a cool-headed warrior, but when angry she became a ferocious berserker.

"You failed."

It happened just as she was about to unsheathe her stick while glaring at the deathly pale Assistant.

Thump—

Inuko's heart leapt.

"…!"

Widening her eyes, she looked at her feet.

That wave I've felt just now—

Inuko, having lost control of herself in anger, came to her senses along with the quickening of her pulse.

"No way…!"

Her entire body was covered in goosebumps.

Inuko's ability to sense abnormal magnetic fields perceived a large wave from far under her feet. And once she had felt a certain wave, unless a considerable time has passed she would never mistake it.

Immediately after this, a piercing alarm resounded through the building.

An announcement notifying of damage to the building echoed, and the countdown to operate the partition walls in each floor started. Red warning lamps were turned on, and the power to the civilian-use elevator Inuko boarded was cut off.

"W-what…? What is going—"

Ignoring the flustered Branch Director Assistant, Inuko clicked her tongue.

"The Mushitsuki members are underground, right? What Rank is the strongest member of this Branch?"

"Huh? W-why would you ask…"

"Do answer!"

Being rebuked, the Assistant replied with a frightened face.

"R-Rank 5…! Right now they're holding a briefing underground regarding their next mission—"

"How weak. —They've already been finished off."

The waves of the Mushitsuki she could feel from below ground were vanishing one after another.

As the Branch Director Assistant widened her eyes, her figure was concealed by something resembling a black mist and grew blurry.

"…! Ah… ah…"

Smoke-like black particles—a miasma poured out from the floor at their feet. When the miasma touched the Assistant's face it instantly lost all color. The guards and the receptionists were being drained the same way.

Mental Pollution…! This is bad, those without any specialized training wouldn't be able to resist—

Inuko's expression toughened. She rotated the hockey stick she drew off her back and stood on guard.

"I'll make the building my domain. It's going to sting a little but please bear with it."

Widening her eyes, Inuko deployed her ability.

"Uh…!"

With Inuko in its center, a ripple of purple lightning expanded. Blown by the impact rushing around the entire building, the Branch Director Assistant and guardsmen grimaced.

The miasma that covered their entire vision burst as if blown away by wind. The polluted domain was offset by Inuko's expanding domain. Everyone except for Inuko who wore an insulating raincoat was shocked by the static electricity she produced, but that was better than having their minds polluted.

"…!"

A chill ran through Inuko's body.

The subject of the chill moved. As if stabbing through her toes and up to her brain, the polluting wave ascended from underground to the surface. It probably had other ways to go to the higher floors even other than the staff-use elevator.

"You're in the way. Get off."

Grabbing the Branch Director Assistant's collar, she flung her outside the open door. "Eeek!" the woman raised a shriek and Inuko spoke at her.

"Do check out the damage quickly. Shelter all the civilians inside the building outside immediately. Find the members from below who are unhurt, form a team that could move at any time and make them stay in standby. Right this instant."

"Wha… wha…"

"Give it a rest and do understand the situation already, you moron. This branch is being attacked."

Equipping the goggles hanging from her neck, she looked up at the elevator's ceiling.

"I, Asagi, will now commence annihilation."

The Assistant's astonished face was gone behind the wall that appeared instantly.

Inuko used her ability to make the elevator ascend immediately. She caused the magnetic fields of the floor and the elevator, which stayed with its door open, to become of the same pole and repulse one another, using that the climb up the building in a speed of 10 kmph.

Reaching the same altitude as the wave she'd felt didn't take even 3 seconds. She reversed the poles of the elevator and the reinforced steel around, making it instantly stop. She also didn't forget to alter her own body's magnetic pole to match the elevator's to protect herself from bumping her head against the ceiling due to inertia.

By repulsing away the building-side door, her field of vision opened immediately.

Inuko reached the highest floor. Emergency lights blinked through the passageway and the alarm rang in the highest possible volume.

Gas came pouring in from the holes in the ceiling.

Realizing it was sleeping gas, she covered her mouth with a scarf. The automatic system probably considered her an enemy due to her forceful way of arriving there.

"—So it's further inside."

The figure of Inuko standing on guard inside the elevator vanished while leaving an afterimage. By making the iron bars embedded beneath the floor repulse her body she teleported ahead.

The countdown by the mechanical voice reached zero. One after another partition walls began blocking up the corridors.

Inuko who moved in high speeds ran through the passageway exactly before it was blocked.

As she approached the source of the wave, the overly powerful wave hit Inuko's body.

The air became uncomfortable and sticky.

It was a foul wave that almost made her choke.

"I can't feel any Mushitsuki being born…"

Heading towards the door at the end of the corridor, Inuko swung her hockey stick. With a large magnetic field enveloping it, the stick pulverized the wooden big door to pieces.

Suddenly, a fearsome miasma blew around.

It was a spacious room that had an expensive-seeming foreign-made table inside.

A large amount of people were collapsed in the carpeted room. Figures that seemed like Mushitsuki with SEPB equipment were also there. Yet they all seemed to be unconscious. 

In the center of the room a middle-aged man wearing a business suit was collapsed. She realized it was the Branch Director from the fact she could see traces that the other members had tried to protect him.

A bundle of crushed paper bags were pinned under a collapsed bookshelf. From inside the ripped paper bags Inuko could see crushed lollipops. These were the candies supposed to have been supplied to her.

"What's your goal here—"

With this gruesome sight right in front of her eyes, Inuko confronted the figure standing in the center of the room.

"Shinpu…!"

A cracked metallic sound rang through the highest floor.

It was the foul sound of a bell.

The sound of the curse Inuko had heard when she was turned into a Mushitsuki.

"So thou choose to inquire about mine purpose, my child…"

The one looking down on the other man who was stretched out as if offering himself as a sacrifice to some god—the completely changed figure of the Branch Director Inuko was supposed to have met with, was a person clad in a black robe.

A sudden gust of wind blew from the window that had been thrown open.

The filthy robe fluttered, and the man's concealed face was revealed for an instant.

"Thou should consider it a warning… as well as revenge."

Inuko opened her eyes wide.

"W-what's going on…?"

A black robe and a hoarse voice… and the face of an old man.

These were the special features of one of the Prototype Mushi as designated by the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau, Shinpu. Even Inuko herself, as one turned into a Mushitsuki by him, remembered his appearance.

And the wave she felt was also that of Shinpu.

Yet the one in front of Inuko's eyes was—

"Henceforth thou should fear my very shadow, mortals…"

The one looking at Inuko with his pupil-less, wriggling white eyes, was a pale-faced young man. For an instant she could see caterpillars crawling around as well as a blue shirt and a black necktie inside the robe.

"Y-you… who are you…?"

Inuko's dry mutter echoed in the room smelling of blood.

2.04 Inuko Part 3

Special Type Mushitsuki were created by one of the Prototype Mushi, Shinpu.

Shishidou Inuko was also a Special Type Mushitsuki. When she was young, she had been enticed by Shinpu and became a Mushitsuki.

The real face hidden behind Shinpu's dirty hood was that of a hunchbacked old man. Special Type Mushitsuki other than Inuko also gave out the same testimony, and so did the extremely few civilian eyewitnesses. Because of that the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau had acknowledged the form of an old man as Shinpu's true body.

Yet just now visible under the robe was a young man one would find hard to call old. Since the color of his skin was ghastly dark she couldn't conclude his race, but there was no way to mistake his apparent age.

"You're… not Shinpu…?"

Clenching her hockey stick, Inuko stood still in shock.

At the start of the year, Inuko personally heard from a friend that Shinpu had been defeated.

That friend wasn't someone who would lie. Because of that, she thought it was suspicious that Special Type Mushitsuki were still being produced in this city.

She could understand the situation if Shinpu was simply still alive. But that his form changed like that was completely outside of Inuko's expectations.

"I do remember thee… The child borne by my first fragment…"

Shinpu took a step back from the cruelly shredded body of the Branch Director.

"Long ago, while in the depths of despair, thou hast embraced an unattainable dream… And even now that it has passed, thou seem to struggle and suffer…"

The man's smiling face was concealed by his robe again. She could hear the hoarse voice just like before, but the man's mouth barely moved.

The foul sound of a bell reverberated.

Black miasma came pouring out with Shinpu in its center.

A building with a pointed roof could be faintly seen in the midst of the miasma filling the room. The summit of this crumbling structure was equipped with a rusted bell that slowly moved back and forth.

"…!"

Inuko immediately leapt back and focused her mind.

It was clearly one of Shinpu's abilities, the "Church". Most people would end up being pulled into an isolated domain and lose their minds.

"Don't think you can eat me so easily now… Shinpu!"

Swinging her hockey stick, Inuko unleashed her ability.

The one to establish the proper methods to concentrate against mental intervention was none other than Inuko herself. Preserving her sense of self with a powerful will, she shook off the sense of intoxication which was much like drowsiness.

The image of the church rising within the fog was offset by Inuko's expanded magnetic field domain. Static electricity surged through the surface of her raincoat.

"You said this was a warning and revenge. Do explain what you mean by that. Why have you attacked this branch?"

Inuko and Shinpu faced each other as their two domains clashed.

"Also, what do you mean by a fragment? Answer me before I destroy you by my hands."

With his robe swaying, Shinpu grew farther from Inuko little by little.

"How dare thou ask this of me, O Special Environmental Preservation Bureau…"

"…!"

"I am the only one still fettered… Neither Elviolene nor Aria Varei, but only I alone was captured, both in the past and now…"

The smile vanished from Shinpu's mouth. The miasma filling the room became even denser.

"Elviolene…? Aria Varei…?"

Still preserving her battle stance, Inuko started thinking quickly.

"Captured, you say… you can't possibly mean you were captured by the SEPB? But right now you're in front of my eyes—"

She started saying but then became speechless. She shuddered at the conclusion she was able to reach.

"Just now you said fragment… N-no way…"

Her throat became dry and the voice she wrung out was husky. She felt cold sweat form on her whole body, and even the hand grasping the hockey stick was shaking a little.

—No, I can't conclude anything yet.

Inuko was not simple enough to just accept information handed by her enemy without questioning it. Yet the conjecture rising to her mind was enough to make her feel shaken.

"Only I was deprived of my freedom… And the only fragment I had been able to unleash from the very beginning was destroyed by the child of Aria…"

Inuko's heart started beating rapidly.

Her friend that had told her he defeated Shinpu was a Fusion Type Mushitsuki created by Sanbikime.

So did that mean Sanbikime's true name was Aria Varei? If so, then Elviolene would be the real name of Oogui.

Slowly but surely, the facts and Shinpu's words started fitting together inside Inuko's mind.

She was about to touch on a huge secret related to Mushi and Mushitsuki—

"Yet I have obtained a chance…"

A chance?

Just as Inuko was about to ask this, the miasma began retreating away from her like an ocean's receding wave.

Shinpu jumped lightly and stood at the open window.

"As long as thou continue to confine me, thou shall fear my revenge for all eternity…"

Leaving a grating sound behind, the filthy robe flung its body outside the window. The caterpillars spread on the floor also followed and fell outside.

"W-wait!"

Inuko immediately followed, standing near the window.

She could see a robe-clad form mixed in the darkness going along the surface of the building's wall as if sliding down on it. The many caterpillars were also brought along and they fell toward Holland City.

 [[File:Mushi Uta 6 p135.jpg|thumb]]

"I won't let you get away—"

Just as Inuko was about to also fling herself out of the window, a shriek rose from behind her.

There was probably some other route to reach that room; as Inuko turned around, she could see the late arriving Branch Director Assistant fall on her butt on the floor. Having the collapsed unmoving Branch Director in front of her eyes, she became lost for words.

Accompanying her were members who wore the SEPB equipment made of long coats and goggles. Judging by their movements they seemed to belong to the battle squad, but as expected seeing the attack in front of their eyes made them freeze.

Inuko clicked her tongue. She couldn't spare the time to explain the situation.

"I will pursue Shinpu, the one who had assaulted the Branch. You all evacuate to a safe place. You might also be targeted."

She asserted this quickly, gazing at the paper bags crushed by the collapsed shelf.

"…"

The candies prepared for Inuko were all crushed with no exception. She apparently had to give up on them.

Turning around, she leapt out of the window.

The night's damp air blew all over her body, and she began a free-fall toward Holland City's nightscape.

"Revenge, huh…?"

Inuko's eyes caught the robed figure that landed on the ground through her goggles. Jumping over walls, she moved heading for the town center.

She had never heard of Shinpu assaulting a branch so far. He himself admitted it to be an act of revenge.

The Original Three were supernatural beings whose actions and thoughts couldn't be understood by humans. Or at least that was what they thought so far.

"Aren't you just like a human, Shinpu…!"

Something was changing—

She had this premonition.

It all began during last Christmas Eve, when Fuyuhotaru had escaped from the East Central Branch's housing facility. Since Lady Bird, one of the few Rank 1 Mushitsuki, had died, the power balance of the opposing organization crumbled.

Until now large battles unfolded around the Central Headquarters and East Central Branch. But perhaps they were growing enough to involve the entire country.

"—Seems like I'll have to sneak into Central Headquarters after I finish my business here."

A moment before she crashed into the ground, Inuko expanded her own domain and generated a magnetic field. By repulsing herself from the metal pipes embedded underground she rapidly decelerated, landing with her coat fluttering.

"If what Shinpu said is true, then just like I thought… If even the Shinpu in front of my eyes is not the real one—then that means Central Headquarters are hiding it."

She would sneak into the Central Headquarters and ascertain the hidden truth.

She would probably risk her life. Yet as Inuko knew the Central Headquarters well and was ripened by long years of battle experience there was no one else who could do the job.

"That will probably be… my final job."

Jumping over walls as well, she teleported in pursuit of Shinpu.

"For that as well, I will defeat you right here and now."

Shrouded by purple lightning, Inuko moved instantly to above Shinpu's robed head. While floating upside-down in the air, she brandished her hockey stick.

The pedestrians walking on the road raised a scream.

It was firmly forbidden to use the powers of a Mushitsuki in front of a crowd. Yet Inuko judged the annihilation of the Prototype Mushi in front of her eyes more important than keeping protocol.

Her hockey stick ripped the filthy robe from overhead.

"My child… I have no intention of destroying thee…"

The torn robe floated midair along with the caterpillars, clinging to the roadside streetlights. The miasma-emitting robe began being restored, and Shinpu's form returned above the light.

"Thou should leave quietly… Otherwise, I shall not overlook it despite thy being my child."

"What was the chance you've obtained?"

Ignoring Shinpu's words, Inuko teleported toward the streetlight. She aimed at him from the ground, using the momentum from her soaring to swing her stick.

The metal-made streetlight was sliced into two. Glass fragments scattered around, making pedestrians run away.

"The chance I have obtained was thy arrogance… Thou have invited chaos as a result of thy attempt to make use of mine fragment, and so I was able to unleash a new one…"

"…!"

Shinpu leapt high, standing on the wall of a high-rising building on the other side of the road.

Inuko also teleported toward that building. She ran in pursuit of the fleeing Shinpu accompanied by the caterpillars the same way by running above the metal-made windows.

No way—

She intuitively discerned the meaning of Shinpu's words.

When Inuko had visited the East Central Branch, the incident of Fuyuhotaru's escape from the Central Headquarters happened.

Inuko heard about the fine details in secret from Acting Branch Director Goroumaru.

She was told that the Central Headquarters was holding some sort of experiment. Yet there was some incident during that experiment and several people escaped. It had apparently been revealed to the East Central Branch from a "disk" that had recorded the chaos of that time.

"Is the chance you're talking about the experiment conducted at the Central Headquarters…?"

"—I was able to unleash yet another fragment on the world other than those inhabiting the two vessels connected to the King of Mushitsuki…"

Shinpu's wicked smile affirmed Inuko's conjecture.

"Mine old fragment hast vanished, and now that my new one is unleashed… I can both take revenge on thee mortals as well as devour thee to my heart's content… I shall indulge in thy fear as I slowly await for the King to release me…"

The King of Mushitsuki. It was once again a new term for Inuko.

She couldn't fully believe in what Shinpu had said, but the more she heard from him the more it overlapped with the information she possessed.

However, once the Central Headquarters which she belonged to found out she had discovered the truth they were trying to conceal—Inuko would probably be assassinated. There were all sorts of rumors about the suspicious unit known as the Annihilators.  

She apparently needed to be careful about her actions from now on.

"I won't let it happen. I'll stop your revenge or whatever."

Asserting this, Inuko teleported near Shinpu just as he leapt to another building.

The concrete wall largely caved in. The impact from the accelerating hockey stick burst open the hem of the filthy robe.

Shinpu, evading a direct hit by a paper-thin margin, changed the direction of his movements vertically. He slid heading for the top of the building.

"It's no use if you escape, Shinpu."

Clad in purple electricity, Inuko teleported again. She leapt above Shinpu, soaring in the night sky.

Her stick, making use of her full body's weight as well as the magnetic field created by her ability, cut in a straight line from the rooftop aiming for the ground.

"I have no intention of even giving you an opening to use your abilities."

Landing on the ground, Inuko rotated her stick and gazed overhead.

There were huge cracks on the wall of the building a few dozen meters tall. Shinpu was sent flying with his robes ripped to shreds as if slashed by some fearsome beast's claws.

While Inuko was standing calmly Shinpu crashed with the sound of breaking bones. He slowly roused his body above the crushed caterpillars.

"So this wasn't enough to destroy you, huh. But it doesn't seem like physical attacks are completely ineffective."

Shinpu standing on the ground had no right arm. That arm severed by Inuko was surrounded by caterpillars at another spot.

"…As expected…"

New caterpillars carried his right arm. They climbed atop the man's body, attaching themselves to his severed shoulder.

"This vessel cannot withstand my fragment… After all it was but a temporary vessel for me to reach this land…"

"What was that?"

Ignoring Inuko who asked this back, Shinpu turned his body around.

As Inuko tried to follow him immediately her field of vision was suddenly distorted.

"—Ugh."

Strength suddenly left her body and she slumped to her knees.

Her vision distorted, and she was assaulted by a severe sense of fatigue.

"…Dammit, do hold on, my body…!"

She grimaced and crunched the candy in her mouth. The sweet flavor spread in her mouth.

"Haah… haah…"

Spitting out the stick, she pulled out a new lollipop with a trembling hand and put it in her mouth.

She licked it and let it stay put for a while. She could feel her consciousness clearing out again.

By healing her physical fatigue, Inuko tried standing up. But this time she felt dizzy and put a hand on the wall. Her vision was dyed by a flash for an instant.

"Ugh…!"

The memories remaining in her rose to her mind one after another. As if the many pictures she had were being shredded from the edges, important parts became blurry and vanished.

It wasn't only her body; her mind was also being exhausted.

"…Damn!"

Leaning against the building's wall, she propped up her body. Her swearing voice echoed in the dark back alley sandwiched between the buildings.

"The time I can fight was reduced again… Why are both my mind and body so worthless…"

She spoke bitterly while holding her brow.

The current Inuko was worn out in both mind and body. Once she had noticed the side-effects of her powerful ability in the past it had already been too late for her body.

Since she had become able to fight only for extremely short periods of time, Inuko had been removed from the battle squad. Although once feared as the best warrior she had been demoted from Rank 2 to Rank 3 and lost her place on the battlefield.

And that was not all.

Her body, fatigued beyond the point of return, started the countdown towards its end. As if she was holding a time bomb.

"…Not yet."

Grinding her molars, Inuko started walking. She stared at Shinpu's figure growing far.

She could feel her dim consciousness being gradually restored. By replenishing her iron, her limbs could finally move freely.

"I will not die here. At least in the end, I will die as a warrior—"

Inuko tried pursuing Shinpu again, but suddenly several presences appeared around her.

They were people wearing long coats and goggles. These combatants who numbered more than ten all brought out their Mushi.

"Central Headquarters member Asagi, we will have you come with us."

"…What does this mean?"

"There have been orders to detain you. We have also been granted permission to annihilate you should you resist."

The dumbfounded Inuko surveyed the people surrounding her.

"You say what…?"

She turned around, looking at the corner where Shinpu was gone. Yet she could no longer see the robe.

I see, he didn't use his abilities to resist so he could prevent me from perceiving his location by his wave—

A lonely smile spread on her face without her noticing.

"Ah, not again…"

More than simple vexation, something like sadness welled up inside her.

I was once again left behind in battle—

Why was that? Although she was supposed to possess everything needed for fighting, she felt like she was always being disturbed by fate.

There's nothing as pitiful as a warrior hated by the battlefield—

"Lower your weapon, Asagi."

The members slowly closed in on Inuko. She sighed.

"I have no intention of resisting, but can you tell me the reason? Why have you been ordered to restrain me?"

"The Central Headquarters needs reinforcements. You were the only one to have witnessed Shinpu, Asagi. We will promptly have you tell us the full story at the branch."

"You failed, you failed. It's not just 0 points, but minus even. What are you speaking about at such a late stage…! Not to mention, why are you prioritizing the interrogation of a member over the annihilation of Shinpu! Why do you think East Central Branch Acting Director Goroumaru changed the chain of command? It was for such times so we could refuse the orders of the Headquarters and have every branch make independent decisions, playing it by ear!"  

While Inuko spat out this tirade, the color of the members' faces changed. They clearly grew tenser and on guard.

"—Ah, it's fine. I'm tired of having to suppress my anger. If you want to restrain me or whatever, do what you want."

Inuko was about to return the hockey stick to her back. Relief started spreading among the members.

"—No, wait."

She once again checked the direction Shinpu had gone to.

Disappointment in herself—a feeling that should have been gone long ago—was reborn.

She gathered power in her limbs. Her stamina and mental energy were both quite restored.

"I changed my mind. I'm going. If you want to stop me, do come at me with your full strength!"

As Inuko grinned, a disturbance ran through the long coats.

She ignored the members that assumed battle positions and brought out her cellphone. Pushing in the proper number, the other party soon answered.

"Yo, it's me. …Hmm, good work. Sorry for this just as you've finished today's menu, but I've added a little something for you."

It didn't matter if a warrior liked battle or not.

What was important was fate.

Being loved by battle or not. It was irrelevant to the person's intentions.

Just like I thought that boy has the making to become the strongest warrior—

Feeling this intuitively, she was about to shudder.

"Are you listening? You're going to be playing tag. Soon a man wearing black clothes will be heading to where you're at. He's called Shinpu. You should be able to see him and understand who he is at a glance."

They were apparently able to feel Inuko's hostile intentions. The long coats' Mushi attacked her all at once.

"Catch that guy. Once you do that, today's training will be over."

Inuko's raincoat became shrouded in purple lightning.

"Hmm? If you can talk back then get going already. Ah, you can use your motorbike. Don't forget what I've taught you. What'll happen if you let him escape, you ask? Well, it won't end pretty for you. I'll beat you up nice and good so that you won't be able to push food down your throat for three days. Oh right, let me warn you about something."

Inuko's voice talking in the phone mixed with countless screams in the back alley.

"Do be careful not to die. This is it, good luck."

Just as she hanged the call, the purple lightning surging through her entire body dispersed.

She rotated her hockey stick and returned it to her back.

"Forgive me for breaking one or two of your bones. You should even be thanking me for settling this without killing anyone."

In the span of several seconds, the long coats all yielded without anyone remaining.

"All of you failed."

Asserting this shortly, Inuko went in pursuit of Shinpu.

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 Shimpu 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 emails.

Again he accumulated emails 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 emails.

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 email! 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 an email to Rio's address. 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."

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.

2.06 The Others

The performance scheduled to be opened next month was to be carried out in Oranje Land.

Oranje Land illuminated at night was beautiful. The streets lined up with windmills became a resting place for couples and families on trip.

"Nng…"

Jarre held his head and turned around.

It was that sound again. That sound like a cracked metal being him made him feel bad.

In front of his line of sight was one of Oranje Land's facilities, the Concertgebouw. All public performances were inside that hall. Tonight he came there for a preliminary inspection.

"Is something the matter, mister Harissi?"

One the staff members walking with Jarre looked up at him quizzically. Even in his homeland of America he seldom saw people taller than him, but in this country he was even more conspicuous.

"For some reason I've been hearing a horrible sound lately."

"Are you tired perhaps? Let us put some more free time into the schedule."

"No, there's no problem. I've been having headaches since long ago. Also, I would like to coach the actors as much as I can. The last audition is close by, too."

"We truly are glad for you to say this. Even the actors are practicing every day in order to be able to receive your guidance."

His relationship with the Japanese staff was going well.

The actors were also making great efforts in their practice.

For Jarre, who had travelled around the world excavating talent, his meetings with students who could be said to be raw ores were irreplaceable treasures.

Even here in Holland City Jarre had been able to find several students that had talent.

Guiding them into becoming the best actors was his duty.

By Jarre's guidance and the students' efforts, the performance would definitely be a success.

So he was convinced.

"I shall send you to the hotel."

After walking through the windmill road, they could see an escort car parked in the road facing the site.

Jarre looked there and raised a voice of admiration.

"What a magnificent dome."

The staff member's line of sight followed what Jarre was looking at, softening his expression. On the other side of the parked vehicle was an all-weather dome.

It was a combined competition facility built bordering Orange Land. As they were apparently played baseball inside tonight, there were large panels that displayed the emblems of the team playing.

"All of the buildings in this country are beautiful."

He praised them honestly from his heart.

It was a very prosperous country with only small differences between the rich and the poor. Jarre had gone all around the world yet he had never seen such a blessed country. In his homeland of South America the gap between the rich and the poor was considerable, and in his second hometown of the USA there were innumerable slums.

In this country, as long as you worked you could live. Even without choosing a profession most people were able to work, and he heard that even the weak of society had plenty of assurance.

In such an abundant country what did boys and girl aim for?

This answer was known by none other than Jarre himself.

A dream—

Everyone possessed some sort of future they yearned after.

This country overflowed with possibilities, so they had that many chances.

"I'm jealous of the children born here."

Jarre thought so from the bottom of his heart.

"This country has plenty of possibilities, and everyone shines while trying to obtain them."

The staff's response was varied. There were some who nodded and others who shrugged.

"Sorry for making us stop here. Now, let's go back."

Entering the car's backseat, the staff member in charge of driving also entered in a hurry.

As he revved up the engine, the in-car television was also automatically turned on.

The car took off.

"…o'clock news. First, about the incident where a strange corpse had been found in Holland City—"

Inside the television, men and women who seemed to be newscasters read out from a manuscript.

It seemed to be the news. Jarre couldn't understand Japanese, but the name of "Holland", the city he resided in right now, caught his attention.

Although the Japanese-made LCD television was small as it was made for cars, its picture quality was clear.

A small portrait photo was reflected on the screen. It probably belonged to the victim of some incident.

"It appears that more than 10 days have passed since his death, and there are plans to investigate the cause of his death and other special features in more details during the autopsy. From the personal belongings assumed to be his, the corpse was identified as a 29 years old company worker from Akamaki City. According to eyewitness reports there is the chance that he had been brought all the way to Holland City post-mortem—" 

The staff member at the driver's seat who grabbed the wheel peeked into the back mirror.

"They're saying a corpse from Akamaki City is here… It gives me the creeps."

Perhaps he tried breaching the subject since he saw Jarre gazing at the television.

"Yeah."

Saying this briefly, he shifted his gaze from the television to outside the window.

"What if the corpse itself walked here?"

He made a joke that even he didn't find funny. The news weren't related to him after all. He obviously didn't even know the victim.

"Hahaha, like the Walking Dead, was it? There was a movie like that."

It happened just as the staff member laughed.

"…!"

A loud sound shook Jarre's eardrums as if someone hit his head.

It was that sound again.

That cracked metallic sound he felt like he had heard somewhere before. He felt dizzy by the exceedingly ear-grating sound.

"—Really, what a poor guy."

Jarre was startled at this sudden sinister-sounding voice and raised his face.

The face of the driver reflected on the back mirror wore a faint smile. He made an unpleasant expression as if becoming a different person.

Jarre held his aching head, grimacing.

"What are you talking about?"

"About the news. That victim failed in achieving the dream he had since his youth and became a company employee. He probably sank deep in despair."

"…Was that told in the news?"

"Yeah, quite clearly. Ever since he started working he was unable to give up his dream no matter what. Could there even be someone so stubborn?"

Jarre's heart throbbed with a start.

It appeared to him as if something like black smoke was drifting from the driver's shoulder.

Was he smoking? Thinking so he looked at his hands, yet both of them were planted firmly on the steering wheel. There were also no traces of him using an ashtray.

Were his eyes blurry due to his headache? Jarre shook his head and averted his eyes from the back mirror. He didn't want to see the staff member's sinister face any longer.

"…Can we drop this subject? It makes me feel bad."

He felt as if the black mist drifting inside the car was defiling his body and mind. His face reflected on the window looked so pale he barely recognized himself.

"So this is the pitiful ending of a stupid human who'd been unable to give up his dream he had no chances of fulfilling, huh."

"I told you to stop."

Revealing his anger, Jarre glared at the staff member.

He felt discomfort welling up as if he was being criticized.

I'm not like that. My mission is raising talented children into the best actors. I don't regret getting on the stage—

He thought of the words he told himself as ridiculous.

He himself who was thinking this knew it better than anyone.

No regrets… Did he merely want to think so and escaped by raising students?

Jarre held his head and scowled.

"However, that might be a happy ending in its own way. There's no point to keep living if you can't give up on your dream."

Not minding Jarre's orders, the staff member continued spewing these words drenched in malice.

Jarre had nowhere to escape to inside the closed car. His expression once revealed anger, but it was gradually growing frailer.

"Stop. Stop it…"

That sound echoed again.

I… by comparing myself to the talented students, was I merely trying to fulfill my own dream…?

Every time he heard the cracked metallic sound he was robbed of his ability to think rationally.

"I want to stop suffering—was probably what he'd thought. Because his life, so filled with regrets, truly was a living hell."

"Uh… Uhhh…"

"And so he had been released. From his dream, that is."

"Uhhh…"

As Jarre blocked his ears, he hadn't noticed that the man reflected in the back mirror was not even moving his mouth anymore.

The voice he heard was a coarse voice quite unlike that of the man.

"He was finally able to escape from his pitiful, miserable life…"

Until they reached the hotel, the loud metallic sound and the man's murmurs never ceased.

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