Mushi Uta:Volume 6th Episode 22

Episode 22. The Dream-Desiring Visitor

“The keyword ‘Undying Mushitsuki’ doesfh!”

Horusu Seijou Academy Middle School’s senior classroom was as bustling as always.

Since it was still early morning, only about half of the students were there, but they were already having friendly conversation as if unable to wait to put their bags down.

Since it was a private school for the sons and daughters of rich people, the premises seen outside the window were orderly. On the other side of the trees where the workers did repairs every day, students passing through the gate’s security system with an authentication card could be seen.

Putting the cellphone to her ears, Ichinokuro Arisu laid her bag on her desk.

“You really bit your tongue hard, huh.”

“D-don’t mind it, Maimai-chan, just keep humming as if nothing happened! Laalala. Hunhunhun.”

While listening to the absurdly annoying girl’s voice, Arisu noticed something unfamiliar parking at the gates.

It was a white limousine.

The fancy car was extremely long, the kind that a VIP on the level of a national guest would use. Many students were brought to school in expensive cars, but even this was extraordinary.

It felt strange that no one getting off of the car. It just stayed there with its tinted glass windows half-open, not seeming like it was going to drive off.

“The keyword ‘Undying Mushitsuki’ does not exist in the SEPB’s database! Even looking in other directions, there’s absolutely nothing about it!”

“Right… since Erii said she knew nothing about it, I tried asking you too.”

Just who were they—

As her interest was caught by the owner of the super-expensive and unknown car, a shade cut into Arisu’s sight as if jealous of her attention.

It was a silver Morpho butterfly.

While spreading around scales that emitted a luster, it was wandering outside the window. —It had four feelers, and was a special being, different from a normal insect.

It was a Mushi—a supernatural organism that possessed adolescent boys and girl and fed on their dreams and hopes.

“By Erii-san do you mean C-san from the Central Headquarters?! I will not lose to that little girl! Now I’m pumped up with motivation all of a sudden! You activated my never give up mode! I’ll keep investigating—”

“Ah!”

Arisu turned around as she heard this voice from the door to the classroom.

The boy called Kusuriya Daisuke made a beeline to Arisu. He had a medium build and height, a plain hairstyle and looks without any distinguishing features. The bandage on his cheek could be said to be the only thing noticeable about him.

“So that’s why I haven’t been able to find my cellphone since this morning!”

Blaming her in a voice low enough so that others wouldn’t hear him, Daisuke snatched the phone away from Arisu.

“Who are you talking to—”

“Now you’re burning up, Maimai-chan! I’ll shout for a bit! WOOOH!”

“Hey, it’s Maimai! What are you telling Arisu when she’s not even a member?!”

“Arisu-san told me that you want information about the Undying Mushitsuki! And that if I say no, you’re gonna lick me! Maimai-chan’s chastity is in danger! Oh no!”

“Did you really fall for that lie?! Did you really think I’d do anything like that to you—oh, so even you end shutting up sometimes. Alright, once I go back to Ouka City I’ll make you cry for real.”

After threatening her and cutting off the call, Daisuke glared at Arisu.

“Listen, you… what were you thinking? Do something about your habit to get along with everyone like that.”

Daisuke was both her classmate as well as housemate, but his actual position was far removed from his otherwise plain appearance.

The beings of Mushi, as well as the Mushitsuki who were possessed by them, stood in a peculiar balance for society. Even while they starred in frequent rumors, the country’s official stance was that they didn’t exist.

On the other hand, there was a government agency that secretly captured and concealed Mushitsuki. This organization was the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau—the SEPB for short. The SEPB trained the captured Mushitsuki and forced them to capture new Mushitsuki.

“What’s your problem? Since I got to know her, letting her help a bit is fine.”

“Then at least go to this city’s jurisdiction, the Central Headquarters. Involving just me from the East Central Branch with Hanashiro Mari’s case is plenty enough.”

Hanashiro Mari—

This Mushitsuki girl was Arisu’s sick friend that passed away over a year ago.

After Mari’s death, the Morpho butterfly that was supposedly her Mushi had begun following Arisu for some reason. The one dispatched from the SEPB as a monitor to investigate this abnormal case was none other than the boy in front of her, Kusuriya Daisuke.

Hanashiro Mari and the silver Morpho butterfly.

Mushi and Mushitsuki.

SEPB and Kusuriya Daisuke.

Accepting all those that barged into her daily life, she’d recently sworn she would do everything possible for her to solve this.

“Say, Daisuke. ‘Undying’ means that they can’t die, right?—is there really such a Mushitsuki?”

Hearing Arisu’s question, Daisuke’s face turned serious again. He scratched at his head and opened his mouth—

“Arisu!”

The girl that came running to her pushed him aside.

It was Arisu’s classmate, Saionji Ena. Stylish even among her classmates, her short-cut hair and short skirt were distinctive. For some reason there were tears in her eyes.

“I’m so disappointed in you! I thought we were friends!”

“Eh… what’s happened?”

“During the break Kusuriya-kun went down with a cold? Why haven’t you told me?! I would’ve used nursing as a pretext to do this and that to him, it was my big chance!—ah, are you fine, Kusuriya-kun? Have you recovered already?”

“Other than my nose that got hit on the desk when you pushed me just now, I’m fully healed. Thankfully.”

“Tch!”

“Wow, this is the first time I’ve seen such a blatant tongue click. —Oh, good morning, Kujou-san. Saionji-san’s acting scary and I’d like you to do something, so why are you leaving the classroom?”

Another one of Arisu’s classmates, Kujou Takako, Takako appeared in the classroom. —However, she gave an elegant curtsey and then left to the hallway again. The saying “let sleeping dogs lie” came to mind.

“Right, I’ve done a terrible thing. Daisuke, go jump in the pool straight away.”

“Stop screwing with me, who d’you think you’re—hey, you cat-eyed blond passing in the corridor just now! Why are you looking at me with eyes like you’re seeing something dirty! I’m a victim—no, wait, Saionji-san! I’m not going to the pool!”

Arisu saw off Ena dragging Daisuke away with arm strength belying her appearance.

Ena and Takako were her best friends. As Arisu was in danger of drifting away from her normal life due to getting involved with Mushi and Mushitsuki, they served as her anchor to a perfectly normal school life.

As long as her two classmates were normal girls, Arisu could stay normal as well—

“I just wish I could also spend time with Mari like this…”

Cupping her head in her hands on the table, she looked at the Morpho butterfly fluttering outside the window.

Behind the silver butterfly leaping high, the white limousine noiselessly left the school premises.

Part 1

“Say, Arisu. Did you know there’s a new cake shop in front of the station? So let’s—”

When classes ended, Ena came to Arisu with a light gait.

Arisu put her textbooks into her bag and smiled bitterly.

“Sorry. I have some business to take care of today.”

“Eh, again?”

As Ena pouted Takako also came from behind her. She tilted her head, looking disappointed.

“You’re so busy as of late, Arisu-san.”

Takako knew about Arisu’s Morpho butterfly and Daisuke’s true identity. Because of that she did not ask too deeply, but still looked worried.

“Right. Geez, you’re not sociable at all… wait, are you actually hiding that you’re doing this and that with Kusuriya-kun—”

“I’m not.”

On the other hand, Ena did not know Arisu and Daisuke were related to Mushitsuki at all. Because she’d been involved in trouble in the past, she hated Mushitsuki.

Arisu hadn’t talked about that with Ena and Takako because she didn’t want to involve them.

Now she couldn’t tell them anything—but one day, when Arisu returned to her daily life, she wanted them to welcome her just like always.

“When will we be able to hang out again?”

Being asked this, Arisu went silent for a moment.

The incidents revolving around the Morpho butterfly that Mari left her ended up involving more and more people by the day. She also knew that the SEPB viewed her as dangerous, since the Mushi possessed an unstable power.

She definitely didn’t have much time to find out her late friend’s dying wish. Arisu had to find the answer before all the sand in the hourglass ran out.

“Very soon.”

Seeing Arisu answer with a smile, Ena looked relieved. She turned to Daisuke who carried his sports bag on his shoulder.

“When that time comes, will Kusuriya-kun play with us as well?”

Daisuke looked surprised. However, he soon wore the smile of an honors student.

“Of course.”

“So I’ll be waiting for it.”

Feeling better now, Ena wore a carefree smile.

“When you’ll finally be able to hang out, I won’t let you escape. The four of us we’ll have so much fun that it will never end. Be ready for it.”

Lately—

She felt as if Ena’s way of smiling changed from how it was before. When they’d only met it was a somewhat cold and bored way of smiling. It was probably since she had way more talent than the average person.

However, after getting to know Arisu and Takako, just a little—and especially since Daisuke appeared—Ena looked like she was beginning to change.

“Ah, I look forward to it. How shall I play on Kusuriya-kun?”

“Ahaha, Saionji-san, you silly. You mean you’ll play with me. What a funny mistake.”

As Ena left the classroom in a light gait, Takako lowered her head, left behind “Have a good day” and joined her.

When the pair of friends were gone from sight, Arisu planted an “Arisu Punch!” into Daisuke’s chest.

“Ouch. What is it now?”

“For some reason that face of yours pissed me off.”

“Alright, so I’ll start hitting you for the same reason. Don’t dare complain.”

“Don’t lie so casually with a smile.”

As Daisuke prepared his fist, he froze in place.

Arisu would only be able to return to her daily life once the matter with the Morpho butterfly was solved.

Meaning, it would result in Daisuke, who’d been sent to monitor her, ending his mission and leaving the city. He himself had muttered many times that he wanted to finish it as soon as possible and return home.

“Have you only just now thought of this?”

Speaking bluntly, Daisuke shook off Arisu’s hand still hitting his chest.

“I’ve been doing nothing but lying to her for a while now.”

“That’s terribly not cute. At least hesitate a little… don’t you feel any guilt?”

“What are you so mad about? I’m just an exchange student, so someday I’ll move to another school again—isn’t that fine?”

“Not fine at all. Lying to a girl who likes you that much and acting so nonchalant about it… I’m telling you I don’t like it one bit.”

He was acting as though they were the only ones who thought of him as friends—did it seem that way because Daisuke was a Fusion-Type just like Mari? She thought Mari was her friend, but she never revealed to Arisu until the very end she was a Mushitsuki—

“That’s called liking me…? Well, but.”

Scratching his head, Daisuke sighed as if truly bothered.

“I would’ve been able to avoid it much more easily if it wasn’t Saionji-san.”

What the heck—

She was about to ask him back since she didn’t understand, but two peculiar people exited the classroom.

“Are you two fighting again? You know what they say, if you’re always fighting it means you’re in love.”

“Always fighting…? K-Kakkou-san, you idiot!”

At some point Arisu’s classmates have all gone home, apparently. Instead came a blond girl and someone who was clearly not a middle schooler, a girl dressed in casual clothes.

The startled Arisu turned around.

“Never mind Kasuou… but why did you come here, Erii?”

“I picked her up there.”

The blond girl, wearing the same uniform of Horusu Seijou Academy like Arisu, was the one called Kasuou. Her real name was Mitake Anneliese.

“This school’s security is child’s play to me.”

The ten-years-old girl puffing her chest with pride was Horiuchi Erii. Daisuke instantly grabbed her head. “Don’t call people idiots right after seeing them.” “Ouch, ouch, I’m sorry!” they raised shouts.

“Tch. Arisu asked for your help again?”

Releasing Erii, Daisuke scowled as if bothered by it. Arisu immediately denied it.

“I didn’t, this time.”

“I have an interest in Hanashiro Mari and her Mushi that can possess other people. Since I’m already involved, I want to know if such a thing really exists. Oh, and Kasuou’s unemployed and has nothing to do.”

“I’m not unemployed! I’ve just been moved between commanders a bit!”

“Thanks, you two.”

As Arisu smiled Kasuou turned her face away with a “huh?”. Erii kept glimpsing at Daisuke’s face.

The three girls and one boy took their seats inside the silent classroom. While the girls were facing each other in the center, Daisuke alone sat at a desk near the window.

They could hear the voices of leaving students from outside.

“Did the Librarian not contact you yet?”

“Nope. The promise was if she found Harukiyo, but as expected it can’t be this soon.”

“Isn’t she just tricking you? She’s Harukiyo’s comrade as well. It’s stupid to trust her.”

“Saying she’s his comrade is not quite right, or so she said but… she said that she also needs to get some information from him. She does have a reason to count on us. Even so, I’d say my trust in her is about fifty-fifty…”

The Librarian was a Mushitsuki that she’d met while searching for Harukiyo.

Harukiyo had once met the Prototype Mushi, Sanbikime, the one who turned Hanashiro Mari to a Mushitsuki. Arisu wanted to ask him for details to find more clues about Mari.

“Thinking about it though…”

Folding her hand behind her head, Kasuou leaned back on her chair. Swaying her body and barely keeping balance, she spoke.

“Even if we actually find Harukiyo, will he answer our questions? Since he’s run away from us in the library, I think he has zero motivation to cooperate with us.”

“I have an idea.”

Staring outside the window, Daisuke opened his mouth.

“I’ll burrow Kororo’s power.”

“…”

“If you don’t stop looking at me like that I’ll shoot you right between your eyes…”

While staring at the girls who put their heads together and whispered, “He wants a lick lick,” “Yeah, lick lick,” “Lick lick indeed,” Daisuke put a hand on his hip.

“If Harukiyo doesn’t want to talk, we can just make his Mushi talk. Using Kororo’s past reading ability, we can watch the memories of Harukiyo’s Mushi!”

Right, that could be an effective method.

If Harukiyo had met with Sanbikime, his Mushi should have preserved memories of that place. And they would be able to draw out information free of falsehoods.

“B-but.”

Erii was the one to raise her voice.

“I don’t think Harukiyo will quietly let Kororo use her Mushi on him. If we execute this plan, I cannot think of any other way to but find Harukiyo—that devil who can beat the SEPB all by himself, while creating a devastating number of victims—and beat him to submission.”

“I’ll defeat him.”

Removing his hand from his hip, Daisuke looked outside the window.

“That’s my job.”

Detachedly asserting this, his profile was that of the SEPB’s strongest Mushitsuki, Kakkou.

“…Right.”

Erii smiled.

“If so then there’s no problem. I’ll only provide support from the back.”

“Well, I’ll kill that flame bastard before you do.”

The grinning Kasuou too possessed battle strength not at all inferior to Daisuke’s. If she actually ended up fighting with Harukiyo, they could count on her power.

Daisuke, Erii and Kasuou—they all knew what they had to do.

Then what about her?

She wasn’t as strong as Daisuke or Kasuou, and wasn’t good at investigating things like Erii. Did Arisu also have some duty she was the only one who could fulfill?

“While waiting for the Librarian to respond regarding Harukiyo… I’ve found another interesting keyword.”

Looking at Arisu who came back to herself with a start, Erii wore a meek expression as she spoke.

“The Undying Mushitsuki.”

The classroom was wrapped in silence.

“I know Harukiyo is fixated on Hanashiro Mari. Since he’s investigating her, there’s a high possibility it’s related to her. Arisu-san told me to try investigate it as well, but I have not found any information that seems to relate to that in the SEPB’s database.”

“Undying, huh. Meaning, immortal? Never heard of such a Mushitsuki.”

“I… have.”

The gazes all focused on Arisu.

“In the memories I’ve seen inside the Morpho butterfly, Mari said it. If I recall… ‘If it’s me, then it might be possible to defeat that Undying Mushitsuki’.”

“They’re Undying but can be defeated? What the heck. Ridiculous.”

“Now that I think about it, when I saw the Mari of that time, it seemed like she was looking for that Mushitsuki… right, she also talked to Sensei about that.”

“Does that mean it’s related to the fact Hanashiro Mari fought against so many Mushitsuki that they called her Hunter? But there’s no way the SEPB wouldn’t know about a Mushitsuki with the distinctive feature of being ‘Undying’… do you know anything, Kakkou-san?”

“…”

“Daisuke?”

The girls turned to look at the silent boy.

“No—I know nothing.”

Arisu raised a brow. His cold demeanor was the usual, but she had the feeling that his voice while denying this was somewhat stiffer than normal.

“But if such a Mushitsuki exists…”

As if to hide his own discomfort, Daisuke immediately kept talking.

“We would also need to use Kororo’s past reading on that Mushi as well. They might know about Hanashiro Mari—and perhaps other things.”

“That’s true. Rather than thinking that the number of mysteries keeps growing, let’s instead think we can get more clues.”

Erii’s tone was mature and unlike her age.

“But we’d better get Kororo to promise to cooperate with us. Have you already talked with her?”

“No, I still—”

“*Ringringring*, *clank*. Hello?”

“Ayuyu? Listen, I need a favor.”

“Hey, you idiot! Why are you calling her on your own!”

Kasuou immediately stopped Daisuke from snatching back his cellphone from Arisu. While she and Erii restrained him, the negotiations with Kororo, also known as Kurisaka Ayuyu, continued.

“*Grin*. Understood. I accept these conditions. *Smirk*.”

“Right, thank you.”

“Don’t settle everything without me! Since it’s you, those conditions are definitely bad news—”

“Let’s go, then, Daisuke. For now, I’ve decided to use you as the first sacrifice.”

“What do you mean the first!”

Dragging Daisuke, Arisu and the rest left the classroom.

“I have the feeling that if I don’t finish this investigation as soon as possible I’ll die of stress… once this is all done, I’ll knock out all of you and run back to Ouka City, remember this, you perverts.”

“How unmanly, just offer up an arm or two—ah?”

The moment they were about to exit through the school’s main gate, Arisu unconsciously raised a voice.

“What’s wrong, Arisu-san?”

“That car…”

Including Daisuke who had hardened eyes, Kasuou and Erii followed Arisu’s line of sight.

A limousine was parked next to the main gate. The exceptionally long white vehicle caused passersby to turn and look at this rare occurrence.

“What’s that? It’s way too long.”

“I was curious about it since it was parked here in the morning too… someone from school?”

“It’s been parked there all the time while we were in class.”

Arisu and the rest exiting the school gate tried passing next to the limousine just like all other people.

However, suddenly the door opened and a large man wearing a black suit came out of the limousine. He opened the back doors with hands covered in white gloves.

“…?”

In front of Arisu and the rest who stood in place without thinking, a person appeared.

It was a girl who looked around Arisu’s age. She thought there was a rich lady riding the car, but her form wearing the blazer uniform of some school had the air of a perfectly normal and cute middle schooler. She was holding a walking stick in the shape of an upside-down “J”.

“Nice to meet you, Ichinokuro Arisu-san.”

The girl bowed her head politely.

She knew Arisu’s name—

Even before finding that suspicious, Arisu felt something strange.

Arisu felt as if this girl who immediately greeted her—was familiar. She seemed to remember her face and voice.

Where had she met her before?

The girl removed her eyes from Arisu while she dug in her memories.

“Yahaha.”

The girl looked up the sky and raised a small laughter. Her eyes were focused on the silver insect—the Morpho butterfly left to Arisu by her dead friend.

“You are… a Mushitsuki, right?”

While spinning her stick, the girl pointed at the butterfly fluttering above.

Arisu widened her eyes.

—What do you think Mushi are?

She recalled the words of a Mushitsuki who smiled despite being covered in wounds.

Mari, who’d referred to that Mushitsuki as the “Kind Magician”, was no longer there.

And the Mushitsuki that failed to become a magician had also met an unnatural death right in front of Arisu.

She thought that this was the end of the Magician’s sad story, however—

“Will you please tell me too?”

The girl that the Magician had been trying to protect grinned.

“How does one become a Mushitsuki?”

Part 2

The inside of the limousine was even more spacious than Arisu thought.

The seats stretched on both sides of the long vehicle were soft and the table at the center was laden with a full bottle and empty glasses.

A single black cat curled its body on the floor. Completely unlike the limousine overflowing with richness, it looked like a stray cat with dirty fur.

The tinted glass that blocked all sights from the outside did allow them to see the town’s scenery clearly passing away from inside the car. The red setting sun illuminated the faces of Arisu and the rest even more than the ceiling lights.

“I apologize for suddenly talking to you.”

The uniformed girl lowered her head politely.

Sitting directly in front of the girl were Arisu and Daisuke. Kasuou sat a little bit further, grasping the bottle and directly drinking from it. Erii was sitting silently next to Kasuou and looking at them.

“My name is Akasegawa Nanana.”

The cat slowly roused its body, curling up again at the feet of the girl introducing herself. Nanana reached out gently, petting its back.

Erii raised a surprised voice.

“Akasegawa Nanana…? No way, the new Chairman of Akasegawa Group?”

“Do you know her, Erii?”

Arisu also knew the name of Akasegawa Group. If she recalled correctly, it was a large company that had many businesses under its umbrella.

“They’ve talked about it in the news recently. The Chairman of the Akasegawa Group had a sudden, mysterious death—”

Erii was about to speak but closed her mouth when she saw Nanana’s face. Confirming that she did not change her expression, she opened her mouth again.

“—Ever since his death, his granddaughter became the new Chairman… At the same time, because the employees and organizational systems underwent reform, it had quite considerable effects on the business world. I believe the name of the new Chairman is Akasegawa Nanana…”

“Until recently I was just a normal student; I’m Chairman in name only. —For now, at least.”

Nanana brought her line of sight up from the cat. She gazed at Arisu’s face intently.

“Also, no matter how much influence I have, my family is but an upstart. We are a far cry from the ancient and noble Ichinokuro line.”

“…”

“Seeing how you reacted when I have called out to you, I thought you knew me as well. But if you haven’t seen any news about me, where have you come to know me?”

Arisu’s heart leapt.

—I want to remain the Kind Magician inside her alone…

Arisu had seen Nanana during a certain event at the hanging gardens in the city. Since the Mushitsuki woman had protected Nanana one-sidedly, the girl herself wouldn’t know about Arisu.

Recalling the girl who fell to protect Nanana, the pain in her heart was reborn.

“No, but you… how come you know about me?”

Asked back, Nanana smiled. Spinning her stick, she pointed it outside the window—at the Morpho butterfly who landed on the side mirror with its wings fluttering in the wind.

“That butterfly is no mere insect. This species does not exist anywhere on earth. —I just so happened to see it flying near you while on campus, and I apologize, but I have investigated many things.”

Daisuke, who’d been listening quietly this far, clicked his tongue. He would frequently warn Arisu to hide the Morpho butterfly, but since it wasn’t originally her Mushi, Arisu couldn’t freely control it, obviously.

“That’s a Mushi, right?”

Nanana looked into Arisu’s eye and spoke in a tone that indicated she would not take no for an answer.

“Haa, Mushi and Mushitsuki and all that… as if there’s anything like that—”

“Alright, that’s enough of that. I’ve actually met one Mushitsuki many times and she helped me. I’m not going to let you say that they don’t exist.”

Nanana paid no attention to Daisuke trying to laugh it off.

Arisu bit her lips.

The Mushitsuki Nanana was talking about was the Kind Magician beyond a shadow of doubt. Having become a Mushitsuki following her first meeting with Nanana, that woman had incessantly met up with Nanana and protected her.

“Also, as I’ve been checking on you since a while now… I can also guess at the others’ identities. You belong to the Special Environmental Preservation Bureau, right?”

“…!”

“Every time I attempted to investigate Mushitsuki, these people stood in my way. My investigators were warned each and every time, but this is my first time meeting you directly.”

Even faced with Daisuke and the rest narrowing their eyes, Nanana did not flinch in the slightest.

“I wish to speak to Arisu-san. Will you stay silent for a while?”

“Tellin’ me to shut up? Hey, you have any idea who you’re talking to?”

“You’re just a delinquent, Kasuou. —Ugh, you stink of alcohol!”

“Of course, if you’re also Mushitsuki then I have no problem.”

Grinning, Nanana turned back to Arisu.

“What I want to know is the method to become a Mushitsuki. If you teach me that… I intend on greatly rewarding you. I promise to grant any of your desires, and the range is quite large.”

Hearing from the side, “Then get me a limited-edition strap of Carnivorous Army!” “Kakkou-san, this person is embarrassing, so could you please shut her up?” Ignoring them, Arisu asked a question.

“And what are you going to do with that information?”

“I’m obviously going to become a Mushitsuki myself.”

Hearing Nanana’s unhesitating assertion, the faces of all Mushitsuki there stiffened.

“I want to become a Mushitsuki.”

Arisu felt a chill running through her spine—perhaps because the eyes of Daisuke, Kasuou and Erii looking at Nanana changed.

Perhaps in response to the oppressive atmosphere that suddenly befell the inside of the car, the black cat twitched and rose.

“Listen here, you bastard—”

There was the sound of breaking glass. Opening her blue eyes wide, the bottle Kasuou had been holding was crushed by a black mist.

“Do you even understand what you’re saying?”

Nanana’s expression lit up. She happily clapped her hands.

“Yahahah. So you are a Mushitsuki? Will you please tell me how you became one?”

“—”

“I do know that these things called the Original Three turn people to Mushitsuki! How can I meet them?”

These words apparently really pissed off Kasuou. The blond girl rose from her seat and tried reaching with her arm covered in mist toward Nanana.

“H-hold up, Kasuou! S-stop her, Erii! Daisuke, you too!”

“R-right…!”

Arisu tried restraining Kasuou along with Erii. However, the one who made her stop from trying to rip Nanana apart was Daisuke’s calm question.

“Why do you want to become a Mushitsuki?”

The boy, acting completely cool and with his arms crossed, looked at the smiling Nanana.

“Even if you only know Mushitsuki from rumors you wouldn’t one to become one. They’re possessed by monsters, have their dreams eaten and die before long.”

“But they become able to use magic, right?”

Nanana questioned without a moment’s delay.

“It’s unfair, all of you monopolizing something so convenient! I also want to try using that kind of power!”

Daisuke’s eyes changed. Erii also widened her eyes and she let go of Kausou’s arm from behind her back. Kasuou leaned forward.

“You bitch, you think this power is magic?!”

A dry voice made the cat’s ears twitch.

The one to have slapped Nanana’s cheek was not one of the Mushitsuki there.

“…?”

Nanana, with her cheek turning red, looked quizzically at Arisu.

Still in the pose of having slapped the girl, Arisu had tears in her eyes.

This wasn’t an action brought out of anger. The ones who should be angry were Daisuke and the other Mushitsuki.

Arisu wasn’t a Mushitsuki, so what she felt—was an unfathomable sadness.

“You—”

There was a Mushitsuki who called Nanana her benefactor.

That woman used her own powers to protect Nanana. And as a result—she died instead of Nanana, thus going through an ending that was incomprehensible to Arisu.

And the girl herself, after being protected by that Mushitsuki, so easily said that she wanted to become one too—

“Was this what you thought about the Mushitsuki that protected you…? Just a person with a handy power… are you saying that’s how you saw her?!”

Nanana frowned. She puffed her cheeks, flustered.

“Is that wrong?”

“…!”

“Let us get off.”

To stop Arisu from swinging her hand again, Daisuke pressed the button installed on the wall. It was probably intended to communicate with the driver on the other side of the soundproof glass.

The driver peeked in the back mirror.

“…You miser.”

Along with this dissatisfied parting remark, Nanana nodded to the mirror.

The limousine, that drove around the town a few times under the pretext of getting them home, stopped noiselessly. The man in the passenger seat got off first and opened the back door from outside.

“If you want to know how to become a Mushitsuki…”

The moment before Daisuke got off the car, he turned once to Nanana.

“How about asking the Mushitsuki who saved you?”

“…!”

Nanana, holding her cheek, looked shaken for the first time. Unlike how she feigned innocence so far, she exposed her true face, full of anxiety.

“Ah…”

A black shadow slipped between Daisuke and Arisu as they got off.

“Crochet!”

The black cat jumped out of the limousine, vanishing in town. Nanana’s small shout was probably its name; she pushed Arisu and the rest aside and followed it.

“…”

“Arisu?”

She hesitated, but Arisu decided to pursue Nanana. Traversing the sidewalk, she rushed to a narrow path where the last glows of the sun didn’t reach.

It would be easy to just part from Nanana like this. However, Arisu was the only person to have been the final moments of the Magician, who’d been protecting Nanana.

Arisu had also yet to convey to Nanana something important.

She found Nanana standing near the mewling cat near the path entrance. On the other side of the alley, she could see a road with passing vehicles.

Her heart thumped loudly.

She felt as though the Morpho butterfly increased in brightness.

It was a dirty back alley that could be found anywhere. For Arisu, this was her first time there.

If so, then—why did her heartbeat hasten?

“This is…?”

“Maybe this is Crochet’s previous home.”

Nanana did not try to make the black cat go back against its will. She crouched near it, gently petting its head.

“Crochet’s from this town. While I’ve seen it many times when I came to Akamaki City, I ended up following it… I took it to many places. First time here, though.”

“…”

“Have you decided to tell me how to become a Mushitsuki?”

Turning back, Nanana was grinning.

Arisu regulated her breathing and answered.

“Why have you come to this city so many times?”

“Because my beloved Mushitsuki was here. When I’ve first come here—she wasn’t there, but… this is the first time she hadn’t been in contact with me for so long… if she called me, she obviously would be there.”

“…”

“Is it bad to want to be the same as someone I like?”

Seeing Nanana’s carefree smile, Arisu finally noticed.

Nanana was just like the cat she was petting. Losing her one and only relative, she also lost sight of the Mushitsuki she trusted from the bottom of her heart.

She didn’t know what position Nanana had. She couldn’t even imagine what this unwanted status had brought onto her.

But the Magician, who was supposed to support her after being left all alone, was gone—

“If I was a Mushitsuki, and if I was the Mushitsuki who protected you—”

Her clenched fist was shaking.

Arisu was neither a Mushitsuki nor Nanana’s protector. Did she really have the qualifications to speak the truth?

“I probably wouldn’t have wanted you to become a Mushitsuki…”

“Yahaha.”

Innocently—and with an unchanged expression like a mask—Nanana wrung out laughter. She used a light voice, like that of someone laughing with friends.

“What do you even know?”

Arisu did know.

Arisu knew about the Mushitsuki who used her life to protect Nanana. Arisu had received her memories and watched half of her life.

That was why she couldn’t tell Nanana the truth.

Arisu couldn’t take away the Mushitsuki who served as Nanana’s last pillar of support when she’d been so desperately looking for something to cling to—

“I want to know how to become a Mushitsuki… just the knowledge of how to meet up with the Original Three. If you tell me, I can make every wish of yours come true.”

“Do you really—”

Want to become a Mushitsuki?

What Nanana wished for was not that, but simply to meet a single Mushitsuki—Arisu thought this and was about to voice it.

However, she then noticed the presence of a person behind her and turned.

They’d probably come after Arisu and Nanana. Daisuke, having dragged Kasuou and Erii along, looked around him with brows raised.

“Daisuke?”

“This place…”

The boy’s behavior was strange. “The graffiti on the wall, those scratches on the power pole—” he traced his hands on the wall, crouching on the dirty ground and was apparently thinking.

“No way—this is where Hanashiro Mari had talked to the Undying Mushitsuki…?”

It wasn’t only Arisu who widened her eyes. Erii and Kasuou also looked at Daisuke with surprise. Nanana alone looked puzzled.

“Eh…? W-what does that mean?”

“This is the same place I’ve seen through Kororo’s past reading. Hanashiro Mari had been here, asking someone if it’s true they can’t die… and that was definitely—”

“W-wait a moment, Kakkou-san! Does that mean Hanashiro Mari had found the Undying Mushitsuki? And in Akamaki City, no less?”

“Hey, hey, this means that Undying bastard’s somewhere in this city.”

“This is my first time hearing this! Why haven’t you told me, Daisuke!”

Arisu could not remember the latter half of Kurisaka Ayuyu’s past reading. Because she’d been assaulted by a sensation similar to drowsiness halfway through.

Even while grabbed by Arisu, the stunned Daisuke kept thinking.

“So had she really…? There’s no way… no matter how you look at it, this is—”

“What are you talking about, Kakkou-san? If you’d told us about it we could’ve investigated!”

“No—don’t investigate this.”

This one sentence uttered by Daisuke caused Arisu and the rest’s expressions to harden.

“You’d better forget about the Undying Mushitsuki. This might be… much more of a trouble than I thought.”

“What are you saying…? What’s the trouble with—”

Arisu tried pressing Daisuke, but she noticed that Nanana was acting strange.

She absently looked at behind Arisu and the rest. Tears welled up in her eyes.

Following Arisu, Daisuke and the rest also noticed the abnormality.

Purple scales were wafting inside the gloomy alley.

“You’re finally here…”

Nanana’s soft voice was filled with delight.

“Right. After all, I wanted to become a Mushitsuki so much—”

Arisu felt a chill run through her spine. A bad feeling rushed from head to toe like a lightning strike.

“No fucking way…”

Kasuou raised a hoarse voice. Erii was unable to let out any voice and stared out of the alley with eyes of pure shock.

Arisu and Daisuke slowly turned around.

Ahead they could see the figures of people crossing the large sidewalk.

“—”

The thing that first leapt to Arisu’s sight was eyes with rainbow-colored pupils behind round sunglasses.

Even inside the massive crowd, that tall body clad in a crimson long coat was conspicuous. Even so, none of the people walking by even turned to look at this woman who dressed out of season.

The scales glowing in purple flowed from the road to Arisu and the rest.

“Oogui—”

Arisu mumbled.

One of the Original Three—

The Prototype Mushi who gave birth to Minion-Type Mushitsuki—

The being called Oogui sneered calmly at Arisu and the rest.

“You’re going to make me a Mushitsuki.”

Next to Arisu and the rest standing in shock, Nanana was crying.

Part 3

One of the Original Three, Oogui—the Prototype Mushi that looked like a human woman—could birth Minion-Type Mushitsuki.

“Round sunglasses and a blood-red coat, rainbow eyes… just like the rumors! You’ve come to make me a Mushitsuki, right?”

While Nanana tried rushing forward to her, Oogui spun her long hair. Leaving purple phosphorescence behind, she mixed with the passersby and distanced herself.

“Eh… Why are you leaving? Wait!”

Leaving both her stick and cat behind, Nanana rushed ahead, nearly stumbling.

Arisu came back to her senses.

“Don’t do it…!”

As she pursued Nanana, by the time she’d leapt to the large road, she bumped against someone.

“Ouch!—Arisu?”

“Eh?”

The one she’d bumped into was her classmate, Saionji Ena. The late coming Daisuke was also surprised.

“Saionji-san?”

“Why are you here, Arisu? And Kusuriya-kun as well…”

“Sorry, Ena! We’re in a hurry!”

She felt bad for Ena, but she couldn’t waste time on this chance encounter right now. Leaving behind the shocked girl standing in place, she followed after Nanana.

Nanana also appeared desperate. While Arisu had bumped with her friend she had already gained a distance. Arisu and the rest ran desperately as not to lose her from behind.

Simply by having undergone combat training, Daisuke and Kausou’s stamina was a cut above the rest. They caught up to Arisu in no time at all. Only the young Erii was left way behind.

“Who would’ve thought Oogui was going to appear… is she really going to turn Nanana into a Mushitsuki…?”

Weaving between the crowds and out of breath, Arisu and the rest went on Nanana’s tail.

“It’s not impossible. It might just mean that her desire to become a Mushitsuki is that strong…!”

“Hey, Kakkou. Isn’t this—a good chance?”

Arisu and Daisuke turned to look at Kasuou who ran with her beautiful blond hair billowing.

“Don’t really care about the brat… but the extremely elusive Oogui appeared right in front of us, the two strongest Mushitsuki of the SEPB.”

Kasuou grinned.

“So, can’t we finish Oogui off?”

“…!”

“Looking at it another way, if the two of us can’t beat her, then the other guys wouldn’t be able to no matter how hard they try.”

“I-I’ll fight too…!”

Kasuou glared coldly at Arisu who brought out her silver rod.

“You stay back. You weren’t invited.”

“Wha—”

“No matter how powerful they are, idiots who don’t know how to fight will only be a burden. Right, Kakkou?”

“If it really turns into a fight, I wouldn’t be able to save you.”

Running next to her, Daisuke wasn’t even looking her in the eyes. Staring straight ahead, he opened the sports bag he carried on his back. He apparently wasn’t going to leave it to Erii who stayed behind.

“I’ll take responsibility for everything that follows. You don’t need to think of anything other than victims. —If we manage to catch Oogui let’s go at her with our full power, Kasuou.”

“I knew this would be the decisive moment. I’m gonna go wild.”

The calm Daisuke and the excited Kasuou. Seeing the two combatants, Arisu bit her lips hard.

Just like Daisuke and Kasuou said, it wasn’t her business. She couldn’t imagine them losing if both of them went all-out.

Then why?

Some kind of intuition separated from Arisu’s own will clamored in her chest. As if someone other than Arisu was blaring a warning—she simply couldn’t get rid of this vague sensation.

“We’ll leave securing that Nanana girl to you, Arisu.”

“R-right…”

Having run ahead, Nanana moved from the road to a side street. Arisu and the rest couldn’t see from their position, but since the girl hadn’t slowed down, she probably hadn’t lost sight of Oogui yet.

As they ran after Nanana, soon the scenery of green and fences leapt to their eyes. Going past the fences, they found a small promenade surrounded by groves.

Passing through the promenade, their field of vision opened up. These vast premises had a large parking lot and a huge, round wall.

Arisu knew what was there. It was a public sports ground managed by Akamaki City.

However, it was currently still in reconstruction, so civilians were supposedly not allowed entry. They saw Nanana going over the fences that sealed the entrance.

“Wait! It’s dangerous!”

Ignoring Arisu’s shout, Nanana’s back was swallowed into the entrance to a dirty alley.

While running, Daisuke mumbled to himself.

“How strange.”

“Hah? What is?”

“If she appeared wanting to eat Nanana’s dream, why did she need to run away all the way here?”

“She’s probably tryna blow us off so she could savor that brat’s dream. Can’t let her do it, though.”

Daisuke still seemed unconvinced, but he apparently decided to focus on the enemy ahead. He brought out his pitch-black coat and goggles from his bag, wearing them.

Kasuou also brought out a white coat and goggles from the bag she was carrying. After equipping them, she threw aside the empty bag.

“…”

The bad premonition remained. Even so, Arisu followed the two others and extended her silver rod.

Daisuke drew his gun from behind his waist and a green checkered beetle landed on it. Its body transformed to tentacles, these stabbed Daisuke’s entire body and fused with him.

Around Kasuou an ethereal mist blew. Part of the mist covering her coagulated, forming sharp claws.

“Let’s finish this here.”

“You’re on!”

Daisuke’s fist and Kausou’s mist claw broke the fences down to the ground.

Charging past the sports ground’s entrance, they pressed into the gloomy pathway. After going around the corner, their vision was dyed in orange.

Arisu and the rest passed the spectator stands and leapt into the wide sports ground used for matches.

Inside the center of the circle used for track-and-field events, they could immediately see two figures facing each other on top of the grass illuminated by the sinking sun.

Clad in a purple phosphorescence, Oogui turned to Arisu and the rest with a smile.

“Nanana!”

Nanana, standing next to Oogui, did not respond at all to Arisu’s call.

“You’re the Oogui who produces Mushitsuki, right…?”

“Get away from Oogui, Nanana!”

“Make me a Mushitsuki! That’s why you came to me, right?”

Arisu clenched her teeth, readying her silver rod. The Morpho butterfly alighted down, changing its body and fusing with the rod.

Arisu just prepared her rod emitting a silver light and was about to rush to Nanana when it happened.

“…”

An intense purple light covered the entirety of the sports ground. A storm of scales pushed Arisu and the rest back.

“—Hehe.”

Oogui narrowed her rainbow pupils, enjoying the sight. In front of her was none other than Nanana.

Her hair fluttering, Nanana’s face brightened with anticipation. However—

“Eh…?”

The girl widened her eyes.

Oogui removed her eyes from Nanana as if disinterested. Looking up at a certain direction of town, she mumbled to herself in a sleek tone.

“There’s still some time until you ripen… but you have quite the delicious dream.”

Not only Nanana was surprised. Arisu and the rest also stood there in shock.

“Y-you’re not here to eat my dream…? You’re not going to make me a Mushitsuki?”

She hadn’t appeared to eat Nanana’s dream—

Then whose dream was she about to eat?

When Oogui had appeared there were hundreds, thousands of people around them. It was close to impossible to pinpoint a single person.

“Make me a Mushitsuki!”

But Nanana did not give up. Raising a sorrowful shout, she threw it at Oogui.

“I want to become a Mushitsuki!”

Oogui looked down at Nanana again.

“Hehe…”

Nanana wore a happy face, but the moment she was blown away by the storming purple phosphorescence.

“Nanana!”

Arisu rushed toward Nanana who rolled on the grass and was unmoving.

That was the signal to the start of the fight.

Daisuke aimed the gun fused with the checkered beetle at Oogui. A flaming bullet was shot accompanied with a roar.

Tearing through the purple scales and gouging the ground, the bullet wrapped in flames pursued Oogui.

“Hehe…”

Wearing a smile, Oogui flicked her finger toward Daisuke. —Light burst in front of her and a small Mushi was formed by gathering scales.

The surface of the Mushi with a vague outline glowed like a mirror, reflecting the incoming bullet.

The next instant—

The bullet that hit the mirror-like Mushi changed directions, being reflected back to Daisuke.

A tremor shook the public sports ground.

The ground was gouged and part of the stands were demolished. Having managed to leap aside at the last moment, Daisuke landed in a distant spot.

Flying out of the blowing screen of dust was Kasuou. Clad in an armor made of solid mist, the blond girl approached Oogui while splitting the purple scales.

Oogui leisurely spread her arms. The scales filling the sports ground gathered, giving birth to enough Mushi to fill the surroundings.

Dozens of Mushi made from scales all attacked Kasuou at once.

“Take thissss!”

Kausou’s mist exploded. The countless claws tore apart all of the Mushi at once, the shockwave engraving marks into the ground.

Now that Oogui was defenseless and within Kausou’s range, she attacked.

An earthquake from directly below shook the area.

The claws of mist, swung by Kasuou so hard she almost flung herself with them, turned half of the sports ground to a crater.

“This is my first time seeing such an energetic child.”

A bewitching voice echoed from empty air. Probably having dodged the attack, Oogui who was clad in purple scales floated in the air.

The glowing scales burst apart.

Once again, innumerable Mushi surrounded Oogui.

“Come down here!”

Inside the crater, Kasuou howled. She tore the asphalt that served as the sports ground’s foundation with her claws and flung it toward Oogui.

Knocking off the Mushi made from scales, the massive asphalt lump pursued Oogui.

Leaving a purple afterimage behind, Oogui moved in air as if sliding on it. The asphalt passed through the space that the lady had occupied just a moment before.

“Hehe—”

As Oogui tried producing more Mushi, a black demon approached from behind.

“…!”

Gasping, Oogui turned back.

But by that time Daisuke was fully clad in a glowing pattern and swung his fist. —Using the asphalt that Kasuou threw as cover, he approached Oogui with superhuman leg strength.

“Uwohhhh!”

Daisuke’s full-powered blow pierced Oogui’s chest. The strike was like a meteor crash and pushed her to the ground.

Without even waiting to land, Daisuke also shot additional attacks at the Prototype Mushi with his gun.

Noise and tremors shook the ground.

“—”

Arisu simply watched this sight unfold in front of her, unable to make any move. —Just like Kasuou said, Arisu had no place to barge on this unimaginable battle.

“Finish her, Kasuou!”

“Yeah!”

Daisuke and Kasuou charged into the cloud of dust.

But a moment later, the blowing purple scales stopped their legs.

Blowing away all the dust, the figure clad in glowing scales stood up slowly.

“…!”

Faced with that sight, Arisu was paralyzed.

Oogui was beautiful, but her body had been cruelly destroyed. Her left arm was missing and the place that would hold her heart, were she human, was completely gouged out, nothing remaining there. Her sunglasses were broken and half her face was peeled as it suffered burns.

Yet the next moment a sight even more frightening than Oogui’s ruined form began to unfold.

Endless black beetles began pouring out from inside Oogui’s body. They instantly covered her wounds and changed their forms to supplement the lost parts.

“I thought that Daisuke-chan was the only to stand in my way…”

It took Oogui only a few seconds to retrieve her former beautiful form. Even her glasses were repaired; the lady smiled as if nothing happened.

“Could you perhaps make this the last time? You should understand that interrupting my meal is useless.”

Large amounts of scales gathered in front of the sneering Oogui. These were slowly creating a colossal Mushi.

“Eh—”

Seeing the Mushi produced, Arisu unconsciously raised a hoarse voice.

“No way—”

Daisuke froze as well, not letting out any voice. Just like Arisu, he probably couldn’t accept what was happening right in front of his eyes.

“That Mushi—”

It was a Mushi with no outline, made of scales.

However, she would never forget the seven spots on the surface of its half-dome body. Arisu had once met a Mushitsuki with the same Mushi.

“This is Rina’s ladybug—”

The massive seven-spotted ladybug spread its wings with a roar.

“—Run, Arisu! Kasuou!”

While preparing his gun, Daisuke shouted.

Kasuou, who came back to her senses with shout, used her entire mists to defend herself. The silver lance grasped by Arisu too began spouting silver scales as if in a delay and created a wall.

“Hehe—”

The sneering Oogui’s form vanished on the other side of the massive shockwave.

Part 4

In the desolate sports ground Daisuke remained standing.

The ground broke and there was no more boundary between asphalt and grass. If the spectator stands around hadn’t acted like a breakwater, the damage would probably spread even beyond the premises.

“…”

Bleeding from his forehead, Daisuke stood in place with the gun hanging from powerless arm. If he hadn’t cancelled out the shockwave with his bullet, there was no doubt that it wouldn’t end pretty for him.

Oogui completely vanished.

Naturally. She’d fought Daisuke here on purpose, to let him know that fighting her was useless. —Now that she fulfilled her goal, Oogui had no reason to stay.

“Isn’t this… really fucking bad?”

Kasuou, who sat on top of the debris, groaned in a low voice. Since she excelled in defense more than Daisuke, she only had few external wounds.

“Now—you understand, right.”

At the edge of his sight, the ponytailed girl rose. Thanks to her having softened the attack with a wall of scales, she’d been able to avoid any wounds along with the collapsed Nanana.

“Oogui… can use the powers of all the Mushi she created.”

He immediately realized that the girl laughing listlessly wasn’t Ichinokuro Arisu. Her expression and tone were like and unlike Arisu.

Hanashiro Mari.

The will of her dead Mushitsuki friend left to the Morpho butterfly borrowed her to talk.

“And the Undying Mushitsuki… was a Mushitsuki created by Oogui. —Kusuriya Daisuke-san, you have also met him, right?”

He had.

At the time, since Arisu had switched with Mari’s personality, she probably didn’t remember it.

That Mushitsuki who appeared during their school trip was, of all people, the SEPB’s—

“Minion-Type Mushitsuki protect Oogui… and Oogui will continue to birth more Mushitsuki…”

“…”

“This is really hopeless.”

The giggling Mari caused Daisuke to finally avert his face.

“Why have you—searched for the Undying Mushitsuki?”

This time, Mari fell silent.

“Why have you hunted Mushitsuki…?”

“I wonder why.”

Mumbling in a powerless voice, Mari averted her gaze.

“Did you think of taking down at least another person with you?”

“Taking down with me… right, I have a feeling I often thought of this. —Yup.”

Mari’s smile returned to look at Daisuke again.

“I recalled. I tried taking him down with me… after all, I knew I was beyond saving.”

“…”

“This isn’t fair. I alone was going to vanish without leaving anything behind… and, besides.”

Mari’s voice turned soft.

“Sensei also told me to do so.”

“…!”

Daisuke widened his eyes.

“Please remember that I’ve… told you this…”

The expression was vanishing from Mari’s face as if melting. Her hand lost its strength and let the silver rod fall to the ground with a small clutter.

“Kasuou—”

Without even turning around, he spoke to the blond girl.

“Don’t tell anyone about Oogui’s power. As well as what you’ve heard about Hanashiro Mari here…”

“…Could I even tell anyone?”

Kasuou probably realized how important of a thing this is. She cussed, full of anger.

“But I don’t give a fuck about that Undying Mushitsuki. —When Oogui next appears, I’ll go kick her ass.”

That was fine. He’d probably require the power of the girl called Kasuou who sought strength so single-mindedly at some point.

But Daisuke—

“…”

He looked up at the Morpho butterfly fluttering above.

The Original Three.

The Undying Mushitsuki.

As well as the Morpho butterfly and the truth about it they have yet to grasp—

He started doubting what he could even do about all these complex, intertwining circumstances.

“Mmm—”

A cellphone’s ringtone echoed in the ruined sports ground. The two girls responded to the noise.

“Ouch… Daisuke…?”

He was saved by the goggles hiding his expression. He was able to fool Arisu who just returned to her senses with an empty smile.

Just like when he’d lied to Ena at the classroom, Daisuke smiled at Arisu.

“Sorry, Oogui got away.”

Arisu stared in puzzlement but soon returned the smile.

“I see… well, nothing we can do about it.”

The pair exchanged pathetic smiles.

Nanana had also regained consciousness by hearing the ringtone. Curling her body on the ground, she brought out her cellphone from her pocket.

“Kirari—”

Probably talking to the person on the phone, she spoke with a weak voice. Tears fell on top of the dry debris.

“I couldn’t… become a Mushitsuki. I thought that if I became a Mushitsuki—if I had the power of magic, I’d be able to find the Magician…”

While Daisuke and the rest were watching her, Nanana suddenly changed her expression.

“What…? The Magician will not appear again?—What do you mean?”

Wiping her tears, Nanana roused her body.

“Wait. I’m going back to you.”

Something apparently happened with her acquaintance. As Nanana tried turning her body, Arisu reached a hand to her.

“Wait! The Magician is—”

“I won’t give up.”

Turning back, Nanana asserted.

“I’ll definitely become a Mushitsuki.”

Those were her words of farewell.

Perhaps wounded, Nanana had an awkward gait as she ran away.

Arisu saw off her back and looked like she wanted to say something, but in the end she sighed and turned back to Daisuke.

“Who did Oogui even want to turn into a Mushitsuki…?”

“Beats me. Since this town has so many people it’s impossible to know. —If we knew, we could’ve waited by that person’s side, though.”

Daisuke, who sighed just like, lent her a hand.

“You’re covered in wounds. We’re going to Ayuyu’s place now, but will you be alright?”

“…Eh?”

“Let her nurse him as much as he wants. I’m going home.”

The setting sun that illuminated the three people walking out of the devastated sports ground fell behind the spectator stands.

Notes

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