Mushi Uta:Volume 10 Chapter 2

2.00 Kanon Part 1

Nakayama Kanon was a liar from birth.

Perhaps being born in a slightly unique environment was just another reason for it. So possibly it wasn’t Kanon’s fault, becoming such a liar.

Kanon was weak.

Thereby came the need for lies.

By doing that, Kanon could finally take the actions needed to turn lies to truth.

For example, breaking a game console borrowed from a friend, lying “Kanon didn’t break it!” and then looking for a replacement—

Kanon wasn’t smart enough to think of good excuses, nor courageous enough to honestly apologize.

This cowardice also led to an aversion of being hit and yelled at.

And so the only possible path was to become a liar.

So that nothing would be destroyed.

So that nothing had even been destroyed in the first place.

There was only one problem.

Among several fatal defects, there was Kanon’s biggest weakness of all.

That was—

Kanon’s lies were the worst of the worst.

“Heyyy! Apparently Kasuou went on a rampage against Mushibane at Akamaki City!”

Kanon and Tamaki both spat their drinks like the jet of an airplane.

Just like every afternoon, they were at the same family restaurant.

After greeting the uniformed Tamaki like always, Kanon got the 15th free drink of the day when it happened.

All of a sudden, a boy flying into the place was surrounded by his other comrades.

“Really…?”

“What does that mean?”

Kanon can erase Mushi—

Nearly a month passed since that astounding lie.

The Mushitsuki who met Kanon by chance didn’t just believe it, they were utterly convinced. Rumors beget rumors, and the number of Mushitsuki seeking salvation now rose to several dozens.

“But Kasuou had her Mushi erased by Kanon…”

“What’s going on?”

The restaurant, now pretty much just Kanon’s hang-out spot, was abuzz.

Kanon and Tamaki brought their heads together, whispering to each other.

“W-w-w-w-what is Kanon gonna do, Tama-chan?! They’re gonna f-f-f-f-f-find out…!”

Other than the usual hoodie, all other clothes had been bought by the followers. Also, since some of the girls played with makeup, some pink gloss lipstick stayed on Kanon’s cup.

“C-calm down, Kanon. One needs to stay calm at such moments.”

Tamaki was a beauty today as well. Her smooth, silky hair was equipped with a hairpin that parted her bangs. Since she had that sort of distinguished atmosphere here in this countryside dumpster, she often drew people’s attention.

“K-K-Kanon can’t calm down! If Kanon’s lie is discovered, what’s gonna happen?”

“W-well… if you just went up and say “Oh, it was just a lie, you know?’ and laugh, won’t they forgive you?”

“Kanon really doubts that! Also, you’re lying! You averted your eyes just now!”

“…Do your best to run away?”

“But Kanon’s surrounded and cornered! …is the future Kanon can see! Please don’t doubt Kanon’s slow! Didn’t you say you’ll do something, Tama-chan?! But you just come here and lounge around every day!”

“No, I mean, it’s a miracle for that lie to have kept for so long…”

Seeing Tamaki awkwardly put a finger to her cheek, even the stupid Kanon could understand.

—Oh, so she was just going to pick the right timing to run away alone.

“You’re not gonna abandon Kanon, right? Right? We’re childhood friends!”

“Wait! Don’t pull at my clothes, you pervert! I just recalled some urgent business! My parents are on the verge of death and my house’s on fire, so I have to hurry back—”

“Noooo!!! Don’t leave me!”

Kanon desperately clung to Tamaki’s waist. If things went wrong, it could be life-threatening.

Yet it was completely unneeded.

At some point their table was surrounded by their many allies. People of differing appearance and ages, starting from elementary school age and up to their twenties, all looked at Kanon.

No one said anything. They didn’t try to corner Kanon and Tamaki, and they were not angry either.

They were simply staring hard.

“Gyaaa…”

Imagining being ganged on by them, Kanon let a hoarse voice out.

The Mushi being erased was just an act by the transformed Tamaki.

Obviously, once they figured out the real Kasuou was fine, the lie would be discovered. And when the lie was discovered, they’d lose their reason to protect Kanon.

Kanon, who was their savior—would become a swindler who cheated them all.

The deceived wouldn’t likely let it all end peacefully.

“A-at least get it over with…”

Kanon curled up on the seat.

However—

No matter how much time passed, no murder took place.

There was no pain, no blood, not even shouts like “How dare you deceive us!” “I’ll kill you!” “You swindler!” and whatnot.

“…?”

Kanon timidly perked up.

The people around looked confused. They exchanged glances as if wanting to say something, but in the end stayed silent and only raised their eyebrows.

What did that mean?

Seeing Kanon confused by the bizarre atmosphere, Tamaki sighed.

“Say, Kanon. What’re we going to do?”

What were they going to do?

What did she mean by that?

Tamaki brought the puzzled Kanon’s face closer. She started whispering.

“Wanna continue?”

Continue what, exactly?

Ah, Kanon noticed.

Tamaki was asking—if they could continue lying.

“Y-yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Kanon nodded countless times, fervently, not wishing to die yet.

“Okay.”

Tamaki made a friendly nod. Raising her face, she glanced at the people around them.

“Who saw Kasuou?”

“…Me.”

A single person stepped forward from the crowd. He was a boy in his later teens with a faux-hawk hairstyle and a masculine face. Kanon remembered being introduced to him as their 32nd ally.

“Well, not like I saw her directly.”

“Hmm, so who did?”

Tamaki puffed out her chest, looking up at the man that was about a head taller than her.

“My acquaintance from Mushibane heard about it from other members…”

“So you heard it from an acquaintance of an acquaintance. So that means that whoever saw Kasuou and defeated by her was an acquaintance of an acquaintance of an acquaintance? Or maybe there was even another acquaintance in that chain?”

“I…”

“My, that’s like a telephone game.”

Tamaki asserted boldly as the man averted his eyes.

“Do you think such information is trustworthy? I think it’s stupid to believe it.”

The atmosphere until just now was also bizarre, but now it turned even stranger.

The people who were probably saying the right thing were now shaken and perplexed.

On the other hand, Tamaki looked majestic. Despite her lying.

The truth—was pushed away by a lie.

“What’s with that face? There’s no way you’re doubting Kanon, right?”

Tamaki spoke in a bullish tone. The boy’s comrades said nothing, but they still surrounded them.

Looking at the both of them, Kanon’s heart thumped loudly.

The one to break the silence was Tamaki’s cold voice.

“…Oh, I see. Let’s go, Kanon.”

“Eh?”

Tamaki grabbed Kanon’s arm. She broke through the wall of comrades.

“These people no longer believe in you. Let’s go look for other people? We can find people to protect you anywhere.”

“B-but…”

“It’s fine.”

Tamaki brought her face closer, speaking softly.

“—We don’t even have to lie here.”

“Eh?”

There was no need to lie?

While unable to decipher the meaning of those words, a lone boy stood in the way.

“…Onii-chan?”

Kanon looked in surprise. Nii, who was treated like no more than an ornament until then, now stood to block their way.

“Can you please move?”

Tamaki asserted with a cold smile.

“If you don’t believe in Kanon’s power… we have no business anymore, right?”

Those words became the decisive blow.

“Wait!”

Ichi leapt in front of Kanon and Tamaki. Following him San, Yon and Go, the Mushitsuki they first met, spread their arms too, trying to prevent them from leaving.

“We never doubted! They never saw Kanon’s powers right in front of them so they were just a bit anxious, is all!”

“Right! We’ve seen Kanon erase Kasuou’s Mushi with our very eyes!”

“Hey, you lot! Don’t say strange things to make Kanon mad!”

Kanon did not remember being angry, and was actually pretty sure that they’d be mad…

“Her power’s real!”

Ichi yelled at the comrades behind him.

Kanon’s eyes opened wide.

—We don’t even have to lie here.

It was just like Tamaki said. Even so Kanon didn’t understand at all what was happening.

Looking to the side, she winked stealthily.

“I-I’m sorry, it’s my bad…”

The faux-hawk boy drooped his head and the other people all shuffled back to their tables as well.

Nii glared at Kanon with upturned eyes and a hunched back.

“—We’ll prove it with tomorrow’s full moon.”

This mumble, uttered the moment the boy turned around, made Kanon’s heart leap.

Right.

They were only a day away from the full moon.

Tomorrow, another person’s Mushi would have to be erased.

If that was impossible, the lie would be revealed this time—

“Everyone, you see, wants to be fed lies.”

Collapsing on the table again as if nothing happened, Tamaki smiled.

“Even after hearing about Kasuou nobody asked you anything like ‘So, did you lie?’, right?”

“R-right.”

“You were scared, huh? If they asked you, you would’ve admitted the lie for sure.”

Tamaki looked around their comrades in the restaurant.

“After all, they’ll never be saved if they acknowledge you being a liar. They only wished for one answer, being that your power was real. —They never wanted any other answer.”

“…”

“Inside their hearts they do doubt you.”

Without changing her expression, Tamaki continued.

“When they don’t want to acknowledge they’d been deceived… they start deceiving themselves. And the longer it goes, they even start lying in place of the original liar.”

Kanon was puzzled. The conversation became difficult to follow.

“Thus the lie spreads further and further… and grows even larger.”

Tamaki grinned.

“It’s fine now. The lie you’ve told is not your own anymore.”

“B-but tomorrow’s a full moon… and that Kasuou person—”

“Leave it to me. You have nothing to worry about, Kanon.”

Leaving the table, Tamaki stretched her back with a nngh.

“Yup. Maybe now it’s finally gotten interesting.”

Saying this while smiling, Kanon’s childhood friend seemed happy.

2.01 The Others

It was morning.

A boy wearing a white coat and goggles stood inside the abandoned factory on the suburbs of Akamaki City.

While minding his surroundings, he stood in front of an empty wall, opening his mouth.

“My member number is ---. I ask for permission to return.”

The boy’s mumble echoed in the empty factory. After he did so, the wall that seemed to not even have any crack in it split into two, revealing a modern elevator that was completely different from how the factory looked.

The boy tried boarding the elevator that appeared—

“Hold on, let me board too.”

He was startled at his shoulder being grabbed from behind.

As the boy turned around, he saw a blond girl smirking at him, having appeared without him feeling anything. She wore the same white coat as the boy.

“Ka… Kasuou?”

“Yeah, lemme get in too. Let’s have a friendly, fleeting date between us two HQ members.”

Kasuou was a Blaze Class Rank 3 Mushitsuki belonging to the SEPB’s Central Headquarters.

Her real name was Mitake Anneliese. She was 17 years old. She looked like a refined lady with golden hair and blue eyes, but served as a combatant known to be belligerent and brutal. Once, her lack of brutality and tactics were seen as a problem, but after temporarily joining the East Central Branch she was reeducated and received a re-evaluation within the SEPB.

She was viewed as one of the central pillars of battle power in the Central Headquarters both in name and reality.

“N-no, I can’t. The regulations say that we must give our information separately to the—”

“Ha?”

Black mist spouted from Kasuou’s feet.

Her ability was controlling amorphous mist. When coagulated it boasted high defense, and at times it could be used as a powerful weapon to break enemies.

“Don’t be such a killjoy. You really hate being with me that much?”

Intimidated by her soprano voice, the boy groaned an “Ugh…” as he flinched. Kasuou’s short temper was well-known not only within Central Headquarters but through the entire SEPB.

“N-no…”

The boy mumbled and made some space for her.

Kasuou grinned as she entered the elevator and the door closed.

“Must be nerve-wracking to ride this alone with a beauty like me but don’tcha mind it too much.”

The boy was apparently just a low-ranked combatant. At the very least his form of trying to be the furthest away from this charming-looking lady as he stood next to the wall was just like a rabbit entered into the same cage as a wild beast.

“I don’t think I know you? Where are you from? What’s your name?”

Kasuou who placed her arm around the scared boy’s shoulders as if they were friends.

The elevator that took these two Mushitsuki reached the lowest floor.

SEPB, Central Headquarters.

Several entrances to HQ existed all over Akamaki City. All of them feigned to be public facilities or places normal people wouldn’t enter, serving as entrances to the members.

“Oh, I see. —By the way, you little shit. How much do you know about me?”

“Eh?”

“I’m asking about Blaze Class Rank 3 Kasuou. How’s she like?”

Her colleague looked puzzled. He probably couldn’t understand the meaning of that question.

Kasuou glared at his eyes and then checked her appearance on the mirror-like surface of the wall.

Blond and petite. Her form did not change at all.

—Hmph, so I was wrong. That’s not enough for an “overwrite”.

When Kasuou mumbled this in her mind the elevator stopped.

“Welp, our date’s over. What a waste, huh.”

Leaving behind the clearly relieved boy, Kasuou exited to the corridor.

The area used for the underground facility of the HQ was vast. It had paths that led all over Akamaki City, so she had no idea where the center would be. That center part had cutting-edge security defense system and many high-ranked members to serve as security.

It was incredible vast, a literal immeasurable and massive maze that hid secrets.

Everyone related to the SEPB called that place “The Underground Stronghold”. —Apparently.

“…”

Passing by white-coat-wearing members, Kasuou walked through the corridors, entering countless doors. After riding an automatic moving passage and going around a corner, she finally reached the place that led to the “base” of the Stronghold.

The area that served as the axis of the Stronghold was apparently divided into multiple layers, from top floor to bottom floor. Right now she was at the topmost layer, where Mushitsuki members could enter, and other layers contained places such as experimental sites and Fallen isolation facilities—so she heard.

Right.

This was all hearsay.

After all, this was her first time ever to set foot inside this Underground Stronghold.

“Phew.”

There was area made only for moving between the layers, so the number of members coming and going increased. Kasuou found an empty corridor and breathed as she passed its corner. There were no security cameras around.

“Who should I be from here on? Mizuchi, maybe?”

The mumbling Kasuou’s entire body was engulfed by black mist.

The next moment, the mist scattered into a shape like dark-red scales. These crackled while clustering together, transforming into a snake-like being that was about two meters long.

The snake floating in air while undulating its horned head cried in a small voice.

“This ability really is useful for all sorts of things.”

Kasuou herself was no longer Kasuou either. Her white coat and goggles stayed, but she became a tall girl with black hair. Even her voice changed from soprano to alto.

“First let’s check how things around look.”

The dark red snake opened its mouth, emitting a red gas. It spread around, disseminated in air and became invisible.

After a short while the gas gathered again, becoming a three-dimensional stereoscopic image. It showed narrow corridors, the people walking there or opening doors; a reproduction of everything in a radius of about 30 meters.

“Yup, no one’s gonna come here for a while. Should I just wait until a weak-looking member comes by?”

Hiding in the corner of the corridor, the woman killed her breath.

“Haa, and tonight’s the full moon, so I want to finish this already and go back.”

The person who’d transformed into the Mushitsuki called Kasuou and then into Mizuchi as well had infiltrated the SEPB’s Central Headquarters.

She was obviously not the actual Kasuou—

“I wonder if Kanon’s behaving?”

It was Tamaki.

She left her region to fulfill a certain goal and used her original ability to get inside the Underground Stronghold. She’d already heard all about the entrance to the Stronghold and its simple structure by beating the information out of a Central Headquarters member.

For Mushitsuki like Tamaki who had no affiliation, the organizations like SEPB and Mushibane were those who might turn up as their enemies at any time. Tamaki had a period where she captured these organization’s members and got information from them. That was when she was young and reckless, but it served her a great deal.

“First I have to find out whether or not Kasuou is inside the Stronghold.”

Tamaki shrugged while looking at the stereoscopic image created by gas. The ability of the Mushitsuki Mizuchi allowed her to spread an extremely thin gas over a place, thereby exploring the surroundings like a sonar.

“It would be pretty awesome if the real one passes here by coincidence, though.”

The reason for Tamaki to undertake this risk and infiltrate the headquarters was—

Kasuou’s assassination.

Since Tamaki had used Kasuou for her own convenience, she couldn’t let the real one keep loitering around. In order to use her until the very end, she needed to have the real one retire from being a Mushitsuki.

All in order to protect her childhood friend.

All in order to turn lies into reality.

She would have the real Kasuou vanish.

Although she thought of it as assassination, she didn’t actually need to kill her. She could either kill her Mushi and turn her into a Fallen, or else injure her enough she’d never recover. This would not be straightforward at all, but Tamaki was convinced that her own ability surpassed Kasuou’s strength.

“I’m actually looking forward to find out how strong the original is.”

While looking at the stereoscopic image in front of her, Tamaki laughed. She herself knew that she was feeling cheerful.

The original Tamaki’s ability as a Mushitsuki.

If described in a single word, it would be a transformation ability.

However, it wasn’t that simple. It had several rules, or rather limits.

One of those was that she couldn’t use her ability to actually become a perfect copy of the desired person. Meaning it was an incomplete transformation.

That sounded bad, but Tamaki actually thought of it as a strength.

“After all, I’ve ‘overwritten’ Kasuou’s abilities for a long time. It’s possible I’ve already long since surpassed her power.”

Tamaki transformed into someone’s mental image of the target.

While saying the transformed person’s name and touching another person, she was able to read the image that rose to their mind, and copy it.

Even Kasuou’s ability that she used thus far wasn’t copied from the original.

—Do you know Kasuou?

Tamaki came to imitate the image of Kasuou that rose to the touched person’s mind as they were asked this question. The appearance was camouflage, the voice was mimicry and even the ability was a mere fake. As a result, to be more precise, it wasn’t even a copy. If there was for example an ability that only the target knew about, Tamaki would be unable to mimic it.

Not only that, but since people never had the exact same image in their mind, Tamaki sometimes needed to get information from several people and “overwrite” it. By doing so, Tamaki was able to transform even closer to that person.

It was an imperfect ability, but had its advantages.

Tamaki’s disguise of Kasuou was made of mental images taken from five SEPB members. If among them were those who feared her so much that they imagined a monster even more powerful than the actual Kasuou—

“Well, I don’t know how strong the real one is, but launching a surprise attack should lead to an easy win.”

In fact, Kasuou’s image she currently possessed was quite powerful. She’d encountered many SEPB members so far, but none of them gave her a good fight.

Even if she was in trouble, as long as she had Kasuou’s copy she could probably escape.

She was convinced of this, and so decided to go through this infiltration operation.

“Well, finishing this too easily would be boring, though.”

Tamaki killed her breath and waited for a chance.

To protect her childhood friend—

There was no doubt she acted while thinking this.

However, she couldn’t deny she was also being stirred by a certain feeling. No, perhaps that was the reason she was urged into doing this.

Anyway, her enemy was a secret agency of the government.

If she failed it would not end pretty for her.

However—no, because of that, Tamaki had managed to get this far. Perhaps the reason she tried getting information about the SEPB at any opportunity she was given was also due to seeking the thrill of facing against that mysterious organization.

“—Here.”

Tamaki grinned. Inside the stereoscopic image, a lone member appeared in a nearby corridor. There were no other members around.

First she’d capture them and get the location of Kasuou out of them.

Tamaki tried walking ahead when something happened.

A shrill warning sound began blaring around. She could hear a broadcast from somewhere.

“Intruder discovered in Area F-8! Assumed to be an undiscovered Mushitsuki! Abilities unknown!”

“Wha…!”

She reflexively looked at the nearby wall. The sign “F-8” was painted in large letters on it.

“Meaning they already found me? But why, I didn’t do anything!”

Looking around her, she couldn’t see any kind of security camera.

“Any members nearby are to head over to the site and capture the target.”

“Kh…!”

The stereoscopic image floating in front of Tamaki’s eyes showed members rushing toward her location.

“It wasn’t a camera that found me, so was it a Mushitsuki ability then? B-but even so, that’s way too fast…!”

This wasn’t the time to find Kasuou.

Being faced with more enemies so quickly was completely outside her expectations. Tamaki had neither gone wild nor made a mistake yet.

Then who on earth—

Gritting her teeth, Tamaki transformed into Kasuou again.

“You’re on. I’m gonna turn the tables on you—”

Even while wearing a bold smile, Tamaki had a bad feeling.

Perhaps this place that Tamaki had come into so casually was far more dangerous than she imagined—

While the alarm was still blaring, there was a roar in the Underground Fort Area F-8.

“Gh…!”

A boy wearing white coat and goggles was pounded against the wall. Sliding on it, he collapsed at the floor.

Other than the boy all the other rushing members were also flattened. They all lost consciousness, whether from their Mushi being killed or from getting hurt.

At that point new forces rushed in. Two white coats saw the cruel scene and were left speechless.

Large claw marks were engraved on the walls and floor. The cables buried within were severed, and the lights on the ceiling spread sparks.

“H-hey! Where’s the intruder!”

The rushing member roused the boy on the floor. He weakly pointed ahead.

“T-the woman collapsed there—”

“Right.”

Nodding at each other, the two white coats produced their Mushi. Staying cautious, they approached the collapsed girl.

While watching their backs, the boy raised his trembling arms. He rubbed his middle finger with his index finger.

Psssh—a sound like a canned drink being opened around.

“—Is one of your allies.”

“What?!”

By the moment they turned around it was already too late.

The whirl of steam shot from the boy’s arms swallowed the two Mushi. The extremely hot steam explosion gouged half of their bodies.

“Gwoooh…!”

The Mushi’s grievous wounds became mental damage to their hosts. Seeing the two members collapse with expressions of agony, the boy rose up. He quickly approached them and grabbed them by the collar.

“You found me despite there being no cameras. How’d you do it? Is there a Mushitsuki who can do this?”

The boy—who was actually the transformed Tamaki—pressed them.

Right now she became the Mushitsuki known as Aijisupa. She drew out his image from one of Kanon’s followers who used to belong to Mushibane. She actually wanted to transform into Snow Fly, who was supposedly the strongest, but they said that they’d never seen her ability.

“If you don’t answer truthfully, I’ll kill your Mushi.”

If she wasted too much time more reinforcements were going to come. Turning toward the writhing Mushi, the member grimaced in pain.

“Ugh… Maybe Konoha…”

“Konoha? What’s her ability?”

“…”

“Even if I kill your Mushi there will be another one, you know?”

“Kh… Konoha can apparently see things from afar… and she can erase her presence…”

A vague answer. It was hard to think that just by looking from afar she’d be able to find Tamaki. There was no doubt she had some hidden abilities.

However, the ability to vanish was currently a very enchanting prospect for Tamaki. If possible, she wanted to copy it—

“…”

She hesitated.

Copying the image of Konoha would cause an issue.

Tamaki’s ability had two rules.

She could copy only three people at the most. When she surpassed that number, the images copied would automatically vanish based on the order they were acquired.

Three at the most. However, she could always “overwrite” the copied individual.

That was Tamaki’s ability.

If she copied Konoha’s ability, the one to vanish right now—would be Aijisupa’s ability.

Aijisupa’s ability was powerful. If possible, she didn’t want to let go of it.

But she had no time to hesitate.

“Could you please tell me about that Mushitsuki called Konoha in more detail?”

Grabbing the member’s head, Tamaki narrowed her eyes.

“There’s no need to talk. You can just imagine it—”

2.02 Kanon Part 2

Just by knowing the full moon would come tonight, the usual family restaurant was enveloped in a strange atmosphere.

Although people gathered there like every morning, they were oddly quiet. They suddenly started clamoring again come noon, but then went silent as if recalling it was wrong.

“Mngh…”

Cheeks stuffed full of carbonara, Kanon frowned while seating alone at the four-person table and failing at using the fork to eat pasta.

When Kanon looked at other tables from time to time someone would always look back. Rather than being worried caretakers like always, they all seemed more like they were surveilling today.

Please come back quickly, Tama-chan…!

Kanon mumbled mentally after looking away.

Yesterday, Tamaki had said to “leave it to me”, but made no appearance yet. Of course, it was still only noon, so very likely she was still at school.

“K-Kanon wonders if this is really alright…”

Kanon did not have to courage to lie as well as Tamaki.

Tamaki said there was not even any need to lie, but was that true?

“…”

Another turn of the head.

This time the others averted their eyes. Perhaps not wishing to hurt Kanon, they pretended to not notice anything.

Seeing that behavior that could even be called servile was a bit relieving.

Right, that meant that as long as there wasn’t decisive evidence of the lie, it was probably fine. If tonight’s full moon was a success, there would be peace for another full month.

No, not just for a month, but forever—

“They’re the ones who wanted to believe this lie, so Kanon’s not the one at fault, yup.”

Kanon mumbled and nodded many times.

“Or maybe Kanon’s just lucky? Kanon never even thought about what to do after running away from home…”

Thinking about it now, this wasn’t just being lucky, but more like winning the lottery.

After running away from home, Kanon ended up penniless, hungry and surrounded by Mushitsuki. At the time it seemed like quite the misfortune, but it led to the reunion with a precious childhood friend, and now Kanon had food, clothes and shelter without any worries.

To keep living.

To protect this life.

Kanon needed to do anything possible to preserve this good luck.

“Maybe Kanon needs to look a bit more impressive and important? Maybe they’ll have a harder time finding out like that?”

“Hey, Kanon.”

“Eep!”

After massaging the face visible on the glass window’s reflection, Kanon now leapt from the seat.

“S-sorry for startling you.”

Turning around, Kanon saw around several Mushitsuki led by Ichi.

With folded arms and a frown, Kanon feigned calmness while trying to look as important as possible.

“I-it is fine. …What do you require?”

“…? More Mushitsuki who want to be saved by you appeared. I’ve introduced you.”

Seeing Kanon’s terrible acting, Ichi looked puzzled. However, since he was already used to that suspicious behavior, he collected himself and pushed a boy ahead.

“Oh ho, is that so. Please, do seat down.”

“R-right…”

The boy took a seat to the opposite of Kanon.

It was a boy with dyed hair and sharp eyes. He wore many jingling cheap rings and bracelets. He gave off the impression of a delinquent playboy, but once asked about it, he was apparently still in middle school.

“You also want to have your Mushi erased and become a normal person again?”

“…Say, Kanon. Do you really think that act is working for you?”

“Well, do leave this all to me. You can relax, man.”

Kanon got carried away with the act, ignoring Ichi’s retort and pulled a chest pounding.

The boy averted his eyes.

“I don’t really mind.”

“I see, now I’m relaxed. …Wait, what?”

“It’s not an issue of being a Mushitsuki or a normal person. I just got sick of being told to come back home earlier or study properly and all that. The moment I realized I was a Mushitsuki I was surprised… my old folks only care about appearance anyway.”

The delinquent boy spat it all out. As he did another boy hurriedly came in front of the table.

“I-I’m sorry! This is my old friend… he might be saying this, but he’s actually—”

“Shuddup! Even if I go back to normal, I don’t wanna go back to that house! If I have nowhere to go anyway, maybe I’d better stay a Mushitsuki! I mean, it’s got its uses! Hey, you lot! Why’re so afraid of this Mushi business? You’re stronger than normal people!”

Stopped by his friend, the frenzied delinquent rose up. He looked around the restaurant, sneering.

“So you’re a buncha cowards, eh?”

The atmosphere inside the restaurant became tense. Some rose from their chairs and gave in to the provocation, asking him “What was that?!”

Just when everything was on the verge of an explosion, Kanon spoke up.

It was now possible to surmise the boy’s situation more or less.

This rebellious teen boy acted against his parents, became a Mushitsuki, then saw how his parents acted differently while knowing that and became desperate—it was probably something like that.

After thinking for a while, Kanon spoke.

“…Then you should go back.”

“Ah?”

The grappling delinquent boy turned around.

“If it’s not an issue of being a Mushitsuki or a normal person, Kanon thinks you should go back home.”

“What does a blissful little bitch like you even know!”

“Hey! Stop it!”

The delinquent tried grabbing Kanon. The surroundings Mushitsuki stopped him.

“Have they not told you to come back early even after they knew you’re a Mushitsuki?”

Despite being scared, Kanon still asked him. The boy wore a twisted smile.

“They did! It was obvious they were scared and lying to me, though!”

“Then you really should go back home already.”

The boy grabbed Kanon’s collar tightly.

“Kanon never got told to ‘come back’ even once—”

Hearing those agonized groans, the delinquent boy’s movements stopped at once. While his strength wavered, Ichi pulled Kanon away from him.

Coughing, Kanon sat down again.

“Kanon’s papa’s a bit of a womanizer… well, apparently Kanon’s mother went away soon after giving birth to me. Since then he brought many women home and told Kanon jokes like ‘go away’, ‘you don’t have to return’ and the like again and again…”

Thinking back, he really was a bad father.

Saying something like that to a child so calmly.

It was just a joke.

Just a lie.

So Kanon had been trying to think. Trying to think.

Right, just like—

“…”

Kanon gasped, looking upwards.

At some point there was silence again and everyone looked at this scene.

Right.

All of them were also—just like Kanon.

“Kanon doesn’t have to come back? That’s a lie, right? When Kanon asked him this—”

They all wanted to believe lies.

Kanon, too, wanted to believe lies.

Even if they knew it was a lie, even if they knew they were being deceived—

Weak people simply had to believe it, to cling to the small hope and keep living to tomorrow.

“He just told Kanon clearly that it wasn’t a lie…”

Kanon’s vision seemed to black out the moment these words had been uttered.

Rather than being stabbed by this unwanted truth—it would’ve been better to continue being deceived.

A happy lie over a cruel truth.

That way led to salvation.

“So even if he told Kanon to not come back, if it was a lie—”

Kanon spoke to the delinquent boy.

“It would be a kind lie.”

The boy’s expression froze.

“You have a family who would give you kind lies… if you want to believe in this, Kanon thinks you should pretend to be fooled by it.”

“I-I…”

“That would make you even. If you told each other kind lies, I believe you will become a kind family.”

If you didn’t believe the other party, your relationship would be over.

Just like it happened for Kanon.

The boy clenched his fist, shook his shoulders and groaned in a stifled voice.

“B-but, I… I’m a Mushitsuki… if I go back, I’ll only cause them…”

The tears leaking from the boy’s eyes wet the floor.

That was—the boy’s answer.

Even while he used his mouth to complain, it was obvious why this boy couldn’t be honest.

Kanon spoke to the boy aiming for the one and only thread of hope.

“—I’m sorry.”

Everyone in the restaurant was shocked and turned to look.

Kanon had thought only about silly things such as lying and not getting busted.

They were cowards?

That was way off the mark, but even if it was true, that was completely natural.

They took care of Kanon not because of their good will or anything like that. But only in order to be saved.

And if so, it was better for them to—

“Umm… for acting so self-important, Kanon means…”

Pouting, Kanon apologized with a small voice.

They were all together in this just for their own gains anyway, so they might as well—continue lying to each other.

Even a day longer.

If it was convenient for both sides, Kanon could continue lying.

Even if they found out someday, Kanon was already a big liar and a villain and so resigned to accept any sort of punishment. And they would probably all relish in it.

“Wait, were you trying to act like some kinda big shot? I just thought you were being weird.”

Ichi laughed. Following him others also laughed.

“Uh…”

“You’re so bad at acting, Kanon.”

There was no reply possible.

Although bad at acting and at lying—Kanon was still a liar.

There was some desire to become better at that.

Kanon wanted to become so much better at lying as to be able to fool anyone for their entire lives.

If that happened, the harsh reality would be painted over by lies and be seen no more—

“Hey, since you’re number 52 in line, we’ll call you Gojuuni from today on.”

“Ha…? What’s up with that stupid name?”

“Kanon can’t remember names. Since I’m the first, I’m Ichi. That guy’s second so he’s Nii.”

The delinquent wiped his tears while Ichi pointed at the table at the corner.

The boy called Nii sat listlessly at the table just like always, staring at his cup. Nothing changed during this month with the bag he was always hugging, either.

While heading toward this boy, Kanon started thinking.

Some people lied to protect themselves.

If so—then what about Tamaki?

That childhood friend was good at lying, but for what purpose—and for whom did she lie?

Those were Kanon’s thoughts.

“Onii-chan, why aren’t you eating anything? Kanon’s worried about you, you look so thin.”

“…”

Even as Kanon sat opposite to him, there was no reaction from the boy.

“Kanon asked this countless times already… but what’s in that bag?”

Although it was obviously useless, Kanon still tried asking. Since the boy was hiding it for an entire month, it was natural to become more curious.

“—Go back, huh…”

Nii suddenly mumbled.

“Ah, you spoke!”

“Right… even if I go back, even if I know no-one’s there—I end up wanting to go back.”

Never mind not opening his heart, Nii barely ever opened his mouth. And yet now he started mumbling. He gazed up the ceiling as if reminiscing, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m a survivor… and this is… a memento…”

He looked at Kanon with lifeless pupils. His eyes looked even kinder than expected.

“A s-survivor? A memento, meaning…”

“We were a team… we thought we were invincible. But that was a mistake. We’d ended up annihilated by that guy. —Despite us intending to join up the next big battle.”

“Eh?”

“No, then… maybe that’s why he crushed us. He came to tell us there was no need for us in that next fight…”

“He? Who are you…”

Nii smiled at the question. This very first smile of his that Kanon saw—had the despairingly deep color of resignation permeating it.

“Harukiyo.”

Twitch.

Kanon had the feeling that something in Nii’s bag moved.

2.03 Tamaki Part 5

Central Headquarters, Underground Stronghold.

A girl in control of a grotesque monster was walking through an empty corridor.

“…”

She wore a white coat and goggles and had long bangs and a petite body. In comparison to that girl, the monster’s body was large. A creepy eye was wriggling between the gaps in its body that resembled two folded leaves.

These were Blaze Class Rank 4 member Konoha and her Mushi.

Walking while staying cautious of her surroundings, she came to an intersection split into two passages.

As she turned around the corner—four white coats greeted her.

“It’s the intruder! Capture her!”

Shouting this, the ones attacking her were doubtlessly Central Headquarters members.

“Wha—”

Widening her eyes, she retreated.

“What are you saying…! I’m Blaze Class Rank 4, Konoha—”

“Shut up, we know you’re an impostor!”

“The impostor—”

Konoha gazed behind the members chasing after her.

“Is the woman hiding over there…!”

Konoha’s Mushi began emitting condensed air from within the folds of its leaves. Her Mushi’s breath turned into pressurized bullets, opening holes in the supposedly-empty ceiling.

“…!”

All members changed their expressions and turned around. On that empty space a girl and a Mushi revealed themselves.

A girl with long bangs and a Mushi with a body made of two folded leaves.

Another Konoha and her Mushi.

“—How did you figure out I was here?”

The girl murmured this question.

Konoha answered with the same kind of murmured tone.

“Your transformation’s good, but apparently you haven’t perfectly copied my ability. You may be able to fool other members with such half-baked mimicry, but did you try to beat me with numbers…?”

“Eh—”

The four white coats looked with surprise at the Konoha behind them. Having the Konoha that brought them there being called a fake shook them.

“Do not try to deceive them. The orders are unchanged. Please annihilate the target in front of you…”

“You sure are shameless, being deceived by such a fake and leading her to me… this is a huge blunder. Prepare to be punished…”

Being scolded by the two Konohas, the white coats stood in place. They apparently couldn’t judge which was the real one.

Konoha clicked her tongue. She asserted toward the Konoha leading the others.

“If you’re the real one, then recite your member code…”

“It’s ——.”

She smiled toward the other girl who answered immediately.

“See, it’s a fake number…”

However, the white coats were flustered and unmoving. She grimaced.

“Don’t you guys know my member code…?!”

“As long as they’re not part of the intelligence department they’d obviously not know individual members codes… since you don’t know that, it’s proof you’re the impostor…”

The white coats really couldn’t take any move. This time the other girl clicked her tongue.

“If we just attack her a little, we’ll know for sure…! Come on, attack her…!”

“Don’t lie! Once I show you my back, you’re going to attack me together!”

“This is getting nowhere!”

“Right, so it seems…”

The two girls glared at each other. A heavy silence fell on the corridor.

The one to open her mouth first was the lone Konoha.

“—Fine. We’ll just fight by ourselves.”

“Wha…!”

The girl with the four members changed her expression. She grinned.

“It’s better than getting annihilated… c’mon, quickly attack me!”

Hearing her words, the other Konoha and the four white coats were shaken.

However, the white coats apparently soon resolved themselves. Splitting into two, each joined a different Konoha.

“Kh…”

Leaving a groan behind and vanishing into the air as if melting—was the Konoha who’d brought four comrades there.

“She escaped! Beat her before she’s gone!”

The white coats obeyed the remaining Konoha. They all prepared to attack the vanishing Konoha at once.

However—

“Talking about me, though.”

The members turned around, shocked.

By that time she—Tamaki—had already transformed into Kasuou. The black mist rising from her feet coagulated, becoming sharp claws.

“ORAAAAH!”

An earthquake-like vibration shook the corridor. The countless claws freely rampaging tore the ceiling and floor, and the four members caught in complete surprise were pounded against the walls.

Rolling on the floor, they stopped moving. She didn’t go as far as kill them, but they probably couldn’t move for a while. They very likely broke around two or three bones.

“Now then—”

Stepping over the wreckage and the collapsed members, Tamaki approached the place at the end of the corridor where there was a gathering of mist.

“That’s how my ability is. Battling with bluffs and lies is my specialty, you see.”

Still in Kasuou’s form, Tamaki spoke in her own tone.

“…”

Konoha showed herself in the place where the mist gathered. Since the mist stuck to her, she knew hiding would be meaningless.

Incidentally, Tamaki had been able to find the hidden Konoha before because she’d used Mizuchi’s ability and saw not four members but five of them approaching. Konoha’s camouflaging ability was useless against a sonar-like searching ability.

“Your ability’s a bother. I have to make you retire here.”

The tips of the claws made by mist pushed against Konoha’s throat.

Konoha bit her lips. She spoke with a hoarse voice.

“…Don’t you want to make a deal?”

“A deal?”

“Why’d you come to the Central Headquarters…? If you let me go, I can help you…”

“Hmm, an easy-to-understand pleading. —Will you answer a few questions?”

“Does that mean you’ll accept the deal?”

“This is before that. Depending on your answer, I might trust you… that’s more like it.”

Tamaki purposely spoke in a calm tone. Not having much choice, Konoha groaned in pain.

“First question. How was my infiltration found out? I was discovered much faster than I thought.”

“…Fearing punishment, the member who’d entered with you reported your unauthorized return to the intelligence department. But it turned out that Kasuou was already inside. I immediately found out there are two Kasuous inside the Stronghold—and saw the moment that one of them transformed to another person…”

“You’ve found out both me and the real Kasuou in so short of a time? That’s amazing. What ability is it?”

“…I can’t tell you that.”

“So you’re going to destroy the deal you yourself had suggested?”

“I do not believe that me revealing my ability has any relevance cooperating with you. Also… me revealing this ability to anyone is like telling me to die. I haven’t told even the SEPB about it.”

Konoha’s manner of speaking suddenly became stronger. Tamaki had the feeling that, the instant the girl turned somewhat angry, she saw something like the silhouette of a sparkling, red bee.

While struggling against the mist pushing at her, Konoha spoke.

“What’s your goal…? If you’ve gone as far as sneaking into the Central Headquarters, is it Sleeping Beauty or a Fragment? If so then it’s useless, finding them just by entering this place would be utterly impossible…”

“Sleeping Beauty? Fragment?”

Tamaki raised a brow. She didn’t understand what Konoha was talking about at all. Was she confused because she was cornered like this? She should have cooperated with her while she was sane.

“Okay, just calm down. I’ll accept the deal. Tell me where Kasuou currently is.”

“Kasuou…? Is just that enough?”

“Yes.”

Nodding, Tamaki absolved Konoha’s restraints. Released from the mist, she alighted down the ground with a slightly dumbfounded expression.

“…You’re really going to let me go.”

“If you’ve got any complaints, I can just kill you. —That really sounded like a B-movie line.”

Konoha’s Mushi slowly changed its form. The two leaves parted and the wriggling eyeball jutted out. Seeing that creepy form, Tamaki unconsciously mumbled an “Ugh”.

Becoming grotesque binoculars, the tentacles extended from the Mushi connected to Konoha’s goggles.

“Your Mushi’s incredible.”

“…So your ability is only partial. Purposely making me do this means you couldn’t perfectly replicate my ability.”

Konoha mumbled sarcastically, perhaps as a form of revenge.

She was right. For some reason, Tamaki’s ability couldn’t copy an ability from the actual person.

Probably because the image received from the actual person was the “real thing”—or so Tamaki herself thought. As she was a constant liar, truth and reality were her natural enemies.

“So is it a fake of a fake, I wonder…? Seems useful, but no more than that.”

“Isn’t that fine?”

Tamaki felt no anger toward the other girl’s banter. Narrowing her blue eyes, she smiled.

“The real thing, the truth and the like… are all just useless anyway.”

“…I hate liars. There are those who would even offer themselves as sacrifice to expose lies.”

“Is that so? —Well? Have you found Kasuou?”

As Tamaki shrugged, Konoha’s Mushi retrieved its previous form.

“Yes.”

“You really do a fast job.”

Tamaki grinned and got the location of Kasuou as well as the route needed to get there.

However, even as their deal ended, Tamaki still stayed there, looking at Konoha.

There was a silence between the two.

“…Once this is over, contact me. I’ll tell you a safe way out.”

“Oh, thank you for being so considerate. Why are you helping me out so much?”

“Obviously because you’re trying to kill me now…”

That was also right.

Since she now knew where Kasuou was, Konoha’s ability was just an unneeded threat.

“You liar…!”

“Thank you for the compliment.”

Mist blew wildly around Tamaki. Becoming countless claws, she ripped the Mushi of the girl who turned around and tried fleeing.

“……!”

Raising a voiceless scream, Konoha collapsed on the floor. Her wounded Mushi writhed next to her, spurting bodily fluids.

“Well, I’m going to end this without making you a Fallen. Have some healer quickly save you.”

As Tamaki smiled and turned back, she transformed from Kasuou to Mizuchi. Summoning the dark-red snake-type Mushi, she advanced while checking the position of all members in the area.

The location of the real Kasuou was not that far. If she could beat her quickly, she’d be able to come back to her home region by sunset.

Several minutes passed as she carefully used Mizuchi’s and Konoha’s abilities to advance inside the Underground Stronghold.

Tamaki finally found her target.

“There…!”

Vividly blond hair shook at the end of a very long corridor. Since Tamaki had mimicked that form countless times, she knew it even from behind at a glance.

It was Kasuou.

If she approached her in Mizuchi’s form, she could instantly transform into Kasuou and get a surprise attack in, thus finishing her quest. She had no intention of taking Kasuou’s life, but she wanted to deal enough damage as to render her inactive.

“I have to finish this and go back… I’m worried about Kanon crying of loneliness.”

Her weak childhood friend Kanon might feel abandoned, and she also worried about there being some slip of the tongue due to tension.

After all, Kanon was a hopelessly bad liar—

While thinking of that, Tamaki hastened toward Kasuou.

Completely unaware of the assassin approaching her from behind, Kasuou stood in front of a door at the end of the corridor. The door opened and she vanished beyond it.

Tamaki wanted to pass after her, but the door closed.

“Damn, what a bother.”

She stopped, clicking her tongue.

But no matter how much she waited, the door didn’t open.

Looking aside her, puzzled, she saw a panel with numbers and roman letters. She thought it was an automatic door, but apparently she needed to enter her member code. Perhaps it was an area that only a few select members could enter.

“No way…! You should’ve told me about this, stupid Konoha!”

Obviously, Tamaki knew nothing about any number. Angry, she pounded at the door.

“And after I finally found her! At this rate, I’ll lose sight of Kasuou!”

There was no other way but to wait until another member entered and forcibly go in with them.

“Someone, please come quickly…”

Tamaki transformed back into Kasuou again. Just like when she’d snuck into the Stronghold, she could easily push people around using Kasuou’s pressure.

And, just as she tried quelling her anxiety, the door opened in front of Tamaki.

“Move!”

In Kasuou’s form, Tamaki tried pushing away the person who appeared and keep the door open. If she hurried now and pursued Kasuou, she might be able to finish her business.

However, suddenly Tamaki’s feet stopped.

The person appearing from inside the room grabbed Tamaki’s coat as she passed nearby.

“The fuck are you doing? I got not time to put my member code in that shit!”

Tamaki turned and tried threatening. Even if she had to be a little forceful, she didn’t have the time to be picky about it.

“I’m Blaze Class Rank 3—”

“Kasuou, right? I know ya.”

Seeing that person assert so calmly, Tamaki raised a brow. She hadn’t met up with any white coats until she came there, but the one who grabbed her coat seemed different.

Rather than this base, he looked like someone you could pass by out in town. He was a tall man clad in secondhand clothes.

“Because I’d just seen you walk up the corridor just now. Also—”

The man smiled.

That smile had much more pressure than anything Tamaki had seen before. The simple action of being glared by those man’s eyes made Tamaki feel as if she was being crushed by powerful pressure.

“Since when did Kasuou start talkin’ to me like this?”

He caused her to feel a bone-chilling fear for the first time in her life.

That boy had bright red hair as well as a flame tattoo on his cheek.

2.04 Kanon Part 3

Kanon came to the abandoned railway far from the station.

Several dozen other people also gathered in this empty area with rows of rusted containers. The sun sinking in the west turned orange.

“…”

Sitting with hugged knees on top of a container, Kanon looked at a building visible far away.

Tall buildings could be seen at the suburbs. Comparing that region to this town, it was curious that it was dark. There were no lights and it looked strangely dirty, or rather—the surrounding air stagnated, strangely feeling like it was dead.

“That area’s the Abandoned Land.”

Ichi approached Kanon from behind.

“Abandoned Land?” the confused Kanon asked.

“There used to be a lot of love hotels and brothels here. They said that public security was bad and apparently the government bought it to reopen it. But soon after came the recession, and they sold it back to the original real estate company.”

“Oh.”

There were apparently some complex circumstances. Curious about that the lonely atmosphere, for a while Kanon just stared at the so-called Abandoned Land.

“Soon the full moon will come out.”

With a start, Ichi’s words caused Kanon’s heart to clench.

“R-r-right.”

“Is your childhood friend not coming today?”

“D-dunno…”

Kanon awkwardly looked away.

It didn’t look like Tamaki was going to come. Perhaps she finally abandoned ship.

“Hmm. Well, doesn’t really matter. I can’t wait for tonight.”

Saying this, Ichi and the rest went away. Kanon called to them.

“W-wait…!”

Ichi turned back.

They all purely sought salvation and protected Kanon. Thanks to them there was no need to worry about shelter, clothes and food, and above all else, Kanon never felt lonely even once during that entire month.

Was it possible to somehow repay them?

Obviously, it was impossible to really erase their Mushi.

Keeping the lie—would be impossible as long as Tamaki didn’t come back.

Resolve alone would not solve anything. This powerlessness caused tears to well up Kanon’s eyes.

“Umm, Kanon is…”

No, perhaps these tears were actually due of fear.

They’re gonna kill me for sure…

As the time approached, Kanon felt the need to atone. Just like how a death row convict felt.

At least in the end, Kanon could give a proper thanks and then be killed.

“T-thank you for everything…”

Fear and resignation mixing within, Kanon bowed while wearing a half-crying, half-laughing face.

“Since Kanon is unable to do anything, the only reason Kanon survived this month was thanks to all of you… p-please take care of yourselves and keep being lively…”

The boys and girls looked surprised.

But soon Ichi suddenly averted his face as though embarrassed.

“Idiot…! We’re all doing this just for ourselves so don’t mind it. Also, do you think I’d just leave once I’m not a Mushitsuki anymore?”

Apparently, they misunderstood. They thought that Kanon was regretting Ichi leaving.

“Ah, no, that’s not what Kanon…”

“Even if I’m not a Mushitsuki anymore, I’ll be staying here.”

“Eh?”

“Just straight up leaving once I’m normal… will leave a bad aftertaste. I mean, since you’re useless I really can’t leave you alone, it’s too dangerous.”

As Ichi spoke embarrassedly, the other comrades laughed at him. —Kanon couldn’t understand what was happening.

“But, it’s a bit strange.”

Ichi mumbled.

“After Lady Bird was gone, we’ve all left the new, weakened Mushibane… and ended up gathering with someone even weaker.”

“Lady… Bird?”

“The previous leader of Mushibane. She was super strong and super reliable. But she’d been killed by the SEPB. The new leader’s also supposed to be strong but doesn’t really look like it… we’ve been too anxious, so we bowed out. —But that’s wrong. Perhaps we were just trying to leave everything to other people.”

Ichi smiled. It was a somewhat happy-looking smile.

“I have to protect myself on my own. As well as what I wish to protect. —I feel like I’ve forgotten something so basic.”

When Kanon met with Ichi, the boy’s severe expression was thorny and scary. A month passed and there were no traces of that within his kind smile anymore.

And although he wasn’t scary anymore—he looked much more reliable than when they first met.

“That’s why, even if I no longer have the power of Mushitsuki… I’ll protect my friends.”

It wasn’t just Ichi.

Without noticing, even the Mushitsuki near Ichi and the other people around were all watching Kanon. They all made fun of each other and laughed.

Shaking…

Some deep emotion started shaking from within, making Kanon bow.

“T-thank you so much…”

“Haha, stop that already, idiot.”

Perhaps becoming embarrassed, Ichi and his friends got off the containers.

Left alone, Kanon sat with hugged knees and head buried between them, looking at the floor.

“Ta…Tama-chan…”

A sharp pain throbbed within Kanon’s chest for the first place.

The visible narrow space began shaking.

Ichi called Kanon a friend.

What can I do—

After finally gaining friends for the first time, Kanon was deceiving them.

“K-Kanon’s sorry…”

Kanon apologized to Tamaki among the doubts.

Being called a friend brought up some improper thoughts.

This was going to waste her actions of saving Kanon from the brink of destruction. Even so, a horrible thought rose to mind for just an instant.

That was—

“Kanon doesn’t want to lie anymore…”

To expose the truth.

Something that the liar called Kanon should never think about.

2.05 Tamaki Part 6

What the—

What the hell is going on?

She had no idea why the situation became like this.

Tamaki, transformed into Konoha, grabbed onto her leaf-shaped Mushi and rushed along the wall of the Underground Stronghold.

Using her camouflage ability, she hid herself. The white coats in the corridor did not notice her running on the wall and kept going.

“Kh…!”

Gritting her teeth, Tamaki raised her speed further. Konoha’s Mushi’s spying ability was superb and even while it ran on the wall as if stuck to it, it was nearly noiseless. Also, its optical camouflaging ability meant that it would be invisible without the usage of special abilities or devices.

“Ha!”

At the end of the corridor, she leapt off of the Mushi. The moment she landed on the floor she became Mizuchi and the snake-form Mushi exhaled its gas.

The stereoscopic image showed no one other than Tamaki.

“I g-got away…?”

Tamaki wore a relieved face for an instant. However, noticing within the image that something was filling the corridor behind her with incredible speed, she gulped.

“W-what’s that? The corridor’s being—”

Turning back, Tamaki saw the origin of the irregularity and became speechless. Her survival instincts moved her body on its own.

“…!”

The moment after she practically fell into the corridor to her right, the scenery was dyed in crimson.

A roar and a vibration. The conflagration filling the corridor with an explosion and the sounds of the floor and ceiling swelling from the heat, being crushed and melting away, all sounded just like the screams of hell.

A living human would be turned to ashes instantly if hit by that.

“Ah… ah…”

Tamaki sank down to the floor.

A crimson fireball rose where she’d been standing just moments ago. Many sparks and hot air spread around as a lone man appeared from within the fireball.

Even while wrapped in flames, the man wore a calm sneer. Actually, that red hair and eyes with a powerful glint were just like blazing flames. Standing upright even while enveloped by a violent whirl, the man’s figure was much too removed from reality, vivid and beautiful that one could almost be enchanted by it despite the occasion—as well as brought out fear from the depths of one’s heart.

He’s not human—

Her body wouldn’t move as though paralyzed.

He was like a real devil from hell.

“Just when I thought to go outside for a walk, I found a much more fun way to kill time.”

The man smiled. Even as he just stood there with his arms crossed small balls of flames produced and burst around him, spreading heat around like small bombs.

“So you’re that intruder? It’s kinda amusing how you keep changing your form, but—”

The devil of flames, Harukiyo—

He was a Rank 1, a level that signified the very strongest, of which there were only five. In comparison to the survivor, the pitch-black demon Kakkou, as well as Fuyuhotaru, who’d once brought the SEPB to the brink of destruction, this Mushitsuki was rumored to be much eviler.

Apparently in the past this man was the leader of a third force comparable to the SEPB and Mushibane that was made of a few elites, but his actions nowadays were shrouded in mystery.

While knowing that much, Tamaki hadn’t been able to copy his ability until now. That was because she hadn’t met any people who knew about his appearance or his abilities.

“You have some guts getting into the Central Headquarters, but wouldn’t strugglin’ so hard at the entrance waste all of my hopes for you?”

“Uh… Ah…”

With the flaming pupils staring at her, Tamaki’s body froze completely. Her legs were shaking.

She had to acknowledge it. It was certain she’d made a huge error.

She took the Central Headquarters—the enemy known as the SEPB—much more lightly than she should have. She simply got carried away by copying Kasuou’s ability and defeating some combatants, but this wasn’t the kind of opponent she could handle.

Whatever the circumstances may be—she never thought she’d come up against this kind of monster.

Why was the notorious Harukiyo inside Central HQ?

In the first place, the Harukiyo she’d heard about would hide his face using tape. Even so the devil in front of her showed his masculine visage without any grievances. She made so many mistakes—

“Is it over yet? C’mon, try running away.”

Looking bored, Harukiyo waved his right hand. Even just this casual gesture as though shooing away a fly made her vision distort. Enormous heat pursued her.

“…!”

Hurriedly transforming to Kasuou, she used mist to cover her entire body like a shield—

“…! Gah! Ugh! Aah!”

Harukiyo’s form instantly vanished. An impact like getting hit by a tank blew Tamaki along with her mist far away. She heard her bones creaking every time she rebounded on the floor. If there was a wall behind her perhaps she would’ve broken her entire body.

“Uugh…!”

Shedding blood from the corner of her mouth, she roused her upper body.

She saw the heat haze approaching her and shuddered.

“Wow, the real Kasuou could’ve defended against that, y’know?”

“Kh…!”

If she lost her focus, she was likely to faint. But if she fell unconscious right here, it would mean death. Tamaki changed into Konoha and leapt on her Mushi. She turned her back to the pursuing Harukiyo and ran away.

“Eeeeek!”

A shotgun of flames fired on her. Grazing the running Tamaki, like firebombs covered the floor and ceiling with flames.

She no longer thought about where in the Stronghold she was. She had no idea if she was heading even further below or approaching the ground level.

“…I-I’m sorry… Kanon…!”

With her teeth chattering, she apologized to her childhood friend who wasn’t there.

Everything about her mission to beat Kasuou and go back home vanished from her mind.

It had nothing to do with truth or lies.

Right now, she was simply desperately running away from that monster.

“I… I…”

She looked around her frantically while running.

Were there no members around?

Unless she found someone who knew a Mushitsuki that could beat this devil, she had no future.

“I might… not be able to go back…”

Running away with utmost effort while dodging Harukiyo’s playful attacks, she rushed through the corridors.

However, no matter how much she ran, for some reason—

There was no one around.

“—”

It felt like hours, but it might have been just minutes. After running and running Tamaki stood in place as she reached a certain spot.

It was a dead end.

“Why is there no one…”

As Tamaki mumbled this in shock, her hair sizzled and was singed from behind.

She knew even without turning around.

This was the end.

“I created a ‘wall’ to not have anyone disturb our game of tag… but isn’t that boring, actually?”

Tamaki slowly turned around.

The flame devil approached Tamaki casually as if he was just out on a walk.

“So your ability’s useless if there’s no one around? How far will you disappoint me?”

“…”

“After playing catch, shall we play torture next?”

As the devil approached her step by step, their bodies were finally close. Harukiyo’s right arm grazed Tamaki’s cheek, hitting the wall behind her.

She’d already passed all the way through fear and couldn’t feel anything.

The distance between them was about ten centimeters. The devil advanced so much that there were only few centimeters between their faces.

In her sight there were only flames, flames and flames—

She had no place to escape whatsoever.

Ah, I’m dead—

She was so beyond fear that she felt as if she was watching something unrelated to her. The overwhelming anxiety might have shocked her nerves.

“So, what’s your goal here?”

From the distance of several centimeters, the devil of flames sneered at her.

Perhaps these were normal flames or they could be used for different purposes, since Tamaki was enveloped in them and yet suffered no burns.

However, it was hot.

If flames that were hot but didn’t burn actually existed—was there any better way of torture?

“Stayin’ silent? I’ll subtract a point.”

She already knew she couldn’t escape.

Even if she found another member—what sort of Mushitsuki could even beat Harukiyo?

It didn’t matter how good of a liar Tamaki was.

She could never mimic what didn’t exist in the first place.

“Augh!”

Her consciousness, about to drift away due to the heat and her resignation, was pulled back by a sharp pain. She looked at her fingertips.

The nail of her index finger was broken. Her flesh was burning and the nasty smell of boiling blood reached her nose.

“If you don’t answer my question I’ll burn ‘em off one by one. And if you lie to me. Even if you tell me the truth, I’ll still burn ya unless I like the answer. Once you run out of nails, I’ll burn your ears. Next your nose.”

“Uh… uugh…!”

“Do your best to tell me true things I like—or lie carefully.”

The flame devil used his blazing eyes to stare at Tamaki, wearing a sadistic smile.

At any rate, he seemed to have no intention of letting her live. He was going to play with her to death.

“So what’s your goal?”

Sweat emitted from Tamaki’s forehead, caused by the revived sensation and pain of fear. However, it soon evaporated and vanished.

The rumors were right.

The devil of flames was too strong.

On top of that he was capricious and merciless and cruel, a monster that would drop anyone into scorching hell—

“AAAH!”

Her middle fingernail was blown off by a small explosion.

“What’s your goal?”

“Uuuh…!”

“It’s the most boring of all if you answer nothin’ at all.”

“Uaah!”

Her sight fully blanked out. She nearly fainted from the sharp pain and heat.

“Hey, say something.”

Another explosion. But she could no longer feel pain. Her eyes were blurry, and the devil’s face wearing a sadistic smile was being twisted—

—Hey, say something!

It changed to the face of a middle school girl shouting angrily at Tamaki. There were five in all.

On the rooftop of the public middle school, she remembered the rays of the summer sun being so hot they almost scorched her. The concrete floor especially was as hot as a frypan, scorching Tamaki’s forehead.

—Thought you could just make a move on someone’s boyfriend and get away with it?

An eighth grader at the time, Tamaki was receiving a lynch from five girls of the same school.

The reason for that was Tamaki’s lie.

At the time Tamaki was also a liar, and she was especially addicted to lies related to romance. Since she was blessed in looks, she would act suggestively with boys wooing her and rip them off for all sorts of money and goods.

Her lies would be things such as “my parents need money”, “if you buy me those clothes, I’ll think about dating you” and the like. Thinking back, these were really low level.

—I didn’t do anything. He just gave me some money.

She said this after receiving a kick in her stomach and received a slap in return. Even while feeling that pain, what Tamaki thought only amounted to something like, “Ah, damn, I shouldn’t have told the truth, I should have just lied again”.

It wasn’t like she really wanted money. It was simply the result of her lying while trying to see how far she could deceive someone.

Perhaps it was because of all the stress. Tamaki’s parents both hid their cheating from each other for a long while—meaning, they kept wearing their masks of husband and wife. Feigning to be in a good relationship in front of the kid Tamaki, they piled up small lie after small lie, but the intuitive Tamaki saw through them.

Tamaki was tired of this family environment, but on the other hand, she was also sometimes impressed. Her father’s and mother’s lies were truly luxurious, at times easily fooling the other, and when they felt they were being doubted, they managed to make a brilliant recovery with another lie. Although Tamaki was tired of her parents, she became curious enough to want to try it out for herself, thus becoming a liar, but—

—You’re fucking dead!

Seeing that one of the girls beating her to a pulp brought out scissors, she truly regretted it.

I should have told just a slightly better lie—

She imagined her picture appearing on the front page of tomorrow’s newspaper under the headline “a middle schooler stabbed”, but then something happened.

—S-s-s-s-so sorry!

A person came there as if rolling—no, they truly stumbled and fell there.

At first Tamaki couldn’t remember who it was. They spoke while in the same neighborhood and elementary school, but once middle school started the two became estranged.

Her childhood friend, one could say.

But definitely not her friend. That was the extent of their relationship.

That very same Nakayama Kanon then spoke desperately.

—Tama-chan didn’t mean it!

Oh, she definitely did. Fooling boys and getting money was fun; it was like killing two birds with one stone.

More importantly, being called “Tama-chan” was awfully nostalgic.

—Umm… Tama-chan didn’t mean anything wrong… r-right! She did all of this for Kanon!

Eh? everyone was shocked. Including Tamaki.

—Since Kanon’s so poor, Tama-chan tried helping! R-right, that’s it! There’s no doubt about it!

No doubt? There was nothing but doubts. Everyone would realize it was a shitty lie.

However, even such a lie—was believed by those girls.

Perhaps Kanon’s family really was poor. Perhaps they were simply happy they had someone other than Tamaki to be mad about.

Naturally, Kanon also became their lynch target as a result.

However, now that there were two attack targets, the girls’ violence lessened, and they were somehow able to end it without being killed.

—Are you an idiot? Why’d you save me?

As she asked this while holding her swollen cheek, Kanon smiled with eyes full of tears.

—Kanon found you by chance, and got scared… Kanon didn’t know what to do… so…

—So you told that lie? That was so unneeded…

—S-s-s-sorry…

—You could’ve called the teacher or something, there were many other better ways than telling that bad lie.

—Ah! Kanon could have done that!

Was Tamaki’s childhood friend really this much of an idiot? So she thought.

She would have told a much better lie, and wouldn’t have wasted her efforts like that.

However, her thoughts had been overturned after a few days.

Kanon’s lie changed Tamaki’s school life completely.

First, for some reason the two became known as best friends. And the entire school now knew that Tamaki was trying to save her friend.

Since Tamaki normally acted like a model student, people were starting to treat her with sympathy and admiration.

On the other hand, Kanon who usually floated away from the surroundings—became a villain who got a friend into trouble, and kept having a lonely life while being watched coldly by everyone.

Tamaki obviously went around to correct everyone.

But it was useless.

Rather than the truth Tamaki was telling them, her classmates wanted to believe the cheap drama.

Tamaki couldn’t understand what was going on. Believing such a shitty lie meant they were crazy. She herself could’ve made a much better one—

The moment she thought of it, she noticed.

She was the better liar? Was that actually the case?

Tamaki’s lie hurt those she deceived, enraged those involved, and in the end brought danger to her alone.

On the other hand, Kanon saved Tamaki.

The one hurt from it was a single person—just Kanon.

Noticing this truth, Tamaki was overwhelmed with a sense of loss. That vexation meant she had to say her thanks to her childhood friend. Being so friendly, perhaps Kanon really did feel like the whole thing was unnecessary just as Tamaki said. Tamaki’s childhood friend avoided her upon seeing her, perhaps feeling bitter.

In the end, she never spoke to Kanon again. With her relatively fun school life she forgot about the incident, and when compared to her friend’s slightly harsher familial situation, perhaps what happened was just a drop in the bucket.

But they have reunited.

Since they met again, she thought of repaying the favor from back then.

But even so—

“Hey, wake up.”

The low voice and pain that ran through her brought back Tamaki’s consciousness. She recalled her state, being in a much worse state than that lynch back in her middle school days.

The flame devil was right in front of her. Was there any bigger predicament in the world?

Even while her face was twisted from the pain, it formed a smile.

“I just wanted… to save you…”

As Tamaki mumbled this like a last testament, another one of her fingernails was blown away.

“Nope. Say something I can understand.”

He was probably angry at Tamaki giving him not even one proper answer. Harukiyo spat.

“Should I just kill ya?”

Twitch.

Tamaki’s body shook like it received an electric shock.

—Should I just kill ya?

How strange.

That was definitely strange.

After all, according to the rumors Tamaki heard, Harukiyo was—

“…You’ll… kill me…?”

“Yeah, I will. I’m sick of you already.”

“Harukiyo’s… strong… and merciless…”

“Ah? What’re you saying?”

“And ruthless…”

Tamaki absently raised her face. Her eyes, blurry with tears of pain, looked back at Harukiyo.

“You seem… kinda off…”

Harukiyo raised a brow.

Tamaki kept mumbling to herself, not minding him.

“Saying that you’ll kill me… almost as if… there’s also an option you wouldn’t… isn’t that strange? Harukiyo’s supposed to be a ruthless devil…”

Tamaki’s listless forehead touched Harukiyo’s.

“Say—the Harukiyo you know… what kind of guy is he?”

“…!”

Harukiyo pulled away suddenly. He distanced himself from Tamaki.

“He—hehe.”

It was too late.

The whirl of information already passed through their foreheads and flowed inside Tamaki.

Harukiyo. Harukiyo. The information about the Mushitsuki called Harukiyo overflowed.

Tamaki’s ability was to copy.

However—she couldn’t rob an ability from its owner.

“Ahahahahahaha!”

Opening her teary eyes, Tamaki laughed loudly.

She hadn’t lost her sanity due to fear.

It was simply too funny. After all—

“You are—also a fake!”

Tamaki’s hair was dyed in crimson as if going up in flames. Her face changed and her body grew taller. Countless black tapes appeared to conceal her face.

“You little…!”

Feeling the danger, Harukiyo swung down his arm at Tamaki. The mass of flames holding great heat assaulted her.

Tamaki forcibly blew away Harukiyo’s arm that came from overhead. She produced an even bigger mass of flames and the two canceled each other.

“You’re not the real Harukiyo either! You have a transformation ability, just like me!”

Transformed into the tape-covered Harukiyo in an instant, Tamaki shouted.

Great power was coursing through her body right now. It was on a whole different level from any other power she’d mimicked before.

“But even if we can both transform—”

The Harukiyo with an exposed face grimaced. Thrusting his arm toward Tamaki, he unleashed a Great Yama tiger beetle made of flames.

“The Harukiyo in your mind’s even greater than your ability!”

Wearing a devil’s smile, Tamaki too thrust out her arms. Another large Great Yama tiger beetle swallowed the pursuing flames, pushing them back.

“Gah…!”

Tamaki’s flames overcame her opponent’s. The man’s chest was burned and gouged, revealing another face buried within his body.

It was a girl who looked in her teens, clad in Lolita fashion, who was buried inside the Harukiyo that looked made of clay.

“Kh…!”

Being pushed by Tamaki’s repeated flame attack, the fake Harukiyo fused with the girl was blown backwards.

“Ahahahahahaha!”

Tamaki wrapped herself in flames. She pushed herself using compressed heat, becoming a large fireball springing through the corridor. She already spared no thought to the other Harukiyo she’d blown away.

This was her worst predicament and yet she managed to obtain her strongest power.

As long as she had this, she was unbeatable.

There was nothing to be scared of. She could even destroy Central HQ and then go home.

It happened just as she thought this.

Tamaki, who turned herself into a fireball and rushed through the Stronghold, suddenly felt herself weakening.

“Ugh—”

The power coursing through her body was rapidly growing weaker. The flames extinguishing from her entire body felt as though they were Tamaki’s lifeforce itself.

“Uaah…! Uuugh!”

Losing her balance, she crashed into the wall and rolled on the floor.

This is bad—

An instinctive sense of danger stuck Tamaki’s chest.

Tamaki’s limits as a Mushitsuki were unchanged when she transformed. Harukiyo’s unparalleled power was exhausting Tamaki’s dream in the blink of an eye.

She was about to faint, but the blaring alarms woke her up.

“Guh…!”

She couldn’t even destroy the Central HQ. Unless she got out of there immediately, even coming back alive would be difficult. She had no choice but to give up on Kasuou’s assassination.

The flames which were no more than a fake were trying to burn her own body.

“I-I have to cancel the transformation and run away… no, before that—”

Biting back her pain, Tamaki looked at the ceiling.

She couldn’t last much longer.

She must escape the Underground Stronghold as soon as possible and go back to her childhood friend waiting for her.

However, she couldn’t just go back.

She needed to take a “souvenir” back so that she could save Kanon—

2.06 Kanon Part 4

The sun sank and the long shadows cast by the containers in the inspection railway soon changed to pure darkness.

“…”

Standing on top of the weeds growing from the cracks in the asphalt, Kanon looked up the night sky.

That golden circle floating there really was beautiful.

“Yup, a full moon.”

Ichi stepped in front of Kanon.

Kanon looked from the night sky back to Ichi, smiling.

“Right.”

As Kanon and Ichi faced each other, their allies formed a protective ring around them.

“Are you ready?”

“…”

Perhaps the fact that Kanon was smiling and unmoving was seen as approval. Ichi summoned his Mushi.

Seeing that many people gather and form a circle formation around the two of them—it was like some sort of solemn ritual. Not even a single person spoke. They were all waiting with bated breath for what happened next.

This somehow brought to mind an anime Kanon watched while young.

An evil mage recited a chant and summoned forth a demon from a magic circle. Although the mage succeeded in the summoning ceremony, the demon did not take the prepared sacrifice, but instead devoured the mage—

“Well, whenever you’re ready.”

“…”

Kanon made no move.

In the end—Tamaki did not come back.

Perhaps she no longer wanted to stay with someone who could only tell such inferior lies. But obviously the same thing would soon happen with those around.

Some part of Kanon was also happy at Tamaki not appearing.

They all called Kanon their friend, not knowing they were being deceived.

Lying to friends—was definitely bad.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Seeing Kanon just waiting without doing anything, Ichi raised a brow. The comrades surrounding them were also puzzled and restless.

Once they knew the power to erase Mushi was a lie, they’d surely be angry.

Kanon was already resolved.

Still accepting the happiness from Kanon’s friends, they were going to enact punishment—

“…No way, are you actually…”

Seeing Ichi’s expression, Kanon’s eyes widened.

The expression on the Mushitsuki boy’s face was not the kind of expected anger. For just an instant, the thing glimpsed there was—

Sadness and despair.

Kanon’s chest suddenly constricted so hard it hurt.

“N-no! K-Kanon just… needs to, focus…? Yeah, Kanon’s gotta focus!”

“I-I see.”

There was clear relief from Ichi and his surroundings comrades.

Kanon’s heart hastened, beating hard as if in reproach.

Ichi and the rest’s reaction was unexpected. If the lie was to be revealed, they’d be angry—Kanon was resolved for this, but now realized an entirely different resolve was needed.

Sadness and disappointment. Also, despair.

Only being ready to receive anger, Kanon wasn’t prepared to accept all that.

“…”

Now Kanon got scared. Hopelessly scary.

There was no longer any fear of getting killed.

But making them—Kanon’s friends—despair, was very scary.

“S…save me…”

This mumbled was not heard by anyone. Kanon looked around.

Was Tamaki not going to come back?

She really wasn’t?

Kanon had no other hope than relying on that childhood friend.

“Kanon’s fine with it… so save everyone… Tama-chan…!”

Kanon looked around the inspection railway, hoping against hope.

And then—a figure appeared, standing on the containers.

“Ah.”

“Eh?”

Following Kanon, Ichi and the rest also looked there.

Two more shadows appeared on the container.

“…Eh?”

Yet another one appeared on another container.

The gradually rising number of figures—all wore long, white coat.

“—We’re the SEPB.”

One of the people standing on the containers announced in a cold voice.

“You’re all Mushitsuki, right? We’ll take you all with us. If you resist, we won’t show you any mercy.”

“Wha…! Why’s the Central Headquarters here?!”

The Mushitsuki all became lively.

The white coats were spread around in set intervals around the inspection rails, surrounding Kanon and the others completely.

The first to move among the agitated comrades was Ichi.

“—Shit! We’ve come this far, no way we’re getting captured!”

Coming back to their senses with that voice, the other comrades followed Ichi.

“We’ll turn the tables on you!”

“Protect Kanon!”

In the blink of an eye many people gathered around.

“Eh?”

Unable to follow the situation, Kanon looked around at the comrades.

“Kanon’s not a Mushitsuki!”

“As if we can reason with them!”

“Protect Kanon no matter what happens! If we do that, we’ll…!”

The comrades all spread to protect Kanon from the circle of the white coats that narrowed further and further.

Their faces were all familiar. Just like when Kanon was first introduced to them—they wore weak, defeated expressions. All of them were exhausted by their circumstances, and came to their very last hope.

After running away for a long, long time, they finally reached Kanon.

Even those weaklings changed by spending time together. They smiled at each other, at times voiced complaints or even got angry.

“Protect Kanon!”

The comrades shouting this like some slogan made faces Kanon had never seen before.

They possessed clear wills and strong gazes that allowed them to face fear.

“If you’re going to resist—we’ll annihilate every last one of you!”

The white coats commanding large Mushi leapt down from the containers.

The Mushi’s sharp claws swung toward the comrades protecting Kanon—

“S-STOOOOOP!”

Without thinking, Kanon leapt ahead.

Telling lies was a sin.

Even so, getting people killed for it—was unbearable.

Any more sins to bear would be too heavy.

“You idiot…!”

While listening to Ichi’s shouts, Kanon stood in front of the attacking Mushi.

“…!”

Perhaps it was true that time moved slowly before one’s death. Kanon felt as if the claws of the Mushi moved in slow motion.

No, it wasn’t slow motion at all.

It was as though time itself stopped.

No matter how much Kanon waited, the Mushi’s claws did not reach.

“…?”

While thinking it was rather odd—

The Mushi’s body broke to smithereens.

“Eh.”

Its body became small grains, heading for the night sky while sparkling—

The moment they overlapped with the full moon, they burst and vanished.

Everyone was captivated by the Mushi’s scattering that carried beauty in it. The inspection railway ruins were enveloped in a momentary silence.

“Y-you—what did you just do?!”

The white coat whose Mushi had been erased took a step back. The others also lost their calm.

“She erased your Mushi…?”

“N-no way, then Kasuou’s Mushi really was—”

“S-shit! Retreat!”

Leaving behind Kanon and the rest who stood there in shock, the white coats left the inspection railway like a receding wave.

Kanon was puzzled.

“Eh?”

—Cheers rose.

Kanon’s comrades all gathered around.

“So it’s real! Awesome!”

“They also mentioned about Kasuou!”

“I thought we were goners for sure!”

The Mushitsuki were glad at their narrow escape from death being jostled by them, but Kanon stayed shocked.

What just happened?

No way that this happened for real, right…?

Such thoughts and others rose to mind.

“Even if you can erase Mushi, don’t do such dangerous things, idiot!”

Ichi joined shoulders and started rubbing Kanon’s head.

“U-um… Kanon’s really sorry…”

Being praised was fine and all, but what just happened there?

“Don’t mind about me! I’ll wait for the next full moon!”

“Eh…”

Wait for the next moon?

If he would wait—then he still needed Kanon?

Would they really keep waiting no matter how long it took?

If they already possessed enough strength to keep waiting—

“Ah…”

There was a figure hiding in the shadows of the container. Separating from the comrades hugging each other, Kanon stealthily approached it.

Hiding within the containers was a boy in t-shirt. He looked unfamiliar.

However, for some reason it seemed obvious who he was.

“Welcome back, Tama-chan.”

“I’m back. Sorry for coming late.”

The boy smiled, opening his hand. Shining grains floated in his palm.

“It’s an illusion ability that uses mirror fragments to create virtual images and rubbing them together to create sounds. It’s a decent one, considering I’d copied it just before rushing out of Central HQ. Is it a good souvenir?”

Mumbling this, the boy’s form returned being that of Kanon’s familiar childhood friend.

“Only I’ve found out something. I’m good at lying, but I have no talent at acting. Even for a mere illusion, the white coats just now had third-rate acting.”

Bandages were wrapped around the fingers of the shrugging girl, Tamaki. Perhaps wounded, her expression also looked tired.

“Your acting was good. You completely fooled us.”

As Kanon smiled, Tamaki returned a somewhat bitter smile.

“Although we’re both liars, we’re still completely different.”

Looking at the Mushitsuki around jumping in joy, the girl mumbled this.

“I can tell all sorts of lie… but you just need to let them believe in a single lie, Kanon.”

Kanon couldn’t really understand those words, but was still happy at Tamaki coming to help, holding out a hand.

“Thanks, Tama-chan.”

“You’re welcome.”

Smiling, Tamaki grabbed Kanon’s hand.

Holding hands, the two liars returned to their comrades.

“But… if Kanon’s not a Mushitsuki, what’s the source of her power?”

“It’s probably, y’know, that. …What is it?”

“Something like… a miracle?”

After celebrating for a while, the group of friends were now noisy for another reason.

Seeing how they acted, Tamaki smiled. Kanon shuddered. For an instant, it seemed like a dark shadow passed over her smile.

“—So you understand it.”

Tamaki spoke loudly.

The comrades focused on Kanon and Tamaki.

“Kanon’s power is nothing short of a miracle. Since it can erase Mushi, it’s something much more powerful than Mushitsuki. Meaning—”

While looking around everyone standing there, Tamaki put her hand on Kanon’s shoulder.

“It’s the divine power of a God.”

Underneath the full moon, Tamaki stated this confidently.

After seeing the comrades not even laugh at those unexpected words but grow silent—

“…Eh?”

Kanon’s cheeks twitched.

Notes

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