[Mushi Uta v2 ] Chapter 4.04: Touko Part 3

The Declaration of Elimination. No Escape!

Enjoy~

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Translated : Wing
Edited : Skat

Version: 1.01
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4.04

Touko Part 3


 After parking her beloved Beetle in place, Touko immediately rushed out of her car.

She took off the headphones, that had a microphone attached, from her ear as she fished out her cellphone.

“More than hundreds of (Mushibane)’s remnant and unidentified enemies… And in addition, even (Shinpu) has appeared… Why is this simple mission of transferring a Mushitsuki causing so many problems…?”

While waiting for the other end to pick up the call, Touko gazed dazedly at the ceiling.

In her deserted surroundings covered in darkness, car exhaust could be seen rising towards the ceiling. At the highest floor of this building, Haji Keigo was still slumbering.

Touko didn't know exactly why she came to this hospital…it was just that…so many issues that were out of her ability to handle, kept on occurring one after the other; so she naturally turned her steering wheel to here.

Perhaps she was spoiled too much by Haji, or maybe she was just running away from the responsibility of the East Central Division’s branch-director. Nonetheless, the reason behind her actions was undoubtedly one of them.

“Haji-senpai……”

She subconsciously muttered.

Just then, a strained voice came from the other end of the phone.

“Ishimaki speaking.”

“Ah, Ishimaki-san! What are the members’ current statuses? If ready, please immediately instruct them to stand by at the boundary of the Ouka City ---“

“I have already assigned members to stand by near the boundary. Once the bullet train arrives, they will be able to protect (Himiko) immediately. I’m currently on my way as well.”

Upon hearing that, Touko came to a stop.

--- They don’t even need me… Haji-senpai…

Touko’s feet stopped running as she clenched her fist. Even now, under this kind of situation, she was still showing a good-for-nothing smile.

“Ah… Aha, as expected of you… Thank you for your quick and thoughtful countermeasures.”

“Where are you? If you think you still hold some responsibility as a branch-director, then you should be at the frontline ---”

Covering Ishimaki’s voice, another voice suddenly came from her headset.

“Goromaru-kun?”

It was commissioner Inose’s voice.

“Ah, Inose-san? Right now, the East Central members had already gathered at the boundary, standing by.”

“It’s unnecessary.”

“After the train arrives at Ouka City, we can --- Ugh… Eh? It’s unnecessary?”

“Just a moment ago, the retreat command was issued to the reinforcements sent by the Headquarters.”

Touko’s thinking came to a halt; she was completely unable to understand what Inose was saying.

“Stop sending… reinforcements? Huh… W-What…? The enemies numbered in the hundreds, yet we only had two combatants that were able to fight! Even (Kakkou) permission to engage was also ---“

“(Konoha) has just confirmed the signs of (Himiko)’s (Mushi) maturing.”

Touko was speechless.

“Over hundreds of (Mushibane)’s remnants, unknown enemies, (Shinpu)’s appearance, and in addition, (Himiko)’s maturing… This is the worst situation we could ever think of. The Headquarters has recognized this as a serious matter, and hence, has decided to mobilize the “Annihilators” at once. From this point onward, the Central Headquarters and West Southwest Division’s highest priorities will be to eliminate (Mushibane) and (Himiko).”

Her heart skipped a beat violently as if it was slammed by the hammer of judgment; she could even feel that her temperature was dropping rapidly.

Eliminate ---

Only after spending at least a few minutes, did she finally understand what the words meant.

“Daisuke-san ---“

After Touko murmured weakly, she then realized that her mouth was running dry. She forcefully gulped down her saliva, and continued to speak with a tone as if she was in high fever:

“Daisuke-san… He is still on that bullet train… even that West Southwest Division’s member coded (Kaguya) … and countless civilians… are on it as well…”

“We will try our best to contain the damage to the minimum. We have already notified the members that are still within the train to retreat by themselves whenever the situation permits---”

“How are they going to escape from the bullet train that’s currently traveling more than hundred miles per hour?!”

“Like I just said, this is the worst situation ever.”

“You guys … Why won’t you guys just permit Daisuke to fight?! He will definitely ---“

"Do you ever think before speaking? Right now, the bullet train is traveling towards a residential area, where many more civilians live. We can't, just because of one simple mistake, cause this city to end up the same as Hashiba City."

--- Put it bluntly, you guys just wanted to corner Daisuke into a dead end…!

Although Touko wanted to shout that line loudly, she was unable to speak a word because of her overwhelming emotions.

No matter how slow she was at figuring things, she could at least sense Inose’s intention behind his words.

In other words, they were trying to trap Daisuke into an inescapable situation, just so they could trigger his rebellion. This clearly showed that they were treating Daisuke as a dangerous factor, and wanted to get rid of him with this opportunity.

“Goromaru-kun, did you hear me?”

Touko shed loathly tears, simply because she was unable to think of a solution.

Over hundreds of (Mushibane)…Unknown enemies…The appearance of (Shinpu), whose intentions are still unknown… And to top it off, the maturation of Haji Senri's (Mushi).

In that kind of situation, Daisuke was still prohibited to engage. And on that train, there were other Mushitsuki who wanted to protect their dreams.

Touko couldn’t think of anything that she could do to help Daisuke in that kind of situation.

Haji-senpai… Why am I even here…
She lowered her head and squeezed out a faint voice.

“Goromaru… copy…”

“From now on, I’ll be in charge of this mission. You should go and have a good rest!”

With that, Inose's mocking voice was cut off.

In the underground parking lot that was filled with silence, Ishimaki’s voice rang again.

“Goromaru-kun…”

Touko hung her head low as she placed her phone near her ear.

“He generously sent the content of the dialogue you just had over to me as well, so I pretty much understand the whole situation right now.

“…”

“In the ultimate plan that Haji-kun is pursuing, (Kakkou) is a must, we can’t lose him. If he were to breach the order, he would definitely be regarded as a target to be eliminated as well. But if he continues to follow the order, he probably won’t survive through the battles … The current situation is totally different to that of a few years ago, even if it’s (Kakkou), he can’t possibly win against the current Headquarters.”

Touko knew what Ishimaki was trying to say.

However, her irritated emotions almost caused her want to refute to Ishimaki’s analysis.

The East Central Division, the Central Headquarts, and Special Environmental Preservation Bureau… These things were not important at all. Truthfully speaking, those things had already surpassed Touko’s ability of understanding. To her, those things simply were not important at all.

What she had in her mind was the fact that Daisuke was going to lose his life because of these stupid rules created by these adults. Just thinking about that, she could feel a sense of repugnance spreading within her heart.

And also, what would happen to Keigo’s younger sister, the girl name Haji Senri?

And the teenage boy that coded (Kaguya) from the West Southwest Division?

And the students that were riding on the train right now? What would happen to them?

“There’s nothing we can do, from now on, the era is dominated by the Central Headquarters.”

Touko knew very clearly; the reason why she was mad right now was all because of herself.

She could only stand here and watch as Daisuke's and Haji Senri's dreams, that they didn't get a chance to fulfill; trampled to pieces in front of her. Yet she couldn’t even reach out her hand to help them.

What’s Touko’s meaning of existence then? What did she exist for?

“…”

The call was cut off as Touko stared dazedly at the ceiling once again.

The bullet train would need at least one more hour before arriving at Ouka city.

Haji-senpai…

While muttering within, Touko’s both legs began to walk forward toward the entrance of the hospital.


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Thank you for reading~
Feel free to leave comments for any questions or feedback~
Touko is such a useless bitch that even Skat felt unmotivated on editing her chapter, lol. And like i said to Wolfy134, the next chapter would explain a bit on how Azu is not (Konoha). It's a new perspective btw =).

Ps- We're close on finishing the rework of Volume 1~ ^^