Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume1 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 1===

"Uh... Ueno-san, would you like to use the bathroom in my room—"

"No—I wasn't really drenched by the rain. Please lend me a towel, that'll be enough."

Konoha had taken Kirika to her bedroom. Her room had a bathroom attached. Along the way, a scream was heard. Most likely it was due to the sight of the glass window broken by Fear.

Haruaki took Fear to the bathroom in the main building—

"Okay, you go in first, ladies first."

"...I won't catch a cold, but humans will. You first—"

Fear said with her head bowed as she was pushed into the changing area.

"By this point, a few dozen minutes is not going to make a difference, idiot. And who was it that made me jump into the sea in the first place?"

"..."

"A-Anyway, the modern world looks down on male chauvinism. To prevent human rights organizations from busting into our house, you go in first! Or is the short little miss over there trying to tell me she is no lady, hence the modesty?"

"S...Shut up! You go ahead and really catch a cold! Go and die! Be cursed!"

Fear snarled angrily with her face all red. Haruaki took down a towel from a shelf, tossed it to her and left.

Although he said all that, Haruaki did not particularly relish waiting in his wet clothes. Returning to his room to change, he glanced at his bandaged arm. Quite some time had gone by since it was bandaged and there was no new bleeding. As long as he did not move it recklessly, it did not hurt too much. Even though it was a wound from a bladed weapon, thanks mainly to Konoha, critical points were avoided. What truly divine skills.

"Woah, even though I made the offer out of pride, this surely is cold... In these modern times, getting out the heater would be the proper thing to do!"

He returned to the changing area with the wet clothes he had taken off. Listening with one ear from outside, he could hear the splashing sounds of bathing. Looks like she was properly warming herself up.

Quietly, he entered the changing area and threw his wet clothes into the washing machine. At the same time, he took the opportunity to take Fear's clothes in the basket—by the way, which was Konoha's uniform—and threw them in as well. But amongst them were a piece of white fabric that looked like it belonged to Fear. In that instant, Haruaki froze.

"No, wait a minute, I am simply washing clothes. There are no improper thoughts at all. There shouldn't be..."

Nevertheless, he still felt a little guilty. Checking his surroundings meaninglessly, he bent over and slowly reached out towards it. Just as he caught a corner of the wet fabric—a black shadow suddenly appeared beneath his feet.

An ominous black shadow that swiftly crawled out from under the washing machine, indeed it was Strange Creature C.<!--C stands for "cockroach." Actually G in original because cockroach is ゴキブリ in Japanese, so the first syllable is "go."(ゴ)--> A being that seldom found itself welcome amongst humans. Struck with surprise and terror, Haruaki reflexively cried out.

"Woah!"

"Eeeh...?"

A faint scream was also heard from the bathroom. At the same time, there was the sound of some object like a stool flipping over. Haruaki furiously roared: "Don't scare me!" But there was no answer. Ominously, all he could hear was the sound of the shower persisting.

"Fear... What happened? Fear?"

No response. What happened? Haruaki tapped the frosted glass of the bathroom but nothing could be heard inside.

"Hey—Hey? Answer me! Did you faint? If you don't answer, I'm coming in!"

He hesitated for but an instant. He was now ready for anything. Sliding the glass door open, he walked inside.

Entering into his view were the flipped over stool and wash basin, as well as the shower head sliding along the floor as it spewed hot water, and... Fear, sitting on the bathroom tiles, shrinking into a ball. Teeth chattering, she was trembling all over, her arms around her head covering her ears.

As soon as she discovered Haruaki, she looked up in surprise, displaying her face that was twisted from being on the verge of tears. Then she screamed wildly.

"Yaah!"

"Yaah! My... My bad! I'm glad you're okay! Ugh!"

Suffering a straight right punch to the gut, Haruaki remarked to himself. To think he worried so much about her. Looks like she was more than energetic enough.

In any case, Haruaki crawled out of the bathroom first, reaching out to slide the frosted glass door behind him.

"Don't scare me, you shameless brat! I'll curse you!"

"Sorry, it really was my bad. Why don't you continue your bath, no need to hurry—"

Just as he was turning to leave—

"Ah... Umm, wait... Wait a minute... Since you're here, why don't you listen to something I have to say."

"Can't you tell me after your bath?"

"I want to tell you now. If I don't, my resolve might waver."

The color of her image was visible through the frosted glass. Separated by this sort of halfway distance, her white and silver contours looked rather vague. But in combination with the fresh memories from the sight of her smooth shoulders, waist, and thighs of a girl's, it was too easy to imagine—wait a minute, imagining is not allowed! Haruaki frantically shook his head.

"What?"

"Nothing! It's nothing! Then I will listen..."

Since looking in Fear's direction would lead to strange imaginings, Haruaki sat down and leaned his back against the frosted glass. At this moment, finding his attention caught by the piece of white fabric he had failed to place into the washing machine just now, it was quite a strange feeling.

"What happened just now?"

"Umm... Nothing much. Just a a bug I'm really scared of..."

"A spider?"

"Huh? No, it's that hated thing whose name starts with 'C'... Ugh, simply thinking about it makes my skin crawl. Anyway, it's okay now."

"I see, yes. Simply thinking about it makes my skin crawl. I feel the same way too."

"Were you afraid just now because of that?"

"Id... Idiot! I wasn't afraid! Completely not afraid! Besides—"

Haruaki waited for the conversation to resume. After a few breaths elapsed—

"—No. Even though the reason is different, but make no mistake. I am afraid. As soon as I recall what happened during the day..."

Cutting straight to the point—Haruaki thought to himself. Fear's voice sounded very serious.

"Haruaki... I am afraid of screams. More precisely, the screams of those I feel close to. Which also applies to earlier, as soon as I wonder if I might begin remembering the past, or revealing my past appearance, I feel afraid."

"...If that little scream makes you afraid, it's rather troubling for me too, you know?"

"Just now that was... Because... What happened during the day made me a bit oversensitive. I'm a bit neurotic now... But, perhaps something similar could happen again in the future, so I have to say this first. Scared by a bug aside, but take today for example, if you were hurt by someone, screaming in true pain—perhaps I might really turn back into my old self."

"It's because... Of the screams you used to hear...?"

"Yes. There was once a boy who was responsible for taking care of me while I was still a tool. In the end, that boy's life was sacrificed because of me. Hearing your screams reminded me of that incident. Simply put, I started developing awareness of 'self' back then—though it was an insane self. Haha, I really have no right to mock that insane ape woman."

A laugh of self-mockery came from the other side of the glass.

"But now it's different, right? That's just a type of mental trauma, simply confused memories."

"Even so, I am still me. I have not felt any change in myself. Carrying the same curse, I have come here. Perhaps everything is simply my delusion. Hating the way I was, is my delusion. Perhaps deep down in my heart I might actually desire to murder people as a tool..."

Then silence. After a moment, Haruaki felt the glass behind him shake.

Turning to have a look, he saw a white and silver silhouette behind him. Fear too, was sitting with her back against the bathroom door. Separated by a sheet of frosted glass, they were sitting back to back.

The vague silver silhouette seemed to be directing her gaze upwards, causing the back of her head to strike the glass, making it shake slightly. This vibration must have been felt by Fear and transmitted to Haruaki at the same time. They were connected. Her body, his body, connected by this pane of glass.

The fact that this girl's truly heavy body was mere centimeters behind him—feeling this concretely, Haruaki felt rather uncomfortable. But Fear had yet to notice his feelings.

"...I am really cursed, really a dangerous existence. If you wish to abandon me, you have to do it now."

"Why... Do you have to say that?"

"Because I don't know, whether I have the right to stay here. Whether I have the right to lift the curse and be absolved of sin..."

Haruaki recalled of Konoha's reminder on the rooftop. That's right, whether the curse is lifted or not, had no direct relation with staying in this home.

The only thing related and should be done was—very simple. Because it was too matter-of-fact, hence it was likely that Fear had not realized it, being a non-human. In that case, he had to tell her himself.

"Say... Aren't you always so willful?"

"Wh... What!"

Haruaki sighed with a wry smile.

"Why can't you be willful in this particular matter? I don't remember saying anything about being eligible or not!"

"Eh?"

"It has nothing to do with having rights. If you like it here, then stay! This isn't a confessional where we receive remorse. How should I put it... More like a purification waterfall? Something like that. All monks in training are welcomed, none are refused! So whether you stay or not, depends on 'whether you want to stay or not.' You can make your decision entirely based on that."

Haruaki acknowledged her will and feelings. In the past, she was once a tool. Tools had no will of their own. No feelings. Tools existed because they were needed. In other words, existence in itself was all the acknowledgement they received. This also meant that up to this point, she had never been proactively acknowledged by others.

Fear fell into silence. For quite a while there was no sound or movement. End of conversation? Just as Haruaki was about to get up—his cold body shuddered and he had a great sneeze.

"...Hey. Ummm... You really... Caught a cold...?"

"Hmm? No, simply this place makes me so cold it's unbearable. Old houses tend to have crevices allowing drafts to blow all over the place... I'm not trying to hurry you, okay? But don't bathe for too long, be a bit more efficient and I will thank you. That warm place you're in right now can be considered heaven! To be frank, I'd like to enter the sooner the better."

His nose began to itch again—

"Hoo... Hah... Hah... Hah-choo! ...Ooh~ There we go!"

The instant he finished speaking, the feeling of the glass door against his back suddenly vanished.

"Uwah!" "Hey!"

Dragged into the bathroom, followed by a vigorous yell, Haruaki found his view completely dark. A wet towel was covering his eyes.

"Hey hey hey! What are you doing? Are you trying to kidnap me for a ransom, or are you playing some sort of feudal lord game<!--殿様遊び-->?"

"Sh... Shut up, stay still!"

"Telling me to stay still... Woah! Why are you unbuttoning my—!"

"Hmph... Hmph! I don't like owing favors! Just now you said that I was the reason you jumped into the sea. Yes, that's right, I am the reason! Any objections? It can't be helped, fine! Since I made trouble for you, let me do a little something to compensate! Aren't you cold! You want to take a bath soon? Very well then, I will help scrub your back right now! It's just an apology, only... An exception only for today! Don't you get the wrong idea!"

"No no no! You don't have to go so far!"

"Shut up and stop struggling! Hmph... Seriously... Clearly you're just a shameless brat...!"

How could he not struggle? This was quite a bad situation. But his shirt was pulled off as he twisted his body, making things worse. Haruaki was just about to stand up as a last ditch measure—

"Didn't I tell you to keep still...! Fine, since things have come to this, I will use brute force to make you submit!"

With great enthusiasm, Fear grabbed him from behind and immobilized him. There was an amazingly soft and supple feeling on his back, but Haruaki forbid himself to think about it! He could also feel a hand reaching for his pants—

"No—!"

Haruaki struggled harder. Somehow, he managed to escape from his restraints. In any case, he first tore off the object covering his eyes in order to find the exit, but his entire view was still obstructed by something white in color. Unable to see anything, he was confused for an instant, but he still turned around frantically. Just as he stood up—

"You two... What are you doing?"

Konoha was standing in the changing area.

Smiling.

But in a rather terrifying manner.
[[image:C3 01-165.jpg|thumb]]

Haruaki calmly assessed the situation. Behind him, Fear was completely naked. That was only nature, seeing as this was the bathroom. But for some reason, he was present as well. Due to the struggle, he was also panting heavily, with his face most likely all red, his upper torso naked, and his pants halfway—how should one put it, all the elements for a classic misunderstanding were present.

"Hmm~ If you're asking what we were doing—"

Fear's voice came from behind. Because Haruaki dared not look back, he could only try to transmit his thoughts to her: Please, I will rely on you to clear up the situation.

"I guess I could put it this way... For the sake of returning a favor. But all I can give is this body... To be honest, I'm totally embarrassed as well, but I owe him, so there's no other way."

"Hey! Why do you have to pick words that would cause misunderstandings?!"

Konoha's body began to tremble audibly. The intimidating smile remained on her face.

"Hmm? What misunderstanding? Because this is my first time, perhaps I can't do it very well... But I am really offering my body in earnest, trying to make you feel comfortable! A-Actually I'm not completely willing, but for the sake of apologizing it can't be helped—besides, you were the one who started it by what you said!"

"Why is the list of words causing misunderstandings piling up?! What did I say exactly?"

"Something like... 'Unbearable' 'I'd like to enter the sooner the better' 'Your' 'Warm place' 'Huhahaha'... I can't remember all of it, but that's the summary of it. After saying that—you struggled violently, and came in here—then it became like this. No objections, right?"

"Plenty of objections! Your way of summarizing is too outrageous!"

"Ah... Ah..."

Konoha's expression suddenly collapsed and one could almost hear a snap.

"Uwaaaaah! Too... Too indecent—!"

Covering her face with her hands, clearly in great shock, she ran away just like that.

As Haruaki slumped his shoulders in dejection, Fear spoke from behind him in puzzlement:

"Doesn't she understand the meaning of taking a bath? Why would entering the bathroom be indecent?"