Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume2 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 1===

Even though Haruaki and his group had no idea what was going on, at least it was clear this was no time to be casually attending class. Skipping the lessons in the afternoon, they rushed out of the school, making their way towards the Shiraho address obtained from the health survey earlier. Since the location was in the neighboring town, their first destination was the station.

"Hey, what's going on? Isn't that girl Sovereignty?"

"I don't get it either...! But she's the one depicted in Shiraho's photo, that's absolutely certain!"

"Then Yachi, supposing the person in the photo is 'the true Shiraho,' then naturally there exists someone else as the 'true doll,' right?"

This was obvious, and the most likely candidate was&mdash;

Haruaki looked at Fear running beside him. Supposing that was true, had this girl not realized it?

(No... It was also possible.)

He recalled back when Konoha was scrutinizing the mask the superintendent handed over to her. Even cursed tools like her and Fear had no certain method of discerning other cursed tools and only relied on intuition. In that case, through accomplished acting skills, it was possible to deceive them&mdash;

"Didn't I mention, there were other minor points of suspicion? Perhaps they may end up being trivial, but I find them bothering."

Having reached the station, Kirika spoke as they went up the stairs. She held down her skirt firmly&mdash;in order to prevent others from seeing what was strictly concealed.

"Which points?"

"Suspicious points regarding her movements. A student who did not attend class coming to school to search for a doll. Even if we take this for granted, then&mdash;Why didn't she visit the superintendent's office as soon as she came to school? Why was she loitering outside the dressmaking room during the lunch break?"

"Uwah! There's this thing blocking my path!"

Haruaki had given Fear the train ticket earlier but then he recalled he had not taught her how to use it. Rescuing Fear who was stuck and struggling in the ticket turnstile, Haruaki nodded to the surprised station staff as they rushed towards the platform, sliding in the train just as it arrived.

"Hoo... Hah... Now that you mention it, Class Rep, that is quite true."

Being one station away, the trip to their destination only offered brief respite to catch their breaths. Perhaps because it was in the middle of the day, the train was rather empty. The trio sat side by side on a bench.

"But don't you find it strange? After all, Shiraho was wearing a uniform on her first day."

"That doll&mdash;The doll-like girl was wearing a fluttering outfit, on the other hand."

"You guys did mention that. In that case, it does make the photo the point of inconsistency instead&mdash;But then again, let me ask a question. Does anyone know what the doll was wearing when it was first delivered?"

"No..."

Since no one had opened the case after it was delivered to the superintendent's office, then no one witnessed it. The only person who knew would be Shiraho who saw the doll before it was stuffed into the suitcase.

"But simply wearing casual clothes does not imply she is the doll. Conversely the same."

"Mmm... So, does that mean she dressed the doll in a uniform from the very start? Is that possible?"

The train slowed down. Getting up and grabbing the hanging ring-shaped handhold, Kirika said:

"Hard to say. After some contemplation, my conclusion is&mdash;the doll was not wearing clothes when first brought here."

"How would you know?"

"Just a hypothesis. I simply recalled suddenly... During the first term, didn't we have home economics lessons in the dressmaking room? Back then, there was one time I had to enter the preparation room to do something. I remember seeing a female uniform inside there. I'm not sure if it was supposed to be used for a class or left behind as a souvenir by a crafts club alumnus&mdash;In any case, uniforms can also be easily obtained in school."

As soon as the train stopped, they rushed out onto the platform.

They had just exited the station when Kirika said "Please wait for me briefly" and ran into a convenience store. Several seconds later, she returned with a map she bought. Confirming the copied address on the map, Haruaki and his group started running again.

"B-But isn't that a little contrived&mdash;It's just your own speculation, right?"

"Of course it's just speculation. In addition, finding socks and indoor shoes would also required a certain amount of luck, not to mention a set of underwear... But then again, the lack of underwear isn't so easily seen, so that's not a problem."

Haruaki exclaimed in surprise in his thoughts. Beneath that drenched uniform, what had he seen?

He then recalled several things. Her awkward smile when confessing she did not even have enough money for a cup of juice. If Kirika's hypothesis was correct, then her purse was not simply in a pinch, she was completely penniless instead. Also when exiting the school building after discovering the bronze statue, she was quite sluggish in getting to the front steps. Was she looking for the right size shoes&mdash;

"..."

The conversation gradually trailed off as they ran as fast as they could. In order to obtain answers&mdash;

Finally they arrived. Opposite to their destination was an old fashioned confectionery store. Dumping the map into the trash can in front of the store, Kirika spoke:

"Now that we are here, it'd be useless to agonize over unanswered questions. Let's hurry and get answers directly from the one who actually knows, okay?"

"I agree completely, Kirika. If... Yeah, if our current speculation is correct&mdash;I want to question her directly."

Fear bowed her head slightly, expressing her reluctance to accept the speculation.

Haruaki felt the same. If possible, he did not wish to believe. But they had no choice but to confirm.

"The problem is whether she's really here..."

This was a town that was somewhat remote from the city center. Neither residential nor commercial entirely, it felt like people simply built tea houses or laundry stores here and there on whim.

The antique shop building had two stories and seemed to act as both shop and home. The front was divided in half between the shuttered storefront and a normal entryway. The shop's name on the worn out sign was completely unreadable, so it would probably have been futile if they tried to ask for directions using the shop's name.

"Okay, let's go! Press the doorbell! If no one answers, let's crash through the door!"

"Yeah right, not allowed!"

Haruaki pressed down firmly on Fear's head. This little child could not be left unsupervised for even an instant&mdash;Once again he was reminded of this fact.

"Although we have no idea what's the situation on the other side, do you really think she'll come out obediently with a press of the doorbell? Even if she's inside, your doing so would be equivalent to screaming at her to flee!"

"Indeed, it would be troublesome if approaching straight from the front causes a commotion. This place is quite conspicuous&mdash;Let's go around the back first?"

Mmm&mdash;despite whining in protest, Fear did not voice her objections.

Squeezing between walls to make their way to the back, they found a spacious clearing large enough for kids to play baseball. This soft grassland, filled with weeds, must have been cultivated as farmland once. Tall and towering trees surrounded this space like a fence, so there was no need to worry about seen by neighboring residents.

Kirika looked up towards the back of the Shiraho residence.

"Let's clarify our aims. I'm going to state this plainly. It is very likely that the girl you've been treating as Shiraho is actually the true «Sovereignty Perfection Doll»."

"I admit... Indeed that's quite likely."

"As much as I don't want to believe it, the circumstances leave me no choice but to consider the possibility. Seriously&mdash;that Cow Tits said something about seeing a boy, isn't that completely off!?"

"But the fact that 'it was a student' is consistent. Regardless, even though we don't understand the whole situation, this does mean that the two of them cooperated to deceive you guys. Don't be surprised if you're attacked on sight, so be careful... Okay, just for the sake of caution, let's enter from the window? Things cannot progress until we start investigating from the home."

Kirika pointed to the window on the second floor's verandah where lowered curtains prevented them from seeing inside. The silver hair bobbed up and down&mdash;

"I have no objections."

"Hmm, I guess there's no other way... But how are we getting up there?"

Kirika answered by extending a black belt from her right sleeve&mdash;the «Tragic Black River».

"Got it. Thanks. Oh but she's quite heavy, will it be alright? It could break, you know&mdash;"

"Y-You! What are you saying!? I-I'm fine, I can jump over this height easily! Rather, I'm sure even if Kirika helped me up there she won't feel burdened or troubled at all, but I just want to save her effort, that's all!"

"Woah, don't be so loud! If you jump and end up wrecking the verandah then we'd really have a problem! We must enter discreetly&mdash;"

Or else it would be meaningless&mdash;But just as Haruaki was about to finish his sentence...

His words became completely redundant.

They heard the acute sound of something breaking and shattering coming from the interior of the house. Furthermore, it sounded like the source was the room they were looking at. Signs of alarm instantly appeared on everyone's face&mdash;

"There's no time to waste on talking&mdash;Haruaki, I'm going to jump!"

"Wait... Don't use the princess carry!"

"&mdash;«Tragic Black River»!"

Fear picked up Haruaki and leaped, causing the verandah to creak as if about to shatter. Entangling the railing on the verandah with the black belt from her arm, Kirika rose through the air like a bilboquet,<ref>'''Bilboquet''': the ''kendama''(剣玉) is a traditional Japanese toy similar to the classic cup-and-ball game.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bilboquet]</ref> performing a somersault in midair and landing on the verandah.

The glass window was not locked. Rushing into the room at once, they were met with the sight of&mdash;

"...Eh?"

It was beyond their understanding.

Completely counter to predictions.

No amount of prediction could have expected this.

On various levels, it was completely mind boggling.

The room was dimly lit. A shattered vase lay on the floorboards in the depths of the room, near two figures.

"Cough... Ack...!"

Sovereignty&mdash;or rather, the true Shiraho, her face so exquisite it almost seemed artificial, was suspended with her feet in the air, pressed against the wall. Someone's hand was choking her by the neck. Only now did Haruaki witness for the first time a human expression of suffering on Shiraho's face. The front of her usual outfit was slightly open, revealing a shoulder as white as porcelain.

And the one committing attempted murder against her&mdash;

A handsome youth with a feminine face. A strange youth. An inexplicable youth.

He was wearing a short skirt, dressed in a female uniform. His shirt was unbuttoned, exposing a loose and almost falling brassiere as well as a flat chest&mdash;

The youth's left hand was strangling Shiraho's throat. The two of them were pressed so closely together, they almost seemed locked in embrace. As for his right hand, it was positioned as if caressing her chin. With a flash, Haruaki witnessed a cold sharp blade emerge from his palm as if cutting open his right hand&mdash;
[[image:C3 02-196.jpg|thumb]]

"Not yet, still no good... Still... It's okay... Rather... Please, stop... Stop...!"

The youth bowed his head and kept repeating these words as if about to vomit blood from agonizing sorrow.

Haruaki was the only one who stood in shock. Without seeking to understand the situation, the other two sprang into action.

"Mechanism No.8 crushing type, circular form: «Breaking Wheel of Francia», Curse Calling!"

"«Tragic Black River»!"

The thrown breaking wheel. The extending strangling belt.

Only then did the youth became aware of the intruders, suddenly leaping away from Shiraho. The belt struck his former position while the breaking wheel crashed into the wall behind, cracking it. Shiraho coughed violently and collapsed to the floor.

Fear and Kirika pulled back their weapons. The youth wrapped his arms around himself. Head bowed, the eyes visible beneath his dangling hair displayed a hollow gaze.

"Ah... Ooh... A-Ah... T-Thank you... to you all..."

These words were also incomprehensible.

Fear gripped her retrieved breaking wheel in a stance and glared sternly as she asked:

"&mdash;Who are you?"

"Eh... You don't recognize me looking like this...? Well then&mdash;"

Whispering, the youth suddenly placed his hands on his chest and moved them around as if groping something.

With a series of brief breaths, in the next instant, his chest began to expand.

"Wha...!"

"Massaging them makes them bigger... Just like I said..."

Then he stuffed his chest into the mispositioned bra. Grabbing his head with both hands, he tugged at his hair&mdash;without tearing it off. Instead, the hair simply extended smoothly.

Standing there was no longer a youth but something with female form.

Up until now, the one Haruaki and the rest had called Sakuramairi Shiraho&mdash;

«Sovereignty Perfection Doll».

Her expression was unlike any she had displayed in the past. There was neither the airheaded shyness nor the forced smile. Currently, her face only expressed bottomless gloom and emptiness.

"Shiraho&mdash;or rather, you're really Sovereignty... Right? You're actually...! What is going on!?"

"Correct... I am the «Sovereignty Perfection Doll». Perfection is perfect, hence perfection. I am the doll created for the purpose of fulfilling the owner's desires&mdash;Since it is impossible to know beforehand the owner's gender, as a doll of perfection it is only natural that I possess functions for accommodating both. Since my original form resembles a human greatly, therefore when I take human form I still retain the taboo ability of gender alteration."

That was how she was created&mdash;She explained.

Both a male and a female doll at the same time.

Created only for the purpose of fulfilling human desires&mdash;

Androgynous.

"That's not what I'm asking you about! What were you doing? Last time when you encouraged me you were lying to me&mdash;Were you deceiving me!? Why!?"

Fake Shiraho&mdash;Sovereignty trembled slightly. Covering her lowered face with her left palm, she spoke in a slightly hoarse voice:

"Lying... Yes, I deceived you. That is the truth. How rare... To make a friend... But, but...!"

Haruaki did not understand completely, but he could not let himself stand there in shock indefinitely.

"Sovereignty... May I call you that? We won't harm you, so please just tell us the full story. About swapping identities, absorbing life force, as well as what you were doing to her just now..."

"No..."

She forced herself as if vomiting her words.

"...No. My... curse... does not actually drain life force... W-What I am compelled to do is..."

She turned her head in fright to gaze at the girl sitting collapsed on the floor.

"Sovereignty&mdash;"

"...A-Ahhhhhh...!"

As they gazed at each other, Shiraho called out that name while Sovereignty bent over to hold down her own hand. From her hand, the blade that only emerged halfway earlier began to fully extend with a series of creaking sounds&mdash;

"...Ah! It's already... No good... Stop it!"

Sovereignty suddenly turned and ran away from the door in Shiraho's direction, towards the window where Haruaki and the rest had entered.

Faced with the sudden attack, Fear reflexively threw the wheel, but Sovereignty bent herself low and ducked under it. With a hollow expression as if suppressing pain and on the verge of tears, she approached Haruaki who was standing behind Fear.

"Wait, please stop, can't we just talk&mdash;"

"Get out of the way... You're in danger if you don't move aside...!"

Haruaki did not even have the to go "Eh?" and ponder.

Sovereignty's bladed right hand was fast approaching like martial arts palm strike. This is bad, I'm definitely gonna be stabbed and it looks painful! Eh? Something is pulling me... "Yachi!" Falling over, he found someone standing in his place, only to have her chest violently violated by that blade&mdash;

"Guaah!"

Sovereignty's eyes wavered for an instant, but then she immediately withdrew her blade from Kirika's chest and rushed out the window.

"K-Kirika! Hang on there!"

"Class Rep!"

Too occupied to chase after Sovereignty, Haruaki frantically rushed over to Kirika's side. The bleeding was very severe due to the blade piercing the center of her chest, most likely injuring her heart&mdash;Desperately suppressing the tumultuous thoughts that seemed to almost explode from his skull, Haruaki decided to stop the bleeding first and tore open her uniform.

Only to find her wound regenerating as if time was rewinding&mdash;

Counter to the laws of nature, her flesh began to close up. The warm liquid gushing from the long incision was slowly recalled back into the body, granting greater visibility to the throbbing pink hole. Until the wound recovered completely, the exceptional healing ability persisted nonstop&mdash;

"Ack... Don't... worry. You forgot? I cannot die, because of this."

"Oh yeah... Now that you mention it, that's right. Because it was too sudden, I went into a panic. But..."

"But it still hurts, right? Kirika, don't speak and rest first."

Kirike wore beneath her clothes a bondage style outfit&mdash;«Gimestorante's Love». Cursed with instant death to the wearer upon disrobement, this was a Wathe that healed all external injuries as long as it was worn.

Haruaki had witnessed its effects before. Nevertheless, upon seeing a girl he knew lying on the floor as she bled, he was unable to stop worrying until she recovered. On an emotional level, he could not dispel his unease...

As Haruaki stared unerringly for the wound to heal, Kirika spoke hesitantly:

"Y-Yachi&mdash;My wound will finish healing in an instant. Perhaps to you this might not be anything unusual, but... Umm... Personally to me... It felt like someone had stripped off my clothes to peek at my underwear..."

"Eh? Uwah, I'm really sorry!"

With her uniform torn open, vast areas of her skin was exposed, although her breasts were barely covered by the erotic bondage suit. Haruaki frantically turned his gaze away.

"I'm glad that Kirika will be fine... So, you're the real Shiraho? I have many questions for you."

Fear spoke up. Still sitting on the ground, Shiraho looked up at her. After biting her lip for a moment, she quietly said with a seemingly inorganic voice:

"I too, have a question."

"What is it?"

"Will you kill Sovereignty?"

Shiraho's gaze turned to Fear's wheel of torture. Truly ominous, truly frightening, a simple glance was enough to ascertain&mdash;That was a tool created for murder, and in actual fact, it had indeed slain numerous victims. A painful mechanism meant to inflict pain.

Fear and Haruaki exchanged glances silently. The answer was obvious and needed no words to explain.

But before these two could say anything in response, as if these few short seconds were unbearable, Shiraho bowed her head and with a weak and trembling voice, pleaded from the depths of her heart&mdash;

"I beg you, please don't kill Sovereignty!"

"Hmph, that's a really weird thing for you to say. Even disregarding our opinion for a second, you do remember you were almost killed, right? Wouldn't most people feel fear or hate instead?"

"I don't. Because there are extenuating circumstances."

"What circumstances?"

"...Sovereignty's curse. Just as she said, it does not steal life force from others. That is simply a forced application of her 'normal ability.' The true curse of the Sovereignty Perfection Doll is&mdash;"

Shiraho clenched the carpet in her fist.

"«To cause the owner to love her unto death»."



Standing before Shiraho as she sat on the ground, Haruaki extended his hand.

"We won't kill her. I promise you, as a fellow human. Therefore&mdash;please tell us the details."

"...I have deceived you all. Except for one thing."

Smack! She swatted away the hand in front of her.

"I hate humans, human. Even if you say it so easily, I do not believe you."

Glared at by her starry eyes, Haruaki shrank back slightly.

"Then let me say it&mdash;I won't kill her. As her fellow cursed tool, I promise you. So please tell us the details."

This time it was Fear who extended her hand. With mild surprise, Shiraho stared at her.

"...You really mean it?"

"Yes, I really mean it, human."

Fear grabbed Shiraho's hand forcefully and pulled her to to her feet. Smooth as doll's, hers was a warm human hand.

Shiraho's eyes seemed to be saying&mdash;Don't you dare deceive me.

(Ah I see&mdash;She really doesn't want that doll to die.)

Fear suddenly thought to herself.

Why doesn't she want someone who almost killed her to die?

Incomprehensible.

Consequently, Fear wondered if the answer lay in one of those terms she was likewise unable to comprehend.

Indeed, the circumstances brought up by Shiraho included something Fear had yet to understand&mdash;

&mdash;The word known as love.