Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume1 Epilogue (section)

===Part 2===

A couple dozen of minutes prior to Konoha freezing from an unexpected sight—



"So it turns out to be something like this...!"

The instant he saw the vulnerable cube sitting in the center of the room, Haruaki collapsed on his knees upon the tatami.

"W-What? Why are you suddenly so dispirited?"

"No... Nothing, I'm just feeling exhausted. Just now I was definitely weird... What now? Isn't it a rare sight to have you in this form, what is this about?"

Haruaki patted the cube which was making sounds from who knows where as he knelt down before her.

"Wah! Don't touch so carelessly... Wait, never mind. Like I said, I am really unwilling to do this... But since you've already seen this form once already, I have a request for you."

"It has to be done in this form?"

"Yes. About the matter of the Indulgence Disk over there."

The black metallic card was found on the side without requiring any searching. Haruaki picked it up.

"I seem to... Recall something about it. It feels like... I remember something about it."

"Really? So, what needs to be done?"

Fear hesitated then spoke loudly as if she finally made a decision:

"L-Listen well, I am really embarrassed... Very embarrassed, you know! You have to be mindful of that while you act!"

"Right, so what do I have to do?"

"Mmm... Hmm. First... Turn me over, and make the current side on the base face that direction."

Although Haruaki had no idea what this was about, he did as told anyway. Grabbing Fear's corners on top, he mustered his strength and rotated the dense and heavy cube by one quarter of a revolution.

"Hey, be more careful with your movements!"

"Yes~ Yes~"

The base was now shifted to face sideways. Haruaki bent down to examine it but found it indistinguishable from the other faces of the cube. Just a black surface with tiny seams.

"Ooh... Ooooh... This feels as if someone was peeking underneath my skirt..."

"I thought you've never experienced peeking before?"

"I-I know what it's like, shut up! Hmph! Stop being so sluggish—Next, there should be a circular component on your upper right, push it in. Push the whole thing in."

"Yes."

"While keeping it depressed, pull out the exact center of the left side. The spot that looks like a 'C'—Yes, that's right."

Clang—accompanied by a faint sound, a portion of the cube sprung out. As seen before, the inside was filled with screws and gears in various combinations, forming a complicated inner structure.

"T-Then take that cylinder and spin it three revolutions towards the right... Wah, idiot, spin it slower! Seriously... Hmm... Haah... Next, slide the lower right portion out—Ah... Hoo..."

Haruaki followed Fear's instructions as he operated the cube's mechanisms step by step. Throughout the process, these instructions were mixed with sighs of unknown meaning. It really was quite a tough job.

"Then pull the lower cover up. Inside you should find a slender component, pushing it horizontally—"

"Yes~ Yes~"

"—Is strictly forbidden."

"Gah! A knife just flew out!"

Haruaki frantically withdrew his hand. The fright almost shaved a few years of his life.

"Listen carefully until I'm done! Moving it horizontally is very dangerous, so you have to move it vertically!"

"Stop wording things so misleadingly! I almost lost four fingers!"

"...Hmph. Serves you right for rudely playing with my body..."

"But it's you who asked me to do this..."

In any case, on of the cube's faces had been opened by Haruaki, exposing its complicated interior. The tedious steps made him rather exhausted, so he started to flex his fingers to take a break midway. At this time, Fear murmured and asked:

"Say—What is your opinion?"

"Opinion on what?"

"...What you see before you. Stained by bloodshed, unimaginably filthy. Even if unseen, it is filled with uncleanliness—fully cursed. You... Would you feel disgusted?"

"Hmm—" Haruaki crossed his arms and spoke as if it were no big deal, sounding like he was recalling a memory:

"Speaking of which, isn't there a guy called Taizou? The really noisy guy in school. He really loves plastic models. I think you must have seen it, the Taizou zone he established behind the classroom, where he keeps several dozen—"

"...What does that have to do with anything? Is it related to me in some way?"

"I have no particular interest in plastic models... However, boys in general, there is a fraction of them that thinks that stuff like models and machinery are really cool—Yes. The more complicated, the more their eyes glow in admiration, thinking it is super cool. Boys are that kind of creature. Whether missiles, tanks... Or strange metal boxes, that is how they feel."

Fear fell silent. Probably not displeased silence—thought Haruaki.

"Then, what's the next step?"

"Hmm? Ah, right. N-Next is the final step. That's right, the final... Ahhh!"

Fear suddenly returned to a stammering state. What remained were the locked metal plates on top and on the two sides. Following her instructions, Haruaki operated and opened them like the chairs in a cinema—

"Ah... Ahhhh... Seen... It's seen... This place that no one has ever seen before..."

"This is—"

Neatly arranged inside were rows of slender slits. Four columns. Eight rows. Almost all of them were empty on first glance. Bringing his face close to examine carefully, Haruaki found two or three slits already occupied.

"Ah! Hmm... I can feel the breath from your nose, it tickles... D-Dummy! Hey, Haruaki!"

"Eh? Ah... Hmm, sorry. These... Could it really be..."

"That's right. Although I don't understand the meaning behind it, I sort of get it. I believe that disk was once kept here. So... Put it back inside."

"Is this really okay? I don't see any buttons for taking them out. Once it's in, it probably can't be taken out easily?"

"N-No problem. Probably. I just feel that it must be inserted no matter what... D-Do you understand? Which is why I can't do it alone. This is the deepest part of my body, and cannot be opened by my own will... Turning into this form, I can only request others to insert it. Okay, hurry and put it in! Just insert it anywhere! Simply being watched like this, is very embarrassing..."

"Sorry, I can't understand anything here except for your sense of embarrassment... Anyway, fine, I'm going to put it in then... Once it's inserted, who knows if your curse will be weakened?"

"No idea. But at least I don't have any ominous feeling, so it should be fine."

Since she said that, there was no choice, hence Haruaki picked up the black chip, and maintained his kneeling posture to approach Fear's slits. Then he arbitrarily picked a position to insert—