Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume2 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 2===

The lunch break had arrived. A finished lunchbox on the table before him, Haruaki was currently sipping tea from a water bottle.

"Hmm—Is this really okay? Somehow it feels like things progressed too smoothly..."

"Is that any cause for you to complain? Drinking tea in peace is happiness, didn't you used to say that all the time?"

"That's right. Besides, it's not like nothing happened, right? This morning there was quite a commotion, eh?"

As usual, Taizou and Kana offered their commentary after they finished lunch together.

Prompted by Kana, Haruaki recalled the scene this morning. Wondering how the class would receive Fear, Haruaki's focus was fixated on Fear more nervously than any test or examination.

"Uh—umm, my name is Fear Cubrick... Pleased... Pleased to meet you?"

Her greeting strangely turned into a question. The whole classroom was instantly filled with amazed exclamations of "Wow!" and applause.

"Fear-chan, nice to meet you too! I'm really happy to see you again!"

"Can we be together all the way until graduation?"

"Have you decided which club to join? If you're free, I can give a tour of the track and field club..."

"Hey, stop stealing a march on others! The soccer club currently has no manager! How's that!?"

"No manager!? You mean I'm fired?"

"Tennis club... Those fluttering and really short tennis skirts..."

"Idiot, she should come to the archery club instead! The hakama—think about the massive contrasting effect! Ah! Simply imagining it is...!"

"W-Wait a minute, I can't hear everything clearly. What? Who should I answer? Stop speaking all at once!"

"...!" "...?" "......!"

That was how it went.

Haruaki looked helplessly into the distance.

"Yeah, what a great commotion... Nothing gets more excessive than that..."

"See? So why are you complaining?"

"I mean, what happened afterwards seemed a bit too natural... Whether you guys or the other students, why are you all acting so nonchalant as if Fear had always been a part of the class? And to think I was so worried earlier, it really makes me seem like a fool!"

"There's nothing to worry about. Her Japanese is perfect, also she is just so~ cute, there's no problem at all! Wow... I never expected to be sharing classes with a girl like that! Akki, good job!"

As Kana said the words "so~ cute," she embraced Fear who was eating beside her and started rubbing their faces together.

"So hot and stuffy, get away from me!"

"Awww, don't be so cold, Fear-chan... I love you...!"

Despite Fear's efforts to push her away, Kana seemed to be deliberately pressing even closer. Clearly she was quite enjoying it. As for why Fear was the only one still eating, that was because Kana and Taizou kept giving her food as if treating her as some kind of pet, thus delaying her from finishing.

"Hmmmm... This adaptability is really overdone—you do realize that the one who transferred in is this sort of weirdo, I hope? Normally, shouldn't you get close more gradually?"

"Chew chew. Yeah, I'm sorry for being a weirdo."

As Fear glared at Haruaki, Taizou hastily comforted her:

"Nothing like that, Fear! The weirdo is definitely Haruaki! Being foreign and a beauty to boot, that can only constitute appeal. Calling you weird is wrong! Seriously... Haruaki, don't say such strange things! It's not like getting along quickly is a bad thing!"

"I second what Taizou says! Besides, this isn't our first time meeting so getting along this way is normal! Just that we never expected we could still see her in school, so there was surprise at first. If you knew about this, why didn't you tell us earlier?"

"...How would I have known? It was a sudden decision."

In actual fact, Fear's situation was like a transfer student's second day at school. Even though Haruaki did consider things turning out this way, which made it easier to accept—But still, it went too smoothly, and was therefore surprising.

(That said, this isn't actually anything bad. But somehow I feel like the risk of Fear exposing her secrets may have become higher... But I already warned her yesterday. Anyway, I can't keep worrying forever so there's not much I can do but keep a closer watch?)

While Haruaki engaged in self-suggestion in his thoughts, Kana and Taizou continued their conversation.

"Speaking of surprise, doesn't it feel like the teachers are all acting different from before?"

"Yeah that's right. Could they be feeling nervous? Yoshimura's stale jokes are more frequent than usual, while Sasaki kept glancing furtively at Fear-chan from the corner of his eye... By the way, Himura was also uncharacteristically smiling on purpose?"

Himura was the mathematics teacher whose face was always obscured by his long hair and always mumbled gloomily when he spoke. Nickednamed the «Ghost»—For someone like that to be smiling, clearly the sight of Fear reading the textbook intently was quite smile-inducing.

"Fear-chan, now that you've had a few classes, how do you feel about them?"

Chewing the sandwich prepared by Haruaki, Fear answered:

"Well... Even though English is very boring to me, I can understand what's being taught in history and biology so that's kind of interesting. If all it takes is memorizing it all, it's really too easy. But taking notes is annoying. Reading Japanese is okay, but I'm still not used to writing it."

"Eh!? It can't be... Fear-chan, you're actually the type who's great at studying? I'm sorry but to be honest, I don't get any of the lectures at all! I had hoped for another fellow comrade with failing marks, nooooo~!"

"Don't cry, Kana, I'm the same... I don't get anything either! You won't have to go to after school supplementary lessons alone!"

"Ah... Taizou!" "Comrades!"

The two bumped elbows together.

I really hope these two's poor influence doesn't rub off on Fear—just as Haruaki observed coldly he was suddenly reminded:

"Right, we originally planned to go say hi during lunch... Fear, we're going to the superintendent's office once you finish eating."

"Yeah, that's right. It's not really right for me to not even know the face of the person who helped me so much."

"...Strictly speaking, I don't know what the superintendent looks like either..."

"...? Whatever, I'm done. Let's go!"

After informing Taizou and Kana, Haruaki and Fear left the classroom—"Woah! I was just about to call you two." They ran into Konoha immediately in the corridor. Then—

"Ah, Ueno-san, good afternoon."

"Hello, why is everyone gathered together?"

The one on her way back to the classroom was the class representative who had revealed her secrets to Haruaki's group earlier—Ueno Kirika. After their customary cooking duel concluded with the usual result, she had finished her lunch first and stepped out, presumably off to the washroom or somewhere.

She suddenly turned towards Haruaki and their gazes met. Without saying anything, Haruaki immediately averted his gaze. Rather than ignoring her... This happened naturally. They had also greeted each other normally in the morning. But—

(She did tell me to feign ignorance, but... No matter what, it just doesn't feel natural.)

To be honest, Haruaki did had many questions he wanted to ask. About herself, regarding the future, as well as the "enemy" she had taken away to handle—

But he had promised her not to pursue the matter any further. Kirika's only wish was to "continue living a normal school life." To Haruaki, she was a precious friend and classmate, so "I can't fulfill your wish" was not an option.

Still, he could not stop feeling awkward in his heart. Despite the fact that only a little acting was required, it felt like their entire relationship was now shrouded under pretense, completely unnatural—extremely unsettling and unbearable.

"Are you showing her around the school again?"

"Nope, just going to greet the superintendent."

"I see. Yachi, you have to act as a proper escort! That guy—I do believe he is a good person at heart, but his appearance is truly bizarre to the extreme. Don't let Fear mistake him for a pervert and attack!"

I'm not that violent—just as Fear protested completely unconvincingly, Haruaki deliberately forced a smile--but taking care to hide the pretense—and answered:

"Wow, nonchalantly delivering such a harsh comment, Class Rep."

"Really?"

Kirika smiled lightly. Her smile was so natural that it carried not the slightest falseness of pre-established harmony.<ref>'''Pre-established harmony''': a reference to Leibniz's ''Monadology'' which theorizes that all substances (including minds and bodies) casually interact with one another because God programmed harmony in advance.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pre-established_harmony]</ref>

Haruaki knew she only had good intentions but still felt lonely from the sense she was maintaining her distance. But it could not be helped, since this was her wish—Just as Haruaki thought to himself—

"By the way, seeing all of us gathered here reminds me. Kirika, that crazy woman yesterday, what happened to her—"

"Heya!"

Hastily sealing Fear's lips before she could ruin all his efforts, Haruaki grabbed her and turned around, forming a barrier with his back between Kirika and Fear.

"Hey you, didn't we agree earlier, this kind of topic is forbidden...!?"

"Pwah! Listen here... Stop stuffing my mouth shut all the time! Do you really have that kind of fetish? As soon as you see an orifice on a woman's body, you feel compelled to shove something inside? In that case, I have my solution to that!"

"Uwah! Ouch, stop biting! Jeez... Your saliva is making my fingers all sticky..."

"Hmph... Tastes terrible. Season it properly with soy sauce next time!"

"You're going to bite again!?"

"Seriously you two, stop making a ruckus in the hallway... Let's go, we don't have much time left."

At this moment--

"Pu... Hahaha!"

Behind them, Kirika could apparently suppress her laughter no longer.

"Haha, how should I put this... You guys are really quite something, still acting the same. And to think I was so tense, completely like a fool—Hoho. Absolutely ridiculous..."

"Class Rep?"

"N-Nothing. Aren't you heading to the superintendent's office? Hurry, there's not much time remaining."

Time was definitely tight. As Haruaki turned around to continue on his way, he heard a voice from behind:

"Just mindless gossip—The balancing toy has already been handed over for safekeeping. Although it is not a place I can interfere, at least she won't be violently mistreated there. Don't worry."

"Eh?"

Haruaki hurriedly looked back. Somehow he got the impression that Kirika winked momentarily at him as she walked into the classroom.