Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 2===

Suddenly spoken to, Shiraho naturally received quite a fright. Faced with the fact of the matter before her eyes, she had no choice but to accept. Since the doll would be eventually sold off if displayed in the shop, she had an argument with her father at one point and even unilaterally took Sovereignty back to her room to make it her own possession. Henceforth, Shiraho and Sovereignty developed a confiding relationship as friends. Occasionally, Sovereignty would make other dolls move to amuse Shiraho, but she never recounted her past or the process with which she became human, hence Shiraho had no idea of such details&mdash;

While listening to Shiraho's whispered explanations, Haruaki walked along the quiet hallways while class was in progress.

As his ears listened to her voice, his eyes were focused on searching for Sovereignty.

Was there anything moving in the hallways?

Was there anything hiding in the shadows?

Anything unusual going on?

He did not wish to see more victims. Neither could he allow any further victims to appear. Hence they had to capture Sovereignty as soon as possible. If she were still within the school, the opportunity must not be lost&mdash;

"Then a few days ago... The sound of us conversing in my room was discovered. Sovereignty hastily pretended to be just a doll, but my father was not fooled. He declared that buying this thing was a mistake and that he will leave Sovereignty at a friend's place, so he took her away forcefully&mdash;From that day on, she never came back. Afterwards... Because I was busy handling funeral affairs from my father's sudden passing due to a flare up of his illness..."

"Yes."

"I was finally free today. Finding out about my father's friends and acquaintances from relatives at the funeral, I wondered if the person to whom my father entrusted Sovereignty was our school's superintendent. Sovereignty and I are friends, so I must find her... Wah!"

"Wah?"

Turning back, Haruaki found Shiraho crouched down, trembling as she held her shin in pain... The apparent culprit was the water cooler in the hallway.

"...S-Sorry, I didn't watch where I was going&mdash;Yah!"

Just as she forced a smile and stood up, she stepped on the dispensing pedal. The resulting spurt of water made the front of her uniform all wet.

"Uwah&mdash;all wet..."

"...!"

The drenched uniform clung tightly to her figure, displaying convex curves which surpassed Fear but inferior to Konoha. Furthermore, there were no obstructions in the outline from her collarbone down to her chest, thus presenting a perfectly curved surface, this undoubted meant&mdash;

(S-She's... Wearing nothing but the uniform...?)

Haruaki could not help but gulped hard. Suddenly he was elbowed in the flank. Fear, who had been watching the surroundings alertly, was now glaring at Haruaki and Shiraho severely.

"What are you two doing? Completely laid back! Finding out about the past is fine, but you've got to focus on finding that doll!"

"S-Sorry! I panic too easily..."

Hmph&mdash;Fear snorted and forcefully threw open the cleaning cupboard in the hallway to check inside.

The only one laid back is Shiraho&mdash;Haruaki protested in his mind as he turned his attention to the surroundings. He could vaguely hear the sound of class in progress inside the neighboring classroom, so there would be no point in checking. Dividing up, Haruaki searched the male washroom while the girls checked the female side separately. No discoveries either.

"Looks like this floor is done... Let's check the one below."
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Swiftly descending down to the next floor, Fear seemed quite concerned about the matter.

"So you came to find the doll that was taken away&mdash;which is why you're searching together with us now, right?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm...? Wait a minute, I just remembered. The superintendent said you haven't been coming to school previously, right? Will your condition be okay, coming here so suddenly today?"

Condition? &mdash;Shiraho tilted her head in puzzlement. Frankly speaking, I wouldn't be surprised if this airheaded girl suddenly rolled down the stairs&mdash;Haruaki stayed on alert in case he had to catch her in an accident as he continued speaking:

"Namely, why you didn't come to school before... Perhaps you were unaware, but wasn't it because Sovereignty absorbed your life force? Then you recovered after the doll was taken away? Your father's message did mention that 'this doll is the cause of my daughter's lack of vigor' or something like that."

"Ah... Oh~ I see. It was my father's misunderstanding."

"Misunderstanding? Okay. Anyway, let's check the calligraphy classroom over there. Even though it's hardly used, the door is unlocked. It would not be strange for someone to be hiding in there."

They had descended the stairs without incident and arrived at the calligraphy classroom at one end of the second floor. They searched the cupboards and under the desks as the modest smell of ink invaded their nostrils. Fear resumed the interrupted conversation.

"...By misunderstanding, what do you mean?"

"Uh... My life force wasn't being sucked away. Why I didn't come to school earlier, was because... Umm... Personal reasons, not because of my physical condition. Yes. Because of family reasons..."

"What reasons? If you're healthy then coming to school can't be that difficult, right... Ooof! Hey, Haruaki! Why did you poke me in the flank? That is a sensitive spot, you know? Shameless brat!"

"You can't carelessly probe into other people's private affairs. You have to learn how to pick up cues and show some tact... I'm sorry, this girl here doesn't know how to be considerate..."

"Umm... It's okay, I don't mind."

Haruaki recalled what the superintendent mentioned. About her mother passing away and how she did not get along with her father. He also mentioned she was supposed to be a difficult child to get along with&mdash;

(Hmm~... But based on her personality, there shouldn't really be a problem with friendliness...)

As if sensing something from Haruaki's gaze, Shiraho slightly widened her eyes. Then she walked over to the windowsill in the calligraphy classroom and opened the window to look outside. After all, they should not focus all their attention within the school.

Originally refusing to go to school, she only came in search of her friend. This must have involved extraordinary suffering and resolve. Nevertheless, after taking such great pains to find her friend, her wish was rejected and the friend even declared she would continue harming others and not return. To Shiraho, this was betrayal and clearly a change had occurred in their relationship.

Even so, Shiraho remained the same, seeking her friend with sincerity... Albeit rather clumsily. Even now, her skirt was fluttering in the wind rather precariously unless she held down the hem slightly.

In order to avoid seeing something fatal, Haruaki turned his gaze to searching the classroom. But all possible hiding places had been checked already without any results.

"Tsk, not in this classroom either... I think we understand your basic situation now, but the current problem is how we can capture the doll. Shiraho, what do you see outside?"

"Nothing special... Just a wall and a bronze statue."

"Having searched fruitlessly for so long, I guess we should start considering the possibility she already escaped the school... The outer walls are quite high and I remember there's barbed wire on top. Given her mobility, I don't think she could climb over them easily&mdash;wait a minute, what was that about a bronze statue?"

Rushing over to the window, Haruaki saw a human sculpture that was truly full of artistic flair. Some kind of friendship gift from who knows where, Haruaki could only conclude its only purpose was wasting space on Earth.

"How strange, that should be positioned a bit further on that side instead...!"

The bronze statue's original position should be beside the incinerator a few dozen meters away&mdash;quite a rude location to keep a friendship gift but that thing was really too obtrusive anywhere else. Definitely, the gift giver was someone one did not have to worry about taking offense.

Reaching his head out the window for a better look, Haruaki found an empty pedestal beside the incinerator. Simply stated, the bronze statue had move separately from the stand. Currently, the statue was leaning against the outer wall as if acting as someone's stepping platform&mdash;

"...!"

Exchanging glances with one another for a few seconds, Haruaki and the rest then rushed out of the classroom.

Sluggish Shiraho almost tripped when exiting the front steps but Haruaki anticipated the situation and caught her. Looks like you're always keenly looking for chances to catch girls in your arms&mdash;Fear's cold glare seemed to be transmitting such a message. Enduring her gaze, Haruaki continued running.

They finally reached the narrow space between the school building and the outer wall. The ground floor of the building on this side had no windows, thus created a sealed alleyway. The cream-colored wall was roughly three meters tall, which meant that it was at a borderline height where one might just barely climb over with a leap. However, the previous description only applied from the standpoint of an unassisted attempt to get over the wall&mdash;

"...Damn it, this thing was being used as a stepping platform?"

Fear smacked the bronze statue's head.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't realize immediately... Because it's my first time at this school, I didn't think it was out of place..."

"It can't be helped, don't worry about it... Ah, Fear, do you see that? The thing stuck on the barbed wire."

"Looks like a scrap of torn clothing. Very similar to that fluttery outfit a certain person was wearing."

"Just as I thought. If she escaped while we were searching the school building, who knows how far she's gone... Damn it, this is really our oversight."

Given her awkward movements, she could not climb over the outer wall&mdash;What a rash conclusion. They had forgotten to consider her ability to control dolls&mdash;with just a little assistance, even her mobility was enough to traverse the wall. Her earlier limping image gave rise to preconceived notions, but one should not forget she was not human.

Haruaki had no choice but to admit.

Undoubtedly&mdash;they had missed the chance to capture Sovereignty.

Haruaki slouched dejectedly. What should they do next&mdash;Shiraho gazed up uneasily at the fabric torn on the barbed wire.

Without saying a word, Fear kicked the innocent statue, sending it rolling on the ground.