Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume8 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 2===

Knees drawn up to her chest, Fear was sitting on the chilly veranda.

She was holding a cube in her hands. A cube that shared the same shape as her yet seemingly possessed completely different properties. Holding it up before her eyes, she could also see the storeroom in the garden.

Fear recalled her memories of Tateoka Aiko. A fellow member of their kind, shy and timid, burdened by similar crimes, she was a girl who likewise hoped to lift her curse. Due to choosing amnesia as the means to reach salvation, she had joined the Family, but in the end&mdash;

Fear clutched the cube tightly. At this moment, she heard footsteps behind her.

"Fear, aren't you cold?"

"...No. Have you called Zenon's side?"

She asked directly without turning her head. Haruaki proceeded to sit on the veranda.

"Yeah, I made the phone call. Same old. The superintendent can't be located, but at least I've reported the situation to Zenon-san. She says she can visit us later."

"Really? What about things at the cake shop?"

They had agreed to work there not only for yesterday but also the three days before Christmas. In fact, they were originally scheduled to work this afternoon, but Un Izoey could not be left unattended at home. That said, a total cancel at the last minute would be too unreasonable, hence&mdash;

"I've made a phone call to apologize already. When I asked the shopkeeper if it's okay for Kuroe to substitute for us, he immediately replied 'That's great too!' As expected of the shopping street's idol."

"Hmm, it feels like we're pushing everything on Kuroe, that makes me feel bad. But thank goodness that's handled. So, what about tomorrow...? If only everything could be resolved today."

Fear nodded lightly and murmured. She could feel Haruaki casting his gaze towards the cube in her hand. After a pause as though hesitating&mdash;

"Hey... Do you think it's true?"

"Who knows. A claim made by a Draconian and passed along by a member of the Lab Chief's Nation? It's a completely untrustworthy game of telephone. Even if it's true, we don't know how to use it. Besides&mdash;"

"...Besides?"

"I said I felt a cursed presence from it, right? If it's a cursed tool, then using it will definitely cause something bad! I don't want to use a cursed tool to do anything at all!"

"Well... That's true."

Fear deliberately suppressed her emotional tone of voice and whispered:

"Besides... This thing has nothing to do with me. Absolutely nothing. Because Aiko... She's not dead."

That's true too&mdash;Haruaki murmured again.

The concept of "life" for them was an unknown even to themselves. Do broken objects have awareness? As an object, do their auto-repair functions still operate? Even if their proper forms were regenerated, will they recover consciousness again? Will they obtain human form again? &mdash;Even Fear herself did not know the current state of things. However, precisely because of that, precisely because it was unknown&mdash;Hence, Aiko was not dead.

Definitely.

"...Able to realize mankind's greatest wish huh...?"

Staring at the cube, Fear suddenly chuckled wryly. Feeling Haruaki's intrigued gaze, she explained:

"Jeez, the situation has become incomprehensible. This is my first time experiencing Christmas which only comes around once a year. I was thinking of working hard to the max and enjoy myself to the max... But nothing ever goes smoothly. I was thinking I finally found Santa, but I ended up finding some other trouble. In the end, we even have to help take care of an enemy who may or may not be an enemy. Neither have we caught the 'Santa Hunter.' Not only that... I even noticed accidentally."

"Noticed... what?"

Fear leaned back and lay down on the veranda. She could see the sky overhead, clear and blue yet chilly, completely unlike yesterday.

"Just as I explained to Un Izoey, Christmas is a day of miracles when Santa Claus fulfills people's wishes in the form of presents, right? But even Santa cannot fulfill my greatest wish. Simply hoping for that kind of present is already a waste of effort."

Fear chuckled:

"Also... I accidentally discovered that I have two greatest wishes. Greedy as I am, perhaps Santa Claus was never going to come in the first place..."

"...Of course not."

Haruaki denied curtly and pressed his fingers lightly against Fear's head, spinning it.

Since he did not ask, Fear concluded that Haruaki already knew what her wishes were.

She had a wish. A wish that she had hoped for since centuries ago. Namely, to lift her curse and atone for the past.

Another wish was born merely months earlier&mdash;She wished to see that girl again, a certain fellow cursed tool.

Fear really wanted to see her again.

Belonging to the cube that had murdered countless people to this date, her fingers stroked the surface of the cube that was allegedly capable of bringing the dead back to life. Nevertheless, she still had absolutely no idea how to use it.

"In the end, this is a cursed tool that I don't know how to use, don't want to use, or need to use. It is completely irrelevant to me and I'm totally uninterested. So right now, I will start with things that I can do. In other words, I'll take care of that country girl until she recovers and assist her in delivering the letter to the superintendent."
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"Hmm, you're completely right. No amount of thinking will help when faced with a tool of unknown origin... So, let me brew some tea to bring over."

It felt like Haruaki was deliberately stretching and speaking in a lively tone of voice. Fear remained lying on the veranda and waved her hand as if dismissing him.

"Hurry hurry. I demand hot~ tea, together with rice crackers of course! Since Kirika is here, the quantity must be higher than usual too!"

Yes yes&mdash;As Haruaki left with a wry smile, Fear cast her gaze back to the cube again. She really did not feel like she needed this thing. Cursed tools always caused tragedies and misfortune, hence she was not going to use it. Tateoka Aiko was only in deep slumber, not dead, so there was no need to use it. Simply that.

However, in that case&mdash;

Why was she still clutching this cube so tightly even now? Why did she not destroy or discard it?

She should have done that. This once belonged to an enemy but was completely unnecessary to her own side. Its mere existence was ominous. Even if she destroyed or discarded it, no one would complain. Nevertheless, why&mdash;

"...Isn't it obvious? It's because this is a clue to the enemy. The enemy could very well come in an attempt to take it back. Like the country girl, this is bait for drawing out the enemy..."

Fear murmured to herself as she carelessly stuffed the cube into her pocket. Actually, there was no need to say this out loud, right? ...She realized after half a beat later. She knew that there was not a soul nearby.

Indeed, this was almost as though&mdash;

Almost as though she were trying to convince herself, wasn't it?