Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume16 Prologue (section)

===Part 3===

Haruaki sat up in bed.

"Haruaki-kun!"

"Yachi, are you alright?"

"Haru, it's best if you don't move."

Gathered around the futon, the girls kept calling his name. However, these calls only entered his ears vaguely without reaching his brain, unrecognized as meaningful sounds.

Conversely, something else was occupying his entire mind. Something very ambiguous yet extremely heavy in mass at the same time. Surely... One would call it a memory.

Slowly, it thawed. Slowly, it diffused to him.

The large number of Indulgence Disks from his father, as well as the night he had spent with Fear. The morning when everyday life had resumed. He remembered seeing her face, he had felt very shy and embarrassed. Then after that&mdash;Oh right, someone made a phone call. A sudden call. It was Maximilian Pendragon, Commander of the Draconians.

He said he wanted to hand over the spear that Kirika wanted to destroy. Hence, Haruaki's group had gone over to the fleet serving as the Draconian headquarters, facing off against the Draconians again on the duel ship for the meeting&mdash;

Haruaki's memory suddenly flashed. For merely an instant, chronological order seemed to scatter and mix. Only emotions surfaced from within.

Terror and fear. Sweat and pain. Oh right. He had heard&mdash;a voice.

''The sound of laughter''.

He stared wide-eyed. At the same time, he felt the frozen memories disappear like a melting glacier, spreading thickly inside his heart.

Laughing loudly, she was holding a drill in each hand. Taking a mighty leap, she pounced on Pendragon. Haruaki could not remember clearly what happened after that. Just a jumble of vague memories. Laughter. The crash of two gigantic entities colliding. The aftershock caused the ship to shake unsteadily. She had vanished at some point. Beneath the deck which was tearing apart, one could feel the movements of a dragon and something rivaling a dragon. Then the ship wailed in its final moments.

Right. Then...

The ship tilted dramatically&mdash;

At the same time, she had leapt up from the depths of the deck's dark crevice&mdash;

In order to catch her, he had spread his arms at her landing spot&mdash;

However, she had raised her drill in midair and swung it down at him while keeping the same smile on her face&mdash;

"&mdash;!"

Haruaki suddenly kicked his blanket away and stood up when his memories reached this point.

"H-Haruaki-kun! If you move suddenly, your body will...!"

Without any thoughts to spare on listening to Konoha, he moved his body, driven by sheer impulse. Dodging Konoha's extended hand that was intended to stop him, he ran out of the room where he had been sleeping until now. His legs were lacking in strength and his sense of balance felt off. Stumbling for a moment, he smashed his shoulder against a pillar in the corridor. Suddenly feeling something was not right, he looked at his left hand&mdash;

"..."

There was only emptiness at the former locations of his ring and little fingers.

Seeping red, the bandage was only wrapped around the base of the fingers.

But&mdash;''So what''?

"Yachi, hold on, hey!"

The girls exited his bedroom, chasing after him. As though trying to shake them off, Haruaki started walking, advancing along the corridor.

All he felt was numbness from his left hand. It was not particularly painful. Were his sensory nerves malfunctioning temporarily? Or had he left his sense of pain behind in that vast ocean? But needless to say, he did not care either.

The destination was before his eyes.

Mustering all his strength, Haruaki pulled open the sliding door that was tightly shut as though rejecting everything.

Then calling her name as hard as he could, he stepped into the room&mdash;At the same time, he prayed in his heart that he had made it in time.

"Fear!"

No response.

Haruaki's right hand, leaning on the sliding door, slowly fell down.

Her room was the same as usual. A messy room. Worn clothing scattered all over the floor. Empty bags of rice crackers.

Amidst everything&mdash;Her figure.

Her figure as a cube of pure steel.

"Fear..."

He called out again but still no response.

However, he knew that she was definitely listening to his voice. He felt that there was breathing sufficient to prove her existence. Her consciousness was there. He understood her very well, to the point that he could be this certain.

Even so, she still did not answer.

Refusing, and resisting as well&mdash;

Contact with the outside world.

Expressing her will to the outside world.

Escaping inward, hiding inside, building a wall&mdash;

She had withdrawn herself.

Hiding in the depths of the extremely sturdy shell of steel known as herself.

Haruaki slowly walked into the room and looked down at her silent self.

In a calm voice, with a calm expression, he said:

"My goodness... You're such a great big idiot..."

Then all he could do was, lightly, tenderly, using his hand with the missing fingers...

He caressed her skin that he had touched countless times before.

He caressed the cold corners of the steel cube.

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