Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume11 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

Laurica "Trash" Shoegazer was heading to school today using her identity as Kagidou Himeno.

Of course, Laurica was not actually Kagidou Himeno. The real Kagidou Himeno was currently with her parents in a room of their newly built house, savoring the experience of being bound and gagged. However, Laurica was undoubtedly Kagidou Himeno.

Using one of the many Wathes in her possession&mdash;Professor Colin's Plastic Surgery Flowchart, «Rawhide FCD»&mdash;one of the many "trash" with numerous drawbacks but limited utility, Laurica had changed her face to look like Kagidou Himeno.

This was a cursed mask made from human skin, possessing the cursed ability to replicate a person's visage just by covering that person's face with the mask, converting the user's face to match. Its drawback was that the body remained unchanged apart from the face. Due to mostly receiving infiltration missions as an auxiliary, Laurica used this tool quite often. As a result, she had already lost her own face a long time ago. Part of this tool's curse was that repeated usage made it impossible to return to one's original face. After this mission, Laurica would have to live out her days with Kagidou Himeno's face until the next time she copied someone else's face.

Laurica was already used to it and had no objections to this face. Because she had chosen the target intentionally.

Indeed, there were reasons for taking Kagidou Himeno's face.

First of all, this was because Kagidou Himeno had left the combined middle and high school she had originally attended to enroll at Taishyuu High. In other words, she had no friends who knew what she used to be like. The fewer the people who knew the original person, the less the risk of being suspected being a substitute. While faces could be replicated by the contemptible Wathe, Laurica was able to emulate voices and habits perfectly, having undergone strict training, but prudence was paramount.

Another reason for choosing Kagidou Himeno was because she was very cute, judging from the eyes of an average person.

Strictly speaking, this was not an absolutely essential factor, but at least for maximizing chances, being cuter was better. Compared to not cute, being cuter was better. Even putting the mission aside, she believed so as a matter of fact. After all, she had to live with this face from now on.

Hence, Laurica used Kagidou Himeno's cute face to begin her school life.

Was school life boring? If someone asked that, Laurica would definitely answer no.

For her, school was a battlefield. There were many things needed to be done. Without being discovered, nor seeking anyone's understanding, she had to carry out the operation alone.

In other words, she had to live as Kagidou Himeno. This was her battle.

She did not need many male friends. But she must make a few of them to a natural extent.

As for friendships, she prioritized girls. Romance, beauty tips, celebrities&mdash;She continually collected the latest scoop on these subjects to use as conversation topics. Ignoring politics and economics was fine. The chances of these coming up in conversation were virtually nil.

The girls in this country had a tendency to interact in fixed circles. But for Laurica, one circle was not enough. She created many circles but without giving others an impression of slick sociability.

In other words, she must make the members of each circle feel that "this circle was Himeno's main circle." Her actions were all for this purpose. Depending on time and place, switching the circle she was making contact with&mdash;at the same time taking precautions to avoid being found out. She had received training to consider the effects of psychology as much as possible then use them to her advantage. It was not a difficult thing to control the hearts of the creature known as the "high school student" with many immature aspects to their minds. Skillfully using the various emotions of joy, anger, sadness and pleasure, she worked hard towards raising her sense of presence in each circle. When necessary, she resorted to shedding a few tears. Sometimes she secretly used violent behavior on the level of fist fights. It was also very effective.

Even having undergone all sorts of training, even possessing all sorts of Wathes&mdash;

Every day was not easy. Absolutely not easy&mdash;

"Sigh..."

"Oh my~? Himenon, you're sighing, right!? That's no good, happiness will escape&mdash;!"

"Oh sorry. Umm... I guess I'm a bit tired. My body always feels so exhausted."

"Always feels so exhausted... Ah! Could it be that you're being haunted by something bad!? But don't you worry! There are capable shrine maidens here to exorcise spirits! Hayahaya, it's your turn to enter the stage!"

"I don't know how to exorcise spirits! All I know are witching hour imprecations, but I haven't done them lately."

"...Haven't done them lately?"

"Uh... No no, that's nothing at all, I said something wrong! Anyway... Himeno, if you feel unwell, just go home early. Where do you live?"

"So true so true, if that's the case, we'll send you home!"

Sitting near her were two girls, Hiwatari Yume and Hayakawa Chihaya. Himeno's relationship with these two could be considered relatively close, but compared to other circles, there was a slight tinge of indifference. Hayakawa Chihaya was a Wathe owner. Although Hiwatari Yume was an ordinary person, she was closest to Hayakawa Chihaya and also quite close to Fear-in-Cube's clique. Considering the risks, it was best not to get too close to these two girls. Had Hiwatari Yume not made conversation with her at the shoe lockers on the first day of school, she would probably have kept her distance from them all along.

"It's okay, I'm fine. Thank you, both of you! See you tomorrow!"

With a smile that did not belong to Laurica, but "one that Kagidou Himeno would make," she stood up, waved her dainty hand and left the classroom. Of course, when encountering girls from other circles, she would also smile pleasantly to say goodbye. After changing her shoes and exiting the main gate, she went home while watching out to see if she was being followed, reaching the house safely.

"I'm home~"

Rather than to inform the people in the house, she announced her return to avoid arousing suspicions in the neighbors. While closing the main door at the entrance, she exhaled. Only within this house could she return to being Laurica, although her face remained that of Kagidou Himeno's.

That said, she still had doubts whether this home was actually comforting.

"! ...Hoo... H-Haha... Ohoh...!"

Quiet moaning. She wanted very much to ignore them, but could not.

"Heehaw, you have returned, 'Trash'... Perfect timing, hey, c'mere..."

She was summoned. Laurica walked across the corridor and opened the door to that room.

This was Neto's bedroom, a simple room with only a double bed and a mini table. He was sitting at the foot of the bed.

Neto's upper torso was naked. Several trails of red-black substance were flowing across his black skin, carrying a rusty stench.

"O-Oh! SO. RAPING. BUTT. HOLES&mdash;&mdash;!"

Neto was grinning from ear to ear while using a knife to stab himself in the shoulder, twisting the blade back and forth. Muscle and blood made gushing noises. Like a broken nodding toy, his head kept swinging.

"Heeheehahaha! Butthole, the best butthole! Yeah! Yeah! So much pain! Heehaha, heehaha, heeha~ Ha~ Ha~! SO. UNBEARABLY. PAINFUL&mdash;!"

Since this was happened all the time, Laurica knew without needing to look. He was having an erection.

"Another thrust, another thrust, continue thrusting! Thrust thrust pull pull... Then thrust thrust pull pull again! Oho~! No, stop it, don't be so violent, stop it, no, but don't stop~! Whatever! I thrust I thrust I pull I pull puranranran! I remember there's a song like this, right? Heehaha!"

Exhale. Suddenly, the knife stopped moving. Pulling out the bloody knife, Neto stabbed it into the mattress then picked up the only object that remained hanging on his naked upper body, the camera known as «The Paingrapher».

Then he photographed his shoulder. In the next second, the wounds produced from his self-mutilation vanished instantly without trace, turning into a photograph that was ejected from the camera, accompanied by quiet mechanical noises.

Laurica knew very well. This was the camera used by a serial killer who suffered from congenital insensitivity to pain. Wishing to know what pain was like, he abducted victims, subjected them to pain and recorded the process with his camera. Through inflicting abuse, through photography, the serial killer gradually learned the concept of "pain." To him, he was only able to feel "pain" through these photos. Subconsciously in his mind, these photos became "the concept of pain itself." Simply seeing, touching, experiencing them would directly cause the sensation of "pain"&mdash;

"O-Ohoh... I went too far with my fun just now. Even if the pain disappears and the wounds heal, the lost blood still doesn't return... But with this, my ammunition is refilled."

Neto casually threw the photograph held between his fingers. The photo fluttered in the air before falling into the open guitar case by the bed side. Just as he said, that photo would be used as ammunition carrying "pain." Although one special trait of this Wathe resulted in a multiplied effect when returning pain to the one who originally inflicted the injury, this trait was completely meaningless for wounds caused by Neto's self-mutilation. Nevertheless, it was still a highly effective weapon for causing damage to the target simply in terms of ignoring all armor and defensive abilities. After all, Wathes essentially possessed stronger bodies than humans (albeit to different extents) after obtaining their human forms.

"However, one bullet is totally not enough... Yes, really. It's no joking matter."

While muttering quietly, his mood suddenly went cold. It felt as though the temperature in the room had decreased all of a sudden. This change appeared whenever he recalled the «Knight Killer». His voice became as cold as ice while his eyes were like darkness itself.

"No amount of bullets will be enough for penetrating that bitch's butthole. I still need to resupply more... Not enough, still not enough. I'm gonna kill her, so I need more, more, more&mdash;"

Like for actual firearms, the more bullets the better. And of course, the gunman's physical condition needed to be in top shape. Stress must be vented instead of building up.

As means towards solving these issues, Laurica knew very well that Neto had two favorite methods. Simple and convenient at the same time.

The first was Neto himself. Self-mutilation, sublime and pleasurable. While being a masochist, Neto was also a sadist who felt aroused from the act of hurting his own body, in other words, utterly deviant and broken in a sexual sense. Hence, the second method was automatically decided.

Of course, it was Laurica, Neto's auxiliary. Worthless "Trash." Supposed to count her blessings simply because she was not discarded&mdash;at least Neto thought so&mdash;A thing.

While releasing the belt from his pants, he ordered:

"Undress and lie on the bed right now."

Laurica instantly answered and closed off her heart.

"Got it."

The usual act. She neither felt anything nor wanted to feel anything. Weight, pain, bedsheets, palms, mouth, tongue, blade, cold sensations, unpleasant rhythmic motion, photo sounds, pleasure, body temperature, moaning. Scolded. He was scolding her for being useless. A filthy woman. Butthole. The stench of contemptible Wathes is stuck to you. I'll wash it off for you using fresh blood. Yes, sorry, she answered. This would help end things as quickly as possible. All sorts of places were stabbed to produce all sorts of wounds. Then the pain vanished after all sorts of photos were taken, but did it truly vanish? So disgusting. Die. Feeling some part of her body cut open, her body went incontinent from the pain. He clicked his tongue, but the one cleaning up in the end would still be herself. Her consciousness began to drift away. Ahhh, soon, she was going to lose her senses like an object. Indeed, called "Trash," she was just an object. But&mdash;

But one day. One day&mdash;



After cooking dinner, Laurica ate together with Neto and Lilyhowell. Then it was free time. Of course, she was the last to take a bath. Walking into Kagidou Himeno's room, she tried to work hard. Doing something was better than nothing.

Pushups, situps, she also went through a round of other muscle training that she felt was useful while trying to avoid making noise as much as possible. Were Neto to find out, he would surely mock her for wasting her efforts then punish her for being too arrogant. Hence, Laurica did her usual homework secretly every day.

But as one would expect, the one she idolized turned out to be more observant and kind than Neto.

"Excuse me. So you are training here?"

"Oh...? Lilyhowell-sama...?"

Laurica stopped doing situps and sat up. Without her noticing, Lilyhowell had opened the door and was standing there. Perhaps still reading instruction manuals, she was wearing her reading glasses.

"Hearing quick breathing noises, I thought you might have gotten ill suddenly."

"N-No, I'm fine."

"Yes. Although you are an auxiliary, training the body is definitely not in vain. I am very impressed."

"Umm, I know I am overstepping my bounds in asking this of you, but could you not tell Neto-sama about this... Even if someone like me engaged in this kind of training, I think he will simply scold me for wasting my energy and consider me an eyesore."

Lilyhowell frowned in puzzlement and tilted her head as though she could not comprehend at all.

"Wasting energy? Effort is equal, no matter the person. However, yes, since you are concerned, I promise you I will not tell Neto. I swear upon my name as Lilyhowell Kilmister."

"Th-Thank you very much..."

Hearing her excessive promise, Laurica could not help but relax her face. She was thinking this was the end of the conversation, but Lilyhowell continued to stand there. Not only that, but she also closed the door and entered the room, then leaned her back against the wall.

"I would like to apologize to you regarding a certain matter."

"Eh... Lilyhowell-sama, you don't need to apologize to me. What are you talking about?"

"Regarding Neto. What just happened."

She heard it. Her idol heard it. Laurica's face turned flush red with shame.

"I know what kind of man he is and I understand how that behavior is necessary for battle. Even so, personally speaking, I dislike it. If possible, I would very much like to stop it, but you are Neto's official auxiliary. I have no authority to question the behavior between you two."

"Nothing of that sort! Umm... I am very happy just to hear this from you..."

Laurica spoke from the bottom of her heart. Her idol was worrying about her. Simply that was enough to make her heart race madly, her entire heart immersed in an atmosphere of bliss. However, her bliss did not end here.

"Has any unusual symptoms appeared on your body?"

"No, please don't worry. That's because «The Paingrapher» was already used to photograph all the injuries."

"No scars left behind? You are a girl so it would be best to take that area into consideration."

Lilyhowell approached without thinking and stared at Laurica's face up close. Laurica's heart was beating like a drum, the depths of her throat stiffening and convulsing. She smelled a great fragrance. The hand reached out and touched her cheek. That hand slid over her skin as though confirming if any scars were left behind. Her mouth moved automatically, asking:

"Umm... Lilyhowell-sama, don't you mind it... disgusting...?"

"Why? You are simply fulfilling your duties as much as possible. From an average person's perspective, this might be abnormal behavior but since you have decided to accommodate with determination, what is there to feel ashamed about? Looks like your face is fine. Where were you injured the most severely just now?"

Laurica's mind was a total blank. Hence, she very naturally answered where.

"I see. Allow me to confirm. Please let me know if it hurts."

(No way...!)

Lilyhowell's hand was stroking her breast, separated by the t-shirt, stroking the tip that Neto had sliced off then put back on again. Laurica was overjoyed, but she then heard something even more miraculous.

"Yes, I am simply surprised, but your bust has grown. Although it was only natural since you were a child in the beginning, your chest was so flat back then that I mistook you for a boy."

"...! Lilyhowell-sama... You still remember... what happened that time...?"

Laurica widened both eyes in surprise. Memories from the past dominated her mind. This was probably a common story. But to her, it was an absolute memory. A cursed sword. Unable to stop herself, she killed her beloved family. The stench of blood. Finally, the tip of the sword turned towards herself. By the time she realized, the blade was already shattered. Standing before her eyes was a young, blonde maiden&mdash;Several years later, she was also standing right here, blinking in bafflement.

"...? Of course. I remembered the instant I first saw you. I simply could not find a chance to tell you until now."

No way... She... The idol and savior... Unbelievably, Lilyhowell still remembered her. And right now, Laurica could not believe that Lilyhowell was touching her body. This was even more miraculous than a miracle. Taken too much by surprise, Laurica became unable to think, simply feeling Lilyhowell's fingertips, finding them very gentle, very comfortable&mdash;

"Ah... Huff... Hwah..."

Lilyhowell raised an eyebrow and stopped her movements. Tilting her head, resting her chin on her hand, she cast her gaze towards the floor as though noticing something, pondering something.

"&mdash;Is that so? This turns out to be the case? Perhaps my longtime doubt is finally cleared up."

"Umm... Lilyhowell-sama... What are... you talking about...?"

"Laurica, you are the first person to hear this from me&mdash;"

Lilyhowell gazed back at Laurica seriously. She was so near and so direct that Laurica felt the depths of her body heating up. Then the following words took her completely by surprise.

"Actually, I am still a virgin."

"E-Eh?"

"As for why, it is because I have never felt any interest in having sexual relations with a man. I have never imagined it nor felt any sexual impulse. However, for some reason, when I am together with the same sex, or when changing clothes together, or entering public baths together, my body hurts inexplicably inside. Take this current instant for example. In other words, is it possible... Is it possible&mdash;I am only sexually aroused by members of the same gender?"

Lilyhowell sounded like an astronomer who finally realized the possibility of the earth turning instead of the sky, announcing in a completely serious manner. This seriousness was accompanied by surprise at a new revelation, at the same time confused and at a loss for how she should handle it.

"Hmm, really? So I see. I have always known that people like this existed but never thought that I would turn out to be one of them. Now everything makes sense. I can understand now...!"

Laurica was utterly shocked. Due to being excessively shocked, her mind even gave rise to impolite thoughts.

This person had not realized her sexual orientation until now. Due to being too straitlaced, too cool, she ended up being quite out of touch in certain areas. Was she one of those so-called airheaded cool beauties?

In any case... In any case&mdash;

This was more miraculous than a miracle, surely a miracle beyond compare.

Her idol and herself. Although she could not turn into someone like her idol, at least, it was currently impossible to turn into someone like her. But at least it was possible to approach her. To let their bodies and minds overlap, to feel her breathing, to feel her presence at extremely close range.

If just this, surely she could still work harder.

Hence, Laurica lightly picked up Lilyhowell's wrist and brought her hand under the sweat drenched t-shirt, guiding her fingertips towards the protrusion she had been caressing until now.

Indeed, Laurica still hoped for her direct touch and confirmation that no wound had been left behind.
[[image:C3 11-156.jpg|thumb]]