Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume14 Epilogue (section)

===Part 4===

Then Haruaki saw it.

Konoha had resolutely severed her hair by her own hand.

"Eh...?"

"I&mdash;"

At the same time, tears burst out from Konoha's eyes. One drop, two drops. Rolling out one after another, the teardrops were countless.

"I... absolutely cannot forgive myself for hurting you, Haruaki-kun. However... I also cannot give up on these feelings. This extremely powerful curse, known as a wish that cannot be fulfilled. As quickly as possible, I want to lift this wish that leads to the future. Because if I have to continue enduring it, I might end up crushed by my curse from the past... the truth of my bloodstained hands..."

Her hair, her rolling tears, they all fell.

However, her eyes remained focused straight on Haruaki, never shifting away at any point.

"I know... This is only my willfulness. But my curse from the past, together with the curse I have brought upon myself now, they really make me very dangerous. Hence, I want to move forward, no longer being my past self... I want to overwrite my past self completely!"

Mixed with sounds of sobbing as though her throat was twitching&mdash;

"Like this... Cutting my hair... It's just a kind of psychological effect similar to comforting myself... But I still want to... be able to relax slightly more. I want to feel less burdened... by the weight that restrains my feet and the curses of past and present."

"Konoha..."

"I can't endure any longer. It's definitely to late if I have to lift my curse first, create a barrier to prevent myself from hurting others, then move forward. Therefore... I don't want to endure any longer...!"

Her voice continued, sounding like it was forced out. A voice that was trembling and hoarse but carrying incredible vigor at the same time.

"...I can only change into a new self, one that no longer needs to endure. I am currently being eaten away by an unprecedentedly powerful curse. In order to resist that curse, this is the only thing I can do. Although I know this is only my willfulness, I still want to do this...!"

Haruaki could not be sure if he fully understood what Konoha was talking about. But he wanted to understand. Because Konoha had never laid her emotions bare like this before.

"What are you enduring?"

"The ultimate goal... I want to lift... this curse of an unattainable wish. Namely... Namely, it's&mdash;"

Konoha's voice and expression collapsed in form completely, almost like a child's.

Then&mdash;

"I... love you, Haruaki-kun!"

In a sobbing voice, as though screaming, as though roaring, she confessed her feelings. Haruaki felt an impact as though the world had suddenly started shaking. Konoha continued to speak with her face crumpled:

"Whether as a woman towards a man, or as a sword towards its master! Either identity is fine! Although I don't want you to call me Kono-nee anymore, if you really want to say it, that's fine too. That's totally fine too! Nothing else matters, I just want to become one with you&mdash;To fulfill that promise, I want to stay forever by your side!"

Konoha took a step forward.

"I want to talk to you, Haruaki-kun, laughing together, drinking tea together, I wish you could touch me&mdash;"
[[image:C3 14-355.jpg|thumb]]

Then she took another step.

"Because you're very oblivious, Haruaki-kun... I'll explain it even more bluntly! I want to... do many more things with you, Haruaki-kun. I wish you could hold my hand, I also wish you could touch my head. I also wish for you to praise me, to scold me, to take baths together with me, and also&mdash;"

Her shoulders shook particularly violently, apparently from clenching her fist forcefully.

"I also want... to have relations with you, Haruaki-kun!"

"Ah&mdash;"

"Of course... Haruaki-kun, I also want to have... your babies..."

By the time he regained his senses, Konoha's face was already before his eyes.

Eyes brimming with tears, glasses, lips, all approached him even closer&mdash;


Then on his own lips, he felt a very soft sensation.


It was anyone's guess how much time actually passed.

Only then did the soft sensation finally leave his lips.

"...This is... my new self from now on."

Konoha used both hands to hold his face in place by the cheeks, still keeping her face before his eyes. Although all covered in tears, her expression seemed refreshed as though all gloom had been swept away, it was Konoha's usual smiling face. Hence, what just happened made him feel even more embarrassed.

"Haruaki-kun, you said that you're willing to do anything to help if it's for lifting a curse, didn't you? Since you said so... You must prepare yourself. So, I am also counting on you regarding this curse of mine..."

Then she giggled.

Haruaki could only stare at her in shock. Suddenly, he felt all of his blood gathering towards his face. What was that just now? So it was basically ''that''? Why? Although he understood, but why? What to do? Lips. Konoha's lips&mdash;

"E-Eat&mdash;this&mdash;&mdash;!"

"Gah&mdash;!"

Haruaki felt a blow to the side. Fear had pounced, attacking him with a flying cross chop. She was also flushed red in the face, waving her hands meaninglessly with the chains of cubes attached.

"Too... T-T-T-T-T-T-T-Too shameless! Truly shameless to the extreme, this shamelessness! What are you thinking? I'll curse you both, I'll absolutely curse you both!"

"This is yet another mistake of a lifetime for me! After all, bringing a camera was definitely impossible given today's situation!"

As usual, Kuroe was speaking a tone of voice impossible to tell whether she was serious or not. But speaking of hysteria, it felt like Kirika was almost the same as Fear. Flushed red in the face, she was striding over, speaking incoherently in broken sentences for some reason.

"Konoha-kun! This is! Cheating, you! Stealing a march&mdash;A-Absolutely... Absolutely ridiculous! Truly, absolutely ridiculous!"

Looking at Kirika, Konoha smiled calmly in composure for some reason and even tilted her head mischievously.

"Even when you've clearly won the race for the face already, Ueno-san?"

"Ugh!"

Kirika backed away in shock. Haruaki was totally lost but apparently there was something that only the two girls knew.

"Y-You saw it huh..."

"I won't hold back anymore. Because we are in the same position now."

Konoha smiled while she spoke. Kirika sighed deeply, at a loss for words.

"Is that so? Hmm, you're right, that is the case... That's exactly the result I wanted. If we could compete openly, fair and square... That's right, it's not absolutely ridiculous..."

She was murmuring softly. Haruaki also began to understand the complicated relationship between the two girls.

That said, the biggest issue was apparently himself, the one stuck in the center of chaotic disputes.

"Muu... What's with the atmosphere in this shameless space...?"

Only Fear was pouting, her intently scrutinizing gaze moving back and forth over everyone.