Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

"Let's go! Hurry and start searching, we have to catch her! Go&mdash;!"

"Hey!"

Fear was about to dash off as soon as they exited the school gates when Haruaki hastily grabbed her by the collar and stopped her by force. Predicatably, Fear protested "Hey, what are you doing!? I'll curse you!" as she made strange noises.

"Well, let's confirm first, what we just discussed with Konoha... Do you still intend to search alone?"

Konoha was currently not present. After they had bidden Shiraho goodbye and apologized to Konoha to appease her displeasure and were about to leave, Konoha remembered she still had duties at the library committee. Although she said it was fine to skip them, she ultimately decided to attend to them. This was the result of Haruaki's persuasion: "I remember you also skipped last time as well? Skipping twice in a roll would place you in quite an embarrassing predicament!"&mdash;as well as Fear's remark: "I don't need your help. You can go wherever you want&mdash;Shoo! Shoo!"

"Of course! I already said I'll resolve this incident by myself! R-Right, I almost forgot, I don't need you to help either..."

"But just now when Shiraho and I accompanied you to search the school building, you didn't complain?"

Mmm&mdash;Fear whined softly and stepped back.

"That was&mdash;j-just a natural development, going with the flow!"

"In other words, even if I'm around, you don't find me obtrusive, right? In that case, then it should be okay for us to continue acting together, right? Besides, I'm not going to get in your way... Right, let's do it this way! You will be in charge of the matter, so I'm just an extra to support you, as if I'm your assistant. Does that work?"

"Hmm. Assistant... eh?"

Fear seemed to considering something. Muttering for a while, she finally looked up at Haruaki, who then responded with a fake smile that seemed to say "I want to work for you," causing Fear to pout and avert her gaze. Then&mdash;

"Well... Umm, if you must help no matter what, it's not like I won't consider accepting it."

"Okay, boss! Thank you for hiring me!"

"Very well, assistant, let's move out immediately! Hoho, you have to be obedient like a dog!"

"First of all, as your assistant, I have a suggestion. Please don't wander around carelessly or else you'll get lost, shiny silvery little lady."

"Arrgggh! Hey&mdash;! What is with you this time? Has your fetish for strangling girl awakened!?"

While he used his hands in place of a leash to capture the struggling boss by her collar, Haruaki thought to himself.

Even though Fear did not understand how challenging it was to find Sovereignty, it did not imply she was taking things lightly. She definitely wanted to accomplish the task, but having declared she would succeed alone she did not want to rely on others. With respect to her dilemma, accepting Haruaki as her assistant was probably the result of a compromise&mdash;

(Whatever. From my standpoint, as long as this little lady lacking in common sense is kept under control, it doesn't really matter.)

If the only price to pay was simply playing such a role, it would be truly a bargain.



Several hours later&mdash;it was evening with the sun almost completely set.

"Still can't find her..."

Hoo&mdash;sighing, Fear straightened her back as she looked down from atop a bridge.

"Haruaki, next location!"

"Yeah... I remember there's a park, there should be many hiding places there."

Then let's search it&mdash;Fear started moving as if trying to chase after her lengthening shadow. Naturally, Haruaki followed along. Their search had failed to yield a single clue. To be honest, with "no crowds" as the only hint, the chances of finding Sovereignty were really too low&mdash;but they could not accept inaction. Since it was imperative to find her as soon as possible, the thought of any possible location was enough to rouse them into action.

A glance at Fear's profile would show sweat gliding across her cheeks beneath the setting sun. Haruaki was naturally in a similar state because they had been running without pause.

"Shouldn't we take a break?"

Without looking back, she replied:

"Not needed."

"Whether studying or exercising, a suitable amount of rest helps efficiency, you know?"

"This is neither studying nor exercising, but work&mdash;no, it's a mission."

Indeed, a sense of mission was what her sincere expression displayed.

Hence Haruaki did not say anything more. After all, the first person to fall from exhaustion would be himself rather than Fear; but somehow, compared to her stern expression, the importance of his own stamina seemed much less urgent.

Sigh... Haruaki secretly shrugged. But Fear's steps suddenly stopped.

Glaring severely, she pointed her finger towards the side. Did she find Sovereignty? &mdash;Haruaki hastily looked at where she was pointing.

"Pearl barley tea."<!--はとむぎ茶-->

Pointing at the vending machine, she uttered this term.

"What?"

"Taking the extract of pearls and mixed with barley<!--はとむぎ茶 = hatomugi cha; the kanji for hatomugi are 鳩麦 which is "pigeon-wheat" if taken literally; the original joke has Fear confusing hatomugi as an extract of pigeons mixed with wheat-->, this tea sure is avant-garde... Your boss is very curious. Assistant, I order you to buy me that! Also, you get yourself something to drink too! Rest aside, replenishing moisture is very important. If you were to collapse on the road, I'd be very troubled&mdash;Not! But, uh... It'd cause trouble for others."

Expressing a different meaning this time, Haruaki shrugged again.

"...Understood."

Drinking the tea bought from the vending machine, they continued on their search.

Parks, quiet Shinto shrines, little forests, abandoned factories, junkyards with mountains of scrapped automobiles, dead space between mansions... Spending hours, they searched every uninhabited place they could think of.

"...Still can't find her."

Fear seemed quite depressed, having repeated that line for who knows how many times today. This was the conclusion.

"Not that easy to succeed, right... Perhaps Shiraho's search in her part of town is the same. Ultimately, there are too many possible places. Not succeeding is a shame, but don't be too depressed."

"Mmm..."

"Konoha should probably be back home by now? Anyway, let's end the search for today."

Haruaki checked the time on his cellphone. But Fear raised her head and gazed at the dark sky with an ambiguous expression, refusing to move.

"But... I still&mdash;"

"I know you want to find her; I want to continue searching too. But we have to go to school tomorrow&mdash;and perhaps Sovereignty will be at school again. If we spend the night searching and collapse the next morning, then it's futile, right? Borrowing Class Rep's catchphrase, it'd be absolutely ridiculous."

After a while, the silver head finally nodded and she began walking at a pace much slower than when she was searching for Sovereignty.

The side view of her face truly showed dejection.

Unbelievably, whenever Fear was in low spirits, Haruaki felt uncomfortable all over.

As a result, after walking for a while, Haruaki spoke up as if suddenly remembering something:

"By the way, the fridge is empty, let's go to the supermarket along the way!"

"What a pain. Weren't we hurrying home to rest?"

"Hmm, if you really want to go home first, that's fine... But are you really okay with it?"

"Am I okay with what? ...What do you mean?"

In response to Fear's skeptical gaze, Haruaki simply uttered a simple line. This sentence might be ineffective on others, but to this little lady, it was akin to a HP recovery spell.

"Supermarkets carry lots of rice crackers!"