Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 4===

"Hwah... Oomm."

The next morning, Haruaki yawned and stretched as he sat on the edge of the veranda, drinking hot tea. In terms of the clock, this was much earlier than his usual wake up time. The reason for his early rise was the scene unfolding before his eyes in the garden.

"Come on, one, two, three, four!"

"Nnu... Ku... Hah...!"

"Okay, stop! Whenever I call out 'four,' you should have returned to your starting position! Why are you the only one standing more and more forward!?"

"Sh-Shut up, I know already!"

"Then let's go again. Come on, one, two, three, four!"

"Hoh... Hoh... Hoh... Ohoh! How's that now? I did it! In your face, Cow Tits!"

"What are you showing off to me for? I don't understand at all... Besides, you failed. It's pointless if your arms don't move at the same time!"

"D-Damn it...! Argh! One more time!"

"...How peaceful."

Watching the two practice, Haruaki sipped tea like an old man.

The current situation stemmed from Fear requesting Konoha to help her with an early morning dance practice. It went without saying, due to the hindrance of Fear's pride, it was not so much a "request" as a result of a convoluted series of happenings... In the end, exasperated by Fear's slow progress, Konoha had no choice but to sigh and agree, thus resulting in the present circumstances. That said, Haruaki had no idea at all why he was roped into this as well.

A series of clanging noises caused Haruaki to look up. Kuroe was descending the staircase on the side of the accessory dwelling. Her usual blank gaze currently displayed genuine sleepiness instead. Walking past the two girls as she carried a surprised expression, Kuroe commented:

"...What a truly strange dance. It looks like it could very well be a ritual for summoning an elder god."

"I'm practicing for a creative dance, okay! Right, why don't you come and try reading this thing out!? Cow Tits here keeps leveraging her instructor position to subject me to verbal abuse... Using this opportunity to make the most of her underhanded ways, enjoying unbounded thrills from this!"

"W-What do you mean by enjoying unbounded thrills!? Let me tell you this, it would not be practicing if I don't point out what you're doing wrong, that is why I am saying you are&mdash;"

"Oh~ I get it, Kono-san is sometimes like that, a girl who enjoys boundless thrills."

"What is this agreement from an unexpected source!?"

"Hmph... See, there's nothing worse than a deviant lacking in self awareness. In any case, I shall not submit to the tyranny of Cow Tits no matter what."

"Wow, Ficchi is so amazing. Then I'm heading to breakfast... Do your best."

"Yes!"

Encouraged by a few easy words of support, Fear responded with a thumbs-up; Kuroe raised her thumb in return. Observing their dialogue, Haruaki realized with an "Oh?"&mdash;Why did Fear and Kuroe's relationship seem to have subtly improved? Although he had no idea why, it was a good change after all.

"...Good morning, Haru."

"Yeah, breakfast is in the kitchen. It's just bacon, egg and bread, however."

"Got it~"

Kuroe entered the house through the veranda. Taking the plate prepared for her from the kitchen to the living room, she switched on the television while holding a piece of toast in her mouth.

"...Now for the next news story. During the early hours of last night, the strange corpse of a young woman was discovered in the streets of Hitsutou City<!--櫃籐市-->. No further details are available at this stage, but police investigations are currently underway, treating it as a homicide&mdash;"

The voice from the television reported unsettling news that took place in this city, prompting Haruaki to feel concerned. He turned to take a glance at the television, but the screen had already moved on to the next story.

(A homicide case huh...)

An ominous feeling filled his heart again. Naturally&mdash;it was what he had felt when he heard the word "culprit." But he tried to convince himself&mdash;I'm worrying too much. This was simply an ordinary case unrelated to those people.

"Phew... Well then, please perform the next dance move... Jump up, then do this with your arms."

In the garden, Konoha was still instructing Fear. Konoha was by nature quite a caring person. But on the other hand, Fear refused to follow Konoha's motions, simply watching with her eyes narrowed. What on earth was she staring at? Following her line of sight&mdash;

(Hmm...)

Konoha was jumping up and down. A certain mass was also wobbling inside her t-shirt, undulating like waves, appearing to struggle violently, leaping, quivering, quaking, bouncing as if showing off its size and suppleness...

"Very well, something with that kind of feeling. How about you try it as well, Fear-san..."

"...Fugah&mdash;!"

"Kyah! W-Why are you suddenly angry&mdash;?"

"Sh-Shut up! I'll curse you! Those things of yours are such an affront to the eyes, take this! Deflate!"

"Nnn, kyah...! Hey, why are you being so violent... I-I'm going to get mad now!"

Uwah... Haruaki watched the scene with a lukewarm gaze but Kuroe suddenly got up from watching television.

After giving the news a final glance, she took out the piece of bread from her mouth, returned it to the plate and walked out.

"What's the matter?"

Putting on the sandals she had taken off on the veranda, Kuroe narrowed her incomparably serious eyes and replied to Haruaki:

"The Ladylike Bosoms Alliance will not ignore a comrade in need. I will assist her."

"...What?"

Then approaching the squabbling pair, Kuroe imitated Fear and cried out: "Deflate!" Opening and closing her fingers like claws, she pounced on Konoha's bosom.



Then the day began. At school, classes drew to a close as usual, but that only applied to ordinary students. From Haruaki's perspective, some matters were making him concerned.

First there was Kirika. Naturally, she was pretending that things were normal, but her unwell state was easily visible. Her face looked a little red and she would even space out to the point of forgetting instructions in class. Perhaps she had a flu.

More concerning was the second matter&mdash;Indeed, it happened the second lessons ended. It was after the bell rang to signal the end of the school day.

"Oh, another weird case? I smell a mystery here."

"Hmm? Taizou, what are you reading?"

Haruaki's inattentive question elicited an answer from Taizou who was surfing the net on his cellphone. He was reading a report on a news website. This was the beginning of the matter that made Haruaki concerned&mdash;or rather, a matter that drew nothing but alarm.

"Didn't the morning news on television report the discovery of a corpse from a strange death? Supposedly, the victim was folded into the shape of a cube. Good heavens, is there some meaning behind it?"

The culprit is me.



Afterwards, Haruaki summoned Fear and Konoha to gather on the roof where there were no others and told them what he had heard from Taizou. Konoha's face instantly turned grim.

"I see... With this kind of timing... Perhaps the two could be related."

"No, let's not be too hasty. I just thought I should tell you two about the news, but there's nothing so far to indicate that woman's participation in the crime. It could be coincidence, right?"

"But if the case really turns out to be related to me..."

Fear gnashed her teeth and stared at the rooftop's concrete floor. Her gaze trembled as though she was enduring something. At the same time, she shouted forcefully as if in so much pain she was about to vomit blood&mdash;

"It means someone died because of me, someone unrelated, whose face I don't even know!"

"Hey wait a minute, Fear, don't go jumping to conclusions so easily! Besides, there's no reason for that woman to do this kind of thing..."

"Reason? Isn't it obvious! She must be trying to convey this kind of message&mdash;'If you don't accept my invitation, I will kill completely unrelated people!'"

"Wha&mdash;"

"...This is terrorism."

Haruaki was speechless. Konoha's glare seemed to be sharp as knives. Fear hyperventilated as if she had asthma, her fists clenched so tightly they were about to creak.

Haruaki shared their sentiments. To think she would go so far... Why choose to go about things this way? If the case really turned out as speculated, then it was completely unforgivable and the culprit could not be allowed to roam unpunished.

However&mdash;there was no tangible evidence yet. Was that woman with the gentle smile really capable of something like this? To this point, Haruaki's mind still could not accept this completely. Nevertheless&mdash;

"No matter what... We can't ignore it."

"Of course. Let's go find that woman!"

Fear remained silent, tightly clenching her fists. But her downwards gazing head bobbed up and down in response.

A conclusion was reached. Although there were no clues yet, it was better than doing nothing.

Just as the group prepared to leave, the door to the roof suddenly opened with a metallic screech.

"...So you're here."

"Oh hi, Class Rep."

Kirika had appeared. Her face still looked unwell and her voice lacked vigor. Seeing her hand still on the door handle, Haruaki suspected she was having trouble standing.

"I was trying to find you. You are my assistant, so if you run around randomly... I'll be very troubled."

Haruaki had forgotten due to the sudden developments, but he was also supposed to be preparing for the sports festival as well today. What a dilemma&mdash;Haruaki thought&mdash;Then he noticed another troublesome situation. Three people were not quite enough manpower for finding someone who was wandering the streets. What should he do? It seemed like it would be a good idea to attempt asking her for assistance. If she declined on grounds of having no obligations to help out, then so be it.

"U-Ummm... Class Rep, I'm having a bit of trouble right now... Today, umm... May I be excused from the sport festivals' preparations today?"

"What did you say?"

"Also, umm... I know it's unreasonable for me to ask for this kind of thing, but if possible... Really, only if it's possible, I'd like to make a request of you, Class Rep. There's this woman out on the streets I must find no matter what..."

"&mdash;Wait."

Kirika held out her hand to interrupt Haruaki. Showing her palm towards Haruaki, she painfully turned her gaze away. After taking several breaths, as if recalling a certain incident engraved in the depths of her heart, she spoke with an unsteady gaze:

"I'm sorry... I can't help you with anything this time. My apologies."

"Eh? Ah... Oh ok, you really don't have to apologize, Class Rep. After all, it's just my unreasonable request. Yeah, your work must have been quite busy lately, right?"

"That's not the issue... No, you're right. Indeed so."

Kirika's expression grew increasingly gloomy as she murmured without looking up. Haruaki could vaguely hear her breathing becoming louder.

"Say... Are you really okay? You've been looking like this all day&mdash;Right, I'm so stupid! How could I even think of asking you to go out, Class Rep!? Have you caught a flu? If it's really acting up, you'd better go to the infirmary..."

"No, it's nothing. I'm fine."

Kirika stood up straight. Only then did she finally gaze into Haruaki's eyes directly.

"Anyway, do you intend to be excused from today's preparations? Seeing as we cannot afford to waste a single day at this point, this is quite irresponsible of you as the executive committee's assistant&mdash;But I shall turn a blind eye this once. Same for Fear and Konoha, let me inform Kana on your behalf."

"Yeah, that's right. I am really sorry."

Before Haruaki finished saying these words, Kirika had already turned around to leave the roof.

&mdash;As if fleeing from something.



Kirika halted in middle of the staircase. Although she clearly had to get away, not knowing when Haruaki's group was coming down, her legs would not move. Not only that, her body was also swaying unsteadily, having lost its sense of balance. She leaned her back against the wall.

"Hoo... Hoo..."

She clenched her fist tight. Ahhh... Ahhh, how painful. Suppressing "that activity" was so painful. Damn it. If she wanted to, she could do it immediately, so long as nobody saw. Yes, regardless whether it was a washroom or a&mdash;

Just as she realized what she was considering, Kirika regained her senses and slapped herself hard on the cheek. At this moment&mdash;

"Hmph, looks like you've kept up your end of the promise. Excellent."

"Himura..."

Lower down the staircase was a man she did not wish to see. He must have eavesdropped on the rooftop conversation.

"Anyway, let's put that issue aside for now. I don't suppose you're actually trying to endure ''that''?"

"...Shut up and disappear!"

"Oh?"

Himura approached Kirika up the stairs instead. Propping his hand against the wall, he lustfully swept his gaze towards Kirika's neck with an amused expression&mdash;

"I see now. So you think you won't have to listen to my orders as long as you endure this. Haha, all for the sake of that guy? How strong you are... But surely all for naught in the end."

"&mdash;&mdash;!"

"Holding it in is not good for your body. If it's just a little bit, I could help you here right now, you know?"

"Shut up!"

Kirika shoved Himura away with a thud and forced her legs to dash desperately down the stairs. She could feel the man laughing and shrugging wryly behind her but of course she did not look back.

Biting her lower lip hard, Kirika continued to run.

Truly unacceptable. Unforgivable.

Surely all for naught&mdash;But somewhere in the back of her mind, she agreed with what he had said.