Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume12 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 5===

Haruaki and company sneaked out of the hotel then took a taxi to their destination. After arriving, they ran as quickly as they could.

"Hey Fear! There should be guards here, right!?"

"We'll just have to find a way to fool them if there are. But perhaps, that girl already handled this issue."

With Fear and the others' help, Haruaki climbed over the main gate and fencing to continue advancing. Coming along for the sake of her mission, Un Izoey simply jumped over the obstacle as though it were ordinary ground. The whole group was clearly trespassing illegally but there was no spare effort to dwell on this matter.

Fortunately&mdash;or maybe just as Fear had suggested, Kotetsu had took care of them already&mdash;they did not encounter any guards along the way. The group rushed past Kiyomizu-dera's central gate and finally saw the main hall.

Then they spotted figures on Kiyomizu Stage.

"Is... that it...!?"

They rushed forward over the wooden floorboards. Then illuminated under the moonlight&mdash;

An exceedingly tragic and unusual scene came into view.

"You have arrived."

"Urgh... Ah&mdash;"

Kururi was tied to the railing in the very center, groaning. Her clothing was ripped, putting her in half-naked state. Her entire body was covered with wounds and dark-red bloodstains could be seen all over&mdash;though not to the point that she would be described as covered in blood. The volume of blood itself was not great but this halfway condition was even more creepy and terrifying to behold.

Kotetsu had climbed on top of Kururi's body, drinking her fresh blood.

"Although there is almost there, this is still not enough to reach completion?"

She glanced at the key on the floor then left Kururi, turning to face the new arrivals while wiping her lips clean.

"You... fiend...!"

Fear gripped the Rubik's cube tightly, instantly turning it into a drill. Just as she was about to charge ahead directly&mdash;

"&mdash;Wrath, hatred, in other words, curses. You too, have been using these emotions to gradually activate the key, haven't you? Otherwise, go ahead and check your key. No matter how you think about it, this is the easier way. I have simply done the same as you. There is no justification for me to suffer your reprimand."

"...!"

Fear stopped on the spot after taking merely one step. Kirika maintained a posture that could extend the «Tragic Black River» any time, but did not move closer, simply glaring at Kotetsu while her eyes were burning with rage. 

They were probably cautious in consideration of the fact that Kotetsu was still in a position to do whatever she wanted to Kururi.

Haruaki's mind was occupied with only one matter. What he ought to be doing.

"Are you saying that reprimanding you is unjustified? What an audacious statement."

"Muramasa..."

Konoha spoke in an extremely calm tone of voice. Haruaki knew this to be Konoha's voice whenever she was truly angry. As though trying to see more clearly, Kotetsu faced Konoha's gaze head on and narrowed her eyes.

"Do you know what you are doing right now? The word 'integrity'<!--makoto--> must surely be weeping."

"...Go on a little more, Muramasa."

"To think you would drink flesh blood from an immobile girl, trying to reach your goal by relying on her power. Absolutely no restraint in taking advantage of others. This is not behavior befitting a proud sword."

"A sword exists to slay enemies. Are you implying that this type of behavior doesn't count?"

"Indeed, it does not. Perhaps she can be considered an enemy to you who also possess a key, but you have gone too far. Indeed, your actions have truly gone too far."

Kotetsu took a dep breath and asked as though to confirm:

"...You are angered?"

"Yes, of course. You only noticed now?"

Knife hand readied, Konoha took a step forward, but Kotetsu did not enter a combat stance. Instead, she took out something from her pocket&mdash;most likely her key&mdash;then gripped it tightly.

Her gaze was still locked on Konoha while her throat trembled as though in trepidation.

"I shall ask once more, are you truly angered? Truthfully from the bottom of your heart, Muramasa? Is your entire body currently burning with the wrath of justice!?"

"I don't care about justice here! But indeed, I am furious from the bottom of my heart!"

Kotetsu shook her hair then continued in a voice that carried something resembling impatience:

"&mdash;I know that this girl is your past enemy! Even so, will you still anger for the sake of a girl who used to be an enemy!?"

"You sure talk excessively at length. I've already forgotten that kind of thing ages ago!"

This answer seemed to be precisely some kind of turning point.

Kotetsu stopped moving and stared wide-eyed.

Shocked.

Dazed.

Then&mdash;

"Ahhh, ahhhhhhh&mdash;Muramasa, Muramasa&mdash;! This is wrong, wrong, absolutely wrong!"

Kotetsu pulled at her own hair, her body swaying unsteadily, countless emotions clouding her eyes as she howled and yelled hysterically.

Then she reached out as though suddenly remembering, grabbing the arm of the limp Kururi. Her hand in a tiger-clawed strike, each of her fingers buried themselves into the arm. New, fresh blood. Kururi's new screams. At this moment, presumably exceeding the limit of her endurance, Kururi's screaming was unnaturally cut off as her head fell to the side. She had fainted completely.

"How now!? How now!? How is this!?"

"S-Stop it now!"

"This cannot be... This cannot be! Muramasa is not supposed to be like this! We are the swords of swords! Unique and absolute, veritable swords of slaughter! We should be sneering and derisive, we should be cold-blooded and merciless, we should be the masters of cruelty and violence! This... Muramasa, to think you have forgotten the fact of a former enemy and going as far as to forgive her, even getting angered for the sake of someone like this&mdash;Impossible... This is impossible!"

Like the tantrums of a willful child, these screams expressed emotions directly without disguise. Presumably taken aback, Konoha frowned slightly and said:

"Y-Your words are far too presumptuous. I am myself!"

"As much as I refuse to confirm, I have no choice but to confirm! Too useless! Ahhh, Muramasa turns out to be far far far far far far more useless than I ever imagined! So! Indeed, ahhh, I am overcome with disappointment, despair, resignation, anger, scorn, contempt, hatred, which is why there is hope in my heart! A curse, truth be told, this is a curse, Muramasaaaaaaaa&mdash;!"

With exceptional intensity, Kotetsu yelled out a selfish explanation that Haruaki and company could not understand. Then as though a certain wire snapped, her voice suddenly stopped.

Soon after&mdash;

Kotetsu slowly straightened her back then extended her right hand lightly forward. This was the right hand she had been clenching firmly. Blood could be seen dripping down from her palm. Did she grip the key too hard, producing a piercing wound on her palm? No, that was not right&mdash;

"...I already understand now. I had originally been harboring vague notions that it would be acceptable to allow the current situation to continue before thinking up countermeasures, because I cannot neglect the possibility of risk coming to a certain esteemed one. However, circumstances will not permit me to adhere to that plan. I understand now. I must do this. By this point in time, there is only one thing that I ought to do which is completely correct."

Kotetsu spoke quietly and emphatically, making her earlier outburst of emotion seem like an illusion. The content of her words was still incomprehensible.

Kotetsu's gaze was so cold that it caused the viewer to tremble. Slowly, she opened her palm.

On top of that palm was&mdash;

Bright red in color, it was a key whose surface dripped with fresh blood.

"What...!? Y-You have already finished accumulating...!"

"See it and understand, Fear-in-Cube. This is my key. Haha, let me have a lick. Tasting like water, it only resembles blood in appearance? Haha."

Kotetsu reached out with her tongue to lick the key, meanwhile laughing dryly in a hollow manner. Then she cast her gaze towards the back of Fear's group.

"Come, girl of the Lab Chief's Nation. My key is already activated. You brought the box, yes? Let me open it."

"...Affirmative. My answer: due to the Lab Chief's orders, I agree reluctantly..."

Un Izoey took out the box from her pocket and was about to walk towards Kotetsu. However, Fear and company were not going to simply watch without doing anything, of course.

"Yeah right! Even if your key is activated, it's not over yet. All we need to do is defeat you right here!"

"Indeed, you have truly done a great deal of absolutely ridiculous things... We can't possibly let you open the box so easily. Not on our watch."

"Going on and on about your presumptuous logic, do you really believe you'll be able to leave safely with your souvenir?"

"No."

Fear and company instantly entered battle stances, but Kotetsu remained calm and composed as though she had expected this.

"That is why I shall do this."

Using her finger, Kotetsu lightly severed the rope binding Kururi to the railing.

Then mustering the absolute limit of inhuman brute force, she lifted up Kururi's body like luggage.

Then higher, even higher, she tossed Kururi out, putting her on course to fall off Kiyomizu Stage.

In that very instant&mdash;

Springing into action faster than anyone else&mdash;

Haruaki sprinted straight forward.

(I must... make it&mdash;!)

He had been searching for an opportunity all this time. His mind was completely filled with thoughts that he must rescue Kururi who was abducted only because he was too weak. Apart from that, he did not think about anything else, unlike Fear and the girls who harbored notions of defeating Kotetsu or protecting Haruaki in the corners of their minds.

Hence, he was able to react immediately.

Run faster, run faster, Haruaki ran as fast as he could while focusing his attention on Kururi who was flying out in a parabolic trajectory. By this point, he recalled what Kotetsu had said. A former enemy? Who cares. She's just an ordinary restaurant server now. Just an ordinary girl with a bit of a sharp tongue, the smell of soup on her hands, a gruff personality and who was in love with someone. What was wrong with saving her?

(I'm to blame... It's all my fault for being too much of a hindrance, that's why she got abducted! That's why... I have to take some responsibility at least...!)

Kotetsu had thrown Kururi off the center of the stage. The girl's body was following an extremely high parabola. Naturally, the end point was not on the stage floor. Dash. After reaching the maximum height, the girl's body began to descend. Dash. Haruaki stepped on the railing. He did not even think about what lay in front of him or what might happen next.

A sense of floating. At the very last moment, his extended arms caught the girl's blood-covered arm. Had he started sprinting a second later or kept his eyes on someone apart from Kururi, Haruaki definitely would not have made it in time.

Haruaki mustered all his strength to pull her arm then held Kururi's body in his arms. At the same time, the floating feeling enveloping his body turned into an irresistible sense of falling. The darkness extending before his eyes was beckoning to him.

By this point, there was nothing Haruaki could do.

All he could recall was the description he had read in the guide booklet during the visit in the daytime.

(I remember... The survival rate is 85%, right?)

Surely it was less than 85% since the fall was far too dangerous for the unconscious Kururi. Hence, Haruaki's only choice was to save her&mdash;But then, what was the survival rate for two people falling together? Haruaki really hoped that it was the same as the number quoted just now, then repeated his remark that it was unexpectedly high. He did not want to die but getting injured was acceptable. Provided that Kururi remained safe, his responsibility would&mdash;

"Even if just a little bit! Reach out with your hand, Yachi&mdash;!"

He heard a voice that sounded like an angry roar and a mournful wail. Unable to determine his orientation, Haruaki reflexively reached out with one arm, then something wrapped itself around his arm&mdash;It was the «Tragic Black River».

"Gah... Ah!"

A wave of intense pain and impact struck his arm which acted as the point of support. Perhaps his shoulder might have been dislocated. Haruaki used his other arm to hug Kururi's body desperately. Although his rate of descent had slowed, the «Tragic Black River» wrapped around his arm was unable to absorb all of the kinetic energy. No longer undergoing free fall, Haruaki and Kururi were then pulled closer to the stage. With a crash, his body struck the underlying framework. Ouch. However, he still did not loosen his grip on Kururi. Then in the next second, the pain on his back suddenly disappeared.

Replacing it was warmth.

(...Ah.)

Konoha and Fear were hugging them tightly from both sides. Due to «Tragic» slowing Haruaki and Kururi's descent, Konoha and Fear were able to catch up after jumping a moment later. Where on their bodies was this warmth coming from? Protected by the two girls, they continued to fall. After striking the framework, the direction of descent was tilted to the side. Sharp tree branches could be seen below. Fear and Konoha were not aware. Just as Haruaki shuddered, a certain brown entity flashed before his eyes, slicing the branches. Immediately, the brown, unidentified entity kicked at tree trunks, using monkey-like physical skills to reduce falling momentum.

Then&mdash;

"Uwah! O-Ohhh!"

Crash! They all landed at the same time. Of course, Haruaki did not touch the ground directly. It was Fear and Konoha, hugging Haruaki and Kururi between them, who first stepped on the ground, taking on the impact.

Haruaki looked up at the night sky, only to see Kirika leaning forward from the railing on the stage. The expression of her face turned from unprecedented panic and loss of composure into massive relief. Kirika first released Haruaki's arm from the  «Tragic Black River» and withdrew the belt, then she quickly used it as a rope to lower herself down to their location.

Haruaki looked at Kururi, held in his arms. She was covered with wounds, bleeding, unconscious. However&mdash;her chest was definitely heaving up and down in a steady rhythm.

"Thank goodness... She's still alive..."

"What's so good about that&mdash;!? Are you an idiot!? A real idiot!? I'll curse you!"

"Please stop playing jokes, Haruaki-kun! I will truly get angry!"

"Absolutely ridiculous! I'll say this as many times as it takes, truly and absolutely ridiculous! Furthermore, it's ridiculous to an unprecedented extent!"

"I agree: giving comment of there should be limits to recklessness..."

Un Izoey simply sighed while looking at Haruaki but Fear and the other girls' rampant anger was quite astounding. They looked like they were almost about to rush over and grab him by the collar.

"No... Uh, because all I could think about was saving her... Sorry for worrying you all, I apologize. But you see, if I hadn't grabbed Kururi first then reached out, Class Rep's belt might not have been in time, so the result is that we're saved&mdash;Owwwwww!"

It's fine, it's fine&mdash;Haruaki felt intense pain simply from turning his arm, even breaking out in cold sweat. This looked like he might very well have a fracture.

"I-Is it the spot where I wrapped «Tragic» around? Sorry, if only I had controlled it more skillfully...!"

"Sigh... This can't be helped either. After all, the situation was so dire, consider it a necessary but small sacrifice. Luckily, it's just this level of minor injury. Class Rep, everyone... Thank you all. It's thanks to you all that I was saved."

"You call this... lucky and just... a minor injury?"

Konoha was exuding a chilling aura that made one shudder. Looking at Haruaki's arm, she narrowed her eyes.

In her current state, she looked like she was at her limit no matter what.

"I will not let the one responsible for harming Haruaki-kun go scot-free, I will absolutely not forgive her...!"

At this moment, Konoha suddenly seemed to realize something and took out the key from her pocket.

Due to her terrifying and astounding wrath...

The key had already turned crimson.

"To think it even drips blood, how truly nauseating. But I shall endure for now. Until this little girl who has gone astray is punished!"

Konoha gripped the key tightly, looking up at the stage as she spoke softly.



Fear was also staring at Haruaki's arm. Kururi, all covered with wounds, was also within her view.

She could feel an extremely black and dark type of emotion spilling out from her heart.

How dare she... How dare she... How dare she how dare she how dare she!

The Rubik's cube seemed to be creaking, urging her to hurry and transform it back into a tool of torture. Her own body seemed to be creaking, hoping she would hand out violence to the unforgivable target. She wanted badly to hear screams. Go on and scream out with resentment loudly. I will make you taste retribution, come beg me for mercy!

But at this moment, Fear realized suddenly and also took out her key from her pocket. Over 90%, a little bit more and the key was going to activate.

But was this okay?

A question surfaced in her mind again.

No.

She did not want to activate the key using such dark inner thoughts, using these curse-like feelings.

It would be tantamount to saying that negative emotions suited her more, that these dark, horrifying and ugly thoughts were the emotions that she ought to be close to.

Fear gripped her fist, holding the key firmly and closing her eyes tightly. But at this moment&mdash;

She felt a warm feeling from her tightly clenched fist.

"What's wrong...? Why are you making an expression like you're about to cry?"

"Ah..."

"If anything, I should be the one who wants to cry. Uh, of course, I'm not gonna cry. Yeah, since I won't cry, then you don't need to make such a sad look... Haha, don't grip so hard, you can relax a bit more. Don't be so somber in mood, relax relax relax. Anyway, Kururi and I are safe and sound now."

Sitting on the ground, Haruaki used the hand that still had freedom of movement, gently covering Fear's fist then patting lightly. His fingertips touched the back of her hand gently.

Despite the current circumstances, he was still able to show his usual smile. Wrapped around her fist, his palm was very warm. His words were also very warm.

&mdash;Now this is the correct side, Fear thought.

This side was the direction where she ought to move towards.

Currently, cursing feelings were mixed into her heart. These emotions were driving the key's activation.

However, she did not want to use these feelings as the final driving force. Because she felt that if that happened, the result would symbolize how she was this dark, that she was unable to escape this sort of destiny even to the last second.

She wanted proof to the contrary.

She wanted proof that she was not only constituted from curses.

Hence&mdash;

"Woah, Fear!"

She reached out and hugged Haruaki's neck while he was sitting on the ground. She could sense Konoha and Kirika greatly surprised, but she did not care.

Not a curse, not negative emotions.

She wanted proof that other emotions definitely ''existed'' in her heart.

"Watching the scene of you falling down just now, in my mind&mdash;There was purely just one thought."

Fear drew near to Haruaki's ear and whispered only loud enough for him to hear. "Fear...?" Haruaki whispered back in puzzlement. On her own, she continued speaking:

"..I was thinking that this heart, born from a tool of torture, was about to stop beating. In other words, me&mdash;that's right&mdash;my only thought was that I didn't want to lose you. I've always thought so. Just this one fact, just this feeling is undeniable. No matter what happens, no matter what kind of existence I am, just this one fact...!"

Fear seemed to hear exhalation by her ear akin to a sigh. Then she felt Haruaki use his movable arm to pat her back gently, very gently.

An type of extremely warm feeling was spreading out from the depths of her heart. A kind of wet feeling was coming from her palm.

She took a glance and discovered that the key's color was&mdash;crimson.

Throb, all the blood in her body jumped greatly with warmth.

Look!

They're real. I have them too.

I definitely have emotions apart from curses!

"Yeah!"

"Urghh... I-I can't breathe! Not only my arm but also my neck is getting severely injured!"

"H-Hmph! This is punishment for ignoring your own safety and even doing something so stupid. This is the scarf hold that the teacher taught us. It's painful, right? After I teach a lesson with this move, I'll let you off for now. Because I still have things to do next!"

Fear released Haruaki's neck and stood up.

Her heart was filled with reasons to fight.

Not hatred but the burning anger of justice.

"My question... I am quite puzzled by my own behavior. Why did I go so far as to drop the box and rush down in a hurry...? No answer no matter how hard I try to think. Truly unknown."

Un Izoey was muttering with her head tilted. Perhaps we owe this girl another favor&mdash;Fear thought to herself and said:

"You left the box up there? Then we must act quick. Kirika, I'm leaving the rest to you."

"Yeah... Sure."

Next, Fear and Konoha looked at each other. No words required, they understood what they were both supposed to do respectively.

Nodding silently as a signal, they both jumped simultaneously.

Landing on the framework and using it as a stepping board, they continued to jump up. Repeating this nonstop, they gradually rose up, in order to return to the stage where the battle was going to be decided.