Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume13 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 5===

"I-It's done&mdash;! Totally perfect!"

"So big~!"

"So amazing, it's like a snowman you see in picture books!"

In front of Haruaki, the children were looking up at the assembled snowman, cheering happily. Mixed among them, Fear and Kuroe also displayed satisfied smiles. Especially Fear, who also pointed at the snowman and said: "That part's really good, it's awesome. Yeah, don't you guys agree?", commenting on various things together with the children as though holding an appraisal conference.

"Oh my, that girl is called Fear-chan, isn't she? It's amazing that she's already become part of the children's group in such short time, isn't she quite talented in this area? It really helps us a lot."

"No no, I think she's simply doing what she wants, that's all."

"Indeed. Rather than a talent, I would consider her ability to get along well with kids largely stems from the fact that their mental ages are alike."

"Haha. But being able to approach anyone boldly is one of Fear-kun's strengths."

While the middle-aged shopkeeper was chatting with Konaha and the rest...

"Uwah! Ouch, it really hurts..."

"Ah&mdash;! Old mister Hatanaka really had a great fall!"

Seeing the children in a clamor, Haruaki's group looked over to see that the elderly man, Hatanaka-san, lying fallen on the snowy ground. He did not seem able to stand up, groaning in pain. The middle-aged shopkeeper hurried over to him.

"Hatanaka-san, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Oh, hmm... S-Sorry. My back..."

"That's why I asked you not to force yourself too much..."

Seeing Hatanaka-san in that state, the middle-aged shopkeeper shook his head slightly then carefully picked up Hatanaka-san piggyback style before casting a worried glance towards Haruaki's group:

"I'm really sorry but I'll have to send Hatanaka-san to the hospital first. He simply hurt his back from the fall, so I don't think it's anything serious, probably. So, as for the children&mdash;"

Pausing at this point, the shopkeeper suddenly displayed a thoughtful look with wavering eyes. He first glanced at the children behind him then looked at Haruaki's group.
[[image:C3 13-265.jpg|thumb]]

"Umm, if you guys don't mind, could you help me watch these kids for now? It'd be such a shame for them if their gathering today in this rare snow had to be dismissed early because of this little accident. I'll hurry back as quickly as possible. All you need to do is take care that they don't do anything dangerous."

"I see... Uh, what are we going to do?"

Haruaki looked back to ask for the group's opinion. Fear nodded vigorously, the first to answer:

"Of course I don't mind. This counts as helping others and it's doing beneficial things for people. I don't have any problems with the request. Taking care of children is a piece of cake!"

"After all, our plans only consisted of playing for the next while~ If that's the case, all we have are extra guests when playing, right? I don't think it's a problem at all~"

Not only Kuroe but also Konoha and Kirika had no objections. In that case, Haruaki had no reason to refuse.

"Do you all agree? Wow, that's a really great help, thank you all!"

"I-I'm so sorry... My back is no good. That's what being old is like... Ouch."


"Please stay still, I'll send you to the hospital to see a doctor right away. Okay, sorry for the trouble, guys, I'm depending on you for the next bit."

The shopkeeper raised a single hand to express his thanks then walked out of the park, trudging through the snow. Although it was an unexpected development, now that they had been tasked with a responsibility, it was necessary to fulfill their duties in earnest.

"Uh, then what should we do first?"

"Hmm, if anything happens, it'll be too much of a pain to go yelling 'kids over there.' Rather, since everyone is a kid, there's no way of distinguishing them."

"Because you're a kid as well."

"Cow Tits, you're making too much noise. So first of all, let's have self-introductions. I'll start. My name is&mdash;"

With inexorable arrogance, Fear puffed out her chest and introduced herself. The rest of Haruaki's group also introduced themselves briefly, followed by the children. Since the children were yelling their names at the same time without any particular order, it took a fair amount of time and effort before their names could be learnt. Hence, after asking everyone's name&mdash;No, there was still one child whose name was still unknown. Namely, the girl who had been playing by herself all this time.

The girl was sporting a bob cut with a knitted cap. Kneeling on the ground with her feet outwards, calves against her thighs, she was using a small pink shovel to dig up snow, gathering it in front of her to build a small hill. Then&mdash;

She stabbed the pink shovel into the hill's center, causing it to collapse.

Repeating ad infinitum.

Neither talking to anyone nor making eye contact with anyone, she simply kept doing the same thing silently.

"Muumuu, that kid's been doing this all along, right?"

Fear cocked her head with an expression of deep thought. On the other hand, the children exchanged glances among themselves with embarrassed looks. Was there some kind of hidden story?

"Anyway, I have to ask for her name at least. I'm heading over!"

Fear ran over to the girl, then bent down slightly to say a few words to her. Then the girl shook her head lightly. Fear cocked her head in puzzlement but after persevering and saying more, Fear apparently forced the girl to relent and put down her shovel. Hence, Fear took her hand with a smile and had her stand up. Although it was achieved through a slightly forceful attitude, Fear did succeed in bringing the girl back...

"..."

However, the girl's expression and temperament definitely could not be described as cheerful. Head bowed slightly, her gaze was cast at her feet. Through her eyes, Haruaki could experience a sense of emptiness that should not belong to children, as though abandoning everything, feeking disappointment with everything in the world.

"So this is what we're doing, it's self-introduction time. Why don't you tell us your name?"

After a long time, the group finally heard a soft whisper.

"...Kadokura... Youko..."

She was speaking in a voice that was easily to miss if one did not perk up their ears to listen carefully.

After saying that, the girl turned around directly and returned to where she had been spending her time. Sitting down at once, she picked up the small pink shovel, then once again, she resumed piling snow up to make a mountain.

Fear simply stared at her back, probably thinking it would be forcing the girl too much if she chatted with her and dragged her over again. With sighing whisper, Fear said:

"Hmm... Youko huh...?"

"Kurako. Call her Kurako."

"Huh?"

Haruaki turned to look at the sudden voice beside him, only to find a boy standing there. The boy had a shaved head and looked quite mischievous. Haruaki recalled the name he had heard during self-introductions... The boy's name seemed to be Kouta.

"Kouta, you know her?"

Hearing Fear's question, the boy crossed his arms and kept a stiff poker face as though trying to act older than his age. Then with a "can't be helped" kind of vibe, he replied:

"That girl's name is Kadokura Youko, or in other words, Youko with the naturally gloomy personality, that's why we call her Kurako.<ref>'''Youko'''(陽子) and '''Kurako'''(暗子): the first character ''you''(陽) in Youko means sunny while ''kura''(暗) in Kurako means dark.</ref> Everyone calls her that."

"What a disagreeable nickname. First of all, I would suggest that it'd be best if you guys came up with a different nickname... But let's put that aside. In other words, everyone came up with this unpleasant nickname because she's always acting like this?"

Kouta nodded simply after Kirika finished.

"Yeah, she's always like that. She doesn't talk much in class, her personality is gloomy. No one knows what she's thinking about."

"Oh, so that implies that you're classmates with her, Kouta-kun?"

Hearing Konoha's question, Kouta froze for an instant before puffing out his chest immediately as a distraction and continuing:

"Hmm... I guess. Totally by chance. So, umm... Classmates have tried inviting her out to play many times, but she always ignores them. I only brought her here today because my mom said I should, being neighbors and all. In the end, all she's doing is gathering snow like that, making small hills then destroying them, I totally don't get her..."

"I see, so she lives next to your house?"

"Th-That has nothing to do with anything. Totally by chance, okay? Anyway, Kurako always acts like that! So it's best that you don't concern yourselves with her! Like me, I'm totally leaving her alone right now!"

Saying that, Kouta kept throwing glances at Youko. Completely opposite to what he was saying, he clearly looked quite concerned. And extremely concerned at that.

Haruaki's group exchanged looks among themselves. Although they could get a vague feeling for Youko and Kouta's relationship...

"So, what to do?"

"There no 'what to do?' right... It doesn't sit well with me to leave her all lonesome to play by herself. I really hope she can join a circle of friends."

"But it's not like we can force her. Even if we drag her over here forcibly, I believe it would be pointless if she still doesn't feel happy."

"Konoha-kun makes a fair point. So, what should we do...?"

While the group was pondering this question, the self-introductions concluded. The kids finally reached their limit of their patience and rushed up to surround them. Naturally, Kouta was among them.

"Like I said, forget about her! The important thing is for us to play now!"

"Yeah, lady, let's play together!"

"What shiny hair! Can I touch your hair?"

"Nwah, hey! Hold on, slow down, calm it&mdash;! Argh, there's no calming down at all! Sure, you can touch my hair, hwah, but don't pull it, ouch ouch...! W-What should I do!?"

"No helping it... Anyway, let's all play together for now? Then at the same time, keep an eye on that child's movements."

"I guess it's okay to leave things like that for now. And we can't leave this group of kids unattended either. Besides, perhaps the girl might change her mind after seeing everyone playing happily together..."

Although it was a very passive choice, that was all they could do for now. "Since it's decided&mdash;" As a result, Fear picked up two handfuls of snow in an exaggerated manner then said in a joking tone of voice:

"You~ guys~ I can't believe you're so naughty, it's punishment time!"

"Kyah~ kyah~ Ahahaha!"

"Hey, stand still, not allowed to run away&mdash;!"

"She clearly went through a snowball fight at home already, but she's really energetic... Pwah!"

"Hehe, don't lower your guard, mister!"

As a result, the situation naturally turned into a game akin to a snowball fight. Without any rules, they were simply throwing snowballs casually at one another. Because snow was hard to come by to begin with, this alone was enough to allow everyone to play so happily&mdash;That was what Haruaki thought.

However, just as he bent down to make a new snowball, he turned his gaze at the same time.

There was no change in Youko's state despite the start of a rowdy snowball fight. She was not even glancing over at them. Sitting knees together, shins slanting gently outwards, she was using her shovel to gather snow to make a round hill, then after reaching a certain size, she collapsed it. Then she began to gather snow again&mdash;It was an incomprehensible game of solitaire that even went as far as to give an impression of asceticism.

"Take this!"

Haruaki felt a light attack agaist the back of his head. The other person had simply thrown a sloppy, powdery snowball at him without compacting it hard first. Catching the sight of swaying silver hair in the corner of his eye, Haruaki understood that the culprit was standing right next to him, watching the same scene.

"She's not even looking over here... What should we do? Hey Haruaki, why don't you fulfill your role as the shameless brat and throw a snowball at her or stuff snow down her clothes? She could very well join us, spurred by anger to get even."

"I don't think it's that simple. By the way, that would totally make me a villain!"

"Yeah, even if the plan succeeded, you would still have committed shameless acts against a grade schooler for sure. I will take responsiblity by calling the police, so don't worry."

Just at this moment, a shout was suddenly heard.

"Hyah&mdash;&mdash;!"

"Ohoh. Hohoho, too naive."

Fear ducked lightly to evade the flying snowball. Haruaki looked ahead to see Kouta going "Tsk~" and pouting. He immediately seemed to notice where Haruaki and Fear had been staring, saying:

"You guys are looking at Kurako again, huh? Like I said, just leave her alone."

"That's not gonna fly. This kind of game is only fun if everyone plays together... But anyway, she's always acted like this from a long time ago?"

"Uh~..."

Hearing Fear's question, Kouta stammered, looking like he had difficulty answering. Then scratching his shaved head, he replied:

"No... It only started last year. She wasn't like this before. Although she wasn't that cheery and lively to begin with, at least compared to now, she talked more often. I've also seen her go out and play with other girls who were her friends..."

"It started last year huh... Then do you have any idea what's the reason?"

After Haruaki asked, Kouta nodded: "Because we're neighbors, after all." Then lowering his voice, he said&mdash;

"Her dad passed away."

"...!"

"Her dad was a nice guy. He played catch with me every now and then and I've seen him playing with her before, but&mdash;"

"I'm so sorry. I understand now. Thank you."

Haruaki interrupted gently and Kouta stopped talking, lowering his eyelids quietly.

Haruaki reviewed all the obtained information in his mind once more. Youko had started turning gloomy last year and gone reticent. Also, her father had passed away. The father who had been quite close to her&mdash;

"This situation is quite common... But it's really heartbreaking. In other words, she still hasn't recovered from the blow of her father's passing, right?"

"...Probably."

Haruaki and Fear looked towards Youko again. Without making contact with anyone, the girl simply played with the white snow all by herself.

By the time he noticed, Haruaki found Kouta also staring at Youko's back silently, using those eyes that had very likely started gazing at her from a very long time ago.

Fear murmured softly.

"Clearly there's someone who's been watching you all along... That's such a shame..."

Probably murmuring to herself, Fear nodded vigorously once.

"Hey Haruaki."

By this point, Haruaki already knew what Fear intended to say. But still, he asked her in turn:

"What's up?"

"I-I still wanna help her. I don't know if it'll work or not, but I can't leave her alone. I wish... she could play with everyone and talk more, smile more. But maybe this is just my willful and overconfident wish."

"...Not at all. I feel the same as you too."

Haruaki smiled while he spoke. "Really?" Fear nodded, slightly relieved and said:

"Then we have to think up a plan seriously! What should we do to help her join in the fun? Fufufufu, I'm not gonna hold back at all~"

Fear crossed her arms and puffed out her chest. But after hearing her dangerous announcement, Haruaki was not the one to raise objections.

"However, I would still ask that you show restraint in your course of action. You can't go throwing snowballs at her deliberately to rile her up."

"Indeed, that could very well worsen the gap between relationships. I have to say it'd be absolutely ridiculous."

"Hmm... A way to make her take initiative to play together... I guess we have to make her get interested in us? So, how can we do that?"

At some point, Konoha, Kirika and Kuroe had also gathered by their side. Probably having heard what Kouta had said, they seemed to understand the current topic of conversation for the most part.

&mdash;Originally starting out as a target to strive for, it was now a clear and concrete goal.

They hoped that Youko could play with everyone.

Since such a simple wish was already born, all that remained was putting in actual action. The members Haruaki's group exchanged glances to confirm one another's resolve.

On the other hand, Kouta, who was supposed to be closest with Youko, simply threw out a comment with a face full of indifference:

"I suggest you guys give up... It'll end up a total waste of effort."

Then he walked over to his other friends.