Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume14 Epilogue (section)

===Part 5===

Kotetsu suddenly woke up in alarm. He was currently being moved, carried on someone's back.

"Wha&mdash;"

"You've woken up?"

The back of her head was in front of his eyes, her hair slightly shortened.

"What is going on&mdash;?"

"I am taking you back to my home."

"Truth be told... What nonsense are you spouting?"

He swiftly surveyed his surroundings. Yachi Haruaki, Fear-in-Cube, a doll and the girl in the leather bondage suit. All of them were walking together nearby. Although they glanced at him, none of them took particular action. If he wanted to escape, he should be able to. However&mdash;

"This is not nonsense, Kotetsu. You are like a younger brother to me. Hence&mdash;"

"Hence?"

"...Well, borrowing the Draconians' style, allow me to tell you why I am this strong and powerful. There are many other reasons, but if I had to pick one, it is for you to witness personally with your own eyes the final fates for existences like us."

She turned her head to look at him sideways while speaking. Simply from the sight of her profile, Kotetsu understood. The person in front of him was her pathetic self he had seen in the beginning, yet at the same time, she was also the same person he had been living with for the past few days.

"Cursed swords such as us, how should we live in this era and how are we supposed to live on... You are also living in the current era. Even if you have been fixated on becoming stronger all this time, this matter can't possibly have never crossed your mind, right?"

"..."

He refused to answer. Instead, he asked a different question.

"Have you considered the possibility that I might avenge Nirushaaki-sama?"

"The way I see it, please be my guest if you're capable of doing that. However, you should already understand, yes? My current self is not quite the same as who I was until now."

She turned her head again. That glasses-wearing profile. Shining brightly between the gap&mdash;familiar eyes.

"Simply stated... Since you lost, just shut up and obey, Kotetsu."

"...Truth be told, that's so unfair. I really have no idea what attitude I should use to face you..."

"Any is fine. Both sides are still me."

"Guh... Such tyranny."

"I have decided to allow myself to think this: it's fine to be a little tyrannical towards a little brother. Please don't worry. A vacancy happened to open up for that position after a promotion."

"...?"

Although completely lost&mdash;

No matter what, resistance was already pointless&mdash;Kotetsu resigned himself.



She was holding two Indulgence Disks in her hand. These were discovered together with «Bartolomey Oblivion»'s remains in the trash can after searching the western mansion using the information Nirushaaki had provided Haruaki. To Fear, these were items of the highest value. Having decided to collect Indulgence Disks actively, to think she would obtain two together this time, it was definitely a very happy occurrence. However, there were other things bothering her at the moment.

Playing with the Indulgence Disks in her hand, Fear chatted with Kuroe while paying attention to Haruaki walking in front.

"Ficchi, I think you suffered more injuries this time than usual. Are you okay? Does it hurt anywhere?"

"I'm totally fine, don't worry. At least in my current condition, I still don't need to depend on you who's so out of energy that white hair is appearing."

"It's not like my hair has turned all white, so I was thinking I could still spare a little life force~"

"Yeah, I guess I did suffer relatively more injuries this time, it's like I didn't perform very well in battle either, but that's&mdash;that's because I simply wasn't in best condition! Because there were too things going on in my mind, and basically, there's those eyesores waving before my eyes all the time, drawing my attention controllably, that's why my concentration kept getting interrupted!"

"...Yeah, me too, I guess it was the same for everyone. Just seeing Kono-san standing there in the enemy camp was enough to feel agitated. Overall, it was a very difficult battle to go all-out."

This kind of conversation continued for a while&mdash;

Finding the right moment, Fear lowered her voice and whispered to bring up the main topic.

"By the way, umm&mdash;basically that. Everyone... has kissed before...?"

"Oh my~ Kono-san's boldness really took me in for quite a shock~"

"Let me try asking, just in case, umm, Kuroe... Don't tell me you've kissed Haruaki too&mdash;"

"Speaking of which, yes. But it was just on the forehead."

"What!? I don't really get what kissing the forehead represents, but... Really...? N-No wait, I've done it too! Kissing is very normal, right? Yeah, although at the time, I was in the form of a cube."

In any case&mdash;Fear recalled how Konoha had shouted her feelings without any pretense at all.

That was what people called a confession, right? As intense as a storm. Requiring astounding energy, it felt like it was the biggest one-time event in a woman's life. But this was what Kana or someone said in the past.

Furthermore, that confession also seemed to have brought some kind of strange change to her.

As soon as she recalled the image of those two together, a strange phenomenon would happen for no reason.

(Ugh...)

A sharp pain in the depths of her heart.

Like feeling sad, like wanting to cry, like wanting to scream out&mdash;

It made her feel that way.

(Hmph, that damn Cow Tits... As expected, the shameless brat is the shameless brat too...)

The storm of Konoha's confession had blown tiny razor fragments, flying in the aftermath, stabbing into the depths of her unguarded heart&mdash;That was the kind of feeling.

Due to the razor fragments lingering behind, they probably were not going to disappear so easily. They were not something that would disappear with time.

A wound almost like a curse.

While walking, Fear pretended to cross her arms while secretly rubbing her chest.

If this wound had to be healed...

If these razor fragments stuck in the bottom of her heart had to be plucked out, what exactly should she do?



Adjusting her pace fluently, Kuroe walked over to Kirika's side.

"According to my predictions, aren't you also waiting for a reply, Kiririn?"

"Fufu&mdash;It's useless lying to you. Although I think I've said it before already."

Kirika admitted it readily, shrugged and said quietly:

"I have already conveyed my feelings to him concretely."

"Oho~ Nice. Then I guess I'll say this first. If you feel it's unfair&mdash;''that'' would be fine too."

"What are you referring to?"

"Basically what I said earlier... roughly around Valentine's. Kono-san is always together with Haru in our home, Kiririn, but you're not. So there's a way to level the playing field in this area. Even with Kotecchan as the latest addition, we still have spare rooms at home."

After hearing Kuroe's suggestion&mdash;

"Well... what should I do..."

Kirika simply responded ambiguously.

Right now, that was all she could do.