Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume7 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 5===

However, reality was not that simple. Despite having mental resolve, it did not mean that things would proceed smoothly. In other words, a couple dozen minutes later, Haruaki and Kuroe were once again being chased by the hunting hounds&mdash;one silver-haired, one glasses-wearing. Furthermore, perhaps due to the anxiety caused by their unsuccessful chase, the two girls were getting more and more serious.

The thought of instantly apologizing "sorry for skipping class" had occurred to Haruaki, but by this point, twenty-twenty hindsight was of no help. Currently, they were running along the first years' corridor again.

At this time, the bell rang for the conclusion of the third period. Haruaki was hoping that having greater crowds might make it easier to escape, but this thought only lasted for an instant. In her seriousness, Fear did something crazy and unexpected. Taking a deep breath, she then yelled:

"Wake up, everyone from Year 1 Class 3! Listen to me! Haruaki is skipping class and intends to do shameless things with Kuroe in school&mdash;!"

"W-What&mdash;? Absolutely unforgivable!"

Instantly, all her classmates rushed out of the classroom in a jumble. To Haruaki, they were like a summoned herd of demonic beasts. Naturally, their loyalty towards their summoner was at maximum&mdash;All of them were fully fired up. Logically speaking, their contact with Kuroe was too brief to have such a strong response, but right now, everyone was treating her as a princess for whom they would lay down their lives to rescue, preparing seriously to apprehend the demon king (Haruaki) who had kidnapped Kuroe. Give me a break, okay?

"Damn you, Haruaki, keeping the goods all to yourself!"

"The reward for catching him is a school date with Kuroe-san? I'll gladly do it in exchange for my life!"

"What must I do to add the option of calling me 'Onii-chan' as well?"

"You guys, why are you so serious! Also, don't go changing other people's words to suit your own personal desires!"

There was no time to turn around. Also, Fear and Konoha were currently approaching. Haruaki had no choice but to break through the blockade directly. Lost in reckless abandon, Haruaki picked up Kuroe's petite body and squeezed through the arms of the classmates blocking the corridor. Naturally, there continued to be pursuers after he went past the blockade, hence he still had to continue moving.

"Guha, what a pain...!"

"Haru, do you wanna find a place to hide first?"

"Good idea, uh... Right now, the only place I can think of is there!"

Obstructed by the members of the class, Fear and Konoha ended up getting slowed down instead. Making full use of this fortunate turn of events, Haruaki and Kuroe continued running and charged into the staff block. Panting as they ran up the stairs, they prioritized looking out for pursuers in the surroundings then ran into a certain room on the top floor. This was the very familiar office of the superintendent.

"...Eh? May I help you?"

"Wow&mdash;Kuroe-chan? In a school uniform as well, could it be you're transferring, you're transferring here as a student?"

Inside were two ladies&mdash;the superintendent's secretary Houjyou Zenon and her assistant Sovereignty the maid. The absence of the weird superintendent was perfectly commonplace.

Haruaki threw a sideways glance at Kuroe who was casually raising her hand to greet "Hi&mdash;We're here to play&mdash;" while talking to the occupants of the room:

"Uh&mdash;I can't explain the reason! But right now, Fear and Konoha are chasing us. Could you let us hide here for a bit? Please!"

"Well... But Fear-sama and Konoha-sama are also important friends of the superintendent. Perhaps they might complain afterwards, so... At least let me in on the reason so that I may make a correct decision."

"Hmm&mdash;Actually, it's not like who's right or wrong here, rather, it's just caused by an unfortunate chance encounter."

Kuroe muttered while Sovereignty, dressed as a maid, walked briskly over to Zenon and spoke her ear:

"Excuse me, Zenon-san, I have an idea. What was discovered in the storage closet... Ask her... to do that... in exchange..."

"&mdash;!"

Originally expressionless, Zenon's eyes suddenly lit up like a robot that was fully charged. Naturally, that was just an analogy. But undoubtedly, something definitely had entered her on a mental level.

"Then please head over to the room next door and leave the rest to us."

"I-I don't really get it, but thank you to you both...!"

Currently, there was no time for doubting why Sovereignty and Zenon had suddenly changed their minds. Next, Haruaki and Kuroe moved through the side door to the room next to the office, which could be considered the secretary's room. Inside was a large steel desk, a closet that appeared to hold clothes for changing, as well as a sink providing water for brewing tea. As for the gigantic elephant plushie sitting on the desk, Haruaki decided it would be better to pretend that he never saw it.

In any case, as soon as Haruaki and Kuroe entered that room, the door to the neighboring superintendent's office opened noisily.

"Excuse us!"

"...Welcome, Fear-sama and Konoha-sama. May I help you?"

"H-Hello&mdash;"

"Oh, Zenon and Sovereignty, I've got something to ask you."

"Did Haruaki-kun and Kuroe-san come here? We are currently looking for them."

Naturally, these were the voices of Fear and Konoha. Haruaki and Kuroe pressed their ears against the door to listen.

"No... I have not seen them today. Since you are looking for them, should Yachi-sama and Kuroe-sama visit, do I need to contact you?"

"Ooh, muu. Really? Then if they come here, could you call this girl's cellphone to contact us? However, please do it secretly without letting them know."

"The chances of them escaping here are very high... However, those two should also know that we'll come here in search of them. Perhaps we fell into their trap instead."

"Damn it, how could they be allowed to escape!? Let's go, Cow Tits!"

Then the two girls rushed out of the office in a flurry of footsteps. It looked like they were deceived successfully. Just as Haruaki was sighing and thinking "what a pain," he opened the door and saw Sovereignty.

"Ehehe&mdash;We succeeded!"

"Y-Yeah. Thanks Sovereignty."

"After all, you're both my friends, Haruaki-kun and Kuroe-chan. I feel sorry about deceiving Fear-chan and Konoha-chan, but it's fine since I'm able to help. But convincing Zenon-san requires a price... Okay, Haruaki-kun, shoo, get out of here. Kuroe-chan, stay here, stay here."

"W-What? A price?"

Sovereignty simply said "don't ask so much" and forced Haruaki back into the superintendent's office. Although he had no idea what was going on, he felt he should still thank Zenon for helping to deceive Fear and Konoha. Surveying the room&mdash;

"U-Umm... Zenon-san?"

"There is nothing more wonderful than the safety of you two. Please wait here until the storm passes."

"O-Okay... That's fine, but..."

"...Is there a problem?"

Rather than problem, Haruaki would say that her behavior was very suspicious. For some reason, Zenon was kneeling on one knee and had taken a digital camera out from somewhere,  pointing it at the door leading to the adjacent room with flawless posture. Like a photographer who did not wish to miss a decisive moment... Or rather, the level of intensity had probably reached that of a photographer who did not wish to miss the instant the president was assassinated.

In any case, Haruaki sat down on the sofa to wait for Kuroe and Sovereignty's return.

A few minutes later.

"I-It's done... Zenon-san!"

"I've no idea what's going on, but to think I was asked to change&mdash;"

Pushed out from behind by Sovereignty, Kuroe was dressed in a maid outfit. A frilled skirt, fashionable apron as well as a pure white headdress contrasting with her black hair. The look suited her quite well. Sovereignty smiled while forcing Kuroe into cosplay, still in her usual sleepy-eyed demeanor. Naturally, Zenon was furious pressing the shutter button of her camera the moment Kuroe appeared. She kept taking all sorts of photos, including closeups, changing angles, high angles and low angles. For some reason, Kuroe did not seem annoyed and even starting changing poses on her own during the latter half of the photo shoot.

"U-Umm...?"

Haruaki watched in amazement. Sovereignty walked over lightly.

"Ehehe, because Zenon-san knows that there's a maid outfit in the closet. And she says she absolutely refuses to miss out on Kuroe-chan's maid look. Rather, I want to see it very much myself! This is basically the price for our help!"

"So that's what you two were discussing...? But if doing something trivial like this can buy us personal safety, it's quite cheap... I guess?"

If they headed out right now, Fear and Konoha could still be wandering in the area, so killing some time was necessary. Besides, Kuroe looked quite happy, so there was probably no problem&mdash;Haruaki decided to think that.

"Hmm&mdash;Kuroe-chan really looks so cute! I really wish you could start working alongside me from today onwards!"

"...If the beauty parlor ever goes out of business, please hire her."

"How rude, how could it go out of business so easily, Haru... Correction, it will never go out of business~ Dear master&mdash;"

"You're dying to try it out, right? Like today, you closed up the shop on your own."

As Kuroe answered while making poses, Haruaki was suddenly struck by a question. Indeed, Kuroe had deliberately closed her shop in order to come over to school. She was currently looking for her love at first sight. Due to her forcefulness, Haruaki had failed to realize until now... Did he really need to find the person so urgently? Even if feelings of love cannot be suppressed no matter what, was it really necessary to search so urgently&mdash;?

However, his questions were interrupted by Zenon suddenly standing up.

"Oh, what's the matter? Zenon-san, have you completely captured Kuroe-chan's cuteness with the camera? You must show me later!"

"Sovereignty, you have misunderstood something. My purpose in taking so many photos does not lie in capturing her cuteness&mdash;Indeed. This will be used as recruitment materials in the future should greater manpower be needed and another assistant has to be hired. Naturally, you must move into the shot as well, to produce an image of how 'senior colleagues even provide careful instruction to novices.' This is what it's about. This photo shoot is undertaken purely on grounds of business necessity rather than any intent to capture cuteness."
[[image:C3 07-207.jpg|thumb]]

Haruaki felt that Zenon's glimmering eyes were actually revealing her true thoughts of "apart from 'adorable,' how else would you describe two maids together?" in direct opposition to what she was saying aloud. However, pretending not to notice probably counted as a form of kindness.

"Thus, we now proceed to photographing you two together. You come over here as well."

"O-Okay~ Please be gentle..."

Clearly, this photo shoot was still going to continue for a while longer.