Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume2 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 7===

The next morning, three notices were announced during homeroom. Even though the sports festival was approaching, please do not forget the midterm exams coming up after that. Recently, reports of missing belongings have increased, so please take care of valuables.

Finally&mdash;there have been increased cases of people not feeling well and fainting. Please be sure to have three regular meals and adequate sleep.

Correct and meaningless warnings.

In the few spare minutes after homeroom, the class was in a noisy state of commotion.

Amidst this chaos, Fear was sitting at her seat, her face tense, arms crossed. Over on the side, Haruaki was sprawled over his desk, sleeping like the dead. Early this morning he had also seemed quite tired as if he had experienced some kind of exhausting night&mdash;apparently an impeachment trial? Serves him right.

"..."

Busily drumming away at the desk, Fear's fingers moved rhythmically.

To be honest, she was quite anxious.

Who knew when the doll would arrive? If she could, she wanted to go out and patrol as much as possible. However, there was little chance of the doll causing trouble in class; besides, skipping a whole day of lessons on her second day would be a huge a problem&mdash;particularly when she already had the precedent of skipping the periods after lunch on the first day.

In the end, meaningful patrolling could only be undertaken during breaks. Although the current time also counted as a break, there was too little time if she wanted to leave the school building.

(Time eh...)

She recalled the curse she carried&mdash;as well as past days when she had been disappointed in humans.

Harming others due to being cursed. This was a point of commonality all tools shared, whether dolls or torture equipment.

And now, Sovereignty Perfection Doll was currently stuck in a period of hopeless despair.

Such thoughts ran through her mind.

It was conceivable. Cursing her own curse, troubled by her inability to resist the impulse. Ruminating in her mind, born as a simple tool to be used according to human wishes, how did she turn out like this? To be able to go back to an unthinking tool, how happy would that be? However, a sense of self-awareness could not allow that. Having tasted the joy of being used by humans, contradictory feelings became rooted in one's heart.

That's right, it was conceivable&mdash;After all, Fear had gone through the same feelings in the past.

She was a tool whose existence persisted only to harm others. Alone, she was unable to subvert this truth of the matter. Like a branding iron, like an execution stake, like the spikes of an iron maiden, self-reproach and suffering were continually imposed upon herself. Until her salvation brought upon by others, this period of torment simply seemed to stretch endlessly&mdash;

Ah yes... Fear wanted to save Sovereignty as soon as possible. Not a moment to lose, as quickly as possible.

Hence&mdash;if only she could have told this to her past self as well.

(Shiraho and Haruaki... In order to save you, they are waiting for you.)

Not a moment to lose.

Anxiously, Fear wanted to locate Sovereignty.

Hurry and flow faster, time! Let class end faster! Hurry and appear before me, doll! Fear perked up her ears, trying to listen for screams and commotions. If anything happened, she was going to abandon class. Ah... How unbearable&mdash;

"Fear-chan, good morning~!"

"You look kind of tired, didn't you sleep well last night? Were you watching late night television?"

"Yeah, you were missing after lunch yesterday? Same with Yachi-kun. Recently there's been lots of people fainting, were you guys one of them, Fear-chan? Are you feeling okay?"

Several of the girls in the class had surrounded Fear's desk. She had only chatted with them a little yesterday and they had not mentioned their names again. To be honest, Fear could not remember their names.

"..."

I'm trying to listen carefully here, what are you girls chattering about&mdash;Fear could not help but frown. It was a miracle that she was not clicking her tongue disapprovingly. The girls also seemed to notice something different about Fear's demeanor and looked at each other with surprise.

"No... Yesterday&mdash;because there were still some remaining procedures to handle for enrollment, I was tied up with that. Haruaki was helping me as well. We're not unwell at all. Also, I didn't watch television yesterday and went to bed early. So what's up?"

"R-Really? Nothing much, I noticed you had your eyes closed, so I wanted to ask if you were sleepy..."

"Speaking of sleepy, isn't Yachi-kun dozing away all this time? Uwah, could something have happened last night...?"

One of the girls seemed to be actively trying to dispel the subtle atmosphere and forcing herself to sound cheerful. Then the other girls gathered together, elbowing each other in the ribs and started to talk:

"What what? That's so dirty, you perverted girl. You're not thinking about that 'sudden rendezvous theory,' are you? Though I'm the one who proposed the theory first."

"It can't be happening, right? What about that girl from Third Class&mdash;Muramasa-san? Doesn't she live with Yachi-kun too?"

"T-That girl hates to be called by her family name, you'd better watch out~"

"How strange. I mean, even though she's supposed to be cousins with Yachi-kun, her attitude towards him is a bit alarming... What do you think, Fear-chan?"

Fear decided she had to respond to these girls in order to avoid them from troubling her after class. After all, she could not go anywhere right now anyway. The most reliable method would be the Japanese solution&mdash;a polite smile.

"How should I put it... Sorry, I'm not too sure. In any case, I don't know that much about Cow Tits."

"Cow... Uwah, somehow I can't really disagree. Are you two really not getting along?"

"...We don't. Whether in body size or behavior, she is an affront to the eyes. Given a chance, she's always creating a shameless atmosphere around Haruaki. How should I say it? We are biologically incompatible."

Suddenly, Fear noticed the girls were for some reason snickering to themselves and exchanging knowing looks.

"Could this be... A love triangle?"

"Looks like it, very much. I feel like I've discovered an unexpected bomb, things have become so interesting!"

"Fear-chan, let me give you some good news, okay? That's definitely not biological incompatibility but a woman's instincts...!"

"...? I don't get what you're saying. What are you referring to a woman's instincts?"

Fear's serious question made the crowd even more excited.

"You're the oblivious participant type! Oh no, Fear-chan is so cute!"

"Well, it's possible she doesn't get it only because we're talking in Japanese."

"Excuse me... Sorry to interrupt your conversation, umm..."

"After all, foreigners are supposed to have their first experiences very early. But Fear-chan gives off an impression like a inexperienced sheltered virgin, so maybe she really doesn't understand. Yes, this must be a natural monument, one that must be preserved!"

"...Please, girls...  Excuse me..."

"Immature love yet to blossom. Once she realizes the love in her heart, the girl will become self-aware as a woman!"

"Ahaha, you're reminding me of bittersweet memories. Ah, how nostalgic."

Fear tilted her head in amazed puzzlement.

What was love?

A concept unknown to her, she must surely learn about it. But just as Fear was about to consult them for further details, the girl seated diagonally behind Fear&mdash;Kirika sighed lightly and stood up.

"Shouldn't you people pay slightly more attention to your surroundings?"

"Eh? What's up, Class Rep? Wah! Himura-sensei!"

"Finally, they realized my presence... Thank you for your help..."

Standing on the side was a gloomy looking man&mdash;Himura Sunao, the mathematics teacher. His expression was obscured by his extremely long bangs and his mumbling voice always lacked presence.

"So... Class is starting..."

"Ah yes, sorry!"

The girls obediently returned to their seats. "Despite his gloomy demeanor, he's not bad looking&mdash;that's the girls' general opinion of him, hence his popularity is average." Fear recalled Haruaki's words from yesterday. He had also told her that this man had nicknames like ghost or the negative energy drain man.

"By the way, Fear-kun, as the class representative I'd like to make a request. Could you move back a bit, closer to me?"

"Hmm?"

Fear did not understand but did as Kirika told. Immediately, an elastic band flew across Fear's face and struck her neighbor, Haruaki, squarely in the head.

"Ouch! W-What the heck? Did a homerun come flying?"

"Uh.... Excuse me, Class Rep, could you give the orders..."

"&mdash;Stand up. Bow. Sit down."

The sound of chairs scraping against the floor filled the room as Haruaki watched in puzzlement. But soon after, he dozed off again.

Somehow, Fear felt like she could hear Kirika murmur in a barely audible voice: "Are you sure you guys really didn't do anything strange last night...?"