Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume10 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 9===

The next day after school, Haruaki's group was going home together. Like the day before, Kuroe spent the daytime at the superintendent's office, taking care of Amanda, with neither problems nor apparent progress. Apart from mathematics class, they did not see Himura again either, thus suggesting no progress on his end either.

Instead of heading home directly, they took a tour of the surroundings. Today, Kuroe was responsible for pushing Amanda's wheelchair while Fear was holding a book she had bought at a bookstore along the way, frowning deeply while staring at the pages. Not only did she cover up the exterior, but she had also chosen the book secretly with Kirika, so Haruaki had no idea about the book's title or genre.

"To think you're reading a book, how rare. What is it?"

"Nuu. Secret, it's a secret! I can tell others but not you!"

"Why?"

"Shut up! Don't ask anymore, I'll curse you! Jeez... But I never knew there could be so many varieties... Which should I pick? Hmm..."

Fear turned her gaze back to the book and murmured to herself. Oh well, reading a book was not a bad thing after all. In any case, Haruaki decided not to pursue further regarding the book's contents and simply gave an honest warning: "Reading while walking is very dangerous." But just as expected, he was cruelly ignored.

But soon after, Fear closed the book shut and placed it in her schoolbag. This was definitely not because his warning finally worked after a delay but simply because she tired of it.

"Hmm, how difficult... I'll read the rest at home. Speaking of which..."

Fear glanced towards Amanda.

"Wasn't the bookstore stimulating enough? There were so many fun-looking books inside."

"Yeah. To me, it's quite a shame I wasn't able to visit the most stimulating zone."

"How could you be allowed there!?"

"The most stimulating type of book...? I don't get what you're getting at, Kuroe, but books are simply books, right? I don't really think there could be too big of an effect. Is there anything more stimulating?"

Fear surveyed her surroundings while speaking, then went "Oh!" and stopped walking, looking towards the side of the road.

"There's a park. Why don't we play there for a bit?"

"Oh~ Returning to childlike fancies on occasion seems like a good idea. Playing together in a lively manner, or watching us play, perhaps Ama-chan might be more energetic."

"What do you mean by 'occasional,' why do I feel like you always have nothing but childlike fancies, Kuroe-san... Hmm, whatever."

"I don't mind either. I didn't even know of this park before."

"Same here. Looks like there are quite a lot of leisure facilities~"

Hence, the group filed into the park. Although smaller than a baseball field, it was large enough for a three-player game of catch. The park contained sand pits, monkey bars, an elephant-shaped slide and swings, a full set of basic leisure facilities. In a corner on the far end, there was also a drinking fountain combined with a large clock stand.

There were already some people playing in the park, a few kids and a brown-haired girl, probably the elder sister of one of them. Probably playing tag, the group was running around, making a lot of noise.

Trying not to get in their way, Haruaki's group first headed over to the swings. Putting Amanda on a swing, they rocked her gently while making sure she did not fall off. Swaying the iron chains, Haruaki exchanged glances with Kirika who was supporting Amanda's arms.

"...How should I describe this? Somehow, it feels... very lonely..."

"I get the same feeling too. But it can't be helped. It's not like we can be like Fear."

"Ahaha~! Amanda, do you see!? This is really very fun, if you're jealous, hurry and get well, at least well enough to play on a swing!"

Fear was standing on the adjacent swing, showing off swinging upright, swaying backwards and forwards forcefully. "What's this? A display stand for decapitation? Or a relative of the guillotine's? I never knew that this country has a culture of public executions as well!" Fear had said that the first time she saw a swing, but by now she was very experienced with them.

"Fear, don't swing too hard, it's dangerous! Rather, umm, you're currently wearing a skirt...!"

"This stimulating sensation is the whole point of fun on a swing. I want to go even higher~!"

"Like I said, hold your horses! You are also being stimulating in a different sense!"

Perhaps because she was trying to make a display of her joyful form in an effort to stimulate Amanda, Fear did not relent in her vigor. She swung high, fast and boldly. Her head of silver hair glittering brightly, she became a pendulum herself. To be honest, the sight was very pretty. Perhaps also because of that&mdash;

"Wow~! That foreigner missy is so amazing..." "Doesn't she get scared?"

The kids who had been playing tag in the park were apparently drawn to Fear and approaching, their eyes glimmering as they watched Fear trace out arcs in the air.

"Hohoho... Those who recognize my skills know what they're talking about...!"

Fear grinned at them while increasing her swinging speed, getting even more carried away. Were she to speed up further, it really looked like she was going to make a 360-degree full revolution. However, that did not seem to be the ending that the kids wanted.

"I-Is she going to fly? Will she fly?"

"The foreigner missy definitely can fly very far away! She's most likely a gymnast!"

"Uh, umm, dear children... Excuse me, but that idiot missy really might end up doing that after listening to your commotion, so&mdash;"

Just as Konoha spoke to the kids with a stiff smile, in that very instant&mdash;

Twang! The swing swayed greatly then&mdash;

"I must respond to expectations... Watch! Here I go~!"

"She flew~!"  "So amazing!"

Under the children's amazed gazes, silver hair fluttered in the air. Perhaps incited to a good mood, Fear even went as far to somersault in the air, holding her knees to her chest while rotating&mdash;silver, stripes, silver, stripes, these two colors alternated in Haruaki's view while Fear traced out a perfect parabola, landing on her feet&mdash;

"Yeah! Kids, did you see that!? Please offer your generous applause of praise... Woah?"

Perhaps due to jumping too forcefully, Fear's landing failed a little. Just as she slipped, the lead girl who had been playing with the kids, arrived chasing after the kids, panting heavily&mdash;

"Huff... Ooh... Wait up... You guys, I'm so happy you didn't flee and waited for me. But Onee-san is pretty much 'it,' so if you act too casual, Onee-san's pride will get hurt, will ''HEART BREAK''... Ooph!"<!--note to editors: Hinai Elsie has a habit of inserting Engrish in her speech, rendered in katakana; these will be rendered in all caps with italics-->

The girl running weakly collided with Fear who had lost her balance. Then the two of them collapsed, all entangled together.

"Kyuu..."

"Nuu. What happened...? Anyway, looks like I didn't achieve a perfect ten. What a shame."

"Hey Fear! Now's not the time to be saying what a shame! I knew this was going to happen!"

"Uh.. This is... because they were looking forward to it, so I had no choice... Muguu!? Damn you, shameless brat, you dared to hit my head! I'll curse you!"

Haruaki decided it was appropriate to give her a bit of educational punishment given the circumstances. After a knock on Fear's head, he lifted her up by the collar to right her stance. At this moment, Fear finally seemed to realize what had happened after her failed landing.

"Muu... Did I hit this girl? I'm really sorry. Hey, are you okay?"

"Yeah, umm, we're very sorry! A-Are you alright?"

"Hmm...?"

Haruaki examined the girl's appearance. She was roughly the same age as them. On her head, she was wearing a cute knit cap with long ear flaps. The ear flaps were curled up slightly, revealing wires and headphones on her ears underneath. She was probably listening to music at a low volume. Her outfit consisted of a t-shirt, a hoodie together with a fluttery miniskirt, overall quite convenient to move around in. A pair of bare, snow-white legs extended from beneath her skirt down to her sneakers, no socks, giving an impression of convenient mobility yet vulnerable at the same time. Combined with the fact that she had fallen and was currently sprawled on the ground, between her bare thighs and miniskirt was&mdash;

Feeling murderous intent, Haruaki frantically turned his gaze away so quickly that he almost broke his neck. After evacuating his view, he happened to find Konoha slowly raising both hands. Smiling at him, she lowered her hands lightly at the same time. What a close call.

Sensing the girl sitting up with a rustle, Haruaki turned his gaze back towards her. The girl was sitting listlessly on the ground, her head cocked in puzzlement: "What just happened...?" Hence, Haruaki asked:

"Umm... Sorry about that, are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"Eh? Oh&mdash;I'm probably... okay. Yes, don't worry! This is totally the ''GOODEST''!"

The girl smiled demurely while using incorrect English. Her smile was quite dazzling. Then patting her bottom, the girl stood up. Probably due to wearing a knit cap with ear flaps, she gave an impression like a rabbit's&mdash;The cap could very well be modeled on a rabbit's design as its prototype.

"Really? It's great that you're unhurt. Sorry, I accidentally went too far in my playing around."

Fear could not help but make an apologetic expression, scratching her face while saying sorry. But the girl replied cheerfully:

"No no! It's my fault for not looking ahead! The same goes for both of us!"

This doesn't really count as the same for both of them&mdash;Haruaki thought... But of course, this was much better than angering or hurting the other person. Just as he felt relieved, he saw the children crowding around Fear one after another.

"So amazing! Missy, you're so amazing! Swinging back and forth just now!"

"Hey hey, missy, do you know other tricks? Show us!"

"Ah... Cough cough, since I'm a professional after all, I can't go around showing off my ultimate moves so easily. Consider the performance just now a special service and that's it for now."

"Eh~" The kids yelled with dissatisfaction. Fear glanced at Haruaki. Naturally, he returned a warning gaze. Allowing her to do anything like that again would be unacceptable.

"Do not keep insisting on unreasonable demands. Okay okay, it's time to continue the game of tag! I'm gonna catch you all~!"

"Eh~ But Nee-san, you're already out of strength. Your fleeing speed is still okay, but you're too weak as 'it.' The game's not working out at all."

"Eh~!? ''SHOCKING''~!"

At this moment, one of the kids said:

"Oh right! Hey hey, foreigner missy, why don't you join our game as well!?"

"Hmm? Well..."

Fear was still thinking when the rabbit-like girl grabbed her hand and spoke with serious eyes:

"You must join in! These kids can't be allowed to look down on adults, let's show them the power of adults! Make them eat their words!"

"Uh, I think you're the only one getting looked down on... Hmm, but after all, I did cause you trouble, so playing a short while should be fine. Haruaki, may I?"

"Yeah... Nothing wrong with that."

There were limits to how much the wheelchair-bound Amanda could play. In that case, just as Fear mentioned earlier, letting her see them play happily might be a way to give her stimulation.

Since Kirika offered to take care of Amanda on the swing, Haruaki and the rest began to join the kids and the girl in their game.

First, they resumed the game of tag they had been playing. But the girl acting as 'it' was sluggish to the point that it was heartbreaking. Too pitiful. Why don't I deliberately let her catch me? Just as Haruaki thought that, one of the kids gathered everyone for an emergency meeting and suggested modifying the rules.

"Takaoni... If forced to translate it, I'd say it's High Ogre! Sounds so powerful! Then what's the game like?"

"I don't know either. How is it different from playing tag?"

"So missies, you don't know anything. Uh, the rules are like this&mdash;"

The one being 'it' was not allowed to touch someone who was above ground level. However, the players are not allowed to stay in one spot either. Once locked on by the 'it,' they were forced to be 'it' after ten seconds.

"Muumuu. Once locked on, the player must escape to a higher elevation, so the 'it' only needs to figure out which direction the player will run and guard it... Nuufu, sounds doable! I won't let you guys off so easily anymore like just now!"

The game restarted with the girl's vigorous shout. Despite locking on to various targets, she still failed to catch them, but just as she predicted, she soon caught one of the kids. When it was Konoha's turn, she caught people gently. Standing on the top of the slide, Fear laughed heartily and audaciously, but ended up slipping accidentally and sliding down and was easily caught. As for Kuroe... "Strange? Where did the tiny missy go?" "Hoho... Looking for me?" "I can't believe you're on a tree! How did you climb up there?" Thus, the game continued in this manner. Finally, it became Haruaki's turn to be "it."

Playing with kids was truly exhausting for the mind and body. One could not be serious but holding back too much would take out the fun for the kids. In all sorts of ways, it was very draining.

After several kids escaped from him, Haruaki wiped sweat off his brow and surveyed the park.

"Phew. Uh, who might be a better target...?"

Fear was standing one-legged on a tire that was half-buried in the ground. Konoha was staying on the slide together with the other kids while Kuroe was hanging on a low branch overhead with her hands&mdash;

"Crap, ''DANGER''! Our eyes met!"

That girl was on the monkey bars. Haruaki really wished she could pay more attention to her miniskirt where she wore nothing underneath apart from panties. Should he target her? What should he do? Even though Haruaki was still thinking, the girl began to get nervous and climbed down frantically. Unexpectedly, she slipped&mdash;

"...Oh my?"

Although she did not hit the ground, the situation was perhaps even worse. Her entire body upside down, she was entangled in the monkey bars' frame in a complicated manner, especially with her legs open towards the sky&mdash;

"Wait... Time out, time out~! I'm stuck! Oh my... Oh my my? Over here... should&mdash;Are you actually planning on targeting a poor defenseless girl who cannot move!? Stop it, don't target me! You're a complete demon, an ogre!"

"Mister, hurry~!" "Get her~!" The kids' yells came one after another, but no matter what, Haruaki still had what was called a warrior's mercy. Furthermore, Konoha and the other girls were making scary gazes.

If he were to target the lively yet sluggish girl, surely he would be able to quickly get out of being 'it'&mdash;But since she was too sluggish, Haruaki could not bring himself to do it. It looked like he had no choice but to continue running around as 'it' for a while longer.

Sighing, Haruaki ignored the unsightly girl on the monkey bars and slowly began to search for other prey.



Drenched in sweat after all this fun and games, it was almost sunset. One of the kids suddenly yelled:

"Oh no! That clock isn't even moving!"

Hearing him say that, the other kids screamed in dismay one after another.

"Eh, seriously! I'm in trouble!" "Hey mister, you got a watch?"

"No watch, but I do have a cellphone. Have a look."

"Uwah... I'm so dead, it's already past dinner time. Mom will be so mad... I'd better get home!"

"Same here! Why is the clock broken today!?"

"Bye bye, missies! Let's play again another time!"

Apparently, though the kids were able to fearlessly play with Fear and the others despite their unusual appearances, curfews were even more frightening. The kids all rushed out of the park and vanished like a puff of smoke.

"Oh, see you next time~" Fear waved her hand while seeing them off, looking up at the clock in the park.

"It's definitely broken. The glass is shattered too. Did someone throw a rock? Now it's useless and just taking up space."

"''YES''. A clock must move after all. Once it stops, only then do people realize its importance."

The girl was nodding her head with a solemn expression. Kirika moved Amanda from the swing back to her wheelchair and pushed her over.

"Hmm...? You don't need to go home? Seeing you get along with them so well, I was sure you would be one of the kids' older sister or relative."

"No, not at all. It's my first time meeting those kids today. Getting along with others just happens to be my strength."

"I won't lose in terms of getting along with them." Fear declared proudly with her chest puffed out. In response, Konoha remarked with slight exasperation:

"It's not like that's something especially worth being proud of. I was thinking it was simply because your mental age is roughly the same as those kids."

"What did you say!?"

"Anyway, we're heading home, what about you?"

"Hmm~ I can't go back yet, because I still have work to do~"

The girl answered energetically. With an innocent look, a look completely devoid of malice.

At the same time, she was smiling radiantly.


"''After all, it's not a good influence if I destroyed and slaughtered my targets in front of kids'', right? Now that I've waited so long for the kids to leave, I must do a bit of work."


"&mdash;!"

Fear and the girls reacted quite swiftly. As alarm appeared on their faces, they shielded Amanda and the wheelchair behind them. Konoha stepped forward and pushed Haruaki lightly. Only then did he finally move and retreated in surprise. Impossible. Unbelievable. The girl who had been playing together with them, both laid back, cheerful, lively yet a bit sluggish, the girl whom they had not sensed any hostility coming from her at all&mdash;

"...The Frontline Gathering Knights Dominion?"

Fear asked while fishing out her Rubik's cube. The girl nodded simply.

"''YES''. Elsie-san's name is Hinai Elsie. My purpose is destroying you, Fear-in-Cube&mdash;as well as eliminating this Mummy Maker here. In order to maintain internal discipline within the Knights Dominion and to prevent the leak of information, the higher-ups basically ordered the execution of the useless auxiliary who was captured by the Lab Chief's Nation."

"You should understand after seeing her, right? It's currently impossible to get any information out of this girl. That's exactly why the Lab Chief's Nation gave up protecting her. Even so, you still want to kill her?"

"Of course, because it's Elsie-san's responsibility. Work must be approached seriously."

After hearing Kirika's words, the girl&mdash;Elsie&mdash;remained unmoved. Was a fight unavoidable?

A period of silence descended on this deserted park with sunset imminent.

Just at this moment, someone's cellphone suddenly rang. Pushing the wheelchair while keeping an eye on Elsie's movements, Kirika took out her cellphone and narrowed her eyes after glancing at the screen.

"Feel free to pick up the call. I don't mind waiting this little bit of time."

The cellphone continued to ring. Kirika hesitated for a moment before picking up finally.

"...Are you asking about the current situation? Absolutely ridiculous&mdash;Allow me to tell you. We are currently facing off against a girl from the Knights Dominion called Hinai Elsie. She's right in front of us."

Kirika spoke in exasperation and frowned after hearing the response.

"Hey. What do you mean by hitting the jackpot on what you hoped would not be true&mdash;What... was that?"

Several seconds passed.

Absolutely ridiculous&mdash;Kirika murmured softly and hung up the phone gruffly.
[[image:C3 10-157.jpg|thumb]]

"Class Rep, was that... Himura-sensei just now?"

"I must have mentioned before, there's no need to add the 'sensei' honorific. Yes, whatever, you're right that he's the one who just called, reporting useless information: 'The enemy has landed in the country apparently.' Then&mdash;he had also learnt of the enemy's name, albeit not completely convinced. Now that he knows the person is in front of us, he told me even more useless information."

"...What did he say?"

Haruaki asked while feeling unusual vibes from Kirika. After hanging up, Kirika did not let Elsie out of her sight at all. She was clenching her fists and giving off a sense of tension. Perspiration appeared on her forehead.

"I'll repeat his words verbatim. This is what he said&mdash;"

Still maintaining the aforementioned state, Kirika smiled.

...It was most likely a forced smile.


"''Hinai Elsie is known as the «Strongest»&mdash;You have no chance of winning, so hurry and escape''."