Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Prologue (section)

===Part 1===

Fear was feeling very frustrated, agitated from the bottom of her heart.

"Hmmmmm..."

Her elegant eyebrows, her large and striking eyes, and the corners of her little mouth were all twisted in frustration. Sitting cross-legged rather ungracefully in the living room, Fear was staring reluctantly at a piece of paper on the dining table before her.

Staring helplessly at the sheet of notes, Fear suddenly reached forward with her right hand and immediately raised her left hand with her arm against her head. Then keeping her arms outstretched like this, she began to spin them greatly. Spin spin spin spin.

After engaging in this mysterious behavior with utmost seriousness for several seconds&mdash;

Fear once again frowned and turned her gaze towards the notes on the table.

"Reach forward with the right hand and spin it while the left hand waves side to side above the head... Uumu, the description is so simple but yet my arms keep ending up doing the same motion...?"

Murmuring to herself, Fear finally groaned "uwah~" and laid down with her back against the tatami floor, apparently tired. Staring out towards the ceiling of the silent living room&mdash;

"Hmph... 'You seem quite athletic so something as trivial as dancing should be a piece of cake for you.' What complete rubbish? This is completely different from fighting!"

As Fear pouted, she recalled in her mind the stupid face of the shameless brat who was not currently present. Also, there was Cow Tits' undecipherable smile when she made irresponsible statements like "Don't worry, it'll be very simple~"

Those two were currently out shopping because they had discovered they were out of food as soon as they got home from school. Although Fear was reluctantly forced to stay home and watch the house because she lost at rock-paper-scissors, it was just as well. After all, she had already reminded them repeatedly to restock on rice crackers, plus the fact that she had a task to work on&mdash;even though it was not proceeding very smoothly at the moment.

Once again she sighed&mdash;

"A sports festival huh... How would it feel..."

She imagined the school event that was going to take place several weeks later. She was very interested in the event itself, but the problem was&mdash;as was customary, each homeroom was divided into a "dance presentation team" and an "arch building team." During the official contests, the results of the dance creation and the arch building were supposed to be added to the total points... Dancing aside, why would building arches count for points at a "sports festival"? To this date, Fear still could not understand why.

"Ahhhhh~ If only I had joined the arch building team together with Haruaki, I wouldn't be having such a tough time now... Jeez, that Kana girl didn't even give me any time to think things over..."

"Simply by being in the team, Fear-chan's cuteness is enough to be an asset! I will absolutely never let go&mdash;!" Fear recalled the dance team leader who had forcefully recruited her. The only reason Fear agreed was because she backed down in the face of Kana's vigorous fervor, not because she particularly wanted to dance. That said&mdash;

Narrowing her eyes with displeasure, Fear suddenly rose up.

"Since Cow Tits said it is 'very simple,' there's no reason why I can't dance! Just you wait and see, I will instantly master a dance of this level!"

Glaring at the sheet of notes with diagrams to demonstrate the motions, Fear once again repeated the mysterious motion that resembled MP absorption. Just as before, her right and left arms kept moving in the same manner.

At this moment&mdash;she heard a scurrying sound from behind.

"...!"

This presence... Could it be... That thing? Roaming wild on its segmented legs, not content with making lairs on walls with its sticky threads but even going as far as to hang the bodies of dead moths for long periods as emergency food supplies... That one&mdash;

The one whose name began with "spi" and ended with "der,"<!--the original JP uses the katakana "ku" and "mo" which is the reading of the word spider(蜘蛛)--> the most hated enemy in the world!

Fear could not help but shudder. Her hand trembling, she grabbed the backscratcher lying on the side (like an old man, Haruaki had been using it just earlier) and turned around instantly. Just as she thought, on the tatami&mdash;

"G-Gwah&mdash;I knew it! G-Go and die&mdash;!"

Frantically, she smashed down using the object in her hand. Although she missed, the thing suddenly disappeared out of sight, perhaps frightened away, leaving nothing behind but the broken backscratcher that had snapped into two.

"Oh no! The weapon!"

The thing had also vanished without trace. Where? Where was it? Under the table? Behind the television? Or on top of the shelves? Oh no, could that thing be plotting to pounce upon me and therefore constructing those sticky lairs somewhere between me and the wall...?

"Fu... F-Fufufu..."

For some reason, she laughed. Very well, I will fight you to the bitter end! Indeed, this backscratcher was too small. I need a bigger, more powerful weapon to exterminate that thing completely from the face of the earth...!

Her hand trembling, she took out the Rubik's cube from her pocket. Then&mdash;

"Mechanism No.14 raking type, beast's claw form: «Cat's Paw»&mdash;Curse Calling!"

The cube emulation transformed into an object resembling an animal's paw. On the end of a long handle was a thick, sturdy component in the shape of a paw&mdash;one where five deadly hooked claws extended from the edges.

Holding the menacing torture tool, lowering herself halfway in a stance, Fear smiled with savagery and breathed heavily as she surveyed her surroundings.

"Okay, bring it on... I will smash you with this and have you drawn and quartered... Where? Where are you..."

It could not possibly have disappeared. Fear could still sense that scurrying presence. For a restless little insect<!--yes, I know spiders are not insects but these are Fear's thoughts-->, the sound was eerily loud. The loudness must be an illusion. Indeed, simply an illusion born from fear...!

Adjusting her breathing, Fear focused her attention on her hearing. Seconds&mdash;tens of seconds&mdash;minutes passed&mdash;

&mdash;Rustle!

"Over there!"

Turning around all of a sudden, Fear found some kind of black object moving in the corner of her view. An afterimage seemed to be rushing upwards along a column in the living room's corner. I've won! There is no place on the ceiling where you can escape to!

Holding the deadly backscratcher up high, Fear looked up vigorously.

Over there, just as she predicted, she found sticking tight to the ceiling in spite of gravity&mdash;


An expressionless young girl.


"...Oh, I've been found."

The girl murmured softly with a blank gaze. Immediately, she proceeded to scrutinize Fear as if sizing her up while she spoke:

"In any case, I'll capture you first... Mode: «Chaotic Tadamori»!"<!--忠盛(tadamori)-->

Saying that, the hair supporting her body began to wriggle restlessly <i>like spider legs</i>.

Gathering all her surprise, confusion and instinctive revulsion in one breath&mdash;

Fear screamed out loud.

"YAAAAAAAAAAH!"
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