Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume4 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===

The borrowing race. Although Fear had already listened to the explanation earlier, it was still quite difficult to understand in practice. After all, "competitions" were a totally new experience for her. The first race she participated only involved running so she managed fine. But for this event where there were additional rules, she felt rather ill at ease.

While waiting on standby, she used her exceptional eyesight to confirm the runner's unrolled scrolls and studied in advance.

(First open this up while running. Written there is... That's 'handkerchief'... Oh? It's okay to leave the track? Then borrow from other students... Even from the parents... Then show the objects to the executive committee in front of the finish line, raise the white flag and set off again to run towards the finish line. Seems simpler than I imagined! There's many types of things to borrow here. 'An elementary schooler or younger.' 'Dog.' 'Young housewife.' 'Belt.' 'Zippo lighter.' 'Person you like'... Some of these things are incomprehensible... Oh well, I'll just find someone to ask. If the object required is human, I guess I can just lead them by the hand to the finish line?)

Okay, studying complete.

As it so happened it was now time for Fear and the participants to start the race. Under the executive committee's signal, they all moved to the starting line.

(Run, open up the paper, borrow stuff, run! That's all!)

The dry bang of the starter's pistol was heard. Run forward! Run forward! Be careful not to run too far, run forward! Even so, Fear was still the first to arrive at the location where the borrowing paper was placed.

(Then open it!)

The words entering her view were:


«Giant Bust».


"..."

For some reason, Fear felt a murderous impulse for an instant. Who was it? Who the heck prepared this kind of thing?

And written carefully in small handwriting in the corner of the paper were the words "Obvious beyond any doubt." Speaking of someone who matched this condition... Fear turned her head and glanced sideways. As much as she did not wish to search, her neck swiveled on its own.

Instantly, she found her target, Cow Tits. Under the tents used by students, her eyes squinting behind those glasses, glaring sharply, turning left and right surreptitiously. Like herself, Cow Tits must be looking out for enemies&mdash;At this moment, their gazes met suddenly. Cow Tits puffed her chest out slightly and apparently snorted. "What are you doing? Hurry and finish the race so that you can return to your place to keep watch!"&mdash;Fear imagined her saying such words. I know without needing you to tell me! Retorting in her heart, Fear resolved herself "I'd rather die than ask this woman for help!" as she watched the bulge under Cow Tits' gym clothes jump merely from puffing her chest.

But then what should she do? Was there anyone else? After all, isn't this what's known as sexual harassment? To borrow a giant bust. To borrow a giant bust. Wait, it didn't say borrow "a woman with a giant bust," so it should be okay to stuff soccer balls in front of one's chest and walk proudly to the finish line, how's that... No way, that feels as though it would create a legend that people will talk about for a decade. And a dishonorable one too, of course.

So, she still needed to find someone else right now&mdash;Just as Fear ran aimlessly.

"Do your best~ Ficchi~"

She heard a voice like that. Looking up, she found Kuroe standing in the front row of the parents area.

Dressed in a bright and colorful outfit with a miniskirt and many frills, holding pompoms in her hands&mdash;

Indeed, this was the cheerleader look she had seen on television before.

Fear's footsteps and thoughts were drawn over there.

"W-What are you doing ?"

"I'm going to bring packed lunches and cheer for you all later&mdash;Didn't I say that?"

"I heard that, yes... But what's with this shameless outfit!?"

"This is a true and proper cheerleader's outfit. Oh, don't worry, you see, there are athletic bloomers underneath... Look?"

Kuroe lifted up her skirt. Was that thing any different from underwear? Small in area, navy blue in fabric... Even if did not count as underwear, the sight of those exposed thighs felt quite shameless. Men in the surroundings also kept throwing glances over here.

"Let's not worry about that for now, Ficchi, what do you need to borrow? If it's something I possess..."

"Ah... R-Right! But unfortunately, it's something you don't have at all!"

Kuroe tilted her head in puzzlement.

"...Sexiness?"

"You don't have any of that either, but no! Damn it...!"

Fear's rhythm was all disrupted because of that strange sight just now. Having borrowed successfully, some of the other runners were already making their way towards the finish line. This was no good... Ignoring Kuroe, Fear turned her head. Rather than the students' or the parents' tents, she had discovered a figure in the VIP tent who was waving and cheering for her.

Dressed as a maid, a very conspicuous girl. Sovereignty.

(Muu~ Hers are quite large indeed, but regarding 'obvious beyond any doubt'... Well...)

A flash of inspiration occurred to her at this time. Speaking of which, that girl can...!

Following this flash of inspiration, Fear went beyond the track and raced towards her.

"H-Hiyaaa! W-What's the matter, Fear-chan, what's going on?"

"You! I need you! But it's not large enough currently! So it needs to grow bigger!"

Indeed, Fear remembered that Sovereignty's breasts could be enlarged to a certain extent&mdash;!

"W-What... What is this about?"

"Damn it, there's no time left to explain! Grope it, right? Just groping it will work, right?"

Rushing over and pushing Sovereignty down on the ground, Fear groped. She groped seriously.

"A-Ahhh... No, Fear-chan, doing this kind of thing... Makes me... So embarrassed..."
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"It's nothing, it'll be over soon! No one's gonna notice! Come, you can do it! If it's you, it should work!"

"I-I'm being forced~ I have no say in this... Huff... Ah..."

"..."

Bathed under the gaze of the school's entire student body, Fear naturally came in last.

In the process, she created a legend that students would sing for a decade&mdash;the "sports festival's maid breast groping incident."



"Just now, what the heck were you doing..."

"Sh-Shut up! It's only because it's my first time, I got a bit confused."

"To that extent? Jeez."

The morning competitions (apart from the legend Fear created) all ended peacefully. Haruaki and his group were walking towards the parents' section. Despite thinking "that girl isn't a boy, just as I thought!" to himself, Haruaki did not feel there was a need to bring up the subject again, so he kept silent.

Looking over the parents' seating, the target was instantly located. Because she was dressed in sharp colors.

"Good effort, everyone."

"R-Right! Kuroe, it's your fault for dressing in this strange getup, making me confused and losing my rhythm! How are you going to compensate me!?"

"I only wanted to dress up cuter to cheer for you all... Sob sob, how you break my heart."

Kuroe lowered her blank gaze. A voice came from behind at this moment:

"O-Okay okay, I'm not bothered anymore, so everyone, please don't let it weigh on your mind."

Saying that, Sovereignty showed up, causing everyone else to remark at her appearance.

'Another one!'

Instead of the maid outfit, she was now dressed as a cheerleader to match Kuroe. Shaking the pompoms with subtle joy, she jumped up and down, her miniskirt fluttering.

"W-Why..."

"Sovereignty is my dear friend. So I was thinking, at least for days like this one, we should dress up the same way to cheer for everyone."

"Ehehe, how is it!? Is it cute? I asked for Zenon-san's permission before wearing it and she nodded so vigorously I could almost see afterimages."

Her? Somehow, the image did not seem to match her... Haruaki thought. Yet Fear and Konoha were smiling politely as though they were saying "of course she would act that way." How baffling.

Some male students passed nearby at this moment. Seeing Sovereignty in her cheerleading outfit, they poked each other in the ribs:

"Hey, look over there!"

"Oh yeah, Sovereignty-chan... That outfit gives her a very fresh look too~ It feels wonderful..."

"I knew it, cute people look cute no matter what they wear. Precisely because there're bloomers underneath, the miniskirt is allowed to flutter... I'm truly... How should I say this? ...I feel utter bliss just watching this..."

"You're in the way. Scram."

A girl with exquisite facial features stepped in front of the boys and crossed her arms with displeasure. That's Shiraho-san&mdash;Konoha whispered to Haruaki.

The boys were apparently from Shiraho's class. Boy A smiled politely:

"S-Sorry sorry, we're leaving at once."

"Furthermore, although I didn't quite catch it clearly, if you people keep having these weird conversations, your conduct will be called into question. If you're going to chat, chat somewhere you won't be heard."

"W-Well said. Sakuramairi-san and Sovereignty-chan really are quite close. N-No, if you didn't catch it clearly, please don't mind it! Seriously, it wasn't anything important at all."

This was Boy B's answer.

"Don't just decide on your own to add the '-chan' honorific to my lov&mdash;friend's name, okay!?"

"Mm-hmm, sorry. Well then, we'll be on our way&mdash;"

Shiraho smiled lightly in a "Good if you understand" sort of way and kept the same expression as she said:

"Also, go and die!"

"She heard us after all~!"

"Scolded by Sakuramairi-san? This is my first time, my first time! Encountering double fortune, today must be my lucky day!"

The two boys escaped, fearfully or happily, who knew? Hmph&mdash;Shiraho sneered with disinterest and came over to Haruaki's group. She had apparently promised Sovereignty to have lunch with everyone as well.

"If we're going to eat, prepare lunch quickly, human. I want to be done and finished with this ordeal as soon as possible."

...Haruaki could not understand at all what was going in the minds of the boys who felt happy to be scolded.

Then they happened to find a free space which they used to spread out the picnic cloth. Everyone gathered in a circle and started to have lunch. Shiraho glared resentfully at Fear for humiliating Sovereignty; but perhaps because Sovereignty herself did not mind, she felt that bringing the topic up again would not be too appropriate. Hence, Shiraho finally sighed in exasperation without saying anything.

Not long after that, Kirika also joined them, having agreed to have lunch together beforehand.

"Sorry I'm late. There was some executive committee work to do."

As for Taizou and Kana who usually ate with them, today they were apparently having lunch with their families who had come to cheer for them. In other words, the ones present were all the members of the group whose parents were not here.

"Yachi, what about today? I don't really mind."

"Eh? Oh yeah, could it be... The lunchbox duel?"

"What do you mean, 'could it be'? There can't be anything else, right?"

"No, at least for today... Look, the usual judging committee isn't here either."

"Hmm... I don't really mind if Fear-kun or Konoha-kun does the judging... But then again, it's hard for them to judge impartially the taste they're used to eating every day. It can't be helped."

Hence, Kirika opened the lunchbox she had prepared for everyone to share.

Haruaki breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness. He and Kirika still maintained their daily ritual of the lunchbox duel, so nothing had happened to jeopardize this relationship. As for her puzzling words earlier, Haruaki decided not to delve too deeply into them.

The seven of them enjoyed their lunch noisily and happily. This was partially due to their high spirits from the sports festival, but this was supposed to be how it was normally, right? Haruaki only had an ambiguous feeling about the latter, but he knew.

However, he felt slightly uneasy. This was only natural. The incident had not resolved at all. Rather, nothing had happened yet and it was worrying. Fear, Konoha and Kuroe as well, the three of them were discreetly vigilant of their surroundings while they ate.

If anything were to happen, it would be coming up next, right?

As if reflecting Haruaki's internal mood, the wind suddenly felt rather chilly.

"...Looks like a storm is coming."

Looking up at the overcast sky which had darkened, Kirika murmured to herself.