Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume4 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 3===

She did not hesitate at all. Henceforth, all she needed to do was rush over to her family and fulfill her duties.

Nevertheless&mdash;

The scene she encountered first thing at the school caused turmoil in her heart once more.



It seemed as if the entire world had been turned upside down.

Once inhaled, the air seemed to turn into lukewarm body fluids.

Dissonance.

Flying over the school walls, she landed. This was her first experience in the ten-odd years she had lived. The roots of the tall trees planted next to the walls. The ground that had turned into mud. Having landed on her knees, she looked straight forward and prepared to stand up, at this moment&mdash;

She saw it again.

Dog-like things were being slaughtered one after another.

Throb. How many times had she felt this way recently? The sense of dissonance penetrated her brain.

Kururi vomited. Digestive juices mixed itself into the mud. Clutching the «Returning Kukri of Childbirth», her hand trembled. She supported herself with both hands against the ground.

Squealing was heard. She heard squealing.

Impossible. Those indigo-colored dogs could not possibly squeal. However, she heard it.

Then what exactly was making the noises she was hearing?

"Huff... Ah... Hah&mdash;I'm... so strange... gone mad...? U-Urggggghhh...!"

Within her distorted field of view, she saw Aiko summon even more venom familiars. Throb. Those were the three dogs Abyss had caught for confirming Aiko's powers. Despite the indigo mercury appearance, she could tell from their physiques and the shape of their ears. The Norwich Terrier, the American Cocker Spaniel and the Schipperke. Eh? Why do I know the names of so many types of dogs? Why can I identify them so accurately? Do I know a lot about dogs? Throb. Throb. I clearly never had&mdash;never had&mdash;never&mdash;


Nikaidou Yutaka.


She had kept a pet dog once.

Her chest felt as though it would expand and burst from the throbbing. The dizziness felt as though her skull was going to explode. The sense of vomiting was scorching her throat. Throb.

The mixture of stomach juices and muddy water was reflecting something. Yutaka. Waiting for Kururi who had survived the suicide, the dog had barked many times at her uncle. She recalled the large build of the elderly dog. It had died. Amidst a puddle the color of ripe strawberries, its life had extinguished. Throat slashed, its fur curled up along its wounds, its flesh twitching and restless, its limbs convulsing as though suffering from the difficulty in breathing&mdash;And looking down at the dog was a certain person, holding the "く"-shaped knife&mdash;

"...Huff... A-Ahhh!"

She touched something dirty. The hand that realized that fact dropped the «Returning Kukri of Childbirth». A splash of muddy water. The knife that was supposed to have given her courage, the knife that helped her kill her uncle&mdash;The knife that continued to act, fueled by bloodthirst. What the knife had stabbed into was the warm fur that had comforted her tears many times in the past.

The knife, buried deep into the last family member that had remained steadfastly loyal unto death.

She remembered, remembered, remembered, remembered, remembered this incident.

At the same time, it struck her. Why had she forgotten this? How could she have forgotten&mdash;



Finding herself sprawled over her own vomit, Kururi slowly raised her head. Everything had been taken away. There was nothing left in her petite body. Her asymmetric hair dangled, weighted by the rainwater it had absorbed, covering the petite girl's expression. Nothingness. Hollowness.

Her hollow lips, having even lost their trembling, moved slightly:

"...Liar..."

To whom was this word directed to? No one knew. Including everyone not present, the rain, the vomit, the knife with the bent design, the drenched hair, the sound of splashing water from the distant fighting, Nikaidou Yutaka.

No one&mdash;knew at all.