Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume5 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 4===

Meanwhile, the suspect who had stolen the mascot costume&mdash;Nikaidou Kururi&mdash;was behind a different building in the school.

"Huff... Huff..."

While supporting her hands on her knees, she caught her breath. So hot, so damn hot, but that was only to be expected. After all, her entire body was currently wrapped up in a poorly ventilated costume with a skull masked design. More importantly, her current goal was fleeing as fast as she could from the hindrance that possessed horrifying skills.

Kururi recalled the face of the man she had been looking for.

Furthermore, there was the person who had effortlessly deflected her sudden attack, even going so far as to strike back mercilessly&mdash;that dark-skinned woman who seemed to be that man's bodyguard.

"Damn it..."

Cursing the unexpected hindrance, but finally breathing steadily, Kururi straightened her body.

What she sensed now was a gaze.

Did that woman catch up? Kururi narrowed her eyes and surveyed her surroundings, but there was not a single soul in this deserted area behind the school building. Only the noise of the cultural festival could be heard in the distance.

(Are my nerves overreacting... No!)

The other person was above, standing upright on the school building behind her, a strange figure looking down towards her. Furthermore, this person was definitely not a student at this school, for the figure's appearance was completely out of place, carrying on the shoulder a long, rod-shaped object wrapped in some kind of cloth.

Who was it? An enemy?

Just as Kururi reflexively entered a stance, the figure on the roof also moved.

Effortlessly going over the fence, the person descended by thrusting the rod into the school building's outer wall a number of times.

"Hmm...!"

"Yo. Hello. By the way, who are you? Our gazes just met but I felt that you're a bit strange, so I came down here. Are you perhaps my enemy? If you're uninvolved in my affairs, then it's fine... But then again, you did witness the scene just now, after all... So perhaps, I'll have to give you some pain."

Faced with the figure that landed before her eyes, Kururi could not help but hold her breath. The person was a woman in parka with the hood covering her entire head.

Although they had never met before, Kururi could ascertain one fact from the woman's words. Furthermore, there was her bizarre appearance, the weapon in her hand, as well as the strange phenomenon with the way the weapon stabbed into the wall without resulting in a single falling fragment. Kururi was absolutely certain.

This was ''someone from the Family''.

"You're... Landfisher...?"

Surprised, Kururi murmured involuntarily. Hearing her response, the woman cocked her hooded head and said:

"Eh? Never would I have thought you'd recognize me, then you're clearly not someone uninvolved... So, who are you? What are you doing here?"

Her attitude remained unchanged but Kururi could sense faint murderous intent coming from her. Kururi could only blame herself for the slip of the tongue. By this point, it was impossible to feign innocence&mdash;Kururi bit her lip and replied:

"I should be the one asking you that. Aren't you supposed to be dead already? I know there were such orders."

"You really know how to poke someone in a sore spot. Indeed, you're completely correct... Sigh, it's all because many things went wrong. Right, since you have inside information, are you perhaps a member of the Family as well?"

This time, a cautious answer was required.

The problem was: did this woman know already?

That the Family had already collapsed and lost its symbol.

Also&mdash;the one who finished the task was Kururi, present right here.

If the woman knew, then she would surely attack Kururi. In that case, concealing her true identity would be best for now.

"...No I'm not. I belong to neither the Family nor other organizations&mdash;Right, I guess I count as a helper for the Family. That's why I know about what's going on and I'm not your enemy."

Kururi made up excuses as she put away her battle stance because there was nothing to gain in fighting this woman now. Perhaps this attitude worked, for the woman nodded lightly and said: "Oh right~ There's that category as well." Then she returned the weapon she was swinging around back to her shoulder. Based on Kururi's answer, that weapon could very well have attacked her without hesitation. That said, the risk currently had not disappeared entirely yet.

Deciding to play it safe for now and stay in dialogue, Kururi felt compelled to find out at least why this woman was here. More than likely, she had not fully accepted Kururi either. One false step could cause her to attack indiscriminately.

"So, little miss helper, what are you doing here?"

"I... am just searching for someone, but it's got nothing to do with the Family."

Feeling that deception would seem unnatural, Kururi went with the truth&mdash;The fact that she was searching for a man. Although she did not know his name, Kururi knew his face and physique. Although she had discovered him just now in the school, he had a bodyguard intervening by his side. Once Kururi began to describe the man's most obvious characteristics, the woman's attitude changed. She clicked her tongue impatiently and remarked:

"It's that guy? That's right, he's already here... I suffered lots from his nagging and the other stuff. If I were to find him, I'd definitely attack before anything else."

Hearing her answer, Kururi could not help but frown for a second. She must keep those words firmly in mind. However, the most important thing right now was to understand the woman's goal. Asking "On the other hand, I'd like to know what you're doing" resulted in&mdash;

"Yes, it counts as a coincidence. In actual fact, I'm looking for someone too. If that person is not found, I can't fulfill my goal."

Kururi asked "...Objective?" but the woman answered very simply: "It's not something I really need to hide."

A goal superficially similar to hers but different.

Her answer provided Kururi with the following information, namely that "this woman did not know about the Family's current condition."

"But I'm facing a troubling difficulty. Although I know what the guy is called and I know what he looks like from the photograph, Japanese faces look all the same to me. I can't really tell them apart unless I examine closely. But there's people everywhere today, making me all confused. Ah~ Perhaps you might actually know him? He's a student at this school, his name is&mdash;"

Someone Kururi knew. Appearing in her mind was the friendly face of that boy.

Kururi racked her brain to decide how she should respond.

It was dangerous, but using this woman could achieve her goal. No, thinking over this calmly, there was no other way but this. Hence&mdash;

"I know about that guy and what he looks like."

"Ohoh~ Really? Then please help me look for him."

Her reaction was just as predicted. Kururi nervously gulped and said:

"I don't really mind, but..."

"But what?"

"But I hope you can help me out as well. I'm looking for the man I told you about just now and need to make contact with him, but there's this really strong bodyguard by his side. You have a grudge against him as well, right?"

The woman pondered for a moment, but&mdash;

"Hmm... Well, surely the other side will make a move on me once he discovers my presence here, after all? If the end result is a huge fight anyway, there's not much difference. So, even if one of our goals is fulfilled first, let's maintain our cooperative relationship until the other person's goal is achieved as well, okay?"

"...No problem. But if you are rendered immobile along the way, I'm going to continue without you. Because I can't possibly take care of you to that extent."

"What a merciless helper. Fine with me, it's a deal."

Kururi sighed.

This was a gamble. She had no idea how things would turn out, depending on what order they find their targets&mdash;The only things she could do now was pray that her own target was found first. But if this wish did not come true, there would be a problem.

In truth, she did not know if finding the boy was related to achieving her goal or not. But asking too much about the matter would probably arouse the woman's suspicions. Since both sides' goals were similar, there was no need to actually search in the same manner. Kururi would simply follow her own path. Hence, what would happen to the boy was honestly irrelevant to her. But if this woman achieved her goal first, things would become tricky to some extent. Worse comes to worst, depending on the situation, Kururi might have to sabotage in an indirect manner...

"By the way, why are you wearing this crazy outfit?"

"Because your target knows who I am. Also, you have no right to criticize me for my crazy outfit."

The woman giggled. Water dripped from her red hair exposed by the gap in her hood. Kururi discreetly clenched her hands under the mascot costume and made a certain decision in her mind.

This cooperative relationship had many problems but she had no options currently.

After all, Kururi had an unshakable goal, a task that she needed to complete at all costs.

Namely, to find that man, use this woman to defeat the bodyguard, then make contact with him.


Furthermore&mdash;She must find out the answer.