Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume7 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 4===

"On to the next class. Is he there? If not&mdash;"

"...P-Please, could you try not to move..."

Feeling the weight on his shoulders&mdash;or rather, the soft sensation of thighs against his cheeks&mdash;Haruaki groaned softly.

They were in the corridor. Although he had no choice but to search through the students in the classrooms, opening doors to peep was a bit dangerous. Any amount of noise would probably draw the attention of the entire class&mdash;Hence, Haruaki was forced to have Kuroe ride on his shoulders like this. In this manner, Kuroe was able to peer inside the classroom through the ventilation window above. Haruaki kept getting the feeling that he had once experienced the same hell between thighs during the sports festival as well.

But there were still differences compared to last time. During the sports festival, Kuroe was in a cheerleading outfit with bloomers underneath but right now, she was in uniform. Fluttering over his head currently was probably her skirt hem? Then against the back of his head was&mdash;No way, stop thinking about it any further.

Think of something else. Of course, there was Kuroe's purpose this time.

She mentioned love at first sight. On further thought, Haruaki had never heard Kuroe talk about her love life at all. Jokes were aplenty&mdash;But accompanied by concrete action like this? It was really the first time.

But the first thing that came to Haruaki's mind was that there were many problems. Kuroe's situation was unlike a normal human's. Furthermore, her appearance was like this.

But at the same time, perhaps there was no actual problem. Putting her origins aside, Kuroe was currently no different from human. Putting appearance aside, her social status was that of a twenty-year-old hairstylist, a member of the workforce. Haruaki thought to himself: "Oh~ right, I don't have the right to make any objections." If she wanted to pursue someone romantically, he had to respect her decision. Probably.

Even so, Haruaki still kept feeling uncomfortable in his heart. It resembled unrest or anxiety, an emotion that also felt like fear. Then there was a kind of... loneliness. He did not know why. No idea at all.

But back to the subject at hand, was Kuroe serious?

Haruaki looked up, trying to check out her expression. But in that instant&mdash;

"Wah... Haru, you're such a perv. You're the one who shouldn't move recklessly."

"Uwah, sorry!"

When looking up, due to changing the angle of the back of his head, it caused a certain spot to enter an awkward situation. Frantically, he looked down at his feet.

"F-Found him yet?"

"Hmm&mdash;Not this class either, let's try the next one."

Kuroe was impossible to read as usual, simply doing whatever she wanted with a blank expression. That was why Haruaki did not dare to ask her. Despite the questions he had, he did not voice them. What did she intend to do after finding the boy? Confess to him? Then&mdash;

While he pondered over these matters, a voice came from the side.

"Hmm? Hey, what are you two doing? It's currently class time!"

A middle aged teacher was over there, probably passing by coincidentally. He was the world history teacher for Haruaki's class&mdash;namely, the very Konishi-sensei they had been talking about during the break. His characteristic was that head of unnatural hair.

"C-Crap! What should we do?"

"We can't be caught here, so running away is the only option."

"J-Just running off like this? But I don't have time to put you down, whatever...!"

Hence, Haruaki ran with Kuroe still sitting on his shoulders. Konishi-sensei yelled "Hey, stop" and pursued. That meant Haruaki had no choice but to speed up. Kuroe was very light so carrying her was not much of a burden&mdash;But being too light was itself a problem. The recoil from his running was making Kuroe bob up and down slightly on his shoulders and even caused her skirt to cover up his head.

"Ehhhh? I can't see anymore!"

"Wow, Haru is inside my skirt... Lemme say this again: you're a perv, Haru."

"Now's not the time for saying that, okay!?"

"Relax, even if you can't see ahead, I can still guide you. This is the time for me to display my AI command skills honed from simulation games. Anyway, just keep charging straight and you'll be okay&mdash;"

"Rather than waiting for your guidance, wouldn't it be faster if you just pushed your skirt away!?"

"What did you say? Are you actually asking me to lift up my skirt? That's very embarrassing, I... But... If you insist, Haru... I don't mind..."

"I can tell you're very happy! You're absolutely enjoying this, aren't you?"

Despite arguing back and forth, Haruaki managed to pull her skirt up while in the process of running. Upon thinking further, Haruaki realized that given it was Kuroe, she was not likely to fall down even if he did not hold onto her legs. Then the annoying skirt fell down a couple times again, but he had not choice but to keep running as hard as he could. Just at that moment&mdash;

"By the way, I forgot to mention something very important."

"W-What is it?"

Haruaki asked without stopping but he could tell from the shift in center of gravity that Kuroe was turning her body. Most likely, she was looking at Konishi-sensei who was pursuing behind.

Then Kuroe announced in a serious tone of voice.

"The correct answer is... 'A hair transplant'!"

"I honestly think that's none of my business!"



Finally managing to evade Konishi-sensei's pursuit (along with his hair transplant), they found themselves confronted with the next break.

A boy was buying canned juice at the vending machine near the school entrance. Just when he was picking up the can from the machine, he suddenly sensed something and looked back. Standing there was a petite girl whose physique put her at elementary or middle school age.

She did not say anything. Biting her finger as a child would, she stared straight at him.

The student groaned.

"U-Umm... I-If you wanna use the vending machine, go ahead. No one's using it now."

"..."

The girl shook her head forcefully and eyed the can of juice in his hand with a gaze of desire. The boy groaned again.

"R-Right, by the way, I happen to have extra change to spend! I don't really wanna drink anything, but lemme buy another can for someone else to drink as well! Coffee... No wait, orange juice, I'd better buy orange juice! Okay, it's out. Then... Yes, here you go! Don't be shy, Onii-chan just happens to have change he wants to get rid of!"

Clearly the girl was in a high school uniform, but for some reason, the boy spoke as though he were facing a young child. Then after he shoved a can of juice to her, the girl accepted with surprise and looked up timidly at him&mdash;Then smiled.

"Thank you, Onii-chan."

"Guha! I-I-I... I feel like... my life has... meaning now...!"

Hand pressed on his chest, the boy staggered away. While waving goodbye, the girl watched him leave and added the can to a whole line of drinks hidden behind the shoe cabinets.

"Muu... How incredible. I can get juice simply by staring at people. It's already five so far."

"H-Hey&mdash;! Stop doing something so terrible!"

To think she'd do something so underhanded while I was finding a relatively deserted washroom to go to.

Hearing Haruaki, Kuroe simply pouted and said:

"Because... Even when I said no, the first person still shoved it to me. Refusing people is also rude, right? After all, since I can't drink them all, why don't you pick a flavor you'd like to drink, Haru?"

Haruaki sighed. Since Kuroe had not blackmailed them proactively, it could not be helped... Right? That said, Haruaki still felt like he had a ton of lecturing for her.

"As much as it pains me... But by this point, there's no way to return the drinks to people, so I'll just take one. I'm tired from all the running."

"I didn't think that guy with the hair transplant would be so stubborn&mdash;I'll take this can."

While conversing as they took a short break, the two began to drink. When they finished their juice, the bell rang again for the next period. Hence, Haruaki threw their empty cans into the trash while stuffing the left over drinks in his pockets. Just as he was about to set off to continue Kuroe's manhunt operation&mdash;

They appeared.

"Fuffuffu..."

"Uffuffufufu..."

"Eek! Fear and... Konoha... W-What's up?"

Perhaps he was imagining things but the two girls seemed to be filled with rage. Although they were wearing smiles on their faces, it was actually quite scary.

"We finally found you two..."

"Yeah, we searched for a long time, such as in the gym storage or behind the school building... But to think you guys would be holding a juice party at the school entrance, we totally overlooked this possibility. You both seem to be enjoying yourselves, ufufu..."

"Sure enough, you guys are skipping class for a date within school."

"How envious... Rather, it's unforgivable..."

Haruaki did not quite get what they were saying. However, he gradually realized how dangerous the current situation was.

"H-Hold on, you two, there must be some kind of misunderstanding. Skipping class is not right, but there's a reason for it, okay!?"

"...Haru, I'm sorry. I don't know what will happen if you let Kono-san and Ficchi find out. Anyway, my wish is for the reason to be kept secret. Because I don't want to make too big of a deal out of the matter."
[[image:C3 07-196.jpg|thumb]]

Kuroe tugged at his sleeve as she spoke. Backed into a corner, Haruaki helplessly thought "in that case, how should I explain things?" This resulted in&mdash;

"What are you two whispering secretly about!? Damn shameless brat, step right on out! I shall correct your mind!"

"Kuroe-san, you too! If you're just here to play, it's fine, but I can't believe you're having a date with Haruaki-kun in school! It's absolutely too indecent. I cannot bear the sight of it any longer!"

"Wah&mdash;Anyway, let's run away first, Haru."

"I think running away will actually make things worse instead."

In order to escape from Fear and Konoha who were rushing at them, Haruaki and Kuroe turned around and ran outdoors through the school entrance. Although they were still wearing indoor shoes, there was no time to be concerned about that. Fear and Konoha did not care either. Those two girls were serious. If I get caught, who knows how they'll torment me...! Simply the thought of that was enough to make Haruaki shake uncontrollably.

Haruaki and Kuroe ran as though they were following the edge of the school building. Although they were not discovered by other people like just now when the teacher chased after them, this also meant that they could not ask anyone for help. But even if there were someone to ask, Fear and Konoha would definitely beat them up without any hesitation.

"It's no good, I think they're going to catch up immediately! Say, Kuroe, I think we should give up and just explain things clearly to them..."

"Save that for the final resort. Haru, hold on tight!"

Kuroe suddenly stopped and forced Haruaki's arm to wrap around her waist. Then she looked upwards.

"Mode: «Chaotic Tadamori»!"

"D-Do you really need to go so far?"

Kuroe's hair rustled as it slithered and extended upwards. Then entangling the fencing at the top of the school building high above, the hair pulled Haruaki and her upwards like an elevator. Haruaki also recall experiencing something similar just a few days ago.

"Tsk, good grief! Next up is ''that'', right? In other words, a date on the roof?"

"Speaking of the roof, the blue sky comes to mind. Speaking of the blue sky, there's afternoon naps. Speaking of afternoon naps... There's sleeping on someone's arm as a pillow? I get it. It stands to reason that the roof is also used for indecent behavior! Absolutely forbidden!"

Since they could not escape by running, there was no choice but to make use of vertical mobility. Leaving Fear and Konoha's voices down below, Haruaki and Kuroe reached the roof successfully. But their relief only lasted but an instant.

"Considering those two, it's very likely that they'll push themselves to climb all the way up. We'd better get moving and continue with the search."

"Hmm, how did things come to this...?"

Just as Haruaki stumbled his way onto the roof and muttered, Kuroe spoke quietly:

"I'm really... sorry for causing you trouble."

Judging from Kuroe's profile, she was not lying. Her eyes were narrowed greatly as though she really felt apologetic. Haruaki could get a real sense that she was actually serious. Despite knowing it was troublesome, she did not intend to stop searching for the boy of her thoughts... If this was not being serious, then what would be serious? Haruaki could still feel turmoil in his heart but&mdash;If that was her sincere wish, then he had no right to make any irresponsible comments. That was what Haruaki believed.

Hence, he smiled lightly and caressed Kuroe's head.

"We're on the same boat already. By this point, I've no choice but to accompany you to the very end... We'll flee as hard as we can and find that guy you must find no matter what."

"...Yes."

Kuroe smiled demurely.

And said "Thank you."