Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume15 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

Night fell. The day when many things happened was also about to end.

Haruaki's group had returned to the Yachi residence, spending their time individually as they wished. After finishing dinner and doing the dishes, Haruaki walked to his room while thinking about the day's occurrences.

According to Kuroe who had treated and bandaged the victim together with Zenon, the man who had suffered the phantom slasher's assault was safely loaded onto an ambulance. His life was not in danger. Truly a big relief despite the misfortune.

In the end, the Draconians had not made any strange moves. After meeting up with the superintendent again, there was nothing important for now. Pendragon's next plans was apparently "time to gather back the other members living in this country, since it's a rare chance." In other words, they were going to remain on standby for a while at that sea. Haruaki also wondered, although they were staying on the sea far from the shore in an attempt to be inconspicuous, wouldn't they still be considered suspicious ships? But having heard that the Dragon Island essentially drifted through all the seas in the world, surely they must be quite adept at political maneuvering.

And after retrieving all members in this country&mdash;Who knew what would happen next.

"After Nirushaaki's death, the Number Two seat is now vacant. But it'd be too boring if the empty spot gets filled by ranking everyone up starting with Number Three. Might as well hold a tournament..."

While parting ways, Pendragon remarked with a childish look on his face, but&mdash;

"Who cares about you guys! Anyway, just hold it somewhere far away from us!"

Fear's response represented everyone. Although it was concerning, the conclusion at the current stage was that seeing as Pendragon had not done anything so far, there was nothing they could do about him.

(Sigh, if only this could continue with nothing else happening...)

After hearing that Pendragon was the Commander of the Draconians, Haruaki taken greatly by surprise but felt truly relieved that they had no need to fight at the moment. If possible, he wanted these peaceful times to continue forever. However, it was still unsettling that Sleif's whereabouts were unknown after her escape...

Haruaki sighed.

Then pulling open his room's sliding door, he found an unfamiliar object on his table. Tied with a ribbon, a box roughly the size of a lunchbox. Walking over for a closer look, he found a note under the box. Written on it were the words: "Happy Birthday! I gave it a lot of thought, but in the end, I decided to give you the birthday present first. How you use it is freely up to you, Haruaki, but feel free to consult me if you feel lost. Dad"&mdash;

Haruaki instantly felt all strength drain from his shoulders. Birthday present? How to use it was freely up to him? It wouldn't be cash inside, would it? He could not reject the possibility. After all, it came from that bastard Pops.

There were more words at the bottom: "P.S. I'll be away from home for a while with some things to do, but I really plan on coming back straight away this time. I'm sorry!"...

Ha! Haruaki laughed out loud. This again? After doing everything possible to make a mess of things, he vanished without a word at his own convenience again. There ought to be limits to irresponsibility. Speaking of which, due to Pendragon and Sleif's sudden appearances putting a wrench into things, Honatsu still owed them the explanation of why he became a woman. Thinking it was a perfect opportunity, Honatsu must have decided to ride the wave and leave things unexplained. How terrible. And he clearly promised them. Just let him go wherever he pleased. Indeed, don't come back ever again&mdash;

"Haruaki? Umm... Hmm~ Uh..."

"Fear? What's up? Did something happen?"

Haruaki looked back to see Fear fidgeting at the doorway. After he called to her, she seemed to steel her resolve and took a step into the room... But then she started fidgeting suspiciously again. She kept her hand behind her back all this time, probably holding something.

"No, umm, uh... Is it considered something...? Although I think it's better to do it while it's still today, but so much happened today already, so I thought it's better to wait until the mood has calmed down, to leave a better impression or something like that... Yeah, anyway, I'm here already but still very hesitant... I guess."

"I really don't get what you're trying to say."

"S-So, what are you doing? Are you currently bored out of your mind? Or are you very tired already from too much stuff happening today, so you don't feel like doing anything more?"

Fear asked while grinning unnaturally. Asking what he was doing&mdash;

Haruaki glanced at the box on the table, frowning. Given by the bastard Pops who had run off somewhere without keeping his promise, this whatever gift that might possibly be cash. Haruaki was in no mood to open it. To be frank, even looking at it made him annoyed.

Hence, Haruaki shoved the box to a corner of the table with the back of his hand, speaking at the same time:

"My exhaustion has increased thanks to that bastard Pops right now. Seriously, what present? It looks like he's gone off to who knows where again, although I think that's actually for the best."

"So that box is actually the present from Honatsu? Muu... Muumuu, really? I suppose. It's true that the current timing is a bit&mdash;"

"What timing?"

"No... No no, nothing at all! There's nothing at all~ I just happened to be curious that Honatsu disappeared after eating dinner and right now, with perfect timing, the mystery is solved~ Something like that!"

Refusing to turn her back to Haruaki the whole time, Fear kept stepping back with her hand still hidden behind her. Hmm? Haruaki cocked his head when&mdash;

"Take that~"

"Ooph!?"

Just as Fear was trying to leave the room, she suddenly jumped. While attacking Fear's bottom with a violent shoving move from sumo wrestling, Kuroe made her appearance. Pushed back into the room, Fear looked at her in protest but Kuroe spoke with her usual gaze of blankness:

"This kind of thing must be given on the day after all. Once the day is past, the excitement of giving presents will recede a bit~ So to give Ficchi a push, let me give mine first. Here, Haru, happy birthday~ By the way, there's no cooling-off period for this, so no exchanges or refunds."

"O-Oh okay, thank... you...?"

Instead of bringing her hand out from her back, Kuroe used her hair to secure something behind her then handed it over to him. In any case, Haruaki accepted the gift first, but&mdash;

It was small enough to wrap one's arms around it in a hug, made of soft fabric and cotton, something like a plushie... or resembling a doll. Basically a doll of a super-deformed girl with long black hair. Petite in stature with blank, hazy eyes, indeed, it was precisely the one in front of his eyes&mdash;

"Isn't this you!?"

"Th-That's totally Kuroe&mdash;!"

Fear blinked in shock while staring at the doll. Kuroe nodded with satisfaction.

"Mmm-hmm, it's a specially made Kuroe-chan plushie. After pestering the owner of the crafts shop in the shopping district again and again, I really made this by myself, stitch by stitch. You must treasure it properly."

"...Uh... Hmm, sure... But what would I use this for..."

"You decide how to use it! You can use it for decoration or a body pillow during sleep, or even absolutely unmentionable things! Just treat it as the real me, to do whatever you want... Say, why are you turning the plushie over and trying to feel what's inside?"

"Uh, I'm checking to see if there are recording devices or pinhole cameras."

"Very regrettably, I had to reluctantly give up on those due to a lack of time and money."

"Could you please give that up forever! By the way... You didn't place your hair inside it based on a principle like "speaking of dolls, this is the way to do it," did you? If it suddenly moves in the middle of the night, it'd be super scary."

"..."

"Why are you looking away?"

Despite various worrying aspects, this was definitely something Kuroe had made for him personally with her time and effort. Despite the doll being an unexpected present very much in her style, Haruaki did not feel inconvenienced. While praying in his heart that the doll did not contain any horrifying mechanisms, he placed it on a bookshelf for now.

"So... Your turn, Ficchi."

"U-Umuu... But..."

Kuroe circled around to Fear's back and said as though pushing her:

"I'm going to reveal your embarrassing exploits if you don't give him the present~ Like the first present you picked before this one&mdash;"

"W-Wah&mdash;! I get it, I get it! Fine, I'm giving it to him! Oooh... Here!"

Now Haruaki finally understood what was the object Fear had been hiding behind her back all this time. Like Kuroe's, this was a birthday present for him.

Fear closed her eyes and forcefully brought the object to the front. Haruaki reflexively leaned back and asked:

"Oh, this is... a frying pan... right?"

"Yes, it's a frying pan."

A shining brand-new piece of kitchen equipment.  In a color popular with the masses, it featured sleek lines despite the modest impression. Due to Fear holding the frying pan by the handle, Haruaki was thinking it would not have any packaging, of course, but for some reason&mdash;

"Tied on it... there's a bow."

"P-Presents are supposed to have bows, right!? Uh, in the beginning when I told the salesman it was a gift, he helped me wrap it up and tie a bow, but I didn't like the lumpy look which wasn't very cute. After trying different failed attempts with the shopkeeper, this is the final result&mdash;W-What now? Do you have any objections!?"

"Ufufu~ Ficchi is so cute~ I really wanna hug you tight~"

Kuroe stood on tiptoe and stroked the back of Fear's head. Thrusting the frying pan with the bow as though she were holding a hero's sword, Fear glared viciously at Haruaki.

Haruaki laughed and received the frying pan from Fear's hand.

"&mdash;Thank you. This looks like it'll be very handy."

"R-Really? Exceelent. Listen carefully, you must use this frying pan from now on and continue cooking delicious food for me! This was a gift prepared with these intentions. No cutting corners, got that?"

"Haha, I'll do my best."

"That's what I'm looking forward to as well. You also have to use the kitchen knife I gave you for Christmas... Oh right, Ficchi originally wanted to give you a kitchen knife as a present, but after buying it, she remembered I already gave one for Christmas, so she went pale and screamed: 'Now the present is repeated! I'm such an idiot! Uwahhhh what should I do!?' while twisting and rolling about one moment, crying and hammering my back during another. Ficchi really was unbelievably cute in her state of panic&mdash;"

"H-Hey&mdash;! You ended up tell the story after all, I'll curse you! That was just a tiny tiny mistake and I successfully got a refund, so it's totally fine! It was a bit close, but in the end, there's no problem!"

"Haha... But you don't have to be so serious. Even if I received a kitchen knife, I'd still use it with gratitude."

Haruaki spoke in a relaxed tone of voice but hearing that, Fear suddenly looked down. After a while&mdash;

"...Of course I'm serious."

"Hmm?"

"You... probably hate days like birthdays, right? You probably don't have any wonderful memories of them, right? But this is still a day to remember, isn't it? The significance here is definitely very important."

Haruaki looked into Fear's eyes. They were very sincere.

"Such as receiving presents like this, then when your birthday comes around next year again, you'll surely think back to the previous year's birthday, right? Recalling presents from that time, memories from that time. There are very few days that can leave behind memories for a year. So it must be the same for you. A day serving as a trigger to recall the past, for it to turn out to be your own day of birth, don't you find that kind of romantic?"

"Maybe... I guess."

Also, saying that, Fear relaxed her expression slightly.

"I definitely know the meaning of giving presents. A birthday present is for telling someone: thank you for being born in this world. Whether you or anyone else, this fact probably became taken for granted, so it was forgotten. But this is my first time celebrating a birthday, so I won't forget. I believe this is a very important and new experience."

Fear did not look away. Like an innocent child, like a forgiving and tender mother, she smiled and said:

"Haruaki, I am truly thankful from the bottom of my heart that you appeared here. I'm also very thankful that you were born on this day&mdash;"

Her expression was too gentle.

It ended up making Haruaki feel that she was reprimanding him: don't say things that make others sad. Like telling him: how could birthdays not be important? This is a day to remember that must be taken seriously, for it only takes place once a year.

Hence, feeling a little apologetic, Haruaki smiled in return at the same time and said:

"Although I find birthdays to be tricky affairs, I don't hate them. Yeah. Honestly... Thank you very much, Fear."

"R-Really? That's good to hear."

Then I'll be off&mdash;Fear turned around with her face bright red. As though in revenge, she also pushed the snickering Kuroe out by her back, preparing to leave the room. At this moment, Haruaki recalled something important and decided he'd better tell her.

"Oh by the way, it's possible you haven't realized yet..."

"Hmm?"

"You have a birthday too, it's in September."

Fear suddenly paused in her movements, turning her head back all at once with a doll-like motion.

"What?"

"This is natural. Umm, perhaps too natural, to the point that I don't even feel sorry about deciding without telling you."

"W-When? W-Where did I get that kind of day&mdash;"

"Don't ask such a silly question. It's just like your reasoning earlier... The day you remember clearest from a year ago. For example, ''when you tasted rice crackers for the very first time in your life''... Something like that."

The color of comprehension gradually crept onto Fear's face.

"Really... I also have... a birthday huh. Ehehe."

"Oh~ That's wonderful, Ficchi, we must have a grand celebration when that day comes!"

"Yes! Indeed&mdash;I'm really looking forward to it!"

Thus, Fear had a smile all over her face. Kuroe was smiling too.

Haruaki could not help but think, perhaps next year, he might no longer feel so troubled by his own birthday&mdash;

But at least this day today was not going to end so peacefully.

At this moment, noisy footsteps running across the corridor were heard.

"Bad news!"

Konoha poked her head into the room with a panicking expression. Fear put away her "ehehe" smiling face in alarm and pouted to disguise her embarrassment.

"S-Stop scaring people, damn Cow Tits, I'll curse you! What bad news?"

"On the television! The news just reported a phantom slasher!"

"It got on the news huh? Yeah, I don't blame them."

"The superintendent said he'd pull some strings around to prevent the incident from getting too big, but there's nothing to be surprised about it appearing on the news&mdash;"

"That's not the issue here!"

Konoha shook her head forcefully then immediately continued:

"''Just today alone, there were four incidents''! In other words... After we allowed her to escape, she seems to have committed three more slasher incidents elsewhere!"

"What...!?"

Haruaki was rendered speechless. Fear stared sharply at Konoha.

"Were they all done the same way?"

"The report did not give any details about how the crimes were committed, but I fear they are the same. On the television, they said that what was common to all cases was that each victim was stabbed by a sharp object."

Fear gritted her teeth hard, her eyes filled with impatience.

"It really is that girl? I shouldn't have let her escape had I known. What the heck is she trying to do? And why&mdash;"

"Currently, her objective doesn't matter at all, right!? In any case, we cannot ignore these phantom slasher incidents. This puts everyone in town at risk. Who knows who else would become victims."

"Yeah, we have to stop her..."

While the trio stared at one another solemnly, a carefree musical tone contrary to the mood was heard. It was the doorbell. Who could it be this late? Puzzled, Haruaki still went to the front door.

"Coming coming~ I'm opening the door now... Oh it's you, Class Rep."

"Sorry... for bothering you this late."

Kirika appeared at the door. After a simple greeting, she presented a paper bag.

"It's nothing... important. Indeed&mdash;It's just because I haven't given you your birthday present yet. Just a small gift, an apron. It's got many pockets and prioritizes functionality, I think it's quite nice and it has a different color from the one at my home... No, I don't mean anything special, it's just a good apron that prioritizes functionality. The apron at your house is already very old and it's also because I borrow your apron frequently... This isn't anything expensive, so I'd be very happy if you're willing to accept it."

"Th-Thank you. So, putting this aside, Class Rep..."

"Hmm...?"

Haruaki originally wanted to ask: "Are you okay?"

Kirika did not look right. Haruaki could not place his finger on it, but overall, she was not the usual Kirika. Expression, demeanor, voice, all was lacking in vitality, spirit and strength.

However, after hearing his voice, she looked up and showed a smile on her face.

A rather absentminded look.

Even so, her lips still squeezed out the shape of a smile.

"What's the... matter?"

Seeing that, Haruaki found himself inexplicably speechless.

Definitely something was not right. However, he did not know if he ought to ask. Why? Was it because of what happened during the day? Because he had run away from the answer? No, he did not think that was all to it. Although there was no evidence, he somehow felt that the reason was not limited to that&mdash;

"No, uh... Would you like to come inside? At least have a cup of tea&mdash;"

"Don't bother, it's already quite late. I really came over just to give you the present."

Then lightly saying "goodbye," she turned around and disappeared outside the door very readily, step by step.

Haruaki wanted to say something to her but could not find any words.

All he could do was silently watch as the darkness of the night swallowed her.