Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 6===

Haruaki found himself dragged forcibly to the bedroom. With no lights on and the curtains shut tightly, the room was completely dark. The only shapes he could barely make out were the bed and something resembling a desk.

"W-Wait a minute, Class Rep..."

His arm suddenly released, Haruaki fell down flat on his bottom in the center of the room. Breathing irregularly, Kirika crawled unsteadily onto the bed. Unsure of the situation, Haruaki could not move at all. Gazing seductively at his face, Kirika reached towards her tracksuit pants and pulled them off without any hesitation. Beneath her pants were summer shorts, but these were also taken off as if she could not bear them any longer. Only now&mdash;did the black leather serving as Kirika's underwear finally appear.

"Ahhh..."

Kirika then reached towards the tracksuit top covering her upper body, pulled down the zipper and took off the jacket. Then she took off the gym uniform. Also removing the t-shirt beneath, in a manner akin to ripping it off&mdash;

Kirika slowly extended her arm, throwing the t-shirt towards the bedside. Of all the removed upper garments, the t-shirt descended fluttering as the last piece. Kneeling on the bed, Kirika's appearance was now the same as the moment in the past when Haruaki had discovered her hidden side. Clad in nothing but the bondage suit which would kill her as soon as she removed it. Highly revealing to an erotic degree, the skimpy leather gave off a dull black sheen.

"Cl-Class Rep..."

"Y-Yachi... Watch. Ahhh, please watch. Perhaps you might not want to watch, probably... Yes... Huff&mdash;Damn it... But already... It's no good... Nnnggg!"

Her mouth half-open&mdash;

Kirika leaned forward, her back straight, as if exhibiting her body before Haruaki's eyes.

Then her right arm&mdash;

Slowly, it moved slowly&mdash;

"...Tragic... River..."

It stopped. Her hand did not reach anywhere.

Suspended in midair, it seemed like some sort of dance.

At this moment, Kirika repeated her murmurs loudly:

"Tragic&mdash;«Tragic Black River»&mdash;!"

Instantly, the leather belt wrapped around her arm danced with delight. The extending leather gave off supernatural slithering noises as it moved like a snake or a gymnast's ribbon, tracing out spirals as it danced.

The snake slithered up the tree. Up the tree named Ueno Kirika. Along her arm, passing beneath her underarm, entangling all her arms and legs. Obsessively and compulsively, it wrapped itself around her layer upon layer to an astounding degree.

"...A-Ah... Huff..."

Maintaining her kneeling posture, Kirika was thus tied up by the leather belt. This was the sadistic fetish named capture. As the belt slithered, the constricting force gradually grew stronger with the leather sinking more conspicuously into the body.

As Haruaki watched in wide-eyed shock, Kirika's body was completely bound. The front end of the «Tragic Black River» began to sway. The state of bondage persisted while the belt's front end moved softly.

Next the belt entwined itself around Kirika's immobilized left hand. Even more slowly, the snake's tongue climbed over her thumb, slithering with the noise of leather. Then&mdash;

All at once, the thumb was bent in an unnatural direction.

"Gah! Kua... Ah... Ahhh... Nnnggg... Nnnnnnggggg!"

Snap! A noise sounding as light as a joke. Kirika's voice drowned it out completely.

"Cl-Class Rep...!"

"D-Don't interfere, it's not over... So just watch, Yachi, just watch... it... Ahhhhh!"

Index finger, followed by the middle finger. Naturally, then it was the ring finger, and even the little finger was not exempt.

Snap snap snap snap.

"Nngg, ooh... uwah..."

Kirika's bound body was twitching and recoiling from the pain. Her sweat either splashed about or flowed along her skin. Her ponytail, tied behind her head, also came undone during her convulsions, scattering all over the bedsheets like some kind of creature.

"Yes, leave it alone, this is... fine... But... it's... not... Not over yet... Guah!"

After breaking all her fingers, the «Tragic Black River» lifted its head and reached for Kirika's body. Passing over her arms and elbows, it reached her shoulders. Then it proceeded to entangle her knees and ankles. Finally, the belt wrapped itself around her neck like some sort of step that must not be forgotten&mdash;What was it going to do? The answer was obvious.

Haruaki tried to get up in a panic but his knees were powerless. With moist eyes, Kirika motioned from the bed for him to stop.

"It's okay, I won't die, I can't die, so... Just watch&mdash;"

He saw the broken fingers recover. But how could it really be okay? Right now, her body was being "contorted" even more severely than just now&mdash;!!

"Ahhh... Ahhh... Ahhh... «Tragic»... «Tragic»... «Tragic Black River»! Come...!"

The belt restraining her squirmed even more intensely&mdash;

"Nngg... Ah... Ah... Ahhhh... Phew... Cough... kkkkkk&mdash;Ah?"

A momentary pause. The silence felt as if time itself had stopped.

Phew&mdash;Taking a deep breath, Kirika stared wide-eyed and stopped moving.

Her entire body made only a slight shudder.

Liberation.

"&mdash;Ah-huaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Creak creak creak&mdash;Kirika's arms and legs were twisted by force. Her bones lost their purpose as bones.

The belt throttling her neck tightened, pressing on her windpipe.

Then with drool dangling from her mouth and a splattering of sweat, Kirika&mdash;

Collapsed on the bed, her entire body in spasms.



"Mmm..."

"Oh, you woke up?"

Kirika felt the usual stiffness of leather around her body. Her back was resting against the soft mattress she was well accustomed to. Overhead was the usual inorganic ceiling. This was her own room as usual. However... Why was his face by her side?

Dazed for several seconds, until the blood was finally delivered to her head&mdash;Only then did she suddenly recall.

"...!"

"Uwaah?"

Grabbing the blanket, she covered her head. As a result, her body became exposed, but whatever. It felt too embarrassing, truly embarrassing indeed. Her face must be completely red? No, it was probably pallid. He saw it. He found out about it. How she wished to be dead.

Her face covered beneath the blanket, Kirika gnashed her teeth in depression. He was not saying anything, so she had no choice but to speak up.

"...You understand now?"

"Yeah&mdash;Basically. Right, I should have realized earlier... That «Tragic Black River» is cursed. Since that's the case, it obviously carries a curse."

His voice sounded very calm. What was he thinking? Kirika was too scared to imagine.

"Indeed... The «Tragic Black River» carries a curse. Judging from its origins, a very typical form of curse. A curse that compels one to strangle, to hang, to torment and to kill someone, in the manner of a serial killer."

"..."

"Compared to picking a random person off the streets, there is a much better target for letting the curse blow off steam, namely, me. No matter how my bones are broken, how my joints are dislocated, how my neck is strangled, I won't die. So several times a month, I... Sometimes several times a week, or even daily if necessary&mdash;I've been doing this. Haha, isn't this a truly ugly game played in solitude? Ahhh, now I feel so relieved. Now that you've seen it, I finally feel relieved. With this, I have nothing more to hide, and nothing anyone can use to blackmail me again..."

Indeed, blackmail was no longer meaningful to her. However&mdash;What she tried to protect even at the cost of submitting to blackmail, perhaps she might have destroyed it completely herself.

"Fufu, Yachi, how is it? What are your thoughts?"

"I... Umm, Class Rep..."

Will he say I am disgusting? That he never expected me to be someone like this? Or perhaps he'd say it's nothing and simply try to gloss over the matter? But henceforth, he probably wants to keep his distance from me, right? One could hardly blame him. Even I would find this type of girl disgusting. Abusing one's body because it will recover no matter what&mdash;This is not human at all but just a tool. This is what a self-fulfilling tool does. Indeed, a meaningless gear.

However, what he said next was&mdash;

"Class Rep... You are really gentle."

"Huh?"

Completely unexpected words. Kirika thought she must have heard wrong, but he&mdash;

"Because you don't want to hurt others, you are making yourself suffer&mdash;Creating memories you do not wish to recall, right? Given someone else, they might not necessarily do the same even if they also had healing abilities. Of course, were I in your place, I'm not sure if I'd do the same either. Hurting others is much simpler, so I think you are very gentle."

The voice came from the other end of the bed. Awkwardly averting his gaze, scratching his cheek, but carefully giving thought to each word he said, to compose this sincere speech... Kirika felt as though she could see him acting in such a manner.

"It's not disgusting at all. Besides, it's not your fault, Class Rep. Despite how I may look, because of living in that home, I have seen quite a lot, even though curses do not affect me&mdash;So I know. No matter how repulsive, how embarrassing, how against your will, curses confer impulses that cannot be resisted... That is what 'cursed tools' are."

Hmm&mdash;It felt like Haruaki was nodding.

"As a result, I won't hate you, Class Rep, for something like this!"

"Ah&mdash;"

She had forgotten. She had forgotten a very important thing.

This boy was&mdash;

Unimaginably laid back with an outlook like a withered old man, and also&mdash;

"Fu... Kuhaha..."

No good, something was overflowing from inside. Kirika burst out laughing. Laughing as though she was mocking someone derisively!

"Seriously... Yes, absolutely ridiculous. Over thinking things, I'm the one who's absolutely ridiculous."

"Yeah, I agree that you really were too stupid just now. But then again, I can't laugh at you like this in the context of exams. Well then, regarding cursed tools, I have a request for you."

"Request?"

The instant he posed his question&mdash;

The blanket covering Kirika was unexpectedly pulled away. Supporting himself with his hand against the bed, Haruaki hunched over as if to peering into her face. His expression was laid back as usual. Due to their close separation, her heart felt as though it had stopped. Using this opportunity&mdash;

"Well... Class Rep... That «Tragic Black River», may I have it?"

"...?"

The nonchalance in his expression was as if he were asking "Would you like to exchange food from our lunchboxes?" But Kirika could currently feel his intentions.

Curses did not affect Yachi Haruaki.

Consequently, so long as the «Tragic Black River» was in his possession, no one would ever suffer from its curse again; moreover, the one currently suffering from its curse would be liberated&mdash;

Indeed, it was quite an attractive proposal. However&mdash;

"...I refuse. Even if you were to use your cooking secrets in exchange."

"Eh? But&mdash;"

"I am already used to controlling this thing. You won't be able to do much if you were the one holding it, right? Besides&mdash;"

She relaxed her face. This guy couldn't have forgotten what he had just said, right?

"This is my power, something I need in order to help you. Were I to let go of it, I would become a useless immortal... I don't want that. Aren't I 'Yachi Haruaki's friend'?"

"..."

"Please, allow me to be a friend capable of helping you."

Dozens of seconds passed. Sighing, Haruaki shifted his body and sat on the bed side, throwing a sideways glance at Kirika.

"Is it really okay?"

"I said it's okay."

"I see... Then I understand. I won't force you either. But... Should you ever feel tired of it, tell me immediately. I will take it off your hands any time."

"Yes."

"Also... About that curse... Targeting others would be more effective, right?"

"Why do you ask?"

Haruaki scratched his head.

"Well, although breaking bones would be a bit much, if it's only strangulation or constriction, I guess I could also... No, but getting choked by the neck would be really scary. Ahhh~ But then it'd be pointless? Hmmmmm..."

Seriously, how stupid could this guy get? It was really dumbfounding.

"I don't think it makes a difference. Basically, doing it to myself is enough. Venting the impulses sufficiently, like today... Then... The condition doesn't deteriorate too badly..."

Saying that, Kirika began to recall. What exactly had she done in front of this guy?

She could not help but turn her face away in embarrassment. Speaking of which, she was currently completely nude... Well, stated more delicately, she was lying on the bed in her underwear while that guy was sitting on the bed side. She began to tense inevitably.

Next, the room was met with silence for some time. After a while&mdash;

"Should you ever need help in the future&mdash;Please do not hide it. If you promise me that, I'll let what happened today slide. That said, I still would prefer very much if you handed that thing over to me."

"Like I said, I refuse. However... Your good intentions make me very happy. And about the curse, I will find a better way of handling it from now on."

Really? &mdash;Haruaki nodded and got up. The bed's springs recoiling from the lightened load felt rather regretful.

"You're going to look for Fear?"

"Yeah... Things have become quite troublesome."

"Related to the Bivorio Family?"

Haruaki's face became alarmed. Lying on the bed, Kirika shook her head at him:

"I've only heard of the name, but not any details... I only speculated their involvement based on intuition. It's because of them that I was threatened, so I didn't want to think about it."

Kirika recalled a certain man. She could not predict what his next move might be.

"...Sorry, I don't know why I was threatened against helping you, nor can I reveal who was threatening me. But most likely, that faction won't be participating proactively in the current incident. In light of their neutral stance as observers&mdash;Apart from me."

"So you're willing to help?"

"If only I could have answered the same, three days earlier..."

Although she wanted to get up, her elbows were powerless. She could not lift her body. Were the broken bones still subtly unhealed?

"You should lie down longer. I'll tell you the details next time."

"...Sorry, I guess that's the only way. I should recover completely after a while&mdash;I'll call you then. Or maybe even a visit to your house."

"Sure, call me... Then I'm off. Sleep well!"

Once Haruaki left, the room instantly became silent.

As Kirika stared blankly at the ceiling, various thoughts rushed into her mind. Ahhh, I'm so relieved. My heart feels so much lighter. I'm saved. This worst day of my life turns out to be not bad after all. He called me gentle? What a fool. Serves you right, Himura, your threats are meaningless. But come to think of it, this was so embarrassing. Nothing could be more embarrassing. Didn't that guy feel anything? For a great girl like me, moaning in such a suggestive pose? What's wrong with showing a little reaction? Ahhh~ It was such a shame when he was peering into my face just now. Why didn't he do anything? Even if he were to bring his lips down for a kiss, I wouldn't have resisted particularly&mdash;Stop it right there with these thoughts!

Turning herself over, Kirika buried her face in the blanket. Her current expression was probably the type which cannot be exposed even to the ceiling. Definitely.

"...Jeez... Absolutely ridiculous."

Normally at times like these, she would use the excuse of "who would care about a girl who wears this kind of bondage suit" as an absolute weapon to kill off her hopes.

But for some reason, only now, she did not want to think that.