Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume5 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 6===

Oratorie watched the infirmary's locked door but the girl still had not returned. The door shook many times, probably due to emergency patients or people with injuries seeking help, but she ignored them all as irrelevant.

(Seriously... Could she hurry up a bit? I'm really going to do it.)

Impatiently, Oratorie chewed Pocky. Apart from that, there were candies and beef jerky on the desk. These were originally snacks that were hidden in the drawers. Apparently, this school physician was not a very serious person. There was also a cellphone that probably belonged to this school physician, vibrating noisily many times. However, Oratorie had no choice but to ignore it.

Suddenly, Oratorie discovered that the hostage on the bed&mdash;the boy&mdash;was sneaking glances at her. He was probably as weak as he looked. Once he became a hostage, all he did was cower and shrink like that.

His gaze was stimulating Oratorie's sadistic heart. Tired of waiting around, she decided to talk to him for a bit.

"Hmm, so this must be so-called killing time."

"...Eh?"

"Like I said, killing time. By the way, 'this must be so-called' is just a catchphrase of mine, don't mind it. According to my friend who taught me Japanese, it's similar to a certain famous baseball player, right?"

"Oh... U-Umm, I think his catchphrase is actually 'one of those so-called' or something like that..."

"Isn't that close enough? By the way, you've been staring at this all along, right? You're bothered by this wooden oar?"

The boy went "sorry" and looked down, shrinking his shoulders even smaller. Oratorie stood up from the chair and sat down on the bed opposite to him. As she crossed her legs, perhaps embarrassed about the sight of the swimsuit exposed under the parka, the boy's neck shrank back even further. How adorable.

"Let me tell you then. This is a cursed oar. I had no idea about its origins when I first obtained it. It's only later when a friend helped me to investigate a similar legend somewhere and told me about it. It all started with a certain awful man, lowest of the low, who rowed his lover out to sea on a boat. Then he used this oar to beat his lover to death."

Then she added "for some unknown reason, however." In any case, it was probably a dispute over love or money, one or the other. Many problems have always existed in relationships between couples.

"But thrown into the sea along with this oar, the murder weapon, the woman was actually not dead. On the verge of death, she returned to the shore. Perhaps due to her unsteady footsteps, according to an eyewitness, she supported herself with this oar as she walked along the beach as though she were rowing a boat on dry land. Then the lover finally succeeded in taking her revenge on the man by using this very oar. Feeling despair towards life, the lover returned to the sea, walking as though she were rowing on dry land. That's supposedly the entire story. Say, Ren-kun, what do you think of this story?"

"...U-Umm... So tragic... This story..."

"Indeed indeed, that's what I thought too. Hence, the first time I heard this story, this was what I said: 'What a seriously irredeemable tragedy.' I don't know if it was the lover's personal resentment that held unprecedented horror? Or perhaps this oar was further used in other incidents? In any case, this oar became cursed. It can control the force digging into the ground&mdash;something like the penetration rate&mdash;In any case, in order to use that kind of power, the owner must keep their body soaking wet at all times to satisfy the curse, or else death results. So that's that."

Moving the oar, Oratorie placed the mug from the table onto it. Just like before, she brought it to her hand, took it and poured the water over her head. Although the wet hair clinging to her face was annoying, she found the boy's frightened expression even more amusing. Hence, she deliberately refrained from sweeping her hair back and drew near to his face.

"Currently, I'm fine so long as I refill the water at a rate of about once an hour. But the time interval gradually grows shorter and shorter. Also, seawater is much more effective than tap water. As soon as I recall that, I wonder if some day it might develop to the point where I'm forced to use only seawater. Hence, in the end, I might end up with a body that will die unless it is constantly bathed in seawater&mdash;In other words, I'll become like that lover in the story, obliged to return to the sea."

Oratorie spoke as she brought her body closer. The water droplets sliding off her hair dripped noisily on the smooth and tender skin on the boy's face that was like a girl's.

"So you understand now? I didn't make myself this way because of a fetish or insane tastes."

"A-Ah mm-hm... Y-Yeah, I get it..."

The expression he made as he looked from down to up, clenching his fists and curling his body in fear&mdash;Marvelous, simply too marvelous. Oratorie felt as though something she had long forgotten was slowly filling up her heart.

Just as she stuck out her tongue and licked her lips...

"Man&mdash;I'm so full. That's noodle bowls for you, they keep serving a new bowl to you without needing you to say anything, that's wonderful yet... I really ate until I could hardly walk. Who actually invented this walking motion of only advancing by one meter at a time? I'm gonna sue him... But that's way too tiring too."

Suddenly, a voice was heard outside the infirmary door. It did not belong to the girl that Oratorie had sent out to search for her target. Next, the door began to creak and rattle.

"A nap is required when one feels lazy, yes, a nap&mdash;How odd, why can't I open this&mdash;? Did I even lock it in the first place?"

The voice sounded puzzled. Then came the sound of a key being inserted into the keyhole. Has the school physician returned? Oratorie decided that she would need to deal with the new arrival in a different manner compared to the boy and the girl. No matter how irresponsible a school physician, once she discovered a suspicious person holding a student as a hostage, she would surely report back to the school, right? Hence, there was no other choice.

I'll just have to kill her.

"Sheesh, couldn't they just install a fingerprint or retinal scanning system for me~? That'll make my life much easier... Eh, who are you&mdash;Woah!"

(She dodged it?)

Swinging the wooden oar, Oratorie frowned. She had neither held back nor was she careless. In principle, it was supposed to be an unavoidable ambush. Hence, Oratorie could not believe that the woman's head remained unharmed. On further examination, the woman had simply fallen backwards on her bottom in the corridor. Perhaps she slipped and fell from fright and coincidentally saved her own life. What a lucky woman.

However, the second strike was going to render that luck meaningless&mdash;Just as Oratorie gripped the oar hard, the woman smiled and stood up lazily:

"Haha, I get it, you're doing ''that'', right? Hiding is pointless. You're planning on doing something nice with that boy in the back, right...? I am a very understanding and accommodating school physician. Normal occasions aside, on a special day like today, I'll give you two special permission just this once. If you're willing to clean up properly afterwards, I'll generously provide the infirmary for you healthy youngsters to engage in healthy activities. I won't tell anyone, please take your time and enjoy~"

"...Wha?"

Hearing such unexpected words, Oratorie halted her hand that was holding the oar up high. At the moment, the school physician patted her on the shoulder, smiled profoundly, turned around and prepared to leave.

"So, are you a foreign student? Soaking wet swimsuit play... That's worth remembering for future reference~"

Muttering to herself, walking at a lazy pace as though she were dragging her lab coat, she left for somewhere. Just as Oratorie wondered if she should give chase, another person arrived from the opposite direction&mdash;

"Excuse me..."

"Hmm? Hina-chan, have you found him?"

"No... Not yet, I'm sorry. Here's the progress report, I think more time is needed."

Speaking of which, Oratorie had probably ordered her to return and make a progress report even if her search had not bore fruit. Humans were truly forgetful creatures. Looks like I need to threaten this girl a bit to make sure she doesn't abandon this boy and escape, to make sure she doesn't forget that the boy's fate is firmly grasped in my hands.

"Umm, about Ren-kun..."

"I haven't done anything to him, but if you don't search carefully, I can't guarantee what might happen next."

"I-I'll go search, I'll search immediately! So please, I'm begging you, please don't do anything to Ren-kun!"

"In that case, please hurry and search... No, hold on. What is the school physician like as a person?"

Just as the girl prepared to run, she explained with puzzlement on her face: "a person as sloppy as an amoeba."

"...Oh, really? So it really was her. Then that's it... Okay, hurry and search, hurry and search!"

"I-I'm going!"

Oratorie returned to the infirmary only after the girl had disappeared out of sight. Then she locked the door again.

"Umm, what's the matter...?"

"Nothing, you just need to stay silent and act like an obedient hostage."

Oratorie sat down on the chair. That school physician was probably no concern&mdash;In other words, it was back to waiting.

However, impatience and anxiety would inevitably surface while waiting. I can't just wait here all this time, so let's hope she can locate him as quickly as possible. Hence&mdash;that's right, perhaps it might be necessary to encourage Hina-chan to take her search more seriously. In any case, if her search remained fruitless, she would be returning to make a progress report after a while.

"Fine, I'll give her another thirty minutes or so. Ufufufu."

Feeling the boy's doubtful gaze, Oratorie placed a stick of Pocky in her mouth but did not bite. Hence, the chocolate layer on top began to melt from the warmth of her tongue.

It was as though she were deliberately killing time by playing with that sweet flavor.