Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume7 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 6===

The fourth period began&mdash;and so did the manhunt&mdash;but still, Haruaki and Kuroe had yet to locate their target. The girls who had gotten the wrong idea were also relentless. Since they were relentless, shaking them off completely was impossible.

Finally&mdash;Haruaki and Kuroe were backed into a corner by the two obsessed and highly resentful girls.

On a roof with no place to run. Even if they used Kuroe's hair to move vertically, it was meaningless unless they moved up rather than down to escape, because the girls would surely jump down directly.

"A-Actually, please listen properly to our explanation. You'll understand!"

"What are you talking about... What do you want us to understand? Regarding the two of you getting into secret acts of intimacy... I'd like to do the same too, but I hold back&mdash;Rather, school is a place meant for studying industriously...!"

Hopeless, Konoha had already turned into a glasses-wearing demon. In that case, Haruaki had no choice but to place his hopes in the other girl.

"Say, Fear, you should know me! I'm really not doing anything against my conscience&mdash;"

"Die!"

A simple word was enough to show that she did not listen to anything at all. This was further accompanied by the clicking sounds of the Rubik's cube being turned. No matter what barbaric act she was going to commit, there were no witnesses here... This thought alone was enough to make Haruaki feel bone-chilling fear.

The two girls took a step forward. At this moment, the lunch bell rang, sounding like a bell to announce the beginning of an execution. Timing just as the bell finished ringing, Kuroe spoke up.

"Hmm&mdash; ...Originally, I was thinking 'if possible, I'd like to handle it alone.' But by this point, I guess it's fine to reveal the matter."

"You're referring to?"

"Uh&mdash;I'm actually looking for someone. I simply asked Haru to help me out."

"I don't believe it. Then why didn't you say so from the very start?"

Fear and Konoha did not lower their guard at all, still slowly closing in. Was it too late to explain...? Had they explained at the start, perhaps the girls would have believed. But explaining after fleeing desperately for so long, there was probably little credibility, right? Just as Haruaki agonized over what to do next&mdash;

"Seriously... What are you all doing!?"

"Uh hi, Class Rep."

Opening the metal gate to the roof, Kirika appeared, her ponytail swaying in the wind as she narrowed her eyes at the group.

"Skipping lessons starting from second period... As the class representative, I can't ignore that. How absolutely ridiculous. Even if Kuroe-kun came to school to play... What on earth are you all thinking? Yachi, Fear-kun and Konoha-kun!"

"K-Kirika, this does, umm&mdash;have reasons."

"Th-That's right. Uh&mdash;They're secretly having a date in school..."

Confronted by Kirika who was not directly related, Fear and Konoha probably could not legitimately muster excessive aggression in attitude. They simply hunched their shoulders slightly and murmured what appeared to be excuses. However, Kirika could not possibly accept things so easily, hence she proceeded to glare at Haruaki and the others. Haruaki simply stood there, unsure of what to do.

"Sigh... That's right, with a third party here, perhaps they could listen calmly to our explanation. I will try my best to explain. Kono-san and Ficchi, listen carefully to me."

Kuroe seemed to think that this was a good opportunity. Hence, she began to tell Fear and the rest what she had already told Haruaki earlier. L-Love at first sight? Fear, Konoha and Kirika looked at one another in surprise. Then they eyed Haruaki with skepticism. Naturally, all he could do was respond "that's what seems to be going on."

"Say, Kuroe, why didn't you say so earlier!?"

"Well... Because there's no real proof... No, umm, I find it embarrassing. But it can't be helped now that I've said it already. Will you all help me in the search?"

"Umm... I don't really mind. After all, it's Kuroe-san, love at first sight... huh...?"

Not entirely convinced, Konoha tilted her head in puzzlement. Standing on the side, Kirika sighed greatly in astonishment and said:

"How absolutely ridiculous... There's no need to search during class time, right? However, since you only know his face, perhaps that's one method... But do you have any other clues?"

"Even if you want clues, I only passed by him once. But he was wearing a silver ring."

"Although that's against school rules, there are a couple of students like that. But most likely, they'll take their rings off during class... Did the students call each other by name or mention their class? At least we'll know which year they are."

"They didn't mention that~ What they chatted about was... Hmm?"

At this moment, Kuroe suddenly cocked her head as though recalling something.

After a while...

"Right, they talked about... Whether they had finished the Ancient Japanese handout or something...?"

Kirika frowned and sighed even more than just now.

"How troubling&mdash;In that case, rather than searching the classes one by one while lessons are in progress, why don't we do something else first?"

"What do you mean, Class Rep?"

"...If I were doing it, I'd start with the office of the Japanese language teachers."

Haruaki and Kuroe looked at each other. After a while, Kuroe clapped her hands together in realization. Haruaki figured it out at the same time.

There was no need at all to search every class one by one like just now.

Since the couple had mentioned an Ancient Japanese handout, naturally...

The person sought by Kuroe must be limited to ''the classes that had to hand in a handout for Ancient Japanese today''.