Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume10 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 7===

"Hey~ Time to eat... Oh crap, it's spilling out. Nuu, it turns out she's not very willing to eat when I'm the one feeding her. Why?"

"You put too large a mouthful in that spoon. Reduce it slightly, like this... Eh?"

"If Kono-san is no good, it's my turn! Hmm, looks like she's not in a good mood today."

Like yesterday, the Yachi dining table was filled with dishes that could be conveniently fed to Amanda. However, feeding Amanda was not going very smoothly today.

"It shouldn't be because she's not hungry. We're eating dinner even later than last night."

Kirika commented while Haruaki crossed his arms and pondered, staring at the food on the table.

"Did I pick the wrong menu...? It's possible that there's something mixed in that she particular hates. Uh, the only dish we've yet to try is... the rice pilaf?"

Haruaki took Amanda's spoon and gently scooped a mouthful of pilaf from the plate, then tried to bring to her lips. Reflexively, she opened her mouth but stopped there.

"Hmm..." Haruaki was just about to frown when he hastily renewed his spirits. No good, at at time like this, the mood was very important for sure.

"This is food that I put a lot of effort into cooking. Through many years of research, I finally innovated this secret recipe... So, come on, have a bite and see, okay?"

Staring into Amanda's expressionless face, he smiled radiantly at her. Using his facial expression, he tried his utmost to tell her: Don't worry at all, it's really tasty.

"Oh dear~ Even with Haru's heart-warming smile, perhaps it's still a bit difficult~ Even healing beauties like us are out of ideas~"

"P-Perhaps. So, Haruaki, even if doesn't work, don't get too depressed..."

"Oh, she's eating."

Amanda opened her mouth slightly wider than before. After Haruaki gently inserted the spoon into her mouth, she began to chew. Haruaki could not help but feel delighted.

"Nuunuu... Why the shameless brat!? Clearly it didn't work for me, but she's letting you feed her so readily!"

"Hey Fear, if you speak too loudly, she might refuse to eat again. Lower your voice a bit&mdash;Konoha, could you help feed her some water?"

Konoha tilted a cup filled with water and Amanda swallowed, perhaps because liquids were easier to ingest. Guessing she had finished her water, Haruaki delivered another mouthful of pilaf. Chew chew chew. Konoha fed her water as appropriate. Gulp.

"Excellent, let's keep it up like this."

"Ah... It's a shame that she won't let me feed her, but like this... It seems like... Not bad at all. If... and I... were... to have a child, surely we would be taking care of the baby like now... Ufu, ufufu, ufufufufufu?"

For some reason, Konoha's glasses flashed while an eerie grin seemed to be hanging at the corner of her lips. Not knowing what it was about, Haruaki decided not to worry about it. After all, feeding Amanda was the current priority.

"Okay, this should be about right. I feel like I've fed her quite a lot."

Hence, Haruaki put down the spoon. Then he suddenly found Amanda to be acting not quite right. Although it was just a subtle change, her cheeks seemed a little reddened as though she were enduring something.

"Could it be that she ate too much? No... This is..."

''That''. As much as they took her there regularly, it was still impossible to predict exactly. Probably happy to see her willing to eat, Konoha had apparently fed her more water than usual&mdash;

"This is a crisis! Please excuse me!"

There was no time to spare. Even disengaging the wheelchair's brakes would be a waste of time. Reaching into the wheelchair's seat, Haruaki picked up Amanda's petite body. This was his first time holding her. So light.

"I realize it's an emergency! But, y-you are acting too shameless! Even if picking her up is a desperate act that cannot be helped, you... To think you'd... take this girl to the toilet&mdash;"

"I-I'm not going that far, okay!? I'm just moving her, that's all! I'm leaving the rest to you girls!"

Just as Haruaki was about to run out of the living room in a panic, his senses alerted him to something unusual.

&mdash;Hug.

"Eh?"

He could not help but stop and look downwards at Amanda. Expressionless. But for some reason, Amanda's arms, wrapped around his back, seemed to be... applying slightly more force.

"Haruaki, what's the matter?"

"No... Nothing... Anyway, let's move quickly!"

Running out of the living room, he made a mad dash for the washroom. He lowered the girl in his arms onto the toilet seat, but still felt a slight force from her arms around his back. This could be considered the first time for her to give a definite reaction apart from holding hands. Once he put her down, the feeling disappeared, to be honest, it felt&mdash;

"This seems... a bit... of a shame..."

As soon as he muttered softly, Haruaki felt a murderous aura behind him.

"I-I can't believe you said it was a shame! Damn you, shameless brat, what the heck are you talking about, I'll curse you!"

"Haruaki-kun~? With this, I really... cannot defend you anymore... Not only did you embrace her tightly and enter the washroom together, in the end, you even said what a shame it was&mdash;I knew it, taking care of her to the very last step are your true feelings!"

"A-Absolutely ridiculous! I will not permit this at all, there are limits to perversion!"

"No... That's not what I meant!"

His denials in vain, Haruaki was viciously kicked out of the washroom by the girls as though caught in a tornado.



Having driven Haruaki back to his own room, Kirika was sighing in the corridor. Inside the washroom, Fear and Konoha were probably shoving at each other, trying to take care of Amanda. This was the first challenge Kirika had faced on her own the first day she had to take care of Amanda. But once her panties were removed and urged with a gentle voice, she would comply definitely. Ultimately, Amanda heard their voices to some extent and probably comprehended more or less. In other words, the mental circuits, capable of manifesting these actions into a definite verbal response, were definitely shut at the moment.

"What should I do...?"

After Kirika murmured absentmindedly, Kuroe looked at her, also waiting in the corridor for Amanda and the others to return.

"By the way, Kiririn, now happens to be a good opportunity. I'd like to chat with you for a bit."

"Sure, what do you want to chat about?"

"No, it's nothing important."

Kuroe smiled gently. Nothing important&mdash;Behind these words, Kirika could feel that she wanted to discuss something serious.

"That's right, Kiririn, you've been staying over frequently at our home lately~"

"Seems so. I was also intruding here during Christmas... Sorry for causing you trouble."

"No, you're definitely not causing trouble~ I'm overjoyed that this home could become even more lively. So what I'd like to say happens to be the complete opposite."

"Complete opposite?"

Kuroe's gaze remained very gentle, the kind that she would momentarily reveal despite joking around all the time&mdash;profound eyes that were both mature and as calmly accepting of all things as the ocean.

"Indeed, it'll be very fun if you continued to live here, Kiririn&mdash;So, I was thinking. In that case, why don't you simply move in?"

Kirika held her breath. She could not say that she had never considered such a thing. Living together would be quite wonderful. Happy, joyful, blissful, able to regard the future with hope, at the same time&mdash;

It was probably going to be very painful as well.

Hence, Kirika forced a smile and said:

"Haha... I don't have a reason for living here. Besides, living with classmates under the same roof isn't befitting for a class representative."

"Reason... Huh? Not even considering your curses, Kiririn?"

Perhaps because the two of them were currently alone, Kuroe pursued the matter to the end. Hence, Kirika concluded that she could not simply gloss over the answer and must answer Kuroe properly.

"...Indeed, if I could stay in this home which possess spiritual powers of purification, perhaps the curses of my «Gimestorante's Love» and «Tragic Black River» can be lifted. However, I neither know how long that would take, and honestly speaking, nor do I believe there is any necessity to do so at the moment."

"Is that because you don't want to lose the power to protect Haru?"

"I think it's useless even if I lied to you. So&mdash;Interpret it however you wish."

Using a calm voice and expression, Kirika concealed her pounding heartbeat.

Kuroe sighed.

"How stubborn... The way I see it, I think you can live a little more true to yourself. Don't bother with complicated and difficult concepts like necessity. Don't go worrying about Ficchi or Kono-san. Just do what you want to do the most&mdash;"

"I am currently doing what I want to do."

How stubborn... Kuroe murmured again. The smile on her face seemed to read "you leave me no choice" while helplessly tolerating a willful child.

"Then let me ask you a final question, but it's fine if you don't answer. However, I hope you can think about it carefully inside&mdash;In other words, Kiririn, for the next step, do you plan on keeping this up indefinitely?"

This simple question ended up weighing exceptionally heavily in Kirika's heart.

For the next step. In other words, the future. Who knows. What was going to happen? What did she want to do&mdash;?

The sound of flushing came from the washroom.

Instantly, Kuroe returned to her usual tone of voice, even more crazy than usual:

"Yes, this secret discussion has come to a conclusion with perfect timing. Then let it be so&mdash;Basically, let me make myself clear, if anything troubles you, please feel free to discuss with me any time."

The heavy atmosphere was instantly released by her excessively lighthearted tone of voice. This was probably one of her strengths&mdash;Kirika thought. Switching seamlessly between seriousness and nonseriousness at will.

Kirika smiled wryly while saying:

"How troubling... Whose side are you on, anyway?"

"I am standing on everyone's side."

Having probably seen through everything, she continued to reply in a lighthearted tone of voice.