CubexCursedxCurious:Volume4 Chapter2

Chapter 2 - Unexpectedly Fragile / "Going on a picnic with the sandwich"

Part 1

According to Kana—

Today, she had gone out shopping with her cousin (recently married) who had brought her six-month-old baby. But just as they started browsing the shops, Kana's cousin had collapsed and was sent to the hospital. Although it was only appendicitis and nothing serious, she took the opportunity to check into the hospital. Hence, Kana was currently entrusted with the baby. Just as she was on her way home, she discovered the baby needed a change of diapers—By chance, she ran into Kirika who was looking for a part-time job in the streets... That was how it happened apparently.

"Then since this is on the road home anyway, Kirika-chan wondered if we should stop by Akki's house or not. Although we could have borrowed a washroom somewhere, it's time to feed the baby anyway~"

"What, so that's what's going on... Well, upon reflecting calmly, it was very clearly a joke! But it did frighten me for a moment there..."

Watching Konoha sighing at the dining table, Kirika hunched her shoulders apologetically:

"I-I'm sorry, Konoha-kun, Kana is the mastermind! Seriously, it's absolutely ridiculous!"

"Ahaha, because I really wanted to see Kirika-chan play the fool's part for once~ Sorry! But it's quite a rare sight, right? And very fun too?"

"Because of this, I was almost strangled to death... Say, is it really okay for the baby to be entrusted to you?"

"Don't worry, I've been helping out at home all along. Come, Yoshifumi-kun, it's diaper time~"

Saying that, Kana skillfully removed the baby's diaper and wiped his bottom. The originally whimpering baby went "Ah~ Ah~" happily with his lower body exposed, perhaps because of the clean and fresh feeling from the soiled diaper's removal.

Konoha and Fear watched the baby with indescribable fascination.

"Wow, so cute!"

"It's true. There's also something cute growing there."

"W-Where exactly are you directing your attention? I don't mean cute in that way!"

"Cute things are cute! Am I right, Haruaki!?"

"W-Why are you asking me?"

Despite Haruaki's misgivings over having an argument over the baby's head, the baby was not only unafraid, but he also smiled happily instead. Clearly this child was going to become a great man one day. While all this was taking place, the change of diaper was completed.

"Okay, next we'll need to warm up some milk. Akki, lend me your kitchen for a bit? Then until that's ready, I'll trust you guys with the baby. Uh~ Kirika, here you go."

"W-Why are you giving him to me... Didn't I already tell you, I'm not used to this sort of thing..."

Handing the baby over to Kirika without taking no for an answer, Kana went into the kitchen with her bag that carried the thermos and other stuff. Although she claimed unfamiliarity, Kirika could not just abandon the baby so she had no choice but to keep cradling the baby in her arms with a troubled expression on her face. But seeing her like that, an eager someone soon volunteered to relieve Kirika of her duties.

"I-If you're not used to it, how about I have a go at taking care of him?"

"Oh thanks, Konoha-kun... Here you go."

Receiving the baby with unexpectedly skillful motions, Konoha smiled happily:

"Wow~ He's quite heavy! But his face and fingers are so tiny, and his skin is so tender and smooth.... Hoho, so cute!"

"Hey, Yachi."

"Yeah, I have a bad feeling about what's going to happen."

Seeing the wobbling mass before his eyes—the baby was fascinated from a food point of view. Hence—

"Iyaah? Umm, wait—Sorry, I don't... have milk, okay...! Ah, stop it, stop it..."

"Smooch~ Smooch~"

"It tickles... Nnnggg... Haa... Jeez... Jeez... Huah!"

The baby bit firmly despite the layers of clothing, causing Konoha's shoulders to tremble. Although she was giggling, Haruaki felt delicately embarrassed to watch. Trying as much to divert his gaze, at this moment—

"Hey Cow Tits, it's no fair for you to be hogging things! I want to hold the baby too, let me hold him!"

"Eh~ Will it really be okay for you? It's no joking matter if you drop him on the floor!"

"Shut up, of course it'll be okay! I didn't drop any dishes just now either, right?"

"Don't compare a baby with dishes, sheesh."

Taking advantage of Konoha's ticklish state, Fear took the baby from her. Because her method of holding was quite a terrifying sight, Kirika then taught her the correct way.

"L-Like this? ...Ohoh, so tiny, so cute~ He reminds me of the dog yesterday."

"Don't compare a baby with a dog, sheesh."

Going "Ah~ Ah~" happily at the sight of the glittering silver hair, the baby suddenly reached out with his short little arms.

Towards Fear's chest.

"Oh? Fufu, a connoisseur knows his stuff after all... Indeed! Fundamentally, there's no difference between me and Cow Tits, there's no need to feel inferior at all! This is proof of that!"

Fear's proud grin of triumph only lasted briefly. After a few pats to confirm the feeling, the baby—

"...?"

He inclined his head with an incredulous expression. Completely losing interest in the chest, he went "Ah... Ah..." as he reached for the silver hair.

"Wha...!" Fear groaned and bowed her head, her entire body shaking for quite a while. Finally, the pressure suddenly vanished and still keeping her head bowed, she—

"Hmm."

With a great sigh, she handed the baby over to Haruaki.

"Sigh... I knew it, a little child wouldn't know things after all... He wouldn't know... It can't be helped. It's not like I'm offended. Ahaha..."

Her dry laughter was extremely stiff. Somehow, she looked a bit pitiful.

Only at this moment did Haruaki suddenly realize that Aiko had not joined in their circle centered around the living room dining table. Instead, she was standing slightly further away. A distance similar to the one she kept during their first encounter.

Indeed, it was exactly the same, completely the same.

Seeing Aiko sneaking glances at the baby from time to time, Fear suggested to her—Why don't you have a go at holding him, how's that?

After much hesitation, Aiko finally approached in trepidation and Haruaki handed the baby lightly over to her arms.

"...Pwah~"

Aiko seemed to be smiling happily as she looked down at the baby in her arms—

Then Haruaki and the girls finally learned.

The true meaning of "earsplitting crying" that actually existed in this world.

Part 2

"I'm really sorry for causing all of you trouble~" Kana departed with Kirika as she comforted the baby. After that, dozens of minutes passed—

Haruaki was alone in the quiet kitchen, preparing lunch. It really was very quiet. Perhaps due to the excessive noise earlier, this feeling was further exacerbated.

"...That girl, she's not leaving her room."

Fear's voice came from behind. Haruaki glanced back to find her leaning her back against the kitchen entrance, her big toes fiddling meaninglessly with each other, her gaze directed firmly to the floor. "I see..." Turning his face forward again, Haruaki replied without pausing in his work.

After what happened, Aiko had left the howling and crying baby and bolted out of the living room. Like the other time, she was exuding an extremely gloomy aura. From then on, she would not respond no matter how they called to her.

"That girl said something about being the same as me or even something worse. She said she was an existence that deserved to be cursed. So... I can understand what she's feeling—"

"What feeling?"

After some silence, Fear infused a little resolve into her words. Quietly, she spoke:

"I have even been used on babies quite a few times."

"..."

"So I felt the same just now. Can I really hold him with these hands of mine? Do I have the right to hold him? Is holding him permitted...? To be honest, my mind was filled with these thoughts. What if he cries? I would feel very unsettled. If that girl is really thinking the same things and in actual fact, she did receive that kind of response, it's no surprise that she would end up so depressed."

"I see."

"What do you mean, 'I see'? Can't you try to comfort her!? That girl... Judging from the way she looks, who knows how long it'll take before she agrees to leave her room—"

Fear's voice carried slight anxiety. Haruaki took a deep breath and slowly turned his head back.

Fear was glaring at him sharply. After careful consideration of what to tell her, Haruaki—

"Today's lunch is: sandwiches."

"...W-What?"

"The weather's nice, so let's eat outdoors. You can also call it a picnic."

He smiled as Fear stood rooted to the spot in surprise.

"No one is ever unhappy about having a picnic. In other words, no one will remain in low spirits after a picnic. And in order to be a picnic, the whole family needs to go."

The color of comprehension gradually appeared in Fear's eyes.

"Uh—In other words, if there happens to be a listless girl, let's force her to go out for a walk to help raise her spirits, so she'd better prepare herself! That's the idea. So... Comrade Fear! Your mission is to tell everyone and gather them all to the entryway, dragging them by the collar if necessary! May victory smile upon you!"

"A-Affirmative! Leave it to me!"

Fear rushed out and the kitchen returned to silence.

Let's not forget to prepare the desserts—Haruaki thought to himself.

Apples, bananas, and of course—an extra helping of rice crackers.

Haruaki set off on a picnic together with Fear, Konoha and Aiko who was forcibly dragged out by Fear. Aiko remained listless but at least it was still many times better than being cooped up in her room.

In light of the sports festival the next day, wasting energy on walking too far would be a bad idea. Hence, the picnic site was chosen somewhere relatively near—the river embankment where they had met Aiko. Just as Haruaki thought yesterday when he was gazing around blankly, the river was quite beautiful and simply eating outdoors was quite fun. It shouldn't be boring, right?

Near the bridge, there was a patch of short grass that looked comfortable to sit on. Laying out a leisure mat, three baskets worth of sandwiches were spread out.

"Ah, this is great!"

"Wow, this looks very tasty!"

"I only used existing ingredients that I had on hand, so I make no guarantees about the taste... There's egg, ham and vegetables or pork chops cutlets... Oh right, there's also some leftovers from Konoha's spicy meat yesterday, so I made a bold attempt of making sandwiches out of them. In addition, there are some deep fried chicken pieces as well as dessert over here. Feel free to take whatever strikes your fancy... Aiko, what would you like to eat?"

Haruaki asked Aiko who was staring blankly. She spoke timidly with her bangs shaking incessantly:

"Uh... Then I'll have the spicy one..."

"Yes! It's the meat Konoha made yesterday! Here you go!"

He handed the sandwich to her. Under everyone's gaze, Aiko took a large bite out of the sandwich she was holding with both hands.

"...Very tasty. The spicy one."

"That's really wonderful."

"Ufufu, to have picked this for her first choice, she must be quite enamored with my cooking! It makes me so happy~"

"You're trying to take the challenge? Be careful of the delayed effects. Even if you may think 'No problem, no problem' to yourself at first, you may find unnecessary blubber growing somewhere imperceptibly... Ohoh, too scary."

"Please don't mind her. That's the biased opinion of someone who won't grow meat anywhere no matter what she eats."

"W-What are you saying!? I'll curse you!"

The meal proceeded with this sort of noisy commotion. Although AIko was not very talkative, she would still answer whenever Fear or Konoha brought up a new topic of conversation. Even casual words with no content were fine, so long as it took things off her mind—Haruaki thought to himself.

There was virtually no one else around. Slightly further away, there was a riverside plaza where people could play baseball, so most people probably went there instead. Hence, it felt as though Haruaki's group had the whole place to themselves on the river embankment. The only sounds were that of the river's quiet rhythm and the short grass swaying softly. The atmosphere was extremely calm.

Just as Haruaki yawned, overcome with a sense of drowsiness, Fear suddenly frowned in the middle of drinking tea from the thermos.

"Hmm? Hey, Haruaki, the tea's out."

"That's all because you've been gulping it down madly... I wanted to drink some too..."

"Sigh, I guess it's my fault for not preparing enough. I'm thirsty too, so let me buy some juice or tea! I remember there's a vending machine up there..."

"Excuse me... May I go buy the drinks?"

"It's okay, you girls should... Well, just engage in some girl talk to liven up the mood!"

In other words, "you girls should continue helping Aiko lift her spirits." Konoha definitely got the message and responded apologetically: "Thanks, I'll have tea please." Then after asking what Fear and Aiko wanted, Haruaki climbed up the embankment and made his way towards to vending machine, a hundred meters away.

How immensely distant these one hundred meters were going to be—Haruaki had no idea at all.

Part 3

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