Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume14 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 1===

Why was she here? She thought blankly to herself.

In front of her was a garden. The leaves of giant old trees, clothing hanging on laundry poles, weeds growing unchecked, everything was swaying under the light breeze. In a corner was a small storehouse with earthen walls, but apart from that, the garden was empty. No ponds with carp, nor stepping stones, nor stone lanterns, nor wash basins. Hence, the space was inexplicably wide open, to an excessive degree. Thinking to herself, she decided it would be best ''if the storehouse were to be demolished so that a detached accessory dwelling could be built''.

The seat beneath her bottom was a cushion, while under it lay the wooden floorboards of the veranda. Next to the cushion was a cup of tea. Behind her was the unoccupied living room where inconceivable tools known as the 'television' and the 'radio' were kept inside. Times have truly changed&mdash;She thought to herself.

Yes&mdash;Indeed.

Why was she here?

"Here" could be interpreted as not only "this house" but also "this era."

An anachronistic sword, why was it here in this kind of place? She already knew a long time ago. Wars could no longer take place again. At least, there was no longer the type of battle where generals and soldiers would cross swords with one another on the ground.

Then why exist? With her purpose forsaken, why exist?

This peaceful country did not need weapons. This peaceful era did not need weapons. For self-defense, a kitchen knife would be sufficient. So long as the enemy was not wielding a sword, there was no need for her to be swung...

"So boring..."

She casually took a sip of tea. Staring out into the unchanging garden, she murmured to herself.

This was not only the present circumstances but also the case all along.

Feeling tired of everything, that was why she had come to this home.

To be honest, she did not care about her curse at all. After all, curses were curses, nothing more than that, hence she believed in simply going with the flow. For her personally, this was on the same level as pondering the meaning of her existence and mulling over her past or present.

In any case, she wanted change. Even if had nothing to do with ''lifting the curse'', it did not matter. Indeed, if there existed some other way of killing time at hand, she would not mind trying it out&mdash;

At this moment, a child's head emerged in the garden she was watching. Actually, it was just a head that had popped up from below her field of view.

He was probably planning on hiding under the veranda then secretly approaching to give her a fright, but of course, she had sensed his presence a long time ago. When she stared back intently at him without any reaction at all, he pouted slightly as though going "tsk~" But immediately, he recovered his vigor while maintaining his posture with his upper body leaning over the veranda.

"Hey hey, you're trying to remove what's called a curse, right? Do your best. Is there any way I can help?"

Then he said that to her. Although he was quite nervous on their first encounter, she had started living here a few days already and this child&mdash;Haruaki&mdash;had gotten quite used to her presence. He had started to attempt conversations with her in this familiar tone of voice. Putting aside the fact whether she was pleased with this or not.

"Hmph, I care not either way. 'Tis not decided whether I shall lift my curse or not."

"Eh~? Then why did you come here?"

"Because Honatsu pestered me for ages, claiming he would brew good tea for me to savor, I finally relented, unable to bear the nuisance. Moreover, that fellow finally went as far as to kneel and beg... Ha, fallen in love with me, he must have."

She deliberately ended with a joke. "Really~?" asked Haruaki with his head tilted. It was true, up until the part about kneeling.

"Certainly. Listen carefully, perhaps thou cannot understand yet, but all men love large busts. Thy mother&mdash;Honatsu's wife&mdash;surely must be the same."

Haruaki tilted his head again and answered: "Really~? I don't quite remember." According to Honatsu, his wife had divorced him immediately after giving birth to Haruaki. The veracity of Honatsu's words was uncertain, but assuming it were true, then indeed, Haruaki would not remember his mother's face or figure.

"When thou growest older, thou shalt pounce upon my bosom obsessively too. Or perhaps thou wishest to try now?"

"N-No, it's okay..."

Like an adult, he was shy. Seeing that, she grinned and placed her teacup on the side.

"In any case&mdash;concerned I am not regarding the curse. 'Twould be too bothersome to do something expressly for lifting the curse. Let nature taketh its course."

"But Dad said it's better to have curses lifted."

"What are curses, brat, dost thou know...?"

She grinned on purpose as she scrutinized Haruaki's face. An excellent opportunity, she thought.

"My curse&mdash;A desire to see fresh blood. It applieth to both mine owner and myself alike. Whether a noble-minded saint or gentlemen, no one can escape this impulse once they pick me up. Told you not hath Honatsu? Prior to coming to this place, I used to reside at a certain wealthy household."

"Wealthy household?"

"A rich man's home, in other words. The residence was several times bigger than this house. Expensive vases and hanging scrolls decorated the entire place&mdash;However, by the time I awakened, virtually all decorations were stained by fresh blood. Presumably because a long time had passed since I was last unsheathed, the curse had accumulated heavily."

"..."

"Wife, daughter, son, parents, servants, as well as a delivery man who visited by chance. A massacre. By the time the impulse subsided, probably regained his sanity suddenly my wielder did. Just as I was about to speak to that long-awaited owner, he had already raised me up and pierced his own throat. Then happened many things. Pondering what to do I was, when fellows called the police took me away and locked me into a dark space. Then Honatsu appeared&mdash;Yes, I need not recount the rest henceforth."

The kneeling affair was mentioned already. At the time, she was thinking, what a bizarre man.

"Understand, dost thou? This is myself, my curse. Murdering upon awakening, slumbering once weary, then awakening once more to murder. 'Tis what I have done repeatedly ever since the days of the Warring States..."

She narrowed her eyes and lowered her voice, releasing a heavy, murderous atmosphere&mdash;Thus she spoke. A cowardly human, clinging greedily to life, would probably go incontinent directly with this.

She thought: he would best go incontinent, best feel afraid. From her perspective, this boy was merely a bothersome little animal that kept loitering in her sight. However&mdash;

"I know, Dad told me before. Besides, I've seen many things already by now."

In front of the wild beast, that little animal smiled innocently instead.

Sure enough. It was the same as when she had threatened him the first time. Why&mdash;Why was he not afraid?

"Also, I've heard that I possess the kind of constitution that neutralizes the effects of curses through 'owning' the object. So you don't have to worry."

Honatsu had told her before. Even now, she was still partially unconvinced, but hearing Haruaki declare so firmly, perhaps it might be true after all.

Compared to this matter... Compared to this sort of matter&mdash;

She really doubted that this brat before her truly understood what curses were exactly. Neither did he comprehend how terrifying, shocking, ugly curses were. Or their dangers.

But at least right now, her current self here was able to kill humans with her bare hands, rather than a vague and intangible existence like a curse. A threat in reality. He ought to understand this point. But why was he not afraid? Why was he still able to smile?

This laid back child called Yachi Haruaki&mdash;What was going on?

She was struck by an inexplicable feeling. This feeling resembled unease, fear as well as agitation.

"Oh right, I know your name is Muramasa, but it'll be troublesome later if that's the whole thing. It sounds like a family name so just use it as a family name, I guess. Then you need to think of a given name. Have you thought of one? If not, let's think of one together. Yeah~ What kind of name would be nice...?"

While she was silent, Haruaki started the next conversation on his own, muttering by himself. Names were of no consequence at all.

Suddenly, a question entered her mind. Not about him but herself.

Currently, she was regarding this boy as her temporary owner, because Honatsu had hassled her nonstop, saying that this would prevent her curse from activating, which was why she reluctantly did as suggested. She still felt uninterested in this proposal. Something she found suspicious also remained deep-rooted in the bottom of her heart.

Supposing what the father and the son said were true. Her curse was "a desire to see fresh blood." If Haruaki being her owner could neutralize the curse's effects, then Haruaki would not be tormented by that desire.

However&mdash;However...

This desire she harbored of "wanting to see fresh blood," where exactly did it go?

In a certain sense, this was also a kind of curse. A trait branded upon her body.

While being owned by the boy for which the curse would not activate, what might be the end result? Was her own desire erased together as well? Or was it&mdash;

"What kind of name do you like~? A classy one? Or a cool one? Hey, let's think together. You don't want a weird name, right?"

"...I care not either way..."

Repeating the words she had said who knew how many times today, she deliberately forgot all the thoughts in her mind.

A quiet garden. A light breeze caressing the veranda. A boy's voice, noisy but not to the point of ear-piercing. As long as she refrained from listening to the content, it sounded just like wind chimes.

Breathing out, she picked up the teacup by her side and brought it to her lips. Although it was thoroughly lukewarm, perhaps it suited the mild scenery currently before her eyes.

No helping it. Mild things were here to stay.

Hence, staying longer in this country was probably fine&mdash;She experienced a feeling akin to resignation surging ambiguously in her heart. What infuriated her was that the end result turned out exactly the same as Honatsu's invitation.

While sipping tea, she murmured softly:

"...Drinking cheap tea hither to the point of addiction, forsooth."