Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume17 Chapter4 (section)

===Part 3===

The strategy conference had already ended.

The result was that they now had a target. The most fortunate thing was that Amanda originally belonged to the Knights Dominion and not as a combatant but an auxiliary mainly in charge of support and intelligence gathering. Combining knowledge from Amanda, the school's interior situation provided by Un Izoey's group, as well as external information they had obtained outside the school gates, they finally managed to determine their next target to work towards.

(It's just that for the moment... Some parts require a gamble on possibilities. Carrying out a crucial mission without concrete evidence as a basis, how absolutely ridiculous... But there's no time after all...)

Kirika was pacing aimlessly inside the house, pondering their next move again. There was no harm in putting more thought into it. Because this concerned their lives as well as this home's future.

It was currently seven in the morning or so, which could be considered preparation time before the operation. In particular, this time period was meant to wait for the superintendent's faction in their car to gather the final and necessary information.

Then using this free period of time to make necessary preparations&mdash;unlike Chihaya and the others in school&mdash;their group was not large at all. After setting off, they were most likely not going to return home until the incident was settled, hence, everyone took turns to shower and get changed, thus refreshing themselves. This already counted as the most important preparations.

Kirika had just borrowed the bathroom to take a shower. Deciding that now was the best time for checking over their plan in her mind and to cool down her body temperature, she had descended into the garden to take a stroll.

Had they missed anything? Was the operation going to be carried out without problems? Which were the riskiest parts? Suppose a flaw appeared, how should they patch it up then...?

Thinking over these matters, Kirika spoke aloud to herself on occasion, simply walking nonstop along the edge of the house.

Hence, when she turned the corner leading to the back of the house&mdash;until the person waiting there for her spoke up&mdash;she did not notice his presence. What a massive miscalculation.

"Hi, Kirika."

"...! Yamimagari Pakuaki...!"

Kirika instantly backed away and entered a wary stance. After glancing at her bare right arm, she clicked her tongue and swiftly surveyed her surroundings.

"There's no need to be so wary of me. You're breaking my heart."

"Absolutely ridiculous. Did you really think I couldn't guess what the absurd ''deal'' you proposed was about? The method to remove this suit without dying.. Had I known about Fear-kun's situation at the time, the answer would've been dead obvious. Disregarding whether this method of using a large number of Indulgence Disks to forcibly remove this suit could work theoretically, in actual fact, I will absolutely not use it. I've already vowed from the bottom of my heart to never believe you again. Even right now, I swear I'll never believe you again...!"

"Oh my oh my, that doesn't really count as me lying, right...? Hmm, whatever, what I want to talk about now has nothing to do with the deal at all. I just have a present for you."

After taking out a certain object from his pocket, Pakuaki tossed it over to her.

Kirika involuntarily caught it. Unable to discern his intentions, she frowned with a troubled look.

She had seen this thing before. But why was he giving it to her?

"For you. Use it as you please."

"...What are you planning?"

"Nothing, totally nothing at all. Just this once, I sincerely wish to assist you and your friends. I not only hope for Un Izoey to return unharmed but also for you to stop the 'Dominionization'&mdash;Besides, I also want Fear-in-Cube to obtain the final Indulgence Disk."

"Wha...?"

These words were truly impossible to believe.

"That's why I will help in every way I can, in order to improve the odds of the plan's success. That's also why I'm giving my little sister a small present."

While Kirika remained stunned, Pakuaki swiftly turned around and departed. But in the last instant, he smiled at her over his shoulder&mdash;

"Of course... It's also because it concerns whether my precious little sister will return safe and sound."

For some reason, that smile&mdash;

Looked completely free of malice, without any hint of ulterior motives.

Seriously, it was like a smile a brother would make while worrying about his younger sister.

No way&mdash;Clearly... Absolutely impossible.

Not possible at all.

"W-Wait! But even if you say that, this thing..."

"You should be able to handle it. If you really have questions, there should be someone more suitable to ask than me, right? I'm off."

Pakuaki departed on foot.

Kirika could only stare at his back silently&mdash;

Then all she could do was accept the object that she had carelessly caught.

"..."

As though covering up something unpleasant, she stuffed it into her pocket brusquely.



Now was the bit of preparation time given to them while waiting for the superintendent's faction to gather the information they needed before setting off.

After shoving Haruaki into the bathroom forcibly, Konoha decided to finish final preparations first.

She decided to do what absolutely must be done first.

"Fear-san, please lead the way to your room."

"...Got it."

The girl obeyed directions with unexpected obedience. Perhaps she had prepared herself already.

Leaving the living room, they walked along the corridor. During this time, the two of them did not exchange a single word.

After Fear opened the sliding door, Konoha walked into the room. It was a mess inside as usual. At least tidy it up a bit. Konoha was filled with contradictory feelings, wanting to do some major cleaning on one hand, but unwilling to clean up after this girl on the other.

"That?"

"Yes, that."

"Both of them are here, right?"

"Of course."

The two of them conversed minimally as necessary. Fear rummaged through the mountain of clothing that had been left on the tatami floor after being worn, then finally took out the Rubik's cubes.

Held in her left and right hands, a total of two.

Konoha reached out without saying a word and snatched the Rubik's cubes from her hands.

"I know this is meaningless. Even without Rubik's cubes, you can use anything as long as ''it is something cube shaped''&mdash;However..."

"I still won't be able to use them suddenly. Because what I'm the most familiar with is still the Rubik's cube."

Fear bowed her head, murmuring softly.

Regardless whether she was able to use other things as substitutes, this cube-shaped toy definitely could be considered the symbol of Fear's brutality.

Hence, despite the fact that it was meaningless in practice in terms of restraint, for the sake of expressing her clear and firm will, taking away these two Rubik's cubes first was definitely not meaningless.

It was like a ceremony.

In order to prevent her from forgetting what she must not forget, to place a set of shackles on her psyche.

"&mdash;Until everything is over, I shall keep these for now."

"Yeah."

Without waiting for Fear to agree, Konoha stuffed the two cube-shaped toys into her pocket.

With that, the job was done. However&mdash;perhaps it was still necessary to confirm.

Surely, the other party understood this too. Fear spoke up on her own initiative:

"Hey, Cow Tits."

"What is it?"

"Do you remember back when Peavey showed up? The plan we practiced while hiding in the accessory dwelling."

How could she possibly forget? Because she had just recalled the situation back then.

"Of course, I still remember."

Fear gazed at her with serious eyes.

"''So, I don't need to repeat it again, right''?"

"''Correct''."

Konoha answered immediately.

Indeed. She could not possibly forget. In the end, things still returned to that time.

No, rather, perhaps one should say that things were backtracking only because there was a reason.

Right now, her answer had changed from before. Now that he really did get hurt, there was no guarantee that his life would not be in danger next time&mdash;

If Fear were to be devoured by darkness again.

When time came. When time came&mdash;

"..."

Their purpose of coming to this room was finished. Konoha turned around... But in the end, she asked a question. A suggestion akin to offering a choice. Turning her head, she said over her shoulder:

"&mdash;Wouldn't it be better to inform Kotetsu as well?"

"Hmph, not necessary."

Fear crossed her arms and spoke arrogantly.

Konoha suddenly narrowed her eyes and asked:

"...Why?"

Upon hearing that&mdash;

Fear smiled cheerfully and replied somewhat refreshingly:

"Because I told him already. Earlier when I just woke up and was looking out the window. He happened to be walking on the outer wall in front of me, so I asked him."

In other words&mdash;

With this relaxed attitude as though ordering a pizza, as though setting a date to go out with friends to have fun&mdash;

She had already started preparations a long time ago.


For the sake of swiftly terminating herself, in case of emergencies...

Secret preparations, which must be kept from Haruaki's knowledge.
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