Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume3 Chapter3 (section)

===Part 5===

Can't find her. Ahhh, I can't find Alice anywhere. But it was so easy to find her yesterday.

While Fear was wandering everywhere, the sky had darkened without her noticing. But in spite of impending night, she could not allow herself to stop without making any progress in the search. Casually inhaling the night air which had just switched from dusk, Fear continued walking along the streets.

Before the victims increased again, she had to find Alice.

Hence, she continued to walk. Sometimes she ran.

But neither the smile, the musical instrument case, nor the monocle appeared in her view. As if mocking how alone she was, the world remained beyond her solitary grasp.

Yes, solitary, alone. Fear suddenly thought of this fact&mdash;Why did she rush out of the classroom back then? Clearly the more manpower the better.

Perhaps because of the passage of time, Fear felt that her mind was turning slightly faster than a few hours earlier. The depressed impulse driving her at the time, somehow felt similar to what she had felt a few days ago when seeing Kuroe surrounded by the crowd.

Ah, in other words, it was&mdash;The admiration and jealousy a tool felt towards humans.

Indeed. Back then, she could not help but wonder, which side was Haruaki naturally supposed to help? Which side should he help? Was it Kirika, who was human like Haruaki, or was it the weird little girl whom goodness knows was human or a tool?

Of course, she had no idea which side Haruaki would choose. Precisely because she did not want to know, she fled.

Fear sighed in self mockery.

(That guy doesn't make his choices from such a perspective, but despite being well aware of that, I...)

But unwilling to dwell any further on the ways Kirika and her were different, Fear was unable to control her emotions back then.

In the end, she lacked confidence. "What" was "her current self"? She could not state confidently. Neither a complete human nor a tool, "her current self" was simply a half-baked existence...

By the time she noticed, Fear found herself at a park. Shaking her head as if to dispel the gloomy mood, Fear successively checked the people sitting on the benches.

&mdash;Even as a half-baked existence, she understood one thing. She was here for the sake of lifting her curse and becoming more human. She had already witnessed an actual case she regarded as her goal. Hence, Fear absolutely could not accept Alice's hindering ways, especially in harming others&mdash;

"Damn it... Not here either?"

Looking up at the clock tower in the park, Fear found the time approaching eight in the evening.

Haruaki had probably finished helping Kirika by now, right? As for Cow Tits, whatever. Perhaps those two were searching the streets like her. Either that or at home. However... Fear somehow did not feel like seeing those two. She did not want to return home yet.

"Eight o' clock... That's the time for Kuroe to close up shop..."

Fear decided to go ask her if she had seen Alice. Although Alice had switched targets to Fear, in light of her visit to the beauty parlor for a haircut, Fear concluded it would not be strange if Alice had gone to harass Kuroe again.

Despite getting a little lost along the way, Fear finally made her way to the shopping street she remembered. It was a deserted scene. The "Dan-no-ura" was already closed, with the metal shutters down completely except over the glass door entrance.

Were Haruaki and Konoha inside, it'd feel so embarrassing&mdash;Thinking that, Fear discreetly peeped into the shop from the entrance. With only half the lights on inside, Kuroe was crouching in the back of the shop. Was she cleaning up? Just as she wondered, Fear saw it.

Kuroe was holding a small paper bag in her hand. It looked like the kind of gift bag ''one would use for presents or souvenirs''.

Reaching into the paper bag, what Kuroe then took out was&mdash;

Hair.

(Wha...)

Fear had some impression she had seen it before. Where? That rainbow-colored, ostentatious hair.

Kuroe stared unerringly at the hair in her palm. Her expressionless face was even more devoid of expression than usual. Then she gently curled her fingers as if beginning to caress, wrapping her hand around the hair in her palm. Then&mdash;

While giving off faint light, the hair vanished from Kuroe's palm.

Furthermore, Fear noticed minute movements in Kuroe's lips. By her guess, Kuroe was murmuring...

Ahhh&mdash;how delicious.

"...!"

Fear felt goosebumps on her back. Struck with the onslaught of boundless terror, Fear could not help but turn tail and run. Rushing out of the shopping street, she finally stopped when she reached the crowded business district. Supporting herself with her hand against a utility pole covered with ads of half-naked women, Fear panted heavily, her shoulders heaving up and down.
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"Huff... Huff... What I saw just now... What was that...?"

Incomprehensible. How strange. What was that? She ate it? Absorbed it? Human hair?

Fear was struck with a splitting headache. What she recalled was&mdash;Kuroe's words. Her curse.

She had been cursed for cutting hair off to drain human life force&mdash;Wasn't that what she had said?

Then&mdash;Could it be that&mdash;What Fear had just witnessed&mdash;In other words... What it implied&mdash;the ''success case''&mdash;was there any evidence to prove that it was actually possible&mdash;

Fear's mind was in chaos. Head dizzy and vision blurry, it felt as if the world had turned upside down. The warmth of the hand scrubbing her back, the sensation of the fingers combing her hair, the smile when pouring juice for her, all these memories slowly and gradually faded in color.

Just at this moment, a voice entered Fear's ears.

"...Next on the news, another cube-shaped corpse was found today. The discovered victim is Osanai Yuuko-san from Honryuu City. The police are&mdash;"

The sound was coming from a massive television displayed at the entrance of a nearby electronics retail store.

Fear's eyes were glued to the screen.

The image of the victim's face onscreen&mdash;Fear had some impression.

Unmistakably, she was the owner of the rainbow-colored hair.