Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume7 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 5===

Fear was pondering two problems. The first concerned the two people who were stuck in a gap, packed tightly in quite a predicament. Fear could not help but feel an urge to grab Haruaki's hand and pull him out by force. Although this could very likely cause him great pain from the friction, it would be just right as punishment. But for now, she must suppress the impulse first.

Then the other problem was&mdash;

"But it's too weird no matter what. Those two definitely did not do anything to provoke those hoodlums. But if they really recognized the wrong person, their behavior seemed too serious for that... Can we really be sure that Haruaki and Sovereignty hadn't said anything that disrespected those guys, or done something that shamed them in some way?"

Fear murmured while hiding behind a pharmacy's frog.<ref>'''Frog''': one of the ways Japan's fascination with 3D characters manifests itself is through mascots commonly found outside pharmacies. Kowa Pharmaceuticals uses a frog mascot.</ref> Konoha nodded, very much in agreement.

"That's right... Upon further thought, take that stone in the park, I think it's appearance was too much of a coincidence. Then there's the intrusion into the fitting stall. There could very well be some other cause instead of Haruaki-kun's own intent."

"Hmm, that almost sounds like someone is targeting Haruaki. Come to think of it... Back when the stone was thrown at Haruaki, I noticed a certain person acting rather suspiciously. As for the person, I have some ideas but I dunno if I'm just imagining things. Shiraho, what do you think?"

Konoha stared at Shiraho. Although she remained expressionless for a while, her eyes began to waver slightly&mdash;Watching Haruaki and Sovereignty escape from the gap with much difficulty, she finally sighed as though surrendering.

"It looks like my ominous feeling was completely on mark."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It was probably not long before the midterms. I keep feeling this strange gaze, such as during school or when I went shopping... But only when I'm together with Sovereignty, not when I'm by myself. I originally thought I was imagining things, but judging from what's happened, that's probably not the case."

Closing her eyes, she exhaled again.

Next, when Shiraho opened her eyes again, her face displayed nothing except her usual cold hostility.

"To be frank, it's probably... a stalker. The target is not me but Sovereignty."



The shrine was located on a little hill somewhere, quite some distance away from the commercial district. Unlike the bustling urban area earlier, it was filled with peace and tranquility.

"Did you come here to pay homage to the shrine?"

"Mmmfufu&mdash;I don't think it really counts as one&mdash;"

Passing through the ancient torii, they entered the desolate shrine. While following behind Sovereignty who was checking out the surroundings, Haruaki stepped into the shrine's confines. The gravel crunched underfoot, producing a most pleasing sound to the ears.

Sovereignty's footsteps crunched. Haruaki's footsteps also crunched.

Then someone's footsteps behind them&mdash;made crunching noises a beat slower.

"..."

Haruaki looked back to find a boy with a shoulder bag. His appearance lacked notable characteristics but somehow Haruaki got the feeling he had seen him somewhere before&mdash;Or maybe not&mdash;?

(Oh, he's the guy at the superintendent's office yesterday...?)

Haruaki recalled him. The upperclassman who had brushed past them for an instant. In other words, he was the student whom Zenon had complained about frequent visits to the office despite a clear lack of important things to talk about.

"Eh? You're... Uh&mdash;"

"Why..."

Sovereignty tilted her head in puzzlement as she spoke. The other person interrupted her. His furious eyes glared directly at Haruaki as he spoke:

"Why are you dating this kind of guy!? To think I pay so much attention to you!"

"...Huh?"

Sovereignty tilted her head even further but Haruaki finally understood. He understood the simple words the boy had uttered. This guy seemed to be quite dangerous.

"To think I've always paid attention to you. No matter whether you're out shopping or at school, I've always watched you... I even ran all the way to the superintendent's office in order to see you!"

"Y-You've always paid attention to me, why?"

"Isn't that obvious? Because I love you! I love you..."

He laughed with a slightly dazed expression then he said forcefully:

"...I love you in your maid outfit!"

Indeed, this was also quite dangerous in a certain sense. And once again, Haruaki understood those simple words of his. Furthermore, more than fearing him, Haruaki felt that it would be more correct to regard him with eyes of pity.

"But you ended up with this kind of boy, this kind of boy... Unforgivable! You've not only made a mistake, but I also need to punish that boy no matter what!"

"Punish...? ...C-Could it be that those accidents earlier were all of your doing?"

"That's right. That kind of guy deserves to have his skull cracked by a stone, deserves to be arrested by the police as a sexual predator who intrudes into fitting rooms, deserves to be abducted by gangsters... Haha, I told the gangsters roaming the streets every bad thing I could come up with and that the one looking down on their gang was you. Very clever of me, right?"

Thinking "Umm, that's not really something worth being proud about," Haruaki held his tongue. After all, he was still a little apprehensive about the slowly approaching guy.

"However, I can't stand it anymore. To think he would take to such... such a cramped space to engage in lewdness... Get away from him now. I shall personally bring down the hammer of justice upon that boy!"

"N-No, stop it! If you don't stop this, I'm very sorry but I'll have no choice but to stop you!"

"S-Sovereignty..."

"Don't worry, Haruaki-kun. It would be bad if he's carrying some kind of bladed weapon."

Sovereignty stepped forward and entered a stance, fists mildly clenched. Her body differed somewhat from a normal human's. But if one had to explain further, if the boy truly loved Sovereignty, he probably would not want to hurt her for real&mdash;Hence, there was no reason for her to lose. Although Haruaki felt ashamed for being protected by a girl, it would be better to let her handle the current situation, right?

Just as Haruaki was thinking that, the boy cackled malevolently and said:

"Then it can't be helped&mdash;Watch this!"

He took a certain object from his shoulder bag. Then using it as a shield, he raised it in front of his body while extending a boxcutter's blade to press against it. So that turned out to be the hostage. He was treating that as a hostage. Indeed&mdash;

He was treating a maid outfit, fluttering in the air, as a hostage.

"..." "..."

Dumbfounded.

At a loss for quite a while, Sovereignty turned her head back stiffly and asked:

"Uh... May I go ahead and beat him up."

"Be my guest."

Haruaki answered immediately, but&mdash;

"Hey, wait! This is your work outfit, in other words, it's your way of life! Are you fine with seeing harm come to your meaning of life? I've always felt that you were more suited to maid outfits than anyone else, the maid among maids... Your entire existence devoted to the concept of maids, you can't possibly care nothing about this outfit! Is your love for maids only this shallow!?"

"A-Ahhh! Love...! That's right, I-I-I am very proud of the job of maids... Umm, are you trying to confirm that love of mine...?"

"Indeed that's right! Okay, then are you still going to punch me?"

"Urggghh... No! I.. can't!"

"Excuse me&mdash;The two of you&mdash;?"

Feeling exasperated by their idiotic dialogue, Haruaki tried to interject but was ignored. "What should I do?" He thought.

Treating the maid outfit as a hostage, the boy was slowly approaching.

Making a combat stance, gnashing her teeth at the sight before her was Sovereignty.

The seemingly tense face off, but was actually nothing of that sort, lasted a minute or so, then&mdash;

Haruaki suddenly knew that the standoff was about to end. However&mdash;

It was not because Sovereignty and the boy did anything different.

Rather, this was because Haruaki saw a familiar drill thrusting out from the thicket behind the boy.



...Several seconds passed.

The poor stalker was subdued to the ground, trembling without saying a word.

Rather than piercing with the drill, Fear had casually swept it sideways to strike the boy squarely in the flank. Using some kind of aikido technique, Konoha had effortlessly thrown the guy. The two girls had now stopped attacking and were watching the scene before them with expressions that were difficult to describe. This was because only one person was assaulting the boy with increasing intensity&mdash;namely, Shiraho.

"Contemptible! Contemptible... What on earth... are you... thinking!? To dare make a move on that child, did you think you could get away scot-free? You... Trash, insect, even lower than humans...!"

Arms crossed before her chest, she kept stepping on the boy's backside repeatedly. For some reason, her face was locked into a super furious sneer. There was nothing more terrifying than that.

"Say... something, okay... Hey, are you listening? Could it be that you haven't had enough of me stepping on you? You wish for me to step harder? You even want to be flattened pitifully like a bug? You wish to be further trampled to such a sad state that you become trash impossible to categorize, is that it? Then it cannot be helped. Take this! Take this! Fufu, ufufu...!"

"E-Excuse me, Shiraho-san...?"

"I think we should end things here... Probably better that way...?"

After Konoha and Fear spoke, Shiraho slowly looked up. Locked on by her ice-cold smile, Fear was so startled that her shoulders shook. Shiraho said:

"Hey, lend that to me."

"Y-You mean this perforator here? N-No, no way! I think something terrifying might happen...!"

Fear frantically hid the drill behind her back. Shiraho's ice-cold smile finally disappeared at this time. Finding things no fun at all, she made a nasal sound and said:

"...Hmph. Whatever."

Next, Shiraho began to look around as though searching for something. Arms crossed before her chest, she continued to keep one foot stepping on the boy's rear end. After spotting a certain object, she murmured as though to herself:

"...That stone lion... I wonder if it could be moved from its pedestal..."

What did she intend to do by moving the stone lion?

Terrified to the bottom of their hearts, Haruaki's group began to try their best to dissuade Shiraho.



"By the way, why are you here, Shiraho? Don't you have supplementary lessons?"

"Eh? Umm... Umm..."

"I want to ask Fear the same question. Speaking of which, Konoha, didn't you say you were working today?"

Haruaki spoke with a cold gaze. Fear and Konoha whimpered together and avoided eye contact. The aura of a guilty conscience was exuding from their entire being.

"L-Let's not worry about that. Anyway, I'm sorry, Sovereignty. I should have discovered the existence of this guy earlier."

Shiraho clearly wanted to change the subject. Sovereignty shook her head and said:

"No, I'm to blame for not noticing. Shiraho, you don't need to apologize."

"Sigh... Had I known from the start, I'd never have let you go shopping outside. However, I did have this ominous feeling, which is why I asked this human to stay by your side just in case."

Haruaki recalled what happened at the superintendent's office. Prompted by her, he was reminded of how there was something off about Shiraho's behavior from the start. So that was why she had, in her own words, asked him to take on the role of a knight... But in terms of results, all Haruaki managed to do was act as bait to draw out the stalker.

"On the other hand, why did you come to a shrine? There should be something you want to buy, right?"

"Oh right! Wait for me a bit, okay!?"

Sovereignty rushed ahead. Rather than the shrine's main hall, she was running towards the vendor area on the side. Loudly yelling "Excuse me~!" to call out people from the shrine, she bought something and ran back&mdash;

"Here, take this. A present for you, Shiraho."

"This is..."

Handed over to Shiraho was a talisman bearing the words "academic accomplishment." Surprised, Shiraho kept staring at the talisman and Sovereignty.

"Umm... I... wanted to help cheer you on, Shiraho. Seeing you work so hard to study before the exams, but the results didn't turn out very well, you seem quite frustrated, so I..."

"..."

"Sorry, all I can do is... this kind of small stuff. Shiraho, since you rarely attended school lessons in the past, maybe you reached a bottleneck because you're unable to adjust to school life... But I will stay by your side. Do you understand? I will cheer for you, so please continue to do your best."

"&mdash;!"

Instantly, Shiraho embraced Sovereignty tightly without saying a word. Startled into exclaiming "Wah!", Sovereignty immediately smiled and hugged Shiraho in return.

A most heartwarming&mdash;

Lovers' embrace.

Watching this unfold, Haruaki could not help but smile while stroking Fear's head beside him.

"Hey, Haruaki! What are you doing? I'll curse you!"
[[image:C3 07-112.jpg|thumb]]

"Looks like when the end of term exams roll around, apart from Class Rep, we'll have another companion joining us."

"Muu..."

"Aha, yes. The more the better. Looks like studying as a group will become more and more fun."

Konoha made a gentle smile.

"Hmph... However, this also can't be helped... Let my English ability pour forth into the brave soul who failed every single subject. But of course, I demand rice crackers in return."

Fear nodded proudly. Although it was a bit difficult, Haruaki could hear some sort of anticipation hidden in her words.

"The word 'failed' reminds of something. Okay, Fear, tell me about your supplementary lessons."

"Guh..."

"No way? Could~ it~ be~ that you actually skipped your lessons? That's going way out of line, right? If you really skipped, then I really must raise my voice and do some scolding&mdash;"

"U-Ummm..."

"And seriously, Konoha, since you're together with her, why didn't you stop her? You have to force her even if coercion is required, otherwise, that's not in her best interests. And the same goes for you, why didn't you go to work? If you take time off without a legitimate reason, you're causing trouble for the shopkeeper!"

"N-No umm... Th-There's many complicated reasons going on here..."

Unsure where to direct their gazes, Fear and Konoha suddenly looked at each other and nodded. Coughing at the same time to clear their throats, they spoke up:

"No, there's something more important than that. I demand answers from you!"

"That's right! Put your hand on your heart and recall carefully today, what have you been doing all day!?"

"What&mdash;? How could you two interrogate me instead?"

"Shut up with the nonsense! Or else I'll curse you! Listen to me carefully, from the first moment when you met up, you've been making shameless faces and laughing idiotically. We felt shameful just from the sight of it. I wouldn't be surprised if you were arrested for it&mdash;"

"You went 'Ah&mdash;' and had her feed you, right? You even licked her fingers, right? You even charged into the fitting area stall and hugged Shiraho-san, right? Then the two of you even squeezed into a narrow space and rubbed back and forth&mdash;"

"I'd like to make many objections, but it's totally unfair that you're ganging up on me, two against one!"

Haruaki turned his head to seek help, meeting gazes with Sovereignty and Shiraho who were still tightly embraced together. Sovereignty was smiling happily. In a rare moment, Shiraho was also giggling with laughter.

Next, she began to speak up as though going "you leave me no choice."

Ahhh~ She's willing to help me. That's right, I was trying hard to be a knight. I did quite well today, I'd say. Hence, she must be acknowledging my efforts by extending a helping hand willingly&mdash;

That was what Haruaki thought.

Shiraho's calm expression felt almost like a smile from the Virgin Mary.

Haruaki heard her use an excessively gentle voice:

"By the way, there's a bug that needs to be squashed even more urgently than this stalker. Say, you girls over there, could you help me move that stone lion?"

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