Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume13 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 6===

Late night&mdash;The living room was shrouded in silence and darkness.

In this space that seemed as though time had stopped, movements suddenly appeared.

A figure got up abruptly, eyes still mostly shut. The figure yawned and took steps slowly. This action caused the figure's kimono to get caught on something. Because the sash was already untied, the kimono slid and fell off as a result, but the figure was not aware, still one foot in the realm of dreams. Her voluptuous body was exposed completely to the air. Slowly, she left the living room and entered the washroom. After going to the toilet, she walked to her room. Her hazy eyes swept across the room as she tilted her head in puzzlement. Nevertheless, she still pulled her futon out gruffly from the cupboard. Without laying it out neatly, simply placing the futon on the floor, she slipped under the covers naked.

"Mmm~..."

Consequently, she happily drifted off to the realm of dreams again.

Naturally, she did not recall at all what had happened the first time she fell asleep.

This too, was a happy thing.



Morning.

As soon as she woke up, Konoha was completely baffled by her naked state under the covers. She did not remember undressing before going to bed... Even her memories of the previous day were very vague... Whatever, probably nothing important. Although she seldom mentioned it to others, she did remove her clothing occasionally during her sleep when she felt too hot. Reluctantly leaving behind the futon and blanket's soft sensations against her skin, she got up and casually picked out some clothes to wear before walking to the living room.

But the instant she stepped into the living room, Konoha's mouth gaped wide in surprise.

"W-What happened here...!?"

The living room was totally devastated. The cupboard's door had a small hole while the paper sliding door was heavily damaged. Bottled and aluminum foil-packaged liquids had spilled onto the floor, producing stains all over the tatami. More outrageous of all&mdash;for some reason&mdash;there was an object on the table, resembling a pig roast. Furthermore, most of the pig had fallen off the large plate.

That was not the full extent of the problematic situation. Inside the chaotic living room, there were also the three figures of her three housemates. For some reason, Kirika was also present. Everyone looked like they were sleeping soundly in utter exhaustion. Fear was gripping her Rubik's cube tightly, frowning in apparent pain, even grinding her teeth. Perhaps because she had scratched her belly, one of her hands had lifted her hem above her navel. As though trying to escape from something terrifying in the outside world, Kirika was in fetal position, clutching her head like a child. On the other hand, Kuroe was sleeping with her mouth open as though her soul had left her body. Oddly enough, her hair was extended outwards in a number of bundles&mdash;as though she had fought a great battle against something. Immediately, Konoha spotted words depicted by several bundles of hair on the tatami but there were only two of them&mdash;"I surren." What on earth did this mean?

Finally&mdash;

Haruaki was currently soundly asleep. Strangely enough, the kimono that should be kept in her cupboard was draped over his head, as though he were sniffing it. Furthermore, ah yes&mdash;speaking of smell, Haruaki, Fear, Kuroe, Kirika and this living room itself&mdash;there was an intense smell of alcohol.

Hence, Konoha took a deep breath, raised her eyebrows and projected her voice.

"G-Get up now, all of you&mdash;!"

"Eeek! W-What what?"

"Huh? Legend has it that those who waste rice crackers during their life will be sent down to the rice cracker hell...? A-A dream huh. Forever sandwiched between two halves of a giant rice cracker, even this kind of torture brings chills down my spine too..."

"This is the Yachi residence&mdash;Oh right, yesterday..."

"Sorry, please forgive your humble servant! Please call me your loyal servant number one... Eh?"

The quartet sat up and shuddered at the same time as they looked at the intimidating Konoha who was standing in one spot.

"K-Konoha, no way&mdash;"

"Haruaki-kun, what do you mean by 'no way'? What on earth is going on here!?"

Pointing at the living room's tragic state, Konoha questioned them. However, the quartet's reacted rather oddly. Haruaki and Kirika breathed out in relief, Fear sighed in exhaustion whereas Kuroe clapped her hands together to express gratitude towards some unknown deity.

"Thank goodness, it's the usual Konoha..."

"This is not good at all! This smell of alcohol&mdash;as reluctant as I am to believe it, Haruaki-kun, all of you were drinking together, yes!? And this delicious-looking whole pig roast served to accompany the alcoholic beverages, didn't it!? I can't believe that while I was sleeping, you...!"

"No, umm..."

"No excuses. You all reek heavily of alcohol, that is the evidence! Also... Haruaki-kun, that kimono is mine, no well, it makes me happy if you really wish to sniff it, but, umm, provided that you ask, I can lend it to you no problem, myself included. You shouldn't steal it sneakily. Act more like a man, are you listening!? Back to the subject, according to the conventions of society, we are all minors and absolutely must not imbibe alcohol. Having made the same mistake during New Year's, we ought to have learnt our lesson and act with greater prudence...!"

Konoha lectured continuously, scolding without end. In the end, she thought to herself: as expected, this family relied on her to pull herself together. Lecturing when lecturing was necessary, this was a very crucial point.

"Understood!? Also, I&mdash;"

While she was about to continue, she suddenly met gazes with Haruaki. He was currently kneeling formally in seiza, acting with initiative (such obedience made him especially adorable), looking up at her.

At the same time, he was smiling genially with a very gentle expression.

Konoha felt her cheeks grow hot all of a sudden. However, now was not the time for that.

"I-I am very angry. Please reflect carefully, Haruaki-kun. Why are you still smiling?"

Haruaki scratched his head, a gentle smile still on his face.

"Uh... Because I was thinking that sure enough, this kind of Konoha is when you're acting the most like yourself. It makes me feel relieved and a bit happy."

Kuroe and Kirika were also exchanging glances, showing faint, wry smiles as though great burdens had been lifted off their shoulders. On the other hand, Fear had turned her gaze away, sulking, which was quite commonplace actually.

"'This kind of Konoha'...?"

"No no, it's nothing. By the way, do you feel like your mood or body is more relaxed today?"

"Eh? Let me see... Now that you mention it, I do feel a refreshing breath in my chest. Oh, but the issue of a drinking party is neither here nor there!"

"That's good. Very well, continue with your lecture! We will all reflect fully. But after it's over, let me warm up the pig roast for everyone to eat together... Then I hope you'll consider this incident over, yeah!"

How baffling. Why was he suddenly acting with such manly graces?

However&mdash;

Currently, his face carried not only kindness but the determination to accept certain things.

In other words, he was like a warrior who lived proudly with his head up high.

Simply seeing him like this, Konoha confirmed once again, how fortunate she was to have him as her owner, what happiness to be able to become his possession&mdash;These perfectly natural feelings. Her heart began to pound intensely.

Hence, there was only one thing left for her to do.

"S-Since you are reflecting, very well. No helping it, there seems to be some kind of hidden story but I shall not pursue the details. Fine, hurry and clean up. Let's have breakfast. Of course, we must make the most of poor mister pig's meat!"

Smiling as usual, Konoha mustered her acting skills to reluctantly forgive him&mdash;

As usual, she concealed the loud pulsations of happiness in her heart from him.


Naturally, at the same time, she wished from the bottom of her heart for the eventual arrival of the day when she no longer had to conceal such feelings.

<noinclude>