Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume7 Chapter1 (section)

===Part 7===

With the man's help, they finally got back ashore. Due to being completely soaked by the river water, their bodies had become especially heavy. Konoha frantically crossed the river from the tree trunk and only breathed a sigh of relief once she saw that they were unharmed.

At this moment, another figure appeared at the river side.

"Oh, Rasputin!"

"Woof woof woof!"

Hugging the dog in all smiles was a boy who appeared to be an elementary schooler. He was holding something like a whistle in his hand.

"Oh, could that be a... dog whistle...?"

A whistle that could not be heard by the human ear. Reportedly, dogs could be trained to receive signals from the owner through them... Guillotine probably started dashing suddenly because she heard the whistle.

Suddenly, Haruaki noticed the trench coat man reaching into his coat again, staring at Haruaki's group while exuding an unusual aura. Just as Haruaki jumped in fright reflexively, the man yelled "W-Whatever...!" while drawing out his hand&mdash;

"Th-Th-This is my name card&mdash;&mdash;!"

He handed out his card seriously.

"What...?"

Haruaki had no choice but to take it. On the card was a perfectly ordinary company name along with a perfectly ordinary man's name. Haruaki stopped thinking while turning his gaze forward once more.

"H-Hoo... G-Great, I finally managed to hand it out... Every time I try to hand my card to someone for the first time, I instantly get very nervous...!"

The man muttered to himself while wiping sweat off his brow. At this moment, the boy ran over while carrying Guillotine in his arms.

"Dad, thank you! You really helped me to find Rasputin. You've changed my view of you completely, Dad!"

"R-Really... That's right. Okay, we must thank these people who took care of her."

The boy turned towards Haruaki's group that was staring dumbfounded and bowed as a child would.

"Uh&mdash;Thank you very much!"

"Oh... It's nothing, umm..."

After asking about the details, they discovered that the trench coat man was neither mafia nor a member of a theft organization&mdash;He was the boy's father and had gone searching everywhere for the dog on his behalf. Something like that. Then there was astounding fact that the dog's original name that was just as bizarre as "Guillotine."

At this moment, Fear bit her lip and stepped forward towards the boy as well as Guillotine, held in his embrace.

"Hey Fear. These people must be Guillotine's owner&mdash;"

"I know. That's why I wanna say something."

Fear answered Haruaki without looking back at him. She stopped in front of the boy.

"Kid, you must be the owner who lost Guillotine... No, this dog, right?"

"Y-Yes. Uh&mdash;But..."

"No need to explain. I can see that she's happy. You probably regretted abandoning her and went searching for her? I have no intention of stealing her from you... But please!"

Fear clenched her fist tight and spoke with mournful eyes:

"Please don't abandon her again. Don't throw her away like a tool just because you don't want her anymore... Abandoned things are always... very lonely. Even real tools feel lonely. Once forced to confront the truth of being unwanted, abandoned in a deserted place, facing nothing but endless time to ponder the meaning of one's existence. That is very painful."

She spoke quietly from her own experience.

The boy looked at Fear for quite a while, at a loss, but then he spoke:

"I don't quite get what you mean, but I'll never separate from Rasputin again. Also, the one who abandoned him was neither me nor my dad but my mom."

"Hmm?"

"My mom was against having a dog for the longest time. When we moved houses, it became a huge argument again... In the end, my mom went ahead and abandoned Rasputin somewhere on her own. That's so mean, right? But luckily, we found her! I'll definitely protect her from now on. No matter how many times I must argue with Mom, I'll protect Rasputin!"

"...Do you swear?"

"Yes, I swear!"

The puppy in the boy's arms barked happily and wagged her tail as though in sync with his nodding motion. Fear made a faint smile saying "Really?"

"Having a home where one belongs to is a great source of happiness. Whether for humans, dogs... or tools as well."

Then as though dealing with fragile objects, she stroked Guillotine's head, then the boy's head. Both the dog and the boy shrank their necks away in a similar manner as though tickled.

"So... Sorry for troubling you during this time..."

"Woah! No, not at all. Umm, we should be thankful instead. We were rescued only thanks to you pulling us up from the river."

Haruaki bowed back in return to the father who was bowing in apology. Upon closer examination, Haruaki noticed his cowardly expression, pitifully bald head and a complete lack of assertiveness. As a master of the house, he was really lacking in solemnity.

"I'm always submissive in front of my wife... But after seeing how sad my son was, I decided this won't do, so for the first time, I wanted to try hard and show him his father's reliable side..."

After finding out with great difficulty from the wife where the dog was abandoned, he started searching the area. Then he caught sight of Fear going home with the puppy in her arms.

"Umm, excuse me, but if you spoke to us honestly, wouldn't the problem have been resolved instantly...?"

Konoha raised her hand slightly and asked, prompting the man to shake his head hastily:

"H-How could I!? Asking me to suddenly call out to someone I meet for the first time, that's way too scary!"

"..."

"Like today, I started hesitating since 6am whether to ring your doorbell or not. Then later on, you guys happened to come out, I was thinking I should at least pass my name card along to you, but couldn't find a right opportunity... I'm so sorry. Arghhh, this is the way I am, that's why I keep getting scolded by my department boss..."

Recalling how the man reached into his trench coat and stopped, Haruaki could not help but sigh. How did this man survive in society all this time with such shyness?

"Dad, we should be getting home."

"Oh, that's true~ You're right."

"Are you confident you can convince your mother?"

Fear asked but the boy looked up at his father's face and said:

"No problem! Because Dad is standing on my side!"

"O-Of course. When the time comes to act, your dad will act after all. You saw me just now, right?"

"Yeah, you were super cool when you rescued them!"

"I pitched in everything I could muster at the time... Eh, speaking of which, the thing back then was...?"

Fear groaned and moved her gaze away from the puzzled father. Haruaki and Konoha frantically said:

"Th-That was a rake! A veritable rake!"

"That was a newest model of a portable and foldable rake! Very amazing, aha... Ahahahahaha!"

Although the man was taken aback for an instant, he smiled cordially and said "I see" and did not pursue the matter any further. Perhaps he realized that it was not a topic Haruaki's group wished to touch on.

The father and son bid a final farewell before going home, hand in hand. Walking beside them, Guillotine looked back and went "woof." Originally waving goodbye, Fear paused for a moment before waving even more forcefully than before. Standing behind her, Haruaki could not see her expression.

Soon after, the family disappeared from view.

"What a shame, Fear."

"...It's okay. Since the original owner showed up, it can't be helped."

Haruaki was thinking of comforting her but did not expect Fear to take things in stride so easily. She even went "hmph" and pouted mildly. Haruaki still felt that she was trying to act strong. Was his imagination being overactive?

"Really? I think it's quite a shame actually... I remember how you desperately advocated to keep her. Why did you want to keep her so much?"

"Muu... Because animals are so soft to the touch with big round eyes and fuzzy tails. I can't find a good reason. Also..."

"Also...?"

"Since she was abandoned without a place to belong to, I thought she'd be happy to come to our home. That's all."

Fear answered softly.

Turning towards the direction where Guillotine had vanished, she said:

"No... That house is very old, the walls are so thin and there are really noisy fellows living there, it's cramped like hell! But umm, I still feel... that it won't be an unhappy place."

During the first half of her speech, Fear was glaring sideways at Haruaki as though she had suddenly recalled something. During the second half, her gaze turned straight ahead again while she stammered.

"So, ummm... For someone who doesn't have a place to belong to, it's not a bad location, probably... That's just what I think. That's all."

Surfacing on her profile was a curl of her lips that resembled both a smile and a wry grin.

Someone without a place to belong to. Someone abandoned. What was she thinking when she spoke those words?

Haruaki could only imagine, only imagining what she thought as a tool that was once abandoned.

However, the truth of the matter at hand was that she was no longer a tool. Why that came to be&mdash;Starting as a tool for harming humans, getting cursed due to the atrocities committed, then becoming no longer a tool due to being cursed, this tragic situation&mdash;Haruaki knew very well.

Haruaki thought to himself, what was he able to do? As an ordinary human, what was he able to do?

It was obvious, right?

He must protect the place where the single wish of "lifting one's curse" could be realized, the location the girls had decided as the place where they belonged. He must protect it with happiness, stability and comfort.

"So... Let's get home first. After all, I'm completely drenched and need a change of dry clothes."

"Oh~ That's right now that you mention it. Besides, the feeling of clothes sticking to the body feels super gross&mdash;"

Fear suddenly stopped speaking. Haruaki also noticed the reason. They had not noticed earlier because their attention was focused on Guillotine, but the thin fabric of Fear's clothing was completely drenched. Drenched to the point that her clothes seemed see-through. And just as she said, her clothes were sticking to her body. For example, her white thighs, the area around her petite navel, a certain charming bulge&mdash;

"Uwah&mdash;! What's going on?"

"You didn't notice? Just now, the boy and his father also seemed to be pretending not to see."

Konoha was looking in surprise at Fear who was desperately trying to pull her clothes to the side and wring them dry. Haruaki frantically turned his gaze away and said:

"I-I didn't notice either! In other words, I didn't see anything at all!"

"HA&mdash;RU&mdash;A&mdash;KI&mdash;KUN? Saying that makes you all the more suspicious&mdash;!"

Konoha deliberately circled over before him and showed eyes of intense displeasure. Haruaki could also feel an aura of murderous intent rising behind her&mdash;

"...Fu. Fu. Fu. I almost forgot. Speaking of things in that house that are troubling... It's that the shameless brat is utterly shameless!"

"Wait, why do I get the feeling that you girls are the reason every single time?"

"Wah&mdash;! Don't look at me, dummy&mdash;I'll curse you! Damn it, I absolutely can't tolerate the shameless brat's shameless behavior! I'm going back first!"

Just as Fear wrapped her arms around her body as she spoke, turning around and about to run off&mdash;She seemed to realize that she would definitely draw people's attention along the way if she returned like this. hence, she rapidly spun around and rushed towards Haruaki, demanding "Gimme your jacket!"

"Okay okay, I'll lend you my clothing! On the other hand, are you really okay going back by yourself?"

"What are you talking about? I'm not a child, of course it's okay! I can already go out for a walk on my own. This means I'm able to return home successfully on my own!"

"Returning home successfully on your own... Really? Why do I feel that all this can be traced back to that particular walk?"

"Actually, it can't be said to be entirely Fear's fault... But whatever. It's fine if you want to walk on your own, but bringing stray dogs home is not allowed."

"I-I know, okay! I won't pick up stray dogs again. Jeez, you're always nagging so much!"

"Yes yes yes, sorry for nagging so much. Oh, you must follow the rules and enter through the front door. Here, take the key!"

Wearing Haruaki's tracksuit jacket, Fear finally stuck out her tongue mischievously then ran towards home. Haruaki could not help but exchange glances with Konoha and shrug helplessly. Then the two of them walked leisurely side by side.

In front of them was the image of Fear's back, gradually shrinking in the distance.

Drenched thoroughly, her shiny silver hair was swaying nonstop like a puppy's tail.



Several days later.

After dinner, while drinking tea in the living room, Haruaki and Konoha heard a sound&mdash;

Meow~

"..."

"..."

This was followed by a hushed voice saying "H-Hey! Be quiet...!"

Hearing these sounds coming from Fear's room, Haruaki and Konoha exchanged glances. Then the two did not say a word.

Stiff smiles hung on their faces.

Slowly, they stood up&mdash;



Then&mdash;

Nothing changed at all.

Except that this home&mdash;

Was lively yet peaceful as always.
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