Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume6 Chapter2 (section)

===Part 3===

Even in a dream, the scar on her face still hurt.

(...Satsu.)

The name of her younger sister surfaced. The image of her smile surfaced. The image of the flower hairpin surfaced, a memento from their deceased mother, one that the sister often wore. Also surfacing were her downward slanting eyes like a puppy's, her timid smile, as well as the way she apologized over every little thing.

That was perhaps partially responsible for her current dream. The pain of a similar wound, stirring up old memories.

Nevertheless, the rest of the responsibility definitely lay in the student's inquiries. The pain from an old scar, stirring up old memories.

Stirring up old memories she did not wish to recall.

Fragmentary scenes flashed across the depths of her eyes. The damaged satchel. Once upon a time, the pair of sisters had stopped bathing together. A chik-chik sound. Timidness. A slightly dirty boxcutter. A chik-chik sound. A morning as usual. Just as she looked back and said "I'm off on my way now" yet there was this chik-chik chik-chik chik-chik chik-chik chik-chik chik-chik chik-chik chik-chik...

Lingering pain. The flashing blade. The searing pain as it slashed across her cheek.

A lingering scar. Under madness' control, in the next instant, the younger sister had recovered the light of sanity and reason in her eyes, miraculously yet like a curse. Understanding in despair that she had harmed her elder sister, her heart was filled with fatal regret.

Then what lingered was mourning.

As she looked down at her younger sister's dark red body resulting from a jump off the building, she felt in her heart&mdash;

The pain of the wound on her cheek. Painful, wounded, mourning.

The pain chastised her for being weak. Chastised her extremely weak self for the errors she had committed.

Had she been strong enough, could she have saved her younger sister?

Strong enough to protect anything, to be aware of everything&mdash;

Yes, hence.

That was why she wished she were strong.

She knew it was already too late, but if it could serve as compensation, if it could serve as her atonement for the younger sister who had lost her life, manipulated by the little understood phenomenon of curses.

She must become stronger.

Hence, she had to become even stronger, much stronger, ever stronger.

(I must... become stronger...)

Indeed, stronger, stronger. She had to become stronger, stronger, stronger and even stronger, so that she was capable of protecting a certain person this time.



Haruaki woke up to an urge to go to the washroom, probably because he drank more juice and tea than usual during the study gathering. Due to having less time to sleep than usual, he had wanted to sleep all the way till morning without interruption... But having woken up already, it could not be helped. Half asleep, Haruaki walked to the washroom and finished his business, in a half-asleep manner of course. Just as he shut the washroom door behind him, he suddenly heard a faint but strange noise.

The noise of something rigid... Some kind of "knock."

"...?"

Haruaki could not help but feel bothered. Hence, instead of returning to his room directly, he circled over towards the veranda next to the living room. That was where he thought the noise had come from.

Tiptoeing, he advanced towards the veranda. In terms of seasons, it was already winter which meant that the glass door to the veranda, usually kept open, was of course shut during nighttime. The moonlight streamed in through the garden and the glass door to the veranda, illuminating Haruaki's feet extremely faintly. Using that natural lighting, with some difficulty, Haruaki arrived before the guest room where he had brought Kaidou and Satsuko earlier&mdash;

(Woah!?)

Kaidou was right there. Like a guardian protecting this room, she was sitting in front of the paper sliding door with her eyes closed. Her body was leaning slightly against one leg whose knee was drawn up while her other leg was in a cross-legged posture. Naturally, resting on top of that leg was the shovel she was holding one handed. Very likely, the knocking sound earlier was caused by the shovel striking the floorboards for some reason.

(W-Why is she sleeping here...? And dressed like that...!)

Kaidou was not wearing her usual tracksuit. On top, she was wearing a short-sleeved gym t-shirt while on the bottom&mdash;nothing except underwear. Illuminated under the faint moonlight, her long and slender legs remained white and pristine in color. Her long, sleek, black hair provided a certain fantastical contrast against the whiteness of her raised knee.

Should he leave while pretending he saw nothing? Or as a matter of principle, remind her to "Be careful you don't catch a cold"?

Just as he was caught in a dilemma, Haruaki suddenly saw Kaidou's eyes open forcefully.

"&mdash;A nocturnal assault? Vile fiend!"

"Eeek!?"

Haruaki instantly found himself grabbed by the collar with the back of his head shoved against the glass door. Naturally, a shiny, glimmering shovel was also pressed against his neck. Although this was like a replay of the scene during their return from the convenience store, there were some differences. For example, the teacher was wearing nothing but a t-shirt, or the fact that her bare thighs kept approaching, or the murderous intent occupying her eyes was completely different, or the saliva on the corner of her mouth, etc. Haruaki decided there were plenty of things he should pretend he did not see.

"N-No! I wanted to find out because I heard a strange noise! I swear, I'm not someone who wants to die that badly...!"

"Hmm."

Her eyes still a bit sleepy, Kaidou scrutinized Haruaki from head to foot. Only after repeating that motion a great number of times did the shovel finally leave Haruaki's neck.

"...I see. You are wearing clothes. That apparently rules out a nocturnal assault."

'Is that what you base your judgment on!?' As much as Haruaki wanted to retort back viciously, he decided not to escalate the matter. While trying hard to keep Kaidou's appearance (especially her lower half) out of his view, Haruaki said:

"By the way, why are you outside the room..."

"I am on night watch. But if someone remains awake inside the room, it would hinder the other person from sleeping. Even if she is already fast asleep, any noise might wake her up. In that case, I should stay outside."

"Night watch...? But you were asleep just now, right...?"

"No, I was simply resting my eyes."

Kaidou-sensei was giving a childish excuse. No good, Haruaki really felt compelled to point out the situation of her drool. But even if he pointed it out, she would probably just say "...That is sweat" and wipe it clean.

"It is not that I distrust you, but having made the decision to protect her, I shall therefore protect her. For the sake of fulfilling that responsibility, even staying all night outside the room would be nothing."

Kaidou was serious. Undoubtedly.

In actual fact, Haruaki already knew. Even though she had dozed off just now, she must have stayed awake until that point, right? Relying on her serious resolve, she had poured her entire heart and soul into staying vigilant against uncertain nocturnal assaults or other threats.

All this for a girl whom she only met today and was not even a student from her school.

No matter how serious her personality, this was not reasonable, right? Was it really worthwhile for her seriousness to go this far? Indeed, perhaps&mdash;

"Is there some kind of reason... here?"

"...What are you trying to say?"

"I'm referring to how seriously you declared your intent to protect Satsuko, Kaidou-sensei."

The mood changed. Beneath the faint moonlight, Kaidou shifted her gaze away.

Haruaki could feel that her gaze carried the same emotion as when she was staring at Satsuko during their first encounter.

Reminiscence. She was reminiscing about past events, reminiscing about things that existed no longer.

But ultimately, he had no proof. This was merely a gut feeling. Haruaki also did not know if he should probe the issue any further. Nevertheless, since the teacher only responded with sighs and silence, he had no choice but to inquire.

"...May I ask if this has anything to do with your younger sister, Kaidou-sensei?"

Kaidou answered. That is, if one could consider words spoken towards the moon as an answer.

"Why do you ask? Does this simply stem from curiosity?"

"No, I'm just..."

Just what? Haruaki was only certain that it was not curiosity. Perhaps he wanted to find out why she was avoiding Fear and others of her kind? Perhaps he wanted to know the reason behind her saying she had 'no idea how to face them'? Perhaps he wanted to know what could be done to address that issue? Perhaps he hoped she could improve her relations with everyone else? These reason were all true, but somehow, Haruaki felt that there was more to it.

"I just feel that... You seem to be forcing yourself to do something, Kaidou-sensei, and you look very agitated. As a result, I wonder if I could help in some way... That's all."

"Help me... Is that so?"

A faint smile could be seen on Kaidou's face.

Except that it was unclear who or what she was smiling at.

Then she proceeded to&mdash;

"Then allow me to ask you instead, Yachi Haruaki. What can you do? Even if you know that my younger sister was a timid seven-year-old who always carried a helpless smile on her face, considerate enough to save up her pocket money to buy a shovel for her elder sister's birthday, a victim of bullying but did not dare send any distress signals to the aforementioned elder sister who was weak, only using a cursed boxcutter, which remains full of mysteries to this date, obtained through unknown means for unknown reasons, to harm herself madly, finally despairing over the fact that she harmed her elder sister, thus proceeding to end her own life... After knowing about the story of Kaidou Satsu, how do you expect to help me?"

"...!"

Her voice remained smooth and very calm throughout the entire time, but her words carried a sense of heaviness that delivered a severe blow to the listener&mdash;as well as a curse so vague that it was unclear whom it targeted, except that it undoubtedly existed.

When Haruaki regained his senses, he found Kaidou staring straight through him without smiling at all.

Her cold gaze was simply bone-chilling.

"I know what you are thinking and why you wish to probe deeply and understand my past. But you cannot help me at all. Just as I have said earlier about having 'no idea how to face them,' even I myself have no idea how to face them at all. Matters whose reasons are unknown are impossible to resolve, right? Whether for me or for you."

Haruaki felt a severe dryness in his throat but still answered reflexively.

"...Since you don't know the reason and you have no idea how to face them... Then couldn't you just decide make the first move and approach them. Isn't that a solution too? Isn't it possible for you to discover that the situation turns out unexpectedly to be different from what you originally thought?"

"However, it is also possible that I will become further at a loss on how to handle the situation."

Without a single moment's pause, Kaidou argued in a completely emotionless tone of voice.

Then she sighed lightly.

"Besides... I have never prioritized the resolution of that problem. For me, there is only one important matter. Everything else is insignificant in comparison."

"...What do you mean by important matter?"

Just as Haruaki asked, Kaidou's hair slid forwards and backwards. She was nodding. Perhaps trying to secure her hair or some other meaning, she reached lightly towards her hairpin&mdash;

"The matter of becoming strong. Because I do not wish to ever fail again at protecting something important because I am too weak."

That seemed to be what she had already decided. It was also one of the answers she had given in the beginning of this conversation.

Seeing shades of her younger sister in Satsuko, Kaidou sincerely wished to protect her as a result.

To Kaidou, there was probably an experimental element to this. Ever since she lost her younger sister, she must have been trying to make herself stronger. And in actual fact, she had been strengthening herself all this time. This experiment aimed to verify her condition and prove the correctness of the direction she had chosen.

"Hence&mdash;although it is not very fair for you, I absolutely cannot accept your wish. Because I do not consider it capable of serving as a force to make myself stronger. I have no wish to do or say anything... No, I have one more thing to say. Although as a teacher whom students look up towards, I should not be saying this. However, it is currently neither school time nor working hours after all. If I may be allowed to express myself personally as Kaidou Imi, then there is one more thing I wish to say."

"What may that be...?"

Haruaki gulped and asked.

She answered very swiftly. Without avoiding eye contact with Haruaki, her merciless eyes did not display any warmth&mdash;

She uttered only a single sentence.

"&mdash;Do not get in my way for such inane matters, that is all."

Very clear rejection.

According to her value system, neither establishing better relations with Fear and the others nor trying hard to achieve that goal were among her options. In other words, she had no use for such behavior.

She had cut herself off completely.

With nothing left for the two of them to discuss, they could only stare at each other. Time seemed as though it had stopped, but it could not be allowed to freeze indefinitely. Very soon, the moonlight quivered slightly. The chilly air flowed lightly and&mdash;


"Need to pee..."


Pulling the paper sliding door open, Satsuko exited the room, causing the tense atmosphere to disappear completely. Haruaki almost felt like collapsing on the spot like a leaking balloon.

Satsuko stumbled slowly around, her eyes 80% closed. Perhaps due to the poor fit in size, her pajama pants had slid all the way down to her hips. It looked rather precarious.

"S-Satsuko, it's dangerous if you don't watch carefully where you're going... Uwah!"

The warning proved futile as she fell towards him. Seeing her about to hit the floor, Haruaki reflexively caught her in his arms and supported her body. But perhaps because her legs lost strength, Satsuko ended up collapsing into a sitting position on the corridor. Maybe the impact woke her up completely and Satsuko blinked repeatedly&mdash;

Then her entire face went red. Intimate distance. The arms wrapped around her body. Her pajama pants that had slid down. These various facts were combined in her just awakened mind to produce the following conclusion&mdash;

"S-So after all... This feels like you're demanding payment...? If you don't mind Satsuko's skinny, weak, flat-chested body and ordinary face&mdash;It can't be helped. After all, Satsuko is a weakling so it's only natural for her body and mind to be exploited... When casually visiting the 'Super Robot Fortune Telling' website before going to bed, Satsuko already had a feeling this would happen. The keywords for Satsuko's destiny today are 'Pilder On!'<ref>'''Pilder On!''': a reference to the super robot series ''Mazinger Z''.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mazinger_Z]</ref> Oh, this slogan seems to be suggesting a fusion of bodies no matter how you look at it...!"

"It doesn't! Anyway, you're mistaken! Look carefully, this is the corridor!"

"...You really came for a nocturnal assault after all!?"

"Kaidou-sensei, you saw this girl fall over on her own, didn't you? Why are you suddenly suggesting that possibility!?"

Just as Haruaki countered with his question, the slamming sound of a paper door being slid open could be heard from somewhere in the house. Indeed, since it was currently late at night, none of the other occupants in the house could have missed the current noisy racket.

Konoha was the first to make her appearance. Her eyes flashed behind her glasses, glaring as sharply as knives. She was swiftly approaching from the veranda. A few seconds later, Fear also rushed out of her room next door and slowly approached as though advancing side by side with Konoha.

Death.

The only word surfacing in Haruaki's mind was this word. He must find an excuse... No, perhaps he should flee first. Who could help him? &mdash;Just as Haruaki turned his head, looking for assistance, he caught Kuroe jumping down from the accessory dwelling's window in the edge of his view. Only then Haruaki realize he was mistaken.

Konoha glared viciously at Haruaki then proceeded to walk past him. Fear also stomped on Haruaki in a most natural manner and walked past him as well. Next, the two girls fully opened the veranda's glass door together. Indeed, Fear and the girls had not rushed out for the sake of teaching Haruaki a lesson&mdash;

"The enemy is here, though I've no idea how he found this place."

"Maybe he followed you guys on the way home? Waiting until everyone had gone to sleep before making a move, what pains he must have taken."

Fear and Konoha murmured softly, in direct contrast to the sharpness in their glares. Hearing their exchange, Kaidou also went "Hmm...!" and made a groaning sound from her throat. Then she suddenly turned around.

Appearing before their eyes was an intruder.

Seeing the figure standing on the top of the boundary wall, Satsuko murmured to herself.

"Oh, it's the ghost."