Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume6 Chapter5 (section)

===Part 4===

"Tada&mdash;!"

"Ah, Fear-san! You finally agree to be Satsuko's opponent? Satsuko is so happy!"

"H-Haruaki-kun...? And the teacher as well!"

Haruaki, Fear and Kaidou had rushed into the battleground in the Jungle Area. Konoha and Satsuko were clashing intensely while Kuroe and Kirika were having a long range battle against Fourteen. Konoha and Kuroe were not completely unscathed. In particular, Kirika's left arm was dangling and she frowned whenever she was dodging the enemy's attacks. She was bleeding profusely from a large gouging wound on her shoulder and the sight alone was painful already. As much as the new arrivals wanted to enter the fray and assist immediately, however&mdash;

"Damn it, excuse us, everyone! Please hang in there a little longer!"

Fear's group began to conduct a search while staying vigilant of the enemies' movements. Instead of going over to help Konoha and the others, Fear and Kaidou went over to the messy pool side in search of their target. Konoha, Kuroe and Kirika's puzzled gazes felt painful&mdash;In actual fact, things would become even simpler had they asked for Konoha's help. However, Konoha was the only one capable of engaging in close quarters combat with Satsuko who was closing in on them. Hence, they could not ask her to help.

Shortly after.

"Great, this will do! Found it! Let's make a hasty retreat!"

"What?"

"Heavens gracious, you're not going to fight Satsuko? Then Satsuko won't be able to train at all&mdash;!"

Fear and Kaidou returned to the quiet Slides Area. Fear then placed on the ground something that had been rolling on the pool side&mdash;a brick that Fourteen had shot. Although most of it had shattered, miraculously, part of it was intact. A piece probably large enough to grip in one hand&mdash;

"Teacher, please."

"No problem."

Kaidou pressed the shovel's front tip against the brick on the floor. Then the brick was chipped down by the metal scraping against it.

"Not enough. Do this side next."

"...This side?"

"That's right. Muu&mdash;Then scrape it a bit here. This part's too long, chip it down by about two millimeters."

"Affirmative."

A scraping sound was heard as the brick was chipped down by the sturdy shovel. Haruaki pondered various things as he watched them working together. Soon after, the brick became a size smaller.

Indeed, its six sides were now equal in area&mdash;A cube.

"Finished! Emulation... Start!"

Fear pressed her hand against the brick in elation. Instantly, it transformed into a giant, black, metallic cube. Then accompanied by the sound of gears, a giant drill was formed.

"Great, this is usable! Prepare for a counterattack!"

"W-Wait a sec! It's okay for you to fight now but do you have any countermeasures planned?"

"What are you talking about, Haruaki? Cow Tits... can die for all I care but I must hurry and help Kuroe and Kirika! Even without a plan, it should work out in the end!"

"That's what I mean. If it doesn't work out, I'll be very troubled..."

Haruaki did not think Satsuko and Fourteen were opponents who could be defeated easily. Furthermore, it was of utmost importance that Fourteen could not be allowed to escape. This was because Sovereignty, Shiraho as well as the guests at the pool were probably all inside her. Hence, they absolutely must prevent Fourteen and Satsuko from running off with the captives.

(So... What should we do...?)

Haruaki pondered as his gaze wandered. Just as he was doing that, his attention was suddenly drawn to a certain spot on the wall in the pool area.

He slowly turned his head and examined the school swimsuit-clad body of Fear&mdash;who was desperately urging "Let's hurry" with great agitation&mdash;and recalled a fact.

"W-What are you staring at me for!? You shameless brat, I'll curse you!"

The plan was decided.



"Konoha! Come over here!"

"You must be tired of the Cow Tits creature's performance, right? It's my turn to take over now!"

Just as Haruaki called out to Konoha, Fear was already holding her drill up high, rushing towards Satsuko who was located in front of the flowing swimming pool. Satsuko happily rotated the electric drill in her hand and said:

"Wow&mdash;You're finally here! Sob sob sob, as painful as it is to fight a dear friend such as Fear-san, it can't be helped... Fighting someone like Satsuko might be very boring for you, but please, Satsuko will be in your care!"

"What do you mean, it can't be helped!? Clearly you planned all of this. You two&mdash;are exactly the same as all those people I've encountered to this date! You're all crazy!"

"So mean~ Satsuko wishes that you'd call her a stoic. The Draconians simply work hard to make themselves stronger, that's all..."

Satsuko shuddered her shoulders like a puppy&mdash;But thrusting forward was a cursed drill that could easily skewer a human body. Fear used her giant drill to deflect the tool.

Konoha relegated the task of handling Satsuko to Fear. She watched Fear as she returned to Haruaki's side.

"Haruaki-kun... She was able to find a usable tool?"

"Rather than find, it would be more accurate to say it was made. Also, she even asked the teacher's help for it."

Haruaki indicated towards Kaidou who was standing behind, glaring severely at Satsuko. But currently, she was not getting hung up and confused by the past. Instead, she seemed to be branding something in her heart and her eyes were displaying resolute willpower.

After confirming Kaidou's state, Konoha's expression relaxed slightly. Although she did not comment on the teacher's condition&mdash;

"Then what should we do now? Since Fear-san is already here, maybe I should go deal with Fourteen? Ueno-san and Kuroe-san seem to be lacking in firepower... Also with all that bloodshed, it's quite difficult to watch any further. At least I know that's the current state of affairs."

"You're right. But before that, could you transform into the Japanese sword first? Because I came up with an idea."

"You came up with an idea... Since you want me to turn into the Japanese sword, are you thinking of using the Sword-Kill Counter? But that house is not a weapon, which means you want to destroy Satsuko-san's weapons...?"

Konoha tilted her head in puzzlement. Haruaki shook his head and said:

"No, even if we break the electric drill using the Sword-Kill Counter, it's useless if Fourteen runs away. After all, rescuing Sovereignty and the rest is our top priority. Fourteen is still the first one we need to deal with."

"You make a fair point. But in that case, what's the point of me transforming into a sword?"

"Yeah, so I'm going to tell you the battle plan. You might find it a bit much, but please endure... I will try not to look as much as possible."

Hence, Haruaki swiftly explained the plan to her. Konoha sighed as she agreed to accommodate his idea.

With a "poof," she turned back into a Japanese sword. With a subtle feeling, Haruaki took off the bikini swimsuit that was hanging on the sword's scabbard and hilt.

"Oh no... I-I've been stripped. Completely by Haruaki-kun..."

"S-Stop making strange noises! Let's go!"

Haruaki proceeded to take Konoha away from Satsuko's side, instead walking towards Kirika and Kuroe who were further away, dealing with projectile weapons flying across the swimming pool.

"Class Rep, are you okay?"

"Yachi... I'm fine, my arm is almost ready to move. But it's better if Konoha-kun doesn't look at it."

"Sorry... I will try my best to turn my gaze away..."

"...Reinforcements are here? Wonderful!"

Kuroe glanced sideways and spoke. The tip of her hair was chasing the enemy like spears. Fourteen conjured a broom to sweep it away while changing her location. Seeing the state of things, Haruaki asked Kirika:

"What's the current situation?"

"Stalemate, probably? Whenever we attack, we can interfere with Fourteen's shooting to some extent... But to be frank, I think she's been holding back so far. Maybe she intends to have a real duel once Fear-kun returned... But that seems to be quite right!"

"...«Geist»! «Geist»!"

The rain of projectiles flying across the pool increased in density. Among them were bricks, glass, objects resembling the backs of chairs, and many dishes. Many of those objects were caught by Kuroe's hair, many were dodged and many were struck down by Konoha's blade autonomously.

"...Finally getting serious? Okay, let us put our all into it! Only by doing that can we raise ourselves to the max."

"Whether you raise yourselves or not doesn't matter to us... Class Rep, Kuroe, listen carefully to my plan. If it succeeds, this battle can be ended instantly. That Fourteen is currently in perfect location."

"It's great that you have a plan... But did you say location?"

Haruaki dodged the incessant firing of riotous household items while quickly explaining the plan to them both.

Haruaki was right, location was very important. Like all the other zones, this Jungle Area was in the shape of an isosceles triangle. Entering from the Slides Area, there was a wall on the right hand side&mdash;in other words, near the part of the isosceles triangle corresponding to the building's outer wall. Along this wall, there was long and narrow swimming pool with Tarzan ropes. In the center of the Jungle Area was the meandering, flowing swimming pool with an operating circulatory system. The location of Satsuko and Fear's battle was near the midpoint of the long and narrow swimming pool. On the other hand, Haruaki's group was roughly in the center of the triangular zone, near the Slides Area, with Fourteen separated from them on the oppose side of the flowing swimming pool. Indeed, Fourteen's location was especially great.

The explanation finished quickly. Kirika and Kuroe nodded in comprehension&mdash;Then they extended their respective weapons towards Fourteen. Instead of performing a pincer attack, they both attacked from Fourteen's left side. While counterattacking by shooting back, Fourteen moved towards her other side, thinking "I'm not going to let you catch me." This prompted the start of the operation.

"Let's go!"

Haruaki threw the sword in his hand as hard as he could. Spinning rapidly in the air, the Japanese sword flew easily across the flowing swimming pool, finally turning back to human form and landing on the pool side. At this moment, Kuroe and Kirika turned around and spoke.

"Kono-san, are you recalling the fun you had during the cultural festival when you used that method of movement? I see, with this, you can legally treat Haru to a sight of your bursting bosom~"

"...A-Absolutely ridiculous! If that's really the case, I will have no choice as the class representative but to ban this sort of behavior henceforth!"

Making various remarks, the group ran towards Satsuko's side.

Having landed, Konoha ran along the edge of the pool, closing in on Fourteen and chopping with her hand to attack.

"Hmm..."

Fourteen retreated. In order to counterattack, she needed to summon a broom or a block of wood to her hand, which would probably buy Haruaki's side a couple seconds of time, right? The distance their footsteps covered in that period was also an opportunity.

Appearing in Haruaki's view was silver hair, moving horizontally with great speed, fluttering parallel to the floor.

"Hah... Excuse me but I have no intention of having a drill duel with you! Instead, you should drill holes in those wooden blocks over there on your side! That'll definitely be more fun than this kind of fight!"

"H-How could that be possible? Where are you going? What about the friendship fight with Satsuko...!?"

"That has nothing to do with me!"

At the same time when Haruaki was throwing Konoha, Fear was also charging forward with only one destination in mind. Locked onto that single target, Konoha and the others were pushing Fourteen towards it.

Jumping away from Konoha to obtain a suitable combat distance, Fourteen summoned a close range weapon. Her current location was in front of a window. This was also the top vertex of the isosceles triangle, or in other words, the center of this floor. This rectangular window, embedded in the wall, was facing the hollowed area that was part of the facilities on the floor below.

To Fear, who was informed beforehand and running towards that location, it was as though Fourteen had jumped into range on her own. Hence, without any hesitation, Fear transformed the drill in her hand to a new form.

"Mechanism No.23 hole type, thorned surface form: «Maranatha»&mdash;Curse Calling!"

Described in a single sentence, it was a bed of nails. A thick slab of steel, as large as a table in area, with countless spikes and blades of varying lengths standing upright on its surface. Conceivably, Fear's former master had forced victims to stand upon it while he watched them with a glass of wine in his hand, admiring the way they finally collapsed in complete exhaustion&mdash;In other words, the sight of their dead bodies, pierced by blades all over. But currently, Fear was holding it on its side to use as a shield, turning it into a deadly bulldozer rushing towards Fourteen.

Fear had chosen this torture tool because the force of its impact was impossible to evade. Indeed, "impossible to evade" was the most important point, followed by the fact that "it could be pushed to apply pressure."

Destroying Fourteen in one strike was probably quite a challenge. But pushing on the other hand&mdash;

If all they needed to do was push her towards the window behind her that overlooked the diving pool, this torture tool's curse was more than capable for the job. Indeed, this was good enough. This conclusion was substantiated by past images: how Kirika, despite being on the verge of death, had used the «Tragic Black River» to pull Fourteen into the swimming pool, as well as the way Fourteen was walking underwater at the bottom of the pool.

Hence, this was going to work. It should work.

Fear's gaze was infused with her prayers as her eyes met with Fourteen's.

"...!?"

Haruaki gulped.

Sure enough, just as predicted, Fear's torture tool caught Fourteen's body. However, that was as far as it went.

Despite being caught between the window and the torture tool, the cursed house forced ominous ghostlights to glow&mdash;

At this moment, a mysterious and giant mass appeared out of thin air to resist the pressure Fear was applying.



To think that her opponent would ignore her and go over to Fourteen's side.

Was it really because she was very weak? Because fighting with her was no fun at all? Troubling, how extremely troubling. She had become friends with her only because she wished to fight. Ahhh, I really treated her as a friend, fighting everyone really has been painful&mdash;Even so, the fight must go on. Should the fight end here, then all meaning would be lost.

Carrying such thoughts, fueled purely by the desire to pursue strength, Ontenzaki Satsuko prepared to chase Fear. However&mdash;

"I won't let you&mdash;go over to interfere!"

Kirika blocked her path and extended the «Tragic Black River». Although Satsuko twisted her body many times to dodge, the belt remained relentless like a snake. Finally, her right hand was entangled. However, Satsuko yelled "out of my way" and instantly used her left hand's boxcutter to sever the belt, thereby regaining her freedom.

"Ah~ Sorry for being so weak, Satsuko can only perform this simple of an attack...!"

Satsuko apologized sincerely as she rushed forward to make a thrust with the drill in her right hand. However, Kirika's reply was quite unexpected.

"Isn't simple a great thing? Since it is this simple an attack, I can act as a shield no matter how many times I'm attacked... Like this, ahhhh!"

Kirika extended her palm towards the electric drill. Naturally, Satsuko did not stop stabbing. The long drill bit burrowed into Kirika's wrist, causing blood to spurt as it spun, but gripped by Kirika, Satsuko could not pull it back out. Pressing on the switch, Satsuko caused the drill bit to spin and lengthen, but this accomplished nothing except increasing the number of times Kirika suppressed her screams. Were it to extend any further, the drill's tip would probably emerge from her elbow.

"Ahhh~ Wonderful, who knew this was possible, truly amazing...! Satsuko is so impressed! If Satsuko could defeat this kind of Kirika-san, could cowardly Satsuko become slightly stronger? Perhaps it's a stretch, but, huh&mdash;Thank you...!"

Satsuko gave up on pulling the drill out and swung the boxcutter in her left hand instead. If she were to chop off the arm where the drill was embedded, it should be possible to pull out, right? Just as she was thinking that&mdash;

"Ah&mdash;Ahhh&mdash;Actually, I've been looking for a chance to use this gimmick for a while. Enter stage."

Satsuko suddenly felt her left hand weighted down as well. A closer look showed that it was entangled by black hair. There were Tarzan ropes above the long and narrow swimming pool that was located along a wall in the Jungle Area. Using one of them, Kuroe had moved over to Satsuko's back all at once.

While holding onto the rope firmly, Kuroe gazed mistily as she wrapped her hair around Satsuko's left arm, immobilizing it. As for her right hand, the drill was still stuck in Kirika's hand. Without notice, the belt came to entangle Satsuko again.

"Ah~ Facing a crisis here. But once this challenge is overcome, Satsuko should be able to emerge stronger&mdash;"

Just as she was about to kick Kirika using her unrestrained leg, Kirika made an intriguing and twisted expression.

"&mdash;That depends on whether you can overcome it."

"Eh?"

Another person's voice came from behind. A second later, Satsuko felt two cases of intense pain running throughout her body. One came from her left hand and the other from her right. Both hands had been struck by a certain solid object&mdash;Completely mercilessly, hard enough to shatter bone.

"Gah, ha... Uwah!?"

Ouch, ouch, ouch. The weapons in both hands fell to the floor. Satsuko looked back to find in her tearful field of view&mdash;

"Indeed... You are not my younger sister. Absolutely not. Because Satsu was ashamed of having swung this kind of object, going as far as to end her own life. She never felt at all that wielding this object made her stronger!"

Staring at the boxcutter fallen on the floor, Kaidou swung the shovel in her hand down hard.

Instantly, the sound of the blade snapping could be heard along with the noise of plastic parts scattering.

Next, Satsuko felt something tighten around her neck, unsure if it was the belt or the hair&mdash;

(Ah, just as thought, Satsuko is still very weak...)

Muttering in her heart, she then lost consciousness.



"Ku... Gah!"

"«Polter»&mdash;«Geist»!"

Gathering her entire bodyweight, Fear used her shoulder to push the bed of nails forward, but just now, she saw Fourteen conjure patterns of ghostlights in the narrow space between the torture tool and the window. Since the torture tool was already a shield, Fear had nothing to fear from the ghostlights' stun gun effect&mdash;Given the situation, her enemy was aiming to shoot at point-blank range.

Suddenly, Fourteen pushed back with greater force. This mass did not come from a wooden block or a brick but something much more massive that was about to appear in this space. Most likely, another of those pillars.

"Another one left...!?"

But she could not afford to falter now. Fear mustered the strength from her entire body and pushed.

"H-Hey... Is this... your full power? Is this... your full power?"

"If it is, so what...!? I have no idea what you're trying to do, but immediately&mdash;"

Fourteen was right. The bed of nails was pushed back a few centimeters further. But Fear laughed and&mdash;

"What... In that case, all I can say is this. Compared to my power, you amount to nothing whatsoever!"

In that instant&mdash;Two thuds came from her two sides.

Two weights were added on her left and right, pushing at the torture tool together. Originally losing the contest, the torture tool was slowly gaining an advantage again.

As for the two people beside her, those two who were giving her power&mdash;

They were Haruaki and Konoha.

"I'll only thank you for this time, Cow Tits... This job suits you perfectly, because the mass of your offensive lumps of meat is really&mdash;"

"I'm going to send you flying if you continue saying that!"

"Guh, so... So very very very heavy...!"

Next, Fear heard other footsteps. Kuroe? Kirika? Kaidou? Feeling completely confident about those footsteps, Fear continued to push the torture tool forward, pushing with reckless abandon. To the end, to the end, pushing to the very end&mdash;

"Hmm...?"

Just as Fourteen groaned, all the weight vanished at the same time.

Next came an intense sound of glass breaking. Nevertheless, Fear continued to push the torture tool forward, refusing to let Fourteen escape from here. Indeed, she must be pushed over the edge.

The vanishing weight included Fear's own bodyweight. Suddenly there was a floating feeling. Fear instantly understood that she had rushed over the edge together with Fourteen as a consequence of pushing too hard. Nevertheless, she no longer cared by this point.
[[image:C3 06-278.jpg|thumb]]

"Haha, cursed house! You're definitely heavier than me! That's because you're a house! Even I can't swim&mdash;so it's impossible for you to swim either!"

"W-What&mdash;?"

Fourteen seemed to have realized where she was falling towards.

It was the extremely deep pool for diving that was roughly dozens of meters deep.

Even with superhuman physical abilities, she can't possibly float back up on her own, right? Even when we're unable to breathe, we simply become inactive and do not die from suffocation, so she'll simply linger underwater for the time being&mdash;That's all.

There was nothing left for her to do. Fear could do nothing except fall down together with Fourteen. However, this was trivial. Even if she fell into the water, Kuroe or Kirika would probably find a way to save her.

Just as Fear was thinking over these things&mdash;

Suddenly, her entire body felt an impact. Not only the floating feeling stop, but Fear also felt her bodyweight once more.

In order to confirm the reason, Fear looked up.

"...!"

It was Kaidou.

She was desperately reaching forward. Despite getting cut by the window's broken glass&mdash;

Still, she gripped Fear's wrist firmly.

She was using the hand that had previously swatted Fear's hand away in a vicious and painful manner.

"There is one thing that I must apologize to you about. At last, I gradually begin to understand my own feelings."

"...?"

"I... must have been scared of you. Hence, I used 'no idea how to face you' as an excuse to cover it up."

Her sincere eyes were looking this way. Hence, Fear gazed straight back into her eyes.

"I only recognized you as 'something that harms people'&mdash;that is what I have always believed. Hence I felt afraid, worrying if I would get hurt again, worrying if I would have to endure that kind of pain again. And that was all because I was too cowardly. Although I hoped to become strong, I actually had yet to become strong."

"But it's really true that I am something that harms people..."

"However, that is not all. That is not the only label that classifies you as a being. What I have understood is this, Fear Cubrick, Girl, Seat No.14 of Year 1 Class 2."

Fear seemed to feel as though something was being transmitted by the hand that she touched properly for the first time.

Warmth.

What she failed to reach that night&mdash;simple and gentle, human warmth.

"...How unbelievable. I currently... feel as though I've gained another source of power again."

"Really? Perhaps that might be understandable."

"Yes, exactly because I've repeatedly become stronger over time, that's why I dare to say this. Although I am indeed something that harms people, Kaidou-sensei, you're right. That's not all. I am also the ordinary Fear, a student named Fear Cubrick, living in the shameless brat's home... Also, I was once something that harms people. Now, I don't want to hurt anyone and I've already obtained the necessary strength that allows me to assert that boldly."

"I think so too. I caught your hand only because I understood that fact."

Fear's petite face was smiling towards Kaidou as she shifted her gaze. Behind Kaidou's body that kept sliding down, entering Fear's view were them&mdash;the faces of those who were desperately pulling her back.

They were the reason why she had become strong.