Editing CubexCursedxCurious:Volume12 Chapter3

Experiencing serenity and mysteriousness through her skin, Konoha walked by Haruaki's side with neither haste nor languidity.

Before their eyes was the thousand torii gates of Fushime Inari Shrine. Konoha did not care to count but she would not be surprised if there really were that many. Spaced narrowly apart, the countless torii formed something like a tunnel. If one were to stare ahead continuously, one would suddenly lose a sense of distance. This was a dreamlike path of red that made the viewer feel as though this imagery would stretch endlessly ahead, forever and ever. Walking along the stone slabs, their footsteps sounded like some kind of ritual as they weaved through the openings of the torii.

The thousand torii gates were located on side of Inari Mountain, resulting in a gently sloping upward path. Hence, one would begin to sweat slightly simply by walking. Konoha smiled at the person beside her and said:

"This is truly excellent exercise. Also, the atmosphere is so calm and quiet... If this were near our home, I would surely add it to my list of favorite walking trails and take frequent strolls here."

"I also enjoy places with this kind of mysterious atmosphere. But in fact, just passing through the torii near our home already makes me out of breath. Also, I quite like ordinary shrines."

"Hold it right there, Haruaki, that's not the current issue here. We should be smart enough to see that this girl means 'losing weight' when she mentions taking walks. In other words, apart from the udders, Cow Tits has meat growing in other pitiful body parts. Hence, for her own good, we should mock her for her futile efforts with our lukewarm gazes—"

A silver mass, an affront to the eyes, forced its way between them but Konoha ignored it, using the outside of her arm to push it back forcibly. Then as though nothing had happened, she continued the conversation:

"But if you're not careful in your selection, there are some shrines where it's not only impossible to find serenity but may even have fifteen identical shrine maidens running out of the woodwork. And one would often encounter scary incidents or indecent accidents. Hence—umm, if we take strolls together, it would guard against those possibilities."

"But taking a stroll to that shrine would really be quite far."

"That must be because she wants to burn off the most calories by walking as far as possible! That's what my powers of deduction are telling me! Let's shelve this issue and decide what we should buy as souvenirs for them? It's probably best to get something in quantity, right?"

The silver little head had not learned its lesson and tried to force its way in again. Konoha sighed. How blissful it would be if she could walk here with him along this little path, just the two of them. However, there were currently many people in the way. Not only was there Fear who had been hanging around all this time, as much as Konoha wished to forget, but there was also the rest of the group behind them: Kirika, Un Izoey, Kururi and Bivorio. Even—

Even above?

Konoha reflexively pushed down on Fear's shoulder and shoved her towards Haruaki, forcing her to act as a meat shield. However, this was only just in case.

With an extremely high probability, the enemy's target was Konoha herself.

"Take this—!"

"...!"

Konoha pounced on the stone-paved ground and rolled forward. This would probably expose the view under her skirt to him but there was no time to dwell on that. Next, Konoha swiftly turned around to confirm the situation.

The thousand torii gates were not packed densely together. From one of the gaps, above a torii behind Haruaki's group, the one who had jumped down to attack was, of course—

"Kotetsu!"

"Mura... masa...!"

Dressed in Wa Lolita style with a pale-blue Shinsengumi haori on top, Kotetsu glared vigorously at Konoha, the stone slab by her feet gouged and lifted up completely. This was because Kotetsu had used the momentum of her fall to power her tiger claws, swinging her arms down fiercely, imbued with the power of the sword.

Konoha had taken a flip, afraid that Kotetsu might attack Haruaki and the others, but such worries proved to be unnecessary. Kotetsu charged again quickly to attack her. Despite fighting unarmed, one could still describe her swordsmanship as extremely bold and forthright given the way they fought. Despite unrefined, Kotetsu's continuous attacks seemed to rely on being unrefined as a strength. Using power to overwhelm cautious predictions and techniques, it was an attack style filled with vigor.

"Take... this—!"

"Guh...!"

Kotetsu had seized the initiative. Konoha retreated and blocked the attack, rushing into the trees and vegetation away from Inari Mountain's sightseeing route. This was actually better because being seen would be bad and they definitely should avoid accidentally using too much force chopping down torii gates, thereby damaging precious cultural heritage.

Evading the thrusts of the tiger claws, Konoha either used knife hand strikes to block or kicked to counterattack. But the opponent would then use such openings to attack her destabilized lower body. Konoha gave up on attacking and focused back on defense.

Before they knew it, Konoha was chased to an unmaintained area on the side of the mountain. As a product of nature, there was still a stretch of fairly open ground. Here, Konoha decided to switch from defense to offense. Deliberately spinning her body a greater number of times, she made use of the wider space to handle her enemy.

"Why are you attacking me!?"

"I have no obligation to answer you!"

"Can't you oblige yourself as a fellow Japanese sword?"

"—Truth be told! That would... This point—!"

Although the space was relatively more open, that was all there was to it. Swept into the battle, the surrounding trees were cut down one after another, even tree trunks were blown away while branches and leaves fluttered through the air. Conversely, this greatly increased the amount of usable area.

Branches fell between the two of them, blocking line of sight for an instant. Using this momentary chance, Konoha predicted her opponent's movements, meanwhile moving herself to a position beyond the enemy's expectation, then as the view cleared, she thrust the base of her palm forward. Due to Kotetsu moving to where she predicted, Konoha struck her squarely in the abdomen, sending her flying. Nevertheless, Kotetsu used her arms to protect herself at the last instant, thereby preventing significant damage. It would not be surprising for Konoha's strike to end the match against an ordinary enemy, but apparently, ordinary methods were not enough to defeat Kotetsu.

In order to prevent the enemy from noticing her nervousness, Konoha intentionally spoke in a confident and leisurely tone of voice:

"As one would think, it's tricky to face off against a similar opponent. Wouldn't you agree?"

"...!"

"Isn't it time for you to tell me why you're targeting me? Have we met somewhere before? Were you present at the Battle of Sekigahara? Or was it during the late shogunate period?"

"I... have never met you... on the battlefield."

Kotetsu answered out of breath.

"But I know you. Muramasa. The demon blade that bears an absolutely irreconcilable grudge against the Tokugawa."

"As much as I find it a little embarrassing, that is quite a well-known fact indeed. If it's just this level of knowledge and recognition, then I know you too. Kotetsu. Unrefined yet incomparably sharp. A trenchant blade capable of effortlessly slicing through three or four bodies at once."

Kotetsu's expression seemed to show wavering. But perhaps that was only Konoha's imagination.

In any case, they were kindred. Whether as curved blades forged from fine steel or in another aspect that could not be ignored at all. Hence, Konoha could not help but ask:

"Why were you cursed?"

Hearing this question, Kotetsu first blinked slowly before exhaling and asking in return:

"Then let me ask you, why were you cursed?"

Konoha was instantly rendered speechless. The answer was exceedingly simple yet so complicated that it was difficult to explain in brief.

"You are unable to answer, right? Because we are weapons, we are blades, we are swords. We, who stand at the pinnacle and have experienced the most—truth be told—to be cursed is only natural to begin with."

Don't be ridiculous. Konoha thought strongly to herself. However, she could feel her own heart cool down rapidly.

"—Wouldn't you agree?"

"How inane."

Konoha answered swiftly. Even she could feel sub-zero temperature spreading from her cold heart to her eyes. Nevertheless, surely her gaze, directed towards the kin before her eyes, carried emotions apart from coldness.

Indeed, for example—Pity.

Konoha slowly drew in a breath then said:

"For a fellow sword like you who knows not your purpose, allow me to offer you a suggestion—Would you like to join me in forgetting the past? Would you like to wipe off the blood from the tempering pattern of your blade and resheathe it? You probably can understand after seeing the contemporary world, right? The era of the sword has already ended."

"Ha!"

A sound. A sound coming from a throat. Kotetsu's face was strangely stiffened to produce an expressionless face, In that instant, this reaction was completely baffling.

But a beat later—

"Ha... Hahaha... Hahahahahahahaha! No good, no good, I knew it was no good, it really is no good! Ahhh... Ahhhhhhhh, wrong! Wrong, wrong, this is wrong! This is completely wrong—!"

Starting with a laugh, Kotetsu's words turned into a chaotic mix of emotions within the blink of an eye, turning into despair, anger, disappointment, regret—as well as hatred.

"I knew it... No good, Muramasa... I... towards you!"

Konoha could feel Kotetsu's entire body filled with power, exuding negative emotions that dwarfed what she had previously displayed. A peaceful solution seemed to be out of reach after all. Konoha readied a combat stance and said finally:

"Although I have no reason to worry for you, seeing as you've received that key, now is probably not the time to be doing this. Honestly, I feel that this is just a meaningless fight."

"Meaningless? This is not meaningless, not meaningless! My feelings—My hatred towards you is right here! This is the proof!"

Kotetsu glared viciously at Konoha and took out the key from her pocket. Holding the key up before her narrowed eyes, she targeted the key with her murderous gaze.

Before Konoha's eyes, the key's red area was rapidly increasing.

Only 50% a moment ago, it had now increased to 70% or so.

"Impossible...!"

Konoha whispered in surprise but reached a reveletion at the same time. Negative emotions. Indeed, Pakuaki had mentioned that negative emotions were a type of a feeling too. Kotetsu was intentionally using the hatred she held for Konoha as a source of emotions to activate the key?

Probably satisfied with Konoha's surprised look, Kotetsu placed the key back into her pocket, still with a vicious expression:

"But it's not over yet. This is still not enough. Muramasa, duel with me. Truth be told, your only remaining value is in allow me to generate that type of trash-like emotion. Allow me to absorb that useless disappointment and contempt once again. If you find this insulting, then show me the true light of your blade!"

While speaking, Kotetsu used the tip of her foot to kick up a branch on the ground, reaching out to grab it in her hand, then bringing it to her lips—

"...!"

She licked. Out from her dainty lips, a pink tongue extended, licking the surface of the branch in an inexplicably salacious manner, back and forth, tracing out a moist trail of saliva.

Next, Kotetsu looked at the branch in her hand and said softly:

"Go forth and pierce, my will—"

Konoha realized instantly. That was a sword. At this moment, the branch was imbued with the characteristics of a sword. The street lamp was able to chop off Kirika's arm last night for the same reason, right? Although Konoha did not know why licking was necessary, it was probably a ritual using saliva as a medium to confer objects with the characteristics of swords.

"I can probably manage that kind of move... But if anything, I would call it a little trick that I'm not well-versed in."

"Whether it is a little trick or not, you may confirm for yourself. This is me. I am not just a simple lump of decrepit iron. As the story goes, a samurai only managed to pierce stone with a arrow because he intended to shoot a tiger&mdash;Hence the name, Kotetsu!"<ref>'''Kotetsu'''(虎徹): the kanji for Kotetsu can be split into 虎, meaning tiger, and 徹, meaning pierce.</ref>

The girl exuded the same type of aura as before when employing tiger-clawed strikes. Powerfully direct, boldly forthright, courageously straightforward. However, the volume of vigor had clearly increased. Right now, her presence was akin to fighting spirit that would deflect everything on touch, a sword-like presence.

Lifting the sword she had forged, Kotetus aimed it at Konoha's eyes and said quietly:

"En garde. I am Nagasone Kotetsu Nyuudou Okisato<!--長曽袮虎徹入道興里-->&mdash;known as the supreme trenchant blade possessing peerless, unparalleled sharpness!"

"Guh!?"

Saying that, Kotetsu charged forward with god-like speed. Konoha deflected using her karate chop but felt a stinging pain where she blocked. A minor cut appeared there. Konoha was filled with disbelief at losing in a battle of slicing.

"That I can even rival Muramasa, the rumors are apparently true!"

"Don't get... too full of yourself&mdash;!"

Vigor and conviction was necessary. Konoha invoked her power to the maximum and fought with Kotetsu's sword. Another wave of intense pain. But at the same time, the wooden stick in the opponent's hand was also chopped in half.

"Indeed, a single sword cannot finish things. Go forth and pierce, my will!"

Kotetsu picked up another branch within arm's reach. This time, she attacked directly without removing the branching twigs and leaves. Konoha raised her knife hand to engage again. Kotetsu's fighting style was similar to Fourteen the cursed house and Kokoro Pentangeli who created swords of wreckage&mdash;They all created weapons during battle before attacking. But unlike them, Kotetsu mainly fought at close range and rather than relying on quantity over quality, the power of her weapons were on an entirely different level.

(I... To think... Take this!)

Konoha had not suffered any critical injuries, but that was all. She was covered all over with countless minor cuts. The color flowing out from her body was also annoying her&mdash;or rather, she was feeling excitement. How long ago was it since she last had this feeling?

...Excitement? I'm feeling happy? It shouldn't be happiness. So disgusting. Really? Don't lie. Shut up. Too dangerous. Having accidentally released the restraints several months earlier, the self-hypnosis of fearing blood had yet to be re-established. Training was incomplete. Hence, blood, blood, blood. Even upon blinking, the color lingered beneath the eyelids. I feel excitement. A hot feeling in the lower abdomen was pleading an itching impulse.

Give me more blood.

(Shut up.)

Give me more battles.

(Shut up!)

Suppress it quickly. The only thing able to substitute for the released self-hypnosis, to calm my unsettled self down, was willpower. Don't get devoured by my own power. Don't get devoured by the curse occupying my body!

"Huff... Huff...!"

"I am quite suspicious."

Standing before the panting Konoha, Kotetsu whispered in a very disappointed manner:

"Truth be told, you are wavering too much. Whether towards hatred, disappointment or rejecting those emotions. Hence, you turn out to be even more boring than I imagined. Judging from the way things look, more time will be needed to fill up the key's remaining area. Should I consider alternative means...?"

"..."

Kotetsu did not show any openings while speaking. Currently held in her hand was a slender branch resembling a needle. Konoha guarded against thrusting strikes but also could not ignore slashing attacks.

To be honest, her stamina was slowly getting depleted. She must find another solution.

No, she already knew. She knew early on the other solution that was available.

She simply refused to admit it.

"Mechanism No.20 slashing type, great blade form: «A Hatchet of Lingchi», Curse Calling!"

The voice entering her ears now was the answer.

Even without asking for help, those girls were going to hurry their way here eventually.

To rely on this type of passive solution, as though willingly accepting assistance from rivals in love, Konoha found it more difficult to accept than anything.

Swinging the hatchet, Fear charged into the fray. The enemy's weapon was a branch. Was this some kind of joke? But for some reason, the branch deflected the hatchet with a sensation like that of an extremely solid Japanese sword. It did not feel like the branch was severed at all.

"Konoha! Are you okay!?"

Haruaki could be seen climbing out of the bushes slightly later, rushing towards Konoha with a frantic expression. Konoha's state was quite tragic to behold. Countless minor blade lacerations on her arms and legs, some of them still bleeding. Her clothes were also shredded, an unsightly state. Fear thought to herself: to think a sword would be beaten by another sword, how ludicrous. But for some reason, Fear did not feel like mocking her openly at all.

Fear simply felt agitated and poured strength into her arms, trying to deal the enemy a painful blow.

"Take this!"

Releasing the power of violence without restraint, she attacked Kotetsu. Kotetsu frowned but did not dodge, instead swinging her tree branch sword to engage Fear's hatchet squarely, resulting in a battle of pure strength. Fear did not know if the enemy was simply courageous or only knew this one method of fighting.

With a sound akin to inorganic matter shattering, both sides' weapons bounced back. Kotetsu's branch could be seen striking a nearby tree after bouncing back, chopping down the tree trunk instantaneously and extremely naturally.

So this was the result of using a similar weapon, a slicing tool. In that case, what if she tried a different type of weapon?

"Mechanism No.22 bludgeoning type, spike-ball form: «Morgenstern»!"

Fear turned the emulated cube into the spiked metal club which could overwhelm the enemy more easily using mass. Applying her full bodyweight, Fear swung the metal club down with all her might. While Kotetsu clicked her tongue in annoyance, the tree branch sword in her hand flew away, spinning in circles. Indeed, even though it had acquired the nature and hardness of a sword, it still was not a sword. There was no hilt for the user to grip firmly.

The metal club sank into the ground next to the enemy who had lost her weapon. Too lazy to lift it back up, Fear decided to make use of the rare chance. In that case&mdash;Fear transformed her weapon again.

"Mechanism No.10 gripping type, compressing form: «Iron Coffin of Lissa», Curse Calling!"

She intended to lock the enemy away in a compressed space, surrounded by metal on all sides. However, the six walls needed a few seconds' worth of time to envelope Kotetsu completely. During this duration&mdash;

"Trying to execute me!? No thank you! Go forth and pierce&mdash;My will!"

With lightning speed, Kotetsu picked up the chopped down tree trunk from just now, lifting it high while sticking her tongue out to lick its surface like a light kiss. The massive tree trunk was instantly turned into something akin to a steel support pillar, briefly hindering the iron coffin's compressive action. Seizing this chance, Kotetsu swiftly escaped from the iron coffin's slowly closing space, even retrieving the wooden log that had saved her a second earlier.

Using both hands to lug the log next to her waist, Kotetsu looked like she was wielding a spear as she glared at Fear. Despite the unwieldiness of the weapon, her overall stance showed no openings. She was probably used to fighting in this manner as well.

As an opponent, there was nothing lacking about Kotetsu in any way. Fear concluded that the stronger the enemy, the more she needed to mercilessly bring out the powerful violence she possessed. That was all. Which torture instrument should she show the enemy next? Just as Fear was thinking that&mdash;

"«Tragic Black River»!"

Arriving hastily a step later, Kirika extended her cursed belt towards Kotetsu as soon as she discerned the situation. What reliable backup support.

Using one foot as a pivot, Kotetsu spun the log in her hands along with her body like a tornado. The unwieldy but deadly weapon instantly severed the belt. Kirika frowned.

"A log...? Absolutely ridiculous. What kind of log is that? It even severed «Tragic»."

"Despite the unusual shape, it seems to possess a sword's power. Don't be careless, Kirika."

Then arriving next were Kururi and Bivorio. Kururi aside, Bivorio was physically just an ordinary woman, so she could not help being this slow. Finally, Un Izoey sluggishly poked her head out from the bushes&mdash;Her sluggishness was probably deliberate. There was probably no one here more used to running along a mountain path overgrown with vegetation. Surely, she must be staying at tail end of the group in order to follow Yamimagari Pakuaki's orders and fulfill her duty as the keeper of the box.

Seeing the new pursuers, Kotetsu then glanced at Konoha who was catching her breath and muttered:

"Truth be told, because Muramasa turned out to be surprisingly boring, my plan is in slight disarray... In the ideal case, the key would have been completed already. Looks like I set my expectations too high."

"What are you talking about?"

Without replying to Fear's question, Kotetsu swung the log horizontally at waist level. No, attacking directly at this distance would be too far away&mdash;It was a throw. Possessing a sword's sharpness, the log rotated parallel to the ground while flying through the air. Its simple "length" was now converted into a threat. Fear originally wanted to duck down to dodge but then that would mean leaving Haruaki and others to fend for themselves behind her.

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

"Take this!"

Fear lifted up the steel plate of nails sideways, using it as a shield to block the log. At the same time, a certain person rushed to her side, carrying the wobbling eyesores of massive breasts, using a spinning kick to deflect the log.

"...What now, you're back to being the usual Cow Tits? I was thinking you'd be crying after getting bullied."

"I was simply feeling a little unwell. Please do not belittle me."

As soon as that guy's safety was at risk, this girl would always stand up no matter how serious her injuries. This was the only thing Fear was certain.

Despite her reluctance, Fear decided to assist Konoha in retaliating. Which torture instrument should she pick next? Which tool out of a limited list? If one was not enough, she currently had ''a second one''. As much as she did not want to use it, when push came to shove, there would be no choice. Come, come&mdash;

Fear allowed her body and mind to switch over officially to a combat mode then turned her gaze forward again.

Then she saw Kotetsu's back. For an instant, failing to understand what this scene meant, she remained rooted to the spot.

"Nuu? ...Hold on! Are you running away!?"

After launching the log to pin down Fear and the other's movements, Kotetsu had turned around and broke into a run.

The situation would not improve at this rate even if she were allowed to escape. Just as Fear was about to rush forward&mdash;

"Go forth and pierce, my will&mdash;!"

Kotetsu picked up a flat piece of rock that was rolling by her feet, licked it then swiftly threw it in Fear's direction. Fear used «Maranatha» to block again. Naturally, rather than the sound of a rock's impact, the ear-piercing noise of steel colliding with steel was heard... It was almost like a shuriken. Due to the preparatory motions required, Kotetsu was unable to fire at will without restraint. A single-shot projectile was not scary but sufficient to obstruct opponents from advancing. This was because there was a crowd behind Fear and Konoha that needed protection.

Kotetsu looked back from time to time, firing rock-swords intermittently, meanwhile continuing to sprint forward. Every time, Fear and Konoha had no choice but to halt their steps. Using this opening, Kotetsu easily reached the greenery in the back and jumped into the bushes, disappearing from sight.

Staying on guard for attacks from dead angles, Fear and Konoha ran over to those bushes, but by this time, Kotetsu's presence had vanished completely from the surrounding area.

"She escaped..."

Turning the torture tool back into the Rubik's cube, Fear stuffed it into her pocket while saying:

"By the way, why does that girl want to attack you? Is it because those cow udders are too much of an eyesore? I don't blame her. Because she's too pitiful, her tragic chest looks even flatter than mine. No, I'm actually average in size, so what I mean is that it must be tough being smaller than average."

"Sigh... Bust sizes don't matter, okay? But I'm not too sure. In any case, I seem to be rubbing her the wrong way... But I have no clue why at all. Oh, but she basically has a goal. It seems like she is planning to use her negative emotions towards me, like hatred for example, to accumulate enough feelings to activate the key. But apparently, she did not accumulate as much volume as planned."

"Using negative... emotions...?"

Without warning, accompanied by an ominous presence, Fear felt something stir restlessly in the depths of her heart.

...As though trying to make her notice a certain type of emotion that she had yet to notice to this date.

From the pocket on the other side of the one where the Rubik's cube was stuffed, Fear secretly took out her key, taking care to avoid anyone noticing.

A key that was supposed to sense heightened emotions. Although Fear could not explain it fully, she had finally just figured out how to strengthen her emotions, agonizing on her own and getting impatient, the key reaching 50% after much difficulty, but now&mdash;

Very effortlessly, it had gone 70% red.

Fear was shocked and alarmed. Then immediately she asked herself:

What had happened?

During the duration from eating the fox rice cracker just now till now, what had happened?

"Ah..."

She had expressed hostility towards Kotetsu. She wanted to defeat her. She wanted to harm her.

She wanted&mdash;to kill her.

She had produce negative emotions.

The warm feelings that took so much effort to accumulate almost seemed like an illusion.

In merely an instant, dark emotions had almost dyed the entire key bright red.

What did this represent?

(...No. No matter who, everyone is like this to some extent. This is only natural. So it's not... It's not anything to be alarmed about&mdash;)

Fear gripped the key tightly as though not wanting anyone to discover it while whispering in her own heart.

But once manifested, this suspicion was not going to disappear. Instead, it kept repeating in her mind.

Despairingly, it repeated nonstop.

Ah.

Sure enough&mdash;

Compared to loving someone&mdash;Am I an object that is more suited to cursing someone?