CubexCursedxCurious:Volume10 Chapter1

Chapter 1 - Stomach Clock and Chocolate Time / "Study for Saint Valentine's Day"

Part 1

"Let me make myself clear, I'm just going out to play next! There's absolutely nothing else going on or any secret purpose, so don't mind me at all!"

It was Sunday afternoon. After lunch, while the Yachi living room was shrouded in a lazy atmosphere, Fear changed to go out and made a loud announcement. Naturally, what Haruaki needed to do was not simply seeing her off, waving goodbye and saying: "Take care." Narrowing his eyes, he asked:

"Hey... What are your intentions?"

"I-I don't have any intentions. I'll curse you! It's like... purely a stroll, nothing more!"

"Oh okay, a stroll? Then lemme come along."

"N-No way! Today's stroll involves... Umm—Oh right, trying clothes! Like trying on underwear in a clothing store, there's a whole bunch of boring activities! The schedule is completely packed! If you want to take a stroll with me, that'll mean you finally admit to being a shameless brat, planning to do shameless things! No more shamelessness! Shoo! Shoo!"

Fear made a gesture as though driving a puppy away. Then she looked up at the living room clock with sudden alarm.

"Muu! It's this late already because of too much talking! I'll be late unless I hurry—So, I'll be taking a stroll alone, without being suspicious at all! Definitely back before dinner!"

Before Haruaki could stop her, Fear had already run outside. Soon after, the sound of the main door being opened and closed frantically was heard. With that, peace and quiet returned to the living room once more.

"What's going on? It's better to chase her straight away, right...?"

"Hmm, it should be fine. Lately, she looks like she's getting quite used to this city, so she shouldn't be doing anything too weird."

Sip~ Konoha spoke as she drank her tea. How odd, Haruaki thought. Normally, Konoha would be the first to keep Fear under strict monitoring instead.

"Maybe... Hmm~ Although she's always like this, it's worrying if we can't contact her when something happens. I should have asked her to take a cellphone with her."

"Just buy one for her. I'll help sponsor part of the cost."

Rolling about on the tatami floor, Kuroe spoke in a lively tone of voice. The Dan-no-ura beauty parlor was still open for business today, but Kuroe was taking a break for almost an hour, making a visit home for lunch. Although it saved the cost of buying lunch, conversely, she also lost an opportunity to pull in more customers. Haruaki felt that it was a bit pointless. Especially since it happened to be Sunday as well.

"Buying a cellphone for her is fine, but the phone plan is a problem~ I'll have to do some calculations next time and see."

"It's too early to buy a phone for that child. In any case, she won't be out of contact today, so you don't have to worry too much."

Konoha simply closed her eyes while enjoying her tea. What was going on?

"Konoha, you know where Fear went?"

"I can hazard a guess. But due to certain reasons, I've decided not to tell you, Haruaki-kun."

"What?"

"Kono-san, Kono-san, then could you tell me?"

Kuroe turned her body on the tatami floor and rolled over to Konoha's feet under the table. Konoha sighed lightly and whispered something into the ear of Kuroe who was using her lap as a pillow. Next, Kuroe rolled back out from under the table.

"Oh~ I see I see, I get it now. Looks like things are getting very interesting."

"You really can't tell me?"

"Secret~ Mufufu, don't worry, you'll find out eventually. In fact, Haru might very well have forgotten this by then... You'll definitely be more happy if you forget."

For some reason, Kuroe glanced at the calendar hanging on the wall while smiling profoundly.

"Hmm~? What on earth is going on...?"

To be frank, Haruaki was completely lost, tilting his head alone in bewilderment.

Part 2

While continually referring to a memo throughout her journey, Fear finally reached her destination, an apartment building. Following the instructions given beforehand, she keyed the room number into the panel at the entrance. The automatic door opened simultaneously as the occupant's voice was heard. Truly high tech indeed.

Using the brand new elevator to travel up to the predetermined floor, Fear lingered a little in the spotlessly clean corridor where not a trace of rubbish could be found, before finally finding the target room. She could not help but feel excited as she pressed the intercom—Soon after, the door to the flat opened.

"Hi Fear-kun, welcome."

"Kirika, I have arrived! Today I'll be relying on you!"

Led by Kirika, Fear entered the flat. This was her first time to visit a home known as an apartment so it felt very refreshing for her. The interior was not as cramped as she expected, but since she had no idea what an average apartment was like, it was quite possible that this apartment was more high-class than average.

"So... Did you bring what I asked you to buy?"

"Of course. After all, I'm the one who asked you to instruct me, so just leave the little things to me. Let's see... Chocolate bars... Is this enough?"

Fear had made a shopping stop at a convenience store along the way just now. Peering into the plastic bag Fear had handed over, Kirika nodded.

"Yes, that should be enough."

"Great. But to be honest, this is quite different from what I imagined from the word 'handmade'... Because this is already chocolate."

"After all, you can't really start making it from cocoa beans. Don't worry, this still counts as being handmade."

Kirika placed the chocolate bars on the table. Suddenly, she remembered something and looked up:

"By the way, let's first make an important decision... What are you planning on making?"

"You're asking me what I'm making...? Of course it's chocolate!"

"I know that... What I mean is what kind of chocolate... Oh, let's have a look online."

Kirika opened up the notebook computer on the desk and typed in some words. Instantly, the screen displayed a colorful website (probably).

"Although they all fall under the umbrella category of chocolate, there is actually a diverse variety of types. Also, you don't have to give chocolate for Valentine's Day. Chocolate cakes are fine too."

"What, it turns out to be like that!? Muumuumuu..."

Fear frowned and stared intently at the computer screen. This looked like a website with a special feature introducing Valentine's Day. On it was written the advertising slogan: "With this, you can capture your beloved's heart!" At the same time, many photos were published of all sorts of chocolate confectionery.

"Uuumuu~ All of them look quite tasty. Mmm... Huh!? No wait, now's not the time to be drooling. I'm looking at them to decide which type I'm making."

"Did you find a type you like?"

"If I had to say it, I like all of them."

"I-I see..."

After a while of continuously browsing through the confectionery photos, Fear suddenly realized something.

"By the way, Kirika, what are you planning to make? Duplicating would be bad, right?"

"...I haven't decided yet, so you don't need to worry about me."

"Hmm, then there's no problem."

So, what should I make? The problem is what would the shameless brat be the most happy to eat—No wait, I seem to be getting ahead of myself. After all, it's my first time making chocolate. There's no need to finish in one go the chocolate I'm going to give to Haruaki. I should use today's opportunity to prioritize improving my skills first. That's right, there's still some time before Valentine's Day, so I just need to decide before then... Yes, that'll be the plan.

"Okay. Anyway, I just wanna use today for increasing my chocolate-making experience. I'm sorry, Kirika, but could you help me pick a type of chocolate from all these choices, something that even a novice can make?"

"In other words, let's practice first. What a great idea. Then how about this—raw chocolate? I think it'll help you get a feel for what chocolate is like after you reprocess it by hand."

Kirika operated the mouse and clicked a photo, popping up a webpage that showed a recipe.

"Okay—Let's start with that! Fufu, this is the first step towards 30000yen's worth of rice crackers!"

Even as a novice currently, I am definitely more perfect and competent than that Cow Tits. All I need to do is train diligently from this point onwards to improve my skills. When the real contest is here, I'll surely surpass her. In other words, victory is already 80% in my hands now. Hence, Fear believed with great certainty:

(I'm winning for sure...!)

What sort of expression would Haruaki make when receiving her chocolate and how awesome a return gift was he going to give back?

Simply the thought of that was enough to seriously fill Fear with incomparable anticipation.

Part 3

(placeholder)

Part 4

(placeholder)

Part 5

(placeholder)

Part 6

(placeholder)

Part 7

(placeholder)

Part 8

(placeholder)

Part 9

(placeholder)

Back to Prologue

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 2