CubexCursedxCurious:Volume14 Chapter1

Chapter 1 - The Nightmare Known as Her; Its Situation / "The blade - It's solitary."

Part 1

After the school excursion ended, on that day when they returned home—

Ever since the day when Konoha had disappeared without warning, several days had already passed.

Haruaki's group had skipped school, searching tirelessly day and night the entire vicinity, but still came up with nothing. If there were any other way, they would have tried them all, but plagued by a lack of information, they soon ran out of options. Perhaps Konoha might suddenly show up at school—Carrying this last glimmer of baseless hope, Haruaki's group finally went to school, but of course, that school desk remained empty. Anyway, they could only explain to their classmates: "We all caught a flu earlier, but only Konoha hasn't recovered yet and she's resting at home."

After a tasteless dinner, it was evening in the usual living room—

Today, they had also invited Kirika over, deciding to have another discussion regardless.

Starting a while ago, Kirika had seemed quite hesitant about a certain matter, her gaze wandering unsteadily all over the ceiling. Without saying a word, Fear was chewing on rice crackers. Blankly, Kuroe was drinking tea from her cup.

Haruaki was staring intently at the object on the table.

The one and only clue.

After a carpet search for Konoha's whereabouts, they had discovered this in the forest behind the house—Konoha's glasses.

Her glasses had fallen there. What did it signify?

"Even at this kind of time... Rice crackers still remain tasty..."

Biting a rice cracker especially loudly, Fear went "Okay!" and using this chewing motion as a prompt, she made a forceful nod. Taking control of her dainty face which had been spacing out, she looked like she was forcing herself to regain vitality.

"Okay! Staying silent's not gonna help. Let's confirm the situation once more."

"Yes, organizing our information is very important."

Seeing the static living room starting to show movement, Kuroe seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

"After going out for groceries, Cow Tits went missing. She didn't come back and neither did she go to school. She didn't call to contact us at all either. So—Who's the last to see her?"

"...It's us."

"Us... Also, regarding that... Fear-kun, Kuroe-kun."

As though trying to correct Haruaki, Kirika spoke up. Resting on her thigh, her hand was tightly clutching the hem of her uniform's skirt.

"All this time, I haven't been able to find a chance to say this, but I really must tell you all about this matter... It's about the situation during Konoha-kun's disappearance..."

Haruaki finally understood why Kirika had been acting unusual since a while ago. Surely, this must have weighed heavily on her mind, troubling her all this time. Then steeling her determination to tell Fear and Kuroe personally today, she had come over.

Clearly Haruaki himself had simply avoided thinking about that certain matter between her and him. Because it might be too heavy a burden for his mind, he simply kept it hidden in the depths of his heart. This was shameful self-preservation and also the worst kind of ignoring.

At the same time, after seeing her in this state, only then did Haruaki realize how little energy he had left to divert towards paying attention to the outside world. Normally, he would have noticed Kirika's troubles much earlier. Even if he stopped thinking about the matter, it did not mean she was doing the same. Only now did he discover how preoccupied he was to notice other people.

Haruaki exhaled, but this time, it was not an aimless sigh but like Fear's act of biting a rice cracker, a signal to renew his spirits and move forward.

Then to unravel Kirika's misunderstanding, so as to stop her from feeling too troubled by something that was not supposed to burden her conscience, Haruaki spoke:

"It's not like that, Class Rep. This has nothing to do with what happened at the time."

"...Huh?"

"I know for sure. After Konoha parted with us, something must have happened. Something must have happened that even Konoha herself did not expect. I believe this had nothing to do with the situation earlier. Otherwise—This pair of glasses wouldn't have fallen in the forest back there."

Haruaki deliberately tried to assert firmly. Perhaps his grounds were weak but he was certain it must have happened this way. This was absolutely nothing so simple as Konoha running away from home. Instead, she must have encountered something. Something that she could not avoid even if she tried to avoid.

"R-Really? But..."

Kirika still hesitated, but Fear nodded.

"Yeah. In other words, something happened in the forest where she dropped the glasses and Cow Tits was caught up in it?"

"Yeah, that's right."

"Hmm... This developments are resembling that Police 24 Hours show on television more and more... So, something must have happened in reality. If only there was some kind of clue."

"I saw on television once, a man killed and robbed his neighbor, but was discovered by the police because his lifestyle became rich all of a sudden. If someone did something to Cow Tits for a certain purpose, the result is probably visible by now. Has anything weird happened around us?"

Haruaki pondered this and that. Weird things. Changes. Were there any? Yes.

"I don't know if it's related or not—but Sagisaki-sensei suddenly stopped coming to school."

"Yeah. I originally thought she was just missing class and absent once or twice, but it looks like that Sugimura teacher will take over English class from now on. Did Sagisaki quit her job?"

"It does seem suspicious, but we can't be certain."

"Also, this is what I confirmed from Taizou."

Haruaki recalled the scene in the classroom and continued. Since that person attracted a lot of attention, her absence was easily noticed even if he did pay particular attention.

"Apparently, Un Izoey has taken leave from school starting the day before yesterday."

"Maybe the Lab Chief's Nation is up to something. Whether due to this reason or some other reason, they are currently investigating? But none of this can be confirmed."

"There's also a rumor saying it's just an unexpected flu. Consider this as just another possibility."

What exactly was the truth? Was Un Izoey involved in this incident in any way? Who knows. What about Sagisaki-sensei? Who knows. Had other changes appeared? Who knows. What was currently happening? How far should they go in skepticism? What should they do next...

Seconds, minutes of time flowed by without answers. Not long after, Haruaki discovered that the teapot was empty.

"I'll go brew another pot."

Saying that to Fear, Kirika and Kuroe, Haruaki went to the kitchen, taking the opportunity for a change of mood. Filling the pot with water and placing it on the gas stove, he waited quietly. Just as he was wondering blankly whether or not to prepare some snacks to go with the tea—

"Umm... May I assist you?"

"Oh Class Rep. Sure, of course."

Kirika had also come to the kitchen. Haruaki felt his heart rate speed up, but he believed he had responded naturally. Slightly timidly, Kirika leaned her upper torso into the kitchen from the doorway, seeming inexplicably awkward. But as soon as she heard Haruaki's answer, she smiled with relief.

Standing side by side, the two of them prepared tea and snacks. This was something they had done many times before already. Haruaki handed the spare apron to her just as usual. Nevertheless, why was he feeling nervous? Why did mere contact between fingertips cause his heart to pound and race uncontrollably?

Haruaki knew very clearly that certain things had to be said. Something he had ignored and set aside until now. Something very important, truly crucial, a certain matter whose answer he must speak only after careful consideration.

Haruaki gulped. If they were to discuss that matter, now was the only chance when Fear and Kuroe were both absent.

"Umm..."

"It's okay."

Quietly, Kirika spoke in a tone of voice that even felt gentle. She must have realized the subject from his demeanor. At least, Haruaki was certain that she was also thinking about this matter all along, which was why she could react so quickly.

The unexpectedly swift answer, together with its message, caused Haruaki to feel unsure how to proceed.

"Eh? Umm, by okay you mean...?"

Standing next to him, Kirika still continued to face the kitchen counter.

"Like I said, it's okay. You still have many other matters you should be thinking about—However, I hope you won't forget. I also hope you won't pretend it never happened. I don't intend to do that either. Once, Konoha-kun returns and all the issues are resolved... I will listen properly to your answer. That's all I can say."

By the time she finished, Kirika's voice was already so quiet it was barely audible, almost as though she were murmuring to herself. However, those were definitely the words she spoke from her lips, her own words. This was evidenced by the skillfully concealed trembling, trepidation and nervousness included in her voice.

"...Sorry."

"What exactly is your apology directed towards? Absolutely ridiculous."

"No, uh, basically... That..."

Haruaki did not have a clear idea either. Surely the apology had many kinds of meanings. He was unable to put everything into words. Besides, he did not even know if he should apology. He was... truly incompetent.

"How should I say it? Anyway... Can we keep things the same... for now?"

"Yes, we can, but you mustn't forget what I just said."

"I-I won't forget. Yeah, in any case—The same as before, the same as before. Okay!"

Haruaki was muttering "the same as before, the same as before" like some kind of incantation when Kirika suddenly asked a question. However, she still continued to face forward.

"...Is it very difficult?"

"Uh, yeah. Maybe because it's so sudden, I can't help but think, are you really serious, for example? There's a part that I haven't managed to digest completely, so it still feels a bit unreal. So it's very difficult to suddenly go back to the way things were, that's the kind of feeling—Haha, what am I saying..."

The instant just as Haruaki was forcing an awkward laugh—

Kirika quietly turned herself to face him squarely instead of facing the kitchen counter all this time. Looking up, she looked straight at him.

Her ponytail was swaying right before his eyes. An apron on top of her school uniform. Slightly blushing cheeks.

Exuding an aura of seriousness, she gazed sincerely at Haruaki.

"If... you still need evidence... to prove that I am very serious..."

However, her eyes carried slight shyness and determination.

Probably intentionally, she lifted her chin slightly and said:

"Right now, I could allow you to..."

For some reason, Haruaki found his gaze drawn to a certain part of her face. Due to a certain movement of her chin, unbelievably, he had no choice but to stare at that part. As though emphasizing their existence, slowly opening and closing to utter words, Kirika's pink lips—

Haruaki's throat moved on its own, gulping hard. Reading between the lines of what Kirika said, he could not help but imagine that scene, gulping again.

Just at this moment—

"Hey~ Haruaki, is the tea ready!? Don't forget to bring out new rice crackers too—!"

"Woahhhhh! R-Right, I have to brew the tea, brew the tea! Uh, umm... Yeah, I already know you're serious, Class Rep, so... Yeah, anyway, for now... let's keep things the same as before..."

The voice coming from the living room brought Haruaki forcefully back to reality. While speaking, he moved his hands again which had stopped without him noticing. Kirika also turned her face back in a most natural manner, simply saying:

"I see."

Then she faced the kitchen counter again to prepare snacks. Returning to her initial state.

However, Haruaki still noticed.

The distance between their shoulders was no longer the same as before.

He was not sure whether they had grown closer or farther—He simply sensed a change, that was all.

At the same time, this distance definitely did not make him feel uncomfortable.

Hence, he decided to allow himself to think: the current state was fine.

—Very likely, undoubtedly, this was very cowardly.

Part 2

(placeholder)

Part 3

(placeholder)

Part 4

(placeholder)

Part 5

(placeholder)

Part 6

(placeholder)

Part 7

(placeholder)

Back to Prologue

Return to Main Page

Forward to Chapter 2