Nope, it's not yet there. I'm still preparing for its petition. Maybe after the chapter 1 is done.
Chapter one: Night of Rubik's cube (part 3)
Haruaki was worried about what could happen if he let those two together in the living room. But, he had to cook some food for Konoha and the hungry juvenile so he had
no choice but to let those two together in the living room.
Haruaki made a plate full of easy saute dish. Together with rice and miso soup for Konoha, He brought the food into the living room.
He was greeted by a view of two girls throwing dry laughs at each other. Only God knows what happened while he was in the kitchen. He didn't even want to know.
"I only sauted what was left in the fridge. Is that okay for you?"
"No problem. I've made quite lot of Nikujaga anyway."
With a "Ta-da" sound effect, Konoha lifted the lid of the pot she brought with her.
Inside the pot was a steaming soup of brownish broth and beef, letting out a fragrant smell of soy sauce. To put it simply, It looked delicious.
If you'll take a good look at it, you'll notice that excessive amount of beef was covering all the other ingredients like potatoes. The beef formed a great pile,
just like a mountain sitting on a pot. If you ask me, It's more of a Niku-Niku-Nikujaga instead of a simple Nikujaga.
"Um, so, doest that look good?"
"It looks delicious, just as always."
Meat-demon Konoha's face lit up with a smile.
"I see, this definitely looks delicious. You can easily see that it was made by a Gluttonous incarnate of appetite."
With that remark, the round lid that Konoha was holding fell on the table, cut into half. Without a word, She picked up the half circles and threw them behind her.
After that, Konoha nouthed an Itadakimasu and started eating with a cheerful (That was how Haruaki interpreted Konoha's expression) face.
"I've no clue why this how this meal have turned into a tense atmosphere, but I guess I have to make an easy introduction at least. Konoha, our visitor here is called Fear.
As you might guess, she was sent by my old man."
Konoha sent a look at Fear while she took loads of beef from the pot. Fear, on the other hand, completely ignored her.
"Fear, this is Konoha. Well, what can I say... er, she lives in the room inside the house's outer building, and we're also in the same schoollevel though our classes are differnt.
She'd been like a child-hood friend since I was a kid and----"
"And she's not human."
Fear said without a pretense. It was followed by few seconds of silence and,
".... That's right. She's like your sempai here in this place."
"I thought so. A lid would never break into half by itself. I know that tools who could assume human form could usually keep the nature of their original form even if they turn
into human form----I suppose you're some kind of blade aren't you?"
"Would you answer me if I asked what was your original form?"
Konoha asked with smile pasted on her face. Fear replied with a snort.
Uncomfortable silence went on as they ate their dinner. All of their plates were almost empty when Fear spoke to Haruaki.
"So, you wanted to say earlier that I could believe what you said because there's a precedent."
"Er....Yeah. that's right. Konoha did a lot of helpful things like working part-time since when she first came here."
"He's right. Thanks to my deeds, I'm almost free from all of my curses."
"Almost, you say. What would happen if you become completely free from curse?"
"Tools with only a slight curse would just turn back into a normal tool. But according to my old man, The negative energy that built up inside the tools who could assume human form
went over the original nature that it had so even if you were able to neutralize those negative thoughts, their human form will be kept. That means that you two will just be
free from the curse that you have."
"So, I won't turn back into my original form..... I see."
"To be honest, I don't know much about it. Just ask my old man once he came back."
Hear wasn't even listening to Haruaki. She just kept silent and nodded, murmuring "I see... I wouldn't...Isee..." as she did.
It was as if she was trying to hide the expression of relief on her face.
Fear finished up the remaining food on her plate and asked a question to Konoha.
"Haruaki said earlier that you've been together with him for more than ten years now. Does it really take that much time?"
"I think it also depends on the degree of your curse, but..."
Two empty plates covered the table. For a moment, two eyes----one silent and one with a hint of hostility----looked at each other.
"The amount of grudge that we accumulated within ourselves are so great that what ever you do, We can't easily forget, throw way, or repent for them... You get into my nerves
but at least, in that aspect, we could have something in common. This is something that could be shared between you and me, as a same ruined state of mind."
Fear started to say something, but just looked away and said;
"....Its the same for me you know, you get into my nerves too...."
"Well, you just have to take it easy. I think there's nothing I could help with though."
It was a composed statement of a senior. Konoha said said those words with much ease. Fear, of course, just snorted.
After that, Haruaki also finished his meal so he cleaned up the table with Konoha and went to the kitchen to wash them. When he came back, Fear was hugging her knees and was looking up
at the ceiling with blank stare. He brought an after-dinner tea so he handed one to Fear and started drinking it.
"Oh yeah, Konoha, could you bring some of your old cothes? I wouldn't say right now but I just thought that it would be better if Fear had something to wear. I know that the size won't fit though."
"....Sorry for having small breasts!"
"I didn't mention any part of your body that wouldn't fit!"
Haruaki almost dropped the yunomi that came from the opposite side of the table.
"I guess that can't be helped.... Alright, I'll bring some as soon as I can."
"I'm counting on it."
"Say, what are you going to do for tonight, like where'd she sleep?"
"Huh? well, I suppose she's gonna spend her night here. I'll just lend her one of the Japanese rooms."
"S-She'll be staying here?! Isn't that a bad Idea, since I think it is!"
"But you see, the outer building's already full... Kuroe isn't home and her room is locked."
The outer building was made like an apartment, with two rooms inside. Konoha was living there with another house-mate but she was always away about half a month so Konoha
didn't really feel that she had a house-mate living next door.
"By the way, make the guest room as luxurious as possible. That way, you could compensate for what you did to me."
"Compensate?"
Haruaki asked Fear and he received a reply with a threatening attitude.
"Don't say you already forgot what you did to my body earlier! Playing with my body like that... I've never had someone put his finger [there]! My face was burning with
embarassment!"
Haruaki was about to say that Fear was just a box at that time, when he heard a sound of yunomi rolling off on the tatami. He saw that Konoha was trembling as she stood up.
False smile covered her expression for a while but it eventually broke into tears.
"Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh! I can't believe it! Have you two already done THOSE kind of things?!"
Konoha ran away from the living room covering her face with her hands.
They just heard the violent sound of the entrance door being shut. Fear just nodded with content and said,
"I'm not sure what happened but I've won. I feel great."
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Dull-colored stone floor was all that there was. The room smelled of metal and of metal-like stink. The air was congested but it wasn't stagnant.
The air was clear. Clear like the air inside a tomb or a casket.
There wasn't anything that could tell time. There was only a dead space, without a trace of any living things.
The only thing that you could feel from there was the constancy and blockade.
The mass of steel that was left there didn't have anything to do other than to whisper the same words over and over again.
It wasn't even said aloud. It just made circles within its mind. Like an endless loop.
When its awake, while its asleep, when it opened its mind, and when it closed its mind.
It's freezing, it's cold, it's dark, it's freezing, it's cold, it's dark, it's freezing, it's cold, it's dark, it's freezing, it's cold, it's dark.
It went on and on-----
She opened her eyes. There was nothing inside the Japanese room. She raked up and embraced the futon that was given to her. There was only the sound of scraping futon.
There was some warmth left in the futon but it was a false warmth... It was just an accumulated heat from covering someone. So, it was the same as having no warmth at all.
Shards of her dream sent a chill down her spine. She knew that there was a difference between this room and the dungeon room where she was kept.
But, however there was a slight warmth and sound inside this room, She couldn't help thinking that this room was the same as the place where she was kept.
She silently opened the sliding door and walked along the porch. Moon light illuminated the her path as she arrived in front of another room. She entered.
A boy was sleeping. He was laying in an odd position and his futon came off below his waist. A slight snort came from a faintly smiling face.
The girl kneeled down before the rolled-up futon and slowly reached for it. She stroked it for a while, then she brought it up to her cheeks.
It was someone else's smell.
Someone else's warmth.
That, perhaps, was the first time that she felt those things.
PS btw, in the pic above, the girl wearing glasses is Konoha. I'm sure you know Fear already, and the girl in the middle would be Kuroe.