RL Chapter 39

Chapter 39 – The Hero

Resonance 4, Part 8

Novel Title: 共鳴劣情 オメガバース (Resonance Lust: Omegaverse)

Author：岩本薫 (Iwamoto Kaoru)

Illustrator: 蓮川愛 (Hasukawa Ai)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 本浄天音 (Honjou Amane) & 苅谷煌騎 (Kariya Kouki) / 首藤煌騎 (Shutou Kouki)

*Please read at knoxt.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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It would be so unreasonable if a man, driven by one-sided jealousy towards the Alphas due his own unsuccessful life, targeted someone simply because they would create a strong impact on society if he had ended up killing them.

Kouki didn’t choose to be born an Alpha, either.

No one can choose where they are born.

(But, I can resist my origins.)

Depending on his own efforts, he can choose the path he lives… 

Kouki thought it was a distant past. But looking back after such a long time, the painful and sad feelings from back then resurfaced vividly, making his heart ache. He realised once again that it is a trauma deeply engraved in his chest.

“So?” 

Prompted by Amane’s calm voice, Kouki collected himself and continued.

“When I was in despair, thinking I might never see my family again, suddenly the door was kicked in, and a multitude of police officers came rushing in. The perpetrator screamed, ‘Damn it! Die!’ and swung a knife around in a rage. But one detective bravely wrestled with him, subdued him, and handcuffed him. After capturing the perpetrator, that detective came over to me, who was trembling in the corner of the room, and spoke gently, ‘You must be Shutou Kouki, right?’ When I nodded, he removed the gag and untied me. Even then, I was still too shocked to move, but he said, ‘It’s okay now’ and hugged me. Feeling his warmth made all the frozen emotions flood out, and I clung to him and cried uncontrollably. He kept rubbing my back until I stopped crying…”

Even now, the sense of reassurance he gave Kouki at that time remains vividly in his memory.

“I learned that he was a detective from the police station that covered the downtown area where the perpetrator lived and had pinpointed the location of my confinement after thorough questioning and investigation. It was after I was driven home in an undercover police car and reunited with my family that I found this out. My parents wanted to thank him directly, as he was the one who saved their son’s life. But it seems he declined through his superiors, saying, ‘I was just doing my job.’ He might have stepped back to avoid overstepping, considering the prestige of the police headquarters.”

“That’s typical of the Station.”

“That’s why I only met him once when he saved me and I don’t know his name. Honestly, I don’t remember his face very well. Yet, the image of him has remained etched in my mind and has never faded. To me, he was a hero. Over time, my admiration for him transformed into a dream for the future. I wanted to save someone who was suffering at the edge of despair, just like ‘that person’ did…”

“So, that’s why you wanted to become a detective…”

Amane murmured, his expression suggesting he understood.

“If possible, I want to convey my feelings of gratitude that I couldn’t express back then, and that I’ve begun to walk the same path as him—so when I passed the police recruitment exam, I searched for someone who might be him. But I couldn’t find anyone who matched his description. When I was assigned to the D-East Station, I hoped I might get to meet him. But unfortunately, he didn’t seem to be one of our officers. He might have already been transferred and isn’t in downtown anymore.”

As he spoke, Amane suddenly furrowed his eyebrows and pinched his left earlobe. Usually, the earrings and ear cuffs that adorned it were there. But tonight, due to the occasion, they were absent.

“Honjou-san, is something wrong?”

He didn’t answer Kouki’s question. He instead tugged at his earlobe for a moment before finally speaking.

“…That detective was probably about thirty years old at the time of the incident and was quite large, wasn’t he?” 

Kouki’s eyes lit up with interest.

“Yes, that’s right. Considering I was just a child then, he was a very large person. He was a head taller than other detectives and had a solid build. Despite that, his voice was gentle and soothing… But how do you know about him?”

Ignoring the question, Amane squinted slightly and muttered to himself.

“…You won’t be able to find him.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because he’s no longer in this world.”

Kouki was taken aback by his words that seemed to suggest he knew ‘that person’.

“What do you mean!?”

“He died in the line of duty. The person who saved your life was my mentor when I was a rookie and he was the first partner I ever teamed up with.”

“Wait… what…”

Kouki let out a voice louder than he intended. His saviour was Amane’s mentor during his rookie days?

(Could such a coincidence exist?)

“Are you really talking about ‘that person’?”

“While listening to your story, I felt an odd sense of déjà vu. So I searched through my memories and recalled that he—Odagiri-san—had worked on a case involving the kidnapping of an Alpha child. A kidnapping case involving an Alpha child isn’t exactly common.”

Before he could savour the joy of discovering the name, Kouki was struck silent by the news of his death.

(Is this a joke?)

He wanted to scream ‘no way’. But the chances of a detective from the D-East Station, who was of a similar age and build, and who had been involved in a kidnapping case of an Alpha child—all these elements aligning—suggested that they were indeed the same person.

Suddenly, he felt a disorienting sense of loss as if he had lost sight of his goal, making him feel unsteady on his feet.

“…Died in the line of duty…”

“Yeah… He was stabbed by a kid he was trying to rehabilitate. That kid was a drug addict with no family, frequently getting high on the street and getting picked up. At that time, Odagiri-san was in the juvenile division of the public safety bureau. Every time the kid got caught, he’d pull him out of the detention centre, telling him over and over again to stop using drugs… After going out of his way to help him multiple times, he got stabbed with a knife.”

Amane gritted his teeth, as if trying to grind away his frustration.

“…”

“I told him that it was pointless to keep reaching out, that it was a waste… But he told me that ‘he didn’t end up like that on purpose and getting involved halfway is the worst thing you can do. If you’ve come this far, you should take care of him all the way through.’ That was his sense of justice. He was the kind of person who couldn’t turn a blind eye.”

Hearing that bitter murmur brought back memories of the scene from seventeen years ago when Odagiri had bravely confronted the criminal wielding a weapon.

“When we solved our first case together, he gave me this as a keepsake. And now it has become a memento…”

As Amane took out his beloved oil lighter from his pocket, Kouki noticed a sad expression on his face that he had never seen before. At that moment, the vague anxiety he had been feeling suddenly materialised.

Formally, they were considered partners. But deep down, Amane might not recognize him as his partner. For the past two months, that doubt had lingered in his mind.

And it was not just his imagination.

Deep in Amane’s heart, Odagiri—his permanent partner who would never return—remained.

Kouki stood there speechless, struck by the ironic twist of fate that the highest wall he couldn’t overcome was also his saviour.

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*Translator’s Note: I told you before, didn’t I? I feel that the person Kariya-kun’s been talking about must be related to Honjou-san. I’m right! But now he’s jealous of his own hero 😅… Well, he’ll be jealous of every single thing. You guys’ll find out just how possessive he is towards Honjou-san. -K

Next update: 2025.02.09

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