RL Chapter 49

Chapter 49 – A Twinge of Pain

Resonance 6, Part 4

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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“Aya’s case is something Mizuki asked me to handle. You know that, don’t you, Honjou-san?”

When Kouki asserted his right to be involved, Amane shot back, “I’m the one who got Kourogi’s contact information.”

“Besides, last night, you let your personal feelings interfere, messed up my operation, and even scared off Kourogi by glaring at him. If I bring you along, he’ll be on guard. So, the answer is no.”

Kouki’s expression shifted, as though he wanted to argue. But in the end, no words left his mouth.

Of course. No matter how thick-skinned he was, after disobeying orders and doing whatever he pleased last night, there was nothing more he could say.

Feeling the conversation was over, Amane gestured with his chin for Kouki to step aside. But Kouki didn’t budge from the middle of the hallway. Clicking his tongue in irritation, Amane walked around him and continued on his way. After taking a few steps, he heard Kouki call from behind.

“Honjou-san!”

“Please!”

“…What now?”

Amane begrudgingly turned around, but what he saw made him freeze on the spot.

Kouki had his arms tightly aligned with his sides, bending his body at a perfect right angle as he deeply bowed his head.

(Seriously…? This is the first time I’ve seen an alpha bow their head to someone.)

Surprised by the sight of an alpha abandoning their towering pride, Amane’s eyes widened as Kouki slowly raised his head.

“Please. Just for Aya’s case, work with me. Last night, it was my fault. I broke my promise and touched you, and that’s what caused everything. I truly regret it. I know that apologising won’t make it right, and I understand if you want to dissolve our partnership.”

Kouki said all this in one breath, his eyebrows furrowed as he fell silent. His eyes reflected the inner turmoil he was grappling with for a while. But he seemed to have finally made up his mind.

“Once this case is resolved… I’ll ask Onizuka-sama to dissolve our partnership myself.”

At that moment, Amane felt a small twinge of pain in his chest, causing his eyebrows to twitch.

(What is this?)

Kouki, who had clung to him like a leech no matter how much Amane had rejected or cursed him, was finally letting go.

If Kouki, a member of the influential Shutou family, officially requested to dissolve the partnership, neither Onizuka nor the upper management at D-East Station would be able to refuse.

Amane knew that the upper management had paired him with Kouki, expecting the newcomer to resign quickly, unable to handle the gruelling and dirty investigations. However, far from quitting, Kouki had shown remarkable motivation and even produced results. This unexpected turn of events likely had the higher-ups considering other options now.

Amane was finally going to be freed from babysitting this cocky rookie, returning to the carefree life of a lone wolf.

He should have felt more relieved, even exhilarated. But for some reason, his heart wasn’t at ease. Something felt off. To make matters worse, a dull weight was gradually forming in his stomach.

(Did that Chinese food I had at lunch not agree with me?)

While pondering the cause of his discomfort, Amane responded, “Alright.”

“Aya’s case will be the last one we work on together. Is that fine?”

Kouki nodded at Amane’s confirmation, his eyes narrowing with a touch of sadness as he said, “Thank you.”

Kouki, who was usually so stubborn, was being far too agreeable. It made Amane’s neck tingle with unease.

As Amane stared at Kouki’s sorrowful face, feeling unsettled, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed from behind.

“Kariya.”

Both of them turned around at the same time, causing the tall man about three metres away in the hallway to stop in his tracks, looking startled. It was Kuroki, the Squad Supervisor of Squad One Amane and Kouki were part of.

Kuroki, regaining his composure, resumed walking and asked, “Am I interrupting?”

“…No.” Kouki turned to face Kuroki and denied it.

“I see. Sorry to bother you. But could you help me with some paperwork? We need to send the suspect we’re handling today, but we’re short on staff.”

“I’m sorry, but today…”

Before Kouki could finish apologising, Amane cut him off, saying, “Use him as you like.”

“…Honjou-san?”

Kouki frowned. But Amane pressed on, “We’re all in this together, right? We’re colleagues in the same team.”

Kouki, clearly dissatisfied, kept his mouth shut, neither agreeing nor disagreeing. It was likely because of Kuroki’s presence.

“Are you sure? That would be a big help. Kariya is worth a hundred men,” Kuroki said with relief in his voice.

“We don’t have any urgent cases right now, so feel free to use him as much as you need.”

Kuroki looked a little perplexed at Amane’s uncharacteristic friendliness. But the urgency of the suspect’s deadline seemed to outweigh his confusion. With a gesture of gratitude, Kuroki asked Kouki, “Sorry to keep you late, but can you do this?”

It’s hard for any junior officer to refuse when the Squad Supervisor himself asks for help, especially for a rookie like Kouki. Resigned to his fate, Kouki replied, “Okay.”

Immediately after agreeing, Kouki leaned in close to Amane’s ear and whispered quietly, “I’ll wrap this up in an hour… no, thirty minutes. Please stay in the station until then.”

“Got it. I’ll kill some time. Now go quickly.”

Amane watched as Kouki and Kuroki headed back to the floor, then swiftly turned around. He descended the stairs with light steps, sticking out his tongue.

“Who’s going to wait? Idiot.”

***

Amane left the station and headed for a luxury hotel lounge in High Midtown. The hotel, designated by Kourogi, was just a three-minute walk from the subway station via an underground passage. After taking the subway from the nearest station to D-East Station, Amane passed through the ticket gates at his destination and began walking through the underground passage.

It was pure luck that Kuroki had taken Kouki away at that exact moment. For Kouki, his high deskwork abilities had backfired on him.

Amane had ditched Kouki to avoid the disadvantage of taking him to the meeting spot. He had already pointed this out to Kouki. But considering it was just the day after, there was a high possibility that Kourogi would remember Kouki’s face. If the guy who glared at him last night showed up again, Kourogi would become suspicious of Amane as well. Besides, the moment Kourogi realised Amane had a companion, he would certainly shut down emotionally.

Even if Amane had ordered Kouki to “watch from a distance and stay unnoticed,” there was always the risk that Kouki’s emotions would get the better of him, making him act on personal feelings rather than duty. The super rookie was certainly exceptionally talented, but experience couldn’t be replaced by raw ability. Especially in cases involving ‘soulmates’, Kouki’s lack of self-control had already been proven last night.

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*Translator’s Note: That bow was the most respectful bow. You know…a 90° bow. I would only bow like that to my boss or my Taekwondo coach. So, yeah… Kariya-kun had kept his pride as low as possible for Honjou-san. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is… And… I don’t like that Honjou-san is going alone. I got a bad feeling about this. -K

Next update: 2025.02.19

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