RL Chapter 5

Chapter 5 – Stakeout

Resonance 1, Part 1

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*

֍֍֍

Central City—Downtown East District—12:10 PM

Seen through the van’s windshield is a cramped and cluttered townscape, where cheaply built apartments stand side by side. There was barely any space between them. Even with the windows shut, the annoying clatter of machinery from nearby factories can be heard.

Men in work clothes lazily shuffle past the parking lot, either heading to the nearby diner for lunch or maybe to a convenience store. Behind them, an elderly woman with a hunched back pushes a silver cart, moving at a snail’s pace. Once the old woman, who keeps her head down, has slowly passed by, a pair of young elementary school girls with backpacks come running by in contrast. Their high-pitched laughter echoed as they skipped along. —It’s an ordinary downtown scene… honestly, Amane has grown tired of it.

“Uwaaaa…” With the passenger seat reclined at a 45-degree angle and his high-top sneakers propped up on the dashboard, he lets out a big yawn. After yawning twice in quick succession, Amane wipes the tears that had formed at the corners of his eyes with his fingers.

“Damn, I’m so sleepy…”

(It’s because I’m not well-rested and just kept dreaming during that nap earlier…)

He had a dream about his childhood for the first time in a while.

It’s the third day of snatching sleep in bits and pieces in the back seat of the van. His body must be more exhausted than he realised. Maybe that’s why he dreamed about his past—the time when he was an orphan living in the slums, probably due to the cramped sleeping position.

(Back then, we were packed in like sardines, sleeping on that filthy floor.)

His head still feels hazy, as if half-covered in fog. He wants a cigarette to wake himself up. But opening the window would cause the smoke to drift outside and draw unwanted attention. Standing out during a stakeout is forbidden. Though his colleagues in the detective division might call him ‘reckless’ behind his back, he knows better than to break this rule.

“Tch.”

To distract himself from the irritation of not being able to smoke, he fiddles with the three piercings and ear cuffs lined up on his left ear. But he soon grows bored of that. So he pulls an oil lighter out of his pants pocket. As a way to keep his hands busy, he flips it open with a click and then snaps it shut, repeating this five times before his eyes drift down to the palm of his left hand.

“…It’s gotten quite faint.”

A faint pink scar running diagonally across his palm has become so light that, unless observed closely, it’s hard to tell it’s a burn mark. But that’s only natural—it’s been twenty years since then.

Yet, no matter how faint the burn mark becomes, the memory of that day remains vivid. It was etched into his mind.

It was the day when he left the slums after holding a solitary memorial for his best friend and sought refuge at the Midtown church.

Fortunately, the nun who answered the door was a kind person. Sympathising with his circumstances as an orphan from the slums, she helped him in many ways. With her long-standing experience as a nun, she arranged for him to be admitted into a children’s care facility run by the church. From there, he was able to attend school.

He lived at the children’s care facility until he graduated middle school. From age sixteen, the nun became his guardian, allowing him to start living on his own. Although the facility allowed children to stay until they were eighteen, he left at sixteen because he didn’t know when his heat cycle would begin.

He started attending high school on a scholarship while at the same time, took on a part-time job to cover his living expenses. Once he’d saved up enough money, he made his first stop at a shady doctor in Deep Downtown. The old man, who he hadn’t seen in years, recognized him. He adjusted his slipping reading glasses and peered at Amane’s face curiously.

―――Well, I’ll be damned. How many years has it been? You’re still alive, huh? Haven’t seen you around in years, thought you might’ve died. What about your other half? Did he die?

Without answering that question, he showed the man the cash. 

Six years ago, if he’d had this much money, could he have saved Amane? Or would the outcome have been the same no matter what he did? He would never know the answer for the rest of his life.

Still, fulfilling Amane’s last words— ‘Live for me too’ —living in his stead, was something he believed to be his mission.

The moment he saw the cash, the old man’s sunken eyes flashed as he asked, “What do you want?”

―――Suppressants.

Without probing any further, the old man handed over a three-month supply of pills in exchange for the cash. The residents living in Deep Downtown all carry dark secrets from their past. The elderly doctor was no exception.

As Amane left the back-alley doctor’s office, he gripped the sheet of pills tightly in his hand while standing in the dim hallway.

Now, he would be fine whenever his heat came.

He still vividly remembers how he almost collapsed from relief.

His first heat arrived about a year later. He immediately took the pills. When he confirmed that they truly suppressed his omega pheromones, he felt a profound sense of relief.

As long as he had the pills, he could pursue the path he wanted.

By then, he had already decided to go to university and become a police officer after graduation.

The more he learned about how the world works through education, the more he realised the reality that power is concentrated in the hands of alphas with superior genes and that they control society. The caste system with these established elites at the top would not change, no matter which political party was in power.

After all, the politicians were just puppets.

The prejudice against omegas that is ingrained in society’s consciousness would never go away.

֍֍֍

*Translator’s Note: Kariya-san will be in the picture soon. Teehee. -K

Next update: 2025.01.06

֍֍֍