RL Chapter 51

Chapter 51 – Too Naïve

Resonance 7, 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*

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Kouki, sitting at his desk in the Criminal Affairs Division, booted up his laptop and immediately began pounding on the keyboard with intense focus. Exactly thirty minutes later, he stopped typing and stood up. He strode over to the printer, grabbed a stack of printouts from the output tray, and marched directly to his Squad Supervisor, Kuroki’s desk.

“It’s done.”

Kuroki, who had been typing up a document on his own computer, swivelled his chair to look at Kouki.

“The work you asked for is finished.”

“Whoa… it’s done already?!”

Kuroki let out a delayed gasp of astonishment. Pressuring him from the front, Kouki added, “Please confirm it.”

“Oh… right.”

Glancing over the printouts, Kuroki mumbled, “Yeah, perfect. Not a single issue,” still wearing a slightly surprised expression.

“Amazing. At that speed, and with such accuracy—no typos or errors.”

As Kuroki voiced his admiration, Kouki responded, “If there are no problems, I’ll upload this data to the department’s shared server,” and immediately returned to his desk. Without sitting down, he operated his laptop from a half-bow position.

“I’ve uploaded it.”

While reporting this, Kouki powered down his laptop and quickly prepared to leave.

“Honjou-san is waiting for me, so I’ll excuse myself.”

He made it clear to the entire office that he wouldn’t be staying for any more overtime, then left his desk.

As he walked past, Kuroki turned his chair again.

“Thanks for the hard work. Thanks to you, we might just make it in time. You’ve been a great help.”

Without stopping, Kouki replied, “I’m glad to hear that. I’ll be taking my leave,” smiling brightly as he exited the office.

The moment he stepped into the hallway, he pulled out his phone and called Amane.

However, only the dial tone rang out with no answer. As the number of rings reached “7,” “8,” and then “9,” an unsettling feeling began to grow, making the back of Kouki’s neck tingle. After counting to “12,” the call abruptly switched to voicemail.

“Hello? It’s Kariya. I’ve just finished the work with our supervisor. Where are you? Please call me back.”

Though he left the message, he didn’t really expect Amane to return the call. With a growing sense of unease, Kouki couldn’t sit still anymore. He dashed down the hallway, phone in hand.

For the time being, while waiting for a callback, he decided to search the precinct.

Starting with the most likely place, the rooftop, he thoroughly searched down to the second basement parking lot. But Amane was nowhere to be found. He stopped random colleagues along the way, asking, “Have you seen Honjou-san?” but was met with nothing but shaking heads.

When his search proved fruitless, Kouki found himself back on the second-floor hallway, where the Criminal Affairs Division was located. A phrase Amane had said suddenly resurfaced in his mind—something uncharacteristic of him.

―――We’re all in this together, right? We’re colleagues in the same team.

Even then, Amane had likely been planning to act on his own, without Kouki.

(…I was too naïve.)

Standing frozen in the middle of the hallway, Kouki gazed up at the ceiling in frustration.

(Come to think of it, that guy never listens to what I say. Especially not today, of all days.)

Though he’d been ignored all morning, to the point that his mental state was in shreds, Kouki knew it was his own fault, so he accepted it as inevitable. He had done his best to maintain a calm exterior to avoid raising any suspicion from his coworkers. But in truth, the shock of Amane’s ‘dissolving our partnership’ declaration had left him sleepless. He was consumed with guilt and self-hatred. His mind and body were battered and exhausted. Even so, he hadn’t stopped keeping an eye on Amane. As if waiting for the clock to strike the end of the workday, Amane had left the office, and Kouki had followed him. He had a gut feeling Amane was going to meet with Kourogi.

Although Amane hadn’t mentioned obtaining Kourogi’s contact information last night, Kouki knew that Kourogi, a talent agent, wouldn’t overlook someone as exceptional as Amane.

Most likely, after leaving Shutou’s mansion without Kouki, Amane had reached out to Kourogi and set up today’s appointment.

Sure enough, Kouki’s hunch was right.

He had begged to be brought along, but the answer was no. Even when Kouki asserted that he had been the one entrusted with Aya’s case, Amane countered, saying he was the one who had obtained Kourogi’s contact details. 

―――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. 

There was no room for argument. It was true that he had lost his composure out of jealousy. He had failed as a detective. There was no excuse for that.

But more than anything, Kouki wanted to avoid putting Amane in any further danger regarding Aya’s case.

Like during the suspicious death of the high-class male escort, Shou, Amane had a tendency to risk his life for Omegas, disregarding his own safety. Of course, this was likely due to the fact that Amane himself was born a Stray Omega.

Though he might appear rough and unorthodox at first glance, deep down, Amane had a sense of justice stronger than anyone. He was always trying to save those in dire circumstances.

He couldn’t stand to see the socially weak being trampled by the strong.

The desire to save someone suffering under unjust circumstances was something Kouki also shared. That’s why he became a police officer. He believed all officers felt the same. But the issue was that Amane lost his cool when it came to anything involving Omegas.

Pushed by his concern over Amane’s tendency to act alone, Kouki found himself bowing deeply. As an Alpha, bowing in front of others was considered disgraceful. But for this person, he was willing to cast aside such pride.

―――Please. Just for Aya’s case, work with me.

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

In truth, he didn’t want to terminate it at all. But in that situation, he had no choice but to say so.

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*Translator’s Note: When we have a non-scum alpha in Omegaverse, it’s a good feeling. -K

Next update: 2025.02.21

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