RH Chapter 27

Chapter 27 – ‘Soulmates’

Resonance 5, Part 6

Novel Title: 共鳴発情 オメガバース (Resonance Heat: 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 Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

֍֍֍

This was as good as a confession. With that cleared up, a new mystery emerged – the fact that Amane was an omega.

“But omegas aren’t normally allowed to join the police force, are they?”

Amane remained silent.

“Honjou-san, you need to be fully honest with me if you want me to be able to handle this properly and protect your secret.”

Amane’s expression turned sullen. But he eventually reached into the pocket of the mod coat draped over the sofa and produced a police ID. On it was Amane’s photo and a 9-digit citizen number starting with β.

“A beta citizen number?”

“This number doesn’t belong to me. It’s from my childhood friend, who was a beta. When he died in front of me at the age of 10, I… took over his life. In other words, I’ve been parasitizing on someone else’s existence.”

Swallowing hard, Kouki realised the implication.

“So you’re… a Stray Omega.”

Though Kouki had deduced the answer from Amane’s circumstances, having it confirmed still shocked him. If he hadn’t experienced their intimacy firsthand, he might not have believed it – Amane hid his omega nature so well, with nothing outwardly revealing it.

But now the reason for Amane’s obsession with the Shou case was clear. As long as society saw Stray Omegas as the lowest caste, the cycle of hardship would never improve. But just because they were at the bottom didn’t mean they deserved to die.

Amane, as a Stray Omega himself, had experienced that harsh reality. Which is why he couldn’t let Shou’s death go.

Still, usurping someone else’s citizen number and life was clearly illegal. If this came to light, Amane would be arrested and face a lengthy sentence. This was a weighty secret that could determine the fate of the man known as Honjou Amane.

Mulling over the gravity of it all, Kouki asked the next question.

“How do you… manage your heats?”

Professions directly involved with life and death, like medical workers, firefighters, and police officers, Omegas were barred from those jobs due to their monthly week-long heats. While suppressant drugs could control it, they weren’t 100% reliable. Omegas had to take a daily pill during their heat. But even a simple oversight or inability to take the medication could trigger an unexpected heat.

“I get black market suppressants. I’m a pro at this, no mistakes.”

“But earlier…-“

“-It was an accident,” Amane cut him off sharply.

“I was taking the meds properly… But the effect wore off. This has never happened before.”

Seeming to bitterly regret his own failure, Amane bit down hard on the cigarette filter. His expression looked pained.

Even during his heat episode, Amane had made Kouki wear protection. Letting themselves be swept away by pleasure and climaxing inside would have risked pregnancy. It was an impressive display of self-control.

Likely, Amane had been suppressing his omega nature this way all along – concealing his true self, keeping others at a distance with his acerbic tongue, and maintaining a lone wolf persona. That was the only way he could continue being a police officer.

Thinking of the loneliness Amane must have endured while guarding this secret, Kouki’s heart ached with empathy.

“Honjou-san,” he called, meeting the man’s gaze as he stood behind the sofa. “For me, what we just did was a special experience. Was it the same for you?”

Amane remained silent, continuing to puff on his cigarette without answering.

Kouki wasn’t sure about Amane’s past partners or if he had a regular lover now. Amane’s asshole had been very tight. But that didn’t necessarily mean that was his first time or his first in a long while. Kouki might have just been one of hundreds Amane had been with.

Yet, even if that was the case, the intimacy they had just shared must have held some significance for Amane as well.

The moment they touched, it was as if a trigger had been pulled. There were electric currents running through them, trembling, sweating, feverish… consumed by uncontrollable desire, desperately seeking each other. No, desiring each other.

Kouki’s first rut had been triggered because Amane was someone ‘special’ to him. It was a chemical reaction of sorts.

Emboldened by this intuitive conviction, Kouki voiced a possibility.

“Could it be… that we’re ‘soulmates’?”

The profound bond between a destined alpha and omega; that was what was known as ‘soulmates’.

“‘Soulmates’, you say? How dramatic.”

Amane clearly didn’t take Kouki’s earnest proposal seriously.

“You actually believe in that urban legend crap?”

Amane scoffed derisively. Undeterred, Kouki insisted, “I don’t consider it an urban legend.”

Kouki had first learned about ‘soulmates’ when he was very young. A maid he had played with back then, an omega with rare beauty employed in his household, had often talked about it.

―――Doesn’t the idea of having a destined partner out there sound so romantic?

She had said this with her eyes shining with wonder. As a servant in an alpha’s manor, she had dreamed of one day encountering her ‘soulmate’.

Unfortunately, she had made the mistake of forgetting to take her suppressant pills and revealed her heat in front of Kouki, leading to her dismissal before that could happen.

But the concept of ‘soulmates’ had already taken root in Kouki’s mind. When his parents learned of this, they frowned disapprovingly. His father had strictly forbidden him from ever mentioning it again. His parents believed alphas should only be paired with other alphas, to maintain purity of bloodline – a common alpha mindset.

Even after that taboo, the imprint in Kouki’s mind never faded. While he had dated omega women as an adult, he had never encountered someone he truly felt was his ‘soulmate’ until now.

“Spare me. Just because we had sex once, don’t go getting delusional,” Amane said, grinding out his cigarette in the ashtray with clear distaste.

“I’ll admit, the sex with you wasn’t bad. I’ll give you that much.”

Though Kouki felt a momentary elation at the reluctant acknowledgement, Amane swiftly crushed it.

“But that’s just because alphas and omegas have good physical compatibility. Nothing more, nothing less.”

He was struck down so coldly.

While it was generally accepted that alphas and omegas had good sexual chemistry, Kouki’s previous experiences with omega women had been quite different.

“But with the omegas I’ve been with before, it wasn’t like this at all.”

“So what? I don’t care about your past sex life,” Amane snapped sharply.

It seemed Amane had no interest whatsoever in the possibility of them being ‘soulmates’.

“The accident was a one-time thing. I won’t be having sex with you again.”

“…!”

Kouki’s breath caught at the definitive statement. He was surprised to find himself feeling shocked at being told there wouldn’t be a second time.

֍֍֍

*Translator’s Note: I chose to use ‘soulmates’ though it can also be translated to ‘fated mates’. Btw, no second time? You think? 😏 -K

Next update: 2024.12.15

֍֍֍