RH Chapter 11

Chapter 11 – A Wild Beast

Resonance 2, Part 3

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*

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There was no doubt that this was an insult directed at him. Amane was looking at him with a disdainful gaze.

This was the second time he had been told he wouldn’t last even three days. It had only been a little over half an hour, and he had already heard it twice.

Irritated by the repeated dismissal, Kouki glared at the fair-faced man. Amane turned to face him directly, glaring back fiercely.

“What’s with that face? Do you have something to say?”

Kouki gestured to the scattered trash on the floor.

“Please pick up the trash. It’s the trash you scattered.”

Amane let out a surprised “Huh?” with a puzzled expression. He then asked, “Are you an idiot?”

“I’m not an idiot,” Kouki replied immediately.

“What? You’re just a rookie, and you’re ordering me around? That’s idiotic, isn’t it?”

“There is no distinction between a newcomer and a veteran when it comes to correcting mistakes. You should clean up what you’ve done yourself. Even a child would understand this common sense. Please pick up the trash.”

Kouki repeated firmly and calmly. The fair-faced man’s expression quickly darkened.

Visibly irritated, with a murderous glint in his eyes, he glared at Kouki. Kouki met his gaze without flinching. He knew instinctively that if he backed down now, it would be the end.

The tense silence hung over the floor, with neither of them speaking. The intense aura Amane was exuding was different from an Alpha’s. But his gaze was equally powerful. The slightest wavering would mean defeat.

Kouki tensed his core, puffed out his chest, and continued to deflect the strong gaze with his own determination. How long had they been engaged in this silent battle?

Suddenly, Amane clicked his tongue.

“Damn insolent brat!”

With a scornful tone, he turned on his heel and started to leave. Kouki tried to stop him.

“Please wait!”

But Amane shouted back, “Don’t follow me!”

“If you follow me… I’ll kill you.”

Intimidated by the low, threatening tone, Kouki froze. The black eyes held genuine murderous intent.

Amane left the floor. As soon as he was out of sight, the surrounding officers let out sighs of relief.

“That was intense.”

“I thought he was going to get his throat ripped out.”

The officers, who had been acting as spectators, gathered around as they murmured.

“…You’re amazing. Standing up to Honjou like that.”

The person who spoke was an officer from Squad One, wearing glasses. His name was probably Kagami or Kaneto. His face was a little flushed, possibly from excitement.

“I didn’t mean to stand up to him.” 

“Come on. You stood your ground and didn’t back down even once. That’s impressive!”

The one who spoke in an upbeat tone was Seo.

“There was this aura around you, like you were on equal footing with Honjou! I’ve never seen anyone make him back off except for the boss.”

A few others in the group nodded in agreement.

“When I heard you were paired with Honjou, I thought you’d be crushed immediately. But you might actually be able to handle it.”

“But it seems like I’ve only made him angrier.”

Amane was already annoyed from having a burden shoved onto him, and now Kouki had probably made things worse.

He thought back that perhaps he should have played it safe, considering what’s to come. But he couldn’t tolerate his arrogant and inconsiderate attitude any longer.

No matter how good someone is at their job, he couldn’t respect someone who took their anger out on objects and called others idiots.

“Don’t worry about it.”

The supervisor of Squad One, Kuroki, patted him on the back.

“That’s just how he normally is.”

“Yeah. He’s like a wild beast that can’t be tamed or made to trust anyone.”

Seo agreed.

“…A wild beast.”

Kouki echoed Seo’s words, mulling them over.

A wild and ferocious beast, with incomparable beauty.

This was the fateful encounter with Honjou Amane that would greatly change Kouki’s destiny.

***

The unidentified body was discovered in the early morning, two days after that cocky rookie was pushed onto him.

Amane had been sleeping at home when he received the call and headed straight to the scene rather than stopping by the D-East Police Station. It was closer and faster that way.

By the time Amane arrived at the scene, the pedestrian bridge had already been cordoned off with yellow barricade tape, and traffic was blocked. Two patrol cars and an ambulance were parked on the shoulder. A few uniformed officers were keeping onlookers away.

“I’m Honjou from the D-East Police Station’s Criminal Investigation Department.”

Amane showed his police badge to the officers and ducked under the barricade tape. Inside the blue tent that covered the scene, forensic investigators were bustling around.

“Honjou, you’re here.”

Kuroki, the supervisor of Squad One, noticed Amane and approached him.

“The victim is a young man. Estimated time of death is around 4 a.m. It seems he fell from the top of the pedestrian bridge.”

This left the possibility of either an accident or a crime.

“Do we suspect foul play?”

“We won’t know for sure until the autopsy. But… there are strangulation marks on his neck.”

“Ligature marks?”

Ligature marks refer to the traces left by a cord or rope used to strangle someone.

“No, it’s manual strangulation.”

Manual strangulation is when the neck is compressed by hands or arms.

“So it’s a murder by strangulation?”

“We can’t jump to conclusions. All we know is that there are marks consistent with being strangled by fingers. The cause of death will be determined after the autopsy.”

As Kuroki reiterated the basics of the investigation, a voice came from behind, “I’ve finished questioning the first witness.”

The voice was low yet resonant. It instantly irritated Amane.

He didn’t need to turn around to know. It was that annoying kid—Kariya Kouki.

Amane glanced over and met Kouki’s gaze. The rookie, dressed in a three-piece suit, was already looking at him. However, he quickly averted his eyes.

He turned his attention back to Kuroki and began reporting from his notebook.

“The time of discovery was around 6 a.m. The first witness, a woman out for an early morning jog, noticed what looked like a person lying at the bottom of the pedestrian bridge. Upon approaching, she found a young man face down, bleeding heavily. She called out to him, but there was no response. So she used her phone to contact the police. She stated she did not touch or move the body until the police and paramedics arrived.”

Kuroki nodded at the smooth report. “Good work.”

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*Translator’s Note: Their first case has started. I’m excited! -K

Next update: 2024.11.29

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