Chapter 39 – Reset Things
Chapter 6, Part 6
Novel Title: 融愛~Melt Down~ (Melted Love ~Melt Down~)
Author：風結子 沙野 (Fuyuko Sano)
Illustrator：雅良 水名瀬 (Masara Minase)
Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)
Protagonists: 葉越海理 (Yougoshi Kairi -MC), 葉越翼久 (Yougoshi Tasuku -ML)
*Please read at Novels Space.space, the original site of translation. TQ*
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He directed a condemning glare at Tatsuya.
“So, you admit it? You were turning your own customers into drug addicts.”
Tatsuya must have been selling illegal drugs to his clients, encouraging them to visit ‘Blossom’ frequently in their desperation for more. Kairi had heard from Tasuku that many of the big spenders at host clubs were sex workers. And no doubt, drugs were an effective way to fill the void in their hearts.
A dealer and host like Tatsuya could make his clients spend double the money.
“So what if I did?!”
Tatsuya reached for the table and grabbed a tall glass. He swung it down, smashing the rim against the corner of the table. The sharp sound of breaking glass reverberated through the room, echoing like a scream.
“I’ll make sure you never feel like playing detective again.”
With a twisted smile, Tatsuya licked the sharp, jagged edge of the broken glass. From Kairi’s view on the floor, he looked vicious, like a demon.
“T-Tatsuya-san…!”
Youhei’s voice cracked as he tried to stop Tatsuya. Tatsuya shook him off and yelled at him.
“If this guy rats me out to the cops, you’re finished too! If by any chance I get caught, I’ll make sure they know you were doing the same thing. Why are you suddenly acting all innocent? You’re the one who stashed the drugs in Tsubasa’s locker!”
“T-That was only because you told me to put them in Tsubasa-san’s locker…”
It seemed that not only Tatsuya, but Youhei too, had been using drugs to lure in customers.
When the police raided ‘Blossom’, Tatsuya had ordered Youhei to hide their drugs in Tasuku’s locker. The police confiscated them, and Tasuku was accused of dealing illegal drugs.
――Tasuku is absolutely innocent!
Even though he was innocent, there was a chance he would be convicted.
Tasuku himself had resigned to his fate, believing the police wouldn’t take a host’s word seriously. He was ready to accept the false accusation.
Tasuku was within walking distance from here. He was likely being interrogated by the police right now, pressured into confessing a crime he didn’t commit. Kairi clenched his teeth so hard they creaked.
“…No way.”
Kairi glared fiercely at Tatsuya with eyes brimming with unshed tears.
“I will never let my brother be sacrificed. I’ll keep appealing to the police until the truth comes out.”
“You bastard!”
Tatsuya clicked his tongue furiously and raised the broken glass high into the air. His murky eyes focused on Kairi’s neck. He swung his arm down in one swift motion.
Kairi quickly raised his arm to shield his neck and squeezed his eyes shut.
But the broken glass never pierced his arm.
Instead, there was a dull thud, and Tatsuya’s body collapsed on top of him.
“What the…?”
Kairi hurriedly opened his eyes and saw Youhei standing over him, holding a white vase in one hand. Dozens of red roses were scattered around them.
It seemed Youhei had hit Tatsuya in the back of the head with the decorative vase.
As Tatsuya groaned, Kairi wriggled out from under his heavy body and checked the back of his head. There didn’t appear to be any bleeding. Kairi then pulled off his tie and used it to bind Tatsuya’s wrists behind his back while he lay face down.
Still holding the vase, Youhei collapsed to his knees on the floor.
Kairi gently removed the vase from Youhei’s stiff fingers and set it down on the floor.
Youhei, still dazed, began muttering in a low voice.
“Ever since I became a host, nothing went well at first… But after learning from Tatsuya-san, I started getting customers… Girls from the sex industry got hooked, kept coming back… I felt like I finally had some worth—”
As he spoke, Youhei began to perform strange gestures.
He lifted his hands in front of his solar plexus, repeating a motion as if he was tightly twisting something with his right hand.
“But deep down, I knew. It wasn’t me who had the worth. It was the drugs. And I knew… each time they came back, those girls got skinnier and started acting weird… I knew I was losing it too.”
“…You were using drugs yourself, weren’t you?”
At Kairi’s murmured words, Youhei looked at him.
“It made things fun… and easier. It was like magic.”
Youhei continued his bizarre, jerky movements, like a broken toy, as he pleaded with Kairi, like a child.
“Because I had to live all on my own.”
“······”
Kairi hated drugs. He didn’t know what kind of life Youhei had led. But at that moment, he couldn’t bring himself to scold or despise him.
“Tsubasa-san is lucky… He’s got a brother who believes in him and helps him like this. It’s beautiful, really.”
“We argued and I misunderstood things about him. We’re not exactly the best of brothers.”
Kairi smiled wryly. But Youhei looked at him with a serious expression and asked, “But, he’s really important to you, right? You’re really worried about him, aren’t you?”
“…Yeah. More than anyone. I’m going out of my mind with worry right now.”
Those were Kairi’s honest feelings.
“I see… Yeah, that’s nice.”
Youhei mumbled with a face like he was about to cry, like a child on the verge of tears.
A long silence followed. Then, Youhei’s dry lips moved again.
“I’ll tell the police the truth.”
“What?”
“That time I got into that brawl, I was high on drugs, having a bad trip. The only reason I didn’t get arrested back then was because Tsubasa-san helped me. That was probably the first time anyone ever helped me. Before that, I was always the one who got ditched and beaten up when things went south. So this time, I have to help Tsubasa-san. It might sound weird coming from me. But… as a human being, I have to… reset things… I wonder if I can still make things right…”
His speech was slurred and disjointed.
But perhaps because of its instability, Kairi could feel how close Youhei was to the edge.
For better or worse, the turning points in life often come during desperate situations.
Kairi placed his hand on Youhei’s shoulder, gripping it gently.
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*GLOSSARY:
- Onii-san / Onii-chan / Nii-san / Nii-chan / Aniki = (Big/Elder) Brother
☝🏻I’ll be using these throughout my translation.
Next update: 2025.02.03
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