TBITW Chapter 25

Chapter 25 – Non-citizen

Main Story 2, Chapter 1, Part 2

Novel Title: 獣はかくして交わる (The Beasts Intertwine This Way)

Author：沙野 風結子 (Fuyuko Sano)

Illustrator：小山田 あみ (Oyamada Ami)

Translator: K (@kin0monogatari)

Protagonists: 鹿倉 陣也 (Kagura Jinya -MC) & ゼロ (Zero -ML)

*Please read at novels.space, the original site of translation. TQ*

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The common thread was that they had all grown up as unregistered children.

“We should get moving; if we keep chatting, we might attract more trouble,” the man in the suit gestured.

The boy added a new knife to his juggling set and started walking.

The wrestler-like man took the time to stomp on each of the five fallen men before joining them.

The four of them got into a van parked around the corner. Inside, Kagura took a seat in the rear facing seats, where the other three were seated, while the man in the suit slid into the driver’s seat and, contrary to his appearance, roughly started the van.

“So, were you tailing me?” Kagura asked.

The wrestler-like man gave a slow nod.

“On Zero’s orders?”

The boy sharpening his knife looked over. His eyes, possibly coloured with contacts, were a light grey.

“To think that Zero would give special treatment to a ‘Kokumin.’”

“Kokumin?”

The boy pointed the sharp tip of his knife at Kagura.

“A Japanese national.”

Next, the tip of the knife pointed toward the three members of Enwu.

“Non-citizens.”

The man in the suit in the driver’s seat added, “It means we belong to no country on Earth.”

Since they were undocumented, that was indeed the case.

“I was surprised when I heard from Zero that he told you about this.”

“Yeah, no kidding. Telling this to a ‘citizen,’ especially one on the police force.”

Their reaction was understandable.

Zero had revealed a core secret of the organisation, Enwu, to someone on the side of state authority.

“We’re no one from nowhere.”

The wrestler-like man said this, then corrected himself.

“We were no one from nowhere.”

The boy, gazing at his reflection on the gleaming blade, narrowed his eyes contentedly.

“Now, I’m ‘Haiiro’ of Enwu.”

Haiiro was likely the ‘name’ that referred to the boy. It was not the kind of real name that Japanese nationals would use.

Haiiro continued, introducing the wrestler-like man as ‘Riki of Enwu’ and the man in the suit as ‘Kataware of Enwu’.

Their families were probably never a place they could rely on. If they hadn’t been registered as children, there must have been severe circumstances, or perhaps their parents had been criminally negligent.

Thus, not even their families, the smallest social unit, provided them with a home. They drifted through society as people who officially didn’t exist, eventually converging at Enwu, somehow along the way.

―――‘Non-citizens’, huh?

When Haiiro said that, there was no bitterness on his face. Yet, when he categorised Kagura as a ‘citizen’, a mocking expression appeared.

How did they see him―――someone who was a ‘citizen’?

“Don’t get the wrong idea.”

As Kagura was about to get out of the car near his apartment in Kamiyacho, Haiiro spoke with a half-smirk.

“No matter if you’re a ‘citizen’ or a ‘non-citizen,’ it all ends the same. When that time comes, I’ll slice you up nice and clean.”

Watching the van drive away, Kagura felt a dampness on his skin.

He looked up and around.

The smoke-like rain was only visible in the narrow area illuminated by the streetlamp. In the night sky and once it fell to the ground, Kagura couldn’t discern each drop individually.

He stared at the darkened asphalt beneath his feet, realising that he was searching for Zero there.

Recently, when he let his guard down, this had been happening frequently.

Even in the shadows of minor things, he would find Zero and start thinking about him.

Where was he born? Who were his parents? Why is he undocumented? How did he grow up? How did he build Enwu? What shape does his world take?

As he began to get caught up in these thoughts, he shook his head and looked up.

They both carried the same purpose: to destroy the Eastern Alliance. There was no need to understand each other fully, from start to finish. That was something even ‘citizens’ would find difficult.

He had known Haruka, who grew up like a sibling to him, well. He knew what kind of family she came from, what school she attended, her likes and dislikes, and her way of life. Yet, he had been unable to understand the vast, dark part of her that was most significant. By taking at face value only the parts she showed on the surface, he had left her to suffer alone.

It must happen often, whether with family, lovers, or friends.

That’s just how things are. … But even so, he couldn’t let it go or pretend it didn’t matter. The regret wouldn’t disappear.

That regret built a defensive wall within Kagura, surrounding his relationships with friends and lovers alike. He knew he could never fully know another person. By keeping a detached perspective rather than assuming he knew them, perhaps he’d notice the smaller signs.

He couldn’t save Haruka.

Xuan, who was almost like Haruka being brought back to life, had been saved. It was all thanks to Zero.

“Zero…”

It’s difficult to maintain a defensive wall of detachment around that man.

In the small, visible scope of things, he finds himself wanting to understand him.

He wants to know him more, connect with him more deeply, and be intertwined with him more fully.

“A ‘citizen’ or a ‘non-citizen,’ it all ends the same.”

The end doesn’t matter.

When their time comes, it will be because one of them has fallen along the way, or because they’ve managed to destroy the Eastern Alliance. If that purpose is fulfilled, then even being carved up by Haiiro’s knife would be a worthy end.

He had always understood that getting closer to Zero means moving closer to death.

And yet, he made his choice.

“… Until then, I’ll connect with him as fully as I can.”

The rain-dampened asphalt felt softer than usual beneath his feet.

To avoid slipping on it, Kagura gradually quickened his pace, running through the drizzle toward his apartment.

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*Translator’s Note: They probably see ‘citizens’ as sheltered from the real dark side of the world. -K

Next update: 28th Sept 2025. If you see no updates, wait for announcement on Discord

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