Chapter 1 – Abandoned (Part 1)
Prologue, Part 1
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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⚠️Translator’s WARNING: Pardon me but really… Allow me to warn you guys at the beginning of this chapter unlike how I always do at the end in my T/N. Please DO NOT read this if you can’t handle non-consensual sexual relationships, incestious sex between REAL siblings, child abuse, physical abuse, drugs abuse, and teenagers sexual exploitation. I’ve read and translated pretty wild things before but this one, kinda next level for me. There are more fucked up stories of course. I’m just afraid you guys won’t be able to stomach this. If you’re not up for it, leave now so that I won’t receive people judging and commenting on things I don’t wanna hear when I’ve clearly warned you guys to stay away. Yes. This one’s fucked up. Incest is one of top tier most forbidden relationships in the world and I know some people are repulsed by it. But the more forbidden it is, for me, the more interesting it is. The more painful it is, the more exciting it is for me. I love possessive crazy psychopathic Semes. I’m not shy to admit it. Judge me anyway you like but just keep it to yourself lol. With that said, if you’re ready, jump into the novel and thanks for reading in advance. Phew! That was a long note. -K
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A small orange flame flickered as it burned, wavering like waves. A draft had blown in.
Feeling the sting of the cold midwinter air on his cheeks, Tasuku pulled the cold, floral-patterned futon up to his nose. His small body, wrapped in a worn-down jacket, shivered despite being a third grader.
When he got home from school today, the electricity had been cut off.
The gas was cut off three days ago. The water hadn’t been cut off yet. He couldn’t remember how long it had been since the phone was disconnected.
He did remember the last time he saw ‘that woman’. It was three weeks ago.
She was probably with another man again. Since Tasuku’s father, who was a long-haul truck driver, died in an accident a year ago, ‘that woman’ hardly ever came home, constantly changing men. It was not uncommon for her to be gone for a week at a time.
――But isn’t three weeks a new record?
He was glad that ‘that woman’ wasn’t coming back. But without her, even the bare minimum needed to survive would stop coming, which was a huge problem. She often neglected to pay rent and utilities, so gas and electricity would be cut off like this.
Still, it was quiet.
Tasuku looked around their house, illuminated by a single candle, with his round brown eyes.
He was currently in the living room, a 4 and a half tatami mat sized room with a kotatsu in the centre. The walls, except for those with doors and windows, were surrounded by dressers and shelves. Behind the sliding doors was a 3 tatami mat sized room where they laid out futons to sleep. Turning around, he could see the worn-out kitchen floor, which was only 1 and a half tatami mat in size.
There was a refrigerator in the kitchen. But the usual annoying hum wasn’t there.
When the electricity is cut off, the room becomes truly silent. The lack of sound made even this cramped space feel strangely empty.
A silence that felt like it could hollow out his heart.
Tasuku curled up even smaller.
――Hurry up and come back… Kairi.
He thought that, and it happened almost immediately.
Behind him, the door creaked open. He quickly turned around to see a boy in a green half-coat at the half-dark entrance, taking off his shoes. His jet-black hair was almost blending into the darkness.
“Kairi!”
Without thinking, Tasuku crawled out from under the kotatsu and ran to his older brother, who was two years older.
“Sorry to keep you waiting. I got some hot water from the neighbour on the right.”
Kairi handed him a long Styrofoam cup of instant noodles. It was warm.
This was the last bit of food they had in the house.
The brothers sat facing each other around the kotatsu, with the candle, the cup of noodles, and two pairs of chopsticks.
Under the dark kotatsu, Kairi’s legs stretched out, touching Tasuku’s legs, which were wrapped in two pairs of socks. Neither moved away. They kept their thin, jean-covered legs intertwined.
When they stayed like that, the spots where they touched gradually warmed up.
Tasuku reported what he had noticed earlier to his brother.
“Mom hasn’t come back for three weeks now.”
“…It hasn’t been that long.”
Kairi looked up at the calendar on the wall.
Tasuku’s eyes naturally traced the smooth lines of his brother’s serious and somewhat grave profile: from the forehead covered by his smooth black hair, down the straight nose, the lips that formed two soft mounds, and the slender chin to the neck. A striped scarf was wrapped around his neck.
Perhaps because of the unreliable candlelight, his dependable older brother, who always protected him, seemed fragile. It made him feel uneasy.
Kairi’s cool, dark eyes moved from the calendar to Tasuku.
“It’s only the 20th. Three weeks is twenty-one days.”
Even Tasuku knew that 7 times 3 was 21.
“It’s almost three weeks.”
“But it’s not three weeks yet.”
“……”
Tasuku half-angrily and half-curiously stared at Kairi, who was so insistent. Although Tasuku hated ‘that woman’—calling her that would make Kairi angry—Kairi apparently didn’t dislike her.
‘That woman’ was the worst.
She had started her man-hunting long before her husband died in an accident. Every time her husband left for a long-distance drive, she would leave her young sons behind and come home at dawn. It wasn’t just once or twice that Tasuku had seen his mother walking closely with some unfamiliar man on his way home from school.
But the real issue wasn’t her man-hunting—it was her violence.
She was emotionally unstable and would lash out at her sons when she was irritated.
At such times, Kairi always stood in front of Tasuku to protect him.
Especially when she had been drinking, her strength was unexpectedly powerful despite her slim figure. There were times when Kairi would be struck and sent flying. Even then, he would crawl back immediately and embrace Tasuku to protect him. Tasuku didn’t want to just be protected. He wanted to stop ‘that woman’ somehow. But Kairi would hold him tightly with all his strength, and Tasuku could do nothing.
Feeling the slap on Kairi’s back and hearing the sharp sound over and over, Tasuku would wish he was the one being hit instead. His chest would ache and hurt so much it brought him to tears.
Kairi’s back, which bore the brunt of their mother’s rage, was always red and swollen.
Despite the abuse, Kairi never truly hated her. Instead, he remained silent.
Even now, the corners of his eyes and the tip of his nose were a bit red.
Being abandoned by their mother for three weeks was probably a very sad thing for Kairi.
Wanting to comfort him, Tasuku moved his legs in small motions, rubbing them against Kairi’s.
“Tasuku, that tickles.”
Kairi’s previously serious face softened into a smile, though he spoke reproachfully. That made Tasuku so happy that he moved his legs even more. It also generated warmth from the friction. As he moved his legs vigorously, his toes slipped and brushed against the base of Kairi’s legs.
“…Ah.”
With a small voice, Kairi’s shoulders trembled.
Then, as if to restrain Tasuku’s movements, Kairi squeezed his legs tightly around him. The corners of his eyes turned redder than before. His smooth face flushed slightly as he looked down with a bit of distress.
…Something strange and squirming welled up from the core of Tasuku’s body.
But before that feeling could take shape, the view suddenly fell into total darkness.
A gust of wind had blown out the candle.
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*Translator’s Note: This light novel consists of a prologue, 6 chapters, an epilogue, and a side story (242 pages). Hence, I have to cut them into several pieces to be posted here. So, the numbering for my chapter will be different from the original novel. I don’t wanna divide my chapters into parts as well so we’ll just go slowly as chapter 1, 2, 3 until we reach whichever number of chapters we’ll get to. I’ve divided it so that each chapter that I’m posting on the site will probably be around 1K to 1.2K words (except for Mature chapters which will be longer). However, I will mark at the beginning of each chapter with ‘Chapter 1, Part 1’ and so on so that if you get your hands on the novel, you can still find which is which. There are also illustrations from the novel which I will scan and post on the site. With that being said, hop on and enjoy! -K
*GLOSSARY:
- Onii-san / Onii-chan / Nii-san / Nii-chan / Aniki = (Big/Elder) Brother
☝🏻I’ll be using these throughout my translation.
- In Japan, rooms are traditionally measured by the number of tatami mats because tatami has long been a standard flooring material in Japanese homes. A tatami mat has a standardised size, approximately 0.9 metres by 1.8 metres (varying slightly by region), making it a practical unit of measurement for room dimensions. This method dates back to the Edo period (1603–1868), when rooms were often designed around the size and layout of tatami mats.
- A futon is a traditional Japanese bedding set that consists of a mattress (shikibuton) and a duvet or blanket (kakebuton). Unlike Western-style beds, futons are thin and designed to be laid directly on the floor, usually on top of tatami mats, providing a firm but comfortable sleeping surface.
- A kotatsu is a traditional Japanese piece of furniture consisting of a low table with a heat source underneath and a thick blanket or futon draped over the table frame. People sit on the floor around the kotatsu, tucking their legs under the blanket to stay warm. The heat source is typically an electric heater attached to the underside of the table.
Next update: 2024.12.27 [Updates will daily until further notice]
You may support the author by purchasing the book: https://a.co/d/c2HJzF4 [Amazon link]
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