Chapter 22 – Street Brawl
Chapter 3, 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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“Surface anaesthetic, disinfecting ethanol, sterile gauze, antibiotic ointment, needles, insertion pins, and captive bead rings.”
In the dimly lit back of the store, a youthful-looking store clerk recites the items as he puts them in a bag.
As the clerk moves slightly, dull metallic glints shine from his ear, nose, eyebrow, and lips. They were piercings. Extending from his short-sleeved shirt are scarification markings of butterflies – patterns carved into the skin with a blade.
“The process is as I explained earlier. It’s a bit more work than just an ear piercing, but not too bad.”
With that, the young man looks at Tasuku through his red-tinted contact lenses.
“If it’s you, I can do the initial piercing for you, you know?”
Tasuku silently declines the offer. He completes the purchase and leaves the underground store in the Kabukicho district. He climbs the narrow stairs back up to the street level.
The Shokuankai-dori road running along the northern side of Kabukicho marks the boundary with Ookubo. It’s only about a 10-minute walk from here to his apartment.
There were buildings packed with love hotels and peeping rooms all over.
Thinking about how it’s filled with people just as messed up as himself, a feeling of revulsion and a certain comforting familiarity wells up simultaneously. Trampling on that squirming sensation in his gut, he continues walking.
It’s when he’s passing by the batting centre in an entertainment facility on the second floor that something catches his eye.
A young man, likely a university student, emerges from the entrance with an unsteady gait. There’s a bat dangling limply in his right hand.
――Ah, he’s high.
Tasuku can tell at a glance that the guy is on drugs. The veins bulging unnaturally on his temple are painfully obvious.
Tasuku warily stops, worried the guy might start attacking random passersby indiscriminately. But the young man stands defiantly in the middle of the road. His eyes are darting wildly as he glares at the batting centre entrance. Then a lanky man with a nose piercing emerges – and Tasuku’s breath catches.
The man is in a black suit with his shirt collar unbuttoned without a tie. His neck is adorned with a jingling silver accessory. He’s a familiar face – Youhei, a subordinate of the host club ‘Blossom’.
And Youhei is also gripping a bat, clearly high on drugs as well.
Likely, they got into some trouble at the batting centre and ended up in a street brawl.
This is a very bad situation.
The university student-looking young man, moving with the agility of a boxer, starts slamming his bat against the asphalt.
A vicious duel is about to begin.
The metal bats collide with a resounding crack. After several fierce impacts, Youhei’s bat strikes the university student’s side. But apparently the drugs have numbed the pain, as the student just grins and twists his body like rubber. In three steps, he closes the distance with Youhei and swings like a home run hitter.
There’s a dull cracking sound from Youhei’s arm – maybe the bone is broken. With a bestial cry, Youhei writhes on the ground. The university student tilts his head to the side in a half-moon shape, a thin smile on his face as he raises the bat to deliver the next blow.
Tasuku clicks his tongue.
Tasuku, who has been swimming in the extraterritorial Kabukicho district since he was 18, has decided not to intervene in fights.
He’ll calmly swim past the other fish being devoured by piranhas, without lifting a finger.
In return, he never has any sweet delusions that someone will come rescue him if he finds himself in a bind.
He’ll use his own power to brush off any sparks that land on him, earn money, and make it back ‘home’.
…But now, going against that clear-cut rule, the reason Tasuku has stepped in to stop the brawl is not because Youhei is a familiar face. If anything, Youhei, who clings to the troublemaker Tatsuya like a remora, is hardly someone Tasuku cares about.
However, if this escalated to the police, Youhei’s drug use will be exposed. Worse, the investigation could extend to ‘Blossom’ itself.
While Tasuku boasts that he has no sense of obligation or compassion, ‘Blossom’ is still one of the few places he can call home.
“Stop it!”
Tasuku snatches the bat from the howling Youhei and glares at the university student.
“You don’t want the cops on your ass either, do you? Drop the bat and get out of here.”
But the student seems to have switched his target to Tasuku, who is holding the bat. His bloodshot eyes are fixed intently on Tasuku.
There’s no reasoning with someone high on drugs.
Tasuku grips the bat with both hands – he wasn’t going to let some sentimental impulse lead him to mediation after all.
The student charges at him. Tasuku twists his body to evade. But the student immediately changes direction and attacks again. The deafening impact and vibration as the bats collide. The shock that seems to sink his soles into the asphalt. Searing pain shoots through his muscles.
It’s as if the student’s drugged state is corrosively seeping into Tasuku’s own body through the air.
His dynamic vision seems heightened. His ears are hypersensitive, able to pick up the sounds of the student’s laboured breathing right next to him. The veneer of reason is peeling away, his instincts laid bare.
He’s knocked off balance by a sweeping blow to his thigh. Ducking under the bat aiming for his head, Tasuku swings his own.
He strikes the student’s chest with a piercing blow, then follows up with another swing.
The bat’s tip hits the temple of the staggering student.
***
Apparently Kairi had fallen asleep on the living room sofa while waiting for Tasuku to return. The ringing of the phone woke him up.
It’s 1:30 AM. The call is from the police.
With a sinking feeling, Kairi hastily changes clothes and rushes out of the house.
He hails a taxi and heads to the Shinjuku Police Station in West Shinjuku.
Identifying himself as Tasuku’s brother at the reception desk, soon a detective in his mid-forties with a bitter expression escorts Tasuku out. Apparently Tasuku was involved in a brawl in Kabukicho. Tasuku is limping on his right foot, his clothes splattered with dark red stains. It must have been a fierce altercation.
“I’m very sorry for the trouble my brother has caused.”
Kairi bows deeply, and the detective speaks in a gruff voice.
“Since the other guy attacked first with a weapon, it’s been ruled as self-defence this time.”
The ‘this time’ is emphasised ominously.
“Uh, how is the other person’s condition…?”
“He got a cut on the temple and was bleeding heavily. But there’s no life-threatening injury.”
“I see… I’m truly sorry to have caused you this trouble.”
“You don’t need to apologise, Kairi.”
“Tasuku!”
The detective lets out a wry chuckle as he shakes the grey paper bag stained with blood in his hand.
“Don’t go getting your body, which you got from your parents, all banged up, you hear?”
Tasuku silently snatches the paper bag from him and walks past Kairi towards the exit.
Kairi bows to the detective one more time, then follows his brother.
They walk along the busy Oume Kaidou road, even at this hour, heading towards the large overpass underpass.
The night wind carries a slight dampness that clings to their skin and hair. The moon is obscured. A sign that it may rain the next day.
“You must have done something to provoke the other guy,” Kairi says in a harsh tone.
“That’s how you are. You always immediately resort to hitting and kicking whenever something comes up. Always getting into some kind of trouble.”
He gazes at his brother walking ahead.
In a grey long-sleeved shirt, loose vintage jeans, a wallet chain dangling at the waist, and limping slightly, Tasuku looks incredibly worn down.
Tasuku suddenly stops and looks back over his shoulder.
As a dump truck passes by, the light-coloured hair scattered across his face. His vividly double-lidded eyes stare unblinkingly. His lips seem to be trying to speak.
For some reason, Kairi’s heart suddenly aches painfully.
“Maybe I wanted to be destroyed,” Tasuku says in a voice that drops like gravity.
“Huh…?”
Before Kairi can question the meaning, Tasuku turns back and continues walking.
…Kairi is irritated by Tasuku’s adolescent-like, cryptic words. But he also feels a deep sense of unease.
Kairi quickened his pace, coming up to walk beside Tasuku. He supported his elbow with a slightly rough touch.
There are so many things Kairi wants to say to Tasuku.
About the constant fighting. About the drugs. About their messed-up relationship.
About how delicious the stew was.
They all feel so important, yet also out of place to bring up right now.
How nice it would be if they could just keep walking in silence, without seeking any answers.
But Kairi knows that’s not possible.
Morning will come. He’ll have to go to work, put on a normal face for the world, and earn his living.
And then he’ll have to confront Tasuku about all the things he needs to.
――For now, though. Let’s just stay quiet, like this…
The two of them are drawn into the underpass leading to Kabukicho.
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*Translator’s Note: These brothers… I don’t know what to say anymore. They need to sort things out and trust one another. -K
*GLOSSARY:
- Onii-san / Onii-chan / Nii-san / Nii-chan / Aniki = (Big/Elder) Brother
☝🏻I’ll be using these throughout my translation.
- In Japanese slang, “コバンザメ” (koban-zame) refers to a “remora,” which is a type of fish known for attaching itself to larger marine animals to get a free ride and feed off their leftovers. In slang, it metaphorically describes a person who clings to someone else for personal gain, benefiting from their success, wealth, or influence without contributing anything significant themselves. This can have a negative connotation, implying opportunism or parasitism.
Next update: 2025.01.17
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