TBCTW Chapter 17

Chapter 17 – Trust

Chapter 6, Part 2

Novel Title: 獣はかくしてまぐわう (The Beasts Copulate This Way)

Author：風結子 沙野 (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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Riki, as a fighter in underground arenas, and Kataware, as a hacker, had survived outside the bounds of the law, using whatever means necessary.

His time at the ‘Invincible Castle’ had started to make him grow accustomed to the darkness. He was beginning to understand what that truly meant.

The place they arrived at was a modest clinic in the suburbs. Turning into a side street, they were directed by a guard into the building’s underground parking lot. After they entered, the shutters closed behind them.

“Is Zero here?”

Something felt off. It was strange that Zero hadn’t wanted to talk to him directly about something so important, let alone meet him.

Without a word, Kataware entered an elevator at the back of the parking lot. Kagura noted that, although the building appeared three stories tall from outside, the panel only had buttons for B1 and B2. They descended, and as the doors opened, the smell of disinfectant—and blood—filled the air.

The uneasy feeling spread like a prickling sensation throughout his body.

“This is a hospital for our collaborators. We can’t receive medical care at regular hospitals,” Kataware explained, knocking on the door at the end of the hallway.

“It’s Kataware. I’ve brought him.”

He opened the door, leaning close to mutter quietly, “Don’t make a fuss. This is normal for us.”

Inside, the smell of disinfectant and blood was even stronger. On a lone bed lay Zero, illuminated by a stark white fluorescent light, his face pale.

Feeling his own blood drain, Kagura approached the bed.

Zero’s eyes shifted toward him, a faint smile appearing on his lips.

“Don’t make that face. It makes the wounds hurt.”

“What… happened?”

Kataware answered from behind him.

“All five bullets have been removed, and there was no damage to his internal organs. His life isn’t in danger.”

Zero chimed in, making light of it, “So, just a scratch.”

“…”

Kagura clenched his fists tightly, realising his body was trembling.

It felt as if his heart was lodged in his throat.

“What… is going on?”

He couldn’t hide the tremor in his voice.

“Explain why this happened…!”

This tremor was one of rage.

Glaring with eyes misting over, he watched as Zero told Kataware, “Leave us alone.”

“Sit down.”

Zero gestured with his eyes to a metal chair next to the bed, and Kagura sat on it shallowly, taking a deep breath.

“…Are you in pain?”

“Well, it hurts pretty bad.”

“Was it someone from the Eastern Alliance who shot you five times?”

Kagura had calmed down slightly and remembered what Kataware had said about the Enwu members being attacked by the Eastern Alliance.

Zero nodded.

“In the past two weeks, we’ve been attacked ten times.”

“There’s been no report like that in the police records.”

“No matter what happens to us, we don’t report it to the police. Even if a witness calls the police or an ambulance, we make sure to disappear before they arrive. Unless, of course, we’re dead.”

It made sense when he put it that way.

As undocumented individuals, they existed in Japan but were essentially invisible.

To public institutions like the police, they weren’t citizens to protect. To hospitals, they were foreigners, outside the bounds of the national insurance system.

And above all, their top priority was to protect and keep the existence of Enwu hidden.

Enwu was their one and only sanctuary, the place where they could truly exist, be acknowledged, and accepted for who they were.

―――Escape, unless we’re corpses.

The reminder of the nature of his and Zero’s relationship weighed heavily on Kagura’s heart.

Suppressing those emotions, he asked, “But how does the Eastern Alliance know who the Enwu members are?”

Zero’s expression grew grim.

“There have been signs that information is leaking.”

“…Are you saying there might be a mole among your own people?”

“That’s what it would mean.”

To Kagura’s knowledge, Enwu wasn’t like the Eastern Alliance, which controlled its people through debts and violence. It was a group bound by mutual need and support, a place for people to cling to for their own existence. But if there was a traitor within, what would happen?

Without factional battles, it would crumble slowly, like concrete eroding from within.

“Even I can’t stay calm about this anymore.”

A shadow of exhaustion darkened Zero’s eyes. Kagura had never seen him look so weakened.

―――I want to help.

The thought surged up, escaping his lips.

“If anything comes through the police, I’ll—”

“Stay out of this!”

Zero jerked upright, letting out a loud groan. Beads of sweat glistened on the tense contours of his face.

Kagura quickly stood up, placing a hand on Zero’s back to support him. Even through the hospital gown, he could feel the intense heat and the taut, trembling muscles enduring the pain.

But Zero, twisting his body in agony, shook off Kagura’s supporting hand.

“Jinya.”

With the look of a wounded, fierce beast, Zero spoke harshly.

“Don’t get in my way. I don’t have the luxury to clean up after you.”

“…”

It was as if fangs had sunk deep into his heart.

Even though they stood on different sides… he had believed that, precisely because of that, they could stand as equals and work together.

But to Zero, he was not someone to rely on in an emergency.

―――He doesn’t trust me the way I trust him.

The realisation left his chest cold and his mind boiling.

“My choices are mine to make. Don’t expect me to back off, and don’t think you have to cover for me.” With a voice barely suppressed, Kagura said this and turned on his heel, leaving the hospital room.

Out in the hallway, Kataware, who had been waiting, said, “I’ll take you home,” as he stepped into the same elevator.

“There’s no need to see me off. Just leave me alone.”

“You had a fight with Zero, didn’t you?”

“It wasn’t a fight. It’s over.”

Kataware sighed with a hint of exasperation.

“Of course, it was bound to happen if a ‘Citizen’ and a ‘Non-citizen’ got too close.”

The elevator doors opened on the first basement floor—and at the same moment, a dog lunged in. It was a three-legged dog missing its front right leg. It snarled at Kagura, not Kataware, and the security guard rushed over to restrain it. At that moment, the security guard’s cap fell off.

The guard’s face was exposed, revealing a large, purplish-red keloid scar that spread across the right side of his face. His right ear was also deformed.

The guard hurriedly put his hat back on and grabbed the dog’s collar, leading it toward the security room in the basement.

“He’s one of us. The Eastern Alliance tried to sell him overseas as part of an organ trade. Enwu rescued him.”

“Is that scar on his face the work of the Eastern Alliance?”

“Most likely. They cut out his tongue to prevent him from speaking. The limp in his right leg is a result of bones being broken to make sure he couldn’t escape.”

“…”

Kagura shuddered with intense hatred, and Kataware’s expression softened for a moment. He then gestured for Kagura to get into the car. With a scowl on his face, Kagura climbed into the back seat.

The resentment he felt toward Zero now carried a different weight after what had just happened.

“The Eastern Alliance captures undocumented children and turns them into pawns, or sells them, huh?”

As Kagura stared out the window at the passing nighttime cityscape, Kataware added in a dark voice, “Sometimes parents sell their children to the Eastern Alliance.”

No parent should ever be indifferent to their child. Although Kagura had thought he understood that this wasn’t always the case, he realised that, for the people of Enwu, such things were likely common occurrences. Moreover, undocumented children couldn’t even access public protection. Their very existence wasn’t known to the state. Such beings were easily exploited and erased.

That was why they helped and held each other together under the umbrella of Enwu.

―――And Zero holds the handle of that umbrella.

To earn Zero’s trust would mean being allowed to hold that handle together.

―――But I still haven’t shown Zero that I’m worthy of it.

After getting out of the car a short distance from the apartment, Kagura suddenly felt pain in his palm. How long had he been clenching his fist?

When he opened his hand, his palm was mottled with blood, and his nails had blood stains that had seeped through.

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*Translator’s Note: Yup. In real life, there are parents out there who really sold off their kids for money. -K

Next update: 2025.10.26

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