TBCTW Chapter 2

Chapter 2 – A Giant Otter

Chapter 1, Part 1

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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“Macau’s mafia expanding… is this another negative side effect of the integrated resort push?” 

Finishing up an interview, Sanae Suguru sighed dramatically as they descended the stairs of a multi-tenant building.

Kagura glanced sideways at his younger colleague following a step behind him, a bespectacled figure radiating a small-animal vibe like an otter. Sanae had been with the Organized Crime Department, Section Two for a year and a half now. But he still didn’t display even a hint of a detective’s edge. In fact, he looked so far from the part that people often didn’t believe he was a detective at all. Just earlier, the bartender they were interviewing had eyed him suspiciously.

“When are you going to graduate from being a small-clawed otter and become a giant otter?”

“I keep telling you, calling me an otter is harassment,” Sanae shot back, operating his smartphone. Then he suddenly yelped.

At the stair landing, he grabbed Kagura’s arm and shoved his phone in his face.

“This is a giant otter?”

It was a picture of a ferocious beast sinking its fangs into its prey, blood dripping from its mouth.

“This thing even attacks crocodiles. It’s at the top of the food chain.”

“Top of the food chain…”

Sanae shivered, quickly closing the image of the giant otter.

“I’m perfectly fine as a small-clawed otter, thank you.”

“Yeah, maybe the cute squeaking suits you better.”

Kagura chuckled as he reached the bottom of the stairs and headed for the building’s exit—but suddenly he froze. Sanae bumped into his back.

“Why did you suddenly stop…-”

The narrow entrance’s ceiling light was flickering erratically, buzzing in a faint but unsettling way.

The dirty glass door at the entrance was left open, and an ominous presence seemed to waft in through it, sending a prickle down Kagura’s neck.

…A young man appeared, his very presence forcibly capturing attention.

He was slightly shorter than Kagura. Wearing a purple high-necked top, fitted black leather pants, and hybrid boots, he displayed a slim yet gracefully muscular physique.

His face was delicately feminine, with his two-block haircut tied at the back. His skin was pale, and his eyes and hair were a soft, light colour.

But above all, what stood out was his overwhelming aura of menace.

Watching the smile at the corners of his narrow eyes and full lips, one could easily believe the theory that the origin of smiles lies in aggression.

Kagura knew who this young man was.

―――Renjou.

This was their first face-to-face encounter, but Renjou was a high-ranking member of the Eastern Alliance. He had been rumoured to be involved in various incidents linked to the Alliance but had always managed to slip through the police’s grasp.

Consequently, all they knew for certain was that he addressed himself as ‘Renjou’ and that others referred to him as such. He was supposedly twenty-one, though even that was uncertain.

Kagura had been intensely interested in Renjou for some time.

Because Renjou was known to be Toono Ryouji’s most devoted follower. Toono, in turn, seemed to treat Renjoi as something special.

―――Whenever Toono temporarily returns to Japan, Renjou is sure to act.

As Kagura stared at him with a mix of intrigue and tension, a crease formed in the smooth space between Renjou’s brows. Yet, with a lingering smile at the corners of his eyes and mouth, Renjou walked straight toward Kagura.

The prickling sensation on Kagura’s neck had grown so intense, it was now bordering on painful.

Kagura met Renjou’s gaze with a fierce look of his own.

Renjou, who had stopped right in front of him, lifted his chin and parted his lips.

“Reeen-jou.”

He placed a strong emphasis on the “Re” and let the rest of the name trail off in a sweet, drawn-out way that was both strange and unique.

Just introducing himself, and yet his madness dominated the atmosphere.

Feeling a chill deep in his gut, Kagura responded calmly.

“Kagura, from Organized Crime. I’m sure you know who I am.”

“Renjou knows.”

Renjou’s smile widened as he spoke with a childlike lisp.

“Renjou really hates you.”

“What a coincidence. I don’t like you either.”

Renjou pouted, displeased, making his cheeks puff up.

His feminine features gave him an oddly seductive, calculated expression.

Then Renjou lowered his chin, his voice suddenly dropping to a dark tone.

“Renjou is going to crush you.”

Any sweetness vanished instantly, and the whites of his eyes gleamed coldly.

Kagura clenched his back teeth and fixed his gaze on Renjou.

They glared at each other in silence until one of Renjou’s companions spoke up, “Not now.”

Renjou clicked his tongue, turned on his heel, and, as if Kagura no longer existed in his mind, looped his arm around his companion’s and said, “Let’s go, let’s go. Tonight, we’re going to have a wild time.”

When the two left the building, Sanae took a deep breath behind him, as though he’d just surfaced after being underwater.

“I-I was seriously scared.”

“You’re tearing up.”

“Of course I am! With a guy like that coming at me out of nowhere!”

―――Out of nowhere, huh?

Renjou hadn’t come to this building for any specific purpose; he’d shown up just as they were coming down the stairs. It couldn’t have been a coincidence.

―――Maybe the bar we just questioned has ties with the Eastern Alliance. Or they’re tracking my movements…

Kagura was already a threat to the Eastern Alliance due to his relentless digging around. Now, with Toono’s possible temporary return, they were surely on even higher alert about Kagura’s actions.

The Organized Crime Division was already sharing information about Toono’s possible return, and notices had been circulated to critical points, including airports nationwide.

As Kagura left the building with a serious expression, Sanae walked alongside him and said,

“After what just happened, I understand now.”

“Understand what?”

Sanae displayed the image of a menacing beast on his smartphone again, showing it to Kagura.

“That one is a giant otter.”

***

“Where are we headed?”

In the back seat of a van with tinted windows, Kagura asked Zero, who sat across from him.

Just twenty minutes earlier, Kagura had called Zero to an apartment in Nakameguro, asking for information about Renjou. Zero had responded, “Perfect timing, I’ll take you there,” and had promptly whisked Kagura away from the apartment to this van.

The man driving the van, who looked like an ordinary salaryman at first glance, was Kataware, a member of Enwu.

Being a member of Enwu meant he was born without official registration. Due to various circumstances, these individuals had no family registry, and they had survived Japan’s underworld since childhood. Now, they were able to form identities under Zero’s lead.

Enwu supposedly meant ‘Smoke-like Rain’.

Like individual rain droplets so fine they’re barely visible, gathering in the night and silently covering the world.

It’s estimated there are over ten thousand unregistered people in Japan, but even the government doesn’t know the actual number.

If the Eastern Alliance was a gathering of people who had strayed from society’s rails, then Enwu was a gathering of those who had walked blindly through the darkness.

As far as Kagura knew, Enwu wasn’t an organisation that profited through violence or coercion. Instead, it extended a helping hand to foreign technical trainees in harsh situations and to undocumented immigrants who had been tricked into coming to Japan.

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*Translator’s Note: Renjou is uh… an interesting character. I don’t particularly like his existence but, I kinda pity him for his past and um… it’s understandable how he ended that way. I think what unsettled me the most was that he thought he was saved but the truth is, he will always be in that loop. He was never saved and can’t be saved and I think that’s sad. He addresses himself as ‘Renjou’ instead of ‘I’ like a little kid, because I think, um… he somewhat never actually grew up. You’ll know what happened to him later on in the story. -K

*Translation:

Top, from left to right (seated on the dining table): Renjou. An executive of the Eastern Alliance. Age 21. / Zero. Group of undocumented children. The leader of ‘Enwu’ (Smoke-like Rain). / Kagura Jinya. Detective of Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Organized Crime Division, Section 2. Age 30. He has a ‘give-and-take’ relationship with Zero. / Kiriyama Shungo. Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office, Special Investigation Department Prosecutor. Age 37.

Middle, from left to right: Toono Ryouji. Leader of the semi-gang group, the Eastern Alliance. Age 36. / Haiiro. A member of Enwu. A dealer at an underground casino.

Bottom, from left to right: Kataware. A member of Enwu. Programmer, hacker, and driver. / Riki. A member of Enwu. A fighter in the underground arena. / Sanae Suguru. Detective of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department, Organized Crime Division, Section 2, and Kagura’s junior. Age 28.

Next update: 2025.10.11

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