Chapter 45
Chapter 45
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 45
Chapter Title: Kanemochiru's Filth
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-"Weird. He's a really weird commoner."
A pretty voice filtered into my hazy eardrums. Even half-asleep, I could tell it was Harumi.
The voice echoed inside the bathroom, buzzing faintly. She was mumbling to herself, calling me a weird commoner, but her tone somehow sounded pleased.
"Nngh..."
My consciousness slowly surfaced.
Ah... right, I slept with Harumi?
No wonder I felt like I was on top of the world the moment I woke up. Waking to the lingering scent of Harumi, her voice, her body heat in the sheets. Today had to be my lucky day.
But what woke me up? Was it that faint voice of hers?
The mystery of why I'd snapped awake from a deep sleep was quickly solved. ⚙ SYSTEM NOTIFICATION ⚙ (UP!) [Heroine Kanemochiru Harumi Relationship Change] [Relationship: Trust Stage 1] So that's what woke me—these things pop up on the inside of my eyelids even in my sleep, huh.
Last night before bed, I'd braced for the classic rom-com cliché: her screaming "Kyaaah!" and hurling everything in sight at me the second she woke up. But reality was the total opposite.
I don't know what changed, but Harumi's feelings for me had only deepened.
This is the best. Good job, me from last night! Not chickening out and sleeping with her like a man was the right call.
As I savored the thrill, Harumi's smartphone suddenly buzzed on the floor. [KK] Who's KK? First thing that comes to mind is Kanemochiru Kenji. Same initials.
I kept pretending to sleep and waited. Harumi came rushing over, snatched the phone, and dashed back to the bathroom.
I strained my ears, and faint snippets of the call leaked out.
-"Keeheehee... been a while since I've seen your face... that hospital from last time..."
"W-What? Did something happen to Mom—"
A high-pitched voice, definitely male, but utterly repulsive.
-"...Your aunt's in a coma, after all. Keehit."
Aunt?
Calling Harumi's mom "aunt" means he's her dad's little brother.
So Kanemochiru Kenji is Harumi's...
"...Yes. Little uncle."
Right. Little uncle, her uncle.
Should be some old guy, but that voice? Like a pubescent teen right after voice change. A tranny?
A 40-something tranny? Even more disgusting.
Bang.
The bathroom door flew open, and Harumi stepped out.
Zzz...
I pretended to sleep. Felt like she didn't want me seeing her like this right now.
"...You big bear."
Big bear? Fair, I am pretty big.
Zzz...
"Hey, commoner, you asleep?"
I kept up the fake snoring like a pro. Harumi slowly approached, sat beside me, and mumbled.
"Hey... give me some strength..."
She leaned over from her spot next to me, hugging my upper body. I wanted to wrap my arms around her gently right then, but I held back. Not just to avoid startling her—I planned to secretly follow her to the hospital.
After burying her face in me for a moment, soaking in my warmth, Harumi lifted her head and rubbed her dry face a few times.
"I can just leave him sleeping, right? It's not like there's anything worth stealing here anyway..."
True, no money, no jewelry, not even a pack of ramen. When you have nothing, you're free in a way. If I were some pervert, maybe I'd snag her panties or something, but if I were that kind of guy, I wouldn't have protected her drunk ass in the first place. Harumi seemed to get that too—no trace of worry on her face.
Slide.
Harumi must've used the sink drawer as a desk or something—she pulled out a scrap of paper and scribbled on it with a pencil.
"I'll be back. ...Though you'll probably be gone by then."
Harumi's voice sounded so down.
Thud!
She left some kind of note and headed out. I tidied up the bedding and checked it. [Commoner. Thanks for bringing me home yesterday. Sorry, but there's nothing to eat here... There's one bottle of water, so feel free lol... And you've probably figured it out, but I'm... broke... So I can't pay you or anything. Just drink the water and head home when you wake up. No need to make you dinner anymore. Bye.] Only has water and she's offering that to me.
"Making me tear up first thing in the morning, you tiny thing..."
Why does that last "bye" hit so hard? She knows she'll be alone again, but can't bring herself to ask me to stay. Does she think I've lost interest now that I know she's poor?
As if.
I quietly slipped out the door and tailed her. ◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The top floor of a comprehensive hospital on the city's outskirts.
I stared blankly down the empty hallway. Flickering fluorescent lights made it look like an abandoned movie set.
Hard to believe this was the VIP ward for rich patients. No warmth from the entrance onward—just eerie desolation.
I crept along the wall, muffling my footsteps. No CCTV at the rooms, no nurses in sight. This wasn't right. No hospital should exist like this. Someone had deliberately cleared the VIP area.
'Kenji's handiwork, no doubt.'
Back pressed to the wall, I edged toward the room. Voices leaked through the slightly ajar door.
"...If anything happens to Mom, I'll never forgive you."
Harumi's voice—no usual cheer. Rage and anxiety mixed in. First time I'd heard her sound so icy.
"Keehit, you're scary when you talk like that."
That laugh from the phone. Had to be Kenji. The bastard who'd sent those repulsive pervs after her.
"Don't talk like we're close."
"Huh? But we are close, sis."
Sis?
Why's her dad's brother calling his niece "sis"?
I focused intently.
"Sis~ You were so nice to me when we were kids, remember? I still do—the first time you held my hand as a birthday gift. Everyone in the family treated me like a bug, but not you. That's pretty special, right? Keeheehee."
Kenji's tone dripped with twisted nostalgia, slimy somehow.
"That was..."
Harumi tried to respond, but Kenji cut her off with a creepy chuckle.
"What, just pity? Thought I was pathetic? Grandpa's bastard with a whore?"
"What are you saying? I never said that."
Harumi's voice turned frigid.
"Think I didn't know? Potent old grandpa knocks up a whore right before croaking. Family's dirty stain, the filth they hide away... that's me. Keeheehee."
Kenji's voice sharpened.
Calls his own dad "grandpa."
So this freak's a super late child—Harumi's grandpa's son, technically her dad's brother...
But younger than Harumi. Grotesque "little uncle."
"Little uncle, I've never thought..."
Harumi tried again, but Kenji ignored her.
"Your dad, who called my mom a whore, and that family who kicked me out—what became of them? Keehit. Quite the sight, huh?"
"Dad never said that!!"
"Eek!? My ears! You'll startle auntie, sis!"
"Ugh... ugh..."
Kenji mocked her.
"Bro's dead... aunt's lying there like that. Just you left. Kanemochiru's pride, the noble daughter."
His words reeked of pent-up madness and vengeance.
"Stop... just stop."
Harumi's voice trembled. Kenji lowered his, pressing slyly.
"You're noble, so you can do it, right~? Use that power of yours to scrape together pocket change... cover auntie's—er, your mom's—hospital bills? Yeah?"
Silence in the room. Only Harumi's ragged breaths.
"Heh... lacking confidence? Heard you live in some rundown apartment now. Poverty humbling you? Want me to hook you up with a job?"
"Wh... what kind... of job?"
"Like what my mom did. Pays well, from what I hear. Make a name in that world, maybe snag a rich hubby like your grandpa. Sound good? Hey, I lucked out too~ Born gutter trash to a whore mom, now bearing the Kanemochiru name and living large! You might hit it big too. Keeheehee."
Vile spew of self-loathing and inferiority toward the main family.
Even an outsider like me was boiling—how much humiliation was Harumi enduring? Now it clicked. Why her own "little uncle" hired paparazzi scum.
Probably wanted to drag her down like his mom, sexually ruined for revenge.
Kenji hurled more mockery at speechless Harumi.
"What, don't wanna end up like my mom? 'Cause you're main family daughter who sneered at whore spawn? Can't stomach becoming one? Or should auntie do it~? Useless daughter's gotta make mom step up! Keehit, ah~ women got it good... make money even sleeping, keeheehehehe—" 💥 IMPACT! 💥 SLAP!! The slap rang clear, even through the door.
"How dare you... say that. Mom... our mom never mistreated you once!!"
Harumi's breaths heaved wildly.
"Keeheehee. Keeheehehehe."
Kenji laughed softly despite the slap. Like he'd anticipated it.
"Hit me? Keehee... I'll watch how long you hold out. You'll regret ignoring me like bro did. Be nice to see aunt turn whore before she dies. Bro'd love that from the grave."
Behind the door, I clenched my fists without thinking. Kenji's voice and filthy laugh ignited fury in my chest. Never met the bastard, but this revulsion was real. Wanted to kick the door down and beat him senseless.
"Sis. But even generous me's patience is thinning. Pay up the overdue bills by next week... or one of you— aunt or sis—starts working. I'm no charity."
This guy's the one.
The fucker who sold Harumi into sex slavery in the ending.
She scraped by, living hand-to-mouth till August, then got shipped off.
"N-Next week? That's outrageous! How am I supposed to get 5 million yen in a week...!"
"Not saying it's impossible, right? If you can't, skinny comatose auntie'll have to 'serve' diligently?"
Grind. Crunch.
Harumi's teeth ground audibly. The little animal-like girl was in extreme rage.
"...Fine. You... fucking trash."
Bang!
Before I could react, she kicked the door open and burst out.