Chapter 112
Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 112
Chapter Title: You Came to See Me...!
“You came to see me, Crow...!”
I have no idea what kind of insane nonsense she's spouting.
Crow glares at the utterly tiresome Orca with endless contempt.
“Y-yeah. You must know a little about my true feelings. I really did it for you...”
Before the words for you can even finish leaving his mouth, he grinds his teeth and charges at Orca.
Crack!
“Guhk—”
A fist slams precisely into her face. If an ordinary human had taken that punch, their face would probably have caved in and they'd have lost consciousness.
“Wa-wait a second!”
But our sturdy Orca merely suffers a broken nose bone with blood pouring out. Even as blood streams from one nostril, she manages to grab onto Crow's pants.
“Ow...! Yeah, your anger hasn't subsided yet...? Sorry. Can we talk for a bit...?”
Crow considers landing another precise hit right on her philtrum.
"..."
Orca looks up at Crow without a shred of pride, her eyes even welling up with tears. She looks just like Lily.
It's absurd. The anger and hostility that had been coiling around his body suddenly dissipate powerlessly.
To think I was toyed with by a woman like this?
By someone who just clings and bawls like this?
“Please hear me out...! Let's go to my office instead. How about it...?”
Orca clings to Crow, sweating profusely. I can't understand why this cold woman is sweating buckets like that.
“In the office, we don't have to worry about others' prying eyes. Right? You came to see me anyway. Here for revenge? Yeah, hit me as much as you want...! But let's go to the office without those other bitches interrupting. You can do whatever you want there...!”
“Crazy bitch.”
Crow snatches the walkie-talkie from Orca's hand and drags her to the office by her hair.
Thud—
“Keheop-! Wa-wait!”
The moment they enter the office, Crow starts beating Orca mercilessly. From the instant the door closes, he doesn't let up for even a second, attacking her relentlessly.
When Orca doubles over from a kick to the stomach, he drives his knee into her face. When she falls from that, he mounts her and rains down punches...
“Wa-wait...! Guh...!”
And Orca just takes it.
He had thought of talking it out, clearing up at least some of the misunderstandings, but Crow gives her no opening at all, pounding her like a rabid dog.
“Stop! Stop!! Wait a second!”
Only when Orca, feeling her life truly threatened, grabs Crow's arm with her ability and freezes it solid does Crow finally pause his fists.
Thud—
“Kehek...!”
Instead, he delivers a soccer kick to her solar plexus with the tip of his foot, like an axe chop.
“Haa...”
Crow even pulls out his gun.
Orca realizes that if she takes a hit from that, she's really in danger, so she desperately clings to him and freezes the gun as well.
“Wa-wait... Let's talk...”
“Get out of the way.”
Crow tries to smash her head with the frozen gun, but now Orca, having taken so many hits, is burning with rage and won't stay still.
“Let's talk, damn it!”
Orca had been taking it passively, but if she starts using her ability properly, she can definitely hold her own against Crow. Honestly, she'd even have the upper hand.
“This is enough already! Ngh...”
The spots where Crow hit her throb painfully. Probably a few bones are broken.
“Ca-calm down a bit. I wanted to apologize too! At least hear me out before you hit me...!”
“Crazy bitch.”
Orca freezes Crow's body—and even the floor beneath him—solid. Crow ends up buried in a thick block of ice, with only his head sticking out.
“Stop with the cursing already!”
“Crazy bastard.”
Orca trembles all over. Her head throbs from all the hits. A little more and she might have actually passed out.
“Haa, um... W-would you like some tea first...?”
"..."
Crow clamps his mouth shut. Honestly, he wants to shatter her ice right now and keep beating her...
“Just wait a bit. Okay...?”
Watching Orca's awkward movements drains all the fight from his fists.
I have no clue what this bastard is even doing.
“Ah, shit... So-sorry. Why isn't this refilling...? I'm sure there was some yesterday...”
She rummages around the carpet, checking if the green tea bag she drank herself might have fallen on the floor.
She even gets down on her stomach to peer under the bookshelf.
"..."
Watching all this, Crow lets out a hollow chuckle instead.
“Um, does it hurt? Should I melt some of the ice...?”
“Scram.”
Surrounded by the cold ice, Crow squeezes his eyes shut.
A whirlwind of thoughts and emotions flashes through his mind. Above all, emptiness and futility dominate.
“...Why the hell did you do that to me?”
Crow asks. He truly can't comprehend it.
“Tell me. What did I do so wrong?”
“Uh...?”
Orca struggles to find the words too. She just wanted to have Crow, even if only a little.
No, was that it? Or was it to uphold her own sense of justice?
“N-no... Sorry. I'm really sorry. What do I have to do to get your forgiveness?”
Orca offers a thoroughly deflated apology.
She has no idea how much more confused it makes Crow. She just wants to beg his forgiveness quickly and take care of him.
“...Did I ask you to apologize? I asked why you did it. Why you did that to me.”
Crow shatters the ice and stands up. Since Orca hadn't used her full power for fear of hurting him, breaking it doesn't take much effort.
“Why did you do it!”
“Uh, wh-what...? No...”
The two draw very close.
Crow grabs Orca by the collar and shakes her as he demands answers.
It's not anger.
It feels more like grievance.
“No, uh...”
Orca can't get the words out easily.
Trying to pinpoint the reason for her actions now is incredibly difficult.
Countless self-justifications block her recollections.
There's only one thing she remembers.
“I... I just liked you so much...”
Orca has no choice but to say it.
Her teary eyes begin to tremble slowly.
“I liked you that much! But everyone said you were a villain...! So I had no choice but to...”
Crow lets out a hollow laugh. His pitch-black eyes squint against the sunlight streaming in from outside.
“Haha...”
Crow releases Orca's collar and shakes out his hand.
His knees wobble. His legs feel weak. He doesn't know why.
“Jeez...”
He can't even speak. A sentence seemed to rise in his throat, but strangely, it won't come out.
He doesn't even know what he wants to do. Does he want to rage? Would killing Orca finally vent his anger?
“L-listen...! Crow! I know I went too far. That's why I'm apologizing like this. I'm on your side now. No, I always was...! I must've been possessed for a moment. Right?”
But the sight of Orca is just too pathetic. Her nose is still bleeding profusely, and her face is a picture of misery.
He wants to keep beating her, but he lacks the energy. No, that's not it. His fists have strength, but somehow, it feels like too much hassle to continue.
“The Association is after you. I'll help. Okay...? I know you're innocent now. I really...! I believe in you! Yeah, there was some discord between us. But it's not too late yet. Right...?”
Not too late?
Crow can't make sense of the words coming from this woman taller than him as she clings to his leg.
“Oh, yeah...! I even tried to help you. Without me...! You might've suffered more in this prison. There were bitches like Creep and Scardi. Oh, no! Not that I'm saying I did well. But I did help you, for your sake...! I called you in separately for treatment...! Bought you tasty stuff...!”
What is this?
Crow realizes the rage boiling up from deep inside is cooling to ice.
This isn't anger anymore...
“...Let's just not see each other from now on.”
It's contempt. Indifference.
The exhaustion of not wanting to get tangled up with this woman anymore.
“Let's just... avoid running into each other. Yeah, that's fine.”
Crow swallows the hollow emptiness of having nowhere to go, his eyes reddening. A man who had never truly gotten angry for his own sake now sees no value even in being mad at Orca, once a comrade, after witnessing her ugly true face.
“Huh? Wa-wait!”
But Orca grows desperate instead.
The Crow who had beaten her half to death was better. At least that meant he still cared, even if negatively.
“Crow! Wait... Why? Was my apology not enough?”
Orca blocks his path. Then she hurriedly drops to her knees.
“I'm on my knees too. Okay...? I'm serious. I'll reflect on it...?”
Yet Crow just reddens his empty eyes.
He simply can't fathom
what the hell happened to him
in this shitty prison,
at the hands of this shitty woman.
His mind collapses in absurdity.
“Haha...”
All that's left for him is
trembling hands he can't control without drugs,
a body and mind that grow anxious without holding a woman,
and shattered ideals
and convictions.