Vol. 5 Chapter 1.2

Translated by SoundDestiny Edited by SoundDestiny

Opening the sliding door with a rattling sound, I discarded my loafers and entered. From the living room, Natsumi’s face peeked out.

“Welcome back. How did your match go, Shiratori?”

“It was nothing special.”

“Nothing special, huh…haa, you’re so unsociable.”

Just as she let out an exaggerated sigh, another woman’s voice could be heard from the depths of the living room.

“Natsumi! Your tiles are ready! Stop dawdling. How long are these half-rounds going to take?”

“I know, I know. Nee-chan, you don’t have to keep nagging like that.”

As I briefly glanced into the living room while passing by, I saw my grandmother, Natsumi, her three years older sister, Kaori , and her four years older brother, Natsuki, engrossed in a game of mahjong.

Upon entering high school, I left my family’s home in Tokyo and stayed in the Natsumi family’s house, which is my mother’s side of the family.

My mother, Kana, is the eldest of seven siblings. Natsumi is the youngest.

Thanks to that, even though we’re only a year apart, Natsumi and I have an aunt and niece relationship.

‘What a noisy household…’

Although there are seven siblings in total, currently only five of us remain in this house, along with our grandfather who is over seventy and still works as a master carpenter on construction sites. However, the other siblings frequently come back with their families, so this house is always bustling.

“Ron!”

“Uwa,Kaa-chan! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Don’t act like you didn’t know.”

“Alright, Natsumi, you’re in charge of dinner duty.”

“Haaa…well, whatever. Hey! Shiratori, you help too!”

“No way, you lost Oba-san, not me.”

“Don’t call me Oba-san!”

As I heard Natsumi’s exclamation from behind, I climbed the stairs and returned to my room.

This was once a six-tatami room that my mother, second and third aunt used to share. The three-tier bunk bed handmade by my grandfather exudes an atmosphere reminiscent of a forced internment camp seen in movies.

Even after five o’clock, the summer sun remained high, and the closed room was stifling and humid. Sweat gently trickled down my forehead. I opened the window to let in some fresh air and turned on the air conditioning.

I dislike the heat. The sensation of my thoughts slowing down is just unpleasant.

From downstairs, the lively voices still echoed. It seemed like Natsumi and Natsuki were in disagreement about the dinner menu.

However, this was nothing out of the ordinary. It’s not like they don’t get along. They’re just playfully arguing.

In the first place, the people in this house have a strange sense of personal space. They just won’t leave you alone. The reason I’m even a member of the track and field club is that Natsumi forced me into it.

While recently I’ve come to accept it as 『just how things are』 when I was first placed here, I was quite bewildered by this lack of consideration for personal space.

I pull the chair of the PC desk with the three-screen monitor and quietly take a seat.

“King of Confinement…huh.”

And then, I recalled the boy I had just met today.

“To think I could encounter something so interesting in a place like this.”

At first glance, he’s just an ordinary, unremarkable boy. Average. But he’s too average.

I know how immense his power is. Perhaps only a very small number of people know that too.

Yet, from what I observed today, despite possessing such tremendous power, there’s no sign of him getting lost in it. Occasionally, there were faint traces of confidence in his words, but that was it.

He’s too average. That’s what’s abnormal.

Even today, I didn’t really need to intervene.

But observing beside him, it became clear. The option of using his power to crush others doesn’t even exist in his mind. Despite being frustrated by his father in law’s words.

“Truly intriguing.”

If I were to put a name to this feeling born within me, it would be 『anticipation』.

‘Although I’m not yet entirely sure what’s different…’

I recalled the incident that led to me being placed in the Natsumi family’s care.

Counting the differences between the men who were there and the Confinement King.

×××

The heavy winter rain was battering against the windows.

The torrential rain noise covered the world like static on a radio and outside the window was a dark schoolyard with the sun fully set.

Under the distant streetlights, rain was tracing silver lines like piano wires.

Breaths turned white in the cold.

I sat on the lectern, wearing a duffle coat over my uniform. Swinging my legs idly, I glanced around the classroom.

A girl’s sobbing and the beastly sounds of a boy’s heavy breathing. Buttons torn off blouses, skirts pushed up.

Amidst the dishevelled desks and chairs, on the hard floor, three pairs of boys and girls were entangled.

“Sa, Saki-chan…he-help me…”

The girl looked at me with pleading eyes.

‘What’s her name again?’

As I thought about that, I gazed absentmindedly at the girl.

“I-I hate this! Nooo!”

“Why! Why would you do something like this!”

The other two girls resisted the boy pressing down on them and shouted through tearful voices.

‘Why? Why would she say something so strange?’

The unwanted tales of love I had been told over and over again. Even though these three girls had gone out of their way to give each of these boys they claimed to like.

These three were what you’d call honour students. Even if it was at the behest of a teacher, they always paid attention to me, the loner in the class. Whether I appreciated it or not was another matter, but their intentions were undoubtedly good.

So, I responded in kind with goodwill.

No matter how many times I simulated it, the possibility of those girls being able to date the boys they liked was nonexistent.

If I consider the idea that their love will come true and that they will reach the culmination of that love, this method was the simplest and most efficient.

When I think about the purpose of the state of love, it goes without saying where it leads.

‘Whether one can leave descendants after one or two attempts is unknown, though…’

For the boys, it was simple.

Exaggerate small mistakes, confine them with guilt and fear, narrow their perspective. By providing escape routes and excuses, guiding them and linking their sexual desire, they easily overcome ethics and morals.

“Noooooo!”

The girls’ screams were drowned out by the sound of the rain, unable to reach anywhere.

Of course, that’s precisely why such a rainy day was chosen for this.

“Uuu… stop… forgive me…”

However, the commotion lasted only until penetration was achieved. Now, the only sounds echoing were the sobbing voices and the shaky knees of the boys who rocked their hips, along with faint suppressed moans.

This area was quite different from manga and novels. They should be making more pleasurable sounds, but the difference between fiction and reality in this aspect could be seen as a new insight.

While pondering about the expressions in fiction and the benefits for the audience that arise from them, a series of desperate moans from the boys rang out, causing a momentary [Uuuu!]

“Hiii!? Nooo! Don’t ejaculate! I don’t want it inside!”

‘It’s almost over now… Choosing a rainy day was a good idea, but…the way back will be tough. The rain won’t conveniently stop, will it?’

As I absentmindedly listened to the girls’ tearful voices and thought about such matters, the classroom door suddenly swung open, and the flashlight’s beam pierced my  retina.

“What are you all doing!”

Entering was the physical education teacher. It’s name was forgotten.

‘Trouble…’

It was an unexpected development. Normally, there shouldn’t have been anyone left in the school.

Later, I heard that the teacher had forgotten something and returned to school after briefly going home. At that time, I hadn’t yet considered the possibility of such an unplanned event.

It was a failure. Naturally, it became a matter for the police.

I haven’t heard what happened to the three boys. I’m not interested. It’s unlikely that they would snitch on me. They don’t believe I did anything to them.

The reason I managed to be there without being attacked by the boys was simply due to the numbers. Most of the time, they would just accept it after seeing how menacing my gaze was. Being in that situation without seeking help was because I was paralyzed by fear. That’s just how it turned out.

The girls’ comments about me were dismissed as jealous and negative emotions directed at the one who hadn’t been violated. There’s no way I could explain to them what I did.

On the way home, my mother, who had come to the police station to pick me up and asked me this,

“…Saki, it was your doing wasn’t it?”

“That’s right.”

“What were you thinking?”

“Nothing in particular. I just fulfilled those girls’ desires. Don’t worry. I’ll do it better next time.”

Honestly, I couldn’t quite understand my mother’s expression at that moment. Her emotions were all mixed up.

And after thinking for a while, she said this.

“Saki… I’m going to send you to grandma’s.”

×××

As I tried to contemplate once again about the Confinement King, Natsumi shouted loudly from downstairs.

“O—Iii, Shiratori! I’m heading out to buy dinner groceries, so come with me!”

“No.”

“Don’t be like that! We’re out of rice. I can’t handle it on my own, can I? It’s two 10-kilo bags. Come on, let’s go!”

I let out a deep sigh and stood up.

If I leave her be, Natsumi will probably barge into the room.

The people in this house have an odd sense of personal space.

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, Oba-san.”

“Don’t call me Oba-san! You idiot!”

—

That’s quite dark past..

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