Kono Tsumibukaki Yoru ni-Chapter Seven

Slight delay in getting this chapter up, I had to go back and translate a page that I didn’t do when I did the rest of the chapter…couldn’t translate it at work due to its…contents 😉

Chapter is NSFW . It’s Asano’s turn!

Chapter 7

As the quiet seeming shop Asano had designated came into view, Kunitaka’s nervousness intensified. It was the ryotei that had been appointed as their rendezvous, the same as the one where he had visited Asano before.

Surely, there was something wrong with him.

What had been the start of this madness?

Choosing these means was a mistake. If he wanted to protect Ryouichirou, there were other ways. Even so, the more he thought about it, the less he understood. Kunitaka was normally praised for his clarity but now, his mind was in chaos.

In the end, the problem was that Ryouichirou had no intention of pulling out from the movement.

Therefore, Kunitaka’s thoughts were racing, stuck to wander around a maze without an exit. After thinking about it thoroughly, the thing Kunitaka at last thought of was to insure, that in the worst case, he had tried everything he could to reduce and lighten Ryouichirou’s “crime”.

Crime?

This country was corrupted right from the very beginning. Even wanting to be free, calling out to protect labourers, was a crime. The nation that would press charges against the ideology that people by right should be free, should be despised.

Kunitaka himself, to protect his house, to escape from the reality of not being able to meet Ryouichirou, had become an military officer.

And so, as soon as doubts had been given birth, his steps faltered. Living as he was now, as a military officer, he was supposed to protect this country.

The door clattered has he opened it and entered the shop. Bowing, the proprietress called out “Welcome”, and showed him in.

Had she recognised Kunitaka’s face? A bitter feeling rose in his throat.

“Master Asano has also arrived.” Her glance briefly ran over Kunitaka’s army uniform, and then paused for a moment at his insignia. Kunitaka bit his lip, embarrassed at this, but she didn’t say anything.

For this reason, it was all the more bitter.

The floor of the corridor creaked under his weight, it felt like it was crushing his heart. Like this, his heart would break.

“This way.” When she opened the shoji screen with pale fingers, there, clad in the uniform of the military police, was Asano, sitting with his knees in a relaxed position. He was drinking sake, being waited up by one of the shop’s girls, seeing Kunitaka, he broke into a smile.

“You came.”

“Yeah. Sorry I’m late.”

“Well, sit down then. You must be hungry.”

Sitting upright in his military uniform, Kunitaka bore the ill-bred gaze turned upon him.

“You don’t have to be so stiff. How about some sake.”

“I don’t feel like drinking.” That is what Kunitaka honestly felt. At this hour, there was no way he would enjoy seeing Asano, and eating and drinking with him.

“Is the bedroom better than a meal? People, if they change, they certainly change.”

Asano, who had sent all others out of the room, mocked Kunitaka in a voice that contained laughter, and Kunitaka’s graceful features went bright red.

Even though the hint of the heat and humidity of late summer lingered while daylight remained, as soon as Asano came to Kunitaka’s side, he felt the air grow cold. Just that made him nervous. Asano opened his mouth, and drained the cup he had been poured.

Kunitaka was nervous at being one on one with Asano, he could only look down at the floor. He had no will to touch the food that had been carried out to them, he bit his lip until it was pale.

“I didn’t think I would make you mine so easily. Actually, it’s all too unexpected.”

“I’m not becoming anyone’s.” He was merely acting tough. However, he had to say it, for a small amount of self respect remained. Even so, he didn’t care, if his completely frozen body were to become a bargaining chip.

As long as there existed that man most important to him, Kunitaka treated his body as if if it only amounted to a tool. In that case, to Kunitaka, his body was now no more than a piece of flesh.

“If that’s the case, why did you come?”

“I want you to save Narita.” Kunitaka’s answer was simple.

“You feel like betraying the system?”

“it’s not betrayal. With your influence, it should be easy to save one person, right?”

“A man who up until yesterday was on the list of persons of interest, there’s no way he can be struck off the list without reason. Despite myself, there are things I can do, and things I can’t.”

He accurately read the other side of Kunitaka’s thoughts, the side that was indirectly saying “Help me.” However, having said that, at this point, Kunitaka had no one but Asano to cling to.

“What a mess.” Asano laughed.

“A man as noble as you, stooping to betrayal for the sake of love. You’re an army lieutenant, an elite on the easy road to success. Is that man so important to you?”

It was as Asano said. The things that were Kunitaka’s proof, could be connected to treason against not only the imperial army he belonged to, but to the nation. Even trying to hold small seeds of ideology were unforgivable to the police and military police, who become overzealous.

“Allow me look upon the dog’s face.” Asano suddenly extended his hand, and tried to touch Kunitaka’s cheek. Kunitaka tried to avoid his hand, but without quarter, Asano seized Kunitaka’s chin.

“You’re throwing away your self-respect, and offering your body to me, for Narita’s sake. Isn’t that quite the self-sacrifice.”

“Whatever.”

His chin was let go, and he gradually relaxed. Asano then suddenly grabbed Kunitaka’s hand, and opened the sliding screen that led to the inner room. Then, like that, he roughly threw Kunitaka onto the futon.

“Wha-“

The lit paper lamps, having an olden day feeling, cast an unclean light. They burned, flickering.

“If dinner’s not going to go down your throat, I’ll give you something else to swallow,” he said, and laughed a little. “Take off your clothes.”

Asano’s voice, to the very last, was cold and haughty. It was indeed cool, but was that the true nature of Asano, who continued to evade Kunitaka’s words.

“Can’t do it?” Even his voice dripped with threat, and Kunitaka knew it completely disallowed any retreat. “Despite the fact you came to be fucked, you’re quite naive.” He laughed again, and undid the buttons of Kunitaka’s jacket. Next he set his hand to undoing Kunitaka’s shirt. His gaze traced Kunitaka’s fine grained skin.

“You’ve slept with Narita?” He gave a low laugh, and pushed Kunitaka down.

Kunitaka couldn’t hide it.

The marks left on his skin by Ryouichirou remained all over his body.

“That man, seeing you about to be fucked…that’s something I want to see.”

“nn-”

Kunitaka’s chest had become faintly flushed. Asano lightly pressed his fingertips into his nipples, and Kunitaka enjoyed the sensation of them being rolled by the balls of Asano’s fingers. Even though Asano’s stimulation should only have hurt, Kunitaka’s body, which had before been held by Ryouichirou, still remembered that sweet ache.

“ku-“

“It’s not interesting if you keep trying to withstand it. Cry out a bit more.”

“Shut up…!”

“You don’t know your own place. You should make the most of it and enjoy it.” He gave a strange smile, and carelessly rumpled Kunitaka’s clothes. But even so, he still hadn’t completely removed Kunitaka’s army uniform, was this an expression of his malicious nature?

“How did Narita hold you, tell me,” whispered Asano, as his fingertips traced Kunitaka’s lower parts, to his crotch.

“…Stop it…” Even though he should give up everything, being touched like this now, his pride ached.

“There’s no reason to stop. This is a fair bargain. If that wasn’t the case, you could have run away once before. There’s no way that you can get out of it tonight.”

“nn, uh”

He moved his fingers, leisurely stroking Kunitaka’s penis. At the tantalising slow movement Kunitaka bitterly, painedly, dug his fingers into the futon.

“Are you feeling it?” Asano whispered, scooping up the drop that had run with his fingertip, and stroked Kunitaka’s tip.

“Enough!”

“Why? You, aren’t you enjoying being touched? You have the same nature as your younger brother, bringing men in for sex.”

However Kunitaka tried to put it into words, he had come here wishing to make a bargain. Asano held him down, he couldn’t act as if he wanted to run away.

“You’ll go this far to save Narita?”

His narrowness softly caressed, Kunitaka trembled. The parts of him that only Ryouichirou knew, he now presented to Asano.

“Throw away your pride, everything, and the thought you can save that man…you are a complete idiot.” Asano quietly laughed and slipped his fingers into Kunitaka.

“fu-“

The moment Kunitaka noticed his short breaths held a tinge of sweet temptation, he realised that he was a human being who should be horribly ashamed to fall this far into depravity.

“I’ll confirm Narita’s teaching.” Asano lightly nibbled at Kunitaka’s collarbone, and continued like that to Kunitaka’s nipple.

“Ah-“

When he unexpectedly cried out, with one hand, Asano began to knead his jutting nipples.

To begin with, that only gave him numb pain, but while Asano groped his arousal gradually deepened, and Kunitaka twisted in horror. His army uniform was half undone, subjugated in this way, he felt despair.

However, gradually wearing him down, Asano’s fingers skilfully moved.

“This…is fine, right.” Kunitaka gasped, wanting to end this time where he was simply played with, but that wasn’t to be so.

“Not yet.”

“ah-“

The movement of Asano’s fingers became all the more animated, pushing through his crease and penetrating his inner parts. Unable to bear the fingers being half forcibly inserted into that passage that hardly knew opening, tears that should have dried already overflowed.

“What’s this, you want be to put it in already? Such lewdness doesn’t suit your pretty face.”

“Shut up!” Although he railed, Asano who maliciously teased him, only cast him a cool gaze. “I’ll tease you until you forget yourself, and torment you until you cry out that you want it. That much would be fitting, don’t you think?”

Persistently running his tongue all over, Asano flicked his turgidly swollen nipples with his finger, and a lascivious smile came to his face. The humiliation didn’t end there.

“Oh, look, the shape has completely changed. Is this how you get when you feel it?”

The sound formed by only his long breath was all too obscene, words wouldn’t come. Asano reached out his hand, to fully entrap Kunitaka.

“St- Stop- ahh-!”

Each time he was touched, the parts that made indecently wet sounds were held down, Kunitaka cried out.

Different to Ryouichirou’s earnest caresses of a few days before, Asano possessed a much more licentious and refined technique. Even though he knew he was being teased, he couldn’t stop.

Asano waited for Kunitaka’s body to become excited, to become wet, to melt.

“You…should be satisfied already…” Kunitaka told Asano, his voice disarrayed, but Asano had absolutely no intention of stopping, urging on at the parts of Kunitaka that had made such indecent sounds.

“Not yet,” declared Asano shortly.

Contrary to intention, the shape changed, Kunitaka’s penis filthily throbbed, with Asano’s massaging.

“Shall I do something that man hasn’t done?” Kunitaka’s expression had become vacant, Asano tightly grabbed his hair.

“Ah, no, not that. Something you couldn’t do to that man.”

Loosening his clothes, Asano pulled Kunitaka’s head to his own lower parts. “Suck it,” he coolly ordered Kunitaka.

“eh…”

An all too outrageous command. Asano glared strangely down on Kunitaka.

“Can’t do it?”

Kunitaka averted his eyes from the offensive organ that had been thrust before his pale lips. However, Asano had absolutely no intention of drawing away, displaying his flourishing erection.

“Be an animal. Throw away all reason”

“……”

Kunitaka, closing his eyes, hesitatingly brought his face to Asano’s penis. A hideously wretched kiss, however none other than the sign of days of subservience begun from now on.

Tears didn’t even fall. His mind went completely numb, and his heart was frozen over. He carefully held the man’s penis in his hands, and took only the tip into between his lips.

“Only that much?” Asano’s mouth was now open with mocking laughter, he guided himself fully into Kunitaka’s mouth.

“Taste good?”

No way it did. Not this thing.

“nn-”

“Say it.”

“…Delicious…”

He broke. He lost his mind,

Asano stroked his hair, urging him on, Kunitaka, gasping, opened his mouth.

“It’s delicious, Asano…”

When he ran his tongue over Asano, his saliva spilled over. Kunitaka’s tongue became languid, tracing his tongue over Asano’s penis, as if to confirm the shape of it.

–

“I’ll see you to the gate then?”

Asking that to Kunitaka, who was ensconced in the back seat of the car belonging to Asano’s family, fixed Asano with a hard expression.

“I’m fine by myself.”

Although the core of his body was still distantly throbbed, he didn’t want to show Asano his weakness.

“Hmpf,” Asano gave a low laugh, and then grabbed Kunitaka’s arm as he got out of the car. Then, he pulled Kunitaka close to him and brought his lips to Kunitaka’s ear. The damp touch of Asano’s lips was unpleasant, but Kunitaka would not be forgiven for saying so.

“Next weekend, tell Narita this like a good boy.”

“Huh?”

“Those guys, the guys in contact with the Far East Comintern in Shanghai, are having an assembly.”

The Comintern were a worldwide communist party organisation.

“This information was leaked to the authorities. If you don’t want to work for it, put the rope around Narita’s neck and tie it yourself.” He extended his hand and clamped it around Kunitaka’s throat.

“This is only one of many trump cards I’ve laid out. Like hell I can just have those guys left at large anytime.”

Rather noticing Asano stealing a kiss, his shoulder was lightly pushed, with that force Kunitaka was separated from the car.

While he was dazedly digesting, he suddenly realised the importance of the information Asano had given him. The communist assembly was, more than likely, part of a police raid.

Although Kunitaka was driven by the need to deliver this information to Ryouichirou as soon as possible, his strength and body were at their limits. More than anything, he didn’t want to meet Ryouichirou with the smell of Asano remaining all over his body.

Kunitaka opened the gate, and with a slow step, headed towards the mansion.

His body that had been knocked around by Asano still held a trace of heat, his body ached with every step forward. Just like a machine that had run out of oil, he couldn’t move, and yet, he let out a cry and laughed, and then lent against the door as if about to collapse.

He slowly opened the door.

He intended to not make a sound as he came back, but the butler Naitou was still up.

“ah…I’m sorry, were you still awake?”

“Yes.”

“It’s ok to go to bed at the times I come home late. You must be tired.” Kunitaka gave his words of thanks, and though he was suffering, made himself to show a smile.

Of late, Kunitaka had noticed that Naitou had aged remarkably. Perhaps due to that fact that unlike before, Kunitaka had not been sparing time for family matters, Naitou’s burden had become larger.

After all he was always remonstrating Kazutaka for his behaviour, telling him to think of their family, at least a little. Kazutaka hated the Seikanji house, with no sign that he would succeed to the house, he instead aimlessly played around.

However, as for today, Kunitaka would not be able to look Kazutaka in the eye.

For the sake of the man he loved, Kunitaka had sold his body to the devil. Deep in his body ached a cold, numbing pain. Asano had easily taken his body, and done with it what he wished. A chill ran through his body, Kunitaka clutched his left shoulder with his right hand,

There had not been one place all over his body that Asano hadn’t touched. Then, Kunitaka had uttered those obscene remarks, as Asano had wished, begging for his forgiveness.

In order to obtain information from Asano, to save Ryouichirou, he was behaving in a cowardly and filthy manner.

How ugly.

“Kunitaka?”

Unexpectedly, a voice fell from overhead, giving Kunitaka a start. His heart beat wildly, he timidly looked up the stairs. When he did, he saw the form of his younger sister in her nightclothes, looking down at Kunitaka who stood still, taken aback, with a strange expression.

“Mariko…I’m sorry, did I wake you.”

“I stayed up late. The stars are very pretty tonight,’ she replied quietly, and smiled at Kunitaka, “How about you?”

“I…met with a friend.”

“A friend? That’s rare for you.”

If Asano had been a friend, he wouldn’t have disgraced Kunitaka in this way.

He wouldn’t stir him up with obscenities such as say these shameful things, try and pleasure me. He should be kinder with Kunitaka, whose feelings were beyond his control.

“You’re making a scary face though. What’s wrong?” Mariko touched him with her right hand, Kunitaka felt consternation. However, enough composure remained that he didn’t try and shake her off. He felt that by touching him with her innocent fingers, even his sister would be made dirty.

“It’s nothing. Good night, Mariko.”

Kunitaka finally climbed the stairs, and opened the door of the room furthest in.

“…Shit…” he yelled with a stifled voice, burying his face in the bed.

Digging his nails into the mattress, he beat at it over and over.

For a place for those feelings to go, he didn’t know where to head.

Hot thoughts swirled around in his mind, he was waiting for them to surge up.

Kunitaka, who had been living only for the sake of this house, had been betrayed by his emotions, and was becoming a completely different person.

He didn’t even know where they would lead him.

However, passionate yearning for Ryouichirou was the only thing that writhed through his body. Was this the fate brought about by the blood of the Seikanji family, so thick it was disgusting?

Spanning long years, the stagnant blood that only bore unendurable ugliness. In the end, no matter how much he wished he could, there was no way Kunitaka could escape it.

For running from the heaviness, and the curse of his house, Kunitaka would not be forgiven. Kunitaka was certain that this blood was revenge for the contempt he held deep in his heart for his father and his nymphomaniac dissipation.

Responding to the caresses of a man he didn’t love, Kunitaka had wanted his body. Like a thirsty traveller begging for water, until his thirst had been quenched, over and over.

Translation notes

Throughout the document of the full novel translation, there are several places in every chapter that I’d marked to recheck the translation when I came to them, usually from not properly being able to understand or make sense of the sentence I was reading at the time I was originally translating the novel last year. I recently bought the newly reissued bunko edition, and was using that to recheck the translation, and noticed that the text has actually been revised in places. Kono tsumibukaki was first published in 2003, so I guess it’s only natural that after 10 years, an author would want to make edits.

I’m mostly pointing this out, because although this wasn’t one of the places I needed to check, I noticed it when checking another section on the same page, I think the difference is fairly significant, and may clarify earlier parts that seem vague.

OLD edition-For the sake of protecting his house, and for the sake of the honour of his house, Kunitaka himself, indifferent to his own purpose, had become a military officer.

NEW edition-Kunitaka himself, to protect his house, to escape from the reality of not being able to meet Ryouichirou, had become a military officer.

Fucked/slept with/held-In the original Japanese, these are all the same verb(抱-daku), but to use the same English word throughout sounds quite strange, so it’s been modified depending on the tone of the sentence it’s in. Fuck is quite strong, but Asano is also being very blunt.