Chapter 215 Things That Were Not Taken

After dinner, a faint scent of dish soap lingered in the cramped kitchen.

Kaoru Hoshitani stood at the sink, about to wash the dishes the two of them had used.

The moment the water was turned on, a pair of soft arms wrapped around him naturally from behind, gently encircling his thin waist.

Aina Saiten pressed her cheek against the back of his oversized hoodie, her voice carrying a hint of lazy reliance, as if she had finally let her guard down:

“Today… you worked hard.”

Kaoru Hoshitani’s hands paused mid-wash as the water rushed over the white porcelain bowl.

“Kaoru really helped me a lot. The food was delicious, and the room was cleaned up so nicely… let me hold you for a bit.”

Aina Saiten closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Hearing this, a faint blush crept across Kaoru Hoshitani’s cheeks.

But deep in his chest, a subtle sting pulsed through him.

Because he knew better than anyone that half of the “perfect performance” that made Onee-san Aina feel at ease had come from Chika’s quiet feeding behind the scenes.

But he couldn’t say anything. He could only let Aina Saiten hold him and softly murmur, “Mm.”

The sound of water stopped. When Kaoru Hoshitani dried his hands and turned around, Aina Saiten lifted her head, her gentle eyes swirling with something intense.

It was the desire of adult lovers.

Aina Saiten wanted it…

Because after facing rejection after rejection and her fall in status during the day, she desperately needed this most intimate act to confirm that Kaoru Hoshitani still belonged to her, that the bond they called “Home” was still intact.

And Kaoru Hoshitani didn’t refuse. When Aina Saiten kissed him, he even stood on his tiptoes, parted his lips slightly, and eagerly responded.

Kaoru Hoshitani wanted to compensate Aina Saiten.

He wanted to use his own body to soothe all the grievances Onee-san had suffered outside today.

More importantly, he wanted to prove to himself—

that he hadn’t been completely destroyed by that freak, Rika Kawasaki.

It’ll be fine.

This is Onee-san Aina, the person I love most—

When Aina Saiten gently pressed him onto the soft bed in the Bedroom, Kaoru Hoshitani squeezed his eyes shut tightly.

He wished more than anything that he could feel his heart race out of control at Onee-san’s every approach, just like before.

But the more he wished for it, the more he feared what answer his body would give.

……

The lights in the room were switched off, leaving only faint moonlight filtering through the window.

At first, Kaoru Hoshitani cooperated eagerly.

He actively wrapped his arms around Aina Saiten’s neck, his legs obediently parting to either side, meeting every small, tender kiss she planted on him.

He even forced himself to squeeze out those blush-inducing sounds from his throat, clutching the bedsheet tightly, trying to feel Aina Saiten’s warm body heat.

But as their intimacy deepened, a terrifying Dislocation Sensation began to spread bit by bit deep inside Kaoru Hoshitani’s body.

……

Aina Saiten touched him carefully, afraid of hurting him.

Every movement was filled with tenderness.

If this had been before, this kind of ultimate gentleness would have filled Kaoru Hoshitani with a sense of completeness.

But now, Kaoru Hoshitani realized in despair that his body, which had been widened by Rika Kawasaki, when faced with Aina Saiten’s spring-like gentleness, actually…

felt almost nothing?!

Kaoru Hoshitani felt a faint friction.

No matter how hard Aina Saiten tried to give him pleasure, those sensitive nerves, long accustomed to being crushed, couldn’t reach the threshold to ignite. It was like a pool of stagnant water.

What a cruel physiological betrayal this was.

Just as Kaoru Hoshitani was drowning in the chaos of this enormous gap, the most dangerous shadow descended.

Aina Saiten’s body pressed heavily onto his.

Warm sweat dripped onto Kaoru Hoshitani’s Clavicle, and Aina Saiten’s throat held back muffled moans of pleasure. She was clearly completely immersed in lust.

And Kaoru Hoshitani, feeling her weight and the slight rocking, stared blankly with wide eyes.

Because it felt so empty, he thought Aina Saiten was still doing the earlier gentle foreplay.

So, in his daze, he unconsciously urged in a small voice:

“Onee-san Aina… are you almost done?”

“Mmf…!”

At Kaoru Hoshitani’s unguarded murmur, Aina Saiten’s movements froze abruptly.

Then her breathing suddenly grew heavier.

“!”

The moment Aina Saiten pushed herself all the way in with everything she had, Kaoru Hoshitani felt like all the blood in his body had been completely drained in a tenth of a second!

Because Aina Saiten’s movements suddenly grew bigger and more forceful, Kaoru Hoshitani finally felt a faint thrusting sensation.

Like a dull blow smashing into the crown of his skull, he snapped awake—

It’s in…?

It wasn’t that it hadn’t started, but that Onee-san Aina…

had actually already been trying so hard all along?!

Extreme terror and an abyss-deep shame instantly turned into freezing seawater, completely drowning Kaoru Hoshitani.

How could this be…

What disgusting state has that devil reshaped my body into?!

To cover up this fatal mistake, Kaoru Hoshitani’s body began to tremble violently beyond his control.

He had to fix this immediately!

He absolutely couldn’t let Onee-san Aina find out!

He suddenly threw his arms out and clung desperately to Aina Saiten’s back.

He buried his face deep into the crook of Aina Saiten’s neck, biting his lower lip hard, and with a sweet voice as if he was too overwhelmed by the sudden deep thrust, he frantically and desperately masked his loss of composure:

“Ah… Onee-san Aina… hold me tight… mm…”

He took the initiative to kiss her cheek, even gripping the bedsheet tightly with his fingers, desperately recalling in his mind how the old, normal him would react, forcing himself to let out those fake, satisfied moans.

And Aina Saiten, completely in the dark, didn’t notice the terrifying abyss behind that question.

She only felt Kaoru Hoshitani’s “trembling” and “passion.”

In Aina Saiten’s mind, Kaoru Hoshitani had done so much housework at home today and had endured the mental strain of being on the run afterward.

His slightly dull reaction now, this clingy dependence on her—it was all because he was too tired, because he wanted so badly to put her at ease.

“Kaoru… I love you too.”

Aina Saiten’s heart swelled with emotion and pity. Her movements grew even gentler, even more careful, as if she were handling a precious, fragile thing.

Yet the gentler Aina Saiten was, the more Kaoru Hoshitani’s despair expanded wildly like a Black Hole.

Because this gentleness could never fill that greedy abyss that the tyrant had pried open by force.

……

Late at night, Aina Saiten had already fallen into a deep sleep from sheer exhaustion.

Kaoru Hoshitani lay in the darkness with his eyes open, listening to the steady breathing of the person beside him.

He hadn’t been released. That intimacy just now hadn’t soothed his nerves at all—instead, it had fully stirred up the hidden heat and emptiness inside his body, only to cruelly leave it hanging in midair.

Kaoru Hoshitani bit down hard on the back of his hand, tears silently slipping from the corners of his eyes and seeping into the pillow.

He didn’t blame Aina Saiten. He only hated his own body.

Onee-san Aina was right here beside him. She was the person he wanted to protect more than anything in this life.

But why…

Why did the depths of his body feel like a drafty hollow, screaming for those harsher, rougher stimuli?

Rika Kawasaki hadn’t chased after them, but the poison she had left inside his body was now violently taking effect on this quiet northern night.

Kaoru Hoshitani could no longer endure the restless sensation of countless ants crawling through his very marrow.

He quietly slipped out from under the covers and got out of bed.

Like a ghost, he felt his way out of the Bedroom in the dark and into the Living Room.

He wanted to find something, to use the old little toys he used to rely on to deal with those “desires” in his body.

He crouched in front of the luggage bag, frantically searching through it by the moonlight from the window.

Clothes, toiletry bag, emergency medicine…

Nothing… there was nothing.

Kaoru Hoshitani froze in place, cold sweat rolling down his forehead.

Only then did he remember how rushed their escape had been yesterday.

To avoid looking suspicious, they’d only packed the bare essentials.

Those little things hidden in the bottom drawer of the drawer, meant for long, sleepless nights, had all been left behind in Tokyo.

He had escaped Rika Kawasaki. He had escaped the despair of the past.

But the one thing he hadn’t escaped…

was this body that Rika Kawasaki had completely rewritten.

Kaoru Hoshitani stumbled into the cramped Restroom and locked the Door behind him.

He didn’t dare turn on the light. He could only slide down weakly against the cold tiles until he sat on the floor.

The unbearable heat in his lower abdomen and the extreme shame in his mind were locked in a desperate battle.

He buried his face in his knees and let out a whimper like a dying young animal.

Just as he felt he was about to be driven mad by this emptiness—

In the darkness, his hand brushed against the black prepaid Mobile Phone he carried with him.

This was the only thing in the room that still connected to an “external answer.”

Kaoru Hoshitani pressed the screen on with trembling fingers.

Weak, cold light fell across his face, still flushed with unsated desire.

He didn’t have a clear purpose. The unbearable heat in his lower abdomen was simply driving him insane.

He didn’t dare go back and wake his exhausted Onee-san. He could only grip the phone like a Lifeline, scrolling aimlessly through anything, even just staring at the clock app’s ticking seconds, desperate to force those disgusting sensory memories out of his mind.

He slid his finger aimlessly across the home screen, but in his panic and trembling, he accidentally tapped the Line icon.

The interface switched in an instant. The dull local life memo Chika had sent during the day jumped into his view without warning.

[Tamade Supermarket half-price… old drugstore… you don’t need to reply. Get some rest.]

Staring at those lifeless words on the screen, Kaoru Hoshitani’s rapid breathing miraculously settled just a little.

He just sat there, blankly staring at those pieces of everyday guidance he’d already read, trying to use these ordinary words to distract himself from the unbearable emptiness inside his body.

But then, at that moment.

“Buzz—”

The black phone in his hand suddenly vibrated.

At the top of the screen, a short, almost coldly indifferent line of text appeared.

[Still awake?]