It was a sight that made me doubt my own eyes.
My house was situated next to an area of the city where love hotels were congregated. To be honest, I was enticed by the condo’s cheap rent and entered into a lease agreement. It had a great vibe and was pretty fashionable――but the location isn’t good. A side effect of living in a place like this and always walking through the love hotel district is that you lose that sense of avoidance. Even more, since I’m a single guy, I wouldn’t feel guilty even if I ran into someone from the company.
That’s how I felt anyway…
…That day, after I finished work and ate my supper, I borrowed the help of some booze and started home in high spirits at around midnight. I decided to take a shortcut, and ended up choosing a route that goes right through the thick of the love hotel district. I don’t come this way unless I’m returning home after eating out, but it does get me home a few minutes faster.
What if I run into someone from the company… This is what I think about every time I take this route. Though, the reason I can think about such situations is because I really don’t believe something of the sort would ever really happen. That’s why, watching a particular couple intimately linking arms and chatting away, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Department Chief Hisaki and Kamoda…?”
Even if I ran into someone from the company, I wouldn’t feel guilty… That’s what I had told myself, but what I ended up doing was hiding. I could only smile wryly at how pathetic it was of me to jump like a startled rabbit and take such an action.
…There was no doubt that the two I was observing walking along the other side of the street was my boss, Hisaki, who had recently left her forties behind to start her fifties, and my co-worker Kamoda. As I’m twenty-eight this year, Kamoda should be the same age if he hadn’t played around in college and been held back a year. In that case, their age difference should be like that of a parent and child.
Incidentally, the place they had just left was one that bids you goodbye with the words “I’m glad you had a pleasurable time.” I checked it again just to be sure, but there was no mistaking it.
If…if I hadn’t known the event that happened at the company today, I might have been able to store away the scene before me deep inside myself. Putting aside age and standing, I’m not the kind of guy that likes to quibble over who one chooses to love.
However, putting together the event at the company today and the scene playing out before me, I started to feel a murky, haziness rise up inside me. There was nothing to be done. I only felt frustrated at not having been able to recognize the plotting.
…Today at work, HR made the announcement that Kamoda, whose business performance was lacking, was being promoted to manager. The one responsible for his raise was the Department Chief, Hisaki. There were a lot of people in the company besides me that were confused as to why Kamoda had been selected. Of course, I don’t want to believe this is the reason. It’s just, trying to tell myself they’re unrelated is…impossible.
Carrying these inexpressible emotions, I entered into a narrow alleyway I never take. There was a high chance that if I stayed on the main road without entering the alley, I would be discovered by Hisaki and Kamoda. As I said before, I wouldn’t feel any kind of guilt at being seen myself. Only, I had the feeling that avoiding contact here would be in my best interest.
…If I ran into them head on what would happen? Would Hisaki try and placate me? What would Kamoda do? He has a rather bad personality. Worst case, he might come and try to crush me. …No, the opposite is also possible. What would I do if he got on his hands and knees and began begging me to forget what I saw? Would I even be able to accept that…?
…Thinking along these lines, I figured any of those patterns was going to turn out to be a huge hassle. That’s why I decided on hiding. It would be best to play this card I just came to hold at the most appropriate time. And, I’m sure that time isn’t now.
The back alley was so dark, it made simply walking difficult. The back alleyways of the love hotel district were not well kept. What’s worse, this alley was so full of trash, crates and wares that it became nearly impossible to find decent footing to proceed.
My home would be just on the other side of this alley. But, as I jumped in here from the well-lit street, my eyes weren’t adjusted to the darkness yet. Even so, I didn’t have the nerve to just wait for my eyes to get used to the dark, so I continued to carefully make my way forward. Eventually I completely forgot what it was that had driven me to make my way carefully through here in the first place. Maybe it was the booze, but I maintained my careful pace through the alley.
Then, it happened.
Not even a few steps in front of me, the pavement surface of the alleyway started to emit a pure white light out of nowhere. It wasn’t like some specific object had started to emit light, but more like the ground itself had suddenly become a powerful light source. After walking through the alley, my eyes had finally started to grow accustomed to the dark, but with the advent of this light I was utterly blinded.
“Uwaa!!”
My own voice sounded pathetic and uncool. The volume of light led me to believe I had somehow detonated a bomb. I had never really considered wanting to choose my place of death up until now, but if possible I would have liked to avoid dying in a back alley of the love hotel district, surrounded by garbage.
I panicked, and twisted my body around, trying to avoid whatever was happening as quickly as possible. However it backfired, and I lost my footing to the boxes and wares around me. In the end, I slipped and fell forward in such a way that I appeared to be diving for first base.
“…What the!”
I heard the sound of an unfamiliar man’s voice. It also felt like I had slammed headfirst into some kind of unknown object. Blinded as I was, and unable to understand what was happening around me, I had the sensation of floating, and at the same time sinking.
Just like that… while releasing an uncharacteristic scream, my consciousness snapped and I fell into darkness…
End of [000 – The Fall 1/2]
I have just started translating this series, and so far, I have found it to be quite refreshing and very enjoyable to read.
I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do, and we can experience this journey together!
P.S. I would hate to die in an alley surrounded by garbage too…what about you? lol
-Tynkerd
It was a sight that made me doubt my own eyes.
My house was situated next to an area of the city where love hotels were congregated. To be honest, I was enticed by the condo’s cheap rent and entered into a lease agreement. It had a great vibe and was pretty fashionable――but the location isn’t good. A side effect of living in a place like this and always walking through the love hotel district is that you lose that sense of avoidance. Even more, since I’m a single guy, I wouldn’t feel guilty even if I ran into someone from the company.
That’s how I felt anyway…
…That day, after I finished work and ate my supper, I borrowed the help of some booze and started home in high spirits at around midnight. I decided to take a shortcut, and ended up choosing a route that goes right through the thick of the love hotel district. I don’t come this way unless I’m returning home after eating out, but it does get me home a few minutes faster.
What if I run into someone from the company… This is what I think about every time I take this route. Though, the reason I can think about such situations is because I really don’t believe something of the sort would ever really happen. That’s why, watching a particular couple intimately linking arms and chatting away, I couldn’t believe my eyes.
“Department Chief Hisaki and Kamoda…?”
Even if I ran into someone from the company, I wouldn’t feel guilty… That’s what I had told myself, but what I ended up doing was hiding. I could only smile wryly at how pathetic it was of me to jump like a startled rabbit and take such an action.
…There was no doubt that the two I was observing walking along the other side of the street was my boss, Hisaki, who had recently left her forties behind to start her fifties, and my co-worker Kamoda. As I’m twenty-eight this year, Kamoda should be the same age if he hadn’t played around in college and been held back a year. In that case, their age difference should be like that of a parent and child.
Incidentally, the place they had just left was one that bids you goodbye with the words “I’m glad you had a pleasurable time.” I checked it again just to be sure, but there was no mistaking it.
If…if I hadn’t known the event that happened at the company today, I might have been able to store away the scene before me deep inside myself. Putting aside age and standing, I’m not the kind of guy that likes to quibble over who one chooses to love.
However, putting together the event at the company today and the scene playing out before me, I started to feel a murky, haziness rise up inside me. There was nothing to be done. I only felt frustrated at not having been able to recognize the plotting.
…Today at work, HR made the announcement that Kamoda, whose business performance was lacking, was being promoted to manager. The one responsible for his raise was the Department Chief, Hisaki. There were a lot of people in the company besides me that were confused as to why Kamoda had been selected. Of course, I don’t want to believe this is the reason. It’s just, trying to tell myself they’re unrelated is…impossible.
Carrying these inexpressible emotions, I entered into a narrow alleyway I never take. There was a high chance that if I stayed on the main road without entering the alley, I would be discovered by Hisaki and Kamoda. As I said before, I wouldn’t feel any kind of guilt at being seen myself. Only, I had the feeling that avoiding contact here would be in my best interest.
…If I ran into them head on what would happen? Would Hisaki try and placate me? What would Kamoda do? He has a rather bad personality. Worst case, he might come and try to crush me. …No, the opposite is also possible. What would I do if he got on his hands and knees and began begging me to forget what I saw? Would I even be able to accept that…?
…Thinking along these lines, I figured any of those patterns was going to turn out to be a huge hassle. That’s why I decided on hiding. It would be best to play this card I just came to hold at the most appropriate time. And, I’m sure that time isn’t now.
The back alley was so dark, it made simply walking difficult. The back alleyways of the love hotel district were not well kept. What’s worse, this alley was so full of trash, crates and wares that it became nearly impossible to find decent footing to proceed.
My home would be just on the other side of this alley. But, as I jumped in here from the well-lit street, my eyes weren’t adjusted to the darkness yet. Even so, I didn’t have the nerve to just wait for my eyes to get used to the dark, so I continued to carefully make my way forward. Eventually I completely forgot what it was that had driven me to make my way carefully through here in the first place. Maybe it was the booze, but I maintained my careful pace through the alley.
Then, it happened.
Not even a few steps in front of me, the pavement surface of the alleyway started to emit a pure white light out of nowhere. It wasn’t like some specific object had started to emit light, but more like the ground itself had suddenly become a powerful light source. After walking through the alley, my eyes had finally started to grow accustomed to the dark, but with the advent of this light I was utterly blinded.
“Uwaa!!”
My own voice sounded pathetic and uncool. The volume of light led me to believe I had somehow detonated a bomb. I had never really considered wanting to choose my place of death up until now, but if possible I would have liked to avoid dying in a back alley of the love hotel district, surrounded by garbage.
I panicked, and twisted my body around, trying to avoid whatever was happening as quickly as possible. However it backfired, and I lost my footing to the boxes and wares around me. In the end, I slipped and fell forward in such a way that I appeared to be diving for first base.
“…What the!”
I heard the sound of an unfamiliar man’s voice. It also felt like I had slammed headfirst into some kind of unknown object. Blinded as I was, and unable to understand what was happening around me, I had the sensation of floating, and at the same time sinking.
Just like that… while releasing an uncharacteristic scream, my consciousness snapped and I fell into darkness…
End of [000 – The Fall 1/2]
I have just started translating this series, and so far, I have found it to be quite refreshing and very enjoyable to read.
I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do, and we can experience this journey together!
P.S. I would hate to die in an alley surrounded by garbage too…what about you? lol
-Tynkerd
