Volume 4 Chapter 1 (1/2)

t.i.tle: Koushounin series 04

Koushounin wa Hamerareru [交渉人は嵌められる]

Chapter: 1

Page: 025 – 053

Author: Eda Yuuri [榎田 尤利]

Ill.u.s.trator: Nara Chiharu [奈良 千春]

Publisher: Taiyō Tos...o...b..>

Year of Release: 2010

Disclaimer:

Eda Yuuri is the original author of this work, and this is a fan translation. Feel free to re-post this elsewhere if you like but please credit this site. I did buy the original copy of this book, along with the rest of the series, so it'll be great if you can support her by buying her books.

By the way, this work contains BL, or h.o.m.o-eroticism.

Note:

As I have no formal training in translation theory nor am I an expert in j.a.panese (nor English, for the matter), I cannot guarantee the quality of this translation work, but I promise I did my best.

I have been a big fan of the Koushounin series by Eda Yuuri ever since I got my hands on the BLCDs for the first and second instalments of the series, and have been waiting patiently for the BLCDs for the third instalment onward… to no avail. It has been 8 years since the sensei published Koushounin wa Furikaeru, and I am beginning to accept that there might be no BLCD after all.

Nevertheless, the fujos.h.i.+ doesn't give up. The following is my attempt at the English translation of the rest of the series.

Chapter 1

I want you to picture this in your head.

On a satirical TV program, a comedian is singing, mimicking a famous singer.

It wasn't really a very good imitation, but he exaggerated some of that famous singer's quirks and the reception from the audience was rather average. He was a second rate comedian, yet they laughed at his jokes and clapped for him. Enthused, he sang with all his might and right after the climax of the song ended, the audience erupted in cheers.

Oh, what amazing support from the audience. Perhaps from now on, I can get by just by doing impersonations of people!

… And just as he was feeling good about himself, the audience's gaze suddenly turned on something behind him. Eh? He thought as he turned back, and there was the singer he was imitating, standing there. After a cursory glance in his direction, the singer bursts into song, in a clear and sonorous voice. The comedian pales as he thinks, what this is, I didn't hear about anything like this…

I wonder if you could imagine that.

How, how unbearably mortifying it must have been.

”Senpai. What kind of cosplay, is that?”

When I laid my eyes on Hyoudou, that was exactly how I felt.

Why?

Why did you appear in a place like this, at this very exact timing?

I very nearly said ”Hyoudou?” but swallowed the words before they came out of my mouth, and stole a glance at s.h.i.+mizu Kyouichi to see how he was reacting to all these, though I doubted it was his real name. s.h.i.+mizu was struck by Hyoudou's yakuza aura and looked like he was completely scared out of his wits. In order to prevent my cover from being blown, I took on a deliberately haughty tone as I said: ”Shut up. I'm busy right now.”

Hyoudou smirked, but probably guessed that I was working right now and didn't say anything more. s.h.i.+mizu rounded his back as he sneaked past Hyoudou and Hakuta, and turned back just once near the door to face my client to make a gesture that indicated he would call her.

As I watched s.h.i.+mizu leave like he was making a fast break for it, I thought that he might get rid of his hand phone and that'll be the end of it.

”And? Have you finished your work?”

Hyoudou shrugged off his coat and sat down heavily opposite me. Hakuta took a seat on a table across the aisle. My client, Sawada Chimako, gave us a curious look as she weighed both men in black suits. I took off the sungla.s.ses, which didn't quite suit me, and grumbled at Hyoudou, ”No, I haven't. Don't get in the way.” in my usual voice.

”I still need to explain some things to my client.”

”You have some explaining to do, don't you? I would like to know why you are doing this really lousy yakuza parody.”

'I'm not really impersonating anyone.”

”Huh. You aren't?”

”Ah, no… that is. I simply took you as a reference, or should I say that…”

Hyoudou snorted in laughter at my rather lame excuse. He spotted the pack of cigarettes on the table, and without asking, he took out a stick. This was the brand of cigarettes that Hyoudou usually smoked, and no it wasn't as if I was trying to copy him, it's just that… I unconsciously…

”Both of you look like each other,” Chimako blurted, and I could only laugh vacuously in return.

”Mebuki-san, is he your friend?”

”No, he's not my—”

”I'm his boyfriend,” declared Hyoudou in the intonation of a high school girl, with the cigarette still stuck in his mouth. Chimako's eyes widened, and she blinked at least twice. She didn't look shocked or surprised, she simply looked like she didn't understand what he said.

I glared at Hyoudou and said, ”Just be quiet.” To Chimako I said, ”Eh, erm, Sawada-san,” as I changed the topic back to work, ”Looks like this is the end of our little trick… Are you satisfied with how things are, now?”

Yes, Chimako answered in a small voice. With a half crying, half smiling expression on her face, she said, ”I feel like I've finally gotten it off my chest, somehow.”

”Are you sure you are fine, with things ending like this? If we spend a little bit more time on this case, we could grab him by the scruff of his neck and hand him over to the police.”

”Oh, no. This is fine… I don't think he would ever contact me again.”

Chimako was no longer the innocent and simple girl she was just a few moments ago. A prudent, mature woman quietly stood herself up from her seat, and bowed to me.

”Mebuki-san, thank you for your help. When you are done with the invoice, please let me know.”

”Ah, yes.”

I got up too, and bowed. When she tried to take the bill for our drinks I hurried stopped her, as I said, ”No, that's fine. I'll make this nuisance over here pay for them,” as I motioned towards Hyoudou. Hyoudou had an expression on his face that said, what, why me, but he didn't complain. Chimako, with a tiny smile, nodded and turned to leave.

She was already of a small build, but looked even smaller as she left the shop.

When I could no longer see her, I sighed just once and returned to my seat. Things did not exactly end on a very good note.

”What was that, just now?” Hyoudou asked.

”… Like I said, work.”

”It looked like you were impersonating yakuza in order to chase away that lady's boyfriend. Why, is he a stalker or something?”

”Nope. He was a swindler. A marriage swindler.”

Hyoudou raised his eyebrows.

”Swindler? But you let him get away, didn't you??”

”That was what the client requested.”

Not to catch the swindler.

Not to hand him over to the police.

Not to single him out for blame.

”… She requested that she wanted to end this, with them still in love.”

Chimako had noticed it, a long time ago.

He wouldn't give her his business card. He wouldn't tell her exactly where he lived. ”I'm too shy,” he would say, as he continued to turn down her offers to introduce him to her friends. They go on dates to see showrooms for apartments. I'll be great if we could live in a place like this… sweet words he would whisper into her ear, but till the very end, vague and indefinite statements. Thoughtful presents. And also, having parents or siblings that fall sick, along with other problems that aren't his fault.

Those were tricks straight out of a textbook. Tricks that was played by a third-cla.s.s marriage swindler, tricks even a layman like Chimako could see through.

Even so, she was happy, while they were still in love, she said. Even though she knew they were lies, she found his honeyed words soothing to hear. When he asked her to lend him small amounts of money, she lent them to him knowing very well that the money may never come back. She was glad whenever the money was returned.

She thought to herself many times, perhaps this person was actually a good person. She wanted very much to believe that he was.

However, Chimako's common sense and sagacity rejected that notion, again and again. He will most definitely ask me to lend him a large amount of money the next time. Possibly, he would create a situation in which she would be compelled to lend him money. And then, that'll be the end of their relations.h.i.+p…

”I see. If he disappears with that large amount of money, that's a marriage swindler for you. But if he doesn't show up again, she could always explain that he ran away because he was afraid of her small time gangster relative… Women, at times, can lie rather skilfully to themselves.”

”I kind of get that, you know.”

”Aren't people like that simply deceiving themselves?”

”Don't say that. She's just a sad, lonely woman.”

”What is truly sad, is that cosplay of yours.”

He jabbed a finger at me as he said that, and my mouth made a moue of defiance.

”It can't be helped, alright? I am not yakuza so the yakuza look doesn't suit me at all.”

”I mean, if you were going to copy me, can't you at least put on a better quality suit for me? The young head of Suou-gumi will not wear a suit that a host from a rundown host club in the outskirts of town would wear.”

”Oh, wow, I'm sorry for looking like a host from a rundown host club.”

”The shoes, too… don't those sell for about seven thousand eight hundred yen?”

”Oh, just shut up.”

My voice had risen because the cost of my shoes did just meet seven thousand eight hundred yen. It was on a bargain sale, so I had bought them at a price that should have been below its regular price. Even so, to Hyoudou who could casually wear shoes that cost more than two hundred thousand yen, this pair must be really cheap.

”You might not know this but law-abiding citizens have a limit to how much they can spend on things.”

Yes, that is right. I am a law-abiding citizen. My job as a negotiator is not a job that is very common, but it is a respectable one. My name is Mebuki Akira, and I am thirty-three years of age.

Even if you were to look from the front and back, or from the side, I am, without a doubt, a completely honest, upright citizen.

And the person in front of me, Hyoudou Juuetsu, is yakuza, even if you were to look at him from the front and back, from the side, or from the diagonal.

If small time hoodlums in the vicinity of Sumida ward were to hear the name of Suou-gumi's young head, most of them would run off with their tails between their legs.

”But I keep asking you to let me buy your shoes and clothes for you.”

”No, thank you.”

”You really don't need to hold yourself back, senpai. I'm buying them for you just so that I can take them off.”

”Pervert.” I swore at him, but Hyoudou licked his lips wetly.

”Please don't shower too much praise on me. It makes me shy.”

When the j.a.panese speak of using their arms to push away curtains hanging at the entrance of shops when referring to doing something worthless, I guess they refer to this. This man has a curious penchant for deriving pleasure from watching me squirm while being in a tight spot, so at times like this it is best to just ignore him.

As I fell silent, Hyoudou also remained silent. Nowadays, when both of us don't speak to each other, it doesn't feel awkward. Even when I am at Hyoudou's apartment, there are times when we are simply doing our own stuff; Hyoudou would be fiddling with his laptop and I'll be watching television, and before we realised it we would have both drifted off to sleep, just like that.

I don't dislike those times together, perhaps I even find them comfortable, which is why it is troubling. I, unfortunately, now know that one could experience this sort of peace and tranquillity in a same s.e.x relations.h.i.+p. Furthermore, on an unrelated note, that which I used to think was definitely impossible… you know… that? Well, to put it bluntly, it's very good.

Is it possible that Hyoudou and I are actually compatible?

Even though our occupation, personalities and upbringing are completely different?

”Senpai, what would you do for New Year's?”

”Eh?”

I had been thinking with thoughts swirling around my head, but I lifted my face. Hyoudou asked, again, ”How will you spend New Year?”

”How will I spend… Well. I'll watch the Kouhaku on the telly while I eat soba, and when morning breaks I'll eat the customary rice cake soup.”

”All in that dirty little room of yours?”

”Yes, that's right. In that dirty little room of mine,” I sniffed, and Hyoudou chuckled. It was a strangely gentle laugh, and I started to squirm a little in my seat.

”We should go to a hot spring or something… is what I would love to say, but I'll be busy end of this year through the start of the next. Well, I'll prepare the New Year's dishes, so would you like to come over to my place for the New Year's?”

”Harh? You are going to boil black soybeans and mash sweet potatoes?”

”I won't be the one boiling them. An Ane-san from Suou-gumi will make some, and portion some out for me… It's delicious, but to eat something like that when you are alone would be kind of…”

I didn't know if his next word was going to be ”lonely”, or ”empty”, or ”dull”, but certainly, New Year's dishes and rice cake soup aren't things you should be eating alone.

”Well… I could go.”

As I haughtily acquiesced to his offer, Hyoudou nodded and said, ”Alright, see you then,” and stood up. From somewhere inside of his coat, something rustled.

”Ah, right.”

Hyoudou then fished something out from inside of his pockets.

”I intended to drop by your office today, so I bought these just now.”

He placed on the table a bag from the broiled sweet chestnut specialty store Tens.h.i.+n Amaguri. Despite the bag being on the small side, I was amazed that he managed to cram it into the pocket of his coat. Wouldn't he spoil the shape of his high-end cashmere coat?

”Ooh. Thank you.”

”You like them, don't you.”

”Un. I love them1.”

”… Could you say that again, for me?” said Hyoudou, with his head slightly tilted. Without thinking, I repeated myself, ”I love…” and then clamped my mouth shut. Is he an idiot? What on earth was this person trying to make me say?

”I love them sweet chestnuts,” I corrected myself. Hyoudou smirked, and left the café without another word. Hakuta bowed his farewell and followed him.

The bag of sweet chestnuts he left on the table was still a tiny bit warm.

–

—and, well. That was what happened near the end of last year.

Sawada Chimako's case became the last request of the year. As we predicted, s.h.i.+mizu did not contact Chimako again. I called the number that Chimako told him was his several times, but no one answered. A few days later, a message 'the number you have dialled is not in service' would play when I dialled that number.

Just to be doubly sure, I called the trading firm which s.h.i.+mizu purportedly worked for, and was told that the department 'Logistics Management, Third Section' did not exist, and that they have no records of an employee called s.h.i.+mizu Kyouichi.

”That sounded like a swindler that couldn't follow through till the end, don't you think?” said Ayaka and she bit and pulled on a long, chewy strand of mochi.

”Yea. Is he stupid or something? On by the way, I sure would have liked to see Mebuki's yakuza cosplay,” said Tomonori as he picked up a piece of fish cake from his bowl with his chopsticks and dumped it into Kiyo's bowl. It would appear that he didn't like anything that was made from fish paste. Kiyo then chewed happily on the fish cake that was given… no, forced onto him.

”Don't call it cosplay, alright. I did it for work.” I picked up a pair of festive chopsticks and said the customary Itadakimasu with my palms pressed together, before starting on my bowl of New Year rice cake soup.

Today was Mebuki Nego Office's first work day this year. I had no cases that carried from last year into the next, so I had indulged in a rather lengthy New Year break, but I would have to return to the brisk pace of my work starting today.

”It must be hard being a negotiator. You have to go undercover as a host, and then yakuza…”

Today's New Year rice cake soup was made by Sayuri-san. Since she was born and bred in the downtown areas of Tokyo, her rice cake soup was flavoured the way the people in her hometown liked it; grilled oblong-shaped mochi, bits of chicken meat, radish, carrot, red-white fish cake, and j.a.panese spinach in a clear broth.

”Mm, this is delicious. This is the first time I had rice cake soup like this!” Ayaka exclaimed in delight.

I did say it was the first day of work for Mebuki Nego Office this year, but Ayaka does not work here. She is one of the more popular girls in a s.e.x establishment that Hyoudou runs, but she drops by my office rather often to see Sayuri-san, whom she is close to.

Tomonori is a high school student, and the nephew of Suou-gumi's k.u.michō. He dislikes his father, who is also yakuza, and although he went through a rebellious phase at one point of time, he has very much settled down now. He seems to like coming by my office every once in a while, and he goes out with Kiyo sometimes, without all of us.

Kiyo's real name is Mimura Kiyoi. He is only twenty-two years of age but he is person that I can rely on. I employ him on part-time basis as he has a main job in a company that provides specialised cleaning services.

”Is there anyone else who wants more mochi?” Murai Sayuri-san asked, as she held up a grill, on which were more pieces of mochi that were grilled to perfection.

Our hands shot up enthusiastically, and she proceeded to drop one into each of our bowls. Murai Sayuri-san is a hale and hearty woman of seventy-two years, and she bears the responsibility of managing our accounts and the office on her thin shoulders. She also becomes extremely frightening when angered, and in this office, her words carries the most weight.

Sayuri-san set her bowl on the table and held up an index finger.

”Tell me how many more you want by indicating the number with your fingers. This is one, and this is two. Well most people will eat no more than two more, though.”