Koushounin Wa Damaranai Volume 3 Chapter 2

t.i.tle: Koushounin series 03 Koushounin wa Furikaeru [交渉人は振り返る]
Chapter: 2
Page: 044 – 075
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: 2009

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 2

"You must be kidding me. Poor Hyoudou-san."

The following day, Ayaka paid my office a visit, not to see me, but to see Sayuri-san. She had seen the aforementioned newspaper article and thought Sayuri-san was so awesome that she felt that she had to come by to ask for the full story with all the details. Unfortunately, Sayuri-san was out and Kiyo was on his day off, thus she ended up chatting with me instead.

"Why. Why do you say that?"

"Eh? Mebuki-san, you don't know why?"

"I don't. What did he mean by 'This sure is complicated'?"

Upon hearing my question, Ayaka said: "Can you even call yourself a negotiator?" with a pout. The make-up she was wearing today wasn’t very thick, and she was dressed in jeans and a pink parka. Either way, she looked as sweet as ever, as one would expect from someone who is ranked number one in Maid Café Nyanko de Nyarin.

"What he meant, is that the feelings he had deep inside were complicated."

"I thought as much, but why?"

"Like I said, he must have wanted you to say clearly to s.h.i.+meno, this friend of yours, 'I like Hyoudou, and it is not for you to say anything about it’.'"

"… Really?"

"Of course!"

"Ha. Ha ha ha. …Nope, I couldn't have said that."

As she sat looking at me laugh as if I wanted to pretend that nothing much had happened, Ayaka said: "How pathetic…" with a sigh.

"Okay? Let's pretend what we discussed just now happened to this guy and girl; this girl goes over to her boyfriend's house to have fun and sees that his friend is there, too. This friend of his knows that they are sleeping with each other, yet says to the boyfriend 'You shouldn't be dating this girl.' Wouldn't it be a situation like that?"

I hurriedly put my thoughts in order. Eh, so in this case, I am the boyfriend and Hyoudou is the girl? This set-up seemed pretty inconceivable, but for now I simply nodded.

"Then what of this girl? She would want him to say to his friend clearly that 'It's perfectly okay because I like her. Quit b.u.t.ting in', right?

"U-Un… I guess you are right…"

"And yet!" Ayaka said as she started beating at her thighs. Her thighs, in skinny jeans, were moderately plump and looked… like they would feel good.

"And yet! The boyfriend flippantly goes 'Nope, it's simply because I'm a person that gets swept away easily!’ What is that supposed to mean! What are you, soumen1? What are you to do if you will so promptly go with the flow like that?"

"I-I’m sorry!" Caught up in her momentum, I stammered out an apology. The girl's feelings in her story will most definitely be hurt. Poor thing.

"… But, she won't only be hurt by his words. If you ask me why, well, she will also feel very uneasy. That is because there was a chance that the boyfriend's answer might be 'What are you saying? I'm not going out with this girl, nor do I even I like her. We occasionally lie with each other, that's all' instead."

"Eh? Won't he be the worst if he said something like that?"

"Yep. The worst."

"Huh? Hang on a moment. In other words, Hyoudou thought I might say something like that?"

Exactly, Ayaka agreed as she crunched her way through her fried dough stick. Incidentally, we were not in the reception area but the along the office desks. Ayaka had pulled out Kiyo's chair and was currently sitting on it.

"You see, Mebuki-san, you were trying to hide the fact that you were dating Hyoudou-san, weren't you?"

"… About that… well. We're both men, and it's not something you want to make public anyway, so…" To me, who was looking around restlessly, Ayaka sharply said: "No excuses! Women get hurt when you say things like that, you know."

"Un… Wait. Hyoudou isn't a woman, though?"

"So… do you have any sort of proof that if the person in question was male and yakuza, his feelings won't be hurt?"

Pressed for an answer, I could only go, "No, I don't." What a miserable state to be in now. As a negotiator whose only weapon is speech, I was unable to explain how I got myself in my current predicament.

"At the very least, he can say that you did admit that you two were going out. However, you also said something that implied that it was not because you liked him but instead due to a certain course of events. That's why 'it was complicated'. He can't be very happy about what you said, but at least there was one saving grace."

I see, that was his state of mind at that time… Come to think of it, there was a touch of sorrow in Hyoudou's eyes back then.

"Ayaka chan, you're pretty sharp…"

"Mebuki-san's just thick headed, that's all."

"To think I was this ignorant all these while… Erm. Have some more coffee?"

Ayaka nodded yes. I have to admit reluctantly that when it comes to matters of the heart, women are remarkably perceptive. Or possibly, it could just be that Ayaka is special.

As I was at the pantry making coffee, the office doorbell sounded. It would probably be a client arriving unannounced, and Ayaka stood up and said, "I'll get it."

"Yes, May I know who this… Nn?"

Ayaka looked at this client and tilted her head slightly.

It would seem that she recognized this person. Ayaka is a professional in the service trade, and she can remember quite clearly the face of a person after just one conversation. Similarly, the client looked at Ayaka and went, "Ah?"

"… Mitsuo-san?"

After recognizing who I was, Mitsuo greeted me with "h.e.l.lo." and a bow. What an unexpected visitor this was. Mitsuo was my colleague in a host club; Mits...o...b..ing my senior and I, a host who had newly joined the ranks. It was still summer at that time, so I guess that would make it about two months ago when, for a short period time, I infiltrated a host club in order to get information for a job I was doing.

"It's been awhile. Please do come in, I'll get some tea…"

"Mebuki-san, let me get the tea!" Ayaka, being the attentive girl she was, jumped up to help with the tea, so I showed Mitsuo to the reception area. As I sat facing him, Mitsuo asked: "Eh… Did Ayaka switch jobs to work here?"

"Oh no. She just happened to drop by, that's all. Mitsuo-san, you knew Ayaka chan? … Ah I see. She was with Hyoudou at that club."

"There was that too… Erm. Could you not call me Mitsuo-san? You aren't a host anymore, plus you are much older than I am."

That was true, so I went "Mitsuo-kun, then?"

Mits...o...b..bbed his head with a small smile. When he smiles, there is an air of artlessness about him. I remember hearing from the owner of the club that he was born in Aomori but took the risk to come to Kabuki-chō to work with absolutely nothing in his name. He was what you would perhaps call a tough guy type host, as instead of the usual bouffant which was in vogue, he sported a close trim of brown hair. In the club he wore a suit, but today he was dressed casually in damaged jeans and a skull motif s.h.i.+rt.

"Mebuki-san's real job is a negotiator, or so I've heard."

"Un. I'm sorry for keeping that from you at that time."

"Oh no, that was… I mean, it was because you were doing your job… Anyway, I have something I want to discuss with you, but it may not have anything to do with what a negotiator does…"

To urge Mitsuo, who was hesitating to speak his mind, to continue,  I said, "Please try discussing it with me." After all, a negotiator's job cannot be not strictly defined. As long there is anything to be discussed or negotiated, the job would fall under my area of disposition.

Mitsuo started to speak. It was when he had just resigned from his part time job, that a friend from the same village he was from also decided to come to Tokyo. "His name was Saitou. Like I was back then, he was attracted to life in Tokyo and came to the city hoping to make a name for himself as a host, something like that…" he said.

However, Saitou did not have the disposition that was required of a good host. Under the pressure of not being able to secure any designations from customers and the harshly enforced pecking order in host clubs, he cracked and threw in the towel after two weeks, quitting his job at Jericle Boys. He also left the dormitory and for a short while crashed at Mitsuo's place without paying him rent.

"At that time, I also just left the dormitory to moved into a small apartment. Well, I thought it would be fine if he had just stayed for a week, but he stayed close to half a month without chipping in for the rent. No, I guess I knew he didn't have the money anyway…"

Mitsuo talked about how he got angry and irritated with Saitou's low desire to work.

"I mean, this was when I was squeezing my liver working like crazy every night, you see? Yet when he sees me receiving a present or something from one of my clients he will say things like 'how nice it is, to be so carefree' or 'it's a great job only if you're cut out for it, , isn't it?' I can't tell you how many times I wanted to punch him."

However, Mitsuo put up with it because he knew that deep inside, Saitou was not a bad person. When they were still in their hometown, they used to both be mischievous kids and would run off on stolen bikes, but Saitou was the sort of person who would secretly return them the next day.

“It is probably because of this economic downturn that he was unable to find a job that he wanted to do, and his spirits were probably really low. That was why I would, in order to cheer him up, occasionally bring him to Ayaka-chan’s shop to have fun.”

Ayaka, who just happened to come over with the coffee, said in a deliberately sulky tone, “But, Mitsuo-san, you picked Rani as your companion instead of me, didn’t you?”

“But you see, that was because Saitou said that he will most definitely want Ayaka-chan, so…”

“Eh, doesn’t that mean Ayaka-chan and Saitou-kun know each other?” I asked.

“Un. That’s because I have, along with the other girls in the shop, gone to Jericle Boys a number times to have fun. It was then I met him. Saitou-kun’s professional nickname is Yuuya.” said Ayaka.

“That’s because his real name is Saitou Yuuya,” said Mitsuo. “He is, after all, my friend, and I have done everything I could, but… one day, we had a big quarrel and Saitou left. I was pretty p.i.s.sed off too and decided that I didn’t care where he went after that, but after that I happened to be on the phone with another friend from the same hometown, and…”

Mitsuo, for the first time, found out about the circ.u.mstances that Saitou was battling with.

Saitou’s father used to manage a successful construction firm. However, the company became bankrupt during this economic downturn. Since his father was causing trouble in various places his family was unable to remain in his hometown. His parents then sought help from his mother's family and moved to Hokkaido to where they stayed.

"Saitou had to drop out of a private university halfway through a term… and then he came here to find work. I didn't know about all that, so when I told him to, well, hurry up and get his a.s.s back home in the countryside…" Mitsuo's voice trailed off as he hung his head.

"Eh?" said Ayaka who was sitting beside me, with a puzzled tilt of her head. "But then, Yuuya-kun came to our shop just the other day, I think? Just two to three days ago."

"Yea, I know. When I called him last night, he was tooting his horn about it. About how it won't be too long before he would be able to bring Ayaka-chan outside the shop for a date. But somehow… there was something odd about him."

"Odd… as in?"

"He was oddly well heeled." said Mitsuo.

Now that you mention it, recalled Ayaka as she tapped an index finger to her jaw. "The other day when he came, he ordered the shop's priciest 'Princess-Fondle-Feudal Lord-Grope Golden Special Course'. Furthermore, he also bought me some very expensive chocolates."

I was extremely anxious to know what kind of course that something fondle something grope was, but I didn't let it show on my face… At least, I think it didn't show. I'm not too confident.

"Perhaps Saitou-kun had found a job that paid well?" I asked, instead.

​"I heard that he did… but somehow he seems to be evading my questions about his job. Instead, he seems to only want to show off how rich he has become."

I heard from Mitsuo that Saitou had invited him for a meal and they met only the other day. Saitou had arrived in a brand name suit with an expensive watch on his wrist, and treated Mitsuo to a meal at a high cla.s.s yakiniku restaurant.

"I am very much indebted to you, or that was what he said, but I felt that all he wanted to do was to show me how much money he had now. However, he left my place like what, just one month ago? Don't you think it is a little strange that he was able to ama.s.s that much wealth so suddenly?"

"Nn, well, he could have gotten himself a sugar mama… but then, Yuuya-kun isn't exactly attractive, and he is rather quick, too," said Ayaka.

I see, so he was a brisk one… That aside. Certainly, it is not normal for a young man who just recently didn't even have a place to stay to have acquired such a large sum of money so quickly.

"I wonder if he is involved with some risky business," muttered Mitsuo with a clouded brow. By risky business, he probably meant illegal business.

I started by saying "It is too early to make that conclusion," while putting a smile on my face. It is, after all, also my job to put my clients at ease. "I mean, it is not as if you have heard anything from him that may be considered concrete proof that he was involved in something illegal, don't you?"

"I didn't hear it from him, but I saw it."

"You saw it?"

While Mitsuo was having that meal with him at that yakiniku restaurant, Saitou had gone to the washroom. The bag that Saitou had with him on that day happened to be of a brand that Mitsuo was thinking of getting for himself, thus in order to take a closer look, Mitsuo had picked it up from the seat it was lying on.

"It was very soft, good leather that the bag was made from. That was why… even if I were to just touch the top of the bag, I would know that it contained a number of small, hard items."

From the size and the feel of these items, he could roughly guess what they were, he said.

"But then, it was weird that he had heaps of them in his bag."

Mitsuo had taken a look around him to confirm that Saitou had not returned, and opened the bag for a look. Inside the bag was, as he had guessed, about a dozen hand phones. Apart from the phones, there was also a stack of bankbooks bundled together.

—those were tobas.h.i.+… With that thought, I wiped the smile from my face and asked Ayaka to leave us. Ayaka must have sensed this as well, as she immediately left the office with a "See you next time!"

Unfortunately, this was not a situation in which I could tell my client that "I think you don't need to worry about anything". From this point on, there was a need to sit down with Mitsuo, just two of us, and carefully talk things over.

–

I emerged from the subway station onto the streets, and, for the time being, walked towards the Namida-bas.h.i.+ crossing. It was mid-October and the weather was clear and sunny. A few days had pa.s.sed since Mitsuo came by my office.

I was in a pair of well-worn jeans and an old, musty s.h.i.+rt. Over the s.h.i.+rt I wore neither a blouson nor a regular jacket but, if I had to say, a heavy work jacket of sorts. Being dressed in this manner made it easier to blend into this city. This city used to be called a flophouse district and was an area dotted with simply furnished living quarters used by day laborers and the like. Entering my vision was the sight of many people who were directly affected by the worsening economy, and were unable to find work. They gathered around in large, idle groups.

At the end of the road was a man that had fallen asleep sitting up on the street, and he was being shaken awake by a policeman. I have heard about how the number of people living on the streets had been on a decline, but I wonder if the number had started increasing again since the recession at the end of last year. Nevertheless, this number is made up of mostly the elderly, and during winter it is said that there are still people who freeze to death out on the streets.

Whether or not I would be able to find Saitou Yuuya in a neighborhood like this… My guess is that my chances weren’t slim.

Prior to today, I had Mitsuo ask Saitou in a roundabout way about what he would be doing today, and he apparently answered, “I’ll be busy with work.”

His work. That was the problem at hand. Certainly, all occupations should be without distinction by rank, but occupactions that supported crime… No, I guess these should be called criminal acts as well, and criminal acts cannot be thought of as an occupation. These are deeds that hurt, exploit and trample on the rights of others. You could say that Lupin the Third2 made a living off thievery, but that sort of behavior is only permitted in the anime universe. In reality, things are very different, like how there is no such thing as a real-life Fujiko Mine.

I bought a can of coffee from a vending machine and started walking again, with no particular destination in mind. While slurping on coffee that was cloyingly sweet, I felt myself slipping into a rather disconsolate mood.

In any society, there will always be people who are weak. And then again there will always be people who prey on the weak. Acquiring bankbooks, and selling them in someone else's name. Acquiring hand phones, and selling them in someone else's name. All the while knowing they will be used for criminal activities, but yet doing so for the sake of a few days' worth of living expenses, because they had no other choice. To people who have trouble affording their meals for the day, preaching morality to them would probably be of scant use. Even I, if put in situation in which I were penniless, hungry and cold, don't know what I would choose to do either.

A little less than an hour of aimless wandering later, I was still unable to find Saitou. Thinking that I should rest for a bit, I sat myself down on the bench in a small public park. The bench was in a sunny spot and it was occupied by a stray cat, but I said to it, "Sorry, but I want to sit too," and had it move a little to the side to make room for myself. As I was just about to start on another can of coffee, I saw a group of foreigners carrying backpacks pa.s.sing by. It seems that the cheap accommodation available in this area is becoming popular with tourists. Our eyes met, and a girl with red hair greeted me with a cheerful hi. I waved back to her and the other backpackers and just as they pa.s.sed by—I found who I was looking for.

At the corner of the park was a person striking up a conversation with a man in his fifties. The side profile of that person was very similar to the photo that Mitsuo had given to me.

It was Saitou, without a doubt.

The man in his fifties was dressed in a black leather jacket, slim cut jeans and boots, and was looking around restlessly, paying careful attention to his surroundings. I hurriedly threw myself down to lie on the bench and pretended I was asleep. The stray cat, startled by sudden movement, jumped off the bench with a perplexed yowl.

There was some distance between us so he probably won't notice that my eyes was actually half-closed. I continued to observe Saitou from that position. The man in the black leather jacket handed something to Saitou, which he immediately kept away in his bag. In return, Saitou handed him a stack of bills.

This is the scene of a tobas.h.i.+ transfer process. Mitsuo's fears had not been unfounded.

When the two parted ways, I immediately starting tailing Saitou. Once or twice, I was able to get close enough to hear his verbal exchanges with other people. Bankbooks, hand phones, licenses, insurance papers… even pension books were offered to him in exchange for cash. I do not know how many times I found myself wanting to interrupt the exchanges with "You really had better stop that", but I resisted the urge and continued walking behind Saitou.

When evening came, Saitou got onto a train in the subway.

Naturally, I was also on the train he was on. He changed trains to a JR line en route and got off at s.h.i.+n-Ookubo station. According to my conjecture, Saitou was on his way to meet someone else, in order to hand in the tobas.h.i.+ he had collected.

Truth is, I was hoping that Saitou would go all the way to their base of operation, but that was being overly optimistic. It is likely that the meeting point was somewhere that was crowded with people, like the inside of a train station, probably to prevent attracting unwanted attention. I ensured that there was a safe distance between us and continued to watch him doggedly from afar, as I hid half of my face in a sports newspaper and was careful not to let our eyes meet.

Saitou reached into his pockets, pulled out a hand phone, and starting talking on it. Perhaps the person he was meeting was nearby. I paid close attention to our surroundings.

Just then, there was a sound of something hitting floor. It was a can of coffee.

I didn't know where it was dropped but it rolled slowly, making its way towards me. Next to me was an elderly lady walking by, and I thought it was dangerous to have a can rolling about. Just in case she might slip on it, I bent over to pick up the can, which was still warm. When I righted myself however, I instantly regretted bending over. Saitou had disappeared… wait, no he hasn't. My eyes picked him up again, but he was no longer where he was a few moments ago. He was walking towards the ticketing gate, the bulge in his bag gone.

In other words, he had successfully completed the tobas.h.i.+ exchange.

In the few seconds it took for me to bend over to pick up that can… everything was over and done with. He got me… and he had gotten me good.

The can of coffee rolling on the floor must not have been a coincidence. The person who had come to collect the tobas.h.i.+ from Saitou must have noticed that there was someone watching him and had deliberately rolled it towards me. Putting aside the obvious fact that he would be on the lookout to prevent his cover from being blown, I was surprised that he was able to notice my presence. Granted, I was neither a police detective nor a private investigator that was well practiced in shadowing and watching people without them noticing. However, it was a train station we were at, with many people waiting around, thus I should have been able to blend right into the crowd. How then could he have noticed that I was watching Saitou?

I found it very suspicious, but I should be focusing on Saitou now.

Hurriedly putting my feelings aside, I went after Saitou as he walked towards the ticketing gate. Perhaps it was because he had just recently got paid and was in a good mood; Saitou was light on his feet. He would probably be thinking of going somewhere to have fun later on.

I had a feeling that tonight is going to be a really long night.

–

"I'll start from my conclusion. I think we should all go eat hotpot."

As I conveyed this idea to Mitsuo over the phone, he went "Harh? Hotpot?" with his voice increasing in pitch. I could almost picture the bewildered look on his face as I listened to his voice.

Yesterday, I saw with my own eyes Saitou Yuuya gathering tobas.h.i.+, and it was very clear that he had been conspiring with scam groups. After that, I continued tailing him late into the night, and managed to pin down the location of the apartment he was staying in now. When I reported this to Mitsuo, he implored me earnestly to "please stop him, somehow."

I don't want to report him to the police. I want threatening to report him to the police to be a last resort; if possible, I want Saitou to pull out of this risky business of his own accord… was what his good friend and a fellow host said to me. As such, hotpot it is.

"I was thinking that hotpot would be the guiding light that will show us the way towards the resolution of this problem."

"Mebuki-san, I have no idea where you are going with this."

"You see, isn't it heart-warming when everyone gathers around and pecks at the same pot? If it was, say, the sort of hotpot one used to have back in one's hometown, wouldn't it strike home something? Furthermore, if seated around the same pot is a girl that you like, and she says something like 'I like honest and respectable men' perhaps he might change his views."

"Ah, in that case…" It seems that Mitsuo now understood my intention.

"But I wonder if it will simply be as easy as doing that?" he asked.

"Well, if I must say so plainly it might not be that easy. However, it is still something worth trying. Since then, I have been checking up on him, and it seems that he hasn't really befriended anyone yet. You've also said that you haven't met him since, haven't you?"

I thought he must have felt lonely, then.

He was in a large city like Tokyo all by himself, and he was unable to return to his hometown. On top of that, he was also in financial trouble — with no one to turn to, he had turned to crime. That being said, it still isn’t okay for him to sell tobas.h.i.+ to scam groups. After all, there are many people in the same situation as he was but still decided they should lead normal, respectable lives.

I wanted Saitou to remember that he could, too.

Perhaps while sitting with friends around a hotpot, he would be inclined towards feelings such as these. Even if we were unable to influence him to that extent, if this gathering mends Mitsuo’s friends.h.i.+p with Saitou, it would still breed the possibility that Saitou would lend an ear to what Mitsuo has to say in the future.

I explained this to Mitsuo, and he agreed with my plan.

"I guess you are right… It's not as if he is a bad person at heart. Perhaps he might return to the honest person he once was after he has eaten some hittsumi and boozed a little."

"Hittsumi?"

"Hittsumi, in soup. It's something we often used to eat back home during winter… you know, the one where they put pieces of wheat dough into soup… I think you call it suiton or dumpling soup over here, yes?"

"Ah… Suiton. Yes yes."

I was told that hittsumi soup was named from the way it is made; wheat dough is kneaded, pulled into a string, and pinched into smaller pieces. Mitsuo went on to explain how in the past, hittsumi was similar to suiton in that it was eaten as a subst.i.tute for rice when rice was not available, and how it is eaten as a hearty hotpot with other ingredients nowadays. I heard about how Mitsuo's mother had been born in Hachinohe in the Aomori prefecture, and how there was always rockfish in her hittsumi soup. He also talked about how the flavors of the fish would turn the soup into an elegant, clear broth, and how those flavors would soak into the pieces of hittsumi… somehow, I started feeling hungry just by listening to him describe it.

As per the plan, I turned to Ayaka for help. At present, Saitou was madly in love with Ayaka, thus we would definitely need her there. Ayaka heartily agreed to go with our plan.

On the surface, we made it look like the gathering was to celebrate my birthday. As to why we wanted to have hittsumi soup native to the Aomori prefecture, well. If you were to think about it, it would have sounded a little weird, but I guess we would be able to come up a suitable excuse somehow.

Sayuri-san and Kiyo was also roped in. As we thought that the more people there were, the merrier, we also invited Tomonori over. As usual, Tomonori was being the obnoxious kid he was by agreeing to come with something along the lines of "Well, I'm free anyway, so I guess I could turn up just for you?" in his regular pompous manner. When I reported this to Kiyo, his expression remained unchanged but his eyes turned red with happiness as he wagged an unseen tail. It seems that Tomonori remains his favorite person even after getting kicked by him in his family jewels.

As such, Mebuki Nego Office became the formal host of a hotpot party.

Mitsuo, Saitou, Ayaka, Sayuri-san, Kiyo and Tomonori, as well as myself, made up seven attendees. When evening fell, all of them gathered in the office and, for a start, clinked beers. Tomonori was underage, so he was given Oolong tea instead. He seemed to be discontent with this arrangement, but Sayuri-san's eyes glittered as she kept a close eye on him. Amidst the chorus of birthday wishes, I almost forgot my role and almost joined in with the saying of the well wishes as well. What a close shave. It was supposed to be my birthday, after all.

The hittsumi soup that Sayuri san prepared for us was top-notch. We had used the largest earthenware pot we had, just in case, but the contents of the pot were rapidly disappearing.

"Amazing, this is delicious. This doesn't lose to the one I used to have back in my hometown. Right, Saitou?"

"Un. I had missed having this…" said Saitou, who was sitting beside Mitsuo, as he peered earnestly into the small bowl he had in his hands.

"… This is delicious. I think I will end up overeating."

"… Mm hm."

"I'm eating this for the first time but this is really good, isn't it?"

Ayaka was in high spirits, Kiyo was wordlessly digging in, and Tomonori seemed to be enjoying himself. The person who commanded today's hotpot, Sayuri-san, peered into the earthenware pot with a ladle in one hand.

"Ara, it looks like there will be no more hittsumi soon."

"Shall I go knead some more dough?" I offered, but she smiled as she said "Tomonori-kun over here seems like he would be more skillful at it than you would be," while shooting a glance at the youngest member of the party. It is hard to decline an appointed job when it came with praise. Tomonori stood up as he said: "Can't be helped, then," and for some reason Kiyo stood up as well, and the narrow pantry was immediately thrown into chaos.

Now then, I thought to myself as I put aside my can of beer. We have to get to the real issue at hand before I get drunk. The stage has already been set; while we were all digging into the contents of the hotpot, Sayuri had shown everyone the thank you letter she had received from the police before recounting the events of that day. "Awesome! Awesome!" Ayaka had said as she innocently broke into applause and somehow Saitou was also led into clapping his hands, albeit with an inscrutable expression on his face.

On the other hand, Saitou was all geared up for the fight today. Even Mitsuo, who was the one who currently worked as a host, was in very casual clothing, but Saitou had put on a designer suit. He did not wear a tie, but a silver accessory winked from his edge of his collar. When he entered the office, the first thing he did was to press a bouquet of roses into Ayaka's hands. And for the person whose birthday he was celebrating today, he had nothing… No, I wouldn't know what to do with a bouquet of roses anyway, and I am okay with receiving nothing. In any case, Saitou was emitting an aura from behind that clearly said 'I will most definitely score tonight☆'.

I nonchalantly gave my right ear a pull.

This was to signal Ayaka to talk about her negative opinions of wire transfer fraudsters. However, Ayaka was engrossed in the hotpot and did not notice what I was doing. I kept pulling on my ear until finally it was Saitou who asked "Mebuki-san, is there something wrong with your ear?"

"Er… No. nothing's wrong."

And with that, Ayaka finally noticed me and returned the signal. It was fortunate that Sayuri-san chose this moment to declare "I'm going to refill the hittsumi", and recovered the pot. With the rising steam between us gone, I could perceive Saitou's face clearly as he sat in front of me.

"Hey Mebuki-san, is true that con-men like those Ore ore fraudsters earn buckets of money?" Ayaka asked as she pulled the tab off a new can of beer with a small pop. Alright, everything is going according to our strategy. The small jolt in Saitou's shoulders did not escape me.

"It would probably be very lucrative indeed. According to investigations by the police, the total amount of money taken from victims since 2008 has pa.s.sed the twenty-seven and a half billion yen mark."

"Twenty-seven and a half billion yen?" sounded the surprised voices of all three people around me.

They probably didn't know it amounted to that much. Ayaka, who was supposed to be putting on a show, looked genuinely taken aback. Even Saitou, who was on the skirt of the same crime, also rounded his eyes.

"What is with that crazy amount of money… this seriously p.i.s.ses me off!"

"Un un. This does p.i.s.s me off too, really."

"Here I am putting a strain on my body every single day, working so hard till I got my tendons inflamed and yet still not being able to meet my targeted earnings! What is that twenty-three and a half billion yen about?"

Ayaka's furious hand movements were so specific that all three men immediately averted their eyes. With those kinds of things she had to do, it was no small wonder that she would come down with tendonitis, and her clients would have no difficulty cl… No. That wasn't the point here.

"… Ahem. That's true. This is money that people had worked hard to earn, or possibly money from pensions that were meant to support the livelihood of the elderly, that has been stolen by these scam groups."

"Group? Is it that all scam artists will definitely work as a group?"

Almost all of them do, I explained.

Saitou, who seemed ill at ease, took out a cigarette and was rebuked by Mitsuo: "Smoking isn't allowed here."

"I heard that scam groups are organizing themselves in a structure that is similar to the any other company out there. For example, these groups use a room in an apartment as an office, members are told that tardiness in reporting for work is strictly prohibited, their daily quota is written clearly on the whiteboard, and so on… all these supposedly depends on how the leader of the group chooses to run things."

"When you say quota… do you mean the number of people they can swindle in a day?"

I answered Ayaka's question, "That quota is probably not a number of people but an amount of money. Like a telephone operator, they do nothing else except to make calls again and again, and wait for someone to fall. They ensnare their victims in their devious schemes and have them transfer money out of their accounts that is withdrawn by people they call the das.h.i.+ko. There is yet another role called unpan which is given to people who transport the money."

"In that case, the person who makes the calls do not go outside?"

"They don't. Simply because it is dangerous to."

I looked at Saitou sitting diagonally opposite me. Saitou looked unnerved, and was fiddling with the edge of his nails with his eyes casted down.

"The leader and the core members in the group will try their best not to go out. On the other hand the das.h.i.+ko will be put in a risky position in which there is a possibility that their face might be seen, but yet they are not rewarded as handsomely… as the ones on top, that is. This is why the higher-ups in the group target those who have financial difficulties when looking for people willing to be a das.h.i.+ko."

"In the end, they simply exploit those in unfavorable positions, don't they?" said Mitsuo, in a low murmur. Ayaka, with a nod, added, "Man, this is p.i.s.sing me off more and more."

"Once you become a core member, I heard that you could go around town having fun with women waiting on you every single night. They have a lot of money, so they'd probably be popular with the girls."

"Even so, you will have no idea what will be said of you behind your back! Even we, girls from the s.e.x industry, can tell who's rotten and who is not!" Ayaka said, crossly. It was adorable, the way she puffed up with anger. "We get them sometimes, you know? Those who flaunt their wealth and are extremely persistent when trying to get you to sleep with them. It's that sort in particular that completely lacks any kind of appeal whatsoever. I'm not talking about their appearance, after all, we do have customers who may be balding and all but know how to have fun in a responsible manner, and they are popular even among us. The problem with those people is what they are inside. To have fun while spending money you have swindled from people… how do I say this, is pretty uncool, right? It doesn’t look good at all."

"Right? I guess it really doesn't look good.… Huh, Saitou kun, where are you going?" I asked Saitou, who was about to get up from his seat. Saitou was in middle of going: "I'm just… going outside for a puff…" when Ayaka sprung up to cling on his arm.

"Nooo. There's no need to go for a smoke now… Ah, look! The pot's come back!"

Kiyo, with both hands in mittens, was carrying over the earthenware pot that was boiling over with gurgling sounds. It was previously almost empty, but it came back fully replenished. Ayaka handed Saitou his chopsticks before going "Let's eat let's eat!" and Saitou reluctantly sat himself back down into his chair. Sayuri-san, Kiyo and Tomonori also returned to their seats.

"What were you all talking about just now?" Tomonori asked while reaching for a can of beer, but was promptly spotted by Sayuri-san, who slapped the back of the hand.

"Money wiring scams."

"Ah, yes yes. Gangsters eventually get involved in those, too." said Tomonori who absolutely loathed the yakuza, with the corners of his mouth turned down. Beside him, Kiyo picked up a bottle of Oolong tea for Tomonori.

"What do you mean by gangsters?" Saitou finally said.

As Kiyo was pouring Oolong tea into the gla.s.s that Tomonori was holding up, Tomonori said "Gangsters as in the yakuza, that is" like it was no big deal. Kiyo, being allowed to a.s.sist Tomonori in some way, looked really happy for some strange reason.

"I heard that Sayuri-san did the police a great service, however, even if you manage to catch one das.h.i.+ko or one unpan, it'll be very hard to arrest the head of the group. That's because in almost all cases gangster organisations are involved with the ones heading such groups."

"How would you know something like that? Aren't you still a high school student?" Mitsuo asked Tomonori quizzically. It was natural that he would ask, since Tomonori had a small build and well-proportioned facial features and didn't wear the type of clothing that the young delinquents wear. Frankly, if he didn't open his mouth, you would think he was a charming young man. However, he was someone with special circ.u.mstances back home.

"That's because my dad's with the yakuza."

Tomonori's father, like Hyoudou, belongs to Suou-gumi. His father was the younger brother-in-law of the head of the Suou-gumi, Suou Tadanori. This means that Tomonori had a father in the yakuza and an uncle who was head of a yakuza group, a k.u.michō.

Mitsuo and Saitou, who didn't know this, stiffened.

Ayaka shouldn't have known this as well, but she simply went "Ah, was that so?" completely indifferent. She must have grown accustomed to yakuza due to the nature of her job… Though I can't very well criticize others for that.

"Up until recently he was eating prison food but he finally got out. He is what you call yakuza top management, I think? And then, the k.u.michō came over to my house the day before and they talked about the group's sources of incomes. It was then they touched on the topic of money wiring scams… Ah. My dad and uncle doesn't have anything to do with those. The k.u.michō is weirdly old fas.h.i.+oned about things like that."

"The head of the Suou-gumi used to be a manager of stalls in open air markets. In some ways he is different from yakuza nowadays who would do anything for money." Speaking unexpectedly at this juncture was Sayuri-san.

"Eh, Sayuri-san, do you know Suou-gumi's k.u.michō?" I asked her in surprise, Sayuri-san, who was in the midst of scooping some of the contents of the pot for Tomonori, raised an eyebrow and answered "I don’t."

"I don’t, but when I was still young, I remember seeing his face a number of times, at festivals and such. Look, you have to eat your vegetables too."

"I know that." Tomonori took the small plate from her with a shrug. "Anyway, as I was saying, when it comes to wire transfer scams, those who get caught are often underlings who don't even get paid much, right? Furthermore, they don't even know who has been using them. This is the kind of system they have in place now," he said in between blowing on and wolfing down his food. A sprig of spring onion stuck out from the side of his mouth, and Kiyo tried to remove it but Tomonori disdainfully brushed his hand away. Kiyo then turned to look at me with a forlorn expression in his eyes… No, Kiyo, even if you look at me like that I would't be able to help you.

"… However, when they meet to exchange money, they at least get to see their boss's faces, don't they?" Saitou asked, but Tomonori told him: "You wouldn't know their faces if they had sungla.s.ses on, right? Well, in the unlikely event that the information gets out, by the time the police searches the base of operation they would have already cleaned it out. The underling who slipped up will probably be punished."

"By punished… you mean they’ll make you cut off the tip of your finger?" Saitou's voice was steadily losing its strength.

Tomonori, with an astounded look: "Which era were you talking about? Yakuza nowadays don't cut their fingers off anymore."

"Then, what kind…"

"Even I don't know the specifics. The yakuza's my dad, not me. I'm just a high school student."

Without skipping a beat, Ayaka chipped in: "It'll be the worst! You'll be b.u.mped off!" Her tone was cheerful but her words brought about an uneasy atmosphere. "It can't be…" Saitou laughed, but with a grimace. His expression made it apparent that he was forcing his smile. "To get killed, just like that… It can't be like in those dramas and movies."

"Eh? But, in Tokyo, there are many people who do disappear, you know. Just as when you think, oh, they seem to be making trouble of some sort, they suddenly disappear. Right, Mebuki-san?"

The ball was pa.s.sed back to me, so I ventured lightheartedly: "Un. The city is a scary place. Not all of these cases get out in the news, but I heard that the number of missing persons is a pretty high.

Eh, how many people in a year are we talking about?" asked Kiyo, again without skipping a beat. Nice pa.s.s.

"If it's the number of people for which a request for a search has been made to the police, it's about ten thousand a year."

Wah, Ayaka made cute sound of surprise. "By golly, ten thousand people! How scary!" she said as she leaned into Saitou, and he must have felt some soft brush past his arm. Yet Saitou couldn't really afford to turn red right now, in fact, he was turning paler instead.

Of course, ten thousand isn't the number of people who actually go missing, but merely the number of requests made to the police for a search. In most of these cases the police were able to confirm the whereabouts of the person after the report has been made. However, the subtle nuance in my language made him think that there was in fact ten thousand people getting murdered by the yakuza every year, but this was my strategy. I had deliberately manipulated the conversation to flow that way. Nevertheless, there is a fair number of people who actually do go missing with their disappearances going unreported. In this country, water and safety used to be free of charge, but that age is over. Yet, in comparison with other countries, I guess you could say we are still relatively safe.

"Really now, we shouldn't get involved with the underworld, should we?" said Tomonori, and I nodded vigorously at his words. Kiyo muttered darkly, "For Mebuki-san, it might be too late…" but I pretended not to hear.

Now, let's see. If we threaten him to this extent, he might change his ways. After all, that was some amazing team play we saw back there. Ayaka put on a great show and Tomonori's pa.s.ses were unexpectedly good. He can be cheeky at times but he is just as sharp as I thought he would be. The goal draws close. That being said, I knew that we shouldn't drive him too deep into a corner, till he has no place to run. It must be Saitou himself who kicks the ball into the goal called 'cutting off all ties with criminals'.

"Ah, by the way…" just as I decided that it was time to return to more enjoyable conversational topics, the door to my office opened.

"Ayaka?"

Upon hearing that deep, smooth voice, I froze with a beer in my hand.

It's him. Again. The person who opens my office door like as if it was the door to his home, can only be him.

"What are doing in a place like this? Didn't you have a fever?"

Hyoudou, with Hakuta in tow, was looking at the circle we made around the pot… rather, glaring at us. Ayaka had a look on her face which said oh c.r.a.p I screwed up. In my head I also thought the same.

Such adult entertainment establishments are very strict with their employees about attendance. Employees basically wouldn't be allowed to take leave with short notice, and if they take sick leave they would be penalized for it, in other words, fined. If they were late for work or left work early they would be penalized, too. I understood how strict it was because I had some experience working as a host, too.

But Ayaka had said; "I'm ranked number one in the shop, so I won't get penalized for the occasional absence if I get sick" and made time for me.

"Erm… Hyoudou. Ayaka-chan was…" I started, and while I groped for words to defend Ayaka, Hyoudou looked over the line-up of people surrounding the pot. Today he wore a black suit over a gray s.h.i.+rt with a red tie, a clothing ensemble only allowed on a celebrity or on yakuza. As if he had no intention to listen to what I had to say, he slowly started to make his way towards the table on his well-polished shoes. He scowled a little when he saw Tomonori, and said quietly to Mitsuo; "Haven't I seen you before?"

"… I'm Mebuki-san's ex-colleague."

"Ah, the host from the last time. And over there is…?"

Looking overwhelmed by the decidedly yakuza aura that Hyoudou was giving off, Saitou introduced himself: "Mi-Mitsuo's friend" in a small voice.

"Oh…? And Senpai. Why hotpot in a place like this?"

"Why… if you ask. Everyone eats hotpot in autumn, right?"

"Don't you eat hotpot even during the middle of the summer?"

"Hotpot, when eaten during summer makes you sweat and lowers your body temperature, and hotpot, when eaten during autumn warms you up. It's the same thing done with different objectives.”

"Yes yes yes. When you start splitting hairs like that, I know that you are just trying to buy time." Hyoudou had hit a sore spot, rendering me momentarily speechless. Tomonori was strangely impressed and he further annoyed me by saying, "I'm amazed you could tell!" and Ayaka added; "It's because they’re in love." This made it even harder for me to find anything to say. I wonder where the teamwork we had up to a moment ago had gone to.

"Hotpot aside, our shop's number one skipping out on work is the main problem here. Oi Ayaka, I'll let you off just this one time, but if you take sick leave one more time I'll fine you for it."

Ayaka, with a resigned sigh, obediently said: "Okay." It appears that she understood that grumbling at Hyoudou would be of no use. But I won't let it go like that. Ayaka had taken leave in order to do me a favor, therefore I should bear some of the responsibility.

"Hyoudou, Ayaka-chan didn't do anything wrong. I…"

Halfway through my sentence, a hand phone rang. It was Hakuta's, and he bowed in my direction in apology and took the call. After a brief conversation, he turned to give Hyoudou a Look.

"What is it?"

"They said they have found Saku."

"Is he sober?"

"No. He is thoroughly intoxicated and is in the middle of a violent outburst."

Hyoudou clicked his tongue in annoyance and muttered: "This one's no good. Hakuta-san, my apologies but could you go over there for me? When Saku sobers up, do spank him for me and deliver him to our boss. That one's probably going to get excommunicated."

I got it, Hakuta nodded with his usual smile. "To what extent am I supposed to spank him?"

"The arms and legs would be too conspicuous. Two, or maybe three ribs would do. What kind of hotpot is this? It smells wonderful." Hyoudou peered into the pot while uttering those disturbing words. Kiyo, being considerate, got up from his seat and Hyoudou proceeded to sit on it like it was the most natural thing in the world. He stole my plate and my chopsticks from me and promptly decided to start sampling the food.

"I was feeling hungry just a while ago… Un, this is good soup stock."

Tomonori and Ayaka looked perfectly fine, but in the face of a yakuza sitting right in front of him and starting on his food, Saitou’s expression looked extremely stiff. Sayuri-san got up, presumably to get a new plate and a pair of chopsticks for Hyoudou.

"What a shameless yakuza you are. No one said you could eat with us." I said.

"Is there such thing as timid and reserved yakuza? Is there any meat here… I want meat. …I'll pick out the s.h.i.+take mushrooms for you, okay Senpai?"

"I'm good. Eat your own s.h.i.+take."

He in fact hated s.h.i.+take mushrooms, but shot me an innocent look and said: "But it looks like it is cooked just right, so Senpai should have it."

Hyoudou started to take off his jacket, overflowing with intent to do some serious eating. Ayaka had to get back into his good books, so she went "Here you go, some beer" and started pouring some for him.

"Well then, I shall take my leave." Hakuta-san said. He bowed to us and got ready to leave, but just as he was about to go out of the door, Hyoudou said: "Ah, wait," appearing to have abruptly recalled something.

"Let's make it the arm instead of the ribs." said Hyoudou, while still chewing on a piece of hittsumi. "The last time, there was one guy who got pierced in the lung with a rib and almost died. …Or did he? Well, that'll be fine both ways, but Saku is not worth killing."

"An arm it will be. Would it be the left or right one?"

Hyoudou, while digging around the pot but avoiding the s.h.i.+take mushrooms in it, answered him, "Why not both, then?"

Needless to say, by then Saitou was already deathly pale.

Translation Notes

1 Nagas.h.i.+ Soumen, or flowing soumen, are thin vermicelli noodles which are served in water flowing along a bamboo gutter.  The noodles are caught by chopsticks before being dipped in cool broth and eaten.

2 Lupin The Third (or Lupin  III) is a manga series written by Monkey Punch about the grandson of a Master Thief, Lupin the Third, and his thieving exploits. Fujiko Mine is the femme fatale character of the series.

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