Koushounin Wa Damaranai Volume 4 Prologue

t.i.tle: Koushounin series 04 Koushounin wa Hamerareru [交渉人は嵌められる]
Chapter: Prologue
Page: 009 – 024
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.

Prologue

I dreamt.

That I was in hardware store on the outskirts of town, standing in the packaging supplies section and staring dazedly up at the shelves.

Shock-absorbers, corrugated cardboard boxes, wrapping material, string, and rope.

"Won’t this one do?" a voice called, from behind me.

It was the fond voice, of a good friend.

–

The coolest job in the world is that of a swindler.

s.h.i.+zu Kyousuke thought so. He really did.

One must be sufficiently quick-witted in order to work as one. A keen eye is also a must, along with being level-headed, calm, audacious and fearless. Certainly, good acting skills are necessary, and one should be more adroit than actual actors.

When s.h.i.+zu was in primary school, he saw an old movie with his grandfather, who was then still alive. The movie was called 'Sting', and it was a story of how swindlers managed to make off with large amounts of money from big-shot gangsters. He thought they were extremely cool and stylish, and he was sure he would like to be a swindler too when he grew up. When he told his Grandpa this, his Grandpa rubbed his wrinkly hands together and laughed, "That might be ju-st a little bit too difficult for you, sonny. You'll have to be quite b.a.l.l.sy to be one." Grandpa knew very well that s.h.i.+zu was a bit of a wimp.

s.h.i.+zu only found out that Grandpa, who was alive until a few years ago, was actually his great-grandfather only at his funeral. His grandmother, who was so old by then that she was all wrinkled up like a mummy, had come by to tell him that. No other relatives turned up for his funeral. Grandpa had taught s.h.i.+zu many life skills, but just before his death, he had told him: "Please, just for my sake, do not take up the same trade as I did." When he died, s.h.i.+zu cried. A lot.

As Grandpa had pointed out, s.h.i.+zu was timid in nature but luckily, not bad looking. That was why he decided to become a marriage swindler. He was a hundred and seventy six centimeters in height. He was also slim and had slightly droopy eyes, along with light freckles on his face. When he smiled, he exuded a unique charm. He wasn't good looking enough to be called a pretty boy, but that was a good thing. Swindlers cannot stand out too much from the crowd.

Furthermore, this current generation was one that was a blessing to marriage swindlers. They have strong allies; the hand phone and the internet. And there was a wellspring of treasure called the dating website. He didn't know who thought up such things, but they make wonderful tools. Grandpa often lamented that "It was far easier to get things done at work back then," But to s.h.i.+zu things were much easier now.

Sitting ducks were everywhere.

He wasn't referring to women who wished to get married. The perfect duck was a woman who was lonely. One should not be mistaken here; women whose ultimate goal is marriage judges their men on severe terms. Will this man be able to feed me? Does he spend money thoughtlessly? Is he into any strange religions? Does he dislike taking out the rubbish in the morning? Does he have a mother complex, or a Lolita complex, or is he a closet h.o.m.os.e.xual?—and so on. The energy that they put into such stringent checks will put even the Tax Bureau to shame. Such a woman should never be singled out for a duck. Women who are simply looking for love are a much better choice.

To be more specific, working women in their mid-thirties, who hold jobs that aren’t particularly demanding. Preferably born in a rural area and living alone, and of a relatively honest personality, whose hobbies are reading and trying food at various restaurants with friends. Who sometimes goes on vacations with her friends, but was starting to see less and less of her friends as they began to get married and have children. As she looks into a mirror, she gets a feeling that her wrinkles are starting to become obvious, but still does not buy the thirty thousand yen face cream that was advertised on magazines. Her parents back in her hometown is pestering her to get married. Her father says inappropriate things such as “women have expiry dates”. It is not that she does not want to get married, it is just that a person she liked enough to marry hasn't shown up yet. She occasionally thinks things like, you see, marriage is a lifelong thing. I wonder if there is a person who will love me till the end of my days. If such a person didn’t exist, will I live out my life by myself and die alone…?

… And so on. That sort of woman is ideal, someone who is tired of life in the city and who gets lonely easily.

"Kyou-chan." Chimako called as she waved a tiny hand. At a seat in a nearby café, Chimako lit up with a happy smile when she caught sight of s.h.i.+zu.

Like her name suggests, Chimako was a tiny-sized woman. She wore no makeup and sported a rather unsophisticated hairstyle. She wasn't what you would call ugly, but there was nothing in her appearance that was particularly refres.h.i.+ng or made her stand out. Chimako was dressed in a grey high-necked sweater that looked more like a turtleneck and a deep red skirt. The coat that was draped over her seat was black. Around her neck was a cheap string of pearls which s.h.i.+zu gave to her as a present last Christmas. On the other hand, s.h.i.+zu was in a down jacket and denim pants in the style of a salary-man on his off-day. He also put on a pair of dark green spectacles and pretended to be boorish and unrefined, to match Chimako.

"I’m sorry, Chima-chan. Did you have to wait for long?"

Chimako was almost seven years older than s.h.i.+zu, who had recently turned twenty seven, but s.h.i.+zu still called her name using the -chan suffix. It seemed to make her happier that way.

"Nope, I just came. You must be feeling cold. Your favorite hot chocolate is delicious here, you know," said Chimako as she handed him the menu. Her small hands tend to become dry, and her cuticles were peeling. I touch doc.u.ments all the time during work, so they take away the oil on my hands, Chimako had once complained to him.

s.h.i.+zu ordered a hot chocolate, and immediately after he said: "Chima-chan, this is for you," and put on the table something he took out of his pocket. It was a stick of something which at first glance would look like a ballpoint pen, but its plastic body was mostly pink and white.

"Eh. What is it?"

"Nail oil. They said it was good for cuticles and nails."

Wah, Chimako exclaimed, and beamed as she took the nail oil applicator in her hands.

"That's because Chima-chan, you were concerned about your peeling cuticles, but I like your dry and chapped fingers all the same. It's proof that you work hard at your job, too."

What is this supposed to be, a scene from ‘Nausicaa of the Valley of the Winds’? retorted s.h.i.+zu in his mind while smoothly rolling off these mawkishly sentimental lines. Resistance to such mawkishness was essential to a marriage swindler.

Women are curious beings; as much as it is difficult to entice her towards a guillotine with such ba.n.a.l words if they are spewed by a man she doesn't care much for, she would be pleased to hear them from a man whom she liked. Chimako, with reddened cheeks, said, "This makes me really happy. With this, perhaps my nails would become pretty too!" as she promptly started to rub the oil into her cuticles.

For a while, they made inane chatter.

Even in such casual conversation that are many points to take note. What is important to note is that one should never to repudiate anything your partner says. For example, even if she were to say, "You know, I saw a white crow the other day", you should never reject that notion by going: "There is no such thing." You should go, oh, that is unusual, that is awesome, and urge her to continue talking about it. It is the same with white c.o.c.kroaches or a black polar bears. If you do that, the woman will begin to think that "Oh, this person understands me." That being said, Chimako was a very ordinary girl so there was no way she would say anything so outrageous, anyway.

When his hot chocolate had been reduced to half, s.h.i.+zu decided to get down to business.

"Chima-chan, this is something I have said before, but,"

"Hm?"

"About my mother's medical fees for her operation. Please forget what I said, then. I'm sorry for saying weird things like that."

On the previous date, he had requested a loan from her. The money was purportedly for the sake of his mother who had collapsed from illness, and since he had sent most of his monthly salary to his parents' home he currently did not have enough for his own living expenses… at least, that was the setting he created.

It wasn't the first time he was asking for a loan. He had borrowed sums of money amounting to twenty to thirty thousand yen from her a few times, and had returned the money to her on all occasions. But this time, perhaps it was an amount that was larger than all previous amounts; she had deferred her answer by saying to him: "Let me think about it."

"But, don't you have to use a lot of money for your mother?"

"I guess. But I can manage it on my own, somehow."

"Somehow… as in how?"

"A senpai from school got into touch with me and introduced to me a credit firm with rather good terms. Look, I don't have anything for collateral so I get turned down for loans from larger financing firms, right? However, with my senpai's smooth talk…"

"You can't." Chimako, in a rare moment, spoke against something firmly. "You definitely shouldn't do something like that. I don't want to be suspicious of your senpai but… It's too dangerous. I've heard about black-market lending from watching television and that might be it."

"It's fine, really. My senpai wouldn't…"

"I beg you, please don't. If it comes to that, I'd rather lend you the money."

Alrighty, she's hooked.

If he made a pleased face now all his efforts would come to naught. Instead, s.h.i.+zu flatly said: "No, that won't do," and shook his head.

"I've reconsidered my stance since then. It's an amount that is too large to borrow from you, Chima-chan."

"It's okay. I simply need to cancel a fixed savings plan, that's all."

"That'll be such a pity. Furthermore, that is money you are saving for your future, isn't it?"

When he pretended to be obstinate, Chimako drew herself up and gallantly declared, "But I would need Kyou-chan for my future." Ah, what a very good girl she was. She was the best sitting duck ever. It was not just leek was she carrying on her back but a pot and a portable gas stove as well. "Furthermore, just the other day, Kyou-chan, you said that 'Chima-chan's father is like my own father,' didn’t you? You were going to meet him but couldn't due to an urgent business trip… but you said that, didn't you?"

"Un. I'm sorry about that time. But that is how I truly think, you know."

"Then, Kyou-chan's mother is like my own mother, too."

"Chima-chan…"

Well then, now it is the time for a heart-rending scene.

s.h.i.+zu tried his best not to blink as he tried to make his eyes look red. It wasn't very difficult for s.h.i.+zu who already had dry eyes to begin with. As tears came into his eyes, he hurriedly blinked them away as he jokingly said, "Oh dear, please don't make me cry."

"… I'm sorry, really."

"Nope, it's really okay," she said.

"When spring breaks, shall we go to Chima-chan's home town for a vacation? Didn’t you say that the cherry blossoms there are pretty in spring?"

"Very pretty indeed. I hope Kyou-chan likes them."

We will definitely go, they promised each other as they clasped their hands at the edge of the table. The nail oil she had applied to her nails hasn't dried, and her hands were still slick with oil, but s.h.i.+zu bore with it.

"And, when can you cancel that fixed deposit? Truth is, I haven't have much time to… gefu." Halfway through his sentence, s.h.i.+zu choked on cigarette smoke that was blowing over from the seat behind him.

It wasn't the non-smoking section he was sitting at so he couldn't grumble about someone smoking next to him, but he got annoyed anyway and instinctively turned to see who it was. When he did so, he froze on the spot, and from the bottom of his heart wished he never turned back to look.

Sitting behind him was a man in sungla.s.ses and a jet black suit over a light purple s.h.i.+rt. A cigarette dangled from the corner of his mouth. How should one put this… It was easy to tell from his appearance. No matter how you looked at him he didn't look like an honest, upright citizen. Well, s.h.i.+zu was a swindler himself, but he kept a wide berth from people who did yakuza business.

"… You gotta problem?" said that man in a low growl as he glared at s.h.i.+zu. No, actually s.h.i.+zu couldn't tell as if the man was glaring at him behind those sungla.s.ses, but he thought the man might have since his imposing eyebrows were drawn together in a frown. His jawline and nose bridge were clearly defined, so if he had taken off those sungla.s.ses he might have been a handsome man.

"Ah. Ah ha ha… My apologies, it's nothing. Ha ha." Glossing it over with a laugh, s.h.i.+zu re-arranged the expression on his face, but it quickly turned into a foolish look at Chimako's next sentence.

"Eh? Onii-san?"

"Harh…?"

"Ah? Oh, isn't it Chimako we got here. What are you doing, in a place like this?"

The man, in one large swaying motion, slowly stood himself up. He had long arms and legs, and cut a good figure. The Italian suit he had on looked good on him, and he made tapping sounds as he walked over to their table on shoes that probably had enamel tips on them. Without asking if it was okay for him to sit with them, he plopped himself down on the seat beside Chimako. When he crossed his long legs his knees b.u.mped the bottom of the table and s.h.i.+zu's cup rattled.

"Chi, Chi, Chima-chan… Who is this…?"

He probably sounded a little upset. Elder brother, she had called him… It can't be. That is because Chimako only had one younger brother that was much younger than she was. He had asked around in detail about her family.

"This is my cousin, Aki-chan. Uwa, it had been a while, hasn't it?"

"Yes it has. I haven't seen you since I finished the last… job."

Job? What job?

He couldn't ask, of course. Despite the fact that s.h.i.+zu was becoming stiffer and stiffer, the two in front of him didn’t seem to notice and looked extremely pleased at being able to see each other again.

"You see, no one would tell me where you live now."

"It can't be helped. I am akin to snot among our relatives, now. …And? Who can this be?" The person called Aki-chan asked, as he jerked his chin towards s.h.i.+zu.

Eh heh heh, answered Chimako, with a shy laugh. "The person I am seeing now. His name is s.h.i.+mizu Kyouichi, and he works in a trading firm."

"N-N-Nice to meet you!" stammered s.h.i.+zu as he slammed his head down in a bow that was hard enough to make his front bangs slap across his forehead. s.h.i.+mizu Kyouichi was, of course, a false name.

That man, while taking a drag on his cigarette, went: "Oh…?" in a scornful sounding tone. "What are you working as, now?"

"Eh. Ah. Like she said, I'm working for a trading firm."

"Yea what are you doing in that trading firm? Which department? What are you in charge of?"

"L-Logistics management department, Third Section."

"What and how do you do this logistics management? Are you in inventory control? Delivery vehicles? Or Systems?"

s.h.i.+zu begin to break out in cold sweat as that man pummeled him with questions. He had randomly printed himself some fake business cards, but he knew nothing of supply-chain systems.

"Oh, Onii-san. It's like you're cross examining him."

"Of course I have to. You are like a little sister to me. There is no way I'll let some dubious looking guy date you… Hey. You said you were called s.h.i.+mizu or something, right?"

The man suddenly pitched his right shoulder forward.

"Y-Yes."

"Give me your business card."

"N-No, it's my off day today, so I don't…"

Tsk, the man clicked his tongue in annoyance and leaned back into the chair's backrest.

"I happened to hear bits and pieces of the conversation just now. b.a.s.t.a.r.d, weren't you trying to borrow money from Chimako?"

"N-N-No, that was…"

Onii-san, Chimako said as she pressed her lips in a straight line, but the man told her, "It's okay, just listen", and continued.

"That money belongs to Chimako. It isn't my place to tell her not to lend you money. And it seems like you have your own problems… However, if you were to,"

With a sizzle, the man ground his cigarette out on the ashtray, and lowered his voice.

"If you were to ever cheat Chimako of her money…"

—I'll have you beaten you to death.

He didn't verbalise the last part, but mouthed each syllable.

That made it all the more frightening, and s.h.i.+zu's forehead twitched. This is bad, if he made a face like that, it'll give away the fact that he was deceiving Chimako all along… No no, even if he were her real boyfriend, it was understandable that he would also be afraid if put in this situation, so it's okay to be jittery.

"Ha… ha ha, your big brother is such a worrywart, isn't he…?" said s.h.i.+zu in a shrill, nervous voice, and Chimako said, "Just look at you, Onii-san", with a disgusted look. "You're being rude to Kyou-chan. There is no way he'll lie to me."

"Chimako, perhaps you don't know this but there are tons of bad people out there in this world."

"But, there are good people too. Like Kyou-chan."

"That is if, he is a good person. Bad people don't look bad. The worse they are, the kinder and more decent they look, which is why they are hard to deal with… Come to think of it, I heard from somewhere that those marriage swindlers in particular will pretend to be good, honest people. It'll be a mistake if you imagine them to be flashy, good-looking men, because most of them will want to trick you into thinking that they are uncouth but yet someone that can be trusted. It is one of their methods."

For example, the man elaborated as he chewed on yet another cigarette. "He might put on fake gla.s.ses, or something like that."

s.h.i.+zu felt sweat oozing out of his scalp.

If he didn't close his mouth, his heart might very well just fly out of it. This was how shaken s.h.i.+zu was. I don't want any more of this, I want to run away from this place, it was wrong to think that Chimako was the best duck ever, s.h.i.+zu thought to himself. If Chimako had a relative that was a small time hoodlum, then she was the type that you should never, ever a.s.sociate yourself with. This isn't a joke, d.a.m.n it.

"… Eh… Chima-chan, since you managed to meet him again after so long, perhaps you would like to spend today with your cousin instead…?"

"Kyou-chan?"

"I, I'm okay if you want to, really. I'll get in touch with you again."

"Eh, but…"

Ignoring Chimako who was looking troubled, s.h.i.+zu picked his balled up down jacket and briefcase up and stood from his seat. He who fights and runs away lives to fight another day, was all that s.h.i.+zu had in his head now.

"W-W-Well, see you then."

He was in such a hurry that he did not take a good look at his surroundings, and walked right into someone beside the table. Only s.h.i.+zu stumbled pathetically; the person he b.u.mped into didn't move an inch.

"I-I am sorry… Eek!"

There are more of them. There are more yakuza now.

In front of s.h.i.+zu stood a man clad in a black suit with a coat over it and overflowing with an aura that clearly reads 'I am not an honest, upright citizen', and behind him was a kind looking middle-aged man. A sharp pair of eyes behind a pair of gla.s.ses gave s.h.i.+zu a cursory glance.

However, that man immediately turned to the other yakuza sitting down.

"Senpai. What kind of cosplay is that?"

It appears that both of them know each other, and he called him senpai… ah, s.h.i.+zu now understood. This man was his underling. s.h.i.+zu could understand that part, even if he found it weird that the man had called him senpai instead of aniki. Perhaps the gangster industry nowadays had changed technical jargons. It was the cosplay part that he didn't understand.

The senpai yakuza looked up at the underling yakuza and started "Hyo…" and then held his tongue. After he seemed to have pulled himself together, he said in a threatening tone: "Shut up. I'm busy right now." Chimako, on the other hand, looked completely flabbergasted.

s.h.i.+zu did not quite get what was going on, but decided to beat a hasty retreat before the number of yakuza increases again. s.h.i.+zu rounded his back as he tiptoed past the underling yakuza and walking towards the exit of the shop. Halfway there, he looked back and made a hand gesture that said 'I will call you' to Chimako, who was watching him leave. Chimako, with an uneasy look, gave him a small nod in return.

Of course, he will never call her again.

He will also dispose of that hand phone, and never see Chimako again.

Christ, what a terrible miscalculation this was. He thought this time it would go well, too. With a long, loud sigh, s.h.i.+zu continued walking at a quick pace. It was near the end of the year and a chilly wind blew through the city, and he sneezed as he hurriedly shrugged on his down jacket.

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