交渉人は嵌められる

交渉人 #4

by 榎田尤利, 奈良千春 (イラスト)

俺はなにをしているのだろう。俺はなにを……失おうとしているのだろう──
下町は両国に芽吹ネゴオフィスとして事務所を構える芽吹章は、嫁姑問題以外ならなんでもござれの交渉人だ。そんな芽吹の恋人は泣く子も黙ると評判のヤクザ兵頭寿悦だ。仕事も恋も順調！　のはずの毎日だったが、ひとりの男が現れたことにより、芽吹の過去が露になっていく。それはかつて自分を救ってくれた親友への罪悪感であり、芽吹の忘れることのできない傷でもある。俺を選ぶのか、それとも――　芽吹と兵頭が選んだものは……！？
※本作は過去に配信していた「交渉人は嵌められる」に挿絵を加えたものです。ストーリーに変更はございません。

Genres: Japanese Literature

256 pages, Paperback

First published July 30, 2010

About the author

Yuuri Eda is a Japanese Light Novel writer.
The genre of her works is Boys Love (BL).
Her debut novel is「夏の塩」(2000).
Yuuri Eda was one of the disciples of Azusa Nakajima ( 中島 梓, pen name of Kaoru Kurimoto / 栗本 薫.
She uses the pen name 榎田ユウリ for her general audience (not BL) works.
※Her two names in Romanization are the same.

榎田 尤利（えだ ゆうり）は、日本のボーイズラブ小説家。
7月16日生まれ、蟹座、O型。
2000年「夏の塩」（成美堂出版 クリスタル文庫）にてデビュー。同作品は、1996年『小説JUNE』77号に掲載。
『小説JUNE』にて連載されていた投稿作批評コラム「中島 梓 (栗本薫の別名義)の小説道場」の門下生。文章力に定評があり、物語性のある作品が多い。シリアスからコメディまで、作風は多様性に富む。
BL以外のライトノベル作品は、〝榎田 ユウリ〟で執筆している。

Reviews

[Meow Meow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This volume revolves around honey trap scam. It is so engrossing that I almost couldn’t put it down and stay up all night to finish it. It reveals more about MC’s past. He once was a defense lawyer for his close friend who was accused of murdering his stepfather. All the evidence lined up against him, so much so that even MC suggested to his friend to take a plea deal. His friend was so shocked that MC couldn’t believe his innocence, he committed suicide to prove his innocence. This past haunts MC so much that he went to a great length to retrieve a USB stick that contains the evidence of the true culprit, even to the point of betraying ML, and ended up paying the price for that —he got dumped by ML. On one hand, I feel irritated by MC prioritizing trying to alleviate his guilt, even though it won’t make much difference to the past over what’s important at the current moment. On the other hand, it’s a common mistake that so many people have made in real life. And this makes this fictional character more real. And kudos to MC who still holds up relatively well after the suicides of his parents and his close friend (but, yes, he had plunged into depression and almost attempted suicide of his own)

There is something about the usb stick that doesn’t make much sense. If the dying detective wanted MC to know about the evidence, why would he restrict the USB stick’s content from copying? Even if the files can’t be copied, couldn’t MC just take screenshots of them (even though this book was published in 2010, but windows XP still had a print screen function according to google. Maybe the author just wasn’t very familiar with computer?). But I guess the whole premise of this volume (and the next) would fall apart had the physical presence of this usb stick been not relevant 😅

[Sophie · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been a while since I was so tense while reading something. Well, damn it all, but that was REALLY good. The two volumes belong together, making me INCREDIBLY grateful that I ended up buying all the volumes in one go (except for the Kiyo one which I am rather impatiently waiting for). Ah, I honestly am still buzzing with excitement and relief.

The overall topic of the two books is Mebuki's past – the reason why he tries so hard to believe in people. At the same time he gets mixed up in a Yakuza struggle, when he is entrusted with a mysterious USB stick – and it looks like this time, his relationship with Hyoudou cannot survive under the circumstances.

I feel like telling more would spoil too much – let me just say that this was really well done. The thing about BL novels in general is that you know how they're going to end, especially with just volume series. But here there were quite a few twists I didn't see coming and I actually was so nervous I needed to peak ahead several times (the thing is, because it still takes me a conscious effort to read Japanese that wasn't that much help).

Suicide came up a bit too often for me to be entirely comfortable with it, but it all was dealt with in a good way. I also loved what Kiyo said about love and trust (let's face it, I love Kiyo. A LOT.) and how Mebuki hasn't really overcome his past, but is still struggling with it and so far hasn't lost. I wasn't sure I was really going to like him when I started reading the serious, but now I too want to be part of team Mebuki.

While reading it I also thought if one toned down several bits somewhat, this would make for a great TV show. The Mebuki office reminds me somewhat of Angel Investigations, in the best of ways. Of course, Mebuki isn't a vampire and they don't really investigate, but the atmosphere is similar? A group of misfits with a shitty past working together, doing their best to find a piece of happiness. I really love that kind of setting. (See also Gintama, for example.)

I also once again realized how great it is when you have a BL series that isn't just about the BL. It's part of the reason I love G-Defend (despite its occasional ridiculousness). Sure, the BL part is important, but even if you took out the BL part, you'd still have an interesting story.

I'm very happy I decided to read this series despite my hesitations. And I'm sad I only have three volumes to go – I feel like spending a lot more time with these characters.