Nikei Yomiuri Shipping Collection

Hashimuri - Trap

"Heeey! Mister! Hey!" Nikei called out from around a corner, clearly looking for the broker, and Syobai grumbled as he heard the excited man get closer. Being made to spend time with people he really didn't care that much for was hell, but being pestered by this journalist wasn't ideal at all either. 

With that in mind, Syobai decided that maybe the best way to get him to go away was to pretend to be asleep. The broker was very skilled in the art of sleeping while leaning against something, so Syobai just sat down and closed his eyes, trying to remain still.

Nikei appeared from around the corner and spotted Syobai's white coat immediately. "Oh, there you are! I was looking for you!" he exclaimed. He then noticed that Syobai was still and unmoving, as if he had fallen asleep very quickly. The journalist was not amused as he let out a tired sigh. "Don't pretend, I know that you're faking being sleep. I saw you come around the corner less than a minute ago."

Having been caught and having no way out of this forced interaction, Syobai gave up and opened his eyes. "Even if you're not smart, you're observant. That's a good skill," he remarked, even though Nikei looked a bit offended at the dig about his intelligence. "Now, what the hell do you want?"

"I'm just trying to get an interview, that's all!" Nikei tried to reassure. "I'm not bothering you for no reason, I'm just doing my job!"

"Yeah, and I have to calculate a bunch of transactions I'm going to have completed soon, that's MY job. So fuck off, will you? If you're not paying me for wasting my time, then I have nothing to do with you," the broker immediately responded. He then pulled out a small pocketbook from his coat that he used earlier, resuming writing down his calculations.

Dejected from not getting his interview, the journalist immediately left him alone for now. But even so, he was beginning to make a plan in his mind to get Syobai dragged into the group activities, and he hoped that his calculations would work correctly.

A few days later, a major power outage occurred at the residence building, locking all of the students that weren't already in their dorms out of them. To cheer up the boys of the class, Shinji suggested that they all go to the bathhouse to increase their bonds. Even if Yuri had to be dragged into it, Nikei didn't plan on going at all. He was left along because he told Shinji that he had a plan to bring Syobai in.

Meanwhile, the broker was pissed that he was locked out of his dorm. Despite the electric lock being easy to break, Syobai wasn't keen on breaking his lock or window while trying to get in. With that in mind, he decided to walk around the school, but unexpectedly ran into the journalist. 

"Oh, Syobai! I was looking for you!" Nikei exclaimed. Before Syobai could tell him to leave again, he continued, "I know a guy that needs your services, but since the outage knocked the wifi out, I came to get you myself."

Syobai raised an eyebrow as he questioned the journalist's methods, but in the end, a customer was a customer. "Alright, lead me to 'em." 

He followed Nikei for a good while and entered the main school building, but when Nikei easily slipped through a small gap in a door that Syobai had to open, the broker was suddenly soaked with water and let out loud cussing. He looked around for anyone in the hallway that could be with them, but found no one.

"...Shit, that probably was a bucket trap, putting water over the door," Nikei sighed, pointing to a bucket that had fallen nearby. "The guy will have to wait, I did tell him that finding you might take a while. There are towels in the bathhouse."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. At least it can be considered a shower to look presentable to customers," Syobai grumbled, heading off in the direction of the bathhouse. Nikei followed behind him, the broker unaware of the complacent smile on his face.

Because of there being no power in the building, the only light in the bathhouse came from the flashlights from other people's handbooks. As Syobai and Nikei walked in, Shinji looked at them with a proud smile. 

"Well, I'll be damned!" the firefighter exclaimed. "You really did bring him after all!"

"Bring me...?" Syobai muttered, then started to put the pieces together. Shinji hosted group events, that was well known to everyone. But Nikei requesting Syobai to follow him, slipping through a gap that only he could go through, knowing to slip through the gap in the first place, the bucket trap, and then suggesting to get towels from the bathhouse where Shinji and the others were? 

He knew full well that he had gotten tricked by the journalist and immediately pulled a knife on him. Nikei let out a yelp and backed up, while Shinji put a hand on Syobai's shoulder. "Calm down, man. I don't know how he got you to come here, but it's just a prank Nikei did," the firefighter assured.

It took a while to calm Syobai down and get him to not stab Nikei, but a payment from the journalist was enough to make him settle down and join the others' activity.