3 August, Saturday, 2001
Inside a high-end café located in one of Tokyo's expensive business districts, the atmosphere was calm, elegant, and almost disgustingly refined. Soft classical music played in the background. The lighting was warm. The tables were polished until they reflected the wine glasses placed on top of them. The customers spoke in low voices, as if even their conversations had to match the price of the menu.
At one of the private corner tables, Zanki Zagashira sat with a relaxed smile, cutting through his filet mignon with slow, almost theatrical movements.
Across from him sat none other than Hikaru Kurata, the CEO and major shareholder of Sonaya.
Hikaru did not order a meal. He only had a glass of wine in front of him, which he sipped with quiet restraint. His expression was calm, but his eyes were not. They were sharp, watchful, and already irritated.
Zanki glanced at him and chuckled.
"Thanks for coming, Hikaru-chan," Zanki said lightly. "Though honestly, I didn't expect you to come here and order almost nothing. You make this expensive café look lonely."
Hikaru's brow twitched.
"Zanki," Hikaru said coldly, placing his glass down. "We are not close enough for you to call me that. I would appreciate at least a little respect, though I understand that men of your caliber are not well known for having any."
Zanki laughed as if he had just heard a friendly joke.
"My bad, my bad," Zanki said, raising one hand lazily. "I thought after years of business between Sonaya and the companies under my control, we had become close friends already. Apparently, I was mistaken."
"You were."
"Cold as always."
"Only to people who deserve it."
Zanki's smile widened. He seemed to enjoy the hostility more than politeness. Then he placed a piece of steak into his mouth, chewed slowly, and leaned back in his chair with the expression of a man who believed the entire room existed for his entertainment.
"I heard Sonaya has been doing well recently," Zanki said. "Especially after becoming ZAGE's little bitch."
The air between them immediately sharpened.
Hikaru's eyes narrowed.
Zanki continued with a grin. "You stopped antagonizing them, right? Now Sonaya is suddenly talking about focusing on high-quality games, building trust with consumers, respecting developers, and all that heroic nonsense. How inspiring."
Hikaru did not raise his voice.
That made his anger feel even heavier.
"Your point?" Hikaru asked. "If you asked me here just to provoke me, then you are wasting your time."
"Oh, no, no, no." Zanki waved his knife slightly before putting it down. "I did not come here just to provoke you, Hikaru. That would be too cheap."
"You seem fond of cheap things."
"Only when they are effective."
Hikaru stared at him in silence.
Zanki wiped his mouth with a napkin, then leaned forward slightly.
"I came here to give you an offer," Zanki said. "An offer you cannot refuse."
Hikaru's face did not change.
Zanki's grin became thinner.
"An offer that can make Sonaya beat ZAGE."
For the first time, Hikaru did not immediately respond.
He frowned, but he remained silent.
Zanki noticed it and smiled with satisfaction.
"There it is," Zanki said. "Even you cannot fully ignore that sentence."
Hikaru slowly lifted his wine glass. "Speak."
Zanki's eyes gleamed.
"Right now, Apple and Microsoft are already on this boat," Zanki said. "Especially their own leaders. Bill Gates. Steve Jobs. Very intelligent men, both of them. Ambitious. Prideful. Not the kind of men who enjoy seeing ZAGE stand above them."
Hikaru's fingers tightened slightly around the glass.
Zanki continued, "That means we have access to very juicy information. Information that can be used to pressure Zaboru Renkonan. Information that can be turned into a weapon."
Hikaru's eyes darkened.
Zanki lowered his voice.
"In other words, blackmail."
The word landed between them like poison.
Zanki smiled as if he had offered a business partnership instead of a crime.
"The question is simple," Zanki said. "Are you ready to become truly hostile toward Zaboru Renkonan? Not the playful corporate rivalry Sonaya has been doing recently. Not the public speeches. Not the product competition. I mean real hostility."
Hikaru said nothing.
Zanki took that silence as permission to continue.
"If this plan goes smoothly, ZAGE's reputation will plummet. Their image will crack. Their perfect genius founder will become a scandal magnet. Public trust will shake. Investors will hesitate. Partners will panic. Developers will start wondering whether staying with ZAGE is still safe."
Zanki spread his hands.
"And when ZAGE falls, who remains? Microsoft, of course. And Sonaya. Your company can finally become one of the top powers in the video game industry. Not second place under ZAGE's shadow. Not the company that keeps chasing Zaboru's back. A true ruler."
Hikaru slowly placed his glass down.
His expression was unreadable.
Then he spoke.
"Sly fox."
Zanki chuckled. "I'll take that as a compliment."
"It was not one."
"Still sounds charming."
Hikaru leaned forward slightly. "You want me to blackmail Zaboru."
"I want you to win."
"No," Hikaru said sharply. "You want to use Sonaya's name, Sonaya's reach, and Sonaya's rivalry with ZAGE to make your dirty work look like a natural industry conflict."
Zanki's smile stiffened for half a second.
Hikaru noticed.
"I am not interested," Hikaru said.
Zanki stared at him.
Then he laughed softly. "Not interested?"
"Correct."
"You hate Zaboru."
"I do."
"You hate ZAGE."
"I do."
"You have spent years trying to defeat them."
"I have."
"Then why?" Zanki asked, his smile finally thinning into irritation. "Why refuse the cleanest chance you will ever get?"
Hikaru's eyes became cold.
"Because it is not clean."
Zanki stopped moving.
Hikaru continued, "I have no problem attacking ZAGE in business. I have no problem mocking them publicly. I have no problem competing aggressively, poaching partners, making deals, building stronger consoles, releasing better games, or turning consumers against them through strategy."
He paused.
"But fabricated personal scandals? Threats against a man's private life? Using secrets, family matters, or personal history as a weapon? That is not Sonaya's style."
Zanki's face tightened.
Hikaru looked at him with disgust.
"And based on your personality, that is exactly what you plan to do. You will not attack ZAGE's product. You will attack Zaboru's life. His wife. His family. Their past. Something personal enough to make him bleed."
Zanki did not answer.
That silence was enough.
Hikaru stood his ground.
"I may frame stories about ZAGE's business mistakes. I may exaggerate Sonaya's strengths. I may manipulate public perception in competition. But I am not so desperate and low that I would fabricate personal tragedy or threaten someone's family."
Zanki's eyes narrowed. "How noble."
"No," Hikaru said. "Practical."
"Practical?"
"Yes. Because you underestimate Zaboru."
Zanki frowned.
Hikaru's voice became lower. "You think Zaboru is merely a genius businessman. You think if you slander him, he will panic. You think if you threaten him, he will kneel. You think if the media attacks him, he will hide behind lawyers and public statements like ordinary executives."
Zanki stared.
Hikaru continued, "You are wrong."
The words were quiet, but heavy.
"Zaboru Renkonan is not normal," Hikaru said. "I hate him more than almost anyone in this industry. I hate how he moves ahead of us. I hate how he predicts things before they happen. I hate how he makes Sonaya look slow even when we are improving. But because I hate him, I also study him."
Hikaru's eyes sharpened.
"And everything I have seen tells me one thing. If someone slanders him, he will not simply stand and watch."
Zanki's jaw tightened slightly.
Hikaru continued, "He will respond. Maybe not immediately. Maybe not loudly. But when he moves, he will move in a way that makes people regret touching him."
Zanki forced a smile. "You sound almost scared."
"I am cautious," Hikaru said. "There is a difference."
Zanki leaned back. "You know something."
Hikaru said nothing.
Zanki's expression became colder.
"No," Zanki said slowly. "In fact, you already know, don't you?"
Hikaru's eyes remained steady.
Zanki smiled darkly. "That Zaboru's wife is the infamous Hamazou Princess."
The café seemed to grow quieter.
Hikaru did not flinch.
He simply shrugged.
"Maybe."
Zanki's eyes narrowed.
Hikaru continued, "But it changes nothing."
"It changes everything."
"No. It changes nothing," Hikaru repeated. "Zaboru is my rival. I hate him with all my guts. There are days I want Sonaya to crush ZAGE so badly that I can taste it. But I also respect him."
Zanki stared at him as if he had heard something repulsive.
Hikaru's voice became calmer, but also more sincere.
"Zaboru Renkonan is the kind of person you cannot help but admire, even when he is standing in your way. His presence forces the entire industry to become better. Developers look at him and raise their standards. Executives look at him and sharpen their strategies. Even Sonaya's gaming division improved because ZAGE existed as a mountain we had to climb."
He paused for a moment.
"If Zaboru disappears through fair competition, I will celebrate. If Sonaya surpasses ZAGE by making better products, I will gladly stand on stage and laugh. But if Zaboru is destroyed by personal blackmail and fabricated scandal, then the entire industry becomes uglier."
Hikaru looked directly at Zanki.
"And I refuse to win that way."
For the first time, Zanki's smile fully disappeared.
"You reject us," Zanki said.
"I reject filth."
Zanki's eyes hardened. "Microsoft and Apple will not just stand and watch."
Hikaru smirked faintly.
"Then let them do what they want."
Zanki tapped one finger against the table. "You are making a mistake."
"No," Hikaru replied. "I am avoiding one."
Zanki's expression became dangerous. "If you are not with us, then do not interfere."
Hikaru grinned, but there was no warmth in it.
"Let me tell you something, Zanki Zagashira. If you bite ZAGE, that is your decision. If you bite Zaboru, that is your gamble. But if you bite Sonaya, even by accident, we will not stay silent."
Zanki's eyes narrowed.
Hikaru stood up from his seat and adjusted his suit.
"I think we are done here."
Zanki looked up at him. "You will regret this."
Hikaru turned away.
"No," he said. "You will."
Then Hikaru Kurata left the table without looking back.
Zanki remained seated, staring at the empty chair across from him.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then he sighed.
"This alters things a little bit…"
He picked up his wine glass and slowly rotated it in his hand. His expression was no longer playful. Hikaru's refusal had annoyed him, but it had also revealed something useful. Hikaru was cautious. Hikaru knew more than he admitted. And Hikaru, despite his hatred for ZAGE, was not willing to cross certain lines.
That made him inconvenient.
But not necessary.
Zanki's lips curled into a smaller, colder smile.
"Still, the plan can work without Hikaru's involvement."
He finished the remaining wine in one sip, placed the glass down, and called for the bill. After paying for the meal, he left the café and walked toward his car.
The city outside was bright, busy, and unaware.
Zanki took out his phone and dialed someone.
After several rings, the call connected.
"It's me," Zanki said quietly. "Kurata refused."
A pause.
Zanki's smile returned.
"No. It doesn't matter. We continue."
Another pause.
Then Zanki's voice became colder.
"Prepare the materials. If Sonaya refuses to play, then we simply make the board smaller."
He looked up at the sky, his eyes filled with calculation.
"And make sure Zaboru learns that even the God of Video games can bleed."
To be continued.
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