Did he expect me already…?
Reika walked closer to where Kitamura Rindou stands, noticing that even when the man himself didn't bat an eye to her, there was no guard around him. Like a man who had already knew tonight's script.
Still… dressing as he like as always… even the sunglasses…
Simple tang-suit without any ornament. The jade prayer beads around both wrists glinted faintly when he lifted his glass. sleeves rolled to the elbows revealing tattoos climbed just high enough along his forearms to remind people he wasn't just another logistics executive.
"Heh…"
Reika slowed her pace as she approaching. And the man heard her heels before he even looked at her.
"Hiraga-ojō."
"Good evening, Kitamura-san…"
Stood side by side facing the glass wall. The city lights of Tokyo were their only scenery.
"…I've heard you've been looking for me?"
"…Please… I've been reaching out to you since last month and you know it…"
"Busy."
Haha… liar…
"…Thank you for your time, attending this banquet and all."
"So, what? You want to talk more about 'projections'?"
"Haah… Not really, I want an update of your Northern Sea Route."
"Nothing changed. As I said before, I just brace for the impact, already told my men to revise and extend any existing contracts coming from Murmansk."
"…Then I have option for you, Kitamura-san."
"You bring the timeline?"
Good. Straight to the point…
"I brought something else… Murmansk freezing is only part of the problem, with Tsuda-san specifically… So, let's focus on your actual territory."
He didn't respond as he just sipping from his glass quietly. But his attention shifted.
"You've got containers stacking in Vladivostok, waiting for the northern transfer window. From there you normally ship across to Aomori in batches once the route stabilizes."
"That's a common knowledge, everyone knows it already, ojō."
"—Split your route."
"…Hmm?"
"Right now, your containers are moving through Vladivostok because it's your cheapest consolidation port."
"It is."
"But it's also your most fragile."
"Cheap things usually are."
"We stop treating it like a holding point. The cargo still lands in Vladivostok, but only long enough to break bulk. Minimal waiting window."
"Then where the rest go?"
"Sakaiminato, underused and quiet, good for us."
"You suggesting coastal transshipment?"
"Exactly… Instead of waiting for the Aomori run, you push half the cargo immediately onto feeder vessels."
"…Ports?"
"From Sakaiminato, you move containers by rail to Osaka or Kobe for redistribution."
"What about storage?"
"Sakaiminato's bonded warehouse district is only running at most—sixty percent capacity right now, because the fishing export collapsed last quarter."
"And customs…?"
"Clearance won't be an issue."
Rindou clearly giving it a deep thought, and he point out the glaring problem.
"Ojō… All your pretty plan and all… you realize that you're increasing my cost per container."
"…Yes…"
"By how much?"
"…Closer to… 20 percent."
Reika notices his brows furrowed in displeasure.
"—Kitamura-san, this is to remove the risk of a total gridlock, that would cost you closer to fifty percent."
A long pause followed. Rindou rolled the jade beads slowly along his wrist.
"Hiraga-ojō… Who suggested Sakaiminato…?"
"I did."
"Oh… Really?"
"And I already negotiated the rail contract too."
"That so… you've already done half the work for me… I don't like what entails under your enthusiasm…"
It does come to this after all…
"…Kitamura-san… I did this because if your route collapses, half of Kokuren's northern supply chain collapses with it."
Rindou stared out absentmindedly at the city lights again. Then murmur, "Sakaiminato… it did cross my mind…" He finally turned his head to Reika, looking at her properly, "You're certain about warehouse capacity and the rail slots?"
"I checked the port authority data yesterday. And at least three departures per week to Osaka freight hub."
Another quiet pause. And he nodded once.
"Send it… I'll read your… projections…" Then he added with a faint smile, "Let's see if the numbers hold…" He slid his empty glass onto a passing waiter's tray.
Rindou began walking away into the crowd as if he decided tonight's matter is over.
Reika watched him go walk to the front door with a sigh.
You don't have to leave right away, you know…
"…I'll have it ready by tomorrow… Kitamura-san…"
Then with a whisper, she too, walk back to the crowd in the opposite direction.
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"Haaahhh… Reika… Hiraga… hmm…"
One man locked his eyes onto her from afar, he's humming to the soft tone played in the banquet hall, watching her as she weaved through the crowd, talking to men and women of prestige along her path.
"Hehehe…"
Amidst his chuckle, the name burned in his mind—a constant reminder of everything he had lost. His empire, his pride, and his wealth, and was made to swear loyalty. His lips had trembled as he swore that oath, the very words tasting like sewer in his mouth. To serve the woman who had taken everything from him.
Damned child of that bitch…
He barely able to focus on anything else, only to her. Reika's laugh, her sweet voice, her elegant gait.
"Fortunately… unlike your mother…"
You're just… just a woman playing in a world you didn't fully understand… You thought you were untouchable… Reika… you… were just as vulnerable as any of them…
That violet dress of her tonight—tight around her waist, hugging the subtle but perfect curve of her hips, that suppleness that no one dared acknowledge aloud. He could see it now, clear as day, the toned firmness underneath, shaped by youth and privilege.
"Exactly the shape of waist made for breeding…" He licked his dried smirking lips.
Her breasts rose and fell gently with each breath, pressed against by the fine fabric of her outfit, straining it just enough to tease what was hidden beneath, he imagined sinking his hands into it, clawing until she screams.
Just lovely…my favorite size that would spill over my palm…
"And those beautiful lips..."
Soft, plush, the natural pink of them catching the light as she smiled politely at another guest. Lips made for business, detached smiles—broken into muffled moans.
A throb of pure, vicious lust hardened and stirred against his slacks.
Ahhh… I want to make her crawl… beg for my mercy with her mouth wrapped around my cock…
In his mind, it was already happening, the fantasy burst to life, vivid and filthy.
Her polished heels scraping uselessly against the floor. Her tailored dress bunched up around her hips. Her legs trembling from the effort to stay standing as he rammed into her from behind.
That cold, haughty face ruined with tears, sweat and drool.
Your mother stripped me bare… You'll pay with your fucking everything for what she took away.
"I'll take everything back along with the interests…"
Reika directed her path to walk toward where he stood, her strides and posture fueled more of his thirst.
"Hmmm… I'm sure she would still be beautiful even broken.
No… Maybe even more… wildly beautiful…
He blinked, reality snapping back just as she brushed past him, Reika gave him a polite nod. As he too, return the brief greeting.
Though his eyes resume its vicious stare on her smooth back.
You're just another piece of meat, dear Reika… A wet hole that thinks it has pride… playing dress-up with power you don't deserve…
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