The plum rain season was settling in. Outside the window, a fine, persistent drizzle veiled the streets of Azabu-Juban in damp mist.
The earlier clamor about the 'Internet' had already died down. Son Masayoshi had left, face flushed with excitement, clutching checks worth three billion yen. The old-school zaibatsu members and Diet politicians, who'd treated the whole thing as nothing more than a sideshow, had also taken their leave one by one.
Waiters moved silently, clearing the remnants from the tables.
Shuichi stood at the entrance of the hall, politely seeing off the last retired Vice Minister of Finance.
Only three people remained.
Besides Shuichi, there were two men who had been about to rise when his glance told them to stay.
Osawa Ichiro — a powerful figure in the Takeshita Faction, resolute-faced, eyes sharp with aggression.
Hatano Tsukasa — the faction's policy expert, gold-rimmed glasses glinting, dressed in his signature high-collared suit.
"Gentlemen, please stay a moment."
Shuichi didn't sit. Instead, he walked to the liquor cabinet and took out an unlabeled bottle of whiskey and three clean crystal glasses.
"What we discussed earlier was business for the young."
Pop.
The cork came free with a clear snap in the empty hall.
Shuichi turned, setting the bottle on the table.
"Now, let's talk about the future. Not the future of technology — your future."
---
Second floor, the 'Chōshōken' private room.
The soundproofing was flawless; not a whisper of rain made it inside. On the red sandalwood round table at the room's center, only a dim desk lamp glowed, its light pooling on the tabletop.
Osawa Ichiro accepted the glass Shuichi handed him but didn't drink. He set it down, fingers tapping a steady rhythm on the armrest.
"Shuichi-kun," Osawa's voice was low, "you waited until everyone else left to keep us here. Is there news the old men shouldn't hear?"
He exchanged a glance with Hatano.
The Saionji Family's intelligence network in Tokyo had been formidable these past two years — that much was obvious to all. If Saionji Shuichi was clearing the room like this, the topic wouldn't be simple.
"There is news that could affect your political careers."
Shuichi took the head seat and slid open a drawer. From it, he drew an unmarked kraft paper folder and pushed it gently across the table, stopping it before Osawa and Hatano.
"Take a look."
Hatano Tsukasa adjusted his glasses and untied the string.
Inside was a stack of photocopies — coarse paper covered in dense rows of stock transfer records: serial numbers, dates, holder names, prices.
All of them pointed to one company: Apex Media — a Recruit subsidiary in all but name.
And among the listed holders were the names Osawa Ichiro and Hatano Tsukasa, clear as day — along with their secretaries, wives, even distant relatives.
Hatano's fingers paused. He looked up. That he'd been investigated this thoroughly didn't panic him. For men like them, perhaps only God knew more than the Saionji Family. Digging up an MP's background was a five-minute job for them.
Had he gotten tangled in something? It shouldn't be. He'd kept a low profile lately.
He met Shuichi's eyes, confusion replacing concern.
"Shuichi-kun, what does this mean?" Hatano asked. "Is there a problem with this list?"
Osawa Ichiro frowned, flipping through a few pages.
"Apex stock. That's what Ezaki handed out within the party before the IPO. Everyone has it. It's no secret." Osawa looked at Shuichi. "What are you showing us this for?"
They didn't understand.
Transfers of unlisted stock like this were Nagatacho's lubricant — the grease that kept faction machinery running. Buy before the IPO, sell after, pocket the difference. It was considered a 'safe' form of political donation.
Shuichi leaned back, hands folded over his knee.
"In the past, it wouldn't have been a problem."
His voice was calm, stating fact, not opinion.
"But according to reliable intelligence, the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office's Special Investigation Department has set its sights on this company."
At Special Investigation Department, both men's expressions changed.
In Japanese politics, the Tokusōbu meant the end.
"The Special Investigation Department? Why?" Osawa asked. "Ezaki's procedures were compliant."
"Compliant on the surface," Shuichi said, tapping the list. "But if specific administrative favors were exchanged during those transactions, then it's bribery."
He paused.
"A deputy mayor of Kawasaki City received these stocks because he gave Apex the green light in urban planning. The Special Investigation Department is already investigating in secret. By the end of this month — June at the latest — they'll move on Kawasaki."
"Kawasaki is just the fuse."
Shuichi's gaze swept over them.
"The Special Investigation Department isn't after small fish this time. They want the big ones. Once the lid blows off in Kawasaki, every eye will turn to Apex. And then, everyone on this list becomes a target."
The room fell into dead silence.
Only the wall clock ticked.
Osawa Ichiro picked up his whiskey and drained it in one go. The burn steadied him.
He was a political animal with razor-sharp instincts. If the Tokusōbu really stepped in, this wouldn't be a donation issue — it would be a corruption scandal that rocked the nation.
"Shuichi-kun."
Osawa set the glass down and leaned forward, eyes locked on Shuichi.
"You're not telling us this just to help us avoid danger, are you?"
If it were only a warning, a private word would've done. There'd be no need for this formality, or for isolating them from the Takeshita Faction's old guard.
Perhaps… the Saionji Family was planning something big.
"Avoiding danger is step one."
Shuichi met Osawa's stare without flinching.
"The people around Prime Minister Takeshita have taken far more than you have — his chief secretary, several key figures in the Ministry of Finance included."
"Once this scandal breaks, the Takeshita Cabinet will face an unprecedented crisis of confidence. There's a high probability the cabinet will fall."
Shuichi's voice was soft, but to Osawa and Hatano it landed like thunder.
The cabinet falling.
That meant a power vacuum. A massive reshuffle.
"This ship — the Keiseikai, the Takeshita Faction — is carrying too much dead weight from the old era," Shuichi said flatly. "Too bloated. Too slow. Too greedy."
"But you two are still young. You have ambition."
"If you're still standing behind Takeshita Noboru when the storm hits, it will take you down too."
Hatano Tsukasa removed his glasses and wiped the fog from the lenses. His hands trembled, just slightly. "You mean… a clean break?"
"More precisely, a restructuring."
Shuichi pulled another document from the bottom of the folder.
A draft statement, pre-written by the Saionji Family's legal team, along with a political donation commitment letter from the S.A. Group.
"The old order is about to collapse. That's both crisis and opportunity."
Shuichi slid the commitment letter toward them.
"Step one: return the stocks immediately. Create a paper trail proving you rejected them long ago. The Saionji Family's lawyers will make the procedure airtight, ensuring you're clean before the Special Investigation Department moves."
"Step two."
Shuichi's eyes found Osawa's.
"When the scandal erupts, don't stay silent. Stand up. Be the 'clean faction' within the LDP. Demand a full investigation. Demand the Prime Minister take political responsibility."
Osawa's hand tightened on the armrest, fighting to keep it from shaking.
A backstab.
This was a blatant, calculated backstab.
"This is… rebellion," Osawa's voice was hoarse. "If we fail, we'll have no place left in the party. And once we leave the faction, where do campaign funds come from? What about the junior Diet members under us?"
"The funds are here."
Shuichi tapped the commitment letter.
"After the old faction is mired in scandal, the corporate donations that flowed to the Takeshita Faction will dry up. Those zaibatsu bend with the wind — once Takeshita Noboru loses power, no one will dare send money."
"But the S.A. Group will fill that void."
"Osawa-kun. Hatano-kun. If you're willing to raise the banner of 'political reform' and establish a new faction, the Saionji Family will provide full campaign funding."
"Legal. Clean. Continuous."
"Enough to recruit every junior MP left stranded by the storm. Enough to build an iron bloc in the Diet that answers only to you."
Osawa's breathing quickened.
In this room, on this rainy night, he saw more than a crisis. He saw a shortcut to the pinnacle of power.
If Takeshita Noboru fell, and the old guard were forced to retire in disgrace, who would fill the vacuum?
Only 'reformists' like them — cleared of scandal in advance, with funding in hand.
"Shuichi-kun."
Osawa looked up, ambition and fear warring in his eyes.
"You want to be the 'Kingmaker'?"
Shuichi raised his glass, studying Osawa through the amber liquid. A gentle smile touched his lips.
"No, Osawa-kun. I'm just a businessman."
"A businessman who hopes Japan becomes more 'rational', more 'open' — more suitable for doing business."
"And the current LDP is too old. Too rigid. It needs fresh blood."
Shuichi extended the glass.
"So? Do you two want tickets on the new ship?"
Hatano Tsukasa slid his glasses back on and looked to Osawa. He was already a reformist, long disgusted by Takeshita Noboru's old-money politics. With financial backing, the temptation was undeniable.
Osawa Ichiro drew a deep breath.
He stood, slow and deliberate. He reached out and picked up the lethal folder from the table — and the commitment letter with it.
"Mr. Saionji." Osawa's form of address had changed. "Regarding the legal wording for returning the stock, I'd like to consult your lawyer. I want it settled tonight."
That was agreement.
"Of course."
Shuichi set down his glass and pressed the call button on the table.
"Take Mr. Osawa and Mr. Hatano to the next room. Have Lawyer Sasaki receive them with the highest specifications."
Watching them leave, Shuichi leaned back in his chair and gazed out at the pitch-black night.
Outside, it was still calm. But he knew: a conspiracy that would reshape Japan's political landscape for the next decade had just placed its first piece tonight.