Sunday 2 May 2001.
In Zaboru's favorite gyoza restaurant, the small family-owned place he often visited whenever he met his sensei, Bruce Lee, he was waiting for someone. It was still early in the morning, and most of the customers were regular office workers grabbing breakfast before work. The familiar smell of fried dumplings, garlic, sesame oil, and hot tea filled the air, making the place feel comforting in a way that expensive restaurants never could.
The person he was waiting for was none other than Hikaru Kurata, the CEO and major shareholder of Sonaya. The request itself was unusual. Yesterday, while Zaboru was spending time with his family, Hikaru had unexpectedly called him and asked if they could meet in person. That alone was enough to catch Zaboru's attention.
Normally, when Hikaru wanted to discuss business, the meetings took place in high-class hotels, luxurious conference rooms, or one of their corporate offices. Everything was always formal, carefully scheduled, and surrounded by assistants and secretaries. Yet this time, Hikaru had asked for a private meeting.
When Hikaru asked where they should meet, Zaboru had immediately grinned.
"Well, let's meet tomorrow morning at the gyoza shop near the old ZAGE office."
To his surprise, Hikaru actually chuckled and agreed without hesitation.
That reaction alone told Zaboru that whatever Hikaru wanted to discuss was probably important.
Still, Zaboru wasn't particularly worried.
If it was good news, he would hear it soon enough.
If it was bad news, worrying beforehand would not change anything.
Besides, he had run several kilometers earlier that morning and was starving.
Business could wait.
The gyoza could not.
A few minutes later, the restaurant owner recognized him immediately.
"Zaboru-san! The usual?"
"Thirty servings."
The owner froze for a second, then burst out laughing.
"Only thirty?"
Zaboru grinned. "Well, I'm waiting for someone today, so I'll make him pay later."
The owner laughed even harder. "Make sure that person has money, okay?"
"Don't worry," Zaboru replied with absolute confidence. "He might even be richer than me."
The owner shook his head while laughing and headed back toward the kitchen.
Not long afterward, plates of freshly cooked gyoza began arriving one after another until thirty plates covered the table. The golden-brown dumplings sizzled gently as they touched the plates, releasing an aroma so good.
Without hesitation, Zaboru picked one up and took a bite.
Perfect.
Crispy on the outside.
Juicy on the inside.
Exactly how he loved it. This place really did have the best gyoza around.
For a brief moment, he completely forgot about Sonaya, Hikaru Kurata, business meetings, and billion-dollar negotiations.
There was only gyoza.
And honestly, that felt pretty great.
Then the restaurant door opened.
Zaboru looked up.
Hikaru Kurata had arrived.
Not long after that, Hikaru Kurata entered the gyoza restaurant wearing a sporty jacket and matching trousers, looking far more relaxed than the corporate titan Zaboru usually met in formal meetings. Instead of his usual expensive suit and intimidating presence, Hikaru looked almost like a rich uncle who had just finished his morning walk. The change was so unexpected that even Zaboru paused with a gyoza still held between his chopsticks.
Hikaru's gaze immediately dropped to the mountain of plates in front of him. He sighed as if he had just witnessed something that violated common sense.
"I still can't understand how you're able to eat that much, Zaboru."
Zaboru chuckled, then suddenly narrowed his eyes in surprise.
"Whoa, Kurata-san... you really look younger!"
He was not saying it just to flatter him. It was true. Hikaru's face looked less tired than before, his shoulders seemed lighter, and even his expression had lost some of the bitterness that usually followed him like a shadow. He looked like a man who had finally started sleeping properly after years of corporate war.
Hikaru sighed, though a faint smile appeared on his face as he sat down beside Zaboru.
"Is that supposed to be a compliment or an insult?"
Zaboru grinned "A compliment, obviously. If it was an insult, I'd say you look like you finally stopped haunting Sonaya's boardroom."
Hikaru stared at him for a moment.
"Your mouth is still as irritating as ever."
Zaboru casually said "Thank you. I trained it every day."
Hikaru shook his head, but the smile remained. He casually ordered dumplings as well, and that was when the restaurant owner finally realized who Zaboru's guest actually was. The man froze near the counter, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"H-Hikaru Kurata?"
The owner looked between Hikaru and Zaboru as if trying to understand how one of the most powerful men in Japan had casually walked into his small gyoza shop and sat beside a man currently surrounded by thirty plates of dumplings which also Very Powerful men.
Zaboru noticed his expression and grinned.
"See? I told you he had money."
He leaned back before saying, "Zaboru, don't call me Kurata-san anymore. We're already quite close, aren't we? Just call me Hikaru."
Zaboru almost choked on his dumpling.
For nearly five full seconds, he simply stared at Hikaru.
Hikaru stared back.
The restaurant owner stared at both of them.
Even a nearby customer looked over because the atmosphere had suddenly become strangely awkward.
Finally, Zaboru swallowed and said with a completely straight face, "I'm sorry, Kurata-san. I'm married, and I don't swing that way."
The entire restaurant became silent.
Hikaru's forehead immediately twitched.
"What the hell do you mean by that, you bastard!?" Hikaru said. "I'm just trying to be nice!"
Zaboru nodded seriously before saying, "That's exactly how every romance drama starts. First it's 'Call me Hikaru.' Then suddenly we're watching fireworks together."
"Have you completely lost your mind?" Hikaru said.
"Probably," Zaboru said.
"Probably?"
"Maybe seventy percent."
"SEVENTY PERCENT?"
The owner behind the counter was already turning away because he was struggling not to laugh.
Hikaru rubbed his forehead before saying, "Why do I even bother talking to you?"
"Because you enjoy my company," Zaboru said confidently.
"No."
"Because I'm funny?"
"No."
"Handsome?"
"No."
"Successful?"
Hikaru paused.
"Unfortunately."
"Aha!" Zaboru pointed at him. "Progress!"
Hikaru immediately regretted sitting down.
Meanwhile, the owner finally brought Hikaru's dumplings and placed them on the table.
It's like Just two friends eating dumplings together in a small restaurant.
Hikaru Kurata sighed before saying, "Think whatever you want, but honestly, ZAGE becoming so overwhelming in the video game sector forced Sonaya to change a lot. It didn't just affect our gaming division either. The pressure from competing with ZAGE pushed us to improve across multiple sectors. We had to become faster, more efficient, and less comfortable with old ways of doing things. As one of the major global companies, I think Sonaya benefited from that in the long run. So, yes, I suppose I can thank ZAGE for it."
Zaboru chuckled after hearing that. "You really do look less bitter now. Maybe that's why you look younger?"
"Maybe," Hikaru replied with a grin. "Or maybe it's because recently America developed a very dangerous new weapon."
Zaboru raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
Hikaru calmly picked up a dumpling before continuing, "Apparently it's called the X-Canon."
For a second, Zaboru simply stared at him. Then he burst out laughing so hard that several nearby customers turned toward their table.
"Hahaha! That's still one of the funniest things I've seen all year!" Zaboru said while wiping a tear from his eye. "I swear, Hikaru, I'm definitely referencing that one day."
"I know you will," Hikaru replied. "The moment I saw that livestream, I knew some poor developer inside ZAGE was going to have to make a disc-shooting weapon eventually."
"Poor developer? They're going to love it."
"That's exactly what worries me."
Zaboru laughed again. "Come on. You can't tell me the nickname isn't perfect. X-Canon sounds like some secret military project."
Hikaru shook his head. "Microsoft spends hundreds of millions of dollars developing a console, hires some of the best engineers in the world, creates online infrastructure years ahead of most competitors, and somehow the internet decides the most memorable feature is that it occasionally tries to assassinate its owner with a DVD."
"That's the internet for you."
"Terrifying." Hikaru Kurata sighed "You made it that way honestly.."
Zaboru grinned while grabbing another dumpling. "Beautifully terrifying."
Hikaru simply shook his head and continued eating, though the small smile on his face made it clear he found the whole situation just as funny as Zaboru did.
Then Hikaru's dumplings finally arrived, and the owner placed the steaming plate in front of him with the same careful respect someone might show when serving a visiting prime minister. Hikaru picked up one piece with his chopsticks, blew on it lightly, and took a bite. The crisp sound immediately made his expression soften a little, which Zaboru noticed right away because Hikaru rarely looked that satisfied in any corporate meeting.
Zaboru grinned while reaching for another gyoza from his own mountain of plates. "So, is Sonaya really not making a new console again? Game Station was great, you know. Surely you won't just give up, right, Hikaru?"
Hikaru stopped chewing for a moment and looked at him as if Zaboru had just asked whether he wanted to jump into a volcano for fun. After swallowing, he sighed and said, "Do you think I'm a fool? You release ZEPS 4 first. After that, I'll decide when Sonaya releases its next console, damn it. I'm not walking blindly into another battlefield just because you smile nicely while hiding a knife behind your back."
Zaboru laughed, clearly enjoying the reaction. "Hehehe, so you still remember? I'm Your Nightmare Come to Life?"
Hikaru's face twitched the moment he heard that phrase. He placed his chopsticks down slowly, as if calming himself before answering. "Can I even forget that, you bastard? That sentence still appears in my nightmares whenever Sonaya's console division presents a new report. You really love annoying me, don't you?"
Zaboru leaned back with a proud smile, completely shameless. "Of course. Annoying you is one of the most enjoyable side quests in my life."
Hikaru stared at him in disbelief, then muttered, "Side quest? You turned my entire company's console strategy into your personal entertainment."
"Not entertainment," Zaboru said casually. "Friendly competition."
"If that was friendly competition, I don't want to know what hostile competition looks like."
Zaboru only laughed louder while the restaurant owner, who had been pretending not to listen, quietly covered his mouth behind the counter.
Zaboru chuckled and said, "Well, you are ZAGE's rival, so of course I love making you pissed. That is basically my hobby at this point. But honestly, Hikaru, I like that you actually don't give up. Compared to Microsoft and Apple, which are also massive companies, Sonaya has a different kind of guts. You started fighting ZAGE earlier, you kept standing even after getting punched by the market, and you still keep thinking about the next move instead of running away. I respect that a lot, you know?"
Hikaru paused for a moment after hearing that. For once, he did not immediately throw back an insult. He simply stared at Zaboru, as if trying to confirm whether the man in front of him was being serious or setting up another stupid joke. After a few seconds, Hikaru sighed and said, "Well, now you're making me blush, you bastard."
Zaboru immediately looked at him warily and said, "Don't tell me... you actually... love me?"
Hikaru's forehead bulged instantly. "You better stop that joke before I smack your face."
Zaboru burst out laughing so loudly that the restaurant owner almost dropped a plate behind the counter. Hikaru clicked his tongue, but even he could not fully hide the small smile forming on his face. The strange thing was, beneath all the jokes and insults, there was real respect between them now. They were still rivals, and they would probably continue trying to outmaneuver each other for years, but the sharp hatred from before had softened into something more complicated.
Hikaru respected ZAGE's strength because he had personally suffered from it, while Zaboru respected Sonaya's persistence because not many companies could keep standing after being pushed that hard. In the business world, many executives loved to talk about courage, innovation, and long-term vision, but most of them panicked the moment their safe position was threatened. Sonaya, despite all its pride and mistakes, had not completely broken.
That was why Zaboru's compliment was sincere. He liked teasing Hikaru, but he also knew that Sonaya was not a weak opponent. It was one of the few companies that could still force ZAGE to stay alert. Without companies like Sonaya pushing from behind, even ZAGE might eventually become too comfortable. Competition, when it did not turn into blind hatred, could make both sides sharper.
Zaboru picked up another gyoza and said with a grin, "Besides, if Sonaya disappeared too easily, who would I annoy during breakfast?"
Hikaru narrowed his eyes. "So your respect for my company is based on your need for entertainment?"
"Partly."
"At least lie better."
"Fine. Seventy percent respect, thirty percent entertainment."
Hikaru sighed. "Why does that somehow sound believable?"
"Because I'm an honest man."
"You are many things, Zaboru, but honest is not the word I would use first."
Zaboru laughed again, and this time Hikaru shook his head while finally allowing himself to smile properly.
After their laughter slowly faded, Zaboru placed his chopsticks down and looked at Hikaru with a calmer expression. "But still, Hikaru, what did you actually want to meet me for? Tell me."
Hikaru Kurata's smile gradually disappeared. He looked down at the dumplings in front of him, then let out a quiet sigh before answering. "Well... it's actually a personal request related to my son."
The warm and joking atmosphere between them slowly turned serious.
To be continue
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