It was late May.
The sky over Tokyo had finally cleared, sweeping away the gloom of the past few days. Bright spring sunlight poured over the grayish-white buildings of Nagatacho, its glare striking the massive glass dome of the House of Representatives and reflecting into a dizzying halo of white.
Inside the VIP lounge behind the assembly hall, the blinds were tilted at a narrow angle.
Osawa Ichiro stood beside a leather sofa. Bloodshot eyes, deep bags, and a shadow of stubble marked his face. His expensive, custom-made suit still reeked of stale cigars and sweat.
To make sure today's vote went off without a hitch, he'd been up late at faction headquarters for four nights straight, handling the last round of interest deals and vote coordination.
Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, dressed in a deep black suit, stood quietly across from him. His hands hung at his sides. His gaze stayed lowered, fixed on the carpet.
Osawa took a deep breath, stepped forward, and brought his thick right hand down on Kaifu's shoulder with a sharp clap. His fingers dug into the fabric, the weight of his palm making Kaifu's shoulder dip.
"Kaifu-kun," Osawa said, lowering his voice into something meant to sound gentle. "In a moment, the cursing out there will be brutal. Maybe worse than you can stand."
He stared at Kaifu's expressionless face and leaned closer. "But if you hold the line today — get up there, read that script word for word, don't miss a single line — once we're through this storm... I've already arranged your exit. There's a seat waiting for you as senior advisor to the Japan-U.S. Friendship Committee. You'll keep top-tier political treatment for the rest of your life. I guarantee it."
Kaifu didn't look up. His eyelids stayed lowered. He didn't object.
"Yes," he said. His voice was flat and dry, like a man who'd already accepted his fate.
Seeing Kaifu's submission, the tension in Osawa's jaw eased. He let go and patted Kaifu's shoulder twice, hard, like he was soothing an obedient dog. "Go."
A staffer pulled open the heavy wooden door. A deafening wave of noise surged in from the corridor.
Kaifu walked, his leather shoes sinking into the thick carpet. He moved down the long passage and pushed through the side entrance to the assembly hall.
Blinding spotlights hit his face.
Inside the spacious House of Representatives, the humid air felt ready to ignite. The ventilation system was running at full capacity, but it couldn't clear the body heat of over five hundred men in a state of extreme excitement and rage.
The moment Kaifu appeared at the edge of the steps, the noise below exploded.
"Get out! You traitor!"
"You're destroying the livelihoods of the Commerce and Industry Caucus! Lapdog of the Cabinet!"
"Resign! Resign now!"
Conservative lawmakers on the left and in the back rows, along with Commerce and Industry Caucus members representing local retailers, shot up from their seats with bloodshot eyes. They waved their arms and hurled insults at Kaifu. Their voices echoed under the massive dome.
Kaifu didn't break stride. He climbed the steps one by one toward the Prime Minister's podium.
A thick document, crumpled into a ball, flew from the side seats and struck his left shoulder with a dull thud before bouncing to the floor, scattering pages covered in protest clauses. More paper balls — even broken pencils — rained toward the podium.
The Speaker stood on the high platform, sweating as he slammed his gavel against the wood.
"Silence! Maintain order in the hall! Eishi! Order!" [Note: Eishi are the staff responsible for security and order inside the Japanese Parliament, not broadcast personnel.]
The gavel's crack rang through the speakers, but it couldn't drown out the roars threatening to lift the roof.
Kaifu reached the microphone. He set the speech, titled Proposal for the Repeal of the Large-Scale Retail Store Law, flat on the wooden podium.
Another paper ball hit his chest. He didn't blink.
Both hands braced on the podium's edges. His breathing stayed steady. Through the spotlights, he watched the lawmakers below, their faces twisted with rage.
"Members of Parliament," Kaifu said into the microphone.
"Faced with the tide of international free trade, our outdated distribution system has become a shackle on macroeconomic vitality."
The booing intensified. Kaifu ignored it and looked down at the first line of his speech.
"After careful deliberation, the Cabinet formally submits to Parliament the draft for the comprehensive repeal and amendment of the Large-Scale Retail Store Location Law."
Osawa sat in the secretary-general's seat in the back row. He leaned forward, his back off the leather, eyes locked on Kaifu.
Good. Keep reading. Don't stop.
If Kaifu flipped now, every plan Osawa had would collapse.
Oily sweat broke out on Osawa's forehead, but he didn't dare wipe it. The Ministry of Finance had already cut his domestic base off from loans. All he had left was Washington's endorsement. If this bill failed today, Japan's old zaibatsu would tear him apart tomorrow.
Hirano stood in the shadows behind Osawa. He didn't dare look at Kaifu on stage or at Osawa in front of him.
The Saionji family's people… they should be there by now, right?
His eyes flicked nervously toward the massive round clock on the wall. The black second hand jumped forward. Tick. Tock.
---
At the same time. Minato Ward, Tokyo.
Bright spring sunlight poured over the quiet slopes of the high-end residential district.
Osawa Ichiro's private residence was a sprawling, Japanese-Western hybrid two-story building, ivy climbing the surrounding walls.
As the ruling party secretary-general's home, security should have been airtight. Normally, four licensed guards patrolled in two shifts, plus a ground-level alarm line to the Metropolitan Police.
But today, the human network had been dismantled from within.
As Osawa's most trusted chief secretary, Hirano had the authority to redeploy all security. That morning, using the excuse of "protest crowds surging at Parliament" and "urgent escort needed for the secretary-general," he'd sent all four guards to stand by in the House of Representatives' underground garage.
The only remaining part-timer had been given paid leave for a "full overhaul of the main water pipes."
With Osawa himself live on national broadcast from Parliament, the Saionji family had a perfect window: a completely empty house with no chance of surprise returns.
A white van labeled Tokyo Water Maintenance stopped in the alley beside the house.
Dojima Gen stepped out of the driver's seat. He wore a plain gray work suit, cap pulled low, canvas tool bag over his shoulder.
He walked to the small cast-iron gate, glanced at the empty street, and pulled a brass key from his pocket — a replica Hirano had made overnight after taking an ink mold of Osawa's spare key.
Click. The latch opened smoothly.
Dojima slipped inside and shut the gate behind him.
Buddhist pines stood in the courtyard, the white sand of the karesansui garden meticulously raked. He kept to the bluestone path, crossed the yard, and went straight to the equipment wall at the rear of the house.
He unzipped his bag, took out insulated wire cutters, and pried open the gray metal electrical box. His eyes scanned the thicket of communication cables.
A politician's home security wasn't as complex as a bank vault. The anti-theft sensors all converged into a single low-level alarm circuit wired directly to the Metropolitan Police.
The cutters found a copper wire marked in red. Click. A faint snap of metal.
The physical circuit was dead. Even if the door sensors tripped later, no signal would ever reach the police terminal two kilometers away.
Dojima pocketed the cutters, used the same key on the back door, and stepped inside, slipping on shoe covers.
He went straight up the carpeted solid-wood staircase to the second floor, to the room at the very end.
Behind the large mahogany desk, he lifted a landscape oil painting off the wall and set it aside. A silver-gray, heavy-duty mechanical safe was embedded in the wall behind it.
He pulled on thin white cotton gloves, gripped the cold metal dial, and began to turn.
---
Back in Parliament.
"For large stores with retail area exceeding five hundred square meters," Kaifu continued. Paper balls kept thudding against the podium.
"The Cabinet proposes to abolish the one-vote veto power of local chambers of commerce for approvals. Review authority will be centralized directly under MITI headquarters."
"That concludes the introduction of this draft."
Kaifu closed the black folder and looked calmly at the flushed, furious politicians below.
The Speaker gripped his gavel and slammed it down.
"The introductory speech is over! We will now proceed to a standing vote!"
At the words "standing vote," Osawa slammed his hands onto the armrests and stood. The members of his faction pushed their chairs back in unison, rising as one. The sound of hundreds of people standing echoed on the hardwood floor.
Hirano, behind him, went rigid. He clutched a soaked handkerchief in his pocket, eyes locked on his watch. Tick. Tock.
Dojima's fingers worked the safe dial. Two full turns left. Click. The gears vibrated through his glove. He turned right to seven. Click.
Inside Parliament, the electronic vote counter jumped. Green numbers for "aye" finally overtook the red "nay."
"The ayes have the majority! The draft is passed!" the Speaker announced.
Two waves of sound erupted. Commerce and Industry Caucus members on the left were bloodshot. Some slammed documents to the floor. Others kicked over the wooden baffles, pointing at Kaifu and screaming, "Traitors! You'll face retribution!"
Osawa's faction raised their arms and pounded the tables, drowning out the other side with noise. Paper scraps and broken pencils flew under the spotlights.
Osawa watched the final numbers settle. He ignored the clamor threatening to lift the dome. His stiff shoulders slumped as he exhaled.
He turned to his secretary. "Hirano. Handkerchief."
Hirano jolted. "Y-yes!" He jerked his hand from his coat pocket, fighting to control the trembling as he pulled a clean white handkerchief from another pocket and handed it over with both hands.
Osawa took it and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, glaring at Hirano. Why are you so unsteady?
---
Dojima's fingers rested on the final mark. Click. The last number set.
A metal bolt retracted inside the safe. He gripped the handle and pulled. The heavy door ground open.
Sunlight fell into the dark interior.
From the back, he pulled a thick stack of documents. On top was the ornate English signature of William, the American Minister for Economic Affairs to Japan. Beneath them were two black micro-cassette tapes.
---
Inside Parliament, the Speaker raised the gavel with both hands and brought it down in a semicircle.
Bang!
The crack declared that the bill — the one about to reshape Japan's retail landscape — was now law.
Kaifu picked up his black folder and stepped down from the podium.
Osawa strode through the crowd, grabbed Kaifu's hand, and shook it firmly.
"Well done, Kaifu-kun," he said, low enough for only the two of them to hear. "Your performance today was perfect. I'll honor the exit I promised."
Kaifu kept his face blank. He bowed his head slightly, eyes on their clasped hands, maintaining his submissive posture.
Osawa let go, straightened his collar, and walked toward the exit where cameras and microphones waited to capture the victory of reform.
Kaifu stood alone. Spotlights cast long shadows across his cheeks. No one paid him attention — except those who looked ready to kill him.
He watched Osawa stride through the main entrance, where flashbulbs ignited into a blinding sea of light.
Once Osawa's figure was swallowed by the glare, Kaifu slowly lifted his eyes.
In their depths, a cold glint flashed — the look of a man regarding a corpse.
---
In the dim study, Dojima laid the document with the American Minister's signature and the micro-cassettes into a black waterproof sealed bag. He pinched the zipper and ran it shut. Zzzzip—
At that same moment, the flashbulbs outside Parliament hit their peak, turning Osawa's smiling face deathly pale.
With that faint sound, the circulation barrier that had protected millions of Japan's grassroots merchants for decades — along with Osawa Ichiro's brief, illusory political peak — were both sealed into darkness.