Tokyo, Akasaka.
A members-only ryotei tucked deep in an alley, owned by Mitsui.
The rainy season in early July continued. A steady curtain of rain draped the city, and the air was thick with a humidity that refused to lift.
Inside the "Shōkaku" private room, the central air conditioning pumped cold air silently, sealing the room off from the muggy heat outside. In the corner, a brass incense burner held a piece of Kyara agarwood, its faint, calm woody scent drifting through the space.
The supreme leader of the Mitsui Zaibatsu, Grandmaster Yagi, sat upright on the thick tatami.
He wore a dark gray traditional kimono today. A rosewood cane with a sterling silver handle rested on the marble table beside him.
The shoji door slid open quietly as a kimono-clad nakai entered.
Saionji Shuichi stepped into the room.
He wore a meticulously tailored dark suit, his tie knotted perfectly.
"Brother Shuichi, the rain outside is heavy," Yagi said, raising a hand toward the guest seat opposite him.
"Lord Yagi, apologies for keeping you waiting," Shuichi said. He bowed slightly and sat on the leather armchair across from Yagi.
The nakai approached with quiet steps, carrying a tea tray, and knelt beside the marble table.
"Pardon the intrusion," she said softly. Using silver tongs, she placed a pinch of Shizuoka first-flush tea into the bone china pot. Boiling spring water followed, and the sound of water and the faint clink of porcelain filled the room.
Yagi leaned back in the main seat, watching the tea filter, and began casually.
"This year's rainy season feels longer than usual," Yagi said, folding his hands over his abdomen. "The rain hasn't stopped for days. The sewers in Tokyo Bay probably won't hold."
Shuichi unbuttoned the first button of his jacket and let himself relax slightly.
"Yes. Kanto's humidity is heavy. It makes it hard to breathe," Shuichi said, his gaze drifting to the brass incense burner. "But the agarwood in this room is blended well. It keeps the musty smell outside at bay."
"Haha, if you like it, I'll have some packed for you when you leave."
"Please enjoy."
The nakai set two cups of emerald-green tea beside them, bowed slightly, then retreated, sliding the wooden door shut without a sound.
The faint noise from the corridor vanished.
The two sat in silence for a moment.
Yagi picked up the bone china teacup in front of him.
"These past few months, the air in Marunouchi has smelled like blood," he said, blowing on the steam rising from the tea.
"Once the Ministry of Finance's 'total volume regulation' hit, plus the market dropping nearly ten thousand points, the real estate developers living on bridge loans collapsed in waves."
He took a light sip.
"At the start of the year, after that Kansai upstart Matsuura jumped from the Keio Plaza Hotel, the pile of bad debt he left kept the creditor banks fighting in bankruptcy court for half a year. Only yesterday were the core mortgage disputes finally cleared. Now the rare plots he owned in Minato Ward are up for court auction."
Yagi set the teacup down.
He raised his eyes slightly, the wrinkles at the corners crinkling.
"Thanks to the advice Satsuki gave Yoshino a few months ago, Mitsui Bank cut off those high-risk real estate pledges before the Ministry of Finance closed the gate, and we recovered ample cash at the peak. Mitsui has recorded that favor."
He leaned forward.
"Brother Shuichi. Now, the starting price for those court-sealed lots is less than thirty percent of last year's peak."
"This is a risk-free cake. I wonder if the Saionji Family would invest thirty billion yen each with Mitsui to establish a hundred-billion-yen special M&A fund, and take this piece of Minato Ward completely before the other Zaibatsu react."
Yagi didn't leave the offer as empty words.
He pulled a light blue cadastral map, watermarked by the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Urban Development, from the compartment under the marble table.
He unfolded it and slid it steadily across the table toward Shuichi.
"Brother Shuichi, take a look at this," Yagi said.
His fingertip pointed to a coastal area in the center, circled heavily in red.
"Shibaura 3-chome, Minato Ward, the old pier warehouse district. The core collateral under Matsuura's name."
"Before he died, Matsuura spent five years using Kansai underworld connections to clear out squatters and poured massive political contributions into the Ministry of Transport. He forced through a deep-water berth expansion permit for ten-thousand-ton roll-on/roll-off ships."
Yagi leaned back, hands folded over his abdomen.
"Mitsui Research Institute ran the numbers. Saionji Construction is reclaiming land in Odaiba for the tower, but Odaiba is still an isolated artificial island. If S-Food's cold chain shipments from Hokkaido unload at Ibaraki Oarai Port, trucks to central Tokyo lose at least two hours to congestion."
"A two-hour temperature gap means a 1.5 percent loss rate in the cold chain system. This deep-water node in Shibaura erases that land transport loss. It's the best choice to open Tokyo Bay's logistics artery."
"Isao Nakauchi of Daiei and Yoshiaki Tsutsumi of Seibu are both eyeing this berth privately. But its first-priority mortgage is held by Mitsui Bank."
Yagi leaned forward slightly and pushed the map another half-inch toward Shuichi.
"If we agree, we can use our status as first creditor to apply for asset preservation with the court, bypassing public bidding. Mitsui provides the capital, Saionji provides the construction team. Together we cut off the throat of every other retail giant trying to enter Tokyo Bay's core logistics."
A smile touched Yagi's eyes.
He wasn't afraid the Saionji Family would refuse.
Offering this cooperation was partly to repay the Saionji Family. Excluding Mitsui's own profit, this land truly was the best fit for them.
Silence settled in Chōshōken.
Shuichi sat upright on the sofa.
His breathing stayed even, and his hands rested steadily on his knees.
Facing top-tier assets handed to him on a platter, his chest felt weighted by a stone.
On the Saionji Family's actual books, they certainly had the cash to bottom-fish.
But the CTRPS acquisition model Satsuki set had strict trigger conditions and timelines.
At this critical juncture, if he agreed to a joint fund with Mitsui for an unplanned large merger, Shuichi couldn't predict the chain reaction. He didn't know if this would alarm the Ministry of Finance early, or if Mitsui had other traps behind this "prime land."
Satsuki was still in the sterile ward in the medical wing underground.
That decision-making brain—capable of parsing tens of billions in capital flows and political reactions in a second—was offline.
Shuichi knew his limits. He didn't have his daughter's vision of the whole board.
Facing a variable he couldn't control, the only thing he could do was lock the defenses and not deviate a half-step from Satsuki's established route.
He had to refuse. And he couldn't show a single crack.
Shuichi picked up the teacup.
He lowered his gaze to the clear tea, his tone carrying an exhaustion he couldn't hide.
"Lord Yagi. The land Matsuura left behind is indeed prime."
Shuichi sighed softly and shook his head.
"But the Saionji Family has no appetite right now."
"A while ago, to avoid domestic policy risk, we converted all cashed-out funds into short-term U.S. Treasury bills. They're locked in overseas accounts now."
He raised his head and met Yagi's eyes.
"Plus the 'Saionji Tower' in Odaiba. That's a bottomless pit. Domestic liquidity is drained. We truly can't fight anymore."
Yagi listened quietly.
He watched Shuichi's posture—"dragged down by infrastructure and unable to bottom-fish." The corners of his mouth curved into a smile.
"Brother Shuichi, that's not an obstacle," Yagi said, picking up the rosewood cane and resting both hands on the sterling silver handle.
"Short-term U.S. Treasury bills are the most liquid, safest collateral in international finance."
"As long as you nod, Mitsui Bank can open a dedicated channel immediately. Using your overseas Treasuries as full collateral, by tomorrow morning, an equivalent thirty-billion-yen low-interest loan will be in Saionji Construction's account."
"You don't need to use a single yen of principal to enter with Mitsui and share this rare plot in Minato Ward."
The air in the room went still.
Shuichi's fingers tightened slightly on the bone china.
Risk-free low-interest leverage. Prime assets for the taking.
For any capitalist, it was an irresistible temptation.
If Satsuki were awake, what would she do?
Would she take the money to expand the win, or dismantle Yagi's probe with financial language?
He didn't know.
"No borrowing," Shuichi said, his voice stiff.
"The Saionji Family will not increase bank debt by even one yen. That is the bottom line I've set."
He looked at Yagi, his spine straight.
"I appreciate Lord Yagi's kindness. But there's no need to discuss the joint fund again."
Yagi sat upright on the tatami.
His eyelids lowered, his gaze on the edge of the low table.
Too stiff.
Shuichi… is panicking.
Yagi's fingers slowly rubbed the sterling silver cane handle.
"Hmm, I see…"
"That is truly a pity."
He raised his head again, his cloudy eyes meeting Shuichi's.
"I'm just not sure what Miss Satsuki… thinks."
He smiled, his tone probing.
"At a once-in-a-lifetime moment like this, I'd like to hear Miss Satsuki's opinion."
Shuichi's breathing hitched for a moment.
Damn it, a flaw showed.
If he were only speaking for himself, this conservative decision would make sense.
But to the outside world, he, Saionji Shuichi, also represented Saionji Satsuki's will.
So the decision he just stated would be read as a position he and Satsuki set together.
And the position he'd just given was worlds apart from Satsuki's usual style. That alone was enough to raise suspicion.
He kept his face steady, his tone even.
"My daughter has been suffering from the summer heat and has gone to Karuizawa to escape it."
"The recent macro swings are too large, and she also agrees we should rest and sort our internal accounts. This summer…"
Shuichi picked up his teacup.
"The Saionji Family will only be a spectator."
Yagi looked at Shuichi's calm face.
He didn't push further.
"I see. Karuizawa… That is a good place to recuperate," Yagi said, nodding as he picked up his own teacup.
"Since the Saionji Family has decided to rest, then Mitsui will digest this land slowly on its own."
…
Half an hour later.
A black Toyota Century moved through the rain in Chiyoda Ward.
Grandmaster Yagi sat alone in the back seat.
The interior was quiet.
He turned his head, watching rain gather and trail down the window glass.
The rain looked gloomy through the privacy film.
Yagi's fingertips rubbed the silver handle of the rosewood cane.
When something's abnormal, there's a demon behind it.
The Saionji Family hates debt?
The corners of Yagi's mouth pulled into a cold arc.
A few years ago, the Saionji Family took a thirty-billion-yen unsecured loan from Mitsui Bank without hesitation.
That girl understood extreme leverage better than anyone. From shorting the dollar to sweeping Tokyo land, when did she not move with insane capital flow?
A witch with a bloodthirsty nose for profit.
Facing prime assets down to thirty percent of peak, facing risk-free low-interest Treasury leverage.
She would obediently stay in Karuizawa to "escape the heat"? She would willingly "spectate" while all of Tokyo bled?
Absurd.
Yagi leaned back against the leather seat.
He was certain. Shuichi had lied in the tearoom.
What zero-debt bottom line, what Karuizawa rest and recuperation. They were smoke screens from the Saionji Family.
There were two reasons Miss Saionji would take this stance.
One, there was a problem with this land. The Saionji Family didn't intend to eat it.
Two, they were secretly preparing a larger, more hidden strangulation and couldn't spare the energy.
Did she foresee a new, bigger opportunity coming?
Did she have her father pretend to be infrastructure-trapped and weak at the front? Very likely she wanted to use these initial bankrupt lots as bait, to lure Mitsui and other Zaibatsu into taking over at scale.
Once Mitsui's huge cash flow was locked in these heavy assets, when the real bottom arrived—when cracks opened in some more critical financial territory—Mitsui would have no ammunition left to compete.
"What a terrifying opponent," Yagi murmured.
Before he figured out the Saionji girl's true hand, blindly bottom-fishing would only make him a pawn on someone else's board.
He picked up the car phone receiver.
"Notify Real Estate Headquarters," Yagi said, his voice cold and hard. "Suspend the M&A on Matsuura Construction's Minato Ward land. All large-scale bottom-fishing by Mitsui is suspended indefinitely."
"Let's just watch from the sidelines for now."