Turning Over A New Leaf

The Shinagawa Wharf was a massive harbor facility residing in south Minato City. First opened in 1967, but since 2009 was acquired and operated by the Ikemoto corporation, it was one of the crown jewels of the company's public container terminals, with thousands of cargo containers moving every day. With such a large area to operate, it didn't take much for a small group of determined bad actors to find an unprotected entry point, especially when the perpetrators were given the facilities weak points in advance.

"Stop those men!" the security guard shouted as the car exploded on the loading ramp, blocking access to one of the warehouses and shutting down any chance for activity, and jeopardizing the safety of the workers in the building. The onsite security personnel had already hit the alarms to call for additional personnel, and phone calls were made to the police. However, by the time the local guards had arrived, the perpetrators were long gone, leaving no trace of their identities, much to the supervisor's frustration. 

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Yoriyoshi whistled as he and Kyosuke got out of the Panda N-Box, flanked by a trio of Toyota Century limousines. The gleaming towers of steel and glass were about as polar an opposite of a living space as the ramshackle apartments back in San'ya could possibly be. In the front lobby, the entourage was greeted by a doorman and given a quick review by a room full of security before being allowed access to the mirrored elevators. He noticed once they started to ascend that they were in an express elevator; no need to wait like some commoner for these people, he thought. He turned to Kyosuke, "A man could get used to this, eh?" he chuckled slyly.

"Yeah, maybe you should have worn that tie," Kyosuke replied drolly.

When they got to the top floor, they were ushered into the main foyer where Isamu was welcomed back by his butler and interim security chief, who brought him up to date with recent events. Kyoko brought Yoriyoshi, Kyosuke and Kimiko to the guest kitchenette. "Can I offer you something for refreshment?"

Kimiko looked around, noting the stainless-steel fixtures, appliances, granite countertops, and floor-to-ceiling windows that offered a commanding view of the Minato City skyline. "Seems like a nice kitchen but... kind of smaller than I would have thought for a place this size," as she accepted barley tea.

"It's a guest kitchenette," Kyoko explained. "There are three others; one's out on the balcony for special events, the central kitchen's next to the main dining area, and there's another upstairs in the residential wing."

"Well, someone's living the high life," Kimiko muttered sotto voce.

The group was interrupted as Isamu came into the kitchenette. "It's much worse than we were told. In the past hour, there have been several attacks against three of my facilities in Minato City, Kawasaki, and Yokohama. In all three cases, the attacks were apparently made quickly, and the damage was significant, but fortunately no one has been seriously hurt yet. Unfortunately, no one has been able to identify nor capture any of the perpetrators yet, and the police say they can't take action until some clues can be found to identify who the attackers are."

"You have two factions at play here," Kyosuke analyzed. "General Ryo Tanaka's syndicate and Daisuke Oyama's gang. The rumor on the street was that Oyama's group reached out to your company to form some kind of partnership with you. Is that true?" Kyosuke asked, looking at Isamu.

Isamu sighed. "I-I regret to say that it is. I was brought a proposal by a representative that convinced me that doing so would be both profitable and also solve some labor issues we were having in certain parts of the city that they had influence. In exchange, they wanted access to my company's shipping and logistics channels."

Kyosuke nodded with understanding; far be it for me to be judging another man for making bad choices, he thought. "OK... so you made an alliance with the Oyama group. That would have provoked a direct reaction from Tanaka's syndicate because they have common revenue interests and often fight over the same territories. As unlikely as it might have seemed, they managed to compromise Yamamoto-san. I'm not going to speculate how; maybe greed, blackmail; it doesn't matter at this point. Oyama gets wind of this and panics and thinks they need some leverage to ensure you don't back out and there's nothing greater than your daughter."

"But Kyoko's safe now," Isamu insisted. "So, how are these attacks related?"

"If I may, Ikemoto-kaichou, how many other facilities do you have would you consider mission-critical?" Kyosuke asked.

"By that, you mean vital? How would they...?" Isamu began.

"Yamamoto-san is General Tanaka's Ace; he was your security chief. He would know your company's organization, but most importantly, he could provide the security layouts of your facilities and where each one was most vulnerable; guard shifts, blind spots, and could provide them to Tanaka's men. And they don't need to actually destroy the entire facilities; just cripple them for a few days, and you'd lose millions, am I correct?"

Isamu took a breath and nodded. "Yes... that all makes sense. I should have realized the consequences. I need to make an announcement to my company and get my team organized to resist these attacks," he paused, "and I could use someone to lead them."

There was a long moment of quiet in the room as everyone took a moment to react to the offer that just dropped. "Sir, are you sure about this? Wouldn't such an important position for your business and your family be something you would want to take your time to evaluate the best candidates?" Kyosuke hedged.

"I already ran a background check when we first met, and Kyoko has spoken up for you," Isamu assured, "and right now, I need someone who knows the enemies who are besieging my company. If you were in Special Operations for the military, then you clearly understand mission planning and security considerations."

Kyosuke took a breath and thought about the offer. "Let me think about it... I'd like to talk to Kyoko... see what she has to say about it." 

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"H-he said that?" Kyoko confirmed.

Kyosuke nodded. "By any measure, it's a very generous offer, but..."

"Then what...?" 

Kyosuke gently took Kyoko's hand. "This position would make me responsible for your safety. We would need to be in proximity for extended periods of time and... I know I haven't been completely open with my past and I wanted to make sure you had a chance to clear any doubts before putting you in a situation that you aren't comfortable."

Kyoko stepped closer into Kyosuke's arms. "You stood up to save me when it would have been easier to just turn your back and disappear before you even knew me. Your friend says whatever you did... you did it to save his company. And when they came to kidnap me, you were the one to come to save me. Whatever your past deeds, I wouldn't hesitate to put my life in your arms."

Kyosuke nodded and smiled, "I'll miss cooking noodles for you, Princess."

"We have olive oil in the kitchen," Kyoko assured. "I'll be waiting for you."

Kyosuke took Kyoko's hands, then turned to face Isamu who was waiting for him and nodded. "I'd like that... but right now, he's out there... and I have to go to work." 

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It's easy to be cynical in today's world... when you look at enough curated, perfectly crafted social media pages, you stop believing in the very idea that romance even exists. In today's transactional world, where everything's for sale... the very notion that two people from completely different worlds could find themselves... find a special connection that you normally only see in stories seems impossible. But sometimes... things happen that defy our expectations. Sometimes, you can find your Prince, just like in fairy tales. Sometimes, dreams do come true...

Kimiko Tamatsuki sat in the Shūkan Gendai offices as her editor read the submitted article for the third time, then looked at her with a gimlet eye and spoke with a suspicious tone. "Are you sure this is your work? There's not a hint of snark or sarcasm in this whole article. I keep waiting for the scandal or ugly break up to happen, since it's coming from you."

"Eh...?! What a terrible thing to say!" Kimiko defended. "You talk like I've never written a positive article in my life!"

The editor gave her a knowing look as Kimiko blushed fiercely. "O-Okay... it's my brand, but I'm telling you, that's what happened!"

"So, what happens now?" the editor asked. "Any more juicy tweets or posts from the social pages? The official press releases are dry as a bone... just plain vanilla stuff about gang members getting arrested, but no big fights or anything exciting."

"Oh... how do I sum it up..." Kimiko smirked as she pulled out her smartphone. "If you want to know the next chapter about the Princess and her commando boyfriend... like and subscribe and  follow us on all the social platforms!"