Reika stood at the far end of the long, obsidian table, the city's bright late-morning skyline bathed the room from the side through the glass like an uncaring witness. The air in the meeting room was stale and wrapped in an uncomfortable pressure—save for the distant hum of traffic outside and the subtle tick of the wall clock.
Among the twenty leather-backed chairs arranged along the long table, six men that easily looked like twice or triple Reika's age had taken seats at uneven intervals. One man sat at the far end, directly opposite Reika. Two others sat close to him, clustered on his side. Another two chose seats near the middle of the table. The last man took a seat just two chairs away from Reika herself.
"That concludes the monthly operations report and proposed route mitigation for the northern corridor." Her voice was composed, smooth with authority, unwavering in front of these veteran's judging eyes. "Any questions, gentlemen?"
Silence answered. But it was the kind of silence that hides a lot of unspoken problems—six kinds of silence from six men who each holds different verdicts in their mind.
"This again? So we just let our rivals take that port in Osaka? For what? Your 'New' method of business?" He scoffed, flipping through the dossier with contempt. "You expect us to approve this reroute plan? It's the same flawed path we rejected months ago."
Reika didn't flinch at the rough voice felt like a gunpoint at her head and refute. "Your counterproposal failed in simulation and collapsed on logistics, Boardman Igarashi. I will not be revisiting it."
"Simulation?? If we do like we always do, we won't be talking about this. And while we're at it, our name keeps getting soiled by those mangy local mutts who think 'syndicate' isn't too big a word for them in Osaka."
Boardman Igarashi Genzou—the sharp-nosed, thick-skulled man, clad in grey suit covering his well-built muscle despite his age, clicked his tongue and threw himself back in his chair, folding his arms with smug resentment.
"While I bear the same opinion as Genzou, I'd like to remind about the freight risk along the Sea of Okhotsk is still unresolved, and your own report cited a twenty-four percent cost increase overland. What specific contingency do you have if Murmansk shuts access by next quarter?"
…You had to ask that? I thought we agree not to talk about it now… Raimei Tsuda…
Reika paused, and glare at the rounded-bellied, wavy-haired man who asked her, she clearly had no clear answer yet. And they both know it, he asked not for an answer, but to salt the wound.
"…Valid concern, Boardman Tsuda," she finally said while clenching her hands. "What about you Mr. Kitamura…?"
"I've got warehouse delays stacking up from Vladivostok to Aomori. Your report doesn't give me a timeline, and if Murmansk really does freeze us out next quarter like Tsuda suggested, then those delays are going to turn into gridlock. Whether or not I support your decision is irrelevant—the damage is already in motion. The only thing I can do is brace for impact as usual, Miss Reika."
Mr. Kitamura Rindou—the third man speaking out of six in exhaustion—wearing a casual white shirt around his thin frame, wearing square shades and noticeable jade Buddhist Prayer Mala on both of his arms, his tattoos barely hidden by rolled-up sleeves, was more casualty than critic. Under the shades covering his eyes, Reika sure he was not even looking at her or the report earlier.
"Understood Mr. Kitamura… I will cover the projection for your route in the next 2 weeks." Reika said while still trying to maintain the leftover favor from them.
Then the next men spoke with venom, his tone almost similar to Igarashi's, or even worse.
"Hey Princess. In your father's time, we talked about expansion. Territory. Legacy. Now?" He scoffed and pointed his scarred finger at Reika's. "Under your reign, all we talk about is debt. Every damn month—a new excuse, and same old unresolved problems. What the hell are we running here?"
"That's outside of today's meeting topic, Mr. Hino—" But before Reika could finish, she was interrupted with even louder voice by him.
"Spare us the honor lecture! What's next? You're going to talk about your dead mother as excuse? I swear, you and your mother are goddamn eyesore!"
Him mentioning her mother that way, Reika unintentionally raised her voice slightly at him. "Despite that, look around you. You are sitting under what my mother built, Mr. Hino. Say what you want about her, but her effort becomes our lifeline too that time—" and once again, before she could finish, another different voice cut her.
"As the Boardman who stood with your mother, with all respect I have left for you, may I speak?"
"... Go on, Boardman Murakami…" Reika clenches her teeth behind her lips and swallowed whatever she wanted to say down her throat.
"—Kin no Hato Express (金の鳩エクスプレス). Truly a something that live up to its name, the gold flying and return to its home. But that 'only' as long as Lady Blanca alive… Don't even think you were the same as your mother. At least she knew when to draw the line and she understood the game. You—you're too stubborn to even play. Reika Hiraga."
Boardman Enshou Murakami who wears classic tidy suit, sporting ten golden rings on his fingers said with a tone that clearly devoid all respect to her.
Reika finally took a seat, and her nails bit her palm deeper beneath the table. Before she could respond, another voice followed.
Boardman Igarashi, smiling with a knowing smug mock her "You do realize there's severe inconsistencies form Osaka's cuts. And did you know some of the bastards have been disciplined? But oh… based on your report, you didn't even realize it. Oohhh, I see… is it Shira again who's changing you diaper?"
"Enough."
All eyes turned to the voice of the sixth and final man. Though his voice was softer compared to the five men earlier.
"She's made difficult calls. You all know that. The transition under her command wasn't smooth, but no handover ever is. We already hold out this long, why not wait longer to see."
Hearing that, Hino popped a vein on his forehead "Do you even hear what you say, Shinpei…? Two damn years is long enough to do something, anything."
And Boardman Murakami adds "Lady Blanca Hiraga brought gold under a year, if you and Miss Reika always said about her legacy, then this girl right here should be able to do the same—or better… You still had years in front of you to go senile, chancellor Shinpei."
"That's the point Murakami. Lady Blanca has experiences, and Miss Reika is still… young… So, we as the adult had to be wise and understanding toward future generation of—"
*Crack – Blam*
One man stood from his seat, kicked the chair until it hit the wall, and walked to the door. "Fuck it with your sappy philosophy, Shinpei."
"… Igarashi… I'm sure we could see eye to eye in the near future…" Shinpei stays calm despite the exploding emotion in this room, and smiling kindly at him.
"Bah!" Boardman Igarashi walked out and slams the heavy door. Then, after a pause—
"…That said, you need to resolve the matter of northern route… I can say we could hold off for two or three more months." Shinpei continue talking to Reika, then Mr. Hino stood from his chair too.
"Three months, you say? Well want to put a bet on it? Princess...?"
Leaving out that question in the open, he walked out, followed by Kitamura, and Murakami, While Tsuda follow suit, he left a question at Reika.
"Really, Miss Reika… what do YOU want to do here?"
All of them left in disappointment mixed with enmity. None of them even asked for Reika's permission to leave.
Waiting until only two of them inside this meeting room, Shinpei said—
"You've done well, don't take it to the heart Miss Reika… This is just how it goes with them."
The man dressed like out of time—draped in traditional men's kimono, the kind worn by feudal lords centuries ago. Earth-toned fabric, wide hakama, and layered haori jackets gave him a quiet, imposing presence and refined austerity, the elegance of an old warlord in a modern day, yet his face was filled with concern and kind smile at Reika who still tense and sit like a statue ever since her mother's name mentioned.
She takes a look at that smiling face, and smile bitterly.
…There it is again… that pitying smile…
Reika said nothing, couldn't say any. In her mind, the room was already dissolving into white noise. Every voice, every judgment—it all blurred behind the thrum of resentment building in her chest.
"… No, I see their point, and to be fair, they've delivered some crucial notes."
She stood up and gathered her papers scattered on the tables in silence, the least she can do for restraining herself, even her eyes distant.
…This meeting was going nowhere… as it's always been…
And she was beginning to taste the bitterness of that truth.
"You're smart, Miss Reika. Smarter than your mother. Gentler than your father. And I think you should always be that way… You're you after all."
Are you trying to say to stay on my lane…?
"…Isn't that exactly why all of those elders despise me…?" Reika repeating Shinpei's words in her mind, she should be happy about his support, but somehow, she felt insulted by it.
"You just have to bore results, that's all, they are pragmatic men after all. Once they see profits, they'll fall in line."
"I see…" She just gave a curt reply, trying not to read it any deeper, because her mood is not helping as of now anyway.
"You're still growing, Miss Reika, you had potential." Reading the air, Shinpei gave out more consolation phrase at her.
"Haha… You're too kind chancellor Takaori… But thank you, I really appreciate that you always stood with me…"
He smiled gently, almost as if amused by her effort. "Now, now, don't flatter me. I understand your position… it's not easy carrying 85 years of legacy… especially alone."
…I know that…
Reika smiled back at him weakly. Then he said it, like a pledge and offering his hand to her.
"Don't worry, Miss Reika. I, Shinpei Takaori—with my aide Kouga Seiryuu—stand by your side. Now and always. You have my words and my hands."
Reika gave out wry smile at the second name mentioned by him.
"…Mr. Seiryuu… That man been well?"
"Of course he is…" Shinpei said, a little too quickly. "And you don't need to be too formal to him, you're both at the same age… and situation…" he closes his sentence with a meaningful smile.
"…I can't handle that man…"
"Come on now. Kouga's a good man."
"He's… just… too eager…"
"That's a manly move, Miss Reika, you can depend on him."
"…I already have Shira on my side. Don't worry chancellor." Reika answer with dismissive tone as she put all the paper she collected into a multiple clear envelope. As she about to packed her stuff inside her bag, Shinpei adds firmly.
"You need more people like Shira. Just ones that aren't Shira. Maybe Kouga is not a Kurosawa, but he got eyes in the back of his head. He was the one who sniffed out the Ueno-Rukawa backchannel last year, remember? You should at least make him one of the allies you can trust."
"…Well, I'll keep that in mind…"
Shinpei laughed again, and for a moment, the weight in the room lifted just slightly.
As the laughter dwindled and Reika's patience neared its threadbare end, Shinpei finally took a step further from her. "Then, if you'll excuse me, Miss Reika."
"Yes, thank you chancellor Takaori."
"…We are expecting you to bring a better future. O, leader of Kokuren." Shinpei left his last words casually before completely vanish from the room.
"…"
Reika said nothing. She just stared—first at Shinpei's back, then at the door. Even after it shut with a soft, final click, she didn't blink. As if she were waiting for something that hadn't left the room— she asks to someone inside her heart—
…If it were you… What would you do…?
--------
On the roadside, two men walked side by side. The first, stocky and fit despite his thinning grey hair and near-wrinkleless face, easily looked around sixty. He wore a traditional men's kimono—earth-toned fabric, wide hakama, layered haori—looked like a feudal warlord reborn in the modern day.
He said to the man walking besides him.
"Kouga, seems like Tsuda and Kitamura still expecting something out of her… Murakami too, by the sounds of it."
The other man in his late 20's dressed in a neatly buttoned shirt, sleek trousers, and expensive-looking brogues, his looks could be mistaken for a refined businessman—if not for the long scar trailing from his neck down his chest. Kouga Seiryuu said through his cigarette—
"So those three still playing neutral? As you expected Shinpei?"
"Yes, but I can read where one of them will go in the near future."
"She's younger than all of us were when we first stood at that table," Kouga muttered, blowing a cloud of smoke to the side. "And her allies are thinning."
Shinpei chuckles while reminiscing. "Reika doesn't flinch too much, though. Even when they talk circles around her. That part… reminds me of Lady Blanca. Beautifully dangerous."
"Can't believe back then every man here feared how her mother could hint at killing all those who rebels. And her father… well, he didn't hint. He just did it." Kouga smirks as if basking in old unpleasant days where he didn't need to return to.
"Haha… Good old day indeed… But I like how Reika leads."
Kouga leaned his head back, and stretch his arms. "She's trying to lead with both strength and heart. That's a dangerous line to walk in this world."
There was a pause. Then Shinpei spoke softly "That's why we're here."
Kouga turned to look at him, his expression is a mix of confidence and a bit of amusement.
"I won't let her fall… No matter how loud the board gets, or how rough things become."
"She's still too wary around you, you should mind your tact, Kouga. Earn her trust, that's how a gentleman works."
Kouga's eyes gleamed. "Heh, I'll just keep walking besides her. Until she got nowhere else to look."
Shinpei chuckled softly at that. "You always were the poetic one."
"She doesn't always need a blade you know, a woman like her needs flowers too, to soften her heart."
"…Well, I'll leave that to young'uns like you, haha."
They walk like that a while longer, watching the city breathe. Two men, worn by time and loss, anchored by a silent oath they've yet said aloud.