15 March 1882
Nagoya
"Gentlemen, thank you for attending this meeting," began CEO Nagane. The youngest man in the board room, a mere 22 compared to an entire staff of men at least twice his age, took his place at the head of the table. He had the look of a man with vigor in his eyes as he explained the fruits of his travel to Kyoto.
"It seems that my dalliance at the Freedom Party convention recently did not go unnoticed. You all know of Hajamoto Yoshihiro-san, yes?"
"What, the boss of the Hajamoto Group? Of course I know him, what about it?" replied Morimoto, his chief financial officer.
"It appears," said Nagane, "that he has decided to place his assets in trust in the care of the Freedom Party itself. He's essentially created a shell corporation that the party will manage. Of course, that corporation needed an overseer, and he was looking for a promising young businessman to run it..."
"And?" asked Hanamura, the chief operations officer.
"Of course, he chose me," said Nagane, giving a wry smile. "You are now looking at the inheritor, and effective leader, of the Hajamoto Group."
Silence filled the room as the jaws of the assembled executives dropped to the floor.
"There's...there has to be a catch, there must be!" stuttered Hanamura.
"Well, yes. I - we, rather - must use the funds Hajamoto's trust generates for the benefit of the Party. As Hajamoto-san designed the agreement, should we change our mind with regards to political affiliation, the trust disappears as well. But besides that loyalty clause, the money is ours."
"With that kind of money, we're in a position to take on the Four Giants!" said Morimoto.
"I am afraid I must correct you, Morimoto-san: we now are one of the Four Giants. And I plan on putting our funding to good use."
As the boardroom cheered and harried plans were drawn up, Nagane smiled and looked out the boardroom window. It may have been sheer dumb luck, being in the right place at the right time, but he was in. He was going to make it. Here he was, only twenty-two and now one of the most powerful men in Japan.
He should start, he thought, by finding a wife. Kyoto girls would make spending any amount of time there hobnobbing with Freedom Party bigwigs bearable.
The sky really was the limit.