"Horikita, there's a company coming in today. We made the appointment early. They're interested in developing business with us, and they need follow-up from our department. Go handle the handoff."
The section chief knocked on Horikita's door and arranged the matter. "Let me say this first: this collaboration is very important to our department too. Don't mess it up."
"Yes." Horikita nodded slightly. After accepting the assignment, the section chief was quite satisfied. As expected of a talented graduate from Tokyo University. She handled matters extremely reliably, so he was reassured leaving this to Horikita.
After seeing the section chief off, Horikita let out a soft breath, took off her glasses, pinched the bridge of her nose, then put them back on and carefully read through the details of this company collaboration.
When it was about time, she brought the staff under her to handle the reception. While waiting, Horikita let her thoughts drift silently.
She thought back to the past. After graduating directly from Class A at Advanced Nurturing High School, she had used the special privilege of Class A graduation—the career path—to get into Tokyo University's law department. After graduating from university, she went straight into a related department, where her superiors valued her and promoted her step by step.
Only a few years after graduating college, she had already been promoted to section chief. One could say her future was boundless. But no matter how successful she became, it was inevitable that she would sometimes miss her youthful days. Although her youth had not been full of great storms, she still looked back on it with fondness.
Just then, a black sedan drove into the parking lot beside her office building. Horikita, standing in front of the building, recognized at a glance that it was an outside vehicle. She straightened up. "They're here."
The civil servants under her also understood their section chief's ability. They all raised their heads and straightened their backs. Subconsciously, they looked over and immediately widened their eyes.
First, the front passenger door of the black sedan opened, revealing black heels, then long stockings, and after that, a beautiful office lady in a suit jacket and A-line skirt stepped out gracefully and walked toward them.
Her dark, raven-black hair cascaded behind her like silk. As she walked with the wind, it drifted and fluttered, her face cool and composed. Her calm features resembled a floating iceberg upon the ocean, making it obvious at a glance that she was not easy to deal with.
Horikita's eyes widened too. She had never expected that she would meet this person here—her own younger sister, Suzune.
Suzune had only taken two steps forward when she froze slightly as well, clearly surprised that her older brother was working here. Oh, right. Thinking about it, their parents had mentioned that her brother worked in this department, but she had not expected to run into him today.
After graduation, Suzune did not go into politics like Manabu. Compared with the icy, sharp look she had when first entering school, the Suzune of today was in a much, much better state.
Very quickly, the siblings met again. It was usually Suzune who stood there silently, waiting for Manabu to call out to her. But this time, Suzune took the initiative and greeted him. "Brother, long time no see."
"!" The staff beside them all looked a little stunned. Hadn't there been an important company coming today to discuss a follow-up project? Why was she suddenly calling him "brother"?
Amazing. Could it be that Section Chief Horikita's family was really that capable? One sibling in politics, the other in business? A full sweep?
At that moment, Manabu had no time to manage his subordinates' mental state. His gaze was calm. Through the lenses of his glasses, it became just as cool as Suzune's. Seeing his sister's confident and strong bearing at this moment, he could not help nodding slightly. "You really have grown, Suzune."
Receiving affirmation from her older brother, Suzune's cool expression softened slightly, but on the whole, she remained very proper. "I told you before, I would no longer chase after my brother's shadow. I would chase the real you instead, until I surpassed you."
The frequency of the siblings' eye contact was almost perfectly synchronized. That icy expression on Manabu's face thawed a little, as if he was very satisfied with his sister's resolve. "Then, XX Department welcomes Miss Horikita's visit."
After saying that, Manabu reached out his right hand. This was very like him. Everything he did was highly efficient, sharp, and direct. Even with his younger sister visiting, aside from a moment of surprise at her first words, everything else he said was proper business, not a single sentence of nonsense.
Suzune would not lose to him in presence either. She shook Manabu's hand, her posture even more forceful. "I learned that your department needs to attract investment and that many policies are tilted in your favor. I will take this trip into consideration, and I hope your department won't let me leave disappointed."
"Then let's begin by explaining those policies." Manabu turned sideways and led Suzune inside. Suzune naturally followed.
The staff beside them were all stunned. Clearly, both of them had softened their cold expressions a little, but why was it that the more the siblings spoke, the heavier the pressure on them became?
Still, they were civil servants, after all. They understood the hidden clash beneath the siblings' sharp words. One side wanted more support from the department, and the other was trying to defend the department's interests and provide as little support as possible.
Back and forth they pushed and pulled, all to see whether they could negotiate a result.
After entering the reception room, the siblings sat face-to-face. Manabu had his staff brew tea. Once the tea was brought in, Suzune even took the initiative to receive it and thanked them, making the staff member smile happily for a moment.
They could not help thinking, What is this female entrepreneur like? She seems just as cold as Section Chief Horikita, but at least she knows how to talk nicely.
It had to be said that Manabu's act of adjusting his glasses, secretly impressed, was truly grown-up. This technique of receiving guests and handling people was clearly based on leaving a good impression and good reputation through contrast between appearance and behavior.
If it had been the foolish little sister from their high school days, she would never have been able to do something like this. Sure enough, Yukio had now educated Suzune into someone truly capable.
Suzune also silently watched Manabu with complicated feelings. She had not expected their first reunion after graduation to be under circumstances like this.
But she also had to make Manabu realize that the Suzune of today was no longer the same Suzune from before!
With that thought, fighting spirit quietly burned in Suzune's heart. She began a series of arguments with Manabu over support policies. As long as there was even the slightest condition favorable to her side, she would not let it pass, making even Manabu furrow his brows a little.
The two of them spent the entire morning stiffly negotiating. They barely managed to settle the matter about eighty percent of the way, and as for the rest, it would probably need more arguing later.
When lunchtime arrived, both sides could temporarily rest. Manabu also felt a headache coming on. He took off his glasses, rubbed the bridge of his nose again, feeling a little helpless and yet also wanting to laugh. He was helpless because his little sister had become so difficult to deal with after growing up, but he also wanted to laugh because he was happy about his sister's growth.
Thinking of this, Manabu put his glasses back on. "Suzune, have lunch at our department cafeteria."
"No." Suzune, however, ruthlessly rejected Manabu's proposal. "I have to go organize my materials. In the afternoon, I still need to run around more."
"It seems you're determined to negotiate a result today." Manabu admired this efficient working attitude and personally escorted Suzune to the parking lot.
When Suzune returned to her car and opened the door, she saw Yukio, who was scrolling through a foreign-version app on his phone and watching spicy beauties.
Her icy expression instantly melted. She covered Yukio's phone with her hand, blocking the screen, then leaned over and rested her chin on his shoulder. "You knew early on that my brother worked here, so you deliberately made me run this trip myself, didn't you?"
"Why else?" Yukio smiled and rubbed Suzune's head.
In truth, this was Suzune's real reason for refusing to go to the cafeteria with Manabu.
...
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