Because Miku was absent, Naga naturally brought Kobayashi Anzu as her assistant on this outing. In fact, given Miku's position as department head, she shouldn't have been repeatedly appearing in a secretary-like role. However, since everyone around them was already inclined to believe that the two were dating, naturally no one would accuse them of using their positions for personal purposes.
Anzu, holding the documents, followed him a couple of steps away with her head down. As they walked out the door, she was teased by Koga Yu, whom she happened to run into.
"Oh dear, Shimokawa really made a bad decision to go on this business trip."
Perhaps not expecting Koga, who was always very low-key at the company, to say such a thing, Xing blushed and did not retort, but quickened her pace and walked into the elevator.
The negotiations did not go very smoothly. The other party was a rising star in the advertising industry and obviously wanted to focus their efforts on long-term, reliable partners. The nature and size of Naga Company meant that there would be no large investment in dynamic advertising, and print advertising was not a very attractive prospect.
If it weren't for the powerful parent company behind them, they probably wouldn't have even been given the chance to discuss things.
Naga was directly talking to a strong woman like Keiko Kuroki. While she was less attractive than Kuroki, she was far more imposing. As the discussion about the prices of a series of subway station light boxes drew to a close, Naga even had the illusion that if he hadn't been wearing a tight skirt that made it difficult to move, that woman would have stepped onto the long table, grabbed his tie, and roared at him to either accept her price or get out of there right now.
Of course, this imagined scenario did not happen. Naga had extensive experience in being in a weaker position in front of women, so he did not show any displeasure at all because of the other party's domineering manner until the very end.
To his surprise, just when he thought the whole day would be spent negotiating, the other party relented. The price they offered was even lower than his expected bottom line.
Naga didn't know whether it was her performance that earned the other party's approval or the allocation of decision-making power in the final proposal that suited their tastes. In any case, the negotiations, which were supposed to take a whole day, successfully ended around 3 p.m.
As Naga walked out of the company gate, he couldn't help but stretch his arms and give himself a comfortable yawn.
"Yumeno-kun, you're really... more capable than I imagined," Anzu whispered in admiration. "Compared to when you first arrived, you seem like a completely different person."
Naga casually joked, "Yeah, maybe my growth period came late."
"Ah... I'm hungry." Because they were young, no one thought of going out for a meal for the entire four hours. "We can't let today's hospitality expenses go to waste." Naga patted Anzu on the shoulder. "Let's go have a good meal."
The lingering smell of leather from the sofa chairs was finally dispelled by the aroma of grilled cod, and Naga's mood completely relaxed from the tension of the negotiations. In this typical Japanese-style private room, once the food was served, there was no need to worry about anyone suddenly barging in. Although the soundproofing was so-so, it was reliable enough for conversation.
After having a couple of drinks, Naga steered the conversation toward the very thing they had planned to discuss.
"Xing, have you two discussed what to do about that matter?"
Anzu's smile froze instantly. Perhaps the almost date-like atmosphere made her temporarily forget those things. She pursed her lips, wiped her mouth with a napkin on the table, thought for a moment, and then said softly, "We... haven't found a good solution either. Asa doesn't manage anything at the company. Those things related to public accounts and personnel are handled by Department Head Kuroki, so they can't be considered leverage against her. The videos and photos she recorded... don't show her face at all. Even if we were to present them, we would be the ones in a difficult position."
Naga frowned and picked a fishbone out of her mouth. "Then... how are you going to get revenge on her? I can't think of any way I can help."
Anzu gritted her teeth and lowered her voice, saying, "Like we said last time, since we don't have any leverage now, we can always create one, right? Although she seems to have some martial arts training, there are three of us—me, Kae, and you—so subduing her shouldn't be too difficult. Then... then you treat her the same way she treated us. If she dares to cause us any more trouble, we'll send the video to her father."
Although she had guessed that they would ultimately resort to the same method, Naga was still somewhat surprised to hear Anzu say it through gritted teeth. To be honest, if they really went that far, those recorded videos wouldn't just be leverage for blackmail, but also the kind of evidence the police love most. Naga wasn't entirely determined to go to that extent for them.
Have you thought about what would happen if she called the police?
"No way." Xing showed a confident expression. "Their family are all very proud and old-fashioned. They would rather lose face at the police station than lose their lives. Otherwise, that big boss wouldn't be so crazy as to let his daughter gain experience in a small company, and he wouldn't be risking his life to get his newlywed little starlet to have a son, rather than take the step of marrying into the family."
"So, people who are obsessed with saving face and are old-fashioned are still around," Naga joked, taking a sip of sake. "Even an old man like that has a mixed-race daughter. It seems that for men, this kind of thing is much more important than tradition."
"If Ashi weren't mixed-race, she probably wouldn't be so psychologically twisted. Her older sister, who was also an illegitimate child, had a slightly higher priority in inheritance in the will because she was a pure Japanese."
Naga recalled the smile on Asami's face as she tormented Kae in her dream, and shook her head disapprovingly, "This kind of perversion can't be suppressed by just one older sister."
In fact, he already had a rough idea in his mind, based on the dream of spying last night.
If I'm not mistaken, Ashi must have witnessed her biological mother being abused by men in various ways from a very young age, and certainly more than once. From fear to withdrawal, to curiosity about her mother's pained yet pleasurable expression, coupled with her father's excitement during the sexual abuse, these factors could easily plant the seeds of sexual perversion in a child's mind.
"Tsk... Looks like those lousy books about dreams and the subconscious weren't entirely wasted after all," Naga chuckled self-deprecatingly, filling An's glass with sake. "To be honest, offending a family like that is a huge risk. Who knows, the day after we rape Ami, we might be stuffed into oil drums, filled with cement, and thrown into Tokyo Bay. Are you sure you want to do that?"
Anzu's face was a little pale. She took a small sip of wine, and a slight blush returned to her cheeks. "If we don't do this, Kae and I will have no different lives from being sunk into Tokyo Bay..."
Naga looked at her face, scrutinized it for a while, sighed softly, picked up his wine glass, raised it in front of her, and drank it in one gulp. "Alright then, I won't say any more of those insincere pleasantries. I really can't resist the conditions you've offered. Deal."
Anzu looked up at him happily, "Then, I'll leave it to you, Yumeno-kun."
"Now that we're partners, you can just call me Naga."
"Let's take a gamble," Naga thought, relying on the confidence gained from devouring dreams. She officially signed the decision she had long ago.
Life will always present us with crossroads like this. Whichever path you choose, just keep going. All the so-called evaluations are just hindsight.
As if a huge weight had finally been lifted from her heart, Xing's expression softened considerably, and even the beauty mark on her lip seemed to carry a smile.
"Um, Naga-kun." Slightly tipsy, Anzu raised her flushed cheeks and whispered, "It's still early, and there's a hotel right next door. I… I'd like to pay you the deposit first."
The price of the agreement was the bodies of both her and Kae. The so-called deposit wasn't hard to understand. Naga had no reason to refuse such a tempting offer. He nodded, smiled, and pinched Anzu's chin. "If you pay first, aren't you afraid I'll renege on the deal and get away with this?"
A subtle ripple stirred in Xing's dark eyes. She smiled and loosened her hair, letting it fall loosely on either side of her fair face. She tidied her hair, lowered her head slightly, hesitated for a few seconds, and then whispered, "I'm not afraid. I... I've always liked you."