Kaori woke up as the first rays of sunshine streamed through the window. She had forgotten to lower her blinds, but didn’t mind. She was in a great mood, and the world looked bright and happy.

  She stretched herself over her fluffy bed and nearly purred like a cat.

  Isn’t life grand?

  After a few moments enjoying the warm glow of the sun in the confines of her nest of Egyptian cotton, she swung herself out of bed and opened the window, letting in the fragrant perfume of the cherry blossoms. It had been a while she awoke at dawn. Or at least, on her own. Early shooting calls didn’t count.

  She began her morning rituals. Donning a white gi, she sank into a deep horse stance before flowing through a series of karate kata. She hadn’t done much karate, but the ritualistic, exacting nature of kata and its blend of smooth and explosive movements got her blood going, stretched all her muscles, and made her body limber and strong.

  She moved seamlessly from one position to the next, her motions perfectly controlled and her mind reaching a near meditative state. The gi flowed along in a blur, cracking like a whip when she threw the deciding strikes.

  After a few sets, she headed for the baths and slipped into a white lace dress, with a thin, shiny black belt and an obsidian necklace shaped like a wolf tooth. She made a whirl in front of the mirror, smiled approvingly at herself and headed for the dining room where breakfast awaited.

  The most important meal of the day, they say.

  Daisuke—her father—was already there and he beamed to see her. He was an habitual early riser, and they seldom shared breakfast.

  She must have looked particularly glowing, for he gave her a knowing smile that clearly meant “what did I tell you?”, but he was too crafty to voice such a sentiment… It was sweeter to let her say it. No doubt he already had a full report on her date. Sometimes she joked he had her on satellite surveillance.

  Oh well, at least this time, he was unquestionably right. She had been looking for “the one” ever since college, and there he had delivered Mr. Perfect at her doorstep on the first try.

  “He was… a perfect gentleman.”

  She began gushing about Oroshi. He was amazing. He even jumped in the sea to rescue an old man without hesitation. And he could pilot his own helicopter. He seemed the consummate professional in everything he did, and appeared so genuine… She wondered how she had never noticed him before.

  She didn’t comment on his sculpted abs, his large powerful shoulders or his feline-like movements—those were details she’d go over with her girlfriends, if she got the chance. She had few opportunities to chatter about her love life, but her friends sometimes did, and that was always a good time.

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  Her father nodded along, obviously pleased about his choice. He had every right to be.

  “You know, it’s a bit of a relief. Since I met Oroshi, I’d been thinking he would be a great match for you, but I was worried you wouldn’t give him a chance on principle.”

  “How did you meet? I’d been meaning to ask. From what I can tell, his family’s companies don’t do that much business with ours.”

  “That’s true. In fact, he was introduced to me by a friend at the Koganei Golf Club, and we had a chance to talk for a while. I was interested in acquiring their chip manufacturing division. With the way things are going in China, we need to consider bringing the manufacturing back to Japan. Matsuko Enterprises has all the resources we need, including the rare-earth mining concessions, but they aren’t doing much with it so far. I suspect they lack the manufacturing know-how. Everyone takes manufacturing for granted, but in reality, it’s always the biggest challenge. It’s hard to blame them though, their financial results are rock solid, and…”

  “So Oroshi…”

  “Oh, yes, sorry, I got side tracked. As you know Oroshi is the son of Matsuko Masamune, so we played a few rounds… I just didn’t expect Oroshi to be that good, given how young he is. With the right guidance and mentorship, he will achieve great things.”

  “That’s it? Golf?”

  “No, that’s not it. He is a member! Do you realize what it means?”

  “That you like his swing?” she replied with an innocent smile he knew very well. He snorted on his orange juice and she giggled.

  “Very funny,” he said as wiped his face with a napkin. “Seriously though, this is a huge deal. Koganei isn’t about Golf, not really. This is where the leaders of our nation meet and where ALL the big decisions take place. To start with, membership costs hundreds of millions, but that’s only the beginning. Every member is very carefully vetted; the process takes years. What’s more, to become a member, an existing member must give up his own membership. Relinquishing one’s membership means either a passing of the torch or recognizing publicly one’s unworthiness.

  “In Oroshi’s case, the later occurred when Tachibana Akira sold his membership for a rumored JPY 4bn. Most people believed he made some bad investments and needed the money to retire, but I dug deeper, of course, and the truth is that Akira was using his position in the National Police Agency to control a prostitution/gambling ring. Oroshi was instrumental in putting an end to it.

  “He dismantled the entire network very cleanly and managed to conceal a scandal that would have ruined our country’s reputation, while freeing thousands of sex slaves. Akira was replaced at the head of the NPA and is now ‘retired’ to his estate in Okinawa.

  “It was a masterpiece of an operation and demonstrated both his competence and a remarkable sense of justice. THAT is why Oroshi being a member of Koganei IS a big deal.

  “And yes, his swing is magnificent too, so yeah… Golf.”

  Kaori was stunned, processing. She heard rumors about Koganei, but to her, it was just an old boy’s club where wealthy old men enjoyed their favorite pastime amongst their peers, and incidentally closing deals outside the stuffy, stultifying atmosphere of corporate board rooms. The truth went far beyond that, these men had the power to shape Japan.

  And Oroshi was one of them. She had seen him as a successful businessman, a good-looking socialite and something of an adrenaline junkie, but she never imagined him to be a powerful force for good in society. A man worthy of her devotion.