June 29th, Saturday.
Two days had passed since the attack that occurred on the night of June 27th.
In later generations, as investigations continuously expanded and institutional changes successively emerged over the following years, people gradually grew accustomed to using a simpler name to refer to that night.
[The June 27th Incident]
Later historians discussing Japan's institutional shift in the 1990s would often regard this day as one of its crucial turning points.
Of course, on June 29, 1991, this name was still far from carrying as many meanings as it did later.
To most Japanese people, it temporarily represented only the shooting and bombing that occurred on the streets of Tokyo two days prior, and the eighteen-year-old girl who had nearly died in the attack.
When the black motorcade drove out of the Saionji Main Residence, Tokyo's sky was still somewhat overcast.
It had rained last night, and the asphalt road outside the courtyard walls still retained water stains that had not completely dried. The leading security vehicle had just turned the corner, followed closely by the cars behind it in order, with the black sedan in the middle quietly enveloped in the center of the motorcade.
Compared to two days ago, the security scale had noticeably increased once again.
Satsuki had no objections to this.
In fact, the security plan adopted by the motorcade today was still confirmed by her personally after looking over it in the morning.
Two layers of lead vehicles, an alternate vehicle group in the rear, and personnel arranged in advance at several intersections along the route prone to congestion.
SIS had repeatedly checked today's route five times since last night, and Dojima Gen had even prepared two sets of temporary detour plans to prevent reporter vehicles or other unexpected situations from blocking the road.
As for the medical support vehicle following at the rear of the motorcade, it was insistently added by the trauma team.
Satsuki likewise did not object.
Her experience two days ago was already enough to make her understand that no matter how complete the intelligence and security contingency plans were, they could not guarantee that everything would happen according to plan.
Since there was now the condition to prepare an extra layer, there was no reason to voluntarily prepare one layer less just because the show of force felt too large.
Moreover, today was not a suitable time to keep a low profile anyway.
Satsuki leaned back in her seat, glancing outside at the motorcade through the dark window.
From the moment she set out from the Saionji Main Residence, she knew that at least several media outlets had already noticed the commotion along the way. By the time they reached the farewell ceremony site, the reporters waiting outside would only be more numerous.
This was precisely another purpose of her going out today.
Over the past forty-some hours, the internal ranks of Saionji had already repeatedly confirmed through various channels that she was in no danger to her life, and the decision-making system within the group was still operating normally.
Yet for those truly bound to Saionji, these messages were not enough.
Banks wanted to know the exact extent of her recovery.
Partner companies wanted to confirm whether the previously discussed projects would still continue.
Financial institutions over in New York were waiting for her to re-sign documents.
The Official Residence likewise needed to judge whether subsequent matters related to Saionji should continue to be brought to Shuichi or Endo, or if they could directly be placed before her again.
These things could hardly be truly answered by a mere statement.
She had to appear in person once.
Let everyone see that she could walk by herself, speak, and handle matters.
And let those waiting for Saionji's next move understand—
The attack two days ago had not caused this massive system to lose its original direction.
Coincidentally, there was also an occasion today that she ought to attend no matter what.
The S.A. security personnel who perished in the June 27th Incident was having their farewell ceremony today.
Satsuki had originally intended to go personally.
Now there was simply one more reason added on top of it.
Satsuki lowered her head, glancing at the black formal dress she wore.
The cuffs were very long, just enough to cover the abrasions on her arms that were already beginning to fade.
There was no helping the injury on her right cheek.
Before going out in the morning, the makeup artist had tried to cover it once, but Satsuki took a look in the mirror and ultimately had them remove everything, replacing it only with a smaller, cleaner dressing.
There was no need to cover it.
Everyone was coming today precisely to see how she was doing anyway.
Rather than letting reporters guess from dozens of meters away whether she was heavily injured, it was better to simply let them see clearly.
She was indeed injured.
And she was indeed already able to stand before them again.
That was enough.
"Father."
Satsuki saw Shuichi continuously flipping through the things in his hands, and leaned closer towards that side.
"What have you been looking at since you got in the car?"
Shuichi pulled the things back towards his side.
Satsuki looked at him.
Shuichi continued reading the documents.
Satsuki still looked at him.
Stare————
After about ten seconds, Shuichi sighed.
"Seiichiro sent this this morning."
He handed the documents over.
"After the meeting at the Official Residence yesterday, there were quite a few more voices in the Parliament. What is compiled here are the relatively clear opinions from all sides up to this morning."
Satsuki's eyes lit up a bit.
She took the documents.
"You should have said so earlier."
"..."
Shuichi looked at his daughter, who had just been leaning in the car looking like a patient, but now upon receiving the documents straightened her posture quite a bit, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Satsuki had already opened the first page.
She roughly knew the contents ahead.
The anti-boryokudan act had originally been formulated, but had not yet been officially implemented.
And after June 27th, voices within the party demanding reinforcement suddenly increased, and the National Police Agency was re-examining issues regarding lower-tier group responsibility, affiliated companies, weapons sources, and the participation of overseas personnel.
Satsuki flipped back a few more pages.
This section was no longer new policy suggestions, but listed several disposition opinions received by the Official Residence over the past day.
Shuichi watched her turn the page and suddenly asked:
"By the way, how do you plan to deal with Washio?"
Satsuki's page-turning motion paused for a moment.
"Washio?"
"Mm."
Shuichi placed another stack of materials in his lap onto his legs.
"The Official Residence is also waiting for your decision now."
"Mr. Kaifu?"
"Not just Kaifu."
Shuichi shook his head.
"The National Police Agency, the Public Safety Commission, and those people within the party now basically believe that this incident has transcended the scope of ordinary boryokudan cases."
"If Saionji insists on pursuing it to the end, they can directly elevate subsequent actions to an anti-terrorism level. The National Police Agency will mobilize fully, with riot police and public security all entering, and when necessary, even allowing the Self-Defense Forces to participate in perimeter cordon and support."
Saying this, he glanced at Satsuki.
"In other words, as long as you nod now, they will dare to use this matter to plow through the entire yakuza system from top to bottom once more."
Hearing this, Satsuki did not show much surprise.
"Mm..."
She lowered the documents a bit.
"Those three must be even more anxious now."
"It is not even a matter of being anxious anymore."
Shuichi's expression was somewhat odd.
"Watanabe, Inagawa, and Hoshino already said yesterday that they wanted to come personally to apologize."
"I did not let them in."
Satsuki raised her eyes.
"Why?"
"The doctor said you need rest."
Shuichi answered as a matter of course.
"Besides, it would not look good for them to bring so many people and block the gates of the Main Residence."
Satsuki nodded.
That made sense.
She could even picture the scene of three yakuza bosses bringing a large group of underlings, surrounding the outside of the gate and shouting at the top of their lungs, "We are extremely sorry!!!"
Shuichi thought for a moment and added:
"Watanabe and Inagawa went back first later, saying they would come again when you are willing to see them."
"However, Hoshino did not leave."
Satsuki blinked.
"Did not leave?"
"Still outside the gate."
"..."
Satsuki lowered her head to glance at her watch.
June 29th.
From the night of the 27th until now, it had been nearly two days.
"Has he been kneeling all this time?"
"Not entirely all this time."
Shuichi's tone became even more subtle.
"Fujita had people send him water and let him go inside to rest a few times. He refused."
"He did move under the porch after it rained last night, though."
"He is still there now."
Satsuki fell silent for a moment.
Hoshino naturally had reason to kneel.
Washio was, after all, someone under Sumiyoshi-kai.
The three families had just sat across a table and assured her that from now on the headquarters would be responsible for restraining the subordinate organizations, yet before the ink on the agreement had even dried, people from Sumiyoshi-kai had chased her motorcade with automatic weapons.
What was even more troublesome was that the matter had ultimately completely exceeded the scope of what the yakuza could explain themselves.
Now Tokyo only needed a single phrase like "Sumiyoshi-kai is unable to control its subordinate groups," and everything Hoshino had painstakingly maintained over these years could potentially be dragged down together.
Therefore, he dared not leave.
Nor could he leave.
Seeing that Satsuki had not spoken, Shuichi recalled something else.
"Right."
"Those three people also sent Washio over together early that morning."
Satsuki finally raised her head.
"I know."
"You know?"
"Dojima told me."
Shuichi looked at her somewhat strangely.
"Then where is he?"
"What?"
"Washio."
Shuichi frowned.
"I have not seen him these past two days."
"The National Police Agency also asked once; they asked if they could take Washio into custody for a few days first, even just to put on a show."
"Washio was clearly delivered personally into Saionji's hands by the three of them that morning, but afterwards no one knew where he was taken."
"Dojima only told me that he is still alive."
Saying this, Shuichi's gaze fell onto his daughter's face.
"So where on earth is he now?"
Satsuki did not answer immediately.
She lowered her head and rearranged the documents on her lap.
Then the corners of her mouth slowly curved upward.
That smile was very sweet.
So sweet that Shuichi suddenly developed a rather bad premonition.
"Father, have you ever heard of ishidaki?"
"What?"
"Ishidaki."
Satsuki repeated the term.
"Something from the Edo period."
Shuichi clearly had not reacted in time.
Satsuki helpfully explained to him:
"It is just making someone kneel on a very special wooden board, and then putting stones on their legs."
"It seems it also has another name called soroban-zeme."
When she said these words, her tone was soft, almost as if she were introducing some interesting traditional culture.
The expression on Shuichi's face slowly changed.
"Satsuki."
"Mm?"
"Do not tell me—"
"Mr. Dojima and the others just happen to be quite free lately, you see."
Satsuki smiled even sweeter.
"Besides, traditional Japanese culture is still very much worth preserving."
"..."
Shuichi stared at his daughter for several seconds.
As if knowing what he was worried about, Satsuki quickly added:
"Rest assured."
"There are people watching him the whole time."
"They will not let him die that easily."
This sentence offered no comfort whatsoever.
Shuichi rubbed the bridge of his nose.
He suddenly understood somewhat why the complexions of the three major yakuza leaders had looked worse than the other after Washio was delivered into Saionji that morning.
"So when do you plan to see Hoshino?"
"No rush."
Satsuki put her attention back onto the documents.
"Let him wait a bit longer."
"The ones truly in a rush to prove their usefulness right now are them... Oh no, to prove that they are harmless."
She turned a page, her tone recovering the briskness from when she was handling official business earlier.
"Since they have already sent Washio over and are willing to kneel, it shows they already know what position they are in right now."
"That actually makes things more convenient."
Shuichi looked at her.
"Convenient for what?"
Satsuki finally perked up this time.
"Naturally, to negotiate the terms for what comes next."
She gently tapped the documents with the tip of her pen.
"In the past, making them hand over those affiliated companies, financing channels, and gray assets required negotiating item by item."
"Now that they have even knelt right at the doorstep..."
Satsuki smiled.
"The price cannot possibly be the same as it was two days ago, right?"
"If the doctor knew what you look like right now, they would probably intercept the car and take you straight back to the hospital."
"Thinking does not consume physical strength."
Satsuki said this righteously and with self-confidence.
She turned the page again.
The next section was what truly interested her.
Discussions regarding security authority and equipment for important enterprises in major security incidents, as well as the cooperation mechanism with the national security system.
Yesterday, the Official Residence had only allowed discussions to begin within the party.
A day had passed, and several specific opinions from lawmakers' offices had already been added behind it.
Satsuki slowly read through them once.
"We can push this a step further."
"Which item?"
"Designated cooperative business entities."
Shuichi thought for a few seconds before connecting this name with previous matters.
Saionji indeed already possessed this qualification.
Previously, when the government promoted crisis management for important private economic facilities, SIS and several important facilities under Saionji were listed among the first batch of designated targets, thereby obtaining specialized communication bands, convenience in importing certain special equipment, and qualifications to participate in security and anti-terrorism training.
When all was said and done at the time, it was still just an administrative framework.
The scope was also very narrow.
"You want to expand it?"
"Not just expand it."
Satsuki flipped back and forth across those pages of paper twice.
"I want to turn it into a formal system."
Shuichi looked at her.
Satsuki was completely in the zone.
"Right now, many things about this qualification are stated far too vaguely."
"When something happens, what can be handled by oneself, what must wait for the police to arrive, to what extent enterprises can prepare in advance, how equipment is procured, and how information is exchanged with the police ordinarily—all of it has to be coordinated piece by piece."
"Since problems have already been exposed this time, let us build the framework all at once."
"I want Saionji to gain greater authority in terms of armaments."