Tokyo, 1991: Starting as a bank clerk

Financing Department.

After hanging up the phone, Koji Kondo frowned slightly.

He was sitting in the office of the head of the finance department at that moment.

A summary of last week's credit lines lay open in front of him, but he had no interest in looking at the numbers.

The words of Managing Director Miyamoto still echoed in my ears.

It's extremely urgent.

This is unlike Miyamoto Soichi's usual wording.

It's a bit strange.

Koji Kondo has been with Soichi Miyamoto for nearly twenty years, rising from an ordinary employee in the Financing Review Division to his current position as the head of the Financing Department.

He knows Miyamoto Soichi too well.

He was naturally aware of the recent developments at the bank, especially the activities at the board meeting. Therefore, at this critical juncture, every move made by Managing Director Miyamoto was all the more intriguing.

"Urging Chiyoda to provide bank statements... this is clearly helping the special investigation team and going against Managing Director Nakajima."

Koji Kondo tapped the table with his finger, feeling increasingly strange.

At last week's executive meeting, Managing Director Miyamoto took the initiative to point out that the composition of the investigation team was not reasonable and also pointed out the issue of Kiryu Yaya's qualifications.

This news spread very quickly among the bank's senior management.

Everyone felt that Managing Director Miyamoto was making things difficult for the special investigation team.

But now, Managing Director Miyamoto has tasked him with helping the special investigation team to pry open materials related to Chiyoda General Planning, under the guise of the financing department.

Koji Kondo's brows furrowed even more.

Isn't this like fighting with both hands?

They helped both sides, but didn't get any credit from either.

That's just like Managing Director Miyamoto's style...

Koji Kondo shook his head, completely baffled by Managing Director Miyamoto's thoughts. However, he couldn't disobey Miyamoto Soichi's orders, so he could only pick up the receiver and dial the extension for the General Affairs Department:

"Onoda-kun, I have a letter that needs urgent processing. It's addressed to Chiyoda General Planning Co., Ltd., and it's a routine compliance inquiry on behalf of the Financing Department, requesting all business records related to the Financing Department from the first year of the Heisei era to the present."

The sound of papers being turned and notes being taken could be heard from the other end of the phone.

"Yes, Minister Kondo. Do I need your signature after the letter is drafted?"

"Yes, once it's drafted, send it to my office, I'll sign and stamp it, and then it will be sent via express delivery."

"Understood, I'll deliver it before I leave work today."

Koji Kondo hung up the phone, reached for the fountain pen on the table that he had used for many years, unscrewed the cap, and then put it back on.

For some reason, his years of banking career gave him a vague sense that a storm was brewing.

……

the other side.

After hanging up the phone with Koji Kondo, Onoda sat down at his desk in the General Affairs Department, with a stack of blank letter papers spread out in front of him.

Please visit...to see the latest chapter! Address: dEqixs.oRg He looked down and flipped through the corporate registration information of Chiyoda General Planning. His eyes quickly scanned the address and the name of the legal representative. After confirming that everything was correct, he took out a black fountain pen from the pen holder and began to draft the manuscript.

"Chiyoda General Planning Co., Ltd...."

"Routine compliance confirmation letter from the financing department..."

"Please provide all business records related to the Financing Department from the first year of the Heisei era to the present, including but not limited to: contract texts, payment vouchers, bank statements, accounting vouchers, and corresponding explanations..."

His pen moved at a steady pace across the paper, pausing occasionally to consider a particular word.

After drafting the first draft, he read it through and confirmed that there were no problems with the format and wording.

Just then, the sound of his colleagues chatting reached his ears.

It's Matsuda-kun and Kimura-kun.

Although the two were just ordinary employees, they were known in the General Affairs Department for their love of gossip.

The morning executive meeting had just ended, and these two had already gotten a pretty good idea of ​​what was going on at the meeting.

Matsuda leaned back in his chair, his tone tinged with a touch of wistfulness:

"...Why did Chairman Matsumoto do this? He set up a special investigation team, which was gaining momentum, but then the Standing Committee's procedural oversight group blocked its path. I think all the big moves the investigation team will make will have to get past that oversight group first; they won't be able to do anything." Kimura nodded, lowering his voice to agree.

"That's right. The scene at the morning's management meeting was quite something. Executive Director Sato personally stepped in, and Managing Directors Yamazaki and Tanabe chimed in. Even Managing Director Morita didn't completely take sides. What can Vice Minister Matsumoto do against the executive directors and managing directors? In the end, no matter how much authority the investigation team has, it's given by the bank president. But any procedural obstacle at the management meeting can make it impossible for the investigation team to move an inch."

Matsuda sighed:

"It's a thankless task. If I were Commander Matsumoto, I wouldn't have taken on this hot potato in the first place."

Hearing the conversation between the two people behind him, Onoda turned around, his tone slightly more serious than usual:

"Matsuda-senpai, I think that since Matsumoto-cho has dared to take this step, he must have his own judgment."

Matsuda turned to look at him, a hint of surprise on his face:

"Oh? Onoda, what do you think?"

Onoda withdrew his gaze and returned it to the letter in front of him:

"The special investigation team has been established for less than two weeks. But in these two weeks, they have found old files from 1968 (Showa 57) on the 30 billion yen credit line from Kanto International Development, and from those files, they have traced the Chiyoda line. This speed would be difficult to achieve without a clear direction and sufficient preparation."

He paused, then continued:

"Besides, Kiryu-kun is also in the investigation team. I think with him there, things shouldn't be as passive as everyone thinks." Upon hearing this, Kimura couldn't help but smile and say:

"Oh, Onoda, you're overestimating Kiryu. He's just a trainee who got into the investigation team by luck. Even Chief Matsumoto finds it difficult; what can he possibly do?"

Onoda shook his head:

"I'm not sure either, but Kiryu-kun gives me a very reliable feeling."

Matsuda pulled Onoda into his arms and teased him:

"Hey, Onoda, isn't your attention to that Kiryu-kun a little too meticulous?"

Kimura laughed along with him.

"Yes, I've never seen Onoda care about anyone this much before."

Matsuda emphasized:

"Onoda, tell me the truth, do you have some kind of special interest in Kiryu-kun?"

He deliberately dragged out the words "special interest" in a drawn-out and ambiguous way, then lowered his voice and added:

"Could it be that kind of thing? You mean... the gay kind?" Kimura burst out laughing.

Onoda's face turned red at a visible speed.

He turned his head to look at Matsuda, his tone tinged with a helpless embarrassment:

"Matsuda-senpai, please don't joke like that... I just think Kiryu-kun is reliable. If you or Kimura-senpai did the same thing, I would say the same thing."

Just then, Suzuki Chiyoko stepped forward and said to Matsuda and Kimura in an annoyed tone:

"Matsuda-senpai, Kimura-senpai, if you keep teasing Onoda-kun like this, I'm going to assign all the archiving tasks this afternoon to the two of you."

Matsuda and Kimura exchanged a glance and immediately fell silent.

"Director Suzuki, we were just joking, just joking."

Then Matsuda lowered his voice and teased:

"They haven't even officially started dating yet, and Suzuki-chan is already speaking up for Onoda-kun like this. If they do start dating, things will really get interesting."

Kimura smiled and nodded, his gaze sweeping between the two men:

"Yeah, who says otherwise?" Seeing the two of them chatting back and forth, Onoda's ears turned red, the blush spreading from her earlobes to the base of her neck.

He opened his mouth, as if to say something, but found that his tongue seemed to be tied in a knot.

Seeing this, Matsuda knew when to stop, and patted him on the shoulder with a smile:

"Alright, alright, I'm not teasing you anymore. You have work to do, right?"

Onoda then came to his senses, glanced down at the prepared letter in front of him, confirmed that the wording and format were correct, then stood up and walked towards the financing department.

Behind him, Matsuda and Kimura lowered their voices, but the last notes of their conversation still reached his ears.

"Honestly, Onoda and Director Suzuki are quite a good match."

"Keep your voice down..."

Then, Chiyoko Suzuki's voice:

"Matsuda-senpai! Kimura-senpai!"

……

Onoda arrived at the door of the finance department manager's office and knocked twice. "Come in."

Koji Kondo sat behind his desk.

Seeing Onoda walk in, he put down his pen and looked at the letter in Onoda's hand.

"Is it ready?"

"Yes, please review it, Minister Kondo."

Onoda handed the letter over with both hands.

Koji Kondo took it, his gaze starting from the top and moving down line by line.

A moment later, he put down the letter, took out his pen from the pen holder, signed his name at the end, opened the drawer, took out the official seal of the financing department, and stamped it neatly next to his signature.

"Package it and send it via express delivery. It must be shipped today."

"clear."

Onoda took the signed letter, turned around, and walked out of the minister's office.

Emerging from Kondo Koji's office, Onoda quickened his pace. He crossed the corridor, turned into the courier service room next to the general affairs department, placed the letter in a dark brown courier envelope, filled in the Mitsubishi Bank Finance Department and recipient information in the sender's column, and then handed it to the clerk on duty in the courier service room.

"Can it be shipped today?"

The clerk on duty took the envelope, glanced at the return address, and nodded.

"There are still fifteen minutes until the afternoon's cutoff time for receiving packages, so it'll be on time. It should arrive by tomorrow morning."

"The sooner the better."

Onoda stood at the door of the mailroom, watching the envelope being placed into the mail basket, where it was piled up with several other documents.

And so, this letter, which would determine the future direction of the bank, was sent from Onoda's hands to Chiyoda General Planning.

……

Mitsubishi Bank Headquarters Building.

The second basement level houses the storage facility.

Yoshio Hashimoto was sitting behind the duty desk, flipping through the latest issue of Playboy, his eyes shining.

But just then, the light across the street suddenly dimmed for a moment. Realizing someone was coming, Yoshio Hashimoto quickly stuffed the magazine into the drawer.

After the embarrassing incident where Matsumoto Takahiro and Kiryu Yaya were present, Hashimoto Yoshio started stuffing the magazines even deeper into the pages.

Then he looked up at the person who had come, and paused slightly in surprise:

"Managing Director Nakajima?"

Standing before Yoshio Hashimoto was none other than Konosuke Nakajima, who wore a serene smile.

Just as Yoshio Hashimoto was about to stand up, Konosuke Nakajima raised his hand to signal him not to move.

After all, Hashimoto was a senior figure in the bank, and Nakajima had come to ask for a favor.

"Hashimoto-senpai, I'm here today to retrieve an old file."

Yoshio Hashimoto began slowly:

"Which position would Managing Director Nakajima like to transfer to?"

Konosuke Nakajima took a piece of paper from the inside pocket of his suit, placed it on the table, and pushed it in front of him.

Yoshio Hashimoto looked down. It was a request form, titled "Mitsubishi Bank General Affairs Department," with "Annual Archive Review" listed as the reason, and a string of numbers in the file number field.

S56-RongShen-0019.

The file has a similar date number to the one the special investigation team reviewed last time, but it's a year earlier; it's a file from Showa 56 (1947).

"S56-Review-0019..."

Yoshio Hashimoto repeated the number in a low voice, then looked up at Konosuke Nakajima, who was standing in front of the duty desk.

"Manager Nakajima, this file has been sealed for over ten years. According to the bank's management regulations, retrieving old files that have been sealed for more than ten years requires the signature of the head of the general affairs department or special permission from the president's office."

Konosuke Nakajima took another piece of paper from the inside pocket of his suit and placed it next to the access request form.

"The General Affairs Department Manager's signature is here. Hashimoto-senpai, please check it."

Yoshio Hashimoto looked down.

The signature column clearly reads "Ryuichi Komori".

Clearly, Konosuke Nakajima had made preparations before coming.

Minister Komori was already a core member of the General Affairs Department when Nakajima Konosuke was still the head of the General Affairs Section; the two had worked together for many years. Now that Nakajima Konosuke has been promoted to Managing Director, it wouldn't be difficult for Minister Komori to give him face and sign a request for access to documents.

Yoshio Hashimoto nodded, slowly stood up, and took the keychain off the hook.

"Since it's a request form signed by Minister Komori, then let's proceed according to procedure."

He turned and walked deeper into the vault.

Shortly afterward, Yoshio Hashimoto carried the file box back to the duty desk, placed it on the access table, and then looked at Konosuke Nakajima.

"The original documents cannot be taken out of the storage room, but they can be viewed here. If Managing Director Nakajima needs a copy, there is a photocopier in the duty room."

Konosuke Nakajima nodded, but instead of immediately opening the file box, he first gave Yoshio Hashimoto a slight bow.

"Thank you for your hard work, Hashimoto-senpai."

Yoshio Hashimoto returned to his desk and sat down.

Konosuke Nakajima sat down at the retrieval table and opened the lid of the file box.

Several yellowed documents were neatly stacked inside.

The first page was a summary of a credit approval document from 1956 (Showa 56), with the borrower being an affiliated company of Tokyo Urban Development Co., Ltd. He glanced at it, turned to the second page, his gaze lingering on a line of handwritten notes, before continuing to flip through the pages.

The third page was an attachment to a guarantee assessment report, the contents of which matched his memory.

Page four is a copy of the meeting minutes, marked "Internal Reference, Not for Archiving," but it was clearly archived nonetheless.

His finger stopped when he turned to the last page.

It was a handwritten supplementary note; the paper was yellowed, but the handwriting was familiar.

He wrote it himself.

It says:

"In September of Showa 56, a consulting contract was established for the Chiyoda General Planning. The related parties were: Tokyo Urban Development (related party) and Mitsubishi Bank General Affairs Department (contact person: Konosuke Nakajima)."