novelslam Chapter 1543, Chapter 1552, Speak! What do you want to confess?! Hit-and-run?!
Chapter 1543, Chapter 1552, Speak! What do you want to confess?! Hit-and-run?!
Chapter 1543, Chapter 1552, Speak! What do you want to confess?! Hit-and-run?!
The cold winter wind makes your face stiff, and even wearing an expensive trench coat can't keep out the chill.
The walk from the parking lot to the Tree Friends Hall made Masaharu Fukuyama unable to make a face. He rubbed his face, tightened his trench coat, and walked steadily toward the Tree Friends Building.
Now that I've made the decision, I no longer feel any fear or anxiety.
"Fukuyama-kun!"
Hoshino Hana and Suzuki Kouka were chatting casually when they saw Fukuyama Masaharu enter, and they greeted him very warmly. There aren't many male celebrities in the entire group, and Fukuyama Masaharu is considered the most handsome young man among them!
"How did you manage to get through such cold weather?!"
"Ah, there are some things I need to discuss with Yamin-san!"
Masaharu Fukuyama smiled at the two receptionists.
"Is Yamin-san here?"
"Hi, I'm in the office today!"
Hoshika nodded. Now that she is the president of Shuyu's talent agency, Masami Inada no longer needs to go out on field trips.
"That's good, I'll go up now!"
Masaharu Fukuyama had no intention of chatting idly, so he nodded and headed upstairs.
"What happened?"
Seeing Masaharu Fukuyama enter the elevator, Koka Suzuki asked Yoshika Hoshi with some confusion,
Why does Fukuyama-kun seem so preoccupied?
You know, when Fukuyama Masaharu came to the Tree Friends Building before, he always spoke to his colleagues with a smile. At that time, he was riding high and everyone he met was smiling.
"I don't know either"
Xing Jiahua shrugged. Even as a veteran, she didn't know some of the truly private information from the company's upper echelons.
"Well, boys probably have a few days each month too!"
"Eek~~ Hoshiga-san, you really are."
Suzuki Yukina lightly punched Hoshino Kaka, feeling that this older sister was becoming more and more unreliable.
Meanwhile, Masaharu Fukuyama, who was taking the elevator, quickly arrived at the second floor; in fact, it was only a few steps away even without taking the elevator.
As the floor housing the talent agency, it was naturally filled with people related to the artists. Everyone greeted Masaharu Fukuyama with smiles, clearly demonstrating the good relationship between the agency and the artists.
Even though he was preoccupied, Masaharu Fukuyama nodded in response to everyone until finally arriving at the door of an office and gently knocking.
"Dong Dong~"
"Please come in."
Upon opening the door, Masaharu Inada was somewhat surprised to see Masaharu Fukuyama.
"Fukuyama-kun, what brings you here all of a sudden?!"
"Yamin-san, I'm here to confess!!!"
Upon hearing the word "confess," Masami Inada's heart skipped a beat. The Japanese entertainment industry doesn't care about things like "confessing and getting leniency." As long as you're not caught, it's all considered as if nothing happened.
Entertainers are the best actors; they can always find a way to justify themselves until the very last moment!
If they were to confess something, it would usually be because someone had finally reached their breaking point!
"Lord Fukusan, please have a seat!"
Inada Masaharu subconsciously gestured for Fukuyama Masaharu to sit down, while he also composed himself and quickly considered what might trigger Fukuyama Masaharu's anger.
Ultimately, it came to the conclusion that he was dating another idol.
"Is Fukuyama-kun's Yukiko-chan pregnant?!"
"what?!"
Masaharu Fukuyama was taken aback by this sudden question and shook his head repeatedly.
"No, no. We don't have any plans to have children right now."
In his panic, he offered a few incoherent explanations, but finally said in a firm tone,
"We have protective measures in place!"
Masami Inada still had some concerns:
"Really? But you know, even with a condom, the contraceptive probability is only 98%, which is still possible."
"What?!"
Upon hearing this, Masaharu Fukuyama was startled; it was the first time he had heard of such a thing.
"Only 98%?!"
"Doesn't that mean there's still a 2% chance of the girl getting pregnant?!"
"The umbrella company should have printed this kind of thing in the precautions section of the box!!"
"."
Masami Inada's mouth was slightly open:
"It's definitely printed on the box."
"How is this possible?!"
Fukuyama Masaharu instinctively reached into his pocket for something, but then noticed Inada Masayuki's strange gaze and stopped, slightly embarrassed. What kind of person carries a small umbrella around?!
"Hehe. Better safe than sorry, better safe than sorry."
"Haha. Young people can understand, long live understanding!"
Masami Inada chuckled and brushed the topic aside, then continued to ask,
"So, Mr. Fukuyama, did you get caught hitting someone and fleeing the scene?"
"No, no!"
Masaharu Fukuyama denied it with both hands raised!
"Speeding? Drinking? Fighting? Smoking? Hiring prostitutes? Or using some kind of drug?"
"No, no! None at all!!"
Masaharu Fukuyama crossed his arms, looking somewhat distraught.
"None of these are there!!! Yamin-san, is that really the kind of person you see me as?!"
"Forehead"
Now it was Masami Inada's turn to be surprised.
"Then what do you want to confess?!"
"."
In truth, after being questioned about his "serious crimes," Masaharu Fukuyama felt that concealing the fact that he had been poached wasn't such a big deal after all!
"The story begins about a month and a half ago."
Masaharu Fukuyama began to narrate.
"It was a lonely night. I was under immense pressure because I was unemployed, so I went to an underground bar to drink."
Upon hearing about going to a bar for drinks, Masami Inada's fingers twitched slightly as if he wanted to scold them, but he held back and continued listening.
Then, I met someone.
Even as he recounted the story, Masaharu Fukuyama sensed that Masami Inada's gaze was becoming increasingly suggestive, and he seemed to be glancing into his pocket. He must have thought I'd had a one-night stand!
"It's a man!!"
"."
After saying this, Fukuyama Masaharu noticed that Inada Masaharu's eyes first showed fear, then realization, and then pity. His expression stiffened, and he felt that he could no longer explain himself.
His own innocence seems...
Ugh!!! This honesty, I really don't want to continue this anymore!!
"That person's name is Kishimoto Yamato; he's the department head of Sony's newly established entertainment company."
"He warmly invited me for drinks." "He mentioned that Sony wanted to expand into the entertainment industry and lead the Japanese entertainment industry into Hollywood, among other things."
"Although the company is currently in its early stages, with the support of the Sony Group, its future is definitely bright."
"."
Upon hearing this, Masaharu Inada's expression gradually became serious.
He realized that Masaharu Fukuyama had encountered a poaching attempt from Sony, and that he had definitely been tempted by it, but in the end, he chose to come to his side. That's what he wanted to confess today!
Masaharu Fukuyama rambled on for about ten minutes, from the conditions proposed by Yamato Kishimoto to his statement that he had already contacted many artists from various agencies.
"He also asked me if any of Shuyou Agency's artists were considering transferring to another agency. He said they would welcome them all."
"I think he may have already contacted some of the artists from Shuyou. He wants to poach all of Shuyou's potential artists!"
"Yamin-san might want to be careful; Sony is serious this time!"
"."
After saying all this, Masaharu Fukuyama felt a sense of relief. He felt as if all the burdens that had been weighing on his heart had been lifted!
Even if the company punishes him afterward, it doesn't matter!
"I see!"
A few minutes later, Masaharu Inada stopped thinking, looked up, and smiled at Masaharu Fukuyama.
"Fukuyama-kun, you must have gone through a lot of internal struggle before you got here!"
"I really struggled with this for a long time."
Fukuyama Masaharu nodded,
"Because of the relationship, my career has come to a standstill, and the transition seems a long way off. Meanwhile, my colleagues are all thriving, and Yukiko is constantly busy with gigs, including a performance at the Kohaku Uta Gassen."
"I feel a lot of pressure."
"Haha, I feel like I've been left behind!"
Masami Inada sat down next to Masaharu Fukuyama and patted him on the shoulder.
"It's normal for Fukuyama-kun to be under more pressure; as a man, he naturally experiences more stress."
"Hmm~"
The young Masaharu Fukuyama felt a warmth in his heart, and a sense of being recognized welled up within him.
However, what Masami Inada said next made him nervous.
"We already knew about Sony poaching our talent!"
Masami Inada's tone was neither too light nor too heavy.
"We had a heart-to-heart talk about next year's plans before. We just wanted to get everyone's opinions and see if anyone had any complaints about the company."
"However, everyone was very satisfied at that time."
He looked at Masaharu Fukuyama.
"Fukuyama-kun, you didn't have any objections at the time, and you even seemed quite satisfied."
"Forehead"
This left Masaharu Fukuyama speechless for a moment.
"Sigh, just as I thought, employees won't tell the truth to their bosses."
Masami Inada shook his head. He realized this after becoming the president of the agency. There was a real distance between him and his employees. Although his former good friends still joked and drank together, they rarely told the truth, for fear of offending him!
There's nothing we can do about it; this is the workplace, after all, telling the truth might actually cost you less money!
"All right!"
Masami Inada pondered for a moment, then stood up abruptly.
"I just need to report to Otomo-san. I'll take you with me too!"
"Huh?! Me?!"
Masaharu Fukuyama became even more nervous!
Isn't a failed poaching attempt something that can be resolved internally within the agency? Why does it have to be reported to Otomo-san?!
Even if it's a fine, Masami Inada could have handled it directly!
"Is it necessary to bother Otomo-san?"
"certainly."
Masami Inada picked up a document and gestured for Masaharu Fukuyama to follow.
"This matter with Sony involves some much bigger issues than just the agency's."
"?!"
The top-floor office is warm and cozy, with warm sunlight streaming in through the windows, bathing the entire office space in soft light.
Fukuyama Masaharu saw Yoshimura Otomo again, whose hair was even thinner and whose head was even shinier. Then his eyes were stimulated by some golden color and he saw Kijima Kyoru sitting on the sofa to the side.
"Otomo-san, Kijima-kun!"
Masami Inada greeted the two men and handed them the documents.
"This is information about the shareholding distribution of various firms. However, some firms are very confidential, so we can only know the general shareholders, but not the shareholding percentages!"
"Yeah, that's normal!"
Due to the long-term operations of various conglomerates, the shareholding control among Japan's major corporations is already extremely complex, with each entity intertwined with the others, making it very difficult for outsiders to investigate.
In cases like the Recruit bribery scandal, the only way to uncover the truth would have been for a senior insider to leak the shareholding details, which would have required a formal police investigation and a forced search of all share transfer documents.
To this day, no one has been able to find out who leaked the information about the Recruit case. I heard that anonymous people on the Japanese dark web have offered a reward of 10 billion yen to anyone who finds out who leaked the information!
This case has implicated too many people, even leading to a change in the cabinet and the ruling party. No wonder they're so furious!
Yoshimura Otomo glanced through the document, then set it aside and looked at Fukuyama Masaharu behind Inada Masaharu with some confusion:
"Yamin-san, why did you bring Fukuyama-kun here? Is something the matter?!"
"Oh, is that so!"
Inada Masaharu made no attempt to conceal anything, directly recounting how Fukuyama Masaharu had come to him to confess, and then said,
“I’m glad that Mr. Fukuyama was able to be honest with me; it shows his trust in us!”
"However, this matter is somewhat taboo, and it involves the previous investigation. So I wanted to ask Otomo-san how to handle it."
"Hmm~"
After hearing this, Yoshimura Otomo looked at Fukuyama Masaharu with some surprise, and even Kijima Kyō, who was standing next to him, looked at Fukuyama Masaharu with great curiosity.
As a member of the Tree Friends' roots, he naturally heard about Nishimoto Banyuki's matter. Nishimoto Banyuki had discovered that Fukuyama Masaharu was in contact with Sony. One of the reasons he came to Otomo-san's office this time was to investigate along this line of inquiry and find out how Sony planned to deal with the Tree Friends!
"Fukuyama-kun"
Yoshimura Otomo's scrutiny made Fukuyama Masaharu tense, and his sudden words startled him:
"Hi"
You've surprised me!
Yoshimura Daitomo laughed.
"We were just about to investigate your affair with Sony! And here you are, confessing!"
"Huh?!!" X2
Both Masaharu Fukuyama and Masami Inada were shocked; Masami Inada hadn't known about this before!
"When Nishimoto and the crew were having a gathering at a bar earlier, they happened to overhear you talking with Kishimoto Yamato."
Yoshimura Otomo explained it to Inada Masami.
"Only the parties involved and a few of us senior executives know about this matter. For the sake of the investigation, we have decided not to disclose it to the outside world for the time being."
Hearing this, Inada Masamitsu nodded. As long as his status as a trusted confidant remained unchanged, that was good!
"Hey, I understand!"
"Fukuyama-kun!"
Yoshimura Hirotomo continued to look at the young man in front of him.
"I'm glad you were honest, it shows that our fans' sincerity towards the artist hasn't been in vain!"
"Hi, private Marseille, I didn't tell you right away."
"Haha, it's okay. You're not a robot or a puppet, so of course you'll have concerns and worries."
Yoshimura Otomo waved his hand.
"In short, you informed us before we did. That already shows loyalty."
After calming the young man down, Yoshimura Otomo pointed at Kijima Kyō and continued,
"However, now that you've revealed your hand, it might be more advantageous for us. Next, I'm going to give you a task!"
"Hey, I'll definitely finish it!"
"Yes, you need to continue communicating with Kishimoto Yamato, and you can even pretend to be interested to push Sony's actions forward."
"what?!"
Yoshimura Otomo didn't finish his sentence:
"You need to cooperate with Kijima-kun to investigate all of Sony's actions against the Tree Friends. Find out if there are any other stakeholders behind them!"
Have you ever played Werewolf? When a villager is revealed, they naturally have to cooperate with the hunter to catch the werewolves!
"Forehead"
Masaharu Fukuyama felt things were moving a little too fast. How did he end up in this mess, almost like he was about to play an undercover agent?!
At this moment, Yoshimura Daitomo stood up:
"Fukuyama-kun, I won't lie to you. Our tree friends are now in a precarious situation, facing very serious challenges!"
"If you really want to change your registered residence, that's possible, and I won't blame you!"
"Do not!!"
Upon hearing this, Masaharu Fukuyama immediately spoke up.
"I don't want to transfer my registration; I want to stay with TreeFriends forever!!"
"Okay, then I'll leave it to you this time!"
Yoshimura Otomo smiled.
"Don't worry, there's no danger!"
"Hey, how am I supposed to cooperate with Kijima-san?!"
"Haha, over here, Kijima-kun."
Yoshimura Otomo looked at Kijima Kyō.
"You don't need to look for him normally, and you can't find him anyway. He'll contact you if he needs anything."
"."
Masaharu Fukuyama glanced at Kyoro Kijima on the sofa to his side, only to see him raise his hand, adorned with a gold Rolex, and wave it. All Fukuyama could see was the glittering gold. A man with a gold Rolex~
"Hey, I get it!"
"Okay, let's go back first! Eat and drink what you want, and just wait patiently!"
"."
After Masaharu Inada and Masaharu Fukuyama left, Otomo Yoshimura smiled at Kijima and said:
"Looks like Kijima-kun has an accomplice for this investigation; he won't have to do it alone anymore!"
"Haha, Masaharu Fukuyama is a good lad. He'll be very useful!"
Kijima Kyō has already come up with a more proactive way of investigating, so there's no need to keep tracking him!
"Alright, Kijima-kun. I'll leave the Sony side to you this time as well!"
"Hey, leave it to me!"
Kijima nodded.
"As long as I am here, the roots of the tree friends will remain, and the tree friends will always stand tall!!"
No matter who the enemy is, I will make them know the consequences of targeting a tree friend, even the Prime Minister is no exception!
"."
"Ok!"
After Kijima Kyō left, Yoshimura Ōtomo sat down, looking somewhat worried. He muttered to himself...
"Why does Kijima-kun seem so serious?!"
"Those terms like 'Root' and 'Dark Division' were just casual remarks before. Now it seems he's treating them like life maxims! Isn't he getting a little too involved?"
"Hey Bai, if Tree Friends goes bankrupt, will he really try to assassinate the Prime Minister?!"
"Tsk tsk tsk"
Yoshimura Otomo was not from a feudal aristocratic family, so he didn't know how large families in the past maintained elite warriors.
However, in his opinion, Kijima Kyō now seems to be developing in the direction of becoming a suicide squad member.
"Sigh, Kijima-kun is so useful, I always feel like the tree friends aren't getting enough pay!"
"Well then, Kijima-kun likes things that are brightly colored and have a strong presence, right?"
"Don't you still have some props from Naoki-san's movie? Let's give him that bright yellow Ruf CTR Yellow Bird."