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The knock on the door is soft, almost timid, so Chihiro can tell who’s on the other side without even seeing them.
“Come in, Nishimura-san!” she calls in a friendly voice that is nonetheless loud enough to be heard through the closed door.
Haruka Nishimura, one of the junior staff on Chihiro’s team, opens the door slowly and peeks her head around it. She’s 24 and she looks 17, even in her stylish suit. But these days, all the junior staff look to Chihiro like they’re still in high school. At Chihiro’s wave she comes fully into the office and bows.
“Ogino-san, you had some mail in your mailbox so I took the liberty of bringing it to you,” Haruka says rapidly, face turning pink. She approaches Chihiro’s desk and quickly puts down the small pile of envelopes and magazines, then bows again, a hopeful smile on her face.
Chihiro’s mouth turns up at the corners and she inclines her head back. “Nishimura-san, that’s very nice of you,” she says gently. In her head, Chihiro thinks that Haruka doesn’t really have to do that and it’s outside her job description, but she keeps this to herself. “It’s very thoughtful and I appreciate it.”
Haruka’s face brightens at this, and Chihiro decides to keep it up. “Are you free for lunch later? Would you like to get some sushi with me? I’m afraid I don’t have time for a long lunch but at least we can have some maki and you can tell me how things are going.”
Haruka looks like she’s been given the world on a platter and Chihiro suspects that even if Nishimura-san has lunch plans, she’ll cancel them to take Chihiro up on her offer.
“Oh no, Ogino-san, I don’t want to bother you, I know you’re so busy…” Haruka starts to say.
“Nishimura-san, it’s no bother,” says Chihiro. “I insist. My treat.”
Haruka waits a moment to concede, then bows a little and says, “Thank you, Ogino-san, I look forward to it.”
Chihiro grins inwardly. She knows that Haruka’s enthusiasm stems less from Chihiro’s wit and sparkling personality than from the fact that at 35, she’s the youngest woman VP in the Tokyo office of Nomura Securities. Chihiro has worked her ass off for 12 years assuaging demanding clients, handling difficult situations, and cutting through the prejudice of her bosses, all older men, and she was promoted 18 months ago.
Her colleagues whisper that she learned her tenacity and work ethic at university, where she excelled, but Chihiro is hardly going to enlighten them about their true origins. Instead she accepts their compliments gracefully and hugs her secret to herself, as she’s done for 25 years.
Haruka is clearly about to gush some more, but suddenly they hear Yamada-san shouting for her down the hallway. Haruka’s expression turns from radiant to nervous in an instant. She bows again to Chihiro and says quickly, “Thank you again, Ogino-san, I’ll see you later” before scuttling out the door and down the hall to answer Yamada-san’s call.
Hiroshi Yamada is Chihiro’s boss and the senior VP for their entire investment group. Chihiro is very well-respected within this group and among executives managing other teams, but Yamada is suspicious of her success and early promotion and often tries to dismiss her and belittle her while also taking credit for her work. Her mentor at Nomura, now running the bond trading team, told her bluntly at drinks one evening not long ago that Yamada is holding her back. He offered to put through a transfer for her to a team with a senior VP who’s more appreciative of her work.
Chihiro thanked him profusely for his offer but declined, at least for now. She’s doing well in her current position and she’s had much more...difficult...bosses in her time.
After Haruka’s departure, Chihiro sorts through her mail - mostly investment journals but some hand-written envelopes, as a few of her clients still prefer to do business on paper - and then leans back in her chair and sighs.
Lately she’s been feeling burnt out and restless; she still loves her job and her clients, but she’s increasingly felt like something’s missing. Maybe it’s because she hasn’t had a vacation since before her promotion. Or maybe it’s because she’s currently single - she dated an executive from Mizuho for a while after she met him at a conference, but they broke up amicably several months ago.
Chihiro’s phone buzzes on her desk and she sees it’s a text from her father. She rolls her eyes to see that he’s contacting her just as she was thinking about dating, like he can sense it via ESP 300 kilometers away in Nagakute.
Mr. and Mrs. Ogino have been pestering Chihiro to settle down and get married. Her father just retired and they want grandchildren to spoil. They still live in the blue house on the edge of town near the woods and the abandoned amusement park, but they’ve never returned to the park after that first day in their new house. Neither has Chihiro, though she’s the only one who really knows why that is.
Chihiro sends a quick but loving text to her dad and says she’ll call him later that night after work. She spends the next hour opening her few pieces of physical correspondence and responding to many more emails. Her office phone rings and breaks her workflow. She looks at the caller ID. It’s Yamada-san.
Chihiro leans toward the phone and sighs. Yamada likes to charge around the halls yelling at people at various times during the workday, but when he wants Chihiro he always calls her and demands that she come to his office. It’s standard practice in the company, but today Chihiro is annoyed by it if she’s completely honest. She’s definitely feeling burnt out and restless if this minor happening again an set her off. She takes a deep breath before answering.
“Yes, Yamada-san?” Chihiro says sweetly when she picks up the phone.
“Ogino-san, please come to my office immediately,” Yamada-san commands. “A very urgent matter has arisen that concerns you.”
“Of course, Yamada-san, I’ll be right there,” Chihiro soothes, and he hangs up abruptly. Chihiro rolls her eyes and takes a sip of her iced green tea, then stands up and buttons her suit jacket. Everything is very urgent to Yamada, so this matter could be a serious client emergency or a complaint about how there’s never enough dark roast in the coffee machine.
Chihiro pockets her phone and walks purposefully down the hall to her boss’s office. She knocks quietly but audibly on the door and looks through the office window, but sees that Yamada is either talking on the phone or pretending to. He holds up one finger to her and then turns back to the phone. It’s not atypical behavior that even when her boss has “a very urgent matter” to discuss with Chihiro, he makes her wait.
After a minute or two Yamada hangs up the phone and beckons Chihiro into the office. She enters and sits down in one of his guest chairs when he gestures at it.
“What is it, Yamada-san? How can I help?” Chihiro asks, polite but firm. Yamada waits a moment, then answers.
“A new client has contacted us about managing some investments for him.” Yamada fiddles with a paper on his desk. “He called me and sent an email to follow up. He appears to be a very high net worth individual so naturally I was going to take care of his account personally. However...” he stops again.
Chihiro waits 15 or 20 seconds, then decides to cut to the chase.
“However...?” she says, looking pointedly at Yamada.
“This new client insists that you be his portfolio manager,” her boss answers, his voice baffled and resentful.
Chihiro is taken aback, but keeps her poise. “Why me?” she asks, curious.
“He says he knows you.”
“Knows me? What’s his name?”
“He only gave his surname. His email is signed ‘Mr. Rivers.’”
“Mr. Rivers?” Chihiro speaks English very well, but she stumbles over this name in surprise. “Is he American? English?”
“If he is, he speaks and writes perfect Japanese,” Yamada sulks.
“Hmm,” Chihiro says, thinking fast. “Well, that name doesn’t immediately ring a bell, but I’ll go check my business contacts on my laptop. Maybe it was someone from my time in the States.”
She says this innocuously, but it’s a not-so-subtle reminder to Yamada that in her late 20s she spent a year at the Nomura office in New York as part of a very prestigious - and very competitive - company exchange program. She knows Yamada applied to the same program years ago and wasn’t accepted.
Yamada frowns and turns pink. “Maybe,” he concedes ungraciously. “I’ll forward this Mr. Rivers your contact information and suggest he make an appointment to meet with you.”
“Thank you so much, Yamada-san,” Chihiro says smoothly and stands up. “I appreciate your letting me know and your sensitive handling of the situation.” She bows.
Yamada inclines his head to be polite but it’s clear he’s furious, although he says nothing. Chihiro bows again and leaves her boss’s office. She goes back to her desk to get ready for her lunch with Haruka, but her head is spinning with this latest development, especially once she checks her contacts, both here and in the US, and finds no “Mr. Rivers” among them.
*****
Late the next afternoon, Chihiro closes her laptop and prepares to meet the mysterious Mr. Rivers. The previous day after lunch, she’d gotten an email from him requesting a one-on-one meeting, specifying this time. She’d emailed him back immediately, sending him some initial paperwork and confidentiality forms and requesting him to send her his financials electronically as soon as possible.
But Mr. Rivers had written back and said there was no need for emails or laptops - he’d bring all the necessary papers with him to their meeting. This emphasis on physical documents makes Chihiro suspect that her mystery client is an older gentleman. She’s racked her brains to think of any older men she even distantly knows - especially Americans or Englishmen - but all of her acquaintance in that category are already settled with other advisors and not interested in transferring their asset management to her.
So Chihiro stands up, puts her suit jacket on over her dress, and takes nothing with her to the meeting but a pen and a notepad. She doesn’t think she’ll need a laptop with this new client and any online work that’s needed she can do after the appointment. She walks down the corridor toward the deluxe conference room that they keep for their top-tier clients, and Yamada joins her at an intersection in the hallway.
“Ah, Ogino-san,” he says, as if in surprise, although It’s clear he’s been lurking there to intercept her on the way to the conference room. “I thought I’d walk down with you to meet this new client. As a gesture of respect. Just to be friendly.”
It’s clear that when Yamada says, “just to be friendly,” he means “just to make sure you don’t screw this up.” Although Chihiro manages the wealth of a number of other high net worth clients, her boss is transparently doubtful of her ability to handle this situation. Chihiro rolls her eyes internally but stays calm. Gracefully navigating all the chauvinism is what helped her get to where she is now, after all.
“Thank you, Yamada-san,” says Chihiro, unruffled. “That is very considerate of you.”
They walk the rest of the way in silence, and although they reach the conference room five minutes before the scheduled meeting time, a gentleman is already waiting inside. Yamada hisses under his breath, and Chihiro knows she’ll be hearing from him about her “lateness” later. Yamada pushes past her into the room and strides up to meet the new client.
“Ah, Rivers-san, it is so good to meet you,” Yamada says. “A thousand apologies that Ogino-san was late to your appointment, I assure you it won’t happen again...”
“Mr. Rivers” turns around, looks pointedly at Yamada-san to stop his chatter, and as he turns his gaze to Chihiro, her chest tightens and she makes an effort not to drop her mouth open in surprise. He’s grown up, with shorter hair, wearing a bespoke suit, but she immediately recognizes him.
It’s Haku.
His piercing green eyes stare into hers for a moment, and then they both smile. Haku bows briefly and coldly to Yamada-san and then steps by him to give a longer bow to Chihiro, which she returns, her heart beating wildly.
“It’s wonderful to see you again, ‘Mr. Rivers,’” says Chihiro, her eyes dancing.
“And equally lovely to see you, Ogino-san,” Haku responds with a larger smile.
“Wait, you two know each other?” Yamada-san breaks in, looking incredulously at Chihiro. Haku’s eyes go cold at the interruption, but he maintains his smile as he turns to her boss.
“Yes, Yamada-san,” Haku says. “We were childhood friends long ago.” His tone turns icier as he continues. “And there is no question of lateness for this meeting, I arrived early.” Again he looks pointedly at Yamada as he says, “Ogino-sama is an excellent worker and an even better friend, and I have every confidence in her ability to manage my finances. And anything else she might put her mind to.”
Chihiro hides a smile. Yamada hides a look of sourness and bows again to Haku.
“I’m sure you’re right,” he says, in a voice that does not sound sure at all.
“I’m sure I am right too, Yamada-san,” Haku rejoins smoothly. “So I’d like to work with Ogino-sama alone for this meeting, and I’ll come and say goodbye to you at the end of it. Thank you so much for greeting me, you’ve been so hospitable.”
It is a dismissal, polite, but with a hint of ruthlessness underneath than even Yamada can’t countenance. Chihiro smiles to herself. Haku wasn’t Yubaba’s apprentice for nothing. Yamada bows reluctantly once more and leaves the room, disappearing beyond the glass wall.
Chihiro ushers Haku into a luxurious leather chair and sits down next to him. She casts a sideways glance at him and notes how well and handsome he looks in his grown-up human body, in his custom suit and silk tie. She’s glad she wore her new Armani dress today. Although she’s never forgotten the circumstances of their friendship 25 years ago, it all comes rushing back to her now with a clarity as if it had happened yesterday.
Out of the corner of her eye she sees movement in the hall.
“You realize that Yamada-san is just out of sight and listening in,” she whispers, barely audible.
“Of course,” Haku murmurs. “And that’s fine, we have nothing to hide.”
In a louder voice, Chihiro says, “So, Rivers-san, again, I’m so happy and honored to see you again and work with you. How are you doing? How is your employer?”
“Ex-employer, I stopped working for her many years ago,” Haku answers, which sends a little thrill of happiness up Chihiro’s spine. She had always hoped he would get away from Yubaba, and sooner rather than later.
“And is she well? Have you seen her lately?”
“Unfortunately, no. She died several years ago and her son took over the business.”
Chihiro is a little sad to hear this. Yes, Yubaba was cruel and greedy, but Chihiro learned a lot from her and developed much of her strength and resolve during her employment with the bathhouse witch.
She still occasionally dreams of that first day in the spirit world, standing on the other side of the bridge, looking up at the bathhouse, smoke rising thickly and steadily from the tall chimney as the flag flutters in the breeze.
“Oh, Rivers-san, I am so sorry to hear this,” says Chihiro, sorrow threading through her voice. “But I am happy to hear that...Boh-san...is running things now. How are all the staff? Are they still there?”
“Yes, but the...facilities manager,” says Haku, glancing up to see the edge of Yamada-san’s shoulder lurking in the hall, “is training his apprentice and replacement, and your...teammate...left to open her own inn and restaurant ten years ago.”
“Oh, good for Lin-san,” Chihiro says. “I bet I can guess what specialty she serves at the restaurant.” They both grin. “And your...former boss’s sister?”
“She’s still living in her cottage with her...companion...and sends her best regards.” Chihiro gets a little choked up to hear that Zeniba is still there. Granny treated her so well and with such kindness and understanding, and she’s never forgotten it. And obviously No-Face has settled down and found a real home. She blinks her eyes a few times to make the tears recede. Haku puts his hand on the table next to hers and discreetly touches the sides of their hands together out of sight of the shoulder in the hallway.
“How are your parents?” Haku asks, eyes sparkling. “Do they remember...anything?”
“Well, you know they were...indisposed...at that time, so no, they don’t,” says Chihiro mischievously. “But my mother tells me she occasionally dreams of sitting at an outdoor cafe with a giant buffet, eating dumplings.”
Chihiro and Haku catch up for a few more minutes, and then Chihiro, who has an almost psychic awareness of her boss’s moods, can tell that Yamada is getting impatient and restless eavesdropping outside the conference room. So she turns the conversation to business.
“So, Rivers-san,” she says briskly. “I am told that you have investments that you want to transfer to our firm. It will be an honor to work with you and serve you in this endeavor.” Her tone is more formal but her eyes are still bright with excitement.
A slow smile crosses Haku’s face. He picks up his leather portfolio off the conference table, opens it, and hands Chihiro a thick piece of paper, almost parchment. On it is an impressive list of assets, primarily in gold and land. He owns real estate all over Japan, including, Chihiro notes with grim satisfaction, the giant apartment complex on the site of the former Kohaku River. Obviously Haku got his revenge on those developers after all.
“Well, Rivers-san,” Chihiro says after a minute or two, loudly and for the benefit of the hallway. “We at Nomura can certainly help you manage these...impressive assets, and it will be our privilege to do so.”
“That is very good news,” Haku says, almost as loudly. “But I’m not as concerned with Nomura as with you. I want you to help me manage all this, as my advisor...and as my partner.”
He puts emphasis on the word partner to make it clear that he’s talking about more than business, and Chihiro’s heart skitters. She looks into Haku’s face and he angles his body to shield them from the conference room window.
“I’ve missed you so much, Chihiro,” Haku whispers, his green eyes mesmerizing as he grabs her hand under the table. “I’ve dreamt of coming back to you for so long.” Quick as a wink he lifts her hand to his mouth and places a feather-light kiss on her knuckles before laying it reverently on the table.
“Well, you did say we’d meet again someday,” Chihiro whispers back, her voice shaky, breath ragged. “I just never thought it would be...here.” She tries valiantly to compose herself.
Haku smiles and turns back so they are again sitting more formally next to each other at the table.
“Oh,” he says out loud, as if he almost forgot. “There’s a piece of real estate that is not on the list but will be helpful for you to know about. A lovely piece of land at Swamp Bottom near the train line came available, and I bought it and built a cottage on it. It’s not too big, but it’s very comfortable.”
“...and it’s not too far from your Granny,” Haku murmurs under his breath.
“That sounds like a very good investment, Rivers-san,” Chihiro says out loud. She has to work to keep the emotion out of her voice, as she knows this cottage is much more than an investment.
“It is,” Haku says firmly. “For various reasons I could not bring the documentation today, but I’ll be happy to share it with you at a future meeting.”
Chihiro smiles inwardly. She knows exactly why Haku couldn’t bring those papers, but she’s not about to say so in such a public setting, even if they’re ostensibly alone.
“I understand completely, Rivers-san,” she says.
“Well, Ogino-san,” Haku says, looking at Chihiro intently. “What do you say to my...proposal?” Like his use of partner earlier, he makes it clear when he says proposal that he means more than business.
Chihiro’s head is spinning but she can’t stop smiling.
“Well, Rivers-san, this is all in order and I look forward to working with you and being your... partner ,” she says out loud. “With all my heart,” she murmurs under her breath.
This is absolutely not what she thought today would bring, but Chihiro’s never been so sure of anything in her life. All the burnout and restlessness have drained out of her and her chest feels warm.
Haku’s eyes flash and he looks at her with love for a few seconds. He gathers the papers into the folio, stands up, and helps Chihiro out of her chair. He gives Chihiro the folder with a deep bow.
“This is yours now,” he says softly. “As am I. Always.” He escorts her out of the conference room.
Outside, Yamada has given up on all pretense of not spying on them and intercepts them in the hallway.
“How was the meeting?” Yamada says in a faux-casual voice. “Rivers-san, I hope Ogino-san has conducted herself well and you are satisfied?”
He looks a little less nicely at Chihiro. “Ogino-san, I hope all went smoothly and you treated our new client well…?” His tone is polite but with an undercurrent of suspicion and distrust.
Haku is so happy, however, that he ignores this passive-aggressive comment and turns to Yamada with a shining face.
“Yamada-san,” he says. “I’m so pleased to tell you that Ogino-sama has accepted my offer of a partnership, and I am now her new client. Thank you so much for reconnecting us,” Haku bows, forcing Yamada to bow back. “And now we’re going to go out for drinks and dinner to celebrate.”
Chihiro bows and says, “Thank you, Yamada-san, I very much appreciate all you’ve done for me. For us .”
Haku grabs Chihiro’s hand as they walk down the hall together, leaving Yamada-san gaping behind them. They stop at Chihiro’s office to grab her purse and coat before heading for the exit.
“Where do you want to go for dinner,” asks Haku in a low voice as they reach the elevators.
“Anywhere,” Chihiro says softly, her heart warm. “As long as I’m with you and you tell me everything .”
Haku smiles and squeezes her hand. The elevator doors open and they walk in.
“I know a very good restaurant attached to a small country inn,” he murmurs, pulling Chihiro close and kissing the top of her head. “The owner will be very happy to see you...and she serves many other delicacies besides roasted newt.”
The elevator doors ding as they close behind them.