Friendly Fire? The death of Mr. Ito had the inevitable result of propelling his deputy, Mr. Saito, into the vacant office of Minister of Defense. It would take at least a month for the Prime Minister’s party to install a permanent replacement – that’s how long Mr. Saito had to make his case to be that replacement. Of course, Gyoshin cared very little about this development, since the government would be history long before then, though perhaps the distraction might prove useful. Also, since her boss brought her along with him – who else could he trust? – as his Principal Secretary, her new, much more generous expense account would only be overseen by herself. However, the car service and related perks of the new job only made her uncomfortable. “It looks like you were right,” Jin-san conceded. “Not killing Saito-san has already paid a dividend.” Sitting in Minoru’s personal suite on the fifty third floor of the Midtown Tower – nominally managed by the hotel that occupied the top nine floors of the building, but reserved year-round for the Soga family – Gyoshin thought she understood Jin-san’s hatred of the Crown Princess more clearly than ever.
