A Story in Yokohama -9 【Known as the Diplomat's House in Yokohama】
A Story in Yokohama【 Subtitled "Longing"】-9
Ono was bewildered.
Because what he was told was right on the money.
“You're a tax accountant, but you're a hell of a bastard, using an advertising company to evade taxes on your clients.”
Ono couldn't hang up the phone when he was told so straightforwardly.
"What the hell do you want to do?"
"A person who calls himself a tax accountant was involved in tax evasion. Take responsibility."
"Who the hell are you?"
"You are not in a position to ask me."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Quit tax accountant."
"I can’t do that."
"So I'll take it up with your clients. I'm going to talk to the director of the hospitals and I'm going to tell the press that you are colluding with the tax accountant to evade taxes."
"You don't know anything about my clients."
"They say set a thief to catch a thief. That's pretty easy to figure out. If not, I'll notify every hospital in the prefecture."
"Don't be silly."
"Next stop, the media, and then the tax authorities."
"Hey, can’t you do something about it?"
"I'll talk to the prosecutors. They're good with the Taxation Bureau and they'd be happy to jump on a case of a tax accountant giving advice on tax evasion."
"How much?"
"I'm not going to be an accomplice to taking money from you."
"I'll do what I can, so stop it."
"I'll give you three days to close your business or I'll charge you if you don't."
Ono consulted with his lawyer and decided to meet with his opponent in person to find out his true intentions.
Without knowing the real intentions, it was impossible to take action.
Ono contacted the opponent and was instructed to come alone to the restaurant on the fifth floor of the Hotel New Grand.
He was assigned the seat on the far left, facing the harbor.
He was secretly accompanied by a lawyer, but somehow the restaurant was full and the lawyer could not get in, so the lawyer had to wait in a lobby.
The man who was waiting for Ono said,
"I've ordered lunch. Let's eat first."
Ono hardly went down his throat.
As he drank his after-dinner coffee, the man said,
"I'm going to save you, I want you to come with me to the upper room where there are no other people."
"I don't know who you are."
"You can talk to me, or you can leave and face charges."
"Wait a minute."
Ono was about to call for a lawyer, but was cut off.
"I know your lawyer is waiting in the lobby."
"What?"
"You're here to see what I'm really thinking, aren't you? This isn't the place to discuss our true thoughts and feelings, so let's talk about it in a calm place."
Unavoidably, Ono got on the lift with the man.
The room was a large suite.
Ono had expected to be asked for money, but it was opposite.
"I'll give you 100 million yen."
"What do you mean?"
“You've done a bad thing. Let the office go.”
“It's an important office I inherited from my father. I won't let it go.”
“Don't be so stubborn. I' just get a real accountant to do it for me.”
“What? No.”
“How can you refuse my offer to retain your practice?”
“I…”
“Give it up and take money.”
“Who'll be in charge?”
"At least not you. Some decent guy."
"I'm making a living."
"Well, you won't be able to drive around in a Ferrari, but you can make a decent living on 100 million. If you want to leave your office and go into business elsewhere, I won't bother you. Your office will be managed by my lawyers for the time being. I'll find someone else to do the job in due course."
"I suppose you plan to make money that way, but I can't accept that you're all of a sudden saying that."
"I'm not going to make any money from this. I just don't like the way a tax attorney like you is behaving in this town."
"If I'm not convinced, then you should be in trouble too."
"You're missing the point. You'll be ruined or you'll get your money."
Ono was distressed.
Commentary
The main characters in the first part of the story are Naomi (the heiress), Yuichi (a tax accountant), and J (Yuichi's friend).
J rose to prominence in the world of the yakuza, and Yuichi became a tax accountant after graduating from college, but their relationship has been unbroken.
J accepted Yuichi's wish and set out to acquire the office of a tax accountant with a large number of clients.
・・・To be continued・・・