G&S Pawnshop (II)

Within G&S Pawnshop on the second floor in the VIP business room. Two people sat facing each other on separate couches. The room would have been completely silent if it wasn't for the air conditioner on the wall that made a humming sound as it tried to fight off the late July heat.

The person sitting on the couch facing the door is a middle-aged man with a steady and scholarly aura about him. He has short black hair and wore round shaped glasses with dark-grey eyes. He wore a dark-gray suit with a light-blue striped tie and black dress shoes. This man is the owner and CEO of the largest and most successful Pawnshop chain in East Asia, G&S Pawnshop; Saneatsu Yokota.

The person sitting on the couch facing the window is a young woman who seems to have just left university with a charming and shrewd aura about her. She has long, soft black hair tied into a ponytail behind her head with mellow light-green eyes. She wore a dark-blue business-suit with a knee-length skirt to match and black dress shoes. This is, of course, Shizu Furusawa, the Kawagoe branch manager of G&S Pawnshop.

They have been sitting in silence for the last ten-minutes, because the person who requested the meeting has yet to arrive. Although it's still a little early before the meeting can be counted as canceled, the clock was ticking.

Shizu Furusawa sat on the couch with her legs crossed in a relaxed posture with a slight smile. But on the inside she was cursing a certain average-looking young man.

Mr. Yokota sat on the couch with his head down, reading a book. He didn't seem to have much confidence in this Mr. Hyoudou appearing, so he brought a book to read while he waits.

Other than the occasional page turning sound and air conditioner fan noise, the room remained silent for another five-minutes. The longer the time passes, the less of a smile on Shizu Furusawa's face. Soon her smile turned into a frown as she questioned and criticized herself in her mind. [Why aren't you here yet, Issei Hyoudou!] She sighed with a wary look on her face. [Why did I risk my career on a young man I just met? What was I thinking, I'm such an idiot!]

"Miss Furusawa, Mr. Hyoudou from yesterday is here." The clerk's voice came from the door.

Mr. Yokota lifted his head from his book with astonishment, but soon returned to his natural calm look and set his book aside. "Although slightly late he came."

Like a person who came from hell and went to heaven, Shizu Furusawa's eyes brightened with a radiant smile on her face. She quickly got up from the couch and stood behind Saneatsu Yokota, then instructed the clerk outside the door. "Let him in."

Soon, an average-looking young man that looked like he should still be in school entered carry a small red chest followed by a clerk. The young man had short black hair and cyan-blue eyes. He wore a simple dark-gray shirt with black shorts and black shoes.

An odd light flashed in his eyes as Mr. Yokota observed the young man who supposedly has a massive sum of gold coins. [He's so young…]

Arthur placed the small red chest on the table and bowed with an apologetic smile. "Sorry I'm late."

"That's fine." Mr. Yokota smiled calmly and motioned for him to sit down. "Have a seat. Ill have someone bring you a cup of iced-tea."

"That would be great." Arthur sat down on the couch with a calm smile and reached out with his palm. "Issei Hyoudou."

Mr. Yokota reached out and shook Arthur's hand with a smile. "Saneatsu Yokota. Owner and CEO of G&S Pawn." He motioned towards the small red chest on the table with curiosity. "This is…"

"Gold coins." Arthur smiled and opened the small red chest, showing the bright gold coins. Taking a sip of the iced-tea that the clerk offered, he glanced at the surprised Shizu Furusawa behind Mr. Yokota with a look saying, 'see, I wasn't lying'.

Understanding what the look Arthur gave meant. Shizu Furusawa gave Arthur a charming glance fill with anger, like saying 'you better be'.

"Mr. Hyoudou." Mr. Yokota glanced at the gold in the box with a calm look, but a shrewd light flashed in his eyes. "If you don't mind, I would like to have my people check this gold before we continue to talk."

"Go right ahead." Arthur shook his head and took another sip of iced-tea calmly.

The clerk stepped forward and struggled to take the slightly heavy, small red chest out of the room. Followed by Shizu Furusawa, who went to oversee the operation.

The room fell silent once again, with only the humming of the air conditioning making the most noise. Mr. Yokota broke the silence first. He glanced at the relaxed, average-looking young man across from him and asked. "You should still be in school, right?"

"Yeah." Arthur nodded with a reminiscing look on his face, but soon shook his head with a wry smile. "Maybe some day Ill return to school." A subtle light flashed in his eyes. [There are plenty of anime, movie, tv show and books surrounding schools.]

Ten-minutes later, the clerk and Shizu Furusawa returned. Shizu Furusawa handed a piece of paper to Mr. Yokota, while the clerk struggled to return the small red chest back to its spot on the table near Arthur.

Mr. Yokota glanced down and read the paper with a shocked flash in his eyes, then passed it to Arthur with a calm smile. "Here."

Arthur took the paper and read it, but saw nothing he didn't already know. The paper stated that all one-thousand coins were pure gold weighing around two-ounces each, with an estimated price in gold of 330 Million Yen. He placed the paper to the side and glanced at Saneatsu Yokota with a calm smile. "This is just one-thousand. I still have twenty-thousand I plan on selling."

"How do you plan on selling them?" A shrewd light flashed in Mr. Yokota's eyes as he stared at Arthur with a serious look. "I can't afford to buy so much gold at once."

"I never thought of selling them to you." Arthur shook his head with a smile. "I plan on selling them through you."

"Oh?" Mr. Yokota tapped on the table with an interesting smile. "Go on."

Arthur coughed and motioned to the clerk near the door with a dry look. "Can you go get me some more iced-tea please?"

The clerk hesitated and looked at his boss. Mr. Yokota's eyes flashed a strange light and nodded. The clerk bowed and left.

Once the clerk left, Arthur's face turned serious as he stared at Mr. Yokota. "I have four chests filled with five-thousand gold coins each, plus this one-thousand chest. So I need five buyers. You help me find five buyers that I agree with and do me a favor. Ill give you five-hundred million yen after selling the gold coins."

The room fell silent as Mr. Yokota tapped on the table with a thoughtful look, then asked in a low voice. "What is the favor?"

[This better work.] Arthur thought wearily, but still had a calm smile on his face as he leaned back into the couch. "I need a legal identity."

"Legal identity?" Mr. Yokota and Shizu Furusawa both had stunned looks on their faces.

"Yes. A legal identity." Arthur shook his head with a forced smile and made up a story. "I was born in a small country called Takistan. As I grew up, my parents told me about Japan, where they were born. Because I've always wanted to live in Japan after my parents died in an accident, I used some of the gold they left me and got someone to smuggle me into the country. Now I'm here but I can't do much without a legal identity."

Shizu Furusawa looked at the average-looking Issei Hyoudou and felt a deep sadness for this little man who lost his parents so young.

Mr. Yokota nodded his head with a shrewd light in his eyes. Although that requirement may be hard for others but for him it's easy to handle. The real problem is the buyers. "What are your requirements for the buyers?"

"My primary requirement is that they're from another country." A sly light glowed in Arthur's eyes. "My secondary requirement is that they must work both night and day."

"The first one is easy to handle but…" Mr. Yokota had a look of confusion on his face. "What does working both night and day mean?"

"Uh…" Arthur shook his head with a forced smile and explained. "Meaning they do both illegal and legal business."

Mr. Yokota lowered his head in thought for a second, then raised it with narrowed eyes. "Why?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't explain why." Arthur shook his head with an awkward smile.

The room fell silent while Mr. Yokota seemed to play out the pros and cons inside his mind. The first person to break the silence wasn't anybody in it. There was a knock on the door, and the clerk's voice came from outside. "Miss Furusawa, may I enter?"