Haruko Suzuki, heir to a venerable Tokyo establishment, arrives in Kyoto to fulfill her father's two final wishes: sell the family property, Yuuga, and care for the geisha Kayoko until her retirement. But the Yamazaki Group takes advantage of the situation, revising the valuation, turning veteran shareholders, and manipulating the stock price. A carefully plotted insider-trading scheme begins to close in.
Kyoto is a deep and dangerous place. The teahouse Yuko may seem filled with song and dance, but in the shadows lurks the world of the Fujino Group, which has held sway there for years. Haruko's twelve-year longing for Kayoko becomes the most dangerous secret of all, trapped between the rule that geisha sell only their art and the covetous eyes of Kyoto's largest crime syndicate. When a fire destroys the old residence and shareholders defect at the last minute, Haruko finally understands: if you have no one to rely on, become the one others rely on. Joining forces with her family's allies in Tokyo, she shorts Yamazaki and lays a trap using an auction as bait. Gunshots ring out, the gavel falls, the net closes. Yesterday's hunters become prisoners. And the greatest insider-trading scheme her father carried out before his death turns out to have used Yuuga as bait to carve out a path to safety for his daughter, while also preserving the person dearest to her heart. From "She's Daddy's possession" to "She's a shareholder in Yuuga," from the capitalist hunting grounds to a century-old teahouse. When the dust finally settles, a withered branch in a jade vase is replaced by fresh bamboo. Haruko Suzuki finally stands beside Kayoko, watching the moonlight of Kyoto fall across the steps of Tokyo.
This is a contest of desire, rules, and true affection. Business warfare cuts like a blade, while love burns fiercely beneath a quiet surface. Open this book and see how a twelve-year longing finds its happy ending amid the ashes.
Theme: Women's growth, love, and family affection against the backdrop of a changing era
