Classroom of the Elite: Machinations

Location: Shinjuku, Tokyo

A couple days had passed.

It was early morning and the sun had begun its routine ascent, lighting the dark which had reigned supremacy during the night. The quiet streets of Shinjuku had come back to life, as people prepared for their upcoming day, and the gentle hum of car engines filled the atmosphere of the waking city.

In a luxurious penthouse at the top of a high-rise building, a man was resting in his king-sized bed with a woman clinging onto him. Thin rays of the rising sun gilded his face, the subtle growing warmth across his face awakened him from his stupor. With a few blinks, his brown eyes turned to the woman next to him, before shaking her off from his arm and pushing the sheets off from his torso, exposing her once covered breasts to his gaze.

Turning his body to the right, hunching over the side with his palms flat on the silky white sheets, his brown gaze locked with the flashing screen of his phone that had been put on silent mode the night prior. The movement caused the woman to toss and turn slightly as her body sank deeper into the mattress with the shift of weight.

Picking up his phone, he scrolled through his notifications absentmindedly with an indifferent expression until a particular text caught his attention. It was from one of his most trusted subordinates informing the man that he would be visiting his penthouse early this morning today to deliver some important news.

"What's so urgent for him to contact me this early?" he muttered under his breath, his tone laced with a tinge of annoyance and curiosity at the reason behind his subordinate's message.

With a low sigh, the man, Ryosuke Tanaka, slowly lifted himself up from the bed, opening the nearby closet and grabbing the white robe that was perched on one of the hangers. He walked towards the large glass sliding door situated in front of his bed and drew the curtains to the side. Staring at the subtle reflection in the sliding door's glass revealed his grey hair, brown eyes, and a healthy constitution despite his old age of 71.

Upon drawing the curtains the young woman gradually woke from her slumber, rubbing her eyes before meeting Ryosuke's gaze.

"The money's on top of the bedside drawer. Make yourself scarce immediately," Ryosuke said coolly, whilst glancing over his shoulder, before turning back to the window.

Without a care in the world, she gracefully picked herself up from the king-sized bed, swiftly wearing the clothes that lay on the floor before picking up the money that Ryosuke had left on the bedside drawer. She carefully counted the money before turning on her heels and exiting the room, the sound of her heels clacking with the marble surface on the lower floor faded into the luxurious penthouse with the growing distance.

Ryosuke's thoughts soon shifted to the current political landscape of Japan, especially with the emergence of new players who he has to monitor closely to ensure the next election did not slip out of his grasp like it had last time. He was fully aware that the Peace Party's glory in the past had dwindled in the present era, even if they had maintained their status as one of the two major political parties in Japan.

Having been in the Japanese political game for many years, Ryosuke was a seasoned veteran in politics, always knowing the right words to say to win the favour of people. But with the appearance of contenders like Senator Kijima in the Citizens' Party, Ryosuke felt himself being pushed back with the times, his skills being rendered obsolete in the face of the new generation's talent.

This thought alone angered him a great deal. He had worked hard to obtain and maintain his position as a prominent politician in the Peace Party, scheduled to be their candidate who would represent the party in the next elections. By using underhanded tactics to push out the younger generations from contending the position of party representative, and undermining the other old guards in his Party, Ryosuke had clawed his way to the top of the party as the undisputed leading individual to represent the Peace Party in the next election.