[IC] OFFICE WARS!

Line Break

Line Break
_{「 O P : U S S E E W A ~ A D O | E D : C H E R R Y M E R R Y ~ A L S T A K E 」}

1 Hostile Takeover - Link

Chapters

[Blu]

Invisible Line Break FTW!

Netsu Tanashi, twenty-seven—an accountant working for the Taishi Corporation—is seen walking alongside a train platform at sunset and stops when he reaches a specific transfer line to await his train. "There are times in my life where I think, 'I might actually die from being overworked.'" On the train, Netsu struggles to stay awake as his head bops to and fro; his chocolate leather messenger bag resting in his lap while in his embrace. "I frankly feel underappreciated and exploited. The overtime rate isn't anything to brag about." He finally succumbs to his exhaustion as his head falls onto some stranger's shoulder.

At home—a modest one-bedroom apartment—and in his pajamas, Netsu is feeding his goldfish an appropriate amount of flakes with a slight smile visible on his face. He seems content; perhaps happy even. "But then I think..." Next, he is seen sitting cross-legged in bed talking on the phone with someone. "Even someone like me has people who'll be sad if I suddenly disappear." The visual imagery of his family and his goldfish appears in his mind. "No matter how grueling the work is, I can't just give up and die. They need me-

"Trust me, Tana-chin. None of the bosses will miss you if you suddenly bite it."

That line brought Netsu abruptly out of his train of thought. As it turns out, Netsu was simply talking to his neighbor at work; which is where they're currently are: at the main offices in Shibuya. "I wasn't referring to them actually-"

"We're just cogs in a giant corporate shit machine, dude. Easily replaceable. Man, it pisses me off." A man of similar age to Netsu with blonde-dyed hair leans back in his chair, frustrated. "By the way, that expense report done yet?"

"Huh? Oh, right..." Netsu types a few lines on his keyboard and proceeds to print something out. He turns his chair to face right and hands the fresh report to his neighbor. "Here you go, Kurosawa-"

His neighbor promptly snatches it out of his hand. "Thanks, dude. You're the man! I would've done it myself last night but the game was on and me and some buddies totally got way too hammered."

Netsu politely nods. "It's no problem."

"Oh shit, boss's coming!" Kurosawa quickly hides himself behind his cubicle. A middle-aged manager with something of a gut stops at Netsu's desk. "Hey Tanashi, I'm gonna need you to cover a few extra hours today. That okay?" He asks.

"Actually, I have somewhere I need to b-"

"Great, thanks." The manager simply walks away before Netsu could finish giving an answer. Kurosawa is quick to pop back into view. "Well, I guess you can make the case that they would miss their #1 Mook if you died. Man, you gotta stop letting people take advantage of you." Netsu stares blankly at his computer screen; an empty feeling fills his chest.

Invisible Line Break FTW!

Once again, Netsu finds himself sleeping on the train on his commute to work. Next to him is a cardboard drink carrier full of coffee cups. He's made it something of a habit to bring refreshments for his coworkers in the morning, even if no one realizes it's his doing. Just then, an unidentifiable figure in a heavy coat stops in front of the dozing salaryman. He wears a cold scowl, and the upper half of his face is hidden by a fedora. In his right hand, he holds... a drink carrier full of coffee cups also?

Back at work, Netsu walks into the employee breakroom and sets the coffee onto a nearby table; taking one for his own and leaving the rest for any interested coworkers. Walking out the room, he picks a corner to stand by while counting down the time until work starts. He's typically not noticed by anyone, so he has the advantage of overhearing the office chatter.

Unexpectedly, a voice comes over on the PA system. "Everyone to the conference room in ten minutes. We have a special announcement we'd like to share with you all." Immediately, the office livens with the sound of gossip.

"That was Mr. Hanazawa's voice. He doesn't usually make announcements." Kotsuki Hanazawa—otherwise known as the Demon Middle Manager to his underlings. His grimly serious demeanor could peel paint off the walls. And he rarely, if ever, makes a personal visit down to the 43rd floor. Netsu wonders what this could be about as he takes a quick sip of his drink. "Ugh... What's wrong with today's coffee? Tastes strangely stale. I should dispose of the rest before anyone grabs one." Out of morbid curiosity, Netsu goes in for another sip. "Hmm..."

[Crimson Flame]

Kenji Yamamoto sat at his desk listen to some woman rant about her noisy neighbors, as if the company has anything to do with that. Oh but that didn’t stop this woman from going on and on and on about how her neighbors keep her up at night, and that we should do something about that or give her compensation for her trouble. When he tried telling her, in his best customer service voice that all sales were final, and that they didn’t have any authority over the noisy neighbors, she just kept right on talking. Complaining about how this was unacceptable and blah blah blah. He wished he could reach through the phone and strangle this stupid woman. She had been talking for 15 minutes now and would not shut up. He tried to put her through to his manager, but of course he won’t answer. Even the managers don’t want to deal with this bitch…

When he finally got that woman off the phone, Kenji only had a 2 minutes to breathe before their was another rude customer ready to take her place. Were these people just waiting by the phone all day? Did they have nothing better to do with their lives than to complain about every trivial thing? It never ends! He was seething.

When the day finally ended, he came home to his small apartment, and his cat. The only one who understood him. Of course, he got no callbacks for any of the auditions he went on… typical…

The next morning

Another day, another 8 hours of being yelled at by stupid people. When will his big break come so he can be free from this?

He went to the break room, where there was already a bunch of coffee waiting for him. How convenient! As he was drinking the hot beverage, an announcement from Mr. Hanazawa came over the PA system telling everyone to report to the conference room in 10 minutes. Wonderful. What on earth did he want? Well, at least there would be some delay before starting work.

The coffee was oddly stale… but Kenji didn’t have the time to complain about it now. There was a coworker present. He forced that stale coffee down, and put on a smile. “Hey buddy. That coffee is pretty stale. I wouldn’t suggest drinking that. Haha!” He said while giving the coworker a pat on the back. “Sooo, what do you think Hanazawa-sama wants to talk about? It’ll be nice to get a little break from work huh?”

[SouffleGirl123]

Ayaka and Haru Hirota sit across from each other at the small, black dining table of their little 2 bedroom apartment. Set neatly next to a pushed aside vase of sunflowers sat a stack of envelopes. Under the table, the family's corgi, Kawaii, was happily cleaning up the remains of their toddler's stubborn- and half successful- attempt to feed herself her chicken stir fry dinner. The pair seemed to silently looking between the envelopes and the ground, avoiding the topic at hand. Ayaka took a sip of the contents of her mug, a herbal tea she swears calms her in the evenings. The small family were able to live comfortably off of the dual income of the pair and after Ayaka's maternity leave had run dry Haru's plumbing job was more than enough to keep the family going without having to delve too deep into their savings. After his accident injuring his back, the worker's comp alongside Ayaka's receptionist income was also more than enough to keep them afloat but now a year was to pass the worker's comp was starting to run dry and although the family had enough saving to help for a while it was obvious that if they were living off Ayaka's income alone they would have to live more tightly.

"I could pick up overtime?" Ayaka offers gently, pursing her lips.

"That's not fair on you," Haru replies almost instantly, as if he knew this would be the conclusion his wife would draw, "Not to mention, unfair for Kasumi, she needs her mother around,"

Ayaka sighs in reply, he was right.

"I should find a job. We can enrol Kasumi in daycare? You were going to go back to work when she was around this age anyway,"

"You can't go back to plumbing, Haru, it could destroy your back,"

"No, no, I'll find an office job or something," This idea caused a small chuckle to escape Ayaka, it was hard to imagine her husband with all his pent up energy to sit in a small cubicle taping at a keyboard all day but it might be their best chance, "Maybe I'll study computers or something as well, get a really good job- you wouldn't have to work a day in your life if you don't want to,"

""How about for now I'll pick up a little overtime, just enough to not have to delve deep into savings while you look for a job and we'll go from there," Ayaka reasons softly. Haru gives a small nod, getting up to massage Ayaka's shoulder's and she was sure all would be okay.

---

The next day

---

Childish giggles came from the Hirota residence as Ayaka planted fast paced kisses around little Kasumi's face. "Stop, stop!" the 2 year old jestingly giggled. Ayaka eventually pulls back.

"Fine, fine," Ayaka chuckles, ruffling her daughter's hair and standing up.

"No, no, again mummy!" Kasumi complains, gripping onto her leg and pouting. Ayaka knew what she was doing, her leaving often turned into Kasumi's game to try and make her stay and that truly hurt Ayaka in the soul.

"Sorry, baby, mum has to go to work," Ayaka says gently, freeing her leg from Kasumi's grasp. "But you be good for daddy, ok?" she instructs before farewelling her husband with a kiss on the cheek and leaving the pair to their own devices.

---

Ayaka arrived to work with a good 20 minutes to spare, trains were unpredictable so she always left home with time to spare just in case. She gave a sigh, letting the worries of her home life fade as her smile grew and she stepped into the break room where her coworkers were awaiting the start of their day. "Good morning everyone!" she greets her team cheerily, placing her lunch bag into the employee fridge. She turns on her heel to see the tray of coffee sitting on the table. "Thank you whoever brought coffee!" she calls out with a smile, grabbing one. She gave it a sip, the stale tasting liquid hitting her tongue. Her face scrunched for only a moment but partially out of politeness and respect for her generous coworker and partially out of I've tasted worse things she took her coffee with her as she retreats to the edge of the room to catch up with a work friend, a young woman in sales.

"Everyone to the conference room in ten minutes. We have a special announcement we'd like to share with you all." came the voice of her boss, Mr Hanazawa, over the intercom. Ayaka freezes as a wave on anxiety hit her. What could he possibly want? He scarcely reported directly to the lower class team. What if he was going to fire them all? Cut their pay? She very much doubt this was good new call, he wasn't a generous enough man for such.

"Are you okay. Ayaka?" Emi, the saleswoman Ayaka was talking to asks, concerned. It was in that moment Ayaka realized she was sweating slightly and turning pale. She wipes the beads of sweat off of her forehead with the back of her hand.

"Of course!" Ayaka replies, giving an unconvincing smile, "Come on, let's see what the big man wants,"

[Eviledd1984]

@Blu @SouffleGirl123

Kentaro Mishima

A loud alarm started blaring inside the small bedroom that Kentaro was currently in. A large hand reached over to gently slap the snooze button on the machine. “Damn it, I was having such a good dream.” Said dream was of him in a jacuzzi with some beautiful women, while a man dressed as a mime was making paninis’. The older man slowly gets out of his bed after stretching his arms and legs. Doing his regular morning routine of brushing his teeth, and getting dressed for work. Picking his usual outfit of a garish jacket and tie. The rest of his outfit seemed something from the 1970s. Smoking a cigarette while having a cup of coffee, sitting on his balcony watching the people on the street. His mind wandered to how his day was going to go, he hoped that it would be at the very least entertaining. After finishing his cigarette and coffee, he put out his cigarette and put away his coffee cup. Locking his door, while making sure that it was locked by jiggling the handle. Heading down the stairs and towards his car. The drive over to the office was quite uneventful.

Walking into the lobby of the office, Smiling at the reflection while snapping his fingers. Pointing at his reflection with his fingers shaped like guns. Pointing his finger guys at the security guard in the lobby, “Yo, how are you guys doin? Ya, see the baseball game yesterday? It was a close game between the Tigers and the Giants.” Walking towards the elevator, he whistled at some women passing by him. The elevator ride was quite awkward for the people riding with Kentaro. Kentaro was trying to make small talk, while also giving inappropriate compliments to the women around him. The other employees were quickly rushing out of the elevator when it came time for them to leave. Ken got off on his floor and went straight towards the coffee sitting on the counter, "Thanks Netsu-kun". Looking around the break room, before pouring a bit of rum from a flask into his cup. Drinking a little from the coffee cup, he noticed Ayaka coming into the break room. “OH Ayaka-chan, how are you? You are looking very beautiful in that outfit~” The older man smiled, his eyes scanning over her body.

“I have some reports for you to fill out later. if you would be able to get that done by the end of the day that would be great.” He took another sip of his coffee, hearing the announcement causing him to roll his eyes. Mr. Hanazawa just wants to talk about ways for the team to work harder. “We can talk about the reports later Ayaka-chan~".” Winking at Ayaka before walking towards the conference room. Trying to make some small talk with another office woman.

[Vertigo]

wrong tab whoop

will edit my post in here later then so this doesn't go to waste |D

[Blu]

---

INTERACTIONS: @Crimson Flame @SouffleGirl123 @Eviledd1984 @Vertigo

---

When Netsu walks back into the break room in order to dispose of the rest of the stale coffee, the drink carrier is now entirely empty and several of his colleagues are walking around with cups in hand. Oops... Netsu looks at each one of them nervously. Should he tell them it was his coffee and apologize for inconveniencing them? Or should he keep quiet and hope, with enough time, they'll forget all about it. But before he can even make a decision, a coworker of his—Kenji Yamamoto of customer service—approaches Netsu and pats him on the back and tells him to avoid the coffee. Netsu only looks more nervous as a result of the throwaway comment.

When asked about what he thought of the meeting call, Netsu replies, "I-It's definitely rare for Hanazawa-sama to make his way down to the 43rd floor. Must be important. A-About that coff-"

Kurosawa walks up to the pair and interrupts the conversation. "Yo, Tana-chin, and- Huh? Oh, hey, Yamamoto, bro! You catch the game last night? Giants shit the bed again! I had a hundred bucks ridin' on them. Talk about a run of bad luck lately." He sighs. "Well, we should get this meeting over with. At least it's nice to get a little break from work, huh?"

Netsu suddenly looks at Kurosawa with the same nervous energy. "Kurosawa-san... You didn't drink any of the coffee on the table, did you...?"

"There was coffee?"

Some time later, everyone has taken their seats in the conference room to await the arrival of their superior. As usual, Netsu is seated in the back of the room next to Kurosawa who was playing on his phone. "I wonder what this could be about?" Just as the thought hit him, in comes two sharply-dressed men: one is Hanazawa—the Demon Middle Manager—as expected and, the other, is someone who has never been seen around here before; characterized by a wicked scar across his temple. As quickly as they entered, things quieted down.

While the presence of the other man is certainly noteworthy, something truly bizarre lies before Netsu's eyes. On either sides of his forehead, Hanazawa has two tiny protruding black horns; they really make him live up to his unofficial nickname. Is this some kind of office prank? Netsu looks around and most of the people here look unaware of the odd additions.

"Alright, thank you all for coming," Hanazawa begins; his grimly serious demeanor is sharply-felt by the room as always. "It's been kept a secret for the past several weeks, but today I'm proud to announce that the Taishi Corporation has been officially bought by the Goe Group: an international conglomerate that owns some of the biggest brands in the world." Whispers are slow to turn into congratulatory applause.

One worker raises his hand to ask a question. "First off: that's wonderful news. I've don't think I ever heard of the Goe Group before, but they must be a powerhouse of a conglomerate if they can afford to purchase Taishi. Just one question. What does this mean for us?"

Hanazawa stares the man down, causing an oppressively ominous presence to fill the room. The man with the scar chuckles in response. "Now, now, Hanazawa. I can answer that question."

"Yes, sir."

The man with the scar steps to the front of the room and adjusts his tie. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of Taishi. My name is Suzuki Beritsu."

"Beritsu? Is that a foreign name?"

"I'm a board member and one of the acting representatives of the Goe Group. I've come here to personally assure you to expect nothing but positive changes over this transitionary period. We believe that with our help, the Taishi Corporation will not only see an unprecedented rise in profits, but also a dramatic improvement to work conditions. At first, you can expect to go about every day as you normally would. Over the coming months, however, this environment will gradually change into one that greatly benefits all. Through diligence and hard work: may we all succeed in this wondrous new era of Taishi." An appropriate applause follows the end of that short but seemingly promising speech. "Unfortunately, that's all the time I have for today, but I look forward to coming back here regularly to speak with all of you hardworking men and women. If you have more questions: feel free to direct them to Hanazawa-san." Beritsu exits the room.

"You can come to me in your free time if you have something to ask. Other than that, you are free to return to your work."

[SouffleGirl123]

Kentaro was already present when Ayaka walked into the room. As he greeted her and commented on her outfit she gave a light exacerbated sigh. "Kentaro-san," Ayaka greets him simply. Usually Ayaka would find amusement in good-natured flirty remarks and would take pleasure in any chance she got to use that voice of hers but there was something about Kentaro's... was it humour or was he truly that full of himself? Ayaka swore that in the rare moments a caring soul took light but they were so fleeting she was unsure if it were true or her tendency to want to see good in her peers. Regardless his remarks fell much more on the sleazy side than general entertainment and thus Ayaka struggled to find pleasure in most of their many conversations.

As Kentaro brought up reports Ayaka gave a nod, "Of course, just bring them over in the next couple of hours," and with that returns to her conversation with Emi.

---

Ayaka expelled a sigh of relief as the announcement was called. She was safe... for now. Generally Ayaka didn't care for the politics of the company. The Taishi could change hands and upper management would care and she couldn't care less but something seemed... off about this situation. She twiddled her pen in her fingers between writing points for the recap email she was to send out. She scrawled half-cohesive sarcastic thoughts that would undoubtedly need to be highly reworked or removed from the proper sent put version- Ayaka didn't need Hanazawa's scurinty.

Rich to get richer she scrawled
Useless vague 'we're making a good change' comment, sure you are buddy

Ayaka looked up again noticing something on Hanazawa's head. Were they horns? No, they couldn't be. She blinked a few times to adjust her eyes. What else could they be though? The sleep deprivation and her 2 year old's imagination must be driving her mad. Still, she returned to her notepad

The Demon Middle Manager is taking his title way too seriously

Eventually the group were dismissed. Ayaka gave a small bow to her boss and his new superior and retired to her desk. She slipped into her swivel chair and wheeled herself to her desk where she logged in to her computer, insulting it a couple of times as it's cold screen instructed her her password was wrong (all though she was positive she was right.)

"Let me in, your stupid hunk of metal!" she snaps, giving the monitor a gentle whack, at that it finally let her in. A smile resurfaced on Ayaka's face as she went to work, opening all of the calendars of sales representatives and complaints officers, ready to book in calls and consultations. It would be a good day she decided.

[Eviledd1984]

@Blu

Kentaro Mishima

During the course of the meeting, Kentaro was sipping his coffee while eyeballing the women he found particularly beautiful. Planning on trying to get them on a date with him after this meeting. His job mostly consisted of sending out emails, and monitoring the employees that they are doing their job. Noticing the strange man in the business suit, and the man with the scar his eyes moving over towards them. He was seated next to Netsu. He had not seen them before. The man in the suit looked like an exec, while the man looked like a temp or new hire. Being quickly reminded of his old life, a few beads of sweat ran down his face. There was this bad feeling in his gut from seeing these two. He hoped they were not here, looking for him. He still had some grudges with some bad apples. The horns on one of the man's heads were not a good sign, thinking he was hallucinating thanks to the rum. Taking a moment to look at his flask a couple of seconds. Before quickly snapping back into reality. Sinking down in his seat a little, while taking bigger gulps of his coffee. During the middle of Hanazawa's speech, Kentaro had finished his cup and was drinking from his flask.

He especially didn’t like that the company was being bought out by another unknown company. He wondered who this Goe group was, he would have to get Ayumi to look into this company. She was always good with finding dirt on people and wondered if she could find something on them. Listening to the man with the scar now calling himself Beritsu answering questions. Kentaro’s bad feeling meter was going off the charts. There was something very fishy going on, and he planned on getting to the bottom of it. Kentaro was probably the only one that was not clapping along with the others.

After the meeting was over, Kentaro rushed over to his office. Getting onto his computer, and researching everything he could on the Goe group. But he couldn’t find anything suspicious about them. He wanted to know more about this mysterious company. Fast walking towards Netsu's office, "Hi, did you notice anything weird about that Hanazawa guy? I don't know if was hallucinating, but I swore I saw devil horn on em."

[Crimson Flame]

Kenji’s conversation with Netsu barely started, when that idiot Kurosawa started talking about a baseball game. Kenji still kept a smile, but inside he was seething. Why does this idiot think I give a flying fuck about sports?! Is that the only thing the men in this company care about? Overly muscular men hitting a ball? How boring! Nevertheless, he still had to maintain a pleasant demeanor. He put on his best customer service voice. “Oh, yes that’s unfortunate Kurosawa-san. They’ll do better in the next game, I’m sure.”

Soon it was time for the meeting to begin. Shortly after everyone had arrived, Hanazawa and a handsome man with a scar on his temple had walked into the room. What was odd about this situation was that Hanazawa had two black horns protruding from his forehead, and no one noticed anything odd about that at all… Kenji kept silent about it, since no one else seemed to notice.

Apparently, Taishi had been bought by a larger company, and to expect positive changes and blah blah blah. Kenji would believe it when he saw it. Still, he wished for Beritsu to keep talking. Partly because the man was easy on the eyes, and partly because the longer he spoke, the less he would have to be on the phones with customers…

But, he eventually left, and Kenji had to return to work. With a sigh, he went back to his desk, and picked up the phone. “Thank you for calling Taishi Corporation. How can I help you?” And was once again berated by an angry customer.

[Vertigo]

𝒜𝓎𝓊𝓂𝒾 𝑀𝓊𝓇𝒶𝓉𝒶

__________________________________________________

At precisely 7 AM, the office doors flung wide open. The heavy click of heels filled an otherwise quiet office corridor, turning the heads of any worker still waffling about over their morning coffees. Some bowed their heads, some scrambled away to their desks and an unfortunate, dumb few approached Ayumi with a greeting.

The first was a middle-aged man, holding his oversized glasses in place with one hand, grasping a cup of coffee with the other. "Good morning, Murata-san!" His grip on the glasses gave way for a wave, and they immediately slipped off his face.

Ayumi caught them mid-fall and slapped them back on with more force than was necessary. Honestly, Sato would have dropped his entire head if it weren't attached to his spine. "If you've time to run your mouth, I assume your report is finished?"

He was taken aback, about to answer, but she was faster. "Clean those glasses and get to work."

She managed to take but a few dozen steps more before a man in his twenties sauntered closer. His gnarly blue suit was two sizes too big, and his fingers glimmered with fake diamonds. It seemed as though Maeda's fashion sense grew worse every passing day. "Ah, Murata-san~ how is your morning?"

In one quick motion, Ayumi pulled out a stack of papers from her suitcase and pushed them into his chest. "Awful. These need to be on Takayama's desk in five minutes, signed and stamped. Do your job on time, and hopefully we will both have a better morning tomorrow."

Just a few more corners, and she'd be at the break room. Coffee first, then she'd find Hanazawa and show him what a true demon was. The man had dared ignore her calls the whole morning, and there was no excuse hefty enough for such behaviour. Well... perhaps death. If he was dead, she'd forgive him.

"Murata-sa--"

Ayumi whirled around, eyes narrowed into slits at the umpteenth interruption. As her gaze fell on a young, startled woman however, her expression softened somewhat. The intern. She had half the pay of her senpai, but twice the work morale. "Takayama. Good morning. I trust you've been unbothered today?"

She bowed, hugging a pile of papers to her chest. "Y-yes, he didn't approach me this morning. Come to think of it, I haven't seen him."

And you never will again, Ayumi knew. She'd made sure of it. "And the reimbursement I wanted?"

"Done. I sent the copy to Shimada-san just in case."

"Good." Ayumi turned on her heel and continued on her way. She'd had way too many conversations before her morning coffee. At the very least, she didn't need to worry about making some; someone always made sure a nice cup was waiting for her in the break room. Black, no sugar, just the way she wanted.

--------------------

Conference Room

--------------------

Ayumi should have known the day was going to be awful the second she'd poured stale coffee down her throat. But as she watched Hanazawa walk into the conference room daring to be alive, she was about ready to go for his throat. Worse, he was accompanied by an unknown man - when there shouldn't have been a soul within these walls Ayumi didn't know by name. And were those horns on Hanazawa's head? Had he started taking accessorizing advice from Maeda?

Then came the real news, and Ayumi crushed the coffee container in her hand with a splat. The Taishi Corporation had been... what?! Why hadn't she heard of this before? The Goe Group? What manner of group was that?! They were instructed to direct any further questions to Hanazawa and oh, Ayumi would. She would. But first, to ensure no one lost their life, she needed coffee. The proper kind.

Without a word, Ayumi stood up from her seat and started to make her way to the break room. The click of her heels filled the corridors once more, this time even louder.