Ulterior Motives JTT [closed/Kaz]

[Raphael Laurent]

You realize that what you’re wanting to, no, going to do is considered illegal, right? This place is a private business. Getting into their files will get you arrested, Raphael.



He frowned as he checked his phone at the light; he wasn’t too far away from the Uzaki Enterprises corporate office, and Donnie wanted to get cold feet NOW?! Running his hands through his hair, Raphael pondered how he could get Donovan to not freak out about the whole thing. They were too close now to literally just stop. Slowly pressing the gas pedal as the light turned green, Raphael’s van pulled forward once again, heading into the delivery dock for the building. Thankfully, there was a larger truck ahead of him, so he’d have to wait, and this would allow him to come up with a plan that would get Donnie back on his side.



‘C’mon man, we’re too close to stop now. You’re my external location! I need you to retrieve the damn files that I’ll be sending.’



He waited a few seconds, watching as Donovan saw his message and began typing. It took a minute or two for Donovan to reply as he kept deleting and then typing and then deleting again, but the reply finally came through:



Sorry, Raph. I can’t do it, I just can’t! If they caught on, and notified my employer or your employer we’d both be screwed. You won’t be swaying me on this one and that’s final. And the chat immediately ended, Donnie going into afk mode. Raph stared at the message for a few seconds afterwards, knowing that his friend wasn’t wrong and that he couldn’t fault Donovan for protecting his job and looking after his own affairs. Raph would do the same thing, if he felt he could trust Uzaki Enterprises, which he didn’t.



He’d already come up with a backup plan, but had hoped he wouldn’t have to use it. He’d get inside and plant his external transmitter, something that he and Donnie had cooked up for their school projects forever ago, and connect it to Uzaki Enterprises’ mainframe. This was a bit riskier, and why he’d hoped that Donovan would stay with their original plan. With the ET device, it was more than possible that the computer he had set up in his van, could be traced, if someone was good enough. Even using an encrypted VPN, as he was for this project, they could still find him.



“Let’s do this, then,” he muttered with a short breath.



The man waved him forward and Raphael backed the small van into the unloading bay. The man that he was greeted with was one of those guys that looked like he loved his job a bit too much and Raphael immediately knew that he was going to have a problem with this guy.

“Oh, good… The office supplies that we needed. I won’t lie, we were expecting these about two weeks ago. What the hell happened?” The guard was looking over the manifest, frowning rather intensely.



“Really couldn’t tell you much about shipping delays, sir. You’ll have to have your admins contact our main office.” And he started to get out when suddenly the guard held up his hand.



“Sorry, sir, but I’m going to have to ask you to wait in your vehicle for our crew to finish unloading.” When Raph raised an eyebrow at such a silly rule, the man shrugged. “Sorry, pal. Company policy, I don’t make the rules.”



“Hey, I get what you’re saying, but do you think that I could use the restroom? Like, I’ve been driving around all day and since I’ve got a bit of time to kill, I was hoping to relieve myself.” The man closed his eyes and grimaced, but nodded.



“Say no more, say no more. Head through those doors, make a left and go straight. Men’s is the second one down.” Raphael nodded, with a bit of a bow, got out of the van and entered through the double doors, calmly walking, keeping his face mostly covered by his hat, but made his way confidently down the hall. When he looked to his right and saw a computer room, Raphael knew that he’d found his opportunity. He pulled out his phone scrolled through the apps and picked one before pushing a button. There was a bit of a low drone, and Raphael knew that the cameras would be disabled for a few seconds. With precision, he ducked inside the room, picked the first computer and placed the ET behind one of the monitors, a place where it would be more easily missed.



Suddenly, he heard the door open and he jumped. Standing in the doorway was a woman with shoulder length jet black hair glasses and a confused look on her face. “Excuse me, aren’t you one of the delivery drivers? What on Earth are you doing in our IT room?”



“I’m so sorry! I’d been looking for the restroom but I think I made a wrong turn somewhere. Through the doors, down the hallway first on the right, is what the guard told me.”



The woman sighed, shaking her head. “He always gets that wrong. Doors, hallway, third door on the left. That’s the closest restroom to the loading bays. Seriously, we wrote a note for him so that he wouldn’t mess that up… Regardless, three doors on the left. C’mon now.” And she waved a clipboard, ushering him out of the room. Afterwards, he headed to the restroom and then headed back to his van where the guard nodded and he pulled out.



Yet, after he’d driven around the block, he stopped put the van into park and got into the back, pulling out the laptop and connecting it to the small onion router he’d brought. Within seconds he’d established the secure connection to the ET and began browsing several UE files. He was amazed at the stuff that he found on the spirit world and other such esoteric knowledge that people’d freak if they knew about. But…there was nothing about shady business deals… He frowned. He’d have to go deeper in, probably. He tapped another button to load another menu. It was time to found out what they were up to…



[Training for ctp]

[Kazura Uzaki]

Training for CTP

Kazura's office had gotten messier and messier in the last few weeks. As his sleep continued to deteriorate and he spent more and more time at UE Headquarters instead of at home, the office started to take on characteristics of a pig sty. Empty bottles of melatonin, pizza boxes, and other junk lay strewn about the floor and desk and chairs and pretty much everywhere. Half finished prototypes of various gadgets could be found all over. Some of them were less... ingenious than Kazura's standard fare. The "sword watch" in particular still had too many bugs in it and would most likely remove the wearer's hand more than actually help.

Not that a sword watch was something anyone wanted, anyways.

Fighting exhaustion while looking at the security monitors, Kazura blinked a few times as one section of a hallway blacked out for a moment. It came up quickly enough and would barely have piqued Kazura's interest save for the location. It was close to his central servers. He thought that his Security team had pretty good, well, security down there. He sent a push notification to Jessica, the intern in charge of IT in that section of the building. Anything out of the ordinary happening down there? Some cameras just went out." She responded quickly, as she always did. That woman was always on her phone. "Just a lost delivery guy. Jet gave bad directions to the bathroom again."

Normally, Kazura would ignore it and move on, but he felt like a walk out of his office would do him some good. He stretched, piled some of the trash into a corner, then used Soul Command to crush it into a can-sized cylinder that could fit down the incinerator tube with ease. He unwrinkled his suit that he had slept in for a couple days, well, tried to sleep in, with Soul Command again, steamed it cleaner with some water from a bottle he had nearby, and made his way out of the small room in the center of the building. He locked the door with the special spiritually resistant lock he had designed and casually walked towards the IT room the cameras had gone down near.

He bumped into Jessica on the way down, who was surprised to see her boss up and about in this corner of the building, and she graciously didn't say anything about the slightly red eyes and the bags underneath them. She simply bowed respectfully and carried on with her job, staring at that phone again as she continued on her patrol. Kazura soon arrived at the IT room in question and made his way in. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but he had to check just in case. He sat down in the center of the room and activated two techniques he had mastered. First was a stage of Output, Push, which extended his awareness by two inches. Second was Trace, where he gathered up reiatsu with Energy Generate and Soul Commanded it through objects in order to explore their inner workings.

The result of this was a "liquid" probe that traveled through the floor and up into the computers and servers of the room. Kazura would become intimately aware of the existence of the spider web and spider in the corner of one of the desks, the candy bar hidden in one of the locked drawers, and... what was this? A device he didn't recognize connected to one of the computers wirelessly. The probing honed in on that device and flooded it with spiritual energy, exploring its inner workings and Learning about its construction and function. It was a simple device, it appeared, with no spiritual tampering but intended to connect to a computer, harvest, and transmit secure files.

Kazura wondered who would have placed such a device. Maybe a bitter rival of his, looking for corporate secrets? Prototypes that they could try to push faster than him and get patented? Maybe an enemy of the company, looking for ways to break him down and discredit him. Or simply someone too curious for their own good. No matter who it was, they were going to have to answer to the CEO. He would have to respond in kind to the device. It appeared to be transmitting now, so Kazura was sure that he had to act fast before any of the Spiritual Department files became public.

The Fullbringer's Reiatsu flared as his scratched up, broken belt became his primary incomplete Fullbring. Glowing yellow circuits formed on his right arm and leg and a HUD visor grew over his left eye. With his Fullbring activated, he gained the power to control and manipulate Technology. The first thing he did was lock the door to the room. He didn't need anybody walking in on this exchange. He simply walked over and flipped the lock closed without using Soul Command. This deserved his full attention and not simply petty parlor tricks. He sat down at the computer that the External Transmitter was connected to and began to work.

First, he manipulated the computer monitor and tower to open up its casing to reveal the inner components using his Fullbring. He carefully, skillfully, and swiftly removed the built in microphone of the computer and connected it to the ET. He then connected the speakers of the computer to the ET as well. "Plugging into" the foreign device with mental manipulation, Kazura sent an image to the laptop Raph was exploring files on. His laptop screen would suddenly have the image of a red bat made of flames with a glowing blue core at the center take up the entire width of his screen. As Kazura talked into the microphone, the glowing blue core would fluctuate as if Raph's computer itself was talking to him. It kinda was at this point.

"Looking for something in particular, Hacker?"

A taunt, a jest, an intimidation tactic. Raph could respond simply by talking back to his computer. Kazura would hear. Kazura would know. Raph had been caught, now how would he talk his way out of it?

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael frowned as he scanned through document after document, each one more boring and basic than the last; it truly did give the company the appearance of altruism. But, Raphael knew that there was something dark and sinister and, as soon as he found it, he would be able to bring this fake empire crashing to the ground. He felt like he was finally doing something good with his life, something worthwhile, and the feeling filled him with elation and satisfaction with his decisions for life. It was with this self-assured righteousness that Raphael continued digging through the files like a mole through sediment.

It was when his computer came to a new area, one that seemed to be heavily encrypted, but as he was about to start entering his encryption cracker there was an oddity, an anomaly. At first, Raph had thought that it was just the shitty computer that he’d bought to handle the transition, but when the red flamed bat with a blue core appeared, Raph swore under his breath. He hadn’t added enough security measures to contend with whatever the fuck this was. It was a new cyber countermeasure that Raphael had never seen before. Whatever it was had overridden his and Donnie’s programming and encryptions and had hacked into Raphael’s computer itself. To make matters worse, someone was speaking to him. He had to think fast, and so, as if he’d practiced this, he put a mask on over his face.

“Hacker is such a foul name. I prefer the term seeker of truth.” Due to the mask his voice would come out sounding deeper but also heavily autotuned and electronic. “You may call me theobnoxiousreptile and, as far as something I’m looking for, I feel bad that you work for such a company. You slave away for someone that claims altruism, but hides things from the public. I can’t blame him, because some things the public isn’t ready for, but why not bring these up to…higher up people? Is it because they know too? But what does it matter? You couldn’t possibly know what I’m talking about.” He laughed. This dude had no way of knowing what Raph was talking about. “But let’s just say that there are some things even you, obviously a tech guru, wouldn’t know or be let in on.”

While they’d been talking, Raphael had tried pulling up some of his other programs, something with which to stop this counterhack and get back into those files, but nothing was pulling up. “I’ll admit that I’m impressed, though. No matter what I try I can’t break this program that you’ve got here. Must be custom made. I’m almost disappointed that you work for this place… But you know what they say about almost. Plus, I bet this dude’s always getting’ hacked. People probably want to steal all the files in this guy’s server.”

He’d have to try to kill the connection somehow. Maybe the junk phone he’d bought? No, it was connected to the computer, but IT had the files he’d already grabbed. He scratched his chin in thought. He’d have to keep this guy distracted while he thought of a way to get out of the scenario. Thankfully there was nothing important on this laptop. Keep him talking, maybe?

“Why in the hell do you work for Uzaki Enterprises anyways? Their tech is impressive, don’t get me wrong, and they probably do good things but they’re shady as hell, man. With your skill? There’s all kinds of different stuff that you could do. I just don’t get it…”

[Kazura Uzaki]

Thankfully for Raphael, Kazura had no connection to the webcam of this "seeker of truth", yet, so the applying of the mask and voice changer wouldn't be of consequence to the Technomancer of a Fullbringer. While he could probably connect the computer in front of him, the ET, and Raphael's laptop, doing so would require a bit more knowledge of computers and networking and would require Kazura to actually care about seeing "theobnoxiousreptile". Raphael had pretty much torn into Kazura and his whole company, his whole reason for existing. This made the man quite frustrated, like he was being personally attacked by this random hacker, but he kept his calm. All things in due time...

"There's really not much of interest to steal. Most everything of real importance is kept in Uzaki's head. Sure, there's prototype information and some reports of paranormal activity around town, but if you've lived here long enough you'll know that this town is not normal in the slightest. That guy, Uzaki, though, he's a real believer in the paranormal. He's even got a whole department devoted to the investigation of it all, which I'm assuming you found the meager files of. As for me... what could you offer me that would be better than working for the biggest company in Karakura, and one of the bigger companies in the world? I have so much of an opportunity here. One you could have too if you applied yourself... differently."

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael was definitely being a bit of a worry-wart, leaving his helmet on, especially with him having forgotten to remove the short, but it didn’t seem like the web-cam was quite accessed. Thank goodness. Either this guy didn’t really care to try to connect the webcam and see who he was talking to, which made sense, or he hadn’t broken that part of his system yet. No matter the case, Raphael quickly pulled on a plain black jacket, just to be on the safe side. Even though he hated this delivery driver job he didn’t, necessarily, want to get fired for doing something like this. But, if this guy had found him and figured out where he was, then there was likely to be trouble. The only thing that he’d remembered actually getting some kind of inkling on was something a file titled “UE Filing Cabinet”. He hadn’t managed to get all that much transferred before he’d been countered but, once more, as a precaution, he ripped the usb he’d been making additional copies on out of the slot. If it got corrupted, it didn’t matter, Raph had been found out anyways.



The man began speaking about how the man that owned UE truly believed in the spiritual and Raphael chuckled. He would’ve been an idiot if he didn’t. Raphael didn’t doubt for a second that the CEO, himself, had spiritual powers of some degree. It was more than possible that many people in power, some CEOs, some administrators, of many different areas of government and/or powerful business had spiritual abilities. The odds that they didn’t and yet were able to rise to the heights that they had were astronomical. No, there was something else at play here, as there always was, and Raphael had been determined to get to the bottom of it. He’d just gotten caught, that’s all. But he’d refine his technique and come back.



He chuckled at the man’s last few sentences. “What do I have to offer? I’m not hiring anyone, nor am I really in much of a position to do so. Like I said, I don’t give a damn about this company’s prototypes, more so the company that they keep in their idealism.” But something made him pause, a way that the man had said the last sentence, and he sighed a bit as if he was regretting his actions. “Look, I appreciate that but I’m not nearly as altruistic as the founder of the company. I don’t have much hope for people, honestly, and I’m usually just surprised that we haven’t destroyed each other yet. And some people that I’ve met want to change the world for, what they think, is the better. Some just want to take advantage of the chaos and make a quick buck, or even continue making chaos to take advantage of.” He leaned forward, interlacing his fingers as he stared at the screen and glared at the bat a moment, lost deep within the quagmire that was his thoughts. “I wonder, how do you see it? What do you think of it all? What is it that you, know?” There was a kind of somber reflection, in his words, and it seemed almost as if Raph was talking more to himself, than he was to the man on the other end.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Theobnoxiousreptile didn't immediately take Kazura up on his offer, but he hesitated. That showed that there was some form of chance that the hacker could be swayed away from his illegal actions. Kazura was almost willing to forgive the intrusion, but wasn't quite there yet. There still was nothing that he had gained from the exchange, and had potentially lost secrets and could have potential annoying consequences. If the greater public found out about the Soul Society, its often confusing and contradicting protectors, Hollows, and other spiritual races and powers, mass chaos would be sewn, most likely. But Raphael didn't seem like he wanted that, from the way he talked.

"How do I see it? The Three Worlds are something to be studied and understood, and the land of the living here is something to be protected and cherished. Human life, while fragile, is something to hold onto. I've seen things you can't imagine, theobnoxiousreptile. And if I know anything, it's that power is something no one should squander. If one has the potential to make a difference, do it, for good or for bad. And if that's for bad... then just know that there are people out there that will rise up to stand in your way."

Kazura found a webcam imbedded into the computer he had disassembled. He connected it to the ET and began to broadcast his image to Raphael's computer. "My name is Kazura Uzaki. Now, what is your name? Your true name, this time. I can promise that I won't pursue legal action against you for breaking, entering, and theft. You obviously have a thoughtful head on your shoulders. I need people like you."

[Raphael Laurent]

Studied and understood. These were two amazingly important words that Raphael always enjoyed hearing as well as things that made perfect sense. Raphael had never wanted to reveal anything that could’ve caused issues, he’d simply wanted the truth for his own sake. That’s why he’d wanted the information, especially whether or not the Shinigami and Uzaki Enterprises were cooperating together as closely as he feared. He didn’t give a fuck about what their inventions were but how closely did they cooperate with the Shinigami? Life was something to cherish and hang onto, and he absolutely agreed. He enjoyed seeing people build themselves back up from falls or shortcomings. Something he’d had to do.

Raph hated that he was agreeing with this person from Uzaki Enterprises, after all this guy was working for a company that had some kind of deeper connection to the black robes. The Shinigami. They annoyed him, still, and he had needed evidence, yet this man had found him. What could such a connection be? He’d run into ghosts, into demons, into monsters but what kind of monster was he dealing with? There was an odd feeling that he was getting that he was being fucked with, to some degree, and he didn’t really like it.

Someone would stop him? Yeah, Raph knew that. There were always those that would stand against evils of the world, and that was a good thing as well. A world couldn’t exist without a balance of evil as well as good, and that was why he’d always sucked at being a super good guy. But he was doing his best regardless…

Then something happened that Raphael hadn’t quite expected: there was a moment or two where the front of his screen flickered, and then a man appeared on screen. He was fairly young with hair down to his ears and he immediately identified himself as Kazura Uzaki and Raphael felt his heart stop, despite him beginning to laugh. He reached down to a small switch on the side of his computer, and on Kazura’s screen, the appearance of an amazon driver wearing a helmet appeared. Slowly Raphael removed his helmet.

“If you’re serious about that, then hi. I’m Raphael.” His voice was part concern and part curiosity. Sure he was annoyed at what had happened, but he was also wanting to know, what would happen next. It had been awhile since he’d been caught like this.

[Kazura Uzaki]

Raphael and Kazura had both revealed their identities by showing their face to the other. Kazura nodded as he responded. "I am serious about that. My last security expert who could help me identify weaknesses like this has been deployed for quite some time now with no real word from her. And while I won't pretend to be perfect, I could use someone who wants to see more good in the world. I have tried to surround myself with those kinds of people of late in hopes that we will be the more good in the Worlds. Kazura sighed as memories flooded his mind. Memories of his old life of women and parties and wealth spent for wealth spent's sake. That wasn't him any more, not since he had become a Fullbringer and decided to protect humanity the best he could. Souza had been the biggest catalyst for that change when he showed Kazura that humanity needed more to stand on the level of the Shinigami and the Hollows and other Threats.

"So, Raphael, let's try to begin again. How can Uzaki Enterprises be of use to you, and how can you be of use to us?"

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael listened intently, studying the man on the other side of the computer, trying to figure Kazura out. He couldn’t exactly figure the man out. Why in the world would a man like Kazura, a CEO who has just found out that someone is trying to get into their system, meet with the hacker? Stranger still, with the explanation that he was giving, and the way that he sounded, it was almost like he was being offered a job. Unfortunately, he wasn’t entirely prepared to counter Kazura; what little he knew about the man was that he was fairly altruistic. But to be able to speak with the man he would have needed more information but it was too late for that now.

His last security expert? How long has she even been gone? Did you send anyone to look for her, try to call her, etc? These were questions that bounced around in Raphael’s head. Then Kazura surprised him by admitting that he wasn’t perfect. Self-awareness from a CEO? That was something that made almost no sense to Raphael. He’d met a few heads of corporations, as well as board members due to his dad’s old contacts but they’d all been pricks and were constantly talking about how well they did every day.

That, however, was when Kazura dropped the question: how could the two benefit from each other? That was a true question. Raphael hadn’t exactly thought about that and he leaned back, scratching at his chin and staring at the ceiling of the truck. What, exactly, was his aim by coming here? He’d been wanting to gather information on whether or not Uzaki enterprises worked closely with Shinigami, especially since he didn’t believe all that BS about the “cycle”. While he understood that the dichotomy of the spiritual world most likely operated under different physical laws, it still had to operate on the most important law, that energy could not be created or destroyed. It had to be cycled through as matter.

“Honestly,”Raphael muttered still staring at the top of the truck, “my entire point in coming here, well other than delivering some packages, that wasn’t a cover just a good excuse, was to find information. More for my own sake than for that of normal people.” He leaned forward in the truck and watched Kazura as he spoke. “I’d been trying to find out how closely Uzaki Enterprises cooperates with the metaphysical entities that call themselves Shinigami, more for my own peace of mind than anything else.”He chuckled. “I don’t have any plans on trying to leak information to the world.” He paused a moment in thought. “As for what I can do? Well, I’m decent with technology and making things out of spare parts. That thing I used to connect in? A friend made the basic design but I tweaked it to give it more range and connectivity and I’m fairly good at information security. Programming, building and learning. That’s about all I am, really. Though, oddly, I’ve recently found that I can alter the elasticity of objects through metaphysical means. Don’t really know how it works, yet, but after some testing I’ve found that I can only accomplish it on macrocosms haven’t worked out finer manipulation.” He flexed a hand, pulling his fingers in to make a fist and then letting it go again, before returning his attention to the man on the other side. “Anyways, that’s about it. Any other questions for me?”

[Kazura Uzaki]

Kazura chuckled at Raphael's mention of the "metaphysical entities that call themselves Shinigami" and his wondering what UE's involvement with them was. His own "peace of mind" was what he needed this for, so he must have a grudge against the spirits or something. "I've had my share of troubles with the Shinigami, but I'll admit that some of them have helped me out in my endeavors to keep this world safe. They aren't without their faults, some egregious faults, but I have worked with some in the past. That's just the honest truth." Would that scare away Raphael? Possibly, but Kazura wasn't worried about it. If the young fullbringer was only capable of generalizing all Shinigami into one category of "evil" or whatever he saw them as, then maybe he wasn't right for Kazura. Sure, Souza and others had been awful people who hurt Kazura utterly and had forced him into embracing his Fullbringer status, but some like Taien and Katrina had been generally helpful and altruistic.

When Raphael described Soul Command and its effects, Kazura's heart warmed towards the man. Kazura had a special place in his life for other Fullbringers and genuinely enjoyed seeing young ones develop into more powerful ones. Irina had already surpassed him in raw power and Amare was on his way to being a champion as well. "Ah, yes, Soul Command. Do the souls of the objects you 'alter the elasticity of' call to you like they do me? Can you hear them as you Will them to obey you? That is a skill I can help you develop, if you're interested. That's the kind of thing we do here at Uzaki Enterprises with the Spiritually aware. We help them learn, educate them on the threats of the Worlds, and foster their potential if they so desire. And if they want to leave after that... We let them move on."

[Raphael Laurent]

The man explained that he had, in the past, worked with Shinigami. Such a thing made him pause. The way that it was being said was quite different from how it had been described by Taka but, at the same time, it didn’t mean that they Uzaki Enterprises was in the clear. He scratched his chin a little bit while Kazura went into his personal opinions on the spiritual creatures. A sigh escaped his lips at the end. He couldn’t deny that in a world filled with masked monsters, and other such things that go bump in the night, that the Shinigami had their own functionality. It wasn’t the individuals, it was the way the organization saw some things, but he didn’t exactly have the time to explain that.

“I see, I see. It is possible that my information was based on more of a broad grouping, though I’ve met very few of them myself.” He leaned back again. “I can understand and appreciate that, then. Understand that it isn’t that I dislike them as much as it is their understanding of the world and occasional need to randomly talk about their cycle and the place of mortals within it.” Raphael waved his hand as if to dismiss the thought. “But what I was told is different from what is being discussed...” He frowned a bit, thoughts of his talk with Taka surfacing in his mind. “Suffice it to say that I’m surprised by your words.”

Raphael tilted his head. “Soul Command. Yes, I believe that’s what I was told to call it… As for your question, yes I do tend to hear whispers before I attempt to utilize such an ability and, while doing so, I do tend to hear them a bit more clearly.” He listened more, staring almost past Kazura, as the man spoke. This was just like the time that he’d run into Shizuka, only more…friendly and welcoming, rather than threatening. He smiled a little bit. “You’ve got me in a corner here, mister Uzaki; primarily because I’ve never been one to turn down the opportunity to learn more about something new.” He leaned back. “For the moment at least, I most certainly agree.”

[Kazura Uzaki]

"I'll be honest with you, Raphael. I like your style. You remind me of myself. Thirsting for knowledge, even if you have to move things to get to it. In the past six years, I've wrestled with Hollows, Arrancar, Shinigami, Beasts straight out of Hell... And yet, I'm still surprised by people like you." Kazura paused a moment. Yes, he was a charismatic and leaderly kind of person. His silver words could weaken the most stubborn of businessmen. But did he really have to be, all the time? It felt good to be able to be down to earth with someone, honest with them, and expect the same in return. Raphael appeared to be the kind of person that could challenge Kazura to really think about what he was doing and make sure it was the best path. "If you want, we could start right now. Come to the elevator in the lobby of the building. I can teach you what you're hearing just whispers of..."

Kazura would pause and wait for Raphael to answer. If it was positive or affirmative, Kazura would disconnect from the machine and power down his Fullbring back into its belt form. He waited for a moment to let his thoughts settle down. He was tired, yes, but the thought of a new IT specialist and Fullbringer in his building was exciting. He had quite a need for someone skilled in hacking and counter-hacking. Wolf was his Chief of Security, but computers weren't his strong suit. Computers had been Yoko's specialty, but she had been redeployed by the military somewhere in... the middle east, he thought. Somewhere like that. Anyways, there was no way to reach her at the moment. Raphael could fit that niche that Kazura needed. So, if Raphael had agreed, Kazura would head towards the elevator and wait there in person for the driver to show up. If Raphael hadn't agreed yet, or wouldn't agree, then Kazura would remain connected to the machine and continue to talk to the man.

[Raphael Laurent]

Raphael actually felt a twinge of pride from Kazura’s statement, something to which he would deny until the end of his days, if someone asked. But there was a certain kinship that he felt with the man on the other side of the screen, a thoughtful clarity and self-awareness. Kazura had done his own thing and it had gone well for him, well mostly. The whole hollow, arrancar, Shinigami and beasts from hell thing made him blink a bit. He must’ve really understood his power if he was going toe to toe with things like that. Titans, monsters…gods. What else could people of the past have called them?

He wanted to say yes immediately, but the thought of the truck jumped into his head. After all the van would be needed for other deliveries soon, wouldn’t it? Raphael looked at Kazura, as he was fumbling in his pockets and held up a single index finger, asking for a second. Then he dialed a number. He needed to come up with some excuse as to why he wasn’t coming back immediately, but then something devious and just what he needed snagged his brain.

“Shipping and logistics, this is Christopher, how can I help you?” The man on the other line was speaking fluent Japanese, but with as thick of an accent as he had, it was easy to tell that he wasn’t from the country. “Oh wait. This is Raphael, right? What’s going on? I don’t normally get calls from you.”

“Yeah, Chris, it’s me, Raph. Listen, about this delivery to Uzaki Enterprises… Man I’m gonna be a little late getting the van back. There are like…six eighteen wheelers here, man. All the bays are blocked off and they’re doing inventory checks…”

“For the love of… Again? Seriously, what is it with Uzaki Enterprises? One our guys was there for like four hours one time, waitin’ on a bay to open up and then there’s some kind of inventory and he handed the guy the manifest and…” He sighed. “Ok, fine, whatever. Just deliver the stuff and get back whenever you can. Call me if anything else comes up.” There was a sigh before a sudden, “Bye,” and then the line was disconnected. Raph looked at his phone for a second. He’d never heard Christopher that annoyed. Had there really been that many issues with Uzaki Enterprises? Or was he just annoyed cuz another person had quit that morning? It didn’t matter to Raph. He’d gotten his hours in over the week, with a few extra hours for good measure.

Shrugging, he slipped the phone back into his pocket and turned his attention back to Kazura. “If you’re certain that now is a good time, then I’ll see you in a few minutes.” He smiled, waved and then flipped the switch, cutting off the camera feed. He couldn’t believe that he was about to do this, but at the same time, it was too tantalizing to pass up. Shutting the laptop, he stowed it back away and hopped into the front seat, pulling out of the delivery bay, he’d lied to keep from getting in trouble, and pulled into a parking space in the front. Within short order, he was heading to the elevators, doing his best to not look out of place with his delivery driver uniform and duffel bag. Not sure what else to do from there, he waited on whatever would come next. Whatever came next, he was ready for.

[Kazura Uzaki]

What did Kazura have to do that was better than training a fellow Fullbringer and training himself in the process? Kazura waited patiently while Raphael got out of having to go back to his work immediately, then nodded in approval before the connection terminated. Gathering his wits, he went down to the lobby and welcomed the delivery driver into his building. The lobby was mostly empty at the moment, save for the secretary at the desk who had seen enough random people show up and be shown in to know that the eccentric CEO was happy to entertain pretty much anyone. She had seen quite a few... odd sorts come into the building, so a delivery driver with a duffel bag was no sweat. "Karen? Did I have anything the schedule today?" She blinked in surprise as she hadn't really seen him in days.

"Um... No, not today. You haven't had any real meetings for... two weeks now. You okay?" Kazura just laughed... a very fake laugh, but laughed none the less. "Oh, Karen. I'm fine! Really. There's just been so much my great employees have been able to take care of for me. You all are great." The second half of that was really sincere, actually. Kazura did think that his employees were great. He had been going through a real rough patch with the nightmares and the lack of sleep, but things continued to move at their regular pace here at Uzaki Enterprises. Things were still a smooth clock that worked. When Raph was noticed, Kazura welcomed him into the elevator and pressed his finger into a panel. If Raph could sense energy at all, or was looking at Kazura's finger, he'd notice a generation of reiatsu that was imputed into the machine.

The elevator then started downwards, heading a few floors underground before opening up into a training hall that held a few dojo like mats, some weight training machines, a rack of training wooden swords, and a firing range. "Where would you like to begin? I've been trying my hand at swordsmanship lately, but really anything can work with practicing your Soul Manipulation abilities. Once I played tennis with another employee by swinging a solid reiatsu shield with my mind... that was a real workout, for sure. Anyways, enough about me. Show me what you are comfortable with manipulating and I'll come up with a device to help you practice."

[Raphael Laurent]

To say that he was nervous would be an understatement, he was rather petrified, in many senses of the word, but he couldn’t allow that to show at this moment. He simply stood there, in the lobby, waiting on someone to come there to meet him and, presumably, take him wherever they were going. Ironically, it didn’t take nearly as long as he’d expected. The lobby was well furnished and would’ve been a nice place to wait, no matter how you looked at it, but it wasn’t ostentatious or bombastic. To Raphael, it said “please relax here” and that was a good thing to him.

Much like the lobby, Kazura wasn’t how Raphael envisioned him. There was no carpet that rolled off of the elevator, no doves flying from behind him or fireworks, not that those would’ve been really allowed inside of a building, but there was nothing showy about him, at least not yet. Raphael appreciated that. A man that could be as comfortable in simple ways as he ways in flashy ones tended to be a good man. Tended to, being the operative word. Raphael hefted the duffel bag that was holding his laptop and some other equipment, his usual thing that he brought with him everywhere.

He seemed…oddly cheery to meet Raphael, though. But the way that he’d talked about other fullbringers, made it seem like this was something that he definitely enjoyed and Raphael couldn’t help but find his cheer a bit infectious. When they got into the elevator, however, Raphael noticed that when Kazura pressed a panel there was a generation of energy, the reiatsu that he’d been told about before. Looking at the man, one of Raphael’s eyebrows rose a bit, though he said nothing. It made sense to have a security measure like this in place to keep out those that shouldn’t have been going to places that they had no business in.

The elevator started going down, and Raphael watched only a little apprehensive, and was stunned where they stopped. It was an enormous training hall with some dojo mats, weight training machines, training weapons and even a firing range. The ideal place to have to get as much training for as many people at one time. Raphael was so stunned that he couldn’t really answer when Kazura asked where he wanted to begin. When asked what he was comfortable manipulating, however, Raphael had an easy answer.

Almost embarrassed, he merely tapped the ground with his foot, and as though the ground were made of loose floorboards, one part of it about a foot away from him, shot up like a spring. As it sunk back down and into place, Raphael shrugged and sat his duffel bag on the ground. “The ground itself, really… I don’t have any specific things that I like to manipulate, though I learned how to use the ground to…launch things.” He thought back to the fight against the praying mantis hollow he’d undergone with Lucien. “I mean I found I could direct water into my mouth, which I’m still not good at. I figured out how to launch an eggo from the toaster to my plate, but otherwise I use the ground itself. I’m not…” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I ain’t exactly amazing with weapons. Pretty shit with ‘em, actually. I can use my fists, well enough, though.”