On the up and up or is this about the collateral? Social

[Hoshi]

Hoshi was practically vibrating with excitement. HE was going to talk to the one and ONLY Shizuka. His literal savior in an otherwise unconcerned world, one filled to the brim with shinigami. Though thoughts on his former owners might have originally upset him and soured his mood, today he wasn't having it as he more or less bounced around his room in the building. Every other moment he was checking his yukata, the clock, his rebars, and the paperwork he was bringing just in case. He didn't know what he'd need, her email hadn't said to bring anything, but he couldn't be too careful. If she had questions, he needed to have the answers ready and available. However, there was one thought that raced through his mind as he was rushing around to get everything ready and be presentable. What if she asks about how much collateral I've caused . . . I know I've gone and done overtime to fix the damage but still. . . some of it wasn't cheap. Dear god, she may actually be calling to fire me AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!! I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT I'D DO IF SHE DID FIRE ME! WOULD I BE LIKE MADELYNN AND A BUM ON THE STREET?! WOULD I HAVE TO GO FIND UE AND WORK WITH YUKI! . . . WOULD I JUST HAVE TO GO TO HUECO MUNDO AND NEVER RETURN!?!?!?!



Hoshi almost visibly deflated as rapidly as a hot air ballon that had a hole tear open. He stopped moving and any hope and joy he had sunk to the bottom of his feet into the ground or steel below them. If he was fired, he'd have no idea how to handle that. Aside from walking out of Xcution to not further inconvenience her but still. He dreaded it, abhorred it, and eventually decided that like all mentally handicapped individuals he'd simply bury that bitch into the depths of his mind . . . or computer files. If he wasn't stopped by something he would not have buried it deep enough. Thus, for a couple minutes he made certain to mentally create a chest, throw all the concerns about costs he's incurred onto the organization into it, locked it, chained it up, put that chest in another chest with a repeated lock sequence, created a mental safe, and then buried the whole thing god knows where in his mind. He. WOULD NOT. Think on this. EVER. Again.



With that bit of mental gymnastics done he looked over at the clock and realized he had 10 minutes before he needed to get at her office. With one last check over of his form he made certain he was fine. His yukata was formal but still colorful, just a bit more toned down from his usual glaring white and pink yukata. Todays instead was a red kimono with red, pink, and white dragons on it and pressed to the nines. No instance of stains as far as he could see. His rebars were held on his back via a small leather cylinder, he had on thick socks and black geta, and his right hand held a small folder for every report he'd made as well as his current progress in his abilities as per R&D. With his company cellphone in his pocket alongside his ID card he knew he had everything. The last thing to do was a quick look over of his hair which he'd tied into a bun and let the rest fall behind his shoulders and over his upper back. There was a hair out of place, but his phone was already beeping at him about having now 5 minutes to get to her office. He groaned and ran out the room.



Hoshi was several floors away and while he would make it just in time for the clock to strike 2pm he had bashed his way through several scientists, office workers, lances, swords, and everything else in between. He would not be late and was willing to constantly use Movement to force his body to run faster through individuals functionally body checking his way to victory. By the time he, accidentally, slammed opened the door to Shizuka's secretary / waiting room he was gasping. His hair was messed up, and his yukata definitely had some coffee spilled on it, but he had all the papers, and he was on time. He just needed to set them down and fix his hair. The coffee . . . . he humored the idea of burning it off with Movement Mastery but then he'd be sweating . . . in front of his boss and savior. He frowned heavily at himself as he looked at the stain. Now she'll never take me seriously because I was almost late and a mess! DAMNIT! She needs to think I'm competent not replaceable! Maybe if I get a few minutes, I can at least fix my hair again. Hopefully she won't notice the coffee stain. Ugh I knew I should have avoided the break area shortcut someone's always got a coffee put in their hand!



From here on Hoshi would walk up to Shizuka's secretary, waiting if she was in the middle of a call before speaking. "Afternoon, I'm Hoshi and I was told I have a 2pm meeting with Shizuka? Err . . . that's what the email said anyway. Heh . . . Anyway, I'll uhh sit myself down and wait but I just wanted to make sure I let you know." He visibly deflated again as he walked over to a small couch to sit down on and fix his hair. THIS at least he could manage if he had a couple minutes but fuck if he didn't have long as fuck hair. The one time it was coming to bit him in the ass. Ugh I KNEW I should have been here 2 hours early. I would have had time for panicking, preparing, and bringing an extra kimono in case something like this happened. Hopefully this will go well. AND THAT THIS FUCKING KNOT IN MY HAIR COMES UNDONE! ARGHH WHY DID I PICK SUCH LONG HAIR FOR EVERY GIGAI?!

SPOILER: Click to show

{Clothing reference}

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Report after report had been filed within Xcution's logs for different events Hoshi had been a part of. Such things were gaining Shizuka's attention, forcing her to look into Hoshi's paperwork once again and consider him for further promotions. Only recently did his application come through to become one of her Seven Guns, and that was held near and dear to her heart. She'd spent quite a long time as one of those. She worked her way up from the bottom and it felt so long ago. To see another one join the ranks was nothing short of astonishing to her, and she couldn't help but smile at all of his work.

She'd sent an email to him earlier in the week that requested a meeting. She just wanted to sit down and have a one-on-one with him and see how he was doing. Their meeting was ages ago now, and she didn't have a good gauge yet on how he was doing since he'd been so busy. It made sense to hold a meeting, and she was sure to detail everything she wanted to talk to him about within the body of the email, but she never expected him to be as anxious as he clearly was when he burst through her door, startling both her and Felicia as they were in the middle of a conversation. Shizuka giggled nervously at herself for being frightened so easily and Felicia handled Hoshi by taking him to have a seat.

"You don't have to worry about a thing! You look nice! I haven't seen this Gigai before. Your doll form was pretty cute but I'm partial to more humanoid appearances anyway."

Approaching Hoshi, Shizuka waved her hand and straightened out his clothing with Soul Command, willing the coffee completely out of the fabric of his yukata. After she dumped the fluid out the window, she gently approached him herself and physically brushed off the rest of his clothes to clean them up and remove any other debris. He could be so hopeless, but it made him cute. Once she was done, she sat on the couch that was across from where he was and had Felicia fetch the two of them some tea. He was frazzled. He was carrying stacks of paper. He had rushed here, likely afraid of being late, and Shizuka knew she had to calm down his nerves.

"You know you're not here because of anything bad, right? I just wanted to spend some time with you! It's been forever. Plus, I wanted to personally congratulate you on your promotion! I signed off on that just a few days ago so you'll get a nicer paycheck, too. I know you're a Mod Soul but if you're going to live in the Human World, you need money. Where do you live now, anyway? Have you decided to stay in my apartment complex along with a bunch of your coworkers?"

[Hoshi]

The moment Hoshi made his grand entrance in all his desperate glory he found the object his near worship speaking with her assistant. He froze and only one thought went through him mind. Oh my god I'm late. I'M. LATE. AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH FFFFUUUCK SHE'S GONNA FIRE ME! Still as generous as always Hoshi was still allowed to have a meeting, and she even went so far as to help him out. She noticed the coffee stain, but she literally ripped it out and threw it elsewhere. Nothing left. The previously pressed yukata was back to its original shape. And this thing actually probably ended up cleaner than when Hoshi first bought it. And he'd shelled out some money for it as it was handcrafted. He would now forever take care of this yukata and wear it for formal events and meetings only. If it ever got degraded, he might even go so far as to cry out in physical pain from it.

Regardless he sat down across from Shizuka and admittedly was stiff as a board. He. . . he wanted to relax around her, but she was his boss and savior. He had to make sure he lived up to his life debt. And that was a lot of pressure as far as his current capabilities were concerned. Still, he listened with rapt attention and awkwardly chuckled at the compliment. Setting down the files on the table between them and trying to smile a bit more naturally. He wanted to speak up but found himself somewhat at a loss for words until Shizuka spoke up again. Thank fuck she's giving me time to get my shit together. Ugh, she so much better than Squad 12. Next mission I get, I'm going to make sure that it goes PERFECTLY. No collateral, no chance of info leaking, nice and on the down low. Maybe I can get a black kimono to match the theme. . . hmmm . . . A good idea for later.

His attention was back to being completely on what Shizuka was saying. An occasional nod to show he was paying attention as he slowly let himself lean into the couch. Millimeter by millimeter. The soft creak of the chair spooking him a bit but only showing by a quick glance at the couch to make sure he didn't somehow break it by siting on it. He sorts of blinked like a deer in headlights, A lot of information, good information at that, was thrown at him and he had to sit and register what he'd just heard. In a way he was literally a computer that was given a forced update that had been sitting in the backlog. For a solid minute there, Hoshi just didn't respond as his eyes grew dull and his expression went slack. After that minute though he immediately jumped up out of the couch and yelled out. "I FINALLY DID IT! YESSSSSSSSS!!! I'M FINALLY USEFUL! OOOO I CAN'T WAIT TO READ THE LIMITED ACCESS DATA ON RACES AND START TRAINING MADELYNN SO WE CAN FUCK SOUL SOCIETY UP! AAAHHHHH THIS IS GONNA BE GREAT!"

As he was in the middle of bouncing on his sandals and almost busting out a little happy dance, his mind caught up and reminded him that his boss was very much in front of him. That he still was talking to her and that he needed to respond. He immediately sat back down on the couch and gently placed his head on the table in as deep a bow as possible before speaking up. "I'm sorry about yelling and being rude. I will keep myself in check from here on out." After a couple more moments of saying nearly 90 degrees he sat back up and pulled himself together before shifting to a more formal appearance. Or what he thought was formal anyway. Which just meant that he sat straight up and looked Shizuka in the eye without moving excessively. With a deep breath he calmed his heart down and then finally responded to her.

"First, I just want to say thank you for helping me fix my kimono. Seriously, I was so worried over being dressed appropriately that I lost track of time and ended up bulldozing my way to get here and messing myself up in the process. I'll make sure to be early from here on out for any future meetings. And as far as the gigai yea, I've had R&D make this one for me because it feels nice. Distinct. I don't exactly blend in but it lets me feel more like a person even if it's very manga flavored hehe. Umm what was the other things you asked. . . Right! Uh, well to be honest I was and kinda still am worried that there's something I'm not doing well enough. But that's just me worrying because I gotta make sure I help out where I can. Ya'll saved me and made sure I had a place to be after I was uh. . . thrown away. So I want to be as useful as possible. Whatever that means to you."

"Oh! And thank you so much for the promotion! I wasn't even certain if the guns were a thing because the data center didn't let me find anything on them and it was a rumor. . but I didn't know how else to work my way up so I kinda uhh took a chance on a rumor of a position? Hopefully that's not too bad to say? Still, I look forward to doing. . . well whatever a gun does! I just know its fighting from rumor mill so as a custom-made weapon, consider me your go to gun when needed. Anywhere, anytime. As for where I'm living? Same as always, I've been in the subterranean zone near R&D, that's section . . . 17 I think? Keeps me close to them so they can run more tests and track my progress for breaking through the firewalls and code Squad 12 downloaded into me. I'm on the cusp of breaking the second to last one though! Its uhh. . . still a dangerous power though so I'll be careful about when and where to use it."

"As far as the apartment complex I . . . didn't know there was one? I'll move there though today if that's where I need to be. Honestly as long as I have a closet, door, and desk I can figure out the rest. Heh, I don't technically sleep unless I'm low on reiatsu. One of the benefits of being more machine than person I guess, that and stamina's not much an issue. Might be though if I keep overriding code. I'll keep you updated though. But anyway, that's where I've lived at the moment. Not that I'm there often though. I'm usually in the data center, a mission, or trying to help others. Aside from the food breaks. Karakura has so many awesome places, especially the cafes and indian shops. UGH so good!" Hoshi was losing himself in memory of the various places he'd been too in his free time. The curry joint that he almost recruited Scarlet in and the ice cream shop that he and Yuki went to were the first places in his mind as he remembered their food. After this meeting we're definitely going out to celebrate!

[Shizuka Sanamizu ✮]

Well, his enthusiasm was certainly something to be admired. Shizuka didn't know the last time she was ever around someone so excited about work, admittedly. It made her smile, albeit a bit awkwardly, as Hoshi proclaimed his pride for the whole room to hear. And while the Fullbringer was certainly supportive of literally anything having to do with taking down Shinigami scum, she didn't remember the last time she was so outspoken about it the way Hoshi was. It made her think about a few things for a while. Throughout history, Soul Society had survived many attacks by many different groups. Could Xcution really be the one who takes them down?

Despite all that, he calmed down rather quickly and settled back in his seat before speaking. If there was anything Shizuka was particularly impressed by with Hoshi, it was his reporting skills. He was phenomenal at gathering data and logging it in the archives for company use. It was also true that becoming a Gun meant that he had access to other information that he wouldn't normally have as a Sword or a Lance. With his excitement about it so infectious, Shizuka felt herself getting a bit nostalgic when it came to her own experiences as a Gun. She had been one for so long that it was almost too wild to think about where she was now.

"Oh, it's not mandatory!" Shizuka found a moment to interject briefly when he started talking about the apartment. "I simply offer it to my employees. It's not free, but you get a significant discount on rent. And since I pay you, and then you pay me back with the rent, I'm basically paying for you to live in the complex anyway. Sort of. We can think about it that way for now."

She hadn't realized he was still staying down in the research wing. Similarly to how Col lives in the basement, she supposed it was possible for her employees to camp out here. She didn't blame them if their jobs commanded they stay for long periods of time, but she felt bad. Having a good work-life balance was important to her, after all. That sometimes included having their own place to live with some sense of individuality. Surely Hoshi was gaining traction at getting some friends, especially with who all he's met so far in his journey, and maybe he'd want to invite them over or something. Did Mod Souls... do that?

Hebika may have been an interesting exception. She was a Mod Soul, but also very much human. She acted like one whenever she was around Shizuka, anyway. It took a second for the blonde to get her thoughts back on Hoshi after remembering an old flame. She wondered briefly how Hebika was doing after disappearing. It hurt a lot to have those memories resurface, but Hoshi wouldn't notice that, at least. Shizuka was doing her best to look very engaged in the conversation as a CEO should be, and Hoshi deserved that much. He was one of her best, which was why she promoted him in the first place.

"Well, as for the job, that's for you to choose! You're reliable and strong, Hoshi. The Guns are able to pick whatever expertise they'd like and just kind of own it! When I was a Gun, mine was interrogation. I developed skills after years of doing this that helped me get answers out of people pretty easily without having to physically harm them. Although, I would still harm them if they pushed me a bit too far." Shizuka smiled nonchalantly at her own response. "So I guess my question to you is, what is it you'd like to explore more?"