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POSTED ON Dec 16, 2023 7:55:14 GMT

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When it came to restaurants, Kouji didn’t have much love for any of these places; but a lot had changed…It really did feel like years since he’d joined, 24 in fact now. But at the same time he just felt like a kid. But he shrugged it off. His golden eyes fixed onto Howard, staring for a few moments before he shrugged.
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”Admin…That fits ya too well.” He said as he looked in front of them, two more cars before they could order at the drive through. It wasn’t something special, but he only had a few moments to convince the other guy to pay for the meal.
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”How’s the new paycheck treating ya? Bet it’s getting your mouth watering properly, yeah?”

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@howard

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✚ We're burgerkinning

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An observer of eons cannot feel the warmth of another.

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POSTED ON Dec 20, 2023 19:23:51 GMT

"Admin? Fitting me?" Howard let out a chuckle as they sat at the Burger Kingler drive through. "You're hyping up the wrong person, Kouji."

'Wrong person' was right. When Kouji Matsubara reported for duty, Howard had thought that he had been replaced with an imposter. The Kouji from before was younger, more spry, his eyes less striking. Howard had heard rumors of people aging up, down, sideways, and diagonally before. Hoenn was such a melting pot of temporal anomalies that it was almost expected, but still.

"The new paycheck is spent at auction houses on very rare valuables, which I then turn around and sell. It then becomes your paycheck." Teaching a smuggler how selling goods worked was a delicious irony. Even better if he could get Kouji to pick up the tab for this order.

"How's your new body? You feel... fucky?"

Kouji Matsubara

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POSTED ON Jan 9, 2024 16:21:59 GMT

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”Felt fucky at first, but there ain’t nothing to complain about when you’re taller, heavier, and a lil bit older.” Kouji said offhandedly, the thing that annoyed him the most wasn’t that, but the lost years themselves. It was almost enough to put him into a bad mood, but he shook it off.
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”Nothing much I can do about it, just like you can’t do much about your increased workload, we put up with it.” Kouji stated straightforwardly before he looked back at the drive through speaker. ”But, a few burgers, and a milkshake would make me feel a lot better.” Hoping that sympathy would earn him a free meal, he quickly shifted the topic.
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”How’s that going? A lot of valuables are dropped in markets that aren’t on…the market. Want me to introduce you to a family friend of some kind? Or do you wanna see how smuggling is done first hand?”

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POSTED ON Jan 12, 2024 9:14:30 GMT

"I see." He did not. Kouji had lost time to a distortion. If Howard had suddenly lost years of his life, he'd be enraged at the experience. Losing years off your life for essentially a glitch in reality seemed cruel. Yet Rocket was cruel. League was cruel. Kouji was, in his own way, cruel.

Hoenn made monsters out of the best of men.

As Kouji offered his experiences to the new Admin as a show of good faith, Howard rolled his eye and made the grunt's order. The grunt's story made Howard feel mopey. It almost made him feel... bad? Maybe he could pay for Kouji's meal as an apology for his hardships. Maybe the grunt deserved a brea-

No. Howard shook his head. I'm waiting on a paycheck.

"I know a lot of people in the game, but you can never know too many, right? A man can never have too many friends." Howard smiled at Kouji, eye peering at his new visage. "Nor can you learn too many tricks. I smuggle rare treasures, but I suspect I could learn a lot from you."

He drummed his fingers across the steering wheel.

"I suppose that if I learned first-hand from a professional, I'd need to thank him with a favor." Howard could order the grunt to do it, but that wasn't the boss Howard wanted to be. Besides, the whole 'boss-employee' relationship meant little when you were waiting at Burger Kingler.

"Isn't that right?"

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POSTED ON Mar 3, 2024 8:08:48 GMT

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A favour for a favour, he’d always been the type to be earnest in these regards but his interactions with Kaname Fujihara had taught him that doing so wasn’t always the smartest, nor would it lead to his desired result.
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Not everyone had the same intentions as himself.
[break][break]
”I pat yours, and you pat mine. We both get our backs patted. I’ve got a bit of an idea? Yeah, lets call it that.” Kouji said as he looked out at the line of cars, his order now well and truly placed.
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”We’re losing on as many fronts that someone can lose in. But y’know, a country without schools is gonna lose to one with them. We’re the same with Gyms, but we’re not tryna teach kids. A school to learn tricks at, a place we can put ideas into brains, and a place that people can sharpen their claws, but this ain’t the place for that.” He said with a shrug, it was better to leave it for the Admin to think about.
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What Kouji had was an idea, just an idea lacking structure, and realistic thought put behind it.
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”I’ll tell you about it when I teach a few tricks of the trade.”

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POSTED ON Mar 3, 2024 9:31:51 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

"I await them gratefully." His tone is respectful as Howard glanced over at Kouji. "You're a smart guy."

Despite the difference in rank, Kouji was a respected member of Rocket. He was brutal, a force of nature, and with terrible taste. Nonetheless, he was a monster in a person's clothing. All Rockets were, at the end of the day.

Kouji was jovial, but he'd still smile and laugh as he ripped his enemies limb from limb. It was best to appease him, respect him, and keep him close.

"You want to improve our fighting strength? Not a bad idea. We have a lot of strong trainers here. A lot of Avatars. Yet we all need to vastly outperform the average trainer. Each grunt we lose sets us back. Each ranger the League loses gets replaced."

Sieging Sootopolis was difficult, but if the League abandoned humanity and simply sent the masses towards Sootopolis, Rocket would eventually drown in bodies. The League was being held back by its morality.

The two pulled up to the window. Howard peered into his wallet and cursed.

"Damn. You have four PD? I'll pay you back."

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 6:14:59 GMT

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Kouji patted down his pockets, wondering in this moment as to why he didn’t just invest in a wallet like a true adult. He could feel a couple of coins in his pockets before he drew them out, letting them jingle within his palm. He looked up at Howard, wondering just how they were going to do this. ”I’ve got three PD, want to spot me on the company card?” He said as he gave the man a couple of elbow digs.
[break]
But for the topic of morality, Kouji could think of a few reasons that would make them push such a thought out. ”Or they could just get rid of everyone, and blame it on us. A secret experimental weapon made by the evil guys turned on them.” He said with over exaggerated hand movements for a moment before he stilled, it was the kind of thing that he could almost respect.
[break]
Were it not for the fact it’d spit on the principles of guys that he actually respected in that organization. ”But until then, they’ll have to face us directly, I want to be prepared for that. So what have you got cooking, new mister bigshot? You’ve got a nogging that actually works, I’m expecting some big stuff from ya.”

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 6:23:38 GMT

"Me? Nothing much. I've always been more of a cog in the machine than anything. Rocket needs supplies. Money. I'll provide both."

Rocket had a company card? Shit. New to him. He had an old Rose Industries card from Amor Rose, but Amor had warned him to only use it for emergencies. Did this constitute as an emergency? Howard side eyed Kouji as he thought about it.

Nah, probably not.

"I'll unlock the capacities of Regice, then sit behind my desk happily. Might start pulling Wishing Stars and Dynite Ore from the earth to supply the war effort."

Howard shrugged again and checked his wallet.

"We have a company card?"

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 6:31:24 GMT

Tempest Quinn likes this

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”Supplies huh? I guess smuggling is really the only way we’re ever going to get those in any good capacity, unless the League wants to donate to our cause.” Kouji chuckled darkly for a moment before he placed his hands on the dashboard and began to stretch himself out, releasing a sigh of release as he felt a pop in his upper back. His golden eyes shot towards the Rocket Admin for a moment.
[break][break]
”I like beating the crap outta things, but feel free to throw those kinds of mission my way, me and Temp can handle the seas well enough.” He had confidence in that matter, especially since his comrade had gotten his promotion, Tempest Quinn was one of the strongest men he knew.
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”Maybe if we smuggled more in, everyone could get on- Wait, you don’t have one? I thought we did. That’s craazy…Maybe you should use your wage boost instead? Celebrate by treating your wonderful, and loyal grunt.” He crossed his arms and began to nod.

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 6:49:31 GMT

"Ah, see. I don't get my next paycheck for two weeks. I'm broke! You always did way better work than me. Hell, you're basically my mentor."

Howard nodded to himself, clearly content with this line of thinking. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. The payment window was approaching, slowly but surely. He had to get Kouji to pay as quickly as possible.

"As my mentor, it's your duty to celebrate your pupil's promotion by picking up the tab. That way, you can hold it over him for eternity."

The stakes rose. The gamble grew risky. Still, Howard Slayte was not going to use his freshly minted Rocket paychecks on fast food in a car he hadn't even paid off fully. He had pride! Dignity! A crippling hole in his wallet!

"It's the right thing to do."

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 6:57:39 GMT

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Kouji ran a hand through his hair as he thought on what the man was saying, was he really the mentor? ”Aye, but you’re my elder, plus being in that distortion fucked up my perception of money, I can’t even count anymore.” Kouji pulled whatever he could from his aged up derriere; a bet to counter the other bet.
[break][break]
It wasn’t the smartest idea, he pondered as he hummed aloud, thinking hard on what to follow it up with. The momentary contortion of his expression was the break in his poker face that he didn’t want to reveal. A slight crack in his own argument, was it even worth being in the drive through to begin with.
[break][break]
”Plus, I’m not really that hungry to begin with, I just want a salad.” The final move, as they began to pull into the speaker. ”Plus, you can pay off a car like this, right? With current gas prices, you must have something in the tank, my dear elder.”

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 7:13:52 GMT

Kouji Matsubara likes this

Howard thumped his head into the steering wheel. Kouji's IQ was bordering on room temperature, but even he had his moments of cleverness.

"Kouji." Howard turned to his colleague and put his hand on the grunt's shoulder, comparable to an older man consoling a younger one on the ways of the world. It was a charming gesture, if not for the fact that Howard wanted to smack Kouji. "My friend."

He blinked once as he looked into Kouji's eyes.

"That's insane. You're insane. You just counted the money in your wallet."

Checkmate.

"Please, Kouji." Howard's voice cracked. "I'm behind on my car payments. I'm destitute."

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 7:21:00 GMT

howard slayte likes this

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Kouji sighed, it was a long deep sigh that came from the very depths of his lungs. He wondered just when it had become like this, when he became so poor at a lie? He looked over to the speaker before he addressed the man. ”Let me get a double great Taurus meal, a milktank shake, another milktank shake…What flavour you want?” Even though he was shouting across the driver’s seat towards the speaker.
[break][break]
”I’ll cover it, but you better put in a good work for my plan, alright?” He said as he pulled out some notes from his pocket, he stared at it for a long while before giving another deep sigh. ”I guess I can avoid seeing my sickly, dying father for a moment.”
[break][break]
He didn’t like his father.
[break][break]
”Everything for Rocket…Even the last moments of my last family member.” He said as he nodded grimly.

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POSTED ON Jun 12, 2024 7:29:23 GMT

Kouji Matsubara likes this

A tear glimmered in his eye as he put his hand on Kouji's shoulder. His eye sparkled with gratitude.

"Thank you, Kouji. You're the greatest Rocket asset we have. You've done a lot for us, and one day I'll repay you in turn."

Grunts were expected to give everything to Team Rocket. Their blood, their sweat, their tears, their bodies, their lives. All of those things belonged to Rocket, but the organization still expected more from their massive swaths of recruits. That had once been Howard, but he had risen above the dregs.

A curse in the shape of a title. He would not burden anyone else with the weight of admin.

"Glory to Rocket."

They pulled up to the MilcreyDonalds drive-thru window.

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