AN: Woohooo, new year, new decade, new chapter! Welcome back, and I hope you enjoy what I have in store for you.
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For those of you not that familiar, but still semi familiar, with Aggretsuko, here's a fun fact. Before the main series, it was made up of multiple one-minute shorts, of which I've watched a fair few. Many things were changed between the two, one of the largest being Anai's personality, which went from super over-eager new grad to... well, I think you all know what. Anyhow, like to think that as he settled down in season 2 he reverted more towards his 'shorts' personality, and you'll see a little of that in here.
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A Ton of work. (FFoZ S1E13)
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'We have a problem, Buchō.'
…
'What!? Can I get some peace this morning? What is it?'
'Legal issues.'
'Great. This again.'
'Actually, no.'
'Typical! Just tell me in the car!'
...
"Bye Daddy!"
"Bye Daddy!"
"Bye…"
Slamming his car door shut and setting off, Ton Katsu grunted. He'd been hoping for some damn peace and quiet this morning. Instead his daughters had been up making noise.
Lots of noise.
Why was it that twelve-year-old girls thought Karaoke at 6am in the morning was a good idea!? Weren't they almost teenagers? Weren't they supposed to be sleeping in, to the point where his wife had to use an air horn to get them up?
If they kept up these antics, he'd start making them study. He hadn't had the luxury of being able to lie in when he was young! No, he'd been woken up bright and early to do schoolwork, and to get to school early for sports practice and other things he hated. THEN he'd spent the afternoon being tutored, to the point where he had to do his schoolwork the next morning, before repeating the entire cycle again and again and again…
And it had been worth it. He'd made it. He'd paid his dues and risen to the top of the pile, and all he asked was that he got some peace and quiet when it mattered.
But no…
Even when he gave the next generation an inch of slack, they took a mile. If they kept on getting up this early and distracting him, then they'd be finding themselves doing extra tutoring sooner rather than later.
…
And then there was that new interruption, as if he hadn't suffered enough.
Still, he could relax for a little bit. His radio was on and he listened to the news as he began powering down the road and towards the motorway. Traffic was moderate, but not congested, and things were going well.
He was in his car, a big modern vehicle that ran smoothly, despite the great power under his foot. He was peaceful, for now.
"And once more, the ZPD would like to remind citizens to be aware of any threats and danger. In a statement last evening, Chief Bogo of Precinct One reminded the city that, despite the recent defeat of the terrorist group, there is still a lingering Nighthowler risk. It is suspected that they were passing on some bulbs to other organisations, who may remain active. Despite this, when pressed, he admitted that the risk, for now at least, is significantly reduced…"
Ton grumbled. Damned plants. If he had his way, he'd ban them. Heck, it wouldn't be that hard to try and make them extinct or something, wouldn't it? And then no more problems.
Just get it done.
…
And, while he was on that sentiment, he might as well do it. As he stopped at a set of lights, he scrolled down the console touch screen and pressed the right number, his phone dialling out as the light turned green. Pushing forwards, he made his way to the slip road and had merged into the traffic when it went through.
"Buchō?"
"Cut to it, Ookami," Ton grumbled, as he began barrelling down on the city centre, his speedometer climbing up and teasing eighty.
"I was forwarded a set of emails by the legal department," his underling replied. "The ZPD want us to forward some key files on. Nothing more."
"Pah… They think they can ask us to do that without a warrant?"
"No, sir."
Ton grunted. "Of course not. Tell them no, then."
"Ah, sir…"
"-They probably want me to do it so they can get me for data protection breaches," he muttered. That's the way they worked, wasn't it? Try and damn you if you do, damn you if you don't. The only way to beat them was to call their bluff, or to throw someone else under the bus… And he wasn't about to offer up one of his employees.
"Well, no sir..."
"Or they're harassing Kabae again," he said, his fists tightening. If they thought they could humiliate her further, then they had another thing coming!
"It's to do with the tax returns of a client, and they have a warrant."
"Hmmm…" He grumbled. "I can deal with that. We can talk later."
"Understood. See you at work."
"You too."
…
That wasn't bad, but it was a nuisance. Still, at least he could have a bit of peace and quiet for himself today. He flicked his radio back on and pushed forwards. Being so early, it didn't take long to get in and he pulled into the Yakatomi Plaza car park just as another car arrived, Ton watching as the big M3 park next to him. Ookami got out, dressed in his white shirt and tie along with a pair of golden aviators and a bluetooth earpiece, which he slipped away before pulling out a shopping bag full of green fruit and other salad supplies. He then locked his car before the pair made their way to the lift.
"You're early," Ton grunted.
"I have a side hustle, Buchō," Ookami said, a little wistfully as he pressed the call button.
Ton didn't care that much. It didn't affect the business and, while he'd normally be annoyed at any intrusion into his private time, Ookami usually kept himself quiet. Besides, there was work for both of them to do.
The lift chimed and the door opened revealing the mirrored interior, the pair pausing as they saw the rear end of Marketing Director Gori stuck up right at them.
"Arghhh... Now that side looks bad. Just add some makeup here, and here," she muttered to herself, a strange hint of nerves in the gorilla's voice. "Damn, why does it take so hard to get myself done up! Confidence, need to show confidence… Can't let anyone see otherwise or -hello you two!"
"Morning," the pair replied as they got in, pressing their floor button. Gori stood up rigid between them, her face a confident and cool mask with a slight interruption from the half-done lipstick.
"Uh, Senpai?" Ookami said, raising a finger.
Gori, her face still a mask, brought up her lipstick and finished it off. Now all that was left was the rest of her finer details and such. The door opening, she held herself tall and walked out with powerful small strides in her heels, like she was the baddest bitch in the room, as the door closed on her.
Not quite fast enough to hide her bolting for the ladies room though.
Ton couldn't help but laugh, bending over before turning to face Ookami. "Pah! Look at that, a dumb woman getting in a fuss over some dumb face paint. As if they think I give a damn. Did you see how weak and emotional she is? The 'cool' director Gori, getting in a fuss just like that. Hah! Shows that even if they look strong, they're just hiding it. What next? Maybe we'll see Secretary Washimi succumbing to her womanly instincts? Maybe she's plucked out her chest feathers to line a nest, as if she -was-a-mother-she'd-be-a-wonderfully-selfless-and dedicated-one. Morning, Washimi."
He turned and bowed to the new occupant of the lift, who'd entered without him knowing. She was a very rare sentient secretary bird, most likely the only one in the city (if not country) of Zootopia, and she acted like she ruled the roost, strutting between the two mammals and standing up tall and stoic. While taller than Ton, her avian body and tightly tailored blouse and skirt meant that she was incredibly lithe and seemingly delicate, something her long lashes and decorative feathers added to.
Ton put on a smile and nervously looked away. "Of course, the feather comment was made in complete sincerity… Like I'd talk about a dedicated marsupial mother changing her pouch liners regularly. It was no comment made or directed against sentient birds, or yourself…"
Ookami coughed a few times. "Morning, Washimi-sami."
"Morning," she said formally, turning to face him. "Do we know each other?"
"I'm Ookami. Do you have any updates on the warrant issue?"
"We'll be getting a visitor around ten," she replied. "As agreed, I'll forward on the details."
He gave her a little bow, to which she nodded, before turning to Director Ton. "How are things in the accounting department?"
He relaxed a little, clearing his throat. "Working well, this little…"
THWACK!
He flinched back as she let loose a powerful leg stomp, karate chopping down onto the lift's handrail. "It wouldn't be the first time I've talked to the CEO about your conduct."
And, with that, the lift stopped with a ding. She stood up, giving a quick nod to Ookami, before walking out like the baddest bitch in the room she was.
…
"I like Washimi-Sami," Ookami noted happily.
"Of course you would," Ton grumbled, as they began rising again. "You're both mammals…"
"-She's a bird, Buchō."
"-Who's faces barely move when they talk. I couldn't read hers for nothing!"
"That could be due to a lack of facial muscles."
Ton was silent for a second or two before huffing. "Good. It seems that I'm not losing my edge." With that, the pair exited their lift and went out onto their floor. The main workforce wasn't due to arrive for at least an hour, so there would be some peace and quiet at least.
Ookami quickly assembled his standard breakfast, a salad that was 90% made from the fruit he'd brought, tomato like things called 'wolf apples'. Ton had tasted them and didn't get the hype, but apparently it was a dietary thing like pandas and bamboo. Regardless, the maned wolf settled down to eat them while pushing through some overtime work he needed to do, leaving the director to scan through the work that had been forwarded his way. Most of it was internal accounts checking, probably the most boring and remedial thing there was, which made it perfect to pass along to his lower underlings.
On the other trotter there were a few more complex memos. One included a much more complex cost review exercise; he'd have to pick out a team to do it while firing off data-requesting emails to other departments, who would most likely respond to them the same day that Dawn Bellwether got out of prison, Washimi remarried her mythical albino peacock ex-husband and he grew a blonde ponytail and changed his name to Susan. Finally, there was…
He grumbled as he saw what it was. Apparently, the CEO wanted each and every different department to plan a pride festival display.
What on earth did that have to do with accountancy!?
His job was numbers and laws, not that kind of stuff, and all it would do would act as a distraction. As far as he was aware, no one in his office was even part of that community. Best thing to do would be to set some unimportant lowlings onto it.
Speaking of which, that red panda and the new graduate did a good job at the equally dumb family day celebrations, and being younger they'd most likely be more in tune with what was needed. He guessed that that was as close as he could get.
So, he turned back to the cost review, grabbing his abacus and beginning to filter through the numbers. By the time the first of his workers began to enter, he'd sent off a chunk of emails and worked out a strategy. Tsubone was in, and she tended to be a high-level worker with spare time on her claws. He called the komodo dragon up and informed her, gaining much support from a third party.
"An excellent choice as always!"
Looking down, he saw Komiya, the perennial yes-mammal meerkat standing there.
"It really, really is," Tsunoda, the dik-dik/micro-deer doe added.
Yeah, that confidence felt good. Damn good, though of course it would, it was his idea! "Very well," he said, looking down. "If you two would help her."
"A brilliant idea, sir!"
"Wow, I'd be honored…"
"Then get a move on," he said, as he waved them off. He went back to his desk and sat down, smirking to himself.
…
Those two were the most blatant unabashed tail-kissing suck ups he'd ever met. It was almost embarrassing that they thought they were getting away with it, though in fairness they sort of were.
The key to any good accountancy and management schemes was to take advantage of any cushy or suck up deals you could get and use them, while knowing exactly what they were and knowing when and how to back out. Having them fawn over him was always a damn nice thing that he deserved and he treated them well because of it, but there was a limit to how far they could go. Their work was good, so it would be far, but not too far.
After all, they'd also need to show that they could stick up for themselves and raise concerns, however much mammals higher up punched down. Conversely, choosing their battles was important too. Things like the pride festival task meant nothing to him and wouldn't cause any problems if he toed the line (and likely a whole lot if he did object), so no reason to fight there.
It was why Ookami would likely be the mammal who'd replace him when he eventually left. Though soft spoken and respectful, he'd raise his own issues and ideas.
Maybe in the future Anai would rise that far too. If he tamed himself, that was. He was swung out far too much the other way.
…
Then there was Retsuko, just coming in with her two friends.
Calendar Girl, though her days didn't seem that numbered anymore.
She was a good worker, and could stand up for herself, but she was ditzy. Inexperienced. She could slip or daydream or run after an idea and burn out. He'd respect her a lot more if she finally planted her feet in the ground some time, rather than running about like a headless chicken.
Anyhow, he had a task for her and Anai. The last one ended up good, so maybe this was something she could root herself on. He called them over, and explained it.
.
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"And given that, I thought that you two could do it again!"
He sat back smiling, before it faded as he looked at Calendar Girl. She had the same startled look that a caught and dead fish had, and he ground his teeth a little. Just as he'd been thinking before, he was a gift giving horse and she was going to look him right in the mouth.
"But, but," Retsuko stammered, before painfully failing to hide her concern under a fake smile. "I'm not…"
"Neither am I, and I got the request!" Ton barked. She really was slow on the uptake. "The head boss wants us to do stuff with rainbows on it because he thinks that it'll make mammals like the company more, so we'll do it. We don't have a choice, and with you being a wide field Inter you're probably the closest we've got."
He guessed. He really didn't know how that stuff worked, it wasn't important to his job, but he'd seen her with an onager. Small pred with a big prey, that was probably far wider than a vixen with a vixen or something.
"O… -Okay," she said, smiling.
Ton nodded, only to pause as Ookami walked up. There was something a bit off about the maned wolf, as if he were embarrassed or something.
"Buchō?"
"Got something actually important?" he asked.
"Two things," he said, before running his fingers against each other and glancing around. "Firstly, I heard about this pride thing," he said, his voice lowering a bit. "I'd be happy to organise it instead. I don't really tell anyone, but you could say I'm a member of that community."
Anai immediately perked up and turned to him, standing straight and saluting. "I'D LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOU ON THE STRENGTH AND BRAVERY IT TOOK TO COME OUT, OOKAMI-SAN."
"Don't shout it out!" He shot back, glancing around at the slightly alerted office.
"As a proud ally, I'd like to be the first to tell you that it's nothing to be ashamed of or…"
"-Just because I want to keep it private doesn't mean I'm ashamed of being gay!"
"Understood!" Anai barked back, giving a quick nod of his head.
Ookami looked around at the now actively non-looking office, his tail giving long moody sweeps with a flick at each end, before he sighed and turned back to Ton.
Ton looked back, his hooves coming together and tightening. "-Good, it seems we're lucky," he said. "You can run it, those two can help with it and your workload." He still didn't care that much about pride but, with Ookami suddenly becoming the most qualified mammal to do this, he'd certainly take advantage of it. It still wasn't that important in the grand scheme of things though. He turned to the two underlings and waved them off as the maned wolf leant down, forwarding some papers. Now this likely was something important.
"A few days ago, City Hall rolled out a new set of tax law proposals. I was asked to do a review by sales on how our current minimisation strategy holds up were they to be implemented, and any alternatives. I'm confident in my analysis of the former, though I feel I need a second opinion on the latter."
"I'll look at it," Ton said. He read through the memo and already knew the rough impacts before he read the report. Reading on, he was proven right, as was Ookami's assessment of the current scheme. A small hit, one that a new routine should avoid. A quick scan through Ookami's proposed changes and Ton nodded. It seemed fairly good, though he was pretty damn certain that he could work out something better.
Any consideration of that though was broken off as his phone rang. He picked it up, nodded, and listened in.
The cops had arrived.
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Walking in with the officer, a cheetah by the name of Catano, he spared a glance at a slightly fretful Kabae. "It's nothing," he said to the hippo, as he led the cop to his desk, sitting down on it hard. "What's needed?"
"I'm sure you're familiar with Tundratown Limo's Incorporated."
"Yes, they went down for tax evasion a while back or something," Ton said. Losing that customer had been a minor annoyance, though the heiress of its CEO had turned to them to formalise her remaining accounts, a short term (target reaching) positive. "I guess you'll be wanting their records," he said, watching her nod before leaning out over his desk. "Haida?"
"Yes sir," the hyena replied.
"Get the copper the records on Tundratown Limo Service."
There was a surprised and excited look in his eyes, likely from working with a cop or something, as Ton turned back to Catano.
"We'll want the deep records as well."
The pig paused, thinking. Why would they want to double check that? Either way, it wasn't his department. "You'll need to ask Technical," he told her, to which she nodded.
Off she went, as he got out his abacus and worked on his little alternative.
…
…
This might be good.
…
Hang on. No, maybe…
He looked up briefly and saw the cheetah cop talking to a very enthusiastic Retsuko, Fenneko and Haida. They were discussing things, and looked far more enthusiastic than he'd expected them to.
Probably sharing gossip and such, the young red panda's head filling up with those unreachable fantasies.
.
…
Back to work and a smile grew. This was getting somewhere…
"Excuse me?"
He looked up, seeing the cheetah cop there again. "Yes?"
"Did you send an internal email with some tax forms from Tundratown Limo Service?"
"Probably," he said, shaking his head. "I wouldn't remember what day."
"It's just that one of your workers said that you sent her one, then forgot about it right away."
"What, that one?" He asked, looking at Retsuko, his eyes narrowing. "She was just being delusional." He huffed, opening his sent mail file and scrolling down. "Which day?"
"That one."
He paused, looking through it. "See, nothing! You can even check on the hard archives if you want."
Catano looked in and nodded. "Understood," she said, a bit quietly. "Thanks for your help."
"You're welcome," he said as she left, letting him get back to business.
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…
"This is looking good!" He said, as he finished off with a final few flicks of his abacus. He put it down, looked over the results, and sniggered.
Those dumb clients screwed themselves over with their tax evasion. He, meanwhile, had just set together a very good and legal tax reduction strategy. Had they employed him as more than an auditor, he could have done the same for them.
Idiots.
"Ookami!" He called, the maned wolf coming over. Ton pushed over the documents, smiling proudly as the maned wolf read through. The canine's amber eyes widened. "Five percent…"
"Over your idea," Ton revelled.
"Buchō, this is incredible. It's even better than our current strategy!"
"Your plan had merit, but it was trying to modify the old one," Ton lectured. "Sometimes you need to uproot and start from scratch."
"Understood, sir!"
Ton watched him walk off, before settling back into his chair. The only stuff left for him to do that day was the baseline gruel, and that was what the lower workers were for! He could spend the rest of the day relaxing, maybe doing some golf swings, with platitudes being spilled onto him by Tsunoda or Komiya.
That would be nice.
Feet up, he could enjoy today.
He deserved it.
After all, his new plan could save the company tens of millions, maybe hundreds in the long run. That was the high-level stuff that he was here for, that only he could do. After all, if your operation was entirely dependent on a single button being pressed every day, and that button could only be pressed by one person in the world, your button pusher got and deserved what he wanted.
He'd pushed his button for the day, and not much else was owed from him.
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After showing off a few golf swings and going off to the toilet, he began walking back. Lunch was coming up, and then a nice peaceful afternoon. Pausing as his phone vibrated, he pulled it out to scan through the emails, slipping into an alcove and reading through them.
He went silent though as he heard the sound of Retsuko and her posse.
"-I mean an actual police officer, coming to chase up the lead I found," she gushed, Ton pausing and staying silent.
"Yeah, and I bet Ton looked shocked when she found the email 'he didn't send'," Haida added. "The cop being a girl is the cherry on top."
"He likely doesn't remember," Fenneko countered, as she tapped through her phone. "Or maybe he does, maybe he denied it for some nefarious reason."
"He's a misogynist jerk, but he's not a criminal," Retsuko replied. "And that cop knows Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde too!"
"Too bad for protection protocols," the vixen noted.
"Yeah, I kinda want his autograph," Haida added.
"Fan boy," Fenneko dismissed. "I'd much rather see Ton's face when he found out he missed out on our tax tattler reward."
"Or when we become tax detectives," Retsuko chirped, "we have the experience."
"Just need the opening," Haida added, smiling.
Fenneko did so too, before pausing. "Or, real detectives."
They all paused, looking towards her. "What do you mean?" Retsuko asked.
"Most PI's are professional glory hogs who want action and fame, and most official detectives are police officers with on foot and combat experience. While trained up, it's not like they have major knowledge of tax laws, or experience in looking through financial data. In reality, more and more of that work is just that, not to mention the regular accounts a private business needs doing."
"Fenneko," Retsuko gasped. "Are you saying we could be real detectives?"
"Have you seen her social media powers?" Haida remarked.
"I looked," she began, as she scrolled through her phone. "There are a number of subsidised retraining schemes, to get us from accounts and into official detective work. Some private companies set up work and learn schemes too. Both would be a pinch to our earnings, but we could get through it without dunking into savings."
…
"I… I think that sounds amazing," Retsuko said, getting all giddy before calming down. "I mean, we should be careful, obviously. But… Well, the feeling of taking down a mafia empire was amazing enough."
"Heck, just having the skills in demand and getting to choose our own boss would be worth it," Haida added.
"I want to look into this," Retsuko said, as they began to head off. "It's just so much more, something bigger, something better, something I can grasp. Together, with you guys…" She carried on talking as the trop slipped off, turning a corner, their voices trailing off into nothing.
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…
Ton slipped out of the alcove and carried on his way. He had a lot to think about. A lot of news that intrigued him, annoyed him, worried him.
Something was up, he knew that for sure. With that email… Maybe it was one sent ages ago but got lost in the system, only then popping up?
Yeah, that had to be it, irritating as it was.
On the other trotter…
He was their boss, and Retsuko had always been spineless. Not a suck up or a toady or someone who held their own.
She was a flip flopper, between this and that, someone with no backbone.
He didn't have a high opinion of mammals like that, though if they worked for him it was his duty to stop them flipping themselves into a fish chummer. Yet…
She'd gone behind his back to do something that was right and reaped the rewards. She had new ideas, and was going towards them with enthusiasm and caution. Oh, she may be disloyal, but that wasn't something new
In a way, he sort of hoped she'd carry on towards this new dream of hers, holding it firm.
Because, despite all else, it meant that she'd finally grown a spine. She could look after herself.
And that was something he could respect.
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AN: This will be the last of the oneshots for a good while. Coming up next week is a three-parter that I'm super excited about, see you then.