The Boss of Control 2 - (Chainsaw Man, SI)

Quanxi needed a break. She was short on smokes. She was also being constantly besieged by that moron Kishibe.

It was a normal day of work, but this was the kind of tragedy that truly made her wonder why she woke up that morning. Alas, she needed a break and she knew she had to ask her boss so the proper paperwork could be filed.

Usually one could expect some leniency if they had a good relationship with their boss, but Quanxi was also a Devil and she was being monitored due to the chances of being a foreign spy. Sure, she was from China but... did she like it enough to spy for them? She had several years of being hunted there as a good reason to say no, and a little hint of nostalgia saying yes.

Regardless of that, Quanxi had never spied upon her workplace for her 'Chinese Masters'. Despite its many dreadful issues, it was still an acceptable job. And one with a respectable amount of liberty for her to enjoy. Plus, she had nothing to whine about the leadership-

"You're not taking a break."

When it is not actively preventing her to enjoy her vices.

"I need it," She repeated curtly, showing no emotion while her boss delivered a flat look back at her. "It would impact my performance."

"You could just ask me to have Kishibe shuffled in a new desk rather than bitch for new smokes."

Her eye narrowed at this. Sure, that would solve 50% of her issues but-

"I want smokes."

Quanxi wasn't budging from this matter. It was a question of principle. And one of desire for her tobacco.

The boss, Haru-san, was as unflinching and uncompromising as usual. This wasn't going to be an easy fight as he narrowed his eyes at her skull.

"Quanxi, that's a no from me."

"I-"

"Unless you have a life-or-death reason, I see no point for you to go on a walk when it's been just a hour since we started the shift."

Her lips pressed, shutting her mouth entirely as she was whipped with that 'tiny' detail that made her demands even more childish than those should be.

Yet, she couldn't just pester him for long without eventually expecting some punishments in the form of more paperwork and maybe more patrols around the sewers. No one likes to patrol for Devils in the sewers.

So, Quanxi thought and thought... until an idea came to mind and she blurted it out.

"I-I am just stressed, boss... because I have a date later today."

This changed everything.

The lie was risky, but Quanxi relied on a very element she caught on many Japanese men of this era: no one was too 'keen' to discuss about same-sex circumstances. Kishibe was still 'hopeful', but he tended to go quiet when she reminded him that she was into girls.

And while she would say her boss was more progressive on the topic, she never had the chance to test out how much open he was on the matter.

At first glance, he appeared surprised by this response. It definitely caught him off-guard, but he remained mostly quiet for what amounted to a full minute.

"Is that so?"

She nodded, and the boss sharply looked at her with a different look. It wasn't annoyance but... what was it? It definitely wasn't embarrassment or shame, or something truly bad. But it wasn't good either.

"Yes."

"What's her name?"

He immediately stuck to the notion it was a girl, and Quanxi nodded.

"Himiko."

The two went at it for a while, with her boss asking general questions and Quanxi lying as easily as she breathed. But as the brief interrogation came to an end, she could see how unconvinced her boss was with her masterful acting.

Without saying a word, he opened one of his desk's drawers and retrieved two box of smokes - her favorite brand at that.

"I always have five boxes around in case you forget to buy more for the day," He explained as she eyed the items with muted giddiness. "I will give those to you, but I want you to promise me one thing."

Looking back at his face, Quanxi nodded as she finally saw what she hadn't understood on his expressions until that very moment: worry.

"You will never bring up your romantic status or life in the case you truly find someone. You don't bring it up at work, and you don't bring it up to a too public place. Even if it is a joke or a lie to get a break authorized by me. We don't do that for relationships by the way."

This warning felt less about being too 'free' around the topics at work and more about something else.

"What do you mean?"

"Quanxi, you are a Devil from China. As much as you can try to ignore it, you are limited and so would be any partner that you end up picking. Don't get too cocky about it or you may have a major weakness in the form of your very emotions."

The sharp reminder had her stiff and annoyed. She definitely knew that she couldn't be too expressive but...

At the same time, dating would create me more trouble than not.

"I understand."

Haru nodded, then handed her the smokes and dismissed her.

Quanxi had nothing to whine about, returning to her post and getting back to work (and ignore Kishibe's flirting).

As she did so, however, she saw Makima, the ever-eager creepy redhead wandering towards their boss' office, holding what appeared to be coupons for Burger King. She rolled her only eye, knowing how this will end up or... maybe not.

Not even five minutes in that office, and a 'sad but smiling' Makima left the place while holding five Whoopers in her arms. It was a miracle she didn't stain her pristine white shirt considering how low-quality those burger boxes were at times.

Still, as she saw the 'younger' Devil depart from the boss' office, a question was born from the smokes she got and the whoopers Makima got afterward: how many items favored by his subordinates did their boss have stuffed in his office?

Quanxi contemplated it for a moment, her mind distractedly wondering how 'far' did their Boss think in regard to their vices, needs, and whinings but... in the end, she had no clue and she could only go back to scribbling and signing the paperwork.

And while she preferred to kill people, Quanxi was somewhat glad that she could get bored with a nice boss overseeing her suffering.

It was night, the shift should have been over for a while, but Makima was still working on her paperwork.

Admittedly, she had gotten a bit distracted with her emergency whooper intake, and thus she had still a modest stack of paper to review and compile. Work was tough, but it was interesting enough for her to be quite focused on it.

Enough focused that she hardly noticed her boss had walked out of his office and was now standing in front of her desk. She was almost done, just two more hours and-

"Makima."

She paused, the redhead looking up to her superior with a strained smile.

"Almost done, Haru-dono."

"The shift is over."

Her lips twitched. "I can-"

"It's part of my papers. Just leave it to me to deal tomorrow."

There was no room for protest, and Makima felt her smile falter a little bit. The odd thing was, however, how her boss lingered by her side and then told her something that made it clear she wasn't to go to her flat just yet.

"I found a solution to your shitty hobbies."

This was insulting as reading books was a goodish hobby, but she was curious. She remembered how he had made that similar comment back during her job interview. The one she thought she had failed and that, ultimately, proved that her boss was as unpredictable as humanly deranged.

It was night, close to midnight, and Makima was curious to what her boss was up to. Would it be something depraved? Was he as horny of a dog as Kishibe was towards Quanxi if not more? Despite her wondering, Makima was unable to predict standing in front of a movie theater. And having to pay for her ticket and popcorn for a movie she didn't know about was definitely a further surprising detail.

The place was empty- it was just her and Haru-dono. They sat in the middle row, the man calling it a 'perfect place for acustics without being too close or too far'. And it proved to be the case as the movie started.

Star Wars was a movie she did heard scarcely about. It was one of those from the US that had gotten successful in Japan a few years ago, but Makima had been too 'shy' and also constrained by her 'wardens' to look into the matter.

But now that she had a salty snack, some trustworthy company and the nightly opportunity to watch a movie... well, she understood the experience of those that spoke in favor of movies as 'superior' to books.

Books were limited, movies were more expressive. Sure, it crushed a reader's own imagination over unsaid details, but it replaced such dismay with flashy scenes and powerful noises. Makima was stuck to her chair from the beginning to the end of the movie.

Did it please her? Quite so. It was definitely an interesting story. Compelling characters albeit flattened by the 'good and evil' division, untold answers and mysterious truths and...

"There's two following movies after this one."

Makima perked up at this, but she then learned those were not going to be shown in this theater. Sad, but she understood that it was best to end that lovely discovery at that point.

It was two in the morning and she barely had three hours of good 'sleep' before having to clean up for the next day of work. No one was waiting for her at her flat so... she didn't mind the late hour return.

She just crashed on her couch and allowed her mind to wander off for those three blissful and dark hours away from work and pleasure, pondering what was left to do next in her seemingly normal life as a subordinate to a strange human and his strange quirks.

Regardless of the answers to that curiosity, she was already happy with what little she got. And the Burger Kings.

AN

Quanxi is a shit actor. And Makima enjoys 'good movies'.