When Androphobia Meets Gynophobia

by CrackPairingLover

After finding out that his meeting with some worker from one of the companies he worked with was cancelled, Ryuunosuke is forced to wait for his ordered meal in Wagnaria. He meets up with a lot of unusual people along the way, but one in particular catches his eye...

CPL here with a story different from the ones which I usually write!

I just needed to get this idea out of my head, since it's been bothering me ever since...well, actually it was pretty recent, but I'm sure you guys understand.

I don't know if I'll turn this into a full story, so I'll just leave this as a one-shot for now. Unless...you readers want more, then I'll think about it.

Now, enjoy!

I do not own Working! nor Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo.

-IIXII-

So this...is Wagnaria?

Ryuunosuke stared at the family restaurant, his expression as blank as a whiteboard.

However, looks can be deceiving.

He may not look like it, but he was actually annoyed beyond measure. Why? Some of those people from the companies he worked with said something about discussing their upcoming game and, like always, they needed his help to make sure that the game would come to life.

If he were being honest with himself, then it's becoming rather annoying how the guys keep depending on him with big projects like this. Not like they're doing anything useful for once.

Despite that, no one can blame them.

Whether Ryuunosuke liked it or not, he was a high-skilled programmer, so no one else was suitable enough for the job.

Idiots...

Right now, he was all dressed up in a pair of dark blue jeans, as well as a normal black t-shirt with purple stripes. He could've honestly picked something better to wear, since this meeting technically counted as something very much important, but he wasn't in the mood to do so.

All Ryuunosuke wanted was to get this meeting over and done with so he can go home and finish his current project. And then sleep.

That being said, why in the world did they plan to meet up with me all the way out here? Couldn't they have just picked a better place? Those geezers...

Sighing to no one but himself, Ryuunosuke pulled out his phone and checked the time. Like usual, Maid-chan popped up on his screen and cheerily announced, "It is 3:33 PM, Ryuunosuke-sama!"

"I see. Thank you, Maid-chan," Ryuunosuke replied, smiling a bit.

The AI seemed to blush a bit at this, and all she did in return was nod, before disappearing to who knows where. But knowing her, she was probably busying herself with replying to countless of messages which were being received by Ryuunosuke, since that was her job, after all. He wouldn't want to bother himself with something so trivial and mundane, would he now?

And besides, it's not like any of those senders wanted to have a normal conversation with him or anything.

An image of a certain former freeloader came to mind, but Ryuunosuke quickly threw said image out the window, ignoring the fact that his cheeks had grown quite red in the span of three seconds.

It must've been the heat. Yeah, that's it. It was quite hot today, after all.

"W-Well," Ryuunosuke started, his blush dying down a bit. "let's just get this over and done with."

-IIXII-

"Welcome to Wagnaria!" Inami greeted with a sweet smile plastered across her face. She bowed in a polite manner, and later inquired, "Would you like to eat in the smoking section, or the non-smoking section?"

"T-The non-smoking section! P-Please!" Kirio replied, smiling brightly in return. A bit of pink dusted his cheeks, but Inami paid it no mind. It was probably because of the heat outside.

Good thing the restaurant had air conditioners.

Inami nodded. "Right this way then."

"Inami-san," Takanashi placed a hand onto his hip, holding a broom with the other. He glared daggers at Kirio, and said, "I suggest we kick this suspicious person out of our restaurant before he starts causing unwanted trouble."

"How rude!" Kirio turned to Takanashi, only to deflate a little upon noticing the glare being sent his way. "I-I'm not a suspicious person..." he stuttered, his face growing more and more paler by the second. "I-I'm just your ordinary customer! Is it wrong for me to-"

"Right," Takanashi tightened his grip around the broom in his hands, as the look on his face darkened ever so slightly. His glasses glinted in the sunlight, and that unintentionally made him look all the more intimidating. "let's kick him out."

"E-Eh!? Help me Inami-san! He's going to kick me out!" Kirio exclaimed. He ran to the orange-haired girl, intent on hiding behind her. "I don't want to be kicked out!"

"W-Wait! Kirio-kun!" Inami called out, sweating profusely at that. One of her hands was already balled up into a tight fist before she even knew it, and not a second later a punch was sent flying into Kirio's direction. She closed her eyes, and let out a high-pitched "Kyah!" as her fist soared through the air.

Kirio, like usual, brought up a hand and successfully blocked the attack with ease. "Whoa there!"

And like a switch being flipped, the air around them grew quiet.

Fortunately, it only lasted for a few seconds.

"S-Sorry..." Inami apologised, not wanting to open her eyes just yet, lest she might let her instincts take over again. "Just...don't come near me, okay? I-I don't think I can trust myself with your safety..."

Kirio simply nodded and stepped back with an unsure look, only to yelp when a certain someone's broom collided with the top of his head. "O-Ow!" He turned to glare at that certain someone, only to cower away into the corner when he took note of the murderous aura surrounding that certain someone.

"Leave," muttered Takanashi, his eyes narrowing dangerously soon after. "Now."

Kirio gulped. "V-Very well then..."

Takanashi watched as Kirio stumbled his way to the exit, and only when he was fully out of sight did he finally release a tired sigh. "That guy's troublesome..." he muttered.

"But you didn't have to be so rude to him," Inami said, a small frown making its way up to her face. Honestly, she was puzzled as to why he acted that way every time Kirio was around. Maybe it was because he was jealous that Kirio was able to block her punches and he couldn't? For all she knew, that could very well be the case. "A-And...I don't think shooing away an innocent customer is a good thing," she added, somewhat meekly if one might add.

A sigh was heard, courtesy of Takanashi. Hell, he looked nothing but tired. "I just don't like him is all," he said, and the look on his face was proof enough that he meant every word. He took off his glasses and wiped them clean with his uniform, only to flinch slightly when the sound of glass breaking resonated throughout the whole restaurant. "Yamada..." he muttered, shaking uncontrollably due to pure rage.

Inami laughed a nervous laugh, sweating ever so slightly. "I-I'll go and check up on her. You just stay here and keep an eye out for more customers."

Takanashi nodded. "Fine by me. Just make sure that she cleans up after her mess. Lord knows what she's doing..." he muttered.

"O-Okay!" Inami smiled.

He watched as Inami walked past him and made her way to the kitchen. A smile graced his lips when a thought occurred to him.

I wasn't punched when she walked by. Was she even aware of that simple fact? His smile grew somewhat wider. Well, no matter. I guess that just means that her phobia is getting better...

All of a sudden, memories of him receiving countless of punches over and over again by Inami in the past entered his mind, and the smile on his face disappeared in an instant.

I need to cure her as soon as possible. I...honestly don't want to die too early in life...

"Excuse me," a voice sounded.

"Eh?" Takanashi snapped back to reality, and it took a second for him to realise that there was a customer calling out to him. He immediately put up a smile and looked to the customer, right before lowering his head. "A-Ah, I'm sorry for spacing out there, Miss. Welcome to Wagnaria!" he greeted. "Would you like to eat in the smoking section, or the non-smoking section?"

-IIXII-

If Ryuunosuke wasn't in a bad mood before, then he was sure as hell now. Hell, he was pissed off, and no one can say otherwise. The reason was because-

"Did you just assume my gender?" Ryuunosuke muttered with a glare, which did not go unnoticed by the waiter whom he was speaking to. Good. That was his intention in the first place. "Well?"

"I uh...pardon?" The waiter tilted his head to one side, puzzled.

"Did you. Just assume. My gender," Ryuunosuke repeated, and that alone was enough to get his point across. He took a bit of satisfaction in seeing the waiter bowing his head over and over again, apologising as he did so.

"I-I am terribly sorry. I didn't mean to-" The waiter, who seemed to go by the name of Souta Takanashi thanks to that small name tag he had, cut himself off when Ryuunosuke held up a hand, motioning for him to stop.

"As long as you don't repeat the same mistake again, then it's fine." Ryuunosuke closed his eyes and resisted the urge to sigh. He pinched the bridge of his nose. "And it's the non-smoking section for me, if you will. As you can see, I'm too young to be smoking. Not that I'm planning to anyway," he said.

Takanashi nodded. "O-Of course. Right this way then."

Ryuunosuke nodded, and followed the waiter as he led him to his table. While doing so, he decided to take in his surroundings just for the heck of it. But looking at it now, the programmer was quite surprised to find out that the place had a large number of customers, who seemed to be enjoying themselves more than anything. To say that he was puzzled was an understatement.

Is the business here always this good? thought Ryuunosuke, The food they serve isn't all that bad from what I can see, and they have air conditioners. Hm. I should tell the guys back at Sakurasou about this place...just in case if we feel like going out eating with one another.

Though, while he was walking, Ryuunosuke could feel the eyes of the other patrons on his back, particularly his long hair. From what he could tell, they were probably trying their best to figure out what his gender was.

And hell, that managed to piss him off more than that certain incident which transpired just mere seconds ago!

It's been only a minute since he set foot inside this restaurant, and he was already starting to hate everything.

A scowl formed itself onto his face. Those geezers better not take their time...

The waiter, Takanashi, finally showed him his table, and Ryuunosuke wasted no time in sitting down and making himself comfortable. Unfortunately, he left his laptop back at Sakurasou, but his mobile phone was more than enough to keep him occupied.

At least until those old geezers arrive.

Takanashi held out a menu towards the programmer. "If you need anything, then-"

"Tomatoes."

Takanashi raised an eyebrow to the heavens at that, confused. "P-Pardon?"

Ryuunosuke wanted to sigh right then and there at the waiter's stupidity, but luckily he was able to resist himself from doing so. It would've been quite rude, not that he cared to be honest.

"I just want tomatoes. Nothing else," he said, straight to the point.

Takanashi retracted his hand which held the menu, and as a waiter of Wagnaria, all he could do was nod. "T-Tomatoes it is then. Would you like a drink to go with that?"

"No need. Tomatoes are more than enough," Ryuunosuke answered. He pulled out his mobile phone from his pocket and waved away, his eyes glued onto the screen. "If there is nothing else, then you may leave. I have things to do," he said, or better yet demanded in this case.

He failed to notice the way how Takanashi tightened his grip around the menu in his hand, but even if he did, then Ryuunosuke probably wouldn't have cared either way. The young programmer had more important things to think and worry about.

-IIXII-

"You seem troubled, Takanashi-kun," Souma said from his spot in the kitchen, doing absolutely no work at all, despite being one of the restaurant's chefs. "What kind of situation did you get yourself into this time?"

"Please don't make it sound like getting into trouble is something that I do on a regular basis, Souma-san," Takanashi muttered with what others would call a piercing glare, and it sent shivers down Souma's spine.

Souma chuckled a bit, albeit nervously. "Y-You seem to be in a bad mood..."

"You bet I am." Takanashi sighed. He scratched his head, then added, "Also, can you do me a favor and prepare a bowl filled with tomatoes? Just tomatoes."

Now that seemed to catch Souma's attention, if the way how he brightened up almost immediately was anything to go by. "What for?" he asked, curiosity as well as excitement dancing around in his voice.

The look on Takanashi's face darkened, and he muttered, "A customer."

"Oh? Well, judging by that tone in your voice, I can clearly tell that you really dislike this customer," Souma said, and he had never been so right in his entire life. "Can I ask why?"

Too bad Satou came in and ruined the feeling. How?

"Ow!"

He slammed a frying pan into the back of Souma's head, and despite that, his expression was as blank as a whiteboard.

"Souma. Get to work," was all he said before he went back to finishing up whatever he had been cooking, but Souma knew better. He was probably going to beat him up if he were to not do anything work-related for the next three seconds.

So in order to avoid himself from getting beaten up by his best friend, kind of, Souma sighed and went to work. "You're so strict, Satou-kun. How do you expect to win the heart of Todoroki-san if you keep acting that way?" he muttered.

Satou grabbed his frying pan, and Souma realised his mistake in an instant.

He paled.

"W-Wait! Satou-kun, that one was just a joke! A joke I tell you! S-Satou-kun!"

All Takanashi could do was wince at the sight displayed before him.

-IIXII-

"Just how much longer do they intend to keep me waiting in this place?" Ryuunosuke asked to no one in particular, sounding annoyed for obvious reasons. He went to his contacts list, and just when he was about to call the person who he was supposed to be meeting with, his trusted AI came popping up on his screen.

"Ryuunosuke-sama!" Maid-chan exclaimed, unintentionally catching the attention of a handful of customers nearby. "Um..." She avoided her master's questioning gaze, and began to fidget not long after that. "I have...terrible news," she said.

"And that is?"

"They...um..." Maid-chan looked away. "I've just received a message from the person who you're supposed to be meeting with today. W-Well apparently...they decided to cancel the meeting."

Ryuunosuke could feel the anger burning deep inside of him. "On such short notice?" he asked.

Maid-chan, not able to do anything else, nodded in reply.

"I see..."

The programmer put his phone down and stared into empty space. All he could do now was think about his current project, since it was the best way to keep his mind preoccupied. If not, then he'd probably end up screaming bloody murder in this restaurant.

And the other customers would most definitely think that he'd lost his marbles or something if that were to happen.

"Great," muttered the programmer, his face darkening ever so slightly. "If only I hadn't ordered anything..."

Those geezers were going to suffer his wrath once he was out of this place, that's for sure.

And no one was going to stop him from doing so.

Just you wait, you-

"Excuse me," a cute voice sounded from the side, catching Ryuunosuke's attention. "I'm not quite sure if you already did, but...have you ordered anything yet?"

Ryuunosuke turned to the voice's owner, and his eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. With no hesitation whatsoever, he immediately cowered away under the table, his face drenched in sweat. "W-What in the world is an elementary school student doing working in a restaurant!?" he exclaimed, half-shocked and half-terrified, the latter thanks to his phobia.

The waitress, who goes by the name of Popura Taneshima, let out a loud gasp, feeling offended most probably. She glared at the programmer and stomped her foot like a child, and yelled out, "I-I'm not an elementary school student! I'm not!"

"Yes you are!" Ryuunosuke retorted, "Just look at how big you...are..." In that particular moment, the programmer found his gaze wandering over to the waitress' chest area, and he was flabbergasted to see a pair of large melons the size of mountains in place. "P-Pardon me for asking, but...h-how...old are you?"

"I'm 17!" Popura answered with her cheeks puffed out in a cute manner. "See!? I'm not some elementary school student!"

"You're a year older than me!?" Ryuunosuke practically shouted in disbelief. "A year!?"

"That's right!" Popura placed her hands on her hips, head held high. The smug look on her face indicated that she was enjoying watching his reaction, if the look in her eyes was anything to go by. "I'm older, so show respect!"

"U-Unbelievable..." was the only thing Ryuunosuke could come up with, still shocked apparently.

"Oh dear, what's with all the commotion?" a new voice joined in.

"Ah, Yachiyo-san!" Popura turned to the newcomer, whose name Ryuunosuke assumed was Yachiyo, and smiled a cheerful smile later on. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she asked.

"Well...yes, actually." Yachiyo held a hand to her cheek, and later turned to Ryuunosuke. Even with her eyes closed, the programmer could easily tell that she was worried, what with her expression and all. "I hate to say this, but you two are making too much noise. So," She smiled. "please try to keep it down a bit."

Popura scratched the back of her head and laughed sheepishly. "S-Sorry about that..."

"I-I apologise..." Ryuunosuke mumbled.

"Also," Yachiyo tilted her head to one side. "why is the customer hiding under the table?"

"Eh?" Popura quickly turned to the programmer, and it took only a second for her to realise how right Yachiyo was. She held a finger to her chin, then asked, "Yeah, why are you hiding under there?"

"B-Because you're women!" Ryuunosuke climbed back up to his seat, albeit reluctantly, only for him to pale and cower away when he took note of the weapon Yachiyo carried with her. "W-Why are you carrying that around with you!? Are you nuts!?"

"Eh?" Yachiyo seemed puzzled for a moment there, but her face brightened up almost immediately when she realised what the programmer was talking about. "Oh, you mean this?" In one swift movement, the woman drew her blade and swung it around a few times, right before entering a stance as if she was facing an opponent, but the cheerful look on her face was surely out of place. Hell, not only him, but more than half of the people inside the restaurant were as scared shitless as he was. "It's for protection, silly." She giggled.

"You're mad!" Ryuunosuke shouted, his face growing more and more paler by the second as he stared at the blade which was just inches away from his face. "H-Hey! Keep that thing away from me!"

"But don't you want to take a closer look?" Yachiyo asked, somewhat eagerly at that.

"H-Heck no! Just do me a favor and stay away!"

-IIXII-

"What's with all the commotion out there? Yamada feels like she should find out," said Yamada, curiosity dancing around in her eyes. Despite that, however, she kept sweeping away the broken pieces of glass with her broom, since she was practically an expert when it came to cleaning her own mess.

"Yamada-san, just focus on cleaning up after your mess," Inami lightly scolded, frowning a bit soon after. "Takanashi-kun will be unhappy if he sees this. Really unhappy."

Yamada pouted. "Okay. Yamada will try to be more careful from now on."

"Good." Inami nodded. She then went to the usual place to pick up the food for their customers, but what caught her eyes was the bowl filled with tomatoes. "Eh?" Were those on the menu, or was it something they'd just recently added? She wasn't really sure herself. "Hey, Souma-kun!" she called out. "What's with the tomatoes?"

"Ah, you mean those. Well, Takanashi-kun is currently on break, so," Souma, ever the mysterious person, sent a smile in Inami's direction. Inami didn't know why or how she got this feeling, but that smile of his told her that there was a well-hidden meaning behind it. Like he was excited about something. "could you do him a small favor and send those tomatoes over to Taneshima-san out there? I think Todoroki-san is with her as well."

"R-Right on it!" Inami nodded and brushed aside that uneasy feeling she was having. It's probably nothing, she thought, but for some reason she doubted it. She grabbed the bowl of tomatoes and placed it onto a nearby tray. "I'll be going now." And with that, she walked off.

"Ah, such a sweet girl," Souma commented with the same smile from earlier, only to yelp when a pan collided against the back of his head. "Ow! W-What was that for, Satou-kun?"

"That smile on your face creeps me out. Stop it," Satou said. "And get to work."

Souma chuckled. "That's so harsh of you..."

-IIXII-

"This is why I hate women!" Ryuunosuke shouted at the top of his lungs. The people who were staring at him can go screw themselves. He needed to get out of here. He needed to get back to Sakurasou. A place where it's safe!

However, there was just one problem.

These...creatures, were in the way!

"Hey! That's not a nice thing to say!" Popura scolded. She reached out and gave the programmer a swift chop on the head, which unintentionally made him feel more dizzy as well as paler than he was before, all thanks to his phobia.

Ryuunosuke swatted the short girl's hand away with all the strength he could muster, but alas, even a small infant could do better than he did. "D-Don't...touch me..." he managed to say, as he was on the verge of passing out. "Ugh..."

Yachiyo noticed this, however. "Excuse me, but...are you feeling okay?" she asked, feeling concerned. "You honestly don't look too well. Do you need help? Medicine, perhaps?"

"I just...need some space," Ryuunosuke muttered, but he doubted the two could actually hear him. He rubbed his temples, then added, "I-It would help quite a lot...if you were to keep that weapon away..."

"A-Ah, I'm sorry." Yachiyo quickly kept her blade away. "Do you need water? I can get you some, if you'd like."

"W-What I truly need...is my personal space..." muttered the programmer.

Popura quickly turned to Yachiyo with worry etched across her features, and said, "I think the customer's sick, Yachiyo-san. What should we do?"

"I-I said...I need space," Ryuunosuke repeated, but alas, his voice wasn't loud enough to catch their attention. Damn, he was getting more and more light-headed. Where's Kanda when you needed him? He needed someone, a male obviously, to carry him to Sakurasou once this was all over.

"E-Eh?" a new voice joined in, "Why are you two gathered around the customer?"

Ryuunosuke couldn't help but curse internally at one simple fact.

The voice belonged to a female.

"Inami-san!" Popura called out, grinning.

"Hey, Taneshima-san." Inami smiled in return, before looking over to Ryuunosuke.

"Hm?" Ryuunosuke looked back, his face paler than usual.

Their eyes met.

All was silent, but it only lasted for a couple of seconds.

"Were you...the customer who ordered these tomatoes?" Inami inquired. She held out the tray to emphasize her point, and tilted her head to one side in a cute manner.

Ryuunosuke couldn't help but blush at the sight. He immediately nodded, and proceeded to point his finger at the edge of his table. "J-Just put the bowl over there," he stuttered.

Inami was confused when she saw the programmer's reaction, only for her to smile at his request soon after. "Of course." She went to the side of the table and gently set the bowl down, but was puzzled when she took note of Ryuunosuke's face, which was drenched in nothing but cold sweat. "Hm?"

"Mahiru-chan, this girl has been acting strange. She honestly looks too pale to be healthy," Yachiyo said as she turned to look at Inami, as the look of worry took over her features.

What? Ryuunosuke turned his head over to Yachiyo so fast that he might've broken his neck just because of doing so, but that was unimportant. More importantly, did she just actually-

"Yeah!" Popura exclaimed, equally worried. "Inami-san, should we call an ambulance for her?"

"Wait-" Ryuunosuke sounded, but was unfortunately interrupted by Inami.

"E-Eh!?" Inami covered her mouth with a hand, wide-eyed. She then turned to the young programmer, her eyes filled with nothing but concern. "I-Is that true? Are you feeling sick?" Unexpectedly, she leaned in to get a closer look at his face, and that unintentionally sent shivers down his spine. "Do you want me to show you the way to our restroom?"

"Hey-" Ryuunosuke sounded. Too bad he was interrupted once more, this time by Yachiyo.

"But if I remember correctly, the women's restroom is currently being used by some of our female patrons." Yachiyo held a hand to her cheek, looking as if she was thinking. "I'm afraid...that she will have to wait."

Popura gasped. "Oh no! What should we do!?"

Well great. The three were ignoring him at this point.

Ryuunosuke's left eye started to twitch.

That does it.

Why can't they just leave him alone and let him enjoy his tomatoes?

Why can't they just understand that he wasn't in the mood to deal with others?

Why can't they just understand that he needed some personal space for heaven's sake!?

And these three were women to top it all off!

But that's not all. Nope.

What truly ticked him was...

"Did you just assume my gender!?"

The three waitresses turned to Ryuunosuke in an instant, each of them equally surprised at his sudden outburst.

Ryuunosuke balled up his hands into two extremely tight fists. It seemed that all the stress gathered today was finally getting to him, judging by the looks of things.

Hell, there was no going back now.

"I'm a guy! You hear me!? A guy!" Ryuunosuke yelled out at the top of his lungs, and his face was so red from sheer anger alone that it managed to slightly resemble his favorite vegetable. "Don't you three know how insulting it is to be called a girl...when you're not!? If it weren't for my phobia, then-"

Then all of a sudden, everything went deathly silent. The temperature dropped immensely, and hell, even the guys in the kitchen had stopped making their usual handful of noises.

Something wasn't right.

The very first thought which ran through Ryuunosuke's mind was, What...is this feeling? It feels like...my life...is about to be taken away by Death himself. W-Why?

Shivers ran down his spine, and all the colors were drained away from his face when he took note of the girl whose name he assumed was Inami, who seemed to be emitting a chilling aura of sorts. Her breathing was labored, and her cheeks were much more rosy than earlier for some unexplained reason. The way she looked at him made him feel uneasy. Heck, the fact that the other two waitresses were backing away with frightened looks across their faces wasn't helping his phobia at all!

"H-Hey," Ryuunosuke blinked a couple of times, sweating bullets all the while. "why are you-"

Then without warning, all manner of hell broke loose.

"Kyaaaaaah! He's a guy!" Inami screamed at the top of her lungs. She dropped the tray which she'd been holding down onto the floor and wasted no time in sending a powerful punch flying into Ryuunosuke's direction. "A guy!"

Ryuunosuke, with no other options available at his disposal, chose to dive down under his table as a terrified scream left his lips.

-IIXII-

Takanashi winced when the sound of a table breaking in half reached his ears. As quick as lighting, he rose up from his chair, and began sweating bullets at the first thought which entered his mind.

D-Did Inami-san...just assaulted a customer? T-That couldn't be...right?

-IIXII-

I apologise for the ending, but I hope that you readers enjoyed reading this. And if you did, then be sure to leave a review and tell me what you liked, what you disliked, and also what you want to see in the coming chapters if you wish for this one-shot to be turned into a full story.

That is all from me. If there're any other suggestions, then by all means fire away!

This is CPL, over and out.