New Guy, Familiar Face

Chapter 3: Newbie's First Day

Retsuko, for once, woke up half an hour before her Alarm Clock blared and thought to herself "Today is going to be a good day… I can feel it… Oh Haida…" Retsuko blushed crimson red of where Haida will take her out for tonight and began to fantasise…

(Inside Retsuko's Head)

Retsuko and Haida are at a fancy restaurant at a window booth: Retsuko is wearing a silver dress with black stockings and shiny black high-heels, wore cherry lipstick and mascara and a pink lotus next to her left ear; Haida wore a black tuxedo jacket, a white buttoned up shirt, a black tie, black jeans, shiny black loafers with white ankle socks and his hair is tidied up.

She and Haida were laughing joyously from a funny joke, before the scene shifts to the couple at the Botanical Gardens: They were sitting on a red checkered picnic blanket, gazing up at the starry night sky, holding each other's paw gently. Retsuko then looked up at Haida with widened, glistening eyes that reflect the stars and smiled broadly; Haida then turned his head a little and smiled at her calmly, staring at her endearingly.

They then closed their eyes gently and nuzzled their noses together with a heavy blush that rivals the sun itself, before they kissed their lips softly with their eyes closed still. They then opened their eyes lazily and looked at each other in deep infatuation, before Haida went on top of Retsuko and nuzzled her neck with his nose; Retsuko blushed so hard, her head looks like it was drenched with dark red paint, yet she doesn't want to stop Haida.

Retsuko then moaned out in pleasure "Haida…" Haida stopped suddenly and looked at Retsuko, worried he might've overstepped too much, when she said softly "Love me… I want you to love me." She then made a small smile, which Haida felt relieved; he then unlatched Retsuko's dress, when a faint beep grew louder, making the scene go fuzzy…

(Fantasy Ends)

When Retsuko came back from her fantasy so suddenly, she looked at the Alarm Clock and saw it was 7:00am already; her eyes went white with shock, so she hurried to get ready for work, excluding her mic (which scarcely happens) and went out of her apartment. She then locked her door and ran to her workplace as fast as she can, due to a traffic pile-up near her apartment.

When she arrived at her workplace, she panted hard from fatigue as she went into the lobby; she didn't look inside the elevator when she pressed the button to Accounting, when a soft, masculine voice said "Thank you… I wasn't sure which floor was Accounting…"

Retsuko widened her eyes; just to be sure it wasn't morning drowsiness, she slowly turned to the office worker next to her and looked up slowly, realising who it was next to her: It was, indeed, Ryo, but wearing standard work clothes and had his paws in his pockets, he's wearing a brown duffel bag on his back and has a black sports watch on his right wrist.

Retsuko is surprised to see Ryo after graduating from High School, but noticed he was just as quiet as he was while attending High School. When the Elevator stopped on Accounting, Ryo lets Retsuko go first; she was still surprised to see Ryo, when he asked softly with a small smile "Well, you want to go first or not?" Retsuko blankly blinked at Ryo, before she smiled a little at his politeness and left the elevator first.

She then turned to the Women's Changing Room, when she turned her head and saw Ryo looking at the Floor map; she then made a small smile and went inside the Women's Changing Room. A couple minutes later, Retsuko exited the Women's Changing Room and went to her work station, when she saw Ryo setting up his workstation next to hers.

Retsuko then walked over to her workstation and sat on her chair, before noticing a flask on Ryo's desk; she then asked him "Do you drink a lot?" Ryo was in the middle of setting up his laptop, when he looked at Retsuko, then his flask and back to Retsuko; he then replied softly "I don't drink alcohol… though I understand on why you first thought of alcohol in the flask."

Retsuko tilted her head to the right in curiosity and asked "Well, if it's not alcohol, then what IS in that flask?" Ryo drummed his fingers on his desk and replied "Fruit juice… I have a bit of a sweet tooth when it comes to fruit drinks." Retsuko blinked once blankly, before she smiled at Ryo and tidied her desk up for today.

When it was 8:55am, everyone else arrived, prepped for the day ahead; they then greeted Ryo individually, giving him a handshake as he thanked each one quietly. When Haida greeted Ryo, he was actually jealous that Ryo's desk is right next to Retsuko's, so he just gave him a smile with a firm handshake and went back to his desk; Retsuko thought it was rather uncharacteristic of Haida to not greet someone verbally, but thought it doesn't matter, since she's sticking to dating Haida this evening.

She then thought of something she totally forgot: What was she going to wear with Haida for their date? When Ton stomped into Accounting like usual, she'll have to think about it later; like clockwork, Mr Ton carried 3 towering piles of paperwork to Retsuko's desk, grabbing Ryo's attention.

When he was about to place the paperwork on her desk, Ryo asked "Sir, why are you giving a crapload of work to just one worker? Can't you just share the workload to other workers?" Ton tilted his head to Ryo and made an attentive snort, so he said "If you're THAT willing to work, then how about you sort these paperwork yourself? I need them back today!"

Ryo looked at the towering piles of paperwork and nodded at Mr Ton; he wasn't amused that a New Hire had asked him to do something rationally, so he placed the towering paperwork on Ryo's desk and noted "You won't last a week, Newbie…" Ryo looked at Mr Ton unfazed, though Retsuko noticed that he clenched his paws firmly under the desk, proving that he clearly despised abusive behaviour.

Mr Ton went to his desk as Ryo grabbed the first page and got out a pen and a calculator; an hour later, Ryo gave the paperwork to Mr Ton, saying softly "I've finished the work, Mr Ton… Any other work you're too bothered to do?" Mr Ton made a derisive snort and replied "No way did you finished all these paperwork in just an hour… It's not even possible…" Ryo glared at Mr Ton blankly, before Mr Ton went through the paperwork one page at a time carefully.

When 11:58am came, Mr Ton placed Ryo's last finished paperwork on the desk, astonished that he really did do the work so accurately in such a small amount of time; he looked at Ryo and saw him typing into his laptop at an awe-inspiring speed and thought "Okay, he's a very proficient worker and heavily mathematical too… But he still won't last a week here!"

When lunch break came at 1pm sharp, Retsuko, Fenneko and Haida took their usual spots in the break room, when they noticed Ryo coming in with his lunch grasped tightly in his left paw. He looked for a moment in the Break Room, when most of the Accounting workers swarmed over him and praised him for one-upping Ton.

He let out a small, pleasing smile since he scarcely gets praised, before Ookami asked him to sit at his table; Kabae then interjected, noting that if Ryo deserves to be sitting somewhere, it'll be her table. The argument then blown among the swarming co-workers, not noticing that Ryo snuck by them and went to the least bothersome table, which happens to be where Retsuko, Haida and Fenneko are.

As he grabbed a seat for the table, Fenneko is looking at Ryo in interest; Ryo noticed her staring and asked "Is there a problem?" Fenneko shook her head and replied "Not really… I'm just impressed you took Ton's bullying so calmly and finishing the crapload of work he 'gave' you in just an hour."

Ryo shrugged as he opened the brown paper bag and got out a Ham and Cheese sandwich; as he took his first bite, Retsuko added "Yeah… I've been dealing with Mr Ton's abuse for 5 straight years, but I NEVER done work like that in such a short time." Ryo shrugged again as he chew on his bite, when Haida asked "Speaking of which, how DID you do work that fast anyway? Were you a Model Student in College or something?"

Ryo swallowed his bite, before replying "Kinda… I've got Distinctions in Mathematics throughout High School and College, so a job in Accounting makes sense for a guy like me." Retsuko, Haida and Fenneko pursed their lips and nodded in understanding, before Ryo inquired as he held his sandwich for another bite "I don't mean to pry, but is it true you and Haida are going out tonight?"

Retsuko's eyes went white in astonishment, before she asked "How… How did you know that? Did Puko tell you that?" Ryo shook his head with his eyes closed as he chew on his bite; Retsuko then inquired "Well, how did you figure it out anyway? You're here for only like 5 hours and are already getting praised by most of Accounting already."

Ryo chew on his bite for a moment before swallowing it and replied "I noticed you and Haida looking at each other affectionately every 10 minutes; it wasn't much, but it's plainly obvious that you two are infatuated with each other." Haida and Retsuko looked at Ryo with their jaws dropped and their eyes whitened, before Fenneko noted "You're really perspective… Is that a trait from your efforts in school or is it just your habit?"

Ryo had another bite, before he shook his left paw, indicating it was more or less both answers in one; Fenneko hummed as her ears drooped and her eyes narrowed at Ryo in interest, before she got out her phone and went on a Social Media site. Retsuko and Haida noticed Fenneko going into the Social Media site and the former noted "That doesn't happen often…"

Ryo raised his brow as he chew on his sandwich, before Haida responded to Ryo's expression "Fenneko doesn't have much of an interest in guys." Ryo nodded in understanding, before he swallowed his last bite and said "If you're trying to find my Profile, you'll have a hell of a job finding it. I don't use Pawsbook or Cheeper often."

Fenneko took this as a simple challenge and searched for Ryo's Profile; When Lunch Break came, Ryo went back to the office, when he heard a slithering sound and a female Komodo Dragon said "You must be the New Hire… I'm Tsubone, one of your superiors and I have a seemingly simple task for you."

Tsubone held up the jar of confectionary's in front of Ryo's face and continued "Would you be a dear and open this dratted jar? It's a real bother to open, believe me…" Ryo raised his brow oddly and replied "Oookay… I'll open it for you, ma'am." Ryo calmly took the jar from Tsubone as the rest of the workers came from the Break Room; Tsubone then noted "Aside from one worker, it manages to beat everyone else; it seems like an impossible task—"

Ryo then opened the lid with a *pop!* and said "I don't peg you as someone with a sweet tooth, but I opened it up for you." Tsubone is shocked that the New Hire opened the Jar like it was nothing, as Fenneko looked at Ryo with white eyes as well as the other workers; normally, everyone else, save for Retsuko, can't open the seemingly stuck jar lid, but Ryo opened it like a breeze. When Ryo handed the opened jar and the lid back to Tsubone, he walked back to his desk with everyone else fixated on him.

Haida is then beginning to doubt that Ryo is a bother to him and Retsuko's relationship and wondered if he could get any better; the answer came a few seconds later when Ton yelled "CALENDAR!" Retsuko stood up immediately and turned to Mr Ton, responding in fear "Yes sir! What seems to be the problem sir?!" Mr Ton stomped over to Retsuko and said firmly as he looked over her "Make me some hot tea… That's part of your job…" Ryo raised his brow at Ton and the latter spat out the next bit he'll regret in a few moments time "…because it's WOMENS WORK!"

Retsuko made a sweat drop and began to well with tears, when Ryo checked his watch and said calmly "Huh… this is interesting…" Ton craned his head to Ryo and inquired is a hostile tone "What's interesting, Newbie?" Ryo answered, unfazed of Ton's hostility "It's exactly 5 seconds before I grip your collar, slam you against the wall and lay you on your back." Ton raised his brow in question and said "You'll what?"

Just as he finished the question, Ryo's watch beeped on time and gripped Ton's Collar before he slammed him against the wall and threw him onto the ground. Ton's eyes swirled from the pain, as Ryo dusted his Paws; he then kneeled on one leg and said "Now what do you say to Retsuko?" Ton turned his head to Ryo and made a fearful gulp, before he painfully raised his head and said in a pained voice "Sorry… Retsuko…" Ton then fell unconscious, with everyone else staring at Ryo in a mixture of fear and respect; he turned around to the others and said "Best to let him rest, he has a rough day." Without uttering a word, the rest of the workers went back to their seats and continued with their papers and ledgers.

When it was time to dock off, Ryo is changing back to his casual clothing: a white t-shirt underneath a black jacket, blue jeans, white ankle socks and white based sneakers. Haida then asked Ryo a question he's been meaning to tell him "So, you've known Retsuko since High School, huh?" Ryo replied, knowing that Haida has been meaning to tell him that "Not a lot… I mean, I was just a quiet teen; I don't have a lot of Social Activity. Also, you're dating her, so I don't have any intention to go out with her."

Haida pursed his lips in understanding, before he asked "But if I WEREN'T going out with her, would you date her?" Ryo smirked at the question and replied "Nah… Besides, I'm already off the market." Haida is surprised to hear this, before Ryo left the Men's Changing Rooms and headed for the elevator. When he got in, he heard a familiar voice say "Wow… what were the odds? The same elevator again…"

Ryo looked down and saw, to his surprise, Retsuko in a plaid shirt and checkered skirt. He then made an awkward laugh and replied "Yeah… fancy that…" Retsuko looked up at Ryo and smiled warmly at him, before she said "Thanks for taking care of Ton… Honestly, I didn't know you had such strength to lay him on his back." Ryo smiled with his eyes closed, before Retsuko looked a little sad and continued "Even so… I don't know anyone who owns a car…"

Ryo raised his brow and repeated "A Car? Why do you need a car?" Retsuko then waved her hand and replied "Well, I don't have a driver's license… *sighs* I'm going out with Haida tonight, but neither of us owns a car. I'm uncertain if YOU have a car, but—" Ryo then interjected and said "Of course I have a car, as well as a Driver's License. As for needing a ride, you don't have to tell me twice."

Retsuko widened her eyes in surprise, before he saw Ryo getting his phone out and got out a QR Scan on the screen; recalling Resaske's friend request from the Office Party she and Fenneko was dragged into by Tsunoda, she grabbed her phone and took a picture of the QR Scan before accepting Ryo's friend request. Ryo then said as he pocketed his phone "Just tell me the time and place and I'll pick you and Haida up for your date."

Retsuko then nodded and told him the time and place where she and Haida'll be waiting for the pickup. Ryo nodded with his eyes closed and wore a genuine smile before he said "I wish you guys luck on your date." Retsuko looked up at Ryo with glistening eyes and a broad, trembling smile before she said softly "Thank you…" The Elevator then stopped at the Lobby and they exited the building with Retsuko going right for Yoga and Ryo going left to the nearby carpark, both smiling after accepting the friend requests.