Here's chapter 87. This chapter serves to explain certain things that happened in the final episode of season 4 and all of season 5 of Aggretsuko so that it has concurrence with what happens in this fanfic that began to be written before those two seasons came out.
A new week has begun. So it was time for many of those who worked to leave their homes to do their daily tasks, but unlike during the week, the inhabitants were a little less cautious, knowing that there was someone who was there to protect them, so that they wouldn't have to look in all directions in case there was something out of the ordinary. Certain places started to reopen after the owners watched the press conference the week before and also seeing the mobian save the city again on Saturday. So there were more people walking the streets going to work or going in cars, buses and subways. What had not yet opened were the schools and colleges, for which children, teenagers and young adults still had to take classes at home.
At this time Retsuko, Fenneko, Haida and Ookami were heading to work together. During the journey, Haida and Retsuko were a bit curious to know if the mobians had told them anything else that they needed to be aware of what might happen from now on. They were having that conversation in a low voice so that no one would hear them. Fortunately both Ookami and Fenneko told them that there was nothing new apart from the trip to the beach that weekend. So for the moment they didn't have to worry about anything in particular. If it wasn't because they found out that the prime minister had agents dressed as civilians near them in case someone wanted to bother or harm them, that was another worry they would have had to go through. Although they were curious which of those around them were the agents. Surely they would be among those who least suspected those who walked around them.
Once they got on the train and arrived at the company, and the girls had changed into their work uniforms, they went to the work area. When they got to the accounting area, Anai and Kabae had already arrived there. And they were talking with Legoshi, Jack, Collot, Durham, Miguno and Voss. But what surprised them is that Louis was also chatting with them. That made the red panda, the fennec fox, the hyena and the red maned wolf wonder what would have happened, since during the whole previous week Louis always stayed by his side away from the others, but now he was part of the conversation, although still having his serious face. They wondered what had happened over the weekend for this change in his attitude.
The four of them stopped by to talk to their coworkers, both old and new, and talked about various topics. The newcomers (especially Ookami and Fenneko) were afraid that Kabae would start asking questions they didn't want to answer about the mobians and what happened in Tokyo Summer Land, but luckily she didn't comment, maybe so they wouldn't feel uncomfortable with the situation and not ruin the atmosphere of happiness that they were having before starting the work.
Little by little, the other employees from the accounting area arrived, and they began to prepare for the work day. Among those who arrived afterwards were Komiya, Ton, and Tsubone, each taking their places. When it was time to start working, everyone took their seats and in the case of Retsuko, Fenneko, Haida and Ookami, they told the others that they would continue talking at lunchtime. And so began another day at work. As of that week, the new employees no longer needed to receive help to know what they should do, since seeing how the previous week went, Ton decided that it was time for them to start doing everything on their own to see what they had learned.
While they were working, Haida was reminded of something that had happened a few years ago. When he had to resign from the company when he almost caused a fraud. He was unemployed for a while, and although he did eventually work in a store, he finally got a new job shortly after marrying Retsuko. They were 4 years in which he worked there, but unfortunately that company due to certain bad decisions ended up almost going bankrupt. Fortunately Carrier Man Trading Co., Ltd, managed to absorb said company and fortunately there was no need to fire someone, because now this company would have 2 offices in the city, but at first Haida was not comfortable with the idea of working there again, not with what he had done in the past, and tried to quit again. But when Retsuko found out, she practically had to take him back to karaoke to tell him in her own way with Death Metal music because it was stupid to give up, then they would be left in the same situation as 4 years ago, and she was not going to allow it to happen again. for that again. In the end that convinced Haida. And more, because Retsuko was not the only one who confronted Haida with that, but also Fenneko and Ookami. Even Inui who happened to be nearby.
In the end, after all that, Haida returned to work in the company with the people he knew, and he was received very well by all those present, who never expected that in the end he would decide to return, since the company had acquired the other they had not seen him. He could even see how Anai and Kabae were excited to have him back. They even offered him again to sit in the place where he had worked years before, in front of Retsuko. So the marriage could be close to each other. Also Haida, would have come to find out that Inui returned to work at the company and that she was now dating a guy who worked in the sales area who was a co-worker of Retsuko's first ex-boyfriend. So he was glad that she got her job back there and also that she had found someone to make her happy.
Even since coming back to work at the company, he became very helpful in helping new employees use the program he had created years ago, and even still had to help Ton with that sometimes. Even when the new employees found out that the program they used, they would always congratulate him, making Haida blush in embarrassment. At the very least, he could be happy that his coworkers appreciated what he did to make work easier for everyone there.
While that was going through his mind, an idea came to his mind about some he hadn't thought of in a while and he began to wonder how life has fared in recent years for the friends he met in the cyber cafe when he had to leave his apartment years ago: Shikabane and Dokachin. The last time he heard from both was two years ago when he came with Koka for a walk and he ran into them by chance one weekend, since at that time Dokachin was working on the construction of a building near his home, and Shikabane was curiously passing through the area, as she had gotten a job as a food delivery. Taking advantage of the fact that Dokachin was on his lunch hour, Shikabane had finished with his deliveries for the day, and that Haida and Koka were in no hurry to return home, the four of them sat down to talk. Haida formally introduced his son to his friends, since they had only had the opportunity to see them through photos when Haida posted family images on his social networks. Koka was a bit nervous, since at that time he was a bit shy when it came to interacting with new people, especially when those people were adults.
In those moments he began to worry, since with what happened in the last few days, he hadn't even heard from both. Could it be that something bad had happened to them during Eggman's attacks and that's why they hadn't contacted him? Since the day he met the mobians and saw the messages that everyone he knew sent them, strangely they weren't there. They had not contacted him in the last few days. In those moments he decided that when it was time for lunch he would text them to see if they were okay. For now it was best to keep concentrating on work.
Hours passed and it was a normal work day for everyone, apart from the employees who started working the previous week, everything was normal. Nothing out of place. The only sounds that could be heard were the sound of the air conditioning and the sound of the keyboards of each computer while each employee typed things on their respective computers. And so the atmosphere remained for the next few hours until lunchtime finally arrived, when all the employees went to the cafeteria for lunch and watched the midday news to find out if anything out of the ordinary was happening.
Unlike the rest, Haida momentarily separated from his wife, friends, and co-workers, to send respective messages to Dokachin and Shikabane. He did a group chat where he included them to see how they were doing. So he left a greeting message for both of them:
Haida: Hi, we haven't talked in a while. How are you?
He was waiting for about 5 minutes waiting for a response from his two friends. But they took a while to reply. He was about to put his cell phone away when suddenly he made the sound he made when he got a message. Looking, he saw that it was from Dokachin.
Dokachin: Hello Haida. I'm glad to hear from you. I'm fine and you?
Haida: I'm fine too. Right now I'm at lunchtime at work. Do you have time to talk?
Dokachin: Yes. I'm also on my lunch break right now, so I have free time.
Both friends were talking for a while, even during that period of talking, Haida had gone to sit with his other co-workers. There they were all sitting at tables close to each other. Since each table had 4 seats, the tables had been divided up. Since in one they were Retsuko, Fenneko, Haida and Ookami. In another were Legoshi, Jack, Anai and Kabae. In the last one were Collot, Durham, Miguno and Louis. Voss was over Collot's head. Since the tables were so close, everyone could chat with each other, no problem.
While there, his conversations with Dokachin continued. He learned from his friend that with the money he had earned in recent years, he had managed to buy a house, which was small, but at least he no longer had to sleep in a cyber cafe. That made Haida happy, since now he would have a more comfortable place to rest every night. He then ask him if he had seen or talked to Shikabane lately. Dokachin replied that curiously he had spoken to her the night before. He told him that they had agreed to talk for lunch, so she would probably connect in a few minutes.
Within a few minutes Shikabane joined the conversation, and as expected, in all those years, she had not changed her profile image. She still had the same profile picture that she had when he met her. The image from her character in the online game Aggressive Heroes, it seems that she was still playing it or maybe she still didn't want anyone who didn't know her in person to know what she was like. Anyway, the conversation between the three of them continued, and Haida caught up with his two friends. He even finally knew why they had not written to him after what happened on Saturday of the week before. It was because since they didn't want to bother him by asking unnecessary questions at a time when he might be stressed, they wanted to give him some space to recover.
Haida was happy that they both cared enough for him to do that. That made the concerns that Haida had for them during the morning disappear now that he felt more relaxed about that matter. This was reflected in his face. And Retsuko noticed it. Whatever had been bothering her husband, she had been taken care of. That made her feel happy.
So far the chapter. I hope you liked it.