It was a slow, quiet work week. People tried to act like everything was normal, attempting to crack jokes or tell stories, and many people planned outings with friends to make them feel better. 

But no matter what people did that week, no one could cheer up Retsuko. They couldn't blame her, this was a big deal for her. People would go up to her daily now and say sorry, or offer help if needed, but Retsuko would just ask them "What for?" And kept walking. Her fur seemed a bit of a darker color, and she only smiled upon talking to Haida or her mother. 

Of course, everyone knew such a stage was normal, a full week hasn't even passed yet since the murder, and it involved two of her friends.  Some mourning could take months, but people were willing to be patient and help where they could. 

Well, most people were being patient. 
Anai watched Retsuko as she walked from their office to the subway. He had been doing this lately and found nothing wrong with it. He did find something wrong in quite a few other things, however. 

At first, he was okay with Haida being one of the only people she talked to, but after just the second day, he got over it. Why couldn't Retsuko come to him on matters like this? They were friends after all. Along with that, she never told him what she had thought of his letter, and that just made him more annoyed. All he wanted was for Retsuko to talk to him, even just a sentence a day, but no. Only Haida got that privilege. 

Anai was friends with Haida, of course, but recently he's been feeling a lot less friendly towards him when he was with Haida. He didn't know exactly what the feeling was, but he just deduced it to simple jealousy, even if he wanted to punch Haida every time he was nearby. 

But as Anai watched Retsuko walk to the subway, he saw somebody new approach her. This wasn't anyone he knew, but the person looked familiar as if they passed by the office every now and then. The person, who looked like a bird of some sort, was talking to Retsuko, but Anai couldn't hear a word without getting closer and revealing his spot. He was just relieved when Retsuko started to walk away, leaving the bird alone.

But once Retsuko was gone, he felt that feeling again. That was odd, he only felt that around Haida, why was he feeling it now? This...emotion? He couldn't even tell if it was an emotion or not it was so strange. But all he did know was that he wanted that bird gone.

Before he could stop himself, his legs moved, heading right for that bird. Upon closer inspection, it revealed that it was a she, and for some reason that made Anai's speed increase. The bird, now noticing Anai's speedy pursuit towards her, came his way, saving him the trouble of walking more. She knew he looked angry, at her most likely, but didn't seem to care. She just got in a bad mood as well.

Upon the two reaching each other, they stopped, the woman looking down at the other person. "And what do you want?" She asked, holding a book close to her chest. "I want to know who you are," Anai responded in a heartbeat, glaring her down just as she was him. "Why would you care to know that?" She hissed, clutching the book tighter in annoyance. "Because you know Retsuko."

Washimi stopped, a bit surprised at the response she got. "You know Retsuko?" She questioned, raising a brow. "Yeah, I work with her, is there a problem?" Anai snarked, making a face. "N-no, I just didn't think she would be friends with a- nevermind." Washimi cut herself off as to not make the already steaming guy even angrier. "My name is Washimi, I'm a secretary here at-"

"I don't care about that." Anai rolled his eyes as if that was obvious. "But you said you-" "That doesn't matter!" Anai shook his head, cutting off Washimi again. "How do you know Retsuko?" He questioned, raising a brow. He sounded almost accusing, even though Washimi hadn't done anything. Yet.

"I'm her friend. I was just asking if she wanted to hang out to help her feel better, but she declined. It's what a good friend does." Washimi kept her voice calm, despite the malice hidden beneath it. Leaning down to Anai's ears she then whispered, "Unlike you." Before standing and strutting away as if nothing had happened.

Now, after Washimi had left, Anai knew what that burning feeling was. 
Pure hatred.

~- - - - -~

Resasuke was feeling very mixed emotions currently. He was happy that so many of his friends and family came to visit him in the hospital, even if he wasn't seriously injured, but he was also sad that a certain person wouldn't visit him. He knew he shouldn't really expect her to come, but he still hoped for it.

And last he heard of Retsuko from one of his visiting coworkers, she wasn't in any mood to visit anyone right now. Not after what happened with her friends. Resasuke was just as shocked, though, seeing how Fenneko did that. She never seemed the type to kill somebody, but that's what most people said about famous serial killers. 

Resasuke only knew one person who seemed like a murderer. Tadano. 

He didn't remember the exact moment Tadano hit him with that extinguisher, but he did remember his face. It was almost sadistically happy as if he had been waiting to kill him since he was born.

Resasuke shook a bit. He knew by now Tadano probably figured out he was alive, he wasn't a dumb guy, and that was a problem. He knew that both he and Tadano knew he couldn't enter the hospital with his intentions, but once he got out...

Resasuke shook his head, putting a hand on it to try and soothe his emerging headache. Any time he thought of Tadano his head hurt, but that didn't surprise him. It sure made it hard to think of a plan though. He had to somehow evade Tadano long enough to expose him for his crimes. And not just the one against him, but the future ones Resasuke would be there to record. 

Resasuke sighed and shut his eyes, laying down on his hospital bed covered in light blue blankets. "I'm not going to let some donkey kill me." He muttered to himself, frowning a bit. "Because if he tries, Retsuko will hear all about it.."

~- - - - -~

The fennec fox sat in her cell, leaned against the cold wall. She hadn't been there long but was already planning her next move. She had too, after all, she had to see Retsuko again, even if she hated her. Fenneko looked up at the ceiling, smiling. "Oh Retsuko...Don't you worry, I'm coming for you.." She mumbled, quiet enough so her guards couldn't hear.

Looking down again she clasped her hands together, setting her chin on them. Her ears were low, just like her sanity, and her fur seemed to darken a few shades. Her eyes were dilated slightly, shaking almost. And along with all of that she stunk. She refused to take any showers or baths unless forced too, saying that she wanted to smell natural, so Retsuko could recognize her when she escaped.

That was just gross, though.

~- - - - -~

Retsuko's mother looked over her daughter at the table, noting her tired exspression as she slowly chewed. "Retsuko dear, are you sure you don't want me to stay longer?" She asked, raising a brow inquisitively. Retsuko nodded, swallowing her food. "Yeah mom, go on home, I'll be alright." She reassured, putting on a small smile as her mother sighed.

"If you're so sure then I'll go, but remember, if you need me just-" "Call or come over, I know, I know." Retsuko finished her mom's sentence, taking another bite of her food. Retsuko's mother sighed, shaking her head. "If you say so. I'll be gone by the time you get home from work tomorrow, okay?" She meant to say that like a statement, but it came out as a question. 

"Alright. I'm gonna go take a bath, okay? Thanks for the food, mom." Retsuko chimed after swallowing her last bite, putting her things down and heading into the bathroom. All Retsuko's mother could do was nod before her daughter shut the bathroom door. Standing and picking up the dirty dishes, the older woman sighed again. 

"I just wish her luck. I have a feeling she's going to need a lot of it pretty soon." The old red panda muttered, frowning as she put the dishes in the sink and began to clean.

(I uh, hope you enjoyed it! As always, please leave comments about what you thought, and please, do have a good day or night!)