I recently binged the new Netflix show Aggretsuko and it's become my new favorite show of the year. I really like Haida and totally ship him with Retsuko, but I feel like he didn't get enough screen time or development. Hopefully that changes in season 2. Anyways, enjoy this prequel story of their first meeting which contains my own bits of made up lore.

When Haida met Retsuko

"Looking out at all you new hires, it pleases me to see a room full of young people taking their first steps, not only as members of our corporate family, but as society as a whole."

It was a bright sunny day out when the new employees for a local trading firm happily made their way out of a long orientation. Walking among those new employees was a male hyena dressed in his best business suit. Emerging from the corporate building with the others, he let out a yawn and stretched out his arms before heading toward the sidewalk that lead into the nearby park.

Oh hey, my name's Haida. I'm a recent university graduate who just got his first office job in a trading firm's accounting department. It's not exactly the glamorous dream job most people would strive for, but so long as it pays rent and puts food on the table, you won't see me complaining. I've never held a job before so I'm a little nervous. Luckily, I won't be going it alone.

"That was so pointless." Said a small female fox in a business suit as she walked up alongside Haida. "You gotta love how they're trying to mask the reality that we're about to enter a soul crushing career, acting as cooperate drones who push numbers and meet never ending deadlines.

Oh that's Fenneko. She and I were classmates who both majored in finance. She acts all cynical and uncaring but she worked just as hard as I did to get this position. It was actually her idea for us to apply to this company together in the first place, and I was more than happy to roll with it.

"It wasn't too bad. The CEO at least seemed nice." Haida said optimistically. "Hopefully this 'Director Ton' guy we're supposed to work for is too."

"Doubtful." Fenneko said whipping out her phone. "According to what I've found on various social media's of former and current employees, this guy's a total pig."

"You mean metaphorically?" Haida asked.

"Literally." Fenneko said tapping at her phone. "And metaphorically."

"Well that's great. Guess we'll just have to be on our best behavior then." Haida shrugged.

Yeah, I figured there'd be a few bumps on the road to success, but I'm not too worried. Right now I've got a new job, good prospects, a decent apartment and I'm working alongside a good friend. How could it get any better than this?

RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGGEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Haida paused as he heard a screeching noise coming from nearby. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Fenneko asked, having been emerged in her phone.

Curious, Haida walked to a nearby set of stairs where he thought he heard the noise. Looking down he spotted a female red panda, also dressed in a business suit, who was sitting on the ground with her back to him, gripping her leg.

"Hey! Are you okay?" Haida asked as he raced down the stairs. He knelt before the panda, who had removed her shoe and was holding her slightly swollen ankle, muttering angrily to herself.

"Here, let me help you." Haida said holding out his hand.

The red panda stopped talking and looked up at Haida in surprise. Though her face briefly showing a mixture of pain and anger, it quickly changed to gratitude as she smiled sweetly up at him. "Oh, why thank you."

Haida froze in place as he laid eyes on this new girl. Somehow, her smile had caused him to stop breathing and his cheeks to become very warm.

"I really appreciate you stopping to help me." The panda said as she grasped his outstretched hand.

Thump. Haida could feel as his heart skipped a beat. This girl is…cute!

"You're…very welcome." Haida said, enclosing his hand around hers. "I'm Haida. Nice to meet you."

From the top of the stairs, Fenneko appeared to see what was going on and was immediately intrigued to see Haida, now with a goofy grin on his face, as he held the hand of an unknown girl.

"Let's get you over to that bench so you can get you off your feet." Haida suggested as he stood up.

Carefully, Haida helped the red panda girl to stand on her uninjured leg and escorted her over to the nearby bench. Once she was comfortably sitting down, Haida knelt down to inspect her ankle, which thankfully didn't appear to be severely hurt.

"Looks like some mild swelling. Nothing too serious." Haida said, putting her shoe on before standing back up. "So what happened exactly? Did you trip down the stairs or something?"

"Something like that." She said, looking sheepishly as she rubbed the back of her head. "It's too embarrassing to talk about. I assure you I'm not usually the clumsy type. Probably just got a little overexcited at the idea of starting my new job."

"New job? Oh were you at orientation for the trading firm too?" Haida asked, suddenly feeling hopeful.

"Sure was." She nodded. "I'm working in the accounting department."

"Get out of town! Me too!" Haida said as he sat beside her, wagging his tail.

"Really?" She asked. "That's great! I was hoping to meet more accountants."

"Me too…" Haida repeated, his smile growing more by the second.

"Well, isn't that a happy coincidence."

Both turned to see Fenneko walking toward them, a look of intrigue on her face. "It's nice to see more mathematically inclined women in the corporate workplace."

"Oh, this is my friend Fenneko." Haida said introducing her to the new girl. "She's working in accounting too. Fenneko this is…uh…sorry I didn't catch your name."

"That's okay. It's Retsuko." The red panda said cheerfully. "Nice to meet you!"

"Retsuko huh." Fenneko repeated as she discreetly took out her phone. "I assume you're also a recent college graduate? So that would make you about twenty years old or so?"

"Sure does." Retsuko nodded, unaware that Fenneko was typing into her phone behind her back.

"And I assume you graduated in the area. Nearby university perhaps?" Fenneko asked as she continued to type. "Did you go to the nearby high school as well? Also what's your sign?"

Retsuko started to look nervous. "Um, am I being interrogated or something?"

"Just trying to make small talk." Fenneko stated, as she hit enter on her phone. "We are going to be coworkers after all.

Haida saw what she was doing and tried to divert the conversation. "Anyways Retsuko, where do you live? If it's far we can call you a cab or something. I'd hate for you to try and walk back home on that ankle."

"Oh I'll be fine." Retsuko said as she shook out her foot. "I'm starting to feel better already actually. Besides, I take the train to and from home which isn't far from here or my apartment. As long as I get a seat on the way back, I should be okay."

Retsuko then got to her feet and although she flinched, she kept a strained smile on her face, and bowed respectively to the two. "Anyways, I should probably hurry if I'm to catch the next train out. It was a pleasure meeting you both. I'll see you all tomorrow!"

With one last bow, she turned and started walking down the sidewalk, limping slightly. Concerned, Haida got up and chased after her. "Retsuko, wait up!"

Retsuko turned and looked curiously back at Haida, who suddenly looked nervous. "Are you sure you'll be okay? Cause I really wouldn't mind calling you a cab or even escorting you home if you need me to. I know we just met and all but given we're gonna be working together, well…I just want you to know…" His face heating up, Haida bashfully looked away from her gaze. "You can rely on me if you need to."

Luckily Retsuko didn't seem to notice his embarrassment and merely smiled back. "I appreciate it, really I do. But I'll be fine. I wouldn't want to be a bother. Besides, we both got a big day ahead of us tomorrow. Best to rest up right?"

Haida looked unsure but Retsuko maintained her pained smiled so he relented. "Alright then. Just be careful okay?"

"I will." Retsuko nodded before placing her hand on his arm. "Thanks again for helping me Haida."

Haida felt his heart leap in his chest and his face turn beet red. Trying to compose himself, he let out an awkward laugh and rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Hey, don't mention it. What are pals for?"

Smiling once more, Retsuko turned and walked down the sidewalk and out of the park. Haida stood and watched her, letting out a sigh as a smile crept over his face.

"That was smooth."

"Ah! Don't do that!" Haida said, jumping from Fenneko's sudden appearance.

"She seems nice. You picked a good one Haida." Fenneko said as she accessed her phone. "Might've come on a little strong though."

"What? No I wasn't- I don't- I was just helping her!" Haida stuttered. "I mean come on, I just met the girl. I don't even remember her name all that well."

"You mean Reeko?"

"Retsuko! Oh dammit." Haida grumbled as Fenneko chuckled in monotone. "Okay so what if I do maybe, sorta, kinda, possibly like her? She probably already has a boyfriend or something. Why else would she have been so eager to leave-"

"Retsuko. Age 20. Scorpio. Blood type A." Fenneko recited, reading off her phone. "Graduated this past year with a degree in finance and a decent grade point average. Favorite food is bamboo stir fry, favorite sport is tennis, regularly rides the Den-en-Toshi line, favorite color seems to be pink based on her clothing choice, which are usually a blouse and a skirt. She likes to frequent bars and outlet malls, seems partial to strawberry ice cream... hmm, no idea what kind of music she likes…"

"Wha-what?" Haida exclaimed. "You got all that research just while we were talking? How'd you even do that?"

"Simple." Fenneko said tapping away. "I narrowed it down a bit to people with similar names in the area, divide by her age and cross referenced with people who went to the nearby university and who recently changed their work history. No big deal really."

Haida looked at Fenneko in shock. "Dude that is way creepy! You can't just look up someone's history like that!"

"Why not?" Fenneko asked. "Lots of people do it. Besides you wanted to learn more about Retsuko right?"

"Yeah but I don't wanna find out about her that way!" Haida said looking away from the phone.

"Not even certain little details like…her marital status?" Fenneko asked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"What!? You found that?" Haida said as attempted to grab the phone only for Fenneko to hold it away.

"First, apologize for calling me creepy." Fenneko demanded.

"Alright fine, I'm sorry!" Haida said in annoyance. "Now what does it say?"

Fenneko tapped her phone and held it up for Heine to see. It showed a picture of Retusko wearing a pink blouse and graduation cap while happily holding her diploma, along with her profile. Under marital status was the word 'single'.

Haida blushed as the realization sank in. "So…she's not taken?"

"Nope. Not even a complicated relationship." Fenneko said as she withdrew her phone, pausing for a moment. "You know, there were a lot of good looking guys at orientation today. Probably even more already working at the office."

Haida looked confused. "Um okay. What's your point?"

"My point is," Fenneko stated as she powered down her phone. "Don't wait too long. A girl like her can get snatched up in an instance. You don't want to miss your chance just cause you're afraid to make a move."

Haida looked even more confused as Fenneko put her phone away in her purse. "Well I should be heading home. Retsuko was right about one thing, we do have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

As Fenneko started walking away, Haida finally registered what she was saying and looked outraged as he yelled out to her. "Hey, I'm not afraid! And I will make my move! We're already coworkers so the next logical step is to become friends. I'll get to the level after that eventually, it just has to be the right moment!"

Fenneko stopped and blinked back at him. "Whatever you say Haida."

After Fenneko left the park, Haida stood alone seething in annoyance. "What does she know? I can't just rush into something like this with Retsuko, it'll damage our relationship as coworkers. I gotta take my time, get to know her first. Hopefully in time, we'll get to connect on a deeper level. I mean, how long can that take?"