"Retsuko. Is. Mine!" Aggretsuko x Yandere Everyone!

Chapter Fifteen

After Anai hung up, Haida shoved the phone in his pocket. He pulled out his wallet from his other pocket and laid some yen on the counter before him. "What'll it be?" The baker responded, busy counting the yen from the previous customer. "Just... uh..." Haida glanced around at the wide display of pastries and desserts surrounding him. He hadn't even thought about what to get. Luckily no one was waiting in line behind him, though, so he had time to decide.

The baker, an old lizard, looked up to him. "What are you looking for?" He re-phrased, putting away the yen he was counting. "Something... I don't know, generic, I guess? What's something popular here? Like, something everyone likes?" Haida felt his nervousness creep out of his voice, but didn't do anything in response to it. He should feel nervous, he thought.

"Ah, well everyone likes some plain vanilla cake, don't they?" The baker answered, ignoring the hyena's uncomfortableness. Without waiting for a response, the lizard pulled a tray of miniature circle cakes from under the counter, placing them in front of Haida. "Would you like any of these? Or something bigger?"

Haida looked over the elegantly frosted cakes, some with edible flowers on top and others with fruit. She'd like those, right? "No, no these are great, thanks," Haida responded, looking to the yen he put on the table. "That'll be enough for five of these, right?" Haida watched the baker ruffle through the yen on the counter before receiving a nod. "Will that be all?" He spoke.

"Yes, thank you." Haida breathed out, watching as the lizard put away the payment and start to wrap up his order to go.

~- - - - -~

Haida felt his nerve growing with every step.

'Your only doing this to make sure she's ok. You know, like friends do. You shouldn't be nervous.' Haida tried to take in a deep breath, but it just ended up being a short one. His tail swished slightly in a mix of nerve and anticipation as he walked up the steps to Retsuko's apartment. 'It's not weird that I'm visiting her, right? No, of course not. we're friends.'

Haida glanced at the numbers by each apartment door, waiting until he saw hers as he walked. He only knew where she lived from coming over once. Only once, and it was to drop off a birthday present for her. He had come along with Fenneko, who had already known where she lived beforehand.

Fenneko. He never expected Fenneko to do what she did. Even upon talking to her, he was still unsettled. She seemed so different from when they were all hanging out, back then. Wy didn't he notice the change before?

Haida stopped upon reaching his destination, his tail stopping as well. He gripped the cake box with both hands but removed one to peek inside the box again. They looked fine, not rattled, or ruined in any way. Good. He shut the box and looked towards the door, erasing any thoughts of Fenneko. She made her decision.

Raising his hand to knock, he took in a deep breath. He was about to knock once he exhaled, but a voice stopped him.

"Haida?"

Haida whipped his head towards the voice, his hand still raised in the air about to knock. Retsuko stood there, staring back at him. She held her keys in one of her hands, the other nearby it. Her fur was still a bit messy from earlier, but the tear stains were now long gone. She looked to be doing better, he thought.

"What are you doing here?" Retsuko continued, glancing from him to the box he held in his hand. "And what's that?" She spoke normal too, any shakiness from before gone. Haida blinked a moment, registering this.

"A-ah, well I came over to make sure you were alright and all after... this morning..." He looked at her to see her reaction, and seeing no intense discomfort, he continued. "I uh- I brought cake. If you want any, that is." Haida added on, noticing his raised arm after and putting it down.

"Normally I wouldn't... but what the hell." Retsuko sighed, putting on a half-tired smile. "Come on in, we'll split it."

~- - - - -~

Haida had never really been in Retsuko's apartment before, but it looked nice enough. Nothing outstanding, just normal. Retsuko was currently making them some tea, so Haida was just left sitting by the table, staring at the open box full of cakes in front of him.

She seemed to be doing better than this morning, but he could tell she was still a bit rattled. He didn't blame her, he was too. Haida never knew that Washimi woman well, but it was still the second murder revolving around their department. It made him a bit paranoid, almost thinking he needed protection when going to work now.

"Haida!" Retsuko's voice called, making him break out of a trance. "Oh- uh, yeah?" He answered, looking back to the kitchen where Retsuko had last been. "Your tea's ready," Retsuko spoke, from across the table. Haida turned to face her and smiled awkwardly at her. "Ah, sorry..." He replied, bringing up a hand to scratch the back of his head.

Retsuko smiled back, letting out a small laugh "It's fine. Thanks for bringing over cake." She reached over and lightly grabbed one of the cakes decorated with fruit, bringing it up to her mouth and taking a bite.

Haida felt warmth rise to his cheeks in slight embarrassment from before, and something else. "Ah, no problem. I figured bringing over something sweet would uh..." He wasn't sure how to finish that sentence, so he simply stayed silent, waiting for a reply.

Retsuko nodded in understanding. "Mhm." Swallowing her bite, she motioned him to have a cake. "These are really good. I haven't had cake in a long while." She spoke cooly, seeming to finally relax for the first time in a while. Taking another bite of her cake, she shut her eyes and savored it.

Haida watched her chew, his hand pulling a random cake from the box. "Only the best for you." He chirped, taking a bite of his flower-topped cake. He was about to savor his, too, until he realized what he said. "Uh- I mean-" He swallowed his bite quickly, not trying to speak with his mouth full. "Only the best for a friend." He corrected himself, glancing away from Retsuko and taking a sip of his tea.

Retsuko didn't seem to notice his previous mistake, having been too involved in eating her cake. "Mmm, yeah." She simply nodded once more, shoving the last bite of frosted loaf in her mouth and chewing it.

Haida felt himself calm down again. Yeah, he still really liked Retsuko, but she had made it clear that she wasn't interested in him. Although....

Haida looked over the red panda, simply enjoying some simple thing, taking a nice relaxing break from the world.

He felt a smile tug onto his face as he took another bite of cake.

Maybe that could change later on. She seemed to be happy now, so why couldn't he try to make her happy later?

As Haida swallowed his bite and took another, he decided then and there that he'd do anything he possibly could to keep her smiling.

~- - - - -~

Gori had bathed by now, and let her thoughts process.

She knew how to prove herself. To her, to Washimi, to everyone.

She would kill Anai.

(Thanks for reading! And I know, a really fast update ha ha. I just felt like writing today. Enjoy and tell me what you thought! Bye!)