Well this is my first Aggretsuko fanfic, I hope you like it. Although this first chapter of the fic is written by me, there is also credit to "STORYmaker2" for helping me with various corrections. Without more to say, the story begins here.

Striding through a corridor walked a large and broad shoulder pallas cat with two of his close companions from the sales department: a male red panda lost in his own world, and a diligent giraffe, watching their path ahead. However, as the pallas cat continued, his mind lingered on a particular fennec fox in the accounting department. For too long, he'd dwelled on the romantic feelings for her and now prepared himself to confess those affections.

When they reached their work center's break area, the giraffe peeked out first to check for his friend and saw the fennec fox lost in conversation with a female red panda and a hyena.

"Well, Fenneko is here, but Retsuko and that other guy are with her. We'll have to wait for them to leave." Rinta said as he brought his long neck back.

"This may take a while. I just hope it's before lunchtime is over. For the moment, we must stay here." Manumaru sighed in disappointment while crossing his large arms.

"We don't have to. There are lots of available tables, we can sit and wait more comfortably, and we would have a better view of when Fenneko is alone." The giraffe said, only to see the pallas cat shake his head.

"No, I don't want the other two to get suspicious. I'd rather wait here. What do you say, Resasuke?" He asked the male red panda.

Resasuke made no comment, just started walking towards the coffee machine, bought a can, and sat at a table on the other side of the area where Retsuko, Fenneko, and Haida were, with his typical, monotonous expression, without speaking a word.

"I don't know if he's smart or clueless, but I think he agrees with me," Rinta said as he walked away from Manumaru and sat with Resasuke at the table.

Taking a deep breath, the pallas cat gave up and decided to sit with his friends.

At the other table, Retsuko, Fenneko, and Haida continued their discussion, none the wiser.

"So Retsuko, how do you feel now that you've returned to work recently?" Fenneko asked.

"Pretty good. It's like nothing happened. Although Director Ton and Miss Tsubone have not acted in the same way as before, giving me more work than I could handle alone, but I don't think it will last forever." Retsuko sighed.

"Well, at least that will give you some relaxation time at work," Haida chuckled playfully.

"Retsuko is right, Haida. It won't last for long." The fennec said as she glanced at Tsunoda's profile on her cell phone with an intense gaze.

"Incredible."

"What's going on?" the female red panda and the hyena said together, making the two blush after realizing this.

"It seems that Tsunoda is dating someone from our department." Fenneko said, her eyes and grin widening in a manner that unsettled her friends.

She showed her phone to her friends, revealing a photo of Tsunoda on a romantic date with Komiya, a picture posted the night before.

"They look happy together, but since when did they start dating!" Retsuko almost shouted with wide eyes.

"That's what I'm trying to find out," Fenneko chuckled as she checked Tsunoda's Instagram.

"It seems like it's recent, I can't find anything of the two of them together before that photo."

Haida was still surprised how two of his co-workers were in a relationship, first Anai with his girlfriend Hakumi, and now Komiya with Tsunoda. He was surprised by how he, neither Retsuko nor Fenneko, had had a long-term relationship. At least Retsuko hasn't dated anyone else since breaking up with Tadano. Since he rejected Inui, he hadn't been able to get anywhere with Retsuko, beyond the fact that they became closer friends than before. But he always wondered why Fenneko never tried to date someone. Since he knew her, she hadn't met a boyfriend or someone who cared about her.

At that moment, Anai appeared in the break room.

"Retsuko, Haida. Director Ton called for you His eyes were red." The badger said as he sweatdropped with Retsuko and Haida.

"Looks like the calm is over for Retsuko." Fenneko said.

"Don't say that!" Haida growled.

"Well, we'll just have to see." Retsuko sighed before she and Haida left.

Manumaru saw the opportunity and acted immediately. He got up from the table where Rinta and Resasuke were and almost ran over to Fenneko.

"Hello Fenneko," the pallas cat said, trying to sound as cheerful and inviting as he could.

"Hello Manumaru, I haven't seen you for a long time," the fennec said, her eyes still half on her phone.

"Well, I've been busy. Visiting some art museums, and between work and some drinking outings with Resasuke and Rinta, I could barely have a little free time to chat with you."

"Don't worry. I've been far too busy myself."

"Fenneko, there is something important that I want to tell you." Manumaru blushed and lowered his head momentarily. The pallas cat's heart beat faster than a train, but after mustering his strength, Manumaru spoke.

"I've been feeling this for a while now, and I can't shut it up anymore," he raised his head again. "I am in love with you, and I wanted to know if you wanted to go out with me."

Fenneko watched him for a few seconds with a somewhat anxious look and then answered.

"Hey, I appreciated your honesty with me, but the truth is, I've been dating someone for a month. Not that I wouldn't want to stop being friends, though."

Manumaru felt like a car struck him in the stomach and wobbled momentarily. However, after regaining his composure, he smiled at Fenneko and said, "Okay, I appreciate our friendship. I hope you are very happy with that person."

"I am, and I'm completely sure that you too will find someone who loves you."

After that, the pallas cat, still smiling, said goodbye to the fennec and left.

The giraffe and the male red panda, being far away, did not listen to the conversation, so seeing their friend leave without saying anything worried them. They got up and started to follow him, with the male red panda still carrying his coffee can.

"Manumaru, what happened?" Rinta asked cautiously.

The pallas cat stopped and turned to his friends. "I don't want to talk about it. Don't ask anymore." Then he turned and continued walking to the sales area.

"It seems he got rejected." The giraffe sighed.

The male red panda that was next to him just stared at him without saying anything and with his expressionless gaze.

It was finally department time, and rain had begun to fall throughout the city, so people went home with umbrellas or called a taxi.

Manumaru left the building, longing to be alone. While he opened his umbrella, he could see Fenneko waiting for someone in the approach. She was under an umbrella, and he wanted to approach her to see if he could at least accompany her to the train station sine although she had rejected him, he still wanted to spend time with her since at least he still wanted to remain her friend. But before he could get closer, someone passed him.

It was a red-maned wolf. He approached Fenneko.

"Hello, Fenneko. Sorry for the delay," the wolf said.

"Don't worry, Ookami, it hasn't been long since I arrived." The fennec said.

Ookami leaned down and kissed Fenneko on the cheek. "Well, we better go. I'll walk you home."

"Ok, let's go."

The wolf and the fennec held hands and left the place.

Manumaru, upon seeing them leave together, felt his emotions fluctuate since he was a little jealous that they were together, but at the same time, he was happy that Fenneko found someone. After a few seconds, he decided to go home as well.

After leaving, he didn't realize that Rinta and Resasuke had been staring at him as he walked away.

After a train ride, Manumaru finally made it home. As soon as he entered, he closed the window blinks and turned on the lights to illuminate his home. He put the umbrella on the umbrella stand to dry it. He put his briefcase and jacket on the table in the living room, went to the kitchen, and opened a can of beer that they had in the freezer before returning to the living room and collapsing on the couch to mellow in his lament.

When he finished his first can, the house bell rang, and he wondered who it could be at that time and in this climate? Manumaru opened the door and found the little male red panda in front of him.

"Resasuke? What are you doing here? Did you miss your stop on the subway?" Manumaru asked.

The male red panda took a piece of paper that he had in his coat pocket and gave it to the pallas cat without answering anything.

'Manumaru, in these moments when you feel sad, it is not good that you are alone. You need to be with people to help you overcome sadness, that is why I sent Resasuke to keep you company. I was also going to go, but I had a previous engagement that I couldn't cancel. But don't worry, tomorrow, which is the weekend, the three of us can go out together and have a good day. For the moment, talk to Resasuke, I know he's not the best conversationalist, but at least he can keep you some company. Rinta.'

"Well, since you came this far, fine. You can come in," the pallas cat sighed.

The male red panda came in, and after that, his friend closed the door. After taking off his coat and putting it on a coat rack, he sat in one of the armchairs while his friend went to get him something to offer him.

Fortunately and ironically, the pallas cat found a can of coffee in the refrigerator and gave it to his friend for a drink, while he began to drink another can of beer.

"And then, just out of curiosity, how long do you plan to stay?" Manumaru asked.

"I don't know." Resasuke replied.

"Well, as soon as you want to leave, I can call a taxi so you can go home."

"Thank you."

"Is there something you want to see on TV?"

"A program on plants."

"Hmmm ok?"

The pallas cat turned on the TV and turned to the nature channel. They were running a program on the different types of plants that grew according to the type of climate in the different countries of the world.

As the minutes passed, Manumaru was bored, but he could see that Resasuke was entertaining, since despite not showing emotions, in the years they had been friends, the pallas cat knew when something was entertaining the male red panda.

Sometimes he wondered why Resasuke was so expressionless, for anyone who didn't know him as well as he wouldn't realize when he was happy or sad. There were times that Manumaru wanted to help his friend to be more expressive and more open with people, perhaps his idea of taking him to the singles meeting that time was very rushed, but perhaps he could take another approach to that. Maybe the next day, they would go out with Rinta. Apart from going out, entertaining, and forgetting what happened that day, he could also take advantage of that outing to start doing something that makes Resasuke become more open, although he would do it without having his friends realize his intentions.

Thinking about all of this caused the pallas cat to forget the sadness of having been rejected partially. By that time he had already had the third can of beer, and without realizing it he began to yawn from sleep. He could see his friend still interested in the TV show. Since the rain hadn't stopped yet, it was a bit chilly. Manumaru's eyes began to close little by little until he finally fell asleep.