On a Rainy Night

Chapter 1 - Fate is Weird

After once again being humiliated by going on a drunken walk on the streets, Haida lay flat on his back on the cold concrete as the rain fell. Just like the first time this happened to him, he felt the need to call someone in case he was severely injured again. So, he called the one person who wouldn't hesitate to be completely honest with him.

"Hey, Fenneko. What's up?" Haida asked nonchalantly.

"Oh, you know! Same-old, same-old!" Fenneko quickly replied, fearing that she might break Haida's heart if she said something about the article with Retsuko and Tadano.

"Yeah, me, too. Just, uh…chillin' out."

"So, you didn't read—the article?"

Haida couldn't help but chuckle, "Oh, I did. Even that one part about wedding bells…heh-heh."

Fenneko began to sweat, "Yeah, where do these stupid rumors come from? Just stay calm! Don't do anything you'll regret!"

"And what kinda stuff would that be?"

"Wandering all over town drunk, but you kick a can and fall flat on your back like last time."

"Ooohhh—did that right before I called ya."

"Why are you such a dumbass?" Fenneko sighed with disappointment.

"Because I'm drunk," Haida simply stated.

"Want me to call you an ambulance?"

"No…I think I can move."

With that, Haida grunted in great pain as he sat up, his back and hips aching terribly from the fall.

"I should be able ta make it home," Haida reassured after brining the phone back up to his ear.

"If you say so. I'll be up for about another half hour if you need anything," Fenneko informed.

"Thanks. See ya."

"Bye."

The two co-workers hung up at that, and Haida rubbed his temples and sighed heavily. He fails to comprehend why he keeps doing this to himself, especially since Retsuko has obviously already moved on. And if he really does care about her, being great friends with her should be enough for him, right?

Right?

"Can I still be any more pathetic?" Haida groaned.

"That's a matter of perspective, Mister," a raspy voice suddenly answered, startling Haida. He looked around for the source of the new voice, and squinted into the darkness to see a silhouette of a woman leaning against a building a few feet away.

The stranger then began to approach, stepping under a street light and allowing Haida to take in more of her features. It was a spotted hyena, just like Haida; she was clad in a black trench coat that brought out her curves, simple black flats, and a blue and white-striped scarf around her neck.

As she stared down at Haida, she wore a conniving smirk that made it seem like she was always scheming, or at least constantly thinking about something not safe for work.

"Yeah, well, this perspective is a literal pain in the ass," Haida answered with a huff.

"Know what else is a pain in the ass? Being alone on such a wonderful and romantic night like this," the female hyena added, the sarcasm in her tone painfully obvious.

"Believe it or not, it's romance that got me inta this mess."

"Oh, yeah? What, did she turn you down? Or was it a he? I'm not judgin'."

Haida rolled his eyes, "No, it's a woman—the perfect woman, actually."

"If she's so perfect, then how come you're not spooning her back at your place right now?"

Haida opened his mouth to argue, but he honestly couldn't think of anything legit to retort with. After a few seconds, he realized that this woman could be right. After everything that's happened between them, Retsuko is still willing to stay friends with him, and he still can't let well enough alone. He figured that maybe Retsuko's kindness and will to forgive people are two traits about her that he just can't resist.

"Hey, Stranger!" the woman snapped, finally bringing Haida out of his thoughts, "You've been zonin' for a couple minutes. You sure your fall didn't give you a concussion?"

"My head's fine," Haida protested while attempting to stand again, but his shaky arms gave out from under his weight due to his buzz still being in affect.

"Yeah, ok, you're clearly not gonna make it more than five feet. C'mon, Mister."

With that, the woman extended a hand to help him up, and he reluctantly grabbed it and let her pull him to his feet. Once he was standing again, Haida swayed back and forth in his drunken state, and it didn't help that his back and hips were still aching badly. Noticing this, the stranger let him lean against her shoulder for support and slowly began to walk with him.

"So, you nearly risked breaking your back and getting pneumonia for a woman?" the woman piped up, hoping to strike up a conversation as she pulled out an umbrella and opened it.

"Yes. You don't need ta rub it in," Haida sighed in defeat.

"I'm not rubbing it in, I'm just saying that if you're lookin' for love and/or pleasure, you're just lookin' in the wrong place."

Haida cocked a brow at her, giving her motivation to continue, "Sometimes, people confuse a romantic relationship with a long night of carnal knowledge. It's normally what they really need, but they choose ta deny it since they don't want everyone else ta think so little of 'em."

"Gee, I wonder why," Haida stated shakily, as his face turned as red as a tomato and hotter than a furnace. He was starting to confirm his theory that her grin was more for seductive purposes than anything that goes on in her twisted head…and he was falling prey to it.

Curse my dirty, alcohol-induced thoughts, he mentally scolded himself.

"Oh, it's no mystery. Trust me. Everyone wants pleasure, it's part of being human. It's our motivations that tend ta either label us as good or bad—and I don't really know what I'd call mine," the woman continued to speak.

"W-What do ya mean?" Haida asked out of curiosity.

"Let's just say that today's my last day of real freedom, so I'm tryin' ta live it up as much as possible. And I won't lie, one of my final requests is a one-night stand with a decent guy who won't care about who I am or where I'm going afterwards. It's just supposed ta be a one-time thing, after all. Isn't that why they call it a 'one-night stand'?"

"Yeah…I guess."

Haida thought about her words more thoroughly. Sure, her reasons are crazy at the very least, but some of what she said made a tiny bit of sense to him. It's human to desire pleasure and do nearly almost anything to get it; always has been, always will be. But had he been denying his own pleasures, too? Maybe he had been so focused on a lovey-dovey relationship with Retsuko—or any girl, for that matter—that thoughts of sex never came to mind. Not with the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with, at least.

And the more Haida thought about it, the more he realized his attempts to win Retsuko's heart were really futile. It seemed that every time he tried, he ended up in the hospital one way or another, so fate obviously wasn't backing up his decision to be in a relationship with her.

Maybe this random woman could fix that.

"So—is that an invitation?" Haida finally spoke.

With Haida's acceptance, he and the strange woman came to an agreement to help each other, but only for this one night. She helped him back to his apartment, and even helped him undress since he was still very sore. But once Haida was dried off and lying back on his bed, he let her take control.

As the dim light of the street lamps outside shown into the room, and the rain pitter-pattered gently against the window, the two hyenas became one for a short time. Despite still being sore, Haida proved to have some stamina left, to which the woman was not complaining. As her breasts bounced from him thrusting underneath her, her cries of pleasure echoed within the room. Haida wasn't very quiet either, as he constantly moaned and huffed loudly while keeping a tight grip on her hips.

He found it difficult to keep going at some points during their heated session, though, for he found himself fighting with the temptation of pounding Retsuko into a mattress. Haida just couldn't imagine her sweet, innocent, lovable face being on the body meant for such relief, so he kept closing his eyes to block out any and all thoughts of her.

Eventually, the two finally came down from an intense climax, and they hastily separated to prevent any of their hormones from making them all sentimental towards one another. Haida continued to lay on his back and stare at the ceiling, panting heavily after losing so much energy; the woman turned away and sat at the edge of the bed, stretching a bit and lazily looking out the window.

"Not bad, Stranger. Not bad," she commented with a sigh.

"Uh, thanks…you were…pretty good, too," Haida admitted between huffs, "So…you restin' for a bit, or…?"

"Nah, I don't wanna take up too much space. Besides, we both agreed on no snugglin', remember?"

"Yeah, yeah, I-I remember! Just thought I'd be hospitable, is all."

"You're a nice guy, but just make sure that that naivety doesn't get your ass kicked." She paused as she stood to slip her pants on. "Isn't that how you ended up on that sidewalk in the first place?"

Haida's eyes widened in realization and offense, once again failing to find anything valid to say in response. The woman never spoke after that, as she walked around the room in search of the rest of her clothes and belongings.

"So, uh…" Haida broke the awkward silence, "What's happening tomorrow that's got you scared of losing your freedom?"

"I thought we also said we weren't gonna ask about backgrounds," the woman sighed in disappointment.

"I-I know, I know! I just-."

"Wanna be hospitable?"

"Uh…yeah, pretty much."

The woman scoffed and rolled her eyes, "I start working at a new job tomorrow, and I haven't worked in nearly a year. I've gotten so used to doing whatever I wanted, it was just a real wake-up call when I remembered I didn't have a lot of money left. Satisfied now?"

"In more ways than one," Haida chuckled seductively, placing his arms behind his head and preparing for sleep.

"Amen ta that, Lover Boy," the woman stated snidely before finally leaving the apartment, shutting the door hard the make sure Haida knew she was gone.

After once again finding himself alone in his apartment, Haida noticed that he didn't feel as depressed as he normally would in this situation. He figured it could only be because he had just gotten laid, and his happiness was probably boosted by the alcohol that still influenced his thoughts. All in all, the night might've started out pretty bad, but the ending totally made up for it in his opinion.

Haida felt even more drained and sore the next morning, and it didn't help that he still had to go to work. He took some aspirin in hopes of easing the pain, and ignored it as he made his way to work. As Haida walked into the men's locker room, he hoped he didn't fail to clean up any signs of his one-night stand before arriving. Just to be sure, Haida buttoned up his shirt and pulled up his collar to hide any hickeys he might have missed.

"You look terrible," Ookami pointed out after closely examining Haida's droopy eyelids, slouched form and unkempt fur.

"Gee, thanks," Haida growled sarcastically.

"Fenneko mentioned something about you being in another accident."

"Of course she did."

"Either way, you feelin' alright?"

"Define 'alright'."

Ookami chuckled lightly, "Fair enough."

"Hey, did you guys hear about the new hire we're getting today?" a new voice cut into the conversation, as Haida and Ookami turned to find Anai approaching.

"Another one?" Ookami asked out of surprise.

"I hope they're not another fresh grad—no offense, Anai," Haida awkwardly pointed out.

"None taken," Anai stated while glaring at the hyena, but shook away his thoughts of texting him threats later to continue, "Anyway, I heard they're supposed to start working first thing today."

"You know anything else?" Haida questioned with a quirked brow, to which Anai shook his head, "Figures. Let's just go meet this mystery hire, then. I'm probably gonna have ta help train them, too."

As the three men walked out of the locker room, Anai's eyes skimmed frantically over Haida's body, trying to take in his overall appearance.

"You look terrible. Were you really in an accident like Fenneko said?" Anai finally asked.

Haida didn't even have the energy to answer, so he merely groaned in agony while picking up the pace. They soon made it to their office in accounting, and sat down while waiting to see if Ton would introduce the new hire soon. But as Haida sat and waited, another pair of trained eyes were suddenly glued to him.

"I knew you'd look terrible," Fenneko said flatly.

"Why does everyone keep saying that?!" Haida snapped.

"Because it's true."

"Alright, everyone! Listen up!" Ton boomed, effortlessly getting everyone's full attention, "I'd like you all ta meet our brand new hire…"

The room went silent as the sound of heels clicking could be heard, and the "new employee" slowly walked to the center of the room in front of Ton's desk. And while everyone else was either mildly curious or couldn't care less about the identity of this new employee, Haida couldn't believe his eyes.

If it wasn't obvious, Haida is my favorite character from Aggretsuko, so I couldn't help but write a fanfic for him. The poor guy deserves some lovin', and he clearly got someXD

Until the next chapter, I'm TRikiD, bye-bye!