Work Text:
Returning to the office after living the life of a idol was disorienting.
The past few months seemed to almost have been a dream, with how fast it has all came and went.
A brief moment of stardom.
But it had been enough for her. In those brief moments, she'd realized it wasn't the ideal life for her.
For a while, she'd holed up in herself. After a traumatic attack, it was only natural for her to feel exposed, scared, unsafe.
And for a while, her friends had given her her space.
But it was Haida who finally pulled her out of that hole.
Retsuko walked into the office, feeling some relief to be back in its walls.
It might be chaotic, but it was never as crazy as life with the OTMGirls had been.
She saw Haida, Fenneko, and a group of her other coworkers gathered and talking near the fax machine and she walked over with idle interest to catch up on the latest gossip.
"What's everyone talking about?" she asked.
"...and then, they were never heard from again." Ookami finished orating, looking over the crowd he'd gathered with shining eyes.
His words were met with a mixed bag of scoffs and ooohs.
"Scary stories," Haida said, filling Retsuko in on what she'd missed. "We're trying to see who's got some real Halloween material."
"These stories are jokes," Fenneko snuffed, her arms crossed. "You can't actually believe this kind of stuff."
"I guess I forgot how spirited the place gets at holidays," Retsuko said.
"Alright, alright, my turn!" Kabae yelled, jumping up and down enough to make the floors quake. "This one's about a haunting in our very own building!"
That turned everybody's heads.
"Carrierman? Haunted?" Haida said with a slight pitch to his voice.
"It's just more bogus, Haida," Fenneko said.
"It's not, though!" Kabae continued, waving her arms dramatically. "In fact, I've encountered it myself, first-hand! The Girls' Room Ghoul!"
There was a heavy pause where everyone just looked at Kabae, eyes wide, expectant for more of the story.
Anai's mouth was twitching uncomfortably, and Komiya stepped closer and gave a gentle word of comfort to Tsunoda as she whimpered.
Even Tsubone looked unsettled.
"I've never heard of it," Retsuko said blankly.
Everyone stared at her.
"Everybody who works here knows about it," Haida said with disbelief. "Even the other departments."
"It's ok!" Kabae said, commanding attention again. "Because I'm going to tell you all about...the Girl's Room Ghoul!" She said the name again.
A vein in Retsuko's temple bulged.
"So the story goes, sometimes you can hear horrible screaming and wailing coming from the women's bathroom near our accounting office," Kabae continued. "You'll never know when, but when it happens, they say a cold chill runs down your spine and you'll be glued to the spot, not able to move."
She looked around at the group, making sure to have their undivided attention. Ookami was sweating bullets, and Tsunoda now had her arms wrapped around Komiya, who for one actually seemed to be enjoying the moment.
"And that's when she comes for you. Crawling, out of the bathroom. To enact her revenge...and that's when you run!"
Almost everybody jumped a little.
"I've heard it," Tsubone confirmed, nodding uncomfortably. "More than once. It's a demon."
"I've heard it too, and I say it's a ghost, trapped and unable to move on," Anai countered.
"If tonight's Halloween, then that must mean it could be watching us right now!" Tsunoda said, wiggling in fear.
"I-it's not getting any of us!" Komiya said with shaky assurance.
"Demon, ghost, or whatever, it needs to be exorcised either way!" Haida said, firstpumping and putting on his tough punk look. "For the good of the company!"
Fenneko shook her head in exasperation.
"Alright, alright, what's all this?!" Ton's voice barked out, sending everyone scuttling back to their desks. "Tellin' scary stories, huh?! Well here's a real spooker! Everyone was slackin' on their work, so they all got fired!"
"Yes sir, yes sir!"
The accounting staff went quiet and got to work, nobody wanting to find out the bad end of Ton's tale.
Retsuko, however, couldn't get her mind off of Kabae's story.
A screaming woman in the bathroom? That was...
that was her.
Retsuko turned bright red, recalling the words in her head.
There was no doubt about it- the spirit everybody had been hearing, making horrible sounds in the bathroom, had been her, those times she'd been overcome with rage at work and just had to let it out.
This whole time, she'd thought nobody would really take notice of her venting, hadn't really thought about it-
but now, she was some kind of creepy urban legend.
Well, it certainly was an interesting way to start back at the company.
"I wonder if there really is some kind of spirit," Haida mused when the three had gathered for lunch.
"Don't start, Haida," Fenneko said. "Neither Retsuko or I are falling for this."
Retsuko laughed nervously. "Y-yeah. Stuff like that doesn't exist."
"Y'see?" Fenneko snorted. "I need cold hard facts. I need science. You can't just blindly believe everything you hear. Screaming in the bathrooms...how stupid. Not even a ghost is that pathetic."
Retsuko flinched.
"Well...maybe you're right," Haida said, looking a little embarrassed himself. "But someone should check it out, just in case, right?"
Fenneko narrowed her eyes. "What are you suggesting?"
"After work ends, I'll go see if there really is anything in there!" Haida said, banging his fist on the table. "I'll find out once and for all!"
"Mmm.." Fenneko grumbled. "You? Going into the woman's bathroom? I'm not a believer, Haida, but you're going to end up pissing somebody off if you do that, and I'm not helping you out of that one."
"...I'll do it." Retsuko said.
"Hmm?" her friends both turned to look at her.
Retsuko smiled. "If I prove it's just a rumor, people will be more comfortable at work, won't they?" she said.
"It's no problem. I'm not scared or anything."
More than anything, though, Retsuko just wanted to dispel the rumors.
"....You sure, Retsuko?" Haida said uncertainly.
Retsuko nodded, thankful for Haida's protecting nature, especially after what she'd been through recently. "It'll be alright, Haida. What's the worst that could happen?"
As soon as work was over, Retsuko and her friends headed to the women's bathroom to set the records straight.
A small crowd had already formed there, most the same people from the accounting department.
"I might have let slip you were checking the place out," Fenneko said, giving Retsuko a grin and tapping on her phone. "Don't worry, I'll be blogging the experience online for all those at home, so be sure to give us every grisly detail."
"I thought you didn't believe, Fenneko," Retsuko whispered, feeling anxious as the crowd swarmed around her.
"Oh, I don't," Fenneko replied with a wink. "Hahahahaha..."
"Retsuko, you don't have to do this!" Haida said, grabbing her paw and gazing down at her with real worry.
"Yes, she does!" Tsubone said. "Somebody has to do it!"
"I think it can sense us out here!" Ookami added.
"Retsuko, whatever you do, don't look into her eyes!" Kabae shouted. "That's how she'll pull you into her dimension!"
"And if it asks for our names, don't tell it!" Anai shrieked. "We. were. never. HERE!"
"Ok, ok, I'm going!" Retsuko groaned, feeling the rage well up inside her once again. She shoved the door open as fast as she could, and entered the supposedly haunted bathroom.
Silence fell.
Beautiful, wonderful silence.
Retsuko closed her eyes and took a deep breath, slowly exhaling.
Of course there was no ghost. No demon.
There was just an angry, overly-stressed, overly-worked red panda who needed a break.
Retsuko walked up to the mirror, looking at herself. It was actually pretty funny, when she thought about it.
"Heh."
Maybe having this little story about her wasn't so bad. It could be passed down in the company for years to come.
Part of her secret legacy.
And if ghosts had to deal with coworkers like hers', then maybe they weren't so bad either. Who could blame them for being so miserable all the time?
Some minutes Retsuko stepped out, a content smile on her face.
The crowd stepped back, immediately flooding her with questions.
"What happened? Did you see it? How did you escape?!-"
"There's nothing there," Retsuko said calmly, quieting the group. "Trust me, there's no Girl's Room Ghoul or any kind of haunting here at the company. The screams you heard...were probably just workers having regular bathroom trouble. So....happy Halloween?"
Everyone's faces went from confused to disappointed to mildly disgusted. Grumbling, the group left, until only Haida, Retsuko, and Fenneko were left.
"I never actually believed there was anything..." Haida said, shaking his head. "Still, I'm relieved."
"Oh, yeah, right," Fenneko rolled her eyes. "You were close to tears the entire time!"
"So do you guys have Halloween plans?" Retsuko asked, smiling. "I thought we could get drinks."
"Retsuko, asking us for drinks?" Haida asked with surprise.
"Now that is scary. What did you do with the real Retsuko?" Fenneko asked.
"Aw, come on. I'm in a good mood tonight," Retsuko said, putting her arms around theirs. "Let's do it."
Nobody would ever know Retsuko's secret, and just like good horror stories, it remained shrouded in mystery.