The MagiArtist Collection

A Smile To Get Through The Day (Tsunoda x Reader)

To be perfectly honest, you had zero expectations when you applied for this office job. Everyone and their mother told you how goddamned awful it was to work as a salaryman, so your expectations were the lowest of the low. As a result, you loved your job. The work you got wasn't as bad as you half-expected, everyone was great, and after work, you manage to have a drink with a few of them. Even if you had less than minimum wage, you'd still go to your job just because of how great it was.

Though, what made it even more worth it was seeing Retsuko. Retsuko was an adorable red panda who had tons of work laid on her, and yet she kept it all with a smile on her face. She was responsible, optimistic, and overall nice. You wouldn't mind going on a date with her, even if she is what most Japanese consider "Christmas cake"...

That is until one day. You were doing your usual business in the can when suddenly, you heard a very scary shout:

"LIGHTNING, GRANT ME YOUR VENGEANCE! HIT MY BOSS'S GOLF CLUB, FIND YOUR MARK! LIGHTNING, GRANT ME YOUR VENGEANCE! HIT FLUNKY'S GOLF CLUB, FIND YOUR MARK! LIGHTNING, GRANT ME YOUR VENGEANCE! HIT THE WITCH'S HEAD, WHERE SHE RUNS! STRIKE THEM DOWN! STRIKE THEM DOWN! STRIKE THEM DOWN! STRIKE THEM DOWN!"

You trembled in your stall. Such fury, such anger... It was as if an oni had just arrived in the bathroom. You hesitated to leave the bathroom... But then ran out as soon as you thought of the oni being right next to you. You hid your scream, hopefully the oni didn't hear you.

Once you were out, you calmed down and rationalized... It couldn't be an oni. They don't exist. It had to be some disgruntled employee. Yeah, that's it. But... No one else was in the bathroom when you went... Maybe the women's washroom? As if to give you an answer, someone walked out, humming a tune similar to the shout you heard.

Retsuko...

You saw her walk out of the women's washroom, on her merry way back to her job... You waited. Surely, it had to be someone else, right? Right? After another minute or two, no one else came out of the washroom... It had to be her. The source of the scary screams had to have come from her. No. It couldn't be. Retsuko was the nicest woman you could ever know. She wouldn't wish death on anyone...

As you thought that, you began to realize something... You yourself never really talked to Retsuko. You just saw what she did... Which was be a slave for the boss and her superiors. You thought about the pent up rage inside her, just waiting to explode... And explode she did... If you were to fall in love with her, you'd have to be at ground zero, every, single, day. You shook. You have no idea of whether this was a one off thing or if this was a repeat occurrence...But you didn't want to find out.

-_-_-_-_-_-

You went back to your workspace and continued doing calculations like always. As much as you wanted to pretend that never happened, you cannot remove the image of Retsuko begging God to let loose some lightning. Not only that, but you're still coming to terms of what might just be Retsuko's true persona, something that terrified you.

"[y/n], are you alright?" You turned to see the doe-eyed gazelle, Tsunoda, whose eyes sparkled as she looked at you. You just shook your head. "What's the matter?"

Do you say what you saw? You looked to see if Kabae was anywhere to be seen... Lord knows the last thing you want is for her to hear the rumor of Retsuko having an aggressive side of her.

Thankfully, she wasn't, but you wanted to play it safe.

"I... I have a crush on someone... But... today I found out that they may not be my type." You sighed.

"Aaaw, that's too bad." There was a silence between you two as she sat next to you. You looked

at her. You never noticed that she works next to you. Even as she typed away at her computer, she still had a smile on her face. Your face began to crease upwards and you smiled as well. Your eyes wandered to Retsuko, who had a bunch of papers piled on her, some of them no doubt from Tsubone. While she kept a smile on, it was forced, unlike Tsunoda's, which seemed genuine. Before you knew it, you were getting through the day despite having your romantic fantasy shattered before your eyes.

Eventually, you finished your work, as did Tsunoda. You looked over to her and gave a smile. She

smiled back. Just before she got up, you spoke.

"Hey, Tsunoda... Do you have anything after?" You asked.

"Hmm?" She gave you the cutest hmm you have ever heard.

"... M-my friends and I are going for drinks. I-if you want, you're m-more than welcome to come..." You blushed.

"Hmmmm... Sure! You could use some company, especially after what happened..." She smiled. Even though you felt like the comment was back handed, it made you happy knowing she kinda cared about you enough to make you feel better. Though, the truth is, she was already doing that, by giving you a smile to get through the day.