Spooky Shikabane

**Spooky Shikabane** is the second episode in Season 5 of the Netflix series *Aggretsuko*.

## Netflix Synopsis

"With no job, no home and no girlfriend, Haida hunkers down in an internet cafe and, mortifyingly, bumps into an online friend in real life."

## Summary

Haida calls Anai who wonders how is Haida as he is worried about him. Haida explains he is fine and that the two have a deep bond, but wonders if he can stay at his place for a bit. Anai immediately declines, and suggest Haida to ask Ookami. Haida states he could ask him, but they are not that good friends and it would be weird. Anai then realizes that he was buddy-buddy with him only because he wanted to sleep at his place.

Haida goes to @nagura internet cafe and hires the cheapest booth, planning to sleep in there. Meanwhile, Retsuko is meeting up with Gori and Washimi and explains how she dumped Haida until he finds a job, stating she had to hit him with a tough love. Gori is impressed by her guts, and Washimi believes it was a wise move. Gori wonders if Retsuko thought this through. She explains that the game Haida plays is a type of game you play with someone else and hopes the other person isn't a bad influence to Haida.

Haida gets a message from Shikabane asking him to log in, however Haida explains he can't right now and that he is in an internet cafe. Shikabane wonders why, but also asks which cafe. As he learns its Anagura, he is surprised and asks him in which booth he is. Haida reveals he is in booth 211 and then relaxes trying to fall asleep. Moments later, a girl opens his booth and states she is Shikabane. Shikabane then heads to take a drink and Haida follows her. Shikabane explains that when people learn that she is a girl, they also start wanting to meet in real life and that annoys her, so she pretends to be a guy. Haida wonders why she revealed herself to him. Shikabane tells him that he is different because he has a girlfriend, which is why she is surprised he is at an internet cafe and not at her place. Haida explains he wasted too much money on the game doesn't want to tell Retsuko about it. Shikabane wonders how much and as Haida shows her three fingers, she guesses its 30k yen, which is a lot, however Haida reveals that its 300k yen. Hearing that Shikabane calls him an idiot. Haida attempts to buy coffee, but the machine isn't turning on. Shikabane states the machine is having trouble recently and slams it, causing it to start working. After that, she leaves him and Haida returns to his booth, where after he struggles for a bit, he finally falls asleep.

In the morning, Haida wakes up from a message from Retsuko, who wishes him good luck with finding a new job. He goes out of the internet cafe and see a cafe shop on the other side of the street. There, he starts filling job applications, but as he reaches the address part, he wonders what to type now. Shikabane then appears next to him realizing that Haida is his real name. He wonders why she is there and Shikabane explains that she came to work as she is a freelancer and does some internet gigs, like temp work, online reviews, etc. Shikabane tells him that if he is applying to a big companies, writing a fake address is risky, since if they find out, they won't trust him and won't hire him. Shikabane decides to help him out and introduces him to a friend from the internet cafe who agrees to take him for some heavy work. That isn't Haida's strong part, but they tell him that he first needs to get back on track and leave the internet cafe before its too late.

The next day, the man takes Haida for some construction work, where Haida helps with clearing the debris. In the evening, he calculates his daily income and spendings, starting to save bit by bit. Later, he picks a graveyard shift and returns to the internet cafe tired. He wants to hire his usual private booth, but the clerk tells him that there was an event last night and they only have open seating available right now as all private booths are taken. He goes to his seating, where he receives a message from Retsuko, wishing him luck with today's search. However, as he is too tired, he falls asleep before he can answer.

Retsuko tells Fenneko that Haida didn't reply and Fenneko guesses that he is either playing a game or had passed out from playing all night. The two go to his apartment as Retsuko wants to check how he is doing and if indeed he is playing, she plans to "modify" his PC. As they knock loudly on his door, a woman opens asking them to not break it as she just moved in. Retsuko then calls Haida and asks him where is he right now, and Haida tells her that he is home.

Retsuko and Fenneko meet up with Gori and Washimi and Retsuko shares of what happened. Both Gori and Washimi then states that Haida is cheating on her. They guesses that Haida felt suffocated from Retsuko checking on him and he met some girl while gaming and they fell in love. He then left his apartment and moved in with her. Retsuko states she feels bad even without them making things up, but Gori and Washimi tell her to asks him if she wants to know the truth, otherwise their imagination will keep on filling the blanks. Fenneko suggest that Retsuko should ask him too, but Retsuko doesn't want to.

Haida wakes up on a bed in a double private booth with Shikabane, who explains that she asked Dokachin to carry him here, as its tough to sleep sitting up. She explains the booths are good for two people and if Haida wants to share it with her, but he denies it and leaves immediately. She wants to help him as she feels she also contributed to him starting to spend money in the game. If he keeps going tired at work, he may get hurt. Shikabane states they should work as a team just like in the game. Haida then stays in the booth. The two game together and Haida then gets a good sleep.

The next day, Shikabane asks Haida if they can play today, but Haida refuses. Shikabane explains that last night, she kept playing alone and found a newbie with which she played all night. After telling her about Haida's combo attack, the newbie expressed desire to see it in action and Shikabane wonders if Haida can show it. Haida agrees and later they wait for the newbie to log in. Soon the newbie comes and introduces itself as Fennelope.

## Characters in Order of Appearance

* Haida
* Anai
* Gori
* Washimi
* Retsuko
* Shikabane
* Fenneko
* Dokachin