Anime One-Shots

(Haise Sasaki X Reader) Unconditionally

Haise sat up in your shared bed, roused from his sleep from another foul nightmare that plagued his mind. It seemed that even with you by his side the memories struggling to resurface would continue to tear him asunder. Why couldn't he sleep? Why couldn't he just rest for once? Why did the nightmares get worse when he slept next to you?

He asked himself these questions, but deep down he knew the answer.

Because he was afraid. He met you, loved you, and you just became one more thing he couldn't bear to lose if his identity of Kaneki Ken took over.

Haise looked down at your sleeping form as his features gently twisted into a solemn frown. His time with you was so, so precious. He didn't want to lose any of it, didn't want it to get taken away if he disappeared. He just wanted to be with you forever, but that wasn't possible, was it?

He reached a hand out to brush your hair from your face and was surprised when you grabbed his wrist. "Haise," you spoke, "you're not well?"

"How long have you been awake?" he asked, making sure not to raise his voice above a whisper.

"A while. I've noticed you normally wake up around this time, so I've been matching my sleeping pattern with that."

His eyes widened. You purposely adjusted your schedule just to be awake whenever he was? His heart hurt from how full you made it, which made him all the more terrified to lose what you had together.

He settled down into the sheets once more and allowed you to hold him. He buried his face in your shoulder and inhaled your scent. It was so homely to him. You raised your hand and tenderly stroked his hair, with the other tracing patterns on his naked back. "I love you," he said. "...I love you so much."

"What brought this on? Talk to me."

He wrapped his arms around you tightly and pressed himself impossibly closer to your body. This is real, you're with him, this is real, you're with him, this is real.

This is real.

This is real.

"I'm scared." His voice came out in a whimper, and it made your chest ache. "What happens if I ever remember who I was? Kaneki Ken? Everyone wants me to remember, does that mean they want me to disappear? What... what am I? It feels like I'm just a vessel and not a person, like I don't have any feelings of my own, I'm just biding my time until Kaneki comes back."

You held him as he poured his heart out to you. Whoever said that talking about it made you feel better was a liar, because with each word he spoke he just felt his mood deteriorate faster.

You pressed a kiss to his forehead. "You're the man I fell in love with."

"I want to stay with you so bad," he whined, feeling the tears fall from his eyes. "I want to get married and have a real family and just stay with you and be happy. I just want to be happy."

"I want you to be happy, too," you said softly. "I want to do whatever I can to make sure you're happy."

"This isn't fair," he sobbed. "I don't want you to leave, but you won't have a choice once I'm... once he's... you'll move on once I'm gone. Part of me hates that."

"I won't move on from you, Haise."

"So you'll resign yourself to being miserable, then? What will you do once I'm gone?"

You held him tighter and said, "You'll never be gone to me. I'll learn to love the man you become. You think I'll leave after all this? I might not be strong enough to protect you, Haise, but I'll never leave your side. Wherever you go, whatever you do, whoever you become, I'll love you, and I'll hold onto you, and I'll never be satisfied until you're happy. That's what I want, too."

"My happiness?"

"Yeah. Whatever it takes."

"Even if it costs you yours?"

You smiled sadly. "You've already given me more happiness than I deserve, Haise. If I could be responsible for some small luxury in your life, I'd be fine with that."

He drew his lips into a thin line as he felt the tension in his body release. His next words were so quiet you had to strain to hear them, "You're not a small luxury. You're everything to me."

You stopped stroking his back and moved both of your hands to cup his face. You gently brought him closer to you as you kissed him with a familiar tenderness. He returned your kiss and the two of you exchanged a few more afterwards, eventually calming Haise down enough to stop from crying. You continued to embrace him, though, and stayed up even after he'd gone to sleep again.

Yeah. Whatever Haise became in the future, you'd be there to love him unconditionally.

"After all, that's what I promised you—right, Kaneki?"