SILENCE WAS THE SOUND INTO WHICH KISHOU ARIMA ARRIVED. The apartment was empty of any other presence. The sound of cars passing by in the street was barely audible through the thick windows. He stood in darkness for a moment as he set his suitcase aside and took off his coat. He could see light where the hallway led – it was the light of the streetlights that managed to escape through the curtains.
Neatly, he placed his fine shoes on the mat by the closet and put on his slippers. He walked forward – not bothering to open the lights to see better. As a Ghoul Investigator who when through excessive training, he learned to fight blindly and understand his surroundings in the darkness. He knew the surroundings of his apartment very well and he was certain he did not make himself a noodle soup before he left the apartment quite early in the morning.
"People are always ruining things for you."
That voice did not catch him off guard – somewhat he was not surprised her presence was within his apartment. On the white leather couch, a woman lay with legs crossed at the ankles. She wore boots with small thick heels and a bit of dirt underneath – rude. A black bodysuit was wrapped around her body, exposing every curve of her hourglass figure.
"Salinger." She lowered the book she was holding just enough to expose her piercing blue eyes, smudged by black makeup. "Catcher in the Rye. Read it?" She closed the book with a sharp sound.
Kishou Arima remained quiet – he was unimpressed by her presence. He could note by the look in her eyes that she was not all too happy with the outcome of the operations that took place concurrently – for her team. Kishou could say he was pleased with his side of the outcome.
There was a small sigh as Kishou failed to answer her question. "It's not a bad read." She raised onto her feet. "Two for you. Zero for me. You had your hands full tonight." She commented as she placed the book back onto the bookshelf from which she took it.
By hands full she meant protecting the Quinque steel transport and showing up to the mopping-up operation at the Auction. Aogiri had both operations planned – more specifically Aya and Eto had them planned, and both failed. For one, they were certain it would fail and the other was just a distraction to keep certain Ghoul Investigators out of the Auction. Despite the failure being somewhat planned, Aya still hoped for a better outcome.
"You don't sound pleased." Kishou commented as he took his seat at the table.
"Things would have been a lot different if I was part of the operations."
"You are well aware why you are not actively participating." He reminded her. "Thank you for the meal." He bowed gently before he took the chopsticks and spun the noodles in their soup.
In silence, Aya observed him enjoy every bite of the meal she prepared for him. He slurped with content. After an entire day of planning and fighting, he was glad Aya made a meal for him. In the last two years, the two became closer. Aya would spend some of her free time in his company, not just to discuss certain plans, but to converse about the little aimless things. Kishou appreciated her presence – even though sometimes he had a little fear she would be caught coming and going from his apartment. However, Aya was careful – she was sneaky like a fox.
In the corner of his eye, he could see her standing by the bookshelf still. The only movement she made was to toss the long white braid over her shoulder and cross her arms as she leaned against the wall. He didn't have to look at her to know her very observant eyes were piercing through his mind as if she was attempting to peel every layer of his skin until she came to his thoughts.
"Say what you need to say." Kishou spoke – giving her permission to speak even though he knew he didn't have to give her such permission.
"You gave Haise Sasaki ownership rights over Hinami Fueguchi." She said. "Aren't you afraid he'll remember?" She wondered.
There was silence from Kishou. He knew that her visit had something to do with Haise Sasaki. Aya, as much as she didn't want to admit it, was very protective of the man who didn't even know she exited. Kishou stared at the soup before he raised his head to look at the young woman who was patiently awaiting his answer.
"Sooner or later, he will remember." He told her, pushing the bridge of his frameless glasses. "He already has glimpses of Ken Kaneki. It's just a matter of time."
"Won't that make things difficult for you?" Aya questioned as she approached him and took a seat at the table. "You are the one that groomed him into Ghoul Investigator. You installed him into CCG."
"Mm." Kishou nodded subtly. "I trained him to replace me one day." He said. "If he fails to live up to that, someone else will take my place."
Kishou looked at Aya with a look she could decipher without any confusing thoughts. She knew what he meant behind all those words he had said. Ken Kaneki/Haise Sasaki was chosen by Kishou Arima, If he failed to live up to those expectations, someone else would take the specific place, and that someone else was already groomed – just the eyes were a problem.
Aya inhaled slowly. "Right..." She murmured as she raised onto her feet. "Due to what happened, Aogiri will pull back for a short while until we get our numbers back and recover from this disaster." Aya informed him, turning onto her heels of boots.
It was not hard to tell that she still did not accept the plans Kishou had for Haise Sasaki. Kishou was well aware of why she was so defensive over Haise – he also thought the infatuation she has for him would pass, but that did not seem possible. To this day, Aya still holds strong feelings for Ken Kaneki.
"Sister."
Half-sister – Aya thought as his voice interrupted her. She turned to look back at him – those pale piercing eyes watched her with gentleness; something Aya witnessed many times when she was alone in his presence.
"He needs to remember." The lines on Aya's face relaxed. "You need to make him remember."
Aya shook her head. "No." She protested. "I can't..." She told him.
"You have to." He told her. "The memories that will come one day. He needs someone that will keep him sane." He said to her. "Aya always soothed him. When there was chaos in his head, when he was crawling his eyes out, it was always Aya that made him calm. He wrote Aya in his blood on the walls so he doesn't forget because she is someone that made him feel enough."
Pain – that was the feeling within Aya's chest that took place. Shivers rushed through her back at the words Kishou told her. She didn't know much about Kaneki's imprisonment – only something; and she didn't ask. She had always only wanted to know he was fine and Kishou always told her he was doing better. That was enough for her to know.
"You never told me that."
"You didn't want to know."
Aya chuckled – he was right; the less she knew the easier it was for her to get over everything that had happened. She grieved Ken Kaneki for many months until she finally found peace in her mind. She accepted that she would always just keep on losing him. Yet, still, she would remember the time they spent together.
"I can't promise you anything."
Kishou only nodded – she needed time to think everything through. She needed to gather the courage to be able to see him again. She saw him recently – she was so close to him and that was the closest she had ever been in the last two years. Aya did not know if she could play a stranger – what if I say his name or look at him as if he's still Ken Kaneki?—However, to her, no matter how many names he changes – he will always be Ken Kaneki.
Kishou watched Aya as she took the black cloak that rested on the sofa and wrapped herself into it. She covered her long twin braids – hiding the color of her hair. She put on the back mask that had a bit of sharpness to resample the fox's muzzle. Aya looked at Kishou once more – revealing the red eyes of a ghoul.
With silent footsteps, Aya opened the balcony door and closed them – she locked them thanks to a hidden mechanism that only she and Kishou knew about. The balcony stood in the dark corner of the street and the darkness concealed her presence. She blended into the darkness and disappeared out of his sight as if she was never even there. A true predator...
◾
HAISE SASAKI WAS STILL RECOVERING – WHAT HAPPENED AT THE AUCTION STILL SCARRED HIM. His mind kept going back to the deranged ghoul that talked about Ken Kaneki and the girl Hinami Fueguchi. The deranged ghoul, Takizawa kept on saying things that were not familiar to him – but Ken Kaneki knew about them. Hinami Fueguchi would call him big brother, yet he had never seen the girl before in his life – in Haise Sasaki's life.
Chaos was just a mild word to describe what his mind looked like. He even hesitated to go and see Hinami Fueguchi in Cochlea. She kept on looking at him as if she was looking at the person she once knew – but, Haise was not that person. He was not Ken Kaneki and it pained him when he saw how sad Hinami was because of that truth. However, she still gave him a gentle smile, despite the imprisonment he which she was kept. Such imprisonment was much better than death.
Haise sighed physically. His shoulders fell and his fingers wrapped around the cup of coffee on the table informed of him. He breathed in the sweet scent of coffee that calmed him down. The aroma of it reminded him of something – it belonged somewhere in his past. He believed he had drunk similar coffee once – but not at the place he was drinking now.
:re was a newly discovered coffee shop. He, Ginshi Shirazu, and Tooru Mutsuki stumbled upon it weeks ago and since then, Haise has become a regular. There were books in the coffee shop that customers could take and read while enjoying their free time. Renji Yomo and Touka Kirishima – names that were unfamiliar to him, ran the shop.
On such a gloomy day, there were not too many customers. He observed the coffee shop and took notice that at the bar, there was only Touka. Pretty – he thought. Despite not talking to anyone and minding her business while cleaning the glasses, there was a smile on her lips. He did wonder if he knew her – but if he did, he was sure the waitress would have said something.
Instead, she would always welcome him with a warm smile and bid him farewell with that same smile when he left. Sometimes, that smile was troubled and sad, yet despite that, she still looked beautiful.
Touka smiled at him warmly as he was on his way to leave. Those dark blue eyes of hers watched him as he smiled back and disappeared with the ringing above the door of the coffee shop. He had already spent too much time at the coffee shop and he had to resume with his reports that still waiting for him at his desk. He found it hard to write them as the chaos of that night still haunted him.
The moment he stepped out into the street, he looked up towards the sky. A droplet touched his cheek – another and another. He opened the black umbrella he had with him. The forecast did say it was going to rain, so he was prepared for it. He breathed in the rainy air and went on his way – a walk in the rain would calm his mind; at least he hoped.
The weather significantly got worse within a few minutes as suddenly it was not pouring rain, but it was raining enough to quickly wet every surface. The traffic got worse as everyone began to rush somewhere. It got Haise wondering why humans always seem to be rushing somewhere – they were burdened by so many responsibilities that sometimes they forget to enjoy the small things in life; coming from a workaholic himself.
"Stupid."
Haise briefly looked to his right as he heard someone speak. He paused in his steps and looked again towards that same direction. Long white hair fell from a half-bun. Strands of long white bangs framed each side of her pale face that held an irritated expression. She looked at her phone and a sigh left her lips. A loud and quite troubled sigh. Her head fell back and she stared at the ceiling of the awing, which was shielding her from the crying sky.
"Of all days, this is the worst." She said – talking to herself. "Way to go... way to go, idiot."
From someone's perspective, they would say she was mad for talking to herself. But from Haise's perspective, he knew she was in trouble. However, it was not her monolog that captured his attention – it was the woman itself. The girl from that day... The girl with those blue eyes that were memorized in his mind.
For a moment he forgot to breathe and when he did breathe in, his feet were taking him in her direction. She stared at her phone that she held with one hand while the other gripped onto the handle of her laptop case. She was tapping on the screen – the tapping of her nails against the glass sounded rushed and aggressive.
"Excuse me, miss."
She paused and her head turned towards the person that spoke. Her eyes looked at him with wonder. Does she remember me? Haise wondered at his heart stopped for a moment – he felt a bit of panic and nervousness taking over. But he did not allow himself to be swayed by her gaze.
"You seemed troubled. Do you need help?"
For a moment, she stared, but she didn't hesitate with her answer. "No." She looked away, closing her eyes in defeat. "Yes." She turned her body towards him. "I have a very important meeting with a client in Shoeisha and it is raining. I forgot my umbrella at home, the taxi is going to arrive here in 15 minutes and I need to be at Shoeisha in 15 minutes." She quickly explained her situation. "I can't come to the meeting wet like a dog."
Haise completely understood her troubled situation. She seemed like a very respectable woman who certainly had a reputation behind her – he could conclude that by the way she held herself. Straight, formerly dressed for a meeting, and with a minimum amount of makeup on her face – emphasizing her natural look.
"How far is Shoeisha?" Haise wondered.
She turned towards the other direction. "Just two blocks straight and another two on the left." She explained.
"I can take you." Haise offered his help with a kind smile on his lips. "There is enough space for one person under my umbrella." He said, moving the umbrella more to the side for one more person to fit.
A smile appeared on her pink-touched lips. "Thank you."
The woman came to his side, offering him another smile. Haise moved forward and the woman followed right by his side. The heels of her knee-high boots clicked against the ground – not preventing her from walking a bit faster. Haise followed her steps, not finding it difficult as he did have longer legs and was taller than her.
"I'm Haise Sasaki." He introduced himself – he didn't want to seem like a stranger.
She glanced at him. "Hayami Ikeru." Beautiful name – he thought. "You are a Ghoul Investigator?"
Haise was a bit taken aback by her sudden question – she is a bit straightforward. Hayami took notice of how he paused when she asked him a question and she was ready to apologize for asking that question out of the blue. In truth – she didn't know how to begin a conversation with someone to whom she was a stranger, while they were not strangers to her.
"Yeah. What gave me away?" He asked with a nervous laughter on his lips.
"The outfit." She said. "All Ghoul Investigators dress the same. It's hard not to notice." She told him.
"I guess that's true." He agreed. "You mentioned you need to go to Shoeisha..." Haise continued their conversation. "What is Shoeisha?"
She looked at him, surprised he did not know about the company. "It's a publishing company. I work there as a junior editor." She answered.
"Oh, so you are a writer?" He wondered.
"Yes. Well... besides editing, I am a writer." She told him. "When I started to work there, I wrote articles mostly and then I got promoted to junior editor. Now, I edit authors' works and attend meetings." She told him. "Which is quite tiresome." She added with a small laugh.
She seemed easy-going; she didn't seem nervous around him or uncomfortable by how close they were walking by one another. He could breathe a scent of perfume – it was a woody perfume with a note of flowery scent and something more. It was gentle – not too harsh for the nose.
"Sounds like an interesting job." Haise commented.
"It is, yes. But not that much where you have writer's block." She replied – looking at him for a moment and hesitating before she spoke again. "I saw you that day... right?" Haise began to wonder – acting as if he was thinking when he remembered that day well. "You were with two of your co-workers?"
"Ah, yes." Haise confirmed. "Ginshi Shirazu and Tooru Mutsuki." He said. "We are usually always together, but... I guess I needed to be alone for a while."
"Mm." Hayami nodded. "You are their... mentor?"
Haise nodded. "Mentor, cook, parent... whatever I need to be." He said, attempting to make a joke and she laughed.
It was such a melodic sound that left her lips – honest and small, but vibrant and intoxicating. He could listen to her laugh and voice for a very long time. The voice itself seemed as if he heard it before, but maybe he was mistaking it for someone else. He tried to repeat her name over and over again in his head, but none of it seemed familiar.
"This is me."
As they came to a halt, Hayami skipped forward under the awing of the building. Haise instinctually took a step forward – as if he wanted to follow her wherever she went. Who are you? Even though he knew her name, he wanted to know more about her. Something or someone was telling him that she was important. And when she looked at him with those blue eyes, he never wanted her to look away from him.
"Thank you!" She expressed her gratitude and bowed gently.
Haise shook his hand. "Oh, no, don't be so formal." He dismissed her kindly. "It was no trouble."
"Well, trouble or not, you saved my day." She said. "Thank you." She thanked him again.
Hayami was in a rush – yet still, she thanked him without being impolite. He felt his heart dropping when she turned on her heels and went towards the door. He didn't want her to leave – he didn't want to never see her again. Haise wanted to see Hayami again – he wanted to talk to her again. Or did Kaneki want her?
"Hayami." She stopped and looked at him as if she expected him to call out her name. "May I see you again?"
Haise cursed himself. Was this too fast? Did I sound desperate? Did I sound like a creep? Damn it – I did sound desperate and creepy. Haise wanted to turn away in shame – he never asked a girl out or expressed any kind of interest in anyone. He was panicking inside and he didn't know what to expect from Hayami who brought a long smile on her lips.
"Friday, 6 PM." She said. "Antique in 3rd Ward. It's a coffee shop on the second floor." Haise was taken aback by her answer. "If you find it, we'll see each other then, Haise."
His heart skipped a beat when she spoke his name so lightly and delicately. She turned and opened the door. Her scent traveled through the air as it flowed towards him. That scent... so beautiful. He watched her disappear, rushing away as her time was ticking quickly. Haise smiled as he memorized the next time he'd see her.
"I'll find you... Hayami."