HAISE SASAKI WAS EXCITED – HE TRIED HIS BEST TO KEEP THAT EXCITEMENT AT BAY. However, his squad members were not unfamiliar with his character. He was a bit down for a moment when a message came on his phone that a certain guest he had invited for dinner would have to postpone their arrival because one of their clients was having a mental breakdown due to the negative reviews they received for their work.
Sorry I won't be able to get there on time :(
Don't wait for me!
I'll get there for that delicious coffee you said you'll make for me! :)
Haise remembers reading those messages after he expressed his discontent with her not being able to arrive on time. However, he understood why she couldn't just say "no" to the client. She lived alone and had to pay for everything from her pocket – therefore, working hard was not an option for her. She had to work hard if she wanted to live comfortably.
During the dinner, Haise was pressured by Shirazu and Saiko to tell who their guest was. They were all curious (except for Urie) about the mysterious person Haise had been seeing lately. It was not hard for them to become aware that there was a special person in Haise's life that he had taken interest in. They could tell it was serious – he would not have invited that person to meet Quinx if it was not. As their mentor, he was careful with people meeting Quinx, especially people who were not part of CCG.
"Mister Sass! Come on, tell us! Who are they?" Shirazu was not giving up.
"Don't hold us in suspense now, teach!" Tooru said.
"Yeah, Maman, tell us!" Saiko demanded.
Pathetic – Urie thought as he silently ate the meal Haise prepared. If anything, Haise was a very good cook. However, he would appreciate it if he could enjoy the meal in peace and not listen to children yelling. The entire day he had been listening to Shirazu, Tooru and Saiko discussing the mysterious person with whom Haise has been hanging out in his free time from time to time.
Even Urie, who was usually training in the gym or going for a run or avoiding everyone in Chateau, managed to notice a change in Haise's personality. He was usually cheerful and positive, but lately, there was a different vibe when it came to that cheerfulness and positivity. It got everyone curious and Urie just wanted to be excluded from the topic.
"Alright, alright." Haise intertwined his fingers in front of him on the table. "Her name is Hayami Ikeru. She's a junior editor at Shoeisha. She likes to drink coffee and she likes to read books, though not as much as before as she is caught up with her work..."
Here he goes. Urie mentally rolled his eyes as he listened to Haise talking about a woman named Hayami Ikeru. He went on and on about her; about her likes and dislikes, about how he met her and helped her get to Shoeisha, and how they went on coffee and again and again... Idiot is in love – Urie concluded.
"She's human." Urie interrupted once he was done listening to his lovesick mentor and got all the attention on him. "Isn't she afraid you'll devour her? Being ghoul and all..."
All the eyes returned to Haise and he stood there – perplexed. She doesn't know. – Urie was quite confident in that. He had never told her and he hadn't even thought of telling her that he is a half-ghoul; not a Quinx like the rest of them. The rest could see that as well. The pause in the atmosphere had answered Urie's question.
"Well..." Haise's shoulder slumped. "That is something I haven't yet had the opportunity to tell her..." He confessed. "But I will!" He pointed out.
Right after I gathered the courage to tell her. He was not certain how she would react – will she distance herself or understand his situation? He didn't know – and not knowing scared him. Hayami seemed like an understanding person. She did say she was not afraid of ghouls – therefore, maybe she won't be afraid of him. I can only hope.
The plates on the table were empty – almost ready to be placed back into the cabinets. Haise was a bit disappointed that the team didn't leave a little bit for Hayami. But her being late was maybe for the best. He did get a bit ahead of himself when he called her out for dinner – it would only raise the question of why I was not eating.
"Alright." Haise raised from his chair. "Are you all ready for the presents?"
"Yeah! Presents!" Saiko cheerfully exclaimed – with Shirazu following.
The Christmas tree had been decorated by Tooru, Shirazu and Saiko; and it stood tall in the corner of the living room. Urie, just as always, decided not to participate and instead, he occupied himself in the gym. Haise was even surprised he decided to join them for the Christmas dinner. They all gathered around the Christmas tree while Urie just sat on the couch, watching them with arms crossed over his chest.
Everyone received something from someone – only Urie did not participate in gift-giving. Haise considered it a bit rude that he didn't even try to participate. However, he didn't want to blame him – it was just Christmas; gift-giving was not that necessary. Haise was content with the fact he was actually present with them during dinner. But despite his inactive gift-giving, he received from others a pair of black gloves, a manga, a quinque keychain and wristbands.
Now I feel pathetic – Urie thought as she saw all those gifts in his hands that he opened. He didn't understand what was so joyful about gift-giving, but it seemed it was another way of saying how much people care about others. And Urie cared little, possibly not at all.
A ring bell rang through the Chateau and everyone stopped what they were doing. They stared in the direction of the hallway that led to the doorway and then, everyone's eyes focused on Haise. It took Haise just a second before his feet took him in the direction of the doorway.
"Please behave." Haise warned him before he disappeared behind the well.
Haise stopped just for a moment to look at himself in the mirror. Do I look okay? He was dressed in a dark blue sweater over a white dress shirt that was pushed in his dark gray pants. He looked decent. It was the first time he would present himself in front of Hayami in casual clothes and not in the clothes of Ghoul Investigator.
Haise cleaned his throat before his hands wrapped around the doorknob and he pulled the door open. His heart stopped for just a beat when he saw Hayami standing there. Hair up in a ponytail and minimalistic makeup adorning her face. Beautiful...She was stunning as always. Whatever in her messy workaholic outfits or formal attires.
"Merry Christmas!" Hayami greeted with a smile adorning her lips.
Haise was relieved to see her. "You came!"
"Sorry for postponing at the last minute." She gave him an apologetic look. "Hana – I mean, the client had a really bad mental breakdown. I couldn't just ignore her." That was yesterday, but he doesn't have to know that part.
"No, it's okay, don't apologize." Haise laughed it off. "Come in."
Hayami offered him a smile before she stepped forward. "Here." She raised her hand, revealing a paper bag. "I hope you have room for cookies."
Haise took the bag off her hand and peeked inside. "You didn't have to." He saw various cookies in plastic boxes. "You made them?" Hayami proudly nodded – content with how those cookies ended up looking.
Haise placed the paper bag aside for a moment as he helped Hayami – like a true gentleman – take off her warm coat and place it onto the hanger. And just like any indecent gentleman, his eyes traveled down her body. The dark red dress hugged her body perfectly – showing every curve of her figure. He had never really seen her figure – she would always wear baggy clothes or a coat.
Hayami noticed and she cleaned her throat just to get his attention back onto her eyes. Embarrassment came to adore Haise's cheek and he clumsily tried to pick his words to apologize for staring. However, those words did not even sound like words, but just a bunch of eh-s and uh-s. Therefore, he kept his tongue behind his teeth and gave Hayami slippers she could use.
So cute – Aya thought as she watched him look anywhere but at her. She did not mind him observing her – in fact, she wanted to be observed by him. Haise led Hayami toward the living room. He could see in her that she was a bit nervous about meeting the Quinx squad – but she remained composed with a smile on her face.
The moment they entered the room, the eyes of Quinx went completely on Hayami. Even Urie showed more interest in the woman who stood in their living room. She was nothing that Urie expected. He expected to see a short woman with round glasses, ordinary short hair and nothing too special. However, Hayami was out of everyone's expectations.
"Everyone, meet Hayami."
Saiko watched the woman – impressed by the long platinum-bleached hair. Shirazu needed a few seconds to realize that he might have seen her already – right after we left the coffee shop! – He remembered Haise looking at a woman who was crossing the pedestrian. Tooru however had no memory of the woman – but there was a little bit of uneasiness in his heart – am I a bit jealous?
"This is Saiko Yonebayashi, Tooru Mutsuki, Kuki Urie and Captain of Quinx squad: Ginshi Shirazu."
Captain – Urie bitterly repeated the title Shirazu bore. Once, he was Captain. However, after the Serpent incident, Haise berated him for endangering and jeopardizing the lives of his Squad members just for his selfish reasons. He was relieved of his position as Squad Leader and that position fell on Ginshi Shirazu. That did not sit right with Urie.
"Nice to meet you all. Merry Christmas. " Hayami greeted them with a gentle wave.
A moment of silence followed and Shirazu was the first to speak "Way to score, Mister Sass!"
"Shirazu!" Tooru scolded him before Haise had the opportunity.
"Sorry." Shirazu murmured silently, the grin not disappearing from his lips. "Merry Christmas, Miss Sa—" He paused. "Miss Hayami." He corrected himself.
The glare of Haise Sasaki was cutting right through Ginshi Shirazu. This was a bad idea – was the only thing that was running through Haise's mind. Haise thought that his "children" would do their best to behave. However, he thought wrong. Haise made sure Hayami was comfortably seated on the couch with the rest of the Quinx before he disappeared to the kitchen to prepare coffee (after Hayami kindly dismissed his proposal to make dinner for her since the team had eaten everything that was on the table).
Right in the little doves' dent... Aya thought as rested her hands in her lap and glanced at each member of Quinx. And right next to the biggest nose... Haise chose to seat Hayami close to Urie as he knew that he would pester her the least. That's an eccentric amount of perfume... Urie thought as he inhaled her scent.
"So, you and Mister Sass, huh?" Shirazu was staring at her as if he was trying to read her – along with Saiko.
Hayami let out a small laugh. "Mister Sass – that's an interesting way of calling him." She commented.
"Yeah, Mister Sass is a cool guy. So he gets a cool name." Shirazu shrugged.
"Say, Hayami~ do you play video games?" Saiko wondered as she came to seat herself next to her. "Or read manga, watch anime?"
"Uh..." Hayami let out a little laugh. What a cute dove – Aya thought. "I did read a few mangas when I was a tad younger."
"Oh, which ones?"
"Saiko." Tooru interrupted his fellow squad member with a kind smile. "I don't think Miss Hayami wants to talk about mangas." He said before he looked at Hayami. "Teach said you work in Shoeisha, a publishing company. You must work with very important authors?"
"Well, I'd like to think I do." Hayami answered with an awkward note. "I, actually, mostly, attend meetings for my boss since he... he is a quite nervous man and gives most of his work to me. But I don't mind."
"He must be very proud." Urie commented, surprising everyone that he spoke since he seemed quite uninterested in Hayami's presence. "Do you even get acquainted with ghoul investigators and collect information you can share for your ambitions?"
"Urie!" Shirazu snapped at him. "You are way out of your place."
"No, it's okay." Hayami said – her eyes never left Urie as she spoke.
She got into Haise's head – Urie had already concluded she was poison. Something about her just didn't sit right with him. She can't be that interested in Sasaki – Urie thought. When Quinx Squad was first formed, they were faced with prejudice and discrimination from higher-class investigators, but also by the public that found their existence nauseating. Urie didn't pay much attention to them – he worked hard to get where he was and had to work even harder to best everyone.
After the Auction Mopping-up Operation, their reputation greatly improved; all of them got promoted and even in the eyes of the public they seemed much liked. However, with Hayami, everything they had achieved could be ruined. Everything Urie achieved can be destroyed. He is an idiot – Urie was certain the only reason why Haise got acquainted with Hayami was because she wanted to achieve something.
Not to mention Haise was not a Quinx – he was a half-ghoul. And inviting her to their residence, knowing fully well he hadn't told her about his condition, was reckless of him. Several times, Urie called his mentor an idiot for letting a person, whom he did not know that long, enter the residence of Quinx.
"I understand your concern. I work in a publishing company that was involved in a few scandals that did not end well for those involved. However, I don't work in the journalism branch, nor am I interested in it. So, think whatever you want to think, but I prefer working with authors and their creative work over a bunch of persistent and overly ambitious people."
Silence occupied the atmosphere. All eyes were between Urie and Hayami. Guess she and Sasaki are not that different...She added a smile to her face as she finished talking. Clearly, Urie concluded, she was capable of speaking her mind, but added sweetness to it because she didn't want to be hated by her opinion. Or maybe that was just a facade.
"Whatever."
Urie uncrossed her legs and his arms as he got up onto his feet. Aya watched him with a victory that she hid with a confused expression. Good, the nose is gone... Aya couldn't have Urie sniffing around her – he would be able to analyze her once the perfume weakened and sniff out a ghoul hiding underneath it.
"Did I say something?" Hayami wondered as Urie left.
"Don't worry about him, Miss Hayami, he is usually like this." Tooru comforted her.
"Oh..."
"Here is coffee!" Haise came back with a tray. "Oh, where is Urie?"
"He went to his room." Shirazu said, completely missing to mention that Urie might have left because of Hayami.
"Oh, more coffee for us, I guess." Haise said as he approached them. "And Hayami made cookies, so you should all try it."
"Cookies!"
Saiko was first to take cookies off the tray as soon as Haise lowered it onto the coffee table. She enjoyed them, complimenting Hayami's baking. Seeing her enjoy them warmed Aya's heart. Everyone took a piece of the cookies and complimented. Everyone – except for Haise and Hayami. Aya didn't need to question why Haise didn't take a piece – because she already knew.
Haise's heart was moved – he watched Hayami talk with Shirazu, Saiko and Tooru. She had no problem addressing their questions and showing interest in communicating with them. The team was warming up to her – except for Urie, which was nothing strange to Haise. He was not very happy with a guest arriving, especially a guest who was not a fellow ghoul investigator. I'll have to talk to him about this – Haise made a mental note.