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"Thank you, Arima-san!"
Haise was delighted at the sight of the new books Arima had bought for him. The Special Class had to go to work so the young half-ghoul spent the entire day at home alone. Haise only had books to keep him company and, as the Special Class had discovered long ago, he enjoyed them very much. He liked to have vivid discussions about them with Arima and secretly, the man liked nothing more than spending time with his little ghoul… to whom he had gotten quite attached to. Their discussions also gave him some insight about the mindset of his future mentee. Time passed by so quickly when he talked with him.
Haise had eased into his new life pretty quickly. He seemed to be happy and content with living in the Reaper’s house and he had developed a rather sweet and playful personality. Arima often wondered how much of that had belonged to Kaneki Ken. Had he always been like this? Or was he a completely new person now? Arima figured, at least, that he must have been an avid reader in his life as Kaneki Ken. Not only Haise finished books at an amazing speed but he also expressed familiarity with a lot of the books Arima had given him. At this point, Arima was struggling to find new stuff for the little ghoul to read. He visited book stores at every opportunity. He spent hours researching and browsing the shelves in search for something that Haise would be interested in. He had even asked Take if he had any books he could borrow for him once.
He really wanted to make him happy... and nothing made the half-ghoul happier than being gifted books by Arima. His smile was radiant and his cheeks slightly pink with exhilaration and gratitude. Seeing him so excited and full of joy like that melted the Reaper's seemingly frozen heart.
"I'm glad you liked them," Arima said as he watched Haise carefully place the books on the kitchen island. It was a quiet afternoon. Two meetings had been unexpectedly -miraculously- cancelled and Arima had been able to leave the office early. Before Haise moved in, he didn’t mind staying at the office until it was very late. There had been nothing that interested him at home. He simply continued to fill out paperwork in his study. Now, however, he tried to make time for the two of them whenever the opportunity presented itself. For once, there was actually something here that made him want to come back to it.
The kitchen was filled with a delicious smell Arima had become familiar with. Haise had brewed coffee for the both of them. He was suspiciously good at it. The half-ghoul brought them over and sat across the Special Class.
"Of course I did!" He responded gleefully and beamed at him.
What happened next, of course, was something that nothing neither mentally nor physically could ever prepare the him for.
Haise leaned forward on his elbows and pressed his lips against Arima's.
"Uhm..." Arima was trying and failing to keep his face composed. Did Haise just kiss him?
Wait. Oh God. Haise just kissed him.
It had only lasted for a moment. As light and delicate as the wings of a butterfly. But there was a warmth that lingered on his lips even after Haise had pulled away to sit back on his stool and sip from his cup.
Arima couldn't put his thoughts in order. This was so surreal. He was feeling lightheaded and there was a strange feeling in his stomach. His insides felt tight and fluttery. It was just so difficult to wrap his head around what was happening and he could feel his face heating up.
Arima Kishou, CCG's Reaper, the Undefeated Investigator, the man whose mere presence made fear creep into the hearts of humans and ghouls alike, was blushing.
And there was nothing he could do about it.
Haise, on the other hand, seemed completely unaware of what a mess he had just made of the man sitting across of him. He was smiling casually as if nothing out of ordinary had happened. As there was nothing strange about this at all.
"Uhm. Haise?"
"Yes?"
Unbelievable.
"I...Why...Why did you uhm- kiss me?" Arima was barely able to put his words together. This was so unreal. Did Haise seriously not realize…
"Oh?" Haise seemed genuinely surprised at the question and appeared to be confused. "Isn't this what you do to show your appreciation of someone?"
What?
"That's..." He blushed even further. "That's not exactly... Not how... You don't... W-Where did you hear that?"
"From that nice investigator that came to visit us the other day."
Right. Furuta. Of course.
Who else would it be?
"That's... not exactly what it is. That..." He cleared his throat. "That is not the function of a kiss." His heart beat faster at the word. He felt that tight, burning feeling in his stomach again.
"Oh. What is it then?" Haise was clearly sad now. Anxiety was clear on his face. He looked like a kid awaiting punishment.
"That is...It's really...That..." He stopped himself. He should stop saying "that". "How do I explain?" He took a deep breath.
"Did you not like it?"
"What?" He almost jumped in his seat. That's what he's worrying about? How do you respond to this kind of thing? Arima wanted to call Take for help right now. Or even Taishi. Yeah, Taishi was probably better for this type of thing. He had recently had a daughter, too. His fatherly instincts could come in handy now.
"Arima-san, I'm sorry if I-"
"N-no. T-that's not it. That's not the issue. I..." He really didn't want Haise to get upset over this. It was an innocent mistake. Along with his personal memories, lots of things about everyday life had been lost from Haise's mind. He was quite gullible. It was natural for him to misunderstand certain things.
Arima tried again. "It’s okay. I’m not angry with you Haise. It's just… not something you should be doing randomly like that. Do you understand?"
Haise nodded, relieved that Arima wasn’t upset with him.
"Good."
They sipped their coffees in silence, both of them lost in their own thoughts. The coffee tasted delicious as usual but Arima found himself unable to appreciate it as much as he would have liked to. His mind was occupied with other things. Like, how pink Haise' lips looked as he quietly sipped from his cup. How soft they had felt against his own just a few moments ago… The warm waves that traveled down his body when they touched...
Oh no.