守りたい // hidekane

:re 2

Haise wakes up cold.

The room around him is white and unwelcoming, empty and devoid of life. He's almost convinced for a second that he died and went to something akin to heaven (because surely he'd never be let in there) if not for the faint sound of the door opening and closing somewhere far off his peripheral vision.

Akira looms over him with a tight smile.

"How are you feeling?"

Like shit. "Pretty bad..." He murmurs instead. Sitting up from the covers of the bed. "What happened?"

Akira's smile wavers and Haise wills himself to look away, catching the hint easily. He doesn't need to ask twice to know that it had something to do with him getting messed up again. Akira takes a seat on the vacant chair next to him.

"What do you remember?"

It all comes in quick flashes, the kids looking back at him in fear, Mutsuki begging Haise to let him fight, and the ghoul... something about him being familiar - but his face has long been erased from Haise's mind. "Some." He replies, "I don't really remember it that much."

Akira smiles ruefully at him, "That's a good thing, actually." Then she sets her attention towards the items on the desk beside the hospital bed. Akira picks up the small bundle of flowers, examining it with an amused expression.

"The Quinx came to visit you, by the way." She says, handing Haise the small makeshift bouquet. "Saiko wanted to give that to you."

Haise feels his chest tighten at the thought, his eyes nearly blurring with tears which he wipes away in embarrassment. "I'm glad. They're okay." The flowers feel light in his hand.

"They are. Mutsuki really wanted to thank you in person, but we had to send the kids away since it was getting late." Akira moves to take care of Haise's fluid injector, helping him out of the bed. Haise murmurs a quiet thanks, leaning onto Akira as he tries to right himself while they walk out of the room.

A car is waiting for them by the entrance and Haise willingly lets himself in while Akira squeezes in beside him. The ride is quiet for the most part, neither of them having much to say. They arrive the Quinx's apartment without any problems, Haise regaining his strength as they approach the door.

Akira breaks through the silence, "Speaking of, you're on a weekend leave by Arima's orders. He wants you to rest so please avoid joining in on any missions, including the Quinx." She places an encouraging hand by his shoulder, "If the kids are giving you trouble, let me know."

He smiles, "Will do." And closes the door behind him.

It takes a while to calm the kids down, more to tell Urie off, seeing as he isn't a big fan of finding out the head of their squad is half of the same kind of people they sought to kill. Haise manages to disperse the unrest and send them back to their own business.

He retreats into his room not long after, and a moment passes before the weight of everything comes crashing back down on his shoulders. Before Haise knew it, silent tears drop like the rain down to the palm of his hands, like a reminder of his growing weakness, sucking him in from the inside. Is it really ok for him to continue leading the Quinx like this?

"Sassan." Shirazu calls from the other side of the door, maybe after a few hours since the commotion earlier, "We ordered takeout. I...uhm...I didn't know what to get you so I ordered a package from Akira-san...if that's ok with ya....are ya gonna eat with us?"

The man in question lifts his head up from where he wallows in his self pity, almost feeling gratitude at how they considered his preference of food, even if that means the package is probably human meat — and that seems to dampen his mood a little bit. "I'll be out soon, go start without me." He calls out, and Shirazu makes a noise of acknowledgement before his footsteps fade in the hallways.