Breathe (Haise Sasaki X Reader)

Chapter 14

"What the..." I couldn't believe my eyes this morning. I hastily rubbed them, blinking a few times to make sure I wasn't having vision problems. "H-Haise-Kun?" He let out an awkward chuckle as he rubbed the nape of his neck, a blush evident on his face.

"Yeah... I know that it's pretty strange." He averted his eyes. "It was pretty awkward when I first asked a few of my subordinates for advice, but only the female ones actually went out of their way to help out." He glanced back to me, a look of innocent curiosity in his grey eyes. "S-so, what do you think, (Y/N)-Chan? Does it suit me?"

I tried my hardest to fight back the blush growing on my face. I made my way over to him, standing on the tips of my toes before grabbing his face.

"J-just because I said you would look cute with your natural hair color, that one time, doesn't mean you should've dyed your hair!" I pinched both of his cheeks, causing him to chuckle. It was hard standing up like this, seeing as we had a pretty huge height difference; I barely reached his shoulders. I noticed that he continued to laugh at me, causing me to tug on the corners of his mouth. It seemed to have bothered him a bit more than my previous actions. "You don't need to be taking what I say to heart!" I saw him place his hands over mine.

"But I want you to think I'm cute!" He looked down at me, detaching my hands from his face but still holding me up by the wrists. "So am I?"

"Y-yes..." I said under my breath. He tilted his head to the side.

"I can't hear you, come again?" I slumped forward, burying my red face into his chest as my arms rested over his shoulders. He chuckled, rubbing my back as he apologized.

I heard chatter and a bit of laughter coming from around us. Haise came over during working hours, so this event had taken place in front of many customers. Things had improved a bit now, the people who regularly visited the café had grown used to seeing us together. In public, it's still a bit of a struggle, but we ignored them and their comments.

"(Y/N)-Chan, we're still working." Hinami motioned for me, a forced smile on her face. I got off of Haise, going back to work while he seated himself at one of the empty tables. I walked over to her, quickly apologizing before I began taking orders again. I saw a frown on her lips as she looked over to Haise.

Ayato hadn't been showing up for the past two weeks. I asked Touka, but she kept saying that he felt sick. I tried asking Hinami but she would simply shrug. I knew the reason why he hadn't bothered coming here anymore, it was obvious... But I simply could never understand why it was me. I could never see an actually reason for Haise liking me, but neither could I understand Ayato. I used to dismiss his gestures at first, feeling that I was looking into it too much. But now, it was more than obvious. Yet, despite knowing that and knowing that I did care for Ayato in a similar way, I just couldn't let go of Haise. I felt as though I had already been waiting a long time for this. To be with him.

I wasn't though. I still wasn't together with Haise, yet he said he accepted my feelings. It had been awkward at first, but he wanted us to be together as well. He said he didn't know if he'd be able to maintain a stable relationship while he was still working, but he still wanted to try and see how things would work out.

I walked into the kitchen, grabbing a stepping stool as I reached up to grab a few plates from one of the top cabinets. I felt my ankle burn out of nowhere, causing me to stumble back and land onto the floor. I looked over to my arm, seeing as it landed on top of some of the broken shards. Touka, Hinami, and Haise rushed into the room once they heard the loud noise. I didn't pay attention to them, I was too busy staring at the blood from my arm. Tears left my eyes as I stared at it, my head beginning to ache and pulsate. I could feel my heart heavily pounding against my chest, while hearing the muffled voices calling out to me. Haise took me into his arms, asking if I was okay, but I could barely hear him, too busy hearing distant screaming in my head.