Nothing Stays The Same |K.K/S.H x K.T|

Chapter 23: Here

RING RING RING

"Arima-san?" His supposedly 'father figure' was at the chateau's doorstep. "Would you mind if I go inside?" His voice was cold and sharp. Sasaki gulps and opens the door wide.

He still hasn't told him about what happened three nights earlier.

"Where are your squadmates?" he questions as the younger hands him a cup of tea. "Ah, I told them to go out and watch a movie."

"Why didn't you come with them?"

"I didn't want to be a bother. I don't feel that great."

Sasaki sighs. He should be happy and fine with this kind of life. But how can he when a voice inside his head makes him think that he doesn't deserve this. This wasn't my life to begin with.

He thought as he eyed the other male across from him.

"By the way, could I take a day off tomorrow?"

With the way Arima's expression darkened, it made the male nervous. Please tell me he doesn't know...

"Did something happen when I was on a mission?" Finally the older decided to ask. "Nothing really happened.." he trails off. Why do you lie?

Oh fuck it.

"I might've had another nightmare," Sasaki says and touches his chin. Sasaki always tried to avoid questioning the things going on with his mind and the whole "Kaneki Ken" thing. He knew asking his mentors about how he came to be would take a lot of courage although they're close with each other.

He could probably read between the lines. "You know, it'll help if you surround yourself with people you know. Maybe going to the office would ease you a little," Arima says.

"You'll just give me more paperwork~" the investigator laughs. A small contented smile was present in his mentor's face. It's really rare to see the both of them smile genuinely. "I won't. Just come tomorrow." the older sighs and takes another sip of his tea.

Sasaki nods and enjoyed the comfortable silence around them.

----

Like what he said, he'll be going to the office now and do something productive rather than questioning his mental health. "Sassan, we received a new case!" Shirazu exclaims and hands him a brown envelope.

"Yes, thank you. Would you mind gathering the squad here?" Shirazu, being a good squad leader, followed his mentor's request. After everyone was gathered in their part of the office, the multi-color haired investigator began to speak.

"Since we've finished our last mission and completed it, the higher-ups gave us another task to work on. I'll be photocopying this and I'll give you to copies later on so we can study them. Is my instructions clear?"

Everyone understood and was dismissed. As usual, Urie would already be getting information about the case with Shirazu wanting to help. Saiko was sitting on the office couch, playing a game and eating a cookie. Lastly, Mitsuki was offering to help Sasaki in photocopying but he turned out the younger's offer.

If I were to disappear, I'll miss these moments the most.

Reaching the photocopy station, he bumped into one of his mentors, Akira Mado.

"Akira-san, nice to see you," he says and flashes a smile. "It's as if we haven't seen each other in a long while Haise," she chuckles.

"Is that the new case the Quinx squad is handling?" she wonders. Sasaki hums out a response and begins to photocopy the papers. Scanning the papers one by one before photocopying them he came across a name that was really familiar.