"You're weak Haise. Let me take control, I can protect everything you care about. Everything we care about."

"Shut up!" Haise gripped at his ears, spilling the contents of the coffee all over the floor in the break room, trying to silence the voice but to no avail. It was all in his head. He was all in his head and Haise wanted nothing more than to get him out. Slowly, he felt like he was losing himself to that demon; Whispering words of temptation into him and trying to corrupt him. Haise couldn't allow that to happen, he's come too far to let that monster take everything he had worked hard for.

Haise felt sudden contact on his shoulder, quickly turning with wild eyes and sweat dripping down his forehead. "Hey. Are you alright, Haise?" Akira's expression was filled with shock, at first. Not used to seeing him, who is usually calm and cheerful, in such a frenzied state. Her expression, however, went from one filled with shock, to a sympathetic one. She tightened her grip on his shoulder; He felt the warmth from her hand seep through the fabric of his clothing and onto his skin, like a liquid. He sensed reassurance, in her touch. Her way of silently letting him know that she was all ears. The thought warmed him, leaving him to relax a little and, momentarily, rid him of his dark thoughts.

"H-Hey, Akira-San, I'm fine." Haise let out a small breathy laugh, scratching his chin. He didn't like lying but he didn't want to worry Akira too much. He hated being a burden. If he wanted to prove to the monster inside him that he was strong, he had to start by showing that he can stand on his own two feet. "I've just been tired, lately, probably due to work. I think I'm in need for coffee that's all." He looked down at his hands and fiddled with them, as he spoke. Akira could probably tell that he was lying, judging by her expression, she didn't seem to believe that everything was alright with her subordinate but she knew forcing the information out of him wouldn't work. She, instead, decided to ease his mind.

"Is it coffee that you need so badly? or the waitress making it?" Akira had a smug expression on her face, while Haise turned a deep shade of red. She'd heard, from the other members of the Qunix squad, that Haise found himself a girlfriend. It would explain why it looked like he was floating on cloud 9, as well as, why his puns were getting more cheesy. Despite her subordinate being more distracted lately, it made Akira happy that he was loosening up to someone and that person seemed to make him happy.

"N-no...well yes but," Haise sighed. During the three months that Haise had been dating Touka, everyone kept on teasing him about his affection towards the beautiful waitress. "I better get going, bye Akira-san!" Haise quickly escaped out of the break room, before Akira could tease him any further.

"Hey! You could at least clean up the mess you made, Haise!" Akira yelled, but Haise was already long gone to even hear her. "You're lucky I like you." She muttered, before cleaning up the mess he'd left behind.

Haise stepped out of the CCG building, hugging himself. The cold air was grasping at any exposed skin, causing him goosebumps and having him rush to the car before the cold could effect him any further. He didn't particularly like the December weather nor did he hate it.

He quite liked the way the snow gracefully fell down from the cloudy sky and landed on the branches, the place the dead leaves had left behind, it contrasted so beautifully. It was as if the trees were representing the light and dark in this world, or rather, the light and the dark in him. He was trying his best to ignore it, but it was engulfing him and suffocating him, numbing his senses and tearing apart at his conscious.

Haise slammed his hands down on the steering wheel, before taking a few deep breaths. He switched the car engine on then left the CCG building behind him, heading towards the place that helped him clear his mind.

:re

Author Note:

Hey! THANKS FOR READING. This is a short chapter, I know, but I just wanted to see what people thought of it (if anyone ever reads it). I'll making a longer chapter next time (hopefully) with Touka's PoV even thought this was going to be a single chapter smut but oh well.

TOKYO GHOUL IS OWNED BY ISHIDA SUI AND NOT ME!