A/N: The summary makes this seem much grimmer than it is. I feel like they needed a happier ending or something of the sort because my guilty pleasure is happy endings. This is mainly just based off of interesting scenarios I thought might put an interesting twist on things or cause only mild conflict for Haji and Saya.

Of course, these scenarios meant some things had to be a bit changed. With the timeline of the show, we could assume that Saya arrives back in Okinawa somewhere in the middle of her senior year, but here I'll move that up a bit so she arrives just in time for the school year to start. Saya also won't be going into hibernation, because that would alter some of the scenarios.

This will be a series of related (and chronological) One, Two, and maybe Three-shots mostly told from the perspectives of people who are not Saya or Haji, although a few chapters may be from their perspective.

(Extra note: No, I don't think Haji's dumb or naïve, but I don't think he's one to keep up with modern slang and technology and such, so those situations might come up)

Disclaimer: I do not own Blood+

Chapter 1: Introduction to a New Normal

Told from Kai Miyagusku's perspective

I knew something was up when Saya left her party. I was afraid that she had gone into hibernation – it was what the party was for, after all – for those of us who wouldn't likely live another thirty years to see her one last time. When I followed her outside, however, she was gone. As soon as I returned inside to warn the others of what I assumed was one of the stray chiropterans left in the aftermath of Cinq Fleche's experiments, David held up his hand to stop me.

"Kai. Don't worry about it. We have not detected any activity here recently. I'm sure she had a good reason to leave," he said.

"But what if she fell asleep in some ditch?!" I yelled, turning heads towards me.

"Kai. Julia found in her blood test a drop in the hormones we believe are tied to hibernations. She does not believe Saya will hibernate just yet," David calmly stated, "I'm sure she's told you that."

"So what is it then?"

"I don't know, but I bet she has a good reason for whatever it is. If we have no word from her by midnight, I will send out a search party." And so the wait began.

One hour later, Julia's cell phone rang. Although she'd been getting calls throughout the party from her patients and coworkers at the clinic that she generally ignored, she immediately picked this one up and left the room. I was tempted to follow, but I was currently trapped in a conversation with Joel about the possibility of getting custody of Diva and Riku's children. Running out on the talk would only serve to convince him I wasn't ready for the responsibility.

Two minutes after she began the call, Julia tapped me on the shoulder. "Kai, Saya is safe and awake. She did not elaborate on where she was, but said she would return by dawn."

"What is she doing? Sneaking out with boys or something," I replied annoyed.

"That's confidential," she replied with a gentle smile.

The rest of the party finished smoothly, and afterwards I was determined to wait up until Saya returned. Around three in the morning, I could not stay awake any longer and fell asleep on the kitchen table. I was so dead asleep that I didn't notice the two individuals who snuck in through the back door early in the morning.

When I woke up, it was already 11am. Well, I'd missed opening for the breakfast rush. I woke up and began my search for Saya. She should have been home long ago. Saya's school shoes and bag were gone, indicating she had indeed not gone into hibernation but instead was sentenced to another day at that boring old high school. Her running shoes, the ones she put on when she left the party last night, were caked in mud and left clumsily by the door. What was unusual was the larger, fancier set of men's shoes that were equally as muddy next to hers.

Did she bring a boy home? The thought made me angry. Sure, I'd accepted her relationship with Haji, but any other guy was not okay, and I wasn't so sure Haji would be back already if he was alive at all. Any injuries he sustained had to have been brutal.

I stalked up the steps, hoping to find Saya's male guest in her room. I didn't bother to knock before slamming open the door. "HEY! GET OUT OF-"

I paused halfway through my sentence. I didn't know whether to be happy or outraged. It wasn't any guy in her room – it was Haji. He'd come back. No wonder she'd left the party. She must have been ecstatic to have him back. Showing once again how near disgusting his devotion was for her, he had also already managed to make her bed and tidy up her usually disastrous room.

"Hello, Kai," he stoically greeted me.

"Hello, Haji." I paused. Should I hug him or what? I mean, he was important to my sister, but I didn't know how to treat him after New York. What else could I do? "Haji, would you like to talk?"

He nodded. If that was what I was going to get out of him, I could accept it as better than nothing. Maybe he would change without the stress of battle, or with Saya by his side in the way he had always wanted. For now he was still as quiet as before. His appearance had changed slightly: instead of that normally crisp and clean suit he seemed to live in, he was wearing a slightly muddy pair of black slacks with an untucked white button-up shirt on top. So there was that. At least the clothes weren't wrinkled.

"Kai?" Haji obviously noticed my angry look.

"Yeah – sorry," I said sloppily. Sure, I'd grown up a bit during our whole ordeal, but that hadn't made me that much more articulate. What was I supposed to say here? "So… What took you so long?" Probably not the right question, but whatever.

"I managed to escape the opera house, but I was severely injured. It took a month of recovery before I could get here," his even voice explained.

"New York's very far, though – how'd you get here?"

"I ran into Joel. He paid for a flight," he explained. I suppose that was a good answer. Maybe. Joel understood that Haji and Saya should be together.

"So what are you gonna do now? I need some help in the kitchen here. Doesn't mean you have to," I offered, entirely unsure if he even knew how to cook.

"I may have time, but I intend to escort Saya to and from her school every day."

"Yeah, yeah. I get it Haji. You wanna spend time with her. I don't care if you spend nights in her room or take the afternoons off or whatever."

"Previously you would have had a fit about that," he praised me. Well, it wasn't exactly praise, more like an observation, but it at least wasn't a look of contempt.

"Don't take advantage of it, though," I said, attempting to intimidate him. Sure, I accepted their relationship, but that didn't mean I wanted to witness their relationship in action.

"Of course. I will also need time to work on a project for Joel," he informed me.

"What?" I was surprised Joel would ask Haji for help, and somewhat more surprised that he would agree. Something was sketchy about this.

"We are keeping it from Saya, so I cannot tell you the details." Well, if I wasn't worried this was sketchy before, now I was. "I will be helping some of Joel's colleagues in the role of a historical design consultant. They are working with the French government to restore historical sites. Joel assumed I would do a good job with one of their current projects because I was alive during the 19th Century." Well, that made sense. Why Saya wouldn't be allowed to know, I had no idea. If Haji was on board I could at least have some comfort in knowing he had Saya's best interest in mind.

"At least I won't need to bug you about getting a hobby. I can tease you about your lack of computer skills, though," I laughed.

"I will not be using a computer or a phone for this. I will be meeting with them regularly and drafting or writing out plans. They will also be sending me materials to review and approve."

"But can you help me out in all that free time you'll have?"

"I am only capable of cooking French food."

"Well, that's probably harder than what we make here. Or you could just bring food to tables and dirty plates back. Or pour drinks," I assured him, "I need someone to do late nights and early mornings, and you don't sleep, so I figure that'd be best. I can teach you what you'll need to know while Saya's at school"

He nodded in understanding, "I will help when I can." It was obvious he wasn't enthused about it, but he probably had nothing better to do than watch Saya sleep at those hours, so maybe he would get bored enough to help out.

In the meantime, I figured he had more to worry about. He knew next to nothing about technology, probably due to his own efforts, so he had to learn that (if he even wanted to). Then there was the clothing situation. I would have to get him more than one outfit. Maybe David would force Joel to fix it. While the Omoro was doing well since I had returned, I did not quite have the money to buy an entire wardrobe for someone, much less someone with formal tastes like Haji. And there was always the language problem – Haji was well-traveled, and spoke quite a few languages he'd picked up over the years, but Japanese apparently hadn't been one of them. He made an effort to become conversationally fluent, but his accent was still too strong for most Japanese-speakers. Since I knew English and had learned some French, that's usually what I'd communicate to him with. Sure, I still did have a strong customer base from the US military, and he'd be fine with them, but local customers were becoming more common. When I started to sell hard-to-get foreign coffees, teas, and wines courtesy of Joel's trade business, both groups only came in more. And if Haji started cooking authentic French cuisine in the perfect way I assumed he did… well, he'd be screwed. The Japanese residents had recently mourned the loss of the island's only authentic French restaurant.

"Before that, we've got a ton to do," I said, "You need clothes. We can get Saya on the way back."

He opened his mouth to protest, but quietly followed. While I was surprised he agreed with no protest, I knew he wasn't dumb. He understood that he would need to make changes if he was to stay with Saya, and perhaps now that there was no real threat he would be willing to do what was needed.

Later that evening I sat in the back of the Omoro, recovering from tonight's dinner rush and my painful shopping trip with Haji.

After getting David to send funds to my account for the trip, we had set out for a very frustrating afternoon. I was right that he understood the need for making himself more modern, but I underestimated his desire for a lack of change. Instead of trying to get something remotely casual or stylish or varied, he stuck to pair after pair of black slacks and white button-ups. I managed to get him to buy a few short sleeve shirts. I never knew men's fashion could piss me off so much. Seriously, he was way too stuffy and boring for a seemingly 22-year-old pretty boy. The cell phone he wanted (after I convinced him it was necessary to get one) was offensively old. His "new" watch? Old fashioned. Basic hygiene products? Basic as hell.

That shopping trip was worth it, though, when I saw Saya's reaction to it. She was shocked, but was badly trying to hide her relief. Obviously, despite her love and respect for Haji, even she did not appreciate the patience it took to catch him up with modern technology.

I couldn't say it was off to the best start, but the painful part of Haji moving in was (hopefully) over. It could only go up from here

A/N: Hope you enjoyed!