The date went off without a hitch shockingly enough. After bitching about my stomach and eventually convincing him that dinner wouldn't work we went to the movies and had a nice night. I got side eyed by a few local ghouls but they had enough sense not to come up and say anything. I now stood with Haruto on his doorstep. I would drop him off, tell him I'd call, and quit while I was ahead. Simple enough.

"I had a really nice time…" Haruto said with a shy smile.

"I did too. I'll call soon okay?"

Haruto nodded happily and I gave him a small smile.

before I could get the word goodbye out of my mouth his mother opened the door. "Oh you must be the boy Haruto went out with tonight!"

Haruto's cheeks turned bright red as I jumped in surprise. Shit. Just- how come I can never just walk away?

"Come in! have you two eaten?" she said happily. Haruto shook his head looking mortified like any teenager would and his mother invited us in. I begrudgingly followed with a smile into the house. We sat on the couch where his mother proceeded to bring us small snacks which I avoided eating.

Everything was going smoothly. I made small talk with his mother as I looked for a way out. As I started to excuse myself his father walked in. he was a tall man, intimidating but also seeming kind. He looked welcoming in the way that haruto did. He was dressed in a Kevlar vest and uniform. the combat uniform of an CCG agent. I tried to hold in my shock as he walked in the room slipping off his vest and coat.

"and who is this?" he said with a warm smile as he walked in the room.

"th-this Is Kaito" haruto mumbled embarrassed.

He held a hand out to me and I shook it, his firm grasp only making me feel more nervous. "it's nice to meet you Kaito. I take it you're Haruto's date?"

I nodded with a nervous smile. "yes sir."

"well it's nice to meet you. Would you like to stay for dinner?"

I tried to excuse myself but of course Haruto's mother wasn't having that. She didn't want me going home hungry. Despite my efforts I found myself at their dinner table, swallowing bites of food and holding back the disgust. It was like eating rotting meat, it took all my strength to hold back the bile. My train of thought was broken by the voice of Haruto's mother.

"sweetie, did you hear me?"

"hm? No.. sorry"

She smiled warmly. "I said are you feeling alright… you seem a bit pale."

Haruto interjected before I had a chance to come up with some kind of excuse. "he.. said he was feeling a bit sick earlier.."

I nodded in agreement making her frown some, "well if you're sick don't feel like you have to eat…"

She and Haruto both had looks of genuine concern but not his father. No he was just frowning, his brow furrowed. He was suspicious, I could tell. We locked eyes for a long moment, my face paling some as he glanced back down at his plate. He knew. This had gone way too far.

I quickly stood and excused myself to the bathroom where I proceeded to throw up the dinner I had just forced down. Maybe because the taste still hung heavy in my mouth or maybe out of sheer fear but I still knelt there, my head hanging over the white porcelain bowl.

Maybe he won't say anything. I'm not causing him trouble and it's not like he has any proof. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Maybe he was just worried. I took a shaky breath, nausea still hitting me in waves.

I'm not getting killed over some date.

Before I could compose my thoughts or stave off the nausea still washing over me I heard a sharp knock on the door.

I took a deep shaky breath and sat down on the cool porcelain tile. This is it.

"c-come in" I said hoarsely, ready to try and defend myself if need be.

Haruto's father opened the door slowly and stepped in. "are you alright?" he said as he kneeled down in front of me. Even like this he was intimidatingly tall compared to me.

I nodded with a little fear obvious on my face. He could see. I knew he could. He was trained to weed out people like me.

"look…. Kaito right? I know what you are… and if I see you here again I will do my job." He paused looking me up and down. "But I don't think you're here to hurt my son… "

I tried to stammer out an excuse but he held up a hand. "I'm giving you an out. I think you should take it…."

I sat there for a long time in silence before nodding. "yes sir…" he nodded as well before helping me up.

"just… try not to upset haruto… he likes you" he said as I stumbled to my feet.

"isn't compassion and mercy to ghouls like blasphemy or something to you guys?"

His expression dropped. "I don't think you're exactly in a position to be talking back right now kaito…" he sighed and shook his head. "look just finish off this date and leave… I don't want my son around your kind."

I scoffed and shook my head. "my kind… yeah whatever… I didn't plan on dragging this whole thing out anyway…"

sorry for the long wait! I'll be updating a lot more frequently now. please review!