A/N: More citrus here. Kaori's OOC because I think she's more of a perv than the story lets on because seriously she's obsessed in a creepy way with Saya.

Sorry this took so long. Between a busy school schedule and lack of ideas, I didn't write anything on this for a while.

Disclaimer: I do not own Blood+


Day 6: Staying In

Haji left his room feeling better than he had all trip. The night before may have gone by quickly, but it felt great to have finally gotten to make love to Saya again. He was already itching to have her back at the hotel. It didn't seem her class representatives cared much for enforcing their separation.

His morning felt a little less bright when he ran into the teacher.

"Good morning, Mr. Goldschmidt," the teacher greeted. "How are you today?"

"Fine. And you?" He greeted as manners dictated.

"I'm doing well. Do you have any plans today?" Haji knew the teacher was probing his schedule after yesterday's incident.

"Saya's father has asked me to play at a garden brunch some of his colleagues are holding today, so I will be doing that," Haji informed him.

"Play? Like an instrument?"

"Yes, I play cello," Haji replied, not elaborating at all. He didn't feel it was necessary to explain anything to this man. "Do you have any plans?"

"Today's the last day here, so the students are free to explore. I believe most have decided to go to a district where many historical dramas have been filmed. I'm meeting with friends today."

"What time will you be back tonight?" Haji asked him, not knowing why he cared. He doubted Saya would agree to abandon her field trip for an afternoon in bed.

"The students need to be back by eight, so I'll be back around seven to make sure they've arrived back at the hotel. During the day I'll be near the hotel in case something goes wrong," the teacher explained to Haji. He looked Haji up and down with a suddenly intense and suspicious expression. "Although you seem to be taking good care of Saya. She appears much better today."

Haji thanked him, and wished him a good day before departing to begin preparations for the party. Unfortunately his own cello was currently undergoing maintenance while he was on the trip, so he was forced to rent one. Luckily, Joel had found a music store that specialized in antique and custom instruments that was willing to lend him a cello that matched his highly particular specifications. Haji wished he didn't – that meant he would have less time with Saya that day.

At the cello store, Haji began to try various cellos before finding the cello with the sound he liked most. It was slightly too small for him, but it would perfect for Saya. He wondered if he should spend the money to get it for her as a birthday present. If she fell asleep, he could just store it with the other antiques to be set up at the Zoo. After all, this cello was too beautiful to be passed up. On the wood beautiful roses were carefully painted with a dark stain. The bridge was similarly decorated with intricate designs.

Without any thought, he added it onto the rental bill for the cello that was more appropriate for someone his size and left to play the party. Surely the fee he'd negotiated for playing the party would cover the cello. If it didn't, he had saved plenty of money over the years. Not needing to eat and not caring to have a roof over your head did that to your wallet.


After the party, Haji swiftly returned his rented cello to the shop and completed the process to have Saya's new cello shipped to Okinawa. He had the afternoon off, so he decided to go down some of the streets he had been down the previous nights when Saya had not stayed with him. For him, back alleys in the middle of the night were not scary – they were a habit.

Walking through one alley out to a shopping district, he noticed Saya and some friends looking at charms outside a shop. He tried to walk by unnoticed, but as an attractive foreigner in town during a time that was not prime tourist season he was easy to spot.

"Mr. Goldschmidt!" One of the girls with Saya called. Haji didn't recognize her, but he assumed all the girls knew his adopted last name by now and that's why she was calling him. In reaction to the girl's call, Saya turned around. Her face showed a look of surprise.

"Haji," Saya whispered out, only audible to the ears of a chiropteran such as Haji himself.

"It's nice to see you," Haji greeted in Japanese, acknowledging Saya's peers. He walked towards them, trying to be polite, but had no intention to follow them around.

"What are you doing this afternoon?" Kaori questioned Haji.

"I am sightseeing, now that I have an opportunity to do so," Haji explained.

"Would you like to hang out with us?" Kaori asked Haji. "We were about to go to Karaoke."

"I'm not sure your teacher would find that appropriate," Haji said honestly.

"It's not like he's here to see you, and none of us will tell him," Kaori encouraged him. The other girls nodded, agreeing with Kaori. Saya was the only one who remained neutral, waiting to see what Haji would say.

Saya whispered something into Kaori's ear, to which Kaori nodded.

"Actually, I think we saw something back there you might be interested in," Kaori told Haji. "Why don't we go check it out?"

Saya looked at Haji with as close to a pleading expression as she could get before walking after Kaori. That surprised Haji. He couldn't help but wonder what her motive was.

"If it will only be a few minutes," he sighed. Saya had told him not to follow her wishes to the word, but he still felt compelled to when she gave him such a cute expression.

"I told Kaori you didn't like karaoke," Saya explained to him in French on their walk. "So she's just wandering, trying to find something you'd like to do with us."

"I see," he said. "Honestly, I'd love to do anything you'd love to do." He wouldn't add that he wished it was a private date.

Saya got up onto her tiptoes and whispered in his ear. "I would love to do you," she said in French, using the best 19th Century French Bordeaux accent she could muster. Since regaining her memories, her French had become modern – she hoped reverting to the old way would turn Haji on. It was tough for her to find out how to turn him on, or more accurately, she didn't notice when she'd succeeded.

Haji used his years of self-restraint to suppress a blush. He knew he couldn't get her to leave with him. He was grateful that he still wore stiff dress pants that would not betray the desire Saya had sparked in him.

Before he knew it, they were standing outside of a shop where tourists could be dressed in traditional Japanese clothing. Currently, Kaori was explaining what she wanted to the shop owner while Saya stood nearby looking at the collection of bright kimonos for her to wear.

"This is an attraction popular with foreign tourists," Kaori told Haji. "I figure that since I've never seen Saya in a proper kimono and you're from France, this might be a good souvenir to bring home!"

"But- pictures? The teacher's going to freak out if he sees them," One of the girls whispered harshly.

"I think that would be a fun souvenir – to have a picture in the clothes of every country you visit," Kaori tried to justify it. "Anyways, it's not like the teacher will ever visit The Omoro to see the pictures."

Although they would never explain it to her, both Haji and Saya felt this would be a fitting souvenir to bring back. Her original room at the Zoo had been filled with paintings and pictures of landmarks Saya would never have been able to travel to. All those years ago, Saya had asked Haji if they would eventually be able to cover the walls in pictures they had taken on their travels.

"Well, I suppose it's time to begin our collection of portraits," Haji said to Saya in French, acknowledging the memory he hoped she was thinking of. He saw Saya blush, and knew she was on the same page.

"I don't see why not," Saya told Kaori. "We can arrange to have the photos e-mailed to us so that we wouldn't be carrying the pictures around."

Honestly, they hadn't realized it would require this much dressing up.

Haji felt like Saya must have the day before as he was stripped and dressed in traditional Japanese garb. The girls helped Saya get into a kimono. She rarely wore them, even in Okinawa, because her family was more aligned with America culturally than they were Japan. Therefore, when they met outside their changing areas, he was surprised with how beautiful she looked. The clothing wasn't his style (it showed no curves), but the colors matched her complexion perfectly. His slate and blue ensemble and the high pony tail that accompanied it (much to his embarrassment) matched his coloring just as well.

The two of them were posed in close poses, so Haji knew this would be a set of pictures for the couple's photo album as opposed to a wall. Luckily, Japanese posing was as conservative as that in the West, so there were no romantic or compromising poses, so some photos would fit their purpose. When they were asked to kiss or do a more modern (and therefore suggestive) pose, both parties declined and the photographer moved on.

Just as they were finishing up, Saya tripped over her feet. She placed her hand on the counter up front to brace herself so that she didn't fall down and placed a hand over her face as if she was dizzy. Haji couldn't sense that anything was wrong, and that made him more worried for her. There wasn't any reason she should be ill – she'd had a good amount of blood the night before and she was well fed. Perhaps she was feeling sleepy once again, but he didn't think her hibernation period would come on this quickly after subsiding.

"Saya," he said softly, as he often did when concerned for her safety. She didn't look up at him. He reached out to help her before he realized what he was doing and let Saya's friends be the first to touch her.

Kaori rushed to Saya asking if she was alright. Saya replied in a weak voice that she was okay, but she didn't sound the part. Her behavior was beginning to worry Haji.

Kaori pulled Haji aside while Saya sat down in front of the desk. The other girls had begun to take the outer layers of Saya's ensemble off to let her cool down. "After you two get changed, you should take her back to the hotel. She needs rest," Kaori asserted. Haji agreed with her assessment, wanting to know what was wrong with his queen. "I'll tell the teacher where she is if she's not back in the girls' room when he returns. Why don't I arrange the pictures to get sent to you while you go change?"

Haji thanked Kaori before going to change into his normal clothing.

Coming out of the changing room in her school uniform, Saya began to wobble, so Haji put an arm around her shoulders to help her stay steady. He quickly paid for his pictures with a credit card Joel had gotten him and ushered Saya out as her friends watched.

He slowly walked her back to the hotel, but as soon as they were back to his room with the door shut and locked, Saya seemed cured. She used some of the superhuman strength she'd gotten from the blood last night to get him over to the futon and began to kiss him enthusiastically. He started to moan into her lips, but stopped himself to ask Saya what had happened. He now had an idea, but he needed to know for sure.

"Were you really feeling ill?" Haji asked as soon as he pulled away.

Saya blushed and shook her head. She buried her head in his neck before speaking. "No. I just- well, I needed a reason to be alone with you."

Haji wondered what had happened. He couldn't even imagine Saya in her days at the Zoo would feign illness to gain time in bed with him.

"Is something wrong then?" Haji asked her. "It's not like you to be so bold."

"I noticed you've been staring at me all trip. I wasn't planning to, but after last night, and after running into you today, I decided that I should allow you some relief for all your hard work his week," Saya said.

Haji pushed Saya off his chest so he could stare in her face. "You are too good to me sometimes, Saya." He pulled her head off his shoulder and pressed his lips back to hers.

Their kisses became more fervent before Haji realized he must be wrinkling her uniform, so he worked quickly to get it off. As he did so, he wondered if Japanese hotels had irons. He didn't know if he cared after his long work week. Although he wouldn't have to answer to the teacher after the next morning, Haji decided that Saya's reputation was important enough to carefully lay the uniform out so it wouldn't wrinkle on the floor. Before he could fold them, Saya had yanked him back to the futon.

Now that his sole concern about propriety was taken care of, he let Saya take the lead.


Shortly after seven, there was a stern knock on the door. Haji, snuggled up with Saya on the futon, was surprised before he checked his watch. As soon as he did, he began to calmly freak out. At least the door was locked so the teacher couldn't barge in.

"Mr. Goldschmidt? I heard Saya was looking ill earlier and had to return here with you. Is she alright?" The teacher's voice asked through the door.

Haji dressed as quietly as he could (which, considering his past, was very quiet), but felt compelled to answer before he opened the door. "I'm letting her sleep for now," Haji informed him. "I'll be going out to get her food soon, as she seems very hungry."

"Good to hear. Will she be back in the lobby by eight then?"

"If she is feeling better. If she is not, I will tell you," Haji assured him. He wasn't sure he wanted to let Saya go, but it was for the best. He'd waited long enough that waiting 24 hours after an afternoon of lovemaking shouldn't feel long, but it did.

He sighed and turned to Saya as he heard the teacher walking down the hall.

"That was close," Saya sighed back. She was already mostly into her uniform.

"I'll go get you a meal from the restaurant across the street. I'll be back." Haji kissed her and moved out of the room.

To waft the smell of sex out of the room in case her teacher returned, Saya opened the courtyard door. She went back to the futon and made it up. She then grabbed one of Haji's books and settled in at the table.

By the time Haji got back, she only had twenty minutes to eat, so she found herself eating quickly. Shortly before eight, Haji ushered her out of the room and watched her leave for the lobby. With a huff, he lay down on futon and grabbed the book Saya had been reading.

Once in the lobby and checked in with the teacher (which led to no questions, much to her surprise), Saya made for the baths. She knew despite Haji's best attempts to clean up her appearance while she ate, she still smelled somewhat weird. Although she could smell it, she didn't know if that was due to her heightened senses or if a normal human could smell whatever lingered on her skin. At least the teacher didn't notice.

As she took off her clothes in the empty changing room outside the spring, she took inventory of her appearance. Her clothes were not too wrinkled considering her day, which relieved her, and her hair was smoother than earlier due to Haji's combing. The hickies and bites he'd given her had already healed as expected. Everything was in its place until she pulled her panties down. She realized that in all the cuddling they'd done and her subsequent hurry to make herself presentable for the teacher, she had not wiped any of the mess that had accumulated from their long afternoon in bed. Frantically she looked around for something to use, hoping that her classmates wouldn't come in. Thankfully someone had accidentally left a pack of tissues on a shelf, so she grabbed a few and cleaned herself up as best she could before anyone showed up.

Unfortunately, just as she was finishing up, Kaori entered the changing area.

"How was your afternoon?" Kaori asked with a cheeky grin.

Saya blushed and hurried to throw away the last tissue. "G- good! After I slept, I started feeling much better."

"Slept? With Haji?" Kaori raised an eyebrow suggestively.

"N- no! It's not like that," Saya insisted. Still, Kaori was not convinced.

"Then why did you fake feeling faint so you could go back to the hotel with him? And why were you wiping a mysterious white liquid off your thighs?"

"T- that," Saya tried to respond, but wilted into herself.

"It's okay, I won't tell anyone," Kaori assured Saya. "Not even Kai. Haji's really important to you, and he's done so much for you. Of course you love him, and of course you have that kind of relationship."

Saya opened her mouth to thank Kaori, but was stopped when Kaori began to speak again.

"And you two are such a cute couple! It's adorable how much he loves you."

Saya turned her head away and her blush somehow got deeper. Kaori was done taking her clothes off, so they moved to the spring together so they could wash up.

Once in the bathing area, Kaori resumed the conversation, but kept her voice to a whisper so the echos wouldn't reach anyone in the neighboring springs.

"How many times did you do it today, though? I heard it leaks out after, but that was a lot you cleaned off," Kaori questioned.

Saya was too embarrassed to wonder how long Kaori had actually been in the changing room before she noticed.

"I know you wouldn't tell me," Kaori laughed. "Just be more careful next time. Think of what would have happened if one of those bitchy girls walked in and not me."

"Next time? This is the last night of the trip," Saya thought out loud.

"I mean, even though I'm sure Kai knows about you two by now, he wouldn't want to see any of the evidence," Kaori explained.

Saya nodded.

"Although, I wonder if Kai's trying to deny it or not," Kaori pondered.

Thankfully, Saya didn't have to answer as more of her female classmates entered the room.

"Saya! Are you feeling better?" One asked. Well, if she had to answer questions, at least these were less embarrassing.


Haji was just finishing up a chapter of his newest book on historical cello playing techniques when the teacher knocked on his door once more.

Because it was his last night and there was no need for the futon to be out, he had folded it up and put it back into the closet where the cleaning crew could find it to wash for the next guest. He had left the door to the courtyard open to waft out any remaining suspicious smell. Haji had even put on a fresh set of clothes to wear before a final soak in the bath that night. Yes, everything was in its place.

"It is unlocked. Come in," Haji called out. Feeling weird that for once he was the one giving permission for someone to come into his room. That had always been Saya's job in the past. The door slid open and the teacher entered the hotel room.

"It's nice to see you. How did your performance go today?" The teacher asked, as if to confirm his alibi. He sat down across the table from Haji.

"It went smoothly," Haji said.

"You seem to be very competent at everything you do, so I would assume so," the teacher responded. Haji wasn't sure if he should take it as a complement or not. Competent did not mean he was good. "I came by to ask what happened with Saya today. Some of the girls said she looked faint."

"Yes. On my way home from the engagement, I ran into Saya and her friends. We noticed she was wobbling and lightheaded, so they asked me to take her back to the hotel to rest," Haji explained. "I took her here and let her rest. After giving her plenty of water to drink, she appeared better."

"Ah, so she was probably just dehydrated," the teacher confirmed.

"As far as I understand it," Haji lied.

"No wonder they have you here to watch over her," the teacher sighed. "She's already sickly, so you have to maintain her health well. I've always heard that she had health troubles, but I didn't realize that she would faint from dehydration. Do you know what her diagnosis is?"

Haji tried to remember the "diagnosis" Julia had given him to use, but he was having trouble remembering. "I don't know what the diagnosis is."

"I suppose not," the teacher said. "I was a medical student before I decided to pursue teaching, so I thought I knew what was wrong, but I guess if you don't know I'll be left to wonder."

"I did not realize you had that background," Haji said.

"I don't advertise it."

Haji didn't want to talk any more, quite annoyed by the interruption in his schedule for such a minor issue. "If you don't mind, I was planning to go to the hot spring for a bath tonight."

"I might see you there, then," the teacher responded.

Haji held back a groan. How he wished to be rid of this man. "Perhaps. Good night," Haji said politely, but with a flat affect to indicate no warmth towards the teacher. The next afternoon couldn't come soon enough.


A/N: All done! One more (likely short) chapter to go on this story.