Author's notes will be at the bottom, thank you to those who have shown interest in this and thank you for my OG reviewer who helps inspire me with ideas.
Walking through the sliding glass doors into the lobby of what used to be CCG's main office, Haise couldn't help but get the chills as he walked over the polished and waxed black-marble floor towards what was now the front desk of TSC's headquarters. Surrounded by sleek white walls and modern furniture that made the waiting area within the large lobby seem more like a doctor's office than that belonging to a law enforcement group, Haise found himself taking in the sights with a sense of familiarity washing over him.
'It never gets easier walking through here… God, I hate anything that has to do with CCG,' Haise thought to himself with a sour taste in his mouth, as he took a moment to recompose himself before continuing on toward the back of the line where he would have to wait his turn to be seen.
'… Even when they're gone, those bastards are still managing to make me uncomfortable. Oh well, it's not like me lamenting over the past is gonna make me feel any better, right Kamishiro?' Haise thought cathartically to himself, as he glanced down toward his metal suitcase, where he was keeping the missing girl's diary. Once he was ready, Haise made his way to the end of the long line of people that kept themselves within the borders of the sleek-glass railing that led them toward the many receptionists who stood behind bullet-proof glass.
Waiting for the time to pass, considering that he suspected that he would be waiting in line for quite a bit from the look of how many people were ahead of him, Haise tucked his suitcase underneath his armpit before carefully reaching into the side pocket of his white-trench coat. Retrieving the white case for his AirPods, Haise placed one into his left ear before putting its case back into his pocket.
Having always been a fan of synth pianos and ukuleles, Haise already knew what he wanted to listen to as he took his next step toward the vacant spot in line. Taking in a deep breath, Haise let out a relaxing sigh as he listened to the gentle strumming of a ukulele being played while the tranquil sounds of waves crashing onto shore played in his left ear. Had it not been for his phone vibrating and alerting him that he had received a text message, then Haise would have actually fallen asleep standing up.
'I think I already know who that is…' Haise thought to himself while feeling slightly inconvenienced that what he considered to be his midday meditation was interrupted; understandably so, but still, it didn't detract from what the white-and-black haired was feeling. Pulling his cell phone out of the side pocket of his black slacks, Haise glanced down at the screen and unlocked it with his face before being greeted with the notification stating that Juuzou Suzuya had messaged me.
'Called it,' Haise thought somewhat proudly to himself, as he used his thumb to navigate into his message app.
Taking a step forward while making sure to be aware of his surroundings, Haise listened to his relaxing lofi song in his left ear as he read Juuzou's message, 'Heyyy lol, wyd bby?'
'I'm at TSC's main office. I'm going to check in and speak to an investigator about my findings. Hopefully they'll be able to share some information on my findings, and it'll be mutually beneficial.' Haise wrote back in response to Juuzou's text message, all while rolling his eyes at how the other boy casually called him 'bby', which Haise assumed was supposed to spell 'baby'.
'Sounds boring af, ngl,' Juuzou quickly replied back to him through another incoming text message, before following up with, 'Try asking for Arima or Furuta; they're probably going to be most lenient with you, and the most helpful. I doubt Ihei's gonna know anything lmao, or care about helping us find Kamishiro.'
'You actually have a point. Might be less of an uphill battle of trying to squeeze confidential information out of those two. Although, you sell her short; I'm sure Ihei wouldn't mind getting his hands dirty if we asked her nicely,' Haise replied back with a visibly impressed look on his face, as he took a step forward in line. 'Anyway, how about you? I'm hoping you're working on the case right now, and not doing anything that would be considered distracting, right?'
There was a considerable pause after Haise had sent that message, which he assumed was due to Juuzou needing time to come up with an excuse for what he was actually doing. Just when Haise figured that Juuzou was no longer going to text him for the next hour or so, he got a response back.
'Lmao so I was kinda playing video games, ngl. But I'm getting dressed rn bby, just for you ;),' Juuzou messaged back with a winky face emoji, before sending Haise a selfie of himself wearing an oversized black trench that he usually wore, over the unbuttoned white dress shirt and suspenders that he considered to be appropriate for business.
'Looking good, Juuzou. What are you going to do?' Haise asked, while being sure to appreciate the selfie that his best friend had sent him.
'I'm gonna go check in with our client, Siracchi,' Juuzou replied back while incorrectly spelling the nickname of their client. 'Since we've got Kaneki down, I'm thinking that I should get info on that Yoshimura guy while you do some digging on what TSC has on file for Akihiro Kanou.'
'It's 'Shachi' Juuzou, not 'Siracchi'. Please don't call him that,' Haise chuckled as he sent his message to his friend, but not before looking up to be greeted with an expectant stare coming at him from the older woman in her thirties who was waiting for him to come to her window. 'I have to go, I'll text you later.'
'Kk, cya later babe,' Juuzou replied back, before Haise shoved the phone back into his pocket as he walked over to the window to greet the narrowed eye and freckled receptionist.
"Good afternoon, Ruisawa. How are you today?" Haise greeted with a friendly tone, as he took his earbud out before putting it back in its case.
Being taller than Haise, Ruisawa needed to lean forward with her hands rifling away at the keyboard of her laptop, as she watched the younger adult before her sign into the visitor's tablet. "Well now, if it isn't everyone's favorite 'Ghoul Detective'?!" Ruisawa mused loud enough for her coworkers to hear her, and was oblivious to the glances she and Haise were getting as she smiled at him. "I'm doing quite well today, Sasaki! Even better now that I got to see you!"
"Even though you practically see me every week? I'm sort of a frequent flyer around these parts…" Haise pointed out with a dry scoff, as he really didn't quite appreciate the condescending tone the woman before him was using to speak to him with.
"We can never get enough of you and that smile of yours, Sasaki! You were always the comedian back when you were a peacekeeper yourself…" Rusiawa reminisced with a bit of nostalgia in her voice, as she made sure to 'accidentally' pop one the top button off from collared white blouse, hoping that she'd be able to get Haise's attention one way or the other. "I'm assuming you're not here for an application?"
"Not today, Ma'am, nor should you or Matsuki Suzuki be expecting one from me anytime soon," Haise said with a slight bit of disdain in his voice, as the idea of being re-enlisted into the ranks of the ex-ghoul hunters didn't quite sit well with him.
"Well, that's a shame; I really miss you Sasaki… This place hasn't ever been the same without you or your little friend here," Ruisawa said with a bit of disappointment in her voice, before suddenly getting her spirits back the moment she noticed Haise staring up from the tablet to catch a peak at her exposed cleavage. "Ah! Oh well! How can I help you today, Sasaki~?" She asked in a delighted voice, as she watched his eyes raise up toward her own narrowed gaze.
"I'm here to get information regarding a case I'm working on. It's confidential, which is why I'd prefer to discuss this with preferably Arima or Furuta; Ihei will work too, if those two aren't available," Haise explained with an assertive, yet polite, tone in his voice. "Please, and thank you."
"Well now, since you're using your manners, I suppose I don't have any other choice but to submit to your commands…!" Ruisawa flirted jokingly to Haise, who in turn let out an uncomfortable chuckle as she began to look up the availability of the three peacekeepers who he had requested to speak to.
"Haha, yeah… Yeah, that would be pretty nice if you could do that for me," Haise replied back with an embarrassed look on his face, and waited patiently while listening to Ruisawa hum a pleasant melody accompanied by the clicking of her keyboard.
"Let's see, let's see…" Ruisawa muttered under her breath as she opened up the spreadsheet to stare at their availability times. "Huh… That's rather, uh… Concerning," Ruisawa said out loud by accident, which of course elicited Haise's curiosity to perk up.
"What? What's going on, Ruisawa?" Haise asked with a pit of dread forming in the pit of his stomach, as he watched the smile fade from the now wide-eyed ex-public informant before him.
"It's, uh… I-I really shouldn't be sharing this with you, but… Furuta hasn't signed off on the muster system," Ruisawa replied, and looked up from her monitor to see the confusion still present on Haise's face.
"I mean… That's not unusual for him, right? I remember that guy always getting scolded at by his older brother for always forgetting to clock out at the end of his shift," Haise explained with the hope that his reasoning would be enough to not only reassure Ruisawa, but himself as well.
"That… T-That's probably what's going on, isn't it?" Rusiawa replied back uneasily and with uncertainty, before slowly typing on her keyboard. "I'll just… Make a note of it, and jout an email down to the division leaders for later," Ruisawa muttered to herself, before letting out a sigh after she finished with what she was doing. "Anyway… Arima's currently on duty right now, and I think he's in his office right now. Did you want me to give him a call and have him come down here to get you?"
"If that's doable, then yes please," Haise replied back with a worried look on his face that he was trying to mask with a faint smile. 'I… I should focus on Rize's case for now; no point in worrying about Furuta until I get more information under my belt,' Haise thought to himself as he walked over to the waiting area and sat down beside a woman with long-messy turquoise hair, who looked like she had tried wrangling it with nothing more than a poorly tied scrunchie.
Taking a load off and placing the briefcase down by his feet, Haise sank deeper into the back cushion of the black leather couch and closed his eyelids. 'I should probably ask Arima when the last time he saw Furuta was, and try comparing that to the- No, what am I doing? I can't be trying to solve everyone's problems out here; I've already got enough of them waiting for me back at the house…'
Needing to keep his stressed-out mind on something else to distract himself from any and all intrusive thoughts, Haise peaked an eyelid over to the woman beside him. 'Looks like she was in a rush to get here… She sort of smells too… Oh, she's homeless,' Haise thought to himself while wanting to face palm, after he put two-and-two together.
As if on cue, Haise stared down at the woman's stained beige sweater the moment he heard her stomach rumbling. Never being one to be able to look away from a woman in need, Haise decided to strike up a conversation so he could try and help the woman without her feeling like a charity case. "So… What brings you here, out of all places to be?" Haise asked casually, without trying to come off as too nosey.
Appearing as though she was mentally deciding whether or not she should acknowledge Haise's question or just ignore it, the woman beside him remained quiet for a few moments before reluctantly replying back in a cautious voice, "I'm… I'm here for my own reasons; reasons that one does not go around blabbering their mouth about," the woman replied back abrasively.
Still not willing to give up that easily, yet not wanting to argue with a woman who was clearly there for unpleasant reasons, Haise slowly nodded his head and pouted his bottom lip out, as if to convey that understood the reason behind her secrecy. "No, I get it, I get it; here for business and not for leisure. I myself can relate to that… I'm a private investigator who specializes in missing cases," Haise said as inconspicuous as he could, and took note of the way the woman's eyes widened upon hearing of his occupation.
"Ah… I see… Isn't it usually the responsibility of peacekeepers to look into the matters of missing persons?" The woman questioned while trying to sound disinterested in what Haise had to say, to which the investigator himself saw right through.
"You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Haise replied back rhetorically, while nestling more into his seat while trying to appear as cool as he could in the eyes of a complete stranger. "As much as I'd wish it weren't true, the sad reality of it all is that the peacekeepers don't usually have the resources or numbers to set aside for missing persons cases."
Upon hearing that grim reality of just how understaffed and unprepared the TSC was, the woman with green hair glanced back at Haise with a concerned look in her green eyes. "They… They don't?" She asked with a worried tone that she tried hiding by lowering her voice. "How… How do you know that?"
"I used to be a peacekeeper myself. I was one from fourteen, all the way until I was twenty, so… About six years?" Haise explained with uncertainty in his voice; needing a moment to remember just how long he had worked for the Tokyo Security Committee. "Yeah, so… From all the way I started, until the time I gave them my resignation papers, most of my time spent on the force was geared up in hazmat armor and being deployed by helicopter to secure areas of interest."
"So, uh… Y-You're basically telling me that the TSC mostly involve themselves in the act of scavenging? Not actually helping the city, like how CCG and police used to do?" The woman asked in a skeptic tone, to which Haise shook his head at.
"No, not necessarily. It's just that the majority of TSC is divided into two groups," Haise replied back, before feeling the need to expand on what he had just said the moment he registered the confusion written all over the woman's perplexed face. "Allow me to explain: There are two divisions that make up what's left of the Tokyo Security Committee…"
"… There's Division I: they're responsible for taking on the role of home defense. There the ones who answer emergency phone calls from dispatchers, and who patrol the city and conduct investigations; very much how police used to do," Haise explained with one hand up with an index finger pointed up, before slowly raising his other hand up to represent the other division with two fingers raised instead of just one.
"… Division II sole purpose is to maintain Tokyo's defenses by monitoring and repairing damages done to the walls, while also being tasked with recon and neutralizing any threats that are spotted by the sentries: the peacekeepers who spend their entire shift looking out for any danger coming out way," Haise explained, before lowering both his hands down to cross his arms over his chest.
"… So while I'm sure that your missing person's case will wind up on a special class peacekeeper's desk, there's a good chance that they're already having to deal with a mountainous stack of other assignments that are preventing them from focusing solely on your emergency," Haise said, before lowering his gaze down as a look of bitterness crossed his face. "That's… That's usually why they'll just jout the case as cold after the forty-eight hour timer reaches the end of it. You know… That whole, 'if you haven't found the person within forty-eight hours, they're probably dead or gone for good'."
Having gotten caught up with his tirade about what he found the most upsetting with TSC's responses to assignments that they considered to be a lost cause, Haise had almost forgotten that he had been spilling the beans to someone who had gone there for that very reason in the first place. Peeking up with his eyes widened, Haise felt instantly regret for the words of brutal honesty that had left his mouth, as the sight of the woman trembling in her seat was enough for him to snap out of his rant.
"I-I mean…! T-That's only what the TSC does on their end!" Haise quickly backpettled as he smiled uneasily at the horrified woman before him, who appeared to be falling deeper into a hole of despair with each word spoken from Haise's lips. "T-There's always the option of hiring a private investigator such as myself! With how many people who end up missing or… Y-You know…" Haise muttered uncomfortably, while trying not to straight up imply that whoever the woman was looking for was quite possibly dead already.
"H… How much… How much does a private investigator charge per case?" The woman asked with dying hope in her voice, as she appeared to slouch in her chair with tears beginning to well up in her beautiful green eyes; which only made it that much harder for Haise, someone who had a soft spot for women, to give her the next bit of bitter truth that he had for her.
"Well… That depends," Haise replied back with an uneasy frown, as if he were waiting for the distraught woman sitting beside him to blow up at any minute. "If it's in the city, you're looking at around twenty-five thousand yen… P-Per hour," Haise answered back reluctantly, before adding on, "… A-And that's if they're human. Most investigators are ex-CCG investigators, so they only bother to look for humans in that case; you'd be surprised to see just how many people out there still have distrust and hatred for ghouls."
"Oh trust me… I'm aware," the woman replied back with a humorless and dry laugh, before raising her arm up to wipe her eyes with her sleeve. "I won't bother beating around the bush here, Investigator…" The woman mumbled in a shaky voice, and stared up at Haise with pleading eyes that looked lost and without hope in them as she gazed directly into his. "I… I don't have the money to hire someone like you, but… If you can find it in your heart to help me look for my father, then…" The woman trailed off, and flinched as she tried searching for a way that she could convince what she was beginning to see as her last hope to aid her in her time of need.
Without even thinking twice about whether or not there would be a reward for him, Haise's sense of justice made the decision before his brain could begin to argue logic with his bleeding heart. "I'll do it," Haise replied with a sincerity behind his words that appeared foreign to the shocked woman sitting beside him.
"You… You would? Even… Even if I can't pay you for your service…?" The woman asked with hesitation in her voice, as if she were afraid to ask him for clarification, to which Haise immediately nodded his head.
"Of course, I… I often find myself with cases that tend to be primarily involving missing ghouls, and I know with the ways panned out after ghouls were promoted to second-class citizens, I understand money can be a bit tight." Haise said with an empathetic and knowing look in his eyes, which again caught the light-green haired woman off guard. "Here… Keep this; use it to contact me," Haise said as he reached into his trench coat's inner pocket to pull a small booklet.
Cautiously, the woman beside him took the business card from Haise's hands before looking down to read it. "… Kafka Agency?" The woman asked with a slightly impressed expression slowly replacing the shocked expression she wore moments ago. "Kafka, as in… Franz Kafka?"
Equally surprised that someone other than Arima and himself knew who he had named his business after, Haise gave the woman a quirky smile as he chuckled. "Y-Yeah, haha… You're honestly the second other person who I've met who knew who that guy was…! You, uh… You're a bit of a reader yourself, I assume?" Haise inquired, to which the young woman cracked a smile upon hearing.
"Why… Y-Yes, actually; more than a reader, actually. I consider myself quite the writer, if I do say so myself," the woman replied back with a modest tone in her voice, as if she were trying not to sound too full of herself. "I've been writing since I was fourteen, but uh… With the way the world is now, well… Let's just say that being an author in this market is not very profitable," the woman said with a sarcastic, yet playful, look on her beautiful features, which were hidden behind splotches of grim and dried skin from the cold weather outside.
"Yeah, no kidding, huh? That's a damn shame too; anything short of an instruction manual or tech-document is not really being published nowadays…" Haise lamented with disappointment in his voice, before letting out a dry laugh. "One of the only things I liked about being out on the field was being able to bring back any books I found from whatever location our mission took place in. I got a bit of a collection going on that you can look through back at the agency, if you're interested."
Delighted at the thought of being able to take a look at actual books that weren't limited by what was available online, or what was left in the public library, the woman for the first time that day actually smiled, and couldn't help but to bring the business card closer to her chest. "Thank you… Investigator," she said in a soft and thankful voice. "I… I wasn't expecting to meet someone who was as generous and kind as you are… I don't know how I could ever repay you."
"Well… Don't thank me yet, ma'am, there's plenty of work to be done and I can't guarantee that I'll find who you're looking for…" Haise trailed off slightly after catching a glimpse of Arima patiently standing several meters away from him. Not wanting to leave on a sour note, Haise stood up from his seat and grabbed his suitcase, but not before looking over his shoulder while facing Arima's direction. "… But don't you worry; I'll sure as hell try, that's for damn sure."
"… That's more than anyone else would ever do for someone like me… Thank you, again…" The woman said once again, before realizing that the tall man with the long white trench coat was there for Haise. "I… I won't take up anymore of your time, Investigator. Please, continue on with your business; I'm sure I'm not the only one you're helping."
"Of course, and I hope to hear from you soon," Haise said with a nod and smirk, and took a couple steps forward before once again coming to a stop. Looking over his shoulder again with that same charming smirk, the half-ghoul finally said, "My name is Haise Sasaki, by the way. Just thought I'd introduce myself to my newest client, before taking my leave."
Feeling a warm developing inside of her from the way he was looking at her and from their overall interaction they had together, the young woman wanted to introduce herself to her hero as well, but before she could muster up the courage to speak her name aloud within the walls of the main lobby, Haise was already walking and away and towards Arima.
'Damn it… Why can't I be better at talking? It hardly was a fair interaction; what else was I supposed to do, other than just sit here like a lost kitten?' The woman thought to herself, before lowering her gaze toward the business card in her dirty hands, and was careful not to smudge its pristine white paper with her thumb as she rubbed it over where Haise's contact information was.
"Haise Sasaki… A wonderful name as befitting as the man who I hope you can be," the young woman whispered desperately beneath her voice, after finding herself once again succumbing to her own anxiety now that Haise was no longer by her side. "I've just met you, and yet… And yet I feel connected to you; what an otherworldly feeling this is."
After talking to the piece of paper in her hands as though it would somehow carry her words for the investigator to hear telepathically, the young woman let out a sigh and closed her eyelids gently before uttering in a quiet voice, "… Eto. My name is Eto Yoshimura. The pleasure is all mine, Investigator... What's this?" Eto whispered outloud with a curious expression finding its way onto her face.
Shifting her thumb beneath the white card, Eto couldn't help but finally notice that the texture she felt was different, as opposed to how the material of the actual business card felt on her finger. Flipping the business card over, Eto became wide-eyes and let out an audible gasp the moment she saw a small wad of yen staring back at her. Worried that he must have done it by accident, any and all contradictions in Eto's mind faded the moment she noticed just how flat the stack of money was folded.
Realizing that Haise had given her money for the road, presumably due to her knowing that her stomach was growling since the moment she walked through the RC-cell scanning lobby doors, Eto couldn't help but get teary-eyed again as she stared at both the stack of ten-thousand yen, and the business card that the young man had left her with.
'My, my, Investigator... Does your generosity and kind soul know no bounds?' Eto thought warmly to herself, before chuckling dryly beneath her breath as she wiped her eyes on her dirty sleeve once again. 'Damnit... I hate crying. I... I can't even remember the last time I cried before I met him... Christ, I'm a wreck,' Eto thought humorlessly to herself, before standing up to collect her belongings as she made her way out of the main lobby, and toward the nearest sit-down restaurant she could find.
Sorry for the lack of extensive author notes, especially for my best reviewer who's been a real OG since my other fanfics started; the ones I'm currently taking a break from.
Just to go over a quick thing to answer questions, I'm trying not to make this a direct crossover to Fallout, more so inspired by it. I wouldn't be opposed to implementing more stuff based off its canon, as well possibly adding some characters from other series like how I did for Elizabeth from Bioshock, because that's always fun.
Speaking of her, I'm working on that lemon featuring her and Kaneki that he wrote, I just gotta edit it. I think it was like, 20K words? I'm gonna post it as its own story, because of its length and how I want it to remain its own thing.
I probably won't add vaults to the story, simply because it would probably feel forced, considering how the dragon incident was sudden and wasn't accounted for by anyone, not even V. Probably won't use the clone idea, just because I don't want Kaneki to be like, the chosen one or anything, more so I want to stick to the whole 'wrong place, wrong time' sort of schtick like how it was supposed to be in the first Tokyo Ghoul series.
While I won't use the vault idea or cryostasis idea, or have Kaneki at first be anyone special (not even his surgery will be a surprise, as it'll be explained next chapter), but the remain true to Tokyo Ghoul, Eto will have a major part of the plot, as well as the past too. She's twenty eight years old to match how old Haise is (twenty one), so she definitely will have been involved with Sunlit Gardens and V.
I wouldn't say that Hide got a girlfriend, but he almost got one before Kaneki did, that's for sure lol. He just happened to be caught in an awkward situation after poor words were spoken by both him and Oohashi. And yes, Haise will definitely be a mentor figure for Kaneki, especially in the ladies department lol.
I wouldn't say that the US made the area outside of Japan into a nuclear wasteland, they just kicked up a lot of dust mixed in with the mutated Dragon cells, after they bombed particular targets that will be explained later. The blast wave and dragons along with a war being fought was what caused there to be destruction, not so much from direct radiation itself. There are of course traditional dragon orphans, which are the large golems with human teeth and claws like at the end of :re; and there are the mutated wildlife who adapted to become dragons themselves, and thus have offspring as explained in first chapter, where Rize was attacked by what's essentially mutated snakes. Red-child cells are basically the equivalent of rad-away though lol.
Anyways, that does it for now. Next chapter will be Kaneki finally going back to Anteiku with Hide, where they'll meet Touka and Kaya, along with others like Ayato and Yoriko.
That does it for now, thank you for reading and I hope you have a wonderful day!
