Even though Haise had already seen pictures online of Shinrin-Yoku, and had done his research on the beautiful forest village that was renowned for its historical shrines and "healing river", the sights that he was met with while strolling through the actual place were far more breathtaking than anything what was posted on the internet. Unlike Tokyo, Shinrin-Yoku might as well have been a place that was frozen in time: the architecture of each building along with the street lanterns reminded Haise of Japan during the days of Feudalism. The only factor that broke the village's immersion were a majority of the tourists themselves, as many were blogging about their journey on their phones as they filmed whatever remotely interesting thing that they could for their viewers, all for the sake of "content".

Passing by a group of musicians dressed in beautifully colorful kimonos and traditional woven hats made out of shaven bamboo, Haise and Ayato decided to join the audience at hat had gathered around the street performers; the plucking strings of their shamisens and kotos sounded mystique along with the skillful percussion of taiko drums. Despite what Ayato had said earlier, the teenager was amongst many of the audience members who decided to give a small donation to the band after their immaculate performance; demonstrating once again to Haise that despite the way he carried himself, Ayato deep down wasn't as cynical as he tried to present himself as on the surface.

In a lot of ways, Haise couldn't help but to somewhat see his younger self looking back every time he managed to catch Ayato lowering his facade. During the hour they spent together shopping and trying on different kimonos, there were times that Haise noticed Ayato smiling enthusiastically while browsing the many hung garments that the half-ghoul agreed to pay for.

Using the somewhat modern restroom inside the clothing store to freshen up, Haise made his way over to where Ayato had been holding their place in line, and noticed the search results on the screen of the young ghoul's phone. "If you don't mind me asking, what are you looking up online, Kirishima?" Haise asked curiously, while taking his place by the teenager's side as they stepped forward closer to the busy cashier.

With both their kimonos draped over one arm, Ayato's blue eyes were still transfixed on his phone as he used his thumb to navigate through his map app. "I'm double checking the hours for this one tea shop that I'm wanting to take Asa to… I'm hoping that she and I can go there after she's done taking your measurements," Ayato replied quietly; half expecting to be questioned by Haise about the relationship between him and the ghoul mask maker of Shinrin-Yoku.

Softy nodding his head in response to Ayato's explanation, Haise remained quiet for a few seconds before speaking as they once again stepped forward in line. "I see… If that's the case, I'll do whatever it is that I can on my part to cooperate with Asa; that way you two can have free time afterward," Haise said respectfully; superseding Ayato's expectations in a way that made the young ghoul feel bothered.

"Uh… Yeah. Thanks," Ayato replied quietly, before an awkward silence fell on them for a moment in time that felt longer than it actually was. That's when Ayato turned around in line to face Haise with an expression that could be best described as defensively anxious, as the young ghoul's eyebrows were furrowed with a small frown across his face; all while being unable to look Haise up in the eye longer than a brief second. "Hey… Can I ask you something?"

Feeling as though he knew where the conversation was about to head, Haise couldn't help but to feel second-hand awkwardness as he let out a soft sigh. "Uh… Of course. What's your question, Kirishima?" Haise asked reluctantly, and waited as Ayato took a few moments to build up the nerve to ask what he wanted to ask him.

"So like… Not counting "She Who Won't Be Named", how much experience with women do you actually have under your belt?" Ayato asked cautiously; making sure not to mention Rize's name out loud, while giving Haise a chance to disprove his preconceived notions about him being a dateless virgin being accurate.

Pausing for a moment, Haise thought back to his own success with women, and cringed internally as he thought about who he would always take on dates. "Uh… I know how to talk to women, and ask them out on dates if that's what you're asking," Haise said with an uneasy tone in his voice, as he thought about all the times his aunt would "teach" him how to court a woman properly; part of him feeling dirty, as he recalled how many instances there were when her "lessons" would end when she took him into the bedroom. '… Jesus Christ; why the hell did I have to remember that?!' Haise thought to himself while his cheeks grew red; silently hoping that Ayato wouldn't prod more into his response, or ask what was going through his mind.

Going forward in line, Ayato noticed how they were the next ones to be checked out by the cashier, so it was then that he decided to lay his cards out before he knew he would lose the nerve to bring up the topic again. "Ugh fuck it; I'm just gonna say it and get it over with… Sasaki, I haven't ever asked Asa— nor any girl for that matter—to go on a date with me, and I desperately want to but don't know how… C-Can you like… Give me some advice…?" Ayato asked in a hushed voice while his face was completely red, before quickly whispering "But wait until we're fuckin' out of this place first, okay…?! I don't want you to say shit about it in front of the cashier…!"

Although it was expected that Ayato would be self-conscious about what strangers thought of him, since Haise wasn't too far off from still being an awkward-hormonal teenager himself, seeing Ayato acting like a nervous wreck once again reminded the half-ghoul of how he acted, not too long ago. 'He reminds me of myself, back when I confided in Hide about how attracted I was to Kamishiro… Looking back on how little time has actually passed, it's hard for me to believe that shitty night was only a couple months ago; it seemed so much longer ago than it actually was,' Haise thought to himself, as a soft smile formed across his lips.

"… Sure, but try not to excessively use vulgar language when you're speaking to me; it's beginning to really get on my nerves," Haise said in the most respectful way possible, while glaring down at Ayato intensely enough for the young teenager to know that he was being sincere.

Even though Ayato instinctively wanted to be combated to Haise's patronizing request, the teenage ghoul couldn't help but to feel reluctant in giving the half-ghoul who he grew to respect some leeway. Begrudgingly, Ayato bit his tongue by taking a moment to breathe before letting out an elongated and quiet groan. "Tch, gwuh… Fine, sure; whatever," Ayato replied grumpily; still red in the face as they both stepped forward in line to greet the cashier.

With Haise being the one struck up a conversation with the young man standing on the counter, Ayato— in that moment— felt something nostalgically stirring inside of him as he silently began handing the kimonos to the cashier. '… This feels so fucking weird. He reminds me too much of what my dad looked like in those old photos… Even now, the dynamic between us reminds me of those kids who come to Anteiku with their step-dads… I hate that I actually don't mind it; it makes me feel gross,' Ayato thought to himself, as he grabbed the kimonos from the cashier, after Haise had just gotten done paying for them.


Once they had finished their transaction, Haise and Ayato were given permission to use the dressing rooms to change out into new outfits. Although the kimonos they wore over their different colored haori tops were both black with white designs on them, Haise chose to wear red underneath his, while Ayato chose a dark Navy-blue. When the left the clothing store, Haise had Ayato carry their old clothes in the same shopping bag that their garments came in; using the fact that he was the one who paid for them to further convince his 'supervisor' why he should be the one to hold them.

As requested, Haise had Ayato take him somewhere that wasn't festering either bumbling tourists, or with the local villagers; some of which Haise caught staring at him before immediately averting their gazes. Away from the tourist attention, such as the populated riverbed and cobblestone roads leading toward other scenic spots, Ayato brought Haise over to an unsuspecting local ramen joint; one that wasn't as crowded as some of the other local eateries at Shinrin-Yoku.

Unable to help himself, Haise caved into his own hunger by buying himself a bowl of beef ramen, and ate it with his chopsticks while sitting next to Ayato; the teenager doing his best to ignore the aroma of beef broth beside him, as he took sips from the bottle of sparkling water that the half-ghoul had purchased for him. Once Haise had gotten his fill of beef ramen, he pushed the empty bowl to the side before turning in his seat towards Ayato to make eye contact with the teenager who was still feeling self-conscious about getting relationship advice from the guy who almost got catfished to death.

"Okay… So the most important question you've got to ask yourself Kirishima is this: What are you wanting out of a relationship with Asa?" Haise asked, to which made Ayato take a moment to think about before mustering up an answer.

"Uh… I don't know. It's kind of early to say, isn't it? I haven't even asked her out yet," Ayato argued, to which he received a head shake from the half-ghoul.

"No, not at all. As a matter of fact, that sort of mentality of uncertainty is going to deter most women from wanting to take the chance of having a serious relationship with you to begin with; at least the ones that matter," Haise explained, before feeling the need to give an example to the perplexed ghoul. "Think of it this way: say Asa agrees to go on that date with you, and it goes surprisingly well. Would you feel more secure in your romantic endeavors with her if she told you that she was interested in going long-term with you, or if she told you that she just "wanted to see where it would go"?"

Needing a moment to genuinely reflect on Haise's given hypothetical scenario, Ayato felt his heart sink in his chest as he imagined the anxiety that would have weighed heavily on him, after hearing that from the light-blond teenager. "… I guess I can see what you mean, Sasaki. If that's the case, then… I dunno; I guess I want things to be permanent between us? Am I allowed to say that to her?"

"Absolutely. As a matter of fact, she'll more than likely want to go on another date with you afterward; if you do end up telling her that," Haise reassured calmly, while being patient with Ayato as he quietly thought to himself about actually doing it later if Asa agreed to go out to get tea with him.


From across the cobblestone road, there sat two men who looked to be locals; both were sitting at a park bench, with a chess board separating them. Considering that the small grassy park— if it could even be called that with how unimpressive it was compared to the gorgeous forest surrounding them— neither Haise nor Ayato even noticed that the two men had been one of the many disgusted individuals who had been trailing behind them for over an hour.

"… With all of us here, I still don't understand why we just don't jump the motherfucker while his back is turned. It would be doable; that ramen shop wouldn't rat us out," one of them spoke quietly to each other, as he moved his black knight on the board.

Being an underling just like the man who he was undercover with, the other ghoul merely shrugged his shoulders as he pushed his bishop out of the way of his opponent's piece. "Eh, the Boss wouldn't be too happy with us if we did that; said that it'd make us look weak if we took any underhanded methods… Besides, you know him: he's a showman above all else, there's no fucking way he's not going to miss out on an opportunity to put he motherfucker through the arena… Check."

"Ha! And checkmate," the victorious man quipped back enthusiastically, as he moved his queen forward; preventing the white king from escaping. "But yeah… Yeah, I guess that does make sense… I'm just saying, there's a lot on the line here that's being decided on whether or not we can even get that asshole to come willingly to the compound; can't have any violence out here, it's bad for business…"

"Tch, if you knew that already then why the fuck did you suggest we bum-rush him, dumbass…?" The man scolded with a smug look on his face, as they both resetted the chess pieces on the board.

"Fuck you, and fuck your whore mother," the man spat back spitefully, which earned him a dirty look from the other ghoul who was supposed to be his ally. "I was trying to devise a plan with you, dickhead; check yourself before I check your face to the fucking floor..."

"Check myself…?! How's about I take your disrespectful ass to the arena, and checkmate your fuckin' life, Isobe…?!" The man retorted hatefully, which prompted them to whisper death threats to one another, while the rest of their colleagues vigilantly continued to gather intelligence on the "Black Reaper" that their boss wanted dead.