A/N: So now to the last section of the planned highly inappropriate stories: Saya's female friends trying to pry into her love life. Julia and Kaori are combined into one chapter, while Mao deserves another chapter of her own. There's a bit more insight into why they keep their relationship quiet, but it's only a sentence.

This coincides with Life Goes On chapter 3.

Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Blood+.

Days at the Clinic

Two days after Haji had returned, Saya was due for an appointment with Julia. Haji walked with her to Julia's, hand in hand and silent as had been the case the day before on Saya's way home.

They entered and checked in as usual before Saya was called back. Haji insisted on following her back, despite the wishes of the assistant leading Saya to her room. Thankfully Julia, on her way to another appointment, had informed the assistant to allow him in. The assistant quickly set up the transfusion and left the room to return to her other tasks. Haji grabbed Saya's hand as he sat next to the bed.

Unfortunately for Haji, Julia was quick to kick him out as soon as she came in. Haji slowly removed his hand from Saya's grip and quietly slipped from the room.

"I'm sorry for that, Saya. I just had a few things to ask you now that Haji's back," she explained. She was talking in Japanese, so apparently whatever she needed to ask wasn't something she thought I wanted to discuss with Haji.

Saya nodded, indicating Julia could ask away.

"It's okay if you don't want to answer these, but we don't need to talk about the future, only the past right now. Okay?"

Saya didn't fully understand what Julia meant by that, but figured it would become apparent soon.

"In the past, how was your relationship with Haji?"

"He's my chevalier. He was always with me," Saya replied timidly. She almost whispered as she said, "I love him."

"Ah, that's great, but I meant in the more physical sense." Saya blushed bright red as Julia was forced to be more direct, but decided to not immediately dive into her big question. "Have you kissed at all?"

Saya gave a small nod, "at the opera house."

"Never before that?"

"A few times at the Zoo," she said without making eye contact. "We only began to do so a few months before the incident." Julia nodded.

"Did you ever get to more intense kissing?"

The room fell silent as Saya thought about her answer. "Only a few times." Julia wrote nothing down on her clipboard in response. So this wasn't something that the Red Shield wanted to know. It was comforting to Saya to have Julia be strictly her doctor, not a scientist reporting on her every behavior.

Julia decided her big question could not wait any longer, and decided to just ask it. "Have you ever spent the night with Haji or anyone else? Intimately?"

Saya's face somehow became redder than it was before. She shook her head silently.

"There's nothing to be ashamed of," Julia gently told Saya, "you've had much more pressing matters to worry about in your time. It'll happen eventually."

"I don't actually know," she whispered. "That's what I'm ashamed of. There are still gaps in my memory from my time at the Zoo. I'm worried that Haji is hurt because I don't remember much of our relationship. I only remembered the kissing while he was missing." It was Julia's turn to nod.

Julia walked to the door to let Haji back in. He stood next to Saya's bed as Julia returned to the stool.

"Have you fed recently?" Haji nodded. "Good, so I don't need to give you a transfusion. I have a question for you. Do you mind?"

Julia walked across the room with Haji before talking to him. "Have you had sex with Saya?" As expected, he did not blush at the question, but he did respond with a nod. There was still an important gap in Saya's memory. "How many times?"

"Only once. At the Zoo. We agreed to put our relationship on hold until Diva was defeated, yet now she does not remember anything that happened." There was an obvious sadness in his eyes, not because of any anger he felt towards Saya, but instead because he couldn't hold her as he once did.

"Have you had sex with any other women since then?" This time Haji's head shook. It was admirable how long he'd put his needs at bay to remain loyal to her. Nodding, Julia left Saya and Haji to their business.

For the next month, Julia would ask Saya vague questions about her relationship with Haji during every transfusion, hoping for both of their sakes she remembered something. Their loneliness was weighing on them, and the stress of having their relationship up in the air was not doing either any good.

For her first transfusion after resuming her relationship with Haji, Saya was accompanied by Kaori. Somehow she was more comfortable having him away from her after that night, and that certainly was not a bad thing since he had become increasingly busy with whatever work he was doing for Joel. Today was one of those days, and Kai was busy, hence Kaori using her brand new driver's license to drive Saya to the clinic.

"So, Saya," she asked, "you've been looking happier than ever these past few days. Did something happen between Haji and you?"

Saya blushed and turned her head away.

"You did it? Didn't you?" Kaori felt a pang of jealousy, but she knew Haji and Saya were meant for each other. It didn't have to hurt their friendship, yet Kaori was worried this would change Saya.

Saya didn't say anything. Kaori knew Saya had secrets, and this was likely another to add to this pile. It was the only secret Kaori felt she needed the answer to, perhaps because Saya was the one friend she had in what she suspected was a relationship. Wasn't she supposed to know the juicy details?

Saya tried to explain. "I'm sorry – it's a personal thing. It's not that I want to leave you in the dark, but it's… Well… it's…"

"No. It's okay. I get it." Kaori remained silent for the rest of the ride.

When they parked in front of the clinic, Kaori was surprised when Saya said something about her relationship with Haji. "Haji and I, we go very far back," she told Kaori, "we don't talk about it with many people. Even our friends and family are unaware what our relationship is. From the beginning we've had many outside influences in our relationship, so we would like to prevent that now."

"Outside influences? Like an arranged marriage," Kaori reasoned.

"Something like that," Saya said before getting out of the car.

They walked into the clinic together, switching to less weighted topics. Before she could even sign in, Julia came to bring Saya to the back for her transfusion. Saya motioned for Kaori to follow, but Julia stopped her.

"Kaori, is it?" Julia asked. "It's nice to meet you again. I'll come get you when Saya's done with her appointment so you can sit with her during the transfusion." If Haji doesn't arrive by then, Julia added mentally.

Julia led Saya down the hall. "Is something wrong that I need a physical," Saya asked. She wasn't dumb, she knew what Julia most likely wanted to talk to her about, but she wanted to make sure.

Julia opened a door and gave Saya a hospital gown to put on. "Once you're done putting that on, knock on the door. I have no other appointments right now, so I'll be waiting in the hallway."

After the door closed again, Saya took her time changing. She suspected Julia knew what had happened, and to be fair since Julia served as her doctor as well as Haji's, it was Julia's business, but she was still nervous to discuss the topic with Julia. Julia was the only one who she would tell about her relationship, but only because it was necessary to track her health.

Knocking on the door three times, Saya signaled it was okay for Julia to reenter. She moved to the cot and Julia took her normal place on the stool next to it.

"You know then," Saya stated, not asked.

"Yes," she said. "And you remembered?"

"Haji told you about that night at the Zoo, didn't he?" Julia nodded. "So that's why you asked about us. You were waiting for me to remember." Another nod. "So you know."

"Yes. And I'm very happy for both of you. You needed it," Julia replied. "I won't tell anyone, although David figured it out."

"How?"

"I may have told him that Diva was very… messy… with blood when she had sex. When he saw the room and the blood on the walls, he put two and two together, assuming all chiropterans have that habit."

Saya blushed. "That was entirely inadvertent."

"I assumed so," Julia laughed. "Don't worry about him. David knows how to keep his mouth shut. Just avoid the mess in the future. Now, I knew it's likely too soon, but have you done anything of a similar nature after that?"

Saya shook her head. "No. We want as few people as possible to know, least of all Kai. And we're staying with Kai."

"Did you bleed this time?"

This time Saya nodded.

"The reason I'm asking is the same reason I feel it's necessary to give you an exam. You cannot be impregnated by Haji, and you cannot catch human STDs, but I do not know if your healing factor might reverse any damage or stretching, which may make future encounters uncomfortable and cause bleeding," Julia explained. "So I'll need if that's the case. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes," Saya said meekly. She lay down to let Julia perform the exam. A knock sounded at the door as Julia finished up. Julia didn't even ask before answering the door and letting Haji in. Julia assumed Saya would have no problem with him being there, and with Saya's approval filled him in on the details of the appointment. Haji sat next to her on the bed and grabbed her hand as he liked to do during transfusions.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought Haji in as soon as he arrived," Julia said, "This concerns both of you, and I would prefer to explain it when both of you were here. The exam indicated that there was no problem with the healing factor as I had feared, but I would like to recommend you make sure you have enough lubrication before proceeding. If Haji's well-endowed, you may also want to make sure you're stretching her out before the act. That should prevent any future bleeding."

Haji turned his head away from the women in the room and blushed. If he thought the lecture from Joel had been embarrassing, being lectured by Julia about his failure to make sure Saya was comfortable while Saya was in the room certainly showed him how wrong he was. Even though Saya felt a bit sore from the exam, she sat up to hug Haji upon seeing his discomfort in an attempt to tell him it was okay.

Julia sensed that she had made both of them uncomfortable, and decided to give them time to themselves to calm down. "Why don't you change back into your clothes, Saya? I'll send the assistant to begin your transfusion. If you two need anything regarding this matter, don't be afraid to ask. That's what I'm here for as your physician," she said. "I have another appointment to go to, but I'll see you next week if not sooner."

Saya and Haji muttered out their goodbyes as Julia shut the door behind her.

"May I help you dress," Haji asked, ever the gentleman and loyal servant. He brought her the discarded uniform in case she wanted to dress herself, but she stood up to allow him to dress her. Saya apparently liked to get dressed, particularly when she was nervous as she was now. She maneuvered her way into her clothes as he buttoned her shirt, zipped her skirt, and tied the bow at her neck.

Haji opened the door for the assistant when Saya laid back down on the cot for her transfusion. With the assistant came Kaori, who sat on the bed next to Saya. While they began to talk about Kaori's newest crushes at school, Haji took his cue to leave. He got out to the hall and watched Saya's girl talk from afar.

A/N: Julia seems to be the one Saya trusts the most, so I figure she's the only one that would hear about this straight from Saya's mouth. Kaori, on the other hand, has her assumptions, but struggles to stick to her policy of staying out of Saya's past. Since Haji fits into that category and into the category of Saya's current life, Kaori gets a bit frustrated. That's where this chapter comes from.