A/N: This is the final chapter of this (for now), so the story will be marked as complete, even if there may be another chapter or two I write on a whim in the future. Mao, everyone.

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

Afternoons in France

Saya had only been awake for a week, but already Haji had to leave her for a week of work. He promised after that they would be able to stay together. She was left at Joel's apartment in Paris, trapped with Mao for the week. Haji may have left her, but that did not mean he did not want her alone quite yet, and (as he regretted), Mao was the only other Red Shield confidant in France that week.

The first day, Mao practically talked Saya's face off about her life. By the end of it Saya knew far more than she wanted about everything from Mao's travels with Okamura to a time she and Kai had drunkenly almost hooked up at a party.

The second and third days, Saya continued her quest to get caught up on world and pop cultural events of the past five years. Although that knowledge was not that important to her, she knew it was important for blending into the current crowds. Nothing made much sense because she had so little time to read into anything, but she picked up what she could: major geopolitical events, new forms of technology, popular songs, and blockbusters at the movie theatre. She even made time to go through meme databases to find out what had become popular in internet culture. Now that she was not focused on a fight, she wanted to learn more about the world she hadn't before.

The fourth day was spent with the UN monitor to make sure she would not be violent after waking up. The Vietnam story had freaked them out, and even after a week and a half with no incident, a full day of testing was needed to reassure them that it wouldn't happen again. Saya wasn't quite sure what they were looking for.

The fifth day saw Mao dragging Saya to an exclusive spa she frequented so that Saya could be treated like a princess. While Saya enjoyed the spa, she was not too happy to have Mao begin dragging her to clothing boutiques and department stores to find "fashionable clothes." She could do that just fine on her own. By the end of the day, Mao had declared that Saya had not finished her shopping and set their alarms appropriately early to head back out.

It was on that sixth day, and the second of shopping, that Mao decided to start prying into Saya's life outside of superficial details. When their day began at a café near Joel's apartment, Mao was not so restrained in getting to the heart of the matter.

"So, how's Haji," she asked silkily.

"Fine, but likely pretty busy," Saya replied.

"Oh, you know that's not what I meant," Mao practically purred. "I want to know how he is in bed."

Saya blushed and protested. "It's – it's not like that, Mao!" Although Saya had meant she had no interest in judging Haji's skills or any knowledge with which to do so, she was grateful when Mao misinterpreted it. That could leave some questions she didn't want to answer unasked.

"So you haven't done it yet? Can't say I'm surprised by that. Haji's too old fashioned. You need to find a way to seduce him, Otonashi. I know you want him," Mao advised her.

Sure, Mao was wrong, but Saya had no interest in correcting her whatsoever. That is, until Mao showed her their first stop of the day: a high class lingerie store. Apparently Mao thought that was what Saya needed to reign in Haji. She expressed her disinterest, and tried to argue that Haji wouldn't even notice the lingerie and wouldn't like it. Mao rejected that argument, "You're kidding yourself, Otonashi! He'll love it."

"I… I don't know. Doesn't it go under your clothes? He doesn't see me without them," Saya tried to lie.

"Oh, come on. I think we all know that he dresses you occasionally. Just put it on before he puts your clothes on," Mao suggested. Saya blushed. "Or, better yet, you could just wear it to bed. It's not like he leaves your room at night."

"I think I may offend Haji by wearing that stuff." That was true. Haji did not seem to find modern underclothes very decent last time she checked. He preferred corsets, but Saya could never decide if that was because he thought they were decent or because they led him to indecent thoughts about their past. Then again, he'd spent a whole five years trying to blend in to modern society. Maybe he was desensitized? Saya didn't want to test that.

"Well, you'll never know if you don't try," Mao said as she dragged Saya inside and immediately to a set of shelves holding underwear so skimpy Saya couldn't see a purpose in wearing them. If Mao needed evidence that Saya had just as much of a tendency to be offended by modern culture as Haji, this was it.

Noticing this, she decided Saya deserved a different tactic. Mao brought Saya to a different set of shelves holding lacy and frilly pairs of hip-huggers and boyshorts. Seemingly less disturbed by these, Saya began to look at a few pairs, if only to please Mao. They also went together to a shelf with more normal, everyday pairs, where Saya actually did pick a few pairs out for herself. Once she was somewhat sure she knew what size Saya was looking for, Mao excused herself quietly and picked up a few pairs of the more scandalous pairs to sneak into the basket.

"Don't you need any bras or anything? Surely you have enough underwear to make up for the shopping you missed in those five years." Saya nodded slowly and followed Mao. These were not as much of an issue. Saya picked a few she liked out, tried them on, and added her choices to the basket.

Then, she said something that quite shocked Mao: "Umm… would it be possible to check out the corsets?" If Mao was going to force her to pick stuff out for Haji, Saya felt may as well choose something he would actually like. Walking over to a wall filled with them, she noticed corsets had certainly changed, but they were close enough to work. Mao helped her to choose a few more traditional looking ones along with a bustier and went to the check-out.

"Otonashi, why don't you go start ordering lunch at the café next door while I check out," Saya started to protest before Mao continued, "Don't worry about the money. Haji gave me the Red Shield credit card to use for your expenses this week." Saya nodded and headed out, while Mao grinned. By getting Saya out before she could see what extra stuff Mao had added to the cart for her, Mao was certainly going to consider this shopping trip a success. Mao only hoped Haji would agree.

Mao had one final goal: to get Saya in something Haji would be forced to take off of her. It didn't matter if the dress turned him on or offended him, so long as Haji would be motivated get that dress off of her so he could see what was underneath. After lunch, she dropped Saya and their bags from the lingerie store off at Joel's apartment so she could "go on a private errand." Before she left, she made sure to check the size of another dress Saya had gotten and quickly left the apartment for the boutiques. In a little under an hour she had picked her poison for Haji: a tight maroon bodycon dress with the entire back cut out. Oh, yes, this would work well. That is, if she was able to convince Saya to wear it. Tomorrow she would spend their ride down to Bordeaux figuring that one out.

Mao's chance came the night after they arrived, when the workers and leading investors and organizations for the Zoo project were hosting a cocktail party. This celebration would kick off the week of previews for the media, descendants of former Zoo employees, publicly documented parties, and the final stages filming of a documentary about the history and reconstruction efforts. Unlike those parties, however, this one was private and encouraged more modern attire. Joel had wanted Haji and Saya make an appearance since Haji was a major part of the project, but they had only agreed to appear for a few minutes. Neither wanted anyone to ask too many questions while drunk.

An hour before the party, Mao came to Saya's room and kicked Haji out. As usual, they were not doing anything affectionate. Haji was sorting through his various, almost identical sets of pants and shirts in the closet. Mao found it would be easiest to just pull a random combination out, hand them to him, and threw him out. She made sure to shove a pair of shoes and socks into his arms as he left. Saya was startled, but didn't object. Mao wasn't someone to oppose when she had a goal in mind. That meant she was at Mao's will, and she knew what Mao wanted: for her to seduce Haji. If she did, that would make it two times her first time having sex at the zoo would have been heavily influenced by another. That didn't mean she would let Mao know her plan worked, if it did.

When Mao pulled out the dress for Saya, she noted that Saya was nervous. "How am I supposed to wear a bra with that? Even underwear," she asked.

"You can't. Well, you can wear a pair of those underwear you didn't like, but you didn't buy any for yourself," Mao said as she tried to sound innocent. "Luckily, I managed to get you a pair or two just in case." Saya wasn't convinced she had good intentions when she bought them, but took a pair as Mao presented them. Something skimpy was better than not wearing anything. That would really be offensive. A sly grin spread on Mao's face as she watched Saya bring the clothes into her bathroom. It got even wider when Saya left the room with a blush as red as her dress.

"I can't wear this. What will Haji think? It's inappropriate," Saya wondered out loud.

"Well, then, you won't have to spend as much time at the party," Mao said as she guided Saya to the antique vanity across the room from her bed. She styled Saya's hair and did her make-up before introducing her to a pair of red heels.

A knock on the door indicated Haji could be coming back, so Mao answered it after only opening the door a slit. When she realized it was Julia, she quickly let the older woman in and slammed the door closed.

Before she could ask why Mao was being so cautious, Julia stared at Saya on her stool. She assumed Saya had asked Mao to help her look sexy for Haji tonight. This would be her first chance to spend the night with Haji since her awakening, with everyone else getting drunk at the party or returning to their rooms with their own partners, so Saya did have motivation. Of course, Mao was likely the one who conveniently reminded her that tonight would be like that.

"How are you tonight, Julia?" Mao asked her.

"Just fine. Haji was wondering if he could come back in to escort Saya down to the party. Should I tell him to expect to meet her down in the ballroom?" Julia asked.

"Would you?" Mao replied sweetly.

"Of course," Julia replied before quietly leaving the room with a wink.

Haji waited at the party, casually chatting with the members of the historical team and decorators he had worked with on the project. Joel was talking to some of his colleagues at the center of the party. Julia's suggestion that he leave for the party ahead of Saya had made him worried that something was wrong, but he maintained his poker face. Julia arrived at the party shortly after he did with David in tow. Neither would give him any information about Saya. For once, he felt as if he was Kai, who they still liked to leave out of the loop. In fact, Kai wasn't here today. Due to the demands of running the Omoro and raising Diva's twins, he wouldn't be arriving until later.

Mao arrived in a scandalous dress, likely in hopes of finding a man to spend the night with. Even though Haji had assumed that she was dating Okamura, he had recently found out that Mao was not to be tamed. The rest of the living Red Shield members were not able to attend. Mao came over to him and dragged him away from his colleagues into a quieter corner of the ballroom. She made small talk to distract him until Saya arrived. Honestly, Mao had no idea when Saya would show or if she would, but she could taste victory. Saya claimed she only needed a few minutes to ready herself before coming downstairs, and Mao had left her.

Suddenly, Haji whipped his head towards a door and stared. Mao could swear that Haji's expression slipped into that of a lustful teenager and some drool fell from his mouth before his expression quickly snapped back into its normal controlled expression. Even then a hint of a smile remained on his face and his eyes seemed softer. Apparently he liked what he saw, even if she knew he would deny Saya's apparel as inappropriate. In contrast to her expectations, Mao noticed that Saya showed no hints of a blush and instead stared at Haji with much the same expression as the man had on his face.

"Hello Mao, Haji," she greeted.

"Saya," Haji replied, quiet as usual. "Would you like to come with me?" Mao gave them both a suggestive smile and winked before walking back to the crowd. She kept an eye on them and was slightly disappointed to find Haji had taken Saya not up to her room, but rather to the group of men he was hanging out with when she arrived.

Despite his better judgement and desires, Haji had decided to introduce Saya to his colleagues. He knew the historians had the pleasure of reading as much of Joel's diary and other journals of occupants and guests as was allowed to protect the identity of Saya and him. If any of those had a good description of Saya, it would not be good. He did not have time to read all the documents himself, so he had to trust that they would not out them.

The historians and decorators turned to them as they approached. "Who is this, Haji?" The oldest of the group spoke first.

"This is my girlfriend, Saya," he said, knowing Saya would be okay with the description despite being so much more to him. "She will be staying this week."

One of the younger women from the group who had had too much alcohol was next to blurt out a question. "Isn't she a little young, Haji? I mean, she looks like 16! 18 at most. And didn't you say you started dating her five or so years ago?"

Saya was a bit shocked by the question, but could see the older members of the group pushing the woman back in embarrassment. Did that woman have a crush on something?

"It may not appear this way, but Saya is actually older than I am," Haji replied.

The first speaker laughed and replied, "Everyone around you but David must age well! You all look a good 10 years younger than you are." Haji nodded.

"Saya, this is Dr. Wallace. He is a history professor from the U.S. here on sabbatical for research, and the project's lead historical researcher. I believe he will be staying until June. That man," Haji pointed to a man who did not appear much older than him a few feet away, "is James. He is a graduate research intern here for a semester of research. The woman next to James is another historian, I believe his advisor. She will not be staying here after the opening, nor is the young woman who asked about you. They were here for the summer." Polite as ever, Haji introduced her to the remaining decorators. Many of the historians and decorators had already left due to their schedules, so introductions and conversation was short.

It was obvious Haji wanted to get her out of that room: he was trying to go for the secret back exit, but every step he took another person would stop him and greet them. Apparently there were a lot of people that were curious about Haji's girlfriend, and those that didn't know who she was that wanted to hit on her. That only made Haji more eager to get her out. He cursed Mao's influence in Saya's get up.

At least Joel agreed that they could leave after their necessary appearance to greet the party's attendees. Somehow Joel had convinced his friends that Saya was his adopted daughter as well as Haji's girlfriend, so he needed her to show for appearances. That would also explain why she was sleeping in The Queen's room, as it was now called: it was reserved for any daughter of Joel's use when visiting as designated in their contract. They had created an exact replica of the room decorated in blue, known as The Diva's room, for tours to go to when Saya was in town.

Finally, Haji and Saya made their way to the door, only to be stopped again in the hallway. After a quick and polite greeting, they took separate routes up to Saya's room to avoid any questions: Haji up the back servant's staircase, and Saya up the main one. Ten minutes later, they were reunited in front of the door. Upon entering, they immediately locked the door and began to kiss. Haji eventually broke off the kiss as Saya reached to unbutton his shirt.

"I cannot decide if I hate Mao for putting you in that dress or not," Haji admitted. Saya had to agree. He picked her up to place her on the couch so he could personally kneel down and take off her painfully high heels and then his own shoes. Saya took the opportunity to pounce and finished unbuttoning his shirt. He let her throw it back onto the couch. He kissed down her neck, hoping her dress would be the next to go, but she overpowered him and unbuttoned his perfectly pressed slacks, dragging them and his boxers down with one fell swoop.

It was the first time he let her service him, and it made him wonder why he hadn't let her do it sooner. Within a few minutes, he found his release. As she swallowed he blushed, embarrassed to have let her do something so inappropriate, but he wanted to keep going. To distract her until he was ready again, he began to run his own hands down her body, trying to figure out how to take the dress off of her without ripping it. Eventually he had to let her stand up so she could release her arms and wriggle out of it. When she did, he had an urge to destroy that pair of underwear. He was sure those were Mao's fault. Saya may have looked great in them, but they were far too lewd for her to wear. She looked just has happy to have them off of her as he did. They ended up in the trashcan. Saya and Haji ended up on the bed.

Haji kissed her before moving to return her favor. Before she went to sleep he finally got her relaxed enough to finish, and he was certainly glad for that. It was their first night back together, and he wanted it to be perfect. When he was ready, he entered her and began to move. When both finished again, they embraced each other and lay down, sated.

Saya woke up to knocking on the door, and looked around to find Haji. He rarely stayed in bed with her all night, instead choosing to do any cleanup and chores. Last night, Haji had cleaned up their mess and put their clothes away while she was asleep. Apparently she had also slept through him changing the sheets and opening the windows to air the room out. He had not bothered to try getting her into pajamas; moving her to the couch and back was risky enough if he didn't want to wake her. Today, she noticed he had returned to bed with her, and was watching her eyes' frantic search for him everywhere but next to her.

When their eyes locked, they scrambled to get cleaned up and presentable enough to answer the door. Their visitor spoke before either had a chance to open the door.

"Otonashi! Are you in there?" Mao called from outside. "Or did Haji and you have a busy night and that's why you're not answering. Anyways, Julia wanted you to know breakfast was ready. You don't have to leave your room today, it's just the party with the reporters."

"Thanks for telling me Mao," Saya yelled back, panting from her rush around the room to find where they had put her clothing.

"If you're too busy with Haji, I think they said the dumbwaiter is functional. Try it out. I'll see you two later," she said. Saya and Haji sighed as Mao left down the hall laughing.

"Would you like to go downstairs for breakfast," Haji asked.

"Why don't we test out the dumbwaiter," she suggested before leading Haji to the bathtub.

Mao walked into the family and friends' breakfast room with a smug expression on her face. Julia, David, Joel, and the newly arrived Okamura turned their heads to welcome her into the room.

"What're you looking so proud about?" Okamura asked.

"Guess who finally got those two to relieve their sexual tension so none of us have to deal with it?"

"Themselves," David replied sarcastically. Julia chuckled at his remark. "Or are you talking about relieving the tension built up by their 5-year break?"

"Are you saying they've done this before?" Mao asked David.

"I'm surprised Kai didn't drunkenly complain to you about them. For a while after he returned to Okinawa Kai would only call them 'those horny teenagers.'"

Mao laughed at David's response. "You're kidding me!"

"Unfortunately, no. Our guest bedroom was even unfortunate enough to fall victim to them," David pretended to say mournfully. "And the bathroom at the Omoro. And I suppose now they've broken in Saya's bedroom here, if you're correct about the dress you put Saya in last night being an effective seduction tool. Until I see evidence I'll assume Haji took her upstairs to force her to change out of it because the thought of her wearing it offended him."

"You would know better than me," Mao joked, "You are his friend after all."

"So how shall we confirm this so I can blame you for them deciding they need to break this entire property in during their stay?"

Just then, they heard the light for dumbwaiter food service to Saya's room ding as it turned on. Mao raised an eyebrow in challenge to David. That answered that question.

A/N: So, that's all I have for this series of one-shots for now and I'm still wondering why the heck I wrote it, but I hope you enjoyed it! This was really fun to write, so even though it's labeled as complete, there may be more chapters as new ideas come.