Seated amongst his peers, Urie took in a deep breath through his slightly parted lips, before slowly exhaling with his usual grumpy expression plastered onto his pale face. Through his diamond-shaped pupils, Urie used the gentle light cascading from the shaded lamp above his squad's booth to read the list of options available to him; taking a small sip from his glass of water, before setting it down as he continued to silently read through the entrées section of the unfolded menu.
Silently deciding on whether he would be ordering a plate of fettuccine alfredo or ravioli de portobello, it was then that Urie's moment of peace was interrupted when Shirazu elbowed him lightly against his ribs. Closing his eyelids shut while resisting the urge to immediately smash his glass against the sharp-tooth qunix's face, Urie gathered his composure before slowly turning his head over his shoulder, where he was met with an oblivious grin from the blond young man. "… What (the hell) do you want, Shirazu?" Urie asked with an annoyed tone in his usual deep sounding voice.
"Hey Urie, whatcha thinking about ordering?" Shirazu asked casually, while sounding louder than he intended to; causing Urie to wince from frustration, before immediately calming himself down with a quiet groan.
"… Does it matter what I'm ordering?" Urie asked with his eyelids slightly narrowed, as he gripped the sides of his lamented menu a little more tighter than he already had been.
Staring back at the deputy squad leader with one brow raised and a dumbfounded look crossing his face, Shirazu let out a throaty chortle before smiling condescendingly at the irritated young man. "Tch! Obviously it DOES matter; otherwise I wouldn't be asking ya in the first place," Shirazu quipped, before relaxing his shoulders as raised his own opened menu with one hand, before gently smacking it with the back of his other hand. "In case you haven't noticed Urie, this is a pretty nice Italian restaurant… If we're going to be smart about this, we should all make sure to get different dishes; that way we can get the whole experience when we try each other's food."
Silence followed suit, and rather than immediately dignifying Shirazu's logic with a verbal response, Urie's eyes darted over to the two young women sitting across from him and the blond qunix; Saiko visibly on board with the idea with trying her squad member's food, while Mutuski seemed somewhat uninterested by it, as she sported a reluctant expression on her frowning face. "… Bold of you to assume that I would be sharing with any of you in the first place (assholes)," Urie said in a low voice, as he slowly turned his head back toward Shirazu; who stared back at the purple haired man with a mildly offended expression on his slender face.
"Dude…?! Didn't you just hear what I said?! This is an upscale establishment, Urie! We'd be wasting an opportunity to make the most out of this outing!" Shirazu argued back, while trying to push his logic onto the young man who clearly wasn't interested in entertaining his reasoning.
"An upscale establishment…? This is a fucking Olive Garden, you PLEBEIAN," Urie retorted with a scowl crossing his face; what little patience that he had broken, as all three members of his squad gave him a wide-eyed look.
Smacking her menu onto the table, Saiko leaned forward while pushing her small body up with one hand on the edge of the table, as she pointed a finger at her grumpy colleague. "Urie! You can't cuss here; this is a family-oriented restaurant! Saiko wants you to apologize, and for you to preferably order the Italian Trio; so we can all get a taste of whatever that is!" Saiko scolded, while trying to use her limited knowledge of how the power of suggestion worked.
What followed after that was Saiko and Shirazu both hanging up on Urie in an attempt to correct his rude behavior, while trying to convince him to order the aforementioned three-dishes meal. As all of that was happening, Mutsuki silently took a bite of the breadstick in her hand that was eating behind the cover of her unfolded menu; the free appetizer being the only thing she actually liked from Olive Garden. Tuning out her three talkative squad members like how usually did whenever they would argue, Mutsuki swallowed the small bite she had been chewing on as she subtly turned her head over shoulder; looking over at the table a few meters behind where she was seated.
Staring longfully at Haise with the bubbling feeling of warmth on nausea forming within her abdomen, Mutsuki involuntarily began to squeeze her fingers down at the edges of her menu; her heart beating rapidly with the blood rushing to her cheeks, while at the same time feeling frustrated as she watched him chatting away with the gorgeous blond woman who he was seated across from. 'I don't understand… Why is having me sit all the way over here? Is he trying to hide something? Is he… Is he on a date with First Class Mado? Is that why he wanted privacy?' Mutsuki wondered to herself with anxiety and jealousy causing her to feel sick to her stomach, while at the same time trying to convince herself that what she was feeling was irrational.
'That's ridiculous to think that he would even be interested in her like that… Sensei sees her as a mother figure; he wouldn't want to date her… But then again, with a face and tits like that, wouldn't he at least find her attractive? Who could blame him if he did?' Mutsuki thought sadly to herself, as she let out a heavy sigh before forcing herself to look forward; staring blankly at the menu while feeling inadequate with herself. Before she could get her white surgical eyepatch wet with the tears she wanted to shed, Mutsuki nearly yelped out in shock the moment she flinched when she felt Saiko's small hand tugging at the sleeve of her white blazer.
"Mutsuki? Are you okay? You… You looked really upset there, for a minute," Saiko asked in a consoling voice; her words immediately making both young men initially think that their arguing was what was causing their green-haired colleague distress.
And as Shirazu and Urie quickly reeled themselves in from their conversation, with both men giving each other a mutual nod of agreement, Mutsuki was thankful that she could once again hear the soothing jazz playing over the sound system, as she lowered her menu before turning her head over toward Saiko. "It's… It's nothing… It's just that… It's just that I'm confused as to why we're not sitting with Sensei. After all, isn't it our duty to monitor him at all times?" Mutsuki asked rhetorically; manipulating the truth as to what was really upsetting her, while still getting her point across that she wanted to be physically closer to Haise.
Sharing Mutsuki's disappointment that they weren't seated with their squad leader, Saiko patted the other woman's shoulder sporting a slightly saddened smile on her cute face. "Saiko knows your pain, Mutsuki…! Saiko wants to be with her Maman too, but technically speaking, uh… He doesn't need us to monitor him, if he's being supervised by a higher-ranking investigator than himself," Saiko explained, while somewhat surprising both Urie and Shirazu with her knowledge of the policy that Haise had to follow. "But yeah, it still sucks balls that we're apart from him; no one's arguing that."
"… I would," Urie quipped with a slight semblance of a smile forming on his lips, which was quickly removed when Shirazu elbowed him again on the ribs.
Growling at the deputy squad leader, Shirazu furrowed his brows with a protective look forming on his angered face. "Shut up, Urie! Sassan treats us really well! If you were under anyone else's leadership, then your ungrateful ass would have been canned to the unemployment office months ago!" Shirazu snapped back; blatantly insinuating that Urie would have been fired had it not been for Haise's saint-like patience, and for his forgiving kindness.
And just like that, the two young men were once again bickering back and forth; risking embarrassment and possible demotion, while both Saiko and Mutsuki were forced to do their best to defuse the situation.
Trailing off from his conversation the moment he noticed from the way Akira was looking past his shoulder toward the direction of where his squad were seated, Haise turned around in his chair to glance over at their booth. Thankfully for his sake, and the sake of his squad as well, Shirazu and Urie were begrudgingly squashing the beef they had with each other, and thus their antics had subsided by the time Haise's eyes focused their attention on their table. However, knowing how undisciplined his squad could be, even when he was there to supervise them, Haise let out an exasperated sigh as he turned forward to smile apologetically at the mildly bemused expression on Akira's face.
"I didn't really notice whatever it was that they were doing… Sorry for their behavior; I'm still working on ironing on the kinks," Haise apologized with an embarrassed tone in his voice, to which Akira reassured with a calm nod and a soft throaty-chuckle.
"That's because you're too soft on them, Sasaki; if they're ever going to improve, you'll have to hold them more accountable for their misconduct," Akira lectured informingly; giving the Rank One investigator her advice, before moving on. "Anyway… What was it that you were telling me about your diagnosis? Did "your doctor" figure out why it is that you're able to… You know? "Eat" like a regular person?" Akira asked, while trying to not incriminate Haise as being a ghoul to whoever might have been eavesdropping.
Circling back to what he had been taking to Akira about— before they were interrupted by the qunix squad's public display of nuisance— Haise softly shrugged his shoulders as he grabbed a hot breadstick from the woven tray that was in the center of their maroon-loin table. "Sort of? It was more like a theory than anything solid, like a diagnosis," Haise replied with a slightly concerned look washing over his dwindling smile, as he absentmindedly tapped the breadstick repeatedly against his thumb; similar to how most people would fidget with their pen while thinking of what to write.
Raising a brow at Haise, Akira's curiosity peaked as she spoke in a cautious tone, "Doctors don't use "theories" Sasaki, they use "prognoses"… Anyway, what was your prognosis from your "accident"?"
Having already picked up on the way Akira was speaking in code to avoid directly asking what Dr. Shiba had to say about his neurological changes that transpired after getting shot in the head, Haise gave her a knowing wink and a nod before beginning to twirl the breadstick in his hand. "Well, basically the gist of what he said was that what happened to my noggin was similar to how computers restart themselves whenever there's a sudden lack of power… Which for me means that when the lights got turned back on up in here, almost all of my neurons began sending out signals that began to change my body back to how it used to be… I'm still a "you-know-what", but right now my brain and most of my body think otherwise," Haise summarized, as he sniffed the piece of garlic bread before slowly tearing off a piece with his front teeth.
Having been one of the few investigators who cared enough about Haise to involve themselves in his matters, Akira watched intriguingly with a guilt resonating inside of her as Haise chewed the bite of bread thoroughly, before swallowing it without any signs of disgust on his conflicted face. "I see; how strange… And tell me, how does that taste to you?" Akira asked quietly with her hands folded over her lips; her elbows resting against the edge of the table, while leaning in slightly as to eagerly await for the one-eyed ghoul's response to her inquiry.
Setting the partially eaten breadstick down on his small platter, Haise wiped his fingers on his cloth-napkin before crossing his arms over his chest; a methodical look forming on his face, as he thought hard about how he would answer the blond woman. "How to accurately describe it…? Well… I suppose I'll start off by saying that the texture of the bread still feels strange on my tongue; it's like licking a warm piece of soft clay. But other than that, the taste in of itself is tolerable; albeit, it does leave a strange artificial aftertaste on my taste buds that lingers for a bit," Haise said, before blushing slightly as he quietly added, "Biggest downside to eating this kind of stuff again is that it makes me have to go to the bathroom a lot… Kind of like how lactose intolerant people get, whenever they drink a glass of whole-milk… But as of now, my "doctor" "prescribed" me these "pills"; he said so long as I take them at least four hours before eating a meal, I MIGHT not have to continue on with my strict "usual" diet," Haise said with a genuine look of hope flashed across his face; momentarily took out his orange bottle of "RC-Cell Supplements", before putting them back into the inner pocket of his white trench coat.
Nodding her head while smiling softly, another barely audible throaty-chuckle escaped Akira's lungs, as she relaxed her shoulders as she sat back from where she had been leaning against the edge of the table. "Honestly, considering that Olive Garden's food is infamous for being frozen before they reheat it and serve it to their customers… I wouldn't think too much about that part," Akira said jokingly, as she saw Haise's face lighten up by her attempt at trying to be humorous. "But in all seriousness, Sasaki… What's happened to you is nothing short of a miracle. It almost makes me feel better about having almost… You know?" Akira once again trailed off; making a gun gesture with her hand, before raising it up to press her two fingers against the side of her head— emulating a silent "bang" with her mouth, as she playfully rolled her eyes back while leaning her head momentarily away from where her finger gun had imaginatively fired.
Unable to help but to giggle at how silly the usually serious woman was being with him; Haise's smile returned to its usual brightness as he leaned his back against the cushion of his chair. "With how drastically my life's changed because of that incident, I can hardly BARRETT~!" Haise joked back; making a pun out of the scoped "Barrett 308 Winchester" rifle that Akira had used on him— which earned him a genuine chuckle from the blond woman sitting across from him.
"Heh, heh…! That was awful, Sasaki… That really TRIGGERED me," Akira quipped back, while flashing two finger guns at Haise— pretending to fire both of them at the one-eyed ghoul, who in turn played along by pretending to have been shot by both of them. Enjoying the fact that she didn't have to maintain her professional stoicism while in the presence of the white-and-black haired man, Akira savored the fun the two of them shared— even as their quiet laughter that Mutsuki was observing secretly from her booth came to a slow end.
"Ahhh… But in all seriousness Sasaki, I can't apologize enough for what I did. I was planning on using that "thing" for the "snake" we we're having trouble with; I should have checked the "thing you put the thing in" before going through with it," Akira apologized for what might have been the twelfth time since Haise had gotten well enough to call her back; still making sure to speak in ambiguous terms, so as to not divulge any more information than what their puns already let on to those seated amongst them.
Waving his hand playfully to ease her worries, Haise smiled warmly at Akira before softly chuckling to himself. "Oh, don't even worry about any of that, Mado; I couldn't harbor a grudge against you, even if I tried!" Haise admitted with a reassuring voice that made Akira feel cathartic to hear. On one hand, she was relieved that Haise was as forgiving and lenient with her as he was, while on the other hand Akira felt scornful of herself for having almost killed someone who seemed as pure as the one-eyed ghoul before her was.
Smiling back at Haise with an adoring look in her eyes, Akira rested one palm underneath her cheek while supporting her elbow on the table once more; taking a moment to appreciate everything about the young man before her that made her happy to be around him, before finally breaking the silence between them by speaking once more. "Mmhmm… You're too good for this world, Sasaki; too good, indeed… So how's about I make it right with you by giving you a second shot at catching that "snake"? Along with that low-life "roach" who caused problems for Mutsuki?" Akira offered with an eerily excited grin spreading across her lips— one eye bulging, while the other one was squinting.
Not recollecting ever having seen Akira so excited over the prospect of hunting down ghouls before, Haise was slightly unsettled by the expression she was giving him; an oddly familiar expression that made the one-eyed ghoul go pale-faced, as vague memories of his past life began to one again merge over his perception of reality. 'Goddamnit, not this again…!' Haise silently cursed to himself, while trying his best to seem inconspicuous as horrible memories of a white-haired investigator who once sported the same signature expression on Akira's face began to appear before him.
Flinching as he saw the somewhat blurry memory of the aforementioned investigator decapitating the faceless woman who made Haise's stomach wretch with guilt and self-loathing, the one-eyed ghoul let out an elongated sigh similar to that of someone breathing out hot air, after having taken a hard shot of tequila. "… The offer certainly is tempting Mado; I've been meaning to get some payback for what the bastard tried doing to Mutsuki. But with that being said… Are you sure that I'll be authorized to be allowed back on the case? Because I'm telling you right now, the next time I see that "roach", I'm going to make sure that there's NOTHING left of him for the "cleaners" to put into a bag," Haise admitted while getting heated up; his usual take on pacifism and bringing in ghouls by the book taking a backseat to the vindictive fury he had for the ghoul who had tried sexually assaulting his most vulnerable squad member.
Even though what Haise had said was indeed grounds to prevent him from joining her assignment, Mado's own hatred over other ghouls made his words palatable to her; each passionate word Haise spoke for how he wanted to bring down the mutilating hammer of justice resonated within Akira, and made the hunter inside of her savor his need for vengeance. "Good… It's about time you started to talk like that, Sasaki; I was actually starting to think that you were hopeless within this kind of "work"," Akira admitted, while still giving her praise to the one-eyed ghoul who seemed just as determined to correct their last blunder, by putting the two ghouls who wronged them six feet under the ground.
Little did Akira know though, Haise only wanted the ghoul who referred to himself as "Torso" dead. As for Orochi, Haise wanted to find him as well, but not for the sake of killing him, or even detaining him. No, Haise had questions; questions that could be answered by the ghoul who had ties to him in his past life— the ghoul who was once a close ally to Ken Kaneki.