(A/N: The italic parts denotes past memories and experiences. Additionally, I'm sincerely grateful for the readers who took their time to leave kudos and reviews to this meager fic of mine).

Chapter 2

Confused Heart and Moral Decisions

By: Aztec999

THE CHEERFUL RINGING OF THE phone across the bedside table awakened Haru in the middle of the day. It kept on ringing and pestered his consciousness until his hand had reached for it sloppily and opened his eyes slowly. Staring blearily at the screen, it was Kamei calling him and causing him to grunt in annoyance. He begrudgingly pressed the answer button.

"…. it's ass o' clock in the morning Kamei. What do you want?" Haru grunted, his voice raspy and guttural.

"Ohohohoho. Somebody had fun last night I see." Kamei's irritating and leering voice made Haru growled lightly under his breath. "And dude, it's almost lunch break. Not that I complain of course since it's Saturday today."

Upon hearing his last words, it made Haru's consciousness more alert and observed his surroundings. Fancy ceiling, wide windows with heavy curtains, a balcony at the other side of the room, cool air conditioning and a wide waterbed that he's lying in. This was not his poor excuse of an apartment. Where the hell was he?

"What the hell do you mean by that?" He asked impatiently, his head throbbing.

"You mean you don't remember? You suddenly disappeared from the office Halloween party last night. You were drunk as hell. We couldn't find you anywhere. Saeki and I tried calling you several times but always ended up in a voice mail and haven't received any replies from you when we drop you a text message. We could've ask for Kambe's help from his fancy gadgets but he didn't even attend the party last night seeing that he was attending to some important matters with his own company." Haru could only imagine Kamei saying the last part with air quotes which made him snorted.

"Yeah about that…..." He trailed off as he tried to piece his faulty memories together from last night. With Kamei mentioning earlier that he was drunk last night, it answered his throbbing headache and heavy feeling around his body today but it didn't explain the fact that he was half naked. He could see his shirt lying carelessly on the ground but he still had his pants on except for the belt which was dangling haphazardly at the bedpost.

His mind short circuited at once. A lot of questions had begun springing around his mind at once. Did he sleep with someone last night….? A sense of dread washed over him in an instant. His mind had a sudden onslaught of events from yesterday.

He remembered trying to put an effort into his costume and came in at the designated hotel as the grim reaper after watching a DIY video on Youtube about a fantastic idea on Halloween costumes. He even scoffed at some of the officers there who didn't even bother putting an effort into their costumes and tried the basic firemen and plumber costumes that flexed their muscles and looks so that women could only swoon at them. Afterwards, he remembered seeing a woman at the entrance wearing a black kimono with swirling gold patterns decorated on it. Her hair was styled on an elaborate and elegant style of chignon pinned up by colorful hair ornaments and flowers. While her face was covered with a heavy make-up of white powder that made her skin tone gleamed on an unnatural shade of ivory coupled with a vivid red lipstick on her pouty lips and a fiery red eyeliner on the underside of her eyes.

'Is that _ from the human resources?' He thought to himself as he approached her.

"You just need to sign your name here in the attendance form." He heard them instructing the newcomers politely as she handed them the form and a pen.

"Hey." Haru greeted simply and offered her a courteous smile.

"Oh, hey Katou-san. Have you sign the attendance form yet?" She greeted him with a disarming smile, her pearly white teeth glinting in stark contrast with her bloody red lipstick. Seeing her up close looking like a traditional geisha, it threw him off a bit in a good way since he usually sees them in a regular office attire most of the time.

"Not yet. Can I see it?" Haru answered back and took the form that was handed to him.

"Are you enjoying the party so far?" She asked smilingly. "Our team arranged this event to have the employees let loose and enjoy the theme of the Halloween. Also, to have them unleash their creativity in coming up with interesting costumes."

"It's a nice break from work sometimes. I like the effort that your team put in this." Haru replied sincerely as he handed back the signed attendance form to her.

"Thanks. Also, your costume is detailed and unique. Your great effort and creativity is showing in the design itself." She complimented with a genuine smile on her face.

Haru willed himself not to blush and kept his cool. It's not every day that he received a sincere praise for his efforts. "Well, you look pretty nice too. I mean most of women here are dressed in a cat woman costume or Betty Boop. It's kinda cool seeing you in geisha outfit." He tried not to stumble over his words, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.

The said woman laughed lightly over his words, a slight amusement dancing in her eyes. "Of course. It's a Halloween party at all." She patted his shoulder and started to walk away from him. "I have to check with the newcomers and their attendance so enjoy yourself Katou-san." She bid him a casual goodbye and a warm smile to which he returned sincerely and started to walk towards his designated table with the rest of the MCPTF.

Several hours later and the party was still in full swing and it just got heavier with too many people and noisier in the middle of the dance floor. Haru knew he could handle his alcohol level very well but there were few times when he was being goaded by his officemates specifically Kamei into a drinking match with him over some stupid remark of being 'stop being a killjoy' or 'you should let loose and stop being an uptight ass.' Of course, it riled him up and took the offer predictably.

And this is how he ended up with flushed cheeks, dopey grin and letting himself loose in the middle of the dancefloor. He (un)fortunately lost Kamei and his gang in the sea of sweaty bodies and dancing crowd.

His head was growing hazy and numb as he tried to remember more after else had happened after that? He closed his eyes and tried to so hard to wrack his brain for more memories last night.

As he continued dancing recklessly into the middle of the dancefloor, he felt someone trying to match his rhythm beside him. When he turned around, he saw _ looking disheveled and unnaturally confident.

His mind paused and his mouth went dry as the face of _ shooting him a flirty smile came bombarding his isn't right. Was she drunk like him when they're dancing together? Hot flashes of memory and snippets started to assault his senses and consciousness after that.

In one moment, they were dancing together. But after a few minutes had passed, they're stumbling upstairs, giggling like raunchy teenagers until they've reached a random room and started kissing each other hungrily. His mind started to grow hazy and murky when he reached the part where they came tumbling down on the mattress like frenzy, horny rabbits until his mind went blank after that.

He grew pale and confused. Did they have sex? But why couldn't he remember all of it? He should've known something even a gut feeling or an instinct. But nothing. Nada. Zilch. It's like there's an error in his memory and he was forgetting something important that was crucial to his was half naked; his pants were still on until his eyes landed on the sheets. On the bloody. Sheets. No way.

This doesn't seem right. How could he face her? How could they face each other? This thing happens normally in a party, right? It's not like it's uncommon thing in the century. But it goes against what he believed in, his moral and conscience couldn't stand it. Even if it's just a one-night stand of drunken stupor and mistake…she was his first. He had taken her virginity after all. Even if one could argue with him that it's her own virginity and he shouldn't give a damn about it, it doesn't seem truly right with him.

"…. -tou. Katou. Katou!" Kamei's loud voice broke off his racing thoughts and brought him back to the present.

"Stop being so loud." He growled in irritation.

"Thought I lost you there for a minute. I knew that silence Katou. It's the mind-blowing sex last-."

Haru immediately cut off his words as he felt his face growing hot in an instant. "For Pete's sake Kamei! Stop sharing your questionable porn fantasies to me!" He exclaimed indignantly.

"Sure whatever. But I'm not letting it go next week so be sure to share me the scintillating details on Monday!" Kamei replied cheerfully.

"Fucking bas-." The line went off suddenly before he could even spout out some colorful curses to him. He grumbled in annoyance and threw his phone at the side of the bed. Flopping back into the mattress, he stared unseeingly at the ceiling. A growing headache was beginning to form inside his head.

Haru may not have the closest relationship to _, but he couldn't just have dismissed what happened between the two of them as if it was nothing. He will make things right and—

He stopped his thoughts when he belatedly realized that he was all alone in this room. _ wasn't even there beside him where he woke up. He couldn't even fathom what she was thinking or feeling when she woke up earlier beside him before she left. No simple gestures of trying to wake him up. No notes. Nothing. Did…did…. she…even regret it?

'Of course, you dumbass. What else could be the reason for leaving so quickly without even waiting for you to wake up?' His mind supplied in scornfully.

Nonetheless, doing nothing and pretending that everything was normal didn't sit right with him. _ was still a human and she needed a proper explanation from him.

And he will make things right. Hopefully.

(A/N: Apologies to the creator of Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited. My attempts at English are laughable, I know. But Fugou Keiji Balance: Unlimited is public domain now, bro. Also, kindly let me know your thoughts about the recent chapter and update).