A/N: This was requested by: @YanskieLuixx I hope you enjoy boo! :P I don't know a lot about dance (I haven't danced since I was like seven rip), and I'm super, super tired from the lifeguard 24 hour class but I'll try my best!!

They wanted the dance to be the first part of the video I added, so watch it if you want!!

You took a deep breath as you walked through the crowd, heading to the spot where your performance would be. It was the first time you'd dance in public, and you were absolutely terrified. Going hunting for your little brother was nothing compared to this.

"Hey, it'll be fine." Your friend assured you, grabbing your shoulder and squeezing it. "We did great in the studio, so it'll be great out here, too."

You nodded and watched as people started setting up the speakers, causing passerbys to stop and look at the set up, then your dance troupe, who was warming up. Some of them stayed, and some of them kept walking away. It just made you even more nervous to know people were going to watch. People who might judge you. People who might figure out what you really were.

Okay, maybe the last one was a bit farfetched but still, it was a possibility, albeit a small one.

"Warm up, (Y/N)." Your friend said, swinging his arms in circular motions to loosen up his shoulders. "You'll get hurt if you keep going like this. I told you once, and I'll tell you again, everything's going to be okay. Now warm up."

You stiffly nodded before starting to walk around, swinging your arms and stretching the muscles before bouncing around and shaking your legs to get some blood flowing in them too. You jumped when the technicians started doing sound checks on the speaker, aka the signal for your group to get into position to start dancing.

Your friend nodded at you once again before your eyes went to the crowd, surfing through it hoping to see a familiar face, maybe someone you knew or someone who seemed positively excited for your performance.

As you did notice a few children curiously gazing at you, there's one face that captured your attention. If his gradient hair wasn't enough to attract someone's attention, his innocent face would surely do the trick. His eyes scanned the scene, bearing child-like wonder as he probably processed what was going on here. You made a mental note to maybe talk to him after the performance. He seemed like a nice guy...

You were ripped out of your thoughts when the familiar sound of Rewrite the Stars echoed through the street and your body started moving on its own accord to the American music.

Haise watched in amazement as your group flawlessly executed the thoroughly practiced routine. All your movements were so fluid, like water. It's as if dancing was a second nature of yours. And not just your dancing was beautiful, but Haise couldn't stop himself from thinking that your own beauty just made the whole thing even better.

Thank god the Quinx weren't with him, because he'd never hear the end of it. At least he could enjoy your show all alone without being scared of having Shirazu yell out that he had a crush on you.

The choreography was over way too quickly for his liking. The half ghoul watched as you slowly came to a stop in front of the crowd, music fading into nothing. Once there was no more sound coming from the speakers, you smiled brightly at the man beside you, who wrapped an arm around your shoulders and hugged you, causing Haise to slightly frown. Were you taken already? That seemed like his type of luck, anyway.

You let out a loud cheer, congratulating your friends and the sound of your voice made Haise smile. You seemed so happy, and he was simply happy that someone like you felt that way. From the way you danced, you probably put a lot of time and effort into the choreography.

Sasaki frowned as he noticed the crowd started to disperse, apparently now disinterested. Was no one going to congratulate you on your marvelous dancing? Well, if no one was going to do it, he will. Taking a deep breath, Haise stepped forwards and walked to where you were, lively chatting away and complimenting your troupe about their amazing performance.

"Uh, are you the one in charge of the choreography?" Haise shyly asked, looking at you with child-like wonder still present in his gaze.

You turned around and immediately recognized the pretty boy. "Ah, yes, that would be me!" You said, nodding. "You watched the choreography, right? I hope you liked it!"

Oh, and you were so polite too...

"I did, I did!" Haise assured. "Although I didn't understand much of what the song was saying, I love your dancing! You're really good! I just wanted to let you all know, since no one else seems to be doing it."

You blushed and smiled brightly at him, until your nose picked up a scent. Hold on... He's a half ghoul? Wow, that's new... He looks like a CCG investigator! "Ah, thank you so much!" You exclaimed, slightly bowing forwards. "Thank you for doing this!"

"It's no problem," Haise waved off, flustered at having you bow in front of him. Once you were up straight again, he held out his hand. "I'm Rank 1 investigator Sasaki Haise."

"(L/N) (Y/N), dancer." You smiled brightly in an attempt to hide your nervousness. He's a half ghoul investigator? Oh jeez, can he smell you? You hoped not... "It's very nice to meet you, Sasaki!" You shook his hand, noticing the tinge of pink that appeared on the male's cheeks.

"I uh... I'd also like to ask you one more thing..." Haise mumbled out, suddenly shy. This was really sudden and he knew it. He barely even knew you, but he wanted to take the chance anyway, whether you were taken or not. He'll give himself a pat on the back later for being courageous. "There's an art exposition in the 20th ward tomorrow night, I was wondering if you'd like to accompany me and maybe tell me more about your career?" Sasaki braced himself for the 21st century's worst rejection, yet none came his way.

"Sure!" You cheered, smiling. You couldn't believe someone as beautiful as him would ask you out. You couldn't believe someone had asked you out, period. You've been single for way too long. "I'll meet you there around 6:30?" You asked.

Haise nodded his head, smiling. It's not his fault that your smile's so contageous... "I'll see you around 6:30 tomorrow night at the art expo?" He asked.

"Exactly! See ya!" You answered.

Haise waved you and your group goodbye before turning around and deciding to finally focus on the investigation at hand. After all, that ghoul was getting a bit too dangerous for the CCG's liking.

••••

"So you've got a whole squad?" You asked as the two of you walked around the many sculptures placed in the streets of the 20th ward.

"Yeah. They're like my family." Haise confirmed, smiling at the thought of the Quinx.

"That's... adorable." You giggled. "You're really caring."

The pudding head blushed at your remark. Was that a good thing? That he was caring? He hoped so.

"And what about you?" He asked, desperate to know more about you. "Is dancing your career?"

You nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. That's where I get the money from, anyways. I grateful to be able to do something I love as a career, really... Not a lot of people can do the same."

"I understand the feeling." Haise calmly said. "Were your parents okay with it? I heard about a lot of people whose parents refused to have them work in a field similar to dance."

You frowned at the mention of your parents. They couldn't say anything about it if they were dead, no..?

Haise panicked at your sad expression. "O-oh! I didn't mean to... I 'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it--"

"No, no, it's fine!" You assured. "You had no idea, it's not your fault. It's just that they died a few years back trying to save my brother and I from ghouls." You said. Not like you were completely lying. They had died, just not to the hands of ghouls.

"I'm really sorry to hear that..." Haise apologetically said.

"It's okay, it's okay." You assured him, waving your hands in a nonchalant manner. "But what about you--" You were cut off by your cellphone, making you blush in embarrassment. "Crap, I'm sorry, I should have closed my phone but..." You pulled out your device, doubts confirmed when the name 'Kaoru/Home' appeared on the screen. "It's my little brother..."

"Oh, you should take the call!" Haise insisted. "I won't mind, it's okay!"

"Thank you so much, you have such a kind soul." You said before turning around and walking a few meters away to take the call. "What's wrong?" You asked once the phone was at your ear.

"I'm hungry..." Your brother whined, making you frown.

"Haven't you eaten a week ago?" You questioned. "We should both be good... Oh, did you get a growth spurt?"

"Mmhm." Kaoru confirmed. "I'm really hungry, 'nee-chan..." He whimpered.

"Alright, alright listen, I'm gonna try to get home as quickly as possible and we'll go out to eat, okay?" You asked.

"Okay!" Your little brother exclaimed. "Bye!"

"Bye..." You answered, hanging up. You couldn't wait for him to grow up already. Taking care of a ghoul child was really tough, you wondered how you parents managed to raise you properly...

"Is everything alright?" Haise worriedly asked once he noticed your gloomy expression.

"Well... My brother's having some troubles at home..." You sighed. "I knew I shouldn't have left that kid alone..."

Sasaki placed a hand on your shoulder. He really disliked seeing you upset. "Hey, you can go back, I won't be mad."

"But that'd be extremely disrespectful of me." You countered. "And I'm having so much fun with you..."

The half ghoul shook his head. "Your brother's all you have left, right? You shouldn't neglect him. Besides, we can postpone our date, it's fine! We can go out whenever, since you have my phone number now!" He optimistically said. "I won't be insulted if you go."

You hesitantly glanced at the road you knew would guide you back to your place, before looking back at Sasaki. "Thank you, Haise." You said, quickly pecking his cheek before speed walking away, leaving the male standing there in awe.

He really, really hoped you weren't just trying to get out of this date, even if you seemed genuine.

••••

Haise sighed as he strolled around the streets where the ghoul he was investigating usually hunted. Maybe it was a good thing that you had to cancel the date. Now he could finally focus on his job.

The half ghoul's boredom dissipated once he heard familiar but disgusting squelching noises a few alleys away. It seems he caught one, whether it be the one he was actually looking for or not.

Stealthily making his way over to the source of the noise, Haise gripped his quinque tighter as he heard voices.

"Don't eat too fast, you'll get sick." A voice warned. So they were two? That might be tougher...

"Sorry..." A second voice replied, shocking the ghoul investigator. A child? A ghoul child, of course, but... Haise never had to kill a child before... Could he do it?

"Heh, you were hungry, weren't you?" The first voice said. Now that he thought about it, they sounded really familiar... "Sucks to be a kid, doesn't it?"

Sasaki peaked at the two, eyes widening once they finally set on the adult who was leaning on a wall, watching the child eat with a small frown on their face. What were you doing here?

The small child nodded before getting up from the corpse, making you sigh. "You know you have to eat more than that, bro. No wonder you get hungry so often, you barely touched the poor guy! Please tell me I didn't just murder someone so you could nibble on their forearm for like five seconds." You groaned. "We can't just go around killing people all the time, so please, eat more than that."

The child shook his head. "No, I don't like it." He whined, walking up to you and hugging your waist.

"I know, Kaoru, but you don't have a choice, and I'm not letting you starve." You sweetly said, eyeing the poor victim.

How did he not smell you earlier? How could Haise not smell the fact that you were a ghoul when you were so close to him just a few hours ago? And was this what you meant by your brother having troubles at home?

Why was it that when he finds one good thing, it always becomes a bad thing? Can't he just have one nice thing in his life? Apparently not.

Sighing, he decided to make himself known. He knew that despite the pity he felt for the two of you, you were a killer after all and appearances can be deceptive.

Your head shot up from your brother's gaze at the sound of footsteps and a familiar smell invading your nose. Your eyes soon locked on Sasaki's grey ones.

You weren't that surprised. After all, you made the mistake to hunt pretty close to where your date with him was. "Oh, hey Investigator Sasaki." You monotonously greeted as you hugged Kaoru closer to you in a desperate attempt to hide his face although there was a huge chance that Haise had already seen the child's face.

"Hello..." He hesitantly said back, quinque still gripped tightly in his hands. Were you ever going to attack him? "I'm really sorry..."

You shook your head, ignoring your brother's muffled whining. "No, it's alright. I should have known what I was getting myself into when I started killing more often." You replied calmly. "I am sorry that I lied to you on our date, though. But how come you didn't smell me back then?"

Sasaki thought nothing of your calm behaviour. You were probably just trying to keep your brother calm too. "I don't know." He said. "I was too distracted to pay attention to my sense of smell." He admitted, clicking a button on his case and finally freeing the dangerous weapon hidden inside it.

You simply sighed and pushed Kaoru behind you, kagune springing to life you as you did so. You had explained to him a few times what would happen if you had to fight an investigator like this, so you knew he was most likely going to run away soon like you told him to. He was a smart kid, after all.

"Now..." You sighed before eyeing the male in front of you, who was taking a fighting stance. "Let's dance, shall we?"

You launched yourself forwards to crash your kagune on the quinque in hopes of maybe breaking it, yet no such thing happened. Instead, Haise managed to slice a part of the predatory organ open, which wasn't a big concern. Your RC cells quickly fixed that little problem right away.

Haise was shocked as the two of you kept fighting for survival. If he hadn't known better, he would have thought you were dancing, right here, right now. Your fluid movements reminded him of liquid, or even the most graceful of waves. You were a talented fighter, too. He would have given you an S rate, no doubt.

"I really wish you were human." Haise muttered under his breath, thinking maybe you wouldn't hear.

Sadly, that wasn't the case. Your attacks stopped and you stumbled back a few meters, noticing Kaoru was gone. Good.

Looking back at the man in front of you, you frowned. "Do you really think I never thought of that before?" You asked, slightly hurt. "I wish that same thing everyday. Not only for me, but for all the other pacifist ghouls out there who hate themselves for having to kill to ensure their survivals." You spoke, causing Haise to frown too. "Don't you wish the same for yourself, Sasaki?"

The man nearly dropped his quinque at your words. It seems you hit a nerve there.

"Of course I do." He answered. "But this... This is just my job. I have no choice, or they'll kill me." He apologetically said.

"I understand." You nodded, letting a small smile appear on your face. "Can't bite the hand that feeds you, right? It's alright. But can I ask something of you? From one caretaker to another?"

Haise hesitantly nodded, remembering how he had told you of the quinx squad. It was nice that you did listen after all.

"I'll let you kill me and bring me back. Hell, I can ensure that you can make a quinque out of me if that's what you want, but please, tell them I was the only ghoul causing trouble. Don't let them find Kaoru because you said something, please." You pleaded desperately.

Haise squeezed his mouth shut to avoid saying 'yes' too fast.

He should be respecting your dying wish at least, but... Would the CCG somehow figure out that Sasaki was keeping a part of the truth to himself? Could he really hide a secret like that? Although he knew the child would probably not survive long all alone...

"Alright." The investigator finally said. "I'll let him go and won't tell them about him, I promise."

You let out a huff of relief before lowering your kagune (but still keeping it out) and falling to your knees, nearly crying. "Thank you so much." You muttered. "Although mom and dad'll scold me for leaving him all alone... I hope I'm making the right decision." You whispered to yourself, eyeing the ground as Haise walked closer.

"It's alright." Sasaki reassured, kneeling down to your level. "Your sacrifice will be worth it. You're protecting someone you love, and I admire you for it." He said, slowly positioning the sword-like quinque next to your neck and gazing down at your eyes. "Can you look at me for a second, (Y/N)?" Haise asked sweetly.

You obeyed and tilted your head upwards, (e/c) eyes meeting steel grey.

"Kaoru will live." Haise calmly spoke. "I assure you."

You smiled at his reassuring words as the blade got further from your neck, shaking slightly. "Thank you, Haise." You spoke clearly. "Now it's my turn to complete my part of the deal." You added, seeing the man's hesitation.

He nodded, regripping his quinque in his hands, making sure it would slice completely through to avoid having you go through too much pain.

"I'll see you around?" Sasaki asked, taking a deep breath to ready himself for the unforgivable act he was going to commit.

"Yeah, definitely." You answered. "We still have that date, remember? And you wanted to see me dance a bit more too, right?"

"Right."

"Well, see you around, Haise."

With that, Sasaki swung the weapon with all his might, efficiently cutting your head off your body before backing away, horrified by what he had just done.

The only thing he could hope was that your sacrifice wouldn't be in vain.

NOTE: Headcanon that Kaoru will be a big part of the end of TG lol. The reader's sacrifice was not in vain.