I wrote this for the Tumblr tkgvalentine exchange, which I had signed up for weeks ago. My giftie wanted SasakixTouka, so I wrote one for him/ her. I tried to add all the elements he/she likes about the ship and the things he/she wanted to see in her fic too, with a few little twists and ideas of my own. You know what they say; the best stories are the ones that contain parts of you. ;D

I've never done an exchange before, so I was very exited about this. I kept thinking and thinking how I would write this. I had ideas, but I just needed to connect the dots, but that's something I'm always struggling with when I'm writing something.

I uploaded this story on Tumblr a view days ago and I wanted to wait till Valentine's day until I posted it on FanFiction. No offence guys, I just thought that my giftie should read it first. XD Honestly, I hardly do anything on Tumblr, except for re-blogging and such... maybe I'll post my other fanfics there too, when I'm not lazy.

Alright! On with the one-shot!

Story for senju-swag from Tumblr.

Oh, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Forever

He woke up again, covered in sweat, panting as if he had been running for days, his heart matched the tempo of his frantic breaths. His hands were trembling, even if he knew it wasn't real, even though he knew it was just a dream, he just couldn't shake away that feeling that had trapped his whole body, because…

"It was that dream again…"

The dream about the strange man with the odd mask, it always came accompanied with images of events he didn't recall, no matter how often the dream happened, whenever he woke up the images were gone, the people with the blurry faces and places, he couldn't recall them. The only thing that he couldn't forget was the white-haired man, or was it a monster? It didn't matter, because he knew that it was his past self haunting him, crawling against his ear, trying to get out. The feeling of those black-nailed hands intertwining with his fingers and the frantic whisper of the man in his ear still lingered.

Give it back to me! Give me back my body! Give me back my life! Return her to me!

Sasaki quickly shook his head, hoping to get the images and feelings away off his mind.

"It's okay, it was just a dream, you're still Sasaki Haise; Rank 1 Ghoul investigator of the Mado squad and mentor of the Quinx. Everything is still the same…"

He almost lost his breath when he saw those black nails on his fingers, after a gasp and frantic blinking for a few seconds, he took another glance, only to find his nails completely normal.

The man groaned. "Get it together Haise, you've hardly had any sleep the last couple of weeks!"

Sasaki stared at his clock; it was 3:43 a.m. in the morning. He guessed that he'd start another day without any proper rest, which frustrated him even more, because of all the days, he had hoped this day he wouldn't walk around like a zombie, because it was not just any ordinary day, it was February the 14th; Valentine's Day. A day he had promised to dedicate to a very special person.

After another glance at the clock Sasaki closed his eyes, hoping the dream wouldn't return.

10:00 a.m. -

Sasaki stood in front the train station. Fumbling with his clothes, hoping he would look perfect. Being the busy man that he was, he had hardly any free time. A ghoul investigator is almost 24 hours a day busy and takes every free minute for granted. Luckily, he had a day off today of all days, which he decided to spend it with his girlfriend. Which was, why he made sure to get up early, so he could enjoy was much time with her as possible. He was the man who'd never arrive late for a date or appointment.

The half-ghoul was still nervous, he had been planning this for weeks. Looking for activities they could do, where, not only a place they could enjoy, but also where he didn't risk the chance that she'd find out about his half-ghoul identity. Which scrapped every restaurant and other places that involved human food. The irony, the most obvious choices for Valentine's day were out of the question for him.

10:15 a.m. -

Fifteen minutes late, maybe she missed her bus and had to wait for the next one? The man held his hopes up, it wasn't the first time she arrived a bit late, due to some inconveniences on the way.

10:30 a.m. -

Sasaki frowned; it's half an hour past their meeting time and there was no sign of the girl. They had definitely agreed to meet at 10:00 strict and it was his girlfriend who decided the time.

10:45 a.m. -

He stared at his watch and sighed. No excuses, she's just late… Again. He felt a bit embarrassed, he stood for 45 minutes in front of the station and he was sure people were going him odd looks.

11.00 a.m. -

"Hey!"

The ghoul investigator turned around. A woman around the age of 20, with short dark-blue hair and her right eye covered by her bangs stood behind him.

"You're late… Again Touka." Sasaki commented.

Touka didn't answer. She just gave him a peck on his cheek and took his hands. "So, where do you plan to take me?"

Touka, a woman who works at the coffee shop Sasaki frequented. She, together with her brother run the place and in the male's opinion, they had the best coffee.

From the moment he laid his eyes on the waitress he was infatuated with her. But decided to admire her from afar. She approached him once, asking him about his job and since that moment they started to converse more and grew closer, until Sasaki finally had the guts to ask her out.

To be honest, she was one of the reasons why he decided to return to the shop.

Sasaki only smiled at her question. "It's a surprise."

"… Uhh, is this the surprise?" Touka asked as she stared at the coffee shop they were standing in front of.

"It's part of the surprise."

"Coffee?" She raised her eyebrow. "We could have gone to re if you wanted coffee."

"Ah, no that's not it." Sasaki explained. "You know I used to visit various coffee shops, back when I was still a second rank investigator. Because I wanted to find the best coffee ever. I evaluated every coffee and compared them to the other's I've tried and from that I've made my top ten coffee shop lists."

A smile appeared on the woman's face. "Is that so?" She asked playfully. "And what rank is Re?"

"First of course."

"That's a good answered." She said as she leaned in and kissed him on the lips gently, before taking a step. "Well then, Mr. coffee investigator. Let's see how good your list is."

Sasaki was still dazed into the kiss. No matter how often they kissed, he was still drawn in to it. Her kisses were so intoxicating for him and for some reason it gave him this strange feeling in his stomach, as if he was close to find something precious he had lost. "S-sure…" He stammered as he followed inside.

The rest of the day went smoothly. The couple would visit every coffee shop the half-ghoul had visited. They would tell their opinion of the coffee, laugh and leave to do something else.

By the time they had gone through Sasaki's list they were sitting in the park, laughing.

"No, seriously, it was horrible, it felt like they hadn't crushed the beans well enough, I could have bought the beans myself and swallow them. It would be just the same." Touka grinned.

"Mine was fine, the texture and between the water and coffee is great. It's not too much and it doesn't lack either."

"I'm the expert here." The woman reminded him playfully. "I've been doing this since I was a teenager."

"What about the last one?"

"It was alright. Not the best, but not horrible either. The flavour was a bit bland, but I've had worse."

"I liked coffee number three the most." Haise commented. "It was the most harmonious in flavour."

"7,4, 5, 8, 1, 9, 6, 10, 2 and 3 for me."

Sasaki put a fake hurt expression. "How mean, you're practically saying I have no taste."

"Almost, you at least recognise some good coffee." She smirked.

"I have to agree that 2 is one of my least favourite, it's like you're drinking some coffee flavoured dirt."

"Worse than that!" She agreed.

"So, how about another round?"

"What? You still want to visit more?"

"Uhm, no, not the coffee, you're probably full now. I had a few different places in store. But first put this on." He said as he took out a blindfold.

"What are you planning?" The woman asked as she raised her eyebrow.

"Just put it on, please?" The man begged.

Touka sighed and wrapped fold around her head.

Sasaki smiled as he placed his hands on her shoulder and silently guided her to their next destination.

Touka wasn't really nervous about where she was going, her senses prevented her, but she couldn't tell her boyfriend that. After about twenty minutes they came to a halt. The blue-haired woman tried to glance around, curiosity for the better of her.

"We're here!" The man announced as he took off her blindfold.

The woman opened her eyes and gasped in amazement. They were in a garden, filled with bunnies. They came in different types and colours; from small, to big, to hairy, black, grey, with spots and many more. There was a carpet in the middle, with a crystal vase and flowers, that varied from species. Next to the vase laid a basket. Touka paled slightly at the sight of the basket, but she hid it quickly.

"I was able to arrange this for today." He smiled as he took Touka's hand and guided her to the centre, where they sat down. "Do you like it?"

The woman was staring at a rabbit that was hopping around near them. She picked it up gently and petted it. "I love it." She whispered as she turned to her boyfriend and leaned in for a deep kiss, which the man returned eagerly. Faint ringing noises were at the back of his mind, but he ignored it. He was too occupied with the woman next to him.

They broke apart, her smile still present as she gave a peck on his forehead. "This is the sweetest thing someone has ever done for me."

"Thanks, make sure to take good care of it."

"Huh?" The woman blinked a few times, wondering if she had understood what he said.

"The rabbit." Sasaki points. "It's a deliverer and a present at the same time."

Touka held the bunny in front of her face. Her expression turned from confused and curious to aghast and speechless. Her eyes were wide and her face turned pale; almost as if she saw a ghost.

The bunny was wearing a belt with a bunny keychain attached to it.

"I don't know why, but I thought you would like it… The keychain… I'm not sure why, but before I realized what I was doing I had purchased it…" The half-ghoul mumbled uncomfortably. The ringing from before had returned, louder and he swore he could hear that voice, yelling faintly in his mind.

Touka hadn't noticed anything, her eyes glued on the innocent object as tears fell down her cheeks. "You idiot…" She mumbled softly.

"Is everything alright?" Sasaki asked his girlfriend in concern. "If you don't like it, I can always return it."

The woman shook her head. "No, it's fine. I love it." She mumbles as she looked back at him. Her eyes showed the same painted expression as the one he saw during their first meeting. "Thank you for doing this for me." She mumbled.

She hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go of Sasaki so soon. The ghoul investigator himself, was too busy with his own thoughts. He didn't know why, but he felt an immense pain in his chest and before he knew it he was also crying. "I'm sorry. I didn't keep my promise."

It was around seven when the two arrived at Sasaki's apartment. Touka was a bit nervous, but Sasaki insisted on coming along. He inserted his keys and opening the door.

"Maman, where have you been? I'm hungry."

"Maman?" Touka repeated, she eyed her boyfriend suspiciously, who in return just sweat dropped and told her that he'd explain later.

The blue-haired woman entered the apartment, to see a girl with two pigtails, laying on the couch with a Nintendo 3DS. The girl looked up from her game console at Touka and eyed her suspiciously. "Who is this?"

"Saiko, this is Touka. The person I was talking about."

"You mean the one who makes you daydream every second to the point where you forget to prepare us a meal?"

The man nodded awkwardly. "Uhm, yeah…"

Saiko stood up and walked up to Haise's girlfriend. She kept staring, which made the woman slightly uncomfortable.

"N-nice to meet you. I'm Yomo Touka." She said, as she extended her hand.

Saiko stared at the hand before taking it. "Yonebayashi Saiko, I like manga, games, anime. In currently playing Pokémon Omega Ruby Zelda Unrivaled and Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts 1.5. The manga I'm following are Akatsuki Yona, Magi, POCKET MONSTER SPECIAL, Akame ga kill, Kurenai ouji, Kill la kill…"

Sasaki quickly covered the girl's mouth. "Ehehe, Saiko why don't you go upstairs and continue playing in your room? I'll bring you some snacks later."

The girl nodded happily as she waved before disappearing behind the door.

"She's one of the people you're mentoring?" The woman asked.

The ghoul investigator nodded. "Yeah, she isn't very motivated, but it's not her fault. She's a good girl."

"And very enthusiastic with her… Interests." The blue-haired woman added. "Are the others also here?"

"Urie is training and Tooru and Shizaru went to the mall." The half-ghoul answered as he went to the kitchen to prepare some coffee and snacks for Saiko.

"Is it alright if I leave the rabbit on the floor?"

"Yeah, just make sure the little guy doesn't chew on the cables."

Touka nodded. She gently put the little animal on the ground and let it roam around the house.

Sasaki joined the girl on the couch after he brought the snacks upstairs. He turned on the TV while Touka held his hand in hers. "This is nice." She mumbled.

The man only nodded in agreement. "I really enjoyed our date."

"Thanks again for the present."

"It was my pleasure."

They stayed quiet for a while, just enjoying each other's warmth and presence. They didn't need anything more than that for now. Touka sighed and rested her head on Sasaki's shoulder. "You know… No matter what happens… I will still love you… All of you… Forever."

The words for some reason stung. The ghoul investigator didn't know why, but he felt tears surfacing again. The ringing in his head returned. He wondered… If his memories would return… Would he also forget his feelings for Touka? He didn't want to think about it. He treasured what they had now. She was part of his life and vice versa, he couldn't imagine a life without her. "Me too… no matter what happens… I will also love you forever." He whispered.

Their eyes met, filled with love and affection, they gazed at each other, until they closed their distance like magnets. A kiss filled with passion and made their worries wash away. Touka opened her mouth and Sasaki quickly took the opportunity to slit his tongue throw to deepen their kiss. The blue-haired woman moaned in pleasure. Their tongues danced around each other playfully and after a while they broke apart for air. Touka looked up at her boyfriend and gave him a peck on his forehead.

The white/ black-haired man looked at her sadly. He didn't know why, but it seemed like the feeling had gotten worse. 'Why am I feeling like this?'

The woman rested her head back on his should and closed her eyes. Sasaki stroked her hair gently, his mind drifting away from reality. The last thing he could remember waste same sad smile she showed during their first encounter before everything went black.

I promise, won't leave you again.

Gotta love those small fluffy moments scrambled with the angst and funny moments! I just had to add some of the old essence that Kuroneki and Touka had... the arriving late part. XD Of course Sasaki reacts different to that than Kuroneki. But still, Touka stays Touka! Btw: has anyone ever wondered if ghouls could be allergic to something, except human food and drinks- the coffee?

Thank you for reading. The people who are following It Starts with a Question, I'm planning to post another chapter today, so get your chocolates ready! I'm in the middle of grammar checking it. So it should be up soon. Of course it depends on what part of the world you're living, for some people it'll be on the same day, for the others it's the next day.

Please leave a review and well see you later, in a view minutes, probably hours!