I'm going to chop you up.

"U-um, well—" He desperately tried to recover from his own embarrassment, setting his hands down on the table and taking a deep breath. "I’ve never been in a relationship, but Saiko plays those dating sim games a lot so… I mean, I suppose they do hold hands. Couples go out on dates together to get food as well," He mused, suddenly widening his eyes in surprise, "Which— I guess we’re doing right now. But that’s different since this is for work." 

How on earth would he describe dating? Suddenly, he realized that he was at a loss. 

   ❝ Ah -- -- Hey, Mutsuki-kun, what's a regular friendship like? I know that       probably sounds weird... I've never really had many friends, to be honest.       Interpersonal relationships are pretty confusing to me. ❞

   Such displays of affection, like holding hands, were foreign to him, and only served as a reminder of not-so-pleasant experiences. It would probably worsen in the setting the two would be part of soon, actually. He was lucky the other's expressions changed so often, they provided something else for the investigator to focus on. And the idea of kissing, he wasn't too keen on either, though Suzuya doubted Mutsuki felt much different about the subject. Maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all?

"Y-yeah, it was!" Now this was something he could talk about. It felt good to bring back such a happy memory like going to the beach. "The b-beach is great, the sound and s-smell of it is really peaceful. I l-loved the feel of sand under my feet and inbetween my t-toes. Mom taught me to s-swim that day, and we made s-sandcastles and c-collected lots of pretty seashells."

   ❝ Sand castles? What're those? ❞

"A-associate Special Class Suzuya!" He exclaimed just a little too loudly, his spoon clattering to the table. It wasn’t that he personally objected to the idea of two girls dating, but that the idea had been proposed so suddenly and casually. Heat rose to his cheeks and he took a deep breath, realizing that he had probably overreacted. 

"I— I mean—" He stuttered, embarrassed. Now his embarrassment stemmed from his initial reaction and began to snowball. He tugged at the hem of his shirt, fingers curling tightly around the material. "I don’t have any objections to that idea! You just…surprised me, is all. It’s not really what I expected you to say.” 

   ❝ Hehee~ whaaat? C'mon, it'd be fun! ❞ 

   Honestly Suzuya hadn't expected the other to react in such a shocked manner, and seeing his face flush up elicited an amused giggle from the investigator. Mutsuki sure did get flustered a lot, didn't he? As far as others buying the two being together, well, that was a mystery.

    ❝ That must have been nice... I've never been to the beach, what's it like? ❞

"Thanks.." The air grew silent between the two for a minute. Shifting his weight between his feet he rubs his arm, not sure what to say. The conversation had become incredibly dreary, if it continued Souta knew he’d be in a funk for the next few days. 

    ❝ You too, I guess... ❞

   Anything, huh? Careful Souta, don't let that get to his head. It already took enough self restraint on the investigator's part to keepf from butchering the poor guy who, if he wasn't careful, would soon find himself roped into buying tons of sweets out of seemingly nowhere.

"Um…I definitely don’t want that!" He nodded quickly, shying away from the toxic way in which Suzuya said the owl’s name. Mutsuki had learned a bit about the owl in the CCG Academy, but he didn’t know why Suzuya would sound so particularly hostile when talking about him.

"I’m sure I could try to control it! It’s just…I’m not quite sure how to go about it. I suppose I could ask Sassan!" His confidence in his ability to actually do that wasn’t terribly high, but he was willing to try. For once in his life, it would be nice hot to be useless…

    ❝ Mmm... Actually, I wouldn't go with Haise. I'd ask uhh... Shirazu's his        name, right? With the pointy teeth? I'm sure he'd be able to give you some        tips. But backstories wouldn't really matter, considering they're not going        to care what we'd have to say. They're bidding on your body, not your        past.❞

   From what Suzuya had gathered, Sasaki's past "life" had a rather difficult time controlling the kakugan. It's what prompted the eye-patch, and henceforth his alias, in the first place.

"Ah..I-if that’s what you think.." Souta didn’t want to argue. He didn’t think the other deserved to be putting himself down so much but everyone had regrets and memories that made one feel like that. 

   ❝ He was. ❞

   There was so much more he wanted to say, but he couldn't figure out how to put it into words. Every time he went near the hospital, it got worse.

   Souta's words were met with a shrug. Hard on himself or not, it's the only way he'd ever become a better person.