Hung Over

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Her pillow seemed unusually warm this morning. It wasn't unheard of for her to wake up before her alarm clock went off, floating around inside her own head on the fine line between conscious and not. However, this morning proved different, she was much more aware of the comfortable heat that was radiating from her pillow and the fact that it had a strange sent to it. It was not the usual floral sent, but something much more potent. If she didn't know better, she would've sworn it was the musky smell of oil and gunpowder. Her sleep-infested mind blocked the registration of the thought. Instead she nuzzled her face closer to her pillow, enjoying its uncharacteristic warmth. Even with her mind groggy with sleep, she knew that all too soon her alarm would sound.

"Wah, Wake up Kaname! Wah! You're-"

Kaname didn't know what came first, the bang, the sudden lack of heat, or the pain she felt when she was thrown to the floor. In any case, it really didn't matter, for now she was up and awake. Quickly after the second bang, she had already jumped back onto the bed and sent a roundhouse kick to the cacophony's master, sending him flying across her bedroom and crashing into her bedroom door.

"What the hell is the matter with you?" she screamed at the figure that was now lying motionlessly on her floor. "Where do you get off shooting up my alarm clock?"

"My apologies, Chidori. I was not in my best mental state when target sounded and therefore caught me off guard. As a reflex I attacked the target. I was unaware of what the object was until-" Sousuke was silenced by Kaname chucking her pillow at his face.

"You idiot! Can you not even wake up without shooting something?" she screamed as she threw another pillow at him. She then stopped her attack to and realized that it was Sousuke who she was sleeping on, she felt her face flush.

"Chidori-" he was cut short by a crack from Kaname's halisen.

"Sousuke, you idiot, what do you think you're doing in my bedroom?" Kaname shouted as she lined up her halisen once more.

"That hurt."

There was another crack.

"Shut up and tell me what are...are...oh,"

Kaname began to swoon back and forth with dizziness. In a flash, Sousuke was behind her and keeping her steady.

"I...don't feel very well." she whispered, rubbing her now throbbing temples.

"That is to be expected."

"Expected? Expected after...augh," Kaname felt her stomach churn and the bile rise up in her throat. She dashed to the bathroom and proceeded to heave whatever resided in her stomach into the toilet. She felt Sousuke holding back her hair.

"As awful as it feels," Sousuke explained. "Vomiting is actually good for you because it permits your body to quickly dispose of some of the alcohol in your system."

"Alco-" Kaname was unable to finish without vomiting once more.

"Yes, alcohol. Also, if you feel that you're going to vomit, don't fight it."

Obviously, Kaname's body was not giving her such an option as she puked her brains out into the toilet. After was seemed an eternally, she melted into a pile of mush on the tile floor, resting her throbbing head against the coolness of the toilet.

"Feeling better?" Sousuke asked.

"No. I feel like I'm going to die."

"Negative, you are simply experiencing a hangover."

"What? A hangover?"

"Affirmative, Hangovers are basically a mild and temporary version of what drug addicts suffer when they experience withdrawals."

Kaname sighed, "But I don't drink."

"Correct, however it would seem that someone had added a large amount of alcohol to the contents of the fruit punch during Kyouko's birthday party."

Kaname tried to remember the events of her best friend's party the night before, but all she could remember were bits and pieces. She couldn't recall doing anything embarrassing that would effect her position as class representative or her vice presidency.

"Do you know who did it?" she asked.

"Yes and the consequences for his actions are none of your concerns."

"He's not dead is he?"

"Negative. I kept him alive for your sake."

"How thoughtful," she rolled her eyes. Her head hurt too much for her to yell at him. "I didn't do anything stupid, did I?"

"Negative. All you did was dance and laugh with Kyouko and the others. However," at this point he whipped out a small note book and began to read out its contents. "At 1900 hours, I saw that most of the students were acting in a peculiar way. By 1940 hours I was able to trace the behavior to the punch. By 1950 hour I had finished testing the beverage I noticed the high amount of alcohol concentration inside. Therefore, I quickly took you home before you did anything you would regret later on. I had you home by no later than 2030 hours."

"Oh...thanks." she whispered as she closed her eyes, leaning her forehead against the toilet once again. "I don't remember drinking that much though."

"You must have a low tolerance for alcohol consumption."

"Shut up," she hissed. "My head is killing me."

"Headaches are another common hangover symptom. The headaches you are experiencing are a result of dehydration of the brain. And since your brain is dehydrated, a number of other symptoms may also occur due to your brain's inability to function properly; these include dizziness-"

"I said shut up!" His long explanations were getting on her nerves, and with the little energy she had left, she hit him with the halisen.

"...and irritability."

She managed to pull herself up and off of the floor with the help of the sink. She stood motionlessly as she waited for her knees to stop shaking. Sousuke remained on the floor and looked up at her, "Do you need any assistance?"

"No thanks," she spat, and then realization hit her and she turned to the military maniac quickly. "What day is it?"

"Sunday."

"Oh crap, I have to get to work!" Kaname quickly turned, but felt the room turn with her. Sousuke was ready for such and stood quickly, catching her before she fell.

"It's not a problem," he promised. "I already called in for you and told them of your circumstances"

"You told them I was hung over?!" she screamed, about to hit him again.

"I told them you were suffering from food poisoning. They say it was fine and that many of the students from your school were calling in about such conditions."

Satisfied with his answer, she rested her head against his chest and enjoyed the musky smell of his clothes. "That doesn't explain why you were in my room this morning."

"In any case," Sousuke announced, ignoring her comment. "When you go to sleep with a high amount of alcohol in your system, your brain is unable achieve the relaxation it needs. So it's safe to say that the fatigue and drowsiness you're feeling is a sign that your brain did not get the rest it so desperately needs."

"Sousuke? Why are you acting so weird all of a sud-ACK!" Kaname squealed as Sousuke picked her up and swung him into his arms bridal style and lead her back into her bedroom, sitting her down gently on her bed. He covered her with her blankets and tucked her in a little too tight, most likely to keep her from getting up and hitting him.

"Here, take these." he said handing her two aspirins and an extremely large bottle of water. She took the aspirins greedily and handed him the oversized water bottle when she was done, but he wouldn't accept it.

"Drink it."

"All of it?!"

"Affirmative."

"Sousuke," she whined, eyeing the bottle. "There's no way I can drink all of this!"

The young man took a deep breath, "Alcohol acts as a diuretic, so the more you drink, the more water your body will need to dilute the toxin. The water needs to come from somewhere, so if you don't drink water your body will start depriving other organs in your body from water, including your brain. The headaches you experience are a result of-"

"Alright! Alright! I'm drinking it!" Kaname yelled as she began to chug down the bottle in loud, unladylike gulps. When she was done she exhaled loudly and turned to the solider sitting patiently at her bedside. "God, you sound like a Health textbook."

He remained silent and she closed her eyes and leaned against her pillow.

"I stayed last night...because you asked me to."

Kaname slowly opened her eyes and faced Sousuke. His face had its usual serious look, only this time it seems as if it was just a show for her benefit.

"I did?" she asked, turning on her side and facing him. "So...then you just stayed with me?"

He nodded, "I told you...I'll always be here when you need me."

Kaname scoffed, "Yeah, famous last words."

His face softened, "Kaname..."

"No, Sousuke, you gave me that same load of bull the last time, remember?" she bit her lip, knowing she let out too much. "Look, just forget it. I didn't mean it, okay? I'm just mad because my head is killing me."

Sousuke's head dropped, as she turned away from him and closed her eyes hard. She didn't even want to think of looking at him, she knew she should've just kept her big mouth shut.

"You said that to me last night," he murmured, but she did her best to ignore him. "You said that you hated me for leaving you and...I don't blame you. I hate myself for that too, and I understand your lack of faith. However, I will somehow get you to reconsider."

"It won't be easy, trust is one of those things that is easy to lose and hard earn back."

"I understand, and I'm ready to do whatever it takes to earn your trust again."

"Is that why you stayed with me?" she sighed, still turned away from him. "To prove some sort of point?"

"No," he said. "To show you that I'll always be here for you. That I...won't leave you like that ever again."

There was a heavy silence between them and soon she rolled over to face him again. Her brown eyes seemed tired, "You know...even if you do, I'll just come after you and drag your no good ass right back here. Just like I did in Hong Kong."

"You won't have to," he assured her. "I learned from that last beating to never do that again."

"At least something got through that thick head of yours," she smiled and scooted over, patting a place next to her on her bed for him to lie down.

Sousuke gulped nervously as he lay down next to her, she felt how rigid his body was and smiled.

"I'm too tired to beat you up, Sergeant Sabotage," she yawned as she rested her head on his warm chest again. "Enjoy this freedom before I come to my senses."

His body slowly relaxed and with a sigh Kaname was nearly asleep.

"Just because you're on my good side now doesn't mean you're off the hook,"

He looked down at her with a confused expression.

"You still owe me a new alarm clock."