Shape of My Heart Chapter 3: The Morning After

Hey, and yo. Nothing much to say this time, so I wont keep you waiting! Enjoy!

"I didn't think drinking could hurt this much..."

Each and every word felt like a drop of acid on her tongue.

It was honestly surprising, how each spoken syllable sent another jolt of pure agony down her spine like a spear of lightning. If this was what drinking was like, then may the high heavens save alcoholics from being forced to endure this damnable fate each and every morning.

Jeez, no wonder they were always grumpy.

"First time?"

It was Asuna's scratchy voice that answered her rhetorical question, it's melodic tones somehow smooth as silk, despite their owner rousing from her own slumber only minutes beforehand.

"Yeah..."

"Don't worry, you don't have a bad one. Y'just drank on an empty stomach." The chestnut haired beauty gently mumbled as she padded across the carpet, nursing a small cup of black coffee, "The headache'll go away in a few hours."

"Joy..."

Yuuki sighed, giving her neck a satisfying crack as she turned her attention to the muted TV by the wall.

"...I guess running's not an option, huh?" She mumbled, uninterestedly watching the silent new anchor drone on about the whether for the day in what seemed to be a far-too-enthusiastic fashion.

"No. It's not." The chestnut haired woman replied simply after a sip of her beverage, her own eyes locked upon the flashing screen, "Especially not with a hangover weighing you down."

"You'll just shoot me if I try to escape."

"Yes...I will."

"So, even after last night, I'm just a hostage."

"You aren't a hostage."

"Then let me go."

"I can't."

"That makes me a hostage."

"...If that's how you want to see it, then I can't stop you."

Yuuki found herself hesitate as her gaze drifted over to the woman.

Despite the argument still fresh- still dancing upon the top of her tongue like the flame of a candle- Asuna's hypnotically calm voice never seemed to fail in its task of disarming her; like some soothing magical spell, curtly snuffing out the embers of resistance smoldering within her.

Maybe that's why she was able to consistently get a word in edgewise with Mr. Personality.

"...What're my options?" Yuuki finally inquired, wiping away her bangs which clung stubbornly to her clammy forehead.

"You stay here. Enjoy yourself." Asuna jerked her head towards a nearby doorway on the far end of the rather spacious hotel room; the doorway to the bathroom. "Have a warm shower. It's nice."

"I have to work."

"You have bigger things to worry about."

"Like you?"

"Yeah."

Well that was about as subtle as a kick to the throat, Yuuki thought.

As the two spoke, the violet haired woman inevitably found herself staring out the window, out at the dazzling morning sun beating down upon the bustling city below.

Hopefully Aiko hadn't taken her sudden silence personally. Heck, hopefully her phone hadn't gone and vanished altogether. She'd left it more or less completely unattended under her podium, and if even one or two sticky fingered guests had become a mite curious about the podium's contents, well-... That phone was about as good as gone.

"You're still afraid."

"...I am."

"I'm sorry..." Asuna's apology- at the very least- seemed sincere, if nothing else, "If it's any consolation, I don't want to hurt you."

"And your boyfriend?"

"He thinks you're attractive, at least."

"How can you tell?"

Asuna merely shrugged as she pulled a robe, that looked to be worth more money than Yuuki made in a week, over her porcelain skin, offering up a wry smile.

"So...I'm just a 'thing' for t'you two to yank around, then?" Yuuki huffed, pursing her lips in frustration at the nonchalant behavior of her captor.

"Do you want t'be?"

"No."

"Then how about our lover?"

"What sort of people keep their lovers hostage on a whim?"

"People like us."

"So you are gonna hurt me."

"I didn't say that."

"But you meant it..."

"..."

"..."

"...Alright, fine," Asuna sighed, "I'll talk to-..."

"No need."

"Kazuto!..."

Oh, good. Sunshine was awake.

"There's no need to keep her here." The man of the hour continued, pulling himself up to a sitting position, "She's just a waitress."

"And what she saw?"

"It's fine. We know exactly who she is, now. And besides, she didn't see a thing-..." Kazuto mumbled as his calloused fingertips gently ran along Yuuki's flank, sending a nervous shiver down her spine, "Did you?"

"No." Yuuki swallowed the lump in her throat as she glanced over to the man, "I didn't."

Silence passed over the hotel room as Kazuto gave a satisfied nod, pulling himself from the bed to yank an old t-shirt over his head.

Wasting no time, he quickly made his way over to his bag to pull out various devices that all sprung to life in a matter of moments, displaying a myriad of what appeared to be unread emails from the night before that brought a dissatisfied frown to the raven haired man's lips.

"...So, what'm I supposed to do, now?" Yuuki finally asked as the young man went about his morning rituals.

"Move on." He answered simply, accepting a freshly brewed cup of coffee from Asuna, not even bothering to glance up at either of the two women.

"Move on? Just...forget all that's happened?"

"Is that a problem?" His gaze only broke away from the screen for a moment, yet that moment was more than long enough to amplify the dangerous tone that carried his words.

"...I-..."

I'm not sure.

Kazuto's steely gaze snapped over to Asuna, who merely gave him a small shrug.

Meanwhile, Yuuki found her own gaze trailing down to the snow-white sheets concealing her form as she let out an exhausted sigh.

In 24 hours she'd been drugged by a kiss, bound to a vow of silence with the barrel of a gun, became inebriated for the very first time, and spent the night with two of the strangest people she'd ever met; all culminating in a splitting headache that threatened to send tears down her cheeks- as long as the stress didn't accomplish that first.

...God, work was going to be killer today.

"What th'hell?..."

"Yeah."

"We left you alone for a day, Yuuk!..." A silver haired woman, dressed in the same overly gaudy outfit as Yuuki had been the night before, exclaimed as she twirled a set of keys on her finger, "How in the heck did you even manage to pull all that off in a day?!"

"If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you guys what I'm supposed to do."

"I'm not exactly sure," A blue haired woman, also grabbed in the casino's ridiculous outfit mumbled, leaned against the break room table with a huff, "I'm not exactly a whizz with guys, and Yuna's been steady with her fiancé more'r less since highschool."

"Shino's right," The silver haired woman, Yuna, added as her ruby red eyes danced down to Yuuki's disheveled outfit, "I know people flirt with us a lot, but you're kinda supposed to deny'em."

"'Kay, fair. But what should I do?" Yuuki asked, glancing between the two rather frantically, "Any ideas? Anyone? Idea mailbox is open, here."

"It sounds t'me like they just want you to move on." Yuna surmised, casually toying with a few strands of her shimmering silver hair, "So move on."

Yuuki couldn't help but to roll her eyes, "How the heck do I do that?"

"I dunno." Shino's monotone voice rang out once again, "Chances are you won't even see'm again, so I wouldn't worry about it."

"Yeah, guess you're right."

The relative peace that settled over the trio was soon shattered as a small chime echoed throughout the break room, signaling a guest's presence by the podium.

"Great... Guess breaktime's over." Shino sighed as she gently pushed herself away from the shoddily built little table, "Y'wanna take this one, Yuuki?"

"I'm not exactly lookin' A+ right now-..."

"So? Were you just planning on hiding back here for your entire shift?"

Well, Shino said it, not her.

"Yuuki, I don't like the look on your face..." The underlying threat in the azure haired woman's statement was clear; nearly rivaling Kazuto's terrifyingly calm tone.

"...Fiiiine." Yuuki relented.

What's the worst that could happen? Certainly nothing on the caliber of the night before. Just deal with a few extra 'hygiene' comments, alongside the usual lecherous ones, that would no doubt fly her way.

Of course when they finally got a nice, long view of the man standing before the podium, every cell in Yuuki's body simultaneously screamed out in contempt for whatever little sliver in the universe had it out for her.

'What's the worst that could happen?'

Kazuto. Kazuto was just about the worst that could happen.

There he was, standing there like the smug, arrogant sociopath he was, clutching onto a small black and purple smartphone that-...

Wait... Was that her phone?!

"Oh, yeah. I forgot for a sec, there-..." Yuuki finally hissed as she clenched her jaw, resisting the urge to cast her friends upon the man in her stead, "You two're never right..."