Although it was 3am, Hanayo was still awake in her apartment on her side of the double bed and as much as she would rather go to sleep right now, she had a bigger issue to worry about.

And that issue was whether or not she could remain awake long enough before Eli came home.

Speaking of the blonde-haired devil, the door opened and slammed shut and when Hanayo didn't hear the click of the door locking, she knew that she was drunk. Hugging into her sheets, she hoped and she hoped and she hoped that Eli would at least pass out in the kitchen before she decided to look for her. Due to luck, that had been the case in the previous two nights of what she had to endure.

"... Hanayo…?"

Tonight was not one of those nights.

"...Hanayo." Shivering at the coldness in her partner's voice, Hanayo couldn't decide whether or not to remain quiet or to show herself. Maybe she would pass out soon…

"Hanayo!? I'm not going to ask again! I will come and fucking find you!" Hearing her words slur, the anger in her voice, the heavy footsteps, Hanayo knew that luck would not be on her side tonight. What would Nozomi say at a time like this?

Swallowing down her nervousness, she slid out from under the covers, when she heard a loud smash of a bottle accompanied by a Russian expletive, freezing her in place. That would only make her mood plummet all the more and Hanayo would have to pay in beatings for the bottle's worth she bet. Continuing onward, she poked her head around the doorframe and flicked on the lights as Eli shielded her eyes and spat out another swear.

"Y-yes Eli-chan?"

"Clean it up. Right now." Eli's stare was instantly on her, burrowing into her and twisting her heart. Not in a love feeling anyway. It hurt her, it truly did to see Eli like this, but she lived with it. She had to. That was the expense of love.

Nodding and turning to go and get footwear, she felt a strong hand grasp her shoulder and spin her away from that direction.

"I said, right now."

Hanayo nodded dumbly as a dustpan and brush was shoved into her hands. Making sure she didn't stumble into the glass at Eli's forcefulness, she crouched down and began to clear up the jagged shards of glass, moving herself timidly. Hearing the cupboard door open, she didn't need to turn around to know that Eli was simply grabbing another bottle.

As much as she hated to keep a bottle of whisky or two in the house, if she threw it out God knows what Eli would do in her inebriated state. As soon as the glass was cleaned up, she grabbed a cloth to wipe up the spilt drink, as Eli drank another behind her.

"Are you done?"

Standing up and disposing of the glass, she turned to Eli who harshly slammed the now half downed bottle onto the counter, eyes half lidded.

"Y-yes…"

"Let me test that you've cleaned up well enough."

Without warning, Eli pushed Hanayo down onto the floor where the bottle shards had once been. For the most part, all of the shards were gone, but a few tiny pieces that had escaped her vision (she wasn't wearing her glasses), dug into her skin and bled. Hoping her slightly slackened effort went unnoticed, Eli narrowed her eyes.

"You're bleeding." It was a statement, not an exclamation of worry or questioning disbelief and growling with anger, she grabbed Hanayo by the collar and pushed her against the wall. Now that she was close enough, Hanayo could smell the scent of alcohol on her breath, foul and overpowering. "Why can't you do anything right?!" Gripping her shoulders in a vice-like grip, Hanayo pushed down tears, knowing that if she were event to show a slight amount of weakness, things would get worse.

"S-sorry…" She felt the grip on her shoulders slacken before she felt a harsh slap across her face, leaving a stinging red mark. Squeezing her eyes shut, she braced for any more attacks.

"You're sorry. What does that mean to me?! It's not, it's not "I'm going to do better," it's "I'm sorry for being pathetic!" Hanayo couldn't bring herself to look into those icy blue eyes, the same eyes that faced her with love every day, but with tears as she apologised relentlessly when sober. It was one of the reasons she stayed, the reason she tolerated this.

She hid her beatings as best she could, even managing to mask their true nature from Eli. Quite often Eli forgot what happened when she was in this state, so she simply said she had a few mishaps. But as things got worse and Eli began to remember what went on during her drunken haze, there was a rather unpleasant confrontation and Eli swore it would never happen again.

But that was the problem with addiction.

It always would happen again.

Luckily for her, the light suddenly left Eli's eyes, and midway through her verbal abuse, she blacked out at Hanayo's feet. With a sigh of relief, she swallowed and stumbled into the bathroom for a moment to survey the damage done by the glass. Unfortunately, she couldn't get the glass out on her own, she would have to ask Eli tomorrow morning. She couldn't go to hospital, but right now she had to clean herself up and carry Eli off the ground to the bed.

Eli was a lot larger than her, so carrying her was no small task, but shifting herself, she managed to lift Eli to slump in the bed on top of the covers. Eli would know the situation when she woke up. Rubbing her stinging cheek and heading into the bathroom yet again, she dabbed at the fresh blood, but she was unable to even reach her back and the majority of the glass embedded in her skin. With a swallow, she collapsed into bed with a dull pain pulsing through various spots on her back.

She reached out, cupping Eli's head and stroking her cheek gently with a bittersweet smile on her face. "I love you."

Author's note: I'm pretty sure Princess Pana came up with this entire fic based on her grief and anger at not getting White Day Hanayo. And guess who lost the bet to write it?