Hitomi awoke in her own room the next day, and along with the familiarity came a splitting headache. She slowly arose and rubbed at her throbbing temples. She looked at her bedside table and saw a silver tray with a little bottle of aspirin and a nice glass of water. Hitomi smiled, through her pain and took one extra pill from her lack of thinking skills. The headache dulled but lingered enough for Hitomi to become aware that that wasn't the only part of her body that ached. Her shoulder throbbed and so did her wrist. Her left ankle surprisingly was sore, but not as bad as her head and shoulder. She groaned slightly and put both of her feet out of her bed and on the floor, like she would any other morning. Problem was, when she tried to stand up, she collapsed to the floor. She winced a bit as she landed on the ankle that hurt a bit, but nothing she couldn't handle. She pulled herself up with her bed and managed to stay standing.

As she started to put one foot out to start walking, she heard multiple footsteps run up the stairs and Yukari's face was the first one she saw before she fell to the floor. Her shoulders were caught by strong arms and those arms scooped her into a warm embrace. She curled up into the solid chest of the arms who carried her and refused to let go when the arms laid her on the bed. She clung to the red shirt and got even more comfortable in the arms so that no matter what way the arms moved her, she wouldn't budge. The owner of the arms gave up and started petting her head affectionately and she looked up. She was once again struck by the familiarity of the deep ruby eyes that looked back into hers.

The boy smiled and laid down with her on the bed. Hitomi curled up like a cat in his arms, feeling rather content there, and gently closed her eyes.
"Thank god she's all right." Hitomi heard Yukari's voice whisper.

"Van, why do you think she reacted to you like that?" another familiar voice was heard. Hitomi figured it was Millerna's.

The arms shrugged. "It's probably the drugs, makin her mind all hazy and such." The voice said from above Hitomi.

"Are you two gonna stay like that all day? Van, you still have to go to school." A new voice purred with aggravation.

"Maybe Merle. I can miss school for a day. Besides, it looks like she's waking up."

Hitomi looked up slightly and when she looked over the face of who was holding her, she screamed and jumped to the floor. She suddenly realized how cold it was without his embrace, but she didn't want to gain a reputation by sleeping in the arms of her next door neighbor. She quickly stood up, finding it easier once the aspirin had kicked in, and brushed off the nightgown someone had changed her into. Van, Amano, Yukari, and Millerna were all cracking up. The only one not laughing was the pink haired girl from the party.

Hitomi found an empty chair and took in a deep breath. "How long have I been out cold?" she asked, her voice still a little hoarse. She took the water and sipped down some more.

"A week and two days." The cat girl answered. She was glaring directly at Hitomi and Hitomi shifted uncomfortably.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice a little better.

"You slipped on a puddle of something at the party and hit your head against the tipped over table. You got drugged with way too much anesthetic and pain killers by Van's dumbass brother…."

"MERLE!! THAT IS ENOUGH! NOW GO!" Van, who had shot up to his feet, had a cool look on his face, but his eyes were smoldering with rage. The girl named Merle sulked out of the room and Van collapsed against the bed, staring into nothingness. Hitomi was interrupted out of her stare at Yukari's calm voice.

"You did hit your head, and the reason you stayed unconscious was because you hit the far back of you head with the edge of the table. If Van here hadn't caught you in time, you probably would be paralyzed." Yukari was the ideal vision of a zombie from her obvious lack of sleep. She had black and blue bags under her eyes and her normally perfect hair and composer was now strewn and tangled due to worry. Hitomi smiled lightly at her friend.

"Did you stay up, Yukari? Why don't you sleep?" Yukari nodded thankfully and crawled into Hitomi's bed where she was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Everyone chuckled and Van moved away so she could rest. Amano pulled the covers over her shoulders and patted her back affectionately. Hitomi sensed some form of feeling between the two, but couldn't tell what. This would be something she would later regret.

"Hitomi, why don't you come downstairs. We need to get you something to eat." Millerna suggested. Hitomi nodded and helped herself out of the chair. With the help of Amano and Van, she made her way out the door and halfway down the stairs.

What she saw in the living room was more than she could bare and she let out a gasp and fell into Amano's gentle arms.