Kaname woke with a pounding headache. Even the sunlight seemed more painful than usual. She tried standing once, fell back on her bed, tried again, this time falling on the floor.

"Urrrrrrrr..." It seem even words were a problem today. After realizing the carpet did not taste very good, she managed to get on her knees.

"Uh, so far so good..." Next up one foot, then the other. She finally stood there, swaying a bit from side to side, until she felt confident enough to walk out of her bedroom.

"Sosuke..." It took her a while to remember he should still be sleeping. She turned in the general direction of the couch, but there was no Sosuke. There were, however roses in a vase and chocolate on the table as well as eggs and bacon with toast. When did he have time to ... and where is he?

Moving to the table, she found a small card.

I had to run errands today. Will be home late.

And I am sorry, Kaname.

What was he sorry for? She had yelled at him. But this was classic Sosuke. He never blamed anyone but himself.

"Oh Sosuke, you bought me flowers ... how romantic!" she squealed to the table.

Pain in her head lessening, her heart slightly aflutter, she got ready for work, ate the breakfast and scooped some chocolate for snack later in her purse. She didn't notice she was humming happily as she left for work.

The train ride was uneventful, and it seemed to pass faster than usual. Even the sun seem cheerful. She got off at her stop, passed the shops near her work, went through security, and sat down at her desk.

Her coworkers seem unusually interested in how she was doing.

"Are you okay?" "Did you get home last night fine?" "How was everything?"

Her first thought was that this had something to do with Sosuke. But she shook her head. "No way! Not Sosuke!" Then she thought about it, and her smile faltered. Truth be told, she did not remember much of last night. There was karaoke, then drinks, then … It was hazy after that. A fragment of something, a dream perhaps, of her and Sosuke at a park, of her laying on his lap and hhim saying something ...

Ruyji Takani gave her the puzzle piece she needed to put the final nail in the coffin of her wonderful day.

"Hey, are you okay?" he said, voice full of concern.

"W-what do you mean?" she replied with a nervous laugh.

"You don't remember? I guess you were pretty wasted. But still, to not remember an attack like that."

"An attack like what?" Her voice was suddenly dark. She remembered the card. I am sorry, Kaname. Not really sure she wanted to know, but Ruyji was probably going to tell her anyways.

"Last night at karaoke we got attacked! Some crazy dude in black and wearing a mask blew up the door and then threw a grenade, twice! And if that wasn't bad enough, he gassed us! Tear gas! I was crying and coughing until morning!"

"Oh really?" Kaname's angry tone was lost on Ryuji as he kept going.

"Yeah, it was a mess, and then when everything cleared, you weren't there. We were worried you had been abducted or something. Thank God you're okay."

"Oh, I'm fine, I just walked home." Kaname tried to brush it off with another unconvincing laugh. Ruyji's eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"Oh really?" he said.

"Yes, you know, nice walk to clear your head and all that! Ha ha!"

"Well, I'm glad you're okay. You know, I don't even hear any roughness to you voice." he told her.

Now that she thought about it, Ruyji and a few others sounded hoarse. But not her. Her thoughts were broken as Ryuji walked away. She went back to her computer.

That idiot!

it all made sense now. The roses, the chocolates, the note. He wasn't running errands, he was just plain running.

Coward! Idiot!

She spent the rest of the morning typing while muttering "idiot" and thinking of ways to kill Sosuke. The nerve of the guy. I'm a little bit late, and he goes and blows up an entire building! She was sure it was him. Come to think of it, she had not a scratch on her. This was definitely his doing.

Lunch came and she went to the vending machine to get something to eat. It was in a back part of the office, a bit isolated. As she had just finished getting her lunch, Ruyji Tanaki showed up. It was just the two of them.

"You know," he told her, "everyone was still in the room when the smoke cleared, but not you."

He went on. "And a few people saw the attacker carrying a woman with long hair. In fact, one person said he was carrying her very carefully. And guess what? Here you are today, not a scratch on you."

"Well, I really don't remember anything from last night."

"Really?" he answered skeptically.

"Really. If you will excuse me, I have to back to work now."

She slipped by him and went back to her desk. What she didn't see was Ryuji Takani flipping open his cell and making a call.

"Yeah, give me any information we got on Kaname Chidori." he told the voice on the phone.

Sosuke was not running errands. He was just running. He had been neglecting his workout routine due to his work schedule, but the truth of the matter was he was worried. He knew he screwed up, and badly. Thankfully life in Tokyo was much more forgiving of mistakes than the battles he had called home for so long.

His job was another matter. He had not shown up for work last night. He still hadn't slept at all, but it was too late. His supervisors, Bob and Bill, had left instructions to only bother them at work. He really did not know if he still had a job or not.

And then there was Kaname. This was all still new to him. Sweet, pretty and sometimes frightening Kaname. Right now he could admit to himself he was frightened.

If this were a normal battle, I would call in a tactical strike from air support. And artillery.

But he could not do that to her. Darkness was falling, and he had to face her wrath at some point. He headed back to their apartment on alert.

Treading up the stairs, he opened the door, expecting something to come flying at him. Instead, there sat Kaname at the table, calm and drinking tea. There was a cup for him as well.

"Oh, hello, Sosuke. How was your day?" She seem as calm as he had ever seen her.

"F-F-F-ine. How as your day?"

"Sit down down. Have some tea," she told him. He did as instructed.

"Is it poisoned?" he asked her.

"Now, why would I do that, Sosuke?"

"No reason," he replied.

This was a negotiation, and he very much felt like the hostage. He could feel himself sweating, and not from the run.

"Say, Sosuke, you seem pretty nervous. Did anything … happen?"

Sosuke considered his next words very carefully. Best to tell the truth. He stood up at rigid attention, eyes on the far wall.

"Yes ma'am! At precisely 8:57 last night, one Kaname Chidorhad had not returned home. Suspecting an attack, I infiltrated her room and searched for information. After a thorough search turned up no useful information, I decided to read her diary. Upon learning she worked at the same company as I did, I then proceeded to prepare for an assault and extraction. Gear was standard for said mission."

He dared not look at her. He continued.

"After a final check to verify Miss Chidori had not returned home, I proceeded with the mission at 10:31. Not having any way to locate the target, I called in for support."

"From who?" she asked, tone as icy as he had ever heard it.

"Former Captain Tesstarossa, ma'am!"

"Continue please."

"Yes ma'am! Miss Tesstarossa was able to provide a location from a phone search. Estimated time was 20 minutes. After an estimated 15 minutes, I arrived and exited the train without event. Once I had received the location of Miss Chidori's phone, I proceeded to the target building." He glanced at her and regretted it. Still, he continued.

"After gaining entry to the top floor, I determined that there were two possible hostage locations. The first, however, was wrong. After gaining entry-"

She cut him off. "And how, sergeant, did you gain entry?"

"Ma'am, using explosives, combined with a stun grenade followed buy tear gas. After neutralizing the targets with nonlethal rounds, I proceeded to the next location. After hearing a scream that I thought was the result of touture-"

"I WAS NOT SCREAMING IN PAIN, MY SINGING ISN'T THAT BAD!"

"Yes ma'am! However, that information was not available at that time, ma'am! I therefore procceded with the extraction. After a successful extraction to the roof, I used a nearby truck as cover to our escape. After I realized the trains had stopped, I proceeded on foot back to base."

"And let me guess, you stopped at the park." she sighed.

"Yes ma'am!"

"Why?"

"I'd rather not say, ma'am!"

"Huh? 'Rather not say'?"

"Yes, ma'am!" Sosuke felt like he was five years old again, trembling before his drill instructors. He almost peed his pants.

"STOP HIDING AND TELL ME THE TRUTH, YOU IDIOT!"

"Yes, ma'am! I was … painfully aware of your … female form!" He dared not look at her now. Or maybe ever. She was silent for a long time. At last she spoke.

"So let me get this straight, Sosuke. I am a little bit late coming home, because I decided to sing with my coworkers, and you decided to blow up a building? What were you thinking? What normal person would do that?"

"I was scared of losing you again," he said in a voice so small she almost didn't hear it.

"What?" she asked, a bit of shock in her voice.

"It would not be the first time you had been taken by force!" He stood at rigid attention, eyes fixed on the far wall. He heard the chair move as she stepped closer to him. He shut his eyes and waited for whatever she would hit him with. He would not dodge or complain, not to her.

Instead, she came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him, body pressed to his.

"Oh Sosuke, what are we going to do with you?" she whispered gently in his ear.

"You're not mad at me?"

"Well, of course I am, I mean, you did blow up a building and shoot my coworkers with tear gas and a stun grenade."

"Two."

"Huh?"

"I used two grenades. It was unprofessional of me."

She just laughed. "Sosuke, only you would say that at a time like this." As she continued laughing, he started to relax. She continued. "But I guess its not totally your fault. I did want want to make you worry, I guess. "

"Why, Kaname?"

"It's that time of the month, I was feeling crappy and just wanted to vent a bit, I guess. You make an convenient target you know."

"I always try to minimize my target profile," he said seriously. She just laughed some more.

"We got to work out something so this does not happen again."

"Affirmative."

"Kaname? Can you let me go?"

"Why?"

"It's, well, um, I can feel them."

"Feel what?"

"Your, your, your-"

"And what if I said no, Sosuke?"

He paused and considered his next words. "It's not a problem, then." She gave him a kiss on the cheek from behind as she released him. It sent shivers through his body.

"Good night, Sosuke. I'm tired. But thanks for rescuing me from the evil Karaoke Room of Torture."

She paused by her bedroom door, "Please try not to blow up my workmates again, okay? You know you can always call and ask me."

"I seemed to have forgotten you had a phone."

"Idiot," she said gently as she went to shut the door, but paused, leaving just a crack of an opening. She looked down as she said, voice just above a mumble, "Hey, I'm sorry, too. I like you the way your are."

Then the door shut and Sosuke was left alone with his thoughts. Mostly the memory of her body pressed to his. He looked at the time and started to get ready to leave for work. Assuming he still had a job. Not really sure of what to say other than the truth, he got ready for his second confrontation of the day, and this one he was sure would be less intimidating and involved fewer pleasant female body parts.