Chapter 3: Morning after

A loud annoying beeping woke her up. Retsu reached out to the clock and slammed the button as hard as she could. She turned around to face the ceiling to watch the ceiling fan spin.

"Damn clock." She moaned as she placed her fingers on her temples. It felt as if someone was using a jackhammer inside her head. She couldn't believe drank so much at that bar. She wasn't good at holding her liquor and the hangover was unbearable. She was thankful that she had a late shift at the hospital today. Maybe she could get over this hangover by then.

"Maybe I feel better after a few more hours of sleep." She closed her eyes and turned to the right, letting her hand fall down. She was expecting her hand to hit the sheets on her bed, but instead she felt something warm.

"No." she felt around the mysterious surface. "I probably just puked during the night." Oh god. Please be vomit. But to her dismay, it felt like a person. A very well-toned person.

"Maybe it's Yoruichi or Rangiku." There were times when the three got so hammered that they collapsed in the same area. Slowly she reached lower until she felt it.

"Oh dear god!" she quickly retracted her hand. It was a guy. With her eyes still closed, she slowly sat up. She was afraid to see who she took to bed last night. She slowly opened her eyes to see a naked man with black messy hair and a tattoo of 69 on his face. It was that guy from the bar.

She screamed as she toppled out of bed, taking the sheets with her. This startled Shūhei as he shot up seconds later.

"I'm up!" he said in a daze. "Wait a minute, this isn't my place." He scratched his head as he let out a loud yawn. He turned towards Retsu with his eyes half closed. The two just stared at each other for what it seem like an eternity.

Maybe if I don't move, he won't notice me. She thought as she held her breath. She knew that wouldn't work, but at this moment, she was willing to try anything. Shūhei's eyes widened.

"Oh," he flashed a toothy grin. "Now it's coming back." Retsu felt her face get hot as she wrapped the sheet around her chest. He stood up. "Where's your bathroom?" Retsu weakly pointed to the left of the room. "Thanks." He slowly walked to the bathroom in the nude. She looked towards him, seeing faint scratch marks on his back, causing memories of last night to surface. As the door shut, she stood up. She picked up her robe and put it on before sitting on her bed.

"I can't believe it." She was still in shock. She slept with a total stranger. How could she let this happened. She was supposed to be leveled headed. She never did anything on impulse. That was more Rangiku's style. But here she was, sitting on her bed, only a few feet away from the guy she just slept with. A guy whose name she didn't even remember.

She was so deep in thought, she had forgotten about Shūhei's existence until he came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Ready for another round?" he whispered into her ears. Retsu jolted up from her bed, breaking free of his grasp.

"I need some coffee." She quickly walked across the room.

"That's cool." He looked around the room, probably looking for his boxers. She remained silent. As she reached for the knob, she saw his boxers hanging on the doorknob. She swiftly snatched the boxers and toss it to him. With that she opened the door walked out. Closing the door before he could respond.

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Retsu couldn't help but slam everything as she prepared the coffee. This was probably the most frustrating moment in her life. More frustrating than being at her cousin's wedding when all her parents did was compliant about her being single at 30. More frustrating than working a double shift at the hospital with half the staff. Even more frustrating than thinking about that Aizen. She was so upset, she didn't notice she grabbed the coffee pot by the wrong end until her hand made contact with the hot glass.

"Damn it!" she yelled as she dropped the pot. Shūhei dove at the last second to catch the pot before it hit the floor.

"Careful." He said as he placed the pot on to the counter. "Do you need any help?" he asked.

"No." she shot out, trying to avoid eye contact with him. "Jus... just sit over there." She pointed to the table. He walked over and pulled out the chair before sitting down. "You got a nice place here." He said, looking around. Retsu didn't respond as she open the cover to get two mugs. "Hell of a lot nicer than my place." He laughed. "Yet again, I share a house with three other guys and their girlfriends."

Retsu felt the vein on the side of her head throbbing. And she was certain it wasn't because of the hangover.

Why is he still talking? She angrily thought as she reached into the fridge for the creamer. This wasn't a regular outing. They had just had a one night stand. This was awkward enough as it is and he constantly trying to have a conversation was not helping.

After placing everything on the table, she sat down, staring right at Shūhei, who was busy drowning his coffee in sugar. The two sat in silence as they both drank their coffee. Retsu stared at him, trying to remember what his name was. But all she could remember was their bedroom action, causing her to blush.

"So," Shūhei set his mug down. "How are you feeling?"

"What is that supposed to me?" Retsu shot back, all her anxiety and anger released "what did you put in my drink last night, you bastard!"

"Whoa, calm down." He lifted his hands in defense. "I was talking about your hangover. I didn't you anything to you that you didn't want last night."

"And why should I believe you, some random guy I just met?"
"Because I'm not that type of guy!" he shouted at her, leaving her speechless. Normally he would never raise his voice to a woman, with the exception of Renji's girlfriend, but being accused of date rape was one of his pet peeves. "Sorry, but I didn't. All I did was take you back to your place because you were trying to walk home by yourself. Then you told me that you wanted to have sex. I tried to stop you but you were very persistent. And one thing led to another. Before I knew it, you were already peeling off my shirt, while I was… "

"Stop." She said. "Just stop." She laid her head against her palms. He was probably telling the truth. After all, if he had taken advantage of her, why would he take her to her apartment or stay the night.

"You shouldn't feel bad, Retsu." He said. "It's not like you're the first person to have a one night stand"

"Don't call me by my first name." she snapped. "I don't even remember your name."

"That's not a surprise. You did have a lot to drink last night." He took another drink of this coffee. "It's Shūhei by the way. Shūhei Hisagi." She eyed the young man for a moment. He looked so young. Probably younger than her.

"How old are you, Shūhei?"

"Just turned 25 last month." He looked up towards Retsu. She looked like a deer caught in a pair of headlights. "Are you ok?" he leaned closer just as Retsu's head slammed on the table, causing everything on it to jump up.

25! She screamed over and over in her head. HE 25 YEARS OLD! She had slept with a man 9 years her junior! What if her friends found out about this! Oh god, what if Jūshirō Ukitake found out about this! He would never look at her the same way again! She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to see Shūhei standing next to her.

"Hey if this is about you being older than me, then I don't mind." She threw him icy glare that could freeze hell. "I just mean you have nothing to be ashamed of. You're really, really hot for a 34 year old. And you were great in bed." He said, hoping to make her feel better. Unfortunately it didn't work.

"GET OUT." She stood up, slamming her palms against the table. "NOW!" She shouted. Shūhei could see she was pissed off and knew it would better to distance himself from her.

"Whatever." He walked towards the door, with Retsu following him. She opened the door and he walked out. But then he stopped and turned to her. "Just for the record, I really did think you were the hottest girl at the bar." He smiled as Retsu slammed the door in his face.

She walked to the sofa, before collapsing. What a mess she had gotten into. She notice her cellphone on the couch. She unlocked it to see she had over 50 missed calls and about 120 text messages. Mostly from Rangiku and Yoruichi.

"Last time I go anywhere with those two!" she toss her cell phone onto the coffee table. She looked up to the clock on the wall. It was already noon. "Great." She said to herself. She had to be at work in 4 hours. Seeing there was no point going back to bed, she decided to take a nice, long, hot shower.

As she walked into the bathroom, she saw toothpaste on her sink. A closer examination revealed it was a message, along with a phone number.

Call me, Shūhei.

"Like hell I will!" she yelled to herself as she vigorously wiped the sink with a towel.