.

.

A patch of warm sunlight fell on Kazuma's eyes, and he shifted, blinking slowly. Dimly he was aware of the warmth of the bedspread and the soft pillow beneath his head. Birds were chirping. He could hear the soft laughter of the younger shinki playing outside.

"Kazuma?" Veena opened the door, softly. "How are you feeling?"

"What..." Kazuma sat up, groggily. "What time is it?"

Veena smiled. "A little after 2 PM."

"2 PM?!" Kazuma bolted upright. "How could I have let myself sleep in so late?! We had a meeting with the investors at 8 o'clock!"

"I already met with them." Veena sat beside him on the bed, pouring him a glass of water from a pitcher on the nightstand. "Believe it or not, Kazuma, I am quite capable of functioning by myself."

"Forgive me, Veena." Kazuma took the glass of water from her, gratefully. "It was still my responsibility."

He drank. His head throbbed and every muscle in his body ached. He felt disoriented and vaguely nauseous, and even the cool water made his skin turn a shade of sickly green.

Perhaps this is a stomach bug, Kazuma thought, miserably. Shinki were blessed with immortal bodies bathed in the life force of their gods, and yet they were still susceptible to everyday ailments. Even a simple virus could infect a god.

"How's your head?" Veena asked, after a moment. Kazuma took a gulp of water, swallowing.

"It's fine. Wait, why are you asking me about my head?"

Veena smiled. "You're hungover."

"I-what?" Kazuma stared at her. "I barely had anything to drink."

"It was my fault," Veena said. "You were so embarrassed last night you started taking shot after shot."

He was vaguely aware of being embarrassed, Yato loudly proclaiming Kazuma a "horndog" and suggesting he was only a few drinks away from humping Veena's leg in the corner.

"Did I-" Kazuma's eyes widened. "Did I do anything? Say anything? Veena did I hurt you?"

Veena laughed. "No, of course not." She fluffed his hair fondly. "You just started telling everyone how much you loved me and how lucky you were to have me."

"Oh. That's all?" Kazuma sagged, relieved. "I was afraid I had done something terribly inappropriate."

"Not terribly," Veena said, and she slipped her hand around his waist, cuddling against him.

xXx

.

"VEEEEEEEENA!" Kazuma was saying. Yato had taken the whole thing on video using Kazuma's phone, and took a perverse glee in showing him. "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH, VEEEENA!"

"Oh my god," Kazuma said.

"Wait wait, it gets better!" Yato said. He held up his phone.

"I'm so lucky to have you, Veena!" Kazuma sniffed drunkenly. "All I had were those stupid comics. I WAS SO LONELY! VEENA I LOVE YOU SO MUCH! I SLEPT WITH A BODY PILLOW AND PRETENDED IT WAS YOU!"

"Ha ha!" Yato said. "Go cry into your body pillow Kazuma! You're not gonna get laid for weeks."

"I don't even remember drinking that much!" Kazuma said. Yato shrugged.

"Blame Kofuku. She's the one who spiked your drink," Yato said.

"Veena?!" Kazuma threw a glance over to Bishamon, who just smiled and shrugged at him, kindly.

"I thought it was cute," Bishamon said, smiling. On the phone, Kazuma started crying drunkenly, planting face-first against Bishamon's chest, before smiling stupidly, slipping his hand into the V-neck of her shirt and sloppily fondling her boobs.