Waking up was something Yui really hated when it felt like her head was going to explode. And she was of two minds about waking up with Gendo. One was happy and a bit giddy; the other was a seething pot of blind fury.

"How's your head?" he asked quietly, brushing some hair from her forehead.

The pot was immediately covered. "Not too bad," she answered and grimaced from her own too loud voice.

"Don't lie. I can see it in your eyes. I warned you that you'd be miserable in the morning, but that didn't seem to matter."

Yui could tell by the tone of his voice that he wasn't telling her everything. "Oh no. Don't hold back. How big of a fool did I make of myself last night?"

Gendo gave her his lopsided grin. "How much do you remember?"

"I remember... singing, and not much after that."

He nodded. "Well, that's all you did."

The near-panic in her dissipated.

"For four hours. You sang. Badly."

Yui moaned pitifully. "I feel terrible!" Rolling to her back, she stared up at the ceiling. "Why didn't you stop me?"

"I wanted to, but you didn't want to go. You must have really been enjoying yourself."

Yui just shook her head.

"I know everyone else was."

"Oh no."

"Don't worry. I distracted them by beating up a guy who was feeling you up. Even got some applause for it."

"Gendo..."

"What happened to Gen-chan?"

Yui looked at him. "What?"

"You were calling me Gen-chan last night. It was kind of... sweet." He kissed her cheek, smiling at her stunned face.

Eventually, Yui managed to speak, though her voice was small and quiet. "That bad eh? Oh god... This is why I don't drink more often."

"Oh, I don't know. It wasn't bad last night. Except your singing. _That_ was bad."

"All right!" Yui said loudly, wincing from the volume of her voice. "I get the point that my singing is bad. You don't need to keep harping on it." For a heartbeat, she considered sitting up, but her body was as willing as a dishrag. "I'm not going to make it to my appointment with Professor Fuyutsuki today."

His voice remained the same, but Gendo got a certain look in his eyes. "What for?"

"The usual. This theory or that experiment..." Yui sighed. "I should at least make the effort."

"Aspirin's on the desk." Gendo watched her sit up very slowly, not helping at all. He was just waiting for it.

Yui got her feet on the floor, looking like the postergirl for hangovers. Her head was down with her hair hanging limply around her face.

"If it were at all feasible," Gendo said, reaching out to almost touch her back, "I would love to get you in the shower."

She glanced back at him. "You don't know how good that sounds right now actually. I feel so disgusting."

"Here, let me help." Sitting up next to her, he put his arm around her waist, and helped Yui to stand.

"You're not hungover at all? I hate you."

"I told you, lots of practice." He felt her hand clutch his shoulder as they took a step.

"I hurt all over. Are you sure you're the one that got into the fight?" It felt like the air itself was jabbing little needles into her.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I've had plenty of practice with that too." In a few minutes, he was the one that was going to need a shower... a cold one.

"Just get me a phone so I can call Professor Fuyutsuki. I just want to lay down and die right now," Yui moaned, barely able to stay on her feet. If she hadn't had Gendo's support, she would have been on the floor.

The sensation of his bare skin against hers was pleasant though, even if he was... Bare... skin? Yui looked down at herself, and then Gendo.