The Next Day [Rukia, Shiro]

Much as she would have liked to sleep for a good while longer, the splitting headache that accompanied a hangover was more than enough to keep Rukia from actually resting any further. For the briefest of moments, she wondered where exactly she was, but that was more the fault of her half-conscious mind than any loss of memory from the alcohol. Naturally, she remembered the last night quite well, and it wasn't a surprise to her in the slightest that she'd woken up in Shiro's arms.

The question now, of course, was how she was supposed to handle this. There wasn't exactly any way to go back from that, and she'd be an idiot if she tried to just write it off as something that just happened because she was drunk. That wasn't how alcohol worked, and she wasn't an idiot. Sighing in exasperation at herself, and at the whole situation, Rukia stayed where she was.

"Hey. You up?"

"I've had worse."

Laughing quietly to herself at that one, Rukia simply stayed where she was, nestled against him perhaps a bit more than she normally would have thought appropriate. Oh well, they were alone, and she didn't see an issue with being right here. It was nice, in its own way.

"I guess we should probably talk about last night, huh? And where we're going from here?"

Her headache hadn't really subsided much at all, but at least when she was laying here, she didn't need to focus on it too much. Of course, she still needed to pay attention to the conversation at hand, even if it might end up being an uncomfortable one. Trying to just avoid it would be pretty stupid.

There it is. It was hard to admit, but the faint flutter in her chest made Rukia feel like she'd been hoping he would say that. She couldn't quite pretend this was some beautiful burgeoning love that she'd been waiting to lwt out or anything. Honestly, yesterday had really been what won her over, if she thought about it. But it had won her over pretty well. And, really, if he'd just let this be a one time thing, she'd have been more than a little mad.

"I don't think I'd want to go back from it. If you're asking me out, it'd be weird not to say yes, wouldn't it?"

Smiling in a bit of embarrassment, Rukia slowly removed herself from him, running a hand exhaustedly through her hair. Geez, what a mess... But she wouldn't have traded this for anything, really. It'd been a great time.

"I guess we should probably head back. I don't know about you, but I didn't put in for more than a couple days of leave. Besides, there's paperwork to fill out if we're dating now."

Hm. Saying it so plainly was...weird. She thought it would make her blush, or something, but instead Rukia just smiled at the thought. Dating, huh?

He sure was getting comfortable in this arrangement, wasn't he? Rukia didn't mind that, though. That casual attitude went a long way, even if she'd never tell him that. One word of approval and she'd never see the end of him being like this. Still, she appreciated it.

"What, do you think I'm going right to the Academy when we leave? You might do something like that, but I have to represent the faculty well. I'm going home after we're done here."

Hopping off the bed, Rukia stretched out for a moment or two, her headache subsiding a bit more as she got the blood pumping and got her body moving. Alright, maybe this wouldn't be so bad. Looking back toward Shiro with a small smug grin on her face, Rukia leaned over to give him a kiss on the cheek before heading off to go take her shower. She was glad places this nice had everything already here to freshen up for the day, since they hadn't exactly brought anything.

Well, wasn't this something? Rukia took a decent while to wash up, though in truth that was primarily because she spent a lot of the shower thinking about the situation. Dating, huh? Honestly, she didn't mind it. It might have been kind of sudden, but it would have been stupid to just go "hey, sorry, but let's hold off on that for now." Like it or not, she knew where she stood on Shiro. This was the right call.

Of course... Well, better not to think about everything else last night. She appreciated that he'd stopped when she told him to, at least. She wasn't exactly looking to push things as quick as possible, after all. Rukia may have looked young, but she was something of an old lady. She didn't want to rush.

Ah... Right, she didn't actually have anything new to wear. That was pretty unfortunate, huh? Well, whatever. At least she was all cleaned up. Straightening herself out as best she could, making sure she was all clean and ready for the day (besides her clothes), Rukia went out into the suite's living room, sighing as she looked at the couch. Boy, that sure had been something, huh?