off limits | petalz

7

Kazuha slept for hours and hours.

Aeri had brought drinks, being the only one out of her, Kazuha, and Rei that was legally old enough to drink. They had hung out at Kazuha and Kento's house, crying over dramas and eating fast food. Kazuha had eaten the most, scarfing down Korean fried chicken and chugging beers until she felt sick. That would result in an absolutely killer ab workout the next day, but for the moment, she was focused.

On sleeping off her awful, terrible, intense, kill-all hangover.

When Kazuha opened her eyes, the headache of a lifetime smacked her in the forehead like a bowling ball. Spots raged in her eyes and her body felt weak. She shut her eyes, but the movement caused a spike to drive through her brain.

"Aggggh," she choked out, but her throat was dry and hurt like hell. "Ahh- urk."

Kazuha wasn't even sure if Kento and Sakura were back yet. She knew where they were going- Kento's favorite club in Myeongdong. Kento loved clubbing in his free time, checking out local clubs in the area of the hotels he stayed at. 

But that didn't matter. Kazuha could only hope that, if they were drinking, they had less killer hangovers than she did.

Just then, her phone buzzed. Kazuha's hand flailed around and she answered it, her arms and body aching.

"Hello? Kazuha? Are you okay? You haven't answered any of my calls!"

"Ahhhhh," was Kazuha's only response, coming out as a dry croak. Kazuha could tell that it was Kento who was calling.

From where? She had no idea. Kazuha's lopsidedly gay heart could only hope that he wasn't in some hotel room with Sakura.

"Are you joking?"

"Noooo."

"Are you hungover?"

"Yeahh," Kazuha answered with a cough that hurt her throat like fuck. "Ohh- gah- ow."

"Drink water! Take pills! Sleep!" Kento's anguished voice blasted through the tinny speakers, pounding against Kazuha's abused brain. "What did you even do last night?"

"Drama... marathon... friends. Can't move," Kazuha croaked. "How... was... the date?"

"It was amazing," Kento said dreamily. "We drank and danced until late, and we're driving home since we stayed out. Sakura's asleep, so she'll probably be pretty rested. I think she's a lightweight. I bet you are too."

"I'm... not!" Kazuha croaked angrily. "Had... seven beers! Most. Ate a lot... ugghhh..."

"Sakura's awake! Hi, love, how did you sleep?"

Kazuha's drunken heart stung at the term of endearment, and unfortunately her attraction couldn't be denied even in her state. 

"Well. How's Kazuha?"

"Hangovers can go FUCK themselves," Kazuha coughed, but the cough hurt like hell, so she swallowed and rasped out the next sentence. "Owwwwww."

Sakura's laugh played from the speakers, and just for a moment, Kazuha felt a tiny bit better. It had to be the Sakura effect. Kazuha was completely down bad. "Rough night, huh?"

"Aahhhh," Kazuha wailed in response. "Throat."

Kento laughed, and Kazuha almost flung the phone at the wall before realizing that it would do absolutely nothing. "Zuha, what did I tell you about-"

"You're the one who... just went clubbing. Don't pa- ahh- patronize me."

A snort echoed from the other line, and Kazuha could quickly tell it was Sakura. She smiled involuntarily.

At least Sakura thought she was funny.

"That's different. I'm not underage."

Kazuha rolled her eyes. "Age... doesn't determine how... you hold alcohol. You're a lightweight and you're 27."

Kento's outraged "I'm not a lightweight!" mixed in with Sakura's loud laughter. Kento really was a lightweight, though, while in contrast Kazuha could hold her alcohol... to a point.

Which had, clearly, been passed, asserted from the dry retching sounds coming from Kazuha's end of the phone.

"You sound gross," Kento commented, clearly still stinging from the lightweight comment. "Why don't you go have some water?"

"Can't move," Kazuha groaned. "My head is being squeezed."

"By what?"

"I think it's theoretical, Ken-chan, she just has a bad headache," Sakura explained over the phone, a soft laugh coming from her end.

"Yeah, listen to your girlfriend," Kazuha retorted, and, because she was in a sour mood, added, "Who is clearly much smarter than you are. Wish I got her as a big sister instead."

"She is, she's great," was Kento's offhand reply, and Kazuha frowned. Kento was love-struck. Right? So why was he so...

The awkward silence was broken by Sakura. "Kazuha, once your head feels okay, drink lots of water, okay? I'll make hangover soup for you once I get back, and buy some pills on the way there, alright? In the meantime, just get some rest. It's important to sleep off the effects of alcohol if you don't have the appropriate remedies."

"She's smarter than you," was Kazuha's croaked reply, coaxing another humorous reaction from Sakura and another scoff from Kento.

"You're drunk, Kazuha, you don't know what you're talking about."

"You know, if she was my girl, I'd push her up instead of trying to push up yourself," Kazuha blurted before she could stop herself.

There was silence from the other line.

Kazuha, at once, felt a mixture of regret and anger. She wasn't lying. If she was dating someone like Sakura- who had a successful job, was nice as hell, and also hot as fuck- she would never, ever do anything to push her down. Kazuha would try her absolute best to be there for Sakura, even when she had practice or school. She would never waste an opportunity to be good to her.

Anger boiled in her stomach, but she forced out a laugh to lighten the mood. "I'm kidding, Ken-chan. You're too love-struck to ever do Kkura-chan like that. Besides, your ego is so fragile even a feather could break it. This situation isn't different," Kazuha snickered, causing an outraged yell from Kento.

"This conversation is over! Get- I mean-"

"Already home, lover boy."

"I am se-"

"-seven years my senior. Yes, yes, I know. I'm seven years younger than you with a killer hangover and I'm still a better boyfriend than you. Sheesh, step up your game," Kazuha cackled.

Her throat ached as Kento clicked the end call button.

But her heart didn't.

Victory, if even for a moment.