Weapons | Bucky Barnes x OC

21. RECONNECTION

The glare of sunlight filtering through the shoji, and indefinite murmuring, awoke Anya that morning. Even though the girl still had her eyes closed, watching closely it would have been possible to see her eyeballs moving beneath the eyelids. She was slowly becoming aware of her position and surroundings.

She was lying prone, although in an awkward position that made it seem like she had suddenly fallen from the sky. Her left cheek was pressed against the floor as the roughness of the tatami lightly scratched her skin. She knew it would leave the mark of the texture. The upper body was completely flattened against the floor, while the left arm was bent behind her back and the other curled up next to her side. Her midsection looked painfully twisted, since her legs were bent at the knees and laying on her left side.

The smell of sake still charged the air, and the faintest clinking of glass-against-glass suggested that someone was removing the enormous amount of bottles she had consumed the night before - and miserably left scattered all around her. In fact, from a high point of view, it would have been like seeing a chalk outline on a crime scene, but made out of bottles instead.

As soon as she heard muffled footsteps getting farther from her, Anya slowly straightened her head and ended up resting her forehead on the tatami for a minute. She immediately realized that her neck was painfully hurting. As she lifted up on her forearms and knees, she noticed the big head she had.

Well, the sake worked. A super hangover after a super carouse.

Peeling off the tongue from the roof of her mouth, rubbing at the headache that had formed by her left brow -thanks to the hours of drinking, drinking and more drinking she'd done until the early hours of the morning.

Anya brought her weight back and sat on her heels. Although when she opened her eyes her vision was partially restricted by the blond hair that had been spread everywhere, she noticed that the floor around her was clear of every bottle she left the night before. She didn't even remember how many.

I must have fallen asleep in the few minutes the alcohol kicked in.

Struggling with a few moments of dizziness and nausea, Anya got up and headed for her room -the shower indeed. Fortunately, no one was around to enjoy her walk of shame. Although Josuke's passage in the kitchen had been inevitable, at least no one saw her grunting and holding a hand to her lower back, aching from laying in the wrong posture all night.

Even though her symptoms were already gone by the time warm water started washing over her, the stench of alcohol seemed to remain. When Anya grabbed the soap bar, she noticed that someone had replaced it with a new one. Lilac and with a delicate floral scent. Anya closed her eyes and felt, again, extremely guilty and ashamed.

After properly untangling the knot her hair had become and leaving it to dry in a braid, she came out of the small bathroom only to realize someone had left a clean kosode -a kimono with shorter sleeves and a wider cut- for her.

I don't deserve any of this.

It was the only thing Anya could think about as she slipped on the blue and white hemp kimono -with a Seigaiha pattern, which represented the fan-shaped waves of the open sea- she synched it at the waist by tying an equally blue and white silky belt. Putting on a pair of white socks and zōri -traditional rice straw sandals- Anya finally walked out of the house.

She had taken her time, since she was infinitely ashamed for her actions. Anya was worried about meeting Josuke.
What will he tell me? Will he send me away?
After all, no one had given her the right to finish all of his sake, not to mention the rudeness of leaving the garbage scattered on the floor. Even if she definitely deserved it all, Josuke didn't seem like the type, but she was prepared for any reaction.