Art suddenly stood up from where he was sitting on a bench and ran to the bathroom. Nice sighed in mild frustration, but mostly some form of fondness, upon seeing this. The smaller boy always drank too much at parties, the nervousness from the prospect of actually attending one causing him to do so. The brunette stood up as well, running off himself to the bathroom.

"Heya Nice! You already goin'?" Birthday called out behind him, the slightly wavering tone to his voice telling Nice he had probably also had his fair share of the cocktails.

"Nah I'll be back. Just Art." Not that his reply actually made any sense, but he was sure Birthday would understand.

"Ooooh Art huh?" Spoken in a teasing voice, was the last thing he heard before reaching the restrooms. Or maybe he wouldn't. Nice pushed the door open and walked over the tiled floor to where his friend was standing over the sink, looking awfully washed-out and miserable.

"You okay?" He asked, placing a hand on Art's back. The answer he got was a half-hearted attempt at a groan of displeasure, and " How much did I drink?" Nice chuckled.

"Too much, he replied, as usual." He pulled Art into a hug from behind, nuzzling his face into the slightly sweat-slicked strands of silvery hair. Nice could feel the wave of relaxation that washed over the smaller boy, as well as the tension in his shoulders decreasing. It felt good to know Art could feel at ease with him.

"Should we get back now?" Nice really didn't want to ruin the mood, but if they were too long Birthday might begin "wondering" what they were doing. And Ratio was probably too drunk to quiet him down at this point.

Art nodded his head resignedly, wiping his mouth with the mildly damp sleeve of his jacket despite having not thrown up at all. Nice slipped his hand into Art's and they walked back over to join their small group. But what met their eyes was beyond what either of them could even begin to imagine.

Birthday had completely undone the buttons of his shirt and completely discarded the tie, and was prancing around the courtyard singing loudly, bottle in hand. Ratio had completely conked out and was sleeping with his head rested on the table and arms hanging down by his sides. Koneko and Honey had randomly started kissing, and Murasaki was watching in horror, being the only sober one in probably the whole school. Nice laughed. The expression on Murasaki's face was positively priceless.

A wave of dizziness hit Art very suddenly, and he found himself grasping on to Nice for support. The latter swept the pale-haired boy into his arms and sat down at the table opposite Ratio, beginning to contemplate the idea of sneaking back to their dorm. There was no way they could last the next three hours until the party ended.

Although they would need somebody to carry Ratio.

The world stopped spinning, but instead began to fade. It was usually around this time that Art started to profoundly regret drinking anything. Though he made the same mistake every year. The last thing he heard was Nice whispering to him "You'll be fine, I promise." before he drifted off into a delirious slumber.

Eventually Ratio had woken up, but just long enough to walk back to the dorm and collapse onto his bed. Birthday was still singing, and Nice wondered how sore his throat would be the next day. And how Ratio was sleeping through any of it. The two girls had seemingly recovered and were playing cards in their room.

Art could have sworn he felt lips ghost over his cheek in his sleep, they were soft and comforting, and somewhat familiar. But when he forced his eyes open at last, all he saw was Nice and Murasaki talking at the other side of the room by the door. Though from the angle Art could see them, they looked to be… kissing. The pale-haired boy fell asleep again to the gentle thrumming of the soft ache in his heart, his slumber haunted by what he'd just seen.

Nice walked back over to Art's bed, a smile gracing his lips at the sight of his friend fast asleep. He placed a hand over his on the bedsheets and sat down on the mattress. A tear slipped down Art's pale cheek. Nice stared in shock for a while, before he leaned down and gently kissed his slightly parted lips.

Ratio awoke the next day to the most splitting headache he had ever had. He stared at Birthday who was sprawled out over the carpet, a party popper hanging out of his wide-open mouth, and sighed. Though no way did he regret going to the party the night before.

Koneko awoke in Honey's arms on the sofa, and all at once memories of last night rushed into her head. She blushed, before hugging the other girl tighter and closing her eyes again.

Murasaki woke up at his usual time, and went about his normal morning routine of taking a shower, getting dressed, and going to Nice and Art's room to pick them up. Except for that last part. It was winter break, so he wouldn't be picking them up to go to school, and had also had a fight with Nice the evening before. So he didn't really feel like talking to the brunette at the moment.

Nice woke up on Art's bed, probably having fallen asleep the night before just sitting there. As for Art, he awoke at around the same time as Nice. Glancing to the side, deep purple met emerald blue. Nice startled slightly, then smiled a wide and genuine smile.

"Good morning sleepy head." he greeted softly, reaching up to brush a stray strand of hair out of Art's face. The smaller boy didn't reply, only pushed Nice's hand away and made an attempt at getting up. He fell to his knees and grasped at the side of the bed, trying to keep his balance. Nice rushed over to him and lifted the smaller boy into his arms.

"You shouldn't try getting up yet. Stay in bed for a while, it's break after all." Art grimaced and let himself be lifted back into his bed. Why was Nice doing this to him?! Why be so kind to the one you just devastated? He didn't even know what he was thinking. He and Nice weren't together, so why should it even matter? Nice could hook up with anyone he wanted, though Art hoped it could be him. Well that hope just got crushed.

"Get… away from me, he struggled to say as Nice gently stroked the side of his face, don't touch me." Nice's eyes widened in surprise and he quickly retracted his hand.

"What?" he whispered.

"I said get away from me." Art repeated through gritted teeth.

"Okay." Nice murmured and stood back. He walked over to the door and glanced one last time back at Art, before opening the door and stepping out. As soon as he left, the pale-haired boy threw the covers back and stumbled clumsily over to the bathroom, head spinning from his hangover but also from thoughts of Nice. Just what was he doing?

Nice walked the five steps over the hallway to the door of Murasaki's room. He knocked twice, and it only took two seconds for the taller boy to open the door. Nice threw himself into Murasaki's arms, knocking him back slightly. He was completely used to the brunette's behaviour by now; whenever Art wasn't around, he acted all touchy-feely and wanted to hug everybody. The drinks from the night before wouldn't have helped either.

"Murasaki… Nice murmured into Murasaki's jacket, can you help me with something?" The taller boy closed the door and placed an arm around Nice's waist. He was just a little surprised he had forgotten about their fight.

"Is it about Art?" he asked. Nice would only ever act this distressed if it were something to do with the smaller boy. Art meant the world to Nice, and everybody knew it.

"Yeah. He keeps telling me to get away from him and stop touching him." The brunette sniffled slightly.

"It's okay. I'm sure he'll be come back to you soon. Maybe he just needs some time to himself." Murasaki suggested. Nice snuggled further into the soft material of his jacket and sighed.

"You smell nice, Murasaki." he observed.

"What? Huh, that's weird, I thought you were head over heels for Art, not me." The taller boy teased. Nice blushed. "I am head over heels for both of you." He replied stubbornly.

"Well, you're gonna have to choose just one of us, I'm afraid." Nice didn't even have to think about the answer to that one. He loved both Art and Murasaki, but for very different reasons.

"Art." He concluded. Murasaki nodded.

Art turned the temperature to hot and ran a bath for himself. He hastily changed out of the past evening's filthy clothes and chucked them in a pile on the bathroom floor. He would clean them later. Climbing into the tub of hot water, Art shivered at the sensation against his skin. Holding his breath, he submerged his face completely under the water. Why, Nice? Though, did he really have any proof of what him and Murasaki were doing the night before? No, but it still broke his stupid little heart for some reason. More tears clouded his eyes over, just to be lost in the steamy water of the bath.