He turned onto his back and after hitting his head upon the nightstand beside his bed, Zyne found himself on the floor. He brought a hand to the back of his head as he groaned, "Damn... That hurt."

He ignored the pain and reached beneath his bed until he pulled out a bottle three-quarters full of vodka. After taking a swig and licking the sweet substance from the rim of the bottle, he instantly felt better. The pain that had been plaguing his head quickly dispersed.

He turned to look at the clock on his nightstand as he inwardly screamed. Zyne had slept the morning away and now he was late in checking on the lovely blonde in the infirmary.

After re-brushing his hair and styling it, he rushed out of his dorm and followed the paths to the infirmary, nearly mowing down passerbies along the way. When he finally reached the backroom of the infirmary, he sighed as he found Rei by Mina's side.

"Oh, Rei... thank the goddesses above you're here. Where's Isys?" he asked.

Rei turned to look at him as she narrowed her eyes, "What happened to her?!"

Zyne backed away from her until his back pressed against the wall, "Nothing! I swear!"

"Yeah, right! Even if Mina doesn't know, I am aware of your reputation! Now, what did you do to her?!" Rei snapped angrily.

Zyne knew he had to act fast. He'd never seen a female get so angry. He held up his hands in surrender, "She was attacked by a Leviathan last night. I brought her here. Now, where is Doctor Egrieke?"

Rei studied his eyes for a moment and then backed down as she pushed him to the side, "She came in this morning and injected Mina with the cure to the Leviathan poison. Mina woke up and asked us where you were, but we told her to go back to sleep. And since you're finally here, you can keep an eye on her until she wakes up."

Like almost every other female, she left without waiting for a response and she slammed the door shut on her way out.

Zyne glanced towards Mina and brought a chair to her side where he sat and watched over her like he imagined a guardian angel would.

He leaned over to her and gave a sigh, "Mina, where is your mind now? What are you thinking about? Dreaming about...?"

Mina's soft laugh rang in his ears as she turned onto her left side to face him, "Only of you, Zyne."

He smiled as he shook his head slowly, "How are you feeling today?"

He tilted his head to the side and arched an eyebrow. Mina's eyes were filled with the gleaming innocence that he was so accustomed to seeing. When she didn't say anything at first, he thought she was deliberately ignoring him.

"Mina?" he started.

She glanced to him and sat up as she turned in his direction, "I'm much better today. Thank you for asking, Zyne."

"Guess you don't need me now, huh? In that case, I'll be going back to sleep," Zyne commented.

He walked over to the door and opened it as Mina reached out a hand, "Zyne!"

He grinned as he walked out and ignored her protest. Mina pushed herself off the bed and as the weight pressed upon her right ankle, her hands grasped against the doorframe. She put aside the pain coursing through her leg and she forced herself through the doorway. As her bare feet tapped against the linoleum tile floor, Zyne froze. He couldn't ignore that sound. In his own mind, he inwardly hoped that it was indeed the beautiful blonde.

"Zyne! Please don't leave me behind!" Mina exclaimed as she pursued after him.

He turned around to face her and reached out his arms as they enfolded against the young woman and he embraced her, "Mina, are you crazy?!"

Mina buried her face into his shoulder, "...No..."

"You shouldn't be walking on that ankle. You need to rest," said Zyne.

"Any pain I endure is worth coming with you," said Mina softly.

This was too good to be true. Did Mina really care about him? Zyne, as always, didn't know what to say or think. He was touched that Mina was being so strong, but he didn't see a reason to train someone who already knew how to fight.

"I'm not going to go very far. I thought I'd return to my dorm room, but you can't come there with me," he replied as he caressed her silky hair.

Mina pulled a face at him as she arched an eyebrow, "Who implied I wanted to go there?"

Zyne chuckled and gave a nod as he pulled away from her, "Mina, get on my back."

"What?" Mina asked.

He turned his back to her and kneeled down, "Get on my back. I'll take you to your dorm."

Mina's cheeks flushed as she shifted her weight to her left ankle and her voice hushed a bit, "Um... Are you sure? I'm awfully heavy..."

"Bullshit, Minako Tianawane. Get on and let's get you rested," said Zyne firmly.

Mina placed her arms around his neck loosely. Zyne's hands slid up against the bare skin of her thighs as he hoisted her onto his back.

"You doing okay up there?" he asked.

She nodded as she smiled, "Thanks, Zyne."

He didn't reply as he recalled where Mina's dorm room was and he headed in that direction.

"How do you know where my dorm is?" Mina asked him as she tilted her head to the side.

Zyne hesitated before replying, "Rei told me."

"Oh..." Mina's voice hushed again.

When he arrived at Mina's door, she handed him the key, and he opened the door. He rested her against her bed and then headed back to the door.

"Now," he started as he turned to her, "Mina, go to sleep. Don't make me come back to check on you."

She nodded her consent and he closed the door behind him. As he headed back to his dorm, Rei shoved him to the side before passing him.

"Hey. Where's Minako?" she asked.

Zyne pointed to the dorms, "She's in her dorm room. I told her to stay put. Don't give her any ideas."

Rei sighed, "Fine. See you later, groovy cat."

After she left his side, Zyne gave a sigh of disbelief and once again resumed his long trail back to his dorm. As soon as he thought he was free, Ceiran slipped an arm around his shoulder.

"So, Mr. Donovan, you're going for the young ones, ne?" she asked with a laugh.

Zyne snorted as he turned to face her, "Don't be an idiot, Ms. Thinbalt."

"Okay, okay. How much have you learned about Mina?" Ceiran asked.

"Enough. You'll find out later. It's too late to discuss this," Zyne replied.

Ceiran placed her hand upon her hip, "You know... if you really want to get to know her better, take her to the traditional banquet and ball tomorrow night."

"Yeah, right," Zyne scoffed, "I wouldn't be caught dead in a place like that. Way too social for a geek like me."

"Whatever," Ceiran responded, "Your loss."

She left him to think about that and as soon as he reached the door of his dorm, Zyne found a note taped to the eggshell coloured paint.

'Zyne,

Heard you've been working hard for the boss on a new case. Let's say you join me and the boys for some night clubbing fun. We want to get neat down and drunk, man!

If you want to too, meet us in the lobby as soon as you're done reading this. Don't let us down, man!

-Sarevok Kenshin and the Boys-'

Zyne raised his lips in an awry smirk. It was about time that he got to go have fun. As long as Mina didn't find out, he was set to go. Besides, maybe he'd finally find a nice female that he could bed for the night... someone around his age range. He took down the note and crumpled it, tossing it into the trashcan by the entrance to the lobby.

Since we could all care less about Zyne getting laid, let's move on to the more important subject of Rei's visit to Mina.

After she and Mina had exchanged words, Rei had to comment, "Mina, why are you acting so chummy with Mr. Donovan? You don't think he could ever like you... in that way, do you?"

Mina closed her eyes as she released a sigh, "I'm just trying to get him to uphold his promise. There's nothing between us, I swear. I'm not looking for us to hook up or anything."

"Well, darn. I had an idea too..." Rei trailed off.

"Wait! What do you mean 'idea'?" Mina asked.

Rei grinned, "I overheard that tomorrow night's the dance party. You should take Zyne. I'll fix you up for him."

Mina rejected the idea at first and then finally, she consented (only to get Rei to shut her trap). Rei left her to consider the plan of attack and then headed to her dorm (as all sensible people do when they're tired).

The next morning, Mina knocked upon the door of Zyne's dorm room, "Zyne!"

The longhaired male groaned at the loud sound, "It's open..."

Mina opened the door and closed it quietly behind her. She minded her steps over the many empty bottles of tequila and vodka as she picked one up and sniffed at it, wrinkling her nose in distaste.

"Don't mind the mess.... Me and the guys went out last night..." Zyne commented.

Mina glanced around and nodded slowly, "Obviously. Anything I can do?"

"Some coffee would be nice," said Zyne slowly.

Her eyes met the coffee maker in the corner and she gave a smile, "I'll get right on it."

"Oh, no-" Zyne started as he got up. His next step landed on a tipped over bottle and he grabbed on Mina, bringing her down with him, "You don't have to..."

Mina was speechless. The only thing Zyne was wearing was a pair of boxers and now, here he was, clinging to Mina as though she was a teddy bear. His lips parted slightly and his head slid from her shoulder until his face was buried into her cleavage, quite unintentional, I assure you.

"Zyne?" she asked, not really paying attention.

"Yes?" his muffled voice came through.

"There's the dance tonight... I was going to ask you to go, but you don't really seem to be in a good condition today, so I'll retract my invitation," said Mina.

Zyne shook his head, his lips barely brushing against her cleft, "No, no... Let's go together..."

Mina looked down at him and hesitated for a moment, "If you say so.... Hey, what the hell are you doing?!"

After she had gotten him his coffee, he seemed more awake. Mina tidied up his room a bit and then patted him on the head as he sipped from his mug of coffee.

"Get lots of rest. I'll see you tonight, Zyne!" she exclaimed happily.

She bounced out of the dorm, seemingly ecstatic and after the door closed, Zyne thought about what she'd said.

"She mentioned a 'dance party'? Wonder what..." he started aloud.

He recalled the conversation with Ceiran, "She meant the banquet and ball! And I said yes to her! I could've let her keep that retracted invitation, but no, I had to open my big mouth."

He took a post it and wrote on it with a black permanent marker.

'Open mouth, insert foot.'

He pressed the adhesive to his forehead for it to stick and then about that time, he realised he was still pretty much nude.

"Oh, bloody hell! What have I gotten myself into?!"