Colt's eyes shot open as his phone vibrated in his pocket.

Damn...My head is killing me.

The room was shrouded in darkness, with only his blue strip lights serving as a source of light.

With no real energy to get out of bed, he opted to lay still. He grabbed a hold of his body pillow and wrapped his arms and legs around it, groaning as it seemed a bit shorter than usual. He had developed quite the infatuation with it. He heard about people being seen as down bad for sleeping with one, but he didn't care.

It's not like it was one of those "weird" pillows with a naked woman on it, it simply had a cool design to it.

The scent of a fragrant perfume filled his nostrils, forcing him to drawn in another deep inhale.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness of his room, granting him the ability to make sense of his surroundings.

His body pillow was behind him. The "pillow" he was currently hugging onto was Yuri.

What the hell?

Did we...No! Of course not.

I need to escape, she's gonna kill me!

He managed to sneak his arm from beneath her, taking his chance to make the great escape. Unfortunately, this swift motion was all it took.

"Sh-Shit..." Colt crashed down from the bed, "I know it looks bad, but I just woke up."

Her eyes fluttered open as she sat up, "What time is it?"

"Wait-You believe me?"

"Yeah. You don't have the balls to try something like that..."

"Thank God...I thought you were gonna kill me." He held onto his head and groaned.

Why is this always happening?

"You look a mess." she teased.

"I would say the same about you, but you're still sexy." His heart pounded as the words left his mouth. There was nothing to be afraid of with saying that, so why was he so anxious?

She...kissed me.

He licked his lips, and he was still able to taste her. Even if it were some phantom sense, the joy kindled within him.

"Can you cook something today?" She laid back down and rubbed her forehead, "I'm too tired to cook today."

"You're hungry? I can't even think about eating."

"I barely ate anything yesterday. So I guess that explains it."

"You shouldn't do that..." He retrieved some cupped noodles and water from his closet, "Why'd you do that?"

"I forgot."

"You know what, I'll make you something." He filled the cupped noodles with water, tossing them into the microwave, "I have this secret recipe for my special noodles. It all starts with a simple cup, and then I go crazy with all sorts of shit. Greens, and egg, some meat, and the special ingredient."

She rolled over onto her stomach, "And what's that?"

"White cheese. It helps with the creamy sauce." He added the listed ingredients and set the noodle to cook, "I guarantee you'll love this."

"Wow, thanks."

My whole body is aching...I shouldn't have drunk anything.

Clearing his thoughts, he flopped down on the uncomfortable bed, waiting for Yuri's noodles to finish cooking. As he rolled over, a quick jolt stabbed into his side, prompting him to snatch the card from beneath the sheets.

Oh, this is the card that Shark guy have me back at the village.

"S.S. Suzy?"

Yuri perked up, "How in the hell did you get that?"

"Some dude gave it to me," said Colt, "What is it?"

"It's a boarding pass onto the S.S Suzy."

"Oh, so it's like some sort of cruise?"

"Not entirely...There's some challenge you can complete there, netting you a huge reward. Too bad for you, you can't go without an ID."

"Damn it..." he groaned, "How'd you know I was gonna say that? This stupid ass pass is useless to me."

She laughed, "All you need to do is get an ID affiliated with the CCU. That should be pretty easy for you. There's a licensing exam, and you'll be sent to a battlefield to kill some core beasts. If you do well, you'll get your ID."

"That does sound easy!"

"There are D-Rankers up to A-Rankers. You don't have to kill the stronger ones, but they're there to determine how you'd fair against them. That's how us core beast hunters get our ranks."

"I guess I'll be signing up for that exam, but not today..." He deflated into the sheets, "I'm spent. Do you have an ID?"

"Duh, I'm a-forget it."

"Was it...Saint?" He moved over to the microwave, serving Yuri her "special" noodles, "What do you guys do anyway, run the Seishin Realm?"

"No...Guardians are the ones who run entire sectors." Yuri took the noodles from him, breathing in the fragrant aroma, "Saints work under the Empress and handle more important missions than usual hunters."

He opted to end the chat there, making his own set of special noodles. They spent some time enjoying his crowning achievement, watching tv as they did.

"Yuri, do you think it's safe if I went back to the real world?"

"Real world?" She shook her head, "It's called the Normal Realm. The Seishin Realm isn't some made up place, y'know?"

"R-Right..."

"And you obviously can go back. Why are you asking me?"

"You're supposed to be watching me, so I thought I was on some strict guidelines."

"You have a point," She sighed, "I guess you can go anywhere as long as I'm with you."

Hearing the words leave her mouth brought relief to his soul, forcing him to shake his head to maintain his composure.

She sat her cup down, "Why are you looking like that?"

"What?"

"Nothing."

"If you say so." He rolled out of bed and retrieved his controller, "Do you mind switching beds with me for a bit. I can't game good in that other bed."

"If you need a certain bed to focus, maybe you aren't that good." she teased.

"Can you work in uncomfortable positions?"

"I don't feel like switching...Blame yourself for making me dance yesterday." She drew in a deep breath, "My back is aching."

"Yuri...I'm gonna blast my music if you don't move."

"Don't do that shit! If I hear one more electronic song, I'm throwing myself out of the window..."

He hissed, "It's called Schranz, and if you're really in pain, I can massage you. From what I hear, I'm pretty good at them."

"Who put that idea in your head?"

"My past clients."

She smirked and rolled back over onto her stomach, "Fine. But I want it now."

"Peak massage incoming!"