A/N: Hello, Awkward Hibis! I'm so sorry for not being on this summer! Life got in the way of writing (code for: I had writer's block). I finally managed to get something written, so here is the long awaited (haha, I wish) next chapter. For all you Kano x Kido fans out there, I hope you enjoy this. ;)

Chapter 6 - The Utility of a HikkiNEET

Once again, Kido found herself moping. This time, she sat in the living room, on the dark green couch. Geez, she thought, what am I doing with my life? It was no use, though; she couldn't motivate herself to get up. Hibiya... and even worse, Kano...

She didn't seem to notice that she had sat down next to Shintaro.

"Eheh, Danchou?" a slightly tinny female voice called. "Are you okay?"

Kido looked over at the NEET. He looked exhausted, but he was also looking back at Kido. His black hair hung over his equally dark eyes. His red jersey was rumpled. He cleared his throat. "Uhhh... well, Ene... she's..."

"Ahem, Master?" The voice chided.

"That is... we... We... uhhh... We're worried about you and want to know if there's anything we... uhhh... you know, that we can do to... to help... or something..."

"Mmm, we want to help!" Shintaro held his phone tightly, but at that moment, he turned it to the side so that Kido could see the girl with blue twin tails and facial decorations on her jaw. Ene was electronic, a program, but she looked truly forlorn as she spoke to Kido. "Is there anything we can do? I mean..."

"I don't think so," Kido replied brusquely. "I'm not sure we can treat an amnesiac."

"Well, I've been thinking," Ene said shyly, "we could always try... Kano-san seemed like a nice guy..." She pulled up some web pages on Shintaro's phone.

Kido thought about Hibiya and how shaken he was. She remembered how Seto had brought home a flower for Marry. Maybe she could still lead the team out of its slump. At any rate, she needed...

"A distraction. How's that sound?" Kido didn't usually ask for opinions, but for this decision, she had to get everyone on the team in on it.

Ene's eyes lit up. "That's perfect! I know just what we can do!"

Kido was wondering how she got herself into a situation where five teenagers, a medusa, an android, a child, and a loud computer program all had to walk across town. Well, it was more that she was walking. Seto was carrying Marry. Shintaro was dragging his feet along while Ene shouted phrases like "Go, go Master!" and "If Master doesn't go faster, I'll post Master's secret perverted files all over the internet!" She supposed that Ene had meant those phrases as encouragement. Konoha, who looked like a game character, as usual, was carrying Hibiya in his arms like a baby. He also carried a basket full of sandwiches, as no one had eaten Momo's toxic cooking. Momo herself was dragging her feet along, like her brother. Unlike her brother, she wasn't complaining about leaving the house; she was very pale and kept clenching her abdomen Kido conjectured that she had taste tested the "lunch" that she had been cooking earlier.

Kano walked slightly apart from the group. He shuffled, showing no sign of his usual, rolling, confident gait.

Looking at her family, Kido was surprised that police didn't come along and arrest them for being hoodlums.

Finally, their group arrived at their destination: a building covered with neon lights and game posters - the arcade. It looked really trashy, but Ene claimed that she had done some research and that this place had really good games, not to mention that the food was supposedly fantastic.

The darkness and chaos of a local teenager hangout was immediately evident when the Dan stepped inside. Pinging sounds echoed, and there were shouts of triumph and despair coming from every direction.

"Let's play!" Ene cried.

"But... we don't have any money..." Kano replied, gesturing at the token slots on a nearby (-unreadable-) machine.

The blue girl winked. "Just leave that to me!"

Minutes later, all of the Dan members, even Hibiya, were laughing and playing. Kido wondered if Ayano felt like this, so happy and carefree, when they had played hero as children.

Kano seemed to hang back. Kido didn't notice as he walked up behind her. She was preoccupied by a large plush bear inside the crane machine. It was lavender, with big white button eyes and a large white, floppy ribbon tied around its neck.

She cursed as the claw picked up the bear at the corner of the ear and then dropped it back in the machine, unable to hold the weight.

"Kido-san?"

Kido turned around quickly and blushed. Kano regarded her curiously. "Do you like bears, Kido-san?"

"N-Not really..." Kido quickly denied. She wasn't about to admit how much she loved the plush toy. Actually, she had been trying to win the toy since she was a child. Kano had teased her about it once, so she kept it a secret ever since. Not that it mattered; Kano wouldn't remember that now. "I just wanted to try it out!" she lied.

Kano stared at her. He walked next to her and said, "Teach me how to use it, please?" He said it so timidly that it hurt to look at him.

"Uh... yeah..." Kido slowly went over the instructions. Then, she leaned back against the wall and crossed her arms.

Surprisingly, Kano aimed the claw at the bear. He managed to pick it up around the arm and, this time, the bear dropped straight into the machine opening. Bending down, Kano retrieved it.

He turned to Kido and held it out shyly. "Here," he whispered, handing it to her.

Kido stared at him. He was so shy, and yet he was so sweet. Maybe, in another life, she would have liked him in that way, but she missed the old Kano too much. This Kano, too, didn't seem to feel that way about her.

They both stood there for a second, blushing and looking at each other. Finally, Kido took the bear. "Thanks," she smiled sadly, timidly, to match his timid smile.

She hugged the bear. They stood, side by side.

"So..." A parody of their earlier conversation.

"So..." A parallel to how easygoing they used to be.

Kido and Kano, side by side, without Seto, without Ayano, and neither knowing what to say. It seemed like some sort of sick joke.

Kano stared straight ahead. He looked kind of bored, actually, the way he had as Shuuya had, back when they had first been adopted.

Kido cuddled her bear, burying her chin in the silky smooth fur. If someone could just come along and stop this awkward interaction, that'd be great. A miracle might be better, actually, if Kano somehow regained his memory.

Suddenly, an angel clad in a red jersey arrived. "I don't want to ask this, but... there's a game I want to play... and... well, it's a two player RPG..."

Kano and Kido looked at each other. "What is it, a dating sim?" Kido smirked. She waited for Kano to say, "Ah, yes, the NEET must get a girlfriend somehow, right?" It never came. There was only Ene, snickering from the screen of a nearby game: Dead Bullet 1989.

"A shooting game?" Kido couldn't say she was surprised, given Ene's past and Shintaro's affinity for that kind of game.

Kano looked puzzled. "What's that?" he asked.

Kido was about to explain when Shintaro interrupted her.

"It's a game where you sit down and shoot the zombies. It's really gore-y. Think you can handle it?"

Kido looked at Shintaro in surprise. He usually didn't volunteer to hang out with the other Dan members, and yet here he was, challenging Kano to a game.

Shintaro gave her a small - was that a smile? Did he seem... apologetic? Sympathetic?!

She would have blushed, but that would have been embarrassing. She didn't need Shintaro Kisaragi's sympathy.

As she watched Shintaro teach Kano rather impatiently and doing a horrible job of it, though, she had to use the concealing eyes. The boys didn't notice that she had "disappeared." She laughed to herself. Maybe they could have good days. She laughed until she felt like crying, glad that no one here could see her, or at least, they were too distracted to notice her.

She watched as Shintaro skillfully slaughtered zombies, almost gracefully. She watched as Kano's face lit up, sweaty and red in exhilaration as he tried to catch up to Shintaro. Well.

At least the NEET was good for something.

A/N: I had to add in a crying Kido somewhere. This is my failed attempt at fluff. I'm so sorry for your eyes if you just read this. The next chapter is an omake, so it's even worse, but then things get serious after that. Thanks for all your support, Awkward Hibis! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!