Chapter 18: Kyouko Hori #1

Kyouko Hori was a little bit jealous. Okay, maybe she was a bit more jealous than what can be called little. But in her opinion this was something to feel jealous about. There was her friend Yui Yuigahama and there was her - well she didn't know what exactly.

He was a stubborn piece of work, rotten to the core and was such a downer that hanging out with him would lead you to question your life choices. But Yuigahama liked him. Well not like him, like him, but yeah, there was something there in the making.

Or maybe there was nothing and she was reading too much into it. But regardless, she wanted to try out something.

"Can I call you Hikki?"

"No."

"You let Yui call you Hikki."

"I do not. She keeps calling me that regardless of what I say to her. Now that I think about it, this seems like some form of bullying."

Kyouko Hori punched him in the arm.

"OW! Watch it you sadist!"

Despite herself she felt a smile forming on her lips. "I'm not a sadist. I'm just sticking up for a friend. Besides you have it all wrong."

He rubbed the spot where she hit him a couple of times and looked at her warily. Kyouko Hori might not know everything about this weird guy, but she knew this much; he liked to have a better understanding of people.

"How am I wrong?" he asked.

"What do you mean 'how am I wrong'?"

"You just repeated my sentence."

"I did. What of it?"

He looked to the side and whispered more to himself. "Guess you are Yuigahama's friend after all."

Hori glowered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," He had these really rotten looking eyes, like those of a dead fish. "I'm just wondering why you are here when I told you Yuigahama is busy elsewhere."

That's true, he did tell her.

When she first started coming to the service club to meet with Yui, he had mostly ignored her. Unlike most guys he didn't feel the need to intrude into their conversation. Now that she thought about it, this might have been the first time they have really talked. That's not to say he hadn't talked to her before. But those were rather –

"Hey wait a minute. Why are you always rude to me?" she asked remembering.

"I have not been rude to you." He told her simply.

"Oh yeah, then say my name."

"That's not how it's supposed to work."

"What?"

"What?"

This was what she was talking about. He spoke in circles and he didn't use a lot of words. It was like he was keeping the words bottled up in case of a draught or famine. Really what was up with that, she wondered. Also he was a hypocrite, unashamedly so.

"You repeated my sentence. I caught you in the act!" Not this time. She wasn't going to give him a chance. "When I said 'what' you said 'what'."

He had the audacity to look confused.

"What?" he asked with a tilt of his head.

"Didn't you say that those who repeat their sentences are stupid?"

He closed his eyes for a second and then opened it. That's all. A second is all he took to think about it. Now he was purposely being rude to her face.

"I said no such thing."

"But you said something about me being Yuigahama's friend."

"That I did." He said.

He must have given up. Kyouko Hori smiled in victory. "Then you called me stupid."

Hachiman Hikigaya, that was his name. It was a rather cool name. Too bad it was wasted on such a rotten individual. Well doesn't matter. She had showed him. He won't be calling her stupid anytime soon. And this time he was taking his time, thinking about it, perhaps not knowing how to reply to her question – had she asked a question, she couldn't really remember. This was all very confusing. Is talking to him always like this, she wondered. Poor Yui, she now really felt a deep sense of sympathy for her friend.

"Where were we again?" Hori asked.

"You established that you were stupid."

"Right – Hey wait a minute. See what you did." Kyouko Hori was too young to go crazy like this. It was all his fault. "This is what I am talking about. You are always rude to me, Hikigaya. Why is that?"

"I haven't been rude to you, senpai."

Senpai, what was he talking about. He was a third year right? Right?

"You are not a third year?" Hori asked, perplexed.

"No." He took out his wallet and showed her his university library card. "See this."

"You belong to the liberal arts department?" Hori said, looking at the card. "And you are a second year."

"Same as Yuigahama and Tomoko. But not like Chitanda."

Kyouko Hori listened to him as he mentioned the names of the rest of the club members. She then returned him the library card that he showed her. All this time she had thought he was a third year like herself. Why was that exactly, she wondered.

"You never called me senpai." She told him.

"You mistook me for Miyamura-senpai."

"What!? Don't be silly -"

"I didn't mean literally!" This time there was a flicker of rage in his eyes. "Just because you know Miyamura-senpai, you thought you knew everyone of us loners. But it's not simple. I never see you making an attempt to talk to Kuroki Tomoko. Why? Because you can't understand her, your mind can't fathom the fact that there would be some woman like her in this campus and by extension this world, who has trouble communicating like she does. On the other hand, there is me, the rotten dead fish eyed loner. I might not be as bad as Tomoko, but we two are not exactly much different. I got the talking part down, that's it. But you thought I would be simpler to handle. I don't know what went round your mind, but I am not like Miyamura-senpai." He pulled at his ears. "Do you see piercings?"

"No?"

"I couldn't hear that. Do. You. See. Peircings. Senpai."

Kyouko Hori didn't know why but she felt hot. Not angry or rage like hot, but more like the sexual kind of hot. Now that she got a good look at him, he had a nice built, tall and strong and very vocal about what made him pissed off. His voice, the way he could be calm like still water and then bubble into rage and burst out – oh god this was not the time to feel horny over a guy she just met in an empty club room. Why the hell did it have to be so empty, she cursed under her breath.

Verbally she could squeak out a small reply.

"No~"

Dammit, why did that come out like a moan. Kyouko thought. This was no good. She didn't like him, did she - no of course not! At the moment she didn't have anyone she liked. But she did want a simple thing and from the looks of it she was not going to get it.

Unless-

"Bye Hikki~"

With a hot blush on her face and speed carrying both her feet, she raced out of the service club room, making a promise to herself to come back sometime again in the future. For the moment she would give him this little victory.

Plus, she was his senpai. Knowing this, she could work something out to make him see her as an equal. He better see her that way. He was younger than her after all. Not that he looked or talked like it. That voice, oh god, she better not think about him too much.

While Kyouko Hori had raced out of the clubroom, Kuroki Tomoko had been standing outside, listening in to the conversation which had been taking place. She did pride herself on her creeping skills and this –

"I know you are out there Tomoko. I can smell you" he said, while turning a page of his book.

"Dammit." Tomoko stomped her feet. He always knew when she was loitering outside the clubroom, waiting for the right moment to make a dramatic entrance. "How did you know I was here?"

"I just said I smelled you." Hachiman looked puzzled. "What is up with people today? Is there something in the air that makes people really stupid? If that's the case I better not catch it." He muttered the last part to himself.

"You mean literally." She asked.

"Yeah, you are wearing perfume." He said, plainly. "It's a bit much. Irritates the nose."

Okay this was enough.

"Hikigaya, you better snap out of it." Tomoko said. "I told you to act as an asshole, because I wanted to prove something, but now you have gone full method. This is not a movie we are making, you know."

Hachiman Hikigaya looked at her for a second, then he closed his eyes, rubbed the bridge of his nose and shook his head. All this made Kuroki Tomoko even more cross.

"Okay you are pushing it." She said.

"But this is how it should be." Hachiman whined. "I have gone into a character and now I have to come back. You have to give me a few more minutes."

Now Kuroki smiled. "Okay you are back. I can tell from your whining."

Hachiman smiled too. "Fine you are right." He looked exceptionally rotten at that moment. "It felt great to be an asshole, but-"

"But what?" Kuroki asked.

"I feel kinda bad for yelling at her." Hachiman said.

"Well from the look on her face she enjoyed it." Kuroki said. "And now you owe me a drink."

"Okay fine." Hachiman said glumly.

When Kyouko Hori had started coming to the service club, both Hachiman and Kuroki had taken note of her character. Of course Kuroki had cheated. Being a woman, she had some inside information (read: hiding in the women's toilet, the one Kyouko Hori visits) and she had come to the realization that not everything was okay with the typical beautiful woman.

"I can't believe she's a sadist and a masochist." Hachiman said, mostly to himself.

"I told you she was." Tomoko said.

"I mean, from the looks of it, it should be you." Hachiman reiterated.

"I second that." Kuroki said. "But I'm not that kinky. Yet!"

After a while, Hachiman went to the vending machine to get Tomoko her prize: a free drink. When he came back, the two found themselves in a companionable silence. Hachiman went back to his book. Tomoko took out a handheld game.

A few minutes passed.

Then,

"The stuff you said about me." Kuroki said, trying her hardest not to blush. "Did you really mean it?"

Hachiman didn't look up from his book. She thought he wouldn't say anything. But then in the barest of whispers she heard a voice.

"I did."

A/N: And its back!

I missed writing very much but I had over 25 assignments to submit last week, so I couldn't make time for writing. But now I have nothing but time, so I will write a lot of chapters. P.S: In January I will start a new story.

As always please leave the names of the girls you want in the reviews or PM me.

Now for those of you who want chapters with the already suggested female characters, here are the options:

Option 1: Ami Kawashima – Toradora.

Option 2: Kurisu Makise - Stein's Gate.

Please pick any of the above options or suggest a character in the review section.

Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

Leave lots and lots of reviews, follow and fave.

Won't betray your dreams.