Chapter 49: Free Lunch

Kyouko Hori wasn't very good when it came to apologizing for something she did unintentionally. But that was the whole point of the exercise, she guessed, saying sorry for something stupid she did, or in this case assumed, which might or might not lead to him taking offense.

Yui said it wasn't a big deal, that he thought nothing about it and knowing him, which she probably didn't, all that well, she had no clue how to approach him with this kind of intention.

Miyamura didn't know Hikigaya on a personal basis, but he said he knew the type and she had double checked this with Yui to be sure and from the looks of it, the way to get back into his good graces was to ply him with food. Who would have thought, the great, self professed loner, who kept to himself, who never smiled, who never complimented a girl, his one weakness would be someone buying him food. No, Yui said it best. He was a sucker for free food.

"You're taking me out for lunch?" Hachiman asked. Then, out of nowhere. "Senpai, I'm flattered. But recently I was kissed by a girl and though we resolved the situation and came to the understanding that she was acting under the influence of some foreign entity, I still think that my heart isn't ready to get back in the dating scene. Not now, probably not never."

"Not never is a double negative, Hikigaya. What you just said means you will probably be okay with dating someone in the future. Saying stuff like that would probably wreck your valuable street cred as a loner."

Kyouko Hori chose to ignore the rest of what he said to protect her own sanity.

"Loners don't have street cred." He said.

"Then what do you guys have?" she asked.

"Creep-O-Meters."

Kyouko Hori chuckled. Seriously, what was up with this guy, she thought. He was not really that funny, but he had his moments. It's not like she would like hanging out with him all the time, he wasn't like Miyamura, but still he was his own person and that was perhaps a good thing.

Creep-O-Meters, what the heck, she thought trying not to chuckle again because really it was not like it was that funny. The way he delivered that line, all serious and business-like, she was second guessing whether he was talking about a real thing or not. It couldn't be real, right?

She decided to go for it and ask, no matter if he called her an idiot for asking stupid questions. As far as she was concerned there was no such thing as a stupid question, only moronic answers.

"That's not a real thing, Hikigaya."

"Neither is street cred."

Like he would know, she thought sarcastically. Hachiman Hikigaya didn't seem like a guy who cared about anything other than himself. Most loners are like that, lost in their own little world. But it's not their fault as she has come to understand. More often than not, they are left there, alone, by their lonesome, abandoned, forgotten by others and everyone and by the time they are remembered again, it's already too late. Now they want nothing to do with you and they just want to be left the hell alone.

She couldn't help but wonder whether this was the case with him.

"You are not over thinking this are you?" she asked.

"What's there to over think?" He looked at her quizzically. "Unless you have some kind of ulterior motive. You don't, do you senpai?"

He called her senpai. She was beginning to doubt whether he had lost all respect for her. Okay, this was okay. She could work with this, work with him. And what the hell was he saying about her having ulterior motives. Does she look like a woman who could go along hatching intricate plans and convoluted schemes, she thought jokingly. Of course not. But he wouldn't know about that.

"I don't have any ulterior motives." She said, half-lying. "I just felt like as a responsible senpai I should take out my kohai for a lunch sometime and check up on things. I heard you got into some real trouble recently, what with the police investigation into that supposed suicide."

"It wasn't a suicide." he explained calmly, though there was a tense undertone in his voice. "Shouya Ishida just had too much to drink one night and slipped off the balcony. Those false claims about it being an attempted suicide are made by a girl called Ueno."

Kyouko Hori gave him a look. "You know a lot about this business. Hey don't misunderstand. I'm not saying it's your fault or that you have anything to do with that bit of horrible business, but it's just, one hears a lot of things, you know. Rumours and stuff like that. So, I got worried."

Hachiman and Kyouko were slowly walking down the road which led to the university's dining area and so far they had been making good progress. But upon hearing these words, he stopped in his tracks. She was worried about him. Why the hell should she worry about him, he thought, angrily.

"I'm touched." He said, deadpan.

"Don't be an ass." She said. "Is it that hard to believe that I would be worried about your wellbeing? You matter, you know."

"Of course I matter. You don't have to tell me that." There was no reason as to why he was losing his patience with her. This was nothing, close to nothing. "Senpai, I'm not some lost kid who needs protecting. I am a grown ass man and I can take care of myself. I don't need you or anyone else to fight my battles."

Kyouko Hori got the feeling that things were slowly becoming undone. He was spiraling out of control. This was not how she saw this going. Perhaps she had misjudged him. Maybe what he needed was not someone like her. But still, sometimes you have to make do with what you have in life. He needed someone better to help him, but for the moment all he had was her and maybe she wasn't enough, but whether he liked it or not, she was gonna give it her all.

"You really whine like a kid sometime." Kyouko Hori smacked him lightly in the head. "Do you see me going all mother hen with you? Of course not! I know exactly what you are, Hikigaya."

He looked at her with doubt. "Really?"

Kyouko Hori patted him in the shoulder. "You are a guy who deserves a free lunch."

Hachiman Hikigaya blushed. "Guess, you are not so bad after all, senpai."

Kyouko Hori decided to buy something for Yui afterwards. She was absolutely right. Nothing cheered this guy up except for the concept of getting free food at another's expense. What a dork, she thought.

"Can I have cake for dessert?" He asked.

Huh? What was this? What was this feeling in her chest? Was this love? Absolutely not! This was motherly love, motherly compassion. How was this possible? Was this loner of a kohai of hers wakening her motherly instincts all of a sudden. This felt really great, this feeling was truly heartfelt. If possible she would like to feel like this all the time. And if that meant buying him some cake, well, he could have all the cake in the world for all she cares.

"Yes, we can have cake!" Kyouko Hori said with tears in her eyes.

But suddenly, it disappeared and as if the ground beneath her feet split into two, there was a smug smirk surfacing on his face that really got underneath her skin. This, this, was no child of hers. And she was in no way shape or form this things mother.

"I hate sweet things." Hachiman said annoyed. "And I hate cake."

He was absolutely the worst, truly, the worse human being in this whole university. What in the world made her want to treat this guy to a free lunch. Oh, that's right. Yui said he was feeling down. And she owed him an apology for last time, when he misjudged him and his friend.

But really, this was taking it too far.

"You guzzle that sweet Maxx Coffee like an alcoholic." She said, heatedly. "I don't think you get to say you hate sweet stuff."

"Then I hate cake."

Give me back my motherly love, the motherly instinct I felt for you just now, you jerk! Kyouko Hori thought like a yandere. If he kept this up, she was gonna have his baby and shower it with all the motherly love she had and him, well, she was gonna kick him outside the house, stop him from seeing the child, because like a responsible mother, she wouldn't want his ill influence to infect the baby.

….Wait a second what the hell was she thinking.

"Why are you going all red all of a sudden?" Hachiman Hikigaya asked. "Do you really love cake that much, that you can't stand anyone saying they hate that stuff. Seriously, that's one hellva devotion to a piece of confectionary – Hey where are you running off to now?"

"Shut up!" Kyouko Hori broke off into a run. "If you still want to have your free lunch, run after me."

"Hey, when you say it like that – Ow! Did you just throw a book at me!? What are you twelve!?"

"Idiot! Idiot! Idiot!"

A/N: Now this feels like an okay chapter. Sorry I couldn't follow the voting on this one. This has been in my mind for a while now. Hope everyone likes it, nonetheless.

Here are the options for the next chapter:

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Option 4: Akeno Himejima.

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

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Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter.

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Won't betray your dreams.

Trivia: Kyouko Hori's roommates are: Akeno Himejima (High School DxD), Haruno Yukinoshita (Oregairu) and Kurisu Makise (Steins;Gate)