A/N: I'm back. These past weeks had been rather busy for me, what with client meetings and audits at work... wait, I shouldn't be telling you those. And you probably don't care about it too. Meh.

Anyway, Chapter 3 is here. I hope I did well here, enjoy. And I edited a picture (removed some kanji on her hair) to use for the cover on this story (good thing I learned stuff on Photoshop during college). The moment I saw that image my mind told me "use it. NOW."

Also thanks again to Kaisaeren, for being a great help while I was constructing this chapter.

"O-Onii-chan?! A-are you dying?"

He would have been touched with his eyes in tears from the concern his worried sister showed him, had it not been for the last part that seemed to be her jumping to conclusions.

"Shouldn't you be asking lighter questions like 'are you fine' before that?"

"But you look terrible! Well, not that you normally don't in the first place..."

"Oi, who are you? Yukinoshita? Could you please spare the insults for the moment I'm suffering here?"

It was the siblings' morning routine: whenever Hachiman wasn't out of his room by a certain time Komachi would have to go fetch him. Seeing he hadn't gone to the table for breakfast she decided to pay him a visit, only to find him bent over in his bed clutching his gut.

Apparently Yui's cookies were the ones to blame. While they were somehow palatable for him, he hadn't expected such a side-effect to appear the next day. Truly Yui's baking skills were a frightening force...

However his biggest regret was not the consumption of the food itself, but the fact that he had eaten all of them, and now he had none left to hand over to Yukino for the sake of revenge.

'Karma is such a bitch.'

"I knew those cookies were bad news." Komachi sighed, shaking her head. "Still, they say love makes people act stupid. Geez Onii-chan, even if you're in love I know you ought to be better than that."

Hachiman was unable to retort when his sister had turned tail and left the room, who came back a few minutes later carrying a tray of food and water along with some medicine for his upset stomach. She helped him sit up carefully, avoiding to move him too suddenly and worsen his condition. She then sat on the edge of his bed and brought the tray to his lap, revealing a bowl of warm soup.

"Say 'aah~'!" She instructed as the spoonful in her hand awaited him.

"A-aah..."

He felt his cheeks burn, being spoon-fed like this by his own little sister to be a bit embarrassing. He was her onii-chan, he was the one who was supposed to take care of her and not the other way around. He felt as if his pride was being stepped on...

...well, not that he wasn't used to it.

"Does it taste good? Komachi made it with lots of love, my secret ingredient!"

She gave him a bright smile, her lips curved to reveal the small fang peeking at the corner of her mouth. There were hints of concern in her eyes, but more than that was a display of joy. Perhaps she was happy to be able to help him, to be the one to be relied on?

"Yes, it does. You did a great job." He raised his hand and pet her head, much to her delight as she squirmed at his touch.

After having his fill and taking the medicine with a glass of water, Komachi started to clean up and stood to leave when Hachiman called out to her.

"Hey," she spun around to face him, now just about to exit the door. "Thanks. I'll make sure to return the favor someday."

"There's no need for that, silly. Just get well soon, that'll be enough to repay me." She gave him a bright smile. "Kyaa~ that scored a ton of points in my book!"

No matter how many times she did that, it never failed to amuse him at how cute his sister could be. Whatever he did to deserve her, he would never know.

"Oh! Look at the time, I'm running late! I'll message your teacher that you wouldn't be able to come to school today, so rest easy for now. Bye Onii-chan!" And with that his imouto hurriedly left and closed the door behind her, leaving the loner to himself.

As it was still early and with Komachi saving him the trouble of excusing himself, he waited for the drug to work its magic. Once the pain had finally subsided enough to allow him to relax, he once more laid down on his bed, letting the peacefulness of his room lull him back to sleep.

She stood nervously by the door for around ten minutes, silent and unmoving. It was as if time had stood still for her, her consciousness stuck in limbo while her mind had been contemplating since on whether it was a good idea to have come here or not.

She had received a text from his sister that morning, telling her of how he had been feeling unwell and that he was unable to go to school for today. She need not ask the reason for she already had a hunch on what had caused his misfortune.

Guiltily she complied with her request, that she would pay a visit to the loner at their house and take care of him in the meantime. It turned out that coincidentally, Komachi had some matters at school to finish and that she would be returning home a little later than usual. She feared that her onii-chan wouldn't be able to handle things on his own and prepare his food by himself given his current state.

"I'm counting on you, Yui-chan! Do your best!"

Yui sighed. If it wasn't bad enough that she was to blame for Hachiman's suffering, she too was aware that no one else was in the house besides him. This mere fact made her face blush so she shook her head to dismiss the thought.

'This is Hikki we're talking about! He's not like that.' She convinced herself, steeling her will as she had already made it this far. It wasn't exactly the point of no-return but turning back now would have put her efforts to waste. 'A-and besides...'

She frowned as she slid the spare key she found hidden outside into the doorknob's hole, twisting it to unlock the door with a soft click.

'It's not like he sees me as someone more than a friend anyway...'

After removing her shoes and letting herself in she entered the living room, taking a seat on the sofa. She fished out her phone from her bag and sent a mail to Hachiman to let him know of her presence. Before she could put it down the device then buzzed as she received one from Komachi.

"Yui-chan, I forgot! Could you please take care of Kamakura too? His food is in one of the cupboards, just pour some on his bowl and he'll eat it on his own. Thanks and good luck!"

She went and looked around her surroundings, first at the living room then in the kitchen and sure enough, she spotted the feline atop the refrigerator in a cat loaf position, eyes glued to her every movement.

"Here, here Kama-kun." She motioned her hands to signal the cat to come near her. "Yui will take care of you."

The family pet only stared at her without making so much of a sound, closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

"Geez you're so stubborn, just like Hikki..." She sighed, then suddenly her face brightened up as if a light bulb had appeared over her head. Opening the cupboards she scoured the contents until finally finding the item she was searching for.

"There you are!" She pulled the bag of cat food out and placed it on the table. Looking back to the cat she saw that it was again awake, but its eyes were fixed upon the object that Yui had just taken out.

"..nya?" The soft, inquisitive meow told her that she had successfully won his attention. Granted the opportunity at hand, Yui proceeded to shake the bag to entice the creature.

"Here, Kama-kun! Would you like some?" The cat's ears twitched as it picked up the familiar rattling sound. She opened the bag and the aroma of the cat food filled the air, it was at this moment that Kamakura stood up and made his way down the fridge and onto the floor.

"Nyaa..." His eyes, pupils dilated, seemed to be pleading as he gazed into hers. She stood with the bag in her hands, looking back at him without a word. It was like there was a battle going on between the two and they were now neck and neck, with the next move being the deciding factor to determine the winner.

"..." She was holding her breath, focused on the entity in front of her to read his movements.

"..." His tail swayed side to side, like a whip that was being lashed about.

The staring contest had dragged on for no longer than a minute, and a victor was declared soon after once Kamakura walked towards her and began rubbing his furry body against her legs.

"Aww... You're so sweet!" She crouched and patted him, purring at her hand. Having her fill of his affection she proceeded to serve him a meal, which the cat quickly gorged down on.

Yui left Kamakura to eat in peace and returned to the living room, taking a seat back on the sofa and checking her phone. The screen lit up but only to show zero notifications, much to her disappointment.

'Still no response...' She pulled up his contact and typed another message.

"Hikki, are you awake? I'm knocking on your door in ten minutes if you don't respond. Please reply ASAP, I'm worried about you..."

Her finger hovered over the button but could not find it in itself to press down. Her eyes skimmed through what she had typed again and again, furiously looking for something that she knew was just right under her nose. The pieces seemed to be slowly coming together in her mind as she finally confirmed what had been the cause of her hesitation.

She shook her head and mashed on the delete button, completely removing the last sentence and replacing it with another one that sounded more appropriate.

"Hikki, are you awake? I'm knocking on your door in ten minutes if you don't respond. Sorry if I disturbed you."

Once her mail had been sent successfully she let out another sigh. Looking at the time on her phone, there was still some leeway left before she would visit the loner in his room.

"Nya?"

In front of her now was a well-sated Kamakura, sitting up straight and watching her with his tail playfully swinging around. Yui patted her lap and he didn't hesitate to jump onto her, setting himself down into cat loaf mode once more. As her hand grazed his head going all the way down to his back and to the base of his tail, his eyes closed and his purr grew louder.

"You're stubborn and very lazy, and you're kind of quiet too, but once you warm up to someone you're actually really sweet, cute even." She giggled at his lack of activity as compared to Sablé, who was always bursting with energy. He never seemed to calm down whenever she was around, and the only time she found him quiet was whenever he was eating or sleeping.

He on the other hand, was quite the opposite of her dog. "You sorta remind me of Hikki..."

She could tell her face was turning red even without a mirror.

Kamakura nuzzled his head on her hand as she began to scratch his chin, she could now feel the strong vibrations of satisfaction from his throat. His eyes opened and looked at her, glazed as if he had just woken up from a good night's sleep.

"Well, at least you didn't have his dead-fish eyes hehe."

"Again with the eyes."

Yui's head shot up and was surprised to see the boy who looked like an exhausted zombie standing by the entryway to the living room.

"Hikki?!" Her sudden yell and movement scared the cat, rushing off of her lap and towards the kitchen. "Since when were you there? I-I never noticed you!"

"Oh, I guess I forgot to turn off my skill [Stealth Hikki]." Hachiman made his way towards the kitchen, leaning on the wall for balance. "Anyway, what brings you here?"

"Ah!" Yui recovered from her initial shock and grabbed her bag, then followed suit. When she reached him he was looking at the fridge's contents. "Komachi said she'll come home a bit late, so here. I brought you some food." Hachiman visibly tensed at her statement and stopped in his actions.

"R-really? Hehe... Y-you didn't have to-"

"No, no, I didn't make them." She took out a cup of instant noodles and a can of his favorite Maxx coffee, placing them on the table. "I don't know what to buy for you, and I don't want to get you sick again so..." She trailed off, fidgeting her fingers and unsure on what to say.

"I... guess this is okay." He took the noodles and began to prepare it, filling it with hot water and letting it cook for a few minutes. The sound of the water being expelled by the thermos echoed, reminiscent of a certain Ice Queen and her tea.

The two fell quiet afterwards, with Hachiman staring at the cover of his food while Yui leaning her arms on the chair near the table. It was weird how they were always together during club hours but right now there was an unexplainable air of awkwardness within the room.

They both took deep breaths, turning around at the same time to look towards the other and say something to break the deafening silence once and for all.

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry."

"Ah-!" They both uttered in unison. Yui motioned Hachiman to speak up but he waved his head and urged her to take the lead.

"U-umm, well... I'm really sorry for what happened to you because of my cookies." She bowed her head low.

"Don't be. It was my decision to eat them, and even if they were bad then I already told you. It'd be a waste to throw them away. They weren't inedible nor poisonous, or even breath-taking, but you also never intended to make them that way. So while you believe that you are at fault, I'm telling you right now to relieve any blame you're pinning on yourself."

She was at a loss for words to respond to his statement. He was right, and while she never really wanted to inflict any harm she still managed to. But here he was, asking her not to feel guilty about it.

"O-okay... Your turn then."

"Right, I just wanted to say thanks for... this." He gestured his hands to the pre-cooked meal in front of him.

"No problem." She smiled, making him do the same.

Strangely, the tension had dissipated and they now found themselves chatting idly, ending up with Hachiman's food getting overcooked. The noodles became a bit soggy but he ate them regardless, as he hadn't eaten anything since morning due to being asleep all day.

Seeing that he was the only one eating, he proposed to get her something but she respectfully declined the offer. She would be going home soon anyway and her mom would probably have prepared dinner by the time she reached her house.

Before she headed out, Yui called over Kamakura again. He cautiously approached her and let his guard down once the comfort of her hand graced his body.

"I'm surprised at how he's not trying to rip your skin off right now." Hachiman commended her as the cat laid dormant in her hands, cradling it like a baby. "You sure have talent on taking care of animals."

"I guess I'm just used to it." Yui set him down and shook off the fur that stuck to her uniform before she prepared to leave. Hachiman escorted her towards the doorway where she began putting on her shoes.

"Hey, want me to walk you home?"

"Huh?" She paused to study him, then shook her head. "Ah, there's no need, I'm fine by myself. Besides you don't feel well and I wouldn't want to trouble you any further. Thank you."

"Okay, then take care." He opened the door for her, Yui had taken only a few steps before she stopped in her tracks.

"It's easier to read an animal's thoughts because of their body language." She spoke, her back remained facing him. "Because of that I can easily tell, or at least make a good guess, on what they might be feeling or thinking. They may be simple creatures compared to humans, but aren't they amazing?"

He had nothing more than a hunch on what she was going on about. Yui turned her head to look at him from the corner of her eye.

"For all of my life that I've spent with animals, I've never seen one that lied..."

Hachiman saw a glimpse of what might have been sadness in her facial features. The sight lasted briefly however, and he was not able to confirm it as she had changed it into a smile.

"I'm sorry, I have to go now. Bye Hikki!" She bid farewell, the cheerfulness returning in her voice. He watched her walk away before disappearing from turning around a corner on the street.

Sigh.

"Nya?"

"Oh, hey there Kamakura." He petted the cat, but he ignored his hand and walked away from him instead. He followed the cat inside, finding him on the litter box getting ready to take care of some business.

"You show off to Yuigahama after she calls you sweet and cute, and this is what I get after taking care of you all these years? Great."

He waited for him to finish so he could clean up immediately afterwards, not wanting its smell to fill up the place.

'Oh well, shit happens.'

A/N: Yui being insightful... not good?

A prompt from Mr.Deprecation, regarding Yui playing with Kamakura... although they didn't play much here. I had trouble trying to find out how he behaved, so this was what came out.

Thanks to Pewdepew, OmegaEleven and Betrayed Dreams as well! Such wonderful people that have been helping me out during my times of laziness writer's block.

Read and review please.