Lunch after kidnapping

"So you saved Sobue from some stalker girl?!" Mel turned her head towards Sora. She was wearing her usual kawaii attire today, pink mostly, which looked great with her neon green bob. "And why didn't you mention it when you came to work?!"

Sora was looking at her sad lunch box, filled with rice. Yesterday she had no time to cook anything. She was so exhausted after returning home, but she forced herself to put on the rice cooker. Now she was glad she had something to eat, but it was so disappointing. Today she wore her usual attire: black mostly (more specifically, she looked like she just jumped out of a Daria show, full 2000s vibes).

She put her chopsticks down and sighed, "I didn't remember. I was tired anyway."

"Let her be, Mel, " Sobue ate his delicious-looking pizza with too much appetite, the view wasn't pleasant. "Sora had spent a whole evening yesterday searching for me and then had to deal with the crazy girl. By the way, Sora, that creep has been messaging me since. I think she wants us to go to the bar today. How the hell did she know we planned to celebrate?"

Mel's eyes widened, "Wait, we are celebrating? I mean we totally should... Why was I left out of this again?"

Sora sighed again, and looked up at them, "It doesn't matter how she knows, she will come anyway, so there is no escaping her. She thinks we are best friends now, so..."

"Wait, Sor," Mel couldn't keep up, "wasn't I your best friend?! Why I can not understand anything!"

"Mel, you are, don't worry, but she is insane, so give up. Remember she kidnapped Sobue-kun, and then got fixated on being my friend. It's better this way than having a yandere on our heads."

"Yes, yes," Sobue took his last slice, "Mel, forget it. I think she is a nuisance, and I plan to ignore her. I don't want to spend any time with her, but it seems she is obsessed with me."

"What's with the slug smile?" Mel frowned, still confused. "You look too good for a person who was kidnapped for several days straight! And your attitude..."

Sora felt a notch of energy, "Mel, imagine, she bought him Shonen Jump too."

"Hey, Sora! Don't play it out as if I was in heaven! I was tied up and didn't have a shower for two days. And, and, because of that idiot, I had to go home wearing pajamas yesterday!"

"Ha-ha," Mel almost choked, "Well, Sobue-kun, at least she is a dedicated woman who most likely won't break up with you?"

"What?! She explicitly said she wanted to eat me!"

Sora chuckled, while Sobue folded his hands. Sora turned to Mel, switching to English, ignoring him,

"Hey, I think it's a good idea to go to the bar today. I need something to take my head off of yesterday. You'll like Kiyo-chan, she is fun, honestly."

Mel was perceptive, she tilted her head, asking seriously, "Did something happen with the baldie?"

"Oh, you know. The usual: he saw a beautiful woman, who seemed to be someone from his past and literally could not move, so we had to leave him there to talk to her. And then Maki was the one who took me home, helped me with Sobue, and messaged me later to check if I needed to be taken home today."

"Oh, Sor, I'm sorry to hear that. But don't make conclusions, before you know for sure. From what you've said, you spent a good amount of time together and learned a lot about each other. So it seems, that he doesn't dislike you. He could've asked Maki to care for you from the beginning if he didn't like spending this time together."

"You are right, I shouldn't, but I honestly can't. It's easy to make conclusions about what's in his head, besides, he asked Maki to do that now..."

"Sor, you are always making rapid conclusions, maybe wait a bit this time, okay?"

"I.."

"Hi everyone, bon appetite!"

Sora got interrupted, so she turned her head towards the sound. The illusion of roses and sparkles almost blinded her, as usual. She instinctively closed her eyes briefly and smiled politely at Professor Oshiro. He continued, sitting down next to her. "Oh, you are all here, I am glad. It feels like I missed you yesterday." He looked only at Sora.

"Well, Professor Oshiro, " Mel intervened, "You did see me yesterday!"

"Oh, of course," he seemed polite, but dismissive, "How could I've forgotten, I saw you, yes."

Mel grimaced, the more time passed, the less she liked him. "Well, I am done eating, so I will return to work, Sora, will you come too?"

Sora pointed at her lunch box, still half full of rice, and mouthed a "sorry". "I will have to finish it, I am afraid."

Sobue stood up too, throwing his box in a garbagge, leaving after bowing to Sota, and nodding to the girls, still irritated.

"That leaves us two alone, hope you don't mind. I also am a bit late today with my lunch," he took it out. The lunch inside looked pristine, with omelets and fish, fried rice, and some vegetables.

Sora glanced at it adjusting her glasses, "Did you make it yourself, Oshiro-san?"

"I see it's still hard for you to switch to the less formal honorific, well," he pulled out his chopsticks and gracefully took an omelet, "take your time. And yes, I did it myself. I live alone, so who else would've done it? I wish my cat could!" He waited for her reaction, grinning.

"Oh, you have a cat?" She seemed excited, which made him satisfied.

"Yes, I love her. It's a big fluffy one, I saved her from the street once. You know, couldn't pass by..."

"Wow, Oshiro-san, you are great!" Her eyes were glistening, "I wish I could also take a cat, but because I have no idea where I will be living in a year, I can't. Oh, I haven't seen a cat since that one time I went to a cat cafe last year..." She became dreamy, not realizing that was exactly what he wanted.

"You know, you can take your friends and come visit me once, you can hang out with the cat as much as you want, she is very cute and likes people." He paused, seeing her excitement growing, "Do you want to see a picture?"

"Oh, I can? Please show me!"

"Good, I made one just yesterday!" He pulled the phone out and clicked on the photo album, showing her the picture. It looked insanely cute: a cat was wearing a hat, and seemed so grumpy, but in an adorable way. Sora couldn't hold it anymore, so she took the phone from his hands excitedly enlarging the pic.

"Oshiro-san, she looks so good! I wish I could cuddle with her now! Oh, she is great, " she returned the phone, and put the last bit of rice in her mouth, chewing, she said "I would love to come! Maybe I can take Sobue with me, I know he likes cats too!"

Oshiro's eyebrow twitched when he heard her chewing loudly, but he smiled, putting his phone back in his pocket, and said, "Well, okay. I think Saturday would work for me. You should come! By the way, are you coming to this conference on loneliness in Kyoto next week?"

"Mn, I am. Are you coming too? Do you have something to present?"

"I have a poster, I think it's on Wednesday, when is yours?"

"Mine is on Tuesday."

"Well, Sora-chan, it's great, I will be able to see you presenting!"

She felt her cheeks burning up, "O-Oshiro-san, you don't have to..."

"Stop it, it's great when you talk about the things you like. You always glow when you are in your stream."

"Stream? I guess. Well, I will come to listen to you too, then. Thank you for the company, Oshiro-san." She stood up, taking her food container, "I need to return to work."

"Of course, I kept you long enough, Sora-chan. Please come any time!" He grinned and touched his hair.

Yikes, talked to him for too long, never notice how time passes with him! She bowed and ran off, smiling.