I was let into the Haninozuka home quickly and led to the dining room where, lo and behold, Honey was eating cake.
"Have you even eaten dinner yet, Honey?" I asked, watching him finish up the cake in front of him.
"Nope!" He shook his head with a grin. "But it's okay. I'll still be able to eat dinner."
"Okay then..." I'd just have to trust his own judgement. "So, Honey. Would it be okay if I stayed the night?"
He stopped eating, turning to me with a curious look. "Sure but why?"
"My mom's coming home tomorrow." I sat down next to him. "So the house is in chaos trying to clean up and prepare. She's not even going to be here for that long. I don't get why they make such a fuss. Every time I see my mom, I have to dress up nicely too." I sighed.
"And?" Honey said, finishing up the cake. A maid whisked the dish and fork away quickly. They must be used to his cake eating too.
"It's really noisy at the house now. Even Kimiko's gone," I said.
He nodded and smiled. "You're always welcome to stay here, Ri-chan! We have spare rooms."
"Thanks , Honey." I smiled.
"Oh! It's Hayashi-san again!"
Hm? I turned in my seat and found Satoshi dragging a grumpy looking Yasuchika in. He grinned and waved.
"Hey! What are you doing here?"
"I'm staying over today!" I replied with a grin. "We should have a sleepover! Oh and you don't have to call me Hayashi-san. Just Rika will be fine."
"How about Rika-nee?" Satoshi suggested.
"Sure!" I grinned. No one's called me that since Yuuta.
"Sleepover?" Chika asked looking bored.
I stared at Chika then at Satoshi, who just shrugged. I glanced at Honey, who was watching bemusedly.
"You guys don't know what a sleepover is?"
"A commoners' thing?" Chika guessed, crossing his arms.
"Apparently, since you guys don't know a thing about it." I replied. "Allow me, then, to EDUCATEyou rich and over-fortunate souls! A sleepover occurs between friends. A friend or group of friends go to another friends' home. They then spend time together watching movies, eating junk food, and playing games! And then they all sleep together in one room in sleeping bags. They stay up late talking and laughing. It's SUPER fun!"
"Sounds lame," Chika said.
I turned to him with a sharp gaze, but not quite a glare. Then I smiled. "Oh really? Want to give it a try? I'm sure it'd be really fun with the Host Club."
Oh wait. Who was I to say this? This wasn't my house to begin with. I couldn't just invite the Host Club over to trash Honey's home.
"Never mind," I said with a sigh. "I'll teach you guys the glory of a sleepover some other time."
Plus if mom came back and the first news she heard was that I had a sleepover with a bunch of boys... she'd probably freak and send me back to some lame all-girls school.
"It sounds fun!" Honey said. He grinned. "Let's give it a try."
I stared at him, wondering what he was thinking. "But. Uh. Do you want to-"
"Yeah. We can invite the Host Club. They'd probably want to try it." Honey said. No, he didn't seem very happy at the idea some how. Why did his smile seem a bit... fake?
"Never mind, Honey. Forget it." I said.
"But don't you want to try it?" He tilted his head while staring at me with innocent, questioning eyes.
"Argh! Don't use that cute face against me! Anyway, it's your choice, Honey. I'd be happy enough if I got a room to sleep in, so I don't care. It was just a suggestion. Plus, we'll be seeing the Host Club Saturday evening, I don't really need to see any more of them." I nodded. Yeah, that was true enough. It'd probably be better for me if I saw less of them.
"Okay then. Let's just have a mini sleepover with us!" Honey suggested with a brighter grin. "You guys can join too!"
"Us?" Satoshi asked, pointing at himself.
"No thanks." Chika said, turning away pompously. "I don't want to be part of
some stupid thing like that."
"CHIIIIIKA!" Satoshi roared, pulling out a wooden katana. "How dare you speak so rudely to your brother!" He smacked Chika's head harshly, knocking off his glasses.
"Ow! Satoshi!" Chika cried, clutching his head while tears formed in his eyes.
Wow. That's a different side.
"Satoshi." Mori stepped in, grabbing his younger brother's sword. "That's enough."
"Taka-nii!" Satoshi hugged his brother, while Honey went to his brother's side. I sat there watching, amused, as Honey rubbed Chika's head while saying soothing words.
"A-Anyway!" Chika said, interrupting the brotherly moment. "I don't want to be a part of it! N-Now I'm going!" Then he dashed out of the room.
Satoshi chased after, waving his sword while shouting.
Mori glanced at the two of us, obviously confused.
"We're having a sleepover, Takashi!" Honey explained. "Do you want to join?"
"It's fine." Mori said, shaking his head.
"A sleepover with just two people?" I glanced at Honey and grinned.
"Will it work?" He asked.
"Sure! It'll definitely be a mini sleepover though!"
"Yeah!"
Dinner turned out to be another dilemma. Mori left to eat with his family, leaving me behind with Honey's family.
Honey's mom wasn't around. It was just his dad and Chika. Erm...
It was alright. I tried to stay quiet and out of the way, answering any questions directed at me. I smiled and ate the "proper" way I was taught, like no elbows and what not.
After dinner, we began by watching the Hobbit. Mori and Satoshi came to join us, which meant Chika ended up watching too. Honey had a mini theater. It was a large room, like about the size of a two- car garage. There was an entire screen that stretched across one wall. It was amazing! I'd never had a theater like it. Mom and Dad weren't very fond of movies, so there wasn't one in the main house.
We ate cake after, much to Chika's disgust. Then we went and watched Zoolander. I'd seen the movie before, but the others hadn't. It seemed only Mori and Chika weren't very fond of laughing out loud. Satoshi, Honey, and I burst out laughing. Then I suggested we play a game. We moved to Honey's room.
We started off with board games. We played Monopoly, which, as usual, ended with a few disgruntled players and a few grinning ones. Mori was very lucky, and he was the richest one by the end of the game. Honey and Chika, on the other hand, kept landing on other people's places. Satoshi and I were just about in the middle, though I was getting close to the Haninozuka level. It was fun, but I guess Chika wouldn't agree.
"Okay, let's play a different kind of game." I said, after all the paper money was cleaned up.
"What kind of game?" Satoshi asked, eyes shining with excitement.
"Truth or dare?" I asked. "Or we could play Never Have I Ever, or Would You Rather. There's a lot of options."
"Huh?" Satoshi blinked.
I glanced at the other vacant and unsure faces. "Let's just play Would You Rather. It's really simple. You basically give two options and everyone has to pick one. For example, would you rather walk on hot coals for five minutes or sit in a box filled with poisonous snakes for fifteen minutes?"
"Hot coals," Chika said. "Duh."
"Same." Satoshi said. Mori nodded.
Honey nodded too. "Yeah."
I sighed. "That meant it was a bad one, cause I agree. Someone else try."
"Spiders," Mori said. "Or cockroaches."
I shuddered. "Cockroaches."
"Spiders!" Satoshi said with a grin. What? Isn't the choice obvious?
Chika frowned, looking distraught. "Uh. Um. Cockroaches then."
"Chika-chan hates spiders too!" Honey said with a grin, receiving a glare from
Chika. "I wouldn't care. Cockroaches probably."
"What about you Mori?" I asked.
"Spiders." He said, in the usual monotonous way.
"Okay, your turn Chika." I said, directing everyone's attention to the boy. He frowned and fidgeted in his seat, trying to think of one.
Chika stared up for a moment. "Um, okay, how about, would you rather, uh, be able to fly or be able to pause time?" Ooh, now that's a pretty good one. Superpowers are quite popular.
"Fly!" Satoshi said. Mori nodded.
"I'd rather be able to pause time," Chika said.
"Fly." Honey grinned. "It'd be awesome!"
I shrugged. Both would be nice. If I could pause time, then I could run over to a nearby bookstore, read a ton of manga, run back to the house, unpause time, and act as if nothing had happened.
"Pause time," I said.
"Ooh! I have one!" Satoshi started bouncing. "But, uh, can I just ask you, Rika-nee?"
I stared at him suspiciously. "Uh, no...? That's not very fair."
He looked crestfallen. "Aw. Fine then." Then he smiled. "Would you rather go on a date with Taka-nii or go on a date with Mitsukuni-nii?"
What kind of question is that?
Satoshi grinned. "It's okay. You pick first, Chika."
"What?!" Chika blushed. "Wh-Why would I- no way! I wouldn't want to go on a date with either of them!"
"What? You have to pick! I'd go with Taka-nii of course. No offense, Mitsukuni-nii." Satoshi said, glancing quickly at Honey who just smiled and shook his head.
"Fine. Taka-nii then." Chika turned away.
I glanced at Honey and saw, for just a second, pain in his brown eyes. He turned to me and gave me a flowery grin. I smiled at him. Chika didn't hate Honey. I hoped Honey understood that.
"But Mori and Honey don't really have a choice," I said. Mori and Honey nodded. Satoshi grinned.
"Then I'll modify it! Taka-nii, would you rather eat cake or babysit a kid?" Satoshi asked. What kind of modification is that?
"Babysit," Mori replied.
Really? That's surprising. Cake would be much easier, but I guess kids would be fun. Satoshi nodded smugly, as if expecting that answer. "Okay. Mitsukuni-nii's turn. Would you rather be able to eat whatever cake whenever and wherever you want to-" Didn't he already have that privilege? He could even eat in the library... "-or go on a date with Rika-nee?"
Honey froze. I glanced at him. Wasn't the answer obvious? So why did it look like Honey was having a great debate in his head? But... it was a bit sad that I couldn't compete with cake though. So what was more valuable to Honey than cake?
Honey looked down, frowning. Then he turned away from me, but the reddening of his ears didn't escape my notice. "The d-date."
Woah! Woah! Is this a great moment in history? This was the very first time I heard Honey stutter.
"Your turn, Rika-nee!" Satoshi said, grinning brightly.
Chika looked concerned.
"Honey, of course." I turned away too. "It'd be really fun."
"Then you guys should go on a date!" Satoshi started bouncing on the floor.
I glanced at Honey, catching his gaze. I blushed and saw that he did too.
"Mitsukuni," Mori said, attracting everyone's attention immediately. "No."
Honey frowned but didn't say anything. The atmosphere turned unexpectedly tense. I glanced around. Honey and Mori were staring at each other. If this were manga, there would probably be sparks flying right now.
"There would be negative impacts, Mitsukuni. " Mori said. He closed his eyes, sighed, and then opened them again. I glanced at the clock. It was already eleven. "Can you imagine how Tamaki would react? Kyoya wouldn't be very happy either. Besides, you don't even know Rika-san that well."
Woah! Woah! A second great moment in history! This was the first time Mori said so many sentences, at least in front of me.
"Takashi," Honey said. "Are you tired?"
Mori nodded.
"That would explain it," Chika muttered. "I'm going to sleep too. Come on, Satoshi."
Honey caught my confused gaze, smiled, and said, "Takashi gets really chatty when he's tired."
Satoshi glanced at his cousin then his brother. "Eh? Oh okay. Come on, Taka-nii. Let's go home. You need to go to sleep."
Mori nodded, stood up, and nodded at Honey and me. "Good night, Mitsukuni. Good night, Rika-san." Then he smiled.
Woah!
This was one crazy night.
The three left.
"Mini sleepover time!" Honey said throwing his hands in the air.
"Yeah! So do you have a sleeping bag, Honey?" I turned to face him.
"What's that?"
"It's kind of like a futon, except the blanket is part of it and you can unzip it. And, well, basically it's like a futon." It's hard to describe a sleeping bag, okay?
"Let's just use futons then. So we sleep on the ground, huh?" He asked, heading to the closet. I got up and helped him pull out the futons.
"Yup!" After setting up the futons near the bed, Honey entered his closet to change clothes. "Hey, Honey, can I use your bathroom?"
"Go ahead!" He called from within. I grabbed my bag. Honey's bathroom was big, as expected, with golden faucets, black marble countertops, and a huge tub. Well, it didn't seem much fancier than the bathrooms in the main house. I pulled out my toothbrush.
I'd brought Momo and hugged him to my chest, as Honey turned the lights off. I was tired. And I really did not look forward to the next day. Sure, I could handle the Host Club, but my mom could easily do unpredictable things that screwed over my life. I really didn't want that to happen.
"Hey, Rika." Honey said in a quiet voice lying next to me.
"Yeah?" I rolled over to face him, though it was hard to make out his face in the darkness. I liked it when he used my full name though, instead of anything like Ri-chan. Maybe I should tell him that...
"How do you know about sleepovers?"
"Mhm," I mumbled, closing my heavy eyes. "I used to go to my friend's house all the time for sleepovers. Even on school days."
"Which friend? The one from that school abroad?" "Mmm."
"Sprucewell, right?"
"Yeah." My voice was just a whisper now. "I'd go to her little apartment after school and we'd do our homework together. And then we'd watch TV and eat junk food. And sometimes she'd cook for the two of us. She was a good cook. And then we'd go to sleep later. And if it wasn't a school night, we'd stay up talking. And talking. And talking. And it was...really fun."
"What's her name?"
"Anna," I said. I could feel the lump returning. I turned onto my back and swallowed. "Anna Barton."
"Do you miss them?"
"Of course."
"I want to meet them, Rika."
"Hm?" I rolled back to face him.
Honey was facing me, watching carefully. He smiled softly.
"They're your good friends, aren't they, Rika? I'd like to meet them."
"They're a lot like the Host Club actually." I smiled fondly. "You'd probably like them."
"Who's that Goofy boy then? That's not his real name, is it?"
"No." I giggled. "No. It's just a nickname. Cause he used to be such a goofball. He's really good with his hands. He can build lots of cool things."
"That's cool."
"Yeah."
We were quiet for a while, then an idea popped up in my head. "Hey, Honey."
"Yeah?"
"About that Would You rather thing, were you serious?"
"About what?" He asked, scooting closer.
"Um, well." I swallowed and licked my lips. This was a crazy idea. "Would you like to go on a date?" I said in a nervous whisper.
I saw the smile spread. It was different from his usual flower-producing grin that he showed all the girls at school.
This was a sweet, delightful smile. "I would love to. When?"
"How about next week? On a Saturday or Sunday," I replied. I was glad it was dark, and he couldn't see my face. It was probably bright red.
"Okay! Where?"
"I don't know." I shrugged. "Any suggestions?"
"How about an amusement park?"
"Okay." I grinned.
That'd be fun. Plus I haven't been to an amusement park in a really long time.
"Saturday then? How about at eleven in the morning then?"
"Yeah. Good night, Rika." Honey said. Then he extended his hand out.
"Good night, Honey." I wrapped one arm around Momo, slipped my other hand into Honey's, and closed my eyes. Tomorrow would be trouble.
3rd POV:
Azumi knocked on Haninozuka Mitsukuni's bedroom door. She worried about what she would find inside. Why was her young mistress sleeping with the Haninozuka boy? Although she knew the ties between the Hayashi and Haninozuka families, it still troubled her that she was in such a situation.
Last night had been extremely busy. Every nook and cranny had to be dusted, cleaned, and polished. Everything had to be exactly where it belonged. The wooden floors had to glow, and the tiled floors had to shine. Every window had to be clean enough to see one's own reflection. Every rug beaten until there was nothing left. And not a single hair could be found anywhere throughout the huge mansion.
Azumi sighed quietly, rubbing her temples. It was always trouble when the Hayashi matriarch returned.
When there was still no response, Azumi knocked again, this time louder.
"Rika-sama? Time to get up. Your mother will be home soon."
Inside the room, Rika blinked at the sunlight streaming in from the windows facing her. She pushed herself up with her free hand, since her right hand was linked to Honey's. Even though Honey was still asleep, breathing softly, his hand held Rika's tightly.
"I'm up, Azumi." Rika said just loud enough for the maid outside to hear.
"May I come in?" Azumi asked.
"Hang on." Rika started shaking Honey.
His grip was too strong for her to just break apart from. "Honey, wake up. I have to go."
"Mm." He mumbled, turning into his pillow.
"Mitsukuni," She said gently. "Time to let go of my hand please."
Honey forced the sleepy darkness away. Rika was calling for him, so he had to wake up now.
"Ugh." He sat up, rubbing his eyes. He hated having to wake up.
"Rise and shine, Mitsukuni. Good morning!" Rika smiled brightly.
Her genuine smile was enough to melt away the darkness. He smiled back.
"Good morning, Rika. Why are you calling me Mitsukuni all the sudden?"
"Isn't it the magic word to get you to wake up?" Rika asked.
"It can be the magic word for everything," Honey smiled mischievously.
"What does that mean?" She stood, stretching, and then grabbed her bag.
"You should call me Mitsukuni from now on." He replied, lying back down.
"Sure, sure." Rika opened the door. Azumi was standing there with a tired smile. She had barely gotten any sleep last night.
"Did you bring a change of clothes, Rika-sama?" Azumi asked.
Rika nodded. "Good morning. And yes I did. I'll go change right now."
"Good. Then I'll wait at the front door for you, Rika-sama. Take your time, but please be at the door by nine-fifty."
"Yes. Thanks, Azumi." Rika stepped back into the room, as Azumi left. The maid had wanted to give Rika some more time with Honey. It had seemed like something important had been happening between the two.
"So what were you saying, Honey?" Rika asked, entering the bathroom.
"You should keep calling me by my first name." Honey said, still lying on the futon. He glanced over at Rika's futon and saw Hiro lying there. He smiled.
"Mitsukuni." Rika said, trying out the name. She'd already used it a few times.
"But it's sooo long, Honey. Can I give you a nickname instead?"
"Sure!"
"Hm, how about Kuni-chan?"
Honey grimaced. "Uh, no. Thanks."
"Kuni-kun then?"
"Why Kuni?"
"Well Yasuchika becomes Chika. So Mitsukuni becomes Kuni. Why is your name so difficult? Okay, how about Mi-kun then?"
"Uh..."
"Never mind then. Your name is just too difficult."
A few moments later, teeth brushed, hair brushed, and face washed, Rika stepped out of the bathroom. She was wearing the red dress the twins had picked out for her at the mall. The one that had given her the chance to buy the clothes she wanted to.
It was a simple red dress. It was short-sleeved with a v-neck, came to the tops of her knees, and clung to her waist.
Honey stood up, eyes widened.
Rika's hair was down. Her red bow was tied around her wrist instead. Her black hair fell on her shoulders in a strangely elegant way.
She was beautiful.
"Why are you, uh, staring so much, Honey?" Rika asked, pulling at the dress. It seemed a bit too short for her tastes. She'd rather it be a bit longer just in case.
"You look beautiful, Rika." Honey grinned.
She blushed and turned away. "Th Thanks, Mitsu-" Gah! For some reason, at this one moment, she just couldn't seem to say his name. "Mitsukuni!"
Honey chuckled. "You should put your hair down more, Rika."
She stared at him and smiled. "Okay." Then she scooped Momo up and promptly tied her red bow around his neck.
"I'll be coming back, Mitsukuni." Rika said. "Um, if that's okay. I have to get my stuff. If, um, I can leave it here? Just my bag, that's all. And I'll get it. Probably later, like maybe even tomorrow. Mom wouldn't like to know that I stayed over here. Though I'm not sure if she already knows. Um, look, yeah. I'll just, uh. Here!" She thrust Hiro at Honey. "Please take care of Momo for today!"
"Huh? What about your bow?" Honey asked.
"Mom doesn't like it. So, I'll be leaving it in your care." She smiled, though it looked pained. "Please take care of it."
Honey knew that the bow was important to Rika. He smiled. She must really trust him to leave the bow in his care.
"I'll take care of him and your bow. Thanks, Rika."
"Thank you. Mitsukuni." Rika looked relieved. She smiled. "I'll be going then."
"Okay. I'll see you tonight." Honey nodded and smiled back.
"See you!" Rika grabbed a pair of black flats and ran to the front. It was time to face her mother once again.