Ayaka
"Excuse me, are you a member of the Host Club? Could you ask 3rd year student, Mitsukuni Haninozuka to meet me out here?" I heard someone ask from the door. Haruhi was just showing up I can see her in the door she was opening.
"Who, Honey senpai? You sure?" Haruhi asked strangely.. I wonder who it is? It sounds like a boy asking.
"Yes." The boy agreed. Takashi walked over to the door with Mitsukuni on his shoulders. Naturally I followed. We peeked out the door. Oh...
"Oh, look! It's Chika-chan! So, what's up? You rarely come over to the high school like this to see me." Mitsukuni said joyfully. Mitsukuni's little brother, I haven't seen him in a while.
"Prepare yourself, Mitsukuni." Chika said pushing his glasses up. He jumped and kicked at Mitsukuni. Takashi pulled me out of the way of Chika almost taking my head off with his foot. I was going to move Takashi, calm down. Mitsukuni kicked off Takashi's back and flipped in the air landing in a crouching position.
"Hey come on! Cut it out, you guys! Mori senpai! Ayaka senpai!" Haruhi said worriedly. Haruhi looked to us to stop them.
"Hmm?" We both looked down to her plainly.
"What do you mean "hmm"?" She asked aggressively.
"Woah! Did you see that?!" Renge said into the mic as she rose from the floor on her motorized pedestal," Honey senpai dodged Chika's preliminary attack! This is gonna be good!" Renge encouraged them with a play by play. Mitsukuni stands up to face his younger brother.
"Honey senpai is able to fly through the air with such grace. He's like a modern day Ushiwakamaru!" Chika charges again," Woah! Chika attacks again without even giving him a chance to regain his balance!" Mitsukuni dodges Chika's attack and kicks Chika's legs out from under him," Incredible! He dodged his attack and tripped him! Neither of them is gonna give. They keep flashing out with ferocious techniques." They take turns kicking and lunging at each other. They stop for a moment, Chika is breathing heavily, but Mitsukuni looks like the fight had barely even started.
"So, they're at it again." Tamaki says playfully as the rest of them show up.
"I wish they would have chosen a better location to do this." Kyoya complains.
"Wait! Why are you guys so calm?!" Haruhi asked loudly, probably surprised by their calmness of the situation. Chika pulls a weapon from his back. He lunges at Mitsukuni, who flips back.
"Now things are getting serious! Chika's got a weapon!" Renge narrates.
"Hey! No way! The use of weapons should be against the rules!" Haruhi said aggressively. Chika hit Mitsukuni with his weapon and knocks him away.
"Woah! He knocked him out of the park!" Hikaru said surprised.
"This may be his first win!" Kaoru joins in. Takashi grunts and I know that he saw it too. Renge must have as well.
"I gotcha." Chika says as his weapon contracts and he stands up straight.
"Sorry, but I don't think so. The winner of this fight is Honey senpai." Renge says firmly.
"Renge is right about that." Takashi says and Chika looks down to see shirken holding him to his spot on the floor.
" See? He got you." I say calmly.
"How the hell did he do that?" Chika asks. He looks up and sees Mitsukuni dusting himself off unhurt in the slightest. He glares at him.
"In the heat of battle, Honey senpai was able to attack with his Shuriken before Chika noticed!" Renge darkened the room and a screen appeared and a replay started as she explained how Mitsukuni won.
"His attack has left Chika utterly defenseless! What a great fight! Can't wait for the next one till then! See ya!" Renge sinks away happily. Chika sinks on his knees defeated at Mitsukuni's feet.
"Hey guys, I'm completely lost. You wanna tell me what's going on here? Who's that kid and why did he attack Honey senpai?" Haruhi says with a deadpan expression.
"What? You mean you can't tell just by looking at his face? He's Honey senpai's younger brother." Tamaki explains like Haruhi should know. Haruhi gasps in realization.
----
Everyone relaxed in the clubroom. Chika, Haruhi, Tamaki asit together on some couches as I sit with Takashi and Mitsukuni.
"The Haninozukas are a noble family. We excel at martial arts.We've combined styles over the years to create our very own method of fighting.When we're away, we study karate and judo, but when we're home, we work hard to master the Haninozuka technique. So, to make sure that we always stay alert, we've been taught that whenever two family members come face to face, they must engage each other in battle." Chika explained to Haruhi.
"Go on, Yasuchika. We've saved you a yummy piece of cake." Tamaki encouraged Chika to eat the cake.
"Thank you, but I don't care for sweets. Besides a basic principle of the Haninozuka technique is refraining from selfishness. So to let myself indulge in sweets would be out of the question." Chika explained stiffly. Why does he always have to sound so angry? I feel my eyes roll as he explains his family's techniques and principles.
"But one little piece of cake isn't really going to hurt you." Tamaki said with his puppy dog eyes.
"Hold on. I happen to know of a sweets-loving overly pampered little loli boy who happens to be..." Hikaru spoke as the twins popped up from behind the couch Haruhi was sitting on.
"The next head of the Haninozukas." Kaoru said curiously.
"And he's sitting right over there." They say in unison and point to where we're sitting as Mitsukuni put a bite of cake in his mouth.
"Let me just say, there's no way I'm ever going to recognize a dimwit like Mitsukuni as the next head of our family." Chika says harshly. Mitsukuni looks down on his cake," There's no doubts my older brother is strong. But he lives a decadent lifestyle and has failed to show any self restraint. He no longer has the right to be called a Haninozuka. I can't allow someone who arbitrarily quit the Karate Club only to become hooked on cake and stuffed animals to be the head of the Haninozuka family even if he is my older brother." Chika stands up and glares over his shoulder," I've been meaning to make that clear for a while. And another thing, Mitsukuni, I've said it before and I'll say it again, stay away from me at school, got it?" Chika says angrily and slams the door shut as he leaves.
Mitsukuni looks out a window quietly with Usa-chan in his arms. Haruhi walks up behind him.
"Senpai, are you doing okay?" She asks politely.
"Honey senpai, so what should we do with this cake?" Tamaki walks up next to Haruhi with the cake that Chika didn't eat in his hands. Mitsukuni cheers up and spins around with a big smile on his face.
"I'll eat it!" He says happily. A smile finds its way on my face as he eats the cake quickly. Haruhi deadpans as Mitsukuni swings Usa-chan around and a around happily.
"So, you used to be in the Karate Club, Honey senpai? I had no idea. What made you decide to quit and join with the Host Club?" Haruhi asks.
"Why did you just say the Host Club like that? What are you getting at, huh?" Tamaki pouts behind Haruhi as she talks about the club.
"Well, no matter how you cut it, the Karate club is a much more reputable club than ours is, senpai." Haruhi looks at Tamaki plainly. Tamaki screams in despair and pouts in his depression corner.
"If you really want to know," Hikaru leans on Haurhi's shoulder.
"We'll have to take a little trip down memory lane." Kaoru leans on her other shoulder.
"It was long before the Host Club had been established." Hikaru said happily.
"Listen up, and we'll tell you the legend of Honey Senpai, the captain of the Karate club." Kaoru said readying Haruhi for a long story.
~~~~
Two years ago at the Haninozuka Estate....
"Oh, so the eldest son is in high school now. I heard he has already been made captain of the Karate club, and he is only a first year!" A man said surprised.
"That is Outstanding!" Another agreed.
"I know he's a growing boy, but doesn't he seem small for his age? He may not be respected as head of the family if he stays that small." A man whispered.
"Mitsukuni, you are aware of what the others are saying about you, right?" Honey's father asked.
"Yes." Honey answered.
"You must work even harder to maintain your self-discipline. Completely cast aside all weakness and leniency, and take hold of your true strength." Honey's father said firmly.
"Right!" Honey agreed.
~~~~
"From that day forward, Honey-Senpai tried his very best. It was difficult but he worked hard." Tamaki remenised.
"So, he spent more time working on martial arts moves?" Haruhi asked.
"Wrong! Well aware of what others were saying about him, Honey senpai worked hard to follow his father's orders. He sealed away all of his cute possessions, so as not to seem weak. Then, he decided to take on a hard and fearless disposition, that of a manly man. However, it was obvious to everyone around him that his efforts were failing." Tamaki explained.
~~~~
"Excuse me, Haninozuka, would you like me to get you a piece of cake?" A girl asked as she noticed Honey looking at their deserts.
"What are you doing? He can't!" The girl closest to him whispered.
"No, thank you. I don't like sweets." Honey said trying to sound tough. He looked at the sweets again, this time inching closer.
"He's upset! See what you did! He was exercising self-control!" The girl scolded her friend.
"I totally forgot. I'm so sorry." The girl apologized to her friend.
"He's trying so hard to resist!" A girl noticed.
"You can tell he is really struggling!" A girl whispered.
"Oh, wow, it's so touching!" The girls bit their tongues to keep from fawning over him.
~~~~
"And so, the girls were so touched by seeing him resist the things he loved that their Moe senses went into overdrive. Not long after that the Haninozuka fan club was born." Tamaki explained as they stood behind Mitsukuni, who was still staring out the window.
"What does any of that stuff have to do with the legend of the Karate club?" Haruhi asked boredly.
"Let us explain." The said together.
~~~~
Inside the karate club room the captain yelled.
"Okay guys, take a ten minute break!" Honey said strictly walking away from the club members.
"Sir!" The members addressed.
"Hey, you know, Captain Haninozuka is such a strict and manly captain. His technique is awesome and he always keeps us in line." One member said obviously loud. The rest of the members nodded getting his drift.
"No joke, he's the best captain ever." A member said.
"For real though....He's a super manly man." The members played on his good side complimenting the captain loudly. Honey smiled happily with a bashful blush on his face as he faced away from the club members.
~~~~
"That story's such a tear-jerker!" The twins said sadly crying into handkerchiefs.
"You've gotta be kidding. How's that a tear jerker? Never mind, Just tell me what happens, would ya?" Haruhi said seriously.
~~~~
As the club members practiced Honey noticed a bunny rabbit puppet in the doorway. The puppet waved to him cutely then disappeared in a flash. Honey looked surprised but then snapped out of the and followed the rabbit out of the club room. He saw it disappear behind a corner, he followed it and found the commander of the puppet kneeling to his height.
"Why hello there, Haninozuka senpai. I know this is kind of sudden, but I was wondering if you'd join a new club I'm starting." Tamaki said looking into Honey's eyes as he spoke through the rabbit that had Honey mesmerized.
"Aren't you Suoh? Tamaki, right? You're from the middle school. What kind of club are you starting?" Honey asked suspiciously.
"I can't tell you how happy I am you asked, Haninozuka senpai! Come on Senpai, don't you think it's about time you start using your charming good looks to get more out of life? Why waste your time fighting when you could use your cuteness to give solace to young girls with too much time on their hands? With tons of stuffed animals, and all the cake you could want! I promise if you join, we will always have plenty of sweets on hand." Tamaki spoke excitedly about the club that was starting to create. Honey was drooling by now at the idea put in his head.
"Really?" He asked drooling," I mean no. I don't like sweets, so you can forget it. And for the record, I don't like cutesy things either." tamaki waved the rabbit around and Honey's eyes followed it,"No way. Not into cutesy stuff, don't like it, at all." Honey snapped out of his perfect idea and spoke strictly.
"I don't know much about martial arts, so please forgive me, but I was wondering, do you think you could tell me what true strength is?" Tamaki asked gently," I may be out of line, but hiding your true self and putting on airs doesn't seem any different than running away to me. I would think that embracing the things you truly like, and being able to enjoy them is worth more than anything. To just be yourself, I believe that's what true strength really is. I'll be back to ask you again. Please consider it, Senpai." Tamaki handed the rabbit puppet to Honey and walked off.
"What is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" Honey's father asked strictly.
"Well, there's something that I've been a little confused about, father. Can you please tell me what true strength is?" Honey looked to his father as they sat in an empty room together. Honey's father stood up with a gleam in his eyes and a hand on his black belt.
"I will show you my son, so you can experience it directly. Come with me to the Dojo!" He encouraged his son.
~~~~
"It has been said that Honey senpai's father is the most talented fighter in the Haninozuka family's history." Tamaki narrated to Haruhi." If I remember correctly, Honey senpai had already attained his current level of martial arts prowess, which is quite extraordinary. Well, am I right?" Tamaki turned to confirm with Mitsukuni as he sat on my back with Takashi next to us.
"Uh huh!" He said happily.
"Rumor has it the referee that happened to be officiating was Japan's Secretary of Defense at the time and he begged Honey senpai to never fight in public again, at least not at his full potential." Tamaki continued.
"And why would he do that?" Haruhi asked plainly.
"If the world ever saw Honey senpai's true abilities, they'd suspect Japan of possessing a weapon of mass destruction. The secretary was afraid it might upset the UN and then they would take it out on all of Japan." Tamaki explained sounding grim about the whole thing.
"How awful!" The twins sighed.
"So, Honey senpai quit the Karate club." Hikaru said happily
"And decided to become a member of the host club." Kaoru explained.
"All things considered, Honey senpai's behavior is too unconventional for even the Haninozukas to contain." Hikaru leaned on Haruhi's shoulder again.
"So, because of that, his younger brother had a more strict upbringing. One more in keeping with the Haninozuka standard." Kaoru leaned on the other.
"Sometimes I think Chika-chan hates me because I'm not following the family rules." Mitsukuni laid his chin on my head. I held on to him a little tighter.
"All right, gentlemen! Time for operation, Haninozuka Brothers Reconciliation!" Tamaki cheered. Haruhi deadpanned and Mitsukuni giggled.
----
We took a trip down to the middle school and watched as Chika instructed the karate club.
"All right, ten minute break!" Chika yelled and turned to walk away.
"Sir!" The members answered.
"You know, Captain Haninozuka sure is a strict captain. No matter how hard we try, it's like he's never satisfied. I really don't think I can take it." A member complained sighing.
"He's a tough captain. But he's no one near as skilled at martial arts as his older brother, Mitsukuni." Another pointed out. Chika turned around and stopped a strike right before it his the member's face.
"You will not talk about my brother in my presence, do you understand?" Chika clarified. Outside of the door a couple of girls gathered looking in.
"Look, it's Chika! He's so adorable!" One fawned.
"Yeah, Chika is not bad, but he's no match for his older brother, Honey! He's the cutest thing we've ever seen!" The rest off the girls spoke in unison, but froze when they felt a glare on them. Chika slammed the door shut and glared back the members.
"What are you idiots looking at?! Get started with the next drill!" Chika said firmly.
"But we're still on our break, sir." A member said fearfully.
"You've barely broken a sweat! You bums don't need a break! Start working harder before you're all out!" Chika enforced.
"Well, so far it looks like a simple inferiority complex." Hikaru said plainly. The twins, Tamaki, Haruhi, and Kyoya looked in the window of the club. I sighed resting my head on Takashi's shoulder as he gave me a piggy back ride and followed Mitsukuni as he walked.
"He's always being compared to Honey senpai so that's why he feels such animosity towards him. His older brother is more attractive, more popular, and a better martial artist than he is. I think he's just letting his jealousy get the best of him." Kaoru said thoughtfully.
"It's totally normal and way boring. We're gonna go find something more entertaining!" The twins skipped off together.
"Hold on. Come back here you two. Why are you suddenly being so uncooperative?" Tamaki asked baffled they were leaving.
"Well, we thought there'd be an interesting secret reason they're fighting. This is just lame." They said together.
"So, Honey senpai and Chika's feelings aren't exciting enough?!" Tamaki raged at them.
"It's okay, Tama-chan, really." Mitsukuni said as he walked up behind Tamaki stopping a few feet away from him.
"But, Honey senpai..." Tamaki looked at him.
"It's alright. Don't worry about me. So what if Chika-Chan hates me? I would be happy just seeing him grow up to be strong and healthy. He is my brother after all." Mitsukuni said happily.
"Umm, he's already a lot taller than you, Honey senpai." Kaoru said plainly.
"Yeah, he's pretty grown up and plenty healthy." Hikaru agreed.
"Excuse me, could you guys please keep it down?" Chika asked calmly as his glasses glared over. The twins and Tamaki drained of color and froze in place.
"What are you doing here? I thought I had told you to stay away from me at school, Mitsukuni!" Chika prepared to fight and kicked at Mitsukuni, but he blocked easily. The twins and Tamaki jumped away afraid to get hit,"You alien, would you just leave me alone?" Chika asked viciously.
"But, Chika-chan..." Mitsukuni said sadly.
"What's he mean alien?" The twins look at each other asking loudly.
"Why would you call him that? Just because your brother is stronger than you are doesn't give you the right to call him an alien." Haruhi said baffled.
"Yeah, why are you so upset about cake and stuffed animals?" Tamaki asked strangely. Chika looked indignant and he glared at nothing in particular.
"Well, if it was just about the cake and stuffed animals, I would never have said anything. Let's get this straight. I didn't call my brother an alien because he's stronger than me. Have any of you ever seen him devour an entire cake?! Don't tell me you guys think that's perfectly normal! He has three whole cakes every night for dessert! Seriously, three cakes a night! And he never gains weight!" He pointed at Mitsukuni and raged.
"And then something crazy occurred last week. I happened to wake up in the middle of the night and I noticed that the light was on in the dining room...He was sitting alone in the dining room with the table filled with cakes. It was terrifying! Come on, be honest... You know there's no way that a regular human being can eat that much cake! Aren't you terrified?! I bet he gets signals from his home planet through that weird bunny of his! Why can't you see that he's an alien?!" Chika shock in fear or rage I couldn't tell.
"When you think about it..." Haruhi said.
"Everything Chika just said to us..." Tamaki joined her.
"Suddenly makes perfect sense, doesn't it?" The twins droned.
"I don't know though... There was a time when Mitsukuni and I got along really well. While it's true that my Brother has always had a fondness for cute things and more of a sweet tooth than I have, I still respected his ability to avoid that stuff even though he loved it. And then this idiot came along and brainwashed him with some ridiculous nonsense, something about acknowledging who you really are and just being yourself. That that's true strength." The hosts looked at expectantly as Tamaki froze in realization," Not long after that he fell apart and became the alien he is today!" Chika explained as he crumpled to his knees.
"Oh, I see. So all of Chika's troubles..." Hikaru began, pointing at Tamaki
"can be traced right back to you. Isn't that true, Boss?" Kaoru joined him and pointed at Tamaki as well.
"What are you talking about?! I didn't mean to! There's gotta be someway we can fix this! Come on, you guys!" Tamaki cried.
"There is a way to solve this, you know." I said hoisting myself higher on Takashi's back as I looked at Mitsukuni. He looked back at me understanding.
"You've got it figured out?" Tamaki turned his attention to us.
"So Mitsukuni, you know what to do." Takashi added.
"Listen Chika-chan. I never meant to upset you. I didn't know that you hated sweets that much and I'm very sorry." Mitsukuni apologized.
"Oh no. Looks like he missed the point completely..." Haruhi said to herself deflated.
"Nobody can make me change who I am and I'm really grateful to Tama-chan and all of the Host Club because they've shown me that." Mitsukuni said lightly. His face turned serious and he looked at his brother on his knees in front of him," So... let's settle this like men in the Haninozuka style, Yasuchika."
----
We stood a few feet away from the brother that faced each other. The grass rolled at the wind blew. I stood calmly next to Takashi with my arms crossed, similar to him. We watched them solemnly.
"And don't forget Chika-chan. This is a 1 point match." Mitsukuni said firmly.
"So what happens if I win?" Chika asked seriously.
"If you win, I'll stop eating cake in the middle of the night." Mitsukuni said in the same serious tone.
"All right." Chika agreed to the terms.
"Are you ready for battle, men?" I asked strictly.
"Then, you may begin!" Takashi initiated the match. Mitsukuni immediately attacked Chika with a kicked that he dodged. Mitsukuni pulled out the same weapon that Chika pulled on him earlier. It was the same battle but they had switched spots.
"Is it just me or is this fight turning out exactly like the one they had earlier?" Tamaki asked suspiciously.
"Yes, but this time, their roles are reversed." Kyoya said observantly.
"Mitsukuni's already planned how this entire fight will pan out. Yasuchika will attack with his shuriken any moment now." Takashi said earnestly. Chika threw his shuriken, but Mitsukuni batted them away with his weapon.
"Woah, he called it!" The twins said amazed.
"I have been watching these two brothers spar for many years, and it didn't take long before I noticed that in every match Yasuchika incorporates moves that Mitsukuni used in the previous match. Mitsukuni realized it as well, and he always tries to give his brother the opportunity to practice those new techniques. He may call him an alien, but as far as martial arts are concerned, Yasuchika has a deep respect for Mitsukuni and his abilities. I think all he really wants is to be like his older brother. They are connected just as two siblings ought to be and personally I think a little sibling rivalry is perfectly normal." Takashi put his hands in his pockets," There's no need to worry about the outcome of this match. I can already tell you that Mitsukuni is planning to throw the fight and let Yasuchika beat him. Trust me. I know everything there is to know about him." Takashi said confidently. I shook my head.
"Takashi, you may know everything about Mitsukuni, but you're underestimating his sweet tooth. He won't throw this fight." I say with my own confidence. He looks at me out of the corner of his eye and I look back at him fully. I know I'll be right.
"Defend yourself!" We look back to the fight as Mitsukuni shouts. Chika falls away from his brother," Yay! I'm the winner! Cake! cake! cake!" Mitsukuni cheers jumping up. The light fades from Takashi's eyes as he celebrates," I have an idea! Since I won, I think we should start having special cake night 3 times a week!!" Mitsukuni talked to Usa-chan.
Chika foot twitches as he lays face down on the ground, soundly beaten. Takashi is on his hands and feet sulking in the grass, also soundly beaten. I ruffle his hair as I crouch by him.
"I told you." I sigh.
----
"I would think that embracing the things you truly like, and being able to enjoy them is worth more than anything. To just be yourself, I believe that's what true strength really is." Tamaki's voice echo'd in Honey's head as he sat on the roof of the karate club room.
"I love you!" Honey squeezes Usa-chan tightly, laughing.