A Drizzle of Honey

Author's note:

I know the title is trite and sort of lame, but this is my first fanfiction, so forgive me... It may change. Anyways I don't know if this is necessary, but everyone else on here does it so might as well...I don't own Ouran and I never will. Anyway's I hope you enjoy and if you happen to read this, I would love reviews an critiques, I'm new to writing and am looking to learn. Sorry for the long intro, but here it is.

Honey had just stepped into the waiting area of the arrival gate in the airport and he was in a dangerously bad mood. Of course, Honey had known that today was the day he needed to pick up the foreign exchange student, but he had still been napping with Usa-Chan when his butler, Mr. Tanaka, had attempted to rouse him. Honey gave Mr. Tanaka a death glare and threw the only weapon he could find, his stuffed bunny, at Mr. Tanaka's head. The butler, however, was still spry for a sixty-year-old and just managed to dodge the furry assailant. This left Honey with no choice, but to rise and reluctantly get ready to greet the American visitor. To make matters worse, Takashi, the one person who was able to calm Honey's after nap grumps, was away defending his kendo championship title all weekend,

Honey covered a yawn and rubbed his eyes with his fists, but regretted it when three teenage girls cooed, "Kawaii!" in unison. Normally Honey loved capturing girls' attention with his cute antics, but a tired Honey was not a normal Honey. Glancing at his watch, he wondered if there was time to send Tanaka to pick up some cake before the incoming travelers started pouring through the double glass doors. After all, even airport cake was better than no cake at all. Just as he was about to ask his butler to go hunt for some, the doors parted. Mr. Tanaka was, of course, much taller than Honey so he was the one holding the sign with the girl's name on it, Edith Hale. The name was so, well just so, ancient sounding. Honey imagined Edith was going to be a humorless, tall, stick of a girl with a horse-like face and a snooty outlook, but maybe that was his post-nap frustration talking.

He scuffed the toe of his black dress shoes against the white squeaky linoleum impatiently. No matter how horrendous the girl was Honey knew he still had to make her happy. The Hale family was famous in the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Each member was a master of countless forms of fighting, and the family owned and operated thousands of gyms all across the United States, specializing in everything from Capoeira to Karate. The Haninozuka family would be a fool to turn-down the opportunity to make an alliance with Hales, so when the Hales requested the Haninozuka's take in the youngest Hale while she studied abroad, Honey's family jumped at the opportunity. However, if Honey failed to impress Edith, they could kiss that opportunity goodbye.

"E…Excuse me. Are you the Haninozuka heir," a soft voice said in flawless Japanese.

Honey looked up into a pair of shy, but startlingly piercing ice-blue eyes. But, that wasn't the only startling thing about the girl. She was smaller than Honey, not by much, but the occurrence was so infrequent, that Honey had to keep himself from staring at the top of her long inky hair. The girl's thin dark brows furrowed in confusion and pink rosebud lips pouted under a perky button nose. She was cute, cuter than Usa-chan, heck she was even cuter than Honey. Several more moments of silence passed as Honey assessed the pink baby-doll dress that modestly covered her trim frame and the lime green, hard-top suitcase, littered with heart stickers. The girl backed away slowly and chirped politely, if not a little hesitantly, "I'm sorry, I must have the wrong person. Good day."

Mr. Tanaka had hoped to let the young master handle the first encounter on his own, but saw that he needed to intervene. He gently nudged the boy out of his astonishment before the girl could finish her retreat. Honey clamped his jaw shut, realizing it must have been ajar the entire time he was looking over her countenance. After clearing his throat he began, "I'm sorry, I am the Haninozuka heir, but everyone calls me Honey."

He inwardly kicked himself for being so star-struck. Honey mentally prepared himself for the girl to mock him for his stupidity, but was surprised once again when she rushed forward, all excitement and bubbles. She grasped his hand in both of hers and pumped it with a force and enthusiasm that no person her size should have.

"You are? I'm so glad! My name is Edith Hale, but everyone calls me Edie," she tittered. She suddenly released his hand, only to back away far enough to drop into an abrupt and deep bow. Popping back upright, she tilted her head to one side, smiled, and finished, "It's nice to meet you."

BU-BUMP! Honey's heart thumped erratically in his chest and his cheeks turned a vibrant pink. This was dangerous. He was acting just like Tama-chan when he first found out that Haru-chan was a girl. He would need to go full host mode to get through this. He mustered a boyish grin and tried to summon those daisies that his guests at the host club swore appeared around his head whenever he spoke. "Edie-chan!" he cried and threw his arms around her in greeting.

Edie returned the hug enthusiastically, "We're going to be best friends!"

This caused Honey's heart to beat even harder. Maybe it was because Edie was his same size, but hugging Edie felt a lot more intimate than when he hugged Haru-chan. Mr. Tanaka chuckled lightly at the exchange, enjoying how shaken his young master was, but the sound attracted Edie's attention and she broke off the embrace.

"I'm sorry, I was so excited about my first friend in Japan that I forgot to make your acquaintance. I'm Edie Hale," she said to the butler.

He smiled down at the cutest face he'd seen since Honey's birth. "My name is Yoshi Tanaka and I am the Haninozuka family butler. I will be serving you during your stay, Miss Hale."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Tanaka, but please, call me Edie."

Tanaka shook his head, "It would be most inappropriate for me to use your first name in the presence of others, but I will do so when we are alone, Miss Hale."

The impish girl pouted as she pondered the arrangement, but then smiled good-naturedly as she responded, "Alright."

By the time this exchange had finished, Honey's heart had returned to its usual tempo. He grabbed her suitcase handle and said, "Edie-chan, we'll take you home now, okay? Then you can meet Usa-chan and we can eat cake."

Edie positively beamed, "Okay!"

The trio walked together to the black town car, with Mr. Tanaka lugging Edie's suitcase, despite Honey's protests, insisting that the suitcase would look cuter being carried by him than by a butler. The pint-sized duo sat together in the back of the car in silence. Edie was wondering who Usa-chan could be and Honey was trying to figure out how he was going to survive her stay if every word Edie said sent his heart into spasms. Tanaka pulled the car out of the airport and smiled in satisfaction. Edie was the only person besides Takashi who had ever pulled Honey out of his post-nap fury. The young master was finally in love, though Tanaka doubted the youth knew it yet. Honey was seventeen, nearly a man, but he still loved to play the little boy. Tanaka wondered what the little Master would do when he realized how love could make you a man.