Kiss it, make it better
Warning: this author is no way owns OHSHC, and if she did, there'd be LOTS more yaoi.
A/N: Gotta thank my friends for this one. They don't mind when I call randomly in the middle of the night to ask how a story idea sounds. Enjoy!~
"Hey, Takashi!" Mori heard, a tug on his sleeve causing him to pop out of his day dreams. He looked down to see his cousin Mistukuni Haninozuka, tugging at his sleeve, his bunny Usa-chan in hand.
"What, Mistukuni?" Mori mumbled, looking at his shorter cousin. The young man was wiggling back and forth, as he usually did when he had something to share.
"I have a date, Takashi!" Hani said, which in his childish tone almost sounded like a squeal. Mori stared at his cousin in surprise. "Perhaps one of the clients from the host club?" Mori thought, watching his cousin swaying back and forth hugging his bunny, babbling about his date.
"She's really sweet! Her name is Kai Shikimoto! She asked me out today in class, and we're going on a date on Friday, and she's nice, and likes cake, and-" Hani babbled on and on, swinging Usa-chan in circles as he described her. Mori looked down on his little cousin, a little prick of pain in his chest, while the rest of him was glad. "I never thought he'd start dating," Mori thought, "it's his senior year, and yet, this is his first date." He turned his attention back to the conversation at hand, with good timing on his part.
"And after dinner, we're gonna see a movie, and we're gonna see that new romantic comedy that just came out, and-" "Mistukuni, breathe." Mori said, his little cousin doing all of this on a single breath. Hani paused for a second, taking a deep breathe. "I really like her Takashi, she's the nicest girl yet. She's even ok with me being in the host club!" Hani's face was lit up like a Christmas tree, and the happy look on his face warmed Mori's heart.
Mori, in his own way, simply nodded, as to say "good for you, Mistukuni," or, "have fun." Or millions of other replies suited to the situation. And Hani understood Mori in his own way, smiling brightly, and saying "Let's go to club, Takashi!"
"Welcome to the host club, ladies!" Hani said with a childlike smile. "Let's have some cake!" Mori sat across from Hani on another couch, the costume for the day (Twin's theme of choice: Carnival) causing the fan girls throughout the room to squeal in delight. Hani was decked out in what Mori could only describe as a clown's outfit, complete with a dunce cap with blue pom poms atop his blonde hair. His own costume consisted mostly of a knife thrower (at least that's what the Twin's described it as.) or, a vest and black pants and big black boots, all stylized with gold trim. The outfit made him feel very out of sorts, seeing as everyone else in the club was in more silly costumes (Tamaki was the ring leader, the twins were matching trapeze artists, Kyouya was a snake charmer, and Haruhi was unwillingly dressed as a tightrope walker, complete with parasol and tutu.), while he seemed to be a more, well, serious or frightening circus act.
"Hello Hani, hi Mori!" the clients said, as they sat on the couches flanking their hosts. Hani's eyes lit up, as he saw the Kai among their customers. Mori glanced at the girl, giving her the once over, to get the feel of how she would be to Mistukuni. She looked nice, compared to the girls in their class. And the way she and Hani talked, she seemed polite and all. But, Mori could help but feel a little off kilter, seeing as she would be Hani's first relationship.
"Look, I learned a new trick!" Hani exclaimed, jumping off of the couch to the floor. The ladies stared at the small host in anticipation of his action. Hani smiled, and planted his feet, and then he attempted to do a cartwheel. The small host, though very graced in the world of martial arts, had only learned how to do this feat in preparation for the carnival costume day. But, it turns out that he had not learned it well enough, seeing as within a few seconds, he was flat on his face.
"Hani!" the girls exclaimed. But, the fleet footed Takashi beat them to the side of the smallest host. "Mistukuni, are you alright?" Mori asked, the panic in his voice disguised by with his cool and silent type act. Hani looked up at Mori, and pointed to his knee.
"Takashi, I have an ouchy, kiss it make it better!" Hani whined, pointing at the small rip in his pants thanks to his fall. Mori blushed, but, remembering the clients, gently lifted the small boy's knee to his lips, giving it a small peck. He heard the squeals of fan girls, and that pleased him fine. Hani smiled at his cousin, before standing and giving the tall man a hug. "Thanks Takashi! All better!" Mori looked down at his cousin, giving him the slightest hug back. Hani then turned, and bounded away to his customers.
Mori stood still for a moment, the whirlwind of emotions taking his head by storm. "Why is the littlest hug doing this to me?" he thought, slowly walking back to their table.
"Hey, where's Hani?" Haruhi asked a few days later. The school had just let out, and the club was setting up for service. Mori placed another chair by it's table, the silence around him impenetrable. Kyouya placed his hand on Haruhi's shoulder, causing the girl to look up at her senpai.
"He sends his regrets. He won't be joining us today." Kyouya said quietly, so that Mori would not hear. "Kai asked for them to go on a date today, so Hani took off at the last minute." Haruhi nodded, and looked at Mori. "No wonder he seems so uneasy." Haruhi thought, as Mori placed the last chair by a table, sitting down hard upon it. Mori placed his head on his hands, in defeat.
Kyouya walked over to the strong and silent type, placing his hand on the older boys broad shoulder. Mori quickly looked up, startled by the hand. Kyouya smiled, saying "Don't be depressed now. We have a full list of customers who are here to just see you, Mori." Takashi nodded, getting up, and walking towards the snack cupboard to get a tea set ready for his first set of customers.
"Thankfully he has a strong sense of devotion to the club," Kyouya thought, "Or we would have a problem here." He looked after the older boy, a slight tugging of his hearts strings at his pain. Kyouya shut his little black book with a snap. "Alright hosts, let's get the show on the road"
" Wow Takashi, I need to bring you to the bakery Kai took me to yesterday!" Hani said, standing next to the older boy's desk. Mori nodded, having stopped working on a English assignment to listen to Hani. Hani babbled on, talking about the date, bouncing on the balls of his feet. And then, the babble stopped, and Hani abruptly turned away, his attention turned elsewhere. Takashi looked after him, to see Hani talking to Kai, who had just entered the room. His chest tightened at this scene, his Mistukuni choosing someone other than him to converse with. His fists tightened slightly, but not at Mistukuni, at Kai. She sat down at her desk, not really paying attention to Hani, instead pulling out her cellphone, and promptly said something that made Hani stop talking.
"What did she say to him?" Mori wondered with concern, seeing Hani's shoulders slump and his head bow. But he wouldn't find out until after class, because at that moment, sensei walked into the room, calling the class to attention.
Mori didn't get a chance to talk to Hani the rest of the day, and by the time the classes ended for the day, Mori was extremely concerned. Hani hadn't perked up at all during the classes they had together that day, not even at lunch when some of the fan girls bombarded him with cake from their home economics class. The larger man looked through the crowd leaving Hani's final period class, looking for the dip in the crowd that indicated where Hani could be found. But instead, he felt a vibration in his pocket, his cell phone alerting him of a text from Tamaki.
"all host club members, please come to the music room, we have a serious matter to discuss." Takashi started automatically started walking, hoping Hani was already on his way to the club room. And once he entered the room, a somber mood fell upon him. He saw Haruhi consoling a disgruntled Tamaki, the twins sitting on a couch together, leaning against each other, the normal gleam in their eyes not present today. Kyouya was writing in his black book, like always, and then there was Hani, standing next to Kyouya, his head bowed.
"What's going on?" Mori asked quietly, causing everyone to turn and look at the final member to enter the room. Hani looked up, and then looked away, avoiding the larger man's gaze. Takashi felt his chest tighten again, turning to anyone for an answer. Tamaki shook off Haruhi's consoling hand, standing and coming to Takashi's side, placing a hand on the older man's shoulder.
"Hani has told us he is unable to continue working with the club and still balance a relationship and schoolwork." Tamaki said, his voice very somber. "and due to the lack of another person within the school willing to fill Hani's spot as the lolita type of our host club, a decision was made to cancel all club activities until the slot is filled." Takashi didn't get it for a moment, but then all the pieces clicked. The administration had been wanting to liquidate the host club since its creation, even though it was the only self efficient club on campus. So even if a person was found to fill the slot, it was extremely unlikely that the club would ever open it's doors again.
"So we're done?" Mori asked, his voice calm as ever. Tamaki couldn't muster words, so he simply nodded, before turning back to Haruhi. The twins didn't speak, just sat silently, for what they thought was there last time in music room 3. Hani wouldn't look anyone in the eyes, and he walked out of the room, Takashi following close behind. "Hani, wait," he said, causing the boy lolita to turn and look at his cousin. Takashi looked in his eyes, the sadness apparent. "Why are you quitting the club?"
Hani looked down, like a child would when avoiding looking in a parent's eyes. "Kai asked if I could find some more time to spend with her, but since my schedule is so full already, I had to let something go." Hani looked up at Takashi, a small trail of tears sunning down his face, "I didn't mean for the club to stop, honest! I just needed to choose something that I could let go, and the club was the only thing..." Hani trailed off, the silence in the air hitting Takashi like bricks.
"He's choosing a girl over all of his friend." Takashi thought in instant clarity. The pain in his chest multiplied innumerable times, and all could think was, "run." which he did
Kyouya looked at the fleeing man, leaving his cousin behind. Kyouya shook his head, looking back at the matters still at hand. "Tamaki, the paper work to close the club will take several weeks to process." Kyouya said in a monotone. "I'll fill it all out tonight and have you look it over tomorrow before I submit it." Tamaki turned to his good friend, the one who really kept the club in order.
"Thank you Kyouya. Thanks for being the one with your head in place with all of this going on." Tamaki gave his friend a small smile, before turning back to his own worries. Kyouya turned away from his friend, not giving anyone any hint that he too was hurting on the inside on this one. "I guess my plans for my father's company are all but ruined." He thought, gathering his things, heading out the doors. He looked down the hall where Mori and Hani had disappeared, "As well as any hope of this being the same again..."
"Morning Kyouya." Haruhi said the next day, "Have you seen Tamaki?" Kyouya looked at the first year, a small look of concern on her face.
"I received a message from him this morning saying he was taking a day off of school to sort out his head before making final arrangements for the club." Kyouya said, pushing his glasses back up his nose. "Hikaru and Karou have also made similar arrangements, and Mori has not called in but upon calling his home this morning, it sounds like he will as well."
"And Hani?" Haruhi asked, looking at the one man who always seemed to know everything.
"He is in class with Kai, acting as usual." Kyouya reported, a look of relief passing over Haruhi's features. "and as for you and I, I'm here because it would look poorly on my father's name if I did not attend a class for such frivolous issues, and you-"
"Came because you can only have so many sick days when you're on a scholarship." Haruhi said bluntly, shaking your head. "Besides, it's not like anyone died or anything, we're still going to be friends, even if there isn't a club to see each other in every day." Kyouya was taken aback by Haruhi's comment, and then he smiled at the simple conclusion found by the only girl ever to be on host club staff.
"you might be right, Haruhi." Kyouya said, ruffling the girl's hair with brotherly affection. "even without a club, we're still friends." Haruhi smiled, nodding at his response. They exchanged goodbyes, but as Haruhi left, a disturbing conclusion came to Kyouya's head. "What if the club was the only thing holding us together?"
2 weeks later
"Takashi!." Hani said, seeing his cousin in the hall. "Long time no see, Takashi! You haven't been at school for a while, Takashi. I called your house, and aunty said you weren't feeling well. I hope you're feeling better!" Takashi nodded curtly, before turning from Hani and going to the teacher's lounge, to talk with the sensei and get all of the work he had missed in his absence. Hani started to call after his cousin, but the door slid open and shut behind him, blocking out Hani's voice.
"What's eating him?" Kai asked in Hani's ear. Hani turned to his girlfriend, a smile on his face. "He looked like he woke up on the wrong side of the bed or something."
"Naw, not Takashi." Hani said, taking Kai's hand. "He's been sick a lot lately, so he probably is still not in the best of health. That's probably all that was." Hani nodded, reassuring himself over his words.
"Well, I don't know, maybe you should steer clear of him for a while." Kai said, her voice sounding concerned. "He might be mean to you, and I don't want you to get hurt."
"Not Takashi." Hani said with a giggle. "He would never hurt me. Not even if he wanted to. Even the time that I got a cavity and he took away all my sweets and wouldn't let me have any, under all that he still had the best intentions for me."
"Look, Hani." Kai said, her voice a little sharper, "What I'm saying is I don't want you hanging around him, ok? People might start getting the wrong idea, and I wouldn't want that to happen to you."
"But, it's just Takashi!" Hani said in earnest, "He's my best friend!"
"Hani." Kai said in a curt tone, "You have a choice here. It's your friendship with Takashi or your relationship with me." Hani looked into his girlfriend's eyes with shock, the eyes no longer that of the girl he started dating the month previous. "I'm sorry Hani, but that's what is has to be. I don't want you to worry your cute little head about some brute like Mori, ok?" Hani looked at her, paralyzed by the choice she had given him. She looked at him, and dropped his hand, crouching down to look him straight in the eyes.
"Look, I'll give you some time to think, ok?" Kai said, a look of fake concern plastered on her face. "I just don't want anything to come between us." She kissed his forehead, standing up and taking his hand again. "Now come on, Hani, we have to get to class." The couple walked silently down the hall, not noticing that the room to the teacher's lounge was cracked open, and that Takashi had heard the last part of their conversation. Or, rather, the last things Kai had said.
"Mori, could you come to the club room after school today?" Kyouya asked Mori, the older man sitting in the school library room eating lunch with a stack of catch up work on the table. Mori looked at Kyouya, his mouth full of his sandwich.
"The paper work dissolving the club goes through in a few days, so we need to start clearing stuff out of the club room." Kyouya said, looking at the worksheet in front of his senpai. "Hani left some stuff, and I can't get him alone, so I was wondering if you could pick it up along with your things and bring it to him at a later date."
"I don't think I can do that." Mori said, setting down his sandwich. "Kai doesn't like me hanging around Hani, so it sounds like I won't be seeing him any more than you do." Kyouya looked at the older boy, confusion semi-apparent on his face.
"But you guys are family, it's highly likely you will see him outside of school and school wide events, unlike me." Kyouya said simply. "Besides, I think you're the only one in the clu- in our group of friends who will likely be able to get this stuff back to him."
"You didn't hear what I said, Kyouya." Mori said, his tone a little gruffer as he became more agitated, "KAI doesn't like me hanging around with Hani. That means that I'll be lucky to catch him at any family events. It's going to be just like what happened with the club. Hani will pick her over what SHOULD matter to him." Takashi spat this last part, like it was bitter to say. Kyouya looked at his senpai in shock, not expecting these words to come out of his mouth. Takashi looked taken aback, shocked at himself.
"Mori-senpai," Kyouya said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "look, come to music room 3 after school. You need to talk about this, and this is not the right time and place to do it." Mori nodded, placing a hand over his mouth in the shock of the moment. Kyouya gave him a firm tap on the shoulder, and turned, letting his senpai think over what had just passed between them. Something that neither of them would have ever expected.
Mori walked into music room three after his final class, to a place that seemed so different than it did 2 weeks previous. The warm atmosphere was gone, as well as most of the furniture they brought in, leaving the room barren and hollow.
"Good, you came." Kyouya said, coming in with a cart from the storage closet. There was a box on it, labeled 'twins', overflowing with prank supplies, as well as a small pile labeled 'Mori', consisting of a stack of old papers and client comments. And then, there was Usa-chan, with a piece of paper pinned to her, labeled 'Hani'. "Haruhi and Tamaki already came and got their things, but none of us have had any real contact with the twins since the decision, so there stuff is probably getting dropped off at their house before the week's out. And Hani... it's hard enough to find him, let alone talk to him."
Mori nodded at this, picking up Hani's beloved stuffed bunny. He hadn't seen Hani without Usa-chan since his father tried to get him to 'grow up' their first year. He held the pink bunny in his hands, feeling the worn fabric. "has anyone really talked to him since this was decided?"
"Haruhi, Tamaki, and I have all tried." Kyouya said, pushing his glasses back up up his nose, "But Kai has ended up dragging him away from us most every time."
"Please tell me I'm not the only one seeing her manipulating him." Mori said bluntly, looking at Kyouya. He pondered a moment, before saying, "you're not the only one. But there's nothing we can really do, it's all up to Hani." Mori looked at the younger man, before turning back to staring intently at Usa-chan.
"You know, she's probably threatened by your presence." Kyouya observed, causing Mori to look up confused. "You're one of the few people in this world that knows Hani more than anyone."
"We've known each other since we were kids, that's all." Mori mumbled. But he knew that wasn't true. Hani had been there for all of his bad times, just like he'd been there for Hani's. When Hani had broken his leg playing in a tree, Takashi was the one who called for the nanny and had held his hand the entire ambulance ride. And when Mori had almost gotten kidnapped in middle school, Hani had been the one to beat the thugs so firmly that when they were in jail, they had written apology notes to Mori and Hani alike.
"Maybe yes, maybe no," Kyouya said, placing a hand on Mori's shoulder. "All I know is that the way you look at Hani isn't the way a cousin looks at a cousin, nor like a friend looks at a friend." "It's like I look at you," he wanted to say, but instead he said "It's like you look at him like you would a lover, Takashi." There was silence between the two, Takashi's mind moving at a mile a minute to comprehend what had just been said.
"I can't believe I didn't see this until now." Mori said, his voice gruff in frustration, "I was so mad at him this morning, I thought it was just because I thought he had abandoned the club. But... I really thought he was abandoning me."
Kyouya let the older boy speak, let him talk out the frustrations he had endured because of Hani's relationship with Kai. He just listened, inserting the occasional comment. And before they knew, a full hour had passed, and there was nothing left to be said.
"Thank you, Kyouya." Mori said, standing up, Usa-chan in hand, "thanks for straightening me out."
"Any time, Mori-senpai." Kyouya said, a smile on his face. "If you need anyone to talk to, you have my number." Mori nodded, heading out of the room. Kyouya looked longingly after the other boy, wanting to say what had been on his heart and mind for as long as they had been in this club together. But he didn't, instead he turned back to the music room 3, his home away from home for the longest time. He wasn't sure if this place would ever be home to him again, but it would always be a place full of memories.
Takashi didn't even get down the staircase, before his phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out, flipping up the screen to see a text message from Hani. Thunder clapped outside, as he read "I'm lost in the labyrinth and I don't know what to do." Takashi's eyes got wide, looking out at the storm that had descended upon the campus while he had his meeting with Kyouya. He broke out into a run, pressing 1 on his speed dial, heading out the doors of the school towards the labyrinth that the club had more than once escapade in for an afternoon activity.
"Takashi?" Hani's voice said weakly on his phone.
"Hani!" Takashi said, rushing towards the labyrinth entrance, rain pounding him as he entered the grassy hedges. "where in the labyrinth are you?"
"I found the bench by the roses, Takashi." Hani said, obviously crying as he said it, "But I don't know where that is and I'm scared and-"
"Hani, I know where you are, stay put." Takashi said, taking turn after turn, going deeper into the maze, "And stay on the line with me, ok? It's going to be ok." He heard Hani crying, but he heard a strangled "Yes Takashi." Takashi kept running, the sound of Hani's voice causing him to speed up even more, wanting to get to his beloved Hani. He stumbled, but was a few meters away from the bench Hani had described.
"Hani, Hani!" Takashi shouted, alerting the smaller boy he was near. He rounded a corner, to see the blonde headed boy curled up on the bench, his face in his knees and his cellphone next to his ear. Takashi shouted again, but Hani didn't look up. Takashi stopped in front of Hani, placing his hands on his shoulders, before enveloping him in a hug. The smaller boy stiffened up, before dropping his phone and hugging Takashi back, sobbing into his shirt. The rain pounded on the two of them, before Hani started talking at a mile a minute.
"Takashi, I was so scared. Kai and I came out to the gazebo to talk, and after I told her I didn't want to stop seeing Takashi, she stormed off, and then it started raining and I got lost and then it started thundering, and-"
"Mistukuni, you're ok, your safe." Takashi said firmly, hugging him tighter. "I'm here now, and I'm not leaving you." Hani nodded into his chest, looking up at Mori.
"Takashi, Kai hurt my heart," Hani said, tears running down his face, "and I don't know what to do." Takashi froze, looking at Hani, and then he did the first thing that came to his mind. He took Hani's forehead and placed a tender kiss on it, saying, "will that make it better?" Hani looked up at Mori a moment, before doing the one thing that Takashi wouldn't have expected, and broke from their embrace, to place a kiss on his forehead. They both were silent for a few moments, as they processed what had just happened. The storm had started to calm, the rain slowing down, the thunder no longer heard.
Takashi looked for something to say, before remembering the pink bunny that had been squished in his hand during their embrace. He pulled the bunny out from behind Hani, handing it to him. Hani smiled, shyly cuddling with his precious bunny. They were silent for a few moments, before Hani looked up at Takashi and said, "You know, Kai didn't like me cuddling with Usa-chan, she said that I should be cuddling with her." Hani looked up at Mori, and smiled, "But I know you wouldn't do that to me, because I like cuddling with you just as much as I like cuddling with Usa-chan." Takashi blushed, a shy smile spreading across his face. He looked up to the sky, the rain having stopped and the clouds clearing away.
"You want a lift back to school?" Takashi said, looking at Hani, sitting on the bench a moment. Hani nodded, standing and clamoring onto Mori's back, Usa-chan in hand as always. Mori stood, and picked up Hani's phone from the mud. He wiped the mud off on his pants, and started to hand it to Hani, when he saw something that caught his eye. It was a cellphone charm, with a photo booth sticker he and Hani had taken at the beginning on the school year. Hani was poking his face, with a little caption that said 'smile', and he had gotten Takashi to laugh on camera, giving the picture an authentic smile.
"She wanted me to cover the sticker with one of her." Hani said, "And when I said no she got angry at me and said I was being a bad boyfriend. But I like that picture. It's one that shows who you are when you are with me, Takashi." Mori smiled, handing Hani his phone before starting the trek back to the school.
a few days later
"Welcome back ladies!" Hani said with glee, the smile on his face contagious. "Sorry we had to take such a long break, we missed you a lot!" The fan girls all squealed, throwing out the usual remarks.
"Hani, I heard that you and Kai broke up." one of the girls said, causing the others to shush her for 'being so rude'
"Aw, it's no big deal." Hani said, his happy tone indifferent, "We didn't get along as well as we thought we did, that's all. And she didn't like me hanging out with you lovely ladies!" the fan girls all squealed at the compliment, like usual. But then Hani said something that really got them going. "But Takashi doesn't mind that I hang out with lovely ladies when I'm with him, so we're all good!" The girls all around the room were silent, before a pretty much simultaneous nose bleed. Mori shook his head at Hani, already using his new situation to his advantage. He caught sight of Kyouya walking across the room in between guests, and called him over.
"You sure the school's ok with us restarted the club like this?" Mori asked while the girls questioned Hani. Kyouya nodded. "Yes, in our particular situation, and with our influences, they were fine with us taking our club space back, as well as the reservations for the various ballrooms and such for the rest of the term." Mori raised an eyebrow at 'influences', but knowing Kyouya he'd rather not know.
"And the 'Kai' situation?" Mori asked below his breath. Kyouya smiled almost evily, before saying "Oh, that's well taken care of. I'd be surprised if she tried to use her family name anywhere near Japan before the decade's over. Last I heard she was on a slow ship to the USA, on a 'foreign exchange', as her friend's are quoting it." Mori gave a tiny smile, happy that they wouldn't have to deal with any backlash of what he had said to her after she tried to win Hani back. Putting it simply, it would be a miracle if she ever thought of treating a guy wrong ever again.
"And ahem our situation?" Mori said, motioning between himself and Hani.
"All is well, the zero tolerance rule is still key in our school, the GSA has been alerted of your imminent membership, and if anyone gives you negative comments, tell them to come talk to me, if Hani doesn't get to them first." Mori felt at ease, all of his worries taken care of, and a wonderful rest of the school year ahead of them.
"Hey Takashi," Hani said, poking him in the shoulder, "I was asking you a question." Mori turned to him, saying "What is it, Mistukuni?"
"The ladies want to know what our bracelets mean," Hani said, pointing at the dark blue bracelets with pink script they both wore. They both said "K.I.M.B." Mori blushed, before saying "Well Hani, I think I'll have you explain." Hani smiled brightly, turning to their guests, and starting the story with "it all started when we had the circus themed day last month-"
FIN
A/N ok, this should not have taken this long to write. Couple writers block with laziness and... you end up like me writing the final bits of this story at 2 am on a Saturday night/early Sunday morning. I really hope you enjoyed it. It's a concept I've loved playing with, and I hope I never have to play with again...
By the way, yes, I gave boy characters extremely feminine 'feelings' here... one of my friends pointed this out and caused a laugh riot to break out. But all I can say is I had to write it that way to make it work. And it did, so I'm happy with the final product.