Requested by a user who would prefer to remain anonymous, via Kidzworld, a HoneyXMori oneshot! Forgive me for being late.
And oh, Veronica, you are not allowed to read this. Go on now. I told you my slashy fluff is not meant for people I actually know.
Onward! :)
Long shadows cast about the clubroom as the sun began to set.
School was long over and most of the students had gone home. Even the lady customers of the famous Ouran Host Club had finally departed, as had the famed hosts.
... Or most of them, anyway.
Mitsukuni Haninozuka sat alone at one of the tables, happily scarfing cake.
This occurred more often than not, as of late. Honey would sneak back into the clubroom after the others had left and eat sweets to his heart's content.
He was always too excited at the thought of cake to really notice that the chair seemed to creak more than it used to. Nor that it seemed a little harder to get his fingers through the handle on the teacups.
He was too distracted by his cake. His sweet, sweet, cake. Vanilla, chocolate, strawberries, icing of all kinds...
He grinned as he gulped down an entire mouthful of the sweet goodness. Surely, there was no way he could've ever lived without it.
All the sneaking, all the tricks he'd pull to keep the others from noticing, it was all worth it... anything for sweet, sweet cake. And it was not easy to come up with excuses that would fool Takashi.
Still, he'd even managed to sneak past the tall, silent teen.
Now... it was just him... and cake.
... Or so he thought.
Absorbed in the sweet, moist goodness, he didn't notice the tall shadow slowly approaching the table...
A hand flew past just past his face and smacked down hard on the table in front of him, rudely tearing him out of his cake-induced euphoria.
Swallowing hard (and nearly choking on the not quite adequately chewed lump of cake), he slowly turned to face the one the arm belonged to...
"Takashi!"
Takashi shut his eyes as a spray of crumbs hit him in the face.
"Oops..." Honey frowned. "I'm sorry Takashi..."
How had he found him here? He'd been so careful!
The taller boy roughly brushed the crumbs off his face with one hand.
"Mitsukuni."
Honey snapped back to attention, as he'd been unconsciously reaching for another slice of cake.
"Yeah?" Big brown eyes looked up at him curiously.
"You're fat."
It took a moment for his words to sink in (they were probably having trouble sinking through all the cake). Once they did, however, the the large brown eyes well up with confused tears.
"... what?"
Takashi's expression didn't waver.
"You're fat."
Honey felt like he'd been kicked in the heart. How could he say that? He wasn't-...
"You eat too much cake."
The welling tears halted abruptly. Honey's eyebrows slowly knitted together as his anger formed.
"I do not."
"You're fat." He repeated.
"I'm not fat, and I don't eat too much cake." Honey stuck out his bottom lip and turned around, arms folded. They were quickly unfolded however as he reached out for more cake...
Only to have to have it swiftly swiped out of his hand.
"Hey-!"
Takashi produced a mirror seemingly out of nowhere and shoved it towards him.
Honey raised an offended eyebrow, pointedly looking at Takashi rather than the mirror.
His face remained unchanged.
Honey continued pouting, but still gave up and slowly turned towards the mirror...
"Gasp-!"
"You're fat."
He saw his own eyes widen. All traces of anger melted away to be replaced with utter horror.
That face... that plump, jiggly face. Was that HIS face? That double chin... no... no, triple chin! Three! There were three! And his neck... it was so... so...
"I'm... I'm..." He whimpered pitifully.
Takashi pulled the mirror away and took hold of Honey's hand instead. He slowly raised the it front of him for his horrified eyes to see.
His fingers...
Were so...
CHUBBY!
The tiny blonde's anger shot back full force as it all set in. He pulled his hand out of Takashi's grip, jumped out of the chair and whirled around to face him.
Or, he would have if he was still thin. As it was, he had considerably more trouble hoisting himself out of the chair than he remembered and wobbled slightly as he turned around.
He hoped the awful glare he fixed on his face made up for it.
"Why didn't anyone tell me!"
"They didn't want to hurt your feelings."
"Then why are you telling me now?"
"Because it's out of control."
"It... it..." He faltered... but still tried. "It's not out of control! I just need to lose a few pounds... just a few... and it'll all be better!"
"You have to exercise."
"Hmph!" He huffed. "No problem! I know martial arts! I'll just-..."
"And stop eating cake."
"..."
Honey froze.
"... No, it'll be okay, I'll just exercise twice as much-..."
The diminutive martial arts master could only watch helplessly as his cake plate was lifted away.
Takashi then looked back at him and uttered words Honey had prayed every night he'd never hear again:
"No more cake."
"Senpai?" Haruhi said quietly while leaning in towards Tamaki's ear a few days later. "Isn't this a little bit harsh?"
"We have to do what's best for Honey-senpai." He answered back, not taking his eyes away from poor Honey and the miserable expression on his face, who was struggling to peddle on a stationary bicycle some distance away, while Takashi stood behind him stoically.
"I still think some normal diet and exercise would work instead of forcing him to eat nothing but vegetables and peddle on that bike for hours."
"Well, I suppose, but Mori-senpai probably knows what he's doing." He stated somewhat unsurely.
He took a step back and the normal smile returned to his face,
'I'm sure it's nothing to worry about, besides, it's for his own good and this way he'll be back to eating cake and entertaining the ladies faster. Speaking of which..." He trailed off, before turning and likely going off to do just that.
"I suppose..." Haruhi muttered, before reluctantly tearing her eyes away from the pitiful sight to go about her business as well.
"Takashi..." Honey groaned and stopped peddling, slumping over the handlebars. "Can't I take a break please?"
Takashi glanced at the clock. Honey had been exercising for hours. A break wouldn't hurt.
"Yeah."
"Yay..." He breathed, a light tired smile crossing his face. "And could I maybe have some-..."
"No."
The smile vanished.
"But Takashi..." he moaned. "I've already lost seven pounds!"
"No need to sabotage results like that with cake."
Honey wished someone would just kill him.
"Takashi..." he whined once more.
Takashi mentally sighed. With an attitude like that, he'd never get back into shape.
"Isn't it about time you got back to work?"
"What?" Honey's head shot up in shock, turning to the other with an incredulous expression "But that was only..."
"Back to work."
And with one of the most dejected faces Takashi had ever seen (even worse than Tamaki in one of his moments), Honey silently turned back and resumed peddling, miserably.
The rest of the host club, who'd all been watching the scene discretely, could only look on in sympathy.
Takashi's eyes went to the clock once again.
The sun was setting. The rest of the host club had long ago filed out, shooting sideways apologetic looks at Honey as they exited (even Kyoya, who was rather enjoying the lack of expenses from the cake).
A long, good day of work. Surely if they kept up like this, he'd be back in shape in no time.
Takashi smiled, just barely, at the thought.
"That's enough."
Hearing those words almost as sweet as cake, Honey sighed tiredly and allowed himself to fall limply off the bike.
Which, he found, was a mistake, as he landed hard on his back. You'd think the extra fat would serve as padding.
It didn't.
He groaned and struggled to sit up, both from the exhaustion and his heaviness.
Takashi silently bent down and offered him a hand.
Being in none-too wonderful a mood, the smaller boy pointedly ignored it.
Takashi's smile retreated just as discreetly as it had appeared.
Groaning all the while, Honey finally managed to pull himself up and drag himself over to the nearest couch, the cushions sinking in rather more than usual as he seated himself.
The taller host watched him breathe heavy, half-heartedly wiping at the sweat on his forehead. After a moment, he wordlessly strode over and joined him.
"You're mean, Takashi." The blonde finally muttered after his breathing had returned to normal, glaring tiredly.
The other said nothing. Just looked at him, with no discernable expression.
They knew each other well, however. Honey figured that had hurt Takashi's feelings. Still, being in nothing even resembling a good mood, he mused to himself that if he was in any shape to flip him over his shoulder again, he probably would.
After realizing he wasn't going to get a response (not that he really expected to) his glare softened, before he closed his eyes and let his head fall back against the couch.
Takashi looked down at his feet, secretly upset with himself.
"How much more do I need to lose?" He asked suddenly, surprising Takashi.
"... at least fifteen pounds."
Honey moaned loudly and allowed his head to fall to the side. It was very uncomfortable, but he didn't feel like moving.
The quiet boy glanced back at him hesitantly.
"... Mitsukuni."
"Mmmm?" Honey said (well, kind of) absently. He was considering taking a nap right there.
"I..." Takashi began, then stopped. He felt embarrassed for being at a loss for words and looked away, not that Honey could see.
".. ahem." He cleared his throat before trying again. This nervousness... why was he so nervous? It was something he didn't feel often and didn't enjoy it one bit.
"... I only want what's best for you."
"Mmhmm." Honey acknowledged absently, feeling himself beginning to nod off already.
"...I'm sorry." He frowned, allowing his guilt to show in his face, if only Honey's eyes had been open to see. "... I shouldn't have let this happen."
"..."
When he got no response, he turned, finally.
Despite his guilt, he had to smile slightly. Honey looked incredibly cute while sleeping. Especially with his multiple chins, though they were starting to become less noticeable.
Takashi leaned in for a better look, the smile widening just a bit.
He reached out a hand and gently let his fingers brush his face. He leaned in closer...
The smile vanished again. His breath hitched and his eyes went wide as he realized what he was about to do.
You should be ashamed, he thought to himself.
Of course...
He hung his head. Of course, this wouldn't be the first time he'd thought of doing something like this.
Recently... over the past few months, both before and after Honey had begun gaining weight, Takashi, quiet and reserved as he was had started to try... dropping hints.
For a long time Takashi had known he was attracted to his best friend. Honey, however, seemed completely oblivious. But why wouldn't he be? It wasn't as if Takashi had ever indicated his feelings before... and of course, surely Honey would've never suspected...
Takashi almost felt sick.
Of course he never would've suspected. Because they were friends.
Best friends...
And that's ALL they were supposed to be.
But...
Honey... Mitsukuni... His Mitsukuni, would never leave him, right? Not even for that?
In that way... he trusted him. Heck, in every way Takashi trusted him.
So...
Slowly, surely ignoring the awful feeling in the pit of his stomach, ignoring the tiny voices screaming "Don't do it!", ignoring everything he was supposed to be paying attention to, he leaned in the rest of the way... and let his eyelids fall shut, as slowly, surely... his lips met Honey's.
Honey's eyes shot open.
He hadn't been completely asleep!
Barely, just barely as he dozed off, he'd vaguely wondered why Takashi was petting his face. By the time he started leaning forward, Honey felt him getting closer, but was far too tired to care. Surely he wasn't doing anything strange-...
Takashi, feeling slightly better and yet knowing later he was going to think of this and feel so much worse, pulled back gently . At least now it was out of his system. He reopened his eyes slowly-...
And found himself staring back into a pair of brown ones.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Just then, Honey witnessed the other male do the most out of character thing he'd ever seen him do, counting the time (about fifteen seconds ago) that he'd kissed him.
"AHHH!"
Takashi let out that booming, shocked, frightened sound before lurching backwards, falling onto the floor, scrambling backwards on all fours until his head bumped into the coffee table and then trying (and utterly failing) several times to stand up.
He gave up after the forth time his posterior slammed back into the floor and desperately tried to begin explaining himself from his current position.
"I, uh, I, er, I, I, Mitsu... I didn't... uh...!" Takashi mentally started cursing. This was the downside of never talking! No words when you need them!
"Takashi?"
Said boy abruptly stopped babbling, and looked up at his friend, and... was he blushing? Seriously?
"Takashi, I..." He stooped, trying to make sense of what exactly was going on. He mentally replayed what had happened in the past few minutes, starting with when he felt Takashi's fingers on his face... closer... closer... then... uh, yeah.
Honey felt heat creep up into his face before continuing.
He opened his eyes, stared at Takashi, Takashi screamed, and...
He blinked, replaying that last sequence one more time.
Takashi screamed... threw himself off the couch, and...
Honey couldn't help himself. All traces of an awful mood forgotten, he started laughing.
Takashi watched him, eyes wide. This was... funny?
The laughter grew harder until Honey had to wipe tears from his eyes. He should probably be more concerned about the fact that he'd just been smooched, but that was simply too funny.
Takashi watched silently until he could no longer stand it. Why was he laughing?
"... Mitsukuni?"
The laughter died down into giggles as he tried to compose himself, dabbing gently at his eyes with his sleeve.
He more or less succeeded, and slowly looked down at Takashi.
"..."
He couldn't keep the serious expression, though. He smiled.
The other boy was beyond confused.
"Mitsu-..."
Wordlessly, Honey stood up (though with some difficulty).
He walked over to him slowly (and not just because he still couldn't actually move very fast) and extended his hand this time, the smile remaining still.
Takashi stared at it, before taking it in his thinner, though still larger hand slowly, and allowed himself to be helped up. Did this mean...?
As soon as he was on his feet however, the hand pulled away and instead he found two arms around his waist.
Honey smiled up at him, before closing his eyes and nuzzling his head into his stomach.
"Why didn't you say something, Takashi?"
"I..." He gulped, unsure if he trusted his own mouth not to say anything retarded. "I didn't think... I tried..."
"Silly Takashi." Honey stated gently, not waiting for a coherent response.
"I..." Takashi tried again after a moment. "Then... Mitsukuni, do you...?"
"You didn't notice?"
"..." He was struck speechless. Perhaps Honey wasn't the only oblivious one around.
He watched the smiling boy, nuzzling gently into his stomach.
Soon, Takashi smiled lightly as well. He closed his eyes and gently brought his hands up on the other's shoulders.
What did this mean for them? He wasn't sure. He was simply happy that Honey didn't hate him.
"So, Takashi..." Honey said after a few moments.
"Hmmm?" Takashi replied, without opening his eyes. He'd never been so happy.
"Does this mean I can have some cake?"
Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed. Never thought much about this pairing, even now I'm not sure what I think of it, but eh. I was going to try and bump up the romance a bit, but it just didn't seem right. Fret not, for at some point soon I intend to begin writing... a Fruits Basket lemon! Let's see how that turns out...
Live long and propser! Hopefully I'll be back soon :)