Dearest Starling
Chapter One
Haninozuka Mitsukuni had always been considered a little childish; which was, in some aspects, a misconception. He was short for an adult, not even five feet tall, and his face still held child-like features. He still ate cake for every meal, much to his families' dismay, but also had the wisdom to rival most men twice his age.
It was on one such occasion, that Mitsukuni—or Hunny, as he was more commonly called—was eating his frosting-covered breakfast, when his father approached him in a manner too calm to bode well for the small blond.
The older man shook his head melancholically, "Pastries for breakfast again, Mitsukuni? What would your wife say?"
This was how Hunny was informed of his engagement.
Morinozuka Takashi waited for his smaller cousin every morning. It was a fact that Hunny was not a morning person, and that he believed that cake (which was the only thing he lived for) could only be enjoyed when one took their time eating it. For these reasons, Takashi—better known as Mori—spent at least half an hour each day, waiting for Hunny, who was always late. This day, however, he seemed more behind schedule than usual. The two cousins' first class of the day had started ten minutes ago, and just when Mori was about to enter the Haninozuka's front gate to check on Hunny, he came out dragging his feet in a most un-Hunny-like manner.
The two sat beside one another in the back of their obscenely expensive car; Mori, waiting for an explanation from Hunny, who didn't seem interested in speaking at the moment. After several minutes, Mori decided that his cousin would need a nudge to get him speaking, and so began the conversation with an inquiring, "Hn?"
It seemed this was all the encouragement that Hunny needed, as began to recall his morning, in meticulous detail, until Mori was nearly sure he would never get to the part that was actually upsetting… until the word "fiancée" came into play.
It was not uncommon for two people from well-established families to get married, nor was it uncommon for the parents of each person to find and set up these marriages. These days, though, the two parties involved both had the right to refuse someone they didn't want to marry. This usually resulted in being shunned by one's family, but it was an option. Mori knew Hunny would never do something like that, though.
"And he wants me back by three to meet her. What will I do if she is mean, or she doesn't like Usa-chan?" Hunny finished, tears welling up in the back of his eyes. Mori wondered absently if it was a habit, created by too much time spent in the host club, or if he really was that sensitive to the idea of a woman acting aggressively towards him and his stuffed rabbit.
They arrived at their campus only moments later, Hunny taking a second to clean himself up, before they both stepped out and walked through the courtyard.
None of the original hosts went to the same college, besides Hunny and himself at a basic, yet still high-profile university; the Hitachiin twins at some American design school or another; and Tamaki, who had transferred to Haruhi's law school in order to "watch over" her. There was really no reason for Hunny and Mori to be in college, both of them being from clans that had only ever really been known for combat and land-ownership, but it was insisted that men with degrees looked better, no matter where their wealth stemmed from.
The Hoshiyama family wasn't exactly well known among upper class society. They were only wealthy due to the luck that Hoshiyama Makuno had encountered when a vase of her grandmother's had fetched an astonishingly high price at an auction. The money had been wisely (and auspiciously) invested in certain stocks, and in ten years, the fifty-year-old widow had managed to create such a sum that she would never have to work again. All Makuno wanted now, was the child that she had been denied when her husband had gotten sick at a young age. It was obvious that she was too old to have a child of her own, and surrogacy wasn't an option, either. Her only option, then, was to adopt, which was the exact moment that Makuno realized just how high on the waiting list she could go if she was willing to place a few bribes.
On that hot morning in July, Makuno received a days-old baby girl who had been abandoned by her mother. Makuno named this baby Natsumi, after the season of her birth, and for the flecks of sunrise in her eyes and the sunset auburn of her hair. It was no secret to Natsumi that she was adopted; even from a young age, the girl was aware of the age difference between her mother and everyone else's parents. Perhaps it was this fact, or perhaps it was Natsumi's family standing as "new money" that made all of her classmates detest her from the beginning, not to mention that she was timid by nature.
Natsumi put all of her effort and free time into drawing and photography. She took pictures of everything that she considered beautiful, her favorites being portraits of people who stood out to her, not just for physical beauty, but for good deeds as well. A vast majority of her walls were covered in corkboard, which was full of images held there by thumbtacks.
Natsumi had learned everything she would need to know to act as a perfect traditional Japanese bride by the time she was ten. Lessons consisted of Biwa practice, Noh Mai dancing, and obi tying—which didn't take Natsumi very long to perfect.
When Natsumi graduated high school, Makuno put the word out that she had a daughter in need of a husband, and found out from a friend, that a friend of a friend's friend was having trouble finding a wife for their son. They required a girl who was no taller than five feet, kind, patient, and above all, willing to deal with a lot of sweets and stuffed animals. Strange guidelines they were, but they described Natsumi to the letter, and that was all that mattered. There was then the matter of Natsumi's needs; she was quiet and shy, and easily intimidated, especially by men. One look at a picture of the potential groom, though, made Makuno certain that her daughter would be just fine with the little chocolate-eyed blond.
"Ah, Hoshiyama-san, it is nice to finally meet you. And this must be Natsumi-chan." Haninozuka Yorihisa, the father of her (more than likely) husband-to-be, greeted them politely as Natsumi and her mother entered the Haninozuka's stately home. Yet, even though he wasn't a tall man, and had made no move to threaten her, Natsumi still stood shyly behind her mother.
Makuno bowed politely in return, "Yes, it seems like our meeting has been put off for far too long. Natsumi, say hello to Haninozuka-san."
Natsumi's face automatically turned red, "H-hai, Kaa-san. K-konnichi wa, Haninozuka-sama."
Yorihisa then motioned for the two of them to sit. "I'm sorry," he began to apologize, "For my son's tardiness. He'll be here soon." The three of them had tea while they waited.
Hunny fidgeted nervously on the ride home. Now, not only would he be meeting his future wife on a bad note, he would also be punished for forgetting and being late. Mori tried his best to calm Hunny, but the smaller of the two men was too worked up for anything to reach his brain at the moment. As the vehicle pulled up to the Haninozuka compound, Hunny was out the door before the driver even had a chance to shift into park.
Hunny ran as fast as he could through the house to the sitting room, where he threw open the door. Six eyes turned to him before he realized what he had done, and blushed a very light pink. He bowed quickly, then, to cover his embarrassment, "Sorry I'm late."
Yorihisa waved a hand toward the seat next to him, beckoning his son to sit, before he introduced their guests—not that Hunny needed an introduction.
"Mitsukuni, this is Hoshiyama Makuno-san, and Natsumi-chan."
Natsumi blushed at the mention of her name, and kept her honey-gold eyes downcast. Upon seeing this, some of Hunny's anxiety went away. It appeared that she was even more nervous than him.
"Nice to meet you, Natsumi-chan!" Hunny said with his usual cheery attitude.
Natsumi jumped, startled, but recovered quickly. "The pleasure is mine, Mitsukuni-kun."
Hunny blinked, perplexed at what she had called him. Then again, how was she supposed to know that most people called him Hunny? And, he supposed, it wouldn't be suitable for a bride to call her groom by surname, even if it was a nickname for his surname.
"Mitsukuni, perhaps you could show Natsumi-chan the garden, while Hoshiyama-san and I discuss a few matters," Hunny's father asked in a way that was more of an order than anything.
Hunny nodded and offered a hand to Natsumi, pulling her gently to her feet. When they stood, she was about a centimeter taller than him, which was acceptable, seeing as how there weren't many women as short as he was.
She followed him out of the room, where he realized that in his haste, he had thrown his bag and Usa-chan on the floor on his way in. Before going to the garden, he made a detour to the place where the pink rabbit lay, and scooped it into his arms.
"Natsumi-chan, this is Usa-chan. She's cute, ne?" he asked, testing her for a reaction.
The girl, who seemed afraid to look at him, finally glanced at him, taking in the sight of a boy—no man—who was older than her, holding a pink bunny. She fought back a gasp and a blush tinted her cheeks. What she saw before her was the most adorable thing on Earth—and she didn't mean just the rabbit. When the confusion of this concept wore off, she couldn't help but smile warmly.
"Hai, the cutest thing I've ever seen," she confessed quietly.
Hunny's expression of concentration receded after hearing her say that, and his bubbly personality shone through. "Come on, Natsu-chan! Let's have some cake in the garden!" he exclaimed, running off in another direction.
Natsumi followed, a little confused, but still smiling nevertheless.
Fujioka Haruhi left her class, shuffling papers absently while watching where she was going. Law school was no walk in the park.
Especially a prestigious one like this, she thought testily.
It wasn't the classes that had her annoyed, she had always been very smart; it wasn't the high-society bitchy attitudes around her, she had gotten used to that in high school. A golden blur suddenly ran up to her, embracing her tightly. This gold blur was also known as Suou Tamaki, the starting point of her irritation.
"Haruhi! I was so worried!" he cried, voice muffled by her hair.
She only sighed, knowing that nothing she did would make him leave her alone. "I was only five minutes late. I had to speak to Sensei…"
Tamaki held her at arm's length, pouting at her in a way that made every other girl squeal in delight. "Haruhi, why do you torment me so?" he asked, and then began spouting French dramatics before she could answer.
Haruhi was aggravated by the way he threw himself at her, then retreated to his corner of woe whenever she didn't respond as romantically as he would have liked. Even if he hadn't been intelligent enough to get into any school he wanted, his family had enough money for him to buy his way in.
So why not overseas? thought Haruhi, scowling.
The truth was that she didn't really want him to go away. When he had nearly been forced to marry Éclair, it had been a terrible time for Haruhi, for the host club. She had taken a frickin' horse-drawn carriage to bring him back, for goodness sakes! Even still, she wondered if things would have been easier on her if he hadn't realized that what he felt for her was love, and not the creepy "fatherly" adoration that he had claimed it was at first.
Damn Hikaru… Haruhi remembered what he had said when he and Kaoru had left for America the spring before.
Hikaru gave a devilish laugh, "I'm giving up on you for now, but only because Tono wills it. He says he's putting his all into making you love him. Do me a favor and crush his spirit a few times while I'm gone, or his ego might burst."
She learned later on that Hikaru had told Tamaki that she "loved him with such a passion that she felt she may die without his embrace"—that's how Tamaki had relayed the message, anyway. Haruhi would say one thing for her troublesome classmates, though: While Tamaki knew how to make an entrance, the Hitachiin twins were true masters at making an exit.
Hitachiin Hikaru sneezed as he strode through the hallway of his and his brother's New York design school, wondering where said brother had wandered off to. The younger of the twins, Kaoru, hadn't even answered his phone, and after an hour of waiting, Hikaru had left their condo to look for Kaoru. After checking all the empty classrooms he came across, he began to search the study rooms. Just when he was about ready to have a Tamaki-like meltdown, he opened the last door to see Kaoru hunched over a table, stabbing pins mercilessly into a piece of fabric.
"Kaoru, what are you doing?" he asked, sitting on the stool across from his look-alike.
Kaoru looked up briefly, before explaining, "I had this idea last night, so I sketched it; but I couldn't sleep with it just sitting there, so I came to one of the empty workrooms this morning."
Hikaru nodded slightly, his anxiety receding. He sat quietly, watching Kaoru work until he remembered something, "I almost forgot. Look what we got in the mail today." Hikaru fished the pink and gold letter from his pocket and passed it across the table to Kaoru.
Kaoru took it in his hand and curiously turned it over a few times. He raised an eyebrow at his brother, "You didn't open it?"
Hikaru shook his head, "I was a little preoccupied this morning."
Kaoru understood what his older twin was saying and looked back down to the letter, "My battery must have died."
"Uh-huh."
Kaoru ignored this and instead opened the delicate-looking envelope to read its contents aloud. "Dear Misters Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin, by request of Haninozuka Mitsukuni, you have been invited to the Imperial Hotel Tokyo for the wedding of Haninozuka Mitsukuni and Hoshiyama Natsumi. The dates are as follows…"
Hikaru blinked, "Hunny-senpai's getting married?"
"I didn't even know he had a girlfriend," the two brothers said in unison.
A/n: So here's the first of the restructured chapters, combining Dearest and Starling into one story. This version should a little better because, even though the story is still the same, it's been four years since I originally wrote it, so I was able to catch some of my errors and inconsistencies this time through.
As with the original version, English is italicized when characters are speaking, otherwise, it's a thought or flashback.
