Disclaimer… I don't own Ouran High School Host Club or its characters. I only like to use them for mine and your enjoyment in my fanfics.
A/N: Here is the Christmas story that I promised everyone. It will be 2 chapters long. Hunny won the poll by one vote, and it literally came down to the wire. He and Mori battled it out pretty hard, and I thought for sure Mori was going to win. It was a surprise for me when I finally took down the poll and found he was two votes in the lead, but the lead was cut down to one because a guest reviewer voted for Mori. For those of you that want more Mori stories… they are coming. In fact, the first chapter of Bitter3 will be posted soon. Enjoy the story and Merry Christmas everyone!
Chapter 1 – Did He?
"Hunny-senpai… Hunny-senpai! Psst," the twins were trying to get their friend's attention, but were instead attracting the attention of everyone in the room.
Rolling his eyes, Hunny shook his head and walked up to the twins before grabbing their arms and pulling them out of the room, "What do you two want?" He wasn't the cute Loli Shot host at the moment and was a little irritated about the fact he was pulled away from the Christmas party the Ootori family was throwing; he had been having fun.
"Did you do it yet?" Hikaru asked.
Kaoru was just as anxious and excited as his brother, "Yah, did you ask yet?"
"Not yet," Hunny replied shaking his head and starting to giggle. He couldn't stay mad at his friends, not when they were acting more anxious than he was at a moment like this.
"WHEN?" They whined together.
The eldest host snickered, "Soon, I promise." Returning to the party, he left the twins standing in the hall. Hunny couldn't blame their anticipation, but they really needed to learn how to be patient. Although, in all the years he had known them, patience wasn't one of their strong suits.
Seeing Hunny return to the room, Tamaki rushed to the twins' sides pulling Kyoya with him. "Well, did he do it?"
"No, not yet," Hikaru and Kaoru sighed simultaneously.
With his jaw dropping to the ground, the blond cried out, albeit quietly because he didn't want to draw unwanted eyes his way… not right now, "WHAT?"
Kyoya pushed up his glasses and stated, "I'm sure he has everything planned on when and where he will ask. We shouldn't interfere."
"But mommy! He told us about this a month ago! A MONTH!" Tamaki wailed and a few eyes turned their way. He waved them off and returned to addressing his friend, "What if he has chickened out?"
"I'm sure that isn't the case. Hikaru, Kaoru, did Hunny-senpai say anything about when?" The bespectacled teen questioned the twins.
"Soon, is all he said," they announced.
"See mommy! He is scared and we need to help him!" Tamaki declared.
Hikaru and Kaoru looked at each other and smiling mischievously, once again faced their former president, "We're in boss!"
"Someone has to keep you three out of trouble, so I guess I have no choice but to help," Kyoya finally acquiesced. He didn't trust those three alone together… not when they were plotting like this. Plus, although he would never admit it aloud, he was curious as to why the Loli Shota host hadn't proposed yet.
All of the hosts were now in university and working on their various majors. They still got together as much as possible, refusing to sever the bond that they had formed back in high school. High school, it seemed a million miles away and yet it had only been a couple of years, and less than that for a few of them. So much had happened since the Host Club had been formed and welcomed its final member into its embrace, and although there were good times and bad time, they had all pulled their little family closer together. Haruhi was thrown off a cliff, Tamaki almost left for France, Haruhi's gender reveal, the twins deciding they wanted to be different and Hikaru colored his hair, and finally the thing that shook up the club the most… Hunny asked Haruhi out on a date. Most of the club members thought that she would have dated Tamaki, or that he would have asked her out first, and unbeknownst to the others (with the exception of Kyoya because he always knows, even if Tamaki hadn't whined to him about it, he would have found out), he had asked her out and was rejected. Her exact words to him were, "Sorry senpai, but I am waiting for someone else, and until he is ready to ask me, I'm going to keep waiting for now. I love you, but only as a friend." When he cried to his best friend about it, Kyoya had told him that he wasn't surprised because she had feelings for Hunny. Tamaki was floored. However, when Hunny finally asked the girl out during her third year of high school, it hadn't surprised the half Frenchman at all and he could tell that she really did like the eldest host. There were some who swore that it would never work out between them because Haruhi was serious where Hunny was more free and fun loving, but it had worked out for just over a year, and they were still happy and their love had grown.
A month ago, Hunny had been spotted in jewelry shop standing in front of a counter by Kyoya and Tamaki, and the princely type, being the curious person he is, rushed in to see what the other man was looking at and discovered a tray of engagement rings before him, "Hunny-senpai are you going to ask Haruhi to marry you?"
This had not been how he wanted the club members to find out, but Hunny nodded, "I am." The plan was to ask his girlfriend and then announce it to the others, however, that was blown out of the water and he warned his friends, "Do not let this get back to her or you will regret it."
"Have no fear Hunny-senpai, we will ensure that we keep your secret. Isn't that right Tamaki?" Kyoya stated.
For the most part, the secret was kept under wraps… with the exception of Tamaki spilling what he saw to the twins. At least it hadn't gotten back to Haruhi. A month had passed and now everyone wanted to know when he would pop the question. There was no doubt in everyone's mind that she would say yes, but when was he going to ask? Inquiring minds wanted to know, and the hosts were starting to burn with anticipation (well only Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru were).
"I suggest we return to the party for now, and we can discuss this tomorrow. Our parents are here and we don't want to be accused of acting inappropriate," Kyoya suggested leaving the trio at the door, he quickly found Mori and pulled him to the side for a private conversation, "Tamaki and the twins are getting antsy and have decided to help Hunny-senpai." He wanted to warn the former wild host just in case.
"Ah. Mitsukuni is waiting for the right time, but it hasn't happened yet. I think he is nervous, but I know Haruhi will say yes," Mori explained as his eyes automatically found his cousin on the crowded dance floor with a certain brunette in his arms.
Nodding, the Shadow King stated, "I'm going to make sure they don't cause too much trouble, but maybe he does need a little push."
"I will help too. We all know how Tamaki can be with his ideas and planning," Mori told his friend, but what he didn't say was that he completely agreed with Kyoya… his cousin needed a push. If Hunny kept waiting on the perfect moment, it might never appear. Normally Mori believed his cousin was fearless, with the exception of one thing: Haruhi. The Loli Shota host had decided to ask the female host out and it had taken him almost six months to finally do it; it had taken him longer to decide to ask even though he had feelings for her. That tall stoic man was afraid how long this would take if someone didn't interfere.
From the dance floor, Haruhi noticed the odd happenings going on around her. The twins were less than subtle when they had pulled Hunny away earlier, and Tamaki was a little more than quiet (ok he was loud) when he was talking to the twins and Kyoya in the hall. The final piece of evidence happened when the Shadow King pulled Mori to the side and the taller man's eyes had darted to the side and fell upon her and his cousin. Something strange was indeed going on, but she wasn't sure how to get answers. She supposed to she could start with the man in whose arms she was dancing, and yet she got the feeling that if she asked him, he would be tight lipped. Hunny had been up to something for a while now and every time she asked, he would try to distract her and she never got answers. However, he was the closest one to her right now, so she decided he was the best to interrogate at the moment, "Mitsukuni?" She batted her eye lashes at him and tried to be coy… coy was not her strong suit.
Hunny knew Haruhi was out for information. His girlfriend wasn't the most subtle person around and did better when she was blunt (almost to the point of painful), direct, and tenacious. "Yes, Haru-Chan?" He replied with a large smile on his face. She made him happy, and even when she was looking for answers, he couldn't help but be overjoyed by the fact she was with him.
"What's going on?" She moved her fingers, brushing them along his exposed neck in what she hoped was a teasing gesture.
Playing the sweet and innocent card, his eyes widened and he tilted his head to the side, "What do you mean Haru-Chan?" While he was university, he had hit a growth spurt and was now a couple inches taller than her versus shorter. As he looked down into her face, he almost laughed at the frustrated glint in her eyes… almost.
Haruhi blew the hair out of her eyes and glared, "Something is going on and has been for a while. You were pulled out of the room by the twins, Tamaki and the others minus you and Takashi met out in the hall, and now Kyoya is talking to Takashi. You have been keeping something from me, so what is going on?" All pretense of being coy and subtle flew out the window, and she didn't care. She wanted to know what was going on because in her experience, when the boys of the Host Club started plotting, it 9 times out of 10 led to a lot of frustrations for her. Yes, somewhere along the way she would have fun, but there were a lot of tick marks floating over her head along the way. Believing that after she started to date Hunny that her frustrations would decrease was a gigantic misconception and Haruhi thought the number of tick marks might have actually increased over the past year.
Laughing, Hunny pulled her a little closer and whispered quietly in her ear, "Worried?"
"When it comes to our friends… YES!" She declared.
"Trust me. There is nothing going on and nothing to be concerned about," he reassured her and could feel the outline of a small bag in his inside suit pocket which contained a ring. Carrying it with him over the past month, he hadn't found the perfect moment to propose. Well, he had twice, but both moments were ruined by their friends. The first time, they had been watching a meteor shower and just as Hunny was about to get down on one knee, the Host Club appeared out of nowhere and joined them at the park he had taken her to so that they had a good view. The second time he tried to propose had been their anniversary. He had taken her out to dinner where they had their first date and the twins had decided to dine at the same restaurant, and Haruhi invited the two doppelgangers to join them. It just didn't feel right after that. Inwardly sighing, Hunny was beginning to think he was a little gun shy and not sure what to do about it. Now that Christmas was just a week away, he made himself a promise. He would propose by the end of Christmas night and that was all there was to say about that: no more chickening out, no more finding excuses, and no more letting their friends interfere. With new determination, Hunny couldn't wait to see the ring he picked out on Haruhi's finger… one week.
The next day five out of seven hosts met at the Suoh main estate, where Tamaki had moved after the whole almost moving to France debacle. They needed to come up with a plan so that Hunny would finally propose to Haruhi, and it had to be good. There was only a week before Christmas and it was more than apparent that their friend needed their help… whether he liked it or not. Talking, debating, and sometimes yelling and arguing, they finally hammered out all of the details. Bold, daring, and no hints of subtlety, the hosts' plan would leave no argument over what was going on and would paint Hunny into a corner. He would have to propose after this, if he didn't… well they would rather not think about that right now. There was no plan B. Christmas Eve was the night it would happen, and Santa Claus was going to make a special trip to see a very special couple.