TITLE: Growing Learning Loving Together!
SUMMARY: This is the story of Honey and Takashi's childhood. How they met, how they fell in love, and the lives they led. As we will soon learn, their lives were not quite as easy or carefree as Honey's smile and Takashi's silent demeanor would have you believe.

This story can be read by itself, or as a prequel to my story, "Your Highness!"

STORY PAIRINGS: Honey+Mori

PLEASE NOTE: This story is rated T. It may change for future chapters.

CHAPTER 1
And so Honey met Him!

The Haninozuka manor was very old though well maintained so it didn't have the look of being decrepit. Rather it felt very much like you took a trip back in time to the ancient days when Samurais were commonplace, and dying for a purpose was considered honorable.

When Mitsukuni was very young he spent his days like most children. He would wake up to cartoons, his favorite was Dogami which featured a dark and cruel Samurai who went around enacting tough justice on all his opponents. He would go to school, he would study. He would eat dinner with his family. Though there were some things he would do that most did not consider "like most children."

Being the first born heir to his family he had to live up to its name. That meant practicing diligently (everyday) the martial arts style that his family was known for, and he was a bit of a natural when it came to this. Not perfect though, he had to learn and practice techniques just like anyone, and also just like anyone there were times when he would fail. Though he had a knack for picking things up. A technique that might take someone a year to master only took him a few months. A technique that might take a week to learn, he acquired in days.

"Your son is amazing," one of the servants was telling Haninozuka-san as Mitsukuni was on the dojo floor practicing, they had just walked by the open door of one of their families' dojos.

"But of course he is…" Haninozuka-san said boastfully. "He is MY son after all. I'm going to talk to my brother about moving him out of the children's classes and putting him in with his older cousins."

"Are you sure he's ready, that other class is only for middle schoolers… Bocchan isn't even in middle school yet…"

"He can handle it, I believe in him," Haninozuka-san said and they walked on disappearing out of view.

Mitsukuni who had heard his father's praise smiled, he was going to get to be in the middle school group! As far as he knew, no one his age had ever been put in the middle school group…

"Is he okay?" asked a woman with long black hair and dark brown eyes as she spoke with the psychiatrist. She was wearing a meticulous kimono, and looked to be the spitting image of a Japanese Princess, as though someone had ripped her right out of a fairytail.

"He seems fine. Other than the fact that he isn't speaking, I don't see any signs of him lacking mentally or physically with other children his age. You shouldn't worry, I'm sure he'll speak in his own time…"

She turned back to look at her child, who was practicing Kendo techniques with a small, child-size bamboo kendo sword. "Takashi is my only child…"

"I understand miss," he said consoling her. "But really. He seems fine."

With that the psychiatrist left and she walked out to her son. He stopped when he saw her and stared up at her questionably. "Taka-chan," she said smiling. "Can you say hi to Mommy?"

"…" he continued to stare up at her blankly, and she sighed pulling him close into a hug. "It's okay if you don't want to speak. I will love you, even if you never speak…"

"Are you kidding me! That brat is barely old enough to be in the children's group, and you want to bump him up to be with the middle school students that I teach!" Hasuru (Mitsukuni's uncle) snapped over dinner.

"He has already beaten the students in his own age group, he won't improve unless he's challenged," Mitsukuni's father said, turning to his son he smiled. "Mitsukuni, don't you want to be in the next level?"

"Yes!" Mitsukuni said cheerfully.

"There you go," Haninozuka-san said as though this settled the entire matter.

"I'm not teaching this little sh*t until he's old enough. He doesn't get a free pass just because he's your brat," Hasuru exclaimed.

"Language!" snapped the voice of a woman who had just come around the corner entering the room. She was wearing a Japanese robe and had beautiful white hair. Mitsukuni turned when he heard her and jumped up running over to her.

"Oba-chan!" Mitsukuni called, and she bent down picking him up and hugged him. The two of them sat back down and her eyes glared in Hasuru's direction. "What have I told you about speaking that way in front of Mi-chan. He doesn't need to be hearing that sort of language!"

Hasuru did look slightly embarrassed, and Mitsukuni's father leaned for cheerfully. "Mother, I was just talking to Hasuru. I think Mitsukuni should move on to the next level."

"That's a great idea," she said ruffling Mitsukuni's hair lightly and smiling down at him as he ate one of the rice balls that his Mother had made into the shape of a bunny.

"He's too young! He'll get hurt, I'm not going to—"

"You will train him!" she snapped sternly. "I was going to suggest that he move up in a few days anyway. So either you will train him or you will no longer be teaching our middle school family members…"

Mitsukuni's Grandmother was the head of their house, and had been ever since Mitsukuni's grandfather had died. However, that had been before he was born, so he never had a chance to meet him.

That night he was so excited to begin practicing with the older students that he went to the dojo to practice on his own. He really liked back flips, so he tried adding kick with it. Having never tried this particular move he ended up losing his footing and fell onto the dojo mat. Laughing at himself he got back to his feet to try again.

"—And they want you to move up a level?"

Mitsukuni blinked turning in the direction of the voice and saw his Uncle Hasuru standing there.

"Hi Oji-sama."

"That's Sensei to you. I'm about to be your teacher. The least you could do is show me some god-damn respect…"

"…" Mitsukuni frowned. He thought he had when he put sama instead of san on his name.

"If you're falling like that, what makes you think you're going to match up to the students in the next level?"

"Uh… Cause I'm going to try really hard…" he said frowning.

"Oh, you're going to try really hard huh?" he snickerd maliciously. "Don't make me laugh Mi-chan. You're not talented or the appropriate age to be in that level. You're going to get hurt if you try fighting beyond your means…"

Mitsukuni's frown deepened. He wanted to say that he didn't think their level was beyond his means at all, but talking back to his Uncle wasn't wise, especially if he was going to be his teacher soon.

"Get your ass to bed Mi-chan," his uncle snapped. "You're not supposed to be in the dojo this late anyway…"

With that his uncle left, and frowning Mitsukuni walked out of the Dojo and closed the sliding door behind him.

"Mitsukuni," his father said the next morning at breakfast. "One of your cousins is coming to play with you today, so be nice to him alright."

"Which one?" Mitsukuni asked. With two grandparents who had each been one of nine children, A mother who was one of five, and with a father who was the eldest of seven, he had more cousins than he could keep track of…

"Takashi. You remember Takashi don't you?"

Mitsukuni frowned thinking through the faces of all the cousins he could picture but no one named Takashi crossed his mind. "I don't remember."

"Well, that's all right. He kept to himself a lot during family reunions. Anyway, his parents are concerned because he doesn't speak."

"Why not?" Mitsukuni asked frowning.

"We don't know. But you have such an outgoing personality, we were hoping you could get him to talk," his Father said hopefully.

"I'll try Papa-san…" Mitsukuni said cheerfully.

"Ah, that's a good boy!" he said ruffling his hair. Mitsukuni was very used to that, as all his family members seemed to want to touch his hair at some point. He like his father, had blond hair which was very uncommon in their family. In fact there were only three members of their family who had blonde hair. That was himself, his Father, and his Grandmother. Though because she was older, the color had been scared away. So now it looked white.

A few hours later Mitsukuni was told that his cousin was waiting for him in the guest receiving area. Which was the place they told all guests to wait until the person they were there to see was ready to receive them.

Happily, he hurried to the room sliding the door open.

Takashi looked like all his other cousins. Black hair, dark eyes. He was wearing a dark robe too, and he looked… sad.

"Hi Takashi!" he said happily running over to him. "Papa-san told me I should come play with you!"

Takashi stared blankly up at him, his first thoughts of Mitsukuni, was that he was loud.

"They said you don't talk, will you talk to me? Please?" the boy said sitting down in front of him smiling. Takashi stared at him wondering how he could have forgotten a cousin of his who had such strange hair.

"My name is Mitsukuni Haninozuka," Mitsukuni said staring up at him, and he noticed that Takashi's eyes widened slightly after he introduced himself. It was very strange to have a conversation with someone who was refusing to talk back to you.

"Hey I know, wanna go play with me!" Mitsukuni said. "I like sparing, do you spar at all?"

As expected, Takashi sat there unmoving…

So Mitsukuni grabbed his arm forcing him to his feat he practically dragged him to the door, when he stopped suddenly, looking at him, "Hnnnn… You know… You're short!"

Takashi felt a strong poke of annoyance at that comment. He didn't like being called short, and he was often, especially in school. Mitsukuni placed a hand on Takashi's head and moved it over so it met his forehead. "It's okay, since you're little I'll take care of you! So let's go outside and play!"

Mitsukuni took his hand again and he led him out to a clearing in the woods behind his house.

"Ne ne… Takashi!" Mitsukuni said smiling. He ran over and picked up a frog bringin it back to him. "Look at this guy! Isn't he cute!"

He held out Takashi's hands so the palms faced the sky, and he put the frog on them, though the next second it had jumped off and back onto the ground.

"Oh… you were supposed to hold him," Mitsukuni said frowning, and he looked around. "Oh I know."

He ran over to a tree with a fluffy caterpillar on it and he pulled it off running back to Takashi with it. "Look at this little guy!"

Takashi didn't move but continued to stare blankly at him, so Mitsukuni put the caterpillar on the side of his face watching it craw up him.

He snickered at that, "Hhmm… what else can we find… Takashi at least help me look for things…"

Takashi turned his head left, and then right, and leaned down picking up a stick. He walked over to Mitsukuni tapping him on the shoulder. He looked back at the stick Takashi held out to him and frowned. "Uh… well, that's interesting I guess… But it's just a stick. We're looking for things we don't get to see everyday."

Mitsukuni turned back searching a nearby bush for something cool. Takashi looked down at the stick he was holding. He hadn't shown it to Mitsukuni because it was a stick. He had been trying to show it to Mitsukuni because it had all these cool swirly markings on it. Probably from a bug who had ate tunnels around it. But because he couldn't speak… he could tell Mitsukuni that that was why…

Frowning slightly, he let the stick fall to the ground…

The two spent a good portion of the day out in the woods behind Mitsukuni's house and when they returned Mitsukuni still hadn't got him to speak. They walked up to Mitsukuni's father who was standing on the porch with Takashi's father, both boy were covered in dirt and muck from their adventures outside.

"Did you succeed?" Mitsukuni's Father asked him.

"No Papa-san…" Mitsukuni said turning back to Takashi looking sad, and Takashi felt like someone had grabbed his heart and squeezed it from the look he had given him. "He won't talk no matter what I do…"

"Well, it seems this was hopeless then… Thanks for your help Huninozuka-san…" Takashi's father said sighing. "We'll be leaving then…"

"Until our family reunion," Mitsukuni's father said waving.

Family reunion… Takashi felt suddenly scared. They only had family reunions once a year. If that. He wouldn't see his new friend for that long. A creeping sense of loneliness seemed to settle into his chest. Mori's family lived so far out in the country that he didn't have people his own age to play with, not even classmates because his parents hired a private tutor to teach him everything he needed to know.

Takashi's father picked him up and they got into their limo. It had begun to move down the road leading to Mitsukuni's home when they heard his small voice calling to them to wait.

His father hit a button and the window on Takashi's side of the car slid down. Small fingers grasped the edge of it and Mitsukuni's little blond head peeked up into the car and his shoulders followed until he was leaning on the door with both arms.

"Cousin Takashi!" he said smiling brightly. "You can come back and play with me next week okay! And any week after!"

Takashi simply blinked at him before his cousin's smiling face slid down and ran back to his father. Takashi turned around in his seat to watch Mitsukuni run back. He felt happy about being invited back, but also sad that his new friend was running the opposite direction… away from him…

"Well, how about it Takashi, would you like to come back and play with your cousin sometime?"

Takashi nodded not sitting the correct way in his seat until Mitsukuni could no longer be seen, and not even until his house was no longer in sight.

"Takashi, sit straight please," his Father said.

Takashi did, and his Father let out a small gasp of surprise. "Takashi, you have a caterpillar in your hair…"

He reached up and pulled the same Caterpillar that Mitsukuni had put in his hair. Smiling, he spent the car ride petting it with his pinky finger. So as not to hurt it…

"Whaa!" Mitsukuni gasped when he fell backwards after trying to avoid a kick from his Uncle.

Hasuru who had made such a big deal about Mitsukuni not being old enough to be in that level of training, did not put him up against the kids in class. Instead he spent the entire class sparing with him personally and Mitsukuni could barely keep up.

"C'mon Mi-chan… is that the best you can do? I thought you were supposed to belong in this level, and yet you can't even keep up…"

Mitsukuni frowned sitting up after what felt like his 30th time being knocked to the ground.

"Leave if you're not going to take this class seriously…" Hasuru snapped at him, making him a bit of a spectacle in front of the other students.

"I am," Mitsukuni said defiantly.

"I am… what?"

"I am Sensei…" he said getting back to his feet.

"Well then, maybe it's just today. Is that it? Is your stomach hurting? Maybe you want some milk, is that it little Mi-chan…"

Mitsukuni frowned finding it very hard to not cry from the frustration of it all.

"Well, then. I think you have wasted enough of this class' time. Come back tomorrow if you think you can deal with the rigorous training at this level, and if you can't don't bother showing up…" he snapped.

Mitsukuni left feeling both weak and humiliated. He had to walk by the kitchen to go to his room and as he did so he saw his mother leaning on a chair to reach into the stove. She was a very short woman so she needed a stool to do most things in their house.

"Hi Mi-chan," she said as he walked by. "Are you done training for today?"

"I guess so…" he said frowning and entering the kitchen.

"Do you have time to try one of your Mama's cookies?"

"Yea!" he said cheerfully hurrying over as she used gloves to take one of the cookies that had just came out of the oven and she put it on a small plate. "Now be careful Mi-chan, it's hot."

Honey blew on his cookie to cool it down and took a bite of the bunny shaped cookie.

"Mama-san," he said. "Why are all your cookies shaped like bunnies?" he asked staring up at her.

"Because I bake cookies for my little Honey bunny…" she said smiling at him.

"Who's that?"

"You!" she said placing a finger on his nose, and he smiled at her.

All of a sudden, her eyes got very sad looking and she hugged him. "Mi-chan… promise me something…"

"Hhh?"

"Promise me you'll stay this sweet and adorable forever."

Honey blinked at her thinking about the idea. It's not like it was a hard promise to keep. "Of course Mama-san, I promise!"

Her face lit up once again and she kissed his forehead before taking the tray of cookies with her down the hall. Mitsukuni could hear her asking passersby if they wanted one.

I can do that, he thought to himself. I can be sweet forever, and I can handle this level of training. I just have to work harder…

So, I keep referencing little snip-bits of Honey and Takashi's childhood together in "Your Highness! Princess Haruhi!" I got to thinking today that if I'm going to put that much thought into their past I might as well make a separate story of their lives together. Thus that became this... Hope you enjoy a look into the past. We'll see the host club later on, but at the moment they're either babies or not born yet. **I don't feel like doin' the math right now**