Chapter 3
Author's Note:
Hi everyone, this is a long one, but at the end you finally get to see the club, so tuck in. Just to let you know I have borrowed the names of my four favorite MMA fighters for Edie's brothers. The eldest is named for Tyron Woodly, welter weight, followed by Anthony Pettis, light-weight; Demetrius Johnson, fly weight; and Conor McGregor, flyweight. I borrowed their first names, not their personalities! Any likenesses are purely coincidental as this is a work of fiction.
If I use any MMA terms, I will put an asterisk by the word and you can look at the end of the chapter for definitions. Finally, I'd like to thank another reviewer. Concerns were expressed that having two loli characters could cause a sugar overload, which I totally get. I intend to play up the fact that both Honey and Edie are blood-type AB, and have Edie play it a little more butch when she is alone or in her head. If it ever does get too sweat or savory, let me know. This is why I love Fanfiction. As always I love and appreciate your critiques!
Enjoy.
The next day, Edie stood in front of the Haninozuka mansion, yawning and waiting for Honey and Tanaka to pull around the car. Her family had called to check in late last night.
"Hello?" she had groggily answered.
She looked at the clock, her eyes bleary from sleep. Two o'clock in the morning.
"Edie-baby? How are you darling?" cooed her mother, she was the only one who used that nickname for Edie.
"Hand me the phone Leslie. Edie, it's your father. I love you and miss you. Did you train today?" Michael Hale barked into the phone.
"Who cares? GIMME! Edie, pleeeeease tell me you went to a maid café. I need details...oof don't shove!" Edie sighed at the youngest and most perverted of her brothers, Conor.
There were more sounds of scuffling until Edie heard, "Stop poisoning my Edie with filth!" It was her second oldest brother, Anthony; he liked to pretend to be her white knight and protector.
"Give me the phone!" Edie's oldest brother, Tyron, commanded, "Have you seen the dojo yet? I hear it is the only place to learn Haninozuka style fighting."
More scuffling rang through the cellphone's speakers, interrupted only by outcries of OOFS and GRRRRRS and BOYS NO ARM-BARS* OUTSIDE OF THE RING! Finally, Edie stepped in.
"FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, PUT IT ON SPEAKER PHONE," Edie shouted loud enough to wake the dead. She was actually glad that Haninozuka's decided to have her stay in her own guesthouse instead of the main building. She was lonely, and got a little scared in the dark, but at least no one could hear her outburst.
There were softer scrambling sounds on the other line while the Hale family searched for the speaker-phone button, but eventually Edie got to hear the voice she had most been waiting for.
"Hi Eeds," he said softly.
Edie smiled at the deep rumble of her second youngest brother, Demetrius, her very own gentle giant. He was the calmest and shyest of all the members in the Hale family, but his size of 6'6" made him a monster in the octagon*. His fighting nickname was the "Lethal Legend", but Edie always felt very protective of him. She loved all her brothers equally, but the other three could take care of themselves. Demetrius was softhearted and bashful and Edie always stayed close to him in case his social anxiety kicked in.
"Hi Demi, hi everyone. Gosh, I didn't think I'd miss you guys already." She then went to work answering everyone's questions, "I am doing fine, but I didn't have a lot of time today, so I only did my calisthenics before bed. Connor, I have no idea what a maid café, but since you want me to go, I don't think I will."
"Ahhh, come on," Connor whined before Tyron whomped him over the head.
Edie giggled then continued, "They didn't show me the dojo yet, though maybe I can see it tomorrow…."
She trailed off with a yawn that she covered with her hand. "Was that a yawn, goodness Edie, your travels didn't give you sleeping sickness? What time is it over there? Michael what time is it?" Edie's mother fretted.
Edie waited while the family did some mental math. Anthony reached the answer first, "It's two AM, mom."
Pandemonium burst out in the Hale house. It was hard for Edie to follow as all six of her family members tried to apologize and blame each other all at once.
"I didn't know…Gee, Edie I…Gosh, my bad…said we should have waited, but you just had to…Sleep deprivation, oh my baby…" They spoke over each other.
Edie began to laugh so hard that she gave off a loud snort that definitely didn't match her cute persona. Finally her father regained control of the room, "Edi, it is far past your bed time. Go to sleep right now. Your mother, brothers, and I love you, though I expect you to do extra exercises tomorrow to make up for today."
Edie lovingly rolled her eyes, every time her father spoke he sounded like an army drill sergeant. "I love you guys too," she began to hang up but remembered, "Connor, you have to start cutting weight tomorrow for your fight. I better not hear about you sneaking M&Ms up to your room. Demi, watch him like a hawk."
"Yeah, okay Eeds," Demi blushed his answer while Connor groaned in the background.
A click on the other end severed the connection between Edie and her family and brought the silence of the guesthouse crashing around her head. Edie snuggled her pillow to ward off the lonely ache that pierced her chest.
"Eeeeeeeeedie-chan!" Honey's cry pulled her back to the present, "Let's go."
She allowed him to tug her into the car. A short drive later, Edie found herself at the doorstep of the largest, pinkest building she had ever seen. This was Ouran High School and she absolutely, adored it. Edie smoothed her palms over the sunshine yellow poof of a dress and turned to Honey. "We're in the same class, right sempai?
"Of course! Taka-chan is gonna be there too. He's my best friend, so he'll play with you too, but he won't be in class until after lunch. He went away this weekend."
Edie imagined another little boy just like Honey and grinned, "I can't wait."
When they arrived at class, Honey went in first to talk to the teacher about her. Seconds later, the homeroom instructor pulled Edie into the room and forced her to introduce herself to the sea of foreign faces before her. This was something new kids never had to do in her old school. She was nervous, so of course, she botched it. "I-I'm Edie," the teacher beckoned for her to continue, "aaaaand… um I like puppies and ice cream… um… Look, I promise I'll be real nice so pretty please be my friend. Okay?" she finished, speeding through the last section as fast as she could.
The teacher slapped a palm to her forehead in exasperation, the girls cooed, and the boys blushed, though none quite so bright as Honey. There were only two open desks in the room, but the one right behind Honey belonged to the Morinozuka kid, so Edie took the chair all the way across the room from her friend. Three very nice boys sat around her, but Edie suspected the first half of the day would have gone by much faster if she could have sat next to her golden buddy.
BINGBONGBINGBONG, after hours of lessons that made Edie feel like her Japanese wasn't quite as good as she thought, the bell for lunch mercifully rang. Her three seat partners descended upon her, towering over her minuscule frame.
"Come with me, I can show you the way to the lunchroom," blushed boy one.
"No, let me buy you lunch. I know all the best stuff to eat," boy two interjected.
"We could all show her together," boy three suggested hopefully.
Edie was about to nod with hesitant agreement when Honey tugged on her skirt to get her attention. The three boys had failed to notice when the adorable weapon had squeezed past.
Honey raised his hand to reveal two colorfully wrapped lunch boxes. "Mr. Tanaka packed us lunch," his voice dropped to a conspiratorial stage whisper, "He even gave us extra cake."
He then, pulled Edie away from the ring of testosterone while she gave her seat-mates an apologetic smile. Honey glanced backward at the boys with an uncharacteristic and almost territorial glare. The trio felt a chill of fear and decided that maybe the new girl wasn't girlfriend material after all. Edie's female classmates were watching Honey, because every girl was always watching Honey, so they had viewed the exchange. When Edie first arrived, they were enchanted by her childish innocence, but watching Honey pull her hand and feed her lunch set of red flares. Edie might be trying to ensnare him and break the unspoken rule of Ouran High School. The Host Club was to be shared.
Honey chose a table near the middle of the brightly colored lunchroom. Edie's sharp ears caught whispers all around her, but shook them off, figuring that once her novelty wore off, people would stop. She unwrapped the bento and sure enough, rice, vegetables and two slices of spice cake were squeezed into the box. She spooned some of the rice between her lips before engaging her table partner. "Honey-sempai, can I ask you a question?"
"Yeah!" Honey replied distractedly around the large bite of carrot cake, which was puffing out his cheeks.
"You're pretty cute."
"Really?" Honey stared up at her wide-eyed as a couple of crumbs tumbled off his nose.
"Yep…I mean no…I mean, I guess, how did the heir of the Haninozuka's come to act like such a cutie?" Edie giggled nervously, she hadn't meant it to come out that way. She merely wanted to know how much of his personality was genuine, or if he was just an act like her. She didn't know if he would be honest, but it was worth a shot.
Honey cocked his head," I could ask you the same."
"Yeah, but I'm the youngest in my family. I have four older brothers to carry on the legacy, but you're first-born, and a boy too. It is stinky, but people usually don't expect teenage boys to behave like you."
"I guess," Honey nodded solemnly, "Growing up, I pretended to be serious, but then I met Tama-chan and… TAKA-CHAN!"
Honey burst from his seat and rushed towards the entrance of the lunchroom. Edie pouted in disappointment, just when she was getting somewhere, but her eyes followed Honey's sprint until…
BU-BUMP! Edie watched Honey shimmy up the body of a mountain of a man. His hair was as dark as his inscrutable eyes and he was just slightly shorter than her brother, Demi. Edie had never seen anyone, so handsome. Her palms began to sweat and her mouth went dry. Honey was beckoning Edie with the wave of his hand from his perch on the man's shoulders, but Edie couldn't do it. She couldn't go talk to that Adonis. A tall guy like him would probably rather step on her than date her. She'd just make a fool of herself. Edie hatched a plan. She'd pretend she didn't see Honey. Yeah, that's it.
"EDIE-CHAN, EDIE-CHAN, COME OVER HERE, "Honey yelled across the room, pulling the attention of everyone there.
Dang that Honey! So much for pretending to be oblivious. Edie swallowed the knot that had formed in her throat and began the long walk over to the boys. Finally reaching her destination, she peeked upwards. For once, she was honesty grateful for her puny height. From this angle she couldn't see his face, just his stony sculpted jaw and the bottom of Honey's shoes. If she didn't see his face she could breathe, if she didn't see his face, then maybe she could form full sentences around him.
At first, Honey did all the talking. "This is my bestie Takashi-Morinozuka, but you should call him Mori-sempai. Takashi, this is Edie-chan. She can eat as much cake as me!"
"Hi" was the best Edie could manage. She wrung her hands behind her back and tapped the toe of her yellow flats on the floor. Thank goodness he can't see my face, I might just get through this.
But, Mori had Honey for a best friend, so he knew how to talk to someone much smaller than himself. He dropped to one knee, bringing himself nose to nose with Edie.
"Yo."
It was all he said, just one syllable, but to Edie it was more beautiful than a sonnet. That calm bass, the emotionless stare, it was all too much for Edie. Honey watched Edie's face turn crimson from chin to hairline, as stars of adoration twinkled in her doe-eyed pupils. Honey liked to act young, but he wasn't naïve. Dread pooled in his soul. Did Edie…she couldn't possibly…Edie wasn't attracted to Takashi, right?
Edie didn't know what to do, what to say, so she muddled through with, "W-Wow. Honey told me t-tons about you."
In typical wild-type fashion, Mori said nothing, just stood after patting Edie on the head. From up high, Honey could see it all. Edie liked Taka-chan. At the very least, she was interested in him. For the very first time, Honey felt jealousy for his best friend. For the very first time since joining the host club, Honey wanted to stop acting like a kid, to be more like Takashi, but what could he do? He wasn't tall like Takashi, and he couldn't live without cake or Usa-chan. Even so, Honey wanted to be the person Edie looked at like that. Being a member of the host club had always taught him that all he needed to attract girls was to be himself, indulge every childish impulse.
That was it! "Edie-chan, you should come to our club after school. Taka-chan and I have to get there early, but if you ask the girls in class, they can show you to the music room," Honey exclaimed.
If Edie could just see how popular he was at the host club, Edie would have to look at him like she looked at Takashi.
"Music room? Are you in a band?" Edie wondered, able to think better know that she could no longer see Mori's face.
"Wait and see," was Honey's cryptic reply.
Four hours of mind numbing class later and Edie was begging her classmates for directions. The boys pled the fifth because they didn't want to lose the newest heartthrob to the charms of the infamous Host Club. The girls, who saw the way that Honey looked at Edie and Edie looked at Mori, were afraid the foreigner would steal the hearts of their precious hosts. Edie was forced to leave the classroom with out a guide. She'd always been lucky, so maybe she could find the music room on her own.
Ten minutes into her journey through the maze cleverly disguised as a school and Edie knew her luck had run out. Edie started to run, her skirt flouncing around her with each step. She didn't even know how long the club met for, what if she missed it? If she could just find her way… Edie turned a corner at record-breaking speeds, but was stopped in her tracks when she knocked face first into a boy, or maybe it was a girl? The kid was wearing the boy's uniform, but as Edie fell-she'd instinctively grasped onto the only thing she could, the stranger's chest. Judging by the two soft mounds curved under Edie's palms, her collision buddy was definitely a girl. Edie removed her hands as if she had touched burning embers and scrambled to her feet.
"I'm so sorry, I should have looked where I was going, I didn't hurt you did I?" Edie worried.
"Not really," the cross-dressing girl accepted the hand Edie offered to stand up.
"Gee I'm glad. Phew!" Edie comically wiped imaginary sweat from her brow causing the girl to laugh. Edie was going to ask, why the girl chose to wear the boy's uniform, but didn't want to offend her, so she stayed silent.
"Where were you heading to, in such a hurry?"
"Oh, right! I'm supposed to meet my new friend at the music room, but I got really, really lost," Edie said, rubbing the back of her head.
The stranger's chocolate eyes widened, "Small world. I was on my way there just now. I can show you if you want. My name's Haruhi Fujioka, by the way."
"Really?" Haruhi nodded, "You are just the best, best, best! Haru-chan, you're so pretty, but it turns out you're just as nice as you are beautiful."
"I don't know about that, but...wait, Haru-chan?" Haruhi drew back slightly at the nickname.
"Sorry, was I rude? I just feel like we are already friends. I'm Edie. I just moved here from America," she apologized.
"It's fine, it's just you remind me of someone, and I know who you are. People have been talking about you all day," Haruhi said as she led the way.
"They do that a lot here," Edie observed and Haruhi nodded sagely.
The pair came to a stop in front of two large double doors. "Well sempai, here we are."
Edie wrinkled her nose at the title, "I'm too short to have anyone calling me sempai. I'm practically pocket-sized"
Haruhi laughed, "Can I call you Edie then?"
"Uh-huh!" Edie chirped, then lowered her voice, "Ne, Haru-chan, what kind of club is this?"
"You don't know?"
Edie shook her head and puckered her lips, "My friend wouldn't tell."
"This will be a bit of a shock then," Haruhi said as she flung open both doors.
A wave of humidity smacked Edie in the face, causing her to hide behind Haruhi. Exotic birdcalls sounded in her ears and fruity scents flooded her button nose. Still, everything dulled in comparison to the overwhelming sight before her. Six beautiful and partially nude boys were surrounded by a tropical jungle paradise. Haruhi seemed just as surprised as Edie.
"Welcome." The boys said in unsettling unison. All but one was topless, but everyone's baggy pants and leis had a distinct tribal feel.
Two red-haired boys, twins, stepped out of formation and just like that, the spell was broken, "Oh, Haruhi, it's just you. We thought you were a guest. You're so late," they said at the exact same time.
At that Edie stepped out from behind Haruhi to search for Honey and an explanation. She was rubbing her eyes trying to make sure this all wasn't a mirage, but to the outside observer she looked more like a sleepy kitten. "Honey-sempai," she called in disbelief.
"You made it. Look Takashi", Honey exclaimed. Edie singled them out and gave a hesitant smile. She was torn between marveling at Mori's physique and making sure this wasn't some hormone-fueled twisted daydream.
A tall blonde with striking violet eyes rose from his seat in the center of the room. He was the only one with his torso covered, but the white and gold wrap he wore made him look like an Amazonian king, so he was just as dazzling. "What do we have here? It seems a little princess did grace us with her presence," the little remark irked Edie slightly, was that really all anyone saw in her? The boy continued, "I am Tamaki Suoh, The King of this Ho…"
Tamaki trailed off as one of the large orange butterflies fluttering around the room came to rest on the tip of Edie's nose. She had to cross her gumdrop eyes to see it properly and pucker her lips in concentration, so as not to frighten it away. To her knowledge it was a Marpesia berania, a species native to the Amazon rainforest and famous for drinking turtle tears to supply sodium to their diet. The butterfly probably landed on her to see if it could find any salty moisture on her face.
Tamaki grasped his chest dramatically, "Trust nature to recognize true beauty. This butterfly has indeed found the loveliest flower in the room"
He then rushed towards her, arms outspread, but was held back by the two red-headed twins from before, "Cool it boss," they chastised in unison.
The butterfly, startled from the commotion, resumed its flight around the room. Honey ran towards her, while Mori followed behind at a much slower pace.
"You're so lucky, I've been hunting butterflies all day, but none of them like me," Honey said sourly.
"That's odd, you'd think they'd love you because you're so sweet," Edie sang, clearing away the bitter mist surrounding Honey's head.
Haruhi took it upon herself to make introductions, "Guys this is Edie Hale from the U.S. Edie this is the Host Club."
Edie thought she heard a little dread dripping from those last two words, but decided to analyze that later. She didn't even know what a Host Club was yet.
A boy with raven hair and wire-rimmed glasses spoke up, "Edith Hale, age sixteen and fifth child of the Hale Mixed Martial Arts conglomerate. Arrived in Tokyo yesterday and will be living at Honey-sempai's guest house while she finishes school here at Ouran."
While Edie found Tamaki mildly annoying, he was nowhere near as bad as this imperious jerk who presumed to know everything about her. Edie batted her lashes and made sure her voice was dripping with, what else, honey, "Wow, you know all that? You must be a super-duper genius." Or a super-duper stalker.
He cleared his throat to mask his flattered expression. Haruhi jumped in, "That's Kyoya Ootori, he has a file on everyone. The twins are Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachin and I guess you know Honey-sempai and Mori-sempai. The crying dude in the corner is Tamaki-sempai."
Crying dude sobered himself enough to yell, "Haruhi, do not call people 'dude'."
Everyone in the room, including Haruhi decided to ignore his outburst, causing yet another bout of cartoonish tears.
"Ne, Edie-chan, how do you know Haru-chan?" Honey wondered.
Edie pressed an index finger to her chin and looked up towards Haruhi, "Well, I guess she's kind of my savior," Edie shrugged.
Just like that everything in the room went dead still. There were one, two, three beats of silence until, "SHE!" the Host Club yelled in unison.
*Arm-bar: The arm bar is a joint lock submission used in wrestling and MMA. The aggressor, places their legs across the chest of opponent and holds one of the opponent's arms between his/hers thighs. The elbow joint lands at about the aggressor's hips. The aggressor then grabs the opponent's arm and leans back while arching his/her hips. This pushes pressure on the elbow joint and could result in torn ligaments and tendons in the elbow joint. In extreme cases, arms have been broken, but as the discomfort of the arm bar is so great, most tap out before the required leverage is reached.
*Octagon: This is the area where MMA fights are held. As the name suggests, it is an eight-sided chain link cage with a mat covered raised floor. Fun-fact this style of fighting ring was first used in 1993 (the same year I was born!) and is used to this day.
