Author's Note: Welcome back! Come on in, have a seat & grab some popcorn! Expect a whole lot of angsty Hikaru, swoon-worthy Kaoru, and some warm fuzzies with Honey. My minor OC girlies Kaiya & Rei will be in this chapter a little more as well, & Dove's going to open up about some stuff a teeny tiny bit, so please don't judge her too harshly! Timeline for this chapter is April 12th-15th. :)
Soundtrack: Just one this time. The song Dove is playing after the physical exams is the brand new Liam Payne & J-Balvin song called "Familiar", because it gave me the idea for the scene.
Rating: After reviewing the guidelines, for safety reasons more than anything, I have changed the rating of this story to M. You can blame (or thank?) Hikaru for that. He's not behaving himself.
Disclaimer: As always, I own nothing. How sad. T_T
Hikaru, who was squeezing a pillow tightly, rolled over to search for the sound that was currently assaulting his ears. He grabbed his phone from where it had somehow ended up under a pillow next to him and tossed it across the room but the sound didn't stop. He groaned; he never even set alarms on his phone. Reluctantly getting out of bed so he could turn off the offending sound, he realized Kaoru must have set it for him before he'd left that morning. He glanced at his phone screen and scowled. K: Left early to pick up Dove again. Didn't want to wake you. Don't be too mad at me.
He guessed it had been too much to hope for that Kaoru riding with Dove to school was just a one-time thing. Of course, it's not like he hadn't offered for him to come, but Hikaru was much too lost in his downwards spiral of rage and jealousy to accept that invitation. Especially after watching the two of them in school all day yesterday. Dove hadn't been able to keep her eyes off of Kaoru the entire day, and Kaoru was constantly touching Dove - holding her hand, brushing her hair out of her face, putting his arms around her shoulders. Hikaru couldn't help but remember how Dove had looked at him like that, before she'd even known Kaoru existed, and how he used to be the one who Kaoru would always have his arms around.
He wouldn't admit it if you asked him, but Hikaru was really hurting. He masked it well with anger, but beneath that fiery temper was a small, scared boy afraid of losing his brother. And even worse, he was going to lose him to the only girl who'd ever managed to made him feel something and had known right from the start just how different him and Kaoru were. But the worst part of it all was that he had no one but himself to blame. He'd told Kaoru to go ahead and do what he wanted with her, even though he liked her himself, and had all these mixed up feelings for Kaoru on top of that. And now he'd have to watch as they fell in love with each other and he ended up all alone with no one. At least, that was how he felt.
However, he didn't really have the capacity to feel all of that at once without losing his mind so rage it was. That was just a much easier emotion to manage. So, as he sat in silence, riding a limo alone to school his thoughts grew darker and he tried to figure out what exactly he was going to do to turn this situation in his favor.
Dove was in a fantastic mood this morning. Kaoru had surprised her by picking her up for school again, and because they had physical exams today all classes were cancelled. And since her last name was right in the middle of the alphabet, there were plenty of people who would have to go after her so she already had a plan to sneak out once they finished her exam. She had even worn clothes under her school dress, and brought her noise-canceling headphones with her so that she could find an empty room to play loud music in and just relax. Today was going to be a good day.
"You look happy this morning, little bird." Kaoru said from beside her as they walked towards the infirmary room where the examinations were to take place.
"I am happy." She grinned up at him and squeezed his hand pausing as they reached the door and wrapping her arms around his neck. "You know what would make me happier?" He raised an eyebrow at her and she stood on her tip-toes to get as close to his face as she could, though she still barely reached the top of his chest. "If you would kiss me already."
Kaoru chucked softly, and gave her ponytail a playful little swat so that it swung back and forth a couple of times. "Patience." He said with a small smile, lightly caressing her cheek with his finger tips.
Dove frowned at him, pouting "But I don't want to have patience, I want you."
Kaoru just laughed again, and removed her arms from around his neck, "You know, you're extra cute when you pout. Come on, we have to go inside." He took her hand again and led her into the large room. Dove's jaw dropped at the scene inside. There was a red carpet, a literal red carpet rolled out on the ground, with nurses and doctors to greet them on either side. They sure did like to go overboard at this school. Kaoru gave Dove's hand a little squeeze, focusing her attention back towards him, "I have to go find Hikaru." He pressed a quick kiss to her forehead and then just like that he was lost to the crowd.
Shaking the Kaoru-sized fog from her mind, Dove scanned the room for Kaiya - she was long overdue for some much needed girl talk. She spotted her bubbly friend in a crowd of girls that had begun to form in front of a little stage and as she made her way over she realized the crowd was there because Hikaru and Kaoru were up there, shirtless. Why were they always shirtless? And why was it never when she was there to do anything about it? She groaned, looking away and tugging on Kaiya's sleeve when she finally managed to push her way through all of the screaming girls.
"Dove-Chan!" Kaiya beamed at her, enthusiastic as always, "I am so sorry I wasn't at the dance the other night. But you have to tell me what happened! I saw you holding hands with Kaoru the other day and absolutely everyone is talking about you. Is he really your boyfriend now? I mean personally, I thought you were going to end up with Hikaru but -"
Dove held up a hand, shaking her head at her overly-hyper friend, "I'm going to tell you everything but you really need to calm down Kai..." she frowned for a second, "Is everyone really talking about me?"
Kaiya nodded, leaning in conspiratorially, "Mhm... and between you and me... most of it isn't all that nice." She frowned as well, putting her hands on Dove's shoulders, "I tried to shut it down whenever I heard it, honest. But don't worry about them, I can't wait any longer the suspense is killing me!"
Dove sighed, and launched into an explanation of everything that had happened the past few days while they waited for their names to be called for their exams. She told her how she danced with Hikaru, but then Kaoru had kissed her and that for some reason Hikaru is mad at her because since then he has barely even looked at her. And how they were flirting with Haruhi right in front of her so she practically seduced poor little Honey to get back at them. "But Kaoru is a total sweetheart. He sent me this long, detailed apology and since then..." she paused, thinking about him holding her hands in the hallways and texting her throughout the day and then her mind drifted off to their limo ride the other day and her cheeks turned red, "Well, let's just say he's been a perfect gentleman. Frustratingly so, at times."
Kaiya's jaw dropped and she stared at Dove like she had two heads, "What is that supposed to mean?"
Dove couldn't help but laugh at her friend's expression and she just shook her head. "Never mind that. He's too good to be true, really." She thought for a second, frowning, "Way too good for me, if I'm being honest. Especially since no matter how sweet he's been, I still can't stop thinking about Hikaru..."
"Get it together girl!" Kaiya surprised Dove by gripping her shoulders again and literally shaking her entire body, "Kaoru Hitachiin is practically throwing himself at you. Kaoru. Hitachiin. Do you even realize how lucky you are? How many girls would kill to be you right now? I know you think the twins are 'different' or whatever but really, they're both equally hot so what does it matter? Forget about Hikaru!"
Dove sighed, not even in the mood to explain that it was about so much more than them being hot and that she had no idea just how different they were. She liked Kaiya, but sometimes she really was dense. "But that's just it, I can't forget about Hikaru. Trust me, I wish I could." She chanced a glance up at the stage and the twins were still up there, holding each other close now, putting on a show for their adoring fans. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as all the girls screamed. Just like Kaiya, they knew less than nothing about the Hitachiin twins. And suddenly she understood why they were so fascinated that she could so easily tell them apart. Clearly, no one else ever cared enough to try.
"I really don't know then." Kaiya said, snapping her out of her thoughts, "But honestly, if he's not interested anymore there isn't much you can do anyway." Kaiya shrugged and Dove knew she was right. For whatever reason, it seemed like Hikaru had changed his mind about her. And she might have no choice but to accept that. But she didn't have time to think about it as she heard her name being called.
She was lead into a smaller room on the side of the large room and all they really did was check her height and weight. All of this ceremony was just another opportunity to put on a big show for no reason. "Four foot, eleven inches and you weigh one hundred and ten pounds." The nurse told her and Dove shook her head furiously.
"No way! I swear the last time I checked I was five feet tall!" She protested and the nurse just shook her head. Dove groaned - she knew she wouldn't hear the end of this from Honey. She could only hope that he was even a quarter of an inch shorter than her, and if he wasn't, she was seriously considering lying about her results. Well, at least she was all done now, and she had plenty of time left in the day to go off and explore the school and find a good place where she could just turn the world off and her music on for a little while. But little did she know, someone else had a very similar idea, and things weren't going to go as planned.
It had been surprisingly easy to sneak out of the infirmary room. There was so much commotion, especially since Tamaki was up next to get his exam, that Dove was able to hide herself in the crowd and slip right out the door. The harder part was finding a room where she could be sure she wouldn't be disturbed. She wandered the hallways for about twenty minutes, surprisingly enjoying the silence that filled them. Eventually she settled on a large classroom that looked like it probably used to be a science lab but all the desks had been cleared out of it. She doubted anyone would come in here anytime soon.
She pulled her hated yellow school dress over her head and gave a happy little twirl. She hadn't been able to find much she would be able to hide underneath the dress, so she had settled on a pair of black jean shorts that had little rips at the bottom and a red and white striped off-the-shoulder crop top. Off course she had also "forgotten" her tights again, and was wearing her black converse. She pulled the hair tie out of her ponytail as well, shaking out her hair and letting it fall wherever it wanted. She felt free.
Wasting no time, she grabbed her big red headphones out of her bag and placed them around her head, tightening them so that they would be less likely to fall off. Searching through her music, she found the song she had been looking for. It had just come out and ever since she'd downloaded it last night, she had been dying to dance to it - it had been way too long since she had been able to dance. Sure, she had danced at the party on Monday, but her usual style of dance involved a lot more hip movement than was appropriate for a formal school event.
Turning the volume all the way up and closing her eyes so she could tune out everything except the music she swayed her hips back and forth and around in circles as fast as they would go, making her way around the room. She reveled in the feeling of her hair brushing against her bare stomach and legs and hummed along to the music while she danced - she wasn't much of a singer but she really felt the music in her soul. She was content in having her own little private party in this abandoned classroom. Only, it wasn't as private as she thought.
Hikaru had left the physical exam room early as well - he was in no mood to participate in the Host Club's plan to make sure Haruhi wasn't found out as a girl. He was sure they'd be able to handle things just fine without him. He hadn't planned on following Dove, but when he saw her turn the corner of the hallway in front of the one he was in, he couldn't help himself. What could she be up to? His curiosity had gotten the best of him and so he followed her, keeping his distance so that she wouldn't notice.
When she entered the empty classroom, he peered in through the little window in the door and his eyes widened as she stripped off her school uniform. His eyes traveled down her body of their own accord. Starting at her bare shoulders, he followed the little curve of her spine down her back to her tiny waist all the way to her hips which were a little wider than the rest of her small frame. He inhaled sharply as she took down her long hair, shaking it out and running her hands through it. "Fuck..." he muttered under his breath. She might be an infuriating little thing, but he couldn't deny - without that yellow dress that did nothing good for anyone no matter their body type and that irritating ponytail she always had in her hair - she was sexy as hell.
He was just about to walk away before he did anything stupid when he saw her put headphones on and start dancing around the room. It took less than a minute of watching the way her hips moved for him to open the door to the classroom, and decide to hell with it, when was he ever known for doing the smart thing anyway? He knew she hadn't noticed his presence yet, because she had her music turned up so loud that he could hear the beat of the song and the singer's sultry sounding voice through her headphones and as he watched her turn around he noticed her eyes were closed as well. His judgement completely clouded at this point, he made his way over to her and grabbed her roughly by those hips that had him hypnotized and pulled her in close.
Dove's eyes snapped open when she felt someone grab her, her heart jumping into her throat, ready to scream as loud as she could until she realized it was Hikaru who was holding her. He had such a tight grip on her waist that she could feel the tips of his fingernails pushing into her skin and she wasn't sure if the look in his eyes was anger or lust, but it appeared to be both. She looked back at him with a mixture of shock and then satisfaction - clearly he didn't completely hate her after all. And so, not knowing whether it was the music, the lyrics or the look in his eyes, she decided to use this to her advantage.
Wrapping her arms around his neck, she pressed herself closer against his body, and kept moving her hips slowly now, teasing him - torturing him if the look on his face was any indication. He surprised her by moving one of his hands to rest on the small of her back and dipping her down, her back bending over his hand and her hair brushing the floor for a split second before he swung her back around and lifted her tiny body up into the air. She wrapped her legs around his waist out of instinct and he slammed her against the wall, her headphones falling off of her head and clattering onto the floor, forgotten though the music could still be heard.
Hikaru just stared at her for a minute, and Dove stared right back - their eyes locked but saying nothing. She dropped her legs, sliding down until her feet hit the floor, the wall against her back and Hikaru's body the only things holding her up at this point. He slowly moved one hand off her waist to her face, trailing his index finger down her cheek but his expression didn't match his tender actions - the look in his eyes was honestly a little scary now but she couldn't look away. He moved his finger to her bottom lip, pushing it the tiniest fraction of an inch between her lips and she bit down lightly on his fingertip, flicking her tongue against it and blinking up at him innocently.
And that's when Hikaru lost any ounce of self control he had left. He pulled his finger out from between her lips and trailed it down her chin to her neck which he then proceed to wrap his entire hand around. Dove's heart started to beat faster than she thought possible, due to excitement or nerves she wasn't sure. She knew Hikaru had a temper but she didn't think he had it in him to actually harm her. And he didn't, he just rested his hand there, giving the lightest little squeeze - meant to tease not hurt. She bit her lip, breathing heavily. She didn't really even know what was going on anymore, she just knew she didn't want it to stop. He had to make a move, and now, or she was going to.
And just like that, she got her wish. Hikaru crashed his lips forcefully into hers, her head pressing into the wall, his hand still around her neck, his other squeezing her waist. She went to wrap her arms around his neck but he was quicker. He removed his hand from her waist and snatched up both her tiny wrists in his hand, slamming them against the wall above her head. She whimpered as he bit down hard on her bottom lip, removing his hand from her neck and moving his lips down to kiss it instead. He released her hands as well and slid both of his slowly down her body, kneeling down as he did so, kissing down her stomach and taking her small belly piercing between his lips, tugging on it with his teeth.
Dove couldn't take it anymore, this was too much. Despite what everyone might think of her, she wasn't as... experienced as she apparently appeared to be. Not that she minded anything he was doing - if anything, she had practically been begging for this to happen. But she had never let any guy get this far with her before. To hell with it though, she had no more self-control left than he did at this point. She buried both of her hands in his hair, now that she had full movement of them again and tugged on it hard, trying to pull him back up.
And it worked, his lips were back on hers in an instant as he simultaneously removed her hands from his hair and restrained them again with one hand and pulled her head back by her hair to look up at him with his other hand as he took his lips from hers. Leaning in close to her ear, his heart beating rapidly he bit down on her ear lobe before whispering breathlessly, "Don't think this changes anything." And then he released her all at once, watching as she slid down the wall to sit on the floor, no longer able to hold herself up on her own and giving her a little smirk and a wink before walking out the door, slamming it behind him.
Dove wasn't sure just how long she sat there on the cold classroom floor, staring wide eyed at the door as if Hikaru would come back through it at any second. But she knew that wasn't going to happen. In her stupid little head, she had thought they were having a moment. But, just like at the party on Monday, he had gotten close with her just to walk away like nothing had happened yet again. She really wasn't sure how he could even do that. Sure, she was able to mask how she was feeling on the outside, but that didn't mean she wasn't a mess inside. She wondered if maybe it was the same for him. Kaoru had said Hikaru was bad with emotions, maybe walking away and not facing how he was feeling was just what he did.
Oh god... Kaoru. Thinking of the other Hitachiin twin; the sweet one who got extra food for her at lunch and cared about how she did in school and never so much as said one mean word to her snapped some sense back into her confused brain. She grabbed her headphones off the floor, grateful they hadn't broken when they fell, and replaced them on her head - no way was she leaving this room without music in her ears. She didn't want to have to think about any of this, at least not until she absolutely had to. She snatched her discarded dress off the floor, without bothering to put it back on and left the room, promising herself to never ever come back to it again.
The school day was basically over, and the hallways had filled up now, as nearly everyone had finished with their physical exams. Dove could practically feel everyone's eyes on her and she had to remind herself quite a few times that it was just because of how she was dressed - they had no idea what had happened between her and Hikaru. It was also possible that they were staring at her because of her music. She hadn't bothered to turn the volume down, and currently had all her songs by Drake on shuffle - she doubted these stuck up rich kids had much appreciation for rap music. But to hell with them.
She made her way through the hallway, and into the school's gardens, not really sure where she was going but she knew it wouldn't be to Host Club. There was no way she could face Hikaru or Kaoru right now after what had just happened. But she didn't really want to go home either. Suddenly, she felt her headphones being lifted off her head, and someone linking their arm with hers. She looked to both sides; Kaiya was the one who had taken her music hostage and Rei was pulling her in the direction of another impressive limo. Though not as huge as the Hitachiin limo, Dove couldn't help but admire it anyway. Until recently, the only cars she had ridden in were covered in dents and usually smelled of cigarettes, weed and Axe Body Spray.
"So, why exactly am I being kidnapped?" She asked her friends, trying her best to sound annoyed but really she didn't mind - at least this gave her something to do. She had literally zero desire to be alone with her thoughts right now.
"We're going shopping. Rei is having boy problems and I thought you'd be the perfect person to help!" Kaiya tried to give Dove a serious look but couldn't help erupting into a fit of giggles.
Dove sighed and slumped back into the car seat, "Great, thanks Kai. Good to know my problems are entertaining to you. At least someone is amused."
Kaiya gave Dove a mock-pout, "Oh come on, you know I didn't mean it like that."
Dove just shook her head and Rei shot a quick glare at Kaiya, "Don't listen to her. I wanted you to come because I like your style." She shrugged, giving Dove a small smile "I've never been comfortable showing too much skin before, but at this point I'm willing to try anything to get Takashi-Senpai's attention."
"I guess helping you pick out some new clothes wouldn't be too bad. Although, I won't be much help in the overpriced designer stores you guys are used to." Dove twisted the little frayed strings at the bottom of her shorts around her fingers, "Most of my clothes are from thrift shops." She might as well have just told them she'd killed a man with the amount of shock that passed across Rei's face and Kaiya's horrified little gasp. "Come on, you really want my help? Then we're doing this my way." She smirked, knocking on the little window between them and the limo driver, "Hey! Limo-guy! Let us out!"
The limo driver pulled over to the curb and Dove reached over Kaiya to open the door, pushing her out and grabbing Rei's hand pulling her behind her. "Take a break man, I'm sure you need it." She said to the limo driver, "We'll be good from here." Kaiya was about to protest but Dove shot her a scary look, shutting her up. "Come on, I found a really cool store last weekend. It's only like a ten minute walk from here." Kaiya looked ready to protest again, obviously having never had to walk anywhere in her life and not wanting to start now, but Rei almost seemed excited as they made their way to a small shop a few blocks down in between a bookstore and a stand selling cheap sushi.
Dove pushed open the door and her friends followed skeptically behind her. She doubted either of these girls had ever even been to a Walmart before in their lives, let alone a thrift store but she felt right at home in places like this. Kaiya had already made her way over to the back of the store, where there was some vintage jewelry and little household knick-knacks. She was currently poking at and inspecting every little thing as if it was fascinating to her that stuff this old even existed. But Rei was more optimistic, and allowed Dove to take her hand and lead her over to some of the clothing racks.
Sizing up her friend to figure out what type of clothing would fit her best, she noted that Rei was taller than she was by about four or five inches but much skinnier - she had a very slender frame where Dove was more curvy. Shifting through the racks for a few minutes she decided on a pair of faded blue high-waisted skinny jeans and a longer dark green crop top. Rei looked at her nervously as she handed over the clothes, "Are you sure about this? Usually I dress much more... well... conservatively."
Dove nodded, shoving the clothes into her hands, "You want to get Mori's attention right?" Rei nodded back but still looked skeptical. "Look, these jeans will help show off your long legs, and the top is long for a crop-top, I swear. There will just be the tiniest bit of skin showing, just enough to make a guy want to see more. And the green in the shirt will bring out the green in your eyes. Just trust me."
"Okay..." Rei took the clothes and headed to the small dressing room in the corner, closing the curtain, "But, how will he even see me in any of this? It's not like I can just come to school wearing whatever I want."
Dove continued browsing the clothing racks, pulling a few things that caught her eye off for herself. "I've already figured that out, just try on the clothes." Glancing around the store to make sure no one was watching, Dove unzipped her school bag and ducked down behind one of the racks. Balling up the clothes in her arm, she quickly stuffed them into her bag before standing up and heading back over to the dressing room. "You almost done?"
"I... yes, but I don't know about this. If my parents even saw me in clothes like this..." Rei trailed off, but Dove just rolled her eyes, pulling the curtain open.
"Who cares what they think? Besides, that's why you leave the house wearing something else, and just change later." Dove gave her a nod of approval. "Much better than that horrible yellow dress. You actually have a figure now."
Rei blushed and offered a small smile before heading back into the dressing room to change back, "Okay fine, I'll buy it! But, what's your plan to get Takashi-Senpai to see me? I don't think he even knows I exist..."
"He might not, but I've become pretty good friends with Honey and I'm sure if I asked him to, he'd drag Mori out with him and we could all hang out together." Dove shrugged, it really wasn't that hard to get guys to do what you wanted. You just had to play your cards right.
Rei pulled open the curtain, holding her new clothes tight her chest, her eyes wide, "L-Like a d-date?" Dove could have sworn the poor girl was shaking - it was obvious she had zero experience with boys. "I don't know, I've never been on a date before.. with anyone. I wouldn't even know what to say."
Dove sighed, and dragged Rei towards the checkout counter, "Not a date. Just friends hanging out, I promise." And, if she just happened to plan on taking them to the park where she knew there was an ice cream stand and just happened to wander off with Honey, distracting him with ice cream and leaving Mori and Rei alone, that would be entirely an accident.
Right as they were at the door about to leave the store, one of the associates put a hand on Dove's shoulder, preventing her from leaving, "Excuse me, miss? I'm going to have to ask that you open your bag."
Oh crap, this wasn't good. Dove used to shoplift back home all the time, and she almost never got caught. Plus she had thought she was careful. Kaiya and Rei were staring at her, giving her confused looks, "Go, I'll be fine. I'll see you in school tomorrow." They looked unconvinced, but she shooed them away with her hands, "Go. It's okay, really." She let out a sigh of relief when they finally left - she knew she was about to get into some serious trouble, and she didn't want her new friends to witness it. As much as she liked them, they weren't the kind of girls she usually spent time with, and she doubted girls like that, who'd always had everything in life handed to them, would understand why she would ever need to steal anything.
Dove sighed and unzipped her bag, grimacing when the sales associate pulled out the clothes she had put in there earlier. "If you can pay me for these right now, I won't call the police." The associate said, and Dove was surprised she was even being given that option. Unfortunately, she was broke.
"I don't have any money..." She said, looking up at her with as innocent of a look as she could manage.
But, that didn't work. Not that she had really thought it would. "Then I don't have a choice."
Dove was currently sitting on an uncomfortable bench in a holding cell at the local precinct with handcuffs around her wrists, wondering how this day had gone so very wrong. They had taken her bag, so she couldn't distract herself with music, but luckily had let her keep her phone - but only for the next few minutes while she figured out who to call to bail her out of this mess.
Whenever she had gotten arrested back home, which honestly wasn't too many times since she didn't usually get caught, she tended to call whoever her mom's boyfriend-of-the-week was. She'd promise them she'd put in a good word for them, or to not mention whatever perverted comment they'd made to her or her friends, and they'd put up the money to bail her out and her mom was none the wiser. But she had no idea what she was going to do now.
She couldn't call her Aunt - she had made it pretty clear she wouldn't put up with any kind of trouble - and she didn't really have anyone else. Her mind drifted briefly to the twins but she didn't want Kaoru to know what a mess she was, sure he wouldn't like her anymore if he did. Not to mention, he had texted her earlier and she hadn't even responded, not knowing how to talk to him after what had happened earlier. And as for Hikaru well, she didn't have his number to begin with and even if she did she highly doubted he'd be willing to help her. Either way, it didn't matter - she knew they could only release her to the custody of someone eighteen or older.
And that's when she realized, Honey. He was small sure, but he was the oldest out of all the hosts, and she was almost positive he was already eighteen. Scrolling through her contacts she found Honey's, a tiny smile on her face when she saw how he had put his name in her phone "Honey-Senpai" with at least 6 different emojis of cake and various candies as well as a little bunny head meant to represent Usa-Chan. She really didn't want to have to bother him over this, there was nothing she hated more than asking people for help and burdening them with her issues, but she didn't have much of a choice. So she hit send, and held her breath.
He picked up after the second ring and sounded worried already, which was just making this harder for her. Nothing ever bothered Honey, and she didn't like being the cause of his distress. "Dove-chan! I was worried about you! You never showed up at Host Club, and Kaoru said you never texted him back. Is everything okay?"
Great, so Kaoru was worried about her too? She wasn't even sure how to feel about this. Honestly, she wasn't all that used to anyone giving a damn about whether or not she was okay. Most of her "friends" back home only cared about when the next time they would be getting drunk or high was. A few tears welled up in her eyes; all of the emotions of Hikaru walking out on her before, and of feeling like she betrayed Kaoru and of getting herself into trouble already after less than two weeks here hitting her all at once. She blinked them back, not wanting to show any weakness and her throat tightened into a little knot from the effort. "No... Honey, I messed up. I... need your help." She admitted, her voice cracking a little and she tilted her head up to look at the ceiling to stop any tears from falling.
"What's wrong Dove-chan? Are you crying? What happened? Where are you?" Hyper as always, Honey couldn't help himself from asking a million questions, as he tried to figure out whether he had to beat someone up or just simply comfort his newest friend.
Dove was mad at herself that she had let her voice crack, that she wasn't maintaining good enough control over her emotions. Granted, she wasn't always great at controlling it when something pissed her off, but anger didn't embarrass her. She didn't care if people thought she had a temper, but she was not okay at all with anyone thinking she was weak or vulnerable. Because when people saw weakness, they took advantage of it. But if anyone in this world had nothing but pure intentions, it was Honey. She could trust him, and really she didn't have much of a choice at this point anyway. "Everything. Everything is wrong. But that doesn't matter. I'm... kind of in a holding cell right now. I promise I wouldn't be asking you if I didn't absolutely have to but... can you come get me?"
Honey was silent for a minute, and she almost thought that maybe he wouldn't want to associate with someone like her either. But soon she heard a door slam, and then another and something that sounded like a car engine being started. "I'm on my way. Do you want me to stay on the phone?"
Dove sniffed, rubbing a few stray tears off of her cheeks angrily with a little balled up fist. She really, really didn't want to cry. "Yes please..." She said quietly, and then thought of something, "And Honey? Please don't tell anyone. About any of this. I don't want anyone to judge me. It's bad enough that you're going to judge me."
"I won't. Judge you, or tell anyone. And neither will Usa-chan!" He added that last bit as an afterthought, trying to lighten the mood and it worked.
Dove let out a choked little laugh and couldn't help but smile, "Thanks, Honey. Seriously, thank you."
Somehow, Honey had managed to get the cops to let Dove off with nothing but a warning - not charging her with anything, or making him pay bail. Actually, they all seemed pretty flustered when he came to collect Dove, rushing to let her out of the cell and un-cuff her and apologizing profusely, more so to Honey than to her. Something about not knowing she was a friend of the great Mitsukuni-Sama and that had they known this never would have happened.
Dove looked at Honey curiously as she sat across from him, riding in what was now her third limo in one week. She wondered what exactly they were so afraid of - he seemed so innocent. She made a mental note to ask him about it someday, now wasn't really the time. When he had seen her tear stained face and red eyes, Honey had shoved Usa-Chan into her arms, and insisted she stay the night as his house - he wasn't about to let her go home upset. She hadn't really wanted to go home anyway, so she texted her Aunt and told her she was spending the night at Kaiya's; she doubted she would've been okay with her spending the night a boy's house. She also decided to finally look at Kaoru's messages and she was surprised to see that there was more than one.
K: Just wanted you to know, that was nothing more than a show at the exams. Those girl's attention means nothing to me.
K: Why didn't you come to Host Club today?
K: If I did something wrong, please just tell me...
D: I was shopping... you did nothing. Talk tomorrow?
K: Sure. We can talk on the way to school.
D: No. After school. Staying at Honey's...
K: What? Why?
D: Not what you think. Explain tomorrow.
After she sent that last text, Dove did something she almost never did and turned her phone off, putting her head in her hands. She was too emotionally drained from everything that had happened today, and talking to Kaoru was just making her feel worse. He really thought he had done something wrong? He was perfect, she was the screw up. She knew she should have offered more of an explanation, but she wasn't good with words, she needed time to figure out what she was going to say to him. Besides, she really didn't think what had happened with Hikaru was really something she should tell him over text. Honestly, a part of her was hoping Hikaru would just tell his brother first, that way she wouldn't have to.
"Dove-Chan?" Honey tapped her shoulder, and had taken a much softer, careful tone with her than his usual loud excitable way of speaking, "We're here." She followed Honey out of the limo, marveling at the sheer enormity of his house. She knew that her new friends were rich but she hadn't realized they were this level of rich. She'd never even seen a house - no mansion - this size before, let alone been inside of one.
Once inside, Honey steered her towards the biggest kitchen she'd ever seen, and started silently piling as many cakes, candies, sodas and other manners of deserts and sweets as he could in Dove's arms before grabbing as much as he could carry himself. He inclined his head for Dove to follow him, and lead her into what she assumed must have been his bedroom seeing as how it was filled to the brim with all kinds of stuffed animals. He spilled the contents of his arms onto the middle of the large bed, and Dove did the same, standing by the edge and watching as Honey climbed onto the bed and scooted over, patting the spot next to him with his hand. She sat down as she was told, and Honey grabbed a big bag of Sour Patch Kids and tossed them to Dove, "Eat. Sugar fixes everything."
Dove couldn't help but smile at the little blonde as he watched her with big concerned brown eyes. She ripped open the bag of candy and stuffed a handful into her mouth and Honey grinned at her, starting on the sweets himself. As they made their way through the large pile of junk food, watching some ridiculous cartoon Honey had put on, she had to admit, much of her stress had started to melt away. Taking a big gulp of Cherry Coke and reaching for a cupcake, she studied Honey curiously for a second, wondering now why he hadn't pressed her for information - anyone else would have. "Aren't you going to ask me what happened?" She asked, licking the icing off the top of her cupcake.
Honey just shook his head, breaking a chocolate bar in half and handing her a piece, "If you wanna talk about it, we can. But you don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to."
She smiled gratefully at him, wondering if she should just ignore her inner voice that was always screaming at her not to trust anyone and tell him everything. She knew it would probably help, talking it all out with someone. But she wasn't sure she was quite ready to let anyone get that close to her just yet - she wasn't sure if she ever would be. She figured she owed him some kind of explanation though since he had come to her rescue after all. So she settled on telling him some, but leaving out most of the details. "I'm not so good with talking..." she took in a breath, taking a bite of the chocolate before continuing - the sugar really did help, "But um... something... happened. With Hikaru. And I don't know I guess I was just feeling out of control. And when that happens, I do stupid things. I don't really know why, I just do." She shrugged, glancing over at Honey to judge his reaction, "I don't usually get caught." She added, a tiny grin forming on her lips.
Honey just smiled at her, pushing all the empty wrappers and soda bottles onto the floor and scooting over towards Dove to wrap his arms around her waist, hugging her tightly. "Next time, call me before you do something stupid."
Dove couldn't help but laugh as relief flooded through her that he hadn't judged her after all, and she returned his hug. "I'll keep that in mind." She yawned, tired despite all the sugar after everything that had happened and layed down, curling up onto her side and holding Honey's wrist so that he wouldn't release her. She wasn't sure if it was because he was the same size as her, or that he didn't pressure her into talking because he just knew she wasn't ready, or that he always supplied her with sweets, but Honey made her feel safe. And she didn't want to be alone tonight.
Honey didn't say anything more, he just curled up next to her, keeping one arm loosely draped around her and his head next to hers on the pillow. His thick mop of blonde hair fell onto her cheeks, and she couldn't help but notice that it was softer even than her own hair. She took his hand and held hers against it, comparing their size - his fingers were just slightly longer than hers - and giggling softly before lacing her fingers with his and closing her eyes. And as she listened to Honey's soft breathing, his breath warm against her neck, she couldn't help but realize that this was the first time she'd ever been in bed with a guy who wasn't trying to make out with her or get in her pants. He really was so pure - and as she drifted off to sleep, safe and warm, her last thought was that in no way could she allow herself to ruin him or corrupt him in any way.
The next day, Dove arrived at school in Honey's limo, wearing one of his school uniform suits instead of the horrible yellow dress since she had accidentally left it in Kaiya's limo yesterday. Of course she was getting even more stares than usual, and the girls were all whispering about her again throughout the day. She didn't even have to listen to know what they were saying about her. She had showed up at school with a different boy this time - yet another boy that they were all obsessed with - and to make matters worse she was wearing his clothes. So, naturally, she was sleeping with him now too. Okay, granted she kind of had slept with Honey, but not in the way that they were all sure to be thinking.
She wasn't surprised in the least to find that Hikaru was still acting like she didn't exist during classes - after all, he had straight up told her that what happened between them didn't change anything. But honestly, she didn't mind it all that much anymore, she was pretty much avoiding him too at this point. She couldn't even look him in the eyes after yesterday, and had decided that it was up to him if he wanted to make things right between them or not.
But what did hurt, although she wasn't entirely surprised by it, was that Kaoru wasn't really talking to her either. He wasn't exactly avoiding her - he still sat next to her in all of their classes together, and gave her small shy smiles here and there - but he didn't really talk to her, or walk with her to any of her classes. It wasn't until the end of fifth period that he finally came over to her desk, leaning against it casually as she gathered her books. "Nice uniform." He tugged on her jacket sleeve and gave her a small smile to show that he was just messing around with her, but she could see all the questions burning in his eyes regardless.
Dove shrugged, "I changed after the exams yesterday and left mine in Kaiya's car." She knew that didn't answer the question he really wanted an answer to, but she had already told him it would have to wait until school was over. She stood up, ready to leave, but he put his other hand on her chair, blocking her in. "Kaoru, move." She glanced up at him but he didn't look angry, just a little sad.
"I just wanted to ask you if you wanted to go somewhere with me after school. We've got a couple tests on Monday, I can help you study. And we can talk." His voice was even, but he added some emphasis to that last part - it was obvious he wasn't just going to let this go like she had kind of been hoping he would. Also, Hikaru clearly hadn't told him anything, which meant she was going to have to do it herself.
"Yeah, okay. I'll meet you outside after next period." She knew she had no other choice, unless she wanted to lose him completely, though she was pretty sure that would happen anyway.
"Don't be like that. I'll come get you from class." He removed his arm from her chair, letting her pass and she just shrugged. She had just assumed he'd rather meet her outside, because it didn't seem like he wanted to be seen with her at all today. Not that she blamed him, with the things that were being said about her. But, maybe he had just been trying to prove a point and now that he knew he would be getting an explanation from her after all, he was acting more like his normal self.
Sixth period passed quickly and Kaoru was waiting outside the classroom door as promised when it was over. He said nothing, but he took Dove's hand in his which helped ease her nerves just a little. He didn't tell her where they were going, and she didn't ask. Rather, she chose to enjoy the silence while it lasted, knowing that soon she would have to figure out a way to tell him everything that had happened.
But really, she didn't know why she had to tell him anything at all. It's not like he was her boyfriend, she didn't owe him anything right? And it had been pretty obvious from the start that he had known Hikaru was into her too and he hadn't seemed to care. She spent the entire limo ride trying to convince herself that it really wasn't necessary to tell him after all, that she could just leave out everything about Hikaru, and make up some lame excuse as to why she was at Honey's last night and leave it at that.
However, as they got out of the limo, and he held his hand out to her, holding it so delicately in his own as he led her over to a gorgeous lake surrounded by cherry blossom trees, she knew she had to tell him. More so, surprisingly enough a part of her even wanted to tell him. And not just about what had happened yesterday, but everything. Granted, it was a very small part, but something about Kaoru just made her want him to know her. Like, really know her, the real her. And that thought scared her more than anything.
Kaoru laid out a big blanket on the grass and sat down, gesturing for Dove to sit too and when she did he spilled all of his textbooks out in between them and laughed at the mortified expression on Dove's face. He guessed she hadn't really thought he'd actually planned on making her study. He sorted through the books and separated two from the pile, pushing the rest aside. "Don't worry, we only have tests in Chemistry and History. It won't be that bad." Dove groaned and Kaoru laughed again, shrugging. "Or you could just tell me what's been going on with you first. Up to you."
Dove shook her head - she was enjoying that Kaoru seemed back to his usual self and she wanted to keep it that way for as long as she could. That way, if he ended up hating her after he found out she'd hooked up with his brother and been arrested, at least she would have one more happy memory with him to hold on to. "Fine. We can study. But you're wasting your time."
"I'm a good teacher." Kaoru smiled, and lifted his hand up towards her cheek but dropped it at the last second. It was hard for him to hold himself back like this. He wanted to hold her in his arms, to touch her hair, and kiss her cheeks. But he didn't know what was going on with her right now, and he knew her well enough by now to know that if he didn't give her reason to, she wasn't going to tell him anything. So for the next hour and a half, they talked about nothing but school work. Kaoru trying his very best to explain things in simple terms that wouldn't frustrate Dove. Originally, his plan was to motivate her by telling her he would kiss her every time she got something right. But considering the circumstances, he didn't really think that would be the best idea anymore.
Surprisingly, Dove had lasted much longer than he'd thought she would, but after a particularly difficult chapter of Chemistry she groaned in frustration, taking the textbook out of his hands and tossing it into the lake. "I give up! This is pointless! It's not like I even need to know any of this anyway!" Kaoru watched as his textbook sunk to the bottom of the lake and Dove shrugged at him apologetically. "Sorry, you can have mine. I don't even care."
Kaoru shook his head, unable to help himself from taking her hands in his, "I don't get it, why don't you even want to try?"
Dove rolled her eyes, "I told you already, it's pointless."
"But, if you don't do well in school, how are you going to get a job or do anything in life that matters?" Kaoru asked, genuinely confused. Coming from a successful family, it had just always been expected of him to do well in school - failing wasn't even an option.
"Look Kaoru, not everyone has rich parents with fancy jobs. And not everyone is smart like you either." She let out a frustrated sigh, and shrugged, "My mom didn't even graduate high school, and she's done just fine for herself."
Kaoru watched her curiously. He was concerned and wasn't sure he should even ask - he didn't want want to make her angrier - but his curiosity got the best of him, "Well... what does your mom do?"
All of a sudden Dove looked at him with the most serious look he'd ever seen on her face and seemed to be considering something. Really, she was trying to decided whether or not she should just come out and tell him. He was going to hate her anyway soon enough, so what did it matter? "You really wanna know?" He just nodded, and she took in a deep breath, deciding to just tell him now before she lost the nerve. "My mom she... she's a stripper. You know like, an exotic dancer. She works late nights at clubs where men go to get drunk and pay her to dance on stage and take her clothes off." She shrugged, like it was no big deal, "So that's why school is pointless to me. I just always kind of assumed I'd end up doing the same thing. I'm not all that smart, and dancing is just about the only thing I'm good at. And plus you get to drink for free."
Kaoru just stared at her in stunned silence. He didn't know what he was expecting but it sure as hell wasn't that. But it really did explain a lot. Of course she thought school didn't matter because she'd already given up and decided that she wasn't worth much. "But you're so much better than that..." he said sadly, without even really thinking and it had been the complete wrong thing to say.
"Better than what exactly? Better than my mom? Better than all the women out there busting their asses every night to make money in the only way they know how? I'm not better than anything, Kaoru. And if you knew what had happened yesterday you wouldn't think so either." Dove stood up, determined to just walk away and lose herself somewhere on the unfamiliar streets where she could just forget about everything that had happened and never come back. But Kaoru stopped her before she could.
Not even looking up, he grabbed her wrist, holding her in place. "Tell me."
There was no malice in his voice, and it wasn't a demand. He just sounded... lost. And something about the way he was holding onto her wrist - not tight enough to prevent her from leaving if she really wanted to, but gripping it just enough to show he wanted her to choose to stay - made her decide to listen. Not sitting back down, or looking at him, she slipped her wrist out of Kaoru's grasp so that she could hold his hand and gave it a little squeeze. "Yesterday, I left the physical exams early. I swear all I wanted to do was find an empty place where I could play my music and dance. But before I knew what was even happening, Hikaru was there and we..." she trailed off, not knowing how or wanting to tell him what happened next. Not to mention, it still hurt to think about it, since she had all these confused feelings for Hikaru that she didn't even know how to start making sense of.
But Kaoru wasn't dumb, he was able to put two and two together all on his own. "So Hikaru finally admitted his feelings then." He said, and his voice sounded sad but there was also a very faint smile on his lips.
Dove just shook her head, squeezing his hand so hard now that she wasn't sure how he didn't pull it away, "No. He just... Well he kissed me but that's putting it mildly..."
Kaoru just held up his other hand, stopping her, "I don't want details. I knew this was bound to happen sooner or later. Hikaru has a strange way of showing his emotions. He doesn't fully understand them so just gets angry and eventually it all comes out in one way or another."
"Well either way, I'm pretty sure he hates me. I guess you probably do now too." Dove released her grip on his hand but he held on to hers, not letting her let go.
"Hikaru doesn't hate you. And neither do I. I knew from the start you liked both of us, it was pretty obvious." Dove looked down at Kaoru now, her eyes wide and he just shrugged, surprisingly calm. "We both like you, so we decided we would just... share." He grimaced slightly, knowing how bad that sounded, "Hikaru's word, not mine. We just figured you'd choose one of us eventually."
Dove didn't even know what to say there were so many thoughts running through her head. "So you just.. I... and you're okay with all of this?" Great, she was back to not being able to form complete sentences.
"I'll admit, it does hurt a little. But Hikaru and me we're... well, we're close." He didn't offer more of an explanation than that, and Dove didn't ask, she was still in too much shock over the fact that not only was Kaoru not mad, but he had basically just gave her the go-ahead to do whatever she wanted with Hikaru. "But wait..." Kaoru started again, as he realized something, "That still doesn't explain why you spent the night at Honey's."
Crap. Dove had kind of been hoping he would forget about that. Sighing, she sat back down now, it's not like she had anything left to lose at this point. Besides, he had been surprisingly calm and understanding about everything so far, "I...might have gotten myself arrested last night and called Honey to come get me. I was kind of a mess and didn't wanna go back home. Nothing happened, I promise." She thought about how she had fallen asleep cuddled in Honey's arms but didn't think it was the best idea to mention that just now. She had told him everything else, and besides it had been innocent anyway, right?
Kaoru looked at her incredulously, "Arrested? Dove... what did you do?"
Dove shrugged, "I tried to steal a few t-shirts. Really, it wasn't a big deal. I just should have been more careful not to get caught."
"Not a big..." Kaoru sighed, shaking his head, "I don't know what to do with you."
Dove looked over at him and blinked her eyelashes at him as innocently as she could, "You could kiss me." She suggested, feeling much lighter and less stressed now that she had gotten all of this off of her chest.
"Kiss you? No..." he shook his head and stood up, pulling her with him, "Come on, it's getting late. I'm taking you home before you find a way to get yourself into more trouble." Dove didn't protest - she didn't want to push her luck. So, she let him take her home and when they got there he walked her up to her doorstep. She looked up at him expectantly, hoping that maybe now he would kiss her, but he just gave her hand a little squeeze. "I'll pick you up for school on Monday. Please stay out of trouble, at least until then." And then he was gone, driving off in his limo, leaving her alone with her thoughts.
Since Kaoru had taken Dove somewhere, Hikaru had been left to go home all by himself on Friday after school - and he couldn't have been more pissed about it even if he tried. It had been bad enough when he saw Dove getting out of Honey's limo that morning, wearing his clothes no less, and he couldn't understand how the hell Kaoru could even look at her after that, let alone hang out with her. She had hooked up with him, and then hooked up with one of his best friends a few hours later and then put it all on display for everyone to see.
Hikaru balled up his fist and punched a wall in his room as hard as he could, making a little hole. He pulled his arm back and punched again and again and again until his knuckles were bleeding, his hand was shaking, and the hole now took up a good portion of the wall. "Damnit!" He cursed, dropping his hand limply to his side, letting the blood drip onto the floor. He took his phone out of his pocket with his other hand to check his messages. It had been a few hours and Kaoru still hadn't answered him, neither had Honey. "Damnit!" He said again, and flung his phone across the room so hard that it hit the dresser mirror, breaking his phone and causing shards of glass to fall in shattered pieces all over the floor.
He wasn't even thinking straight anymore. At this point, he didn't even know what he was mad about, he just knew he was pissed. And pretty much every inanimate object in his vicinity was suffering for it. Eventually, after breaking a chair, a lamp and ripping a few pillows to shreds, he had ran out of steam and just sat on the edge of his bed with his head in his hands breathing heavily.
"What...what happened in here?" Hikaru barely registered Kaoru's voice as he was so lost in his own head, he hadn't even heard him come in, "Hikaru... did you do all this?"
Hikaru looked up at his brother, his earlier rage not yet completely gone from his face, "So what if I did?"
Kaoru was silent for a while, looking around their room and evaluating the damage. His eyes landed on Hikaru's hand which he was holding awkwardly at his side and had begun to bruise pretty badly. "Hikaru..." Kaoru said softly, and made his way over to his brother, ignoring the mirror shards crunching beneath his shoes. He picked up Hikaru's hand as gently as he could in his own and inspected it, turning it over and running his fingers over it pressing down lightly to assess how bad the damage was. Hikaru winced as he touched his index finger and middle knuckle. "I think these might be broken. Your whole hand is pretty badly bruised."
"I don't care." Hikaru snapped, pulling his hand out of Kaoru's pretty forcefully, causing him to wince in pain again. "Damnit!"
"Hikaru, we need to go to the hospital. I can't stand to see you in pain like this." Kaoru pleaded with his brother, his face scrunched up in pain at watching his twin suffer, even if he had done it to himself.
"What do you care? You left me for Dove again. Even after she showed up to school with Honey wearing his clothes. You didn't even text me back." He tried to sound angry, he really did but the hurt in his voice was clear as day to Kaoru.
Kaoru sighed, putting his arm around Hikaru's shoulder. At least that explained the broken phone, if nothing else "Don't ever say that. You know I care about you Hikaru. And so does Dove, by the way." Hikaru scoffed, rolling his eyes. "I know what happened. I didn't ask her for details and I won't ask you. I'm not mad, but you should've been the one to tell me."
"I didn't tell you because it doesn't matter. It meant nothing, and it's not going to happen again." Hikaru said with such resolve in his voice that Kaoru would maybe have even believed him if he didn't know him so well.
"You've been lying to me a lot lately, oniisan." Kaoru sighed, squeezing Hikaru's shoulder and tapping his cheek with his finger so that he would turn his face to look at him, "You really need to find a way to admit your feelings, at least to yourself. If you don't... I don't even want to think about what might happen." Hikaru just rolled his eyes but Kaoru wasn't done yet, "I'm serious, Hika. And just so you know, Dove didn't hook-up with Honey. I asked both of them." He considered something, and shrugged, "I haven't even kissed her yet, not on the lips. You're the only one who has. Just something to think about." He stood up, taking Hikaru's good hand in his own. "Come on, we're getting that hand fixed, whether you like it or not."
Saturday was pretty uneventful for Dove by her own choosing. She'd had enough drama in the past few days that all she really wanted to do was spent all day in bed eating junk food and listening to music. Kaoru hadn't texted her, but she wasn't all too worried after all, he had promised to pick her up for school on Monday. Despite that, she couldn't help her heart from skipping a beat when she woke up to her text tone Sunday morning. But it wasn't Kaoru, it was Honey.
Honey: Goodmorning Dove-chan! Want to go to an arcade?
D: Yes!
Honey: Okay! Pick you up in fifteen!
D: Prepare to be destroyed!
Dove couldn't help the big grin that spread across her face. Arcades were sort of her thing back home. She had never really had enough money for her own gaming system but whenever she was feeling down, or left a party early but was too drunk to go home, or even just when she needed some time to herself she would go to the little run-down arcade in her town. Honestly, it was probably the thing she missed most about home. That little arcade had been more of a home to her at times than her real home. She'd spend hours there with her headphones in her ears, playing Street Fighter and Miss Pac-Man.
Throwing on her favorite pair of ripped skinny jeans, a tank top with a galaxy print, purple converse and wrapping all her hair into a giant bun on top of her head she grabbed her phone and ran outside to wait for Honey. When he got there, in a limo as usual, she decided to try something, "Hey, do you think this place is close enough that we could walk?" She asked, tilting her head to the side, making her bun flop over.
"Sure! But it will take like twenty minutes at least. Wouldn't it be easier to just take my limo?" Honey asked, and she gave him a bright smile.
"Well sure, it would be easier. But what's the fun in that? Come on, I like walking." She wrapped her arm around Honey's shoulder and he put his around her waist, signaling to his driver that he could go, "Besides, between all the junk food I ate yesterday and all I'm sure we're going to eat today, I could use the exercise." She laughed, unable to help but notice how carefree she felt around Honey. Never for a second did he make her nervous or judged or stressed, everything was just sugar and laughter and now video games. She'd never had a friend like him before - he really was becoming her best friend.
When they got to the arcade, Dove's jaw dropped open at how big it was. She should have known these rich kids would even have a fancy arcade. But really, she couldn't help but admire it. There had to be thirty different old school arcade games, along with four massive TVs that had all the newer gaming systems hooked up to them with more games than she could count - most of them she'd never even seen before. Not to mention the counter at the front filled with all kinds of candy, chips and soda that Honey was currently buying all of. "Hold these." He passed Dove a mountain of snacks and grabbed more himself.
"Um, Honey? How are we supposed to play any games carrying all of this?" She laughed and peered at him over the piled up snacks.
"We eat them first of course!" He found a small table and dropped all of their treats onto it, and then shot her the best imitation of a smirk he could manage, "And that gives you plenty of time to prepare for destruction!"
Sooner than should have been possible for two people so small, all the snacks and drinks were gone and Dove and Honey were in a face off on Street Fighter, pumped up on sugar and caffeine. Dove had chosen Chun-Li and Honey had picked Ryu and they were currently tied until a big explosion of blood went off and the "K.O." flashed on the screen. Honey pumped his fists in the air and Dove groaned, "How do you keep beating me? This was my game back home!"
Honey just grinned at her and patted her back, "It's okay, you're really good. I'm just better." He winked at her and she pouted, making him laugh, "Fighting is kind of my thing." He shrugged and Dove raised an eyebrow at him but he didn't explain. He just grabbed her hand and dragged her over to one of the big TVs, "Come on, let's play Guitar Hero!" Honey shoved a plastic Guitar into her hands and she looked at it confused, she had never played this before. "It's easy I promise."
Dove shrugged, slinging the little strap over her shoulders. "Oh wait! Before we play, I forgot. I have to ask you something." In all the drama of the past few days, she had completely forgotten the promise she had made to Rei. "So... my friend Rei kind of has this huge crush on Mori and I was kinda hoping maybe we could all go out somewhere together and try to set them up." She looked hopefully over at Honey and he blinked at her, looking a little confused.
"Like... a double date?" He asked her, running his hand through his hair almost looking a little nervous for a second.
"No! I mean, well yeah, kinda. Sure but like... as friends." Dove was a little flustered, though she wasn't entirely sure why and she reached over and ruffled Honey's soft blonde hair, "Don't worry, Honey-Senpai... I promise I don't have any plans to corrupt you."
Honey looked a little flustered himself, mostly due to the fact that she had referred to him as "senpai" which she had only done once before when fake flirting with him for Hikaru and Kaoru's benefit. But he quickly shook it off and grinned at her, "Sure, why not. Next week okay?"
Dove smiled back at him, "Okay, now why don't you show me what in the world I'm supposed to do with this plastic guitar."
Author's Note: Well, this chapter was certainly a rollercoaster ride! Honestly, it ended up completely different than I had originally planned, thanks to new music being released, Hikaru having a mind of his own, and some cute little ideas and daydreams I had about Honey but I'm really happy with it! I hope you all enjoyed! Also, Honey's name wasn't abbreviated in texts because Honey & Hikaru both start with "H". D: Little fun fact before I go, the arcade Honey & Dove went to exists! Well, sort of. It's based off an arcade I've been to called Yestercades. :)
