Chapter 10: Honey & Bunny
Two weeks later, though, she rethought her conclusion – Haninozuka was certainly more relaxed, and more frequently cheerful, but for all that he charmed the ladies now, Honey was not open with any of them as he was with Morinozuka or even Haruhi.
Morinozuka admitted having concerns; their time in Town was running out, and though Haruhi doubted she would be any help, she couldn't forget the many times she had turned to him for a dance when she needed a break from less demanding company.
So Haruhi promised to come to the next grand ball, to 'scout out' the prospects.
Lord Ootori mentioned his surprise at her acceptance on one of their afternoon drives; she had stopped refusing a few weeks after his second proposal, because she had run out of excuses. Besides, he didn't visit every day, which made it easier to handle the times when he did intrude upon her time.
In the beginning she had let Lord Suou interfere, as she was better able to put him off, but she had found over time that she preferred a few provoking comments to non-stop flattery.
The provoking comment this time garnered only a shrug; even if Lord Ootori claimed friendship with Lord Haninozuka, it still wasn't his business.
Kyouya shot her an assessing glance, hands light on the ribbons of his curricle, but he didn't press further. Instead, he smiled.
"I look forward to having a dance with you," he said, and Haruhi nodded, resigned to the inevitability of their meeting there.
-
The weather the night of the ball was fair for the occasion, and even Haruhi felt a little excited to be going.
The social idiocy still bothered her, but now she could ignore it when she was distracted by her friends.
Right inside the ballroom, Haruhi was pounced upon, the twins pushing the others to the side in their excitement at reuniting with her. They had travelled to their family's country estate to visit their parents two weeks ago, and had apparently missed her.
To the side, Haninozuka was extremely focused on the bustling crowd of debutantes, which was amusing to see, as it wrinkled up the skin around his eyes and mouth, so that he appeared to pout.
He used the simple expedient of asking for her hand for the second dance to separate her from the twins, a tactic that had not failed to work for either of them, she was amused to note.
He was a chatterbox tonight, once he let go of his ever present need to search, and comfortable, as nearly all of his good acquaintance were present at what was becoming the Season's largest crush.
The other lords, left behind, picked their partners out of the surrounding crowds, too well-bred to slack off in their duty.
After the first set of dances were over, Haruhi needed a break, but to keep a fight from breaking out (never mind that they were friends, this was a woman) she asked Haninozuka to fetch her cake, and Morinozuka drinks for his partner and herself, as they were the most inclined to leave her side.
The other four closed ranks, sniping more amongst themselves than actually addressing Haruhi; Kyouya held apart from the petty jibes this time, but did not engage her, either.
In the refreshments room, Honey was trying to decide which cake Haruhi would want, and how much of each he could fit onto his own, slightly large plate.
He was so deep in contemplation over this that he didn't notice the young woman rushing his direction, and he straightened and turned at just the wrong moment.
They crashed with resounding success; the girl went down in a flourish of skirts.
Honey, more fit than most of Society could ever guess, merely took a hasty step back, some of his breath pushed out at the force of the collision.
There was a whimper from the floor; Honey looked down and lost the rest of his breath.
Two bright blue eyes, a shade darker than his own had filled with tears, and her hair was styled unusually down her back. This would normally look quite attractive on her, but on the ground it was in near danger of being stepped on.
Honey didn't really notice any of this, however, for his attention had been caught on her mouth – namely, on the icing that was perched on her top lip, and a bit that had smeared on her left cheek.
He took a long breath – he needed air to stay upright, for this, of all important moments.
He carefully set aside his plates and offered her a hand up, which she accepted with a watery smile. Standing, her eyes were right on level with his own, staring quite candidly back.
That calm quickly morphed into horror.
"My cake!" she wailed, spotting the pink cake that had been a victim of the fall upon the ground, and she gave a muffled yelp at seeing it on her white dress, too.
"Mum's going to kill me," she moaned, and looked ready to cry in earnest, this time.
Honey, dreadfully afraid of girls' tears (as they usually started his own in sympathy), fumbled frantically to offer his plate of strawberry cake, even as he was conscious of the extreme sacrifice – he'd taken one of the last pieces.
"Here," he said gruffly, putting it into her hands, and was blinded by her smile.
"Oh, thank you," she said, and he considered the possibility that someone did understand the vital importance of strawberry cake.
"Haninozuka Mitsukuni," he said, introducing himself belatedly.
Her eyes widened for a moment in recognition, then she offered a quick curtsey in return and a shy smile, tears gone.
"I'm Tsukino Usagi," she replied simply.
And Honey fell completely and irrevocably in love.
A/N: This chapter waited a long, long time to be revealed, and I've been chuckling for months over what people's reactions will be.
In case you really don't know, Usagi means rabbit, or bunny, in Japanese, and she is the main character from Sailor Moon.