Haninozuka Mitsukuni was perched on the end of the hotel bed, staring pensively at the plain wallpaper. His cousin Morinozuka Takashi was steadily wearing the carpet thin as he paced. Each held a lit cigarette in deceptively steady hands. Usually neither took a puff; Their families were too athletic to put up with such a vice, and the simple catharsis of having a smoke in hand was often enough. But tonight they were on their third and fifth sticks; The number would probably be even if Takashi hadn't been in such a daze for the last hour.

"This feels wrong Mitsukuni." Takashi wouldn't look at him; For the first time in years, his best friend would not meet his eyes. It was that, that above all other reprimands hurt the most. The saintly and fair Takashi disapproved.

"It's unbelievable, to be sure," Mitsukuni smiled nervously. "But maybe it's a miracle."

"A miracle. Maybe it's a scam." Takashi finally held his gaze, brow furrowed. He spoke after a beat, his words accompanied with a note of pleading. "We just got Kyoya out of the house again. People don't just come back from… "

Ah, fuck. Mitsukuni felt his shoulders sag. "She wants to meet them anyways, Takashi. We can't stop that. But maybe… maybe if I'm there, if I can mitigate some of the damage..." But now he was remembering the day they all pitched in to help Kyoya and Tamaki move. Nothing hurt more than seeing a dead eyed friend try to smile for them.

"She spoke to me very briefly. Sounds exactly the same, but she looks… entirely different. Brought up Shibuya, last year," Honey suddenly seemed to remember their conversation. "We went with her to buy the boys Christmas gifts. You remember, don't you?"

Of course Takashi remembered. There had been a brief (embarrassing, looking back on it now) period of doubt where Honey and Takashi had decided to test the waters. Inviting her out to eat went nicely; Kagome was kind and polite to the staff, which was good, as Tamaki's father had stock in the restaurant. She had smiled throughout Honey's giddy retelling of high school shenanigans and asked plenty of questions about her partners.

Kagome was politely distant with them, seemingly well aware of how easily all of their images could be misconstrued if compromised. She sat across the table from them and asked about their wives and families. This was fine; Each cousin loved their respective wife dearly, and Takashi's wife had recently had a beautiful little girl.

Then she sat back in her chair, and seemed to contemplate to herself for a few moments. 'Don't tell him, but…' Embarrassed but determined, Kagome sat back up and looked Honey in the eyes. 'Do you know what cologne fragrance Kyoya would like?'

Takashi blinked and lightly shook his head. He was back in the present, stuck with his cousin catching their deaths in a hotel room. Kagome was still dead, but his cousin had spent the last hour trying to convince him otherwise. "What of it, Mitsukuni?"

Infuriatingly, all the shorter man did was shrug. Honey simply said, "Kohana was wearing sandalwood." As if it would be enough to sway Takashi. And it kind of was. Takashi was desperate for an answer.

Takashi stared at him, then sighed. "They're going to be furious."

"They don't know you're involved, Takashi," Honey said, as a peace offering, but it seemed to only offend his cousin's sense of loyalty.

"It's always been you and I," Takashi stubbornly replied, and only shook his head as Honey's tight shoulders loosened. "It's true, you know that."

A strange, sad little smile played at the corners of Honey's mouth, but all he did was nod. He did know. It was true, but after fighting so hard to keep their group of friends, nothing terrified them more than the possibility of losing them altogether. It was the difference of being two people in a crowd versus two people, alone.

But Honey had also never babied anyone, and wasn't about to start now.

"We'll run intermission," Honey then said confidently, smacking Takashi lightly on the chest. "We'll make sure that nothing is wrong with this whole operation."

At the end of the hour, just before they were due to meet with Tamaki and Kyoya, Mitsukuni had put away around eight cigarettes while Takashi had followed with a close seven. Washing up was easier if they had a bathroom available, and so was smoking a cigarette. Mitsukuni let out a chuckle.

"What?"

"Nothing," Mitsukuni said, stretching his shoulders. "Just remembering that my beloved Reiko threatened to curse me if she found me smoking again." That startled a laugh out of his stoic cousin. "Maybe she could curse this 'Kohana' if she's a fraud after all."

"What's happened to us?" Takashi wondered aloud. "We used to rely on more substantial things than curses and miracles."

Mitsukuni went to flush the contents of the ashtray, and watched quietly as the puddle of ashy sludge was dragged down the drain. We got desperate, he thought. We're more desperate than we've ever been before.

"Let's go meet the boys."

hello everyone! thought it'd be less annoying if i did an author's note here at the bottom. just wanted to do a small update :)

writing honey and mori is really hard, i think they're probably the most nuanced in the OHSHC series? it's pretty fun.

thank you if you're reading my story. i'd also like to thank wolf girl123098 for reviewing.

special shoutout to some of my constant supporters bc i just want to thank you:

kakashixangela (constantly got encouraged by how many times you reviewed)

frog (my favorite guest reviewer... ilysm)

CallaRose4ever

Foxkuna

fallingyuki

KibaSin (which, whoa. i was reading your stuff way back when i first started fanfiction haha)

KEdakumi

if i missed any lmk! i'm really grateful for you guys