Meeting Honey and Mori: Rabbits

Diary Journal Entry #751

After my clothes went through the laundry again, one of my butlers told me that I left something in my back pocket.

The coupon.

Do I dare step into that room, the very room the holds my stalker?

HELL NO.

Sadly, my feet think otherwise. Why? Why am I walking to this wretched Third Music Room? I don't want to see him. That... that foul, wretched creature.

DATE: May 29

WORD FOR THE DAY: solicitous

Shizuka bravely stepped slowly to the Host Club's front door while clutching the still damp and soggy coupon in one hand, and holding her just written on organizer in the other hand. Maybe I should just... Turn back now while I can.

"Ah! Takashi! She actually came!" Honey ran to the front door immediately, clutching Shizuka by the shoulders for a full-on tackle of a hug, then clinged on to her like a monkey on a swing. "Unnnnnff..." she sulked as she was dragged in while grazing the floor with her feet that tried to put her to a halt. Too late...

And so it begins.

"Kyoya-senpai, she's here." Haruhi informed him. Kyoya was busy writing something in his notebook, but the moment he was informed, his eyes widened.

"She's here?" he said with astonishment, dropping his pen. Once again, Haruhi's mind sprung up assumptions. Why should Kyoya-senpai be worried? "Yes, apparently, Honey-senpai gave her a free coupon—" Haruhi looked around, only to find no one in sight.

"...Senpai?"

"So... let me get this straight, you're a Senior, Honey?" she began to ask questions as Honey held her right hand, and Mori holding her left while carrying her heavy organizer for her, guiding her to a fancy chair with pastries on the table. "Yup! But I still have lots of time to grow!" "Mm."

Shizuka frantically skimmed the room with her eyes while duo continued with their conversation.

"Mitsukuni. The rabbit is getting dirty."

"Takashi, Usa-chan is just hungry! That's all! Right, Shizu-chan?" he countered the argument, albeit tugging the side of her dress. The tug brought back Shizuka's attention to the two fellow hosts who were sitting with her. "Who's Usa-chan?" she inquired with a half-attention face, by not making eye contact with Honey, and instead, shifting her glares at the surrounding area.

"Why, my rabbit of course! Don't you think he's cute?" Honey propped up the pink bunny from his lap, a little bit of cake crumbs and frosting on top of the plush toy's head. His ridiculously huge, yet absurdly cute eyes glistened with pride, waiting for an acknowledgement made by one Tachibana Shizuka. The response that he wished for did not arrive, for his speaking partner was busy visually surveying the Music Room while biting her nails. The attitude piqued up the Lolita's interest.

"Shizu-chan, who are you looking for?" he asked, inquisitiveness dominating his facial features.

"What? I'm sorry, I didn't catch on, can you repeat?" she asked him with worry, while chewing the inside of her cheeks, "I'm just quite... quite solicitous today. I fear there is someone stalking me in this very room." Honey gasped a little too overdramatically, but not in a way that it would seem the initial reaction was fake. "A stalker? How would you know?"

"Well, you see, Hikaru and Kaoru told me one of their senpais ordered them to," cue air quotes, "'get to know me', so I thought maybe it was just a fan!" she uneasily chattered at a fast pace, turning her shifty eyes behind her, "But, apparently, they said he was REALLY SCARY, and cruel, selfish, and, and, some sort of 'Shadow King'-"

"Shadow King?"

"Yes, Shadow King, so-"

"Then that should be Kyo-chan!"

Disorientation crossed her face, "Kyo...chan?" while she was processing this, Honey sneaked up and snatched her glasses that were resting on her face, ninja speed. After doing so, he climbed up Takashi and rested on his head, placing on the glasses as if it were binoculars, and skimmed through the people in the room. "Hey! Takashi, Kyo-chan isn't here! Where'd he go?"

"He's not here?" Shizuka asked as if her life depended on it.

"Yeah! Takashi, he's missing! What do we do?"

"Mm." He looked like he was in deep thought as to the various possibilities where Kyo-chan could be.

Shizuka sighed in relief, her tensed muscles finally relaxing as she slouched in her seat. "Oh thank goodness he isn't here." She heavily breathed, clutching her chest to slow down her pulsating heartbeat. As she was calming down, Mori carefully removed the glasses from Honey's eyes. "Mitsukuni, you'll go blind." he said with uniformity. Honey rubbed his eyes. "For a second there, the world looked really blurry and weird. Your glasses grade is so high..."

Now that Shizuka had no reason to be paranoid, she decided to enlighten their questions, and maybe drink a little of their tea. "My glasses grades are different on both eyes. My right eye is going blind, while my left just needs reading glasses." She sipped her tea, giving a satisfied 'ah' after drinking the herbal steaminess.

"What?! Then how can you see? Don't you bump into walls all the time?"

"Don't remind me about it... I've lost count of how many times I've bumped into countless things... Ughh..."

"Then why don't you just remove the bangs that are covering your right eye? Won't that fix it?"

"Yes. Actually, the bangs started the whole thing. I needed the glasses when I hit 10 years old. But it's impossible to sweep them away from my face, and if you cut it, it would grow back in about a couple weeks' time." She grabbed a bittersweet chocolate chip cookie, stuffing it in her mouth and savouring its appetizing taste.

"Shizu-chan, you might go blind!" he weakly protested, cowering at the possibility, "If it was me in your shoes, I'd be scared till death..."

"It doesn't matter if I go blind. There isn't much to look at in the world." Not anymore, at least. Nothing since 10 years, she glumly reasoned with herself while playing with her last slice of cake, poking it with her fork.

"Shizu-chan, cheer up! You look so sad!" the Lolita speculated, "How do you think we should have fun?" he playfully giggled.

Fun. Fun is reading. Fun is studying. Fun is... What is fun? I used to remember what fun was. What I did for fun before... was... what again?

"But if I go against my father's wishes, he'll either slap me or force me to do so." he murmured incoherently. Shizuka picked him up once more from the ground. Kyoya silently noted that she was a pushy girl, even if she was 7. From her room, to the backyard, to something that looked like a fancy outhouse filled with all her toys.

"Which is why, to start with it, you should learn how to let loose! Have fun and all that!"

"Like what?"

"Like flying kites! Playing games like tag and hide-and-seek! Don't you have the time for that?"

"I use all my time for my studies and research."

Shizuuka stopped talking, because she was busy digging through her things. She brought out a few things, a box of chalk, 2 yellow and red standard diamond-shaped kites, colored papers, and scissors "My god, it's worse than I thought! From now on, it is my sworn duty to make you let loose and smile! Here, let's start with these," she opened a fresh pack of colored paper, giving a violet one to Kyoya, and an orange one for her.

"Let's start by folding paper rabbits!"

"Shizu-chan?" Honey snapped his fingers several times in front of her motionless and dull ebony eyes. Honey turned to Mori-senpai for advice, panicked, "She's not responding! What do we do?"

After a few intervals theorization, Mori breathed in to respond, "Try-"

But Shizuka beat him to it, "Do you have any paper?" she asked almost robotically, in a boresome, slurred monotone. Even her body was as still as a log, her expression unreadable because her head was tilted down, making her black hair cover her face and her eyes. The other snackmates at the table gave question-raising expressions due to her sudden change in mood.

Shizuka kept leaving crumbs after every bite she devoured, being a messy and clumsy person. Kyoya went over to her and gave her his personal handkerchief, cleaning her face.

"Hey! That's such a waste of such a good handkerchief!" she scolded him, playfully slapping away his hand.

"It's okay, Princess, I have lots of extras at home." He smiled warmly.

Shizuka could feel her face beginning to heat up. She refused to make eye contact with him, moving her attention to the tray of pastries, and immediately stuffing them in her mouth. After swallowing, she said,

"You're a natural at this, you know that?"

"A natural at what?"

"You know... being a host."

"In the closet." Mori finally answered her question. Shizuka moved stiffly, showing tears in her eyes, yet an emotionless straight line as her lips. She sniffled a little, while wiping away the liquid, then walked to the closet.

For once, she wasn't overly obsessed about anything; especially since the fact that her organizer and her glasses were carelessly left on the dining table.

When she returned, in her hands were assortments of colored origami paper. She slipped out an orange paper and smoothed out the surface before folding it and sharply making several creases on it. Mori and Honey watched, their attention currently locked on her paper folding, as if it were some sort of enchanting sorcery. Due to the strokes of her fingers, as they try and tame the paper into the shape it wills it to, it could seem to be a form of sorcery.

The final output: An orange paper rabbit.

"A friend for Usa-chan, so he won't get lonely." She said, a raspy voice chocking out of her throat, and making a sound of failed joy.

"Okay!" Shizuka immediately ran back to Kyoya, grabbing both of his hands. She slightly saddened after seeing the expressionless facade on his face again, but then let a small smile, knowing she had already succeeded in cracking that facade. "Now, Kyoya, listen carefully!"

Kyoya looked up at her, listening attentively, "Don't forget to write letters to me all the time! We can only talk to each other by mail, because I don't have a phone yet. So don't forget! We'll be pen pals from now on, okay?" Kyoya looked surprised; he had finally found himself a real friend. He nodded slowly in response before Shizuka letting her grip on his wrists loosen.

She firmly held his hand until they reached the front doorstep. Mr. Ootori gave the same dark glare that he had given to Shizuka, but this time, it was directed at Kyoya. After Shizuka's papa handed them their umbrella, opening it for them, Kyoya turned his head back, giving one last smile to Shizuka, despite his eyes showing a feeling of gloominess. Shizuka sullenly waved goodbye back to him before he entered the limousine.

"Like me."

The last part was merely a whisper, a whisper in the black, dark cornered depths of her conscience. But she didn't let them see that, she covered it with her practice facade. A smile so fake, one could cry knowing that the expression wasn't sincere.

Shizuka walked out the door right away before setting the detailed and delicate origami piece down on the table.

The door slammed, and Mori and Honey caught Shizuka's illness. The deficiency: Despair. They remained motionless where they stood, even as the twins approached them and started to poke at their still-as-a-statue figure.

"Mori-senpai?"

"Honey-senpai?"

No movement detected, aside from the slow rise and fall of their chests, their breathing. And their half-lidded eyes, blinking at random intervals. Only signs of life. Until Honey spoke,

"Takashi, do we have somewhere to display this?" he pointed at the orange bunny that was resting on top of Shizuka's forgotten organizer. But the organizer could wait. And so could the glasses next to it.

"No." He muttered, as he reached for the said creation, cradling it in his palms in gloomy mezmirization. "Let's make one." Honey grabbed the small rabbit and started looking for an empty table to leave it on. The twins stared curiously at it. Not the paper rabbit, but at the organizer.

"Kaoru, that's Princess Shizuka's diary, if I'm not mistaken."

"Yes Hikaru... It is."

Awkward silence.

"Do you want to search it?"

"...Yes. Let's."

Kyoya had managed to leave the room unnoticed. He ran as fast as his feet could take him, not caring where he went, as long as it wasn't there. He turned his head side to side to see if anyone followed him on the way out. He saw no target.

"Kyoya-senpai, you've hidden the truth long enough. What is your relationship with this person?" well apparently, he didn't check well enough. Haruhi, the one who asked the question, was tired of his disruptions. This was it, she would finally know the truth.

"Haruhi, this is none of your concern." Kyoya said, slightly out of character. His hair was messed and askew, his glasses, topsy-turvy. The way he spoke, a little fast-paced and rushed.

"It's all of my concern, Kyoya-senpai! That girl you're avoiding-" she corrected herself, "No, her name's Shizuka, she's practically bawling her eyes out in the ladies room! What did you do to her?"

Kyoya seemed to have maintained a slight amount of his composed physique, "She's crying?" he asked with a monotonous vocal. "Why would she be crying?"

"That's what I would want to know! I have no idea where she ran off to anymore, but she's been repeating your name for last few minutes I heard her!"

"My name?"

"Yes! I quote: 'Kyoya-kun, Kyoya-kun, Kyoya-kun. You never promised it. Where did you go?' end quote." Haruhi growled under her throat, "What did she promise you?!"

"Promise? Promise what?"

"Dear mother in heaven, THAT'S WHY I FOLLOWED YOU HERE!" for once, there was a role-reversal. Kyoya was acting clueless as hell, and Haruhi was acting as the smart person. The dumbfounded look on Kyoya's face wasn't helping either. "I... Haruhi, I don't know her. All I know is that my father does-" he was cut off.

"Then why does she know your name?"

"I have... no idea."

"When did you meet her?!"

"I don't seem to have any recollection of a redezvous..."

"THEN HOW DOES SHE KNOW YOU?!"

HOW HONEY SEES IT: She's a really sweet girl, also very gluttonous like Haru-chan. At first, I thought she was really mean like Kyo-chan, but after she made the paper rabbit and I got to know about her more, in turns out she's much weaker than she looks like! Once you get past her hardened chocolate syrup, the inside is just soft and fragile vanilla ice cream! From now on, I'll make sure to comfort her next time she cries!

HOW MORI SEES IT: She looks like a woman who thinks she can handle herself, like how Haruhi thinks. But in reality, she's one of the weakest girls I've ever seen out there. (Emotionally and physically.)

HOW SHIZUKA SEES IT: I think they'd make good friends to talk to when I'm down, especially since they're technically my senpais. They're somewhere inbetween the annoyance of the twins, to the naturality and openness of Haruhi. I wouldn't mind having a chat with them every now and then, because they're well-balanced people.

From here on out, I'll be getting serious with writing this. Also, my update speed will decrease to once a week, since school's coming.

Nearly everyone's comparing Shizuka with Haruhi because they would treat her in the same reception, but not the exact same welcome, as Haruhi was introduced into the club. (But without any debt.) Their doing this because Kyoya was the one who told them to get up close and personal with her, making them feel as if she was going to join their 'family'.

Also, Tamaki isn't going to get a 'meeting' chapter because he failed to introduce himself, making him a completely unnoticed stranger in her eyes. Think of it like Tamaki being Canada from Hetalia- Axis Powers.

On unrelated news, I love you all~ Especially the following:

MyLifeMySoul, Pretty Monster Princess, Smiley, PandaBearMunchkin, skybrezz everdeen, onisu, OtakuThugCx, Malffinka, Lune de Ve, DiggtyDog, Lianna of Sacaria, LlamaChickenPie, and A-chanTheGreat!

Again, I love you all, and am in your debts, (and any other anonymous person I missed) for without you, my popularity would have stayed at the lonely number zero.

I am such a suck up. But at least I can admit it myself.

NEXT UP: INTERMISSION: TEA TIME WITH NEKOZAWA