Disclaimer: It's been a while so just a reminder that I don't own Ouran. I only own my OCs and the plot.

A/N: This chapter is a bit on the long side just fyi. Also, thank you to those who followed/favorited! It means a lot!


Emi POV

It had turned out that supper actually wasn't awkward. Honey was his usual self and I could almost believe that nothing had happened and I had just had a particularly vivid (and somewhat erotic) dream. But even my imagination wouldn't have come up with Honey comparing me to a divine being.

Over the next few days, I fought to keep my mind from wandering back to those moments in Kyoya's guest bedroom. If he could act like nothing had happened, then so could I. Besides, all that had really happened was a friend reassuring another friend. Right?

But it was kind of sexual for simple reassurance…

I shook my head, trying to shake the conflicting thoughts out of my head. He had probably just been trying to make a point. Like he had in the limo the night he crashed my date with Aiki.

Just then I heard my phone beep, and quickly pulled it out of my pocket. I was surprised to find that I had a message from Tamaki, asking me to meet him and the other hosts at the club room after club hours had ended. Curious, I agreed, wondering why he wanted me to meet them.

After getting some studying done at the library, I packed my bag and made my way to the club room. Entering, I immediately noticed the tense atmosphere.

"Uh.. Hey everyone, what's up?" I asked, looking at each of them in turn. Kyoya was typing on his laptop, but more seriously. Hikaru was staring out a window moodily, and Kaoru was sitting on the floor next to him, frowning at his book. Tamaki was actually sitting still, and Haruhi appeared pensive. Mori's usual stoic expression was now one of concern as he paced. But what was most noticeable was that Honey was nowhere to be found.

Mori turned to look at me. "Mitsukuni," he said gravely, before returning to his pacing.

I felt a knot form in my stomach, "I-Is Honey okay? Did something happen?"

It was Tamaki who answered, speaking in a sombre voice that was completely opposite to his usual way of speaking, "Honey's parents have set him up with a woman."

I stared, confused. I also felt the knot in my stomach tighten for some reason. "I… get that it's probably annoying for him to have his parents butt into his love life but can a blind date really be that bad?"

Kaoru shook his head, amber eyes distant, "The problem isn't necessarily with the blind date, it's more that the girls his parents usually pick are usually looking for a very specific type of future husband."

I couldn't help but to grimace at the idea of going into a first date with the pressure of knowing the whole purpose was to get married. Sure, I had always sought a serious long-term partner when dating but not in the sense that I expected to get married as soon as possible…

Hikaru continued where his brother had left off, muttering darkly, "And that type of husband they're looking for… Well so far it hasn't gone well. They usually either fetishize the boy-lolita side of him or try to get rid of it."

The sting of my nails digging into my palms clued me into the fact that I was clenching my hands and I had to make a conscious effort to relax my muscles.

"That- That's disgusting! Why can't they just accept him as he is?" I asked, now understanding exactly why the hosts appeared so morose and upset.

"The fact is, that in our upper class society, there are certain expectations that come with being the next head of the family. And very few people believe that those expectations can be met by someone they see as childish," Kyoya explained coldly, only the slight downturn of his lips giving away his feelings on the matter.

I frowned, "So does Honey have any choice in the matter?"

"The deal he made with his parents is that he has to go on at least one date with whomever they choose. After that, he can turn them down if he wants," Mori explained lowly, moving to slouch on a sofa.

I nodded slowly, trying to process what it would be like to have that sort of arrangement, "I see. Well… At least he's not forced to marry them or something, I guess."

It was cold comfort, but it was something.

Haruhi nodded, then sighed, "The problem is that… Well, it's not really our place to tell you about it, but let's just say that Honey might be kinda upset after and he might act differently."

Could she be any more cryptic?

"…Right… Well, then… We'll just have to be extra supportive then!" I declared, determined to help the friend who had helped me several times in the short few weeks I'd known him.

Tamaki perked up, "That's it! We'll just have to do our best to cheer him up and make sure he knows he has us to lean on!"

This proclamation seemed to bolster the rest of the hosts, who immediately began brainstorming and running around in a frenzy. I couldn't help but chuckle at the drastic change in atmosphere.

They can be a little crazy but they sure do look out for each other.


Honey POV

I smiled politely at the young woman seated across the café table. Even if I hadn't known she was the daughter of a prominent businessman, her appearance would give her away. She sat perfectly straight, hands folded demurely in her lap, and chin raised haughtily. Her blonde hair was swept up in a classy updo and her fake nails tapped away at her arm.

It had only been a few minutes but already I felt my hosting skills wearing thin. These date setups never seemed to get more comfortable.

"Hmm, should we order something Sato-san?" I asked, tilting my head in question.

"Yes, let's do that," she answered neutrally, daintily snapping her fingers at a nearby server without looking at them.

The server looked surprised but quickly rushed over and looked at Sato-san expectantly, "How can I help you miss?"

"I would like an espresso and a biscotti," she ordered, still not looking at the server and instead looking at her nails.

"…Right," the server mumbled, and then turned to me with a forced smile, "And you sir?"

I beamed, hoping I could somewhat make up for my date's cold demeanor, "Ah! Could I have a hot chocolate and a slice of the strawberry cake please?"

"Absolutely sir," the server smiled, before rushing off to fill our orders.

I looked back to my date, keeping my smile in place despite the anxiety I felt creeping in. Often, ordering hot chocolate and cake was a good first test to determine whether my date would be judgemental of some of my habits.

Her expression was carefully blank, ever the polite socialite, but there was a slight tightness around her lips that gave away her disapproval.

"So, Sato-san," I started, "What is it that you're looking for in a partner?"

Without blinking, she answered, "Well, I'm looking for a husband who will provide for me and the children we'll eventually have. Someone who is very successful and whose success will either match or, even better, boost the success of my own family. And for yourself?"

Internally, I was disappointed though not surprised. This was a common answer on these dates. Still keeping my smile, I answered honestly, "Mmm, well I'm looking for a partner who is loving and open-minded. Someone I can enjoy spending time with. To me, it's important that we be able to support each other and make each other happy, even when times are tough."

By the end of my answer, Sato-san's expression was fairly dripping with disbelief and some disgust.

"I see… I'll speak plainly Haninozuka-san. I find your outlook extremely naïve. How can you hope to bring honour to your family while speaking only of love and nothing of success or business?" she said, lecturing me as if I was nothing more than a child who didn't understand the ways of the world.

She fluidly rose from her seat and bowed her head, "Thank you for this meeting, but I'm afraid this isn't going to work."

I stood also, inclining my head politely, "Thank you. Please have a safe trip home."

She turned to walk away, then turned back for a moment, "A word of advice. You won't find a woman worthy of being a Haninozuka as you are now. Women want real men, not boys."

With those damning words hanging in the air, she left.

The server arrived with our orders, looking surprised but relieved that Sato-san was gone. I turned, stomach churning.

I pulled some money out of my wallet and placed it on the table, "Actually, we won't be needing that after all. Please take them for yourself or give it to someone else. Thank you."

I stepped outside and into my waiting limo, glancing at Usa-chan where he sat on the seat next to me. With Sato-san's words echoing in my mind, I left him where he was, looking out the window for the rest of the ride home.

Maybe I am being naïve…


Emi POV

I took a deep breath, feeling unreasonably anxious for someone who was just going to the library to meet their friends. Yesterday, the hosts had decided to cancel club hours for the rest of the week, anticipating that Honey might need some time to get back to his usual self. They had decided that we would all meet at the library to "study" (really we were all going to be gauging how Honey was doing and cheering him up if necessary).

Shaking my head in frustration with my own anxiety, I took a detour to the washroom to pull myself together first. I wouldn't be very much help to anyone else if I was too anxious to function.

I gripped the sink's counter, breathing deeply, feeling my lungs expand and deflate.

How differently can he really act? He'll still be him… He'll still be the same Honey I got to know…And if he's not, well that's why we're all going to be there to help him!

I looked into the mirror, re-tucking my navy plaid shirt into my mom jeans on one side and then checking to make sure that my pants were cuffed properly.

Ah yes, the cliché of femme-presenting women having to cuff their pants to show they're Queer, I thought cheerfully, successfully distracting myself from my anxiety.

With that, I squared my shoulders and marched my Vans-clad feet to the library. When I arrived at the agreed-upon table, everyone but Honey and Mori were already there. To absolutely nobody's surprise, Haruhi and Kyoya were the only ones who were actually trying to study. I say "trying" because Hikaru and Kaoru seemed to have made it their mission to make sure Haruhi couldn't study.

"Emi, thank god you're here!" Haruhi exclaimed, doe eyes looking at me pleadingly, and surprising me with her enthusiasm, "Now these rich bastards can bother you and leave me alone."

I sweatdropped. And here I had thought she was excited to see me. Though this actually made a lot more sense.

"Uh, hi Haruhi, nice to see you too," I said, not at all sarcastically. I looked towards the twins where they stood on either side of Haruhi's seat, "Why are you guys bothering Haruhi?"

They pouted at me and shrugged, "We were bored~"

I laughed, shaking my head as I went to sit in the empty seat across from Haruhi and the twins, "Of course you were. Don't you two have any studying to do?"

Hikaru stared at me blankly, "Meh, we're pretty much ahead on everything except for math so… Not really!"

Kaoru piped in, waving a hand idly, "Anyway, Honey is super good at math stuff so we'll just ask him for help when he gets here."

"Oh, I didn't know that! He's in the Kinesiology program right?" I asked, realizing I hadn't spoken to them about their academic lives that much, aside from the basics. I knew that Kyoya was studying Business, Hikaru and Kaoru were studying Fashion Design (with a minor in Business), Haruhi was studying Law, Tamaki was double-majoring in Sociology and Business, and I was pretty sure that both Mori and Honey were studying Kinesiology. But I didn't know why they had chosen those majors or what they were hoping to do afterwards.

"That's correct," Kyoya stated blandly, pausing his typing to look at me over the rim of his glasses, "Both Honey and Mori are studying Kinesiology so they will be even better equipped to run their family dojos."

"Yeah well, it's no big deal, most of us have familial responsibilities," I heard a cold voice say from behind me. Oddly the voice sounded both familiar and unfamiliar. It sounded sort of like Honey, but there was no way he would speak in such an unenthused and uncaring manner.

Maybe it's that brother of his I've heard about? I thought as I turned around.

I had to fight to stop my eyes from widening when I saw that it actually was Honey, and Mori, who stood behind me. The hosts had said he might act differently but this… I hadn't expected this. I had thought he might be a bit down, a bit sad, but I hadn't thought he would be like this… Physically, the changes were subtle. His hair was styled in the same way, and his clothes were mostly the same style but in darker colours. There was absolutely no pink to be found, and no Usa-chan either. It was really his demeanor that had changed the most though. He stood with his hands in his pockets, with a slightly slouched posture and his eyes looked both bored and slightly annoyed. And to top it all off, his lips held just a slight smirk.

I was immediately uncomfortable. The sweet Honey that I had befriended was nowhere to be seen right now, and had instead been replaced by the stereotypical image of a popular guy (or at least a stereotypical popular guy back home in Canada).

I pulled my lips up into a smile, remembering what the other hosts had said and trying to act normally, "H-Hey you two! Um, yeah I can't really imagine what it would be like to have a whole business or organization depending on future me, that must be really hard."

I watched as Honey and Mori came to sit in the two empty seats to my right, feeling even more out of my element than usual. Honey sat closest to me, and I realized I was relieved that at least that hadn't changed.

Mori nodded, body angled just slightly so that he could meet my eyes, "It's hard sometimes, but I enjoy being in the dojo so it's not as bad for me."

Honey leaned back, his chair balancing precariously on its back legs, only his hands gripping the table keeping him from falling, "Yeah, nothing we can't handle."

"Oh, well, that's good then!" I answered, averting my eyes and opening my laptop. I spent the next few minutes trying to appear busy while inwardly recovering from how flustered I felt. Thankfully, I was soon able to immerse myself in my cognitive psychology studies, and I was almost able to forget that my friend had become a stranger. I listened with half an ear as Honey guided the twins through their math assignment seriously. He clearly knew what he was talking about. I could tell because I had no clue what they were going on about.

After a couple of hours of focused studying I found myself becoming peckish and figured this was as good a time as any to implement part of the host club's plan to tempt Honey with sweets. Having seen Honey's infamous sweet tooth, and having a sweet tooth myself (though I was an amateur compared to him), I couldn't imagine him trying to turn down sweets. After all, at this point seventy percent of his body must be made up of sugar instead of water. It could NOT be pleasant to be lacking in one of your basic survival needs for days on end.

I closed my laptop and reached my hand under the table for the grocery bag of snacks I'd brought for everyone, trying very hard to avoid placing my head in Honey's lap while doing so. I didn't quite think he'd mind if I accidentally touched him but I didn't really know how he'd react while he was in this state and I was happy to not find out.

Having successfully grabbed the bag, I pulled it onto the table and started unpacking the chips, cookies, candies, hummus, and crudités.

"Uh, hey everyone, I brought snacks since I find I study better with some salt and sugar," I called out to the table at large. Secretly I was watching Honey for his reaction. I saw his eyes immediately dart to the cookies and candies and lighten in joy. But not a moment later his eyes shuttered in steely determination and he reached for the crudités and hummus.

I, along with everyone else (barring Kyoya) gaped in disbelief. Mori looked at me solemnly, as if to say 'This is bad'.

After everyone had grabbed some snacks I reached for a bag of candy and looked towards Honey. I popped a couple of the fuzzy peaches in my mouth and then scooted my chair closer to his. Holding out a candy, I asked, "Want one?"

He looked at it longingly for a moment before politely (and painfully) declining the offer. Sighing, I moved on to the Host Club's plan B. Combining sweets with cuteness. I still didn't think I was the right person for the role but they had insisted I was the only viable option, so here I was.

I reached into my bag, using the time to remember something embarrassing so I would blush (which wasn't difficult since I seemed to have had several blush-worthy moments as of late and I was already starting to feel embarrassed by the act I was about to pull). I took out a container of home-baked chocolate cupcakes with strawberries on top and held one in my hand. Widening my eyes and pouting my lips, I said, "U-um Honey?"

Seeing that he had turned towards me and was looking at me questioningly, I continued, holding up the cupcake and tilting my head, "I… I know you're not in the mood for sweets right now but… I made these cupcakes just for you and I'd hate for them to go to waste… So um, would you like one?"

There was a pause, and I could almost feel the other hosts holding their breath. I stared at Honey with my best puppy-dog eyes and watched him carefully. The crack in his mask started with a slight widening of his eyes, then a tremor in his hands and a pink tint in his cheeks. The next thing I knew I had my lap full of an overexcited Honey, who somehow avoided sending the cupcake flying out of my hand.

"Waah! You're so cute Emi-chan!" he wailed, hugging me tightly, "Did you really make these cupcakes yourself? Just for me?"

My cheeks, now truly red from the proximity, I answered, "Uh yep! I heard you might need a pick-me-up."

I once again tried to hand him the cupcake as he pulled away from the hug, and this time he took it gladly, immediately pulling off the wrapper and biting into it. He hummed contentedly, eyes closing in apparent bliss. A second later the entire cupcake was gone and I was being hugged once again.

"Thank you Emi-chan! It was sooo yummy!" he said, now completely back to the enthusiastic Honey I knew and liked. There was a chorus of relieved sighs from the hosts, and the twins flashed me a set of thumbs-up.

Well, that was a complete 180 in personality…

"Well I'm glad you like them! Help yourself to the rest if you want," I replied as he bounced back to his seat.

I peered at him as he ate cupcake after cupcake, and then cookie after cookie, and once I deemed him sufficiently sugared up I turned to face him fully.

"So, uh, Honey… You were pretty different this morning… What happened?" I asked quietly, hoping he wouldn't be offended or become defensive.

I fiddled with my sleeves as I waited for him to answer, my eyes darting between him and my nails.

He paused in his sugar rampage, looking at me thoughtfully, "Hmm, yeah I guess I wasn't myself huh? I didn't make you too uncomfortable did I?"

I stilled my fidgeting hands, and did my best to look him directly in the eyes. If I was asking him to be honest, the least I could do was be honest with him.

"Well, I was a bit uncomfortable but that's more just because of my own experiences, and because you didn't seem like the person I've gotten to know… But, I think you might be deflecting a bit," I pointed out gently, going back to fidgeting with my hands just a bit.

He sighed, his blonde hair falling over his eyes as he looked down, "Hmm well, I know I can be childish and… I just felt more pressure to be a real man and I guess I took it too far again."

My heart ached for him as I saw the usually happy-go-lucky blonde looking positively low. At the same time, I felt a fire ignite in my brain, as this happened to be a topic I felt passionately about.

I frowned, "No offense Honey but that doesn't really make sense."

His head snapped up to look at me in surprise, and the other hosts also looked shocked at my uncharacteristically blunt response.

"What d'you mean Emi-chan?" Honey asked, brown eyes searching mine quizzically.

"Well, when it comes to gender, you identify as a man, right?" I asked. Seeing him nod, I continued, "So then you're a man. It's that simple."

The twins sweatdropped, "That's a little too obvious, don't you think?"

I shook my head, "I know it's obvious but… if you're a man, then how can you possibly be not manly enough or not a 'real' man? Besides, what even is a 'real man'? Why should men not be able to wear pink or like sweets? What, should men only eat meat and potatoes and be interested in wrestling and hunting? The world would be pretty boring if all men were like that… And literally none of you guys would meet the criteria!"

They all gaped at me, having never really seen me go on a rant before. Honey timidly raised his hand, "Um but don't women want guys who aren't childish?"

I considered him for a moment before slowly answering, "I think there's a difference between being 'childish' and being 'cute' or 'innocent'. There are a lot of 'manly' men out there who are childish as fuck! In the sense that they don't know how to do their own laundry or clean up after themselves. Or they expect to get whatever they want whenever they want it. To me, that would be childish. So I would say that, if anything, you're more 'cute' or 'innocent' but you aren't only those things obviously… I can't really speak for straight women, but I don't see a problem with having a cute or innocent side."

Honey looked at me thoughtfully. Tamaki and Kyoya nodded along in agreement, wincing only briefly at my profanity. Hikaru, eyes sparkling mischievously, looked around the library and then exclaimed, "Let's do a little experiment!"

I looked at him warily, wondering what on earth he had planned. But if it was to prove to Honey that it was okay to be himself, then I would go along with whatever it was.

"Alright…"

Kaoru clapped his hands, apparently knowing exactly what his brother meant, and pointed to a guy sitting at a nearby table. The guy was big and muscular, with cropped hair and a protein shake bottle. "So Emi, let's start with him. Do you find him attractive?"

I immediately shook my head, "Not at all. Objectively speaking I can see that he's not ugly but… I don't feel any attraction to him at all."

"Okay, so no to the gym-bro type," Hikaru noted, nodding along as Kyoya seemed to write this down in a little notebook.

Tamaki excitedly pointed to a young woman sitting at another table, "Ou what about her?!"

I glanced over at the woman with long blonde hair, long eyelashes, and painted lips. She was dressed somewhat preppily and she looked like one of the popular girls from my high school.

I shook my head again, "She's clearly very pretty, but I'm not at all attracted to her."

"Interesting, so you have a type when it comes to women as well…," Kyoya muttered under his breath.

Well, this definitely feels like an experiment… and the topic of study is me apparently.

Haruhi, who probably had the best sense of my type, pointed towards someone with a slender build, shoulder-length brown hair, and a nose ring. If I had to guess I'd say this person might identify as non-binary or as a 'masc' woman. The sleeves of their t-shirt were rolled up and I could see that their forearms were perfectly toned.

I felt my cheeks flush slightly, "Um, yeah, they're extremely attractive. Like, I'm not into one night stands, but if they asked I'd seriously consider it."

I heard the twins cackle in glee, and hastened to move on from that overly honest slip, "But um… why aren't you asking Haruhi too? Wouldn't it make more sense to compare my Queer perspective to her heterosexual perspective?"

As one, everyone (except for Haruhi) shook their heads. Kaoru tsked, "Nah, she's completely oblivious to stuff like that."

I looked to Haruhi, who shrugged, "It's true, I don't notice that stuff usually."

"Oh…" I said, somewhat disappointed that I would be the only one subjected to this so-called experiment.

"There?" Mori asked, pointing to a young man who had delicate facial features, slightly longer wavy hair, and long dark eyelashes (and possibly a hint of eyeliner). A few earrings peeked out from under his hair, silver rings adorned his long fingers (which were painted a dark colour), and the top few buttons of his dress shirt were undone.

Again, I blushed, doing my best not to stare at the person who looked like they could be scouted to be a brooding pop star at any moment. "Yeah that's a guy I would very much be attracted to, at least physically."

Kyoya hummed as he looked at his notebook, glasses glinting, "Hmm, it appears you're attracted to androgynous people, more masculine women, and more feminine men… Is that accurate?"

I stared at him. It felt a bit strange to have such a fine point put on my sexual and romantic preferences. "Er… generally, yeah I guess. But it also depends a lot on personality. Right now we're just seeing one side of these people but nobody is ever just one thing…"

Tamaki nodded sagely, before looking at Honey, "So you see Honey? There are women out there who aren't just looking for manly men!"

"Indeed, based on this little bit of data, someone like Emi would be much more interested in dating you than that manly man over there," Kyoya stated casually, tilting his head towards the gymbro.

I gaped at him, feeling my blush intensify as I glanced at Honey out of the corner of my eye. He perked up, looking at me hopefully with his wide chocolate eyes, "Really? Is that true Emi-chan?"

Why would Kyoya say that?! That's so awkward!

But, seeing how much happier and how much more himself Honey seemed after this slightly uncomfortable illustrative experiment, I didn't have the heart to deny Kyoya's findings. Besides, he wasn't exactly wrong… I just preferred not to have people imply I'd want to date my new, and admittedly very attractive, friend.

"Um well yeah, like I said before everyone knows you're cute and…" I trailed off thinking about how I'd called him a sexy angel, the smirk that crossed his face confirming that he knew what I was thinking about, "And you have a great personality! You care about people and I feel pretty confident that you wouldn't just use whoever you were dating without considering their feelings or something… Anyway, I don't think you have to worry about not being 'manly' enough. You're a great man! Just be yourself! Besides, would you really want a girlfriend or partner who didn't appreciate you as you are?"

Once again, I found myself glomped by a whirling vanilla-scented tornado, and just barely avoided toppling to the floor. In stark contrast to his overexcited exterior, Honey quietly and seriously whispered, "Thank you Emi-chan I…I'll do my best to be myself from now on."

I smiled, trying to ignore the butterflies swimming around my stomach and Kyoya's words echoing in my head.

He leaned back, looking at me with sparkling eyes, hands interlocking behind my neck as he looked around at the rest of the hosts, "And thank you all too! I feel much better now~!"

That afternoon was one filled with smiles and laughter, as everyone celebrated the quick recovery of the smallest host.