Chapter 10 | Honey's Three Bitter Days

~Arabella's POV~

"Now you've done it...!!!"

Tamaki was pacing back and forth in the music room in a panic.

"It's done alright..." Hikaru mumbled as we all looked down at the spilled teacup which used to have tea in it.

"But it's not our fault!" Kaoru said.

"Y-You idiots! You're the ones who bumped into it, right?!" Tamaki said as we all looked down at Honey's bunny, Usa-chan, who was now covered in spilled tea.

I know for a fact that those stains probably aren't gonna come out easy...

"That's only because Haruhi and Arabella were running away!" Hikaru said.

"Yeah! We only wanted them to have some fun by doing a little cos-play for us! That's all!" Kaoru said.

"Um, we're always doing cos-play, ya' know...!" Tamaki pointed out, annoyed.

"No! We weren't going to do the normal Host Club kind of cos-play!" Hikaru said.

"This time, we didn't want our customers here!" Kaoru said.

"Exactly. We didn't want them here because we were going to put Haruhi in a bunny costume..."

"... and we were going to put Arabella in a maid's uniform!"

Tamaki's eyes widened. "Do you mean the kind of maid's uniform that has an unnecessarily short skirt and is more revealing that it needs to be?!" he sputtered.

Hikaru and Kaoru nodded. "Correct." they said.

I rolled my eyes.

"Yeah, I dare you two to TRY and put me in that again... You'll loose a finger, maybe even a whole hand if I feel like it." I growled.

"You're the one to complain, they were going to put me in a bunny costume..." Haruhi mumbled.

"Please, I'd take 'cute bunny' over 'slutty maid' any day of the week!" I said.

"I can't believe you shady twins!!! Trying to put one of my little girls in a slutty outfit?!?!? HOW DARE YOU?!?!?" Tamaki shouted.

"Come off it, milord. Besides, we were also going to put Haruhi in a bunny costume if you heard us before...!" Hikaru said.

"You'd want to see that, wouldn't you?" Kaoru said.

Tamaki immediately turned more red than I've ever seen him go.

"I'd definitely want to see that..." he mumbled quietly to himself.

I rolled my eyes again.

Boys... So perverted...

"And, besides! I don't see why you're complaining about Arabella in a maid's uniform, it'd look cute!" Hikaru said.

"Most definitely. We were only gonna put her in this!" Kaoru said before he and Hikaru held up a maid's uniform.

And, yes, it was DEFINITELY REVEALING.

"Yeah, that's NOT HAPPENING." I stated firmly.

I have a feeling that my mom wouldn't approve of the people I hang out with everyday if she found out what goes on and what we talk about...

Tamaki suddenly gasped at the sight of the outfit. He immediately looked disgusted.

"HOW DARE YOU?! MY LITTLE GIRL WOULD NEVER PARADE AROUND IN THAT!!!!! SHE HAS MUCH MORE CLASS THAN THAT, IT EVEN IF SHE IS A COMMONER!!!!!" Tamaki shouted. "You two are disgusting and perverted and--"

"Five words: Haruhi. In. A. Bunny. Costume." Hikaru and Kaoru said.

Tamaki turned pink. "Sh-Shut up...!!! Plus, now's NOWHERE NEAR the right time for that! And where do you get off trying to take advantage of this commotion?! GET AWAY FROM MY LITTLE GIRLS!" he said.

Hikaru and Kaoru had Haruhi and I in tight grips and were squeezing us.

"No way!" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

Why are these people my friends...?

"Guys, there aren't any guests here," Kyoya said as he typed on his laptop. "so I don't mind at all if you make a racket. But, are you sure you want to? You'll wake Honey."

Tamaki was in the middle of trying to strangle Hikaru and Kaoru when he heard that sentence. The three of them immediately froze.

We all looked over were Honey was fast asleep on a small bed with curtains that Mori had set up for him.

Haruhi and I approached the bed.

"Wow. A high school third year and he's still taking naps..." Haruhi said.

"He's so... innocent." I said.

"Unfortunately, we can't help that his bunny has been stained." Haruhi said.

"Yeah, let's wake him up and frankly apologize." I said. Haruhi nodded before we both reached for his shoulder to shake him awake...

"Wait! Don't go anywhere near Honey!" Hikaru, Kaoru, and Tamaki whisper shouted from behind one of the sofas.

"Hurry! Come take shelter over here, my little girls!" Tamaki said.

"Save yourselves!" Hikaru and Kaoru whispered.

"What do you mean?" Haruhi asked as we both walked over.

"Yeah, what's all this about?" I asked.

"Honey wakes up in a megaton-class ill humor...!" Tamaki said

"Huh?" Haruhi and I asked.

"Now, this is just a rumor, but once when the Haninozuka family visited a U.S. military installation to give hand-to-hand combat training, Honey-senpai is said to have slept through the whole time due to jet lag. And when one soldier carelessly tried to wake up Honey, since he had been sleeping so long... two unfortunate platoons of green beret special forces were wiped out in seconds because of Honey. And, ever since, they say there have been diplomatic issues with America." Tamaki whispered.

"It's terrifying...!" Hikaru and Kaoru gulped.

Tamaki shuddered. "What's worse is that I've heard Usa-chan was handmade by Honey's favorite late grandma. Judging by the way he always carries it with him, there can be little doubt that it's a very important article to him. Once he wakes up and sees his Usa-chan irrevocably altered..."

"HE'S GOING TO IRREVOCABLY ALTER US TOO!!!" they all three shouted together.

"You're exaggerating." Haruhi said.

"There's no way that actually happened; Honey-senpai blowing up an entire military base. Remember, I lived in America, and I've heard of no such thing." I said.

"Exactly. Any way you think about them, those stories ring false." Haruhi said.

"No! There is other evidence that Honey has an evil split personality: Honey is type AB." Tamaki said.

"Uh..." I said, wondering how that has to do with anything we're talking about.

"So?" Haruhi asked.

"That means... he has the same blood type as Kyoya...!" Tamaki said.

Haruhi and I gasped.

HONEY has the same blood type as KYOYA???

We all looked over at Kyoya, who was still typing away on his laptop.

Nope, it can't be...!!!

"Do you have some sort of problem with my blood type?" Kyoya asked calmly.

Haruhi's eyes widened before she turned around and whispered, "Oh! Those of you reading who have type AB, please don't get upset."

Honey suddenly stirred in his sleep.

We all gulped nervously.

"This. Is. Bad. We have to do something before he wakes up...!" Tamaki whispered. "We WILL get through today with our lives!" He turned to the twins. "Hikaru! Kaoru!" He snapped his fingers.

"Sir!" they said while saluting Tamaki.

"Get your folks' Cessna. Fly to Osorezan and bring back a medium; we'll have her channel Honey's grandma, and make us a new Usa-chan! Take this map of Aomor Prefecture with you," Tamaki said as he held up a map. "Don't forget the apple juice, apple jam, and Nebuta doll souvenirs!"

"We don't have that much time." Hikaru said.

"We don't mind the derangement, but please come up with something more productive." Kaoru said.

"Alright, let's go with this: While we send Usa-chan out for cleaning, Haruhi," Tamaki said before he held up something. "you wear this bunny suit."

Tamaki was holding a pink bunny suit.

My eyes widened.

Hikaru and Kaoru gave Tamaki a thumbs-up. "Nice idea!" they said.

"And, while you're at it..." Hikaru started.

"... we'll put Arabella in her maid's uniform..." Kaoru said before he held up the uniform.

"That's not gonna happen." Tamaki and I said together.

Hikaru and Kaoru groaned. "Ugh, you're both no fun." they said.

Haruhi stared at the bunny suit in front of her. "No way! I'm NOT wearing that! And for that matter, where did you even get that thing??? It's too obvious!" she said.

"It's okay! How will Honey be able to tell such a slight difference with half-awake eyes?!" Tamaki said as he kept Haruhi from running away.

"Then, Senpai, you wear it!!!" Haruhi said.

"It won't be cute if I wear it!!! We've given up on the bunny-girl thing, so now you can be a real rabbit instead! Be a real rabbit instead!!!" Tamaki screeched as he held firmly onto one of Haruhi's sleeves of her uniform jacket.

As Haruhi and Tamaki were wrestling over who had to wear the bunny suit, I looked and suddenly noticed that Honey stirred again, but this time his eyes opened and he sat up, awake.

Tamaki noticed too and gasped. "Oh no! It's too late! We have no choice but to use another substitute...!" he said.

Tamaki quickly grabbed the closest thing next to him and threw it where Honey was just waking up.

Honey rubbed his eyes until he looked down at Tamaki's "replacement".

A brown teddy bear, which actually belonged to Tamaki himself.

Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru shook and shivered from behind the sofa, which we were using for a fort.

We watched as Honey just sat there, staring down at Tamaki's teddy bear, not doing anything.

Then, suddenly, Honey grabbed Tamaki's bear, and with one swift movement, threw it down on the ground.

"Ahh!!! My teddy bear!!!" Tamaki cried.

"We're next!!!" Hikaru cried, terrified.

"Ahh!!! He's discovered his Usa-chan!!!" Kaoru shouted.

We all watched silently as Honey trudged up to the table where Usa-chan lay, covered in spilled tea.

We all held our breath.

Honey slowly picked up Usa-chan.

"Who's the one who got my Usa-chan dirty?" Honey asked slowly.

Tamaki, Hikaru, and Kaoru cowered in fear.

"S-S-Save us, Mori-senpai!!!" they all three sobbed.

Mori calmly approached Honey.

"Usa-chan was thirsty, so he had a drink of tea." Mori said.

Everyone stayed silent.

Then, Honey suddenly smiled. "He did? So that's why he's all dirty, huh?" he chirped, his usual cheery voice. "Oh! Do you think he wants some cake too???"

Tamaki and the twins groaned and leaned over, obviously relieved that they could live another day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Honey! What kind of chocolate do you like???" one of our customers asked during club hours.

"Mousse? Bonbons? I bet it's chocolate cake that's your favorite!" another one said.

"Hm... Let's see... I like them all," Honey said. "I love chocolate, Usa-chan, and all of you ladies!"

"Oh! How cute~!!!" his customers squealed.

I chuckled and rolled my eyes.

"Honey is in a good mood, huh?" Haruhi asked as we all watched Honey laugh and eat cake with his customers.

"Thank goodness! We settled the Usa-chan issue without much trouble at all!" Tamaki said.

Haruhi picked up a tray of tea and took it over to Honey's table.

"Honey-senpai, if you keep eating nothing but sweets like this, you're bound to develop cavities." Haruhi said.

I approached Honey's table. "Yeah, it's not healthy to eat sweets constantly. You've got to have a good balance to even it out." I said.

"It's okay! Besides, I make sure to brush my teeth!" Honey said before he took another bite of his piece of cake.

Suddenly, just as he bit down, his eyes widened.

Then, his face contorted in pain.

Honey then held his right cheek sensitively.

"Honey-senpai, don't tell me..." Haruhi mumbled.

"It's... it's nothing, really." Honey mumbled.

Hikaru, Kaoru, and I held Honey down while Haruhi tried to pry open his mouth.

"Come on...! Open your mouth...!" Haruhi said.

Honey squirmed in his chair and tried to run away.

"Honey-senpai..." Hikaru started.

"... stay still, would ya'???" Kaoru finished.

"Just open your mouth so we can look...!" I said.

"It's nothing! It's nothing! No...!" Honey shouted frantically as he held his cheek, refusing to let us look inside his mouth.

Mori suddenly approached us.

Mori grabbed Honey by his wrist, threw him on the sofa, got on top of him, and forced his mouth open.

All our female customers squealed and fangirled.

Our male customers just curiously peeked over the sofa to see what was happening.

"Yes! Yes! What was missing was this type of moe!" Renge shouted into a microphone she was holding.

When did Renge get here...?

Renge, too, started fangirling.

Mori carefully looked inside Honey's mouth.

"Is it a cavity?" Tamaki asked.

"Yeah." Mori replied.

"No... I'm okay..." Honey mumbled as Mori let him close his mouth.

"Tamaki..." Mori said.

"Yeah, alright, understood," Tamaki said. Then he stepped forward and cleared his throat. "Until Honey-senpai gets over his cavity, all sweets are off-limits to him."

Honey broke into cold sweat and gasped. "Huh?!" he gulped.

"Furthermore, in order for the entire club to offer its support, we ask you to temporarily refrain from eating any snacks within the club." Tamaki continued.

Honey gasped again. "N-No...! I don't want sweets to be off-limits...!!!" he said with tears in his eyes. "I'm not in pain... I'm not in pain, okay?"

Mori picked up the plate of cake Honey was eating and walked off with it.

"Stop! That's my cake...!" Honey shouted after him.

Mori turned around. "It's off-limits." he said simply.

"No...!!!" Honey shouted.

"And so, pitilessly, Honey-senpai's hellish days began." Renge narrated into the microphone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey's Three Bitter Days: Day 1

~Third Person POV~

Honey walked through the halls the very next day.

Because of his cavity, he had to wear a bandage that was from under his chin to the top of his head.

Mori approached Honey. "Mitsukuni, give me your bag." he said.

"I can carry it myself." Honey said.

"No. I want to see it, give it to me."

Honey sighed before he reluctantly handed over his bag.

Mori opened it and turned it upside-down, letting hundreds of little candies spill out of it and onto the floor.

"I... I was just looking at them... I wasn't going to eat them... I was just looking..." Honey said.

"Well, if you want to look at something, take this," Mori said before he handed Honey a menu with several cakes and candies pictured on it. "I'll take the real ones."

"No...!!!" Honey shouted in agony.

"Jeez... That's harsh..." Hikaru and Kaoru said from behind the corner with Haruhi and Arabella at their sides.

"Poor little guy..." Arabella mumbled.

"I never thought Mori could be so firm..." Hikaru said.

"You wouldn't expect it, huh? I thought his principles kept him from doing anything that might upset Honey." Kaoru said.

"To think that he could get Tono to go along with him as well..." Hikaru said as he shrugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey's Three Bitter Days: Day 2

"It's really too bad, Tamaki," one customer said. "I wanted you to have some of the chocolate that was specially made by our new pátissier, which my family hired in from France. But I understand that you're refraining from sweets."

"Do not fret, my princess. For Honey-senpai's sake, we all want to help him in whatever way we can to abstain from sweets." Tamaki said.

"My, your friendship is so beautiful." the girl said.

"Besides, I'm sure it's better this way," Tamaki said as he took her hand. "However delicious the chocolate may be, in the heat of my love, it would probably melt and go to waste, as it vanished away..."

"Oh, Tamaki...!" the girl swooned.

Later, Tamaki walked by the twins.

"Impressive, boss. Nice little act." Hikaru said.

"You changed over quickly." Kaoru said.

Tamaki stopped. "Buzz off. Our priority at all times is to keep our guests smiling, isn't it?" he said.

"You guys watch yourselves too. Make sure not to give any kind of candy to Honey, no matter what he resorts to," Kyoya said as he leaned against the wall, writing on the clipboard he was holding. "Oh, and incidentally, those instructions came from Mori, not me." Then, he walked away.

"Kyoya seems to be unusually enjoying this, huh?" Hikaru and Kaoru said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey ran cheerfully up to Mori. "Takashi~! It looks like my cavity got better!"

"Has it?" Mori asked.

"The swelling has gone down too!" Honey said.

"Has it?" Mori repeated.

"So, can I have just one piece of cake???" Honey asked.

Mori suddenly stuck a thick ice block in Honey's mouth, which made his cavity hurt bad.

Honey squealed in pain and reeled away, holding his cheek.

"Full recovery still seems a long way off." Mori said as he walked away.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Two of the Host Club's customers sat at one of their tables, drinking tea.

Honey skipped up to their table. The girls gulped nervously.

"So! What is that you're drinking?" Honey asked.

"D-Darjeeling tea, Honey..." one said.

"What are you eating???" Honey asked.

"A-A spot of a sandwich..." the other said.

"You know what? I think some sweet candy would go along great with that tea! You know, like cake or something! Right? Right?" Honey said.

"Y-Yes... I suppose it would..." one girl said.

"It sure would..." said the other.

Both girls immediately stood up, set down their tea, and ran.

"We're so sorry, Honey! It's for your own sake!" they said as they ran.

"W-Wait...!" Honey cried. Then he looked down and sighed.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey walked over to Arabella, who was leaning against the wall.

"Honey-senpai?" Arabella said.

Honey then put one hand on one of Arabella's arms. "Ara-chan, am I bad?" he asked, tears threatening to escape his eyes. "Have I done something to make God hate me...?"

Arabella's eyes widened before her expression softened.

Then, she carefully looked around to make sure no one was watching.

"Okay... fine. Just one little one..." Arabella whispered before she stuck her hand into her pocket and pulled out a lollipop. Honey's eyes sparkled at the sight of it.

"I was gonna eat it later... but you look like you need it more than I do..." Arabella mumbled.

Honey smiled excitedly before he tried to snatch it away from Arabella.

Arabella snatched it back. "Nuh-uh! It's gonna cost you." she said.

Honey then reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet before he opened it and pulled out some money. "Will this cover it?" he asked.

It was nothing short of about three hundred yen.

Arabella's eyes widened again. "W-Well... Honey-senpai... I-I didn't mean money... I just meant you have to promise not to tell anyone..."

Honey looked confused. "So you don't want the money...?" he asked.

Arabella immediately snatched the money out of Honey's hands. "You know what? This'll do just fine!" she said before she tossed the lollipop into Honey's hands. Honey smiled.

"Thank you, Ara-chan! God bless you!" he said before he stuck the lollipop in his pocket and skipped off.

"No, Honey, thank you," Arabella said as she began counting her money from Honey. "Rich kids will buy anything...!" she said happily.

Across the room, Honey was about to start eating his lollipop and had unwrapped it when Mori suddenly approached him.

"Mitsukuni, what do you think you're doing with that?" he said.

Honey froze and turned around nervously. "Y-You mean this...?" he said as he held up the lollipop.

"Yes," Mori said before he took it out of Honey's hands. "You can't have that until your cavity is all gone."

Honey whimpered.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey's Three Bitter Days: Day 3

The Host Club was empty today, mainly because Honey was refusing to do anything unless he got his sweets back.

He paced back and forth around the room as the rest of the Host Club watched him.

"He's on edge." Tamaki whispered.

"Somebody talk to him. He's scaring me." Kaoru said.

Hikaru shot up out of his seat. "Ah! He's going for the candy shelves!" he said as they all watched Honey open the double doors that led to the storage closet, where the Host Club kept all their snacks.

"Relax. They're all empty, anyway." Kyoya said.

"Kyoya, you seem to be in a good mood." Haruhi said.

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Arabella asked.

Honey opened up one of the cabinets that used to hold candy. He found it empty.

Well, almost empty.

Tamaki's teddy bear sat inside.

Honey grabbed the bear, and threw it on the ground.

"Ahh!!! Not my teddy bear again!!!" Tamaki shouted.

Honey slowly exited the storage closet and fell to the ground.

"He's breathed his last." Hikaru said.

"After three days, he finally gave up." Kaoru said.

Tamaki went to Honey and shook him by the shoulder. "H-Honey...?" he muttered.

Honey's head suddenly snapped up.

Then, he bit down on Tamaki's hand, HARD.

Tamaki screamed.

"AHHH!!!!! HE'S GONNA EAT ME!!!!!!" Tamaki panicked.

Mori slowly got up from his seat.

He walked over to Honey and Tamaki.

"Mitsukuni, don't take it out on other people or things." Mori said.

Honey released Tamaki's hand.

"Ah... Mori... you saved me from being eaten..." Tamaki said as he rubbed his hand.

"It's disgraceful." Mori said.

It was silent for a second before Honey whipped his head around to glared at Mori.

"Takashi... you IDIOT!!!" Honey said before he grabbed Mori and flipped him over.

Everyone gasped.

Mori landed on the ground and slid until he slammed into a wall.

"Just a little won't hurt, right?! You cheapskate! You hardhead!!!" Honey shouted angrily. "I... I... I hate you, Takashi!!!"

Mori just sat there, not saying anything.

Honey then cried and ran out of the music room.

"Honey! Wait!" Tamaki said as he went after Honey.

Mori still sat there.

"Uh... Mori...?" Hikaru said.

"Are you okay...?" Kaoru asked.

Mori got up and wobbled a bit before he crashed into a table and fell down.

The words Honey said rang through his head.

"I hate you, Takashi!!!"

"I hate you, Takashi!!!"

"I hate you, Takashi!!!"

"Mori-senpai, you've taken heavy damage there. But whether you had no choice or you're just self-destructing..." Hikaru started.

"... if you're going to be so depressed, then you shouldn't have acted in such a way to make him hate you in the first place." Kaoru finished.

"It was on purpose?" Haruhi asked.

"Hey, Mori, by any chance, were you trying to get Honey to hate you?" Arabella asked.

"That can't be right. Having Honey hate him would be like the end of the world to Mori," Hikaru and Kaoru said. "Why would he do it on purpose?"

"Well, in order to punish himself." Haruhi said.

"Is Haruhi wrong?" Arabella asked Mori.

"It's all my fault. Mitsukuni's cavity is due to my carelessness. I forgot to make him brush his teeth before he took his nap, twice." Mori said.

The twins frowned. "But, Mori, that's not your fault or your..."

"... responsibility, is it?"

"If Mitsukuni has to get false teeth... I'll... I'll..." Mori mumbled.

"No, that WON'T happen." Hikaru and Kaoru said.

"Man, he's surprisingly negative, huh...?" Arabella mumbled.

"I wouldn't be able to live with myself if Mitsukuni hadn't thrown me down." Mori said.

"The rough treatment he got from Honey-senpai was the punishment Mori-senpai gave to himself." Kyoya said.

"Still, while it might sound like a nice story in the short run..."

"... it's a bit much over a single cavity, don't you think?"

The door to Music Room 3 suddenly opened, revealing Honey and Tamaki.

"So, there you have it, Honey-senpai," Tamaki said to Honey. "What will you do now?"

Honey began forming tears in his eyes.

Then, he cried and ran to Mori.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Takashi!" Honey shouted before he hugged Mori. "I'll never forget to brush my teeth ever again!!! I won't forget!"

The rest of the Host Club smiled at Honey and Mori as they both hugged.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Honey's Three Bitter Days: Several days later

Eventually, Honey's cavity completely healed and the ban on sweets had been lifted. The Host Club officially brought back snacks.

Honey took full advantage is this and greedily stuffed his face with cake.

Meanwhile, Kyoya sat at a table over several papers and groaned.

"Hm... Kyoya looks oddly depressed about something, huh?" Haruhi said.

"Yeah, he sure does." Arabella agreed.

"Honey's snack costs..." Hikaru started.

"... are just that expensive." Kaoru finished.

They all watched as Honey ate some cake and Mori sat with them.

Mori then took a napkin and said, "Mitsukuni, you have come cake..."

Honey just smiled at him and laughed.

All the female customers squealed. "Moe! What moe! It's the greatest! It's the greatest!!!"

"This seems to have the same mood as a happy ending..." Arabella said.

"You said it...," Haruhi mumbled. "But are you people really sure this should be viewed as a happy ending???"

"MOE!!!!!" the girls all screamed.

Haruhi and Arabella both sighed. "Good grief..."