A bouncy introduction

[hanihunny]

It's sometime on New Year's Eve and a small blond boy comes dashing through the doorway to the main room of the Mansion. He has a pink toy rabbit in his arms and he looks very excited - so excited that he doesn't at first notice that he's in a different room to the one that he expected

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[cute_shinigami]

He might spy a tall, rumpled man with violet eyes, carrying a good-sized box into the common room. But the stranger quickly sets the box aside, his pretty face concerned. "Whoa, hey there, little fella, are you lost?" he asks.

[hanihunny]

Hunny blinks, hesitates then asks, "Are you a new teacher?"

He thinks he must still be in Ouran High, just must have somehow ran through the wrong door...

[cute_shinigami]

Tsuzuki scooches down to the little fellow's level, to close the distance between them: the little guy isn't much bigger than Kazuza Otonashi. "New teacher? No, not exactly: I'm a student at the independent university here." He stops, realizing he's getting way ahead of himself. "You and your bunny must be brand new here. Welcome to the Mansion."

[hanihunny]

"Mansion...?" Hunny says hesitantly. "But this is not home..."

Tears are welling up in his eyes and he looks as if he's about to cry. "... Am I kidnapped?"

[cute_shinigami]

"No, no, it's nothing like that at all," he says, reaching out and putting a reassuring hand on the boy's shoulder. "It's a world of its own, and sometimes people just sort of wander into it, sometimes when they least expect it. But it's a good place, sometimes a little strange, but a good place.

"But I'm being very rude: I'm Asato Tsuzuki; I'm sort of a greeter here, though it's not really official. What's your name, and who's this cute little bunny with you?"

[hanihunny]

"....

........

............"

"This is Bun-Bun," he says after a very long pause where he looks at Tsuzuki uncertainly, he holds up the stuffed toy to show. "My name is Mitsukuni of the Haninozuka family but everyone calls me Hunny."

[cute_shinigami]

"Well, it's a pleasure to meet the both of you," Tsuzuki says, bowing deeply, then reaching out to gently shake Bun-Bun's paw. "I'm sure you both have a lot of questions, so don't hesitate to ask.

"Are you hungry? I was just thinking of having some cake."

[hanihunny]

It's as if those were the magic words and Hunny's whole face lights up eagerly, the wariness evaporating.

"You have cake?!"

[cute_shinigami]

He chuckles. "We do, and plenty of it, especially since it's Christmas time," he says, grinning. "There's a whole buffet in the main room right now. Come on, let's see what's there." He rises, beckoning the little fellow to follow as he steps toward the main room.

[hanihunny]

"More food?" He trails along after Tsuzuki. Some people may assume Hunny is a little too trusting just to follow along like this but he knows he can handle himself if he needs to.

[cute_shinigami]

He leads the way into the main room, to the buffet still set up there, and specifically the end with all the cakes. "Here we go," he says, hunting up a couple of plates and a cake cutter.

[hanihunny]

"Yay! Cake! I'm sooo hungry," Hunny wastes no time and doesn't bother with the cake cutter, instead piling a whole cake on to his plate. But he doesn't stop there. He adds a few pre-cut pieces of other cakes around the edges then starts eating a piece, looking very happy. "Mmm mmm! This is good!"

[cute_shinigami]

Tsuzuki boggles for a moment: that would be quite a bit for himself, but he figures a little kid just has a quick metabolism. He chuckles. "That looks like a lot, but it all looks good, doesn't it?" he says, helping himself to a good-sized wedge of a black forest cake.

[hanihunny]

This is why his brother called him an 'alien' when he caught Hunnny eating three whole cakes one night...

"Mmmm, yum! Yes!" He is all happy as he starts on another big slice. "Maybe it won't be so bad here after all!"

[cute_shinigami]

"It won't be, trust me: there's a few young people about your age here," he says, starting on his own slice. "There's a girl named Sophie, who's like a niece to me. And there's a pair of twins, Elured and Elurin, who like to get into harmless trouble."

[hanihunny]

"I'd like to meet them," he says in between cake. Half is already gone. "So...," he looks up at Tsuzuki with an innocent air. "How old do you think I am?"