Day 37: Arts and Crafts Room

[host_club_honey]

Honey was relieved when breakfast was over.  Even though there'd been plenty of sticky-sweet french toast to be had, the company left him feeling a little inadequate.  Usually girls fawned all over him, but Callisto had been downright mean.  Had he done something wrong?  What kind of girl wanted to fight rather than play?  It'd only been a few days

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[no_chan_allowed]

Sano's explanation still hadn't clicked in Yahiko's mind, and the nurses led them in different directions after leaving the cafeteria. When he asked why he couldn't follow the other two, she politely informed him that children's showers would be after lunch.

If the nurses had been armed, there absolutely would have been violence.

Instead, there was a very heated argument, during which he asserted his adulthood several times while the nurse looked at him with a sad expression. She eventually explained that the line for legal adulthood in this country was drawn at eighteen, but he didn't care what the hell she or her stupid country believed. That didn't make it any less wrong!

Sanosuke had told him not to fight with the nurses, so Yahiko eventually summoned the restraint to clench his jaw and express his fury with a dark glare. The nurse led him to a room filled with paint and glitter, leaving him with the explanation that he should express his anger in a constructive way. Like with fingerpaints. When he finally dropped into a seat at a round table, Yahiko's rage was palpable.

[host_club_honey]

When the nurses seated another boy at the same table, Honey did his best to be friendly. It was difficult, as the boy was obviously pretty upset, but he waved happily and passed the boy some blank paper (though it was hard not to get at least a couple handprints on it).

"Hi! I'm Honey! What's your name?" he asked energetically. "Do you like painting too?"

[no_chan_allowed]

The person next to him didn't seem to have any trouble expressing his emotions constructively, based on the paint covering his hands. Yahiko was pretty sure that wasn't painting, not unless people in this country had some backwards ideas about that too. Anyway, it wasn't this kid's fault that the nurses here were idiots, and Yahiko didn't want to take out his anger on someone who clearly wasn't capable of defending himself.

"I'm Yahiko," he said before folding his arms and giving a frustrated grunt. "I don't think that's how painting's supposed to work," he added a few seconds later.

[host_club_honey]

Yahiko? That was cute, and it sounded Japanese so he was pretty sure this one wouldn't mind if he shortened the name or added things to it, at least, not like Callisto had. He sure was cranky though. Maybe he was just upset and not actually scary once you got to know him, like Bossa Nova! Yahiko might not be any friendlier than the boy from the yakuza, but at least his face was a lot less scary!

"Yahiko!" he repeated enthusiastically, "can I call you Hiko-chan for short? It's cute! Ah- and it's nice to meet you!"

He held up his dirtied hands, wiggling the fingers just for show, "they're finger paints, not the regular kind. These are more fun because you get to be messy! But they've got all kind of stuff to make in here, so you can do a different kind of painting if you want."

[no_chan_allowed]

Gah! It seemed like everyone in this place was actually trying to piss him off! Yahiko shook his head violently. "It's Yahiko-san," he corrected, voice sharp with annoyance that might have been spent batting Honey over the head if Honey hadn't been a little kid and if those nurses hadn't been watching his every move. Despite what these people said, Yahiko was an adult and he expected to be spoken to like one (despite the lack of respect he'd shown when younger, but that was a completely different matter).

Being messy didn't seem like his idea of fun, but then, art in general wasn't his thing. To humor the nurses who stood nearby, he poked his finger into a jar of yellow goop and smeared it in a line on the paper. There. Finished. No way to improve on that masterpiece.

[host_club_honey]

Hmm, so Yahiko didn't like his name shortened either. How sad! And he'd done such a great job of making it sound cute. Some people just couldn't appreciate his talents. Yahiko didn't look that old, probably the same age as the twins or Tama and they never got upset when he shortened their names. Maybe this boy was just having a bad day.

With that, he hopped off his seat and moved to get a better look at Yahiko's picture. Just a yellow line on the blank page. Maybe it was Yahiko's first time doing this. "What's that gonna be Yahiko-chan?" he asked, sure to get the full name this time. "A big yellow sunbeam? Or maybe it's a birdie? It's okay to put your whole hand in the jar you know, right?"

[no_chan_allowed]

"-san!" he insisted, his voice even louder and more firm than before. "I'm an adult." The words were punctuated with another stab of his finger, splattering bits of paint around a yellow fingerprint. Was it really that hard to comprehend? Who the hell went around calling people older than them -chan anyway? Sanosuke said that there were people from all over the place, and different times too. Wherever this kid came from, it sure as hell wasn't Meiji era Japan.

"It's a line." He pushed the paper away and wiped his finger clean on his awkwardly cut grey pants. "A line and a fingerprint. And it's finished."

[host_club_honey]

Honey had to try really hard not to giggle when the boy was only upset further. There was only the difference of a character or two from -chan to -san, but Yahiko just wasn't buying it. Why was he so upset about it anyway? It just seemed silly!

"Ya-hi-ko-saaaaaan," he repeated slowly and painfully, as though each syllable were some huge effort. "I don't like it," from the look on his face, one might think he'd just eaten sour candies. "Hiko-chan sounds cutest though. I like that one best. Or Ya-chan. You can call me Honey-chan if you want to. I don't mind. Mostly I get called Sempai, but that sounds so oooooold."

Usually he didn't really care much either way. 'Sempai' just ruined that illusion of youth he tried so hard to portray. He made an equally sour face at Yahiko's drawing and his short explanation. "Booooring," he droned. "You didn't even try! I bet you can paint a really pretty picture if you tried a little bit harder!"

[no_chan_allowed]

"I don't care whether you like it or not. It's my name." Yahiko didn't think he'd ever met someone so stubborn about stupid stuff. Honey-chan seemed fitting for the kid, who must have been several years younger than him and acted even more childish than that. The rest of his statement made absolutely no sense, and must have been some kind of joke. Yahiko snorted. "Who'd call you Sempai?" Maybe someone had taught one of his pets to talk.

Yahiko had no desire to paint a pretty picture, especially not with his fingers. The whole thing seemed as childish as building mud pies, and he wanted no part of it.

[host_club_honey]

Honey let out a whimpering whiny sound to show his displeasure at Yahiko's decision. "Awuuuuu..." The boy reminded him a little bit of how he used to be. Always angry when people said cute things, hiding away his true nature and trying to seem older.

When asked about those that called him Sempai, he pointed around the room at the other host club members, just a couple tables away. "My Kouhai silly," he giggled, "there's Tama-chan and Hika-chan and Kao-chan here. Takashi is in the same class as me, but he had to go to showers. We're all from the same school."

When Yahiko refused to make any further attempts with his painting, Honey decided to take initiative. "It's easy, here I'll help! We'll do it together!" He took hold of Yahiko's wrist with one hand and threw another dollop of yellow paint on the paper with the other. With a squeal of boyish delight, he placed both of his already messy hands in the paint, dragging Yahiko along with him.