A glimpse into Honey
Honey's character is a lolita (I think?) which means he likes cute things and being cute. This kinda infantilized him in the show, but for the sake of this, I'm treating him as an actual teenager, with personality traits that are seen as more childish, as opposed to being a little, or simply an archetype.
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From what we know of the show, Honey likes sweet things, cute things, being cute, taking naps, and is very committed to the aesthetic. However, it is also shown that he is the heir to a prominent martial arts family, and is appropriately fit/athletic/good at fighting. One of these does not seem to fit the rest of Honey's character.
However, I think it fits very well into the context of the story. We saw how the guy who was a part of the mafia was treated (forgive me for forgetting his name). In this high social class school, both Honey and Mori, it seems, took steps to prevent being seen as dangerous/threatening. Mori became passive, calm and stoic. He's a gentle giant, further characterized by how he treats/indulges Honey. Honey played up being cute and childish, and probably reacts more dramatically in order to further soften Mori's nature.
For example, if someone were to see Mori and Honey walking behind them late at night, they would not be as scared as per say Kyouya or the twins.
I think that Honey was sick of being treated as a threat, and played up his preference for cute things in order to be unassuming and treated with less wariness. It also has the benefit of disarming enemies, because they will either underestimate him because he seems to be a child, become paranoid, because there is no way someone that skilled is acting that way unless there was a reason, or scared, because the only way to act like that without consequences is to have the strength to back it up. It also allows Honey to sidestep the social reputation and responsibility that usually falls upon the heir, while still forming the connections necessary, with his peers through the Host Club, and with the business he will be inheriting through the trips.
This can also explain some of the conflict between his brother, as his brother might think that his brother is not upholding himself and the family reputation well enough to keep the clients and increase the deals when he eventually takes over as head. He doesn't see Honey taking deliberate action to cement himself as someone that can be trusted to act because he cares about the person/the job without bringing politics into it, such as favors, ulterior motives, family reputation or money. He doesnt see that Honey's actions make him someone that will finish the job/put the client first without worrying about the impact on the family such a client or job will give if there are complications. He simply sees someone putting their selfish desires above the family, or perhaps that Honey is being dishonorable by masking his danger/deceiving others. (Like somebody expecting a fistfight, not knowing their opponent has a knife.)
Another bonus of Honey being upfront about what he likes is that it makes him more impervious to blackmail. They cannot blackmail him for liking cute things or cake because people already know. It's also common enough knowledge that he's 'harmless' that no one will believe that he is a threat to them specifically. If someone revealed a dirty fight, the public would either not believe it was him, or believe he had very good reason to do so.
However, Honey's habits, specifically the sheer amount of cake he eats and naps he takes, and his subsequent reaction to being woken up, doesn't quite fit in for someone playing up cute habits. However, considering that Honey is short and probably has to partake in a lot of physical fitness out of school hours and after school club, it makes more sense.
Let's say school hours are 8-3. and club hours 3-5:30. Because he's in intense martial arts, it wouldn't be surprising to have both early morning and late night practice, one for working out, the other for technique/sport. (ie: in track, early morning lifts, then afternoon track workouts) Assuming all homework takes only two hours a night, I think his schedule would look similar to this?
5:30-7, 7-7:30, 7:30-8, 8-11:30 12-3 , 3-5, 5-5:30
Exercise, Food, Drive, Classes, Ouran, Drive,
5:30-6, 6-7:15, 7:30-9, 9:10-9:20, 9:20-10:20, 10:30
Dinner, Hw, Exercise, Shower, Hw pt 2, Bed
That gives around 7 hours of sleep, if he sleeps on the drive over, 8, when teens require 9-10, and athletes should also get more due to amount of calories burned/stress. No wonder if he takes a nap he gets cranky being woken up.
Since he's short, he also can't eat as much in one sitting as someone taller, say Mori, can, and he'll be burning through a lot more calories to keep up if not beat them in martial arts (as he probably needs to be faster to combat their greater reach/ work harder to match their strength.) Knowing martial arts is about discipline, he probably was also encouraged to wait until meal times to eat/ indulge. Having said that, I wouldn't be surprised if he has little to no body fat, and is eating more fast to digest, calorie dense foods such as cakes, and napping/moving less in order to reduce an unintentional calorie defecit. His family/ Honey may also be pushing him/himself harder to make sure the cake/ time spent at the club isn't impacting his fitness, which exasterbates the problem.
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In conclusion, I think Honey acting more childish is beneficial to him both socially and politically, as well as personally. I also believe that Honey does not need to get rid of his vice as much as supplement it with similarly calorie dense foods, and increase snacking. I think that would lead to him being healthier than simply taking away his confections would. (I do not think a person in martial arts and the required discipline would respond that badly to having confections being taken away, especially for a good cause, unless there was more than just loving sweets at play).














