Disclaimer: I do not own Ouran High School Host Club and High School Musical. The lyrics do not belong to me.

Up on the snowy mountains of Kyoto, Japan lied one of the most expensive and notorious ski lodges. If one were to peek through one of the windows of the upper floor tonight, they might see a person twirling in the room, skirt swirling and long, red hair flowing. Despite the feminine attire, the voice was clearly male. Ryoji Fujioka clasped his palms to his cheeks and spoke with bright red lips.

"Oh, I can't believe we've been invited to this lodge for free and now our week is almost over!" He gushed before turning around and taking notice of his companion. "What're you still doing reading that book?!"

He snatched the book away from the young girl's hands, causing her to protest. "Dad! Give that back!"

"No way. All you've been doing all week is read or study!" He stuck out his tongue. "There's a kids' party going on downstairs. Go join them and have fun. And that's an order!"

His daughter obliged, though reluctantly. "Fine, but on one condition," she said, and then held out her hand. "I still have my book."

The tranny shook his head as he watched his soon-to-be high school student pick up her book and leave downstairs. It had been ten years since her mother passed away, and she still hadn't changed. He wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. Still though…

He smiled inwardly to himself. I hope she'll have a lot of fun this year…

OURAN HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL

CHAPTER 1: The End of Something New?

When people heard the name Suoh, they recognized one of the most powerful companies in Japan. They knew of the cumulating hotel chains and prestigious schools built across the country. But the name Tamaki Suoh gave off a different impression, and that was because Tamaki simply had no interest in his family's business. When people heard his name, the name of the youthful bright-eyed boy, they knew of his flamboyant antics and boyish charm. They looked at him as the boy who had too much time on his hands, jumping on and off from different hobbies and running his mouth with flowery speeches from childhood years spent flipping through dictionary pages.

Especially when it came to the ladies. Oh, the ladies.

For one of the most expansive ski lodges in the mountains, the floor downstairs looked just like any other teen party. High school students had to celebrate before the end of spring break would inevitably roll over soon. Dim lights of a disco ball scanned the room of dancing youths. Among the music and chatter, the sultry voice of a particular boy could be heard.

"It's amazing how a place could be so crowded, but I feel as if only you and I are in the world," he whispered in a girl's ear, causing the cheeks of his seatmate to flush.

A couch with Tamaki seated could not sit alone without a flock of girls swarmed around. With a princely demeanor and a pair of lips full of sweet-talk, Tamaki was, undoubtedly, a shameless ladies' man. Girls giggled softly as the blonde poured out more flirty compliments, each oozing with pretty words and charm— until a familiar voice interrupted their reverie.

"Still playing around and putting off our duties, are we?"

Tamaki put his chin up to stare at the upside-down image of a middle-aged man in a business suit. Underneath the polished hair and light wrinkles, he bore a vaguely similar appearance of the boy sitting on the couch. Tamaki sighed and properly turned around to face the man.

"If you wanted me to go with you to your associates' meeting upstairs, maybe you shouldn't be allowing a party down here, Father."

"It's New Years, isn't it?" Yuzuru replied. "Besides, we had all agreed on a casual setting. You wouldn't know, of course, since you didn't bother to join our last conference either."

Despite the scolding, he smiled teasingly at his son. Yuzuru knew Tamaki didn't like talking about sales and industries. Inheriting the Suoh business was something he still hadn't decided on yet.

Not enjoying looking like the bad guy, the boy quickly changed the subject. "And by being here, aren't you straying from your duties too?" he retorted.

"Of course not. I've been receiving complaints of a little boy running around the lodge and causing a ruckus, so I'm on the lookout for him right now."

The switched topic didn't stick for long though, because the girls sitting with Tamaki brought it back.

"Oh, Tamaki! Why don't you go with your father?" one gushed.

"I would love to see you in a business suit!"

Tamaki smiled at their requests. "As handsome as I would look in a business suit, I'd much rather prefer spending time with you ladies and making you happy…"

As he spoke, the boy took one of the girl's hands into his own as the others squealed. Yuzuru closed his eyes and shook his head before leaving the love-infested group alone.

"Where will you go in this world, I wonder…"

Just as Yuzuru vanished, the music over the speakers came to a stop. A person's voice took over for an announcement. A spotlight shined on a small stage where the announcer could be seen, speaking into one of the two microphones positioned.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time!" he called. "A New Years' party just isn't complete without a friendly game of karaoke!"

The cheers of the crowd supported his proposition. Tamaki's head shot up at the word karaoke. What a fantastic idea! Immediately he jumped up and pumped a flying hand in the air. "I will sing!"

The announcer blinked. "Oh, well… I was planning on randomly selecting two people…" He started to smile as Tamaki confidently strolled up on stage with a grin, winking at the squealing girls amongst the crowd. "But here's an even better idea: who will be the lucky lady singing with the single and only child of Suoh tonight?"

The loud clamor of females in the audience drowned out the music. They chased after the new spotlight dancing across the room, each in the hopes that light will stop on them. It shot towards a far-off corner on the other side. Tamaki's eyes strained to see the chosen girl. She had been reading a book on the couch, but was now gawking up, confused as to why a crowd of people were grabbing and ushering her to go on. Any protest from the girl was muted by the rowdiness and excitement from others. Eventually she was pushed to the center of the stage next to Tamaki.

He examined her. She had long brown hair that reached to her back, and large eyes. Though dressed in a plain middle school uniform, she looked to be about his age. He wondered, noting the simplicity of her outfit, how she was able to stay in his father's first-class ski lodge.

When the mysterious brunette caught him staring, Tamaki offered a kind smile in hopes of comforting her. She must be nervous, having landed herself in center stage in front of so many people—and of course, standing right next to the Tamaki Suoh.

But when he smiled at her, instead of blushing or giggling like most other girls would in his presence, she simply returned it with a blank and slightly puzzled stare.

The girl opened her mouth to say something, but a new song blared out of the speakers. Microphones were shoved into the two's hands, and Tamaki noticed the convenient TV screen in front of them with the lyrics. He smoothened out his hair, waiting for his cue, and proudly pressed the microphone close to his lips.

"Living in my own world!" he sang loudly, acting out dramatic hand gestures with every line he read. "Didn't understand!"

Despite the overly enthusiastic performance, Tamaki had a decent voice. It was enough to have the crowd cheering and clapping along.

"That anything can happen, when you take the chance!!!"

With his verse completed, he turned to his partner excitedly for her part. Strangely though, she had been gawking at the boy and his singing dumbfounded until she realized her cue. She snapped her head back to the microphone as lyrics scrolled up the screen. The audience looked up at the girl eagerly, and Tamaki held his breath, waiting for the beautiful voice to breathe out of the young maiden's lips.

"Um…" She leaned closer towards her microphone. "Sorry, I don't sing."

Tamaki blinked. The audience went silent.

The girl who had just spoken slightly bowed her head, mumbled "sorry", and left the stage. The microphone feedback made a shrill ring as she faded into the crowd. Tamaki stretched an arm after her. "Wait—!"

"Who's going to sing the duet with Tamaki now?" Murmurs filled the air. "I can't believe she refused to sing with Tamaki!" "Who was she, anyway?" "I've never seen that girl in this area…"

The confusion and cluster among the crowd made it harder for Tamaki to locate the girl with long brown hair, but he wouldn't have had the time to anyway when another girl stepped on stage. "I'll sing with you, Tamaki."

"Ah! Ayanokoji-senpai will sing instead!"

"Lucky! She goes to Ouran with him, doesn't she?"

"Oh…" Tamaki gripped his microphone tighter. He wanted to follow after that girl from before, but he had to remember to still finish the song. "Okay," he said, loosening back up and smiling at the magenta-haired woman.

Just one song. One song, and then he could look for her.


Now who'd of ever thought that

We'd both be here tonight?

And the world looks so much brighter

With you by my side…


Now that was embarrassing.

Haruhi Fujioka sat slouched on her stool, hunched forward on the table. Luckily for her, this room was much quieter – a lonely mini-bar in the lodge, with no one else around but a bartender and a few other people. She could still hear the karaoke music from the other room pounding against the walls though.

The girl sighed. She thought the purpose for coming to her school's chairman's ski lodge was to meet the chairman himself, but she hadn't spotted him at all the past week here. It seemed her father had only dragged her to the mountains just as an excuse to take a vacation and goof around.

"Would you like a drink, miss?" the bartender offered.

Haruhi shook her head. "No thanks. It's against the law for minors to drink."

She enrolled in Ouran Academy under a scholarship for one specific reason: to become a lawyer. Haruhi didn't see how skiing and singing karaoke had any relevance to that. She had a rather lethargic attitude to these things instead; singing and anything particularly musical had never been her specialty, and she certainly didn't see any fun in it either. Actually, she found standing on stage next to that flamboyant, blonde boy to be embarrassing. Rich people were so strange, or maybe that could just be him. Thank goodness I'll never have to sing with him again in the future…

Suddenly Haruhi felt a poke on her back and a tug at her hair. When she turned around, a little boy wearing a cap backwards was scurrying out of the room. What's that kid doing running around here?

"Haruhi!" She heard her father's voice call her outside. Behind the window, a man with wavy, long hair was waving his arm excitedly. "Hurry, they're going to start the fireworks for New Years!"

"Okay, I'm coming!" she replied.

New Years, new beginnings… she hoped her new life in Ouran would go by smoothly. Study, study, study – those were her plans for the New Year.

As Haruhi stood up and walked towards the outside exit to meet her father, she felt something pull her hair back. Looking back, her eyes followed the trail of her long strands of hair to see it all lead to the edge of the table – secured by a sticky, bubble gum wad.

Hey, that kid…


This could be the start of something new

It feels so right to be here with you

And now looking in your eyes, I feel in my heart

The start of something new…


"Excuse me, have you seen a girl with long, brown hair walking by here? She was wearing a school uniform."

That girl was nowhere to be found during the party, so Tamaki tried looking around in the rooms nearby instead. He found a mini-bar, where he spotted a bartender shaking his head gloomily before setting a wastebasket on the floor.

The bartender took a pair of scissors that had been left on the counter and placed it back in the drawers. "Sorry. She was here just a few minutes ago, but then she left."

"Oh…" Tamaki said, disappointed. "Thank you anyway."

The blonde trudged back to the karaoke room, but not before hearing the other man mumble something along the lines of "such a waste of hair…" to himself. Tamaki didn't know what that was all about, but he was too discouraged to care. Though Ayanokoji had a pleasant singing voice, he had wanted to sing with the other girl. After all, it must had been fate that the two were both chosen to sing together (nevermind the fact that he had volunteered himself). There was something intriguing about her, something about her world that he wanted to know.

But, well, she was gone now. He couldn't do anything about that. Tamaki had to acknowledge the high probability that he would never meet that girl again.

"Five! Four! Three! Two! One! Happy New Year!!!"

Tamaki looked outside the window and watched the fireworks flying in the air. They lit up the starry night with rays and sparks of hope and possibilities.

New Years, new beginnings… he hoped his second year in Ouran would be full of adventures. Fun, fun, fun – those were his plans for the New Year.

And though tonight had been the end of something new, when Tamaki watched the fireworks dancing in the sky, he had a feeling he'd meet that girl again.

To be continued…?


Should I continue?