Chapter 1

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

However little known the feelings of such a man may be upon his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of surrounding families, that he is considered to be the property of one or another of their daughters." (Jane Austin)

It was with this very philosophy that Mrs. Fujioka entered the sanctuary of her husband's library one day. At the time of her appearance, Ryoji (Ranka) Fujioka, just happened to be succumbing to one of his most embarrassing vices: dressing as a (rather gorgeous) female and gazing at his appearance in a mirror.

"My dear Mr. Fujioka," said his lady, Misuzu, to him, not looking at all surprised at his drag-queen nature. "Did you know that someone has at last moved into Netherfield?"

He replied that he did not, and said, "Misuzu, didn't I tell you time and again never to come in here while I'm…. preparing for my business?"

"Oh, come now. Everyone knows what you spend your hours in here doing every day. (And at tranny bars!) You look very cute, by the way. But never mind that. Mrs. Yasumara has just been here and told me all about the new owner of Netherfield. Don't you wish to know who has taken it?"

"You want to tell me, and I don't object to hearing it."

This was invitation enough for her. She promptly explained to her husband how a man by the name of Tamaki Suoh had come to take residency at Netherfield. "And he is single, to be sure," she continued. "Such a fine man of large fortune: what a refreshing thing for our girls!" Stars could be seen in her eyes as she clutched her hands to her heart.

"Oh really? How does this affect them?" There was a slightly irritated tone in Ranka's voice when he said this. Though he wished the best for his daughters, he still had an overprotective nature that would not allow him to speak of such things comfortably.

"You must know I am thinking of him marrying one of them!"

This was too much for poor old Ryoji. "How could you think of such a thing?! Romance begets mischief! I'll have none of that for our daughters!"

"Oh, nonsense! It is, however, very likely that he will fall in love with one of them, which is why we must welcome him into the neighborhood so we can introduce them to him as soon as he comes!"

"I will not go to see him only to promote mischief in this household!"

"But think of your daughters, and what good a refreshing young man would do for them! If we don't see him, Mrs. Yasumara surely will. She has a daughter of her own to think of, you know. She'll snatch him up for Mei like a crook in the night!"

Ranka's demeanor seemed to change after she said this. It wasn't so much that what she said made sense as he was embarrassed at his own silliness. Misuzu, however, thought that she had won him over. She was a woman of little understanding and whose goal in life was to get her daughters married to refreshing young men, her reward for this being news and visits. When she was discontented, she thought of herself as nervous.

On the other hand, Mr. Fujioka proved to be an odd character indeed. Hovering between bi and complete homo-sexuality, he was a mixture of folly, sly quickness, and sarcastic humor that his current wife couldn't keep up with. He could never be as much in love with a woman as he was with his first wife, Kotoko Fujioka. With her he had fathered his eldest daughter, Hinata, and his very favorite, Haruhi.

"I'm sure Mr. Suoh would be very happy with our visit and my permission to marry any daughter of ours that he chooses. Of course, I have to slip in a good word for my dear Haruhi. "

"You'd better not do such a thing! Why is it that you're always giving Haruhi the preference, when she is not nearly as beautiful as Hinata and not half as good humored as Sakura?"

"They are all silly girls, and don't have much to recommend them. Haruhi, on the other hand, possesses a certain quickness of mind and sensibility that the other girls lack."

"How could you bash your children so? You have no sympathy for my poor nerves!"

"You are quite mistaken; I have a high respect for your nerves. You have mentioned them and your need of refreshment for the past twenty or so years."

It was just then that Sukura walked in. Seeing her father "all dressed up for work" made her giggle. "Sorry to interrupt, father, but I have just come in to pick up the necklace I left here for the party this Saturday."

"Party, what party?" inquired Mrs. Fujioka.

"Oh, didn't you hear? Mr. Suoh is hosting a house warming/formal dance party at his house this Saturday! Everyone's invited!"

"How refreshing! It seems that we will meet him after all!" Mr. Fujioka sighed at the thought. Of course, he would be staying at home to avoid all of the commotion.

The Longbourne house, (This was where the Fujiokas lived) was in excitement. The four Fujioka sisters spent their time preparing for the party, anxious to meet their host and see what he was like, for nothing as exciting as this ever happened in their small country neighborhood. Sakura was currently looking up Tamaki's name on google, hoping to find a picture of him.

"Ah ha! Found him! My Gami he's cute! " Renge rushed to the computer and stood behind her sister.

"This is just like in one of my videogames, where the hopeful lover researches her crush, only to find that he was a psycho axe murderer! I wonder who this guy killed…" Renge's experiences with her dating sims and romance novels gave her an awareness of relationships, character development, and thickening plot that didn't nearly make up for her lack of sense in other areas, so she often confused fiction with reality.

Hinata and Haruhi remained in their comfortable positions on the couch, staring at his image from afar.

"He is rather handsome," commented Hinata with a blush, tucking her long, silky black hair behind her ear. (She had a thing for cute blond guys, like Naruto, but since he isn't in this story… *sigh*) Haruhi nodded. She wasn't easily taken by gorgeous figures. She was a very intelligent girl, and respected the like in her partner, whoever that would be. She always had men fawning over her and her sister, until quite recently, when she had to cut her hair after the gum incident. As she was small chested and didn't wear girly clothing, a lot of people now mistook her for a boy, which got her screaming fan girls instead of fawning guys. She laughed at the irony.

"Well, I think I'll go shopping for Mom. I'll see you guys in a couple of hours." Haruhi presently got up and was off for the market.

Haruhi was shopping for a dress as well as food, as per her father's request. He always suggested to her that she should dress more womanly and try to show off her curves, as strange as this was for a father who wanted to avoid mischief. Though she had to admit, she enjoyed it, especially when her favorite uncles, Hikaru and Kauru Hitachan, were there to accompany her, seeing as they were always into the newest fashions.

"Hmmm… No no… That one is way too revealing for her," Hikaru was turning Haruhi around, viewing her in the strapless black dress he picked out for her.

"I agree. Let's hit the next store, maybe we'll find something there," Kauru handed Haruhi the hanger so she could change back into her clothes.

"Thanks guys. Sorry I'm so much trouble to shop for," Haruhi smiled at the two of them warmly. Her uncles, unlike her senseless mother, were always very supportive of her and were always available to offer her their advice. If they didn't live far away from Hertfordshire, she would surely visit them more often.

"No problem. We'll be looking next door while you change."

Outside of the mall, Tamaki Suoh pulled up in his sleek, black limousine, talking on his cell phone. "Are you sure you can't come? Shopping in commoner's stores is so much fun! Oh, OK, I see. Bye Kyoya!" He sighed; sometimes his friend was such a killjoy party pooper. Ah well, for him it was off to the joys of the commoner's mall to whisk away his troubles.

He walked happily through the mall, not paying attention to any item in particular, though he did catch the eyes of a few lovely ladies. As he was waving to one, not paying attention to where he was going, he made contact with someone, knocking the person over.

"I'm very sorry, sir. Please excuse my clumsiness. As you can see, such things often happen when I am charmed by beautiful women. I'm sure you have your own share of admirers." He then offered his hand to help the person up, who just happened to be Haruhi. She recognized him from the photo Sakura had pulled up on the internet, and blushed, embarrassed at her current state. Tamaki, seeing her flustered appearance, assumed it was for… other reasons and said, "Ah, I see. You have a taste for other men," Tamaki almost seemed embarrassed as well, but then he added, "Don't worry, I'm not here to judge," and offered his hand again.

"Oh, no, I'm not a bo-" she was cut off when Hikaru and Kauru arrived, presenting yet another dress to her.

"Here, Haruhi! We just found the perfect outfit for you! Look, we even got a matching purse! "

Composing herself, Haruhi took Tamaki's hand and stood up. "Thank you." She brushed herself off, and turned to her uncles.

"Wait, you aren't a boy? Oh, I'm terribly sorry for the confusion. I hope I didn't offend you," now it was Tamaki's turn to blush.

"Don't worry about it. It's a common mistake, since I had to cut my hair and everything. Here's what my hair used to look like." She presented him a picture on her camera phone of her, one Mei had taken about two weeks ago.

"Wow," Tamaki admired the photo, somewhat checking her out.

"Yeah, I know; big difference. Well, I better go try on this dress-"

"Are you coming to the party? The one at Netherfield, I mean…"

"Oh yes! I am, along with my mother and three sisters."

"Well, I look forward to seeing you all there… Oh, I haven't quite gotten your name yet," Tamaki scratched the back of his neck.

"It's Haruhi, Haruhi Fujioka."

"Well, I look forward to seeing you this Saturday, Haruhi Fujioka."

"Wait a second, are you telling me that you met him, and that he mistook you for a guy?" Sakura was in shock. Haruhi had arrived with the groceries, and had related the events of the shopping trip to Hinata. Sakura, of course, eavesdropped on their conversation.

Ranka had just come downstairs with Misuzu, and heard all of what Sakura had just said. "What kind of idiot thought that Haruhi was a man? When I find him, I'll throttle him, and…"

"Don't fret, papa," Haruhi soothed him. "It was a tiny mistake. And anyway, he said he was glad to hear that we're coming to his party this Saturday."

"He did? Oh, how wonderful! Then you can introduce us all to him!" Misuza was overcome with joy at the prospect, and seemed to be proud with her second daughter, as she often was with Hinata.

While her step-mother was babbling on and on about how refreshing this would be to her old nerves, Haruhi pulled Hinata into the bedroom they shared so they could finish their conversation in private.

"So," asked Hinata, "what do you think of him?" Despite the admiration of the photo she saw earlier, there was no jealousy in her voice. Haruhi loved this about her sister. She was the kindest creature she ever knew, and often put the happiness of others above her own.

"He seemed to be a very fine man, but I don't know… He's not really my type. A little flamboyant and overdramatic if you ask me."

Hinata giggled. "Why must you criticize everyone you meet? He sounds like a great guy."

"It's not my criticism so much as the fact that you find it hard to think ill of anyone."

"It's not that I don't want to see people in that way; it's just the way I view the world. I always give people the benefit of the doubt before I judge their character."

"And your natural kindness is the wonder. Sure, there are people who feign innocence and benevolence, but you are just the way you are." She then gave her sister a hug before they got ready for bed.