AN: Hi Everyone! This story is based off a dream I had the other night. This is probably the most descriptive thing I have ever written. Flashbacks and thoughts are in italics, sorry if you get confused!

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN OURAN HIGH SCHOOL HOST CLUB OR ITS CHARACTERS!

The Moonlight Masquerade

The long blonde wig whipped the girl's cheeks as the golden cascade tumbled down from the top of her head. Murky blue eyes stared at her from the mirror, the colored contacts hiding her gorgeous chocolate-brown eyes. She looked so different from her usual school outfit. Looking into the mirror, she compared her current dress to her everyday uniform. The lilac dress jacket and white dress shirt underneath were gone. A ruffled, rose-colored dress now hid her flat chest. An oversized pink bow took the place of her normal skinny black tie. Her gaze traveled lower down her body. The straight legged black dress pants she normally wore to school were replaced by a long, flowing skirt, rose-colored with a light flower pattern. Only one more thing was left. Shuffling around the hair accessories and contact solution which sat on her desk, she found exactly what she was looking for. Brushing her fingers tenderly over the silky object, she grabbed the elastic band on the back of the accessory. Lifting it up carefully, she placed the band around her head and the beautiful mask hid her face. Her now-blue eyes were visible behind the delicate wall of pale pink. The girl's soft pink lips stood out against her pale face. Only the bottom half of her face could be seen. She pushed the blonde wig out from behind the elastic band, but a small lock of light brunette hair dared to peek out. Gently replacing the strand of hair back into its place in her short brown mess with a bobby pin, a sound could be heard as her father creaked open the door. Startled, she turned around to face the intruder. Her facial features relaxed as she recognized the familiar face looking at her smiling.

"Haruhi, you look beautiful," her father whispered, scanning his daughter's outfit. It was so unusual to see her like this. As a girl. She was truly gorgeous.

Haruhi blushed beneath her mask. It wasn't an ordinary thing to be told she looked beautiful. The normal compliments she received were either "cute" from Hunny-senpai, or "handsome" from the girls Haruhi hosted for. Haruhi genuinely liked being a host and almost wished her debt was never repaid so that she could stay with the Host Club, but some days it was nice to have the chance to be a girl. Like tonight. The night of the Ouran Masquerade Ball.

"So Haruhi, are you going to the ball next week?" Hikaru asked, placing his chin on her left shoulder.

"Yeah it will be really fun. They have it every year," Kaoru said, copying his twin's movement in a very Hitachiin-like manner.

"There's a masquerade ball?" Haruhi was as oblivious as ever. But she was new to Ouran Academy and she didn't know about the different events they had.

Sighing simultaneously at their classmate's confusion, the twins answered in unison, "Yes and you're going Haruhi."

Haruhi didn't know; balls weren't her thing. It was awkward dancing with girls and at the Host Club's last party, Haruhi was tricked into kissing a girl. She cringed at the memory of it. "I'll think about it," she told the twins, but her mind was screaming, NO!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~A Few Days Later~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Haruhi, come here please," a cool voice called to her, followed by a barrage of the sounds of typing and clicking. The Host Club was over today, all the girls and most of the guys had already left. It was Haruhi's day to stay later to help clean up and Kyoya-senpai stayed late every day to finish the daily calculations. She walked over to where the raven-haired male was sitting, still furiously typing on his laptop. With a couple clicks and a last sentence or two being typed, Kyoya closed his computer to face her.

Pushing his glasses farther up the bridge of his nose, the reflected light hiding his onyx eyes, Kyoya said, "It is mandatory for all hosts to be at the masquerade ball. I have heard from the Hitachiins that you still haven't told them whether you are going or not, so I'm telling you that you need to be there."

Those stupid Hitachiins, thought Haruhi. She had already decided beforehand that she wasn't going, but, of course, the Host Club had to ruin that for her.

"Regarding your situation," Kyoya continued, eyeing Haruhi's boy uniform, "because it is a masquerade, you are not required to hide your gender. I can assume that dancing with the opposite sex is uncomfortable for you, so if you like, you may dress as a girl."

"I can?" asked Haruhi, warming up to the idea.

"Yes, you may dress as a girl," he reiterated calmly, his voice never giving any intimation to his true feelings. Kyoya leaned over and pulled something out of his bag. He placed it in front of her and Haruhi looked at the cover. It was a catalog. For dresses. So that was it, Kyoya-senpai wanted her to pick out her outfit now. Why did he want her to pick it out now? Wait, why did Kyoya have a dress catalog sitting in his bag?

"Okay," she said, opening the catalog and paging through many sleeveless and short dresses. NO WAY, her head screamed as she looked at one dress. Low cut, no sleeves, actually it was strapless, and ended far above the knees. Yikes! The guys in the Host Club would love, the nasty perverts.

"If I may make a suggestion," Kyoya began, sliding the book towards him. He flipped towards the back of the catalog and pushed it back towards Haruhi. "Ball Gowns" the title page read. She continued scanning the different pages until her finger landed on one. Her eyes grew wide as she looked over the dress. It was beautiful, words really couldn't describe it. She started to say that she had found the dress she wanted, but her voice caught in her throat as she saw the price. There was no way she could afford it.

"Hmm?" Kyoya's eyebrows rose as he watched Haruhi's expression change. Hiding his amusement, he grabbed the catalog from her hands. It was quite an expensive gown, but it was also quite pretty. Renting it would cut down on the price, but it was still quite a bit of yen coming from his own pocket, or the Host Club's pocket that is. "Is this the one you'd like?"

There was no way that it was right for her to ask for this dress. The price was outstanding. But still, Haruhi felt herself squeak out, "Yes."

Kyoya opened up his laptop once more, and began figuring the cost of Haruhi's dress into the Host Club's funds. Her ever-shrinking debt to them rose significantly as he added in the cost of the dress, keeping Haruhi with them all for a little longer. "That's all I needed, you may go."

Sluggishly, Haruhi exited Music Room 3. Her feet dragged across the floor, her thoughts racing. That was easy, too easy. That gown was so expensive yet Kyoya willingly agreed to buy it for her. Haruhi disregarded this act of kindness and began her long walk home.

Kyoya had gotten the dress to her yesterday and it was more beautiful in person, if that was even possible. The second-year mentioned nothing of the price as he gave it to her, along with the colored contacts and blonde wig. He said something about hiding her real identity as best as possible. Haruhi agreed, she would've agreed to anything Kyoya had said just as long as she got the dress.

Now here she was, in her dream gown, about to head off to a masquerade ball. Haruhi felt arms loosely wrap around her, hugging her softly. "You're so grown up," her father whispered with tears in his eyes. "Your mom would be so proud of you. God knows I am."

She was just going to a ball! It wasn't like she was getting married or graduating, or anything too extreme, but Haruhi bared no ill will towards her father. She was grateful for the compliment and could only hope that her mom in heaven was proud of her.

Stumbling only once in her strappy heels, Haruhi managed to make it to Ouran Academy unharmed. Her father had offered to drive her, but she knew that they couldn't waste gas to go somewhere Haruhi could walk to. Numerous limos greeted her in the now-full parking lot. On a normal day, cars were scattered around scarcely in the large lot. The faint glow of lights from the ball shone from the ever-moving door as people went in an endless stream to the masquerade. Were there really that many kids in the school? Then Haruhi remembered that the lower schools were invited also, grade level was determined by the color feather you had on your mask. She had forgotten her green feather! Green signified that she was a first-year in high school, and it was important that other people knew what grade you were in. Haruhi scrambled around in her purse to find her cell phone. Maybe one of the Host Club members could get her a feather, because she did not want to have to walk back home in these heels. She flipped up her cheap phone, a birthday present from her father so that she didn't have to use the one from the Hitachiins, and scrolled through the directory. Haruhi was just about to dial Hikaru's number when she realized that Hikaru probably wouldn't recognize her. She scrolled down a little farther and until she found Kyoya's number. Haruhi pressed the green call button and after three rings, Kyoya picked up.

"Hello?"

"Kyoya-senpai, it's Haruhi. I'm right outside the school and I forgot my green feather! I really don't want to have to walk back home so I was wondering–"

"I see where you are, the Ohtori limo is pulling up now. I can get you your feather no problem, but it'll cost you," he added with a very Kyoya-like devil laugh.

"Than–" Haruhi was cut off by the sound of the phone connection ending. "–nk you," she finished to herself. She saw a large stretch limo pull around and headlights flashed on her. Blinking, she held up her arm to block the fierce light. She heard a door slam and footsteps walking towards her. The limo pulled away, releasing Haruhi from the blinding light. A taller boy dressed in a simple, but refined navy blue suit walked towards her. In his hand sat two feathers, one green and one blue. Haruhi approached him and took the green feather from his hand.

"Thanks Kyoya-senpai," she said, bowing her head in respect and appreciation. He gave her a curt nod and walked away towards the entrance without a word. She attached the green feather to the side of her pale pink mask and lifted up her dress to walk to the door. She had tripped over the long skirt more than once on her way there. She got to the door and walked to the back of a short line. Kyoya was already inside. There was a younger girl standing in front of Haruhi, who had an orange feather in her mask, signifying that she was a first-year in middle school. The line moved fast and soon Haruhi was up towards the front.

"Welcome to the Ouran Academy Masquerade Ball," a kind voice greeted her and a taller man held out his arm for her. His magenta feather told Haruhi that he was an escort, a chaperone. He let her free in the grand ballroom of the academy. There were plenty of people already there and some still arriving.

Haruhi looked around the large ballroom with a sweeping glance. There were plenty of different things to do. An extensive table of food graced the left side of the room. A simple band played soft tunes to dance with. Many couples crowded the dance floor, while others stood around the room, almost waiting for someone to offer to dance with them. Haruhi walked over to a group of girls, carefully skirting the edge of the dance floor. She didn't recognize anyone and thankfully, no one was able to recognize her. About five girls stood around in a circle, but did not speak to each other, they just stared at a close grouping of guys. Six tall guys were standing around, whispering closely to each other. Clearly, they knew who the people in the group were. Haruhi tried to see if she knew any of them, but then realized that they may have had wigs on, like she did. She turned away from the group of guys and looked around the ballroom some more. Haruhi felt a light tap on her shoulder and she turned to see a boy from the group of six bowing to her.

"Hello milady. Would you care to dance?" He held out his arm. Haruhi stood there, dumbfounded. Someone had asked her to dance! She quickly looked the boy over. He was wearing a silver-blue suit with a dark turquoise tie. He looked very handsome. The boy's eyes that were barely hidden by a pale blue mask, were a dark brown color. They looked like the color changing contacts that Haruhi had. The boy had shaggy brown hair that hung in a mess around his face. That looked like a wig too. She looked to his mask to see what color his feather was, but he didn't have one.

Standing up, the boy said, "I'm afraid I forgot my feather milady. My deepest apologies."

Now or never, Haruhi thought, taking the boy's outstretched arm. "I would love to dance." The boy gave her a broad grin.

He pulled Haruhi out to the dance floor, giving a thumbs up to his friends and they nodded in approval. The band started playing a sweet melody. A cute tune to waltz to. Remembering her waltz training as a host, Haruhi placed her hand on the boy's left shoulder. She felt his arm snake around her waist and pull her closely. He grasped her hand and started to lead. The first few steps where shaky for Haruhi. She kept looking down at her feet to make sure she didn't step on his toes. Haruhi felt a strong hand grab her chin and lift it. "Just look right at me," the boy whispered softly, releasing her face. Their eyes were level with each other's now. They continued their dance and Haruhi drew strength from the boy's confident gaze. She began to relax and realized that she didn't need to tell her feet where to go anymore, they knew exactly what to do, where to step, as if she belonged there, in that moment, with this masked boy.

Soon, oh too soon, the music stopped as the band took their break. Haruhi stepped away, crushed that their dance was over now. The boy's face mirrored her feelings, because neither of them wanted the moment to end.

She tried to ask him his name, but her voice caught in her throat. No guy at her school knew Haruhi was a girl, except for the Host Club and a few other special people, and it wouldn't be right for her to ask for his name without offering up her own.

"Will you walk with me?" the boy asked, flashing Haruhi a small adorable smile. She nodded and he led her through a tangle of people. He helped her upstairs, and then continued to guide her someplace. Haruhi didn't know where she was being taken exactly, but something inside of her told her to trust him. She glanced around the now-empty corridor, everyone was in the ballroom, and realized that she recognized the place. She walked here everyday afterschool. Why was she being led here?

"This place is very important to me," the boy said gesturing to the sign about the door. "It's not your ordinary music room." He laughed and pushed open the door to Music Room 3.

Haruhi was taken aback. She was with a host! But who? With the wig and contacts, it was impossible to know who had made her feel so at ease. She almost wished this mysterious boy hadn't taken her here though. It almost stole away from the magic of the evening. But, since he was a host, it was almost a good thing. She could reveal her identity and find out who the host was who had seemed to have stolen her heart. Haruhi pushed away the last thought. She had had a good time, but she was most certainly not in love.

"I can see by your feather that you're a first-year. Perhaps you have heard of the Host Club that resides here," he questioned as the boy led Haruhi to the center of the room.

"Yes I have," she replied, finally able to talk. She didn't say anymore out of fear of revealing who she was. This was all so confusing! She wanted to know who he was, but didn't want him to know who she was!

"I thought so. I feel as though I've met you before. I want to know if I have. Please, may we reveal our identities to each other?"

A mental feud went on in Haruhi's head. Yes! No! Yes! The internal war raged on. She had to satisfy her curiosity, but didn't want to be disappointed if this guy didn't turn out to be the host she wanted. Like she wanted any host! She gulped and said, "Okay, you turn one way, and I'll face the other. We can both take off our masks, wigs and contacts," the boy's eyes widened as he realized that she saw through his disguise, but she ignored it and continued, " and when we're both ready, I'll count to three and we'll turn and face each other."

The boy dipped his head in agreement and turned his back towards her. Haruhi turned around as well and took off her mask. She placed her pink disguise on a nearby table and struggled to get the bobby pins on her wig out. Finally, the last clip was free and the blonde mass of hair was placed next to the mask. Relieved to be free of the heavy burden, Haruhi fluffed out her short brunette hair. She carefully grabbed the blue contact and replaced them with her real ones that she had brought in her purse. Blinking her chocolate-brown eyes, she heard a soft voice ask, "Are you ready milady?"

A warm blush rose on her cheeks and Haruhi struggled to force it away. "Y-yes," her voice cracked. She took a deep breath. This was it. "One," she said shakily. Her mind was still reeling from the events of the night. "Two." Haruhi had easily lost count of how many dances she had performed with the boy. Her mind was lost on his face, all his gorgeous features. "Three," she whispered and turned around.

AN: Dun dun dunnnnn! Cliff-hanger! Who is the mysterious boy? Hmmm? Ideas? Just so you know, this started out as a short one-shot and progressed into a long chaptered story as I wrote it. Hope you liked it! Thanks for reading and R&R!
~Kellie ^-.-^