I have to say, I'm oddly amused that this story has gained so much attention. THANK YOU REVIEWERS! Now your award: an early update. And a cookie.

Translations:

Shukudai: homework

Onegai: please

Sumimasen: excuse me

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Chapter 2.

Recap:

He [Tamaki) was greeted by darkness. He gritted his teeth, clenching his fist. "Damn it!" he cursed, looking down at the ground in defeat. He blinked in surprise, frowning at what caught his eye. By his black polished shoe was a sheet of something that had obviously been dropped by one of the people who disappeared through the door.

Bending to pick it up, he sat crouched, holding the piece of paper with a bewildered look on his face.

"My princess… while she was being abducted…dropped…Algebra homework?" he muttered while staring blankly at the sheet.

Story:

At the Host Club the next day…

Tamaki hunched over the table, chin propped on his fist as his elbow rested on the polished wood tabletop. "Who…could it have been?" he muttered.

"Tama-chan, Tama-chan!" Hunny held up a plate of cake in front of his face. "Try my new cake, please?"

Tamaki nodded absently, sticking the fork in his mouth and glaring at the empty space in front of him. "Who was my princess?" he growled between the cake.

Haruhi bent over her homework, scribbling on a notepad as she drafted out an essay to do with 'mysterious occurrences over the past 30 years'. She frowned in concentration as Tamaki simmered next to her (contemplating over his complicated thoughts), unaware of anything around her.

"Who did I dance with last night?!" Tamaki howled, slamming his palms on the table and standing, face crimson with anger. Haruhi jumped a bit when the table shook under her notepad, but paid no attention otherwise.

Hunny tilted his head in confusion, eyes wide and wondering at Tamaki. "Tama-chan, you didn't like the cake?"

"No, no, Hunny-senpai, it was delicious…" He looked over to Kyoya, straightening and clasping his hands behind his back. "Kyoya!" he barked. "Get me names and pictures of all the female population in this school! Immediately!"

"So I'm your secretary now?" sighed Kyoya, typing a few keys on the laptop and hardly paying attention to the blonde.

"What happened last night that requires the names and pictures, m'lord?" asked the twins, leaning in on the scene, expressions skeptical.

"Last night, a maiden fair and exquisitely beautiful beyond all compare danced with me!" Tamaki announced, sitting back down on his chair and leaning against his elbow. "She had a mask on…and I never got to know her name…"

The twins raised an eyebrow at each other. "Uh huh…" They crept behind Tamaki. Kaoru said softly in Tamaki's ear, "You know, the girl could not have been from this school."

Hikaru nodded and mimed his brother's actions. "The invitation was sent beyond Ouran students. Perhaps the girl could have been a friend of a friend?"

Tamaki frowned deepened. "I have one clue to go off of…"

"A clue?" they asked.

Hunny leaned closer to them, while shoving the cake into his mouth, eyebrow raised.

Nodding, Tamaki whipped out a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and held it up for the twins to see. "Shukudai," he said gravely.

"Shuku…dai?" asked the twins in a perplexed tone, staring blankly at Tamaki's evidence of his madness.

Kaoru snatched the paper from Tamaki, frowning at it. "It's advanced algebra. This girl you danced with seems fit to be in an A class, at least."

Sighing blissfully, Tamaki leaned back in his chair, a serene look on his face. "Yes, she's the perfect maiden for me!" he swooned, putting his hands on his cheeks and rocking back in forth in pleasure. "She's smart, kind, beautiful, intelligent, has good handwriting…"

Hikaru peeked over his brother's shoulder, frowning. "…I can't even read the equations."

Tamaki flew up from his seat, advancing on Hikaru with a scowl. "Don't talk about my princess in negative terms!" he bellowed, whacking him over the head with a book he snatched up from the table.

"So you danced with the girl of your dreams…you don't know who she is…and you have only this clue to go off of?" Kaoru asked, holding up the homework in front of Tamaki's face.

Nodding, with a serious look on his face, Tamaki replied, "Hai!"

"Tama-chan's found his Cinderella!" cried Hunny suddenly, beaming.

The three turned their heads to frown at him in confusion. Hunny shrunk under their gazes, muttering, "Well, I think so…"

Mori came up behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. "It was a good explanation, Mitsukuni," he assured him.

"Hunny-kun, Hunny-kun!" cried a short, black-haired customer sitting on the couch, waving her hand and smiling. "Come over here! Onegai?"

Hunny smiled, nodding. "Hai, hai! Here I come!" He bounced over to the crowd of his fans, Mori shrugging and walking after him.

Casually, Kyoya walked up to Tamaki and leaned against the table as he picked up his teacup and sipped the brown substance inside. "If you're so bent on finding out who this mystery princess of yours is, why don't you use the clue you have?"

Tamaki paused. Looking at Kyoya with a new hope rekindling slowly in his eyes, Tamaki whispered, "Yes! That's…A BRILLIANT IDEA!" He sprinted to Kyoya, glomping him. "You're my best friend Kyoya, my best friend!"

Kyoya sighed deeply, closing his eyes in irritation. Fortunately, he was used to Tamaki's spontaneous 'leap-and-crush-with-a-hug' techniques in his direction.

"I'll start now!" he cried in triumph. With a high, happy leap in the air, Tamaki snatched the algebra homework from Kaoru and sprinted to a startled girl sitting on the nearest couch. "Is this yours?" he demanded, gesturing wildly to the algebra homework, face intent.

The girl blinked. "Why, no, I don't believe so…"

"Thank you for your assistance." With a quick, formal bow, he sprinted to the next group of girls, disrupting their conversation to cut in with the same question.

Kaoru, Hikaru, and Kyoya watched with sweat-drops forming on the sides of their heads as their King bounced from group to group, asking the same question repeatedly: "Is this your homework?"

"It's almost…like a repeat of Cinderella," Hikaru said slowly. "Perhaps Hunny-senpai's crazy theory was right," he sighed, shaking his head back and forth while shrugging his shoulders.

Behind them, Haruhi looked up from her homework, just then tuning into her surroundings. "Hikaru…" she began as she frowned out into the empty space.

Turning, Hikaru gave her a smile. "What's on your mind, Haruhi?" he asked, leaning against her chair.

She tapped her chin with her pencil in thought. "I wonder…did you get a glimpse of the man I was dancing with last night before you dragged me away to finish designing my dress?"

Hikaru looked blank for a moment. "When was that?"

"After I left the building. For those five minutes when you were looking for me, I danced with someone. I didn't know who he was, because of his mask…but I was wondering if you saw him before you dragged me away?"

He snapped his fingers. "Ah! I remember now. Kaoru saw him; he was closest to you. Hey, Kaoru!" he called.

Kaoru turned. "What is it?"

"You know when we stole Haruhi away from her first dancing partner to dress her into a new outfit? Did you see him?"

Kaoru stared. "Partner…? Oh, actually…I think I did. His back was turned, so I didn't catch what he looked like at the front…"

"That's because Hunny-senpai fell in the fountain," Haruhi frowned, tilting her head to one side. "We were looking at him."

"Yeah. The guy WAS blonde…I remember that much. It was dark, so I couldn't say for sure."

Hikaru grinned at his twin. "You're more observant than I am."

Haruhi nodded slowly, still swamped by her thoughts. She danced with someone last night…and he was different. Different from all her other partners. As much as she didn't want to be, she was…taken by him. He was all she could think about when she got home from the masquerade. But who was the masked prince she danced with?

"Could it be Tamaki-senpai?" Kaoru asked suddenly.

Haruhi looked up in disbelief. "Wh-What? Senpai?"

"He danced with someone mysterious last night, so he said. Could it be possible that you two danced with each other without knowing it?" Kaoru shrugged.

Haruhi looked over to the rambunctious King, who was bending over to talk to females with a charming smile as he gestured to a piece of paper. She thought of his personality; the way he would have danced with her. It couldn't have been him. This man she danced with was different.

Besides, I see Tamaki-senpai every day, and never feel any significant feelings for him. My heart was racing when I was dancing with whoever-it-was last night, and if it WAS Tamaki-senpai, I'm sure that I wouldn't have felt that way.

She shook her head. "I don't think so."

Kaoru and Hikaru shrugged simultaneously. "Then we're out of ideas."

She sighed. Slammed her homework book shut. "I need to go home early," she announced.

Kyoya looked over at her from his table, the light glinting his glasses. "Already? It's only 4:30. The Host Club doesn't finish until 6:00."

"I know…but I have more things to do than usual today." She managed a small smile. "If I could go early, this once, and if my requests could be held off…that would be really helpful." She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to give in.

Kyoya rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "You think I'll go soft that easily?"

Haruhi raised an eyebrow at him, an exasperated look passing over her face. "Either way I'm going," she declared, standing and walking towards the door.

Kaoru and Hikaru gave each other a look, then waved to Haruhi. "Sayoonara, Haruhi!"

She gave a small wave. Her eyes wandered to Tamaki. Again, she considered that he might have possibly been the masked prince she danced with…Maybe, if she thought about it long enough?…

Impossible.

With a scoff at the silliness of comparing over-reactive Tamaki-senpai to the calm, cool man she danced with, she opened the door and walked out of the music room.

As she stepped a few steps down the hall, she held her notebook to her chest and frowned down at the floor. Why…is the person I danced with…constantly on my mind?

She raised her head as she heard footsteps coming towards her. Her eyes widened as a tall, blonde man passed her. The sweet scent of pine trees blew past her face as he breezed past her. She gasped. Blonde—!

"Sumimasen…!" she cried, spinning on her heel. The words ripped from her before she could stop them.

The young man turned. His face was set in a frown, his familiar brilliant blue eyes peeking out in confusion from his blonde hair that draped over his face.

"Chotto," she began awkwardly, not sure what to say. "W-Were you at the masquerade last night?"

He nodded slowly. "I…was."

He could be…! Haruhi stared at him, paralysed and unable to say anymore. She didn't have to. The door of the music room burst open, slamming against the wall at full force and nearly coming off its hinges when it did.

"HARUHI!" echoed a furious voice in the hall.

Haruhi looked past the young man's shoulder, eyes widening further. "S-Senpai?" she squeaked.

Tamaki charged out of the room, sprinting towards her. "Haruhi, you shall not leave!" He took a spectacular leap over the blonde and crashed into Haruhi, seizing her arm. "Haruhi, what were you thinking, were you LEAVING?! Daddy forbids it!"

Haruhi shrugged blandly, hardly concerned. "I have things to do."

"Haruhi, you're making avoiding things a habit! You didn't even dance with me last night, like you promised! I—"

"I didn't promise, AND I couldn't find you for the whole night," Haruhi said. Looking around Tamaki, she saw the young man again, who was staring right at them.

The blonde from before smirked. His fingers were flashing back and forth against each other as his hand hung at his side; a nervous habit, Haruhi assumed. "I see the President is here," he said in a slick, smooth voice.

Haruhi noticed Tamaki's face going rigid. He let go of Haruhi and pivoted on his heel, glaring at the young man. "Kunio."

Kunio's grin grew. "Hello, Suoh."

"You…know each other?" Haruhi asked hesitantly, noticing the intense tension between the two.

There was a span of silence. Tamaki turned, his face serious. Haruhi flinched with surprise. Tamaki-senpai was never serious.

In a grave tone, Tamaki told her, "He's my cousin."

Haruhi blinked, dumbstruck. Her eyes travelled over to the grinning blonde as a horrified look passed over her face.

My suggested 'Prince' who I danced with last night…is Tamaki-senpai's cousin?!

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Hmm wonder if its even POSSIBLE for Tamaki to have a cousin…oh well. Now, run forth my friends, write your reviews, and consume your cookies!!

-KuroHinote