Alex walked through the woods, uncertain of where it was she was heading. She wore a black-and-purple Victorian styled dress with a corset and shoulders that puffed out. Her sleeves covered her hands and fanned out, giving an impression of that resembling a princess. On her face was a masquerade mask, black, with purple feathers on the edges at the corners near her eyes, decorated with emerald and amethyst jewels. The dress looked gothic, and stopped at her knees. She wore black-and-purple Victorian boots with heels to go with. On her hands were black gloves that stopped just below her elbows, and she had a black choker with purple ruffles around her neck.

She had feeling that she was heading to a party of some sort, and that she was going to be late if she didn't get there soon. She started to run, breathing heavily as she pushed branches out of her way and ran down a dirt-covered path. Her hair, which was done up in a french braid, was slightly messed up.

I need to get there... She thought, I don't know why, but something is telling me I should.

"Whoa! Look out, miss!" A man cried out, and Alex turned her head in time to see a carriage rushing at her with horses at full speed. Screaming, the brunette rushed out of the way and into the grass, nearly catching her dress on the bushes. The horses whinnied loudly in protest as the driver pulled the carriage to a halt. "Are you alright, ma'am?"

"What happened!?" Two voices demanded, the carriage doors opening. Two men, nearly identical, stepped out. They were both dressed formally, with brown vests and tan shirts underneath. They were darker brown slacks with a dress shoes, and top hats on their heads. From what she could tell, they had orange hair and caramel, almost amber, colored eyes. Her guess was that they were brothers. Their mask were almost the same, both colored white, but decorated with different colored jewels. The one on the left had orange, while the right wore blue.

The orange quickly strolled over and extended a hand to her, asking kindly with a smile, "May I?" Alex hesitantly nodded and grabbed his hand, allowing him to pull her back onto the road and away from the grass. "My name is Kaoru, miss. Kaoru Hitachiin. This is my twin brother," He gestured to the man who had exited the carriage with him, "Hikaru Hitachiin. We are deeply sorry for nearly hitting you with our carriage." He then seemed to realize something, his eyes widening in surprise. "Are you perhaps on the way to the Ouran Ball?"

"The...Ouran Ball?" The name sounded distantly familiar to her, and it rolled off her tongue easily.

Hikaru spoke, "Yeah. The Suoh's and the Ootori's, two of the wealthiest families, invited everyone from everywhere to the ball to search for a bride. Of course, that's only if you catch their eye. I think you'll impress someone there."

Kaoru chuckled and raised a hand gently to her chin, lifting her head up to look at him, "Indeed. You have quite a pretty face. It would be a shame if something would to mar it." As if on instinct, Alex backed away and stumbled, catching herself in time to avoid falling into mud as she placed a hand on her jawline. And as if she could feel something there, she traced a curved line from her jawline to her chin, frowning. Nothing. How odd. "Is something wrong?"

"N-No, nothing. I am fine." Her voice sounded weird to her. Was she talking differently? In fact, where these boys speaking differently? But how would they, and if they were, how would she know? She had just met them. Strange. "I must get going. I do not wish to be late to this...ball, we speak of."

"How about a lift?" They offered, grinning at her. "It would only be proper, seeing how we nearly ran you over with our carriage and all." Alex nodded hesitantly, following them to the vehicle. Kaoru extended a hand to her, and she took it as she climbed up into the vehicle. She sat down, flattening her poofy dress with her hands.

The twins climbed in and the doors closed, and the horses quickly took off towards the palace.

"It's nice seeing you dress up like this for once," Kaoru commented, causing Alex to look at him with furrowed eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" Hikaru was the one who answered.

"We mean that you wear boy clothes so much, we hardly ever get to see you dress like an actual girl."

"It's not my fault that I'm not that pretty with a scar going across half my face!" She snapped, crossing her arms and huffing as she turned to look out the carriage window. The twins looked surprised, before looking at each other in confusion.

"What scar?" They asked each other, but Alex didn't hear them. Soon, the carriage stopped, and they teens all got out. The twins held out their arms to the brunette, and Alex hesitantly took them, not completely sure what was going on anymore.

What was this Ouran Ball about, really? Was it only to find a bride for the wealthy sons of the wealthiest families in Japan?

"Invitations?" A guard asked. Alex narrowed her eyes as she read his name tag. Tachibana. Suddenly, Alex felt something in her hand. She looked down in confusion and opened the lavender letter.

You have been invited to the Ouran Ball,

where ladies from all over the world come

to have a good time. Only this year is a

special event. This year, if someone happens

to catch one of the "Bachelor's" eyes, and

she reciprocates, that young lady will have

the special honor to become that young

man's bride. Men are allowed to come as well,

of course, if they so desire.

Sincerely- Kyoya Ootori

"Ah, you got one of the lavenders!" Kaoru exclaimed in awe. He and his brother held up his letters, which were colored pure white. "Ours were from Tamaki Suoh. You must be favored highly to receive a lavender." Alex looked up in confusion.

"The letters are colored in rank?"

"In a way," Hikaru explained, looking down at her. "It mainly depends on your relationship status with them in the real world. Kaoru received a lavender one last year."

"The real world?" Hikaru's eyes widened, as if he was caught saying something he wasn't supposed to say.

"Nothing! Come on, show him your letter." Alex held up the lavender invitation to Tachibana, who nodded.

"You may proceed." Alex slowly entered the room, finding everything pitch black. Suddenly, candles lit up around her, forming a path down a dimly lit hallway, rose petals falling slowly as beautiful and warm violin music played in the background. She had no idea where the twins went. She couldn't hear their footsteps, and when she looked behind her, they weren't there. As she walked down the hallway, the room seemed to get brighter, and her vision cleared.

Soon, she was found standing in a ballroom where hundreds of elegantly dressed men and women were dancing.

CRASH!

Alex whirled around to see a girl with short brown hair wearing a white mask with rubies embroidered on it standing over a broken vase. She was wearing a crimson red dress with ruffles and sleeves that clung to her arms, but revealed her shoulders. The sides of her hair was braided.

"I-I-I-I'm so sorry! I-I can pay you back, I swear!" The girl cried out, apologizing profusely to a man with blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore a red mask with white jewels-opals?- decorated on it and white tuxedo. He reached over and grabbed the girl's hand, holding it up to his lips and kissing her knuckles.

"It is alright, my dear. However, I'm too sure you would have the money to pay for that vase. It was a one-of-kind and worth more than your dress or the rubies on your mask. My dear, I'm afraid that you're going to have to marry me."

"W-What?"

Suddenly someone ran into Alex's legs, causing the girl to look down in surprise. It was a little blonde boy with honey-colored eyes. He wore a white tuxedo and pink tie, with a pale pink mask. He was holding a pink stuffed rabbit. He stepped away from Alex in surprise, looking at the girl apologetically.

"I'm so sorry, miss! Please forgive!"

"Ah, it's alright. Are you okay?" She knelt down in front of him, smiling. "You're not hurt, are you?" The boy shook his head.

"I'm okay. Ah! Usa-Chan! Usa-Chan, are you alright?" He looked at his bunny rabbit, looking for any tears or cuts. Finding none, he relaxed. He then grew excited, beaming up at the brunette, "Have you tried this place's cake yet!? They're really yummy! Come on, come on, this way!" He grabbed her wrist and started to drag her towards the dining table, which was littered with sweets. Cakes, cookies, cupcakes, pies, croissants-everything. "The strawberry cake is the best!"

"Mitsukuni." A deep voice spoke, causing the blonde boy to stop running and release Alex. He looked and saw a six-foot tall man looking down at him with a blank face.

"Takashi!" He exclaimed happily, running and tackling the man. The boy giggled and the man raised him up and let him sit on his shoulder. "I met this really nice lady! I like her! Think you guys can be friends?"

Takashi looked down at Alex, observing the girl for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah." He then added, still blank-faced, "She seems nice." Mitsukuni smiled brightly, giving a closed-eye smile. He was adorable.

Alex watched as the two walked away, and turned to look at the table full of sweets. Hesitantly, she picked up chocolate chip cookie. She bit out of it and her eyes widened in surprise. It was good. Not the best, but still rather good. It had a nice flavor.

"Excuse me," A voice said as a hand reached over and grabbed a cookie from the basket Alex had grabbed hers from. The man pulled out a cookie and bit into, chewing slowly. "Not bad for your first time baking, Alex. Would it make you feel better if I told you it had a nice taste?"

The girl's face flushed red. "Wh-What? I-I didn't bake these?" The man's eyes widened in surprise before he smiled coolly.

"Are you sure? I remember specifically the day you and another young lady tried to teach a girl how to bake. You made chocolate chips, and you let me try one."

"I-I don't-"

She raised the basket up to him, "Cookie? They're not burnt or anything." Kyoya blinked down at her, one of the only three wise people who chose not to eat Renge's cookies, and grabbed one, biting into it.

She looked up at him, anticipation growing, "W-Well, how is it? I never really actually baked anything before..."

"It's not terrible, I'll give you that." Alex pouted childishly, not liking that response.

"That tells me nothing!" She flinched when she saw his hand come towards her face, but relaxed when it rested on her head.

"Would it make you feel better if I said it had a good flavor?" Alex nodded,

"Yes, yes it would."

"Then there you go."

Alex was standing there, her eyes wide. What was that? Why didn't she remember any of that happening? "K-Kyoya?" She questioned, testing the name out on her tongue. To her surprise, she liked the sound of it, and something inside her chest fluttered. She felt warm, and her heart was racing just a beat or two faster.

The man smiled at her, before bowing and extending a hand to her, "May I have this dance...fair maiden?" Alex hestitated, and said,

"I can't dance..." The man seemed to smirk as he gave a low chuckle.

"Then I can simply teach you as I have done before. Trust me, you'll remember." Not giving her a chance to reply, he took her hand in his much larger one and led her to the dance floor, placing one hand one her waist, and placing one of her hands on his shoulder. "Slide your foot like this...then step back...Yes, very good, Alex. Now remember, it's one, two, three. One, two, three..."

She didn't know how long they danced, but she loved it. She knew this man, but couldn't name him. She knew his personality, but didn't know him. He was so very familiar, but such a stranger at the exact same time. Who was he, exactly? Kyoya who?

"We're friends...right?"

Suddenly, Alex felt a hand cup her cheek, a thumb brushing away the tears that streamed down her cheeks.

"I believe that's the correct term, yes."

The man frowned at her, his gray eyes observing her for a moment and taking in every single detail of her face, before gently grabbing her hand and leading her away from all the people.

"What-What are we?"

He led her beneath a staircase, where no one would be able to see them.

"What do you want us to be?"

Gently, the man reached over and grabbed her mask, slowly lifting it off of her face. She blinked multiple times, fluttering her eyelashes as she tried to stop the tears from falling down her face. She reached up with her hands to wipe them away, but the man grabbed her wrists and leaned down, kissing her eyes where the tears came. He cupped her face with one hand and kissed her softly on her cheek, his eyes closing. Alex bit her lip, eyes closed, as he then kissed her forehead.

"I want us to be together," She said and reached up, grabbing the lapels of his coat. She leaned up and kissed his mouth, tears flowing down her face. She wanted to be with him, and it hurt having to pretend that they weren't. Were they just friends with benefits? Was that all they were? How long were they going to have to keep this up?

She pulled away from him and reached up, lifting the mask off of his face and revealing his true identity. Kyoya Ootori, of the Ootori's. The man she loved, but couldn't be with because everything would fall apart. And now, they were back again at the usual position.

Why is it nothing can happen without it being painful? She wondered.

Her eyes shot open, and Alex sat up with tears streaming down her face. Raising her hands up to her face, she cried as silently as she could, her chest aching painfully as she thought about Kyoya and why things were happening the way they were.