"I am not the only traveler,

Who has not repaid his debt,

I've been searching for a trail to follow again,

Take me back to the night we met...,"

-The Night We Met; by Lord Huron

Prologue

The Hashimotos and the Morinozukas have always been at odds with each other. Their mutual dislike — maybe even hatred, if it were to be looked at that deeply — for each other seemed to be genetically embedded into each families' children. The two families just didn't like each other. But why did they dislike each other so intensely? It didn't have anything to do with money, it didn't have anything to do with business, so what was it? What caused the Hashimotos and the Morinozukas to hate each other? Well, as petty and as insignificant as it may seem, it had to do with a woman.

As the story went — and it was told differently by each family — there had been a beautiful Japanese woman who'd caught the attention from a man in the Morinozuka family and a man in the Hashimoto family. And it should be noted that the two men had been childhood friends, their families respected each other, and it seemed as if things would remain civil and respectful between them. But, somehow, all the respect and civility between them fell apart because of a woman. The Morinozuka man had told his friend about the woman, praising her for her beauty and adoring her for her kindness. The Hashimoto man replied that he'd also come across the same woman, and he was experiencing the same kind of infatuation as his friend.

It didn't bother them at first, they thought that maybe the other would realize the infatuation they had with the woman was just temporary, and then the one whose infatuation remained would make the advances and win her heart. It didn't turn out that way. Their infatuation with the woman only grew over time, and while it did, they each tried different methods to make advancements on the woman, hoping to win her over. And it seemed as if the Hashimoto man was winning her affections, which caused a lot of anger and jealousy from the Morinozuka man. They each told their respective families about what was going on, and a rivalry started between the families — who would win the woman's heart? The two men had already been going at it for months, and the Hashimotos were thrilled to see her leaning more towards them. And, for a time, it did seem like she was going to settle down with the Hashimoto man. They had began a relationship, which had greatly angered the Morinozukas.

While the relationship between the woman and the Hashimoto man grew, a plan came into light for the Morinozuka man.

On the night where the Hashimoto man would propose to the woman, over a year after they had started their relationship, the woman called it off. She no longer wanted to be with him; instead, she chose to go with the Morinozuka man. She'd been secretly seeing him without the Hashimoto man's knowledge.

In the end, the woman and the Morinozuka man married, leaving the Hashimoto man bitter. But that didn't mean that the Morinozuka man forgave him for, what he considered, showing off their relationship out of spite of his feelings for her.

Eventually, the Hashimoto man married another woman and started a family. The story of what happened would be told to his children and so forth, until it became forgotten. All that remained was the anger, possible hatred, and bitterness towards each other.

But they just didn't know how much could change in a couple generations.

~8~

June Hashimoto was the second youngest in her family, she had two older sisters, August and April, and an adopted younger brother, Yuri. June's mother, May, wanted to have a son, but after a bout of cervical cancer left her unable to have anymore children, she and her husband, Akihiro, decided to adopt. Yuri had been a newborn when he was brought home, with June only being two and a half. Thankfully, the sisters accepted Yuri into their home without much trouble, though it was a little difficult for June to fully grasp what was going on.

As the years went on, June began to understand and saw Yuri as more than just her adopted brother, he was her best friend. As the years went on, August, who was the eldest, inherited Akihiro's business in graphic design and telecommunications and married her high school sweetheart, Kenji Akiyama. April went off to a prestigious college overseas to become a lawyer, leaving June in high school and Yuri in junior high.

"June, you're going to be late!" May called. "And I can't afford to miss this appointment!" May was a successful writer, having written several best-selling books and series, and she was meeting with some people from her publishing agency to talk about her latest book.

"I'll be down in a minute, don't worry." Looking at herself in the mirror one last time, June made sure she at least looked somewhat presentable — despite the hideousness of the uniform she was required to wear — before hurrying downstairs to meet her mother. Akihiro had to leave early for work, so that meant May would be making sure June and Yuri made it to school on time.

"It's about time you got down here," Yuri exclaimed. "Why's it always take so long for you to get ready?"

"You don't have to fit into this ugly uniform, that's why." Motioning to the yellow, poofy dress that was Ouran required, June threw a sarcastic look her brother's way.

"I'm glad I don't," he chuckled, "yellow's not my color anyway."

"Kids, now isn't the time for this." May gave them stern looks, pursing her lips. "Get your things and hurry, Rhett's waiting for you."

Rhett was June's and Yuri's driver. He was a sweet middle-aged man who had countless stories up his sleeves. He'd tell the siblings countless stories on his life, all of which were hilarious.

Grabbing their backpacks and shoving any paperwork or textbook that was left out in their bags, the siblings said goodbye to their mother before quickly leaving.

Seeing Rhett standing beside their car, he gave them a smile and a warm good morning, which they returned. Once the siblings were in the car and buckled in, Rhett climbed into the driver's side and started the engine. With the way that morning felt, it was almost as if the entire day was incapable of going wrong. But, unfortunately, there's always that one unexpected moment that can ruin a person's entire day.

(A/N):

This may not be my best first chapter. In all honesty, when I first got the idea for this, it made a lot more sense in my head, but it's too late for me to turn back now! So, here's the first chapter of the story! I'll work with what I've got here, and hopefully it improves as the story goes on. Who knows?

Do I own anything in the OHSHC fandom? No. No I do not.

Anywho, if you've got ideas for future updates — whether it be subplots or OCs — don't hesitate to let me know, okay? Not to mention constructive criticism! I could use some constructive criticism on this.

Also — I know this may come off as pretty random, kind of an unexpected leap from anime to an action movie — anyone who's a fan of the Transformers movieverse franchise, the official third trailer for TF5 has been released on the interwebs. If you're curious to see it, go see it. If you're wondering why I'd put something like Transformers into an OHSHC fanfic, and the truth is, the movies are like a guilty pleasure for me. I never really intended to get into the fandom or anything like that, but I just kept watching the movies and I sorta enjoyed them and I guess I unintentionally joined the fandom. Whatever! That doesn't matter! The only thing that matters is what you think of this chapter!

If there's any confusion or if there's any kind of misunderstanding or whatever, don't hesitate to review or PM me. If I don't know what confuses you or what you think needs clarification in some other way, I won't be able to improve what needs improvement. And if I don't know what's bothering you guys, I probably won't be able to help give understanding to any reviewers who aren't up to asking questions or anything. Does that make sense? I hope so.

Be kind to one another, don't text and drive, and I hope you pet a dog today!

Thanks.

Bleu