Author's Note: This is an arranged marriage fic between a member of the Host Club and an OC - I reposted this after realising the page breaks weren't showing up. Fixed now! =D

Chapter One: An Unwelcome Surprise

Sweat poured down the face of what looked to be a young girl as she shook out her body from the intense workout she had just done. It was called Insanity and even after doing it for several months there were still times when she found herself thinking "This is insane!" and she couldn't help but smile. It was like no workout she had ever done. And she loved it! With Insanity you didn't just follow the guy on screen – you really worked! Now she didn't often sweat when working out but Insanity left trickles of sweat running down her face as she pushed her body to the max. The highest she let her heart rate go was 193 and then she forced herself to cool even if all she wanted to do was 'dig deeper' as Shaun T always said (her max heart rate at danger zone was 200).

The young girl paused as her phone vibrated on the mantle piece and she read the text message as she took a sip of her water. It was from her friend, Sarah. It read; 'How's it going Leanne! How's it feel to be 21! You have a hangover from last night? x x x' So the young girl was actually a young woman…

Leanne smiled at the text message, quickly replying to her friend, that although she hadn't gotten in until 5am earlier that day, unlike the rest of 'you lazy bums' she was already up, had done her workout and was just about to jump in the shower once she put her food in the oven.

What she had in reply was a silly face and the exclamation that she had only been able to get up in a few hours was because she hadn't drunk much the night before.

Clearly Sarah had gotten so drunk that she didn't remember the amount of shots they'd all done – Sarah had wandered off in the middle of the night, thankfully supported by her boyfriend. She normally ended up wandering off on her own at the end of the night when she was completely drunk – it scared her friends to no end as they could never keep track of her and her stories the following morning of sometimes not remembering how she got home really didn't help ease their minds. Joe, Sarah's boyfriend, could hardly keep an eye on her when he lived miles away.

Thankfully Leanne hadn't had to worry about her last night thanks to Joe.

They spoke by text for a few more minutes as Leanne put her already prepared food in the oven and made her way upstairs to get a shower.

As the water brushed against her tired muscles, Leanne thought back on the past few days to a subject that had been confusing her lately. After all, the shower was where all her great thinking took place – for some reason being in the shower helped clear her mind of all her emotions and allowed her to think clearly and analyze her emotions on specific subjects that were confounding her. In this instance her thoughts turned to her parents' odd behaviour over the past couple of days.

They'd seemed to grow more and more anxious in the past couple of months and she couldn't figure out the reason for it. They'd all gone out for a meal with the entire family a few nights before and they'd been fine then but had reverted back as soon as they got back in the house. Maybe everyone's well wishes for her future mixed in with the regular birthday wishes had unsettled them after everyone had seemed to be having such a great time.

Their mood swings were really starting to give her whiplash.

It was possible that they were worried about her possible move to the States the following January but that didn't explain why they were only now getting nervous about it when they'd known for months already and they already let her visit the country twice on her own.

Leanne sighed as she got out of the shower, wringing her long auburn hair over the bath to get rid of the excess water. She had spent twenty minutes in the shower trying to figure out a situation that had been nagging at her mind for the past couple of days and like the previous times she'd spent thinking about it, she was no closer to the answer than before.

Wrapping a towel around her hair and body, Leanne made her way into her bedroom, her blue eyes glancing at her clock to check the time. Eyes widening and seeming to turn green as the sun came out from behind the clouds and her head turned, Leanne quickly dried herself off and jumped into the outfit she'd gotten ready the night before. She still had to eat her food, clean her teeth, blow dry her hair and do her make up before her boyfriend picked her up for Church.

She grinned as she shimmied into her trousers, hopping around wildly as her foot got stuck in the denim.

Once free and having pulled on her top, Leanne rushed downstairs, piling her food onto her plate and scoffing it down as quickly as humanly possible without choking herself. Deciding it was taking her too long, she picked up her plate and carried it upstairs, eating as she went so that she could dry her hair at the same time. Hopefully she wouldn't blow her rice all over her room with her hairdryer in the process. That would be just her luck.

Thirty minutes later, her hair was dry and hung down her back, and she brushed away furiously at her teeth. With only ten minutes until her boyfriend, James, came to pick her up she was rushing around a bit, trying to make sure she had everything while still looking presentable.

James's car horn honked ten minutes later, just as the beautiful eyed woman put the finishing touches to her make up. Grabbing up her bags, Leanne ran down the stairs, out the front door and straight into the arms of her boyfriend who had gotten out of his car to greet her as he always did. She pressed her lips to his and they quickly lost in the kiss.

"Mmmm, minty fresh." James mumbled against her lips as they finally broke apart for air. Leanne chuckled at his words, pecking him on the lips once more before standing back out of his arms and he grinned. James knew not to take such a thing personally; it was just her way of bringing things to an end before they went too far as they both often felt the need to, but they'd both agreed to wait before they took their relationship to the next level. They really liked each other and didn't want to rush things – or as Leanne had once put it; they didn't want to burn the wick at both ends. Naturally, she'd giggled for ten minutes straight after saying that old saying and he'd laughed a bit at it.

James chuckled in remembrance as he stepped forward and opened her door for her. She smiled gratefully as she slid into the car and he closed the door, smiling in return as he got into the drivers seat and pulled out into the road.

James's took a hold of her hand as he drove, snapping her out of her thoughts and she turned to smile softly at him, watching as he lifted her hand to his lips to kiss the back of it. Leanne squeezed his hand back and dropped her head to his shoulder briefly. God, how she loved him.

Her thoughts brought a smile to her lips as she knew them to be true. The feeling had been growing in her from the moment she'd met him until she'd come to the realization a couple of months ago.

Noticing she was preoccupied and lost in thought, James kissed the top of her head and squeezed the hand he still held.

"Penny for your thoughts?" He watched in pleasure as she smiled softly at him, placing a kiss on his cheek as he returned his eyes to the road. He knew she found it very difficult to talk about her emotions and subjects that were uncomfortable to her so he didn't push her.

When they had started getting serious it had been like pulling teeth trying to get her to talk to him about what she wanted. He had watched, fascinated and slightly amused (though he'd never tell her that – he treasured his manhood), as she'd clamed up and become as uncomfortable as a commitment phobic man talking about marriage and kids. He'd taken pity on her at the time and pulled her to him, loving her even more than before for it. Leanne had grumbled and curled up against him, burying her face in his chest as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

He'd known he loved her from that moment and had a feeling that that was the conclusion that she had just come to. With her, it always seemed to be a stray thought that brought her all her great ideas.

James grinned to himself as he continued to drive them to Church; she was the most amazing woman he'd ever met. Some of the things she wanted to do with her life made him realize how much of a treasure his girlfriend was. He kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. No way could he be so lucky as to be able to keep a hold of this one.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsS

Leanne woke up the next morning smiling. Church had been amazing last night as it usually was and what had made it even better, was being able to come home to her boyfriend's house and spend the night with him with no interruptions.

Curled up in her boyfriend's arms; his body spooned out along hers, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist, Leanne saw absolutely no reason to move from her wonderfully warm cocoon.

James stirred behind her and Leanne wiggled around to place a kiss on his lips and he smiled, his eyes still closed as he pulled her closer to him.

"Good morning." they whispered at the same time and laughed softly.

They laid together in bed for the next ten minutes, joking about what they should do for the rest of the day. Leanne's parents were away for a long weekend so they had plenty of time to do whatever it is they wanted to do.

The shrill ringing of the phone cut through the relaxed atmosphere like a knife and James groaned as he rolled over to pick it up. Leanne groaned, dropping her face into her pillow – she could practically hear her mother's voice through the phone, panic stricken and wanting to know if James had seen her.

"Yeah, she's right here. I'll pass you onto her right now." James glanced over at Leanne, saw the downcast look on her face, knew that her parents had been acting weird the past couple of days and mouthed a very sincere 'sorry'. She grinned long-sufferingly at him and quickly pecked him on the lips as she took the phone from him, making sure her mother couldn't hear her at the time.

Though her father had always joked about her needing to get a boyfriend and move out, neither of her parents had been very happy when she'd told them about James. She hadn't seen the need to tell them about him straight away – she was 20 years old at the time and saw no reason to tell her parents every detail of her love life. She was enough of an adult to know what she was doing. James had understood and his ego remaining intact. He knew that she simply hadn't told them in the beginning because she'd have never heard the end of it otherwise.

So, after a couple of months of dating, when her parents had asked jokingly 'is that your boyfriend?' when he'd come to pick her up, she'd told them the truth, said yes and told them they'd been dating for a couple of weeks now. And with that, she'd said her goodbye's, jumped in the car and they'd had headed off to catch a movie and grab a meal like they'd originally planned.

Leanne hadn't expected a bad reaction as they'd always been laid back on the subject before, not even blinking when she'd gone on a date with a guy years older than her. So it came as a surprise to her, after James had dropped her off and kissed her goodnight, that her parents had laid into her like a 14 year old out long after her curfew with a 20 year old guy. She'd handled the situation well and with diplomacy, letting her parents get everything out of their systems before calmly stating she was an adult and allowed to do whatever it is she pleased, bringing up that they'd been nagging her to get a boyfriend for years and that they should be happy she'd finally taken their advice and got one. She'd then promptly said goodnight and went upstairs to bed, her face a picture of calm while inside she was screaming at them.

One thing had stuck out that night for her and she'd mentioned it to James the following day. Her parents had said that they had wanted her to get a boyfriend but now was not the right time. And she wanted to know why 'now' was a bad time.

Neither had answered that question when she asked them next.

Her mother's voice snapped her out of her thoughts as she shouted down the phone and Leanne pulled it away from her ear, staring at it blankly with a single eyebrow raised. "What are you doing over that boy's house! You should be home watching the house, not gallivanting around the countryside with no parental supervision!–" Leanne tuned out what her mother was saying and glanced over at James whispering; "Do you think she could get any louder? I bet you a fiver she can." James grinned at his girlfriend's non-pulsed reaction and kissed her briefly on the lips.

They listened with high levels of amusement as her mother's voice rose in volume again and tried not to laugh.

The truth was, Leanne's parents had become completely different people over the past couple of months – they'd become overbearing and controlling and Leanne adapted by becoming amused and completely ignoring their "outbursts of insanity" as she liked to call them.

Finally fed up of her mother's ranting she pressed a couple of buttons to stop her mother in mid flow and once silence reigned, spoke into the mouth piece quite firmly.

"Look mum, I love you but I'm not coming home until Tuesday night once I finish work. I'm spending the next couple of days and nights with James. I want to get away from the craziness of the house for a while and I'd only end up cleaning if I was at home. I love you and I'll see you Tuesday night. Bye mum." And she promptly hung up, threw the phone under the bed and turned off her mobile. "Let's see them reach me now." She grinned and lent over to kiss him again, both of them happily ignoring the faint ringing from under the bed.

Hopefully the dust bunnies would eat James' phone.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsS

The next couple of days flew by, much to Leanne's annoyance and it was soon time to go back to work and back home again.

What she was not expecting when she walked into work early so she could go get changed in the toilets, was to be grabbed by her parents and dragged out of the building and to a black sedan that was waiting for them.

Leanne's father threw her overnight bags into the boot before climbing into the passengers' seat as her mother pushed her to get into the back of the car. Leanne rushed in ahead of her and over to the other door but as soon as she tried the handle she realised her mistake. It was locked. She'd effectively thrown herself into a situation she didn't want to be in. She had been hoping she could go out the other side and run back into the building and get them to tell her what was going on.

For the first time in her life she was scared of her parents and what they were going to do. This was not a normal situation for her to be in.

SsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsSsS

After twenty minutes of driving her father turned around in the front seat and, with her mother's help, started explaining things to her.

"Firstly, we are not your biological parents," Leanne stared at her father blankly as he continued, trying really hard to take in what they were saying in case she could use something to escape later. "Both your parents come from a long line of Japanese aristocracy."

Leanne could not stop the look of slightly mocking disbelief that over took her features at that – she was a blue eyed Caucasian woman with pale skin that tanned easily, wide eyes and even wider hips. There was nothing Japanese about her. He 'father' ignored her look as he continued,

"When your mother, Misumi, found out she was pregnant with you, her and your father, Kenji, went to one of Japan's leading doctors in their field. They wanted you to grow up away from the spotlight their money and name created so they had the doctor change some of your genes to give you your Caucasian appearance."

Leanne continued to look at him in disbelief at his words. She was a test tube baby?

"Misumi carried you to full term and you came out perfectly healthy. None of the nurses blinked at you blue eyes, they all expected them to turn brown as you got older."

So she wasn't a test tube baby? Huh?

"They were confused as to why they'd been sworn to secrecy and had to sign a contract to confirm as much when your parents had requested them for your home birth. You have to remember that these were the top nurses and doctors in all of Japan who were present for your birth.

"They got even more confused when your medical records disappeared entirely a couple of hours after your birth. But none of them pried – they knew not to if they wanted to keep their jobs.

"Your parents employed us when Misumi became pregnant, all for the point of taking you to the UK a few weeks after your birth to live with us among our family. We were to raise you to your 21st birthday, let you have the life you choose for yourself so long as it wasn't self destructive and return you to Japan the day after your 21st birthday.

"Naturally your parents were a bit upset that we had to delay your return as neither of us could get a hold of you, being that neither of us had your boyfriend's" he all but spat the word and Leanne felt anger start to rise within her where numbness had once taken up residence, "number."

"Your parents arranged your marriage long before you were born and though they wanted you to grow up like any other commoner to help make you a more rounded person – and that included dating – they didn't want you dating this close to your return to Japan. They are very disappointed."

It was like the reservoir walls had just collapsed under the weight and pressure of the water held behind them and Leanne just started shouting at them. Sod diplomacy! For twenty minutes she shouted at them, giving them both a piece of her mind in that moment; for lying to her, for pulling her away from her friends and a future that she'd planned for herself. And for pulling her away from a man she loved.

Her 'father' had snarled that James was a "no good commoner" and not worthy to be looked at and that had been the end of it – she'd "completely flipped", as one of her friends would say, and had tried climbing over the seats so she could wring his neck but the seatbelt had stopped her, the driver informing her that they expected such a reaction and it was locked in place for such a situation.

Simmering in rage in the back seat, Leanne's voice came out in a low, deadly snarl, her eyes flashing dangerously.

"If what you've said is true then as soon as we get back home to Japan, you're fired. We'll see how you like those 'commoners' when you are one of them." His eyes flew to her in shock and he saw the deadly serious nature in them.

She'd deal with her 'mother' when she was ready.

Leanne, her face deadly serious, spoke not one word after that. Not when they drove over to the side of the airport that held all the private planes. Not when she was led onto a private jet. And not a word was spoken throughout the entire plane ride to Japan.

Author's Note: End of chapter one! =D And yes I know "sufferingly" is not an actual word but it fit into my sentence so I'm coining it and using it. =D Please don't tell my old english teacher! XD

Please review! They make me happy! =D

XXX