A/N Doctor Jinguji could never predict that his own niece would come to him with such a crazy request. In order to work at an elite all-boys school she has to change her status from 'single' to 'married' just in two weeks!
They thought it was impossible to find someone who would help her to make her dream come true and pretend being her husband, if only Doppo wouldn't have showed up at sensei's cabinet for another portion of psycological help.
If only he knew that he had chosen the wrong day...
Humor, fluff, lots of romantic situations. May the sun shine upon Doppo-kun this time!
This work is dedicated to our dear friend Kristinochka, who always supports us and believes in us!
It's not beta-read yet, so we are sorry for the errors. We will correct them later. Please, enjoy reading! 3
Fate can be neither passed by, nor driven round.
It was one of those evenings, when Dr. Jinguji had to wait for an extra after-working-hours patient. But today was an exception, since his very last patient turned out to be his own relative.
The moment that last thought had crossed his mind, he heard a light knock on the door. After giving his permission to come in, the white door of his cabinet opened and a young woman in her early twenties entered the room.
Her face looked troubled, Dr. Jinguji noted mentally, though she tried her best to greet him with a bright smile.
The girl closed the door behind her soundlessly and bowed to the doctor respectfully.
"It's been a while, Uncle Jakurai. Thank you for agreeing to meet me today. I know how busy you are. Your kindness means a lot to me."
Her voice didn't sound as cheery as he used to hear it. Something strange was going on.
"I am glad to see you again, Sumi, dear. May I assume, you have some serious business regarding my persona? It's so unusual of you to call me and ask for an urgent meeting, " the man said in a steady voice, yet there was a welcoming smile on his handsome face. He gestured her to take a sit on a chair next to his desk.
"I am really sorry for bothering you like this, but I don't know what to do. You are the only person I can ask for a piece of advice. Please, Uncle Jakurai, will you hear me out?"
She looked pale and her eyes glowed with desperation. If to be honest, Jinguji-sensei had never seen his own niece in such an agitated state of mind. He felt a tingle of great concern for her health in his heart.
"Of course, my dear. You don't need to ask me for that. I am always here for you. So, open up your poor heart and tell me what troubles you so much. I am sure there is a way out of any difficult situation."
She sighed and looked him in the eyes, which colour matched her own.
"You know that I've been dreaming of becoming a History teacher in Tokyo University. I studied hard, I graduated as a top student from that University only to get a job there, and they promised me a job."
She paused and bit her lower lip in frustration before starting to tell her worries away again.
"My History professor told me that in order to become a teacher in Todai, even starting my career as an assistant of his, I have to gain some teaching experience. An academic year at minimum."
"Well, it sounds logical," the doctor stated his point of view thoughtfully.
"Yes, I know, but…" the girl sighed again and added in a hesitant tone. "I thought that if I have to work as a teacher in some school, I must choose the very school I want to work at. So, I had an interview at St. Rudolf all-boys high school and they hired me."
There was a little pause before Dr. Jakurai arched his brow elegantly and looked at his niece with great interest.
"St. Rudolf is the very school your father and me graduated from a long time ago."
"Of course, I know it, Uncle. Not only you two, but the whole three male generations of our family did. I have always admired that school and its educating program. But since I couldn't study there being a female, now I have a great chance to work there and teach students. It's always been a little dream of mine to cross the threshold of this unique academic establishment. And now I have a right to do it as a History teacher, even if it will be just for a single year."
The way she was talking about the school was endearing. Doctor Jinguji had lots of good memories from his youth spent behind the walls of that boarding school for elite. He felt proud for his niece's achievements. If she had been hired to work there, it meant that she indeed was a very talented and perspective teacher.
There was only one thing he couldn't take a grasp of.
"So, Sumi, if everything worked out that well for you, why do you need my advice?" he inquired in a steady voice and received an uneasy gulp from her side in response.
"There is a little problem, actually."
She started to play with her fingers nervously, but she never broke her eye contact with her Uncle.
"Since it's an all-boys closed school, the most part of the teachers are males. There are several female teachers too, but they are either pretty old, or young and married. So… during the interview they asked me about my status, and I lied to them about having a fiancé that I am going to marry in a week. Only after hearing that, they approved my application."
Jakurai was indeed amused with his niece's choice of doing business. It was beyond his imagination how she had even come up with such a lie.
And while he was thinking about the outcome of this whole situation, Sumi added another problem for his consideration.
"I need this job, Uncle Jakurai. I beg you, please. Help me!" she stood up abruptly and bowed to him so deeply that her long dark grey-purplish hair touched the white floor of his medical cabinet. "I don't have anyone to ask to pretend being my fiancé. Not only him, but also my to-be-in-a-week-husband! But if I am not married I will never get this job – the job of my dream. Uncle, please, save me! I don't know what to do. You are the only one I can count on. I beg you, tell me your wise advice!"
Her shoulders started to tremble as her eyes filled with hot tears. Jakurai's heart tightened in his chest by seeing his only niece being in such despair. Of course, he didn't approve the way she decided to get the job, but now it was a huge problem. What started from a small lie always had tendency to grow into a big disaster in the end.
Doctor Jinguji cared for his niece a lot. He used to spoil her to his heart's content when she was a kid. She had always been a very serious girl with her own principles. He remembered how much she liked to look at the photos of her father and him during their school days at St. Rudolf's. Sumi used to say that if she was a boy she would definitely go to that school.
She was the only girl in their family, who had Jinguji name by blood. She struggled hard to get a permission form the elders to study history and not economics like everyone in their family did. She was a strong kid and always brought happiness and a sense of pride to her family.
Her hard work had been rewarded. She graduated from Tokyo University with excellence, she was promised a job there too. But for that she needed to gain teaching experience in a privilege school. And judging by her lie to the Principal, she really wanted to work there. It wasn't just a kid's fantasy as he had always thought. It was indeed a job of her dream. She was aware of her actions and lies, when she had been interviewed.
And now she was standing all lost and desperate in a low bow just before his very eyes. But how could he help her? What kind of advice did he have for her? Just to forget about her dream? It would be too harsh and in all honesty, he didn't want to hurt her feelings. But marrying her away to some stranger sounded even more awful than breaking her dream into millions of pieces.
He could understand the school rules. It was an all-boys school after all. It would be too hard for an unmarried young woman to stand against a bunch of male teens without a protector of her honour. Or else…even if she would stand her ground firmly, there would always be some ill situations that would become a source of dirty gossips. Jakurai didn't want his dear niece to go through such kind of scandals. Young males these days were too dissolute for their own good, even if they had an elite upbringing.
What else could be said? In order to save Sumi and help her to achieve her dream they needed to find someone, who would pretend to be her one and only. And that someone had had to follow strict instruction of keeping his hands away from Sumi during the period of that fake relationship.
Just thinking about the situation made Doctor's head throb in pain. He looked at his poor niece, who was still frozen in a bow, and sighed heavily.
"Sumi, please, raise your head. I want to help you, but you do understand what situation you are putting yourself and me in, don't you?"
The sound of his steady and serious voice sent a wave of guilt crashing down on her heart.
"I… I know, Uncle. And I am very sorry. But I couldn't tell anyone else about it. You are the only relative I have in Tokyo and you have always been the only one, who helped me with good advice and supported me in my decisions. I managed to convince my parents about my wish of studying history only thanks to your help. Without your encouragement I would have never been able to stand my ground and prove my point that day."
When she was getting to your heartstrings like that you could never say "no" to her. Jakurai knew it. She had always been his favourite niece he adored to spoil. Now take that, Jakurai!
"A lie is a lie, Sumi. Even if we manage, for who knows how, to find a solution to your current problem, the consequences might be too unpredictable. I am just afraid that the situation will get out of control and you will regret your actions forever."
The young Jinguji bit her lower lip in agitation. Of course, Uncle Jakurai was right. He always was! But she couldn't back down now. Not now, when they had already signed the papers and told her to start teaching in two weeks on April,6.
"I don't know what tomorrow brings, Uncle Jakurai. No one knows," she said finally and spread her shoulders in a confident posture. She looked the doctor in the eyes and uttered in a solemn tone. "But I will regret for the rest of my life if I don't try. If anything goes out of control, we will deal with it later."
Jakurai chuckled sincerely. He was going to dive into a very unique and dangerous adventure, thanks to his charming relative. Fascinating and intriguing, indeed.
But still there was a huge question at hand.
"About the very necessary person you need for this show to start…" Jakurai started carefully, not even knowing himself, how he was going to tell her that they were out of options. "I -"
But he never had a chance to finish his sentence as they heard some kind of commotion from the corridor. Two representatives of Jinguji family turned their heads the moment someone knocked on the door and opened it.
"I am sorry, Doctor," a nurse bowed apologetically to her superior. There was a tall tired-looking man standing behind her. "I told him that your working hours are already over, but he was persistent in his wish to see you."
When Doctor noticed the very person, who had come to visit him so late in the evening, a small hopeful smile appeared on his lips.
"It's alright, Yamaguchi-san. I have told you already that the door of my cabinet is always open for this young man and his friend," the medic spoke kindly.
"Yes, Doctor Jinguji. I am sorry. I will be paying more attention the next time. If you excuse me," the woman bowed again and left the cabinet, allowing the visitor to enter the room.
Jakurai smiled broadly at the newcomer and greeted him generously.
"It's nice to see you, Doppo-kun, but I hope you are healthy and didn't come here for a medical treatment."
"I am so sorry, sensei. I know that I chose the wrong time to come here, I always do. And I am causing you too much problems. I am so very sorry."
The young man in a dark suit never stopped bowing in a sign of apology. To Sumi's eyes he looked a little bit weird. She couldn't see his face, as he never looked up from his bowing ceremony since the moment he entered the room, but the only thing she could tell for sure, that this young man respected her Uncle to no limits.
"Actually, you came just in perfect timing," Jinguji-sensei uttered thoughtfully, never leaving his eyes from the bowing man, and then he slowly approached Doppo and stopped his traditional way of showing respect by putting his hand on his shoulder. "I never cease to amaze just how significant all of our encounters are."
"I am so sorry for that," the red haired man added heartily and received an encouraging squeeze on his shoulder and somewhat strange smile from Doctor's face in return.
"Don't be. I am really glad that you came. And before you tell me about what exactly brought you here today, I have to say that I need to talk to you afterwards, if you are not in hurry."
Doppo didn't know how to respond to this strange greeting. For some reason, he felt insecure. He had never felt insecure in sensei's presence.
"I am not in hurry, sensei. I just don't know what you want to talk about with someone like me."
This young man looked depressed, lost and exhausted. Also he seemed to have some psychological problems regarding his confidence. Sumi was watching both men with curious eyes, but tried her best not to stare too much. Though, it was almost impossible, because she had never seen such people as this Doppo-guy before. Just by looking at him you started to feel the urge to hug and console him by telling him that everything will be alright.
The next moment she caught a quick glance of his crystal-blue eyes on her. But he averted his gaze almost instantly in a shy manner.
Doctor's voice interrupted her train of awkward thoughts.
"Sumi. Could you please wait me in the corridor? I need to finish this last appointment for today."
The girl grabbed her purse from the desk and headed to the door hurriedly.
"Oh, yes. Of course. Sorry for interrupting your work. See you later."
With those words she hid behind the door.
If everything went the way his intuition was telling him, they would find the solution to Sumi's problem by the end of this appointment. Doctor didn't want to drag his teammates into this story, but every event in life had meaning. Jakurai Jinguji believed it. Sumi's urgent visit and Doppo's sudden arrival at the same timing had had to be two pieces of something fateful.