A/n 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.

Chapter 4

"Eh? Kannonzaka-san, what does it mean? Did you get married?!"

Doppo freaked out by the sound of a female's high pitch voice beside him. He was about to dig in his bento with the chopsticks, sitting at the table in the dining area of the break room for the company employees, when one of his colleagues stopped on her tracks and noticed something unusual about him.

The young man turned his head to the source of his uprising panic and looked at the woman with anxious eyes. She was staring at him as if he was some kind of an alien. Her curious gaze was roaming from his face to his left hand. Doppo needed a moment to comprehend the situation. It wasn't like he kept his marriage in secret from the others, he just didn't tell anyone about it at work. But since his wedding ring was spotted by this exact woman, he was sure that his peaceful days were about to end. This colleague of his was famous for her skill of collecting and spreading gossips.

"When did it happen?! And why didn't you tell us about it, Kannonzaka-san?"

Well, now she drew unneeded attention to his person, as more employees started to gather around his table.

"Whoa! Really! It's a wedding ring!" one of the young female managers exclaimed and covered her mouth with her palm in amusement.

"No way! Kannonzaka got married? You must be kidding!" a man, who worked at the same department, added himself to the commotion.

"Just look at his bento! It's absolutely exquisite and made by a loving woman's hand!"

"How did you manage to find yourself a wife, Kannonzaka? You are at work for 24/7. Is she even real or what?"

More and more of similar and unpleasant questions were falling on his head from different directions. Doppo didn't even know that there were so many people, who knew his name in this company. With a heavy sigh, he closed the bento box and stood up silently. The commotion ceased as all the people just stared at his silent actions of ignorance. He didn't look at any of them, he just took the bento box in his hands and headed towards the exit. The sound of comments regarding his cold behavior didn't stop him from escaping. And honestly, he didn't feel like answering any of their stupid questions.

Doppo found a secure place to have a lunch on the rooftop. It was windy today and the air was still chilly, but it was better to have his meal in silence than eating in a warm room and being interrogated.

Of course he didn't like the idea of his colleagues finding out about his marriage, but it was a matter of time before they knew. Too bad, it happened so fast and under such circumstances.

Yes, he had married Sensei's niece a month ago, and so many things happened since then. The scariest event of them all was visiting her parents in Kyoto. It had become the most terrifying experience in his life. Her mother was a nice intelligent woman, while her father represented his family in all its glory. He was strict, his eyes were cold and he looked at his daughter's husband like the latter was some kind of mud. Both Doppo and Sumi had been predicting about the difficulties during the meeting, but it was really a tough case in reality. Meanwhile, Doppo couldn't blame his wife's parents for being so cold and distrustful about him. In their eyes he must have looked as a thief, who had stolen their precious heiress. There were lots of uncomfortable silent pauses, contemptuous glares and sharp words directed to his person and the image of their sudden and secret wedding, but then…

"Father, Mother…" he was sitting on the floor and offered them the deepest bow of respect. "Thank you for raising Sumi into the incredible person that she is. You are her loving parents and will always remain them, but now I am asking you for your permission and your blessing to be her guardian from now on. I promise you to protect her happiness and her smile, because she is a precious treasure. Not only yours, but mine as well."

Perhaps, it was his sincere speech that gave a good impression on her father, or maybe it was something else, but after hearing those words, Sumi's parents warmed up to him and even welcomed him into their family. It was a dubious double feeling: a feeling of relief and guilt in one bottle. Relief – because they had finally found a mutual language with her parents; guilt – because his speech wasn't all true. It wasn't a lie either, but the fake marriage couldn't be called real no matter how you named it.

And Doppo suffered from pangs of conscience in double doze. At first it was at the Jingujis' residence in Kyoto, then it happened again in his hometown Kobe, were his family lived. To his great amazement his parents' reaction was absolutely opposite to that of Jingujis'. His dad just shook Sumi's hand and called her "dear daughter" right away, while his mom couldn't stop exclaiming her words of gratitude to Heavens for marrying away her gloomy and hopeless son to such a pretty and fine girl. Doppo's younger brother just sat with his mouth agape the whole time of their visit. Sumi had made a great impression on his parents with her smile and lovely comments regarding his person. Just remembering her words of fondness made his heart race even now. Of course it was her part of acting, but her words really had made a great impact on him.

"When my Uncle introduced us to each other, I knew it from the moment I saw Doppo, that he was the one."

Her declaration was still ringing in his ears, making his cheeks flush. Even if it was a fake pretending marriage, it felt too real, when other people were involved.

Just as Sensei told them to do, they presented the photo album with the pictures of their wedding photo shoot to both families. The gift helped to smooth out rough edges with Sumi's parents a lot. The photos were really great and the sight of their daughter being happy in her wedding dress next to her husband melted the ice in the building relations.

Doppo's parents reacted extraordinary. At first they cried a river from happiness to see their son in a wedding suit next to a pretty bride, then they praised both Sumi and Doppo for their beautiful expression of love in front of the camera, and then… then his mother took out an old photo album and started to show Sumi his photos, when he was still a drooling infant. Doppo had thought that he had inquired all kinds of embarrassment up until that very moment. But by the squealing sounds and the enthusiastic words "kawaii!" from Sumi's lips he found out that he was gravely wrong. The feeling of this bashfulness went in no comparison with any other kind of embarrassment he had known before.

No matter how awkward he had felt that day at his parents' house, the remembrance of Sumi and his family brought a gentle smile to his lips and pleasant warmth to his heart. Before the visit, he had been prepared to be yelled at by his parents for marrying in secret without telling them, but how huge his amazement was, when they started crying in pure joy the moment they knew the news. He had never thought that his mom and dad were so worried about his personal life. And he forgot when he had seen his parents being so happy for the last time. Sumi brought delight to his family and he was grateful to her for that. If only it wasn't all a lie…

The image of her being dressed in a wedding gown was imprinted in his mind and heart permanently, he was sure of it. He didn't even dare to think that she had looked so beautiful only for him during that special photo shoot, because it was not true. It was another lie, another show that was also essential to do in order to make up a firm background of their marriage. Jakurai-sensei made it very clear to them about the importance of this masquerade. And they followed his instructions the best they could. But… they could never predict that the photographer would be a French man, who was too passionate about his work of making masterpiece of each photo of the newlywed couple he was shooting. Both Sumi and Doppo had really hard time with their acting in front of the camera, because Monsieur Dupont demanded for realism. He wanted to see love in the lens of his camera, and they both sucked at showing it to him.

Since they both were too shy even to touch each other, they refused to embrace and kiss in front of the camera or anything else, when Monsieur Dupont asked them to peck each other on the lips for a nice shot. By the way they both freaked out with their eyes uncharacteristically widened and faces unhealthy reddened, the French man realized that this photo session would be the hardest in his whole life. The better part of their photos was focused on sharing loving and caring gazes, with their eyes filled with happiness. But after a long and exhausting photo session, the photographer made his plan in reality even for ten per cents. He managed to take several photos of the weird couple, where the feeling of something sincere and beautiful was floating around them.

No matter how embarrassing it was to admit, but Doppo did have the photo he liked the most on his cellphone. It was a picture, where he and Sumi were standing close, gazing into each other's eyes and entwining their left pinkies in a gentle manner. The glimmer of their wedding rings was perfectly visible in that pose, and they really looked like they were a couple in love. Even if Doppo looked unusually fresh and handsomely young with all the make-up a visagiste had put on his face before the photo shoot, he still liked this shot and treasured it. Because Sumi looked beyond gorgeous in it.

He stared at the beautifully arranged bento in his lunchbox and couldn't but feel happy. In the past, it had always been Hifumi's privilege to cook bento, but now it belonged to Sumi. No matter how hard he tried to convince her not to bother about him, she stood her ground firmly.

"Please, let me repay you for your help by making you lunches . It's the least I can do to express my gratitude. And besides, it will be my pleasure."

Her smile that day was radiant as those words escaped her lips. It had been almost three weeks since they started to live together and one month since the marriage registration. Thanks to Hifumi's help, Doppo managed to move in pretty quickly. The blond had taken the process of moving under his control and transported Doppo's belongings to Sumi's apartment, while Doppo himself was working. He had to confess, without Hifumi's participation in this entire "marriage adventure" he would have bacome a victim of depression for sure. He didn't even have time to move his things to a new place of living because of working and working and working.

There were positive thing too. Ever since Hifumi started helping the happy newlyweds out with their issues, he became more open around Sumi. Doppo didn't know how much time they spent together during the moving process, but by the way both his friend and wife were communicating, it was obvious that they acknowledged each other and became pretty good friends. Doppo was glad to know that Sumi's presence was helping Hifumi to fight his phobia little by little. She indeed had that soothing effect around her, which could bring calmness and peace to your heart and mind. He had no clue how she did it, maybe it was a secret skill that was inherited from the Jingijis'. Doppo was familiar with the feeling, since he had always experienced it around Sensei. A feeling of secure and serenity.

The redhaired rapper let out a sigh of confusion. Frankly saying, he had thought that being apart from his friend and almost brother would be too hard and unbearable, but the more time he spent with Sensei's charming niece, the more perplexity his heart was feeling. In the mornings she would always greet him with a smile along with a delicious breakfast and then she would walk him to the door and wish him a nice day. In the evenings, no matter how late they could be because of the neverending overtimes, she would always wait for his return and treat him to a splendid hot supper, praising him for his hard work. And she would never forget to offer him a soothing smile – so beautiful and kind, that he would forget how to breathe for a moment. It was very awkward at first to be treated so friendly by the girl he had a fictitious marriage with. But as the time passed by, Doppo suddenly realized that he was comfortably getting used to this kind of life – a life, where someone was waiting for you at home and offering you a company that brought peace and tranquility.

"Since we are living together now, let's become good friends, Doppo."

Those were Sumi's words, when he had finally crossed her threshold as a husband and a roommate.

Doppo didn't complain about his friendship with Hifumi, but sometimes the guy could be too troublesome and noisy. And the periodicities of unpleasant situations he had a tendency to find and got stuck in were so frequent that Doppo had already lost count to his nerve cells he had expended forever.

And now, looking at his well-prepared bento, the guy couldn't but get Sumi's gentle smile out of his mind.

"You need to eat properly in order to pull off your overtimes. So I added some yummy and nutritious products. Tell me if you liked them, when you come home today."

She said those words in the morning just before he was getting off to work. He had to leave a little earlier than her to get to the station in time. Doppo's schedule had changed since the day he moved in, so he had to get used to new route to his place of work. But Sumi's words had literally caught him off guard. She expressed her thoughts so openly and sincerely that it couldn't but touch the strings of his lonely heart. The way she showed him her care made him feel diffident, because he didn't understand why she even bothered to care about him in the first place.

With messed feelings he took a bite of his lunch and closed his eyes in bliss. It was indeed delicious. He felt the urge to tell her about it right away, but was too shy to call or text her. It would look strange anyway, if he would unexpectedly bother her during the working hours. She must be having a lesson right now. Yeah, he would tell her in the evening and thank her for a tasty bento, when he got home.

With those thoughts in mind Kannonzaka gathered his things and headed to the exit, leaving the chilly but cozy rooftop behind. The lunch break was about to end, so he needed to get to his desk in time.

As for Sumi's part, she was happy. Really, really happy. The work of her dream was right here and she was enjoying every minute of it. She had been assigned to teach History and be a homeroom teacher at class 3-D. The atmosphere in this elite school was something she could dream about. It was everything her nerdy heart could wish for. The students were all clever and nice too. It brought true happiness to her teacher's soul to see young guys being interested in studying. It reminded her of her younger self back at school.

But no matter what the school was or what status it had, there was always someone who thought too high of themselves. Sumi was lucky not to cross paths with such individuals before, but now she had one representative of a kind in her class.

Sanada Aoi. He was a tall green-eyed blond with perfect grades, perfect looks and terrible case of egocentrism. He was a self-proclaimed leader in the class and felt like everyone must obey his orders. Sumi was watching him and couldn't understand what the real deal with that guy was. By the way everyone followed his lead without a complaint she guessed that he might have had some kind of power over other students. Later one of the fellow teachers told her that he was the Principal's beloved grandson and nobody wanted to mess with him and lose their jobs.

Well, it was not like she was worried or anything. The kid just was getting on her nerves with his sharp remarks about the great names of history and their heroic deeds. Her eyebrow would twitch every time he said another ambiguous joke concerning her teaching subject in the class.

Ah, brats could be found anywhere, even behind the walls of a prestigious school. But she wouldn't let someone like that guy interfere in her teaching process and spoil her mood. So she decided to ignore Sanada but be prepared to protect the honor of the history if it would be needed.

On her way back home Sumi decided to prepare something unusual for the supper and amaze Doppo. Heh, it was still awkward to call him by his given name, but she slowly was getting used to it. In her nerdy life Sumi had a little hobby, but she didn't boast about it. Cooking had always been an art that she was fond of, but it wasn't fun to prepare meal just for herself. When her arranged husband had moved in, the girl decided to have food together. They were about to live for a whole year under the same roof, so they needed to become good friends. And what could be a better way to start a friendship if not a shared meal? So, when she offered him a nice breakfast and got positive comments about its taste from Kannonzaka's side, Sumi knew that her plan was a success. They really got a little closer and could talk more freely, though Doppo wasn't a type of a chatty man. He was more a man of actions than words.

As he had promised her, he tried not to interfere in her life and personal space. At first she thought that his neverending overtimes were just an excuse to come home late and not bother her with his presence. But something in the back of her mind was telling her that it wasn't the case. So, she decided to ask the closest person, who knew Doppo better than anyone else. Sumi was still confused about Hifumi's phobia of women and the way he barely whispered in the phone to answer her questions while being on the verge of fainting, but she was very grateful to him for cooperating. Only thanks to that handsome host she was able to know more about the man she was living with.

So, overtime work was not an excuse after all, it was not a habit of his, but a true harsh treatment from his boss's side. After finding out about this issue, she felt sorry for the poor guy. So, maybe that was the reason why he had looked so squeezed out, when they first met at Uncle's cabinet. Those bags under his eyes were a proof of his chronic exhaustion. Sumi felt a pang of guilt for involving him into her crazy idea with a pretending relation. Well, it wasn't exactly her fault for bringing him into her life, but she played the main role in this show. So, the least she could do in returning the favor is treating him to good and tasty meals and support him in his work. Maybe it would make his life a little better and add more bright colours to his life. She hoped it would, and judging by his sincere ways of getting pleasantly surprised with her words of encouragement and interesting choice of cooking, she knew it did. Because that small smile on his tired face, which appeared every time he thanked her, was something she was eagerly looking forward to see. He looked so much better with relaxed muscles on his face and lively sparks in his crystal-blue eyes. It made him seem younger and a little carefree, and in her point of view it suited him well.

They lived in separate rooms, but had to use one bathroom. It was a little bothersome to her at first, and they tried not to get into awkward situations by entering the bath when one of them was still there, but after discussing their preferences, they came up with a schedule, and it helped a lot. After living together for almost three weeks, Sumi could frankly confess, that it wasn't that bad. It was fun, actually, to have someone around, even if that someone showed his presence only for several hours in weekdays. But on the weekends they spent more time together. Well, the past couple of weekends were dedicated to visiting their parents and they indeed spent most of the time close to each other smiling uneasily and getting nervous under stern gazes of their parents (her parents if to be correct). She knew that it would be a tough case, and it was, but thanks for a miracle, they managed to get away with the marriage story alive. Doppo's speech made a great impression on her. The way he had spoken to her father was something she had always dreamed about while being younger. He had praised her and called her a treasure he wanted to protect. Even if those words were just a pretending, they did make her happy. And judging by the way her father had reacted to Doppo's speech, she knew that her parents wouldn't be mad with her secret marriage for long.

Both Jingiji and Kannonzaka families were told that it was Doctor Jakurai, who became their Cupid by introducing them to each other.

The visit to Doppo's parents went smoothly. He had a nice lively family that was as emotional about personal issues as her husband was. She recalled the moment when his mother told them not to keep her grandchildren's' birth in secret. That statement shocked both of them so much, that they couldn't pronounce a word from embarrassment.

"W-we've just got m-married. It's a little early to be talking about kids," she was ready to hug Doppo for gathering all of his strength and squeezing out the answer of himself, because she had absolutely no idea what to say to her mother-in-law.

But there was another funny situation during their visit to the Kannonzakas'. When they all looked at the photos from the wedding photo shoot, Doppo's younger brother wondered why they didn't kiss in any of the pictures, since it felt strange.

She remembered how red Doppo's face had turned, hers was no better, but she mastered a smart reply.

"Because we don't do it in a public. Kissing is something you want to keep in private," the abashed way Doppo looked at her was beyond amusing. But she needed to put an end to this joke and stared at the younger Kannonzaka with a sweet smile. "We'll see what your wedding photos will look like, dear brother."

That remark eased the tension and the atmosphere returned to normal and friendly. But in the back of Sumi's mind there was a tickling feeling. She would never forget the awkwardness they mutually shared during the photo shoot, but there was also a tiny curiosity in her heart about how it would feel like to kiss someone. Of course, she wasn't ready to give her first kiss to a stranger, even if she had been already married to him by law for two days at that moment. It wasn't a time and place to do it at the photo shoot, and frankly saying, she had no clue why she had thoughts of such direction. Maybe it was because Doppo looked really eye-catching in his creamy-coloured tuxedo. And also his face and hairstyle were different. Later she understood that it was the magic of make-up, which hid the bags under his eyes and the paleness of his skin. With that fresh and young appearance he looked charmingly handsome and beyond modest. Such combination was something only Kannonzaka could pull off, and she felt something close to happiness, when she thought that maybe she was the only one, who had seen this side of him.

It was a hard photo shoot for both her physical and mental state. Doppo was a little too close to her liking, she wasn't used to have someone in her personal space. And that was why the photographer had his way of trying to make them look more normal and more in love. By the look on the French man's face, it was obvious that they wouldn't get Oscar for their acting skills. And so, they started to try harder and soon they got a word of approval. That last photo, where they had to entwine their left pinkies, was her favourite. It looked sincere and just like them – a couple who wasn't ready for this marriage, but who respected and treasured the person standing next to them.

Treasured?

Sumi shook her head in confusion. She respected Doppo, yes. He deserved her respect that much, but did she treasure him as much as he did? He had told her father tha she was a precious treasure he wanted to protect. She didn't know if the feelings she had for her husband could be described as 'treasured'. And now, while standing in the convenience store and staring at an orange in her hand, she still couldn't answer that question.

"Oh, Kannonzaka-sensei! What a surprise!"

Sumi didn't notice that someone was addressing to her. In the deep thought she forgot her new last name, but when a man appeared before her eyes, she recognized the Vice Principal and smiled in wonder.

"Yanagi-sensei! Good evening," she bowed a little to him. "It's a surprise to run into each other like this, indeed."

The young man grinned enthusiastically, showing his straight white teeth.

"I live very close to this store. And you, Kannonzaka-sensei? Where do you live?"

Sumi didn't like the way he tried to pry into her life by asking such personal questions, but maybe it was just her imagination.

"Me too," was her short reply, as she put the orange back on the shelf.

"Oh, really? Then maybe it's fate," the man let out a chuckle. "We can see each other at work and run into each other in the streets and stores."

"Y-yes, you are right," the girl gripped the basket handle and bowed a little. "Sorry, but I am in a hurry. It was nice to meet you. Have a nice evening, Yanagi-sensei."

The man's face showed disappointment but he returned the bow and bid his farewell as well.

Sumi had always been a friendly type, but sometimes her intuition played tricks with her, just like it did now. She didn't know why, but she had an alarming feeling left in her heart after that unexpected meeting with the young and handsome Vice Principle of St. Rudolf.