She sat there silently, her transfixed expression never leaving her features ever since she read the notes contents. How exactly did this happen? How could she have counteracted this? Her ultramarine eyes wavered over the simple words of the paper that broke her heart ever so stridently.

'I'm sorry, I can't marry you, I'm in love with someone else. Take care, Tamotsu.'

"..."

The words seemed to stare back at her, as if they were heckling her. How could he say such things so straightforward without an explanation? She then crumpled the note into a ball in her fist without thinking, tears cascading down her now crimson cheeks. Her beloved fiancee Tamotsu Himemoko and herself were to be betrothed in a couple months, she had already picked out her dress, picked out the wedding venue, and everything. All that labor and money was now going to waste all because of this one wretched note. He was everything she ever wanted, but clearly it wasn't the same way around if he had fallen in love with someone else, though the thought of it made her stomach churn and her throat dry, she had to admit it. But she could never accept it. She stood up from the bench, and wiped away her tears. He was supposed to leave on the plane to Japan with her, they were supposed to meet up at the airport, but he never showed. The only trace of him was the godforsaken white paper note in her suitcase she knew she didn't pack. She gripped the handle of her suitcase until her knuckles turned white and trudged to the cafe where her friends would be waiting, and so would her parents in a few hours. She wanted to tumble to the ground, curl up in a ball, and weep until she fell asleep, but she couldn't, she had to tell everyone about the affair, no matter how much she didn't want to mention it to anyone, let alone herself.

She threw the door of the cafe open weakly, automatically seeking comfort. Everyone of the patrons and employees were staring at her, but she didn't care, they weren't the ones she was looking for. She tried looking for her friends, but her vision was too blurry with her eyes being brimmed with tears. A brunette with a pixie-cut came up to her and put her hands on her shoulders.

"Ayumi-chan! Are you alright?" Naomi questioned distressingly.

"I..no.."

Naomi leaded her to the booth all four of her friends were sitting in and vigilantly guided her in next to Mayu since she seemed incredibly fragile at the time being.

"Ayumi! Great to see-!" Seiko started, and was about to lean over the table to give Ayumi a huge hug, but saw her melancholy state, and decided against it.

"What happened?" Mayu asked, placing her hand softly on her shoulder, all the rest of the group looking at Ayumi worriedly, or shocked to see her in such a condition. The former class rep was always in happy spirits, even when things were tough, so seeing her like this meant that something had gone horribly wrong.

"..Ngh.." She sniffled, rubbing her red eyes.

"It's okay, you can tell us," Naomi gave her a delicate smile, patting her shoulder softly.

Ayumi couldn't get any words out without breaking into tears, so she decided to take out the crumpled note from her dress pocket and plunk it onto the marble table. She whimpered softly as they read each word out loud, not making the situation any better.

"That assh-!" Seiko began, undoubtedly enraged.

"Seiko," Naomi looked at her then back at Ayumi, trying to let her point across that they should be trying to make her feel better instead of smash-mouthing her ex fiancee, even though she wanted to do the same.

"Oh, right, sorry," Seiko apologized, then looked back at the crestfallen bluenette before her, "He doesn't deserve you, Ayumi, these things always happen for a reason."

"W-What reason?" Ayumi croaked out, "What could possibly occur that would make all of this better? I mean, the wedding is to take place m-months from now, and now there's not going to be anyone going, including the bride and groom!"

"Wellllll, you could find someone new that's way better than douchepants, I never liked him anyway, he was too serious and antisocial. He probably has a collection of Star Wars figurines underneath his bed that he talks to at night since he can hold a wet bar of soap better than a conversation."

"Don't say that about him! He's a good guy!" Ayumi defended, evidently inconsolable at the moment.

Morishige coughed to get Ayumi's attention, "While I understand your discomfort at the moment, I don't think he is a genuine guy if he was too much of a coward to tell you this face-to-face, or to ditch you knowing you have no place to stay."

The others nodded in agreement. Ayumi's eyes widened, she completely forgot that she didn't have enough money for a hotel too stay in, much less a house. The finance situation was supposed to be covered by him, but then this fiasco began to take action. All of her money had been wiped clean from the upcoming wedding that now was useless since it would be no longer occuring.

"She can stay with me!" Mayu jovially declared.

"Or me!" Seiko added.

"Same here!" Naomi smiled.

"Thank you, guys, I really appreciate it, but I don't want to be a burden. . ."

"Give your modest self a break, Ayumi! You're always helping us, let us do the same for you in return," Mayu exclaimed.

"She's right, we're your friends, Shinozaki, our job is to always be there for you," Satoshi commented.

"Mochida...everyone..." Ayumi smiled gently in gratefulness of her friends she had known since high school, that is until she remembered something incredibly fundamental, "My parents are going to be here any minute now!"

"You're just going to have to tell them the truth," Morishige pointed out.

"How can I? They've been waiting for this moment for years, and I'm going to have to let them down.."

"They'll understand, Shinozaki. It's not like it's your fault, anyway," Satoshi assured her with a smile. Ayumi let out a sigh, and Seiko grabbed the ivory note in her hand and held it up for everyone to see, predominantly Ayumi.

"It's gonna be okay. Here, to new beginnings!"

"To new beginnings!" Everyone chorused except for Ayumi, and Seiko teared the note in half, then into shreds, letting them flutter onto the table, the words on the note now illegible.

"Are you guys going to keep playing around, or are you actually going to order?" A raven-haired waitress complained, looking downright annoyed.

"We're actually waiting for someone-" Naomi started but a certain someone cut her off.

"Ooh! I'll have a lemonade!"

"Seiko!"

"What? I'm not depriving myself of this cafe's goods because someone's parents are taking forever to show up!"

"I'll have some raspberry tea!" Mayu stated.

"Sweet tea for me," Naomi added with a sigh, finally giving in.

"I'll just have a water," Morishige muttered.

"Me too!" Satoshi chimed in.

"...I'll have some black tea, I guess..." Ayumi said, not really in the mood to eat or drink anything considering the emotional rollarcoaster that had taken place today. The waitress finished writing on her little notepad and walked off, her black ponytail swinging.

"And also, speaking of someone taking forever to show up, where is he? He was supposed to be here when we showed up!" Seiko questioned the group.

"I don't know, he hasn't texted me, he must be having a late shift at work or something," Satoshi answered.

"Me neither," Morishige added.

"By 'he', you mean.." Naomi glanced at Seiko.

"Yup!"

"Wait, who is this he-" Ayumi began but her words were cut short when she heard bells ring, signalling that the door had just opened, and she heard two very familiar voices to her heart.

"Ayumi!"

"H-Huh?" Ayumi peered over, and sure enough she saw the buoyant faces of her parents. Her mother hugged her tightly.

"Sorry we're late, we got stuck in traffic!" Her mother, Asuka, explained.

"It's fine," Ayumi replied. She heard the sound of bells ringing again, but she paid no mind to it.

"Why do you look so sad, sweetheart? Did something happen?" Her father, Ayato, asked, concerned, normally brides-to-be were considerably euphoric when they were to be wed.

"Yes," Ayumi took in a sharp breath, stood up, then looked into her parents eyes, "You see, I-"

"Sorry to keep you waiting," A blonde haired man came up beside Ayumi.

'Is he talking to me?'

Then, her whole body and mind froze when he placed his arm around her shoulder and held her close to him.

'Oh.'

"Oh! Are you the famous fiancee we've heard about?" Asuka asked, looking as rousing as ever.

'Hell.'

"That's me," He smirked.

'No.'

She could see a mixture of shock and amusement on her friends faces from the corner of her eye, and that just made her even more livid.

"Thank God, you had us frightened for a while there," Ayato responded. Ayumi wanted to reply right then and there that he was fooling them, but the relieved expressions they held told her otherwise.

"Come, come! Let's talk things over," Asuka nodded toward the booth excitingly, and took her seat along with Ayato, me, and the unknown guy that had claimed to be her 'fiancee'.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Ayumi yell-whispered to him while her parents were glancing over the menu.

"Just go with it," The man responded frigidly.

'Who does he think he is?! Talking to me with that tone when he's the one who initiated this bullcrap in the first place!'

"So, when did you guys meet?" Asuka asked, her eyes still wandering over the menu.

"..." Ayumi didn't respond until she felt a nudge on the arm from the bleached blonde.

'I'm..going to have to go along with this, aren't I?'

"We met at the university I went to to study to become an illustrator on the first day," She answered, "We started dating about a month from then."

"How has your career been doing, Ayumi?" Ayato asked her.

"It's been good..."

"What did you say your name was, dear?" Asuka asked, looking up at him.

"Yoshiki Kishinuma, ma'am," He replied politely.

"Hehe, such a gentleman!"

'Gentleman? Are you kidding me?'

"When did he propose?" Ayato asked Yoshiki.

"A little bit after we moved in together, which was eight months ago," Ayumi felt doleful saying these words, because everything she said so far had been accurate, except instead of with this random guy, it had been with her beloved Tamotsu.

"Where, exactly?"

"Her eyes always seemed to light up in fascination whenever we came across sakura trees, so I decided to pop the question there," Yoshiki answered.

'Ugh! He's totally making things up!'

"That's so sweet!~" Seiko popped herself into the conversation, and Ayumi wanted to smack that smile off of her face for playing along.

"It totally is!" Mayu agreed.

'You too?!' She couldn't believe her ears.

The rest of the evening composed of more and more questions that had all been answered with either lies, or facts about her and Tamotsu, and the entertained facial expressions of her friends that showed her no sympathy or support at all. By time they had officially talked her ear off, her mother checked her watch and looked panicked.

"I'm afraid we have to go, Ayumi," Asuka declared, "But I'm looking forward to the wedding!" She got up from her seat, taking money out of her purse and stacking it on the table to pay for their meals.

"Take good care of our daughter," Ayato requested, and took his wife's hand.

"I will."

And with that, the couple left.

'Finally!'

She turned to him, and was prepared to verbally kick his ass, but he put a finger up to her lips to prevent any words coming from her.

"Let's take this outside."

He stood up, and held out his hand to help her up, which she absolutely refused, and got up on her own to follow him outside the cafe.

"Have fun, you two! But not too much fun!" Seiko teased.

When they got outside, Ayumi's eyes glared at him sharply.

"What the hell are you trying to pull here, pervert?!" She snapped.

"Look, it's only for three months, and let's face it, you need some time to get back on your feet."

"No I don't! I'm fine by myself! And why three months?!"

"I'll..discuss that later."

"You have the nerve to come up in here saying your my damn fiancee, and can't even tell me-!"

"Shh! Do you want to attract the attention of everyone in Japan?" He had clasped a hand over her mouth.

"Get your hands off of me!" Her muffled voice protested through his large hand.

"Damn, do you have to be so stubborn?" He sighed, pulling his hand away.

"I think any woman in my situation would be acting the same exact way, thank you!"

"Just think about it, you'll have a nice house to stay in, and everything sufficient to live for three months, which is enough time to find out your living situation and such. And besides, your parents did seem pretty excited about the idea of you having a fiancee, do you really want to break the news to them that he stood you up?"

"You-!"

She hated to admit that he was right. Her parents would be devastated. But how did he..?

"How did you know that he stood me up?"

"Satoshi and the others told me about you and how you had a fiancee, and judging by the expression on your face when I walked in, I knew something bad happened, I just guessed on the standing you up part."

"Wait, your friends with them..?" Ayumi asked, slightly offended and confused on why they didn't tell her about him earlier, considering she had talked to them on the phone constantly since she had moved from Japan. He nodded in response.

"They kind of took me under their wing while I was feeling down," He confessed, "My father put a lot of pressure on me in trying to get me prepared to take on the family business, he wasn't exactly wholehearted about it either. They gave me the courage to get out of there and do what I wanted with my life. I never really had friends like that, or friends in general, so they're really important to me. I wish you and I could have met on normal circumstances, though."

'He must of been the guy they were talking about, I take it..'

She thought about the offer that still stood.

'I certainly don't want to do it, but he's right, I have nowhere to live, nor any form of transportation, the only thing I have is my suitcase full of clothing, and a toothbrush..'

"...Agh, I'll do it..."

"Come again?" He sounded genuinely surprised.

"Don't make me repeat myself. It's for three months, and three months only, right?"

He nodded.

"Then let's go home and clarify the rules of this engagement," She declared, grabbing her suitcase she had brought outside with her.

"Alright."

He leaded the way to his car, and they both got in. He started the engine, and drove off, both of them completely forgetting that their friends were waiting for them to come back inside after their conversation.

"Well, that was faster than I thought," Naomi noted, seeing the view the car drive off from the glass double doors.

"I can't wait to see how this plays out," Seiko commented eagerly, a huge grin spread across her face, shaking her head in amusement.

She groaned, and threw her shoes off, and her suitcase aside, flopping onto the sofa, which was unbelievably comfortable to her aching joints. Yoshiki chuckled.

"Make yourself at home, I guess?"

"Shut up."

She sat up, and looked at him curiously.

"If you moved out of your parents house, how come you have so much money?" She guessed he wasn't really poor considering how nice his house was, and his car didn't seem cheap either.

"I was getting to that, actually, the reason I need a fake fiancee is that the job I work at requires me to be married. I work at a girls only private school."

She was about to reply with a taunting comment, but he snipped that right in the bud quickly.

"Before you call me a sadistic pervert, I only work there because my little sister goes to that school."

"Aw, he has a soft side, too," She rolled her eyes and yawned.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. You should get to bed, it's been a long day for you, and not a good one at that, I'll have a printed rules guide ready for you in the morning."

"Thank you."

She got up and went toward the room she had reckoned was the bedroom, and her assumptions were proved right when she was faced with a extremely comfy looking bed. She closed the door and allowed herself to indulge in the silky brown sheets that hugged her petite form. She rested her head on the pillow, and let her eyes fall, not even changing out of her casual wear to go to sleep.

"Ayumi Shinozaki?" Mr. Fujimoto, the college professor, called. The students looked around the room during the long pause.

"Is Ayumi Shinozaki here?" He asked again.

"No? Okay-" He began, ready to write down on the paper on his clipboard.

"I'm here! Sorry!" The indigo-haired girl barged in the door, creating quite a ruckus.

"You're late, Miss Shinozaki," Mr. Fujimoto stated disapprovingly, "For having been a class representative on your resume, you sure didn't come prepared."

"I'm truly sorry sensei, I-"

"I don't want to hear it, sit down, before you get kicked out of this university."

"R-Right, sir..."

She heard giggles and felt mocking eyes on her as she sat down in the only empty seat available. She almost always came assembled to anything, but today, the most important day of all, was an exception, unfortunately.

Later on in the day, she was finally dismissed to go home. She decided to take the long way out the back door, since she didn't want to be around people at the moment, considering she was now the laughing stock for today. As negative thoughts about the day present occupied her mind, she ran into something hard, or rather, someone.

"Ah, sor-!" She looked up to see an incredibly handsome man with chestnut hair and the most beautiful seafoam eyes covered by the thick black frames of his glasses.

"...It's fine..." He mumbled quietly.

"I'm Ayumi Shinozaki! Who are you?" She tried to recover from the embarrassing event by greeting him in a warm fashion, sticking her hand out for a handshake.

"You're pretty cheerful for someone who made a fool out of herself the whole entire day.."

She would've snapped at him if his tone was insulting, but instead it was...pitiful?

"I strive to have a positive view of things. If I let these little things bring me down, how will I handle the more incompetent things in the future?"

"..."

"...Tamotsu Yamada..."

"Huh?"

"My name is Tamotsu Yamada, it's nice to meet you, Ayumi Shinozaki," He shook her hand. She watched his back as he walked away from her, but she could just faintly see a gentle smile on his face.

It was morning when her eyes fluttered open. The dream from the night prior filled her memory. Why had she dreamt about him so soon? She didn't want to remember anything about him until she got over the heartbreak, or else she was afraid she'd break down sobbing again. Thinking of this, her eyes peaked with tears. She wanted to get out of bed to stop herself from thinking about it. But wait..

"Mmh.."

That definitely wasn't her breathing. Especially since she had stopped breathing when she heard the other voice. She was too scared to look back to see who it was, but she didn't need to. The figure was so close she could feel its body warmth. The only hint she received was the yellow lock of hair she could see grazing her shoulder.

And the arms she felt around her waist.

"..."

"KYAAAAAAA!"

She definitely did not take it well.

Heya guys ^_^ You guys voted, and I shall grant. Here is the order of the most voted to least voted on stories, also the order of time I'm going to write them:

1. Just Fake Married!

2. Secret Heart

3. Something In The Way She Moves

4. To Protect A Princess

As you can see, I made this about 3k words instead of 2k, my usual number of words for a chapter, since this is the first chapter, and I wanted to make it special. I might make all the other chapters 3k words since I don't want this story to have a bunch of chapters like Be Mine. Anyway, how do you like the story so far? o: Make sure to R&R and tell me your thoughts, critiques, and suggestions, and I shall comply. Ily my precious cinnamon (or sinnamon) rolls, ciao! ◕‿◕