Marriage not dating:

Chapter 1:

Nothing exciting ever happened to Mai Taniyama. She had worked hard in school, had never been top of the class, hadn't gone to university and was instead working as an office lady at a nondescript company. She was just average.

Her parents had died when she was young and she had ended up needing to work hard to earn money from an early age so she had missed out on a lot of experiences.

She was 23 now and her life hadn't changed since she was 18. She was still working at the same company, her friends were still the same and she lived in the same apartment she had lived in since starting high school.

On a sunny day in spring, an event occurred that would change her life.

The weather was nice that day and the cherry blossoms were starting to bloom nicely. Mai was thinking of suggesting a picnic in the park with her friends Michiru and Keiko whilst the blossoms were in half bloom because there would be less competition for spaces. It was what they did every year.

She was about to turn into the train station when someone grabbed her shoulder. Mai looked over to shoulder to see a tall man with a long black finger covering one eye standing behind her. He looked quite threatening.

"Are you Mai Taniyama?" he questioned.

Was he yakuza? Mai reminded herself that she had no debts and none of her friends were likely to either.

"What if I am?" she asked cautiously.

"You need to come with me."

That did sound like a threat. She pulled off the man's hand and rushed off to catch her train. She was a normal person. Normal people didn't get accosted by random men at the train station. He must have wanted another Mai Taniyama.

She looked nervously around her once she was on the train. There was no sign of the black haired man and she breathed a sigh of relief. The rest of her day progressed as normal after that. She typed up some reports, photocopied documents, caught up with the office gossip on her break and had a bento from the nearby convenience store for lunch.

Mai had almost convinced herself that the black haired man had mistaken her for another Mai Taniyama and nothing strange would happen again.

That was until she left work at the usual time and found another black haired man hanging around outside. She assured herself it was just paranoia and walked straight past him whilst avoiding eye contact.

An arctically pale hand landed on her arm and she gulped. This dark haired man had to be in cahoots with the other one.

She turned round and took a good look at him so she would recognise him again. He was younger than the other man and much better looking. His skin was very pale and he had blue eyes which was different to see.

"I think you've mistaken me for another person," she said hesitantly.

He smiled charmingly and Mai almost forgot the situation she was in.

"You are Mai Taniyama," he said calmly. "I know I am right."

Mai took a look around her. There were lots of people around. If he started threatening her she could get other people to help.

"What do you want?"

His eyes were unreadable, but his tone was very serious.

"I don't want anything from you really. All I want to do is not to listen to anything a certain person tells you. He is tall with a fringe over one eye-"

Mai interrupted him. "I saw him this morning!"

The look on his face was certainly one of surprise and he winced.

"Lin got to you before me then," he sighed. "That man's name is Koujo Lin. He won't do anything to hurt you. He will just want you to listen to him. You can just walk off and he won't do anything."

This was a lot for Mai to take in. First there was a strange man wanting her to come with him, now there was another man telling her not to listen to the first man. How was she supposed to know which one to listen to?

"What does he want to tell me?"

The man's jawline tightened.

"You don't need to know. It's in your own interest to not listen."

"What's your name?" She asked. If she knew the first man was called Lin she should also know this man's name.

"My name is Kazuya Shibuya."

The name didn't mean anything to Mai, but it was good to know his name since he knew hers.

"If you feel threatened by Lin, contact me and I will get rid of him for you," he offered suddenly.

Mai was still confused by everything, but she liked the offer. She didn't want to be bothered anymore so she accepted.

Kazuya gave her his number and she said that she would contact him if anything did happen. They parted ways there and Mai continued on her way back home, feeling reassured that she would be safe should anything out of the ordinary happen again. Everything was going to be normal again. The only thing abnormal was that she had a phone number belonging to a rather good looking man.

It didn't take long for her routine to be disturbed again. The mysterious man named Lin was waiting outside her apartment block rather than the train station. She could see him from her position in the lobby. There was no way she could walk out the front door without him seeing her.

She took out her phone. Kazuya had said he would get rid of the man for her. She wanted him gone, but at the same time she wanted to know how Lin knew her name, where she lived and what he wanted to tell her. She was also curious to know how Kazuya knew her name.

She paused. How was Kazuya going to get rid of Lin for her? It sounded like they knew each other or were after the same thing. Who was she supposed to trust?

After a moment of consideration and using her instincts, Mai made her decision. She didn't feel like either of them were people that were going to harm her.

She dialled Kazuya's number and waited for an answer. Surprisingly he picked up after one ring. Perhaps he had been waiting for her to call.

"Is Lin there?" He asked curtly.

"Yes, I was looking out my window just now and he's right outside the entrance and I need to get to work," she explained with the addition of a deliberate lie.

"I understand. I will get remove him from your vicinity. Don't look out of the window again until I call you back," he said and ended the call.

As soon as he did Mai rushed outside to where Lin was waiting. He looked surprised at seeing her run over to him.

"Lin-san, what did you want to tell me yesterday?" She demanded. "Please tell me quickly."

He looked strangely at her and she realised that he didn't know how she had found out his name.

"Taniyama-san, has Noll met you?"

That name was completely lost on her. She couldn't manage to pronounce it right.

"I haven't met anyone called No… with that name," she corrected herself. "Can you tell me what you were going to tell me?"

Lin sighed. She couldn't work out why. "It it isn't really something I wanted to tell you on a public street, but if you want to know right now. I might as well."

The man known to Mai as Kazuya Shibuya was extremely annoyed with his bodyguard. Why was he taking matters into his own hands and talking to Mai Taniyama? In doing that Lin was being a nuisance to both of them.

Naru was insulting Lin silently as he got into his car to drive to Mai's address. The girl couldn't be the sharpest person if she wasn't questioning how he was going to get Lin away from her. That was why he had told her to stay away from the window.

When he arrived outside the apartment block his heart sank. Mai hadn't been telling the whole truth. She was standing outside talking to Lin instead of being out of sight in her apartment.

He might be too late.

He stormed out of his car and over to them. He had to know what Lin had told her so far. Fortunately neither had spotted him yet.

"The Taniyama family-" Lin broke off as he saw him approaching.

"Shibuya-san, you got here fast," Mai observed, sounding very suspicious. "I didn't even tell you the address."

She had got him there. He wasn't bothered about that at the moment. He just wanted to ensure Lin never told her about the arranged marriage.

"You can go to work now, Taniyama-san," he smiled gently. "Lin will never bother you again."

She looked at him sharply and he knew that she was not someone that was disarmed by his smiles. Mistakenly he had assumed from her blushing the previous day that she was susceptible.

"I think that I need to talk to both of you together to get the full story," she announced. "How do you know each other?"

Lin was the first one to speak.

"I am a bodyguard hired by his parents. Looking after you comes under that duty."

Naru glared at him. Lin was very close to spilling the beans with that line.

"Why?" Mai was understandably confused.

Much to Naru's distaste the omnouji managed to tell her before Naru could threaten him.

"Because you are his fiancée."

A/N: This probably sounds like it is lacking in substance but there is more to it than it seems. I swear I am not usually this cliche.