A.N: Sorry for the delayed update, I've barely had time to do anything other than school work! The story's heading towards a close now, guys. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 18

Standing Up For Themselves

Previously:

"It's as simple as this, grandfather. Either you accept Hikari's placement in my life or you find someone else to do all of your work. When you've made your choice, let me know because if you can't accept her, I quit." Striding out of the house much like HIkari had just a few moments before, Kei left them all speechless in his quest to find Hikari and make everything right between them again. If he lost her because of his grandfather, there would be hell to pay!

Returning to the story:

It was as if he had an inbuilt GPS system, Kei could always find Hikari, especially when she didn't want to be found. All he had to do was put himself in her current mindset and he would know where the best place to find her would be. Kei rushed to the school, jumping over the locked gates and made his way to the roof of the building, utilising the fire escapes on the sides of the building.

When he finally reached the roof, barely noticing any strain from his excersise, Kei looked to the edge of the roof to see Hikari sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin and held there tightly by her arms. Approaching slowly in order to not startle her, Kei sat down quietly next to her.

"Hikari?" The tentative question broke the silence and caused a sigh to emit from the girl in question.

"Kei, will your grandfather ever give up and let us be happy?" Knowing that she wanted the truth, Kei swallowed and prepared himself for a serious discussion,

"I don't know, Hikari but I'm getting sick of his expectations and rules. I love you, and that's never going to change, no matter how much he disapproves or tries to force me into a marriage with someone that I don't want. I told him that if he couldn't accept you, I'd no longer work for the company." At that, Hikari's head span around so fast that she almost pulled a muscle in her neck.

"Kei, you can't... that company is what you've always wanted-"

"No. I've always wanted to be with you. I have just always been expected to work for the company, even when I wasn't old enough yet. The only thing I ever really wanted was to be with you and for you to be my family." A small smile tilted the corners of Hikari's mouth upwards.

"I don't think you should quit, Kei. And to go against your father so openly would change a lot of things for you that I don't think you're prepared for. It'd cause a bigger rift in your family and I know you don't want that and I never want to be the cause of that."

"I'm not giving you up, Hikari!" The thought that she might be trying to let him go 'for his own good' enraged Kei, he wouldn't fail now that he'd almost gotten her to be his and his alone!

"I wasn't suggesting that. I was thinking more that you talk to your grandfather, calmly and without shouting at each other. I know that's going to be hard but you need to try to not let him wind you up. Family means everything and you have to protect it while you have it."

"You'd think after how long it's taken us to get together and everything else that we've been through, it would be simple from now on." Kei sighed wistfully, wrapping his arm around Hikari's shoulders and pulling her into him in a supporting hug.

"I know but we need to go back and talk to him, tell him that we won't back down but that he needs to try to find it in himself to accept us or things are going to be rather awkward from now on. Also, you need to retract your threat of not working for the company, you've put in so much work already, it'd be a waste to give it all up now." Kei nuzzled into HIkari's neck, drawing upon the strength and love that she provided him with, He knew she was right but that didn't mean that he had to like it. His grandfather was a stubborn old man with no consideration of what he wanted to do. It would be impossible to return to the way things were now that he had finally plucked up the courage to stand up to his tyrannical grandfather. "Kei?" Hikari poked him to gain his attention.

"Yes, I know we have to go back. I love you, Hikari." He murmured, not wanting to let go of her and ruin this precious moment in so much tumultuous anger and uncertainty.

"I love you too Kei but unless we go back and sort this out now, nothing's going to change and things need to change around here."

Hikari turned her head, causing Kei to move away from her neck to see what she was doing when she placed a soft, loving kiss on his lips, silently giving him support and confirmation that she was going to be there every step of the way.

"Right, let's go before we get carried away." Kei forced himself away, in order to remain a gentleman, stood and offered his hand to Hikari in order to help her up.

Hikari's P.O.V.

I didn't embrace the thought of returning to the manor where everyone may still be shouting at each other but I knew there was no other way. Kei's grip on my hand was tight but not bruising to show that we had each other and that was enough. It was a strangely cathartic moment when I had to calm Kei down and show him that his decisions were rash and weren't thought out well enough. Normally, I let myself run riot but not with this, this was a serious issue.

As we walked back into the house, we were greeted by the stoney silence that hung around the manor like a bad smell, permeating the rooms and causing a chill to run down my back. However, I squared my shoulders and strode forwards, egging Kei along with me to get this over and done with.

Upon entering the living room, we saw that Oji-sama and Midori were sitting on one side of the room and the grandfather was on the other side, both were purposely ignoring each other. Kei coughed and all of them looked over at us but I focussed my gaze at the grandfather.

"HIkari has managed to talk me out of my ultimatum as the company means a lot to me and I would hate to see all of the work I've put into it for so many years be handed off to someone else." The grandfather started to smirk, but Kei cut him off from talking. "However, things are going to change from now on." The smirk was gone and replaced with thinned lips, a clear sign of irritation. "Hikari and I are marrying with or without your consent, it is of no matter to me however it would be nicer if you were to give your blessing for our union. I love HIkari and she loves me, I do not need to marry for money or status as we already have both, I choose instead to marry for love. Secondly, I will no longer be worked like the pack mule I have. I have missed out on most of my childhood and my adolescence due to this company and it will continue no longer. I will work a fair amount of time and won't be a slave to this company any longer."

"If you really do argue against my position in Kei's life and the company, I will show you my aptitude by completing some work experience, I will help Kei with the Japan branch to lessen his burden and show you that I'm not a gold digger with no idea what the Takishima Corporation does." The grandfather looked dumbfounded and Oji-sama and Midori seemed a mix of impressed and shocked that we had stood up for ourselves.

"We'll give you some time to think this over but I will tell you one thing - Hikari is now a permanent fixture in my life, you can't do anything to stop that. Please try to be more courteous when dealing with her. Thank you. WIth that, Kei and Hikari walked out of the house to go to the park together and enjoy a stereotypical day for teenagers in love.