AN: I hate to say this but last chapter I felt like I was forced into writing that last part of the chapter. I understand that this is rated M and that people are expecting something with the storyline but I guess I was writing trying to please people and it made me uncomfortable coming back to the fic. However, I love the characters and their relationships so I'm continuing for that reason 😊

Chapter Eight :: Leave the Light On

Kei was reading through the list of results that Aoi had been sending him whilst doing further research. He didn't know what had gone on the previous night but he was thankful for it. He was thankful that he had finally been able to have sex with the woman he had loved since childhood. However, he was unsure how she was feeling. Usually when you try to break a tradition by adapting it, you were only further reminded of the past when it had gone badly. Hopefully this wasn't the same.

Kei narrowed his eyes as he saw a few high class business leaders that he would have to request never to do business with in the future. Well, either that or he could get those board members fired so that he never had to see or hear of anyone who had taken advantage of his light.

It was at that point that he felt the door break down and his eyes widened as he span around.

"Really?" he asked as he stood up and faced two of his female friends. "Are you going to pay for property damages, Akira?" he asked as she laughed.

"I don't think that's any way of saying hello to us," Akira said as Kei knew that she was angry with him for keeping the details about Hikari away from them for so long. "I can understand wanting to keep my precious Hikari to yourself but -"

"You could have told me," Sakura said as she looked to the door on the floor, she attempted to control her anger as Kei just stared at them wide-eyed since he thought that the Takishima family had gone above and beyond in securing this room. "I live here and to know that my Hikari was here for -"

"She's been in New York the entire time, you understand" Kei said as he went over to the door and picked it up from the floor, examining it a little bit to see if there were any major damages done to it. He picked it up and walked over to the hinges before resting it on the wall. "Can you please give her some rest, I doubt either of you would be feeling good if you went through what she did."

"Well, you are the one who was the most overprotective of her," Sakura said and Akira smiled.

"Yes, like a dog with his bone, that kind of emotion," she teased and Kei stared at her trying to cover his annoyed feelings.

"Do you want to come in and sit down?" he asked with a blank expression and Sakura laughed with a roll of her eyes.

"After all of these years, Takishima finally learned how to treat ladies in the way that they should be treated. It took him long enough," Sakura smiled as Akira nodded.

"Even someone as undignified as Kei can be taught new tricks every so often," Akira said before looking softly at Kei as he looked into the distance. She sighed before putting a hand on her friend's chest. "You know we're just joking with you. I'm sure that she's been through a lot and I'm sure that you're supporting her with it. Thank you for taking care of her."

Kei laughed before raising his eyebrows, "Sit down and wait until she's ready to leave the bedroom whilst I try and fix this," he gestured before turning his attention to the door. He gave a quick look back at his computer and was thankful that he had gone out of the hidden program with the details in it. He didn't want anybody to know the research that he was performing.

Sakura looked down at the table as she tried to take deep breaths to steady herself. She felt as if she should have known that Hikari was so close by. If she had known then she would have rescued her a long time ago. She looked at Akira who seemed to be thinking similar thoughts and then turned back to the clock. She had to say something.

"Tea" Akira said as Kei adjusted the frame for the door, "Do you have ingredients to make tea or do I have to go out and buy some?" she asked and Kei blinked at her before gesturing to the kitchen area.

"You should be able to find something in the kitchen," he said as he finally managed to get the door on though he'd have to buy a new one later.

Kei walked over to sit near Sakura before hearing a squeak and movement from the room Hikari had been in. His eyes widened hopefully and he looked down as he took slow breaths. He didn't want this to be too overwhelming for her. He didn't want to have caused something that made her feel uncomfortable in any way but he felt that seeing her friends might help her.

Hikari walked over to them nervously and Sakura stood up in shock before tears covered her face. "Hi," she said with a weak smile as Kei watched between the two women. Sakura tried hard to stop her tears but she walked over and let her arms wrap around the friend that she thought that she had lost. Hikari nervously returned the hug.

"I am so sorry," the wealthier young woman whispered, "I am so so sorry. If I had known. I won't let them get away with this," she said before Hikari nodded.

"Could we not discuss it?" she asked as her eyes were glued to the floor.

"Yeah, yes we don't need to disgust such an ugly thing," Sakura replied immediately before she turned around to look at Kei who was watching them. "Why don't we sit and -"

"Oh my gosh" Akira said as she returned to the room. Her entire body shook and her hands came up to her face, she tried to swallow her tears but just seeing this woman here in front of her made her feel a rush of uncontrollable emotions. "Hikari," she whispered again.

"Akira," Hikari said as she went to hug her friend, "I'm sorry," she apologized as Akira looked at her completely shocked by that statement.

"No, never, you never have to apologize to any of us, right, Kei?" Akira asked as the blond looked at the two of them. His heart felt warmer knowing that Hikari had her friends around her to support her. He shook his head quickly.

"Of course you don't need to apologize to us," he said before he looked down. He just wished that he could take all of her pain away but that didn't seem something that even he could do. He sighed as he looked forward and thought about Sakura's words. He should have found her before, if he had then maybe she wouldn't be hurt as badly.

"Kei, go finish the tea, okay?" Sakura said before trying to wave him off.

Kei rolled his eyes before standing up, he hated to be bossed around like this and usually he would refuse but if this was what Hikari needed then he didn't feel a right to refuse. As he passed by, he felt a hand hold onto his wrist and he looked around surprised when Hikari was holding it, her hand shaking against his skin.

"What is it?" Kei asked with a softened expression as he stared at the woman he loves concerned. "Hikari, is something wrong?" he asked as he placed a hand on her cheek and then found her to fling her arms around him and start crying into his chest. He gathered her up in his arms and held her close whilst kissing the top of her head.

"You'll be okay," he tried to tell her as he showed the room how deep his affection was for this woman. "I'm here. We all love you, nobody will try to hurt you. Is it okay that those two are here?" he asked as Hikari nodded her head, "and is it okay that we're meeting up with your family later?" he asked and received another nod. Kei hummed as he held her close and rubbed her back as she seemed to be holding onto him for safety and protection even at this time.

"I'll go make the tea," Akira said as she saw how close the two of her friends were. "I'll go make the tea and then we can all talk together."

"I'll help you," Sakura said quickly as she stood up and followed Akira out of the room, not wanting to make Hikari even more upset.

"Come here," Kei coaxed since they were the only two in the room. He made sure that Hikari was comfortable as she sat down with him on the couch and he looked into her eyes. "Deep breaths, okay?" he advised as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Can you tell me what's wrong?"

"I'm going to let everyone down," Hikari whispered as she closed her eyes and battled against the tears that were threatening to fall. "I'm not the person they want."

Kei wrapped his arms around her again, "Don't think like that. They are happy to see you. We all love you."

"You love me the most," Hikari whispered and Kei smiled as he kissed her again.

"Of course, I do," he said with a grin whilst still attempting to soothe her by rubbing her back and holding her close.

…

…

Masako smiled at the young man who had helped their family out so much during this time of hardship. Kei Takishima had done everything he could for his deceased girlfriend and she couldn't be more thankful that he had been there to help them. She could see his sadness though. Maybe if she had treated Hikari more like a young girl and supported her relationship in the way some other mothers would…well, this might still have happened.

"I'll pay for the me-" Kei said as he tried to take out his money but Jiro put a hand on his and shook his head.

"You know, I might not be as wealthy as you or Satoru but I'd like to treat you to this, we want to thank you for all of your hel-" Jiro said but was cut off by his wife.

"Kei, you've been like a son in law to us already," she said as Kei looked down seemingly frozen by those words. "I know that she loved you more than mostly everything else. She wouldn't want to see you beating yourself up about her -"

"She's still alive," Kei said as Jiro and Masako shared an extremely concerned glance, "I can feel it. I've just been looking in the wrong places. She's still out there somewhere."

Jiro shivered, "Kei, we want to know that you're okay," he admitted.

Kei looked down before shaking his head, "I don't think so but it's not really something that you should be concerning yourself with. I don't want to cause you any pain. Don't worry about me, think about yourself and make sure that you're okay. That's what she wants."

Jiro sighed but it was Masako who spoke this time.

"Jiro and Satoru-san have been close for years," she tried to tell the blond who looked like he was constantly being drenched by a raincloud, "and I want you to know that we know all about your abilities but even knowing that, we wouldn't call you a robot or a monster. We know how sweet and kind you are. We know how much you feel isolated. We have never thought you to be a machine which might be why we care so much about what you're going through because of how dedicated you were to her. We know that you've always been looking out for her and we're so thankful for th-that," she said as she felt her heart break.

Kei smiled as he looked down. Was that true? Had there been a lot of people in his life that he hadn't noticed hadn't seen him as a robot or a machine or a monster. How could he take that and live a life full of emotion without her? Nothing made sense anymore. If he was a machine, he had completely malfunctioned without her smiling face and her soft voice.

End of Chapter Eight

Thank you so much for reading

Thank you, reviewers of Chapter Seven

Joeyisanerd286, Kittycat, Misshollyjolly65