Alright so here's the final chapter! (To be honest, I finished this months ago but was so unhappy with it that I didn't want to post the chapter :P)

A few weeks after the whole 'being kidnapped, almost losing your significant other and dying' thing, Yuzu and Mei went back to school. They had missed a few lessons and tests but, given the circumstances, it was understandable and they were both allowed to retake the exams. Both girls went back to their normal routine. In school, Yuzu went back to the martial arts club while Mei worked diligently as the student council president. Outside of school however, media was buzzing with excitement. The future of the Hayato family looked very bright as the heir demonstrated courage and took initiative in rescuing the daughter of a prestigious family.

"Alright, so when you're grabbed from behind, chances are that your attacker has their arms around your torso. If that happens, pull yourself in and swing your hips to one side. Turn slightly and strike them in the groin until they let you go", Yuzu motioned with a fist. "Then, pivot towards them and lock your arms around their neck. Knee them in the groin and when they fall to the floor you can make your getaway"

She looked over to the student council president, "Okay, now you try. Repeat what I just said and demonstrated"

Flashback

"Come on, Mei. It won't hurt to at least know the basics", Yuzu pleaded with a light tone. She'd been trying to convince the other girl to learn some self defence after the kidnapping incident.

The younger girl took off her glasses and turned away from her work to look at her girlfriend, "Yuzu, I think you are just being paranoid. Besides, after all that time away I need to-"

"Catch up on student council work. I know", Yuzu deadpanned before sighing. "Mei, won't you at least think about it?"

As a member of a wealthy family, it wasn't uncommon for her to hear about girls getting kidnapped for ransom. She just hadn't expected it to happen to her. Mei was still reluctant however. Of course, it would make sense to at least be prepared in case it happened again. She also knew that Yuzu can't protect her forever and after that event she definitely did not want to act as a 'damsel in distress'. Still, for some reason she was still stubbornly refusing Yuzu's offer to teach her some self defence.

Yuzu sensed Mei's discomfort and put a gentle hand on the other girl's shoulder. "Mei, tell me what this is really about", she pleaded softly.

Mei looked away and hesitated before answering, "I'm… scared". Seeing the blonde's confused yet worried face urged her to continue, "It's not fighting that I'm scared of, it's… the possibility of having to actually defend myself".

Although Mei struggled to express herself, Yuzu had learned to read in between the lines, especially since Mei used to be very reserved with her own feelings and thoughts. Of course, there has been an obvious improvement in Mei's behaviour since she tries to be more open to her feelings by showing Yuzu more affection.

The real reason was that she did not want to think about the possibility of having to experience something as traumatic as being kidnapped again. Learning self defense was a precaution, yes, but it made her feel like there was going to be a 'next time'.

"Mei, I understand that what you went through has probably left some scars", Yuzu eyed the graze on her girlfriend's arm, but the hard expression on her face made it obvious that she wasn't just talking about physical scars. "And I'm sorry that I wasn't able to protect you all the way to the end…"

Yuzu may have become stronger physically and more mature over the months but she was still a teenager. 'Even though she acted all confident and stoic, she was probably terrified too. It was most likely her first time experiencing a situation like that and it probably won't be the last', Mei thought. 'Putting up a strong front… sounds familiar', the younger girl almost laughed bitterly.

The blonde grabbed hold of Mei's hands, snapping her out of her thoughts, "but teaching you self defense is kind of my way of making up for not protecting you properly in the first place. Please, won't you at least think about it?"

How could she say no after that?

Now, they were currently in the martial arts dojo. Since the dojo was often used for practice after school, it was only available to them early in the morning. Yuzu wore her usual karate gi while Mei wore her tracksuit. School would start in around an hour and Yuzu knew from her short time in the martial arts club that some diligent members would try to squeeze in some extra practice so early in the morning. She knew that a few members would be arriving in about 5 minutes so she wanted to wrap this up.

The girl took her stance and mimicked the moves Yuzu had just shown her. After she finished Yuzu gave her some extra pointers. "If your attacker grabs you from behind but lifts you", the blonde stifled a yawn before continuing, "you can still attack them using your legs, by kicking them in between the legs repeatedly until they drop you"

Mei's eyes softened. She knew Yuzu was tired, maybe even more than her, since she had to settle a few things as 'Hayato Yuzu'. She arrived late last night after an interview from all the way in Tokyo. Still, she made an effort to get up early to teach her this. The only thing she could do now was try her best, if not for herself then for her girlfriend.

Next, Yuzu moved on to teaching self defence if her attacker had a weapon. A few of the members had already started arriving, some of them were whispering amongst themselves as they watched the step sisters. After the news of the kidnapping had spread, there was a huge commotion between the students of Aihara academy. Who would have thought that the majority of the school would start to see them as a 'forbidden love power couple'? Of course they were, in fact, dating but there was no way they would be able to admit that, especially since all eyes were on them now. As a result of these so called 'shippers', love letters and confessions ceased for both Yuzu and Mei and students would now watch any interactions between the blonde and the student council president very tentatively.

"Alright, I think that's enough for today", Yuzu nodded in satisfaction. She was happy at Mei's cooperation and it was obvious that she was trying her best too.

A few weeks later

Yuzu burst into the student council room, startling the members inside.

A short girl with curly hair started shouting, "Aihara Yuzu, what are you doing in here! And what are you wearing?!"

"Shhh!", the blonde hurriedly shushed her as she ducked under the door.

Suddenly a stampede of girls ran past the room. Shouts of 'Where did she go?' was heard before they ran off in a different direction.

Yuzu sighed in relief as she got up, dusting herself off. Mei stared at her stepsister with confusion and mild irritation as the blonde had interrupted their work.

The delinquent noticed the student council president's glare and she timidly scratched the back of her head in embarrassment, "Sorry 'bout that Mei".

"Nevermind", the raven haired girl sighed. "But why are you dressed like that?"

Yuzu looked down at her attire. She was wearing what appeared to be a prince costume.

"Oh, haha this? Well…", the blonde looked back on the events that lead up to this moment.

Flashback

"Alright, everyone! We'll be doing a play for the cultural festival so decide amongst yourselves who will be playing the characters!", the teacher announced before walking out of the classroom.

The whole class squealed in excitement.

"We should do a romantic play!", someone suggested.

"Then, I'll make the costumes!", someone else volunteered.

"Wait, what kind of romantic play?"

"Hmm what about a classic fairytale story? With a prince and princess!"

"Great idea! I'll write the script!"

"Now, who will be playing the princess?"

After a few days of fighting over who got to be the princess they finally decided to cast a girl from the drama club as the lead. A girl had prepared a script while another had already made measurements and such for the costumes.

"But who will play the prince?", one of the girls asked.

"Are you dense?!", someone snapped at the girl. Suddenly the whole class simultaneously looked over in the blonde's direction who was looking out the window and dozing off. She'd been more tired since she'd been waking up earlier to teach Mei in the mornings but the training seemed to be paying off so she didn't really mind. She yawned again before she noticed her classmates slowly inching towards her, their eyes glinting with mischief.

After they forced Yuzu to put on the prince's costume the decision was made.

"Kyaa~ Aihara-san you look so handsome! It totally suits you!", the girls surrounded the blonde.

Yuzu sweat dropped comically, "Uhh thanks..?"

"Wow, she even has the physique of a prince"

Suddenly, Harumi spoke up, "Probably 'cause her chest is so flat, it makes her look like a boy…"

The whole class went quiet, no one could object to that statement. Yuzu's eyes widened and she glared at the brunette before covering her chest defensively, "That's so mean Harumin~!". The blonde began hitting Harumi playfully while the brunette laughed.

"That kinda makes me wonder", another girl spoke up while the two former delinquents were play fighting, "How would Yuzu-san look like in a different costume?"

"Yes I was wondering the same thing! Like maybe in a haori… or a samurai kimono!"

The whole class turned to Yuzu menacingly, interrupting the friends' banter, an evil smile plastered on everyone's face, "Aihara-san, why don't you try these on?"

Yuzu was sweating now and she turned to run out of the classroom.

"Ah! Don't let her get away!"

And so the whole class, save for a certain brunette, started running after the blonde prince.

"So that's the story..", Yuzu finished.

"I see", the raven haired girl said. She had known that their class would be performing a play but she couldn't have guessed that Yuzu would play one of the lead roles. She looked at Yuzu's attire once more. A side cape stretched down to her knee-high boots and on her waist she wore a belt which held a fake sword. Yuzu's hair was tied up in a braid which hung down one shoulder. If Mei was being honest she really did look like a prince, not that she would ever admit that though.

"Well, that's not our problem, so get out! You're interrupting our work, right Meimei?", Himeko turned to the president.

"Ehh, can't you just let me stay in here for a little while? I won't be a bother, I promise!", Yuzu smacked her hands together and slightly bowed her head.

After a brief pause Mei sighed, "I don't mind, as long as you stay quiet and don't interrupt us anymore"

"Thanks Mei!", Yuzu said happily as she sat down on a chair by the window. She pulled some folded up paper from her pocket and started reading it intently.

After a few minutes of silence, Mei actually thought that the blonde was had left. She was surprised to still see Yuzu sitting in the same place, focusing on the pages in her hands. She was about to call out to the older girl but was interrupted before she could do so.

"Aihara Yuzu-san, may I ask what you are reading?", a bespectacled girl approached the blonde.

Yuzu looked up from the papers, "Oh, Glasses-senpai! I was just reading the script for the play. It looks like there's a kissing scene though…"

The raven haired girl perked up at that. 'A kissing scene?'

"Well, not that I mind since we're both girls anyway…", the blonde absently said.

Mei's hand twitched slightly at that and just as she was about to object the blonde's eyes widened as she stared out the window, "Call an ambulance! Quick!".

"...Since Aikuro-san fell down the stairs she won't be able to play the princess in our play anymore", the teacher explained. "Everyone has already been either cast as a character or has a certain job to do so could you maybe play the princess in Aikuro-san's stead?"

Mei thought briefly to herself as she put her hand on her chin to think, "Hmm there's a lot to do for the student council in preparation for the cultural festival…"

'...there's a kissing scene though..'

"But I suppose I can make time for the play as well…", Mei decided.

"As expected of the chairman's granddaughter! Thank you so much Aihara-san!", the teacher bowed in gratitude. He handed a few pages to the girl, "This is the script. Don't worry though, you'll learn the lines in no time!"

After the teacher left Mei began to flick through the pages when something suddenly caught her eye.

"Eh?! Mei will be playing the princess?!", Yuzu panicked. "B-but there's a kissing scene!". Of course, she was used to getting intimate with her girlfriend, but that was supposed to be in private and secret. She couldn't help but feel embarrassed at the thought of kissing Mei in front of the school.

"Yeah, so what? I thought you didn't mind kissing another girl anyway", Harumi nonchalantly said. "Besides shouldn't you be happy? She is your girlfriend after all"

"Yeah but.. it's more embarrassing if it's with her…", Yuzu blushed at the thought of kissing the student council president in front of the whole school. Her eyes suddenly widened, "There's also a fight scene between the prince and the princess!"

"Fight scene?", Harumi looked through the script. "The prince and princess get into a physical fight in which the prince slyly teases the princess by leaving lingering touches here and there", she read out loud in a monotonous voice. "Fight to be choreographed by a member of the martial arts club", she finished.

"Which obviously means me right?! I'll have to kiss and flirt with Mei in front of the whole school!", the blonde began to panic.

"Well, I'm not too surprised. The script was written by one of your fans", Harumi shrugged.

"I can't do it! What if I freak out?!"

Harumin sighed and put her hands on the blonde's shoulders, "Relax Yuzu. You just need to act cool, act like you always do when kissing and flirting with her and just ignore the audience. And if you do freak out, just take a few deep breaths. Alright?"

"Alright! Yuzu clamped her fist shut in determination. 'Just ignore the audience and act like you always do'

The day of the performance

"Ah~ the prince is so good looking"

Since the two lead roles had the same last name the school had given Yuzu and Mei the nicknames of the role they played.

"Yeah, who would have thought that Yuzu-san would be good at acting as well! If she didn't join the martial arts club she probably could have joined the drama club!", one of the girls stated while watching from backstage.

"The student council president is also quite good, though I've never seen her make these expressions before! It's almost like she's really in love with the prince", another girl added.

It was finally the day of the cultural festival. Although being cast as one of the leads gave her extra work, Mei didn't consider it a hindrance to any of her other duties. She was able to learn all her lines quickly too. On the other hand, Yuzu didn't know most of her lines and queues and even though her acting was impressive, it was obvious that she was still out of it. At the moment she was looking dazed and didn't seem to be paying much attention, making her look very aloof but not distracted.

"Yuzu-san, you're line!"

The blonde quickly snapped out of her thoughts. 'Line! What's my line!' Despite her inner turmoil she tried to remain as calm as she could.

Suddenly, Mei wrapped her arms around her neck, bringing their faces closer. "Hmm... have I made you speechless my prince?", Mei asked, a sly smirk gracing her features.

"Huh? That's not in the script! They're supposed to start fighting each other and then make up with a passionate embrace!", their 'director' said anxiously from behind the stage.

'She's improvising? And why is she smirking?' This irked the older girl in more ways than one. She had already forgotten her line so she might as well just make them up as well. 'Just act like usual' Suddenly Yuzu moved closer, making the raven haired girl move backwards until her back was met with the wall. The blonde slammed one hand against the wall, right next to Mei's face. The younger girl was startled as she looked at Yuzu.

"Forgive me, for I was so captivated by your beauty that I could not hold back. Please do not hate me for having such unforgivable desires", the 'prince' said as she took the princess' hand and kissed it.

"Kya~~~!", uncontrollable squeals sounded from both the audience and backstage.

Mei was now blushing madly. She suddenly felt very conscious of the audience but the anxiety turned into anger when Yuzu shot her a smug look. The kind of look that said 'I win'. "Th-there's no way I could hate you, you baka-ouji!"

This made the crowd roar. "Tsundere! Tsundere is the best!", someone screamed out.

Yuzu chuckled at the younger girl's vexation, "So is it really alright? To kiss you, I mean"

Mei's hands were grasping at Yuzu's sleeves, "Just do it already-"

Just then the gap between them closed and their lips met in a passionate kiss. The whole audience cheered as the curtains closed.

"That was great! Even better than the original script!", their 'director' shouted.

"Haha..thanks..", Yuzu shyly scratched the back of her head.

"Now that our play's over, can we go enjoy the summer festival?", a girl asked in the background.

"Yes! Let's enjoy the last day of the summer school festival!", the 'director' shouted enthusiastically.

While everyone else ran off the two stepsisters were left behind on their own. Yuzu's heart was pounding, 'Oh my god. I think I got too carried away! She was blushing!'. Yuzu cleared her throat, "Thanks, Mei… for saving me back there"

"Well, you did have a lot of lines to learn. On top of that, you've been getting less sleep since you wake up earlier to train me…"

'Huh? Has she been worried?' "Well, I could say the same about you too. But you know, the only thing I need to get my energy back is this", Yuzu suddenly engulfed her in a big hug.

Mei was startled but reciprocated the hug nonetheless. After a minute Yuzu broke the hug. She sighed contently, "Alright, now I'm fully recharged!", she held out her hand to Mei, "Would you like to see the rest of the festival together?"

The younger girl merely smiled and took her girlfriend by the hand.

"By the way, seeing you getting all jealous kinda made me happy", Yuzu smugly said.

"Jealous? Who was jealous?", Mei said in her monotone voice, although her ears turned slightly red.

Yuzu grinned happily, "The others were right. Tsundere is the best".

I wasn't gonna post this but after seeing the raws for chapter 36 (don't worry I won't spoil) I died inside and thought I can just drown myself in fanfics ＼（＠；◇；＠）／