Chapter 23

Their grandfathers sat across from each other while their grandchildren were in the study. It was a sunny afternoon with the window perched open to let a cool breeze through the room lined with cool bamboo mats.

"What are they even doing?" the elder grumbled. "It's been at least two hours."
"Marking essays and reading reports," the other answered, factually.

One of the two looked up at the other skeptically.

"What?" He shot a glare at his friend.
"You can't really think they're just reading."
"What else would they be doing?"

They paused for a second and shared a look of concern.

Then they both got up and swung open the door to the study, revealing the Hana and Mori, sitting on the floor across from one another. Mori had a clipboard resting on his knee and red pen between his fingers. He adjusted the square frames on his face as he took in the sudden ruckus. Hana leaned on the bookshelf with her own papers strewn over the floor and a highlighter in her hand. Her hair was held up by a pen and her glasses laid comfortably on the bridge of her nose.

The grandchildren blinked at the sudden outburst.

Hana cleared her throat. "Are you done your chess tournament already, Ojii-san?" Hana checked the time on her phone. They usually played for the afternoon, until 3, or even 4 if they were chatty. It was hardly after 2.

The elders stood uncomfortably and shook their head.

"We ran out of tea," Morinozuka-san explained, trying to save face.

Hana put down her highlighter and nodded, though still confused at why the elders made such a brash entrance.

"I'll go," Hana told Mori. She knew that he was engrossed by the essay he was reading and it would be unfair to interrupt his train of thought even further than it already had been. She swiftly got up and walked past the elders, bowing before she left their presence. The grandson nodded his head towards the elders before reverting back to his marking.

The elders grumbled and bickered in a low voice as they returned back to the chess board.

Hana quietly opened up the door to Mori's study when she finished with the tea. She smiled when he looked up from his paper, and he couldn't help but to grin back. It was weird how they could spend hours in silence and feel so elated by each other's presence.

She settled back down to the cool floors, picking up from where she left off. Whether she was oblivious to his stare didn't matter to him anymore. Sometimes he basked in the fact that she was with him. Just him. Sitting across the floor, choosing to spend her afternoon reading alongside him. Why?

It didn't make sense in how she settled for someone so ordinary like him.

He never once stopped appreciating each moment with her.

Hana adjusted the glasses on her face and looked up to find him staring.

"What's wrong?" she asked.
He shook his head in response. Nothing was wrong. Everything seemed right.

"How's the marking coming along?" She was always the one that knew what to say, seguing into a natural conversation. He wasn't good at that.

"Almost there." Takashi had about five more papers to read before he was finished. "What about you?"

Hana shrugged. "I've learned all I can about the company in the week I've been working. I'm lost at what to do, honestly. Can I help you in any way?" She shifted over from her side of the floor and sat next to Takashi.

He looked around and reached over for his laptop and gave her the pile of essays that were marked. He let her input the grades into a spreadsheet, to which she happily obliged. Halfway through the essay that he was grading, Takashi looked up to Hana reading the marked essays instead. She caught his gaze and guiltily looked away, returning back to her assigned job.

"Sorry," Hana quietly apologized. "It was the highest grade. I wanted to see what it was all about."
"It's fine if you read them." He would make the exception given that she was not a student nor was she affiliated with the university.

Hana was quick to finish inputting the grades so she could continue reading. Mori was not a lenient marker, it seemed. Many of the essays were barely of a passing grade. She made herself comfortable against his body, resting her head on his shoulder while he graded the rest of the essays. Mori welcomed the new warmth to his side.

"You should be more lenient," Hana murmured. "Their essays aren't all bad."

Mori nodded. "But they can be better."

She only shrugged. She wasn't the expert at this after all. Hana neatly piled the remaining essays into his bag before turning back to him, with her chin resting on his shoulder and her arm linked around his own. She patiently waited for him, silently reading along with him, watching as he underlined and circled key points. He was a harsh marker, but his comments were helpful and thorough. When he finished, Takashi turned over to Hana and smiled at his own accomplishment.

"Yay," she cheered before pecking him on the cheek. "You're done!"

Mori chuckled at her silliness, but welcomed her embrace.

"Thanks," he quietly mumbled. For helping with the grades. For being patient. For keeping me company.
"Don't worry about it," she answered. "It was the least I can do."

Takashi shifted his arm from her shoulder to her waist, pulling her closer. He kissed her on the temple and smiled as he watched the smile on her face grow into a shy grin.

"How's work?" Mori had been meaning to ask. It was likely the one thing that bothered her the most, giving her the most stress. He could see it in the way she acted, how she pretended that all was well when it was obvious it was not.

Hana sighed and debated whether or not it was worth telling him of her petty troubles with office politics. Probably not, to be honest.

"Not great but," she offered him a weak smile. "It'll get better, hopefully."
"Okay." There wasn't much he could say. He wasn't sure what to say. He only held her a little tighter, and that gesture was enough for Hana to exhale. Her troubles were not gone, but the heaviness was lifted by just a little.

"I miss you," Hana mumbled. "A lot." It was a hard week of transition at work.
"Do you?" Mori found that strange to believe. Someone missed him of all people.
"I know it's… it's dumb," Hana shook her head at herself. "I just miss being with you, like an idiot who can't hold themselves together. I don't need you, but I want you. I just feel like I'm home with you. I can breathe again."

Mori listened to her, letting her stream of consciousness flow through his ears.

"It's weird, right? Like, who am I to even anchor you down like you're mine? That's awfully selfish. I can't do that."
"Do you want to?"
"No," Hana replied. "I want you to stay… at your own will."

Takashi nodded. "Alright."
"Alright?" She was surprised at how he didn't even hesitate.
"I will stay."

Hana shook her head. Takashi raised his eyebrows.

"You don't trust me?"

She blinked. "Of course I trust you."
"Then I will stay."

Takashi was a simple man. His loyalty was unwavering with his promises to be kept no matter what circumstance. Hana could only feel guilt for his loyalty, how he chose to stay without her even having to convince him to. She could only ask him what he wanted from her, to make this fair at the very least.

"I just want you," he answered simply. What else could he say? What else was he deserving of?

And she could only nod.

Hana showed up to work with an unknown figure standing by the doorway to her office. The rest of the employees were trickling in, noting the unfamiliar person.

"Can I help you?" The young woman politely asked.

Hana was handed a folder with a schedule. "You are to follow what is written."
"Pardon me," the young woman cleared her throat. "You are…?"
"The President's Secretary, Miss."

Hana opened the folder and skimmed the contents. She promptly closed it and handed it back to the secretary.

"Tell him I won't be following this. If he wants to give me an order, he'll give it to me face-to-face."

The secretary was stunned by the refusal. Hana Sawada, the President's daughter, refusing orders? She was blunt and dare he say, rude.

"Miss," the secretary tried again. Perhaps she would listen after a bit of reasoning, he thought.
"I will walk you to the elevator, Monaku-san," Hana offered, making note of the secretary's name. She knew every chairman's name and anyone close to her father at the executive level. The secretary was no exception, especially when they likely had valuable information on the President's plans and meetings on a daily basis.

Hana gestured her arm towards the elevator and began ushering the secretary.

"Miss Sa—"
"Apologies for being blunt, sir. You came all the way down here to deliver these documents and yet I won't be needing them. We have a scheduled meeting beginning promptly at 9:30. Please understand that I cannot be late," Hana bowed out of respect. Her tone may have been sharp but she was not raised without class.

The stunned secretary found himself staring at the young woman who only smiled at him before the doors closed.

"What are you doing here?" The President could see his secretary from his peripheral vision with the same manila folder he had given to him just fifteen minutes prior.
"She has a meeting, sir."
"A meeting?" the President looked up from his desk. "What meeting?"

The secretary shook his head. "She asked that you give her her orders personally, sir."
"Personally? What kind of – that child has no consideration the busy President, how dare that little brat think she rules the company when she has contributed nothing," the man huffed. "Call her up."

The secretary did as he was told. There was no answer.

"She must be at her meeting," he concluded.
"Meeting? Cancel it. Go downstairs and bring her up here."

Hana ordered presentations from each person on her team the week prior. It was evident that none of them took her assignment seriously as she sat back to watch her subordinates ramble instead. She took a deep breath and exhaled through her nose, trying to keep her composure.

"What do you think you're all doing here?" Hana asked.

Everyone looked away, fumbling with their pens or their lanyards. No one had a purpose, but they were all getting paid regardless so – what was there to complain about?

"If you think you're here to serve me, all of you have failed immensely. With no purpose, with no direction, and somehow you are all fine with it?"

"Then what's your purpose?" Yuuto-san, the most outspoken one of the entire group began the conversation, taking the bait. He was not afraid to challenge the woman. He had his own cards to play, and he already reasoned that Hana was on the exact same boat as they were in. No purpose. No plan. An empty job.

There was a glint in her eye.

"Yuuto-san, your presentation lacked an important piece of information. I was disappointed that you didn't mention the algorithm you worked on in your previous department. Why was that?"

If he wanted to hit her at her weakness, Hana was more than ready to take it on. She came in prepared. She did her homework over the weekend. Hana waited patiently for the rest of the group to begin putting in the same effort.

Yuuto-san leaned back in his chair. "Don't change the topic, Sawada-san."
"Likewise, Yuuto-san," Hana shot back. "I am not a liar. This whole department was given to me on a whim with no purpose. I myself, have no purpose here. So I intend to create one."
"How so?" he goaded, calling her bluff.

Hana smirked.

"With the same algorithm that was stolen from you," Hana smiled. "You've created a beast. Yet no one has been able to truly package it into a product… yet."

Yuuto-san was taken back. Few knew about his creation being stolen from him. How he was stuck at the bottom of the chain as he tried to impress his supervisor, only to be taken advantage of. His algorithm showed promise with various functions but none that could be seen as profitable, just yet. Regardless, his work was gone and stolen by his previous department. A confidentiality clause had forced him from leaving the company and taking his work elsewhere.

"They're working on it," he gritted his teeth. "They'll figure out a way to use it any day now. It's too late."

Hana shrugged. "You've only given them a piece. Not the whole puzzle. I'm not a coder, but I do have a purpose for your algorithm if you can make it happen. The whole team needs to be able to make it work. It's time that all of you put effort into—"

The speech was interrupted by a knock on the conference room door. Monaku-san let himself into the room.

"Miss, the President is asking for you."
"Monaku-san, is it not evident that I am in a meeting?" Hana turned to the secretary and gave him a long, piercing stare.

All of the employees were gathered at the long table, staring at the intruder and watching the events unfold. The secretary had come to the realization that he had placed himself in quite a compromising position, looking as the one at definite fault.

"I apologize, Miss Sawada. But the President is asking for you."
"The President is a busy man with no time to spend with a mere director like me," Hana was quick on her feet. She had to be assertive, but fair. She was humble and she knew her place.

"The President is indeed busy, but—" A phone rang. The secretary was quick to pick it up.

"Ah, Sir. Yes. I am here. She's um, she—"
"She'll be coming up in fifteen minutes," Hana finished the sentence for him. Watching the man squirm for an answer did not bring her any pleasure. She dismissed the secretary and asked for him to wait while she finished up the meeting.

Hana turned to her employees.

"Think about what I said. It's time you all get paid to do the job that you were hired for. And you," Hana turned to the troublemaker who had his arms crossed. "You deserve the credit in the work you create. Let's talk later about it."

"Tch," the man scoffed. "What do you know about coding?"

Hana threw him her resume and stood up. She wasn't a coder, nor was she anything near one. But she knew finance. She knew stocks. She knew data when she saw it. She was here to prove that she was qualified. Or at the very least, on the same level as the rest of the team.

"I have a vision. I need you to make it work. All of you," Hana added. "Excuse me. I have another meeting to get to."

Hana stood outside of the President's office for a minute to gather her wits. Office politics was enough for her brain to get rattled but dealing with the President seemed to be a new level of mental games.

"Miss, he's ready for you," the Secretary gestured towards the door handle for her to open.
"I'm aware," Hana answered. "Thank you."

She opened the door and let the heels of her shoes announce her presence. She hadn't seen the man in years, and he had aged immensely. His grey hair became more prominent while the wrinkles on his forehead became much more defined as he stared her down.

"You aren't even going to greet your father? Have you no respect?" He roared. The secretary took his leave at the sudden outburst. The tension in the room was unbearable. It was a conversation between father and daughter that an outsider should not be a part of.
"Good morning, sir," Hana did as told. But she was not about to utter the word father. She did not break her line of sight. This was her own fight.

"Who do you think you are? Are you a child? Needing a parent to tell them what to do?"

Hana stood quietly, waiting for the man to finish his rant.

"Recklessly refusing to follow schedules? Do you think this job is all for fun and games? With your silly degree suddenly qualifying you to do what you want?"

Hana was prepared to take these insults with her fists clenched.

"I have two degrees, sir," the young woman corrected. "Currently, you haven't assigned any job to me – so I'm creating my own."
"Your goddamn job as a woman is to—"

"I'm an heir," Hana interrupted. "I'm proving my place in this company. That is my job."
"Shut up," the President ordered. "You have the easiest job. You can't even keep your mouth shut?"

The young woman shook her head. "That is not in my nature, sir." She was taught to fight for what she wanted. Fighting for an ounce of respect was not an easy task, apparently.

The man clenched his chest, gasping for breath. "You raise my blood pressure and make my blood boil with rage. You only create problems and think of yourself. You as an heir was a poor choice, bringing dishonour at every chance you get."
"Did you really have a choice?" the young woman pressed. "You were trapped."
"I'm marrying you off," the President huffed. He was losing his breath. "You can't handle this company."

Hana shrugged. "You won't marry me off like a pawn."
"Do I look like I'm joking to you?!" He growled.
"Do I?" She shot back. Don't test me.

The man took a minute to breathe and to calm down.

"You don't want to give the company away," Hana pointed out. "I'm the last resort. But you won't trust me with it."
"Why would I? You're not even my—" The man stopped himself. "First born," he settled.

Hana raised an eyebrow at the choice of words.

"I'm your only option."
"Your husband will be the best option," the President still refused to accept the young woman.
"Will he? Someone who is not even your own blood is the best option?" Hana narrowed her eyes to watch him squirm at her own words. They must have at the very least, hit a nerve.

The President could only sit back and let his blood boil at the comment. He was breathing heavily at her provoking words and Hana was not about to let him have his way. She was not that submissive little girl that she was. A model slash upcoming socialite, as her mother would have described.

It was obvious that their conversation was long over by their deafening silence.

"If it's anything you want me to attend: it'll be an appointment with the Ootori," Hana relented. She had things to discuss with the man. But otherwise, any other omiai, event with other socialites, or benefits – she was out of the picture unless necessary.

It was the only thing that he could agree with. The Ootoris were a good family of which they had a long-standing agreement with for their children. But nothing of course, had been set in stone. Talks had been made, but no contracts drawn. A current mutual agreement had been established.

"Very well," the President muttered.

Hana bowed and took her leave.

Takashi got a call from Sawada-san when he was heading home on the subway.

"Aye, the girl's been in the ring for a few hours. Do me a favour and stop by the dojo and get her home. She'll probably be there all night if you don't."

Mori of course, obliged. He quickly dropped off his briefcase and changed into more comfortable clothing before walking over to the dojo. It was only a few minutes away. The lights were on and her shoes were there – beaten up white running shoes that had definitely seen better days away from mud and dirt.

He found her boxing with the air in the ring, throwing in a couple kicks. Her hands were wrapped and her hair was tied up in a high ponytail that swung with her whole body. Mori was quick to enter the ring quietly, catching from her behind.

But as a reflex, Hana was quick to throw off the stranger, putting him in a locked position. He was not afraid to fight back, pinning her down with his weight.

Hana's eyes widened at the familiar face, her shoulders slumped after her body relaxed, letting her guard down. Her whole body was covered in sweat, and she was also out of breath.

"I'm out of shape," was all she could whisper. He had her down in seconds. Her grandfather would have been disappointed. She looked away, embarrassed at her state of no makeup and heavy sweat. Takashi got up, pulling her to an upright position and then grabbed her water bottle. She gladly took it from him.

"Why are you here?" she asked.
"Your grandfather asked me to come get you."

Hana shook her head. "I can get home safe."
"He said you would be here all night."

She couldn't argue with that. Today was a tiring day, but she had to wait until she got home before she could throw a punch. Hana needed to vent before she threw a stapler at the wall at work.

"What happened?" Takashi asked, putting a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. He sat down with her on the ground. His fingers lingered by her cheek before he trailed his hand down to her arm. Hana shook her head.
"Just petty things," she smiled weakly.
"Petty things don't deserve such rage," Mori pointed out.

She sighed. "You're right." Hana took a gulp of her water. "I met with… the President today."
Mori raised an eyebrow. Her father? Technically, not her father. It seemed like the term she used was indeed, the most appropriate.

"He doesn't trust me to take care of the company so he wants to marry me off," Hana confessed. Her words let Takashi's eyes falter for a bit. A reminder that he was not meant for her. "I won't let him," she reassured. "I'm not a pawn, and I'm not just… nothing, you know? I just… I'm trying. I'm really, really trying to make it work. But I can't just quit. Hiro can't… he's so happy in New York and I…"

Hana was at a loss.

"I can't take that away from Hiro. I can't quit because I know the man has enough connections to stop me from entering the finance industry if I tried… but I don't know what it would take to prove that I'm worthy."

She reached for him, and he tucked her underneath his chin without a word. They sat like this for a while, her arms around his chest while his rested around her waist. Hana calmed at the feeling of his embrace, the silence that let her think through her own thoughts.

"Sorry," she mumbled. Hana pulled away and took a deep breath. She smiled at him and asked how his day had been. She had ranted enough for a while.

"The usual," he answered. "Worked on my paper today. Supervisor was pleased so far. Library shift was nice."

Hana nodded. "Do you like the library?"
"It's quiet," he smiled.
"How'd you even get the job?"
"Head librarian saw me a lot," he explained. "Asked if I wanted to apply."
"And you did?"
Takashi nodded. "You should come." The library was nice. It was a good place to work, if she needed space for it.
"To the library? Is this a study date?" she joked. "I'm not a student any more."

He smiled. "You can still come to see me."
"Can I?" she perked up. "So I can steal kisses from you behind bookshelves?"

Takashi was quick to swoop down and kiss her tenderly at the comment. He could feel her smile into the kiss before she gripped him tighter and deepened the kiss. He wouldn't mind stealing kisses behind bookshelves, if only that didn't distract him from shelving books and doing his job.

Hana giggled and pulled away. "Or I guess we can steal kisses anywhere, honestly."
Mori was inclined to agree with that comment.

She melted into his arms, letting go of the nagging thoughts at the back of her mind.

"Thank you," Hana whispered.
"Hm?"
"For staying," she smiled. "For always staying."

Hana was hoping for a one-on-one with the Ootori, but instead Hana found herself sitting at a table with the youngest son and his parents, along with her own. Kyouya still looked the same with his stoic expression and his glasses perched upon the bridge of his nose, his curiosity piqued by her presence. He wouldn't have shown up otherwise if it hadn't been for her. On second thought, Kyouya was likely forced to show up to the dinner just as she had.

"Hana recently finished her Master's degree in Finance," her mother gushed. The father of the girl only stayed quiet, cutting through his steak. He was here to save face for the family, not to sell Hana as a proper candidate. That was her mother's job, evidently.
"That's quite impressive for a young woman," the Ootori's mother nodded.

Hana gave a stifled smile. For a young woman, she repeated to herself.

"Now that you are back in Japan," the Ootori matriarch continued. "Hana, I expected to see you at that benefit last weekend. You were invited, I believe. I made sure to have my assistant send you an invitation."

Hana opened her mouth to answer, ready to explain that she was busy working at the company.

"Apologies," her mother interjected. "Hana was overcoming a nasty cough – absolutely horrid to bring her to such an event with important people. I asked for her to stay home."

The daughter put her cutlery down, and looked up to her mother who gave her a look to bite her tongue. Hana did as told and lowered her head in apology to the Ootori matriarch instead. Sure, she'll play the game for now. But her patience was waning.

"I see," the Ootori was not impressed. "Next time, then."
"Of course," Hana's mother nodded graciously. "Kyouya must be working at the company now, no? Learning the ropes from his own father must be quite the experience."

"It's been interesting, ma'am," Kyouya spoke for himself, looking straight at Hana – just to provoke her. As if to say, you can't even speak for yourself? How weak. His smirk was always described by Hiro to be the one thing that girls (and boys) would swoon for in a second.

Hana did her best to not roll her eyes. His attitude infuriated her.

"And Hana," the Ootori woman turned her attention to the young heiress. "Heading back into the modelling industry, I presume? After having your little degrees, you must be itching to go back to what you're most comfortable in."

Hana made the mistake of hesitating before. But not this time. She gave no opportunity for her mother to speak for her. Hana could speak for herself.

"Actually, I'm working for the Sawada Corporation – just like your son," Hana shot the Ootori a glance. "I won't be looking towards the industry unless it is of the financial sort," the young woman finished.

"Finance?" the Ootori patriarch raised his eyebrow. "The Sawada Corporation is of the technology sector, young miss."
"Yes," Hana replied. She wasn't fucking stupid. Keep calm, Hana. Calm and cool. "Yet it does not have an investment board for a company so large."

Kyouya narrowed his eyes in disbelief. "You're heading the investment board?"
It was Hana's turn to smirk. His words, not mine. "Well, I did go to school for finance," she pointed out. It was obvious, was it not?

The Sawada President cleared his throat. This was not the plan. The plan was to have the child attend little parties and silly events to have her name known across powerful families so they could be vying potential suitors to take over the corporation. The girl was a troublemaker. Impulsive, and brash with no filter nor tactic.

But to deny such plans would cause the President to lose face, and the entire Ootori clan would be unimpressed. Hana had calculated these moves. All she needed was an opportunity and she got it.

"We are discussing the prospect," was all the Sawada President could say.
"She has no experience," the Ootori President pointed out. "And you're letting her run an investment board? Ha." The man scoffed and shook his head.

"Neither does your son," Hana was quick to interrupt, unafraid of the Ootori patriarch. She glanced at Kyouya who only returned the same glare of annoyance. "But he's still a managing director, no?"

Kyouya too, was fresh out of his Business Administration program at Harvard. To say he had any experience beyond working for the corporation would be a lie.

"If you are going to ask that I hold my tongue, I cannot do such a thing. Better to be brazen and straightforward with my words than to waste our time as a whole. Believe me when I know that time is money," Hana spoke evenly, cutting through her own veal. "I would appreciate the same regard you hold for your son in my abilities as a businesswoman."

Kyouya was the first to respond to her blunt attitude while the parents were stunned. Whether they were offended or still in shock, Hana pretended not to care.

"I'd have to agree." He perched up his glasses and continued on with his meal. "I wish you luck on your endeavour, Hana." Kyouya used the opportunity to appear as the bigger man. He was raised with class but his words were still laced with venom. Their agreement that they spoke about years ago held little value when each of them had grown over the years. Nothing was set in stone, after all. The reality was that both became suspicious of one another, unable to determine whether they were trustworthy after all these years.
"And to you," Hana reciprocated, holding up her wine glass for a toast. If he thought he was being the bigger person, Hana took the opportunity to equalize the playing field with her gesture. Kyouya clinked his glass with her own.

The children were as amicable as any business partner could be, they were quick to becomes the role models to their own parents.

It was not the most ideal dinner, though it quite an impressionable one. The Ootoris left feeling unsure of the young woman, but it was evident that Hana was bright and ambitious. Two traits that the Ootoris could respect. What was missing were the results of her ambition, and the defining factor of her candidacy required time.

The Sawadas, however, saw it differently. The family sat by the dinner table alone, after their guests had left.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Hana's mother shrieked.
"If you thought parading me around and showing me off like a doll would impress the Ootoris, you were very, very wrong," the daughter rolled her eyes.

"An investment board?" the President roared. "An investment board? You think I'm going to throw money your way so you can just burn it?"
"That's not how investments work," the heiress was quick to get on the nerves of the man. She did not care if it infuriated him, it was her goal to have him huffing and puffing.

"Hana, you have no clue how to do business," her mother insisted. "You don't know what you're doing!"
"Neither did you during that dinner," Hana retorted. She stood from her seat and grabbed her bag. Hana had absolutely no intention of staying at the mansion for any longer than she had to and headed home to her grandfather's place.

"We're in the talks of setting up an investment board," Hana reminded the President. It was set in stone now that the man admitted it to the Ootoris. They were not a family to lie to, especially now when the Sawadas had to save face. "I'll be sure to call your secretary for an appointment some time next week. I'll have a proposal drawn up."

"You little—"

Hana bowed deeply as her goodbye and left with that.

The granddaughter returned home late, her eyes red and swollen. She burst into tears on the walk home through the park when she realized the gravity of the situation. Hana tried to put herself together before stepping into the home. She took her high heels off and walked past her grandfather, refusing to look him in the eye.

"What happened?" Ojii-san demanded to know. Was it the kid who made her cry? He was going to punch him so hard for making his granddaughter cry.
"I'm actually so fucked," Hana dug herself a hole. A deep, deep, deep hole. She bit off more than she could chew. It was an idea that spurred in her head for quite some time. But now that she needed to work out the logistics and plan for a success – the chances were very bleak. Investment banking involved a lot of risk. She spent years calculating risk and potential profits. But more so the former.

"Everyone's right: I don't know what I'm doing," the young woman admitted. "I went to school for six years for finance but all I've done were simulations and case studies. I worked one summer at a firm and even then I was so so so lost. I'm tired of pretending, Ojii-san."

She couldn't control herself anymore. No amount of punches at a wall could help her stop pretending to be tough and assertive. Hana was weak and she couldn't deny it any longer. She was destined for failure.

"Oh Hana, you silly, silly, child," her grandfather patted her back. "Does anyone know what they are doing? You are so young. No one expects you to know what you are doing."
"And yet I still try to prove that I do! I'm an idiot who can't handle her pride being bruised," Hana groaned, while burying her face in her hands.
"That's my fault," Ojii-san coughed sheepishly. "I passed that trait onto you. But is that so bad? People underestimating you is an advantage. Their expectations are so low it'll be easy to surpass."

Hana shook her head. "I have a habit of raising the bar too high."
"Because of your pride?"
"I have a problem," she sighed.
"I do too," he chuckled. "But I've gotten this far in life so, it's not all bad."

The granddaughter shook her head. "Fuck," she grumbled. "I'm just shit at keeping it together. I know you didn't raise me this way. Don't scold me now. Do it tomorrow morning," Hana murmured.

"Why would I scold you? I'm proud of you, Hana. I'm so damn proud, I tell all my friends about you."
"You only have one friend," Hana deadpanned. It was Takashi's grandfather.
"I have plenty of friends, Hana," the elder shot back at her. Hana waved his comment off before she left to take a shower.

It was always hard to see her cry. When she cried at her bruises and the scrapes on her knees as a child, soon she stopped after years of being beaten down. A slight wince became the norm, and then not even the wince. Just pure silence as she withstood all the pain. A part of him wondered if it was right to raise her like this. Toughening her up for the real world – it needed to happen. How else would she survive?

But Hana was still human and as a grandparent, he was almost relieved that he hadn't eroded her down to the very core. Her struggles became his struggles. Her cries became the aching in his heart. From the moment he saw her big eyes look up at him as a baby – he was sold. That was it. He couldn't leave the helpless thing to fend for herself.

But now he was helpless at helping her. He couldn't train Hana for the real world of office politics and upper society. He could only watch. He could only make her lunch. He could only let her sleep soundly in his home, away from the big empty mansion.

He could only love her in the way that her parents did not.

A/N: Sorry, I know I've been MIA. I finished up a summer course and dealt with a family emergency somehow all within the past month. I didn't get the chance to sit down to write until a few days ago, and suddenly I'm less than a month away from the beginning of school. I'll try my best to write before uni begins again, though no guarantees. Your thoughts are always appreciated - they keep me going with the story. Thank you so much for sticking by and reading this far. You're wonderful.