Sister or stranger?
Haii this is my first fanfic on Brothers conflict so pleeaaasseee be nice and give me some good feedback.
F.Y.I. PLEASE READ: All of the paragraphs concerning Ema and her feelings will be in first person whilst the parts about the brothers and their search for her will be in the third person. Hope it doesn't confuse you but it was just easier for me to write that way. Sorry!
Enjoy reading!
My hands shook as I stared at the tear stained document in my hand.
"Adopted"
That one word shook my entire being in seconds. Papa…. Wasn't my papa? What is this?
Passers-by stared at the strange girl crying at a piece of paper in the middle of the street. Me. Why wouldn't they? What could one sheet of paper possibly do to make a girl cry?
I couldn't bring myself to return to the Asahina household. All those perfectly wonderful boys. Those boys who took me in as their own sister. Also under the same delusion as I was that I was blood related to my father and meant to be there.
"konichiwa onee-chan"
Those were the first words ever said by those boys that ever made me feel welcome in anyway, thanks to wataru.
"Nee-chan!"
"imouto"
All these boys and men whom I had come to love. All these words they would label me by. All meant nothing now. I was never their "imouto" (means "little sister"). I wasn't when I first arrived either. I knew that. I knew that blood could never be the bond between Us. Yet…I still had some sort of grasp of hope at the time. Because I knew that papa was becoming part of their family by law, and therefore, so was I.
Now though, I have nothing at all to tie myself to them in a special way. I'm no longer linked to them by law or marriage because; I was never actually related to papa.
I walked the lonely streets of an unfamiliar town for what seemed like hours. Only belongings on me were my school bag and its contents including money, my cell phone and the document. Although I put the device on silent, I could still hear the constant vibrations from my bag, all coming from my brothers on the other side of the line. Each torturing second that phone went off was another reminder of the way I would now be as worthless to them as I am to my father. One thought raced through my mind the most though; As soon as they hear the news. that phone would stop ringing entirely.
Using the money I earned from doing random small jobs around the neighbourhood, I lent myself out a small hotel room to stay for a couple of nights. With no spare changes of clothes and nothing to particularly do, I went straight to bed that night. The vibrations of the phone still apparent.
"I'm worried" came Ukyo's voice from the kitchen.
"wassup Ani" (elder brother)." Finally figured out you couldn't win Ema over me?" taunted Tsubaki as Ukyo walked into the living area space and planted himself on the plush red couch.
He gave his younger brother a long, cold and hard glare before continuing on with his point.
"Ema. She's been gone for quite a while now."
At the mention of their beloved little sisters name, all heads in the room turned their focus on the 2nd oldest in the household.
"Usually she just comes back with Yusuke from school, but it's almost 11'oclock and she isn't answering her phone."
Tsubaki's once mocking smirk now turned serious. In his opinion, out of all the brothers here, he was to care the most for the little chestnut haired cutie. No matter his rival, friend, family or even twin/ triplet, he was not going to lose her to anyone. That was his resolve. That is what drove him to continue trying his best.
He had always wanted a little sister. It was one of his two dreams as a child. He vowed that if ever was ever lucky enough to receive one, then he would love and cherish her forever. Without a care of what anyone else thought, in his opinion, he was by far the one who loved her the most.
"You talking about Ema?"
Yusuke made his decent down the stairs towards his older brothers.
"Yeh" grumbled Ukyo
"You don't have any Idea where she went… do you Yusuke?" Tsubaki's eyes pierced into Yusuke's accusingly. If anyone was to blame for her disappearance, all evidence would surely point in his direction.
"No, not a clue. Why? Isn't she back yet?" Was his snappy reply to the accusing stare.
"well yes. Surely since you come home with her every day, you should know where she went"
"I don't know!" yelled a red faced Yusuke under the pressure or his brothers stare. Beads of sweat started to make their way down the redheads cheeks.
"You better not be accusing me of anything Tsubaki!"
"oh no, not at all" said a smirking silvered haired boy.
"all I'm saying is that you were the last one to see her, and it's no secret that all of us in this house want her to ourselves."
Yusuke's face turned an even deeper shade of red at Tsubaki's bluntness.
"Look, all I know is we came to the cross roads on the walk home. Ema said she had to pick up her family registration for her passport for our annual family trip this year. I offered to go with her but she declined and said she would be fine on her own. I watched her until she turned the corner, disappeared out of sight and then came back here!"
Yusuke's face was now the same shade as his hair as he became angrier and angrier at the nerve of his playboy older brother. Yusuke has loved Ema for the longest out of all the brothers. He met her first in the first year of secondary (or high school if you live in other countries. I'm British and not good at geography so you're going to have to bear with my stupidity) and he would be a fool to decline it was love at first sight. Ever since he first laid eyes on her, he was drawn to her infinite cuteness. Her small laughs and gestures all of it made him a big mush of loveydoveyness.
Once he found she was going to become his sister, he was absolutely heartbroken. No words could have described how he felt. After all those years of watching her from afar, she was now as close to him as he wanted yet further away. Now his chances of ever confessing were over, all he could do now was protect her.
"Have you called her?" he asked hopefully.
"No we are all just crowded round Ukyo's phone because we like the colour of it." Said Kaname, an eye roll accompanying it.
"Oh! Okay that's fine then. I prefer red myself but yanno…" Yusuke finally smiled at his brothers all staring at the same black object.
"However I really think you should call Ema if you're that worried" he added.
"Are you an Idiot…" the brothers said in unison as they stared at the redhead while willing him some hope for the future.
"Call Natsume"
Azusa had finally spoken up after being quiet for the whole issue. Of course he was worried for her. But his composed nature wouldn't let him show it in front of his brothers.
"Are you an idiot too? I can't call Nasume on this number in case Ema calls back! We have to keep trying to reach her!" yelled Ukyo running a hand through his already messed up golden hair.
"Looks like I'll be calling him on my phone then." Sighed Azusa.
"what if she calls your phone instead of mine!" screeched Ukyo.
"Woah Woah Woah. Why would she phone him? Why not me?"
Tsubaki glared at Azusa.
"S-sh-she could phone me too!" blushed Yusuke.
Azusa pinched the bridge of his nose to suppress the upcoming headache caused by his brothers.
"I'm sure she won't phone me, I just want to let Natsume know. He lives in a different area and she could have passed by there on the home or something."
After he said this he started his descent up the stairs into his room.
As it turned out, Ema didn't phone any of them that night. Nor did she return.
Natsume went out and searched for her all night but still turned up with nothing. Of course, as expected of the Asahina Brothers, the police, entire neighbourhood and all 13 of them were out searching for her the next day. All called in to their jobs with a family emergency and a day off; the search began.
All of them split up into teams of either 4 or 3 with one of the four older brothers as a leader:
Team one:
1st son Masaomi
11th son Yusuke
12th son Fuuto
13th son Wataru
Team two:
2nd son Ukyo
5th son Tsubaki
6th son Azusa
Team three:
3rd son Kaname
7th son Natsume
9th son Subaru
Team four:
4th son Hikaru
8th son Louis ( and an addition of juli who was also worried )
10th son Iori
"Alright" yelled a usually quiet Masaomi startling every one of his brothers and all of the other help that had joined at the front door.
"We all want to find Ema. That is our aim. Iori pass this around." Masaomi pulled out a cropped photo of Ema from his wallet of them at their parents wedding ceremony only a few months back.
"Okay. S-so…Ummm…Wataru, Yusuke, Fuuto and me will check around her school and see if anyone has heard of her from there. Ukyo, Tsubaki and Azusa. You guys will check any shopping places in this area and the surrounding towns. Kaname, Nasume and Subaru, you guys walk around all of the busy town area's and streets. Natsume, I trust can lead you around the area's you don't know so well. Hikaru, Louis and Iori you guys check the local parks and public entertainment areas, you guys seem to know what she would like best. Umm…the rest of you…just…just look in places you think a 16 year old girl would be if she was, kidnapped, passed out or anything ese that could have happened to her. Let's get going!" finished Masaomi.
After all the jobs were allocated, each respective team set off in search of their beloved little sister.
I woke up very uncomfortable. In the same clothes as yesterday and tear streaks down my face I set off in search of the bathroom inside my small hotel room. Fortunately they had spare towels and dressing gowns there so I could take a shower and not sit there stark naked whilst trying to clean my only set of clothes for the time being.
The shower in the small bathroom wasn't grand yet wasn't too small so I wouldn't have to be cramped whilst washing. I stripped of my clothed and left the shower on to warm up whilst I put my clothes in the washing machine provided.
Once i was certain the clothes would be clean around the time I got out and on the right setting, I hopped into the now warm shower.
The hotel provided some cosmetics and shampoos but not a lot.
Not that I can complain about the lack of conditioners in my bathroom in my current state.
I washed myself with the resources provided and tried to think about what my "once brothers" were doing now.
Surely they would know the truth by now. They were smart. Smart enough to phone father by now and report me missing. He would surely tell them the truth. Even if he hid it from me all these years.
I felt my hands clench into fists at my sides. I forgot Papa. If I could even call him that. He had hidden this from me all these years. I feel anger boil up inside my chest. Not hatred. I could never truly hate him. Just anger.
As my thought progressed from Papa onwards, that anger dissolved into sadness, and that sadness into depression.
A conclusion of worthlessness and unwantedness overcame me. My real parents don't want me. Papa was never around for "work" (I have my doubts now). And now my sweet brothers.
The phone had stopped ringing hours ago. That was a clear sign that they no longer wanted me either.
I clambered out of the shower, put on one of the dressing gowns and took my clothes out of the washer and into the dryer also provided.
I sat on my bed in the meantime and contemplated my next move
I reached into my bag and pulled out the pink object with a cute charm hanging from it and stared at it. I checked the power button to see if it was out of charge, only to be met with a bright screen and 74% left. 24 missed calls and 67 texts. All from my dear brothers, this all seemed to cease at around 12 last night. If they had phoned me at that hour then the possibility of them phoning my father seemed to increase tenfold.
For what felt like hours I stared at that lonely blank screen.
Masaomi was the last one left at the Asahina residence with Yusuke, Fuuto and Wataru, locking up aall the windows and doors.
"My My Masaomi, what on earth has happened to get everyone so wound up this early in the morning" came a familiar and feminine voice from behind them.
"we were expecting you all to be asleep but I guess that isn't the case at the moment" came Rintarou's voice.
"Is my darling Ema up yet then. I've been dying to see her."
He beamed at the sons expectantly.
Each one of them, with an exception of Fuuto who was already facing them, turned around with grim looks on their faces. WHY HADN'T THEY THOUGHT OF CONTACTING HER ACTUAL BLOOD RELATIVE?!
Now it looks like there is going to be a lot of explaining to do.
While Masaomi, Yusuke and Wataru stared at the two adults with blank faces, Fuuto, who seemed to be the only sane one at that point decided to speak up.
"Bit of a problem with Ema there Sir." Said a for once modest Fuuto
"Oh? And what has my little trouble maker done now?" he once again beamed at them.
"It's not what she has done per say Sir. It's more like what she hasn't done. Like she didn't return home last night kind of thing."
The usually confident Fuuto for once was struggling for words. Who wouldn't be? Especially if you had to tell your step-father that some way or another your step-sister has gone missing when you were supposed to be taking care of her. It's all a very confusing and complicated mix.
"…what?" that once beaming smile was vanished from his face in an instant and his hold on his wife's arm tightened.
"when did she go missing? What time? What was she supposed to be doing?" the once calm and collected Rintarou was now falling apart in front of their eyes. He may not be her blood relative but he always has thought of her as his child. She made his life happier instead of the dismal workaholic he was made out to be. It's because of Ema that he was able to work hard enough and meet Ms Miwa.
"she was walking home with Yusuke yesterday when she apparently said she had to go and pick up her family registration document for her passport. He came back home after separating ways with her and she never returned. We have been trying her cell phone, texting her, everything. Eventually we had to resolve to phoning the police and asking our neighbours to help find her."
A look of realisation covered Rintarou's face.
"Did you just say family registration? *sigh* goddamit." He looked down with a regretful face.
"Rin! Wataru is here!." Scolded Miwa.
"sorry sweet but I think I just realised why Ema's gone. I'm pretty sure she left on her own. and its all my fault."
He brought his hand up to his face and rubbed his eyes as if trying to hold back the hot tears behind them.
"what do you mean is your fault darling? You haven't even been here to see her." she laughed nervously.
"That's exactly it though. If I was here earlier I would have been able to explain myself." He sighed without looking at Ms Miwa's face.
"Explain…what Rintarou? Your worrying me."
She touched him arm and drew close to him with concerning eyes.
"Ema…isn't my…daughter."
Five very loud gasps were heard in the hallway of the Asahina household.
"wait how is Ema not your daughter?" yelled out Yusuke.
"I never told her, but her real parents are two of my old best friends. They passed away a few months after her birth. At the time I was given the title of her godfather however, as I was never able to have children of my own then, I decided to take her in as my own daughter, giving myself the undeserved title of "Papa" or "father". The family registration knows I adopted her as my own. And that's probably what was written on the form when she went to collect it. God… I never wanted her to find out like this. She probably feels so unwanted, especially after all this time I've spent away from her with work. She thought she wouldn't be wanted in a house of guys when she first moved here aswell. Her feelings about these kind of thing are…delicate you see. Reason being, I never told her about her real parents"
He placed a hand on his forehead and did something nobody in that room was ever expecting. He cried. He cried for the pain he placed upon the only child he ever came to love. The child that gave him light all those years ago.
"Of Course she feels unwanted then!" yelled an infuriated Yusuke.
"Yusuke calm, please." Begged a once silent Masaomi.
"NO. He needs to hear this is he is feeling guilty about it now. Look I've known Ema for longer than any of my other brothers. I've been in the same school as her ever since first year, and one thing I know from that time is that she. is . not delicate. She is strong Rintarou. Stronger than you might think. And you would know that. If only you ever took time out of your work schedule to see her and get to know your own daughter who turns out to not actually be your daughter at all. You said that making her move into a bunch of guys made her feel uncomfortable. OF COURSE IT WOULD MAKE HER UNCOMFORTABLE! You're the only guys she had ever been around as far as I know and you have hardly been around all these years. Throwing her in a group of guys is going to make her uncomfortable. And now she knows she is adopted. She probably feels like we don't want her anymore because of it! When in reality she is probably the best thing that has ever happened to this family! Somehow I feel closer to all my brothers now. Because of her. I have learnt so many new things. Because of her. She is something we all share as a family, and we all love her to pieces! Even if it has only been four months."
Grunts of agreement came from the doorway of the house as all the other brothers and sons arrived back home.
"We all agree with what Yusuke is saying. Even if he is an idiot." Shrugged Tsubaki.
"However it doesn't bring us any closer to finding her." Continued Azusa.
"Any idea's?"
"I have one." Say Ms Miwa as she stared her husband in the eyes.
She pulled out Rintarou's cell phone and scrolled down to Ema's number.
"Um Mama." Came Wataru's small voice from down below.
"We have already tried phoning onee-chan"
Ms Miwa smiled at her youngest sons choice of words towards his newfound sister. She was glad they were making her only daughter feel at home.
"I know you boys have sweetie and I'm very proud of you all for trying so hard to find her. However there is still one person who has yet to phone this little girl." She said bending down too bop Wataru on the nose, earning a small giggle from him.
She turned towards her husband, clicked on the number and quickly passed it to Rintarou.
"You started this. Now you finish this." She stared at him with hard eyes.
Surprisingly, he gratefully took the phone from his wife with a smile and with no objections, held the small device to his ear.
I jumped as the phone once again vibrated in my hand and the screen lit up whilst I was staring at it in thought, dropping it in the process. Its seems that as the phone hit the ground, it also answered itself for me.
Not knowing who was on the other end of the line, I cautiously held the pink object to my ear.
"hello?..." I said in a small voice.
There was a pause on the other end until I could just faintly hear the sound of heavy breathing.
Wondering if the person on the other end was alright, and not suffering for a seizure I quickly pulled the phone away from my ear to see who I was talking to.
"Papa?!" I yelled a bit too loudly down the phone. He didn't seem to mind though.
"Heh." He laughed
"I'm surprised you can still call me that. I suppose you know the truth now?"
I didn't reply. I just sighed and turned my head down to the floor, as if he was actually in the same room as me.
"I know this is hard for you. I never meant for you to find out this way. Actually I never meant for you to find out at all to be quite hone-OUCH!"
I heard whispering from whom could only be Ms Miwa on his side of the call.
"I mean… Look I know what I've done is wrong. I can show your real parents if you like and tell you the entire story when I see you again. I just want you to know I still consider you my daughter. I still love you the same way. Do…do you still love me as your papa?"
I could practically feel his hopeful aura from miles away. He has a point. We may not be blood related but I still feel like he is my real father. He has provided for ma all these years. Acted like a father role model to me, taught me all my wrongs and rights. Or course that means something to me.
"Of course you're still my Papa..papa? Nothing could really change that. I just… I just…feel like I don't belong. They arn't my real brothers and…I thought it would be alright as we would be connected by law. But now…I feel like a stranger to them."
I slightly sobbed as my heart clenched thinking about my brothers.
"Wow…your actually talking to me ."
I could hear him smiling from the phone along with a few loud sighs of relief on the background.
"Trust me Ema, I would know. I just had an entire lecture about it. You are not a stranger to these boys. They think of you as a sister as much as you think of them as brothers. All thirteen of them" he laughed. It brought an immediate smile to my face to hear his laugh after so long.
"They would be able to tell you that themselves…if only you would tell us where you are." His voice lowered to almost a whisper towards the end of his sentence. As if I would break if he spoke any louder.
I paused and didn't speak for a good two minutes. It wasn't until Papa called my name as to confirm I was still there did I finally speak.
"If I tell you…will you promise me one thing?" I asked hopefully.
"Anything" he said immediately after with no hesitation.
"come and see me more often. Just so I don't feel like I don't belong again. It's a horrible feeling. I don't want this to happen again." I whispered while I sobbed.
"Of course I will. Anytime you want to see I will come. Oh Ema please don't cry…HEY!" I heard Papa shout as it sounded like the phone was being fought over.
"Ema dear?" said Ms Miwa's voice eventually after a lot of rustling and swear words thrown about on the other end.
"Ms Miwa?" I asked.
"Now didn't I ask you to call me mum? Hehe. Oh Ema darling please don't cry over this. Rintarou was just being stupid. I'll make sure it doesn't happen again. Please tell us where you are. We are all worried sick! Your brothers even got the police and neighbourhood to search for you." I heard a number of shouts on the end saying something along the lines of "you didn't have to say that!"
"T-they did?" my voice shook and my lip trembles as I cursed myself for the lonely thoughts I was having before.
"Ema…where are you?"
"A-a-a hotel on the outskirts of town. Kiwi lodge or something like that" (if this is an actual place, I do not own it! I just made it up because kiwi is my name and I needed to make up a place!)
"Thank you darling know that area, we'll be there to pick you up in about 20 minutes. All of us. Wait outside for us won't you?"
"Yes" I replied meekly and hung up the phone. Grabbing my few belongings, I made my way to check out of the hotel and wait in the lobby for the remaining ten minutes I had.
"Where is she?!" shouted Tsubaki excitedly. Why didn't they phone the adults to start with?! Such clever people.
"Kiwi lodge hotel. You know where that is don't you Natsume."
An approving grunt was heard in response.
"Great, you take some of us your car, I and Rintarou take some in ours and ukyo takes some in the family car."
Twenty minutes later all three cars were parked outside the hotel and 14 boys and 1 lady got out all rushing inside the hotel to see the darling little sister they almost lost.
15 bodies all piled themselves into the small lobby and almost crushed the little girl inside. All 15 of them showering her in kisses, love and threats as to if she ever did something like this again.
The most important reunion in that same lobby on that day however was the once broken bond between a lonesome father and his adopted daughter.
That night Ema wasn't allowed a moment of peace from the boys in the house all night. Each one using the excuse of "compensation" for all the worry she caused.
Later on into the night Ms Miwa asked to speak to Ema in the privacy of the balcony.
"You seem to have caught the attention of my sons quite effectively Ema dear." She said, smiling at me as she spoke.
"What makes you say that Ms Miw-I mean Mum" I asked quizzically.
"well, when Rintarou said you were crying over the phone, I wasn't the one wrestling him for it." She said he smile getting g bigger if possible.
"oh? Who did?" I asked
"All of my sons did. They basically jumped on him all at once, fighting for the phone which had actually fallen out of his hand and on the floor next to my feet. They all care for you. More than a normal friend or a brother should darling. The day will come soon where you have to choose. And trust me deary, it's not going to be easy if you love them all that much."
Before I could question her more, she gave me a light tap on the shoulder and a kiss on the cheek before going inside once again and joining papa.
I don't know what I did to deserve such a crazy family as this, but I'm sure I don't.
hey guys! this is like the longest chapter I have ever written.
I'm going to leave the status as 'uncompleted' for now. Just incase anyone wants me to do a sequel or a followthrough. If you do want me to continue then please leave me a review with your thoughts and I will try to write any ideas as best as I can . I'm always open for suggestions! however if I don't have any ideas then I cant exactly put them on paper XD
I've also re-edited this because I noticed ALOT of spelling mistakes. I apologise! :(
byeeee
kawaikiwilove :3