Chapter 1: Breaking the Ice

The two sisters walked in silence as they made their way to the Sunrise residence. Today was the day they would move in with their thirteen new siblings. Although they had known about the move for a while they weren't sure what to say or how to feel, though they both had similar thoughts running through their heads.

Were they going to be accepted into their new home? Were they going to like their new home? Would they even fit in?

Emi, being the oldest by four years, tried not to seem too worried. She was supposed to be an example to Ema, and if she lost her composure, Ema would surely worry about the situation more than was necessary.

As they reached their destination Emi noticed two people standing near the entrance of the complex. From the distance she was at she could see that the taller of the two had short brown hair and the smaller one had pinkish-brown hair.

Beside her, she noticed Ema tense up a bit. Emi turned to her, worried, "Ema?"

Ema turned to her elder sister, "Yes?"

"Are you okay? You look a bit pale..."

Ema shook her head, "I'm fine sis. Just a bit nervous."

Emi smiled, "Don't worry, I'm here with you...and, if it's any consolation, I'm a bit nervous myself," she said with a laugh.

Ema brightened a bit at her words and brought her attention to the two people who had turned at the sound of Emi's laugh.

The tall one was the first to speak as they approached, "You must be Ema-chan," looking down at the uniformed brunette, "and you're Emi-chan, correct?" Turning his attention to the casually dressed brunette as the two girls nodded. "I'm Asahina Masaomi, the first son of Miwa, and this is Wataru, he's the thirteenth son." He pointed to the boy that was rocking back and forth on his heels.

Wataru sensed that it was his opportunity to speak and chose to launch himself at the two sisters in delight, "Yay! I didn't know that my big sisters would be so pretty! I'm so happy! It's so nice to meet you!"

Ema laughed in relief while Emi smiled at Wataru's childish nature. Masaomi smiled at the three and nodded his head in the direction of the complex, "Why don't we go inside, you can introduce yourselves to the others."

Wataru grabbed Ema by the hand and lead her ahead of Masaomi and Emi, talking excitedly with his new sibling. Emi walked beside Masaomi.

Masaomi looked down at her, "Sorry if Wataru's a bit over-excited. He's been waiting eagerly to meet you both, so he's a bit over-bearing at the moment."

Emi shook her head with a smile, "I would expect no less of a boy his age. It's a bit refreshing, to be honest, I've always wanted a little brother with that much energy."

Masaomi smiled. As she turned away to look at her newest and youngest sibling, he studied her out of the corner of his eye. Her hair was like Ema's, brown and wavy, but while Ema had her's up in a ponytail, Emi let it flow down over her left shoulder. She was dressed in a red blouse covered in white polka dots. She wore jeans that fit her snuggly, not tight and not too loose paired with black high-top chucks. Looking at her now, he couldn't seem to place her in any kind of profession. He tried to remember what his mother had told him in regards to Emi's career, but nothing came to mind. Perhaps she was still going to university? He'd have to remember to ask about it later.

The four siblings got into the elevator of the apartments. Masaomi turned to the two girls, "Your stuff has already been moved into your rooms, I'll show you where they are and let you get settled in."

Masaomi lead them out on to the fourth floor. He pointed to one of the rooms, "Ema-chan. This is your room. And Emi-chan, your room is across from hers."

The two girls nodded and headed to their respective rooms.

"Oh! Emi-chan?"

The elder sister turned, "Yes?"

"Your room was used as a storage by one of my brothers. He's a bit messy, so if you find something left in there, I apologize in advance."

She chuckled, "That's okay, no need to apologize. I won't find something...disturbing will I?"

Masaomi felt his face heat up at the blunt comment, "I-I certainly hope not."

Emi smiled upon seeing his embarrassment, "We'll head up once we've freshened up."

He nodded and grabbed Wataru's hand.

"Aww, can't I stay with them a little longer?" The younger brother pouted.

The eldest son smiled, "Don't worry Wataru, they'll be up in a little while."

Before entering her room Emi called to Wataru, "Wataru-chan!"

The boy turned in excitement at the sound of his name, "Yes?!"

Emi grinned at her youngest brother, "Once I come up, we can play as long as you want, okay?"

The young boy brightened visibly and began to jump around his brother, "Yay! Big sis is gonna play with me! Did you hear that Masa-nii!? Big sis is gonna play with me!"

Emi and Ema both stepped off of the elevator on the fifth floor. The two looked around the hallway, taking in the small details of their new home. The hallway lead up to a loft decorated with a lamp and a green sofa that was situated next to the rail that allowed one to look down into the lounge. They could see that there was a large red sofa with two separate knee-high tables in the middle. The place looked empty so the two girls made their way to the stairs on the right. From this floor they could see that below the loft was a big flat screen TV.

"Ah," came a voice from behind them.

Emi and Ema turned.

Standing behind them were two boys. One had white hair that covered his right eye and the other had glasses with black hair that covered his left eye. Both had beauty marks under their uncovered eyes and from what Emi could see, their eyes were a beautiful violet color.

Both girls regained their composure after taking in the two boys' appearance and bowed at the same time, "Hello."

The white haired boy stepped forward, spreading his arms wide and brought the two sisters into his embrace, putting his lips near their ears and whispered, "This is a 'Nice to meet you' hug~!"

Ema's face slowly became warmer as she tried to process what to do at that moment. She sneaked a peek at her sister's face and saw that Emi was trying to suppress her smile as much as she could. Emi, who was in reality a huge fan of hugs, was about to return the gesture when she noticed the other male walk up to them and suddenly punched his white haired sibling across the head, effectively moving him away from the two sisters.

Emi looked down at the white haired male in sympathy and then turned her attention to the dark haired one in question.

He smiled at the two, completely ignoring the fact that he had just punched his brother in the back of the head. "Sorry about Tsubaki. I'm Azusa. Please take care of me from now on."

The white haired brother, Tsubaki, quickly got up from the floor and rubbed his head gingerly, "That hurt Azusa~!"

Emi and Ema looked at each other in question and then back at the two similar looking brothers.

The two brothers seemed to realize what the questioning stares meant. Tsubaki placed an arm over Azusa's, "We look similar don't we?"

Azusa then replied, "We're identical twins."

"You two, you're too loud," came another voice from behind the twins.

A man with blond hair and spectacles came into the lounge rolling in a tray stacked with teacups and a teapot. He was dressed like a business man; a red dress shirt paired with a white tie plus a vest that was neatly buttoned over the shirt and black dress pants. Emi remembered hearing about this son. Ukyo, she believed his name was. Her guess was confirmed as he introduced himself, "Pleased to meet you two, my name is Ukyo. I work as a lawyer." His eyes trailed over the two sisters and stayed on Emi, "You're Emi-chan, correct?"

Emi had to try and keep herself from staring into his pretty blue eyes and nodded, "That's right! And this," she placed her hands on Ema's shoulder, "is Ema. Please take care of us from now on," she said as the two girls bowed at the three brothers.

Tsubaki smiled widely and wrapped his arms around their shoulders in another hug, "Yes, please do~!"

Emi tried to suppress her glee once again. She cursed herself for being such a snuggler but if all her new brothers were this affectionate, she could definitely get used to living with this many boys.

Just as she was about to hug Tsubaki another voice came from the loft.

"Tsuba-nii! What the hell are you doing in the house?"

The five siblings on the bottom floor looked up to see a red-haired boy in a high school uniform. Emi narrowed her eyes at the boy. He seemed familiar for some reason.

Tsubaki answered the boys calls, "Ah. Yusuke, welcome home~!"

The red-head, Yusuke, clicked his tongue in annoyance, "Don't give me that 'Welcome home~!' Bringing girls into the living room is-"

He suddenly stopped mid-sentence and bent a little closer over the rail, squinting at the two sisters. Emi heard him mutter, "Wait a minute."

Emi noticed that once he focused on Ema his eyes lit up in recognition. She heard a surprised exclamation from her sister as Yusuke quickly ran down the stairs stuttering, "Ah! W- wh- wh-! YOU!?"

He stood in front of Ema staring at her in shock. Ema stared at him, equally in shock as she muttered, "Asahina-kun?"

It finally dawned on Emi why this boy was so familiar. Yusuke was one of Ema's classmates. She had heard her sister talk about him a time or two. She looked at the two in amusement, this must be quite the awkward situation for the two of them.

Yusuke looked Ema up and down, trying to process the situation, "Why?"

Ema looked down from his gaze, "Ah, well, that's..."

Ukyo cut into the conversation with a stern voice directed at the white haired brother, "Tsubaki. I'm sure I told you to inform Yusuke of this."

Tsubaki then turned away with a grin and giggled, "Hee hee~."

Yusuke narrowed his eyes in anger, "Tsuba-nii! You didn't tell me on purpose!"

"On purpose? You make me sound like a bad person," Tsubaki replied in a mock hurt voice.

Yusuke merely clicked his tongue, used to his brothers antics and narrowed his eyes at Ema again. She flinched under his glare. The uniformed boy then muttered, "I won't accept it."

"Eh?" Ema replied in confusion.

Yusuke merely walked passed her, "I can't accept my classmate as a sibling."

Tsubaki followed him and questioned in delight, "What was that? What won't you accept?"

While the two brothers bickered Emi slowly took her gaze away from Yusuke to Ema. The elder sister smiled at her siblings confusion. It was painfully obvious to her what Yusuke had meant by that statement. He had a crush on her sister. Ema didn't know of course. The thought of someone liking her had probably never crossed her mind and so she was left to wonder what she could have done to make Yusuke so opposed to her being his sister.

A rustle of beads caught Emi's attention. She looked over at the stairs and saw a buddhist monk making his way toward the small group that had formed in the lounge.

"We finally meet, my little sisters," came the smooth, silky voice from his lips.

All the brothers that she had met so far, with the exception of Wataru, had been handsome. However, Emi felt that this brother in particular, was what women would normally refer to as "drop-dead gorgeous".

He was blond, like Ukyo, but his hair was longer and seemed to have a mind of it's own, giving him a wild look. His face was handsome with a sharp nose and a sultry smile. Emi could see, as her eyes slowly trailed down his neck, that a chiseled body awaited her gaze below his robes. Using all her willpower, she kept her eyes locked with his as he moved closer to his new siblings.

Once he was within arms reach he took hold of Ema's right hand and Emi's left bringing them up while saying as deeply as he could, "If you want to hear some prayers, come to big brother anytime."

As soon as he finished his sentence, he brought their hands up to his lips and kissed them. The two girls looked at him in mild shock while the brothers merely watched with bated breath. The silence was only broken when Yusuke shouted at the blond monk, "Hey, Kana-nii!"

Two other boys had entered the lounge and watched silently at the unfolding scene.

Juli, Ema's pet squirrel, jumped down from Ema's shoulder onto Ema's outstretched hand that was near the monk's face. The blond seemed to recognize Juli as he muttered, "Ah, from earlier..."

The squirrel blinked at the older male and before anyone knew it, Juli scratched the man on the nose.

Ema covered her mouth in surprise. Emi however went over to her brother who was clutching his nose in pain. She reached out and touched his hand, motioning for him to let her see the wound. He hesitantly obliged as Emi examined the wound. It didn't look like Juli drew blood at all, merely punched him.

The elder sister stepped away from her brother, "It looks like he didn't use his claws so there's no blood. I'm sorry about Juli, he's a bit over-protective of Ema." She bowed in apology and looked over at Juli who was still on Ema's hand, "Juli..." She trailed off, looking at him sternly. The squirrel squeaked and hid behind Ema.

The blond waved off her apology, "It's fine but I'll try to remember that from now on. I realize I didn't properly introduce myself. I'm Kaname."

Emi smiled, "I'm the elder sister, Emi."

Kaname smiled and repeated her name, "Emi-chan, huh?"

Ema stepped forward, "I'm Ema, it's very nice to meet you."

He smiled at Ema as well, "I must truly be blessed, to have two adorable little sisters like you."

Ema looked down in embarrassment. However, Emi leaned to the side and spoke to Ukyo, who was standing behind Kaname and listening intently at the exchange, "Is he always like this?"

The finely dressed male blinked in surprise and smiled, "Unfortunately so. I apologize on his behalf."

She laughed, "It's fine."

"Ah, you've all met each other."

Everyone turned to looked over at Masaomi who had also entered the lounge with Wataru jumping up and down behind him. The younger brother had his sight set on Emi and ran toward her shouting, "Big sis!"

He jumped the last step and Emi spread her arms wide and took hold of Wataru, planting a foot behind her to keep her balance. He looked up at her, his chin nestled against her chest. Had it been any other brother, Emi probably would have felt a little uncomfortable, but Wataru was a kid, so she didn't seem to mind their position much.

"Sis, when are we gonna play?!" He asked with glee.

"In a bit Wataru-chan, don't worry."

Her little brother was pulled away by Masaomi who motioned his hand toward the giant red sofa, "Why don't we sit down and have a cup of tea?"

All the brothers and their two new sisters sat together on the couch. Starting from the left was Azusa and Tsubaki. Subaru, one of the brothers that had been watching the scene earlier was after, and next to him was Kaname. Ema sat next to Kaname while Wataru sat in between her and Emi. At Emi's side followed Masaomi and Yusuke. Iori, the other brother that had entered with Subaru, sat next to Ukyo, who was closest to the staircase.

Ema looked over at Kaname, "Again, I'm sorry about what Juli did."

Like he did with Emi's apology, he waved it off, "Like I said, it's fine. And besides since it's my little sister's pet, I'll have to spoil it too."

After hearing those words Juli immediately jumped up on the back of the sofa and starting squeaking at Kaname threateningly. Ema quickly picked him up and settled him on her lap, "Sorry."

Iori decided to speak up, "Were you two surprised? I'm sure it must be a bit of a shock for you to suddenly have so many siblings."

Ema and Emi nodded but it was Ema who replied, "Yes. We'd heard about all of you earlier but it's still..."

Wataru grabbed the hands of the two girls at his side, "Well, I'm happy to have two big sisters! Let's go play in my room! I have a big rabbit toy!"

Masaomi looked at him from his seat next to Emi, and said to the boy in a gentle voice, "Wataru. Let's leave that for a bit later."

The youngest son pouted but agreed with his brother, "Okay."

Emi looked at all her gathered siblings, "Um..."

All nine brothers looked at her but it was Kaname who answered, "Yes?"

"Well, I remember dad mentioning thirteen brothers, but there are only nine of you here. Are they out somewhere or..."

Kaname nodded, "Two of them live separately and the other two are at work. One of them is there." He laid his hand over the remote that was on the table and pressed the power button. Emi could see from the screen that it looked like a giant stadium filled with people. Kaname turned up the volume and she could hear music and saw that the audience was filled with girls cheering and moving their glow sticks to the rhythm of music.

The camera suddenly cut to a boy, his hair was wild, eyes bright, and the cheekiest smile Emi had ever seen, like he knew the effect he had on the girls in the audience.

Wataru broke into a grin, "It's Fuu-tan!"

Ema looked down at her brother, "Fuu-tan?"

Tsubaki leaned against the pillow in his arms and muttered, "What a fake smile."

Emi silently agreed. When she looked at the screen again, his smile reminded her strongly of the Cheshire cat.

"A tour?" Came the voice of Subaru. Emi looked at him from the corner of her eye. To be honest she hadn't expected such a gentle voice from someone who looked so...intimidating.

She quickly turned her attention to the conversation her brothers were having about the idol on the screen.

"He's in Hokkaido," muttered Yusuke with a hint of spite.

"We should ask him to bring a Kanikawa eel as a souvenir," added Ukyo.

"Souvenir?" Ema asked in confusion.

Masaomi smiled in her direction, "Fuuto is our brother. His stage name is Asakura. His real name is Asahina Fuuto. He's fifteen years old."

Emi looked back at the screen in surprise, "Wow. Pretty amazing, for a fifteen year old."

It was silent for a while. Everyone's attention diverted to the idol on the screen. When suddenly Emi heard her sister let out a shaky breath.

She turned to her and saw her sister blinking rapidly, her face becoming pale. Masaomi had heard her as well and asked, "Is something wrong?"

Ema looked up and saw the worried look the two older siblings were giving her. She smiled, "Ah, no, I was just feeling a little dizzy..." She suddenly winced in pain. Emi, sensing what was about to happen, quickly got up and knelt next to her sister just as Ema's body fell forward. The boys sat up at attention. Emi looked over at Masaomi, silently asking him to help her. He got up and knelt at her side. He brought his hand to Ema's forehead, "She has a high fever."

Emi, with her instincts already taking over, turned to Kaname who was nearest and spoke in a quiet but commanding voice, "Pick her up. She needs to lie down."

The monk sensed that he shouldn't question her orders at the moment and immediately lifted Ema into his arms like a bride with her head resting against his chest.

Masaomi got up from the floor, "I'll go get the first aid kit." Wataru clung to his brother, "Is Sissy gonna be okay?"

As Masaomi was about to reply Emi rested her hand on Wataru's head, gaining the attention of the youngest Asahina son, "Wataru-chan, she'll be just fine. You trust your brothers don't you?"

The little boy nodded, tears threatening to fall down his eyes. Emi nodded to Masaomi, signaling him to continue on to get the first aid kit.

Emi looked at Ukyo, "Ukyo-san, can I ask you to come along as well?"

He nodded, "Of course."

Emi then lead the way to Ema's room, leaving behind six worried brothers.

A/N: Well, first chapter done. Please tell me your thoughts on this beginning chapter. What do you think of Emi so far? What do you think she'll be like? Who do you think she'll fall for? Her relationship with Ema?

I hope you all look forward to the next chapter! Thanks for reading!

-W.W.