If She Must Choose
Chapter One: The Move
Hinata Ema is lying on her back on her bedroom floor surrounded by boxes. She can hear her best friend Mahoko Imai calling her name from the front door as well as a man's voice. She sighed, the movers were here to get her stuff to bring it to her new home. It was May 21st and tonight she would be staying at Imai's house, then tomorrow morning she would be moving in with her 13 new brothers. Ema has always wanted to have a big family, to live in a home that was always filled with noise so that she wouldn't have feel alone anymore. Ema is 16 and for the past 6 years she has lived alone with occasional visits from her father who spends his life traveling around the world. Her only constant companion was her pet squirrel Juli. Although the prospect of moving into a home with a big family excites her, she couldn't help but feel sad about leaving the one she grew up in. Tomorrow was going to bring great change in her life and she was nervous about what this change would mean.
After packing all her things into the truck the man informed her that he would have all her things moved into her new house by noon the following day. Ema, Imai and Juli watched the truck drive down the street and turned to walk in the opposite direction to Imai's house.
It was nearly 6:00 when they arrived at Imai's house and Ema was starving and exhausted from her day of packing, so Imai grabbed a pan and started making them some dinner. Imai wasn't as skilled a cook as Ema so she decided to stick to making omelets filled with rice. In Imai's kitchen was a low table with four cushions, Ema sat on one of the cushions just as Imai placed two plates of omurice on the table and took her own seat across from Ema. "Idadakimasu" Ema said which was then repeated by Imai before they both started eating.
"Arigatou gozaimasu Imai-chan! I don't think I would have been packed up in time for the movers if it wasn't for your help today." Ema smiled at Imai and continue to eat. When Imai stopped eating and just stared at Ema she got concerned and stopped eating again, instead looking back at Imai "Is something wrong Imai-chan?"
"You look really tired you should get some sleep after you finish eating. Tomorrow is going to be exhausting as well." Going back to her food, Ema thought about her new family. Imai was right tomorrow was going to be tiring, meeting all her knew brothers and unpacking was going to take a lot out of her so she would need to be well prepared. After finishing her food Ema brought her plate as well as Imai to the sink and started to wash them, ignoring Imai's insistence on doing them herself. "Gomen Imai-chan but I want to do them for you. You've been so helpful, I want to do something for you." Imai sighed and grabbed a towel to dry them and put them away. Ema could be so stubborn sometimes but Imai knew that Ema didn't want to be a burden to anyone and did everything that she could to be helpful.
As it nearly 9:00 when Ema and Imai slipped into Imai's bed but with all the nervousness surrounding her move tomorrow, Ema couldn't sleep. "Imai?" Imai took note of the lack of honorific and knew that Ema was worrying about something.
"Hai?" When nothing followed Imai turned onto her side so that she could look at Ema.
"What if they don't want me to move in with them? I don't want to intrude on them." Imai watched as a tear fell down her cheek onto the pillow leaving a dark spot.
"Ema you are the sweetest, and most considerate person I know. In such a stressful time for you, you can only think about a house full of boys you don't even know. They are going to love you because they are going to see how caring you are and how fun you are to be around. You have nothing to worry about." Imai didn't know Ema's new brothers but she knew Ema. No one could want Ema to leave them. If anything they will what her to never leave their sides. "Besides even though you'll be busy getting adjusted and preparing for the wedding, I'll still be around. And you'll have Juli with you, so if any of your brothers hurt you he'll be there to defend you."
"Arigatou" Ema's smile looked tired but Imai could tell that she was truly happy. Ema's eyes started to fall shut and within minutes Imai could hear Ema's breathing slow down, signaling that she had fallen asleep. Imai could see Juli seeing on the far side of Ema's pillow, not yet asleep but looking just as tired as Ema and herself. Before Imai's eye drifted shut she whispered, "Protect her Juli." Then she drifted into unconsciousness alongside Ema.
Ema woke the next morning to the sound of her alarm. Grabbing her phone to shut it off, Ema noticed a message from her father. Opening it Ema couldn't help but smile.
'I hope everything went well with the movers. I know you're probably nervous to meet everyone today but they are going to love you. They are all very unique and a lot of fun so I know that you're going to love them too. I won't be coming home till the wedding but I expect to hear from you soon about how everything is going. I love you.'
Ema then got out of bed to get ready to meet everyone. It was 8:00 and she was planning to be at the apartment for the movers which left her which left her with two hours to get ready and eat before she would have to leave to catch the train. Imai watched Ema head towards the bath so she went back to the kitchen to make Ema some breakfast.
As Ema filled her bath, she pulled an outfit consisting of a black skirt, a loose dark red shirt, and some black thigh highs with a red trim out of her bag. Now that the bath was filled, she undressed herself and slid into the hot water. Throughout her entire morning ritual, her stomach was full of butterflies. She washed her body and her hair after having relaxed for a few minutes. Feeling refreshed and ready for what was to come, she got out of the bath dried herself off with her towel. Keeping it wrapped around her she dried her hair and put it up into a side pony, did her make-up, and dressed herself. Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled, she loved this outfit. One shoulder on her shirt hung low, her skirt went to just above her mid-thigh, and her thigh highs ended two inches below her skirt. She looked cute which put her a smile on her face. Ema walked into the kitchen with the rest of her stuff to find Imai and Juli at the table waiting for her.
After eating, the three left the house and headed towards the train station. While they waited for Ema's train to arrive, Imai hugged her and told her to call her that night to tell he about her brothers and that she would see Ema at school the following Monday. Imai kissed her cheek as the train pulled in, waving good-bye.
As the train pulls out of the station, she can feel the nervous energy return to her. When Ema can no longer see Imai she thinks to herself, it's only a little longer until I can meet my new family, she smiled. "Chi you have to keep your guard up against those wolves." Ema knows that Juli doesn't like the idea of her moving into a house this thirteen boys. He's been repeating the same thing ever since Ema told him that they were going to be moving. "What was Rintarou thinking! Letting you live in a place with a bunch of wolves which out anyone to keep them on their leashes?" For some reason Juli thinks that living with her brothers is going to be dangerous, but she know that it will be fun.
As Ema walks around her new neighborhood looking for her street, she checks her phone for the time, 11:50. She was late and she couldn't find the street she was looking for. Walking a little faster now towards the next street, she looks at the sign relived that she had finally found it. Turning the corner she watched the movers pulling away from an apartment like building. She started running towards the building nearly running into a little boy as she turns into the residence. Alongside the cute little boy with shoulder length pink hair and big brown eyes, is a tall handsome man with fluffy brown hair beautiful brown eyes and a sweet smile who was looking right at Ema. She can feel her face getting hot from his eyes being on her and as she was about to ask if they were her new brothers but before she got the chance, her answer was found, coming from the man who had such a smooth voice. "Are you Hinata Ema by chance?" She nodded her head and soon had a little boys arms wrapped tightly around her waist.
"Onee-chan!" The boy yelled squeezing her even tighter.
"Kon'nichiwa Imouto. My name is Asahina Masaomi, and I am the oldest son"
"And I'm Wataru and I'm the youngest son." Wataru's smile was so cute that Ema found herself smiling back.
"Well they seem harmless enough" Juli added
"I had your things brought up to your room already so why don't we show you around" Masaomi suggested
"Yeah! You can see your room and the living room and the kitchen." Wataru stopped rambling for a moment. When Ema and Masaomi looked to Wataru who appeared to be deep in thought before he looked back at them, his expression changing to a determined one. "I want to taste Onee-chan's cooking, can you make me a snack?" He looked so hopeful and adorable.
"Umm, sure," Ema didn't know where anything would be but she could figure it out. Is there anything that Wataru isn't allowed to eat? Masaomi watched as Ema's expression being concerned. Masaomi laughed, and his eyes lit up as a beautiful smile made its way across his face "Wataru, you can wait for Ukyo to get home from work. We still need to show Ema around." Ema watched as Masaomi ruffled Wataru's hair, then he looked back at Ema and she smiled at him gratefully, which he gladly returned. He asked if she was ready to see her new home and meet some more of her new brothers. Ema nodded and Masaomi guided her through the front doors of the building and into the elevator. Masaomi pressed on the 4th floor and the elevator brought them to a lobby like opening that had two connecting hallways going off diagonally on each side of the area. Directly across from the elevator was a glass wall that looked down on the backyard. Along each hallway were three apartments. Masaomi started down the hallway on our right, bringing her to the first door. "This will be your room, and here is your key. Azusa is next to you and Tsubaki is at the end. Ukyo, Kaname and I are also on this floor and everyone else is on the floor below. " Ema opened the door to see all of her boxes stacked at the far end of the room as well as a bed and a desk. The door to her right was a bathroom, at the end of the bed was a closet and across from the bed was a flat screen situated on top of what looked like a short bookshelf. "At the moment the shower in this room is broken so please use the one on the 5th floor."
"Can we show her upstairs next?" Wataru asked. Masaomi nodded and Ema followed them back to the elevator and rode up the 5th floor. After stepping out of the elevator Ema saw the large window again, this time not taking up the entire wall, but a still vast amount of it. There were a few stairs going up that connected to a landing that only took up a quarter of the room and had a railing with a green couch against the right side of it, and closer to the stairs. "The bathroom is on the left down that hallway" Masaomi pointed in the direction then walked up to the railing to look over the side. Ema walked up behind Masaomi and her eyes widened in amazement at the size and beauty of the living room. Directly below them, mounted on the wall was a massive flat screen tv and across from the tv was a read couch that had three benches all facing a large dark brown coffee table. The couch was perfectly place beneath the window and from the angle Ema was looking at she could see the green trees and grass of their backyard. The floors were a slightly lighter brown than that of the coffee table and the walls were cream, causing the room to appear very bright even with the window being the only source of light in the room. Masaomi watch Ema as she took in her surroundings, first noticing the way her eyes opened wide and her mouth fell slightly open in awe. After a minute of her surprise her mouth turned into a beautiful smile that he couldn't take his eyes away from. Ema could hear voices travelling from the right side of the living room just past the stairs and turned to look up at Masaomi to ask him if they were going to go down to meet the brothers currently in the kitchen, and she noticed his line of sight and the blush that adorned his cheeks, causing her to blush as well. Masaomi cleared his throat and looked away embarrassed then turned to descend the stairs. Before they made it to the bottom of the stair, Ema was met with another new face, and her breath hitched because boy was he gorgeous. He had white hair and the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. As she looked into those beautiful violet eyes, the man started moving towards her. She couldn't speak, too entranced by him, and then he put his arms around her waist and pulled her tightly into his chest. Ema breathed in from shock, but was glad she had because he smelled amazing as well. Ema wanted to burrow her face into his chest and never leave. "It's a nice to meet you hug." He had such a nice voice as well. Ema was shocked when the man let her go in favor of falling to the ground. Confused at what had just happened, Ema looked up at the man who had caused, the boy with such beautiful eyes to fall, and came across those same eyes on a man with a black hair.
"I'm sorry about Tsubaki. I'm Azusa." So these were the brothers that lived next to her.
Tsubaki was kneeling on the ground next to Azusa yelling at him about how that hurt him but soon got up when he saw the look on Ema's face "Don't we look the same?" Tsubaki asked smiling at Ema.
"We're identical twins" Azusa informed her. Ema looked them over, Tsubaki was wearing a grey and pink shirt under a suit jacket, his hair was parted showing his left eye, and Azusa had on a blue button up shirt with a white tie under his suit jacket. He had on a black pair of glasses and his hair was parted to show only his right eye. Aside from that Ema could only see a single difference between them and that was the beauty marks on their faces lie under different eyes. These two were perfection in her eyes and she swallowed hard.
From behind them came a tall blond man with electric blue eyes. The man introduced himself as Ukyo, and the second oldest son. Wataru ran up to him pulling on his sleeve looking for a snack and Ukyo told him he would grab it in a moment. Excusing himself, he returned to the kitchen with Wataru behind him.
Watching them retreating with the promise of food, Ema heard a voice yelling from the landing above them. She recognized the voice and when she looked up she was met with the face of her classmate. Their eyes met and Yuusuke ran down the stairs and right into her space. "What? You?"
"Asahina-kun" Ema was shocked to say the least. As well as embarrassed that she hadn't put two and two together. How had she not realized when she heard the family name that he was going to become her new brother?
"I won't accept it." He pouted and started to walk past her. "My classmate can't be my sibling." Ema's heart broke. She was so excited to meet her family but her biggest fear about the move was realized. Yuusuke didn't want her hear. He wasn't going to accept her as his family. Yuusuke continued walking away but Tsubaki followed him and asked with what he meant by he wasn't accepting and they began to argue. Ema tried to tune it out, upset by Yuusuke's words. Ema was once again distracted and having a difficult time focusing on anything, which was much appreciated due to what was going on behind her, as another beautiful and well build blond walk down the stairs. He had on purple prayer robes so Ema could only assume he was a monk and as Ema raked her eyes up his toned body, taking in how the robes looked on him, and finally up to his hazel eyes she heard him speaking. "We finally meet, Imouto-chan. Please call me Onii-chan" The man seized Ema's hand and placed a kiss upon it. The reactions in the room varied from Ukyo's shocked face, as he returned to the unexpected seen, to Yuusuke's yelling "Hey, Kana-nii!" in the background. Ema looked over his head to two more new faces. Two beautiful men with grey hair. The one with slightly darker hair than the other was also taller. He had an innocent face and dark grey eyes as well. He was wearing a baggy sweater over a teal shirt and track pants. The other had hazel eyes and was wearing the uniform for the private high school. The shorter of the two introduced himself as Iori and the taller as Subaru. The taller boy stayed quiet, his greeting was merely a nod.
As the man, who Ema realized was Kaname, began to raise his head from her hand, Juli ran out to rest on their hands as Kaname realized that the squirrel he had found earlier was his dear Imouto's pet. Juli scratched him across the nose, yelling about how there were too many wolves in this house and that Kaname was the worst of them all, but of course Ema was the only one in the room who was able to understand the squirrel.
All of the brothers that Ema had just met, sat together on the massive red couch and Kaname informed Ema that there were two brothers that were currently at work, so Ema was going to have to wait to meet them, as well as two that no longer life at the house. Turning on the tv to a video of a concert that had happened the previous night, the brothers all started watching the concert and began talking about someone who Wataru called Fuu-tan. Tsubaki was complaining that he had a fake smile, and Iori commented on the fact that he hadn't seen him in a while. Azusa said that he was on tour. According to Yuusuke he was in Hokkaido at the moment but nothing was making any sense to Ema. The started talking about what they should ask for as souvenirs.
"Souvenirs?" Ema asked.
Masaomi was finally the one to explain to her that Fuuto was their brother as well. Once again Ema welcomed the shock that this information brought to her. She has a famous brother? This was a lot for her to take in. Ema was always envious of noisy families because she grew up alone, but she got so much more than she had expected. This family truly was amazing. As she looking around at her new family, Ema noticed that Subaru was watching her and when they made eye contact, he looked away quickly with a fierce blush on his adorable face.
The family continued to watch their brother on tv, however Masaomi noticed Ema pulling on the ends of her sleeves, wondering if she was nervous or simply cold. As he looked at her face he realized that she was flushed and her eyes were started to close. He was about to ask her if she was okay when she began to sway. He started to move just before she would have collapsed onto the table, instead falling into him arms. Ema was extremely dizzy and she could feel herself being lifted. She looked up at Masaomi's face just before everything went black.