I don't own Brothers Conflict.

Summary: Ema falls in love with a boy in her grade; the Asahina brothers find out.

Prelude

He was charming as a rose and brilliant as gold, and there was nothing she didn't love about him. But every fleeting touch met with a soft, adoring glance brought to her waves of guilt, flashing in the forms of her brothers. Forms she couldn't shake. Sometimes she would sit with him and stare in horror as his shape molded into Tsubaki's, his lips painfully curled into a trembling scowl. Other times, she would lay her head on his bare chest, moving away her ear when his heartbeat began to drum to the rhythm of Subaru's. She saw Yusuke, crying on the floor. Azusa, gaze empty with lips moving to ask her why.

And the guilt ate at her, her lover questioning her in their trysts. And he was gentle still, voice deep and reverberating through her, tingling her to her toes in excitement, and for a moment, she forgot her guilt. She forgot her brothers. She forgot those who loved her. In that moment, it was simply Ema Hinata and the man she loved.

After all, it is what every girl deserves: to love and be loved.

Chapter One

"Not everyone gets what they deserve."

Ema looked up from her book, eyes glancing to the left and the right before landing on her professor. She was reprimanding a student, stern glare in place as the delinquent waved his hands in a weak attempt to persuade her into whatever it had been that he had wanted. Unmoved, the teacher shook her head.

"Frankly, Akimoto-kun, I don't believe you do deserve the passing grade. You clearly didn't study or pay attention in class."

Disinterested, Ema's eyes made a move to turn back to her reading before her teacher's voice was directed at her. The girl in question jumped and looked up once more to see that her professor was waving her to her desk; a new student had replaced the one whom the professor had been arguing, and Ema stood next to him at the teacher's oak table.

"Hinata-san," her voice was soft, in sharp contrast to what Ema had witnessed before. "This is Kaito Hashira. He's transferring into our homeroom today. I would appreciate if you might be Hashira-kun's guide through the school, and perhaps make him feel welcome."

A small noise of surprise came from the girl as she peeked at the young man from the corner of her eye. He smiled at her kindly, dark hair falling in messy wisps over russet-colored eyes. He had to be at least a full head taller than her, and she had to turn her view upward to lock eyes with his. She turned back to her professor.

"I would be happy to, Hashira-kun doesn't mind..."

"Of course I don't mind." he nodded once to Ema, eyes twinkling with his small smile. "Hinata-san, isn't it?"

"That's correct," Ema said, dropping her gaze shyly as pink colored her cheeks.

"Well, it's nice to meet you. I'm glad to have you showing me around; this school seems difficult to navigate."

He laughed lightly, and the professor chuckled.

"Well in that case, you two will be getting along famously. Hashira-kun, you may take the seat next to Ema."

Ema guided him back to his desk and took her own seat; he seemed to be very energetic, chatting happily with her the entire way. They waited patiently for class to begin, Kaito telling Ema stories of one time he'd gone fishing with his little sister, and Ema laughing the entire way through.

Meanwhile, a certain red-haired boy watched from his seat as his sister's ecstasy bubbled around her and the boy, who'd leaned back in his chair and begun to amuse Ema with impressions Yuusuke could recognize; he had to admit, they were rather impressive, but officiousness welled within him;

Who was this boy?

"And she took the fish by the tail, and it jumped up and smacked her in the face!"

Kaito concluded his story with an exuberant laugh, Ema giggling warmly as the two of them left the classroom. The lesson had concluded, and the two made their way to their lockers, Kaito stopping at the one beside Ema's.

"Oh, look," Ema declared brightly. "Your locker is right beside mine."

A boyish grin made its way onto Kaito's face. "Yeah, it is! It's organized alphabetically, huh? Hashira, Hinata, they're pretty close."

Ema nodded. "I suppose I'm lucky. I registered at the beginning of the school year as Hinata, although I should be under Asahina."

Kaito cocked his head pensively. "Really? How come?" he pulled his bag out of his locker, extending his hand in an offer to hold Ema's.

"That's alright, Hashira-san. I don't want to be a bother."

"It's really no trouble at all."

With a moment's pause, Ema released her bag to Kaito and walked with him shoulder-to-shoulder, gaze thoughtful as she stared into space. "My father remarried, and my brothers are the ones who sign my forms and all. I may be registered under Asahina next year."

"That's a shame then," Kaito commented solemnly. "You'll have to switch lockers."

"No, we have the same lockers throughout high school, I think."

Kaito nodded in understanding.

"That's good then!" he chuckled and sat on a bench outside the school, Ema following suit. His fingers ran over a flower in the grass beside him before plucking it at its stem and offering it to Ema. "Here. As thanks for helping me today."

A wild blush spread over her cheeks, painting itself above her shy smile. "Oh... thank you."

"It's nothing." Kaito cast his eyes to the distance. "That would be my ride. I'll see you tomorrow in the morning?"

Ema beamed at him. "Of course!"

Kaito returned the smile with equal enthusiasm. "Alright, bye then!"

And as he scampered off, Ema brought the soft petals of the flower to her nose, brushing its soft petals against her lips before tucking it blissfully behind her ear.

There it is! Just the first chapter + a prelude. It's more of a preview than anything. I'll update as quickly as I can, especially since this is so short.

To those of you wondering, yes, I do intend for this to be Ema x one of the Asahina brothers. It'll very, very likely be Iori, as that's what a friend of mine and I talked about, and as that's my main squeeze in this fandom. If, somehow, it isn't, he'll definitely be playing a big role in this story. The brothers will show up next chapter.

Kaito's character, I hope, will turn out to be like that of Arai of OHSHC; a bit of a boy-next-door charm. Let me know how I'm doing as the story goes on!

Reviews are gladly welcome, and I absolutely love hearing ideas from you guys!