Author's Note
Hello! Anyways, I've been watching the anime for a while now and I've also read some of the novel summaries. Anyways, a while back, this plot bunny came into my head and had decided to stay there. Therefore, it has been stuck with me ever since. As a result, I just had to write it.
Anyways, "I Need Your Heart" is the first book of the "I Need Your..." series. There will be two more books after this.
Lastly, I just want to apologize in advance for any errors that made it past my check-up, whether it is about what happens in Brothers Conflict or if it's just a spelling/grammar error. I also apologize if any of the characters are OOC. I tried to make them in character, although if there are parts where any of the characters are out of character, please forgive me. There may also be parts where a character's personality changes over time or due to the events that happen in here.
So, that's pretty much all that I want to mention at this point. I hope you enjoy the story!
I Need Your Heart
First Chapter: Love Interests
Ever since she moved into her new stepbrothers' house, life for Ema Hinata had never been the same as it was before. Before, she, as her father's only child, was always lonely, as her father was going out on adventures. Now, with all the attention from her thirteen brothers, she no longer felt alone and has someone to turn to.
However, the attention her brother's have given her was no ordinary attention. That's because they were all in love with her. It started with the eleventh son, Yusuke, who was in love with her even before his mom and her dad married. Then, one by one, they all started to feel the same way. Even the youngest, at ten years old, was in love with his older sister.
Throughout the time they've been together, there had been many moments, from awkward moments between her and some of the brothers, as well as times where the brothers made moves on her. For example, one time, Tsubaki, the fifth son, pushed Ema down on the couch and kissed her forcibly. Of course, she was flattered by all the love they've given her. However...
...she really only sees them as family.
Sure, there were some moments where she was interested in one of them, but then, she would remember that they are siblings, and that they could never be together. As a result, she couldn't really fall deeply in love with any of them. She didn't know how to break the news to them, as all their love for the same girl caused a lot of conflict within the family.
However, her life changed drastically when she met just a single person one sunny afternoon.
After a bright and sunny day in Kichijouji, the sun was beginning to set. As Ukyo, the second son who was a lawyer, had to prepare for a trial, he asked Ema to prepare dinner for the other siblings that were there. As she cooked, her pet squirrel, who never liked the idea of her moving in with the brothers, came into view.
"Chi!" he squeaked. "How dare he make you do this! Couldn't he have made it himself?"
"It can't be helped, Juli," she explained quietly. "Ukyo-san has a lot of work, so he asked me to help."
"Still! At this rate they would think of you more as a housewife instead of their stepsister!" he continued.
"Well..."
"Nee-san, hurry up! I'm starving!" Fuuto, the twelfth son, complained as he walked into the kitchen. "You should at least give me a little something to eat!"
"Sorry..." she quietly apologized as she gave him a bit of food. However, Juli quickly came to the bowl and spat into the food in anger.
"Hey!" Fuuto screamed at the squirrel. Ema noticing what her pet did, bowed apologetically while Fuuto walked towards Ema and grabbed her cheek with his hand and held it so that she would face him.
"Consider this payback for what your pet did..." he smirked playfully before planting his lips on hers. Ema just stood there, unable to do anything but blush, while Juli could only watch in horror. "You look pretty cute when you blush, nee-san..."
"Chi!" The squirrel tried to find something to say that would get Fuuto's lips off of hers. "The food!" All of a sudden, Ema pulled away and continued cooking, while Fuuto just walked away from the kitchen.
"Too bad... You just have to look forward to next time..." he told her smoothly and flirtatiously, as Ema's cheeks became flushed with a pinkish hue.
After Juli made sure that he was gone, he began to speak again. "See what I mean? Be careful around those wolves!"
"I know, I know..." she smiled before turning her back to work on the food.
An hour passed before Ema finally finished cooking. She then began to plate the food as the others began to meeting in the dining room. As they ate, she noticed that nobody talked to each other at the dining table. This caused an awkward, yet tense feeling to fill the room. Trying to break the silence, Ema decided to speak.
"So... how's the food?" she asked, hoping that the tension will just subside.
"It's super tasty!" Tsubaki was the first to reply, as he put his arm around Ema, pulling her closer. "You know, you are great wife material! You should marry me! How about it?" he exclaimed playfully, causing even more tension to build up.
"Tsuba-nii!" Yusuke yelled as the other brothers glared at Tsubaki angrily. Ema could feel this tension grow again and started to become uncomfortable.
"Tsubaki, that's enough!" Azusa yelled as he suddenly stood up and firmly slammed his hands on the table. "Don't do that to her!"
"Jealous?" he smiled at Azusa as he said in a teasing voice. "I'm not handing her to anyone, so get that delusion out of your head," he suddenly turned serious as a whole bunch of people continue to eye Tsubaki.
"Hey!" Yusuke screamed at Tsubaki. "You're one to talk! How can we do that when your arm is around Hinata-kun?"
"Why don't you just..."
"Okay, that's enough," Masaomi suddenly stood up and walked towards Tsubaki. He then took a lollipop from his lab coat and shoved it into an annoyed Tsubaki's mouth, while pulling Tsubaki's arm off Ema. "Let's not fight, okay?"
Then, one by one, everyone left the table until only Ema was left. She looked down, while tears were pooling in her eyes. She knew that they would fight like this over her, but she noticed that it was like this almost every day. She wished that she could tell them that she couldn't love them as a lover, but she couldn't bring herself to, as she knew that they might not understand.
As she wiped her tears away, she suddenly heard her phone ring. Taking it out of her pocket, she looked at the name of the caller, which was displayed on the screen. Seeing it was from her best friend, Mahoko, she answered it.
"Hello?" Ema said, sounding downcast.
"Hi, Hina!"
As she talked into the phone, they started to make small talk. While talking, she noticed that she was beginning to feel better, as the tears that were pooling in her eyes disappeared. Then, after a while, Mahoko began to speak.
"Hina, about your brothers... How do you feel about them?" Mahoko asked Ema, concerned about her best friend, since she could tell from her voice that she was feeling down during the conversation. "Are they treating you well?"
"Of course," Ema reassured, not to trouble her best friend.
After a brief pause, Mahoko suddenly spoke into her phone. "Hey, Hina... Are you in love with any of your brothers?" Ema could sense the concern in her voice, while starting to become uncomfortable. However, as she was her best friend, she decided to talk to her about it.
As she took a deep breath, she spoke into her cell phone. "To tell you the truth, well..."
"Well..."
"How do I put it? Well, I'm glad that they like me, but I just can't like them that way..." Ema explained, while Mahoko listened to her. Once she was done speaking, Mahoko quietly chuckled from the other side. "What's so funny?" Ema asked.
After a short pause, Mahoko exclaimed, "So that's it! You just see them as siblings!" Ema was glad to hear that her friend understood how she felt until Mahoko began to speak again. "If that's the case, how about I match you up with someone?"
As she took a while to process that her friend said, she could only mutter, "Huh?"
"It's obvious that the only thing you could do in this case is to see someone else!" Mahoko explained. "If that happens, they would finally get the message and everything will be alright! What do you say?"
"I can't..." Ema said to her apologetically.
"What? How come?"
"Well, if I do end up liking someone, I want it to come naturally..." she explained. "You see, if I am matched up with someone, I'm not sure if it would last. I think I should choose when it comes to these things..." Even though she was grateful that her friend was quick to help, she still declined.
"I see..." Mahoko sighed. "Well, see you at school tomorrow!"
"You too..." Ema ended the conversation before walking to her bedroom, glad that she was able to talk about how she feels about her brothers to someone.
"I wonder if my special someone will come...If so, how will I break it to them? I mustn't be harsh..."
As soon as she reached her room, she pondered a bit more. The more she thought about it, the more she thought about how her brothers will feel. Would they be hurt or would they support her? As she thought about, she felt herself drifting off to sleep.
After school, the next day, Ema was walking home with Mahoko. Usually, she would walk back with Yusuke, but since he had supplementary classes to do, Ema opted to walk home with Mahoko for the time being. Remembering the conversation she had with her, Ema decided to try not to bring it up as she didn't want to risk Mahoko's endless talking on who she'd be perfect with. However...
"Hina?" Mahoko suddenly asked, smirking a bit. "Are you sure you don't want me to match you with someone?"
...Mahoko brought it up. Hoping her friend wouldn't get over-excited, Ema just muttered. "Seriously... Please don't..."
"How come?" she whined, almost as if she was a little kid. "There are many people who are a great match for you! Look at our class, for example!"
"Mahoko..."
"You'd be great with Sasakura-kun! I can see it! You'd look like such a great couple!" Mahoko exclaimed loudly. "Or wait... If you do decide to aim for one of your brothers, how about Yusuke? You already do look like a couple, so why not be one?"
"But..." she quietly said, unaware of what's to come.
"Hina! Watch out!"
"What?"
That's when it hit her. While she was walking, she just walked straight towards a guy. However, when she finally took note of her surroundings, she realized that she was on the ground. She then looked up to see his hand in front of her, offering to take her back up on her feet.
While she looked up, she noticed his smiling face. She noticed how refreshing it looked and how kind he seemed to be. As the wind blew, she noticed his smooth, brown hair fly to the side and his large, dark brown eyes that glistened as she looked at them . That's when she started to be somewhat mesmerized by him. She never felt like this with anybody, much less her brothers.
"Hina..."
That's when she went back to Earth. Realizing that she was still on the ground, she then grabbed his hand, as he pulled her back on her feet.
"Thank you..." she quickly bowed towards him in appreciation.
"It's nothing," he said in a deep, yet princely voice.
As she continued to stare at him, she noticed that he was wearing a familiar school uniform, the same one which Iori, the tenth son, wore.
"You attend Bright Centair?" she asked.
"I do!" he smiled. "How did you know?"
"My older brother goes to that school!" she told him excitedly, wanting to talk to him more.
As they began to talk, Ema began to lose track of time, as she had a good time talking with him. During the conversation, she began to have this weird feeling within her chest. She noticed it, but tried to put it aside as talking with him was actually quite fun.
"Hina, we have to go..." Mahoko told her rather impatiently, causing the other to realize how much time she spent talking with him.
"I guess I lost track of time..." she giggled. "I have to go now."
"That's fine!" he told her. "I had a lot of fun."
"By the way, what's your name?" she asked curiously. "I don't think we've introduced ourselves yet."
"You're right!"
She then walked towards him and bowed. "Hello! I'm Ema Hinata! Nice to meet you!"
"Likewise!" he told her whole-heartedly. "My name is Fuyuki Shiraishi!" he said politely, bowing towards her. As he bowed however, their heads bumped into each other. Realizing what had happened, they both had a good laugh.
"Well, then... I'm off!" he waved goodbye. "See ya!"
"You too!" she happily said back. "I hope we meet again!"
As Ema waved goodbye to him, Mahoko went to her side and nudged her, causing the former to turn towards her friend.
"What was that about, huh?" Mahoko said playfully, her eyes rolling towards the other. "Do you have a crush on him already? You just met, for crying out loud!"
"Mahoko..." she said to her, slightly embarrassed. "If you word it like that..." This practically confirmed Mahoko's suspicions. As she said that, Mahoko suddenly interrupted.
"Wait a minute! Hina! Are you serious?" she was shocked indeed. She didn't think Ema would fall in love with someone so easily. It was even more surprising that it was someone she just met. "Are you taking a liking to him already?"
After a brief pause, she said shyly, "Well, I guess so... I never had this feeling with my brothers before..."
"I guess you found the one, huh?" Mahoko playfully interjected, causing Ema to have somewhat of an epiphany.
After a deep breath, she smiled and began to speak again. "Well... I guess you're right!" Ema said rather excitedly, albeit quietly. "Is this what it's like to have a crush?"
"Don't ask me!" Mahoko replied. "You're the one in love!" As one could tell, she was really happy for her friend.
As they laughed, they continued to walk back home. Later on, while they were having dinner, everyone noticed how happy she was, but they decided not to do anything about it, as it made them glad to see their stepsister with a happy face on. What would happen if they found out that she fell in love at first sight? How would that go?
A few hours later, while she was lying in bed, she reminisced on what happened earlier that day. She couldn't believe she already took a liking to someone. Of course, this was one day to remember, but she would never know how this one day could change her life in the long run...
Author's Note
Me: I hope I didn't make Ema too OOC in this chapter... Anyways, I see that you met Fuyuki, my OC.
Fuyuki: It's nice to meet you. *bows politely*
Me: Even though he's my OC, he actually has some relation to a minor character in the novels. Will I tell you? Nope, but you can guess.
Tsubaki: Hey you! Don't think you can steal her away from us! *goes at Fuyuki while Azusa holds him back*
Me: So, which brother will she end up with in the end? Well, there will be a poll to decide that.
Brothers: A poll?
Me: After this story is posted, a poll will be on my profile momentarily. It is to decide who will battle it out for Ema's love? The top 5 will be chosen, okay? Voting ends as soon as the last chapter of "I Need Your Heart" is posted.
Wataru: I see! Then vote for me so that I can be with onee-chan! *jumps excitedly*
Me: That's pretty much it for now! Remember to go on my profile and vote and I'll try to update as soon as I can. Bye bye!