Hey, I'm Lea Valdez, and I write a lot. I love anime in general and am currently binge-watching "Wolf Girl and Black Prince". I started writing this a long time ago but had writer's block constantly and really slow updates so I only managed three chapter so far. Sorry about that, but I really hope you like it. And about Brother's Conflict, I fell in love with Tsubaki at first sight.
I was writing this for a few of my friends originally and so I thought, why not publish it here? So here it is.
P.S. My stories are very frustrating and sometimes include angst. But I assure you that I do not have a strong use of language or overly dirty scenes.
WARNING: Some ages may differ from the real story. (Fuuto is 18 here and Ema, Cherry and Sunny are 17)
I know most people don't even read the author notes, so if you are,
Luv ya all for reading this!
Enjoy! ;)
Cherry's POV
When there's a story about more than one person who looks the same, trouble understanding individual identity, hardships when it comes to independence and love thrown into the middle of it all, it's usually the cliche "Double Trouble". But when the egg decides to split itself one more time, three come out instead. And it gives a story with not double, but triple the trouble. And this is how my story goes…
I tugged my suitcase forward as I followed Ema and Sunny to the address they had sent us. I bumped into Sunny's back when she stopped abruptly and dropped her bags at her feet. Rubbing my head, I muttered "sorry". I was not in a good mood.
Sunny had wakened me that morning when I was in the middle of a good dream. On top of that, I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep the previous night and was trying to make up for it by attempting to sleep in. But what really made my day the worst that it could get, was the fact that Sunny woke me up with a bucket of ice-cold water.
'This is it,' sighed Ema, looking up at the apartment. Ema always had an aloof feel about her, quiet, shy and observing yet somehow the most clueless person I had ever met. It was hard to believe we were identical triplets. The only difference between the three of us was, Sunny had dead straight, mid-waist length crimson hair, Ema had thick, shoulder-length, brown hair and I had insanely long aqua blue hair. Everything else was the exact same. Sunny was the oldest by a few seconds, then it was me and then Ema.
'Hi! You must be the triplets!' a voice called. I turned around to see a tall guy with messy, brown hair waving to us. He approached us, a small boy next to him.
'I'm Masaomi, the oldest brother' he introduced. 'And this is Wataru, the youngest' he added, pointing to the little boy behind him. Wataru had bright, pink hair and an adorable smile. If there was one thing that could brighten up my day, it was a cute little child. I kneeled down to Wataru's height.
'Hey, Wataru. I'm Cherry,' I said softly. Wataru smiled at me.
'You're going to be my new sister!' he exclaimed. 'I'm so excited!' I chuckled. He was a lively thing, alright. He talked enthusiastically all the way to the apartment. But I had other things on my mind. I wondered about the Asahina tales I had heard. There were thirteen of them in total! I felt bad for the mother of thirteen boys and not a single girl.
When I entered, I immediately smelt food. Good food. I hadn't had breakfast that morning. Not even my coffee. I shuddered. I don't think I had ever gone a day without my coffee. A man with blonde hair emerged from the kitchen, in an apron.
'Ah, the sisters have finally arrived, welcome,' he greeted. 'I'm Ukyou.' I bowed courteously as Masaomi led me to what seemed like the living room. A few other boys were assembled there. Two had their backs to us, one I caught the profile of and another facing me. Ema, Sunny and I all bowed.
The two boys who were facing away from us turned. And that's when I caught my first sight of him. Light grey hair, dark burgundy eyes and an astonishing smile. I momentarily lost myself staring at him but corrected my posture immediately.
'Welcome, sisters!' the grey-haired boy announced. 'I'm Tsubaki. And this is my less attractive brother, Azusa.' The boy next to him chuckled.
'As you can see ladies, my knucklehead of an identical twin brother is a little too full of himself,' Azusa apologised. I smiled. Brotherly love was only this good in the movies.
'Don't worry, I've got this one to handle too,' I replied looking pointedly at Sunny, who smiled innocently.
'A girl with a sense of humour, I think we're going to get along just fine,' Tsubaki said. Suddenly, I heard the door open and someone entered. It was Yusuke. As soon as he walked in, he scowled. He had been in a horrible mood ever since he found out Sunny, Ema and I would become his step-sisters. Especially, Ema.
Yusuke grunted and ran out of the room. I stood up.
'Excuse me,' I said, excusing myself and running after Yusuke. He seemed to have run up the stairs so I followed him, but once I came to the landing, he had disappeared. I sighed.
Ever since we had started school, Yusuke had this huge crush on Ema. But Ema was too blind to see it. It was so obvious he liked her, I thought I could help the poor guy. Soon, we became close friends and had been that way since pre-school. As for his crush on Ema, I gave up scheming plans for the two of them to get together a long time ago. But it seemed like Yusuke wasn't going to give up anytime soon, even if that meant he liked his own step-sister.
I walked down the hallway, calling Yusuke's name, but no one answered. I looked up at the ceiling, there was an intricate pattern curling down it. I followed it, wanting to see the whole thing, but before I could reach an end, I bumped into a wall. A very tall, pale wall which walked and talked.
'Are you one of the sisters?' he grunted. He had a dark, stormy grey shade of hair. I smiled and nodded.
'Hi, I'm Cherry,' I said. The guy walked past me without saying anything. 'It was nice meeting you too!' I called after him, hoping he'd get the irritated vibe. I turned around again and saw Yusuke standing at the end of the hallway. I ran over to him, calling his name.
'Hey!' I said, panting. He looked my way.
'Is it true then, are you my sister?' he asked in defeat. I smirked.
'You know, I'm not that bad of a sister,' I said. 'IF you buy me ice-cream and take me shopping and get me a new car and…' I trailed off exaggeratedly and the corners of Yusuke's mouth quirked up.
'You know what I mean,' he said. I chuckled. 'It's just that…' Yusuke sighed. He knew there was nothing to do know. I nudged him slightly.
'Hey,' I said. 'I promise to be a good sister,' I vowed. 'Even if you don't buy me that car,' I added, and he chuckled. For no apparent reason, I grabbed Yusuke in a hug. Maybe I just felt bad for him, or because I was going through the whole "13 new brothers thing" and I needed support, but whatever the reason was, I felt just at home. It really did feel like he was my big brother, even if only by a few months. Because my sisters and I all suffered from a serious height disorder called "being short" and it wouldn't let us grow any further.
I pulled away from Yusuke and smiled.
'If I'm a nice sister, you have to promise to not be so mopey. Deal?' I said, extending a hand. Yusuke took my hand and shook.
'Deal!' Yusuke led me to my room after our "deal" and gave me a pair of keys which were for the doors. I walked into the room and found all my bags already set there. I opened a few until I found my clothes. I changed into a white crop-top sweatshirt, a pink high-waisted tennis skirt and heeled sneakers.
I walked back down the stairs and found Ema and Sunny sitting there.
'Clean up the room you lazy potatoes,' I commanded. Sunny rolled her eyes and followed me up the stairs, sashaying like a brat while Ema followed her like the humble shadow she was. I sighed, it was not going to change any time soon.
We stepped inside the room and Sunny turned her vacuum mode on: suck up all the clothes into a ball and dump in the closet. We were finished in no time with Sunny on clothes duty, me handling the bed and furniture (being the OCD freak I am), and Ema just giving the room a dust and polished final look. I sighed in satisfaction once we were done.
'I'm dead,' I said. Sunny nodded in agreement. It was already dinner time and I really wanted to skip it and just go to bed, but it would be rude to miss the first family dinner. I trudged downstairs, still in my sweatshirt, skirt and sneakers.
When we arrived at the dinner table, we all took a seat in a row. Yusuke came in right after us and took a seat next to me. Sunny and Ema greeted him casually but I didn't.
'So… you thought about that car I asked about?' I asked innocently. Yusuke chuckled and shook his head and I nudged him and we started laughing hysterically. We were going to get along just like the old times.
'What's so funny about cars?' Ema asked, making us laugh even harder. It took all of our self-control to stop laughing and sit at the dinner table like civilised people.
Tsubaki walked in soon afterwards, I just couldn't help but notice he had a really cute smirk he wore almost all the time. He's your brother, I reminded myself. Yeah, my really cute brother who I don't share any blood with whatsoever, so...
I mentally chided myself for thinking like that.
'Hey, Triplet number 2,' Tsubaki greeted.
'Hey!' I whined. 'Offended! First of all, I have a name. And second of all, why am I number 2?'
'First of all, you ran off before I could ask you for your name and second of all, that's how I saw you guys for the first time,' he answered coolly. I pouted and crossed my arms. Jerk. He chuckled.
'Quit pouting,' he said. I immediately bit my lips self-consciously. 'Anyway, I wanted to say, you have a good sense of style.' I looked down at the outfit I had thrown together out of nothing. If he called this good, then where were his standards? In the burning pits of hell? But even if I didn't agree, I would never throw a compliment to waste.
'I know,' I said exaggeratedly, flipping my hair. I cracked a smile.
'But your hair though,' he said. 'It could be used as a beacon on the mountain tops, flashing light.'
'Hey!' I kicked his leg under the table, making him wince. 'Rich coming from you,' I said. 'You look like a grandpa with greying hair like that.' Tsubaki held his hand to his chest, a hurt expression painted across his face.
'I for one think it's fashionable,' he countered.
'Yeah… Grandpa,' I replied. And the dinner conversation continued like that, me and Tsubaki throwing insults and sharing laughs. The dominant part of my mind which kept reminding me he was my brother slightly shrunk. Just slightly…
That night, sleep no longer came to me. Sunny, being the idiot she was, kicked me off the bed. I had to sleep on the cold hard floor, and I was freezing in only a tank top and a pair of boy's boxers and a thin blanket. I sighed, I really needed a warm shower right about now. I got up.
'Guys, anyone wanna come with me to find the bathroom. I need a shower.' They both replied "me too" in unison and we all started laughing. When we recovered, we all grabbed our towels and made our way out of the hallway. Then, it was all up to luck. We heard the faint sound of water so we followed it. When we knocked on the door, the same grey-haired guy I had seen earlier answered. He was only wearing a towel around his waist. Nothing else.
Ema went tomato red, I looked away awkwardly and Sunny stared on like the shameless being she was. He seemed to realise that he was half-undressed when he saw all of our expressions. He quickly hid behind the door. Ema, Sunny and I all had the sudden urge to just go back to our rooms instead and that showers really weren't necessary.
While we headed back, we heard loud voices from the other room. Azusa and Tsubaki.
'I know I shouldn't feel this, but when I see you with other people, I get jealous. I know I shouldn't feel this way, but I do,' Tsubaki's voice said.
'I couldn't bring myself to tell you this, but now I can. I feel the same way,' Azusa replied. I gasped in disbelief.
'I love you,' they both said in unison. Ema went completely still, I went into complete shock and speechlessness, while Sunny looked liked she might burst. I held her back and put my hand over her mouth. Just as I was starting to like this guy, I find out he's gay… for his brother… twin brother. I felt my heart drop slightly. But why? It's not like I had feelings for him… or anything, like that.
Azusa and Tsubaki walked out of the room and saw us.
'Hello girls,' Azusa said. 'Is anything wrong?' He must've asked that because of our image. One girl who's head no longer looked like a human face but rather a tomato, one girl who was in complete mental shock and another who looked like they would burst like a balloon if she wasn't held closed. Ema quickly bowed.
'I'm happy for you two,' she said rapidly. Azusa looked confused. But then he "ohhh" ed.
'You must've overheard our conversation in the other room. We all nodded, heads down. Azusa looked like he was about to say something, but Tsubaki put a hand around Azusa's neck.
'Guess the cat's out of the bag, pussycat,' Tsubaki said, kissing Azusa on the cheek. I felt bile literally climbing up my throat. Ema, Sunny and I all stood frozen. But suddenly, Azusa laughed.
'I'm sorry, girls. Tsubaki can be a bit of an idiot sometimes,' Azusa said. 'I assure you, there is no twincest taking place in this household. We're voice actors, you see. We were just running a few lines.' Once Azusa had explained everything, the tension in the room broke. I released a sigh I didn't know I was holding.
'Gotcha,' Tsubaki said, winking at all of us. He scanned me from head to toe, making me feel very self-conscious. He smirked. 'Nice boxers,' he said.
"Pervert!' I screamed, trying to slap my towel on his head, but he ducked and attacked my legs. He grabbed them and swung me over his shoulder like a potato sack.
'Let go!' I said, flailing in his grasp and pounding my fists against his back. But he shook his head.
'I'll take you to your room.'
'I'm fine going myself,' I screeched.
'No, you're not,' he said smugly. 'A princess like you needs to be put to bed safely under the supervision of a prince like me.'
'Prince? More like a pervert!' I screamed. 'Oh, and sorry to spoil your dreams, but you can't put me to bed 'cause Sunny kicked me out and now I'm on the floor.' Tsubaki gasped exaggeratedly.
'Then you should be given a proper bed then. There's a spare room next to mine,' he said with an air of finality. I tried to protest, but he wouldn't listen. We passed Yusuke's room who opened his door and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, probably to go get some water or something, but instead, he found a helpless Cherry trying to free herself from Tsubaki.
'Yusuke!' I shouted. 'Help me!' But instead of helping me, Yusuke started laughing so hard, tears actually formed in his eyes.
I eventually gave up, going limp in his arms, sleep pulling me down. It seemed like Tsubaki really took his time to carefully step forward and pull the rest of him with the step because he took an eternity to reach the room next to his. Once he was inside, he flipped me over so he was carrying me bridal style. At this point, I was seriously considering gaining a few pounds so I wouldn't be so physically vulnerable.
But then I remembered I had a judgemental, bratty, beauty queen as a sister.
Surprisingly, Tsubaki set me down quite gently. My eyes were dropping down. Tsubaki took a step back and was about to leave when I grabbed his wrist.
'Can you sing?' I asked. He smiled and started screeching like a pterodactyl.
"Properly,' I whined. He rolled his eyes and shook his head. 'Can you tell stories?'
'Once upon a time, a warrior died in battle. The end,' Tsubaki said. I sighed. My eyes were glued shut, but I knew Tsubaki was smirking.
'That'll do for now…' I murmured and trailed off with a yawn. Nestling into the bed, I felt fatigue wash over me. I thought I felt a soft pressure on my forehead, it was so light, it might've been my imagination.
'Welcome,' Tsubaki whispered as I was sucked into a world of my own mind.
K, guys, this is extremely unedited. Thank god for Grammarly or else this would have been barely comprehensible. If you wouldn't mind, please take a few seconds out of your day and comment. Please don't be a ghost reader because I want to know and appreciate everyone who is making this possible.
Again, thank you for reading this far.
Peace out,
Lea Valdez