Kuroodia stared at the Asahina household, awed by its size. She looked back down at the paper her sister, Ema, had sent her.

Yep, this is the place, she thought, throwing her duffel bag over her shoulder.

Kuroodia walked up to the door, and hesitated. She held out the key to the house in her hand.

'Here's the key to the house! I won't tell our brothers you're coming; let's surprise them! Love, your sister.' Kuroodia read over the note again, shaking her head and smiling. Our brothers. Kuroodia felt excited and scared at the same time. Will they like me? Will they welcome me to the family, like they welcomed Ema?

Kuroodia and Ema's parents had died when they were very young, and the sisters were separated for years. Later on, Ema's adoptive father had introduced them to each other, after meeting Kuroodia at a traveling convention. She is eight years older than Ema, but they became close as soon as they met.

When Kuroodia had found out she was about to have thirteen brothers, she was less than thrilled at first. She had refused to go to the wedding, and made Ema and her adoptive father keep her existence a secret. But, after living in the Asahina household for a year, some begging, and a promise of a nice family, Ema managed to convince her sister to live with her at the Asahina residence.

Kuroodia snapped out of her trance, and chuckled to herself. Well, whatever happens, I'm glad I'll finally have a family. And with that, Kuroodia took a deep breath, put the key into the lock, and opened the door.

All of the Asahina brothers sat on the couch, as Ema stood in front of them.

Kaname stretched out his legs. "As you know, I love my adorable little sister's surprises, but what could possibly be so important that it necessitates all of us to be at home?"

Ema smiled. "That's why it's a surprise, Kaname!"

Tsubaki sat back, his arms behind him. "Ah, yes, we all do enjoy your surprises, sis." Azusa leaned forward. "But I'm sure this will be the best surprise she'll give us, since we're all here."

The sound of the front door opening filled the house. Ema jumped up, excited. She ran down the hall. "They're finally here! Hold on, just wait here, guys…!"

The confused brothers looked at each other. Iori spoke up. "Did she just say 'they'…?"

Ema came back into view, gesturing for a beautiful young woman with long, dark chocolate hair to enter the room. She was wearing a brown leather jacket, a black dress, and black high heels. She had tan skin and soft brown eyes. The brothers stared at her, surprised and shocked. Finally, Masaomi broke the silence. "Ema, who…?"

Ema beamed proudly. "Brothers… this is Kuroodia, my older sister."

The brothers blinked, looked at each other, and yelled all at once; "HUH?!"

"I, uh…" Subaru stuttered, blushing.

"You are so sneaky, aren't you, sister? Keeping this a secret," Hikaru said to Ema, winking at Kuroodia.

"Kuroodia-chan is your sister, Ema-chan? Yay, now I have two big sisters!" Wataru cheered.

"Whoa, now we have, like, two super cute sisters, Azusa!" Tsubaki said to Azusa, grinning.

"Oh, please, Tsubaki. Although, I do have to admit, she is rather gorgeous…" Azusa said, gazing at Kuroodia, blush dotting his cheeks.

"'Rather gorgeous'? She's more like smoking hot," Kaname said, winking at her.

"Are you kidding me?! Another hot chick in the house?!" Yusuke yelled, red faced and embarrassed.

"You all need to shut up," Natsume sighed. "See? She's confused."

"I agree. We're being even worse than we were when Ema came along," Iori added.

"Alright, that's enough out of all of you." Ukyo snapped at all of the brothers. He stood up, and turned to Ema and Kuroodia. "Ema… this is rather sudden. And how did we not know that you had a sister?"

Masaomi also stood, cutting in. "Well, I think we should let her sit down first." He smiled at Kuroodia. "She looks rather tired… would you like something to drink? Something to eat, perhaps?"

Kuroodia managed a weak smile. "A cup of tea would be nice." She bowed. "Thank you."

A little while later, all of the Asahina family and Kuroodia were sitting together on the couch. "So…" Louis said, leaning forward. "You were separated from Ema when your parents died, huh?"

Kuroodia nodded. "Yes. I met Rintaro at a traveling convention in Europe, and he introduced me to her about two or three years ago."

Yusuke looked over at her. "Man, that's deep."

Ukyo frowned. "But… that means you both knew each other before our mother and Rintaro were married. Why didn't you tell us?"

Kuroodia blushed. "Well… honestly, at first I didn't want more family. I made Ema and Rintaro keep my existence a secret from you. I suppose…" She faltered, looking down at the ground. "I was scared to lose more family." She looked up at the Asahina brothers. "I was also afraid that you wouldn't accept me as part of the family…"

The brothers all shifted, surprised. Kuroodia smiled. "But…" she continued, looking over at Ema. "When Ema told me about you and how much of a good family you were…" She gasped, as Tsubaki leaned over to kiss Kuroodia on the cheek. He leaned back, his eyes sparkling.

"We gladly welcome you to the family, my beautiful sister," He said, right before Azusa whacked him on the head. "Ow…!" Tsubaki said, his head almost in Kuroodia's lap. He looked up at her and winked as Azusa dragged him back to his side of the couch.

"Tsubaki," Ukyo said, pushing his glasses up and shaking his head. "It would be nice if you wouldn't make a move on every woman that enters this household."

"Oh, come on, Ukyo," Tsubaki whined. "Even you have to admit she's a knockout."

"Well…" Ukyo said, rubbing the back of his neck.

Ema looked over at Kuroodia, trying to change the subject for Kuroodia's sake. "Kuroodia's talents and jobs are amazing! Aren't they, Kuroodia?"

Kuroodia blushed. "I guess so." She looked at the Asahina brothers. "But, I have to say, your brothers have some pretty interesting jobs, too."

"What do you profession in, Kuroodia?" Masaomi said, smiling over at her.

"Well… my main job is civil engineering. I'm also a part time musician, writer, and swimmer." She said, blushing.

"Whoa," Yusuke and Wataru breathed. Futo crossed his legs, leaning back. "Musician, huh? You sing or something?" He smirked. "Although, you'd be perfect for modeling. You've got the body and looks for it."

Kuroodia laughed. "Don't even try, Futo-kun. I know all about your tactless flirting." She smirked back. "And, although I do sing a bit, I'm mostly a trumpet player and composer."

Futo grinned. "I'm liking this chick more and more!"

"So… you're a musician, writer, and athlete, but your main profession is engineering." He smiled. "Smart girl."

Hikaru nudged Ukyo. "Uh-oh, looks like the 'Super-serious lawyer' is eyeing our sister! Although, I can see why you'd have a taste for her." He looked over at her, grinning. "She's talented, smart, charming, and beautiful. With her and Ema in the house, there's no way any of us men will keep our wits together!"

Ukyo choked. "What are you saying, you-"

Masaomi interrupted again. "Well, it's getting pretty dark." He looked over at Ema. "Ema, if you wouldn't mind, could you lend Kuroodia some clothes? She may move into the spare room we have next to yours."

"Actually, that won't be necessary." Kuroodia held up her duffel bag. "We've sort of been planning this for a while; I don't own many clothes, so I didn't pack much."

Hikaru smiled. "Prepared and practical. She truly is a genius."

"Ema, since this is your surprise, you wouldn't mind showing her the different parts of the house, would you?" Masaomi continued.

"Of course I wouldn't! In fact, I'll show her where she can bathe right now," she said, pulling Kuroodia's arm.

"Wait," Kuroodia said, staying put. The brothers muttered in wonderment, questioning why she wasn't moving.

Ukyo put a hand on her shoulder. "Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned.

Kuroodia looked over at him and smiled. "I just wanted to say…" she bowed to the brothers. "Thank you for welcoming me into this family. I hope you will accept me some day as your sister."

All of the brothers smiled at her. Masaomi stepped forward.

"We already have," he said, patting her on the head. Ema smiled, and pulled her along.

Once Kuroodia bathed, changed, and laid down on her bed, she smiled to herself.

I don't know where this is going, or how I'll fit in this family… she thought to herself. But I'm already happy I've got so many brothers and my sister at once. She opened her eyes. I've got this.