I Need Your Heart
Tenth Chapter: Aftermath
The Christmas bells were starting to ring loudly as the clock struck midnight. As people were cheering, it was a different story for the people in the hospital waiting room, namely Aiko and Ema. The reason why was because they were told that Fuyuki died of his injuries.
"You're kidding right," Ema said to the doctor in disbelief. She couldn't accept the fact that her boyfriend died because of being run over by the family car.
"He's not," Aiko sobbed as the doctor began to walk away from the scene. "Fuyuki really died." Trying to stand up, she embraced Ema, who was beginning to cry again.
"You're lying!" Ema said softly as she went to the first stage of grief. "Please tell me you're lying..." While Aiko began to sob, Ema could feel the tears rolling down her face when she noticed that Aiko was shaking her head.
"I'm not," she choked on her own tears. At that exact moment, Ema's world began to fall apart. As more tears began to flow out of her eyes, she buried her face into Aiko's shoulder.
Then, as they hugged each other, Aiko suddenly stood up. Wondering where she was going, she looked at Aiko who was walking towards Iori.
"This is your fault!" she screamed as loud as she possibly could. "I can't believe you would do this after taking Fuyuka away! Go to hell!" As she yelled at her brother, Ema stood up and tearfully tried to hold her back.
As Aiko was screaming at him, Iori turned back and walked towards Azusa and Yusuke, who were waiting outside the front door. While the two girls were grieving the death of Fuyuki, they didn't notice that it was already three in the morning.
"You should head back," Aiko told Ema as she tearfully nodded. Standing up, she walked out of the door as she wiped to remaining tears off her face. Then, as she looked at the night sky, she started to think about all the happy people who were celebrating Christmas. All of a sudden, she felt a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Iori standing with Azusa and Yusuke, who were still waiting outside.
"Are you okay?" Iori asked her as he looked at her. He could tell what she was feeling since the same thing happened to him years ago. As the others looked at her, they all wanted to comfort their stepsister. When tears started to come out of her eyes, she jumped towards her brothers and cried on her shoulders while they pulled her into a hug.
"Hinata-kun," Yusuke said as awkwardly pulled her into an embrace. He could tell that she was in need of someone to comfort her.
Crying into their shoulders, she couldn't believe that this was happening. Just a couple of hours ago, she was getting excited over her Christmas date, but now, she's crying over the fact that her boyfriend had died.
Then, as she stood up, she quickly used her sleeve to wipe the remaining tears away. Deciding to walk home, her brothers went with their sister. As the snow began to fall from the sky, Ema trudged through the streets. Then, she felt someone tap her shoulder. Turning around she saw Azusa standing with the brothers. In an instant, he pulled her into an embrace.
"I'm sorry for what Tsubaki and Fuuto did..." he apologized, referring to the fact that Tsubaki was drunk and Fuuto grabbed the steering wheel from Tsubaki's hands.
At that moment, Ema's eyes widened. She was aware of the fact that it was the family car that ran him over, but she didn't think that it was Tsubaki and Fuuto's fault. However, the more she thought about it, she noticed that they were the least accepting of all the brothers when it came to her and Fuyuki's relationship. As they walked towards the house, she began to think about it more and more.
After roughly an hour of walking, they finally reached the Asahina household. As the brothers led her through the door, they made their way to the living room, only to be surprised by all the people who were in there. She was shocked at all the people who were staring at her. Then, suddenly, Wataru stood up and ran towards his older sister.
"Onee-chan! Where were you?" Wataru cried as he hugged her tightly.
"Y-Yeah, where were you?" Subaru told her in a worried voice, even though it sounded rather awkward coming from him. "Y-You came home pretty late. Did something happen?"
As the brothers stared at the girl, she felt tears pool in her eyes. As they began to cascade down her face, they stood up and ran up to the crying girl.
"Fuyuki..." Ema choked on her sobs, not being able to continue the sentence. While the brothers were wondering what happened between her and Fuyuki, Iori suddenly interrupted.
"Fuyuki-san was run over a car," Iori informed the rest of the brothers, who mostly gasped at this. After all, this happened years ago with Iori and Fuyuka. "He died of his injuries..." As the brothers looked at her sympathetically, the hugged the poor girl.
"Imouto-chan," Masaomi said in a comforting voice. "If there's anyone you need to talk to, you can talk to me..." As Ema hugged her older brother, she cried in his arms.
"You can talk to me, too," Kaname interrupted as he went closer to his little sister. "If you want, I can also give you my 'gracious words'..." While the others were comforting their sister, they heard a voice coming from the kitchen table. Turning around, they saw Tsubaki, who was still partly drunk.
"Maybe it was a good thing that he died..." he said through his drunken state. This suddenly earned him a warning from his brothers while Ema could feel more tears trickle down her face. Even though he was drunk and couldn't think clearly, Ema ended up believing that he was glad that he died.
"Tsubaki," Azusa scolded instantly after hearing his brother's insensitive words. He knew that he was drunk, but seeing as he was less accepting of Ema and Fuyuki's relationship, he couldn't tell if he really felt that was.
As Ema began to cry more and more, she could see Fuuto walking towards her. Fuuto then took his hands and rested them on Ema's shoulders. While Ema was starting to become uncomfortable, he smirked at her.
"I agree with Tsubaki," he told her seductively as he put his face so close to hers that they could feel each others' breaths. He then held her chin with his hands, forcing them to face each other. "Besides, now that he's gone, you get to be mine, now..."
While Ema was looking at him with teary eyes, she could tell that he was more concerned about making her his than what was going on with her. Everyone else, too, knew that what he was saying was really insensitive.
"How could you..." Ema said softly, grabbing his younger brother's attention. As her heart was starting to beat rapidly, her blood was starting to boil too. She couldn't believe she heard those words from Fuuto. Then, in an instant, she took her hand and slapped him across the face, causing the other to wince in pain. As the scene was unfolding, all the brothers were shocked at her sudden change in attitude.
"I can't believe that the ones who killed him can still say that!" Ema screamed while the others, even Tsubaki and Fuuto, were shocked at what she said.
"What do you mean? They couldn't have killed him..." Ukyo asked. He was surprised indeed, since she said the two of his very own brothers were the ones that ran over Fuyuki. As Ema was sobbing uncontrollably, Azusa stepped forward and spoke for her.
"It's true," Azusa admitted while Tsubaki was shocked at his words. "Tsubaki was drunk when he drove the family car, while Fuuto ended up grabbing the steering wheels from him. That's what happened..." As Azusa stood there, Tsubaki stood up and walked towards his twin.
"How dare you say that!" Tsubaki yelled at his younger twin. As they began to argue,
"But he's telling the truth!" Yusuke interrupted. He couldn't stand the fact that Tsubaki was trying to deny the truth.
"He's right," Iori confirmed, as everyone started to stare at the two brothers. While Fuuto held the cheek that was slapped, Tsubaki stood up and walked towards Ema, who was trying to back away from him.
"Fine," he admitted as Ema continued to cry. "I admit that I ran him over, but I'm not going to apologize for what I did!" After saying those words, Ema was in shock.
"Why?" she asked her older brother, who looked at her with a serious face. As she was crying, she couldn't believe that he would actually say that. As he held her in his arms, Ema was slowly trying to get away.
"It's because I love you..." Tsubaki whispered into her ear, while her eyes began to widen. "If I apologize, it's like I'm admitting defeat..." Ema knew that his reasoning was absurd. Then, with all of her might, she pushed him to the ground.
"Tsubaki-san, you're being stupid!" she screamed at her older brother. "I hate you!" Then, she spun around and ran to her room, while her brothers looked at her run away.
Meanwhile, Tsubaki and Fuuto were sitting on the ground; looking at her in didn't think that she would be like this. Before, she used to be innocent and shy, but now, it doesn't seem like that was the case.
"She really changed..." Fuuto said to himself as the brothers began to walk away from the living room.
As she looked out the window, tears were rolling down her face. As she sat on her bed, leaning against the wall, she thought of everything that had happened.
It was only a year since she met Fuyuki for the first time. At that moment, she fell in love with him. When he confessed to her, she was really happy. In fact, she believed that they were going to stay together forever. Then, it all broke apart when Tsubaki and Fuuto ran over him.
Crying softly, she looked at her pet squirrel, who was trying to comfort the poor girl. He was really worried, since he had never seen Ema this sad in all the years he took care of her. Then, as she heard a knock on the door, she stood up and walked up to the door to open it.
Standing outside were Ukyo, Louis, Subaru and Wataru. As they entered, Ukyo pushed a cart filled with presents from the brothers into her room.
"What are you doing here?" Ema quietly asked her brothers as they went inside. Then, she felt Wataru's little arms hugging her. As she carried the young boy, he cried into her shoulders. "What's wrong, Wataru-chan?" Comforting the crying boy, she noticed that the tears wouldn't stop flowing from her eyes.
"I'm crying because you're sad!" Wataru told her as he wiped the tears off his face. "I don't like it when you're sad..."
As she smiled at the little boy, she suddenly felt the others pull her into a hug. While they were comforting the grieving girl, she began to cry into their arms.
"You know, in your time of distress, we're always here to comfort you," he said in a motherly tone as he continued to hug her.
"H-He's right," Subaru smiled as he comforted his younger stepsister. "No matter what happens, we'll always be here for you!" While he said that, Ema noticed that Louis was nodding his head in agreement as he patted her hair.
While her stepbrothers were comforting her, she began to smile again. Even though this was a really sad day for her, she was glad that she had many brothers that would comfort her. Then, after a few minutes, the brothers decided to go back so that she could have some time alone.
Watching her brothers close the door behind them, she held Juli in her lap. He was sleeping peacefully as he tried to hug her with his tiny arms. Smiling at her pet squirrel, she delicately petted him as she looked out of the window.
Looking outside, she could see the snow falling from the sky, delicately landing on the ground below. As she watched the snow, she began to feel better. Then, she began to feel herself drifting off to sleep. While her eyes were closing, she continued to look at the window until she finally fell asleep.
Standing in the park where Fuyuki confessed to her, Ema looked around as the snow fell from the sky. In a daze, she wanted to know what was going on. One minute, she was sleeping and then the next minute, she was in the park.
As she looked around, she saw a figure standing in front of her. Walking towards it, she began to cry tears of joy when she noticed that Fuyuki was standing there, smiling in front of her. Running towards the guy, she pulled him into an embrace and cried on his shoulders, while he was comforting the girl.
"Fuyuki..." she cried. She was happy that she could see him again. Then, he placed his hand on her chin, making her face him. Wiping her tears away, he smiled.
"Come with me..." he said as he smiled at his girlfriend as he began to fade away. While Ema was holding him tighter, he finally disappeared...
Waking up from her dream, she was facing the window again. The sun didn't rise yet and the snow was continuing to fall. Thinking of what happened in the dream; tears were starting to fall from her eyes. Then, at that moment, she could hear Fuyuki say, "Come with me..."
Looking around the room, she was looking for Fuyuki, even though it was clear that he was dead. As she cried, she knew that she wanted to be with him. That's when she thought of what he told her in the dream.
"Come with me..."
At that moment, she knew what she was going to do. Grabbing a paper and a pen, she started writing a message on the paper. After a couple of minutes, she carefully placed the message into an envelope and went to Juli.
While he was on the bed, she was looking at his sleeping face. Stroking his fur, she quietly said, "I want you to be good, okay?" Taking one last look at the squirrel, she walked out of her room and into the hallway. Speeding past all the rooms, she finally made it to the front door.
Wiping a single tear from her eye, she walked out the door and closed it carefully. As she left Sunrise Residences, she thought of all the things that happened here. It was fun being there. She had a lot of memories with her brothers, from good to bad. However, with what was going on, she had something else to do.
"I'll be with you soon... Fuyuki..."
Author's Note:
Me: If you haven't already figured it out, I like to create copious amounts of drama when it comes to stories.
Hikaru: I think we've figured that out...
Me: Well, since there's two more books after this one, there will be more drama to come...
Ukyo: On another note, it seems that as of now, two people are fighting for the fifth spot. Remember, in the poll, only the top five will fight for her love in the last book and that it could change at any given moment.
Subaru: That means that you should cast your votes before the end of the story, which is two chapters away.
Me: So if you haven't already, the poll is on my profile. I really hope you will enjoy my story as it goes into the last chapter. Bye bye!