A/N: I apologize for not posting yesterday! I had this chapter all ready and then completely forgot to post it. My only excuse is that I was out shopping for a new laptop since the one I'm using likes to freeze on me. I'll still be posting the next chapter tomorrow or Saturday.

guest 97: I have a scenario a little like that coming up in the next chapter! Though I like your idea of Ema going on an actual date with a guy outside the Asahina family, so I might include that later on.

Chapter 10: High School

She was just starting as a junior in high school this year. Rather young to have already made what was sure to be the biggest mistake of her life. Fuyuka bit her lip as she watched Iori walk by. What could she have been thinking when she broke up with Iori last year? He was perfect. Smart, athletic, handsome, and unfailingly kind to everyone.

If any girl tried to dream up the most perfect, attentive, best looking boyfriend possible, they'd probably dream up Iori Asahina. And what had Fuyuka done when she had that perfect boyfriend for herself? Left him because she was too afraid of him leaving her for someone better.

But Fuyuka still had hope. Iori had yet to date anyone else. At least, not anyone at school, and Fuyuka hadn't heard about him dating anyone outside of Bright Centrair either. She hoped that maybe Iori still cared about her too. Or, that he at least wasn't in love with anyone else and would give her a second chance. Surely he couldn't be in love with someone else or he'd be dating them. Someone as perfect as Iori would have no trouble getting any girl that he wanted.

Gathering up her courage, Fuyuka followed Iori out into the courtyard. "E-excuse me, Iori-kun?"

Iori turned to give her a questioning look, looking polite, as he always did when they crossed paths at school. "I…I just wanted to say—" She bowed her head and clasped her hands together, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. "I wanted to apologize for last year! When I broke up with you, I don't know what I was thinking. I was just so afraid of losing you that I lost my mind. If it's possible, I was hoping you might be willing to give me another chance. I still really care about you, Iori-kun."

Fuyuka risked opening her eyes to glance up at Iori and wished she hadn't. For the first time in the five years that she'd known Iori, his eyes looked cold. "I'm afraid I must decline. I found a woman who truly cares about me and who trusts me. All I care about now is her happiness." Iori then turned and walked away. Despite Fuyaka's fear and confusion over seeing Iori look so cold, she couldn't help wondering who this woman was.

~.~

"Mahoko-chan!" Ema greeted her friend enthusiastically.

"Ema-chan!" Mahoko called back, smiling as Ema ran over to her. Ema was excited to see Mahoko just for the sake of seeing her, of course since the two had been best friends for years, but this morning Ema was grateful to find Mahoko because although it was the third week of school, Ema still couldn't remember where their classroom was.

Although Ema had always been a good student, she found herself floundering as she entered her first year of high school. Everything was just so much bigger and the train on the way to Hinode High was always so crowded, which made her feel flustered and upset, and these feelings carried into the start of Ema's day at school. She wished that she could rely on Yusuke more, but things were the same as ever between them at school.

Ema and Mahoko chatted about homework as they walked to class. When they reached their classroom, Yusuke was already sitting and talking with some friends. Mahoko, who was the only one who knew that Ema and Yusuke were stepsiblings, rolled her eyes when she was him. Mahoko could be rather protective of Ema and she resented the fact that Yusuke never talked to Ema at school.

Ema tried her best to pay attention to the lesson when the teacher began talking, but as lunch got closer and closer she found it more and more difficult to listen to what the teacher said. She nervously chewed on the cap of her pen and idly took notes in between drawing flowers in her notebook. She flinched when the bell rang and took her time putting her things into her bag.

"Come on, Ema," Mahoko urged, looking down at her friend. "What's taking you so long?"

"Sorry," Ema apologized with a forced smile. "You can go on ahead if you'd like."

"All right," Mahoko agreed. "I'll see you at the cafeteria."

Ema dragged her feet as she walked to the cafeteria, hoping that she was late enough that she would miss him. She knew that she'd failed when she heard a call of, "Oye, Hinata!" behind her. Ema tensed and kept walking. The transition to high school wasn't difficult just because of all the changes in size, location, and homework, but because for the first time in Ema's life, she was being bullied.

"I don't know why you bother putting on the girl's uniform. It doesn't hide how ugly you are at all," Kurama, a boy a year older than Ema said. "Maybe you should try wearing the boy's uniform instead. It would at least hide those legs of yours." Ema flinched and tried to ignore Kurama's words. She hadn't done anything to this boy and didn't understand why he was so mean to her. She told herself that he was probably just looking for an easy target, and Ema definitely offered that.

Ema tried to ignore him as he kept talking and when Mahoko showed up looking for her, she tried to hide, but Mahoko spotted her before she could slip into an empty classroom. Ema was afraid that if Kurama saw her with Mahoko, he'd start being mean to Mahoko too.

"Ema, where have you been?" Mahoko asked. "All the good sandwiches have already been taken."

"You've got to be kidding," Kurama snorted. "You actually have a friend, Hinata? Here I thought you were just a loner loser since you come to school and leave alone every day. Then again, maybe this girl just pities you."

Ema felt concerned as she watched a fire light inside Mahoko's eyes and Mahoko moved to stand between Ema and Kurama. "Yeah she's got a friend, which seems to be more than you can say. I don't see anyone hanging around you, jerk."

"Whatever," Kurama said, rolling his eyes and walking away.

"How long has this been going on for?" Mahoko demanded, spinning to face Ema and putting her hands on her hips. "The way he was talking, it sounds like this wasn't the first time."

Ema shrugged awkwardly and started walking towards the cafeteria.

"Oh, no," Mahoko protested, grabbing Ema's arm and holding her in place. "You need to tell your brothers about this."

"No," Ema said shaking her head. "I don't want to trouble them and there's really nothing that they can do. Telling them will just make them worry."

"I think that they'd want to know, Ema," Mahoko said. "They sound like they're pretty protective of you. You are the Asahina brothers' only sister, after all."

"It's fine," Ema brushed off. "I'm sure that if I keep ignoring him, he'll get bored and stop."

Mahoko didn't look convinced and Ema had a feeling that she would be hearing about this again.

~.~

At the end of the week as Ema was heading home she heard the dreaded, "Oye, Hinata!" and her shoulders tensed. Friday was supposed to be a happy day. The end of the school week and the signaling of two days away from him. Why couldn't he leave her alone at least on Friday after school?

"Why do you even bother going home? I'm sure your family dreads the time when you get out of school and they have to see your ugly face," Kurama taunted.

As always, Ema tried to ignore him and keep walking, but then she heard an oddly strangled sound. She peeked over her shoulder in time to see Yusuke grasping the labels of Kurama's jacket and shoving him into the wall. "What the hell did you just say to her?"

"Wh—what?" Kurama gasped out, looking stunned.

"I said," Yusuke enunciated, jerking Kurama forward before shoving him back into the wall, where Kurama smacked his head against the brick, "what the hell did you just say to her?"

Ema turned around, stunned at the sight before her. Kurama opened and closed his mouth as he tried to come up with something to say. "I—well, I—" Yusuke let go of Kurama only to punch him in the jaw. Kurama fell to the ground and looked up at Yusuke in shock, rubbing the side of his face.

Yusuke squatted down beside Kurama, his eyes cold as he said, "If I catch you near her again, if I hear you say anything about her again, I will hunt you down and beat you so bad your own mother won't recognize you. Is that clear?"

Kurama nodded, not taking his eyes off of Yusuke. "Y—yeah. I won't. I swear."

Yusuke gave him one last glare before getting up and grabbing Ema's arm. "Come on, we're going home."

Ema followed along numbly as Yusuke continued to pull her all the way to the train station. On the train, Yusuke stood protectively close to Ema, glaring at anyone who got too close to her. A few minutes after they got off the train and began walking home, Ema finally gathered her wits enough to stop walking.

When Yusuke realized that Ema was no longer following him, he turned around and growled, "What?" Then he seemed to flinch at his tone and ran a hand over his face. "What is it, Ema?"

"Why?" Ema asked.

"Why?" Yusuke repeated, looking confused. "Why what?"

"Why did you save me? How did you even know about Kurama?"

Yusuke looked shocked and hurt at the first question. At the second question, Yusuke folded his arms and said, "Mahoko-chan told me, but it shouldn't have been her. You should have told me you were being bullied, Ema. Of course I would do something about it! Why would you even think that I'd just stand back and let something like that happen?"

"Because you never acknowledge me at school!" Ema shot back. "This is the sixth year we've gone to the same school together, and you've never once talked to me at school, or even on the way to and from school. Why would I think that you would do something?"

Yusuke looked down at the sidewalk with a devastated expression on his face and Ema felt bad, but why should she? Everything that she'd said was true. "Why don't you ever talk to me at school, Yusuke? I just don't understand, and any explanation I can come up with leads to some variation of you either not really liking me and just pretending at home, or you being too ashamed at school to let anyone know about our relationship." Kurama's words came back to Ema and she clutched one arm self-consciously. Could there be some truth in the cruel things that he'd said to her?

"It's not what you're thinking," Yusuke assured her, shaking his head vehemently.

"Then what is it?"

"Urrgh!" Yusuke let out a frustrated yell as he covered his face with his hands. "It's not easy to explain, or I would've told you ages ago. But back then there's no way you would have understood."

"Understood what?" Ema asked, frustrated now. Why in the world had Yusuke, who always acted so friendly to Ema at home, avoided her at school for the entire time they'd been related?

"You're too nice, too innocent to understand what sorts of things people say," Yusuke said, blushing and looking at the ground. "You always have been." His gaze jerked up to Ema and he threw his hands out. "Not that that's a bad thing! I think it's wonderful. It's one of the things that I lo—like about you, but it also makes it hard sometimes. Because if people knew that we were stepsiblings, they'd talk."

"Talk about what?" Ema asked, feeling more confused than ever. What did them being stepsiblings have to do with Yusuke wanting to avoid her at school?

"Ema, I'm a guy and you're a girl and we live in the same house and we're not related by blood."

"So?" She wished that Yusuke would stop being so convoluted in his explanation and just spit it out.

Yusuke blew out a sigh and titled his head back to look at the sky. "I knew you wouldn't understand. Ema, people like to gossip and say things whether they're true or not. If people at school, especially the guys, knew that we were stepsiblings living in the same house, they'd talk like we were doing things like…you know."

"No, I don't know. What would people say?"

Yusuke stared at Ema, the frustration clear on his face as he skin burned bright red. "They'd think that we…or that I…Ah, I can't say it, Ema! They'd say bad things about you and I don't want that! I never wanted that, which is why I stayed away from you at school."

Ema's brow wrinkled as she thought over Yusuke's words. "You're saying that our classmates might say bad things about me if they knew that we were stepsiblings because some kids think that you're a delinquent?" Ema's face broke into a smile. "I know that you seem really rough to people who don't know you and that you end up in fights sometimes at school, but I know that you have a good heart, Yusuke. If other people want to say bad things about me for being close to you, then they're not the kinds of people I want to be friends with anyway."

Yusuke smacked a hand to his face and shook his head. She didn't get it. He knew she wouldn't, which was why he'd never tried to explain it to her before. "Sure, Ema. I stayed away from you at school because I didn't want people to think you were associated with a delinquent." He shook his head again. "But that doesn't matter anymore. You got bullied because of me staying away from you. If we'd just acted at school like we did at home, this never would have happened."

"It's not your fault, Yusuke," Ema assured him, stepping closer.

"It is," Yusuke said, holding a hand out to stop Ema from saying anymore. "And I take full responsibility for it, but it won't happen again. From now on, I'll always go to and from school with you and, if you want…" Yusuke's voice got quieter as his face flushed even redder. "We c-c-can hang out at school. If you want."

"Of course, Yusuke!" Ema said enthusiastically, clasping Yusuke's hand and pulling him along as she resumed their walk home. "That's what I've always wanted."

Yusuke's heart skipped a beat as he stared down at their clasped hands. He was so far gone on Ema. Would he ever have the courage to tell her how he really felt about her?

~.~

Fuuto leaned against the doorjamb leading into the living room as he watched Yusuke and Ema on the couch, laughing as they played some video game. Someone watching Fuuto might claim that he was glaring, but he wasn't. Fuuto was too cool to glare. And what reason could Fuuto Asahina possibly have to glare at anyone? His life was perfect. At only thirteen years old, he was already an idol loved by girls all over Japan. He got great grades in school. He was exceptionally good looking, and getting even better looking all the time.

Except…something had changed between Yusuke and Ema sometime in the last few weeks. Fuuto had no idea what it was, but the two of them had suddenly started spending more time together at home and Ema just seemed more cheerful towards Yusuke than Fuuto had ever seen her be.

It bothered him. Not that he was jealous, of course. Jealousy was for losers, but he wanted to know why things had changed between Yusuke and Ema. When he'd asked Ema about it, she'd just smiled and shrugged, saying that they'd cleared up a misunderstanding. That must have been some misunderstanding for the two of them to be such close friends now.

Despite Fuuto not being jealous…he really was going to have to think of some way to get in between the two of them.