Red Diamond

Chapter 21!

NOTE: I have made a few changes to the first chapter for the sake of humor (maybe not?). Check it out! Just click on this link... Oh, we have none. Just click on that grey bar and choose the first chapter. No need to review that chapter again, I just upgraded that because I felt like doing it.

Thanks a lot bakergirl12 and tigergirl1723 for adding this story to your favs, and klijntje75 for following! And of course, my two dear reviewers misa240198 and Dark Rose Charm! I'm way beyond glad and grateful for your support!

I just noticed that this anime is on Amazon Primetime. You should've seen my expression when I found it – my grandmother sitting beside me looked at me, as if saying, "In your senses?"

In this chapter, there will be humor in the beginning, and romance in the other half. Spoilers Alert: This chapter is especially for those who were desperately waiting for a kiss to happen (me too). And, here I say, I'll be writing the first kiss scene ever! Yayyyy!

Songs used – Voices In My Head by Nerd Out (Suicide Squad) (Oh I love it!)
Blank Space by Taylor Swift
Don't Let Me Down by The Chainsmokers
Cry Baby by Melanie Martinez
Me Too by Meghan Trainor

Disclaimer: I may not own Brothers Conflict or the songs used, but I definitely own my OCs.

Chapter 21: The Triplets' Heart

Sabrina's POV

"~I don't think that I've gone too far; a little bit wild I know~" There I was, singing Voices in my head on the second last day of the year. I arranged the books on my table as I sang, "~I love the voices in my head; you think I'm running off the edge~" Aw! I knew you loved me!

As I sang the song, someone entered my room. I heard the door open behind me, and I thought that it was some intruder, so I grabbed a paper cutter from the table, and turned and shouted, with my hand with the cutter extended towards the so-called intruders, "Surrender or I'll- oh, hi." I realized that it was just the twins, now with their hands up.

~Maybe there's crazy in my blood; But I don't care~

I dropped the cutter. "Sorry!" I apologized.

"Tsubaki, I told you to knock before entering." Azusa sighed, and Tsubaki let out a nervous giggle, "Be thankful that she didn't throw it at us!"

"I thought there was some intruder. And that's stupid of me to think so – you know, who would choose to come to rob the fourth floor, and specifically my room? Oh, and yes, come!" I rambled on. Tsubaki showed me a white pack in his hands, which I hadn't noticed earlier, and said, "Just like I promised, here is another sample game from our next anime!"

"Seriously!?" I exclaimed, "Let's play it now!"

The game had multi-player mode, and all three of us sat down on a pile of cushions I set on the floor in front of the television. I even found a packet of chips in my drawers, which I had completely forgotten about.

The game started, and it began with Tsubaki's voice. I noticed that he frowned upon hearing that. "What's wrong?" I asked him.

"I don't think this is good." He said, "The voice, I mean." Is he aware that it's his own voice?

"I find no fault in the voice. It's perfect." I replied. Azusa silently looked at him.

"But I don't think I gave my best." He admitted, drawing circles with his thumb on the controller in his hands.

Azusa smiled at him, "I know you can do better, but this is good." I saw that they were pretty serious about their acting. So that isn't an easy job too, huh? Doing a great job and then finding mistakes in it, judging your own self. Wow.

"I find this perfect. Okay, so I may not know much about voice acting and stuff, but I can say that you can... feel the voice. I mean, it should connect with the audience, right? And it does." I explained. Tsubaki brightened up and said, "You do know a lot."

I grinned and said, "But not the day your results for the audition are coming."

Azusa spoke, "We completely forgot to tell you that! The date is for tomorrow."

"Hmm, that's cool. You'll be getting the perfect birthday gift, because I know you'll be getting the role." I said.

"Yes – and hey, you remember the date?" Tsubaki asked, a bit surprised.

"Of course I do. How can I ever forget that?" I said and grinned. "And I guess we've heard enough background sound of the game. Shall we play?"

O~O~O

That evening, I was simply roaming about in the dining room. I wanted to whip up something but didn't have the motivation to do so. Hence, I ended up singing randomly. And call it a co-incidence, Yuusuke just entered the room at that moment. "Hi." He said, and that's when the time when something struck my brain and I began singing Blank Space.

"~Nice to meet you, where you been? I could show you incredible things; magic, madness, heaven, sin; saw you there and I thought; oh, my God, look at that face; you look like my next mistake; love's a game, want to play?~" I sang, and he looked at me with another priceless expression of his. It's like he wanted to say, "What on earth is going on with you?" but he couldn't. I stood there with a stupid smile on my face, tapping my foot to the beats in my head. He blushed, and stuttered before going, "I-I think I should g-go."

Once he was gone, I burst out laughing. The next minute, I was again singing another song.

"~D-Don't let me down; don't let me down~" And then I tried to imitate the tune that came after it, but failed miserably, as always.

O~O~O

At the dinner table, as always, our poor redhead was being teased by Tsubaki. And again, some ghost crept up to my brain (or maybe my mini-me was behind it all) so I began whispering-singing to myself, "~They call you cry baby, cry baby; but you don't fuckin' care; cry baby, cry baby~"

Tsubaki, who was sitting on my right, heard that and began laughing, along with Iori on my left side. Thus, I too, laughed out loud, while the rest wondered what was wrong with us.

O~O~O

Are you gonna stop today?

"~If I was you, I'd wanna be me too; I'd wanna be me too, I'd wanna be me too~" I was singing in front of the mirror at the time I was supposed to be sleeping. Yeah, right before midnight.

You're singing that to yourself?

"~If I was...~ Oh yes" I turned my back to the mirror and began again, "~I'd wanna be me too, I'd wanna be me too~"

What do you want with your life?

"`My life's a movie, Tom Cruise~"

No, it's still not.

"~So bless me baby, achoo!~" The moment I sang that, the clock struck twelve. I finished myself with, "~Ow!~"

It's officially the last day of the year! Goodnight!

O~O~O

Narrator's POV

Early in the morning next day, Tsubaki heard a knock on his door. "Yeah... I'm coming..." He dragged himself out of his bed, and stumbled upon the rubbish on the floor quite a lot of times, but finally made it to the door. Letting out a huge yawn, he opened the door, and someone jumped and wrapped the arms around his neck.

"Happy Birthday!" When he heard that feminine voice he really liked, he immediately hugged her back, tight. "Thanks!" He said in his usual cheerful demeanor, all hints of sleep gone.

Sabrina pulled away and gifted him a small bouquet yellow tulips, "I asked Iori-san for these. Plus, I helped him grow these. So, here's your gift!" She handed him the bouquet, and he looked at them, gently stroking a petal of one of those, "What do they mean?"

"They mean 'sunshine in your smile'. I didn't find any for birthdays, so I thought they suited you the best." She replied. Tsubaki saw another bouquet kept beside her feet. "And those are for?"

"Azusa-san. You must be aware that it's his birthday too, right?" She jokingly asked. Tsubaki felt a sudden pull in his chest. He couldn't tell what happened or how it happened, but he felt... jealousy? Yes, jealousy towards his other half. Will she hug him this way too? – He thought.

Sabrina waved her hands in front of his face, and he was brought back to reality. "Earth to. Wanna accompany me to wish him?"

"No, I'll do it myself." He distractedly said, showing her a fake smile to hide the turmoil erupting inside him.

"Okay. And best wishes again!" She wished, as she moved to Azusa's door, and he shut his. What the hell was he thinking? He leaned on the door with his back, the bouquet still in his hands. How could he ever be jealous of his own twin? That was stupid. All what was happening was stupid. He was being stupid.

"Argh!" He let out a low growl and tossed the bouquet on his table, frustrated with himself.

Sabrina knocked on Azusa's door, and unlike his twin, he opened the door faster. And just like she did to Tsubaki, she jumped to hug him. He blushed crimson. "Happy Birthday!"

"Thank you." He said, pulling away. She noticed that he wasn't wearing his spectacles, but gave him his bouquet anyway. It was again a collection of yellow tulips. "And that's for you," She said, handing him his gift.

"They are beautiful. Thanks again." Azusa said, smiling. He knew the meaning of the flowers and loved how thoughtful she was.

"You're most welcome! By the way, are you and Tsubaki free this evening? We three and Natsume-san can go for a dinner?" She asked him. He wanted to readily agree, but unfortunately, he and his brother had plans already.

"I'm so sorry, but we have to go for a party at our company tonight. It was especially planned for our birthday plus the new year." He reluctantly replied.

"Oh, I see..." Sabina said. "Then, hope you enjoy the day!" She smiled and turned to go. Before actually going, she looked at him and spoke, "You really look good without spectacles." And smiled, and went off.

The start of the day couldn't have been better for Azusa. He shut his door, and leaned his back on the door, similar to Tsubaki's situation at the moment; the only difference being their emotions. Azusa ran fingers through his hair, closing his eyes and mesmerizing those last moments. What had happened to him? He didn't know, and nobody else did too.

-Why is it that one is glad and the other feels guilty?
-It's called love, my dear. And it is just the beginning.

O~O~O

At the time of the last dusk of the year, when the sun was dipping in the sky, Natsume walked into a lavish restaurant. Even the simple main wooden door had been furnished enough to look like it was made out of some metal. He pushed it open, and found Sabrina waving from her seat near the wall on the left side. He walked over to her. She stood up, and for the third time that day, she embraced another brother. His reaction was quite similar to Azusa's – a red shade crawled up his face, specifically since they were in public. "Happy Birthday!" She chirped, and he returned the hug by putting an arm around her waist. "Thanks..." He whispered in her ear, still a bit shy. He could hear whispers from the nearby group of girls, "Are they a couple?" "He's so hot! Why do they have to be an item!" And more murmurs.

She pulled away, and gifted him his bouquet of tulips. "Couldn't get a better gift, actually. I'm just a broke teenager." She joked as he took the bouquet, and both of them chuckled.

"Thanks. I appreciate that." He saw that she was still wearing the scarf he gave her, and smiled seeing that. He looked at the table, and noticed that there was only a glass of water kept on it. "You haven't ordered anything?" He implored, keeping the flowers aside.

"No, I was waiting for you. You didn't have a party to attend?" She asked.

"Not at all. Forgot to mention that on the call." He lied; he had cancelled his plan to go to the office party to meet her. Why? He intentionally didn't want to admit that he just wanted to see her. After a few minutes of thinking, he came up with the reason to 'thank her for the Christmas present'.

"Hmm. Tsubaki and Azusa had to go to their New Year party at their company. That's why they couldn't accompany us." She told him, and he nodded. He was thankful that she wasn't aware that the party was in the same office, and that his twins weren't with them to interrupt them.

His phone beeped several times, indicating that he had many incoming mails. "I'm sorry, I'll just shut it." He picked up his phone to put it on silent, and right at that moment, he received a call from Azusa. "Hey," He answered.

"Have you seen Tsubaki?" Azusa hurriedly spoke.

"Tsubaki? No. What happ- What was that?" Natsume said, seeing that Azusa had immediately hung up on him.

"What's wrong?" She asked, and he replied, "No idea. Azusa called and asked if I had seen Tsubaki. When I refused, he suddenly hung up."

"Weren't they supposed to be in the party now?"

"Yes, but... I think..." He checked his phone for the mails, and one of them said that he had to sign a contract about the games with the lead actor 'Asahina Azusa'.

"Looks like the role Tsubaki wanted has been offered to Azusa." He sighed, and she exclaimed, "That's terrible! How's Tsubaki?"

"As far as I know him, whenever he's sad, he runs off somewhere and returns soon. He has been doing that for years now."

"Shouldn't we help Azusa find them?" She asked. This was exactly what he didn't want – their dinner to be disrupted by the twins.

"Let both of them solve it." He tried to bring back the train on the track.

"Right..." Sabrina said. She knew how excited Tsubaki was for the auditions, and how disheartened he must be because of the results. "Tsubaki badly wanted the role, and Azusa got it. It could create a misunderstanding; they are brothers, after all. Plus, how could Azusa get the role when he wasn't even auditioning for that character?"

"That happens frequently here. I won't say that I'm entirely unsympathetic, but if Azusa if chosen, then it's his job to take up the role as a professional, and reach up to the fans' and the makers' expectations." He explained.

"Right. "

"And making a young teenage sister worry about her brothers' problems isn't something manly. Don't worry; they will sort it out." He said, saving the situation.

"I'm sure they will. They're really close, and this mustn't affect their relationship." She said, staring at the glass of water on the table. "Hungry yet?" He asked her.

"A little bit."

"Let's order then. Take whatever you want."

"No, I was the one who invited you, and hence, I'll be the one to pay. You order – we'll have your choice tonight." She said, grinning.

"I do appreciate that." He said, curving his lips up in a smile. They ordered ramen and coffee to go with. While they waited for their food, Natsume used his 'reason', "Thanks for the headphones. They are very good."

"Headphones? I don't know what you're talking about." She averted her eyes, pretending to be ignorant. However, she was happy that he liked them.

"I believe there aren't many Santa Claus with 'no plans'." He chuckled.

"Damn! Shouldn't have written that!" She exclaimed, and they both laughed. A few minutes later, the waiter came with their dishes. Sabrina took a bite and moaned in wonder, "This is delicious. Need to learn how they make such a simple dish so exotic."

"You already make good food."

"With Ukyo's help." She stopped eating and thought for a moment, and declared, "Since you are the witness, I announce that very soon, I'll make ramen better than the one here, and you'll be the first one to taste them."

"As you say, Your Highness. Lucky me." And they laughed.

O~O~O

"Hey, watcha doing here alone?" Azusa looked at her as she walked towards him in the front stairs of the house, after Natsume had dropped her home. It was already late; only thirty minutes were left for the New Year to begin.

"Nothing at all. Couldn't relax in the room so thought of coming here for fresh air." He distractedly said, looking at the illuminated corridor of the house.

"You didn't attend the party?" She inquired, though, she knew the truth. She just wanted to see how much he would lie.

"No. I was feeling... nauseous." He said, and she folded her arms, and said, "No need to lie. I know everything, man."

Azusa snapped his head at her, narrowing his eyes, "What do you know?" He asked, his tone changing to that of an angry one.

"I know what we ate for dinner last night, what we wore yesterday, and that you got the role Tsubaki was supposed to get." She lowered her voice at the last part. Azusa still heard her, and responded with a sharp, "Who told you that?"

"That isn't important. We know that you are leaving the offer, right?" She asked, and he replied, "Yes, I am, for Tsubaki."

"Don't do that. You need to take up the role." She stated.

Azusa folded his arms and looked at her, trying to hide the annoyance. "Why would I do that?"

"Because I said so." She hurriedly spoke, then breathed, and said, "Look, your voice is wonderful. I know that I know nothing about voice acting, but yes, I can say that you connect well with the audience. I really, really like your voice. Also, the makers' aren't naïve, are they? Now let's get you inside before you catch a cold." She started walking towards the door.

Her words affected him, but in that state of mind, he could only believe them to be sugar-coated. He didn't move an inch from where he was standing. She turned to look at him, saying him nothing, but pleading with her eyes.

All he could think was about Tsubaki. He was under unbelievable pressure – to go with what she and the makers' said, or gift his brother his dream role. Out of pressure, he rolled his eyes, and snapped, "Enough! This is stupid!"

She stood there with a poker face, and said, "Enough of what? Being positive? Seeking the positivity of the situation?"

He couldn't understand how she could take the situation so lightly. "Why do you play with your life so much?" Azusa asked, fed up of her childish nature, like Tsubaki. He couldn't understand how she could take the situation so lightly. Annoyance was noticeable in his tone of speaking.

"Because it's my favorite game!" She replied with hints of excitement in her voice, not affected by his snappy tone, "We've got only one life, man! Let's live it to the fullest!" She walked to him with a bright smile, and said, "We, anyway, aren't discussing about my life now. Your problem can easily be solved. Just take up the role."

"Why should I? It's Tsubaki's dream role. I can't." He reasoned.

"But would he be happy when he gets a second hand role sacrificed by his brother? No, he wouldn't."

"She's right." From the darkness, Tsubaki came up walking to them. Both of them looked at him, startled by his sudden appearance. The white-haired man said, "Aw man, can you believe that I wasted so much time on thinking how to get you to do the role? And here, this little lady stole my thunder."

He gripped Azusa's shoulders, "Now listen to me. You're taking up the role for me. Man, I don't want anyone else to do it. You know that I'm your number one fan, yeah? I want to see you do the role. I want to hear the character in your voice. Will you do that for me?"

Azusa looked at the ground, and looked at Tsubaki again, "Oh, jeez! I will. I'll do my best and make you proud." They embraced each other, and Tsubaki chuckled, "Ha, as if I'll let you get away with a half-hearted performance." They pulled away, and Tsubaki ordered, "Go, call the manager before it's too late."

"Yes, I will. Thanks, man." Then he looked at Sabrina and apologized, "I'm sorry for snapping at you back then."

"It's okay." She playfully winked. After Azusa had gone inside to make the call, Tsubaki turned to Sabrina and said, "Hey you, free to go for a walk with me?"

"Of course." She agreed.

They walked to a nearby empty park. The atmosphere was eerily quiet. It was dimly lit by streetlamps, and Tsubaki stood near the fence of the little lake it contained. He looked up to the stars and began, "To be honest, I'm kinda disappointed. I mean, who wouldn't be? I was the one who first wanted to become a voice actor, and I was the one who dragged Azusa into it. Somewhere along the way, he surpassed me. It has always been like that between the two of us. Azusa excels at everything. He's always better than me, no matter what we do. We're from supposedly the same egg, then how is this possible?" Sabrina came up to him and squeezed his shoulder. It hurt to see such a cheerful man sound so disappointed.

He continued, "I guess Azusa was the only one for the role, not me." His shoulders had started shaking. "No." She said, gripping his other shoulder to face him, "Don't say like that. You're amazing, just the way you are! There's no point of comparing. I mean, come on, smile, it saddens me to see you so disheartened."

She dusted his shoulders and looked straight into his eyes, and he grew weak at his knees. It was like she was working magic on him, and he couldn't help but smile, and forget all what had happened in the day. She smiled wider, seeing that he was out of his misery, and he could only keep looking at her face, illuminated by the dull streetlight. Her eyes were bright with glee, perhaps transferring some of her happy-energy into him, and his gaze kept travelling down her features – and stopped at her lips. Full, pink lips, curved up in a grin. Each part of her was carefully made, but how tempting was she, shaded by a light blush from the winter air, her hair down, and her gorgeous brown eyes looking right into his violet ones, staring down at his soul.

He subconsciously stepped forward, dangerously close to her, but stopped himself before leaning in and tasting her lips. No, his thoughts were downright incest, he thought, how could a stepbrother kiss a sister? But there was a devil in her smile, calling out to him, driving him crazy. He, however, composed himself, to stand straight – and probably lean out a bit, just in case – and tried to develop a control on himself. 'She's your sister, dammit! You can't do that!' – he kept repeating it to himself in his head.

"About what you said earlier to Azusa," He asked, "Do you like me? I mean, my voice?"

"Obviously, obviously I do." She consoled him, "yours and Azusa-san's voice compliments each other. There may be some roles that would be meant for him, but your voice can also enhance any simple role. There are roles meant only for you. I may not be an ex-" She was never able to complete her sentence as she was interrupted by a sudden kiss from Tsubaki, who couldn't control himself more than he already did. Her eyes remained open in shock – this was her first. She didn't expect it to be this sudden, especially by him. He pulled away, and she blushed, looking down. Even the cold weather had the effect on making her blush, but she was totally red.

"Sorry for that. It's just that a depressed boy needs a kiss from a cute girl to get back on his feet." He covered up his intentions, and she didn't respond. This time, he put an arm around her waist to pull her close, put the other arm on her back, and bent down to kiss her. This time, she closed her eyes, and went with the flow.

According to her, she was doing this for her brother to get back into his cheerful, happy mode. She thought of just sucking it up and giving a kiss – now officially her second one. She kissed him back, and it lasted for a few seconds, before they were interrupted by the sound of the city clock humming. It was the New Year.

The sky was lightened up with crackers, and Tsubaki smiled down at her, and huskily whispered, "Happy New Year."

-Brother against brother for none other than the sister; the Brothers Conflict has now begun.

OOOOH MYYYY GAAAWD I HAD TO REWRITE THIS THRICE. Once – the original one, Second time – when I face the famous Delhi power cut and the autosaved version automatically vanished. Third time – when I by mistake clicked on 'no' for 'do you want to save changes to your document?' So, you're reading the fourth draft, written late at night. *yawns* *yawns again* *yawns yet again*

[NOTE FROM THE FUTURE SELF: I just edited this chapter and I was again fangirling! To make it even better for ya, I added those long paragraphs, being an insight into Tsubaki's mind, just to make it hotter. BUT OH GOD WOWWWWWW LOVE THIS SHIP!]

AAANDDD I WROTE MY FIRST KISS SCENE! AAAHHH *fangirling* MY FAV SHIP TSUBAKI AND SABRINA! Tell me if you liked the scene or not.

And the italics things with dashes in the beginning? Consider it the author, or wait, some Q/A, or the angels from heaven telling you that. I just felt like adding some dramatic (or Shakespearean?) touch to it.

Like you saw, Sabrina had a completely different way of dealing with Azusa. And in this version, Azusa was also changed a bit. Plus, the thoughts of Tsubaki before kissing her out of the blues. Well, now you know that it wasn't 'out of the blues'!

Review! And follow and fav if you like!

(Hence, we end with the longest chapter ever)

At your service,
Diamond Shyn