Road Work Ahead
16
"ROAD TRIP TIME!" Tsubaki sings happily. "God, shut up, baka! It's 5:00 AM, could you give it a rest for two seconds?," Fuuto complains, rubbing his face with his hands. For Yuusuke's birthday, everyone decided it would be fun to, instead of buying him presents or performing a play for him, go on a little family getaway to their vacation home in the mountains.
"Alright, who's riding with me?," Natsume asks.
"Count me in!," Azusa says.
"Awesome!," Natsume says. Subaru glares at Natsume and walks right past him.
"Ride with me, Onee-san!," Wataru says, jumping up and down, while tugging Ema's sleeve.
"Sure!," Ema exclaims.
Wataru drags Ema into Masaomi car, where Ukyo is already sitting in the front seat. Wataru hops on first, followed by Ema. "Alright, buckle up, kids!," Masaomi says, peering at Ema from the rear view mirror.
"Wait!," a voice shouts from outside the car. The car door opens and in enters: Kaname.
"Oh hi Kaname-san!," Ema exclaims. She scoots over to the middle seat, so that Kaname can join them. Wataru frowns. Kaname sits down and buckles up.
"Hello my beautiful Imouto-chan," Kaname purrs. He kisses Ema on the cheek, making her giggle.
Wataru shouts: "KANA-NII, WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS SO MEAN TO ME?" Ema and Kaname stare at the child with wide eyes.
Ukyo rolls his eyes: "Here we go again," he mumbles.
"What did I do?," Kaname asks defensively, as the car starts.
Wataru crosses his arms and pouts. Kaname and Ema look at each other and shrug.
Since the vacation home was twenty hours away, by car, they had a plan: Five hours in, everyone would switch cars and drivers. They'd drive for another five hours, then they'd stop at a campsite to sleep for a couple hours. Following that, they'd switch cars and drivers, once again and drive for another five hours. After that five hours is over, they'd switch cars and drivers one last time, before their arrival! The entire trip was going to be about thirty hours long, breaks included. They would stay at the vacation home for one night and repeat.
Two hours into the drive, Ema was getting drowsy, Wataru had already been fast asleep for about an hour, and Kaname was reading a book. "You can use me as a pillow if you'd like, Imouto-chan," Kaname suggests, in a flirty tone.
"I might actually do that," Ema giggles. She rests her head on his chest, as he wraps his left arm around her. He kisses her temple, and she soon drifts off into dream land.
A few hours later, Ema begins to wake up. How long did I sleep? Probably only and hour or so, Kaname-san still has his arm around m- Wait, this is not Kaname-san! Kaname was wearing a flannel that day, but the shirt her face was pressed on felt more like a sweater material. Not only that, but it didn't smell like him either. Kaname smelled of sandalwood, musk and vanilla, while this person smelled of citrus, lotus, and white cedar wood.
She shyly opens her eyes, her vision was still blurry, but she could make out the two men sitting in the front: One was Subaru, who was driving, and the other was Hikaru, who was sitting in the front seat. What a rare combination. She glances over to her left and sees Louis, who's sleeping against the car window.
"Morning, babe," a voice says to her sweetly. Her head whips up.
"Fuuto!" Fuuto was sitting on her right, his arm wrapped around her, in the same position Kaname was in, but instead of reading a book, he was holding his phone, with his headphones in. "I knew it wasn't Kaname-san!," Ema says.
Fuuto chuckles: "Good, I hate it when people compare me to that perverted monk. I don't have such a vulgar face!"
"But you do," Subaru comments. Hikaru chuckles.
"Keep your fucking eyes on the road, Troy!," Fuuto hisses.
"You smell nice," Ema comments, cuddling up to Fuuto.
"I was in a Calvin Klein ad last week, and as a gift they gave me a bunch of free perfume," Fuuto explains.
"I hope we didn't startle you too much," Hikaru starts, "You were sleeping so peacefully, Kana-nii didn't want to wake you up."
Ema smiles: "No worries! Thank you actually, I appreciate it."
Ema nuzzles into Fuuto's chest, Fuuto smiles. He takes out one ear bud and places it in Ema's ear. The song playing was All I Want by Kodaline. They close their eyes and Fuuto leans back, still keeping his arm around Ema. They drift off to sleep together.
Fuuto is awaken by a bottle of water being poured onto his head.
"HEY!," Fuuto spat.
"Wake up, asshole, we just arrived at the campsite!," Subaru barks, his voice slightly pained.
Fuuto pulls out his earbud and dries it off using his shirt. Ema wakes up, confused as to why her hair was a little wet. Fuuto shakes his head like a wet dog, spraying water everywhere.
"Fuuto!," Ema whines.
"Oh shit, sorry!," he says, patting the water off her head.
"Why are you all wet?," Ema asks, looking up at a drenched Fuuto.
"That fucking arrogant bastard Subaru poured water all over me instead of waking me up like a civilized person," Fuuto huffs.
Ema giggles and yawns. "Louis-san, wake up!," Ema says, gently shaking the sleeping man next to her. Louis slowly opens his eyes.
"Oh hi Chi-chan! Did you sleep okay?," Louis drowsily asks, sitting up.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I slept very well!," Ema exclaims, Fuuto smiles softly, "How about you, Louis-san?"
"I slept wonderfully," he says.
The three of them exit the vehicle. The other brothers had already begun to set up their tents, as Masaomi and Ukyo started the fire.
"Who wants to share a tent with me?," Azusa asks.
"Oh, oh, me!," Tsubaki chirps, running towards his twin brother.
Ema looks around, looking for someone who doesn't have a partner yet. She feels a tap on her shoulder, she turns around.
"H-hey... D-do you want to share a tent with me?," Yuusuke asks, blushing, while rubbing the back of his neck.
Ema smiles sweetly: "Sure!"
They set up the tent together and crawl inside.
"Cool tent!," Ema comments.
"Thanks! Natsu-nii got it for me," Yuusuke explains.
"I can tell, it's very green," Ema remarks. Yuusuke laughs. "Okay let's set roll out our sleeping bags and catch some Z's!," Ema exclaims. Yuusuke nods and they roll out their sleeping bags. Yuusuke's was red and Ema's was pink and purple. They slip into their sleeping bags and turn off the lamp.
"Sleep tight, Yuu-kun," Ema says sweetly.
"Sweet dreams, Ema-chan," Yuusuke replies.
They close their eyes.
Ema opens her eyes about half an hour later, since she had already slept about eight hours, she wasn't feeling very sleepy.
"Pst, Yuu-kun!," Ema whispers. Yuusuke turns to face her, wide awake. "Oh I'm sorry, did I wake you up?," Ema asks.
"No don't worry, I haven't slept at all actually, I slept the entire ten hours here, so I'm not feeling sleepy at all," Yuusuke explains.
"Me too," Ema says.
"H-hey Ema-chan... Would you like to climb into my sleeping bag with me? I-I mean, next to me? I-I'm feeling a little cold...," Yuusuke asks, blushing.
"W-what?"
"Please! I promise I won't do anything! I-I just it would be cozy or whatever...," Yuusuke says.
Ema smiles and nods. Yuusuke unzips the side of his sleeping bag and motions to Ema to come in. She slips into his sleeping bag and he zips them in. They face each other. "It is warm," Ema giggles.
"Y-yeah..." Our faces are so close... I wonder if she'd mind if I... Yuusuke reaches up and delicately caresses her brown locks, causing Ema to blush. Ema shifts closer to Yuusuke, he wraps his arm around her waist. He kisses her forehead. They lay there, staring into each other's eyes, in comfortable silence for what seemed like an eternity. She slowly closes her eyes and nuzzles into his chest, he tightens his grip on her. He feels her drift to sleep in his arms. She looks so peaceful... He kisses her nose and whispers: "I am in love with you, Hinata Ema."
An hour later, Ema woke up to a sleeping Yuusuke. She smiles, he looked so adorable. She hesitantly reaches up and lightly runs her fingers through his fiery red hair. She gasps and pulls away when he begins to wake up. "H-hey Yuu-kun!," she says.
He yawns. "Hey, how did you sleep?," he asks, his voice still a little sleepy.
"Good, I had the sweetest dreams," she says.
He smiles softly. "So did I," he says.
Ema grabs his wrist and looks at his watch: "It's 5:07 PM."
Yuusuke nods. "Masa-nii wanted to get back on the road at around 8:00 PM. W-would you like to go on a stroll before we get back on the road?," Yuusuke asks.
"A stroll sounds perfect," Ema says. They get up and leave their tent: they see Iori, Azusa and Tsubaki sitting on the logs around the unlit fireplace, a little further, Natsume was smoking a cigarette behind his tent. "I wonder who else is awake," Ema says. Yuusuke shrugs.
They make their way to the lake, not too far from their campsite. "The weather's quite nice," Ema comments, "Although a little chilly." Yuusuke grabs Ema's wrist and pulls her into his arm, she gasps at the sudden contact. "Yuu-kun?," she exclaims, confused.
"I-I thought I could maybe warm you up or something...," Yuusuke says. She smiles and hugs him back, looking up at him. Yuusuke's face turns deep red: "D-don't look at me all cute and shit! I-I'm just doing you a favor!" Ema giggles and nuzzles her face in his chest.
"Alright gentlemen!... and a lady, time to get back on the road!," Masaomi exclaims. Everyone cheers and dashes to the cars, Yuusuke, Subaru and Tsubaki obviously calling shotgun. Ema looks around for an empty spot, Azusa waves to her. She jogs towards Natsume's car. She enters the car and notices that Kaname was driving, and Tsubaki was sitting in the passenger seat, while Natsume sat in the back. She sits down, followed by Azusa.
"Hey Imouto-chan, how did you sleep?," Kaname asks.
"Wonderfully, thank you Kaname-san," Ema says, feeling grateful that he let her sleep earlier.
He smiles politely: "I'm glad."
Tsubaki turns around and notices Ema: "Aww, I wanted to cuddle up to Imouto-chan!," he whines.
"That's too bad, because she's all mine now!," Natsume smirks, wrapping his arm around Ema. Natsume kisses Ema's cheek, making her squirm. Ema notices Kaname furrowing his eyebrows in the rear view mirror.
"Alright, let's get this show on the road!," Kaname exclaims.
He drives off. Natsume keeps his arm around her, caressing her shoulder with his thumb. Tsubaki keeps glaring back at Natsume, who took pleasure in his brother's obvious jealousy. She moves her right hand slightly and bumps pinkies with Azusa. "I'm so sorry!," she exclaims.
Azusa places his hand on top of Ema's and intertwines his fingers with hers. "It's alright," he reassures, "We're a little crammed back here, so it can't be helped."
Tsubaki makes an audible groan. You're good, Azusa. Kaname slaps him in the back of the head. "Kana-nii! That hurt!," he complains.
Kaname rolls his eyes: "Stop growling, it's infuriating."
"Yeah, Tsubaki, shut up. You're ruining the mood back here," Natsume says, obviously trying to push Tsubaki's buttons.
Tsubaki stares daggers at Natsume. "What did you just say, you bastard?," Tsubaki bites back.
The two begin to bicker. Kaname and Azusa roll their eyes, while Ema sat there uncomfortably. Tsubaki and Natsume gradually increase the volume, Tsubaki practically shouting at Natsume at this point. Ema looks down, bitting the inside of her cheek. She felt incredibly uneasy. Kaname seemed to notice her discomfort and pulls over. The brothers go silent and look at him in confusion.
Kaname turns and says: "Natsume, let's switch places."
"Why?," Natsume asks, caught off guard. Kaname hadn't called him by his first name since high school. He always called the brothers using nicknames, so whenever he used their first name, Natsume knew it meant he was either very serious or angry.
"If you don't want to drive, Tsubaki will, now move it," Kaname orders, practically hissing through his teeth.
"Alright! Alright! But don't use your scary voice!," Natsume says, obliging, not wanting to see Kaname angry.
Kaname, Tsubaki and Natsume switch places: Tsubaki was now driving, Natsume was sitting in the passenger seat and Kaname sat next to Ema. Ema smiles politely at him as he sat besides her. "Thanks Kaname-san... You know how much I hate quarreling," Ema whispers.
Kaname brings her hand to his lips and gives it a sweet kiss. "Anything for my Imouto-chan."
Ema blushes at how considerate and sweet Kaname was being. Tsubaki looked into the rear view mirror and glared at Kaname. Natsume rolls his eyes. Tsubaki starts the car and they continue the drive as though nothing happened.
"Time to switch!," Tsubaki sings, happy that the ride was finally over. Tsubaki, Natsume and Azusa leave the car first, Azusa winks at Ema as he left, which she totally didn't expect coming from him.
As Kaname was about to leave, she grabs onto his sleeve. "Ka- O-Onii-san?," Ema says.
Kaname's heart skips a beat, she had never willingly called him "Onii-san" before, he was always asking her to do so. He smiles: "Yes, Imouto-chan?"
"Stay with me, please? I-I don't want to ride with anybody else...," Ema asks, shyly peering down.
Kaname grabs her chin and makes her look him in the eyes: "Neither do I."
He latches his lips onto hers, Ema kisses him back. Kaname's kisses felt like pure bliss, no wonder so many women adored him. He was seasoned professional at kissing. Ema knew that she couldn't get attached, she knew he'd only break her heart if she did. But in that moment, she couldn't care less.
"God, she's so stupid! I can't believe she's falling for his bullshit," Fuuto hisses, watching them through the car window.
Iori's eyes turn red, enraged, his hand clenches into a fist. "If Kana-nii hurts her, I swear he'll regret it until the day he dies," Iori growls.
For the last five hours of the drive, Ema sat next to Kaname and Masaomi, as Ukyo drove and Hikaru sat in the passenger seat. The ride was fun, they talked the entire time! Hikaru told them endless stories about his trips and Masaomi told them about the kids at the hospital, she had such a blast learning about her brothers' careers!
"We're here!," Ukyo exclaims. Ema exits the vehicle, she pops open the trunk and pulls out her suitcase. Masaomi quickly grabs onto it and pulls it out for her.
"Oh! Thank you, Masaomi-san!," Ema exclaims.
"Of course!," he hands her the suitcase. She pulls out the handle and drags the rolling suitcase behind her, as she entered the vacation home. Suddenly, she feels a pair of long, gangly arms wrap around her. "L-Louis-san!," she says, startled.
"Hey roomie!"
Ema giggles: "How did you pick the teams this time?"
"Spin the bottle," Louis chuckles.
"No way!," Ema exclaims.
"I swear! Since last time we used a game to pick, we decided to go by luck this time around, and I happened to get lucky!," Louis explains.
"Well congratulations," Ema smiles.
Louis laughs and takes her hand, as he takes her to their room.
They entered the room: the room had a bunk bed and a vanity. It was quite girly, which surprised her since she lived in a house full of men. "Mama decorated it before we got here," Louis explains.
"Kawaii!," Ema exclaims, in awe of how pretty the room was. It was white themed, simple but feminine.
"C'mon, let's change into our pajamas and do each other's hair before supper!," Louis says.
"Yes!"
Ema sat Louis down at the vanity, he pulls out his bag of hair tools, hair accessories and other gadgets. "What would you like done, Sir?," Ema asks, her hands placed on his shoulders.
"Hmm, surprise me!," Louis exclaims. Ema nods and takes down his gorgeous, silky, platinum blond hair. He begins to gently comb it, his hair was so luscious and shiny, it was perfect. Then, she splits it into two and create two french braids. "You're so gentle," Louis comments.
"I try to be! I don't want to hurt you!," Ema says.
"Don't worry about me," Louis reassures.
She loosens up the braids. Ema kisses Louis on the cheek. "So, what do you think?," Ema asks, looking in the vanity mirror.
"It's beautiful, Chi-chan!," Louis exclaims.
"I'm glad you like it!," Ema says cheerfully. She was nervous to do Louis' hair because he was a professional and he'd be able to spot her mistakes instantly, but he seemed to genuinely like it! And it made her so happy.
"Your turn!," Louis exclaims. Ema nods and sits down where Louis was sitting.
"Blow me away!," Ema exclaims. Louis chuckles and begins working on her hair. He brushes her hair and curls it loosely. Then, he puts her hair up in an intricate low bun, with a thick braid on the side. His hair style made hers look pathetic, she was in absolutely awe at this talent and skill.
"So, what do you think?," Louis asks, holding a mirror at the back of her head.
"Louis-kun, it's stunning!," Ema exclaims.
"I'm glad you like it!," Louis smiles.
Ema looks into Louis' bag and sees a large bag full of hair berets, hair clips, hair bows, hair ties, and other accessories. She grabs the bag and places it on her vanity. She sits on the vanity, so that she's facing Louis. She pulls out some hair clips and begins randomly placing them in Louis' hair, making him laugh. He joins in and starts clipping hair clips miscellaneously in her hair too. By the end, their heads were absolutely covered in hair accessories. Ema turned to look at her reflection and they both burst out laughing at how ridiculous they both looked.
"Supper's ready!," Masaomi shouted from the bottom of the stairs. Ema and Louis look at each other before running out the door, speeding down to the kitchen.
At the dining table, the brothers kept throwing confused, maybe slightly judgmental glances at Ema and Louis, who tried their absolute best to hold in their laughter.
"I'm going to tell her," Natsume whispers, earning him a smack in the back of the head by Kaname.
"Don't you dare!," Tsubaki hisses, whispering.
"Just because you're not having fun, doesn't mean you're allowed to ruin others'!," Azusa whispers.
"Yeah, Natsume, don't be such a dick!," Fuuto jokes, whispering.
Ukyo smacks him in the back of the head. "Fuuto, language!," Ukyo scolds, whispering loudly.
The next morning, they decided to play a game of hide and seek in the woods! Masaomi laid down the rules: "No hiding inside of the house or across the lake! Now, are we clear?"
"Crystal," Fuuto says.
"Perfect, now who's counting?," Masaomi asks.
"Oh, oh me!," Wataru exclaims.
"Alright Wataru, count to one hundred!," Masaomi says.
Wataru nods and turns his face to face the tree. "One, two, three..."
Everyone runs off in separate directions. Ema peers around, looking for a spot to hide. She looks up at the tree in front of her and decides to climb it and hide up there. She sat on the largest branch. Now, it was time for the waiting game. "Hey, pst, Ema!," she hears a voice whisper loudly to her from the bottom of the tree. She looks down and sees Iori. "Oh hey Iori-kun!," she exclaims. He climbs up the tree and joins her. They're both straddling the branch, facing each other.
"Where's Wataru?," Ema asks.
"I was hiding with Kaname and we head him approach, so I ran. He found Kaname though. So far, he's found Masaomi, Kaname and Louis, they're helping him search," Iori says.
"Was Louis found because he refused to hide, in fear of ruining his hair?," Ema asks, giggling.
Iori chuckles: "Yup!"
They laugh. Iori gazes lovingly onto Ema's eyes, she notices him and stares at him back. After a long pause, Iori places a thumb on her heated cheek, caressing it. "I-Iori-kun?" Iori crashes his lips onto Ema's. Her eyes widen, she had never known Iori to be the bold type. She closes her eyes and kisses him back. The kiss was warm, tender and sweet, it was unlike any of the other kisses she'd gotten before.
But soon enough, they're interrupted by: "I FOUND ONEE-CHAN AND IO-NII!" They quickly pull away from each other and look down, Wataru was standing there, looking back and pointing at them. They laugh and climb down the tree.
"Yes you did, Wataru!," Ema says. They played it off cool, Wataru probably hadn't noticed they were kissing due to the leaves. Iori smiles at Ema and they begin to look for the others together.
The winner ended up being... Hikaru? Who literally could not be found... because he was hiding in the house. Ukyo scolded him and Masaomi declared Fuuto as the winner. The brothers groaned and Ema applauded, they knew Fuuto was going to brag about being the "Hide and Seek Champion" for years to come.
As they made their way back to the vacation home, Kaname is stopped by Iori grabbing his shoulder. "Iori-chan," Kaname says.
"I kissed her too, you know?," Iori says.
Kaname's expression turns grim. He turns to face Iori. "Why are you trying to get between us? Why did you paint me as a womanizer and a player who manipulates women into sleeping with them?," Kaname growls, trying his best to keep his volume down.
"Because that's exactly what you are, Kana-nii," Iori hisses, "The only thing you'll ever do is hurt her. Give up and spare her heart! She isn't one of your groupies and I refuse to watch you ruin her."
Kaname's hand clenches into a fist. "She is not one of my groupies and I would never hurt her!," Kaname growls, putting an emphasis on the words "not" and "never", "I will not hand her over to anyone!" Kaname angrily stops away, leaving Iori fuming.