A/N: So, it's been over two years since I've posted for this story '-_- Anyone still interested in reading this? I've been playing with the idea of writing for this again, but I'm unsure since 1) I don't know if I'll finish it and 2) I don't know if anyone still cares at this point. I am excited enough about it that I've already written the next three chapters after this and have fun ideas for the next three chapters. Let me know if you want me to continue!

"I'm so excited for this!" Ema told Natsume on the phone. "I can't believe I got the part. I can't wait to see the full script. Do you know what the next steps are? Will voicing a video game be different from voicing an anime? I guess Tsubaki and Azusa would probably know that better than you."

Natsume chucked at Ema's enthusiasm. "I'm glad you're excited. I told you they wanted to build the cast around the main character, so now they have to pick voice actors for the rest of the characters. The reading you did didn't show this, but they plan to have a love interest for the main character. He'll be a childhood friend who got separated from the heroine when zombies first appeared. He has his own zombie hunting group who will join forces with your character's group. He'll be both the heroine's rival and love interest. They might have you do a reading with a couple guys to see how well you mesh."

"Right," Ema said, nodding. "We did that for the anime. Director Agota wanted to make sure I had the proper chemistry with Azusa and Tsubaki before casting me in the role."

"After that, things will go a little quicker than with the anime. With anime, you voice as the episodes are being made, but since a video game is one big story, you do all the voicing in the beginning. As they do the animation, they might change some lines and call you in to do the fixes."

"Okay," Ema said, grateful it sounded like voicing a video game wouldn't take as long as an anime. She may have been excited for the role, but summer was coming and she wanted to be free to spend her time however she wanted. She still had gaming to catch up on, after all. And she hoped the Asahinas would have another trip out to their beach house.

~.~

Ema didn't end up doing a reading with the man voicing her love interest before they cast him. It surprised her, but she had very little experience. Maybe it was just as common to not have potential love interests read together as to have them read together.

She was at the studio for a read through of the script. It would be her first time meeting who had been cast as her love interest for the first time and do a read through with the other voice actors. The cast was much smaller than for the anime, but video games often had less characters important enough to have voices.

She walked into the room and was shocked to see a familiar face.

"Tsubaki?"

He grinned. "Hey, Ema. You excited to work together again?"

She tried to give him a chastising look, but couldn't help her grin as she put her hands on her hips. "How long have you known we'd be working together again?" They'd seen each other that morning and he hadn't said a word to her, but he clearly wasn't surprised to see her.

"Since they cast me as the love interest two weeks ago. I wanted to surprise you."

Ema shook her head at him. It was a nice surprise. But he was still a punk not to have told her.

"I'm glad you decided to do another voice acting job," he said seriously. "It seemed like you didn't plan to do more, but I think you have real talent."

"Thank you," she said, sitting next to him. They would do the read through of the script soon, but it appeared everyone wasn't there yet. "Though I'm not sure I'll continue after this. Natsume asked me to do a reading and I'm way excited for this game. It seems surreal to get to voice act for my favorite gaming company and for a game I'm sure I'll love. That's why I couldn't say no. But I guess I can't say I'll never do this again since here I am voice acting again a few months after my last job ended."

"Maybe this'll convince you voice acting is just too fun to walk away from," Tsubaki said, looping his arm along the back of Ema's chair.

"Maybe," she said. "But I'm only a junior in high school. I still have a lot of things I want to experience before I pick a career."

"Well, if you have any questions about what it's like to be a voice actor full-time, you're always free to ask me."

"Thank you," Ema told him. "I'll keep that in mind."

~.~

"You're voicing a video game with Tsubaki?" Yusuke asked at dinner.

"I thought you were done with voice acting," Ukyo said with a frown.

"I meant to be done," Ema admitted. "I kind of fell into this job because of Natsume. It shouldn't take up as much time as the anime though."

"I want to play the game when it comes out!" Wataru said.

"Um," Ema said, glancing toward Masaomi. "It's a zombie apocalypse game, so I think you'll need to wait until you're a teenager to play this game."

Masaomi nodded. "Ema is right, Wataru. You'll have to wait until you're a little older to play."

Wataru scowled at his dinner, muttering that it wasn't fair that Yusuke would get to play.

After dinner, Azusa stopped Tsubaki outside his room. "You're working on another project with Ema?" he asked lightly. He wanted to know if Tsubaki specifically auditioned for the role because Ema was involved. But, if that was the case, how had Tsubaki known Ema was involved? Had she told Tsubaki and not him? Had Natsume told Tsubaki?

"Yep. Like we said at dinner, we'll be on the same project." He raised his eyebrows at Azusa. "It's just work, you know. There's nothing to be jealous about."

Except, Tsubaki working with Ema meant they'd spend more time together. And maybe go out to dinner just the two of them after work. It had been one thing when it was all three of them—the two of them together would make it seem like a date. And like hell Tsubaki wouldn't take advantage of the situation. 'It's just work' was bull crap.

~.~

"How long have you two been dating?" Kagome, a co-voice actress from the video game asked Ema and Tsubaki as they were leaving work, Tsubaki's arm wrapped around Ema's shoulder.

"What?" Ema asked, giving Kagome and then Tsubaki a surprised look. Tsubaki looked equally surprised.

The coworker smiled. "What, was it supposed to be a secret? You two are always touching and you go out to dinner all the time. If you want to keep a relationship secret, you need to be subtler than that."

"We're not dating," Ema said, her face burning red. "We're just childhood friends." Though she could see why someone would get the impression that they were dating. When Azusa was part of their group, it was obvious they were just close friends. With it being only the two of them . . . what else were you supposed to think when a guy and girl kept going out together?

"Huh," Kagome said, not looking convinced. "Well, I hope neither of is looking for a boyfriend or girlfriend because I don't think anyone could break through the vibe you two have got going on." She pointed between the two of them. "Maybe you should think about dating each other. Doesn't everyone love a good childhood friend to romance love story?" She gave them a wink before walking away.

"That was weird," Ema muttered, turning to Tsubaki to see if he agreed.

He had an unreadable expression on his face as his arm tightened around her shoulders and he said, "Let's go to dinner."

Tsubaki was quiet during dinner and Ema finally asked, "Did what Kagome said upset you?" She felt uncomfortable at the thought of Tsubaki being upset over someone mistaking them for a couple, but she was nearly eight years younger than him.

"Actually," he said, leaning back in his seat. "I think she's right. We would make a good couple."

"What?"

"We would make a good couple," he repeated, looking into her eyes. "We have a lot in common and we love spending time together." A smile flickered across his face. "And you get along with all my brothers, which isn't easy and it's a hard ask for a lot of women to get along with so many guys. Obviously, I don't think we'd make a good couple right now since you're not interested in dating, but . . ."

He trailed off and didn't continue.

"Are you saying you want to date me?"

"When you're ready to start dating again? Yes."

Ema was too dumbfounded to say anything and he gave her a gentle smile. "I'm not expecting a response, by the way. And I'm not asking you out. I just thought I'd be honest since us dating got brought up."

This was the third confession Ema had received in as many months. This time she felt . . . flattered. She meant what she told Natsume that Subaru didn't know her well enough to know if he really wanted to date her. But Azusa and Tsubaki did and they were both amazing. It was kind of incredible that they would both think well enough of her to want to date her. And the fact that she could think this way showed how far she'd come. She didn't think she could see things in this light without Kaname's help.

She was tempted to ask Tsubaki why he wanted to date her, wanting to know what he thought was special enough about her to want to be with her, but that would be vain and rude unless she planned to ask him out.

"Thank you," she told him quietly. "I don't know when I'll be ready to date again. I've thought maybe after I finish high school, but that someone like you would think that way about someone like me . . . Thank you, Tsubaki."

"I don't like how you phrased that," he said, tilting his head as he studied her. "You're amazing, Ema. Everything about you is amazing. You have no idea how crazy I am about you. I've been holding back because of your feelings, but I've also been terrified that another guy will come along and steal you away."

"I can promise that won't happen soon," Ema said. She'd softened a little toward the idea of dating, but not being actively opposed to it didn't mean it was something she wanted. "If I'm not enticed into dating by you or Azusa, I don't think another guy could come along and sweep me off my feet." Realizing what she'd just revealed about Azusa, she gasped and slapped her hands over her mouth.

Tsubaki gave her a sad smile. "Azusa already told me he confessed his feelings to you. He said he'd messed up his relationship with you and the only way he could fix it was be honest with you."

Relieved, Ema lowered her hands, though Azusa's actions made even more sense now. If Tsubaki also had feelings for Ema back then, that must have been part of Azusa's anguish and why he lashed out at Ema. He wanted to get rid of his feelings for her rather than be jealous of his twin.

"It's kind of nice to talk about dating openly without any pressure," she admitted.

"I hope you continue to feel you can talk to me openly about it," he said, taking her hand. "Whether it's talking about how much you still don't want to date, that you're ready for dating, or even if you've found a guy you like." He squeezed her hand. "But I hope you know that any guy you meet had better meet my approval if he's going to date you."

She smiled, squeezing his hand back. It reminded her of Kaname's offer to get a feel for any guys she planned to date. "Thank you, Tsubaki." Whatever role Tsubaki played in her life, she never wanted him out of it. The same for several of the other Asahinas. For the first time, it occurred to her that if she married an Asahina, she wouldn't have to lose any of them.