Character/Writer's trivia #1: Juli's nickname for Ame is Mai-chan, which I coined from the Romaji spelling of the Japanese word for 'sweet' (amai) because the name Ame can also mean candy.

Meeting an Idol

In spite of how tired I was the night before, I still managed to wake myself up at around 6:30 the next morning, just as the sun was beginning to rise. This always happened when I was in a new place; my body got overexcited and I woke up really early feeling stupidly alert and unable to go back to sleep.

Ugh, I groaned and glared up at my ceiling in the semi darkness of the room. Well, if I was going to be awake, I might as well be productive in some way. I grabbed my phone and flicked through my messages and apps, before settling on my running app. I normally went jogging a bit later in the day, at around 8:30 a.m., but this worked.

I pulled on a white t-shirt over my black and blue sports bra, and a pair of grey tracksuit bottoms. I tied my hair up into a ponytail to keep it out of my face.

No one was awake yet, but I still tiptoed down the stairs and into the elevator. It was cool outside, but not particularly cold. I'd warm up when I started running. Okay, if I just go down that stretch of road, then I can't possibly get lost. I set my phone's music playlist on shuffle, and set off.

After running/jogging/power-walking for about twenty minutes, I stopped to catch my breath and also curse myself for forgetting to bring any water with me, and caught sight of a familiar figure coming up behind me. "Subaru-nii?"

He looked equally surprised to see me as he drew to a stop a foot away. "Ame-chan?"

Like me, he was dressed in university issued white and green tracksuit bottoms, and a plain black t-shirt. Unlike me however, he had actually remembered to bring water with him. "I didn't know you did sports," I tilted my head to the side.

"I play basketball for Meiji," he explained, chugging down the water. My throat whined at the loss of the beautiful, life-giving liquid.

"You go to Meiji?" My eyes widened. "So do I! How have I not seen you around?"

Well, it was probably because we were in different wings – I was studying clinical psychology and linguistics – I had little to no interest in sports whatsoever, and also because I had problems paying enough attention to anything not directly related to me or Ema.

I said none of this though. Instead, I giggled. "I think I heard some girls gushing over you at some point though."

"Wh-What are you talking about?!" He went pink with embarrassment, further heightening my amusement. He watched me giggle for a few seconds, and then asked. "What are you doing out here?"

"I like to go jogging in the mornings, though I don't usually go this early," I stretched upwards and twirled around in the direction of the building. "I think it's a leftover from high school, I used to be in the track team back then. I'm heading back now though. You?"

He told me he was going to run a bit more, so I waved him off. I jogged back to the front of the building, albeit at a much slower pace than earlier, and took the elevator back up again. Now it was about 7: 05. By the time I had showered, dressed in my favourite red sweatshirt and black shorts, dried and styled my hair into its usual messy ponytail, it was just a little past 7:40. I didn't know when everyone in the Asahina family usually woke up, but this seemed to be a standard time.

Sure enough, Ukyo was downstairs in the kitchen frying fish. There was a pot of soup simmering on the hob, and rice cooking elsewhere. "Good morning Ukyo-san," I yawned as I walked into the kitchen.

The blonde turned his attention from the fish to me and smiled. "Good morning, Ame-chan. Did you sleep well? This is rather early."

"Yeah, well," I smiled and shrugged sheepishly. "This might not last. When I get to new places, or when something really exciting happens or is about to happen, I tend to wake up insanely early in the mornings." He laughed at that, and I grinned back. I blinked around the kitchen. "Can I help with anything?"

The combed back locks of his hair moved slightly when he shook his head, and I wondered how he managed to look so put together so early in the morning. "No, I've just about finished here. Please help me watch the soup though, so it doesn't boil over."

I perked up and did as I had been asked to. "Sorry if I'm getting in your way or anything."

"Not at all," he turned off the flames underneath the fish, and began placing it onto the plates. "By the way, I don't think you mentioned what you do. Are you a student?"

"Yep, I go to Meiji," I grinned, lowering the flames under the soup. I fetched a ladle from the utensil rack and began ladling soup into the bowls, and setting them on the trays along with the fish. "I was so surprised when Subaru-nii told me he went there too. I'd never seen him before, but then my classes are on the other side of the campus, and I am a part-time student."

Ukyo hummed in understanding. "Part-time? What else do you do?"

"In the evenings, I work as a waitress at Blue Garden," I replied. Blue Garden was a restaurant in the town with a relaxed feel to it, and good ratings. Regardless of the name, it wasn't fancy by any means, but it was a popular place – especially for college students – and it served really good food. "I was really nervous when I started there, but I'm fine now!"

He patted the top of my head gently with his free hand. "I'm glad to hear that."

While we were serving the fish, Emi's face appeared over the balcony with Juli on her shoulder. "Good morning!"

"Good morning, Ema-chan," Ukyo smiled up at her, and I made a two fingered salute. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, thanks to everyone's help," she nodded, and then she noticed the spread of food. "Amazing! Did you make this for everyone?"

I scrunched up my nose and shook my head. "Ha, no. Ukyo-san made all of this himself," I waved at the bowls of miso soup and plates of fish and vegetables. "I had nothing to do with it."

"Cooking is my duty in this household. Ame-chan helped me with the soup," Ukyo said, although I didn't think what I did even counted as help.

She nodded. "Is there anything I can do to help?"

Ukyo gave her the job of dishing the cooked rice. "There are many who wake up late in the mornings," he studied a complicated whiteboard in the kitchen, made up of coloured magnetic markers placed on different days that I couldn't make heads or tails off. "Please dish five bowls."

Ema answered happily. Just then, Wataru came down the stairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes with his fist. He stopped in front of her and smiled up at her sleepily. "Good morning sis, good morning big sister."

"Good morning Wataru-chan," we replied, Ema bending so she was closer to eye level with him.

His sleepy smile widened and laughter bubbled up from him. "I'm so happy! I'll be having all my meals with my big sisters from now on!"

"Yep!" I popped the 'p' exaggeratedly, making him laugh again. "Please take care of us!"

There were footsteps, and Wataru's entrance was followed by the arrival of Yusuke and Subaru. Ema straightened up and quickly greeted them. Yusuke paused and stared at her for a couple of seconds, before nodding. "Yeah."

Subaru's response was pretty similar, which was disappointing considering this morning. He didn't even look at her.

Well don't you both just have dazzling personalities, I thought sarcastically.

However, Ema had suddenly tensed up when she'd greeted him, and she too didn't seem able to look him in the eye. Had something happened with them that I didn't know about?

"How rare to see Yusuke actually showing up for breakfast," Ukyo commented with an amused smile. Yusuke clicked his teeth in annoyance and sat down at one of the places. Juli suddenly ran over to him and began to squeak and hiss at him in anger, surprising him to say the least.

I sighed and grabbed the squirrel by the bow. "Juli, he hasn't done anything. It's too early in the morning for this, okay?"

"I can't believe you think we can rest with these wolves prowling the house!" He snapped, flailing around in my grip. "They're dangerous! One of them even kissed Chii-chan last night!"

"What?" I turned to my sister, and she flushed pink.

"I-It wasn't like that," she insisted quietly. "It was just on the cheek..."

I frowned and returned Juli to her shoulder. "Oh, you mean Kaname-nii? He did the same to me. I guess it's just part of his personality to be that way. That aside," I nudged Ema to one of the chairs. "Eat up. I don't want you getting hungry in class."

Subaru finished eating first, then left for practice, and Ukyo took Wataru to school when he was finished with his own breakfast.

Yusuke and Ema left together. "I wasn't able to make you a bento since all the bowls are in our luggage boxes," I walked with them to the elevator. "So, here, buy yourself something to eat at break," I handed her some money, and then lowered my voice. "Buy something for Yusuke too if he gets hungry. I get the feeling that, if I offered, he wouldn't take it.

Ema nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Ame-chan."

"No problem. Now go, or you'll be late for school!"

Once they were all gone, I set about putting the plates and pots in the sink to be washed. I wiped down the dining table and the kitchen counters. I debated vacuuming, but decided against it since the others were still asleep, and the noise of the vacuum might wake them up.

I turned on the TV to a channel showing morning cartoons, and curled up on the red couch to watch for a while. Footsteps on the stairs alerted me to the arrival of more people about ten minutes later, and I looked up to see Tsubaki and Azusa coming downstairs. They were already properly dressed, and looked like they were about to head out. "Good morning!"

Tsubaki grinned at me. "Good morning, Ame-chan! Do I get a morning hug~?"

"That's enough, Tsuba-nii," Azusa gently karate chopped the top of his head, and Tsubaki pretended to recoil in pain. I covered my mouth to hide my smile. "Did you sleep well, Ame-chan?"

I nodded happily. "I did. Are you going out now?"

They nodded. "We have a meeting this morning with our managers," Azusa explained.

My lips formed an audible 'o' of understanding. "Have a good day."

"Thank you, Ame-chan. See you later~," Tsubaki waved at me as the elevators shut on them, and then it was just me again. I looked down at my watch, and noted that I had a class in half an hour. I switched off the TV and walked to my room to grab my laptop bag and books, and also exchange my shorts for a pair of jeans.

Meiji was a twenty minute walk, and a ten minute train ride from the Sunrise residence. Today I chose to ride the train because I wanted to have enough time to look in on the basketball team training. Sure enough, I spotted Subaru amongst them, though I left before he could spot me.

I loved my psychology class, and the lecturer was great as well. I had thought it would be rather boring, and filled with ramblings about Freud like my former psychology teacher, but I was pleasantly surprised. Tsubaki-sensei was a huge fan of self-study, evenly tempered with his methods of intervention when asked or when he felt it was necessary.

Near the end of the class, he passed out sheets of paper to all of us. "For part of your grade, you will need to carry out research into an area of psychology," he told us. "You can pick the area you want, but the question you are researching must be clear, otherwise your observations and results will be all over the place, and then I'll have to fail you which is something no one wants."

I glanced at my watch when I got out of class. It was about 12:30 now, still kind of early. I stopped at a cafe for some bubble tea, and chose a window seat so that I could stare through the glass while I sipped.

I rolled the assignment around in my head, wondering what I could base mine on. Developmental psychology, maybe? The idea of social learning? There were so many choices, and questions based on those choices. I flipped out my phone and tapped a few ideas down in the notes app, before leaving the shop.

By the time I returned to the residence, it was about quarter past one. The bubble tea had warmed me from the inside out, and now all I wanted to do was lie down on the nearest available comfortable and sleep, so I managed to drag myself up the stairs, to my bedroom, kick off my jeans, and do just that.

The insistent buzzing of my phone woke me up about three hours later. I groaned and reached for it without looking, flicking it open and very nearly blinding myself in the process. It was a message from one of my co-workers. I tapped out a short reply, and then sat up and yawned widely.

I knew all that early morning energy wouldn't last, I stretched and, after dragging on the shorts I'd worn that morning, I left my room to see if anyone was back yet.

There didn't seem to be anyone else home yet, but then I heard people talking as I made my way downstairs. One of them was Ema, but the other wasn't one I recognised. "Oh! You're Miwa's husband's daughter," the person said. "I thought there were two of you."

"Um, Ame-chan is probably in class right now..."

I guess that's one of the brothers I haven't met yet, I started walking towards the lounge, but his next words made me freeze. "You're pretty cute as it is, but it doesn't seem like you're very smart."

What?

"Or rather," he decided to elaborate even further. "You're an idiot."

He called Ema-chan an idiot. He called Ema-chan an idiot. He called Ema-chan an idiot... The thought repeated over and over in my mind, and I started walking again. "Ame-chan!" I heard Ema call, and she sounded relieved to see me.

"Oh? Are you the other sister?" Fuuto – because this must be Fuuto – smirked and arched an eyebrow at me. He looked much more annoying in the flesh. "Are you as much of an idiot as she is? You're not answering; you must be an even bigger idiot than she-!"

I grabbed his wrist in one hand, and quickly twisted it behind his back, forcing his torso against the wall. "What. Did you just say. About my sister?"

"Ame-chan!"

I ignored Ema's gasp. She was so kind and gentle, she didn't deserve assholes like him insulting her and trying to take advantage of her. That was why I existed, to teach them a lesson. That was probably one of the reasons I'd been born, to keep my little sister safe when she entered the world.

Fuuto winced in discomfort, and I glared up at him out of furious eyes. "I'm not letting you go until you apologise."

He scowled, and then he smirked and batted his lashes at me. "I'm sorry, big sister~."

I rolled my eyes at that sham of a display. "Not to me, to Ema-chan."

Fuuto narrowed his eyes, and then sighed and directed his next apology at Ema. "I'm sorry big sister. I promise never to do it again~," he said in an incredibly heartfelt and sarcastic tone. Still, he had said it, so I released him and walked over to Ema.

"You need to speak up more when this happens," I scolded her gently, the anger mostly gone. I brushed her hair out of her face. "How was school?"

Before she could respond, Fuuto spoke up. "Heh, so big sister is the motherly type?" He smirked at us and walked closer, completely ignoring any and all ideas of boundaries and personal space. Yet, I felt it would seem like a sign of weakness if I stepped back even a little, so I maintained my glare and position in front of Ema.

"What?" I asked after a second of just staring.

He flashed a smile that probably didn't bode well for anyone. "Nothing~. I think I'll like having my big sister take good care of me, right Ame-chan?" He walked past us, waving over his shoulders. "See you later, idiot older sisters."

I stared after Fuuto blankly. "I'm going to fight him."

"Ame-chan, please don't," she and I walked to her room where I leaned against the wall while she searched for clothes to change into. "Ame-chan..."

I glanced at her, and then looked away. "No."

Her eyes softened even more, giving her the look of a kicked puppy. "Ame-chan..."

Now I refused to even look at her as I shook my head even more vehemently. "No. No way. You want me to apologize him after what he said to you?! Juli, back me up on this!"

The squirrel nodded and leaped down from Ema's shoulder to her bed. "Mai-chan is right, Chii-chan," he said. "He had no right to call you that!"

Ema frowned and looked at her shoes. "W-Well, he was probably surprised as well. Imagine waking up to find someone strange in your house. I just don't want to cause problems for anyone," she could see that I wasn't impressed at all. "Besides, he's our little brother. What did you do when if I acted that way?"

"You never acted out," I rolled my eyes and ruffled her hair. "You were pretty much the poster child for the perfect little sister." She continued to pout at me until I caved, like I always did. "Oh my god. Fine, I'll apologize. Just stop looking at me like that!"

She cheered up when I said that, and hugged me. "Thank you, Ame-chan."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," I huffed, returning the hug, before flopping face-down on her bed. "I won't mean it though."

Once she'd changed, Ema suggested that we make a head start on dinner for the boys, and even dug out our aprons from her bag (so that's where it was) to wear over our clothes. Hers was pink with white polka dots, and mine was the same except it was blue.

When we got downstairs, Ukyo was in the kitchen already. He had just arrived home, and was in the carrying a bunch of white nylon bags that he had just placed on the counter. "Welcome home," we chorused, and he started in surprise, and then stared at us. "Ukyo-san?"

He blinked, and quickly looked away. "Excuse me for staring, it's just that it's been a while since those words have been spoken to me," he pushed his glasses up and smiled down at the counter. "It's quite nice."

"Aw," I frowned and folded my arms across my chest. "Well I guess Ema-chan and I have to make sure you hear it as often as possible to make up for it." Ema nodded in agreement.

Ukyo chuckled at us. "Thank you, Ame-chan, Ema-chan. Oh, that reminds me, have you two met Fuuto yet?"

My left eye twitched, and Ema laughed nervously. "Ah, yes, just earlier actually."

He blinked, his gaze shifting between us, before settling on me. "What happened?"

"I'm going to fight him," I replied immediately. Ema frowned at me, and I pouted and rolled my eyes. "Fine, I won't fight him for calling you an idiot and making you feel bad, but only because you asked so nicely, and I love and value your opinion."

Ukyo sighed and bent to search for something in the lower cupboards. He straightened, holding a green apron with two cat faces on the front. "I see. Well he probably won't be showing his face tomorrow due to work, so I told him to come for a time if he could."

"Tomorrow?" We perked up at his words. "What's happening tomorrow?"

"Ah, my bad, I haven't told you both yet," he tied the strings of the apron, and began pulling out foodstuffs from the bags to use for dinner. "We were planning on throwing a birthday party for Subaru tomorrow."

Ema clapped her hands together in happiness. "Wow, a birthday party! As I thought, having siblings really is fun!"

"Well, normally we don't go that far," he told us. "But this year is special since Subaru is turning 20."

"If there's anything we can do to help, please tell us," I said, rocking onto my tiptoes and balancing there for a moment.

"Well..." he looked up at the ceiling in thought, and then smiled at us.