IT'S SO HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF ALL 13. LIKE DAMN, HOW TF DID THIS HAPPEN WHEN DID THEIR MOTHER HAVE THE GODDAMN TIME TO BE POPPING BABIES OUT LIKE JACKPOT TOKENS?

On that note, enjoy this chapter.

Strawberry Seeds

After dinner that evening, I washed the plates and pots and cutlery. As I did this, I watched through the window of the kitchen as Masaomi signed Ema's letter. "I'm sorry to ask you to do this," I heard my sister apologise. "Especially when you're so busy."

"Oh no, don't worry about it," he smiled to dispel her worries, and rose to his feet. "If there's anything else you need, please don't hesitate to tell me, alright?"

Masaomi-nii was safe, I decided as I dried the freshly washed cutlery. As safe, or even safer than Louis-nii. I had devised a rating system, ranging from the most dangerous of the 13 in relation to Ema (Fuuto), to the least (Wataru). Oddly enough, in spite of his unabashedly flirty persona, Kaname-nii was surprisingly low on the list.

Of course, there were still two others I had yet to meet. They wouldn't be around for the wedding apparently, so meeting them wouldn't occur for a while. Still, they didn't live in the house with everyone else, so their rating on the scale was nearly negligible. For now, I was concerned with visible problems.

"Ame..." I blinked and turned to smile at Ema as she came into the kitchen. Juli was riding on her shoulders, as usual, though he quickly scampered onto mine when I produced a bowl of strawberries from the fridge and held up one for him. "Do you need help?"

I shrugged. "Nah, I'm almost done anyway," I replied. "You should go to bed. You have school tomorrow."

Ema smiled in amusement, humouring me and my motherly ways. "Yes Ame-chan," she giggled. "I'm just excited. It's nice to have a bigger family, isn't it?"

"I wish this family wasn't made up of wolves," Juli muttered quietly, clearly not meant for Ema to hear. I smiled at Ema, and nodded, because her innocent happiness and contentment was oddly contagious. Eventually I shooed her out of the kitchen, and she left with Juli in tow. I watched them leave, and then leaned against the counter with a quiet sigh.

Though the main room downstairs was empty, the house wasn't. I could hear music playing from one of the rooms, and Tsubaki and Azusa practicing lines upstairs. There were other movements, all signs of life that were strange and oddly relaxing. I picked out more strawberries, barely glancing at the bowl as I ate them one after the other.

I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice when Ukyo-nii walked in. He seemed surprised to see me, and I froze with a strawberry halfway to my lips. "Oh! Ame-chan, I didn't know you were still down here!"

I blinked at him once, and then placed the strawberry I'd been holding into my mouth. Then I held out the bowl. "Strawberries?"

"No thanks," he smiled down at me, and I caught the way his eyes briefly flickered towards my lips. Lips I knew were stained red by the strawberry juice. I smiled, and shrugged, and popped another into my mouth with a hum of delight. I cradled the bowl to my chest, and watched him walk around the kitchen, pulling out a mug from one of the cupboards, and a pack of teabags from another. He flicked the switch on the electric kettle, and watched it boil. He seemed tense, and weirdly unwilling to look at me now.

I tilted my head to the side thoughtfully. "Ukyo-nii?" I called out, and he jerked in surprise, like he'd been thinking of something. "Did you like the bento I made today? I didn't get a chance to ask what you liked to eat."

He blinked, wide eyed for a moment, and then he relaxed and smiled. "Yes, I liked it very much Ame-chan. You're a very good cook."

I smiled back, pleased that he'd liked it. I had enjoyed making the food, and it was nice to know that I hadn't overstepped any boundaries, or made something that he disliked. Ukyo seemed to be one of the stabilising presences in the house, along with Masaomi-nii, and (to a slightly lesser extent) Azusa-nii.

"So I can make more?" I asked, already thinking about tomorrow. Ema and Yuusuke wouldn't need bentos, Kaname didn't need any at all since his schedule rendered him nearly nocturnal, and Azusa and Tsubaki didn't appear to have fixed schedules. That only left Masomi, Ukyo, Iori, Wataru, Louis, and Subaru. That meant six lunches.

Ukyo looked fondly amused now, and the expression made me blush. It had been a while since anyone–outside of Ema and papa of course–had looked at me like that after all. "Of course. I'm sure they would all appreciate it." There was a click as the kettle finished boiling the water, and he turned away to prepare his tea. With his eyes averted, I scolded myself internally.

My fingers dipped into the bowl again, and I blinked when I touched the empty bottom. Darn, I pouted at the empty bowl, I guess I should go to bed now. I quickly washed the bowl and placed it into the dish strainer.

"Goodnight, Ukyo-nii," I sang quietly.

He smiled at me over the top of his mug. "Goodnight, Ame-chan."

oOo

So how are your brothers? – Sora

I squinted at the screen of my phone, a smile quirking my lips. As nice as the women at my work were, and as friendly as we were, we ever only texted or called each other to send instructions or warnings. The rice cooker rumbled in front of me, and I dried my other hand on my skirt so I could type out a reply.

Why are you awake? It's 7 a.m. – Ame

Why are YOU awake? I'm dropping my niece off at school, so I have a valid excuse – Sora

I'm making lunches for everyone. Well, 6/13, but close enough – Sora

I was totally prepared to make bentos that next morning by the way. Well, maybe not totally, I still wasn't sure of personal favourites yet, but I did know that I couldn't go wrong with a basic rice-meat-vegetables lunch. Maybe I could add some fruit, because vitamins were important, especially for Wataru.

My phone buzzed again as Ukyo-nii descended. "Good morning, Ame-chan," he greeted, and I responded in kind just as my phone buzzed again. "Who are you talking to so early in the morning?" He asked in amusement as he joined me to prepare breakfast.

"Just a friend from work," I replied distractedly, checking the messages.

Ooooh, making them lunch huh? – Sora

I guess everything must be going well – Sora

Both messages ended with a long string of emojis, the most prominent of which were hearts and winking faces. I snickered and rolled my eyes at her antics, pocketing my phone. "I made enough rice for breakfast and lunch," I told Ukyo as he sprayed a pan with oil and set it on the stove. "I couldn't find any fish though."

"I think we ran out," he ducked into the fridge and reappeared with a pack of pork bits. "I'll add it to the list."

"Ema and I could go shopping for it!" I shot my hand up in the air. "Or just me, if she's too busy. I don't mind!"

Ukyo laughed at my exuberance. "If she's too busy, and I'm not, then I'll go with you. Would that be alright?"

Before I could answer, chatter from above alerted us to the presence of others. Azusa and Tsubaki descended the stairs, right behind Ema and Juli, who was hissing quietly at them from atop Ema's head. Wataru zoomed down the stairs with far more energy than I expected, though I honestly shouldn't have been surprised by this point.

He nearly crashed into my legs before Ukyo could stop him. "Big sister, big sister!" He grinned up at me. "Are you going to make me another bento?"

I beamed down at me, inexplicably charmed by his excitement. "Of course! I can even make it in a different shape, if you like!"

"Yay!" He cheered. "I liked the rabbit, big sister! It was very pretty! All my classmates were jealous that they don't have a big sister like you!"

I think my heart played about 17 drum solos at that moment.Honestly, I almost felt like crying. "Thank you, Wataru," I patted the top of his head.

"Wataru, stop distracting Ame-chan," Tsubaki called out. Wataru pouted, but let go of my legs. I turned my attention back to the bentos. Since we were out of fish apparently, eggs and pork were going to have to be the main source of protein. That still meant fruits though, and I debated whether or not buying yoghurt would be a good decision since fruits and cereals go so well with it and wow I am acting really motherly calm down maybe...

As usual, Ukyo left with Wataru, and I don't recall seeing Subaru at all that morning but his lunch was gone. Ema left with Yuusuke, after asking to make sure I would be coming by later. As the twins were leaving, Tsubaki leaned a little closer than necessary when I handed him his own lunch. "The cafe near the meeting place has a new sweet item," he grinned down at me. "Wanna try it out today?"

Oh, that was actually really tempting, except Kaname chose that time to appear walk into the kitchen and drape an arm around my shoulders. "Sorry Tsubaki, but our little sister is coming with me today."

"I am?" "She is?"

Kaname looked ridiculously smug about this, and instead of his usual robes and sash, he was dressed in a purple suit of the same colour. "Masa-nii was called in this morning. Apparently it's urgent, so he asked me to go in his place with Ame-chan."

"Oh, I hope it's nothing too bad," I frowned, then I turned to Tsubaki with an apologetic smile. "Sorry, I guess I can't go with you today, but I definitely want to! Can we go some other day?"

He'd been frowning before, but he smiled when he saw how genuine I was (sweets and cakes are serious business okay?). "Definitely! I'll take you out someday!"

A gust of warm air ruffled the hair atop my head as Kaname sighed. "Little sister, you're far too sweet," he sounded faintly amused. I blinked up at him curiously, and he shook his head. "Your innocence is cute though."

I wrinkled my nose, and huffed. "Thanks," I replied sarcastically, just as Iori jogged downstairs and paused when he saw us. "Iori-nii!" I thought he'd left! I wriggled out of Kaname's arms and picked up one of the lunchboxes. "I made this for you!" I grinned up at him as he took it, his eyes blank but slightly curious. "Go on, open it!"

He unclipped the lid and lifted it, and I caught the slight curl of his lips that looked just like a smile. I'd done my best to shape the rice and vegetables into a basic five-petal flower, but I think it looked a little wonky. "Thank you, Ame-chan," Iori replaced the cover and, to my surprise, patted me gently on the top of the head.

"I'm surprised," Kaname commented when he left. "Iori isn't usually that affectionate. He must like you a lot, little sister." Arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind and Kaname rested his chin atop my head. "I may be jealous."

I rolled my eyes and twisted around so my face was pressed against his chest. "Why? You like me to, don't you Kaname-nii? Ema and I hoped we would all get along!"

He didn't say anything for a moment, and then he chuckled and stroked my hair gently. "Of course, my darling little sister."