Apple Tart

I'd never been out with Kaname in the daytime, since his job rendered him practically nocturnal. I'd expected attracting some stares, but not that many. "It's because you didn't wear a tie," I sighed, pointedly not looking at him or the risqué number of buttons he'd left undone. If you think collarbones aren't attractive, well think again.

He chuckled and shrugged. "These aren't my typical clothes," Kaname replied. "We would have been late if we'd searched for a matching tie."

Our arms were linked together, as they had been ever since we'd disembarked from the bus, and I tightened my grip on his bicep when I argued back. "No we wouldn't. Ukyo-nii has lots of ties. We could have just borrowed from him," I grinned and relaxed my grip. Kaname was very solid next to me. I don't know if it's the insane height difference between us, but I liked how I fit against him. "He wouldn't have minded, right?"

"I don't think he minds anything you do," Kaname sighed with a knowing smile. "He has a soft spot for you."

We paused to let the lights turn green, and then continued walking. "Do you have a soft spot for me too?" I asked him curiously.

Kaname smiled, but he didn't look at me. "Yes, my little sister, I do." I blinked up at him curiously, but we'd already reached the front of the school. "Yuusuke and Ema-chan are both in the same class, aren't they?"

Their class was on the third floor, and was one of the rooms facing the streets. I skipped over to the door and knocked politely before popping my head in. "Hello!" I chirped.

"Hello," Kaname came in behind me, his lips curved in a smirk. "Thank you for looking after my unworthy little brother and adorable little sister."

"Ame! Kaname-san!" Ema looked pleased to see us, if a little confused at Kaname's appearance. Yuusuke just looked annoyed, but that seemed to be his default appearance. That and awkward bashfulness.

He stood up so quickly that his chair very nearly fell over. "Kana-nii? What are you doing here?!"

"Masa-nii got called away on an emergency," Kaname replied easily, casually resting his hand on the small of my back. "And I just so happened to be free, so he asked me to fill in for him and accompany Ame-chan." He gently pushed me towards a seat on the other side of the teacher, who looked like she did not get paid enough for whatever this was.

Yuusuke scowled and sat back down, folding his arms across his chest. "So, why are we doing this meeting with all four of us here?"

"Now, now, don't be so uptight," Kaname smiled. "Right, Mrs. Kishida?" He turned to the teacher with a winning smile. In spite of her tired apathy, even she mustered up a light pink blush in response. I rolled my eyes discreetly in Ema's direction, and smiled when she covered her mouth to hide quiet giggles. I picked up her career guidance form and read over it curiously.

"Oooh, you still want to come to the university I go to? And it's your top choice!" I grinned happily, and then passed the paper to a curious Kaname. "Did you know Subaru-nii also goes there?"

"Is that so?" Kaname pouted theatrically at her. "Is that because Ame-chan is there, or is because Suba-nii is? I'm going to cry if that's the case."

I snickered and reached for Yuusuke's paper. "Don't be so dramatic, Kaname-nii. Huh?" I cocked my head bemusedly. "Yuusuke-kun, your list of preferred colleges is empty."

"Why is that?" Kaname looked surprised as well. "You're not going to college?"

We all turned to stare at him, Ema included, and he winced slightly. He turned to Ema, and then quickly looked down at the table. "I...want to go there too..."

"What?" Kaname looked fairly entertained now. "Go where?"

Once again, Yuusuke jumped to his feet so quickly that his chair rattled dangerously and nearly fell over. "I just told you! I want to go to the same college too!"

"The yelling was a bit unnecessary," I murmured with a smile. He flushed and quickly sat down again, glaring out the window. "I guess that's one choice," I pulled out a pen from my bag and scribbled Meiji University on the first line. "You do need more choices though."

The rest of the meeting passed by quickly, and then Kaname and I were free to go, while Ame and Yuusuke still had a few more classes to get through. "It's still a bit early," I stretched my arms above my head and squinted up at the sun. "Are you busy today?"

"Unfortunately I do have a meeting with a client in about an hour," Kaname came up behind me and laced our fingers together, bringing my arms down. "But is there something you would like to do?"

I thought about it for a moment, and then tilted my head backwards until I could see his face smiling down at me. "Let's get something to drink before you have to go."

Kaname bought himself some coffee, while I got green apple flavoured bubble tea. My go to flavour is usually strawberry, but the green apple flavour looked good too. We sat together for a few minutes, leisurely sipping our drinks, until Kaname glanced at his watch and sighed. "I have to go now."

I pulled the straw out of my mouth. "Okay, be safe!" I grinned when he bent to press a coffee-scented kiss against my cheek, and hid my smirk with another sip of tea. I could almost hear the jealous whispers filling up the cafe, and I wondered if they would still be jealous if they knew we were siblings.

You know, some of them might be. This wasn't a maid cafe though, right?

While I was sipping from my (second) cup of tea, my phone buzzed with a text. I flipped it out and blinked down at the ID. It was from Ukyo.

I'm off work now, I was wondering if you could come shopping with me. One of my co-workers told me that there was a sale on fish at the supermarket – Ukyo

Oooh, sales! I love sales! I quickly tapped out a reply.

Definitely! I'm at the Sunflower Cafe right now. Are you already headed to the supermarket? Should I meet you? – Ame

Stay put. I'll come get you. – Ukyo

Fifteen minutes later, Ukyo walked into the cafe, dressed as usual in his red and black suit. Unlike usual, his tie was loosened and the first two buttons of his shirt were undone. He scanned the room briefly, before his gaze alighted on me with a pleased expression.

As he walked over to me, the whispers started up again, and I almost laughed. Ukyo eyed the two cups with amusement. "You really like bubble tea, don't you?"

"It tastes really good!" I grabbed my bag and my half empty cup, and followed him out of the cafe to his car. I hadn't seen it before, but it was quite lovely, sleek and black with silver accoutrements. "Do you know what we need?"

There was a rumble as the car started up. "I have a general idea, yes."

I guess news of the sale had spread, that or a lot of people really wanted fish, but the supermarket was fuller than normal. I grabbed a basket and began ticking off items we needed. "Fish, milk, cereal, sauce containers, assorted vegetables..." I stopped by the fruit aisle and considered whether it would be more prudent to buy bananas or apples.

"Not oranges?" Ukyo sounded intrigued, and I shook my head without looking at him.

"I don't like the look of the oranges," I picked one up and showed him where it was bruising. "Ema doesn't mind either, but which do you think everyone would prefer?"

"Hmm...apples I suppose," he reached over my shoulder for a bag, his front coming a tad bit too close to my back. With my back to him, I sighed quietly, and then turned to face him with a smile. He smiled back. "Anything else?"

By the time we got home, it was just getting dark and the brothers were already home, excluding Masaomi. "There you are!" I squeaked, and then giggled when Tsubaki hugged me tightly. "It's not fair, Ame-chan, I want to spend time with you too!"

I squeezed him back just as hard as we swayed back and forth in front of the door. "We can still spend time together! You promised me cake!"

"This is fairly heartwarming," Ukyo sounded like he was both annoyed but also faintly amused by us. "But I have yet to shut the door, and you're letting all the heat out. If Ame-chan catches a cold, it will be your fault."

Tsubaki spun with me, probably smirking over my head since my face was smushed against his chest. "Then I'll just have to nurse her back to health."

"And miss the wedding?" Azusa whacked him over the head, and Tsubaki released me with a put upon whine. Oh, the wedding... After that, we would all be one big, happy family. At least, that's what I hoped.

I snickered and skipped over to Ukyo. "I'll put everything away." When he tried to argue, I shushed him. "No, you have work, and I'm sure you put off a lot to do the shopping. The least I can do is put everything away, okay? Besides," I turned to my sister. "Ema will help me, right?"

Apparently we'd bought a lot more than I thought we had, because putting everything away took longer than I thought. Of course we did spend a lot of time not doing anything but talking, and I did snack a bit, but whatever.

"We've only been here a few weeks, and you're already doing the shopping," Ema giggled, reaching up to slide a tin of sardines into the cupboard. "You're so motherly, Ame."

"Motherly? I'm not that motherly, am I?" I pouted at her. In response, she held up the blue bear shaped lunchbox I'd bought for Wataru. "Okay, that doesn't count, I saw it and thought it looked cute."

"You make breakfast for everyone in the mornings. And lunches!"

I glared at her, but there was no real heat behind it. "Because Ukyo-nii can't be expected to make breakfast for so many people! He has work!" Then I paused and thought about it. "Besides, aren't those more wifely duties than motherly?"

Ema thought about it as well, and then snorted out a giggle. "They are! You're acting like a dutiful wife!"

"Don't say that!" She was still laughing, so I clapped my hand over her mouth, but I couldn't stop grinning either. "I mean it! Be quiet!" She shook her head, my fingers muffling her words. "What are they teaching you in school? Shhh! You're going to wake someone up!"

"I think it's a little late for that," Ukyo walked into the kitchen, looking like he was trying very hard not to laugh. Guiltily, I released Ema, and stuck my tongue out at her when she wouldn't stop laughing quietly to herself. "You're both still awake?"

I averted my eyes guiltily. "We got...sidetracked..."

"I can see that." There was mirth bubbling in his tone, and then he shrugged off his jacket and swung it over Ema's shoulders. "But it's important to watch your health, isn't it? As I said, you mustn't catch a cold."

I saluted jauntily. "Sir, yes sir!"

There were footsteps, accompanied by a quiet tapping sound, and then someone appeared in the kitchen entrance. She was tall, with long dark auburn hair, and smiling lips that were painted dark pink. She had a slender figure, and was clad in what looked like designer clothes.

She's pretty...wait, how did she get into the house?

Before I could even begin to voice that question, she was hugging Ema and I like she knew us. What the-? "I've been dying to meet you both," she said in a low, pleased voice, and then she pulled back and smiled at our stunned expressions. "Nice to meet you, I'm Hikaru," she introduced herself. "I'm the fourth son of the Asahina family."

"Oh, it's nice to meet you too-!" Wait, did she say son?!

"In spite of his appearance, Hikaru is indeed a man," Ukyo folded his arms and sighed from behind Hikaru.

Before we could think too hard on this, Hikaru held out his hand to us with a smile. "I look forward to getting to know you both better, my little sisters."

"Yes, likewise!" Ema and I shook his hand in turn. Oh well, he seems nice enough. I wonder if he's a make-up artist, or a fashion designer. It would certainly explain the pretty clothes and jewellery.

Ukyo clicked his tongue in disapproval. "Honestly, what is the meaning of this. Coming home so late, when did you even return to Japan?"

"Oh, did you miss me that much?" Hikaru smirked teasingly, and then he laughed. "Actually, I was sent here on a mission," he left the kitchen, only to return with boxes. "To deliver these to you. They're packages sent with love~"

I gazed down at the boxes in awe, no doubt they contained dresses and/or shoes, and beamed at Hikaru happily. "Thank you!"

oOo

Once I was in my room, I opened the boxes one by one, starting with the smallest. As I did, the smile on my face grew larger and larger as jewellery and shoes were revealed. The largest and final box contained a gorgeous peach coloured dress, and a note attached to the collar.

I picked this dress out with Rintaro. Thank you for agreeing to become a part of our family, and for giving me the gift of picking out dresses for a daughter. Rintaro tells me you're very mature for your age, but I hope you grow to think of me as someone you can confide in.

I put down the note, and scooped the dress out of the box with a soft smile. Whatever makes Ema happiest.