Marble Cake

Louis took us to the wedding venue, which was a large silver hotel. While the ceremony would take place there in the hotel chapel, the actual wedding celebration would be held in the large garden grounds. I was excited to see the decorations, especially since I hadn't had a chance to before then, but Ema was determined that we first go look for dad and Ms. Miwa to give them our congratulations.

Ms. Miwa, or I suppose I should be calling her mom but I would understandably need time to get used to having a mother again. Anyway, Ms. Miwa was a kind person from what I'd seen of her, Ema and I had only met her a few times while she and dad had been dating. She was a beautiful woman with short, stylish blonde hair and gentle blue eyes.

She and dad were talking – or making googly eyes at each other – In the dressing room when we arrived, and they both turned to see who'd come in. Dad smiled when he saw us, "I almost didn't recognise the two of you," he complimented.

Ema fidgeted nervously, her cheeks flushing. "O-On this auspicious day, I...oh that's not it, I...Ame?"

I hooked my free arm that wasn't holding my violin case through hers with a wide smile on my face. "We're here to say congratulations, and we hope you have a long and happy future together!"

"Oh my, girls are truly a joy!" Ms. Miwa skipped delicately from our dad's side to coo at us. That was also understandable, seeing as she had thirteen boys which was a magical feat in itself but it also explained why she was so excited to marry dad and was so enamoured with Ema and myself.

Once we were done saying hi, Ema and I made our way downstairs and through several hallways to the gardens. Juli was perched on Ema's shoulder while my sister sighed happily. "Ms. Miwa is such a wonderful lady. Dad looked so happy."

Juli nodded in agreement. "It'd be great if that mother would keep tabs on the animal brothers," he commented, a sentiment I agreed with.

I shrugged and skipped ahead a few feet, spinning on my tiptoes and letting the weight of my violin control my momentum. "Come on, walk faster! I wanna see what the gardens look like!" I kept walking, but after a moment I turned around to an empty hallway and a large door that was open just a crack.

"Ugh..." I groaned and made my way back to the door. I pushed it open easily and stuck my head inside. "I look away for six seconds and you're already lost?" Then I glowered. "And who might you be?"

Standing in front of my sister was a man with orange hair and purple eyes. He also had a birthmark on his chin and looked vaguely familiar. He blinked at me in surprise, and then his eyes narrowed. "Only family members are allowed here."

"Yes, we know," I stood in front of Ema, forcing him to back up just a tad from where he'd been trying to intimidate her. "We're family."

The man took that step backwards, looking torn between confusion and irritation, and then we heard the creaking of the door and a familiar voice called out, "Hey there!"

Behind us stood the whole group, all twelve of them, dressed up to the nines in new suits. Tsubaki complimented us first, and I suspected it was his voice that had called out in the first place. "Looking real cute there!"

The others gave similar sentiments until I was torn between covering my face to hide my blush, or fighting every single one of them in order to regain some semblance of calm again, but that's just me.

In the light of their appearance and praise, I nearly forgot about the guy behind us. "Oh, Natsume's there," Tsubaki commented belatedly.

The guy, Natsume I guess, scowled although I suspect that may be his default state of being. "More like you guys did this on purpose," he snapped. "What's going on? Explain!"

Tsubaki snickered and walked around us to throw a casual arm over Natsume's shoulders. "This is Natsume," he introduced. "Me and Azusa's little brother!" He explained, and then further expounded on that by stating that the three of them were triplets, with Azusa and Tsubaki being identical and Natsume being fraternal.

Ah, there's the whole set, I stared at the three of them and cataloguing the similarities in facial structure. It's a set within a set. Ema and I glanced at each other just to be certain that the other was just as confused and surprised.

"And now you've met everyone!" Kaname stated as the three triplets went to stand with the others.

Wataru threw his arms up in excitement. "The brothers are complete!"

We're really going to become siblings with these people, I stared at them blankly, and then glanced at my sister fondly. Just like you always wanted Ema, one big happy family.

oOo

The wedding ceremony was beautiful. Ema cried a few times, as did Juli. Hikaru shed a few heartfelt but delicate tears that he dabbed away calmly before they could smear his makeup. When dad and Ms. Miwa kissed, Ema squeezed my hand tightly and I didn't have to look at her to see how happy she was. That's my baby sister, always putting the happiness of other's first.

After the wedding in the chapel and before the celebrations in the garden, I dragged Ema off, citing sisterly bonding time as the reason for why none of them could follow us and escort us around the hotel. We found a place to relax in the hotel's lobby and I remained standing and tapping at my phone while Ema took a seat on one of the semi-soft cubic red sofas.

She leaned back and sighed happily. "The wedding in the chapel was lovely, wasn't it? I just adored it. Didn't you think so, Ame?"

"Yeah, it was really beautiful," I nodded happily and finally dropped down in the seat next to her, sliding my phone into my bag and crossing my legs. "I'm glad it went off without a hitch."

Juli clicked his tongue and frowned up at us. "It's still to early for either of you to adore those things," he scolded. "Getting married is out of the question!"

I couldn't help giggling at how firm he sounded. "That's not what we meant Juli..." I trailed off as Natsume came in sight. He hadn't been there when I'd asked for some sister time with Ema, and that warning had mostly been for Fuuto and Tsubaki.

He walked over to us, and Ema quickly got to her feet. I sighed and eyed him closely while they spoke. Scowling may not have been his default expression as I'd originally thought, but he did have the look of someone who was constantly irritated by the rest of the world. Ema tried to apologise, probably for wandering into the chapel, but he stopped her.

"No, I should be the one apologising," he said, and I felt myself relaxing marginally. "Sorry, this is my business card with my contact information since I don't live with everyone," he pulled something from his breast pocket and handed it to her. "If anything comes up that bothers either of you, please call me."

Ema accepted the card with a pleased smile, and then she gasped when she looked at it. "This is the company that makes a videogame I like!"

"Wait, really?" I stood up and came closer so I could look at the card as well. It was fairly simple, an orange border on the right side, his company's title and logo, then his name, number and home address. Ema passed the card to me and I looked it over quickly with a matching grin. "Oh wow, that is the company!"

Natsume looked surprised. "You both play videogames?"

"Yeah!" Ema perked up even more. "Like Zombie Hazard and others!"

"You play that game?"

"Yeah, I love it! I've pulled all-nighters with Ame to finish instalments!" More like she'd drugged me with coffee too keep me awake so I could keep her company and help her pass the game but I wasn't going to say anything. I did cough, but that was totally on accident. "Ame likes games too, but she's not much of a gamer."

I shoved her good-naturedly and rolled my eyes. "See if I ever play multiplayer with you ever again. Ema's the real gamer though. She's really good."

At least Natsume seemed to have warmed up to the two of us, but mostly Ema. "If you've beat even the latest instalment then you must be pretty good," he said admiringly, causing her to flush with pride. "It makes me happy to hear things like that, so thank you."

"Oh, y-you're welcome!" She ducked her head bashfully and I sighed internally.

The lobby was beginning to thin out as more people left for the gardens. We would have to leave soon. Natsume cocked his head thoughtfully. "Then, would you want samples of the latest games and stuff like that?"

For a moment I was certain Ema was glittering with repressed elation. "What? You could do that?"

He nodded, apparently pleased to have made her happy. "Yes, it would be no trouble at all..." he replied, and then he stopped, his eyes on something just behind us. I turned to check, and spotted Subaru. He didn't look at me, he just stared at Natsume coldly, and then kept walking. What is up with him?

When I looked forward again, Natsume looked conflicted and vaguely sad. "Hey, this may sound like an odd question, but how's Subaru been doing lately?"

Ema blinked, and her brow crinkled in puzzlement. "How's he been doing?" She echoed. "Is something the matter with Subaru?"

Apart from getting drunk, insulting Ema and then falling on her and kissing her, he's fine.

"I heard he's not doing too well. He was dropped from the starting lineup, and it looks like he hasn't been able to focus on his game."

Oh...well that too I guess.

"You've both been living with him," Natsume said. "I was hoping you'd know if something was wrong...?" I glanced at Ema, and I could tell she was thinking about that night and beginning to stress. This conversation was over.

I hooked my arm through Ema's. "We don't know what's wrong with Subaru, but we'll keep an eye out. Ema, the celebration's about to start! Let's go!" I dragged her away, and luckily she followed without tripping.

oOo

By the time the wedding reception had begun, Ema seemed to have cheered up. It's hard to be sad when there's an abundance of food and cake for constant and free consumption. My violin solo of Senbonzakura was well received, and maybe I'd start practicing again, who knows? After that, and after dad and Ms. Miwa – well, Ms. Asahina now – cut the cake, Ema and I both went around taking pictures of the family.

Well she went around taking pictures, and I just followed her around with a plate of snacks, but let's not get pedantic.

I was on my last bite, which was something that tasted like coconuts, when Ema suddenly paused and lowered her camera. Standing a few feet away from us was Subaru, and he was staring at her determinedly. I frowned and glanced at Ema. She looked nervous, and that grew the closer he came until he was standing in front of her. "Can we talk for a moment?" He glanced at me warily, and I arched an eyebrow at him. "Alone?"

No. "Um...okay." I stared at Ema with wide eyes, and she shot me a pleading look. "Please, Ame?"

I scowled and glanced between the two of them, before nodding jerkily. "I'm going to get more food. Do you want anything Ema?"

"Vanilla cheesecake?"

Another nod, less stiff this time, and leveled her with a mock-stern look. "We're dancing later. We get each others' first dances, do I make myself clear?"

She giggled and waved me away. "Yes Ame."

With one last wary glare at Subaru, I headed off in the direction of one of the buffet tables.

If you want to know what the violin solo sounds like, search on YouTube for Senbonzakura by Lindsey Stirling. It's so beautiful. If you haven't guessed by now, Ame is a fan of Vocaloid songs.