A New Chapter

Ame idly flipped through the basketball magazine Subaru had left on the coffee-table upstairs, pausing when she reached a certain article. It wasn't much, just a sentence or two between a prediction of future games and an advert for an alarmingly blue sports drink, but it was interesting to see.

"What are you reading?" Ema mumbled around a yawn. Her hair was tied up in a towel but a few stray droplets of water slid down her face and dampened the collar of her pyjamas.

"Nothing, just looking at this magazine," Ame put it away and shifted so that her sister could get on the bed. Even though they both had their own rooms and neither of them had beds big enough for two people, they almost always ended up falling asleep in the same room. "Are you excited for school tomorrow?"

"So excited!" Ema whisper-yelled, throwing her arms in the air and flopping backwards with such force that Juli bounced several inches into the air. Luckily the squirrel was fast asleep and only muttered something in his sleep before curling up again. The two girls giggled to each other. "What about you? Are you excited to start your assistant position?"

Ame rolled her eyes and pulled Ema up again. "Your hair is going to end up in mad tangles if you don't brush and braid it tonight. And I told you, it's not an assistant position, it's just something I have to do for my psychology class."

"Yeah, yeah," Ema hummed, leaning back into her sister's cold hands as she combed the damp strands with her electric hairbrush. Ame was the best with hair and sometimes Ema wished she had copied the older girl when she was going through her Rapunzel phase. Louis was good with hair too, Ema ceded, but then he was a hairdresser. It was his profession.

Her thoughts drifted a little more and she found herself giggling. "What? What is so funny that you are literally flirting with 2nd degree burns?" Ame waved the hot, electric brush in front of her quite pointedly.

"Nothing, I'm just remembering that time you thought onion-water and raw eggs were a viable hair-care treatment," Ema burst into cackles before she even finished speaking. "No one could go near you for a week!"

"Shut up, it worked!" Ame mock-scowled and flicked her hair, a move which might have looked cool had she not tied it up into a bun earlier. "Oh stop laughing!" She pushed her sister over and started poking her all over. "You know what my hair looks like! You know it looks good! Say it!"

"Never!" Ema gasped out between laughter. "Nooo, stop! I'm ticklish! I'll die!"

"Then perish! Rah!" Ame gleefully wormed her fingers into Ema's armpits and wriggled them pitilessly. "However I will have mercy. Only because I love you and we are making so much noise right now."

Ema rolled over, gasping between chuckles. "I'm saved!" They lay there for a moment, calming down and basking in the comfortable atmosphere that got a lot less comfortable when Ema propped herself up on her side and said, "so…how is Subaru?"

"Ema…" Ame got off the bed and pretended to be busy looking for something on her dressing table.

Ema sat up on the bed, refusing to drop it. "You hate sports, Ame. You would literally rather watch paint dry, so what's going on? Why have you been giving the boys such a hard time?"

"Hey," she turned around, a little stung and very defensive, "I'm not giving all of them a hard time, just the ones who deserve it. I haven't done anything to the twins, or Kaname-nii, or Ukyo-nii, or Louis-nii…"

"Okay, maybe, but you've been acting really weird around Subaru-nii and now he barely comes home!" Ema watched her sister give up on the dressing table and go over to her closer where she could be out of sight. Unwilling to grant her that defence, Ema followed her and leaned against the wall, "Mai-chan…talk to me…"

Ame made a noise that was somewhere between a whine and a discontented growl. "That's cheating; you can't use that nickname and puppy eyes!"

"Mai-chaaaan…"

"Ugh, whatever," she slammed her wardrobe shut and leaned against it so the two sisters were looking at each other. "I just want to keep you safe, okay? And they're not safe Emma. Hikaru-nii is constantly scheming, Fuuto is dangerous, and Subaru has underlying anger issues. You want brothers, not boyfriends, and I am what's stopping them from going further.""

"You don't know that."

"I do know that. You can't talk me out of this Ema," she walked past her sister and went back to the bed, cursing when she spotted the still-switched on brush lying on her sheets. Ame quickly unplugged it and inspected the bed for marks.

She could hear Ema pacing behind her. "Wait…is that why you decided to do your project at school?" Her voice rose in angry realisation that only grew the longer her sister kept quiet. "Ame!"

Annoyed and feeling catty in a way she almost never felt towards her sister, Ame scoffed and tossed over her shoulder, "You know, if you could raise your voice like that whenever they tried to touch you, maybe I wouldn't have to do any of this."

"You know what? Fine! I'll sleep in my own room tonight!"

"Don't forget Juli!" Ame called back. She didn't lift her head when Ema marched over to the bed and then stormed out of the room. She didn't flinch when the door shut, though the click of the lock felt louder than Ema's raised voice. After a long moment of silence she finally sighed and ran a hand over the small brown mark burned onto the blue bedsheets.

oOo

The next morning Ame woke up early to prepare lunchboxes. Feeling guilty, she added a few extra snacks to Ema's along with the word sorry in ketchup painted over the rice. Although she didn't see Ema that morning, the lunchbox was gone by the time she got out of the shower so Ame had high hopes. Her sister was soft-hearted and sentimental and Ame was certain that she would be forgiven before lunch.

"Oh my, what a daringly professional outfit little sister," Kaname cooed when he finally wandered in from work. "Where are you going? You don't have classes until later today."

"Oh, I'm not going to class today," Ame replied, gesturing to a bowl of rice-porridge steaming on the counter. Kaname made a sharp turn and picked it up, inhaling the delicious, home-cooked soup. "I'm assisting in high school classes at Ema's school for two weeks as part of my psychology course."

Ah, and that's why you're dressed like a sexy teacher, he thought to himself but wisely did not say out loud. Instead he grinned behind the rim of his bowl and made his way over to the couch. "Have a good day in class then, little sister~."

"Thanks, I hope I will," Ame slid her feet into a pair of modest kitten heels and walked out the door. As she did she spotted piles of cherry leaves that had blown all over the place. Will I have time to clean all that up today? She had homework to do, not to mention grocery shopping, and then dinner…

She caught the train to the school and smiled her way through introductions. Although she was not allotted to Ema's year group, a few students remembered her from when she went there and she could tell this by the way they regarded her with a mix of awe and slight fear. However from those who didn't know her, she had to suffer through the least subtle and most awkward flirting because – as Fuuto had shown her – fifteen year old boys were weirdly sexual beings.

Because she wasn't really a teacher, her day ended early which meant she had time to swing by the shops and grab ingredients for dinner. There was even a sale on beef sirloin!

On her way home she spotted Subaru in the distance. He had walked out of the house and was sweeping up the cherry blossoms. "Wow, you're home early!" She called out. "No practice?"

"Not today," he replied curtly, avoiding eye contact and holding himself tensely like he wanted to escape the conversation as quickly as possible.

But Ame was still feeling a little stung from the conversation she'd had with Ema the night before. "What? Now you can't even look at me?" She placed a hand on her hip and widened her eyes innocently. "I'm hurt, Subaru-kun. Everyone seems to think I'm the bad guy here."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," he muttered, still not looking at her. "I'm just busy, that's all."

Ame huffed and rolled her eyes. "Ema talked to me and, according to her, I have been a little hard on you." Subaru snorted and turned it into a cough when her eyes narrowed. "Anyway…I thought about it and, maybe I have treated you a little unfairly. I mean, you haven't actually done anything to warrant such harsh treatment."

"Does that mean you'll stop threatening me at every turn?" He arched an eyebrow.

"As long as you stay in your lane, sure," Ame turned and strutted towards the house, her heels clicking rhythmically on the tile until she paused at the entrance, "remember that caveat, Subaru: stay in your lane." With that she walked into the house and left him to his sweeping.

She put the meat into the fridge and started on her homework, a task that took up the better part of three hours so she almost missed when Ema came home.

The younger girl wandered over to her, fiddling with her fingers and biting her lip. Neither of them said anything for a long moment until Ema finally looked up. "Thanks for lunch," she mumbled.

"It was nothing," Ame replied just as quietly.

"Subaru-kun told me you were going to be nicer."

"That might be stretching it a bit-"

"Thank you. I know I snapped a little last night but I do appreciate you and you are my big sister-"

"Stop, I get it!" Ame's face was bright pink the colour it went when she was receiving genuine affection that she wasn't sure what to do with. "Whatever, stop looking at me like that! Go do your homework!"

As soon as she disappeared up the stairs, Iori came in. He looked surprised to see her although his expression soon changed to one of quiet pleasure. "Hi Ame-chan…"

As reserved as ever, Ame smiled at him. "Hi Iori-kun. How was your day?"

"It was fine," he flushed faintly. "Thank you for the lunchbox. It was delicious."

"You're welcome," she replied. Ame took great pride in her bento-box skills. All those years watching YouTube videos would not be wasted. "Is that one of the tulips from outside?" She stared at the bright red flower in his free hand.

He jerked like he had forgotten that he had it in the first place. "Yes. It's for you. I thought you could put it with the camellias."

"I have no idea how I've kept those alive all this time," Ame murmured, thinking of the well-watered bunch of camellias that spruced up her dressing table. "Thank you! Oh gosh, that reminds me, I should start dinner!"

Iori followed her into the kitchen and leaned against the counter. "Isn't it Ukyo-nii's turn to cook tonight?"

"Yes but he's been busy recently," Ame replied, bumping the fridge door shut with her hip. "I can at least put the soup to cook. It won't take long. Do you want to help?"

"Um, I'm not sure I'll be much use-"

"Nonsense!" Ame flicked out a knife and, after examining it with a critical eye, proceeded to sharpen it loudly until it gleamed. "Here, chop up the carrots. They don't have to be neat but they do need to be in cubes." She watched him mangle a carrot with an amused giggle. "No, hold the carrot firmly. Like this," she ducked under one arm and guided his hands. "Yeah, like that! Good job!"

"It's because Ame-chan is a good teacher," he replied with a little smile, peering down at her.

"Aw, you're so nice to me! Oh, hey Ukyo-nii! How was work?" Ame's attention switched to the brother that had just arrived, weighed down by his briefcase and exhaustion. His gaze landed on them and narrowed, taking in how close they were standing to each other and the fact that Ame's hand was resting on Iori's upper arm.

Then he smiled. "It was fine. Ame-chan, I thought we were going to cook together."

"Well I thought you would be tired when you got home," Ame looked away and missed the thunderous glares the two shot at each other. "Anyway, thanks for cutting up the vegetables Iori. All that's left is the meat!"

"Do you need any help with that?" Ukyto strode forward, placing a proprietary hand on Ame's shoulder. She blinked at the unexpected contact and then brushed it aside, filing it away for later consideration.

"Well this cut is tougher than I thought it would be," she replied, not really because she had a problem cutting it up but just to give an answer. "I did consider marinating it in honey and spices but that will take too long."

"Here, let me see," Ukyo fit himself behind her, leaning over her shoulder. From that position though he couldn't see Ame's eyes widen. Are you kidding me? She thought with a muted scowl.

"My, what are the three of you flirting about?"

Goddammit. At least Hikaru's surprise appearance made Ukyo move back. "When did you get here?" He said, flustered and surprised at his behaviour. He wasn't a teenager, why was he acting like a child with a new toy?

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone you were flirting in the kitchen," he teased. No one responded for a moment, then Ukyo shook his head and walked out of the kitchen to compose himself, Iori went back to cutting up the vegetables. Hikaru smirked at Ame knowingly and sashayed out of the kitchen.

This will be edited later I just wanted to post something!