Crossing A Line

"Ame-e-e-e-e-e-e!" Ema called from the bottom of the stairs. It was one of those rare days when everyone was out of the house so she didn't feel too bad about raising her voice. "Hurry up or we'll miss the bus!"

There was a thud from upstairs and muffled cursing. "I'm coming! I'm coming! Hold your horses!" Ema giggled and busied herself by brushing down her shirt. A moment later Ame appeared, her hair twisted into long, artful braid that draped over her left shoulder which was what had taken her so long. She ran a hand over her bangs and huffed. "I can't believe you convinced me to do this."

"No?" Ema smiled bemusedly. "You knew about Subaru's game and immediately decided to come along. No coercion was needed."

Her sister scoffed dramatically, recalling the invitation with hidden disdain. Out loud she said, "I hate sports."

"You ran track for three years in high school," Ema pointed out.

"Okay fine, I hate team sports," Ame waved a hand imperiously. "At least then you can rely on your own talent and there's no one else bringing you down."

"...I can't tell if that was bold or depressing."

"Hush you. Now let's go already!"

Linking arms, the two girls made their way out of the house and towards the station. The basketball game was being held at the local stadium and it was an intercollegiate affair, meaning that hundreds of other people from other schools would be there. Ame hoped that they would find adequate seats.

As luck would have it, they managed to arrive right as the whistle blew, and when they stepped into the stadium there were still a few seats free. "Can you see Subaru-nii anywhere?" Ema yelled over the roar of the crowd, cupping her hands around her mouth to magnify the sound.

"No!" Ame shouted back. "It doesn't look like he's been put in yet!"

Ema pouted and tried to watch the match, but she didn't care about sports that much and she didn't understand most of the rules. She recalled a time in elementary school when the principal had tried to make certain sports compulsory; soccer for the boys, and basketball for the girls. The only rules she could remember were that you could only take a certain number of steps while holding the ball and that shots from the middle of the court were worth more.

Beside her, Ame spent the bulk of the match texting, only looking up when the crowd started shrieking and to check the score. She looked up again and saw that Meiji was one point ahead. As her gaze returned to her phone screen, she caught sight of a familiar face. "Natsume-nii's here," she informed Ema.

"Really?" Ema turned to see the ginger triplet making his way over. He waved when he reached the stairs, looking between them curiously.

"You both came as well?" He asked them, sitting down in the chair behind Ame. "I didn't know you liked basketball."

"Ha, actually..." Ema shot a worried look at her sister who blinked back at her placidly, "actually Subaru-nii invited me."

"You were invited by Subaru?" Natsume looked surprised to hear that. He continued in a somewhat tactless manner, "Why would Subaru invite you?"

Ema stared up at him, her eyes filling with hurt. "That's..." she looked down. Was she not a part of the family? Was that why it seemed so strange for Subaru to invite her to watch him? She'd thought she was becoming close with all of them but Natsume's question filled her head with doubts.

Before she could think on it too much the scream of a whistle split the air and Ame's head snapped up in response to the shrill sound. The voice over the speakers droned dutifully. "Meiji University, player substitution. In replacement of no. 7 Yamada, no. 14 Asahina will play."

"Oh, Subaru's in now," she noted and then winced when Ema immediately leaned forward and began cheering excitedly. "Watch the arms!"

"You should be cheering too! Come on, Ame! Subaru, Subaru over here!"

Maybe he could hear her screams above the roar of the crowd or maybe he just happened to be looking over but Subaru soon spotted the three of them. Surprise made his eyes widen, and then he seemed to shake it off and get his head in the game. Ame watched him curiously. She had to hand it to Subaru, he took clearly his basketball quite seriously and she could admire that sort of focus. Were he not panting at the heels of her baby sister, she might have even liked him.

The crowd went wild when Subaru slammed the ball into the net. Ema squealed and batted Ame's arm happily. "Did you see that? Isn't he amazing? Natsume isn't he amazing?"

"He's good, I'll give him that," Ame allowed with a smile for her exuberant sister.

"I'd heard he was in a slump but it looks like he's doing better now," Natsume nodded.

With Natsume playing the game appeared to pick up the pace. It would definitely be a close match and a minute to the end Sensyu College was ahead by one point. Even Ame who still didn't care was but who was also ridiculously competitive had started yelling at Meiji to hurry up and score!

24...23...22...

"Come on Subaru!"

5...4...3...2...1...ZZZZZZZZ!

oOo

"I can't believe we won by two points and literally no time on the clock."

Ema looked over at her sister and laughed at the dazed look on her face. She always got so into competitions and seeing her come down from the high of victory was always funny. "And you thought this would be boring," she teased.

"I like to think that I am capable of learning from my mistakes," Ame replied with a wry grin. The two sisters shared a look and Ema arched a pointed eyebrow. "Don't look at me like that. Mistakes can be subjective!"

Ema rolled her eyes. "Of course they can. Still I can't believe Subaru-nii made a shot like that at the last second!" Ema enthused, turning to face Natsume who had been silent ever since the game had ended."I know I don't understand basketball much though..."

He shook his head. "No, it was a really exciting game." They exited the stadium and he frowned up at the rapidly darkening sky. "It looks like rain. I didn't bring an umbrella. Did any of you?"

In response Ame whipped a bright blue, retractable umbrella from her bag. "Because I am always prepared for everything," she smirked and waved it at Ema, nearly bopping her in the nose. "We should get something to eat on the way home. I'm thinking hot-pot..."

"Instead of walking I can drive you back," Natsume offered. "My car is parked nearby."

Ame considered him. Her feelings on Natsume were fairly neutral; he wasn't aggressive enough to hurt Ema and he wasn't suave enough to flirt with her. Furthermore, he didn't live with them so interactions between them were few and fairly far apart.

"Oh, you don't have to..." Ema stammered out, but he cut her off.

"You don't have to be so restrained," he frowned down at her, "we're siblings now. It's only natural."

If only everyone else would get the memo, Ame thought with a wry smile. Just then Natsume's phone began to ring. Natsume looked at the screen curiously and then his eyes sharpened into something serious.

"It's from a business partner," he informed them. "Please wait for me. Hello? Yes, this is Asahina..."

Ame watched him walk away to have his conversation. "Isn't that lucky? Now we don't have to pay for a ticket home."

"But we haven't congratulated Subaru-nii yet," Ema peered through the crowd worriedly. "I wanted to tell him how great he was!"

Ame pulled a face. "Don't ever tell boys they're great Ema, it just raises their egos more than what's necessary and makes them think they have a chance with you when in reality you're just being friendly. Instead, just punch his shoulder and call him 'bro'. Really emphasise the bro part just so he gets the message."

Ema gave her sister a bemused and vaguely longsuffering smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

Ame stared her sister in the face and then let out a gusty sigh. "Your innocence is one of the best things about you. Don't ever change." It is also one of the most aggravating; please learn to read people a little better. Sometimes Ame couldn't tell if her sister was truly that naive or if she just wanted something to be true so badly she was willing to ignore everything else.

"You're being overprotective again," Ema hummed, patting Ame's hair gently. "I'm not a baby, Mai."

The use of her private and personal family nickname made something loosen in Ame's chest. She sighed and pulled away. "I think I saw a vending machine on our way out. What do you want?"

"Strawberry juice," Ema replied immediately. "Oh, and bubblegum!"

"If there is bubblegum you'll have to fight me for it," Ame retorted with a grin. She walked off with a little bounce in her step and found the vending machine in the lobby. She bought a can of fizzy strawberry soda for Ema and, after considering it for a moment, a packet of super-stretchy bubblegum because she knew Ema liked seeing how big a bubble she could blow without getting it in her hair.

After purchasing a bottle of lemonade for herself, Ame made her way back outside and froze in her tracks. Subaru was hugging Ema. Hugging her to his chest like they were a couple in a romantic movie, like his next move was going to be to kiss her or ask her to become his girlfriend!

No, she had to be calm about this. She had promised that she was going to be better. It was possible he was just excited and the adrenaline from the match had made him more exuberant. She crept closer to listen, keeping her footfalls light as she approached Subaru's back.

"Is there someone you like?" He was asking. "I'm being serious so please tell me! Is there someone you like? No, is there someone you're going out with?"

Ame couldn't see her sister's face but she could hear the confusion in her voice. "Um, no? There's no one I'm interested in..."

Subaru nodded and Ame took a deep, deep breath. There was ozone in the air, the smell of approaching rain. She had to keep calm, she couldn't-! "Then I want you to be by my side from now on. I need you."

Crack.

Subaru spun around and Ame looked down at her hand. In her effort to hide her growing rage she had crushed her bottle of lemonade and the juice was pouring all over the ground. She stared silently, uncomprehendingly at the mangled bottle, and then she blinked at him. And then she grinned. It wasn't a kind smile.

"Ema would you go wait with Natsume?" She said sweetly. "I think I need to have a talk with our dear brother."

I downloaded like 6 otome games in the past week so if anyone wants me to write a story that's essentially me reacting to otome games please let me know because wow do these games have a lot of issues ranging from "main character who can't do shit" to "consent what? who? I don't know her"