Family Ties

Ema paid for both of their drinks – a giant frothy chocolate concoction for Ame and a more sedate peppermint tea for herself. Ame tried to insist but Ema shot her down. It was part of their new dynamic, the younger girl insisted. Ame tried to point out that since she was the only one here with a job and income, it only made sense that she pay. Ema responded by confiscating her sister's wallet.

They sat and sipped their drinks in relative silence, neither willing to break this newly created atmosphere with words just yet, but content to study the other, searching for changes that had cropped up in the week they'd been apart.

Ame's hair was a little messier than Ema was used to. Not artfully tousled, but there was a certain amount of carelessness in the way she'd pinned it back. As though that one flaw had been a key, Ema was able to notice others; her nails weren't painted, her wrists and neck were bare and devoid of jewellery, her eyeliner was a little crooked in the corner.

And she looked happy. It was as if someone had cut the strings dragging her around and for the first time she could simply relax. Ema was reminded of what she'd said to Louis, that Ame wanted someone to be there to catch her.

On the other side of that table, Ame smiled around the tip of her straw. Ema looked good. Whereas before she'd been wispy and soft, content to blow where the wind pushed, now she seemed firmer. Oh her eyes still shone with youthful naivety, but now there was a gleam of determination. She was also wearing one of Ame's shoes that she'd left behind; a pair of open-toed pumps with high wedge heels.

It was when they were halfway through with their drinks that they heard the door to the cafe open to the sound of chimes and a familiar voice. Ema stiffened in her seat as she turned to see their father making his way across the floor towards them.

The honeymoon had done him good. He looked happier, tanned and youthful. His stubble had grown out, verging on a full beard now. Though Ema had so many questions, though she was still angry and filled with sadness, some part of her would always be that little girl waiting up all night until she heard her dad come home.

Rintarou glanced between his two girls as one of the waitresses brought a chair from one of the empty tables. He took a deep breath and laid his hands on the table, palms up. "I'm home."

Ame flinched. The straw fell out of her mouth, crushing the whipped cream inside the glass. Across from her, Ema felt her eyes well up with tears. She rapidly tried to blink them back. "...welcome home, dad."

"...yeah, welcome home," Ame mumbled. Then she stared blankly at her empty glass and then flagged down a server to order something else. Ema winced at the amount of sugar in the drink. The more unhealthy Ame was, the more stressed she was. If their father was aware of this, he didn't show it as the waiter placed a steaming mug of coffee with an ungodly amount of sugar, caramel and caffeine.

After a few minutes of silence, Rintarou sighed. "I'm sorry," he began, "I meant to tell you girls at some point..."

"Why didn't you tell us years ago?" Ema asked.

He smiled sadly. "Would it surprise you if I said it was because I was terrified?" He replied. Ame made a shocked, disbelieving sound and his smile grew a bit self-mocking. "It's true. I'd taken you in, raised you, I thought of you of my own flesh and blood. I thought that if I told you that we weren't really related, you'd hate me. I wanted to protect you."

Ame pressed her lips together to stop herself from wincing. She couldn't exactly fight him on this point considering she'd used the exact same reasoning. She avoided Ema's eyes and dumped another sachet of sugar into her drink.

"Who were our birth parents?" Ema asked softly. "What were they like?"

Rintarou blinked and his eyes gleamed with unshed tears. He swallowed hard. "They were...they were wonderful people," he told them. "Your father was my senior when I used to have a cubicle job. He was a kind, helpful. He used to bring the two of you to the office when Ame was just a toddler. When we heard news that there'd been a car crash..."

Here he had to stop as the memories threatened to choke him. He startled when he felt someone take his hand.

Ame blinked back at him, her expression more open than he could remember. He mustered up a smile for her. "Ame...you had to grow up so fast, didn't you?"

"I didn't have any other choice," she murmured. Her grip tightened. "Why didn't you stay home with us?"

Rintarou shook his head, letting out a wet sound. "I couldn't let them put you in an orphanage, but as an office worker I wasn't earning enough to take care of you. It was alright for the first few years, Ema was a baby and I was scraping enough to keep you in school, but it wasn't always enough. Social Services were beginning to ask questions. When the network offered me a job as a travel adventurer, it made sense at the time. With that kind of pay, I was making enough to keep you both.

"I thought I could balance it. I'd come home every month, I'd be there for Christmas and Easter. But one day I came home and Ame looked at me like I was a stranger," he rubbed his eyes and inhaled shakily. "I knew you'd found out, but you never said anything."

"I didn't want Ema to know," Ame glanced guiltily at her sister. "I was selfish and controlling."

"You were a child making the best of a bad situation," Ema argued. "No matter how you felt, you always encouraged me to love father. And I do," she faced her father squarely. "I love you. It will take some time before I'm alright with this, but you raised us. You tried to make us happy and healthy and that means something."

Tears spilled down Rintarou's cheeks. He sniffled and rubbed his face haphazardly, then he remembered what he'd brought. "I thought you'd want to see these."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out two Polaroid pictures. The two girls leaned over to look at them, identical heads of pale brown hair.

On the table were two images, the first depicting a smiling couple with the mother holding a baby swaddled in pink. The next picture showed the same couple but this time there were two children in the photo: a baby with big brown eyes and short downy hair, and a chubby toddler in a blue summer dress. The two were holding hands and grinning as their parents looked on with such happiness that it shone even through the paper.

Ame traced their features with one finger. "You have her smile," she said softly to Ema.

"You have his eyes," Ema replied just as softly. It was painful to know that they would never meet these people, this man and woman with kind eyes and smiles and so much love. This couple that had been so excited to start a family and never would.

Fingers touched hers and she looked up to meet Ema's eyes. They linked hands, gripping tightly. Family was more than blood, it was a bond that went beyond genetics, and Ame's determination was renewed. She would make the Asahina's a family, not just for Ema this time, but for own sake as well.

Speaking of the Asahina's... "So, has everyone been treating you well?" Rintarou asked. He'd been wary of leaving his daughters alone in a house overrun with men but Miwa had reassured him that her sons were good boys who would be thrilled to have a little sister to dote on.

Ame and Ema froze. They glanced at each other, a thousand responses whirling in their minds. If they came straight out and told their father the whole truth, he'd be horrified. He'd take them out of the house, but he might also divorce Miwa. Marrying her had been good for him, he was happy though that might just be the afterglow. On the other hand, things hadn't been great...

Ema stared pleadingly at her sister. Ame stared back. She was already out, but Ema wasn't. This was the perfect opportunity to get her away from the boys since, as a minor, Ema wouldn't be able to fight back against their father no matter how much she liked the boys.

Ame blinked and turned to their father with a placid smile. "Everything's fine, dad. Don't worry."

Hey...so...I know I'm late...I offer no excuse except that I'm a lazy bitch. I am so sorry.

Also I binged Kamigami no Asobi so I guess I'm writing that at some point. Have you ever wanted to attend high school with different gods? Have you ever wanted a protagonist that doesn't have a backbone made of wet noodles? Do you hate Zeus? If you answered yes to any of those questions, then I recommend KamiAso!