Chapter 14: Trying
Ema was preparing dinner when she noticed Subaru standing on the other side of the kitchen island. He was so quiet she wondered how long he'd been standing there.
"Hey," she said, not sure what else to say. She was about to ask if he needed anything when he spoke.
"So, you enjoyed the game on Saturday? At least, Yusuke said you did."
That wasn't what Ema had expected. "Yes, I did," she said, stopping in the middle of measuring a spice to give Subaru more attention. "I'd never attended a sports game before. It was really cool. You were amazing to watch. I'm glad Yusuke invited me."
"Cool," Subaru said, rubbing the back of his head. As usual, he was staring at the counter rather looking at Ema, but at least he was speaking to her. More than that, he was the one who had initiated the conversation. "You could go to more games with him. If you wanted."
"Thanks!" Ema chirped, wondering where this change had come from. He hadn't seemed pleased to see Ema standing next to Yusuke after his game.
Her eyes went to his chest as though she could see his bruise through his shirt. "How's your bruise? Did practice go okay today?"
"Yeah, it did," Subaru said, his hand going to his chest. "The ice helped yesterday. Thanks for that. I didn't even think of putting anything on it."
Ema smiled, pleased she'd been able to help. "I'm glad!"
Not wanting the first pleasant conversation she'd had with Subaru to end, Ema wracked her brain for something to say to keep the conversation going. "What position do you play on the team?" She blushed after asking that, thinking Subaru might think she was dumb for not knowing that when she'd watched him play a whole game. "Sorry, I probably should have asked Yusuke that when we went to watch your game."
"No, you're fine," Subaru said, shaking his head and actually glancing at Ema. "Yusuke said you'd never seen a basketball game before. There's no reason why you would have known that."
Subaru told Ema and then went on to explain what his position did as well as all the other positions on a basketball team. Ema wasn't enthusiastic enough about sports to be enthralled with the conversation, but she enjoyed seeing Subaru so animated. She hadn't known he could get so excited about something.
Besides, if talking about basketball made Subaru more comfortable with Ema, she was fine if that was the only topic they ever talked about. Although she did try to keep her smile about how cute Subaru looked when he was excited to herself. She didn't think he would appreciate Ema having that thought.
~.~
Fuuto got home later that night and, as usual, ignored everyone on the way to his room. Ema bit her lip as she watched him walk away. He looked tired. It hadn't escaped Ema's notice how hard Fuuto worked. She was impressed that despite his young age he still took his job seriously and worked long hours. And he did well in school. Ema couldn't help being impressed, even if Fuuto was a jerk.
She looked at the fridge and sighed. There weren't any leftovers from tonight's dinner for Fuuto. It was possible he'd already eaten since it was eight, but she was worried he hadn't yet. He was only fifteen and deserved to have dinner available for him when he got home, whether he needed it or not.
A week ago, she and Ukyo had made pesto sandwiches and Ema had noticed Fuuto take seconds. Either he'd been really hungry that night, or he liked the pesto. She decided to bet that the later was the case and make him a pesto sandwich. They still had a little left in the fridge and she didn't have plans to use it for anything else anyway.
Sandwich made, Ema stood outside Fuuto's door trying to work up the courage to knock. It had somehow been an easy decision to make the sandwich for Fuuto, but actually giving it to him was another matter. He wouldn't be pleased to have Ema outside his room. She knew that. And he might have already eaten and think Ema was stupid for making him a sandwich.
Blowing out a breath, she knocked. Fuuto had made it clear he already thought she was stupid, so it wasn't like this could make anything worse.
"What?" Fuuto barked as he opened the door. Despite being slightly shorter than Ema, he managed to look down his nose at her. "Oh, it's you. What do you want?"
"I thought you might not have eaten yet," Ema said, holding up the plate. "So, I made you a pesto sandwich with the leftover pesto."
Fuuto stared at the sandwich with an unreadable look in his eyes.
"What are you trying to gain from this?" He finally asked her. "Are you hoping to get a famous idol in your debt by making sandwiches? Or are you hoping I'll do something stupid like fall in love with an ugly girl like you because you help take care of me? I deal with this kind of thing all the time you know, and from girls a lot prettier than you."
Ema flushed in anger. Her first desire was to lash out, but she knew what it was like to have people want to get close to you for reasons that had nothing to do with who you were as a person. Fuuto was a national idol and Ema had yet to see him bring anyone home or talk to anyone on the phone other than his manager. Was he even able to have friends with the lifestyle he lived?
Reigning in her anger, Ema smiled brightly at Fuuto. "Not at all. I've never liked your music well enough to bother buying it, so if I wanted to get close to a celebrity, it wouldn't be you." Shock and anger came over Fuuto face, so she truthfully added, "I do enjoy watching your concerts on TV though. You're a very good performer."
She thrust the plate with the sandwich at him and, automatically, his hands came up to take it. "Here. You can eat it or not. The choice is yours." Then she spun on her heel and left.
~.~
Fuuto glared at Ema's retreating back. What a coward to say stuff like that to him and then just walk away before he could respond.
Looking down at the sandwich in his hands, he pursed his lips. He didn't like having Ema in the house, but she was a good cook. Even better than Ukyo. There was no reason for him not to take advantage of her cooking if she was willing to offer it.
~.~
"Hey, Ema, I haven't eaten dinner yet. Will you make something for me?" Fuuto asked.
Ema was sitting at the kitchen table with Yusuke doing homework. The red-headed idiot may have acted like he didn't want Ema to come live with them when they first heard about it, but he was obviously happy about having her there. The two of them seemed to do their homework together every night and even played video games with Wataru or Subaru in the living room sometimes. It was so annoying.
Ema blinked at him in surprise.
"There are leftovers from dinner in the fridge, idiot," Yusuke said, barely looking up from his textbook. "Heat it up yourself."
"Ema makes it taste better," Fuuto argued. "I'm not a chef like her."
"Ema's not your servant," Yusuke said, glaring at his younger brother.
"So, she's your servant helping you with your homework every night?" Fuuto asked. "You should learn how to figure things out instead of just relying on her."
"Yusuke and I do homework together because we have the same homework and because we're friends," Ema said, getting up and heading to the kitchen.
The look on Yusuke's face over Ema's words was so happy it was pathetic. Fuuto just managed to stop himself from rolling his eyes. A loser like that would never get a girl to fall for him. Particularly not a well-traveled one like Ema. Not that she acted well-traveled other than the variety of food she was able to make.
~.~
Ema knew it was obnoxious of Fuuto for him to ask her to get his food, but she took it as proof that he did enjoy her cooking, which pleased her. She found it ironic that even though Fuuto and Yusuke were so different and didn't get along at all, food appeared to be the best way for her to get on both their good sides.
She wondered if a lot of boys were this simple or if it was just the Asahina brothers. Not that she minded, of course. Not since cooking was something she excelled at.
~.~
Fuuto barely resisted the urge to shake his head as he watched Ema help Tsubaki and Azusa clean up the living room from the mess a cast party had left. Ema hadn't even been part of the party, yet there she was, helping to cleanup.
"It's kind of pathetic to watch, you know," Fuuto said when Ema walked by him to search for the mop.
"Excuse me?" She said, stopping and giving him a confused look.
"I accused you of trying to get close to me, but it's all of us Asahinas you're trying to ingratiate yourself with. You help Ukyo cook dinner. You make Yusuke's lunch for school. You help cleanup and help the red-headed idiot and Wataru with their homework. It's pathetic. I thought you just wanted to get close to the idol of the family, but it's the whole powerful Asahina family you want indebted to you."
Ema's eyes flashed with anger and Fuuto had to stop himself from taking a step back. It was an odd look to see on her face, though he'd seen it a time or two now. Ema had been so timid before she left Japan. She never raised her voice or got mad, and did everything she could to avoid conflict. No matter how rude Fuuto had been to her, she'd never reacted.
He watched as she took a moment to compose herself, drawing that anger back in. He kind of wondered what she'd look like if she let that anger explode instead.
"I owe the Asahina family," she told him, "for allowing me to live here so I can go to high school. I want to show them my gratitude and how much they mean to me as my friends and as people who are making a sacrifice for my sake. I also don't want to be a burden when everyone is doing so much for me, which means helping around the house."
She paused and gave him a considering look. "You know, I'm sure it's not near to the same extent as for you, but I do know what it's like to have people say they want to be your friend when they don't really want to be your friend. I had so many people when I traveled who hoped to meet my dad or get on his show through me."
Ema took a step closer to Fuuto, a challenge in her eyes. "I am here to fly under the radar and just be a normal girl at a public school. No one at Hinode High other than Yusuke even knows who my father is, and I plan to keep it that way."
She smiled a little, though not like she was happy. Fuuto would almost call it a sarcastic smile, except Ema Hinata didn't have a sarcastic smile. "I know you think very highly of yourself, Fuuto, but getting close to you, a national idol, would be counterproductive to my goal in Japan. I love most of the Asahinas and want to be helpful to them, but I also just want to be a teenager going to school for once in my life, so I have no desire to be close to you. My only goal regarding you is to make my presence as least annoying as I can since it is your home I'm living in."
Having finished what she wanted to say, Ema continued on. For once, Fuuto had no comeback.
