Chapter 15 Games

"No fair!" Wataru cried. "Yusuke and I lost again. Yusuke, why aren't you better at this game?"

"Because I'm stuck playing with a loser like you," Yusuke said, punching Wataru's shoulder.

"Wahh! Ema, Yusuke hit me!"

"Yusuke, don't hit Wataru," Ema said, wondering why Wataru was complaining to her rather than Subaru. As Yusuke's older brother, Subaru had more of a right to tell Yusuke not to hit anyone. And as someone Yusuke admired, it would probably also have a greater effect coming from Subaru.

"You and Subaru are too good at this game," Wataru pouted. "We need to switch teams."

"Why should we have to switch teams just because you two can't figure out how to play this game?" Subaru asked. "You were talking about how fun it was just a moment ago."

Ema hid her smile, happy Subaru would choose to play on her team even over Yusuke. Plus, they did make a good team. Subaru was better at video games than Ema would have thought. Perhaps it was from the hand-eye coordination he'd learned from playing basketball.

They were playing a team shooter game Natsume's company had just released that he'd recommend to her. She'd suggested the four of them play it together, though had not mentioned where the game came from. She was pretty sure Subaru would have refused to play it if he'd known.

"That was before Yusuke and I lost every time," Wataru said, dropping his controller and folding his arms. "I want to be on Ema's team. You can be with Subaru, Yusuke."

Subaru sighed and gave Ema a long-suffering look. "Fine."

They rearranged the teams in the game before beginning the next round.

Ema didn't know what made her do it. Maybe it was because she was so happy that she and Subaru were getting along now, or maybe she was feeling playful and wanted to tease Yusuke and Wataru for making them change teams. She was far more motivated and stubborn when it came to video games than those two. She would had persevered if she'd been the loser, demanding they stick with the current teams until she found a way to beat her opponents.

Whatever it was, Ema slyly had her character help Subaru's, just doing little things here and there. Leaving ammo where his character would find it. Setting up a barrier that mostly protected him from an explosion. It was a couple minutes before Subaru realized what she was doing. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his brow wrinkle in confusion, then his expression cleared and he started doing the same things for her.

They played another half hour without either team losing when Yusuke burst out, "You two are still doing it! You're still working together!"

Ema threw her head back and laughed. "It took you forever to notice! We've been helping each other out from the time we switched teams."

"How could you, Onee-chan?" Wataru asked, his expression such a look of betrayal that it almost made Ema laugh again.

"I'm sorry," she said, ruffling his hair. "I promise I'll make it up to you another time, okay?"

Wataru puffed out his cheeks, looking mutinous, but he finally nodded his agreement.

"You two should have played better," Subaru said, even less sympathetic than Ema. "Then this wouldn't have happened.

~.~

"Hey, Ema," Subaru called to Ema after dinner.

She paused partway down the stairs to look up at him. "Yes, Subaru?"

"Thanks again for sharing your game with us. It was a lot of fun. You're really good."

"You too," Ema said flashing him a grin. "It was fun being partners." She barely stopped herself from saying she hadn't realized any of the other Asahina brothers were as good as Natsume at video games. Subaru would not have appreciated the comparison.

"We should play again sometime. Though maybe with Tsubaki and Azusa instead of Yusuke and Wataru."

"Sure," Ema agreed. "That would be fun." Though she was pretty sure Tsubaki might throw an even bigger fit than Wataru if he and Azusa lost every round. "'Night, Subaru." She resumed her way down the stairs and winced. She and Natsume had gone on a more serious hike yesterday and her calves were killing her.

"Are you okay?" Subaru asked, concerned.

"Um, just limping a bit," Ema said. "I've been able to walk normal most of the day, but stairs are a bit harder. I just overdid it with a hike yesterday, that's all."

"I didn't know you went hiking," Subaru said, coming down a few stairs. Ema was pretty sure that no one other than Louis and Natsume knew. Not that it was a secret, it just wasn't something she advertised. The twins might also know if Natsume had told them.

"I have a cream for sore muscles if you'd like to borrow it," Subaru offered. "I use it after practice sometimes and it works pretty well."

Ema smiled. "Thank you, Subaru. I'd love to try some. It'd be nice to be able to go up the stairs at school tomorrow without wincing."

~.~

Subaru fidgeted with the cream that Ema had just brought back to him. It was kind of amazing. He'd made the offer without even thinking about it. Having Ema in the house was starting to feel natural and even kind of nice. She was a great cook and a great video game player. He'd known that Ema liked to play video games before, but he still didn't generally think of girls as being into the same kinds of games as him.

And she seemed to like talking about basketball with him. She always seemed interested in what he had to say about his games or professional games he'd watched. She'd even watched a pro game on TV with him and Yusuke.

It was nice to have a girl he could actually talk to unlike the ones at school. They always seemed so chatty and gossipy, and some looked at the guys on the basketball team like they were just waiting to pounce on them. Ema wasn't like any of them. He hadn't known that a girl could be like Ema.

~.~

Yusuke lay in bed that night, staring up at the ceiling. He was afraid he was going to have another sleepless night. He seemed to have a lot of those since Ema had moved in. Not that he was blaming her, her presence just…made things complicated.

He couldn't get the scene from that afternoon out of his mind, of how well Ema and Subaru played together, and the fact that they'd still acted like they were on the same team even after technically switching. And they hadn't said a word to each other about it. It was almost like their thoughts were in sync. They hadn't even had to talk to each other about helping each other out, they'd just done.

When had the two of them become so close? Yusuke had noticed Subaru being a little nicer to Ema after his game, but he hadn't thought they'd become that close. He hoped they weren't that close. Of course, he wanted his favorite brother and the girl he liked to be friends, but what would he do if they became more than that?

He pounded the mattress in frustration, wishing that all of this was easier. If Rintaro had just moved back with Ema, then Yusuke would get to see Ema way more than his brothers, but with her living them…No, he was probably just being paranoid. Subaru was nineteen and had never shown any interest in a girl. He was way more focused on basketball and making it into the pros. Nothing would change that. Not even Ema.

He rolled onto his side, telling himself he had nothing to worry about. Besides, that Friday was his first soccer game. He'd just have to play really well and impress Ema.

Ema had only been to one of Subaru's games, but maybe if Yusuke was good enough, Ema would go to all of his.

~.~

Juli frowned at Ema as she walked back into her room after returning Subaru's muscle cream to him.

"What?" She asked, digging through her dresser for pajamas.

"You spent a lot of time playing video games with those brothers today. A little is okay. I know how much you enjoy finally getting to play with other people in person again, but don't get too carried away. You might send the wrong message if you spend too much time playing with them."

"The wrong message?" Ema repeated. "What message could I possibly send other than that I enjoy playing video games and that I like the Asahina brothers? Juli, I appreciate that you're worried about me, but none of your predictions have come true so far. Maybe instead of being paranoid, you should focus on giving the Asahina brothers more of a chance. You and Louie get along well. Why don't you try getting to know some of the other brothers better? I know it's not as easy since they can't talk to you, but I promise you they're nice."

Juli hopped down from the desk to stand outside the bathroom and continue their conversation while Ema dressed for bed. "All right, I admit that nothing has happened yet, but sometimes these things take time. I'll give the Asahinas credit for not pouncing on you immediately, but that doesn't mean they're not biding their time."

Juli paused since he was on the verge of squeaking between every other word. It was difficult for him to stop his nervous chattering when he was so concerned about Chi. Part of him almost wished something had happened so Chi would be a little more on guard around the brothers. It would only take once, and he or Louis would be right there to protect her…so long as the incident happened at home.

"Look at what Subaru did today, Chi. He hates girls. He's always hated girls, and here he is helping you just a short time after you moved in? I don't like it one bit. It's too quick a change. I think you should avoid that one for a while."

Ema poked her head out of the bathroom to give Juli a firm stare. "I've worked really hard to become Subaru's friend. I'm not going to do something silly to ruin it like stay away from him." She went back into the bathroom, pulling the tie out of her ponytail and brushing her hair out. "Besides, I think it was really sweet of him to offer to help me when he saw I was hurting. That's nothing suspicious, Juli, that's just a friend being nice."

She paused mid-brush. Subaru had seemed a little intrigued when she'd mentioned she went hiking. Maybe she could invite him to go hiking with her. And if that worked out well, maybe she could eventually bring Subaru and Natsume together through hiking…It would be nice if she could do something to help them become friends again.