A/N: Guys. I figured out how I'm going to end this series (more or less). I'm so excited that I have an ending in mind now (though I only have two of the individual endings figured out). But don't worry! There are still several more chapters before we get to the end. There's still plenty more drama (and romance) to come!
"Are you excited to move out for college?" Ema asked Iori as they walked home. She'd happened to visit the café where he worked right before he got off his shift.
"Mostly," Iori admitted. "It's not that I mind my brothers, but they're a lot sometimes. It'll be different to be in an apartment by myself and different can be good." He turned to smile at her. "I'll still visit though. And you and Louis can still invite me on your adventure trips if you want."
"Good," Ema said, returning his smile. "I'd miss you if you ran off to college and didn't come back."
"Have you thought more about college?"
"Not where I want to go specifically," Ema said. "But I'm pretty set on staying in Japan." Her first statement wasn't quite true. She wanted to go somewhere where she could stay at Sunrise Mansion. Living with the Asahinas was more than she'd ever dreamed. The sense of family and belonging. More and more she didn't want to leave. For a long time she'd thought she might attend college in another country, but now she couldn't bear the thought of leaving the Asahinas. Of leaving the home she'd created with them.
"I'm glad you're staying," Iori said, before giving her a side-eyed look. "Though I've considered later transferring to a college in Britain to improve my English. It might be nice if we both went so we had someone we knew and trusted there." He gave her his princely smile. "I've always wanted to go foreign, but I don't know if I'm quite brave enough to do it on my own."
Iori hoped Ema couldn't tell that his words were just a little bit of a lie. While going to a foreign country was intimidating, he was sure he could manage on his own. But he'd started to think it would be nice if Ema went with him. He wasn't necessarily thinking of them becoming a couple—yet, but he did think it would be nice to go with her, and he was worried that some of his brothers might be pressuring her to stay in Japan. Ema was so nice that if he wanted her to go with him, she'd at least consider the idea unless she was dead set against it. He figured a little manipulation encouraging her to go foreign might be good if she was receiving pressure to stay here.
"Attending college in England was actually on a list I made when I turned fifteen," she admitted. Both because she thought it would be fun and because Arisa loved London. She'd promised she'd visit Ema frequently if Ema went to college there. "Right now I'm really wanting to stay in Japan, but . . ." She gave Iori a thoughtful stare. "It would be more fun to go foreign if I already had a friend there."
"No pressure," Iori said with a smile. "I don't even know for sure if I'll go. It's just crossed my mind a few times that it would be fun to go with you. I'm sure you could help me with handling the culture shock."
Ema was about to tell him she was sure he'd assimilate just fine with his kind personality when they rounded the corner to home and saw Fuuto in what appeared to be a heated conversation with an older gentleman.
"Uh-oh," Ema said under her breath, hoping Fuuto wasn't in trouble. He always presented such a perfect face to the public that she couldn't imagine he'd do anything to tarnish that image. "Should we walk around the block before going in?" she asked quietly. They couldn't reach the front door without passing Fuuto and the gentleman and she didn't want Fuuto angry at them for being in the way.
"It's fine," Iori said. "We'll just walk past them. If Fuuto gets angry, that's on him, not us. We shouldn't be afraid to walk into our own home just because he's here."
That was easy for Iori to say when he hadn't had to work as hard as Ema to gain Fuuto's acceptance. She didn't want to undo her hard work by pissing him off now.
They had just reached the pair when the older gentleman gasped, pointing a finger at Iori. "You. You're perfect!" He grasped Iori's hands in his, his eyes bright. "Can you act? Do you have any experience?"
Iori shared a bewildered look with Ema before saying, "I'm sorry, but why are you asking these questions?"
Fuuto folded his arms over his chest, gripping his arms so tightly his hands turned white. "My agency wants me to film a short movie to go with my latest song. My character is supposed to be in love with his older brother's girlfriend and desperate to have her at any cost. But the actor we cast for the brother backed out and we don't have time to find someone else, so they're thinking of canceling it."
Ema bit her lip, looking between Iori and Fuuto. She knew how important becoming an actor was to Fuuto. This must have seemed like an incredible opportunity—one he was in danger of losing.
Fuuto continued, "This is my brother Iori. He's never acted before, but he's able to pick up on things quickly. I think it took him about thirty minutes to learn how to play the piano when he wanted to try it out."
"That's perfect!" the gentleman said, still clasping Iori's hands between his own. "You have the exact look and aura we want. The older brother in the story is a real catch, any woman's dream match—which is why the younger brother is so desperate. He's always been second to his brother in everything and he'd accepted that as his lot in life. Until he met his brother's girlfriend. He falls so hard for her that for once he can't accept being second best. He wants to win her at any cost, even if it destroys his relationship with his brother, and he's sure he'll cherish her more than his brother does."
Ema couldn't argue that Iori had the looks and aura to play the role of a man who was any woman's dream catch, but she wasn't sure Iori agreed. He was blinking at the man like he was dumbfounded.
Then, to Ema's shock, Iori pulled his hands away and wrapped an arm around Ema's shoulder. "I'll only do it if Ema plays the girlfriend."
"What?!" she exclaimed, wondering why Iori thought that was a good idea. Or maybe he was trying to get out of it without outright refusing. "I've only done voice acting. That's not the same thing."
"The girlfriend has already been cast," Fuuto said with a frown. "Obviously she's been cast if it's too late for us to cast another actor as the brother."
Iori shrugged, removing his arm from her shoulders. "That's my condition. I'll only do it if Ema does it."
The man rubbed his chin as he stared at Ema. "Voice acting you say? You've got a cute enough look." He turned to Fuuto. "You think this fellow could play the role of the brother. What do you think of this lady stepping in?"
Now it was Fuuto's turn to look dumbfounded, but he finally said, "I think she could transition into real acting. I've told her that before."
"Great!" the man said, clapping his hands together.
"But I haven't agreed yet," Ema protested.
"And what about the actress you already cast?" Fuuto asked.
The man waved off his concern. "We need a brother and a girlfriend. And we have both right here. The actress we've picked out fits the role well enough, but this man here is even better looking than the actor we lost. We can make this a success with these two. I'm sure of it." He gave Ema a half-demanding, half-pleading look. "That is, if this young woman here will agree."
Fuuto shot her a pleading look. She hadn't known he had a look like that. And she could never look Fuuto in the eyes again if she was the reason he couldn't do his acting debut, even if he might have other chances in the future.
"Okay," she sighed, unable to believe her afternoon had turned out this way. "I'll do it."
The man arranged a few more details and left with Fuuto shortly after. Fuuto had taken a moment to hiss at them that they better not mess this up.
"Why did you want me to do the movie too?" Ema asked once they were alone.
"Because I think I'll feel more comfortable that way. I know that this is important to Fuuto, but I don't have any interest in acting and it would make me nervous to be working only with other professionals. I agree with Fuuto that you and I are both capable of doing a good job, and I think that with us learning together, I'll do even better. Sorry for volunteering you without your permission, but don't you think it'll be more fun to do it together?"
Ema thought of the voice acting she'd done with the twins and of her internship with Ukyo. She couldn't deny that being with friends made trying new things more fun. And she kept saying she wanted to experience lots of things.
"Yes," she said with a smile. "I do think that will make it more fun."
A/N: For anyone who doesn't remember since it's been so long so I started this, Arisa is the daughter of an adventurer who joined Rintaro on his show sometimes and she's one of Ema's best friends.
