A/N: Sorry this is up later than usual! I've been working on a Fuuto/Ema one-shot (with a possible one or two chapter add on), so was writing that instead of editing this.
"I'm so glad we got to come to the beach house before our third year starts," Ema said, stretching her arms in the air as she stepped out of the car. They had two more weeks until school started and ending the summer with a trip to the ocean sounded perfect.
"Yeah," Yusuke said glumly, sticking his hands in his pockets. Then Tsubaki yelled at him to help bring the luggage in the house. Yusuke snarled that he was coming and stomped after his brother while Ema frowned at his back. Yusuke had been weird lately. And offish with her. He hadn't been rude like he'd been before, but she was sure something was wrong. She'd tried to ask him about it, but he'd brushed her off, telling her it was nothing.
She hoped he might be more comfortable telling her here with less of his brothers around. Only Tsubaki, Azusa, and Kaname had been able to come with them.
Yusuke been extra surly with everyone, though a little less surly with her than the others, so she was pretty sure that she wasn't the reason behind his sudden mood dip the past few weeks. The question was, how would she get him alone to talk with him?
~.~
"We need to talk," Tsubaki told Azusa that evening. They'd spent the day playing at the beach and now Kaname was talking with Ema in the kitchen while Yusuke washed the dinner dishes.
"Okay," Azusa said, following him to their room.
Tsubaki should have told Azusa this a couple months ago, but a convenient opportunity never presented itself. But when is it ever convenient to tell your twin and best friend that you told the woman he loves that you also have feelings for her?
They sat on the edges of their beds, but Tsubaki jumped up a moment later, pacing the room.
"Tsubaki, you're making me nervous. What is it?"
Tsubaki rubbed his sweaty palms on his shorts before looking his twin in the eye. "I told Ema I love her. I wasn't asking her out or putting any pressure on her to give me an answer about her feelings." But he wanted to. Wasn't it obvious how good the two of them would be together? "It just came up in conversation after one of our co-workers for the video game thought we were dating."
Azusa's eyebrows scrunched together. "You told her months ago and you're just telling me this now?" His voice held an edge of anger.
"Nothing else happened," Tsubaki promised. "Neither of us have mentioned anything again." Part of him had hoped she'd teat him differently after, but she'd been exactly the same. He wondered if Azusa had also hoped Ema would treat him differently after he told her he loved her.
"But even though you didn't ask her out, you still plan to pursue her," Azusa clarified.
"Of course. Same as you."
Silence passed before Tsubaki slowly said, "But, I have an idea."
Azusa raised one eyebrow, waiting.
"I think some of our brothers are falling for Ema too."
Azusa's eyes opened wide. Tsubaki figured he might not have noticed. He didn't people watch the same way Tsubaki did.
"Ukyo was obviously jealous of how much time Ema spent with us while we were filming our anime. And he was pissed when she and I voiced the game together. I'm pretty sure he wasn't upset over not having help with making dinner. He's done that without help for years."
"That bastard gets to spend alone time with Ema almost every day!" Azusa objected. "What right did he have to be jealous?"
Tsubaki almost smiled at his twin's reaction. Hopefully, that meant Azusa would be willing to go along with his plan. He sat down before continuing.
"Subaru was suddenly all about hiking with Ema and Yusuke this summer when he objected so strongly to her moving in with us. I think he likes her." Subaru probably only invited Yusuke along because he was too scared to go alone with Ema. "And I heard the only reason Ema was in Fuuto's movie was because Iori insisted on it."
Azusa frowned. "Why would he insist on that?"
Tsubaki shrugged. "He got to kiss her, didn't he? I was curious about Ema filming something live-action, so I borrowed the script from her at one point. One of their kisses wasn't in the script. Maybe the director decided he wanted it later on, or maybe . . ." He trailed off and Azusa's frown deepened.
"So you think Ukyo, Subaru, and Iori all have feelings for Ema?"
"If not even more." Tsubaki hoped it wasn't more, but he was beginning to think that was unlikely. Since the Asahina brothers hadn't seemed to have similar tastes in women in the past, it appeared that Ema was just that amazing. But he was sure that either he or Azusa were the best match for her.
"You mentioned an idea," Azusa reminded him. "What's your idea?"
Tsubaki rubbed his hands on his shorts again as his nervousness returned. "You know I want to be with Ema. But if she's not with me, I want her to be with you. I think that she would be really, really happy with either one of us. And I don't want her to end up with someone else." He paused. "I want us to work together to have her fall for one of us. We can't be overt about anything or put pressure on her since she still doesn't want to date, but we can do things to convince her we'd be good boyfriend candidates once she's ready."
He waited for Azusa to respond. And waited. "Azusa?" he prompted.
"I don't know," he finally said. "I'll have to think about it."
Tsubaki tried to stop the rush of disappointment. He'd known Azusa might not agree, but he'd hoped he would. Wouldn't he rather see Ema with Tsubaki than one of their other brothers? But maybe that wasn't the case. Or maybe he was too upset at the idea of Ema with another guy period.
"Okay," Tsubaki said, keeping his voice light. "Just let me know when you decide one way or the other." He didn't want to wage all-out war against his twin. He wanted them to be allies and rivals, not just rivals. But maybe it wouldn't work out that way this time.
~.~
"That was some movie you filmed with Fuuto and Iori," Kaname told Ema as he worked with her to build a sandcastle.
It was day three of their trip. The twins had gone into town to buy some ingredients for a dessert Tsubaki wanted Ema to make and Yusuke claimed he didn't feel well. Ema was worried about him—partly because she was pretty sure he was sulking and not sick. Though why he was sulking she couldn't guess.
"You saw that?" she asked, her face turning red.
"Mmhm," he said, keeping his eyes on the sandcastle. "The three of you did a good job."
"Thanks," Ema mumbled. "It was for Fuuto's sake, really. I hope it helps him get into acting."
"He did a good job," Kaname repeated. He was proud of how even he kept his voice. After hearing Ukyo complain to Masaomi that the movie was inappropriate for a high school girl to film, Kaname had checked it out. He had to disagree with Ukyo. There'd been nothing inappropriate about it. But watching two of his little brothers kiss Ema with their hands all over her pissed him off. Especially because he had some idea of how filming worked—it was rare to get something perfect in one shot. How many times had his brothers kissed Ema? How many different types of kisses had they practiced before the director was satisfied?
It was acting. He knew it was just acting, but he wanted to argue that Ema should be pickier than that about who she kissed, about the situations she let herself be in. But he had no room to talk. Even if he did, Ema could do whatever she wanted with her life.
He wished he'd just asked Masaomi if he agreed with Ukyo about it being inappropriate instead of watching it himself. He couldn't get the image of Fuuto and Iori kissing Ema out of his head. Fuuto had been glued to her during their kiss. And in the final kiss of the movie, Iori held Ema like she was a precious gift he'd never let go of.
Kaname couldn't remember being jealous of other guys in his life, and, apparently, it wasn't something he handled well. Because what he really wanted to do was show Ema what it felt like to be kissed and touched by a real man. He was certain he could drive all thoughts of his brothers far, far from her mind.
And that was why right now was a really, really bad time for him to be alone with her. He'd tried to convince Yusuke to come out with them, but he'd abjectly refused. The thought crossed Kaname's mind to convince Ema that they should stay inside to watch a movie and drag Yusuke down to join them. But Ema didn't come to the beach to sit and watch a movie and he didn't want to ruin her last vacation before her final year of high school.
So, here he was, being way too tempted by the sight of Ema in a bikini. It wasn't skimpy, but revealed too much skin for his current state of mind. He wanted to eat her up and have her moaning and writhing underneath him. Maybe he shouldn't have come.
"I wish Louis was here," Ema sighed. Her mentioning another guy jerked him back to the present. Thankfully. "He sent me pictures of some of the sand castles he's built while I was traveling with my dad. He's so good at this."
"We can make almost as good a sand castle," he argued. Ridiculously, he was offended. He mentally rolled his eyes at himself. He wasn't jealous of Louis now just because Ema liked his sandcastles, was he? Maybe if he threw himself more fully into his girlfriends, he could forget how much he wanted Ema. Maybe wanting her was just a phase.
"It's not sticking right," Ema complained, giving one of her towers an adorably frustrated pout.
"You need more water," Kaname told her. He dumped a little water from their bucket onto her tower. He reached for the tower to fix it, then paused, his heart pounding. If this was a phase he would get over, there was no harm in indulging himself just a little.
He eased himself behind Ema, wrapping his arms around hers. "Let me show you how." The feel of her warm skin against his chest made him want to nuzzle her neck, but he resisted the urge. "You have to use a soft, but firm touch," he told her, guiding her how to fix the tower.
She gave a pleased squeak when the tower came out the way she wanted and he hid a smile against her hair. His girlfriends were a lot of things. Sexy. Alluring. Captivating. But they were never adorable like Ema.
"Thank you, Kaname!" she told him, turning to face him. Realizing how close they were, she pulled back a little, raising her eyebrows. "This is the type of thing you're supposed to do with your girlfriend, you know."
"Is that how it works?" he asked, raising his own eyebrows. "I've been doing it wrong all this time. Guess that's why I end up with so many girlfriends." He winked at her and she laughed. He felt something inside him relax that she took his teasing in stride. She hadn't realized his attitude toward her had changed. He'd get over this phase and everything would be fine between them.
~.~
Azusa stopped on his way into the house, adjusting his grip on a bag that was slipping. Tsubaki grabbed way too much cream for how many people were here.
Movement on the beach caught his attention and his heart jumped into his throat at the sight. Ema and Kaname were making a sandcastle—with Kaname practically wrapped around Ema. His jaw tightened. Even the playboy was making a move on her?
He watched the two of them until Kaname finally pulled away, but the sight was burned into his mind. He stomped into the kitchen, throwing his bags on the table.
"Hey!" Tsubaki cried from the fridge where he was putting the peaches they'd bought. "You'll break the cartons open!"
"We're in this together," Azusa declared.
"What?" Tsubaki asked.
"Making Ema fall for one of us," Azusa clarified. "We're in this together." Seeing Ema in Tsubaki's arms would hurt. A lot. But it wouldn't piss him off as much as seeing Ema in Kaname's arms had. Better his twin than someone else.
"Really?" Tsubaki said, his eyes bright. "What changed your mind?"
"Kaname was making a move on Ema on the beach." He couldn't say the words without gritting his teeth.
"Kaname?" Tsubaki repeated. "Our playboy Kaname with five girlfriends?"
Azusa nodded and Tsubaki swore. "We can't take off our eyes her for a minute around our brothers."
With those words, Azusa knew he'd made the right choice. With he and Tsubaki working together, it would be easier for them to block their brothers from making a move on Ema. He was glad he wasn't in this alone.
~.~
By Friday night, Ema was fed up with Yusuke. They were going home tomorrow and he'd done barely anything with them. She'd tried to come up with theories for what was wrong, but Yusuke had always been a mystery for her other than the fact that he liked food. She couldn't for the life of her figure out what was wrong with him. He'd come, which made her think he wanted to play and have fun. So why was he hiding in his room? Maybe he really didn't feel well, but that didn't explain why he'd been surly the past couple weeks.
She knocked on his door and got no response. She had to knock twice more before he finally yelled, "Go away!"
She tried the door and it was locked.
"I said go away!" he repeated.
"Open this door!" she demanded. "Or I'm going to call Masaomi and tell him you're sick, so he needs to rush up here."
Yusuke opened the door, his cheeks tinged red. "I didn't know it was you," he muttered, staring at the ground. "Tsubaki was harassing me earlier." The room was dark behind him, like he'd been laying around with the light off.
"'Kay, but I'm coming in to talk to you," she said, pushing her way into the room. He stumbled back, his eyes wide.
Ema shut the door behind her and his eyes went even wider. She flicked on the light, blocking the door like he might attempt to escape. He'd been side-stepping her attempts to talk to him all week and she was a little afraid he might actually try.
She softened her voice to ask, "Yusuke, what's wrong? You keep saying nothing, but you've been acting different. Can't you tell me what's wrong? Or tell me what I can do to help? We're friends aren't we?"
He flinched at her words before mumbling, "Are we?"
Ema froze. "W-well I thought we were." She'd worked so hard to be his friend and they'd been getting along so well. What changed? "Are you sick of having to live with me?"
"What?!" he exclaimed, jerking his head up and finally looking her in the eyes. His eyes widened at seeing the pain on her face. "Whoa, no, you've got everything way wrong," he said, shaking his head and frantically waving his hands. "It's nothing like that."
"Then what is it like?" she asked quietly, feeling like the outsider again. Like the foreigner who didn't fit in and wasn't worth taking the time to include and get to know.
"Because you're you and I'm me," he said, staring at his shoes.
Now he was just being obtuse. "Yusuke, that doesn't make sense."
"Yes, it does," he said, jerking his gaze back to hers. "You've traveled the world and done so many things and learned so many things. You're ten times more amazing than me. And now in high school you're already getting jobs like voice acting in a successful anime and acting in a movie with a national idol."
"So, you're jealous?" she asked, confused. Yusuke hadn't seemed interested in doing those types of things.
"No," he groaned, covering his face with his hands. "I'm saying I'm not good enough to be your friend."
Ema's jaw dropped. He thought she was too good for him? That was a first.
"I'm just a teenage girl," she said, floundering for words, "who's done some interesting things, that's all." She remembered thinking something similar before. Doing interesting things didn't make her an interesting person.
He snorted. "No, that's not all Ema. You're amazing. And then there's me, the borderline juvenile delinquent who can barely pass his classes."
"Maybe I like borderline juvenile delinquents," she argued. He stared at her in disbelief.
She sighed, sitting on his bed. She missed him giving her a another wide-eyed look.
"Look, Yusuke, making friends when I was traveling with my dad was hard." Really, really hard. "I barely spoke the language, or didn't speak it at all most places we went. If I was lucky enough to make friends, none of them bothered to stay in contact with me for long after I left." She'd tried to focus on other things. Listening to the twins' voices in their animes and games helped. Watching Fuuto's concerts helped. Emailing the Asahinas helped. But sometimes she thought the loneliness would crush her. Thank goodness for Arisa or maybe it would have.
"I was still in contact with your brothers, but not having any friends near me to talk to or play with—" Her words cut off as tears tried to choke her throat. There had been lots of fun things about traveling with her dad. And also lots of hard things that she preferred not to remember.
Yusuke took a step closer, then stopped, not sure what to do. Everything about Ema was so amazing that it had never occurred to him that she'd struggled making friends. But it should have.
"When I first came back and you were helping me out, I thought that Masaomi or Ukyo had forced you into helping me around school."
"No, it wasn't like that!" he denied. Ema held up a hand to stop him.
"Then, when you told me you didn't want anyone to find out I was living with you because they'd start stupid rumors, I realized that you'd been looking out for me from the beginning. That made me really, really happy to realize you cared, Yusuke."
He couldn't believe what he was hearing. He almost thought this was a dream—except if it was, he'd probably also be sitting on the bed and they'd be a lot closer to each other. That was how his dreams with Ema usually ended up.
"I've always cared," he admitted. She looked confused and his face heated up as he explained, "I was stupid as a kid. Really stupid. My friends started teasing me about being best friends with a girl." That wasn't quite how things went down, but he saw no need to mention his major crush on her. "I didn't know how to handle it, so I stopped being your friend. But I've always regretted that. I'd listen in whenever my brothers talked about you." He rubbed the back of his neck as he added, "And sometimes I'd sneak into their rooms to read your emails." He regretting adding that last bit, wondering if it made him sound like a stalker.
He looked at her to see her reaction and panicked when he saw tears in her eyes. Had he upset her that much? But then she threw herself at him, wrapping her arms around his waist and burying her face in his shoulder. He spent one very confused moment with his arms hovering in the air before he wrapped them around her. It felt perfect to hold her in his arms like this. Especially since this time it wasn't a dream.
"So, are these good tears then?" he asked.
She laughed, the sound muffled. "Yes," she said. "They're good tears."
He relaxed, pulling her closer.
Ema wished she could stop her tears. It was silly to cry—but it felt like she'd gained back her childhood best friend. Most of the Asahina's were her childhood friends, but Yusuke was the one who was her age. The one who'd been her best friend at school. Tsubaki used to argue that Yusuke shouldn't get to play with Ema at home because he got to play with her at school. Yusuke would shoot back that they had to be in class most the day, so he should get to play with her too.
Losing him as a friend had hurt more than she'd realized. Knowing that he'd been concerned about her welfare that whole time—it meant a lot.
~.~
Ema rode next to Yusuke on the way home the next day, chatting about what their third year would be like. During a pause in their conversation, she pulled out her phone to check the time and saw she'd missed a phone call from her dad. She'd been so distracted last night and this morning with everything with Yusuke that she hadn't checked her phone.
She listened to her Dad's voicemail.
"Hi Ema, I hope everything is going well. You sound cheerful in your emails, so it sound like you're still enjoying Japan." He paused. "There's something I need to tell you, but I want you to hear it from me live rather than from a message." He paused again, then chuckled. "Don't worry about calling me back. I'll talk to you soon, okay? Love you." The message ended.
"That was weird," she murmured, staring at her phone.
"Is something wrong?" Yusuke asked.
"I don't think so." If her dad was chuckling, whatever he needed to tell her probably wasn't bad news. He'd probably told her not to call back because he was out of cell range again already. She hoped he'd be able to call her back and tell her his news soon.
