A/N: There was a scene somewhat similar to this in the game that I found on YouTube and I thought it would be fun to include a variation of it here.
lucel18, this is the scene I was telling you about that borders into ridiculousness. But I hope it's still enjoyable!
"Ema!" Tsubaki called, nearly in her ear.
She jumped, feeling herself flush as she turned to face him on Natsume's couch. "What?"
It was two weeks since she'd moved back in with the Asahinas and she was fulfilling her promised weekend with the twins. Except, Natsume had invited her over, so she'd planned to hang out with the twins in the morning and Natsume in the afternoon. Tsubaki had nixed those plans. He'd said it had been a while since he and Azusa had seen Natsume, so the four of them should hang out together. Now, the four of them were squeezed onto Natsume's couch watching a new reality show the twin's coworkers kept talking about.
Tsubaki raised his eyebrows, lightly touching her shoulder. She was sitting between the twins with Tsubaki's arm spread behind her on the back of the couch. Natsume sat on Tsubaki's other side. "That was like the third time I called you. Where's your mind at?"
She flushed again, though hoped he wouldn't be able to tell. It had only been a few days since Fuuto's confession. She hadn't seen him since—but she couldn't get the memory out of her head. The other confessions she'd received had been just that—confessions. Fuuto's felt like a seduction. Carlos had been a smooth operator, which was how he'd gotten multiple girls to go out with him, but Fuuto made him look like a little boy playing at being a man. Where did a fifteen-year-old who'd never kissed anyone until this summer learned to be so sexy?
"There's been a lot of drama at school lately," she half-lied. It was technically true. "It all got resolved this week, but I guess it's still on mind. Sorry. What did you want to tell me?"
"Is everything okay?" Azusa, brushing his hand against hers.
She smiled at his concerned look. "It is now! Surprisingly, Fuuto helped work everything out."
"Fuuto?" Tsubaki questioned, raising his eyebrows.
"That doesn't sound like the little brother we know," Natsume said.
Ema shrugged, hoping she wasn't blushing yet again. But it was kind of flattering that they were so surprised Fuuto had helped, yet he had—for her sake. "We've become pretty good friends."
Tsubaki pursed his lips. "Huh. I guess it's a good thing he transferred schools then." Despite his words, he didn't sound thrilled. "Anyway, this girl that's just appeared on the show is our coworker's favorite. He said we have to watch her side interviews on the show."
"She's really pretty," Ema said, focusing on the show.
"Mm," Tsubaki said non-committedly. "Probably only because she spent two hours in hair and make-up. You look cute even when you've just rolled out of bed." He tugged her ponytail playfully.
"I do not," Ema argued. Apparently, today was a day for blushing. "And the girl's interview is coming up. Pay attention or your coworker will be upset with you."
The show did a cut-scene away from some event the people were attending to show the young woman in question sitting in a chair. "You should really judge your boyfriend by how he kisses," the woman said, brushing her hair over her shoulder. "You can tell a lot from a kiss. Like how passionate someone is, or how caring and gentle. I always kiss a guy before dating him so I can get a feel for what kind of a boyfriend he'll be."
Ema blinked at the screen as the woman went on about the importance of judging kisses. This was the twin's coworker's favorite person on the show? Did she always talk about things like this?
After her interview finished and the show went back to the event—where Ema assumed the woman planned to kiss someone since she kept going on about it—Tsubaki said, "We should have a kissing competition."
"What?" Ema asked, whipping her head around to stare at him. He looked and sounded perfectly serious.
"We should have a kissing competition," Tsubaki repeated, turning toward her. "Don't you think it would be interesting to see if you could judge what kind of a boyfriend we'd by our kisses? I mean, we've kissed before, but that was just for work to get the sound of kissing for our characters. It would be real kisses this time."
Yep, today was definitely a day for blushing. "I'm not a kissing expert," Ema argued. "And, even if that woman was right about being able to tell a lot from a kiss, that doesn't mean I'd be able to judge accurately."
"But wouldn't it still be fun?" he argued. "Besides, you can just declare who's the best kisser if you feel you can't pick out what type of boyfriend we'd be by our kiss." He threw a look at Natsume. "This doesn't include you, by the way. This is just a competition for people who have kissed Ema."
"I've kissed Ema," Natsume said.
Tsubaki and Azusa stiffened.
"It was to help him out!" Ema rushed to say. "There was a lady who wouldn't leave him alone and his coworker kept trying to push them together, so I pretended to be his girlfriend at a party. We kissed to make her leave him alone, that's all."
Tsubaki turned back to Ema, his face a mix of curiosity and agitation. "How many of the Asahina brothers have you kissed? There's the three of us plus Fuuto and Iori."
"When did Ema kiss Fuuto and Iori?" Natsume interrupted.
"It was for a movie she did with the two of them," Azusa explained. "So, just acting like with me and Tsubaki. Fuuto's label produced a short movie to go with his latest song. Didn't you hear about this?"
Natsume sighed. "This is the problem with no longer living at home. No one tells me anything."
Ema hoped that would be the end of it, but Tsubaki gave her an expectant look. She didn't want to admit that she'd kissed Ukyo too while helping him out, but she didn't want to lie either. She shrugged. "I hadn't intended on kissing any Asahina brothers. I wasn't expecting kissing to be part of the anime we did, or the movie with Fuuto. All those times just kind of happened. And the woman going after Natsume was really persistent—she basically insinuated that even though she believed we were dating, she was still going to go after Natsume. She was very rude."
"Fine," Tsubaki said. "Natsume can be part of the competition."
Ema breathed a sigh of relief. She was worried that Tsubaki would catch she hadn't actually said she hadn't kissed any more of the other Asahina brothers.
"Wait, Tsubaki," Azusa said. "You have to have Ema's permission before you do something like this. You can't just decide on your own."
All three of their eyes turned to her.
"You're all okay with this?" she asked, disbelieving.
Tsubaki shrugged. "I've already made it clear I think it would be fun. I've never thought of telling how someone would be as a boyfriend or girlfriend from the way they kiss."
Azusa shrugged one shoulder, his cheeks flaming pink as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess I'm with Tsubaki with thinking it would be interesting. The three of us are triplets, but very different. We've never had a single girl assess how she thinks each of us would be as a boyfriend. I'm curious what your opinion would be after kissing each of us."
Her gaze moved to Natsume.
"I don't want to do this if you're uncomfortable with it, but I don't have any objections if you don't." Largely because he was afraid if they didn't do this here, Tsubaki would convince Ema to kiss him and Azusa later and judge their kisses. If they were going to kiss Ema regardless, then he wanted to be part of it. He didn't know what was going on, but he hadn't missed how his brothers kept touching Ema. If they were interested in her, then he wanted a fair shot at winning her over to.
"Okay," Ema said slowly. "I guess we're doing this then. But don't be disappointed if I'm not an expert judge at kissing styles." She paused. "So, how are we doing this?"
"You're the one we're kissing," Tsubaki said. "So you get to decide what order we kiss you in."
Great. No extra pressure there or anything. She didn't want there to be any hurt feelings over what order she kissed them in, but none of them seemed jealous—other than when Tsubaki asked how many of the Asahina brothers she'd kissed—so hopefully it would be okay.
"I guess since this was your idea, we'll have you go first."
"Great!" Tsubaki said, jumping to his feet, then holding his hand down to Ema. Hesitantly, she took his hand, letting him pull her to her feet. "Don't focus on the judging," he told her, gently pulling her closer. "Just focus on me, okay?"
Tsubaki's heart beat faster as Ema nodded, her eyes uncertain. He definitely didn't want her distracted with thoughts of judging. He wanted her to be consumed by his kiss and the feel of him against her. The kissing competition had been a whim—but once he had the thought, he couldn't let go of it. He hoped that the weird lady in the reality show was right about telling what kind of a boyfriend someone would be from their kiss and that Ema would be able to tell how passionate and fun he'd be.
He wanted her to realize how amazing they would be together and hoped this would help. He also wanted to give Azusa a chance, to let Ema hopefully see how sweet and caring he would be. Tsubaki was all for anything that might give him and Azusa a leg up over their brothers. It was unfortunate that Natsume was here too—but he was pretty boring, so Tsubaki didn't think Ema would be enticed by Natsume over him or Azusa.
He cupped the back of her head, wrapping his other arm around her waist. "Just focus on me," he reminded her in a murmur, then he lowered his lips to hers.
He started slow, not wanting to overwhelm her. She stood tense in his arms, but as she relaxed, he deepened the kiss, tilting her head back to change the angle. She made an 'mm' sound against him as her hands clutched at his shirt and he almost smiled. Instead, he worked to coax the same sound out of her again, teasing her lips with his. She pressed closer against him, so he held her tighter, kissing her with greater intensity, making his kisses deeper and faster.
Then he felt hands on his shirt, pulling him back.
"You said kiss, Tsubaki, not make-out," Azusa growled and Tsubaki realized Azusa was the one pulling him away.
"Sorry," he said, licking his lips as he watched the glazed look in Ema's eyes with satisfaction. She blinked at him, the most adorable blush covering her cheeks. "I wanted to make sure she got the full effect so she could make an accurate judgement."
"Yeah, whatever," Azusa said. "Ema, who do you want to kiss next?"
"Um," she looked between Azusa and Natsume. "I guess Azusa since he was the first one I kissed."
Tsubaki stepped aside to let Azusa move in.
Azusa had wanted Ema to choose him first, but now he was happy he was going after Tsubaki. After watching the two of them together, he hoped he could highlight how different he was from his twin and show Ema how gentle he'd be with her.
He cupped her cheek, putting his other hand on her waist. She looked up at him with trusting eyes and he remembered the mewling noises she'd made during her kiss scenes for the anime. At the time he'd wondered if she'd just been acting or if she normally did that when kissing. He'd wanted to shove her up against the wall and kiss her until she made those noises again. But he reminded himself that passion wasn't his goal this time. That was more Tsubaki's thing and he wasn't confident he could win in that arena. He needed to focus on his strengths. Hopefully, there would be time for passionate kisses later.
Gently, he took Ema's lips between his own, giving her soft kisses again and again, barely lifting his lips away from hers. His heart leapt when she moved closer to him, her hands sliding up his chest before wrapping around his neck. Still keeping the pace slow and gentle, he deepened the kiss and she made a half mewl against him that sent a thrill of happiness through him.
He'd just pulled her even closer when Tsubaki cleared his throat. "Weren't you the one saying something about this being a kissing competition and not a make-out competition?"
Azusa pulled back to see Tsubaki glaring at him, his arms crossed over his chest.
"Sorry," he said unrepentantly. "I was just following your example, big brother." Reluctantly, he let go of Ema, but was happy to see her looking dazed and flushed.
"My turn now," Natsume said, standing from the couch. His brothers definitely had a thing for Ema. How the heck had the three of them all fallen for the same woman? They were so different, you'd think the they'd have different tastes. But apparently not. Or maybe Ema was just a special case. He hoped that him going last wasn't a sign that Ema was least interested in him, but he didn't live with her, so she probably was closer to the twins than with him.
He'd never regretted moving away from home until that moment. If he was still there, Ema would be in Hikaru's room instead of his and his brothers wouldn't have an advantage against him with Ema. Hopefully, right now was an opportunity for him to make up some of that distance—though both Azusa and Tsubaki had had more girlfriends than him, so they probably had more kissing experience. He mentally shrugged. He would just have to try to make up the difference in experience with sincerity.
"It's a little late to ask this," he said, cupping the back of Ema's head, "but are you sure you're okay with this?"
She nodded, flushed pink either from her kiss with Azusa, or from her upcoming kiss with Natsume. He hoped it was the latter.
"Like I said, I'm okay with this if you guys are." Uncertainty flashed through her eyes. "If you don't really want to do this, you don't have to. Don't feel pressured just because Tsubaki and Azusa wanted to."
"No," he said, his voice harsher than he meant it to be. He made sure Ema was looking in his eyes as he slid his hand to her cheek, rubbing her skin with this thumb. "I want to kiss you." Tsubaki and Azusa glared at him from behind Ema.
Ignoring them, he kissed the corner of Ema's lips, then kissed a trail to the other corner. She made a noise, gripping his arm. Her lips opened, as though inviting him in, so he accepted the invitation. Cupping her face in both his hands, he pulled her closer, exploring her mouth with his.
"Okay!" Tsubaki said, clapping his hands. "That's enough of that. Time to hear Ema's judgement."
Natsume glared at his older triplet. The other two had definitely gotten more time to kiss Ema than him, but he didn't protest as she pulled back. Ema went to his kitchen table to sit and he hoped they hadn't overwhelmed her—but they probably had. She'd probably come hoping for a good time hanging out with friends after an apparently drama-filled week at school, and instead she'd been mauled by the three of them.
The three stayed standing as Ema cleared her throat. "Like I said, I'm not an expert—I've never judged kissing this way and I haven't had that much experience with dating, but here's my report." She looked at Tsubaki and he smiled at her. "Judging by kisses, I would say that Tsubaki would be a very passionate boyfriend. He'd want to be really involved with his girlfriend and spend lot of time doing things with her." Ema felt a bit silly. It was almost like she was giving a palm reading or something.
"I think Azusa would be really thoughtful. He'd be attentive to his girlfriend's needs and want to take care of her." She turned to Natsume last, giving him a thoughtful look. "I think that Natsume would be very forthright. There wouldn't ever be any silly games in a relationship with him."
Natsume blinked at her assessment of him. On one hand, it was good that she thought he wouldn't be into games, right? On the other hand, Azusa's and Tsubaki's assessments kind of sounded more appealing. Then again, maybe Ema's past boyfriends had played lots of games and that was why she was so jaded about dating. Maybe that was a point in his favor.
"Sounds like an accurate assessment to me," Tsubaki said. "I'm the ardent one, Azusa's the thoughtful one, and Natsume's the boring one."
"That's not what I said," Ema said with a frown. "Some people play games in relationships, but I like forthright guys."
Tsubaki and Azusa sent Natusme side-eyed glances.
"I guess he has his good points," Tsubaki said. "Let's go to lunch now."
~.~
"Hey," Azusa said to Tsubaki later than night as they hung out in Tsubaki's room. "Do you think we should invite Natsume to join us? In working to have Ema end up with one of us?" He'd been even less pleased to watch Ema kiss Natsume than he was watching her kiss Tsubaki, but he kind of felt bad leaving Natsume out of their plans when he seemed to have feelings for Ema too.
Tsubaki thought for a moment before saying, "Naw. If Ema chooses either of us, she'll still live at the mansion. If she ends up with Natsume, she might move in with him after high school, then he'll just keep her to himself. I'd rather have her around here where we can spend time with her."
"Good point," Azusa said, dropping the idea. It was Natsume's own fault for moving out. He'd just have to try to make Ema fall for him on his own.
