A/N: Thanks to guest reviewer xsafyx for their lovely review (I'm so glad you felt like everyone was in character! I'm going to try really hard to keep it that way).
Chapter 2: Sunrise Mansion
Ema looked around her room, probably for the last time, with her heart fluttering. The room was bare now that Ema had packed up everything she needed. Rintaro said that he would take care of everything else in the apartment when he got back from his next trip, which was two weeks from now.
Ema took one last look around the apartment, but she had no more reason to stall. She was ready to leave and go to her new home. The thought both terrified and exhilarated her. She wanted to go meet and live with her new family, she just wish she didn't have to be alone the first time she met them. But if she wanted Rintaro or Miwa to be with her, she'd have to wait fourteen more whole days before going. Now that she was finally going to have a big family, she didn't want to spend any more time in this apartment all by herself.
Steeling herself, Ema grabbed her suitcase and walked out the door, a smile on her face. Though she was nervous, she was not going to miss this lonely apartment.
Ema was lost in her thoughts the whole train ride and walk to Sunrise Mansion. Her thoughts alternated between imagining what her new brothers were like (thirteen of them!) and fearing that they would resent the intrusion of a girl into their all-guy home.
When Ema finally reached her destination, she stood staring up at the imposing structure for a long time. Sunrise Mansion was an apartment building and had five floors, but Miwa told Ema that only the top three floors were used by the Asahina family. The first two floors were rented out. The third and fourth floors held all the bedrooms, and the fifth floor was a kitchen, dining room, living room, and recreational area used by all the siblings. This was her home now.
Ema clenched her free fist and gave herself a little pep talk. She would be upbeat and friendly, and win over her new brothers. She had to show them that she would be a good sister and wouldn't be a burden to them.
Striding to the intercom by the front door, Ema put her suitcase down and pushed the button for the fifth floor. Then she flooded with panic. She hadn't thought about what she was going to say yet!
"Hello?" A deep male voice came through the speaker. Probably one of the older ones then.
"Um, hi, I—I'm Ema Hinata. I'm your new sister…" Ema's voice trailed off weakly at the end. She wasn't sure if it was okay to call herself their sister before their parents got married, let alone before they'd actually met her.
"Oh," the voice sounded surprised. "I'll be down in a second."
Ema fidgeted, biting her lip as she waited. The door opened a few moments later to reveal a tall man with red hair.
Ema clasped her hands together in front of her and bowed. "I-I'll be in your care from now on!"
Hikaru smiled and put a hand to his mouth, trying to hold in the laugh that wanted to burst out at Ema's adorable awkwardness. He hadn't known what to expect from his new stepsister, but it wasn't this. As Ema lifted out of her bow, Hikaru's eyes searched behind the young girl. "Where's your father?"
"He's out of the country," Ema answered with a shrug, then she looked down at her hands as she nervously entangled her fingers together. "He'll be gone for two weeks, but I didn't want to wait that long to come here."
Hikaru felt a flare of anger towards his soon-to-be stepfather. What kind of a man let his eleven-year-old daughter wander the streets alone to come to a house full of thirteen men that he'd never even met? And what must Ema's life be like for her to be willing to come here all by herself two days after Miwa and Rintaro announced their engagement?
"Well, it was very brave of you to come here by yourself," Hikaru complimented, taking Ema's suitcase in one hand and holding the other hand out to her. "My name is Hikaru. I'm the fourth oldest son."
Ema tentatively placed her small hand in his, giving him a shy smile. "I can carry my suitcase," she offered as Hikaru led her inside and into an elevator. "I carried it all the way here."
Hikaru tutted. "What kind of a brother would I be if I made my little sister carry her own luggage? You must be tired from carrying this so far."
A brilliant smile lit up Ema's face at being called a little sister, but she shook her head. "I'm fine. I'm pretty strong for a girl. I can do lots of things by myself."
"Well, now you have brothers to help you do things," Hikaru said, surprising himself. He wasn't normally the helpful type, but something about Ema struck a chord in him. It sounded like Rintaro was about as involved in Ema's life as Miwa had been in her sons' lives. Except, Ema had been all alone rather than surrounded by brothers. At least Hikaru had had three older brothers to be there for him.
"We have a room prepared for you," Hikaru said as the doors opened on the third floor. "It's not very big though. The rest of the rooms are all taken." Hikaru fought the frown starting to form on his face as he thought of the room they'd prepared for Ema. It was really more of a storage space that Tsubaki had been using to house his anime and mange junk. They'd cleared out Tsubaki's stuff and put in a dresser and a bed with a comforter thrown over it. The room didn't even have a window.
"That's okay," Ema rushed to reassure Hikaru. "I'm small, so I don't need a lot of space."
Hikaru pursed his lips. "We would have done more to get it ready, but we didn't expect you so soon." Tsubaki and Wataru hadn't even had time to get Ema a welcome gift yet like they'd wanted to. Tsubaki had wanted to rush out immediately to get her something, but Azusa pointed out that they knew nothing of Ema's likes and tastes. Azusa suggested talking to Rintaro before getting Ema anything.
"Sorry," Ema said, hanging her head. "Maybe I should have—"
"It's not a problem," Hikaru interrupted. "I was just explaining why your room doesn't look better than it does." They reached the room at the end of the hall and Hikaru opened the door. Putting Ema's suitcase on the bed, he watched Ema look around the small space before saying, "Well then, would you like to meet more of your new brothers?"
Ema nodded eagerly, hoping the rest of the Asahina brothers would be as nice as Hikaru.
"I have to go to class soon," Hikaru said, glancing at his watch. "I'm a university student, but I believe Tsubaki and Azusa are around. We'll see if we can't find them before I have to leave." Hikaru led Ema up two flights of stairs into a spacious living room. Off to the side two young men stood in the kitchen.
"Yo!" Hikaru called out, standing behind Ema and placing his hands on her shoulders. "Look who came today."
The two looked over and looked surprised for a moment, coming around from behind the counter.
"Is this—" The white-haired one started to say, looking at Hikaru, then he addressed Ema and asked, "Are you Ema?"
Ema nodded, then bowed and repeated what she'd said to Hikaru. "Starting today, I'll be in your care."
"She's so cuuute!" He exclaimed, pouncing forward and wrapping Ema in a hug. Ema froze, not sure what to do. She was thrilled that this brother was so excited to have Ema as a sister, but she was surprised at this much affection coming right after he met her.
"Well, I've got to go," Hikaru said. "I'll leave our new sister to the two of you." Ema felt a little flare of panic as Hikaru walked away, though she'd only spent a few minutes with him. Still, everything about this situation was unfamiliar, as exciting as it was.
The darker-haired brother smacked the head of the first one. "Let her go, Tsubaki. You're scaring her."
"I am not," Tsubaki said, pulling away from Ema with a pout. "I'm just welcoming our new sister." Tsubaki put his arm around his brother. "I'm Tsubaki, and this is my identical twin, Azusa. You can just call me Onii-chan though."
Ema clasped her hands to her chest and tentatively said, "Onii-chan?" Trying out the word more than using it to refer to Tsubaki. That was one word she never thought she'd use, but the idea of addressing older brothers that way made her happy.
"Too cute!" Tsubaki cried out, flying forward to hug Ema again.
Azusa sighed and shook his head before smacking Tsubaki a second time. "Try to have some control, would you?"
They stopped talking when they heard voices and three guys walked into the room, wearing exercise clothes and dripping sweat. One was blond with earrings, one had orange hair, and the last one holding a basketball didn't look much older than Ema.
"Hey!" Tsubaki called to get their attention. "Our new little sister is here!"
"Already?" The one with orange hair asked in surprise.
"Sorry," Ema mumbled, flushing red. Maybe she should have at least gotten one of the brother's cell phone numbers from Miwa and warned them she was coming. Or asked when it would be a good time for her to come.
"There's no need for you to apologize," the blond said, smiling. "You're part of our family now."
"Right," the orange-haired one agreed. "I didn't mean it like that. You have nothing to apologize for."
The blond nodded in agreement and said, "I'm Kaname. This is Natsume and that one is Suburu." Subaru looked at the floor and mumbled something that could have been hello.
"Natsume is our triplet," Azusa explained. "But Tsubaki and I are monozygotic twins, while Natsume is dizygotic, so he's not identical to us."
"Well," Kaname said, running his hand over his forehead to wipe away sweat, "the three of us had better go shower and change before dinner. Ukyo won't be happy if we smell. See you later, imouto-chan." He threw a wink at Ema and walked away with the other two. Ema's heart beat fast at being called imouto-chan for the first time.
"We'd better go, Tsubaki," Azusa said, looking at his watch with a sigh. "We promised to meet up with our high school friends, remember?"
"Ahhh, do we still have to?" Tsubaki complained. "Our little sister is here now."
"It's okay!" Ema assured Tsubaki, not wanting to interfere with his and Azusa's plans with friends. "I'll be fine."
Tsubaki pouted but said, "We're leaving early so we'll be home for dinner. We can't miss Ema's first meal with the family."
Ema smiled happily at Tsubaki's words and Azusa and Tsubaki both patted Ema on the head as they walked by. Right before the twins left, two more brothers walked in. Azusa said something to them, and they both turned to look at Ema. Ema felt nervous again, wondering how in the world she was supposed to remember the names of all these brothers. She'd just have to pay careful attention to what they called each other to help her keep track.
The two brothers walked over to her. The older one was blond and looked like he was in high school. The other was very handsome and looked around Ema's age.
"Hello," the blond greeted with a kind and slow smile. "I'm Louis, one of your new brothers. And this is Iori."
Iori held his hand out for Ema to shake and Ema noticed his uniform. She couldn't remember the name of the school, but she knew that the junior high with that uniform was for really smart kids. "I'm Ema. I'm grateful to join the Asahina family. I hope I don't cause too much trouble."
"I'm sure you won't be any trouble at all," Iori said. "We're looking forward to gaining a sister."
Ema beamed and Louis reached out to brush Ema's ponytail with his fingers. "I can do your hair anytime you want," Louis offered. "I do my friends' hair at school at the time."
"Thank you," Ema said, surprised at the offer. She didn't know that guys knew how to do hair and was curious what hairstyles Louis knew.
"We'd better put our bags away before Ukyo gets home," Iori said, looking at Louis. "You know how he hates clutter."
"Mmm," Louis agreed, nodding his head. "We'll be back in a little bit, okay Ema?"
Ema smiled and nodded, a little wary about standing in the living room by herself. What if more brothers came while they were gone and thought that Ema was intruder? Admittedly, an eleven-year-old girl was rather young for an intruder, but you never knew these days.
Another door opened after Louis and Iori left and Ema stood up straight, clutching the bottom of her shirt. A boy came in. One of her younger brothers!
"H—Hi!" Ema greeted, trying to be cheerful.
The boy looked over and looked Ema up and down with an unimpressed look. "Who are you? One of Yusuke's friends?"
"N—no," Ema stuttered, surprised over hearing such a caustic tone coming from someone younger than her. "I'm Ema Hinata. I'm your new—"
"Oh," he interrupted before she could finish, his eyes darkening. "You're her." He looked her up and down again before snorting. "If we have to have you live here, you could at least be cute."
Ema clutched her hands to her chest and tried not to cry as the boy turned and walked into the kitchen. She had no right to cry. She was the one intruding in his home, and she couldn't expect all the brothers to be nice to her just because most of the others had been.
The elevator dinged and Ema scrubbed at her face, trying to get rid of the tears in her eyes. When she looked up, she saw two comparatively older looking men and one young boy. Miwa said Ema only had two brothers younger than her. Maybe this one would be nicer.
"Hello," the blond man wearing glasses said in surprised confusion as he looked at Ema. Then he looked around to see if anyone else was around.
"I—I'm Ema Hinata," Ema said, bowing and feeling miserable. She'd lost all her earlier confidence. Or, at least, all of her earlier pretend confidence. "I'm—" She couldn't bring herself to say she was their sister after the young boy's reaction to her. "From today on I'll be in your care."
"Oh," the blond said in surprise. "Mom said you'd be coming soon, but I didn't realize it would be this soon."
"Ohhh," the little boy groaned. "But we didn't get you your welcome present yet!"
"Welcome present?" Ema asked in surprise, finally looking at the three of them again.
Masaomi frowned as he got a look at Ema's face and came closer, bending down to look Ema in the eye. "Is everything okay?" He asked in concern.
"It's fine," Ema mumbled quietly, unable to muster up the energy to sound more convincing.
Masaomi looked over at the kitchen and saw the mean boy. "Fuuto," he muttered, shaking his head. Then he smiled at Ema. "Well Ema, I'm Masaomi, and I'm the oldest. Welcome to the Asahina family. This is Ukyo, the second-oldest, and Wataru, the youngest."
"Why don't we make you a welcome dinner?" Ukyo suggested. "To make up for the fact that we don't have your welcome gift yet."
"You don't have to," Ema said shyly.
"Of course we do," Masaomi countered. "You're part of our family now."
"That's right!" Wataru said, stepping forward and clutching Ema's arm. "You're my new big sister!" Ema smiled, grateful for Wataru's excitement. At least one of her younger brothers was excited to get a big sister. "I can show you around!"
"I think that's a good idea," Masaomi said, smiling down at Wataru. Before Wataru could take Ema anywhere, the last brother finally walked in. Ema looked up and her eyes widened in surprise to see a slightly familiar face. She didn't know his name since he wasn't in her class, but she knew that the redhead standing across from her went to the same school as her.
"Ah!" He exclaimed, pointing a finger at Ema. "You're not Ema Hinata, are you?"
Ema flinched, afraid of being rebuffed again, like she had with the brother apparently named Fuuto.
"Do you know her, Yusuke?" Masaomi asked, looking between the two of them.
"She goes to my school," Yusuke answered, "but, but she can't be my sister! You're schoolmate can't be your sister!"
"Why not?" Ema demanded, tired of being offended. What had she ever done to Fuuto or Yusuke? What did they not like about her?
"Because it's weird," Yusuke declared, his face flushing red.
"Don't be ridiculous," Ukyo chastised Yusuke. "There's nothing wrong with your classmate becoming your sister. It just means that you two can go to school together."
"I won't!" Yusuke declared. "I won't do it!"
"Yusuke's a meanie!" Wataru declared, sticking out his tongue at his brother. "You're so lucky that you get to go to the same school as Oneesan, but you're too dumb to be happy about it. Come on, Ema, I'll show you the house." Grasping Ema's hand, Wataru marched forward, dragging Ema past a sputtering Yusuke.
