Chapter 8: Dreams
"What club did you join this year, Fuuto?" Masaomi asked one night at dinner.
"Dance," Fuuto answered simply before going back to his meal.
"It must be tough," Masaomi said. "You get home from school really late most days."
"Yep. Lots of practice and studying." Fuuto didn't bother looking up from his noodles to say this.
"It's good to be involved and enjoy your first year of junior high," Ukyo commented, "but don't let it affect your grades. School comes first."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm not an idiot like Yusuke. My grades are as good as they've ever been."
"Hey!" Yusuke protested, jumping to his feet and slamming his hands on the table. "I'm not an idiot!"
"Sit down!" Ukyo ordered, glaring at Yusuke.
Yusuke muttered something under his breath, but sat back down. "You better not plan on entering the same high school Ema and I will go to. The last thing I need is to have to suffer through seeing you around school."
Fuuto chuckled. "Afraid that if your classmates find out your little brother is smarter than you they'll think even less of you? I'm not sure that's possible, Yusuke-kun. Or maybe…you just want Ema to yourself. Not that you have anything to worry about. Either way I wouldn't go to your school. Your stupidity might be catching."
"What?!" Yusuke exclaimed, his face flaming bright red. His eyes shot to Ema, but she wasn't paying much attention to them. She'd been distracted ever since Fuuto said that he was in the dance club.
Tsubaki tsked at Yusuke. "Don't think that just because you're not blood related to Ema that I'll let you get away with that. I won't share my little sister so easily."
"Th—that's not what this is about!" Yusuke protested. "I just don't want to have to see Fuuto's ugly face any more than I have to!"
"Yusuke and I don't even see each other at school," Ema added, not really understanding what they were talking about, having missed the first half of the conversation.
"What do you mean?" Ukyo asked. "Don't you two ever eat lunch together?"
"We don't even go to school and come home together."
The eyes of all Yusuke's older brothers turned to look at him.
"What?" He demanded, shrinking under all the attention.
"You go to the same school as our precious, vulnerable, lovely, and only little sister and you don't even go to and from school with her?" Tsubaki demanded. "What if something happened to Ema? What if someone tried to grab her?"
"There are some unsavory people who take the train sometimes," Masaomi said with a frown on his face. "I'd feel more comfortable if you two were together. I thought that you two did take the train together."
"Well I—I," Yusuke faltered, not knowing what to say. He'd never considered the possibility of something happening to Ema before. "Fine. I'll go to school with her."
"Oh, no," Ema said, a familiar look entering her eye that made him flinch. Ema still hadn't completely forgiven Yusuke for avoiding her at school and the last two years had been rough for him. Things were mostly normal between them at home (partially, Yusuke believed, because Ema hadn't wanted to get Yusuke in trouble with their brothers despite how hurt she felt, which just made Yusuke love her even more), but occasionally Ema would refuse to do homework with him or stop playing video games with Wataru or Subaru if Yusuke joined in. "I don't want to inconvenience Yusuke with my presence outside the house. I've been going to school by myself since I was five. I'm sure I'll be just fine."
Ukyo stared hard at Ema and Yusuke, but no one said anything more about it, other than Tsubaki's comment that he was buying Ema pepper spray to put in her school bag.
When Fuuto got up from the table, Ema hurried to get up to, putting her dishes by the sink before following Fuuto. When Fuuto reached his room and realized that Ema was behind him, he turned to look at her. "What do you want?"
"Why did you lie?"
"What?"
"Why did you lie at dinner? You told Masaomi that you'd joined the dance club, but at the beginning of the year you told Ukyo that you'd joined the drama club, and when Hikaru visited a few months ago, you told him you'd joined the singing club. What are you really doing after school every day, Fuuto?" All three of those clubs were believable since Fuuto attended a special junior high for students who wanted to join the entertainment business, but obviously he couldn't be a member of all three.
Fuuto looked surprised before he covered it up with a mocking look. "What's the matter, Nee-san? Afraid I'm getting into trouble?" The Nee-san, as always, had a sarcastic lilt to it.
"Well," Ema said, tilting her head to the side, "I don't know. I really don't know you well enough to say. You've never let me get close to you."
Fuuto rolled his eyes and turned back to his door.
"Hey, what's that?" Ema asked, reaching for a paper sticking out of Fuuto's pocket.
"What's what?" Fuuto asked. When Ema grasped the paper and pulled, Fuuto immediately grasped for it and pulled it away from her. "This is none of your business," Fuuto said, leaning against his door and holding the paper protectively to his chest as he glared at Ema.
Ema crossed her arms and tried to stare her little brother down. "If you're doing something bad, Masaomi and Ukyo need to know. Either show me that paper, or I'm telling them that you've been lying about your after school club."
Fuuto reluctantly held the paper out to Ema, continuing to glare at her.
Ema's eyebrows wrinkled in confusion as she read the paper. "Idol auditions for kids twelve to fifteen? Is this what you're doing after school, Fuuto? Why would you hide this from our brothers?"
"Oh please," Fuuto said, ripping the paper from Ema's hands. "Like they would actually care."
"Of course they would care," Ema said, surprised at Fuuto's attitude. Then again, he never seemed happy to participate in family activities. And though he was usually mean to Ema, he wasn't that much nicer to most of their brothers. He seemed to get along well enough with Iori and a few others, but that was it.
"You don't get it," Fuuto scoffed. "I'm the second youngest out of a family of thirteen boys. I'm beyond being old news at that point. You, on the other hand,are the only girl. Of course you get a lot of attention. If you sneeze it's information that has to pass between everyone."
"Is that why you don't like me?" Ema asked in surprise. Now that she thought about it, Fuuto didn't get a lot of attention from their brothers. Neither did Yusuke, Iori, or Subaru. It was like the younger brothers just got passed over. It was different for Wataru since he was the youngest, and as Ema understood it, the youngest was usually spoiled.
Fuuto rolled his eyes. "Please. Like I'd ever be jealous of you."
"But, don't you need a parent's or guardian's consent for something like idol auditions?"
Fuuto looked at Ema blankly. "I forged mom's signature, obviously. It's not like she's ever here to do something like that."
"But—but," Ema wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say. With all the hours Fuuto was away from home after school, he must have spent a lot of time practicing for these auditions, which meant that they were really important to him. And he'd been doing it all by himself. "Let me know how it goes, okay?" Ema said as Fuuto started going into his room. "If you promise to tell me, I promise I won't tell Masaomi and Ukyo that you haven't really been going to club after school."
"Whatever," Fuuto replied, rolling his eyes.
~.~
A week later, Ema got a text while at school. It read 'Guess who's going to be Japan's next teen idol?' Ema barely kept her squeal contained. As it was, some of the students next to her started looking around for whoever made the high-pitched noise. Ema texted back 'That's so great! I'm so excited for you!' and slid her phone back into her backpack. She tried to focus on the lesson, but instead she kept thinking of what she should make Fuuto in order to celebrate. He always ordered cheesecake for dessert whenever they ate out, and Ema knew that he horded chocolate in his room.
Ema spent her break in the school's library looking up recipes for chocolate cheesecakes. On the way home she hummed as she stopped by the grocery store to pick up what she needed. She hoped that Fuuto would like it.
~.~
Ema hid the cheesecake in the back of the fridge, knowing that if any of her brothers saw it, she'd have to explain why she'd made it, and she figured Fuuto should be the one to tell them. All during dinner she hoped that Fuuto would make the announcement, but couldn't say she was really surprised when he didn't say anything to anyone.
After Ema finished helping Ukyo with the dishes and all her brothers were in their rooms or distracted by the TV, Ema grabbed the cheesecake and a fork and went to Fuuto's room.
When he opened the door, he looked at her and the cheesecake in surprise. "What's that for?"
"To celebrate, of course!" Ema exclaimed quietly. "I wanted to do something to congratulate you."
"You know that as an idol I have to watch my figure and not eat things that will make me fat, right? I can't just eat anything I want to like regular people."
"Oh," Ema said, deflating as she stared at the chocolate cheesecake. What had she been thinking?
Fuuto chuckled and gripped Ema's arm, pulling her into the room and shutting the door. "Just kidding."
"What?"!" Ema exclaimed, looking up into Fuuto's face to see him smirking at her.
"Well," Fuuto said, taking the plate and fork from Ema, "I should watch what I eat, but I can have a piece of cheesecake that my older sister made just for me." Though Fuuto wouldn't admit it to Ema, he'd been happy that he had at least one person to share the news of his success with. It wasn't as exciting to become an idol if you didn't have anyone to tell about it.
"So what happens now?" Ema asked. "Are you working with a group or are you solo? Do you know when your debut will be? Can I come?"
Fuuto brought one hand to his forehead and shook his head. "You are such a dork," he said, but Ema didn't take too much offense since he was smiling as he said it. "Sit down and I'll explain it all to you."
Despite the fact that it was a school night, Ema and Fuuto talked late into the night, and eventually Fuuto told Ema to go get a fork so they could share the cheesecake.
~.~
"You have to tell our brothers," Ema told Fuuto a few weeks later. "Your debut is next weekend and there are posters of you all over the city. You've already had to miss school to do TV interviews. It's a miracle that Ukyo and Masaomi haven't found out about that yet."
"No it's not," Fuuto said in a bored tone, sprawled out on his bed. "I just forged absence letters with their signatures."
Ema sighed and shook her head. "Well, you're going to have to keep missing school, and pretty soon you'll probably start missing a lot of school, so you should tell them now."
"Fine."
"At dinner tonight would be good."
Fuuto rolled his eyes. "You're so bossy." Fuuto would maybe claim that he enjoyed having one of his older siblings actually pay attention to him and try to look after him (more than just Ukyo telling him to do well in school and to be home by dinner), except he'd never considered Ema to be his sister. He still didn't. That wasn't to say he didn't care about her. He was caring about her more and more as she supported all the work he was doing for his debut (though he did find it dorky that she'd looked up his TV interviews and watched them online). He'd even started talking to her about his dreams of eventually moving from being an idol to being an actor.
When Ukyo called to say that he was taking dinner out of the oven, Ema dragged Fuuto upstairs with her. When all their brothers had arrived, Ema announced, "Fuuto has something he needs to tell everyone."
"I haven't been going to club after school," Fuuto admitted. "I was actually practicing for an idol audition. The company loved me and my debut is next weekend."
"Huh. That's a surprise," Tsubaki commented before returning to his conversation with Azusa.
"That means you'll be missing a lot of school," Ukyo said with a frown. "If you let your grades drop that will be a problem."
"I know, I know," Fuuto brushed off. "I'll take care of it."
"That means Fuuto-nii is going to be on the TV!" Wataru exclaimed. "Just like Tsuba-nii and Azu-nii."
"No, Wataru," Fuuto said with a smirk. "Not like Azu-nii and Tsuba-nii. They're only talented enough to get their voices on the TV. I'm so talented that all of me is going to be on the TV."
"What was that?" Tsubaki ground out, whipping around to glare at Fuuto.
Ema stared at her brothers in disbelief. "That's it? Our twelve-year-old brother has achieved his dream of becoming an idol his first year in junior high, and that's all that you guys have to say to him? Isn't anyone excited for him?"
"I can do your hair for you," Louis offered.
"That is an offer that I'll take," Fuuto said. "You, unlike some of our brothers, are actually talented."
"Was that directed at me?" Tsubaki demanded.
Ema couldn't believe that Fuuto had been right about their brothers not being supportive of him. They all acted so…blasé about the whole thing. Maybe this family was just too amazing. Their older brothers had accomplished too much that they just weren't impressed by anything. If they cared so little about one of their brothers becoming an idol, how would Ema ever impress them with whatever career she ended up in?
Ema fumed after dinner as she walked with Fuuto back to his room. "Well, I'm proud of you, Fuuto," she informed him. "I think that you're amazing and I'm excited to see what you accomplish."
"So you'll be at my debut cheering me on, Nee-san?" Fuuto asked, spinning to face Ema so that their faces were only inches apart. Ema blushed as she backed up a little. Though she'd grown closer with Fuuto the last few weeks (which made her veryhappy), his tone threw her. For the first time when he said 'Nee-san', he didn't sound sarcastic. He sounded…like he was flirting with her. But, of course, she had to be wrong about that.
"You know I'll be there."
Fuuto's smile softened. "Yeah. I do know. I just wanted to hear you say it."
~.~
Fuuto's debut went well and he almost became an overnight sensation. Because of the junior high he'd enrolled in, the school was understanding about Fuuto having to often change his schedule at the last minute.
Ema was really impressed with how maturely Fuuto handled all the stress and fame of his new job. He acted just like an adult when it came to his work, though it did lead to him acting a little more childishly at home, but Ema felt that he was probably entitled to it.
"Neesan," Fuuto said, coming up behind Ema as she did homework with Yusuke and wrapping his arms around her. "Would you make something for me to eat? I had to miss lunch today because the fans wouldn't let us leave the stadium. They crowded around the car until we had to get out and sign more autographs and take pictures."
"We're doing homework, Fuuto," Yusuke ground out. "Get yourself something to eat out of the fridge. Don't act like some little kid who can't get his own food."
Fuuto removed his arms and Ema turned to see Fuuto staring at the ground. "I just wanted to spend a little bit of time with my only sister." He raised his eyes to Ema, looking at her from beneath his long eyelashes. "I see so little of you now that I'm gone all the time." He looked back at the ground and Ema's heart melted.
"I can make something for you, Fuuto. I'm almost done, anyway."
Yusuke gaped as Ema stood up, then started sputtering. "Are you seriously buying this, Ema? Fuuto's just playing you!"
"Yusuke!" Ema scolded. "Fuuto's rarely home anymore. If he wants me to make him something, it's no trouble."
Behind Ema's back, Fuuto gave Yusuke a victorious grin before following Ema into the kitchen. Fuuto was well aware of Yusuke's pathetic crush on Ema. He hadn't cared about it before other than to harass Yusuke over it, but now…He was going to enjoy interrupting Yusuke's time with Ema whenever he could.
~.~
At dinner that night, Ema noticed that only one brother was missing, and it was one who never missed without contacting either her or Ukyo to let them know. After dinner, Ema texted Iori and knocked on his bedroom door, but he didn't answer either. Becoming more worried, Ema went outside to look for Iori's bike to see whether or not he'd come home after school.
The moment Ema stepped outside, she saw Iori sitting on the porch steps.
"Iori," Ema said in relief, holding a hand to her heart. "Thank goodness I found you. I was worried that something might have happened."
"Something did happen," Iori mumbled in an almost unintelligible voice. Ema took a closer look at Iori and realized that he looked despondent.
"What happened, Iori?" Ema asked gently, kneeling down so she was eye level with him. "How long have you been out here for?"
"It doesn't matter," Iori said, covering his face with one of his hands. "She broke up with me. We were supposed to go to college together. I thought we'd always be together."
"Who?" Ema asked. "Fuyuka?" Then she felt stupid. It wasn't as though Iori had any other girlfriend. "Why?" Iori had brought Fuyuka home a few times and she and Iori always seemed to get along so well. The two brilliant and kind students from Bright Centrair.
Iori sent Ema a dark look that made her heart skip a beat in fear. She'd never had anyone look at her like that before and she flinched back. Iori covered his eyes with his hair and looked down at the ground. "She didn't believe that I could stay true to her. Other girls always talk to me and Fuyuka thought that she would lose me to one of them, so she broke up with me. I tried to convince her that she was wrong, but she wouldn't listen to me."
Ema felt a little calmer as Iori spoke. That was why he had such a dark look in his eyes. He was upset at Fuyuka and at the situation, not at Ema. "That's terrible," Ema said quietly, laying a gentle hand on Iori's knee. "I don't believe that you'd ever do something like that. You always keep your word."
Iori's hand slid over Ema's and when he looked at her again, he looked a little less despondent. "You're always true too, aren't you? Like me. Will you always be here, Ema?"
"Well, families are forever, so yes, I'll always be here, Iori. I want to be there to help you when things go wrong and you're struggling, and to cheer you on when things go right and you succeed."
"Good," Iori said firmly, tightening his hand around Ema's.
A/N: Those who've only seen the anime probably don't know this, but in the novels and the game, Iori is a bit of a yandere.
