A/N: I'm not happy with this chapter (Except for the beginning with Yusuke, because he's usually easy to write). The rest of it gives me fits. Hopefully, it's at least passable. I got ahead in my writing and Minty Toothpaste's, xsafyx's, and AimitheVillain's wonderful reviews made me want to post early (thanks so much for giving such detailed reviews!).

Chapter 15: Toy Convention and the Beach

Yusuke stared straight ahead, trying his best to keep a stoic look on his face, but he could feel that he was bright red. He just hoped that none of his brothers looked into the back seat and saw.

They had left the house early that morning to spend Ema's and Yusuke's spring break at the family's beach house along with Kaname, Masaomi, Wataru, Louis, Iori, and the twins. They had to leave early so that they'd get there in time for some convention or another that Wataru wanted to go to. Yusuke had been upset about having to get up so early and planned to sleep on the drive down, but that plan quickly derailed. On one side, Yusuke had Wataru lying on his lap, which he did not appreciate. On his other side, Ema had fallen asleep on his shoulder, which he very much appreciated.

Yusuke could smell Ema's shampoo and the light floral scent made him blush even more. Having Ema leaning against him, having her trust him enough to fall asleep on him, was a dream come true, but he couldn't relax no matter how hard he tried. He was sure he'd be sore later from how tense he was.

Yusuke tried to take to take a deep, calming breath. When he exhaled, his shoulders lowered and Ema shifted, her head moving to nestle against his neck. Yusuke froze, terrified of waking her up.

Part of Yusuke was really grateful that the universe had conspired to make this situation happen, but another part of him really wished that he could put his arm around Ema and pull her closer. Of course, only a boyfriend could do that, and, at the moment, he was only her boyfriend inside his dreams.

Yusuke looked up in surprise as the car came to a stop. They were already at the beach house. He sighed in disappointment. That was the shortest the long drive had ever been. He wished it had gone on for a bit longer.

Next to him, Ema stirred and lifted her head. "Mmm," she mumbled, rubbing her eyes and looking adorable. "Are we already there?"

"Yeah," Yusuke answered. "We just got here."

"Sorry for using you as a pillow, Yusuke," Ema apologized, a light blush on her face. "I didn't mean to fall asleep."

"I-it's fine," Yusuke said, looking at the floor of the car instead of at Ema. "I don't mind."

"We're here!" Wataru exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air and hitting Yusuke in the face.

"Hey, watch it!" Yusuke said, knocking Wataru's hand away.

"It's so nice to be able to come to the beach house during spring break," Ema said as she got out of the car.

"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "One last opportunity to relax before we're hit with end-of-the year tests."

"But Onee-chan is going to play with me today, right?" Wataru reminded, grabbing Ema's hand. "We're going to the toy convention with Mao-nii today!"

Yusuke slumped, having forgotten that Ema was going with Wataru to the convention. He came out all this way only to be stuck with his brothers on the first day. At least he'd gotten to ride down next to Ema.

"Let's put our bags inside the house," Masaomi said. "And then the three of us will head back out."

"Yay!" Wataru exclaimed, throwing his arms in the air again.

~.~

"Look at that!" Wataru exclaimed, gripping Ema's arm and pointing to a ten-foot tall roller coaster made out of K'NEX. "It's huge!" He gasped as he saw a tank made out of Legos. "That's the tank from the game that Azu-nii and Tsuba-nii we're in!"

Masaomi and Ema followed along behind as Wataru dragged them from sight to sight, excited by each new thing that he saw.

As Wataru marveled over a mini-water park with real running water for Pokémon, Ema saw a woman a few feet away nudge her friend and then heard her say, "Isn't that an adorable little family? I wish that my husband would come to things like this with me."

Ema felt her face burn as the friend responded, "I know. My husband thinks that if it involves the kids, it's my responsibility. I hope that woman knows how lucky she is."

"Ema," Masaomi prompted, and Ema jumped in surprise. "We're moving on now."

"Okay," Ema squeaked, hoping that her red face wasn't too obvious.

"Is something wrong?" Masaomi asked.

Ema shook her head. "No, everything is fine."

Wataru gripped Masaomi's and Ema's hand, swinging his arms back and forth with a big grin on his face as he looked around at everything. "How many toys can I get, Mao-nii?"

"You can get two less expensive toys or one expensive toy," Masaomi reminded him.

"Right," Wataru said, a serious look on his face as he gave a firm nod. "I have to choose carefully, so I should see everything before I make my choice."

Ema giggled at Wataru's solemn attitude. "That's a good plan. Then you can make sure that you don't regret what you chose if you see something that you like better later on."

"Right," Wataru agreed. "Kyo-nii is always saying that you should have a plan for everything. And he told me—" Wataru broke off with a gasp. "Remote control race cars!" He let go of his siblings' hands and ran towards the demonstration.

"Can I try?" Wataru asked the man standing at the mini-race track.

"Of course!" The man said. "And one other person can try with you."

"Mao-nii!" Wataru called, waving him over. "Come race with me. I'll take the green car and you can use the blue one."

Ema followed Masaomi over and caught the helpless look on Masaomi's face when the salesman handed him a controller. Ema bit her lip to hide her smile and reached over to point. "That button is to make the car go," she told Masaomi. "If you want the car to go forward you push it forward, and if you want the car to go in reverse, you push it backwards. These buttons are to control which direction the car drives. You can turn it right or left or make it spin in circles."

Masaomi nodded through Ema's explanation, giving her a grateful smile. However, the race between Masaomi and Wataru clearly showed who held the greater experience with remote control cars when Masaomi lost badly to Wataru.

"Perhaps your wife would like a turn?" The salesman offered.

Masaomi stuttered and flushed red as Ema felt her own face turning dark again.

"No, that's okay," Wataru said. "It'd be fun to play with Onee-chan, but we have to go check out other stuff now. Thanks, though!"

Ema and Masaomi followed along awkwardly behind Wataru. After a few steps, Masaomi said, "Sorry about that, Ema."

Ema peeked over to see Masaomi looking at the floor. "It's okay," she assured him. "It's not your fault. And people have been saying it all day. I guess the three of us must really look like a family."

"I think you would make a wonderful mother," Wataru said, looking over his shoulder to smile at Ema. Ema blinked in surprise. She'd assumed that Wataru hadn't heard the salesman calling her Masaomi's wife and that was why he hadn't commented on it. "And Mao-nii would definitely make the best father."

Masaomi's face turned even redder and now Ema stared at the floor too. She was flattered that Wataru thought she'd make a good mother, but also embarrassed. With her stepmother being gone most of the time, Ema wondered if she was more like a mother than a sister to Wataru, just like Masaomi was more like a father than a brother to him.

Ema's thoughts were interrupted when they heard a cry of, "Toka? Toka! Please, is anyone here a doctor? My husband just collapsed!" Masaomi's head whipped towards the sound of the woman's voice and he made a beeline straight for a woman wringing her hands next to a fallen man. Ema and Wataru trailed behind Masaomi, standing back as he checked the man over.

A crowd started gathering and Masaomi ordered everyone to get back and give the man space. Ema was surprised, having never seen Masaomi so forceful and serious before. He seemed to become a different person as he took care of the man. One of the employees of the convention ran to get a first aid kit and soon returned. A few minutes later, Masaomi tossed Ema a distracted look and said, "This man is going to be fine, but I need to stay here for a while. Why don't you and Wataru keep looking around? I'll come join you when I can."

"Okay, Masaomi-kun," Ema agreed. "If you're sure." Wataru took Ema's hand and they continued walking, more subdued this time. Ema eventually shook off her surprise and gave Wataru's hand a squeeze. "It's okay, Wataru-kun," she told him. "Mao-nii said that the man will be okay, and he knows what he's talking about."

"I know," Wataru replied. "Mao-nii is a good doctor. It's lucky that we were right there. I just feel bad for leaving him behind."

"He wouldn't want you to feel that way," Ema told Wataru. "He told us to go on because he wants you to have fun today."

"Yeah," Wataru agreed quietly, then looked at Ema with a panicked, earnest expression. "Not that I don't think it's fun to just be with you! I love playing with you, Onee-chan." Wataru pulled her closer and hugged her arm.

"I know," Ema said with a laugh. "It's just more fun when there are more people."

"That's right," Wataru declared. "Now, what kind of toy do you think I should get?" He looked around them, peering at the various displays. "I think that we've seen almost everything now. What did you think was the coolest, Onee-chan?"

"Well, I think a game that we could all play as a family would be nice," Ema said.

"Good idea!" Wataru exclaimed. "Spending time with family is the best. You've always taught me that."

"I have?" Ema asked in surprise.

"Yeah! You read me bedtimes stories when I was younger and Mao-nii was at the hospital, and you always play games with me and help me with my homework when I ask. You always put family first."

"I'm glad that I've been able to teach you that," Ema said, still surprised at Wataru's words. She hadn't realized that Wataru had been watching and learning from her example, but the thought made her warm inside. Older sisters should be good role models. "I think that family is the most important thing in the world. Let's pick a good game, and then find another toy for you."

~.~

Tsubaki sat with his head resting on the back of the couch, staring out the window. Why did Ema have to leave the moment they got there? He'd been looking forward to going out on jet skis with Ema and Azusa. She'd been gone for two hours already and Tsubaki was beyond bored. Really, he should be grateful for this time to think. He couldn't get Natsuki's words about needing a girlfriend who supported you out of his head. Or, more accurately, he couldn't get Ema in connection with that statement out of his head.

He knew he should be using this time to try to figure out his feelings for Ema and whether he loved her more as a brother or as a man, but the whole thing was so complicated. He'd rather just push the issue to the back of his mind and ignore it for now.

"So you can't have any fun if Ema's not around?" An irritated voice asked from behind Tsubaki.

Tsubaki turned around in surprise to see an annoyed looking Azusa. His twin had his arms crossed as he stared down at Tsubaki. "I always love spending time with you, Azusa," Tsubaki said. "I'm happy to do whatever you want to do."

"Let's go out on the boat," Azusa suggested, staring out the window at the ocean. "I'm tired of sitting around." Azusa tried to tamp down on his irritation as he and Tsubaki made their way to the boat. He hated feeling upset with his twin.

On the boat, both twins stayed quiet. Tsubaki was caught up in thinking that for so long he thought that only Azusa would truly understand him, but now there was Ema too. If Ema were just a friend instead of his stepsister, things would be easier. He'd suggest they go on a couple dates and see what happened, but things were more complicated than that.

Azusa's mind turned towards Tsubaki telling him about Ema saying that the twins were rivals. That had surprised Azusa. Most things in life came easily to him. School had never been a real challenge, and when Tsubaki convinced Azusa to follow him in voice acting, Azusa had no problem picking up on the techniques. Because of that, Azusa had never really taken anything he did seriously before. Now he wanted to try harder. For Tsubaki to show that he respected his twin as his equal in the acting field and to do justice to the character that first inspired Tsubaki to be a voice actor, as well as for Ema to show her that his voice acting was as amazing as she thought it was.

~.~

The morning after the toy convention, Ema sat on the beach playing with Louis. While Louis didn't like swimming very much, he did enjoy building sandcastles.

"We can use this as part of the base," Ema said, flipping her bucket full of sand over before carefully lifting the bucket off the circular mound of sand. "Just one more and we'll have all four corners of the castle, then I'll build the moat and leave the rest of the castle building to you. You do a much better job than I do."

"I like your sand castles just fine," Louis said, sculpting the top of one tower.

"They're not nearly as good as yours," Ema argued, finishing the last corner. "They're better than they used to be after I've watched you build sandcastles for years, but I'm not an artist like you. I love the sandcastles that you make." She paused to look Louis over. The sun wasn't very high in the sky yet, but she was still a little worried. Louis passed out at least once every year at their beach house due to sun exposure. "Just make sure that you don't overdo it, Louie."

"All right, Em-chan," Louis said. "But I do have to finish the castle for the princess before we can go inside." He looked up from his work to smile at Ema, letting her know that she was the princess he was referring to.

"The princess appreciates it," Ema said as she started scrapping away sand to make a moat, "but she'd hate for the architect to get sick in the process."

"I'm not an architect, I'm a knight," Louis argued. "The castle is to protect the princess. The princess always does so much to take care of her people, but someone needs to make sure the princess is taken care of too."

Ema felt warm inside at Louis' words. Louis always seemed to be quietly in the background, there whenever Ema needed him. "The princess doesn't mind her work," Ema told Louis. "It makes her happy to take care of her family."

Louis nodded, still focused on the sandcastle. "That's true, but I want the princess to know that if she ever needs anything, day or night, she shouldn't hesitate to come to her knight for help."

"Thank you, Louis," Ema said, touched and stopping a moment. Louis paused to smile at Ema and they continued on with their work.

~.~

That night, Ema looked out the window as she finished washing the dishes. The stars were so much brighter at the beach house than they were in the city. Drying her hands, she decided to sit out on the beach and watch the stars for a while. In the living room, she heard her brothers watching a movie that Tsubaki had brought. She slipped quietly passed the living room, knowing that if her brothers saw her going outside, one of them would feel obligated to follow.

To her surprise, there was already a figure on the beach, leaning back on their elbows to stare up at the night sky. When Ema got closer, she realized it was Kaname. "Do you mind if I sit down?" Ema asked. Kaname gestured to the spot next to him and Ema sat, tilting her head back to look at the stars.

They stayed that way for a while, silently watching the stars. Ema's thoughts eventually got caught up with the future, dreams, and careers, and she asked, "Why did you choose to become a monk, Kana-nii?"

"Like our brothers are always saying, rather than getting a real job I got one where I could just play around all day," Kaname joked.

"If that's what you really wanted, why not just join a host club?" Ema asked, turning to face him. "I'm sure that you could have gotten in with your looks and your charm."

Kaname was surprised into silence for a moment before he flashed a smile at Ema. "So you think I'm good looking and charming. Does that mean that I'm your type?"

This time, Ema was surprised into being quiet. She knew that Kaname loved to flirt, but he rarely flirted with her. She wasn't sure what to make of it. "I'd more say that you're an enigma to me," Ema replied. "I feel like I know the rest of our brothers really well for the most part, but there's still a lot about you that I don't understand. All I can say for sure about you is that you care about our family a lot, and I think that you care about other people a lot too. I know that you do more than just play around at the shrine."

Feeling shy, she finished with, "I think it'd be nice to get to know you better," before she turned her attention back to the night sky.

Kaname's attention remained on Ema. His chest tightened as he thought about what an incredible young woman Ema was turning into. She was becoming more beautiful all the time and she was still as kind and innocent as she'd always been. Personally, Kaname felt that Ema already knew plenty about him. She always ignored his faults and it made him want to be a better person. Lately he'd had to wonder if it was because he wanted to shine brighter in his little sister's eyes or because he wanted to become a man worthier of Ema's praise.

A half hour later, Ema and Kaname finally went inside. As Ema walked passed the hall, a hand grabbed her arm. Ema jumped in surprise and turned to see Iori. His face lay in shadow as he asked, "What were you and Kaname talking about?"

Ema blinked, surprised at Iori's attitude. "Just about careers," Ema answered, not wanting to give a deeper answer than that. "Yusuke and I had career day at school a little while ago and I've been preoccupied with the future lately."

"Oh," Iori said, loosening his grip and stepping into the light. "I've been caught up in thinking about the future too lately. Maybe we could discuss our future plans together sometime soon."

Ema had forgotten that Iori would graduate from high school that year. She remembered him discussing colleges with their older brothers. "Have you decided where you're going to go yet?" She asked.

"I'm still thinking about it," Iori responded. "I have some things that need to be considered before I make my final decision."

A/N: For some reason, I really struggle to write scenes focusing on Louis and Kaname, though I adore both of them. I know that Kaname is a big flirt and usually cheerful, but for this fic I felt like Kaname might show his more serious side to his little sister. (It'd be kind of awkward if he started off flirting with his eleven-year-old sister, and I feel like transitioning into flirting with her now that she's older is difficult since their relationship is different.)