Chapter 16: Cat Sitting and Matchmaking
Ema's phone beeped at lunch and she pulled it out to see a message from Natsume.
'Can you come by my apartment after school today? I need to ask you a favor.'
"What's up?" Yusuke asked when he saw Ema staring at her phone. "Does Kyo-nii want you to pick up ingredients for dinner again?"
"No," Ema said, shaking her head. "Natsume's asking me to go to his place today so he can ask me a favor."
"Why not just ask you over text?" Yusuke asked, wondering what Natsume wanted from Ema.
"I don't know," Ema said. "I guess I'll find out."
~.~
Not knowing what Natsume wanted from her or when she would be home, Ema sent Yusuke home with a message for Ukyo that she might not be home for dinner, then she took the train in the opposite direction towards Natsume's apartment. Most of Natsume's favors were him asking her to test out one of his company's games, but if it were that he would have just let her know in the text.
When Ema reached Natsume's apartment, she'd just raised her hand to knock on his door when she saw him coming down the hallway. His tie was loosened and he carried a briefcase in one hand with his suit jacket slung over his arm.
"Good, you just got here," he said, sounding relieved. "I was hoping you wouldn't have to sit around waiting for me."
"This is early for you to be home," Ema commented. She'd come over to his apartment enough times to play games to know that he usually got home later in the evening. Especially when he was working on a deadline for a game.
"I know," he said as Ema moved out of the way to let him open the door. "That's part of the reason I asked you here tonight. I'm really sorry to ask you this last minute."
"Ask me what?" Ema asked as they walked inside. The moment they entered the hallway, Natsume's two cats, named after his triplets, ran forward, twining between Natsume's legs and meowing for attention.
Natsume stumbled and cursed. "Tsubaki, Azusa, at least let me put my things down before you start demanding things from me." Natsume tossed his briefcase and jacket on the couch before pouring some food into the cats' food dishes. "There. Now will you leave me alone for five minutes?"
The two cats sat down, contentedly eating their food.
"You'd think I starved them the way they act," Natsume said, shaking his head at the two felines.
"Um, about the favor?" Ema prompted.
"Right," Natsume said, walking towards his room. Ema followed along behind, wondering why Natsume seemed to be in such a hurry. Ema stood in the doorway as Natsume pulled a suitcase out of his closet and started picking clothes out of his dresser.
"I have to go out of town for a meeting with another game developer that we're partnering with," Natsume explained. "They sprang this on me last minute. I wasn't the one who was supposed to go, but my coworker had a family emergency and they asked me just this morning if I could go. It's for a week and they already booked a flight for me tonight. I had to come home early so I could pack before leaving."
Ema stayed by the door as she watched Nastume pack, still wondering what the favor was. Natsume seemed scatter brained and stressed about the meeting, so she didn't want to interrupt his train of thought.
"Anyway," Natsume said, now pulling suits from his closet and folding them neatly, "I need someone to watch Tsubaki and Azusa while I'm away. They need to be fed and given water, and their litter box needs to be cleaned every day. And I, and they, would appreciate it if you could spend some time playing with them. You know how those two get when they feel like they're not getting enough attention."
Natsume looked up from his packing to cast a worried glance at Ema. "Would you be able to watch them for me? Like I said, I'm sorry to ask you this last minute. If it's too much trouble I can see if one of our brothers can do it. I'd rather it be you, but I understand if you can't." Natsume wasn't thrilled with the idea of any of his brothers poking around his apartment, and he was sure that out of the brothers he could ask who could and would reliably come and take care of his cats, they probably would poke around or use his stuff. Azusa wouldn't, but if he asked Azusa he was one hundred percent sure that Tsubaki would come with him and Tsubaki would be the worst in regards to messing around with Natsume's things.
"No, it's no trouble at all," Ema reassured Natsume. "Your apartment's not too far from school, so I'll just drop by every day after class to check on Azusa and Tsubaki and spend some time with them."
"Thank you, Ema," Natsume said, giving her a grateful look. "I really appreciate it. You're welcome to use or borrow any of my games while I'm gone."
"Thanks!" Ema chirped. "I might take you up on that offer." She'd really been wanting to get ahead in Zombie Hazard, but it was sometimes difficult to find much gaming time with so many brothers around. There'd be nothing wrong with her staying at Natsume's a little late every day to play video games for a bit. And Tsubaki and Azusa would appreciate the company.
"Here's an extra key to my apartment," Natsume said, grabbing a key off the top of his dresser and handing it to Ema. "You already know where the cats' food and litter box is."
"Yep," Ema said, nodding her head. "And if you think of anything you forgot to tell me, you can always call or text me."
"Okay," Natsume said, zipping up his suitcase and glancing at his watch. He grimaced when he saw the time. "I've got to get going now. Feel free to stick around for a while if you'd like. Again, thank you for doing this. I really appreciate it, Ema."
"Of course! I'm to help."
The cats watched Natsume leave with his suitcase with displeased looks on their faces, so Ema stayed a while to play with them, taking out their feather toys.
~.~
When Ema arrived home that evening, she expected to find her brothers sitting down to dinner. Instead, she found mostly everyone gathered in the living room with Miwa standing in the center.
"Mom?" Ema said in surprise. "What are you doing here?"
"Hello, Ema" Miwa said, giving Ema a tense smile. "I'm here to set up a marriage meeting for Masaomi."
"What?" Ema asked in shock, her gaze shooting to her oldest brother. Masaomi sat on the couch, looking very unhappy.
"I already told you that I'm not interested in getting married right now, Mom," Masaomi said, sounding frustrated. "I have no desire to go to this marriage meeting."
"She's the daughter of one of my business partners," Miwa said, almost talking over Masaomi. "She knows about you and has taken a liking to you. The time and place have already been decided."
"Without my consent," Masaomi said, sounding more frustrated than Ema could recall having heard before. "If I was interested in your help in getting married, I would have gone to you."
Miwa sighed, her shoulders slumping. "I know, I'm sorry, Masaomi." She moved to sit beside her son. "My business partner, Uhara Sunaka-san, arranged all of this without talking to me. He thought that it would be a good idea and only talked to me after he set everything up. Please go to this. If you don't like her and don't want to get married, then you can turn down the marriage after the matchmaking, but please at least go to it."
"Fine," Masaomi agreed, still not looking happy. "I'll go."
~.~
"If we take that angle then we'll reach more of the female demographic," Natsume explained to the group of game developers before him. "Zombie games aren't just for guys anymore." Thanks to Ema being in his life, Natsume had learned a lot about what interested girls in action games. He'd worked hard at his company to break the bias that only guys were interested in zombie and shooter games. The insights that he gained from Ema helped him improve his company's games and had led to at least one promotion.
"I see," Matsuko, a man from the game company they were partnering with said, nodding. "Does your company have any experience with this showing that it actually works?"
"We've seen it work multiple times," Wakabe, Natsume's coworker, assured Matsuko. "We have the sales reports from four of our games released in the past two years that we've brought along," Wakabe said, bringing up the slides on the projector.
Matsuko and his companions looked pleased as they looked over the numbers. "Impressive. Let's take a break now for dinner and we'll reconvene our discussions tomorrow morning."
Natsume pulled out his phone, grateful to finally be done for the day. The moment he was away from the conference room, he dialed Ema.
"Hello?" A soft voice answered.
"Hey, Ema. Just checking in to see how things are going." He leaned against the wall as he talked to her, still grateful and relieved that Ema had been willing to take care of his cats for him. He wouldn't have felt comfortable having anyone else in his apartment without him there.
"Good!" Ema exclaimed. "I bought treats for Tsubaki and Azusa today. They were very excited to have them and then I played with them with the laser pen for a while. I think that they both miss you, though. Every time I walk in they meow and look around like they're waiting for you to appear behind me, or are asking me where you are."
Natsume chuckled. "Those two are babies. They can't stand it when they don't get all the attention they feel is their due. They'll probably ignore me for at least two days after I get back to punish me. Maybe you should stick around for a little when I get back so they feel they have someone suitable to give them attention."
"I can do that," Ema agreed. "Besides, I think that some of the games I've been playing at your apartment would be more fun with two players. I can challenge you when you get back."
Natsume smiled. "That sounds fair. Consider it payment for taking care of those two trouble makers for me while I'm gone."
"I'll hold you to that!" Ema said and they said their goodbyes.
Natsume was smiling at his phone when he felt someone else's eyes on him. He looked up to see Wakabe grinning at him. "Who was that?" Wakabe asked. "Your girlfriend?" He moved closer and bumped Natsume's shoulder with his own. "It must have been because I've never seen you smile like this before. How could you keep something like this from me? Aren't we friends?"
"She's not my girlfriend," Natsume said, feeling his face heat up. Why was he getting embarrassed?
"Really?" Wakabe asked, raising one eyebrow and looking skeptical. "It didn't sound that way to me. You have a woman hanging around your apartment while you're gone, which you seem totally okay with, and you just invited her to stick around once you return with the lame excuse that your cats will want her there to give them attention."
"It's not like that," Natsume argued, not sure what to say. Though he cared for Ema, by moving out shortly after she joined the family, he'd never really seen her as a little sister. It felt weird to call Ema his stepsister. She was more like a friend who loved gaming as much as he did. And who happened to live with all his brothers. "She's the girl who I use to test our games on when we're worried that they're too hard."
"Ooohhhh," Wakabe said, looking entirely too pleased. "That girl. So, the one that you're in constant contact with and who you use work as an excuse to see."
"That's not—" Natsume started to say before Wakabe's words made Natsume pause. Did he use work as an excuse to see Ema? Ema usually invited Natsume whenever the family planned to do something together, but other than that he only saw Ema over video game related activities, whether she was asking him for help or he was giving her a demo. Work stuff. But that didn't mean that it was an excuse. It was just something that the two of them had in common with each other.
"That's not…what?" Wakabe prompted, holding one hand to his ear and leaning towards Natsume. "I'm afraid I didn't catch the end of that, Natsume-kun."
Natsume sighed and shook his head. "It's just not like that, okay? She's just a friend who's doing me a favor. As surprising as it may seem to you, guys and girls can be close friends without there being any romantic feelings involved."
"I never said that they couldn't," Wakabe said, placing a hand on Natsume's shoulder. "My observations are based on the fact that I've never seen you let a woman into your life like you have with this girl. And the fact that you were still smiling after you hung up the phone. Do you know how rare it is to see you smile? You usually have such a deadpan expression on your face."
Wakabe released Natsume's shoulder and began walking away. "You should try smiling more often, Natsume-kun, it looks good on you." Wakabe looked back at Natsume and gave him one last grin. "Maybe if you're smart enough to make that girl your girlfriend, everyone at the office will get to see you smile too."
~.~
Masaomi pulled at his tie as he walked into the fancy hotel where the marriage meeting was taking place. He hated wearing suits and ties. They always made him feel so uncomfortable. He felt like he was choking.
His mind wandered back to that morning. He'd been so upset about the marriage meeting that he hadn't been able to get his tie right. At breakfast, Ema had offered to help him, saying that Rintaro taught her how to tie ties. Masaomi still blushed at the memory of Ema standing so close to him while helping him with his tie. The whole scene had felt so domestic. Like a helpful wife getting her husband ready for an important meeting at work.
"Asahina-san!" A man called, walking towards Masaomi. He held his hand out to Masaomi. "I am Niragi Kato. I work for Uhara-san. Since he and your mother are so busy with their companies, he asked me to oversee this marriage meeting."
"It's nice to meet you, Niragi-san," Masaomi said, forcing a polite smile. Kato led Masaomi to a lavishly furnished room inside the hotel. A prim young lady sat on the couch. She stood when Masaomi entered, smiling and offering her hand.
"Thank you for coming today, Masaomi-san. My name is Uhara Keiko."
For the next hour, Masaomi sat and talked with Keiko and Kato. Keiko was a very pretty woman. Obviously cultured and well-read. Without knowing who she was, Masaomi would have easily been able to tell that she was born to a wealthy family.
They discussed marriage back and forth with Masaomi trying to politely refuse. Finally, a somewhat frustrated Keiko demanded, "Why is it that you object to a marriage between the two of us? Our families are of similar stature and both would benefit from our union. Is there something you find objectionable about me?"
"No, not at all," Masaomi hurried to say. "I think that you're a lovely young woman, but I don't feel that I'd be the best match for you. Anyone off the street would look at you and instantly know that you are from a very respectable family. I don't have that aura. I also have no ambitions in regards to my mother's or your father's company. I'm quite happy where I am working as a pediatrician."
The room was quiet as Keiko stared at Masaomi, then she shifted her gaze to her hands. "That's partially why I would like to marry you," Keiko said softly. "There are plenty of marriageable men from good families that are around my age, but most of them are arrogant and full of ambition. They think that they can do no wrong, and they will put their careers ahead of their families. I saw that happen with my own parents, and that is not what I want for me."
"That is an admirable goal," Masaomi said, touched that Keiko would share that with him. "It's good that you've realized that and are looking for a man who will make you happy rather than one who will only make your father happy. However," Masaomi hadn't been planning on bringing this up. He'd never said it out loud before, but after Keiko had been so honest with him, she deserved honesty in return, "However, I already have someone that I'm in love with."
Masaomi couldn't imagine loving a woman other than Ema. He loved how much care she took with looking after everyone and making sure that everyone always got enough to eat. He loved how she was always thinking of others and how she always took time for Wataru. He loved that she supported him, even when he showed his weaknesses to her and never judged him for it.
"Oh," Keiko said quietly. "Does she know?"
"No," Masaomi said, shaking his head. He had no intention of telling Ema his feelings for her. He knew that she regarded him as a trusted older brother and he would not take that away from her. He would not burden her with his feelings. All he wanted was for Ema to be happy. Maybe once she was married he could move on and find someone else to love. Until then, he couldn't imagine placing any woman above Ema in his life. "I'm afraid the situation is a bit complicated."
"You should tell her," Keiko urged. "Love is not something to be treated lightly. You should cherish it." Keiko sighed, finally relaxing from her perfect posture. "Well, thank you for your time today, Masaomi-san. And thank you for being honest with me."
"Of course," Masaomi said, standing and holding his hand out to Keiko. "I'm happy to have met you."
~.~
Ema tilted her head as she looked at the cake she just finished baking. She wasn't sure if it was appropriate for the occasion, but she wanted to be supportive. Despite Masaomi's claims that he didn't want to get married right now, he was such a dutiful son that Ema had a hard time imagining him refusing the marriage offer. And who knew, maybe Masaomi would end up really liking the woman. You never knew who you might fall for.
With those two thoughts in mind, Ema had decided to bake a cake to celebrate. She did think that it would be wonderful if Masaomi found someone to be with. Then Ema might become an aunt, which would be fun. On the other hand, part of her felt depressed at the thought of Masaomi moving away from the Sunrise Mansion. Home wouldn't be the same without him around.
Ema's head popped up when she heard the elevator doors ding. "Welcome home, Masaomi-kun. I baked a cake."
Masaomi looked confused as he looked between the cake on the counter and Ema standing next to it. "Um, okay." He paused. "Why did you bake a cake? Are we celebrating something?"
"I wanted to be supportive of your matchmaking meeting today. How did it go?"
"I refused the proposal."
Ema was surprised at the immediate response. "Oh. I thought that you would accept." She felt guilty about the immediate sense of relief that came over her. She realized that she'd been tense the entire time she'd been baking that evening, but now she felt as peace. She stuffed down the smile that was trying to appear on her face. "Why did you refuse? If you don't mind my asking."
"I meant it when I said that I don't intend to get married now, or for a while yet. Don't you remember my promise to take care of you and Wataru while you still need me?"
This time, Ema didn't try to stop the shy smile spreading across her face. She did remember that promise, but she was sixteen now and Wataru would be entering junior high soon. The situation was different from when Masaomi had spoken those words to her on the night of their parents' wedding. "Wataru and I will always need you, Masaomi-kun. Just not always as much as we need you right now." She paused before admitting, "I was feeling really selfish. A part of me was hoping that you would refuse the marriage proposal and stay home with everyone."
Unable to help himself, Masaomi stepped forward and enveloped Ema in a hug. He lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, "I love how important family is to you. It's one of my favorite things about you."
Ema returned the hug and when they pulled apart said, "I guess we can eat the cake in celebration of you staying home, then."
~.~
The evening that Natsume was returning to his apartment, Ema went over a little earlier than she normally did to clean everything for him. It would be a nice surprise for him to come back to a clean home, and then he wouldn't have to worry about anything other than unpacking.
A few minutes after Ema finished cleaning, she heard the door opening. She turned around and said, "Welcome home, Natsume-kun. I hope it's okay that I'm here. I just wanted to tidy a few things up before you got home."
Natsume paused in the living room as he put his suitcase down and looked around. "This place looks amazing, Ema. You didn't have to do this."
"I know. I wanted to. I figured you'd be tired after your trip, so I wanted to do something helpful. I can make you dinner too if you want. I bought a few ingredients since you didn't have much in your fridge. Though maybe you want to be alone or just go to bed."
"Not at all," Natsume said, shaking his head as he took off his coat and dropped it on the couch. "Though I am going to insist that I make dinner. You've already done more than enough."
"I don't know if I've ever eaten your cooking before," Ema said, looking thoughtful. "I think you're the only one of our brothers other than Ukyo who knows how to cook. I look forward to the result!"
"Just don't judge me too harshly," Natsume teased. "I'm not at the same level as you and Ukyo. I just learned how to cook some easy healthy meals back when I was running track."
"I'm sure it will be good!" Ema said settling in at the counter as Natsume opened the refrigerator. "How did your business meeting turn out?"
"Good," Natsume said, before going into more detail.
After dinner, Natsume walked Ema to his door. He'd offered to play a video game with her that night, but Ema could tell how tired he was and told him that they'd do it some other time.
"Thanks again for watching the cats for me," Natsume said as he opened the door. "I'm sure they appreciated your company."
"I was happy to do it," Ema assured Natsume. "You can ask me to look after them anytime. Oh! I almost forgot." Ema pulled Natsume's extra apartment key out of her pocket and held it out to him. "Here you are."
Natsume stared down at the key, feeling reluctant to take it. It surprised him how nice it had been to come home to Ema. It had been a little weird to see her first thing, but it really felt like coming home to have Ema there welcoming him home and offering to make him dinner. His brothers probably had both every single night. The bastards. He wouldn't mind coming home to her more often.
"Why don't you keep it," Natsume suggested, closing Ema's hand around the key. "You're always welcome to come by and visit me. I could probably stand to be a little less of a recluse anyway."
"Oh," Ema said pulling her hand back. "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Natsume responded. "And I mean it, Ema. You're welcome to come by anytime." They finished their goodbyes and then Natsume slowly closed the door before leaning his back against it. He stared up at his ceiling and let out a sigh. It looked like Wakabe was more right about Natsume's feelings for Ema than Natsume had wanted to admit.
