Chapter 27: France

"Do you know anything about your biological father?" Ema asked Louis as they sat on the plane to Europe. "Do you have any memories of him?"

"My father's name is Davet Russo," Louis said, turning to look at Ema. "I don't have any memories of him or of my biological mother. My first memories are of the orphanage I was placed in, and, up until a few months ago, I knew nothing about him or about why he gave me up."

"So, you do you know now?" Ema prompted after Louis didn't continue. "Not that you have to tell me, of course," Ema hurried to add.

"It's fine," Louis said, flashing Ema a smile. "I don't mind telling you." Louis leaned back in his chair and stared straight ahead as he spoke. "Davet is a successful businessman in France. He has always been very focused on his work, but his wife wanted a child. Eventually, he gave in and they had me. Shortly after I was born, Margot, my mother, died in a car accident. Davet didn't know what to do because he hadn't wanted any kids in the first place. It was Margot's dream to be a mother. He decided that I was a painful reminder of his dead wife and that he didn't have any love to give me, so had me sent to the orphanage."

Ema bit her lip to stop herself from expressing her opinion. It was awful that any parent would ever feel that way and do something like that, but Louis already knew that. There was no point in Ema saying it out loud.

"And then Mom found you?" Ema asked, for the first time wondering why a woman who already had six children (and would go on to have many more) would choose to adopt a son.

"Not quite," Louis said, glancing at Ema. "Miwa and Davet had business ties and Davet knew that Mom had a large family. He felt guilty about getting rid of me and wanted me placed in a good home. He eventually admitted to Mom what he had done and asked her if she would adopt me."

"Wow," Ema said, blinking in surprise. "And you didn't know about any of this?"

Louis shook his head. "But like I told you before, Mom never treated me any differently than she did her biological sons. I don't know what she was thinking when she adopted me or why she chose to, but I'm grateful that she did."

"Me too," Ema said emphatically, wondering what kind of a man Davet Russo was. He sounded…contradictory. Cold because he hadn't wanted to take care of his own son and chose to focus on work rather than family (Miwa did that too, but she worked because of her family and loved them all). Yet, still somewhat caring and conscientious because he still wanted his son to end up in a good home even though he himself didn't want Louis.

Maybe Davet had softened later in life, since he wanted to get to know his son now. Except, Louis had told her that Davet sent his employee to talk to Louis. After twenty-one years of not seeing his son and deciding he wanted a relationship with Louis, Davet didn't even bother coming himself to ask Louis to come to France to get to know him. He sent an emissary instead.

Ema was relieved to get out of Japan for a while to give herself some space to think. She was excited to spend time with Louis. She was not, however, so sure that she wanted to meet and temporarily live in the same house as Davet Russo.

~.~

Ema paused at the end of a hall the branched in three different directions, forgetting which way she needed to go to reach the front door. She and Louis had been living here for two weeks, but Ema still got a little lost sometimes. Davet lived in a huge mansion, which seemed like overkill since he lived alone. Had he even been inside every room in the house?

Ema pushed those thoughts away and chose left. Thankfully, she didn't spend much time around Davet, partially since he was usually working. Ema spent her mornings with Louis before he went off to work (he already had a job at a high-end salon because he thought it'd be fun to learn new hairstyles), and at night all three of them ate together. After that, Ema usually retired to her room to give Louis and Davet time to get to know each other. During the day Ema either studied for college, or wandered around the city. France was very different from Japan and Ema found it both fascinating and overwhelming to just take in all the sights.

As Ema took a right she couldn't help but shake her head at the art and vases adorning the halls. They were amazing, but looked like they belonged in a museum rather than a private residence.

When Ema took another left, she nearly ran into Davet since she was paying more attention to a painting of a garden instead of where she was going. Ema gasped and quickly backed up, half tripping over her feet. "I'm so sorry, Russo-san!" Ema said, giving a little bow. "I didn't know that you were here."

"That's all right, Ema," Davet said, giving Ema an awkward smile. "I forgot some papers at home and since I don't have as many meetings today, I decided I'd come home for lunch and retrieve the papers myself." He paused before asking, "Would you like to join me?"

"Sure," Ema said, hoping her reluctance didn't show. Davet led Ema through the house and passed the dining room until the entered the less formal table in the kitchen. Davet's cook had already set out two plates for lunch.

"By the way, Ema," Davet said as they sat down, "you don't have to call me 'Russo-san.' I know that being polite is very important in the Japanese culture, but you're my son's sister. I think that makes it okay for you to be a little less formal."

"I suppose so," Ema agreed, not really wanting to call him anything more familiar than Russo-san. However, with Louis trying so hard to build a relationship with his father, Ema was trying hard to keep her dislike of Davet secret, so she'd have to switch to calling him Davet-san instead.

"Regret is an interesting thing," Davet sighed.

Ema looked up at Davet in surprise. "What?"

Davet shook his head. "Pardon me, I'm just musing aloud."

There were silent for a moment before Ema said, "If you have more to say, you can say it. I don't mind listening."

Davet idly scrapped hist noodles across his plate as he spoke. "Everyone has regrets in their life. Things they look back on and wish they could change. In hindsight they wonder what they were thinking and how they could have made that decision. People change, however. The decisions we made in our youth aren't decisions we would make now that we've grown older and wiser."

Ema felt a pang of guilt for her unkind thoughts about Davet as she heard him speak. She knew almost nothing about him and his life and what led him to make the choices that he did. Maybe the most important thing was that he was trying to do the right thing now.

"And sometimes," Davet continued, "you learn that decisions you regret were the right choice after all."

"What do you mean?" Ema asked in confusion.

Davet smiled sadly. "I wish that I had been there to watch Louis grow up. To watch him take his first steps and say his first words. To…" he broke off with a sigh. "There's a lot of things you miss when you're not around, but I also know that I still would have missed a lot of those things even if he'd been here because of my work. And, more than that, Louis has told me all about your family. Being a part of the Asahina family, Louis got far more love and support than he would have gotten from me. I'm grateful for the experiences he had growing up with so many brothers. And gaining a sister along the way." He smiled at Ema. "Family comes in many forms and now Louis has his adopted family, his stepfamily, and his biological family. I don't think it's bad to have family in different forms. All of it has helped to make Louis the kind and warm man that he is. I know that his mother would be proud."

"I guess you're right," Ema agreed. It had hurt to learn that she was adopted, but she knew that Rintaro loved her no matter what. And though things had gotten complicated and difficult with her stepfamily, they had changed her life from lonely and boring to one full of life, laughter, and love. She owed them a lot for that.

~.~

The next week, Ema was walking through a park when a hand gently landed on her shoulder. "Ema-chan?" A voice asked.

Ema turned, curious who might know her in France other than Louis or Davet, then she froze in surprise. "Iori-kun?"

The two stared at each other, both equally dumbfounded to see the other there. As Ema got over her surprise, she took a closer look at Iori. His eyes no longer held the haunted and troubled look they sometimes had before and he had a calm and peaceful aura around him, like he used to. Ema hadn't noticed anything at the time, which she still cursed herself for, but in retrospect, the signs that Iori wasn't okay had been there and Ema just hadn't seen them.

"You look good," Ema said sincerely, relieved to see Iori looking so well. She hoped he'd been able to truly get over Fuyuka after leaving home.

"Thanks," Iori said, seeming surprised at the compliment. "You do too. I was really shocked to see you here, though. What are you doing in France?"

"Louis' biological father lives here and invited Louis to come and get to know him," Ema explained. "Louis invited me to come along with him for the summer."

Iori blinked uncomprehendingly at Ema.

Ema gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as she realized that Iori didn't know. "That's right!" She exclaimed. "You left before everyone found out." And he'd had no contact with the family that Ema was aware of since he left. "Louis was adopted. Everyone older than him knew, but no one younger did. Louis' father contacted him a couple months ago."

"So after that Louis-kun told everyone that he was adopted?" Iori asked, still looking surprised.

"That's not…quite what happened," Ema said slowly. The two ended up sitting down at one of the benches in the park as Ema explained part of what happened to Iori.

"I'm sorry," Iori said after Ema finished her story. "I'm sure that part of why everything was so difficult for you was because of my actions."

"It wasn't just you," Ema hurried to reassure him. "And what happened between us wasn't just your fault. There were a lot of things that I didn't understand and that I didn't see. If I had been paying better attention—"

Iori shook his head and held a hand out, stopping Ema from saying more. "We were both at fault and we're both sorry. Let's leave it at that or the two of us might end up sitting out here apologizing to each other all day." Ema smiled, grateful that Iori no longer seemed upset about what had happened.

"Why don't we start over?" Iori suggested. "Except, as friends this time. I think you have enough brothers and suitors in your life."

Iori's suggestion surprised Ema, but she nodded. "I think that would be nice. It sounds like a good place to start."

"Good," Iori said, flashing Ema his trademark princely smile, then he paused for a moment before asking, "How do you plan to spend your summer here, Ema-chan?"

"I'm not sure yet," Ema admitted. "I've only been here for two weeks and so far I've mostly just studied for college and looked around town. Why do you ask?"

"There's a company affiliated with the group I work with who are looking for interns who speak Japanese," Iori explained. "I was wondering if you'd be interested. I think it might be a good experience for you and it would look good on a resume."

"What kind of internship?" Ema asked curiously, wondering what Iori was doing for work in France.

Rather than explaining anything to Ema, Iori lead Ema to an impressive looking office building in the middle of town. On the walk there, Iori told Ema that he'd decided to take some time off of school, but would eventually go back to college.

When they entered the bustling office, Ema immediately saw evidence of what Iori was doing pasted on the walls. "You're a model?!" She exclaimed, shocked at the sexy pictures of Iori dressed in high fashion. The idea that people would look at Iori and think he was a model wasn't strange, but to actually see him as one…

"It wasn't something that I went looking for," Iori admitted. "I got scouted and since I didn't have any plans for my life at the moment, I decided I would see how it went."

"Wow," Ema said, still surprised at the turn Iori's life had taken. Then she remembered why they were there. "So, what is this company and what is the internship for?"

"This is Star City, a public relations firm that works with the entertainment industry," Iori explained. "They help do things like promote idols' images and handle scandals. The group I'm with model all over the world, so Star City wants an intern who can handle their social media in Japan."

"I'm not in Japan," Ema said, wondering if she was missing something here.

Iori smiled. "You don't need to be in Japan, you just need to be able to update the social media sites used by Star City for Japan. What do you think?"

Ema looked around at the busy office, feeling overwhelmed just seeing everything. People rushed back and forth, looking like they were in a hurry. Phones kept ringing, people were talking and typing. Everyone was well dressed and had in iphone, ipad, and computer in front of them. "Why do you think I'd be good at this?" Ema asked.

"Because you've grown up around famous people," Iori explained. "Tsubaki-kun and Azusa-kun are nationally famous voice actors. Fuuto-kun is a nationally famous idol. Hikaru-kun is a novelist known all around the world. I think you've probably picked up more than you're aware of about how to handle careers like theirs, but more than that, I think you'd be great at this job because you genuinely care. Nothing sets a star more at ease than knowing that the person in charge of their PR is genuinely interested in looking out for them."

Iori waited a moment before asking, "So, can I introduce you to the managers of the interns?"

~.~

Two months later, Ema felt like coming to France was one of the best decisions she'd made. She loved interning for Star City and felt like she did a good job. She didn't know if this was what she wanted to spend the rest of her life doing, but it felt exciting to be a doing a job that she loved, especially one where she got to help other people. She remembered how stressed her brothers used to get when they were building their careers and their fan base. Ema enjoyed helping other stars do that for themselves and give them one less thing to worry about in their busy lives.

When Ema arrived home that night, she was greeted at the door by Louis. "I have a surprise for you," he said.

"What surprise?" Ema asked, tilting her head. Louis had already done a lot for her. At Star City, everyone was expected to dress well in order to impress clients, so Louis had taken Ema shopping and gotten her fashionable work clothes. He also did her hair most mornings, making her the envy of several of her female coworkers.

"Well, it's not really my surprise," Louis admitted, leading Ema to one of Davet's several living rooms. "I just get to be the one to bring you to him."

"Him?" Ema echoed. As she stepped into the room she saw a man with long red hair sitting on the couch. "Hikaru-kun!" Ema exclaimed.

Hikaru flashed a grin and stood up to hug Ema. Louis smiled at the two from the doorway before leaving to give them time together.

"What are you doing here?" Ema asked as they sat down on the couch.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay in person, rather than just relying on your emails," Hikaru said. "I'm sorry that it's taken me this long to get to you. Especially with you in France. We're much closer to each other now than we were before."

"That's okay," Ema brushed off. "I know that you've been busy with the release of your new book. I saw that your agency had you go to the United States for a book signing tour. I'm so excited that it's doing so well! It looks like you'll be able to turn it into a series after all."

"Yes," Hikaru agreed, "but let's not talk about that right now. I came here for you." Hikaru took Ema's hands in his own. "Ukyo called and talked to me a while ago, and despite you assuring me that you're fine about finding out you're adopted, it sounds like I missed quite a bit more drama than just that, which you did not tell me about."

"I guess," Ema said quietly, staring at the floor. She wondered what all Ukyo had told Hikaru.

"I've been thinking a lot about all that went on back home while I was gone," Hikaru said. "Possibly more than you have, and I want to ask you some difficult questions."

"Okay," Ema said when Hikaru didn't continue, looking up at him. "What do you want to ask?"

Hikaru squeezed Ema's hands and stared directly into her eyes. "Can you honestly tell me that you think of all of us Asahinas one-hundred percent as your brothers, or do you just wish you did?"

Ema's eyes widened in shock and she pulled her hands away from him without thinking. Hikaru was right that that was a difficult question, though she had no idea what to say to it.

"Now, don't get upset with me," Hikaru said, holding his hands up in a placating manor. "My wish is for you to end up with someone amazing who will make you happy and take care of you, and I believe that plenty of my brothers fit that category." He leaned forward and conspiratorially whispered, "There'd also be the added benefit that if you dated one of the Asahina brothers, you wouldn't have to deal with the vetting processes of all of us deciding whether we approved or disapproved of your boyfriend. To be blunt, I think most of us have been planning on killing any guy that got close to you since you were fourteen years old."

Hikaru pulled back and become more serious as he asked, "Do you really think it would damage our family if you chose one of the Asahina brothers as your boyfriend?" Ema shrugged uncomfortably. She felt happy that Hikaru wanted her with someone who would care for her, but she didn't know what to think about him feeling like it'd be good if she ended up with one of their brothers. She wondered if things would have gone any differently back home if Hikaru had been there running interference.

"Personally, I think that right now the most hurtful thing to our family would be if you found some other guy to be your boyfriend. The choice is yours, of course, but if you have any feelings for one of us brothers, I don't think you should hold back."

~.~

"Em-chan?" Louis called softly, knocking on Ema's door. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Ema called, putting her laptop off to the side. "What is it, Louis?"

Louis came to sit next to Ema on the bed. "I wanted to talk to you about what your plans are. There's two weeks until Meiji University starts and I know we were planning on going back soon, but I think I'm going to stay here longer. If you want to stay with me, I'd be happy to have you here. It's a little late, but we might still be able to find a college here in France to enroll you in."

Ema sat silently for a while, a little surprised at this revelation. Davet's and Louis' relationship had been growing slowly. Ema had to admit that things got a little better when she stopped feeling so ornery towards Davet and she wondered if Louis had been able to sense it and it had made him hold back. However, Ema hadn't expected Louis to decide to stay here. The thought of being separated from him hurt, but…

"I think that coming to France with you was the right decision," Ema said. "A lot of good things happened this summer and I feel like I learned a lot about myself and about what I want in life, but…I can't imagine staying here long term. I really like it here, but I miss Sunrise Mansion and all our brothers. Also, Star City is opening up a branch in Japan and they already offered to let me intern there part time while I attend University."

"That's great, Em-chan," Louis said, smiling and pulling Ema into a hug. "I'm grateful that coming here was good for you like I thought it would be. And I'm happy you found a job you enjoy." He pulled back and patted Ema's hair. "I feel like it was easier to come here and talk to Davet because I had you by my side. I'll really miss not having you here."

"Will you be okay?" Ema asked in concern. Maybe Louis wasn't as comfortable with Davet as Ema thought.

"I'll be fine," Louis assured her, tilting his head and gently smiling. "I'll just miss you is all."