Thanks for your kind reviews! Special thanks to my beta, IcarusIscariot, and I do not own BroCon.

As soon as the door slammed shut behind her, Ema marched down the street, horror building up inside her as she realized what she had done.

There's no way... did I really tell them all that about Kaito?

She bit her lip. Behind her, the silhouette of Sunshine Residence faded into the orange of the sky, nothing but a purple blot on the horizon. It almost looked like a smear of paint on a canvas, but within its white walls envy ran rampant within each young man.

Ema shook her head wildly to clear her thoughts. It was already almost dark, and she was a teenage girl alone and vulnerable. Her situation quickly cleared to her, and she ran through a list in her mind of people she could turn to.

Her father and Miwa would both be at work, and she didn't want them trying to talk her into returning to Sunrise Residence. Kaito might be out looking for her, but with finals week coming up, he could still be studying. Katsu would scold her for running from her problems and probably have the butlers wrestle her into a car to go back and face them. Mitsuo was at basketball practice, and would be until late that night. Tamotsu's unfailingly sage advice would be to go back and face them civilly. Rei and Ryota could have left the Oshiro mansion and be anywhere about town, buying tools and parts for some new invention of theirs. Kiyomi's myriad of sisters intimidated Ema too much to try out the Akiyama home, and the rest of her friends would most likely still be at Katsu's.

A chill ran down her spine despite the fact that the summer air had already settled.

Ema mourned her forgetfulness when she realized her wallet was still at home, and her phone was dying rapidly. She needed to make a decision quickly.

She supposed she could go find Mitsuo. Out of all of them, he was potentially the most available. Her Herculean friend would probably drop everything and listen to her with wide eyes, and he was far too naive to question her rash speech to her brothers, or to try to give her advice on the situation. And even though he was at basketball practice—

Subaru.

The name blared into her head so quickly she jumped in surprise. She grit her teeth, realizing that Mitsuo reminded her far too much of the ninth son for her to turn to him. The best-case scenario was that she would wind herself up too tight, seeing one of her brothers in one of her best friends, and grow cold toward him. She couldn't stand to see the wounded-puppy look on his face whenever that happened.

Grimacing, she redirected her thoughts. If not Mitsuo, then Tamotsu was always an option. Unlike, for example, Katsu, he probably wouldn't try to force her into talking to her brothers again. She could assume he'd grow more and more impatient with her cowardice and push her to talk to them, but he could never force her, which was more than she could say for a few of her friends. His family would let her take the spare room above their bakery, and he would help her through, care for her, cook for her—

Ukyo.

She frowned. Tamotsu was like the lawyer in that way, cooking for everybody else. But he was even the most level-headed out of their entire circle, and she could count on him for good advice and spoken transparency. They were far too alike. Staying with Tamotsu for the time being would inevitably have the same outcome as Mitsuo. But where Mitsuo lacked any brightness, Tamotsu had an abundance of, making Tamotsu far more formidable. She could imagine accidentally getting snippy with him — or yelling at him as she had her blond brother and the rest of them — and promptly getting punted to the curb.

So he was definitely out.

She could easily see herself spending a night or two at Rei and Ryota's. The twins, with their often-overseas parents, wouldn't even have to worry about inconveniencing their family. And they were in her year too, so her chances of getting preached to dropped significantly. She'd be entertained during her stay, she knew that for sure, with the pair always trying out new inventions on the other (the memory of Ryota tangling his twin sister's hair in a home-made robot arm was still a favorite of hers). The more she thought about it, the more appealing the idea sounded. They would take her under her wing. They'd treat her like one of their own. They'd make her their third piece...

Tsubaki. Azusa. Natsume.

Ruffling a hand through her hair in frustration, Ema plunked heavily onto a nearby bench. It was bad enough that she felt guilty everytime she had an amorous thought toward Kaito, but now this? Could her brothers' jealousy manage to alienate her from the people closest to her, even when she was alone? She didn't know if she could stand the reminder of them everytime she looked into her friends' eyes.

She bit her lower lip. Maybe Tsubaki was right. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe it was just the way her brothers told her: she couldn't ever be his, no matter how much she was wanted to be.

Quickly wiping away the tears that misted down her face, she looked along the endless sidewalk she walked on. The vapor from a stream nearby made the air humid and clammy, forcing her school sweater to stick to her back uncomfortably.

She jumped at a pair of warm hands on her shoulders, and turned to see Kaito looking down at her in concern.

"What are you doing here?" Ema asked, voice hoarse.

"I got worried when you left Katsu's so suddenly." His voice was even gentler than his motions as he guided her towards a small coffee shop. "And Mitsuo came back after he dropped you off to tell us that something was wrong with you. So I went to your house."

Ema looked at him in shock. The bell hanging over the cafe's glass door jingled merrily as Kaito pulled up a chair for her and ordered a coffee with a wave of his hand. He quickly elaborated,

"I didn't really see much. But the pink-haired kid let me in. I got to the top of the stairs before I decided to go look somewhere else. It was... kind of a mess."

She didn't respond, hunching down in her seat. The barista stopped by with a fresh cup of coffee, which Kaito stirred cream and sugar into and handed to Ema.

"I don't know how to describe it," he continued after a short silence. "But I could tell you weren't there. That white-haired one was freaking out. I think a couple of the other ones were crying. And the doctor and lawyer guys were trying to calm everybody down. You really did a number on them, huh?"

When she still stayed quiet, he apologized. "That was tactless. Sorry."

He sighed as she sipped at her coffee cup further, not making eye contact with him. "Okay, look, Em. I get that you're pissed at... I don't even know. If you're mad at me for letting you kiss me, or them for getting jealous or whatever. But I want you to know I'm proud of you."

She looked from the rim of her coffee cup to meet his eyes in disbelief. "Proud?"

"Yeah. I know that's tactless too. But I can tell you took a stand for yourself. And I'd definitely say you made them hear you today."

She chuckled humorlessly. "I wish I didn't. I confessed to some things that would have been better off unheard. Like you, for example."

Kaito cocked a brow. "Me? Am I your dirty little secret now?"

Ema flinched at the slight indignation that crept into his voice. "Please don't take that the wrong way. You know that's what I meant."

She watched as the tension seeped from his body slowly and measuredly, until the only tightness in him was wrapped up in his shoulders. "Yeah, I guess. Sorry, I'm just really tired."

Nodding, she bit her bottom lip. "I didn't mean for all this to happen."

Kaito sighed and raised the tips of his fingers to her face, running them tenderly along the soft edge of her jawline. His thumb tucked a stray curl behind hear ear, and Ema realized how terribly her frustration had mussed up her appearance. "I know," he said. "I get it."

"I wish they got it too," Ema bit out, frustrated. "I liked it better when everything was simple for you and me."

"It was never simple," he reasoned. "You have protective stepbrothers who happen to be in love with you. You've been hiding me away ever since we met, and they don't ever seem to listen to you. I think that this, us working out everything for us to be together, is about as simple as we've gotten."

She pulled away and rested her head and forearms sadly upon the table. "Then... I wish things could be simpler than this. I thought that they were going to accept it, you know. They were quiet for a little while before they tried to insist that I... couldn't be yours."

Kaito's eyes flared with anger. "They what?"

"They told me I couldn't be."

He muttered a string of curses under his breath, rolling his eyes in exasperation at Ema's jealous brothers. He understood as well as anyone how easy it was to love her, but he prided himself in knowing just as well that she was a person of her own decisions. She could be whatever she pleased, whether it was his or hers or theirs, or nobody's at all.

"This is messed up," Kaito mused, mirroring her slumped position. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out of his pocket, quickly firing a text off before turning his attention back to Ema.

"It is," she agreed, her finger reaching out to trace patterns across the back of his hand. "I want them to love me as I am: their sister."

"I want the same thing," Kaito admitted, "Only maybe for more selfish reasons."

They sat in quiet and Kaito's eyes drifted closed, his brow furrowing and his lips jutting to the side in a troubled frown.

"I love you too," she whispered.

His eyes snapped open. "What?"

"I love you too. You told me earlier, but I never said it. And I had time to think about it. I love you too."

He blinked at her slowly. "You do?"

She bit her lip. "Yes. And I... I think we should go out."

"...you do?"

The incredulity in his voice was like a punch to Ema's gut. He wanted the same thing, right? For a moment, dread settled in her heart that maybe Kaito had led her on, that maybe she should have listened to her brothers...

She felt a sudden sense of deja vu from their first meeting in a cafe, where they had confessed their interest in each other. The uncertainty of the moment pricked the hairs on her arms, and she shuddered at the sensation. But their crushes had grown into something stronger, deeper, and she didn't know if she could handle it if it broke.

"I mean, I do too," Kaito quickly clarified, perhaps seeing the heartbreak on her face. "But I didn't think you would."

She grit her teeth. "What do you mean by that?"

Even if he sensed the sudden tension that laid beneath her words, he persisted on. "I mean," he responded, matching her tone, "that this kinda feels like a step backwards from 'make them hear you.' It sounds more like 'make sure they don't find out.' And I thought that 'make them hear you' was what you were going for."

She sat up a little bit straighter in her seat, while Kaito squared his shoulders.

"I know what I want."

"I know you know. You just told me. You want brothers, right? A family? This sure as hell doesn't seem like a good way to get it. Would you tell them about me, Em?"

Her lower lip caught between her teeth.

"I don't want to be a secret," Kaito admitted softly, his tone quieting. In his pocket, his phone buzzed. Ignoring it, he continued, "I want to be with you. But I want to do it right. No hiding or sneaking around. You know what you want, and... I do too. I want to give you the world, but I need a part of it, no matter how small, that I can call my own."

She loosed a measured breath. "I get it," she replied softly.

Kaito looked more earthly in that moment than she had ever seen him. His eyes were filled with the same steady love they always held, but his face was sad and his brow was crinkled and his eyes were hazy with all the fatigue of the teenage boy he was. For a moment, she wished he were celestial; a deity to love, somebody who could dodge every roadblock in the path of their relationship. A deity who loved her enough where being with her was as natural a part of him as the heart that beat his ichor, as the eyes that observed mortality, as the breath that had breathed since the beginning of time.

That was the moment Ema realized he was only human.

As if he sensed the direction of her thoughts, he smiled sadly, apologetically. His eyes shifted out of focus, and for a moment, Ema thought he had slipped away from her. Instead, he simply said,

"Kiyomi is here."

The bell above the door chimed again and Kiyomi rushed in, breathless, her school sweater tied around her shoulders and her bag slung down to her waist. "I got your text."

"She needs a place to stay," Kaito said gently to his blonde friend. "If her brothers found out she stayed with me..."

"I understand," Kiyomi cut him off. "My sisters won't care."

Ema hid her surprise. Of the four Akiyama sisters, Kiyomi was both the youngest and the easiest to talk to. She couldn't fathom staying with them, but with everything that happened with Kaito and Yusuke and all of her brothers, she was just so tired and she just needed a bed...

"I messed up, Ki," Kaito was saying quietly. Ema could feel herself growing more and more lethargic, and her eyes felt heavier and Kaito was talking again— "Tell her not to hate me, okay?"

"She won't hate you." A slender pair of hands wrapped around Ema's arm and carefully pulled her to her feet. Kiyomi's golden hair splayed across Ema's shoulders as she hugged her close to her body. "She won't. She loves you. You love her. And it's that simple; that's all you need for everything to work out."

Simple. Ema almost choked on the thought.

Kaito and Kiyomi were saying their farewells now, and Ema leaned her head on her friend's shoulder. The familiar purr of one of Katsu's chauffering cars lilted along as Ema vaguely registered Kiyomi giving instructions to the Oshiro family driver and buckling her into her seat with the tenderness of a sister.

As she drifted to sleep, Kiyomi's voice hummed a soft lullaby and her light kisses whispered away the tear trails on Ema's cheeks.

Sorry about the late update!

Any guesses on what this chapter means for Ema's relationship with the brothers and Kaito? I'd love to hear your thoughts and theories~ ;) These past few chapters have been pretty drama-filled but you can expect some fluff coming up both with the Asahinas and Ema's #squad in the next chapter or two.

Also, on another note, my other story, Livewyre, is officially up! I'm super excited about that story, so it would mean a lot to me if you would check it out and let me know what you think. :)

As usual, thanks for your continued support, and please review!