"Hey, can you pass me that wrench?"

Ema and Kiyomi jumped at the sound of Rei's brassy voice, muffled from under the sink. The Akiyama home had had a leaky faucet for at least the past twelve years— Rei and Ryota, always insistent on doing a good and thorough job, were still working on fixing the entire home at Ema's request; they still did it under the three elder Akiyamas' noses, as Ema didn't want to make a big deal out of her repaying them, but Ema did have to admit she enjoyed seeing the look on any of their faces when they found that something broken was fixed.

As scared as she still was of the Akiyamas, Ema found that she wanted desperately for Kiyomi and her sisters to fix their bond. Perhaps it was her form of living vicariously through Kiyomi, but if her brothers had only been as selfless as the three elder Akiyamas were for their youngest, Ema knew that she would be sitting in the Sunrise Residence living rooms instead of the Akiyamas'.

Ema's care toward the three elder sisters and Kiyomi was why Rei managed to end up in the kitchen, fixing the leaky faucet. Ema almost smiled thinking about how Kiyaki's eyes would narrow when she turned on the sink, realizing that the water pressure was actually decent (alright, it would be more than decent; Rei never did a half-hearted job of anything).

Ema's smile dropped as Rei repeated herself, waiting before peering out from under the sink, mouth open to say it a third time. Kiyomi snapped to attention and scrambled for a wrench; disheartened, all three girls in the room realized at the same time that it was the wrong one, and Rei muttered, "I'll get it myself," before turning to dig through her toolbox.

It was a jolting reminder of the rift that had formed in their group after the rejection.

The schism was completely unintentional and completely well-intended; the boys, wanting to comfort Kaito, spent more of their time with him, and the girls, wanting to comfort Ema, spent more of their time with her. Not exactly choosing sides— but it was especially apparent when the girls didn't have something to eat because Tamotsu wasn't around, or the boys would go quiet waiting for a Kiyomi-scolding that would never come. To Ema, it hurt, but the reminder that she and Kaito were the reason, hurt more.

And when Rei and Ryota— two parts of the same well-oiled machine who handed each other the tools and pieces in their projects— found themselves apart because of it, it was glaringly obvious. Especially as Rei searched her own toolbox for a wrench that would no doubt already be in her hands if her brother were there.

The pain of Kaito's rejection still stung at Ema— her only comfort was that it wasn't a complete and utter no, but rather a hesitant one.

It had been nearly two weeks since Ema had left home, and besides the run-in with Ukyo and the awkward icy eye contact with Yusuke or Fuuto, she hadn't heard a word from her brothers. She kept in constant contact with Rintarou (even moreso than she had when she was living at home), and he would update her on his travels, on Miwa, on anything that caught his eye.

Ema, for her part, made great effort to call Rintarou every night and have a meaningful, honest conversation— and that included conversations about her brothers. Time hit her too fast that she didn't even see it coming, and she made it her personal goal to get to know her father as best she could before they had to say goodbye. She removed the word "fine" from her dictionary and told him everything; and she found quickly that he was the mentor she had always needed, but never known she'd had.

She told him first everything about her relationship with her brothers; every detail, every piece of history that led to the catastrophe she was in. And her father didn't judge her; he held her tight and she stayed that night with him as he pulled out a radio and ice cream and sprinkles and let them laugh the night away. Despite how tired she was the next day, the happiness that followed that night was enough for Ema to brush off the clouds at school for a moment.

So everything was well— though melancholy, Ema felt more clear-headed than she had in a while. Her nights were spent giggling with Kiyomi, her days spent with her girls— but she couldn't hide forever. She knew that.

Ema had a plan: the graduation of the third years was in three days exactly, and their planned beach trip was to come two weeks after. Kiyomi, ever-stubborn, refused to allow Kaito to cancel it after his and Ema's breakup. She was confident that a week-long vacation in which they were all locked away on Katsu's family's private island was exactly what they needed to heal the friendship. In Ema's opinion, it seemed horrifically awkward. Even worse, when asked about if this was some effort to get Kaito and Ema back together, Kiyomi would hum noncommittally and change the subject— which usually translated as a resounding "yes."

Ema's plan, however, had nothing to do with the beach trip and everything to do with the two weeks between the third-years' graduation and her vacation. Every moment would be spent with her brothers in a familial manner; she wasn't quite ready to leave them, and wasn't quite ready to give up on having brothers. Perhaps it was wishful thinking that she could shape them into the family she'd wanted, but it wasn't time to give up on doing it yet. And surprisingly, she found that, among her father, her friends, and her own newfound ability to power through difficulty— she'd be willing to give up eventually. She was ready to make peace with the idea that maybe if her brothers couldn't see her as a sister, she perhaps might have to give up on them as a family. Give up on them.

But not yet.

She had an aching longing for the Asahinas: not the kind that a woman felt for a lover, but the kind that a girl felt for a brother. She mourned for what they could have (should have) been, and though she feared it was too late now, she wished desperately to mend the breach and try again at becoming a family. Perhaps they would never see her as a sister, but that didn't mean Ema didn't want to try. And when she tried again, she was determined to be clearer than ever about her intentions.

Graduation for the third-years came too soon.

Ema, the second-year that she was, didn't have to worry about saying goodbye to the whole school, but rather to her seniors: namely Mitsuo, Katsu, and Tamotsu. Ema had spent the entire night before crying silently on the couch, and when she woke up to find Kiyomi, pouting and sunshine-hair mussed on her tear-stained pillow, it was obvious Ema wasn't the only one not quite ready to let them go.

The two girls spent the morning fixing each other's hair and putting on nice dresses for the ceremony— besides the occasional sniffle from Kiyomi and the gentle swipe of Ema wiping tears off her cheeks, the room was silent.

Finally, it was seven o'clock, and draped in a pretty shade of blue she knew all three of the boys liked, Ema linked arms with her friend and they walked together to Hinode, where the ceremony was to take place. Their group was united once again in the bittersweetness of watching their three eldest friends walk across the stage and claim their diplomas, and finally, Ema stood and wiped the tears from her eyes, laughing all the while.

Mitsuo, naturally, hugged her first, ignoring the mostly-female crowd that had gathered to swoon over him in favor of crushing Ema to his chest (Ema had never quite noticed his popularity).

"Ema! I'm going to miss you so much, you strange little thing. But it's not goodbye forever. I'm not even going that far. Just down to Tokyo, see? I forgot that you haven't been keeping in touch with me for the last couple weeks because you want to stay away from your boyfriend—" (Ema inwardly groaned, having forgotten the boy's innocent tactlessness) "—but I actually decided on that baseball scholarship. It pays more than the others, and . . ."

Ema had to fight not to tune Mitsuo out. His chatter, while incessant, was no longer something she would hear everyday. She was going to make the most of it.

". . . but yeah, really, Katsu really helped me out in the university process. I'd seriously suggest talking to him whenever you head to college— wait, hold on, don't go anywhere! I'm going to go say goodbye to Kiyomi."

Kiyomi, who'd been passing by when she heard her name spill from the musclebound boy's grinning mouth, quickly became a gold and blue blur as she tried to run. But she was trapped in Mitsuo's bear hug soon enough, and Ema found herself chuckling. She couldn't quite bring herself to follow Mitsuo's order to stay put; knowing him, he'd forget that he told her to stay anywhere at all. So when Katsu came into view, Ema did a double-take and immediately grasped his sleeve. He turned.

The graduate had left behind his glasses in favor of contacts, and Ema was dismayed to realize she'd never noticed how heart-stoppingly handsome he was without them shielding and distorting his entire face. She wished, suddenly, that she'd spent the last few weeks with all of her friends, instead of avoiding them by extension of avoiding Kaito.

Instead of dwell on that, Ema tiptoed and hugged Katsu round the neck. She wasn't going to let any relationship go unmended, including the ones that had never truly been broken.

"I'm going to miss you so much," she murmured into his ear, and he hesitantly wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I'll miss you too, Ema. It'll all turn out alright."

He pulled away and smiled down at her, eyes shining with a rich warmth, and Ema felt her body sing in happiness. Katsu had long since decided his path to take after high school: he had plans to go to Korea and study medicine there, and given his incredible academic standing and observance, Ema had no doubt he'd go the distance. So when he smoothed out her hair, which Mitsuo had ruffled, and gave her a small bow, Ema felt content. Even after the beach trip, she knew she would see him again.

And so the only person left to say goodbye to was Tamotsu. It was Rei who ended up interrupting Katsu and Ema— with Ryota hot on her tail, she'd gripped Katsu's jaw and gasped.

"Katsu! You're a- you're- you're a knockout!"

Ema laughed, shaking her head as the twins proclaimed that Katsu never should have gone into medicine but rather into modeling, and "how dare you hide such a face from us!" Ema slipped away quietly and began weaving her way through the crowd, trying to find her baker friend who was sure to be around somewhere— he wouldn't simply leave without saying goodbye to her, would he?

She nearly collided with a warm chest, and Kaito jumped, startled.

The silence between them was palpable. So was the awkwardness, and the tension, and the uncertainty, and— Ema could barely stand it. She hugged her body tightly, unsure of what to say. His eyes on her felt too heavy. She dared herself to look up and meet that russet gaze of his—

—and found that he wasn't looking at her at all. No, instead, his eyes were red and puffy and scanning the crowd. Immediately Ema felt foolish. Of course Kaito's only focus wouldn't be on her. It was the seniors' graduation, and of course he'd be preoccupied with saying goodbye to their third-year friends over fixing their romance right then and there. It was a stinging reminder of his words to her that night: "I want to give you the world, but I need a part of it, no matter how small, that I can call my own." Ema reminded herself that it was nothing to get worked up over— all of their friends were united in the sadness of losing Mitsuo, Katsu, and Tamotsu; and Kaito was sure to be no exception.

Kaito finally glanced down at Ema. He offered her a small smile, dimples flashing, and headed to Mitsuo.

It did not go unnoticed by Ema when Kaito gently rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment as he made his way through.

Most of the room had filtered out, and Tamotsu was still nowhere to be found. Ema was determined to say goodbye to all her third-year friends, but hope was fading quickly that Tamotsu had already left.

"He definitely stayed after he picked up his diploma," Kiyomi said, having kicked off her heels and reclined on a bench to wait for Ema while she searched. "But I don't know if he left already or not."

"I hope he didn't," Ema replied in dismay. Instead of answering, Kiyomi gave a shrug and a kittenish yawn and settled on the bench. Volunteers were already taking down decorations, and most of their friends had left already. "Kiyomi, you can go home if you want. I'll meet you there."

"Oh, please. I'm not going to leave you here. What if you can't find Tamotsu? You think I'll let you walk home alone? I'll wait for you."

It was a well-meant reassurance, but instead, in only rattled Ema's nerves even more. What if she couldn't find Tamotsu? He was a dear friend of hers, and she knew she wouldn't forgive herself if she didn't get to tell him goodbye before he left. Tamotsu was going to France to apprentice under a famous Parisian bakery, and likely wouldn't be back for years— and Ema didn't even know if he'd be going on the beach trip or not. So it was now or never, and she didn't want to leave it up to chance whether she'd get to say farewell.

So, a girl on a mission, Ema began checking the dimly-lit hallways and classrooms for him. The culinary room first, obviously, but he wasn't there. Of course not. Why would he be baking a cake right after his graduation? (Actually, on second thought, Ema wouldn't put it past him.) She then scoured the surrounding classrooms and hallways when a deep, velvet voice caught her ear from around the corner.

It was Tamotsu! Ema grinned, relieved that she found him, and began sprinting to the sound before another voice nearly made her halt, turn tail, and run away. Yusuke.

Run away? Absolutely not. Ema wasn't about to let one of her brothers keep her from one of her best friends, and so she squared her shoulders. Then paused.

"What is this for, Asahina-kun?" Tamotsu inquired. His voice was stern in the way it only became when he was talking to anyone outside his immediate circle.

"I-it's for thanks." Yusuke's gravelly voice compared to Tamotsu's chocolate-fountain one was almost painful to listen to. Ema hunched in the dark as Yusuke cleared his throat. "You remember that one day when we were studying for finals? You drove me home. And I was upset. And you never- well, you never judged me for it. And also I ended up passing finals. Though that was more because of Oshiro Katsu and not because of you. But you drove me there. You drove me back, too. But you knew that. And above all, I just . . . I really wanted to thank you for taking care of Ema. We all really care about her, you know, and you and your friends have been so good to her—"

"Yeah, yeah. Just . . . fine, thanks for the gift. You should go back home; it's getting late. Do you have a ride?"

"Yes. My brother Kaname is giving me a ride home."

"Liar."

"Huh?"

"I'm in touch with your stepdad, you know. He told me that all your older brothers are working tonight. Go back down to the main room where graduation was. My parents and younger brother and sister are still there, so go and ask them for a ride. I'm not going to have you walking home alone in the dark."

Tamotsu's declaration warmed Ema's heart. It reminded her of what Kiyomi had told her only minutes before she had begun her search for Tamotsu. Distantly, she thought that the two were such mother hens that they'd be an excellent couple. Then the jealousy hit in wave after unrelenting wave— how come Yusuke got a big brother out of Tamotsu without even trying, when Ema had desperately tried and failed with the Asahinas?

The jealousy didn't get the chance to live much longer— it probably would have settled in Ema for a while if Yusuke hadn't given a slight bow and left. Ema hid just behind the door of a classroom as Yusuke passed her, and heaved a sigh. This entire family situation was truly getting to her head.

"Come out, Ema."

She froze.

"I'm not going to wait forever. Are you going to say goodbye to me or not?"

Silently, she creeped out and peered around the corner, where Tamotsu's tall, imposing frame was open and waiting. Ema didn't run into his arms the way she had thought she would. Instead, she hesitantly stepped toward him and tucked herself into his chest, where he wrapped his arms around her.

"Don't you know it's not polite to eavesdrop?"

"I'm sorry," she muttered. Even his graduation clothes smelled like frosting, and she took a deep breath. "But it was my brother."

"Still."

"Sorry."

Ema pulled away and craned her neck to look up at Tamotsu. His eyes sparkled with fond amusement, and from the sheer comforting presence she felt exuding from him, Ema felt another pang of jealousy towards his biological younger sister. But his eyes were too all-knowing, and that made her uneasy. It was too easy for her to forget just how knowledgeable the older boy was; compared to others like Katsu, he seemed unintelligent. But Katsu was analytical— Tamotsu was observant to matters of the heart, the person you could count on to tell you the truth and be gentle about it. And just as he could see right through anybody, he could certainly see straight through Ema.

"What are you doing, you silly girl?"

". . . I was listening in on your conversation."

"You know that's not what I was talking about."

He waited. It was uncanny the way he could do that— he didn't even have to clarify, but Ema was eventually so uneasy by his knowing gaze and patient silence that she confessed anyway.

"I'm running away, I guess. I was running away. But now I'm not. I have a plan, Tamotsu. I'm not going to allow my brothers to influence my decisions anymore, and if they don't want to be family, that's on them. But I'll make amends with them. I'll make amends with everyone in my life, including the people who I only hurt by accident, or barely hurt at all."

"For your sake, I hope you mean it. If I may impart some advice on you though, before I go? Don't throw away what you already have."

"I won't. Kaito's one of the relationships I'll fix."

"I don't just mean Kaito. I mean your family, too. Romantic obstacles aside, you've got something with them that only needs to be polished until it becomes more valuable than any diamond in the world." Tamotsu smiled kindly and kissed the top of her head. "Remember, Ema, that your friends will always be with you, and so will the Asahinas. You'd be surprised at how much they're willing to give for you, whether it's romantic or not."

Ema's gaze dropped, and she caught sight of Tamotsu's hand— in it was a small, orange, rubber whisk shaped like a chicken. It was exactly the kind that he would enjoy. He followed her eyes down to it. "From your brother," he explained. "As thanks."

Yusuke wasn't friends with any third years at the school. So could it have been true that Yusuke had truly gone out of his way to sit through the three-hour-long graduation ceremony, just to give Tamotsu his thanks and a whisk that was probably bought at a dollar store? Ema felt her heart warmed again, this time out of affection for her brother. The fact that he would do so much for one of her friends (who hadn't even been particularly nice to him) meant the world to Ema.

"I'm going to go," Tamotsu said, and Ema felt the same dismay well up in her heart that she had when she said goodbye to Katsu and Mitsuo. Would she ever have enough time with the people she loved?

Sensing her distress, Tamotsu reached into the sleeve of his graduation gown and pulled out a small object. At first, Ema didn't know what it was. On closer inspection, she realized it was a cake pop, decorated with utmost care in the shape of a daisy. Tamotsu had even paid attention to the veins in the petals, and Ema admired the artistry as he pressed it into her hand.

"For you. And do tell your brother Yusuke I said thank you. I'll see you at the beach trip, Ema."

With that, he started walking away.

His words finally registered.

"Wait, you're going on the beach trip? You mean that I didn't have to chase around the entire school just to find you?!"

His only reply was a wink thrown in her direction, and Ema was silent for a few long moments before bursting into happy giggles.

Yes, mending broken relationships was certainly the best idea she'd had in a while.

Thanks for your continued readership! Please be sure to review and let me know your thoughts!