"Aya-san?" Ema rapped at the bedroom door of Ayako, being asked by the others and all.

She was still unsure on how to address her, although Ayako had already told her before during the party that it was okay to address her casually.

"Uhm, Aya-san? Ukyo-san sent me to get you for dinner."

There was silence that greeted Ema and so, she opened the door to Ayako's room just to see that it was empty. She looked around and noticed how pristine and classy it looked. Unlike her room, wherein she didn't bother rearranging the furniture or decorating the room itself yet.

Ayako's bed was made nicely. But there were no signs of the girl either. Ema hoped that she was taking a bath; however, she heard no sounds of the water running, or water splashing from the bathtub.


A six-year old Ayako shivered as darkness enveloped her senses. Her cheeks were stained with tears, as a new batch threatened to leak out of her eyes. She silently called for her father, mother and brothers inside her mind.

Fear wrapped every fiber of the young girl's being, as she tried to free her tied appendages and there was duct tape on her mouth so she could not scream her lungs out to call for help. Even if she did, however, it seemed like no one would even notice that she was inside a cold, empty room.

She tried looking around, straining her eyes to see if she would be able to see in the dark. But to no avail, it was no use no matter how hard she tried. And as time passed, she felt hope slowly slipping away from her. She wanted to cry, although it felt like there were no tears to be produced any longer.

Little Ayako wondered if she would be able to get out of this place—alive even. The only times she were able to get a glimpse or taste of light, were during the time all those scary men had gone inside the room to give her food and so on. Other than that, she was left to her own devices most of the times.

Even the musty smell of the room did not deter her anymore, as she had grown accustomed to it in the duration of her stay there.

How many days had it been? Had it been a week already?

Ayako's sense of time was also getting dull as she had no means to tell whether it's night or day. She just sat on the chair she was tied onto, waiting for time to pass by; waiting for the time she would be able to get out of the filthy place; waiting for the time that her family finds and saves her.

Just waiting for as long as she could—

"Aya-san? Aya-san? AYAKO-SAN!"

The blue-haired girl could hear the distant cries of a familiar, female voice that she had gotten used to for the past week. She could distinguish the panic in the other girl's voice and she wondered what had happened in order for her to act like that.

'Ah, I think I've stayed a little too long in the tub,' Ayako thought as she heard a flurry of footsteps and panicked voices. Someone lifted her from the tub after covering her. Her consciousness eventually faded as she was brought back to her room.

"What happened?" Masaomi asked Ema as he set Ayako down on the queen-sized bed in her room.

She was now wearing a bathrobe, with the help of Ema. Her breathing was steady, except for the fact that Ayako seemed to be so uncomfortable. Her eyebrows were furrowed and her lips upturned into a frown. And the two watched as tears suddenly dripped down her cheeks, surprising them.

Masaomi's eyes widened a fraction, before he gently set a hand on his younger sister's head and stroked it. Ema looked at him and Ayako back and forth, her eyes glinting with worry for the latter's well-being.

"I was going to call Ayako-san for dinner, but she wasn't answering," Ema recalled, feeling her eyes getting moist. Seeing Ayako looking ghostly white while in the bathtub scared the wits out of her.

"So, I entered her room, but she wasn't inside. She wasn't answering as well. Then, when I went inside, that's when I found her passed out in the tub." The brunette teenager explained, tears finally escaping her eyes as she covered her mouth.

"Don't worry. She'll be fine," the eldest Asahina smiled gently at the girl before him, before he patted her head.

"Why don't you go down for dinner? I'll be here to take care of Aya at the moment." He said, and Ema nodded in response before she went out of the room.

Shortly after, Ayako started stirring in her sleep and Masaomi was immediately by her side. He put a hand on her forehead to check her temperature, but it was normal. The physician sighed in relief.

"Are you alright, Aya?" He asked her as soon as he saw that his younger sister had opened her eyes.

Ayako's vision was still a little bleary, but she was able to figure out who was currently sitting on the edge of her bed and holding her hand.

"I'm fine, Masa-nii," she smiled, but her voice was weak—almost like a whisper. Masaomi had to strain his ears a bit just to hear her.

"We were so worried." He said, as he scooped her up in his arms and hugged her by the shoulders.

"I'm sorry for worrying all of you," Ayako responded, patting him rhythmically on the back in order to comfort her brother.

There was a knock and the door opened to reveal a concerned Ukyo and a crying Wataru. The latter ran and jumped onto her bed, and clung to her side immediately. The youngest wailed and blubbered incoherent words but the blue-haired girl was able to somehow make out some of the words he had said.

"I-I was so worried, Aya-nee! I thought you died," she laughed at that, and their youngest just cried louder when she wrapped an arm around him to console him. Ayako heard a sigh, and a dark silhouette loomed over her. She looked up just to see Ukyo frowning down at her.

"I'm sorry?" She said as she grinned weakly at him, her apology turning into a question instead. Masaomi and Wataru were still clinging to her; however, the eldest had soon let her go.

Ayako decided to pace her younger brother on her lap to make space, as she continued her previous conversation with Ukyo. The said lawyer sat on the other side of her bed as he stroked her cheek, while Masaomi and Wataru watched over them silently.

A sigh escaped his lips, before Ukyo spoke.

"What happened?" He finally asked after a slight pause.

Ayako looked down, her eyes heating up immediately as she remembered the memories that were lingering in her mind earlier while she was in the bathtub. She felt Ukyo's hand lowering to her chin, and tilting it up to face him. The second eldest's breath slightly hitched at the sight of his teary-eyed sister. Her dark blue orbs glistened with tears that she was trying so hard to hold back.

"Wataru, come here." Masaomi said, as he held out his arms and motioned for their youngest to come to him. Wataru shook his head at first, but let himself be carried away by Masaomi when the eldest's expression morphed into one of strictness.

"You guys have your talk, while I assure everyone that Aya's fine now," Masaomi smiled at the both of them as he and Wataru went out of their sister's room.

Ayako eased herself on her bed. A tear silently escaped the corner of her eye. She only waited until Wataru was nowhere in sight and was relieved that Masaomi had been sharp enough to pick up on her body language.

"So, what happened to you?" Ukyo shifted closer to her, his left leg folded under his right as he faced Ayako.

The girl before him fiddled with her fingers wordlessly, trying to arrange her thoughts and form it into words. She pursed her lips and stared Ukyo in the eyes. She opened her mouth but closed it again. Ayako did this several times before the blonde-haired male lightly knocked her forehead, and she finally relented.

"I was... thinking about seven years ago," she started, trying to choose her words carefully as much as she could.

She didn't want to accidentally make one of her brothers guilty on how she had lived her life for the past seven years. Ayako knew that it would break their hearts, and she did not want them to go through that. It was already enough for her that she was finally with them again.

A large, warm hand enveloped her petite one. Her brother squeezed it reassuringly, as if telling her that he was here—that they were here for her. Ayako never felt so relieved in her life like today, knowing that her family was with her.

As for Ukyo, he knew that what happened seven years ago traumatized Ayako greatly. But he had no idea to what extent. He just knew that his sister had gone through a lot, and he did not want to bring up the memories she was trying to bury to the back of her mind by prying any further. He wanted Ayako to be the one to open up to their family when the right time comes. When they are ready, and when she is ready.

"Can I hug you, Kyo-nii?" Ayako asked out of nowhere, her cheeks tinting pink.

She felt shy to be asking her older brother something that their youngest would ask. But Ukyo smiled. It was a helpless, yet kind smile. After all, it was so unlike Ayako to ask for permission when initiating skin contact. Normally, she would just do so without any care.

"Come here," he said as he pulled her towards him and wrapped his arms securely around her.

It was as if he was shielding her from anything that could harm her, and it comforted Ayako so much that she didn't want to let go for the whole five minutes. She just clung to her older brother, as if she reverted back to her childhood. When the both of them pulled away, there was a huge grin plastered on her lips that made Ukyo smile. He patted her, before standing up and looked at her bedside table.

The clock read: 10:43pm

It was already late, but he figured that his blue-haired sister would want to reassure their other siblings that she was now fine, after giving all of them a mini heart-attack.

"Aya, do you mind coming down to check up on the others?" Ukyo asked, glancing down at her. Ayako looked confused for a moment, before her eyes widened in realization. Within her dark blue orbs were swirling emotions of guilt and panic.

"I-I'll go! I have to apologize to everyone—" She stopped halfway when she heard her blonde lawyer of a brother chuckling at her panicked state.

"Don't worry. They're not the least bit mad. But they're still in shock, so it would be good if they'll see that you're up and about, instead of only being reassured by Masaomi-niisan." He explained.

She sighed in relief, before smiling wryly, "Alright. Let me go change first. We don't want them to see more of my unsightly appearance."

With that, Ayako headed to her walk-in closet and changed into her house wear consisting of a white shirt with a unicorn print, and a pair of gray work-out shorts. She and Ukyo went down to the villa's living room to meet the rest of their siblings afterwards. They all stood up simultaneously, with matching facial expressions of concern towards her.

"Aya!"

"Ayako!"

"Aya-nee!"

Various shouts of how her siblings call her echoed inside the villa, as they crowded around her. She can't help but laugh softly at the way they looked at her like kicked puppies.

"Aww, come on," she pretended to whine and act annoyed.

All of them stood in attention except for the three eldest males in the family. They knew that Ayako was only acting that way to hide her embarrassment. It was also her way to stop the rest of their siblings from worrying over her than she would have liked.

"But Aya—"

She cut Yusuke off by raising a hand, before crossing her arms over her chest. The blue-haired girl gave all of them a stern look. But those older than her were not deterred in the very least.

"Aya-chan, I think you should just let us worry over you. It's been so long you know," Hikaru played the victim card, which made Ayako's expression immediately turn into one of guilt once more.

'Ouch, that was seriously a low blow, Hika-nii,' she thought as the corners of her lips turned downwards into a frown.

However, she soon took notice of the fact that somehow, her brothers' eyes were all either puffy or reddish. Then and there, she knew that they either cried or let out a few tears slip. Her expression softened at the sight.

The usual glamorous and elegant Hikaru wasn't in his usual cross-dresser outfit. His long hair was tied in a low ponytail, but there were a few stray strands.

'He must have been ruffling or gripping his hair since earlier.'

Azusa and Tsubaki's sharp and stylish appearance were nowhere to be found. Their outfits had creases and were crumpled as if someone had gripped on it tightly.

'They must have fought, about how one of them should have noticed my state.'

Natsume, on the other hand, was just silent. His well-kept, light brown hair was like it was styled in a way similar to Tsubaki's. It was standing up all over the place. His nose was slightly pinkish in color.

'I should take time to talk to Natsu-nii later. He looks so worried, on top of being tired and sleepy. He's probably working on another game despite being on vacation.'

Her eyes then drifted towards her siblings who were slightly older than her and almost the same age as her. Subaru and Iori had serious expressions on like usual. But instead of the positive glint in their eyes, it seemed as if their beautiful orbs were glazed over.

Ayako took a step forward towards the two; however, she caught sight of Fuuto and Yuusuke. They were both frowning, but it was too obvious that the two were putting up a tough front despite having cried just a little earlier. Their eyes were a tad swollen than they would have admitted.

She smiled apologetically at Subaru and Iori before heading towards to the younger pair—Yuusuke and Fuuto—and hugged them by their waists. It was her way of express her regret for worrying all their siblings, and a way to assure them that she was just fine.

"I'm sorry for worrying you guys. I swear it won't happen again," she vowed, her voice barely a whisper. But she knew that her siblings have heard her loud clear.

"You know that we won't stop worrying about you, Aya." Kaname's voice sounded near her, and she tilted her head a little to see him standing just beside Fuuto.

His eyes were kind but his jaw was taut. His eyes were slightly red, hinting that he, too, had shed a few tears secretly. Before she could go up to hug him, she felt two pairs of strong arms cage her. One pair was holding her by the shoulders, and another pair was on her middle.

Fuuto and Yuusuke's scent wafted into her nose—a slightly musky and minty scent, and the smell of fresh laundry mixing together. It was weird, but it calmed her. All her brothers' scents had calming effects on her.

"Then, thanks for worrying about me. But seriously, I'm fine now. Masa-nii took care of me earlier," she smiled, and patted the back of the two boys rather awkwardly because of their positions.

Shortly after, they pulled back from each other, with Fuuto avoiding the gaze of everyone in the room. Yuusuke just looked at her with a concerned expression on his boyish visage.

"It's because she stayed in the bath for too long, but I made sure to cool her down by putting wet towel on her forehead earlier. She's fine now, really." Masaomi supplied for good measure, so that his younger siblings won't have to worry needlessly.

The males of the Asahina household were finally able to exhale in relief. They have been waiting for the past half hour with bated breaths as they waited for Ayako's status from their physician brother. And now that he did, a burden seemed to be removed from their shoulders.

Hearing about Ayako collapsing made them fully aware of the fact that they could lose her again, not even more than a month after her return. And it scared them. It scared them so bad that they had shed tears, just like on that day—seven years ago.

However, seeing how the blue-haired girl was smiling at all of them warmly as they surrounded her, made all their worries dissipate in thin air. Yes, just like that. It was a wonder how Ayako did that without even lifting a single finger.

"I'm your sister. That's just how it is."

With that statement, they all laughed and thought at the same time.

'She's our sister after all.'


[A/N]: Yo, Rui's back everyone!

*whispers* At least for the moment. The story is still on hiatus, but I'll certainly update here and there.

Here's a little sneak peek of Ayako's past which probably made everyone wonder what's so bad about it. That's not yet the end though. It's what we authors and readers alike would like to call cliffhanger.

Teeh-hee~ *wink wink* ( ̄0  ̄)y

Anyway, thank you so much for waiting, y'all. And for all the love and support for this story you lovely people, you!

ありがとうございました みんな ! *sends hearts*

'Til next time! Adieu~ (≧∇≦)/