A.N:
I wrote this story before the manga was completed so there will be a difference in how they met. I recently reread some stories that I wrote but never posted and thought that this one was sweet. Hope that you enjoy.
Chapter 1: When Everything Changed
Emma had known Draken since she was 9 and over the years she's learned almost everything there was to know about him.
The first thing that she had noticed when she met her brother's friend was that he had a tattoo on the side of his head and he was tall like he was already a middle schooler but he wasn't. He looked like he was in middle school and he was barely a year older than Mikey.
Their friendship actually didn't start with Mikey they had actually met on a separate occasion.
Emma was walking home from school with one of her friends, a boy from her class that had been acting strange lately.
Her friend Lee was one of the boys at school that a lot of girls had a crush on. He was just a few inches taller than her and he was really smart and charismatic. That's why a lot of girls liked him. He was also one of the better looking boys at school with his dark hair and nice smile.
The two of them had been good enough friends but something changed about him recently. Half way home her friend had confessed his feelings for her.
"Emma you're the most popular girl in our class and I'm the most popular boy so you should be my girlfriend." He said.
"Ohhh so this is why you've been acting so differently lately." Emma's cheeks heated up. Her brothers would sometimes tease her about what her type of guy would be but she never really took any of that too serious. She reacted to her friend's question almost immediately.
"I'm sorry but you're just not my type." Emma said as nice as possible.
Lee was her friend so she didn't want to hurt his feelings. How did it even feel to like someone anyway? She wasn't sure but she sure knew that she didn't like Lee that way. His school yard crush on her was a foreign concept to her all together.
"Come on Emma, why do you think that I always bring you snacks and sit next to you in all of our classes?"
"I thought that we were friends." She answered honestly.
"Well we won't be anymore if you reject me. You know I'm doing you a favor by doing this. My mom says people who are foreign are all stupid." Lee said in a harsh tone.
"Did she?" Emma said annoyed and her expression changed quickly. At that she was sure that she no longer wanted anything to do with Lee.
"Yeah, but you're different since you're pretty and popular, other kids will think that it's cool if you're my girlfriend." He smiled like he hadn't just insulted her.
"I don't think that I like you at all anymore. You should just go home. I don't want you to walk with me." She said calmly her voice hiding how mad she actually was.
"What?!" Lee asked, surprised.
"I said. I don't want to walk home with you Lee, you're not my friend anymore." She said doing her best to sound mean, like Shinichiro would have and she picked up her pace as she walked home and Lee continued to follow her.
"Emma come on I know that you're foreign but don't be stupid." He said getting annoyed with her.
"Say something about me being foreign again and I'll ask my brother to beat you up." She said seriously.
"You have a brother? I'm not afraid of him. I took a karate class once."
"Fine then keep bothering me if you want your ass kicked." She huffed holding in her anger.
"Why are you being so mean Emma? I was just talking to you. You shouldn't be so sensitive." He said and She started to ignore him and just kept walking.
Having a foreign name didn't usually bother her but most people didn't poke at her about it like this and she didn't want to admit it, but it did hurt to have someone that she thought was her friend pick at her differences so she just ignored it until Lee grabbed her wrist hard so she stepped on his foot which made him release her with haste, before he was punched square in the jaw by someone else.
Her eyes snapped to the person who knocked Lee to the ground and her heart beat faster. He was tall, a lot taller than her and he was blonde like her brother.
The boy had a tattoo on the side of his head that was closest to her which was the first thing that caught her eye.
He had to be a middle schooler.
"Hey shithead, shut up already, didn't you hear her tell you to take your ass home." The tall boy said to Lee and he got up clenching his bloodied nose.
"What the heck!? Emma, tell him we're friends!" He spat angry.
The tall kid hit him again and Lee fell to the ground again.
"I don't think you understood what I just said, get the hell out of here or the next time that I hit you will be lights out." The tall kid said in a scary serious voice and Lee made a run for it.
The tall kid then turned to Emma and smiled.
"Hey are you okay? That kid was acting kind of aggressive just now it looked like he might actually hit you back."
"I'm fine. I wouldn't have been in trouble if he hit me. I might have just had to pre kick his ass before my brother did. Then he would have gone home with two black eyes."
The tall boy smiled at her before snickering to himself. "I see, looks like you didn't need any help huh."
"Not at all I had it covered."
"Sure, you did." He said and Emma didn't answer him.
"Thank you, regardless of if I needed help or not, that was nice of you."
The tall boy smiled. "I'm Draken."
"Emma." She smiled.
"Well I guess this is where we part ways. Bye Emma."
"Bye Draken." She continued on her way home and Draken followed behind her. She stopped in her tracks and looked back at him.
"I'm not following you, I swear. My friend lives near here. I'm on my way to see him." He said.
"Oh then I guess we can walk together." Emma said and they walked to her house and to her surprise Draken had already been headed there to see Mikey and Emma realized that Draken was the Kenny kid that her brother had told her about.
That was the first time that Emma had met Draken and after that she slowly realized just everything there was that she liked about Draken.
Two years later
Draken was more cool headed than her brother and he was kind though he didn't want people to know it. He was more mature than most kids his age were too and not just because he was older.
There was something different about him that Emma couldn't quite put her finger on. Even though he acted so tough all the time when he was alone with just Emma and Mikey he was always so warm and nice and he took care of her brother when he got into trouble. She honestly couldn't think about anything that she didn't like about him?
After Draken and Mikey first met he started coming over almost everyday. It was like he was a family member or something though Emma didn't see him the same way that she saw Shinichiro and Mikey.
She saw him differently and at first she didn't really know what to call it so she just kept hanging around him whenever he came by to try and understand what it was that she was feeling and making sure that they had all of Draken's favorite snacks around the house that way he would come over more.
One day her grandfather jokingly commented on how Draken's parents probably think that he's practically moved out since he's at their house all the time and he was always staying over and that was when Mikey stated that Draken didn't have any parents and that he lives alone. Her grandfather then told him that he can come over anytime that he wants. So he did.
As Emma got older she realized what it was that she felt about Draken after she had a sleepover at a friend's house when she was 11 and they were talking about their crushes at school.
The other two girls liked the same boy in their class and Emma was stumped when it came to someone that she might have a crush on so her friends said that they would help her.
"Is there anyone that kind of just makes you smile when you see them." Her friend asked.
"A lot of people, actually my friends and my family."
"No Emma, like when they're around you can help but smile and you always want to hang out with that person and you want them to hug you all the time." Her other friend said.
"I think there is someone!" Emma said as the realization finally hit her. "But he's older than me." She said the second part, not as excited.
"Well spill, who is he?" Her friend asked.
"He's my brother's best friend."
"He's friends with your brother, is he in that little gang of his?"
"Yes." Emma laughed. "But he's different, he's older than Mikey, Remember when Lee said that a guy with a dragon tattoo beat him up a while back."
"He has a tattoo! How did his parents let him do that? Emma he sounds bad, maybe you should like someone else."
"You know I didn't really notice that I liked him until you said something, Emai." Emma smiled. "I think I do like him, I think that I like him a lot." She blushed. "Draken is 14 and he's taller than most middle schools, he gets into fights a lot so he's strong and the last thing that you said Rae. I do like it when he hugs me." Emma fell back in her sleeping bag. "Oh my god I like my brother's best friend." She pulled the blanket over her head.
"You should tell him. I bet he'd be happy Emma, you're super popular at school."
"But he's so much older he might like someone his age. Has he ever had a girlfriend?" Rae asked.
"No, at least I don't think so. He's at my house all the time." Emma said.
"That means you can try and see if he likes you more! Since he's always around he's got to feel the same." Emai said.
"Or he's just really close with my brother." Emma said and her friends agreed to drop the crush talk for that night.
The next morning her head was spinning just thinking about it all as she was walking home and she just knew that Draken was probably at her house with her brother and just like she thought he was and she couldn't help the fact that she was acting more shy than usual around him after her realization but Draken didn't seem to notice too much but she was totally stressing about how to act around him now that she knew that she had a crush on him.
"Emma, why have you been acting weird when Kenny comes over? Lately you leave the room when he's here and you don't talk as much when he's over anymore." Mikey asked her later that week.
"Mikey, can you keep a secret?" She asked as her cheeks heated up.
"Yeah? Did you two have a fight?" He asked.
"No, Mikey, I think that I have a crush on Draken." She said seriously and Mikey looked at her deadpan.
"Is that all?" He asked, completely uninterested.
"Mikey!" She yelled at him.
"So you like Kenny and that's why you've been acting so weird lately." He laughed. "I told him you weren't mad."
"Draken thinks that I'm mad at him?"
"He did but I'll tell him that you're not." Mikey smiled and Emma hit him on his head.
"You can't tell him!" Emma repeated.
"I won't you just need to apologize to Kenny he thinks that he hurt your feelings or something." Her brother said.
"This is hard. I can't apologize, I can barely look at him without thinking about it. Mikey you're his best friend." Emma said as she debated if she should even ask him this next part as they never really talked about this kind of stuff but she did it anyway.
"Do you know if he likes anyone?"
"Kenny and I don't really talk about that kind of thing Emma but I've never seen him with a girl before so maybe he doesn't." Mikey put his hand on his chin. "Knowing Kenny, I don't think that he'd be too shy to tell if he liked someone either."
"Really." Emma sighed.
He must only see her as his best friend's sister. If that's the case then she would just have to change that."
The next time that Emma saw Draken was at her house, he and Mikey were just about to head out to get some food, only stopping by their house so that Mikey could drop off his school bag before they got their bikes. Draken was waiting at the gate to her front yard.
"Hey Emma. Long time no see."
"Hey Draken." She smiled at him just like she usually would. "Waiting on Mikey?" She asked.
"Yeah we're going to get a bite to eat, do you want to come?" He asked and her cheeks heated up.
What would it be like to have him ask her on an actual date? She wondered and at that thought she got flustered and hastily answered. "No." before attempting to head inside.
"Emma, wait."
"You've been acting weird around me lately? Did I do something to make you upset? We've been friends for so long. I hope that I didn't do or say something that made you upset."
Not another thing that she liked about him. She thought. Draken is really kind to the people that he cares about. He'd always apologize first if he thinks he upset you even if he doesn't know why.
"No, Draken, you didn't do anything, I'm sorry that I made you feel that way." She said sincerely.
"Then why have you been avoiding me? I'm not dumb Emma, something's been up with you." She looked at him for a moment and their eyes met before she sighed and turned to go into her house again.
"Let me put my bag away too. So I can come with you." She smiled at him before going inside.
She didn't know what was stopping her from telling Draken how she felt. Was it a fear of rejection? No she wasn't afraid of that, maybe she was still unsure of what her feelings really meant."
"What are you up to?" Mikey asked when Emma rushed past him.
"I'm going with you and Draken to get dinner."
"Okay." He smiled and Emma came back out a few minutes later to find only Draken.
"Mikey said that he had some Toman business to take care of with Baji so it looks like it's just us." Draken said.
Mikey! She screamed in her head as she told Draken that it was fine.
"Are we still going to get your bike?" Emma asked.
"Sure." Draken smiled. Riding bikes always made Emma think of her older brother.
She and Draken walked to the garage where he keeps his bike and she hopped on the back of it before putting her arms around his waist and holding him tight and this was making her smile as she rode behind him and the wind rushed around them.
She needed to stop denying it, she was head over heels for her brother's best friend and there was really nothing she could do to catch her herself. She was already in too deep.
She could feel his warmth on her cheek as she pressed it against his back and she closed her eyes for a moment just allowing herself to enjoy this moment before they arrived at their favorite diner. Emma and Draken both ordered what they usually did and Draken looked at her with questioning eyes as they spoke like they usually would before he asked what was on his mind.
"So are you're really not going to tell me why you've been avoiding me over the last few days?" He asked.
"I will just not right now. I have to figure out if I want you to know or not." She said honestly.
"huhhh?" Draken asked, confused.
"Just don't worry about it me and you are good so let it go." She smiled.
"You're acting weird. Maybe if Mikey had come he'd know what you mean."
"I doubt it when I get home that guy is dead." Emma half joked.
"You two have a fight?"
"We're going too." Emma said and Draken laughed.
"Well you've always been able to make me laugh, Emma don't be too hard on him now, Toman is going to need him this weekend."
"I can't make any promises. So what have I missed since we last talked?" She smiled.
"Let's see probably just about everything but I'll only tell you once you share your secrets." He smiled and her heart did flips. Which caused a light blush to creep onto her cheeks that she hoped he didn't notice.
He didn't seem to and the rest of their time together at the diner went by fast as most time that she spent with Draken usually did. After their meal she hopped back on his bike and he took her home. When she got home she hopped off his bike and they talked for a while longer.
"Draken, I need to test something. Would you mind getting off your bike for a second?" Emma asked and he looked at her quizzically as he did what she asked now they were face to face and she let out a light sigh before wrapping her arms around him and pulling him in for a hug, this caught Draken by surprise and he didn't know what to say but she spoke first.
"Thank you for hanging out with me today, I had a good time." She said and Draken smiled before hugging her back realizing that it was just his friend needing a hug.
"Don't mention it." He said as he wrapped his arms around her and she felt it, that feeling again as he held her and she held him she was completely lost in the moment and this 100% confirmed that she could no longer deny it. She was down bad for her brother's best friend.
Emma actually broke the hug first releasing him from her hold and she looked into Draken's dark eyes saying one last goodbye before going inside.
Her face got redder and redder as she walked to her house and opened the door only to find her two brothers waiting by the door with knowing smirks on their faces. They had been watching the whole time.
"See I told you she has a crush on Kenny." Mikey said. "How was it Emma did you tell him how you feel?" Mikey asked.
"Mikey, Emma is too young to have a boyfriend, especially an older boyfriend." Shinichiro said protective as always and Emma's brows drew down as she remembered what Mikey had done.
"I'm going to kill you!" She said and Mikey made a run for it with a smile on his face.
"Hey I was helping you out sis. You might even call it a date." He teased and she continued to chase him.
Knowing and being able to admit that she likes Draken was different from having the confidence to actually tell him. After that day things were back to normal between her and Draken. There was no more avoidance or awkwardness anymore because now she knew how she felt and she wasn't afraid to let those feelings grow until she decided to tell him.
A.N:
Thank you for reading. Next update Tuesday.