Chapter 2 – Jerks and Welcomes
"baby sister, why are you so sad?" kaname asked the brunette as she walked down the stairs. A solemn expression was on her face, "did reiko do something to you?" asked Tsubaki frowning. His new sister didn't seem very nice to him and if she did something to ema then he was going to set her straight. "No, she didn't do anything wrong but she doesn't want to eat with us." The girl said sadly. The boys exchanged looks and ukyo decided to speak up, "ema, you have to remember that reiko is new here so she's still a bit uncomfortable around us." The blonde lawyer said setting a hand on her shoulder.
"That's right. She'll come around soon Chi-chan. So don't give up on her okay?" smiled Louis from across the table. Chi's frown lifted as she glanced at all her brothers, "yes, you're right. Thank you everyone" she said giving them all an eye closed smile.
Despite these words most of the males were doubtful of Reiko ever warming up to them. She seemed a bit distant although blunt. Her pretty face hadn't even smiled once during their meeting. Could she really accept us as siblings? They all thought.
The next morning I found myself being the first one awake. So I grabbed a change of clothes and a towel and decided to freshen up. After my bath I made a quick breakfast for myself and sat at the table to eat. There was one thing I liked about having such a big house. I could have a bunch of space to myself. The solitude that the rooms size provided was nice compared to the rowdiness of the orphanage I used to be in.
"Good morning, baby sister~"
Spoke to soon. I looked over my shoulder and stared at the very close face of Kaname smiling at me. "Good morning, kaname-san" I said and turned back to my food. Kaname gave a slight pout, not even a tiny blush? "how did you sleep?" he asked taking a seat beside her. "Fine." He sweat dropped, "Do you like it here so far?" he tried again wanting to hold a conversation, "To soon to tell. I only arrived yesterday after all."
She said after swallowing her food. Kaname tilted his head, she has no interest in me at all. Do I fail as a brother already? He chuckled to himself, "Well, have you thought about what high school to enroll in?" he asked leaning back in his chair. "The closest one. Hinode High School" she replied once more.
"Your going to my high school!?" exclaimed a voice from the second floor. The two looked up and saw yusuke. He sped down toward them, "Your going to Hinode High?" he asked again. She stared at him blankly, "Is that a problem?" she asked crossing her arms. Yusuke stared at her, that means I'll have 2 sisters at school. Not only that but then she'll interfere with ema. Ema will definitely want to spend time with her after all.
Before he could reply reiko stood up gathering her plates, "If you're the type that doesn't wish to associate with siblings at school that's fine. I have no interest in associating with anyone" she told him and went to clean up her plates. Yusuke was take back by her declaration, "Th-that's not what I was going to say!" he yelled turning to look at her but she was already gone.
Kaname crossed his arms, "Ne, yusuke your even more of a failure as a brother" he declared with a sly smirk. Yusuke glared at him, "Shut up!"
Idiot. If he didn't want me around him all he had to do was say so. I don't have time for people like him anyway. I glared at the ground as I walked through town. Kami-sama why did you put this roadblock in my way? Is this a test? I found myself at the park. I took a seat on a swing and let myself relax, "Finally, I'm away from those crazy people" I muttered leaning against one of the chains from the swing.
"My feelings exactly" a voice said. I turned and saw one of the men from yesterday. "Your Natsume" I stated. He nodded, "That's right I'm one of the triplets with Azusa and Tsubaki. Why are you out here so early in the morning?" he asked. I looked at the blue sky, "there's no one here at this time of day" I said with a shrug. "You like being alone?" he asked taking a seat on the swing beside me. I nodded, "Yes, solitude means peace and tranquility. Noise is chaos and destruction" I said seriously.
Natsume smiled at her she missed it though since she was looking at the ground now. To him it felt more like reiko didn't know how to deal with people. "Solitude also means loneliness" he told her. She shook her head making him raise an eyebrow, "If one feels loneliness they want people around them. I don't want anyone around me. It's easier that way" she said as if it was a simple concept.
Natsume was curious as to how she got that mindset. A person doesn't just decide they don't want to be with anyone. Something had to happen at some point in their life to start feeling like that. Reiko was different from Ema. Very Different. While Ema was happy to move in with her new brothers and wanted to have a lively family with constant company; Reiko seemed to want the opposite. Reiko wanted to stay in solitude and didn't look enthusiastic about her new brothers when they all were introduced.
"hmm, come on." He said standing up. She looked up at him a curious glint in her eye, "Where are we going?" he held a hand out to me, "Everywhere. You're new to the city right? I'll show you around." He told her. I was unsure at first. But this was supposed to be my brother right?
"Okay."
So that what they did. Reiko spent the whole day with Natsume showing her around.
Ema looked around the room. By now everyone had already woken up and were seated in the living room chatting. She wanted to talk to Reiko but she wasn't there. Was she still asleep?
"Imouto, is something wrong?" asked ukyo handing her a cup of tea. "Um, I was just wondering ir reiko-nee was still asleep?" she said looking around again. Kaname set his tea cup down, "Ah, she went out this morning. After being bullied by yusuke that is" he said pointing at the red head seated beside her. "I did not bully her! She ran off before I clarified!" yusuke yelled at him.
"Did something happen?" she asked with a worried look on her face. Were they being mean to her new sister? "Well, after overhearing that she was going to go to Hinode High with you two. Mr. Idiot there rudely kept asking why she was going there. So she asked if he had a problem with it but he never said anything. Even I assumed he had a problem with it by his actions" kaname explained.
"Yusuke-nii should apologize!" Wataru said popping up beside yusuke. "Hey! I tried explain but she left before I could!" yusuke yelled pointing an accusing finger at kaname. "How long as she been out?" asked Masaomi. "Umm, probably 4-5 hours" yusuke shrugged. Masaomi looked surprised, "and did she say where she was going?" he asked again. Kaname and yusuke glanced at each other and then shook their heads, "Nope."
The eldest son frowned. He was worried for Reiko. She was new here so she could easily get lost and she was pretty small so he also worried about strangers. Please be safe baby sister. None of the others seemed that worried. Reiko looked like a strong girl and she was smart so they were sure she could get back.
Yusuke looked out the window. He still felt bad about giving her the wrong idea but that didn't mean he was about to search all over town for her. Honestly, why can't she be sensible? If it had been ema she would have at least called us. This girl was gonna become a problem.
I found myself surprisingly content with Natsume. He had been very helpful. He showed me all over town and we even went to the high school to get my papers done! I didn't like relying on people but sacrifices needed to be made for my goal. By now we had circled around and were heading back home. Sunset was approaching and I was pretty tired. "Thank you for showing me around Natsume-nii. You've been a big help" I said genuinely grateful to him. I may be anti-social but I wasn't rude to people who I felt were actually helpful.
"It's fine. As your big brother I'm supposed to help you" he said nonchalantly. The house came into sight and we made our ways inside. "Reiko!" ema exclaimed and ran over to me. I rose an eyebrow, "what?" she frowned, "where've you been?" she asked worriedly. "I went to the park and ran into Natsume-nii. He showed me around town and helped me enroll into Hinode High" I explained.
The others noticed how I called Natsume big brother. A few pouted since she had already acknowledged Natsume as her nii-chan. "you should call us next time so we don't worry" ema said. I looked at the boys behind her, "They don't seem worried. I was fine" I said and walked to the kitchen.
She followed and Natsume went to take a seat, "Well I was. You shouldn't leave like that. You need to tell us where you're going next time okay?" she said and went to sit down. I glared at her retreating back, "you're not my mom" I muttered and got myself a glass of juice.
"You shouldn't be so mean to ema" reprimanded Tsubaki leaning against the fridge. "What do you care? You're not my boss either" I snorted and drank my juice. "She's just trying to bond with you. Stop being so rude!" he growled at her and stood closer. Towering over her small frame, "You don't scare me." He narrowed his eyes, "well I should. If you hurt ema then-"
"Then what? You'll beat me up? Tell your mother to kick me out? Go ahead. I don't care" I said walking passed him. He grabbed my wrist, "I'm serious. Don't mess with Ema. Or else." All of a sudden tsubaki's hand was pulled away from her and Azusa stood between them, "Knock it off Tsubaki. You're not making it any better." Azusa told his brother.
He had watched the whole encounter and decided to intervene before it got too bad. "Azusa you heard her! She doesn't even care about being here and she's being mean to ema!" Tsubaki said pointing at the glaring brunette. Reiko gave him a skeptical look, what was with him? He understood that they were siblings but he was getting to protective. It's not like she's his girlfriend. Azusa sighed and turned to Reiko, "I'm sorry about him. Just ignore him he can be an idiot sometimes" Azusa said with an apologetic smile.
I nodded, "yeah, whatever" and then I went to sit by Natsume-nii. He was the only one I could tolerate so far. The others noticed how I seemed to stick with Natsume. "Rei-chan" a soft voice said. I looked up to see a white haired man standing behind me, "Louis" I stated. He nodded, "that's right. I was wondering if you'd let me style your hair. You see I'm a hair stylist and yours is really pretty" he said playing with one of my twin tails.
"But it's almost time for bed. It'd get ruined" didn't he get that? There was no reason to do it now right? It's already night time. "Then can I do your hair tomorrow? It's your first day of school right?" I nodded, "that's fine." He smiled, "I look forward to it, rei-chan" and then he walked off.