Before Hanako realizes it, a week has passed since their arrival at Sunrise residence.
It's Friday now, and it is about time for the week to end, if Yuusuke's poor state when he stumbles down the stairs of the loft, fifteen minutes before he and Ema have to leave for Hinode High, is anything to go by.
The boy's hair is a mess since he had not had the time to comb it, his uniform jacket put on outside out, eyes are still crusted with sleep.
If Ema is kind enough to cough to hide her laugh, Hanako is far from as empathic - giggles tumbling out of her after a few seconds of silence, as if a dam had been broken, unable to stop even as she tries.
"For goodness' sake Yuusuke," Ukyo sighs, exasperated by the very sight of his brother, "Do try and look a little more alive will you?" the boy doesn't answer, gulping down the cup of coffee Hanako had just handed him, the scorching liquid probably burning his mouth. Still, he doesn't stop until there is almost none of it left, eating his breakfast at a similar pace.
"Did you forget to put your alarm again?" Subaru asks quietly, regarding his brother like one would a wild, unknown animal.
The boy groans, seemingly just now noticing those around him, "If I did, I wouldn't be here," he yawns, Ukyo chastising him for not putting his hand over his mouth, as good manners demand he does, "I just stayed in bed for a bit longer."
"Keep up with the good work," Ema says sweetly, Yuusuke ever so slowly tilting his head to look at her, "The weekend is almost here."
The speed at which Yuusuke seems to wake up is hilarious, if a bit pathetic, "You-you..." the boy's face burns as red as his hair, hiding his head between his palms with a low curse, "You're here."
"Yes?" Ema's simply says, unaware of the pain the action seems to bring the high schooler. Hanako holds her stomach with both hands, feeling as if she might be sick with how her sides cramp up.
"You'll get over it," she tells the boy once the tight feeling in her chest subsides, despite her lungs slightly burning, "Really, thank you for this, the day's going to be much easier to face now."
"Glad to be of use," Yuusuke sarcastically mutters, finishing his breakfast at a more normal speed and avoiding Ema's curious eyes. Hanako quickly goes to take off the dishes from out of the hands of those who were done with breakfast, putting everything in the dishwasher.
Then, and this is the most crucial step of her morning ritual of sorts before going to school, she pours whatever coffee is left from the decanter into her travel mug.
"Does anyone want me to start another batch of coffee?" she asks, head poking out of the kitchen, and Ukyo tells her not to bother, despite the fact that he looks like he could use another dose of caffeine himself, "Okay, then, well I'm off. Have a nice day everyone!"
She's surprised to see Subaru still here when she reaches the top half of the staircase, running after him to enter the elevator's opened doors, she gives the boy a slightly breathless grin, "Hey, I thought you had already left, since we're both heading to the same place, do you want to ride with me?"
She tries not to be offended when the boy doesn't answer, looking away, "Come on, I can't be so bad that you would prefer the bus to a short ride with me?" she briefly wonders if she's being too intrusive, deciding not to push further if the boy rejects her offer now.
"I..." Subaru trails off, brows furrowing unconsciously before he finally comes to a decision, "Sure, thanks."
"Great," it's somewhat of a relief, that her presence is not so much of a bother that he would indeed prefer the bus to herself, "Do you need to stop by your room to get anything?" they head for the garage when the boy shakes his head, as she opens the trunk of her car, she motions for the taller boy to give her his blocky satchel bag.
He raises a brow, hesitantly handing her the large bag.
Turns out he was right to be skeptical, because once she grips the bag's strap and Subaru lets go of it altogether, Hanako goes down with it.
"Holy crap!" she tries to soften the fall, wide eyes meeting his own amused grey ones as she tries to pick up the bag, to no avail, "What do you have in there, bricks?" he must find her struggle to lift the bag more than a few feet in the air ultimately too sad to watch, because he leans down to pick the bag up and drop it in the trunk as if it weighs nothing.
"Just some school manuals, and stuff for practice," she mimics his words and voice, mentally patting herself on the back when she's awarded a wry, hesitant twitch of his lips for her troubles.
She narrows her eyes playfully, opening the front door of the vehicle, "Hm, either I'm terribly weak, or you're lying to me," the fact that he doesn't answer is an answer in itself and she laughs good-naturedly, "Yeah, well we can't all be star athletes, y'know."
Almost as an afterthought, Subaru says, "You're pretty fast," he stays painfully still as she looks behind her as the car rolls backward, her hand on the back of the passenger seat, her face a breath away from his because of the way she twists around to get a good look.
"Yeah," she doesn't notice the way his cheeks turn pink and how he looks away as they leave the garage, "I used to be in the track team back in High school and I guess the love of a good run never faded."
Oh.
"Why did you stop then?" the situation is familiar, much too familiar to him and it brings an unexpected desire to know her reason, briefly forgetting who is with him at this moment, or more accurately who she is not, "If you loved it so much, why quit?"
"Ema," she says, eyes soft and considering for a while, even if it is clear Subaru is waiting for her to explain, "With school, work on the weekends, and the team after class, I forgot what was most important in my life."
"Your sister," he says quietly, catching sight of the adoring, profoundly loving expression on the girl's face, "You put her above the track team?"
"I put Ema above everything in my life, even if I had a brief lapse of judgment, she's what I love the most and there's nothing that I regret more than not putting her wellbeing above things like a job or a sport, even for just for a short while," it had taken something like two months for her to realize that with her new job, she had been spending less and less time with Ema, leaving the girl alone with only her games and Juli for company in their quiet, terribly lonely apartment.
Ultimately, she had decided to quit track and reduce her hours by almost half, "Besides, I still go running when I can so it's not like I lost anything."
I would do it all again, a hundred times, goes unsaid, but quite heard between them.
And maybe he's fooling himself, but Subaru feels like there's a new understanding between them - it had been hard not to notice his rapt interest in the discussion, but she's not sure he would answer if she asked what that was all about.
So she doesn't, instead, she smiles his way, "I love to run, but maybe not how you love basketball," even if she had not quit, she doubts she would have made a career out of it - both because it was hard to make a living out of it, and because of a lack of interest to do so, "So it's not the same, do you plan to pursue it professionally?"
Hanako already has an idea of his answer, Subaru seems like the kind to let himself be consumed, burnt even by love for the sport.
Even with just a few days of knowing him, he's proved himself to be so dedicated to his training, coming late every day besides Tuesdays because of practice and rising at the crack of dawn to train. I wonder if I could watch him play sometimes, she finds herself thinking despite having never held an ounce of interest in the sport.
"Yeah," he says it with such conviction, offering her a smile for what must be the first time, a small, but terribly genuine smile - it almost knocks her back, how well such an expression suits his face, the one that's handsome in that boyish sort of way, "It's what I want to do with my life."
She hums, trying hard not to get distracted and take her eyes off the road, "That's incredible, you must be good to have made it to Meiji's starting lineup in your first year - sports scholarship?"
"Yes," if Meiji University isn't particularly focused on sports, they've ranked pretty high in inter-university competitions for swimming, football, and basketball in the last few years, with the sports department getting some pretty well-known faces in their ranks, "You said the other day that you came to see some of our matches?"
Hanako doesn't notice the strange, considering look that crosses his face, suddenly jerking the vehicle to a stop with a cuss when the car in front of them abruptly stops, "Sorry, and yeah only twice when a girl from my literature class started dating one of the boys from your team, I think he finished his degree last year, she didn't want to go to the after-party alone, you know how those things are."
She regrets now not paying more attention to the actual game.
"Uh, not really, I never really stay for them," the only thing he knew is that if they so happened to have practice the next day, coach would berate everyone for the seemingly shared hungover - even those who didn't go.
Hanako shoots him a playful glare, "Now I feel like a frivolous party-goer."
"That's not what I meant!" the girl laughs good-naturedly, assuring him that she's just teasing and then once again leading the conversation back to basketball, admitting that she would be curious to see him play.
"Re-really?" Subaru's face is beet red as the vehicle comes to a halt in Meiji's vast parking lot, next to the main building where both of their classes are held conveniently, although in different wings, "I...I'm not on top of my game right now, I might get dropped off the regular lineup for a while, but...after, you could come."
Hanako crawls out of the vehicle, getting her stuff and wisely deciding to let Subaru take his, "I won't come if you don't want me to," she says, noticing the boy's embarrassment - not sure whether it was because of her wanting to see him play, or because he could be dropped off the starting lineup soon, "But I'd like to, so whip yourself up back into shape okay?"
The boy nods, avoiding her gaze, "Yeah, sure."
"Great," they enter the halls of the school, soon having to split ways to go to their respective classes, "I'll see you later at home, have a nice day Subaru." His answer is so quiet she barely hears it over the noise of chatting, constantly moving students around them.
"You didn't tell me it was your birthday," the accusation is met by silence from Kaname, the young man eyeing Hanako who looks pretty worked up about this, fuchsia eyes narrowed menacingly on him as she stands in front of the couch he had been lounging on, hands planted on her hips.
She had called her father on the way out of her last class of the day, pleasantly surprised that Miwa was with him and the three of them had talked for a while.
Hanako was absolutely shocked to learn from the woman that it was Kaname's twenty-seventh birthday.
Which is how she ended up storming into the living room that was only occupied by the birthday boy and now herself.
"No? Sorry Hana-chan, I didn't think it was something I should mention, I'm pretty sure it's on the calendar," Kaname's lips curl when the girl huffs, looking very annoyed by the situation for some obscure reason.
"Of course, you should have mentioned it! It's your birthday," she then grumbles something about having both a regular calendar and a weekly schedule of everyone's plans for the week - it was all so confusing, she hadn't even thought of looking at the calendar laid innocently in the formal dining room, which was practically never used.
"Well there are thirteen of us little sis, now with you and Ema too, so we don't keep track of those very much," Hanako looks so very personally offended by this that it has laughter bubbling out of him, only spurred on by the dark look she sends him, "Y'know a simple 'Happy birthday my favorite brother' would do~"
"Happy birthday my favorite brother," even if the words are probably meant as a bribe of sorts, Kaname finds himself both surprised and pleased with them, "What time do you start working?"
The Hinata sisters had quickly found out that Kaname had a pretty nocturnal job, working almost exclusively in the evenings and sometimes being gone all night - Hanako refrains from asking what kind of Buddhist temple holds nightly services, she's not sure she would like the answer.
Not that it's any of her business.
"Hm, in two hours, give or take," the girl frowns unhappily, it wouldn't give them much time until he had to leave then and she hadn't bought him a present, "Although if you stay with me until them, I'm sure time will pass by much quicker."
She ignores the playful flirting, trying to come up with an idea, "What's your favorite food?"
"Why, everything made, and perhaps even one day hand-fed, by you of course," the blank way she looks at him has him rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly, "Don't make such a scary face at your favorite brother now...I'm partial to Spaghetti, or any kind of pasta."
"Great!" her expression shifts completely, eyes now bright and the frown lines that had appeared on her forehead fading as she grins, "There's this excellent Italian restaurant close to Meiji, I'm treating you to lunch tomorrow, any time that it's convenient for you-"
Kaname interrupts the girl before she can go on about the place's beautiful terrasse, "Careful Hana-chan, or I might think you're inviting me on a date, and I couldn't possibly let my young, jobless sister treat me to lunch."
"I don't remember phrasing that as a question," the way she looks at him with fire in her eyes has Kaname thinking she's quite serious, "And if it's about the money don't worry, I've got plenty left from my previous job and I was thinking of going job-hunting soon anyway."
"Still, there's really no need, you and your sister just got here and there's no need for you to feel obligated to offer me anything," Kaname's hazel eyes are quite earnest, despite his usual easy-going composure.
Hanako frowns slightly, wondering where she had given him the idea she felt obligated to do anything, perhaps because the Asahina family had offered her a roof over her head and warm meals.
"I don't feel obligated to do anything, I want to," she says firmly, eyes planted onto his with intent to show him that she truly means this, "Besides, it's my present for the birthday you conveniently didn't tell me about, you can't refuse presents - I'm sure Mrs. Miwa taught you boys that."
She stops her monologue when a thought strikes her, "If you don't want to go that's fine too," dear God, she had been pretty rude, hadn't she? "I'm sorry, I didn't even consider that you might not enjoy-"
"I'd be glad to have lunch with you," Kaname assures, then smirking playfully when the girl beams, retreating slightly from where she had been crowding him, standing a breath away from the couch, when he stands up, "Also, don't have too much faith in whatever manners mom tried to instill in us Asahina brothers, it's been proved numerous times it didn't quite stick."
"Oh please," Hanako waves off his words, "You've all been gentlemen."
Kaname laughs, suddenly much closer now that he is standing, towering over the not quite petite, yet not quite tall girl, "Well, Ukyo has a habit of stopping us from misbehaving too much, not to mention you haven't met the last three of us, and I'd argue that they're the worst of the lot, except for Natsume that is."
"Dang, I knew it was too good to be true," she then thinks of the first breakfast she had in the Asahina, "I noticed you guys didn't seem all that..fond of Fuuto-san? Is it too meddlesome for me to ask about it?"
"Not at all," Kaname's snort is somehow charming - no doubt Miwa's genes at work, "There's not much to it, Fuuto's just a bit of a vapid brat and he clashes with Yuusuke and Tsubaki pretty often. If he causes you or Ema-chan some trouble, come to us."
She's touched by the offer, and really it's silly how simple words like "you can come to us" make something flutter in her ribcage, make her slowly, but surely feel as if she could one day truly be part of this family.
Stars above, when did her life turn into a cheesy k-drama?
"Okay thanks, so for tomorrow, what time would work for you? I should probably put in a reservation before then, and oh, I was thinking of inviting Ema to come with us, I don't know if you'd like to extend the invitation to your brothers?"
"Hm, anytime should do in the afternoon, and I'm quite content to keep you and Ema-chan for myself for a while without those greedy bastards around," she nods absentmindedly, trying to remember the number of the restaurant she had in mind - she'd have to check on the internet later, "Also, let me thank you in advance, it makes me very happy that you would think of me like this."
Then, before she can tell him that of course she would, Kaname sweeps down, grabbing her chin between two fingers to softly turn her head slightly. Hanako lets him, both out of curiosity and surprise.
There's the unmistakable pressure of lips on her cheek, lingering there for a while.
"Oh," she squeaks out quietly as Kaname retreats, face still so very close to hers, "Do you thank all those who wish you a happy birthday like this?"
Get a grip, the girl scolds herself for overreacting, it's not like it's the first time someone kisses your cheek, heck, she's always kissing Ema all over her face, or wrapping herself around Mayu and Kana like a koala - it's not like she has a problem with displays of affection.
"Only the pretty ones," even if Kaname is teasing, the backhanded compliment brings a smile to Hanako's lips. If the man's flirty comments take a while to get used to, there's always an underlying softness, of kindness to them.
"You're too nice sometimes Kaname-san," Hanako sighs, shaking her head fondly, unaware of the mixed feelings that suddenly display themselves on the monk's features, "I should head to the kitchen, I'll text you when I've put in a reservation."
"Great, have a nice evening Hana-chan," she wishes him the same, skipping her way into the kitchen where poor Ukyo-san had been working alone in for the past thirty minutes since Ema had some homework she wanted to advance.
Despite this, the second oldest Asahina only smiles her way, even helping her tie her apron - the one she had left in the kitchen with his and Ema's, around her waist. "Thanks," she grins, washing her hands and helping him finish what little was left to do, "Sorry for making you wait like this."
"Don't worry about it," there's a hint of amusement in Ukyo's tone, with the kitchen being right next to the living room, he had probably heard bits and pieces of her conversation with Kaname, "I'm just glad you don't mind helping around, you and your sister are a great help."
"Of course," she says, wondering if it had been something he'd worried about before their arrival - that they would not be willing to help with chores, "We split the cooking between us two before, we can't let you spoil us too much by making lunch every day."
Ukyo briefly wonders what it must have been like, for these two to grow together with their father absent so often when they weren't so far apart in age. Lonely, he decides within the confines of his mind, and a lot of work.
He's snapped out of his thoughts when the girl asks about his day, snickering at his taken-off guard expression.