Hanako is very much awake, eyes fixated on the white ceiling above her head.
It's now two in the morning and yet sleep eludes her still, for no apparent reason. Accepting her fate, she wills herself out of bed after a few more moments, a shiver wracking her body once she leaves the comforting warmth of her covers.
Slipping on a wool jacket over thin pajamas, she tiptoes her way out of her room and into the elevator as silently as she can manage.
Some warm milk should do her some good, it has to or else she worries she might not get even a wink of sleep tonight.
Her brows furrow when she finds the door to the common room unlocked, wondering who might still be up at this time - most likely someone needing a drink or midnight snack like her, since the living room downstairs is eerily dark, the tv shut.
Hanako startles as she spots a figure lying on the couch as she makes her way down the staircase, heart hammering when she does not recognize the boy at first glance, who...?
It's only after a few seconds of scrutiny that she recognizes him, one of the few brothers she hadn't met yet, Asahina Fuuto.
A bit more at ease, she looks away, feeling like some sort of creep for taking notice of the length of his lashes and the youthful, soft angles of his features.
Miwa's genes really are something sent from above, to have so many sons with nothing less than above-average looks.
A crease forms between her brows when she notices the expense of his forearms left bare by a stripped, elbow-length jacket.
Nibbling on her lower lip, she hesitates for a second before quietly reaching for the piece of furniture in the corner of the room where she knows thin blankets are stored. Hanako winces when a creaking sound is heard as she closes the drawer once again, risking a glance in the softly snoring boy's way.
She exhales silently through her nose, afraid to wake him up. Which was less than ideal given the fact that they were strangers, with only a vague knowledge of the other - if anyone were to ask, she can always blame one of his brothers for the blanket, which would make the whole thing a lot less weird.
Standing from a relatively secure distance, she unfolds the folded, fluffy throw and lays it over his still form from neck to feet. When he doesn't budge, she deems it safe to do what she had come down to do and begins to inch away.
Hope is one cruel little fucker at times.
With her back turned, a few steps away from the couch, she doesn't see the light brown eyes that peek open, the single brow that hikes upward, "Hey you, pretty bold of you to creep on a sleeping person."
A scream almost tears itself out of her throat, resembling more a hiccup as she whips around, "Wha...what?" her heart thunders inside her torso at the scare, cheeks flushing an ugly shade of red, "You were asleep a second ago."
"It's called acting, act-ing," the boy sits up, weight supported by his elbows, "Anyway, who are you? Someone's woman?" without any shame, his eyes run over her form, eyeing her thin cotton set of sleeping shorts and tank top.
There's this unpleasant feeling that curls in her gut, along with the urge to say something quite acidic, "No," she refrains from doing so, shifting from side to side instead, "I'm Hinata Rintarou's daughter, your mother's fiancé?"
Recognition sparks within his eyes, "Ah, right, Kyo-nii did mention he had two daughters, you moved in last month right?"
She nods, "Yes, I'm sorry for waking you, I'll just get something to drink and be out of your hair-" she blinks a few times when the boy stands and walks up to her, a smug little smirk dancing on his lips when she wraps her arms around herself uneasily.
"Ha? So you think I'll just let something like this slide after you've disturbed me at this hour?" the boy is only a step away from her now, hand shooting up to flick the light switch that's by her head.
His arm lingers there in midair for a few moments, almost as if to give the illusion of caging her in. Which you know, rude, "I said I was sorry," she says, keeping her tone light and her voice down, "You can go back to sleep."
The teenage boy ignores her, humming under his breath as he scrutinizes her further, "Your looks definitely aren't that bad, for someone who doesn't seem all that smart."
Oh, he did not.
The twitch of his mouth when he sees the way her lips part, indigo eyes lighting up with simmering anger, tells her that he indeed did.
Somehow, she manages to keep any signs of a temper in check, "Wow, you must be nothing short of psychic to get all that from just a glance," sarcasm seeps into her voice, somewhat concealing her indignation.
Fuuto laughs in that mean-spirited way young children do when they do not yet know the impact of their words, "You're not going to deny it?"
She bites the inside of her cheek, counting from ten to one, "I don't feel the need to argue with petty insults that a five-year-old could've come with."
"Oi," it's quite funny how quick his mood goes from amused to annoyed in half a second, glaring daggers at her as if he should scare her, and isn't that a strange concept, "I wouldn't speak to me that way if I were you, this is my house."
She sincerely hopes that's not meant as a way for her to take him more seriously.
"And it's mine," she says simply, taking a step away and in the kitchen's direction, "If you can throw baseless insults like this, then don't expect others to just take it laying down."
"Baseless? Isn't it obvious that a girl carelessly approaching a sleeping guy is quite stupid?" she blinks, wondering how many times Miwa-san dropped this one as a baby.
"I will not be bullied into being scared of walking around in my own house," she seethes, inhaling to try and quell her growing annoyance, "Or have my intelligence insulted because I was trying to be nice."
Of course, because things can never just go her way, Fuuto follows her into the kitchen, silently observing her pour some oat milk into a ceramic cup, "Hey, make me some too."
The nerve! her right eye gives a twitch, "You have two working hands, don't you?" she closes the microwave's door with more force than necessary, lids fluttering shut when she realizes she's letting him get to her, breathe Hanako.
Despite her previous words, she heats him a cup of milk along with her own, glancing his way after a few seconds of thick silence, "I really am sorry for earlier, I didn't mean to scare you."
This time, despite her truly poor choice of words, she is not trying to be petty or vicious.
"What in the world gave you the idea that I was scared?" he spits this out, glaring at her in yet another display of his easily bruised sensibility.
"What I meant is that it wasn't my intention to be a bother, truly," she paraphrases, feeling as if she's walking on eggshells, "I get that it mustn't be pleasant to wake up with a stranger looming over you."
"Man, you really do want everyone here to like you, don't you?" he doesn't say it nicely, somewhere halfway between mocking and mean-spirited, "You were so mean earlier, yet now so sweet to me, idiot nee-san. It's a bit sad."
She glides the second cup his way onto the counter, taking a second to meet his gaze from over the aisle, leaning on the ceramic surface.
"Can we not do this?" she asks, quite sincere in her intention, "Yes I do want you and everyone here to like me, is that so bad? But I don't need you to, so if you could just try and not be so rude it would be really, really great."
The boy breaks off into snickers, shaking his head from side to side - as if she's the one being troublesome, "I'll give you that nee-san, you're funny."
It's quite clear that this one is quite the jackass, but she does sort of see the appeal when he's not spitting out insults and looking like this instead, eyes creasing at the edges with something like genuine amusement, his mouth quirked up in a half-smile, half-smirk.
"People always love a good comedic relief," she says, a small chuckle leaving her at the absurdity of the situation, "Also, I do have a name, it's Hanako, you know if you ever get tired of whatever game you're trying to play."
It's exactly as they say, if you can't beat them, join them.
"Good morning Hana-chan~!" before she can as so much greet the person with such energy on a godforsaken Saturday morning, Hanako finds herself spun into a full-body hug, the cellphone that was in her hands nearly falling to the ground.
It's a feat that the sudden movement does not make her lose her balance completely, and really most of it can be attributed to impressive upper body strength that is not her own, "Tsubaki!"
The scent that fills her nose is quite familiar by now, spicy cologne and aftershave, "Is this really necessary every time?" she waves at Azusa from over his twin's shoulder, the boy sighing at his troublemaker brother's actions.
"Of course! I need to shower my precious little sisters with affection!" the man had caught early on that Ema was less than comfortable with casual displays of touch like this, shifting his attention to Hanako, who was much less bothered by the constant hugs, most of the time.
"Yes of course," she rolls her eyes, giving the boy's waist a squeeze before stepping away from the embrace, eyes going over the twins' appearance, focusing on their matching suits and sleeked-back hair, "You two cleaned up nicely, what's the occasion?"
"We've got an event for the anime we're working on right now," Azusa answers quickly before his brother can, sending a pouting Tsubaki an unamused glance, "They'll be presenting everyone working on it to promote it."
Hanako hums, "That's nice, you two do have quite the fanbase - there's nothing like putting a pretty face to a nice voice, it attracts a crowd like bees to honey," she teases, leaning on the wall to her left, and Tsubaki brightens up considerably while Azusa's cheeks tint pink.
"You definitely have to watch it when it gets out!" the silver-haired twin says, "The two of us are voicing some of the main characters and it's going to be amazing~!"
She doesn't think she'll ever tire of listening to the man talk about his work, even when she has little interest in anime, his passion seems to know no bounds when it comes to it.
"I assume I don't get to ask what it's about?" at their matching mischievous smirks, she sighs dramatically, "Fine, let's all watch it together when it comes out, and keep me updated, okay?"
"Hai!" she starts making her way down to the bottom half of the loft after a wave sent their way, hoping the two had at least had time to snack on a pastry or something since breakfast had not yet been served.
The kitchen is empty when she arrives, which doesn't come as a surprise since Ukyo usually showed up around nine on weekends, while Ema would not be up for a while today since someone might have shut off her alarm when the girl mentioned that she planned to watch one of her favorite youtubers' stream, one that would end around three a.m.
Knowing her sister, Hanako knew she would watch the thing until the end, and really girls her age need their beauty sleep more than anyone.
Humming under her breath, she empties the dishwasher and puts everything where it belongs, cleaning the counters once that is done.
"Oh Ukyo, hi," she startles once she turns around to see the second eldest leaning against the door frame, baby blue eyes fixed on her, "I didn't hear you come in."
"Sorry, I didn't mean to surprise you," the man stalks closer, a soft smile playing on his lips when she hands him his apron, which he puts on before helping to tie her own with deft fingers, "Isn't Ema-chan with you?"
"Ah no," she grins toothily, the perfect picture of innocence, "She shouldn't be up for at least a few hours, sleeping in should do her some good."
Maybe because he catches on that Ema's unusually late wake-up is her doing, the lawyer quirks an amused brow, shoulder bumping her own as they crowd the sink to wash their hands at the same time, "Right... Anyway, I was thinking of cooking something pretty simple this morning, how do you feel about pancakes?"
The proposition takes her by surprise as the Asahina household tends to have more traditional Japanese breakfasts, but she is no less pleased as it meant their workload would be quite light this morning.
"That's a great idea, it's been a while since I've eaten some!" she goes through the fridge, handing her step-brother the eggs and milk, "I don't think we have any maple syrup, but whipped cream and fruits should do nicely."
"Agreed," perhaps out of distraction, the too-full bag of flour Ukyo was reaching for in one of the highest cupboards, somehow, by some cruel design of fate, tips over when he tries to grasp it.
Hanako's eyes widen in mild panic as white powder begins to trickle down, followed by the bag itself, "Watch out!" she reaches for the bag, fearing that it would actually smash onto Ukyo's face, squeezing her eyes shut when she feels some of the dusty substance land onto her face, clothes and the floor below their feet.
Somehow, the two of them manage to catch the bag midair clumsily without emptying its content any more, their arms surrounding it awkwardly. She sneezes when the impact sends another, smaller cloud of powder into the air, the opening thankfully facing the ceiling.
"Oh," she pauses, cracking an eye open only to dissolve into giggles when she gets a good glimpse at Ukyo's face, streaked with flour much like she's sure her own is, the lenses of his glasses almost completely white.
"I do suppose I must make quite the sight," the man sighs, before laughing as well. He takes the bag from her hands and her limbs wrap around her middle, stomach cramping up with the force of her breathy laughter.
He carefully, yet hastily puts it on the counter which had mostly been spared by the incident, as if it might attack him yet again.
She dusts off her flour-covered apron, stalking closer when Ukyo takes off his glasses to clean them, "Here, let me help," she raises on her tiptoes to wipe off a large speck of flour on his right cheek, "There, it's a little bit better, but I'd still recommend a shower once we're all done," she teases lightly.
The man nods his head in good humor, "You as well," despite himself, he can't help but notice the single dimple in her smile and the white powder coating her lashes this close angle gives him the perfect view of, "Ah...you've got some here," his fingers wave in the general direction of her head, where bits and pieces of her ponytail are streaked white.
"Is that better?" she rakes her fingers through the hair, her finger coming back covered with even more flour.
At his nod, she takes a step back, rinsing her hands thoroughly, "Those pancakes better be worth it, this is going to be a pain to wash later."
Kana's the one to offer the idea, remembering the quaint little bookshop her ex-girlfriend was near obsessed with.
Westside stories hides deep in the belly of the city, its small, aging stature located near Zenpuku parc, a mere fifteen minutes away from Sunrise residence. Despite the rather popular area, business is rather slow, given the lack of interest for local, small-sized bookstores.
Which makes it perfect for Hanako.
She'd gotten quite lucky actually, one of only two employees having just given his resignation a day earlier when she stumbled inside for the first time. The owner hadn't even asked for her curriculum, scrutinizing her from head to toe before offering her the job.
Most days, there wasn't much to do besides tidying the shelves, making sure that the coffee stayed fresh and serving the few customers that came around, which left her with quite a lot of time on her hands.
Kayano-san, the grumpy old lady who owns the place doesn't care much for what she does with that time, whether that be scrolling on her phone or keeping up with her studies.
Surprisingly, the pay was actually pretty decent for what little work was required of her new job, and much like her previous employ at the convenience store, Hanako reveled in the solitary sanctuary it provides.
Even when the store was at its busiest, it remained peaceful and mostly quiet, and there were no co-workers to deal with as one person is more than enough to manage the bookshop.
If some would likely die of boredom in such conditions, Hanako is quite grateful for the time away from her still rather new home.
At times it felt like she no longer had any time for herself, and with so many people sharing a living space, moments of tranquility were few in between.
Throwing herself into such a lifestyle for her sister's sake had been rather easy, and not so much of a chore as she'd been dreading before moving in, but that didn't mean she wouldn't try to seek some sort of balance, of independence.
And well, Hanako has never been shy in her spending habits and so she'd need some form of income at some point.