2024 Tropes Fandoms - Square: Chute - Negative Trope: Break Up (Family)
Author's Note: I basically knew in advance what I was in for with this anime since I was aware that it had been derived from an otome game. Therefore, I took it as the lighthearted fictional work it was meant to be and I mostly liked it well enough despite some of the obvious relationship red flags that it vigorously waved.
Nevertheless, I still seriously wanted to kick some stepbrother ass a few times. Plus, I felt that Ema's calm reaction to all of the unwanted attention from so many of her stepbrothers...and her ability to continue to strive for normal relationships with all of them in spite of that...was a bit too unbelievable for my tastes. Therefore, I wrote this AU fic to highlight what I think would have possibly happened in a more realistic and non-HEA situation, instead.
Plus, it helped that I had to write a negative trope fic for the T&F event, anyway! Consequently, this fic is NOT my usual fluffy fare. It is also based on the main anime series only...not the OVAs, game, novels, or manga. The direct quotes come from the Japanese version with English subtitles...not the English dub.
Enough is Enough!
A Family
When sixteen-year-old Ema first heard the news that her father had met, fallen in love, and married a woman she had never met, she did not get upset the way that some people in the same situation might have done. In fact, quite the opposite was true. The sweet and goodnatured girl was truly thrilled for them both, instead...and for herself, as well!
After all, her status as an only child...and her single father's occupation as a famous adventurer that often kept him away from home...meant that Ema had spent most of her childhood alone with only her pet squirrel for companionship. She had never had any of the usual familial connections and assistance that most people seemed to have. Therefore, Ema became independent and self-reliant, instead.
Nevertheless, even though she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, she still desperately wanted to experience family life more than anything.
Fortunately, with her father's new marriage, that situation was finally going to change. In fact, Ema did not think that she would ever have to worry about being lonely again because it had already been decided that...even though she had not yet met any of them...she was going to move in with her thirteen new stepbrothers in their large family-owned apartment building while their newlywed parents continued to live separately in order to start their new life together.
Even though the thought of such a unusually large number of brothers was a bit overwhelming, Ema could not have been happier. After all, she was finally going to have the big family experience that she had always longed for!
...
At least, that was what Ema had thought...what she had hoped...before she came to understand that some of her new brothers would turn out to have an entirely different kind of relationship in mind when it came to her.
"Want Big Bro to sleep next to you?"
On her very first night at the Sunrise Residence, Ema was propositioned by the third brother, Kaname.
It happened when he came up to her room alone to deliver the Get Well Soon gift tray of goodies that the Asahina brothers had put together for her. Apparently, they had been concerned about her earlier collapse from the mortifying (for her!) combination of sheer exhaustion, stress about their first meeting, and a sneaky cold that had taken up residence in her tired body, as well. Consequently, it seemed that they wanted to help in whatever way they could.
Ema was touched by the gesture from her new brothers. She really was. Nevertheless, she just did not have the experience to know how to effectively deflect such a suggestive remark from Kaname. After all, she did not want him to be upset with her since she was almost positive that it must have been meant to be only a teasing prank or practical joke on his new stepsister. Otherwise, it just did not make sense – especially since it did not seem to be very appropriate behavior for a monk-in-training, at all.
Her confusion only skyrocketed further, however, when he leaned in close and she thought that he was going to try and kiss her, as well. Fortunately, his lips only caressed her cheek...which was not too unusual between siblings. His parting words, though, certainly did not seem to be very brotherly in nature.
"Once you're better, share an even more amazing kiss with me?"
Despite Ema chaotic feelings at that moment, she still thought it must be a joke. Therefore, she remained quietly polite about the whole situation. After all, she did not want to cause any trouble or make any waves with her new family just because she did not understand them...or what it was like to have brothers...yet.
She was sure that she would eventually get used to it, however.
Hopefully.
...
Unfortunately, Ema just did not realize that particular disconcerting encounter was only the beginning of the unwelcome attention that she was soon to receive from so many of the members of her new family.
"I want you to stick by my side forever."
Thankfully, Suburu was not as forceful with her as some of his other brothers had been.
However, his embrace and sincere declaration after the winning game that she had attended just to show her sisterly support for him still came as a shock to Ema. After all, he had always been so serious with her...and she had always thought it was because of their initial awkward bathroom run-in on her first night...as well as the accidental drunken kiss on his birthday.
Consequently, her confusion was tantamount when Natsume...who had seen the whole thing...asked her if she and Suburu were together.
She denied it, of course. After all, it had never occured to her to think of any of her new stepsiblings in such a romantic kind of way. In fact, she had never wanted to be anything other than their sister!
Therefore, she just did not understand why such uncomfortable situations kept happening between her and the Asahina brothers. Why did they not understand that she just wanted to be a part of their family? Why could she not seem to convey those feelings to them better?
She was simply afraid of losing everything if she tried too hard, however.
Therefore, she did not.
"What I like, I take. I don't need your permission."
With those words, Ema's eyes grew wide as she finally realized how dangerous of a situation that she was in. After all, there was no way that she could ever mistake such talk as just playful banter from a brother who was simply teasing his stepsister. That was especially true since it was accompanied by both a painful bite on her neck and the disturbing fact that he was also holding her down at the same time.
Not only that, but even though they were hidden from view at the moment, Fuuto was still bold enough to do such a thing to her at school...during the festival...with hundreds of people around them. That meant he was confident that she would not make a fuss and defy him. That was probably because she had not yet stood up for herself with him...not even that first time in her bedroom...or during any other occasion when he had acted in a distinctly unbrotherly way towards her. She had not even protested when he had claimed it was her fault for being both submissive and shameless, as well.
Those encounters had always left her with a bad feeling, but she had always felt she had to continue to try and act normal around him anyway in order not to hurt anyone's feelings or jeopardize her new position in the family.
How in the world did I let this situation get so far out of control, though - especially when all I was trying to do was get along with everyone? she wondered to herself desperately, however, as she also decided that this time it was different...and that she immediately had to put a stop to what was happening at that moment.
"No!" she therefore exclaimed as she pushed the boy away as hard as she could.
Before she rushed out of the room, however, she caught a glimpse of the complete surprise in Fuuto's eyes as he went tumbling backwards and took the dark hanging curtains with him as he fell.
...
Unfortunately, it soon became obvious that her lack of consent did not change his feelings...or actions...towards her one bit. If anything, it only increased his interest in her more.
"Stuff like that's really painful for me, you know."
Ema had not even had a chance to recover from the both the physical and emotion toll of the ordeal with Fuuto, yet, before Tsubaki possessively cornered her in the living room almost as soon as she arrived home that day. He then demanded to know who had given her the love bite on her neck.
His complaints about how "painful" it was for him to see the mark of another guy had not stopped him from roughly grabbing her and going in for a kiss of his own, however – not even when she tried to pull away from him.
In fact, Ema automatically clenched her fists as she remembered the last time when...even though she had also tried to move away from him then, as well...he had still pushed her down on the sofa and held her there with his own body. She did not know how far he would have gone then...or what she would have done about it...if Azusa had not arrived and pulled him off of her. After all, her desire to act as normal and pleasant as usual, in order to keep the peace, had only seemed to encourage Tsubaki's forceful attention when the others were not around.
Fortunately, Azusa arrived in time and intervened on this particular occasion, as well, as he also tried to talk some sense into his brother about such inappropriate and aggressive behavior. Ema's hopes that he would be able to get through to his birth mate were dashed, though, because Tsubaki simply refused to listen.
When the dark-haired triplet unexpectedly collapsed during their argument, however, there were suddenly more important things to worry about at the moment than Tsubaki's unwanted advances. Therefore, Ema tried to put that situation out of her mind for the time being as she accompanied Masaomi to the hospital in order to take care of Azusa, instead.
"I'm just the same as him."
Even though Azusa had warned her before that he felt just like Tsubaki did, he had not acted on those feelings with her in any physical kind of way. Therefore, Ema...who just hoped she had been mistaken about his meaning...was greatly taken aback when he took advantage of their privacy both on the hospital grounds and up on its roof in order to embrace her and kiss her during her visits to him there.
She could not help but to feel a bit betrayed by such actions - especially since Asuza also told her that he already knew that several of his brothers had feelings for her and that the situation made her uncomfortable.
Yet, he still added himself to that list, anyway.
What made it worse was that she had felt really comfortable with him up to that point. In fact, Asuza had been so easy to talk to that she had even wondered if he was the one who would become a true protective big brother to her.
Apparently, she had been mistaken once again.
However, she still kept quiet. After all, they were family...and she wanted it to stay that way!
"Are you mad...about how I kissed you?"
Ema went to Natsume's apartment while she was still reeling from the emotional blow of learning that she was adopted...and that Rintaro Hinata was not her real father. She was also crushed under all of the emotional uncertainty that came with that particular knowledge as she wondered about whether she had ever really been wanted or needed...by anyone ...especially since the man she had always known as her father had not even visited her once since his wedding.
Not only that, but all of the conflicts occurring between the Asahina brothers were because of her, as well. If she had not joined their family, then those problems would not have existed, either.
She explained all of this to Natsume.
He had been kind. He had apologized for his brothers, admitted that he had not realized that the situation had bothered her so much, and assured her that she was indeed needed.
She really appreciated that.
However, that was also when he had kissed her, too.
When he asked if she was mad, she told him no. It was only partially the truth, though. She was not really angry, per se. However, she was extremely upset and confused again because she had just poured her heart out to him about how she felt about everything.
Yet, he had still kissed her after that and even admitted that he knew it would probably complicate things for her further.
It was as if he had not heard a word that she had said...as if her personal heartbreak and crisis meant nothing. He had simply acted to gratify his own feelings, instead.
Consequently, Ema knew that there was no point in saying anything else at that moment, either. She would keep quiet...just like she always did. After all, it had become quite obvious to the young woman that her feelings just did not seem to matter...not to most of her stepbrothers, anyway.
Breaking Point
Ema's emotional breaking point, however, came unexpectedly while she was on vacation with some of the brothers. Up until then, she had been able to mainly ignore, justify, or explain away most of their strange behavior towards her. However, something happened during the trip which terrified her and completely changed her outlook on the situation.
After all, it was the night of the festival when the young woman had bolted upright in her bed in the darkness of her room. In fact, her sudden awakening had happened because she had just heard the door of the bedroom she was using at the Asahina vacation house click softly as it closed. As she continued to listen, she could also hear the clear sound of footsteps that quickly receded down the hall.
Someone was in here! she realized with a growing sense of panic.
She did not know who had been in her room at such a late hour or what they wanted, but there was no mistake about what had happened. Far from being reassured in the knowledge that only her stepbrothers were in the house with her...as she once might have been...Ema broke out into a cold sweat instead as she frantically checked her clothes and her body. In fact, she froze when she found that the top button of her pajama top was completely undone.
Was it like that before I went to bed? she desperately tried to remember as she also regained some sense of her mobility and went to check her door. Only then did she realize that there was no lock.
Was it just a coincidence or was I given this room on purpose? Her increasingly suspicious mind could not help but to wonder and to worry. Do the other rooms have locks? If so, who chose the room assignments? Who made sure that I would sleep here?
With the unexpectedly disturbing thoughts in her head that such a late night encounter might have been preplanned, Ema found that she just could not go back to sleep. She could not even bring herself to lay back down. She was much too uneasy.
After all, she had just tried as hard as she could to make her feelings known at dinner when she told them all that she wanted to be closer to them all...much closer...but only as a family.
Somebody had obviously not listened, however.
Worse than that, even though she felt bad about admitting it...even to herself...she knew that she no longer felt safe with some of the Asahina men.
Even though they were now her brothers and were supposed to protect her, the uncertainty of it all mainly frightened her, instead.
Enough!
After several other instances of unexpected kisses, one-sided embraces, awkward encounters, and more of the brother conflicts that resulted from such, Ema's increasingly uncomfortable and ever-alarming situation finally came to a head when she found that she simply could not take it any longer.
In fact, it all happened on the night of the celebratory going away party for Suburu, Iori, and Kanami...who were all moving on to the next steps in their lives.
In an effort to mark that special occasion, every one of the thirteen brothers had actually made a point to all be together in the same place for the first time since the wedding. Surprisingly enough, everyone was on their best behavior for once and things were even going pretty smoothly.
At least they were until Ema...tired from cooking, stressed from exams, and already nervous in the crowded living room since she was currently very well aware that she was the only female in attendance (especially since even Hikaru had decided to dress as a man for the rare event)...suddenly found herself surrounded by the entire set of triplets at one time.
Since all three of them had already kissed her in at least one awkward situation or the other, Ema was currently extremely uneasy with all of their attention at once. That was especially true since she did not know what they wanted or even which one of them actually reached for her first before she automatically flinched away from the contact. Even if it had been meant to be an extremely casual touch, just to push a stray hair out of the way or something similar...and not anything of a more personal nature...it was still simply the latest incident in a long line of unwanted physical attention.
Therefore, Ema...who had already been in a constant state of high alert ever since that eye-opening night of fear in the vacation house bedroom...panicked. At that moment, she found that she just could no longer take it...any of it...and she finally snapped!
"Don't touch me!" she therefore cried out loudly as she pushed away from him...them.
At her loud declaration, everyone turned to look at her in surprise. After all, none of the brothers had ever really heard sweet quiet Ema raise her voice before. Despite all of those eyes on her...and her own mortification over her outburst...Ema found that she just could not stop herself, however. Even though she had not planned to pour out her bottled-up grievances on such a night, her mind and her body had decided for her that it was time to do so anyway. She had had enough and, as a result, her emotions simply poured out with no conscious effort on her part.
"I'm so tired of it...and I just can't take it any more!" she cried out as all of the negative feelings she had been hiding away and burying down deep inside of herself finally overwhelmed her. "Ever since the day I entered this house, I have been touched, grabbed, kissed, bitten, held down, had my personal bedroom invaded, and been treated like a possession...a piece of property to be owned. I was even told that it was all my own fault. I don't care what anyone says, though, that is not how you treat a sister...not even a step one!" Her voice started to give out on her then as she choked back a sob.
"I'm so sorry," she continued in a broken tone, "but I tried so hard to stay quiet, to not make a fuss, and to keep the peace...just so I could be accepted into this family...the family I had always wanted...but...but I just can't do it anymore! Family or not, I can't let it continue. I'm exhausted, I can't sleep, I'm scared, I'm jumping at shadows, and now my grades are suffering...so I may not even get into the college that I have always wanted to attend."
Her breath hitched as she continued. "I don't want to be a girlfriend. I don't want to be a lover. In fact, all I ever wanted to be was a sister to you all. I just wanted not to be alone any more...to have a family...to have brothers. Now, though...well...it's all too much! I just cannot live like this any longer. I...I...I don't even want to live here any more! I can't take it. Enough is enough!"
With those words, she ran sobbing from the room.
The gathered brothers were all too stunned by her extremely uncharacteristic outburst to do anything else but stand there as she left. Even Hikaru, who was usually constantly planning mischief and always at least vaguely amused about something or the other, looked troubled at the thought that they personally might have unintentionally fanned the flames of some of that kind of behavior from the others by treating it all as a joke in the first place. Meanwhile Masaomi and Ukyo had become dark thunderclouds of rage as they glared at the rest.
"What the hell has been happening here?" Masaomi finally broke the tense silence as he angrily asked the question through his clenched jaw.
Even so, he had to admit that part of what Ema had said hit home to him, as well. After all, he sometimes found that he resented his role as a father-like figure to her, one that Rintaro's absence had rendered as necessary, especially since he had also experienced the occasional questionable thought about his stepsister. In fact, he realized that such a thing was probably only natural when such a previously unknown pretty and sweet sixteen year old girl had suddenly been dropped into the daily lives of a group of single men. However, thoughts were all they had ever been on his part – because he knew how inappropriate it would be to act on them, otherwise.
Therefore, he had not.
Unfortunately, however, it seemed that at least some of his brothers had not felt the need to practice such restraint...and Ema had obviously suffered because of it. In fact, Masaomi felt as if he could kick himself when he realized that, as a doctor, he had indeed noticed that the girl had seemed paler and more listless as of late. However, he had mistakenly put it down to the stress of exams and just advised her to stray hydrated and get enough sleep.
At that moment, he hated himself for such narrow-minded shortsidedness. However, when he remembered that particular list of words...grabbed, kissed, bitten, held down...his fury suddenly took another path.
"Who?" he asked forcefully as he searched each and every one of his brothers' faces.
After all, he had years of substitute-parental experience with ferreting out the various misdeeds of the mischievous boys. Nevertheless, he knew he could not possibly compare the occasional piece of broken furniture and borrowed-without-asking toys and electronics with the physical harrassment of a girl. That was especially true when the girl in question was their own stepsister.
Wataru was instantly ruled out for many reasons. Therefore, he was asked to go and play in his room, instead. As he reluctantly left, he was clearly troubled.
"Why is Big Sis so upset?" he asked in obvious confusion.
With such an innocent question, however, all of a sudden Masaomi finally understood Ema's somewhat strange reaction to the "100 Smooches" ticket that Wataru had made to cheer her up after her poor performance on her practice exam.
"At least you asked first. Thank you, Little Brother!" she had exclaimed at the time as she gave the youngest a warm hug that made some of the others at the table protest that they wanted one, too.
Their suggestion, however, Masaomi now remembered...even though he had not completely processed her action at the time...had actually made Ema flinch...even though she also kept a smile plastered on her face, anyway. In truth, though, it was a forced look that he only now realized was a much different gesture than the easy cheerful one she had always worn at the beginning of their aquaintance.
Just how long has Ema been faking it? he could not help but to wonder. After all, she has been with us for over a year now.
At any rate, that particular interaction with Wataru made so much more sense to him now than it did then. Therefore, Masaomi's fist clenched as he realized that somebody had been taking such liberties with Ema without her permission...and had apparently been doing so since long before that particular night.
Ever since the day I entered this house, she had said.
I'm scared, she had also admitted.
The thought that somebody had frightened the girl in such a physical way made his anger grow even hotter as he continued his search for the culprit.
"Poor Chi," Louis muttered with concern next to him. "I obviously wasn't a good enough protector for her. Juli will be so upset with me."
At the mention of Ema's pet squirrel, Masaomi suddenly realized that Louis was really the only one (besides Wataru) with whom the creature did not get upset. In fact, the little guy actually allowed the gentle and soft-spoken hair stylist to carry it when Ema was not around. After what he had just learned, that really seemed to mean that Louis was probably not mistreating their stepsister. Therefore, the oldest brother asked him to go and check on the girl in question while he handled the others.
His next glance fell on Iori. As always, that young man just looked quiet and morose...even though he seemed to be more upset than usual after hearing what Ema had to say. Therefore, Masaomi did not believe that he had done anything inappropriate towards their stepsister, either.
Yusuke stood next to Iori. However, his fists were clenched and he seemed to be as angry about the situation as Masaomi himself was. This time the doctor knew exactly why that was, though. It was because when Yusuke was later asked privately on Ema's very first night at the condo about his unfriendly behavior towards her, the eleventh brother had broken down and confessed the truth to the oldest one. He admitted that he had reacted so poorly simply because he was taken by surprise – especially since the only girl he had ever liked had suddenly become his stepsister without his knowledge.
Masaomi had sympathized with his younger brother's plight then since it really was a tough situation to be in. However, he also warned him against taking any further action. After all, the girl in question was now a big part of their family, even if she was not blood-related. Therefore, doing anything else...or trying to take the relationship to another level...could turn out to be very awkward for them all. That was especially true if things went sour...as they so often did in young relationships.
As far as he knew, Yusuke had taken his words to heart and listened...even though Masaomi suspected that the boy's plan to attend Meiji University with Ema was not a completely disinterested decision on his part.
Nevertheless, in hindsight, Masaomi realized he should have had that particular talk with all of the brothers, as well... before Ema's arrival. As a doctor, he should have foreseen that certain biological urges might have reared their ugly heads in such a situation. The thought had never crossed his mind at the time, though. He had just assumed that logic and common sense would prevail. After all, most of his brothers were already adults and were supposed to be mature enough to know better.
He should have realized, however, that might not be the case when even the extremely straight-laced Ukyo reluctantly admitted to him in private that he had experienced the occasional fantasy about the ever helpful-Ema as a newlywed house wife. In fact, that was exactly what had happened on the night that Hikaru had walked in on them during the relatively innocent act of cutting meat together.
Nevertheless, as a lawyer, Ukyo definitely knew that such thoughts should stay in the realm of fantasy and completely out of the real world. That was especially true since he surmised that they probably had arisen in the first place from the novelty of Ema's presence and her overwhelming desire to help take care of the family. After all, due to their mother's work and personal life, they had all obviously suffered from the lack of a consistent female presence in their everyday lives before Ema's arrival. Therefore, Ukyo, as the main one to step in to fulfill that role for the younger ones, recognized that he had probably just projected that very specific emotional longing onto Ema, instead.
Regardless of the reason, though, Ukyo made a point to be more careful around Ema after that incident because he did not want to accidentally treat their stepsister with any disrespect.
Apparently, some of the others did not have such a problem with their own consciences, though, and Masaomi was beginning to see which one...ones...were the most at fault.
...
In fact, when his eyes met Fuuto's, the boy stared right back at him - as defiant as hell.
That little shit, I should have known! Masaomi thought furiously to himself.
After all, the next-to-youngest brother had always had poor impulse control and was the one who had always loved starting trouble with everyone else. However, his sense of entitlement and attitude had been completely out of control, along with his over-the-top behavior, ever since their mother agreed to let him go out on tour. However, her permission had been despite his and Ukyo's advice to the contrary...because they knew what he was really like much better than she did.
Nevertheless, before he could focus completely on Fuuto, he also noticed that both Subaru and Kanami looked more than a bit guilty, as well. None of the triplets would meet his eyes, either.
A sudden wave of uneasy comprehension crashed over him at that moment.
"All of you?" he exclaimed in stunned disbelief and he actually saw red when the full extent of the problem finally became clear to him. No wonder Ema was so upset!
As a children's doctor, Masaomi frequently saw all sorts of neglectful or abusive situations that raised his ire. However, he always did his best to keep his anger in check so that he would not scare his young patients. Nevertheless, when it was actually released, his fury was spectacular...as some of his brothers definitely found out that night.
...
Unfortunately, it was too late. The damage had already been done and their combined family dynamics would never be the same again.
Aftermath
In fact, Ema had locked herself away in her room with only Juli for company and did not venture back out at all over the entire weekend.
When she refused to come to the door...even for Louis...Ukyo actually considered the master key that he as the house-mother-by-default always carried for emergency purposes. Unfortunately, he had the feeling that...especially after everything that had happened...Ema would never forgive him if he used it to gain entrance to her only sanctuary at the Sunrise Residence without permission. After all, even though she also refused to answer her phone...and kept it turned off most of the time, as well...she did message Louis to apologize for her behavior and assure him of her continued physical well-being.
Therefore, Ukyo knew that he had no real justification to invade her privacy – even though he was desperately worried about her. He realized that it was too late to be overprotective, however, and that he would just have to wait and treat her as he would if she was one of the boys in the meantime. After all, he knew that she would come out of the room when she was ready. If nothing else, he would be sure to see her on Monday before she left for school.
The Sunrise Residence was actually an entire apartment building that had been specifically converted for the needs of such a large family. Consequently, each of the siblings' personal rooms was an entire apartment within itself...complete with a small equipped kitchen. Therefore, Ukyo had to be satisfied with leaving a tray of extra groceries outside Ema's door. He knew she was completely capable of cooking for herself if she was hungry, but he still prepared and left her regular meals there, as well. Keeping her well nourished was the least he could do since he knew that he had already failed her in so many other ways when it came to the big brother department.
After all, how could I, the lawyer, not have noticed the constant physical harrassment and emotional exhaustion that Ema must have been subjected to with that many brothers vying for her attention? Some of them had apparently been very aggressive about it, as well, he thought in a heavy emotional mixture of sadness for her and anger towards his wayward siblings.
Plus, that did not even include his own personal guilt deep in his soul about the occasional inappropriate thought that had also passed through his mind about their sweet stepsister.
In fact, he just did not know what he...they...any of them...could do to make such a situation up to her. Therefore, he simply waited and hoped for the best.
It was difficult though, because he could only imagine what Rintaro was going to say about the matter when he found out about it. Hopefully, it would not come to such extremes, but Ukyo knew that he would not be surprised if the man pulled his daughter right out of the Sunrise Residence complex completely.
After all, Ema did say that she did not want to live there any longer.
Try as he might, Ukyo found that he could not blame her if she ultimately made such a decision, either...even though he knew he would desperately miss her if she did.
I'm so sorry, Ema! he thought to himself for probably the hundredth time as another heavy sigh also left his lungs.
Consequences
In fact, Ukyo was not really surprised when, even though both he and Masaomi waited for her...and kept the rest of the brothers at bay...Ema did not make an appearance for breakfast on Monday morning, either.
Therefore the two of them went to check on her. What they found, however, was that the door to her room was unlocked. In fact, they quickly realized that neither she nor Juli were there and her room was eerily empty. Her school things were gone and when Ukyo opened her closet, he found that some of her clothes seemed to be missing, as well. Therefore, he knew that she must have packed her essentials with the intention of not returning back to her room anytime soon.
That assumption was verified when Masaomi found a note on her desk and read it aloud.
...
I'm sorry. The first line said in typical open-hearted Ema style.
First, I wish to apologize for spoiling the party the other night with my outburst. It was not intentional, but it was something that I could no longer hold back. However, I know that my timing was not ideal and so I still want to apologize to those who were supposed to be celebrated that night and to anyone else whom I may have hurt with my words or actions in the process.
I do not plan to repeat any of those things I said that night in this note. However, I did mean them. Therefore, please understand that I cannot return to Sunrise Residence. I really believe that, not only is my absence there the best route to take for my own well-being, but also for those brothers between whom my presence created so many conflicts where so few existed before.
You do not have to worry about me, however. I have a safe place to stay.
I have already spoken to Dad. I struggled with how much to tell him, though, since I know that I am partially to blame for all of the awkwardness by not making my intentions clear enough with everyone from the very beginning. Therefore, I did not say much...just that the living arrangements did not work out at the Sunrise Residence. Fortunately, he did not question it and we decided that...even though he and Miss Miwa are still out of the country...I will stay at their house for the time being. Hopefully, I'll be able to move into the college dorms soon, anyway. If not, I will get a job and just find another place of my own.
At any rate, I have plenty of practice with living completely by myself with just Juli, so I will be fine. Consequently, please do not feel obligated to me in any way. In fact, please understand that I am not in need of anything and I do not wish for any visitors for the time being.
I will also make arrangements as soon as possible to retrieve the rest of my belongings in case you need to use my room there for something else. Consequently, I would be grateful if you could bear with my stuff there for just a little while longer.
Again, I'm sorry...so very sorry...that I wasn't able to be a better sister to you all.
- Ema
...
When he finished reading, Masaomi groaned and held his forehead as he sunk down onto the bed with the letter still clenched in his hand.
"How can she possibly think that she is at fault for any of this?" he groaned again, as if in actual physical pain. "Look how hard it must have been for her to write it, too," he added as he gestured toward her wastebasket that was full of crumpled sheets of paper.
From where he stood, Ukyo could clearly see the statement, I'm sorry, written at the top of most of them, before she had apparently decided to keep the one they had just read. The sight broke his heart, as well.
"What should we do?" he asked plaintively.
"What can we do?" Masaomi replied with a helpless shrug. "We've already failed her. Therefore, at this point, I think we just need to honor her wishes. After all, she was very polite about it...because that's just the way that Ema has always been...polite to a default...so polite that she could not even stand up for herself against our damn brothers..."
Masaomi paused and shook his head before he continued. "However, she made it clear that she does not want to see us...any of us...yet." He raised his voice in order to be heard by the crowd of brothers...some with guilt, and maybe even a few new bruises, still stamped across their features...who had started to gather by the door once they realized that something was wrong.
"And I can't say that I really blame her for that, either," the oldest brother continued. "Therefore, I forbid anyone here to contact her or bother her in any way. If she reaches out first...as I'm sure she will with some of us...that's a completely different story altogether. However, until she contacts you personally, leave her alone! Is that understood?"
That last forceful word practically vibrated with residual anger, but none of it was directed at his stepsister. Instead, it was all reserved for himself, some of his brothers, and maybe even more than a little bit for their constantly absent parents who should have done a much better job at properly introducing them all and bringing the two families together in the first place.
Maybe none of this would have happened then.
Regardless of who was to blame the most, however, it was because of all of them that Ema was alone...again. After all, she had often mentioned the fact that she had always been by herself while growing up and that was why she had been so excited to become part of such a big family in the first place.
Some family we turned out to be for her, though, huh?
It was that thought which threatened to break Masaomi and it was difficult to stop the moisture from gathering in his own eyes – especially when an equally teary-eyed Wataru pushed his way through the group in order to ask his oldest brother a question.
"Why isn't Big Sis here? Doesn't she like us anymore?"
Unfortunately, Masaomi did not have an answer for him. After all, what can I say? he thought sadly.
Therefore, he just tried to give the youngest Asahina boy as reassuring of a hug as possible while the rest of the other brothers...lost in their own thoughts of loss and guilt...either for their actions or lack thereof...trudged back to their rooms to finish getting ready for school and work.
They all had one thing in common, however...and that was the cold feeling in their hearts.
After all, the Sunrise Residence had lost its warmth since their own personal sun had been driven away when she had finally had enough of their selfish actions and thoughtless behavior.
Therefore, all they had left was darkness and regrets.