Chapter Text
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A morning like any other, waking up with bright sun in your eyes and a screeching alarm clock, wondering why you didn’t go to bed earlier. I slammed my hand against the snooze button, and rolled out of bed, just like an ordinary day. Pulling my blazer over my chest, I left the top button un-done today, just to see what I could make out of it. Slipping my skirt on, I tucked my blazer in to it. Then I remembered it was not only a Saturday, but summer wasn’t over till next week, and had to take it all off again.
Finally deciding on something cute to wear, I pulled my hair back in a loose ponytail to keep my hair out of my face for breakfast. I left my room, and headed towards the glass cabinet, as usual, and unplugged my smartphone from the charger. I leaned against the counter, and began to text Seika, completely forgetting about the water I was going to get myself, when Ema called out my name. “Rie, Papa’s home today! He came in late last night, but he said he wanted to talk to us. He has something planned, I can just tell!” “Nice! But I’m going to need water first.”
Rintarou walked in to the kitchen, and smiled at me, and I smiled back, while sending Seika a text about how I wanted her to tell me all about her beach trip. I sat my phone down on the counter, stood there for a moment pondering why I was in the kitchen, and remembered that I was going to get myself a glass of water.
After I poured myself a glass, I sat down at the table. Rintarou and Ema followed, and he took a deep breath. “Girls, there’s been something that I’ve been wanting to tell you.” “Go ahead!” I nodded, and took a sip of water.
“I know it’s been hard for both of you to raise yourselves on your own. Rie, having to deal with your parents leaving your life at such a young age, I can only imagine the toll it must’ve taken. Ema, having me out of the picture and needing to take care of everything on your own must’ve been a heavy burden, and I apologize to both of you.” I nodded along, and my anticipation was only growing. He closed his eyes, and in the time it took for me to take a sip of water, he was ready to speak again.
“Rie, I know you haven’t really been interested in having another family, but I want you to be open. I’d like you to be first in meeting your new family.” “New family? I’m perfectly fine with just you and Ema, I don’t need to meet them! Send Ema first, she’s the one who’d care!” “Rie, I know this is something that you don’t want to do, and that’s why, if you don’t want to live there, you can come live at this apartment again. But I think it would be a good experience.”
“I told you, I don’t need more family! I don’t want to meet them, not at all!” I was ready to get up from the table, and let Ema talk with Rintarou. “My future wife will be making an appearance today, at the building. She’s really excited about meeting you.”
“Why are you telling us this now?” I spat. “I’m sorry that I waited, but I think you’d like to meet her. Her name is Miwa Asahina, and I’m sure that you’ll get along well.”
I was tempted to argue more, but he intended to marry my idol, the Miwa Asahina. It couldn’t hurt to meet her, but 10 out of her 13 sons are boring and don’t even have web pages, and that’s a bad ratio. I closed my eyes, trying to stuff my negative feelings down. “Fine. I’ll go meet her.”
Rintarou smiled at my response, and asked that I bring a box full of stuff I’d need with me. I gave a half-smile, and headed off towards my room, bringing my phone with me.
Immediately dialling Chiyu, I flopped down on to my bed with a great sigh.
“Total bullcrap!” I exclaimed, after telling Chiyu the story. “It seems like a fresh start. You should give it a shot. You might even meet some cute people!” “They’re my future ‘brothers’. No way would they be cute.” I sighed, and lightly kicked the box on the floor with my foot. “I gotta go.” Chiyu said a cheerful goodbye, and I ended the call.
I pushed myself off my bed, and packed the box full with papers, clothes, and a few hairbrushes. When I finished, I pushed it away from me, and sat against the side of my bed. ‘I’ve wanted a bigger family, but why now? I’m finally getting what I want, and I’m upset. God, this is so cliche.’
Maybe I was just hoping for something more interesting, like him getting married with a massive American celebrity, then I would be a superstar, and get to travel all across the world! That would’ve appealed more than ‘I’m marrying your idol, go live with 13 guys.’
I tried to look on the bright side of things, and prepared myself for the visit. I changed my clothes once again, to something more fashionable and mature, and brushed my hair down, and moped around until I had to face it.
“Rintarou, when should I go?” I shifted my box on to my hip, and gave him a half smile. “You can go right now, if you’d like. Here, I’ll send you the address. You’ll also need this phone number, call it when you get there.” “Thank you,” I said, and left the apartment.
Dodging the people on the sidewalk, I kept looking for the numbers on the buildings. I took one look at the phone, then at the building in front of me, then another look at the phone to confirm it. “This is it? I’m living in an apartment with 13 guys? Ugh, this is so… cliche!” I tried to flush the negativity out of me with the bright side, meeting my idol. ‘Let’s just call the number, Rie.’
I pressed the call button, then held the phone to my ear. “Ah! Rie, right?” “Um, yeah… I was told to call you? By Rintarou.” There was a moment of silence between us, and I began to wonder if I called the wrong number, even if he knew my name. “Oh, you’re the girl standing right there!” “I guess I am? And you are?” “Right here.”
The voice didn’t come from the phone, and I turned around to see a tall man, and I had to back up a few steps to see him properly. “Isn’t there supposed to be another girl with you? Ema, wasn’t that her name?” “Yes, but Rintarou suggested that I come first.” I gave an awkward smile, already worried about my first impression on them. I probably came off as shy, or awkward, which wouldn’t be a first. “I've never had a proper family, so he suggested that I should come first, and test the waters. That’s why.”
Another light moment of silence. “Is this box all you have?” “Yes, at least today. He only just suggested it to me, so I didn’t have any time to prepare. I thought it would be best to take his advice.” “I can take your box up to your room, if you’d like.” I prayed that this was the person that was supposed to meet me.
“If you’d like, but… Could I know your name first?” “Oh, I’m Masaomi. I apologize for leaving you in the dark for so long.” “No, I should’ve asked before. It’s fine.” I smiled, trying to make the conversation happy again.
He took the box from my hands, and stepped in to the gated-in front ‘yard’. I followed him up the sidewalk, only stepping in front when he held the door. I stepped into the elevator ahead, and he followed, pressing the button for the 4th floor. “I should mention, the plumbing on this floor has been kind of strange recently. There’s a bathroom on the 5th floor, if you need to use it. Oh, and here’s the key for it, it’s usually locked at night, or when nobody’s around,” he said, pulling a key from one of his pockets, and placing it in my hand.
“Thanks for telling me,” I said, taking it from his hand, and looked back down to my shoes. He pulled another key from his pocket, and unlocked the door in front of him, and walked in. It smelled of very heavy perfume, and I was already starting to get a headache. Before I even took a look around, I opened the sliding glass door to let some fresh air in. “This used to be Hikaru’s old room. Sorry if you find any spare things laying around, Tsubaki was using this as a storage space, so I wouldn’t be surprised at what you’ll find.”
“Oh, I don’t mind! I’ll return them to him… once I find out who he is.” I opened up my box that Masaomi placed on the desk, and I took out my most prized possession—my sketchbook, cleverly disguised as a normal notebook. “Is that a sketchbook? I heard that you enjoy drawing.”
Maybe not so cleverly disguised, but the effort was there! “Yeah, I do! But, I don’t have any with me,” I said, trying to avoid showing off the insides, placing it behind my back.
“What about inside the book?” “Nope! Brand new one!” He eyed me up and down, probably suspicious of my answer. “If you don’t want to show them off, you can just say so.”
I sighed out of relief. “Thank goodness. I don’t like a lot of people seeing them, sorry that I didn’t just say so.” “It’s fine, don’t sweat it. Let’s go introduce you to the rest of the family!” I smiled back at him, and followed Masaomi back to the elevator.
He inserted a key identical to the one he gave me, probably showing me how it worked, then pressed the button for the fifth floor, and I stood there in silence while the elevator did its thing. I was happier than I let on, and I’ve never had a brother, but I still didn’t want to process it. I knew that even if I did, I wouldn’t be able to consider them family. I hardly considered Ema as family, more as a close friend.
“Twelve other brothers, right? Must’ve been hard for you, having to be the oldest,” I said, trying to spark some conversation. “I enjoy having so many siblings. They always say ‘the more, the merrier’, and they’re fun to have around,” he said with a smile.
“I never thought of it like that,” I mumbled, looking away. “I never thought about it like you did, either. From your perspective, I suppose it would seem like a burden.”
I laughed a bit, trying to make myself seem less like what he just described. “I’m just not used to so many people, that’s all. It doesn’t feel like a burden, not at all!”
The elevator doors opened to the largest room I had ever seen. “This is the main floor. You’ll get the chance to explore it later.” I smiled at Masaomi for a moment, then looked back at the building. I stepped out of the elevator first, and in to the hallway, only to be hit with a blur of pastel colors. “Big sister! Big sister!”
There was a moment of confusion, and then I realized. ‘Oh, he’s talking to me!’ “Wataru! I don’t think she can breathe!” Masaomi pried him off of me, while saving me the question of which one this one was. “I’m fine! And, Wataru, it’s nice to meet you! You’re the youngest, right?”
“Yep!” he chirped. I smiled, and gave him a quick hug.
A few more of them were waiting at the elevator door as well, but one of them stuck out. “Mrs. Miwa! Er, Mrs. Asahina! I’m so happy to finally meet you!” “Rie? I’m so happy that you’re excited to be part of the family!” Her eyes seemed to sparkle. She was everything I imagined.
“Yes, very much! I can’t even tell you how excited I am to meet you, Mrs. Asahina!” I felt faint. I could blame it on Wataru, but I knew I was dying of excitement.
“Rie, you don’t need to be so formal! Please, call me your mother.” “Yes! Of course!” She laughed a bit. “Care to explain why you’re so much happier? Rintarou said you’d be upset about the new family,” she asked.
“Oh, well, I was a bit at first, but, um, you’re kind of, like, my idol, so I was really excited to meet you.” “Is that so! Well, I’m happy that you’re happy. If you ever want to talk, you can call me, alright?” I smiled at her response.
“Since Ema isn’t coming today, I’ll be off! Goodbye, everyone! I love you all,” she said with a smile, and she was gone, just like that. I felt the happiest then, even if it were for only a moment.
Before I could pull myself back together, another one hugged me. “Tsubaki, right?” I said, after he released me. “Aw, I’m so lucky to have such a cute little sister!” “Oh, cute? I wouldn’t say that… But I guess I did try to make myself look nice…” I mumbled, my face already turned fuchsia. His openness was almost endearing.
“Tsubaki, knock it off!” Another one of them cut through my thoughts, and made me realize. ‘He’s my brother, not my boyfriend! Ugh, this is terrible!’ I shook my head in dismay, as well as trying to dismiss the inappropriate thoughts that tried to creep in to my mind. “He’s Azusa, by the way,” Tsubaki said, placing one hand on Azusa’s shoulder. “Identical twins,” Azusa said with a smile.
Even after meeting 4 of them, that wasn’t enough. I stepped down the stairs in front of me, only to be swarmed with more. They seemed to come from the walls, or maybe the floors. One came from behind me, and introduced himself as Kaname. He took one of my hands in his, and kissed it lightly. I was happy I didn’t bring Juli, or else he would’ve taken one look at my flustered face and latched on to Kaname’s face.
One came from another direction, which seemed to be a large kitchen that I knew Ema would love. He introduced himself as Ukyou, the second oldest. I recognized him from somewhere, maybe from a newspaper ad. I had only met 6, not even half, of the brothers, and I was already exhausted. “You look a little tired, Rie. Do you want some water?” “That would be nice, thank you very much, Ukyou.”
I was confused. ‘Why are they all being so nice? I just met them, I thought they would be a little more cautious. It’s almost suspicious. Maybe this is just some elaborate-’ My thoughts were interrupted by a hand waving in front of my face.
“Hey, are you okay?” Someone with the brightest hair I had ever seen was standing in front of me. “Masaomi, did you bring her home? Is she sick or something?” he said. “Looks like someone didn’t get the newsletter,” Tsubaki said with a smile. “Looks like someone forgot to tell him,” Ukyou said, handing me a glass of water, which I thanked him for.
“New sister!” I said with a half smile. “Aren’t you that guy who’s in Ema’s class?” “Rie?” “Yuusuke?” “She’s my sister?” “Yeah, me and Ema.”
He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I don’t want to be involved in this mess.” I laughed a bit at his stubbornness. “Hey, I didn’t orchestrate the thing! Blame Rintarou for this, not me!”
I took a sip of the water that Ukyou had handed me, and I felt much more at ease than before. That is, until Wataru grabbed my hand with no explanation, and dragged me up the stairs to the elevator. “Big sister, come see my room!” He pressed the elevator button, and I managed to place my water glass on a side table before I was pulled in.
While he waited for the 3rd floor to arrive, he swang our hands a bit. It was a tad awkward though, because of the height difference, and I had to lean down a little bit. When the elevator doors opened, he continued to pull me, down the hall, and round a corner, where we were abruptly halted by a messy collision.
Rubbing my forehead, I wished I had the glass of water with me. Maybe it would've helped what I could only hope wouldn’t result in a bruise. “Wataru, you should be more careful in the hall. And as for you,” he paused, and turned to me. I mentally braced for the impact, but it didn’t come. “You should be more careful with letting Wataru whisk you away.” He smiled, and helped me up, taking my other hand.
“You’re Iori, right? I think I’ve seen you before, at the cafe that I sometimes go to.” “Yes, you and your friends are regular customers. You always seem to be having fun.” I laughed a bit, and nodded. “We’re all suckers for sweets, that’s for sure!”
“Here, a small welcoming gift.” He pulled a small flower from his blazer pocket, a red rose. “Oh, how sweet! I love roses! How’d you know?” He simply smiled, and tucked it behind my ear. “It compliments your eyes rather nicely.” “You think? That’s so nice of you to say!”
He smiled, and continued on his way. Sadly, my moment of peace was cut short when Wataru continued to guide me to his room, at the very end of the hallway. He pushed open the door, to reveal a colorful and bright room. “Look! I have a stuffed animal pile over there!”
I stepped toward it, and crouched down in the corner. I took to one that caught my eye the most, and held it up to the light. “Wataru, you’re so lucky to have this!” “It’s cute, just like you, big sister!” I smiled, and laughed. “You’re flattering me!” Internally, I was extremely tired, and it was still afternoon!
“Rie, do you want it?” “Huh? Oh, the stuffed animal?” “Yeah. You can have it, if you want it. I don’t play with it a lot.”
“No, it’s quite alright! I have plenty of stuffed animals, and my kitty can even visit yours sometimes!” I smiled at him, placing the stuffed kitten down.
“Hey, if Wataru gets to show you his room, why not we show you ours?” Tsubaki said, poking his head in the entrance to Wataru’s room. I raised my hands, waving the idea off. “I’d rather get back to meeting the rest of the club, I’ve only met half of you all!”
I left the room, and trying to get a little bit of silence, I hurried to get to the elevator first. Alas, I was taught the hard way that ‘alone’ wouldn’t be a thing for a long time. Someone else was already in it, and that was when I gave up. “Let me guess, you’re another Asahina?”
“Subaru. You’re Rie, then. Where’s the other girl, Ema?” “I’m here alone today.” “I see.” Even if I was stuck around people, this one was much more quiet than the rest, and I could finally take a breather.
I waited until he left the elevator, then I followed behind, grabbing my glass of water while tracing his steps to the couch. Taking a seat next to Kaname, Iori sat down on the other side, but both were calm, and much more quiet than Wataru, so I wasn’t worried.
“Can you believe this isn’t even all of us?” Kaname asked, peering over at me. My jaw nearly dropped. “No way. I can’t even count all of you!”
“One’s at work, two don’t live here, and the other…” He reached for the TV remote, and out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the rest of the group sit down. When he turned it on, I took a sharp breath in. ‘Does realization ever not hit you like a bus?’ I thought to myself, looking away immediately.
The same idol I bought summer concert tickets to was singing on screen. ‘There goes my dream of becoming his girlfriend.’ I covered my eyes with my hands, and sighed. “Celebrity crush, I assume,” Kaname said, trying to help, but only making it worse. “It hurts,” I whispered. “No kidding. I would be surprised if it didn’t.”
“Let’s turn it off already. He looks like he’s crying out for help, with that look on his face,” Tsubaki commented. “Urgh, don’t talk about it. So many posters… I suppose it can’t be helped,” I sighed.
“Last I heard, he’s in Hokkaido right now,” Yuusuke pointed out, staring at the screen. “But I think he’ll be back home soon. I could ask him to bring you a souvenir, if you’d like,” Ukyou asked.
I sighed, and stared at my lap. “It couldn’t hurt. I’ve never been there, so I guess it would be a good addition to the list of places I want to go to.” Kaname turned the television off, to my relief. I couldn’t bear to look at it, or even hear it, for any longer.
“Rie, are you alright?” I shook my head a bit, startled by Iori’s comment. “Whaddaya mean?” “You seem to be dozing off. Are you tired?” “No, I’m fine. I promise.”
After waking up again after a short sleep spell, I agreed with Iori. “Maybe I am a little tired,” I muttered, and took a few more sips of the cold water in hopes of waking myself up. Placing the glass back down on the table, I listened to the few conversations happening around me.
I woke up to an empty room, covered in the orange sunset light. I threw the blanket off me, and immediately reached for the glass of water in front of me, trying to cool my body down. “Still can’t believe I used to think naps were for babies,” I mumbled, finger-combing my hair out of my face.
With a yawn, I pushed myself off the couch in hopes I would find someone. I didn’t hear anything, so I just assumed they were all in their respective rooms.
I wandered around the empty floor, finding my way to the kitchen, where I found a sticky note with my name on it. ‘Rie, there is some food for you in the microwave.’ It wasn’t signed, but I assumed it was from one of the older brothers, as the handwriting was very neat.
I looked around the kitchen until I found the microwave, and opened it to find a plate full of yummy-looking food. Carefully closing the microwave behind me, I searched the top drawers for some eating utensils. I found some, in the last drawer that I checked, and I took the meal to the table.
It tasted home-made, better than anything I could just buy from the store. ‘What kind of quality ingredients are they using? Goodness,’ I thought, taking another bite. It was exactly the food I was wishing for, but didn’t know I even wanted.
I was only distracted from it when I heard a voice. “Rie? Are you here?” I waved to him from the dining room table, quickly swallowing what was in my mouth. “Over here!” “I see you found dinner.” “Yeah, it’s really good, like, really, really good.”
He smiled, and I wondered if he was the cook of the family. “Since you fell asleep so quickly, Masaomi took it upon himself to make sure you were okay. I’ll be sure to tell him that you’ve eaten something.” “Thanks, Ukyou. Sorry for being a burden on the first day.” “You’re not a burden at all. Just be careful to take care of your health.” With that, he left the kitchen, and went to fold up the blanket that I woke up with.
After I finished eating, I scraped the remains in to the trash can, and rinsed off the plate and utensils, placing them in the dishwasher. I decided it would be best to go and unpack the box of stuff I brought. I dragged my tired legs up the stairs, and pressed the button for the elevator. I stared at the floor the entire way down, and continued watching my feet walk until I arrived at my room. Surprisingly, the door was open.
‘I can’t believe I’m knocking on my own door,’ I thought to myself, but still knocked out of politeness. “Oh, Rie! How are you feeling?” “Masaomi… I’m fine, I just finished eating. Sorry for causing any worry!”
“No need to apologize for that. Please, take better care of your health. You still need about 8 hours of sleep a night.” ‘That’s about 2 more than I normally get… How am I supposed to have any alone time if I can’t get it at night?’ Regardless, I nodded, not necessarily accepting his advice, but acknowledging it at the least.
“I left my phone number on the table, along with a layout of the place. If there’s anything you need, call or text me, whichever works best.” “Got it. Thank you for being so welcoming!” ‘Even if I’m not,’ I added in my mind, which retroactively made me feel even worse. “I’ll leave you to it, then. The key is on your desk.”
I smiled and waved as he left, then sat on the bed. “Looks like he made up the bed… God, now I feel guilty as hell.” I leaned back on it, and stared up at the ceiling. “It even smells clean…”
I could hardly smell the perfume anymore, so I closed the sliding door and drew the curtains. I tried to start on unpacking my one box, thinking that I should do it before it gets overwhelming. I took a peek inside, at the few contents, and realized that I forgot the most important thing—a toothbrush. “Looks like I’ll need to go back tomorrow morning, great. I should be fine for tonight, so long as I get some gum.”
I sighed, and continued pulling out my belongings. A few games, a few pencils, way too many hair products, and some loose papers of my designs, and I wasn’t even at the most embarrassing part. “Goodbye, limited edition and signed posters. I’m sure Tomoyo will take good care of you…” I unrolled one, and reversed my decision. “I’m keeping you, no matter what! Even if it’s my brother! I can’t abandon you!” I pulled them out, and set them to lean against the desk. Lastly, I pulled out my faithful console, along with the mess of cords that I should have wrapped up.
I plugged them in to the wall, and plugged the HDMI cable in to the television. It was a success! I could play my games in peace. “First up… a rhythm game. What a score, I can’t wait to finally play!” I slid the disc in, started it up, and created a new profile. I skipped through the tutorial, and went straight to the first minigame.
I had gotten through the first set, when a phone call broke my concentration, ruining my run. Holding the controller in one hand, I rested my phone on my thigh. “Chiyu, are you seriously calling me at 8pm?” “Yes, now hush. I have a lot of questions, so listen up.” “Mhmm, yeah.” I restarted the minigame, and half-listen to her beginning monologue. “Anyways, this is the most important thing I have to say.” “Yeah, go on,” I said, pausing the game.
“Are they cute?!” Chiyu yelled in to the phone, which was embarrassing. I had her on speaker, so probably the whole complex heard what she said. “Will you shut up a bit? God, sometimes you forget you’re on speaker.”
“Nah, I just don’t have any shame. Now answer the question!” I laughed, then sighed, and thought about it for a moment. “They aren’t supposed to be cute, they’re my ‘brothers’, but of course they’re cute. Is that what you wanted to hear?” “But like, are any of them your type?” “Yes.” “Well, that leaves me the rest! Make sure you put in a good word for me!”
She paused for a moment, and I could hear her mother calling for her. “I forgot to walk the dog! I gotta go!” “Bye!” I hung up on her, and let out a breath I had been holding. “Maybe I should go take a bath, or make some tea. I don’t know why I’m so stressed, gosh…”
After saving my progress, I set down the controller, and stood up to stretch. When I leaned forward, a flower fell out of my hair. “Oh, I didn’t even realize that was there.” I picked it up, and decided to go get a cup of water for it, to keep it alive for as long as possible.
Taking it to the kitchen with me, I stepped in to the elevator, and inserted my key. Nobody was in there with me, so I took the liberty to lean against the wall. When it arrived at the fifth floor, and stepped out into the hall, I noticed someone on the floor.
Careful not to slip in my slippers, I hurried over to the person. “Oh God, is he dead? Am I touching a dead body? I didn’t even get to meet him!” I was considering giving the flower, as a symbol of respect, but then it made a noise. I let out a sigh of relief, thankful that I was not, in fact, dealing with someone who was dead, but instead with someone incredibly tired.
“Are you okay?” I asked him, when he pushed himself up against the stairs. “Mmm, I was aiming for the couch. I guess I didn’t make it.”
“Goodness, you must be exhausted, then.” I laughed a bit, and was about to stand up, when he reached out his hand. ‘Maybe he was just on the verge of dying? Please don’t say something about the light, please don’t say something about the light, please-’
“Your hair, it’s, like, really pretty.” I smiled, placing my hand on it as well. I felt our hands overlap a little, and instinctively moved mine away when I felt an awkward smile creep on to my face. “You think? I mean, it’s nothing special, at least I don’t think.” “It’s such a pretty color.” I smiled even more, maybe even blushing a little.
“Oh, I should ask. You’re Louis, right?” “Yeah.” “That’s a really pretty name! I think it suits you nicely.” “Thank you, Rie.” I smiled in response, and stood up, offering my hand. He took it, but didn’t rely on me too much, but maybe that was for the better.
I parted ways, and headed to the kitchen, where I pulled a small glass from the cabinet and filled it with tap water, placing the flower inside it. I had to place its head on the rim of the glass for it to stand up, but it still looked pretty.
I thought I was just lucky that I didn’t prick myself, but upon further examination, I noticed that the rose stem was thornless. “Huh, how thoughtful.” I left the rose in the kitchen for a moment to use the restroom, where I also made sure I didn’t have any loose leaves or petals in my hair. “How embarrassing,” I mumbled as I plucked a large green leaf from behind my ear, tossing it in to the bathroom trash can.
I returned to the kitchen for the rose, then went to my room, where I placed it on the bedside table, next to my alarm clock, which I had thankfully remembered to turn off, since tomorrow was a Sunday.
The next morning, I woke when the sun decided it was best, and I felt well rested for the first time in a while. “Maybe Masaomi was right,” I asked aloud as I got dressed for the day. I decided to go immediately back to the apartment, which was only a 15 minute commute by train, and eat there, so I was okay with wearing something less cute and more ‘I left the majority of my wardrobe at home and I refuse to wear the same clothes again’.
Looking at myself in the bathroom mirror, I wondered if the physical activity at school was enough. ‘I should start jogging again anyway. I can’t be my own model if my sizes are always changing.’ I sighed, and let my hair go loose. “Not feeling sporty enough for that today. Gosh, for all I know, they’re going to want to tag along. Then I’d just have to search for a gym.”
“Be more positive! They don’t have to be your brothers, they just have to be your friends. Not even that! Your life is still normal, Rie, so quit the moping!” I smiled, and I already felt a little better. I gave the rose more water, and sat it out on my balcony for it to get some sun.
Entering the 5th floor, I was about to tell one of them where I was going, but all of them were already up and sitting at the table. “Rie, you’re awake!” “Big sister, big sister, sit next to me!” I smiled, and took my seat next to Wataru. “If you insist, then alright!”
There goes my plan for just leaving, but the breakfast looked straight out of a cooking show, so I suppose it couldn’t hurt. “Ukyou, you made this?” He nodded. “I’m the attorney, yes, but somehow the cook as well.” “And a good one at that!” Tsubaki added, and I shook my head in agreement. “I forgot how tasty home-made pancakes are… Thank you so much!” I scarfed them down, and quickly explained that I had to make the train in 15 minutes, and left.