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Ema couldn’t focus on the café, not with Fuuto’s accusations ringing in her ears. Had she really seduced her stepbrothers? She’d never wanted that; she’d just wanted a family! She found herself on the steps of a back stairwell, sobbing.
“Oi.” Ema froze. Not him. Anyone but him! She looked up, where Yuusuke stood over her. She abruptly tried to flee but tripped on the stairs. “Oi, careful!” Yuusuke yelled, grabbing her arm.
“I’m sorry.”
“Ugh, forget that. Why are you crying?” No. Ema couldn’t tell him what Fuuto said. Because Yuusuke was the one stepbrother Ema might’ve unintentionally led on. She’d liked him at the beginning of the school year, but of course she’d given up when their parents married.
“Oi, it’s a b-brother’s job to help, right? So, s-spit it out already.” No, no, no. This was why Ema had liked Yuusuke; beneath his gruff, awkward exterior, he was kind. When the school year started, he’d always helped when he saw her struggling, lending her a pencil or carrying heavy boxes…while scolding her for not asking for help. Just like he was now.
A selfish part of her wanted his help. “If…someone had a dear friend, but that friend wanted…to be a couple, and that someone didn’t want that…are they bad for making their friend like them that way?”
Bewilderedly, Yusuke yelled, “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. If that ‘friend’ can’t handle their own feelings, then that’s their own problem,” surprising Ema. Then he glared. “Wait! Is someone harassing you? I’ll beat them up, I swear! Is it Fuuto? Ugh he’s always doing weird things!”
Ema said nothing, unsure whether she should answer or not.
“Oi…is it Fuuto?”
Ema wished Yuusuke needn’t be involved. But now that he was, she couldn’t stop the words from spilling out. “It’s not just Fuuto-kun. Several of your- our brothers have…Yuusuke-kun, what am I doing wrong?” She couldn’t hold back the tears anymore. “I was so happy…to be a family with everyone…but what if…would it have been better if I never came?” She wished she could also say she was starting to like him again and she feared becoming exactly what Fuuto called her.
“Look at me, Ema. It’s NOT your fault. If anyone, including us brothers, have feelings for you, well…that’s our own problem, not yours. So, if anyone’s acting out of line, punch them! And, if you can’t, tell me, and I’ll punch them! That’s what family does, right?” Ema wasn’t sure, but she agreed anyway.
~
Ema tried to avoid Yuusuke after that. Until, while bringing a mug downstairs for washing, she heard him scream her name.
“You bastards need to back off Ema-san! You’re bothering her!”
“Hmmm?” That was Fuuto’s voice. “Is this your sneaky plan to take her for yourself?”
“No! I’m not a manipulative jerk like you!”
“But you do like her, don’t you, Yuu-chan?” asked Tsubaki.
“Yes, since our entrance ceremony, way before you met her! But that’s my problem. She wants a family, so I’m gonna be the best damn brother I can! And that means protecting her if you get out of line!”
Ema dropped the mug, which shattered on the floor. At the sound of footsteps, she fled to her room. But before she had time to process what she’d heard, Yuusuke was at her door. “Ema-san? May I come in? I don’t want Fuuto and Tsubaki to know I’m here.” She let him in, also not wanting them to know. She couldn’t face all three of them at once. She didn’t even know if she could face Yuusuke. The second the door shut, Yuusuke dropped to the floor.
“I’m so sorry! I shouldn’t have said that! I—”
“Is it true?” Ema blurted out.
“…yes. But I swear, I’ll never…I want to make you happy, so…just forget it, okay?”
He looked up pleadingly. Ema realized he needed to forget so he didn’t hate himself, because it was the same with her. Somehow, knowing this settled her enough to face the truth.
“Yusuke-kun, stand up.” He did.
Ema needed answers, starting with: “Did we meet at our entrance ceremony?”
“No.” She hadn’t thought so. She would’ve remembered.
“But you said….”
“I saw you and…it was love at first sight. I spent all year trying to think of a reason to talk to you. But I never did. Stupid, right?”
“Is…that why you were so nice to me when we met in second year?”
“I’m not sure if nice is…I mean…I tried.” He had been nice. In his own awkward, adorable way.
“But then, we became family,” Ema said sadly.
“Hey, I know you’re disappointed in me, but I promise, I—”
“I’m not disappointed in you.” Ema took a deep breath. He’d been honest, so she would too. “If I were, I’d have to be disappointed in myself too, because I also liked you when we first met!” She could feel words spilling out again, desperate to be free after so long. “I’d always wanted a big family, so I was fine forgetting my feelings. But then, so many things happened…and now to know this…and have these feelings come back…I don’t know what to do with it all anymore.”
Yuusuke stood in stunned silence so long that Ema started apologizing. At that, he hissed at her to stop apologizing, another gruff way of caring for her.
Finally, he spoke. “Man, this is tough! I just…want to make you happy.” He blushed bright red, unaware that it was that earnestness of his that she loved most about him.
She found the strength to close the gap between them and cup his face. “I don’t know exactly what to do, but we like each other, so we’ll figure the rest out together, okay?”
“We will. It’s a promise.” He kissed her forehead, and Ema knew she was blushing as hard as he was.