Chapter Text
Chapter 1
"You're the one I like."
"The whisper of love is too close to resist."
"Love has no taboos."
"Would you accept me; the way I am?"
Twelve flames lit up, warming the quivering heart.
For the first time, he felt the true warmth of love without being worried about anything else.
For the first time, he allowed others to support him and take care of him.
For the first time, he let go of himself and flew.
For the first time, he fell in love.
He smiled softly, let a few tears roll down white cheeks, and embraced the lights tightly.
"I'll never let you go."
That was us, siblings.
"Don't stray away from me, and stay away from those animals!" Juli shouted out, panting heavily in his anger. Ema just sighed softly in exasperation and nodded with a slight smile, and Allen laughed lightly behind his hand.
Juli was the overly protective father —or overly possessive lover—, caring for both Ema and Allen's safety. He was always there for them, protecting them in place of their real father, Hinata Rintarou. And now, the siblings' beloved father was finally remarrying, to the second love of his life, in two months. It was also decided that Ema and Allen were to stay in the house where their new stepbrothers lived, much to Juli's disgust and anger.
"URGH, what on earth was that Rintarou thinking when he let you two underage children live with so many wolves in the same house? He surely knows that you would both be outnumbered and eaten alive! He has a house all for himself and yet...!"
Ema and Allen both laughed awkwardly —Juli had yet to find peace and stop— and started to wonder aloud what their new brothers would be like.
Ema worried, "Do you think they'll like us? After all, it must have been quite surprising to know that they're gaining a new pair of siblings after being around only themselves for a long time..."
Allen hummed as he pondered on the thought, furrowing his brows as he tried to imagine their reactions.
Anxiety knotted his stomach but he showed nothing. He couldn't afford to be seen wavering, the foundations of their very selves would be crushed.
"Well, we'll never know until we try. Let's just try to make a good impression on them first so it's easier on us both to fit in better later. Ema, you'll be fine," Allen comforted his beloved sister.
It was ironic how everyone believed him, yet he didn't believe himself.
Suddenly Allen began rummaging through his bag, taking out a plastic container and showing it proudly to Ema. "I made these as a gift though... I hope they like — Ah!"
His usual clumsiness —or just plain bad luck— kicked in. When he held the container in just one hand, and the other hand pushing his sunglasses up, the train had come to a halt, and he dropped the container. Ema couldn't move fast enough to catch it, her hand missing the container slightly. Luckily, Allen had reflexes as fast as he was clumsy. With the container held close to Allen's chest, the siblings both heaved a silent sigh of relief. Looking at each other, they felt a bubble of laughter threatening to burst out of their mouths, and quickly bit their lower lips. They couldn't stifle it though when Juli just continued to rant. Bright cheery laughter rang throughout the train carriage, and infected the other occupants with their happiness.
This, at least, was guaranteed to be theirs forever.
(Please don't change.)
Ema and Allen strolled down the path, laughing together and reminiscing about the times they spent with their Papa. Melancholy was in their eyes, for no matter how strong a front they put up, they knew that they couldn't hide anything, not when they both knew the truth.
They had been a family of three, had never let anyone else into the deep intimacies of their life together. They had been happy together, sharing secrets and inside jokes, telling each other the deep matters they always held heavy in their hearts, staying up late together talking about nothing and everything under the sky. Papa was everything to them, and they to him. No matter how busy he was as an adventurer, he always made time for them, always attended all parent-teacher meetings, sport meets, school events. Everything. Papa and Ema and Allen were happy.
But Papa held deep grief in his heart. Though he was strong, it was human nature to long for a companion. When Papa met Asahina Miwa, they found that they clicked like matching jigsaw puzzle pieces that filled up the gaps in their incomplete lives. Soon after, he had asked his children for their blessings. He may have craved a life partner, but his children always held priority over everything else. It was no question that Ema and Allen would grant his deepest wish to have a complete family, for they knew. One day they would inevitably leave the nest, and they would never be the same forever anyways. Why not grant the one wish their dearest Papa had, and give him a companion that would love him for him before they left?
To have had such a huge warm bashful smile that spoke only of his joy on his face, Papa must've loved Miwa a lot. It was humbling to know that such an amazing person so full of love had put Ema and Allen first in his life. Giving him their blessings was like a mere droplet to the ocean of love he'd given them. They owed it to him. The happiness that he should've always had, was something they couldn't refuse.
But yet.
What if Papa started to forget about them and see only Asahina Miwa? What if Ema and Allen were to wake up one day, and find that Papa was no longer around for them? What if they became mere burdens for him?
What if Papa disappeared from their lives, because he didn't need them anymore?
(Papa could never not need Chi, but as for me...)
These dreadful questions rendered them helpless, as though they were dying from the drying up of their habitat, their sea. The worry was a drought, sucking them dry of hope. They couldn't talk to Papa about this like they would've any other matters of the heart — he would become concerned about comforting and assuring them instead and not focus on his wedding.
So Hinata Ema and Allen chose to keep their silence, stay their normal selves and support Papa whole-heartedly.
They wouldn't become burdens, taints on Papa's conscious. They'd kill themselves first before that happened.
(I'll make sure the two I love most will get their happy ending, no matter what.)
Ema and Allen held hands together as they reached the Sunrise Residence — their new home.
A silent mutual promise of always being there for each other. No matter what.
No matter what.
"Oh, the van came before us," observed Allen as the trio reached the Sunrise Residence. Juli's fur bristled as he growled out, "Chi, Sei, don't go near them without me!"
Laughing at Juli's persistent distrust, they walked at a slightly faster pace to meet the two strangers — new brothers — at the entrance.
"Sorry to interrupt... Are you part of the Asahina family?" Ema asked the strangers meekly.
The older was of a tall and lithe build, with short fluffy dark brown hair and brown eyes. He had on a green sweater that complimented his hair and eye colour. He also had a kind face with gentle eyes and a soothing smile. Overall, he seemed rather laid back and very content with everything in life.
The younger seemed to be an elementary school student, who had a bright smile on as he stared almost amazedly (Allen didn't understand why) at the Hinata siblings. He had fluffy salmon hair, with the same brown eyes as the older stranger. With a yellow-pink jacket on, it made him seem to be a very cheerful child belonging to a happy family.
All these details were quickly observed by Allen's sharp eyes, scrutinizing everything to ensure that they weren't of any threat. (To them or Papa's future happiness, he did not know.)
The older stranger smiled as he understood the situation, "Ah yes, I'm Asahina Masaomi, the oldest of the sons. You two must be Hinata Ema and Allen, Rintarou-san's children yes?"
Nervously, the Hinata siblings bowed and replied, "Yes! Please take care of us."
"Me! Me! I'm Wataru, the youngest! Elementary student, 10 years old, at your service!" Wataru shouted excitedly. "Wah, I have a new brother and sister, lucky me!"
Then, Wataru tilted his head to the side questioningly at Allen, and asked curiously, "Al-nii, are you very cold? Even though it's the middle of spring?"
Masaomi just sighed in exasperation. He too was curious but at least he had the courtesy to not let out his questions. Nonetheless, he too waited anticipating what Allen's reply would be. Ema just laughed awkwardly, fully knowing and empathising with the reason why her brother would go to such means.
Besides being shocked at Wataru giving him a nickname so quickly, Allen began to revaluate his outfit. As he thought, wearing a thick muffler over his mouth, a hat and dark tinted sunglasses were too out of season for him to get away with it. Furthermore, he was standing beside Ema, who wore just her junior high school uniform, and had no signs of being cold. The contrast between them just emphasized on how ridiculous Allen's outfit was.
(The sheer contrast doesn't just stop at appearances.)
Allen sighed softly and bent down to meet Wataru's height. "I have a reason but let's go in before I tell you, if not it's a s-e-c-r-e-t," teased Allen softly, a small smile on his face, wagging his finger before tapping lightly on Wataru's nose.
Wataru's eyes seemed to sparkle, "A secret? Then what are we waiting for, let's go in!" He grabbed Allen and Ema's startled hands, marching into the residence. Masaomi just smiled softly, and followed them in.
That was the start, the first step into their new lives.
This apartment building is more of a mansion than anything, the Hinatas thought, surprised at the mere size of the place. Then again, it does have to fit thirteen people. On the way in, Wataru had taken the lead and finally let go of his prey. Allen nudged Ema, pointing to her empty shoulder. They gave each other a look, and just shrugged: Juli was a force that couldn't be reckoned with, so they didn't even try anymore.
Finally, they ended the nerve-wrecking journey to the living room, where there were even more brothers sitting on the sofa. I don't think I can actually get used to this just yet, Ema thought tentatively. Looking at Allen, she thought, well at least Sei isn't feeling anything off from them. On the outside, Allen seemed to be calm and collected, but on the inside he was green from the nervousness he felt meeting so many new people. One would think that a person in his profession would be immune to this. Ema saw through everything and smiled slightly, giving a comforting squeeze around Allen's hand. Sei, you can do it!
"Not everyone could make it today, but most of them are here. You'll get a chance to meet the others another day," Masaomi explained.
As though the brothers only just realised who the two intruders were, Allen could feel all eyes on him. After all, he was the one dressed weirdly next to his normal sister. Allen blushed a light pink, bowing perfectly at ninety degrees, "I-I'm H-Hinata A-Allen, 18 years old, t-thank you for having me in your care!" Blushing an even darker pink at his stutter, Allen almost fainted from the heat his face was giving out. Ema giggled, and did the same. "I'm Hinata Ema, 16 years old, thank you for having us in your care."
(Ah, why am I like this?)
The glint in the brothers' eyes softened as they heard how nervous Allen was, and decided to give him a break. A tall blonde with spiky hair and hazel eyes stood up and put his arm around Allen's shoulder, noting the height difference mentally. How small and cute. He grinned, "Hey little kitten. I'm Kaname, 3rd son of the Asahina family, just call me onii-chan." He ended with a wink at Allen. Allen's back became tenser than before, standing ramrod straight, replying, "Y-yes."
Kaname chuckled and then yelped in pain. "It hurts you know, Ukyo-niisan," he winced. A honey blonde with more tamed and carefully styled hair, and blue eyes, stood behind Kaname, his hand clenched into a fist mid-air. "Allen-san, Ema-san, please pay no attention to this idiot here," he smiled tersely, "I'm Ukyo, 2nd after Masaomi-niisan. I hope you enjoy your stay with us."
Taking that as their cue, the rest began to introduce themselves.
A pair of males stood up, one with white hair and the other with black hair, both with violet eyes. They were identical twins, but looked to be the opposites of each other: the white haired male had his bangs covering his left eye and a mole under his right while the black haired male had his covering his right eye and a mole under his left. The white haired male grinned widely, waving one hand at Ema and draping himself on Allen's back. Allen staggered under the sudden weight, the culprit behind him laughing wickedly. "I'm Tsubaki, number five in the family! This bore here," he pointed at his twin, "is my younger twin, Azusa. It'll be fun messing around with you - I mean getting along." With the wide dark smile he had on, it was no wonder no one believed him. Azusa just sighed and dragged Tsubaki away. "Sorry, but this guy's always been like this. I hope you enjoy your stay with us," Azusa smiled warmly.
Next was a dark grey haired male of an athletic build. "I'm Subaru. 19 years old. Number nine. Basketball player. Nice to meet you." This person seems to be very serious, and also very passionate about his sport. Also not very talkative, unlike Wataru, thought Allen while he smiled slightly back at Subaru.
Lastly, another tall male with slate coloured hair and hazel eyes introduced himself as Iori. "This," he smiled coolly and handed Ema and Allen a dark pink rose each. "is a welcoming gift."
(Flowers... I used to receive them often...)
Allen's eyes had sparkles in them as he cradled the rose gently, and smiled sweetly up at Iori, "Thank you for the flower, I'll make sure to treasure it." Ema nodded in thanks as well, saying, "Thank you for the warm welcome." Iori just blinked a few times, before smiling beatifically. The others just stared at the happy picture they made together, especially since Iori almost never smiled. Not since...
Just then, a redhead walked into the living room, shouting crassly, "Oi, wasn't there a rule to not bring girls into the living room?" He looked at the Hinata siblings, not seeming to understand that they weren't both girls. Allen's aura seemed to get extremely dark in an instant, startling the Asahina brothers. "Ah well it's true isn't it, I do look like a girl," murmured Allen self-deprecatingly, head down facing the side, hair covering his eyes. Ema just patted his back comfortingly, smiling while furrowing her brows. The redhead looked at Ema, then ran next to her in shock. "Y-you, Hinata?!"
"Asahina-kun! Oh right, your surname is Asahina, isn't it?" Ema blinked in surprise.
(This is a chance. Take it.)
Allen recovered from his bout of depression, and said in sudden understanding, "So this is the cute classmate you were always telling me and Juli about, Chi?"
Upon hearing that tidbit, both Ema and the redhead blushed furiously, stammering in embarrassment (Ema) and pleasant surprise (redhead), "W-What?"
Ema grabbed Allen's coat in a bout of furious embarrassment, shaking him rapidly. "S-Sei! Don't trouble Yuusuke-kun with these things! L-look, everyone's bothered by it!" She waved her hand at the sofa full of shocked brothers. Blinking calmly, Allen just wondered monotonously, "Hmm, Yuusuke-kun, was it? Didn't you just call him Asahina-kun?"
(I know how she'll react.)
"Wha-," Ema let go of Allen, and steam seemed to puff out from her face —her face was that hot—, covering her face with her hands in embarrassment. "W-well, they're all Asahinas anyway, calling him by name isn't weird!"
Yuusuke looked away from Ema, rubbing the back of his head, his face as red as his hair. The other brothers stared at him, smirking all the way. Yuusuke panicked, desperate to direct their attention away from him, and pointed at Allen agitatedly, "T-That aside, who are you?! Why are you dressed so weirdly even though it's clearly spring?!"
...
"Ah," Allen hit his open left palm with the bottom of his right fist. "I forgot I was still wearing this. Here, Chi, pass." He passed his sling bag to Ema, and began to take his outfit apart. The dark blue hat he had on revealed midnight black hair tipped in blue, in a loose bun. He took off his dark tinted sunglasses, showing his silvery grey eyes. His muffler had hidden his heart-shaped face, but it too was taken off. After his 'disguise' was removed, it turned out that Allen was a pretty cute guy, judging by the Asahinas' pleasantly surprised expressions.
But somehow, Allen seemed familiar...
Tsubaki thought out loud, "Allen-kun, did we meet before? You look weirdly familiar..."
Avoiding eye contact with anyone, Allen rubbed the back of his neck and laughed awkwardly, stuttering, "R-really, I don't know either haha. Ha, ha..."
Stare...
Ema and Allen winced, looking at each other as though they were having a silent conversation. Allen sighed in defeat as Ema inclined her head towards the brothers.
With determined eyes, Allen bowed once again. "Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Hinata Allen, Chi's older brother, otherwise known as Hyuuga Seiya. Nice to meet you all, and I hope to stay in your good care!"
(Please, don't be like them. Not again.)
One. Dud
Two. Dud
Three. Ding
"OH!" The Asahinas remembered. Hyuuga Seiya, another popular idol that they always saw on the television on almost all of the same programs as their own Asahina idol. After seeing him so many times on the television, they themselves had grown fond of his music and the idol himself as they watched the co-interviews he had with their own brother. To think that they hadn't even recognised his voice...! Now that Allen's muffler was gone, his familiar voice could be clearly heard. No one else they knew had the same soft timbre and pitch as Seiya did, his wide vocal range, not with that rare sweet voice... Especially not when he was one of the few who could successfully sing both female and male parts well. Hyuuga Seiya was definitely a notable singer that was the cream of the crop.
"Hn, we have another professional then. Do let us know if you ever need a drive home or if you'll be coming home late," Ukyo told Allen, pointing to a whiteboard outside the kitchen. "That's our way of communicating since it can be troublesome to always text each other at the last minute," he explained. With that as the only visible reaction the Asahinas had, it was as though the news wasn't that big. Allen blinked in surprise, then nodded in relief. His whole stature relaxed minutely; he had been so worried about their reactions. He honestly thought that they would either be one of his die-hard fans or his haters and treat him as Hyuuga Seiya the idol, rather than Hinata Allen the new brother.
He didn't want his career to be the one thing that caused a rift between their families.
Masaomi then suggested, "Since everyone that could make it is here, let's have a seat and just talk some more. I'll go make some tea." Ukyo and him then went to the kitchen, while the rest sat down on the sofa with the Hinata siblings in the middle.
--
"Wow, I couldn't tell that you were siblings at first!" Kaname took a closer look at the two. Ema had soft brown hair tied up in a side ponytail, and caramel eyes. Allen had raven black hair with blue hair tips, that was much longer than Ema's and silvery grey eyes that seemed to change colour as the day passed. But otherwise, they had the same heart shaped face, and similar build. Initially, it was hard to tell the two were related, due to the vast differences between them. Looking past the different colouring, it was obvious to see that Allen and Ema were siblings. It was also easy to understand why Yuusuke had thought Allen to be a girl at first, what with his more feminine facial structures and short height. Ema just snickered, "Sei's 'disguise' didn't help at all I'm sure." Her comment caused Allen to narrow his eyes a bit and sulk.
Wataru jumped on his seat spiritedly and asked, "Hey hey, why do you call each other Chi and Sei?"
Allen was the next to speak. "Papa gave us Japanese nicknames when we were younger. Chi is short for Chiharu, 千陽, for 'thousand suns', while Sei is short for Seiya, 星夜, for 'starry night'," he explained. "That's why my stage name is Seiya as well. It's easier to pretend you're just an avid fan who cosplays as him all the time, when you don't have the same name as him."
The brothers 'ooh'ed in understanding, while some (Tsubaki and Yuusuke) just laughed at how stupid their own brother was for not thinking of this. Ukyo and Masaomi came out of the kitchen with a tray each, and set down cups of tea on the coffee table. Ukyo apologized, "We seem to have ran out of snacks, so you'll have to make do with just tea."
Ema just waved her hands in front of her face, and said that it was fine. As though only just remembering, Allen dug out the plastic container from his bag, and held it out to Ukyo. "Erm, these are just some homemade cookies," he said tentatively. "I'm not sure if it will fit everyone's tastes, but if you permit it, we could have these as snacks instead...?" Ukyo smiled at him, "You didn't have to do so much, but thank you for the cookies. I'm sure that everyone will like it." He glared at the rest, "Right?"
Kaname laughed forcefully, "Of course, it's made by our otouto-chan. Now, everyone, take one." He took the container from Ukyo, took out one monster-sized cookie, and passed it on. Soon everyone had one in his hands, and took a bite at the same time.
Chew. Chew. Melt.
Tsubaki's eyes shined, and glomp-ed Allen. He looked up at Allen with adoration, blurting out, "Marry me Allen!"
(Marriage...)
Immediately, the victim started stammering, his arms slightly flailing around, unsure of what to do. "E-Erm... Tsubaki-san?"
"Yeah yeah! It's super delicious! Would you cook more for us? No one knows how to bake here," Wataru pouted.
Ema laughed, and promised, "Sei loves to bake, so I'm sure he will make more for you soon."
Staring at Ema sideways, Allen threw her under the bus too. "Chi loves to cook too so she will definitely cook for the family someday."
Wincing from the comeback, Ema shrugged in defeat as she saw how happy Wataru was.
Kaname took this chance to swing his arm back around Allen's shoulder. Leaning closer to Allen's face, he smirked. "With your cooking skills, you'd be a great wife in the Asahina family."
Before Allen could respond, a grey blur flew down from the inner balcony above the kitchen, and light glinted off sharp knives. The next moment, Kaname's face had scratches, and he cupped his nose to protect it from any further attacks. Juli hissed at him from his place on Allen's head, hackles raised. Just as Juli launched to attack the blonde again, slender fingers plucked him away and placed him on a lap.
Ema chided Juli, finger pointing in his face. "You can't do that Juli, you could've seriously hurt Kaname-san with what you did."
"But Chi, he-"
"No."
"But Sei was in danger!"
"Juli," Allen cupped the squirrel into his hands, bringing him up to his face. "I wasn't in any danger and you knew that. You have to control your temper, if not you can't stay with us. So please be good, okay?" pleaded Allen with the disgruntled squirrel.
(For Chi's sake if anything.)
He then turned to face Kaname, whose face had been cleaned up by Masaomi. "I'm really sorry for what Juli did, does it hurt a lot?" the dark haired boy worried. His fingers neared the wound, but were grabbed before he could graze it. Kaname turned his face into Allen's palm, breathing in deeply, eyelids fluttering before smirking at Allen. "Since it's for my cute otouto-chan, it's fine."
Ema grabbed hold of Juli before he could scratch Kaname again.
A tall pale man with light ash brown hair and mauve eyes entered the living room, rubbing his eyes with his palm. As he didn't look out carefully, he accidentally bumped into a slender back. He blinked for a few times. This person was too short to be one of the older brothers, too tall to be the baby, too lithe to be Fuuto or Yuusuke. While he had been pondering about who the person could be, he heard a voice squeaking out apologies. Right, he hadn't said anything the past few minutes where he had been staring at the stranger. The brunette smiled and started hugging Allen, pulling Ema in as well when he saw her looking on worriedly. The other brothers just either chuckled at the Hinatas' confused expressions, or rolled their eyes at their brother's behaviour. The strange man finally introduced himself after a long minute of awkward hugging.
With a soft voice, mauve eyes seemed to shimmer. "I'm Louis Asahina, numbering eight. Let's all get along, kay?" He squeezed the two again and finally let them go. As though that was the only point he wanted to make, Louis simply ventured to the kitchen, helping out with dinner.
Allen and Ema just stared on, dumbfounded. Juli for some reason didn't make any fuss about Louis hugging his charges.
While Allen excused himself to the bathroom and Juli stayed with Ema as her protector, she helped out the dinner preparation with the family. Or rather, she tried to. Whenever she grabbed something, it mysteriously disappeared from her hands after she talked with one of the brothers. Sighing in defeat mentally, she watched the television. The super popular singing idol, Asakura Fuuto was live, and was his normal sweet self to his fans in the audience. At least, she thought that was his normal behaviour, until Tsubaki gagged exaggeratedly at Fuuto's actions. She asked in plain curiosity, "Tsubaki-san, do you dislike Asakura Fuuto?"
It was as though her question had been a landmine and she had stepped —no, dived head first— into one. Tsubaki immediately started ranting about how Fuuto was a fake, disrespectful little brat, shocking Ema. Azusa hit his twin's head hard, which effectively distracted Tsubaki from his irritation to whining in pain. Wataru however was the complete opposite. He raved about how cool "Fuu-tan" was, and described his awe at "Fuu-tan's" work.
Ukyo explained to Ema upon seeing her confusion. "Fuuto is actually the second youngest in the family, but you can only meet him after he returns from his tour in Hokkaido. He can be quite belittling at times, so when you do meet him, don't be afraid to stand up to him." He smiled encouragingly at Ema, and stood to refill the pot of tea.
Absorbing the new information that apparently Fuuto wasn't as nice as she thought he was, and that he was her new brother, Ema leaned against the sofa.
I wonder what Sei will think about this... Fuu-tan sounds real familiar too...
Time had passed especially fast after dinner, and the sun had already fallen to the moon. Wataru's head was already on Masaomi's lap, sleeping. Allen too was dozing off, his chin dropping to his chest before he raised it up, repeating the cycle over. Sighing at her brother's stubbornness, Ema guided his head to her shoulder, and Juli slid down to her lap. The Asahina brothers quieted down, and Ukyo went ahead to clean up the coffee table.
Subaru asked, "So you're in the same class as Yuusuke right? What about Allen? Where does he study?"
Normally siblings would be admitted into the same schools for convenience's sake, regardless of any age gap. Or at least, that's what parents usually did. Yuusuke had been in shock when he heard that Ema had a brother, so it was safe to assume that Allen had not attended the same school. Had he been in their high school, Yuusuke would've heard of Allen during his first year since Allen would've been a third year. He and Ema had been in the same class since the start of high school after all.
Pondering about how to phrase her answer, Ema started slowly, "He doesn't go to public school. He'd graduated from an idol academy a few years back, and is now focusing on his career." Ukyo frowned, concerned that Allen wasn't receiving proper education. The teenager quickly reassured him, "Allen is definitely smart enough to skip a few grades though, so he's not at a disadvantage or anything. He's just not making studies his... priorities."
Silence took over as everyone rested, mingling quietly among themselves. Time ticked slowly, and everything was peaceful. The brothers often sneaked a peak at Allen, who looked serene as he slept. It must have been tiring moving into a house full of strangers.
The shadow of the night fell, moonlight shining through the windows into the living room. Yuusuke looked at the clock, and cursed. "Damn, it's pretty late. Tomorrow's a weekday too," he sighed. The eldest apologized to Ema, "I'm sorry but we only have one available room. I did ask Rintarou-san whether you would mind but he said it was fine. I hope you're okay with the arrangements."
Ema smiled Masaomi's concerns away and replied happily, "That's great! We've always stayed in the same room, so it's nothing different. It'd be weird to suddenly be in a different room anyway."
Shaking Allen slightly, Ema woke him up and the two of them stood up to follow Subaru to their new room, Juli riding on Ema's shoulder. Rubbing his eyes sleepily, Allen grabbed unto Ema's hand and wobbled after her. The newcomers turned around and wished them a good night's rest before leaving the living room.
Well, the Asahinas thought with an array of emotions, that went well.
Subaru stood outside their room awkwardly and passed Ema the room keys. "Here," he said. "This is your room key, and here's a map of the floor too. If you need anything, just tell Azusa-nii and Tsubaki-nii. They stay right next to you two." He pointed to the doors next to theirs, which had the name tags of the two brothers outside. After wishing them a good night, he walked away. He did however remember to tell them, "Ah, sorry we couldn't help you unpack today. We'll help in the weekend, so just go change and sleep, yeah?"
And they were alone.
They stood in front of their door for a few slow moments, and opened the door together. This was our new room. It was barely big enough to fit them both, but snug was what they liked. It wasn't anything out of normal, but was so different from their old room with Papa. This was our new life. They'd be making new memories here, with a new family.
Juli was the one to bring them out of their stupor. "It's late so go get showering before sleeping. Shoo!" This was the same.
Giggling like naughty schoolchildren, they quickly gathered their pyjamas and left Juli in their new - different - room. Allen whistled when they tried to determine where the bathroom was, still impressed by the size of the level they were on itself.
They finally found the bathroom after several wrong turns and were ready to enter the warm sanctuary, and bang! Subaru came out of the bathroom with only a towel around his waist, and didn't seem to realise the reason behind the Hinatas' hot blushes. Kaname, who had wanted to make sure his new siblings were comfortable, just palmed his face and pointed to his own lower body behind the flustered duo to Subaru. It was Subaru's turn next to blush and he stuttered out an apology before quickly shutting the bathroom door in front of him. Kaname left before he witnessed any more embarrassing moments like these, chuckling to himself.
"Chi, maybe we should wait a bit..." Allen breathed out. Ema just nodded slightly, still red in the face. The older decided that he was thirsty and dragged the two of them to the kitchen to get some water. Thirst quenched, their ears pricked when they heard a muffled conversation in the living room. Allen bit his lip before letting his curiosity get the better of him, Ema trailing behind him frantically.
"I can't keep it in anymore, I have to tell you..." Tsubaki-san's voice?
"You can't, you'll just endanger yourself. Please, don't-" This is definitely Azusa-san's.
"I-I love you." How sweet... Wait, what?
Allen and Ema stood in surprised silence. They stared at each other, mouthing words they wanted to speak but their voice wouldn't work. As they got more worked up and flustered by the too many incidents in too short a time period, they found Subaru fully dressed, walking towards them. "Hey, I'm sorry for just now- Huh?" Subaru's attention was drawn by Azusa's positive reply to Tsubaki's confession. He looked at the Hinata siblings, and started to clear the misunderstanding. "Ah, they're not really confessing, they're just-"
He was once again cut off by the appearance of the two lovers themselves. "My, what do we have here?" Tsubaki teased, his arm around Azusa's shoulders. "Two cute eavesdroppers and one dull brother." Upon confronting the two lovers after hearing their confession, Ema and Allen's faces steamed. Tsubaki got the gist of what they thought judging from their reactions, and decided to have some fun. He turned his face to meet Azusa's, and kissed him on the lips. Even Subaru's eyes widened as he started doubting what he knew was fact. All the poor duo could do was stammer out congratulations and well-wishes to the new couple. Before they could escape to their room though, Tsubaki burst out laughing, clutching his stomach.
Azusa just sighed. He smiled apologetically after making sure Tsubaki had paid enough for the prank. "We were just practising our scripts, we're not really in love, don't worry."
"Scripts?"
"Yep. Me and Azusa are voice actors, we help each other practise a lot. It's cool right? Being able to act out cool characters, having a chance to see all the animes first..." Tsubaki's eyes shined as he got more and more excited, forgetting the pain from before.
(Tsubaki-san is really different from him...)
Allen's eyes brightened as well, amazed. "It's great to have a profession you love, isn't it?" He smiled happily. Tsubaki blinked a few times and grinned back. "Yep!"
"It's late," Azusa cut into the fluffy moment. "We all have work tomorrow, so let's go sleep. Good night!" And they left, Azusa dragging Tsubaki along. The other three stood in silence for a while longer, and left for their respective rooms as well.
That sure was fun.
Juli had fussed about the time and rushed them to sleep, but as usual he was the first to sleep soundly. His new miniature bed was on the desk between the two beds where each of the siblings laid.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Allen stared up at the ceiling that didn't have the stain shaped like a wolf, that had a soft cream colour instead of a sea blue.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
He heard rustling and then a whisper.
"Sei?"
"Hmm?"
"I can't sleep."
"Me neither."
As though that was a cue, Ema climbed into the comforting warmth, and held Allen's hand. Their eyes met and smiled.
Today went well didn't it?
It did. Her eyes fluttered close.
It's a relief. His eyes fell close.
Their chests warm and tingly, they fell asleep together under the new roof.
Two new siblings huh. They weren't that bad. Flashes of Allen and Ema crossed their minds. Not bad at all.
Author’s note:
So I’ve come up with a new story haha. Right now my plan is to upload only when the net chapter is finished so hopefully updates should be fine… Hopefully. Real life is really tough, especially when you’re still a student. I’ve been obsessed with Brothers’ Conflict and Uta no Prince-sama since last year, and when I sat down to write, this story decided to be a crossover on its own. It’d be great if you guys watched the two animes before, but if not I think it’s fine to just read on. :) If I write well enough I should be able to convey the characteristics of the characters just fine without prior context. I hope you enjoyed reading!