Chapter 42: Let Them Eat Candy!

"So, Yusuke, how's school going?" Natsume turns to his brother. 

Yusuke shrugs. "It's going okay. I studied for midterms this week. I'm not super confident I'll do well, but I'm gonna pass. I've got to."

"I'm sure you'll be fine," I say. "You've been going to the library after classes to squeeze in extra study time, and you asked me to help you with your writing the other day. Give yourself some credit, Yusuke-kun. You're a good student."

Yusuke's expression relaxes a little. "Thanks, Mai-san."

"How about you, Mai-san?" Natsume asks me. "I bet it's been a busy few weeks with the move. And I can't imagine my brothers were always on their best behaviour."

I chuckle. "It was really stressful at first, but everyone was so nice to me, and you guys even helped me move in on top of that. I don't know what I would've done if Ema-chan hadn't invited me over to stay."

I think back to when my previous apartment flooded. The despair I felt staring at my building being sectioned off, the frustration at the unhelpfulness of my landlord, the fear that I wouldn't have anywhere else to go but a sketchy capsule hotel... 

Yet Ema reached out and helped me, and I met Masaomi and the other Asahina brothers, who let me stay at their place free of charge until I could get back on my feet. I probably won't see any of them aside from Yusuke now that I've moved out. 

It'll be weird not waking up and having breakfast with everyone in the morning...

I force a smile, trying not to think about the transition I'll face while adapting to my new home.

"I'll admit I'm going to miss cooking sessions with Ukyo-san and Ema-chan," I say regretfully. 

Yusuke laughs. "You guys talked a lot about food. I don't think I've seen Kyo-nii that chatty in a long time."

"Mn." Natsume muses. He takes a swig of his coffee and thinks back. "Kyo-nii does like to cook. I'm surprised he let someone else help out. He doesn't even let me in the kitchen to help anymore."

"Eh? Why? Does he think you're bad at cooking or something?" I ask. Having cooked with Natsume all but once, I can safely say that he can make edible meals. Could Natsume have developed acquired tastes from living alone?

Natsume's frown deepens, and for a second I'm afraid I might've triggered some bad memory. To my relief, he replies that Ukyo simply wasn't fond of his food.

"He said it was too salty, but Tsubaki and Wataru were fine with it." He crosses his arms. "Cooking is mostly Kyo-nii's job, so he probably doesn't want me stealing it from him."

I laugh. "With this many brothers, I bet he appreciates the help."

"Maybe." Natsume doesn't sound too convinced, but he doesn't dwell on the subject much longer.

The conversation then moves to talking about the brothers, who are the only common topic between us. I've met most of the Asahinas, twelve out of the supposed thirteen of them. I'm curious about the final brother I've yet to meet, the one called Hikaru. Yusuke mentioned that he doesn't live at Sunrise Residence, so my chances of meeting him have dropped to zero. I'm not bothered by this, really, though this means that my Brothers Bingo will be incomplete until the end of time.

As we start touching on the subject of Subaru's training, a topic that Natsume and Ema eagerly discuss, we're interrupted by a knock on the door. This startles us all; we weren't expecting anyone. 

"Coming!" I stand and walk toward the door. "Could it be the building manager?"

"You think he forgot something?" Yusuke suggests. 

"Like the garbage schedule or rules of the building?" Ema adds. She passes the bag of snack mix back to Wataru, who isn't concerned in the slightest. 

I don't think too hard about it, since I agree with Yusuke that the manager likely forgot something. He should have my contact information from when I signed the lease, but some news is best delivered in person.

I open the door. "Hello?" 

"Yooo!"

A cheesy singing voice assaults my ears. I frown as deeply as Natsume.

"Tsubaki-san... what a surprise." My tone is flat, reflecting the peeved expression that is no doubt leaking out from my polite restraint. 

The white-haired Asahina grins and flashes a peace sign. "I didn't know if we'd make it in time, but we wanted to pop over and see how things went."

"'We'?" 

The bad feeling from earlier today suddenly comes to mind. 

I peer over Tsubaki's shoulder to see Azusa, whose presence I am slightly less peeved about, but not enough to smile genuinely. 

"Azusa-san, too."

The megane brother shuts his eyes and smiles. "We won't stay long. We wanted to say hello and see how your move went. We're also here to escort Ema, Yusuke, and Wataru home."

"Yeah, it'll be dark soon, and what kind of brothers would we be if we made Ema-chan walk home alone?" Tsubaki nods proudly as though he's the best brother in the world. 

I fight the urge to roll my eyes. They know that Yusuke and Natsume are here too, right?

"Mai-chan, who is it?" Ema's voice sounds next to me. "Ah! Tsubaki-san, Azusa-san. I thought you two had work this evening."

"We're done for the day," Azusa says. 

"We're here to pick you up," Tsubaki adds. He leans toward the door and offers his hand. "Now that we've checked in on Tsukiyo Mai-san we should let her get settled. We can walk you home."

"Thank you very much." Ema smiles. "You didn't have to worry about me so much, though. Yusuke-kun, Wataru-chan, and Natsume-san are here, too. Yusuke-kun and Wataru-chan will leave with me."

The twins exchange glances. 

"Natsume is here?" Azusa asks. "I thought he was busy with work."

Tsubaki leans in and shouts, "Naatsuuuummeeee!" He waves his arms wildly, trying to catch his younger brother's attention. On the other end of the room, Natsume grimaces but doesn't look at him. 

"Can you keep it down? You'll bother the neighbours," I scold. "If you're going to make noise at least come inside first." I grab both their arms and yank them into the genkan. 

"Fufu, Tsukiyo Mai-san's so forward!"

"Thanks for having us."

I ignore them and return to the living room. "Yusuke-kun, Wataru-kun, your brothers are here. They said they'll walk you guys home whenever you're ready to leave."

"I didn't know they knew we were here," Natsume mutters.

I feel like he's accusing me of something. I clear my throat. "We asked everyone for help just in case, but they said they wouldn't be coming. I'm just as surprised as you are, Natsume-san."

"Hmph. They definitely know how to make an entrance..."

I'm inclined to agree with his remark. 

Seconds later Tsubaki spots the snacks and asks if he can join in. It would be rude to refuse him and Azusa after they've come all this way, so I relent and retake my seat next to Yusuke. 

"What are you guys doing here?" Yusuke can't help but ask. "We can walk home ourselves, you know."

"Oh? Are you against spending time with your older brothers?" Azusa asks cheekily.

"Yeah, are you?" Tsubaki repeats. "Don't tell me you're embarrassed to be seen with us, Yusuke."

My fellow first year grimaces and sputters. "T-That's not what I meant!"

Wataru looks between them and says, "We were going to walk home together. It's not like it's dangerous this time of day."

"Yeah, but we wanted to do something nice, ne?" Tsubaki ruffles Wataru's hair, making him squeal in protest. "We haven't heard from Natsume in a bit, so we wanted to see him, too. Eh, Natsume?"

Still frowning, Natsume sips his coffee.

With a grin, Azusa sits down next to his younger triplet and tries to draw him back into the conversation. 

"How's work going? You look exhausted."

Without opening his eyes, Natsume grunts. "It's going well."

"Come on, Natsume. Can't you give us more than that?" Tsubaki scoots to Natsume's other side, boxing him in. It almost looks like Natsume's going to pop a vein. 

"You could've just texted," he grumbles. 

"Yeah, but that's no fun. Besides, the event's coming up soon, so we thought you'd want to hear how it was going."

"I'm good." 

Azusa chuckles and leaves Natsume to it. He turns to Yusuke, who flinches back. 

Ah, he's their next target. They've yet to tease Ema or Wataru. The relationships between the siblings becomes clearer to me by the minute. 

"And how are you, Yusuke?" Azusa asks. "Is the studying going okay? I know you didn't like studying back in high school, so if there's anything you're struggling with, Tsubaki and I are happy to help."

"No thanks. I can study on my own," Yusuke says, holding his hands up defensively. "And it's not that I'm bad at studying or anything."

"Oh? I seem to recall you struggling with your last project."

"I turned it in on time, didn't I?" 

I sip my own drink, feeling myself be edged back further and further from the conversation. To one who's never met the brothers they might think that they were being mean to each other. There's definitely tension in the air, but I choose to interpret this as normal sibling behaviour. Shin and I were often at each other's throats, too, spitting insults at each other with calm smiles. 

As I have no place in this conversation, and there are no openings to save Yusuke or Natsume (the twins are just that coordinated in their attacks), I shift over to Ema and Wataru, who have been spared the banter. 

The two of them are sharing gummies, comparing what colours they pull from the bags and what shapes they are. 

"I think this one's supposed to be a watermelon, but it's a weird yellow colour," Wataru muses. He holds the gummy up to the light before tossing it into his mouth. His face twists in disgust. "It doesn't taste like watermelon at all."

"It might be a lemon," Ema says. "Would you like some as well, Mai-chan?" She's well aware of the battles being waged on the other side of the room, and her offering me an out will not go unappreciated. 

"Yes, please. Some sugar would be nice." I move to sit beside her and dig into the bag. As the candy mushes in my mouth I listen in on Wataru's thoughts about the different types of candy at the store. He likes sweets, but doesn't want to broadcast this fact too much. Apparently, there are kids at school who think sweet things are just for girls or little kids.

"I think it's okay to eat whatever you want, though." Ema places a hand to her cheek in concern. 

"Yeah. Don't be afraid to eat what you like." I hand the bag to Wataru, who accepts it. Here, there's no one to make fun of him for his likes, so he has no reservations stuffing his face with sweet and sugary candy. 

Wataru pops another candy into his mouth. "I guess so, but I don't mind salty snacks, either. When I get older I don't know if I'll like sweets as much. Makkun gives me lollipops all the time and it makes me feel like a kid. I'm already in middle school..." 

"Ano, he gives me lollipops as well, Wataru-chan," Ema says. "I think he gives them to a lot of people regardless of how old they are. Knowing Masaomi-san, he wants to make people smile more than anything else."

She must have intended to make the same impact on Wataru, but her youngest brother puffs his cheeks before offering candy to Ema. 

"Here, Onee-chan. Have this from me."

"Oh, thank you, Wataru-chan." Ema happily accepts. 

"You're a good brother, Wataru-kun," I say. I hope I haven't placed too much emphasis on the "brother" part. Either way, all of Wataru's focus is on Ema, who plucks a green lime-shaped candy from the bag and pops it in her mouth. A smile blooms on her face as she savours the flavour. Wataru beams. 

"Makkun's not the only one who wants to make you smile," Wataru murmurs under his breath.

I flinch, suddenly struck with the fatigue of all the events that happened these past few weeks. 

To my right I hear Yusuke arguing with Tsubaki while Azusa and Natsume try to arbitrate. Plastic bags crinkle and unopened soda cans roll across the floor. Above, the lightbulb flickers as though trying to join in the chaos. 

Uh. I wanted to have a fun social before everyone left, but now I wish they'd just go already. Leave me out of your brothers conflict!