Chapter 24: 特別な誰かはいないふりをして [ That special someone is pretending to be away ] Five Five month monthss after after enter entering ing Meiji Meiji Univ Univers ersit ity, y, Ema Ema exper experien iences ces her her first first summe summerr vacat vacation ion in university. The department of science has a policy for students to submit reports even from their first year, and since she has several reports due right after the vacation, she goes to the library once or twice each week. One day, Ema is about to go home when she sees a notice on the bulletin board. It was posted by the basketball team, promoting promoting their circle by using Subaru’s Subaru’s status as a future pro player. They attached the schedule of Subaru’s matches as well, and Ema notices that the first match is today. In fact, it’s taking place as she reads the notice. Ema is a bit reluctant at first, but she decides to see the match. When Ema arrives at the gym and waves her arms at him, Subaru smiles at her before turning his focus back to the match. As she watches him play, Ema realizes that Subaru has improved a lot compared to the last time she watched his match. It was a close game up to the beginning of the last quarter, but in the end Meiji University win with an overwhelming score thanks to him. After the match, Subaru comes to talk to Ema just before she leaves the gym. He thanks her for coming and asks why she knows about today’s match, so she tells him about the notice. He only sighs since he already told his teammates not to do that, and he’s going to sign the contract after graduation… which means he’s not a pro yet. During his trip to Kyushu, he got to watch the pro team’s practice. He realized that he can’t possibly compare to any of them, but he’s happy to be able to play with them. He’s glad to have continued his basketball career. Ema smiles upon seeing Subaru looking so happy, and this makes him blush since she looks so cute. He quickly says it’s nothing though, and she decides to take her leave since his teammates are waiting for him. When he asks if she’s willing to come to his match again, she nods and asks him to inform her the schedule— which he promises to mail to her later. Just as Ema turns around to leave, she suddenly hears Subaru whispering that he’s glad she doesn’t hate him. She instantly stops walking and turns to see him, but all she can see is his back walking towards the locker room. Ema goes to the station in front of Meiji University after that, and she hears two high school girls talki talking ng about about “Asak “Asakura ura Fuut Fuuto” o” while while waiti waiting ng for for the train train.. They They notice notice that that Fuuto Fuuto has been been appearing in a lot of dramas recently, but one of the girls seems sad about it since there’s a rumor about how the members of “forrtê”—the idol group he belongs to—are fighting because of this. While the rumor itself comes from the internet, it seems like something happened when the members of “forrtê” appeared on TV before. Sadly, Ema doesn’t get to hear the details since the train comes before they get to that part. She can’t help but feel worried about this, because Fuuto has the tendency of looking down on others—which might just come out when he’s at work. She then tries looking for more information through a search engine on her phone, and she feels relieved to see no results for this topic. However, there are several articles which contain the suspicion that Fuuto might have a sister complex. The cause is obviously the message he sent for Ema on TV before. She sighs and decides to tell him about this when they have time to talk. From Kichijouji Station, Ema walks through a shopping arcade on the way home. Suddenly she hears a loud voice calling her name, and she looks around to find someone waving waving at her in front of a fast food restaurant. It’s a young boy wearing Bright Centrair’s junior high uniform—Wataru. Since he’s now in junior high, Wataru also asked Ema to change the way she calls him. It used to be “Wataru-chan” before, but now he’d pout and sulk unless she calls him “Wataru-kun”. Even though it’s it’s summer vacation, he actually had a mock exam earlier today. Since Bright Centrair focuses on preparing their students for entrance exams, they have to take national mock exams and have shorter holidays than other schools… but Wataru Wataru is actually quite smart. His grades are higher than Ema’s junior high records. She doesn’t see him studying that much at home, so maybe he’s just smart like Masaomi and Ukyou.
As they walk home together, Wataru tells Ema about his school life. Since she’s only nodding at him, he soon gets worried and asks if his stories are boring. If they are, he wants her to tell him… or else he won’t be able to fix the flaw. flaw. Ema has to explain that it was because she’s intently listening listening to him, and Wataru apologizes for saying strange things. This makes her realize that he has matured a lot, but when she tells him about this… he falls silent for a while. Then he shakes his head and says that he’s he’s still not mature yet, because she’s still not willing to become his girlfriend. Σ (ﾟーﾟ；) Since the shopping arcade is packed with people today, before long everyone around them start whispering whispering about their “relationship” “relationship” LOL. Wataru Wataru then points out that Ema would only see him as a man when he grows up, and that’s why he knows she’s still thinking of him as a kid. Before Wataru Wataru can go further, Ema quickly takes his hand and drags him out of the shopping arcade. ( ﾟ ∀ ﾟ)ｱﾊﾊ八八ﾉヽﾉヽﾉヽﾉ ＼ / ＼ / ＼ After parting with Wataru, Ema collects the Asahina family’s mails from the 1st floor and sorts them out for everyone in the living room. Among the letters and magazines for Masaomi and Ukyou, she finds an envelope with a certain game developer’s developer’s logo—the company Natsume Natsume works for. Inside is a list of their new releases, and one of the titles is highlighted. Directly beside it, he wrote that he encountered a lot of difficulties during the development… but the game’s finally complete. In spring, Natsume transferred from the sales department to the development department. He’s He’s been exhausted since he had to work overtime or even spend the night in the office. She didn’t didn’t want to disturb him either, and so they haven’t seen each other in the last few months. Now that Natsume is done with the project, he should have some free time… and Ema is wondering if he’s going to visit the mansion again. It’s only obvious because this is his home after all. The question is how is she going to face him. Ema still can’t forget Natsume’s words and the kiss he left on her neck, but then she takes a deep breath and calms down. She reminds herself that she can’t think of one person only, because he’s not the only one who has confessed to her. Ema then takes Natsume’s letter and decides to return to her room. She uses the stairs thinking it would be quicker than waiting for the lift, but then she finds Tsubaki and Azusa on the 4th floor’s elevator hall. She gets really surprised when they suddenly call her, and this causes her to slip on the stairs. Ema closes her eyes just because she hits the floor, floor, but it doesn’t hurt that much. Also, Also, it feels warm for some reason. When she opens her eyes, she finds Tsubaki’s face right in front of her —so close that his breath touches her lips. It seems that Tsubaki caught Ema when she fell down, though it caused him to fall onto the floor before hitting his back on the wall. ∑ (-∀ -；ﾉ)ﾉ She turns red as she apologizes and tries to get up, but he holds her in place and quietly asks her to stay like this for a while. It would be bad if she’s injured. When Azusa tells him that it’s fine, Tsubaki lets go of Ema and helps her stand. Of course she feels bad and asks if he’s alright, but both of them ask her not to worry. worry. Azusa also picks up the letter from earlier and gives it back to Ema, which makes her wonder if he noticed the sender… He probably did though, because the envelope envelope bears the logo of the company.
Ema is about to leave after thanking them, but Tsubaki stops her since they were looking for her earlier. earlier. He then takes out a ticket from his jacket and asks her to accept it. The anime he’s working on is going to celebrate its 20th anniversary soon. They’re going to hold a memorial event to celebrate it, and he wants her to come to the event. Ema is unsure since she doesn’t want to cause a misunderstanding, but noticing that she’s reluctant, Azusa tells her that it’s different from what she’s thinking of. It’s going to be Tsubaki’s big moment as a seiyuu, and Azusa wants Ema to see it. Since the role is really important to him, Tsubaki Tsubaki also puts a lot of hard work and dedication into it. Once again he hands the invitation ticket to Ema, and he looks so relieved when she finally accepts it. Both Tsubaki and Azusa have to return to work after that, and Ema is left in doubt. She knows the event is really important for Tsubaki as a seiyuu, but is that really the only reason…? Realizing that
she’ll only drown in worries if she stays in her room, Ema puts the ticket along with Natsume’s letter in her mailbox and goes outside. Even after reaching the first floor, Ema still can’t find the answer to her doubt. Just before she walks out, she runs into Rui—who just returned from work—at the hall. Noticing that something is troubling her, Rui takes Ema to have dinner at a Japanese tavern in Inokashira Park. One of his customers is working there, and they are guided to a couple’s seat inside. The seats are incredibly close to each other, and this makes her feel uneasy. While she knows that he’s different from the triplets, triplets, it doesn’t change the fact that he’s a man too. Ema tries to get away by mentioning that it’s it’s almost time for dinner at home, but this only leads to Rui calling Ukyou instead—asking him to cook dinner for today. When Ema tries to argue, Rui says he can see that she doesn’t want to stay at home right now. now. This really surprises surprises her since she didn’t tell him anything, but his job trained him to read people’s feelings. Everyone has an important reason for coming to his salon, and he can’t let those reasons to be ignored. He always observes their movements, movements, gestures, facial expressions and eyes. That’s why he can see what people are wishing for. Rui then asks if Ema is worried because of Natsume. Maybe Tsubaki and Azusa? Or could it be Subar Subaru? u? When When Ema Ema asks asks why he brough broughtt up these these four four peopl people, e, Rui explain explainss that that he heard heard everything… everything… from Juli. From around the time when Ema entered university, university, Juli has been spending most of his time away from her room. She’s been wondering wondering about what he’s he’s doing, but apparently he’s he’s been investigating a lot of things for her sake and reported the results to Rui. Of course it’s it’s not a good thing for him to disturb their brothers’ brothers’ privacy, privacy, but Juli promised not to do it again after Rui asked him to stop. When Ema apologizes for Juli’s Juli’s actions, Rui says that’s probably why everyone loves her—she always accepts them at all times. They’re brothers, but they become distant as they grow up to avoid clashing with each other. This causes them to dislike showing their real feelings too, because that would make it more painful when they clash. However, they can show how they truly feel in front of Ema… and that’s why everyone is attracted to her. Rui then says they should make an order soon, but as they open the menu, he says there’s another reason why everyone loves her. It’s because she’s cute. ﾟ.+:｡(*-ω-)(-ω-*)ﾟ.+:｡ After they return to mansion, Ema goes to the living room and nearly bumps into Ukyou—who’s holding a bottle of brandy. It turns out that Ukyou went out to discuss something with Masaomi earlier, and so he ordered a delivery for everyone’s dinner. Their discussion got stuck though, so they decided to return and continue at home. Masaomi then suggests asking Ema about this certain issue, and Ukyou asks her to sit with them. What they’re discussing about is actually none other than Iori. Ever since he left the mansion, Iori hasn’t contacted them even once. He didn’t draw any money from his bank account either. Since Iori is smart, they think he should be doing well out there… but they’re also a bit worried. Even though they’re brothers, Iori never talked to them that much. It might sound weird, but even brothers don’t stay together all the time. They They do have things they can’t share with each other. However, they think Iori has opened his heart a bit for Ema… and so they’re wondering if she received any contact from him. Sadly, Ema hasn’t heard anything from Iori either. A heavy silence hangs between them, until eventually eventually Masaomi nods and thanks her. Ukyou Ukyou also apologizes for stopping her, and she knows it means she can leave now… but then she decides to tell them how she feels regarding this situation. She thinks they don’t have to worry about Iori. Back on her graduation day, Iori told her that he will be alright—he already got the confidence to start over. Ema believes in Iori, and she thinks they should do the same. Both Masaomi and Ukyou agree with her opinion, though this also makes them realize that they don’t really understand Iori. Before they retire for the night, Masaomi hands a letter for Ema. There’s There’s only a single line written on the envelope: “For imouto-chan.” It’s It’s from Kaname. From time to time, he sends a letter for Masaomi. The temple he’s training at has a limit on sent mails, so whenever he needs something from his brothers, he’d put a separate letter inside and send everything everything to Masaomi. Masaomi. Ukyou is wondering what he does with the remaining remaining amount, but let’s put
that aside for now. If Ema wants to send reply, she can give her letter to Masaomi and he’ll send it for her. After that, Ema returns to her room and opens Kaname’s letter. He asks if she’s doing well in university. As for him, he will have to spend a bit more time over there. He apologizes for being unable to stay with her, but he promises to return as quickly as possible. When that day comes, he wants her to give him a kiss to welcome him back. Just a kiss on the cheek would do. ヽ(*´ ー`*) ﾉ Kaname can’t fool Ema anymore though. She has learned that from time to time, he would lie to protect others. She knows that he didn’t write the letter because he’s worried about her, but rather because he cares… and that makes her really happy. On the second page of the letter, Kaname Kaname tells Ema that if she ever loses her way, she should choose the path she believes in. She shouldn’t let others twist her around, for the path she chooses will surely be the right one. As she reads this, Ema feels deeply touched by Kaname’s words. On the day of the memorial event, Ema wears a new dress thinking it’d be rude to show up with improper clothes. She doesn’t want to trouble Rui all the time, so she matches the coordinate herself. She’s actually planning to go out after having a light breakfast, but when she goes to the living room… she finds Hikaru eating the sandwich she made last night. His expensive-looking suit is all sloppy, which clearly shows that he came home in the morning. When Ema says she was planning to eat the sandwich, Hikaru remembers that she’s going to attend the event today… and he suddenly asks which one of the triplets is she going to choose. From Hikaru, Ema learns that Natsume is coming to the event as well. His company is planning to release a game for the anime, so he’s going to be there for work. It’s unclear how Hikaru found out about this, but it’s not important. He’s more interested in their “love square” instead. Even though Ema says that she’s only going for the sake of attending the event, he doesn’t think that excuse would work on men. Hikaru won’t let Ema go to the event with such a “plain” appearance either, so he tells her to come over and not move until he allows her to—he’s to—he’s going to do her make-up. He can’t give her the best result, but the triplets prefer light make-up on girls anyway. For the finishing touch, Hikaru puts a pearl pink lipstick on Ema’s lips… with his finger. finger. Σ (ﾟーﾟ ； ) At the same time, he wraps one arm around her and holds her in place. As he licks the remaining lipstick on his finger, Hikaru starts laughing and wonders how the triplets would react when they see Ema later. later. Then he sends her off and literally shoves her out of the living room. From there, Ema doesn’t remember remember how she came down to the first floor. floor. She feels like she rushed down the stairs and tries to control her breath at the entrance, but her feelings just won’t calm down. Because of this, she probably won’t make it for the train. The event takes place in Makuhari Messe, Messe, so it takes an hour and a half from the mansion—not to mention she also has to change trains. Just then one of their family cars stops in front of her, and a voice calls her to get in. Ema is surprised surprised to see Yusuke sitting on the driver’s seat, but he only says he’ll drive her to the Makuhari Messe. He tells her that he’s going to the university, university, so he might as well take her there… even though it’ll be a huge detour since Makuhari Messe Messe is in Chiba. Ema feels bad and says she’ll take the train instead, but Yusuke won’t allow her to get off. She’s putting a lot of effort for today’s event, so he doesn’t want her new clothes to get dirty in the crowd. She doesn’t know why he’s going this far just for her, but he says it’s simply because he wants to do so. However, However, Ema then hears Yusuke Yusuke muttering: “You’re “You’re so dangerous today. today. What would you do if I get even more rivals…?” He falls silent after that, and it seems like he’s not aware that she heard what he just said. Ema gets nervous when Yusuke suddenly asks her to calm down and listen, but then he says something something completely different: different: “Actually, “Actually, I just got my driving license two days ago. This This is the first first time I’m driving driving with with someon someonee inside inside.” .” Σ (-`Д´-ﾉ ； ) ﾉ !? After a heavy silence, Ema panics and asks Yusuke to let her out. It’s impossible since they’re already in the highway though,
and he quickly tells her not to worry because his driving instructor praised him for being a good driver LOL.
