Apples and Cinnamon Part 2

"Thank you, Hikaru-san." We arrived at the underground parking lot, and we started to unload the boxes.

"Don't mention it, Erin-chan. And... You know you can drop the '-san,' right? Both you and your sister?" He took one of my boxes filled with old stationary and a jewelry set, while I grabbed the box holding my clothes. Ema already went up with the DVDs and photo album. "Because, if you're using '-san,' then it sounds like you view us as men, and not your brothers..." There was a small smile playing at his lips.

"Kii! You're not suggesting what I think you are!" Juli decided to stay with me to keep an eye on the older brother. "Chuu! I hope you aren't falling for this wolf!" I felt his fury as he growled atop my head.

I sighed at the squirrel's antics, to which Hikaru thought I was sighing to his statement. The smile wiped from his features for a second without my noticing.

"Then what about Hikaru-nii-san?" It still felt... Off to call him without the suffix, -san at the end.

He arched an eyebrow, giving an unsatisfied look. "H-Hikaru-nii." I then thought of calling him something better. "What about aniki?" I broke out into a grin.

Hikaru, with his own amused smile, shook his head. "You don't need to go that far, imotou. 'Hikaru-nii' is fine with me."

"Okay.~" It still felt... A bit alien to use the term, but there was something nice and exciting calling them brother. "I guess it's alright to call my older brothers '-nii' instead of '-san,' then."

"I'm sure they won't mind at all." He had a small smile on his face as we entered the elevator.

"Hmm." I sniffled and rubbed my nose with a sleeve.

Upon arriving the third floor, the two of us walked to the storage room and placed the boxes wherever there was room.

"Wow, it's getting crowded here." I had to step over smaller boxes to stack my own.

"If I'm not mistaken, the room you're currently staying in was a storage room, as well as my old room."

"Was it now?" I started to tread across, maneuvering through the boxes. Suddenly, my foot landed on a round object, throwing me off balance. Yelping, I tried to recover by taking a few extra steps. In doing so, however, I bumped into a stacked box and I heard it shift as it began to fall.

"Erin!" My body was harshly tugged, and I found myself being crushed by another body. There were thuds of objects hitting the ground as I gently peeled myself from my savior.

"Ow..." Although there was one less accident to worry about, my nose didn't escape the pain of being slammed into another's chest.

"I'm sorry. Are you alright?" His voice was soft and warm.

"Yeah, I'm fine." As I rubbed my nose, I gazed up at Hikaru and looked at his strong emerald eyes. There was a glow around him, a warmth that wrapped around me as he embraced me in a protective hold. With the help of the room's light, I was able to take in his handsome features. Unlike when he has make-up on as a woman, seeing him as a man, emerald eyes and hair tied back, truly took my breath away. I didn't want to admit it, but at that moment, I viewed Hikaru as a man, and not as a brother.

"Kii! It's dark in here! Who turned off the lights?!" A box squirmed around behind me. I glanced down, but a voice made my head snap back up.

"Is Hikaru-nii doing something naughty? And with onee-san, no less."

The two of us jumped at the mocking, yet mischievous, voice. I took the distraction to step away from the novelist as said man turned to his younger brother.

"Fuuto, you're home early." Hikaru's arms were back at his side as they talked. I, on the other hand, tried to calm my beating heart, which seemed to almost break out of my rib cage.

"We finished the recording faster than expected, so I came home to rest. But I didn't expect to come home to see my brother and sister eloping." He was leaning on the door frame with a smirk on his lips. Before Hikaru was able to retort, Fuuto waved his hand and backed away from the entrance. "Well, not that I care. Just make sure you close the door next time, alright? The others might not take too kindly to what you two are doing."

Hikaru let out an annoyed sigh once the idol left. "Sorry about that."

"I-It's okay. Sorry for putting you in that awkward situation."

He shook his head and looked at my direction. "I just didn't want you to get hurt." His orbs then traveled to my feet, and his lips twitched upward. "Though I guess you wouldn't have."

Following his gaze behind me, I saw that what replaced where I stood were stuffed animals, old and dusty from storage.

'Way to overreact, Hikaru,' I thought to myself. I started to giggle, and upon looking at my 'savior,' we realized we had similar thoughts and burst out in laughter.

"Kii! Chuu! Get this thing off of me!" The box bumped into my leg and I let out a small gasp.

"Juli! I'm sorry." I bent down and lifted the box. He shook his body to get rid of the dust. Then, the squirrel crawled up my arm and onto my head.

"Chuu! You have got to be careful next time." He scolded me and then directed his attention to Hikaru. "And you! What did you do to her while I was trapped under there, huh?!" He hissed at the brother who flinched and stepped back.

"He didn't do anything bad, Juli..." I scratched his cheek in order to calm him down.

"As if! That idol said something about you two!"

I sighed. Juli just wanted to protect my sister and I, and I know that, but I tire of this shield he puts around us when he's near. And so, that's why I've decided to ignore him at that time.

"Come on, we have to pick them up." I bent down and placed the stuffed toys into their respective bo-

-ACHOO!-

I hunched over and quickly covered my mouth.

"Bless you. Are you alright?"

In reply, I let out a soft groan. "Sorry, yeah... I'm fine, thanks."

"It's probably the dust. But you've had a tough night. I can finish this, so you should go and rest." I gave him a look. "I'll be fine, and I won't be long anyway." I made a sound as I nodded.

"Thank you, again, for everything."

"You're welcome, Erin-chan." We exchanged warm smiles before I left.

"Chuu, are you-?"

"I'm fine, Juli." I cut him off, more harsh than I meant it to be. I let out a sigh, regretting it. "I'm fine, Juli." I repeated, but in a softer voice. "Sorry, but can you check up on my sister? She might be up on the fifth floor with the other brothers."

"Okay, Chuu." Juli jumped off and glanced back. "Feel better..." He scampered away.

Soon, I was in front of my room. I felt bad about acting that way toward Juli. I thought about going down to try to make amends, and to hang out with my brothers, but my body was lethargic and it's desire was to be in the comfort of a bed. Giving into temptation, I crawled into the sheets and sent my sister a quick text. "Sorry guys," I mumbled before drifting to dream land. "Sorry, Juli."

Hikaru was greeted with laughter and bright conversation when he got to the fifth floor. At the living area, Ema was crowded around by the brothers as they looked at an open book.

"Aww! Erin-chan looks so cute here!~" Albums, Hikaru figured, but he was surprised when he didn't see Erin among the group.

"Hey, Hikaru-san," Ema greeted. Masaomi, Ukyo, the twins, Subaru, Iori, Yusuke, Fuuto, and Wataru were there, with Tsubaki and Wataru closest to the book.

"Looks like you guys are having fun." He ignored the smug look Fuuto gave. "Did Erin not come down?"

"No, she turned in early."

"Did she not tell you?" Ukyo asked.

"Hmm, I did tell her to go rest. She sneezed, but she might have caught a cold." He then glanced at the eldest. "Masaomi, do you mind?"

"It's no problem. I'll check on her."

The novelist then tilted his head at the younger sister. "How are you, imotou? You were out in the rain, too."

"What? What were you guys doing?" Ema flinched at Tsubaki's question.

"Nothing you should worry about, Tsubaki-san."

"We wouldn't want you to get sick though."

Ema's cheeks turned pink at their concern, but she shook her head in resolution. "I-I'm fine, really. I worry about my sister more than myself." She then glanced at the pediatrician.

With a nod, the eldest stood up. "Right. I'll check on her, but please don't hesitate to see me if you feel under the weather."

"Well, I'm going to head out. See you, imotou, brothers." Both Masaomi and Hikaru went up to the elevator.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Iori asked, to which she responded with a yes.

Ema continued to flip through the album, and when she got to the end, there was an old envelop.

"Huh." She picked it up and, when she turned it around, she spotted a note.

'Dear Ema,

I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner. But now you know why I've kept these last few pages blank.'

Ema's eyes slowly widened, and she opened the envelope. She pulled out the small stack of photos, and gasped at the sight of them. The first photo was only a newly wed couple.

"Are these...?"

"Those are your parents, Chii." Juli whispered as he got on her shoulder. The next photo was of a baby with the couple. It was of Erin, their parents still in the hospital, smiling with their bundle of joy.

"Is that Eri-nee?" Wataru wondered aloud.

Ema smiled as she gazed at the pictures, continuing to flip through them. "Yeah. We were actually adopted by Rintarou when we were young. I was told our mother died from an illness when I was a baby, while our father died from an accident when I was two." There was a picture of their parents around a crib, and Erin was on her mom's lap. "I was only told about this recently, but I can tell our parents loved us, and I wish I met them." With a practically teary eyed smile, the young sister took the photos and put them to her chest, hugging them as if to reclaim the warmth she was too young to remember about.

Author's Note

Well, this chapter was really, REALLY delayed. I'm so sorry my readers! I got slow in editing when I promised myself I wouldn't.

That being said... I am thinking of going on another hiatus. Things have gotten slow and I lost a bit of motivation.

This second part seems like a nice spot to end the book. I don't plan on making a separate book when I get back on. I will continue to add more chapters under the same title. Think of it as the end of the first season, but I am unsure when the next season will begin, nor do I know if I will be able to produce twenty-four more chapters.

I'm sorry I brought this up so suddenly and so delayed, and I hope all you lovelies will forgive me.

ILoveKuramaTooMuch: Hikaru is such a fun brother to type out, with his mature and playful side. Thank you so much, and I'm glad you love my character. I hope you aren't too angry that I've decided to go on break. I hope you get notified when I come back!

animegoddess644: Yeah, the connection was lost after a few weeks, lol. but anyway, i'm glad you're rooting for him XD.

ColdHeart1206: Happy Late Holidays to you, too! Hope your year has been interesting so far. Now that she's getting sick, there will be some time with Masaomi. ;) When I get back of course... I'm sorry that you would have to wait a long time. Hope to see you when I get back!

NightlyRowenTree: Haha, thank you so much! I'm sorry that this was delayed, and that you have to wait for some time before I update again. .

DevilAkemi: I'm sorry that I didn't update at the correct time. Don't kill meh! D: But, I did try to maintain a two week separation between chapters (though I wasn't able to keep up with it this week...) And thank you, I'm glad that I did something right with my story XD

Momochan77: Erin has become my baby because of this story. ^^ And hey, no one is perfect ;) It's difficult to actually explain the tricks, especially since I don't actually play with the Diabolo. It's difficult and long, but I've tried to actually explain the tricks and moves she can perform. Hopefully it comes across well when I update. Whenever I do... Lol...

gabypdd: Hello new reader! (God, I feel bad that I'm actually going on hiatus when someone new just arrived...) Thankfully, I'm doing something right with this story. XD I haven't played the games or read the novels either, I just searched up information on the wikia, too. And you're welcome! :D And I actually got a friend of mine to proof-read this. I'm a bit shy to ask around, but maybe I can find someone suitable to beta-read, or I can pay more attention to my grammar. As long as Hikaru isn't too OOC in my readers' eyes, then I'm happy. And YES, this will be a multi-end story for Erin, but not all brothers will have an "I love you" ending, just certain brothers. I can't wait until I am able to write them. :)

I apologize again for the delay, and for the sudden notice of my haitus. I might loose readers, but I hope that you lovelies will await for the next update, whenever that will be. It should be in a few months, if I have enough chapters planned ahead.

Anyway, thank you all for sticking with me so far, and I hope to see you all again in the future! Love you all, and see you next time! ^^