I may not own BroCon, but I do own this laptop that's been missing for three weeks since I moved. Not really sure about the genre of this, to be honest. It was supposed to be humor but then it evolved into something that wasn't really.

Summary: In which Ema and her brothers play a game of (lust/love/adoration).

the soulmate game.

Note from Ema to Juli: Find new fiber source; apples can no longer be eaten in front of the brothers.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

Four pairs of eyes glance to a set of wringing, milky hands.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

One more pair joins the three to observe a pink tongue poking through pink lips between pink cheeks.

Squeak. Squeak. Squeak.

Two more pairs look up from their work and toward brown eyes that sparkle with amusement.

Chu—!

"Ah!" The owner of that pink tongue poking through pink lips between pink cheeks exclaims with a sweet laugh, holding up the severed stem of an apple and regarding it triumphantly through brown eyes that sparkle with amusement. The stem droops at a sharp angle as if depressed at its defeat against the set of wringing, milky hands.

Hinata Ema: youngest sister to the Asahina brothers, long-time crush of over half of them, and currently mangling a defenseless honeycrisp for seemingly no reason. She takes a bite of the fruit, humming appreciatively when her teeth break the thick, red skin. Juice clings to her chin and she wipes it off before taking the stem again, oblivious to the seven stares that (lustfully/adoringly/protectively) follow her every move. She looks at the stem in her hand, thoughtful. She looks at the apple in the other, deciding.

When she begins to stab at the apple in short, quick jabs, one brother can no longer contain his curiosity and hops off his bench to watch her. His eyes glow with interest. Behind him, Ukyo, Azusa, Tsubaki, Louis, Subaru, and Iori let their gazes follow their youngest brother.

"Onee-chan, onee-chan!" Wataru cries, "What are you doing to that apple?"

"Hm?" Ema tilts her head at him. "Oh! Right. I suppose I did look a little strange doing that. But you've never played that game before, Wataru-chan?"

(She takes another bite.)

"What's the game called?" Wataru pipes.

"Well, it doesn't really have a real name. It's just something that my friends and I did when I was younger: a future-telling game."

(She takes another bite.)

"A future-telling game, Chii-chan?" Louis thrums. "What do you mean?"

Ema clears her throat. "Well," she begins, "When I was younger, my friends thought that an apple could tell somebody who they would marry in the future, or the initials at least. You twist the stem of the apple, and with each twist, you say a letter of the English alphabet. Whenever the stem comes off, then whatever letter you're on is your soulmate's last initial."

(She takes another bite.)

"The last initial?" Iori questions, and Ema nods. "Why were you stabbing at the apple with the stem just now, then?"

"Ah, that's the second part," the girl elaborates. "To find out your soulmate's first initial, you stab the apple till the stem pierces the skin. And then we used to choose from our pool of acquaintances someone who matched the initials. If you want your soulmate wish to become true, you eat the apple. It's kind of a habit that I retained from elementary school. Whenever I get an apple for lunch, I... ano... I find my soulmate, I suppose. Not that I believe in that!" She corrects herself quickly, an embarrassed blush staining her face. "It doesn't make any sense I mean, since I've never gotten the same initials twice anyway. It's just something I find entertaining."

Unaware of the implications of her teachings, Ema finishes off the apple, immensely (satisfied/wistful/hoping), and chucks away the core. But she begins to make her way up to her room only to be cut off at the kitchen island by seven Asahinas.

"Ne, Ema...?" Tsubaki drawls, "You were playing the game earlier. What initials did you pick?"

His sister's blush grows deeper. "Ah, I forgot," she chirps (because of course, a little white lie never hurt anyone).

"Then you have to do it again!" Tsubaki presses. "Here, here, take this. Your favorite apple type is honeycrisp, right?"

Azusa, meanwhile, eyes his triplet in good humor. Of course, the chances of the apple choosing any of them would be slim, but they all know that they are all hoping for her to twist an A and pierce the apple on the first letter of their names.

"Huh? Wait..."

"Yes, yes, Onee-chan! You'll get me, right? Oh, please get me!" Wataru pleads.

"I don't think..."

"This could be quite fun," Ukyo muses. "It's just an elementary school game. It's not like anybody will take it seriously."

Ema ponders for a moment, then nods slowly and takes the apple from Tsubaki. "Well, okay. You're right. It's just a game."

So she begins to twist off the stem, stating the letters very matter-of-factly. "A, B, C..."

The brothers watch carefully.

"D, E, F..."

Ema continues to twist.

"G, H—"

Chu—!

They all stare, unimpressed, at the detached stem in Ema's palm. It's Tsubaki who speaks up again.

"Clearly, it's defective." And with that, he takes the stem and the apple from her and places them back in the fruits basket, giving another one to his sister. "Here. Use this one instead."

Ema chuckles nervously. "Well, okay. A, B, C..."

It's a strong apple, they conclude, because soon enough, she's muttering, "X, Y, Z." She stops and meets their gazes. "Ano... I've never really gotten this far before. Maybe I'll just start over. A—"

Chu—!

Ema regards the apple and the stem with well-concealed (distress/surprise/happiness). The brothers regard them with well-concealed (horror/confusion/hope). At last, Subaru breaks the silence.

"You pulled an A," he observes.

"Yes," she affirms.

"An... A," Azusa inputs.

"It doesn't mean anything," she reasons.

"But you pulled an A, Chii-chan," Louis warns.

"...Yes," Ema, who pulled an A, affirms again, defeated. "I don't really think I should go any farther; I've already had an apple to eat anyway, it doesn't make much sense to— well..." She sighs, noting the expectant look on the brothers' faces, and yields to the inevitable. "Okay." She begins jabbing at the skin on the apple, trying not to make eye contact with any of them.

And only a few moments later, the stem makes its piercing and Ema peeps her surprise. Six of the Asahinas, frozen in place, turn slowly to the chosen brother.

"Your initials fit," says one. "It's just a game," says another. "Don't let it get to your head," says one more. "I'm going upstairs," says Ema.

They watch her as she disappears onto the second floor, energy sapped, and six brothers throw (dirty/jealous/impressed) looks at the seventh before flicking on the television and situating themselves in front of the sofa, regretting suggesting the game at all.

The seventh coughs. "I'm going upstairs too." But before he leaves, his fingers close around the pieces of the second apple Ema had held that day, the stem already twisted off on H.

()

When the skin of the apple breaks at the letter E, the brother decides with a mouthful of fruit that his sister's elementary school games may not be so inaccurate after all.

And when Ema lies (smiling/dreaming/wishing) on her bed, she decides that the rest of her brothers don't need to know the first set of initials she pulled. After all, they'd never believe her if she told them the letters were the same as the last one. She taps her nose mirthfully. My own little secret.

()

If you want your soulmate wish to come true, you eat the apple.

()

(She takes another bite.)

end.

7/20/2016

Hope it's alright! I'm typing this quick little story at like, two in the morning, and I'm probably going to redo this once I wake up. Clearly my style doesn't go well with anything that isn't angst or drama. Oneshots are fun, though; you can do a lot of stuff you can't in full-length stories, such as testing out the extent to which you can chickenscratch before you're no longer understandable.

Comment in the reviews which brother you think Ema got, and thanks for reading! ;)