Author's Note:

If you haven't read "I Need Your Heart" already, please read that first before reading this book.

Hello! It's me again! Here is the first chapter of the second book of the "I Need Your..." series! I'm glad that I can finally start this! I am aware that the anime will end soon, but I hope you will still follow me as I write this.

That being said, I hope you will be able to enjoy this.

EDITED ON MAY 31, 2014 (Please see the author's note below)

I Need Your Smile

First Chapter: New Start

The snow was falling delicately from the sky as a large airplane began to touch down on the runway. It has been exactly seven years since Ema Hinata, age twenty-three, walked out of her brothers' lives completely. Sitting on her seat, she looked out of the window as she began to see the view of Japan again.

Back when she was only a sixteen year old high school student, the love of her life passed away, due to the carelessness of some of her brothers. Before that, she met Fuyuki Shiraishi by chance as she walked back from school. Then, as their relationship began to develop, he eventually confessed his feelings to her. Since she was in love with him, she when he admitted that he liked her.

However, her happiness was cut short one Christmas Eve when some of her jealous brothers ran over him with the family car. At that moment, Ema's world fell apart. It couldn't have gotten any worse, right? Well, to put it bluntly, it did. After the incident, she had a huge argument with her brothers, which, in a nutshell, didn't end well.

After said argument, she decided that the only thing she could do was to meet with her love again by drowning herself in a river. Fortunately, Fuyuki's older sister, Aiko managed to save her life. When Ema woke up, she finally realized what she had done and started to regret her decision.

However, after all that, she still couldn't bring herself to face her brothers again. As a result, Aiko offered to take her to America to start a new life, free from all the worries of the past. Of course, Ema said yes and went with her six months later.

So, what has she done during these seven years? Well, you can say that a whole lot had happened while she was gone.

In America, she decided to follow Fuyuki's dream, which was to be a famous idol. There, she studied at Westwood Performing Arts Academy, the school that Fuyuki wanted to attend. As the years went by, she managed to do well in both her academic and her performing arts classes. While she was attending the school, she met two other Japanese girls, named Michiko Arai and Ayako Yukimura.

Michiko was two years older than Ema. Growing up in a strict family, she grew up to be a mature and smart woman. However, her family didn't like the idea of her becoming an idol, so they threatened her, saying that if she follows her dream, she would get disowned. This wasn't a really hard decision for her, as she immediately took the earliest flight to America, leaving her family forever. As a result, she began to grow cold, until she met Ema, who managed to break her out of her shell. Afterwards, she became a mature, young woman who was following her dream.

Meanwhile, Ayako, who was only a year younger than Ema, came from an easy-going family, who supported her dreams and always wished her the best in everything that she did. One day, while watching TV, she happened to watch Fuuto Asakura's concert, which was broadcasted on TV. As she watched in awe, she suddenly wanted to become an idol, hoping that she would meet the man who changed her future. When her family heard about this, naturally, they were supportive. In fact, because of their constant support, she grew up to be a spoiled and immature girl.

One day, while preparing for an upcoming school concert, they were paired together to preform as an idol group. Of course, they had to, as it was arranged by their teachers. As they practiced, they grew to like each other and eventually became the best of friends. In fact, Ema trusted them so much that she told them about her dark past. Being the friends they were, they whole-heartedly supported her.

Then, on the day of the concert, they performed really well, catching the eye of a talent agent. After the concert was over, the group was approached by said talent agent, who quickly gave them an offer to become a part of his talent agency. Naturally, the couldn't refuse, to they quickly accepted, thus creating the birth of Asa-hime, their girl group.

After they graduated from the school, they quickly came back to Japan so that they could finally début. In a nutshell, the concept of Asa-hime was that they were all princesses with the surname Asahina, giving them the name "Asa-hime". Ayako and Michiko took the names Aya Asahina and Mi Asahina respectively, while Ema's stage name was Chiyoko Asahina, which was usually shortened to "Chi" by the fans. Naturally, that would make her nervous, as it was really similar to Juli and Louis' nickname for her.

After their first performance in Japan, they quickly developed a sizable fanbase. In fact, they became really famous, not only among the Japanese, but also among a lot of people around the addition to becoming an idol, Ema also became a well known actor, playing a number of roles. However, because of her busy schedule, she only played minor roles throughout her career.

To put it simply, she was having a great life as an idol. Even though she was happy, she still greatly missed her brothers. Even if she wanted to see them again, she knew that she couldn't, since it would defeat the whole purpose of starting a new life. After all, the reason why she ran away was to get away from her painful past, which would be impossible if she was with her brothers. Also, she still couldn't manage to forgive Fuuto and Tsubaki for what they did to Fuyuki, since they still wanted to make her theirs after accidentally killing off their biggest rival.

While Ema was enjoying her life as an idol, what were her family and friends doing during those seven years?

Well, after seven years of searching for her, they were still hopeful that she was alive. Since there was no body to prove her death, they all knew that there was a possibility that she was still alive. However, Ukyo noted that since it had been seven years after her disappearance and they still haven't found any clue that would reveal the truth, she legally became dead in absentia.

Even though it was a daunting task for them, they finally grew to accept her "death". A lot of people didn't take this news to well. This included Rintarou, Ema's adoptive father, who couldn't believe that she was dead. He felt as if he was a failure of a father, apologizing to her dead parents profusely. At the same time, Miwa, his wife, who was saddened by the fact that she lost her only daughter.

In addition to the two, another person who took it extremely hard was her pet squirrel, Juli, who was living with Louis ever since her apparent death. He had been with her ever since she was born, so, of course, he couldn't take the news very well. In fact, ever since she was considered legally dead, he had to constantly look up to Louis for comfort.

Even though everyone was affected by this, the ones who took it the hardest were the brothers themselves. After all, they not only loved her as a sister, but they loved her as a woman. When they heard the news from Ukyo, a multitude of things happened.

For one thing, as soon as they heard the news, Tsubaki promptly moved out of the mansion, feeling responsible for what Ema did. Even though he still was unwilling to apologize for his actions, he loved Ema too much, causing him to regret being too harsh on her. As Tsubaki walked out of the door with his things, Fuuto followed him out the door.

The next day, Miwa decided to get Masaomi, the eldest son, an arranged marriage. Since the person he loved dearly was gone, he decided that it was time he get married, since it would take away all the pain he endured for losing Ema.

As the fact that Ema was "dead" finally dawned on them, some of them managed to move on, as they started to date other girls. However, there were still some people that loved her, despite her being "dead", namely, Tsubaki, Fuuto, Yusuke, Subaru, Louis, Iori and Natsume.

Despite that, they still were getting along with each other. When Ema was still with them, they fought often, but ever since she disappeared, they felt as if there was a silver lining, which was that they were getting along again. However, what would happen when they figure out the truth about Ema's "death"?

Holding her handbag in one hand, she walked elegantly out of the plane with Ayako and Michiko. Making their way through the hallways, they smiled at the people that greeted them.

"Why does our Asia tour have to be over?" Ayako complained loudly. "I wanted to go sightseeing a bit more!" As she began to sulk, Michiko placed her hand on her shoulder, while Ema silently laughed at them.

"There there, Aya-chan..." Michiko comforted the girl with a cold tone in her voice. "It can't be helped... It was for work after all..." While Ema was smiling at the sight, she walked towards the desk, holding her passport in her hand, she quickly passed it towards the person.

"Ah, Chi Asahina! How was your tour?" the clerk exclaimed excitedly as Ema nodded. Handing her the passport, the clerk quickly scanned through it. Like everyone else, the person failed to notice that it belonged to someone who was "legally dead", since they were more focused on meeting a famous idol rather than doing their job properly. Of course, it wasn't a really good thing for that to happen, but Ema was still grateful.

Walking towards the baggage area, she noticed something displayed on the television that caught her eye. As she got closer to it, she could hear the sound as it blended into the sounds of the airport.

On the TV was a news report. As the reporter stood in front of what she believed was the Sunrise Residence, she smiled faintly when she read the headlines; "Teenage Girl Presumed Dead After Seven Years". Even though it wasn't something to be happy about, she smiled because her new life could finally begin, as her old life was finally out of the way.

While the reporter was speaking, a picture of her sixteen-year-old self showed up. Looking at it, she noticed how much she had changed. Before, she was a thin girl with brown hair that was tied into a side ponytail. After seven years had passed, a lot of things changed about her appearance.

In addition to growing taller, she also developed a healthy and admirable figure. However, the most striking difference was her hair colour. In order to keep up her disguise, she decided to get a new hair colour. Walking away from the television, her long, wavy black hair swayed dramatically as she walked towards the baggage carousel with the other members.

"Chiyoko-san," Michiko asked her sympathetically. Knowing that she didn't want to get recognized, she called her by her stage name. "Are you sure this is okay? As of today, you are legally dead." she continued, referring to the news story that was just broadcasted on the television. While Ema stopped in her tracks she faced the older woman.

"I'm sure!" she smiled genuinely, glad that her friend was able to care for her. "Besides, it would be better this way... If I never did this, I would still be in pain after Fuyuki's death..." While Michiko nodded understandingly, they went to get their luggage from the carousel.

Half an hour later, they were finally making their way out of the airport. Taking in the smells of Japan, she watched as Ayako and Michiko made their way in the taxi. Knowing that Aiko would pick her up late, she placed a pair on sunglasses on her face and watched as the cars passed by.

Patiently waiting for the car to show up, she noticed that a man was standing on the same spot, staring at her. Looking at him, she noticed that he had orange hair that went down his back, tied into a long ponytail. It looked as if he was looking at her attentively, examining her appearance. In annoyance, she stood up and walked towards the man.

"May I help you?" Ema tried to be as polite as possible, even though she was starting to get annoyed at him staring at her.

"Sorry," the man apologized in a voice that had a familiar ring to her ears. "It's just that you look really familiar..." As she had a closer look at him, she finally realized exactly who this was.

The person standing in front of her was none other than Hikaru Asahina, one of her older brothers. As her heart started to beat rapidly, she realized that she was unable to run away, as that would cause suspicion. Trying to find something to throw him off, she thought of one thing on the spot.

"Well, to tell you the truth, I am Chiyoko Asahina, one of the members of Asa-hime." she made up while Hikaru seemed to understand. "I guess that's why I seemed familiar to you!" Even though she kept a cool façade, on the inside, she was as nervous as hell.

"I see..." he told the girl as he turned around to walk away. Feeling a sense of relief, she sighed. However, as Hikaru turned around, she noticed something peculiar. On his face was a smirk, done ever so slightly. Even though she was wondering why, she noticed that Aiko was waiting in her car, looking at her rather impatiently. Making her way inside, the car finally drove off.

Meanwhile, Hikaru was looking at the car as it sped away. Making sure she was gone, he laughed to himself quietly. Of course, this was news to him, but seeing as it was an opportunity to have a bit of fun, he decided to keep this development to himself.

"So that's where you are..."

Author's Note:

What did you think? I hope I did a good job, but I am willing to accept constructive criticism. (I don't appreciate blatant flaming however...)

So, remember the poll that was taking place during the last book? Well, there will be another one, where one of the top two will actually end up with Ema. Like the last one, it will be on my profile, but this time, it will close when I post the sixth chapter, since I need to plan the last book with the results in mind.

As stated above, this chapter was edited. Before, I noticed that there were a lot of questions about Ema's stage name. The reason why I made it "Chi Asahina" was that it would cause a lot of suspicion among the brothers (After all, I'm trying to make the story move along). However, I noticed that it was to obvious, so I made some changes.

As well, after five months, I realized that the group name didn't make sense, so I changed it to "Asa-hime" instead of "AsahinaSisters".

In addition, I also changed her real pseudonym to Chiyoko Asahina (朝比奈 千代子). The reason why is because, as mentioned earlier, I realized it's too obvious. Even though she would be formally known as Chiyoko Asahina, the fans and media will still shorten her name to Chi Asahina (朝比奈 チー).

Anyways, I hope that you will follow, favourite and/or review this story! Bye bye!