Chapter 29: Attack of the Twins

Today is the next and hopefully final house tour. I rush back to Sunrise Residence after school to drop off my books and laptop, exchanging them with a small day bag to take with me. So far the other places haven't yielded good reviews, but I hope this one will have a positive result. 

As much as I enjoy staying at Ema's, there are so many people here that I can't completely feel at ease.

And not only have I been imposing on Ema, but all of her brothers. Even with some of them moved out or absent I am another mouth to feed. I'm not even paying for rent or utility, which only adds to my constant guilt of overstaying my welcome. 

It's good to know whose house you're freeloading at.

A vein pops in my forehead. Why'd I have to remember the little brat's taunt right now?

Shaking my head, I command myself to make sure today goes well. 

"I will have a good impression of the place. The landlord won't be sketchy. The lease will be reasonable. I'll definitely move out!"

I pump my fist in determination. A little self-confidence never hurt anyone. 

Slipping on my shoes at the mini-genkan, I open the door to the hallway.

"Yooooo~"

I shut the door. 

I must have imagined it. I rub my eyes and blink several times to clear my vision. There's no way Tsubaki and Azusa have so much freedom to show up this time of day. 

I open the door again. 

"Yo, Tsukiyo Mai-chan!" Tsubaki waves. 

"Kuso," I curse under my breath. Tsubaki thwarts my attempt to shut the door; he grabs it and pries it open. 

Why's he so strong? 💢

"Now now, we'll be late for the house tour at this rate!" Tsubaki says. 

"I'll be fine," I say through gritted teeth, trying to pull the door shut the door again. Then I realize. "Wait, what do you mean 'we'?"

In my moment of weakness Tsubaki wrenches the door open. He and Azusa grab my hands and pull me into the hall. It's terrifying how they can exert this much force and still look graceful. 

"What are you doing?!" I look from Tsubaki to Azusa. This kind of behaviour I would expect from the genki twin, but why is Azusa in on this too?

Azusa smiles cooly. "You weren't thinking of going without someone else, were you?"

"Well, yeah, but I don't see how that concerns you two."

Tsubaki shakes his head. "Tsk, tsk. It would be horrible of us to send out our imouto-chan's best friend all on her own to a place our dear little brother suggested. Who knows if Natsume gave you the right address or not?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" We've reached the elevator now, and I realize my chances of escape are slimming. 

"He may seem more mature than us, but Natsume has the poorest sense of direction," Azusa explains. "If he's sent you to the wrong place and something happens then we wouldn't be able to face Ema."

"Ema-chan's happiness comes first," Tsubaki says. He pushes the button for us to go down. "That's why when she said she had class today we offered to go with you instead." He flashes a toothy grin, quite like the ads of a certain cat commercial icon. 

I freeze. That's too much information to process at once.

The twins smile and ferry me into the elevator. The doors close behind us, and I'm utterly trapped. Internally I slam my fists against the elevator doors, pleading to god why things ended up this way. 

In reality I force a crooked smile and ask, "Mind explaining what you meant just now?"

"We're your escorts for today!" Tsubaki flashes a peace sign. 

"Hah?"

Thankfully, Azusa comes to the rescue, or as much a rescue can get when he's one of the people who orchestrated the kidnapping—erm, outing—in the first place. 

Azusa clears his throat. "We asked Ema if she was going with you this time and she said she wasn't. She was worried since you were going alone, so Tsubaki and I offered to go with you."

"What about your jobs? Are adults allowed to play hooky?"

Tsubaki drapes a heavy arm over my back. I buckle under his weight. "No worries! We called our managers and we've got a couple hours in between meetings today. When we explained that we had to escort the Lady of the Moonlit Night they understood."

I nearly choke. "What's with that name?"

In response Azusa shows us a text chat from Ema on his phone. 

E: I'm a little worried about Mai-chan ヾ(;ﾟДﾟ;)ｼ

A: She seemed okay going on her own though?

E: I would have gone with her, but I have class. If she goes alone her parents will worry about her. I couldn't face Tsukiyo-san if anything happened to her

A: Do you not trust Natsume's judgement either?

E: ヾ(;ﾟДﾟ;)ｼ That's not what I mean at all!

I squint, not seeing the point of this. 

Tsubaki laughs and points to the line where Ema worries about my parents. My surname, Tsukiyo, is spelled using the kanji "月夜", which literally translates to "moonlit night."

"Why?"

"It's more fun that way," Tsubaki says. "Since I'm not allowed to call you by your name like the rest, then why not a stage name? It'll help us get into the mood for our recording later."

"Is your recording an outer space anime or something?"

"Wah, how'd you know?"

It seems I won't be able to escape these twins with too much time on their hands.

Resigned to my fate, I mumble my answers to their questions about where the place is and how much I know about it so far. 

While it's annoying that today's plans have been fudged, it occurs to me that Ema might not know about this. Or at least, not realize the role she played in this. If she had no idea at all me telling her might lead to an unnecessary string of apologies. 

But even if she does know about it she'll probably apologize anyway...

This is going to be such a headache to explain at dinner later. 

Rubbing my temples, I guess I should at least be happy that Ema cares about me. I've been on my own for so long that I forget what it's like to rely on others. Ema lives in a house where she can't help but worry about others over herself. The brothers must have realized this about her and wanted to become people she can rely on as well. 

If I think of it that way then it'll be easier for me to deal with today. 

Tsubaki and Azusa might be a lot to deal with, but at the end of the day they're both people who deeply care about their sister. If part of that is making sure that I'm alright, then I probably shouldn't dismiss their good intentions. 

I sigh. Is this what it's like having older brothers?

The elevator dings and opens. Tsubaki marches out, a man on a mission, and holds out his hand. 

"Let's go!"

I brush past him, still not willing to fully acknowledge that I've accepted their help. 

Tsubaki makes a dejected sound behind me, and Azusa pats his shoulder. 

Am I being too mean?

At the door I stop and glance over my shoulder. The twins look up. 

"I was fine going on my own, but thanks for coming." 

Tsubaki and Azusa's eyes widen. 

Is it that surprising for me to thank them? 

Their shock soon passes over and returns to the usual genki expressions. 

"No problem!"

Tsubaki joins me on my right and Azusa on my left.

"I wonder what the place is like," Tsubaki muses as he opens the door. "You think it's as small as the photos?"

"Probably," I say. 

"It's not too far away from the station, so you'd be able to get to the university easily," Azusa recalls. 

"Wah, that's convenient!"

"It's a place suited for students attending Meiji University." Azusa nods. We step outside. 

"Mn," I agree. "Though it makes me wonder how Natsume-san knew about this place. Did he attend Meiji University as well?"

The twins exchange glances. Then they grin.

Another shiver seizes my spine. 

"That's a good question," Azusa says. 

"Yeah! Why don't you ask him yourself?" Tsubaki suggests. 

"What do you mean? I told you I don't have his contact info."

"No need to worry about that right now."

"Yeah. No need to call when you can talk to him yourself."

I gulp. What does he mean by that?

On cue, Tsubaki sprints to the edge of the steps and waves wildly. "Yo, Natsume! You're late!"

By the time Azusa and I catch up to him I can see what all the fuss is about. 

On the circular driveway outside the mansion is a car. The window rolls down and the glass catches the light, which reflects off a sheen of orange hair. 

"You don't have to shout, Tsubaki. I heard you the first time." 

I've only met him twice, but his grumpy-sounding voice is all too familiar. 

"Oh." Natsume notices me and raises his hand in a wave. "Tsukiyo-san. Are you going with us as well? By the way, where are we going, Tsubaki?"

I turn to Azusa, who doesn't hide his amusement. 

"Our ride is here," he announces.

Tsubaki returns to my side, ignoring my exasperated expression. "Someone has to take responsibility for his actions, right?"

They're making this out to be a waaaay bigger deal than it needs to be.

"I'll never understand you Asahinas."

In response the twins escort me into the car.