Chapter 60: Minimal Chaos

There are few words to describe dinner other than "it was fine."

The Asahinas lead the conversation, going out of their way to politely ask after me. The brothers seated around the table now are the ones I saw most often when I stayed here. Masaomi and Ukyo are both home for dinner in rare case of their schedules aligning. Wataru and Yusuke banter at the other end of the table, Ema wedged between them trying to mediate. Then there are the twins, who weren't always home for the family dinner, but have made it today. They corner Shin on both sides, almost comically.

Somehow I get put next to Tsubaki, which makes me less than pleased, but it was only because Azusa claimed the spot next to Yusuke, muttering something about "wanting to keep the chaos to a minimum." I guess everyone has their own things going on, but he really didn't need to make Tsubaki the centre between two guests.

The elder twin switches back and forward between regaling his anime industry tales to Shin and teasing him about stupid things.

At one point it's, "Being an older brother sure can be tough. Good thing I'm also a younger brother."

"Why's it a good thing?" Shin asks.

Tsubaki grins. "'Cause you'll never have to be the most responsible one in the room. Your older siblings can take care of things."

Shin chortles. "Yeah, right." He steals a cheeky glance at me. "Older siblings aren't that responsible."

"Oi." I glare at him.

"Yeah, they really aren't," Yusuke adds, breaking away from his conversation with Ema and Wataru to eye the twins.

I shoot Yusuke a glare. He doesn't notice it. 

Pouting, Tsubaki tries to regain his dignity as an older sibling. "Hey, just 'cause I'm not the most mature person in the room doesn't mean I'm not mature at all. I'm a responsible adult with a great job, I'll have you know."

"An adult who flirts worse than a high schooler." Yusuke grimaces, as though recalling a tragic past.

"Coming from a guy who can't flirt at all, that's a real compliment." Tsubaki winks to Ema, whose eyes widen as she shyly turns away. Wataru pouts and clenches his fists and tries to divert his sister's attention back to him. Meanwhile, it's hard to miss the utter fury on Yusuke's face. If there wasn't a table between them I wouldn't doubt him getting into a fight with Tsubaki.

A exasperated sigh sounds to my other side. Natsume scoops a bit of rice into his mouth. His eyes are lowered, almost closed, like he doesn't want any part of this whatsoever.

"What do you think, Natsu-nii?" Wataru asks. "People underestimate us because we're younger. It's not fair, is it?"

"I don't have an opinion in this," Natsume says flatly.

Unperturbed, Wataru tries again. "I think you're really grown up, Natsu-nii. You got to move out on your own and everything."

"Moving away from home doesn't automatically make you mature," Natsume replies. At once, the air grows thick as Ema flinches. Not all of the brothers notice it, or rather, they refrain from reacting.

Looking up at Natsume, I get a feeling of déjà vu. Where have I seen this scene before?

As I ponder over the familiarity of the discomfort, Masaomi chimes in to ease the tension. "What about me, Wataru? Aren't I a good older brother?"

Wataru grins. "Well, yeah. You're the oldest. You're the most grown up by default."

"And what about me?" Ukyo asks, pointing to himself.

Wataru frowns. "I guess so. Lawyering is a pretty grown-up job." He traces lines in his side dishes with his chopsticks. "I want to grow up quickly, too."

"Why's that, Wataru?" Masaomi leans toward him, a touch of concern behind his smile. He must be sad to hear that his youngest brother wants to leave his childhood behind so soon. As the oldest, Masaomi has probably seen it already, but I imagine there's something sentimental about watching your youngest sibling become an adult.

He really cares for his brothers. Ukyo-san too.

Wataru ducks his head, gathering his courage to speak. The moment he catches Ema's eye I know what he's thinking. I tense, apprehensive of him publicly announcing his feelings. No doubt it'd shock his brothers.

To my surprise, Wataru merely shakes his head. "I can't tell you yet. There's something I'm going to do when I become a full adult. Man's honour."

Masaomi ruffles his brother's hair affectionately, a gesture Wataru squirms away from. "Aww, Makkun!"

"He doesn't even say 'Masa-tan anymore," the doctor laments, earning a chuckle from Ukyo.

"What do you think, imouto-chan?" Tsubaki turns his attention to Ema.

Caught off guard again, Ema stammers. "A-Ano... What do I think about older siblings?"

"Yeah. We're the more mature ones, aren't we? I'm a great older brother, right?"

He seems so self-assured. I'd hate to be the one to break it to you, Tsubaki-san...

Stifling a laugh, I reach for my glass and take a deep gulp. In the corner of my eye I spot Shin silently watching the Asahinas. His eyes dart around the table, alert to the atmosphere. He's only just met this rambunctious family today, and he's gotten a crash course of the brothers. And he's only barely scraped the surface!

In my internal musings I miss Ema's response. Whatever she says must have pacified both older and younger brothers. The Asahinas calm down a little before Ema looks to me. I beg her with my eyes not to get me involved, but my plea goes unnoticed. Or ignored.

"What do you think, Mai-chan?" Ema smiles. "As an older sister, I mean."

It's my turn to stutter. "Eeeeeeto...." To my chagrin, most of the brothers have stopped to listen to me. I wish they'd go back to squabbling amongst themselves. I unintentionally cast a glance at Natsume, who already escaped responding. He averts his eyes, leaving me to my fate.

"I... I don't have an opinion, either."

For whatever reason my answer isn't what they were expecting.

"Eh? But you're a cool older sister, Mai-chan," Wataru says. Shin snorts. Wataru ignores him and adds, "You and Onee-chan are worthy opponents in battle. I think that makes you both super cool."

Ema blushes. "Arigtou. You're a pretty cool fighter yourself."

Wataru beams.

"It's always fun battling it out in a zombie apocalypse," I agree. "A real test of one's skills."

"What skills?" Shin retorts. "You could never make it past me in the first level."

I huff. "I used to go easy on you when you first started out. I haven't played you in a while so you don't know, but I've gotten a lot better. I can keep up with Ema-chan, and she's a pro."

"Iie, iie. I just play for fun!"

"She's right." Natsume clears his throat. "My company had her demo our games before their release. That's how good a player she is."

"Whoa! Really?" Wataru gapes. Apparently he didn't know that. I mean, I didn't know either, but I haven't known Ema for that long in comparison.

"That's amazing! Makes sense that you'd be a beta tester with your skills, Ema-chan." I knew she was good, but that's the next level of "good". "What games did you demo?"

"Oh. It was a game from Natsume-san's workplace," Ema says bashfully. "Natsume-san was kind to let me play the game early."

"You were scouted for your skills, and you were a good choice," Natsume recalls. "You did a full play through and gave detailed feedback that helped us finalize things before the official release. We couldn't have done it without you."

Ema appears to be folding in on herself. Poor girl can't handle all the compliments. Desperate to divert attention, she returns the focus to me again.

"Mai-chan is just as good," she tells Shin. "She says she's been practicing every week so she can play you if you decide to challenge her. She even started playing a game that you play, Shin-kun."

Is that what happened? I wonder to myself. I don't recall picking up a game just because Shin played it. From my memory, I saw it enough times that I got curious and decided to give it a try. Shin wasn't a factor in my rise to gaming prowess in the slightest.

But that's not the way Shin sees it. For some reason this is the part that shocks him. Never mind everything else going on in the room, not excluding Sniper-Juuli eyeing the scene from atop the stairs (he's got his sharp eyes fixed on Yusuke and how he accidentally knocks Ema's arm when reaching for his water glass).

Rest in peace, Yusuke-kun.

"No way." Shin shakes his head. "You said my games were annoying."

I cross my arms. "They were only annoying because you kept blasting them while I was trying to do homework. There's a reason they say video games rot kids' brains, you know."

Reason not least of all being the fact Shin was wearing headphones at the time.

"Once you turn the volume back to normal it's not bad," I say. "Corpsewalker was more fun to play the second time around. I found way more hidden items and skills when I wasn't jumping at all the zombie sounds."

"But that's how you hear them coming," Shin argues. "You've got to be ready for them."

"Oh yeah? I think you can be on guard just as well with subtitles on."

"Whaat? Subtitles ruin it!"

It's Shin's and my time to shine, showing off our sibling banter. I never realized how easy it is to fall right back into the way things were before. For a moment I almost forget we even fought. It's like things were back before I moved out.

"They're still talking about gaming, right?" Masaomi murmurs.

Ukyo frowns. "I believe so. Wataru has that game, if memory serves me right."

"Yeah, but I haven't made it that far yet," Wataru says. Though he's not beat up about it. If anything, he's excited to hear what Shin and I have to say about the upper levels.

"It's an older game, right?" Natsume asks. "I remember when it came out."

"Right?" Ema sighs. "It's a classic." Then her eyes sparkle. "Oh, since we have the game here, why don't we all play multiplayer? A-After dinner, I mean." 

"Whoa, really?" Wataru jumps to his feet. "Shin-kun, too?"

"What, me?" My brother can't keep up with the speed of this conversation. Frankly, neither can I, but that's just how the Asahinas do.

Wataru nods. "It's been ages since we did multiplayer."

"Hey, Azusa and I played with you and imouto-chan the other day," Tsubaki interrupts.

Wataru frowns. "Yeah, but you got killed in the second round, Tsukkun."

"That's cause I wasn't used to the controls yet! It was way different than the games I usually play."

"Excuses."

"Hm?" I thought I heard Natsume say something, but he doesn't say anything more. Not that Tsubaki's about to let him off.

"Why doesn't Natsume play with us, then?" Tsubaki reaches behind me and grabs Natsume's arm. The youngest triplet blanches. "We'll all play. Losers have to do whatever the winners say."

"What a creative bet. Real original," Natsume intones, shaking Tsubaki off of him.

Azusa raises a finger to his chin. "Mm. You've got a point there."

I suddenly have a foreboding sense, along with the urge to get up from the table and flee.

Azusa smacks his fist to his palm. "Alright, then winners get to eat out with Ema. How does that sound?"

Suddenly everyone (save for Shin and me) becomes utterly enthusiastic about participating.

Although...

"Wait, that doesn't make sense." Shin shakes his head. "What if she loses?"

The Asahinas all stare at him. Shin leans back, disturbed.

"She won't lose."

"Imouto-chan always wins."

"Onee-chan always beats me."

"Yeah. She's a next-level player."

"Why do you think I asked her to be a beta tester?"

I can't help but laugh. Grasping my stomach, I wipe a tear from my eye.

"Don't worry about it, Shin. No matter what happens, it'll be a fun game."

Shin eyes me like I'm the weird one.

Ah, yes, there's that disdainful glare I've been missing these past few months.

"Aneki, you really think the others see it that way?" Shin presses his back against the chair, getting as far as physically away as possible from the now-strategizing Tsubaki and Azusa without getting up. The twins have fire in their eyes. The winning dinner with Ema has an unlimited number of seats, and they'll be gunning for them. Literally.

"A-Ano, if it makes Shin-kun uncomfortable then just going out for snacks would be fine," Ema suggests.

"Snacks?"

I set my chopsticks down across my empty bowl. "Don't worry, Ema-chan. I'll beat him anyway, so there's no point in worrying about Shin."

While I can't claim to be the most mature adult in the room, there are definitely perks to being an older sibling.

Shin narrows his eyes, the tips of his lips twitching as he tries to feign a smile.

"Oh yeah? You're sure about that?"

I nod. "Yes. I. Am. And when Ema-chan and I go out to eat I'll thank my dear younger brother for losing the round for me."

"You're the one who'll be losing, aneki!"

With the final brother flaring determination, the multiplayer tournament is set...

"Ahem."

... After we help Masaomi and Ukyo tidy up, that is.