Disclaimer: I own none of the characters or the anime of Brothers Conflict. ''Aki" is my only OC! :)

"I like you."

Ema blinked, still shocked that her childhood friend had just confessed to her. His warm voice echoed in her mind.

"I like you, Ema. Will you give me reply when you're ready, please?"

Ema mindlessly moved around in the kitchen, preparing dinner for her eleven step-brothers that remained at home – Hikaru and Natsume were living separately from them.

"Oomph!" Bumping into someone, she dropped a small pot of water, dousing both of them in water.

"Ah! I'm sorry! I'm really sorry!" She saw Iori sitting not too far away from her, rubbing his forehead which was red. He smiled weakly at her.

"It's alright, Ema-chan. It wasn't your fault; I wasn't paying attention either." Actually, it really was Ema's fault since Iori tried to get out of her way in the kitchen. They both grabbed some towels, drying the floor. Next thing they knew, a stampede of footsteps thundered up the stairs.

"Ema-chan! Are you okay?" Her remaining step-brothers appeared at the top of the stairs, all breathless and worried. They noticed Iori kneeling on the ground next to Ema.

"I'm alright. I accidently dropped a pot of water," she smiled at them. Masaomi noticed the red mark on Iori's head and figured out what had happened.

"Let me check your forehead, Iori. It's really red." Masaomi walked over to Iori and inspected his head, concluding that he would get a bruise the next morning. Ukyo shooed everyone out of the kitchen saying, "Go, go. I'll clean this mess up. Go do your work, everyone." Ema was also herded out of the kitchen. She shuffled over to her room to do her homework but then decided to go on a walk. She grabbed a light jacket and headed down the elevator to the lobby. Glad to see that nobody was in sight, she walked outside into the night. Wandering aimlessly, she ended up at a bookstore. Ema ran her fingers over the book spines of the cooking section. As she was about to pull a book off the shelf, a hand touched her before drawing back quickly. Huh?

"Ema-chan?" She followed the sound of the voice to see Fuuto, her twelfth step-brother.

"Fuuto-kun? What are you doing here?" Ema asked. Fuuto looked down at her and smiled mischievously.

"Looking for a recipe on love," Fuuto replied winking. Ema blushed, looking away, causing Fuuto to chuckle. "I'm just kidding. Are you done here? Let's go home." Ema nodded in response. He slipped an arm over her shoulders as they walked out of the bookstore.

I should respond to Aki-kun soon, she thought as they headed home.