The sound of my suitcase was painfully loud as it trundled at my side through the empty street and inwardly I was wincing, hoping it wasn't loud enough to wake everyone up. The train had been delayed by two hours so now I was late arriving at my new home where no less than thirteen new step brothers awaited me. I'll admit I was very nervous, I had grown up alone for the most part of my life because my dad was so often away but now I was being thrown into a situation where I would be surrounded by men.

Not only had the train been late, my transfer train had broken down and then I had to wait forever until a taxi could come to collect me and drive me across town as I had decided to just get off the train to try and make some time however this had not worked out either as the traffic was horrible and we had been stuck for ages at a standstill.

So, all in all, today was a really crappy day. I was several hours late and although I had texted the eldest of the brothers, a guy named Masaomi, to tell him about the late running and the likelihood I wouldn't be there for dinner, my phone had run out of battery so I couldn't call him for a lift back to the house.

The world was against me. No, the entire universe, it seems. Perhaps I should be taking these events and seeing that they were bad omens, warnings that I should not be taking this road to live with thirteen other men. It's a sign, more bad things are going to happen to me. Damn it. Oh well, there's no turning back now. I'd walked for about two hours now and my feet were killing me, not to mention I was bone tired and I was carrying all of my belongings with me. Thank the lord I had thought to send most of my stuff over by delivery so all I had to carry were the things that wouldn't fit in the van.

But still, it made my suitcase pretty heavy and I also had a large box hoisted up onto my shoulder. If anyone were to attack me now I'd be pretty screwed, although I guess I could just smack them with my suitcase and knock them out, however with the luck I have at the moment I doubt it would end well.

Ah! Sweet hallelujah, I've found the apartment complex. At least I was smart enough to print off directions before I left. I couldn't see any lights and everything was quiet so I walked up to the front doors and paused. If I ring the bell, won't that wake everyone up? I'd feel bad about that but I don't particularly want to freeze myself to death out here, it's getting really cold and I'm not dressed to survive a night outside. I'm wearing a skirt and smart blouse, after all with a decorative ribbon. I'd changed after school to look presentable and smart but now I was starting to regret not bringing my coat out from the luggage.

Sucking in a deep breath I clenched my teeth together and pressed the bell, wincing visibly before forcing myself to relax though I struggled to smile, a look of complete guilt stuck on my features as I waited. I waited for a long time but just as I was about to reach up and ring the bell again, the door opened and I came face to face with a mature looking man with slightly wavy hair and eyes swamped with relief. "Thank goodness, we thought something terrible had happened when you didn't arrive this afternoon." He said to me and I blinked as he stepped forwards and placed his hands on my shoulder. "I'm Masaomi Asahina and you're Rikona, right?"

"Right, I'm so sorry to have worried you but my phone died on the journey and there were traffic jams, accidents, delays, you name it." I told him in a squeaky voice, ducking my head in a bow of greeting. "Did I wake you? I'm sorry if I did."

"No, no, I've been awake waiting for you to arrive. Come on in, you look freezing." He said as he took the box from my shoulder to carry it himself then held out a hand for my suitcase. "Let me take your things, you must be tired by now."

"Thank you, that's so kind." I smiled with a relaxed sigh and gladly handed the suitcase over, allowing Masaomi to lead the way up into the apartment. As we ascended in the elevator he gave me a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry about meeting everyone tonight, that can wait until tomorrow since you've been travelling all afternoon. Some of the guys have waited up for you but they'll understand if you just want to get some sleep." I felt bad, I'd made them all worry about me and now they'd sacrificed their sleep to stay up to make sure I got here okay. I couldn't just go to bed without saying hello, could I?

"If it's alright, I'd be glad to meet everyone." I spoke timidly after a minute and Masaomi looked at me in surprise. For a moment he said nothing, his eyes scanning my face so I tried to look as awake as possible, blinking away the sleepiness and standing up straight until Masaomi eventually gave a soft chuckle and nodded his head.

"Okay, in that case I'll show you to your room to drop off your stuff then we'll go upstairs, okay?" I nodded my head in agreement, nervously fiddling with the sleeves of my hoodie. We dropped off my stuff and I had a look inside my room, glad to see that all my stuff had arrived safely and I quickly put my suitcase and last box of things down on the floor out of the way before following Masaomi upstairs. "Are you hungry at all? If you want we can fix you up something to eat seeing as you missed dinner." He offered and I blinked myself awake to answer his question as it slowly registered.

"Oh, no thank you. I'm fine. I bought myself a sandwich when I was on the train." I said though the sound of food did appeal to me. I'd eaten that sandwich hours ago and I was hungry but I knew if I ate then I wouldn't be able to sleep so it was better to just leave it for now until breakfast.

"Alright, if you're sure." Masaomi nodded his head before we stepped out onto a wide balcony with a railing that looked down into a living room where a group of men sat, sipping tea and reading various material. "Hey everyone, look who's turned up." As we descended the stairs all of the brothers looked up and around to see us and I hid slightly behind Masaomi, biting on my lip as the four of them got up and approached.

"Well it's about time, we were starting to think you'd been kidnapped or something." A pale, white haired brother said to me with a playful smile as he approached first, arms spread wide. "How about a hug for your new brother?"

"Don't crowd her Tsubaki, give the poor girl some space." A rather tall and broad shouldered man scolded and I blinked slightly as a monk laughed, peering around Masaomi to find me and I found myself feeling a little out of my depth. I was right, I'm not used to so many people around me, and here were only five of them!

"There you are little sis, it's about time you got here. We were about to send a search party out after you." My eyes scanned their faces carefully before I slowly stepped out into the open, the light of a nearby lamp casting over my face to reveal my features to them all and I noticed how they all gave responses of surprise when they saw me. Did I really look that tired? Oh dear…

"Good evening, I'm so sorry to have caused everyone concern but thank you for worrying. I'm very glad to meet you." I said politely as I bowed respectfully to them. "I'm Rikona Hinata."

"Well aren't you the sweetest thing." The monk said with a smile, recovering first as he reached out and stepped close to me, resting his heavy hand on my shoulder. Instantly I stiffened, feeling uncomfortable with the close contact and I think it showed in my face as the broad shouldered blond man stepped forwards and pulled the monk away gently.

"We shouldn't overcrowd her, Kaname, this must be very hard for Rikona to adapt to and she's very tired, we should give her some space and time to settle." He said before turning to me with warmth and kindness. "Sorry about Kaname, he's a monk by profession but an idiot by nature. My name is Ukyo, I'm the second son of the family. These are the twins, Tsubaki and Azusa."

"Hello, it's nice to finally meet you. Welcome." Azusa greeted as his twin brother slung his arm around his neck.

"Our youngest brother wanted to wait up to meet you too but it was late so we made him go to sleep and the others did too, but you can meet them in the morning." Tsubaki informed me and I nodded my head as I tried to stifle a yawn.

"That would be great, thank you." I managed before the yawn took over and I felt my knees begin to grow weak from exhaustion. Thankfully the brothers seemed to notice as Masaomi placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and began to guide me around.

"I think it's time you went to sleep, you're exhausted and rather pale. Don't worry about waking up before you're ready tomorrow, sleep in as much as you like." He told me and I only nodded my head dumbly as I let him guide me along, hardly able to comprehend the fact that I was walking.

"Goodnight little sis, we'll see you in the morning." Kaname called cheerily and the others also said goodnight so I managed to turn back and give them a sleepy smile to them all.

"Goodnight, thanks again for letting me stay here." I managed though I'm pretty sure my words were slurred and my voice had dropped a few tones, aching from tiredness so without further hesitation Masaomi pushed me along until I was at my room where he said goodnight before leaving me to my own devices.

I didn't even bother getting undressed. I kicked off my shoes and climbed under my blanket, collapsing into bed and quickly found sleep and good rest. It was strange at first because the bed was unfamiliar to me when I woke up, so for a moment I didn't recognise where I was until it all came flooding back to me.

Right. My dad is marrying a woman and her thirteen boys were now my new family. I still wasn't sure why I had to move in with them, I guess dad felt guilty about leaving me alone so often and wanted to make sure that I didn't have to feel isolated anymore. It was sweet of him but it didn't change the fact that I was a little afraid. What if they didn't like me? I mean, they've never had a sister before so how would they react to me coming into the mix with barely any warning? Also, how was I going to remember all of their names? I know Masaomi but other than that I'm stumped, I can hardly remember the faces of the brothers I met last night and that makes me feel bad.

Sighing to myself I got up and refreshed myself, brushing my long hair into some sort of order and twisted it back into a bun at the side of my head blow my ear, pulling at my side swept fringe to rearrange it slightly before I looked at myself in the mirror where violet eyes gazed back at me amidst a sea of brown locks. With a sigh I checked to make sure there weren't any creases in my clothes before stepping out of my room, locking it behind me and tucking the key into a pocket as I head back towards where I roughly remembered the living room to be.

It wasn't particularly hard to find and when I stepped into view up on the balcony I saw several people sat down at the table already eating. I didn't mean to be late for breakfast, that's just rude. I hope they don't think me lazy or anything because of it. One of them seemed to sense me standing there as he looked up and instantly smiled. "Rikona, it seems you've slept well. Care to join us?" Ukyo offered and I nodded my head.

"Thank you, that would be nice." I stepped away from the balcony and walked down into the living room where the table was set and everyone was looking at me, standing up in their seats. "Good morning everyone." I greeted and bowed my head briefly. When a few of them started to chuckle I frowned in confusion. What was so funny? Do I have something on my face?

"More like good afternoon, Rikona, it's dinner time." Masaomi informed me as he pulled out an empty chair for me to sit down in as my eyes widened in horror. "I have to say I'm glad you slept as well as you did, when I checked on you this morning you had a slight temperature but you seem much better now."

"Oh, yes. I feel just fine." I told him shyly before moving towards the seat that he'd pulled out for me. "I'm sorry I slept so long, I can't believe I missed breakfast."

"Don't worry about it, you were hardly awake when you came up to say hey last night, we're surprised you even managed to make conversation." One of the twins said and I looked at him blankly for a moment before his name came to me. Tsubaki. His name is Tsubaki. Is it? I don't know…I'm not sure.

"Hey, who's the new girl? Is that the one who's going to be my new big sister?" A little ten year old boy with pale pink hair questioned and Kaname leaned towards him with a cheeky grin.

"That's right Wataru, this is Rikona. She's going to be staying with us from now on. Isn't that great?" He questioned and when he caught me looking at them he winked, making me quickly avert my eyes uncomfortably though I looked back when Wataru called out to me again.

"Hey sis! Welcome to the family! I'm Wataru and I'm the youngest of all the Asahina brothers. It's going to be so cool having you around, we can go to the park and play all day long, right?" He questioned and I couldn't help but love the little guy's cute sweetness. I found myself speaking without even needing to think about it at all.

"Sure, that would be fun." I nodded my head and Wataru cheered as the others chuckled. After a moment of smiling along with them I felt someone's eyes practically burning a hole into the side of my head so I turned to look, finding one of the brother's staring at me however when I caught him he quickly looked away. Weird, I wonder what his problem is.

"How about we all introduce ourselves again?" Masaomi suggested as he took his place at the table. "I'm the eldest of all of us brothers, Masaomi." He began and I nodded towards him, smiling gently as I then looked to Ukyo who gave a friendly smile to me.

"And I'm Ukyo, the second." They all introduced themselves, the twins going next and Wataru jumped in after Kaname, not wanting to be last and I had a small chuckle at that as I greeted him again. "To your left is Yusuke, you're actually older than he is so don't let him push you around at all." Ukyo told me and I looked to the bright red haired guy as he gave me a suspicious look before pointedly turning his nose upwards.

"Whatever, hey." He greeted and I blinked, slightly hurt at the cold greeting but I quickly hid it with a smile.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you." I said before looking to the last two who were yet to be introduced. One was the one I'd caught staring at me and the other had silvery grey hair, his expression a little more relaxed than that of the brother sitting next to him.

"And lastly there's Subaru and Iori. The tenth and ninth son of the family." Masaomi was saying. "I know it's a lot to take in so don't worry if you forget anyone's names, I'm sure you'll catch on soon enough." He told me kindly and I nodded to him gratefully.

"I'll try my best." I promised and quickly started chanting their names in my head to get them mapped down.

"Believe it or not but this isn't all of us." Kaname told me as I began to eat, blushing as my stomach began to rumble loudly in demand for food so I quickly swallowed a large bite then ate some more. "There's thirteen of us in total and some of us have branched out, either finding their own place or are constantly moving around." He explained to me. "Though Louis should be back some time tonight, he's a hairstylist. I'll warn you now but he'll want to play with your hair almost the moment he sees you."

"Really? I wouldn't mind if wants to, I like it when someone plays with my hair, it's rather therapeutic." I said without thinking so I blushed in embarrassment. "When my dad was home he would, you know, sit with me and play with my hair."

"You do have rather lovely hair, it has a pretty tone to it." Tsubaki mused thoughtfully from my side and reached out to touch it however Ukyo slapped his hand away and I relaxed as he told Tsubaki to quit being insensitive. A playful and enjoyable banter was struck up by the brothers and I listened quietly, basking in the warm atmosphere with an easy smile as I finished my food then stood, helping to clean away the table and wash up the dishes though Ukyo insisted that I didn't have to do anything and that I should be relaxing.

I wanted to help though so I cleaned the dishes and put them away once they were dry, familiarising myself with the kitchen before I found myself being pounced upon by Wataru, his arms locking around my waist. "Big sis! Do you want to come play with me? I have a lot of cool toys you can choose from, I'll even let you keep one if you want as welcome home present!" He offered and I blinked in bewilderment before I recovered myself and placed my hand on top of his head to run my fingers through my hair.

"That's so sweet of you Wataru, thank you." I said and his eyes widened, his expression becoming awe filled and dreamy as I continued to stroke my fingers through his soft hair until he smiled up at me with a gentle happiness.

"I'll show you the way to my room, come on! You can meet my giant bunny." He declared and grabbed my hand to then drag me out of the kitchen and to his own room where I was introduced to this giant fluffy bunny. I ended up spending a good two hours playing with Wataru, pretending to be his princess whilst he played the valiant knight in shining armour who would come to my rescue, battling terrible demons and beasts including a giant zombie bunny who held me captive.

Just as Wataru saved me from the clutches of evil, the door was opened and Ukyo looked inside, surprised to see us laughing until our sides hurt with stitches, the floor covered in stuffed toys whilst Wataru stood dressed in a suit of armour and my crown sat lopsided on my head from where it had slipped. "Oh my, it looks like you've all been having fun." He chuckled as I blushed with a grin.

"You bet! Big sis is the greatest!" Wataru cheered as he leaped up into the air with a jump of celebration and I giggled as he landed on his giant bunny's soft grip where he then began to yell, claiming to have been captured.

"Okay that's enough for now Wataru." Ukyo said after we'd recovered from our laughter. "It's time for you to have a bath and get ready for bed. It's getting late and you have school tomorrow." Wataru instantly began to complain so I stood up and brushed myself off, slipping the crown from my head and placed it back on the shelf where Wataru had grabbed it from.

"Hey Wataru, how about I walk with you to school tomorrow? Would you like that?" I asked and Wataru's eyes instantly became shiny and bright with happiness.

"You mean it? You'll walk with me to school? That'll be so cool!" He cheered as Ukyo folded his arms with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Can she Ukyo? I want Rikona to walk with me to school, then I can show all my friends how awesome my new sister is!" He cheered and I blushed slightly at his heart warming words though Ukyo frowned slightly.

"I'm not sure, if you walk Wataru to school then you won't be able to get to your own school in time, right? You did transfer across, didn't you? Or are you still going to go to your old school across town?" Ukyo asked and I bit my lip slightly as I pulled at my sleeve behind my back.

"Well actually…I don't go to school." I revealed and both Ukyo and Wataru looked at me in surprise. "I've been home schooled since I was thirteen because I found school too easy and unchallenging. They tried moving me up a year but the other kids weren't too happy about being shown up by a little kid so dad pulled me out. I've been studying from home ever since and I finished my final grade just last year."

"Oh, I didn't know." Ukyo said as Wataru stared at me.

"You don't have to go to school? That's so unfair! Why do I have to go to school?" He demanded to know so I reached out and rested my hand on his head with a small chuckle, smiling as the touch instantly calmed him down and he blinked up at me as I ran my fingers through his hair.

"Because it's more fun than studying alone. I grew up without any friends but you get to have as many as you like, isn't that great?" I reasoned with him. "But right now I think it's time you got ready for bed because I can see you're starting to get sleepy." I teased, ruffling his hair and taking his hand to lead him forwards with a gentle tug whilst he yawned.

"But I'm…not tired. Not tired at all." He insisted however I only tossed him a cheery smile before Ukyo took over and directed him towards the bath, making him get himself ready for bed whilst I turned to my own bedroom and started to unpack things. I shut myself away until I heard a knock half an hour later where Wataru stepped inside to call goodnight before I was alone again.

All my stuff was packed away in boxes and the furniture that I'd brought with me, like my desk and drawers, were tucked away in the corner along with my bookcase. With a determined expression I rolled back my sleeves and began to unpack all of my books, putting them onto the shelves once I had moved the bookcase to the opposite side of the room, somehow managing to slide it over the floor and push it against the wall so that it was opposite my bed.

I had so many books that once the shelves were full I moved my desk to sit it under the window, grunting and puffing with exhaustion at the heavy weight I struggled against until finally it was in place perfectly so that I could look out the window whilst I was working. The rest of my books went into the compartments either side and I arranged my stationary on the top, ordering everything just the way I liked it with my cherry blossom paperweight settled neatly where I'd be able to look at it. It had been a birthday gift from my dad, the tree blooming even in the coldest of winters and it always made me smile when I looked at it.

Next came my chest of drawers with all my clothes in it. This I pushed back so it stood between my bed and desk and placed more books on top before I set up my TV with all my movies and video games, neatly putting them away before I arranged my plushies and pillows on my bed now that I'd unpacked them all.

I had a fox plushie and a killer whale stuffed toy that I had had ever since childhood. I may be a little old for them really but that didn't mean I had to let them go. After all, there's nothing wrong with having a cuddle with your favourite stuffed toys every once in a while no matter how old you are. They went on my bed with all my pillows that I stacked at the opposite end and finally, I was done.

Left with all the boxes I began to pile them up, stacking them one by one until I began to ship them out, carrying them out of my room and down the hall however with so many in my arms I didn't have a clue what was in front of me until I heard someone give a call out to notify me that I was about to run over them with my cardboard boxes.

"Whoa there, need a hand?"

"Tsubaki?" I questioned, sticking my head out to see him helping me hold onto the boxes so that they wouldn't tumble out my arms. "Thank you, that's kind of you." I said with relief as Azusa appeared also.

"Are these all the boxes you carried your stuff in?" He asked as he took the other half from my arms, leaving me with nothing as they both carried it all between them.

"Yeah, I've just finished unpacking." I explained, giving my sleeve a tug as I struggled to make eye contact with the two of them, shifting from foot to foot. "I was wondering what I should do with them, I don't know if any of you would have any use for them or if it would be better to just throw them into the recycling." Tsubaki hummed in thought as Azusa glanced his way before turning a smile to me.

"We'll put them into the recycling, I can't see any reason why we'd need to keep them." He informed me and Tsubaki nodded his head.

"That sounds like the best idea. You should have called one of us over, we would have helped you unpack Rikona." Tsubaki said to me as the two of them turned and began to head towards the elevator where I followed behind.

"It's fine, I had it all in hand. I didn't want to waste anyone's time." A second after the words were out of my mouth Tsubaki turned around and caught my chin between his finger and thumb, drawing me closer until our faces were barely inches apart and I squeaked upon instinct, tensing all over.

"Any time spent with you little lady is not wasted." He said smoothly, eyes boring into mine rather fiercely and I felt my tongue seize up as I struggled to come up with an answer however my mind had also gone blank, meaning that I had no idea what to do or say. Thankfully Azusa still had a sensible head on his shoulders and with a heavy fist to his brother's head he freed me from his brother's grasp. "Ow! That hurt!"

"Good, maybe it'll knock some sense into you. Leave the poor girl alone." Azusa told him strictly as I exhaled and recovered from the shock, feeling my heart pounding in my chest as I took a slow step back from Tsubaki who noticed the movement and gave me a careless smile.

"Don't worry, I'm only teasing you Rikona, it's what siblings do, right?" He reminded me as the two of them stepped into the lift with all the boxes. "We'll take care of these okay? You go ahead and relax, get used to your new home a little more."

"If you need any help with anything, remember you can call for any of us. We'll be there for you." Azusa sweetly told me as the doors closed and I was left there blinking in astonishment, a little confused about what had just happened but I quickly snapped myself out of it and turned around to head back to my room.

I know what I need, I need a shower or a bath because I haven't had one since yesterday and I could do with a little time to relax. My back hurts from pushing around my furniture and a hot bath would heal me up perfectly. So with this in mind I gathered a towel along with my toiletries then went to the main bathroom, knocking to make sure it was vacant before I stepped inside and locked myself in.

With the hot water running I was soon surrounded by steam which relaxed my muscles and I sank into the water with a blissful sigh, letting my head relax back against the cushioning pad and soaked in the heat and scented water. Pretty soon I was lulled by the peaceful sensations and I almost dozed off but I managed to snap myself awake and began to properly wash myself, scrubbing my skin before I moved onto my hair, rinsing off the soap with the showerhead before I drained away the water and stepped out of the tub.

I dried my hair off as much as I could and wrapped myself in a towel before turning to pick up my pyjamas. Once I was completely dry I slipped them on, smirking at the smiley faces of my bottoms as I tugged the baggy shirt over my head then wrapped my hair up in the towel to keep the damp tresses from dripping water against my shirt.

With my bath time now over I head back to my room to put my things away and drew a fluffy robe around me, wrapping up before I picked up a book and settled down in the living room to read peacefully as the brothers came and went, sometimes stopping to talk with me and I'd happily enter conversation with them before they had to go.

It was pretty late when I decided that it might be a good time to turn in, almost midnight however as I stood up someone appeared at the balcony, yawning sleepily however when he noticed me he looked down and blinked. "Hey, you're that new sister of ours, aren't you?" He asked in a lax tone as I took in his features.

"That's right. I'm Rikona." I introduced myself and he gave me a tired smile as he walked down the stairs casually and approached.

"I'm Louis, my brothers might have told you about me? I'm a hairstylist." He explained and I nodded my head, remembering Ukyo mentioned him at dinner. He was slim and a little lanky, taller than I was but that wasn't particularly difficult. I was pretty small myself. However Louis had this amazing pale blond almost white hair that looked effortlessly styled, swept to the side with waves of it framing his face with only his left eye showing, a colour of interesting greyish brown, hinted with a slight tinge of mauve. "Wow, they said you were pretty but you're way cuter than they described." He complimented, making me blush as he reached out and looked at my hair, running it through his fingers. "It's in good condition, I think you'd look really nice with it styled properly, have you ever thought about getting it cut?"

"Cut? Oh no, not really. I'm not very adventurous when it comes to my hair." I admitted as he dropped his hand and stepped back slightly, allowing me my space as he somehow managed to sense that I was growing uncomfortable by the contact. The small gesture made me like him all the more so I smiled further. "But if you wanted, I wouldn't mind you having a try with it. Your brothers tell me you're very good at your work so I'm fairly certain I could trust you with my hair."

"Don't sweat it, I'll have you looking as pretty as a princess Kona, don't you worry." Kona? No one's ever shortened my name before and to hear such a pet name made me stop for a moment, staring at Louis as he tilted his head to the side curiously, noticing my expression. "What's the matter Kona? You okay? You're not feeling unwell, are you?"

"No, it's just…no one's ever called me Kona before." I said, feeling suddenly emotional and I sniffed pathetically, berating myself inside as I wiped my eyes to hide the fact that they were tearing up. "It's nice, I like it. Thank you Louis."

"You're welcome Kona, it's nice to have you here and, stuff." He continued in his slow drone but I found the way he spoke oddly soothing, making me relax completely in his presence as he smiled to me once again. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay? You sleep well Kona, sweet dreams."

"Sweet dreams to you too Louis, it was nice to meet you." I said after him as he turned and went back upstairs to head to his room, leaving me alone in the living room. I paused a moment before giving a singular laugh under my breath, smiling as I turned off the lights and went back to my own room, a ridiculous smile on my lips as I settled down in bed and looked up in the darkness, unable to help but murmur my new pet name to myself. "Kona."