Chapter 25: [ A day of summer, burnt by three questions ] When they reach Makuhari Messe, Yusuke tells Ema

a to be careful of heatstroke. Its really hot outside, not to mention the event hall is packed with people. Since she remains silent beside him, he asks if his driving was too rough and made her feel sick but she says thats not it. Even though she cant drive, she knows that he was being really careful. He seems really concerned about her, so she finally decides to ask about what he said earlier. What did he mean by dangerous and rivals? Yusuke instantly turns red. He denies saying something like that, so Ema only nods saying she must have misheard him but when shes about to get off, he quickly grabs her arm and admits that he lied. He did say those words earlier. Since Yusuke is looking straight at her, Ema blushes too and reflexively pulls her arm. Upon realizing what he just did, he panics and apologizes before letting go. Before she leaves, Yusuke tells Ema that it was a monologue. He was just talking to himself, and so he doesnt want her to ask about the reasonhell tell her properly one day. When Yusuke smiles at her, Ema is surprised since she never saw this expression from him back in high school. Its a gentle smile, and yet it looks painful as well. He then asks her to enjoy the event, and she knows it means the end of this conversation.

As she walks into the event hall, Ema reassures herself that shes only here to attend the event. However, her doubts return when she recalls Hikarus words. Before she knew it, she start walking out of the event hallthinking that she shouldnt have come after all. Thats when she hears a familiar voice, asking her not to run away. Ema immediately stops and looks around, but the owner is nowhere to be seen. Theres no way hed be here, since hes supposed to be training in a temple somewhere but his voice erases her doubts. It reminds her that the event is really important for Tsubaki, and she shouldnt run away from it. After thanking Kaname in her heart, Ema takes a pamphlet and walks back into the event hall. Suddenly, someone asks her not to walk through the path. When she turns around, she sees a group of people near the exhibition entrance. All of them are wearing polo shirts with the logo of a certain game developer. As they carry cardboard boxes into the event hall, she notices that one of them is giving instructions to the others. His speaks in a brisk voice, and his toned back looks so big and firm. This is Emas first time seeing Natsume at work. When Ema calls his name, Natsume looks surprised to see her. He awkwardly nods at her before telling his colleagues to go on standby, and he apologizes for not noticing her. Natsume thinks Ema came here because she likes the anime, and she finds it hard to say that she only came because Tsubaki invited her. Because of this, she ends up answering to everything he says with a short yes. until he eventually asks about her make-up. She asks if she looks weird, but he tells her that she looks beautiful. Before Ema can thank him, Natsume suddenly pulls her behind a pillar and pins her against itsaying its impossible for him to hold back. He wants to know who shes dressing up for. All that he knows is that shes not doing it for him. Ema is surprised to see Natsume getting angry, and since shes not answering he then asks who she loves among the brothers. Is it Tsubaki? Or Azusa? This makes Ema realize that she might have done something terrible. Tsubaki, Azusa and Natsume have confessed to her before, and all of them got rejected. Now the three of them are attending this event, and yet she came wearing brand new clothes and different make-up. She didnt think about how they would feel when they see this. Ema feels really terrible, and as much as she tries not to cry, tears start welling up in her eyes. Natsume immediately lets go and apologizes, but then she asks him to understand. She only bought new clothes because this is an event, and Hikaru was the one who did her make-up. Natsume is relieved, especially after Ema confirms that shes not doing

this for Tsubaki or Azusa. Just then one of his colleagues comes to inform him that theyre not allowed to put their luggage around the entrance, so he tells her that he has to return to work. When Natsume looks at her, Ema notices that he seems reluctant about something. He doesnt have any time to think though, so he puts a key on her palm and tells her to use it whenever she wants to. Then he runs off towards the entrance. Ema doesnt remember what happened after that. She only returns to her senses when Azusa eventually comes to find her. The event is about to start, and he was worried that she might not come. Since Ema is spacing out, Azusa asks if shes feeling unwell due to the heat. She quickly assures him that shes alright, but then she drops the key and he picks it up before she could reach it. He notices that its not a key to their mansion, and she asks him to give it back since its not hers she will have to return it to the owner. Azusa only smiles and nods, but Ema can feel that hes trying to find something behind her words. After returning the key, Azusa takes Ema to their seat beside the stage. They can see the whole stage from the reserved seating area, and soon Tsubaki comes out to greet the audience. Unfortunately, Ema cant focus at all during the first half of the event. She keeps thinking about the key, since its clearly the key to Natsumes mansion. He should have a spare key since he gave this one to her, but why would he carry the spare key around? Could it be that he was planning to hand his apartment key to her? During the break before the second half, Azusa asks Ema what happened. He noticed that she didnt pay attention to the stage at all, and he asks if its because of Natsume. The question is actually a trap, but she walks right into it by asking why he knows. Azusa isnt happy that Natsume is doing things behind their backs, and when Ema tries to defend Natsume he angrily asks what she came here for. He tells her that Tsubaki worked really hard for todays event. He checked the scripts and practiced until late hours, and he didnt get much sleep last night. Of course its a part of his job as a seiyuu, but he put that much effort into it because he knows shes coming to the event. Here, Azusa asks the same question as Natsume did earlierwho does Ema love among the brothers? He knows its not him, so is it Tsubaki? Or maybe Natsume? Before she can recover from the shock, he asks if she knows what shes doing. She rejected them, but then she agreed to come to this event only to not pay attention. Azusa doesnt mind if it happens to him, but he doesnt want Ema to do this to Tsubaki. He has to leave for work now, but he asks her to stay and watch the readers theater. Tsubaki would be happy if she tells him her impression later. Before leaving, he apologizes and asks her to understand that he didnt mean to hurt her. As much as she wants to focus, Ema cant enjoy the second half of the event either. She feels tired by the end of the event, but he also finds it a bit hard to go home. Just before she leaves the hall, Tsubaki grabs her arm and asks her to wait. He then takes her to the staff area, asking the remaining audience to make way because he has a meeting with her. Once theyre alone, Tsubaki asks if Ema has some time to talk. She actually wants to refuse, but since she cant explain the reason she follows him to a nearby beach. Theres a sign saying no swimming, and so the beach is empty even though its summer. When Tsubaki asks her about the event, Ema continues spacing out until he asks if she can hear him. She quickly says it was good, but he actually knows that she didnt enjoy it. He could see her seat from the stage wing, and he saw her talking to Azusa during the break but then he noticed that Azusa was angry. As they walk along the beach, Tsubaki says hes been thinking of asking Ema a question: Who do you love among us brothers? Ema is surprised since the triplets all asked her the same question on the same day, but Tsubaki adds that he has decided not to ask. Hes been waiting for a chance to ask her, but he cant give her that question right now because he knows he wont get the right answer. He also has a feeling that her affection towards Azusa and Natsume has lowered drastically at the momentwhich is true. Tsubaki then takes out a handkerchief and hands it to Ema, asking her to sit

with him on the beach. He keeps his gaze at the sea as he admits that he wasnt planning to invite her. He knew she would come if he asked, but then he might misunderstand her intentionsbecause men are stupid. Theyd get carried away if they see hope, just like how he went out of control last year. After that incident, Tsubaki has been thinking and realized that Ema has a lot on her mind. The reason is none other than him and his brothers. He came to realize his brothers feelings and all the things they did to her, along with the fact that he was doing the same thing. As a voice actor, there are things he can see by observing peoples gestures and expressions. From there, Tsubaki realized that Ema needs time. He was planning to wait quietly for now, knowing that he should do that if he loves her but then Azusa told him to invite her to the event. The reason was because Azusa knew Ema probably holds a negative impression on Tsubaki, and the event was a good chance to fix his image. Tsubaki found this strange because Azusa loves Ema as much as he does, but Azusa told him that he wants a fair fight. He doesnt want to win only because Tsubaki started off with a negative image. After a while, Tsubaki realized that he feels the same and thats why he took Ema to the beach. He doesnt want Azusa to start with a disadvantage either. Realizing thats why Azusa got angry earlier, Ema feels really bad and apologizes. Tsubaki doesnt think its her fault though. He doesnt know what happened between them, but he thinks its Azusas fault for getting angry. Besides, shes probably not the only one who triggered Azusas anger. Tsubaki knows this must be related to Natsume somehow. When he heard that Natsumes company is going to run a booth during the event, Tsubaki had a bad feeling. He felt that something troublesome would happen if Azusa runs into Natsume and his hunch always comes true during times like this. When Tsubaki asks if Ema is confused because of them, she decides to admit that hes right. He thanks her for answering, and he asks her not to worry. He believes they will understand once he talks to them. Tsubaki knows he has caused a lot of trouble for Ema before, so he wants to help her as an older brother. When the evening sun disappears into the horizon, Tsubaki says they should go back and helps Ema to stand up. He keeps holding her hand in silence for a while, but soon he apologizes and lets go asking her not to mind him. She doesnt know what to say to him either, and so she tells him that shell return his handkerchief after washing it. Its the least she can do to thank him for today. Tsubaki has to go back to the event hall, so he walks Ema to a place where she can catch a taxi to go home.

Three weeks passed after that, and September eventually comes. During those three weeks, Ema received a few mails from Natsume. He only told her about the games hes going to work on though, and he never mentioned anything about the key. Azusa apologized on the day after the event, and hes back to normal ever since. As for Tsubaki, hes been really busy with workasking his agency if theres anything he can do aside from voicing anime and games. That day, Ema realized that she still has a lot to learn about her brothers. She has been living with them for two years, and she will have to keep watching over them from different perspectives. On her graduation day, she rejected those who confessed to prioritize her familys happiness and she doesnt think she made the wrong decision. After all, the Asahina family is filled with wonderful people. On Sunday afternoon, Fuuto comes home in a suit and asks Ema to make lunch for himhes tired and hungry. Ema actually has a promise to see Wataru, but Fuuto knows theyre just planning to play games together anyway. He calls her sad for gaming with her little brother at this age, but when she gets mad he gives her and box and asks her not to get angry. Inside, Ema finds a bottle of perfume from a famous foreign brandthough its not sold in Japan. Fuuto has been chosen as the brands image model, but its tentative since he hasnt signed the contract yet. As he puts his tie

around Emas neck, Fuuto asks her to cook something for her beloved younger brother whos about to spread his wings and fly around the world. (* `*) He leaves after asking her to bring the food to his room, and she has no choice since its a huge achievement for him. After putting Fuutos tie into her pocket, Ema calls Wataru and asks him to wait for a while.