Nyanko da! (ft Natsume): A Brothers Conflict Fanfic

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.