It was a quiet day in the Asahina house. Usually it would be Loud and high spirited, but ever since Ema the step sister of the Asahina brothers had gotten engaged, the brothers have been sulking, not being able to come to terms that their love for Ema is one sided, and that she's moved on.
[Tsubaki P.O.V]
It was painful, as much as I wished for Ema's happiness, I wanted to be apart of her happiness...
4 months had passed after Ema had gotten engaged, and since then, thing's haven't been the same around here. My brothers too are having a hard time accepting this reality... We really are just siblings to Ema after all, and fate had decided that that's how it must be...
Even so, I refuse to sulk for the rest of my youth over this! I'm officially 33! I've been single long enough, and it's time to move on. My little sister is set to get married and she's 26, at this rate we'll all be a sad group of old men if we don't chase new opportunities at love... or at least that's what I was telling myself, hoping that I could truly move on.
*Bzzzt* *Bzzzt*
I looked at my phone and it was a message from my twin Azusa. "Lets go somewhere. This gloomy energy in the house is making me depressed. ". As I thought, it wasn't just me who felt this way haha! It made me feel good to know that Azusa is aiming to clear the air as well. I message him back, " Thought I was the only one lol. Where should we go?". He responded, "I was hoping you would know-". Where should we go? When I'm down, I usually play games or listen to music. Maybe a trip to the game shop would be a nice idea! " How about the game shop? It's been a while since we last played together. " I replied. It took Azusa a minute to think, and he agreed. The game shop it is! I really hope today will be a turning point for us as a family. With that last thought, we got ourselves ready and met down stairs and made our way to the shop.
-Time skip-
We had taken Azusa's car to the shop. It was the first time in 4 months that I've really been out for a drive, other than making my way to work. It was refreshing to say the least. My brother parked, then we made our way to the shop entrance.
As we made our way inside, it was full of games of course, but there were no people inside. It was strange to me for a game shop to be this empty. "Azusa? " I called out. "Why is it so quiet in here? Where is everyone?". He looked a bit annoyed, but then again when doesn't Azusa not look annoyed with me. " This isn't the game shop we always go to. It belongs to a friend of mines named Maiko, her father passed the ownership of the shop to her. I asked Maiko to reserve the shop for us before we made our way here. " he said with a sigh. "Interacting with a bunch of people is the last thing I want to do while feeling crap like we do now. ". He made a valid point, at the same time it wouldn't be so bad to see the excitement of others in your favorite place. Nonetheless, I understood what Azusa meant.
" Oi! Maiko are you here?" Azusa called out. Thats when we heard shuffling coming from behind a door by the front desk, that probably leads to the storage room. The door opens and there she was... Maiko...
"Ahhh Azusa! It's been a while. How many times have I told you not to be a stranger! Visit more often~", She said with a smile. I didn't realize that I had been staring at her this whole time. " Azu, who's this guy? Your friend or something? ", she look weirded out. Azusa had noticed my staring, and immediately had second hand embarrassment to admit that I was his brother. " He's my twin, Tsubaki Asahina..." He said before slapping the back of my head. "Ouch! What was that for?" I said annoyed. "Stop staring and introduce yourself!" Azusa replied with a threatening look to hit me again.
"Sorry about that Maiko, I'm Tsubaki Asahina! A pleasure to meet you" I say with a 90° bow. Then I heard a laugh, Maiko laughed at me. " Calling me by first name already after staring at me Mr. Asahina?" She questioned. "I uh.. Um... My apologies again." Great, I'm all flustered! This hasn't happened to me before, why am I like this now!? Maiko walks up to me from behind the front desk. She made her way in front of me and put out her hand towards me, then made eye contact. She had to be around 5'3 now that I saw her this close. Maiko was a beautiful girl. Long silky emerald green hair, a light blush on her cheeks and nose, and beautiful honey brown eyes. Her lips, looked a little plumped and soft, Maiko was like a doll.
My heart quickened within me. I didn't understand my own feeling within this moment. "Hellooo~ you sure do like to space out!" She said before grabbing one of my hands with her outreached one and shook it. "There! We're officially acquainted." She said with an eye closed smile. I can feel the heat rushing to my ears. Azusa noticed my expression, and looked at me with wide eyes.
...Whether its because of her looks or not... Maiko your going to put me in trouble....
"Tsubaki! ", Azusa called out in a hushed tone. He was trying to call some sense back into me. It was too late.
I guess this is what they call love at first sight?...