Hana tuned the corner and her sunny smile dropped. She saw Ema looking like a deer in head lights, backed up against the wall of lockers behind her.

A group of four girls came into view. The one in front held up a hot coffee and sneered at Ema. She took off the lid gingerly, staring into the scalding brown liquid.

"You know, Ema..." The girl started slowly, the three behind her snickered. "Girls who don't stay away from our precious Futo get BURNED!" On the last word she threw the coffee at Ema.

Hana panicked and jumped in between Ema and the coffee. The hot beverage covered her chest and arms, soaking her.

Yet the only burn she could feel was the burning loathing inside her. She did not hate the girls, she hated what they were doing. And what they might become. 

"Who are you?" Another girl asked in a snide tone. Hana said nothing but stood up straight. Himura and Suzuki walked over and stood on either side of her. Himura draped his jacket over Hana's shoulders. The girls began to feel intimidated.

"My name is Asahina Hana, I'm Ema's little sister. What on earth possessed you do such a thing?" Hana asked, her words coated in venom.

One of the girls scoffed. "What can you do? Your just a kid. Go away, grown ups are talking.

"She's fifteen. And more of an adult that you'll ever be." Suzuki spat at them. "Goes to college after all." Himura added, scowling at the girls. The girls started to back up. Ema, however, was still frozen in fear.

"Why did you do this?" Hana asked, her voice was not scary, or hateful, or even mad. It was kind of... sad. She looked up at the girls, a look of disappointment and fear. 

The girl at the front of the group scoffed, trying to look as if she wasn't intimidated at all. "She was hanging around Futo too much. She's a selfish brat. She doesn't deserve our Futo."

Hana balled her fists. Anger flared inside her. "The only selfish brats here are you guys. He's our brother!" She scolded them, the girls backed up a few paces. Their faces noticeably fearful.

Out of the blue,  Hana smiled brightly at them. "And if you wanted to meet Futo, why didn't you just say so?" She asked, walking towards them.

Hana grabbed the hand of the girl who threw the coffee and started pulling her into the cafeteria, with a throng of  utterly bewildered high schoolers following the two.

The group walked through the cafeteria. Hana paid no attention to lingering stares
Or the whispers of "that wierd girl wearing a boys' jacket."

Hana's eyes zeroed in on the person in the room she was most afraid of. She took a deep breath and shoved back her fears, making her way to Futo.

"Hey Futo!" She called out. The girl in her grip desperately tried to run away but Hana was surprisingly strong.

Foto's face lit up with a smile. "Hey Hana, what are you doing here? Oh! How did your test at the university go?" Hana was slightly confused. Why was he being so nice? She shrugged it off.

"Hi Futo. The test when great, thanks. And I'm here because Yuusuke forgot his lunch." Hana smiled at him. "Anyway this girl wanted to meet you." Hana thrust the girl in front of her.

"So much that she went so far as to try to pour hot coffee on Ema. She missed!" Hana laughed slightly as she moved Himura's jacket to the side a bit, uncovering some of the coffee stain on her shirt.

"Anyways, see you at home!" She waved as she turned and hugged Ema. "Have a great day." She broke the hug and stared at Ema sternly. "Ema, if someone bothers you tell me. I'm always here for you." Ema smiled and hugged Hana back. "Ok I promise."

Hana sighed. "Ukyo's probably getting worried. Bye bye." She smiled at her new friends and gave Himura his jacket back. "Thanks a lot for your help guys!" She beamed up at them, "Hope to see you soon!" She called as she hurried out of the cafeteria.

She hurried to the car parked in the shade of a tree. She opened the door and hopped in. Smiling at Ukyo, who was putting away paperwork again.

He looked down at her once purple shirt. "What happened?" He asked, frowning. Hana shrugged. "Nothing much, saved Ema from a coffee spill."

She didn't want to worry him. Besides, it wasn't her place to tell him about Hana being bullied. Ukyo sighed. "We better get that into the washing machine as soon as possible." He shook his head as he pulled out of the parking lot.

~10 minutes later~

As soon as Hana got home she changed into a comfortable grey wool sweater and put her shirt in the washing machine just as Ukyo had told her.

She picked up the manga she had been reading earlier and curled up on her bed.

~some time later~

Hana finished the manga and looked up at the clock on her wall. Ema and Yuusuke would be getting home soon. She hopped off of her bed.

She scampered out of her room and down the stairs. She was in the entry area above the living room when she heard Tsubaki's voice ring through the room.

"She did WHAT!?!" Hana stopped in her tracks. Fear washed over her she hid behind the couch even though she knew no one had seen her.

"Well, some girls had been being kind of mean to me since I've been hanging around Futo a lot." Ema explained about the girls from earlier. "It's all your fault!" Hana heard Yuusuke shout. "I didn't do anything." Futo shot back coldly.

"Anyway..." Ema continued, a little thrown off and ashamed of what had happened. "One of them cornered me on my way to lunch and tried to throw hot coffee onto me. Hana jumped in front of me and it spilled on her."

Tsubaki gasped, "Oh no! What happened next?" He asked almost eagerly. "Um, she and two boys from my class, Suzuki-kun and Himura-kun confronted them. Hana dragged one of them by the hand over to Futo and left. The girl just ran crying from Futo.  She didn't say a word."

When Ema finished her explanation the room grew silent. The 'ding' of the elevator ripped through the quiet. Kaname stepped out of the elevator and smiled at Hana.

"Hello Imoto-chan. What are you doing?" Kaname asked, giving away her position. Hana's face flushed pink in embarrassment. "N-nothing." Hana answered quickly, Ukyo's deep voice floated up from below.

"Hana, is all this true?" He asked as Hana and Kaname descended the stairs. Hana nodded. "Why didn't you tell me earlier?" Ukyo asked, folding his arms across his chest.

Hana backed away a bit. "I-it wasn't my place to tell you about Ema being bullied." That made Ukyo let his arms fall and his gaze softened.

Just then, Tsubaki pulled Hana into a tight hug. "Im so proud of you!" He squealed but Hana hissed in pain and pushed him away.

Tsubaki backed away, hurt and worried. Azusa adjusted his glasses. "It appears the coffee was hotter than we hoped." He said, brow furrowed.

"Hana, take off your sweater." He told her nonchalantly. Yuusuke, Tsubaki, and Ukyo immediately burst out a "What!?" Where as Azusa just looked shocked and Kaname chuckled. Hana and Ema went red-faced.

"To check for burns!" Futo scoffed. "Idiots." He added as he jogged off to his room, hiding his slightly flushed face. "Hold on." Azusa said and walked on to the kitchen, coming out with a bottle.

He handed the bottle to Ema. "Help Hana put this on her burns." Ema nods and grabs a dazed Hana up stairs to her room.

Once she was in Ema's room Hana blinked. "Oookeey, that just happened." She said as Ema applied burn solution to a cloth.
To Ema's surprise, Hana started laughing.
Ema couldn't help but laugh with her.

Ema said almost nothing as she help apply medicine to Hana's burns. Instead listening to Hana ramble on about if the unicorn apocalypse was apon them, laughing occasionally at her crazy imaginary world.

"Ema what's wrong?" Hana asked her out of the blue. Ema almost dropped the cloth. "What do you mean?" Ema asked, a little shaken.

"You're way too quiet." Hana told her as she turned around to face Ema. Ema sighed. "Why Hana? Why did you do this," she motioned to Hana's burns. "For me?" She asked, dumbfounded,

"Pfft, that's easy! Because that's what what sisters do... I think." Hana tapped her chin in confusion for a second but shrugged it off.

"And 'cause I love ya!" She said as she tackled ema into a hug. They landed on the carpet in a giggling heap.

They calmed down and Hana threw her sweater over her shoulders. "Anyways, I'm starving! Let's go make dinner." She said, helping Ema to her feet. "Race ya!" She shouted, practically flinging the door off its hinges.

Ema chased after Hana. She smiled at the thought of having a true sister, and at what the future might hold for all of them.