Tsubaki Asahina: Our marriage conflict

5. Secret part♡1

" Who hurt my sweet Maiko!? ", a concerned Hikaru announced after he came home and saw Maiko's puffy eyes, flushed nose and cheeks.

"That would be Tsubaki's doing, unfortunately. ", Azusa replied with frustration. " Maiko called me about an emergency while I was finishing up my errands, so I invited her here. She seemed to have been crying before she called as well. ", said Azusa while he glanced at Maiko. " Tsubaki!? How could he hurt Maiko? Did they have an argument? Do tell if you don't mind Maiko. ", Hikaru replied as he made his was to the sofa where Azusa and Maiko were already seated. " I think its best to give her some space, she's said enou-", Azusa was saying until Maiko cut him off and spoke. "It's alright, maybe Hikaru will be able to help", she said with a faint and tired smile as she looked at Hikaru.

" I don't mean to press you, but perhaps your right. I could help if I know what's going on", Hikaru replied. Maiko then went on and explained everything that she told Azusa to Hikaru. When she was done, Hikaru had wide eyes. Then he looked at Azusa, and when their eyes met, they both nodded and excused themselves, leaving Maiko alone in the living room as they went up stairs. "This is what happens when I stop gathering information! ", Hikaru said as he shook his head. "But nonetheless, I know exactly what the the problem is! ", Hikaru beamed as he looked at Azusa. "What is it? ", Azusa asked curiously. " It's not just that Tsubaki is giving Maiko the cold shoulder, but his reasons behind his distant behavior is the true fix! " , Hikaru said with a wink.

"For Tsubaki to just be avoiding his wife out of the blue, even to the point of not sleeping in the same bed, or even sex, it dawns on me that Tsubaki's feelings for our precious Emma is still present!", Hikaru said as he gave a definite look at Azusa. " Your unfiltered as usual, but you could be right. That would make a lot of sense, what else would make him be distant with Maiko if he tells her she isn't the problem? ", said Azusa. " To add, our air head brother Tsubaki is actually doing all of us a favor by not telling her about his past with Emma. " , Hikaru's smile disappears as he says this. "If Tsubaki were to tell the truth about Emma, he wouldn't have been the only one to share that truth. Would she still want to be apart of a family that once had romantic feelings with their step-sister? ", Hikaru continued.

Azusa looks at Hikaru with eyes wide, and speechless, because he knew the valid points his brother was making. "And to make this more conflicting, Tsubaki didn't have a need to tell Maiko about that when they were dating, because he was convinced that his feelings for Emma were dead. ", Hikaru said as he shook his head. "The hardest part about this is, that even if we want to help dear Maiko, we can't. It's not our place to tell her what Tsubaki needs to say to his wife.", Hikaru said as disappointment crossed his face. "Then what can we do!? Maiko is my friend, and Tsubaki is our brother! Are we just supposed to sit here and do nothing!? ", Azusa yelled quietly to not bring attention to himself and Hikaru.

Hikaru grabbed Azusa by the shoulders. "Calm down Azusa, I know that your passionate about this, but I need you to take a deep breath. ", Hikaru said in a calm tone. " If we want to do something, we have to help Tsubaki. He's the key to fixing everything. ", Hikaru continued. With Hikaru's last word's, Azusa looked across the stair rail, and glanced at Maiko who was now fast asleep on the sofa.

Hikaru and Azusa prepared one of the empty room's for Maiko and brought her up to sleep as they prepared to call Tsubaki to help sort things out. It was now 10pm, and Ukyo had just made it home from work, and greeted his brothers before making his way to his room. "Big brother Ukyo is probably too tired to cook dinner, we could probably use this as a way to meet up with Tsubaki", Azusa suggested. Hikaru thinks about it, and nods in agreement. "That's not a bad idea, but there's an even better way~", Hikaru mentions with a mischievous smirk. " I have a bad feeling about this ", Azusa says as plants his face in his hands.

-time skip-

[Azusa P. O. V]
Hikaru's plan definitely worked, it worked way better than expected. He called Tsubaki and told him that something outrageous happened to Maiko, and that she needs help. Which it worked, because Tsubaki showed up to the mansion not too long after the call. Leave it up to Hikaru to cause panic, but he sure does serve as useful when he wants to.

Now it's just the three of us outside, Hikaru, Tsubaki, and me. " WHERE'S MAIKO!? ", Tsubaki yelled with panic. " WHY ARE WE AT THE MANSION IF MAIKO NEEDS HELP!? ", Tsubaki continued yelling as he grabbed both Hikaru's and my collar. " Stop yelling Tsubaki! We don't need to bring attention to ourselves in the dark of night! ", I yelled slightly. Hikaru laughs at the both of us, which I don't understand what's so funny when this is his doing!

" Hikaru tell him what's going on! ", I say in a hushed tone. " Alright alright, I lied about what I said happened to Maiko. " Hikaru said as he looked at the now angry Tsubaki. "What the hell Hikaru!? ", Tsubaki yells in a hushed tone as he let's go of both mine and Hikaru's shirt collars, and pushes Hikaru. "If I hadn't told you that lie you probably wouldn't have shown up! I know why your avoiding your wife, and were here to support you!", Hikaru says in a cold tone as he catches his balance, and gives a sharp gaze at Tsubaki.