Lei opened the metal doors, revealing a long corridor with a blue-green carpeted floor. The walls were painted a light silver and glistened just like its namesake metal too.

"Looks nice," Carter said, looking around as he went ahead of us.

"For once, I agree with you," Huo said.

"Took some work, to get it to this level." He pointed at the line of windows to his right. "We even got the pool fixed up."

"A pool?" I asked, running over to the panels. Indeed, on the other side laid a hundred-yard pool. It looked more like something found in a gymnasium than a dorm.

"You swim?" Carter asked, putting a hand on his hip.

My cheeks reddened slightly. "A little. I'm not that good at it, though."

"You should ask Wanikiya to teach you," Lei said as he leaned against the wall.

"Is he a great swimmer?" Aurelius asked.

He chuckled. "Besides Sarah and Nyima, he's the best swimmer I know." He stepped forward. "He's actually the one we fixed the pool for."

"Y-you fi-fixed it for one person?" Jude spoke up.

Lei put a hand against his chin. "No. The rest of us use it too, but he and Iah are the main ones that use it." He frowned. "Well 'used' in the case of Iah."

"I should practice swimming," Carter said, crossing his arms.

Did he not know how to read the room?

"Why? Are you a bad swimmer?" Aurelius asked.

Cart smiled slightly. "I've only ever swum in rivers that weren't very deep. Was afraid to fall over while on the ship as I wasn't sure I would be able to swim in such a large body of water." He ran a hand through his blond hair. "I also heard it's great for building muscle."

"Y-yeah, it helps with some of the lesser used muscles," Jude said. "It's also great for burning excess body fat."

"Wonder if I should try it," Huo whispered as he stared at his thin arms.

Carter patted his stomach. "Not that I have any fat."

"Well, you do jog a lot," I said.

"Wonder if I should swim more," Hikaru said, glancing at the pool.

"Huh? But you have no fat, Hika. You're more boney," Lei said.

Hikaru grumbled. "I'm not that lanky. Look!" Hikaru said, raising his sleeve. They looked sturdy.

"Oh, your arms aren't bad," Carter said, glancing at them. "But you probably should eat more if you want a less lanky build."

Lei grinned at Hika. "See."

"O-one does need fat to produce muscle," Jude said.

"I see," Huo mumbled to himself. "Maybe Lidia was right..."

Right about what? Eating more?

Hikaru sighed. "I do eat, but I can't seem to be able to put on weight easily."

"Reminds me of my big brother when he was your age," a voice called out.

Carter's face turned red as Marina stood by the metal doors. Silas stood behind her, giving Carter an odd look.

"P-pretty," Cart said with a stupid grin on his face.

"Does his brain melt around girls?" Hikaru asked, crossing his arms.

I snickered. "It does seem that way, doesn't it?"

"H-hey!" Cart said, glaring at us.

Aurelius smiled. "You got to admit that he has a point."

The blond fidgeted. "I'm just easily flustered is all."

"How cute," Marina said, giggling.

Carter rushed over and hid behind me and Aurelius.

"Carter," I said, looking over my shoulder. He looked like a shy kitten.

"Cute, huh?" Silas said with a dry tone. He leered in the direction of Carter. Was he jealous of a fifteen-year-old?

"Where are Alex and the others?" I asked.

Silas crossed his arms. "They're busy gathering the votes for best dish. That's also why we're here." He reached into his pants and pulled out a tiny notebook and pen.

"V-votes?" Jude asked. He stared at his now two empty bowls. How had he managed to eat those so quickly?

"I should go get the girls'!" Marina said, turning around and rushing out of the dorm.

Carter emerged from behind Aurelius as soon as she was gone.

"W-who should I vote for?" Jude asked, mumbling to himself. "B-both dishes have spiciness as a star. I-in that regard, the r-ramen is well balanced. T-though the noodles are too soft, b-but the broth makes up for it. On the o-other hand, the lamian is very spicy, b-but the meat and veggies offset that."

"I vote the ramen!" Carter yelled, raising his hand up.

Silas nodded his head. "Got it. Any reason why, though?"

Carter placed a hand on his chin. "I guess I simply prefer how it's balanced."

"I like the ramen, but I'm going to have to go with the lamian," Lei said with downcast eyes. He chuckled weakly. "They sure are nostalgic."

Silas jotted down their feedback. "I see." He glanced at Aurelius, Hikaru, Jude, and me. "And you five?"

"I vote for the lamian," Aurelius said. "While it is spicier than the ramen, it doesn't overpower the other flavors. In fact, all of them together create an explosion of taste."

"Sounds poetic," Carter said, tilting his head at Aurelius.

Aurelius chuckled. "Does it?"

Hikaru closed his eyes and leaned his right shoulder against the wall. He held the two empty plates in his hands tightly. "Even if the kind of dish didn't give away who made it, the flavors would've done that. Both Hideo and Zhuang are good cooks, that's for sure. Makes me wish I could've competed with them."

Lei snickered. "You always want to join every food contest."

He opened his eyes and chuckled. "I guess that's true." His blue eyes shifted toward the notebook in my brother's hands. "Elliot's lamian gets my vote. Like Aurelius said, while its spiciness is stronger, the other flavors pop in ones' mouth as well. That results in a flavorful balance as opposed to a more mild balance."

Jude looked around uneasily. "I-I'm not sure who to pick yet. Everyone's making great points for the lamian." He took a deep breath. "I-If I have to pick, probably the ramen. I-it's down to personal taste. Spicy food doesn't suit me."

"I pick the lamian as it's spicy," Huo said.

"We're supposed to be objective rather than subjective when judging food," Hikaru said, sighing.

The blond kid gulped. "T-true. Hmm, maybe I should reassess."

"Same," Huo said, biting his lip.

Hikaru's right. We have to be objective. I can't vote for the ramen simply because it's Hideo's. Not that I planned to favor him simply because he's my sibling.

"While the lamian does have a burst of flavor, the noodles are too thin. Also, it's too crumped that it makes one feel like it's all over the place."

"T-true," Jude said, staring at his empty ramen bowl.

"So guessing that's a vote for our brother?" Silas asked.

I averted my gaze. "Yeah."

"S-same," Jude said.

Silas smiled as he put away his pen and notebook. "That makes three votes for Hideo and three for Elliot. Seems they're still tied."

We all stared at Huo. "I pick the lamian."

"Yay, Eli's in the lead!" Lei said.

I narrowed my eyes at him. Did he pick him because he was his friend?

"Think you should've had a panel of judges instead. It would've been a lot easier than doing a tally," Hikaru said.

Big brother sighed. "Yeah, but our 'chefs' preferred it this way."

"We should return to what we were doing," Lei said as he walked toward one of the rooms and opened the door. It was empty except for a pair of beds. "Usually, we're paired up with our same-sex teammates, but since it's just you five, you can pick who you want as your roommate. Though, three of you will share one room."

"Jude's my teammate, but we aren't really close," Carter said. He smiled. "But rooming together might change that."

Jude glanced at Aurelius, Huo, and me. "S-sorry, Cart, but I p-prefer someone less... noisy."

Carter hung his head low. "Come on, I'm not that loud. Right?"

I laughed. "Yeah, you're beyond noisy."

Carter raised his head and grumbled. "Oh, thanks!"

"So, one of us will be rooming with Carter and the other with the other two," Aurelius said.

"I think we should play rock-paper-scissors. Whoever wins loses first rooms with Carter," I said, holding out my fist.

"Huh? Why does the loser get me?" Carter asked.

Aurelius stared at my hand.

"Don't know how to play?" I asked, lowering my fist.

"Not really."

"Just draw lots, it's a lot easier," Silas said, sighing. He grabbed his notebook, jotted down our names, and ripped the paper in half. He formed a vortex of wind and spun the names wildly. "Can one of the second-years grab one?"

"I'll do the honors," Hikaru said, stepping forward.

Lei chuckled. "Yeah, that's probably for the best as I can know which paper is which."

"Huh, how?" Carter asked, blinking.

"His wind magic," Aurelius said, eyeing the papers spinning around like balls in a lottery game.

Hikaru reached his hand in. "The one I draw will be partnered with Carter."

Carter smiled. "Good, the winner gets me."

"Hope I lose," I said, chuckling.

"Rude!" Carter snapped, stomping his foot.

Huo yelped at the sound of snapping. Carter had broken through the floorboards.

"Oops."

"Barely our first day and Carter's already breaking the dorm apart," Huo said, glaring at him.

Hikaru sighed. "I'll just put a sheet of metal over it. Probably should get Adela to look this place over for any rot we might've missed the previous year."

"This wood looks good, though," I said, staring at it.

Cart laughed. "I have super strength."

Huo rolled his eyes. "Shameless."

Hikaru sighed. "Just like Lei." 

Lei furrowed his brow at his friend.

"Well, maybe worse." He turned his attention back to the vortex and grabbed a paper.

"Sorry, little brother. Seems like you won," Silas said, staring at the paper in Hikaru's hands.

Carter leered at me. "I prefer Au. He's nicer."

"I was just kidding," I said, raising my hands up. Had to remember that Carter struggled with sarcasm in the future...

Carter smiled. "You mean it?"

I raised my fist at it him. "Of course I do. We already roomed together before anyway."

He tapped his fist against my own and grinned. "True."

Lei snapped his fingers, causing our luggage to appear in front of us. "Let me know if you need help settling in. I'll be in my room."

"Didn't think you were exhausted too," Hikaru said.

He reached for the door of the room closest to the exit. "It was a long trip." His eyes suddenly widened as the door opened completely. There were several boxes next to one of the beds. "Whose boxes are these?"

Lei knelt down by the boxes and picked up what appeared to be a dartboard with a picture of him.

"Eh?" Carter asked, jumping back.

"Seems you have someone who dislikes you," I said.

"Someone who hates me, huh?" Lei put down the dartboard. "I think I have an idea of who it might be."

"What are you doing, touching my stuff?" a voice called out. We all glanced at the black-haired, blue-eyed guy standing behind us.

"Seems I was right. It was you, Aya."

Aya averted his gaze. "Aya? Don't get so formal with me, punk. Use my full name. Ayawamat."

Lei smirked. "Sure, whatever you say, Aya."

He grumbled. "Now you're just doing that to annoy me!"

"Lei seems pretty chill, considering the guy has a picture of him on a dartboard," I whispered.

Ayawamat turned to look at us. "Who are these guys? The new first years?"

"You don't remember? We saw each other at the games," I said.

He put a hand on his hips. "Well, no one introduced themselves."

"True," Carter said. He jumped forward. "Allow me to go first!"

Ayawamat stepped away. "What's with you?"

"I'm Carter, I'm Lei's rival for the title of Magus Maximus."

I chuckled. What a way to introduce himself.

"Rival for the title, huh?" Ayawamat said, smirking. "Lei's never defeated me, but you don't look like much when compared to him."

Carter gritted his teeth. "Oh, yeah? Wanna fight? I'll burn your little and big critters along with that ego of yours, bug boy!"

Ayawamat scoffed and went past him. "Sorry, but I don't fight children."

"Wait, but you have. Remember Akito?" Lei asked.

Ayawamat gave him a 'shut up' glare.

"Eh? This guy has fought literal kids?" Carter asked. He looked back at Ayawamat. "How heartless are you?"

Ayawamat grumbled. "It was for a test."

Carter blinked. "A test? We're required to beat up kids? What kind of place is this?"

Lei laughed. "The kids wanted to fight us. Well, except for Ryuusei. His father forced him to fight Iah."

My blond roommate suddenly quieted down. "Forced to fight someone older than him by his dad, huh?"

"That guy was a jerk," Ayawamat mumbled. He knelt down and grabbed one of his boxes. "Anyway, I don't have time to fight. I'm behind on putting my stuff away."

"Hold up," Lei said. "I know that Iah is gone, but why are you taking his bed? What if he returns?"

"You haven't heard?" Ayawamat asked, looking over his shoulder. "Iah was suspended."

**Solar Note: Hope that you enjoyed the chapter ^^. Thoughts? Theories? Predictions?**