Unseen, a hand crept closer and closer to the goal it sought, reaching out to claim its' prize.

Almost there…almost…

SMACK!

Judar withdrew his hand with a hissed curse, cradling it to his chest with a hurt expression.

"What the hell, Hakuryuu? That hurt!" he complained, seemingly far less remorseful at doing wrong than the fact of being caught.

Hakuryuu fixed his partner with an unimpressed frown. "Serves you right" he declared matter-of-factly. "The food will be ready in a minute; keep your hands off until I'm done. Better yet, go and set the table. You're kind of in the way here."

Judar pouted at that, but obeyed, hopping off the island where he'd been perched and opening the cupboards for plates and bowls.

"Can I get a taste test, at least?" he asked cheekily, leaning over to give Hakuryuu a pleading glance. Hakuryuu rolled his eyes and sighed, but relented, picking up a forkful and holding it out to Judar's mouth. Judar accepted the morsel delicately, eyes lighting up as it hit his taste buds.

"Good?"

Judar nodded enthusiastically, chewing and swallowing with an exaggerated motion. "Frickin' amazing. You're the best, 'Ryuu."

"W-well, I should hope so, I am in the cooking club, after all." Hakuryuu attempted to deflect the praise with his usual modesty, but couldn't entirely hide the slight flush of pride that coloured his cheeks, or the smile that rose to his lips. It was nice to be appreciated, especially if it was for something you were proud of.

The next couple of minutes were a flurry of activity, with Judar setting the bowls and cutlery out, fetching water and glasses, and Hakuryuu carrying the food through from the kitchen. Once finished, they sat down and said their thanks, then took a moment to simply appreciate the delicious feast spread out before them. No sooner had they taken the first mouthful, though, than they were they rudely interrupted.

The whine of the fire alarm pierced the air, filling the room with a piercing shriek. Both teens looked up at the offending smoke detector, grimacing at being interrupted in their meal.

"Oh, for fuck's sake! Are you kidding me! What the hell?!" Judar's growl of frustration was matched by his partner, as Hakuryuu's mouth set in a frown of disappointment. By the time they got out, waited around for the fire brigade to come, then came back in, the food would almost certainly be cold. What a waste! And he'd spent all that time on it, too.

A small part of him debated simply ignoring the alarm and continuing to eat, but the ongoing cacophony rather tended to put one off one's food. Another, even more irrational part of him wondered how quickly he could wrap it up and take it with him, though that idea was dismissed as rapidly as it came.

Evidently Judar had had the same thought, though, as he looked down at the plates with a contemplative expression.

"'Ryuu, do we absolutely have to go…?" he asked petulantly. "Can't be bothered…I'm hungry, dammit!"

Hakuryuu sighed, pushing his chair back and getting up. He knew Judar's question hadn't actually required an answer, but he replied anyway. "Unfortunately, yes. It's probably nothing, just like always, but I suppose we shouldn't take the chance. Come on."

Grumbling, Judar reluctantly did as he was told, getting up and following his friend to the door. Pausing to shove his feet into the ratty trainers lying haphazardly across the mat, he headed out the building, joining their neighbours as they traipsed down the stairs.

"Hey. Were you guys having dinner too?"

Judar looked over to the boy who'd asked the question, seeing the neighbours who lived next door. It was Alibaba who'd asked, his normally cheerful smile twisted in a rueful grin.

"Yeah. Hakuryuu cooked. Got like, one bite before the fucking alarm went off."

Alibaba nodded sympathetically. "Yeah, we were just having pizza, but we'd mostly finished anyway."

"Ugh, this is such a nuisance! Morge, why did we come out here again?" That voice belonged to one of their other neighbours, Kougyoku, who shared a flat with her friend, Morgiana. The two had met through Alibaba, and though initially they didn't seem to have much in common, they were now good friends. At first, Kougyoku had seen Morgiana as something of a rival for Alibaba's affections, but had since backed off after realising how perfect the two were for each other. For a while she had had a massive crush on the college hunk, Sinbad, but had been firmly dissuaded of that notion after realising that his good looks came with a correspondingly large ego. How his friends put up with him, she had no idea.

Morgiana was saved from answering her friend's complaint by the chaos of everyone trying to get out the doorway, creating a bottleneck as they trickled through in ones and twos. Once in the parking lot outside the building, the crowd dispersed into pre-determined groups. Judar waved a hand to their neighbours, one of whom was in the same fashion course as him. The dark-haired teen nodded back, before resuming his conversation with the navy-haired boy he shared a flat with. The tall senior next to him was joined by his little cousin, who attended the high school that was paired with his older companions' college.

He might have gone over to say hello, and join in the complaining that was no doubt being shared by everyone around the car park, but he was stopped by the sight of Kougyoku, who came over to stand beside him and Hakuryuu.

"Hey, old hag. Great to see ya here. Lovely evening, huh?" Judar's sarcasm went ignored by the fuchsia-haired girl, though she scowled in mock-anger at the familiar insult.

"Judaaaaar," she whined. "Stop calling me that! You're such a bully." Judar snickered at her reaction, earning him a soft thump on the shoulder. This only caused him to laugh louder, knowing there was no real menace in the gesture. Hakuryuu watched their antics with a resigned half-smile, more than used to their behaviour. He'd known them both since childhood; Kougyoku being one of a number of cousins of the Ren family, and the closest to him in age. Judar wasn't actually related to either of them in any way, but had been taken in by Hakuryuu's mother when he was a baby. Exactly why, Hakuryuu didn't know and had never asked, but the family seemed to treat him as one of their own, and that was all that mattered. Well, as he grew older the term freeloader might have been more accurate, but Hakuryuu wasn't one to split hairs.

As the crowd waited for the fire engines to arrive, the air was filled with the buzz of conversation. As usual, absolutely no-one took the situation with any seriousness, knowing this was just one of many such incidents of false alarm – there was no real danger, just as there never had been before. Some students who had not yet began dinner even started a bet on which would arrive quicker – the fire trucks, or pizza. Calling up their order, they sat down on the verge, laughing amongst themselves as they debated the outcome. The stakes were high – the losers would pay for the meal, while the winners would have the satisfaction of gloating rights (and a free dinner).

After several more minutes spent idly waiting around, it seemed those who had bet on the former would be the ones receiving a free meal that night, as the wail of sirens echoed in the distance, accompanied by the sight of flashing red-and-blue lights. A triumphant cheer sounded from the winners, drowning out the good-natured groans of the defeated. Friendly joking and thanks were exchanged as the students waited for the all-clear to be given, as the firemen conducted a brief search of the building to make sure all was in order.

As it turned out, the hungry gamblers did not have long to wait for their meal, as the rumble of a motorbike drawing up against the curb signalled the arrival of dinner. The familiar logo emblazoned on the side was a welcome sight, and the losers gladly paid their tab, eager to get back inside and dig in.

As they waited, Hakuryuu was startled back from where his thoughts had been wandering off by Judar slinging an arm around his shoulder. He blinked, eyes refocusing on Judar's grin as he raised an elegantly arched brow at his friend's confusion.

"Earth to 'Ryuu. Ya there, buddy? You were totally spacing out just now, weren't ya?"

Embarrassed, Hakuryuu looked away with a frown, cheeks dusted with red as Judar's smirk widened, though he saved him from further embarrassment by speaking again.

"Sooo, I was thinking. Now that dinner's kinda totally ruined, which totally sucks 'cause man is your cooking amazing, maybe we could go get somethin' else? I'm thinking Chinese cause I'm starving now, plus it's cheap. And we can walk there. Whaddaya say, huh?"

Now it was Hakuryuu's turn to raise a brow at his partner's rapid chatter, but he nodded all the same. "I suppose, if you want. I admit I don't really feel like cooking anything again at this rate. I don't have my wallet, though."

Judar grinned and held his up triumphantly. "Already there. Grabbed it before we went out." He smirked at Hakuryuu's impressed expression, which turned to suspicion as a thought occurred.

"You planned this, didn't you?" he accused, frowning at Judar's careless shrug and lazy grin.

"Maybe…" he replied cheekily, rolling the word across his tongue. "Well, not the alarm, but Chinese, sure. I knew the food'd be cold by the time we got back in, and you didn't take money, so I grabbed mine. Good thing I did, huh?"

Faced with that logic, Hakuryuu could only nod in wry agreement. "Alright, fine. Let's go get Chinese, then. I'll pay you back later, though. It's only fair."

Judar waved a hand airily. "Nah, it's cool. You made dinner before, so call this my treat. Hey, you guys want in? I can spot ya, no worries."

Kougyoku looked tempted, flushing a little as the growl of her stomach made a decision for her. "I will, if you don't mind." she asked, smiling as Judar nodded a 'yeah, sure'.

"OK, anyone else? 'Cause I get discount if we order more."

Morgiana spoke up next. "If you don't mind, may I join you? Kougyoku and I haven't eaten yet. I will make sure to pay you for my share when we come back."

"Yeah, sure, whatever. Hey, Alibaka, Chibi, you guys want in? Ah, but you guys don't get freebies. You have to pay." Judar's usual blatant attempt to antagonise Alibaba had the intended effect of riling him up, but Aladdin's interjection managed to calm him down.

"Alibaba, it's alright, I can pay. Can we come with you, Judar?" he asked, receiving a roll of the eyes in return.

"Duh. I wouldn't have said it if I was kidding. So, that us? I'm starving, let's go get food already!"

With that, they headed off, passing the other students as they trickled back into the building. Judar lead the way, one arm slung around Hakuryuu's shoulder and the other snaked around Kougyoku's waist. The reason for this unusual display of affection became apparent as they passed by a couple of older students; a tall man with long purple hair tied up in a ponytail, and a smaller man with silver hair and a dusting of freckles across his nose.

Sinbad nodded a greeting to Judar, receiving a less than friendly sneer in return. Rolling his eyes, he gave a resigned shrug and continued on, resuming his conversation with Jafar, who had pointedly ignored the younger teen.

Once they had passed, Kougyoku gave Judar a grateful smile, silently thanking him for the gesture. He winked, tightening his hold on her waist briefly before extricating his arm from around her waist.

"You still don't get on with mister Sinbad, do you, Judar?" Aladdin asked ruefully.

Judar shrugged, taking his arm away from Hakuryuu's shoulder to cross his hands behind his head.

"Why should I? The guy's a class A jerk. Thinks he's such a stud 'cause he's got looks and money, and that do-goody attitude of his pisses me off. He's always getting' on at me for breaking some dumb rule. It's so annoying."

Alibaba opened his mouth to contradict Judar's words, but stopped, rubbing his cheek with an awkward gesture. "I guess you do have a point…" he muttered. As much as he respected the senior, he had to admit there were certain aspects of his personality that were more than a little…grating.

"But Judar, if you didn't break the rules so much, mister Sinbad wouldn't be so mad at you. You know?"

"Hey, I know I'm a dick, chibi. It's all part of my charm." The statement, delivered with usual flair and complete self-assurance, was met with scepticism and raised eyebrows all round.

"Charm? You? You wouldn't know charm if it hit you in the face."

"Oi! Shut it, old hag, or I won't buy you dinner after all."

"uh, that kind of proves her point, you know…"

"Screw you, Saluja. 'Ryu~u, back me up here!"

"…"

"Geez, you too?! Fine, you guys can starve. See if I care."

Left out of the exchange, Morgiana and Aladdin could only stare at the four as the joking insults flew thick and fast. They shared a look, Aladdin's rueful smile matched by Morgiana's eye roll. The friendly bickering was nothing new, and they knew there was no real menace in any of the insults, so it was best not to intervene.

The attack on Judar's character – and his attempts to rescue it – continued until they reached the restaurant. Opening the door, a musical chime sounded from the bell above the frame, signalling their arrival to the cashier behind the counter. The woman smiled in recognition when she saw Judar, evidently familiar with him from the many times he had visited before. Judar returned her greeting, speaking in a musical tongue the others didn't quite recognise, except Hakuryuu. For once, the self-proclaimed rebel troublemaker seemed to be speaking with some respect, though whether that was due to some unknown status or simply because there was food involved wasn't clear.

Pleasantries exchanged, Judar turned back to the group. "Ready to order?" he asked.

Everyone nodded, having had time to peruse the menu while he'd been chatting. They each listed their choices, and the woman rang them up in turn, calling out to the kitchen behind her once she'd finished. Judar handed over the money, thanking the woman before going over to join the group standing at the window while they waited for their food. He handed Alibaba and Aladdin their change, then took a seat.

The next few minutes were spent in idle chatter of inconsequential things, scrolling through phones and subtly glancing at the people walking past the window while they waited for the food to be ready.

Not long after, the order was complete, and the woman called Judar over to collect it. He hopped off the stool he'd been perched on and went over, taking Hakuryuu with him to help carry it all. They said their thanks and goodbyes, all three talking in rapid-fire Mandarin with the ease of native speakers.

Once outside, Alibaba couldn't help voicing his curiosity.

"So, do you know that lady? You seemed pretty close."

Judar shook his head, opening the can he'd purchased and taking a sip. "Nah, I just come here so often I know nearly everyone in here by now. This place is great if you got special requirements for food or whatever, or if you want something made a certain way, they'll do it, no fuss."

"Yeah, but you not liking vegetables isn't a diet thing, you know, it's just you being picky."

"So what? Veggies are gross. All mushy and stuff. I'm not gonna eat 'em unless I have to, which is never. So there." Judar emphasised the statement by sticking his tongue out at Alibaba, unconcerned at the eye roll it received.

"Not again…" Aladdin sighed, weary of the continued fighting. Kougyoku and Morgiana couldn't help but agree, as they interrupted their conversation to turn around and fix the two boys with disdainful looks.

"Honestly, you two are so childish. Must you fight all the time?"

"I just want to eat the food in peace…"

Judar looked away airily, unrepentant as usual, but Alibaba had the decency to look suitably chided.

"S-so, anyway… Hakuryuu,"

"Hmm?"

"Your studies are going well, huh? I mean, you were talking like a pro there. You should teach me sometime, too!"

Hakuryuu shrugged. "It's nice to get the practice. But it's more a refresher for me than studying, I just took the class to get my credits quota."

"A refresher?"

"My mother's side of the family speaks Mandarin, so I grew up bilingual. My mother taught Judar when he was little as well, but I didn't really need it later so I kind of forgot it. Then when I saw language as an option for our minors, I decided to take it as a way to keep it up."

"I see." Alibaba nodded.

The conversation continued until they reached the dorm, where they split up to retrieve extra cutlery and plates. Aladdin offered his and Alibaba's flat to eat in, and the next few moments were spent in sorting out which boxes were whose and where to put everything. Once that was all sorted, it was time to dig in.

"Ooh, fortune cookie! Let's see what it says." Kougyoku took the little packet, opening the shiny wrapper and cracking the shell to reveal the paper inside.

"Oh, that's a good one. Guys, listen to this."

Good food is always better with great friends

"Well, you know what that means. Itadakimasu!"

"Itadakimasu!"

A/N: As with A Rude Awakening, the basis for this was being at uni, when the alarm went off when me and my flatmates were having (well, had mostly finished) dinner, and I thought, hey, I could make this a fic as well. And since I'd been re-reading Magi, I decided to make it JuHaku and Co.

If you're reading this first, just a quick PSA: while I've downplayed the seriousness of the alarm for the purposes of this story, in real life you should NEVER ignore a fire alarm, or any alarm for that matter. You don't know if it's serious or not, so you can't afford to take the chance. And it turned out that in this instance, the alarm had actually been caused by a faulty heater - it hadn't been cleaned properly and dust had got caught inside. Thankfully it hadn't actually caught fire, but it could have done if left unattended. Fire safety is important, people!

OK PSA over, headcanon/AU idea time. Me and my sis (KikiTwinTai) were talking about Magi and Touken Ranbu, and we realised that personality-wise, JuHaku and YamaKash are very similar. We did a little brainstorming for a university AU setting, and we've decided that Judar and Kashuu would study fashion and textiles as their Major, with Kashuu's Minor being cultural studies and Judar's being chemistry/physics (because magic = science in Magi - like Aladdin's gravity magic is basically theoretical physics, with wormholes and stuff). Hakuryuu is studying Law, with an emphasis on business law, Yamato is studying history, and they both have language as their minor (Mandarin), which is where they met. In Magi, the Kou empire is based on China, and the Kouga plains clan is based on Mongolian nomadic tribes (I think), so that's why Hakuryuu can speak Mandarin.

I might write more on this AU later. If you like this idea, please r&r. And thanks to everyone for favourites, follows and reviews, you guys are the best!