(A/N: Hiya! So, I first wanna apologize at how I wrote some of this characters. I think I did it well enough for now. I'm going to try to update regularly, maybe every other Sunday. No promises though, I'm bad at that.
Hope you enjoy!)
That building was so large, so huge, that it would be impossible to be a school. Somehow, it was. While the train stopped at its stations, Yuya got off. He admired the appearance of his new school from the distance, still being able to see the top of it. There were at least three stories, and it was perhaps it was as wide as the White House, maybe more.
Accounting for the fact that it was a boarding school, the size began to make sense considering the amount of dorms there would be. Yet, it still felt too big. Yuya held his orange back close to his back. The wind blew, and he shivered. It was the middle of winter, the end of the first term. What a time to transfer schools… Yuya thought to himself.
He was wearing a big black jacket, with bright orange sleeves and pockets. His goggles were put on his head, though he knew when he started attending class he wouldn't be allowed to keep them on. Trying to think to the positives, Yuya remember how wonderful this school was said to be! What was its name? It was something strange…
Oh, right! Z-Ray Institute for Higher Learning. Sometimes it was even called Academy instead of Institute.
Everyone was saying it's a fancy sort of school, but that tuition isn't that high. That's good! Yuya smiled a bit while thinking about it. Mom told me that Yuzu and Gong went there, that's why she thought it would be a good idea to transfer me here instead of somewhere else. That'll be so great, if we three could be friends again!
When thinking like that, it was impossible to not get excited. Gen and the others bully me here, either! Yuya looked to the side. What if here someone knows about… that event, and they do instead of Gen…?
It took Yuya a second to realize that he was standing in the train doorway while in the midst of his fantasies. The conductor began to yell at him. "Get off or stay on, boy! Pick already!" she exclaimed.
"Ah- I'm so sorry!" Yuya hopped off, standing on the concrete of the station.
The conductor shook his head. "Air-head…" she whispered under her breath before closing the door. Yuya took a deep breath to get his composure back. He looked around.
Someone from the school is supposed to pick me up and then bring me to the dorms to show me around campus… it was two students, right? They don't seem to be here yet… Yuya thought. Man, I hope I didn't cause that conductor too much trouble…
Besides knowing that his childhood friends Yuzu and Gongenzaka attended the school, there were three other boys that Yuya knew had attended his school. Their existence puzzled Yuya immensely, and he hoped they wouldn't think too badly of him when all of them would eventually meet. He didn't know if they'd get along or if any of them would really interact, even.
Yet, he remembered what his mother had said right before he got on the train to leave for school. "Oh, did I tell you about your cousins? There are three of them, Yuto, Yuri, and someone else… hmm; I think his name was Yuqo? Oh, whatever, they go there. They actually look a lot like you!"
Yuya had no knowledge of any cousins of his. Apparently, they must have been related to him by birth and not adoption like the rest of his family like his mother and his missing-in-action father. That must have been the only way they looked like him. Maybe they were his actual cousins, or maybe they were secretly blood brothers. Yuya never really asked much about his birth family, he was too content with his adopted one to really care or think of it as much. Besides, he had grown up with them since he was an infant.
Watching the train leave, Yuya set his bag to the side and sat at the small bench. He looked around to see if there were any students approaching him, and he saw them. Why aren't they here…? He thought as he glanced at the giant clock in the center of the station. Then, Yuya realized something. The guides weren't late, he was early. The train was scheduled for arrival at noon, and there was still a quarter till it.
Yuya pressed his back against the bench, letting the cool metal send chills up his spine. There wasn't any snow; most of it melted the week previous. However, looking up at the full grey clouds and peering at the frost on the train track, it wasn't out of the loop to imagine more coming soon.
"Yuya!"
Nearly fallen out of his bench, Yuya was thrown out of his thoughts when he heard a familiar voice call his name. He jumped up and looked to his right. A wide smile couldn't help but consume his face. "Yuzu, Gongenzaka! Is that you?"
A hug that was so tight that it nearly choked Yuya from a giant Gongenzaka was the answer. "Oh Yuya! I have missed you a great deal!" he exclaimed.
"A-ah! I missed you too!" Yuya responded, panting for breath. "Gon, you're crushing me!"
It was a few moments later that Yuya was able to breathe again. He looked over at him and at Yuzu, who was standing there as well. "It's been so long!" Yuya said.
"Yeah… it has." Yuzu smiled as well. "We're your student guides! We'll show you around campus."
Yuya smiled. It might not be so bad.
There wasn't much he learned about the four houses. Gongenzaka and Yuzu had offered to explain it more, but Yuya decided not to bother with the details for now. The school was split into four houses. Standard House which he had been placed in and Yuzu and Gongenzaka were already. Then there was Fusion House and Synchro House. Finally was Exceed House which was jokingly called X-Y-Z sometimes due to the math leagues all being present there. They were strange names, but the school's name was weird too.
"You have to learn it quick," Yuzu said to him when they arrived at campus after the car ride there. "It's not exactly something easy." She looked over to Gongenzaka, as a 'should we tell' glance.
Gongenzaka shrugged. "Yuya, there's also something else you need to know…"
"Yeah, can you tell me after lunch? I'm starving! I didn't eat breakfast, the food at the station stop before I got here sucked! Do they have pancakes here?" Yuya asked staring at the huge school, with excitement and anticipation in his voice.
"Yuya! You can't just slack off and eat, this is serious!" Yuzu exclaimed.
Yuya giggled. It seemed like the two of them's dynamic hadn't changed in the years they had been separated. "We can talk serious later, c'mon," he walked into the school, looking around the giant halls. "Is this the seriously a school?! It's bigger than anything I've ever seen! It'd take five of me stacked on top of each other to reach the roof!"
"Yuya!" Yuzu called.
"When do you plan on telling him that he's going the wrong way to the cafeteria?" Gongenzaka asked Yuzu. She sighed a bit. Both of them hoped that Yuya wouldn't cause trouble before he knew the thing about the school houses.
The cafeteria smelled like waffles and blueberries. It seemed it was a lunch period for some of the students in class. Yuya wondered if it was okay for him to come here right away instead of at registration like he had told to, but decided that no one had said he couldn't.
There were several dozen lunch tables in the cafeteria that was as large as two normal-sized school lunch rooms put together and then some. The walls were painted dark purple, with banners on each side with a school house name, written in silver bubble letters that shined radiantly.
A clear row of panel windows were placed in the corners, green grass and vegetation glowing on the other side with sunlight pouring in, there wasn't even a need for artificial light inside. The golden light reflecting off of the people sitting inside and on their tables, making everyone gleam and look positively perfect no matter whom they were.
This place seemed too beautiful and perfect to be true. Perhaps life really could get better attending here!
Yuya smiled at this display and continued to walk forward. People were talking among themselves in their cliques and friend groups. For some reason, no one seemed to move from their tables besides to throw away or grab food. Normally, that'd be fine. Yet somehow it seemed strange how everyone refused to go to the other side of the room, maybe even eyeing the other people that they weren't near.
Yuya didn't really notice that, his attention was more on getting in the lunch line to get some food. He had run ahead of Yuzu and Gongenzaka by a long-shot. They were having trouble catching up with the energetic little tomato. Yuya had intended of getting in line and waiting for Yuzu and Gongenzaka there, but something caught his eye and stopped that plan.
When arriving, Yuya had been told to wear a pin on his shirt that said 'New' to show that he was a new arrival. Everyone else was wearing different pins. The cliques seemed to be related to their school houses, represented by the pins they wore. Yuya looked around, studying all of them.
On the side of the cafeteria where the 'Standard' banner was hanging, all of the kids who seemed to be from that house wore a pin that said 'Stand.' Similarly, on the Synchro banner side, everyone's house pin was 'Sync.' The Fusion's side had 'Fuse.' and Exceed's had the house nickname 'XYZ.' Yuya blinked. He recalled Yuzu and Gongenzaka wearing 'Stand.' ones, implying their house.
Was everyone regulated to sit only at their house? That didn't seem right, it definitely something more...
Yuya could sense the tension every time people with different pins looked at each other. Mostly, it was with the Exceed kids and the Fusion kids, but everyone had it to an extent. In fact, they all looked different to each other. Yuya couldn't describe it at first, however, if he had to, he would say the Fusion kids just looked… nicer.
Not by their kindness, no, in that they looked sort of rude, but how they dressed. The Synchro kids were split between looking nice and neat and rough and rowdy. The Exceed kids, well they all just looked punk. Standard, however, they were their own breed. They were all so unique to each other, like how normal people would dress and act.
What was with this house divide? Was this what Yuzu and Gong had been trying to tell Yuya? He felt uneasy. While no one looked at him oddly, in fact, everyone other than the spiteful looking Fusion kids seemed inviting when they say the 'New' pin on him. Yuya didn't know how to react. Perhaps it was coincidence. Maybe it was only the kids he glanced at that seemed to not like the others.
Finally, something topped the cake of oddness in that cafeteria.
Someone with blue hair with a yellow fringe went to sit down in the Synchro side, as that seemed to be his house. Yuya's attention was brought to him. He was one of the rougher looking Synchro kids, with a short-sleeved t-shirt that were tattered and a sleeveless hoodie over that. His jeans were faded and ripped a bit, with long boots over that. When the boy turned around to sit, Yuya was alarmed.
That Synchro kid looked exactly like himself!
Yuya was taken aback. H-how…? W-what…? He thought. M-mom did say that I had those cousins and that they looked a lot like me… but… did she mean EXACTLY like me?! HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?! He wondered if all of the cousins looked exactly like him. Yuya had the urge to get out of the lunch line and to go to that Synchro kid, his 'cousin.'
After building up the courage for a moment, he stepped away from the lunch line and walked over the Synchro side. Yuya walked up to him, and the blue and yellow haired kid looked at him. "Um, hi," Yuya said. "I'm new here… and before I came here my mom said three of my cousins came here, and you look a lot like me, so I'm guessing you're one of them…?"
"Huh, oh yeah. They mentioned that another one of us was coming. Hopefully you're the last one at least. I can't stand the rest of the fam." The Synchro boy replied. He didn't seem at all surprised at the close resemblance. That confirmed it to Yuya; all of them looked exactly alike. How else would the Synchro boy not freak out?
Yuya smiled a bit. At least the boy who looked like him didn't act mean to him. "My name's Yuya. What's yours?" he asked. "Mom mentioned all of your names before I left, uh, is your name any of the ones I'm thinking of? Yuto, Yuri… and umm, Yuqo?"
A vein practically popped out of the blue and yellow boy's forehead. He became red with flustered rage. Yuya became extremely frightened by this. "My. Name. Is. YUGO!" Yugo screamed out loud. Yuya stepped back, worried a bit.
"I-I'm sorry, my mom, uh- she couldn't remember your name and that's what she said." Yuya responded.
"Ohhh she remembers those asses Yuri and Yuto's name?" Yugo exclaimed. "I ain't either of those bastards; I wouldn't want to be either of those, ESPECIALLY the bastard called Yuri!" He glared at the other side of the room where the Fusion kids sat.
There was an entire section of the Fusion kids that became silent and stared back at Yugo. In the center, was another boy that closely resembled Yuya and Yugo, most likely the Yuri that had been mentioned. His hair was violet, with pink underneath. He cocked an eyebrow, and smirked a bit. "Oh, so there's the other one?" Yuri said while looking at Yuya. He completely ignored Yugo which enraged him.
Some parts of the cafeteria continued on with their business, but a good portion had become silent to watch the fight. "Hey, what about me?!" Yugo yelled loudly so Yuri could hear him clearly.
"Who cares about some stupid Synchro junk when you have fresh meat that could potentially become Fusion House? Though, he doesn't look bright enough." Yuri said. "The only people lower than Synchro is Exceed kids." he mentioned.
"H-hey, that's not nice…" Yuya nervously said in a quiet tone that was easily ignored. He would be lying if he was saying that he didn't feel panicked.
At a response to Exceed comment made by Yuri, a tall boy who must've been a year or two older than Yuya and wore a purple coat ran to the front of the Exceed House section. All of the Exceed kids had become quiet and furiously stared at the Fusion kids who glared at them with a cocky presence.
"We don't need some jackass Fusion kid telling us we're lower. We know you're the real scum at the bottom of the barrel." The tall boy exclaimed. "You won't be acting so high and mighty when we crush your house!"
"Oh, I'd like to see you try." Yuri snickered evilly at that. A ginger boy with a mole under his eyes stood next to Yuri. Yuri had been perched on the lunch table, sitting on top of it gracefully.
The ginger boy seemed to be Yuri's friend within the Fusion house. He put his elbow on Yuri's shoulder like a friend would and then laughed a bit at the purple coated Exceed boy. "Mmm, c'mon Shun! Don't be such a sour-puss!" he exclaimed.
The purpled coat wearing boy's name seemed to be Shun. "Exceed will crush you two and your house! We're superior to you, even to Synchro and Standard. We'll bet you all in the house war!"
"Why are you bringing Synchro into your two house's shit again?!" Random Synchro kids screamed from the house. A few Standards' did the same thing, though for the most part they tried to ignore them and slowly moved out of the lunch room for cover.
Yuya had no idea what he had just started by saying one incorrect name. All of the Exceed and Fusion kids started getting up and random amounts of Synchro kids, mostly the rowdy looking ones stood up too. And soon enough there was a fight. Mostly it was with food, but in a few cases with the Exceed and Fusion cases there were fists. Some of the angrier Synchro kids like Yugo did the same.
Yuya stared at the conflict with horror as he slowly backed into the door. H-HOUSE WAR?! He thought nervously. Perhaps this place wasn't so perfect looking after all...
