Ninomiya awoke the next morning to a rumbling snore. Rolling over to glance at the clock next to him, he scowled once he realized it was only six, far earlier than he had intended to wake up. Grabbing his blankets and yanking them back up to his chin, he attempted to fall back asleep.

A few minutes later, Ninomiya stared blankly at the ceiling, having tried and failed to fall asleep multiple times. An irk mark appeared on his forehead as he heard yet another snore come from his blasted roommate.

At this, he abruptly stood up, stalked over to his roommate's bedside, and forcibly yanked the blankets off the person, effectively landing said person on the floor.

"Tachikawa! Wake up!"

Tachikawa blearily grinned in Ninomiya's general direction. "Yes, mom."

Reiji sat up in bed as he heard an incensed roar coming from the barracks.

-Line Break-

Breakfast was interesting.

The moment Kido had walked in to eat, Ninomiya had walked up and demanded to switch roommates.

"Ninomiya. I expect more decorum from one with your track record."

"I apologize. But Tachikawa-"

"It would do you well to understand how to work with anyone and everyone." Kido cut off Ninomiya, swiftly putting an end to the conversation.

Tachikawa was supremely unaffected, happily stuffing his face with grilled mochi.

"Where are the dragons?" Mikumo asked.

"MMPH?" asked Tachikawa rather loudly, looking up at the bespectacled boy next to him.

"To answer your question, Mikumo, the dragons usually either eat with their mate- I mean partner- or alone in their caves," Shinoda responded.

"Alone?" Tachikawa had finally swallowed the mouthful of extremely sticky mochi. "Aren't they lonely?"

Shinoda frowned. "A majority get partners, or they don't complain. A few enjoy the solitude." Turning to glance at the position of the sun in the sky, he added, "You might want to hurry. Both of the senior rider pairs are done, and ready." And grouchy, he added silently.

"Wait, how do you know?" Murakami approached, interested in the silent conversation Shinoda appeared to be having.

"When a dragon trusts someone enough, they will communicate through minds. This is fairly rare outside of lifelong partners or other dragons, but Jin has a special ability, allowing him to do it with everyone. Be aware that this means he can poke into your mind and see what you are thinking if you are not careful."

"…" Murakami was silent. "Can he include multiple people in a conversation?"

"No. It's strictly limited to two people at once. Also, Jin says that Reiji says that both squads are ten minutes late and now have ten laps as punishment."

"EH!?"

-Line Break-

All the dragons were in human form, standing around waiting for their riders to arrive. They wore uniforms identical to their human counterparts, neatly ironed clothes spotless.

Well, mostly.

For some, it might be stretching the truth.

Ish.

Kageura was rolling around, tussling with Izumi, who was laughing as he avoided Kageura's blows. Jin and Reiji shared a look, but did not interfere.

Once Kageura was completely tired out, splayed across the dirty ground, Izumi returned to his spot under a tree to continue waiting. Kido walked around the bend, bringing the trainees with him, and stopped short upon seeing the sorry state Kageura and his uniform were in.

It spoke volumes about the commonality of the event when he wordlessly handed over a clean uniform with a note on top reading 'Kageura.'

"Let's go," said Tokieda. "We're already behind as it is. Pick a dragon and mount. Ten laps, and then meet at the entrance to the forest."

"Same for you guys," added Reiji. "No fussing about who you end up with. Oh, Mikumo. Your dragon… er…"

The day before, Mikumo had ended up riding an extremely grouchy dark green dragon. It had expressed its dislike of the situation in… interesting terms, and apparently up and left the next day.

"You can share with someone."

Silence crossed the clearing.

"…Any volunteers?"

"Looks like you're riding with Arashiyama and I. Let's go."

Ninomiya glances at the three dragons in front of him. The golden haired one, Izumi, he thinks, is loud and energetic. He also appears to enjoy annoying his fellow dragons. The black haired one, Kazama… He's small. Small dragons in general are undesirable, and Kazama appears to know it. However, being a wind dragon might mean faster speeds with a smaller body. Then there is the blue eyed one. Narasaka, a water dragon, is much more geared towards support from afar to close range attacking, which being a battle mage, Ninomiya prefers.

The intelligence in Kazama's eyes throws him off.

The red eyed boy is silent, but watches each person in the clearing closely. Ninomiya feels watched, even as he examines each dragon himself. Approaching the black scaled dragon, he wonders whether he should ask to ride.

Before he gets the chance, Tachikawa is there.

"Kazama! Still have my jacket?" A goofy grin is on his face, even as he haphazardly throws an arm over his shoulders.

Kazama is almost instantly stepping back, pushing the unwelcome arm back to its owner.

"Please refrain from touching me when unnecessary." A pink flush rests high on his cheeks even as he speaks. He reaches into a bag sitting near him, pulling out Tachikawa's jacket. "Here."

Tachikawa is momentarily surprised at the aversion to his touch, but recovers remarkably fast. "You can keep it! You might need it, in case… you know… it happens again."

Kazama extends the jacket towards Tachikawa, wavering slightly. When Tachikawa pushes it back towards him again, he appears to weigh his options before placing the jacket back into the bag.

Tachikawa is happy with the small victory.

"Ride with me?"

"…Ok."

And just like that, Ninomiya's options are reduced to two.

He steps towards the quieter of the two before realizing that the other boy in his flock, Isami, is already mounting.

Izumi, now shifted to dragon form, steps towards him, issuing a silent challenge. Ninomiya inclines his head in greeting before getting straight to the point. "Will you ride with me?"

"And if I said no?"

"We'll get put together anyways."

"Fair point. You win, get on."

Silently exhaling in relief, Ninomiya climbs onto the golden dragon's back, securing his heels behind the wingjoints to secure his place.

"READY!" Tokieda is already in the air, yelling through a bullhorn atop Arashiyama, prepared to catch any who fell.

"TAKEOFF!"

As one, both squads take their first leap into the air atop their dragons.

Izumi hurtles off the ground at breakneck speed, nearly dropping Ninomiya as he struggles to recover from the shock.

"IZUMI!" Reiji yells furiously from the ground. "Don't drop your trainee!" Izumi smirks, the look in his eyes reminding Ninomiya dangerously of his friend from back home. Inukai and Tsuji had left a while ago, and never returned.

Ninomiya shook his head furiously, attempting to rid himself of the thoughts. Izumi paused, hovering in midair. "You good?"

"Fine," spits out Ninomiya. "Just fine."

Izumi hovers a moment longer before taking a steep dive towards the ground. Ninomiya instantaneously jerks upright, out of his thoughts and screams in Izumi's ear. "What are you doing?! You're going to get us killed!"

"DON'T WORRY! WE'LL BE FINE!" Also, they'll catch you if you fall, he mentally adds.

The rest of the afternoon, meant to be spent learning the first few maneuvers and formations, is spent on what Tokieda writes on the report as "Team Bonding."

In reality, they fly until exhausted, and all crash in Jin's cave until morning.

Kido sighs, rubbing his temples. These kids.

In front of him lie papers, on top of which is a mission report reading:

THIRD ROGUE ATTACK IN A WEEK. WHAT WILL THE ROYAL ACADEMY DO?

The picture below depicts a burning village, villagers running in every direction.

We need to train them fast.

A/N: I apologize for the lack of stuff in the chapter. It may have seemed boring, but team bonding and relationships between characters do not happen randomly. Also, there are many backstories. Get used to it. But… we have our first conflict! Yay! I might want a beta reader for combat. I suck at making it realistic and heartpounding, the way I like combat to be. So if my readers would be so kind as to maybe beta read? Please?

As always, favorite, follow, and review!

Thanks,

WorTri