A double post to make up for not posting in so long!

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Ritsu Tadaki woke up the next day in his new bed located on the First-Year Floor of the Storm dormitory, feeling refreshed.

He sighed and stretched, then got up and padded to the bathroom.

It was a little past eight when he walked into the Great Hall and took a seat at the Storm table for breakfast.

After he was done with a full plate of bacon, sausage, eggs, salad, toast, along with a glass or two of freshly-squeezed orange juice, he looked around at the assembled students.

He wanted to talk to somebody about the school, but he didn't want to talk to a teacher.

At least, not before he had had a class with them and seen which one of them was sane, anyway.

He finally spotted the blonde boy who had stirred the school yesterday.

He was apparently a son of two of the staff and would therefore probably know the answers to his questions.

Better yet, he was a first-year, just like him.

What was his name…Balmung?

He got up and walked quickly over to the boy.

"Hey, Balmung, right?"

The other boy looked up and nodded. "Yes?"

"I'm a freshman here and I have a few questions…"

Balmung blinked. "And you want to ask me?"

"Well, if you don't mind, I don't really want to ask an upperclassman or a teacher and you're one of the teachers' children, right?"

Balmung nodded. "Yeah. I don't mind. What house are you in?"

"Storm. I'm Ritsu Tadaki, by the way."

"And you already know that I'm Balmung Cavallone. I'm in Sky."

Ritsu then noticed where they were walking to and stopped. "Cloud? Why are we going to the Cloud table?"

Balmung shrugged. "Nobody really sits at their actual table. They prefer eating with their friends, you know. We're required to sit at our table during big events though, like the starting and ending feasts. As for Cloud, it's cause my friends and I agreed to meet there."

Balmung led the way to where Kaoru Hibari and Yuki Yamamoto were sitting with another girl.

All three looked up when the two boys approached.

Kaoru nodded in greeting, then went back to studying the table while Yuki smiled happily. "Balmung! Good morning!"

Balmung raised an eyebrow. "How the hell do you have so much energy in the morning?"

Yuki shrugged, still smiling.

Kaoru replied without looking up. "Yamamoto's genes."

Balmung cracked up while Yuki pouted. "Kaoru, what's that supposed to mean?"

Balmung and Ritsu sat down and Balmung started filling his plate with food.

He noticed that Ritsu wasn't doing the same.

Ritsu caught his questioning look and answered. "I already ate."

Balmung nodded and started shoving food into his mouth.

Yuki and the unknown girl had plates that were half-empty and Kaoru had no plate at all.

The only sign of food was a brown ceramic cup of hot tea in her hands.

She noticed his staring and raised her eyebrow as if daring him to question her ways.

Ritsu looked down at the table to escape from the piercing glare.

Yuki spoke up again. "By the way, Balmung, this is Haruhi Tsukiyo. She's in the Rain House."

Balmung smiled slightly at the girl and gestured at Ritsu. "Kaoru, Yuki, Haruhi, this is Ritsu Tadaki form the Storm House."

Yuki clapped her hands together and grinned. "If we can get a Lightning and a Mist, then everything'll be perfect!"

Kaoru just snorted.

Balmung sighed. "Anyways, Ritsu wants to know a few things about the school."

Yuki blinked. "Really? Haruhi too!"

Balmung nodded. "So. Shoot."

Haruhi asked the first question. "So what's this House thing all about?"

Ritsu jumped in. "Yeah, and that inter-House Famiglia thing?"

"Yes, I'm quite curious about that as well."

Everybody except for Kaoru jumped in their seats as an unknown voice joined their conversation.

They turned to see a black-haired, hazel-eyed boy with long hair that was tied in a ponytail.

He smirked. "Muroki Shiro, at your service. I'm a-."

"Mist."

The others turned to look at Kaoru.

Her gaze was directed at Muroki with something like disgust.

Muroki just smiled an unnerving smile. "Correct, Kaoru-chan."

Kaoru glared at Muroki, then went back to her tea.

Balmung coughed awkwardly, then went silent for a minute while thinking of how to answer Ritsu and Haruhi's questions as Muroki took a seat next to Ritsu.

Yuki introduced everybody. "Nice to meet you, Muroki! You know Kaoru, I'm Yuki, and this is Haruhi, Balmung, and Ritsu. Kaoru's in Cloud, I'm a Sun, Haruhi's a Rain, Balmung's a Sky, and Ritsu's in Storm."

Muroki smiled. "Ah, nice to meet you too."

Balmung spoke up. "So…To answer your questions…"

Ritsu, Haruhi, and Muroki looked at him.

"Your House is what you're classified as. You heard the Heads' descriptions, right?"

The three nodded.

"Your personality and character traits are what classify you as someone from a specific House. Your House marks what type of uniform you wear, which dorm you're in, etc. It's mostly for organization purposes. The Famiglias each consist of seven people: one person from each House, all from the same year.

"There are seven Houses with seven years. There are three girls and three boys in each year. That means that there are six Famiglias per year. You do everything with your Famiglia. You eat with them, train with them, go on missions with them. They become your family, in a way."

Ritsu nodded. "But what were those spinning holograms and those animals made of fire?"

Yuki answered. "Well, all these students and teachers come from different dimensions. The holograms are from the Percy Jackson world. The accepted kids from that dimension are all demigods, people who have one godly parent. Their godly parents are the Greek gods from the myths. The spinning holograms were signs that their parents sent, claiming the kids as theirs.

"The animals show people from the Harry Potter world. Those kids are wizard and witches. Those animals symbolize the four Houses of Hogwarts, the best school in Britain for witches and wizards. Lions are Gryffindors, snakes are Slytherins, badgers are Hufflepuffs, and eagles are Ravenclaws. The house they're sorted into actually says a lot about them. Like Slytherins are sneaky, Gryffindors are brave, things like that."

Ritsu blinked. "Wait…Different dimensions? What d'you mean, different dimensions?"

Kaoru spoke up. "Different dimensions. Different worlds. There's more than one world out there, you know. And they're all linked in some way."

Haruhi tilted her head. "So which world is this school in?"

Balmung shifted in his seat. "None."

"Eh?"

"Like I said, none."

Ritsu blinked. "But, then how does it exist…?"

Muroki leaned back a little. "This place is connected to all the worlds, right? Has to be, to get all of the students. So…Then this school is sort of suspended between dimensions, right?"

Yuki nodded energetically. "Yup! The gates mark the boundaries. Step outside of the gates and you'll go flying into limbo."

Ritsu, Muroki, and Haruhi all blinked. "Limbo?"

Yuki grinned. "In other words, nothingness."

The group sat in silence for a while until the silence was broken by the sensei with the long silver hair and loud voice from last night.

"VOI! All first years, there's a meeting in ten minutes in front of the Headmistress's office! The rest of you, be in your dorms in an hour for your new term schedules! Sixth and seventh years, get ready to go buy all necessary supplies in two hours! That is all!"

The man left, and as he did, so did all of the other teachers.

Balmung groaned. "Ugh, Famiglia sorting time."

Yuki stood up, stretching. "We might as well go now. It takes forever to find anything here if you're alone."

Kaoru stood, leaving her teacup on the table. "Let's go. Oh, and we might as well take that girl along. She was eavesdropping."

She nodded at the girl, who stiffened.

Kaoru looked over the new girl with a critical eye. "Looks like you'll be getting your wish, Yuki. You're Maiiko Yamato, Lightning House."

The girl, Maiiko, nodded. "Yeah."

Yuki squealed in happiness. "Yes! Now we have someone from all of the houses!"

Kaoru stretched. "Makes it easier for sorting. C'mon."

The seven first-years left the Great Hall and walked towards the Headmistress's office.

They were the last to arrive, and as soon as they joined the other first-years, the office door flew open and a familiar voice called out "Come in!"

They entered the spacious office.

The room emitted a warm feeling, with a fireplace at one end and the walls covered in light brown wallpaper.

One wall was made entirely of glass, so as to let in the morning light.

Bookshelves lined one wall, with books crammed into every available space.

There were sofas and couches in a semi-circle facing the desk.

The desk itself was a beautiful mahogany with papers stacked high on top.

A sleek black laptop hummed on the desk and picture frames lined one side of the desk.

Behind the desk sat the Headmistress, Jenny-sensei, and standing behind her were the female Heads of Houses, Harrison-sensei, and a woman who introduced herself as Nancy-sensei.

"Ah, hello, first-years. Take a seat. How was your first night at the school?"

They all sat down and several students smiled and responded with "Great" and "Awesome" and "Eh, could have been better."

One particularly chubby student enthusiastically answered, "The food here is great!"

Most of the students laughed and called out agreements as the teachers grinned.

"Glad you like it here. But keep in mind that you midgets aren't here to just fool around. You kids are here to learn and it's our jobs to teach you. We'll make sure that you're all top students by the time you graduate in seven years, even if it means that we have stuff you in a straitjacket and dangle you over a pool full of sharks. If that's what'll take you to learn, we'll do it."

Some of kids laughed, taking this as a joke, but others shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

"So…It's time to choose your Famiglias. Throughout the next seven years of your lives, your Famiglia will be the most precious people to you. You will do everything together. The other Famiglias will be your rivals. You can choose to ally yourselves with one Famiglia and make enemies of another.

"So here's how this is gonna work. There are forty-two of you. There are six of you in each House. We're going to divide you into six Famiglias of seven people, 'kay? So, any comments? Kaoru?"

"Yeah, I was wondering my Famiglia could not have a Mist guardian."

All of the senseis sweat-dropped as Jenny answered. "The hatred runs through the family, huh? The answer is no, you must have all seven elements."

Kaoru looked away. "Che."

"Okay, then, so does anyone have someone they prefer being with? Yuki, put your hand down, I know you want to be with Mungbean and Kaoru."

"Mungbean?"

"Oh, sorry, you all know him better as Balmung."

"MOM…!" Balmung's face was red with embarrassment.

"Oh, it's okay, Mungbean dearie, you don't have to be embarrassed about all this attention you're getting!"

Ritsu stared at Balmung. "Your mother is the headmaster?"

Balmung just groaned.

"Jen." Won-sensei prodded Jenny-sensei's shoulder to get her attention.

"Wha-at?"

"I think Yuki wants to be with other people too."

"Hm? Oh, yes, Yuki?"

Yuki beamed. "Kaoru, Balmung, and me already made a Famiglia!"

Jenny-sensei blinked. "Huh. That was fast. Okay, who?"

"Haruhi Tsukiyo from Rain, Ritsu Tadaki from Storm, Muroki Shiro from Mist, and Maiiko Yamato from Lightning."

"Alright, will the four of you stand up? Kaoru, Yuki, you guys too. Balmung, you know what to do."

They stood up and Balmung walked to the front of the desk and turned around to face the students.

Jenny-sensei stood and walked around her desk to stand next to Balmung with her hand on his shoulder.

One of the rings on her hand burst in orange flames.

At the same time, rings of the other seven Head teachers burst into flames that were different colors of the rainbow as well.

Nancy-sensei stepped back to watch the procedure, one of her hands twitching slightly towards her waist.

The flames flared a bit, then totally engulfed the teachers in a raging inferno.

The smile on Jenny-sensei's face erased as she became serious. "Bond."

Seven flames engulfed the seven standing students as well and the ones who had never seen this before yelped in shock (read: everybody except for Balmung, Kaoru, and Yuki).

Six orange arcs of fire leapt from Jenny to the other teachers while six other arcs leapt from Balmung to the other six students.

A few seconds later, the fire suddenly turned white and a light flashed around the students' right hands.

When the light and fire faded away, there were seven identical rings on the seven students' hands.

Jenny-sensei clapped happily. "It worked! Okay, you guys will now be called the Mungbean Famiglia!"

Balmung gave his mother a horrified stare and Yuki turned her own mother, Meagan-sensei, for other option.

"Mom?"

"Well…I guess we could call you guys the Cheesecake Famiglia…"

Kaoru twitched. "Thanks, Meagan-sensei, but we'll pass on that name."

Meagan-sensei pouted. "But why? Cheesecake is awesome! Or maybe F-."

"We are not naming them after your rat." Won-sensei cut in.

"Whaaat? But why not?"

Won-sensei gave Meagan-sensei a blank stare. "You really have to ask?"

Isabella-sensei adopted a thoughtful look and tapped her finger on her chin. "Hm…Oh! I know! You guys can be-!"

Harrison-sensei cut in. "Whatever you thought up, don't tell us."

Isabella-sensei pouted "Whaaat? Why nooot? Wonadon! Gaki's being a meanie!"

Won-sensei twitched. "Don't. Call. Me. That."

Nancy-sensei smiled. "Don't call you what? Wonadon?"

Won-sensei whirled to face Harrison-sensei and jabbed her finger at him. "That stupid name is all YOUR fault! You just HAD to give us dinosaur names, didn't you?"

Harrison-sensei lifted his hands defensively. "Well, it was either dinosaurs or pokemon…"

"SO WHY DIDN'T YOU USE POKEMON?"

"Cause pokemon is too cool to use on you guys."

Cue multiple facefalls/facepalms/headdesks/wallslams/sweatdrops/etc.

Cindi-sensei set her hand on Harrison-sensei's shoulder. "Ah, so THAT'S how you think of us. That's very nice to know, Gaki."

She smiled but something about it made chills go up everybody's spines.

"Jenny, doesn't Balmung's crest have a lion on it?"

Everybody turned to Chiara-sensei.

Jenny nodded thoughtfully. "Ah, that's true. So they can be the Leone Famiglia. Any objections? No? Well then, off you go to the Great Hall! We'll meet you there after finishing the Famiglia sorting and figure out your schedules."

After the sorting was completed and the last Famiglia was sent to the Great Hall, the teachers sighed as they slumped into the chairs.

Isabella-sensei smiled. "Oya oya. Another powerful Famiglia, eh?"

Harrison-sensei rubbed his face tiredly. "The three youngest children in the same Famiglia. Great. It's just what we needed."

Won-sensei sent him a sharp look. "Oi, stop with the sarcasm."

Chiara-sensei looked thoughtful. "The other four children were giving out very powerful energy waves as well."

Meagan-sensei groaned. "The three by themselves are trouble enough, but now we have to look after the entire Famiglia?

Cindi twirled her ring around her finger. "There's really not much we can do about this, can we?"

Jenny rubbed the back of her neck. "All we can do for now is train them and watch them. Meanwhile, someone should let the other Head teachers know."

Nancy nodded. "I can do that."

Jenny stood up and stretched. "Well, let's get the schedules over and done with. We have to meet the sixth and seventh years soon and supervise their shopping trip."

The others nodded and followed their boss out the door.