"I can't wait to meet our opponents!" Pirro exclaimed.

"Yeah." Kuondo replied flatly.

There was a long silence before Kuondo realized Pirro was staring at him. "What?"

"Aren't you gonna say it?"

"Huh?"

"Remind me that my eyes turned?"

"Oh." Kuondo said, allowing himself to space out again.

Pirro kept staring. "What is your deal?"

"I guess I just didn't sleep well."

"Kuondo Freecss didn't sleep well?"

"It's kind of hard to sleep when a mass murderer in is lurking in the building you're in."

"I suppose."

The two walked in silence for a moment or two before Kuondo felt a prod on his shoulder. He whirled around, eyes wide.

"Whoops, didn't mean to scare you, Kuondo."

Pirro turned as well, a smile already on his face. "Master Zushi!"

Zushi grinned. "Now that was the reaction I was expecting."

"Where have you been?" Kuondo asked. "You haven't called or anything!"

Zushi laughed nervously. "I apologize. I've been busy with my new student."

Pirro gasped. "You have a new student?! What's their name? How old are they? Wh-"

Kuondo elbowed him. "Pirro, chill."

Zushi looked around. "He hasn't left his room yet. His name is Riki. He's sixteen. His sister wants me to train her too, so I'm going to have my hands full for a while."

"Huh? Sister?" Kuondo asked.

"Uh-huh. Her name is Reiji. I think she's around your age."

"Ah! Kuondo knows her!" Pirro exclaimed.

"Well, at least she knows someone around here. She and Riki came from abroad."

Kuondo raised a questioning eyebrow. "No parents?"

Zushi shook his head. "No parents." Then, he gestured down the hall. "Let's hurry to breakfast, okay? You know what I say-"

"It's no good to fight on an empty stomach!" Kuondo and Pirro recited.

Illuko took a sip of juice. "So I heard that killing your opponent is prohibited. Bummer." he joked.

Tolluki, Illuko's eleven-year-old cousin, laughed out loud. "Illuko Zoldyck, 'the most unruly Zoldyck child of this generation', 'virtually impossible to train properly', 'would rather live a normal, boring life than be an assassin', actually finds it hard not to kill?"

Before Illuko could retort, Illuna, who was fifteen, laughed as well. Hearing her laugh wasn't rare, but she often only did it in a mocking manner. "Make up your mind, Illu. You're pathetic."

"I was just kidding, Luna." Illuko growled. When he heard muffled laughter behind him, he whirled around. Pietro and Aruko were trying their best not to let themselves be heard, but Kuondo, Pirro, and Lily were openly giggling. "Shut up, you guys!"

Kuondo stopped laughing and blinked as he saw someone familiar out of the corner of his eye.

It was Reiji, making her way through the swarm of hungry participants, but someone was with her. By observing closer, Kuondo inferred that the teen next to her was Riki.

Pietro saw them, too. "Oi, you two! Come sit here!"

"We barely have enough room as it is, idiot." Illuna hissed.

"Luna, he's only being nice. Perhaps you could learn a thing or two from him." Pirro said simply.

"That's Il-luna to you, pretty boy." Illuna deadpanned.

Despite Illuna's protest, Reiji heard Pietro's offer and hesitantly led her brother over to the table.

"These kids friends of yours, Rei?" Riki inquired.

Before Reji could respond, Kuondo spoke up, a bright smile on his face. "Yeah, I just met Reiji a few days ago! My name of is Kuondo Freecss, nice to meet you!"

Riki eyed him almost suspiciously. "My name is Riki. I'm sixteen."

"You're Master Zushi's new students, right?" Pirro asked.

Reji nodded silently.

"Well, you'll have a lot of fun with him!"

Tolluki poked at his food, a bored expression at his face. "Did you all hear about Utsurona?"

Reji's fork clattered onto her plate. The others looked up, startled. Riki looked away.

Kuondo raised a confused eyebrow.

Pirro swallowed nervously. "U-uh… d-did we offend you two?"

"No- I- Uh…" Reji got up from the table, picking up her plate. "I'm not hungry."

And with that, the siblings left as quickly as they had come.

"Does Reiji know this 'Utsurona'?" Pietro inquired.

"It's entirely possible." A voice behind Kuondo replied. "Since she comes from Begrose, where Utsurona killed his last target."