Lukas was not forgiving when his dear little brother told him about the details of his unfortunate afternoon.

"If you had called me first, you wouldn't have gone through this kind of trouble," he said after Emil finished complaining about the extra two hours they ended up taking. At least he was able to save fifteen heta on the lab coat and ten more on a retail-bought apron.

"I can't rely on you forever, Lu—Brother," Emil grunted. "I'm eighteen now. I can take care of myself."

Lukas nearly chuckled. "You're clinging a great deal to Leon for someone who says he's an adult."

"Th-That's because we're friends!" he snapped. "And don't give me that crap about how you do fine without Mathias—because I know you rely on him, too!"

He had a point there, but Lukas, being the slightly stubborn older brother that he was, refused to admit it.

"Anyway, you bought all of your supplies, correct?"

"Yes."

"And Beilschmidt didn't give you any trouble?"

"No. But he said he would fail everyone on the bus if we didn't remember who he was."

"…I don't think you're going to forget about him."

"Definitely not," Emil grumbled. "Um…so what about you? Are you settled in?"

"For the most part," his brother replied. "But Mathias still comes in uninvited every now and again."

Emil chuckled. "So he's still doing that." While his brother had the privilege of getting a single room, he was still interrupted by Mathias whose uncle happened to be the dean in the Department of Health and Social Sciences. Because of his connections, Lukas' childhood friend had free access to Lukas' dorm—so as long as he was present in the room which, unfortunately for him, happened to be quite often.

"Housing hasn't considered letting me buy my own locks," Lukas sighed. "It's considered violating school property."

"…It's just a few more years," Emil said trying to find a cushion for his brother's uneasiness. "After that, you and Mathias won't have to see each other as often."

"I wonder about that…" his brother replied in an otherworldly voice.

"Yo, Emil!" Leon had just gotten back from a short errand. It had taken less time than Emil thought.

"Ah, I hear your friend," Lukas then said. "I think I'll leave you alone until Thursday then."

"But—"

"You said you're and adult now, right? You don't need to call me every day. I'm not your mother. Thinking about that, you should give our parents a call, too. I'm sure they're worried about you."

"Y-Yeah," Emil sighed. "Okay. I'll call you later, then."

"Bye, little brother."

Emil wrinkled his nose. Leon was right behind him as though waiting for him to call Lukas his dear "Big Brother."

Sighing, he gave in and finished off his call. "Bye, Big Brother." With that, he hung up and looked back at his friend. "So where'd you go? You got back pretty fast."

Much to his immediate regret, he saw that his friend was wearing a particularly large grin on his face. "Check it out," he said as he dug into his pocket and pulled out multiple multi-colored square packages. Emil wasn't too well-versed in the brands, but he could distinctively make out the label, "F.M. Bunny."

"No…" He shook his head in disbelief. "Leon, you didn't…"

"I sure did," he smiled and tossed him a small golden package. When Emil caught it, he looked at the labeling and reluctantly squeezed the contents beneath the shiny wrapping. As expected, he felt a rubbery, circular ring moving around in between his thumbs. The feeling of the package was enough to tell him what it was. Reading it only furthered the validation.

"Ribbed for extra sensation," he mumbled, reading the features aloud. "Cherry-flavored—Leon, seriously?"

"What? You wanted strawberry-flavored?"

"No! I wanted neither!" He threw the package back at his friend and climbed to the top of his bed where his laptop was sitting. "I can't believe you actually took them from Feliks!"

Leon passively shrugged. "They were free so I thought, like, why not?"

"Why not?" Emil echoed. "Why do it at all?"

"Hey, why are you being so sensitive about this?" Leon chuckled. "Did you think I swiped all the good ones?"

"No! I mean, what if—You took so many! What if Feliks thinks that we're—?" Just thinking about it made the fragile-minded boy flush red and bury his face in his pillow.

"Aww, you're afraid he'll think we're a thing?" his friend teased. He could read him like a book. "Relax. The only thing we have to say is 'No.' He'll get it. But, like, I thought it'd be awkward buying them at a store before turning eighteen. I don't know why, but getting them from Feliks seems okay. He's not bad for an R.A."

"Leon…" Emil groaned.

"You know, I've never tried them before," Leon continued, ignoring his friend's discomfort. "I think Yao would have flipped if he saw me trying them out at home. You know how he is. He'd be asking me if the girl was smart, or Asian, or what kind of Asian…"

"Leon, I can't believe you..."

"You ever try them before?"

"No, I have not tried a condom on," Emil snapped. "Stop talking about them."

"Man." Leon scratched his head. "You're really sensitive about this stuff."

Since he quieted down, Emil thought that perhaps his friend had gotten the memo, but instead of letting it go, he heard someone climbing up the rails to his bed.

"It's nice up here," he heard Leon say. "I really wish I could've gotten the top bunk."

"Get off!" Emil screamed. "Get down! You're annoying! Take your stupid condoms away and practice them on someone else!"

Leon blinked. "Huh. Is that really what this is all about? Ice, I don't see you in that way. You don't have to worry."

"Leon…" Emil was growling through his teeth. He was wondering just when his friend would leave him alone.

"Fine." Leon pulled back his hands and jumped down from his bed. "Someone's on her period."

"So annoying…" Frustrated, Emil pulled his covers over his head and dug his face into his pillow. He was exhausted after everything that had happened. All he wanted to do was take a nap.

"Leon," he mumbled through his sheets.

"Yeah?"

"I'm going to take a nap. Don't bother me."

"Gotcha."


Emil didn't get much sleep because within a few minutes after dozing off, a loud blaring noise shot into his eardrums.

"Holy Elia—!" he gasped as he hit his head against the ceiling with a thunk. "Ow…"

"Aw, crap, are you serious?" Leon groaned from below. Cursing, he shut his laptop closed and grabbed his keys, the noise blaring continuously into both of their ears.

"Le—" But Emil's voice was drowned out from the noise. Having just been woken up, his heart was racing, and his ears were ready to pop from the intensity of the alarm. Outside, he could hear students already exiting their dorms and groaning about the sudden inconvenience. Then, Feliks began pounding on all of the doors.

"Fire drill!" he shouted. "Meet me downstairs in front of the quad!"

"Fuck," Leon cursed. "Ice, grab your keys and phone."

"Don't need to tell me what to do," Emil grumbled and threw on his shoes. This happened in very dorm at the beginning of the year, he had been told. Even the graduate students had to go through something like this in the case of an emergency. So today would be his first one.

In the case of a real fire hazard, elevators were prohibited. As a result, the stairwells were completely clogged with students trying to get out of the hall and away from the noise.

"Pah," Leon dryly laughed. "This is like a fire hazard, itself. All these people shouldn't be clustered around the same place like this."

"They can't help it," Emil said. "It's annoying being in here."

When they did manage to squeeze out of the stairwell, Feliks was at the quad as previously announced. At first Emil thought he should have been performing a head count of his residents when he remembered not everyone was presently in the dorms at this time. Some of them might have even strayed away to pass the time.

"Ugh," Leon groaned. "Ice, you wanna stop by Hatches. I haven't been that way yet. Maybe we can get some ice cream."

"Er…" Emil paused to look back at Opal Hall being overrun by students coming out and complaining. "Sure, why not? There's nothing else better to do here."

So, the two friends ditched the fire drill and headed up in the direction of the classroom buildings.

"I think it closes at the same time dinner at the D.C. does," Leon said as he checked his phone. "You've got your E-card, right?"

"Yeah," he replied. While also counting as their access into Opal Hall and into their bedrooms, their Eliatha University identification cards (popularly known as E-cards by the campus) also acted as their meal plan counter and point card for purchases.

At the beginning of each year, a balance of roughly a hundred and fifty heta was added into the students' cards to be used towards services such as laundry, on-campus stores, and the dining facilities. Like the Bonnefoy Dining Center, the students' E-cards could be used towards places like Hatches.

"Mathias told me they have really good Danishes," Emil said as they followed the signs guiding them along the right path. "Of course, he said they weren't as good as the ones he makes, but if he says they're good, they have to be good."

"Hmm. Guess I'll grab one for breakfast when I come up here on Thursday."

"Yeah. They're probably not fresh right now—if they have anything."

Lukas, Mei, and Cheng had told them about the morning rushes. Crowds after crowds of students would rush into Hatches before their morning classes and snag the pastries.

While all of the pastries were generally praised for being delicious, the most famous of them all were their dragon puffs. Why they were called dragon puffs, no one remembered, but the delectable consisted of fluffy baked dough with a fine coat of powder sugar on top of crispy, golden crust. Inside was either hot fudge, cream, or sometimes a type of jam made courtesy of the culinary arts school. Since each one of these addictive goodies could be downed in a single bite and bought by the dozen, they were considered a rare delicacy, and because of their popularity and relatively low cost, they were usually gone before noon.

"Emil, we totally have to get dragon puffs one day," Leon said.

"Uh-huh," Emil fully agreed. If his brother didn't deny enjoying them. "We'd have to wake up early, though."

"I'm fine with that." When push came to shove, Leon was able to get up shockingly early without being fazed.

When they arrived at Hatches, as expected, there were no more dragon puffs. A large sign in front of the menu's chalkboard told them enough.

"That's cute," Leon chuckled. "They even drew a picture of a dragon." While he was taking a picture, Emil stopped to admire the colorful chalk drawing of the dragon. It was a squat, jolly-looking dragon with an apron and a chef's hat; it was also carrying a tray of what appeared to be dragon puffs. In short, it was a contrast to the real design of Eliatha University's mascot: a sinister, devious-looking black dragon wielding a sword and a scroll.

As they went inside, the rich aroma of coffee, the spicy scent of baked goodies, and the hearty smell of freshly baked breads greeted them by the front counter.

"It's been a while since I've been here," Leon smiled. "I think I came here when Mei graduated, but they were all out of everything. Wonder what we can find now."

"Let's look around and find out," Emil suggested.

In the back, there were trays of exotic breads that they had never seen before—all complete with foreign names. At the cost of his curiosity, Leon took the time to look up the names of each one while Emil browsed through some of the pastries. He was about to walk up to the glass domes when he tripped on someone squatting down in a hidden corner.

"Ggh! Sorry!" he gasped as he regained his balanced.

"Eh?" The person he had accidentally kicked looked up. He looked as though he hadn't been paying attention. Emil thought that if he hadn't taken the time to apologize, his minor injury might have gone completely unnoticed.

"I, um…I tripped over you," Emil guilty told him. "I didn't mean to. I just didn't see you there."

"Oh, no, that's fine," the man laughed. He had a hearty laugh much like Leon, but his aura was warmer and friendlier—and a little more oblivious like Mathias'. "I guess I should be more careful."

"Really, I'm sorry," Emil apologized again.

"No need!" the employee grinned. "I've gotten my fair share of profanity before!"

Emil made a face. "That's not…I don't think I used profanity." And why would that be something to smile about?

"Ice, come over here!" Leon suddenly called.

Oh, thank gods, Emil breathed in relief and quickly excused himself from the man before meeting up with his friend. When he arrived at his side, he saw that Leon was staring intently at some ice cream behind the glass.

"Did you know they serve crêpes here?" he excitedly asked.

Emil had to smile. If anything besides a new album or a new game could make his friend this excited, it was food.

"I don't think Lukas ever told me about crêpes being served here," he said.

"That's because it's a new item," the lady behind the counter told them. "They just made it a new item about a year ago." Suddenly, she stopped and leaned closer to Emil.

"Hold on," she blinked. "You said you know Lukas?"

"Er…" Emil exchanged looks with Leon. "Yeah. He's my brother."

"I knew it!" she beamed. "You two look so similar! But you're so much cuter than him!"

"N-Not really…" Emil thought that he and Lukas looked nothing alike: he had white hair with pale lavender eyes while his older brother had light blonde hair with dull sapphire eyes.

Then, Leon leaned into his ear. "That's Bella," he whispered. "She was one of Mei's roommates."

"Huh?"

"So cute…" she continued to smile. "Oh, but would you like to try the crêpes?"

"Eh—"

"We sure would," Leon answered for the both of them. "I'll have one with cheesecake, green tea ice cream, and fudge."

Emil blinked. "Isn't that a little excessive?"

"I'm not eating dinner after this," he justified. "Might as well enjoy it."

"Uh…" Emil had never eaten at the dining commons without Leon. If his friend wasn't going to be eating there tonight, he figured he wouldn't be, either. "Th-Then I'll have one like my friend's—but perhaps with chocolate ice cream, please."

"Sure!" While she set to work making them, Emil returned his attention back on the breads.

"If we're not going to be eating at the D.C., should we get something to go?" he suggested.

"Sure, why not?"

Some of the breads, Emil realized, weren't even European. Some had been made in an Asian style; these were the breads Leon recognized and put on his tray.

"I've always loved these," he said as he loaded up on breads filled with something called "taro" and others with cheese and hams.

"What's taro?" Emil asked.

"Don't worry about it, Ice," Leon replied. "I've got doubles of everything so we can just share. You're a little indecisive when it comes to food."

"Excuse me," he flatly responded.

"Boys, they're ready!" Bella called back to them. Leon was already preparing his E-card so Emil followed, but as he made his way around the corner, his foot ran into someone's leg.

"Crap! I'm sorry!" he hastily apologized. When he saw it was the same person, he wondered if it was the employee's fault or his.

"Oh, don't worry about it," the man said. "That happens from time to time."

Getting kicked in the leg? Emil wondered.

"Toni, try to be more careful," Bella told the employee.

"Ah. Sorry, Bella," the man apologized and ran his hand through his messy brown hair.

"He gets like that from time to time," Bella giggled as she handed Leon and Emil their receipts. "Just ignore him. That's what he does with his surroundings most of the time, anyway."

"What?" her co-worker piped up.

"Nothing, Toni," she giggled. Then, she leaned towards the boys and began to whisper.

"I gave you two a little something special with your breads," she smiled. "I hope you enjoy."

"Th-Thank you," Emil mustered a smile.

"Thanks," Leon added in. "Oh, and Bella? Mei says hi."

The lady looked confused. "How do you know I know Mei?"

"You were her roommate, right? I'm her cousin."

Leon's words seemed to reach her because her green eyes suddenly lit up. "Oh, that's right! You're Leon, correct?"

"Yep."

Bella smiled. "She's always said you were the fashionable one in the family. I see she wasn't lying."

"Heh," Leon chuckled. "Thanks."

"Leon…" Emil grumbled. "Come on. The ice cream's going to melt."

"Ah, sorry," he then said. "I've gotta go. Thanks, again."

"No problem!" Bella giggled. "I hope you two enjoy!"

Once they were outside, Leon suggested looking for a place to sit down and eat.

"Feel's kind of awkward eating when there's a time limit on your food," he said. Eventually they found a spot by the pond where Topaz Hall could be seen on the other side.

"It's good," Emil commented as he chewed through the ice cream cone. Perhaps it was because classes hadn't started yet or because Bella had relations with both Leon and Emil's relatives at some point, but whatever it was, she had gone out of her way to make succulent crêpes for the two of them. Both of their crepes were stuffed to the brim with ice cream and drizzled with fudge on the insides. There was a little slice of cheesecake tucked into the ice cream, and to top it all off, there was a little waffle cone (also filled with ice cream) situated on the tops of each one.

"She really went all out," Leon said as he finished his waffle cone and proceeded with the main crêpe.

"Yeah. She was nice," Emil agreed. "I wonder how she knows Lukas."

"Beats me," his friend shrugged. "But Mei said she's supposed to be a grad student now. And that guy you kept tripping on—"

"Shut up."

"Heh. But seriously, the guy working there is named Antonio, I think. He's a grad student now, too. I think there's something going on between him and Bella, but Bella never told Mei about it."

"Oh."

"Pfft. And you know something else?"

"What?"

"Bella has an older brother. Tim. He just so happens to be my econ professor."

"Huh."

"Mm-hmm." Leon took a bit out of his cheesecake. "Oh, yeah. What was that special thing Bella gave us?"

"I didn't check," Emil said. Then, he thought to open the plastic bag where, wedged in between the breads, there was a little white box.

"This it?" Leon asked as he pulled it out. "Wonder if it's a cake or something. It can't be bread."

"Let's find out." On that note, Emil began to carefully undo the box letting out a fresh, sweet smell drifting up into their noses.

"No way," Leon gasped. "No fucking way."

Emil swallowed. Suddenly, his eyes were torn between his crêpe and the box's contents.

"Dragon puffs," he breathed.