Noah unlocked the door and they stepped inside. The room felt cooler than the hallway, a slight breeze coming through the window Leon had left cracked that morning. Noah immediately went to his bed and flopped down on it face-first, not even bothering to take off his shoes.

  Leon set his bag down by his desk and checked his phone. 6:47 PM. Dinner service started at 8:00 in the dorm cafeteria. He had time to clean up properly.

  He went to his wardrobe and pulled out casual clothes—a plain t-shirt and comfortable pants. The bathhouse for male students was in the third building, connected through the back corridors. It would be a short walk.

  Noah was still lying face-down on his bed, not moving.

  "You should freshen up before dinner," Leon said, grabbing a towel from his drawer. "Don't just lay there like a sloth."

  Noah's muffled voice came from the pillow. "I'm resting. Unlike some frail ladies, I actually exercised today."

  Leon sighed. "I'm not frail."

  "You look frail. Act frail too."

  "I'm going to the bathhouse. You should come with me instead of falling asleep in your uniform."

  "Too tired."

  Leon walked over and pulled on Noah's arm. "Come on. You'll feel better after washing up."

  "Leave me alone."

  "Noah."

  "Fine, fine." Noah rolled over and sat up, running a hand through his hair. "You're so persistent."

  "Someone has to be."

  Noah grabbed his own change of clothes and towel. They left the room and headed down the hallway, through the connecting corridor to the third building. Other students were moving in the same direction, the pre-dinner routine in full swing.

  The bathhouse was moderately busy but not crowded. Steam filled the air, the sound of running water echoing off tile walls. Individual stalls lined both sides, with a communal changing area near the entrance.

  Leon claimed an empty stall while Noah took one a few spaces down. The hot water felt good, washing away the day's stress and sweat. Leon closed his eyes and let it run over him, trying to clear his head.

  After a few minutes, he heard Noah's voice from his stall. "Hey, Leon?"

  "Yeah?"

  "You should check your CPP at the administration office. Either before the assembly tomorrow or right after."

  Leon paused, hands full of shampoo. "Why?"

  "Because you need to know where you stand. Especially if this tournament thing is as serious as it sounds."

  "Right. I will."

  "Do you have any idea what your number might be?"

  "No clue."

  Noah was quiet for a moment. "Mine's 73."

  Leon rinsed the shampoo out. "That's pretty good, isn't it?"

  "Higher than you thought, right?" Noah's voice had a smug tone to it.

  Leon laughed. "I wasn't thinking anything specific. But yeah, that's solid."

  "My brother's friend told me when he set up the sponsorship. Said it was decent for someone without direct family connections at the academy level."

  "Makes sense."

  "But seriously," Noah continued, "how do you not know about your sponsor? That's basic information they're supposed to tell you."

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Leon finished washing and turned off the water. "It's complicated."

  "Complicated how?"

  "Just is."

  There was a pause, then Noah spoke again, his tone lighter. "What, do you have a secret family member working in the city with connections? Like Krai?"

  "No, nothing like that." Leon grabbed his towel and started drying off. "An old friend arranged it for me. They couldn't disclose who the sponsor was for some reason, but they and another friend put a lot of effort into helping me get admitted."

  "Seriously? That's pretty dedicated."

  "Yeah. Marcus and Sophie." Leon wrapped the towel around his waist. "They're good people."

  "Sounds like you have great friends."

  "I do."

  Leon stepped out of the stall and headed to the changing area. Noah emerged a moment later, also wrapped in a towel, water still dripping from his hair.

  "You still talk to them?" Noah asked, opening a locker to grab his clothes.

  "When I can. It's been a few weeks since we've really talked though. Just text messages here and there. I've been pretty busy with classes."

  "You should call them soon. Keeping up with friends is important."

  "I know. I will."

  Noah started getting dressed. "Man, I wish I had family living here in the city. Parents, my brother, anyone. Then I could live with them instead of following dorm rules and timings. Sleep in whenever I want, come and go as I please."

  He pulled his shirt on and turned to Leon. "Wouldn't you want that too? If you could live with family here?"

  Leon was pulling on his own shirt. He didn't answer immediately.

  "I mean, I've never heard you talk to your family on calls," Noah continued. "Don't you ever call them? Or do they call you?"

  Leon adjusted his shirt. "I don't... I don't really have siblings or anything. So."

  Noah paused in the middle of putting on his pants. "Oh. Just you and your parents then?"

  "No."

  They both finished getting dressed in silence. Leon picked up his beaded bracelet from where he'd left it with his things and slipped it back onto his wrist. Noah was gathering up his dirty clothes when he spoke again, quieter this time.

  "What about your parents? You should still talk to them when you get time, right?"

  Leon's hands stilled. "I have no idea who my parents are."

  The words came out lower than he'd intended, barely audible over the ambient noise of the bathhouse.

  Noah stopped moving completely. "What?"

  "I was raised by my grandfather. He passed away when I was in middle school."

  Leon buttoned his shirt "I never met my parents. Don't know anything about them."

  "I—" Noah seemed at a loss. "I'm sorry. I didn't know. I shouldn't have asked."

  "It's fine. You didn't know."

  "Still. That was insensitive of me."

  "Really, it's okay." Leon picked up his bag of dirty clothes. "My grandfather never talked about them either. Whenever I asked, he'd just say I didn't need to know yet. That I'd find out when the time was right. So I don't have any emotional connection to them. Can't miss what you never had, you know?"

  They walked toward the exit together. The bathhouse was getting more crowded now as more students arrived for pre-dinner washing up.

  "After my grandfather died, someone took care of me until I was sixteen," Leon continued. "Someone who'd promised him they would. After that I was on my own."

  Noah glanced at the bracelet on Leon's wrist but didn't comment on it.

  They stepped out into the corridor connecting back to the main building. The evening air was cooler now, a nice contrast to the bathhouse steam.

  "Well," Noah said after a moment, his tone deliberately lighter, "at least you had a good grandfather. That counts for something."

  "Yeah. He was a good person."

  "And hey, now you've got me as a roommate. Lucky you."

  Leon smiled slightly. "Incredibly lucky."

  "Exactly. I'm a great catch. Athletic, charming, modest—"

  "Modest?"

  "Very modest. It's one of my best qualities."

  "Right."

  They reached the main building and climbed the stairs back to their floor. Other students were heading down toward the cafeteria level, the dinner rush beginning.

  "Should we drop our stuff off first or just go straight down?" Noah asked.

  "Let's drop it off. Don't want to carry these around while eating."

  They returned to room 204, tossing their bags of dirty clothes near their respective wardrobes. Leon checked his phone again. 7:52 PM. The cafeteria would be opening soon.

  "Ready?" Noah asked, already at the door.

  "Yeah."

  They headed back out and joined the flow of students moving toward the cafeteria. The hallways were busy now, everyone hungry after a long day of classes. Conversations filled the air—most of them still about the tournament announcement.

  Leon and Noah found seats at one of the middle tables. Emma was already there with a few other third-year students. She waved when she saw them.

  "How was your day?" she asked as they sat down.

  "Eventful," Noah said. "Did you get that tournament message?"

  "Everyone did. The whole academy's talking about it."

  "Any idea what it's about?"

  Emma shook her head. "No clue. But, for some reason I am not getting a good feeling about it, I've been here three years and this has never happened before. Tournaments were always optional and there has never been any special announcements about changing of the rules too."

  "That's what we heard."

  "Whatever it is, we'll find out tomorrow." She stood up. "I'm getting food. You guys coming?"

  They joined the line at the serving counter. The cafeteria staff were dishing out the evening meal—rice, some kind of stew, vegetables, bread.

  Leon grabbed a tray and moved through the line mechanically.

  They returned to their table and ate. The conversations around them continued, speculation and worry mixing together. Some students seemed excited, others nervous, most just confused.

  After dinner, Leon and Noah headed back to their room. It was still relatively early—only 8:47 PM—but Leon felt exhausted. The day had been long.

  "I'm going to do a little reading then sleep early," Leon said, pulling out his textbook.

  "Good idea. We have to get up earlier tomorrow for the assembly."