12 First Team Meeting

After the clapping stopped, Raven Clof dismissed the first-years into the arena stands. Most of the first-year students sat in their newly formed teams. James' team sat down with Kyrie, DJ, Centra, Jasper, and Liza.

James was currently watching Kyrie unhappily and Kyrie was looking everywhere but at James. James had picked this spot because he wanted to talk with Centra and DJ. While Kyrie wanted to get to know his new team and hopefully make some friends.

After they'd sat in awkward silence for a while, Kyrie said, "I guess… I'll go." Even though he said he would leave, Kyrie remained seated for a moment more, his form slumped with reluctance. He wanted to make friends. And he wanted to fix things with James. But he couldn't fix his failure to save their family.

James sighed, "Don't. If you can deal with having me around. I can deal with having you around."

Kyrie looked at James, he was confused, "But I've never had a problem with being around you."

James glared at Kyrie, "You know what I mean."

Kyrie watched James as he thought of all the things James could've done to make him stay away. James had done none of them. So, why did James think he'd done something as irreparable as Kyrie had?

♢ ♢ ♢

That evening Kyrie, DJ, Jasper, Centra, and Liza moved into their dorm apartment. The main room had a table with six chairs for studying and dining.

Along one wall was a kitchen area. There was a cold cupboard that almost reached the ceiling. Between the cold cupboard and the ceiling was an ice cabinet. They were for storing food and made out of ironwood. The most efficient ones were made out of frost wood. Since frost wood is perpetually cool to the touch, less aura was needed to keep the inside cold.

There was a breakfast bar separating the kitchen from the rest of the apartment. The room also had an L shaped couch across from an ironwood monitor.

The main room had six doors. The first was the one the team had just entered through. Another door led to the bathroom and the last four doors went to the bedrooms.

"So… who's going to share a room?" Liza asked.

"I can share one with you." Centra said, "DJ, love, you snore too loud."

"I w-want room for m-my x-experiments," Jasper said as he claimed the room closest to the door.

Kyrie hesitated a bit as he glanced from Centra to DJ, "I think… it would be fun to try having a roommate… If you want too that is."

As DJ watched Kyrie's hopeful face and exited fidgeting, he couldn't help but think of his little cousin. He'd been so excited to room with DJ over the break and it'd been fun. It might be fun rooming with Kyrie. DJ said, "Sure."

"Why don't the two of you take the largest room." Centra said.

"Sounds good."

Inside the largest room was a bunk bed, two dressers, and two desks. Kyrie and DJ each claimed a dresser and a desk. Taru was in her case, leaning against Kyrie's dresser.

"Are you cool with me taking the top bunk?" DJ asked.

"Uh, sure." Kyrie fidgeted with the ribbon on his left wrist. The bottom bunk might be to… enclosed for him to sleep well.

♢ ♢ ♢

The team unpacked their things and met in their common area.

"So, we should decide on our leader and go have dinner!" DJ said as his stomach growled again. "I think Centra should lead, she's an amazing strategist and if we sync our holo-watches to her telepathy she can give us instructions without our opponents knowing."

Jasper glanced at Kyrie as he said, "I'm g-good with C-Centra l-leading us." It might be better than having the interloper lead.

"Kyrie had the most experience dealing with legends, so he should lead," Liza said. Her grandfather had repeatedly told her to learn from those with more experience.

"That's true," Centra said as she smiled at Kyrie. "I'm okay with following Kyrie or leading."

"I'm not much of a leader." Kyrie'd already screwed up as a leader. He'd lost friends under his command. He didn't want to go through that again. "Having a leader who can communicate silently'd useful when we fight more intelligent legends." It's just that he knew things his teammates didn't. Had more experience than them. "Centra, if you promise you'll listen to my advice and I'm good with you leading."

Centra nodded and asked, "Liza?"

"I guess I'm good with it…" What was the point in saying otherwise? Kyrie had already turned the position down.

"I'll send Headmaster Raven Clof a text then we can get dinner." Centra opened her holo-display and texted Raven Clof.

*We decided that I (Centra Livence) am going to be the leader*

Raven Clof: *okay…

*Is Kyrie okay with that?*

Centra: *yeah. As long as I listen to his advice. He's good with it*

Raven Clof: *hmmm, alright.

*I think you'll make a good leader. Especially, if you can make good use of Kyrie's experience.*

Centra: *thanks*

Raven Clof: *And don't be shy about asking him for help.

*He's a bit socially awkward but he's a good kid.*

Centra: *okay*

Raven Clof: *Also call me the moment you think a room is unusually cold or hot and you think Kyrie may be losing control.* (message status: unread)

♢ ♢ ♢

"Are we going to have dinner in the cafeteria or go out?" Centra asked.

"Well, it's getting pretty late, so how about we go to the cafeteria?" Liza said after she glanced at the night sky altered by the light pink shimmer of the city's defenses.

"Sounds good! I'm starving," DJ said as his stomach gave a particularly loud growl.

"We should go before DJ decides he's hungry enough to eat us," Centra smiled as she rolled her eyes. Deej was always hungry. Kyrie and Liza were smiling as they left for the cafeteria. DJ gently grasped Centra's hand as they walked.

Centra's team claimed a small table on the second floor of the cafeteria after they'd gotten their dinner.

Centra always considered the start and end of each school year as a special occasion worthy of a treat. So she would have her favorite food, a walnut delight. A walnut delight is a sweet pie filled with walnuts and fresh seasonal fruit. She grabbed a flavored tofu roll to balance out her sweet tooth.

Liza had a plate full of croissants and a small container of efflorescence to put on her croissants. Efflorescence was a spread made from flowers and tree sap.

DJ had two bowls of lyson soup, an ambrosia roll, and a flavored tofu roll. Jasper was eating an ambrosia roll and tofu roll.

And Kyrie was having lyson soup accompanied by an ambrosia roll. But Kyrie was confused. The cafeteria's menu was missing what he really wanted to eat. "Does the cafeteria ever serve meat?"

Kyries teammates stared at him as if he had just grown horns. "Did I say something wrong?"

DJ coughed a bit to clear his throat of the roll he had been eating and said, "No you didn't ask anything wrong. It's just… meat's way too expensive. Only high-class restaurants sell it." What kind of life has this guy been living?

"Oh, I thought everyone could eat it. It's not that hard to get and butcher a legend for some," Kyrie was baffled. He'd grown up being able to have meat at every meal. And when he went on missions there was no shortage of meat for him to eat, as long as he knew how to butcher the nearby legends.

Jasper mumbled too quietly for the others to hear, "For you maybe." Kyrie was such a privileged brat. He's exactly like they say. Well almost he did stop Caleb. A monster wouldn't have stopped him. A monster would've let it continue.

"Part of the high price is for the risk it takes to hunt a legend and carry its meat back. Since legend meat'll attracts carnivorous legends," Liza said. She frequently used her ability to avoid being called on in class, but she was still one of the top students at Kondaira Academy.

"Hmm," Kyrie said. He knew legend meat attracted other legends, from personal experience. Several of his scars were from improperly disposing of a legend when he was little. And some of his newer ones were from other LegendSlayers making the same mistake. Making those mistakes and ignoring the advice Kyrie had given them.

As they ate, the team discussed the movies they'd seen and the actors they liked. Kyrie listened with interest. Eventually, DJ, Centra, and Liza realized Kyrie hadn't seen most of the movies they were talking about. So, they showed him clips of different films and had declared tomorrow a classic movie marathon. Some of the classics were, * "Legends and Love" *, * "The Nightmare" *, * "One Last Song" *, * "A LengedSlayer's Love Story" *, and * "A Night of Terror and Blood" *.

DJ finished his meal and realized Kyrie wasn't eating his ambrosia roll. "If you're not going to eat your roll can I have it?"

Kyrie looked sorrowfully at the roll, he loved them but… he'd failed her. She'd been so kind to him – given him a safe place to hide. But he hadn't protected her like she'd done for him. "You can have it."

♢ ♢ ♢

*Also call me the moment you think a room is unusually cold or hot and you think Kyrie may be losing control.* (message status: read)