Lukas and Emil's parents were in a separate car. Since Eliatha University was a on a fixed academic calendar, both of the brothers were moving to the dorms on the same day. This would be Emil's first year at the university. He was, as some upperclassmen liked to call him, "freshmeat."

Since one car wasn't big enough to haul both of their belongings to the university, the family had to take two cars: one with Emil's things and one with Lukas'. Lukas and Emil were in one car—Lukas being the driver—and their parents were in the other. The car the brothers were sitting in had Emil's things. The little questions about whether or not Emil had forgotten anything at home had died down after the first hour of driving. Other than the occasional comment about the scenery and a driver's poor motor skills, the drive was rather quiet.

"Are you nervous?" Lukas asked as the road sign displayed the words, "ELIATHA UNIVERSITY NEXT EXIT."

"No," Emil responded. "You survived. I'll be able to, too. Besides, Leon's going to be rooming with me."

Lukas blinked and adjusted his hairpin. "If you ever want to practice safe sex, you know you can just call me—"

"We're not a couple," Emil snapped. "We've been through this many times. It'd be awkward if we lived with each other if that were the case. Just drop it, Lukas."

His older brother only chuckled. "You never know."

"I do know. We're friends. End of story."

"Really?" Lukas smiled. "I think it's just beginning."

Leon honestly didn't know why his entire family had to come. It was very possible for just him and Cheng to go to the university. Yao and Mei didn't have to tag along.

"This is really nostalgic," Mei wistfully sighed. "I remember when I used to drive up here."

"It certainly brings back memories," Cheng smiled. "I remember how nervous you were when you first moved in."

"Yeah," Leon's cousin laughed. "Leon, you're lucky. You already know Emil so you won't have to go through all of that adjusting stuff with your roommate."

"I suppose," he shrugged. He thought he would have been able to adjust either way, but knowing how insecure and quiet Emil could be, he couldn't bring himself to not dorm with him. It would be better this way.

"Aiya, we're almost there." Yao pointed to the sign saying Eliatha University was at the next exit. "Jialong, when we're there, how about we stop by your cafeteria commons and eat?"

"Don't call me that," Leon distastefully groaned. "You do know that, like, every time you go into the D.C. I have to give up one of my meal tickets, right?"

"D.C.?" his guardian repeated, confused.

Leon rolled his eyes. Cheng and Mei wore understanding smiles since they were familiar with Yao's tendency to disregard abbreviated norms.

"D.C. is short for dining commons," Cheng explained. "It's basically the cafeteria where everyone eats."

"Oh. I knew that," Yao said, waving his hand as though it was a passing matter. "But I only wanted to go to see if they are giving you proper nutrition."

"They are," Leon sighed. "It's not high school anymore. It's Eliatha University, one of the highest ranked universities in the world. Of course they feed their students well. I went there for my orientation, and you've been there when you picked Mei up. Don't show your stupid face around me."

"Leon, manners," Cheng politely reminded him.

"Stupid," he grumbled and sank into his chair. It was a good thing Yao was driving or he might have kicked him for being so incompetent. He was going to be glad when he could finally settle in the dorm.

Emil had seen Eliatha University a few times before when he had agreed to go with his parents to either pick up or drop off Lukas from his dorm. Before being accepted into the school, he had always seen it as an intimidating place where knowledge of the sophisticated and ambitious came to gather. Now that he was officially attending this school as a university, it was distantly starting to already feel like a second home.

"We're here," Lukas said as he turned off the car engine and unbuckled his seatbelt. "I'll help you unload here, and you can go get your room information."

"Yeah, yeah," Emil grunted as he got out of the car. Throughout the unloading area, there were bold, colorful signs with arrows telling him which way he needed to go for registration. There were already other freshmen walking towards the arrows, most with wide eyes and unsure expressions. Emil figured he might as well be that type of person if it wasn't for the fact that Lukas had told him where to go before arriving.

On the way to the registration room, Emil heard what sounded like a family bickering and yelling to one another. Upon closer inspection, he heard that whatever they were saying was in some sort of Chinese. Leon spoke Chinese—Cantonese to be specific. Coincidentally enough, when he turned in the direction of the noise, he saw none other than Leon and his family fighting over who was going to carry what to Leon's dorm.

"You don't even know where the dorm is!" Leon snarled, stamping his foot. "Just freaking wait here until I come back with the stupid packet, and then we can settle in!"

"Hey, Leon," Emil said from behind. In an instant, Leon went from being impatient and cranky to calm and slightly irritated when he heard his friend's voice.

"Emil," he smiled, "did you just come?"

"Yeah. Lukas is meeting up with my parents. We took two cars since, you know, he still has to move into the grad school."

"Uh-huh. So, like, are you going to register right now?"

"Yep."

"Cool," Leon said and pushed his friend back onto the walkway. "Let's go then. I can't stand being around Yao any longer."

When Emil looked back, he noticed Yao was wearing a distant, longing look; it was similar to the look he saw on his own parents when Lukas went off to college for the first time. It was strange knowing Yao would do the same considering Cheng and Mei had also gone thought the same process. Maybe it was because Leon was the last child. Emil was, too, but there was only him and his brother.

"So they all came, huh?" Emil he as he walked alongside his friend.

Leon blew back some of his bangs and tossed his head. "Pfft. Yeah. Yao insisted that he had to come so the room would have good fengshui or some crap like that. Mei just wanted to see the university again. Would have been nice if it was just Cheng and me."

"Oh." Emil chuckled. "I guess it was harder to talk about stuff when it was all four of you, huh?"

"Tell me about it," his friend pouted. "At least you got to go in two cars so you could, like, talk with Lukas by yourself."

"We didn't talk about too many things."

"No?"

"Not really." Emil didn't want to bring up what Lukas said about safe sex. He was afraid Leon would tease him about it for weeks to come before he finally stopped.

Eventually, the signs came to a stop in front of a housing room normally used for indoor recreational events. Today, however, the entire area was cleared and set up with tables, upperclassmen volunteers, and neon-colored packets. There were also some pens and planners handed out for the incoming freshman.

The entire registration process was just as Emil and Leon's family had described: basically, the residential assistants (a.k.a. RA's to everyone on-campus) looked for their names on a list to make sure the students arrived, handed them some contract forms, gave them some complimentary key rings, planners, and other various accessories, and pointed them in the direction of their halls.

Since Lukas and Mei had been fairly recent graduates of Eliatha University's undergraduate school, they had told Emil and Leon which hall was the best to dorm in.

"Oh, oh, live in Topaz!" Mei had told Leon when he had been registering with Emil. "It's the best! It has the best view of the pond, and it's close to the gardens."

"Live in Sapphire," Lukas had said. "It's the closest one to your classes and the library."

"No!" Mathias, Lukas' childhood friend, had shouted. "Live in Ruby! It's the closest to the gym, and plus it's right next to the girls' dorms so you can—haccck!" He had then been interrupted by Lukas pulling on his collar.

"Why not Opal?" Cheng had suggested. While he had not been in Eliatha University for some time, the hall he had lived in was still around. "It's in the middle so it's of equal distance to everything. The view is not half-bad, either."

So, Emil and Leon had ultimately decided on Opal Hall. During their orientation, they had stayed in the hall, too, and had agreed that it was the nicest hall out of the others. The best part was that it was also closest to the dining commons so if they ever needed a quick snack, it was barely only a minute away on the ground floor.

"Looks like nothing's changed, huh?" Leon smirked as he and Emil walked up to the hall.

"Yeah." Emil recognized the familiar coating of pearly white against the outline of the building. He could see a few students setting boxes around their windows from the outside, and parents walking in an out of the main doors. There were also volunteers with trolleys and carts going back and forth from the elevators, and there were others responsible for guiding lost students and parents to their correct dorms.

Prior to coming here, Emil and Leon had registered to live on the top floor so no one from above could disturb them. While it might have been a longer walk up and down from the ground floor, they also had the best view of the campus grounds as well as an ideal room for sleeping in.

"Okay, so, like, once we find out where our room is, we can go get the others and our stuff," Leon said. Emil nodded and went with his friend into the hall. Since the elevators were at an all-time usage, they decided to take the stairs. Half way there, Leon decided to make things interesting by holding a race—which he undeniably won due to his greater stamina and endurance.

"No…fair…" Emil panted when he finally reached the top. "You didn't…tell me when we were…starting."

"Ice, you need to start working on your muscles," Leon smirked and jogged down the hall and past the others students. He didn't even bother waiting for Emil to catch up.

When Emil finally met up with his friend, Leon had already gone inside and looked around.

"I'm calling top bunk," he said.

Emil wasn't too happy with his friend's claim. "I want the top bunk." Instead of apologizing or considering his preferences, Leon poked his head out from the top and stuck out his tongue.

"Too bad, so sad," he taunted him. "Maybe if you won the race, you could have called it."

"That's not fair," Emil frowned. "You didn't even tell me when the race was starting, and you know I'm not as fast as you."

"That's why I knew I could get the top bunk."

Emil could only shake his head in disbelief. There was no point in arguing or hanging around so he turned and left to retrieve his family. Leon followed shortly after, but he was too upset with him to speak.

Back when Lukas had been an undergraduate freshman, he had the pleasure of rooming with Mathias. How he had come to agree to it, Emil still couldn't understand, but he remembered Lukas had claimed the top bunk much to Mathias' disappointment.

"With the top bunk, you don't have to worry about the other one looking in on your business," he had explained to his brother. "It also means you don't have to worry about being disturbed by the other person going up and down—you'll be the one doing it. Also, if the support fails, you'll crush the bottom person, not the other way around."

Emil didn't want to think about crushing Leon from above. That was too morbid to think about. The other conveniences, though, sounded like a good thing. During the orientation, Leon had also claimed the top bunk leaving Emil stuck on the bottom. That had only been one night, though. This would be for the entire year.

When the friends returned to the unloading area, everyone had gotten everything out of their vehicles and were waiting on confirmations that they had registered.

"Jialong, what took you guys so long?" Yao snapped. "I'm getting hungry, and you made us wait outside in the sun for too long!"

"Stupid old man," Leon muttered. Emil knew how much he loathed being called his Chinese name. "We were busy trying to see where our dorm was. You guys are all following us, right?"

"We don't want to make two trips," Lukas spoke. "Just hurry up. I have to move in before Mathias gets to the school."

"Right, right." With that, Leon led the way with their families trailing behind them.

When everyone arrived at the entrance of their dorm, Leon politely offered Emil to set his own things down before his family moved in.

"Trust me, it's going to get hectic," he whispered to his friend.

"Emil, which bunk is yours?" Lukas asked as he was carrying his brother's bed sheets.

"Bottom," Leon answered before Emil could reply.

Lukas raised an eyebrow. "I thought you wanted the top bunk, Emil."

"I did," Emil growled, throwing a dark glare at his friend, "before someone decided to claim it during an unfair race."

"Leon, is that true?" Cheng asked, looking at him.

Leon, in turn, averted his gaze away and pursed his lips. "Maybe," he confessed," but I want the top bunk, too."

"Leon." Cheng placed a hand on his shoulder. "You've always said you were the mature one in your friendship, haven't you? If Emil wants to have the top bunk, then you should let him. From what I remember, you also had the top bunk during your orientation."

"Yeah, but this'll be for the entire year…" Leon muttered.

"Leon…"

Emil saw the look in Cheng's eyes. He wasn't able to give it a name, but whenever he used that look, Leon always ended up giving in regardless of the situation.

"Fine," he sighed. "Emil gets top bunk."

Lukas blinked. "Very well," he said and tossed the bed sheets over the rail. "Emil, hand me your puffin."

Emil flinched. "You—! Lukas, you weren't supposed to tell anyone I brought it!"

"Ah, you told Lukas, not your dear big brother," he teased.

"Stupid!" Emil growled.

"Boys, knock it off," their father scolded them. "Not in front of Leon's family."

Both of them shut their mouths and silently continue unloading with Leon's family watching and waiting in amusement. After some time, they had moved all of their things inside the room and stepped out.

"Have fun and take care, Emil," his mother gently smiled.

"Study hard," his father told him.

"I will," Emil grumbled as his brother patted his head.

"If you need anything, call me," he said. "You remember how to get to the grad school, right?"

"Yes," Emil said through his teeth, "now go. I thought you wanted to get there before Mathias moved in."

As his family left, Emil heard his father saying, "I don't understand why you don't get along with that Køhler kid still. He's a nice guy."

Then, it was Leon's turn. Like a silent gun going off, everyone suddenly burst into the dorm and threw boxes after boxes on top of each other. Yao started unpacking Leon's study lamp and other assorted school supplies and stuffed them into his desk. Mei was busy setting Leon's bed making sure all of the corners were nicely tucked and secure. Cheng was unpacking some of Leon's posters that he had brought from home, asking where he wanted certain ones.

Within a matter of minutes, all of Leon's things were unpacked and organized, all of the boxes emptied and stacked.

"Thanks, guys, I guess," Leon said and shooed Yao out of the room.

"You're really not going to take us to the E.C.?" Yao asked.

"D.C.," Leon sighed, "and no, I don't want you here. Mei and Cheng are cool, but you mess with my aura."

"What aura?" Yao huffed. "I made sure your room has proper fengshui! The least you can do is be thankful! Young people nowadays!"

"Now, now, I think we should give the boys some space," Cheng quickly suggested and urged Yao out of the dorm. "We don't have to use Leon's meal tickets if you'd like. We can always pay ourselves."

Yao did not sound too happy about paying for his own meal—especially since Leon had plenty of meals left to go. Nevertheless, his family bid him farewell and left, too, just like Emil's family.

"Geez," Leon sighed when they were finally out of sight. "Looks like we can't eat just yet."

"Guess not," Emil chuckled and threw himself on his unmade bed. He wished his brother and parents were as lively as Leon's family sometimes. As he stared at the wall opposite of him, he saw Leon's kung-fu movie posters practically painting the walls into a different color. All Emil had were some banners of Eliatha University's mascot: a black dragon. If it wasn't because the university was known for its academics, it was known for its standout mascot and design.

"Hey, Emil," his friend suddenly spoke up from the bottom bunk.

"Yeah?"

"We're in college now."

This story is already on my deviantART of the same username, but I've decided to put this here for my own amusement. I will attempted to upload the chapters steadily over half a week each time.