Congrats

"He told us to meet here.." Anna stopped at a foodchain restaurant and spoke.

They were inside the mall of Xiala as Link wanted to eat first before anything else.

"Julibie?" Khai read the sign on top of the entrance.

"Don't tell me it's your first time hearing of it?" Anna looked at him in disbelief.

She was back at her old and cheery self.

She and Khai went back to her dorm as Anna wanted to cover her face with makeup. She was worried that Link would notice her swollen eyes and tired visage.

On their way there, they managed to talk about how they would proceed forward.

They agreed that they'd talk again when they have the chance, to which Anna begged Khai to hide it from Link.

Of course, Khai didn't want any trouble so he agreed.

They didn't have any plans, nor were they in any rush so Khai suggested that they'd push the matter of their dreams backward for now.

By then, Anna's worries were completely comforted by Khai so she had no problem with it.

She was also quite scared that they'd mess up if they were to rush matters.

She regained herself on the way to the mall; her voice was back and her lighthearted mood with it.

"Would it be bad if it is?" Khai regained his focus.

"Really?" Anna closed in on him, seemingly indignant on behalf of the restaurant.

"Look! This doesn't remind you of anything?!" She rushed towards the side of the entrance and placed her hand on some sort of monument.

"A wasp?" Khai tilted his head in confusion.

"It's their mascot!"

"…" Khai looked at her in silence. He really didn't know anything about the wasp.

"Y-you.." Anna was speechless, "Do you have no childhood?"

"Well-"

"You guys are finally here." Link suddenly spoke up from the side.

"Bro!" Anna launched herself towards him.

"Hey!" Unprepared by her attack, Link staggered back.

"You're not a kid anymore, you know." He chastised but his tone didn't contain any malice, instead, it was overflowing with hidden joy.

"I know, but you still treat me like one so I'll never grow up if it's for you." Anna spoke softly.

Link didn't know how much Anna was craving for that very hug but Khai knew how much it meant to her.

'It's good that she has a dependable brother..'

"You good?" Link asked Khai, who's eyes seemed to contain complicated feelings.

"Y-Yeah, I am." Khai showed his most geniune smile.

"Let's eat." Link invited, entering the restaurant ahead of them. "While ya'll were enjoying yourselves, I reserved a seat."

…

"Eat as much as you want, it's my treat." Link said, giving them each a menu.

"Oh, it's ok, I can pay for my own meal." Khai was embarrassed to accept Link's goodwill; they only just met, after all.

"Ha? I said that I got it." Link pushed on.

"Oh, but-" Khai wanted to vehemently disagree but Anna interrupted,

"We'll be classmates in the future, you'll have a lot of opportunities to pay him back then."

"You have to learn to accept kindness, you know" Link added.

"Okay, thank you very much." Khai finally relented.

"I'll just have the burger, the third one on page 14." He said after some deliberation.

"The third one?" Link looked at his menu in confusion.

"Oh, you mean the chicken burger, B3?" He was slightly amused by Khai's manner of ordering but he didn't pay it much heed.

'I wonder if it's his first time ordering in a fast food restaurant..'

"Mm, is that fine?"

"It's more than fine, it's your choice.." Link noticed that it was the lowest priced meal outside of deserts and drinks but he didn't point it out.

Anna followed up, "I'll have S5 please."

"Alright, wait here while I order." Link prepared to stand up but Anna beat him to it.

She sprang up from her chair and insisted, "Let me do it!"

"Suit yourself." Link gave her his wallet and his order.

"I'll be right back." She said and left for the counter.

"So, what did you guys do this morning?" Link initiated the conversation.

"We went to the clinic and checked out the library." Khai said, a prepared response that he and Anna agreed upon.

"Oh, right. She didn't get to see the library yesterday." Link nodded.

It seemed that he had reservations about asking about the shit matter, which made Khai heave a heavy sigh.

"Back!" Anna appeared and sat beside Link.

"Welcome back." Khai greeted.

"It seems you both got closer while I wasn't around." Link commented, slight suspicion could be heard from his voice but Khai didn't react to it.

"Closer-" As Anna recalled what happened, her face flushed red. "We got to talk about our hobbies and stuff." She shrugged it off.

"Mhm, that's good. Tomorrow's the orientation for this school year. It's best to enjoy our days while we still can." Link leaned back on his chair and sighed.

"Oh, right, I heard that tomorrow's orientation will last an entire day!" Anna said.

"Really? What're they gonna talk about for a whole day?" Khai was speechless, was the institution intending on boring them to death?

"Rules, regulations, grade standards, a welcoming party or whatever, just a bunch of formalities in order for one to be considered as a Xialan. For an institution this large, it isn't surprising for it to be uptight." Link answered.

"I guess," Khai nodded, understanding where the school was coming from.

It probably already built its own heritage by now.

"What are your goals this school year, Khai?" Link asked.

"Well, I'm not sure." Even after giving it much thought, Khai wasn't sure how to answer him.

With what just happened between him and Anna, he was honestly lost.

"I guess I just want to have a good time." Khai said, emitting;

'-and find myself; find a purpose in life.'

"Oh!" Anna looked at him in surprise. "For such an interestig person, your goal is boring!"

"Hey!" Link was speechless, did she need to be ruthless?

"I'm just saying," Anna pouted, "He has a big opportunity in front of him, shouldn't I encourage him to think bigger?"

She looked at him in discouragement.

'Ah, what is this girl,' Khai really could not comprehend Anna.

"Yes, but people have different reasons and situations, sister, don't be too judgmental." Link chastised.

"No, it's fine." Khai knew that she was just playing around, maybe wary that he was still feeling off from their previous interaction.

"If it's fine with you, may I know your goals?" He added, forcefully giving Anna the hot potato.

"Well, I'm going to become #1!" Anna cheerily put up her index finger.

"Number one?" Khai titled his head to the side.

"She wants to become the valedictorian of our batch." Link clarified.

"Mhm, I'll make you proud, brother!"

"I won't look forward to it so I won't be disappointed." Link playfully said.

"Hey! I'm definitely going to become number one!" Anna declared, full of confidence.

Khai's interest was once again captured by the girl. 'Number one, huh.'

'How much more are you going to take my attention?'

Truly, he found a very interesting person. To aim for number one at a highly renowned institution. That doesn't only take guts, but also confidence.

'Or is she just saying this because she wants to?'

"Children these days, aiming for number one and whatnot.." Link shook his head like a disappointed adult, regretting their way of raising a child.

'What he sais is true.' Khai agreed inwardly.

The path to being the number isn't necessarily the best option when choosing a goal.

One might become tunnel-visioned at the goal, becoming a mindless player in a game that has no end.

"What about you?" Khai looked at Link.

"Similar to hers." Link, without any hint of embarrassment, put up his index finger. "I'll become number one, in basketball."

'Shameless!' Khai was speechless, he almost fell off his chair!

"Motherf*cker!" Anna wasn't having it and shook her brother back to back.

"Hahaha!" Link didn't mind and let himself be tugged.

"Oh, that's the sport you play? It's quite hard." Khai said after composing himself.

He remembered that the guy went for a screening earlier that day.

"You know about it?" Link's interest was captured.

"I've dabbled in the field before." Khai smiled lightly. His grandfather was strangely impressive in basketball in the past so he learnt some moves from him.

"Really? You play?" Anna butted in, her voice filled with shock.

"Yes, but I limit my time in sports to not overexert my body."

"That's a shame. Xiala's basketball team was top five in last year's rankings. Their team right now is pretty good, and now that I'm here, time's the only thing holding us back." Link sighed like Khai was missing a prime opportunity.

He was talking like his victory was guaranteed.

Khai was amused but he didn't want to dampen his spirits. "It's fine, thank you for the thought though."

"Achoo!" Anna sneezed, facing her brother.

"Hey!" Link wiped her saliva off his clothes and wiped it back on Anna's.

"Sorry, I'm allergic to your bullshit." Anna giggled, dodging her brother's dirty hands.

"Pft," The line got Khai and he started to chuckle uncontrollably.

However, he thought that he was being rude and tried to reign it in, resulting in his body to look like it was convulsing.

When the duo saw this, their jaw fell down in speechlessness.

"You know you're allowed to laugh, right?" Anna said, a bit uncomfortable by how Khai was surpressing his laughter.

"You look like a chimpanzee with that face, dude." Link chuckled.

"Ah," Khai was at a loss for words,

These siblings are really ruthless with their words!

How was he supposed to react to that?

Khai forcibly changed the topic, again. "Are they allowing first years to be in the roster these days?"

"Oh, right. I forgot to tell you, but I made it in the roster." Link dusted the non existing dust off his shoulder, almost as if telling them, 'easy shit.'

"Really?!" Anna almost jumped in joy. "I'm so proud of you!"

'Wow..' Khai was impressed.

No matter how bad any sports team is, it's rare to take in a first year.

Link must have some insane talent.

"Congratulations!"

"Mhm, it was nothing, really." Link sighed.

Their conversation went on for a while. Even the food that came didn't stop the trio from learning more about each other.