Achoo!
Owen froze mid-breath.
He stared straight ahead, eyes wide, hands hovering awkwardly in front of his chest as the echo of his own sneeze caught up with him.
"...What?" he muttered, confused.
He sniffled once, experimentally. Then again.
That had come out of nowhere, and apparently caught the attention of Luca Kyros who turned at once.
"Oh!" he said, immediately concerned. "Are you feeling sick?"
The question hadn’t even fully landed before Owen and all four of his friends shook their heads at the exact same time.
Perfectly synchronized.
It was honestly impressive.
Then again, even if he were on crutches or a sick bed, he and his friends would’ve probably still gone even if he had to roll himself here by force.
No chance they were missing this!
From the sound of those strangled words, the blond teen was sure it was his friend Mason who said, "Oh! H-he’s fine! Someone’s probably just talking about him!"
Another guy tilted his head and added, "Correction. A lot of someones."
A third, who had to be Art, very helpfully added, "Hahaha! Please don’t worry about him, he’s too robust for his own good!"
Owen slowly turned to look at them.
Traitors.
But before he could even retaliate or acknowledge his privilege, a familiar voice cut in.
"Brother, the kids are right," Ollie said cheerfully. "In all the years Owen has been alive, he’s never gotten sick unless there was a test involved."
Gasp!
Owen wanted to melt into a puddle as he wondered why everyone woke up on the wrong side of their bed today of all days!
Also who wouldn’t end up sick when faced with school exams?! At least he still attended school!
However, much to his surprise, Luca’s golden eyes lit up in excitement.
"?!"
"Oh wow!" exclaimed the suddenly excited cadet, clapping his hands once in genuine amazement.
"You’re really so much like your brother! It would be nice if you also recovered as fast as him! Normally, your brother would start recuperating the moment the bell rings! Sometimes it’s even instantaneous! It’s always so cool to see!"
The clap landed like a critical hit.
And over to the side, one shining older blonde almost keeled over.
"!!!"
Owen, realizing what just happened, puffed up with extreme pride. "Yeah. I learned from the best!"
The mop, who was blessed in other departments save for height, snapped out of it just in time to lunge.
"YA!" Ollie protested as he jumped, short grubby arms flailing, trying to reach the giant’s towering head.
He missed.
Tried again.
Missed again.
Owen laughed so hard he had to bend forward as Ollie finally managed to ruffle his hair with the tips of his fingers, clearly fueled by pure sibling spite.
But while that was happening, the teen noticed something odd.
His friends.
Their faces were glowing.
"???"
He was wondering what had happened when he finally noticed that the great Luca was talking to them, smiling warmly as he introduced himself properly to each of them, shaking hands like this was the most natural way of greeting people.
Names were exchanged.
Hands were shaken.

He, too, would definitely talk about it all year. Ahem.


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