"Why does it have to be so loud in here?" A boy grumbled to himself as he went to sit down with a group of what seemed like poised teenagers, all flipping through their books and working on their assignments. This boy’s name was Huang Sichao. He wasn’t one to have a lot of friends. He liked to keep to himself.
"But isn't it your brothers' friends who are the loudest?" One boy asked, peeking up at the one who spoke. This boy was the not so poised Nie Niran.
"Like anyone would dare to say something to them," a small boy with black hair grown out to his jaw line said as he sat down with his tray of food. He was sitting a few chairs away from the group. All Sichao knew was that his name was Levi. He was very mysterious and kept to himself as well. But he always had like 5 guys following him around. "Everyone loves them cause they're boisterous and fun. Makes me sick. I don't know how anyone can stand that Jiang kid. Haoran?"
"Careful. Don't let his brother hear you say that," Niran said, fixing the watch on his wrist. He looked up and nodded towards another group that was extremely prominent in the school. "Jiang Liuwan is extremely protective of his little brother. He told me that he does martial arts. He could probably beat you up in an instant."
"The Japanese boy?" Sichao asked, raising his eyebrows as he looked at the buff boy sitting at the table, laughing along to something his friend said. "Nah, he doesn't look like he could hurt a fly. I have a friend back home who could probably beat his in a fight."
"Whoa! School Prez can curse?" another boy asked with a smirk as the rest of their group looked up as well. "I guess you really are like your brother Kam, huh?"
"Kam?" The school president asked in confusion, glancing at his own brother who was trapped in a headlock by one of his friends. "You mean Xinjia?"
"Yoooo! I didn't know that was Kam's Chinese name!" A new voice said as three boys sat around Levi on the other side of the table. The boy who spoke reached over to grab a fry off his long haired friend’s plate, only to get his hand slapped away. Sichao actually didn’t know what his or his two friends’ names were.
"Who is Kam?" A pink haired boy with the new group of three asked, tilting his head in confusion. His friend smirked and shrugged his shoulders, still trying to get the small boy's food.
"My friend from Chemistry. We have a lot of projects together. You've probably seen him at our house a lot," the boy responded, succeeding in grabbing a fry
"You guys live together?" Niran asked, looking at the group. "Are you brothers?"
"Sorta, I guess," 'fry' boy said, chomping on the stolen food. "We're in like a foster home, you could say. There's like 20 boys."
"I live in a big household too," Niran said. "There's like 5 families or something in our home. Pretty wild. Right, prez?"
"I don't live there," Sichao said, looking down at his own food.
"Sichao ge!!" A new voice shouted, causing not only the school president to look up, but the entire cafeteria. Sichao blushed slightly, not really liking the attention from everyone. "My teacher is being really unfair! He gave me a very low grade for that book report I did! Ge! You know how hard I worked on it!!"
"Xinchun, calm down," Sichao said with a soft sigh, pulling the boy over to sit with him. This was his little brother. Twin to Xinjia, or Kam as everyone called him. "Do you have the book report with you?"
"Yes, but I absolutely cannot show it to mom! She gets mad any time I bring home papers with low grades."
"Give it here," Sichao said with a sigh, glancing at Niran, who was still staring at them.
"Don't even think of telling my mother, Niran," Xinchun said with a small glare, causing Niran to raise his hands in defense.
Sichao laughed and shook his head. Sichao and Xinchun were from a family of 5 boys, Sichao being the oldest. Xinchun and Xinjia were 3 years younger than Sichao, sitting at 16 years old. Then there was Mingxing and Mingqing, a pair of 11 year old twins. Sichao spent his whole life helping his mother raise the boys, while fulfilling his cultivation duties and going to school on top of that.
Cultivation is the act of using your spiritual qi through martial arts and supernatural powers. Cultivators all around the world use their cultivation to help protect the world from common evils like ghosts, demons, Yao, monsters or even just evil people. You have to train for years to strengthen your spiritual qi and improve your health. Cultivators can improve their lifespans by hundreds of years, or even ascend to heaven and become a god by doing hood deads and continuously growing stronger.
The Huang family, being Sichao's family, are born from a strong cultivator by the name of Guiying. Guiying has been around for a few hundred years, standing strong in his cultivation and working hard to ascend to heaven, which he hasn't achieved quite yet. Sichao, however, doesn't like his father so much. His father walked out on them when he was 10 years old to continue his path to ascension. This pissed Sichao off so bad. He couldn't understand why one would just up and leave his family without a word.
2 years after Guiying walked out, Sichao decided it was time to get stronger and seek out a cultivation clan so he could learn how to fight. He came across the Shui clan who lived just outside of Shanghai. Once Sichao made himself known, the clan leader, Lin Xu, took him in immediately and let him start training with the kids in her clan. Because he had started late, his cultivation was a lot weaker than the rest of the clans', so more than anything he ended up taking care of the younger boys in his clan as if they were also his younger brothers.
Xinjia soon joined him, also wanting to protect his family. Xinchun, unfortunately, didn't seem to have a trace of spiritual qi inside him, so he couldn't cultivate. He did, however, end up taking up medication and started to learn how to heal without using qi. He always had a sense that he could connect more deeply to the people around him, as if he could feel what they were feeling or knew what they were thinking. It made him more excited to learn medication and how he could keep the clan members safe.
The younger twins, Mingxing and Mingqing, had started training when they turned 8. They were so excited that no matter what their mother said, they couldn't take no for an answer. Their mother, Huang Feiyu, finally gave in and allowed the boys to train because she knew Sichao was right by their side and would never let anything happen to them. In the end, she joined the clan too, taking up medication alongside her son.
Nie Niran, is part of the Shui clan. He and Sichao spend a lot of time together, them and a boy named Li Haoming. The three of them were like the Three Musketeers, always hanging out and gossiping together, always training together, even always doing their homework together. It was safe to say that Haoming and Niran were his best friends. And probably his only friends.
"Hey! Niran!" A voice called as Jiang Liuwan suddenly started making his way over. The whole group quieted down as they stared at him. Liuwan's friend group was extremely prominent in the school because Jiang Liuwan himself was the most popular kid in the school. Everyone grew shy any time he made eye contact with them. Even Levi and his friends scooted even further away as Liuwan sat down next to Sichao.
"Ah! Liuwan," Niran said, drumming his fingers on the table as he stared at the boy. Liuwan looked like a bodybuilder, having large muscles and a bigger frame. But he always wore a super kind smile, always helping out others in need.
"Would you mind if we did our project at your house? My mother forbids guests. And I really don't want to be at school any longer than I need to be," Liuwan said, causing Niran to shrug his shoulders with a soft grin.
"That's fine. Though it might be a bit crazy," Niran said. "There's like a billion people in my house!"
"That's fine," Liuwan said, glancing at Sichao and giving him a soft wink.
"You'll be there, right?" Liuwan asked, causing Xinchun to snort as he stood up.
"Of course he will be," Xinchun said, before giving a quick wave as he rushed over to Xinjia's group. "See ya!"
"I'll be there," Sichao said, sounding uninterested as he looked down at his brother’s book report.
"Awesome," Liuwan said, standing up and nodding towards his three closest friends that stood behind him. He grinned at Sichao before glancing at Niran. "I'll see you there."
"What was that?!" Levi asked as soon as Liuwan and his friends were gone, he and his friends scooting back over. The long haired boy placed his hand on Sichao's arm. "Jiang Liuwan was checking you out! Did you not see the looks he was giving you?! Almost half the school has a crush on him! You're lucky!"
"Wow Levi, I thought you'd be mad or something. Don't you have a crush on him?" His fry stealing companion asked, causing the fourth boy in their group sitting next to him to make a loud 'oooo' sound. Levi flipped his hair with a huff.
"He's hot and all, but he's not my type," Levi told him.
"Excuse me," Sichao said, standing up and glancing around at the group. "I'm not interested in him, so don't spread useless rumors. Now, I gotta go meet a friend of mine before lunch break is over. I'll see you all later."
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