Chapter Six: Conflict

"My name is Lu Yifang. As for my ability..." Lu Yifang paused briefly.

"It's a little complicated to explain, and it's easy to break things, so I'll explain it to you when we have time. Sorry."

"Tsk! What a bore." Fireman John said, then flopped onto the bed, disappointed, and ignored Lu Yifang.

"Don't mind him. He's just like that. We're roommates from now on." Ice Man Bobby gave Lu Yifang an awkward smile.

"What I'm like is none of your business, is it?" John immediately shot back.

"Hmph!" Seeing how little John cared about his feelings, Bobby couldn't be bothered to say anything. He just snorted and ignored John.

But John seemed to be in a better mood now. Perhaps because their powers were opposites, the two hadn't gotten along from the moment they first met. And John, who had the more fiery temper, never passed up a chance to take a jab at Bobby.

"Since our dorm's full now, what do you say we pick a leader?" John sprang to his feet and addressed the two of them.

"Boring." Bobby made his opinion clear.

"Boring? I think this might make things more interesting for you." John flicked open his lighter. The tiny flame quickly swelled and surged toward Bobby.

John's sneak attack came too fast. Before Bobby could react, he cried out, and a small lock of his hair was singed off.

"I've had enough of you. If you want to fight, then come on! You think I'm really afraid of you?" Even a clay figure had a temper, let alone an ice man. After John provoked him time and again, Bobby finally snapped.

A mass of cold gathered in his hand, and ice crystals floated around him. The temperature in the room plummeted.

"Who's afraid of who? I was just about to say the same thing. Whoever loses has to be the other guy's slave!" John didn't back down. Instead, he stood up excitedly, flames roaring in his hand as the room heated up rapidly and grew stiflingly hot.

Just as the two were about to come to blows, a figure stood up and calmly walked over to them, grabbing both of their hands.

"Come on, whether we have a leader or not isn't important. What matters is that we don't let this hurt our friendship."

"Lu Yifang, you..." Ice Man Bobby stared at Lu Yifang in disbelief. The temperature of his hand was far below that of dry ice.

An ordinary person would have been frostbitten just by touching it, but Lu Yifang's expression hadn't changed in the slightest. His hand still looked rosy, and there was no way it had been frostbitten.

Bobby was still reeling when John's hand began to tremble. The flames he'd held a moment earlier could have melted glass instantly if he'd thrown them, yet Lu Yifang had snuffed them out—yes, with his bare hand.

What the hell? Was he even human? Could his power be controlling fire, and was he far stronger than John?

Of course, Lu Yifang's ability wasn't controlling fire. He controlled vectors. Both ice and fire were collective expressions of molecular thermal motion.

According to the second law of thermodynamics, heat spontaneously flowed from warmer objects to cooler ones. In theory, the ice in Bobby's hand would absorb heat from Lu Yifang's hand and freeze it, while the fire in John's hand would radiate enough heat to burn it.

But that theory clearly didn't apply to Lu Yifang. Temperature was a scalar, with magnitude but no direction, yet heat transfer had a direction.

By manipulating it this way, the heat that should have flowed from Lu Yifang's hand to Bobby was instead trapped inside Lu Yifang's body, while all the heat radiating from John's flames toward Lu Yifang's hand was reflected back.

In fact, even if Lu Yifang had just stood there and let Bobby and John fight until they were exhausted, they wouldn't have been able to hurt him in the slightest.

Looking at the two of them, frozen in place and staring at him in alarm, Lu Yifang suddenly smiled.

"Don't forget, this is our dorm. If we trash the place, we won't just have to worry about how Professor X will punish us—we'll also have nowhere to sleep. Right?"

"Yeah, you're right. We can't fight in the dorm." Seeing Lu Yifang offer him a way out, John hurried to seize the opportunity.

Even as he backed down, he glared at Bobby, as if to say, It's not because I'm afraid of you. I'm only thinking of the Academy—and doing Lu Yifang a favor.

Bobby rolled his eyes. He couldn't be bothered with the stubborn bastard, who wouldn't admit he was scared. Instead, he turned to Lu Yifang with a serious look.

"I think you make a good point," Bobby said earnestly.

"Good. We should all try to get along." Lu Yifang smiled and let go of their hands.

The two quickly pulled their hands back. Their faces still showed lingering alarm. They had every reason to be afraid: if Lu Yifang hadn't let go, they wouldn't have had the strength to break free.

This guy was terrifying. In front of him, the two of them were as helpless as ordinary children facing a muscle-bound giant. A seed of awe had already taken root in their hearts.

John and Bobby flexed their hands while Lu Yifang kept smiling. None of them knew what the others were thinking, and the room fell silent.

After a long while, Ice Man Bobby, feeling the atmosphere had grown awkward, finally broke the silence with an uneasy smile.

"Judging by the time, the cafeteria should be serving food. Let's go eat."

"Really? I'm getting hungry." John chimed in, then remembered to invite Lu Yifang too.

"Lu Yifang, you probably haven't been to the cafeteria since you got to school. Want to come with us?"

"That sounds great." Lu Yifang played along.

"Oh, and you can just call me Yifang. We're roommates now, so there's no need to be so formal."

The awkwardness finally lifted. The three walked out of the dorm chatting and laughing, as if they'd become friends through a fight.

With Bobby and John's help, Lu Yifang adapted to life at the Mutant Academy much faster. In just a few days, he felt as though he'd become part of the school.

Everything here was great. The only slight disappointment was that he'd arrived just as classes were suspended for a few days. He hadn't even seen the teachers, let alone attended a class. That included Storm, who had hurried off after bringing Lu Yifang to the school.

There was no doubt that every student hated having classes, but after a long enough break, they started to miss them. This contradictory, "masochistic" mindset was buried in the soul of every student, and Lu Yifang was no exception.

Especially when he thought about getting to see how mutants held their classes, he felt even more excited.

"Bobby, how long are classes going to be suspended?" Lu Yifang asked, turning his head toward Bobby as he lay on the bed.

"I'm not sure either. The teachers seem to have been busy these past few days, dealing with the Mutant Registration Act. The Professor's old enemy, Magneto, has apparently shown up too. I don't know the details, but I don't think classes will start up again just yet," Bobby replied, sounding distracted.

"What's wrong? You don't look like yourself," Lu Yifang asked, puzzled.

"It's nothing. I just..." Bobby's voice trailed off. He seemed unable to think of a good excuse, and when he noticed Lu Yifang watching him with a questioning look, he came clean.

"Rogue's gone missing. I've looked all over the school, but I can't find her."

"Rogue?" Lu Yifang thought for a moment before remembering the girl he'd met a few times. Her power was unusual: her skin could absorb other people's life force on its own, and if the person she touched was a mutant, she could gain their ability as well.

But the effect was only temporary. As soon as she let go, the ability she'd gained disappeared. And because she absorbed life force, anyone who stayed in contact with Rogue for too long could be drained to death.

Generally speaking, anyone with an uncontrollably dangerous ability like hers would be avoided by anyone with a bit of sense. It wasn't discrimination; it was just self-preservation.

But according to John, Bobby had somehow developed a bit of a crush on Rogue.

"I want to leave the Academy and look for her, but Storm won't let me. She said the teachers will handle it." Bobby confided in Lu Yifang, clearly unable to keep it bottled up any longer.

"Teacher Storm said that because she's worried about your safety. And I remember the Professor has something called Cerebro that makes it easy to find people. Rogue should be found soon." Lu Yifang tried to reassure him.

Just as Lu Yifang was telling Bobby to stay calm, someone kicked the door open with a bang. A blond-haired guy rushed in. Needless to say, it was John.

"I just found out something explosive in secret. You guys want to hear it?" John panted, putting on a mysterious air.

"What is it?" Seeing the expectant look on John's face, as if to say, Come on, ask me! I'm the best!, Lu Yifang played along and asked.

"Something happened while the Professor was using the Cerebro Room. He's unconscious now."

"Holy crap, what did you say? Is that true?" Lu Yifang, who'd just been telling Bobby to stay calm, immediately lost his composure and grabbed John to demand an answer.

Seeing Lu Yifang's shocked expression, John seemed to remember what had happened earlier and shuddered. He hurried to explain.

"It should be true. I didn't see the unconscious Professor myself, but I overheard Teacher Scott say it. And I noticed all the teachers looked really worried."

"I have to go see him. I can't just stand by—not when he promised me a scholarship worth ten thousand!" Lu Yifang said, already rushing out.