Rou didn't turn around as he spoke.

"Its good that you know that, we have our similarities. I saw some funky guy with a Ball cosplay outfit, watch out for him. With the display that Grand just gave, everyone here is gonna be itching to get a chance with you."

Rou turned his head.

"That includes me." He said before winking and sticking his tongue out.

Alex was quite the rest of the time he was in the room. He goes to grab his Gunpla on the system and walks out saying to himself: "... maybe I shouldn't have won the tournament..."

Hours had passed since the battles in the Battle room. Though throughout dinner time, Alex wasn't present. Where he was the time was at the nearby lake Shizukesa. He was sitting on the ground looking out to the water. He had sit his Star AGE Gundam next to him, looking out at the water too. Alex looks at his model at one point and says to it: "Guess its never easy living with a title to your name, especially if it treats you like you're someone you feel you aren't."

As he watches on at the lake, he starts getting flashbacks to that faithful final battle at the 12th Gunpla Battle Tournament. His opponent, Astral, who both made a promise to fight in the finals, and his Gunpla, the Shadow Reborns, fighting against his Star AGE Gundam after it had ejected its Glansa Armor and equipment. Both machines were badly damaged and were using their special equipment. He could still hear the calls from his friends as they call his name in worry.

Alex then heard his own voice: "I'm not giving up! Not till the very end!" Then Astral's voice: "That's it! Don't hold back!" The battle had ended when the AGE lost its head and right arm, but Alex claimed the victory when his unit had stabbed Astral's Shadow Reborns in the chest then slashed upwards.

The flash back ended as Alex continued to look on to the lake: "But am i really deserving of the title for champion now that I think of it?"

Rou didnt hate Alex for being a champion, it just meant that he was an even bigger obstacle than originally thought. By this point he had painted his Brave a silvery gray and fully assembled it. He knew what he wanted to do with it now. He scraped off excess plastic on a custom beam "rapier" he had built and set it aside. From his spare parts box he pulled out a MG scale set of Tactical Arms from the Red Astray Kai kit he scrapped years ago. With a few modifications, they easily fit on the back of the Brave with the arm blades fully extended from behind. Rou sighed, hoping Alex wasn't hurt by the way he came off that afternoon. He stood up and went to search for the kid.

After a short while, Rou found Alex sitting by the lake. He silently walked up to him and leaned against a tree, looking down so that his hat hid his face.

"Listen...I don't give a damn how many championships you've won or how much of a prodigy you can be. I only care about who you are as a person and how you see Gunpla. Show me who you really are by setting that GP Base down and giving it your all. Show EVERYONE."

"Ok, i'll be back in the room some time later, i have something to take care of." Dani said and rolled off to the lobby. She contacted the lobby and head into town to get to a gunpla store. She returned with a few kits and some grab bags of damaged kits, namely a 1/144 00 as the full kit she primarily bought, then decided to poke into the workshop to see if alexis was still working on her gunpla there.

By the time Dani showed up to check on her, Alexis still had the Strike Freedom tore down to the RG frame, and was jotting down notes. The parts on the table set in order of where they go and looked better then they did before, what with the clear coating and panel lining that the parts where now sporting.

"Hey Dani" Alexis said, having hear something approaching and turned to look. The she spotted the bags, and fakes a gasp "You went shopping with out me, I'm hurt." she said in an equally false manner. "So, whats the haul?" she said, now fully turned toward Dani.

Alex didn't reply to Rou. Either he didn't hear him or he wasn't paying attention to him. But before Rou could say or do anything else, he hears someone behind him say: "That wouldn't be the best way to talk to him."

It was the instructor Satsuki, who was also carrying a tray with something on it. He comments to Rou while passing him: "Let me go talk to him. He'll likely be back to your room soon."

"Well, i saw how my last match went, and figured i'd needed to get a hand up on the opposition, so i'm building another gunpla until i can take a match seriously enough to use Block on an opponent." she said to the female, setting up next to her, getting out he hg 1/144 as the only full kit she bought. Otherwise she had gotten a few grab bags.

"Lets see what i got." she said and pulled out a partial hg masurao kit, a partial 1/100 00 kit, a partial 1/60 Exia kit. "Ohhh..... hmmm.... i can make this work..." she said and began to set herself up and construct the 1/144 00 kit, pulling out finally a series of clear trees from past projects, any super serious builder would notice parts of them were still attatched and part of a psychoframe.

Rou hastily left, not saying a word to the instructor. He had to finish his Gunpla soon, but exhaustion of a day full of events and surprises began taking its toll and Rou wasn't one to work while tired. Soon though. Rou was going to show Alex what it meant to love gunpla, and how creativity and passion were his strong suits. He flung open the door to the room and headed for the shower. He rested his head against the wall as the water ran over him, and he racked his brain for more ideas to incorporate into DAI-BALL-OH!

Alexis nodded as Dani took out a bunch of parts from different kits, and kit sizes out of a bag. She turned back to her notes as Dani set to work on what ever her project was. Though as she looked over her notes, then looked over to her Exia, which was standing off to the side since it was next on the 'to do list', and sighed internally 'This isn't gonna be enough ...' she thought as she began putting the Strike Freedom back together, as she didn't have the parts on hand to bring it all the way up to the level her Exia is at.

After some time, Alex had returned to his room. He looked a lot better than he did after his battle. He notices the Gunpla that Rou had built: "Looks like he's about done. It would sure be a good fight."

Alex sets his Star AGE on the desk next to him as he sits down and takes out a letter. He plans on writing back home to tell about his first day. Though it was only a few ours, he knows there's plenty more to come, especially to learn from his fellow classmates, like Rou, Alexis, and Dani.

Rou came back into the room wearing a sleep shirt and some sweatpants and drying his hair off. He stopped, surprised at Alex's sudden appearance.

"Oh, hey." He started, unsure of exactly what to say. "What's up?" he lazily said before yawning big and sitting on his bed, fluffing some pillows. "Doing better?"

Alex hears Rou and speaks: "Yeah, I'm doing better. Just needed some time on my own. Can't be sad forever after all."

Alexis finished putting her Gunpla back together and decided for now to head back to her room, so she told Dani she was heading back, collected her Gunpla and went back to their dorm room for now. once there, she put the Strike Freedom back on the night stand and put Exia next to it, then, pulled out her laptop, flipped it on and checked her email and such.

Rou smiled now that Alex was feeling better. "Of course you can't. Who can stay sad for long when you're in a place surrounded by Gunpla!" Rou tossed his comforter in the air and dashed under it. "I'm not really a talkative guy Alex. Everyone is here to make some sort of change with themselves. I myself, though it doesn't seem like it, came here to not be such a shy crybaby." Rou said as he turned in bed. "Friends help make changes, so will you be my buddy?"

Alex puts his pencil down and tells Rou: "You don't have to ask that Rou. Because we're already friends. And you're right, I'm here to make a change, to see things differently than i have before. And I'm sure with your help, and the help of others here, I will see that change for the better."

His Star AGE Gunpla, standing on the desk next to the letter, though still slightly damaged from the previous fight, stands proudly in place. Although looking pretty simple, this Gunpla meant a whole lot to Alex, something he would cherish for life.

Dani had continued her work, far after Alexis had left. She had wanted to nail this and nail it right on the first try. She had finished the base gundam, in her head a picture and schematic of the desired outcome based on her available parts. Building in the same scale? sure, that's fine an all, but mixing them? that's something new. She continued to assemble things separately and eventually put them all in a compartment in her chair, returning to the room.

Opening the door, she rolled in. "Allo, i'm done with it enough, that i'm happy."

"Cool, can't wait to see it when its finished" Alexis said as she sent a text reply over Skype to Rachel and Damian. Alexis was still unsure what she could do to cover the 'creative' gap between her and even her room mate, if what she was working on before was any indication.

Maybe something would come to her when classes started.