Chapter One – The First Day of Summer

The Kadic Academy school bell rang out all over campus. Summer was finally here. Kids ran out of every door in the main building. The sidewalks flooded in seconds. Mr. Delmas, the principal, decided to do something with the school over summer break that he had never thought about before. Thanks to Sissi.

“I’ll think about it, darling. Now run off to class,” her father had replied.

Of course, with great consideration and the occasional bribing, Mr. Delmas mailed a permission slip home to all the parents. He set up a pick-up time for all the kids who weren’t staying over the summer. The whole Lyoko gang was staying over the break, including Aelita, but the story was different for Odd. His mom didn’t send in a permission slip allowing him to stay. The days until pick-up day were getting closer, and Odd still didn’t know whether he would be able to stay.

 What Sissi was really hoping for out of this situation was to convince Ulrich to stay over summer break, so that she could try to get him to like her. Well, he had news for her. He had already planned to stay over, but not because of her, but because of one of his close friends. He hoped that this summer would change everything between him and Yumi.

********

“Summer at last,” Ulrich said unlocking his dorm room door later that night after dinner. A strong stench made him grab his nose and burst into a loud cough. “Odd! Oh, Odd, that’s gross! Put your shoes back on!” He said going into the room holding his nose due to the stench of Odd’s feet. Even Kiwi, Odd’s dog, had his nose buried deep beneath the blanket mound on Ulrich’s bed.

“Sorry about the smell, buddy, but my mom just called and said that I can stay!!! I don’t have to go home now! Just think, a whole summer with my best bud!” Odd said smiling and flopping down on his bed. Ulrich closed the door and laid down on his own bed. His mind was racing about Yumi.

Ulrich let his eyes sweep across his bedside clock. The glowing read bars formed a block-like 9:14 as the time.

Ulrich closed his eyes sleepily and drifted off to sleep. He was in a peaceful slumber until he felt a strange vibrating in his pocket. Ulrich awoke to a start. He stretched, grabbed his cell phone out of his pocket, and glanced at the caller-Id.

Yumi’s Cell

895-548-1567

Ulrich smiled to himself and took the phone call.

“Hello?” Ulrich said.

“Hi, Ulrich. How are you?” Yumi said slightly shakily.

“I’m fine, what’s going on Yumi, you sound worried.” Ulrich said, a bit worried himself.

“I am a little worried, to tell you the truth, Ulrich. My parents. . .” She paused. “My parents, well, you see, they went on vacation, and haven’t called yet. I know it sounds silly, but I want to know if they made it ok, and there is no cell service. I don’t know what to do. I’m here all alone because Hiroki asked if he could sleep over at a friend’s house. Oh, what should I do?” she spoke softly into the cell phone.

Ulrich paused, deciding mentally what he should do. “I’ll tell you what, Yumi. How about I come over there to make you feel better. Maybe with someone else in the house will make you calm down. How’s that sound?”

“Sounds great. I don’t know how my parents would react, you coming over this late and all, but I really need it. How are you going to get over here without ‘Night Patrol Jim’ catching you?”

“Don’t worry. Odd’ll keep watch outside Jim’s room and phone me if something’s up. I’ll sneak out the front gate and head over there. See you in a minute, Yumi.” Ulrich said with a hint of pleasure in his voice.

Ulrich slipped on his sneakers and grabbed his room key. He slid out of the room, just to find Odd getting a drink at the fountain across the hall. “Odd,” he said. “Odd! I’m going over to Yumi’s house; she’s all alone and is worried because her parents didn’t call her from their vacation. I’ll be back sometime before tomorrow. Call me on my cell if you want.” Ulrich said, waving good-bye to Odd.

“Wait! Its like--what time is it? Oh, oh yeah--ALMOST TEN O’CLOCK AT NIGHT! Hey, you said you’d be alone with Yumi tonight, where’s Hiroki?”

“Yumi said he went to a friend’s house to sleep over. Why?”

“Well, I know if I was in you situation, and Yumi was Sam, I’d make my move tonight.” Odd said with a slight smile.

“I don’t know, she’s under enough stress already. And besides, I don’t have anything prepared. Ah, I have to go; I don’t want Yumi to think that something happened to me.” Ulrich replied turning towards the door.

“Good luck! I’ll cover for you and Yumi if you’re not back in the morning.

Chapter 2 – Just do it, kiss her.

The crisp night air brushed against Ulrich’s face when he opened the door of the building.

Ulrich ran across the soccer field towards the gate. As he approached it, he was careful not to crack any twigs or make noise, given he didn’t know where to expect the Night Patrol. Ulrich cautiously drew near the gate, took one last look around for the Night Patrol, and advanced through the gate.

Once he was far enough away from the school to be detected by noise, he walked slowly down the street towards the Ishiyama’s. Ulrich’s head was racing in circles about what he should say to Yumi. He slowly climbed the steps. His finger pressed the doorbell and released it. Ding-dong. Footsteps. The door creaked open.

“Hi, Ulrich. Glad you could come, might call me down a little now,” Yumi said, motioning for Ulrich to come in, and closed the door behind him. He took his seat on the couch next to Yumi.

“I’m glad to be here, Yumi. Anything that I can do to cheer you up?” he asked shyly.

“You already cheered me up, just having you here cheered me up,” she said with a smile. Ulrich blushed slightly.

“Listen, Yumi, I wanted . . . Well, you see . . . I was wondering . . .” he staggered.

“Can you use full sentences? I can’t understand you when you don’t,” Yumi replied. The two laughed slightly. Ulrich paused before continuing.

“I know that you don’t want to mess up our friendship, and I respect that, but . . .”

“I want to be more than friends,” Ulrich said as calmly as he could. He waited for Yumi to react.

Yumi sat in silence, and a small, salty, clear tear ran down her face. Another followed shortly.

“Yumi, what’s wrong? Oh, ok, I guess you don’t want to be more than friends, I get it. I was wrong,” he said with a look of slight disappointment in his face. He hung his head slightly and got up off of the couch.

“No, no, Ulrich,” Yumi said, reaching for his hand and pulling him back down on the couch. “I do. I’m crying because I’m happy, I’ve waited so long for this. You just looked like you didn’t want to, so I just kept quiet.” Another tear ran down her cheek. Ulrich took his finger and wiped it away. Yumi moved closer to Ulrich on the couch. Ulrich embraced Yumi in a hug that seemed to last forever.

“Ulrich, that’s your cell. Answer it.”

“No. They can leave a message,” he replied, not ending the hug.

“It’ll just keep ringing!” Yumi said.

“It’s fine.”

“Ulrich! Answer you phone, please!” Yumi said, a slight tone of amusement in her voice.

“Fine, but I don’t want to. I’m making it quick,” he replied.

“Neither do I,” she said, breaking off the hug. Ulrich reached into his pocket and grabbed his cell phone. Glancing at the caller ID, he saw it was Odd.

“Odd! Make it quick! What is it?” he said frantically.

“Hey! Sorry, buddy! Just callin’ to see if you made your move with Yumi yet. I would if you didn’t already, time’s a-wastin’!” Odd said snickering, not aware of the situation.

“Odd! I, I, ah, I’ll tell you later. I’ve got to go. Yumi wants to talk with me. Bye!” Ulrich said ending the call.

“Ulrich, I’m really glad that you said that, now I truly know how you feel,” Yumi said, moving closer to Ulrich on the couch.

Ulrich hesitated shyly, but then slowly leaned closer to Yumi. She did the same thing. They paused when their lips were almost touching for a moment. Ulrich could feel Yumi’s breath, and Yumi could feel Ulrich breathing.

Ulrich gently placed a delicate kiss on Yumi’s lips. She kissed him back.

Chapter 3 – Odd and His Songs

A strange vibrating sensation woke Yumi in a start. She reached into her pants pocket and grabbed her cell phone. Glancing at the time, she realized it was already 8:00.

Ulrich groaned sleepily on the end of the couch. Yumi and Ulrich had fallen asleep on the couch together late last night. Yumi’s eyes drifted over to him.

Yumi sat up slowly, cautious of Ulrich’s still sleeping body. She tiptoed over to the other end of the couch, knelt down to his height, and whispered in his ear.

“Wake up sleepy head! It’s 8:00 in the morning!” When he didn’t even do the slightest stir, she kissed him lightly on the cheek. This got him awake fast.

He shot up and blinked twice. He turned to look at Yumi. “Did you just kiss me? Or was I dreaming again?”

Yumi smiled. “I just kissed you, you weren’t dreaming. You wouldn’t wake up, and that’s the best surprise ‘wake up’ message that I could think of. Do you remember last night at all?” she asked.

“Not really. But I had the weirdest dream that we kissed and fell asleep together on the couch. Wait a minute . . .” The facts started compiling in his head. Mentally he sorted them and put them in order. Suddenly he realized something. “I wasn’t dreaming, was I? We really did kiss, didn’t we! And that’s why you weren’t afraid to kiss me to wake me up! Am I right?”

“Yeah.” Ulrich leaned closer and kissed Yumi again.

“You’re a good kisser,” Yumi replied with another swift kiss on the cheek. Yumi stood up and took Ulrich’s hand in hers and pulled him off of the couch. They hugged, and Yumi’s eyes drifted over to the Japanese style clock on the nearby wall.

“Ulrich, we should really head to the school now. If we’re not back by 9:00, I’m sure Jim will investigate and we’ll surely get in trouble. It’s like almost 8:30 now, so let me go change quickly and we’ll go back to school.” Yumi headed upstairs as Ulrich sat in a chair. Moments passed, and Yumi came down wearing her normal, plain, black outfit. Black belly-shirt, black pants, the usual.

“You look very cute in that outfit today, Yumi. Very very cute. Hot, almost.” Yumi smiled as Ulrich placed his arms tightly around her waste. For the third time already today, he placed a kiss on her lips. She smiled, and he took her hand inside of hers. They walked out of the Ishiyama household and down the street. Ulrich let go of her hand momentarily, but replaced it on her hip.

When they arrived at the school, the two snuck into the dorm building. They walked up the stairs cautiously, in fear that Jim would detect them, and finally reached Ulrich and Odd’s dorm. Ulrich placed the key in the keyhole and unlocked the door. They stepped inside. No sign of Odd.

“Hey, Yumi, I’m going to change my clothes, if you want to go out in the hall, you can, or you can stay in here and play with Kiwi, where is that adorable little mutt, anyway? Come here, boy! Come here Kiwi! Where are you?” Ulrich opened the drawer where Kiwi’s makeshift bed was. When he peered inside it, he got a thorough licking. “I missed you too, little buddy. Where’s Odd?” Ulrich said, talking to Kiwi.

Kiwi ran over to Yumi, who sat herself down on Ulrich’s bed, with her back facing his. He changed into his new clothes, and out the door they went. They met Odd, Jeremie, and Aelita outside near the soccer field. Ulrich took his arm off of Yumi’s hip while they were walking, as they had agreed that they would keep their relationship a secret for now. Their own little secret, it would have to stay, because they feared that Odd would have the news spread like wildfire.

“Hi, guys!” Yumi said.

“Hey! So, did you get Yumi all calmed down last night Ulrich?” Aelita asked.

“Yeah.” Ulrich and Yumi exchanged glances, knowing that he did more than just calm her down.

“Well, I have to go now. I’m developing new technology for the Super Computer,” Jeremie said, waving ‘bye’ to everyone.

“I’ll come with you! Maybe I could help, Jeremie,” Aelita said, running off in Jeremie’s direction.

“Hey, Ulrich, I have to go check on Kiwi, wanna come?” Odd asked.

“Nah, I think I’m going to stay here with Yumi.” He winked.

“Oh, ok. See you later!” Lovebirds. Go Ulrich! He thought under his breath. Ulrich and Yumi walked off to a different bench under a tree, and when Odd looked over his shoulder, he saw Ulrich place his hands around Yumi and kiss her again.

Chapter 4 – The Shattered Camera

“Hey, Sam. It’s Odd, I got your message on my phone, figured I’d call you when I got the chance. So, did you get any new information about you coming to Kadic over the summer break?” Odd said into the cell phone.

“Yeah. I can come. Since we moved so close to the school, my parents were fine with it. Want to meat me in like fifteen minutes outside in the soccer field?” Sam asked.

“Sure! Oh! Guess what! Ulrich - wait . . . he didn’t want me to say quite yet . . . Yeah, I’ll be there with the gang in like fifteen minutes, see you then, Sam!” Odd hung up.

Odd made sure that he had his room key before slamming the door and skating off down the hallway. Sam was coming. Soon. He was delighted. In less than fifteen minutes, he would be able to hold Sam in his arms again. His Sam. No one else’s. Just His.

He skateboarded along the path towards the soccer field. Sure enough, when he got closer, he could see Ulrich and Yumi still sitting together on the bench under the tree. It was almost as if they were frozen in time. His skateboard wheels made so much noise on the textured path that Yumi and Ulrich detected him coming thirty feet away.

Ulrich glanced up at the approaching Odd. His face wore an ear-to-ear grin. Ulrich instinctively knew that it had something to do with Sam.

In their few years of being together at Kadic, Ulrich learned Odd’s personality very well. He knew that Odd only smiled like that when it had something to do with Sam. This time, he was sure of it, was no different.

“What’s up, buddy? Is Sam coming or something? You’re smiling like a laughing hyena,” Ulrich said, Yumi giggled softly.

“Yea-” Odd started, but was interrupted by the faint roll of skateboard wheels.

Odd scampered away on his skateboard. Ulrich and Yumi rose to watch Odd come to an abrupt stop ten feet away from another human. Sam stepped off her skateboard, and ran to Odd. Odd met her halfway, and embraced her in a hug. It was tough to see the full details, due to the large amount of trees around them. Ulrich grabbed Yumi’s hand and pulled her to another tree, one closer to Sam and Odd. Once they were close enough, they not only had a great up-close view, but could hear everything they were saying.

“Aww, look at that! Thats so cute!” Yumi whispered with a smile. Ulrich looked up to her sparkling eyes, and placed his hand around her waste.

“Yeah, it is very cute. Like you,” he said placing a lingering kiss on her lips. She depended the kiss. Odd and Sam must have detected them because they tiptoed over to Ulrich and Yumi’s tree, where they peered around the tree.

Odd’s face lit up with a smile. He had an idea. Motioning to Sam to follow, he tiptoed to a tree about ten feet from Ulrich and Yumi. He had a perfect view of them, yet Ulrich and Yumi never ended their kiss. Odd pulled out a palm-sized camera.

“One . . . Two . . .” he whispered. “Three!” He snapped the camera button down. “One picture isn’t enough! MORE!”

Click! Click!

Odd zoomed in closer, so that he could get a picture of just their faces.

Click! Click!

“Five pictures are enough, I think, Odd,” Sam said. “Save some space!”

“Shh! I think I see some tongue action!” He stepped closer, and snapped more pictures.

“Oh, well, Milly and Tamiya are still doing the Newspaper, and I figured that an ‘anonymous person’ would ‘tip off’ the girls with some pictures about a certain ‘new’ relationship.” He smiled.

“Odd! Would you like someone to do that to you?!”

“Well, to tell you the truth, I was also thinking about doing the same thing with us . . .  since we are a couple now, aren’t we? I want to.”

“Yes, Odd, we are,” Sam said kissing odd on the cheek.

“Good.”

Ulrich and Yumi broke apart finally. Ulrich gazed into Yumi’s eyes.

Odd tiptoed closer to their tree, trying to get another priceless picture of their expressions. He made one mistake, and started to fast walk.

Crack!

A twig snapped under Odd’s weight. “Shoot!” he thought to himself.

Ulrich and Yumi turned around to see odd in mid-step, holding a camera in his palm. “Odd, why do you have a camera? Were you taking pictures of us? How long were you here for?” Ulrich questioned.

“I, I, uh,” Odd stammered. “About five minutes?” he said innocently.

“FIVE MINUTES!!! Why? Did you take pictures of us . . . kissing?” Yumi interrogated. An innocent, squeaky ‘yes’ escaped Odd’s lips.

“Why would you do that? What are you planning to do?”

“Uh, I . . . I was going to ‘anonymously’ tip off Milly and Tamiya with some ‘secret photos’ and then tip them of with some ‘exclusive information.’” Sam shook her head inside of her hands.

“Odd! Give me the camera! Now! Come on! Give it here!” Ulrich demanded, growing slightly angry.

“No! Catch me if you can!” Odd let out a burst of laughter, and started running around in a big circle. Ulrich rolled his eyes and launched Odd’s skateboard at his feet.

“Whoa!” Thud. Odd hit the ground, and in the process, smashed the camera on a rock. “Aw, you smashed the camera! It wasn’t even mine!” Odd said getting off of the ground and wiping some of the dirt off his face.

“Who’s camera was it?” Ulrich questioned.

“It was mine! That camera was mine and you just smashed it, Odd! Nice going! Now I have to buy another camera!” Sam shouted and stormed off.

“Great going, Ulrich. Now I have to replace her camera! I can’t believe you did that! You could have just asked for it!”

“I’ll buy her another camera, Odd, it was partially my fault that it broke. Go talk to her, she’s gonna be mad if you don’t trust me.” Ulrich motioned to the direction that Sam was walking in.

“Yeah. I’ll tell her that you will replace the camera. I’m not.” Odd turned, waved to Ulrich and Yumi, and ran after Sam.

“Thats so cute. They’re a couple now! But now I have to replace Sam’s camera. Stupid me,” Ulrich said placing his arm around Yumi.

“Your not stupid, don’t say that Ulrich. You will never be stupid.” She leaned down and kissed him lightly. He grasped her hand inside his and they walked off together to the Ishiyama household to check on Hiroki.

Chapter 5 – The Collision

Odd managed to get Sam calmed down enough to persuade her to go with the group out to dinner. She smiled, and agreed, finally.

She grabbed her skateboard and followed Odd to the rest of the group. They headed off together to the restaurant down the street. Odd and Sam were skating off in the beginning, with Aelita and Jeremie on their scooters riding behind them before, and bringing up the rear was Ulrich and Yumi on their skateboards.

As the group got closer to the restaurant, Odd began a conversation with Sam to pass the time, since they had to take a detour past a construction site, which delayed them even longer than Odd and Sam’s camera fit this morning.

The rest of the group immersed themselves in their own private conversations, Jeremie and Aelita babbling away on their scooters about something to do with the Super Computer, whereas Yumi and Ulrich were just talking amongst themselves about this morning’s incident.

“This morning was crazy. Why would he do something like that to us, Ulrich? I mean, take those pictures and all . . . it’s weird.” Yumi questioned

“I don’t think it’s all that strange, seeing how we are talking about Odd, and all. It was just like him to do something like that. I’m just glad the pictures didn’t get out, although in preventing a virtual disaster, I am the one to blame for Sam’s camera getting smashed.”

“Oh well, buying a new camera is better than having the whole school know about this morning, I mean, Jeremie and Aelita don’t even know that little detail,” Yumi said, lowering her voice slightly to prevent Aelita and Jeremie from hearing.

“Yeah,” he said with a slight smile. “They’d flip.”

“Knowing Princess, yes, she would. She’d do a triple back-flip in the air, or at least attempt one.”

The duo broke out into a slight laughing fit. Calming down slightly, Yumi and Ulrich glanced up ahead, only to see Odd and Sam skating backwards on their boards, talking to each other while having a backwards race. Aelita and Jeremie weren’t paying attention the slightest bit, but were rather talking about a potential way to get into the Internet.

“Odd! Watch out!” Ulrich shouted, pointing at the upcoming curb near the restaurant.

Odd, not listening, thinking it was a joke, merely winked at Ulrich, and kept on skating backward. His wheels of the skateboard hit the curb; Odd flew up, and landed on the ground outside of the restaurant. “Ow! That hurt!”

Sam was so elated that she won, that she didn’t notice him falling, until she began turning around on her skateboard, doing a complete 360° spin. Landing the wrong way, she toppled over backwards onto the grass next to Odd. The two sat dazed on the ground, slightly dizzy.

Jeremie and Aelita were so deep into their conversation that they didn’t know that they themselves were in danger of joining the collision. Jeremie spotted the rolling skateboard a second too late, slamming on the back breaks of the scooter. In doing so, he collided with Sam’s skateboard, the front wheel got stuck under the board, and he was sent into the air, landing firmly in front of Odd on the grass. “Ow! I think I landed on a rock!” Jeremie said, rubbing the forming bruise.

Aelita shrieked with slight horror as she saw Jeremie go down. Running forward to his aid, Sam outstretched her slightly swollen foot, accidentally kicking her skateboard towards Aelita. “Aelita! Watch out!”

Aelita looked in front of her, as she unintentionally placed her foot carelessly on the skateboard, hence sending it into a 180° spin, forcing her to land on the ground next to Jeremie.

The four sat dazed on the ground, not exactly realizing what had just happened. Ulrich and Yumi buckled at the knees, and almost fell to the ground laughing hysterically at the scene in front of them. Odd attempted to stand up, wobbled slightly, and stepped on his skateboard. The skateboard launched out from his feat directly at Jeremie’s head. Jeremie ducked too late to avoid the upcoming skateboard. The skateboard whacked Jeremie in the back of the head, making him hold his head from the pain. Odd was sent backwards, hitting his head on the door handle of the restaurant. The blonde haired boy was knocked out cold, slumping down to the ground unconsciously.

Chapter 6 – Questions

Odd awoke sleepily the next morning to the sound of faint beeping around him. He opened one eye, looked to his right, and saw a huge machine with a monitor on top, displaying blood pressure, heart rate, and other too-confusing information for Odd to read. The machine was equipped with a bunch of flashing lights and unmarked buttons. Glancing around the room, he saw one main color theme: white, white, and more white. Too much white for Odd.

As he sat up in bed, he attempted to stretch his arms. He felt a slight tug on his right wrist, and as he stared at his wrist, it clicked to him that he had an IV in his arm.

“. . . What the . . . ,” he questioned out loud. Laying back into his bed, he glanced at the bedside clock. It was 8:36 in the morning. The door to the white room opened slowly.

“Well, I see your awake, Mr. Della Robbia. Good to see you focusing this early, here is your medication you need,” the nurse said, handing Odd a pill and a glass of water. Odd swallowed the pill without questioning, and laid down back in bed, grasping his head. It ached so badly, as if he was hit with a baseball bat. “Some of your friends are here to see you; I’ll let them come in to see you now that you’re awake.” The nurse closed the door behind her. The door soon opened after, and four kids waltzed in.

“Hey buddy! Good to see ya!” Ulrich said, sitting down in one of the chairs near the bed.

“Hey Odd.” Yumi said, taking the chair next to Ulrich.

“Hi there pal! How ya feelin’ after last night?” Jeremie questioned, leaning on Ulrich’s chair. Aelita sat herself down on the back of Yumi’s armchair.

“Yeah, how are you feeling, Odd? How’s your head?” Aelita inquired.

Odd arose in his bed, wearing a confused look on his face. He raised one eyebrow slightly, took a sip of water, and began speaking. “Where am I? Who are you people? Who . . . Who am I? What happened?”

Ulrich and the rest of the gang paused for a moment, exchanging looks. “. . . Odd . . . ,” Ulrich began.

“What’s odd?” The blond haired boy interrupted. “Will someone please tell me what my name is? Who am I?”

“Please, listen,” Aelita began calmly, placing a hand on the bed. “Your name is Odd Della Robbia.”

“Wait, my name is Odd? That is odd. Hey! Odd Odd! I’m odd, meaning strange, and my name is Odd! Ha ha! That fits me perfectly!” Odd said with a chuckle before going on saying repetitively ‘Odd Odd! Odd Odd!’

“It’s good to see he has the same personality, he’s just as hyper and happy as always!” Yumi said with a smile.

 “Hey, so, now that I know who I am, odd Odd; who are you? What school do I go to? Where am I and why am I here?” Odd questioned inventively.

“Well, you’re in a hospital, because of a concussion.” Jeremie began.

“A concussion? Where did I get that from?”

“Yesterday, all of us and Sam, who isn’t here right now . . .” Jeremie was interrupted by the fast opening of the hospital room door.

“ODD! ODD! Are you okay!?! You scared the living crap out of me!” Sam said, rushing over to his bed, hugging Odd. Odd backed away, shooting an uncomfortable look at Sam.

“Who . . . are . . . you?” Odd asked slowly.

“Um, Sam, we have a slight problem. Odd lost his memory, so he doesn’t remember any of us or what happened or even who he is.” Yumi said, as Sam grew most unhappy and worried.

“WHAT? What do you mean he lost his memory? He doesn’t remember . . . anything? He doesn’t even remember . . . me?” Sam questioned, glancing around at the group.

“. . . No, Sam, he doesn’t remember anything. He’s lost in this world, not even knowing who we are. Before you came in, we were explaining his name.” Aelita said, as Odd broke out into laughter.

“OH! OH! I know my name! It’s Odd! It’s Odd Della . . . Della . . . What is my last name?”

“Della Robbia, Odd, Della Robbia.” Ulrich said with a hint of humor in his voice.

“Right! I’m Odd Della Robbia! Now, who are you?”

“This is Aelita, we call her the princess,” Jeremie said pointing to Aelita.

“I’m Ulrich, and I am your roommate and best friend.” Ulrich paused, then continued. “This is Yumi, who doesn’t live at the campus of our school, but lives in town.” Ulrich grasped Yumi’s hand down in-between the two armchairs where Odd wouldn’t see just yet.

“I’m Sam, and, well, I don’t know how to explain myself to you while you have no memory . . .” Sam said, blushing slightly, knowing that she shouldn’t quite yet say that they were going out before the accident.

“Um, and lastly, this is Jeremie. He’s the smartest of us, and also runs the Super . . .” Aelita’s voice trailed off, remembering that Sam was right there with them. Sam still hadn’t found out about the factory, even though Odd had said he was going to tell her later last night, after they went for dinner with the rest of the group.

“Ok. So, you’re Aelita, with the pink hair . . . You’re Ulrich, formerly my best friend and roommate . . . You’re Yumi . . . You’re Sam, who doesn’t know how to explain yourself . . . and you’re Jeremie, right, the smartest one?” Odd said, reciting what everyone had just said.

“Yes, precisely.” Jeremie said.

“Now, where do we go to school?”

“Well, we go to school at Kadic Junior High School, just a little ways away from this hospital,” Ulrich said, gesturing to the gang.

“What about you, Sam? Where do you go to school?”

“I go to a different school, but come to Kadic for all of their skateboarding competitions and sometimes I DJ dances. That’s how you and I met . . .” her voice trailed off.

“Whoa! Kadic has skateboarding competitions! That sounds cool! Do I skateboard?”

“Do you skateboard?! DO YOU SKATEBOARD?! Of course you skateboard; you and I usually are neck-and-neck at first and second place at competitions! You rock, Odd!” Sam said, taking out a picture of the last competition and showing it to Odd.

“Wow! Really! I’m that good! Sweet! Hey, one last question, what happened to cause this concussion?” Odd said, still staring at the picture.

“Oh? You really want to hear, Odd? It can be a long story!” Yumi questioned.

“Yeah! I want to know how I got a concussion!” Odd said, with a slightly sarcastic tone.

“Oh, ok, I’ll explain it.” Ulrich said. “We were all going out to dinner to a restaurant on our skateboards and scooters. When we got close to the restaurant, you and Sam had a backwards skating contest . . .” Ulrich took about five minutes longer to completely explain how Odd received his concussion.

“Oh. So, I hit my head on a doorknob, which knocked me out cold? That’s pathetic.” Odd said.

“It may be pathetic, but true. It scared the heck out of us. We had to get the restaurant to call an ambulance, and you were unresponsive. It really freaked us out, Odd. You know how to scare us!” Sam said.

The door of the hospital room opened slightly, as the nurse told the visitors that Odd needed his rest, and that they could come back later after lunch if they wanted to see him again.

The group all said their good-bye’s, and then left the hospital.

“I hate those horrible places. Even just being in a hospital freaks me out. I hate hospitals. I hate them, hate them, hate them!” Yumi said, shaking her head.

“It’s alright, they said that Odd will be out soon, depending on how his progress is with retrieving his memory,” Ulrich said, placing his hand around Yumi’s waste.

“Good. I don’t want to go to that horrid place many more times!”

Chapter 7 – Odd’s Release

“Lunch isn’t the same without Odd. He’s not stealing your food from under your nose. I miss him,” Sam said, picking at her food with her fork.

“Well, if he’s made progress, they said he could leave early.” Yumi said, trying to comfort Sam.

“I just hope he gets out of the hospital before the skateboarding contest, it’s this weekend. I’ll have no true competition without him!” Sam said taking the flier out of her pocket.

“Yeah, you would win without a doubt, but if Odd can still be in the competition, you should watch out, he’s been practicing real hard to try to win. After all, he was kind of mad that he lost to you by so many points in last month’s competition.” Jeremie replied. Sam wore a confused look upon her face.

“He got mad, because he lost by five style points? It’s a lousy five points below me, and he got mad?” Sam asked hesitantly.

“Well, yeah. You see, with Odd, if he lost by more than three points, he feels like he’s a total loser and sometimes, if it’s more than five, he doesn’t even want to compete. So, when he lost to you by five points, he was really upset. He went into the dorm room and stared at the flier, muttering to himself ‘I didn’t win. I can’t win. I’m a loser’. It took me a whole week to coax him into competing again.” Ulrich said, digging his spoon into his mashed potatoes.

“He shouldn’t feel that way, he’s a great skateboarder, and he knows it.” Sam placed her spoon on her untouched plate, and pushed it further away from her.

“Sam, aren’t you hungry? You have to eat something!” Aelita said, slightly concerned.

“No, Aelita, I’m fine. I just can’t seem to eat when my full attention is on Odd’s recovery. I’m going over to the hospital again. I need to see him, and figure out if he has had any success with his memory.” Sam rose, and so did Yumi.

“Well, if Sam’s going now, so am I, she shouldn’t go into that horrid place alone!” Yumi made a face at the thought of Sam in that horrible place alone.

“I’ll go too, Yumi.” Ulrich said, throwing out his Styrofoam dish.

“Count us in too, we’re done eating!” Aelita said, as her and Jeremie tossed out there plates.

“Ok, let’s go,” Sam said as the group exited the cafeteria and headed to the outside gate.

Once inside the hospital, Sam ran up to the front desk.

“We need to see Odd Della Robbia! We’re his friends! We need to see him! Can we go see him?” she questioned frantically. The rest of the group joined her.

“Calm down, Sam. Relax. He’s probably just as he was or better,” Aelita said, comfortingly.

“Excuse me, who is it that you wish to visit? Odd Della Robbia?” the nurse at the front desk asked.

“Yes, ma’am, that is correct,” Jeremie said.

“Okay, can you just sign your names on this guest list?” The nurse handed Jeremie a clipboard and pen. Jeremie signed his name, handed it to Aelita, and she signed her name. She passed it to Sam, who then passed it to Ulrich and Yumi. “Okay, you’re free to go see your friend in room 325, three floors up.”

The group headed to the elevator. Sam pushed the button, and the doors opened. The gang all stepped into the elevator, and Aelita pressed the ‘4th Floor’ button. As the elevator doors closed and the elevator began to rise. It was so cramped in the small elevator that there was almost no room to walk at all. Sam was babbling to Aelita about something related to the upcoming situation. Jeremie was deep in thought about how he could get into the Internet to defeat X.A.N.A. Ulrich and Yumi were squashed in a corner, and Ulrich had his arm around Yumi.

Ding! The elevator arrived on the fourth floor, and the doors opened. Sam ran out of the elevator and down the hall to room 325, anxious to see if Odd has his memory back.

“Odd! Odd!” Sam flung the door open to room 325.

“Hey . . . Sam, right?” Odd questioned.

“Yes, Odd; how are you?!” Sam glanced outside, and saw Aelita wink at her.

Thanks, guys, I need some time alone.

The rest of the group had all agreed to give Sam some time to be alone with Odd, and took their seats in the sitting area.

“Hey, Ulrich, why did you and Yumi hide holding hands before from Odd when we were in the hospital room?” Aelita asked. Yumi blushed slightly.

“Well, Yumi and I had agreed that that may be too much to have him try to grasp and remember at the moment. We just felt that we should wait a little while before having him learn about us, because he’ll be a different person for a little while until he regains full memory. As soon as he gets his full memory back, we’ll stop being secretive when he’s around, this just seems like the best thing to do at the moment, don’t you guys agree?” Ulrich glanced at Yumi, and she nodded slightly.

“If this is how you want to keep things, than I won’t object. Let’s just hope he gets his memory back soon, for all our sakes,” Jeremie said, taking out his laptop to work on plans to get into the Internet.

“Yes, I will not object, either. I will respect your wishes,” Aelita said. Sam

Meanwhile, in Odd’s hospital room . . .

“Oh, I’m fine. I still can’t remember anything else, just what you and the others have told me. The nurse said they could let me go soon, though. Maybe even tonight, if the principle agrees,” Odd said, as Sam’s face lit up with joy.

“Odd! That’s great news! Oh, I have to go get the rest of the group!” She stuck her head out the door, and waved to the group, signaling to come in now. The group stood up, and walked into the hospital room, curious of why Sam was so happy. Jeremie closed the door behind him, and took his seat on the back of Ulrich’s chair.

“Hey, Odd, how is your memory?” Ulrich asked.

“Ah, it’s about what it was before, but I have great news! The nurse said I might be able to leave in a little while, possibly even today, if the principle agrees!”

“That’s great! Hopefully, you’ll be back to your self anytime!” Ulrich exclaimed.

The door to the hospital room opened, and the nurse walked in. “Good news, we just spoke with the principle at your school and the doctor, and agreed that Mr. Della Robbia would be able to leave anytime now. Whenever you feel ready, Mr. Della Robbia, just let me know, and we’ll sign you out, and you’ll be free to go!”

Odd glanced around the room to all his friends. Sam’s face had an ear-to-ear smile. “I think I’m ready to go now, Nurse.”

“Ok, if you meet me in the sitting room, we can sign you out.” The nurse exited the room and Odd began to make sure he had all his belongings.

“Did I forget anything, guys?” Odd asked as he checked his pockets and the bedside table.

“I don’t think so, so let’s get out of this place! You know how I hate hospitals!” Yumi said, walking towards the door. The rest of the group followed, and Ulrich placed his arm around Yumi as they walked out of the door. Yumi cleared her throat as a signal, glanced at Ulrich, and nodded her head back towards Odd. Ulrich whispered, “right, I forgot,” and removed his hand. Aelita and Jeremie just glanced at each other, and Aelita began shaking her head slightly.

They won’t be able to not show any affection towards each other for long. Odd will probably almost constantly be around until he gets his memory back, and if I know Ulrich and Yumi as well as I think I do, then there’s no way that they can completely stop all affection towards each other, no way in the world. Aelita thought, as she walked towards the reception desk in the waiting room.

“Okay . . . sign here on the ‘X.’” The nurse handed Odd a clipboard and a pen. He put his signature on the line below the doctor’s signature, and then handed it back to the nurse.

“Okay, thanks. Let’s go, guys.” He led the way to the elevator, and the rest of the group followed. The elevator dinged, the doors opened, and the group entered. This time, with six people in it, it was very cramped.

“I can’t stand these cramped elevators. I’m just glad to be almost out of this horrid place.” Yumi said, as Ulrich placed his hand around Yumi’s waste, making sure that it was hidden from Odd’s view.

“Well, the best thing is that Odd is finally out of that hospital! Now he can participate in the skateboarding competition!” Sam pulled the flier out of her pocket, and put it in front of Odd’s face. He had to move his head backward slightly to be able to focus on the words.

“Hey, yeah! That would be great! Could we practice sometime, Sam? I can’t remember any of the tricks, but I’m sure you’d be a great teacher!”

The elevator door made a ding noise, and opened. The group walked to the door of the hospital, and Yumi sighed in relief.

“Finally, we’re out of that place.” She glanced back at the hospital, and shuttered. “I -”

“Hate hospitals,” the rest of the group chorused together.

“Well I do!” The group laughed.

“Well, Yumi, you won’t have to go into another one for a while, hopefully,” Ulrich said, looking into Yumi’s eyes. He desperately wanted to kiss her, but dared not to, in fear that Odd would see. They still didn’t want him to know about their relationship.

Chapter 8 – The New Odd

Ulrich and Odd were both in deep sleeps. It was almost 6:00 in the morning. Silence was all around, except for a few birds chirping outside the window. Suddenly, the sound of an alarm clock broke the silence. A random tune sang out from the alarm clock speakers.

Odd, surprisingly, almost literally jumped out of bed. Ulrich sat up groggily, and rubbed his eyes. Odd began making his bed, and straightening out his pillows.

“Odd...?” Ulrich asked, yawning after.

“Hey buddy! Ready for another day? This is the first normal day I’ll experience since I lost my memory!” Odd said, strangely happy.

“Are . . . are . . . are you actually excited for the day?! Today’s nothing special!” Ulrich questioned, standing up.

“Yeah! I can’t wait for just a normal day! My life has been chaotic soooooo much lately!” Odd went to the dresser and stepped back in awe. “Man, this is so messy!” He began organizing the disaster that was his dresser. Ulrich blinked in shock.

“Odd? Are you actually cleaning?” Odd folded a pair of pants and placed them neatly in one of the drawers.

“Yeah! This dresser is so messy! I need to do some serious re-organizing later.”

Odd? Using the words “need to” and “serious re-organization” in the same sentence? Not normal! Ulrich thought, shaking his head, and walked to his own dresser. He pulled out his Kadic sweatshirt, a brown shirt, jeans, and got dressed. Odd folded three other pairs of pants, and five shirts, before getting dressed himself.

Odd took one last look at his side of the room, and then shook his head.

“What, Odd? What’s wrong?” Ulrich questioned, as he joined Odd in staring at his side of the room.

“I was such a messy person! Look, I mean, I’ve got shoes thrown under my bed, clothes spewing out of the drawers in the dresser, and papers everywhere! How could I live in such a pig sty?”

Ulrich shook his head with disbelief. He whished he just got what Odd said either on camera or on a tape recorder, because he guaranteed that if Odd ever got his memory back, that he would never hear those words again.

“Oh, Odd. This room has seen messier days.” Ulrich glanced at Odd, and they both started laughing. The duo walked out of the dorm, and headed towards Jeremie’s dorm before breakfast.

Breakfast was quite the opposite of what it usually is. Sissi, Herve, and Nicholas were not attending breakfast, for unknown reasons. Rumors had it that Sissi was furious that Odd was let out of the hospital so early. She apparently was begging her father to send Odd back to the hospital.

In the end of the line, he took his tray, and waited patiently for the line to start moving. Once he got to where Rosa was serving the food, he handed Rosa his tray. Rosa, thinking that Odd was going to be his usual self with his usual appetite, gave him five large pancakes. Odd raised one eyebrow in confusion.

“Why so many? Everyone else got three; I would feel bad taking more!” Rosa stepped back in confusion. “Plus, I’m not that hungry!” he added.

“What is up with you this morning, Odd? Usually you’re asking for about seven pancakes!” Rosa glanced at Ulrich and the group.

“Seven! Seven pancakes?!” Odd couldn’t believe what he just heard. “How can anyone eat that much?”

“You did!” the group chorused together.

Odd paused, and looked at all the food on his plate. He looked up at Rosa, who was still dumbfounded by Odd’s lack in appetite. “Um, Mrs. Lunch-lady?”

“Rosa, call me Rosa, Odd.”

“Okay, Rosa. I don’t need all this food, I think I’ll have two pancakes and a scoop of scrambled eggs, please.” He gestured to the food.

“Okay,” she replied, taking off five of the pancakes and plopping on a scoop of scrambled eggs. Odd smiled, and paid for his food, waiting for the others. The rest of the gang got their food, paid, and everyone walked to the table.

“I still can’t believe I ate so much food!” Odd said, looking at his food and everyone else’s.

“Odd, you wouldn’t eat just your food, either!” Sam said with a chuckle.

“What? What do you mean, Sam?”

“You would be like a vulture and take three-quarters of everyone else’s food, and eat it all. Then, you would sneak food back into the dorm to snack on later!”

Odd sat dumbfounded next to Sam. He stared into her eyes, unable to grasp what he wanted to say. He finally figured out what exactly he wanted to say, “I . . . I would take food away from your plate? Really? You’ve got to be kidding me! It’s so rude!”

The group sat shocked. Hearing Odd use the word ‘rude’ in that context of the sentence was unheard of.

“Yeah, you would take our food. It wasn’t so rude; we all got so used to it. Personally, I thought it was really cute.” She smiled, and Odd blushed a deep pink color.

“Wow, I was such a pig!” Odd took one of his napkins, and placed it on his lap. The group sat in silence. Odd doused his pancakes with sticky syrup, and took a bite. Realizing that he had a little bit of syrup on his mouth, he took his other napkin and wiped it off of his mouth. The group almost dropped their forks because they were so shocked.

Realizing that the group was staring at Odd while in mid-bite, he put down his fork. “Wha . . . What’s wrong, guys? Do I have more syrup on my face?” He grabbed his napkin and began wiping all around his mouth. Sam reached her hand up, and pulled his hand down onto the table.

“No, we just never see you use a napkin before! Not with a meal, anyway!” Ulrich said.

“Yeah, you would just lick the syrup away!” Sam said, as Odd sat silently.

“I would? That’s so uncivilized!” Jeremie almost fell of his chair upon hearing Odd use such a big word. “What?” The group erupted with laughter.

“You’re so different now! You’re almost not Odd!” Sam said.

Chapter 9 – Discoveries

Yumi and Ulrich were trying so hard to try to keep their relationship a secret from Odd for as long as possible. It was unbearable hard, though. Ulrich desperately wanted to be able to act as he felt around Yumi, and Yumi felt the same way about being around Ulrich. But, they stuck to their agreement, and decided that until Odd got his memory back, they would act as just friends around him.

Odd had gone out to explore more about Kadic campus, which left Ulrich alone in his dorm for an estimated time of two hours before Odd would return. He lied on his bed, and stared at the ceiling for a moment. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Yumi’s number.

Ishiyama Household:

Yumi sat on her bed, silently reading a novel. Moments later, her phone began emitting a Japanese style ring tone on her nightstand. Slightly startled, she placed her book facedown, and looked at the Caller ID.

Realizing it was Ulrich, she picked it up cheerfully. “Hey, Ulrich.”

“Hey Yumi. Listen, Odd went out exploring more about the campus, so he should be gone for about two hours, I’m guessing. So, I was wondering . . . Since we haven’t really been able to be together around Odd – which is almost all day long – do you want to come over to my dorm and hang out for a while before our blonde friend comes back?”

Yumi paused, smiling to herself. “Why’d ya ask? You know I can’t EVER pass up a chance to see you! I’ll be there in like ten minutes. Bye, Ulrich!”

“See you, Yumi.”

Yumi hung up her phone, and stuffed it in her pocket. She raced down the stairs, told her mom that she was going to hang with the group, and left. She fast-walked down the street, wearing a smile from ear to ear.

She stopped, unlatched the Kadic gate, and then walked onto the grass. Kids were out, practicing soccer, chatting with friends, and chasing each other. Yumi smiled, and continued walking to the dorm building. She couldn’t wait. Her heart raced with the thought of being with Ulrich again, and being able to show how she really feels. Having a friend who lost their memory isn’t good, especially when you promise that you will keep you relationship with his best friend as low-profile as possible.

She jogged up the stairs hurriedly to Ulrich’s room. She knocked twice, before the door opened. The chocolate haired boy stood at the door, smiling. “Yumi, what a surprise to see you!” he said sarcastically.

“Well, I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I’d stop by.” Her mouth formed a smile from ear to ear, continuing the sarcasm. Ulrich motioned for her to come in, and she curtsied dramatically. She stepped in, and he closed the door behind her. Yumi stood in the middle of the floor when Ulrich spun around, gazing at her.

My God, she looks beautiful. She always has, he thought. I’m glad to be able to call her mine, even when that doesn’t apply in the current situation with the memory loss of our dear best friend, Odd.

Ulrich walked closer to Yumi, put one hand on her arm, and another on her waste. He pulled her gently closer to him, and their lips met. She deepened the kiss, placing one hand on his head. She loved the feeling of his clean hair through her fingers.

“I love you, Yumi,” he whispered into her ear, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. Cherry-raspberry, her favorite, and also his. He loved how her hair smelt, so fruity.

Yumi smiled, placing a light kiss on his lips. “I love you too, Ulrich. With all my heart.” He wrapped his arms around her, and embraced her in a tight hug. Yumi placed her hands around Ulrich, and he moved his to her hips. He gazed into her dreamy, optimistic eyes. He knew that he could see that she was very happy that they were finally able to be together again, without having to hide their feelings.

“Ulrich?” she questioned.

“Yes, Yumi?” He placed another light kiss on her lips. She loved how his lips felt on hers, soft, delicate, tender, and perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect. He sat down his bed, and patted the bed next to her, motioning for her to sit. She listened, and sat down next to him, placing her hair behind her ear.

“I really missed not being able to express myself around you the past few days, ever since Odd lost his memory. Ever since we promised to keep our relationship a secret from him until he gets his memory back. I really missed it, I missed you.”

“Yumi, I’ve missed you a lot. More than you can believe. I’ve had so many wacky dreams about you lately, about Odd never getting his memory back, about him never finding out, about us not sharing how we truly feel. Dreams where we’ve ended up alone at the end, because we kept our promise, dreams where we’ve fallen out of love, and dating other people.”

“Ulrich, I’ll never stop caring about you, I love you. Odd will regain his memory, and, somewhat unfortunately, become himself again. He’ll go back to the same food-lovin’, joke-lovin’ prankster that he was before the accident. He’ll remember our relationship, and we won’t have to hide it anymore. Don’t worry about the dreams, their just screwing with you head. The one thing that you need to promise me is to keep this promise, and don’t let it interfere with our relationship. Remember, I love you.”

“I will. I promise. I love you too, Yumes. He placed his right hand on her head again, and pulled her up onto his lap. She sat as if she was on a chair, and he leaned in to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his waste, and he deepened the kiss.

A few moments later, Yumi broke off the kiss, breathing deeply, due to lack of oxygen. She smiled, and Ulrich looked slightly confused, staring at her with a puzzled face. He frowned slightly, taking offense to the fact that Yumi had broken off the kiss.

“Lack of oxygen,” she said, laughing. He smiled slightly. “A body – oxygen NO SURVIVAL!” she said, as if reading a science equation.

“Science was not one of my stronger points!” he said, sarcastically.

Yumi moved closer to Ulrich on the bed, practically on his lap. A brilliant idea popped into her head. “Ulrich, since Odd won’t be back for a while, want to go catch a movie or something? I think there are some good movies out in the theater downtown!”

“Great idea, Yumi.” He smiled, stood up, and opened the door, gesturing for her to go out first. She curtsied humorously, and walked out, taking his hand in hers. Ulrich locked the door, and they pondered what movie to see when they walked out of Kadic campus.

“I think ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ is playing again, we could see that, or we could see what other movies are playing when we get there.” Yumi stated.

“Okay, let’s see what is playing when we get there.”

The rest of the walk to the movie theater was quiet for the most part. Yumi and Ulrich talked about how much they desperately wanted to have Odd get his memory back, for two reasons.

One, they missed their old prankster friend as his true self, and two, they were starting to get annoyed at the fact that they had to hide their feelings around Odd. They just had a feeling that he wouldn’t take it the right way.

Yumi and Ulrich gazed at the list of movies playing posted on the wall of the theater. “Hmm,” Yumi said with a sigh. “Pirates of the Caribbean 2 is playing again, we could see that, or . . .” She stared at the list for a few more seconds.

“Or we could see something like Click, or Spider Man 3, I see that came out recently.” Yumi pondered these choices for a moment.

“Hmm, Spider Man 3 is supposed to be a good movie, how about we watch that?”

“Okay, lets watch that,” he said, walking over to the ticket booth. “Two tickets for Spider Man 3, please.” Ulrich said to the worker behind the glass.

The worker typed something into her computer, and the printed out the tickets on command. “Okay, that will be $7.50 total for the matinee tickets.” Yumi began to remove four ones from her pocket, and Ulrich pushed her hand down gently as she raised it to put her money on the stand. Ulrich pulled a crisp, new ten-dollar bill out of his wallet, smiled at Yumi, and slid through the slot at the stand.

“I’ll pay, Yumi,” he whispered. The worker slid the two tickets through the slot in return for the money. Ulrich said a quick “thanks” before him and Yumi proceeded through the big glass doors into the main room of the movie theater. It was very large. There was a large food-service area in the middle, emitting the many aromas of a theater. Yumi breathed in deeply, taking in the smell of freshly buttered popcorn, many types of candy, the faint smell of soda, and extra-cheesy nachos. There were various posters on the walls and ceiling about the upcoming movies. In one corner, there were tons of kids gathered around countless video games, anywhere from older Pac Man style games, to motorcycle chase games, to even a “Duo DDR Session” area laid out.

Ulrich grasped Yumi’s hand, and led her gently over to the food-service area. Looking at the menu for a moment, he then began to order. “One medium, extra buttered popcorn, and two medium sodas, one Sprite, and . . .” He turned to Yumi, “and what type of soda do you want, Yumi?”

Pondering the soda choice, she answered quietly, “Hmm, I’ll have a Sprite too, please.” The worker behind the counter nodded, and went to go make the drinks. Soon after, another worker placed the medium popcorn on the counter, and the drinks were handed to Ulrich and Yumi.

“Anything else?” the worker asked. Ulrich and Yumi peered through the transparent glass for a moment, looking at all the different types of candy.

“Yeah, one M&M bag, a Snickers bar, and . . . a SourPatch Kids bag, and a Three Musketeers bar, right Yumi?”

“Yep, that’s it.” Ulrich’s grip tightened slightly on her hand. He knew that Yumi loved SourPatch kids, so he decided to order them for her, even though lately she’s been trying to stay away from them from the amount of sugar.

The worker behind the counter opened up the sliding door under the counter, and removed the candy, placing them on the counter. Plugging a few numbers into the computer, he calculated the total price. “That will be $12.50 total, please.” Yumi attempted to hand a five dollar bill and a one to the cashier, but Ulrich beat her to it, handing the cashier the appropriate amount of money. He smiled, and she just shoved a few pieces of popcorn in his face, as they headed off towards the theater.

Taking their seats, the movie’s previews began. After what seemed like endless minutes, the previews ended with one of a creepy leprechaun trying to sell cars to you, and Spider Man 3 began.

Ulrich and Yumi tossed their trash into the container at the end of the long hallway, and exited the theater. The movie was great, although Yumi wasn’t very impressed with the ending.

Turning down the sidewalk, Ulrich placed his hand around Yumi’s waste, and they continued talking about how much they can’t stand having to hide their feelings. Looking at their watches, they realized that they had only a short time before they expected Odd to be back at the dorm, so they decided to take the short way through the park.

Meanwhile . . .

Odd was so engulfed in exploring, that he decided to explore the park a little more. He hadn’t really been in the park since the accident, so he was curious. He wandered in and out of pathways, trees, and rock clusters. What he didn’t know, was he was right about to discover something unintentionally.

Ulrich and Yumi walked along the cobblestone path, Ulrich turned Yumi to face him. He stared into her eyes, as she stared deeply into his chocolate brown eyes. He smiled, and moved away a stray strand of hair out of her face. He gave in to his temptations, thinking that they were alone together and kissed Yumi gently. She took the pleasure into deepening the kiss, just as Odd rounded the corner.

Slightly amazed and confused, he stopped dead in his tracks. Sensing that he shouldn’t see what he just did, he turned and ran back to the dorm. Ulrich and Yumi broke off the kiss, hearing the leaves russtle not too far away, a clue that someone was there, or had been. Fearing the truth that it was Odd, and then took off in curiosity to figure out if it was him.

Oh shoot. No, not now. Please tell me that wasn’t our blonde haired friend. Please.

Chapter 10 – Listening In

Odd was laying on his bed, tossing a bright orange bouncy ball in the air, with a very puzzled expression. Odd was very confused, he wasn’t sure whether he should be happy, mad, angry, alarmed, alarmed, or what. He was also not sure why Ulrich and Yumi would keep this from him, or how long they had been together.

Betrayal. That word seemed to stay in his pointy little blond head. Betrayal.

He wasn’t sure exactly why he should feel betrayal, he just did. He was starting to compile all his feelings, when two sharp, quick knocks broke the silence. Odd sighed, predicting it was Ulrich. “Come in, whoever it is,” he said, as if he couldn’t care less.

With his predictions being right, a brown haired-chocolate eyed thirteen-year-old stepped in the doorway, holding out one finger in the hall, as a “wait, don’t follow yet” signal to his pin-straight black haired friend outside.

Taking the signal, Yumi waited in the hall, and leaned against one of the walls. Ulrich walked farther into the dorm, closing the door behind him. Sitting himself on the bed, he smiled slightly. Odd acted as if he didn’t see, and continued tossing the ball in the air.

Odd, slightly annoyed by the silence, finally spoke. “How long?” he questioned.

Ulrich turned up one corner of his mouth, confused. “How long for what?”

“That you and Yumi’s been going out.” Ulrich shifted uncomfortably on his bed. Yumi moved closer to the door in the hall, pressing her ear against the wall, trying to hear.

“Hmm . . . about a month now?” His words were soft, quiet, and awkward.

“Oh.” That was it, one small syllable in one, small word. A silence hung around the room, pestering the occupants. Yumi ventured closer to the door, placing her ear on the cold wood. She was slightly curious about the silence.

As if a year passed, Odd got annoyed once again of the silence. “Are you happy?”

“Happy about what? Just in general, with Yumi, or with you seeing us?”

“Number two, and three.”

“Yes, I am happy with Yumi, but I’m sorry about you seeing us . . .”

“What I don’t understand is you and her,” he began. Ulrich rolled his eyes slightly, fearing what he expected to come up next. Yumi shifted outside the door, and switched listening ears. “I mean, you’re a soccer star, – like the best in our grade – and she’s like, a Goth. I just don’t see how you are going out. A soccer star and a Goth, it’s not a good match, buddy. Not a good match at all.”

“Odd, for one, Yumi’s not a Goth, she just likes black. It’s part of her heritage. Two, Yumi and I care about each other, we really do. If you were really my buddy, you’d accept that.” Yumi bit her lip slightly, afraid herself with where this was going.

“Ulrich, seriously. A superstar soccer player like you deserves someone . . . I don’t know, better. Like that Sissi girl, she seems nice. Yumi . . . she’s just not your type. Plus, I saw that black haired kid in her grade staring at her the other day. He wouldn’t take his eyes off of her, and I say he’d be a better fit for her; he seems to like what she likes.”

The two voices got quieter during the silence. Yumi no longer could hear what they were saying very well. Once in a while, she could pick up a word or two, but not enough to form logical sentences.

Ulrich came to Yumi’s defense, not knowing what she could be thinking, even if she couldn’t hear. “William is not her type, she hates him. You know what, why do you even care? Me and Yumi are happy, that’s what matters, don’t even think about messing us up. The real Odd wouldn’t do that, he’s happy for me and Yumi, and I hope that the new Odd can accept that too.” Ulrich was furious. Odd, frankly, was slightly scared.

“I – I – all I’m saying is that William has his eyes glued on Yumi non-stop when she’s around, and that he seems to be tough competition. He seems to like the same things that Yumi does, take for example, her favorite color. Black. She wears black every day, so does he. Also, think about age wise. How many boys really go out with older girls? It’s usually the other way around, if anything. Think about it, Ulrich, you’re a whole grade below her, a whole year. She’s in ninth grade, you’re in eighth. William is in her grade, likes the same things as her, and never stops looking at her. He’s a better match for Yumi, Ulrich. If you could see that, it would really make your life better.”

Ulrich felt anger, hatred, and sorrow fill up in his veins. His head raced with questions.

What if Odd is right? What if Yumi and I really aren’t made for each other? What if William is a better match for Yumi? No, no, Ulrich. Calm down. Think about it, Odd really isn’t himself, he’s just overwhelmed right now. Yumi and I are really happy together, we care about each other. Don’t let Odd’s thoughts get to me, I can’t. It would ruin me and Yumi both, not to mention confuse the others severely.

As if not already bad, Odd commented once more. “Buddy, she’s better off with William, not you. Too many differences, it’ll never work between you two.”

This pushed Ulrich over the edge. As if he was standing on top of a mountain of emotions, he cracked, falling down. “No! I won’t let you break us apart, Odd!”

With that said, he began stomping to the door. Upon hearing the loud footsteps approaching, Yumi moved her ear away from the door, and pressed herself against the wall to avoid the opening door. Ulrich stepped out, red faced with anger. He turned to Yumi, slammed the door, and took her hand, leading her away from the dorm door.

“Where are we going?” she questioned, as Ulrich lead her down the stairs.

“Anywhere but here. How about the park? We never spent that much time in the park earlier, and I need a place to cool down. That sound okay?” he questioned, opening the door to the outside world, holding it so that Yumi could exit.

“Okay, it sounds wonderful. What happened in there, anyway Ulrich?” she questioned, avoiding his eyes, unsure why though.

“Ah, Odd was really upset, and he said all of this crap that didn’t make sense at all. He tried to get me on his side, and away from you.” Ulrich said, as they crossed the soccer field.

“I hope he gets his memory back soon, otherwise he might try to break us up.” Yumi’s grip tightened on Ulrich’s hand.

“He can try, but he won’t succeed. I won’t let him; I care too much about you.”

“Me too, Ulrich. He can try as hard as possible, but he won’t succeed.”

God, I hope not. Odd does have a tendency to be persuasive, though. Ulrich thought as he led Yumi over to a stone bench near the pond.

Chapter 11 – A Sinister Plan Starts To Develop

I’ll show him. He will find out sooner or later that Yumi isn’t right for him. He’ll see soon enough, they all will.

The blond haired boy reached for his cell phone, and took a paper out of his pocket. Dialing the number, he waited for it to start ringing on the other end.

“Hello?” a cold voice said.

“William? It’s Odd.”

Ulrich and Yumi were watching the ducks eat near the pond when some friends stopped by.

A pink haired girl had her arm wrapped around a blond haired guy with his glasses resting on the bridge of his nose. A girl of medium height and dark hair was on the right of the pink haired girl.

“Hey Aelita, Sam, Jeremie,” Yumi said, waving at the group.

“Hey guys,” Ulrich said.

“Where’s Odd? Anyone know?” Sam questioned.

“Yeah him and I just had a nice fight in our dorm, last time I knew, he was there,” Ulrich said, looking at Yumi, who frowned sligthly. She hates to see friends fight.

Although, this time, she saw a reason to fight.

“You and Odd had a fight? What about?” Sam questioned.

“He tried to tell me that I shouldn’t go out with Yumi.”

“Ooh, harsh, that’s not like Odd,” Aelita commented.

“But it’s not the Odd we know, it’s a different Odd, an odd Odd,” Yumi added, resting her head on Ulrich’s shoulder.

“And he also said that he thinks I should break up with Yumi, let William date her, and I myself should go out with . . . with . . .”

“Who?!?” Sam asked anxiously. Yumi took her head off of Ulrich’s shoulder, and felt his hand slide around her waist.

 Who knew that he could be so good at acting dramatically?

“He didn’t!” Sam commented. Jeremie’s mouth hung open after the bratty principal’s daughter’s name was mentioned.

“Oh but he did!” Yumi said.

Aelita gasped dramatically. “Say it isn’t so!?!”

“Oh it is so!” Yumi said.

The three girls looked at each other and burst out laughing. Ulrich shook his head, and then looked at the girls who were still laughing.

“Ahh, yeah, but it really isn’t that funny,” Yumi said.

The girls, once again, started laughing. “Well, it’s sorta funny.”

“Yup.”

Jeremie sat down on the other end of the bench, as Sam and Aelita were happy standing. He typed along on his laptop, of course, he brings it everywhere.

“It’s seriously a problem though, guys,” Ulrich said, honestly concerned.

“What do you mean? I mean, Odd wouldn’t go trying to break you two apart or anything,” Sam said, motioning to the couple on the bench.

“Well, our friend Odd the Jokester wouldn’t, but the New Odd might, and that’s what I’m afraid he’ll try to do.”

“What did he exactly say that makes you think that?” Aelita sounded like a teacher giving an exam question.

“He said that William was a better match for Yumi, because he likes the color black and so does she, and he’s in the same grade, and all this other crap that was totally crazy.”

“Ugh. Horrible, horrible, horrible. You and William? Eck. It makes me want to whack Odd with a skateboard. But I can’t, that hurts, trust me.” Aelita and Yumi chuckled at Sam’s comment.

“Yeah, and worst of all, he thinks I should date her.” Ulrich shuddered at the thought of Sissi’s name.

“Eck, even worse.”

“Yeah and when I say it I want to rinse my mouth out with soap.”

“Eww, don’t do that, then Yumi has to taste hints of soap when you two kiss,” Sam said, smiling as she watched Yumi blush a shade of rose, and Ulrich turn slightly pink.

“Uh . . . well . . .” Ulrich stammered.

“It’s true!” Sam said.

“Yeah, and I don’t like the taste of soap,” Yumi added, looking at Ulrich.

Ulrich smiled and helped Yumi onto his lap and into a tight hug, as she smiled back. He placed a gentle tender kiss on her delicate lips, as Yumi’s tongue begged for more. Ulrich smirked slightly, and deepened the kiss to a more passionate level as an answer. Yumi could feel Ulrich’s hand playing with her soft hair as she answered by running her fingers in his chocolate hair.

Jeremie, who had been typing away at his computer, looked up at the couple who were getting very passionate. Startled, he froze, staring awkwardly at his friends at the end of the bench.

“Umm, I think we should leave you two alone now,” Sam said, tugging on Aelita’s sleeve slightly. Aelita nodded, and turned around to walk in the other direction. Noticing that Jeremie was still in a frozen state, Aelita walked over to him and pulled the back of his shirt neck to get his attention.

“Jer, let’s leave them alone now, c’mon,” Aelita told him as the blond boy stood up, placing his laptop in his backpack. Aelita and Sam had already strolled ahead of Jeremie, who was lagging behind, still startled at what he saw.

“Oh my God were they . . . frenching?” Aelita asked Sam as they walked away.

“Yeah, definitely,” Sam relied.

“Odd? Odd Della-Robbia?” William’s chilling voice spoke into the cell phone.

“Yes. You hate Ulrich dating Yumi, am I correct?” Odd questioned William, who was confused.

“Yes, I can’t stand to see them together. Why?”

“I can’t stand to see them together as well.”

“What do you mean?” William asked in suspicion.

“I told you, I can’t stand to see Ulrich dating Yumi. They’re not meant to be together, it’s just wrong.”

“I agree.”

“Would you be willing to help me break them apart?” Odd questioned evilly.

“Heck yes! I’ve been planning something since they first started dating but didn’t come up with a plan good enough to work.”

“Want to put our ideas together?” Odd said, smirking devilishly.

“Sure, meet me at my dorm now, if you can.”

“Of course. See ya in a second.” Odd hung up his cell phone and locked his dorm door, closing it behind him. He headed down the boy’s floor corridor a little before coming to William’s dorm. He was about to knock, as William opened the door.

“Hey William,” Odd said as if they were friends. Who knows, they might be friends later.

“Let’s start plotting our evil genius plan.” Odd stepped into the dorm and took a seat at the desk, where there were papers strewn about with numerous plans sketched about them.

“What have you got for ideas?” Odd questioned, looking at the designs.

“Not much that seems to be a good plan,” William said, gesturing to the various cross-outs and revisions on the papers.

“Well, I think that if we frame Ulrich for doing something he didn’t do, if it was planned just right, then we should be able to get Yumi mad enough that she’ll dump him fast.”

“I like how you think, Odd. What do you have in mind?”

“Well, I think our key weapon here is Sissi.”

“I know where you’re going with this, and I like it.”

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Jeremie, Aelita, and Sam walked back to Aelita and Sam’s dorm, where Aelita and Sam talked about what they had seen in the park. Jeremie, still startled, merely sat at the computer and typed at an abnormally slow speed, and with one finger more or less. Who knows when his mind will be normal again, that seemed to scare him to some extent.

“Oh my God did you see them???” Sam said to Aelita.

“Yeah! Can you believe it?”

“Yes! Did you see them? It was so cute!”

“I know; it made me stare in awe!”

“And it made Jeremie stare with disbelief!”

“What about me?” Jeremie suddenly interjected.

“Nothing, we were just saying how you were frozen in the park,” Aelita reassured him.

“Oh, yeah, I was not all there at that time. I plan on not seeing that again soon, even if it means ignoring them.”

“You might have to, I don’t see them letting up at all for a while, if ever,” Sam said.

“Oh, okay, yeah, way too much here, I am leaving this conversation now! This is not what I want to spend my time doing, talking about Ulrich and Yumi and their relationship. I have bigger things to deal with!”

“Okay, Jer. Bye!” Aelita said, turning back to Sam. The two girls were deep into conversation within seconds.