On a warm Saturday afternoon, Odd and Ulrich are hanging out near the vending machines with coffees in their hands. Suddenly, Ulrich turns to Odd.

"Odd, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah, sure, what is it?" Odd replied.

"Why do you chase girls around so much? I'll bet there isn't a single girl in our year that you haven't dated at some point."

"That's not true", Odd replied indignantly. "There's Aelita…"

"Well yeah, but she's meant to be your cousin, so she doesn't count."

"Fine, there's also Sissi, and… er…"

"See, I told you!" Ulrich said triumphantly. "Out of fifty or so girls in our year, you've been with all bar two of them. And you know something, I don't think it's because you were in love with forty-odd different girls either…"

Odd raised his eyebrow, and peered at Ulrich. "What are you implying?"

"Odd, you really couldn't be making it any more obvious", Ulrich said. "I mean, come on. Look at your clothes."

"Yeah, what about them?"

"Well, purple and pink aren't exactly the manliest colours in the world, are they?" Ulrich smirked, and Odd was becoming increasingly frustrated.

"Stop being ridiculous! Get to the point, already!"

"Well, if you want to know what I think, I don't buy that you were interested in all those girls you went out with. As a matter of fact, I don't think you were interested in ANY of them!"

Odd stared at Ulrich as the realisation sank in, and then his fists clenched. "How dare you even suggest such a thing, you…"

"Hey guys". Odd looked up – Jeremie had called them. He was walking towards the vending machines with Aelita and Yumi. "Odd, is everything OK?" he asked. "You look a little tense"

Odd was blushing profusely, but soon managed to shake it off. "Yeah, everything's fine"

"You don't look fine", Yumi said. "I don't think I've seen you this sour in months"

"Oh, well…" Odd quickly tried to think up something on the spot. "We had this geography test this morning, and I'm pretty sure I flunked it."

"But we didn't have a geography test this morning", Aelita pointed out.

"Oh…" Odd's embarrassment was accentuated further. "Er…"

"Don't bother, guys", Jeremie said. "Knowing him, it's probably just girl trouble."

"Oh yeah, he has trouble with girls, alright", Ulrich said slyly.

Odd felt that he could hardly bear it any longer when suddenly Sissi appeared in the distance.

"Hey, Ulrich!" Sissi shouted.

"Oh, that's just what we needed, isn't it?" Yumi said sarcastically. "A day just isn't complete without Sissi"

"You got that right!" Sissi replied. She was now standing next to the group. "Ulrich, my daddy said that it was OK for us to go to the cinema tonight – I've booked us tickets already!"

"What film is it?" Aelita asked.

"That's none of your business!" Sissi remarked rudely. "This is a date between me and Ulrich, no one else."

Whilst Sissi was berating the rest of the gang and trying aimlessly to persuade Ulrich to go to the movies with her, Odd was given time to think over what Ulrich had said to him. Suddenly, an idea entered his head.

"Psst. Ulrich" Odd whispered, being careful to make sure Sissi didn't hear him. "I know a great way to get Sissi off your back for good. Wanna try it?"

"Go for it", Ulrich responded. "Anything's got to be better than this?"

"What are you two babbling about?" Sissi had noticed that the two are conversing.

"Well, Sissi", Odd began. "As much as Ulrich would love to go out with you tonight, I'm afraid he can't make it."

"And why might that be, huh?"

"He has some really important things to do"

"Is that so?" Sissi turned to Ulrich. Odd nudged him slightly. "Er, yeah, really important things", he said.

"What sort of important things are you talking about?" Sissi was getting agitated.

"Things like… this!" Immediately, Odd clasped Ulrich's head and began to kiss him passionately on the lips. Odd's tongue wove down Ulrich's mouth, and stroked his teeth. Ulrich was so shocked by the situation that he was unable to pull himself away. Aelita, Jeremie, Yumi and Sissi all stood dumbfounded, staring at the two of them in their embrace. Finally, Odd pulled away.

"That's why", he said, smiling. For a long while, everyone was still overcome by shock. Eventually, Sissi turned away without another word.

"Oh my gosh, Tamiya, please tell me you got a photo of that!"

The gang turned to their right, and saw that Milly and Tamiya were standing a few feet away, the latter holding a camera in her hands.

"You bet I did, Milly! This is the scoop of the century!" The two of them ran off. Jeremie and Aelita walked away, but Yumi stayed behind, glaring at Ulrich.

"How could you do this to me?" Yumi cried.

"Huh?"

"All this time I thought you liked me! And I liked you! But clearly it was all a lie!"

"Yumi, please, calm down. It's not what it looks like!"

Yumi shook with rage, and slapped him hard across the face. Odd put his hand on Ulrich's shoulder.

"Well Ulrich, at least Sissi won't bother you anymore!"

Ulrich turned his face towards Odd, his cheek now bright-red. "Odd, how could you do this? Not only will I soon be the laughing stock of the whole school, but now Yumi hates me!"

"Listen, Ulrich, I'll go and explain to the others that it was all my fault, and that it wasn't what it looks like. I just wanted you to know what it feels like to have others question your sexuality."

Ulrich smiled. "OK, fair enough. I was a bit of a jerk to you. But can we please go and talk to Yumi first?"

"Sure, let's go" The two of them set off for the Ishiyama residence.

"But there is one small thing that bothers me", Ulrich said. "When you kissed me, you seemed to be rather… into it, you know?"

"Well yeah. You are pretty hot, after all."

"But that means my suspicions were right all along!" Ulrich cried.

"Not really", Odd said. "I'm still mostly into girls. But it can be fun teasing guys now and then, you know?" Odd giggled slightly.

"Yeah, maybe", Ulrich admitted. "But tell that to Yumi and I'll murder you, got it?"

"Got it!" Odd said.

The two of them continued to walk along the pavement towards Yumi's house. By the time they reached the front gate of the Ishiyama household, they found that they were holding hands.

"Don't worry", Odd reassured Ulrich. "I won't let Yumi know that you were holding my hand on the way here." Odd began smirking once again.

"Oh, give me a break, will you?" But as he knocked on the door, he turned towards Odd and smiled lightly for the last time.