So my inspiration for this fanfic was binge watching Code Lyoko yesterday after I remembered how huge a part of my childhood it was. The main thing I was disappointed about was how Ulrich and Yumi never get together despite 90 some episodes of teasing and back-and-forth. While I wanted to resolve this conflict I also thought it'd be cool to throw in some action of my own in later chapters. I honestly don't know how often I'll update, these could be the first and last two chapters I write (Edit: It looks like I can consistently update every few days or so, but once it's summer it'll probably be less often). It's actually been three years since I've been on this website, peep my other fanfic in Lorien Legacies that I never got around to finishing. Rated T for occasional swearing, some violence, and mostly teenage fluff. Favorite and Review to let me know what you think. Enjoy! (Disclaimer, I don't own anything affiliated with Code Lyoko, yada yada)
It's been three years.
Three years since XANA was destroyed for good.
Three years since the start of our normal lives.
Three years since I made that promise.
The alarm rings and I stretch a hand to slap it. I take a quick shower and put on my usual outfit, all black everything. Despite protests I swipe some food from Hiroki for breakfast before I sling my bag over my shoulders and walk out of the house.
"Have fun at school, dear!" Mom calls after me. I acknowledge her with a single wave.
"Say hi to your boyfriend for me!" Hiroki drawls. I roll my eyes. With exams coming up, college applications, and just general school life, I can hardly afford to think about…him.
"I-it's been so great. I just don't want it to end."
"There'll be plenty of other good times, even without Lyoko." I smile and take his hands.
"Promise?" he asks, giving me a small smile.
"I swear." The last things I see are his soft, warm eyes before the Return to the Past engulfs us.
I stop suddenly and shake my head. Ugh. This flashback again. I stop in the park on the way to Kadic and lean against a tree. Something special…I thought we had something special going then, I think. I feel a single tear roll down my cheek and I quickly wipe it away and slap myself. Get yourself together, it's a Monday, you got the whole rest of the week before you can mope. I've been more prone to break down lately and have violent mood swings. I hate to admit it, but without the constant threat of XANA and going back to Lyoko, the ex-Lyoko Warriors have drifted just like any other group. Granted, our hundreds of adventures being shot at and fighting almost every person on campus possessed at one point or another bonds us closer. We still have gatherings every once in a while. Or maybe it's just me who's drifted away from the others? After all, Jeremy and Aelita have been together for almost a year now after he finally grew the balls to ask her out after two years of her dropping hints. Odd and Ulrich still room together and take the same classes. Odd is still the same kid who's constantly rejected by girls and swallows plate after plate of nasty cafeteria food. So that leaves him.
If there was ever such a thing as breaking a promise without officially breaking it that's what I would call it. We still spar when one/both of us is bored or needs to let some steam out. But I rarely ever see him anymore, partly by accident but mostly by design. Every time we talk it's about superficial and unimportant things like school or gossip. I've never felt the urge to kiss and punch someone so badly at the same time. We haven't hung out alone, just with the group. Our near-kiss in the desert sector. The time he said he wouldn't be jealous since we were "just good friends" echoed around in my head for days.
"Stupid!" I muttered to myself under my breath. "Make up your fucking mind!"
"Uh-hey Yumi," a voice says. I glance sideways. A boy with dark spiky hair walks up to me.
"Hey William," I reply. "What are you doing?"
"Was gonna ask you the same thing. I'm headed this way for my art class. There's five minutes till class starts," he tells me.
"Thanks William, see ya soon." I smile and wave as he walks into the park. William had accepted a long time ago that we weren't meant for something more than being friends. Even though he was attractive and snarky I never felt any serious feelings for him. This was perfectly fine since we had come to be good friends in spite of our different paths and interests.
I wonder if he still gets jealous when he sees me with William. I used to take a sad sort of pleasure in seeing his jealousy. As I walk to class I can't stop thinking about him. Next year we won't be able to see each other. And that might be the end of anything we ever had. What is it? I wonder. Snap out of it. Now is not the time for your hormones to hijack your brain.
I plop my stuff down and sit in my desk. How ironic that I think about all this shit in the morning and start my day with Chemistry, I think to myself. I sit with Jeremy and we breeze through the energy change problems easily and have a lot of time left in class.
"So, Yumi, where do you think you'll be going next year?" Jeremy asks.
"Dunno. I applied to schools in England, the Netherlands, America, and Germany."
"Not any in Japan?" Jeremy asks.
"Nah. Sometimes going home isn't the best formula."
"Fair enough. What are you going to study?"
"I don't know. I kind of just like everything equally. I don't like or hate anything."
"Hmm," Jeremy ponders. "Well, you've at least got a couple more years to figure it out."
I smile. "What about you, Einstein? Got any big plans for next year?"
"Don't know where I'm going but I'm definitely doing something with computers or engineering. Maybe both."
"Nerd," I smirk and punch him lightly in the arm.
"Hey!" he protests.
"Are you and Aelita going to the same school?" I blurt it out suddenly and immediately regret it. I'm just all beside myself with emotions today. Luckily I didn't say it loud enough for nearby students to hear. Jeremy doesn't seem to mind.
"We don't know yet. We'd like to, obviously, but when the time comes we'll have to make that decision." The bell rings and the students begin to shuffle out.
"Don't forget, exams in a week and a half!" the teacher reminds us. I groan. I still have to maintain my grades while waiting on admissions. Technically the deadline for applications wasn't for another few weeks but I got utterly bored and decided to do them early.
I float through the rest of the day, not really in it. At lunch I sit with Sissi and her friends. Even though we've accepted Sissi as a group I still have to keep tuning her out every time she starts bitching about another one of her first world problems. Class after class, reminder after reminder of exams. I'm exhausted just mentally at the end of the day. It's the lull of the middle of the year and it's hit me the hardest this year. I don't care about classes, I don't care about the academy, and I don't even see my friends that often anymore. Living the lone wolf life has its toll. I just want to leave this place and start my new life, I think. Is that really all that you want? A voice replies back. I grit my teeth. Shut up, I tell myself. He's irrelevant. You had your chance and you threw it away, and the door will be completely shut this time next year.
I decide to go blow off some steam in the training room. I launch kicks and punches and practice counters at the bags. It's dinnertime, and rarely anyone uses the training room anyway except for a handful of people. Tch, you can do better than that, the voice in my head says. Ulrich would've countered the hell out of that and have you pinned in seconds. "Shut up," I mutter. "I beat his ass the last three times we sparred." Our last spar, though, was about two months ago. Actually, being pinned by him doesn't sound so bad, I think. I haven't been pinned by him in forever…no, shut up and focus! I reconcentrate my thoughts. I'm even more enraged than before, just throwing everything as hard as I can at the bag. I connect with a punch and I feel pain in my hand. The bag goes flying and lands about 10 feet away from me. I look down at my hand and the knuckles are red. It feels sore. Goddammit, look what you did now, I think. I figure my best option is to just hightail it out of there before I get in trouble for breaking school equipment, and I run back to my home.
"What did you do to your hand?" Mom asks.
"Ugh, nothing, just trained too hard," I answer as she wraps my hand in tape.
"It should be fine after a few days, just a few bruises and some strains here and there," my dad says.
"Jeez, sis, what'd you do? Punch Ulrich after you saw him cheating?" Hiroki asks. I somehow summon the willpower to ignore him after all of my mental stress today.
"Get some rest, darling," my mom tells me. "It's only the beginning of the week and you'll need all your energy-and both your hands-to finish school here."
"Alright, mom." I drag my stuff upstairs and plop down on the bed. I stare out the window, contemplating today and my year.
It started out just like any other year, I think. We would talk when we got the chance, but not go out of our way to do it. But we've been even more isolated this year. I think about how he's changed. I used to be a few inches taller than him for the longest time, and then puberty happened and now he's my height, maybe even a little taller. Even though he's made new friends and toyed around with other girls, he really hasn't gotten seriously involved either. Don't know how all the other girls deal with rejection from him. It's like he purposely wears shirts that hug his frame. He could get anybody he wanted and yet he's still content to just live his life the way it has been. "Snap out of it," I mutter quietly to myself. What's he holding out for? Does he hate our rift just as much as I do? Maybe this is all wishful thinking and he's just not the type to get involved. But then I remember all the times he'd blush when I'd stand close to him, when I teased him for getting into a fight with me to get close to me. Yumi, you're a mess. Maybe you rolled out on the wrong side of the bed this morning. I sigh and roll into bed. It's so unlike me to be focused on this one issue for so long. Maybe a good night's sleep will sort this out for tomorrow.