Title: Everything
Summary: Yumi has to spend the night with Ulrich on his dorm room. Will this unexpected and bizarre turn of events finally bring either of them the courage to confess their feelings for each other? "What do I mean to you? Because to me, you mean everything". Rated T for some slight sexual content and yaoi (if you can consider it yaoi).

Note: This fic was inspired by and set on the night of episode 42 (Season 2, episode 16) "A fine mess", of the Code Lyoko original series (not Evolution), where Odd and Yumi get trapped inside each other's bodies.

Yumi's POV

I watched as Ulrich came into the room after taking a shower and changing into his pyjamas, which were basically some boxers and an undershirt. Closing the door behind him, he walked towards his bed while tousling his wet hair with a white towel he had in his hand. Grunting slightly, he threw himself on his mattress and sighed.

I wondered if my presence here made him uncomfortable. I also wondered if maybe, on the contrary, he was too comfortable. I mean, he didn't seem to mind that even though what he saw next to him was the body of his best friend, in reality, it was a girl in his body. And not just any girl, right? I pushed that thought aside.

"Aren't you… going to shower?" he asked suddenly, his voice surprising me and catching me off guard.

"Yeah, um… I don't think I want to" I chuckled lightly and earned a hint of a smile from him. "I wouldn't want to either, if I were in your position. Odd can be a little disgusting sometimes"

"Isn't it supposed to be the other way around, then? I should be dying to take a shower, but…" I paused, not wanted to complete that sentence. We both knew what I was going to say.

"Hey, it's cool. It's not like this is your fault" his voice was low. He wasn't just talking about the shower issue. He was talking about the swapped bodies, too.

On second thought, I really did need to take a shower. It's not like I didn't know what I was in store for. Besides, I don't think Odd will mind. It's Odd. Also, he must be enjoying this way more than he should, to be honest. Oh God… I couldn't help but cringe while thinking about the things he could do while inside my body.

I decided to go to the shower room after hours, so that I wouldn't have to cope with having to see another one of my classmates naked. One of them was enough already. Ulrich had fallen asleep after our slight exchange of words. I lay on Odd's bed for about an hour, deep in thought and honestly a little bored, before I heard Jim's footsteps patrolling the outside corridor to make sure that nobody was outside their rooms. I glanced at my cellphone. 10:00pm. After a couple of minutes of waiting to make sure Jim was gone, I took a clean towel I had found earlier in Odd's closet and made my way to the showers.

Ulrich's POV

I watched him… er, I mean, her, as she opened the door and left with a towel in hand. I couldn't help but to feel a little… jealous is not the right term, but…

I felt bad in a way. I felt angry that she was going to see another man's body. I blushed at the thought. It's not like I wanted her to see mine! I debated for a couple of minutes whether it had been a good thing that she got switched up with Odd and not me. I didn't reach a conclusion other than thinking it would've just been better if my body got switched with Odd's, or Yumi's with Aelita's. Anyways, there was no point on pondering about this anymore. There was nothing either of us could do until Jeremie found a way to debug the de-virtualization program and, thus, get them back into their own bodies. Hopefully it would be done by tomorrow as he and Aelita had promised.

After about twenty five minutes, Odd – I mean, Yumi, goddammit – came back into the room.

"So, this is what Odd looks like without all that magical hair gel he uses?" she asked, amused, touching the wet hair of the boy she currently inhabited. Even though the reminder that she had seen Odd's naked body bothered me a lot, I managed to snicker slightly. "Yep. That's right, you met him after the first time we went to Lyoko. That's where he got his hairdo idea"

"Ah, no surprise" she replied before throwing herself into Odd's bed. Kiwi growled at her, clearly knowing that the figure in front of him was not his owner.

"Calm down, Kiwi. It's just me, Yumi" she said in a low tone while petting the dog standing at the edge of the bed. He seemed to, somehow, understand what was going on and laid down on the floor, eyeing the body of his owner with suspicion.

"Dogs really do have a sixth sense for recognizing their owners"

"You can say that again" I replied.

About a good half hour passed in silence. Neither of us could get a wink of sleep. We just stared blankly at the ceiling, deep in thought.

I felt really weird. This was definitely something no one would ever be able to explain. I mean, yes, next to me, on the same room, at night, was the girl that I had admitted myself to love. Yet, it wasn't her completely. She was trapped in the body of my male best friend, for God's sake! I wondered what she was thinking about. Was she as nervous as me? Maybe I don't even mean that much to her. She's just probably worried about getting her body back.

Yet… did I really mean nothing to her? We almost practically kissed that time on Lyoko… Damn it, Aelita. You always take forever to get into the tower and deactivate it. The one time I wished you took a while, you rushed it and Jeremie launched the return to the past. I stole a glance at her, ignoring my best friend's body and knowing it was not him the one that lay on the bed next to me.

I had been dying to talk to her about us for so long. I practiced dozens of times how to start the conversation, what to say, what to ask, how to ask… but I'm not a person who allows himself to be led by emotions. I follow logic. And my logic always tells me that it's best to have Yumi as one of my best friends than risking to tell her how I really feel about her and lose her forever. That's one of the things I… feared the most. That's one of the things that I absolutely couldn't let happen in my life.

And even so, I somehow mustered up the courage, here, now, at the worst time possible and under the most bizarre circumstances, to bring up the topic. I turned around in my bed, my back facing her, looking at the wall in front of me, before calling out her name.

"Yumi?"

"Hm?" she asked, a little suddenly and a little too loud. It seems I had startled her.

"Have you ever…?" I started, speaking in a low voice, but I knew full well that she was listening to me. I had heard her shift in her bed, so I guessed she was facing me – or rather, my back. The room was silent, and the night was cold. I sighed. "Never mind. Forget it"

She stayed silent for a while. "No. Tell me. What is it?" she demanded. I stayed silent. "Ulrich, are you okay?" I could hear the concern in her voice.

"I just… I constantly wonder… about… us"

"Us?" I sat up on my bed with my back to the wall, not facing her, but forward. She also sat up on her bed, but instead, she was facing me.

"What… what do I mean to you?

"Huh?" She seemed shocked. Maybe as shocked as I was when I noticed I had just voiced this question out loud. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid. I cursed myself mentally as I felt my cheeks burning slightly, the obvious indication that I was blushing. I must look to pathetic to her right now.

"Because to me, you mean everything"

She didn't speak. Not a word. I felt like the biggest idiot in the world at that moment. I wanted to get up and leave; I didn't want to hear her reply, if she had one. But I knew that if I left, I would be left without an answer. If I left, I would seem like a coward. Like the coward I really am.

Silence filled the room for what seemed like an eternity to me, but in reality, I knew it were only a few minutes. The light coming from the lone window only reminded me of Yumi's presence and made me feel worse. I wished I could return to the past and not say anything; I wished Yumi forgot about what I had just blurted out. Where did all those efforts of convincing myself that 'logic is better' go to? I had gotten so far only to ruin everything in a second. Bravo, Stern.

"Ulrich…" she started.

"Don't reply" I stated bluntly. "I don't want to know. I can't know. I… I shouldn't have said anything"

"No. Listen to me. We always avoid this subject. I think it's time we talked about it"

"I don't want to talk about it" I replied, laying down on my bed and pulling the cover up to my head, facing the wall and giving my back to Yumi again. Coward. I felt and heard her stand up from Odd's bed. "No, Ulrich, we are going to talk about it. You were the one who brought it up, remember?"

She was right. But I was afraid of what was going to happen next.

"Okay, fine" I spat, a little angry because she was right. I had brought this up. I sat up on the bed and removed my cotton shield. "Just tell me you don't like me so I can go on with my life"

"And what makes you think that I will say that?" she asked, now sitting at the edge of my bed.

"Well, you have William"

Yumi scoffed. "William means nothing to me. I mean, not in that way. He's just a friend"

"Who is clearly after you"

"The fact that he's after me doesn't mean that I automatically like him" she retorted. "Besides, there's someone else I'm interested in. Someone I'm in love with. And he's sitting right in front of me". Looking away, as if she was shocked at her own words, she glanced down at the floor. "Remember that time I fought with my parents because I was coming home late? I said I had told them the truth… well, I did. I told them I was in love. And what about our almost kiss on Lyoko? Did you really think that meant nothing?" Fidgeting and moving her legs, she looked back to me, as if awaiting for a reply; a reaction.

I sat motionless on my bed, not knowing what to do. Yumi had just confessed her feelings for me. Hadn't I done the same a few minutes ago? Now, it was my turn to be left speechless from a confession. I understood why she took some time to reply before. A slight smile threatened to escape my lips, but I didn't allow it.

"So, what happens now?" I asked absentmindedly. She smiled. "Nothing will change, Ulrich. We're friends, which is the most important thing"

"So you're saying that we shouldn't get into a relationship"

"The fact that we like each other doesn't mean we have to automatically become boyfriend and girlfriend, right?" Her reply made me ponder that thought. Did I want to get into a relationship with Yumi? Did she want to?

"We can take it slow. I know it's scary. Don't you think I'm scared, too?" I looked down, and then up at her. Yes, it was really Odd's body the one sitting in front of me, but I could see her eyes looking at me, and her smile. For a moment, I forgot about the physical appearance and saw her. Really saw her. She had always been the most mature in our group. The way she was able to let all these words and feelings flow out so easily was something to admire. Although I knew that was a lie – it was not easy at all -, it was that trait exact trait, of being brave, that made her more mature than any of us.

I kissed her without thinking much about it. I was scared and embarrassed, but I kissed her. It took her a couple of seconds before realizing and, thank God, thank God she kissed me back. I would have been humiliated if she hadn't. We closed our eyes end enjoyed the moment before pulling away from each other.

And then I realized.

"Oh God" I said, dramatically bringing my hands to the sides of my head.

"What?" she asked, concerned.

"I can't believe I just kissed my best friend"

"Are you talking about me or Odd?"

"Both. But I meant Odd"

Yumi smiled. "Don't worry. Tomorrow, you can kiss Yumi"

I blushed, and muttered a slight I can't wait.

A/N: I do not ship Odd and Ulrich, but I thought it would be a nice turn to have a story like this based on this episode where Yumi is in Odd's body and viceversa.