Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko; evolution, cartoon, video game, comics, etc.
Title: Silence
Summary: Insomnia hits two Lyoko warriors over the long break. Late night sodas and conversations ensue.
Warning: Kinda angst-y.
...
"The whole break?"
Hiroki looked ready to vibrate right out of his shoes. Ulrich shrugged, grimacing.
"If it's okay with your folks. Yumi's in there right now, arguing my case. I'd avoid going in there if I were you."
This wasn't his idea. Seriously. If he'd had his way, he'd be sleeping in the factory, or spending his days in the Hermitage, or just hanging out on some random street corner, or something. But Jeremie had said that would draw way too much attention- like a scrawny blonde going in and out of a supposedly abandoned factory for no apparent reason with a girl with neon pink hair didn't, right?- and he needed a place to recharge his phone battery, so they were forced to improvise. He wondered what kind of excuse Yumi was trying to sell them, or if she was going with the partial truth- overbearing parents, bad report cards, didn't want him to have to go home to that over the extended weekend, sorry, but he won't make any fuss, and he's cool with sleeping on the couch, really. He wondered if Kiwi had felt like this when Odd tried to convince Jim he wasn't going to set off any warning bells before eventually giving up and smuggling him in.
Woof.
Hiroki winced and sat down on the back porch beside him. "Got it. You think Yumi will be okay on her own?"
"Your sisters tough. She'll be alright." Now, if he only knew just how tough she was, maybe things would go better.
No, they'd be worse off. Telling the Ishiyama's that their daughter was good at thriving during emergency situations would only make them curious. The last thing they needed was for them to get curious all over again.
"Yeah, I guess so. Why aren't you going home? Don't you miss your family?"
He hesitated. "My folks and I don't really get along over extended periods of time together." They didn't get along at all. "We're better off with some space to breathe." He was better off with some space to breathe.
"Oh." He flopped onto his back, staring up at him. "So... They're kinda like mom and dad, then?"
"Kinda." The Ishiyama's fought with each other. The Stern (note lack of a plural) fought with his son. Not really all that different.
"Are they like mom and dad then, too?"
"Not really. Dad and I are a lot alike, only he yells more." A lot more. Ulrich hated the sound of a raised voice. It's why he tended to keep to himself in the first place. "Mom's pretty nice, but her job stresses her out a lot, so I try to give her space." Lot's of space. Whole countries of space, even.
"Huh." Hiroki pursed his lips in thought. "I don't think I've ever heard you yell before."
Ulrich shrugged. "I don't yell." And he didn't. He screamed, shouted, whimpered, and occasionally cried, but he never yelled.
Yumi cracked the glass door open, looking a few years older then when she'd first disappeared into the house. "They said it's okay, as long as you sleep on the couch."
"Cool." He picked up his suitcase with one hand, stuffed the other into his pocket. "Thanks."
"No problem. Dad's going to give you a bunch of chores, though."
"I'm okay with that." Ulrich was the one who typically picked up after people anyway.
"Yeah!" Hiroki jumped to his feet. "Ulrich's staying over!"
"Don't sound too excited. I'm probably going to be to busy working-" On and off Lyoko. "To be able to play video games with you all day."
He went inside first. Akiko nodded at him politely. "Ulrich."
"Hey, Mrs. Ishiyama. Mr. Ishiyama. Thanks for letting me stay over."
"Not at all. And, please, call me Akiko."
Ulrich shifted on his feet. "I'd... rather not. My folks taught me to always call my elders by their last names, no matter what."
"What about that gym teacher? No one seems to have any problems calling him by his first name."
"Who, Jim? Jim's a special case." He hesitated. "And I can't remember his last name."
"Oh."
Okay, so he did remember his last name, but he was pretty sure Jim wouldn't appreciate the questioning he'd get from strangers when they'd hear someone call him 'Mr. Morales.' (Jim had his morals, but that was pushing it.)
"He, uh, he never seems to go by it, is all. It's always been just Jim."
"I see. Alright then, make yourself at home."
Right. Mission impossible.
The worst part about Lyoko, in Ulrich's opinion, had to be that it hurt. Every blow, every death- they felt it. Some people might wonder how they could do what they did without fearing death. What they didn't- wouldn't- realize is that they'd faced it over and over and over again. They'd become numb to the fear, the horror, but not the pain.
Of course, normally Ulrich didn't have the time to ponder such things, but normally he wasn't camped out on the Ishiyama's couch. And, when one was used to the underlying racket of a dorm room (the shuffling of feet, the slapping of shoes as Jim paroles the hall, Kiwi whimpering under the covers), the Ishiyama's house was practically a church, quiet and still.
But it wasn't quiet. Not really. A fan was going upstairs, and he could hear Takeho's snoring all the way from the couch. The floor would creak when Hiroki turned over, and cars briefly filled the room with noise and light as they passed.
Nope. Not quiet at all.
He turned his phone over in his pocket. He could text someone, but they were all asleep (or busy) by now, and Jeremie had thought it'd be best to keep the lines open for emergencies only. Insomnia isn't an emergency. Insomnia is a medical condition.
A door opened and closed upstairs. Feet quietly made their way down the steps, careful not to hit any known creaky spots, and then trailed off into the kitchen.
Yumi.
Ulrich sat up and pushed his covers away. He was in his pants, so he didn't need to worry about being decent (Yumi was in his swimming class, so she'd seen him with less than an undershirt on). If anything, he preferred being half-dressed over being in just his nightshirt and boxers. At least this way, if- when- something went wrong, all he had to do was slip on his shoes and go.
Yumi doesn't seem very surprised when he appeared in the doorway, which was expected. Being surprised meant that he'd purposely been trying to be quiet, which he wasn't.
"Hey."
"Hey." A pause. "While you're up, would you mind getting me a soda from the fridge?"
"Sure."
He tugged open the door.
"You can grab one, if you like."
"Thanks." And he wasn't too proud to admit that, should she not have mentioned it, he would've asked. Normally he wouldn't, but he had a thing for cherry soda that he couldn't deny.
Sodas procured, he shut the door with his shoulder and handed Yumi one as he passed by to sit in the chair on her right.
"Thanks." She opened it and took a sip. Ulrich did the same. "Couldn't sleep?"
"No."
"Yeah, me neither. My parents are on another one of their 'you're keeping something from us and we want to know what' kicks. Sneaking out has been next to impossible."
And Hiroki's caught in the middle, Ulrich finished mentally. He took another sip of his soda.
"Is it ever like that with your parents?"
"Not really. As long as I don't get arrested, I don't think they care what I do in my free time." Translation; they'd given up on turning him into the perfect son he always wanted, and he didn't blame them for it.
"I meant the whole 'tense silence' thing." She took another drink from her soda. "It's hard to tell down here, but it's pretty heavy upstairs."
"Oh. No, not really. Dad's too busy yelling at me to be like that afterwards, and mom's usually too busy to hold a grudge." He paused. "Is that why you're down here?"
"Pretty much, yeah."
For a long moment, no one said anything. Then, Yumi blurted out; "I wish they knew. I mean, I wish I could tell them. Especially when they start acting like this."
Secrets were tearing a perfectly good, albeit a little banged up, family apart. Ulrich know how that felt from experience.
"I just wish I didn't have to drag Hiroki into all of this. He doesn't have a clue about what's really going on." A pause. She wrinkled her nose passively. "Then again, no one but us does, really."
"Yeah. You think that's why your dad let me stay? To see if I would spill my guts?"
Yumi thought it over a long moment, draining her soda as she did so. She nodded. "Probably. That, and you're pretty good at keeping up with chores and stuff."
Ulrich wasn't denying it. "If I'm making things worse around here, then I'll go."
Yumi waved her hand. "No, no. Things have been like this for a while now. If anything, having you around will boost up Hiroki's spirits."
"Like they need anymore boosting." He grunted dryly.
"I just... sometimes I think it would be easier if they knew. Other times I know it would be that much harder. I don't want to keep this a secret for forever and ever. I don't want them to be stuck guessing for the rest of my life."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah. But that's exactly what's going to happen, isn't it? No one is ever going to know. They'll never know why our grades tanked, they'll never know why I come home banged up sometimes, they'll never know why I changed, why we all changed. They'll never know why." She paused, leaning back in her chair. "Is it wrong that all I can think is 'better me then them?'"
"No." Because he thought that way too.
Neither of them got much sleep that night. Be it from the caffeine, or the sheer amounts of silence, however, was uncertain.
Author's Note: First thing I've written in forever that isn't the least bit fluffy. Fear the plot bunnies of darkness! -Evil laugh, breaks off into a cough- =)
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