Chapter 1
November 9
Yumi ran down the hall, avoiding everyone in her path with ease. She passed Odd, who stopped her for a second.
"Yumi!" he yelled. She was already dead past him. Fortunately, she heard in time to run back.
"Yeah, Odd?" she responded between breaths.
"You're running." Odd said.
"Uhh… yeah?"
"…To a science class."
"…Yeah."
"Why?" He couldn't imagine anyone wanting to go to a science class.
Yumi sighed. This was taking up her time, and she would have to explain to Odd, which would take more time, so she hurried the explanation. "Last month our class wrote letters to college students in America, and the replies just got back. Bye." She took off running again.
Odd scoffed. "Whatever." He then continued to his class.
As if for the first time in her life, Yumi was actually anxious to get to science class. But she had no idea that this letter would also lead to reunion of old friends.
Ms. Hertz had just finished passing out the letters. Yumi's letter, unlike everyone else's, looked really fancy. The envelope read "For Yumi Ishiyama". The handwriting was incredible. She looked on the back of the envelope and read it aloud. "From Ch---No WAY!"
1 hour later in the Courtyard…
"Guys! Hey, guys!" Yumi yelled as she ran over to her friends.
"You sure like to run, don't you?" Odd commented.
"What's new, Yumi?" Aelita asked.
Yumi took a second to catch her breath. She was breathing way too hard, partly from excitement and partly from running.
"Okay" she began. "My American college pen-pal turned out to be an old friend of mine from when I lived in Tokyo. We only knew each other for a couple of years, and it was in early grade school, but she was the smartest one there, and she was the nicest to me, so we were really good friends."
"Hold up a moment." Ulrich said. "So she was in your grade back then, but now she's in college? What is she, a child prodigy?"
"Exactly," Yumi told him. "When she was about to go to the fifth grade, she was sent to the tenth grade for her really high grades."
"So, what's her name?" Odd asked.
"Chiyo Mihama. She's real nice." Yumi reached into her backpack to pull out the letter she got earlier, and handed it to Odd. He opened the already torn envelope and read the letter. After scanning it a while, he spoke up. "She's coming to visit?""
"Yup"
Odd searched the envelope. "Prodigy, huh?" he said as he found a small photograph. "I bet she looks like a total…..aaahhh….." Odd just stared at the photo. "This…this is…this is her?
"Yeah."
Odd handed it back just as the bell for the 10th graders rang.
The next day after school, Yumi just stared out her window, thinking to herself.
"Chiyo will be here soon. Man, I can't wait to introduce her to my friends. XANA hasn't attacked in a while. I sure hope he doesn't attack during her visit…I wonder what she would look like in virtual reality."
Soon, a taxi arrived outside, screeching to a halt."
"Yes! She's here!" Yumi ran downstairs to open the door to see Chiyo wearing a green, long-sleeved turtleneck sweater and blue jeans.
"Chiyo-chan! How are you doing? It's been so long!" Yumi said as she hugged her old friend.
"Hi, Yumi-chan! Great to see you too!"
"Wow, you still got the pigtail thing going on, huh?"
"Uh-huh." she responded.
"So how are things in America?" Yumi asked as Chiyo left her shoes next to the door.
"Pretty good, actually. I was kinda nervous when I first got to college, but it's starting to smoothen out." She explained as she followed Yumi upstairs.
"So how about Miruchi and Yuka? How are they doing?"
"Umm…actually, I haven't heard from them since I left Tokyo. I hope they're doing alright."
Suddenly, small rumbling sound came from the bottom floor.
Yumi had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. "Oh, no. Not now!
To be continued… yay.