A/n: This story was written by co-author RenaYumi and co-author Vic92091. We would just like to say that Yumi is still grounded, that this story is a squib, and that we want you to enjoy this story

Odd's POV

"Ok everyone, we have a lot of notes to copy today, so get started and maybe I can let you guys out early," Miss Hertz said as everyone got out their notebooks and started scribbling down what was up on the overhead. Jeremie was, of course, writing every single little word down, with diagrams and footnotes, while Aelita did the same. Ulrich was jotting down the simple version, while I just watched. I could always copy from him later. Sissi was sitting behind us, being her usual I'm-the-best-person-in-the-world self. Yeah right. But something that she was talking about caught Ulrich's attention. He stopped writing, and looked up, paying close attention to the words coming out of her mouth.

"Don't you think William and Yumi are the cutest couple? They just seem to fit perfectly. Like… what's the Japanese thing for equality?" she murmured.

"Ying and Yang," Ulrich whispered.

"That's it! Don't you agree Ulrich, darling?" she asked, with a smirk plastered on her face. I could just see the gears turning in Ulrich's head. He was definitely angry. He slowly rose from his chair and looked to Jeremie.

"I'll copy you guys' notes later" he said, and walked to the door, muttering an 'I don't feel well' to Miss Hertz before leaving the room. This was not good. That thick head of Ulrich's would blow up Sissi's sure-to-be lie into something catastrophic. Don't get me wrong, Ulrich is my best friend, but as my best friend I have the right to say that he's about to set in motion a very long day for all of us. Aelita sent me a worried glace. Or possibly week.

The hour dragged on and on, leaving us all dreading when that bell would ring and we would have to face the two of them together. Not to mention Yumi; she won't be expecting any of this. Maybe there's a chance we can get to Ulrich first. The bell rung unexpectedly and the silent class was startled. Here we go.

Normal POV

Ulrich walked back from the woods as he heard the class dismissal. He'd just handle this humanly and confront her, calmly, about the whole situation. She could deny it and they could go on with their lives. Perfect idea.

He walked towards the bench where the others were sitting, looking rather tense. He mildly wondered if he had missed something interesting in class.

Ulrich sat on the bench and watched as Jeremie, Aelita and Odd came and sat around with him. He didn't pay much attention to them, and just waited until he saw Yumi step out the entry doors. He got up and went straight for her. She smiled at him, but he kept his face like stone, linking his arm through hers, and making her spin around. He led her up the staircase, to Odd and his' dormitory. He slammed the door behind him, locked it and turned to Yumi.

"What is wrong with you?!" he asked, letting all of that anger out.

"Huh?" Yumi asked, confused, taking a seat on his bed.

"What is it that I hear about you and William?" Yumi's face relaxed.

"That we're partners in an Italian project?"

"Don't jump around, just answer my question…" he said, eyebrows knotting.

"There's nothing going on Ulrich!" Yumi yelled, beginning to get angry.

"That's not what Sissi said!" he yelled back.

"WHAT?!" Yumi stood up, staring straight into Ulrich's eyes. "You believe that wench!? After everything she's done, and you still believe her! What if I was going out with William? You couldn't do anything about it! I'm my own person, independent and headstrong! I do what I want." She was about to exit the room when Ulrich blocked her only escape.

"I'm not done with you yet!" he said, the anger visible in his eyes. Yumi matched his look.

"Then say whatever you have to say before I go and meet the others for lunch"

"Before WE meet them… I know you are independent and headstrong. That's why I like you so much! Sissi just said that - "

"I don't care what Sissi said!" Yumi said, and pushed Ulrich out of the way, the best she could and ran out of the room. Ulrich watched as she ran away… straight into William's arms. "Hey William! Let's go to lunch!" Yumi linked their arms and led him towards the cafeteria.

"Ummm… yeah, ok Yumi" he said, walking with her. Ulrich threw his arms up in disbelief.

"Why does she have to be so difficult?" He demanded. The entire school could feel the tension between the two as he walked into the cafeteria. He glared daggers at the boy sitting in his seat. Yumi was laughing and carrying on, completely ignoring his presence, and touching William's arm way to much for Ulrich's liking.

"So she wants to be like that," he huffed as he got into the lunch line. Someone sighed behind him.

"Fighting again? You two are so bad. It's like, every time you argue the school is divided in half." Ulrich spun around, about to tell the voice where to go when he met her eyes.

"Emily. Yeah well, if she wasn't so difficult.."

"If you weren't so stubborn," she teased. He smiled.

"Would you like to sit with me? I have a feeling my table may be a bit uncomfortable." Ulrich glanced back at the table where he could see Aelita's obvious unhappy look.

"Is that a great idea? Yumi really doesn't like me much." Emily picked up a tray.

"For me? I'd rather not have to kill William."

"Oh, now I'm a convenient distraction," Emily giggled.

"I'd really appreciate it." She nodded as she followed him.

"Only because I fear for the well being of this school." He tried not to smile at that comment as he led her to their table.

"Hey guys, hope you don't mind if Emily sits with us." He sat down, pulling another chair around for Emily. Aelita moved her tray aside and slammed her forehead against the cool table.

"Must you do this to us?"

"If it's a problem-"

"Not you Emily, you can sit with us anytime. I was speaking about Yumi and Ulrich. This is ridiculous!" Yumi glared at Ulrich, Ulrich glared at Yumi.

"Anyways William," Yumi choose to ignore Ulrich. "You were saying about a party?"

"Oh yeah, It's gonna be awesome. There's going to be music and a ton of people, if you'd like to go it's tonight, until about one?"

"To bad about that curfew," Ulrich sneered.

"That I can totally ditch, besides I need some fun." Her eyes danced dangerously and Ulrich clenched his jaw.

Yumi was giggling senselessly at Williams jokes that she thought were 'funny'. Ulrich was just glaring harder and harder, practically drilling holes into William's head from just his stare. Emily could see the tension rising. It was bothering her that Ulrich was just using her for revenge. She didn't want to say anything, because it wasn't as if she liked Yumi either. They weren't exactly on the best of terms.

"You know what else is awesome?" William said, brushing a strand of Yumi's hair behind her ear, slowing coming in.

"What?" she said, smiling, being oh-so-naïve.

"This…" he was coming closer when Jeremie's laptop went off. Yumi pulled back and turned to Jeremie. He gave her the look, and she turned back to William.

"I'll see you later, ok Will?" she said, before getting up and running out of the cafeteria. She always seems to be running away, Ulrich thought. He turned to the others, who nodded their head and stood up.

"I'm sorry, Emily, but we have to go. We'll talk later!" he said, as he and the others ran out the doors, following Yumi.

"What did you think you were doing?!"

"What did I think I was doing? You were the one who dragged Emily over to the table."

"Only because you brought William."

"Oh, so you felt the need to act like a two year old because I wanted to have lunch with another one of my friends?"

"If it meant solving the truth between you and William then yeah! I guess a two year old is the only way to get information these days!"

"Truth? Ulrich let it go! You listened to Sissi! And dragging Emily into this is just ticking me off."

"How do you think I feel about you and William?! Bringing him in to all of this! How come you never told me, your BEST friend, that you were going out with him?! Maybe then I wouldn't be so angry!"

"I didn't drag him into this! We're working on a project together! A project we didn't even get to pick partners on! I'm not going out with him and if I was I wouldn't have to tell you."

"I hate to break up this fight, well, not really, but you two need to shut up and get in the scanners," Odd said rubbing his temples. Yumi huffed and folded her arms across her chest as she stepped into the scanner. Ulrich turned his back to her and walked over to his own. They were scanned in with Aelita and waited for Odd on Lyoko.

"Half a mile south of the secondary plateau. You'll have to go on foot," Jeremie informed them. Yumi set off without a single glance, opening her fan at the sight of oncoming monsters. Before she could destroy any of the three hornets, Ulrich sprinted in front of her, taking out the lead. One of the followers struck Yumi in the shoulder.

"Watch it, Yumi. You can't lose to many life points before you get to the tower," Jeremie's voice boomed.

"I wouldn't have been hit if Ulrich didn't decide to save the day. Those were mine, Ulrich. I could have taken care of the pack." She threw her fans taking out one of the followers; Ulrich hit the last.

"You can't take care of yourself on Earth. I mean look at who tried to kiss you at lunch!" He moved on to the blocks waiting at the pass, demonstrating his anger with a sharp hit of his saber. Yumi growled.

"You don't even know what you're talking about!" She took out the block next to him as Odd rushed the plateau with Aelita on his heels.

"Oh do I?" Ulrich said, anger shown as he slashed through a block. "You knew what he was going to do! You knew he was trying to kiss you and you didn't even stop him!" Yumi jumped over a mega tank before throwing one of her fans toward it.

"I was trying to be nice!" Her fan just missed her target and she could see it was starting to charge. She began running away before the ray could get to her. The mega tank let out its deadly charge, right at Yumi, who had froze, bracing herself. Before she could feel herself dematerialize, she felt an impact push her away, tumbling on the plateau. She opened her eyes to find Ulrich lying on top of her, shielding her from the shards of a rock that blew up from the mega tank, crashing into it some yards away from them.

"How does letting him kiss you show that you're nice?" he asked, looking down at her. They were lucky for the moment. No more monsters were out right now. Yumi looked up into his eyes.

"I don't know," she said truthfully.

"Hurry to the tower!" Odd told Aelita as he guarded from a raised plateau. Yumi dropped her head back down to the ground, looking up at the 'sky' that was Lyoko's digital sea.

"If you hadn't freaked out none of this would have happened." He was frustrated by the comment.

"I'm sorry. You just.. What was I suppose to think?" He hadn't moved from his position.

"You were suppose to trust me. We're best friends." Her eyes met his again. He pushed his hand against his headband.

"Yumi, I hate that."

"You hate that we're best friends?"

"I hate that we're only best friends." She couldn't speak. Surprised? A little. But shocked? No.

"You never did anything about it. And if I was with William now? Then what? What would you do?"

"Hate myself." She'd cry if the fact she had no body fluids because she was digital wasn't stopping her.

"You never told me, it's not fair that I have to wait." She put her hands on his shoulders, easing him off her.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry, too." You could almost hear Jeremie's relieved sigh.

"I shouldn't have listened to Sissi."

"I shouldn't have rubbed William in your face."

"I shouldn't have done the same with Emily." They stood up, on the lookout of more monsters, or at least attempting to be.

"Friends?" Yumi asked. Ulrich caught her ribbon and spun her around, she was so close she thought she could feel him breathe.

"Do we have to be?" Ulrich leaned in, and Yumi smiled. Then a dragging feeling started at her feet and moved rapidly up her legs. Aelita deactivated the tower. They were being devirtualized.

"See you in a minute?" A disappointed Ulrich frowned as Yumi winked.

Yumi and Ulrich met Aelita in the scanner room. She smiled at them and made her way towards the elevator. They piled in, waiting for the doors to close. Yumi smirked, grabbing Ulrich and pulling him out of the elevator before the doors closed.

"We'll meet you guys in a second Jeremie!" she said, hoping he heard through the intercom.

"Okay Yumi!" his reply was; They could here Odd in the back singing.

"Yumi and Ulrich, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G."

"So where were we?" she turned to Ulrich. He smiled.

"I was just about to ask you out." You could see in Yumi's eyes that she was screaming for joy. She ran to him at full speed, knocking him down to the ground. He held her closely as they collapsed onto the hard floor.

"Ouch…" Yumi said as she could feel Ulrich's pain.

"You got that right!" he replied. She made a face.

"Sorry." Ulrich sighed.

"It's ok. I'm just wondering if that's a yes or not." Yumi giggled, playing with his hair.

"You got that right" she whispered, taking his previous comment.

"Ulrich and Yumi, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage…" Odd was singing into the intercom. You could just barely make out Aelita and Jeremie singing along in the background.

"They need to stop doing that." Yumi let the aftershock that came with being devirtualized set in for a second. "I'm unplugging that interface," she declared as she stood up. She reached for a red cord and the voices of her friends were silenced. She felt Ulrich's arms around her waist and he rested his head on her shoulder.

"I should have trusted you," he murmured. She turned around in his grip, silencing him with her lips. There would be absolutely no more of his ridiculous apologizing. His mouth moved against her and she smiled. This was way better than any kiss William could ever even attempt.

O0o0o0o0o

Later that Night, Yumi stood in her room, staring at herself in the mirror. She was wearing black pin striped pants and a black and white top with lace on the edges and 2 inch wide strips. Make up was simple; black eye liner and silver eye shadow. She was applying a small amount of lip gloss when she heard something clank on her window. She finished quickly and opened up her window to see Ulrich on the ground beneath her.

"I would be quoting Shakespeare right about now, if I had paid attention in English," he smiled. Yumi shook her head and threw her bag over the edge for him to catch. She then easily lifted her leg over the sill and sat there, looking back at her room, and then to Ulrich below. She eased her self onto the rose climbing fence and slowly climbed down.

"I cant believe I'm doing this again… there has got to be a better way to get out of my room" Yumi said as she climbed down. Ulrich laughed

"You could have jumped." Yumi groaned

"I'll pass." She put her feet on the ground and looked to Ulrich for her bag. He smiled, handing it to her, and took her hand to lead her off her fathers property. The adrenalin of sneaking out made Yumi smile as they rounded the corner. She mentally declared herself safe and grinned at Ulrich.

"You are so bad. Sneaking me out after curfew? My father would have your head," she teased.

"That's not all that funny." He tugged on her hand.

"Look at us, going to a dorm party at ten at night to do what? Show off to some people and have word spread? We're probably going to get caught by Jim. Or the police." She started up the back walk, the only light a single street light near the front of the school. "I've never done this before." She laughed at her self.

"It's not all that great. They do this a lot; We won't get caught. The party's in the empty wing of the dorms and Jim is never down there at night." Ulrich rolled his eyes. "I say we bail on this party around ten thirty and grab the gang to just hang out in my dorm."

"Come on, Ulrich. Major party, where's your adventurous spirit?"

.: Party:.

Ulrich and Yumi walked through the halls of Kadic, listening carefully for any sounds of moving. They quickly went through the set of double doors that would take them to the empty wing. As they got close, the music became louder. The dorm party was more than Yumi had expected. Everyone that was anyone was there, she could see. Lights of every color were flashing and all she could think was,

'How did William get those?' Ulrich grabbed her hand and led her through the crowd, heads turning to look at them as they went by. The music started to die down, and whispers were heard.

"What's going on?" They turned around to see a very flustered Emily and an angry William.

"Huh?" Yumi blinked at Williams question. "What are you doing with him?" he asked with malice. "If you're going to be my girlfriend, you can't be with someone like him." Yumi's eyes flashed with rage, but she tried to stay calm.

"I don't recall accepting your offer William. I do remember though being asked out by Ulrich. And even if I was going out with you, William, you would never have been able to control me. I decide who I hang out with, not you!" With that, she landed a punched, knocking him to the ground; presumably out cold. Everyone started cheering and Yumi was just happy to get William to shut up. Ulrich's teammates started coming up, and congratulating them on finally getting together. Everyone then, joined in, giving them pats or hugging them, or of that sort.

When Yumi and Ulrich finally made it to the end of the crowd, Aelita, Jeremie, and Odd were standing there, smiling. Odd turned to Aelita and Jeremie.

"So which one said it would take them a whole year to get together?"

"Oh! I did! I did! Pay up!" Aelita said, jumping up and down, and holding her hand out for her money.

"Odd, you have to stop making these bets before Aelita runs us dry," Jeremie said as he pulled out ten dollars from his wallet and handing it to the winner. Aelita giggled taking another ten dollar bill from Odd.

"Congrats you guys." She smiled at their open mouth expressions. Yumi gaped for a moment before being engulfed in a hug from the younger girl.

"You bet on us?" Ulrich asked. Jeremie smiled sheepishly. "That's pretty doughty, Odd. I'm your roommate and I don't even get a cut. You think you're getting away with this?" Yumi tugged on his hand as an upbeat song came on. He looked between her and his roommate, before being lead onto the dance floor.

Odd smiled, "At least for tonight."

A/n: comments would be nice please!!! good, bad, whatever is on your mind!