"now, who can give me the date of the Gunpowder plot?" Mr Fumet asked. Odd sat as his desk, sleeping soundly. no one seemed to notice other than those around him. Ulrich was smothering laughter next to him and Aelita rolled her eyes. Ulrich let out a small chuckle and the whole class turned to them.

"Odd Della-Robbia," Mr Fumet called. Odd sat up alert at his desk. He looked somewhat confused.

"what? Huh?" he said. the class giggled.

"did you have a nice dream Odd?" Mr Fumet asked. Odd smiled and nodded, "well, Mr Della-Robbia, if you aren't able to give me the date of the Gunpowder plot in the next three seconds, I'm going to become your worst nightmare," Mr Fumet growled. The class laughed and Ulrich patted Odd on the back. Odd blushed.

"man, four hours of detention just for taking a little nap, i was tired!" Odd whined. Ulrich, Jeremy and Aelita were at his sides, heading for the lunch room.

"well, you wouldn't be tired if you went to sleep at a normal time," Ulrich pointed out. Jeremy and Aelita laughed. Odd scoffed in annoyance. Yumi was standing at the lunchroom door, with William talking to her. Ulrich stared at them, almost glaring. He couldn't believe she was still friends with him after all this time.

"uh oh, he's gone onto jealousy mode," Odd muttered, taking hold of Ulrich's arm to prevent him from butting in. Yumi glanced at them all and smiled. Then she turned back to William. William said something to her that made her laugh a lot. She could barely contain herself. William seemed embarrassed and turned away from her. Then Yumi seemed to bid him good bye. William waved and headed into the lunchroom. Yumi waved at the others with a big smile on her face. She wandered over while still chuckling lightly.

"who gave you a dose of heroin this morning?" Odd asked. Yumi rolled her eyes.

"but seriously, what's up?" Aelita asked. Yumi tapped her nose. She took hold of Aelita's hand and pulled her aside. Ulrich, Jeremy and Odd stared at them. Yumi whispered something in Aelita's ear. Aelita laughed loudly in amusement. They began talking about something that was obviously extremely entertaining.

"do you know what's going on?" Jeremy asked. The boys shook their heads, "wow, ever since the super computer was shut down they act like best friends," Jeremy added.

"that's because they are best friends, they are the only girls in this group, don't you think they'd stick together?" Ulrich said as if it was obvious. Odd rapped his head with his fists lightly and made a dumb face. Yumi and Aelita wandered back over, arms linked.

"hey guys, did you hear? William just told Yumi that he has a crush on..." Aelita turned to Yumi, who shook her head, "someone other than Yumi," Aelita saved. Yumi smiled at her in gratitude.

"oh yeah? And who's that?" Ulrich asked eagerly. Odd suspected he was overjoyed as soon as he heard "other than Yumi". He rolled his eyes. Yumi tapped her nose again.

"I can't say, I'm sworn to secrecy," she explained. Ulrich sulked discretely as he sat down at his lunch table with the others.

"so, how's the tenth grade?" Yumi asked with a grin on her face. The others shrugged.

"not bad, still in the same class as Sissi, I swear she never leaves me alone," Ulrich commented, "but it's cool, people leave you alone more now, no more "can you manage?" or "is it too hard?"" he added. Yumi smiled.

"oh, by the way, when I was at the principal's office this morning,"

"why were you at the principal's office?" Jeremy asked. Yumi tapped her nose again.

"when I was there I saw this kid I'd never met before, she looked around your age and I think she was a new student," she announced. Odd stood up and punched the air.

"yes! A new girl! I'm getting tired of dating the same girls' all the time," he belted loudly. The girls from his year all turned to him in offense. Odd rubbed the back of his neck and sat down again. "tough crowd..." he muttered and the others laughed.

Yumi stood in the girl's bathroom. Her head had been hurting a bit and she needed some time to think. She splashed some water onto her face when she felt hot and she couldn't see clearly. It was abnormal and she knew she felt awful. She wasn't sure why, she had been fine a moment ago, but just before she ate something her head began to sting, like an electric charge had been sent through her or something. She hadn't told anyone and she didn't plan to. so she shook it off and slowly pulled herself out of the bathroom and over to her friends. They were standing by the arches. It wasn't that far. But to Yumi it seemed like a hundred miles. Ulrich saw her first and smiled. But as he saw her expression more clearly his smile changed into concern. He and the others ran over.

"hey you feeling okay?" he asked as Yumi leant against him. Her face was slightly red. Ulrich felt her forehead. It was burning like a fire.

"Yumi, your burning up, we need to get you to the infirmary," he said.

"okay, should I get Jim and tell him?" Aelita asked. Ulrich nodded.

"I'll go with you," Jeremy said as he followed Aelita off.

"noooooo!" Yumi groaned. "I'm fine," she mumbled. Odd and Ulrich put her arms over their shoulders.

"you are most certainly not okay, your head feels like a sauna," Odd commented as he and Ulrich began to walk with her. Yumi slid her arms off them and stood up tall, ignoring the pain and tiredness she felt. She looked at both boys who looked almost completely blurry to her lazy eyes.

"I'm fine, see," she assured, jumping up and down and running around the two boys. Just doing that took a lot of energy away from her though and she felt like throwing up. Ulrich raised an eyebrow.

"at least can you go to the infirmary to check if you have a fever, which you do," he pleaded. Yumi sighed. But she reluctantly agreed. it felt like hours before they arrived and Ulrich carried her part of the way. Since last year Ulrich had shot right past her, and stood about five inches above her, Yumi felt a bit helpless next to him. How did that happen? Yumi asked herself. she shook her head as Odd and Ulrich lay her down on the infirmary bed.

"now then, all we have to do is wait for Yolande," Odd said.

"what even happened?" Ulrich asked. Yumi shrugged. She turned onto her side.

"I don't know, I felt this, like, electric shock and suddenly I feel like I'm going to melt," she explained. "damn it," she muttered.

"electric shock? You weren't sitting anywhere near anything electrical," Odd reminded as he stood in front of the mirror. He had to stand on tiptoes to see it though, considering Yolande had moved it up so high.

"still short as ever," Ulrich laughed. Yumi giggled. Odd turned to them and poked his tongue out. The door opened softly. Yolande stood at the door with Jeremy and Aelita at either side of her. They smiled when they saw the others there and Yolande seemed a bit shocked. She raised an eyebrow at them.

"Yumi? You're not feeling well?" she asked. Yumi shook her head with a fake smile.

"I'm just here because he made me get my temperature taken," she snapped, shooting a look at Ulrich, who rolled his eyes. Yolande walked over to Yumi and felt her forehead before fetching a thermometer from the cabinet behind her.

"alright, put this under your tongue until you hear the beep, kay?" she cooed, passing Yumi the thermometer. Yumi did so. She waited for about a minute with the thermometer under her tongue until she heard a beep. She pulled it out and checked the temperature.

"okay done can I go now?" Yumi moaned, pulling herself out of bed. Ulrich and Aelita blocked her path and lay her back down.

"forty two degrees, that's quite high Miss Ishiyama," Yolande muttered softly. Yumi moaned in annoyance and impatience.

"I am fine!" she persisted. "look it must be broken, I'll check again." Yumi took the thermometer and stuck it in her mouth, lying back down on her bed with her arms crossed. Yolande looked around at the other kids who all looked increasingly concerned. She clapped her hands to retain their attention. Immediately, all four of them looked up at the nurse.

"okay kids, you have class in three minutes you may as well get going, Yumi will be fine," Yolande assured. They all looked at Yumi for permission, who nodded.

"I'll stay, if you manage to persist your way out of this someone will have to take you back to your class," Ulrich joked. Yumi smiled. Aelita looked at her in mock adoration. She pointed and Ulrich discretely and winked. Yumi blushed and glanced at the brown haired boy sitting next to her. Ulrich looked perplexed and looked from Yumi to Aelita. Aelita rolled her eyes in a way that said "so oblivious" and the others headed out. The thermometer beeped again and Yumi passed it to Yolande.

"see it's fine," Yumi willed, more hoping than knowing. She felt her forehead, suddenly her head felt like exploding. Yolande looked distressed.

"Yumi your temperature is going up by two degrees Celsius, this is serious, it must be a serious bug," she announced, taking hold of her stethoscope from a chair. Yumi sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed and began to stand up.

"no way, I need to go back to class, I'm seriously okay," she demanded. Ulrich looked at her firmly. They had a kind of staring contest, which Yumi lost. She sighed and felt her cheeks slightly red as she lay back down onto her bed. Ulrich smiled in triumph. Yolande checked Yumi's pulse, blood pressure and heartbeat. But it all seemed normal. Yolande was a bit confused. She saw the kid's perplexed looks.

"apart from your temperature there aren't any signs of sickness at all," she explained. Yumi and Ulrich exchanged a glance.

"maybe it's stress, you've been working really hard on studying for your exams lately," Ulrich suggested. Yolande nodded. Yumi shook her head.

"I haven't felt stressed at all," she contradicted, "mum even makes me have a tea ceremony with her after I study," she added in embarrassment. Ulrich grinned. Yolande frowned.

"you should go to class Yumi, maybe it's just a temporary thing, but if you feel bad at all then get back here immediately, you hear?" she advised. Yumi nodded with a genuine smile.

"Thanks Yolande, I told you nothing was wrong with me," she cheerfully stated. She swung her legs off the bed and stood. As she stretched out her legs began to feel a bit tired. She felt lightheaded and leaned on the bed for a second or two. After that she took a step forward and her leg collapsed under her and she fell, steadying herself at a kneeling position. Ulrich reached down and helped her up.

"you okay?" he asked. Yumi nodded with a smile. She felt distant though and her eyes were getting heavy.

"I'm fine," she barely breathed. then she shut her eyes and went limp in Ulrich's arms.