A/N: This is the birthday gift for a lovely individual. Soul Jelly on here or tehjelly on tumblr. She is amazing and deserves all of your love. This present is, actually, almost a week late and I have it planned to be five chapters (about half has been written as of right now). It's an Au and takes place in modern America- though all places I use are, to my knowledge, fictional. Enjoy!

There is a ghost
That eats handkerchiefs;
It keeps you company
On all your travels.
-Christian Morgenstern

To his partner's annoyance, Odd Della Robbia kept a grimy CD held in a crumpled envelope that may have at one point been white, but was now a stale-yellow. The CD, which contained an ear-splitting combination of blues, country, jazz, folk, and hints of alternative, would always come out of their car's stuffed glove box on journeys such as this.

Odd claimed it added to the mood. Elizabeth Delmas couldn't help but agree; but that didn't mean she had to like it. There was just something about these trips into the desert- a dusty road below them, a cloudless sky above them, and blistering heat around them. Their car would chug along, not particularly fast, but not slow either. They had picked it up half a decade ago, the day Elizabeth had turned sixteen. It had been five hundred dollars and they had agreed to split the cost since the summer before.

Coincidentally, Elizabeth's sixteenth birthday was also the last day either of them had seen their homes or families.

Their car could seat five people; but only two could sit in it comfortably. However, the trunk was large enough to lug three bodies. The deep red paint was chipped and both the sides and the back were dented in multiple spots. That was all fine; Elizabeth and Odd both adored the car: low gas mileage, frequent breakdowns, and all. The one unforgivable feature was that the air conditioning had broken down nearly three and a half years ago, which made these trips into the desert nearly unbearable.

Their windows were already rolled down all the way but Elizabeth had taken a stack of newspaper off of their dashboard and started fanning herself.

"A bit too uncomfortable for a princess like you?" Odd asked wryly. "I bet you never had to go a day in your life without it being seventy-two on the dot."

"I didn't, in fact," Elizabeth said. "Not until I agreed to go on this goose-chase with you."

Which had been five years ago- almost a fourth of her life now. And for the past five years, Odd had asked her the same thing whenever she expressed her discomfort- reminding her of the cushy life she had led until she had moved to their old town in the midst of a tragedy.

Odd shrugged in response and continued to drive in silence. Or at least to the low sounds of some artist Elizabeth had never heard of.

At some point she must have dozed off because she opened her eyes to see darkness approaching and Odd talking.

"-off that badly last time. She'll give us a place to stay for the night. Probably."

"What?" Elizabeth muttered.

Odd flicked his eyes to his side and smiled at Elizabeth's groggy state.

"I know someone who lives around here. I think. Last time I checked. She'll probably put us up for the night."

"Probably?"

Odd shrugged. "We didn't always get along so well. She moved before you came, but she was infatuated with him and I think she was jealous of me. Or angry because I never let them get any time by themselves and I always ruined any conversation they had."

"Did he like her back?"

Odd shrugged. "I didn't really care, at the time. We've talked a bit since then but she blames me- or at least she's angry with me. I don't know. But she'll probably help us."

"Should we call first?"

Odd stared at the darkening road for half a minute and shrugged. "Nah."

With one arm he reached to the glove box and dug around, completely turning his attention from driving, until his hand clenched a small napkin. Like the envelope, it was also yellowed with age, Elizabeth noticed through gaps in her fingers. In Odd's escapade through their papers, he had let the car swerve nearly off both sides of the road. Luckily, they had seen a total of four cars in their trek through the desert and all of those sightings had been before noon.

"I hope she hasn't had dinner yet," Odd said suddenly. "I don't know about her, but her parents could sure whip up a mean meal. They're Japanese," he explained.

Elizabeth's stomach rumbled in response and she smiled sheepishly. "I'm game for food," she agreed. She reached down and grabbed her purse. It was designer and the label alone would make almost anyone jealous. It had been her sixteenth birthday present from her father.

She pulled out her wallet, also a sixteenth birthday present. It had been from Odd and it was made out of neon pink duct tape. The ends were frayed and blackened and she had been forced to fix it several times- though never with the same type of duct tape. That hadn't been a problem; running out of duct tape on their job would have led to a huge issue.

"We have two hundred…ninety three." She pursed her lips. "And sixteen cents."

"That's a lot better than I thought we were doing," Odd said.

"We'll still need to take a job soon."

Odd sighed but continued to grip the steering wheel with two hands and stare ahead. Which was something he only did when he didn't like where the conversation was going- throughout the whole trip he had driven with one hand on the wheel, his knees, or none of the above. She knew for a fact that he had snuck more glances at her than he had looked at the road, and she had been so caught up in her own reveries that there was no way she had properly kept track of his.

"We can last a few more days," he said easily.

Elizabeth placed her hand on his leg and squeezed. "I know you want to keep looking," she said calmly, "but we honestly cannot do that if we're starved to death and out of gas. We're heading to your friend's house now. Let's lie low a couple of days and see what we can pick up, okay?"

Odd reached over and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Let's make sure she doesn't kill us first. She knows karate or kung fu or something like that."

It was ten when they finally arrived at the faded, nearly-illegible address that Odd had scrabbled down over a year ago. They had had to stop at three convenience stores to ask how exactly to get there and Elizabeth's conscience and Odd's stomach had demanded they buy something at each one. So in darkness, they got out of the car with one backpack each and a bag with Chex Mix, Pringles, and Poptarts.

This Yumi lived in a small apartment complex. Elizabeth scanned the almost-clean white siding and fairly-well kept sidewalks. It seemed nice enough- better than living out of a banged up car that was older than you were.

Yumi did not answer the door- or at least Elizabeth assumed it wasn't Yumi. He was attractive, with unruly dark hair and some of the nicest cheekbones she had ever seen on someone. He was taller than both her and Odd- not that that was a feat by any means- and he was dressed in a T-shirt and sweatpants and eyed the purple splotch in Odd's hair uncertainly.

Odd held out a hand and smiled brightly. "Hi, we're looking for a friend. Yumi Ishiyama?"

The man, who had not accepted Odd's hand nodded in recognition. "I'll be right back." He swung the door half shut, retreated a few steps into the apartment, and shouted: "Yumi! Some people here to see you."

"Coming!" a voice shouted back.

Elizabeth couldn't help but notice the grin that spread across Odd's face at the familiar voice. There was the sound of footsteps and the door swung fully open again. The man was back, along with a woman who Elizabeth guessed was most likely Yumi Ishiyama.

Elizabeth recognized her from pictures, though she had never paid the tall girl in black any thought besides that she had worn combat boots before they were in style. She looked similar now: straight black hair cut a little above her shoulders, but she didn't wear pure black. She was in jeans and a light blue jacket.

"Hey Yumes," Odd said, still smiling, though his voice was a bit strained.

"Odd," Yumi said, and she didn't sound angry or upset, just surprised. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, I was in the area and I thought I might drop by. We could really use a place to stay the night, but I didn't realize that you already had a guest."

Yumi's face flushed and Odd's smile widened. The man cut in and waved his hand. "No worries," he said. "I'm just hanging out for the evening- we were just watching movies."

In this time, Yumi had regained her voice. "This is William," she said.

William held out his hand which Elizabeth and Odd each shook, though Odd didn't seem thrilled about it. Understandably.

After shaking William's hand, Odd turned to Yumi, his arms spread out. "It's been a while, Yumes! Don't try to tell me that you didn't miss me!"

He took her into a massive hug which after a few seconds she joined in on. When they broke apart, Odd was grinning triumphantly, flipping a ring into the air with his right hand and snatching it with his left.

"When's the wedding and why haven't I been invited?" he asked.

Yumi grabbed the ring the next time he flicked it into the air and shoved it back on, scowling at him. "Maybe because I don't trust you not to walk off with everyone's wallets," she said.

"Oh, Yumi, all this time and you still don't trust me. You hurt me."

Yumi rolled her eyes. "It's next week, actually, if you must know. We're keeping it small. Well, as small as we could."

Odd's eyebrows rose and pretended to wipe a tear from his eyes. "Our little Yumi, getting married already. It seems just last week you beat me up for asking you to the school dance."

Yumi smirked. "Well look at yourself, Odd. Who's this unfortunate girl you've dragged with you?"

Odd broke into a coughing fit. When he was finished, he smirked and said, "well if you must know, this is my business associate. Partner, if you will. Elizabeth Delmas."

Elizabeth scowled and discreetly kicked him in the shins. To her satisfaction, Odd yelped and picked his right leg up. "She's also my girlfriend, if you want to pry."

"Uh huh." Yumi nodded and smiled, holding out her hand to Elizabeth. "I'm sorry."

"You get used to him," Elizabeth said back. "Scarily enough."

"You can stay," Yumi said suddenly.

Odd broke into a smile and leaned in to hug her. "I know you would come through for us, Yumes," he said.

His attempt was unsuccessful. Yumi held her hand up to block him. "I'm not doing this for you," Yumi explained. "I'm doing it for poor Miss Delmas over here. Can you imagine? She's stuck with you day in and day out and is probably starved for some reasonable conversation and civil company."

Yumi lead Elizabeth into the apartment, leaving a sputtering Odd at the door. William chuckled and ducked inside before Odd finally decided to follow the two.

Yumi's apartment décor reminded Odd a bit of her house when they were children. It was clean and functional and the colors were predominantly neutral. She didn't, however, have as many Japanese items lying around (besides some ornate golden fans) and he couldn't see any photographs to speak of on the walls.

Instead she has a sleek, large TV. They all sat on two couches that looked better than they felt (though she had compensated for this by having a nearly limitless supply of pillows and blankets that she usually kept out of sight). She was watching some romantic comedy with William and the coffee table was a bowl filled with popcorn and plates of chips and cookies. Elizabeth set the bag they had gotten from the convenience stores next to it and snuggled next to Odd to watch the remainder of the film.

When the movie was over they moved on to another one, but mostly talked and ate. Odd and Yumi, for two people who had apparently left on the wrong foot, bickered like siblings and teased each other mercilessly. William took a liking to both the newcomers, as they did they to him, and by the end of the evening Elizabeth felt more accepted and content then she had in what seemed like months.

By the time the second movie was over, it was late enough for William to stay over (which seemed to have been the plan from the beginning). Elizabeth was offered the guest bedroom which was very much his, but he shrugged her apologies off. Along with Odd, he was assigned to the living room and somehow Elizabeth had the feeling that those two would not get an ounce of sleep, if the way they were both eyeing a DVD collection of the newest Hospital of Horrors episodes was anything to go by.

But alas, all good things must come to an end, and Elizabeth's perfect evening ended that morning at breakfast, when Yumi asked, "So why are you two here anyway?"

And Odd casually answered, "To find Ulrich, of course."