A.N. Hello all you wonderful people out there who are reading this! Like the numnut I am, I didn't know how to put authors notes into stories, I thought there was something on the site that would do it for me. Plus, I forgot the disclaimer last time, oops. Oh, well. Soo, um . . . On with the story, then, heh?

Disclaimer: I own NONE OF IT AT ALL! HAHAHA! (Mad laughter) JUST BORROWING!!!

Claimer: Scratch that. Kai and Brendan are mine, Ikara is my best friends. I'm borrowing her and making her act like she never would if she was in my best friends story. Ha ha XD!

Ikara dribbled the basketball down the court, dodging everyone on the opposing team. Her breath came in short bursts. Coming under the basket, she made a perfect layup, stretching . . . the ball left contact with her fingers . . .

And flew into her face, solidly thwacking her nose. Ikara fell backwards onto the floor, clutching the injured part. She rolled over and groaned, then looked up when she felt a shadow. Standing above her was Emily, looking concerned. "Oh, my gosh, I am SO SORRY!" she exclaimed while helping Ikara up. "Are you okay?"

Ikara nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine." She wiped her aching nose and a few drops of blood fell into her hand. "Scratch that. I need a tissue. Or the nurse," she added as the few drops turned into a small, but steady, stream of blood. "Yeah. Nurse." Ikara headed toward the gym door, clutching her nose, while Emily walked along beside her, apologizing heavily. As they got to the door of the gym, Odd walked in holding a red-spattered tissue to his nose. Seeing Ikara, he halted, then cocked his head to the side inquiringly.

"What happened, Ikara?" Odd asked.

"Basketball's not really my sport," she replied with a wry look

"Oh. Well, I got hit in the face with a soccer ball, so why don't I go to the nurse with you?" Odd looked hopeful, so hopeful that Emily just laughed and went back to playing basketball.

"I'll leave you two together, Ikara," Emily called as she headed back to the court. "You're in pretty good hands!" The two teens started down the hall together, an awkward silence hanging between them..

"Soo, Ikara . . . do you like lasagna?" Odd asked in a fit of randomness.

"I love lasagna. How about you?" she replied, her nose pinched between her fingers.

"It's one of my favorites. Once, I ate a whole plate of lasagna in half a minute," the blond-haired boy added. Ikara grinned deviously.

"Oh, really?" she asked, putting all her charm into her voice. Ikara was a champion flirter when she wanted to be. "Tell me more,"she purred. Odd melted.

"Well," he started, a goofy grin on his face. "It all began when Ulrich, Yumi, Jeremy, Aelita, and I were playing Truth or Dare . . ."

Yumi ducked, and Brendan's foot swung harmlessly over her head. She spun, planted her feet, and threw a punch. He jerked back, grabbed her hand, and threw her (gently) onto the floor. She did a back-handspring and landed on her feet, then charged him, frustrated that she hadn't been able to beat him so far. He easily caught her wrist, then lunged, grabbed her waist, and flipped her. Startled, she flailed, caught hold of his shoulders, and tugged. He lost his balance and fell. The two teens tussled for a while, then froze when they heard a door open. Their position was rather awkward; Brendan had Yumi's arms pinned, and he was kneeling over her, his knees to either side of her waist. They stared at each other, and a slow blush rose in both their cheeks. Brendan scrambled backward hastily and helped Yumi up as Ulrich and Kai walked in, Ulrich explaining Pencat Silek to her.

Brendan's eyes lit up as he noticed the playful gleam in his sister's eyes. "Excuse me for a second, Yumi." He bowed to the Japanese girl and ran over to his sister. He nodded to Ulrich, then pulled Kai aside and whispered in her ear. The girl started back, then grinned broadly. She nodded, then pulled Ulrich aside and started talking to him again. Brendan then whispered to Yumi, who nodded eagerly, then twisted his arm and threw him to the ground. "Oh, is that how you want to play, then?" he asked her irritably.

"Bring it on, big boy." Yumi stood above him with her hands on her hips, mocking him. He turned 180 degrees, grabbed her ankle, and shook it. She toppled over onto him, and the fight was on again. Kai laughed as she watched Yumi's obvious frustration. "How are you so good?" the Japanese girl swore as Brendan tripped her and pinned her again.

Bored after awhile, Kai left the two fighters and wandered off, unnoticed. Ulrich looked around after awhile, suddenly noticing her departure. "Hey, Kai!" he yelled as he went off to look for her. "We have to go see Jim!" Ulrich trotted at a moderate pace around the outside of the gymnasium, looking for the girl. About three minutes later, he heard female voices coming from the woods. Curious, he decided to investigate. As the boy walked slowly toward the voices, he could make out a few words, and what sounded like Sissi's voice. Ulrich rolled his eyes, then kneeled behind a bush to spy.

He was right, Sissi was there, along with Kai. For some reason, Sissi seemed to be . . . acting nice to Kai. The girls chatted, or actually Sissi chatted. Kai was rather silent, only answering direct questions. "So, Kai," Sissi leaned against a tree, watching the girl. "Where did you live before you came to Kadic?" Kai flushed slightly, then cast her gaze down.

"I lived . . . with Brendan and Ikara, in Spain," she said hastily. "It was fun." Sissi tossed her hair out of her eyes, then settled down again.

"Tell me more, like do you have a boyfriend or anything?" Sissi asked. Kai quickly shook her head no, and Ulrich felt a strange loosening in his chest. "No boyfriend? Do you have your eye on anyone in Kadic yet, like, say, William?" Kai looked questioningly at Sissi.

"Who's William?" she asked puzzledly.

"What about Ulrich?" Sissi became suddenly serious. Kai's facial expression, confusion mixed with a questioning, twitched. Ulrich noticed this.

"What about him?" the girl asked, trying to be nonchalant, but noticing Sissi's demeanor and pressing against a tree, like she was shrinking away. Ulrich growled silently. That's mean, he thought. Sissi's really getting on my nerves now.

"Just wondering," Sissi said sweetly, then took a menacing step toward the girl, who started trembling. "Just so you know, Ulrich is mine," Sissi hissed between clenched teeth, all sweetness gone. "So keep away from him if you know what's good for you."

Kai made an irritated noise. "The last time I heard from him, he wasn't attached to anyone," she sneered. Sissi narrowed her eyes and slapped Kai across the face hard, driving her forehead deep into the rough bark. Seeing enough, Ulrich stepped around to a clear spot between the trees and walked causally through, kicking up little drifts of snow.

"Oh, there you are, Kai, I was looking for you!" Ulrich put on a bright smile, and Sissi quickly leaned back.

"Oh, hello, Ulrich dear!" she simpered, running over to him and hugging him. He shoved her away from him.

"Sissi, I'm not your 'Ulrich dear,' so don't call me that," he snapped at her. "Especially not when you're terrorizing the new girls. Can't you just lay off?" Sissi stepped back, startled, and the brown-haired boy took advantage and walked quickly over to Kai, who was still pressed against the tree trunk, trembling. A lump was forming where her forehead had hit the tree, and a cut had opened too. Ulrich resisted the surprisingly strong urge to whack Sissi a good one and wrapped his arm around Kai's shoulders. "C'mon, Kai, let's get out of here," he urged the girl quietly. She nodded, as if in a daze, and matched her pace to his as they left the clearing with a fuming Sissi.

Ulrich led the shocked girl to a quiet spot behind the cafeteria, then kneeled facing her. He pulled a tissue out of his pocket and offered it to her. "Thanks," she muttered quietly, then licked it and gently dabbed the wet end onto the cut. She cleaned it off pretty well, then shook her bangs down. Ulrich sighed.

"I'm really sorry about Sissi," he told her. "She's obsessed with me, just because I don't like her. I really hate her." She let out a small laugh, and he smiled. The sun peered out between the clouds and a beam of light caused something on Kai's left hand to sparkle. "Hey, what's that?" he inquired.

"What's what?" she asked, confused.

"That, on your hand." He pointed.

"Oh, that." She extended her hand, pulling her sleeve back a little. Ulrich took the proffered hand. A thin piece of black cord was wrapped around her wrist and hand several times. It looped around her forefinger, and a tiny silver charm rested along her palm. He peered closer, and discovered that the charm was a half of a heart. Embedded within the heart were several pairs of initials, and what looked like a tiny diamond.

"What do all those initials stand for?" the boy asked, angling the charm toward the light with his finger. There was a rather long pause, and Ulrich glanced up. Kai was biting her lower lip and looking away, as if something pained her. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," he added hurriedly. "I mean, if it's personal or something . . ."

Kai looked at him. "No, it's okay. The initials . . . they're of my . . . family," her voice ended on an odd note, and her eyes started to fill with tears. Ulrich covered her palm with his.

"You miss them, don't you," he stated quietly. The black-haired girl nodded as a stray tear slid down her cheek. His grip on her hand tightened slightly. "I missed my family when I first came here, too. So did Odd," he confided to her, and she grinned. "Even Jeremy missed his parents. Yumi still lives with hers, so she's fine, but Aelita . . ." he stopped suddenly. "Aelita . . . is in contact with hers constantly. Yeah," he finished lamely, and Kai laughed. She scrubbed her face with the back of her green sleeve.

"I'm hungry, is it lunchtime yet?" she asked, standing up and shaking snow off of her hoodie. Ulrich grinned.

"You sound like Odd, but yeah, it is about lunchtime," he replied. "Let's go." The two started toward the cafeteria, completely oblivious to the fact that they were still holding hands. The walkway was covered with snow, and Kai kicked up little flurries every now and then, taking pure delight just from the snow. As they neared the building, Ulrich's cell phone rang. He sighed, then answered it. "Hello? Oh, Jeremy, hey . . . what? To the factory? Jeremy, what about Kai? . . . Darkwood, remember we're showing them around . . . Why don't I just bring her? . . . What's X.A.N.A. doing? . . . Oh, crap, we'd better bring all three of them, huh . . . yeah. I'll- We'll be right there." He hung up, then turned to the puzzled Kai. "I'll explain later. For now, RUN!"

A/N: Was that a good cliffie? I am a detail person. If I am putting too much detail into these stories and boring you all to death, press the little bitty review button and tell me that, 'kay? So, just to be the most random person I can be, I will be including random quotes from random Code Lyoko episodes. If you can tell me which episode the quote is from, I'll dedicate the chapter to you. By the way, this whole story is dedicated to my best friend, because I made her cry. Almost. So call it an apology of sorts.

Today's quote: "Tell me I don't look too bad, huh."Yumi (hint: She's talking about a costume she's wearing)(another hint: If you really want to, search Wikiquote for Code Lyoko. It gets results.)

One last thing: Anybody know where I can get a downloadable mp3 file of the Code Lyoko theme song? I WANT ONE.