Sorry this took so long, but these chapters are longer than a lot of my other fics, so they take a bit longer for me to get out. I'll probably be getting the next chapter of Strings of Fate out soon, but it might take some more time. That one's fighting me some. Anyway I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Things for Ulrich settled into a new routine after that. His father calmed down, yes, but Ulrich was still terrified that he'd decide they really could do with another housekeeper. Hopeful that this could be avoided, Ulrich obediently studied each night before and after dinner, reserving his extra training for the hour after he got home from school and his father had yet to return from work, as well as using some of his lunch time. Most of the other kids ignored him, except for Sissi, who would still hang out with him regardless of whether or not he wanted her to.

She gave him the debilitating sickness that triggered the body switching some time later. Body switching happened all the time, and was possible to do before you met your soulmate, though that was somewhat rarer. It didn't happen unless one of the soulmates was very sick, and for the most part, they'd all been very healthy. Never did a mild illness trigger anything before a bond had been properly made.

Sissi had given Ulrich a rather intense stomach bug, which was how Ulrich opened his eyes to find himself in Yumi's body. He blinked several times in confusion, before he realized what had happened. The first feeling was relief- he hated being sick- but then, he realized if he was here, one of his bondmates was in his body. Eyes widened and breath quickened as Yumi's body reacted to his emotions. He curled up in the unfamiliar body and clutched his legs, burying his face into them. Maybe, if he was lucky, they wouldn't try to talk to his father. Was his father at work? He couldn't remember through the panic. Maybe his father would avoid him completely because he was sick. He could only hope, because he didn't know how to change the body swap other than everyone telling him that it would happen naturally.

"Yumi, are you okay, Yumi?" A voice was asking him. It took him several moments to clamp down on the fear, and to realize the person was speaking foreign words now.

"I'm not... not Yumi," he said, lifting his head up to see a little boy who must have been related to Yumi somehow. The boy's eyes widened and he ran out of the room shouting. Moments later a woman came in. Yumi's mother, he supposed.

"Hello there. Hiroki says that you told him you weren't Yumi, may I ask which one of her bondmates I'm speaking to?"

"Ulrich," he muttered, not quite sure how the woman would react. She gave a pat on his- on Yumi's- shoulder.

"Yumi's spoken about you. It's a pleasure to meet you Ulrich. I'm Yumi's mother. Are you alright? I know the first body swap can be really disconcerting." She smiled kindly at him, and he smiled hesitantly back.

"I'm okay, just worried about the others." He said, still clutching tightly to Yumi's knees.

"Is there any particular reason?" she asked, running a hand over his (Yumi's) hair. He just shook his head, not looking her in the eye. She frowned at him, but then drew him into a hug. He was still pretty nervous but he returned the hug. "Well, I'm sure they'll all be fine. Come on, you can spend the day here. I don't really want you to go to school for Yumi, so we'll call in. Are you comfortable in these clothes? I can help you get into some different ones if you would prefer."

Ulrich hadn't honestly thought about what Yumi was wearing. He looked down and noted that Yumi was wearing a large shirt and pajama pants. The shirt was black, the pants were red. He shrugged.

"This is fine," he muttered. Yumi's mother smiled at him and held out her hand, which he took. She led him downstairs to the table where there was a man saying something to the little boy who had been there when Ulrich had woken up. The two looked up as they entered. Ulrich couldn't help but cringe back. This was so, so awkward. He was acutely aware of the fact that Yumi had a very different anatomy than him, and it was hard not to think about it, especially in the ungraceful movements as he tried to adjust to the difference in height. Yumi's father glared at him, causing Ulrich to immediately flinch into the woman at his side, nearly tripping them both.

"Takeo!" Yumi's mother cried. Ulrich shot a glance in her direction to see her giving her husband an even fiercer glare. She turned to Ulrich with a softer expression. "You can sit across from Hiroki. I'll call the school."

Awkwardly, Ulrich did as he was told, looking warily over at the man who was still giving him the stink eye. "You hurt my daughter, and I will hunt you down, you hear me boy?" he hissed at Ulrich, who quickly gave a nod, though even his fear couldn't stop the slightly offended look that crossed his (Yumi's) face. "What is it?" the man asked upon seeing this look.

"I would never hurt Yumi," Ulrich said with sincerity. "I'm going to protect her- protect all my bondmates- and become strong so I can beat up anyone who tries." This seemed to break the ice between him and Yumi's father. The man's harsh expression cracked, before disintegrating completely.

"That's good then," he muttered, and he ruffled Ulrich's (no, definitely Yumi's) hair. Things became a lot more relaxed after that moment, and when Yumi's mother came back into the room, Ulrich was being interrogated by Hiroki, who was absolutely fascinated with the fact that Yumi had body swapped.

"What's it like? Can you tell where she is? Is she in your body? What's it like?" Hiroki just kept asking questions as poor Ulrich tried to respond.

"Hiroki, stop bothering Ulrich," Yumi's mother scolded her son.

"But mom-"

"No more. You have to go to school today, so you had better finish your food and get ready to leave." Hiroki grumbled a bit, but finished his breakfast before hopping down from his seat and going to get his book bag.

"I'd better get going as well. I'll drive Hiroki to school so you can look after Ulrich here." Yumi's father gave Ulrich a pat on the shoulder and he headed out of the dining room calling for Hiroki.

"Well, we'll be sure to keep you entertained," Yumi's mother smiled at him, and he smiled tentatively back. "Are you going to eat any more?" she asked, looking down at the food Ulrich had barely eaten. He shook his head. Yumi's body was already adjusted to Ulrich's emotional state, making her stomach tie in knots, so Ulrich (who did not feel like eating) wasn't dealing with a hungry body. "How about you help me with clearing up then?" Ulrich nodded, but got up clumsily despite his best efforts.

Ulrich followed after her and kept quiet as they worked. She had him wash the dishes, something he had done often with Hild. Despite the strange new body, he managed to keep from dropping the dishes and he was extra careful as he moved, though he still managed to knock over some bottles when he was reaching for more soap. "Sorry, sorry!" he started apologizing profusely as burning hot water ran over his hands, the knob having been turned as things fell. Yumi's mother quickly moved his hands and turned off the water, wrapping his hands in a towel.

"It's alright," she soothed him, carefully wiping the hot water off of his hands. "It was an accident. I know how hard it can be to control your new body after a body swap. It takes quite a bit of getting used to." Ulrich quieted, his breathing hard. His hands (no, no, Yumi's hands) hurt, though they were quickly recovering from the burning sensation. Yumi's mother pulled him into a hug. He felt strangely tense but he refused to move as she ran a hand down Yumi's back. They remanded that way for a minute before Yumi's mother released the hug and rearranged the bottles back on the sink counter. Ulrich was still breathing heavily, his eyes slightly glazed as he tried to bite down on the panic. He really didn't want Yumi's parents to hate him. He really wanted everything to be alright.

"Ulrich, are you ok?" Yumi's mother bent down to look into his eyes, but Ulrich looked down before nodding quickly. He moved to start doing the dishes again, but she stopped him. "Let's try to limit the amount of differing temperatures you have to deal with. Do you mind putting the condiments away?" Ulrich nodded rapidly, before carefully returning to the table and returning the condiments to what he assumed were there proper places. It didn't take him long, but by the time he was done, so was Yumi's mother.

She helped him dress in some casual clothes, and during most of the dressing he blushed profusely while he held Yumi's eyes tightly shut, doing whatever her mother said. By the time she was done, Yumi's mother had dressed him in a pair of jeans and a short sleeved blue shirt with a flower on it. She placed a butterfly beret in Yumi's hair, saying something about keeping it out of his face. Ulrich had been fiddling with Yumi's wrist since it had been left open by the removal of the night shirt. Turning it around to stare at it, rubbing his hand over it; so much so that Yumi's mother couldn't have failed to notice. Still, she said nothing.

After that, she took him to the market so that she could buy that night's dinner. "I think we'll have something a bit traditional so that you can get a taste of the Japanese style. But I don't want to overwhelm you, so we'll keep things relatively simple, alright?" she smiled at him, and there seemed to be no lingering anger at his mess up before, so Ulrich allowed himself to smile, tentatively holding the hand she held out for him when they arrived at the marketplace and watching as she bought all sorts of different foods.

Ulrich was used to the open market; he had been there many times before with Hild before he was old enough for school, and even since then on days off. But this was a different market than the one he was used to, and he feared getting lost. It was busy, mostly with other women, but the occasional man was within the crowd. Some had young children by their sides, some spoke with friends, and the atmosphere seemed to be somewhat friendlier than at the market by his house.

"So you've brought the young Yumi with you today?" Ulrich looked up as a man selling fish spoke of him.

"Ah, not quite. It seems our Yumi has had her first body swap. I didn't want to send him to school in Yumi's place." Yumi's mother said, placing a hand on Ulrich's shoulder.

"Her first body swap! She's awful young for it, but perhaps it's better with the innocence of youth to keep the thoughts pure." He gave Yumi's mother a wink while Ulrich just stared on with obvious confusion. "Anyway, congrats boy. Your bond is bound to be a strong one. Here, have this," the man reached for something behind him, pulling off his gloves as he did so. He turned around again with a cookie, wrapped in disposable paper. "Nothing like a sweet treat to start the day. My wife just made a batch of these."

Ulrich took the cookie, still warm in its wrapping. "Thank you sir," he said politely, and the man smiled at him before he finally turned to Yumi's mother and got to her purchase. Ulrich stayed quiet, nibbling on the cookie as he waited. It tasted almost exactly like the chocolate chip cookies that Hild would make him sometimes, and the familiarity of it was comforting.

Before he knew it, he was left with nothing but the paper. Instead of throwing it out, he found himself wrapping it around Yumi's wrist, over the names. He felt better when they were out of sight, felt naked when they could be seen, like he wasn't wearing any underwear. He ripped off a piece of the paper and tied a bow (Hild had taught him, when he had been learning to tie his shoes) over the wrapping. There. Wrist covered. He didn't notice that several people were watching him until he was done, causing him to flush scarlet and hide in Yumi's mother's coat. He felt a hand on the side of his head and looked up hesitantly to see that she was looking down at him sympathetically. There was something else in her expression, something he didn't quite understand but had seen on Hild's face and his mother's face. He would come to learn it as sorrow.

When the shopping was done they returned to the house, bags in hand, and Ulrich was told to go ahead and explore the first floor for a while as things were put away. Hesitantly, Ulrich began to walk around the house, with the quiet of a cat that didn't wish to be bothered. The house was Japanese styled, but Ulrich didn't really know a lot about the culture. He admired the way the doors moved, the comforting feel of the living area, the tidiness with hints of life here and there. A cushion out of place, a bit of dirt in a corner, things that breathed life into the space that Ulrich rarely saw in his own home. Even his own room was kept obsessively organized to please his father when he came to check on him. Ulrich found himself looking at a game board with black and white pieces covering it. He picked up one of the glass pebbles, a black one, and ran it through his fingers. It fell from them to clatter on the table as he heard Yumi's mother talk from behind him.

"It's called Go. It's a fun, easy game. Yumi likes to play it with her father." She smiled at him even as he blushed. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Do you want to play?" Ulrich hesitated, but ultimately his curiosity won out.

"How do you?"

They spent the next several hours playing the game, and once Ulrich understood the game well enough, he began to ask about some of the things that had surprised him about their house, and she explained Japanese culture to him. By the end, Ulrich began to get over his immediate shyness and he was able to giggle and laugh with Yumi's mother. She even pulled him into the kitchen as she began to prepare dinner, talking to him about the different foods and how she made them while Ulrich watched on from a safe distance. By the time Yumi's father and brother returned, Ulrich had already been told to call Yumi's mother Haha, a Japanese form of mother. Though the word felt foreign even when said with Yumi's lips, Ulrich found himself warmed by the acceptance she showed him.

Ulrich forgot about his worries, for the most part. He relaxed and had fun with Yumi's little brother when he came home, teasing him before dinner and then talking evenly with her father, who seemed to have warmed up to him. It made Ulrich happy to think one of his soulmate's families actually likes him. Yumi's mother put him to sleep that night, and he was surprised to find himself in the garden again, with nearly all of his bonded there- except Aelita.

"So you're Ulrich," someone said from beside him. He looked over, to see a boy with blond hair with a purple splotch in it (did he dye it that way or something?) who examined him with curiosity.

"You must be Odd. It's nice to finally meet you." Ulrich gave him a tentative smile.

"It's nice to meet you, and not be randomly placed in your body. Especially not your sick body. Being sick sucks."

"You were in my body‽ Are you alright?" Ulrich asked, alarmed.

"Yeah, Hild took care of me. Why wouldn't I be alright?" Odd asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't he be?" William asked, and with a start, Ulrich realized all of the others were looking at him curiously. He blushed and looked at the ground.

"Because I was sick," he said, though the lie was betrayed in the discontent of the water around his area, which rippled unexpectedly and the branches of the tree which swayed in the breeze that engulfed him and made him shiver. He felt his own shame rise within him, felt himself choke on it. He grit his teeth against it, dug his hands into that ground, but it only furthered the hurt in his heart. He could not deny these emotions as they rippled through his space, and he feared looking up at his soulmates.

"Ulrich, are you alright?" William was asking him, and Ulrich just shrugged, pulling his knees up to his chest and looking at the turbulent water in front of him.

"I'm fine. I am. I'm fine." He forced himself to believe it, and the water stopped being so turbulent, the breeze behind him ceased. The disturbance was no longer his own, as his soulmates too were feeling the effects of his lie, but he shook his head, still not looking up all the way, refusing to meet anyone's eyes. "I don't know what came over me. I'm fine now. Really." He gave a half smile, forced himself to relax his posture, drop his knees to the ground.

"Are you sure?" Odd asked him sounding worried, but Ulrich only nodded.

"Yeah, why are we all here, anyway?" Ulrich asked, changing the subject. Looks were exchanged over his head, which he never noticed.

"Probably because of the body swap, I imagine." Jeremy said.

"Body swap? What body swap?" William asked, now completely distracted from Ulrich. They all looked at him confused.

"Ulrich and Odd were just talking about it." Jeremy pointed out.

"Yeah, but I thought they just switched or something. I was... asleep. It was Thursday yesterday."

"No, it was Friday yesterday," Yumi said. "Why did you sleep through it?"

"Wait, who went where? I went to Ulrich's, where'd the rest of you go?" Odd asked.

"I went to you," Jeremy told Odd. "What a ruckus..."

"I went to Yumi's." Ulrich said.

"I went to Jeremy's," Yumi added.

"So who went to my house?" William asked.

"Maybe it was Aelita!" Jeremy said, excited. "Ask your parents and tell us what they say. Maybe you slept through it because Aelita is sleeping through it. Maybe that's why we can't get to her!"

"But if she's sleeping, wouldn't she just be here all the time? How is she body swapping but not coming here?" Yumi asked, baffled.

"I don't know." Jeremy admitted. "I'll have to do more research. Still, this is the best lead we have so far. If she showed up at William's house, than at least she's alive." Relief was a palpable feeling at that thought. Their garden soothed and became stagnant and peaceful once again.

"Hey Ulrich," William said after a moments silence. "Mind if I come over?" he asked, gesturing towards Ulrich's space.

"Um... I guess not," Ulrich muttered barely glancing over before he refocused his eyes on the ground. The others were looking at him again, he knew they were. Ulrich was surprised and a little bit frightened to see the arm about to wrap around him, started to panic as they closed around him.

"It's alright," William muttered in his ear. "I'm not going to hurt you, not ever." There was a firmness in William's voice, and Ulrich felt himself drawn to it. He found himself clutching the arm in front of him a little shyly, still not quite looking up. William gently pulled him towards the pool and Ulrich let him, and together they entered into the pool where the others had already descended. The others each pulled Ulrich into a hug, and though Ulrich's face burned, he felt very loved in that moment. Maybe they wanted to ask, but they didn't, and that mattered to him as well. Ulrich tried to cling to all of them, though it was a largely impossible task, and before long, Ulrich woke up in his own bed, with a lingering feeling of love still within him.

This was a lucky thing, because it may not have been so easy for Ulrich to get through the day otherwise. Ulrich had barely even begun to get out of bed when his father stomped very angrily into his room, grabbing his wrist and yanking it out so he could see it. The names were still there, as always. Ulrich bit the inside of his check to keep out the sounds of shock that tried to get through. He rarely slept with anything on his wrist.

His father said nothing as he pulled medical tape out of his pocket and began wrapping it around Ulrich's wrist, far too tightly. Ulrich could feel the circulation cutting off as he did it, his father's anger making him wrap it so tightly, Ulrich wasn't even certain he'd still have his hand after this.

"You don't take that off, you hear me?" His father yelled at him. "I don't want to see that wrist of yours, and you better do your best to stop this body swapping." He turned abruptly, stomping out of Ulrich's room and leaving Ulrich breathing heavily as he moved to get dressed. Hild came in shortly after.

"Oh, I'm so sorry shatzie. I couldn't not tell him. You know how your father is. Now, let's see if we can't get this off." She had him submerge his wrist in a tub of baby oil she had kept for this purpose, and once she was satisfied it had soaked in enough, she began peeling the tape off. It hurt some, but that was more from the rushing blood as feeling returned to his fingers. "There we are," she soothed him. She wiped away the tears he hadn't realized he was crying. "Don't you worry shatzie. One day you'll be out of this house, and I promise things will get better." She smiled at him, and he tried to smile back.

He and Hild rewrapped his wrist so that he wouldn't lose his hand, and his father kept stomping into the room to check it, often yanking up his sleeve to do so. It was downright disturbing at times. It was, unfortunately, not an unexpected occurrence in this household. Ulrich didn't think he'd have made it through the day if he hadn't thought of William's words, of the way his soulmates had held him. It was a very distressing day, and Ulrich was relieved when he fell into dreamless sleep that night.

His soulmates however, did not. They converged in the dream world without him.

"Do you think Ulrich is alright?" Jeremy asked, glancing over at the spot Ulrich usually occupied.

"I hope so," William sighed, "I get the feeling his family isn't all that nice."

"Mom said he seemed really scared at first," Yumi said. "She was really worried, started telling me to be really careful about what I say to him about family. That not everyone has a loving one." She frowned. "And when I woke up, I had something tied over my wrist. Mom said Ulrich did that, and he seemed to be really weirded out by being able to see the names."

"I don't think his parents like him having a lot of soulmates," Jeremy said. "Not everyone does. There are people in my town who think it means there's something wrong with me. Maybe Ulrich's parents are like that."

"But that's ridiculous!" Odd complained.

"Maybe it is, but if it is like that, we'll have to take care of him." William said, looking sadly over at Ulrich's spot. "He's ours. We'll have to protect him."