A/N: This chapter has been ready, but I have been brainstorming just in case I wanted to add anything.

Thank you to those who reviewed! Thank you to the readers who did not review as well!

Hope you enjoy this chapter as well.

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Chapter 2: Dog House

"What do you mean he isn't attending Kadic anymore?!" Ulrich demanded.

"Just as I said, Mr. Stern," Principal Delmas responded. "Odd Dellarobia is no longer attending Kadic Academy. I got a request from his father to remove him and I, of course, obliged."

"But...but-" Ulrich stammered.

"He can't just not attend school here anymore!" Aelita said, shocked, but finally finding her voice.

Mr. Delmas just stared at her, his fingertips pressed together, resting underneath his nose. It appeared as though he was listening, but there was nothing he could do about the matter. The gang knew that, but they were desperate for answers.

The grey-haired man sighed and said, "I'm sorry, kids, but there is nothing I can do. It is not my responsibility or duty to call Mr. Dellarobia and tell him his son should attend my school again."

Ulrich opened his mouth, but closed it as he heard the door to the office open.

"Daddy! I-oh..." Sissi burst into the office with a smile on her face, but it was replaced with a surprised expression. "Hey!"

"Hey, Sissi," Aelita greeted, though rather glumly.

It was still strange having Sissi treat them like her friends and vice versa. While they had all become friends, however, she still sported a big attitude.

She put her hands on her hips and said, "Hey, what's with the cold shoulder? I thought we were friends!"

"We are, Sissi," Jeremie said. "It's just-"

"As much as I wish you all would continue this conversation, I would appreciate it if you continued it outside my office," Mr. Delmas said, looking at them over his glasses.

"Uh, right. Sorry, daddy," Sissi said as the gang walked past her out of the office. "H-hey! Wait!"

Sissi followed her gang of new friends out of the office and shut the door. Mr. Delmas felt some sympathy for the group. After all, he knew how close they all were. Yet, it was out of his control, so he simply continued on with his paper work.

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"No way! Really?" Sissi asked, after hearing about the situation.

"Really, really," Yumi answered.

"Why?"

Sissi wanted all of the answers that no one else knew how to answer; they were also the answers that Jeremie, Ulrich, Aelita, and Yumi wanted.

"We don't know," Jeremie responded, looking at the ground.

Sissi did not know how to respond. It was strange that the spiky-haired boy was not returning to Kadic, let alone that he had not told any of his closest friends. She then looked out at the courtyard and noticed that there were no longer any students left outside due to the time of evening. Sissi looked at the clock on her phone and saw that it was 8:00 pm.

"I better head inside. It's getting close to curfew," Sissi said.

She started to head inside, but noticed Ulrich's demeanor. He was leaning against a pillar with his arms crossed, staring at the ground. His expression was that of puzzlement and seriousness. There was even a hint of anger as well.

"Ul-" Sissi began, reaching her hand out to him, but Yumi interrupted.

"He's fine," Yumi snapped rather aggressively.

The Japanese girl still did not trust Sissi around Ulrich, though, this feeling confused her because Ulrich was not even hers to begin with. The very thought almost made her blush.

Sissi fought the urge to glare and snap at Yumi, and turned around. Once Sissi was inside, Aelita glanced at Yumi. She caught her pink-haired friend's glance.

"What?"

"Nothing," Aelita said, resisting the urge to smile.

Jeremie put his hand on Ulrich's shoulder, causing him to look up.

"We will figure this out," Jeremie said, reassuringly.

"And maybe we do. That doesn't mean that Odd will come back," Ulrich said.

"Maybe not, but at least we will have figured this out," Jeremie responded. "We won't have to be in the dark anymore."

"Why the hell has he left us in the dark anyway?" Ulrich snapped. "It doesn't make any sense!"

Jeremie listened to Ulrich's angry burst and put his hands in his pockets. He closed his eyes, feeling more concern than anger, unlike Ulrich. Why hadn't any of them heard from Odd in months? It would be one thing if it was just for the Summer, but since he had been gone? That was not like Odd at all.

"What do you think, Jeremie?" Yumi asked, concern lacing her voice.

Everyone was looking at him for answers now; even Ulrich had his eyes on him. It was part of being the voice of reason. Whenever there was a problem in the group that no one could piece together or make any sense of, Jeremy was the one to turn to. Perhaps it was because he was the most intelligent in the group. Perhaps it was the fact that he was the one that pretty much started their group of friendship in the first place when he turned on the supercomputer. Maybe it was because he had found the nearly-impossible way to materialize Aelita into the real world. Possibly it was all of these reasons. Jeremie was not sure.

He also was not sure why Odd was not there with them in that moment, and why he had not contacted any of them; especially Ulrich.

"To be honest...I'm pretty worried, guys," Jeremie said as he looked up at his friends. "I'm sure we'll find some answers, but...I'm worried about what the answer could be."

There was a moment of silence before Jeremie spoke again.

"I know that may seem like I'm just borrowing trouble but-"

"We understand, Jeremie," Aelita said. "We're all worried too."

"I'm not. I'm pissed," Ulrich said, crossing his arms.

Yumi narrowed her eyes at him as Aelita looked down at the ground.

"Well, we won't find anything out tonight," Jeremie said, straightening up. "We should all just go to bed and figure out our first moves tomorrow over breakfast."

Everyone nodded in agreement. Aelita and Jeremie began walking toward the doors, but Ulrich stayed where he stood.

"Need someone to walk you back?" Ulrich asked Yumi, receiving a smirk.

"And have you get a week of detention from Jim on the first week of school because you were out past curfew?" Yumi said teasingly.

"Good point. Still, text me when you get home."

"Will do."

"Get home safe, Yumi!" Aelita called after her.

Yumi waved over her shoulder.

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Ulrich was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. He could hear cars passing by on the street, the leaves on the trees rustling softly in the wind, and a door shut in the hallway.

These sounds were not nearly enough to drown out his thoughts.

He had lied when he told the others he was not worried about his best friend. Of course he was. Yet, he could not help but be angry as well.

Were they really that disposable? Sure, X.A.N.A was gone, but that didn't mean their friendship had to be over as well.

Ulrich rolled over onto his side so he could see Odd's bed. It was empty; even lacking sheets. It was just a bare mattress with the duvet folded at the foot of the bed, awaiting a tenant.

Ulrich sighed and rolled over to face the wall.

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Mr. Delmas watched the television in his office the following morning. A hot cup of coffee let out a steady stream of steam. Jim, who had gone to fetch the cup of coffee, watched the television as well. They both held grim expressions.

"More accounts of child and teenage bodies being found throughout the area," the reporter said. "These findings are not only disturbing, but puzzling as well. While some of these cases have been solved, a majority remain a mystery."

The screen was switching between scenes of investigators bending down in grass, inspecting a crime scene. Almost all of the areas had yellow "DO NOT CROSS" tape.

"We ask that everyone keep their children in doors at all times until these events come to an end. I advise teachers to keep a close eye on their students, no matter what grade. The ages have so far ranged from eight years of age to seventeen years of age. If anyone has any information regarding these occurrences, please contact the police. We will have more information on these incidents as soon as-"

Mr. Delmas turned off the television.

"What should we do, sir?" Jim asked seriously.

Mr. Delmas sighed and looked at the picture on his desk of him and Sissi. He did not want anything to happen to the students at his school, yet the thought he absolutely could not bare was if anything happened to his daughter.

"Keep a close eye on all of the students," Mr. Delmas said. "I will be holding a conference to talk to all of the teachers about watching the students between classes."

"Won't that make some of the students suspicious?" Jim asked. "Or, don't you think it will worry them?"

"In my opinion, the more worried the better," Mr. Delmas said. "Especially for the mischievous ones in particular."

Jim could think of a few students right off the bat as soon as Mr. Delmas said that; one of them being Odd Dellarobbia, but that was just one student he did not have to worry about anymore.

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Rain poured hard down from the sky and onto the ground. The drops pelted the tarps, tents, and campers. Hardly anyone could be seen outside in such weather. The only people who ventured outside were ones who sat under awnings and smoked cigarettes and cigars. Others were drinking liquor.

In front of a couple of the shelters were dog houses.

Four men were smoking, drinking, and talking underneath an awning attached to a camper. Occasionally they would laugh about something.

Next to this shelter was a Teardrop camper. A lantern was hanging up inside and could be seen from outside emitting light.

"Dumbass," said the blonde man with a gruff tone and slightly Italian accent. "If you would behave this wouldn't keep happening."

No response.

The man had a cigarette between his teeth, which added more odor to the already musky stench of the small camper. A small window was cracked open only a little, though not nearly enough to release the scent of blood, dirt, and smoke.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

"You may still be a dumbass, but I feel like you were even less of one before I made you a Cager," he said.

No response.

A blonde boy with a purple streak in his hair sat on the floor on his knees with a blank expression. His eyes held dark bags underneath and seemingly no life. There were multiple cuts and bruises covering his body. Blood was dripping from a cut on his lip. There as also blood coming from both nostrils. The red liquid dripped onto his hands.

The black combat boots, black jeans, and dark maroon tank top he always wore were wet from the rain. The three stud belts that were always layered and hung loosely on his waist were in the blonde man's hand. There were specks of blood on the two belts that had the silver studs. The other belt had black studs, so it was not as noticeable, but surely had a decent amount of blood speckled on it as well.

The boy was still silent and staring blankly at the man's shoes.

"Tch."

The belts were tossed at the boy and they landed on the concrete floor in front of him.

"Put those back on," the man ordered. "Can't have you slacking on your uniform."

The boy obeyed. He stood up silently and put the belts back on his waist and they once again hung slanted partway down his left thigh. His outfit was once again complete. The shirt was too big on his malnourished frame per usual, but appeared even larger with the wetness.

"Get outside and into your damn house," the man ordered.

Once again, the boy obeyed and went outside. He crawled inside the dog house and pulled the tarp down like a curtain over the open area.

The men that were smoking and drinking barely took any notice of him. They were not ones to keep their Cagers in a dog house outside, especially on a rainy day like this, but they minded their own business.

The man grumbled and stomped back inside the camper.

For the short time he had gone back outside, the rain had ran some of the blood of of his bony frame. Though, there were still spots that the belts had whipped that were continuing to bleed.

The rain pelted the ground and the shelters hard. The men next door continued laughing.

There was a boy about his age staring at his dog house from where he sat underneath an awning at his own camper. His master was, of course, inside, and not allowing him inside as well.

Odd stared at the wall of his small shelter for a few moments before closing his eyes.

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