SO - Hey guys, we're back with a new chapter of Secret of Hope, I hope you're all enjoying this story as much as Noble and I are enjoying making it! Anyway, without further ado! Enjoy!
NS - Read, laugh, enjoy. Please, if you have any jokes you'd like to suggest for Odd or any of the others, anything you find funny around or found funny in this chapter, let us know! Enjoy!
Chapter 3
As the day passed, the snow began to fall heavier, softly coating the ground in its winter clothing.
It was the 17th of December and Kadic was in the midst of preparing for Christmas, causing all the students to panic and try to cram in some last-minute shopping.
Downtown was in the height of its beauty; the snow covering the cobbled streets gave it a surreal look, and the Christmas lights and wreaths dotted here and there seemed to transform the darkened buildings into a Christmas forest. Yumi, though, having become increasingly panicked, was staring through a window at the items on display, as though determined to see some sign that it would be the perfect present. Sighing, she walked over to a bench where Odd lounged, head back and arms spread over the side.
"Ahhh…" she said, crossing her arms and sitting next to her friend, a disgruntled look on her face, "What does Ulrich even like?"
"Let's see…" Odd said, beginning to count things off on one hand, his head still drooped over the back of the bench, "He likes Lyoko, training, Japan, pencak silat…you…" The last one was muttered under his breath slyly, but still loud enough for Yumi to hear it.
"What did you say?" Yumi asked, slightly flustered as she turned to her friend.
"Hmm? Oh, yo-yos," Odd said, gesturing aimlessly, still gazing up at the sky. A snowflake landed on the base of the front of his neck, which was exposed to the winter weather, and Odd bolted upright in surprise as the icy water spread down his chest. Yumi laughed, and Odd scowled at her before realizing how funny his reaction had been as well and joining her. Odd and Yumi, unnerved by the sudden increase in Christmas activity, had gone downtown to shop, determined to finish their shopping before Christmas Eve. Odd was dressed in his normal colours and clothes - a purple hoodie, dark blue jeans with purple high tops, and his blonde hair tucked safely under a white woolly hat with a purple pattern swirling all around it. Yumi was dressed similarly, but instead of purple she wore black and refused to don a hat, despite the cold.
"Anyways, what's with all these new students that are suddenly transferring in..?" Yumi said, leaning on the bench.
Odd sighed, shrugging as his eyes wandered the square, alighting on a German pretzel stand. "We've only met three, Yumi…" Odd reminded her, his mouth beginning to salivate.
"I know…" she said, gazing at the Christmas tree which stood in the middle of the square, "But I heard there was another."
Odd nodded, beginning to lean out of his seat as the pretzels' aroma wafted towards him. "Yeah…Deane Hillard, or something like that. I overhead Sissi bragging about how "dangerous" he was – apparently he has a parole officer," Odd explained, disinterested. "But, whatever."
"Have you even seen him?" Yumi asked, continuing the conversation, but Odd shook his head.
"Who? Deane Hillard?" Odd asked beginning to turn to her, but stopped as he saw a boy standing in front of them expectantly, as though he expected them to say something.
"You're not talking about me, are you?" he said, his voice mellow.
Odd and Yumi looked at the boy, their eyes dancing across his features with practiced ease. His skin was pale, seeming to glow slightly in the snowy air, and he wore a black beanie that covered most of his hair but revealed the ends which swept across his forehead. There were two black rings on his lower lip, complimenting the clothes he wore - a purple zip up hoodie, a pair of black jeans, and black vans. Lastly, the two's eyes met his, noticing how his brown eyes swept from Odd to Yumi, and they dropped their inquisitive gaze, noticing a ripped, frayed design on one of his knees.
"You're the new student?" Odd asked, and the boy nodded.
"Yup, Deane Hilliard!" he smiled, extending his hand. Without hesitation, Odd smiled in return, and shaking his hand enthusiastically.
"Odd Della-Robbia!" Odd beamed as Deane turned from Odd to Yumi.
"Yumi Ishiyama," Yumi said, unimpressed by her new younger classman.
"It's nice to meet the two of you!" Deane said, stepping back, still smiling. "Oh, by the way, the whole Parole Officer is a huge misunderstanding."
"So you don't have one?" Yumi asked, raising her eyebrow, but Deane shook his head.
"No, I do! Just not for bad… well extremely bad reasons," Deane said as he glanced into the shop window that Yumi had been looking at. "I had no family to stay with…so they gave me a Parole Officer to look after me. That and another silly little reason - no biggie."
"So…" Yumi asked, deftly changing the subject, "Why are you in town?"
Deane tilted his head, thinking, snapping his fingers as he remembered. "Oh, right! I was looking for something to buy."
"Aren't we all."
"A present for someone?" Odd asked, deliberately ignoring Yumi's disgruntled answer.
"Nope! Since I just arrived, I don't have anyone to buy presents for," Deane said, stuffing his hands in his pockets. "Well, maybe a couple people, actually…"
"Really? Who?" Yumi asked, controlling her annoyance in not being able to find a present yet. Deane scratched his chin, debating whether to answer.
"Umm... Mikhail and Anastasia," he said before turning to look completely into the window.
"Oh, those guys…" Odd said, muttering darkly, Yumi nodding in agreement.
"Do you know them?" Deane asked, wondering what these two had against his first friends here.
Odd shook his head. "Not really, no. They're a little…"
"Weird?"
"You could say that," Yumi said, crossing her arms. Odd raised an eyebrow, elbowing her playfully.
"Ulrich?" he asked, laughing as he saw the look in her eyes. "Haha, I'm sorry, I just thought-"
"What does he see in her?" Yumi muttered darkly, not hearing him.
"Uh…Yumi?"
"Is…Yumi alright?" Deane asked, turning around, only to be perplexed by Yumi's strange behavior. Odd shrugged and stood up, eyeing the pretzel stand hungrily.
"She'll be fine…She's just jealous," he said, stretching his back. "Want to grab some hot chocolate while she cools off?"
Deane couldn't answer for a second, then he smiled; this could be a good chance to make a new friend. "Yeah, okay!" he said, walking next to Odd as he dragged Yumi to her feet.
"Cool. You guys go ahead and I'll, uh, be right behind you," Odd said, making a bee-line for the pretzel stand. Yumi and Deane stared after him for a second, then Yumi sighed, heading towards a coffee shop on the other side of the road. Stopping and looking at Deane expectantly, she jerked her head towards the shop questioningly.
"You coming?"
Deane stopped, feeling that this was a crossroads in his time at Kadic. Then, shaking off the feeling, he stepped across the road, smiling at Yumi, who returned it, wearing an amused expression. Suddenly, Odd appeared behind Yumi, a whole pretzel stuffed in his mouth and another piping hot in his hand. His face was buttery and had salt on it, but his expression was one of absolute joy.
"Oh my god…Guys, these are SO GOOD."
In the Kadic woods, two people were sitting and watching the snow falling peaceably on the world. The two were a perfect couple for one another, and even the clothes they wore seemed to complement the other. Both wore short, fabric jackets that were perfect for the winter chill, and though the boy wore long, pale trousers, the girl wore a skirt with tights, seemingly oblivious to the cold. One of the boy's arms was wrapped around the girl, and she leaned casually into his shoulder, as though it were the most natural thing in the world for them. Steam rose from the hot chocolate she cradled in her gloved hands, and she blew on it softly, raising it to her lips to drink now and then. After a long pause between sips, she turned to look the boy in the eye, becoming even closer to him as she did so.
"Mikhail…" she began, looking him in the eye, and he laughed at her serious expression, pressing his lips to her forehead as a small blush and smile crept across her face, a small but honest expression.
"Haha, yes, Anastasia?" he said, smiling encouragingly at her. She blushed a little deeper, happy as always to be with him, and continued, her tone a little less harsh than before.
"Are you enjoying this school?"
Mikhail breathed out a few times, his breath misting in the air, considering her question. "Mhm…There's something about this school that intrigues me, as though there's something hidden that wants me to discover it."
Anastasia nodded, leaning into the crook of his shoulder again. "I feel the same way."
"Ulrich Stern…What do you think of him?" the boy asked, barely containing his mirth as a smile threatened to break out across his features.
"He's close to the Japanese girl," Anastasia replied absentmindedly, her tone once again bored.
"He's involved with this, isn't he?"
"Obviously. What do you want to do?"
Mikhail didn't respond for a minute, then shrugged, Anastasia's head moving with his shoulders. "Nothing, for now. There's no need, anyhow."
Anastasia nodded, then leaned up and kissed Mikhail on the cheek, spreading color across his pale features from the place where her lips touched, and sat contentedly back down.
"I trust you, Mikhail."
Ulrich, Aelita and Jeremie sat in Aelita's room, surrounded by mountains of wrapping paper. Tape and pens were strewn across the floor, and Aelita had brought Kiwi in for some reason, who was now rolling around and generally getting in the way of everything.
"I honestly can't wrap presents at all…" Ulrich said through his teeth as he attempted to remove cello tape from his hand. "Stop it, Kiwi!" Aelita giggled at the sight of Ulrich's frustration, and Jeremie smiled at the sight of the capable Lyoko warrior brought low by tape.
"So let me get this straight," Jeremie said, pushing up his glasses, "you fought Xana's toughest monsters, took down the Kolossus nearly completely without assistance, while fighting the virtual evil embodiment of Xana himself, William, on its shoulder, yet the fearsome Lyoko warrior 'Ulrich Stern' can't wrap a Christmas present?" Jeremie teased, Ulrich scowled darkly at the wrapping paper as Jeremie and Aelita giggled.
"At least I'm not scared to go to Lyoko!" Ulrich said, flicking Jeremie across the nose and bursting out laughing with Aelita.
"Touché!" Jeremie smiled, joining in the laughing, the trio continued to talk as they wrapped presents, delving even deeper into the festive spirits as Aelita began to DJ their wrapping session, lightening the mood with some of the Christmas songs off of her laptop. The three joined in a few hilarious renditions of carols, with Ulrich getting progressively worse, much to the amusement of Aelita and Jeremie, until they were startled by a knock on the door.
"Oh!" Aelita said, flicking off the music and rushing to the door, singing a greeting. "Whooo is ittt?"
"HO HO HO," Odd's voice boomed from the other side of the door. "You young whippersnappers! Let me in, or I'll smuggle toys through your chimney!"
Smiling, Aelita opened the door, and Odd, Yumi, and a boy she had never seen before piled in the room. She saw Ulrich hiding the present he had just been wrapping out of the corner of her eye, and she grinned, turning to the newcomers. "So! Who's this?"
"This is Deane Hilliard, another new student but this one lives across the hall from us - just a few doors down!" Odd beamed, practically smacking his new friend on the back. Ulrich saw Jeremie and Aelita tense up, but he leaned towards Yumi, asking her in a clear, carrying whisper the question most everyone wanted to know.
"How much did he have this time to make him like this?"
Yumi opened her mouth to answer, but Odd butted in, holding up both hands and smiling for all his might. "Only 7 cups of hot chocolate and three pretzels, Ulrich good buddy!" he said proudly, and Ulrich sighed, faking disappointment.
"Really, Odd…I expected more from you," he said, laying his hands on his best friend's shoulder. "Next time, make it a solid ten cups!" he finished, immediately perking Odd up again.
"Yes! Let's do it!"
At this time, though, Jeremie butted in, exchanging glances with Yumi and Aelita. "Deane Hillard? The one who has a parole officer?"
Yumi opened her mouth to answer, but Deane stepped forward quickly to reassure Jeremie. "Don't worry - it's not for anything bad! I just don't have any family members in this country, so they had to give me one; don't worry!" Deane said smiling, Aelita let out a sigh of relief, and Yumi shrugged at Jeremie. Apparently this had already been explained to her in this manner. Following Yumi's example, Jeremie shrugged, and directed his next question at Odd.
"So, Odd, how did you guys meet?" he asked, returning to wrapping presents.
Odd spread his fingers, giggling, and gestured to Yumi, who bent down next to him, also spreading her fingers. Leaning in close to Jeremie, they whispered very loudly.
"…Magic!"
Jeremy scowled at the two, who had both burst out laughing, Yumi having regained her sense of humor, and the two comedians sat down on either side of Aelita. Ulrich shook Deane's hand, and sat with him in an open spot. Once they were all seated, Aelita spoke, smiling broadly at Deane, who smiled back at her.
"Well, welcome to Kadic!"
"Thank you!" Deane replied, regretting having to get up so quickly after being asked to sit down. "Well, it was nice meeting you guys, but I better go finish unpacking my bags," he said, turning to walk out. As he left, waving off the offers of hospitality, he paused, looking at a drawing pinned to Aelita's wall.
"Hey. I've seen this before," he said, tapping the picture. Aelita's breath caught, and the gang understood that it was bad; Deane was looking at something distinctly Lyoko-related Aelita had drawn, obviously. Looking closer, Odd saw that he was pointing at the picture of the gang that Odd had drawn a couple of years ago, preserved forever as a testimony to their unbreakable bonds. More importantly, he was pointing at the symbol that Odd had drawn in the top corner; that symbol.
Xana's symbol.
"I doubt that," Jeremie said evenly, glancing at the worried faces of his friends. "It's an original, you know."
"Not the drawing, the symbol in the corner," Deane said, shaking his head. Silence reigned seemingly forever, before Odd stood up.
"You might want to sit down," he said, gesturing to the bed. Once Deane had done so, he asked the question on all of their minds. "Where have you seen that symbol?"
"Last year," Deane said, jumping straight in, wanting to solve this mystery as much as his new friends, "my Parole Officer got me a job with one of his friends in some lab in the city I used to live in, I've been in so many since then I don't remember which anymore. One day, though, I was staying late to clean up my station, when I heard a noise coming from my boss's room just down the hall. Naturally, I went to check it out," Deane explained, the gang leaning in, absorbed in his story.
"I walked in and noticed the computer on his desk was on. When I walked over to turn it off, thinking that my boss had just made a mistake in leaving it on for the night, I saw that symbol flashing on the screen," He said gesturing to Xana's eye. "I tried finding out what it was, but as soon as I touched the key board I got a huge electric shock that hurt my arm," he said, pulling up his sleeve to reveal the bandage, small slivers of burnt skin trailing off from the main burn. The group of friends nodded in understanding, exchanging glances.
"Suddenly, my boss came in and when he looked at my arm, he told me to leave, and that was that," he said, shrugging. "What is it, anyways? It's so weird."
"It's, uh…a Greek symbol!" Odd smiled, using his best convincing tone. "It's kind of like a fraternity symbol for a bunch of different companies, I guess. Pretty common, even Jim has one," he said, shrugging and jerking his thumb towards Jim's room, near the staircase. Deane shrugged, and the tension in the room lessened considerably.
"Cool! Anyway, I've really got to go unpack, so I'll see you guys later?" Deane said, exiting as swiftly as he had come.
The gang waited until they had heard his footsteps recede down the hall, then let out a huge sigh of relief.
"That was close…good excuse, Odd!" Ulrich said, patting Odd on the back. Odd smirked at him, apparently over his sugar rush.
"It's what I do."
"Anyway…he seems nice!" Aelita smiled, changing the topic, and Odd and Yumi both nodded.
"We went for hot chocolate with him, he's honestly really nice! People like him are so misunderstood…" Yumi said, sighing in exasperation with, presumably, those who would mistake Deane's having a Parole Officer because of his criminal history and not personal problems. Odd nodded in agreement.
"Maybe," Odd began, glancing sideways at Yumi, "if we get to know him better, he could become part of the group. He was telling us that he trains for archery, after all - that could be helpful in our dealing with Xana," Odd said, holding his hands up peaceably as Yumi went to say something. "It's just an idea."
"I was actually going to agree with you," Yumi said, crossing her arms. "The problem with William is that we waited too long, until there was actually a crisis that we couldn't deal with. If we trained Deane now, while it's relatively quiet, we might be able to take Xana by surprise, even."
"I'll tell you what." Jeremie started, once the group was over the sudden change of Yumi's outlook of exclusivity for the group. "We'll get to know him better, and if he seems like he'd be helpful to us, we'll train him, ok?" Jeremie asked, the others nodding in consensus.
"Great. Now, let's wrap some presents!"
"Aelita!" Odd called, pulling out sunglasses from somewhere, their dark shades mirroring the ones Aelita had just pulled on. "Hit it!"
As the music started blaring happily throughout the room, Ulrich and Yumi shook their heads in amazement, Jeremie smiled knowingly. "Where did you even get the sunglasses from?"
Odd held up a hand, and Aelita struggled to control her laughter, succeeding mostly because of the music playing. "Ask not, know not, my friend."
"That's why I'm asking!"
Deane made his way down the hallway one floor below the room he had just been invited into. As he pushed open the door to his room, he heard his stomach growling.
"Of course you're hungry!" Deane whispered, smiling. "You're always hungry." He turned, though, closing the door on the piles of boxes needing to be unpacked, and made his way down the hall, descending swiftly to the courtyard. He pushed the door open and smiled as snow fell softly onto his face, making his way towards the canteen, content with walking through the snow than running, as he normally would. As he neared the canteen, he noticed someone walking down the steps – and he also noticed the ice which coated them, turning the stairs into a slippery deathtrap. He began moving quickly to warn her, but as he neared her, she put her foot on the last step, causing herself to slip. As she began to fall backwards, she let out a scream and tensed, ready to fall into the snow but opened her eyes as she felt someone catch her.
She ran her eyes over her saviour, across his deep brown eyes, over the two black rings on his lips, the way his hair seemed to perfectly sweep across his face, and she quickly found herself blushing. Deane helped her stand up straight before letting her go, their fingers brushing against the other's as they parted.
"Thank you so much!" Emily said, attempting to cover her blush. Deane smiled, taking it as her face being red from the cold.
"You're welcome; the ice can be very slippery! You have to be careful," Deane smiled at her. Nodding, she brushed her red hair out of her eyes nervously.
"I know…I wasn't being careful at all; thanks again!" Emily smiled, Deane smiled again, moving to step past her to the canteen.
"I'll see you later I suppose!" he said, waving, and Emily nodded, turning and beginning to walk away. She got half way across the courtyard before she heard Deane calling after her.
"Hey! I never caught your name!" he called, a blush creeping up on his face, even from this distance. Emily also felt her face burning up, but cupped her hands to reply to him.
"Emily Autumns," she called, watching him as he tilted his head to commit her name to memory.
"Deane Hilliard," Deane called in response. Emily beamed at him before waving, walking off. Smiling himself, Deane walked into the canteen and closed the door, letting out a deep breath.
"Wow…"
Nearby, the door to the dorms, swung closed, Emily leaning against them, smiling.
"Wow…"
Across the courtyard, leaning against the same tree that they had for the past few hours, two people watched the scene between Deane and Emily unfold.
"Scandalous…" Anastasia said around the stick of pokey in her mouth. In a few short bites, the delicious chocolate rod had been reduced to nothing.
"I don't see how," Mikhail said fondly, pulling out another pokey from the box. "It's normal for people such as this, and don't you think they'd make a good couple? (say ah-hn)."
Anastasia looked at the pro-offered pokey, color coming into her cheeks in excitement as she bit down on the chocolate. "Ah-hn." Mikhail was intrigued, as always, by the degree of fondness with which she pursued sweets. "I suppose."
"Will you be able to attend school when it starts again?" Mikhail asked, a slight edge coming into his voice as he worried about her. Anastasia didn't deign to respond, nodding curtly, as though something that would be obvious.
"If you are."
"Your body, though-"
"-is fine," Anastasia finished for him, glaring, as though daring him to oppose her. Laughing, at her expression, he swept down, kissing her full on the mouth for the first time since arriving at Kadic. Pulling away, he saw color high in her cheeks as it always was when he surprised her like that, and he laughed again.
"Then I assume it was fine for me to do that, then?"
"Stupid…" Anastasia said, blushing deeper. "Someone would see us."
"What's wrong with that?" Mikhail said, raising an eyebrow.
"It's not proper," Anastasia muttered, and Mikhail laughed softly.
"Well, princess, since we're not around aristocracy, and presumably won't be for quite a while, we can do whatever we want," he laughed again. "To think that the heir apparent to the Winterrose house would be brought to stuttering by a mere kiss…I feel cheated, princess."
"I hate you," Anastasia said, initiating the kiss this time. Pulling away, she looked him in the eye. "and I'm going to teach you a lesson tomorrow for this; you better be prepared."
Mikhail inclined his head, still elegant - bearing undisturbed by any of the proceedings. "The usual, I presume. I look forward to it."
SO - Well that was Chapter 4! Hope you liked it! Leave a couple of reviews and let us know what you think!
NS - Haha, that was fun to write. Once again, another Thursday release, despite finals, so you'd better appreciate our dedication! Most of the credit goes to ShadowOdd, though, so give him a hand! Review, and as always, I love you guys~
Quotes
ShadowOdd - "I GIVE UP! I GET UP TO GO TO THE TOILET AND MY SISTER SPILLED COFFEE ON IT! I'M SO MAD OH MY GOD *breathing heavily*" (while working on a cover image for the story)
Noble Scotsman - "I WANT PEOPLE TO REVIEW AND BE LIKE, 'SCINTILLATING MY DEAR FELLOWS, ABSOLUTELY SCINTILLATING'" (commenting on the post-BETA version of ch.3)