Chapter four! Yay! Yea, nothing much to say but… Enjoy!

--

Odd poked his head around the corner, wondering if it was safe from his angry brunet friend.

"Hi Odd." Greeted a familiar voice from behind him, causing him to jump.

"Aelita! You shouldn't creep up on people." Odd huffed, turning to face her.

"And you shouldn't taunt Ulrich so much, but you still do it." Aelita quipped.

"Am I safe?" Odd asked.

"For the most part, whoever took the picture isn't though." Aelita replied with an evil grin, "Do you happen to know who it was?"

Odd raised an eyebrow, "Picture? What picture are we talking about?"

"What, you don't know?" Aelita put her hands on her hips, "Are you serious? Theo found a picture of Ulrich on top of you. You two share a dorm, do you know how embarrassing this is going to be for the both of you? You don't have much left of an ego, so I don't think it'll hurt you much." She glanced away, "But poor Ulrich, he's so quiet; everyone's gonna just-- take what they see from the picture."

Odd snickered, "Oh, Oh Ulrich." He put a hand on his forehead in awe, "I'm so sorry. You're so quiet. Oh, Ulrich! I love you!"

"Ahh, Odd. I didn't know you felt that way about me." Ulrich strolled past the corner. Odd was about to sprint the other way, but his closest friend grabbed his collar, "Odd, I'm not gonna kill you. I have something worse to worry about. Apparently, Theo found--"

"A not-so-good picture of the two of us; Yeah, I heard." Odd finished.

"Do you have any idea who could've done that?"

Odd tapped his chin, "Just one."

Ulrich motioned for him to go on.

"To the girl's hallway!"

XxX

"WHAT?!" Riku jumped up, absolutely furious, "What do you mean you let him kiss you? Do you know that he's gonna think that you're gonna give him another chance?"

Yumi sighed, "He didn't really give me a choice."

"Oh yeah, Kiss me or I'll shoot." Riku wriggled his hands for the effect, "Yumi! You don't still like him do you? You can't still like him; he's bad news!"

"Riku! Why are you hating on William so much? He's a good guy; he means well." Yumi was quick to defend her ex-boyfriend.

Her dad answered, "No guy means well, Yumi. I thought I taught you better than that." He sat between his daughter and her friend, "Well, your mom and I were talking, and we decided to tell you your surprise."

"OH REALLY? Tell! Tell, Tell, Tell!" Yumi was jumping up and down like a little girl; that even Riku had to give her a look.

"We've decided that you have wants too-- and that you can visit anywhere you want for a month; BUT your mother will come with you AND you must do your research and find a place and stay and how it'll be and all that."

Yumi screamed in pure joy, "Thank you dad! You're the best!" She ran upstairs, forgetting she left dad and friend together.

Riku smiled awkwardly at his best friend's father, "Um, hi Mr. Ishiyama."

"Yeah, you. Have we talked yet?"

"About how I will be nothing more than just a normal friend to your precious little angel? Yes, yes we have."

Mr. Ishiyama smiled and pat Riku's head, "Good boy."

Riku snarled, "Who you should really be talking to is William Dunbar."

Mr. Ishiyama quickly ran back, "Who?"

He smiled, "William. William Dunbar."

XxX

"So, we going for the camera or Ms. World?" Theo asked as he trotted carefully down the girl's hall.

"Right now, I'm thinking camera." Odd stated.

"Camera's most likely." Ulrich agreed.

"You are such boys." Aelita scoffed.

"What?" Odd asked, "We're talking in code."

"Code so easy a caveman could guess what you were talking about." Aelita retorted.

"Ugga Ugga." Odd stated.

Aelita rolled her eyes. "Boys." She muttered, "Seriously."

"Is their dorm there or there?" Ulrich asked, indicating the two doors closest.

"That one." Aelita stated, pointing to the door directly to their left.

Ulrich knocked.

"Hello?" Came a voice from the other side of the door.

"Hey, can we talk to you?" Ulrich asked.

There was the sound of feet and the door unlocking before the dark-skinned head of Tamiya popped around the door, smiling nervously.

"Talk about what?" asked Tamiya innocently.

"A picture." Ulrich stated, "You wouldn't know anything about this would you?" He held out the picture.

The door opened wider as a young red-head appeared beside Tamiya to look at the picture.

After a little glance at the picture and another look at each other, the two younger girls stepped away and were about to slam the door shut, but Ulrich, being the strong boy he is, quickly shouldered the door.

"You know?" He said, fighting the two girls to keep the door open.

Tamiya and Milly knew that, even together, they couldn't fight Ulrich off when it came to this.

"Yes." Milly finally cracked, tears in her eyes. She saw how angry Ulrich was at her; and even though the younger girl wouldn't admit anything, she had secretly admired him from afar, "I'm sorry!"

"Aww, don't cry." Aelita soothed, "Just, why'd you take the picture?" She walked into their dorm room, kneeled, and hugged the on-the-verge-of-crying girl.

Tamiya looked up at the three boys, "We were just walking around campus, and we saw Ulrich chasing you, Odd. We didn't find anything about it; but then Sissi- she told us that we should follow you and--"

"Sissi." Theo growled, "We should've known."

Odd put a hand on his forehead, "To the OTHER SIDE of the girl's hallway!"

"Thanks girls," Ulrich said with a smile, retreating to the hallway, "We'll teach Sissi a lesson."

"Don't worry," Aelita said with a wink, "Nobody blames you."

Milly gave a sniffle and a nod as Aelita stood to follow the boys towards Sissi's dorm.

"What did you do that for?" Tamiya asked her red-headed friend.

"Do you want to take the blame if the angry party is Ulrich?" Milly asked.

"True," Tamiya mused, "But Sissi's gonna kill us."

Milly bit her lip, "Either way, we lose."

XxX

Yumi had printed about forty of her favorite places, "Paris, Rome, New York, Palm Springs…" She listed the places she picked out to Riku, as he picked up maps.

"Australia, Bahamas, Brazil, Chile, Might as well put The whole dang world." He finally gave up on reading all of them, "I suggest Paris, I've been there once, a couple summers ago." Riku glanced out into space, remembering the enjoyment he had there, "It's a very pretty place. Pretty romantic…"

Yumi sighed, "You got a girl to make out with you, huh?"

"Yep!" He wasn't very shy about it either, "At least she's prettier than the girls here in Japan."

Yumi coughed.

"OTHER THAN YOU, Yumi!" Riku added, holding his hands up to stop her if she were to attack him, "You know, you look ravishing in that outfit today."

"Oh, my ravishing dearest. You better get out of my room before I hurt you."

Riku rolled his eyes, "You wouldn't hurt me, I'm your friend."

Yumi giggled, and pointed to his leg, "May I direct you to the bruise?"

He stayed silent for awhile, "Yeah, okay bye Yumi!" He hopped up and walked up to the door, "Oh, and you really shouldn't hang around William anymore…"

Yumi sighed, "I know you don't like him, Riku, but—"

"You should listen to your friend here, Yumi."

The said girl looked up, about to back-sass who ever was taking Riku's side, before she saw who was in the hallway, "… Oh, hi dad…"

XxX

"Sissi," Ulrich said shortly as her door swung open to reveal the black haired self proclaimed princess of the school.

"Hello Ulrich dear, what a surprise," Sissi said with girlish fake surprise.

"But it's not a surprise at all, is it Sissi?" Odd piped up, stepping from behind Ulrich.

"Della Robbia," Sissi scoffed, "I though that Ulrich would have finished you off by now."

"I found a better target." Ulrich stated nonchalantly, "You know about this picture?" He shoved the picture towards her face, while leaning on her doorframe, preventing any slamming doors.

"Why don't you ask the shutterbugs down the hall?" Sissi huffed, "They're the ones with the camera."

"Why don't you own up to your own actions rather than pointing blame on other people?" Aelita challenged.

"We know you told them to take the picture Sissi." Theo stated, crossing his arms.

"So what if I did? They listened to me." Sissi scoffed.

"You're despicable Sissi." Aelita hissed.

Theo gave Aelita a girls-are-so-overdramatic glance as he stepped towards Sissi's door.

Odd, who was closest to the pink-haired girl, gently snaked his fingers through her tight fist, loosening it and grasping her hand; calming the girl so that she was less likely to start an unnecessary fight.

"Touchy touchy." Sissi scoffed, throwing Aelita a 'keep your shirt on' glance as she leaned closer to the door, she turned, smiling with innocent maliciousness at Ulrich.

"Maybe I did tell them to, what can you do about it?"

"We can tell Jim." Ulrich replied smugly.

"That buffoon? What's he gonna do huh? Go running to my father? That'll help your cause." Sissi sneered.

"Elizabeth!" Roared an all too familiar voice, "If I've heard correctly you've been treating the younger kids unfairly?"

"Buffoon huh?" Theo grinned, "Sure looks like it now doesn't he?"

XxX

"But Dad," Yumi pleaded, "William's harmless, really."

"That's not what Riku told me." Takeo replied quickly, "I only want you to be safe."

"I know, I know," Yumi sighed, "That's all you ever want." She put her chin on her wrist, staring down at the mountain of papers she had printed earlier, shuffling through them to take her mind away from her father's newest lecture.

Her father stayed silent, looking at his daughter- he didn't like yelling at her; but why can't she understand that boys are just no good?

"You know, I can't always tell you what to do." He sighed, thinking about that really killed him, "I'm just trying to direct you in the right path so you'll live the great life you deserve on your own."

Yumi shot her glance back at her father- and cracked a smile, "Dad, I know you think William's a real bad person, and that boys are bad and all. So—should I completely ignore you and Hiroki? I mean, being boys and all."

His face turned stern again, "Don't play with me, Yumi." After another second or two of silence, he asked, "So, did you pick a place to stay?"

Yumi grinned, "Well Dad, I wasn't really sure, so I had Riku help me decide. He recommended Paris. Since it's romantic and sweet and beautiful and… stuff."

"And… stuff." He repeated carefully, "I see."

She glanced around for a while, "May I… go write a letter to my penpal?"

"That boy in France…" Mr. Ishiyama stopped- it clicked. He must've been the reason she wanted to go there, "He's your reasoning for visiting Paris, huh?"

Yumi flushed, "What?! NO!" She cried in embarrassment, "Riku recommended it- and the more I think about it, the more I want to go! You said I could go anywhere."

Takeo sighed, knowing that he must uphold his promise, "I just want you to be careful."

"I will be." Yumi reassured her father, "I promise."

XxX

"You know," Odd started- Ulrich, Aelita and Theo facepalmed, anything out of his mouth while walking to lunch is never good, "... if Sissi really wanted that picture to spread through the school, why didn't she like- tape a whole bunch of copies of them around the school?"

"Because, unlike you, she thought it out." Aelita snarled back.

"Well, think about it. That's be quicker right? And... wait. If she did, it'd make her look horrible. IN LOVE WIH A GAY GUY." Odd chanted.

Ulrich sighed, "You know, I'm gonna go back to my dorm real fast, pick up Jeremie, and come back. Alright?"

"Alright, Ulrich." Aelita waved to her friend as she and the two other boys sprinted for the lunch line.

The young German stalked back to his dorm- after that catastrophe, he finally had time to write his penpal back. Now... what was the last thing she'd written him?

"Soccer, right," Ulrich muttered, pulling out the letter as well as a piece of paper.

Dear Yumi,

I'm sorry to hear-

Scrub that, don't sound like a soft girl; she wouldn't like that, or would she? Arghhhhh.

My roommate trying to read my letters is bad enough; it's a good thing he's like a cow. Multiple stomachs. You're lucky people there don't know French, everyone here knows French, go figure, it is France after all.

Ulrich sighed, now came the answer to the dreaded question, his parents.

My parents? I don't normally talk about them. Or think about them. They set impossibly high goals. Never would I get a reward, it's just expected. Speaking of rewards, any news on yours?

"Ulrich?" There came a knock at the door.

"Yes?" Ulrich replied, folding the letter and stuffing it into an envelope.

"You coming to lunch any day now?" Jeremie asked, opening the door to peek inside.

"Yea, I'm coming now." Ulrich muttered, throwing the envelope down on his bed to mail later.

"And I thought I was hopeless with remembering to eat." Jeremie muttered.

"There are two times of privacy," Ulrich explained, "When Odd thinks that I'm going to kill him, and when Odd is distracted by food."

XxX

Yumi sighed as she clicked at yet another link to a hotel in Paris. She'd been searching for a good hour now, hotels, things to do, places to eat, it was all getting to be a bore, even if she had succeeded in finding and booking a flight.

"Yumi," Came her mother's voice, "Phone for you."

Yumi turned away from the computer, taking the phone from her mother she disappeared into her bedroom with the phone.

"Hello?" Yumi said uncertainly as she leaned against her bedroom door.

"Yumi?" Replied an all too familiar voice.

"Hi William." Yumi said, "Consider yourself lucky that my mom answered the phone."

"You're father never did like me." William mused, "But that's not why I called."

"Why did you call then?" Yumi asked.

"Break starts pretty soon," William stated, "Friday actually. You want to go see a movie or something?"

"Sorry William, I really am, I have a red-eye to catch." Yumi replied.

"Oh?" William asked.

"I'm flying to Paris for break." Yumi explained.

"Isn't that where your penpal lives?" William asked apprehensively.

"Yea, why?" Yumi retorted defensively, "It's a once in a lifetime opportunity."

"You don't even know the guy." William scoffed, "What does your father think of him?"

"I know him better than you do." Yumi huffed, "And you can't use my father against me, since he doesn't approve of you either."

"Shall we see a movie another night then?" William asked.

"No." Yumi said flatly, "Bye William."

She hung up the phone, throwing it onto her bed as she huffed, sliding down the door to sit with a 'thud' on the floor.

XxX

"Look who decided to eat today!" Odd snickered when Jeremie and Ulrich had finally sat down with their trays.

"Of course, Ulrich knocked on my door and told me to go." Jeremie rather lazily sipped his drink, "But when I came back, he was writing to his Japanese lover."

"PENPAL." Ulrich roared- ever since Odd had caught him writing a letter to her, everyone agreed that Yumi was his "lover" it was getting old, and really annoying.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Theo waved his hand, and passed Odd his almost empty tray, "So, how did you meet her? And… do you know what she looks like?"

The annoyed boy shook his head no, "No, I don't know what she looks like. But Jim told me about this thing on the internet about Pencak Silat, it's world-wide. She and I just started to get along right away."

Theo stared at his friend, "You don't know what she looks like?"

"No, I don't." Ulrich felt like a broken record, "I don't really care about appearances, at least, not when someone gets along with me so well. I mean, obviously I'm not paranoid to hang out with him." He pointed to Odd.

"Meh?!" Odd pointed to himself, mouth full of food.

Aelita shook her head- she desperately needed new friends, "Besides, I'm sure this Yuki girl has the traditional Japanese look. I mean, at least, in general. I'm positive she's pretty."

Odd whined, "But what if she has no chest?"

Aelita slapped him for saying such a stupid thing. Okay, so maybe they can talk about her like that when she's not around, but not at the lunch table.

"Okay, One- Her name is Yumi. Two- I don't care what she looks like. And Three- if you guys care so much, I'll ask her in the next letter. Okay?!" Ulrich had his shoulders on the table, hands holding his head up.

"Okay!" Theo smiled, "And if she's hot, would it be okay if I asked her out?"

Ulrich groaned, "Shut up."

XxX

Yumi had called Riku not long after the call from William. She told him to meet her up at the ice-cream parlor that close to the middle between their homes. Now there, she wished she had a couple girlfriends. For Riku kept eyeing other girls walking by.

"Hentai." She murmured, watching her best friend practically drool at these girls.

"So," Riku drawled, ignoring Yumi's comment, "You wanted to meet me for a reason?"

"Obviously." Yumi sighed.

"You hurt me." Riku stated, pouting, "You wouldn't want to just meet your best friend for an ice cream?"

Yumi rolled her eyes, "Grow up. I didn't want to meet you for you to act like an overdramatic girl."

"So what did you want me for?" Riku asked.

"William called." Yumi stated flatly.

"That… That… What did he want?" Riku bristled.

"He wanted to see a movie Friday." Yumi said.

"There was an easy way to prevent that." Riku said smugly.

"I knew you were going to say that." Yumi sighed, "Can we stay focused on what happened?"

"You shouldn't have let him kiss you." Riku stated with a shrug, "He's bad news."

Yumi scoffed, "Why do I even bother?"

"Just be blunt with him, he's too dense to get hurt." Riku snapped, turning away, "Have fun in Paris."

With that Riku left Yumi, striding quickly.

"Bye Riku." Yumi muttered as he left. She walked home slowly, she had yet to pack and find a hotel for her upcoming trip.

XxX

... and today at lunch, my pals were asking about a picture of you, I know it sounds kinda weird, but if you send me a pic of you- my friends will shut up, and in return I'll send a pic of me... and my roommate, if you want to see that screwball.

Ulrich smiled- Oh the joy of writing about his dreaded roommate.

"Maybe she's like, stunning gorgeous." Odd suggest from his bed- it was almost time for a cat nap, "What do Japanese girls generally look like?"

Ulrich shrugged, "Dunno. I've never seen a Japanese girl before. I'd hate to sound stereotypical, so I won't say she looks a certain way."

"Does she sound hot?"

A groan from the other side of the room, "Seriously Odd, does it really matter how pretty she is? She and I really get along, I'm not just gonna stop talking to her if she isn't the prettiest girl in the world."

Odd giggled, yes giggled, and got a strange look from Ulrich in reply, "I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm positive you're whipped."

"Whipped?" Ulrich repeated- Did Odd just say something that confused him?

"Yeah, whipped. It means, you're like... in love." Odd started, "And you never hesitate to respond to your Japanese lov-"

"If you say lover I will smack you." Ulrich interrupted.

Odd paused, "...penpal." His roommate nodded for him to go on, "While you hesitate on the rest of life. Even Jim noticed your weird mood in gym."

Ulrich shrugged the comment off, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Of course not." Odd muttered, ostensibly letting the topic drop as he stretched out on his bed.

Ulrich eyed the blonde, before turning back to his letter.

Only if you don't mind that is, I promise I'm not a creep.

"Whipped." Odd singsonged.

"Will you shut up?" Ulrich huffed.

"Maybe." Odd grinned innocently.

"One day I think I just might believe you as well." Ulrich sighed, getting up, he was finished writing anyway.

XxX

"Yumi?" Asked Akkio from the door.

Yumi sighed as she set down a folded shirt, "Yes mom?"

"Are you alright?" Akkio asked, sounding concerned.

"Yea mom, I'm fine." Yumi reassured her mother, "I found a hotel."

"That's great." Akkio smiled, "So is everything set up?"

"Yea, just gotta finish packing." Yumi answered.

"Everything alright with Riku?" Her mother persisted.

"He's just being a boy." Yumi huffed, "He'll get over it."

"You can always talk to me if you need anything." Akkio comforted, "I'll see you in the morning."

"Night mom." Yumi said with a smile and returned to her packing.