So I didn't really know where to go with this chapter, but I think I worked it out. I'm now anxious to move on to new stuff! Let me know what you think!

Ch. 9- 'Ryoko'

10:14 AM "So we'll meet later at this place, okay?"

"Okay, sounds good talk to you later." 10:15 AM

Ulrich turned off the screen to his phone and put it face down on the nightstand so he couldn't see it anymore. The phone continued to buzz for a bit, but Ulrich ignored it. After having made contact with Odd, the svelte blond had done nothing but text his phone over and over. Apparently, in the future, they had the availability to have free text and phone calls. This was new because back in the day, they had to pay in order to text and call, which Ulrich remembered being quite a drag. Odd was living it up after finding that out, but it seemed like the only phone number he had was Ulrich's since he seemed to be texting him non-stop. It was the weekend, so CEM was closed, which meant that he wasn't able to go to work and try and get more things done on his to-do list. But what it did mean was that Ulrich had plenty of free time to himself. This had been the first real break he had since becoming "Older Ulrich" earlier that week. He was fully convinced at this point that whatever had caused him and his friends to suddenly become older and be transported into the future was permanent. So Ulrich decided he would make the most of it, and try his hardest to fill the role of "Older Ulrich". However, he was still curious as to what happened, and he knew that he wouldn't give up until he got to the bottom of this mystery.

Odd was as clueless as Ulrich, he said that he knew something was missing from his life which would explain how they got there. Ulrich felt it too, he still had large gaps in his memories, both Older and Younger. His goal was to try to fill them as much as possible, which probably meant he had ways to go. But he felt good having made the progress he had in the past week. The brunette could only imagine what was left in store for him to discover. It filled him with a sense of apprehension, but also excitement. So far his memories had been a mixed bag of results; some good, and some bad. But it seemed like on the whole that most of Younger Ulrich's memories were happy, albeit confusing.

He had a lot more friends in those memories, but not clue as to what drew them together. Yumi seemed to be a good student but seemed to keep mostly to herself like Ulrich did. Jeremy was another one of those "quiet types" who looked like he would prefer electronic interaction over human any day. And Odd was overly outgoing, friendly, and just an all-around extrovert. What on earth drew them together as friends when they were younger? Ulrich sighed and laid back in bed. There was really no telling at this current moment, so he figured it would just be something he would figure out eventually.

His day off so far had just consisted of sleeping in and lounging about. His dad was busy still working on things from work like he always was, and his mom had gone shopping in town, so the house was extremely quiet. It was then that Ulrich realized that he had no idea what "Older Ulrich" did for fun in his down periods. When he was younger, he used to play soccer, but Ulrich didn't see any soccer things in his room. He at least expected a trophy or a medal or an award of some sort to be laying around or at the very least some athletic wear. Ulrich jumped up off the bed and began looking for just that. He turned his room upside down looking for anything that would show that he was still in soccer, or at least what his hobbies and interests were.

Ulrich found a sketch book from college sitting on a shelf. Inside were various projects and doodles that he had to work on while in his course work. A lot of it was good! Ulrich never really considered himself an artist, but apparently, he picked up a few things when he went away to school, which included a fine sense of art. Ulrich also found journals, notes, and other papers from his time in college. Most of it looked like complex math and business scribblings he had taken while accomplishing his major. There were also writing prompts and short stories in a separate book. Ulrich took the time to read them. A lot of them were good, although on occasion Ulrich would look at something and grimace thinking to himself that he seemed to have no idea what it meant to write when he was younger. Ulrich was surprised, he was a decent writer, and artist. Why was he working at CEM when he could be an author or even working in Odd's department? This couldn't be too far off from what the blond did for work, as head of the development department at CEM.

However, there didn't seem to be a lot of recent work in any of the journals and sketch pads, all of it seemed to cut off just after Ulrich graduated from college. So it didn't seem like Ulrich regularly drew or wrote for fun. He decided he was going to change that. There were some good stories in the journal, and some workable pieces amongst the drawings that he was sure he could turn into some decent artworks or even ideas for stories.

Ulrich continued around the desk, other than the typical clutter, there was nothing that immediately jumped out at Ulrich. He scanned the room and even his closet. But most of his clothes were professional, consisting of white shirts and ties that he wore to work at CEM. There were a few casual clothes, but nothing that really told Ulrich much about himself. The clothes were really plain, there wasn't even a piece of clothing that had any pictures or logos or anything, not even a graphic tee. Ulrich was surprised to not even see something like a shirt of his favorite band, a college sweatshirt, or even something that interested him. Ulrich was quickly coming to the conclusion that he must be the most boring person ever. He realized there wasn't even a single picture or poster on the wall. His room was down to the bare minimums: a bed, desk, nightstand, dresser, and closet. Other than that, there was no décor, no personal touch. If anyone else saw this room, they would have a way of telling who it belonged to. Ulrich made a mental note to get some decoration in his room just as soon as possible, and he also thought about adding some new clothes to his wardrobe.

In fact, Ulrich thought that there was no better time than the present. In the days since, Ulrich had figured out a little bit more about technology, including the phone that he carried around with him everywhere. That also included his bank app. Ulrich learned that years ago that companies no longer paid their employees in cash or checks, but instead did everything electronically. Every week or so companies would just tell the bank to add a little bit more money to the accounts of their employees and that was it. Money was no longer paper and metal, but bits of data, ones, and zeroes. Ulrich could understand the convenience, but it still made him a little worried if there was ever an error at his bank. Ulrich walked over to his phone, ignored the texts from Odd, and pulled up the app, and put in his credentials. He was lucky that he had written it down somewhere before he had his memory lapse, otherwise, he was sure it would be awkward calling his bank trying to explain that even though he didn't have amnesia, he still forgot his banking info.

Ulrich was floored when he opened the app. He had lots of money saved up, more than he was expecting. Then again, he didn't spend much from the looks of it. He just paid rent every month, but his parents didn't charge much. Insurance for his car was still slightly expensive but wasn't anything more than his monthly phone bill on closer inspection. And besides filling up his car for gas, Ulrich didn't spend much from his paycheck. That meant a lot of it went into savings. Ulrich had no idea what he was saving for. He had almost everything he would need at the moment. A car, a place to live, most of the essentials were covered. However, the more Ulrich thought, the more he could think he wanted. There was a small desire to no longer be living with his parents. He was twenty-three and was still living in his parent's spare bedroom. His car either needed work, or he just needed a new one. Then there was the matter of finding a girlfriend. Even though he hoped that whoever he dated wasn't "high maintenance", he was confident that any girl he would date would still probably expect him to pick up any tabs that occurred while dating. And while Ulrich did have a lot saved up, if things got serious, then came another big cost. A ring…

Ulrich hadn't really given dating and marriage much thought since his conversation earlier that week. Although, a conversation was putting it lightly. What started off as a decent conversation and light teasing turned into one of the biggest arguments that Ulrich could remember since he was a kid, and the biggest thing he and his parents argued about then were his grades. Ulrich decided to take things one step at a time. He was sure that a car, and a new place to live, and even girlfriend would come eventually, but for now, he wanted to get himself in order. Ulrich decided he wouldn't get much in the way of decorations. He could end up not taking them, not needing them, or not liking them when he moved them. But he did want to spruce up his room for the time being. It was so dull and boring. Then came his wardrobe, he knew he definitely wanted some new clothes for when he was off from work. The other things would have to come later as he continued to save up money. But for now, he was sure he had enough to get what he wanted in just his checking account alone.

Ulrich made a short, general list of things he was looking for, and then got dressed to go out. He didn't have much to wear. But he found a decent pair of jeans, a t-shirt, and even a jacket that he felt like he had seen before. It was dark green, with a set of pockets on the upper part of the front. There were two red lines on the left shoulder and a set of simple epaulets on the shoulders. Ulrich felt a certain attachment to this jacket that he couldn't explain, but it felt good when he put it on and rolled up the sleeves. The collar jutted up at a weird angle, but still looked good when he looked in the mirror. With one more check in the mirror, Ulrich left his room and stuck his head into his father's office to check on him and to let him know he was leaving for a bit.

"Hey, I'm heading to the shops."

"Hey! Okay!" beamed Mr. Stern, then he got a sly grin and said, "Picking up something or girls?"

"I need to get some stuff, dad…" sighed Ulrich, but then he decided to humor his dad, "But if I see any girlfriends for sale, I'll be sure to pick one up…"

Mr. Stern chuckled, "Attaboy!"

Ulrich liked this new fusion of himself. He was quickly becoming a balance of his two groups of memories. Of course, he was still figuring out what that meant, but he felt like he was getting a better handle on who he was, and more of who he wanted to be. He was trying to be a lot more social, like Younger Ulrich, but still, retain his maturity and experience from Older Ulrich. He went downstairs, bundled up to combat the cold, and then went out to his car. After working to get it working, Ulrich plugged into his phone to find directions to the nearest shopping center. It was a little bit of a drive to get out of the suburbs where he and his parents lived to where the shops were. For a weekend, the entire place was crowded with locals and tourists alike. Ulrich liked living near Paris, but that also meant being near one the center of the largest tourist hubs in the world.

Even in a place like this, Ulrich heard so many different languages and dialects. Many European sounding, but some others were mixed in there too. Ulrich also had no problem identifying the American tourists, they traveled in large groups and spoke loudly where ever they went. There were groups of Asians as well, but they were decidedly less noisy than the Americans. Ulrich could hear one of them arguing loudly with a bus driver. He seemed to be looking for directions since he was holding a large map, and he was pointing to it repeatedly. The man seemed to be expecting the bus driver to tell them where they needed to go. Communication was breaking down, however, and both the tourist and bus driver had started miming their actions.

"We need to…get to…the Eifel…Tower!"

The bus driver spoke back in rapid French. Ulrich understood the bus driver, and he had at least a little bit of knowledge of English so he knew what the tourist wanted, but the tourist looked stupefied.

"English…! English! Can you tell me in English?!" he shouted.

Ulrich intervened, using what English he could, he said, "Uh… Monsieur? Sir?"

The tourist's wife started poking her husband on the shoulder, "Honey! I think this nice French boy is trying to help us!"

Ulrich didn't have the heart to correct her that he was actually German, but at this point, it didn't really matter.

"What? Oh, yes! Hello! We're trying…to get to…the Eifel Tower!" said the man, continuing to mime. Ulrich had to suppress a laugh at the man's ridiculous actions to try and convey his message.

"I…understand…" said Ulrich, partly trying to find the words he knew, partly mocking the man's halting speech pattern he had adopted.

"Hey! This guy understands!" said the tourist, "Finally! Someone around here who speaks English!"

Ulrich hid a scowl, he felt it was rude that these tourists would come to their country and expect the locals to speak their language, but Ulrich hid his contempt and continued to direct.

Looking at the map, Ulrich located where they were currently, and where the couple wanted to go, "To get here…" he said, pointing to the general location of the Tower, "Take this bus…" he said, pointing to a large bus filled to the brim with other tourists. The electronic display flashed between French, English, and a few other languages, showing that it was going directly to the Eifel Tower.

The couple looked relieved and quickly rushed off. The woman, however, doubled back suddenly and pushed a small wad of paper into his hands. She uttered something that sounded close to "Merci" but sounded more like "Mercy", then she then ran off again. Ulrich looked in his hand. The woman had tipped him a 50€ bill. Ulrich was shocked and tried to flag down the woman.

"No, you don't have to...!" he said in English as he ran, but the bus they were on took off, "Tip me…oh well," he finished in French.

"Crazy tourists…" said the other bus driver, coming up behind Ulrich. He was slightly started by the man, but Ulrich turned and talked with him.

"Yeah, they tipped me 50€ for giving them directions…" he said, showing the driver the note.

"Huh, stupid and rich…" grunted the driver, "Trying to get to the Eifel Tower…pleh…" he scoffed.

"Wait, you understood them?" asked Ulrich

"Of course!" said the man, "But if there's one thing I hate, it's Americans who think it's our job to speak English with them when they come here."

Ulrich had to slightly agree, but he did feel it was rude to refuse help to anyone. He looked at the money again. He didn't really need it, but there was no way to return it either. The bus driver looked at Ulrich and said, "If you don't want it, I'll take it…" he chuckled.

"Split it?" offered Ulrich, he figured they both deserved it after what they had to deal with. The driver agreed, took out his wallet and gave Ulrich 25€ and Ulrich handed him the note in his hand. The two parted ways when Ulrich heard a laugh he had heard before.

"Good Samaritan, as always huh, Ulrich?!"

Ulrich looked around to see Odd standing nearby, a skateboard under his arm. He was dressed in a long, purple shirt with a lighter shaded hoodie over it. The sleeves of the hoodie looked like they had been cut off, so the shirt underneath showed at the sleeves. His jeans were a deep shade of blue, almost verging on purple as well. From underneath all of Odd's shirts, Ulrich could see a lighter, almost magenta shaded shirt poking out. Ulrich was beginning to see a pattern with Odd, purple was really his color. He was well-layered for the cold weather. His shoes, which were a deep shade of red, were puffy and flat, like a skater shoe. Which made sense since Odd still seemed to be into skateboarding, even at their age.

"Odd! What are you doing here?" asked Ulrich, slightly surprised.

"I was just about to ask you the same thing! We weren't supposed to be meeting here until later!" said Odd, pulling out his phone to look at the time.

"We were meeting here?" asked Ulrich, he checked his text messages, and sure enough, Odd had sent him the address that they were at right now. There were also other texts, mostly including emoji's that Odd had discovered, and was showing Ulrich. Ulrich rolled his eyes, and out his phone away.

"Why here?" he asked.

"I'm uh- meeting someone here…" said Odd, averting his gaze, "And, uh…there's a skate park not too far from here!" he said, showing Ulrich his board, trying to pull attention away from his previous statement.

Ulrich remembered he did some skating before when he was younger, but basically gave it up when he got older. It slightly amused him that Odd was still into it. Odd did seem like a big kid even back when they were younger. Ulrich even had to note that in the ten years that had passed, Odd hadn't grown much. He was a little bit taller than when they were thirteen, but only barely.

"So, uh…who were you meeting here?" asked Ulrich, unfazed by Odd's distraction.

Odd blushed. Ulrich laughed, "A girl?"

"You uh…you remember Samantha don't you?"

"Samantha…" Ulrich felt like that name rang a bell, "Isn't that the girl you hung out from that other school? The one who stole the laptop from Kadic? The um…the black girl?" Ulrich didn't mean to sound racist, but there was really no way else to put it.

Younger Ulrich at least could recall Samantha, but he wasn't sure how or why. Older Ulrich knew of Samantha, but he had moved rooms by that time so he was living on his own. But no one could forget the huge party Odd threw during the summer break when everyone was gone. Even though it wasn't his scene, Ulrich went. His parents had taken a trip to Germany for their anniversary so Ulrich was stuck at school for the break. So with nothing else to do, Ulrich went. Odd had invited a guest DJ, Samantha. But Jim caught wind of the party and shut it down early. Then it was revealed that Sam was mixing on a stolen laptop that she had heisted from the computer lockup at Kadic. Odd tried covering for her, but Jim didn't buy Odd's story. On top of all of that, she wasn't technically a student there, so she was unfortunately arrested for trespassing and stealing. Ulrich didn't hear much after that about her. But he could tell that Odd was never really the same after that.

"So what happened to her? She got arrested, that much I know, but what happened after that?" asked Ulrich.

"The judge who heard the case threw it out. He figured it was a first-time offense and sentenced her to a rehabilitation center and some community service hours. She got off really lucky," informed Odd.

"So, that's her…" said Odd, starting to turn red again as he thought about Sam, "She isn't the same anymore! She doesn't steal anymore! She's changed!"

"I believe you. Look, I'm not judging you," said Ulrich, "You do you, dude. But why her? Why now?"

"So you probably remember that I hung out with a lot of girls in school, right?" Ulrich nodded his agreement, he remembered how jealous he felt when he saw Odd growing up, "Well I didn't have a lot of luck with many of them over the school years." This shocked Ulrich, he was sure the only reason he spent a lot of time with girls was because he was a big hit. Ulrich now had an entirely different view on Odd.

"Sam was really the only girl I connected with and felt comfortable with," said Odd with an awkward shrug, "And I ran into her the other day, she remembered me, and she was one of the few girls I could remember, because…y'know?" Odd trailed off, trying not to talk too much about what was going on with them with other people nearby. Ulrich nodded discreetly, but he felt weird doing it, so he switched to just a simple nod.

"She's the only thing that has made real sense in this, life…" said Odd, struggling to find words to describe the situation, "Before I found you and you helped me to figure out a little bit more."

"Hey man, it's cool, I think it's great that you're embracing the new…lifestyle." Ulrich was at an equal loss of words, it was hard to explain something that neither of them really comprehended.

"Yeah, I'm trying," said Odd, with a shrug, "I told her we would meet here at around three. I was hoping to take her out to do something and be done before I had to meet you here around eight."

"Something? You don't have a plan?" asked Ulrich

"Nah, I just figured I'd just see where things go. Sam's a really easy-going girl, she doesn't mind, so she's down for anything. I was thinking of maybe either hanging around here or going to that skate park!"

"You seem determined to go skating…!" chuckled Ulrich.

"Of course! It feels like I haven't gone in ten years if you catch my drift," said Odd with a wink.

"Look, I get it, you don't have to be so weird about this, and we can talk openly. I'm sure no one else really notices or cares too much about what we're talking about," said Ulrich.

"So does that mean that I can talk about…Yumi?" said Odd with a grin.

Ulrich blushed, "No, anything but that!"

"C'mon man! You've had to have seen her since you've gotten here!" said Odd, nudging Ulrich in the ribs.

"Yeah, yeah, I've seen her alright. And I've also seen she travels with two big bodyguards everywhere she goes too," said Ulrich, massaging his ribs.

"Oh, those big lugs?" said Odd with a smile, "They're the greatest!"

"You know them?" asked Ulrich.

"Know them? C'mon Ulrich, I'm head of development! I make the characters that Yumi voices! So while Yumi is recording up on the sound floor, I hang out with the bodyguards! They're really lousy at blackjack!" laughed Odd.

"Oh…" said Ulrich slightly dejected.

"What?" asked Odd.

"It's just…I forget your this big company executive now, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous," said Ulrich, rubbing Odd's messy blond hair.

"Wha- hey!" said Odd, trying to shoo off Ulrich, and fix his hair.

"To me, you are still…Odd. The goofy kid who thought the best way to get to know someone was to just tell stupid jokes."

"Trust me, it's hard to see you as more than Ulrich, the kid who studied all the time, the star of the soccer team, and expert martial artist," said Odd. Ulrich could detect something in his voice. Was it…jealousy?

"But here we are now…" said Odd, looking around them.

"And we're making the most of it!" said Ulrich, holding up his fist.

"Making the most of it…" echoed Odd, and he bumped fists with Ulrich, "Speaking of work, you should come up to the development floor and check it out! I'm sure it's something you'll never forget!"

"I have been to your floor!" said Ulrich, a little indignant, "But you're never there!"

"Oh…yeah!" laughed Odd, "Being an executive has its perks."

"Like never showing up to work?" asked Ulrich, "How do you keep a job like that?"

"Eh, Mr. Cardiff is really lax when it comes to the definition of 'workplace'," said Odd with a casual wave of his hand and some air quotes, "If you work best from home, he encourages you to do so. But he's really picky as to who he gives permission to do that. Only a select few have permission, and it's usually the department heads. I found I'm one of those people, though, so I work out of my flat most of the time. The only time I come into work is when I have big meetings or such. You should see my flat, though, jam packed with work, all the time!" Ulrich rolled his eyes, he was sure he had some idea of what it looked like. Just like their dorm back in the day, or his desk at work.

"Pfft…lucky," scoffed Ulrich, "I wish I could do that."

"Hey, more power to you if you can figure out a way to deliver the mail from the comfort of your own home!" laughed Odd again.

"Sheesh, can we change the subject? I'm here because I want a break from work, and my boss," groaned Ulrich.

"Your boss is, William, isn't it?" asked Odd.

"Yeah…"

Odd busted out laughing, "Oh man! You work under William?! Oh, that's so rich!"

"Hey! It's not funny!" said Ulrich, "The guy's got some real anger issues or something."

"What? Afraid he'll hear you on your day off?" laughed Odd. The blond drew himself up to his full height, squared his shoulders, and hardened his jaw, "Stern! I told you not to talk to me, so be quiet!" he shouted in his best impression of William.

"Whoa, that's scary…you're really good at that!" remarked Ulrich.

"Eh, I've had practice. I've had to listen to the blowhard so many times over the past few years when he calls to complain about me sending things that are 'inappropriate' for the mailroom."

"Inappropriate?" asked Ulrich, "Like what?"

"Hmm, maybe something like some…pictures…of one of my underlings to another employee that he secretly liked. Some envelopes that didn't have anything in them but blank sheets of paper that were all marked 'urgent' and 'important'. And lastly, some unaddressed packages that…exploded when opened?"

"You sent bombs?!" shouted Ulrich.

"Shh!" hushed Odd, "Not a bomb! You know those party poppers that explode confetti when you pull a string?" Ulrich nodded.

"If you take the little explosive out of that and tape it to the flap of a box, or the opening of an envelope, it blows up when you open it. It's not lethal, just a joke!" eased Odd.

"Still, I can see why now William got mad. Who'd you send them to?" asked Ulrich.

"Um…your dad?" strained Odd.

Ulrich didn't know whether to laugh or punch the svelte blond. But the image of his father receiving an exploding package was too much for him, "Hahaha! That's a good one!"

"You- you're not mad?" asked Odd.

"Are you kidding me, just imagining that happen? It's hilarious!"

"After I found out that you worked in the mailroom, and the Mr. Stern was, y'know, your dad? I thought you would be so mad at me, just like William!"

"Eh, William needs to learn to get his panties out of a bunch, he wouldn't know fun even if it hit him across the face," snickered Ulrich.

"Oh, I see what you did there…" said Odd, and he laughed. They both knew that Ulrich was referring to William's fall from grace.

"So what are you doing here then?" asked Odd.

"I have come to realize that 'Older' me is the most boring person in the world," admitted Ulrich, "I hardly have any good casual clothes and absolutely nothing in my room that I like. So I came here to get some new clothes, and maybe something to decorate my room."

"Ulrich…!" said Odd, grabbing the brunette by the shoulders, "You have perfect timing!"

"What? Were you here to get some stuff too?" asked Ulrich.

"No! Sam…is…a model!" said the blond, in an overly dramatic tone, "She has the best fashion sense of anyone I know! She could probably help you pick out a whole new wardrobe!"

"Eh…I don't know" hemmed Ulrich, "Are you sure that's what you want to do on your date?"

"Are you kidding me?! I couldn't think of anything better than helping my good buddy find his new style!"

"Isn't that just because you don't have any idea what you were going to do on your date anyway?"

Odd ignored Ulrich's comment, "I'm sure we could help you find something better than what you're wearing right now, for sure!"

"Hey! I like what I'm wearing!" said Ulrich, taking some offense by Odd's comment.

"Sure, sure…" dismissed Odd, "But it could be better!" Ulrich rolled his eyes.

"Look, what do you have to lose?" asked Odd, "You could do it all by yourself and be lost, or get some real advice on what looks best for you!"

Ulrich sighed, "Fine…"

"Whoo-hoo! You're not going to regret this good buddy!" said Odd, running off towards the shops. Ulrich laughed and followed after his friend.

Ulrich finally caught up to Odd outside of a small row of restaurants and cafes. It didn't surprise Ulrich in the slightest that Odd was meeting a girl where there was food. When they were younger, the blond could put away almost two to three times his weight in food and not gain a single gram. Odd had joined up with Sam, and the two were talking when Ulrich joined the conversation.

"Hey Sam, you remember Ulrich, from our school days, don't you?" asked Odd, drawing Ulrich in.

"Ulrich?!" asked Sam, taking a look at him.

Then something clicked on her face and she went in for a big hug and a couple air kisses on his cheeks. Ulrich had to remember that was the custom in France, otherwise known as 'la bise'. It was done when good friends met up. He felt a little awkward since he didn't quite feel like he that good of friends with Sam, but he returned the gesture. The two broke apart and Ulrich finally got a good look at the dark-skinned woman. Her dark, short hair was cut almost to her jaw line. There were two long strands that poked out of her temples and were a couple inches longer than the rest of her hair. The two strands were dyed a vivid red color. She had on a simple choker necklace, and a gray pea coat and black leggings. She also wore a simple, patterned skirt over the leggings, and a frilly, red blouse was showing through the folds of the coat. She wore large platformer heels that increased her height considerably. Without them, she looked like she would have been just about Odd's height. With them, however, she towered well over the svelte blond.

"Ulrich, oh my gosh! I remember you! Odd told me you were his roommate for a little bit at Kadic! And then there was that, um…" She froze when Ulrich was sure she was going to bring up the party.

"It's okay, you don't have to talk about that…" said Odd, gently taking Sam's hand. She nodded and sighed and continued, "We only met once, but you're looking good man! Love the goatee, those are very in right now."

Ulrich had almost forgotten about his facial hair. It had almost become a part of him over the past week, "Uh…thanks! It's good to see you too! How are things going?"

"Things are good! Just moved back to Paris not that long ago for a modeling gig, and ran into Odd here!" she said, squeezing Odd's hand and looking longingly into his eyes.

Ulrich knew that it obviously hadn't taken them long to get back in the groove of things. For Odd, though, it was probably a little more recent for him since he 'skipped' the ten years in-between. But for Sam, this was probably the real deal, she had gone ten years without Odd, and even almost went to jail for him, but still the two seemed as warm towards each other as ever. It almost made him a little jealous.

"Oh!" said Sam, snapping back to the conversation, "But Odd here tells me that you ran into each other recently as well!"

"Yeah, it was um…"

Ulrich caught up on his words because he didn't know whether to go with the past set of events or the current set of events. To Ulrich and Odd, both sets melded into each other seamlessly, and he knew that. But for Sam, it seemed like she only knew of the present where they met at Odd's party and that was it. Ulrich decided to go with the current set since that would make the most sense to everyone. Ulrich had to think for a minute what that meant. That meant that they were roommates for most of their time at Kadic, just acquaintances and classmates.

"It's good to be able to run into…a good classmate!" said Ulrich, slightly strained. It was hard to live such a dual life, with dual memories.

"Yeah…" added Odd, "We were just…the best of classmates!" he said in the same tone as Ulrich.

"So how long have you been friends now?" asked Sam, "Because of the way you two act, is a little bit more than just 'classmates'."

"Ten years…" blurted Odd.

"Ten years?!" asked Sam, "You hardly knew him in school!"

"Uh…what Odd means is..." intervened Ulrich, "Is that we've been such good friends for a while now that it feels like it's been that long!"

"Oh, I see, fast friends for life huh? I like it!" said Sam with a smile, "Well any friend of Odd's is a friend to me!"

"Uh, thank you!" said Ulrich. These two added up to more friends than Older Ulrich seemed to have in his entire life.

"So Odd tells me you're looking for a new style, a new look, a new…"

"All I'm looking for is some extra clothes to bulk up my wardrobe…" admitted Ulrich, not sure where this was going.

"I can work with that…" said Sam, a certain glint in her eye, "So I would say that you have a pretty rectangular, maybe even square body shape," she said, scanning Ulrich up and down.

"Uh…what does that mean?" asked Ulrich. Odd shrugged but Sam went chugging on along.

"I think I know the perfect little shop not too far from here that has just what you'd be looking for," she said, taking Odd's hand again and leading him and Ulrich away from the food. Odd slightly groaned and Ulrich chuckled as the restaurants faded from view.

The trio got to the shop and Sam pushed open the door and pushed Odd and Ulrich in before her. There was a little bell sound as the door opened. The shop was filled from floor to ceiling with nothing but men's clothing. No wonder Sam thought of this place, it looked like it had everything! There were fall and winter style clothing at the front of the store since those were in season at the moment. At the back was all sorts of formal and business style shirts, shoes, and suits. There were also signs near a set of stairs that said there were more clothing options upstairs as well as downstairs. The female clerk behind the desk was folding some clothes and bobbing her head in time to the light music that was playing over the sound system in the little boutique. The clerk looked up when the door opened she saw Ulrich and Odd and she mumbled a quiet "Bonjour". When Sam stepped in, the clerk lit up and rushed over to her with squeals of delight.

"Ooo! Ms. Knight! It is very good to see you again!" gushed the clerk and the two of them performed la bise.

"And it's so good to see you, Alice! Odd, this is my friend, Alice," she said, calling the blond over, "She used to work at my favorite shop, but that shop closed, so she got a job working here."

"Charmed," said Odd, taking the clerk's hand and shaking it.

"What can I say? I like clothes! So to be able to work here, even if it's a men's shop, is still a dream come true!" said Alice, "Plus, my boyfriend doesn't mind that I get a discount here…" she admitted with a blush.

"Well I'd say he's a lucky man!" said Sam, who gave Alice a hug.

"So who are these nice gentlemen? Your…escorts for the day?" asked Alice, a sly smile on her face.

"No, this is Odd, he's a dear friend of mine," said Sam.

"Hmm," hummed Alice, "And a really handsome one at that!" Odd blushed deeply.

"You're right about that, but you may need to fight me for him, he's already taken," said Sam. Odd descended into shades of red that Ulrich didn't even know existed, "And this is Ulrich, a friend of Odd's from school."

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Ulrich," said Alice, she offered her hand and Ulrich shook it.

"Ulrich is the reason we are here today, he needs some new clothes," said Sam.

"Well I think I can help him with that, will you follow me?" said Alice, gesturing off towards some racks of clothes.

The next hour and a half felt like the longest in Ulrich's life. He had never seen so many clothes, tried on so many clothes, and had his sense of style critiqued as much as he did at that time.

"No, he needs a tighter fit, shows off those muscles."

"How about a darker color? Forest green is really in style right now. Or how about black?"

"I don't think paisley is your style. Here, try check instead."

Odd sat off to one side, not saying much. Ulrich felt just as trapped as Odd did, but at least he had something to do. Odd rolled his skateboard back and forth under his feet until Alice asked him politely not to.

"You're scratching the floors, Mr. Odd, please stop that."

Some time later, Ulrich found himself standing at the counter with a large stack of clothing in hand. He had all sorts of pants, shirts, over-shirts (for layering he was told), jackets, some socks, and even a whole new set of winter clothes. And even though he had only gone for casual clothes, Ulrich picked out a couple relatively cheap ties that he liked while the girls were arguing about what the next thing he should try on should be. Alice rang him up, and while it was a little bit more than what Ulrich was hoping to spend, he figured it was still reasonable. He quickly paid using the plastic bank card in his wallet and Alice bagged up his purchases. The trio left the shop, which was none too soon for Odd. He talked Sam into going to a nearby restaurant to eat.

"You're still welcome to join us if you want!" said Odd.

"I need to stop by my car and drop this off," said Ulrich looking at the amount of bags he had in hand, "Then I want to stop by another shop and see if they have anything to decorate my room."

"Okay, well we'll be around here if you get done and want to hang out!" said Odd, "But you and I are still hanging out tonight, so don't forget that!"

Ulrich chuckled, "Sure, sounds good, see you later."

Ulrich got back to his car, put his bags in the tiny trunk space at the back of the car, and then slammed the lid of it so that it would close properly. The brunette walked back to the shops and followed the signs towards a small art shop not too far from the clothing boutique. The shop was a lot smaller than the clothing store, and a lot more pretentious. There was an outside area where a set of small tables and chairs were set up so that people could come and sit or eat and drink outside. There was a man, a tourist no doubt, sitting at one of the tables wearing a striped shirt, and a beret, and sporting a thin wiry mustache. He was sipping a coffee and scribbling on a notepad. Ulrich figured he was an author who had traveled to Paris for "inspiration" and was trying to fit in with the locals. There was an artist set up on an easel outside as well, in the midst of painting a landscape right then and there. The artist had a bit of a crowd and people whispered and muttered as they watched. There was also a live music set, consisting of a guitar player, and an accordion player. They were playing what Ulrich figured was very stereotypical French romantic music. In fact, this whole place just screamed "France" despite the fact that it was really unnecessary in Ulrich's mind. They were in France! There was no reason to beat everyone over the head with that fact.

But despite Ulrich's hesitancy to enter, it looked like it was the only place to buy decorations around here. But Ulrich could see that they sold more than just art. It just seemed like that was the main selling point of the shop. The brunette walked into the shop and began to browse around. The shop had everything from old, vintage band and movie posters to art pieces and even large, rustic decorative pieces like clocks, candle holders, and vinyl stickers to put on walls or wood boards to hang around a home. Ulrich felt a little out of place in the shop since most of the people in the shop looked old enough to be his parents. But there were people more his age near the back where the small display of recent music and movie posters and art were. In the ten years that passed, Ulrich noticed a lot of sequels and recent work to movies and albums he listened to as a kid. It made him feel oddly nostalgic. There was even a section for vinyl records, which seemed to be making a resurgence among the younger crowd. Ulrich felt like he had gone back in time, not forward. But it made him smile to see his generation getting into a mixture of old and new. He picked a few posters of bands he used to listen to when he was younger that still seemed to be around today. When Ulrich found a Subdigitals poster near the bottom of the bargain bin, however, he immediately scooped it up. Everyone was going on about the new generations of Subdigitals, the Subdigitals 2.0. But Ulrich remembered the original band and how much he liked them when he was a kid.

There were also some posters showing off a series of martial arts styles. Ulrich dug through the pile to find what seemed like the one poster they had on Pencak Silat. Ulrich remembered practicing this very high-contact sport when he was in school, so he was glad that the shop had a poster of it. Ulrich was just about to finish looking when he wandered near the painted landscapes section of the shop. There were many paintings of the Eifel tower, from all sorts of angles, distances, and styles. But one painting caught his eye. It was an old, green and tan building in the middle of a river. It was large and seemed to be on its own island. The building looked so familiar. Where had Ulrich seen it before? It looked like a large, industrial factory bathed in sunlight with a few birds flying nearby. Was this the factory that he had gone to earlier that week? He couldn't be sure because it was painted at such a weird angle. It was painted as if looking from what Ulrich considered the "front" of the factory. Ulrich stopped one of the nearest workers and asked them,

"This painting, who painted it?"

"What that one with the factory? Eh, some old guy. Didn't catch his name, and this is the only picture he's sold to us," said the employee.

"Is this place real?" asked Ulrich, "Like did the old guy paint this from a real place?"

"Of course it's real! That's the old Renault factory near Boulogne-Billancourt, just outside of Sceaux. My dad worked there back when they were open. But gosh, that was…twenty years ago now."

"What did they make there?" asked Ulrich.

"Cars, mostly I think. There was a big accident, though, so it was shut down for a while and empty for all that time. Now I just think it's condemned and set to be demolished next month."

Ulrich felt a little involuntary flutter of nervousness. Why was he so nervous about some factory being demolished? The place made cars, it wasn't like it made computers or computer parts. So it wasn't like this was where the supercalculator was. Ulrich leaned in and read the little write-up on the piece. The painting was called 'Ryoko', which the shop worker said was a Japanese word for travel. And it was painted by a Franz Hopper. Ulrich had never heard that name before. But still, a painting of a factory that he felt had connections with him and Jeremy, with a Japanese-sounding name? Ulrich's mind leaped to all kinds of conclusions. Checking the price tag, Ulrich didn't see a real price, just a drawing of a weird eye symbol.

"What is this?" asked Ulrich, "This isn't a real price."

"Yeah," grunted the shop worker, "The old man said that he wouldn't allow us to put a real price on it, just this tag. He said that whoever could tell us what it meant could keep the painting. It's been a real drag, but the man actually paid us to put it up here. And it was good money too, so it's not like we could argue with him. That money helped to keep this shop open a couple times in the past. It used to be a real mystery what he meant by that," said the worker pointing to the tag in Ulrich's hand.

"He told the shop owner the secret back when he gave us the painting and a lot of people tried guessing for a while. But after a while, people just gave up. So we moved the painting back here. We're still waiting for someone to tell us what it means so that we can just finally get rid of it."

"Stronger after all…" whispered Ulrich. He didn't know what came over him, he just spoke it out loud without any prompting.

"What'd you say boy?" asked the worker.

"Stronger after all?" asked Ulrich, unsure of what he said as well.

"Wh- where'd you hear that?!" asked the worker, "Jean, get Hugo, quick! We may have our answer!"

A few seconds later, Ulrich was standing before an old grizzled man. The worker that Ulrich had been speaking to had removed the painting of the factory from the wall and was holding it as everyone looked at Ulrich.

"So tell me, son, what it is that you told him," said the old man. He had an old, weathered envelope in hand. The whole crowd of shop workers stood on edge as Ulrich hesitated to speak.

"I'm telling you! He said it! You showed me what it says in there, and he said it!" said the worker, prodding his boss.

"I'm now starting to regret showing you what was in here…" sighed the shop owner, "This hasn't been the first time you thought that someone has said the words."

"No, I'm telling you! What did you say? I swear you said the words!" said the worker to Ulrich.

Ulrich looked at the painting and the tag on it. Somehow he knew that this meant something to him. The title, the painter, even the factory. But he didn't have all the answers. But Ulrich felt if he could get that painting that he would be able to find some of them. Taking a deep breath, Ulrich looked at the shopkeeper and with all the will he could muster he said,

"Stronger after all…"

In my own humble opinion, "This is getting good!" So stay tuned!