Yumi had been Ulrich and Odd's dorm before, but never to stay the entire night. She tried to preoccupy herself by petting Kiwi, Odd's unusually hostile dog. She didn't know how but he could definitely tell she wasn't Odd.
"You'll see, you'll get used to me in no time. Nice puppy…" Her small borrowed hand begins to flicker like an old tv screen when the signal didn't come in all the way. Yumi held Odd's hand up to her face. She knew puberty hits everyone different, but as far as she knew tv static wasn't a part of the process.
It stopped flickering as Ulrich walked in the room, a towel draped over his shoulder as if he'd just finished getting ready for bed in the boy's toilets. He noticed her facial expression immediately. "Yumi, are you okay?"
Yumi turned the hand over, waiting for it to happen again. "I-I thought my hand was disappearing for a minute." She lowered Odd's hand after noticing Ulrich hovering nervously in the doorway. "I must have imagined it." She acquiesced, not wanting to make the situation more uncomfortable than it probably already was for him.
"Oh," he shut the door, walking over to his bed as if that wasn't a very concerning thing to say after accidentally swapping bodies with one of your friends. "Don't worry, you can tell Jeremie about it tomorrow morning."
"Yeah, I guess it can wait." Yumi started trying to tug Odd's bright yellow shoes off. She'd been trying to avoid this part of the night as long as possible. She didn't know how to get ready for bed without looking at her friend's body. She really hoped Odd was trying to pay her the same courtesy.
"Watch yourself," Ulrich said, noticing her struggle with the shoe.
"Watch what?" she asked as she finally wrestled her foot free.
The smell of Odd's putrid shoe funk hit her full in the face. "Oh, ugh, gross!" She exclaimed, falling back on the bed.
"I warned you." Ulrich chuckled. "It's more powerful than a laser arrow!"
Yumi blinked her watery eyes a few times and pinched her nose with one hand to try to block out the stench while she launched the smelly shoe towards the end of the bed.
"Do I seriously have to take off the other one, too?" she complained.
"I mean you can sleep with one shoe on if you want but that's a little weird." Ulrich flipped the towel off his shoulder and hung it on the back of his desk chair.
"Weirder than me being in Odd's body?" Yumi peered up at him upside down from where she'd flopped on the bed.
Ulrich stopped and stared ahead for a few seconds, not making eye contact. Yumi wished she could read his body language better.
"Well, I guess not that weird." He shuffled awkwardly in place for a second, back turned. "Hey Yumi?"
"Yeah?" she asked while sitting up, resigned to take off the other shoe for the night.
"I, uh...I have to get changed for bed now."
Yumi stopped her struggle for a second, her unfamiliar cheeks beginning to turn bright red. "Oh...right!" she stammered. "Um...do you want me to-to not look?" Her hands frozen on the laces, silently thanking the universe that their backs were turned to one another and he couldn't see her.
"Y-yeah, if you don't mind." She heard the discomfort laced in his voice as well.
Oh, God of all the ways she'd imagined their first night together in the same room, she didn't think it would be in Odd's body. "Okay, I won't look." she promised.
She wasn't sure if she should continue taking off the shoe while he undressed or if she should wait. She couldn't decide if she wanted to peek. She'd told him she wouldn't, and they were really good friends and she didn't want to betray his trust, but she'd be lying if she said she hadn't thought about it every once in a while. Besides, it wasn't like she hadn't seen him half naked before. They'd had the same swim unit in gym class together, and what were swim trunks if not just slightly bigger boxers? Unless Ulrich didn't wear boxers...? She cut that thought off as her face felt like it might melt off. The heat her cheeks were generating felt like it could keep all of Kadic Academy comfortably warm through the winter.
A few tense moments of silence and shuffling fabric later she heard the springs in Ulrich's mattress squeak as he sat down for the night. "Okay, all clear."
She discreetly felt her cheeks to make sure they'd returned to normal before glancing at Ulrich. His pajamas weren't that different than his regular clothes. Just a form fitting tank top and some shorts. She didn't see him in shorts that often. Her thoughts began to drift back to the boxer versus briefs debate and she felt the color start to rise in her face once more.
He met her eye and she turned away, not wanting to look like she was staring. "I didn't peek! Um, just so you know." She tried to untie Odd's shoelaces, finding her fingers were suddenly struggling with such a simple task.
"Thanks," Yumi could swear she heard Ulrich gulp from the other side of the room.
"So!" He said a little too enthusiastically, very clearly trying to change the subject. "Have you decided what you're going to do about tonight?"
Yumi pulled off the shoe and turned her face from the near unbearable stench. "About what?"
"Are you...going to get changed?" he gestured limply at Odd's regular everyday clothes.
Yumi looked down at the ridiculous purple shirt and pants combo Odd wore every day. "Do you think anyone would notice if I slept in it? I told Odd not to take off my clothes, I feel like I should do the same."
Ulrich hesitated, no doubt mulling over if Odd would smell any worse than usual if Yumi were to stay in his clothes all night. "I mean you can sleep in them if you want?" he shrugged. "Will you be comfortable?"
Yumi remembered Odd's comment about how itchy her bra was, and how someone else would have to deal with it for once in her life. She smiled at Ulrich. "Yeah, I'll be okay."