Ulrich had one of the most confusing nights of sleep of his life. Next to him all night was the girl of his dreams...in the body of his best friend.

He'd been secretly hoping she would peek when he was changing last night, but wasn't sure what he would do if she was. He had told her not to look, so wasn't she just being a good friend and respecting his wishes? But if she had looked, would that mean she liked him? Would he kiss her? Would that just be kissing Odd? Is it gay if he's technically attracted to the girl inside the boy's body?

He watched Odd's sleeping form snoring quietly with Kiwi curled up in his arms. It was something he'd seen hundreds of mornings before, but it was different this time. Ulrich had to stop himself from crossing the room in the middle of the night and asking if she was still Yumi in there. He'd slept facing her the whole night, just in case.

They'd spent nights fighting Xana together, but Yumi had always gone home before the morning like a virtual Cinderella. He wanted to watch the sun rise for once with her.

He studied Odd's spiky hair shining in the sun's rays. It looked more golden in this light. He wished it was Yumi's deep black hair spilling across the pillow. He wanted to see what she looked like when she first woke up. Does she get up immediately, or linger in the bed as long as possible? She was always so active, he couldn't imagine she stayed in bed too long. Maybe if she and Ulrich were together he could convince her to stay a few more minutes.

Kiwi stretched and yawned on the bed, breaking Ulrich out of his reverie. The little dog started lapping at Odd's face in their usual (slightly gross) morning routine. Yumi began to stir and Ulrich quickly shut his eyes, pretending he'd been asleep the whole time.

"Ugh, please Kiwi!" Yumi pushed Kiwi's triangular head out of her face.

Ulrich heard her gasp. "Ulrich!"

His eyes were open in a flash, assuming Kiwi was letting her know he needed to be taken out for his morning business in his usual crude fashion.

Yumi's hand was flickering and beginning to fade out of existence like a kid who went back in time and caused his parents to break up in high school, therefore erasing their future children out of existence. Ulrich had not thought that old movie Odd made him watch would ever be relevant to their life.

Ulrich threw off his sheets and began to get out of bed. "I hope Jeremie found the bug." He crossed the room and gently took Yumi's borrowed hand. He flipped it over in his making sure it was solid. Odd's hands weren't soft, but they weren't rough either. He didn't think he'd ever held Odd's hands in such an intimate way. For the hundredth time since they'd switched bodies he wished they were Yumi's.

He looked up into Odd's body's eyes. Yumi was blushing furiously. Ulrich, realizing what he'd done quickly dropped her hand and scratched the back of his head. "Um, looks like it's all there! We should get going so we can tell Jeremie."

"Right, right!" Yumi held her hand close to her chest, not making eye contact.

Ulrich couldn't tell if he'd upset her or if she was just nervous about the flickering hand.

Kiwi climbed back into Yumi's lap and barked, immediately shifting the mood.

"How about you take Kiwi out, and I'll get dressed? I can text Jeremie and Odd to meet us in a few."

Yumi nodded and clumsily tried to shove Odd's shoes back on. Ulrich had never seen anyone so confused by shoes before. She must be really upset about the body swap.

Odd was still freaked out from his hands flickering that morning, but he'd seen the text from Ulrich and figured Jeremie was already aware of it. It was time for his plan to get Ulrich to notice him in Yumi's body. He would pick out an outfit so daring, so bold, so Odd, Ulrich wouldn't be able to resist.

Unfortunately it took him multiple attempts to get dressed, he tried to keep his eyes closed both in respect for Yumi's wishes and because he wasn't sure he was ready to see a half naked girl body. Odd kept ending up with the clothes on backwards or with his arms in the wrong holes. He ended up being a little late to the meeting with the group and caught up to them in one of their school's corridors.

Ulrich had his arm around Odd's body's shoulders in an overly friendly manner that made Odd's stomach drop and flutter at the same time, as if someone had tied a weight to a struggling bird. Would Ulrich ever be that familiar with the real him? If he was comfortable with putting his arm around a guy in public, would he be comfortable dating a guy? Odd envied Yumi yet again, somehow even when she was in a guy's body-his body-she had Ulrich wrapped around her little finger.

But Ulrich's shocked face at seeing Odd's outfit gave him a little hope. Maybe he'd see him and recognize that Odd could also be attractive. If he saw Odd as Yumi long enough maybe he would feel the same way about Odd as he clearly felt about Yumi. Then when they got everything sorted out and their bodies back it wouldn't matter what their genders were.

Odd waved Yumi's fishnetted hand at his friends. "Ni hao!"

Yumi stomped up to him, taking in the green vest and fuzzy cat-ear pom pom hat. "First of all, that's Chinese! And second of all, what is with that outfit?"

"Well they're your clothes!" Odd retorted. "Cool, huh? Looks really good." He subtly checked Ulrich's reaction. Still pretty shocked.

Yumi jabbed a finger at his chest, "You're so lucky that you're in my body right now, or I would beat you to a pulp! Go home, you hear, and change before the entire school sees you!"

There was a flash behind the two as Milly and Tamiya's camera went off, capturing Odd's flamboyant outfit and Yumi's chagrin.

"Yumi Ishiyama, transformed by love!" Milly clapped. "Cool headline, huh?"

"It'll double our circulation!" Tamiya agreed.

"What are they talking about with this love thing?" Yumi asked Odd through gritted teeth.

"Umm..uh, no time to explain! I don't want to be late for math class!" Odd hurriedly turned away from everyone and started heading towards Yumi's class. "Sayonaraaa!"

Odd knew he was really pushing it with Yumi, play-acting out a fake relationship in her body and changing up her look so radically, but he couldn't help it. Being a boy secretly in love with a straight guy didn't offer up that many opportunities to really win over your crush. He had to milk them while they lasted.