Title: Guilt
Warnings: Language, snarkiness, death.
Rating: PG
Author's Note: Hey, guys. Sorry for the long wait. I had a lot of schoolwork and then I got sick and well...I was still kind of sick when I finished this so let me know if it sounds loopy. Thank you to everyone whose favorited, followed, and left feedback. You all are too kind.
5. She seriously considered leaving Sissi to drown during one X.A.N.A. attack (she didn't, but the guilt stayed with her).
Yumi's phone vibrated in her pocket. She fished it out as she hurried across the courtyard toward the cafeteria where she was supposed to meet the boys. There was a soft drizzle falling from the grey clouds overhead and it was beginning to pick up. It was from Ulrich and she felt a smile war with a frown.
XANA.
The frown won. A moment later it buzzed again, this time from Jeremie. Heading to factory from gym. Meet you there.
She typed a response and took off for the trees.
"And where are you going?"
Yumi groaned but didn't stop. "Not now, Sissi." She wondered if the girl would follow her into the sewers or if she'd be too worried about getting something on her new shoes.
"You're up to something," Sissi protested. "Are you meeting up with Ulrich? I know you four are up to something."
"We are not. Go away," Yumi snapped. She kept an eye out for anything attack-worthy but the woods were silent. Except for the rumble of thunder overhead. The rain picked up, falling haphazardly through the leaves.
"He was never this secretive before you came into the picture," Sissi reported. "Ugh, why does there have to be mud?" she whined.
"There isn't any at the school," Yumi retorted. "Go. Away."
"No. I don't know what you have over Ulrich but I'm going to find out."
Yumi groaned and spun around, glaring at Sissi. She was close to the sewer entrance now and she could hear the river running just beyond the shrubs. She had to get rid of Sissi now. "I don't have anything over Ulrich," Yumi snapped. "We're friends. He likes hanging out with me. He doesn't like you. You're annoying and persistent and you're so full of yourself that you think everyone wants to fall over themselves to be next to the great Elisabeth Delmas and –"
She stopped at the look on Sissi's face. Sissi's mouth curled into a sneer and her eyes narrowed. "I don't know why I bother," she muttered. "I hope you all get caught and expelled for whatever it is you're doing."
"Well, at least it would mean going to a school away from you," Yumi replied. Her phone buzzed in her pocket and the rain soaked through her clothes. "Just go back to school," she sighed.
Yumi turned on her heel and stomped off before Sissi could respond.
She had the manhole open when she heard the crash and scream. She hesitated, listening. All she could hear now was the rumble of thunder and the persistent patter of the increasing downpour. "Sissi?" she called. She let the cover fall back into place with a sharp clang.
Nothing.
Groaning as her phone buzzed again, she stood and retraced her steps to where she had last seen Sissi. She stopped and blinked the rainwater out of her eyes. There was a gaping hole where there wasn't one before. Hesitantly, she crossed the grass and edged along the perimeter trying to see Sissi in the pit.
"Sissi?" she called again. There was a groan and for a moment she thought it was Sissi. And then the earth gave way beneath her feet.
/
Yumi felt as though she'd been hit by a truck, or something. She sat up and rubbed at her eyes. She was sitting in a room, she realized. It looked like a maintenance room for the sewers. And it was filled with broken concrete and muddy earth and water. She looked around, noticed the rusty broken pipe jutting out of the wall that poured water. That and the downpour seemed to be what was quickly filling the room with water.
She wondered briefly if this was the X.A.N.A. attack or just fate's twisted sense of humor. Yumi tucked her hair behind her ears and looked around again. There was a metal door set in the wall beneath the pipe, a support bar slanted across it. Sissi was curled in a corner, eyes closed and breathing shallow. She didn't look injured from here though.
She got to her feet and managed to knock the support beam aside but the door wouldn't move. Icy water poured over her head and she backed away quickly. After a moment of contemplating the door she pulled out her phone. The screen was black and when she pressed the power button it gave a dull whine and a feeble shake before falling silent again. "Shit," she grumbled.
She kicked at the door angrily. A metallic clang echoed and despite her boots her toes ached. "Must you?" Sissi whined from behind her. She wouldn't admit that she was happy to hear that she wasn't dead.
"Forgive me for trying to get us out of here," Yumi snapped.
Sissi groaned and her head connected with the dirt-smeared wall. "My head hurts. I think I'm going to puke." There was a pause and she heard Sissi shift. "Why am I all wet? There's water everywhere."
Yumi counted to ten before turning to face her. "It's raining, and there's a broken pipe." Sissi made a face like it was her fault they were in a flooding room. "You hit your head pretty hard," she added. Sissi groaned and drew her knees up to her chin. "It might help to put your head between your legs?"
"I know that, Ishiyama," Sissi growled. "I'm not an idiot." She bent her head and took deep, shuddering breaths. "Honestly, of all the people in the entire school, I'm stuck with you?"
"I thought your head hurt?" Yumi snapped. She went back to attempting to break the door or attract someone's attention, not that she expected anyone to be wandering the woods but maybe there was a maintenance worker or-
"I almost wouldn't mind Della Robbia," Sissi sighed in the echoes.
/
Yumi tried her phone again. The rain had let up but the pipe was still gushing and while some of the water was draining through the crack under the door, most of it wasn't. It was up past her ankles now. Sissi sat trembling in a corner, bent over a bucket and vomiting intermittently.
"Good thing maintenance left that bucket here, huh?" Yumi asked conversationally. Sissi made a disgruntled noise.
Her phone beeped and fell silent.
She sighed and rubbed her face. Repeated kicks to the door had done nothing but make her foot and ankle throb painfully. She debated on going over and rubbing Sissi's shoulder or holding her hair back while she puked up her stomach while she waited for someone to find them, or for the Return, or something. Sissi made a gurgled noise and sat back, hand over her mouth and eyes glassy and distorted. "You okay?" Yumi asked.
Sissi ignored her question. "Was that Ulrich?" she asked.
Yumi shook her head and slid down the wall. She tilted her head back and studied the grey clouds and swaying branches overhead. If she could just get up there and get help… "No," she replied after a moment. "The water killed my phone." Sissi groaned and muttered something under her breath. It sounded like German and Yumi frowned. "I think you have a concussion."
"No duh," Sissi snapped. "Captain obvious, aren't you?"
"Hey, I'm trying to be nice, we're stuck here."
"Really?"
/
Sissi studied her through unfocused eyes and yawned widely. Yumi kicked her leg and Sissi glared at her. Her movement sent water splashing up around her waist. "Hey, no sleeping. We don't know how much more messed up your brain is right now."
"Can't be worse than Della Robbia's," Sissi stated. Yumi stared for a moment. Sissi cracked a smile and Yumi laughed.
"Yeah, can't be worse," she agreed. She heard something creak outside and frowned. "Did you hear that?"
"Wha-?"
She jumped up and began to hit the door again with a metal rod she'd found earlier. Tried to pry it open and felt one of her nails give. Blood streaked the door and then she heard Sissi vomiting again. There was another creak and then a hiss. "Can't handle blood?" she asked when the noises behind her stopped. "Why doesn't that surprise me?" She kicked at the door.
"Shut-up. I'm not a wuss." There was a pause and Yumi pressed her ear to the door to listen. There was a gurgling sound from the other side of the door. "What are you doing anyway?"
"Listening."
"To what?"
And that's when the water bubbled up from under the door.
/
Sissi breathed heavily in a corner. She was still sitting and the water was high on her waist. Yumi moved away from the door and the pipe. The most she could figure was that the sewer had overflowed the walkways and was fighting its way into the room.
"We have to try and get out," Yumi stated.
"I thought that was what you'd been trying to do," Sissi replied. Her voice was weak and Yumi eyed her. She didn't look good. Her skin was pale and drawn, her breathing coming in sharp pants and breathy gasps.
"Yeah, well, the door isn't working, is it?" Yumi snapped. She eyed the walls and wondered if Sissi could hold steady enough to give her a boost up. All she needed was to get a hold on the earth above and she'd be good. She didn't understand what was taking the guys so long. "Do you think you can stand?"
"Of course I can…Why?"
"Maybe you can boost me up. If I can get high enough then I can get out."
"No way, you'll just leave me here," Sissi retorted. "If I'm going to die you are too."
Yumi rolled her eyes and tugged at her hair. "You aren't going to die!"
Sissi's arms crossed over her chest and she looked at the rising water pointedly. "No?" she asked. "Then boost me out."
Yumi glowered. "You're concussed. You won't make it five feet before collapsing or throwing up or something. I can get back to the school and find Jim." Sissi's face darkened and Yumi narrowed her eyes. "You know I'm right."
"Fine," Sissi snapped. She staggered to her feet and shivered, gasped, and almost fell to her knees before Yumi grabbed her arm.
"What is it?"
"Dizzy," she replied. "And my ankle hurts. A lot." She winced and her face looked pinched. "Okay, let's do this." She moved to the wall and braced herself against it, wincing as she waded into the muddier section. Her hands formed a stirrup and she hunched over slightly. "Come on," she ordered.
Yumi hesitated, Sissi really looked unwell, before putting her foot in Sissi's cupped hands. "On the count of three?"
"Just, now," Sissi snapped.
Yumi pushed off with her other foot at the same time that Sissi straightened. She scrabbled at the ground and managed to grab onto something sturdy. She pulled and wiggled and managed to swing her leg up onto the solid ground. Gasping, she rolled over and stared up at the grey clouds.
"Hey!" Sissi called from below. "You're supposed to be getting Jim! Are you listening to me? Ishiyama!"
Yumi laid there counting heartbeats and breathing deeply. The air wasn't really any different up here, but somehow it was. She sat up and wrung out her shirt. She wondered if she should try and get Sissi out. She debated on going for Jim. She wondered if she should head for the factory.
She was three steps toward the manhole when she heard Sissi scream her name.
/
The water was rising faster and Yumi leaned as far as she dared over the edge of the pit. Sissi was treading water and looking faint. "Come on," she ordered, hand outstretched. "Just grab it, I'll pull you up."
"You were going to leave me," Sissi accused.
"Shut-up and reach," Yumi snapped. She inched a bit farther out and felt some of the earth give way. Dammit, she was going to kill the guys when she got ahold of them. "Come on."
Sissi reached out, hand just shy of connecting with Yumi's. Yumi cursed and stretched farther. She wasn't sure how she was going to pull her up but she had to try. She'd waited too long to try and get out and the water was pouring in faster and if a Return didn't happen she was going to kill someone. Sissi faltered and went under for a moment, came up spluttering and looking terrified.
"Fuck," Yumi cursed. She got to her feet, ignored Sissi's terrified yelp, and jumped into the pit. The water was colder than she remembered. She managed to get an arm around Sissi and drag her toward the corner farthest from the spluttering pipe. "Come on, try and get out," she ordered.
"I'm tired," Sissi replied. Her body wasn't shaking anymore and Yumi felt Sissi go limp.
Yumi growled. She would not have Elisabeth Delmas's death on her conscience. It was unaccept-
/
Yumi's phone vibrated in her pocket. She fished it out as she hurried across the courtyard toward the cafeteria where she was supposed to meet the boys. There was a soft drizzle falling from the grey clouds overhead and it was beginning to pick up. It was from Ulrich and she felt a smile war with a frown.
Missed you.
The smile won.
. . … . .
"You cut it a little sharp there at the end, goofing off like that," Yumi said to Odd. She bumped his shoulder and he laughed and bumped hers back. Ulrich shook his head and followed just behind them. She could practically hear his eyes rolling.
"Nah, I'm an ace with timing. Don't be so uptight, Yumi," Odd snorted. "You have to put on a bit of show, otherwise where's the fun?"
"It isn't supposed to be fun," Yumi replied. She wanted to question who he was putting on the show for but figured it would be safer if she didn't know. All they needed was Odd to try and make Aelita his next conquest, despite Jeremie's obvious infatuation.
"Yeah, yeah, you're starting to sound like Einstein," Odd groaned.
"When do you think we set back to?" Ulrich asked. "We're still at the factory."
"Don't know, we'll ask Einstein, hopefully it was after Hertz's test," Odd replied. He bounded into the supercomputer room ahead of them. "Hey, Einstein-!"
Yumi froze in the doorway, stared at the boy sitting hunched in the chair, head in his hands and shoulders shaking. She didn't have to see the screen to know something went wrong. She just wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was.
/
Jeremie's eyes were ringed in black. He looked like he hadn't slept in a week, which was exactly how long it had been since…since. Yumi sat on Ulrich's desk chair and watched Jeremie run distracted hands through his hair.
"Philippe Dumas," he said finally. "Six-years-old." He took a breath and stared at one of the posters taped above Ulrich's bed. "Freak accident, died by strangulation from an electrical cord."
Yumi inhaled sharply. Ulrich was staring at his hands; Odd was scratching Kiwi behind the ears.
"Funeral's in two days," Jeremie added in the quiet.
"We should go," Yumi stated.
"That would raise questions," Jeremie protested. "Unneeded questions."
They were silent except for the occasional rustle as Odd shifted on his bed. "Yumi's right," Ulrich said finally. "We don't have to…we don't have to make ourselves known. But we should be there. It's our fault."
Odd looked up, eyes locked on his roommate. "It's X.A.N.A.'s fault," he said quietly.
"It's ours too," Ulrich said softly.
"This is a mistake," Jeremie announced. But he didn't complain.
/
"Jeremie," she murmured. She laid on his bed while he typed on his laptop, fingers flying on the keys. Her finger traced the black letters on her wrist, her nail scraped along the vein. "Jeremie, I almost did something terrible."
"Confess your love to Ulrich?" he asked.
"What?" She sat up and glared at the back of his head. "No. I don't love Ulrich."
"Of course not," Jeremie replied. "What did you almost do? Tell someone about Lyoko?" He turned to eye her over his shoulder through narrowed, suspicious eyes.
"No," she snapped. "Never mind," she added. "It was a stupid mistake that won't happen again."
His eyes softened and he got up. She scooted over as he sat down next to her. His hand rested on her shoulder and he looked at her curiously. "Yumi, are you okay?"
Her chest tightened and she nodded. "Yeah. I'm good." She took a deep breath and focused on the letters and numbers on her wrist.
Jeremie's eyes drifted to them as well and he sighed. "Don't you think it's time you scrubbed those off?" he asked gently. "Isn't it time to forget?"
"Forget?" she repeated. "How could you want to forget?"
His blue eyes were confused when they met hers. "How could you not?" he asked.
/
Odd found her at the gravesite a month after the funeral. He didn't seem surprised, even if she was. He fussed with the wreath and plush animals decorating the grave before adding a teddy bear and bouquet of calla lilies to the offerings.
He gave a small smile when he caught her look. "You should stop beating yourself up," he told her. He squeezed her shoulder tentatively. "What's done is done."
"It could have been Sissi," she said. He looked up at her in shock and she felt her face pale. She hadn't meant to say that.
"What?"
"Sissi," she repeated. Odd took her arm and guided her to a bench. She stared out over the cemetery and tried to ignore his look. "Two months ago, when I didn't make it to the X.A.N.A. attack," she murmured. "Do you remember?"
"You said there was a cave in?"
"Yeah…Sissi was with me." She swallowed and shrugged. "She was concussed and there was a broken water pipe. It filled up pretty fast. I got out and I almost left her. I didn't think…I mean, I thought a Return would…even if something happened…"
Odd was silent, his lips pressed together.
"I…"
"It wasn't your fault," Odd said slowly. "Even if…even if it had been Sissi, it wouldn't have been your fault. You wouldn't have known, none of us knew. It would be hard, harder than this because we go to school with her and Delmas would have been crushed, you know? And Ulrich…" he trailed off and Yumi looked at him.
"Ulrich would have hated me."
"Ulrich would have gotten over it," he said with some conviction. He hesitated and then looked at her. "Why did you? Save her, I mean."
Yumi shrugged. "I wasn't going to. I was already at the manhole but…she screamed my name. Yumi, not Ishiyama. I could tell something was really wrong then."
Odd nodded. His hand rested on her shoulder briefly, squeezed it gently. He got to his feet and looked down at her. "I'm going back to the school, you coming?"
"No, I'm going to stay for a while."
He nodded again and then paused. "Yumi, it doesn't matter who it was. It was going to suck anyway. We know better now, and it's a good thing you care. It means you're a good person."
She rolled her eyes but smiled a little. She managed to wait until he disappeared through the iron gates before she drew her knees up and sobbed.