Author's Note: Thank you, thank you, thank you for my reviews! I just had to say to the reviewer who goes by orange that the scenario you asked me about could have been true, but I never had Sissy kiss Ulrich (ewwwwwwww.....) and you don't know if she's infected or not. It would have been a cool idea though! And sorry Son of Xana for not making the evil longer, but I had to move on with the story. I hope you understand. ;) Also, mornstar, I could have them cure everyone (though that would take an awfully long time) but they aren't exactly sure who's infected or not (you can't really tell if your just passing them by). Now on with my chapter...
I could tell it was morning through my eyelids. I still had my eyes closed, but I had just awakened to the sound of voices. I shifted a little to get comfortable on the lumpy bed and felt the blanket shift with me. Ulrich had covered me with the blanket again.
I then heard the distinct voices of Ulrich and Odd. I decided to wait to open my eyes just for a little longer.
"Odd, would you cut it out with your horrible humming? It's driving me nuts," Ulrich muttered grumpily. I heard the sound of a page turning. "Besides, it might wake Yumi up."
"Aw...we can't have that happening, now could we? Your precious Yumi."
"Odd!"
Even though I was trying to pretend I was still asleep, I could feel my face heating up.
"Just kidding!"
"Well, it wasn't funny." There was silence for a moment and I could hear Odd still humming his tune on his Walkman faintly. "Hey, what happened to that Ben guy last night after me and Yumi went up to the roof?"
"Well, we were going to go after you, but decided that that would have been suicide, so we wanted to go talk to Aelita about what we should do. When we turned around, that Ben guy had run off."
"Hmm..." I could tell Ulrich was in deep thought. "That's not good. There's no telling how many girls that pretty boy can get to join Xana."
"Oh..." Odd said playfully. "Jealous? Jealous that he got to kiss Yumi before you?"
I fought to keep my face composed and dipped my mouth slightly underneath the blanket to keep it from view. I heard the scraping of the chair on the floor.
"I said quit it with that, Odd," Ulrich said angrily.
"Take a chill pill, man. I was only joking."
I heard the sound of the door opening. "Hey guys." It was Jeremy.
"Hey Jeremy."
"Hey."
"How's Yumi?"
Odd sniffed. "Lazy, if you ask me. And I thought I was a sleepy head."
"Hey, she went through a lot last night. Its not her fault," Ulrich said immediately in my defense.
"Yah, whatever," Odd said nonchalantly.
"Well, just wanted to tell you that I'm going to the factory. Anyone want to come?"
"I'll go," Odd said, yawning loudly. "I need a walk."
"Ulrich?" Jeremy questioned.
"Nah, I'll stay here. I have some science reading I need to catch up on."
"More like catch up on some smooching with Yumi." Ulrich must have given Odd a look that threw flaming daggers because Odd immediately said in a rushed tone, "Well, Jeremy, what are you waiting for? Let's rocket." I heard Odd's footsteps run out the door.
"We'll alert you if something happens," Jeremy said reassuringly.
"Ciao," Ulrich said as goodbye and Jeremy shut the door.
I quickly debated about what to do. Finally I decided to wait five minutes before making any sudden moves. After about what I thought was five minutes, I gave a loud yawn.
"Yumi?"
"Hmm?" I said sleepily. I opened my eyes slowly and rubbed my eyes as if to rub the sleep from them.
"How do you feel?"
I pushed myself up and ran my fingers through my hair. Ulrich stared at me with a friendly smile on his face. "I'm okay, although it's too bright in my taste."
Ulrich's smile widened as he turned to look out the window. "Well, it's about time to greet the day."
Suddenly, my cell phone vibrated in my pocket where I had slipped it just in case something happened. I straightened out my skirt and took it out to look at the display. When I read the reminder, I gasped and clasped a hand over my mouth. "Oh my god!" I panicked.
"What?" Ulrich said, turning away from his science book to see what was wrong.
"I completely forgot! I'm supposed to visit my parents today." I mashed a palm of my hand into my forehead. "I'm such an idiot. They'll kill me if I don't go!" I scrambled out of bed and turned my cell phone off. In a hurry, I ran for the door then stopped myself. "Um...Ulrich?"
"Yes?" Ulrich immediately gave me his full attention.
I looked at the floor, suddenly embarrassed. "I wanted to thank you. You know, from saving me from Xana. I owe you big time."
Ulrich smiled sweetly. It made my heart melt. "No sweat," he said nicely.
"I'm sorry I can't stay to chat but my parents will get really mad if I don't come home today." I reached for the doorknob and opened the door. "See you around. I'll be back by tomorrow evening, I promise." I wasn't sure if my eyes were tricking me, but I thought I saw his face fall in disappointment.
"Okay," Ulrich said, turning back to his science book. "Have fun."
I hesitated and wondered if I should say something else, but couldn't think of anything. So I closed the door quietly behind me and raced for my room. Once there, I changed into my regular black shirt and pants, slipping the cell phone into my pocket again. I threw all my schoolbooks into my bag and checked to make sure I had everything. Satisfied, I walked out of my room and turned to go.
"Yumi?"
Surprised, I swiveled around to fine Ulrich behind me, leaning against the wall next to my door, his schoolbag packed and ready to go. "Going to school?" I asked teasingly, raising an eyebrow.
"Actually, I was hoping I could go to your house with you, you know, so you could give me some extra...tutoring. I'm not exactly Jeremy so I need help on some subjects." He looked at me hopefully. I felt for some reason that what he was saying was only half true, but I smiled anyway.
"I'm sure my parents won't mind. Come on." His face lit up instantly as he followed me out of the dorms building and out through the gates of our school.