Chapter 10
By: Leelei
Author's Note: It's back! : ) I can't thank you all enough for your caring support and encouragement; in these past two weeks I have seen Heaven and Hell. My horse is doing better now, I'm still holding a job (whoopie…), and I even have a driving test scheduled for next week. Even though school really cracks down around this time, I'm relying on plenty of chances to finish this story pretty soon. Cool news– Death and the Swordsman is now archived! You guys have to check out Ransomed Heart's web site, especially if you're into awesome Code:Lyoko fanfiction. Again, thank you all. I'm so glad to know that I have the best, most understanding readers ever!!! : D
Archived at: Ransomed Heart's Fan Fiction Page
When Death and Ulrich were standing back at the schoolyard for a third time, the brunette boy realized that it was later in the evening. All of the students seemed to have returned to their dorms or left for the night, save just a few who still remained.
Yumi had made it back to the school and was waiting patiently near one of the trees in the yard, her arms folded as she repeatedly scanned the grounds. Finally she sighed and walked over to one of the last groups; two boys and a girl, all about Odd's age, sitting under a tree while finishing up their homework.
"Excuse me," Yumi said politely and smiled when the girl looked up to her. "I'm sorry to bother you, but by any chance do you know a student here named Odd della Robbia?"
"Yeah," the girl replied, her legs folded over each other with her thick textbook and notebook in her lap. "Tall, skinny kid with the blonde, spikey hair that's got blue in it? Dresses kind of punk-ish?" Yumi nodded at her description. "He was in my gym class freshman year. Why, are you looking for him?"
"Yes, have you seen him lately by any chance?" Yumi asked. "I told him to meet me back here around this time, but I might be a little early. He should just be getting out of detention."
The girl suddenly had a confused look on her face. "Detention? This late?"
"Yeah…his history teacher wrote him up so he was scheduled to serve one for the last half-hour."
"But they stopped doing evening detentions at the beginning of this year," the girl informed her.
"What?" Yumi frowned as her brow furrowed. "Well then, have you seen Odd around here?"
"I remember seeing you two together here earlier, then after you left he started talking to his friends again, and I think they went somewhere to smoke," the girl answered truthfully.
"Oh…" Yumi replied, looking down to her feet. "So he lied to me again."
"You're his girlfriend, right?" the girl inquired.
"Yes…"
"I hope you kick his ass."
"Thanks…" Yumi muttered with a forced smile. The girl and her two friends packed up their schoolwork and got up to leave.
"See ya," she called with a smile as they walked away.
"Bye…" replied Yumi dejectedly. With a sigh, she leaned her back against the tree and returned to her arms folded, waiting position.
At least ten minutes later, Odd appeared, casually walking up to her as he smiled. "Hey," he said as he hugged her. "Sorry I'm late."
"It's okay," Yumi smiled when she saw him, wrapping her arms around him tightly. After pulling away, they kissed, Yumi trying her best to ignore the cigarette smoke on his breath, the taste of it breaking her heart to know that he lied to her to get out of visiting their friend.
"So how's Jeremie?" Odd asked, holding her hands and caressing them gently with his thumbs, the sweet gesture calming Yumi's twisted emotions.
"He's okay…" the young Japanese woman replied softly, looking down and watching his actions as she felt his soft skin against hers. "The psychiatrist told me that he's had a little bit of insomnia lately."
"The psychiatrist?" Odd asked, the questioning tone in his voice causing Yumi to look up at him. "I thought he was only seeing that guy once a month now."
"Well, you know he always regresses a little on the day it happened," at the mention of 'the day it happened,' Ulrich knew exactly what she was speaking about as he listened to and watched their conversation. "And I guess now he's worse than last year. I set up a time for us to go visit him tomorrow, okay?"
"Yeah, sure…" Odd replied, a little less enthusiastic than Yumi had hoped for him to be.
"Well, look at you two!" a new voice called. The couple's attention jerked to the entrance gate of the schoolyard as a tall figure stood watching them. "So the rumors I heard were true!" she exclaimed, a girl Odd's age.
"Death, what's Sissi doing here?" Ulrich asked from where he stood off to the side with the apparition.
Death floated next to him and replied without her attention leaving the new teen. "You will see."
Sissi held a hand to her waist and, in the other, nearly a fistful of rolled up money. She wore a small, tight white polo shirt and a short pink skirt, the outfit somehow managing to still cover her expanded belly. Her shoes had high heels, and she seemed to wobble as she took a few steps towards the couple. She had let her hair down and wore heavy make-up, as she usually did when she went out. She grinned at the sight of the two. "Who had expected Odd and Yumi would ever date?"
"Well now, look what the cat carried in and spit up," Odd replied with a smirk of his own, dropping Yumi's hands and turning to Sissi. "So the rumors we heard about you were true, huh? What are you doing here, you slut?"
"Odd," Yumi looked to him, feeling remorse for Sissi even after all they had been through.
"I just had to make a stop by Kadic and trick old Grandpa into the guilt trip." She waved her money at them. "Daddy could never stay mad at me."
"That's nice, now get your skanky ass out of here," said Odd.
"Oh, but I couldn't go out tonight without stopping by here and visiting you two!" Sissi exclaimed sarcastically. She smiled again. "Is it true what I heard? Are you two really engaged?"
"Engaged?" Ulrich nearly jumped at the word. He turned to Death in a panic, but the spirit continued watching. He tried to calm down, thinking Sissi must have been teasing them or, hopefully, he had heard wrong.
Odd narrowed his eyes at her. "We've talked about it," he answered simply.
"You might as well marry him, Yumi." Sissi said, flipping her hair as she still gripped her money. "I mean, his graduation isn't very far away, and everyone says you're just wasting money taking random piss-away college electives, so maybe you should just get it over with. But, you know," her evil grin returned, "he'll never be Ulrich."
Yumi gasped at her last remark. Any sympathy she felt for the girl had vanished then. "Go away, Sissi," she said through nearly clenched teeth. "We don't want you here anymore."
Sissi laughed. "Why? Because I stopped by to remind you of what reality is for us now? It's over sweetheart, life isn't going to get any better than this."
Odd noticed the pain and frustration in Yumi's features and he took her hand. "Why don't you just shut the fuck up and go away already?" he sneered at Sissi.
"Don't look at me like I'm the bad guy here." Sissi retorted, still smiling. "You keep kissing her feet like that, Odd, and she'll look like me soon enough." A car pulled up outside the entrance and honked. A guy about Yumi's age was driving, and a few other girls that knew Sissi all sat in the passenger seats, moving to make room for her as someone yelled her name out of the rolled down window.
"I said get out of here, bitch!" Odd yelled at her.
Sissi laughed as she turned to catch her ride. "Remember, Yumi," she called back as she walked away from them. "He'll never be Ulrich!"
Yumi felt faint as her breath drew in sharply, quickly putting a hand to her mouth as she felt the sobs growing inside of her. As the car drove away taking Sissi with it, her legs felt weak. Odd looked over and caught her as her calves started to shake. He walked her back over to the tree and pushed her back to it, gripping her arms as he looked straight into her eyes as they watered, tears streaking down her cheeks. "Look, Yumi, don't let anything she says get to you."
Yumi opened her mouth to reply but her voice choked and she wasn't able to. Odd continued, "She's just a stupid ho, what does she think she knows?" He released his grip of one arm and gently wiped a tear away from her cheek. "Are you going to be okay?"
"I-…I-…." Yumi tried to force her voice to work. "I…don't know…"
"Yumi, please, try and get through this without another episode." Odd begged her.
Yumi fought to reply through her tears, "Odd…I still can't let go."
"No one ever asked you to let go. We just wanted you to move on." Odd told her. "Nothing is ever going to change the past, Yumi, I'm sorry."
Yumi couldn't hold her emotions in any longer and she began crying. Odd let go of his grip on her, but caught her in a hug. She buried her face into his shoulder, her arms wrapped securely around him as he held her, slowly running a hand up and down her back. "Shh, it's okay," he whispered softly. "Everything's gonna be okay."
She regained her composure quickly, and within a few minutes Yumi was sniffling to end the last of her tears. The two pulled away and Odd took a hold of her hands again. "Okay now?" he asked.
Yumi couldn't look straight at him. "Odd…I…I honestly don't know," she stuttered. "I just can't truly get over it, no matter how much time has passed."
Odd started to grow impatient. "Yumi, you've always been a strong person. You can get over it by now."
Yumi looked up to him. "What do you mean? By just pushing all of my thoughts and feelings of it aside and just move on?" she asked. "No, I couldn't do that. I'm not like you."
"Hey, I didn't just 'move on,' okay? He was my best friend, Yumi, and I miss him just as much as you do."
"And what about Jeremie? You don't even want to see him anymore!" Yumi cried.
"Yumi!" Odd almost shouted her name in a frustrated reply, dropping her hands and stepping away. "Don't tell me I don't care. I just don't feel like going out there every other damned day."
"But he needs us."
"No he doesn't. He's not the same Jeremie anymore. If he was, I would go out there every time with you, but the times have changed, Yumi." He stepped close to her again. "It's been five years."
Yumi could feel herself choking up again, but tried to stay strong. "I don't want to fight…" she mumbled.
Odd sighed. "Then that makes two of us. I'm sorry." He hugged her again, gently holding on to her arms after they parted. "You've had a long day, let's call it quits for the night. I've got to go finish some homework if I ever want to get out of this place on time."
"Call me tonight?" Yumi asked, looking up into his eyes.
"Promise." He replied and kissed her. "Drive safe."
"I will." Yumi regretted letting go of him, but finally felt his hands slip from her arms as he stepped away. "I love you, Yumi."
"I love you, too, Odd."
Odd left, walking away with his hands in his pockets towards the building that housed his dorm. Yumi watched him for a few moments then left herself, exiting through the school entrance gates and out to a near side street where she had parked her car.
Only Ulrich and Death remained in the empty schoolyard. "Death, don't you dare tell me what I just saw is true."
"I cannot lie to you, Ulrich." Death replied. "This is the honest reality. I told you earlier that I could not prevent unwanted outcomes if you had asked to see something."
"Yeah, but I asked for you not to show me anymore dying, and that," Ulrich paused as he thought about his words, "well…that was pretty much death to me."
"I'm sorry," the apparition responded.
"…It's not your fault," Ulrich replied sadly, lowering his gaze. "It's just that…I don't really understand. She's going to marry him?"
"I know that you must be feeling hurt and surprised, but you have to realize their situation now. Even her parents have encouraged the idea of them marrying shortly after Odd's graduation."
"What?" Ulrich asked. "No way, they wouldn't do that. I know the Ishiyamas, and their so…traditional. And besides, Yumi's dad hardly approved of me when he knew I was dating her, and I know for a fact that he would definitely disapprove of Odd."
"You believe so?" Death asked.
"I know so."
"Then I must find another image to clear this up for you," Death said, turning away from him and waved her arm, changing the scenery around them again.
Working on the next chapter now…until then, please review!