(A/N) This is you for Industrial Fear!

I know I haven't asked for a while, but could I get more reviews? I have at least fourteen people reading this story, but only get an average of four reviews per chapter! I would appreciate more options and I know a lot more people are reading this than that!

What's Left Unheard

It was a very good thing that it was the weekend for Yumi. It didn't bother her parents that she was late to rise, or that she was very cranky. When she had returned home, Yumi had hidden the katana under a loose floorboard.

It was late in the morning and Yumi had locked herself in her room. It seemed strange to her that the boy would leave his katana behind. Either he wants me to have it, she thought, or he forgot it. Tsk. Who am I kidding?

Lying on her bed, Yumi studied the katana's beautiful and deadly craftsmanship. The hilt was composed of black leather strips strapped tightly around it. The bronze hand guard had a wonderfully crafted battle scene etched into it. The blade itself had a beautiful curve to it and was as long as her arm. Engraved into the blade was a Japanese inscription that she easily read: Samurai of the West. The scabbard was missing but she could guess it was made of the same black leather and bronze linings.

She turned the sword over and watched the reflections of the sun glittering on the wall. Remembering the fight as vividly as it had just happened, Yumi watched as the boy kissed her. It angered her that he had done that. Especially because he seemed to know her, thus he must've known that she had a boyfriend.

But you did want to kiss him when you found him, said a little voice in the back of her mind.

Shut up, she told it. Can't you see I'm reminiscing here?

Then she remembered the boy cutting her shirt to pieces. That was embarrassing, she told herself for the umpteenth. She had to throw the pieces of her shirt into a garbage dumpster on her way home. Returning her attention to the katana, she was again awed by the considerable craftsmanship of the sword.

He left it so he could see you again, the voice said.

Yumi flinched with this latest revelation. There is no way he would just leave clues, particularly this katana, behind. This katana must have some special meaning to him. All the other weapons he had were nowhere near as well made as this one.

"Yumi dear?" called her mother from behind the door.

Returning to reality, Yumi quickly hid the weapon under the floorboard as quietly as she could. To disguise any strange noise that she may have made, Yumi said, "Yes, Mom?"

"Theo's here," she said.

Smiling slowly, Yumi left room once she tucked her phone into her pocket. She found Theo standing outside the front door. When she opened the door, Theo's dazzling smile caused her to put aside all her thoughts and fears, but not hopes.

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Lunch was a picnic in the park. A simple affair of sandwiches, chips, and juice had left them all content until the next meal. They sat in the shade of an oak tree near the lake in the park.

Yumi sat with Theo with her back resting gently against the trunks of an oak tree. Odd sung to a song from a new CD player in the branches of the tree. Ulrich stood down by the lakeshore, skipping pebbles on the water. Jeremy was the only missing; locked away in the factory as he still desperately tried to decipher Xana's virus.

Theo was talking but Yumi wasn't really listening. Even though she tried, she couldn't keep her mind on the present. The warrior kept breaking into her mind and taking her back to those few seconds of when they'd kissed. It quickly became apparent to Theo that Yumi had other things on her mind.

Kissing her lightly on the cheek, Theo smiled slightly at catching her embarrassed stare. Knowing he had her attention, he said, "What's in your head?"

"Nothing," she said. The last thing that she wanted was to tell him about her encounter. "It's nothing."

But he saw through her. "Something happened last night. What was it?"

She looked at him. I can't hide anything from him, can I? She nodded slowly. I hope this goes well. "I went for a walk and I found our warrior friend in that old factory."

"And?"

"He must've been training at the factory because he had a lot of weapons there. I tried to unmask him, but he…kind of blew me away."

She paused as she took a breath. Her face had turned red slightly despite her best efforts. Theo looked at her with a quizzical stare. "I tried to find out a few things about him, but he wouldn't tell me anything."

"Well," Odd said from above them. "Of course, he wouldn't!"

Glancing up, they saw their friend smiling down on them like they were a pair of foolish children. "He doesn't want to get swamped by the media when you start telling everyone!"

"Maybe," Theo said.

He had noticed that Ulrich had stopped skipping stones and was listening to the conversation with utmost interest. "But I'm not so sure. I mean, don't you think that this guy could be some psychopath trying to get the attention of a pretty girl from behind a mask?"

"Yes," Yumi said, looking away. The memory of the boy slicing her shirt to pieces was very clear now.

Hearing the tone of her voice, Theo returned his attention to her. She was still hiding something he could tell. It annoyed him that she was doing that to him. When she's ready, he growled to himself.

Standing suddenly, Yumi said, "I'll be right back."

Theo watched her as she walked down toward the shore and Ulrich. Odd returned to listening and singing his music. Because of his friend's loud and off key voice, Theo couldn't hear what was being said between his girlfriend and her former best friend.

Ulrich sat a rock outcropping and dangled his bare feet into the cool water. His shoes and socks were behind him on the rock. The hot summer sun beat down on his shoulders and back but he didn't even notice.

"Ulrich," Yumi said, stopping behind him. "We need to talk."

Glancing at her, he nodded. Then he began to picking through the pebbles that were within his immediate reach. Casting a stone, it bounced off the surface four times before finally sinking.

"Nice one," she said.

"Thanks."

"Why did you go to the theaters with Sissi?" she asked, not sure why she didn't ask him what was really troubling her.

"I didn't," he said fiercely. "She followed me."

This caught Yumi by surprise. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she asked guiltily.

"You didn't let me," he said indifferently. "You wouldn't have listened anyway."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

"Are you?" he demanded.

"You've had all week to talk to me and the only things you've ever said are 'I hate you' and 'Leave me alone.' That's not being much of the friend I knew three months ago."

"Me?" she almost shouted in anger. "Who are you to talk? You've barely said two words to anyone since you returned. Besides, you were a lousy friend for leaving."

"That wasn't my choice," Ulrich growled. Returning to gaze at the lake, he threw another pebble, which only bobbed twice.

"I seem to recall having saved you twice," he said quietly. "I do believe that the only thanks that I've gotten in return from you was the cold shoulder."

"How do you expect me to thank a person who has been missing for two months?" Yumi demanded. "What do you want anyway? A hug and kiss and eternal forgiveness?"

"That would do splendidly for starters," Ulrich said with the barest of smiles. "But, no, that's not it."

"Then what?"

"Understanding."

"What?"

"Understanding for why I've saved you and will continue to do so," Ulrich looked hopefully into her eyes as he said this. But her eyes were clouded in confusion. "The Yumi I knew two months ago would've understood without my needing to explain or even ask."

"So I've changed," she snapped angrily. Why won't he ever give me a straight answer anymore? "And I've changed for the best."

Scooping up a handful of stones, she threw them angrily into the lake. As they sank, so did her anger. Kneeling down, Yumi selected a particularly flat and smooth pebble. Facing Ulrich again, she handed him the pebble.

As he took it, Yumi noticed something she hadn't much earlier. Ulrich now had thick calluses on his hands. He no longer had the somewhat scrawny arms anymore; they were far more muscular and threatening.

"Why can't we be the same friends we were?" Yumi asked quietly, staring at the lake water.

"Because," Ulrich said, equally as quiet as her. "…you have changed… for the best."

Staring at the ground, Ulrich turned and walked away slowly. Yumi returned to Theo with a sad and confused air about her. As he stepped on to the path, Ulrich brought the pebble that Yumi had given him up to his face. Closing his fist, he gripped it tightly. He would keep it forever.

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Clouds had begun appearing in early afternoon. The growing cloud cover brought an early dusk and a cold wind. Starting as a small sprinkle, it quickly became a cold summer shower of considerable power.

Odd, Ulrich, and Jeremy were stranded in Jeremy's room. Even though he was annoyed by how rowdy they were being, especially Odd, Jeremy was thankful for their thoughtfulness of spending a little time with him. He had had no time to relax and enjoy life as he had been throwing himself futilely at the virus.

Chased by Ulrich, Odd danced around the room. He had snatched Ulrich's bandana and was waving it merrily in front of him, yet just out of reach. Laughing loudly, Odd evaded Ulrich's best attempts to reclaim it. That is until he stumbled on to Jeremy's unmade bed.

Catching his breath from his laughing fit, Odd let Ulrich take back his bandana. Tying it back into place, Ulrich walked to the window and stared out into the gloom.

Picking himself to his feet, Odd walked over to Jeremy. He watched as endless lines of computer code scrolled down the screen. Jeremy would halt the scrolling often to probe a random icon.

Incoherently absorbing the information, Odd once again thanked himself for having no interest in the area of computer programming.

"I give up!" Jeremy growled as he leaned back in his chair.

Crossing his arms angrily, he glared at the screen. He had tried everything his brilliant mind could think of and every time his hopes were crushed as he ran into a dead end. He wished that he had Aelita's help, but it was easier for both them to conduct their own searches.

As his thoughts were consumed by Aelita's sweet face, Odd leaned forward. He studied a section of the code for it had attracted his attention.

"Hey, Jeremy," he said pointing an icon on the lower left section of the screen. "What is this symbol above that number?"

Eyeing the symbol, Jeremy studied it. It was a tiny dot that was hovered above the number 235. He hadn't noticed this symbol before and he'd reviewed this section of coding many times in the past week.

"I don't know," he said honestly.

"Well," Odd said grasping the mouse. "Let's see what it does."

"Wait, Odd!"

But before he could stop him, Odd had clicked on the dot. The computer screen suddenly went black and then a start up screen flashed to life. Then a miracle happened.

System ready: enter command

Odd and Jeremy stared at the computer screen for several moments. Odd slowly began to laugh as Jeremy glanced at him.

"Remind me to thank you if this works," he said as he tentatively returned to his work.

Access primary control systems

Lines of computer code suddenly scrolled down the monitor. At the top of the section were the words, Control Systems.

"Well, I'll be!" Jeremy said incredulously.

Whooping hysterically, Odd shouted, "When things are strange, call for me! I'll help you out, so you'll see! Nothing's stranger than Odd! That's me!"

"Shut up," Jeremy said.

Looking for Ulrich, he spotted him still by the window. "Can you guys keep quiet? I've got a lot of work to do."

Silently, Ulrich left the room. Odd didn't even notice, as he was absorbed into his new victory chant. Repositioning himself in front of the monitor, Jeremy returned to his work with a vengeance.