Yumi's POV:
"Hey, Odd," I whispered, still peaking through my little peek hole.
"What?"
I turned to him, or… where I thought he was since it was kind of dark in the dome.
"I can't see Ulrich and Lance anymore. They must've moved over! The tower's open, we can get over there!"
Odd, or at least I think it was him, jumped up in excitement, but only hit his head on the low roof in the process as he fell back down to the ground with a loud THUMP. He let out a sharp yelp, hugging his head, as well as rubbing his abused bottom, and glaring daggers once more at the ceiling before breaking into an energized ramble.
"Alright! Oh, that is SO perfect! Nice, sweet! C'mon, wait are you waiting for, Aelita, let us out!"
"Uh…" she stuttered in confusion. Then, her face brightened in realization. I could literally see the light bulb floating over her head as she figured it out. "Oh! Okay!"
And with that said, she immediately opened up the sheltered dome. Quickly locating the tower that loomed over our heads, she broke into a sprint towards it. It was weird because there were no monsters, with only Ulrich and Lance battling. I brushed it off, speeding up even faster to take advantage of the lack of reinforcements. Still, I had to be sure…
"Jeremie?" I breathed out, still staring intently at the tower.
"What is it?" he asked, his voice crackling slightly.
"X.A.N.A. only has Lance here, right? Other than him, we're alone?"
"Yup, the computer isn't picking up any other monsters on the scanner, you guys are clean. Strange as it is…"
"That's what I thought. We'll be on our guard, just in case, alright?"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Before we knew it, we were in front of the tower, with Aelita stepping through the seemingly solid wall of the structure.
"I never get tired of seeing that," Odd said with an amazed smile as Aelita pressed herself into the wall. "That is just too neat, though I don't know how she does that…"
"Me, too," I said nodding, but my eyes were still skimming across the desolate landscape.
Odd, noticing my uneasiness, asked quietly, "Worried about Ulrich?"
Unable to deny it, I nodded again. "Yeah. It may sound weird, but I just have that feeling that something is wrong… something's gonna happen…"
"Don't sweat it!" Odd tried to say lightly. "If something was wrong, then Jeremie would have reported it. Besides, Ulrich is probably too busy making Lance's life hell at the moment to be in trouble. I swear, that guy is good at that…"
"At what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.
"At making people's lives hell, of course!" Odd exclaimed, his face resembling that of a shocked kitten. "I mean, ever since Lance showed up, he's made everything difficult, making you cry, making Jeremie uptight, making me all depressed like…"
"I didn't cry," I tried to say defensively.
"Yeah, uh-huh, sure, whatever you say, Yumi, and I'm a girl with diamond rings and pearled necklaces…"
"Well, now that you've mentioned it, you do kind of look like…" I drifted off, ending my thoughts with a smirk.
"Hey…" Odd warned, though he smiled a little. "That's a bit below the belt there…"
I laughed. "Sorry, Odd."
"Ha, yeah, right, as if… Hey, Jeremie?" Odd asked, once more a serious adorning his usually confident features.
"What is it, Odd?" he replied, though it sounded a little strained. I wasn't sure why, but Aelita was taking a lot longer with the "rewind… thing" that always happens.
"Uh…" Odd stuttered, taken aback from Jeremie's tone. Apparently, he heard it as well. "I was just wondering how Ulrich was doing…"
"Oh…" Jeremie sighed. "I can't tell what's happened, just a few minutes ago Ulrich lost a lot of Life Points, but so far nothings happened and they're not moving… I should get a TV installed for this kind of thing…"
"Are you okay, Einstein?" Odd asked with concern.
"No…" he answered without hesitation. "When you're not moving, you're not fighting… and when you're not fighting, you're talking. And I don't know what they're talking about, but it must be something important because they're just standing there."
"So what?"
"As I'm pretty sure I've already explained, they've been standing in the exact same place as they were three minutes ago."
"Oh."
"How about this…" I cut in slowly. "Why is Aelita taking so long with the whole "rewind time thing"?"
"I don't know, she's probably having slight difficulty bypassing the de-virtualization malfunction so that you guys are returned to the real world safely. I'll try to help her out, but I won't be able to contact you guys for a moment. I need to head to the computer room to"—
"Yeah, whatever, Einstein," Odd interrupted quickly, not wanting to listen to his "techno babble".
Jeremie let out a small chuckle. "Just be careful while I'm gone, alright?"
"Yes, Mother," Odd and I said at the same time before breaking out into a fit of giggles ourselves.
"You guys are so funny…" There was a slight rustling sound before he spoke again. "Okay, I'm about to go, just thought you ought to know that Ulrich is down to 15 Life Points while Lance is still at 25, alright? Keep on the lookout, I've got a feeling that something's gonna happen."
"Roger, roger!" Odd said.
"Right, Jeremie out." And after that, silence was put upon us. Odd stared at me, and I stared at him before saying/ordering, "Okay, you look out that way, and I'll look this way."
"Why do you get to look in the direction Ulrich and Lance are?" he asked with suspicion. I, knowing that I was blushing once more, stayed silent.
"Fine, fine, Lover-girl, but next time I give the orders, clear?"
I just laughed at him and he pouted. "Seriously!"
"It's not gonna be up to me alone, Odd. We've got Ulrich back and he's known you longer than I have."
"So?"
"Never mind, Odd…"
The silence was back, but it wasn't as uncomfortable as it had been. Even though it was extremely boring, I continued to look over the white landscape, praying that Ulrich would appear in the distance with his cocky, yet triumphant grin that made my heart turn into goo…
Just thinking about his smile made me picture him all too clearly in my mind. His brown hair that stood defiantly off of his head, giving the impression that it was stiff due to many bottles of hair gel, but was actually extremely soft and smooth…(don't ask how she knows this…) His hair soon led to his dark, chocolate eyes, which made my own glaze over in wonder. They were so entrancing, strong and cold, yet they held the many emotions that his face never once betrayed. Speaking of his face… his high cheekbones gave the impression of gentleness at offset his hard gaze. His facial skin was smooth and flawless, and his mouth adorned perfectly moisturized lips that seemed almost as soft as his face. I imagined that his whole body must feel like silk. His body… I must say that he quite built for a boy his age, even though I think he's more of a man than any male. The reason why I know about his built is thanks to the many occasions when the four of us would hang out at the pool, and Ulrich was not one to wear a T-shirt while in the water. He says that he doesn't like the feeling of the cold, wet water plastered to his chest like a second skin—"it reminds me too much of Sissi…" But, oh boy, his chest…
"Yumi? Yumi? YUMI!"
"Ulrich…" I practically moaned out.
"YUMI!" Odd yelled in my ear, making me literally jump a foot into the air.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH! WHAT, WHAT?" I screamed, my eyes darting around the empty landscape. I heard a loud fit of laughter coming from behind me and I slowly turned around, my hands squeezing tightly into fists and a scowl placed on my angry face.
Odd was just about rolling around on the ground, hugging his stomach as he howled with laughter. I could faintly make out tears streaming down his face due to the light reflecting off of it with a flash.
"What. Is. So. Funny?" I ground out through clenched teeth.
"Y-You were—heehee—daydreaming a-b-b-out Ulrich!" Odd gasped out.
I could feel my face burning so badly that I could've sworn that it was on fire. The snow that had appeared on my face sizzled as the heat from my body rose even more so. Unable to make up an excuse at that precise moment, I remained silent, praying to the gods that Ulrich wouldn't find out.
Even so, fate was never on my side.
"YUMI, LOOK OUT!" the voice that belonged to my long-time fantasy yelled loudly.
I never saw it coming, and neither did Odd, thanks to my little daydream.
But Ulrich did.
And I wished that he hadn't.