Title: Reason to Believe
Author: Nakira Ayame Outsuno
Disclaimer: Code: LYOKO, Garage Kids, and all characters and related items belongs to Antefilms and france3. I am simply borrowing them :D Original concept for this fanfic copyrighted to Dream Fox, who so graciously let me use it. Please visit her fanfiction by following the link in my profile. It's worth it, i promise. Thank you so much, Dream Fox This chapter is dedicated to you .
See a variation of this fanfiction in doujinshi form by yours truly! Link in my profile!

Key:
'Thought'
"Speech"
"Speech in Japanese"

NOTE: I'm going for a three week camp, so I won't be able to update until I get back.. ;; fear not, for I shall come back bringing slightly better written chapters! Yay! XD

"Oi! Yumi!! How DARE he speak to you that way!! What a horrible person!" Li sprung from his seat as soon as Yumi burst into tears and went off in a tangent in Japanese. "He made you CRY, Yumi! No one should ever make you cry. You're too nice of a person to take that kind of treatment."

His tangent, to everyone in the room, sounded aggressive. Of course it would; no one knew what he was saying, and Yumi only cried harder at his words. The class burst into conversation, and Mrs. Hertz sprung to action.

"Herb, can you get Li to sit down and be quiet?" She walked to Jeremie and Yumi's desk and leaned in close to Yumi, speaking in a whisper so as not to embarrass her further. "Yumi, would you like to go to the Nurse?" she asked. Yumi nodded weakly. "Alright, dear. Jeremie, would you please take her down there?"

"Yes, Mrs. Hertz," said the blonde boy, helping Yumi up and leading her out of the class. Mrs. Hertz tried to calm everyone down in spite. Nothing was going to get them to be quiet after Li tried to follow Yumi out of the room and ended up tripping on his own backpack.

Odd leaned back in his seat and sighed. 'Something tells me this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better...'

-------------------------

It wasn't until later that evening did Odd have a chance to talk to Ulrich. The brown haired boy had disappeared after class, and had only gotten back to the dorm a half an hour ago. They hadn't talked much since then. Odd, deciding that Ulrich didn't need to be bombarded with questions, decided not to bring up the subject of Yumi and a certain engagement right away. Unfortunately it was getting late, and he wanted to get Ulrich to call Yumi and work things out as soon as possible.

Odd sighed. His thoughts were distracting him from his reading. It figured; he never got much reading time anymore. 'Oh well, there's no point in beating around the bush any longer,' he thought.

"Hey, Ulrich, what the heck was that outburst in class about, anyway?" Odd said, leaning back on his bed and putting the book he was reading down on his lap. Kiwi woke up from his sleep after his owner's voice broke the long period of silence and yawned. The brown haired boy sighed and looked up from his homework.

"I don't know... This whole thing just makes me angry,"

"You mean, you're jealous," Odd corrected. Ulrich rolled his eyes and gave him a 'duh' expression, then threw his pencil on his desk and leaned back in the chair.

"Ya think?" He clucked his tongue and scoffed. "Ya know, we finally got together like, 10 minutes before all this started. Ironic, isn't it? Years of pent up emotion that we finally put out in the open, and a few minutes later, it's all gone."

"But you guys both like each other, right? You said so yourself; 'years of pent up emotion'. Ya know, I bet she really doesn't want this whole... arranged marriage thing." Odd turned around to face him, petting Kiwi absently. "She doesn't have a choice in the matter, you understand that, right?" He looked at his friend. Ulrich nodded. "Did you even talk to her yet?"

"No... I can't face her... Especially after what I said to her. God, what do I do? I wish I hadn't said that... Getting together wasn't a mistake," Ulrich put his face in his hands and groaned.

"Good, now go say that to her," said Odd offhandedly, then picked up his book.

"It's been hours, Odd. If I was able to say it to her then I would have, don't ya think?" he glared at the purple-oriented boy. Odd shrugged and turned the page.

"Well I do, but it's obvious that you don't. Has she tried to call your cell phone?"

"No. Well, I don't know. I turned it off after I left class." At this, Odd looked up from his book.

"I'm sorry, you did what? What if there was a XANA attack, hn? I don't have my cell phone anymore; Jim took it away after Jeremie called during class, remember? Ulrich, that was irresponsible! Just because you can't handle a little problem you can't work out right away-"

"A little problem? You call Yumi being engaged 'a little problem'!? Odd, she's been lying to us for years! She's been lying to me since she started acting like she cared about me!!" His voice got louder and louder as he reached the end of his short outburst. Once his voice got to shouting level, Kiwi jumped up and started barking.

"Geeze, Chill out Ulrich... Look, I know it's an unfortunate turn of events, but I'm sure if you just go talk to her then everything will work out, okay? She doesn't want to be engaged to him. She thinks he's a nice person, but she doesn't want to marry him. Do you know why, Ulrich? Because she loves you. Her parents are forcing her into this marriage," he pet Kiwi's back until the dog calmed down and went back to sleep. Ulrich stared at Kiwi absentmindedly for a while, processing this information, then took out his cell phone from his pocket and turned it on.

"Hmm... Six new messages. Two guesses as to who they're all from." He purposely didn't respond to what Odd just said. He wasn't sure what to say. Odd, sensing this and getting aggravated with his friend just sighed.

"Look, as long as there are none from Jeremie warning us about an attack that started hours ago, then it's your problem. You can't keep fighting with her though, Ulrich. You love her. And she loves you too, or else she wouldn't have gotten this upset. Hey, are you going to the dance tomorrow? I'm sure I can get Yumi to go and you two can work things out. Would that be alright?" Odd gave Ulrich a sympathetic look. He wanted his two friends to get along; the closer, the better.

"I'm not going to the dance. The last thing I need right now is to have Sissi flinging herself at me," Ulrich groaned, running a hand through his hair and setting his cell phone on his desk.

"...Are you sure...? I mean, even if we just get you and Yumi together alone... I'm sure Jeremie and I could pull something like that off."

"Jeremie's going?"

"Yeah. Weird right? I'm surprised he's separating himself from his compu- Wait, don't change the subject. Are you sure you're not going?"

"Yeah..." Ulrich trailed off, turning back to his desk to think. Odd sighed and picked up his book once again, figuring that the conversation was over; for the moment, at least.

Tapping his pencil against the desk absently, Ulrich became lost in his thoughts. It's not as if he wanted to fight with Yumi, right? Of course not; he cared about Yumi and he wanted her to be happy. 'Oh, yeah, great way to make her happy; let's live out the only thing keeping her from a full-fledged relationship with me.' He sighed inwardly. He knew he shouldn't have lost his temper. Yumi was only following her parent's wishes. 'Knowing her, if she were truly looking forward to marrying the guy, she would've told me the first time I showed any attraction to her.'

Odd was right; he should talk to her. But he lost his temper right after Yumi had sacrificed her fear of fighting to be with him. Literally right after. How embarrassing was that? He must have hurt Yumi horribly. He should talk to her as soon as possible. He glanced at his cell phone clock to find that it read 10:30.

'Tomorrow... I'll talk to her tomorrow.' He settled at that thought and went back to doing his homework.

-------------------------

"I don't know what to do with them, Aelita. They haven't talked since Thursday. It's like they were never friends. Neither of them went to the dance yesterday, either. It figures... the one dance I go to..." Jeremie leaned back in his chair with exasperation. Aelita turned her head to the side.

"It's because of that boy, right? Doesn't Ulrich understand that Yumi doesn't want to marry him?" she asked. Jeremie shrugged.

"Odd explained to him that since it's an arranged marriage, Yumi doesn't get a choice. I think Ulrich's angry because Yumi's not telling him to get lost, but she can't because of her parents. He is living with them, you know. I'm still curious about this 'until I'm 18' deal she had with them. I haven't had the heart to ask her. You should see her, Aelita. She looks like she's been through hell. Ulrich's not doing much better."

"At least XANA hasn't activated any towers recently. Things could get a lot worse if the two of them aren't speaking to one another," said the pink haired girl, trying desperately to look on the brighter side of things. Jeremie snorted.

"Knock on wood. That's the last thing we need right now,"

"Perhaps I should talk to Yumi?" Aelita suggested. "It's not as if she has another female companion to talk to about these matters..."

"Odd's almost there..." laughed Jeremie. Aelita chuckled.

"You know what I mean..."

"Yes, yes, I know... I'll give her a call," said Jeremie, picking up his cell phone and dialing the familiar number.

"Moshi-moshi, Yumi desu," came a tired, female voice. Jeremie blinked.

"Umm... Yumi...?"

"Oh! Jeremie- I'm sorry, I didn't even look at who was calling... I ditched Li and he's been calling me non stop,"

"Where are you?" Jeremie frowned. There was a loud sound behind her, which sounded suspiciously like...

"At the... train station," she said tentatively.

"Why on earth are you there?" Jeremie was starting to get worried. Aelita gave him a look.

"That's none of your business," she snapped. Then she sighed. "I'm sorry, Jeremie. Everything's been awful lately... I can't stand to face anyone. I'm done crying, but I can't... stay here, right now. I have a pen pal in Germany. I'm going to visit her for a while."

"Do your parents know about this?" he asked. There was silence on the other line for a minute.

"...They know about my pen pal, but they don't know I'm going to visit her. Please, Jeremie, don't tell them... don't tell anyone. I'm leaving my cell phone off. I don't want to talk to Li, I don't want to talk to Ulrich, and I don't want to talk to my parents... I need some time away from everything. I had a fight with them, last night. They won't call off the engagement."

Jeremie was silent. He didn't know what to say, what to do... "You're running away?" he asked dumbly.

"I'll come back,"

"No, Yumi! You can't run away from your problems. They'll either follow you or get worse while you're gone! Besides, what am I supposed to tell everyone? That you fell off the face of the planet? You'll miss school, you'll have the cops out looking for you.. You're going to create more problems by leaving!"

"I know that."

"Then why are you leaving!?" Jeremie practically screamed into the phone.

"I'm sorry, Jeremie. I'll be back in a week or so..." With that, she hung up. Jeremie tried to call her back, but she had already turned her phone off.

"Damnit," Jeremie cursed under his breath.

"What's going on, Jeremie?" Aelita asked.

"Yumi left. She went to visit someone she hasn't even met in Germany for 'a week or so'. We have to stop her. Is there some way you can tap into the train system and delay the train?"

"I can try... but Jeremie-"

"Alright, good. I'm gonna go get Odd and Ulrich and we'll go to the train station to stop her." With that, Jeremie sprung from his chair and dashed down the hall to Odd and Ulrich's room. Aelita watched him go from Lyoko, and sighed.

"...don't forget your cell phone," Aelita finished, looking at the small phone he left at the keyboard. Sighing again, she signed out and began to find the train station.

-------------------------

"Odd! Ulrich!!" Jeremie burst through their door. Odd was playing with Kiwi, who jumped at the sound. Ulrich almost fell off his bed, dropping his cell phone in the process.

"Geeze, what's with all the excitement?" Odd asked, standing up.

"Yumi, she's running away," he huffed.

"What?!" Ulrich exclaimed. Jeremie continued, finally catching his breath.

"Down at the train station.. I don't know when her train leaves, but we have to go stop her,"

"Why'd she run away?" Odd asked, as all three of them headed towards the direction of the nearby train station.

"Why do you think?" Jeremie said. Odd sighed; he knew why. Ulrich pretended not to hear them. He was never really one to like to accept blame for something... Especially something like this. It figures, too; he was about to call her when Jeremie burst through the door.

"Apparently she had a fight with her family last night over the engagement. They won't call it off," Jeremie continued between pants. They left the school grounds without being caught and tore off down the street.

"That's no reason to run away," said Odd.

"For her it is; think about it, Odd-"Jeremie paused as they turned a sharp corner. "You're in a promising relationship when all of a sudden your parents bring you a fiancé and force you two to get married. Not only that, but they enroll him in the same school as you, and he speaks only one language. Ironically, it's also your native tongue and no one else in the school speaks it, so he follows you around because he can't exactly talk to anyone else. Your parents absolutely refuse to go back on you marrying him. Because of this, your other relationship is shot to dust. What are you going to do?"

"I don't know, run away?" Odd said. "And I'd be engaged to a 'she', not a 'he'."

"Sure, Odd. Whatever," said Jeremie. Odd whacked him on the shoulder. They finally reached the train station, and all three paused to catch their breaths.

"Cummon, we might still catch her." Ulrich said, running ahead of the two blondes. Odd and Jeremie exchanged a look.

"You think he forgives her?" Odd asked. "He sounded unsure last night."

"I think he wishes none of this happened," Jeremie said. "Now let's go." By the time they got to the platform, they found Ulrich grabbing Yumi's arm to try and stop her from getting on the train. Yumi struggled then got so angry that she turned around and smacked him hard across the face. All three of her friends, as well as some bystanders looked shocked.

"Don't try and stop me with that excuse, Ulrich," she spat out coldly. Odd and Jeremie stood behind their friend, looking to Yumi in shock. She glared at each of them, and her eyes narrowed at Jeremie. Then she turned around and got on the train.

"Yumi, wait!" Odd shouted. "If you leave, I'll call your parents," he said, voice sounding serious. Yumi paused, but didn't turn around.

"Why should I stay? So I can get married to someone I don't love? What future waits for me here?" she said.

"I don't know... Yumi, I'm sorry for not understanding... Please don't leave... Please. We can work something out if we try, but we can't do anything if you leave," Ulrich said. Yumi turned her head to the side a bit to look at her three friends out of the corner of her eye.

"You'll get angry again. I meant it when I said I never want to fight with you."

"I don't want to fight with you either... I'm trying, Yumi, to understand your side of things... But please understand my side too. I finally put my emotions on the line, and I find out not 10 minutes later that you're engaged to someone. It hurts, you know..." He took a step towards Yumi, who, at his words, turned and backed off the train. Her eyes were downcast, afraid of what she would find if she looked at Ulrich.

"I thought I had everything worked out with my parents. They told me that until I turned 18, they wouldn't bring up the engagement. I guess they couldn't wait a few more weeks, huh?" she smiled a bit. Ulrich blinked. The train conductor called for any last minute boarding. Yumi stepped closer to her friends, and Odd and Jeremie smiled out of relief.

"Why didn't you say anything to us? To me? If you had told us, we could have done something to prevent any of this from happening," said Ulrich.

"I know, but I didn't want to rush our relationship, ya know? I wanted things to work out the way they were supposed to... Not because once I hit 18 I'd be engaged to Li."

'Li must be her fiancé...' Ulrich thought. 'I'm gonna have to have a talk with him later...' He frowned internally, not really looking forward to the idea.

"I had hoped that they would forget about the engagement since we moved here from Japan, but what do I know?" She paused and sighed, finally looking up in Ulrich's eyes. "I'm sorry for not telling you, Ulrich..." In her eyes, he saw the truth behind her words. He saw all the sorrow that she had from their fight, the anger she had towards her parents, the happiness at his words...

He pulled her into a hug, and she dropped her suitcase to hug him back. "I'm sorry for saying that it was a mistake... It wasn't, it never will be... It was only a mistake for me to get so angry without talking to you about it..."

"I'm so sorry, Ulrich," Yumi said again, pulling away a bit to kiss Ulrich quickly then pulling him back into a hug. Once the two finally pulled apart, Odd slapped his hands on both of their shoulders.

"Well, that's over with..." he said, grinning. Yumi bent over a bit to pick up her suitcase, and the four of them headed back to Kadic.

"Sure. That's done with... Now what are we going to do about my fiancé?"

"Can't you just tell your parents that you found someone else that you love?" suggested Odd. Yumi shook her head.

"I brought it up last night and my parents wouldn't hear of it."

"Well, it looks like we have some fun times ahead of us... Don't loose hope; we'll figure something out!" Jeremie said with confidence. Yumi gave him a weak smile, and Ulrich squeezed her hand.

"We will. I'm sure of it," he said softly.

-------------------------

"Oh no, Aelita!" Jeremie stopped suddenly as they entered the gates. The other three turned to look at him.

"What's wrong with her?" Yumi asked.

"Nothing, I hope. I told her to mess up the trains so that you couldn't leave," he said, exasperated. "And I left my cell phone in my dorm in the rush!"

"Relax, Einstein. We watched the train leave ourselves. She must not have done it yet," said Odd.

"Yeah, but what if she eventually does," Jeremie groaned, rushing back to his dorm.

"To follow or not to follow... that is the question," said Odd, grinning. Right on cue, Li ran up to them.

"Ah! Yumi! There you are! I've been looking for you," he paused, looking at Odd, then Ulrich. He frowned when his eyes fell upon the brown haired boy. "You were the one that made Yumi cry. I don't believe we met..."

"Li, don't do anything stupid..." Yumi said."His name is Ulrich."

Ulrich looked to her at the sound of his name. "This is Li, I'm assuming?" he asked Yumi.

"Hai- I mean, yes. Sorry. This is Li Shitashima."

"Pleasure," Ulrich said out of courtesy, offering his hand. Li, of course, shook his hand and smiled a little, though his eyes were hard.

"If you hurt Yumi again, I'll break your hand," Li spoke with a pleasant tone, completely betraying his words.

"Same to you, buddy," Ulrich said offhandedly, having of course no clue of course what Li had just said. Yumi laughed; she knew what both of them were talking about, but neither of them had any idea what the other had said. The fact that both phrases fit one another was, in her opinion, amusing.

Li blinked and looked over to her. "Yumi, what's so funny about my breaking his hand?" he asked. Ulrich raised an eyebrow at her.

"No, no, it's nothing..." she insisted. "Never mind, Li. It's nothing important." The three boys blinked at her.

"Right... Anyway, I came down here to find you. Your parents have news for you. I could probably tell you if you'd like, but I really don't think you're going to like it. I actually have some news for you too, which I think you'll like a lot better-"

Yumi interrupted him. "Li, you're rambling. Hold on," she turned to Odd and Ulrich. "Would it be alright if I talk to Li alone for a few minutes?"

Odd and Ulrich exchanged glances, but both nodded. "Sure. We'll go find Jeremie and see if he stopped Aelita in time," Odd said.

"Don't worry, Yumi... I trust you," said Ulrich. Yumi smiled at him.

"Thank you." She watched as both boys ran off towards the dorm, then turned back to Li.

"Well, what's your news?" she asked.

"Well I though you should know... I'm aware that you're not happy with our engagement," he looked down, and Yumi flushed in embarrassment.

"Was it obvious?"

He chuckled. "A little bit. Anyway, I thought you should know that neither am I."

Yumi's head snapped up at him. "What?" she asked in disbelief.

"Yeah... I'm sorry. I mean, you're the only other person who can understand what I'm saying so I like being around you... But I kind of got the hint once you ditched me." Li ran a hand through his black hair, grinning sheepishly.

She faltered, flushing again in embarrassment. "Err... Sorry about that..."

"Aah, it's no problem. I know I was being annoying. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that. I have someone back in Japan that I love. Her name is Sakura, and I've known her for seven years. I really want to be with her, but my parent separated us and then they sent me here to get married to you."

"I know how that is... I'm in love with Ulrich, that boy you met before."

"The one who made you cry?"

"Yes, but that was my fault..."

"I'm sure," he scowled. "I'm happy that you love him, but please don't let him hurt you anymore,"

Yumi smiled. "Yes, I know. Anyway, what was my parents news?" she asked. At her question, Li's face fell.

"I'm afraid it's only bad news... You see... They're taking us back to Japan. On your 18th birthday, they're going to make us marry."

A/N: I'm not sure how much sense this chapter makes. O.o I wrote it starting with the end and working backwards... I could seriously use a beta reader for future chapters, if anyone's interested (I would be very grateful :3).

More reviews means quicker updates (even though I won't be able to update for a while anyway.. . )

No flames, please! Constructive criticism welcomed.