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.
See a variation of this fanfiction in doujinshi form by yours truly! Link in my profile!
Key:
'Thought'
"Speech"
"Speech in Japanese"
NOTE: My god, I've taken so long to update this thing. I'm so sorry... Yann... I'm gonna try to rewrite a few chapters at some point. I realized how... not that good they were. yeah.
Wow, 50 reviews!! You guys rock!! Alright, enough of me. ENJOY!
Special thanks to Spirit of Dragon who beta-read this chapter!! I lurve you! :3
"Two weeks, 3 days, 9 hours and 27 minutes before I turn 18," Yumi mumbled, glancing at her watch with disgust. She leaned back into the comforting arms of Ulrich.
"You know, there's still time for us to do something about it..." he said, hugging her tightly. She put her hands on top of his around her waist and sighed.
"I don't know what it is we would be able to do. Neither Li or myself want to get married... At least not to each other." At this, Ulrich blushed. "But if my parents are going so far as to completely bring us back to Japan to marry us off, then we're pretty much screwed."
"That kind of negative thinking isn't going to get you very far," Ulrich said, burying his face in her neck. She chuckled at the ticklish feeling, and leaned her head back on his shoulder.
"Maybe they'll listen to me if I try talking to them again," said Yumi softly as Ulrich nipped at the skin at her neck.
"Maybe..." mumbled Urlich. Yumi whimpered as he began to suck on her skin.
"HEY! You two wanna knock it off?!" Odd yelled, pulling out a spray bottle full of water and unleashing its wrath upon the couple. They bounced apart, glaring at the boy.
"Odd- What the fu-!?" Ulrich mumbled, whipping the condensation off his face. Yumi muttered something about her hair and Jeremie burst into laughter.
"That was beautiful, Odd! Where'd you get that?" the blonde boy asked. Odd held it up and winked.
"I keep it next to my bed in case Kiwi does a naughty." He pointed the bottle at Kiwi, who whimpered, ducked his tail between his legs and hid under Ulrich's desk. Both boys laughed, and Odd put the spray bottle next to his pillow.
"Thanks for the shower, Odd. Now I'll have 10 extra minutes to myself tonight," Yumi said sarcastically, using the sleeves of her shirt to dry her face off.
"Not a problem! Anything for a friend!" He winked again, bursting out into laughter at the glares that Yumi and Ulrich sent him.
"Back to the problem," Jeremie cut in, trying his best to keep the laughter out of his voice. "What if we all went down to talk to your parents?"
"It's possible, I guess. Though I'm sure they wouldn't be too interested in what you had to say. They're honour bound to keep this arrangement," Yumi sighed, brushing hair out of her face.
"Well, it seems you only have one choice left," Odd said, face serious. The three others leaned in closer to him with anticipation. Odd frowned, illustrating the seriousness of the situation. "You and Ulrich need to elope."
"What?!" Ulrich and Yumi exclaimed in unison. Odd's face cracked into a smile, and he burst into laughter again.
"Odd!" Yumi smacked his shoulder, which made him pause in his laughing.
"Ow, that hurt!" He rubbed his arm and gave Yumi a shocked look.
"Well don't make jokes like that. I'm too young to marry anyway," Yumi crossed her arms over her chest and sat down on Ulrich's bed. Suddenly from the hallway came a loud, masculine screech and all four kids poked their head out the door to see what was going on. From around the corner at the end of the hallway tore Li, hair a mess and clothing out of place.
"YUMI-CHAN!!" He screamed when he saw the familiar girl, then dashed towards Odd and Ulrich's room. "Yumi, tasukete! TATSUKETE!!" They pushed open the door and Yumi stepped into the hall. Li ducked behind Yumi and cowered while she looked at him in confusion. She glanced towards the three boys in the open doorway, who shrugged.
"Oh Li!" came an all too familiar sing-song voice from the same direction that Li had come from.
"Oh god, she's gonna get me!!" whimpered Li in Japanese. Yumi blinked at him, then looked up at the corner and saw none other then Sissi headed towards them with a smile on her face.
"Good evening, everyone!" Sissi said with joy practically oozing from her words. "Li, there you are!!" The boy practically cried.
"Sissi, what's going on?" Yumi asked, an eyebrow raised in curiosity. "Couldn't take Ulrich, so you decided to move onto Li?"
Sissi's smile deepened. "Don't be ridiculous. Li and I were simply having a chat. He escaped, though, so I'm here to get him back!"
"Yumi, she tried to put makeup on me! I'm not a girl, I just look like one!" Li exclaimed from Yumi's back. His grip on her shirt tightened, but she pried his hands off of her and stepped away from him, a flat, amused look on her face.
"Just because he looks like a girl," Yumi said to Sissi. "doesn't mean you can dress him like one," she snickered. Sissi's face fell, and she put her arms on her chest.
"Can you blame me? I mean, look at him! His hair is begging to be braided!"
Odd, Ulrich and Jeremie all looked at each other, then at Sissi, then at Li and broke into hysterics. The three in the hallway turned their heads to look at the boys.
"I'm just... amazed, Sissi. Are you really that bored?" Yumi asked, grinning. Sissi rolled her eyes, and marched off, giving Li a wink.
"I'll be back for you later," her voice was full of the same amusement she had when she had first arrived.
"Thank you, Yumi! You saved my dignity. Remind me never to trust that shrew again. She said she had food!" Li stood up, fixing his hair and straightening out his clothes. "And now I'm hungry. Damnit, I never win!" He frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. Yumi looked back to her three friends, a smile on her face.
"Who wants to go get some dinner?" she asked.
"Ooh, I'll go!" Odd said enthusiastically, jumping out of the room to stand next to Li.
"Me too. I'm starving!" Ulrich said, taking Yumi's hand. She flushed a bit, but gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
"I think I'll skip," Jeremie said. "I haven't been spending much time with Aelita lately. Hope she doesn't think I'm angry at her..." he trailed off, looking up in a calculating manner. Odd snickered.
"Of course. Jeremie wants to beat around the bush with his darling Aelita!" he cackled. "Just tell her you love her, dude. I'd be shocked to hell if she didn't love you back." Jeremie turned pink and glared at Odd.
"Oh, leave him alone, Odd," Yumi said, swatting her friend on the shoulder. "He'll tell her when he's ready."
"Thank you, Yumi" said Jeremie.
"Not a problem," Yumi said.
"Alright, let's head off to dinner already!!" Li said, punching the air for emphasis. The three other boys looked at Yumi expectedly.
"Dinnertime?" Odd guessed. Yumi laughed and nodded.
"Odd, you're picking up on Japanese!!"
"Not really, Yumi. I can see the look in his eyes. Us food-vacuums gotta stick together and all!" He grinned, mimicking Li's pose. "OFF!"
Yumi and Ulrich exchanged a look of amusement then headed down the hall, following their two friends. Jeremie shook his head then meandered off to his own room to have a nice, long chat with Aelita.
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Dinner had been, well, typical. Odd had challenged Li to an eating match; Odd inhaled five slices of pizza, while Li only managed three and a half. After declaring himself the winner, Odd ordered food for Yumi and Ulrich, who had been watching their dual with amusement and slight fear. They had parted soon afterwards, as it was getting late and Odd and Ulrich needed to be home before the school's curfew.
Li and Yumi headed back home, talking about Sakura, the person that Li loved.
"Aww... She's so pretty!" Yumi said, looking at a picture that Li showed her. Sakura was slender, with wavy light pink hair that fell down past her shoulders. She wore a pink skirt and a white shirt with a giant pink heart in the center. "Certainly likes pink, I see," Yumi laughed, handing the picture back to Li. He shrugged.
"Yeah, well... It suits her. I bet you can't guess her favourite festival!"
"Hmm... could it be... the cherry blossom festival?" Yumi asked, snickering. Li nodded and laughed. They were quiet after that until Li finally broke the silence.
"Ugg.. It's going to be hell trying to talk our parents out of this... But we have to give it one more shot," said Li, determined to persuade their parents to break their engagement. Honor wasn't something taken lightly in Japan, and since their parents were honor-bound to the arranged marriage, convincing them to break the engagement was difficult.
"You're right. I don't know when they're planning on dragging us back to Japan, but I hope we can change their minds soon..." Yumi sighed as they came to the front door of her house. She pulled out her key, but before she had a chance to unlock the door, her parents pulled it open and glared at the two teens.
"Mom, dad!" Yumi exclaimed suddenly.
"Yumi, we need to have a long talk," her father said. Yumi and Li blinked at each other. "Come inside." Her father stepped aside to let the two teens pass. They walked in silence to the kitchen table, where the four of them sat down.
"Yumi, your mother and I have decided to leave for Japan tomorrow evening." As her father said this, Yumi's mouth opened in protest. "Wait until I am finished talking," he said harshly. Yumi fell silent. "We feel that your going to this school in France has turned you into a rebel. You no longer respect your mother and father the way that you used to!"
"Father, that's ridiculous! This school has not effected me in a negative way!! It's helped me grow and become a better person; it hasn't ruined anything. I still respect an honor you!" Yumi cried in protest. Her father slapped the table in a sudden burst of anger, startling the three other people in the room.
"You do no such thing! If you truly honored us, you would respect our arranged marriage to Li, but you keep rebelling against us! Some honor to your family that is! You disgrace your family, daughter. You shame us!"
Yumi's eyes bulged at the harshness of his words. Her father had always been nice to her and patient with her. Why he was acting so harshly with this arranged marriage was beyond her, but she didn't like the sudden change in his personality at all. Tears filled her eyes, and she sprung from the table and ran to her room.
"Mr. Ishiyama, I think that was a bit harsh..." Li said quietly. Mr. Ishiyama stared at him in shock. He opened his mouth to say something, but changed his mind and closed his jaw. He got up quietly, and walked out of the room. Mrs. Ishiyama shook her head and followed her daughter's lead and headed towards her room. In the silence that followed, frustrated tears from both women could be heard in the ears of both men.
A/N: Whoo... o.o; Not much of a cliffhanger, but I hope it'll hold you off. I'm leaving yet again for a week... But it's a week in Hawaii; can you blame me? XD
If anyone has suggestions, feel free to pitch them!! If I hear something I like, I'll use it in the story
((just so that no one suggests this; yes, I WILL be bringing Lyoko into this story!!))