Chapter 3: A week later

True to Sissy's word, the next day they had a meeting with the Principle, he had them have no Homework as long as they still showed for class and Training with Jim shorten to a few runs, push-ups, and chin-ups. But the team is a bit suspicious as how Ulrich isn't his usual depressed self, but he seems to be happy.

A week has gone by with only another week to go as they are training in Lyoko's Mountain Region; Five Tarantulas block the only path across as Odd with Aelita on the Hover Board. "Bombs away!" Odd cries out as he fires the new bomb weapon that is on the bottom of his board and hits right in the middle, taking out three of the five Creatures.

Just then, Ulrich's vehicle jumps into the air as spikes come out of the wheel and lands right on top of the Creature, destroying it.

And last, Yumi's Overwing has two jets come out from the bottom and surrounded by metal. The jets go off, causing the Overwing to fly at mach speed and slams right into the Last Creature and even through the mountain.

Now Odd drops off Aelita by the tower as she enters and enters the code and they all come out of the pods. "So how was it this time Jeremy?" Aelita asks with a lot of hope in her eyes.

He gives his team a thumbs up and replies. "Championship, here we come."

"That is really good to hear," Ulrich says, "Now we can probably take a day off."

"Sorry Ulrich, but we are only going to take a day off the day before we leave. So we can rest up for the Tournament." The Genius of the group answers. "But we are done for the rest of today."

"So how are we going to get my dog to the Tournament?" Odd asks as the rest look at him with nervous smiles.

"You know Odd, Kiwi isn't coming with us," Yumi replies.

"No pets are allowed at the Lyoko Championship," Aelita adds, shocking the strange teammate.

"They should have a loophole in there, Kiwi is our mascot!"

"Rules are rules Odd." Jeremy replies.

"But now I have to find a sitter, but I can't broadcast it. Pets aren't allowed here either."

Then they say their goodbyes to Odd, leaving him alone with these predicaments.

Now as they are going to split up for the rest of the day, Jeremy says. "Aelita and I are going to see that new Sci-fi movie, what are you two going to be up to?"

"I don't know, probably just hang out," Yumi replied as she leans on Ulrich. "Did you have anything planned Ulrich?"

"Nope, see you later love birds," Ulrich replies as they walk off, leaving their Deactivator and Controller bright red in the face.

Now with Ulrich and Yumi as they are relaxing by the Vending Machines, Yumi pushes the button as a drink pops out. She takes a few gulps as she asks, "You are getting very good Ulrich in Lyoko, your sword skills will help us a lot."

"Can we talk about something else besides Lyoko? That's all we seem to do these days," Ulrich replies in a bit of a ticked off tone.

"Is everything ok Ulrich?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just I remember when we all use to hang out without a care in the world. But ever since we started playing Lyoko and created a team from it, all we ever do now is train and since we are now heading to the World Tournament, we barely have a chance to have a normal life."

"We can't just go back in time and change what we did Ulrich, so just make the best of it," Yumi replies as they see Sissy walk over to them.

"Hello Yumi, Hello Ulrich dear."

"Hey Sissy, did you want something to drink," Ulrich replied, shocking Yumi a bit from Ulrich's casual chat with Sissy.

"No thanks, I just came over to check on how you were doing," Sissy replies with a smile on her face as Yumi is getting more confused by the minute.

"Thanks, I'm ok."

"I will talk to you later then, see you around," She answers back as she winks and skips off.

"Ok, what the heck was that Ulrich?" Yumi cries out.

"What are you talking about?"

"You just had a chat with Sissy, and you didn't blow her off once. That just doesn't sound right," Yumi rants as Ulrich just looks away from her.

"It's none of your concerned."

Yumi looks a bit shocked from Ulrich's reply, concerned grew on her face as she was about to ask him, but was interrupted as William dropped by. "Hey Yumi," then he notices the reactions on the two faces and asks. "Sorry, am I interrupting something?"

Before Yumi could reply, Ulrich replies in a bit of a stronger ticked off tone. "No, I was just leaving. I bet you two have a lot to talk about."

He walks off as Yumi thinks.

What is wrong with him, why is he acting so strangely?

Now with Ulrich in his room as Odd is petting his dog and complains. "I can't find anyone who is willing to take care of Kiwi, you would think people will be lining up to take care of the mascot of the team that is representing the school in the Lyoko Tournament."

But Ulrich doesn't reply, he is just staring at the ceiling until Odd asked. "Hey buddy, are you ok?"

Ulrich snaps out of it and replies. "Sorry, I wasn't listening."

"Yumi troubles again?" Odd asks, but Ulrich snaps back.

"No, everything is fine between us!"

"Ok, just cool down. And maybe the lunch room will be open, you can start with cooling down with a scoop of ice-cream," Odd says as he heads towards the door, but then notices that Ulrich is still lying on his bed. "Aren't you coming?"

"I will meet up with you later, I have a few other things I need to do first."

"Suit yourself, more for me," he replies, leaving his friend on the bed as he heads down the hall.

Now a small time later, Ulrich is in Sissy's room as she is giving him a shoulder massage. "Thanks for doing this Sissy, you don't know how much it actually helps me."

Sissy's cheeks grow a little red from that comment. "It's my pleasure Ulrich, I just want to know how you can get so tense after one day?"

"Just a stressful day, that's all. But where did you learn how to give a massage?"

"I looked at a few books, you never know when stuff like that can be helpful. But I had just learned of a new massage called a back rub, do you want to give it a try?"

"Sure, why not?" Ulrich replies as Sissy adds to him.

"But, if you want to get the full extent of it, you are going to have to take off your shirt."

After this news, Ulrich replies nervously. "Well, I'm not so sure about doing that."

"It's ok Ulrich, you know you have nothing to worry about. The door is locked so no one can just barge in and get the wrong idea."

Ulrich's face then grows a bit red from embarrassment on that comment.

"But I promise, this will really help you relieve your stress better than a shoulder massage. Just try it once and if you don't like it I won't force you to do it again."

"All right, but you promise you won't force me if I don't like it."

She nods her head. "Yes, I promise."

To Be Continue

Slowly breaking up the shows favorite couple is a lot of fun, will these relationships interfere with the performance of Team Kiwi at the Championship? Read and review.