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Yumi and Odd entered his room to see Ulrich lying on his stomach, grouchily playing fetched with Kiwi. 'It's like the two of them are brothers,' Yumi mused, remembering that she'd found Odd playing fetch with the little dog not long before. 'They sulk the same way.'

Ulrich looked blankly at the two of them as they came in. "I didn't realize that Odd had finally learned to actually inhale his food already," he said rather sarcastically, though his eyes held a look of worry. "Why are you back already?"

"We decided to skip dinner for now," Yumi said, closing the door while Odd jumped onto his bed.

"Odd you didn't even touch your lunch!" Ulrich exclaimed, sounding more upset than angry as he held up the unwrapped hoagie as proof.

"Toss it here," Odd told him. "I'll eat it now." He caught the incoming sandwich and began to open it with Ulrich watching, scrutinizing.

Yumi cleared her throat to bring Ulrich's attention to herself. He looked up at her and she smiled. "So are you still mad?" she asked.

Ulrich kept a straight face, but Yumi's smile really made him want to return it. "I don't know," he said, trying his best to hold onto his grudge as he felt it slip. After a moment he looked down and sighed. "I guess not…"

Yumi's smile widened and she sat down beside him on the bed. "I'm sorry," he apologized as she grabbed his hand. He blushed lightly and looked at her again. "I'm having a bad day and I was being a jerk."

"Yea," Yumi agreed jokingly. "But it's ok. I know that you are stressed out. Just don't let it happen again.

Their eyes locked for a brief moment and Yumi saw exactly what she was looking for. Ulrick felt the searching gaze and looked away quickly. "Yumi, I…"

Yumi put her hand on his cheek and made him look back at her. "You know, William just tried to ask me out on a date," she told him.

Ulrich's heart sank. "Oh…" He really wished he could look away. "Where are you two going then?"

"Nowhere," Yumi said. "Odd interrupted him."

'Thank God,' Ulrich thought. "Did you want to go?" he asked, trying not to sound as jealous as he was feeling.

Yumi smiled. "No," she said, shaking her head slightly. "Honestly, I really like someone else, and a good friend told me that I should stop stalling and act on it. I know the friend isn't too reliable of a source for relationship advice, but that still sounds like good advice to me. What do you think?"

Ulrich gulped and nodded. "Yea," he whispered nervously. "Maybe… I should listen to it too…" Without a moment of indecision, he planted his lips on Yumi's and she threw her arms around his neck, deepening their kiss.

When they pulled away, Yumi smiled and rested her forehead on his. "So… all-in-all… was today really such a bad day?" she teased the boy about his previous grumpy mood.

Ulrich shook his head. "Good day," he said. "Really good day." They kissed again. However, this time they were interrupted.

"Who's a bad advice source now?" Odd joked. Then he began to sing obnoxiously. "Ulrich and Yumi, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!"

The couple looked at him with exasperation. "Do you want to finish this… uh… talk somewhere else?" Ulrich asked. "Somewhere far away from my immature roommate?"

"First, comes love. Next, comes marriage. Then, comes Odd's nephew in the baby carriage!"

Yumi nodded and stood. "See you later," she said to the blonde. Before leaving, she and Ulrich lingered in the open doorway. "You'll be alright if we leave you here?"

Odd noticed someone standing behind them and nodded. "I will be just fine," he said surely.

Yumi looked behind her and smirked, grabbing Ulrich's hand and dragging him away. "Come on, Ulrich dear," she said happily.

Odd's visitor stayed in the doorway for a moment nervously. Odd tried to smile at her, but he was still a little upset about what she'd said the night before. Kiwi, however, had no hesitation in greeting her. He ran to her, wagging his tail joyously. She picked him up and came in, shutting the door behind herself. "Hi Odd," she said as she sat down beside him.

"Hey," he replied. "How's it going? I hope that your dad went easy on you after last night."

Sissi smiled and shook her head. "No trouble at all," she said. "Only, it's because Daddy thinks we like each other or something, so he felt bad punishing me."

Odd laughed. "Lucky you. Ulrich wasn't so easy on me. He's pretty pissed off about it."

"Odd, I want to talk to you about last night…" Sissi looked worried and sorry.

"Don't worry," Odd told her. "I understand."

"No Odd," Sissi said. "I didn't mean it the way that it came out. What I meant was, yes, I started being nice to you because you're sick… But it wasn't because I felt sorry for you! I just knew that I'd regret not getting to know you better. And now that I have talked to you a couple of times, I'm being nice because I enjoy your company, and… well…"

"Yea?" Odd asked curiously.

Sissi looked unsure and spoke slowly. "I feel different," she told him. "Around you I just feel… honest…"

Odd smiled. "Good. I like to have honest friends."

"Like the rest of your gang, huh?" Sissi asked. "You have really good friends Odd. They're not at all like Nicholas and Herve." She shook her had slightly at the though of her 'friends.' "Those two just follow me around all of the time. My friends hardly even know me."

"Neither do I," Odd said truthfully. "I used to only think that you were a big snob. And I'm sure you always thought that I was an idiot."

"I never thought that," Sissi replied. "You just got under my skin. You and your friend are always happy and exciting, and none of you wanted anything to do with me."

Odd looked at her guiltily, wondering if maybe they'd made Sissi act like she had around them. "Well, now you are one of my friends," he said with a smile. He then leaned back in his bed sleepily.

"You know Odd, you really shouldn't have been out so late last night," Sissi joked. "I can tell that you are tired."

"Only a little bit," Odd said as he rested his eyes for a moment. "It's been a long day."

Sissi stood and set Kiwi back down on Odd's lap. "Get some rest. I have to go meet up with Nicholas and Herve before they think I've abandoned them, though that doesn't sound so bad…"

Odd opened his eyes and smiled. "Don't be a stranger," he said. "See you later."

"Bye Odd."

The next couple of days went by rather slowly for Odd, unless Sissi was around to keep him company. She began to eat with Odd during meals, much to Herve's disappointment, and she spent a lot of her spare time in Odd's room. She and Odd would talk about movies and music, and Odd was shocked not only that she knew so much but also that they had such similar tastes. At night, he would tell Ulrich all about the new things he'd learned about Sissi, and Ulrich would pretend to be interested.

Despite Odd's excitement, Ulrich could still tell that he was becoming weaker instead of improving. Dark circles had shown up around Odd's eyes and he was coughing a lot. His eating habits were very unlike himself, and he willingly spent all day resting in bed. The nurse started to make daily trips to his room so that he wouldn't have to tire himself out by going to the infirmary. She actually called Ulrich to her office on Friday to discuss Odd's eating habits, telling him that he needed to get Odd to eat more. With all of these health problems that Odd was having, Ulrich felt obligated to at least listen patiently as he discussed Sissi.

On Saturday afternoon, the entire gang even spent time in the dorm with Sissi. It wasn't as awkward as they had expected, but Yumi did catch Sissi stealing an occasional look in Ulrich's direction. She had to admit, though, that those looks held barely any of the longing that they once had, and she wondered if that was a result of Sissi's new friendship with Odd. The pair had a weird friendship, making some smart comments at each other's expense, still finding themselves strangely happy in the other's presence.

At around 8, Sissi decided that it was time to leave. She gave Kiwi a quick pat on the head and hugged Odd. "I'll see you tomorrow," she said as she walked out of the door.

"Bye," Odd replied sleepily. It took him a moment to realize that all eyes were on him. "What?"

"All week long you've been telling me what a good friend Sissi has become," Ulrich said, smirking.

Odd sighed. "Do you still think she's a big snob?" he asked. "I think she got along fine with all of you."

"She did," Aelita agreed.

"It was actually a nice change," Jeremie added.

"Then what's the problem?" Odd asked obliviously.

"It seems like she makes you pretty happy," Yumi told him.

Odd raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Still not seeing the problem."

"There's no problem," Yumi said with a sly grin. "It's just that we didn't realize…"

"Realize what?" the sick blonde asked suspiciously.

"That you like her," Ulrich said matter-of-factly.

Odd gaped at his four friends stupidly. "That's ridiculous! She's just a friend. Its nice having a girl to talk to who isn't constantly talking about… you know…"

"Yea," Ulrich said. "And then when you are done talking to her, to tell me all about talking to her!"

"I think you like her," Jeremie settled.

Ulrich and Yumi grinned at each other before singing a very familiar song. "Odd and Sissi, sitting in a tree, K-I-S-"

"Finish that song and I will purposely have a heart attack in spite of you!" Odd shouted jokingly before coughing a bit.

Yumi shook her head and giggled. "I have to go home. I'll see you guys later."

"Do you want me to walk you home?" Ulrich asked.

Yumi kissed him on the cheek and stood. "Stay here and keep Romeo out of trouble. I'll be fine."

Jeremie and Aelita stood. "We have to go too," Aelita stood. "It's getting pretty late."

"Bye guys," Ulrich said with a smile to his girlfriend.

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