Chapter 9

Author's Note:

DEDICATION: This is to tehrandomkitten. I promised I would dedicate to her, and I keep my promises!

Thanks for the reviews! I hit my 200 review mark! -smiles broadly- Thanks so much!

I'd like to thank: American Kitty, ChinaWings, Long Lost Sorrow, azn sister 92, Fox Kitsune, sister13wolf, Pauline, Animegoddess12345, tehrandomkitten, Yumi-Ulrich4ever, jazzg, Yumi Stern, Miyu Hua, Luna, Am I Odd, Shayna, dreaminoncloud9, JazzNYC16, xx Painful Bliss xx, jadefalcon3, UlrichwithYumialways, supacowz, Zorravixen10187798, QueenAlienSith, Rycr, Yumi Rocks Lyoko, Fishfish, PP Partner (Its your fault I lost a billion brain cells yesterday...), Aquamarine Shadow, new moongirl, zealot, TheRavenMyth, Tsukia Malleo, rbzodiac612, yumifan05, Curingangelx3, and devilofheaven!

Now, I'll answer to a few reviewers:

ChinaWings: The poem was very well-written! I'm sorry, but it's not really Yumi's taste. Thank you for your review!

Yumi Stern: Well, if my updating really does get you furious, then it's up to you to see if you want to stop reading or not. What do you mean by, "I think I'll need to e-mail you soon?" Also, agh, I know, the fluff is gone. I'm trying to make this as realistic as possible, and in that case, you'll have to wait. I'll try to get a chapter up every other week.

Curingangelx3: Yes, I would love for you to write a song, as long as its -kind of- Yumi's taste. Hope you have read the "reply" thing I sent to you. Please email/IM me back when you can! Oh, you have? read the fic before I recall your review before, like a year before. My story was deleted in June, so I had to redo it. Same plot, same everything, but lots more twists, and how U and Y meet shall be different. And, personally, I think my writing has FAR improved since the last story. -shudders- Thanks for your review!

TheRavenMyth: You say, "Oh my freaking gosh"? I say, "Oh my freaking goshhh!" Your friends are dang right. Your poems are AWESOME! I LOVE IT. It's short for a song, if you're planning to make it one. You really should! I'm seriously impressed. If you don't mind, I may use this as one of Yumi's songs. I'm not sure yet, but I'd like your consent before I do anything with it. Thank you for your review! If you want to chat about it, please IM or email me. Thanks!

By the way, those who guessed how Yumi and Ulrich would meet: Sorry, but that is incorrect. No one knows what I have planned, and its different than the last version too.

Also… I have received complaints about my updating. I don't blame you, but, just a reminder. I'm not someone whose life revolves around a computer. I've got other things to do than write a story; I enjoy doing it and hearing all of your comments, but try to be happy that I'm writing at all. And. Yeah, I have to hurry it up for all my chapters, I'm just busy. Everyone has a LIFE. And if you don't, I feel very sorry for you. ...Not really. But okay.

Just because I got you frustrated and all, I updated faster. There's a bit of humor in this chapter, and I hope that it'll make you laugh, and say that the demented person(s) is a retard. Sorry for the uberly long authors note...

ENJOY GUYS! AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING! Consider it as a present!

Jeremie and Aelita

(Lol, I promised, didn't I?)

Jeremie P.O.V.

I sighed contentedly. Sitting next to the pink-haired beauty was pure bliss. Her head resting on my shoulder, her scent of roses, her soft, smooth hands…

"Jeremie! JEREMIE! EARTH TO JEREMIE!" Aelita yelled in my ear, waving her hand in front of my face.

I snapped out of my haze and turned to Aelita, "Uh?"

We were both inside my suite. Aelita couldn't bear to be in the same room with Sissy, so she came to the room Odd and I shared. Odd was currently out though.

Aelita rolled her eyes and pointed to the Plasma TV screen. There was an auburn girl with a microphone in hand. She had just announced it was Teen Scene.

"So?"

"Must you be oblivious to everything, Einstein?" She teased.

I smiled and simply laughed.

"Doesn't that girl look familiar to you?" She pointed to the Plasma TV.

"No, not really... kind of." I replied, examining the celebrity for Aelita's sake.

"ITS YUMI!" She suddenly screamed, jumping up and down, "The host just announced it!"

She seemed to resist the urge to smack me.

"Wait- YUMI?" My eyes bugged out at the sight of our long lost friend. It couldn't be. Yumi would never look like THAT... could she?

She looked- different. If Ulrich were watching this, I laugh at his reaction.

I examined the girl further. Yep, it was definitely Yumi. Her hair was longer, she developed a different taste, but it seemed she still seemingly loved black. She had grown taller, but she still had the same nice, punkish face she had three years ago.

Her being on the TV was the last place I would think she would be…

"Are you guys still in touch?" The host, Mary asked.

"Nope, me and Ulric-", Yumi stopped mid-sentence, and slammed her hand onto her mouth.

"Yes! I knew it! We have to tell Ulrich!" Aelita cried, dancing.

"Didn't everyone know that?" I asked.

The show was now over. Gee, the audience sure was rude. They shouted… things I rather not say out loud. Yumi just laughed. LAUGH? How could she LAUGH when they said those THINGS to her? The Yumi I knew three years ago would punch their faces out. Guess she changed?Aelita and I spent a few minutes discussing the show, saying things like, "I can't believe it!" or, "FINALLY! SHE ADMITS IT!"

We stopped our brief conversation with loud banging. "OPEN UP!"

"Ulrich?"

"YES! PLEASE! I BEG OF YOU, OPEN THE DOOR!"

"Okay, okay, I'm coming…" Aelita trudged along, slowly opening the door just to get on his nerves.

"Oh. My. GOSH…" Aelita's eyes widened.

Ulrich was standing there, panicking with a swarm of people holding out pens and scraps of paper out. He jumped in, body slamming the floor. Aelita quickly closed and locked the door, just in time before someone came in. She turned around and had her back to the door, panting.

"What. Just. Happened." Aelita said slowly, still breathing heavily.

"Did… -pant- you see… -pant- Teen Scene…?" He asked, catching his breath.

He suddenly clutched his stomach in pain from belly flopping onto the floor.

Aelita and I exchanged glances and nodded. Suddenly, we understood.

Ulrich began his little tale. The cashier girl had discovered him when he signed the machine after he paid by credit, and he had given her his autograph, leading into a mob of girls chasing him. Soon afterwards, Odd began mobbed with girls as well. They ran for their lives. Odd became too tired to run, and collapsed. Girls swarmed around him. Ulrich had run on. Apparently, some of the girls chased him instead of Odd, and the girls who had gotten Odd's autograph ran after Ulrich to get his.

"And I never knew what happened to him." He finished.

"You abandoned your best friend?" I pretended to be shocked.

"He told me to run on without him!" He protested. Then he stopped to think, "Hmm… I do recall him shouting something at me."

Ulrich sat there and pondered. Then shrugged. "Oh well."

"Eh, I'm sure Odd is going to be pounding on the door in less than a minute anyway." Aelita replied, lying down on the bed.

As if on cue, there was loud banging at the door.

"Wow, I'm psychic!" Aelita laughed. She walked over to the door slowly again, and turned the door knob ever so slowly.

"AAAHHH!" Odd shrieked. He seemed to fly as he body slammed onto the floor like Ulrich. Though he made it farther than his best friend… and he landed on his rear. Strange.

"OWWW!" Odd winced, rubbing his bottom painfully.

Aelita kicked the door closed forcefully, causing all the screaming girls to shriek even louder.

"There." She said, walking back to the bed and flopping on it.

We could still hear loud screaming and banging, but oh well.

"I can't believe you left me all alone, you idiot! That's what best friends are for?" Odd asked angrily.

"Yep, that's what best buddies are for." Ulrich replied sarcastically.

Odd sat there dumbfounded, "Really?"

"No, you moron…" Ulrich whacked his friend with a pillow, "You're stupider than I thought."

"HEY!" Odd growled, jumping onto his best friend forcefully, making him fall forward onto the bed.

"Odd, you're getting heavier and heavier each day…" Ulrich groaned, leaning backwards, and slammed into the other bed in which Aelita and I had been sitting on, watching the scene.

Aelita shrieked and jumped up immediately. I jumped up as well.

Odd let go of Ulrich, and his friend grinned.

"That was easy."

"Erghhh…" Odd was ready to pounce on Ulrich again.

I blocked the two's path. "Let's just call a truce."

The two taller guys stared hard at me, glaring.

Though there were only an inch taller (In Ulrich's case, two inches), they seemed at least a tower higher.

"Fine." Ulrich snarled, flopping onto one of the beds, then jumping up and down.

Odd did the same, growling back.

Aelita and I sighed.

"I'm going to go grab a bite." Aelita said, eyeing the two to behave, "Care to come, Jer?"

"Sure!" I replied with much delight, and a big smile on my face.

"Figures, Aelita. You don't even have to ask. He'll follow you like a puppy." Odd sighed dramatically, "Puppy love."

"As for you, Ulrich," He turned towards his best friend, "I would say you are in a case of puppy love as well, just that Yumi isn't here, so you get it off easy. You don't have to crawl on the floor after her like a puppy the way Jer does."

Ulrich snarled again.

"Hmm, not only that, I would say you are in a modern Romeo and Juliet play. Kind of." He added.

Ulrich simply sighed, smacked his best friend, then leapt out of bed, as Odd chased him around.

Aelita shook her head sadly, "It's a shame that two 17-year olds still act like six year olds."

Then she turned to me, and I swear my heart skipped a beat.

"You still coming?"

"Yep." I replied, closing the door to let the two guys finish their fight alone. I locked it, and walked hand-in-hand with the pink-haired beauty to get a snack.

----

Normal POV

A few days has passed, and each day…several times a day actually, there were mobs of people wanting to get Ulrich and Odd's signature. More and more each solitary day. Of course, this occurred because Odd constantly got hungry, so he HAD to go to the café. If he didn't, he'd starve to death. Ulrich went there four times a day: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, and for a snack. Though he started to call Room Service to bring the food up to him.

He and Odd had decided not to wear the T-Shirt in which Yumi had signed the name on anymore. He and Odd did the first few days, which drove the people absolutely INSANE. They wanted to be associated with anyone who knew the Yumi Ishiyama. Especially Ulrich who Yumi had actually MENTIONED. And said she LIKED him. Man, this was news…

No, seriously. It was really news. The TV local channel had actually CAME to the café, just to check out what's going on when someone called them. And, guess what? They captured the girls sitting on Odd (it was almost a tradition now, every girl who wants his autograph sits on him), people mobbing Odd and Ulrich, people asking for their signature, and close ups on the bugged eyes of the two. It was on the Internet now, and was one of the top five funniest videos of America. Plus, it aired once a day so new watchers would be able to see it. It attracted many new watchers, so they continued airing it.

And… apparently. Someone VERY famous happened to watch it.

…No, it's not Donald Trump. If he did, that would be hella AWESOME. But no, he didn't. At least, we think so. Or Bruce Willis. That'd be cool too. Perhaps Paris Hilton, you say? Hah. No.

You people who thought that were all wrong.

It was Yumi Ishiyama. And mann, you should have seen the look on her face…

Yumi POV

"AAAHHH…" I began, about to sneeze. Kristen, Ashley and Deana watched me expectantly.

I stopped. "Phew…" I sighed.

"Thank god, it was about to get on my priceless I Love Elvis T-Shirt!" Ashley sighed with relief. She had an entire shrine of Elvis, her favorite "old" singer, and she claimed I was her favorite singer presently. I doubt that.

"The shirt was only six dollars." Deana rolled her eyes.

"It's STILL priceless!" Ashley retorted, hugging her shirt protectively.

"CHOO!" I sneezed loudly. The tissue I still held in my hand was not quick enough to cover up my nose.

"OH MY GOD! MY T-SHIRT!" Ashley screamed, looking frantically for any snot or anything from my nose that was on her shirt.

"Relax, Ash." I said, wiping myself and my bed, "It didn't get on you."

"Oh, THANK GOD!" She fell to the floor dramatically, lying down, "I would kill you if you ruined my shirt."

"Yeah, yeah." Kristen rolled her eyes, "You and your excuses. If you killed Yumi, all her 1000 billion fans would mob you and kill you too."

Ash snorted.

I flopped onto the sofa next to my bed, as all my other friends sat on the three beanbags next to it. I had bought it particularly for them.

Then I popped my orange Tylenol medicine into my mouth. If Christine caught me in one of my sneezing frenzies, she'd go ballistic and shove the medicine down my throat.

I chewed disgusted at the orange flavor. I finally was done chewing, and swallowed. The horrible vibration filled my mouth, as I grabbed Ashley's potato chips out of her hand.

"HEY!" She yelled. She couldn't do anything about it because I bought it. Basically, I bought everything.

I grabbed a handful of potato chips and savored the flavor. The horrible flavor of the Tylenol was gone.

Everyone watched me with amusement.

I stared back at them, got up and turned on the Plasma T.V. That's all we seemed to be doing these days. TV, TV, TV. The tour that was supposed to begin today had been canceled, because some tour guide got sick or something. After the tour (a day), I would be heading off to Japan to visit my parents, my family, and to star in the play of Mulan.

Ashley flipped channels, constantly muttering, "Boring. Boring. Boring. BORING. The heck!"

Then she stopped at a channel with a mob of people chasing two boys.

"Oh god!" She doubled over in laughter as a hundred girls sat on a boy, "This was on the Internet! It's so hella funny! You guys have to watch it!"

"Okay, okay." I sneezed slightly, though it sounded like I was choking, "Perhaps it'll brighten my day."

And heck. Did it.

Yumi P.O.V.

The WEIRDEST looking blonde boy was being sat on girls… was it a purple spot in the middle? No one I knew had dragon ball Z hair. Was it Halloween yet?

"Ohhh yeah." Kristen shuddered, "It's so WEIRD… I mean seriously, who wears their hair like that?"

"Haha, yeah. It's so odd. Like I've seen it be-" Yumi started.

Then she jumped up, her eyes wide.

She repeated, "Oh my god, oh my god," several times, shrieked twice, sat back down, sprang up ran around the room, and kept doing it until Ashley poured her cup of water on her.

"Thanks." Yumi gratefully hugged Ash, then sat back down.

"Wow. The weirdest mood change I have ever seen." She muttered.

Yumi shook her haid, rubbed her eyes, and looked back at the TV screen.

It was definitely him. His hair hadn't changed a bit.

Then there was a close-up of a brunette girl, screaming and pouncing on him. Then there was another close-up of her friends, a Chinese girl, and an Indian girl, staring dumbfounded as their friend continued to shriek manically.

"Wow. He's hot." Ashley said, looking twice at the T.V.

Ashley thought every creative-looking boy was hot. Or something like that. She just thought every guy looked hot.

The camera reverted their attention to another guy, getting chased instead of being sat on.

"T-That's-Is…" Yumi stammered.

The boy that was currently being chased after had green clothes and messy brown hair. And man, was he hot.

"Duude, he looks like Jason…" Deana giggled. She had the weirdest celebrity crush on Jason. Even though she had a boyfriend. "Oooo, Yumi!" She teased, nudging her best friend.

Yumi didn't hear her. She continued to observe the boy as the camera came in for a close-up.

Amber eyes, brown hair, the unforgettable dimples on his left cheek… And he looked different… more manly, more buff, more kind-hearted yet more tough at the same time. He had grown taller, and he looked hotter and cuter than ever. No wonder they mobbed him.

Then the screen went black.

"ASHLEY!" Yumi shrieked, grabbing the remote from her friend's hand.

"I didn't turn it off!" Ashley protested.

Then the screen flashed back on.

"FBI warning. Beware, beware!" The T.V. flashed red, "There is a maniac on the loose! Maniac on the loose!" Then showed a clip of the most demented looking person they had ever seen. A girl was running around with a bright, obnoxious orange long-sleeve shirt with black stripes on it, indicating some kind of jail thing, and ripped trousers. She didn't look Asian or English or Polish or Russian or Italian or anything else anyone has ever seen. She looked a tad bit like Michael Jackson, the skin that is. It was all… let's just say, unidentified.

She was screaming, and running with scissors, pointed heavenward, opening and closing them, and screaming, "CHEESE AND CRACKERS! SQUISHED TOMAT-OOOSSS! YUMM! I AM CHEESE AND CRACKERS MAN!" (pronounced "Mon")

"CHICKEN NUGGETS IS FOLLOWING ME!" She shrieked, as a brunette girl in a chicken suit ran after her, blaring out strange sounds/words, who could tell with an insane person?

"They have escaped from the mental asylum, and on the loose in the streets!" The announcer announced, "Watch out! If you hear their chant near your house, please call this number…

"1-888-MENTAL-ON-THE-LOOSE. Thank you very much for your cooperation and patience, we will now return you back to your program."

The two screaming boys were back on the screen.

The four girls stared dumbfounded at the screen.

"That was… weird?" Kristen scratched her head in confusion.

"Are you kidding? That was hilarious! The person should have been more demented though," Ashley replied, laughing hysterically.

"What if they weren't joking?" Yumi questioned.

"It was a joke." Deana replied, rolling her eyes.

"If you say so," Yumi shrugged, and went back to watching the two boys screaming, wondering it were really her two old friends.

She went over her mental checklist again.

"Brown-haired boy Brown hair. Check. Amber eyes. Check. Green clothing. Same green shirt. Jeans. Close enough. Check." Then Yumi began the other mental checklist.

"Weird-looking boy. Check. Blonde hair. Check. Purple spot in the middle. Check. Purple clothes. Check." Yumi knew it was Odd when she saw that purple spot. No one but him has a purple splotch in the middle of Dragon Ball Z hair.

Yumi bent forward, and stared inventively at the screen. Then she gasped.

The signature! It was still there- right on the shirts, nice and clear. No one else noticed though.

"Yumi, do you need glasses or something?" Kristen asked. Yumi had 20/20 vision forever, it didn't seem like it would differ anytime soon.

"I already have glasses for the eye-stress thing. And it's not stressed- yet." Yumi answered, leaning back now. Then she turned to Ashley, "Where was this taken? In France?"

"Why would it be in FRANCE?" Ashley rolled her eyes, then replied, "They got this from CALIFORNIA. No idea where though."

"THE HELL. YOU'RE KIDDING." Yumi sprang up, alarmed.

The sudden sentence shocked her friends, as they scrambled up, their eyes wide.

Ashley coughed, and replied, "Uh. No…"

"Why? Something wrong?" Deana seemed concerned.

"Besides the fact that THEY are in the same state as I am, and that I might actually see them again, no." Yumi thought a bit bitterly.

She was… had…jumbled up feelings. Was she happy? Sad? Exhilarated? Excited? Upset?

She had no idea. It was a rush of terror and happiness and excitement and…and… then… she was just… shocked. Yumi wanted to see her friends again, seriously, she did. But… she didn't know… it was just… at the same time, she felt like avoiding them… why she felt that way? She had no idea. If she told her friends she felt that way…man, they'd drag her everywhere in California just to find them. They never hesitated for a chance for adventure.

Besides, Yumi thought, maybe it isn't them. Maybe my mental checklist failed me…

Though in the back of her head, she had a small feeling that they were her friends… No one else had Dragon Ball Z hair except for Odd.

What they didn't know, however, was that the gang was inside a hotel, an hour and a half away from them. Not that far. But boo-hoo for them, they hadn't the faintest clue.

Just then, they heard words…

"CHEESE AND CRACKERS!"

"CHICKEN NUGGETTT!"

"My god…" Ashley groaned, looking out Yumi's enormous window to see the mental girls on the streets.

She opened the window, and threw the nearest object at them. She had precise aim from playing softball frequently with her two brothers, so it hit the two square in the head, causing them to twirl around insanely, fall, and shriek intolerant words.

"YOU DESERVE IT, YOU DEMENTED PEOPLE." Ashley yelled at them, thrusting her fists in the air victoriously. Notice fists is plural, indicating victory of the shot.

Yumi shook her head, and dialed the number to tell them that they had located the mental girls, and had them gagged and thrown into the back of the truck.

"Too bad, so sad." Kristen said sarcastically, pretending to wipe tears.

----

Next day

"OH YEAH!" Deana yelled, jumping and sliding on the hallway.

"TURKEY DAY!" Ashley screamed as well, both of them slapping fives.

"Christine's making a HUMONGOUS turkey. With gravy!" Yumi announced, plopping onto the sofa.

"Yum." Kristen grinned, body slamming onto the couch beside her best friend.

They had all slept overnight at Yumi's, because the next day she would be leaving for a tour, and then she would go to Japan. They wouldn't see their friend for at least 4 months. Besides, Christine's cooking was the BEST.

"Just a day of relaxation… before I perform at that fancy hotel… Serene something…" Yumi muttered, "A bunch of fancy people in a fancy hotel."

Kristen nodded, "The pits."

"All that perfume is going to make me sneeze onstage." Yumi joked. And she didn't have allergies. Of course, her friends needn't know that.

They giggled a little.

"Well, at least we'll be there to laugh at you!" Deana grinned, as Yumi glared.

"Haha, very funny."

"I know!"

"Oh, you're getting it."

----

Aghh, I'm sorry guys! I was going to do some Turkey Day ending, but I didn't get to it. –puts on most apologetic look- I thought nine pages was enough, most sinerest apologies.

If someone wants me to read or review their story, I'd be glad to. Not like I can do anything else...

Oh, and, if you could, please rate this from 1-10… just for my own enjoyment and to get you to "think".

WANTED: Snippets and songs! Please note that if the songs are not of Yumi's style (Anything close is okay, I'm not that sure of Yumi's style, but I kind of got the idea), then I won't post them. And for the snippets, please e-mail me before you do anything. Just to see if you are going to get off track or something like that…

Please review!

HAPPY TURKEY DAY! Hope you enjoyed the "present". And if you do not know what the "present" is, I'll give you a hint. You just read it!

--Jenn