Before I go any further I must take a moment to thank and hug and love those of you who are leaving me such amazing reviews. All of you are so awesome it hurts. Also, a big thank you again to Weapon for his beta and also to RenaYumi, who provided the gift idea for this chapter. Love you all like air! And now, enough of my blather. On with the fic!
"I am a genius," Odd muttered to himself, grinning as he reached into the tree branches just above his head. He then immediately crouched back down as the ladder below him gave a slight shake, as it did every time Odd tried to reach up into the tree. It was beginning to become a problem.
"Odd, what are you doing?"
"Huh?" Odd responded, leaning over the edge of the ladder to look down and then clinging to it tightly when it swayed. Ulrich rolled his eyes, reaching out to steady the ladder.
"Thanks Ulrich!" Odd called.
"What are you doing up there?" Ulrich asked again. Odd grinned, reaching up to tie something to one of the tree's branches. "It's the middle of the night, you should be in bed."
"You'll see soon enough," the blonde answered mysteriously before adding, "Shouldn't you be asleep too?" Ulrich sighed, choosing to ignore the second part of Odd's question-even if he was standing there in his pajamas.
"This is part of that stupid gift thing you're doing for Aelita isn't it?"
"…No."
"Odd, you're going to get yourself into trouble doing this," Ulrich warned, "Jim is already knows that someone has been getting into Aelita's room. He's on the lookout."
"I can handle Jim, no sweat," Odd said, waving a dismissive hand as he tied something else into the tree.
"I'm sure you can," Ulrich drawled.
"I can," Odd assured him. He then announced, "All done!" and with that slid down to the bottom of the ladder, landing with a gymnast like flourish.
Ulrich looked less than amused. "Can I go now?" he asked flatly. Odd shrugged.
"Want to help me put away this ladder first?"
Ulrich just laughed as he walked away.
"So Aelita, anything from your secret admirer today?" Yumi asked, her voice lightly teasing as the two girls made their way towards the bench off to the side of the school's large courtyard- their usual hangout when classes finally came to an end for the day.
"No," Aelita said. Yumi thought she sensed the faintest hint of disappointment in her friend's voice.
"Did you check around for it?" Yumi questioned, curious as to where Odd might have hidden this day's lovely gift, whatever it was. She hoped she didn't sound too interested.
"A little bit," Aelita said, seemingly unworried by Yumi's questions, "though it's not like I tore my room apart to find anything."
Which wasn't entirely true. While she hadn't turned drawers inside out and cut open the mattress, Aelita had been sure to check all of the obvious places for hidden trinkets before leaving for class that morning.
"Oh well," Yumi said with a light shrug as the pair reached their bench, "I'm sure if you're meant to get a gift today it will show up soon enough."
"You think so?" Aelita asked, failing to hide the excitement in her voice. Yumi couldn't help but smile and nod.
"Talking about Aelita's stalker?" Ulrich asked curiously as the girls arrived. Yumi elbowed him in the ribs. "Ow! Oh, er, I mean Aelita's gift giver?" Ulrich gave Yumi a cautious look. She nodded in approval.
"Yes," Aelita said, smiling at her friend's antics. "I haven't gotten any gifts from him today, but Yumi thinks I'll get one soon."
"Yeah, me too," Ulrich said. "What about you Jeremy?"
"Hmm?" Jeremy hummed, looking up from a book he was reading. "Oh, yeah, I-" A faint buzzing sound had the blonde cutting himself short.
"Is that your phone?" Ulrich asked curiously. Jeremy nodded, freeing the device from his pocket.
"It's a text message," he said, hitting a button to open the message.
"Who's it from?" Aelita asked curiously.
"It's from…uh," Jeremy trailed off as he read. "From my, uh, project partner." Ulrich got the faint feeling that this "project partner" happened to be a blonde who wore too much purple.
"A project?" Aelita asked curiously. "For what class?"
"Uh," Jeremy said, looking to Yumi and Ulrich for help. Now Ulrich was sure that Jeremy's caller was no project partner.
"Chess club," he supplied to help his friend. Yumi gave him an 'are you serious' look. Jeremy just went along with it, glad to have the excuse.
"Yes, we have a project due in the Chess club," he said, though his attention had returned to his cell phone as he typed out an answer to the message. "And my partner is very annoying," he added just loud enough for Ulrich, who was standing closest, to hear. The brunet laughed.
"Sorry about the interruption," Jeremy said once his message was sent and his cell phone was tucked away once more. "What were we talking about again?"
"Aelita's admirer," Yumi told him. "And about how he must have left her a gift-Jeremy, is that your phone again?"
"No," Jeremy said.
"It's mine," Aelita said, pulling her phone from her pocket. "Oh, I have a text message now."
"Who's it from?" Ulrich asked curiously.
"I'm…not sure," Aelita said. "I don't recognize the number."
"What does it say?" Yumi asked.
"Day four," Aelita read, "Look up."
"Look up?"
Aelita shrugged, and looked up into the branches of the tree above her. When she did the quartet of toy cell phones hanging among the leaves, each decorated with a pair of wings, began to ring with a Christmas carol.
"They're adorable!" Aelita laughed, grinning as the little phones continued to sing their songs. Meanwhile the other three teens exchanged bemused looks.
"What are they?" Jeremy mouthed. Ulrich sighed and mouthed back.
"Four calling birds."