The two of them split from the group and headed to Yumi's house. After a short silence, Yumi said, "Thanks, Ulrich."
"For what?"
"For lending me your jacket in the factory. That was nice of you. You didn't have to do that, you know."
"It was no problem, really…."
"Did you sleep well?"
"I…I actually slept great. I haven't slept like that in a while…how was your nap?"
"Peaceful. I enjoyed it. Are you up for our match soon?"
"I'm ready." He picked off a flower from a bush he was passing. He handed it to Yumi. She looked surprised but smiled sweetly. "For you, madam."
"Thank you, Ulrich. That's really sweet," Yumi said as she took the flower.
"You're welcome." What the hell was he doing? His feelings for Yumi were overcoming him.
He had the feeling that someone was watching them from the woods off to their right. He felt a chill go down his spine. His skin began to crawl. He was getting nervous. His heart began to pound fast. He hated the feeling of someone watching him. He was scared that it was X.A.N.A.
"What's wrong?" Yumi asked.
"I just have a feeling that someone is watching us," Ulrich said. Yumi didn't say anything. She glanced at the woods and then quickly looked forward. The two of them began to walk fast. Eventually, they started running. They ran all the way to Yumi's front door. They stood there for a second and caught their breaths. Ulrich leaned against the railing and looked out onto the street. Nothing was there. Just a few people walking by and the sun was about to set.
"Do you want to come in for a second?" Yumi asked. She sounded nervous.
"Uh, sure," Ulrich said quickly. Yumi opened the door and the two of them walked in.
"My parents already left—"
"Yumi!" Hiroki said. "Mom and Dad left us money to order out." He looked at Ulrich. "Hey, Ulrich! You want to see a new game I got?"
"Hiroki—"
"No, it's fine," Ulrich said to Yumi. He turned back to Hiroki. "I'd love to see it."
"Follow me!" Hiroki said. Ulrich followed him into the living room. As Hiroki babbled on about the new cool game he got, Ulrich could feel Yumi watch him from behind. "—and you can have all these new weapons and—"
"Hiroki, Ulrich needs to get back to school or he'll get in trouble."
"Alright…." Hiroki said sadly. "I'll see you later, Ulrich!"
"Bye, Hiroki," Ulrich said with a smile. He got up and went back to the front door with Yumi.
"I'm not kicking you out," Yumi said, "I just don't want you to get into any trouble."
"Yeah, I know what you mean." Ulrich opened the front door.
"Ulrich," Yumi said before he went out the door. She was still holding the flower that he gave her. "Thanks for taking me home."
"No problem. I'll see you tomorrow. Don't forget about tomorrow night."
"I won't…and hopefully we get to have our match."
"We will. Bye, Yumi."
"See ya, Ulrich, and thanks again." She leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. Ulrich's face turned red. He smiled and walked out the door. He heard Yumi shut it behind him. He walked back to school and into the cafeteria.
"Ulrich, you're late," Jim said as Ulrich walked in.
"I'm late for dinner? Is there such a thing? I didn't know we had a specific time," he said.
"There is no specific time. But you usually come in here with the others."
"I was in my room, Jim. I had to do something."
"You're lying."
"Would I lie to you? I was doing something in my room. I was cleaning up."
"I'll buy it. You may proceed ahead."
"Thanks."
Ulrich got his dinner. Spaghetti and meatballs. He knew that this was Odd's favorite. He went over to where the others were sitting. He sat down and took a bite of his dinner.
"Did everything go smooth, Romeo?" Odd asked. Ulrich's face was still burning. He knew that he was still blushing.
"Everything went fine," he said.
"More than fine. You're blushing," Aelita said.
"It's red because I ran back," Ulrich protested.
"Sure, whatever you say," Odd said.
Once they were done with dinner, they headed back to the dorm rooms. Ulrich went in the shower before he went to change into his pajamas. When he was done with that, he on his bed and put his back against the wall. Odd asked, "What did you talk about with Yumi?"
"Nothing, really. We ran."
"Aw, the lovebirds chasing each other—"
"That's definitely not the reason…we thought that someone was following us. I was hoping that today when Jeremie said that he did a Deep Scan that there would be something. I was thinking that maybe X.A.N.A. was linked to my nightmares."
"Even if X.A.N.A. was linked to your nightmares—"
Ulrich's cell phone started to ring. He reached over, picked it up and answered it.
"Hello?" he said.
"Ulrich, it's Aelita. Listen, I did another Deep Scan and there still is nothing," she said.
"But Jeremie said the system was bugged. What if X.A.N.A. is hiding an activated tower from us?"
"It's possible."
"Are you at the factory?"
"Yes. I went as soon as Jeremie and I separated. Listen to me, Ulrich, just try as best as you can to keep your mind off of your nightmares. I don't know if it's X.A.N.A. or not, but I'm getting a bigger suspicion that it is."
"Can X.A.N.A. attack twice from one activated tower?"
"I guess so."
"Be careful on your way back, Aelita…."
"I will." She hung up. Ulrich pressed the red button on his phone and put it back on the desk.
"Why are your nightmares about Yumi?" Odd asked.
"I…I don't know. It's maybe because she's on my mind so much…."
"So you do like her?"
"Yes! I do! But, I'm her friend at the same time. I told you, Odd, I'm not going to destroy my friendship with her all because I want to be with her. I can't let my feelings get in the way. I'm scared that…."
"Scared of what?"
"That she'll hate me or that I'll lose her. I don't want to be her enemy. I don't want her to find out that I still like her and she would feel awkward around me. I just don't want to lose her like I did those other times we let romance get in the way. These nightmares are getting to my head, and the more I dream about them, the more I feel like I'm growing further away from her."
For the first time, Odd didn't have anything to say back. He just stared at Ulrich for the longest time.
"At least you show her that you still care," Odd finally said. He was right. Ulrich was showing that he still cared for Yumi. "Get some rest. Goodnight, Ulrich!"
The two of them crawled into their beds; Odd was out in a matter of minutes. Ulrich stared up at the ceiling.
"Ulrich, we're better off as friends," Yumi said. She then walked away, leaving him speechless.
Ulrich mouthed the words that she told him that day. She probably liked William. Maybe that's why she told him that.
"Yumi!" Ulrich shouted. He ran over to her and grabbed her hand. He pulled her up from the edge and she got pulled into him. Yumi hesitated and looked like she was about to cry. He had just saved her life. She would've been gone in the Digital Sea forever if he didn't grab her hand. Both of them leaned in and were so close to a kiss….
The next day before Jeremie and Odd came, Ulrich and Yumi started talking.
"We won't tell them what happened," Yumi said with a smile. She blushed. "Or what almost happened. Not yet anyway."
"Yeah," Ulrich said blushing. They smiled at each other. In class, Odd was rather curious as Ulrich stared out the window.
"Well it wasn't all that bad in Lyoko, right Ulrich?" Odd asked.
"You're right Odd. And I learned something too. Something super important," Ulrich said. He couldn't help but keep the smile on his face.
"Nothing happened to us," Ulrich said to himself quietly. Odd didn't move. He started to snore.
"Yumi!" he said, shaking her. She gave shaky thumbs up. "Hang on! I'll get you out of there, I promise!" He couldn't bear to see the fact that she was underneath a tree when it was below zero outside. He tried everything he could to get the tree off of her, but nothing worked. When he tried to get her up, she gave no response. "YUMI!" He curled up and began to cry. He was scared.
He didn't want to lose her. A tear rolled down his cheek. He could feel his heart racing. He couldn't keep his mind off of her.
"That's really sweet of you, Ulrich," Yumi said as she accepted his gift. She leaned down and kissed his cheek. Ulrich blushed but grinned.
"Why did we fall apart?" he whispered. He couldn't help the tears.
He could recall all the moments he had with Yumi. He didn't want to lose her now. Not ever. He rolled over and went to sleep.
Unfortunately, he started to have the nightmare. It was a lot worse than before. It was the same dream, but the impact came down harder on him. He shot up from his sleep. He looked around and saw that his pillow was on the floor along with his bed cover. He was hyperventilating; he slowed down and started to catch his breath. He pulled his knees up to his chest and hugged them. He felt like he was losing his sanity slowly. He started to hear Yumi whisper his name in his head. It was as if she was right next to him saying it. Ulrich placed his hands over his head and started to tell himself that it was just his imagination. Then, he heard Yumi scream in his head. He jumped out of his bed and darted out the door.
He ran down the hallway to the boys' bathroom. He switched on the light and head straight for the sinks. He felt like he was going to throw up. He splashed cold water onto his face. He needed to wake up. He needed to get his sanity back. He turned off the sink and let the cold water drip off of his face. He looked up in the mirror and his heart sank. He saw Yumi behind him; her face had blood running down it. He shook his head. When he looked in the mirror again he saw something else. It looked like black smoke. In the smoke emerged he saw kept seeing images of death.
Ulrich raced out of the bathroom. When he went through the double doors into the other hallway he bumped into something and crashed onto the floor. He looked up while breathing heavily, and saw that it was Jim.
"Stern!" Jim said. "What are you doing out of bed? Why are you running through the halls?!"
"I—I—" Ulrich didn't know what to tell Jim. He started to breakdown. Soon, he felt the tears spill on his cheeks. "I don't know..."
"Come with me, Ulrich," Jim said sincerely. He helped Ulrich up, and led him to the infirmary. "Sit there and I'll tell the nurse that you're in."
Ulrich sat on the bed and he couldn't stop crying. His body was shaking. Why was he so sad? He has never felt this miserable in his life. Jim came back in the room and handed Ulrich a tissue box. He took it but put it next to him. When he calmed down, he looked at Jim.
"I've never cried so much before," Ulrich said quietly.
"I've never seen you cry," Jim said. "What's wrong, Stern?" He sounded serious.
"I've just been having bad thoughts, and I think I'm going crazy, Jim…I feel like I'm not there for everyone."
"And that everyone is one person?"
"What?"
"Yumi, isn't it?"
"How—?"
"I'm not an idiot, Ulrich. I see you two together all the time. It's very obvious."
"I feel like I'm losing her. Have you ever liked somebody so much but you were afraid of letting them go?" Ulrich couldn't help but babble random questions. He was so depressed at the moment that he had to speak his mind.
"Yes. Reminds me of the time when I was a federal agent long ago. I met this girl, and she was the love of my life."
"What happened?" He was excepting, "I rather not talk about it", but Jim sighed and continued.
"Well, I had to let her go, because I was going to put her in danger. It made me heart broken, but it was the best choice. I didn't want to lose her. I was trying hard to let her go. It took a while until I finally set her free. I cried a little, too, you know. She was everything to me. But now my everything is this school and you kids."
"Jim, I don't want to lose Yumi. I keep…."
"You keep what?"
"I keep seeing her…die…and I'm afraid that it's going to come true."
"Don't let it get to your head, Ulrich. I know you're stronger than that. If you keep thinking it, it's going to happen. You need to tell yourself that she'll be with you."
"Thanks, Jim."
"Are you feeling better?"
"Much better."
"Good. Now, why don't you spend the night here, and I'll tell Odd that you're in the infirmary."
"Okay, thanks again."
"Anytime, Ulrich. Anytime."
Jim left the infirmary. Ulrich crawled into bed. He was lying on the bed that he and Yumi once sat on. He could remember that he held her hand as he put the band-aid on it, and then accidentally put his hand over hers when they were done. He closed his eyes and went to sleep. He didn't cramp up. He didn't sweat. He didn't move. He slept peacefully.
The next morning, Ulrich left the infirmary and went to his dorm. He still smelt good from last night's shower, so he just changed. He saw that it was ten in the morning, and Odd was gone. He got changed and went down to the cafeteria. When he entered, he walked over to their table slowly. The gang looked at him as he sat down. Yumi wasn't there. He was thankful that she wasn't. Aelita gave him a one-arm hug.
"We told Jeremie everything," Aelita said. "It was best not to keep it a secret from him."
"That's fine," Ulrich said.
"If this is about you and Yumi," Jeremie said, "then it's probably X.A.N.A." He sighed. "I'll do as much work to find out what's going on."
"Thanks, Jeremie. It means a lot."
"…Did you tell her yet?"
"No…and I plan not to…not for a while, anyway. I don't want to freak her out."
"Are you feeling any better?" Aelita asked.
"A little…I just lost it last night."
"I didn't hear a thing," Odd said.
"No surprise," Ulrich said.
"Are you hungry?" Aelita asked.
"No, I'm still full from last night's dinner…." Ulrich sighed. He took out his phone and dialed Yumi's number. It kept ringing and ringing until she picked up the phone. "Yumi?"
"Hey, Ulrich. What's up?"
"I was, uh, just checking to make sure that you were still up for our match today."
"Did Jim fix the roof?"
"I think he put something over it until it's fixed. I'm not really sure…."
"Well, I'm ready. I'm heading over now anyways. I'll meet you in the gym, okay?"
"Okay, see you there."
"Bye."
Ulrich hung up his phone. Aelita handed him a banana.
"You need to at least eat this if you're going to be fighting," she said. He took the fruit. He loved how she always looked out for him.
"Thanks," he said. He stood up with the banana in his hand.
"Go get her, Ulrich," Odd said with a wink. Ulrich just rolled his eyes and walked out of the cafeteria. He ate the banana on the way to the gym. He threw out the peel in the trash can. When he entered the gym he saw Jim.
"What are you doing, Jim?" Ulrich asked. He looked up at the ceiling because Jim was looking at it.
"There, the ceiling is patched up," Jim said. "After I put you in the infirmary, and told Odd, I started to work on repairing a ceiling. You know, I used to build houses and fix roofs. I worked all night on repairing it. It almost fell on one of the girls while they were doing gymnastics in my class. I always feared that the ceiling would fall…well, what are you doing here?"
"Yumi and I are going to have a match."
"Do you want me to be the ref? You know, incase someone cheats—"
"Alone, Jim. Sorry. But I need to talk to her."
"I see, I get it. Well, Stern, good luck." Jim waltz out of the gym. Ulrich was all alone. He stared up at the ceiling again. The ceiling looked like it had never collapsed. Jim did a good job. The gym doors opened and Yumi came in.
"I see Jim repaired the roof," she said.
"He did a nice job, too…shall we begin?"
"Sure…you smell like bananas."
"I just ate one."
"It smells good."
"Is it a distraction?" Ulrich asked with a smirk.
"No way!"
It was practically the same routine when they fought. Ulrich knew most of Yumi's moves. She couldn't lay a finger on him. But he got her a few times. Finally, Yumi grabbed him by the shoulders and threw him down onto the mat. She was on top of him, trying to keep him down. Ulrich felt his face burn up. He couldn't say how many this has happened. But he wasn't going to let this stop the match. It usually did. He put his feet under her stomach, and flipped her over his head. He quickly got up and tried to catch his breath. Yumi laid there on the mat.
"Yumi, you okay?" he asked. She got up slowly. "Yumi, I'm sorry—" She turned around, grabbed him by his shirt, pushed him back, and pinned him against the wall. His was blushing hard now. He wanted to kiss her so badly. She smelt like Japanese blossoms.
"I'm fine," she said. She was blushing herself. Ulrich struggled to get away from her. He felt his feelings for her swell up in his heart. He charged forward and knocked her to the ground; he landed on top of her. "You're very aggressive today. You've gotten better." Ulrich got off of her and staggered backwards.
"Stop! Just stop!" he yelled.
"Is there something wrong?" she asked as she got up.
"Yes! No!" Ulrich's voice was cracking. "Yes! Yes there is!"
"Well, what's wrong—?"
"Everything! Everything is wrong, Yumi!"
"What are you talking about?"
He glared at her. He wanted to cry again.
"This!" he yelled. "Oh God, I'm going to lose it again." He started to walk around the gym.
"What's this? I—"
"You know damn well what I'm talking about!"
He stopped walking and they just stared at each other for the longest time. Yumi had nothing to say back. Ulrich spoke again, "What happened, Yumi?"
"I…I don't know…."
"You still care for William don't you? You still like him?"
"Ulrich!"
"It's true! Ever since he came we just went down the drain! Do you know how much that hurt me?! 'Let's just be friends!' It was because of him, wasn't it?!"
"Ulrich—!"
"Yumi, I still cared for you!" Ulrich shouted. "And I still do!" He was breathing heavily. He finally got part of his feelings off of his chest. His feelings had been bottled up for so long that he couldn't keep it in anymore. He didn't mean to snap. "Sure, he did too, but not like I did! He turned your back against you, and I stuck with you the whole way! And now I feel like I'm losing you!"
Yumi walked up to him slowly. She was about to cry. She looked angry and upset. Before she could talk, Ulrich said, "What happened? Am I going to lose you?" Yumi punched him in the stomach. He fell to the ground. He got up slowly and faced her. "I deserved that…." He looked at her. She had tears coming down her cheeks. "I don't want to lose you to him." He bowed his head.
"Are you talking about William or X.A.N.A.?" she asked nervously. He didn't respond. Yumi looked like she was going to hit him again. He felt his heart sink. He looked up at her innocently. It was strange that Yumi was crying; she usually doesn't. She lightened up. She wiped her tears, but it wasn't much help.
They both jumped when they heard commotion outside. Yumi cleaned up her tears and they raced outside. Students gather around someone near the woods. Ulrich and Yumi stood on one of the benches to get a better view.
"Everyone stand back!" Jim yelled. "Does anyone know if the paramedics are here yet?"
Ulrich gasped.
"ODD!" he shouted. He pushed past all the students.
"Stern, stay back!" Jim ordered. But Ulrich was kneeling at Odd's side. He was out cold. He was scratched up, and bleeding a little.
"Jim what the hell happened?!" Ulrich shouted. The paramedics pushed through the crowd and put Odd in the stretcher. Ulrich was about to go after his roommate, but Jim held him back. "Let me go!"
"You can't go, Ulrich!"
"But he's my best friend, Jim! Let me go!"
They stared at each other for a moment. Jim sighed.
"Go…I'll tell the principle."
"Let me go, too," Yumi said. "My parents wouldn't mind." She was standing next to Ulrich.
"Fine! But hurry!"
Ulrich and Yumi raced after the paramedics. They got in the back of the ambulance with Odd and headed to the hospital. Ulrich felt terrible.
Once they got to the hospital, they had to wait outside Odd's room until it was okay for them to talk to him. Ulrich and Yumi didn't speak to each other, nor looked at each other. Ulrich was about to blame himself for Odd's accident. The nurse came out of the room.
"You two can see him now," she said. The two of them got up and walked into Odd's room. They pulled up a chair, and sat on both sides of him.
"Hey, guys," Odd said weakly. He looked awfully pale.
"How are you?" Ulrich asked.
"Crappy. But, the doctor said that I may be out by tomorrow night. I didn't sustain too much damage. They didn't send me to the infirmary because I was bleeding too much. I'll be back in Lyoko in no time. These scratches are nothing. I was lucky."
"What happened?"
"You remember that thing I said I saw in the forest the day of Naomi's attack?"
"Yeah…."
"It was there. I was big. It was a creature of some sort. It had these big scissor-like hands, and it was nasty looking. Its breath smelt like dead fish. It was slimy and was dripping with ooze. I've seen it somewhere out of a horror movie…I was pretty terrified. It was actually a scary movie…."
"Do you think it's X.A.N.A.?" Yumi asked.
"Yeah, I do."
Ulrich now figured out what X.A.N.A. was doing. He took out his phone and called up Jeremie. Odd asked, "Who are you calling?"
"Hello?" Jeremie said from the other line. "How's Odd?!"
"He's fine!" Ulrich said. "Listen! I know what X.A.N.A. is doing?"
"You do?! Well what is it?!"
"He's targeting people's fears. He's a shape shifter and playing with people's minds. He attacked Naomi in the form of a giant snake. You said that you were scared that he would mess up the system and he did. Jim said that he was afraid that the roof would fall and it did fall. Odd said that he saw a scary movie, and the monster in it scared him. He said that he saw it in the forest, Jeremie, and it attacked him."
"What about you? Is yours about Yumi?"
Ulrich glanced at Yumi who was staring at him.
"Yeah," Ulrich said quietly. He's got Odd, or almost anyway…he's going to target one of us next. Watch Aelita, please."
"She's right next to me and she's not going anywhere without me."
"That's good. Keep working on the system."
"I'm way ahead of you. Be careful, Ulrich."
"I will, trust me." Ulrich hung up his phone and stuffed it back in his pocket.
"Wow, X.A.N.A. is really messing with our heads," Odd said.
"Yeah, he almost got me last night," Ulrich said quietly.
"What?" Yumi asked.
"It's nothing…I was just seeing things…."
"Ulrich—"
"It's nothing, Yumi, really," Odd said. "He just freaked out last night, that's all."
"It was this nightmare I had," Ulrich cut in.
"Is that why you haven't been able to sleep?" Yumi asked.
"No," Ulrich lied.
"You're lying."
"No I'm not! I just can't sleep anymore!"
"Guys!" Odd said. He sounded serious. "Please, no fighting. My ears are still ringing from the monster's roar. And you two fighting is making it worse."
"Sorry," Ulrich and Yumi said.
"You might as well pretend to be friends until we stop this attack. We need each other right now."
"Right…be friends," Ulrich muttered.
"We'll let you get some rest, Odd," Yumi said. "Get well soon."
"I'll be on my feet in no time! The Amazing Odd never fails!" Odd said happily. "You'll see."
"Right, right," Yumi said. She kissed his forehead and left the room.
"See ya, man," Ulrich said. They pounded fists.
"See ya."
Ulrich left the room. He and Yumi exited the hospital together. They were silent as they started to head down the road. It was a very awkward silence…it was long, too. The heavy weight on Ulrich's shoulders was crushing him. He took a deep breath. He had to say something before they reached her house.
"I'm sorry, Yumi," he said. "I didn't mean to make you upset." It was quiet between them until Yumi sighed.
"It's alright…you just…scared me back there."
The weight of the world was lifted off of his shoulders. But it came crashing back down; she probably knows his secret now, even though it was obvious.
"Yumi…I think you should go home and I'll meet at your house tonight. Whatever is in that forest is looking for us. I would rather you be safe than in danger at the moment." They reached Yumi's house when he finished his sentence.
"I'll see you tonight, then," she said.
"Don't leave. I'll come and get you."
"Okay, Ulrich. See ya." She went up the stairs and through the front door. Ulrich headed to the factory. When he got there, he went down the elevator and went in the computer room. Aelita was sitting against the wall with her laptop on her lap and Jeremie was typing away like a madman playing a piano.
"Hey, guys, what's up?" Ulrich asked. He sat next to Aelita.
"The Skid is finished with its updates!" Jeremie said. He didn't even turn around. He was typing away. "And now we're debugging the system. It's a pain. There are too many codes!"
"Jeremie, your head is going to explode," Aelita said. She was playing Solitaire on her computer. "Why don't you take a break?"
"I can't! I have to be prepared for tonight!"
"You're going to be dead by tonight."
"So we're going without Odd?" Ulrich asked.
"We have no choice. We need you guys to go into Sector 5 and check out a tower. It has some information that we need Where's Yumi?" Jeremie said.
"She's at home. I'm going to get her tonight…but I have some good news."
"What is it?"
"Odd is going to probably be back on his feet by tomorrow evening."
"That's wonderful!" Aelita said with a smiled. "Ah, another game of Solitaire down…and I was talking about Odd, you know, not the—"
"I know."
"All we have to do now is wait until tonight," Jeremie said.
When night rolled around, Ulrich took off for Yumi's house. He got her without her parents noticing. They headed to the factory quickly without anything attacking them. Him, Yumi, and Aelita went down to the scanners and were sent to Sector 5.
"Okay, guys, you know what to do. I'll tell you if there's a problem," Jeremie said. Aelita motioned for them to follow her. The three of them traveled through Sector 5. But, they got lost…again.
"Wait, we past this block before," Ulrich said out of breath.
"Ulrich, all of Sector 5 looks the same," Yumi said.
"I know, but I left a mark." Ulrich pointed to the slash mark he made in the wall. "Um, Jeremie, we could use a little help."
"You guys are going the right way. Just keep heading straight."
"Okay, follow me," Aelita said. They headed straight. But when they went through the passage, Aelita stopped short. "Jeremie! We were about to head off of a cliff!"
"What?!"
"We were about to plummet to our death," Ulrich stated.
"It looks like X.A.N.A. is hiding the tower…either that or you need to find a switch…I see no switch that needs to be activated, though. There should be a ledge that leads to the tower. We're going to have to bring you guys back—"
Ulrich looked behind his shoulder and saw Creepers.
"I don't think we can now!" he said. He started to charge towards the Creepers. Yumi and Aelita joined the battle. It didn't take too long to kill off all of them. "We got them all…."
"Oh no!" Aelita said. They saw William appear. "Jeremie!"
"It's not letting me devirtulize you guys! Listen, you need to make William go away and then I can get you guys back. He's holding you back!"
"This should be no problem," Yumi said. She threw her fans at him, but he just flew them right back to her with his sword. He used Super Smoke to appear in front of her.
"Oh no you don't!" Ulrich yelled. He ran and jumped on William. William tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't let go. "You're not going to lay a finger on them!"
"Get off of me!" William yelled. He threw Ulrich off of him. Ulrich flew back and hit a wall. He dropped to the ground.
"Oww…." He could feel his head pound and his muscle felt like they were on fire. His heart began to beat at a rapid pace. But, he fought through it and got up. He ran up behind William and tried to attack him with his sabers but William just blocked his attack.
"Energy field!" Aelita said. William blew her attack away while struggling to kill Ulrich off. Yumi threw her fans and it hit William's shoulder. William set Ulrich flying again. He was getting sick of it.
"Super Smoke!" William said. Yumi tried to hit him again, and even dodge out of the way of the smoke, but it wrapped around her body, and she was knocked out.
"Yumi!" Aelita yelled. "Energy—"
But William stuck out his other hand and Aelita was pinned to the wall. She couldn't move. Ulrich got up and saw Yumi floating towards the edge. He ran towards her and jumped on her. The two of them rolled to the ground. Yumi was still out cold. Ulrich quickly placed her in his lap. He put one arm around her and stuck out one saber towards William.
"I said not to touch them!" Ulrich yelled angrily. The force field around Aelita dropped. She fell to the ground, and couldn't get up. William was still holding her down. "Leave Aelita and Yumi alone!" William walked slowly towards Ulrich. "You want me, then take me! But I won't lose her to you!" William raised his sword above his head.
"ENERGY FIELD!" Aelita yelled. A pink ball of pink light came bursting out of her hand. William looked towards it and it hit him in the face. He vanished. Aelita got up from the ground. "And stay down, you bastard!" Ulrich looked terrified. He had never seen Aelita liked that. "Sorry…he's just so mean!"
"Nice work, guys. Hey, the tower is restored. Aelita, head to where you guys almost fell off. X.A.N.A. was just blocking the ledge from you. The tower is on it. Hurry up, guys," Jeremie said.
"Right," Aelita said. She looked at Ulrich.
"Go," he said. "I'll stay here with her."
Aelita nodded and took off. Ulrich put his saber away. He glanced at Yumi. He could remember clearly in one of his nightmares of how she was laying in his lap. But she's alive and not dead. He moved a piece of hair out of her face. "Yumi?" he said gently. He shook her a little. "Yumi?" She opened her eyes slowly. Yumi looked up at Ulrich.
"Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Yeah, I'm fine…you're the best. You really are," she said. He blushed. Yumi sat up and turned around.
"Okay, guys, which one is next?" Jeremie asked. Both of them ignored Jeremie. Their eyes locked. "Guys? Are you there? Are you even listening?!"
"Huh?" Ulrich said without taking his eyes off of Yumi.
"Okay, Ulrich, you're going next." He started to devirtulize. Yumi smiled as he left. When he opened his eyes, he was sitting in the scanner. He felt terribly weak and sick. When he encountered William, he felt the same pain as he did from his nightmares. The doors opened and he stood up. As he stepped out, the other scanner opened; Yumi took a giant step out. They went in the elevator together and took it up to the computer room. They stepped inside and stood next to Jeremie at the computer. "Well done, guys. Now, we're going to have to wait over night. Hopefully the system will debug. That would make my day. Let's head home."
When they exited the factory, Ulrich decided to take Yumi home again. He was scared that whatever attacked Odd may jump out at them; he wanted to be there for Yumi. They crossed the street and reached the front gate to her house.
"See you in the morning," Ulrich said.
"Bye," Yumi said. "Be careful on your way home."
"I will."
"Call me when you get to your room, please. Promise?"
"Promise…." He winked at her and left. As he made it onto campus, he felt the wind pick up. He didn't like the feeling that surrounded him. He could feel his head swell up with pain. Ulrich felt a chill go down his spine; he started to walk faster. He felt like he was being watched again. He started to sprint. He finally made it to the dorm buildings. He went up the flight of stairs quickly and quietly. He made it to his room, and locked the door behind him. It was lonely without Odd. Kiwi was sleeping on Odd's bed. Ulrich sighed and took out his phone. He sat on his bed and held his head in his free hand. He dialed Yumi's number.
"Hello?" she said after one ring.
"I'm here safe and sound," he said.
"That's good. See you in the morning."
"Okay, bye."
He hung up and then got changed into his pajamas. He fell onto his bed. He stared up at the ceiling; all he could think about was Yumi.
"Are you talking about William or X.A.N.A.?" she asked.
Ulrich didn't know how to answer her question. He didn't want to say William. She would find out. Then again, she probably already knows that he likes her. He had never really seen her cry before. He must've made her really upset. He started to feel bad now. He felt like a big jerk. He made her cry.
"You…you saved me. You're the best. You really are."
He's the best. He went from being a jerk to the best person ever. He smiled at that thought. He loved holding her. He loved protecting her. He has had saved her before…but protecting her from William—from X.A.N.A.—made him feel like he was a hero. But he knew that X.A.N.A. was going to be on him now. He was going to play with his head even more. Ulrich got under his covers and went to sleep quickly.
"Hurry, Yumi!" Ulrich shouted. The two of them raced through the woods. Ulrich stopped and waited for Yumi to catch up. She tripped over a root. He rushed over to her and pulled her up. X.A.N.A. had found them quickly. Ulrich pulled Yumi behind him. X.A.N.A. kept changing into different people and there were different weapons with them. One of them slashed Ulrich's arm with a knife. He yelled out in pain.
"Ulrich!" Yumi screamed. Her scream rang through his ears. His heart pounded hard as he grabbed her hands from behind his back.
"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Ulrich shouted. The shadowed figure turned into someone else. He too was also shadowed, so Ulrich couldn't see his face. The man hit Ulrich in the head with something hard. His head started to pound, and he was close to going unconscious. He was on the dirt floor. He got up slowly, and turned around. The man was right in front of him. He saw Yumi lying on the ground. The man started to beat him. Ulrich tried as best as he could to defend himself. He got a few good blows to the man, but the man was conquering him. He was throwing Ulrich everywhere.
But the man got a blow to the head from behind him. It was Yumi. She had a giant rock in her hand. She dropped it when the man dropped. She ran up to Ulrich and threw her arms around him. She started to cry into his neck. Ulrich hugged her back even though he was in so much pain. He felt her pain crawl under his skin. It was pure agony. Both of them were suffering. He held her face in his hands.
"It's okay," he whispered. He kissed her gently. "It'll be okay."
"No, it's not! Let's go, now!" she whispered. But Ulrich felt something pierce through him. He looked down and saw that a sword was going through his stomach; it went through Yumi's too. They both turned pale as the man pulled the sword out. They fell to the ground. Ulrich could feel the pool of blood surround him. He glanced over at Yumi, and she wasn't moving, but he saw her last spill of tears come from under her lashes. He felt her cold hand in his. He felt everything go numb, but the pain dwelled inside of him. It was eating at his soul. He finally closed his eyes.
Ulrich shot up from his sleep. He was sweating terribly. His pillow was drenched with it. He looked over at Odd's bed and remembered that he was in the hospital. He was all alone. He was breathing loud. His heart was about to burst out of his chest, because it was pounding so fast. He wanted to call Yumi and ask if she was okay, but the whole thing was getting to his head. He changed his pillowcase, and put the one drenched in sweat off to the side. He would have to throw that in the laundry in the morning. He kept looking at his phone; he didn't want to wake her up. But he wanted to make sure that she was alright. He started pacing the room. He wished Odd was here, he really did. Odd would talk with him. Instead of calling Yumi, he called up Aelita. A few seconds later, he heard someone answer.
"Hello?" she asked. He felt bad that he woke her up.
"Aelita, I'm so sorry to wake you up, but—!"
"Whoa, whoa," she said. "Calm down, Ulrich. What's wrong?"
"I can't go back to sleep. I'm losing it, Aelita. I'm going to go crazy!"
"You're not going to go crazy…."
"I don't know if it's my own instinct or if it's X.A.N.A. contributing these nightmares!"
"I really don't know what to tell you. I mean, we already know that X.A.N.A. is causing the problem. Jeremie is probably up right now working on the supercomputer from his room, when I told him not to. We'll find the tower and deactivate it."
"But what if it doesn't come up?"
"It will. X.A.N.A isn't that strong. With Jeremie's hacking skills, I'm pretty sure we're going to get around this dilemma."
"But what am I going to do now? I can't go back to sleep! I don't want to dream of Yumi dying again!"
"Play a video game or something. Get something that will help you sleep."
"That's the problem. Nothing helps me sleep. I just fall asleep on my own…well, I used to anyway."
"Do you want me to come over there and knock you out? Because I have no problem with—"
"No, no, I like to keep my remaining brain cells along with the little sanity that's left."
"You need a good night's sleep, because we have class in the morning."
"I know…."
"Think…happy thoughts."
"Happy thoughts?" he asked, like he didn't even know what it was.
"Yes, Ulrich…you know…something that has happiness—"
"Yeah, thanks, Aelita," he said before she started to talk slow to him like he was a little kid.
"Can I go back to sleep?"
"Sure. Goodnight."
"Night," she said, then hung up. Ulrich put his phone on the desk. He wanted to pick it up and call Yumi. He was trying to restrain himself from calling her. He crawled back into his bed, and closed his eyes. He started to think of happy thoughts…stuff that happened in the past that would make him smile. Ulrich pushed past his pain and suffering, and started to dig deep into his memories. He smiled a little as he thought of stuff he did with Odd…all the stupid and funny things. He thought of how he would save Aelita sometimes on Lyoko; he felt like a hero whenever he saved her. He thought of how Jeremie would try to explain something to him, but it just came out all gibberish, and it made him laugh. Then there was Yumi. He loved seeing her in the morning. He always loved their conversation of smiles. He couldn't stop thinking about her. He always recalled the time that they almost kissed. He could remember how fast his heart was beating. Eventually, Ulrich fell asleep.
He woke up the next morning to his alarm clock. He didn't even dream when we went back to sleep. He did his normal routine of getting ready, and went downstairs to the cafeteria to have some breakfast. He felt awkward walking to breakfast without Odd. He ignored the feeling as he walked into the cafeteria. Jeremie and Aelita were already eating. Ulrich got in line, grabbed a muffin, and sat down at the table.
"Morning, Sleeping Beauty," Aelita said with a smile. "How did you sleep last night?"
"Fine," Ulrich said as he took a bite of his muffin.
"Did you have any nightmares?" Jeremie asked.
"I did, but—" Ulrich looked at Aelita with a smile and said, "But I pushed it away."
"That's good!"
"Did anyone get any news on Odd?"
"No, not yet anyway. I'm planning to visit him at lunch. Hopefully they'll let him come home today."
"We could really use him on Lyoko," Aelita said. Ulrich continued to eat big pieces of his muffin until eventually there was nothing to pick at.
"LISTEN UP PEOPLE!" Jim yelled from the front of the cafeteria. Jeremie turned around in his chair to look at him. The placed fell silent. Jim cleared his throat and said, "There is a dance this Friday! Now, there are flyers around the school, or—" he slammed orange flyers down on to the table next to him, "—you can find them here! That is all!" Jim then walked out of the cafeteria.
"A dance? I thought we already had one?" Ulrich said.
"We did," Jeremie said, "but the principal feels that we need to socialize more instead of being in our little groups."
"I'll be right back. I'm going to go get one," Aelita said. She got and pushed through the crowd that was around the table, and grabbed a flyer. She came back with three of them. She gave one to Ulrich and Jeremie.
"I don't like the sound of it," Ulrich said. "I have a feeling that X.A.N.A. has something up his sleeve."
"Relax, Ulrich," Aelita said, "you're going to go to this dance."
"Why?"
"Don't make me hurt you."
"But—"
"You need to have a little fun after all the crap you've been going through."
"Are you going to be performing?"
"If they as me I will. I kind of do and I don't."
"You're the only true DJ we have." Ulrich read the paper over and over. The dance was going to be held in the gym Friday night.
"Are you going to take Yumi?" Aelita asked.
"Uh…no! I mean, we're just friends after all—"
"That doesn't matter," Jeremie said. "You can go as friends."
"Right! Just as friends! That's good!" Ulrich said quickly. "But…I have to ask her first."
"I'm sure she'll say yes," Aelita said.
"I'll go ask her now. She's probably here by now. Plus, I really don't Sissy to bug me by making me go with her." Ulrich picked up his bag, threw his wrapper from his muffin away, and went outside. He sat down on one of the benches and took out his phone.
"You are you calling?" he heard someone asked. He looked up and saw Yumi.
"No one," he said. He put the phone back in his pocket.
"It looks like you didn't get enough sleep last night. You got rings under your eyes."
"Yeah, I noticed when I was brushing my teeth…."
"What's the paper for?"
Ulrich handed her the flyer. She read it quickly and said, "Another school dance?"
"Yup."
"This Friday?"
"Yup."
"Are you going?"
"No—I mean—yup! Speaking of which, I was wondering if you wanted to go together. You know, as friends…."
"That sounds good to me!"
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. What if Millie asks you again like that one time?"
"I don't think she will. I think Hiroki is going to go for her."
"Oh, right, I forgot about that.
"Besides, we've never really had the chance to dance together. I went with Millie the first time—"
"And Sissy interrupted us the other time when we had the techno rave…I guess third time will be the charm, no?"
"I think it will. Did you get any news on Odd?"
"I got nothing. He's probably coming back tonight. I don't think he would want to miss this dance. You know how wild Odd gets."
"I know better than you do. I room with him."
"At least you didn't switch bodies with him…."
"That was for about a day and a half."
"I was in his body."
They stared at each other and then burst out laughing. They smiled and Ulrich asked, "What time should I come on Friday—?"But he stopped. His head started hurting. He put his head in his hands and closed his eyes. The different colored lights flashed onto the dance floor. He could felt her body move against his. He found that his hands were on her waist, and that her arms were around his neck. He blocked out the world around him and concentrated on her. He knew that people were watching, but he didn't care.
"It's getting hot in here," Yumi said in his ear. Ulrich could feel his face burn up. He looked at her as they stopped dancing.
"Do you want to go outside for a while?" he asked back. He was so close her.
"Yeah."
Ulrich opened his eyes. He heard something scream loud like the person was right next to him, but no one was screaming. He looked around and then finally back at Yumi. His face flushed. She looked baffled.
"Sorry," Ulrich said quietly. "My head has been hurting lately."
"I've noticed."
"But, uh, anyway—" He wanted to change the subject. He looked Yumi up and down, like he was checking her out.
"Ulrich—"
"Huh?!" Ulrich said hesitantly.
"Were you…were you just checking me out?"
"NO!"
"Because—"
"I wasn't! I swear!"
"If you say so."
"Anyway," Ulrich said quickly; his face turned red. "What time would you like me to come and get you?"
"Around seven should be fine," Yumi said as she looked at the paper. "It's another techno rave."
"Then it should be a lot of fun!"
"Hopefully Sissy won't interrupt us…."
"Then we'll stick close together." Ulrich gaped after he said that. Yumi's face turned red. "I mean—!"
"I know what you mean."
Ulrich looked away. He was embarrassed. The bell rang, and Ulrich said, "I'll see you at break."
"Okay, bye, Ulrich," Yumi said. They gave each other a simple grin, and Yumi parted. Ulrich waited for Jeremie and Aelita to come out of the cafeteria. Once they did, they walked to class together. They went into the Science classroom and took their seats.
"So what did she say?" Aelita asked from behind Ulrich. He turned around in his chair.
"She said yes," he said with a smile.
"Good, now all you have to do is get together with her!"
"Aelita!"
"I have to agree with her," Jeremie said.
"Jeremie! Guys, for the last time, Yumi and I are just friends, and we're going to keep it that way! That's the way she wanted our relationship to be!" Ulrich turned around in his seat. He wished Odd was here...but then again, Odd would side with them.
"Yeah, but not for long," Aelita whispered.
"I hate you guys," Ulrich said as he put his head on the table. The bell rang, and Ms. Hertz closed the classroom door and said, "Please, everyone take your seats, and we'll get started! We have a lot of work to do today! And I need to pass back last weeks tests!" Ulrich propped his elbow up on the table, and rested his cheek in his palm. He looked over at the empty seat next to him and sighed. He prayed that Odd would return tonight….
Ms Hertz walked up to his table.
"Hmm, how is Mr. Della Robbia doing?" Ms. Hertz asked Ulrich.
"I'm guessing that he is doing well. He may return to the school tonight," Ulrich said.
"Well, if you can, can you please give him his test, Mr. Stern?" She put Odd's paper in front of Ulrich. "And I have to say, Ulrich—" She put another test in front of him; it was his own test. In red ink at the top of his paper was the number 91. He gaped. He had never gotten an A on his test before in Science. "You're working your way on becoming the next Jeremie. Keep up the good work." She then walked to Jeremie's table. Ulrich picked up his test and looked at it.
"Wow," he whispered. He recounted the five sleepless days that he used to study for the Science test he was holding in his hands.
"How did you do, Ulrich?" Aelita whispered from behind him. He turned around in his seat, and showed him his test with a smile.
"Amazing!" Jeremie said.
"Was that sarcasm?" Ulrich asked.
"No, I mean it! It's amazing!"
He turned back around in his seat, and compared his test to Odd's. Odd didn't do too badly; he maintained his C average like usual.
I've been staring at the computer screen way too long, and my eyes hurt, so I kind of gave up on editing when I had five pages left to read. There are probably some mistakes, but don't bother telling me. I'll find them. Okay, I feel like I'm making Ulrich seem like he's a whimp...but, heck, I mean, I'd be a whimp if I was terrified...
Anyway, the rest of this story may have...I don't want to say sexual activity, hell no. Hmm...sexual tension, I guess. And Yumi is sixteen and Ulrich is fifteen in my story...because it just seems better that way, lmao. But, I've been listening to all these songs that have a lot of sexual stuff in it, even though they're good songs, and I would want to make the story seem more realistic and feel the emotion that young teens would feel at their age. So, if you find it disturbing (for God sake, it's not going to be a lemon story), then just skip it. But teens our age...there's so much sexual stuff o.O. Take the movie "Juno" for instants XD, but that was a really good movie. I loved it.
I wanted to show a softer side to Yumi, because after having a marathon of Code Lyoko on Youtube, I saw that she had a short temper, but I still love her :3 and I wanted her to be a little softer...but I still think she kicks ass. Don't worry, she'll toughen up in this story. And in Season 4, they seemed more like friends :(...grr.
THEY BETTER MAKE A SEASON 5, DAMN IT!
ANYWAY! REVIEW OR I WON'T POST THE NEXT CHAPTER...(...which will probably be written in...two weeks...)
DivineRose2392 (is losing her sanity and vision bit by bit).
I get so many favs on this story, but no reviews :(
AND YAY FOR LONG CHAPTERS :D