Chapter 4: Where are they…?
Tuesday's volleyball was a success, allowing the day to move swiftly, it also didn't hurt that Kurama got asked to do other duties instead of hall monitor. He talked to the gang when he could, but had to back out of meeting them later because he had asked Principal Delmas if he could buy a badminton set, to which the principal thought was a good idea and gave him the money to buy two sets.
By the time Kurama got back from his errands, it was late, but that didn't stop him from treating himself to a trip in the woods behind the school, where he found himself a big trunk to sit and lean against. Taking the position of gym teacher was not his favorite job, but at least he got to do it here at Kadic, were he could always escape to the forest. He was glad to see the gang and to find out the war against XANA was going well. He also couldn't wait to tell Hiei about his visit, unlike Yusuke, he would not know what a gym teacher was, so he would not get teased.
Just after dark, Kurama decided to head back, he had treated himself to about an hour worth of spirit playing. But as he was cutting through the area near the man-hole cover, he stopped and ducked behind a tree, his keen hearing picking up the sound of someone or something moving in the area ahead of him. He watched as a figure made its way through the forest and wonder who it could be at this hour. When the figure got within sight, he realized it was Jeremy. He waited another moment to see if the rest of the gang was following, when no one else showed, he decided to see if the boy needed help.
Just as Kurama moved from around the tree, he stopped in his tracks. A few dozen dogs were making their way towards Jeremy, hunched down and growling. The look in their eyes was all Kurama needed to see to know they were being controlled by XANA.
Jeremy looked up from getting the man-hole cover moved and immediately climbed in the hole, dragging the cover back over. Kurama watched as the dogs leaped at the opening, but were shut out as the cover closed. Figuring that the others were on their way, he decided to handle the dogs, also realizing he couldn't let the dogs get to the school and endanger the other students. He didn't think the dogs were going to be hard to deal with, so he walked right up to them. The dogs began barking and growling as they surrounded him. He noticed tags on a few of them and knew they were house pets, though most of them looked like stays. Kurama's heart told him not to hurt the dogs, knowing it was not their fault they were being possessed. He also knew that once Jeremy and the others did what they needed to do in Lyoko, the dogs would be fine.
Letting his heart decide might not have been the best idea.
a)a)a)a
The sun peeked through the curtains as an annoying beeping sound filled the room.
Ulrich reached over and hit the alarm button then sat up and stretched before looking over at Odd and noticing the blonde haired had buried himself under his blankets. Picking up a pillow, he threw it hard enough to make the boy jump up from the covers.
"I'm up…I'm up." Odd yelled, followed by a yawn.
"Come on…let's get this day over with." Ulrich said, getting up and gathering his things for a shower.
"Hey…I wonder what Kurama has in store for gym today?" Odd wondered, doing his own stretching, before gathering his things.
"I don't know, but I wish he was our full time teacher. I like Jim, but he has no clue as to what to do." Ulrich said, heading to the door.
"I really liked playing volleyball yesterday. If it had been Jim, he would have had us sitting there listening to the history of the game instead of playing it." Odd said, following the brown haired out the door.
They had to walk by Jeremy's room to get to the showers. Stopping to knock, the two waited for their friend.
"Maybe he's already in the shower." Odd said and the two headed on.
They didn't see Jeremy in the shower and knocked again on their way back to their room. Again they assumed they had missed their friend and hurried to dress and get to breakfast.
As the two made their way through the line, they scanned the lunch room and still didn't see the blonde haired.
Taking their seats, they began eating. It wasn't long before Aelita joined them.
"Hey guys…where's Jeremy?" She asked as she took a seat across from the two.
"You haven't seen him?" Ulrich asked.
"Why no, he's usually already here with you." She said.
"He wasn't in his room this morning and he wasn't here when we got here." Odd said, stuffing his face.
"He might be working on something dealing with XANA. You know how he gets when he feels he has a lead on something." Aelita reminded them, for it had happened before.
Deciding she was probably right, they assumed they would see him before class, or in class and continued eating.
They heard Sissi talking at the table in front of them.
"I hope Mr. Minamino shows. He's usually here by now." She cooed and had a twinkle in her eyes.
Herve and Nicolas both growled.
"Let's go." Ulrich said, getting up and grabbing his tray.
"What?" Odd asked, grabbing his tray and following, Aelita close behind.
"Jeremy might be with Kurama, something might be up with XANA." Ulrich said, dropping his tray off and heading to the door.
"But Jeremy would have contacted us and beside, can you blame Kurama for avoiding Sissi?" Odd said as they made their way back to the dorm rooms.
Ulrich didn't answer as they made their way to Jeremy's room. They knocked again and waited.
"Okay Einstein, open up." Odd said, reaching for the door knob.
He went to open the door and found it locked.
"Jeremy never locks his door." Aelita said with worry.
Before they could wonder why the door would be locked and what to do next, Principal Delmas walked around the corner.
"Della Robbia…Stern…Ms. Stone, you know you are not to be in the dorm once classes start." He said.
"Sorry sir…we were trying to find Jeremy." Ulrich said.
"I'm sorry…I don't know who you're talking about. There's no one attending the school by that name." The principal said.
"What!" Aelita put her hand to her mouth.
"You know the rules…get to class children." Principal Delmas scolded, staying to watch as the three gathered their books.
After leaving the dorm the three stopped to talk.
"What did he mean that Jeremy was never here?" Aelita said.
"He must have been mistaken." Odd said. Blowing off the comment the Principal had made.
"Let's get to class and see if he's there." Ulrich said and headed to the science building.
a)a)a)a
They sat in class, noticing Jeremy's seat was empty. When Ms. Hertz called attendance, she didn't even mention Jeremy's name. After class, the three cornered Sissi.
"Sissi have you seen Jeremy?" Ulrich asked.
"Who's Jeremy?" She said.
"You know the blonde haired Einstein." Odd said.
Ignoring Odd, Sissi walked up to Ulrich and placed her hand on his chest.
"I don't know who this Jeremy fellow is Ulrich dear, but why don't you drop the side kick and hang with me." She cooed.
"No thank you." Ulrich said, taking a step back. "Let's go." He said to the others.
Together they left a very frustrated Sissi.
a)a)a)a
Hoping to talk to Kurama about the situation, the three sat in the bleachers and waited for the red head. After about five minutes, Principal Delmas walked up to the class.
"Students, I'm sorry to say that Mr. Minamino has not arrived this morning. He may be tied up with something personal, so today why don't you all just run around the track. I'm sure he will be back soon." Delmas told them and then shoed the gang onto the field, before taking a seat in the bleachers to watch the students jog around the track.
The three started jogging, after getting away from the other students, Ulrich spoke.
"Okay let's get to the factory and hope Jeremy's there and I wonder where Kurama is?"
"Let's hope you're earlier statement is correct Ulrich and he's with Jeremy." Aelita said.
"I'll contact Yumi on the way." Odd said, pulling out his cell phone.
The others nodded and on the next lap, near the fence line, they made a break for the woods, each hoping that the other two were already at the warehouse.
End Chapter 4