Aelita found herself standing in the middle of the gym, punch pouring down her throat, as she started choking on it out of surprise.

"Th-the dance?" She coughed out, staring at her surroundings with disbelief. The same decked-out auditorium, the same drink, the same company? There was only one possible explanation, but it was a bit unbelievable. She turned to Jeremie for answers, "What's," she coughed, "Going on?"

"I launched a return to the past," he replied simply, with a casual and innocent sip of his punch.

"But why?" Yumi asked, looking around the room, as if for a clock or something to tell her the time.

"It's Halloween. We DESERVE a break, and who wouldn't want to relive Halloween?"

The girls stared at Jeremie like he had gone completely mad.

"Jeremie, are you feeling alright?" Yumi examined his face for anything suspicious.

"Yeah," he said it like it should have been obvious.

"Yumi, here comes Theo," Aelita warned.

Just like before, Theo wandered over, immediately setting his sights on her. "Hey, Yumi. I like your costume."

"Oh, thanks. I like your costume too," She replied, still preoccupied by the baffling matter of Jeremies action.

"Gosh, you look like you've just seen a ghost," Theo laughed lightly.

Yumi tried to act normal, and think of a witty remark to use. Her mind went blank. "Well, it IS Halloween," she turned and mouthed to Aelita and Jeremie, "Right?"

Aelita shrugged, while Jeremie nodded nonchalantly.

Theo chuckled again. "Yeah, I guess."

The song came on, the Monster Mash, and all over the gym people jumped up in anticipation, just like they had last time. Yumi knew what was coming when Theo turned to her. "Do you want to dance?"

She was about to accept, again, when Ulrich returned, Odd in tow, and objected. "No, she doesn't."

"Why not?" Theo looked to her for an answer.

"Of cour—" again she was interrupted rudely by Ulrich, trying to regain superiority, and show that he was in charge when really he wasn't.

"Because she'd rather stay with me," he said stubbornly.

"It's just a dance. What's the harm in that?"

"Oh, there's plenty."

"Why? Are you getting jealous?"

Now it was her turn to take control. "Ok, listen. Both of you, just stop. Can't you do this another night? I came here to have a good time with my friends, and this isn't it."

The guys exchanged looks, and Ulrich began, "Fine. In that case, choose. Me, or him. And the other will stay out of your hair for the rest of the night."

Theo nodded. "That sounds fair."

Yumi was at a loss for words. She furrowed her eyebrows. "No. You know what? I don't choose either of you, because you're both too selfish and blindly competitive to have a good time. I choose nothing," and with that she walked off, getting lost in the crowd, not caring to listen if they called her name, which they did.

• • •

"Just out of curioucity," Odd began to Jeremie and Aelita, on the other side of the gym, scratching his head. "Why are girls always surrounding me lately?"

Jeremie shrugged.

"Could be because you're a vampire," Aelita supposed.

He was a little confused. "You mean legit, or the costume?"

"Both. Maybe it's your new vampireish natural ability kicking in, to be attractive to girls," Aelita suggested, not seriously.

"Oh yeah? Why? Are you attracted to me too?" Odd lifted an eyebrow and challenged her with his dashing looks.

She just shook her head. "I guess I'm immune."

"Come on, you know you can't resist my fang-tabulous charm," Odd tried to persuade her, jokingly of course.

"Alright, alright," Jeremie stepped in. "Ha ha very funny."

"Relax Max, I was just kidding," he assured. "Not trying to cause any trouble."

"Speaking of, I wonder what's going on over there," the boys followed Aelita's gaze not far away, to where Yumi, Ulrich and Theo were having a three-way quarrel. They witnessed Yumi storming off, but remained completely clueless, as they were out of hearing range.

"Yeah," Odd agreed. "Misery isn't part of the holiday though. Maybe I'll go see if I can cheer Yumi up."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea, you know how she likes to be alone," Jeremie reminded chiddingly.

"Aelita," a friendly face that she couldn't quite put a name to, tugged on her sleeve. "It's your turn to DJ."

"Oh, ok, thanks," she waved quickly and was ushered to the stage, a loud announcement being made about her arrival at the turntables.

Odd decided to go anyways, replying over his shoulder to Jeremie. "It's Halloween. We're not going to re-do it a third time." And soon he was gone in the crowd, and Aelita was mixing up a storm.

• • •

Sky already dark blue, head rested in her hands, Yumi sat outside the gym on a conveniently-placed little bench, over all annoyed with the world. That's why, she came out to take advantage of the cold autumn air and cool down.

She had only been there a few minutes when Odd came out and dropped down beside her silently. A couple seconds later, he spoke. "You ok?"

Yumi's eyebrow's furrowed. "No. Does he always have to be such an idiot?"

Odd chuckled, "Can't help it sometimes."

"Making a fool of himself, and me, and for what? Because he's jealous of Theo? Pfft, yeah, like I've ever shown any interest in him. It would be like if you started showing interest in Milly. Just weird."

Odd started visualizing this, and was a little creeped out by the mental picture that his over-active imagination had painted. "Yeah, just weird..." Meanwhile Yumi went on venting, not noticing Odd's overly confused facial expressions.

"And if he's really THAT upset and THAT jealous, then why doesn't he just ask me out already?" Yumi exhaled a long sigh, trying to just let it all go. "Sorry about my rave there. I got carried away."

"That's ok," Odd replied. "You know Ulrich really cares about you, right?"

"Well I wish he had a different way of showing it," she frowned.

Odd shrugged, "Nobody's perfect."

An awkward silence swept over them and for once, Odd didn't know what else to say. Eventually he stood up, and was going to go back to the dance, but before he did, he spoke once more in Yumi's direction. "Sorry I wasn't able to cheer you up... see ya."

Odd started off back to the dance, but before he could get to the door, Yumi got up, and turned around. "Hey Odd," she began, making him stop and listen. "Did you want to, maybe get together some time?"

"Oh, uh, sure," Odd scratched the back of his head, a little confused. "Bye," he yanked open the heavy door, and loud music poured out into the night for a second, as he slipped in.

Yumi didn't know what to think, standing there in the dark as he disappeared into the gymnasium. Why had she said that?

She hadn't really noticed when it popped out, but one minute she's venting her frustration, and the next she's making rendezvous. How did it happen so fast?

On the other hand, Odd had always been there for her, and everyone. He didn't waver, or get all stubborn, and he was just easy to talk to, whether letting off steam or a heated discussion. He was always there to cheer them up, dust them off and bring them up when spirits were low. And Yumi's had been.

She wouldn't lie that dealing with Ulrich's stubbornness and overreactive jealousy spats was no picnic, and it hadn't showed signs of decreasing. It was becoming a burden sometimes, to feel connected to him, and yet she didn't want to pull away. Their bond was something she had been working towards for quite a while now, and she was convinced that she would finally feel whole once they were in a relationship. At least, that's what she had thought. Now that she was playing on her own discomforts and doubts, a few knew ideas came to light.

Maybe, just maybe, in what felt like loosing she had actually won.

A/N:

Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I'm kind of falling behind a little (in order to keep up with my school work and such). Um, yeah. Shoot me a review, or pm, or whatever if you feel like it. They're always appreciated.