As promised, Yumi arrives at the gym in her usual sparring gear that night. She doubts they'll get anywhere too intense, but she had figured that she may as well set the mood.
She waits. She considers calling him, but as soon as she pulls out her phone, Jeremie arrives. He's in his usual gym clothes with the gray sweats, and he scuffs his feet against the floor when he walks. He looks surprised when he looks up and sees her.
"Odd and Ulrich aren't coming?"
"No. I didn't tell them."
He perks up considerably at that. "Thank goodness..." he mutters under his breath, pushing up his glasses.
For a moment, Yumi puzzles over that, but she swiftly realizes the cause for his relief. Odd would probably poke fun at him the entire time, and wherever Ulrich went, Odd had a tendency to follow.
She recalls something from earlier that day, and a frown crosses her face. "You didn't come to breakfast this morning." Nor lunch, nor dinner...
Jeremie's expression turns sheepish. "Sorry, I forgot. I thought I was really close this time." She would have asked about his progress, but the disappointment in his tone gives her the answer before she even bothers.
"Did you eat today?" she questions, narrowing her eyes. Physical exertion on an empty stomach usually didn't bode well, especially for the non-athletic sort.
He shrugs and replies truthfully, "I had a few snacks. I'm fine. I don't really eat much, anyways."
That's good enough for her. "Let's start out with some stretching first, then."
As she goes through the movements- widening her stance, dropping to a knee, and extending the other leg to the side to stretch her thighs- he mimics her movements, abeit with less fluidity.
"Any sign of XANA?" It had been a quiet couple of days.
Jeremie shakes his head. "No, thank goodness. Aelita and I've been keeping an eye out, though. Hopefully it stays that way." Bitterness edges his voice; they both knew the peace wouldn't last.
"How's the antivirus coming along?" She pulls her arms behind her head and strains each one until her fingers tremble.
He pauses as he moves to follow, his body tensing. It only lasts for a heartbeat, however, and then he does the same. "It's coming." He speaks quickly this time, a note of sharpness and finality to his tone. "I'm sure I'll get it in no time."
Touchy subject. That's when she realizes something. "You didn't bring your laptop." She can't conceal her surprise; that thing had practically been a tumor of Jeremie's since he had gotten the Superscan.
"Aelita's on the lookout," he supplies evenly, "And I have my phone on me. Just in case."
Yumi lets the conversation dwindle until they finish off with the stretches. "Now, I'll show you some simple stuff first, and we'll see how you do."
Her expectations are rightfully low. She starts off by showing him the eight step directions. It was entirely instinctive at this point to her, but when Jeremie performs them, there's a certain stiffness and simple lack of grace to each movement. He isn't made for the fluidity and spatial coordination of martial arts, she knows.
It's a start, though.
It's a grueling half hour of repeating the steps, showing him how to hold himself, and then demonstrating various stances. She critiques him every step of the way and even steps in on occasion to adjust and correct.
The Jeremie she knew may have lashed out or lost his patience no matter how much she tried to refrain from being derogatory, but he simply nods along and follows her instructions.
He's desperate. He's tired of being the victim.
"Have you been looking into self-defense, Jeremie?"
He watches her movements as she speaks, eyes fixated on her arms, and then copies them with his own.
"A little, yeah. I bought a pocketknife the other day."
Her dark brown gaze flies to him, her eyes widening. "Really?" Of all people, she'd expected Odd or perhaps Ulrich to indulge in items like that. But Jeremie...?
"Yeah. I mean, who knows when we'd need it, right? Besides, I gotta cut wires all the time when I'm fixing the supercomputer, so..." He shrugs.
She nods. "Yeah, I get that. Just make sure it has a rubber handle."
He snorts with amusement. "Don't worry, I've got that covered." For a moment, he trails off, and then he adds quietly, "That, and... I don't want to have to worry so much. While you guys are in Lyoko, I mean."
Yumi straightens up, shedding the graceful stance. "What do you mean?"
Jeremie seems relieved for the break, no matter how short-lived it may be, and he glances down at his feet. His glasses slide down the bridge of his nose, and she can see the striking blue of his eyes as he gazes at the gym mat beneath them.
"I'm the only one who can keep you guys safe on Lyoko from the real world. If I get hurt, or if XANA takes control, then-" He swallows hard and turns his face towards the wall. "...then it's game over."
Her face softens, and she sighs. "I know."
"And XANA targets me a lot. Have you noticed that?"
"I have." Even if she hadn't, his jumpiness as of late would have indicated enough to give reason for her to look into it. "Especially lately."
"I know. And I don't like it one bit."
Yumi walks over to Jeremie and claps a hand on his shoulder. "You did... pretty alright, for your first time." Well, she doesn't want him feeling any worse, so she figures she'd better embellish the truth.
He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "I sucked and you know it."
"We'll work on it." She can't resist a light laugh. "Trust me. You'll be fine- you've always pulled through during an attack. Besides, I'm sure the antivirus will be done before you know it."
He looks at her, his face serious. "I sure hope so." His tone is dubious.
After bidding each other goodnight, the two broke away and set off to bed. Yumi groans when she realizes the time and hurries home to avoid missing her parents' curfew.
Lying beneath the covers that night, Yumi idly texts Ulrich, Jeremie's worries ringing in her ears. She prompts an idea- maybe one of them could learn how to use the supercomputer, too, just in case Jeremie and Aelita ran into trouble. Her suggestion is quickly shot down. Did she remember when she accidentally sent Jeremie to Limbo? Or when Jeremie accidentally bugged Aelita up so terribly that her deletion would follow the deactivation of a Tower?
His reminders are enough to make her silence her phone and set it down. Frustration burns in her chest; fear nibbles at the back of her thoughts.
What is she supposed to do?