18 year old Yumi sat in her seat bored. There hadn't been much excitement since Jeremy had turned off the power to Lyoko. She had been so relieved then, but now being bored she wondered if it had been the right choice. After finishing the year at Kadic, her parents had transferred her over to Starts College Prep School, and Yumi was not happy about that.

Not at all.

It didn't matter what she said or did, her paretns verdict was final, and after a goodbye from Kadic she was placed at Starts. Here she was, 2 years in, and still not all that happy.

"Lily, Theo, you can come in." Her teacher, Miss Mayfield, said as a knock sounded at the classroom door. Yumi looked up uninterested as a Japanese girl came in followed by an American. The girl followed her ancestors history by bowing to the teacher, who in return gave a bow back. Lily's black hair flew back into her face as she came up, covering her almost invisible black eyes. Lily smiled brightly revealing a set of straight white teeth, grinning at the class with a little wave. The new girl was tall with an almost unnoticable tough, hard skin and to Yumi the girl seemed pretty limber like she was used to jumping and running and climbing up trees. The shocking thing about her was a bright yellow streak in her dark black hair. The boy completely contrasted her with his American look. The guy, Theo, had blond hair with a streak of black darting through it just like his sister had her streak. His eyes were bright blue, seeming to hold gaurded secrets as he lowered them to the floor. Like his sister, he had bright white teeth, that subtle tough, hard skin, and the feeling he was flexible.

"Hi, I'm Lily!" The girl said with a smile. "This is Theo, he's my brother." She said to her shocked new classmates, who couldn't believe that a Japanese girl had a full blooded American brother. "Lily and Theo Blast. Oh well, I guess I should tell about ourselves. Theo here doesn't like to talk much, he's one of those brooding types." Lily giggled, her eyes crinkling with laughter. "Our mom's Japanese and our Dad's American." For a second, Lily's face clouded over and she looked to the floor in sorrow. "I-I'm sorry. Our Mom was Japanese. She dies 3 years ago." Lily gupled back a sob from escaping and then pressed on. "That's why I'm in boarding school. I look a lot like my Mom, and Dad couldn't take looking at me because I looked so much like Mom, so I was sent away for boarding school. Theo came because he's a good brother." Silently, Theo gave his sister a quick hug. "I'm sorry, I do that at every school, don't I?" Theo gave a simple nod and Lily sighed. "Well anyway, we're unidentical twins born March 12 1991. Theo was bron 2 minutes before me, and he never lets me forget it!" Theo gave a suppressed smile and Lily rolled her eyes. "Always has to rub it in, the jerk. My favorite color's yellow, his is black. Oh, and we're both great with explosives! We love adventure, are both fluent and semi fluent in 14 different languages, and we both have a 4.8 average." Miss Mayfield blinked in suprise as she took in their summary.

"Well, this will be a downfall in adventure then. Miss Blast, please take a seat by Yumi, and Mr. Blast-"

"What!" Yumi interrupted. She had never shared a table with anyone, she was just to smart to need a partner.

"Yumi, you are both Japanese and I like to keep the races together so my students will have some sense of homogeneality. If Miss Blast were Irish I'd seat her next to Molly. Now Mr. Blast, please take a seat by Trevor."

"Hi!" Lily grinned as she slid into the seat next to the fuming Japanese. "Would you mind showing me around later?"

"Yumi would love to, wouldn't you Yumi?" Miss Mayfield interjected firmly. Grumbling a stubborn Yumi finally muttered,

"Sure, whatever."

~(0)~

"And that's the track." Yumi said, gesturing to the oval course.

"Oh, that's great! I love to run, do you mind if we go check it out?" Lily begged, already heading for the course. Still grumbling, Yumi followed after the new girl and stepped onto the track. The familiar feeling of track life sweeped into her mind, and Yumi smiled at the memories. She had been an amazing runner, and the feeling of victory was never far from her when she stepped back onto the runners' court. All the records she'd set made her grin, she really was the best.

"Same as it ever was." Yumi whispered, the smile drifting away as Lily started speaking again.

"This is just so great! So much smaller than the one at home though, a pity. Would you race me, Yumi? I heard you used to be the best."

"I don't run much these days." Yumi replied, holding the new girl off.

"Please?" Lily asked, her black eyes begging silently.

"Sure, why not." Yumi finally sighed. Best way to put a girl in her place, Yumi thought, was to show them who's boss. "On three?" Yumi asked, and Lily grinned with a quick nod. "Three!" Yumi shouted, and the girls sprinted forward. Yumi's mouth fell open as the new student sped ahead, quickly out pacing a shocked Yumi. Not wanting to be bested by a newbe, Yumi poured on speed and fell back into a easy rhythm as she caught up with Lily. The other girl flashed a smile at Yumi, then quickly flew forward faster and faster, beating record setting Yumi without much effort.

"That was fun! We need to practice together more if you're ever going to beat me." Lily gushed, not even panting as she did a quick cool down.

"How'd you get so fast?" Yumi marveled, her breath coming out in pants and wheezes.

"I grew up in the mountains, silly. I was always trying to beat the wind, childish fun you could say, but I just kept getting faster and faster! Never did beat the wind, what a pity. Oh well, I strike faster now."

"Strike?" Yumi questioned.

"Nothing." Lily mumbled. "Listen, would you practice with me? My start is a little slow, and I hate being slow."

"Slow?" Yumi exclaimed. "You're fast, Lily. You could teach me a few tricks."

"You'll help me?" Lily asked, her eyes brightening.

"Sure."

~(0)~

So the girls became fast friends, Yumi not knowing the danger she would face by simply talking to Lily Blast.