Yumi remained as her family had dinner. Her father was talking about his day at work while their mom just listened, nodded, and commented occasionally. Hiroki sat in silence, slowly stirring his chopstick through his rice. Yumi's mind drifted away from the table, until she heard her mother's voice calling her.
"Huh?" Yumi asked, turning her head toward her mother.
"How was school Yumi?" Mrs. Ishiyama asked.
"I don't know, normal I guess," Yumi replied, and mother tilted her head curiously, something she often did to express she felt her children should have more to say. "Physics quiz, didn't ace it, but I received an eighteen."
"Good job Yumi," Mrs. Ishiyama said, and Yumi gave a slight smile. "Hiroki?"
"No quiz, no test. Nothing happened worth talking about," Hiroki replied. He looked up from his bowl of rice and saw his mother give her head tilt. "Some new girl started today. She's kind of weird."
"Weird? How so?" Mr. Ishiyama asked.
"She's really quiet, a little clumsy. She does that thing all new students do, where she tries to carry all her schoolbooks at the same time," Hiroki explained.
Yumi only knew about one new girl starting at Kadic.
"Do you think she's cute?" Yumi asked with a grin, and their mother couldn't help smiling herself.
"What? No, she's just weird," Hiroki said too fast. Yumi and her mother look at each other and nodded.
"Weird in a cute way? That just sounds like she was nervous," Yumi said, and their mother agreed.
"I mean, she's not, like, ugly or anything," Hiroki started to say, because he didn't want Yumi to be right, "I wouldn't say cute."
"Regardless of how she looks, be kind to her," Mrs. Ishiyama said.
"I was. She dropped everything out of her bag, and I was the only one who helped her pick everything up," Hiroki said and Yumi smiled. Mrs. Ishiyama said appreciated his consideration.
"What's her name?" Yumi asked.
"Danielle," Hiroki answered.
"I know her. Your grade? Glasses, brown hair in a ponytail?" Yumi asked, intentionally mistaking one of her attributes.
"Her hair is more reddish, auburn really…" Hiroki said to correct her, and looked down when he realized he walked right into it.
"So, you were looking," Yumi teased, and he sighed. "She's Aelita's new roommate."
"Really?" Hiroki asked, looking toward his sister.
"Do you want me to hook you up?" Yumi asked and Hiroki looked back down again.
"No."
"I'll put in a good word for you."
Aelita and Danielle talked into the late night and again into morning. Danielle had so many questions. Danielle had an encyclopedic knowledge of female anatomy, ensuring she knew how to fully use the functions of her body after it was created. Female culture and society were all theoretical, and she had received a crash course on that topic from Aelita. It led Danielle to conclude one thing; Women were ruthless to each other.
"I'm beginning to wish I became a male instead," Danielle said to Aelita while they were getting dressed. Danielle slid her shirt over her torso and pulled her hair out. She looked at herself in the mirror and placed her hands over her chest. Once she knew what it meant, the older girl's comment about her mosquito bites really stung more painfully than a bee.
"Why?" Aelita asked.
"We're so mean to each other," Danielle and lowered her hands. "We must look and behave a certain way, or we attack each other. Honestly, it doesn't seem like boys care if we do or don't. We do that to ourselves."
"We can be petty. I like to think about it this way; the only reason someone is trying to tear you down is because you're already higher than them or will be."
"I guess that makes sense," Danielle said and turned to the mirror again. The term self-conscious came to mind. "Still," she said, placing her hands over her chest, but slowly moving them further away. "It would be nice if these would hurry up."
"At least you don't have to wear a bra," Aelita said. She reached behind her back and under her shirt a moment later to scratch, as if saying the word bra forced her back to itch.
"Overrated?" Danielle asked.
"Oh yeah," Aelita replied. "Ready to go?"
"I suppose," Danielle said and grabbed her messenger bag. It was still filled with every one of her school supplies. Aelita had encouraged her to start using her locker between classes.
The entire group, plus one, were to meet in the quad a half hour before class was to start. Ulrich and Odd were already on the bench with coffee. Yumi and Jeremie arrived at the same time, walking in from opposite directions. All that remained was Aelita and Danielle.
"What's taking them so long?" Yumi asked and looked over at the doors to the dorms to see if they were coming out yet. Student foot traffic was starting to build up, but she couldn't see them amongst the students exiting the doors.
"Maybe they overslept," Jeremie suggested.
"I wonder how Danny's first day was," Odd said. Ulrich turned his head to him.
"Why did you call her Danny?" Ulrich asked.
"Because that's her name," Odd said, matter of fact. "What should I call her?"
"She may have you fooled, but no matter how long she's here for, she'll always be XANA to me."
Yumi sighed and stepped away to shake her head. Odd laughed in frustration a little, but didn't say anything regarding Ulrich's comment.
"When she arrived as a girl, suddenly XANA sounds feminine," Jeremie said, and everyone turned to him. "Say it slow. It sounds a little girly now."
Odd said it, slowly, out loud and chuckled. "Woah, I can hear it." Aelita and Danielle emerged from the dorms and Odd turned to them once he noticed them from his peripheral. "Speak of the devil."
"Devil being the operative word," Ulrich responded.
"Shut up," Odd said.
Yumi waved and Aelita waved back. Danielle walked, a little awkward because of the weight of her bag, but followed Aelita to the group who gathered around the bench.
"Good morning, Danny. How was your first day?" Odd asked. Danielle tried to shrug, but the moment she did her bag slid off her shoulder and landed on her foot.
Danielle released a squeak of pain and tried to grab her foot, but she couldn't lift it from underneath her bag. She immediately began to fall, and in the process of trying not to, got her legs tangled in the strap. Before she hit the sidewalk Ulrich caught her while Aelita helped untangle her legs.
"Thank you," Danielle said to Ulrich, smiling at him. He wasn't smiling back, so she sucked her lip in and averted her eyes from his.
Ulrich had caught her on pure instinct, his body wanted to help someone before his brain had time to register who he was helping.
"Let's try that again. How was your first day?" Yumi asked.
"I was really nervous. I wanted to talk, but I couldn't, you know. I didn't make any friends," Danielle said and looked at her shoes.
"You have plenty of time to make friends," Jeremie said with a smile, and Yumi and Aelita nodded in agreement.
Jeremie continued to talk with Danielle and Yumi stepped toward Aelita.
"Aelita, can we talk real quick?" Yumi asked and Aelita nodded, and they walked out of earshot together.
"What're they talking about?" Odd asked while leaning sideways toward Ulrich.
"How should I know?" Ulrich answered.
"This is really cool, but you can't tell them. Or Danielle. Promise?" Yumi asked and Aelita nodded.
"Promise yeah, what's so cool?" Aelita asked with a smile.
"I think my brother likes Danielle," Yumi said and Aelita giggled, a little too loudly, and the boys looked over, making her quiet down.
"She didn't mention anything about Hiroki, but Hiroki mentioned her?" Aelita asked.
"At dinner, he said she was weird, but I managed to make him all but admit he thought she was weird in a cute way. After that, he was blushing all night, and didn't say a word. It was so cute."
"Should I try squeezing a confession out of her?" Aelita asked.
"No, she'll ask. She won't understand what's going on. If she likes a boy, she'll let us know. Then again, is she even into boys?"
"I'm pretty sure she is," Aelita said and looked toward the group. Danielle kept looking over at Ulrich who was staring at her, gradually causing her body to flinch away from him. "Ulrich is scaring her."
"Ulrich doesn't trust her yet," Yumi said and looked back at Aelita, "About Hiroki though, not a word to her, or the guys. They'll blow his cover."
"I promise," Aelita replied and saw Hiroki walking onto the school grounds. "Speaking of your brother." Danielle looked at the girls and saw they were looking at someone.
Danielle followed their eyes to Hiroki. Aelita and Yumi looked back and saw the way Danielle was looking at him. She stared at him as he walked and when he felt someone was looking at him, he turned his head toward Danielle. She quickly looked away and down, so no one would see her blushing.
Yumi and Aelita looked at each other, smiled, and simultaneously said, "She likes him."
Danielle expected to have a least favorite class, but she never imagined it would be lunch. Unlike in gym where she had to be picked for the activity, or in class where she was supposed to have a desk or table, no one had to let her sit with them at lunch. Even if the other kids were kind enough to let her, she was too scared to ask. After doing a slow lap around the cafeteria, she took her tray outside.
Danielle found a tree and placed her tray next to her. She ate while looked around the quad. Some kids were playing soccer on the field. Others were playing frisbee. Some were just sitting around socializing. A few kids were sitting on the benches reading textbooks or magazines. And she was the new girl who ate lunch alone, like it or not.
After she finished her lunch, she opened her milk carton and began to drink when someone said hello to her. The surprise caused her to cough some of it out, and she dropped the carton which flipped upside down, spilling over her shirt and jeans.
"I liked this outfit," Danielle said as she placed the carton back on the tray and examined the damage, "Great."
Danielle looked up to her left toward the person who was speaking with her. She saw Hiroki, whose expression was slightly from distressed from causing that accident.
"Sorry, I'll go grab some napkins," Hiroki said and began to walk back toward the cafeteria.
"No, it's okay I'll get..." Danielle said before Hiroki turned around and walked backwards.
"…it was my fault. Don't worry, I'll be right back," Hiroki said and started to jog. Danielle exhaled as she watched him.
"Thanks," Danielle said, though only loud enough for herself to hear, and looked down at the mess, "I really liked this shirt."
Hiroki came back in less than a minute with a handful of napkins and handed them to Danielle who thanked him loud enough for him to also hear this time. She rubbed the napkin on her shirt trying to get as much milk off as possible.
"Don't rub, dab, it absorbs more," Hiroki said and pushed the napkin she was holding onto the shirt, pressing it onto her stomach.
"Cold," Danielle said and jolted backward, hitting the back of her head on the trunk of the tree.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to...I was just...I'm sorry," Hiroki stuttered out as Danielle cringed as she rubbed her head.
"It's fine," she groaned. "How much time is left for lunch?" Danielle asked.
"A little over half an hour," Hiroki replied.
"I need to change before this starts to smell," Danielle said and stood up, "Quite the charming impression, and only my second day."
"Better than no impression at all," Hiroki said with a smile, "Want me to walk you?"
Danielle looked directly into his eyes and looked down again.
'This is called nerves. It causes my hands to shake, and I don't want to look at him, at least while he's looking at me too. And my heart rate is elevated, what does that mean?' Danielle said to herself then remembered she still hadn't answered Hiroki.
"Uh, yeah, sure," Danielle said. Hiroki gestured toward the dorms, having her lead the way toward the building.
The walk to from the quad to the dorm was quiet. Not a word was spoken between the two by the time they reached the door. They both wanted to talk but couldn't think of anything to say. Hiroki then remembered she was new. Asking about where she came from seemed as good a conversation as any.
"So, you're from, Lyon, right?" Hiroki asked.
"My parents transferred me because they're super busy, and boarding school made more sense. I didn't really know anybody there either," Danielle said, trying to remember what the gang told her to say about her own past. 'Parents transferred me. They're always busy. No friends there, no one to contact.'
"What do your parents do?" Hiroki asked.
"They're both Interpol agents," Danielle replied, and Hiroki seemed interested by that. Interpol headquarters was in Lyon, so it helped her story, and explained why she never spoke to them.
"Cool. I mean, my dad works in a cubical, and my mom sits around all day writing a dictionary. Wanna trade?" Hiroki asked and Danielle shook her head and pulled her key out.
"I'll be right out," Danielle said and pushed the door close it. The latch didn't catch, and it slowly crept back open without either of them immediately noticing.
Hiroki put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall on the opposite side of the hallway. Then he noticed the crack in the door. He was about to shut it, but curiosity got the better of him. He tilted his head to peer through the crack and saw Danielle taking her shirt off, showing her bare back to him. He saw her hands undo the button of her jeans. He moved in closer for a better look before a hand grabbed the doorknob and slammed the door shut. Both Danielle and Hiroki jumped in surprise.
"Hiroki the peeper? How will I ever explain this to your sister," Aelita said with a smile.
'Peeper, what does that mean?' Danielle asked herself then walked over to Aelita's desk and grabbed a dictionary. There were many definitions for peeper. Only one made her blush. 'Voyeur, spy. He was looking at me. Did he see anything? Or lack of?'
"Don't tell Yumi, please, she'd castrate me," Hiroki begged, and Danielle looked up the word castrate next.
'Hopefully a figure of speech.'
"Why shouldn't I? Yumi would love to have leverage on you against your parents. Spying on the new girl while she changes is decent blackmail in my book," Aelita said and leaned against the door.
"Please don't," Hiroki pleaded. He then remembered Danielle could hear this entire conversation. "Danielle I'm sorry, the door was...I just...I...I'm sorry."
"I left the door open, it was my fault," Danielle said and Aelita swung her hand down next to her hip to slap the door.
"Danielle, we don't apologize to perverts. Female code," Aelita said, and Hiroki looked at his feet, then realized if Aelita was here, she must have been skipping school.
"Shouldn't you be in class?" Hiroki asked, with a tone suggesting he believed he found a way out of this. Aelita smiled and reached into her pocket to show him her note sign by Jim, allowing her to go to her room.
"I sprained my ankle in gym, nice try though," Aelita said, and Hiroki groaned, and noticed Aelita's left ankle had a brace with an icepack tied down with medical wrap.
"Please don't tell Yumi, I'll do anything," Hiroki said, now desperate.
"You can't tattle on Yumi, ever," Aelita said with a smile, "And if you do, and I'll know, not only will I tell Yumi, but I'll also tell Milly."
"Deal," Hiroki said and extended his hand out. Aelita shook it and smirked.
"Go back to lunch," Aelita said.
"But I walked her over and..." Hiroki started, and then looked at Aelita's face, "I'm gone. I'll see you later Danielle."
"Alright," Danielle said back then noticed she was doing something. A new facial expression. Once she noticed she was doing it, she couldn't make it feel the same. She tried doing it over and over again but couldn't.
"Are you dressed?" Aelita asked.
"Oh, no, hold on," Danielle said and walked over to her wardrobe to find a new shirt and jeans. She slowly changed into black jeans and a long sleeve grey shirt after debating on multiple outfits.
"Are you done?" Aelita asked, since it had almost been three minutes.
"Yeah," Danielle said and Aelita walked in and moved her pillow to the foot of her bed. She rested back and elevated her foot. "You could have just come in. I wouldn't mind."
"Even after the girls called you mosquito bites in gym you still trust people around you when you change?" Aelita asked.
"You don't care about breasts as much. I trust you," Danielle said and walked over to the mirror to try the facial expression again, "What was that expression?"
"What expression? Let me see," Aelita said and sat up a little to see Danielle's face in the mirror from over her shoulder.
"That's the thing, I can't do it again," Danielle said and sighed.
"What did it feel like?" Aelita asked.
"I was thinking about Hiroki spying on me. I wasn't that insulted or anything. Strangely, I was just...flattered. I thought about the reasons he would, and then I noticed I was doing something with my lip unintentionally, and I can't do it again."
"It wouldn't have happened to be this," Aelita said and Danielle turned around to watch her bite her lower lip and hold it for a few seconds before stopping. Danielle tried doing it and couldn't make it feel right.
"That's definitely it," Danielle said and tried again, "Why can't I do it again?"
"If I had the guess, the thrill is gone. Some girls do that to get a guy's attention. You did it in response to a guy's attention. It means you liked the fact he was spying on you, because, well, you like him."
"I like him?" Danielle asked, trying to understand what like meant in that context.
"It means you think he's attractive in some way. Why were you changing in the first place now that I think about it?" Aelita asked.
"I spilt milk on myself, and I needed to change before it started to smell. Which sucks, because I really liked that outfit," Danielle said and Aelita giggled, "What?"
"Now you're definitely starting to sound like a girl," Aelita said, and Danielle smiled.
"Really?" Danielle asked.
"Complaining that you spoiled your clothes is a girl thing," Aelita replied, and Danielle smiled wider and giggled.
"Keep it up," Aelita said and checked her watch, "And go back to lunch."
"Oh yeah, I'll see you later then," Danielle said and grabbed her bag and walked out of the room. She smiled and thought to herself, 'So I like Hiroki, and his sister is going to kill him. Wait, they said Yumi?'
Danielle stopped on the stairs when something finally dawned on her.
"Hiroki is Yumi's brother," Danielle said aloud, and then let out a sigh of relief, "Good thing I didn't use her DNA."
Danielle had kept her part of the deal. Before materializing herself, she had provided instructions to Jeremie on how to shut down the computer without having to physically turn it off with the switch. Unfortunately, it wasn't straightforward. The system itself was constructed with many internal redundancies. These needed to be disconnected from Lyoko systematically in a specific order, otherwise the remaining systems would reboot all the ones that were disconnected, forcing the user to start over. If the system restarted in that manner, it would also reset the order, creating the need for a new scan to discern the order, and around and around it goes.
While taking his time to disconnect the backup systems, Jeremie was also reviewing the code Danielle used when creating her body. Nothing seemed suspicious, and he designed a script based on their own materialization profiles. All their own codes matched each other nearly completely, and Danielle's fell within that same margin of difference. If she was hiding something, she did an impossibly good job.
Ulrich wasn't satisfied. Something needed to be wrong. There was always a surprise. Everything about this was just too good to be true.
"Ulrich, I checked her code a hundred times before, and after. It's clean. She has no external or passive link to the computer. She's not a polymorph. Just let I go," Jeremie said to Ulrich after he relooked over her data in his room because Ulrich asked for one more check
"Explain this to me like I'm five," Ulrich requested. Jeremie shrugged and broke it down for him. He compared it with their own to show Ulrich how human she was. After ten minutes of translating the code, Ulrich sat down on Jeremie's bed and sighed.
"I'll yield. Maybe you guys are right. She does seem harmless," Ulrich said and Jeremie leaned back into his chair and crossed his arms.
"She's harmless, trust me," Jeremie said and was about to close the window before Ulrich had an idea.
"Hold up a minute," Ulrich said and Jeremie looked over his shoulder. "Is it possible to see how she mixed and matched our traits?"
"You know, that could be fun actually. Let's find out," Jeremie said and placed all their materialization codes on one screen. "Let's find some similarities." Jeremie ran a program to find matches between Danielle and the group, and a series of lines populated as they were found.
After a minute, Jeremie noticed the similarities were not coming from all of them.
"You were right, she did hide something," Jeremie said, and Ulrich swiftly leaned down toward the screen, his shoulder hitting Jeremie's, pushing him and his chair away.
"What can she do that a human can't?" Ulrich asked.
"Relax," Jeremie said, lightly nudging his way back to his screen. "She's normal. She just didn't use all our codes. In fact, only two. I was wondering about that," Jeremie said and turned the chair away to think.
"But didn't she say she needed all of ours?" Ulrich asked and Jeremie nodded.
"She did, but she didn't necessarily say she would use all of them. We just assumed. I was doubting the fact it was possible to mix and match traits from five people. Especially with such diverse traits. She'd be a genetic mess to put it simply. She only could use two, and only needed two," Jeremie said and looked at the screen again.
"Why not say she used only two? Why even let us continue to assume?" Ulrich asked.
"I can't speak for her. If I had to guess, she didn't want to drive jealousy between us," Jeremie replied, and Ulrich scratched his head in confusion.
"Why would that cause jealously?" Ulrich asked.
"Example. How would you feel if XANA didn't want your DNA, but wanted mine?" Jeremie asked and Ulrich understood that almost immediately.
"I get it. Odd would take offence. Who did she use then?" Ulrich asked.
"Another thing, two people, opposite sex," Jeremie said.
"I'll just say it, not Yumi," Ulrich said, and Jeremie nodded. If she had chosen Yumi, the resemblance would have been hard to ignore. "Aelita, and you, Odd, or myself. You and Odd are blonde. Is it me?"
"Yes," Jeremie replied.
"Aelita is technically her mother. It explains a lot. Aelita even looks like she's eager to play the role without realizing what role she's playing," Ulrich said.
"Could be, but if Aelita is her mother as you like to put it, then you're her father," Jeremie said and closed the screens, "And so far, not a very good one."
Ulrich thought about how he had been behaving from the moment she had arrived. The hostility. The distrust. Passive aggressiveness. He remembered how scared of him she looked just the other day. It reminded him way too much of his own father.
"Should we tell the others?" Ulrich asked.
"You can if you want to. Like you said, Odd might take offence."
Danielle's final class was released, and she walked through the halls with her bag bouncing against her hip as she moved back toward the dorms. In a short amount of time, she had learned the best ways to reduce what she carried. It made everything else easier when she could walk more balanced. She noticed after day three sometimes she had to push a little to get through, and that foot traffic typically had opposite lanes. Once outside she looked toward the dorms and began to walk while students flooded out behind her.
The quad was full of the day students leaving through the front gates to get home and parents outside in cars. Boarding students were sitting around the quad or going to rec room to play Ping-Pong, Foosball, or watch television. She had tried both on her fourth day as a human. She wasn't good a foosball. It was a surprise to everyone, including herself, she had a natural skill for Ping-Pong.
Unlocking her dorm room with her key, she threw her bag on the floor and fell backwards onto her bed. She stared at the ceiling for a few seconds before she wanted to try again. She reached into her bag and removed her makeup compact, watching herself in the small mirror, trying to bite her lip that same way she had before. For some reason she couldn't do it well enough. It was strange when it happened by accident. Now it was stranger that she couldn't do it on purpose.
Aelita opened the door a minute later and tossed her bag on her bed and sat down opposite of her. Danielle tilted her head over and smiled then looked at the mirror again.
"Still can't do it?" Aelita asked. Danielle shut the mirror with a loud clap and placed it on her stomach.
"No," Danielle answered simply and sighed.
"I was thinking about it today, and I might have figured out a way for it to surface again," Aelita said, and Danielle looked over excited. She pushed herself up and sat cross legged on her bed.
"Really?" Danielle asked and Aelita nodded.
"Work with me, okay? It'll start stupid, but...just work with me," Aelita said, and Danielle nodded. "Here we go. Close your eyes."
Danielle did as told and waited for Aelita to begin whatever it was she was about to do.
"Imagine you and Hiroki are walking home together, to his house to study," Aelita said, and Danielle peeked with one eye, "Close them." Danielle groaned and waited again.
"When suddenly, it starts to rain. It's pouring. You both are getting soaked, and you start running for his house. When you get there, you need to get out of the wet clothes. Conveniently for the sake of the story, you brought a change of clothes with you," Aelita said, and Danielle was about to say something before she Aelita said, "Zip it.
"You take the clothes and go into his room to change while he waits outside. While he's waiting, he notices you didn't close the door all the way. He walks over to close it, and accidentally peers inside and sees you. Your glasses are off and he sees you slowly taking off your wet shirt. He wants to be a gentleman and not look, but he can't help it," Aelita said and grabbed the mirror on Danielle's lap without her noticing and held it in front of her face. She said a few more details about the scenario before she told her to open her eyes.
Danielle did and looked at herself in the mirror to see her biting her lip exactly the way she pictured herself doing it before. After a moment her lip returned to cover her teeth, but nonetheless she was excited.
"Was I just doing it?" Danielle asked and Aelita nodded.
"I figured you needed the right trigger to set it off. Hopefully you get a better trigger in the future, but for now it'll do," Aelita said, and Danielle smiled at her as Aelita got up to leave.
"Thanks…"Danielle began to say but stopped herself from saying something. "…Aelita," she finished, hoping Aelita didn't notice her hesitation.
"Whenever you need to talk, you have five of us. Or four," Aelita said, remembering Ulrich probably would not help. "I have to write an essay. I'll see you later." Aelita said and walked out, shutting the door behind her.
"Bye," Danielle said to herself and looked at her pillow before placing her head on it.
"She is my mother, but she is not my mom," Danielle said and sighed.
Danielle was stirred when a knock came from the door. Danielle stood up and opened the door to see Odd holding a Ping-Pong paddle.
"You owe me a rematch," Odd said. Danielle smiled left with Odd for the rec room where Yumi already was. The two of them were just killing time while waiting for Ulrich and Jeremie to arrive.
"The Ping-Pong savant returns," Yumi said as Danielle walked into the room with Odd.
"Beginners luck," Odd said and walked around the table. Danielle picked up a paddle off the table and readied herself for Odd's serve. Ping-Pong came naturally to her for some reason. If only socializing did.
"Serves up," Odd said and put the ball into play. While they played Odd asked her about her week. She told him about her classes, and was about to mention Hiroki before she remembered Yumi was in the room. By the end of the conversation, it was tied at seven, Danielle's serve.
"So, meet any cute guys?" Odd asked, and Danielle missed the return.
"No fair Odd, you said that because she'd miss," Yumi said and picked the ball up off the floor. "Don't answer that if you don't want to."
"I do though," Danielle said and Yumi was suddenly filled with questions like Odd.
"Really, is it a yes or no to the guy question?" Yumi asked and Danielle blushed a little.
"That's a yes. Who?" Odd asked and Yumi was waiting for the response as well, though she already had an idea of who it was.
"It must be embarrassing if I don't want to look at you while I say it," Danielle said, embarrassment still new to her.
"I understand," Yumi said.
"Not because I'm embarrassed by it. It's because you know him," Danielle said, concreting Yumi's theory of it being her brother.
"Ulrich or Jeremie?" Odd asked, but it was more of a tease.
"Gross, no," Danielle said and Odd smiled, "Or you."
"Who do I know? Is it…" Yumi paused, waiting for the response she would see. "…my brother perhaps?"
"Aelita told you already?" Danielle asked and Yumi nodded.
"A couple of days ago, wasn't sure about it until now," Yumi said, and Danielle placed the paddle on the table.
"Wait," Odd said and walked over, "She's embarrassed because genetically, they're related. She used all our DNA. That means she's related to all of us. That makes Hiroki, like her uncle or something."
"You're right, I didn't think of that," Yumi said, and Danielle sighed, because she had lied to them earlier to avoid what she was about to tell them.
"I didn't use all five of your genetic codes. Just two," Danielle said and Yumi and Odd looked at her.
"Mine of course, I definitely have the best DNA," Odd said and flexed a little.
"Sorry, no," Danielle said, and Odd muscles seemed to deflate.
"The hair makes me assume Ulrich. I would think Jeremie because of the glasses, but Ulrich's mom has glasses. Traits can skip a generation. You wouldn't have brought this up if you had mine as well. So, Ulrich and Aelita?" Yumi asked and Danielle nodded.
"Is that why you're so attached to Aelita?" Odd asked and Danielle shrugged.
"I don't know, but if anything, it's more instinct. Some animals never leave their mothers side, humans are always attached to them. She doesn't know yet," Danielle said and sat on the couch next to Yumi as Ulrich and Jeremie walked into the room.
"Guys, we need to tell you something," Ulrich said as he walked in.
"We know, Danielle only used two codes," Odd said, and Ulrich looked around the room, "She just told us."
"Never mind then. Where's Aelita?" Jeremie asked and looked around the room.
"Library, she has to write an essay," Danielle said and Jeremie decided he was going to library.
"Danny. Want to play?" Ulrich asked Danielle, while extending the second paddle out to her. Everyone in the room was silent that Ulrich had asked that. Odd had a theory.
"What's changed?" Yumi asked.
"Well, let's just say I think Ulrich is her father, and now they both know that. I think he's accepted it," Odd explained. Yumi smiled and watched her serve.
"I think you're right," Yumi said and leaned into the couch more. "She's really good at Ping-Pong."
"Just like her dad," Odd said, and chuckled a moment later. "Does it creep you out at all that your boyfriend has a love child?"
Yumi groaned in annoyance. "Ulrich is not my boyfriend. You should ask Jeremie if he's okay with his girlfriend having a love child."
"Hate to be the one to reveal this, but they're not doing so hot," Odd said, and Yumi turned her head to him. "They're on a break."
"What? Since when?" Yumi asked.
"Last month or so," Odd said, and Yumi didn't know what to say. She was just surprised that Aelita hadn't told her about that. "Jeremie told me at about the time Danielle was building her body. We all guessed there was some trouble in paradise. I didn't want to be right about that."
"No kidding," Yumi said. She looked at Ulrich and Danielle playing and watched Ulrich smiling as he played. She didn't often see him smile like that. With the knowledge of Aelita and Jeremie's relationship, she recontextualized the behavior of her best friend over the last few months. Aelita's interactions with Ulrich now seemed a little flirtatious. While Ulrich hadn't been reciprocating, he also wasn't rebuffing it.
"I don't think they will," Odd said as if he was reading Yumi's mind.
"Yeah, no, that's…no," Yumi said, shaking her head with a small laugh.
Odd looked at Yumi who stared at her lap and took a deep breath to calm herself. Odd didn't think there was much to say that would alleviate her fears, so allowed her to process it on her own terms.