015-A
Disclaimer: I don't own Code Lyoko
Title: Of Knights Slaying Teddy Bears
Series: C'est La Vie
Timeline: October, First Year
Warnings: None
Notes: Features original art by moi. I'd love opinions. Pleasse...?
Previous Part: http://theoriginal-ist.livejournal.com/4813.html
Next Part: http://theoriginal-ist.livejournal.com/5296.html
“You sure you want to do this?” The bespectacled boy glared at the older boys in front of him. “Sorry, just asking Einstein,” Odd laughed. He nudged Jeremie lightly and turned to Ulrich. “Tell your girlfriend we’re ready to rock ‘n roll, okay?”
“Odd, she’s…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Just do it, yeah? I’m ready to see me some monsters.” Ulrich glanced over at the younger boy and smiled sympathetically when he saw him pale.
“It’s not that bad, honest.”
“Yeah Einstein, nothing too bad. If you don’t get motion sickness that is,” he adds, stepping into the scanner.
“Great, great.” He closes his eyes as he steps into his own scanner, breathing deeply. He needs to do this, so that he can remember the next time something like this happens. Because he knows deep down that there will be a next time.
The transfer isn’t nearly as bad as Odd makes it out to be. He falls to the ground hard though and groans. He can hear the other two talking, Odd complaining about something - probably still being a cat. A purple cat. But something’s wrong he thinks, his head feels heavy and his fingers don’t want to bend. Something’s digging into his leg and he tries to move.
Cluuuuunk.
He freezes and opens his eyes, staring at a fathomless blue sky through what appears to be bars. “Uh, guys?”
“Hey, take a look at Einstein why don’t you?” Odd laughs. “I don’t look too bad compared to him.”
“Right,” Ulrich’s voice sounds. It might just be Jeremie’s ears but he could swear he heard a snicker. “Come on Jer, give me your hand. Odd, help me get him up.”
“Yes Master.”
It only takes two pulls before he’s on his feet and he can see their faces properly. Odd’s grinning goofily and Ulrich has a smirk firmly in place. Jeremie swallows, already knowing (or suspecting) what the answer to his question will be.
“How bad is it?”
“Not too terrible,” Odd replies. “I wish I had a camera or mirror so you could see though.” He steps forward and lifts a visor; he hears a giggle from off to his left, behind Ulrich. “All you need is a horse and you can rescue the damsel all on your own. You’re uh…stick…sire.”
“Odd,” Ulrich warns, his lips twitching. The giggle sounds again. “Ignore him Jeremie, it looks fine. You’re a knight.”
“I gathered.” He pulls off his helmet, ignoring the dark blue-black and pink feathers poking out of the crest. “Fantastic.” He turns his head, feeling metal press against his skin and sees her standing there, hand on her hip while the other one half covers a smiling mouth. “Uh, hi Maya…”
“Aelita, actually. I remembered my name Jeremie.” Her eyes drift to the feathers. “Nice plumage.” The blonde’s cheeks turn red and Odd nudges Ulrich conspiratorially.
“Told you he likes a computer program.” He ducks Ulrich’s elbow and skips off, tail swishing back and forth as the cat ears swivel. “Uh-oh, krankrelots, two o’clock!” he calls back. “Better hide Princess!”
He turns back to see her running to an outcrop of rocks, ducking into a niche and then looks for the other two boys. “Hey, Ulrich, where’d Einstein go?”
“I don’t know, he was there a minute ago.” Ulrich cautiously approached the spot and poked it lightly with his sword.
“Hey! Watch it, will you? You almost hit me!”
“Ah! Ulrich, what the hell?” Odd yelled, running over.
“I think we discovered Jer’s power,” Ulrich replied. “He can go invisible.”
“Awesome,” the cat-boy breathed. He pushed the not-there-Jeremie lightly and grinned when he heard the undignified oomph and clatter as the knight fell to the ground. “Marvelous and fantastic!” he laughed. “Go on and attack them Einstein, they won’t notice. But how’d you do it?”
“I don’t know!” Jeremie wailed indignantly from the ground. “I can’t even see my feet to balance properly!”
“Come on then Ulrich, we’d better take care of them so the lovebirds can plan their nest.”
“Right Odd. I’m sure Jer will want to strut his plumage…”
The two ran off while Jeremie seethed silently (and invisibly). Finally he shoved himself to his feet, groaning at the feeling and muttering under his breath about idiotic fools who may or may not be trustworthy friends and allies. With a start, he realized he’d become visible again when a krankrelot charged him and Maya…no, Aelita, screamed at him from her hiding place.
“Gah!” he yelled, throwing his spear (lance, his mind whispered helpfully) at the Xana symbol on the monster’s forehead. It burst into flames and he shuddered, feeling a spasm of cold and the sensation of at least twenty syringes in him. “Ugh,” he muttered, rubbing his arm.
“You just lost life points!” Odd called. He ducked a thrust from Ulrich and charging another little creature. “Lovely feeling, no?”
“No.” He watched as a laser devirtualized Ulrich and winced, wondering what that felt like. Odd gave an impressive imitation of a lion and unleashed a flurry of arrows onto the last monster until it exploded too. “Will he…?”
“Right back to the scanners Einstein. Hey Princess, sorry to take so long.”
She laughed and his eyes were caught by her once again, watching as she ran over, rejoining them. Her smile was infectious he discovered. “No problem Odd. Jeremie…” His name was almost a sigh and he’d never liked it so much before in his life. Not that he’d ever really cared before either. “I’m so glad to see you.” She hugged him and he felt his face (virtual or not) turn crimson.
“Hah!” Odd crowed. He shook his head and then tugged lightly on Jeremie’s metal elbow. “Come on Einstein, we’d best get back. Until next time Princess, adieu. Hm…how to do this? Okay, you stab me and I’ll shoot you, okay? On the count of three. One…two…three…”
Jeremie shut his eyes as he shoved the lance at Odd, feeling his whole being disintegrate around him. God but it hurt and he never wanted to do this again whether or not Xana attacked. His last image was of Aelita smiling at him, green eyes alive and dancing and maybe it was worth it after all.
--
“Drat!” Milly growled. She sat on the stone floor and closed her eyes. Her knee was burning and she could just imagine the feel of liquid sliding over her skin. Her stomach churned and the lunch she had just eaten seemed like lead suddenly. “Perfect, can it get any worse?”
Thunder rumbled overhead and she winced as the clouds finally released the rain they had been threatening all morning. It was cold and heavy, immediately soaking everything it touched. “Double perfect.” She rolled her eyes and looked around for the bag she’d dropped when she’d fallen. “Oh no!” she yelped, seeing her notebook open and the ink beginning to smudge from the rain. She groaned and shoved everything back in, still refusing to look at her knee. If she didn’t see it, it wasn’t there.
“Are you okay?” Raising her eyes she saw the brunette standing nearby, the blonde boy behind him. “Are you…?”
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Come on Ulrich, Einstein’s waiting for us,” the blonde called. Milly glanced away from the two and winced when her eyes caught on her knee and the blood soaking her tights and the tear along one of them. Her stomach rolled and she tasted the bile in the back of her throat. “Oh, ouch. That looks like it hurts, I hate blood myself. Do you want me to take you up to the infirmary? What happened?”
“Huh? Oh…I don’t really know. It seemed like, like some electrical thing hit me, a current or something. It came out of the wall, and traveled over the cobblestones, is that possible?” Her words are jumbled together and she feels dizzy. She sees the two boys exchange looks.
“Right, come on then Imp,” the blonde says. He runs out into the rain and the brunette yells after him. “Just go on without me, you and Yumi can manage, right?” He grabs her bag, slinging it over his shoulder and hoists her to her feet, helping to support her. “The name’s Odd, and yours is?”
“Milly,” she replies as they shuffle under the overhang. The brunette’s gone, sprinting off toward the gym and she groans softly. “Milly Solovieff.”
“Hey, you write on the Kadic Herald, right? I’ve read some of your stuff, its good.” She feels herself blush and stumbles on the steps into the main building. “Oops, watch it.”
“Right…who was the boy with you?”
“Him? Oh, he’s Ulrich Stern. Probably know him since he’s such a good soccer player, or so they tell me. I wouldn’t know, can hardly follow the games myself.”
“Ulrich Stern?” Of course she knew of him. She and Tamiya had been trying to get an interview with him for ages, planned to do a whole expose on him before the next big game. She swallowed as they arrived at the nurse’s office. “Thanks.”
“It was no problem Imp.” He ruffled her wet hair and grinned, blonde strands falling into green eyes. “Pleasure meeting you and I look forward to your next piece.”
“We’re thinking of televising!” she called after his retreating back. He turned, gave her two thumbs up, and dashed off, presumably to meet up with this Einstein person.
--
“Who’s your friend Ulrich-darling?” He glanced up in surprise when he saw her standing over them. Her hair was down, the headband gone and she looked pale, grey around the edges. Not at all like her usual self. “I assume this is who’s caught your attention now, right?” A slight laugh that sounds contemptuous but he knows it’s forced. He knows her.
“Sissi-dear,” he says because that’s all he thinks of her now. Since that night, since the betrayal, she’s not Eli. She can’t be Eli anymore, he’s told himself this over and over again and it’s still…
“I’m Sissi Delmas, the…oh, it’s you. The one who ran into me the other week.” She tosses her hair over her shoulder, eyeing Yumi with obvious dislike. “You ditch me for her Ulrich?”
“Apparently,” Yumi says dryly, “he doesn’t like conceited idiots.”
Sissi turned, glared at her, then turned back to Ulrich. “Ulrich, was denken Sie? Haben Sie Ihre Meinung verloren? Wie Sie konnte? Wie steht's mit allem sind wir durch hm gewesen? Bedeutet das nichts zu Ihnen? Antworten Sie auf mich Ulrich!“
Yumi watched as Ulrich turned to stare at the other girl. His gaze was stern (no pun intended) and dismissive, almost mirroring the look Sissi had given her the first time. “Ich erzählte Ihnen Sissi, Deutsch ist nicht die Sprache für Sie. Auf Wiedersehen.”
“Fine,” she snaps. “Enjoy your lunch then jerk.” She overturned her iced tea on his head and turned on her heel, storming away with a swish of black hair. “You’ll realize your mistake soon enough though!" Yumi saw two boys skulking in the shadows of the building hurry to follow her though Sissi seemed not to notice.
Ulrich coughed, wiped the iced tea out of his eyes and leaned back against the tree. Yumi glanced down at the noodles she was twirling with a fork. “Some history between you two?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Obviously.” She fell silent, watching the younger boy out of the corner of her eye. He was attempting to wring out his shirt even though it looked pretty hopeless. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the other two boys arriving.
“Yo, what happened to you? Freak raincloud?” Odd joked as he fell to the ground in front of them. Jeremie rolled his eyes, sitting down on the bench and opening his ever-present laptop. “Yumi, how are you?”
“Fine Odd.”
“If all the pleasantries are done with, I’ve thought up some new ways to try and rescue Aelita…”
“And defeat Xana,” Odd interrupted.
“Shut-up Odd. Anyway, we have to wait for the next attack from him…”
“How do we know exactly that Xana’s a guy and not a girl?”
“It just is Odd, now stop interrupting, okay?”
“Fine, whatever. So we wait for this attack, go to Lyoko, kick his butt and then you enter a couple of codes then bada-bing bada-bam Princess is free and Xana’s slain, right?” Jeremie stared at him and Odd grinned back brightly. “I do pay attention when you talk Einstein.”
“Only when it benefits you,” Ulrich muttered.
“Right-o buddy! Now, how about we mosey on up to the dorm so you can change before gym?”
Ulrich raised an eyebrow in question. “I see why I have to go to the dorm, what about you?”
“Oh, well, I need to care for Kiwi. I think I forgot to feed him this morning.” He ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck and Ulrich rolled his eyes. “Come on, we got to hurry before Jim comes looking for miscreants, which we aren’t of course.”
“Of course. I’ll see you later Yumi, bye Jer.” Yumi nodded and smiled and Jeremie made a muffled “mmphing” noise before returning to his computer screen.
--
“You sound tired.”
“I am tired Char.” He lets his head fall back onto his pillow and closes his eyes.
“Soccer getting to be too much? I’ve told you to slow down Ulrich; you’ll kill yourself if you keep this up for long.”
“It’s not soccer Charlie, okay? I’ve just been…busy I guess.”
“Right, of course.” The phone crackles static and he closes his eyes. “You should go for a walk. There are woods around there, right?”
“I should sleep Charlie.”
“The woods calm you and you know it. Go. Now. I’ll call you tomorrow and you should be better, oui? Good bye!” The phone was dead before he could respond. He rolled his eyes and sat up, glancing across the room at Odd who was sitting with his earplugs in, head bopping to a silent beat. Rolling his eyes he got to his feet and tugged on his sneakers.
“Going somewhere?”
“Just for a walk.”
“If you pass a vending machine, could you get me some chips or something?” Ulrich nodded, slipping out the door and closing it behind him.
The cicadas were in full swing when he exited the building. He let out a sigh as they continued to chirp to the darkening sky and headed down the walkways, exploring the school. He’d been here a month, this was home now. He could forget about tall woods and summer nights spent on the porch with Charlie counting stars. He could forget about dirt bikes and rough tongues and just try and fit in - and save the world apparently.
That was it, why he couldn’t sleep anymore. He kept expecting a call from Jeremie in the middle of the night, an attack from Xana, Odd to snore his head off, or Kiwi to pounce on his stomach in the middle of the night. He’d invested in earplugs his first weekend free from classes. Even soccer was overshadowed by worry about an errant computer virus threatening the world, which sounded like it should be the cheesy plot of one of Charlie’s favorite novels, not his life.
The oak trees are soothing; he can practically feel the calm seep into his veins as their shadows cover him. A rabbit or squirrel darts away in the foliage and he breathes easier, trailing his fingers along the bark of the trees as he passes them by. Charlie’s right (which he would normally never admit to) - the woods do help him relax. And he isn’t sure why.
He circles the perimeter of the courtyard, catches glimpses of various students lounging in the last remaining sunlight, trying to soak up the warmth and fresh air. A couple of boys from his gym class are tossing a ball back and forth to each other. Exiting the wood he makes his way to the vending machines against the gymnasium and digs through his pockets (lint, a paper clip, more lint, two rubber bands, a thumbtack he pokes his finger with and can’t remember why it’s in his pocket in the first place, surprisingly more lint, and finally a few crumpled Euros) to find the right amount of cash.
“Juliana, be reasonable…” He pauses, fingers just brushing the buttons as he hears Jim’s voice carrying from the open door of the gym. “Now, I know this weekend was supposed…I know that Cherie. I can’t though, I have to work - there’s a game.”
He punched the numbers quickly, waiting for the chips to fall with a soft crunch.
“We’ll go to Paris next weekend. I promise. Honest.” Footsteps approached as he was grabbing and suddenly Jim was standing there, cell phone pressed to his ear as Ulrich stood. “I kno…hold on. Stern, what are you doing eavesdropping? It’s curfew, get back to the dorm!” Jim barked loudly.
“Right Jim,” Ulrich replies hastily. He clutches the bag and hurries away before Jim can deduct points or threaten him with detention (rumor had it Jim had given Naomi N’Guyen detention for putting on make-up during lunch). On the way back to his room he wondered idly if he should tell Odd about Jim’s conversation, then again Odd did have a penchant for gossip, it would probably be better to keep it to himself.
--
Translations:
Ulrich, was denken Sie? Haben Sie Ihre Meinung verloren? Wie Sie konnte? Wie steht's mit allem sind wir durch hm gewesen? Bedeutet das nichts zu Ihnen? Antworten Sie auf mich Ulrich! - Ulrich, what are you thinking? Have you lost your mind? How could you? What about everything we've been through hm? Does that mean nothing to you? Answer me Ulrich!
Ich erzählte Ihnen Sissi, Deutsch ist nicht die Sprache für Sie. Auf Wiedersehen. - I told you Sissi, German is not the language for you. Goodbye.
Title: Of Knights Slaying Teddy Bears
Series: C'est La Vie
Timeline: October, First Year
Warnings: None
Notes: Features original art by moi. I'd love opinions. Pleasse...?
Previous Part: http://theoriginal-ist.livejournal.com/4813.html
Next Part: http://theoriginal-ist.livejournal.com/5296.html
“You sure you want to do this?” The bespectacled boy glared at the older boys in front of him. “Sorry, just asking Einstein,” Odd laughed. He nudged Jeremie lightly and turned to Ulrich. “Tell your girlfriend we’re ready to rock ‘n roll, okay?”
“Odd, she’s…”
“Yeah, yeah, I know. Just do it, yeah? I’m ready to see me some monsters.” Ulrich glanced over at the younger boy and smiled sympathetically when he saw him pale.
“It’s not that bad, honest.”
“Yeah Einstein, nothing too bad. If you don’t get motion sickness that is,” he adds, stepping into the scanner.
“Great, great.” He closes his eyes as he steps into his own scanner, breathing deeply. He needs to do this, so that he can remember the next time something like this happens. Because he knows deep down that there will be a next time.
The transfer isn’t nearly as bad as Odd makes it out to be. He falls to the ground hard though and groans. He can hear the other two talking, Odd complaining about something - probably still being a cat. A purple cat. But something’s wrong he thinks, his head feels heavy and his fingers don’t want to bend. Something’s digging into his leg and he tries to move.
Cluuuuunk.
He freezes and opens his eyes, staring at a fathomless blue sky through what appears to be bars. “Uh, guys?”
“Hey, take a look at Einstein why don’t you?” Odd laughs. “I don’t look too bad compared to him.”
“Right,” Ulrich’s voice sounds. It might just be Jeremie’s ears but he could swear he heard a snicker. “Come on Jer, give me your hand. Odd, help me get him up.”
“Yes Master.”
It only takes two pulls before he’s on his feet and he can see their faces properly. Odd’s grinning goofily and Ulrich has a smirk firmly in place. Jeremie swallows, already knowing (or suspecting) what the answer to his question will be.
“How bad is it?”
“Not too terrible,” Odd replies. “I wish I had a camera or mirror so you could see though.” He steps forward and lifts a visor; he hears a giggle from off to his left, behind Ulrich. “All you need is a horse and you can rescue the damsel all on your own. You’re uh…stick…sire.”
“Odd,” Ulrich warns, his lips twitching. The giggle sounds again. “Ignore him Jeremie, it looks fine. You’re a knight.”
“I gathered.” He pulls off his helmet, ignoring the dark blue-black and pink feathers poking out of the crest. “Fantastic.” He turns his head, feeling metal press against his skin and sees her standing there, hand on her hip while the other one half covers a smiling mouth. “Uh, hi Maya…”
“Aelita, actually. I remembered my name Jeremie.” Her eyes drift to the feathers. “Nice plumage.” The blonde’s cheeks turn red and Odd nudges Ulrich conspiratorially.
“Told you he likes a computer program.” He ducks Ulrich’s elbow and skips off, tail swishing back and forth as the cat ears swivel. “Uh-oh, krankrelots, two o’clock!” he calls back. “Better hide Princess!”
He turns back to see her running to an outcrop of rocks, ducking into a niche and then looks for the other two boys. “Hey, Ulrich, where’d Einstein go?”
“I don’t know, he was there a minute ago.” Ulrich cautiously approached the spot and poked it lightly with his sword.
“Hey! Watch it, will you? You almost hit me!”
“Ah! Ulrich, what the hell?” Odd yelled, running over.
“I think we discovered Jer’s power,” Ulrich replied. “He can go invisible.”
“Awesome,” the cat-boy breathed. He pushed the not-there-Jeremie lightly and grinned when he heard the undignified oomph and clatter as the knight fell to the ground. “Marvelous and fantastic!” he laughed. “Go on and attack them Einstein, they won’t notice. But how’d you do it?”
“I don’t know!” Jeremie wailed indignantly from the ground. “I can’t even see my feet to balance properly!”
“Come on then Ulrich, we’d better take care of them so the lovebirds can plan their nest.”
“Right Odd. I’m sure Jer will want to strut his plumage…”
The two ran off while Jeremie seethed silently (and invisibly). Finally he shoved himself to his feet, groaning at the feeling and muttering under his breath about idiotic fools who may or may not be trustworthy friends and allies. With a start, he realized he’d become visible again when a krankrelot charged him and Maya…no, Aelita, screamed at him from her hiding place.
“Gah!” he yelled, throwing his spear (lance, his mind whispered helpfully) at the Xana symbol on the monster’s forehead. It burst into flames and he shuddered, feeling a spasm of cold and the sensation of at least twenty syringes in him. “Ugh,” he muttered, rubbing his arm.
“You just lost life points!” Odd called. He ducked a thrust from Ulrich and charging another little creature. “Lovely feeling, no?”
“No.” He watched as a laser devirtualized Ulrich and winced, wondering what that felt like. Odd gave an impressive imitation of a lion and unleashed a flurry of arrows onto the last monster until it exploded too. “Will he…?”
“Right back to the scanners Einstein. Hey Princess, sorry to take so long.”
She laughed and his eyes were caught by her once again, watching as she ran over, rejoining them. Her smile was infectious he discovered. “No problem Odd. Jeremie…” His name was almost a sigh and he’d never liked it so much before in his life. Not that he’d ever really cared before either. “I’m so glad to see you.” She hugged him and he felt his face (virtual or not) turn crimson.
“Hah!” Odd crowed. He shook his head and then tugged lightly on Jeremie’s metal elbow. “Come on Einstein, we’d best get back. Until next time Princess, adieu. Hm…how to do this? Okay, you stab me and I’ll shoot you, okay? On the count of three. One…two…three…”
Jeremie shut his eyes as he shoved the lance at Odd, feeling his whole being disintegrate around him. God but it hurt and he never wanted to do this again whether or not Xana attacked. His last image was of Aelita smiling at him, green eyes alive and dancing and maybe it was worth it after all.
--
“Drat!” Milly growled. She sat on the stone floor and closed her eyes. Her knee was burning and she could just imagine the feel of liquid sliding over her skin. Her stomach churned and the lunch she had just eaten seemed like lead suddenly. “Perfect, can it get any worse?”
Thunder rumbled overhead and she winced as the clouds finally released the rain they had been threatening all morning. It was cold and heavy, immediately soaking everything it touched. “Double perfect.” She rolled her eyes and looked around for the bag she’d dropped when she’d fallen. “Oh no!” she yelped, seeing her notebook open and the ink beginning to smudge from the rain. She groaned and shoved everything back in, still refusing to look at her knee. If she didn’t see it, it wasn’t there.
“Are you okay?” Raising her eyes she saw the brunette standing nearby, the blonde boy behind him. “Are you…?”
“I’m fine. Thanks.”
“Come on Ulrich, Einstein’s waiting for us,” the blonde called. Milly glanced away from the two and winced when her eyes caught on her knee and the blood soaking her tights and the tear along one of them. Her stomach rolled and she tasted the bile in the back of her throat. “Oh, ouch. That looks like it hurts, I hate blood myself. Do you want me to take you up to the infirmary? What happened?”
“Huh? Oh…I don’t really know. It seemed like, like some electrical thing hit me, a current or something. It came out of the wall, and traveled over the cobblestones, is that possible?” Her words are jumbled together and she feels dizzy. She sees the two boys exchange looks.
“Right, come on then Imp,” the blonde says. He runs out into the rain and the brunette yells after him. “Just go on without me, you and Yumi can manage, right?” He grabs her bag, slinging it over his shoulder and hoists her to her feet, helping to support her. “The name’s Odd, and yours is?”
“Milly,” she replies as they shuffle under the overhang. The brunette’s gone, sprinting off toward the gym and she groans softly. “Milly Solovieff.”
“Hey, you write on the Kadic Herald, right? I’ve read some of your stuff, its good.” She feels herself blush and stumbles on the steps into the main building. “Oops, watch it.”
“Right…who was the boy with you?”
“Him? Oh, he’s Ulrich Stern. Probably know him since he’s such a good soccer player, or so they tell me. I wouldn’t know, can hardly follow the games myself.”
“Ulrich Stern?” Of course she knew of him. She and Tamiya had been trying to get an interview with him for ages, planned to do a whole expose on him before the next big game. She swallowed as they arrived at the nurse’s office. “Thanks.”
“It was no problem Imp.” He ruffled her wet hair and grinned, blonde strands falling into green eyes. “Pleasure meeting you and I look forward to your next piece.”
“We’re thinking of televising!” she called after his retreating back. He turned, gave her two thumbs up, and dashed off, presumably to meet up with this Einstein person.
--
“Who’s your friend Ulrich-darling?” He glanced up in surprise when he saw her standing over them. Her hair was down, the headband gone and she looked pale, grey around the edges. Not at all like her usual self. “I assume this is who’s caught your attention now, right?” A slight laugh that sounds contemptuous but he knows it’s forced. He knows her.
“Sissi-dear,” he says because that’s all he thinks of her now. Since that night, since the betrayal, she’s not Eli. She can’t be Eli anymore, he’s told himself this over and over again and it’s still…
“I’m Sissi Delmas, the…oh, it’s you. The one who ran into me the other week.” She tosses her hair over her shoulder, eyeing Yumi with obvious dislike. “You ditch me for her Ulrich?”
“Apparently,” Yumi says dryly, “he doesn’t like conceited idiots.”
Sissi turned, glared at her, then turned back to Ulrich. “Ulrich, was denken Sie? Haben Sie Ihre Meinung verloren? Wie Sie konnte? Wie steht's mit allem sind wir durch hm gewesen? Bedeutet das nichts zu Ihnen? Antworten Sie auf mich Ulrich!“
Yumi watched as Ulrich turned to stare at the other girl. His gaze was stern (no pun intended) and dismissive, almost mirroring the look Sissi had given her the first time. “Ich erzählte Ihnen Sissi, Deutsch ist nicht die Sprache für Sie. Auf Wiedersehen.”
“Fine,” she snaps. “Enjoy your lunch then jerk.” She overturned her iced tea on his head and turned on her heel, storming away with a swish of black hair. “You’ll realize your mistake soon enough though!" Yumi saw two boys skulking in the shadows of the building hurry to follow her though Sissi seemed not to notice.
Ulrich coughed, wiped the iced tea out of his eyes and leaned back against the tree. Yumi glanced down at the noodles she was twirling with a fork. “Some history between you two?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Obviously.” She fell silent, watching the younger boy out of the corner of her eye. He was attempting to wring out his shirt even though it looked pretty hopeless. She opened her mouth to say something but was interrupted by the other two boys arriving.
“Yo, what happened to you? Freak raincloud?” Odd joked as he fell to the ground in front of them. Jeremie rolled his eyes, sitting down on the bench and opening his ever-present laptop. “Yumi, how are you?”
“Fine Odd.”
“If all the pleasantries are done with, I’ve thought up some new ways to try and rescue Aelita…”
“And defeat Xana,” Odd interrupted.
“Shut-up Odd. Anyway, we have to wait for the next attack from him…”
“How do we know exactly that Xana’s a guy and not a girl?”
“It just is Odd, now stop interrupting, okay?”
“Fine, whatever. So we wait for this attack, go to Lyoko, kick his butt and then you enter a couple of codes then bada-bing bada-bam Princess is free and Xana’s slain, right?” Jeremie stared at him and Odd grinned back brightly. “I do pay attention when you talk Einstein.”
“Only when it benefits you,” Ulrich muttered.
“Right-o buddy! Now, how about we mosey on up to the dorm so you can change before gym?”
Ulrich raised an eyebrow in question. “I see why I have to go to the dorm, what about you?”
“Oh, well, I need to care for Kiwi. I think I forgot to feed him this morning.” He ducked his head, rubbing the back of his neck and Ulrich rolled his eyes. “Come on, we got to hurry before Jim comes looking for miscreants, which we aren’t of course.”
“Of course. I’ll see you later Yumi, bye Jer.” Yumi nodded and smiled and Jeremie made a muffled “mmphing” noise before returning to his computer screen.
--
“You sound tired.”
“I am tired Char.” He lets his head fall back onto his pillow and closes his eyes.
“Soccer getting to be too much? I’ve told you to slow down Ulrich; you’ll kill yourself if you keep this up for long.”
“It’s not soccer Charlie, okay? I’ve just been…busy I guess.”
“Right, of course.” The phone crackles static and he closes his eyes. “You should go for a walk. There are woods around there, right?”
“I should sleep Charlie.”
“The woods calm you and you know it. Go. Now. I’ll call you tomorrow and you should be better, oui? Good bye!” The phone was dead before he could respond. He rolled his eyes and sat up, glancing across the room at Odd who was sitting with his earplugs in, head bopping to a silent beat. Rolling his eyes he got to his feet and tugged on his sneakers.
“Going somewhere?”
“Just for a walk.”
“If you pass a vending machine, could you get me some chips or something?” Ulrich nodded, slipping out the door and closing it behind him.
The cicadas were in full swing when he exited the building. He let out a sigh as they continued to chirp to the darkening sky and headed down the walkways, exploring the school. He’d been here a month, this was home now. He could forget about tall woods and summer nights spent on the porch with Charlie counting stars. He could forget about dirt bikes and rough tongues and just try and fit in - and save the world apparently.
That was it, why he couldn’t sleep anymore. He kept expecting a call from Jeremie in the middle of the night, an attack from Xana, Odd to snore his head off, or Kiwi to pounce on his stomach in the middle of the night. He’d invested in earplugs his first weekend free from classes. Even soccer was overshadowed by worry about an errant computer virus threatening the world, which sounded like it should be the cheesy plot of one of Charlie’s favorite novels, not his life.
The oak trees are soothing; he can practically feel the calm seep into his veins as their shadows cover him. A rabbit or squirrel darts away in the foliage and he breathes easier, trailing his fingers along the bark of the trees as he passes them by. Charlie’s right (which he would normally never admit to) - the woods do help him relax. And he isn’t sure why.
He circles the perimeter of the courtyard, catches glimpses of various students lounging in the last remaining sunlight, trying to soak up the warmth and fresh air. A couple of boys from his gym class are tossing a ball back and forth to each other. Exiting the wood he makes his way to the vending machines against the gymnasium and digs through his pockets (lint, a paper clip, more lint, two rubber bands, a thumbtack he pokes his finger with and can’t remember why it’s in his pocket in the first place, surprisingly more lint, and finally a few crumpled Euros) to find the right amount of cash.
“Juliana, be reasonable…” He pauses, fingers just brushing the buttons as he hears Jim’s voice carrying from the open door of the gym. “Now, I know this weekend was supposed…I know that Cherie. I can’t though, I have to work - there’s a game.”
He punched the numbers quickly, waiting for the chips to fall with a soft crunch.
“We’ll go to Paris next weekend. I promise. Honest.” Footsteps approached as he was grabbing and suddenly Jim was standing there, cell phone pressed to his ear as Ulrich stood. “I kno…hold on. Stern, what are you doing eavesdropping? It’s curfew, get back to the dorm!” Jim barked loudly.
“Right Jim,” Ulrich replies hastily. He clutches the bag and hurries away before Jim can deduct points or threaten him with detention (rumor had it Jim had given Naomi N’Guyen detention for putting on make-up during lunch). On the way back to his room he wondered idly if he should tell Odd about Jim’s conversation, then again Odd did have a penchant for gossip, it would probably be better to keep it to himself.
--
Translations:
Ulrich, was denken Sie? Haben Sie Ihre Meinung verloren? Wie Sie konnte? Wie steht's mit allem sind wir durch hm gewesen? Bedeutet das nichts zu Ihnen? Antworten Sie auf mich Ulrich! - Ulrich, what are you thinking? Have you lost your mind? How could you? What about everything we've been through hm? Does that mean nothing to you? Answer me Ulrich!
Ich erzählte Ihnen Sissi, Deutsch ist nicht die Sprache für Sie. Auf Wiedersehen. - I told you Sissi, German is not the language for you. Goodbye.