Author's note:
Longest one so far! There's ample UxY and WxS. Don't worry for Aelita shippers, there'll be more for you later! Let me know what you think of the story!

Upload date:
16 April 2020

Content warnings:
Food and blood mentions.

Chapter Six
Code: Expectations

She wasn't quite sure when it had started, but Yumi found that she was often walking. It didn't quite matter where she ended up. Sometimes, she'd just put her headphones on and start walking. More often than not, though, she'd just keep them around her neck and soak in the sounds of the outdoors. Birds, wind, cars, everything.

This morning, her whole routine had been thrown off. She'd actually been planning to grab some breakfast with her friends.

Instead, now, she had some time to kill before class.

A certain someone filled her thoughts as she wandered.

She knew the answer to his question before he even worked up the courage to ask. After all, she'd imagined him asking her ages since ages ago.

...

Fretting over a date… is this what it's like to be a normal student?

"Miss Ishiyama?"

The call of her teacher brought her focus back to the class at hand.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat?" Yumi inwardly scolded herself for spacing.

"This equation here." The teacher pointed a ruler at the board, looking at her expectantly.

"Five thirds time sine of four x, sir," she answered quickly.

He looked surprised for a second, then cleared his throat and smiled timidly. "Very good, I guess you were paying attention."

Yumi smiled slightly to herself, even as she felt stares from a few of her classmates. No. This isn't what it's like. A normal student doesn't know the answers before class starts.

… I wonder how Ulrich is doing in class today. I hope he remembered to study for that pop quiz. Ulrich…

"'Same as always' is what I wanted to talk about."

What made him so… forward?

Yumi's mind shifted back to a conversation they'd had—in her mind, it was the conversation. It was a turning point in their relationship. Her memories ached with regret, and her throat caught painfully as well. It was then that they'd agreed that they should be just friends and nothing more. The arguments, the jealousy, the rivalry between the boys… it was too much. They weren't mature enough to tackle all of that by exploring their obviously mutual feelings.

Since that talk, they'd gotten so close, even closer after Sissi had somehow won William's heart. It scared her. What if the closeness to him was just friendship? Perhaps her worst fear had come true, and someone had stolen his heart.

Yumi bit her lip.

Just friends. We're hanging out, no date, no expectations. We'll spend some nice time together. If he wants to bring it up, he can. But I won't. I can't. Her throat felt thick, and it was almost painful to breathe.

I can't lose him. If it means being just friends, I'll do it.

She steeled herself, and channeled her anxiety and energy into her class.

It couldn't hurt.

Before long, it was lunchtime.

Yumi was the last to arrive at the cafeteria, but just barely.

Aelita looked up at her as she placed down her tray, her cheeks rosy. "Hey, Yumi! How was your morning?" She looked… eager?

"Would you believe me if I said it was exciting?" She asked as she sat down between Odd and Ulrich at the table. Unknown to her, Odd threw a cheeky grin towards Aelita.

Aelita smiled mischievously. "Perhaps." Her and Jérémie sat opposite the others.

Huh? Does she know?! Yumi's heart skipped a beat, but she recovered quickly. "Class was just as exciting as the first time, but you should've seen the look on my trig teacher's face when I got the answer right without paying attention."

"Yeah? Did he look like this?" She formed a little 'o' with her mouth and made her eyes pop out wide.

"Oh my god." The girls giggled together while the guys ate quietly, each for their own reasons. "So, are you doing anything for the rest of the weekend?" She hoped the others were going to enjoy their weekend as much as she surely was.

Aelita glanced quickly at the boys. Jérémie was typing away on his phone, presumably coding. A strip of meat hung out of his mouth, slowly growing smaller. Odd was cramming a huge piece of bread into his mouth, spilling crumbs onto his plate like hail. Ulrich twirled his fork around some pasta.

"We're going to the zoo." Her face filled with excitement, eyes sparkling.

"Oh? Odd isn't enough of a zoo for you guys?"

She giggled again, though her face quickly turned serious. "We were worried about Jérémie, who, as you can see, is drowning in code. We decided he needed a break."

At the mention of his name, Jérémie looked up from the stream of characters. "Normally, on projects this important, I wouldn't waste any time. However, Aelita brought up some excellent arguments." His cheeks tinted pink as he pushed up his glasses. "And, uh, they were that a change of scenery could help me think of a solution to my problem. My coding problem, of course." He looked back down at his phone, brow furrowing. "I've been staring at this so long that everything is starting to run together. Some fresh air with Aelita will definitely help. And Odd." The pink on his cheeks turned to red. "Odd and Aelita, yes."

Yumi peeked at Aelita, who was blushing as well, averting her gaze with a shy smile.

"This will be your first break in what, ten years?" she asked.

"If you count sleep, I take breaks every day." His eyes didn't leave his screen.

"So, the zoo, huh? Did you invite anyone else?" Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Ulrich's shape stiffen.

"Everyone else had plans, so it'll be us three and a coworker of mine."

She lowered her voice. "What'll we do if X.A.N.A. attacks? You two are the only ones who can run the supercomputer without setting it on fire."

Jérémie spoke up. "Aelita and I have been running calculations with data from almost every attack so far, and the current probability is about three point five percent. We'll keep running them, but as of right now, nothing should happen tomorrow."

Odd whined. "Dude, you just jinxed us."

"I trust our calculations."

"Have you ever seen a TV show? The kind of stuff happens all the time. The heroes let their guard down for just a moment, and boom! Everything goes wrong! Besides, X.A.N.A. just loves making our lives difficult."

"We won't be far," Aelita said softly. "And Adalene's got a car, so if something happens, we can easily come back." Her voice quivered slightly.

Yumi eyed her friend with concern, and in response, Aelita smiled sadly and shook her head.

"You should go." Ulrich spoke suddenly to the surprise of everyone at the table, and they all turned their gaze to him. His cheeks got hot and he scratched the back of his head nervously, "Uh, I, well, if something goes wrong, Jérémie can just text me or Yumi with commands to run on the computer. We can buy enough time for you to get back."

Yumi looked into his eyes. She could tell there was more on his mind. It was a difficult task, but she turned her head back towards the others. Her heart yelled at her to keep looking in those eyes…

She interrupted her thoughts by speaking. "If it gets bad enough, we can call you-know-who for backup. He's always easy to reach."

Ulrich grunted and returned to his food.

"Alright, alright," Odd conceded, sipping his juice. "But if it turns out you did jinx us, I'll be right there to tell you I told you so." He shook his head, clicking his tongue. "You never say nothing will go wrong before doing something that could go wrong. Death flag set."

It didn't take long for their lunch to finish. Luckily for the group, their Saturdays only had morning classes, so the afternoon was free reign.

Jérémie was the first to leave, nose in his phone. He murmured a 'see you soon' to Aelita, and waved at the others. Odd and Ulrich left next, Odd talking with exaggerated motions to Ulrich, who was pretending to be disinterested in what his friend was saying.

Yumi hung back in the cafeteria with Aelita and pulled her aside to a quiet corner.

"Are you doing O.K., Aelita? Any better than this morning?" She touched her arm lightly. Yumi wasn't one for casual contact, but she knew it comforted her friend.

Aelita, gaze to the floor, nodded. "Yes. I've been thinking a lot about it, and I know I was just being silly."

"Let's sit together." They sat at the table closest to the corner, and Yumi passed Aelita a cup of water. "What was the dream about? Do you still remember?"

Aelita swallowed and bit her lip. "It was probably just a bad dream. We shouldn't worry about it."

"Aelita," Yumi said sternly, but gently. Her tone prompted the other girl to look her in the eye nervously. "What did you see? If it affected you, it matters. It clearly upset you, so I think it's important. If we talk about it, maybe we can learn something." She made herself reach out and grab her hand softly, squeezing it comfortingly. I wish it were so easy with…

Aelita looked away, reaching her other hand to her chest. "I was in the woods, over by the sewer entrance." She bit her lip again harder, brow tightening. "There was a boy there with me."

"Who was it?"

"I don't know." Her eyes squeezed shut, no doubt in a struggle to remain composed. "I'm sorry. It felt so real. I can still feel everything."

"Don't be sorry. We're all here for you." Yumi offered a smile even though Aelita's eyes were still closed.

"I couldn't tell who it was. He was injured. There was blood. So much blood. It was pouring out of him, and I knew some of it was mine too. Everything hurt, like I'd been hit by a truck. I remember I was on the phone with Jérémie, asking him to return to the past." She was trembling.

Yumi tilted her head and clasped her chin. "Why would you be outside the factory and not in Lyoko?"

"I don't know." Moisture pooled in her closed eyes. "I remember feeling so broken. It was like I was right there. I don't think I've ever dreamt anything so real before." She opened her eyes and looked at Yumi. "I don't want to think that what I saw could be even remotely real. If someone got hurt like that…"

"Aelita…" Yumi got out of the chair and embraced Aelita. "I'm here."

They stood there together for a while in silence. Tears streamed from Aelita's face as she clung to Yumi, who did her best to hold her emotions in. A few tears fell down her cheeks, but she stayed strong and held her back tightly.

"I'll do everything I can to make sure your dream is just a dream and nothing more."

Aelita pulled back, wiping her eyes. "Thank you," she murmured. She looked down at her hands. "Aw, shoot. I got eyeshadow all over my hands."

"You still look lovely." Yumi spoke earnestly and so softly. "Let's go wash your face with some cool water. I've got a palette we can touch your eyes up with too." Yumi rubbed circles gently on her back. "Let's start this weekend off fresh again. Have some good times with the boys. Maybe even study for those exams next week."

"Oh, don't remind me…"

The touch of Yumi's hand comforted Aelita much more than she would ever admit.

Somewhere on campus, William was walking absentmindedly when a familiar face turned the corner in front of him.

"Chéri!" An elated female voice cried out excitedly. Sissi's body collided with William's as she embraced him tightly. "Ah, I missed you!"

William laughed, sweeping the beautiful girl up in his arms and spinning her around like a princess. "I missed you too." He gently reunited her feet with the ground and hugged her, basking in the smell of fresh fruit that wafted from her silky hair. He felt his body relax in her presence. After a long moment he pulled away, smiling from ear to ear. "Happy one year. Thanks for making me the happiest guy in the world. I love you so much. I know I already said that this morning, but I wanted to say it in person too."

"Saying such lovey things out in public! You really know how to make a girl blush! I love you!" Sissi pulled him down into a gentle kiss, stroking both sides of his face.

After they drew apart, William grabbed both of her hands. He always marveled in how soft they were. "You ready for our date weekend to begin?"

"I was born ready. Sweep me off my feet, chéri!"

Meters away, Laura was sitting on a bench eating a wrap.

She blushed and looked away from the blatant display.

So many pretty people go to this school…

As she ate, she thought about her own social life, or lack thereof. She hadn't had friends since the first few years of school when all you had to do to make allies was share your school supplies, and she certainly had never tried to get into a romantic relationship. The closest she'd gotten to her first kiss was a few dreams featuring some of her favorite novel characters. She didn't even know how to make friends.

She turned back to normal in her seat, certain the pair would be finished with their PDA.

Oh!

They had started to walk away, but it seemed they'd left something behind. Laura jogged up and grabbed the fallen item. She approached the pair and tapped the girl gently on the shoulder.

"Um, excuse me," she said softly.

They turned to look at her questioningly.

Laura held up the simple black wallet. "Did one of you drop this?"

William's eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh shit, that must have fallen out of my pocket." A light elbow in the ribs from his companion and he spoke again quickly. "Oh, sorry about my language. That's definitely my wallet. Thanks!"

"Thank you for helping my dear William. I keep telling him he should keep it in his backpack, but you know how boys can be." She grinned while still looking at him, obvious affection in her eyes.

Laura smiled shyly. "I'm glad you two didn't go far without it." She tucked a few rogue strands of her blonde hair behind her ear. "Um, have a good afternoon."

"Wait." Sissi stopped her. "What's your name?"

"It's Laura Gauthier. I just started today."

"Ah! I remember my father talking about a new student. I'll have to let him know how you helped us out."

"Oh, thank you. I don't know what to say."

Sissi looped her arm around William's. "Just wish us a happy anniversary." Her unguarded joy was contagious.

"Happy anniversary! You two are lovely together." Laura spoke from the heart. She was happy for them, truly.

William was blushing fiercely. "Thanks."

"Enjoy your day together!" Laura hugged her wrap to her chest and turned for her dorm.

Yumi stretched as she parted ways with Aelita and left Kadic. Her mind wandered as it had for most of the day. She'd been so distracted that she hadn't even thought of how she was going to spend the rest of her day.

Maybe I can go to the mall. Get something nice to wear tomorrow. Replace the pants Kiwi soiled…

Not far from the entrance, Ulrich leaned against a tree. His soft hair rustled in the breeze as he gazed out at nothing in particular.

Yumi felt her heart skip again.

He looked up when he heard her approach, his expression cautious.

"Hey Ulrich," Yumi said softly.

"Hey." He couldn't help but smile. The kind of smile that melted her thoughts into a mush of nothing coherent.

She wasted no time in easing his worries. "Where do you want to meet up tomorrow?"

He looked startled, as if he'd expected a rejection.

As if I could turn his offer down. Who could say no to a day alone with Ulrich Stern?

"How about the park in Boulogne-Billancourt, the one a few blocks from your house?"

"The one that volunteer group planted a bunch of flowers in?"

He nodded.

"Sounds good to me." Yumi nodded in return.

"Nine fine with you?"

"In the morning?"

"If it's too early—"

"Morning works for me. I'll see you then?" She titled her head and smiled. The kind of smile that made his heart feel like a track and field star.

"Yeah. Tomorrow." He couldn't help but smile back in anticipation.

Her smile turned devious. "You better not keep me waiting."

"Same to you, Yumi." A pause. "See you soon." He turned and headed back in the direction of the dorms, his posture stiff. He'd smiled so easily, but his nerves were obvious.

When he disappeared behind a building, she watched it for a moment as if he were going to pop back out. He didn't, of course, but she stayed there for a little while, wishing he would.

"See you soon," she whispered, defiant hope filling her heart.