Chapter 9 – Discoveries

Yumi and Ulrich were trying so hard to try to keep their relationship a secret from Odd for as long as possible. It was unbearable hard, though. Ulrich desperately wanted to be able to act as he felt around Yumi, and Yumi felt the same way about being around Ulrich. But, they stuck to their agreement, and decided that until Odd got his memory back, they would act as just friends around him.

Odd had gone out to explore more about Kadic campus, which left Ulrich alone in his dorm for an estimated time of two hours before Odd would return. He lied on his bed, and stared at the ceiling for a moment. He then reached into his pocket, pulled out his cell phone, and dialed Yumi’s number.

Ishiyama Household:

Yumi sat on her bed, silently reading a novel. Moments later, her phone began emitting a Japanese style ring tone on her nightstand. Slightly startled, she placed her book facedown, and looked at the Caller ID.

Realizing it was Ulrich, she picked it up cheerfully. “Hey, Ulrich.”

“Hey Yumi. Listen, Odd went out exploring more about the campus, so he should be gone for about two hours, I’m guessing. So, I was wondering . . . Since we haven’t really been able to be together around Odd – which is almost all day long – do you want to come over to my dorm and hang out for a while before our blonde friend comes back?”

Yumi paused, smiling to herself. “Why’d ya ask? You know I can’t EVER pass up a chance to see you! I’ll be there in like ten minutes. Bye, Ulrich!”

“See you, Yumi.”

Yumi hung up her phone, and stuffed it in her pocket. She raced down the stairs, told her mom that she was going to hang with the group, and left. She fast-walked down the street, wearing a smile from ear to ear.

She stopped, unlatched the Kadic gate, and then walked onto the grass. Kids were out, practicing soccer, chatting with friends, and chasing each other. Yumi smiled, and continued walking to the dorm building. She couldn’t wait. Her heart raced with the thought of being with Ulrich again, and being able to show how she really feels. Having a friend who lost their memory isn’t good, especially when you promise that you will keep you relationship with his best friend as low-profile as possible.

She jogged up the stairs hurriedly to Ulrich’s room. She knocked twice, before the door opened. The chocolate haired boy stood at the door, smiling. “Yumi, what a surprise to see you!” he said sarcastically.

“Well, I was in the neighborhood, so I figured I’d stop by.” Her mouth formed a smile from ear to ear, continuing the sarcasm. Ulrich motioned for her to come in, and she curtsied dramatically. She stepped in, and he closed the door behind her. Yumi stood in the middle of the floor when Ulrich spun around, gazing at her.

My God, she looks beautiful. She always has, he thought. I’m glad to be able to call her mine, even when that doesn’t apply in the current situation with the memory loss of our dear best friend, Odd.

Ulrich walked closer to Yumi, put one hand on her arm, and another on her waste. He pulled her gently closer to him, and their lips met. She deepened the kiss, placing one hand on his head. She loved the feeling of his clean hair through her fingers.

“I love you, Yumi,” he whispered into her ear, breathing in the scent of her shampoo. Cherry-raspberry, her favorite, and also his. He loved how her hair smelt, so fruity.

Yumi smiled, placing a light kiss on his lips. “I love you too, Ulrich. With all my heart.” He wrapped his arms around her, and embraced her in a tight hug. Yumi placed her hands around Ulrich, and he moved his to her hips. He gazed into her dreamy, optimistic eyes. He knew that he could see that she was very happy that they were finally able to be together again, without having to hide their feelings.

“Ulrich?” she questioned.

“Yes, Yumi?” He placed another light kiss on her lips. She loved how his lips felt on hers, soft, delicate, tender, and perfect. Perfect, perfect, perfect. He sat down his bed, and patted the bed next to her, motioning for her to sit. She listened, and sat down next to him, placing her hair behind her ear.

“I really missed not being able to express myself around you the past few days, ever since Odd lost his memory. Ever since we promised to keep our relationship a secret from him until he gets his memory back. I really missed it, I missed you.”

“Yumi, I’ve missed you a lot. More than you can believe. I’ve had so many wacky dreams about you lately, about Odd never getting his memory back, about him never finding out, about us not sharing how we truly feel. Dreams where we’ve ended up alone at the end, because we kept our promise, dreams where we’ve fallen out of love, and dating other people.”

“Ulrich, I’ll never stop caring about you, I love you. Odd will regain his memory, and, somewhat unfortunately, become himself again. He’ll go back to the same food-lovin’, joke-lovin’ prankster that he was before the accident. He’ll remember our relationship, and we won’t have to hide it anymore. Don’t worry about the dreams, their just screwing with you head. The one thing that you need to promise me is to keep this promise, and don’t let it interfere with our relationship. Remember, I love you.”

“I will. I promise. I love you too, Yumes. He placed his right hand on her head again, and pulled her up onto his lap. She sat as if she was on a chair, and he leaned in to kiss her. She wrapped her arms around his waste, and he deepened the kiss.

A few moments later, Yumi broke off the kiss, breathing deeply, due to lack of oxygen. She smiled, and Ulrich looked slightly confused, staring at her with a puzzled face. He frowned slightly, taking offense to the fact that Yumi had broken off the kiss.

“Lack of oxygen,” she said, laughing. He smiled slightly. “A body – oxygen NO SURVIVAL!” she said, as if reading a science equation.

“Science was not one of my stronger points!” he said, sarcastically.

Yumi moved closer to Ulrich on the bed, practically on his lap. A brilliant idea popped into her head. “Ulrich, since Odd won’t be back for a while, want to go catch a movie or something? I think there are some good movies out in the theater downtown!”

“Great idea, Yumi.” He smiled, stood up, and opened the door, gesturing for her to go out first. She curtsied humorously, and walked out, taking his hand in hers. Ulrich locked the door, and they pondered what movie to see when they walked out of Kadic campus.

“I think ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 2’ is playing again, we could see that, or we could see what other movies are playing when we get there.” Yumi stated.

“Okay, let’s see what is playing when we get there.”

The rest of the walk to the movie theater was quiet for the most part. Yumi and Ulrich talked about how much they desperately wanted to have Odd get his memory back, for two reasons.

One, they missed their old prankster friend as his true self, and two, they were starting to get annoyed at the fact that they had to hide their feelings around Odd. They just had a feeling that he wouldn’t take it the right way.

Yumi and Ulrich gazed at the list of movies playing posted on the wall of the theater. “Hmm,” Yumi said with a sigh. “Pirates of the Caribbean 2 is playing again, we could see that, or . . .” She stared at the list for a few more seconds.

“Or we could see something like Click, or Spider Man 3, I see that came out recently.” Yumi pondered these choices for a moment.

“Hmm, Spider Man 3 is supposed to be a good movie, how about we watch that?”

“Okay, lets watch that,” he said, walking over to the ticket booth. “Two tickets for Spider Man 3, please.” Ulrich said to the worker behind the glass.

The worker typed something into her computer, and the printed out the tickets on command. “Okay, that will be $7.50 total for the matinee tickets.” Yumi began to remove four ones from her pocket, and Ulrich pushed her hand down gently as she raised it to put her money on the stand. Ulrich pulled a crisp, new ten-dollar bill out of his wallet, smiled at Yumi, and slid through the slot at the stand.

“I’ll pay, Yumi,” he whispered. The worker slid the two tickets through the slot in return for the money. Ulrich said a quick “thanks” before him and Yumi proceeded through the big glass doors into the main room of the movie theater. It was very large. There was a large food-service area in the middle, emitting the many aromas of a theater. Yumi breathed in deeply, taking in the smell of freshly buttered popcorn, many types of candy, the faint smell of soda, and extra-cheesy nachos. There were various posters on the walls and ceiling about the upcoming movies. In one corner, there were tons of kids gathered around countless video games, anywhere from older Pac Man style games, to motorcycle chase games, to even a “Duo DDR Session” area laid out.

Ulrich grasped Yumi’s hand, and led her gently over to the food-service area. Looking at the menu for a moment, he then began to order. “One medium, extra buttered popcorn, and two medium sodas, one Sprite, and . . .” He turned to Yumi, “and what type of soda do you want, Yumi?”

Pondering the soda choice, she answered quietly, “Hmm, I’ll have a Sprite too, please.” The worker behind the counter nodded, and went to go make the drinks. Soon after, another worker placed the medium popcorn on the counter, and the drinks were handed to Ulrich and Yumi.

“Anything else?” the worker asked. Ulrich and Yumi peered through the transparent glass for a moment, looking at all the different types of candy.

“Yeah, one M&M bag, a Snickers bar, and . . . a SourPatch Kids bag, and a Three Musketeers bar, right Yumi?”

“Yep, that’s it.” Ulrich’s grip tightened slightly on her hand. He knew that Yumi loved SourPatch kids, so he decided to order them for her, even though lately she’s been trying to stay away from them from the amount of sugar.

The worker behind the counter opened up the sliding door under the counter, and removed the candy, placing them on the counter. Plugging a few numbers into the computer, he calculated the total price. “That will be $12.50 total, please.” Yumi attempted to hand a five dollar bill and a one to the cashier, but Ulrich beat her to it, handing the cashier the appropriate amount of money. He smiled, and she just shoved a few pieces of popcorn in his face, as they headed off towards the theater.

Taking their seats, the movie’s previews began. After what seemed like endless minutes, the previews ended with one of a creepy leprechaun trying to sell cars to you, and Spider Man 3 began.

Ulrich and Yumi tossed their trash into the container at the end of the long hallway, and exited the theater. The movie was great, although Yumi wasn’t very impressed with the ending.

Turning down the sidewalk, Ulrich placed his hand around Yumi’s waste, and they continued talking about how much they can’t stand having to hide their feelings. Looking at their watches, they realized that they had only a short time before they expected Odd to be back at the dorm, so they decided to take the short way through the park.

Meanwhile . . .

Odd was so engulfed in exploring, that he decided to explore the park a little more. He hadn’t really been in the park since the accident, so he was curious. He wandered in and out of pathways, trees, and rock clusters. What he didn’t know, was he was right about to discover something unintentionally.

Ulrich and Yumi walked along the cobblestone path, Ulrich turned Yumi to face him. He stared into her eyes, as she stared deeply into his chocolate brown eyes. He smiled, and moved away a stray strand of hair out of her face. He gave in to his temptations, thinking that they were alone together and kissed Yumi gently. She took the pleasure into deepening the kiss, just as Odd rounded the corner.

Slightly amazed and confused, he stopped dead in his tracks. Sensing that he shouldn’t see what he just did, he turned and ran back to the dorm. Ulrich and Yumi broke off the kiss, hearing the leaves russtle not too far away, a clue that someone was there, or had been. Fearing the truth that it was Odd, and then took off in curiosity to figure out if it was him.

Oh shoot. No, not now. Please tell me that wasn’t our blonde haired friend. Please.