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Odd was sure he’d never felt so low in his entire life.
When he’d woken up that morning to discover his friends had beat XANA yet again, and Jeremie had issued a return to the past, he’d felt immense relief. He knew they could do it. It was a close call, but he’d never doubted them. Not even for a second.
Odd sat up, beaming as he looked over at his roommate, “Wow! That was really close!”
Ulrich, however, looked rattled and even…sad. He was looking down at the blankets on his bed with wide, stunned eyes.
“Ulrich?” Odd questioned tentatively.
Ulrich sighed and lowered his head further, not meeting Odd’s eyes.
“Aelita, she…” Ulrich murmured.
Odd’s eyes widened. A chill passed through him, and he knew it had nothing to do with the actual temperature of the room. He pulled his large purple hoodie tighter to his body anyway.
“Aelita what? What happened?”
“Remember how Jeremie said he needed to fix Aelita’s programming? Because it was full of bugs?”
Odd made a noise of acknowledgement.
Ulrich grew frustrated.
“Come on, Odd. You’re not that dense,” he snapped, finally looking at him.
“W-wait, but Jeremie said he’d fix it before-” Odd argued weakly.
Ulrich held eye contact for a few seconds before lowering his gaze once more.
That look was all the answer Odd needed. And, for once, Odd was speechless.
His friends hadn’t succeeded. Not really.
Sure, they’d saved him, but…
“Aelita’s…” Odd breathed.
Ulrich looked up at him again, expression and tone softening.
This wasn’t Odd’s fault, after all.
“Hey, Odd-“ he started, but Odd abruptly stood.
“Where’s Jeremie?” he asked urgently.
“Uh, I assume in his room, but- hey, wait!”
Odd ignored Ulrich’s protest and ran out of the room and down the hall.
Ulrich may have been more athletic in some instances, but Odd was quicker. Odd beat him to Jeremie’s room by at least twenty seconds. And when he arrived, he was greeted by shouting and a shoe flying out of the open door.
“GET OUT!”
“Jeremie-”
“Get out, I said!”
Odd narrowly dodged another shoe being thrown his way.
“Hey, woah! Jeremie, cool it!” Ulrich said as he pulled Odd protectively behind him.
“Cool it? Cool it?” Jeremie exclaimed, rage and sorrow clear on his tear-streaked face.
“Yeah, cool it!” Ulrich repeated. “We’re all mourning Aelita, okay?”
“No,” Jeremie glared. “No, it’s not the same! I knew her better than any of you! She depended on me to materialize her! She depended on me to-”
“And she relied on us to keep her safe!” Ulrich shot back. “You’re not special in this situation, Jeremie. We all-”
“We all nothing!” Jeremie shouted. “You and Yumi can mourn, sure. But he doesn’t get to.”
The words were filled with such venom, such hatred…it made Ulrich flinch. And the glare being shot Odd’s way made the blonde in question tense.
“M-me?” Odd stammered.
“Yes, you!” Jeremie bit out. “If you had left when Ulrich did rather than going back to save your stupid dog, Aelita would still be here! This is your fault!”
“Hey now, Milly and Tamiya were here too,” Ulrich pointed out. “Who knows what would’ve happened to them if Odd hadn’t-”
But Jeremie was done listening.
He grabbed the next thing closest to him and threw it right at Odd’s head.
Both he and Ulrich dodged, but Odd tumbled backward and landed right next to the object that Jeremie had just hatefully thrown.
It was a frame. It had hit the wall, causing the glass to shatter and scatter on the floor.
Within the ruined frame was a photograph of the four of them: Yumi, Jeremie, Odd, and Ulrich.
Yumi had her arms wrapped around he, Jeremie, and Ulrich as wide as they could go. They were all smiling. Happy.
Their group had become like family. And it was now falling apart right before his very eyes.
Odd shakily stood.
Ulrich was trying to talk Jeremie down, but to no avail.
“I-I’m sorry, Jeremie,” Odd said, just loud enough for his friends to hear.
“Odd, wait!” Ulrich called, but his friend was already halfway down the hall, running as fast as he could.
“Let him go,” Jeremie said coldly, crossing his arms.
Ulrich was about to get even more angry at him - he’d had enough – when Yumi burst in.
She looked around at the objects strewn about. Her face fell into deeper concern.
“Jeremie…what-” she whispered.
“You try and calm him down. I need to go find Odd,” Ulrich said before running out of the room.
“Find Odd? What do you-”
She didn’t receive an explanation, nor did she continue to ask for one as Jeremie suddenly collapsed to the floor in a fit of tears.
Yumi was quick to his side, kneeling on the floor beside him.
Ulrich checked their dorm room, but he really wasn’t surprised that he wasn’t there. He was equally unsurprised when he didn’t answer his mobile.
That didn’t stop him from trying, though.
He called over and over as he searched every area of the school. Every room, every stall, every closet, every corner.
But he was no where to be found.
Eventually, Odd’s phone started going straight to voicemail.
Ulrich felt even more worry as he gave up on the school and took to the woods, and it was late in the afternoon when Ulrich finally found him.
He was sitting on the bridge at the abandoned factory. His legs were pulled up into his hoodie.
Normally, Odd tried his best to appear bigger than he was, even going so far as to wear platform shoes. But now it appeared as though he were trying to make himself as small as possible.
Ulrich didn’t call out to him. Instead, he simply walked up beside him and sat down.
Odd didn’t move to look at him. He just continued staring out at the river, legs tucked to prevent the chilly early Spring breeze.
Finally, Ulrich spoke, “Y’know, Jeremie’s just really upset right now. He’s mourning. We all are. He just needs a little time to cool off, that’s all.”
Odd didn’t respond, which was immensely concerning.
Odd always had something to say. Even if it was at an inappropriate time.
Ulrich was going to allow the silence until he heard a sniffle from underneath the purple hood.
Ulrich blinked in surprise.
Odd never cried.
“Hey, come on, good buddy…don’t-”
“Jeremie’s right,” Odd croaked.
“Huh?” Ulrich noised in disbelief.
“You guys should’ve picked Aelita over me.”
Ulrich’s mouth fell open in shock. He was prepared to protest, but he found himself speechless. And it was the absolute worst time to lose the ability to speak.
“We…I…that’s not…” he stammered.
“All we fought for…all Jeremie had worked for…it’s all gone down the drain because I’m…I couldn’t-“
Ulrich found his voice suddenly.
He grabbed Odd by the shoulders and turned him so forcefully that his hood fell to reveal red, swollen eyes.
“No, Odd. As much as Aelita was our friend, you’re my best friend. And you already have a life here,” Ulrich said firmly. “Aelita, she’s…she willingly went and deactivated the tower. Because she knew you needed to be saved. So don’t think for a second that you-“
“Against Jeremie’s wishes, right?” Odd asked quietly.
“What?”
Odd’s face was shadowed as he refused to make eye contact.
“Jeremie wanted to wait. Jeremie wanted to fix the bugs before she deactivated the tower. Am I right?”
His voice sounded so dull. So dead.
Not at all like the lively voice he knew.
“Well, yeah, but-”
“Even if it meant sacrificing me in the process,” Odd concluded.
Ulrich was silent for a few moments.
It really did seem like Jeremie had been willing to sacrifice Odd without a care. But, surely not…
Right?
“Odd, it’s not what you think. You know Jeremie. He just…he gets really caught up in what he’s working on and he gets…”
“Ulrich.”
“Yeah?”
“No offense, but can we please stop talking?”
Ulrich sighed.
“Sure, good buddy. Whatever you want.”
Odd looked back out at the water, pulling his knees tighter to his chest.
“And…can you leave?”
“That I can’t do,” Ulrich replied. “I don’t feel comfortable leaving you here alone.”
Odd was silent for a moment before he muttered, “Fine.”
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