#code ss18

He told Hiroki that, hey, Yumi still cared about him, despite the fact she couldn’t help. And, of course, Yumi trusted Odd to help her little brother, it’s not like he was going to waltz right in and make Hiroki start dating him. Rebound or not, wasn’t like Hiroki liked him anyway!

It was a joke. A stupid joke. But Hiroki hadn’t reacted, only staring at him with curious brown eyes.

The familiar feeling of being fucked—again, metaphorically speaking—knotted up in his throat and Odd wished he could take it back. Turns out Milly had broken up with Hiroki because he confided in her what he then told Odd in a quiet voice.

He liked men as well.

Milly was a good kid, Odd knew. And if she kept going down the path to be a reporter, she’d have to get over that someday. Maybe someday she’d regret it. All good things to say a guy with a broken heart, but Odd found he couldn’t for whatever stupid reason that honestly wasn’t good enough. Because if he had said these things, then it wouldn’t have gotten out of hand.

The joke had continued on. In Hiroki’s budding sexuality and frustration Odd made the stupid suggestion to give it a try before declaring anything—not necessarily with him, but the idea to prank Yumi was too juicy an idea (and too effective a distraction) for either of them to realize what they were doing until it was too late. At first Yumi’s hard stare and exasperated eye roll was hilarious.

But if Odd had been paying attention he would’ve realized his friend of ten years had seen what was coming long before he did.

“Odd?” Hiroki murmured, not taking his eyes off the television as he kept playing, “You’re quiet.”

“Yeah?” Odd blinked, watching as the character Hiroki was playing as ducked into a thicket of vines, “I fell asleep,”

“No you didn’t,” Hiroki pointed out bluntly.

“Alright, alright,” he conceded, “Just thinkin’.”

“That’s worse than Yumi saying she’s just thinking,”

Odd hummed. Not that that was wrong, but he was still a little too deep in thought to respond. His eyes dropped to his bony knees, side by side with Hiroki’s curled legs. Letting one thigh rest against his, Odd turned his head on the propped pillow so he could hook his chin over Hiroki’s shoulder.

“It’s just a little weird. Feel like I’m tricking you, even though it’s been what, six months?”

“Seven,” Hiroki corrected without malice, “I was the one that confessed, remember?”

“Sure,” Odd said, trying to hear the words in Aelita’s voice before they came out of his mouth. He was nearly 24 now, he needed to get his love-life shit on lockdown or die trying because he was sick of so many people in and out of his bed. But Yumi’s little brother? He’d really lost control, even if seven months was a new record for him, “But I said yeah, sure, let’s go for it, put the flag out for the bull and yelled olé! Olé!”

Hiroki was quiet, agonizingly so. Just like his sister, Odd mused, and the thought made his chest constrict. He opened his mouth, no doubt to say something even stupider, when Hiroki inhaled and interrupted him.

“I’m not my sister, you know. I can make decisions too.”

Odd kept his mouth open like a fly trap, then closed it. Swirled his tongue in his cheeks, then sighed, “Yeah but—,”

“No, Odd,” Hiroki interrupted, and the hurt in his voice made Odd’s eyes pop open, “I made the decision to confess, knowing you could say no. Or...that you would, because I was my sister’s brother.”

“Uh,” he blubbered after a long bout of silence broken only by noises from the game, “...You like me?”

“Do you think this is a prank?” Hiroki asked, and though they were both well-known to be insufferable (and only made worse by their impromptu dating) Odd’s thoughts up until now compounded with those words and he bit his lip and pulled his chin off Hiroki’s shoulder.

“N-No, I just—y’know, you’re my friend’s little brother—,”

“I’m Hiroki,” he spat, pausing the game as he pulled his knees closer and shoulders peaked, “And I happen to have a sister named Yumi who is your friend,”

Odd stared at him, dumb.

“Odd,” Hiroki continued, “You’re the only one who made me feel like I belonged somewhere,”

Like a screaming chorus of realization all of Odd’s sisters shouted in his head, once more reminding him of the mad scramble he always made to be recognized and heard. A mad scramble that he didn’t realize Hiroki was making too, although he had to walk through walls rather than climb over people.

“Hey, Hiro-chan…,” Odd muttered, using a cutesy nickname that Yumi became infuriated upon hearing but Hiroki loved, “Like. I mean…,”

Hiroki was quiet but stayed balled up, anticipating Odd to say the worst. All Odd did, though, was scrunch his face closed then asked, “...How?”

“Huh?” Hiroki turned his head a little.

“I mean, I get that I’m a rebound and all. And the whole gay thing, sure. And that we haven’t, quite, told your parents yet, and that you don’t got a real robust circle of friends too. But, me? You feelin’ alright over there?”

Hiroki was quiet, then put the game controller down and stared up at the ceiling. Odd propped himself up on his arm and watched him. Y’know. If he was honest with himself (and the fact of the matter was that seeing this as dating Yumi’s brother had been keeping himself from being honest) Hiroki was cute. Attractive. Smooth skin, hair that always seemed to fall in the right places no matter how insane his bedhead got, slim body with some pudge at his waist that suggested that if he had gone the route Yumi had he could be just as full of sinewy muscle as her. But instead he kept to himself unless he was pranking or playing video games, otherwise quiet and shy despite trying to declare otherwise. Odd hadn’t noticed the conundrum until just now; it was no wonder his relationships didn’t last longer than a couple of months if it took him this long to finally pull similarities between him and his partner out in the open.

“I mean…,” Hiroki breathed, “I was...scared, Odd.”

Odd blinked. Yumi was honest, but never so direct, leastways not with him. Wait. No. Stop it. This was Hiroki. Hiroki, Hiroki, Hiroki. And he called him Hiro-chan not only because Yumi hated it but because it felt cute for him to call him something like a hero.

“I was born here in France. Yumi was in Japan. On top of being premature, Mom always lamented I wasn’t growing up Japanese enough. Yumi’s fluent. I...can manage, but I’m not really that good. When Mom and Dad divorced, Mom wanted me to go with her back to Japan, but I chickened out, ‘cause I can’t speak the language. The look on her face…knowing that both her kids were staying…,”

Odd watched Hiroki’s neck move as he swallowed, for once keeping himself quiet as Hiroki continued.

“I’m not my sister. I mean, I know I said that all confidently earlier, but...I’m not. I’m not strong, or respected, or defiant, or any of that. Without Johnny, I’m the weird quiet kid in the corner—,”

“Hah!” Odd interrupted with a devilish smirk, “Ya know your sister is too, without us around!”

Hiroki started, but a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips anyways. Odd released a sigh, grateful that he had eased something.

“So...So when I started realizing I might like men too...I just, I just got…,”

Odd was quiet. He couldn’t even say he’d been there, done that, because to him so little of what he cared to lose was tied to who he was including his own goddamn body. Too many trips to urgent care with skinned legs, elbows, broken bones, and other such injuries from skateboarding were proof of that. (Now that XANA was gone, it was the only thing he had close to that rush of adrenaline, and he’d be lying if he said he was perfectly safe about it all the time.)

“I thought Milly would understand. I guess...she did. She hasn’t told anyone. But…,”

Odd thought about saying something. He fiddled with a stray thread on his sweatshirt instead.

“But...I was alone. Because I hadn’t even told Johnny yet. And you, well. You just don’t care,”

“Uh—,”

“No, that’s a good thing,” Hiroki smiled, a bit sad, “Mom cares. Dad cares. Yumi cares, although she doesn’t fuss as much. Johnny probably would care. Milly cared. I kind of liked...just being able to talk about it. And knowing you wouldn’t mind. Or judge. Or anything. And then it just kinda…,”

“Snowballed?”

Hiroki looked over at Odd, meek, “Yeah.”

“Huh,” he was nonchalant, but his steady gaze told Hiroki that he was doing anything but brush him off, “Didn’t think of it like that,”

His boyfriend smiled awkward and wry, “I guess I shouldn’t expect you to.”

“Y’know what I think?”

“What—no,” Hiroki furrowed his brow, “What did I just say—,”

“Think you’re brave,” Odd chewed the inside of his cheek then nodded as if to deem his judgment right, “Yep. Real bravery. Y’know, not the warrior kind.”

“Odd…,” Hiroki’s face flushed red in embarrassment and Odd grinned. Yumi rarely blushed, but her brother? He was something else. On many other levels. It’d be a challenge but he’d have to make sure to start referring to Hiroki as his boyfriend instead of Yumi’s brother. If only he could convey that Hiroki, he’d be sure he’d enjoy that.

“Hey, c’mere?” Odd asked, reaching out to tug at Hiroki’s shoulder. Their faces inched closer, noses barely rubbing but neither moved to kiss and Odd closed his eyes. Well. None of this was a joke anymore, huh?

“Way to punch me in the gut, Hiro-chan,” he chuckled, “Didn’t know I could mean that much,”

“Hey…,” Hiroki rasped, suddenly fragile, “Didn’t know I could belong that much, okay?”

“Yeah,” Odd placed his hand on Hiroki’s hip and squeezed, “Thanks, Hiro the hero,”

“Okay, stop,” he grumbled, “Yumi taught me which nerves to pinch to kill you when she found out we were dating, just in case.”

Odd laughed, gently knocking his forehead against his, “If it’s a fight ya want, change the game and we’ll have a fair n’ square match,”

Hiroki quieted for a moment, but before Odd could get worried he sighed through his nose as Hiroki gently pressed against him and pushed the bridge of his nose against his scrawny neck.

“In a moment.”

Closing his eyes, Odd hummed with a smile on his face.

William sat still for a moment. He was extremely happy to be invited. That means they consider him a member of the gang, but he didn’t dare say it out loud in case that reminded them that he wasn’t. He simply smiles and waits for Jeremy to continue.

Jeremy: Ok so here’s how it goes! I’ve got all our names in this Santa hat. I’ll pick one at random and this person has to tell the others about their holiday traditions. Once it is over, we’ll reuse the names to make a secret Santa. Is that good for everybody?

Ok why not? Agreed the warriors all at once.

Jeremy: Perfect let’s do this! First one to speak is…….(Drumrolls)…… Odd! So Odd? What are your holiday traditions?

Odd: Oh you know nothing big. I just go back to Italia with my family. We have some rotation process so every year a different house organizes the party and this house alone has a Christmas tree to put the gifts under. But usually it goes the same: all the people arrive around 5 o’clock then everyone talks about how the stores were a mess to go to this year and how well the house is decorated and shitty things like that until we eat dinner at 7. Then the conversations gets a little better, but I’m too busy eating to even care so… then we stay in the living room until we open the gifts around 10. The host puts on a Santa suit and delivers the gifts and once they’ve all been opened we go to the midnight mass and then everyone goes back to their homes. That’s it. For New Year we just shout out the countdown for midnight and kiss each other a happy New Year that’s all. Usually I just wait for the season to be over and I can’t wait to come back here with you!

Aelita: Why? Your family sounds fun to party with!

Odd: Oh it would be fun if I didn’t have to anticipate my sisters’ “joke” and spend the whole night recovering from it.

Ulrich: Funny I thought you’d be the joker.

Yumi: Maybe karma does exist at some point (Laughs)

Odd: (suddenly very serious) If that is karma I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

Everyone stays quiet for a while… What kind of jokes would scare Odd and take him that long to recover? He who never seems to be affected by anything… William was about to ask the question out loud when Jeremy, in order to change the mood, broke the silence.

Jeremy: Ok next one is (He puts his hand in the hat, mixes the papers and gets one out of it.) Ulrich!

Ulrich: Well that would be short I don’t have any.

William: What? How come? I though Dutch people celebrated Christmas!

Ulrich: Dutch people do! But my father doesn’t. I mean I used to get the Santa thing and all but my father learned somewhere that 7 years old was the rational age and he thinks that means to be little adults so a week or so after my 7th birthday, he spoiled it all about Santa and his magic elves not being real and even forbid me from watching “stupid children’s cartoons” anymore. Since then Christmas at my place is a business one where he invites everyone from his office and smooth talks the no-lifes who come. Same for New Year.

Yumi: Wow… I knew you didn’t have the father of the year but killing all the magic at once like that is just… super cruel.

Ulrich: It was just imaginary bullshit anyway so I don’t care. Who’s next Einstein?

Einstein: Yeah sure… ok (he mixes the paper in the hat again starting to feel uncomfortable with the whole thing… He did it for them to have fun not to relive holiday traumas… he didn’t even know such things could exist! Not so close to him at least.) Next one to share their holiday traditions is Yumi!

Yumi: Ok well don’t worry it won’t be awkward. (Everyone laughs nervously.) In Japan Christmas is a friends/couples holiday not a family one. On the 24th my parents go to a romantic dinner and I stay with Hiroki. We eat take-out fried chicken and watch some Christmas movies until we fall asleep on the couch and on the 25th we exchange secret Santa gifts in the morning. New Year is for family! We all go to my aunt Akemi in Japan from December 27th to January 5th and it is a time to clean, repair/replace everything broken and make resolutions to start the New Year on fresh good bases. It is very fun and I look forward it every year!

Jeremy: That sounds very cool!

Ulrich: Yeah can I go with you?

Yumi: Not for Christmas. Hiroki and I picked mom and dad on the secret Santa for the first time so we decided to only watch one movie while eating the fried chicken and then clean the whole house and then go to Millie’s house (guess who asked for that) for the night and the next day so our parents will have some time alone.

Ulrich: Oh that’s nice! And for New Year? Can I go to Japan with you? My dad probably won’t notice I’m gone for a week.

Yumi: If you pay your ticket I’m sure my dad won’t mind.

Ulrich: (totally broke) Forget it. But I’ll save up for next year.

Yumi: Fine by me said Yumi smiling.

Jeremy: Great! Now next one is……………………………………. William!

It took a few seconds for the ex Xana-warrior to realise his name was called. He didn’t realise he was actually in the hat, part of the gang.

Odd: Will? Do you plan on talking today? Cause if not I’m gonna get some snacks.

William: What?! Oh yeah it’s my turn… Ok well my dad and I are kind of Christmas freaks so all December we decorate the entire house. We would start sooner, but my mom doesn’t allow anything Christmassy until December 1st so… Anyway on the 24th we get my dad’s family here in France and it is a big super fun party until the Christmas mass. They go but I don’t because I’m atheist and I find it disrespectful to go to places of worship when you don’t believe their meaning.

Ulrich: So they leave you alone at home?

William: I’m not a kid I can take care of myself for a couple of hours! I just watch "Christmas Vacation" while finishing the party snacks. And on the 25th we go to my mom’s family in Quebec. Thanks to the time difference (Quebec is 6 hours late from France) we can get some sleep before going and still spend the entire Christmas day with them. Or the entire week since we stay for New Year which is really fun at their place and we all watch "Le Bye-Bye", a show where some popular local actors make comic sketches about what happens during the year. It is fun and my grand-mother explains every joke cause since we live in France, she thinks we don’t know anything about what happens in the rest of the world. It is useful sometime though… especially when they refer to Quebec TV shows so we let her do it. And that’s pretty much it so…

Jeremy: Cool… I didn’t know your mom was from Quebec.

William: Yeah they met during one of my dad’s business trips. I was even born and grew up there! I was 6 when we moved to France for my dad’s job. I never told you that?

All: Nope.

William: Ok, well now I just did.

Jeremy: Very interesting! Ok now there is only two left!

Yumi: The cute chubby couple! Screamed the manga fan, making everyone look at her in shock because of how unusual this sort of enthusiasm was from her. What?! They are a cute chubby couple. She adds pointing at Jeremy and Aelita.

Jeremy: Thanks! Ok so the first Chubby to talk about holiday traditions is……. Princess!

Aelita: Did you really write princess? She check out the paper to see that yes, he did.

Jeremy: And I wrote Einstein for mine he says while taking the last piece of paper to prove it. Though it was funny… It is funny right?

Odd: I give you my approval! But you lose points for not writing "Little Will”.

William looks at Odd angrily. What would it take for him to stop calling him that?

Odd: More than you could ever do in a life-time. Answered the trouble-maker as if he had read his mind.

William gets a little scared by it and manages to avoid eye contact with him for the rest of the meeting.

Aelita: I don’t remember. I was 6 when the men in black kidnapped my mom and after that Hopper didn’t celebrate any special days. He focused on Lyoko and his work as a teacher.

The room’s energy suddenly drops real deep down into sadness and compassion. Jeremy takes his princess into his arms and Aelita hugs him back for several long seconds before she gently pushes him back and wipes her little silent tears with her hands.

Jeremy: You know what? I’m sure you’ll find a way to make your own traditions and maybe this year I could share mine with you if you want.

Aelita: I’d love that! What are they?

Jeremy: I’m Jewish so I celebrate Hanukkah!

Ulrich: The thing with the candles?

Jeremy: It is more complicated than just "the thing with the candles" but yes. And since I’m the only one who hasn’t spoken yet I’ll be glad to explain it. A long time ago, a Seleucid king of Syria took control over the kingdom of Judea. He let the Jews do their own things but when his son took his place, wanting to unify his kingdom, he made it illegal to practice Judaism and to study the Torah. He wanted everyone to worship the Greek gods. Now many went along with it. But when the king invaded Jerusalem, a group of rebels called the Maccabees fought them for 3 years and once they pushed the invaders out, they had to rededicate the temple. To do so they needed to light the Menorah. Now they only had oil to light it for a day but it miraculously lasted eight days and eight nights. We call it "the miracle of the cruse of oil". And to commemorate this miracle and the victory associated with it, each year for Hanukkah we light the eight candles of the Menorah. One more each night during the eight nights of Hanukkah.

Aelita: What a nice story! I can’t wait to see the candle-lighting myself!

Jeremy: If you like how I tell the story you should hear when Jim does it! He is a good story teller despite what his "I’d rather not talk about it" anecdote suggests.

Ulrich: You mean Jim is Jewish too?

Jeremy: Yes! And so are some of the other boarding students. You see, Hanukkah isn’t exactly on the same date every year. Most of the time it happens before the holiday break. That means some boarders like me can’t be there for the menorah lighting with their family. And as real Menorahs (meaning not electric ones) are not allowed in the rooms for safety reasons, Jim does the lighting and the blessings each night in one of the classrooms so the students who want to attend can be there. And we can stay for the time that it burns which means half an hour or an hour and half. Non-Jews are allowed too if they stay respectful.

Odd: Cool! What time is it this year? I wanna see that! Promise I’ll behave I know this is serious.

Jeremy: You better! This year in 2006 Hanukkah starts the night of December 15th and finishes on December 23rd. But now it’s secret Santa time! I’ll put the names back in the hat and everyone pick the name of the person they’re gonna buy a gift for. Once you’re done, give it to Millie and Tamiya. They will give them to me once they’ve received them all and I’ll give you your gifts before we leave for the break. We all open them on December 25th at midnight on our own and not before then all right? We’ll talk about it when the break is over.

Jeremy puts the names back in the hat and shakes it to mix them randomly. After that, he passes the hat around the gang so everyone can pick a name. Odd was the last one and after reading the name he lets out a big sigh.

Odd: Oh damn I picked mine!

Everyone sighs heavily and puts their paper back except for William who instead says:

William: No you didn’t!

Odd: (With the greatest smile he’s ever had) Oh right I picked princess… guess that means you picked me!

Odd’s smile changes into a laugh when he sees William’s face as he realises he fell into Odd’s trap to find out who picked his name. Ulrich joins him while the others just look annoyed by his joke.

Jeremy: Seriously Odd! Now we’ve got to do it over because of your stupid joke! Ok all the papers are in? Good now Odd you pick first this time!

And everyone picks their recipient and goes back to their normal lives waiting for the big day.

Bonus: Who picks who and what was their gift?

Jeremy picks Aelita and gives her a necklace so he can finally say he is the giver without lying.

Aelita picks Jeremy and gives him Lyoko stats that she made herself since the supercomputer didn’t.

Yumi picks Odd and gives him a picture of the Lyoko gang so he remembers he still has a good family despite his blood-sucking one.

Odd picks Ulrich and gives him the “Pacific Rim” DVD cause it makes him think of Ulrich and Yumi.

William picks Yumi and gives her an antique looking glass so she never forgets how awesome she is.

Ulrich picks William and gives him an elf suit and he went to his house with a Santa suit and they had a merry XXX-mas.