A/N: All right, people. This is my first fic, so be kind. Please only offer constructive criticism.

Disclaimer: I don't own CL and I don't think I would want to. There would be no suspense as to what will happen in the next episode. You'd already know!

And now, on with the story!

There Are No Good-Byes

Chapter 1

Ulrich, Odd, Jeremy, and Aelita stood at a distance and watched Yumi sitting on a bench in the woods, her knees tucked close to her chest, turned in the opposite direction.

"She's been acting like this for almost a week now. We have to do something," Jeremy said. It was true. Last Friday, Yumi had rushed home right after school, having received an urgent message from her mother. When they saw her again on Monday, she was wearing a baggy sweatshirt and loose black jeans, not her usual tight pants and midrift-showing shirt. She hadn't spoken a word to any of them, not even looking up when they came over to her. She hardly ate anything, and wouldn't let anyone get closer than arms length to her. Now that it was Thursday, the gang was really starting to worry.

"Try talking to her, Ulrich," Aelita suggested. He sighed. He had tried to talk to her every day this week, but every time, she would rush off, muttering about having something important to do.

Shrugging, Ulrich started for the bench where Yumi sat. As usual, she didn't look up when he sat down, but she did recoil when he moved closer to her. Seeing this, he moved away.

"What do you want," she asked coolly, not looking at him.

"Yumi, I want to know what's wrong," Ulrich said gently. He reached out to put a hand on her arm, but she drew away, almost frightened. Ulrich withdrew his hand quickly.

"I can't tell you," she said at last.

"Come on," Ulrich pleaded, "You know you can tell me anything."

There was a long, awkward silence. Yumi didn't say anything and Ulrich was afraid to say something for fear that she would run away, like she had been doing every other day this week. This was the first time she had let anyone close enough to actually speak to her.

Suddenly, Yumi turned to Ulrich. He gasped when he saw her up close for the first time in the past few days. Her face was bruised and there was a bleeding cut on her forehead. There were dark bags under her eyes and her cheeks were wet with tears.

Ulrich longed to reach out and wipe away her tears, to hold her close, to comfort her. But he knew she wouldn't allow it.

"Yumi, who did this to you?" he asked quietly, he voice filled with anger. Someone had dared to harm his Yumi, the girl he loved so much.

"My…My dad. Ulrich, he came back!" She turned away, trying to hide the tears streaming down her face.

Without thinking, Ulrich put his arms around her, causing Yumi to cry out.

"Yumi? Are…Are you ok?"

She nodded, but half way through, she changed her mind and shook her head.

"Do you want to show me?" he asked. She nodded. He stood up and helped her to her feet. Together they walked to Ulrich and Odd's dorm room. Closing the door behind them, Yumi sat down on Ulrich's bed, pulling off her black sweatshirt, revealing her grey camisole.

Ulrich muttered a string of curse words in German. Yumi's arms and back were covered in bruises and oozing cuts.

"Yumi, you've got to tell someone! This is serious!" Ulrich told her.

She shook her head, frightened. "I can't! If I tell anyone, he said he'd kill me!"

"He's going to kill you anyway," Ulrich pointed out.

Yumi continued to shake her head. Pulling her sweatshirt back on, gingerly, he noticed, she headed for the door. "I have something to do!" she snapped when he asked where she was going.

Ulrich sat down, defeated, on his bed where Yumi had been a moment before. He was about to lay down for a nap, when he heard a scream from the hall. The scream sounded like Yumi's!

A/N: It's me again! Now, I'm not going to beg you to click that little button down there, but feel free to. Also, I want 10 reviews before the next chapter. (Unless I get tired of waiting, but that's besides the point!)