.:/AN/:. I'm gonna take the time to say thank you to all my reviewers! I was starting to get worried when I didn't get a lot of reviews... Oh, well! So, thank you, to the following:

Dolfinz- I'm sorry about the whole anonymous review things, I wish I didn't have that. I didn't like dealing with it either. Sorry!

magicalfairy12- I understand what you're thinking, but believe me: it'll all make sense later.

dbzqal99- It didn't have your name on it, buddy, and I wouldn't have known that you didn't like copycats (not that I am one). Just take it as a compliment and leave it.

MoonLightWolf- I didn't mean for it to end up like that! The edit thingie screwed up! I'll fix it, don't worry... thanks for the compliments!

codelyoko2004- My #1 reviewer (don't get angry, he/she was the first to review...)! I'm sorry, I haven't gotten a chance to e-mail you, but I will, I promise. Nice of you to review again!

Aikyo-chan- I'm updating, I'm updating! Just, hold your horses (I wish I had one...)! Thanks, though!

sea-tiger170- As I told magicalfairy12, I understand what you're thinking, but it will make sense! Just wait for it, okay? Thanks for the thoughts, it's nice to know where I'm leading you guys to!

anzBLONDiE xD- Thank you ver much!

Terragirl- You'll see... I'm not saying anything else.

Now, those that want to read the story, what are you waiting for? I'm just thanking these wonderful people, you don't need to read them, too! Here you go!---

Chapter 5: All Because Of Yumi

Back to Ulrich's POV:

I was mad. No amount of ice cold water could put out my fiery rage. First Yumi, then Jeremie, and lastly, my best bud Odd. All of them acting like he's the best guy in the world. And then there was me. I could just see the picture. The one of the gang and me that was next to my clock. The one where Jeremie and I are sitting on the bench with Odd on the ground with his mutt, Kiwi, and Yumi, with her arms around Jeremie's and my necks. Slowly I started to fade out of the picture as Lance took my place, except he was holding Yumi's arm in place and she rested her head on top of his...

I slammed my fists on the sink area, bruising their bases. I couldn't understand what I was feeling! I had never felt this before! But, why couldn't I control it? I was able to control my other feelings!

I stepped out of the snowing shower and rapped a tower around my lower abdomen. I didn't even bother drying off. I slipped on my pants and slid on my tank top. They instantly got wet, so it was plastered to my skin. I was hoping that the cold fabric would wake me up from this nightmare.

I plopped down on the bed and grabbed that picture that was resting near my alarm clock. I remembered when I didn't have anything to worry about. No need to fret about loosing Yumi to some other guy, Odd finding another best friend, Jeremie getting another protector... I really missed that feeling... heck, I didn't even know there was such a feeling...

Then there was a knock on our door. Or should I say 'my' door right now.

"I don't want to talk to you right now, Odd," I growled.

"It's Yumi," came a muffled voice from the other side of the door.

My anger vanished. It was amazing how she was able to do that, just make my fury die. But I didn't let that faze me. I knew my anger didn't just go away; it was hidden and would rear its head when it needed to.

"What do you want?" I asked roughly.

"To come in." She sounded hesitant.

"It's your funeral," I said in a mocking tone.

Still she came in.

"What's wrong with you? You're not acting like the Ulrich I know." She sat down on Odd's bed, trying to catch my eye, but I wouldn't let her. It's pretty cool how easy something's are when you put your mind to it.

"Well, then that just shows how much you know me then," I snarled.

"I know I know you well, Ulrich, but... I guess I've never seen you jealous before."

So that's what this feeling is? In some ways, I like it...

I laughed harshly, "Jealous? Of what? Of who? You know, Yumi, I thought I was able to understand you, but now you've lost me completely."

That should get her good, I thought. But no. She was tougher than that. That's one of those things that I couldn't help but admire about her. But right then, I hated it. Right then, I actually wished that she was more like Sissi. I wanted to be able to hurt her. Make her cry. Give her one sliver of the pain and fury that I was feeling then. Then maybe she would be able to help me. Save me...

"Nice try, Ulrich," she said, her face stern. "I'm not buying it. Now: What is up? You know you can tell me; I won't laugh, or tell anyone. You should know that by now."

Her words hit home. Of course I knew that I could trust her. Heck, I had to trust her with my life on more than one occasion. So, yeah, I could trust her... but this matter was totally different. I needed someone else. Someone that wasn't involved with Lance. Someone that hated him... just like me.

I sighed out loud, so that it would make her think that I was about to tell her something important.

"You know, Yumi..." I started in a gloomy tone. "When I first came here, the first person I met was Odd. He was a great guy, always cracking jokes and making people laugh, including me. If he tried hard enough, he could have had me rolling around on the ground, gasping for air and begging him to stop. I was extremely fortunate to have a buddy that could cheer me up when I felt down. But, as you can see, he wasn't able to help me right now. Odd was not able to help me...

"Then, Odd introduced me to Jeremie. He was a genius. Pure genius. He was able to give great advice, and always was willing to explain my homework to me. I was lucky to have a guy that I could talk to when I had a problem. And even now, Jeremie couldn't help me here, no he couldn't. The guy who was able to understand Einstein's' work was unable to assist me in my time of need...

"And then, Jeremie introduced me to you. When I first saw you, I thought, oh great. He's friends with a girl. A girl!!! But then I started to get to know you, Yumi, and I realized how strong you are. I admired you, Yumi. You amazed me in so many ways that if I had one penny, one penny for every time you amazed me, I would be swimming in gold. And now you're here, trying to help me when the other two failed, hoping that you could break through my tough exterior, unlike the others. Well, guess what, Yumi?" I leaned close to her. "You failed," I whispered. "You failed just like Odd did with his millions of apologies. You failed just like Jeremie did with his scientific methods of reasons. You failed just like me when I tried to grab my life back from that newbie's clutches..." I walked toward the door and opened it. "Now all you gotta do is grab a badge on the way out and you'll be in the club. Failing can sometimes lead to better things..."

Yumi was silent throughout my whole speech. I was wondering if she was still awake when I heard a sob... she was crying... At first I was happy, for I had succeeded in giving her a piece of my misery, but then my caring instinct kicked in and I wanted to go to her, hold her, comfort her, tell her how sorry I was and how much I loved her... But I didn't. I stood there with the door open and pretended that I hadn't noticed a thing. It was killing me inside, but I figured that if I was able to stand the pain that I was going through throughout the day, I would be able to stand a couple minutes more. Besides, she had Lance to go run to if she wanted comforting... Then she looked at me with her tear-stained face, and I died of grief. No amount of... jealousy... could have hurt more than that look that she gave me.

"You don't mean that," she said thickly, her voice quivering. "You don't mean one bit of it."

"I know it's hard to take in, Yumi, but for once, you're wrong. I meant it. I meant every god DAMN WORD OF IT!" My voice was rising. "I'm tired of having these 'touching' talks with you guys, so I'm not going to do this anymore."

"What have you done to the real Ulrich? Where is that guy that we all care about?" she cried.

"THIS IS ME," I roared. "THIS IS ULRICH! I AM ULRICH! I HAVEN'T GONE ANYWHERE!!! I'M HERE! RIGHT HERE IN FRONT OF YOU!!!" I paused as I took a deep breath and shook my head. "Just... just go away, Yumi... just go away and leave me alone... I'm not doing this anymore... I'm gone."

"Why aren't you even caring? Don't you care that I'm crying? I'm trying to find out what's wrong so that I can help you, Ulrich! I care about you! Why are you pushing us away? We want to help you, Ulrich. Doesn't that mean anything to you at all?"

"Damn it, Yumi, just get out. I don't want to talk anymore."

"Fine. Just call me when you're back to being yourself so I can give back all the shit that you gave me just now." She got up and left the room without another word. I still hadn't said the one thing that I was dying to say (no, not that thing), so I yelled after her, "If you want some comforting, just go meet up with your boyfriend, Lancelot!"

I slammed the door shut and collapsed on my bed, finally alone so that I could let my heart out. All my pain and grief was bottled up inside and I was unable to hold it in any longer. So I cried. I cried like I was a human water hose. As if I were a lawn sprinkler on high power. I had never cried as much as I did that night. Hell, I couldn't even remember the last time I cried like that. I didn't even know if I was crying the right way or not
Then, I started yelling. I started swearing to no one. I was confused, angry, and hurt all at the same time. After that, I beat up my pillow, picturing Lance's face. Then I beat up the floor, the bed, the wall, and my head. I wanted my life to end. I hated being alive. I just wanted to collapse on the floor and never wake up.

And it was all because of Yumi. Yes... it was all because of Yumi.

.:/AN/:. I know that Ulrich probably wasn't the new kid at school, but in this fic he is, and I felt that it was needed in this story for the reader, in this case you, to totally grasp what Ulrich is feeling right now. It surprised me, when I was looking over the story and reading it through, I also started to feel sorry for Ulrich! OMG! I didn't even think I could right somethng that harsh and sad and hurtful! Anyway, please, R&R! I might started asking for help and ideas if my plan doesn't work out... oops...