Elisabeth looked at Ulrich as if something incredibly silly had slipped out of his mouth. She accentuated this thought with a small, clipped smile and a slight movement of her eyes. "Darling," an endearment devoid of affection. "I don't know what's happened in the time we've been apart, but you can't tell me --"

"Elisabeth darling," Odd returned the endearment and Ulrich simmered in the background. Odd was obviously saving him from having a slight of anger. "Why don't I escort you out, huh? That, or I can have security do it for me."

"Stop."

Yumi's voice thundered through the hall, a contrast to the previous voices. Ulrich turned momentarily -- and his expression! Yumi could have kissed him for it --, looked at her, confused. "Yumi," and the metamorphosis of his tone was startling. Elisabeth's smile tightened at the corners. "Please don't --"

"I'm tired of this," Yumi told him, unwavering. Something in her chest fell a little. She directed her gaze to Elisabeth. "Look," her voice was no none sense. "I don't know -- or care -- who you are. I'm not with him. You can have him," that something came perilously close to breaking. "I won't stand in your way."

Yumi swallowed whatever feelings were rising up her throat, and they burned, but she was good at pretending nothing was wrong. She had her father to thank for that. "Aelita, thank you," formal, polite, Yumi couldn't even look at her as she walked away. Much less Ulrich -- the very thought of it made her want to throw up.

There was a shivering in her veins, a hotness in the back of her eyelids. Her mouth felt dry and full, and Yumi desperately wanted to leave, to cry, to stay. Coldplay in the background as she walked away,

I'll be waiting in line, just to see if you care.

A touch of irony, and Yumi felt her knees wobble a bit. She blamed the shoes and then blamed her inability to lie, especially to herself. The streets in Manhattan were as cold as she felt, and the cars and endless lights blurred in her vision. It wasn't until Yumi raised her hand to hail a cab that she realized she couldn't see and that she was crying.

Yumi hated herself for this moment, hated Ulrich for dragging her into this world, hated Aelita for seeing right through her, hated Odd for defending her, hated Jeremie for being everything -- cold, calculated, controlled -- that she had failed to be.

A cab stopped. The outlandish, gaudy yellow was ridiculously in the darkness. Red taillights guided Yumi closer. She wiped her face with the back of her hand. Opening the door with her moist hand, trembling, Yumi caught sight of the cab driver who tapped his fingers on the steering wheel impatiently.

Ulrich ruined her perfect exit in one smooth move.

Yumi hadn't realized that she wasn't going into the cab, but out, until it was too late and she was pressed against a heartbeat. Arms wrapped around her and fabric suffocated her. "Go away," Yumi croaked.

"I can't," Ulrich laughed mirthlessly. "Aelita threatened to kill me if I didn't come back with you."

"It's okay," Yumi tried to step back but his grip was too strong. "You can stop trying now, I'm leaving. It's okay -- thank you." She wasn't sure what she was saying. Her mouth was opening on its own accord, years and years of social niceties slipping through her lips.

"Miss," the cab driver called. "Are you gonna get in or not?"

"Yes--"

"No," Ulrich slammed the door and held her captive with the other. The cab didn't hesitate in driving away. Realizing that her efforts in struggling out of his arms were futile, Yumi kicked him in the knee.

"Is this the kind of treatment I get for stopping you from making the biggest mistake of your life?" He finally let her go, and wincing, bent his knee experimentally.

"How is getting the last cab for the night the biggest mistake of my life?" The stupidity of her excuse rattled Yumi. She trained her expression and waited for his reply.

"I thought you weren't scared of her," Ulrich protested, referring to Elisabeth.

Yumi scowled, "Is that the reason you think I'm leaving?"

"I can't think of anything else," Ulrich retorted. "In my defense, I'm slightly drunk."

Yumi rolled her eyes, tears forgotten. The incompetence of men always did level her. "Why can't you be a good drunk and pass out?"

"Yumi --"

"Why can't you just leave me alone," Yumi interrupted. Even now, in her slight breakdown, he was intruding in her life.

"Because I love you," Ulrich replied. "I thought we already had this conversation."

He was annoyingly smart for a guy, Yumi reasoned. Exasperated, and cold, Yumi said finally, "What do I have to do for you to leave me alone?"

"Tell me you have no feelings for me at all."

"Okay," Yumi replied without pause. This was relatively easy. After all, she really had no feelings for him, and Ulrich was very annoying when she thought about it. She looked at Ulrich's face and her words stalled in her throat.

"Well," Ulrich prompted.

Yumi diverted her gaze to the pavement and said in rapid succession, "I have no feelings for you at all."

There was actual laughter in Ulrich's voice. "I'm sure the sidewalk is very disappointed. Now," he titled her chin with his fingers. "Tell me."

"I am telling you," Yumi protested. She looked him directly in the eyes. "I don't like you."

"Really," Ulrich said and his voice dropped an octave. There was still laughter in his eyes.

This was not how it was supposed to go! "Um," Yumi struggled with words. "Yes, really, Ulrich --"

He was so close that they shared the same breath. "Don't even think about kissing me," Yumi forewarned him.

"Really," Ulrich echoed. He pressed his lips to her cheek, lingered there, and Yumi hissed at the sensation. Her cheek was slightly moist as he pulled away and Yumi felt her blood singe and spark. His face turned, and Yumi knew exactly what he was aiming for. Automatically she made to shirk away but Ulrich held her in place. "Did you really think I was just going to let you walk away?"

"I--," Yumi's mind went blank. His lips found the corner of her mouth and against her will, Yumi opened her mouth slightly. This is not happening, Yumi screamed in her mind. Stop him, stop him, stop him; this is about his leaving, he can't, you can't let him -- oh.

The first thing that Yumi registered was pressure. Pressure on her spine, pushing her into him, pressure of his forefinger behind the hollow of her ear, pressure of his thumb into her jawline. Impossible to ignore was the pressure to her lips, but this pressure had an air like quality to it, cool and intoxicating. Yumi's bones felt as if they were breaking, and she had nothing to hold her up except Ulrich, who she hated very much at this moment.

Next, was movement. Yumi's eyes obediently slid close, and she thought to protest except it was very hard to form a coherent thought at the moment, much less struggle. Her body was betraying her; she leaned in, so much closer than she anticipated she could be, and a sound she couldn't recognize sounded in the back of her throat.

It translated into a whimper, and Ulrich kissed her languidly, catching her lips and pulling at them, letting them go only to capture them again.

Dreams had nothing on reality.

"Bravo."

Startled, Yumi turned to the darkness. Incredulously, she called out, "William?"

He emerged from the darkness like a demon, dark features illuminated by sheer moonlight.

"So you couldn't be with me but you could be with him?"

He snickered as he approached. Yumi felt herself tense, and Ulrich grabbed onto her arm. It was meant as a reassurance but all it was doing was cutting off her circulation. "William, I thought I made it clear that we're over."

"Don't flatter yourself babe," arrogance dripped from his every word. "I'm not here because of you. I never told you, did I? I am the son of one of the most prominent families in the world. Just ask Ulrich."

Ulrich's face twisted into a severe expression. "William, don't --"

"Oh," William's face was filled with triumph and mockery. "You haven't told her, have you?

"William --"

William's smile didn't touch his eyes. "Yumi," his eyes swept over her form appreciatively. "Allow me to unmask your boyfriend for you."

short chapter, but very climatic -- what do you guys think? How was the kiss? How exactly does William know Ulrich? Feedback is love :)