"Yah!" Ulrich yelled, swinging his leg down to trip Yumi. His attempt was futile as she swiftly preformed a backflip, and ran at him.

Yumi stopped once she entered the German boy's range, lifted one leg and thrusted the other at his chest, a direct blow.

"Ahh!" Ulrich yelled, falling flat on his back. He looked up in a daze, two blurry Yumi's coming together to form one as his vision cleared.

"Good practice, you too!" Jim said, standing at the far side of the gym. "Now, go get changed. I have to go help Susan..." Jim paused for a moment. "... Ms. Hertz with an electrical problem."

Jim walked out of the gym noticeably embarrassed, Yumi even thought he saw him face palm just before the door closed behind him.

The moment the door clicked shut, the couple burst out laughing at Jim's mistake.

"Well, I guess that's something he would "rather not talk about"!" Ulrich said through the laughter. As the seconds passed, so did the laughter, and Yumi reached her hand out to help Ulrich up.

As she began to pull Ulrich up, she suddenly slipped, falling on top of him. Yumi held her weight up by her arms, one on each side of Ulrich, just next to his shoulders.

Their cheeks turned a light shade of crimson as their eyes locked, unable to break the peace they felt for what felt like hours. They both giggled a little and turned away, Yumi proceeding to stand up.

"I'm better go get changed, my parents will have a fit if I'm late for dinner." Yumi said, walking towards the girls' locker room.

Ulrich stood up as the door closed behind Yumi. He felt his stomach, still sore from her kick earlier. He wiped the sweat from his brow, and entered the boys' locker room.

—

Yumi and Ulrich exited through their respective doors at relatively the same time, both walking towards the exit. Ulrich reached the door before Yumi and held it open for you.

"Ladies first." He remarked, causing Yumi to smile as she fixed a strand of hair that lie out of place and walked out the door. Ulrich walked out behind her, and joined her as they walked to the school entrance.

Their walk was silent, neither really having anything important to say. They both just kept to themselves, looking at the beautiful sky as the sun began to set on a flawless February day. A lone bird sang a beautiful solo from above them, their ears captivated by the elegant sound.

The two reached the entrance, and turned to face each other.

"Well, I gotta go." Yumi said, beginning to turn and walk away.

"Yumi, wait." Ulrich said, grabbing her shoulder. Yumi turned to face him, his face red and his eyes almost seeming to avoid her. "I...I wanted to give you this."

Ulrich pulled a single rose from his back, small droplets of water still hanging onto the dark red peddles of the sweet-scented flower. Yumi's eyes lit up as she saw the majestic flower in her love's hands, but the majesty wasn't in the flower itself, even though it was a true piece of beauty, to Yumi, the majesty was in the thought Ulrich put into this, knowing how shy he can be and how hard this must be for him.

"Think of it as an early Valentine's Day gift." Ulrich said, shaking slightly, his nerves getting the best of him. He stretched his arms out in front of Yumi, signaling for her to take his gift.

Yumi gently took the flower from his hands, bringing its opening to her nose. It's aroma was that of a sweet candy, the scent almost having a flavor to it. It was also crisp, reminding Yumi of the beginnings of fall, the cool air, the beautiful sunsets, all these emotions running through her mind at once. A small tear made it's way down the slope of her cheeks, so much happiness flooding into her that some of it had to come to the outside.

"Do you like it?" Ulrich asked, still unsure at this point.

Yumi looked at him for a second before grabbing him into a tight and caring embrace, Yumi whispering into his ear: "I love it, thank you."

They stood there for a minute at most, but to them, to their hearts, it was an eternity at the least. Time seemed to slow, nothing distracted them from each other's embrace. The world around them seemed to fade, like water on a freshly painted canvas; no distractions, no interruptions,

Only Love.

Suddenly, this world collapsed, the paint smeared over the once clean surface, the old world returned, and both of them were drug back to reality, drug back by a loud roar.

The two turned to see a mob ahead of them consisting of many students and teachers, the roar erupting from Jim, but at the same time it wasn't Jim, and Ulrich and Yumi knew it instantly.

Without a word, they grabbed each others hand tightly and ran out the entrance, headed for the factory. There was no need for words, for each of them understood the other so well, words were redundant, an unneeded formality. Their bond was stronger than words. Their bond was stronger than life's struggles.

Their bond was stronger than anything X.A.N.A. could ever do to them, and they would prove that soon enough.