Yumi ran after Ulrich who had already entered the dormitory building. She had noticed the way he walked, lifeless, emotionless. This troubled her deeply, but she quickly shrugged it off.

'How am I going to convince him it's fake.' She thought, pushing the door open and entering the building. She made her way up the stairs, getting off at the boys' floor.

She looked down the hall, noticing Ulrich standing halfway down its length, appearing motionless.

"Ulrich." She said, Ulrich giving no reaction. She walked closer, taking small, light steps. As she drew closer, she noticed someone in front of him.

"Well, someone doesn't look so good." Sissi said, standing in Ulrich's path. "What's the matter?"

Ulrich looked down and to his left, rubbing his right arm as though that could someway heal his broken pride.

"It's nothing..." He diverted his attention and his eyes back on her. "What do you want?"

Sissi grinned as she pulled two tickets from behind her back.

"I wanted to see if you might have changed your mind about going to the concert with me."

Ulrich's mind was empty of all feelings other than anger and abandonment. He replied empty-minded.

"Sure, I'll go with you."

Sissi's smile grew larger than that of a child on Christmas morning, but instead of earning her presents from being good, she earned hers through the pain and anguish of others.

Sissi looked past Ulrich's shoulder for a moment, catching a glimpse of Yumi.

"Well, if it isn't miss raven girl herself." Ulrich turned to face Yumi as Sissi spoke. "I would have guessed you would have been out somewhere with your new boyfriend William."

Yumi let a single tear roll down her face, then turned away from them and walked quickly down the hall. Ulrich began to go after her, but Sissi grabbed his shoulder.

"Come on, we have a date to get ready for."

Ulrich turned, but took one last look at Yumi. How sad she was, how broken he had made her, it hurt him. It hurt him right at his core, and that was something he couldn't ignore.

—

Ulrich pushed his arms and head through the holes in his designer shirt, the best he owned. Earlier, Sissi had insisted he wear it, claiming it would match what she planned on wearing.

Ulrich turned his head as he heard the door open, Odd walking in slowly before he closed the door behind him.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about something." Odd said, moving closer to Ulrich.

Ulrich pushed the middle drawer of his dresser closed, not responding to his roommates attempts at conversation.

"Ulrich, this whole thing is just one big misunderstanding. Don't you trust Yumi and William not to lie to you?"

"No, I trust my eyes not to lie to me." Ulrich said, turning towards Odd. "Pictures don't lie... people do."

Odd sighed and lowered his head for a moment. When he raised it, he took a good, long look at Ulrich, but something seemed different; he seemed different.

"You know Ulrich, you can be a real jerk sometimes. Listen to your friend, don't just assume something before you know what really happened. I believe Yumi and William would never do anything like that, and I don't care what any one says or what any picture shows, what they say comes first."

"So, I can be a real jerk sometimes. Well how about I be one now." Ulrich was so angry and unsure with everything that had happened, he just lost it. "Get out, Odd."

"Fine, I'll leave." Odd said, opening the door. Just before he stepped out, he turned towards his friend, saying one final thing.

"Right now, Yumi is more upset than she has ever been in her life, and you are the only one who can fix that, but all you have done so far is block her out and make it worse. I just wanted you to think about that." Odd stepped out, closing the door behind him.

Ulrich sat down on his bed, his mind overwhelmed by everything going on. Half of him wanted to go to Yumi, apologize and go from there. The other half was still angry and hurt by what he saw, unable to believe the picture was false.

He looked over at the door as Sissi opened it and peaked her head in.

"Ulrich, are you ready to go?"

It appeared he wouldn't have time to decide which half to go with.

"Yeah, let's get going." He said, standing up from his bed.

While they walked out of the dorm building, off campus and into the city, there was only one thing floating around in Ulrich's head: Yumi's beautiful face.

—

Okay, so I wasn't sure about this chapter as it has a different feel from most others, but next chapter will be action-packed, so stay tuned to find out how this situation is resolved.