Ulrich Stern leaned over the balcony railing as he put his cigarette butt into the ash tray. It was mid-autumn and the air was crisp and stung as the wind blew. "Ulrich Stern! I told you not to smoke when I'm around," shouted Yumi Ishiyama. Ulrich jumped in surprise as he accidentally choked on the last drag in his lungs.

"Man Yumi, I know smoking kills but I never knew it would be because choking on the smoke," he said while coughing loudly. He looked up to see his best friend staring coldly at him. 'When she is angry I sometimes think I may actually die from her stare…' he thought silently to herself as he hid the box of cigarettes deeper into his flannel pocket.

She just glared harder at his attempt to be funny, "You know I don't want you to smoke at all. If it wasn't for that dumb thing three years ago you would have never started smoking." Ulrich instantly stiffened and seemed to space out from Yumi's words. 'Three years ago…,' he thought as he looked down. 'That was my sophomore year in high school… It seems so much longer than that but I guess it was only three years.' He looked at Yumi whose gaze softened from the pain in his eyes. She knew that he still could not get over three years ago and even now she could see the pain and sadness that overcame him so long ago.

"I'm sorry Ulrich," she whispered quietly as she looked down and her body began to shake from crying. 'I could never stand seeing him like this,' she thought silently to herself as a tear rolled down her cheek. Ulrich looked at her and noticed the tear that fell to the ground. He felt bad for making her cry and had to find a way to make it up.

"Hey Yumi!" he called out and waited for her to look up. He pulled the box of cigarettes out of his pocket and looked down sadly at them before tossing them over the edge. He watched as they seemed to slowly fall down to the pavement below. "I'm sorry too," was all he could say before leading her back inside before she got too cold. Yumi's cheeks turned red and she hid them behind her hair.

They sat in the little dining area for a few minutes in silence before she looked up at him, "What are you thinking of majoring in for college?" she asked simply as Ulrich looked back at her blankly.

"Well I was thinking of three different major choices. I was thinking of illustration, psychology, or sociology." He whispered silently and looked back at her. "pretty dumb ideas, huh?"