Reese-Fanfics of a Fanfic.

Stories that could've happened within the story…but either didn't or didn't fit with the type of story. Includes other POV's besides Ulrich's, songfics, and random stories that popped into my head late in the middle of the night. Will add more at random times. If you are new, please read my fic I Will Remember You before reading this, as it will clear up a gazillion questions you may have while reading this. Thanks, guys!

Curiosity killed the Cat

But satisfaction brought her back…!

Her cheek stung. Within a moment she regretted taunting this boy, with such strong arms and high temper. What's more, she regretted even beginning to taunt anyone with as much flare as she just did. Slowly she brought her head back around from the whiplash that his slap sent it, gingerly touching her aching cheek. She felt a small amount of liquid over her skin, and she pulled her finger in front of her, rubbing the blood gently.

That's when things really started to get weird.

Reese began to murmur unintelligible syllables, completely like some sort of foreign cretin. His voice was now hushed, almost scared, opposing his sharp outburst from before. It sounded like he was struggling to say her name one moment, the next it just sounded like gibberish. She continued to gaze at her bloodstained fingers, the fight completely taken out of her—which was rather unnatural. Absentmindedly she listened to his mumblings, completely taken in by the strong pull of sorrowful regret.

"Yu…Yum…Are…nnnn…I…,"

She didn't answer to the prefix of her very name, Yumi.

"Did…Did…n't…nnn…Muth, muth…,"

Muth? What is he talking about? Her ever tomboyish side chanted in her head. Almost immediately her mind latched onto that statement, trying to translate it to something understandable.

Muth…mutha…muth—Mother?

And that's the exact moment Yumi's point of view was turned around for the rest of the night.

"Nnno…no…I can't be like…not him…no…,"

Yumi's eyes flashed up to see him swivel around on his heel, curse loudly, and dash off blindly into the dark woods.

What just happened…? She asked herself uselessly. Suddenly she was torn between two choices: Leave to her dorm, or follow him.

Her scared side told her to leave. Honestly, she hated this side more than anything. This side, of course, had always been there, but it had been the weakest side that Yumi had. Never had she let this side wander out freely, ever. She wasn't afraid of anything much. Sure, roaches sent shivers up her spine, but she wouldn't scream or anything. There was no fear that she couldn't conquer…

Until Ulrich had left her.

That's when her scared side had bombarded her, threatening to take over with each step. Nothing she ever did kept it at bay now. It was too strong. And it wanted to control her. Day and night, constant control. That's why Yumi had troubles sleeping at night—she didn't want to give in to her fearful side.

And then there was Ulrich's death. That made her fearful side rocket through her brain, twisting so she wasn't Yumi anymore. She even attacked one of her best friends. It had gone too far, but there wasn't much she could do.

Still, with that doubt in mind, Yumi shut her eyes tightly, and plunged deeper into the woods to follow the mysterious boy. It wasn't too hard to do, seeming as one could still hear him crashing off not too far in the distance. Doggedly Yumi placed her legs in front of her, tired out of her wits—but strangely enough, it wasn't from physical exhaustion.

Just before she stumbled into a clearing, she noticed that Reese had stopped in front of a giant rock face. Ducking behind a tree, she allowed her eye to sneak just past the boundary of the bark to spy on what Reese would do next.

He tore off his gloves, angrily tossing them aside. Confused, Yumi scrunched her brow as she continued to watch, until his true intentions became all to clear to her.

She almost cried in surprise and horror when the first meaty thud hit the stone, and was forced to slap a hand onto her mouth to stop her from screaming as his fists kept coming endlessly to meet the rock. Yumi prayed that he would stop soon, only a few punches, Lord, just a few punches…

But she had underestimated him. The severity and ferociousness of his punches grew and grew until finally, his knuckles gave in and burst.

Yumi choked on her own breath, and had to turn away. What ever could have happened to him to make himself inflict pain on him for something as simple—and as stupid—as a slap? Yumi had seen blood before, having to be a Lyoko warrior comes with its consequences—but never, ever has she seen blood that was forced out on purpose. Was he lost to this madness now? Was he completely unable to stop?

He kept going for another ten minutes until finally he made one last punch. Yumi peeked out to see him hit his forehead to the rock, and screamed once, then twice through gritted teeth. Afterwards, she heard his demented sobs continue to scatter the night air, corresponding with his heaving shoulder blades. Then, he began to fall with his back toward the rock face. Yumi panicked and ducked back behind the tree, hearing him mumble something but not being able to make out what. After that, he was done. His sobs ceased, and Yumi heard a slight thud as he dropped into unconsciousness. She waited three or four more minutes before tentatively creeping out from her hiding place.

Apart from the giant blood splotch on the rock from where he kept punching it, his red liquid smeared in an arc following the path that he fell. Though she didn't want to, she looked down at him anyways. Despite the blood that had splashed onto his face and smudged onto his arm and his split knuckles, he looked rather peaceful when at sleep. At least, for now. Yumi took a few steps closer to him, and kneeled down, only a few centimeters away.

The deformity of his strange scar was lost on Yumi as she stared past at the face of the two-sided boy that had so suddenly walked into their life. He was young, but even as he slept the signs of knowing too much were etched into his expression. Though his brow was almost permanently furrowed, forcing a frown, Yumi could blankly see the sadness that his anger hid. For some reason, although Yumi couldn't stand him one bit, she felt as if she were strangely connected to him through an unseen force.

Reese constricted his face in pain, and gave a small whimper, tossing his head slightly. Yumi glanced down at his ruined hands, then at the wall. She had to do something; she couldn't just leave him here.

Like he had left her.

Not a moment passed before Yumi was back to running through the woods, her destination being her own house.

When she arrived she expertly worked the key into the lock in such a way that the door would silently slide open. She had a lot of experience in sneaking in late, so it didn't cause too much sweat. Quietly she climbed her stairs and slinked down the hall, cringing whenever a subtle board creaked. Gently pushing the bathroom door open, she snaked in, popping the medicine closet open.

She grabbed a first aid kit—making sure there was plenty of gauze—and nabbed a large water bottle. After grabbing a towel, she stole out of the bathroom, trying to quickly but silently sneak out of there. When she reached the door she felt a rush of relief and success right before she dropped the water bottle on the floor.

Yumi froze, shocked at her stupid mistake. Upstairs she heard her parents stir, and panic settled in. She snatched it up off of the floor and opened the door, sliding out and shutting it with careful, careful ease. Seeing a light go on upstairs through a window, Yumi cringed and jumped into a pine bush near the door, making sure that none of her could be seen. It wasn't long before a few more lights were lit, and the door was unlatched from the inside, opening with agonizing slowness.

Yumi saw the cautious silhouette of her father in her mother's maroon bathrobe, with two different slippers on the wrong feet. He swung his head from side to side, trying to find any evidence of someone who might've snuck in. At one point he paused, drawing out his time and merely listening. Yumi held her breath painfully, wishing that he would just go back inside. One minute passed, then he retreated back into the house.

As soon as the door closed Yumi released the largest sigh of relief she had ever kept, and relaxed even though the bushes were awfully scratchy and uncomfortable. After a while, the lights were turned out downstairs, then the upstairs lights, then her parent's bedroom lights. Yumi waited a moment more, then awkwardly crawled out from underneath the bushes, hair mussed up and full of pine needles and branches. Despite this, she smiled widely before dashing off back into the park, filling the water bottle with cool stream water on her way.

Reese had only moved in such ways that a vivid dream would cause you to move, yet he was much more talkative now than he was ever during the school day. Yumi set the First-Aid down, slinging the towel off of her shoulder and drenching part of it in cold water. Even though Reese's mumbled sleep-speeches haunted her as she did it, Yumi wanted to clean the rock first; because dried blood is easier to clean off of human skin than rocks, and Yumi didn't want to wait for the blood to oxidize on the rock.

It wasn't hard to clean up. Most of it was lukewarm and still running, so all it required was a few quick swabs with the towel and maybe one or two scrubbings, and she was done. Reese, however, was not.

"Fair…foul…," he murmured fearfully. Yumi unclipped the First-Aid kit and swung it open, fishing for the right equipment while listening in on Reese's ranting.

"Mckduff…nnn…Mckduff…!" She plucked out the roll of gauze and picked a washcloth up, wetting it with the water bottle. She debated on using antiseptic, but decided that it was only for the better…even if he did wake up.

"…kbeth…," he whined. Yumi sucked in a breath of preparation, and crawled up next to him, gently taking his left hand. Using the wet cloth, she steadily cleaned the blood from his hand and wrist as softly as she could. Reese continued to moan.

"Mmmk…beth…cckk…,"

Biting her lower lip, Yumi selected a dry corner of the cloth, and wet it with antiseptic. Very carefully, very slowly, she began to touch upon his smashed knuckles. His moaning became ever so slightly more desperate. Yumi chewed on her lip as she began to dab just a bit deeper. Reese was soon near to screaming.

"Macduff!" he yelled, "Macduff's blood, Macduff!"

"No no no…!" Yumi protested as Reese began to thrash back and forth, trying to wrench his hand free. For some reason, Yumi threw out her hand and placed it on his forehead, applying pressure and lowering his head down into the cool grass. It was wet with both cold and hot sweat. She grimaced, and prayed that he would calm down. He let out a few pained gasps, but settled back comfortably into slumber.

Yumi released a breath through her teeth, and painstakingly cleansed the rest of his left hand, pausing when Reese needed her to. She then wrapped tightly and thickly with soft gauze.

Cautious, yet filled with confidence this time, she set to work on his other hand, listening intently to Reese's words. He didn't say as much as before, and much of it was quite repetitive.

"kbeth, ckbeth…be air...Mac…duff…,"

He gave one last agonized groan before falling silent. Yumi gave him a long stare, and continued with the antiseptic. He didn't moan once.

Never had Yumi been so frightened this way in her life. It was such a drastic change from before, she wondered if it had anything to do with suffrage from blood loss. And yet, his face looked so calm and his breathing was so enchantingly normal that Yumi couldn't believe that anything much was wrong at all. Still, she kept two hawk's eyes on him, in case anything else happened. Cleaning the washcloth of the antiseptic as best she could, she doused the entire thing with the rest of the water, set out to clean the loose blood on his skin.

Noting that he had a habit of tossing and turning quite a bit while sleeping, Yumi sighed as she did the best idea she had for curing that. She didn't quite like the idea, but it would have to suffice.

As gently as she could, she raised Reese's limp form and edgily scooted her lap underneath him. He began to murmur again, but this time it was only grunts of pain and exertion, and not understandable words. Yumi frowned, and wiped the blood from his arm first, taking some time making sure she got all of it in the dim light. As she did, Reese's pleadings became more violent with each passing minute.

Just before she was to start work on his neck, collar bone and face, he let out a loud scream of agony and twisted in desperate and awkward ways, pantomiming incredible injuries. Strangely enough, his shout wasn't loud enough to wake himself up—which was rather lucky on Yumi's part. She sucked in a sharp, scared breath, and bravely set the cloth on his face and began to wipe gently.

Halfway through her first swab, Reese cried out again, longer and lonelier than last time, almost like a wolf. Yumi tried her best to ignore him as she wiped over his cheeks again, but he wouldn't hear of it as he began to toss in such ways that symbolized a struggle to wake up.

Yumi felt panic rise in her throat, and responded vocally before she could think.

"Oh no, please don't wake up! Please, please, please! Stay asleep, please!"

For some reason, Reese stopped. Feeling teeny sweat beads drip down her forehead, Yumi pleaded a whisper once more, "Don't wake up…!"

Reese had a short stop in his breathing, and for half a second Yumi feared the worst. But soon, he released the rest of his breath and took in another with a deep sigh, and she calmed down.

"Oh…thank god…," she softly said with relief, continuing on cleaning his face. As soon as she finished up wiping around his scar, he gave a different moan—like he was stirring—and he twitched. Yumi froze instantly, staring fearfully at his face.

Slowly but surely Reese's eyes opened half way, revealing only a glimpse of his lime irises, electrically teal in the moonlight. It all happened in one tired movement, Yumi thought he caught a glimpse of her, then he rolled over so his back was facing her, instantly falling back asleep—to stay asleep for good this time, without even the tiniest troubled whimper.

She stayed like that, unmoving, for another two minutes or so, before she shook her head to rid herself of the daze of his hypnotic eyes, and took in a few breaths, reminding herself of why she stayed.

After she finished cleaning the blood on him, Yumi gently set the cloth aside, befuddled on what to do next.

Here she was, in the middle of the night with her legs crossed underneath the head and chest of the most complicated person she had ever met and hated, lost within a woodsy park near her school.

You'd never see something like this in the movies.

This gave her the perfect opportunity to think, and think hard.

Reese…she said rather bitterly in her head, just who are you…? What are you?

After further contemplation, she began to rattle random thoughts in her head.

I know who you are…you're a selfish, boxed-up bedraggled boy who'd rather spend his time with girls who already have great crushes on them—either that or you enjoy to make others fall into complex personality puzzles as a little mockery to keep them busy. You'll be voted most likely to be a apartment bum, following random girls home, handsomely trying to look for someone that would stay—

Holy…I didn't just say handsome, did I…?

Did I…?

Yumi stared down at his unscarred cheek, seeing more than she saw before. Closed, peaceful eyes that hid true emotion-betraying jewels behind them fluttered every now and then with the hills and valleys of sleep. Deep, sovereign breaths taking and releasing air to keep life within him came and went with drowsy, yet beautiful monotony. Strong, lean arms lay out carelessly in front of him, relaxed and free. Messy, unkempt russet hair flowing in one direction in front of his face reflected either laziness, lack of sleep, or the ability to stay care-free of trifle things. Yumi wouldn't lie—she had seen his swift reflexes and his acrobatics more than once. Jim had even talked to him about the martial arts, but she couldn't remember his answer to that. As far as she knew, he hadn't come to class yet, but that doesn't mean he wasn't taking private lessons.

Yumi jumped as she realized that her hand was buried in his hair, stroking softly. Her teeth came down on her tongue, and she jerked away immediately. Breathing hard she spent a few moments of feverish embarrassment and shame—she wasn't supposed to like him! For these past two years Yumi's slowly came to realization why it hurt so bad to see Ulrich go, and she made a promise to herself back then: She'd wait for him, and won't decide on anything in relationships until he came back.

Because she had complete and utter faith that he would come back. It's been two years—and yet there was no luck. Then…after the news…well…

Truth was—even though she'd never admit it—she had strangely been attracted to Reese even before the news hit Kadic. She wondered about him and his outlandish distant, silent character. He almost never answered any of her questions, and in reality that just drew her closer in curiosity to him. Still, she kept her distance. She made a promise to her heart, and if he was never coming back, then so be it.

She'll wait until the end of her time.

At least, that's what her mindset was. Her heart seemed to have different ideas now. Yumi fluttered a bit, and twisted backwards to look behind her. Silly. No one would be out tonight. She was alone. As long as Reese wouldn't wake up…

It would be her little secret.

She watched over him until dawn broke with dark clouds. Spirit strangely soaring, she danced off, leaving Reese sleeping peacefully—handsomely—there on the forest floor.

Fun fact!

I wrote the ending of this listening to Hairspray! Are all you folks angrily anxious for the next chapter in the actual story? Too bad!

'Cuz you can't stop (or change) my beat!

…

(now I'm listening to My Chemical Romance…)

(I think I'll listen to Nickelback next…)

(and I should shut up and continue on the next "REAL" chapter)