A.N.: a short one-shot to show some appreciation to William Dunbar, told from both William and Yumi's POV. It sounds complicated I know but it will work, trust me.

Bonne lecture!

P.S: By the way, I'm also a huge fan of Ulrich so don't hate me! :3

Somewhere to begin

He sits alone during the break, as usual, skimming the courtyard. There's Yumi— the only interesting person in the entire school and the one with the most beautiful smile he'd ever seen and also the girl who refused him countless times, sitting on a bench. He simply can't give up on her, she carves in deeper the more he tries to forget her.

She doesn't look fine today though. And there's Ulrich— probably the luckiest guy on the planet, sitting beside her and trying desperately to comfort her.

'Oh, God damn it! There he is holding her hand like he owns her!'

In spite of how disturbing it is for him to see them like that (~holding hands~), William sincerely hopes it would help make her feel better. Her smile to him is like the sunlight to the flowers. It comes as no surprises that she's so important to him and that he wouldn't give up with her that easily.

He was the weird ostracized transfer student that nobody liked. He was detested by everyone except for Yumi. In spite of all his annoying stalking and endless attempts to flirt with her, she was his only friend, being kind to him always and helping him with his study whenever he needs help.

She's simply the only thing helping him get through his high school life.

Tears shimmer in Yumi's eyes and he watches her with a heavy heart. It hurts to see her like that. Sadness simply doesn't suit her. 'Stern, you idiot! Do something!' he whispers furiously, his hands balling up into a fist.

None of Ulrich's attempts seem to work. She keeps crying and he hardens his fists. What could it be that's making her cry her eyes out? The more tears come out the more his heart hurts. He can't take it anymore.

William finally decides to stomp towards them and ask her himself since Ulrich picked the wrong day to be useless.

He stands before them, taking in the sight of her teary black— now slightly red, eyes. "Yumi, what's wrong? Are you alright?" he asks with a lot of concern, his eyebrows drawing together.

"Uhm…" she wipes her tears and lifts her head up, her gaze meets his. She blinks, "I'm ok, William. Don't worry." She sniffs.

She's not okay and he knows it, she just can't talk about it. But he's too stubborn to give up from the first go, "Are you sure?"

At this point, Ulrich's rage reaches its peak. He stands up right in front of William— literally in his personal space, and looks at him with narrowed eyes. "Hey, what's your problem, man? She said she's ok! Let her be!"

It irritates him as hell. But he cares about her too much he doesn't want to make a big deal out of Ulrich's childish competitive behavior and give her more headaches by arguing with him right now.

Instead he glares at him for a moment with a furious look. Tilting his head to the side to get a glimpse of her beautiful face over Ulrich's shoulder, he smiles at her, "I'll see you later, Yumi."

"Yeah, ok." She replies dryly.

.:.

After lunch break Yumi heads back to class, not to attend it but to see William.

"Hey, William!" She calls for him as he was about to enter the classroom.

He stops and spins around. "Hey, Yumi. What's up?"

She takes a deep breath and presses her lips together. "I'm sorry! I don't think I can help with the project today. I…"

"It's ok, Yumi." He interrupts her, forcing a smile. "I understand." He nods benevolently, his gaze still fixed at her.

"Thanks!" She nods as well and excuses herself.

Seeing her turn on her heels, his hand moves on its own and grabs her arm. "Yumi!" he calls her name softly. She turns around, surprised, and stares at his hands making him unintentionally feel a bit awkward. He releases her, "is everything alright?" he asks anxiously, unable to hide a very worried and concerned look in his eyes. This side of him— the very kind and caring William, isn't new to her. It isn't the first time he shows such empathy and care for her.

Yumi keeps quiet, drawing her lower lip between her teeth.

"Ok, I can take a hint!" He presses his lips into a hard line— disappointed, and then fakes a dead smile. "Anyway, why isn't Stern with you?"

"Uhm.. He…he's got something to take care of."

"You mean in Lyoko." a corner of his mouth lifts. He shakes his head and pushes his frustration to the curve. "Okay, Yumi. Be careful, please."

She responds with another silent nod and an indulgent shy smile. He stands there watching her shuffle away. His unsatisfied Yumi-devoted soul urges him to follow her from a distance just to keep an eye on her and make sure she's safe.

And so he does.

He follows her through the corridors. He keeps his eyes on her as she walks into the lockers' hallway. Somebody shoves his shoulder into his, and he loses trace of her for a moment. He speeds up to try and catch up with her. But she's nowhere to be seen. Where did she go? He spins in his place looking for her.

"Will…" her voice is very low as she stumbles towards him out of the blue—barely conscious. The shock causes him to freeze in place. 'Worst timing to be a useless brat, William!' he scolds himself.

Unable to stands on her feet any longer, she falls onto his arms. His heart pounds so hard, wanting to leave his chest. Yumi Ishiyama—the girl he's been in love with ever since he stepped into this school, is now in his arms and in need for his help. "Yumi..? Yumi?" He places his hands on her arms to help her stand on her feet. He feels her trembling under his touch. Her body temperature dropped abruptly. "What happened, Yumi?" he asks, taking off his jacket and placing it over her shoulders.

"XANA… Jim… Specter…" her voice is shaky. She's too weak and not making any sense.

He freaks out. XANA is back? What happened to her? Will she be ok? What should he do? Take her to the nursery?

Before he could do anything, her phone rings. He reaches for her bag and grabs the phone and answers it—still holding Yumi in his arms.

"Yumi, be careful of Jim! He is XANA's specter!" Jeremie yells through the phone.

"Yumi blacked out, Jeremie. Tell me what to do?"

"William…?" Jeremie's voice is clearly unhappy for the two misfortunes; Yumi's incident and William finding out about them. "Can you bring her to the factory? We can fix it."

"Ok, right away!"

He hangs the phone and puts it in his pocket—spontaneously. He is clearly not thinking properly. He takes hold of Yumi's hand and places it around his neck. His free hand travels around her back and rests on her waist gently supporting her. "Come on Yumi!"

.:.

She feels his heavy breathing kisses the soft skin of her beautifully pink cheeks every time he peeks down to check up on her.

He didn't bear a grudge against her, against them. He didn't hesitate to help even after finding out they've simply eliminated him. He didn't say anything about it, he didn't complain to Jeremie. Instead, he rushed to help her.

He's got one of the purest hearts ever, in spite of his tough-competitive guy portrait he wants to paint for himself.

Somehow today the road from school to the factory seems shorter even in her condition.

Before they even reach the elevator, it opens up. Ulrich runs towards them, He notices William's jacket and rolls his eyes. "Thanks, William. I'll take it from here." Ulrich says tartly, having his competitive anti-William look in his eyes. He stands beside Yumi and forcefully takes her from William as if he's steeling her from him.

Yumi walks with him into the elevator leaving William's side. He doesn't follow them. Once inside the elevator, she turns around, her eyes search William's.

They finally meet. And boy, she wishes they hadn't. He looks like he's about to cry his heart out—devastated. She blinks and looks at him one last time before the door is shut. Her gaze is filled with remorse.

The elevator descends and all she can think about is him. The look on his face keeps coming back to her. They make him feel like an intruder. It's not fair. It never was.

.:.

Later that day, William is lying on his bed, listening to music when someone knocks his door. He takes his headphones off, hesitantly, not sure if he really heard the door knock. He opens it anyhow.

"Yumi!" he gasps, his eyes widening. He definitely didn't expect to see Yumi at his door, ever. The sight of her beautiful face enlightened with her charming smile sets his heart racing—as always.

"Hey!" she greets him benevolently.

"Hey!" he pauses to compose himself. "Glad you're ok. Jeremie called me earlier and …"

"Yeah, I know I asked him to call you. I thought you'd be worried" she explains.

She thought about him? All this time, he wanted her to realize how much he loves and cares about her. And now there's a chance she finally does.

"I am… I mean I was" He rubs the back of his neck and smirks.

"I think my phone is still…"

"Oh… yeah, your phone. I don't know how it ended up in my pocket." He says as he fetches her phone from his desk. "Sorry. Here!" he hands it to her.

She takes the phone and turns to her bag. Only then she remembers why she came. His jacket! "Oh, your jacket. I almost forgot."

He takes the jacket and throws it on his bed quickly. His mind's still analyzing the fact that she came to return his jacket but almost forgot about it. It happens with him all the time when he's around her. She makes him forget about everything. Could it be the same thing going on with her? He stands there awkwardly and silently in front of her, placing his hands in his back pockets.

"Look…"Yumi interrupts his train of thoughts. "I want to apologize about… everything… We voted… and…"

"It's ok Yumi." he interrupts her. "I know they don't trust me. They never had." He shrugs.

A sad look erupts on his face as he stares at his feet. He's an intruder and there's nothing he can do about it. Even if Yumi trusts him—which very unlikely the case here, there's nothing she can do about it either.

Yumi stares at her hands, feeling guilty.

"You're right! They don't," she bites her lip, "but I do"

His eyes lit up at her declaration. She trusts him! He longed to hear this from her. He longed for her to show him even a hint of appreciation and approval in some way.

While he's lost in his thoughts, Yumi draws near him and plant a swift kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, William!" she breathes and then walks away, leaving him mesmerized and captivated at the lingering sensation of her lips on his skin.

.:.

She scurries away from his room like she's being chased by a Megatank. She feels a flicker of delight in her heart. Where did that guts come from?! She wasn't even planning on kissing him. She just wanted to thank him.

What was she thinking? What is that even supposed to mean? She's with Ulrich, for crying out loud! And the guy she's just kissed is WILLIAM! He'll simply cling to her harder now.

Oh, that was a bad idea!

.:.

William shuts the door and instantly flings himself onto the bed, smiling like an idiot.

He's definitely not giving up with her.

There is still hope.

A.N.: I swear it was way better when I pictured it in my mind. My level of English took away the artistry and splendor from it! Ugh! -_-"

Anyways, Yumi and Ulrich have been my favorite OTP of CL for… I don't know actually... I think from the very beginning. They were my favorite characters so I started shipping them.

I don't recall how or when William slipped in. He was always a bit annoying to me. But I fell in love with his character on CLE, he seemed more mature and sedate.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this oneshot!

Review and tell me your thoughts about it.