A/N: Time for chapter 10. Don't have much to say, except a big thank you to my loyal reviewers. If I may call them that haha. Your words still put smiles on my face :). Enjoy the read!

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Lyoko! Only my imagination :)!

Yumi and Aelita woke up a little later than planned. They were surprised that both had subconsciously snoozed their alarms by half an hour. "I can't believe we pressed snooze three times," Yumi said, wondering at how that was possible. She was walking around the apartment hurriedly. While Aelita was in the bathroom, Yumi had prepared a simple breakfast at lightning speed and made the bed. She heard the comment when she stepped out of the bathroom. "It must have been the bed, Yumi," Aelita said. Despite the joke, she too began to hurriedly pack her things in her bag. "It was pretty comfortable after all," she added, quickly brushing her hair. The Japanese woman chuckled in response.

"Jeremie called while you were in the bathroom," Yumi informed her. "He tried your phone first, but didn't get through. So he called me. Something about an urgent meeting with some client being moved to an earlier timeslot. What was his name? Uhm.. Mr. Aibbor? Anyway, he'll come to pick you up in about fifteen minutes… now ten," she said, after looking at the time on her watch. Ulrich's gift came in handy. Yumi wasn't much of a look-at-your-phone-all-the-time person. She usually left it on the coffee table during her morning routine. If someone called or messaged, she'd hear it anyway. The watch let her keep track of time properly. Together with the necklace, it was part of her daily wardrobe now.

Aelita was surprised to hear the news. "He's a very important client. I heard he doesn't appreciate any tardiness," she stated calmly. "Luckily you have a great boyfriend who always has a back-up plan for anything. Good thing you told him you were staying over," Yumi concluded. Aelita smiled. "Okay, let's eat quickly," Yumi ushered Aelita into the kitchen, where they ate breakfast consisting of toasted cheese sandwiches and cups of tea. Aelita's phone rang when they had just finished eating. "Talk about timing," Yumi commented as her friend picked up. She walked to the sink to put away the dishes.

"Yes, we're done. I'll be down in a minute," she heard Aelita say. "I'll be sure to tell her, bye." Yumi eyed Aelita, confused. "Jeremie is waiting in the car. He said hi and hopes you have a better start of the day," Aelita clarified. "Ah, well, let's hope so from this moment onward," Yumi said. "You'd better get going then." Aelita nodded. She grabbed her bags and brought them over to the hallway, where she put on her shoes and coat. "Yumi," Aelita paused, "Remember that I'm always willing to listen to you anytime, okay?"

"Thanks Aelita." They hugged and Yumi opened the door for her. Aelita quickly walked to the elevator, waving at the same time. Yumi returned the gesture and went back inside to finish preparing for the day. Later, she double checked whether she had everything and left for work as well.

In the office it was deadly quiet. Ulrich had yet to arrive and it was nearing noon. Their visit at DELAS Company was to take place in the afternoon. Approximately two hours from now. That meant an early lunch. Yumi rummaged through her bag and got out her lunch. She was about to eat when the office phone rang. "Good morning, this is LNFIL. Yumi Ishiyama speaking. How may I help you?" she answered.

"Hello, this is Jonathan Park. Secretary of Ms. Delm- s. May I please speak with Ulrich Stern?" A gruff voice could be heard through the phone's speaker. Yumi curiously stared at the phone when she heard the crackling noise through his boss' name. She decided to ignore it. They'd be meeting with her today anyway.

"I'm afraid he is not available at the moment," Yumi professionally replied. She wouldn't tell him that Ulrich still hadn't arrived. "Can I leave him a message?" She offered.

"Would you please ask him whether it is possible to reschedule the meeting at DELAS Company? Some complications have arisen and we would be grateful if you could schedule the meeting an hour earlier," Jonathan Park carefully revealed the information. It made Yumi think. She had no clue of Ulrich's whereabouts. He hadn't messaged or called her and she didn't know what the best course of action was.

"I will have to consult with Mr. Stern. I will call you back as soon as possible," she said. Upon hearing the man's thankful reply, she politely ended the call. Maybe Jeremie had jinxed the day? Yumi laughed to herself at the incredible situation. "Right, Ulrich… Ulrich," she said to herself as she scrolled through her contacts. Sometimes she wondered why she hadn't created any speed dials in her phone. She called him and held the phone against her ear.

"Hello?" Ulrich answered.

"Ulrich! Where are you? We have a problem," she announced and started to explain the situation.

"Tell him it's okay. Sorry I was at the house of my uncle's friend. We have a big deal coming up. I'll tell you about it later. I'll come pick you up in ten minutes," Ulrich assured, then hung up. Yumi proceeded to relay the good news to Jonathan Park. He was very grateful and looked forward to their meeting in an hour.

She sighed in relief.

Precisely ten minutes later Ulrich entered their office. "A little heads up as to why you weren't at work would have been nice," were the words Yumi chose as greeting. She crossed her arms. "Yeah, sorry about that. I was in a hurry in the early morning and forgot," he replied, grinning awkwardly. "Are you ready?" He checked with her. "Have been for hours," she joked. "Hilarious of you," he said sarcastically. Yumi merely shrugged.

DELAS Company was a lot brighter than their own. People had contagious smiles and laughter could be heard in every corner. Everyone seemed very friendly. Yumi wondered whether the reason was its branch. It was a marketing company after all. Selling their services with smiles certainly seemed to be a good approach to gain customers. However, the people also appeared to be enjoying their job. "Not what you expected?" Ulrich asked when he saw Yumi taking in their surroundings.

"That's not it, just thinking about how they all seem so happy here," she shared her thoughts. "I noticed that too the first time I came here," he said. "Guess it's part of their jobs huh." Yumi nodded.

They saw a short man, dressed in a black suit, moving towards them. When he stood in front of them, Yumi noticed the name on his company card. Jonathan Park. It was the secretary she spoke to this morning.

"Hello, you must be Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama," he confidently said. Their own company cards were visible to anyone, so it wasn't difficult to confirm it was actually them. "That would be us," Ulrich said, extending his hand towards the man, "And you are?" Yumi had to stifle a chuckle when she saw that the man had to tilt his head up a lot to look at Ulrich. "I'm Jonathan Park, sir. Secretary of Ms. Delmas," the man introduced himself. The last name caught Yumi by surprise. It wasn't who she thought it would be, right? She glanced at Ulrich. Her face gave away her worries. Then she quickly composed herself, before Ulrich would see.

After the introductions, Jonathan led them to his boss' office. He softly knocked on the door to alert her of their presence. "Ms. Delmas, Ulrich Stern and Yumi Ishiyama have arrived," he announced as he entered the office. "Good, lead them to the room at the end of the hallway and start up the presentation please," a sweet voice instructed him. "I'll be there in a few minutes," she added.

Jonathan brought them to the meeting room and proceeded to start up the computer, while they took adjacent seats at the left side of the huge half- moon table in the room. Ms. Delmas made her entrance not too long after. "Let me first properly introduce myself," she began as she approached Ulrich and Yumi from the space in the middle of the table. They had risen from their seats upon seeing the woman. She shook their hands as she told them: "I'm Cindy Delmas, CEO of DELAS Company. I heard you had planned a visit, but I didn't expect someone to tag along."

Ulrich eyed the woman. It didn't matter how much you looked at her. Anyone who knew Sissi Delmas would be able to tell that this woman was her mother. But that didn't mean he would ever address her casually. She wouldn't appreciate that anyway. She was a true business woman. "Ms. Delmas, this is Yumi Ishiyama. She is my secretary," he said, pointing to Yumi with his hand. "Pleasure to meet you," Cindy politely said. "Likewise," Yumi responded. "Jonathan, you can start the presentation for the new project," Cindy told her secretary.

When Jonathan finished the presentation, Yumi had a clear image of the company's goals and their methods to achieve those. "Do you have any questions?" Cindy asked the two of them. Ulrich shook his head and looked at Yumi to see her doing the same. "Great! I personally hope to make this one of my best projects, so I hope you're up for some hard work," she enthusiastically exclaimed, directing her last words to Jonathan. He nervously laughed. Yumi quirked a brow. "Guess she's equally cheery as the rest of them," she whispered to herself. Ulrich heard her though and smiled. "I hope you will be able to provide us with your excellent services this time as well, Ms. Delmas," Ulrich lightly emphasized. The woman laughed. "Consider it done," she told him.

"Jonathan, give them a little tour. Show them we will be able to handle it. As for you two, until next time," she said, as she left the room. Jonathan had turned off the computer and was about to tell Ulrich and Yumi to follow him when a high pitched voice was heard outside the door. "Mother! I cannot believe your secretary send me away on an errand that was already completed!"

Yumi knew that voice. She looked at Ulrich. The expression on his face told him he had recognized the voice as well. No doubt about it, that voice belonged to Sissi Delmas. "Hello Sissi dear," her mother greeted her, "I'm sure you must have misunderstood." Apparently Sissi wasn't happy with her mother's reply. "Excuse me, sending me to retrieve files from a customer that had them sent over here is not something I call a misunderstanding. He must have done it on purpose!" She screeched. "Can you please calm down?" Her mother requested.

"Jonathan?!" Cindy called her secretary over. "Is what Sissi says true?" The short man came out of the room. The first thing he noticed was the furious daughter of his boss. "Well, I did send her to get some files. But I'm positive that customer had insisted someone came to pick up his granddaughter's files, because he was feeling terribly weak. It was an old man, in his seventies, I can't say no to that right?"

"You heard him," she told her daughter. "But, I went to the address he wrote down for me and there was a woman in her twenties telling me she already sent the papers," Sissi complained while holding out the paper with the address. "You see, number 18," she jabbed the piece of paper in the air, stressing her point. "That's not 18, it's 78," Jonathan claimed. Sissi blankly stared at him. "You have got to be kidding me. Mother..," she pleaded. "We all make mistakes, dear, let it go. It looks like a 78 to me too," she said.

"Ugh, I will get you back for this. I know you did this on purpose," Sissi pointed at Jonathan this time. He looked at her with a smirk on his face, hidden from his boss' view. "See! Look at him!" She said. "Wipe that smirk of your face!" She demanded. When Cindy looked back, she saw a neutral expression on her secretary's face. "Sissi, why don't you wait inside my office while I'll talk to Jonathan for a bit. Our visitors can't be kept waiting too long now," she said.

"What visitors?" Sissi asked. "Mr. Stern and his secretary," Cindy answered. Then she realized what information she had presented to her daughter. "Ulrich's here?!" Sissi suddenly beamed. "Yes, for business," her mother strictly told her. But Sissi ignored her mother and walked right passed her inside the meeting room. "Ulrich! It's been so long. Did you miss me?" She happily spoke up upon seeing him. "Uh, hey Sissi," he awkwardly replied. "You should visit more often. I get bored doing all the paper work for my mother," she stated, frustration visible on her face.

"I'm quite busy, so that won't happen," he immediately let her know. "You should still try," she decided for him. Then her gaze went to the Japanese woman, who was silently standing beside Ulrich. She watched the conversation between the two former grade mates. "Well, well, who do we have here? Miss disappear-without-a-trace." One probably wouldn't call that the best greeting in the world. "Hello Sissi," Yumi said with a grim expression. She was surprised to find out that Cindy Delmas was Sissi's mother. With her father as principal of Kadic academy and her mother as classic business woman, you'd expect Sissi to have a serious nature too. But that inheritance had most likely failed.

"You have some nerve to come back into Ulrich's life. In anyone's life actually. Why are you here?" She demanded to know. "I'm sure you heard Ms. Delmas say she is my secretary," Ulrich spoke up before Yumi. "So? Isn't that messed up? How did she even get that position? I tried as well and I wasn't even selected for round two!" Her loose hair swayed from left to right in line with her movements. Sissi was ultimately frustrated that Yumi had returned. She couldn't accept that. Just when Ulrich had finally started to talk to her normally.

"From what I heard," Yumi started, "you decided to leave Ulrich alone after graduation, in order for him to be able to focus. And didn't you voluntarily back out of the selection procedure? Ms. Delmas had offered you a better position and you were eager to take that, right?" She accused her. "Well, that… is true, but I wasn't one of the favourites anyway. Now I see why," Sissi said. Yumi was surprised to hear her admit that. It made her feel bad about treating her as an enemy. "Maybe she should have held back a little." She thought.

"You came back for nothing. What use can you be to Ulrich? You'll only disturb or distract him. He won't be able to focus with you around. Shouldn't you be out there studying something Japanese? And stay out of our lives for our sakes?" Sissi retort made her change her mind. "Or not?" She added to her previous thought.

"I must say, I'm flattered you remember that I'm Japanese. It means a lot," Yumi's sarcasm was clear. "If you must know, I worked at LNFIL before Ulrich did. As someone who knew the company well already, I was considered to be a good choice." Defending herself felt wrong. Why the hell should she have to explain to Sissi what, how or why things happened?

"That's enough," Ulrich said. The women looked at him with annoyed expressions on their faces. Ulrich held up his hands, showing he didn't want to interfere. Yet he did anyway. "Both of you haven't seen each other in a long time. There is no reason to fight. Sissi is not the person she used to be, Yumi. And Yumi is doing all she can to make up for her past mistakes, Sissi." He sighed. This reminded him of discussions they had in the past. "You're defending her Ulrich. Be more careful. She'll ruin you otherwise," Sissi claimed. She spared no second glance at Yumi and turned around to walk out of the room. "Bye Ulrich, see you next time," she said, looking dejected. She had wanted Ulrich's visit to lift her foul mood. Unfortunately for her, that foul mood was currently twice as bad.

Yumi crossed her arms. She was absolutely pissed. Ulrich might have defended her, but he stood up for Sissi at the same time. "You could have told her to shut up. It's obvious she wants me gone, but she could have kept it to herself," she told Ulrich as they walked back to his car. Jonathan had given them a quick tour through the company, but she hadn't paid close attention. "If you knew she was just letting off steam – as usual – why did you react to her every word?" Ulrich tried to reason, all the while thinking he wanted to desperately avoid a fight with Yumi over this. "She has no right!" Yumi yelled. "She shouldn't have judged me without any knowledge about my life."

"That's what people do when they don't know a thing about others, Yumi. You did it too. I did so as well. I understand that Sissi might have done it a lot. But her unbearable characteristics have faded a little over time. I'm not saying I like her, nor am I friends with her. And only talk when I'm involved in their projects. However, she isn't worth getting worked up over. Let her be. I'll deal with her if things get difficult," Ulrich assured her. "For you," he thought.

"Why are you so cool about it all?" Yumi asked. She couldn't believe it. "Isn't it bugging you?" Why had everyone found peace in their lives, except for her? "It does. A lot. I just don't feel like engaging myself into those kinds of conversations. She saps out your life energy, you know. I'm tired of making snide remarks at her. What do I gain from that other than her rebuttal? So I decided. I'll ignore that part. She became calmer. It's quite something to put up with at times. At least it means no more cat vs. dog fights for me," Ulrich explained.

Yumi respected that he was being mature about it. She knew her attitude had been wrong. Being swept away by strong emotions had caused her to react the way she did. She started to feel guilty again. At this rate, she was more trouble to Ulrich than he would ever let on. "I'm sorry," she softly said, "I should have known better." Now she felt embarrassed at having shown that side of her in front of Ulrich and Sissi.

"It's okay," he said, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "I'll tell you a few secrets I discovered about her and her mother. You'll forget what happened in no time," he told her. Yumi looked at him, curious what he had to say. Ulrich started to let her in on things that he picked up from other workers in DELAS Company. Yumi laughed at all of his stories that he continued to tell inside the car. She didn't even notice she was back home, until Ulrich told her they were there.

"Thanks Ulrich," she genuinely said. "Told you," he replied. Yumi wanted to repay him in some way. She definitely should have kept her calm in front of Sissi. Now she had given Sissi the satisfaction of riling her.

"Do you want to stay over for dinner? I'll make you a great one as thanks for the funny stories," she suggested. Ulrich contemplated. "Sure, I'm starving. Forgot to eat lunch today," he revealed. Yumi chuckled. "Were you that occupied?" She asked. "Oh yeah! I forgot to inform you about that big project I was talking about earlier," he said, giving himself a face palm. "You could tell me during dinner," she offered. "I guess I could huh," he complied, ignoring the thoughts in the back of his mind that were telling him this was a bad idea. "Great, come on," she said. Yumi smiled. It had been a while since she had cooked someone a good meal. The breakfast from this morning didn't count.

"I hope you really cook as well as you claim," Ulrich said, while he stepped outside and locked his car. "You'll see," was her reply. They made their way to her apartment. Ulrich was silently relieved he hadn't told her about the project yet. He was glad they could spend time together like this without the usual tension. And he hoped that it would continue to be that way.

A/N: Tired now... posted this after midnight. So.. see you next week :D!